600 
oxen bring their load of worshipers. Through the 
cold of Winter the patient beasts plodded through 
mud or snow, with their load made comfortable with 
warm blankets, helping to make a goodly attendance 
at the revival meetings or to the regular service at 
the church. Then in the following June, when the 
Summer evenings were perfect, they could be seen 
again slowly moving down the pleasant highway, 
stopping at each house as they passed to take in 
passengers in the “bus,” as people laughingly call the 
conveyance. And as the oxen slowly plodded on, 
the voices of the people singing the good old-fash¬ 
ioned camp-meeting hymns floated across the fields 
and meadows beyond the river in the gentle hush of 
eventide, we could not help but wish that there were 
more ox teams in this world carrying friends and 
neighbors to the house of worship. Surely this com¬ 
panionship was good, and bound them closer in the 
ties of fellowship. One yoke of oxen is often kept 
on farms where more than one team is needed, as 
oxen are much better adapted to hauling loads over 
rough woods roads or working on the stony hillsides 
than are horses. At an agricultural fair last Fall, 50 
yoke were exhibited; one lumberman showing twelve 
3'oke of Durham oxen; while another man exhibited 
eight yoke of Holsteins, thus showing that oxen are 
largely used in the lumber woods. 
But while the New England farmer still clings to 
his “Yankee team,” yet he likes to own good horses 
and carriages, and here and there you find one, in 
this section, who owns an automobile. The farmer, 
as a whole, likes the automobile better and better 
each year. It is the abuse of it, not the use of it, 
to which he has objected in the past, and he 'is now 
finding that the automobile is a great time-saver for 
himself. Statistics show that out of 273,000 auto¬ 
mobiles used in the United States, farmers have 
76,000 of them. Two-sevenths of all the automobiles 
manufactured in this country in 1907 went to farmers, 
and the number increases each year. It is said that 
iy 2 per cent of all the farmers have automobiles; in 
Iowa one in every 34 owns one. I have not been 
able to learn how many in New England are used by 
farmers, but I think the number must be very small, 
as I personally know of only two. But I venture 
to predict that in five years their use will become 
quite general, as farmers will realize the immense 
uses to which they can put the power, such as shred¬ 
ding corn, shredding hay, chopping feed, pumping 
water, flushing dairy barn, driving circular saw, lift¬ 
ing hay into the mows, shelling corn, separating 
cream, churning and also running the washing ma¬ 
chine, and perhaps the Yankee housewife could hitch 
one to her sewing machine. One Wisconsin dairy¬ 
man hitches his to a fire pump to protect his property 
against fire. It will also keep the boys and girls at 
home; it will help to make them love country life, 
when they are-but an hour from the city; they can 
take the auto when it is too hot for horses, and per¬ 
haps the greatest reason- of all for the farmer be¬ 
coming friendly with the auto is that it will bring 
about good roads everywhere. 
Like the telephone, the automobile brings him to a 
physician in case of necessity, or the physician to 
him. Some of the rural delivery carriers have their 
machines, and they are as much of a necessity to the 
farmer as to the carriers. With the free delivery 
and the morning papers, the farmer would be right 
in the world and up to the minute if he had parcels 
post. Many of our post offices are located in groc¬ 
ery stores, and with parcels post the carrier, who is 
seldom over-burdened with mail, could bring the 
busy housewife what she greatly needs, and in the 
busy season it would save the trip of the horse or 
the automobile if the farmer was lucky enough to 
have one. And though the use of automobiles is 
increasing each year, yet the same may be said of 
the faithful ox teams. They are not rivals of each 
other, neither will ever supplant the other. And as 
long as our New England hillsides remain stony and 
the roads in the woods rough and difficult, so long 
will the patient ox perform his appointed labor, while 
the chug-chug of the automobile sounds from the 
roads to the hills and the horn floats its warning 
on the air. susan jewett howe. 
ONION SEEDLINGS AND BEANS. 
Very frequently we have a lot of onion seedlings 
which we must thin out, because they are too thick 
in the drill. These may be used to good advantage 
by transplanting them. They, as a rule, make finer 
onions than those left in the drill where sown. When 
transplanted their tops should be shortened to be set. 
At an experiment at the Ohio Experiment Station a 
few years ago. 10 selected transplanted Prizetaker 
bulbs weighed eight pounds four ounces, while the 
same number of bulbs not transplanted weighed four 
pounds four ounces. Pompeian transplanted, seven 
pounds six ounces, not transplanted four pounds 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
one ounce; Yellow Danvers transplanted five 
pounds, not transplanted two pounds six ounces. 
At the Michigan Station transplanted Prizetakers 
gave a yield of 548 bushels per acre, while 
not transplanted at the Tennessee Experiment 
Station yielded 206 bushels per acre, while not 
transplanted yielded 206 bushels per acre. These re¬ 
sults are worthy of consideration whether growing 
onions for home use or for market. 
We make it an object to grow a generous supply of 
white beans for home use, and we find that any sur¬ 
plus finds ready sale at the market. A serious draw¬ 
back to the crop is the moist climate, and the preva¬ 
lence of the bean weevil. I, however, find little 
trouble in harvesting a clean crop of beans. As soon 
as ripe enough I pull the beans on a warm sunny 
day, and if weather promises fair leave them out a 
day or two, then haul them and spread out in an 
airy barn loft or a dry shed, and as soon as dry 
enough thrash them with a flail clean and immedi¬ 
ately treat them with bisulphide of carbon, to pre¬ 
vent damage from the weevil. I place beans in a 
tight box or barrel, and in a saucer I placed a quan¬ 
tity of bisulphide and cover immediately with old 
carpet or blanket, and leave covered 24 hours, then 
remove cover and give air. Care must be observed 
not to come near the chemical or its fumes with a 
light or a lighted pipe or cigar, as it is highly ex¬ 
plosive; also not to inhale the fumes while handling 
the drug. g. Winkler. 
Missouri. _ 
CAN TREES “PRESERVE THEMSELVES?” 
The “Saturday Evening Post" contains an article en¬ 
titled "Making Trees Preserve Themselves,” in which it 
is claimed that dilute solutions of zinc chloride or copper 
sulphate are introduced into holes bored into the trees 
thus treated during the late Summer, the statement being 
made that at this period "the evaporation from the foliage 
of a tree is at a maximum, the result being that a partial 
vacuum exists.” which results in the solution being "auto¬ 
matically forced by atmospheric pressure into all parts 
of the tree." If this be true, it would seem to lend some 
color to the claims of those tree doctors who profess to 
ward off diseases from orchards by inserting certain reme¬ 
dies within holes bored into the trunks of the trees, lint 
I rernemlx-r Alaska wheat and the Seedless apple, and I 
should like further information on this question. 
Indiana. r. b. v. 
Regarding the matter of making trees preserve 
themselves, I beg to say that the entire proposition is 
practically a fake. This idea, in one form or another, 
has been cropping up for the past 50 years, at least. 
It is about on a par with the idea of treating typhoid 
fever by giving injections of corrosive sublimate— 
unquestionably the typhoid organism would be killed, 
but the patient would die first. In other words, there 
is every reason to believe that if a solution of chlo¬ 
ride of zinc or sulphate of copper could be got into 
the wood strong enough to prevent decay it would be 
so strong as to interfere with the life of the tree it¬ 
self. It may be that ultimately some sub tance can 
be found which can be taken up by the heartwood, 
and making it more resistant to decay than it is at 
present, but so far. nothing of the kind has been 
found, nor have the details of making the tree take 
up any such substance been worked out. 
Department of Agriculture. haven metcalf. 
Pathologist in Charge. 
I believe there are some patents in the market for 
naturally preserving trees, according to the method 
outlined in your letter. I do not know, however, of 
any case where such treatments have proved eco¬ 
nomically feasible and beneficial. It is true, how¬ 
ever, that a solution of a salt such a chloride of 
zinc or sulphate of copper will be drawn by a living 
tree to a considerable height above the ground. This 
is analagous to the transportation of the liquid mat¬ 
ter in the sapwood of the tree. Perhaps the most 
exhaustive test along this line was conducted by 
Strasburger. who sawed through a large oak tree at 
the base, then plunged it into a tub filled with an acid 
fatal to protoplasm and mixed with a dye. He found 
traces of coloring matter as far as the very twigs of 
the tree. Of course, you realize that such an action 
of the tree is possibly only in the living cells. Hence, 
you would expect no permeation of the liquid in the 
heartwood. 
A modification of this principle has been prac¬ 
tised to a considerate extent. For example. Bouch- 
erie clamps a p’ate upon a butt of green poles from 
which the bark has not been removed. He then con¬ 
nects this plate with a barrel filled with copper sul¬ 
phate elevated to a height of 30 or more feet. Cop¬ 
per sulphate is thus forced longitudinally into the 
wood. This method has succeeded in prolonging the 
life of timber treated by it. Howard f.weiss. 
Acting Chief of Wood presevation. 
The injection of chemicals into the trunks of trees 
has been recommended frequently, and often put to 
a practical test. Theoretical considerations unite, with 
practical experience in indicating that there is little 
June 19, 
if any hope of benefit from this treatment. The less 
chemical we inject into the normal tissues of plant, 
as well as animal, the better will be the health of all 
concerned, as a rule. The healthy juices of a tree are 
sterile, and need no preservative admixed with them, 
any more than the healthy blood of the animal does. 
If, however, a spot in the trunk of a tree has, through 
bruise or improper pruning, begun to decay, then the 
decayed tissue should be promptly removed and a sur¬ 
face application of sulphate of copper or other disin¬ 
fectant (I regard formalin as best) will be helpful 
if followed by an application of paint or cement; 
which will prevent reinfection. L. r. jones, 
Vermont Exp. Station. Professor of Botany. 
HAVE YOU EVER TRIED IT. 
The chances are even that you or one of your 
friends has received a letter running as follows: 
Dear Friend: You are recommended to us as looking 
lor a better position, and we write to inquire if a salary 
ot' $90 a month with $75 expense allowance, and addi¬ 
tional profits, would be an inducement for you to engage 
with us as “Field Manager” to put out mail order cata¬ 
logues, make collections, and look after the interests of 
our business in your territory. If so, write us at once 
lor particulars. 
Perhaps you thought it was a personal letter from 
some one who had sense enough to recognize your 
great business ability. It was really nothing but a 
printed circular, the same thing being sent to any list 
of names that the faker back of it could find. A wise 
man would know at once that no unknown stranger 
who was worth five cents would throw around $90 
jobs in this way. There are others who think they 
will follow it up. They write “at once for particu¬ 
lars" and find that first of all they are expected to 
put up $5 or more in cash. This is for “samples,” 
“guarantee of good faith,” or “membership.” This 
proposition combs out a part of the writers, but the 
purebred “sucker” goes on and sends the money. 
'I hat is all that happens except that he has the pleas¬ 
ure of knowing the truth of the old proverb. "A fool 
and his money are soon parted.” Of course most of 
us are looking for “a better position” if we can find 
one, but it is not to be offered us on a silver plate, 
as a rule. Some people get one of these circulars 
and follow it up with great secrecy—not telling even 
their friends through fear that some one will get the 
job ahead of -them. It would be laughable if it were 
not saddening to see how many people give up money 
to go chasing after these fake “positions.” 
CLOVER ROOTS AND DRAINS. 
We are firm believers in deep drainage, four feet, 
and think the roots are less likely to enter such. Or¬ 
dinarily drains are dry during the deep growing 
period and roots usually do not enter a dry drain in 
search of food, except for moisture, where water 
flows constantly—as springs, which undoubtedly coax 
roots that way, especially during droughts. For the 
past three years we have been using six bushels of 
best Medium Red clover and 2'/ 2 bushels best Al¬ 
falfa on our 18 acres of wheat in Spring, and har¬ 
rowed in, both ways. This seed costs us $1.50 per 
bushel more than that sold at the "grocery or cross¬ 
roads store." Next time over each field a 50 per 
cent mixture of each will be used; third time 75 
per cent of Alfalfa, and the fourth cycle (nine years 
hence) probably all Alfalfa. At wheat seeding time 
seven quarts of Timothy is sown. This we are now 
ready to decrease decidedly as fast as Alfalfa in¬ 
creases, about same ratio. Timothy is preferable to 
weeds, clover to Timothy and Alfalfa to clover, even 
for our short three-year rotation. No doubt about 
this i:i my mind and we are going, not drifting, that 
that way as fast as deemed proper. At present we 
have no nightmares or see no ghosts ahead. Clover 
is strictly a biennial, but Alfalfa is a perpetual and 
keeps at the redemption of a soil after clover has 
quit, “constitutionally busted.” Clover gives little 
growth after middle of August, the second year. 
Last week, while putting a drain through stiff red 
clay, four feet deep at one point, I particularly no¬ 
ticed the clover roots which went below the main 
and were all around it, but just peered in, the fibers, 
“root hairs,” not to speak of. Outlets are provided 
with rods, through sewer pipe, and occasionally a 
cluster of roots, probably clover, is noticed lodged 
there A good solution of copper water introduced 
at the head end of drain would have quite a ten¬ 
dency to change the disposition of roots and their 
“longings” to explore forbidden territory. How¬ 
ever, this would be expensive and probably imprac¬ 
tical on a larger scale. It will annihilate the fungus 
growth of a slop drain. Also it will do the same 
trick with the roots if not too large. T. e. martin 
A mono the many plans for providing a business for 
children is flic following:—A reader says there is no 
public laundry in his town. He thinks of buying the 
machinery and setting his son and daughter up in the 
business. 
