1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
139 
FARM LABOR IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 
The conditions surrounding this section are somewhat 
different from the general run of farming communities, 
as we have in our town three large canning factories and 
another just beyond the town line. The Italian element 
is becoming a large factor in this vicinity, coming here 
first as laborers in picking peas, beans and berries, and 
as soon as they have saved a few hundred dollars in¬ 
vesting in real estate. Furthermore, located as we are 
here with several lines of railroad crossing our town, 
only 25 miles from Buffalo and 20 from the great 
steel plant, a large share of our American and German 
young men drift to these places for employment, so that 
to secure good American or German help is almost im¬ 
possible. A large factory some 20 miles from us is also 
absorbing many of our best young men. The wages 
paid in all these manufactories are much larger than it 
is possible for farmers to pay. To illustrate, seven years 
ago I had a young man, not yet 21, at work for me for 
nearly four years. From circumstances that arose I did 
not need him longer. He went to the factory, and has 
saved enough to buy a lot, built a new house and is 
nearly out of debt. The property is worth at least 
$1,500. He could never have done this working on a 
farm by the month. The wages for American and Ger¬ 
man hands by the month are about $22 to $25 and board, 
lodging and washing. The Italian help is about $1 per 
day and board themselves, and Italian women, 60 to 70 
cents. Of course all picking is done by the bushel and 
quart. At the present price of labor and the cost of liv¬ 
ing I do not see how it is possible for a man with a 
family to save anything above just a comfortable support 
for his family. Young men can save if they will, but 
there are so many ways for spend¬ 
ing money that few of them save, 
and but very little, if any. 
I have considered this problem of 
farm help for a long time, and it 
seems impossible to me, with ordi¬ 
nary farming, and with the present 
price of labor, that a farmer can 
make or save but little at the best. 
Of course as we are situated here 
nearly all the land in this imme¬ 
diate vicinity is devoted to berries, 
grapes and produce for the canning 
factories, and from the increased re¬ 
turns per acre in favorable seasons 
a good profit can be made. It seems 
to me as far as this immediate 
section of country is concerned that 
there is no other way but to look to 
the foreign help, and that for much 
of the general farm work is utterly 
incompetent; still I see no other 
way, only we have to do the best 
we can with them, trusting as they 
become more Americanized they 
will improve and become a better 
element, accomplishing more and 
doing better work. farmer. 
NEW ENGLAND FARMS. 
Nearly or quite all the land in 
New England suitable for farms is or has been used 
for farming purposes; very little of this land is not 
suitable for homesteads. If the State is prosperous it 
must be a State of homes. There is no place in New 
England where the old methods of farming can be prac¬ 
ticed zith success. Dairying—I write from an experi¬ 
ence of 40 years—cannot be conducted in a way that was 
profitable 40 years ago. Then the general-purpose cow 
was in evidence; “scrubs,” good healthy, thrifty cows, 
fresh in milk, could be bought for less than the butchers 
would pay for them as soon as they had dropped in their 
milk below a profitable quantity. Then they were want¬ 
ed as fast as one could get them ready. The beef trust 
spoiled the sale of such beef. Such cows as we bought 
then are not to be had now. The present stock is of 
the hothouse product; many of them will not take liberal 
feed, much less be forced to give a profitable return in 
milk or beef. To recount the changes that have been 
forced upon the farmers would require more than a 
single newspaper article. It is better to tell the home¬ 
maker of the few things he can do than the many we 
cannot do. There are many acres unfit for the plow, 
but ideal places for the apple; no places so rough that 
poultry cannot be kept. These two sources, of income, 
if under intellligent management (no other will succeed 
in any business) will furnish the means to support a 
home. Fuel in such places is abundant, not in the shape 
of coal ready for the stove. There is plenty of time 
between fruit and fruit to prepare the wood. Wood 
and water, vegetables and fruit, one or two cows to fur¬ 
nish dairy products, with fruit and poultry for money 
crops; telephone in the house and mail box at or near 
the door; all that will not make home; it needs father, 
mother and children. There are some drawbacks; not 
the least is the fish and game Jaws, The trout brook 
that runs through his father’s land should be free at all 
seasons to the boy. The Summer resident has built a 
house that his father’s estate would not buy, making his 
home look mean. When the migratory season arrives 
there come with other immigrants boys of his own age, 
dressed as he was never dressed. Their only work was 
to seek their pleasure. They were there in the busiest 
season for the farmer. Is it strange the boy, weary, 
dusty, cheaply clad, suitable, to be sure, for his work, 
should think there is a better place for a boy than on 
the farm ? F. 
THE DEWBERRY AND ITS CULTURE. 
Several years ago I grew quite a number of acres of 
dewberries; at one time I had as many as 60 acres. In 
this section we find the dewberry more profitable to 
grow than blackberries, as it comes off earlier, and we 
are able to market most of the crop ahead of black¬ 
berries. In Delaware, where blackberries were grown 
quite extensively a few years ago, dewberries are now 
grown instead. Another of their special advantages is 
the fact that the canes lie on the ground, and are seldom 
svinter-killed. In size and quality it equals any of the 
blackberry family, and greatly exceeds them in pro¬ 
ductiveness. The plant is perfectly hardy. The fruit, 
which ripens soon after late strawberries, often within 
a week, is from one to l l / 2 inch long by one inch in 
diameter, if well cultivated and not stinted for want of 
nourishment. It is sweet and luscious throughout, with 
no hard core. There arc a number of varieties of dew¬ 
berries, but the Lucretia is, so far as known, the best 
of its class. If let trail on the ground they should be 
well mulched to keep the immense load of fruit from 
being spoiled by falling on the ground. The best way, 
however, is to stake them, tying two hills of one-year-old 
canes to a stake 2]/ 2 feet high. Our plan of cultivation 
is to plant in rows three feet one way by six feet the 
other, making about 2,500 plants per acre. Cultivate 
both ways until plants get long and troublesome, and 
then cultivate only the wide way, and turn vines to keep 
the cultivator from tearing them off. If plants are 
wanted tips should be buried about September with a 
trowel, the same as blackcap raspberries. Leave vines 
lying on the ground till all danger of winter-killing is 
over, and then early in Spring, before buds put out, 
stakes should be driven between every alternate hill the 
three-foot way., The stakes should be 2 l / 2 or three feet 
above the ground, and one hill from each way tied to the 
top of stake. We use binder twine for binding. When 
in bloom after being treated in this way it is hard to 
imagine a prettier sight, and when in fruit under same 
management it is the wonder, admiration and delight 
of all who see it, and especially of those who have the 
opportunity of eating it. w. f. allen. 
Maryland. 
THE AKIN APPLE. 
I send a single specimen of Akin apple. Tt is planted 
in some quantity for home use in southern Illinois and 
Indiana. The tree is vigorous and healthy, with a tall, 
upright, regular head of moderate width, and rather 
dense. It has not been very productive here so far, but 
is said to improve in this respect as the tree gets older. 
The fruit, as you see, is scarcely medium in size, of nice 
red color and regular in shape. You will find it very 
fine in texture, very tender and brittle, very juicy and 
rather rich, yet it lacks a little here. Its mild, refreshing 
subacid is agreeable, and 1 think it should grade from 
“very good” to “best.” It is comparatively a new apple. 
Illinois. BENJ. BUCKMAN. 
R. N.-Y.—A cross section of the Akin is shown at 
Fig. 56. 
MANCHESTER'S DAIRY NOTES. 
“What is the matter with my cows? They all look 
well, but they don’t give as much milk as they ought, 
and I’ve had a lot of trouble with bad teats and caked 
udders.” 
We walked through his stable both in front and back 
of the cows. They did look well, all fat and sleek, but 
the manger of nearly every one contained quite a little 
good hay uneaten. In walking back of them one could 
fairly smell the cornmeal in the manure, and see that a 
lot of it passed through the cow undigested. These 
cows were getting mostly Timothy hay and cornmeal, 
with some corn fodder. The fact is they were being over¬ 
fed on carbonaceous food, and were unable to handle 
such a one-sided ration. This also was the cause of teat 
troubles. 
“Folks were complaining of my butter (I have a pri¬ 
vate trade) ; said it was off flavor, etc. I had noticed 
it myself, but hoped others wouldn’t. T couldn’t for a 
long time find any cause for the trouble, but finally 
found out that the gluten feed I was using had a sour 
smell and taste. I changed feeds, and have had no 
trouble since. It makes a man irritated to have people 
complain of his product when he doesn't know what is 
the matter and is doing the best he can. People talk 
about feed not affecting flavor of milk, but don’t you be¬ 
lieve it. Haven’t I had a lesson on it this Fall? Much 
obliged for recommending those corn distillers’ grains 
to use. I like them very much.” 
Every few days lately we have 
been having a hard cold spell, and 
if one were unaware of it any other 
way the shortage of the retail milk¬ 
men would tell the story. This 
shortage is caused by one of two 
things, either a barn not sufficiently 
warm, or lack of plenty of water in 
acceptable form for the cow. Sci¬ 
entific (?) men have said that the 
cow did as well when she went to 
the brook these cold windy days and 
drank in water once a day, but don't 
follow that practice if you can avoid 
it. Most barns are none too warm 
these cold times, but occasionally 
we go into one that is shut tight, 
where no fresh air comes in; mois¬ 
ture streams down the windows, and 
even the side of the barn. Cows 
need fresh air to do good work, but 
not necessarily air 10 to 20 degrees 
below zero. 
“Where you feed grain all the 
time you wear out the cows in a 
year or two, and it costs money to 
put new ones in the herd!” We 
haven’t been troubled with this 
“wearing out,” and there are cows 
in our herd 13 to 15 years old that 
have had grain, except possibly 
when dry, nearly every day since they gave us their first 
calf. We only see this wearing out where cows are 
overfed, or fed on one-sided rations, and instead of this 
“wearing out” we believe that cows fed on a balanced 
grain and roughage ration improve from year to year, 
and it is the only profitable way to feed the cow. 
What is a balanced ration? A square meal was the 
answer once given. It is a combination of foods in such 
proportions as scientific inquiry and common sense have 
determined supply in the best possible form all the 
proper needs of the animal. Many have given the sub¬ 
ject little thought, or tried to balance their rations, be¬ 
cause they did not take much stock in them, or thought 
they were an expensive luxury that they could not 
afford, or felt their own inability to figure out such a 
ration. Rather than being expensive they are usually 
found cheaper to supply than one-sided rations. Be¬ 
sides, the animals do better, keep in better condition, and 
turn out more product; in short, make more money for 
their owner. After one has learned the knack of fig¬ 
uring out rations it’s a very simple matter with the 
feed stuffs at hand, or available to make up a proper 
ration. Two or three hours’ study of a good feed bul¬ 
letin by any man with a common school education will 
show one how to do this work. Most of our experiment 
stations have at some time issued such bulletins, and 
if these are not available nearly all agricultural papers 
are glad to receive such inquiries, and to furnish rations 
for their subscribers. Before you find fault with the 
cows find out what kind of a ration you are feeding, and 
give them a chance._ h. G. Manchester. 
ST. LOUIS MILK.—The price of uncontracted m!lk In 
St. Ixmis was 14 cents per gallon for January; probably 13 
cents for February and March. About 60 per cent of the 
milk used in St. Louis is made in private dairies, inside 
city limits. The city lias a very fair Inspection law. and 
prosecuted a good many cases tor adulteration and selling 
below grade. C. a. o. 
Shipman, lib 
A POWER SPRAYER USED IN WESTERN NEW YORK. Fig. 59. 
See Page 141. 
