1908. 
THE RUKAL 
N E W - VOIN KER. 
3S3 
TALKS WITH A LAWYER. 
A Draining Question. 
How can I drain extensive lowlands? 
One of my neighbors will not permit me to 
put a ditch through his land. L. s. 
Massachusetts. 
The owners interested should petition 
the court for the appointment of commis¬ 
sioners to inquire into the matter and re¬ 
port. If the proposed improvement will 
justify the cost the commission will au¬ 
thorize the drainage. But if the hog is 
small and owned by few men the court 
may not grant the commission, especially 
if there is objections. 
Deepening Neighbor's Ditch 
May I deepen a ditch through my neigh¬ 
bor's farm so as to afford better drainage 
to both of us, against the objection of the 
owner? s. f. l. 
Massachusetts. 
The decisions of your State do not per¬ 
mit you to deepen a ditch on the land 
of a neighbor without his consent. Try 
to reason with hi in. 
Neighbor’s Right of Way. 
A neighbor lias a right of way over my 
land to haul wood. I wish to tlood the 
land in Winter for ice. May I do this over 
his objection? L. f. s. 
Massachusetts. 
The owner may direct where the right of 
way shall lie if reasonable. The policy of 
the law is that the user shall make as little 
trouble to the owner as is possible. As 
flic user may drive over the ice and still 
lias access to his land lie cannot object. 
Road Under Highway. 
The outlet of a meadow passes under 
the highway. Can owner of meadow com¬ 
pel town to share expense of lowering out¬ 
let through the highway? l. s. 
Massachusetts. 
The highway and town authorities have 
discretionary powers in such matters, and 
we advise you to appeal to them either 
by reason or through influential friends. 
Loss of Soil by Washing. 
Cargo quantities of my soil wash and 
blow from my plowed field to my neighbor’s 
land. May I recover it? s. f. l. 
Massachusetts. 
No. if soil is lost by the imperceptible 
action of nature the ownership of it has 
departed. 'W'e suggest that you sow a cover 
crop and maintain the fertility as well as 
the physical soil. 
Widower’s Inheritance. 
A woman dies, leaving widower but no 
children. How does the property descend? 
New Jersey. C. a. m. 
The laws of 1894 provide that under 
the above facts the surviving spouse will 
take title to the real property. As to the 
personal property the Generni Statutes. 147, 
11. provide that “one moiety shall be al¬ 
lotted to the widower or widow, and the 
residue shall be distributed equally to the 
next of kindred.” 
Incorrect Boundaries. 
Years ago I sold 10 acres of land;‘the 
description called for 10 acres, but marked 
off more by the boundaries mentioned in 
Hie deed. Who owns the strip in dispute, 
and how may it be corrected?. 
New York. b. c. h. 
Property passes by metes and bounds, not 
by acres. You sold all within the lines 
bounding it. The surveyor’s error has de¬ 
prived yon of tlie strip. The purchaser 
should give you a quit claim deed for the 
strip in dispute. If he does not you could 
appeal to equity to reform and correct the 
deed and quit title, but the latter is a 
costly step. 
Duty of a Referee. 
Who are referees and what are their 
duties? C. d. p. 
New York. 
A referee is an attorney appointed by 
the court to try a difficult or involved 
ease and report to the court his findings. 
Foreclosures are submitted to referee to 
reckon the sum due mortgagee. Many eases 
may he tried before a referee by consent 
of both sides. Often divorce eases are heard 
before a referee in secret session. At the 
close of the trial the referee has 00 days 
to make a report. 
Title to Unclaimed Land. 
How can 1 secure title to lost land here? 
It is unoccupied and no one claims it. 
Missouri. j. s. 
Inquire at the tax office for owner, also 
look up the maps and records. If you are 
convinced that it has never been claimed, 
lake possession of it, build some permanent 
Improvement and tile a claim, for it. Bet¬ 
ter consult a local attorney. 
Highway Wash on Farm Land. 
The wash from the highway carries silt 
to my land. What can I do? s. i„ 
Massachusetts. 
The land is subject to the surface flow 
from tlie road; that is, you cannot dam 
back the water to tlie injury of the road¬ 
way. As you own the land to the center 
of tlie road you must take the flowing 
water. You may use any device that will 
aid you to prevent deposits that will not 
injure the roadway. 
Trolley Company’s Right of Way. 
A trolley company proposes to erect its 
line through my orchard and vineyard, cut¬ 
ting up my place. How can I secure full 
damages? b. j. h. 
Connecticut. 
It is likely that tlie company lias secured 
tlie right of way and franchise so that 
you cannot keep it out now. Commissioners 
will be appointed to condemn the land 
later. At. that time you should have ample 
proof of all tlie Injury, damages and in¬ 
convenience done, as you are entitled to 
ample compensation. You should engage 
counsel to prepa're evidence, maps and 
claims. 
Moving a Roadbed. 
The center of the roadbed has moved 
toward us gradually, so that now several 
farmers own less land than the deeds call 
for. Can we set back our stakes? 
New York. w. m. 
You own the same ns formerly, just what 
tlie deeds describe, only you do not get 
the use of what you did before tlie road 
moved your way. You owned to the cen¬ 
ter of the road as it then existed. The 
changing of stakes will not give you title, 
merely possession. 
Increasing Tax Rate. 
My place lias been increasing in value 
since I bought it. Are tlie State and local 
authorities at liberty to raise my tax rate 
iu proportion ? p. a. b. 
The State lias tlie absoltue right to tax 
to the full present value, and at. whatever 
rate is needful. Taxation is an incident of 
government. 
Taxing for a Ditch. 
My neighbors plan to petition for the 
laying of a taxable ditch in this section, the 
expense of same to he borne by owners 
benefited within the area of improvement. 
It will not benefit me, so I oppose the tax 
involved. What can I do? l. c. w. 
Delaware. 
The laws of your State provide that 
upon the petition of three owners of low 
land to the Superior Court, commissioners 
will be appointed by the court to investigate 
the whole matter, appoint a time for a 
hearing, hear arguments, objection and re¬ 
port. You should do all you can to dis¬ 
courage and prevent steps in tlie matter. 
Politic forethought In such a proceeding is 
better than any sort of afterthought. 
DOCTORING SICK SEED. 
Dipping for Potato Scab. 
Our way of treating seed potatoes for 
scab Is as follows: We have a wooden tank 
about 15 feet long, and wide and deep 
enough to take in bushel boxes easily, these 
having a number of inch holes bored in (lie 
bottom. The tank is placed by the cellar 
door, and as llie boxes of potatoes are 
brought out they are placed in the tank 
which holds half a dozen boxes. Tlie scab 
solution, which is either formalin, one pint, 
to 1.7 gallons of water, or what I prefer, 
two ounces of corrosive sublimate to 20 
gallons, is poured in to a depth sufficient 
to cover the seed a couple of inches. They 
are left In the solution for an hour or two, 
and then tlie cutter begins work. lie uses 
an Aspinwall cutter, and cuts about four to 
live bushels per hour, and as he takes a 
imx of soaked potatoes out, he puts another 
box in, and thus keeps up a continual sup¬ 
ply without having to wait at all. I find 
that the soaking of the 400 bushels we use 
does not add more than one cent to the 
cost per bushel for labor, and about the 
same for tlie chemical used. After cutting 
we cover the cut seed with land plaster and 
try to plant as soon as possible: but with 
tlie plastered seed if we have lmd weather 
and are kept out of the field for a week, 
as lias happened, there seems to be no In¬ 
jury suffered Hint is perceptible. The po¬ 
tatoes are cut info bushel boxes in which 
they are distributed in (lie field at points 
convenient to the planter. At night, any 
soaked but uncut seed is lifted out of the 
tank, and replaced tlie next morning. 
Khode Island. it. w. iieaton. 
Treating Oats for Smut. 
The Ohio Experiment Station prints Hie 
following directions: Use a vessel such as 
a tight; barrel and make solution by mixing 
formalin in needed amount of water; one 
pound to 50 gallons, or four ounces lo 12 '/> 
gallons. Put seed to lie treated in a pile 
or bag. For five bushels or more place seed 
in pi lo on tight barn floor and sprinkle 
with solution from bucket or sprinkler until 
thoroughly wetted; repeat this sprinkling 
one or more times (ill our pallon of solution 
per bushel has been applied. Then leave 
grain in compact pile for two or iflree 
hours, or over night, when it should be 
spread to dry For small amounts of seed 
or for a number of small lots, seed may 
lie left in bags and immersed in solution 
for about, one hour, then spread to dry. If 
sown while moist, rate of seeding should lie 
proportionately increased. In any ease the 
treated grain should not be replaced in 
bags that have not been lmmersdd in tlie 
solution for about one hour. The drill 
should also lie sterilized by sprinkling with 
a stronger solution ol’ tlie formalin, say 
double tlie strength of that above given. 
This treatment may he made some time in 
advance of seeding. The treated grain is 
not poisonous to stock or poultry after it is 
dry. __ 
Late Planted Potatoes. 
D. J. C. asks if it is possible to plant 
an early variety of potatoes in Massachu¬ 
setts as late as .Tune 17 and get a profitable 
yield. One year I planted my potatoes In 
Massachusetts ns late as June 14 and they 
matured a good crop. The variety was 
either Early Hose or Hebron, as those early 
kinds were tlie only kinds as long ago as 
that which I used. But what was quite 
remarkable tlie bugs did not trouble my 
potatoes at all that season. The only 
plausible explanation for such immunity 
from bugs that I could think of was that 
the bugs got tired of waiting for my pota¬ 
toes to be planted and concluded that I 
was not going to plant and went off to my 
neighbor's fields and forgot to come back 
again to see if I bad any potatoes. 
Worcester, Mass. s. h. it. 
What About This Alfalfa? 
Alfalfa seems not to have been a crown¬ 
ing success in Hie rich brown loam soils 
of St. Louis County. I, however, have 
known no one to make a special effort 
over and above (lie usual preparation for 
seeding to Timothy. It does succeed well, 
however, upon tlie Missouri Itiver bottom 
lands. I propose to prepare a piece, not 
of the brown loatn soil, but of tlie upland 
yellow clay naturally deficient in humus, 
capable of producing 40 to 50 bushels corn 
per acre, or a ton of Timothy hay. One 
year ago I plowed a long standing 
Timothy sod, lightly fertilized from barn¬ 
yard, six to etglit tons per acre, and planted 
to potatoes; tin's Winter, as much or more 
manure from tlie same source, good, bad 
and indifferent. I also propose to give a 
light dressing of rotted sawdust, adding 
inoculated soil and say 1,000 pounds lime 
per acre. I propose to plow before apply¬ 
ing the latter two. The question is, “what 
lack I yet to make a profitable success?” 
My Alfalfa friend of the Missouri River 
bottom land tells me I shall fail for want 
of moisture from below. This subsoil clay 
produces weeds in abundance upon being 
exposed fo tlie air, etc., after being thrown 
from cistern or well. Advice from wiser 
beads and from those who have experi¬ 
mented with such soils is in order. s. 
It. N.-Y.—We refer this to our western 
readers. 
Prices fob Bunching. —I see on page 
21!) a reader asks about bunching vege¬ 
tables. The truckers answering the ques¬ 
tion appear lo have none of that work done 
by tlie bunch. On Long Island, where I 
came from, a good deal of that work is 
done by tlie dozen; carrots from eight to 
10 cents per dozen bunches, onions 10 cents 
per hundred; rhubarb from 15 to 20 cents 
per hundred, asparagus 75 cents per hun¬ 
dred, radishes 10 cents per hundred. Help 
paid in tIiis way will make good wages, 
and if paid by the day would not bunch 
enough at the rate given to earn a dollar 
a day. This Is for bunching, not washing. 
Pomona, N. Y. t. v. ii. 
Just the Right Size 
OUR 5 H. P. SEMI-PORTABLE 
for the average farm. Will keep 4 men 
hustling sawing wood. Will mi .-'ll", 
grind feed, or run several machines and 
pump water at the same time. Screen 
cooling tank, uses 1 to 2 gals, water per 
H. I’., loss for short runs. 
First engine in county at agents’ price 
to introduce. 
Send for Catalog. 
THE MAXWELL & FITCH CO. 
ROME, N. Y. 
FEARLESS 
MANURE 
SPREADER 
The narrowest 
1 spreader, yet spreads 
widest. The circu¬ 
lar beater makes the great difference. 
Straight beaters spread only to their actual 
width, and so are built wide — much too wide 
for wagon tracks, nnd gates. But the FECK¬ 
LESS circular boater spreads to the shim as well 
as behind. You can see by the Illustration ut 
the bottom of this ad how the FEARLESS Is 
narrow enough for wagon trucks and gates, 
yet can spread wider than any other spreader. 
Fewer trips to a Hold with a FEARLESS—no 
driving over manure already spread—even 
distribution—simple mechanism and other 
points described In Free Booklet. Write 
for it. Write today. 
HARDER MFG. COMPANY, 
HAY JUMPING 
will soon be a thing of the past. 
Hay Baling made rapid and easy by 
SPENCER’S HERCULES LARGE BALE PRESS. 
Guaranteed capacity four tons an hour or no sale. 
No jumping Every farmer who furnishes Tabling 
and Hoard should talk this Press, because lie does 
not have to pitch hay as high as tlie Upright. 
Again, the Upright cannot take feed while press¬ 
ing and tying. We can; hence men on the mow, 
not having to wait, aro more efficient. Greater 
speed moans loss board. For Catalog address 
J. A. SPENCER, = Dwight, Ills. 
PERFECT POTATO 
PLANTING 
Evory farmer knows the importance 
of proper potato planting. Here’s a 
mac hi no that does it perfectly. Hus 
none of tho faults common with com¬ 
mon planters. Opens the furrow 
perfectly, drops the seed 
correctly, covers it uni- A / i,, 
formly, and best of all ^-1 , T Iron . *^e 
never bruises or A ' (Improved Robblna) 
puno turos tho A. A Potato Planter 
seed. Send a 
postal for 
our 1908 
free 
Book. 
BATEMAN MFG. CO., Box ll)2i Grenloch, N. J. J 
————-fi rj 
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should not be judged only by the price of the 
material used. 
The cost of laying the roof, the cost of keeping it 
in repair and the time it lasts, are important items 
that must also be considered. 
RUBEROID 
Trad# Mark Registered U. S. Patent Offlco 
ROOFING 
is moderate in price, costs little or nothing to keep 
in repair, and lasts longer than metal, shingles or 
any other prepared roofing. Anybody can lay it; 
no skilled labor required. 
Write us for further particulars. 
THE STANDARD PAINT COMPANY, 100 WILLIAM ST., NEW YORK. 
Chicago. St. Louis, Kansas City. Boston, Philadelphia, 
New Orleans, 
