1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A WOMAN’S FARM NOTES. 
A Lesson in Farm Bookkeeping. 
A PIG TALE.—The story of our hog experiment is 
at last completed, and we promise ourselves never to 
keep hogs again. We embarked on the enterprise in 
some haste, for our sale for skim-milk stopped suddenly 
and without warning. We had visions of skim-milk in 
all stages of sourness piling up by the harrelful, and 
we felt that something must be done quickly. So we 
bought pigs, and then bought more pigs, till we had 
seven. They were quite good-sized pigs, and we got 
them about the first of April. We had read about the 
large profits in feeding skim-milk to pigs, and one of 
our neighbors had told us the year before that pigs 
would he far more profitable than veal calves. We 
fenced in a piece of rough pasture land with slabs, and 
it was here that we made our first mistake—after the 
one of buying the pigs. We did not realize how 
strong those innocent-looking creatures would become, 
and we did not make the pen strong enough. The re¬ 
sult was that all through the Summer and Fall those 
pigs furnished exercise and diversion for the whole 
family. Whenever things were particularly strenuous 
and everyone was working at high pressure, those pigs 
would come trotting up the lane with an air of cheer¬ 
ful interest in everything, and all hands would have to 
stop work and round up the strays and repair the pen. 
Fortunately the pigs were tame, and a little corn would 
induce them to return to their quarters without much 
trouble. This shows the advantage of training pigs 
to “eat from the hand,” for a nervous, timid pig is 
a very hard animal to drive, and the task requires great 
patience and diplomacy. “The pigs are out!” was the 
cry every few days, and we got them in at all hours 
of the day and night. 
FEEDING AND FATTENING.—Time went on and 
the pigs grew. They enjoyed the skim-milk, and they 
broke up land to such an extent that their pen had to 
be enlarged. They would have cleared half an acre 
easily if they had been managed right, 
but we could not spend the time to make 
the changes in the pen. We did not 
feed heavily at first, and did not have 
any concern about feed bills till we be¬ 
gan to fatten the shotes. Then our 
troubles began. It was at about this 
time that public sentiment seemed to 
change. No one said anything about 
the vast profits in swine. One neighbor 
said of us: “I could have told ’em, if 
they’d asked me, that there wa’n’t no 
money in hogs.” Another man told of 
his own experience, and said he had no 
use for hogs. People began to ask, in a 
commiserating way, if we thought we’d 
make much on our hogs. My answer 
was that that was just what we were 
trying to find out. Naturally we be¬ 
gan to be a little concerned. Worse 
yet, the pigs themselves did not seem to co-operate 
as they should have done. We found they were eat¬ 
ing gravel. They delved industriously, and they played 
tag when they got tired of working. The pen was 
long, and the pigs would race from one end to the 
other and then back again. They should by rights 
have gone on the race track, or become “greased” pigs. 
They would have distinguished themselves in some 
such career, for they were wonderfully quick and light 
on the foot. Something had to be done, so the two 
largest ones were penned off in restricted quarters and 
fed heavily. They could not race, so they took to 
digging artesian wells—and continued to eat gravel. 
Finally they became more sedentary in their habits, and 
began to lay on flesh, and the last day of October the 
largest one was killed. He dres-ed 163 pounds. This 
was better than we had dared to hope for. Still, the 
others had growing appetities, and a bag of meal every 
second or third day was rather appalling. 
SELLING THE PORK.—We did not want to sell 
the pork to the marketmen, as we wanted a higher 
price for it. So I visited some of my old cream cus¬ 
tomers—and many others—and sold half hogs to private 
families. I have sold everything the farm produces, 
from peaches and cream to cord wood and cedar posts, 
and now 1 became known as “the lady who has the 
hogs.” The pork gave satisfaction, one family taking 
three halves. Four of the hogs brought nine cents 
a pound, and three brought eight. Toward the latter 
part of the time our feelings fluctuated between hope 
and fear. Would we get out of it whole, or 
would we lose money? The last pork was sold 
the first of December, and we went to figuring. 
Here is the result: The pork sold for $88.2S. Now, if 
we had not kept accounts we would have thought we 
had done quite well, and would have laid plans for 
next year to raise twice as many. But we kept ac¬ 
counts—I am a little inclined to harp on this subject- 
arid this is what they showed: First cost of pivs, $25; 
grain, $44.16; killing and delivering, $10.50; total, 
$79.66. A profit of $8.62 was not so bad as it might 
have been. But was it profit? Oh, no! Not by any 
means. 1 did not charge the price of the slabs to 
the expense account, as they can still he used for kin¬ 
dlings, but there was the time spent building the pen. 
Then there was the skim-milk, two or three eight-quart 
cans a day from April to October, with a considerable 
•amount of clover, corn fodder, small potatoes and 
refuse. The $8.62 would have to be stretched pretty 
thin to cover these things. So it is easy to see that 
while we did not actually lose money, we practically 
gave the pigs the skim-milk, and did all the work of 
feeding and caring for them for nothing, with the 
pleasures of the chase thrown in for good measure. I 
forgot to mention that our pen was situated at some 
distance from the house. It was out of smelling range, 
but it necessitated miles and miles of travel during the 
whole season. 
POINTS FROM EXPERIENCE.—Doubtless hogs 
can be profitably kept in some places, but l doubt if 
this farm is one of the places. If I were obliged 
to keep hogs again, I should do some things differ¬ 
ently. I should get purebred stock—no long-nosed, 
razor-backed racers for me. I should invent some 
kind of movable pen. I should begin to fatten 
early, and sell just as soon as possible; this for 
two reasons: The pork would bring a higher price; 
and just as soon as cold weather comes on, unless 
the hogs are kept in a warm place, a good share of the 
grain ration goes to maintain animal heat. We did not 
have a warm place for ours, so the last four fell far 
below the others in weight. The first three, sold 
before cold weather, weighed 163, 161, and 160 
pounds, and if the weather had remained mild, or the 
hogs had been warmly housed, I sec no reason why 
the last four should not have done as well. 
SUSAN BROWN ROBBINS. 
R. N.-Y.—From our own experience—and the looks 
of the pigs—we should say that Miss Robbins did not 
have the right kind of stock for such feeding, and that 
she held them too long. A low-down chunky pig makes 
the best feeder with us, and we do not want to keep 
them after they will dress 125 pounds. We would 
prefer to sell them at 100 pounds. 
THE WOLF RIMER APPLE. 
Fine Variety for Exhibition. 
No doubt there are many visitors at the fairs who are 
attracted by the very fine show made by a variety of 
apple which is very large, flat in shape and brilliantly 
striped with red over a whitish ground. It usually 
catches the eye more than anything else seen in the 
apple display. This is the Wolf River. Many years 
ago a friend of mine, and an enthusiastic fruit grower, 
Mr. W. A. Springer, of Waupaca, Wisconsin, found 
a seedling apple tree growing not far from his place and 
near the Wolf River. Unlike most of the apple trees 
planted in that cold region, this chance seedling re¬ 
mained uninjured by the severity of the Winters. It 
bore well, and the fruit was large, attractive and well 
flavored. It was shown at the meetings of the Wiscon¬ 
sin Horticultural Society, and then at the great fruit 
show of the American Horticultural Society at the 
New Orleans Exposition, in 1884-5. This introduced 
the variety to the country, and it has been gradually 
spreading ever since, until now it is grown in every part 
of North America where apples will grow, and in many 
foreign countries. From the almost Arctic regions of 
Minnesota and Nova Scotia to Texas and Georgia this 
apple succeeds. It is not suitable for growing in a 
commercial way, except in the very cold sections of the 
country, but as an amateur or fancy show apple it is 
well worth growing. While there are some varieties that 
produce larger specimens, it is one of the very large 
apples, and its pink and carmine stripes and splashes 
over an ivory-like ground makes it one of the most 
beautiful of all apples. At the recent fruit show at the 
Louisiana Purchase Exposition it surpassed all other 
varieties in attractiveness. Alexander closely resembles 
i9 
it, but is rarely so large or beautifully colored, and 
is not so hardy in tree. Those who would like to beat 
their neighbors in growing big, handsome apples and 
have something suitable for kitchen use at the same 
time will do well to plant a tree or two of the Wolf 
River. h. e. van deman. 
A NORTH CAROLINA SPECIMEN.—The speci¬ 
men of Wolf River apple from which the first-page pic¬ 
ture was made was grown by W. S. Smathers, Haywood 
Co., N. C.. Mr. Smathers has this to say about the 
apple: “The trees are 10 years old. The first three 
years I grew tobacco on the land, using fertilizer; have 
not used any since. I used special guano after wheat, 
then Red clover two years, followed by corn and wheat 
every third year. The land is now in clover. I did 
not thin out the fruit; one-fourth of apples would 
average as large as the ones sent you. The trees were 
overbearing this year. Two years ago I grew one 
apple that weighed two pounds, measured 16 2-3 
inches. Trees are on mountain land lying toward south¬ 
east; soil loamy with clay subsoil; part of land very 
rocky, and I made rock walls below trees. They seem 
to be most vigorous.” 
CHINCH BUGS AND SHEEP. 
Wheat or Rye for Pasture. 
1 have been interested in John M. Jamison's articles 
about pasturing wheat and rye with sheep, lambs and 
pigs, and I would like him to tell what he does with 
his crop of chinch bugs. With us a crop of rye 
Is one of the worst harbors and breeding places for chinch 
bugs; so much so that very few people sow it. u. j. sr. 
Clay County, Ind. 
It has been some time since B. J. M. has read one of 
my articles on pasturing rye, and he has also concluded 
that I pasture wheat. This I have never done, and can¬ 
not do it, because I have none. As to what I do with 
chinch bugs, I never have had any to amount to any¬ 
thing; consequently 1 cannot advise him from experi¬ 
ence. But 1 think l could get away with them. If I am 
correctly informed, they must have a 
place to harbor, or hide, allowing their 
, numbers to accumulate, for a time, before 
they can do serious injury. If crops are 
carried regularly in rotation, corn, clover 
and rye, and a sufficient number of sheep 
and other stock are kept to consume the 
pasture, and keep the fence rows clean, 
the chinch bugs will have no chance to 
accumulate and do damage. But if a 
man’s neighbors arc grain farmers, and 
their fence rows never are clean, then 
he has a chance for trouble. In pastur¬ 
ing rye in the early Spring, and on up 
to the jointing time, with sheep, as I 
remember, the Blue grass in the fence is 
shaved close and clean, and the prospec¬ 
tive chinch bug eaten or tramped out of 
existence. But if they accumulate be¬ 
tween pasturing time and harvest, or 
after harvest, they would certainly stand little chance in 
a crop where there was sufficient forage to induce sheep 
to travel. It is a well-known fact that what sheep do 
not eat they will—in time—tramp down on the ground ; 
this, on account of the fact that they are constantly on 
the move, as they feed on the pasture. This is a grain 
and stock farming section, most of the crops grown being 
fed out on the farm. The chinch bug has never done 
any serious damage, nor do I think there is any danger 
as long as this system of farming is carried on, or in 
any other section where farming is done in the same 
way. A neighbor who had some trouble with them on 
a purchased farm that had been grained more than 
stocked coincides with me in the belief that a short and 
regular rotation of crops is a great preventive. At any 
rate, before I would abandon rye I would give the sheep 
and other stock a chance to have it out with them, not 
fearing but that in the end the bugs would disappear. 
Still, if all my neighbors propagated chinch bugs, the 
circumstances would be decidedly different. In that 
case I might have a long, tedious fight on my hands, with 
very little in the shape of success to show for it. 
Ohio. JOHN M. JAMISON. 
PEAFOWL AND POTA TO BUGS.—We have never 
noticed any birds eating Potato bugs but our pea¬ 
fowls. For a number of years we had noticed that in 
patches near the house we were not troubled with 
Potato bugs. We did not trace it to the peafowls un¬ 
til the Summer of 1902, when our man chanced to go 
past our potato patch early in the morning, when he 
saw the flock of peafowls taking the patch by rows and 
clearing all completely. The Summer of 1903 the po¬ 
tatoes were farther from the house, and when the bugs 
commenced destroying the vines we drove our peafowls 
to the patch, and there was no more complaint of the 
depredations of the burrs. A patch that was beyond the 
sugar camp was completely taken by them this year be¬ 
fore we knew of it. Those near the house were not 
disturbed. f. c. 
Frederickstown, O. 
OREGON APPLES PACKED IN BOXES. Fig. 13. 
