490 
May 8, 
“garden sass,” as well as milk, the vegetable bill last 
Summer running over $200, which went a long way 
toward paying for the garden. 
I have been very fortunate in my “help,” being 
able to get good men who take an interest in their 
work. I have read and studied T he R. N.-Y. for 
the last five years^ and find it of untold benefit. I 
. give it to the foreman every week. and we discuss' 
its advice and use much which applies to us. The 
new apple orchard of 50 trees is a R. X.-Y. orchard, 
and is looking most promising. 
My Summer boarder business has been a great 
help in keeping things going, supplying, as it does, 
a convenient market for the milk during school va¬ 
cation and for the fruit and vegetables. The house 
is usually full from the middle of June until late in 
September, and for the last few years it seems that 
people are wanting to come into the country earlier 
and stay later than ever before. I often wonder that 
more farmhouses are not open in this way, for many 
people are glad to find a quiet place to stay, particu¬ 
larly if they have children. Ready money talks in 
the country as loud as anywhere, and I have found 
that boarders help to chip the corners off a mort¬ 
gage. Anyone who thinks of opening a farm board¬ 
ing house should be sure to furnish in abundance 
those things which people naturally associate with 
a farm, as fresh milk, cream, eggs, vegetables, etc. 
A woman said to me recently, “Last Summer we 
were boarding on a farm, and they sold all the milk, 
so that we had hardly any and never a drop of 
cream.” Such a management as this is sure to bring 
unsatisfactory results. 
After three years I put in a water system, bath 
rooms, and steam heat, costing in all $2,000. A 
windmill near the brook furnishes power and forces 
the water to a cistern on a hill well above the house. 
The brook faileth never, so we are happy. Next, 
the mortgage seemed to need attention, and I have 
paid $2,000 on that, to date, in $500 installments. 
There have been, beside the regular repairs incident 
to maintenance, many improvements in the buildings 
and grounds, new machinery purchased, so that to¬ 
day the place is in better condition than when I took 
its care. I have not said anything about discour¬ 
agements yet. Oh yes! There have been plenty of 
them. One year all the pigs died. Occasionally a 
cow passes away. The lightning struck the silo and 
made a riddle of it. (I forgot to say that I built a 
silo and am a firm believer in the value of silage.) 
Years when I especially wanted heifers to raise all 
the calves were bulls. The stiiped bugs try to eat 
the squashes, the currant worms the currants and the 
crows the corn ; human conditions are never perfect. 
I am naturally strong and well and have taken care 
to keep so. I believe that the dyspepsia aiA “nerves” 
of many country women are due to insufficient ex¬ 
ercise in the open air. When I became a real farmer 
I began walking, taking every hour I reasonably 
could for this purpose, never driving when I had 
time to walk, in spite of the 'temptation to go to the 
door and call to one of the men‘to harness “Charlie.” 
Steady nerves I would have, so walk I must. I now 
walk 10 miles without a thought of its being far. and 
up to 25 without being at all over - tired. Three 
friends are likeminded with me about walking, and 
every Spring and Fall we manage to get an occa¬ 
sional day off and, armed with a bite of lunch, start 
in the morning and tramp until late afternoon, tak¬ 
ing wood roads, short cuts and generally exploring 
the country. Once feel the sense of physical fitness 
the power to walk brings, and the habit will never be 
abandoned. 
I keep three men the year round, and have a 
chore boy through the Summer. The same foreman 
has been with me since I set up for a farmer. The 
other two men I have changed once, not from any 
unpleasantness on either side, but because they had 
chances to get foremen’s places. I board these men 
and one, who has a family, occupies a tenement 
across the garden. I try to make everyone who 
works for me feel that they have an interest in the 
place, and the best way to accomplish this is to 
make them responsible, each in his own department. 
There is plenty of work through the Winter to keep 
all busy. I sell practically certified milk, which in¬ 
volves a lot of work in the care of 25 cows. Forty 
cords of wood is cut and worked up for kitchen 
range and open fireplaces — of which there are 
six—ice harvested, etc. The only work T do myself 
outside the house it to take care of my flower gar¬ 
den and the bees. Franklin’s maxim is mine, “The 
eye of the master is worth both his hands.” One 
word about those bees. They are fun. Three years 
ago I bought two swarms and armed with a bee book 
assumed charge. T had some stings at first, but lots 
of honey later. I cannot understand why there are 
not a few bee hives by the garden wall of every 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
farm, they are so little work. By selling and giving 
away I have kept my apiary down to six or seven 
colonies, because I have no time to go into it exten¬ 
sively, but have all the honey we can use and some 
every Fall to sell. 
In the house I have two girls in Winter and four 
or five in Summer, according to my family. I make 
it a habit, which I seldom break, to be at home al¬ 
ways in the morning; people coming on business 
know' they will find me then. All meats and pro¬ 
visions are brought to the door, and I do the order¬ 
ing. It is easy to keep busy about a large house 
as every housekeeper knows. Certain things I do 
myself, in Summer particularly, things I like to do, 
or think I can do a little better than anyone else, 
such as making certain desserts, salads, made dishes 
and some preserving. I plan to finish my day’s work 
—with my hands—by noon. The oversight of every¬ 
thing takes time, and there are the accounts. I 
keep a good set of books, day-book, ledger and cash 
account, and this work is put into some part of the 
evening. When I sum up my farming experience, 
I see lots of hard work and no very remarkable 
money profit. I feel that for me I prefer it to 
teaching and it brings an element of “own bossism” 
very pleasant. I count it a great advantage to have 
a home to share for a day or a year with a friend, 
and an inestimable privilege to live with all out¬ 
doors at one’s door for a playground. 
Windham Co., Conn. elinor b. mathewson. 
PARCEL POST IN GERMANY. 
A Great Public Service. 
Part II. 
When for one reason or another it is impossible 
to deliver the parcel the sender is notified and re¬ 
quested to give instructions as to its disposition 
within seven ‘days, and at the same time pay a 
charge of five cents. Tf the sender is in doubts as 
to a difficulty in the delivery of the parcel he can, 
as was already stated, write instructions as to its 
disposition on the address card at the time of the 
despatch of the parcej. * 
The question of the charges for transmission is of 
course of vital and determining importance in the 
parcel-post system, and it is here that the German 
system offers an admirable service, for its chief vir¬ 
tues are moderate charges and an almost infallible 
service. Weight and distance determine the amount 
of the charge. The distance charge is determined 
by means of zones. Taking the point from which 
a given package is to be transported as the center 
the first zone lies within a circumference whose ra¬ 
dius is 10 geographical miles; the second zone lies 
between 10 and 20 geographical miles; the third 
between 20 and 50 geographical miles; the fourth 
between 50 and 100 geographical miles; the fifth 
between 100 and 150 geographical miles; and the 
sixth, the most distant zone, beyond 150 miles. 
For parcels weighing less than 11 pounds but two 
zones are distinguished—one within 10 geographical 
miles and the other beyond this distance. The 
charge for a parcel weighing less than 11 pounds is 
six cents within the first zone of 10 geographical 
miles and 12 cents for every greater distance. For 
parcels weighing over 11 pounds the charge for the 
first five kilograms is the same as given above. For 
every additional kilogram or fraction thereof the 
charge varies proportionately. Every parcel is 
weighed on its delivery for transmission, note of its 
exact weight being made on the address card by 
the receiving official. Extremely heavy packages are 
received, the limit in weight being 110 pounds. 
In case the postage upon parcels is not prepaid an 
extra charge of 2 x / 2 cents is collected where the 
packages do not weigh more than 11 pounds. In 
case of heavier packages no extra fee is charged. 
The aim of this provision is apparently to avoid 
the shipment of unpaid parcels in weights of less 
than five kilograms, the chances for so doing being 
the greatest for the smaller class of packages, which 
constitute by far the majority of all parcels sent. 
Parcels of ligM weight or considerable size or 
which possess a delicate character which makes 
them difficult of transportation both when handling 
and in the space which they occupy are placed in a 
special class by themselves under the name of “spe¬ 
cial express,” under the American usage of" the 
term. In this class are included all parcels whose 
dimensions in any one direction exceed 1.5 meters 
(59 inches) ; also parcels which measure one meter 
(39.37 inches) in one direction and more than .5 
meter (19.68 inches) in another and vet weigh less 
than 10 kilograms; also baskets with plants, hat 
boxes, furniture, delicate basket work, cages with 
animals or when empty, etc., all of which occupy 
comparatively large space and require comparatively 
careful handling. Packages such as the above pay 
in addition to the regular postage an extra charge 
equal to one-half of the regular postage charge. 
Insurance fees are not calculated In determining the 
extra charge. 
Parcels which possess an extraordinary value are 
generally insured, the rates being most favorable. 
The minimum charge for insurance is 2]/ 2 cents and 
covers all parcels less than 600 marks ($142.80) in 
value. Every additional 300 marks in value pays a 
charge of 1.19 cents. Thus 1,500 marks ($357) pay 
an insurance fee of 25 pfennige (5.95 cents) ; 6,000 
marks ($1,428) pay a fee of one mark (23.8 cents) ; 
1,200 marks ($2,856) pay a fee of two marks (47.6 
cents), etc. 
The postal charges both for insured and ordinary 
parcels are so moderate and the advantages of a 
rapid transmission of similar shipments of commodi¬ 
ties, etc., are so great that the German parcel-post 
system of transportation has grown to be one of the 
most important commercial communication agencies 
of the country. The parcel-post brings the fish from 
the North Sea, the colonial products from the sea¬ 
port towns, the dairy products from Switzerland, 
and wines from the Rhine valley, the fruits from 
Italy and the vegetables of the whole South into 
the heart of Germany. When the Manheim or 
Chemnitz fruit dealer runs short he sends a tele¬ 
gram for 12 cents to his import dealer at Hamburg, 
Bremen or Berlin and the next day the case is de¬ 
livered at his store, the whole transaction involving 
an expense of from 12 to 50 cents or $1; and involv¬ 
ing this highest rate only when the case weighs at 
least 50 pounds. The rates which permit of the 
sending of parcels up to 11 pounds in weight any 
distance for 12 cents draw a truly inestimable quan¬ 
tity of packages. Everywhere business men express 
high praise of the system and declare it to be an 
indispensable institution, performing a service which 
could not be rendered as promptly or as conven¬ 
iently by any other known agency. 
HAY AS A MONEY CROP. 
Should the farmer make a practice of depending on 
hay as one of his money crops? I know there are 
many farmers who do, and defend this practice on 
the score of economy. Help is high-priced and hard 
to get. and by seeding down a part of the farm and 
thus reducing the cultivated acreage, ' they are able 
to get along by hiring during the haying season. 
The hay is put in the barn, or in stacks, and sold 
during the Fall, if the farmer is in need of ready 
cash, or the price*is satisfactory, if not it is held 
till some time in the Winter or Spring, when it can 
usually be disposed of at a good price. Timothy 
being most in demand, and bringing a higher price, 
is the kind usually grown. The crop is cut year 
after year, and nothing returned to the soil to take 
the place of what has been removed, until the ground 
refuses to yield a profitable return, when it is plowed, 
and planted to cultivated crops until it recovers, in 
a measure, from the drain upon it, when it is again 
subjected to the depleting process of Timothy grow¬ 
ing. Tf clover was grown instead it would not be so 
bad, for the clover roots would return some fertility 
to the soil if plowed up before it all died out. 
Alfalfa might be better still, if one could get a good 
stand of it, for it is valuable as a feed on the farm, 
or for market, and its deeply-penetrating roots bring 
to the surface available plant food that lies too 
deep in the soil for ordinary crops to feed upon. 
Alfalfa is more or less in the experimental stage in 
this State, as yet little being grown; few farmers 
realize its value in the economy of the farm. I 
think it is destined to become one of the most valu¬ 
able forage crops the farm can produce when it is 
better understood. 
The farmer who grows a crop of Timothy year 
after year, and disposes of it, is robbing his soil of 
fertility, instead of adding to it year by year, as he 
should always plan to do. The farm must grow 
richer if the farmer would. The robbing process 
cannot, be continued indefinitely. If one is near a 
city where he can secure a large supply of stable 
manure to top-dress his meadows each year he might 
be able to grow a crop of hay on the same fields for 
years without such disastrous results to the soil, but 
few are so situated, and those who are, as a rule, 
prefer to apply the manure to fields that are to be 
devoted to cultivated crops. Where several succes¬ 
sive crops of hay have been taken from a field the 
soil becomes nearly destitute of humus, and is there¬ 
fore in poor condition for any kind of a crop, and 
it will take good care, and several years, to get the 
land back to the state of fertility that prevailed 
before it was depleted by hay after hay. Of 
course commercial fertilizer could be applied to the 
grass and a larger crop secured each year for a 
longer term of years, but such a plan would leave 
the soil in a still worse condition' at the end of a 
period of years. The best plan is to try to keep 
sufficient stock so that as a rule all hay grown can be 
fed out on the farm, then the soil can be built up 
so as to produce larger crops each year, if a suitable 
rotation is followed. apollos long. 
R. N.-Y.—In some of the Eastern States fields are 
kept in grass a dozen years or more, yield’ng good 
crops by the use of chemical fertilizer alone. Near 
our own farm such practice is quite common, and is 
profitable. A mixture of equal parts nitrate of 
soda, ground bone, acid phosphate and muriate of 
potash—600 pounds or more per acre, will give good 
vields of grass for some years—if lime is used 
