i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
51 
keep cool and don’t buy a Spanish-Ameri- 
can dictionary just yet: you may not need 
it. 
Page 720: Humorous. What a collec¬ 
tion of wit and humor 1 The farmer needs 
considerable of this to relieve the monotony 
of his life; hence this last page is by no 
means the least. Let us have as much 
every week, that we may laugh and grow 
fat; not quite so fat, however, as the man 
in the handicap illustration. 
Raymond, S. D. 
NOTES ON No. 2076, NOVEMBER 9. 
S. E. HOWARD. 
» ♦ 
The beautiful picture of the rose-covered 
cottage gives nothing but pleasure. The 
account of the rose-tree and the wealth of 
flowers will incite many to grow one like 
it. I also like the letters, especially where 
the young men stay on the farm with the 
old folks. I believe in intelligent farm¬ 
ing, and cannot see how mercantile life 
could be better for old or young; but I 
cannot agree with the writer who talks of 
the lack of farming papers in the farm¬ 
houses. I never knew such a dearth of 
them as he portrays. He must look deep¬ 
er than that for reasons why the sons 
leave the farm. Life on a farm is seldom 
made as attractive as it might be. “ Dis¬ 
tance lends enchantment” to other views, 
and the young have yet to learn that the 
rainbow does not point to a pot of gold. 
If the Michigan thrashers count the 
board as well as the work of the men and 
horses into the running expenses of their 
machine, they have an argument for co¬ 
operation. Here the cost of thrashing is 
twice what they pay. A thrash¬ 
ing scene here would be somewhat 
different. We could not have that 
strip of woodland in the back¬ 
ground. A portable engine would 
supply the power. At one side 
would stand a cabin on wheels, 
containing a cooking outfit, where 
the men are fed. The sacks would 
contain only one bushel of grain, 
to make handling easier. The hay¬ 
rack in the corner is used among 
us. 
The problem of making a living 
on the Long Island farm and the 
answers called forth by it are very 
interesting. Were it a farmer who 
was struggi.ng to earn a living in 
a city, and yearly going in debt 
for necessaries, the family would 
probably turn to the little farm 
as a very haven of peace. With no 
rent to pay, a chance to raise poul¬ 
try, eggs, vegetables and a pig or 
two, and two cows to keep the 
family in milk and butter the year 
’round, more than half of their 
living would be assured. The hus¬ 
band could work out much of the 
time, and the others keep things 
in order about the place. The 
poultry could be made a source 
of income at no very great outlay. 
Had the owner of the little place 
gone there when there were in his 
family only two—his wife and himself—it 
does not look as if it would have been a very 
difficult matter to have earned a lovely 
home by this time. Little farms well tilled 
tell big stories sometimes. 
The dairymen seem well agreed as to the 
effect of different grains on milk and but¬ 
ter. I believe that the hay has an important 
effect also. Both clover and Alfalfa highten 
the color of butter, and seem to bear the 
same relation to ocher grasses in their effect 
upon the milk that corn-meal bears to other 
grains. Who shall say how important a 
part of the cows’ rations is salt given regu¬ 
larly ? The color of butter is not traceable 
wholly to food. Some cows give white but¬ 
ter, feed them as one may. Could a cow 
that makes butter of a deep orange color be 
made to make entirely white butter by 
feeding for it ? I doubt it. 
The new seedling apple wins for itself a 
tempting description, and doubtless will 
be sought for by many tree-growers. 
“Winter-feeding of Sheep” contains a 
plan new to me—that of making poor hay 
and straw palatal le to stock by sprinkling 
with brine. 
Letters from eight different States tell 
how nearly everything is marketed, from 
strawberries to petroleum. It would seem 
that after the hard work of raising crops, 
marketing would be an easy matter; but 
how comparatively few market at a profit! 
The more light on the subject the better. 
The Rural Special Reports give an in¬ 
telligent idea of the crops all over the coun¬ 
try. The Farmers’ Club answers perplexing 
questions. A patient accountant tells of 
the cost of living in Colorado. I am glad 
to see how he proves that woman is not 
always the costly creature she is generally 
supposed to be. If more men noted their 
expenses as carefully, less would be heard 
about “woman’s extravagance,” and more 
wives would receive the credit due to them 
for helping to bear the burdens ; for is not 
a penny saved a penny earned ? 
The dwarf Lima bean may be a question 
of small interest to a man in a wooded sec¬ 
tion, but to us on the treeless plains, where 
it is many miles from the garden txthe 
“ pole-patch ” in the Rockies, how shall we 
grow Limas in satisfying quantities with¬ 
out too heavy a drain on time or purse? 
Give us the dwarfs by all means, and don’t 
call us “ lazy ” if we are glad to get them. 
The Illinois man’s way of planting corn 
would be good for our country where the 
crop often suffers tor the want of sufficient 
irrigation. 
If smutty corn was in the silo, would not 
the heat destroy its harmfulness! Like 
Prof. Shelton, I think the less surface of 
the silage exposed to the air the better, and 
before again filling my silo, which is 18 
feet square, I intend to run one or more 
partitions across it. 
I never thought the Blanchard churn a 
“ man-killer,” but I consider those without 
dashers neater, as no “gudgeon grease” 
can form near the butter. 
The “ Good Story ” is timely and to the 
point. The “ Samples” are interesting para¬ 
graphs. In “Word for Word” I find my 
sympathies leaning toward the man who 
did not wish to be fined for what his cow 
didn’t do, but of course going to jail did 
not help the matter. 
HOW MANURE IS LEACHED. 
Charles A. Green’s remarks are very true. 
Seldom does the purchase of things unseen 
prove satisfactory. If Eastern people 
would practice the self-denials and put up 
with the “ hard knocks ” in the East which 
they must oftentimes endure in the West, 
they would soon remove all necessity for 
seeking a better field. 
Four hundred and fifty women must be 
sadly disappointed not to be all able to re¬ 
port a wonderful potato crop to the Rural. 
Can’t the dairymen learn a lesson from 
that cabbage grower ? They might sur¬ 
round their cows with yellow pumpkins 
and corn to color the butter. Which would 
be the wilder scheme ? 
A lame horse is such a trial; let us take 
small risks in buying one already lame. 
For the sake of justice let us hope the 
milk-testers will be sure they are right be¬ 
fore they go ahead with the fines. 
“ Grain Food and Butter ” will give top¬ 
ics for many a letter in spite of all that has 
been written on the subject. 
I like the “ Brevities ;” they often save 
me from overlooking something of great 
interest in the paper. 
Many of ourgardeners use tile for bleach¬ 
ing celery. One of them told me it was 
not a very satisfactory method, all things 
considered. 
If the hen roost is placed high, and has 
steps to it, how can its bight harm the 
hens ? Besides, the place under a high 
roost can be much more easily cleaned out 
than that under a low one. I fancy, too> 
that hens feel more secure roosting on a 
high perch. 
Woman’s Work is full of good things 
ranging from the cut of a sleeve, to Kansas 
as a women’s paradise. “ Cottage Maid ” 
has a well written article. I would “ wield 
the broom or duster ” or superintend a 
chicken house and hatching establishment 
before I would depend upon any of “the 
occupations not menial” to supply my 
bread and butter. The chapters on dress¬ 
making and cleaning gloves give useful 
hints. 
Greeley, Col. 
NOTES ON NO. 2070, SEPTEMBER 28 
W. S. SMITH. 
The issue of September 28 contains much 
of interest, especially T. B. Terry’s exhibit 
of farm tools. Nearly every one is aware 
that more thorough cultivation is needed 
for the best results on a majority of farms. 
And Mr. T.’s talk should encourage all to 
secure the best assortment of machinery 
for their special work and country as fast 
as they have means to spare and good 
shelter to preserve the tools. A poor, leaky 
roof is nearly as hard on some machinery 
as lying right out doors. Farmers gener¬ 
ally know that a harrow that is best for 
certain work is very inferior or even hurtful 
on another job that may have to be done the 
same day or the next, and therefore two or 
more varieties, each adapted to some spec¬ 
ial work, are needed, and it is more or less 
so with other things. But one should be 
sure to keep them well sheltered, and buy 
no more than he can shelter. Where it can 
From a Cornell Bulletin. Fig. 21. 
lie done two or more farmers should buy 
and use the more costly tools in partner¬ 
ship. 
Oil is a great preserver of wood as is 
shown by the discussion about wagon 
wheels, and with a pail of hot oil and a 
brush oil should be applied at all the joints 
of the woodwork of sleds, wagons, binders, 
etc., till well soaked and then they should 
be painted. But, first, one should be sure 
that they are thoroughly dry and no water 
can then enter to cause rot. 
Adulteration is a great evil and the laws 
against it should be more severe. I would 
not object to the adulteration of any arti¬ 
cle or even to an imitation (as oleo) if the 
law compelled sellers to label it plainly and 
state its composition and the proportion of 
each ingredient in it. Where the quality 
can be seen every buyer must be his own 
judge. 
Hay is hay ; but some kinds ar better 
than others. Timothy raised on clay up¬ 
land with fine, bright stems and leaves is 
preferable to the tall, coarse Timothy of 
rich, lowlands. 
The R. N.-Y. is worthy of praise and of 
far more patronage than it receives in fi¬ 
nancial ways, for its high standard of ex¬ 
cellence and fearless condemnation of 
frauds of all kinds, including the boom of 
Western lauds by interested journals, call¬ 
ing themselves the farmer’s special friends. 
The Women’s Potato Contest is a good 
specimen of the R. N.-Y’s enterprise and 
originality. 
The table of estimated population for the 
next century is interesting and seems to 
indicate a rapid rise in the value of farm 
lands and better markets for farm produce. 
There seems to be nothing to censure in 
this issue ; but “ Word for Word ” says ; 
“ Life is a half-way house and each should 
be content with the room given him.” But 
should we rest content when rich men and 
corporations throw the refuse from their 
rooms into ours or squeeze us between the 
movable partitions of these rooms, some¬ 
times forcing poor miners, factory girls, 
etc., out into the “ great beyond?” 
Pleasant Valley, Ill. 
NOTES ON NO. 2073, OCTOBER 19. 
EDWIN TATLOR. 
The Speed of the Plow. —Four miles an 
hour, in plowing, as advocated on page 695, is 
a gait which it is safe to say is seldom made 
or recommended by plowmen who either 
“ hold themselves or drive.” Neither horse 
nor man (with a walking plow) could stand 
it. It is doing two days’ work in one day. 
What is a day’s work in plowing ? I con¬ 
sider 2% acres a good day’s work with two 
horses in stubble ground, and three acres a 
big day’s work—the plowing to be six 
inches deep. The latter amount may be 
turned over by a 14-inch plow traveling 2% 
miles an hour for 10 hours, no allowance 
being made for turning. The turning con¬ 
sumes a variable amount of time, varying 
from, perhaps, 15 minutes to an hour, out 
of the day, according to the length of a 
“bout ” and the skill of the driver ; but it 
need not be figured on for the average 
farmer—in a 10 hour computation—since 
his “ day ” exceeds 10 
hours by more than any 
reasonable time for turn¬ 
ing. If the farmer is sat¬ 
isfied to call 2X acres a 
day’s work, he can finish 
his task with a 14-inch 
plow going 2)4 miles an 
hour, in 10 hours, and 
take out of that an hour 
and 40 minutes to turn in; 
or, if he works 10 hours, 
he may take one of them 
for turning, and taking a 
gait of 1 17-18 mile an 
hour plow 2 X acres in the 
time. A 14-inch plow 
traveling four miles an 
hour for 10 hours—no al¬ 
lowance being made for 
turning—would turn over 
5 11-17 acres; but two 
days of such work would 
kill the team. As an il¬ 
lustration of the speed at 
which a plow actually 
travels in real life, I 
quote from the R. N.-Y. 
of November 2, page 733. 
In some of the fields (of 
the Bell Farm) the fur¬ 
rows are four miles long, 
a “ bout ” (eight miles) 
being a half day’s work 
for man and team. This 
would be only 1 3-5 mile an hour, working 
10 hours a day. 
Cost of Plowing. —I have great respect 
for Henry Stewart and his opinions, and 
freely concede that it costs him (page 695) 
$2.00 to plow an acre. Fortunately it doesn’t 
cost me half that. In land free of stumps 
or other obstructions, I figure plowing at 
about 75 cents per acre. Thus : 
To man 1 day at $1.00.$1.00 
“ two horses 1 day at 40 cents each... .SO 
“ Interest on plow, sharpening same, 
wear, etc.15 
Total.$1.95 
By 1 day’s plowing, 2>j acres, at 
75 cents.$1.S7> 4 ' 
One dollar a day is “going” summer 
wages, with us, for day hands who board 
themselves and lose the lost time. The 
cost of horse-work I get at in this way : 
Interest on investment of $125.00 at 
8 per cent.$10.00 
Feed of horse per year (70 bushels 
corn at 40 cents—$28.00 ; 2)4 tons 
hay at $6.00—$15.00). 43.00 
Wear and tear of horse per year. 10.00 
Insurance of horse per year. 7.00 
Stable care per year. 10.00 
Total cost of one horse per year. .‘$80.00 
If used only 200 days out of the year, 40 
cents per day pay the bill, and you may 
drive him for nothing for 165 days by pay¬ 
ing the taxes on him. 
Apropos of this subject, it has seemed to 
