1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
835 
FARMERS' CLUB DISCUSSION. 
(CONTINITBD.) 
Some Kansas Notes. 
J. E. U., Emporia, Kan.—T he call 
for metal wheels leads me to say that 
if one has an old wagon, he can have 
it cut down. The low wagon is very 
common here, and after one is familiar 
with the good it does, would not be 
without one. In buying a new wagon, 
I got the middle size—the hind wheels 
being the height of the front ones of the 
standard high-wheel wagon. I use it 
for all purposes. I have a hay frame 
that sets on the bed, and cost less than 
§1. I can haul one-half a ton very easily. 
Also, the bed being a few inches above 
the hind wheels, I haul fodder, posts, 
wood, etc., and do it with ease and 
pleasure not known to the high-wagon 
man. I have often said that I would 
not take a new high-wheel wagon as a 
gift, and use no other. 
As for potatoes, my Carman No. 1, 
planted beside R. N.-Y. No. 2, were so 
poor, that I shall plant no more of them. 
The Early Ohio (Northern-grown), were 
somewhat better than the R. N.-Y. No. 2, 
though the latter averaged well. 
For a dozen years, I have planted corn 
between the hills when the potatoes 
were in bloom, and got a good crop of 
both. I use the hand planter or jabber, 
the hills being about three feet apart. 
This year, in every fourth row and 10 
feet apart, I omitted the hill of coirn, 
and planted pumpkin seeds. The result 
was three good crops, either one paying 
a good rent or profit. I, however, left 
a few rows that were 18 inches in the 
hill, without corn or pumpkins. The 
yield was no greater than that with the 
corn and pumpkins. The ground was 
timber land, and no fertilizer has ever 
been used. I have six pear trees that 
keep their leaves until freezing begins. 
I do not know their name. 
The Manure Question. 
E. C. Gillett, Yates County, N. Y. 
—In this vicinity, nearly every farmer 
has a large amount of straw which is 
used in profusion as bedding for all 
kinds of stock. Horse and cow manure 
is usually thrown into the barnyard, and 
left until midwinter or toward spring. 
Most of us endeavor to get it spread on 
our ground for corn while the soil is 
frozen. Many farmers feed sheep, keep¬ 
ing them confined in large basement 
barns most of the time, with small yards 
for feeding and exercise ; they are kept 
well bedded with straw, and the pens 
cleaned once or twice during the winter. 
My practice with only two or three cows, 
is to give each one a box-stall eight feet 
square, use plenty of straw, and allow 
the manure to accumulate till it is two 
feet deep. The cows have perfect free¬ 
dom, no stanchions or chains, and they 
keep as clean as can be desired. 
The system I have outlined seems to 
give good satisfaction, although the 
manure from sheep, when drawn to the 
field, seems to be three-quarters straw, 
and that from the barnyard is some¬ 
times, apparently, half and half, straw 
and water, often reminding me of what 
Prof. Roberts once said about “irrigat¬ 
ing with a manure fork.” But it keeps 
up the fertility of our fields, and gives 
us better results than any commercial 
fertilizers we can buy. If I could have 
things arranged exactly to suit me, I 
would do just as I do now, with the 
addition of concrete fioors in the stables 
to save liquids, and a covered yard to 
throw the horse and cow manure in go 
prevent leaching. 
Potatoes for Fuel. 
E. C. A., Aberdeen, S. D.—Referring 
to the picture of the straw-burning stove 
on page 800, I would like to say that 
flax straw seems to be the favorite fuel 
here, but these stoves will burn almost 
anything. Potatoes were tried as fuel 
last winter by some parties in this 
county, and with good results. After a 
good fire has been started in an ordinary 
heater a bucket of potatoes is thrown 
on, and the amount of heat that will be 
created is surprising. This winter, a 
friend has tried them both in the shop 
and at the house, and at the latter place, 
is using them more or less right along. 
Our local paper stated last winter that 
some experiments had been carried on 
at the Grand Forks, S. D., gas works 
with potatoes for fuel, and that they 
valued them at $3.50 per ton compared 
with wood at $5 per cord. 
R. N.-Y.—Last winter, the newspapers 
reported that farmers in western New 
York were burning potatoes by mixing 
them with coal in the stoves or heaters. 
We were not able to verify these reports. 
Prof. E. F. Ladd of the North Dakota 
Experiment Station sends us the follow¬ 
ing statement: 
“ The superintendent of the Grand 
Forks gas works informs me that they 
have never used potatoes for fuel or 
otherwise. With the amount of water 
contained in potatoes, there certainly 
could be no economy in burning them 
as fuel, for a large share of their energy 
would be required to evaporate the 
water contained in them. The use of 
straw is quite general for fuel purposes 
in some parts of the Dakotas, stoves be¬ 
ing especially constructed for burning 
it. Straw is used also, to a considerable 
extent, as fuel for thrashing engines, 
and is generally found satisfactory when 
the boiler is arranged for its use. As 
the straw has no value, at present, in 
this country, its cost is comparatively 
little, while wood and coal are more ex¬ 
pensive.” 
Pacific Coast Apples. 
A. F. W., Latah, Wash. —Prof. W. T. 
French tells the truth when he says 
that the conditions vary in different 
localities throughout Oregon and Wash¬ 
ington. I live in eastern Washington, 
in what is known as the Palouse coun¬ 
try. This is a very good fruit country, 
especially for apples and pears; the 
Northern Spy apple ripens from March 
to April, looks as it does in the East, 
and as near as I can tell, has the same 
flavor. Apples in this country bear at 
about three years from planting. I 
picked two bushels from a tree planted 
five years ago this fall. 
Strange Antics of Carman. 
E. T., New Berlin, N. Y.—The piece 
of Carman No. 1 potato sent me multi¬ 
plied, and now furnishes us with a po¬ 
tato of unusually fine cooking qualities ; 
but it has behaved strangely. The first 
two seasons, the vines remained green 
till frost killed them, and made heavy 
yields, while Burbank, American Won¬ 
der and others right beside them blight¬ 
ed. This year, the vines were the first 
to die, which was early in August, and 
the tubers were small. They possess re¬ 
markable vitality. With eight pounds 
of seed, I planted a row 40 rods long, 
with pieces from 18 to 20 inches apart in 
the row. They were cut to one eye, and 
many eyes were split into two or three 
parts; not more than two hills were 
wanting, and these may have been torn 
out with the smoothing harrow or 
weeder. 
That Strawberry Barrel. 
S. H. W., Weston, Mass. —After read¬ 
ing what D. II., Rochelle, Ill., said (page 
754), about the strawberry barrels with 
100 holes in them, but no strawberry 
plants growing in them, and what the 
men who had the barrels had to pay for 
the 100 plants, I felt about as the other 
fellow did who had gathered with others 
at the village store when one of them 
asked whether they knew that John 
Smith’s barn was burned the night be¬ 
fore. As none of them knew about it, 
he told them that Smith’s hired man 
saw an owl on top of the barn, so he 
ran for his gun and shot at him and set 
the barn on fire and burned 100 tons of 
hay, 50 cows, 4 horses, sheep, hogs, 
etc. As they sat there, one fellow said, 
“ Well ! Did he kill the owl ?” I would 
like to know whether the men got their 
100 strawberry plants to put into the 
holes, and did so, but they died, or 
whether he would give us that have 
planted strawberry plants in barrels to 
understand that all we will get from our 
labor will be the 100 holes. 
instantly when you pull the 
trigger. So sickness may come 
on suddenly. But it takes time 
to load the gun, and it takes 
time to get ready for those ex¬ 
plosions called diseases. Coughs, 
colds, any “attack,” whatever 
the subject be, often means pre¬ 
cedingweakness and poor blood. 
Are you getting thin? Is 
your appetite poor r Are you 
losing that snap, energy and 
vigor that make “clear-headed¬ 
ness?” Do one thing: build 
up your whole system with 
SCOTT'S EMULSION of 
Cod-liver Oil. It is the essence 
of nourishment. It does not 
nauseate, does not trouble the 
stomach. And it replaces all 
that disease robs you of. 
A book telling more about it sent 
free. Ask for it. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, New York. 
WANTED. 
Farms In Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the 
Dakotas. C. L. CLASON & CO., 47 & 48 Merrill 
Building, Milwaukee, Wis. 
t QUAH TEK OF CENTURY OLD . 
P'S MANILLA 
ROOFING. 
□ 
CHEAPby.lTCn ppnnc Not affected 
STRONGYVAItnrnUUn by «u«e 8 . 
No RUST nor RATTLE. Outlarts tin or iron. 
A Durable .Substitute lor Plaster on walls. 
Wnter I'rool Nlioatliintj of mime material, tbo 
beat and cheapest in the market. W rite for sampleH, & c 
TheFAY MANILLA ROOFING! CO.,CAfllDEK.ii.J. 
Mixed Farming Best. 
Willi favorable weather, wise management and a 
good market, the specialty fanner sometimes makes 
a grand showing. However, mixed husbandry Is 
safer, and In ttie long run will usually give best 
results. Where a va riety of domestic animals a re 
kept,, I’nge. fence will lie found not only a luxury, 
tint almost a necessity. See catalogue. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., Adrian,Mich. 
A LOOK THROUGH ["DTP 
SOUTH MISSOURI rliCt 
The Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis It. It. Co. 
has issued a magnificent book of tiO or more photo- 
engraved views of varied scenery in South Missouri. 
From those views an accurate knowledge can be ob¬ 
tained as to the productions and general topography 
of that highly favored section that IS NOW AT¬ 
TRACTING! THE ATTENTION OF llOMESEEKERS 
AND INVESTORS THE COUNTRY OVER. Tho 
title of the book Is •* Snap Shots In South Missouri." 
It will be mailed free. Address 
J. E. LOCKWOOD, Kansas City, Mo. 
Very Desirable Farm for Sale. 
Situated in southeast Nebraska, immediately 
on the west bank of the Missouri River, 24 miles 
from Kansas-Nebraska State line, the best fruit¬ 
growing country known, and where crops never 
have failed. Ten thousand apple, pear, cherry, 
plum, peach and apricot trees, and 1,000 grape 
vines now growing on this farm, in orchard and 
vineyard. For particulars write 
ROBT. W. FUItNAS, Brownville, Nebraska. 
Do You Want a Watch ? 
W HEN the prices of Watches were reduced during the panic of 
1893 and the following year, we thought that surely they 
would go up again promptly. But we find that we are still 
able to buy them at panic prices, and some grades even cheaper than 
ever before. We urge no one to buy these watches of us. We 
simply know that retailers are obliged to make good profits on 
watches, no matter where they are located, and we are simply buy¬ 
ing these, as we want them, at wholesale prices, and add enough to 
cover cost of correspondence and postage, so that our readers, who 
want watches of any grade, can get them at practically wholesale 
prices. Every watch is guaranteed to us, and we, in turn, guarantee 
them to purchasers. We will return the money in any case of 
dissatisfaction. We, however, sell these watches only to subscribers. 
All Around Reduction in Waltham and Elgin Watches. 
Offer No. 200. ( “Crescent Street.” 
Elgin or Waltham Watch—Men’s Size, $4.50. ) Waltham Watch—Men’s Size. Pride of the Wal* 
No. 200 is a handsome Elgin or Waltham Watch, ( tham Factory, 
men’s size. The works contain seven jewels, com- \ The best full-sized Waltham watch Is called 
pensation balance, safety pinion, stem winding) “ Crescent Street.” This watch is made from the 
and setting apparatus, and all he greatest im- ) very finest materials, each part being selected by 
provements. The case is open face only, and is ( expert workmen. Every wheel is perfect, every 
made of a composite that wears just like silver. ) jewel is a precious stone, every pinion is polished 
The case is made by the Keystone Watch Case . to the highest degree. In fact, this watch is, as 
Company and guaranteed in every respect. The / the Waltham Company guarantees, “ perfect in 
case is made on the thin model plan. Price, $4.50. < construction and finish.” The Company also says 
\ in its catalogue that this is “ the finest full-plate 
Offer No. 201. movement in the world.” The full plate is a re- 
Elgin or Waltham Watch—Men’s Size, $10. ) cent improvement in watchmaking. It is a metal 
No. 201 is a gold filled open face case, dust ca P’ covering all the mechanism, excepting the 
proof; guaranteed to wear like solid gold for 15 balance, thus saving many bills for cleaning 
years. The movement is seven jewels, stem wind l These celebrated works are full jeweled with red 
and set, and contains all the latest improvements. rub ^ 3 ewels ia solid » old settings. They contain 
Sent delivery guaranteed by registered mail for compensation expansion balance, safety pinion, 
$10. Hunting case, $3 extra. stem windln « aud 8ettin * apparatus, patent 
/ Breguet hair-spring, hardened aud tempered in 
Offer No 202. ( form, patent regulator aud double sunk dial, 
Waltham Watch-Men’s Size, $13.50. made expressly for this watch. The dial is 
) genuine. 
The American Watch Company, at Waltham, has < No> 203 . Crescent Street, Solid 14k„ 40 dwt. 
made a reduction in the price of its 15-jewel move- > (Hunting case only).$52.90 
ments. We take the first opportunity to give our ) n g . 204. Crescent Street. Gold filled, 20-year 
readers the advantage of the new price list, and t Hunting or Ojjeu Face case. 37.00 
offer the following-described bargains. \ No. 205. Crescent Street. Gold filled, 15-year. 
... < Hunting or Open Face case. 33.25 
No. 202 is an open face, 15-iewel in settings, com- i , ... 
.. . , , . . , . . \ No. 206. Crescent Street, 2-ounce Coin Silver, 
pensation balance, patent Breguet hair-spring,) Hunting or Open Face case. 27.85 
hardened and tempered in form. White porcelain No 207 Creacent stree t, Solid Nickel Silver, 
dial, stem wind and pendant, set in a gold-filled, ( Open Face dust-proof case. 25.00 
engraved or engine-turned pattern ease. War- ) _ _ „ 
ranted to wear like solid gold for 15 years. We 1 er °* 
will send this watch to any address, delivery : Ladies’ Solid Gold \\ althara or Elgin Wateh, $20. 
guaranteed, for the sum of only $13.50. The works are manufactured at Waltham or 
Ortft ( Th e y are made of the finest materials, 
Offer No. 209. ( carefully selected. The jewels are all cut and pol- 
Ladies’Gold Filled Waltham or Elgin Watch, $13.50 ighed in Europe, where secret processes are 
No. 209 is a Ladles’ Gold-filled Engraved Watch, handed down from generation to generation. The 
guaranteed by the manufacturer to wear 15 years, dial is made of the finest porcelain and the hands 
The works contain seven jewels, exposed pallets, of blue tempered steel. The case is solid 14k. 
safety pinion and all improvements. Price, de* United States Assay, handsomely engraved. We 
livery guaranteed, $13.50. f will send this watch, delivery guaranteed, for $20. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, NEW YORK. 
