THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
TULY 5 
432 
root growth so as to cultivate intelligently. Every year 
farmers who are too poor to buy a book that would teach 
them how to grow cuttings for nothing, pay 75 cents for a 
grape vine and 25 for a currant. The grape is never 
trimmed and the currant never bears for want of a little 
knowledge in the grower. With the deterioration and ex¬ 
haustion of the soil by our present slothful practices, comes 
the necessity for a practical knowledge of chemistry. 
The average farmer’s knowledge of that branch is illus¬ 
trated by the following incident: A friend of mine mixed 
his hen manure with equal parts of lime and ashes. When 
he opened the door to show me his “corn medicine,” the 
ammonia nearly knocked me down. With pride in his eye 
he said : “ That’s the stuff, it smells bunkum !” 
One long, expensive ditch, which is a failure, has been 
completed by a farmer who despises “ book farmin’.” A 
freshman in geology would have known better. A knowl¬ 
edge of the soil strata would have located it at the foot 
of the hill for springs. The coarse, bulky products of the 
farm must be manufactured into more valuable ones. With 
the cow as a machine grass and grain are converted into 
milk, which is in turn manufactured into butter, veal and 
pork. “ With the present price of butter, the feeding rations 
must be studied with care or a dairy will put you into a 
hole,” says one of our most successful dairymen. Testing 
the cows, breeding for milk or beef, the whole art. requires 
both skill and close attention, not possessed by an untrained 
mind. The trained may make some failures in new 
methods, which are indications of advancement. People 
do not fail in familiar methods ; they do so only when the 
new is tried. One student who commenced farming last 
summer, made a failure in the application of one newidea 
and received considerable snubbing ; but the power train¬ 
ing gives to stick and overcome kept him from being dis¬ 
couraged and now his success is copied by those who 
derided. 
As a buyer, a knowledge of the methods of business 
enables the farmer to buy cheaper and to make favorable 
contracts, and keeps him out of the hands of sharpers. A 
knowledge of materials, their quality and abundance, saves 
expense. The ordinary, necessary purchases of an average 
farm amount to from $500 to $1,000 per year. Ten per 
cent of this sum saved by judicious buying, and by not 
buying untried novelties, may be the only profit for the 
year. A salesman’s knowledge gives the greatest power. 
No man is a successful “ drummer” who does not under¬ 
stand his trade. The profits of the farmer largely depend 
on the selling ability of the owner. 
On one farm near here, last year, every thing sold went 
to private customers and seedsmen at 25 to 50 per cent, 
above the highest quoted city prices. The things were 
good, but not so much better as the price would indicate. 
It was the determination of the seller to get his price, and 
former training enabled him to do It. Life at college, 
while young, fosters pride in personal appearance and 
confidence in one’s-self whiph many farmers lack. Inter¬ 
course with others of superior mental training sharpens 
the intellect. Mingling in society gives ease of manner 
without which a man is a failure as a salesman. Embar¬ 
rassed manners fail to command respect and confidence, 
while timidity hinders that tactful presentation and 
pressing of sales which bring success. 
1 met Mossback yesterday. “ What good is an education 
on a farm ?” said I. “Nawthin’,” was the laconic answer. 
“Haven’t you 20 fanning mills in your barn and a note 
to pay at the bank?” said I. “Yes, but what’s that 
ar to do with an eddication ?” Young Progress replied to 
the same question : “ It is more than capital. Plenty are 
ready to lend me money, but I don’t need it now.” Moss- 
back paid for his farm in 51 years, while Progress has done 
it in 13. Ignorance in regard to his own vocation keeps 
more dollars from the farmer’s pocket than all of the com¬ 
bined monopolies. 
Tompkins Co., N. Y. 
FARMING 900 ACRES AT A PROFIT IN 
WESTERN NEW YORK. 
WHEAT CULTURE. 
We are successfully competing with the West in raising 
wheat on land worth approximately $100 per acre, even at 
the low prices now prevalent. How do we do it ? There 
is no cereal that shows the effects of good treatment more 
quickly than wheat, nor is there one that is surer to dis¬ 
appoint one if its wants are neglected. Wheat requires 
certain soils, and the soil must be properly prepared for 
the reception of the seed. If the soil is deficient in nutri¬ 
ment the elements lacking must be supplied ; in other 
words, we must give the seed a good bed, the right kind 
of food, plant it at the proper time, and as a result of this 
thorough preparation it will repay us with a bountiful 
harvest. For over 35 years father has made wheat his 
special crop; that is, he has grown more of it each year 
than of any other cereal, and it has helped more than any 
other single crop to make him what is called a successful 
farmer. 
Our last year’s crop footed up about 5,000 bushels, being 
an average yield of 26>£ bushels per acre. This was not an 
extraordinarily large crop for us, but about the average, 
say, for the last six years. Some seasons it has gone as 
high as 33 bushels per acre, and it has fallen as low as 18, 
but it is not often that we have as poor a yield as that. 
The method of culture is nearly the same that father applied 
in farming 35 years ago, remodeled and improved to meet 
the requirements of the age in which we live. The larger 
share of our wheat is grown after barley or oats, and we 
are still old-fashioned enough to do a great deal of summer¬ 
fallowing. As soon as possible after the barley and oats 
have been removed we start the plows, plowing from seven 
to nine inches deep, as the needs of the soil demand; never 
shallower than that, as we have found by repeated exper¬ 
ience that it does not pay to skim the surface in wheat 
growing. The plows we use are made by the Syracuse and 
Wiard Plow Companies, and seem better adapted for the 
soils of Western New York than those of any other make. 
We try to follow the plows as closely as possible with the 
rollers and harrows, so as to partially pulverize the sur¬ 
face before “Old Sol” bakes the furrows as hard as a 
brick, as is the case in some lands. We have one farm 
of 365 acres, about half of which is clay. One man with a 
three-horse team and good spring-tooth harrow can do 
more effective work right after the plow in one day on 
such land, than three men and nine horses with the most 
improved pulverizers a week afterward. After the land 
is plowed and harrowed we roll it, then harrow again, 
and if the barley or oats grow, as is usually the case, the 
three-horse cultivator is next brought into requisition. 
This implement is hard on horses, but I know of no other 
tool that does equally good work with the same amount 
of horse power. 
After going over a field once or twice with this imple¬ 
ment, nearly all of the barley, oats, thistles, quack and 
weeds are taken out by the roots and the soil is rendered 
comparatively fine to a depth of three or four inches. The 
field is usually rolled at least once more, and harrowed 
ahead of the drills. This is the general treatment that we 
give barley or oat-stubble. Of course, we have to do more 
work on some lots and less on others. The larger part of 
our land is dark, gravelly loam with a clay subsoil, and 
does not require nearly as much cultivation, under the 
same conditions, as the clay. But the clay lands produce 
a sure wheat crop when it is properly put in. Last season 
w T e summer-fallowed 65 acres, most of which was a clover 
sod that had been pastured more or less. After plowing, 
which is done in Juue and July, the fallow is treated in 
much the same manner as the stubble. Many progressive 
farmers claim that fallowing is an expensive process, 
which causes the loss of the ground for a season, and in 
the end is of little value. That has not been our exper¬ 
ience. I do not know of any quicker, surer, or more eco¬ 
nomical method of bringing poor soil into a good state of 
cultivation, of improving the mechanical condition of the 
soil, of exterminating foul weeds, and of preparing a more 
perfect seed bed for wheat than by plowing under clover 
followed by judicious fallowing. Sometimes we take off a 
crop of hay and then fallow the stubble, but I should not 
advise that except on very rich or weedy land. To be sure, 
there Is a great deal of food in clover roots, but not nearly 
as much as some theoretical writers would have us be¬ 
lieve. “Tillage is manure” is a saying as old as agricul¬ 
ture itself, and is especially true in regard to wheat grow¬ 
ing. In some parts of the West the farmers plow the land, 
throw the seed at the furrows and drag it in with smooth¬ 
ing harrows. That is not farming—nothing but trusting 
to Providence. 
Two friends of mine went to Kansas several years ago, 
and began raising wheat as we do here in the East. The old 
residents laughed at them, but the boys have had an aver¬ 
age yield of 30 bushels per acre the last two years, while 
the average for Kansas is not half that. Well, our seed-bgd 
is ready and the next thing is the selection of the seed and 
fertilizers. In our opinion the old reliable. Clawson Wheat 
stands out pre eminent as the leading variety for this sec¬ 
tion. During the past 16 years we have given it repeated 
tests with Mediterranean Hybrid, Longberry Red, Fultz, 
Amber, Post, Diehl, and other varieties as competitors, and 
the result has been such that last Autumn we sowed 202 
acres of Clawson and only 13 of other varieties. A new 
wheat to us, Fulcaster by name, has been tried by some 
neighboring farmers lately, and bids fair to become one ot 
our best wheats. We change our seed every two or three 
years with beneficial effects on the different farms, as the 
soils are not the same on all and it is carefully cleaned. It 
would seem that farmers cannot be too careful in cleaning 
their seed, as upon the seed depends in a great measure the 
success of the crop. Then as to fertilizers, we use Bradley, 
Lister, Homestead and Crocker “superphosphates,” all of 
which give good satisfaction. In fact, manufactured fer¬ 
tilizers are a necessity with us to make wheat-growing 
profitable. The wheat and fertilizer are drilled in together 
at the rate of two bushels of seed, and from 100 to 200 
pounds of “superphosphate,” peracre. We try to commence 
sowing by the 10th of September, and make an effort to 
finish before the 24th of the same month. The wheat is 
cut by four self binders of Osborne and Deering make, 
which cut about 10 acres each per day. It is thrashed in 
the early Autumn, and sold when the price suits, and some¬ 
times when it doesn’t. 
Last year’s crop figures up something like this: 
bushels wheat at 90 cents.$28 85 
1 ton siraw... 5 UO—$28 85 
2 bushels seed at 80 cents. 1 00 
lto lbs. superphosphate at $1.50 per 100 lbs. 2 25 - 8 85 
$25 00 
This leaves us $25 to pay for our land, labor and interest 
on the money invested, and the land is growing better year 
by year. The present crop at this writing is looking good, 
except in spots where the superfluous water of last winter 
and spring stood too long, and yet in spite of that we will 
have a good average crop. ED5VARD F. DIBBLE. 
Lima, N. Y. 
A LISTENER’S NOTES. 
About Insects.— I had a talk with Prof. Smith, the 
Entomologist of the New Jersey Experiment Station, last 
week. The grain louse has been quite destructive to the 
wheat and rye throughout New Jersey this season. Many 
oat fields have turned yellow and the plants have died. 
Farmers who found the pests on the oats at once concluded 
that this insect was killing the crop. Prof. Smith says 
this is not so. Another insect that works at the root is 
injuring the oats. Farmers who have sprayed for the 
plant lice have been disappointed because they never 
touched the insect that was really doing the injury. Prof. 
S. finds tobacco water a sure remedy for the ilea beetle. 
This has not been satisfactory with me He also says that 
the tobacco water will drive off the potato beetles. It is 
hard to realize that a man can keep in his mouth that 
which makes a potato beetle sick I Prof. S. also said that 
farmers can readily handle the potato beetle if they will 
kill off the second brood as carefully as they do the first. 
It is the second brood that “ seeds ” the ground for the 
next year. 
Pick a Reform and Push It.—I t is surprising to me 
to see how many people there are who express substantially 
the ideas advanced in the following note. If we only could 
unite our energies and fight some one social evil until we 
conquered it, we might accomplish something. As it is, 
we have our pet evils, and in our anxiety to get to close 
quarters with them, we whack each other over the shins. 
Evil grows fat on the bad temper thus produced. 
“ What a spectacle does our country present! Sixty-five 
millions of the freest people on earth nearly all most bit¬ 
terly wanting needed reform, and yet not able to agree on 
one point or policy on which to unite. What use, what 
senseis there in this waiting, this wrangling, costly, danger¬ 
ous delay ? Divided we stand to fall unitedly if we cannot 
ere long agree on some great national reform that shall 
bring us, as it were, a new heaven and a new earth. What 
is that reform, and how shall we find it or agree on it ? 
How I wish we could take the ‘ sense-us ’ of the people on 
that one point. Wbat evil do a majority complain of and 
want abolished first ? I believe intemperance would be 
selected, and that by an overwhelming majority.” 
Cooling Milk in Bottles.— The bottled milk industry 
is growing with wonderful rapidity. Even in our small 
towns and villages milkmen are forced to bottle their milk 
or lose their best customers. One of the most difficult 
problems presented to dairymen, particularly in this sea¬ 
son of ice famine, is that of cooling the bottled milk prop¬ 
erly. The following letter was recently sent by a bright 
young New Jersey farmer to Professor E. B. Voorhees. It 
is to be hoped that some of theR. N.-Y.’s scientific men will 
tell us the “ why ” of the matter. Most dairymen close the 
jar before cooling, but why should it be necessary to do so? 
“We have been bottling the milk warm, leaving the jar 
open and in cold water until cooled down to 60 degrees; 
then we seal the jars and submerge them in cold water 
until the time for the wagon to start; after all our careful 
handling the milk will not keep, but sours before the 
wagon gets around again the next day. Our cows are all 
pure Jerseys and our milk will average at least 25 per cent, 
of cream at this season. The cows are fed cut hay mixed 
with quarts of corn-meal and two quarts of new-process 
linseed meal per day, besides ‘green feed,’ such as wheat, 
Scarlet Clover, Red Clover, Timothy, etc. 1. Is the trouble 
due to putting the milk in the jars warm ? 2. Would it 
be better to cool it to 60 degrees before putting it in ? If 
so, why ? I cannot see why it should not keep when cooled 
down to 60 degrees in an open jar as well as though it were 
cooled before bottling. 3. Would an aerator obviate the 
difficulty ? ” 
“ Adulterated Beer.” —A general agent of one of our 
leading insurance companies tells me that the drinking of 
the beer now in general use has necessitated a change in 
the writing of policies for insurance. Such beer is not a 
beverage made from hops and barley alone. At least one- 
third corn-meal is used, the proper color and consistency 
being obtained by the use of certain secret combinations 
of chemicals and drugs. “I would rather pass a moderate 
whisky drinker than a habitual beer drinkeer,” said an 
expert medical examiner for an insurance company the 
other day, and it is a fact that our leading life insurance 
companies are becoming more and more afraid of beer 
drinking. While the use of these dangerous beer adulter¬ 
ants is exceedingly injurious to the public health, the farm¬ 
er who grows hops and barley also suffers. If the product 
of cheap corn can be so “doctored” by drugs as to pass 
for barley and malt beverages at the same price as that 
obtained for the genuine article, yrho loses and who gains 
the difference in the cost of the beer ? 
Numbering Farm Houses.— This is the latest scheme 
among California farmers. The roads are given some ap 
propriate name and then measured, and each mile is divided 
into 10 imaginary blocks. These blocks are numbered al¬ 
ternately. beginning on the end of the road nearest the 
county-seat. This gives 20 blocks to the mile. The houses 
are then designated by the number of the block in which 
they happen to come. Should there be more than one 
house in the block, the same number will be applied, fol¬ 
lowed by the letters a, b, c, d, etc. Each resident erects a 
uniform sign at the entrance of the road, the sign to con¬ 
tain the number of the block, and, if desired, the name of 
the resident. This costs but little, aud makes it very easy 
to find a desired residence. 
HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
Transplanting. —Tomatoes are taking up a considerable 
amount of attention at this time. The majority of plauters 
wait for a wet spell or else use water in setting out the 
plants. I think if they would set them out in the after¬ 
noons on freshly furrowed land, covering them well up to 
the tops, and then pack the soil around them firmly with 
the foot, they would abandon the wetting and the wet days. 
Wetting plants is, like shaking trees when transplanting, 
of no use, if not a positive injury. Tomato plants should 
not be planted over five inches deep aud three is better. 
Cherries have mostly succumbed to the rot or fungus. The 
trees have been unhealthy here for the last 10 years. 
Mercer County, N. J. I. J. Blackwell. 
A New' Celery at Boston.— One of the surprises of the 
Boston market of 1889, was the introduction of the so-called 
Paris Golden Celery, which jumped into popularity at a 
bound. It is really a fine-looking celery, to say the least, 
and is also fair eating. In color it is golden yellow which 
attracts the eye, and it comes quite ear ly in the season— 
