892 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 21, 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to insure attention. Be¬ 
fore ashing a question, please see whether it is not 
answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper.] 
Cotton-Seed or Linseed Meal. 
Which is the better to feed to milch cows, 
cotton-seed meal or ground oil cake meal? 
I want to feed it with crushed corn and 
cob meal. H. E. G. 
West Virginia. 
Ans. —In this case we should feed the 
linseed meal. This has a laxative effect 
upon the system, while cotton-seed meal 
is constipating, as is the corn and cob. 
The best time to feed cotton-seed meal is 
when the cattle are at pasture, or when 
they have silage or roots. 
Gas-House Lime. 
W. T. O.j Connecticut .—We have come to 
the conclusion that our red rock hillsides 
need lime, and lime they are going to have. 
What I bought for my Alfalfa field this 
Summer cost me a little over $11 per ton. 
Is there any way I can buy it cheaper? 
Is the lime (refuse lime), left over from 
a gas plant of any use? The lime is 
turned a yellow color by the gas. We can 
secure this for a little or nothing. 
Ans. —The gas house lime when fresh 
contains impurities from the gas which 
will injure the soil. After being spread 
out and “weathered” for several months 
the lime is fit to use—but not before. 
As a rule this lime is wet and sticky 
and hard to handle. You should use 
about twice as much of it as of slaked 
lime. 
Resetting Strawberries. 
J. C. L., Tunkhannock, Pa .—I have on 
vacant town lots one-half acre of strawberry 
plants in wide matted rows, set last Spring. 
The lots have been sold for building pur¬ 
poses and I must give them up. What can 
I do at this late date to save them? I 
have plenty of other ground suitable for 
strawberries. 
Ans. —If the plants are promptly reset 
on deeply plowed ground, set firmly 
with the roots extending down as deep 
as they will go, a large proportion of 
them may be saved, though no berries 
can be expected next year. We would 
mulch heavily between the rows with 
strawy manure to keep frost out as 
late as possible and also cover the 
crowns lightly after the ground freezes 
hard. 
Mulching Strawberries. 
N. T. G., Connecticut .—I have a small 
plot of Stevens Late Champion, about 3,500 
plants, set on the Kevitt plan. In cleaning 
the dirt has been hauled away from the 
beds, leaving the two-foot spaces between 
the beds higher than the rows. Would 
damage result from water standing around 
the plants, or would the heavy mulch, which 
I shall put on, overcome this difficulty? 
When is the best time to mulch, before or 
after the first freeze? 
Ans. —We have handled our own 
patch on the reverse of this—hauling 
the dirt to the plants and leaving the 
the alleys between the beds lowest. We 
think there should be drainage away 
from the plants. As you have them 
we should be afraid of water standing 
around the plants in spite of the mulch. 
We would have the drainage away from 
the beds. We mulch after the first 
hard freeze. In this close planting and 
growing single plants it will be well 
to cover the spaces between the plants 
at any time now, and cover the plants 
when the ground freezes solid. 
Keeping Prizetaker Onions. 
F. 8., Ohio .—I wish to save some of the 
best of my Prizetaker onions to plant for 
seeds next year. How can I keep them? 
Ans —The Prizetaker onion origi¬ 
nated in the Mediterranean region of 
Europe in a nearly frost-free climate. It 
is never a good keeper, and in practice 
cannot safely be stored long out of the 
soil. The growers of Prizetaker seed 
in Italy and Teneriffe plant their bulbs 
after curing, and as soon as they be¬ 
gin to grow they protect them from 
any slight frost during their mild Win, 
ter. California growers, we understand, 
have difficulty in keeping their bulbs 
long enough to make vood seed stalks 
when planted. We can only suggest 
that you keep yours as dry and cold 
as possible. A few may survive the 
Winter and will make good crops of 
seed next year if planted early. Some 
years ago on the Rural Grounds we 
stored a number of Prizetaker onions 
for this purpose, and about 10 per cent 
came through the Winter in sound con¬ 
dition and gave us splendid seeds. 
Catalpa Requirements. 
C. W. E., Otcego, N. Y. —Will the Catalpa 
trees thrive on almost any soil, and what 
is the approximate cost per acre of plant¬ 
ing them ? Land is very chealp here; I can 
buy any amount of it for $10 to $20 per 
acre, and if the Catalpa will grow on this 
land so that you can commence to thin out 
in five or six years I cannot see why it is 
not a profitable crop. 
Ans. —Catalpa trees will grow on the 
thin land, but not nearly so fast as they 
do on better soils. Probably trees set 
on thin ground and not given any culti¬ 
vation will not make more than half as 
fast a growth as they would on good 
soil and with cultivation for two or 
three years. There have been many 
failures of Catalpa trees in the eastern 
and colder States, but these have gen¬ 
erally been traceable to the fact that 
the southern variety of Catalpa (Big- 
nonioides) had been planted instead of 
the hardy western Catalpa speciosa. 
Catalpa speciosa trees are growing very 
successfully at Minneapolis, Minn., and 
also at Augusta, Maine, which is surely 
as cold a climate as New York. The 
Catalpa bignonioides is always a failure 
in the colder States and of very little 
value in the warmer ones. It is most 
unfortunate that the great majority of 
all the Catalpa trees that have been set 
have proved to be of the worthless 
kinds. The two kinds of trees look ex¬ 
actly alike when in nursery, and as the 
seed of the southern Catalpa is very 
plentiful and cheap, while the seed of 
the true Speciosa is scarce and ex¬ 
pensive, there will always be danger of 
getting the inferior kinds of trees. One 
man can plant about 1,000 trees per day 
where the ground is plowed and marked 
out, but where the trees are set in sod 
probably half that number will be a 
good day’s work, depending largely on 
the condition and kind of soil. Catalpa. 
trees grow faster in the Southern 
States than in the North, trees in Flor¬ 
ida having grown to be 28 inches in 
thickness in 14 years’ time. 
H. C. ROGERS. 
PRODUCTS, PRICES AND TRADE. 
very useful man. and we have known of 
many cases where the producer has done 
better thus than by shipping to some one 
in a distant market. It depends largely 
on this local buyer's ability as a salesman. 
If he Is only a sort of mechanical go- 
between, selling to him will be taking merely 
so much out of one's own pocket, and it would 
be more advisable to ship to a live stock 
dealer directly in the market. But if the 
local buyer is what he should be, he will 
know better than the producer when and 
where to ship, and it is entirely possible 
to make a better net sale through this 
middleman because of his superior knowledge 
of conditions. Money and skill are required 
to sell farm products successfully, and the 
producer, in one way or another, has got 
to furnish the money and pay for the 
skill, except in cases where he can actually 
see the consumer and deliver the stuff 
personally. We have no desire to multiply 
the crop of middlemen, but it is only fair 
to give the useful ones credit for what 
they do. In selling goods it is necessary 
to deal with conditions as they are, not 
as one might wish them to be. No two 
producers are situated exactly the same. 
Some have more time and opportunity for 
personal investigation of market conditions 
than others', and thus have less need of 
middlemen. 
Bank Man Had Backbone. —Some time 
before the panic last year, while the high 
finance kings were at the height of their 
plunging, Mr. — was paying teller of a 
well known bank. One day a man person¬ 
ally known to the teller, presented a check 
at the window and asked for the cash. 
The amount being unusually large the teller 
looked up the account and found that it 
would make an overdraft of several hun¬ 
dred dollars. “I can’t cash this check,” 
he said, “the maker has not nearly enough 
money here.” 
“But, Mr. — said I could have it,” said 
he, mentioning the name of a man, not the 
president, but at that time dominating the 
presidents of several banks. 
“Can’t help it. The money is not here 
and I can’t cash the check.” 
The man went away huffy and in a short 
time Air. —, the ruler of bank presidents, 
caine in. Handing the check to the teller 
he said: ‘‘Why didn’t you cash this?” 
“How could I? It made a big over¬ 
draft.” 
“I tell you to cash it.” 
“I will not.” 
“Get your pay and leave at once.’ 
The teller did so and after a time got a 
job where no pressure to do unlawful acts 
is put on him, while the once autocrat is 
now dethroned and disgraced. How many 
bank clerks lost their jobs thus I do not 
know, this being the only case brought to 
my attention. But the chief reason for a 
lack of similar incidents was that many 
employees lacked the moral courage to act 
against the will of their lawless employers. 
They thought that the high financiers would 
manage to pull through in some way. One 
of the most serious results of alleged busi¬ 
ness (?) of this type is the educational 
influence on employees. They have the 
worthy ambition to “get on,” and take it 
for granted that the methods used by their 
superiors are most feasible. It is exas¬ 
perating to be cheated out of money, but 
far worse to have one’s conception of right 
and decency permanently warped. 
w. w. H. 
YOU MEN SAVE 
35 TO SO PER CENT. 
buying your Clothes At Whole¬ 
sale, llirect from the Mills. You 
nve Agents’, Storekeepers’ and 
Jobbers’ Profits. We are Manu¬ 
facturers in the heart of the 
Woolen Mills District, and are 
Specialists In Apparel For Men. 
Extraordinary Values in Ready 
Made and Made to Order Suits, 
ranging from $7.50 to $25.00 and 
Overcoats from $7.00 to $15.00. 
Special Values in All Wool,Pure 
Worsted Suits at $9 55 and $Ki.50 
Wholesale. Fancy Brown or Blue 
at either price. 
Write Today for full in formation,Measure¬ 
ment lilankH and Krrr Samples ot Now fall 
Stylos. Fit, Satisfaction and a t.rcat Sav¬ 
ing < ; 'i i a ran too <1 or Money Kefunded. 
V. ROLLER COMPANY. 
SAVE HALF THE LABOR 
in sawing wood. You can 
do this and at the same 
time, cut more wood in a 
given time than in any 
Table is mounted on grooved 
rolls,moves easily—cut of saw is 
down instead of against the operator as in old 
style machines. Must be seen to be appreciated. 
Send for prices and full information. 
Ireland Machine & Foundry Co., 14 State St., Norwich, N. T. 
I want every onion grower to have Free 
Samples of our onion seed for testing. We 
think we have the best onion seed there is, 
and we supply lots of the largest growers. We 
would like to supply you. We have an enor¬ 
mous crop of onion seed this year in the best 
commercial varieties and can make special 
prices to good buyers. Tell us how many 
acres you are going to plant in onions and what 
varieties, and we will send you liberal free 
samples of our seed for testing and quote you 
special prices. Box 26 Shenandoah, Iowa 
Henry Field Seed Company 
Free 
Samples 
Onion 
Seed 
CALIFORNIA PRIVET 
Shade Trees, Spruce and Arbor 
Vitse Hedging. 
Cherry Trees a Specialty. Tkees and Plants by 
Alai 1 Postpaid will save you express costs. Send fot 
our Catalogue, (It is Free), it will tell you the rest 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON & C0„ hightstown, N. J 
WE MAIL OUR CATALOGUE FREE. 
THE ENORMOUS YIELD of 50,000 quarts of 
* Strawberries now growing by my system on 
one acre. Send for CH AK'I'. 
KEVITT’S PLANT FARM. Atlienia, N. J. 
rnn Q I I p 700,000 Lucretia Dewberry Plants. Price 
lUn OM Lb list free. Michael N. Boroo, Vineland, N.J. 
WANTED.—Alfalfa Hay, 
NOW and later. Quote delivered. 
R. F. SHANNON, Sewickley, All’y Co.. Penn. 
How to Keep Farm Accounts 
Particulars Free. Steiner & Co., Toledo, Ohio 
Potatoes. —The local market at this writ¬ 
ing is weak, though there is no cut in prices. 
There are steady receipts of Belgian po¬ 
tatoes which bring upwards of $2 per 168- 
pound bag. The highest price noted is $3 
for some choice Long Island. Advices from 
Aroostook County, Maine, show a firm 
first-hand market. The crop is large and 
50 cents per bushel has been paid there for 
a considerable quantity. Some Jersey stock 
is bringing the lowest price of all, $1.75, 
in New Y’ork. These potatoes are good vari¬ 
eties but poor and soggy on account of the 
hard time they bad trying to grow. 
Eggs. —Trade in fresh stock is dull owing 
to the extreme prices asked. Buyers with 
moderate purses are obliged to take storage 
eggs at 30 cents or a little under, Instead 
of fresh gathered at 50 to 60 cents. Egg 
storage people have learned some things 
by past mistakes, and are now turning out 
a more desirable article. This year’s April 
and May pack, where stored in proper con¬ 
dition, is coming out specially well. 
Selling Lambs. —“Which would be more 
profitable, to ship my lambs and sheep my¬ 
self, or sell to the home buyers?” 
Wisconsin. n. d. 
A local buyers who is honest and well 
informed regarding the goods handled is a 
Every roof-leak makes a pocket-leak. 
Genasco 
Ready Roofing 
stops both. It stays waterproof, and does away 
with needless expense-bills. It is made of 
Trinidad Lake Asphalt—Nature’s one perfect 
waterproofer. 
Guaranteed by a thirty-two-million-dollar company. 
You want to be money in pocket, so insist on Genasco. Look for 
the trade-mark. Mineral or smooth surface. Write for Book 10, 
and samples. 
THE BARBER ASPHALT PAVING COMPANY 
Largest producers of asphalt, and largest 
manufacturers of ready roofing in the world. 
PHILADELPHIA 
New York San Francisco Chicago 
WHY NOT USE HUBBARD’S? 
