1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
65 
Hope Farm Notes 
Thh Gasoline Engine. —Seymour has his 
engine, brought from Canada, and it was 
started for the first time January 13. I was 
not familiar with the operation of these 
engines, and it was interesting to see it 
go. We have been used to a big steam 
engine for running our shredder and saw, 
and it hardly seemed possible for this small 
machine to do the work. Yet we all ought 
to know that mere bulk is not responsible 
for power. When old Jerry balked with the 
load of wood little Bob surprised us by 
starting the load and Jerry too—though he 
couldn't keep it going. Napoleon was a small 
man, but when his force exploded properly 
the large affairs of Europe worked for him. 
With man, horse or gasoline engine there 
must be some explosion of force inside if 
work is* to be done. Some people seem to 
think everyone ought to know* just how an 
engine works, but they don’t. I had been 
told in a general way that power in a gas 
engine is developed like an explosion. The 
piston moves back and forth—turning the 
wheel—much as it would if we fired a cannon 
back of it to push it along. Just enough 
of the gasoline and air cotnes into a chamber 
and is exploded by an electric spark, thus 
driving the piston rod back and forth and 
turning the wheel. All this was of great 
interest to me. Like the man from Missouri. 
I was willing to be “shown." It was a 
great thing to see a demonstration of the 
fact that a spoonful or less of gasoline had 
within it the pow r er to do the work of five 
horses! After some tinkering and adjusting 
the engine started, and sent the saw tearing 
throo"h White oak sticks. The cough ot 
the engine and the scream of the saw made 
a good song of labor. We shall use the 
engine f u* sawing a year’s supply of wood, 
with some to sell, shredding stalks and 
later for pumping. We are prepared to do 
some outside work at these jobs. In fact 
the engine promises to be a very useful 
helper. The one we have is five horse-power. 
I should say that most farmers make a mis¬ 
take in getting too small an engine. It is 
always wdse to have a reserve of power. I 
can say more about this engine business after 
we have worked with It longer. 
Homh and Farm. —At last we are In the 
new house. Mother will draw plans* of It 
later, so that we can show how it is ar¬ 
ranged. We find it more comfortable than 
some dreams. As the hot water circulates 
through tlie house we are all disposed to 
forgive those plumbers after all. I guess 
the boys will come nearest to a forgiving 
spirit as they do not have to cut wood and 
keep the stoves tilled. That may he one 
reason why plumbers get plenty of work and 
grow rich. People growl at them while the 
work Is going on, and then have to admit 
that the job was well done. The house is 
very cosy and comfortable, and we shall get 
the worth of our money out of it. Now 
will come the job of beautifying the grounds. 
. . . What I may call a baby ice storm 
struck us on January 14. The trees were 
coated witli ice—just the condition I do 
not like to see on peach and cherry. This 
is a sort of cold storage which does the 
fruit buds no good, hut in this case there 
was no serious effect, for the ice melted 
rapidly. When Nellie and Madge went to 
church they were thankful for the sharp 
shoes which enabled them to walk uprightly 
on slippery ground. ... If the present 
weather continues we shall change one of 
our plans and haul manure straight from 
the hog factory to the level ground. By 
“hog factory" we mean the large box stall In 
which the hogs work over the horse manure 
under cover. We had planned to throw this 
out doors under a shed and haul it to the 
ground later, but now we plan to get it out 
at once and spread it on the level ground. 
This saves one hauling, and we can handle 
larger loads on the frozen ground. This 
manure is mixed with sawdust. Our object 
in holding it longer was to let it ferment 
still more and thus overcome the acid. To 
make doubly sure we expect to use some lime 
where the sawdust is put. . . . Bessie, 
the little Boston terrier, has presented two 
live puppies. These toy dogs have great 
value. Bessie might weigh 20 pounds, but 
she would sell for more than any cow in the 
neighborhood. Good dogs of the breed are 
scarce, and no wonder, when the litters are 
so small. Some months ago I made some 
ridiculous figures to offset the statements 
of the ginseng and skunk farmers. Let a 
man keep 100 such dogs as Bessie on an 
acre! Allow 10 puppies per year from each 
dog and sell them at .$50 each ! There you 
have $50,000 per acre. Let’s all go to rais¬ 
ing dogs. That is like one side of the ginseng 
business. As a matter of fact Bessie, at 
nearly three years old, has given one grown¬ 
up puppy and the two little ones! Her 
board and care cost $3 a week for several 
months that she was kept by those who 
handle such dogs! Some of these side lines 
that look so bright in the limelight make a 
dim showing when you put them out in the 
sun. Yet dog breeding appears to be a 
good business for those who know how and 
attend to it. 
Scale Frauds. —The San Josd scale is bad 
enough without making her the partner of 
other evils. Here is one front New York : 
“The story of Prof. Smith - and The It. 
N.-Y. tpage 8) puts me in mind of a taik I 
had with a fertilizer agent a few days ago. 
Some of them seem to think a farmer not 
only will, but should, believe anything they 
tell him. I had taken some interest in this 
one. but when lie began using as an argu¬ 
ment why I should use fertilizer on my 
orchard the fact that lots of farmers and 
fruit men in New Jersey had overrun their 
fruit trees with Codling moth and San .Tose 
scale by using too much manure, I bolted.” 
w. H. 
If people believed all they hear Truth 
would have a hard time. Faith and hope 
are holy things, but they keep alive more 
frauds and fakers than anything else! A 
first-rate way to obtain a parcels post or 
better fence wire would be to reform 500 
each fertilizer agents and tree peddlers, and 
send them around telling the whole truth, 
as plausibly as they glorify their trees and 
fertilizers. Good fertilizers, properly used, 
are very useful for au orchard, but when a 
man gets to the point of saying that there 
can be any connection between stable manure 
and the San Jose scale he should have the 
lime and sulphur spray turned on him at 
once. 
Sawdust Again. — Here is one often asked: 
"How would sawdust do for mulching 
strawberry plants? I had used buckwheat 
straw, which is scarce, and dislike using 
stable manure on account of its being seedy.' 
Maryland. l. j. m. 
Sawdust is bad for mulch. It packs down 
too hard and close around the plants, and 
smothers them. We must remember that 
strawberry leaves do not die in Winter as 
most others do. They remain green, which 
shows that life is there, and they must have 
air. The straw is much better than sawdust, 
as it permits air to reach the plants. Re¬ 
member what you use mulch for—not to 
cover the plant so much as to cover the 
soil and prevent the frequent thaw and 
freeze which goes on in an open Winter and 
in Spring. I have received many questions 
about the safety in using sawdust in manure. 
Some fear that it will sour the ground even 
when used as bedding. I asked Prof. II. J. 
Wheeler, of Rhode Island, probably our high¬ 
est authority on such matters. He says: 
“I am obliged to confess that I have never 
had any experience with it, directly or in- 
directly. It is hardly conceivable to me that 
rotten sawdust would react other than acid. 
It would not. surprise me if in all 
cases when sawdust is used on other than 
calcareous soils, the plan of applying lime 
or wood ashes would be a wise one. It seems 
to me the situation is very similar to that 
when rye and other green crops, which con¬ 
tain very small amounts of nitrogen, are 
applied as green manures.” 
Our soil is naturally inclined to be sour, 
and I have decided to use lime where this 
sawdust manure is plowed under. The lime 
will be broadcast and harrowed In for all 
crops except potatoes. 
Ali. Sorts.— This Pennsylvania man stirs 
up a very hard subject: 
“We sell milk, and since we wish to raise 
a calf would like to know a substitute for 
milk. We have seen au advertisement in 
The R. N.-Y’. telling of a calf food.” 
What we used was Blatchford's calf meal. 
Philip claimed that it smells like “slippery 
elm and fertilizer.” With us it proved a 
fair substitute for part of the milk, but 1 
should not attempt to raise another calf 
with no milk at all. It doesn’t pay. If 
the calf is an extra good one I would use 
some skim-milk for 8 or 10 weeks at least. 
Otherwise I would not try it. A calf abso¬ 
lutely without milk is likely to grow up 
like a child without love in its childhood. 
Here is a Missouri man after advice: 
“I have some young apple trees that have 
been barked by rabbits, and it will be nec¬ 
essary for me to do some bridge-grafting to 
save them. Please give me definite particu¬ 
lars. Would it be advisable to bind up the 
wounds immediately with something to pre¬ 
vent fhe tree from drying, or what do you 
think best? C. b. 
We shall give full directions about bridge¬ 
grafting in time. Do not try to cross the 
bridge until you reach it. In other words, 
let the trees alone until you are ready to 
graft them. You will not prove a good 
Samaritan if you bind up their wounds for, 
if you do so, it is doubtful if you can tell 
later just where the dead wood ends! 
H. w. C. 
Let Us Quote You a Price 
on a First-Class Fanni n g Mill 
Made by a Fanning Mill Factory 
You should own a Fanning Mill. 
It will save its own cost in short 
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grades of grain, you get a fancy 
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Your seed grain will not be mixed. 
Grain, as it comes from the thresh¬ 
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A fanning mill will clean it—and 
grade it.—get all the best together, 
specialty of high-grade mills. 
—take out all the chaff and withered 
kernels,—remove oats from wheat. 
One operation does the business. 
And the fanning makes every bushel 
worth more money. 
Say “good-bye” to weeds in your 
wheat field. 
Just to give you an idea,—here are 
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Clover, Millet. Flax, Rice, Peas, 
Wheat, Oats, Rye, Barley, Timothy, 
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that makes a 
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