1909. 
THE RAILROADS AND FIRES. 
% 
Damage to Hayfields. 
I am glad to sec you are taking up the matter of 
railroad fires again, on page 414. I live on a farm in 
Rockland Country, N. Y., along the line of the N. J. 
& N. Y. Railroad, and I can heartily sympathize with 
Mr. Clements in all that he says. Not only does the 
Erie Company, who operate this road, fail to keep the 
engines in good order, but the right of way over which 
the road passes is a constant source of danger by 
fire to adjoining property. In New York State the 
railroads are directed by law to cut all brush, weeds, 
etc., on their property twice each Summer. The Erie 
Company cuts but once, if at all, along this branch; 
and late in the season when the weeds and brush 
have attained full growth. This trash is left where it 
falls, and along with broken ties and other refuse 
which collects along the road, forms the surest kind 
of a fire trap. A large percentage of railroad fires 
could be prevented by mowing twice each season along 
the railroad, and then burning this refuse. This would 
be an expense to the railroad, I admit, but what about 
the saving in time and property to people who live 
along the track, and spend much time each season 
going to extinguish fires along the railroads? The 
rule, for self or men, is always to go and put out a 
fire; it may prove to be only a bunch of burning cotton 
waste, or it may be a fire which, if neglected, will do 
much damage. Frequently, if the wind is blowing, the 
damage is done before we can get on the job. I have 
known these fires, fanned by a strong wind, to jump 
across an ordinary country road, and to endanger farm 
buildings V/2 mile from where started. It is impos¬ 
sible to foresee the possibilities of any fire. 
As an instance, take a recent fire. On April 5 a pas¬ 
senger train strewed fire for a long distance on each 
side of the track. I took a pail of water and broom 
and ran to put it out. When I came to the railroad 
the fire was nearly all burning on the company’s land, 
but with a strong wind blowing, which shifted fre¬ 
quently, thje fire spread in spite of my efforts. My 
sister, watching from the house, came presently to 
help by carrying water from a brook nearby. Then 
three neighbors took a hand, and after an hour’s hard, 
fast work the wind subsided and we had the fire out. 
Looking the situation over, I find five mowing fields 
partly burned over. Experience teaches me that on 
these upland fields a fire fixes the Timothy hay crop, 
and the land has to be plowed, manured and reseeded. 
Now, take the record of one of these field—a good hay 
crop on it was partly burned as it lay in the swath 
before raking in July, 1906, burned portion plowed, 
manured and reseeded. Fire ran over this again in 
July, 1908, before mowing, destroying the standing 
crop of hay. Field • 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
to instruct its Legislative Committee to take action 
in this matter. As individuals, we can do little; we 
need to stand together. We need the help of those 
who live remote from railroads and take no note of 
the daily inconvenience and small losses by fire. To 
create public opinion we need the help of the agricul¬ 
tural papers, and the two articles in recent numbers 
of The R. N. Y. have the true ring. 
Rockland Co., N. Y. Frederick m. Johnson. 
551 
toxication among the red men so far as possible. It 
is a pity the policy cannot be extended so as to 
cover white and black men. The New England peo¬ 
ple have the baked bean habit very close to their re¬ 
ligion, but that kind is harmless. The Indian “bean” 
is a dangerous and demoralizing influence. 
GETTING DRUNK ON BEANS. 
The Demoralizing Mescal and its Effects. 
Not long since the daily papers stated that Govern¬ 
ment officers had destroyed 200,000 “mescal beans” at 
Laredo, Texas. Webb County is just over the river 
; rom Mexico. There are only six post-offices—two 
■ L JL V >;v ; ‘ • - 
EFFECT OF A LIGHTNING STROKE. Fig. 237 . 
bearing the suggestive names Cactus and Darwin. It 
was said that the beans were destroyed because the 
Indians use them as intoxicants. We traced the mat¬ 
ter up and have received the following statement from 
Dr. Marsh, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture: 
“There is sufficient basis for the report that the so- 
called mescal bean produces a violent intoxication, 
and that it has been made use of in times past by 
certain tribes of Indians in connection with certain 
ceremonies which are regarded by them as a part of 
their religion. The 'buttons’ consist of the dried slices 
of certain cacti, generally referred to as a species 
of An ha Ionium. These dried slices are capable of 
producing a most violent intoxication. According to 
Prentiss and Morgan, the drug produces wonderful 
visions which accompany a type of cerebral excite¬ 
ment, together with a dilatation of the pupil of the 
spread with manure this 
Spring (1909) and now 
burned over again and 
the manure destroyed. 
There is about 40 acres 
cf my farm adjoining 
the railroad. This land 
is smooth and natural¬ 
ly good grass land. I 
keep it seeded, or try 
to, and this hay crop is 
an important part of 
my income. Fruit is 
out of the question on 
this land with the many 
railroad fires. It looks 
as if the railroad would 
put me out of business. 
I cannot get hold of any 
responsible person con¬ 
nected with the manage¬ 
ment of the railroad to 
discuss the matter of 
fires. A complaint of 
lire, made by letter, is 
referred to the claim 
agent, and that ends it, 
for tb.e claim agent has 
nothing to do with managing the railroad, and filing 
a claim for damages by fire is a waste of time, unless 
backed by a lawsuit. 
T 0 many people it seems useless to fight the rail¬ 
roads on this question of fires, but when we remem¬ 
ber the high-handed manner in which telegraph com¬ 
panies cut trees and otherwise disregarded the rights 
of individual property owners a few years ago, and 
compare the present-day attitude of telegraph and 
telephone companies in similar cases, I think we have 
reason to hope we may yet make the railroad com¬ 
panies find it cheaper to take proper precautions 
against fire than to pay for the loss. Personally, I 
have written about this to the Public Service Com¬ 
mission. and I intend to try to get our Subordinate 
Grange to pass a resolution asking our State Grange 
THE SUPERIORITY OF MIND OVER MATTER. Fig. 238. 
eye, later muscular relaxation, partial anaesthesia, 
and weakened heart action. As used by the Indians, 
the periods of excitement are followed by sleep, dur¬ 
ing which the subjects more or less completely re¬ 
cover from the effects of the intoxicant. A friend who 
observed one of these ceremonies in Indian Territory 
told me that the Indians divide themselves into two 
squads during this part of their ceremony, one-half 
of them remaining sober to restrain those who eat 
the mescal buttons from killing themselves or each 
other. This gives a good idea of the excitement pro¬ 
duced by this intoxicant. This should be distinguished 
from the so-called mescal beverage of Mexican origin, 
which is a distilled, fermented liquor, prepared from 
certain agaves.” 
It is the policy of the Government to prevent in¬ 
PROPAGATING JUNE-BUDDED PEACHES. 
A Popular Method of Increasing Stock. 
Please inform me as to the best plan to follow in pro¬ 
pagating peach trees. I am growing seedlings to he 
budded to propagate a new seedling of much apparent 
merit originating in this vicinity. Which is better, to 
bud in June or August? w. a. c 
Ohio. 
June budding of the peach was made popular for 
many years by the demand for trees in California 
and Florida and many other distant States from New 
Jersey. A June bud could be packed light and thou¬ 
sands of them would not make much more bulk or 
weight than a hundred large one-year trees, and 
many planters claimed they would make a bearing 
orchard quicker than the larger one-year bud. But 
in the last few years the orchardists are wanting a 
medium-size one-year tree, and the June bud has 
passed out as an orchard tree. Many June buds 
are still grown for mailing trade, and thousands of 
June-budded peach, plum and apricots gc through 
the mails every year. To propagate by June budding 
plant the seed in October or November in good rich 
loamy soil, if possible, and the next Spring after 
seedling trees are two or three inches high apply a 
little nitrate of soda down the rows and keep them 
well cultivated, and growing as fast as possible so as 
to get them large enough to bud by June 15 or 20, 
or even earlier in the South. In New Jersey June 
budding is done as late as July 6, but after the first 
of July the buds do not make enough growth to make 
good trees. In favorable weather and good soil I 
have seen buds put in as late as June 30 make a 
growth of 18 to 30 inches and caliper one-half 
inch; such trees if carefully planted, after being 
fresh dug, will often make a better growth than a 
one-year tree. This is a quick and popular method 
of increasing a new variety of peach, plum or apri¬ 
cot. When the seedlings are six or eight inches high 
and as thick as an ordinary rye straw, budding can 
be done. The seedlings will have leaves on the 
stems; these should be stripped off for a space of two 
inches, about two or three inches from the ground. The 
space where the leaves have been stripped off is the 
place to insert the bud. Leave about four or five inches 
of top above the bud, and cut the remainder of top 
back. When the bud has been inserted make a little 
cut above bud, just enough to make a notch to hold 
the string with which 
the bud is tied. This 
string should be No. 14 
darning cotton cut about 
six inches long. The 
man or boy who is to 
tie the bud should take 
this cotton and com¬ 
mence at bottom of the 
bud, fastening by mak¬ 
ing the first wrap over 
the end of cotton, then 
wind around bud below 
and above eye and fasten 
at top by slipping end 
of string in cut made 
by budder just above 
bud. The bud must be 
taken from growth made 
the Spring the budding 
is done (and while it 
necessarily must be a 
soft growth it must be 
hard enough to peel 
from the wood), and 
not a dormant bud kept 
in cold storage, as is the 
popular idea of a bud 
to use in June budding. 
After 10 days the top down to bud must be cut off and 
tie removed; in about 10 days more the bud and suck¬ 
ers will have made a growth of two or three inches. 
At this time the suckers must be pinched back, thus 
allowing the bud to grow, and the suckers stopped 
by being pinched back half of their growth. In 
about a week more remove all the suckers with a 
sharp knife; leave the leaves on the stem below bud. 
Hot dry weather is ideal weather for June budding; 
wet cold weather is as a rule disastrous to these 
little soft buds. Cultivate thoroughly and keep 
ground level; never throw fresh soil up against the 
young seedlings. This is no work for a novice or 
bungler, but is for an expert. A man whom I knew 
could put six thousand of these little buds in in 10 
hours, while I myself, brought up from boyhood in 
this work, could never make any headway at putting 
in these little June buds. e. s. black. 
