1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
i55 
or on the lecture platform, a man must possess a cer¬ 
tain force, power, magnetism, call it what you will, 
that commands attention and convinces fully as much 
as correct ideas, even though they be based on ex¬ 
perience. 
Further, a man who is sent by the State to instruct 
the people, should be willing to answer questions 
outside of the institute proper. One of the New York 
State force, who has a State—yes, a National reputa¬ 
tion on a certain line of fruit-growing—was asked 
some questions, in his hotel, by a farmer who was in¬ 
terested in his specialty, and he refused to answer. 
Such men as Bailey, Roberts, Powell, Willard, Fen¬ 
ner, Woodward, Eastman, Van Alstyne, Rice, Snow, 
and some others, are above criticism as institute in¬ 
structors, being full of knowledge, zeal and magnet¬ 
ism. But for the past three years, since the number 
of institutes has doubled, multiplied in number, the 
supply of such men has not been equal to the demand. 
The farmers themselves are also to blame for the poor 
attendance at some institutes. The last one held in 
this county was in a village of 500 people. There are 
over 200,000 acres of land in this little county, yet 
there were present at nearly every session less than 
100 persons. The absence of men under 30 was par¬ 
ticularly noted. e. c. GILLETT. 
Yates County, N. Y. 
Some Connecticut Farm Talk. —Here are some 
points brought out in a discussion at a recent meeting 
of the farmers’ club : This matter of crying down the 
cost of producing agricultural products, was severely 
condemned as exerting a bad influence on those who 
were ignorant of the facts, thus misleading people 
into the business by the great profit which looms up 
before them. The consumer also finds fault with 
paying 40 or 50 cents for a bushel of potatoes, saying, 
“ Why, it costs only six cents to raise them ; I’ve read 
it somewhere ! ” It is thought to be wrong to charge 
a crop for only the few hours one may be at direct 
work, when, in fact, the whole season is spent in 
planning and laying out for the crop. Another point 
discussed was whether a man’s house is included 
in his stock in trade, the same as his barn and imple¬ 
ments. It was claimed that a merchant does not count 
in his residence when computing the interest to be 
charged to his investment. The decision reached was 
that his house is included, in so far as the cellar was 
used for storing vegetables and fruits. j. A. 
Westport, Conn. 
Tree and Bud Notes. —The indications are now 
that the low temperature of February 17 has nearly, 
if not quite, finished the peach buds in this locality. 
I have examined them to-day, and find but a very 
few showing any signs of life—perhaps one in ten on 
the Hill’s Chili, Crosby, Smock, Stephen’s Rareripe and 
Alexander, while the Elberta, Crawfords, Mountain 
Rose and Wheatland seem to be all dead. The mer¬ 
cury registered from zero to 15 degrees below during 
the day, being the lowest at sunrise. I presume that 
it was not over 10 degrees below at the lake where 
our orchard is, but the conditions seemed to be favor¬ 
able for destroying the vitality of the buds. 
One feature of much interest to us now is the bank¬ 
ing up of our trees. The snow over most of our peach 
orchard, is now from four to eight inches deep ; in 
going over the ground, I noticed a good many mice 
tracks, but they have no chance to work at the trees, 
as there is not over one tree in a hundred that the 
banking does not show through the snow. We 
banked our plum and apricot orchard also. Another 
good feature about this : there has been considerable 
ice on the ground this winter among the trees, and 
the banking has kept it away from the bodies. The 
expense is very little, as it cost us only one-fourth of 
a cent per tree. T. h. k. 
Tompkins County, N. Y. 
Killing May Beetles. —In regard to the White 
Grub question, page 116, I, some years ago, adopted 
the suggestion on page 76 of Mrs. Treat’s “ Injurious 
Insects of the Farm and Garden.” When the beetles 
first make their appearance in the warm evenings of 
the last of May, or first of June, we place lanterns 
having strong reflectors over tubs partly filled with 
water, and place them in the yard and garden. These 
beetles, commonly known as the May beetle or June 
bug, are readily attracted by light, and frequently 
fly in at the open windows, buzzing about the rooms, 
knocking against the walls, etc. When they strike 
the lantern glass, they fall into the water on which is 
a film of kerosene oil and this quickly stops their 
careers We find that this treatment has materially 
decreased their numbers. Mrs. Treat claims that the 
best method of extermination is to kill them while in 
the perfect or beetle state, and it seems important to 
use the remedy suggested as soon as they appear, as 
the female after pairing returns to the earth in a 
short time, lays 40 or 50 eggs and then dies. They 
are dormant during the day, and having this fondness 
for light, bonfires could be built when the beetles are 
numerous, and many destroyed by flying into the 
flames. It will be found that many other injurious 
insects will be killed in this way, and since trying it, 
there has also been a noticeable decrease in the num¬ 
ber of the corn worms in our garden. f. c. c. 
Bath, Me. 
Sowing Small Seeds. —Mr. Cranefield’s manner of 
sowing small seeds, page 98, is good so far as it goes ; 
but I prefer the method set forth below. I believe in 
a thoroughly fine seed bed, and, therefore, sift the 
box full of barely moist earth. This is then firmly 
pressed down, and, if necessary, more soil added, the 
object being to have the surface of the soil reach to 
within half an inch of the top of the box. This is im¬ 
portant for, if it is much lower, the plants will have 
a tendency to grow spindling; besides, they will not 
come up uniformly because the light cannot reach all 
parts of the soil in equal proportion. I next give the 
soil in the box a thorough watering. After allowing 
A HENHOUSE FOR THE DAUGHTER. Fig. 56. 
the surface to dry somewhat, I now sow the seed and 
sift a little fine soil over this. Then I press down the 
top with a fire shovel or light board. Under these 
conditions, no immediate watering will be necessary, 
as the seed rests firmly on moist soil, and capillary 
attraction will bring up more moisture from beneath. 
If at any time before the plants come up, the surface 
indicates the need of water, I spread a piece of cloth 
smoothly over the entire surface, letting the edges 
hang over the sides of the box. With this precau¬ 
tion, fairly warm water may be applied to the cloth 
in any desired quantity without fear of disturbing 
the seeds. Percolation does the rest. The cloth must, 
of course, be promptly removed. If one object to sur¬ 
face watering, let a small pipe coupling extend a little 
above the surface. By inserting a funnel, one may 
sub-irrigate at any time. In a small box, one coup¬ 
ling near the center is enough. In a large box, more 
couplings should be used. Before the plants are up, 
I much prefer using the cloth, as there is little chance 
of running any risk with it. Moreover, the watering 
can be done more uniformly. j. c. senger. 
THE DAUGHTER AND THE POULTRY. 
LET HER HUNT HENS RATHER THAN HU8HANDS. 
Much has been said and written on “ keeping the 
boys on the farm,” and many pleas have been made 
urging farmei's to give their boys an interest in some 
kind of stock or crop, and thus make their labor of 
some pecuniary value to themselves. Every boy 
likes to have a little money that he may call his own, 
A CHEAP AND SIMPLE HENHOUSE. Fig. 56. 
and that he can spend as he likes. But how is it in 
regard to the girls ? Have you ever seen anything 
written in regard to “keeping the girls on the 
farm ” ? Or are they of so little account that the 
only thought is to get them married off as quickly as 
possible, so that some other fellow can support them, 
and so save that item of expense ? I say to farmers, 
give your girls a chance, and they will beat the boys 
all “ hollow,” not only in the thoroughness of their 
work, but m their enthusiasm for results, and in the 
results themselves. 
But you ask, Shall I set my daughter to planting 
potatoes, or hoeing corn ? Or would it be better to 
start her in business, by breaking the two-year-old 
colt, or the brindle steers, or feeding and caring for 
the hogs ? No, my dear sir ; while I have no doubt 
she would be successful if she undertook to do any of 
these things, and would surprise you by the results 
obtained, still it is not necessary for her to engage 
j» any such masculine-labor, 
Again you ask, What, then, would you have her do ? 
Let me whisper in your ear, the one little word, 
poultry. Now don’t shrug your shouldei*s, and ex¬ 
claim, “Bosh !” for if you but knew it, there is more 
profit in the “ hen-business,” for the amount invested, 
than in any other stock. And who is more fitted to 
attend to such “ stock” than the daughters of the 
family ? Just trydt, if you have one or more daughters 
that have nothing to do, and are just eating their 
heads off ; invest $150 in poultry, and a house to put 
it in (the interest on this will be but $9 a year); or 
perhaps you already have some building that, with a 
few dollars expended for repairs, would answer. Let 
her keep strict account of all eggs used in the family, 
sold, or used for setting, all young chickens raised, 
either for home consumption, or market, figuring the 
value of droppings as worth 25 cents for each mature 
fowl for the year. Also keep a strict account of all 
feed used, whether bought or raised on the farm. If 
you are not surprised at the result, then I would con¬ 
sider you beyond all hope of redemption, and be will¬ 
ing you should jog along in the “good old way,” let¬ 
ting the hens spend the winters in idleness, and the 
girls hunting husbands. 
At Figs. 55 and 56 are pictures of a convenient hen¬ 
house, which will accommodate 100 hens, and at the 
same time is not expensive. It may be constructed of 
matched boards, or of unmatched, and lined with 
tarred paper, the smell of which is not offensive, and 
tends to keep away vermin. If your daughter is not 
well posted on the “hen business,” get for her some 
good book on poultry. The R. N.-Y. can supply you. 
Give her what help you can by advice, etc., and then 
let her go ahead. By the time she is ready to buy her 
wedding outfit, she will have the money to pay for it, 
and thus save you the expense. g. m. w. 
Trucksville, Pa. 
WHERE THEY FARM AT WHOLESALE. 
HOW AN IOWA MAN HANDLES CROFS. 
Railroad-Iron Drag; Homemade Potato Planter. 
Perhaps some of our Eastern farmers will be in¬ 
terested in knowing how we farm out here, west of 
the Mississippi. In the spring, we begin about March 
15, to break corn stalks for our small grain ; this is 
generally done with a railroad rail 32 feet long, by 
hitching a team on each end, which makes a clean 
sweep of them. Two men and two teams can break 
80 acres of stalks in a day, in this way. Then, with a 
two-horse hay rake, we rake them into windrows and 
burn them, after which we are ready to seed. 
It makes no difference what kind of small giain we 
intend to sow, it is all put in in the same way. With 
a 12-foot broadcast seeder, we finish sowing be¬ 
fore stopping, then with a cultivator we cross the 
rows of corn in the direction opposite to that in 
which it was cultivated when it was laid by, and 
thus cover the seed. We then harrow the ground 
two or three times. We use a two-horse tongue¬ 
less cultivator altogether ; some farmers use a 
disc with four horses to disc in the grain, instead 
of the cultivator. We use from three to four- 
section 16-foot harrows and four horses. It is 
seldom that one sees a farmer at work in the field 
with less than three horses. It is just as easy to drive 
three or five horses abreast, as it is two. All farmer 
boys from 12 years old up, are taught to drive four 
horses abreast, with two lines and jockey sticks. 
After we have our small grain in, we haul out the 
manure on the ground we intend for corn, and then 
plow for corn, using a 16-inch plow. It is nothing in 
this country to see three or four teams plowing in one 
field for corn. After plowing we harrow once, and 
then plant the corn, commencing about May 1 and 
trying to get all in by May 20 ; this all depends upon 
the season. If we have a favorable, early season and 
not too wet, all get through by that time ; although 
the western farmers are like a hive of bees, we have 
some drones who don’t get through with their work 
from one year’s end to the other. 
After our corn is planted, we harrow it three or 
four times according to the season and condition of 
the weeds. While corn is getting ready for the cul¬ 
tivator, we plow and plant potatoes. We have a big 
job of it in this vicinity, as almost every farmer raises 
from 10 to 40 acres each year. We generally com¬ 
mence while one man or boy is planting the corn 
with a two-horse planter and wire check rower, to 
cut our seed potatoes, and have them ready to plant. 
Then we take off the corn boxes from the corn plant¬ 
ers and fasten on large boxes holding one bushel of 
potatoes each in their places, with chutes or tubes 
that run from the large boxes to the ground, the same 
as the corn chutes do except that they are larger. 
We then put four horses on the planter tongue, ODe 
man to drive, and two boys, one on each side by the 
large boxes. The shoes make the furrow for the 
potatoes, and the boys put the seed down the chutes 
I have described, and the wheels cover them the same 
as they do the corn when- planted with a planter, II 
