722 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 26 
a farmer should go East or West if he desires to 
change. The cheap eastern lands are closer to mar¬ 
kets, while the richer western lands cost more. 
Eastern and Western Farming Compared. 
Just as we passed Caledonia, N, Y., a tired-faced, 
middle-aged man looked eagerly from the car window 
and remarked: “That looks like home.” “Where is 
that?” said I. “Out in Iowa.” We were passing 
through a level section, fresh and green; large, broad 
level fields—a l)eautiful picture, but small, as I told 
him. “When I passed through your country, I grew 
so tired of the monotony; one level field after an¬ 
other for hours, that I would not look out of the 
window. There was no view, no hills to curve around, 
bringing new, unexpected scenery to rest the eye. 
Your country is loo flat." My reply seemed to amuse 
him, as he replied: 
“It gives me the backache to think of climbing 
those hills; to work among the stone; to do business 
on a small scale. You are not in it.” 
“No, not in the mud, as some of your people are 
most of the year. You would like our stone to hai-dcn 
your roadbed. Crushed stone makes a good bed for 
wagons, as well as for railroads. We made that last 
mile in 48 seconds, and you can hardly feel a jar.” 
We compared notes, and I found that land would 
cost from $10 to $30 per acre more there than here; 
that corn and oats were the principal money crops, 
and yielded but little if any more per acre than mine 
does; that the price for grain is less with him, and 
he has farther to haul to the car than the average 
New Yorker. The cost of labor is greater in his State 
than in mine, and there is no nearby good market for 
the thousand and one things—incidentals—which aid 
us, like a bushel of apples, peai'S, potatoes, eggs, small 
pigs, etc. 
“Now, why should any young, poor man go West 
to engage in farming?” I asked. 
“Because he can accomplish so much more work on 
our level farms, with our machinery and soil.” 
“What good to accomplish more work if you do 
not get pay for it? You say you get 40 bushels of 
oats per acre, and 25 to 30 cents per bushel. Can you 
make any money on high-priced land at those fig¬ 
ures?” 
“No! I guess not. We have just kept even for a 
number of years.” 
Last Winter I was associated at our institutes for 
several weeks with a man from Minne.sota, and the 
number of our small towns, villages and cities was a 
constant source of surprise to him. “Why,” said he, 
“you have a market for everything at every four cor¬ 
ners. You have a wonderful and 1 fear unappreciated 
opportunity to make every moment valuable, growing 
something outside of the main crops.” Right here in 
central New York is as good a place for a pleasant 
and profitable home as in any Western State, be you 
either rich or poor. o. k. c. 
High-Priced Land in Iowa. 
Recent letters in Thf. R. N.-Y. concerning compara¬ 
tive prices of farm lands have been interesting, 
though it is disappointing to note only one from Iowa, 
and that a very conservative statement of the situa¬ 
tion here. As a matter of fact, it is very strong. 
Speaking roughly, prices have appreciated here at 
about the rate they have depreciated in the East, as 
indicated by the general tone of your correspondence. 
This improvement is, however, of recent date, occur¬ 
ring mainly within the last two years. For example: 
A friend who bought an 80-acre farm in January, 1900, 
at $60 per acre, has lately refused $85, and would not 
care to sell at $100. That is a typical case of the bet¬ 
ter class. Good farms in central Iowa can no longer 
be bought at $50 per acre. Sales generally are at $60 
to $80, while many are held and some sold at $100 and 
even higher. The increase being mostly contempor¬ 
ary with better prices for corn and its chief products, 
beef and pork, indicates the principal cause. It seems, 
too, that there is a fairly well defined, though not 
clearly explainable, wave of comparatively high prices 
for farm lands that has slowly but steadily crept west, 
like the center of population, and is now far outreach- 
ing that and approaching fiood tide in Iowa. The good 
qualities of adjoining States but emphasize the fact 
that Iowa is the center of the best—the agricultural 
hub of the United States. “Nothing succeeds like 
success,” and there are, probably, more farms than 
ever before held as investments by men who do not 
themselves work the land. In some respects this is 
unfortunate, for many of our most thrifty farmers— 
the enterprising young fellows who want to gain 
homes—are leaving for the lower-priced lands of Da¬ 
kota and Oklahoma. Personally, I should like to 
raise Winter wheat (if it would bring at least 20 cents 
per bushel more than it has averaged for several 
years) and your eastern theories about “home mar¬ 
kets” and “finished products” sound well, but in 50- 
cent corn and six-cent hogs, we are “confronted with 
a condition” that makes their production the most 
fashionable occupation in this section of country. If 
It continues a year or two, first-class Iowa land will 
easily bring $lUo per acre, and the farmers may be 
seen with their overalls creased and turned up at the 
ankles. 
Marshalltown, Iowa. 
BRIEF NOTES FROM THE FARM. 
Not long ago I chanced to meet two dairy farmers 
residing in the same town, both of whom have made 
a success of dairying. They have, however, worked 
along quite different lines. One buys all his cows, 
keeping them a year or two, or in some instances 
longer, then selling off to replace them with others. 
wrCKSON PLUM. Fig. :«8. See Ruralisms, Page 726 
He changes whenever he thinks he can get a cow that 
will pay him better than the one he has. The other 
farmer hasn’t bought a cow since the first dozen or 
so that he began with, about 35 years ago. So far as 
I know neither method has any advantage over the 
other, only as the Individuals differ. One of these 
men is a good buyer, and a good judge of cows. He 
is well posted regarding prices, and localities where 
he can buy and where he can sell to advantage. He 
does best to buy, and never lets a thoroughly good 
cow escape him if it is for sale at any reasonable 
price. The other farmer understands breeding, and 
has a pedigreed sire for bis herd. His dairy has 
steadily improved under careful selection. No doubt 
each of these two men manages the best way for him¬ 
self. The one who buys his cows gets good ones, and 
gets them rather cheaper than the other man gets 
his, but the other man probably could not get them 
that way so well. He raises nis at a trifle more cost. He 
may or may not get better ones. It depends ujjon the 
man, his preferences and characteristics. No one can 
prescribe positively for another. One man produces 
APPARATUS FOR FUMIGATING WITH HYDROCYANIC 
ACID GAS. Fig. 329. 
Winter milk, and by so doing gets the largest returns 
per cow of any man who patronizes the creamery. 
He makes money by his method, although he buys a 
good deal of grain. The other man produces about 
one-third as much milk in Winter as in Summer, and 
makes the year’s milk at a less cost, buying less grain, 
and gets less for his milk. He makes a profit. There 
is no way that is best for everybody, much depends 
upon the cost of land, the price of labor and the price 
of milk. 
As the cool October nights come on we keep the 
cows over night in the stable, feeding barley and peas 
and fodder corn. Sometimes we keep them up earlier 
in the season, and some neighbors have done so this 
year. Of course, more manure is saved to apply when 
it is wanted, but so long as the cpws can get a good 
bite in the fields they will give more milk on the 
choice pasture grasses containing considerable pro¬ 
tein, than they will when fed the more carbonaceous 
fodder corn. The corn must be had for most seasons 
though, because the pasture grasses become too dry 
and too scarce for a full feed. No crop can take the 
place of corn in such cases, at least In respect to 
quantity. We always feed a good deal of sowed corn, 
but really it needs a little bran to go with it. 
To-day, on a farm of some note, I found one item 
of good management carried out better than I ever 
saw it elsewhere. One man was at work, as he evi¬ 
dently had been some days before, with paint and 
brush, painting everything that can be benefited by 
the application of a coat of paint. Wagons and sleighs 
and sleds, plows, mowing machines and other imple¬ 
ments, and even whiflletrees and neck yoke came in 
for a share. It looks so much better to have them 
painted; besides, it pays, for the tools last so much 
longer. Then, too, these beautiful October days form 
a very good time to do the work, not so cold as to hin¬ 
der the workman at all, and work not crowding so 
much as to make it unwise to leave it for this pur¬ 
pose. Yes, let’s apply the paint, and while about it 
make any needed repairs, preparatory for next sea¬ 
son’s work. 
This season, the growth in our meadows since hay¬ 
ing has been quite rapid. Many are turning their 
cows into the meadows, and are getting a nice flow 
of milk as the result. The question as to the wisdom 
of this course has been answered both ways. We find, 
usually, that feeding off a part of a rank growth does 
not unfavorably affect our meadows, or at least we 
think it does not. One year we left a fine growth of 
rowen, and as a result got almost nothing the follow¬ 
ing year. In that instance mice spoiled the field. A 
lot by the side of it that was mowed did nicely the 
next year. Where the growth is tall enough to allow 
cutting a good swath, mowing seems to be the best 
plan, but usually there is only a part that can be 
mowed anyway. If that is mowed and cattle are then 
turned into the field the place that was mowed starts 
up fresh, and the cattle are likely to eat it too close. 
Usually this is not an‘advisable course. Another diffi¬ 
culty is on a new seeded piece. There, too, is where 
cows are likely to stay the greater portion of the 
time. In other words cows will eat too closely just 
the places that you want them to leave, and so long 
as they can get a fair bite elsewhere, they do not care 
for the places where the growth is such that you want 
it eaten off. Our practice is to turn into the meadows 
where the growth is good, and there is not too much 
new seeded that will be injured. Sometimes we find 
it advisable to string two or three strands of wire 
around a newly-seeded field, and let the cows run over 
the remainder. A light sprinkling of stable manure 
over a field needing protection will suffice usually, 
and is most excellent in its results. We do not let 
the cows stay long’enough in any one field to eat it 
down close to the ground. 
I have been watching quite closely a small lot of 
beets this Summer. It comprises 35 square rods of 
land. As I was driving past yesterday I saw the 
owner at work harvesting. He has an even lOu bush¬ 
els, or three tons of roots. This is at the rate of 
13 5-7 tons per acre. Sugar beets are worth $5 per 
ton, when sold to sugar makers, and many think them 
worth as much to feed. These beets are “half sugars,” 
but I do not know whether that makes them more 
or less valuable for feeding. They will be fed this 
Winter to a herd of new milch cows. Mr. Pearsall, 
the owner, says six days’ work is all he has done on 
the lot, where he gets the three tons of roots. There 
Is the use of the land, the seed and fertilizer besides. 
' _ H. H. L. 
REMEDIES FOR THE ENGLISH SPARROWS. 
Last year I was much annoyed by English spar¬ 
rows. Not only did they eat more food than the 
fowls, but aligned themselves on the fence at every 
meal time waiting for the feast. As I am somewhat 
averse to shooting them, I used only gentle means to 
prevent their depredations, but they seemed to have 
found a harboring place with me, and multiplied un¬ 
til there were hundreds. They also consumed g;raln 
and seeds from the neighbors’ farms and soiled the 
ground under my trees. Finally, they took posses¬ 
sion of my porch. This nuisance has continued for 
several years. At last I noticed that their numbers 
were diminishing, and I endeavored to learn the 
cause, being very much puzzled until I saw a small 
hawk sitting near a tree containing sparrows. At 
night a little screech owl seemed also to have consid¬ 
erable business near my house. 
Only the large hawks are destructive in the poul¬ 
try yard. In Winter there are no very small chicks 
on farms. Hawks and owls destroy mice, and the 
owl consumes night-flying moths, while both the owl 
and hawk are partial to grasshoppers, and all kinds 
of insects. While farmers are holding conventions 
to consider how to destroy the sparrow they are also 
keeping the hawk and owl at a distance with the 
shotgun. The sparrow remains near the dwellings, 
and the way to get rid of them is to give his natural 
enemies the same rights and privileges. T never 
shoot a hawk or owl, yet I have never lost a chick by 
hawks. I keep my fowls closed at night, hence the 
owl cannot get at them. Instead of shooting these 
friends T am even v/llling to share a portion of my 
poultry with them if they will continue the work of 
annihilating the sparrows, which consume more of 
my produce and foods than the fowls, v. h. jacobb. 
