334 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
a heavy application of commercial fertilizer. Work 
has not been spared to keep them in fine condition, 
and during January part of the patch received a light 
mulch of strawy horse manure. At this date the rows 
so treated are looking far better than the remainder 
of the patch. If it is possible to obtain large yields 
of berries per acre in this section I intend to accom¬ 
plish it. Any suggestions from readers of The R. 
N.-Y. will be appreciated. The usual price of berries 
during shipping season is around $2. Of course it 
often goes high, last season $3 to $3.50 ruled for over 
a week in mid-season. Sometimes prices go so low 
that it hardly pays to pick, but in nearly every case 
this is toward the end of the season, and one of the 
main reasons is lack of quality. I have never yet seen 
real fancy berries go begging. 
“SUNNY TENNESSEE.”—The State does not lie 
quite so far south as some New York State people 
seem to think. I have met a number of otherwise 
well-informed persons in that State who were very 
much surprised that we ever had any ice, frost or that 
the ground ever became frozen in Winter. They 
never openly made the statement, but from various 
questions I surmised that, in their opinion Tennessee, 
Kentucky, North Georgia and Alabama were perpet¬ 
ually hot, mosquito-infested regions where fevers raged 
continually, where the ground was too poor to sprout 
black-eyed peas, and where the male population did 
nothing but drink moonshine whisky and shoot at 
their neighbors for pastime. Doubtless there are some 
places in the United States which would pretty nearly 
fit papers drawn from the above description but they 
are farther (I fear to say in which direction) from 
us than some residents of Northern States believe. 
The climate of Tennessee is mild both Summer and 
Winter. Open-air work may usually be continued till 
December, then we have our Winter, which consists 
of considerable wet weather with light freezes and an 
occasional snow which hardly ever stays long enough 
to track a rabbit or take a sleigh-ride. This Winter 
the ground was white but once, and that for only a 
few hours. The soil in this section of Tennessee is 
not as fertile as in the western part of the State, but 
our hills and mountains make the climate more desir¬ 
able; in Winter the roads are never muddy even right 
after a rain, while in Summer we always get cool 
breezes. There are only three cities (Memphis, Nash¬ 
ville and Chattanooga) in the State where intoxicants 
are sold, and it is the general opinion that the State 
will in another year or two be as dry as Georgia now 
is or Alabama will be in 1900. Mosquitoes are never 
troublesome in the country; in the cities they are often 
as bad as in some of the North and East. The popula¬ 
tion is peaceable, usually industrious and law-abiding. 
THE MIDDLE SOUTH.—On page 122, S. H. R. 
relates how the Illinois gardener migrated to Florida 
in order to produce hothouse vegetables ahead of the 
outdoor crops of that State. Now to a man who had 
had experience in the buying and selling of such 
commodities that idea would not have appealed very 
strongly. In the keen competition of the business 
world to-day there does not remain the possibility of 
producing at high cost, paying almost exorbitant rates 
of express, selling in competition with various sections 
of production, and coming out with a profit. In order 
to succeed the progressive farmer or fruit grower must 
choose between two extremes. He must locate near 
a market large enough to consume his produce at 
a comparatively high price by reason of having a fancy 
fresh article just a little better and as much earlier as 
possible than any of his competitors, or he will, in 
order to succeed, have to locate where Summer is pre¬ 
vailing at the time our northern markets are under 
refrigeration; where cost of production is at or near 
the minimum, and where he can ship his products in 
car lots at tolerably reasonable rates. This is no mere 
theory. Take the early vegetables of Florida, or the 
peach and berry business of Georgia and Tennessee. 
A MASSACHUSETTS RYE FIELD IN SHOCK. Fig. 139. 
In the early days most of this stuff went to market 
by express, even in comparatively large lots. A larger 
production caused such reduction in market prices, and 
an increased cost of production by reason of extra de¬ 
mand of labor, that it no longer remained possible to 
grow such things and ship to market by express and 
make a profit. Of course the express companies still 
carry vast quantities of such produce, but nothing 
like the percentage compared to freight traffic as form¬ 
erly existed. The stuff going by express to-day is the 
property of the man who is not able to load a car, 
either alone or in connection with his neighbors, gen¬ 
erally a man who is trucking as a side venture and 
does not depend upon such business to support him. 
Very frequently the large grower ships his culls or 
over-ripe stuff by express to nearby markets. The 
IN THE CHICKEN NURSERY. Fig. 140. 
express rate.s on tomatoes, for instance, from Florida 
to Tennessee cities are higher now than a year ago. 
Average prices l!*is season for tomatoes in these mar¬ 
kets are lower than formerly. The Florida grower 
says it costs more to produce this crop now than 
formerly (and who can doubt the statement?) so that 
the chance for shipping tomatoes by express profitably 
from Florida does not seem bright enough to cause 
any sudden migration in that direction for the purpose 
mentioned. f. b. 
Chattanooga, Tenn. 
A MASSACHUSETTS RYE CROP. 
A. H. Weld, of Bristol Co., Mass., sends the pic¬ 
tures shown at Figs. 139 and 141. They are used as 
post cards. We find that many farmers are using such 
cards as souvenirs of their farms. Mr. Weld follows 
the rotation which we have so often advised for fer¬ 
tilizer farmers, using the greater part of the fertilizer 
on potatoes and following with grain seeded to.grass. 
Mr. Lewis, of New Jersey, can get his potato crop off 
in time to seed to wheat, but Mr. Weld cannot do 
that, except perhaps with the earliest varieties. Rye 
can be seeded later than wheat and make a good crop. 
Mr. Weld used 1,500 pounds of fertilizer per acre on 
potatoes, and when they were dug harrowed in the 
rye. We see what followed—the rye standing above 
the woman’s head. The straw from this rye sold at 
$15 per ton at the barn, while the grain brought $1 
per bushel _ 
MANURE SPREADERS IN OREGON. 
I noticed an article on page 107 on manure spread¬ 
ers. I would like to say a word in regard to them. 
I believe that T. E. R. is mistaken about the spreader 
being a machine that can be dispensed with on the 
farm. I do not know of any machine which will 
work in snow, but that is of small consequence, com¬ 
pared with the rapidity with which one can be used. 
The manure cannot be put on as cheaply by hand as 
with the machine; then, again, that spread with a 
spreader is more even, and more of it is in a shape 
to be used by the plants. Where manure is spread by 
hand it is liable to be too thick, and thus burns out 
a portion of the crop. Tests which have been made 
by this and other stations show that too much manure 
on the land has often been the cause of failure in 
crop production, as the crops either grew too rank at 
first, then were destroyed by the hot sun, or else were 
burned out to start with. Did T. E. R. ever see a 
heavy yield of hay grown on a manure pile? I do 
not think so, and the method of spreading by hand 
is too much toward that basis. 
The method of dumping manure out of a window, 
to be left there until hauled, is wrong, even if it is 
the easier method. A person does not have to haul 
the manure with a wagon to get it from the barn, 
which should be done by all means. He can construct 
a track and use a carrier, which is cheaper than the 
wheelbarrow in the long run. Manure which is to be 
kept until hauled should be under a shed, which has 
a floor prepared to hold the liquid. Cement floors 
should be used in all buildings, and the liquid manure 
saved; it is too valuable to lose. I do not believe 
in spreading manure on snow any more than on land 
with water at the surface, as it has a tendency to 
liberate the ammonia, etc. The average man will 
April 11, 
put 50 loads of manure on an acre where eight or 10 
would do as much good, and even more, because the 
plants cannot stand the heat from the larger amount; 
here is where the spreader comes in. It is no more 
trouble to load a spreader than a wagon, and if our 
friend T. E. R. wishes the easier way, he will find 
the spreader easier, as it does not require work to 
unload. To my notion the spreader is a money in¬ 
vestment for any farmer; the sooner he finds it out 
the sooner he will be out of the old rut. j. e. f. 
Oregon Exp. Station. 
THOSE “CHOICE BALDWIN” APPLES. 
On page 253 R. L. Wolff complains of the same 
old fraud in apple packing. In the same connection 
you present a picture of some apples branded and 
sold as “Choice Baldwins,” which will call up sad 
memories to many a disappointed consumer. The 
apple seems to be the only fruit which still goes into 
the market without some semblance of conscientious 
packing. Perhaps this may be accounted for in that 
it was Eve’s chosen medium of undoing Adam. How¬ 
ever, in the western districts, where conscientious 
packing is the rule, there seems to be little complaint 
of “no market.” It seems to me clear that the remedy 
for this fraudulent packing lies with the dealer, who 
should refuse to handle any shipment on each and 
every package of which fails to appear a stencil brand 
displaying the name and address of the party respon¬ 
sible for the goods being as branded. As it is the 
consumer complains to the local dealer, who puts it 
off on the jobber, and the jobber does not know where 
the particular box or barrel came from, and so there 
seems to be no redress. Once have it understood that 
every package in the original can be readily traced 
to the responsible person and it will soon be recog¬ 
nized that “honesty is the best policy.” Every farmer 
should have such a stencil, not only as a protection 
against fraudulent packers, but as a cheap and effective 
mode of advertising. geo. b. best. 
New Jersey. 
R. N.-Y.—Our opinion is that those apples were 
repacked after leaving the grower’s hands. At any 
rate, it has thus far proved impossible to trace back 
to the man who put them in the barrel—much as we 
would like to do so. It is a shame that our good 
friend the apple should be obliged to bear the sin 
of the fruit frauds. The better class of apple grow¬ 
ers must realize, however, how this fraudulent busi¬ 
ness will injure them. It will shut them out of sec¬ 
tions where thousands of barrels of apples ought to 
be sold. The only way to stop the wrong is to pack 
and ship so that you can guarantee your goods. 
When you know you put honest fruit in the package 
and stamp your name on the outside you can go out 
after new markets and guarantee the goods. There is 
no other way to do it. 
Driven to California Prunes. 
I have just read with much interest the letter of 
R. L. Wolff of North Carolina in The R. N.-Y., page 
253, and wish to say that he exactly describes the 
kind of apples I have on several occasions bought 
from Norfolk commission merchants for “choice New 
York Baldwins” and “Fancy New York Spies.” Each 
end of the barrel is faced with fine fruit, but in the 
center—Oh, what a mess! I have four healthy grow¬ 
ing children, besides my wife and myself, and all 
would be good active members of the Apple Con¬ 
sumers’ League if we could be sure of getting good 
apples. But we don’t like to pay around $4 per bar¬ 
rel for such apples as are often palmed off on us. 
We ship several hundred barrels of early potatoes 
STANDING RYE FOLLOWING POTATOES. Fig. 141. 
to New York and other northern cities every June, 
and I take care that every barrel bearing our brand 
contains nothing but prime stock, and is just alike at 
each end and in the middle, and would like to buy 
apples packed in like manner, but at present we are 
eating California prunes. Don’t let up on Dawley, but 
try to find time to apply your sharp stick to the apple 
rogues as well. JOHN b. lewis. 
Norfolk Co., Va. 
