36 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 18 
beautiful appearance, and are a true sample of the 
contents of the barrel.” 
Selling and Profits.— Mr. Pherson sells a quan¬ 
tity of his fruit to retailers in Newark, his nearest 
market; but the bulk of his crop goes to one or more 
of the larger cities which promise the most satis¬ 
factory prices. For his fancy apples, he usually 
realizes from $3 to $4 per barrel of 11 pecks, which is, 
1 believe, the standard size. For his seconds, SI.50 to 
S2 per barrel is considered a fair price. Possibly it 
would be safe to state that the average price for a 
whole crop is about S3.75 per barrel. The crop, from 
the time it is taken from the trees until it is placed 
upon the market, costs for picking, sorting and stor¬ 
ing, re-sorting, grading and barreling, transportation 
and commission, nearly SI per barrel as nearly as can 
be estimated ; this would leave a net profit of SI.75 
per barrel. 
Mr. Pherson will have, at least, 350 barrels of sound 
apples to place upon the market this season ; these 
at SI-75 per barrel, would net him a trifle more than 
SG00. But to bring it down to the very lowest esti¬ 
mate—an average of SI. 50 per barrel net, we still 
have a profit of $525, which is certainly a snug little 
addition to the credit column of the farm ledger, con¬ 
sidering that it is the proceeds from but 10 acres, or 
but one-sixteenth of his farm. Mr. Pherson will 
surely enjoy a goodly bank account, so long as those 
old banks upon his farm, are under the shadow of his 
old and trusted friend—the dn-ector—Mr. Ben Davis. 
Ohio. _ F- H. B. 
VARIOUS NOTES FROM IOWA. 
Mr Grundy, on page 853, says concerning shredded 
corn fodder, that “ it will be several years before the 
average farmer learns just how to manage this new 
material for the best results.” I wish to repeat the 
word “ several ” to make it look larger, and I also 
wish to give an illustration of how slow the progress 
is up here. Not one of my neighbors has employed 
the shredder this fall, and I do not know that any 
corn fodder has been shredded in this township, while 
last year thousands of acres of the fodder were 
shredded, and probably two-thirds of my neighbors 
employed the machine. Now, why is this ? The self- 
binder “ took ” readily enough among the farmers ; 
everybody has a check-row corn planter, and it is the 
same way with other improved machinery. The 
farmers have seemed ready enough to adopt improve¬ 
ments, so what is the matter with the shredder ? 
I am feeding potatoes to cows for the first time, and 
find that it pays. I began feeding turnips and pota¬ 
toes about November 1. By the 15th, I was feeding 
one-half bushel of each to my six cows, that is, one- 
sixth of a bushel of the mixed feed to each cow. The 
turnips were soon dropped out, aCnd by the last of the 
month, the cows were each getting a peck of potatoes 
a day. Two of the cows calved within the month, so 
I cannot tell what effect the potatoes had on them ; 
but the other four gave milk as follows : 
Yield first five Yield last five Gain or 
daysof month. days of month. loss. 
Lbs. Oz. Lbs. Oz. Lbs. Oz. 
Bessie. 58 4 62 4 4 0 
Pet. 158 4 68 12 0 8 
Alice. 71 8 68 4 3 4 
Flossie. 70 4 72 0 1 12 
Gain, six pounds four ounces ; loss, three pounds four 
ounces ; net gain, three pounds, showing that the 
cows were giving more the last of the month than at 
the first. 1 call that a first-rate showing, especially 
as November was extremely cold, and we would nat¬ 
urally expect the cows to shrink considerably. 
I have had a tussle with the hog cholera, and have 
given the remedy recommended by the Department of 
Agriculture a trial, and found it a help. As soon as 
I determined that cholera was on the place, I sold 
everything which would do to market, leaving me 
with 14 head. Six of these died, and eight pulled 
through. Without the help of the medicine, I prob¬ 
ably would have fared as one of my neighbors did with 
the same disease at the same time. He had about a 
dozen, and lost all but one. e. b. watson. 
Iowa. _ 
WHAT SAY? 
Some New Apples. —I have a lot of scions of the 
following varieties of apples : Akin (red), Paragon, 
Springdale and Shackelford. I would like to have some 
opinions of R. N.-Y. readers as to the value of these 
apples, before doing more than testing them. They 
seem to be unknown here. F. b. 
Shelton, Wash. 
What About Bone Cutters ?—It is high time to 
call a halt in this bone cutter business. There may 
be a few places m the East (which I doubt) where 
the poultryman can get all the bones he wishes to cut. 
However, at most of the places in the West, there are 
two bone cutters to one bone, and about the only way 
one can get the bones, is to buy beef by the quarter 
Or carcass, which brings thejjprice of bones from four 
to eight times higher than the Eastern estimate. The 
poultryman or farmer has no dollars, not even the 
so-called 50-cent dollars, to throw in the junk pile 
these hard times. F- g- 
Stuart, Mont. 
R. N.-Y.—Let’s have this out, now ! How is it with 
you ? We know that the use of bone cutters has 
raised the price of raw bones in some markets. Can 
you obtain the bones j r ou need ? What is the price ? 
Have you ever tried working up whole carcasses—like 
horses—in these cutters ? 
Harrow; Potato Cutter. —What is the best har¬ 
row for fitting heavy sod ground for potatoes ? How 
many bushels of medium-sized potatoes are required 
to plant an acre if cut with the Aspinwall potato 
cutter, and planted in drills three feet apart, and 
15 inches apart in the drill ? H. M. 
Sun, Pa. 
R. N.-Y.—We would like two harrows for such 
work, a Cutaway or disc to chop up the sod, and an 
“ Acme” to level and pulverize it. Some farmers like 
a spring-tooth followed by a smoothing or straight- 
tooth harrow. Will those who have used the cutter, 
please tell us how much seed they need ? Let us 
know the variety, and how the seed was planted. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
Propagatinq Quinces. 
0. P. IT., Auburn, N. Y .—How are quinces propagated? Will 
the sprouts that are rooted, tf set out, bear fruit like the tree from 
which they came ? 
A ns. —They are propagated either by layers or cut¬ 
tings. Young shoots are bent down in spring and 
covered with earth, leaving a few buds exposed on 
the upright tip. As the buds start, all but the best 
are rubbed off. These shoots will usually throw out 
roots, and in the fall may be removed and planted in 
rows. The young sprouts will bear fruit the same 
as the original tree. 
What Indicates Peach “ Yellows ” ? 
W. A. S., Appleton , N. Y .—Is the little sprig of green leaves that 
starts to grow in the center of peach trees, usually in the fall of 
the year, a sure sign of yellows ? 
Ans. —There may be various kinds of "‘little sprigs” 
starting up in peach trees in the fall, some indicating 
yellows, and some not. The autumn growth which 
indicates yellows, usually appears on the tips of the 
branches, and is characterized by small, trough¬ 
shaped, nearly horizontal, stiff leaves of a light or 
reddish color. l. h. bailey. 
A Mixture That Needs Potash. 
C. M., Chalfont, Pa.—-I have been making a fertilizer from the 
following formula : Two tons of hen manure, one ton of earth, 
one ton of S. C. rock, one-half ton of plaster, one-half ton of raw 
bone. Would this be a complete fertilizer for all crops, without 
any other additional element ? I have been using it for two years, 
but the results are not what I would like, but they are equal to 
those obtained from the commercial article. 
Ans. —The trouble with that mixture is that it con¬ 
tains but little potash. The hen manure contains a 
small amount of this substance, but none of the other 
materials contains any. We think it likely that this 
mixture will give better results than a common 
“ superphosphate” ; but if you will add from 500 to 
1,000 pounds of muriate of potash, you will greatly 
improve it for all crops. We find that most farmers, 
when they begin to mix their own fertilizers, are 
likely to neglect the use of potash. This is especially 
true when hen manure and bone are used, for one is 
likely to regard them as complete fertilizers. They 
are not—neither is fish—they all need potash. 
Cost and Value of Spraying. 
J. R. W ., Shortsville , N. Y .—How much does it cost per acre to 
spray apple orchards 20 years old ? How much to dust with 
Fungiroid with the Leggett gun ? Is there any other prepara¬ 
tion cheaper than Fungiroid, and just as efficacious ? What 
per cent of apples gathered from orchards, either sprayed or 
dusted, were marketable ? Is it safe to have sheep in an orchard 
while it is being treated ? 
Ans. —Estimates made last year varied from 15 to 
20 cents per tree for spraying. We are collecting 
statistics about the use of dry Bordeaux Mixture, 
which we hope to give before long. From 50 to 90 
per cent of the fruit will be marketable, depending 
on the care with which the work is done. If you have 
not already done so, you should read the bulle¬ 
tins on spraying issued by the Cornell Experiment 
Station, Ithaca, N. Y., and the Geneva Station, 
Geneva, N. Y. Keep the sheep out of the orchard 
until two days after spraying. We shall be glad to 
have our readers give facts and estimates of their 
own, bearing on these.questions. 
Pop Corn Prices; Mole Traps. 
E. P. McC., Scottsburgh, Ind .— 1. What is the price of pop corn 
as the market usually rules? Does it sell sufficiently high to 
enable farmers to secure a good return by raising two or three 
acres ? 2. Where can I obtain the Reddick mole trap ? 
Ans. —1. The price of pop corn varies widely. It is 
one of those special crops grown in some localities, 
and handled in a particular manner, in the growing 
of which some persons will make a good profit, while 
others, and perhaps the majority, will make a failure. 
The crop succeeds best, and attains its highest quality 
in certain localities. Growers in such localities, raise 
large quantities, have special facilities for curing the 
crop, and know just how to handle it to the best 
advantage. To most of them, two or three acres 
would be a small crop. The curing is the most diffi¬ 
cult part, as upon the correctness of this depends the 
value of the corn. Usually, it is not salable until the 
year after it is grown. A few years ago, such large 
quantities had been grown that the market was 
glutted, and prices were very unsatisfactory. But 
many growers stopped planting for a year, or reduced 
their acreage, and the market cleaned up until there 
was again a good demand the past year. Prices run 
in this city all the way from one to four cents per 
pound, according to variety, quality and demand. 
About two cents is, perhaps, an average price. The 
corn is sold in the ear. The Rice and White Pearl are 
the favorite varieties. We do not know w T hat might 
be considered a fair yield. 2. Of the Michigan Wire 
Shovel Co., Niles, Mich. 
Carrying Light Loads Down Hill. 
./. R. E., Industry, Pa. —Can you give a description of the trolley 
used for carrying milk, which was illustrated under “ The Story 
of Certified Milk,” in The R. N.-Y. of December 7,1895? How 
should it be built and arranged for carrying light loads from the 
top to the bottom of a hill ? It would be of immense value to one 
having fruit on steep hillsides, or on the top of a hill, to be able 
to transport it in this manner. 
Ans. —This “ trolley” is quite simple. A wire rope 
runs from the barn to the dairy house, entering a 
window low enough to permit the wheels on an iron 
truck to roll in. This wheeled truck is made fast to 
an endless wire rope which runs around a wheel at 
both barn and house. These wheels are provided 
with cranks, and when they are turned around, of 
course, the wire rope revolves and carries the truck 
along the fixed rope in either direction. For ex¬ 
ample, this “ trolley” is run along the wire up to the 
barn. The cans are fastened on by hooks which catch 
under the rim on either side. Then a man turns the 
wheel so that the endless wire moves down to the 
dairy house, carrying the truck and cans along—the 
wheels turning on the fixed wire. This is easy, as 
the loaded cans all move down hill, and only the 
empty ones come back. There may be other methods 
of carrying loads up and down hills that are better 
than this one. If so, we would like to know what 
they are. 
What is a “ Weeder” ? 
D. C. U., Elizabethtown, Ky .— What kind of tool is a Breed’s 
weeder ? I have seen it mentioned many times in The R. N.-Y., 
but have never seen a description of it. Is it a kind of one-horse 
harrow ? Is it a good tool with which to cultivate corn ? Is it a 
cultivator ? Has it any advantages over a harrow or cultivator ? 
Ans.— Mr. Breed’s original model for his weeder 
was his hand. There were four fingers and a thumb 
fastened to a fixed object (the palm), but with hinges 
enough so that they could play about at will—pulling 
up weeds and leaving the good plants. He said, “I 
will make the best imitation of the human hand that 
can be made of wood and steel.” He first took a 
board about six feet long and eight inches wide, and 
bored two rows of holes a few inches apart the whole 
length of it. In these holes, he stuck limber sticks 
about three feet long. Then he fastened some buggy 
shafts to the upper side of the board, and two handles 
that reached behind, hitched up the old mare, and 
started her up and down the rows of young corn and 
potatoes. You will see that the only parts that 
touched the ground were the ends of these limber 
sticks, which twisted and scratched and turned in the 
soil, making marks more like the track of a hen’s 
claw than that of a cultivator. That was the origin 
of “ Breed’s weeder,” and the principle has not been 
changed. Instead of the old sticks, we have long, 
slender steel teeth which scratch and rake rather than 
plow and cultivate. The original weeder has retained 
its general shape and size. The “ Z. Breed weeder” 
has curved teeth somewhat like a horse hay rake, 
while other makes have various shapes of teeth or 
board. All that it will do is to scratch the surface 
lightly when the crops are small, thus tearing up and 
destroying many little weeds. It will not take the 
place of a harrow in preparing ground for crops, 
neither will it give a deep cultivation. It is just a 
scratcher. It is lighter and wider than harrow or culti¬ 
vator, and is under perfect control of the driver, who 
can lift it with one hand over any obstruction 
Thousands of these weeders are in use. They do best 
on level land with few stones, though the original 
weeder was made in a/very stony country. 
