CIS 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Ju no 20, 
THE DISK HARROW ON HARD SOIL. 
From April 27 up to May 10 we had here almost 
continuously wet weather, and as a consequence, when 
the soil became dry enough to work, much extra labor 
was needed to get a proper seed bed for corn plant¬ 
ing. Early plowed sod was, for the most part, easily 
prepared when the disk harrow was used and fol¬ 
lowed by a drag or by the spike-tooth harrow. 
Fig. 234 shows the disk harrow in operation, and 
the well-pulverized condition of the soil behind the 
implement. One-half the harrow overlaps half of the 
preceding round, and the result is that the surface is 
well chopped up. Our corn has been planted in well- 
prepared and moist seed beds, and the weather having 
been very warm since May 12 the corn is coming up 
nicely. The weather has been dry for several days, 
and we are needing rain, but to-day,May 29, we have 
some show for gettting a shower. w. E. D. 
Hillsboro, O. 
A LESSON IN FEEDING POTATOES. 
ATr. J. C. Edgerton, of Belmont Co., Ohio, sends the 
picture of potato vines shown at Fig. 236, next page. 
They are Early Ohios and were planted in March. 
Under protection of the orchard they escaped late 
frosts and made a vigorous growth—the picture being 
taken June 18. At that time Mr. Edgerton and prob¬ 
ably most of those who saw them expected a heavy 
yield, but there was a sad disappointment at digging. 
The plants “ran to tops,” and there was only a light 
yield of small tubers. We print the picture both 
to show how a first-class potato crop ought to look 
and also to show how the appearance may be decep¬ 
tive. We have seen a number of cases where on 
poor soil potatoes were heavily manured with stable 
or chicken manure. The vines came up quickly and 
made a rapid growth. A farmer without much ex¬ 
perience would expect a record-breaking crop. In 
July or early August the big vines begin to wilt and 
go down, while the hills contain many little potatoes. 
Last year a neighbor called us to see the potatoes in 
his garden. He wanted to prove the great superiority 
DISKING EARLY PLOWED LAND. Fig. 234. 
of chicken manure when used alone. The vines were 
tremendous, and he brought out a basket to dig a 
peck for us to take home. We could not find a potato 
larger than a marble, and a little later blight struck 
these tender vines and mowed them down in a short 
time. The trouble in that case was too much nitro¬ 
gen. The soil was naturally light and poor, and de¬ 
ficient in available potash and phosphoric acid. The 
chicken manure was rich in nitrogen but comparatively 
weak in the other elements. Thus the vines made a 
rank growth, just as grass does when we use nitrate of 
soda, while the tubers could not grow along with them 
for lack of potash. Of course these unbalanced and 
forced plants were more easily injured by blight. We 
have all got to learn that the potato plant cannot 
stand too much nitrogen. We get a surer and better 
crop by using a well-balanced fertilizer that gives us 
a strong, stocky plant without too much vine. 
A SALE OF POOR APPLES- 
I am much interested in your article on “Choice 
New York Baldwins,” as you ask “Who puts this 
trash into the package?” Possibly I am the man who 
packed those apples, but 1 do not feel like being con¬ 
demned without an explanation. Last year my apples 
were very poor. I looked my orchard over and de¬ 
cided I had no apples fit to put in barrels, and was 
about to sell them all as they run for 40 cents per 
bushel to an evaporator man. A local dealer in 
barreled apples came into my orchard and wanted 
me to put all the firsts and seconds into barrels 
together for $3 per barrel. I never packed seconds in 
barrels before, and he showed me what he would 
take for seconds. I was very much surprised that 
such apples would sell in barrels. I picked the apples, 
put them on a table, put two layers of the best fruit 
on bottom of each barrel and ran them full as near 
alike as possible. I delivered the fruit and the buyer 
examined it and said the fruit was all right, and he 
paid me for packing and delivering just what he 
bought. Now I want to ask a few questions for the 
Hope Farm man to answer. Suppose I am the man 
who put those “Choice New York Baldwins” into the 
package in the first place? Am I in any way to 
blame for their being found in the middle of the 
barrel? They were all repacked and graded after I 
sold them. If a dealer buys fruit from me and wants 
two grades packed together, saying he “prefers to do 
his own grading,” and gets just what he pays for, 
and is fully satisfied, is it any of my business what 
lie does with fruit? I am very sure that such fruit 
packed in barrels will hurt the market in the near 
future. Is it right or wrong for me to put it in? 
I rent a farm and am in poor health, have a wife and 
family to care for. As far as I am able to find out 
all my neighbors sold their fruit about as I did. Most 
of the apples here are bought by dealers and stored 
and repacked after leaving the farm. How are we 
small farmers who sell from 100 to 500 barrels each 
year ever going to better our market? w. c. a. 
Alton, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—We often sell windfalls and culls to 
peddlers who repack to suit themselves and sell at 
retail. We consider this quite legitimate, and as our 
friend puts his case we think he was justified in sell¬ 
ing the fruit as he did. That dealer must have dropped 
a lot of money this season. If he repacked and sold 
those “Choice New York Baldwins” he is responsible 
for the trouble and the bad reputation which New 
York apples will gain if such work is kept up. We 
are slowly getting down to the bottom of this apple 
packing trouble. Such apples as our friend put up 
should never be sold as “choice” if sold at all. We 
do not blame him for delivering them to the dealer, 
but as they were finally sold they helped injure the 
market. 
A THIRTY-ACRE PENNSYLVANIA FARM. 
The statement in “Brevities,” on page 342, with re¬ 
gard to the value of produce sold from our 30-acre 
farm last year has brought a request for a statement 
of expense involved. As is well known, the season 
in general having been late and cool was not favorable 
to most crops, but by vigilant planting and replanting 
of tender crops, and special care and culture of all, 
full crops were produced in practically every line. 
Prices received were, in general, eminently satisfactory. 
The value of each class of products is ascertained 
by a careful estimate, and separate entry of each, 
every market-day. The expense account includes all 
cost of production and marketing, but does not include 
household and personal expenses, nor any estimate 
for the work performed by myself and wife. All help 
is hired on condition that they board themselves. 
The principal minor items included under “miscel¬ 
laneous” are cherries, gooseberries, pansy plants, tur¬ 
nips, kale and spinach. Perhaps an estimate of in¬ 
terest on investment and the incidental loss of our 
cow should be figured in the expense. A fair estimate 
of interest at five per cent would be about $150. The 
cow was worth $50. On the other hand no account was 
taken of pou’try and dairy products and fruit and 
vegetables required for home use. There were 
about 28 acres under actual cultivation. The results 
here given are nothing extraordinary in themselves; 
we often read of larger profits from a given acreage 
and there is abundant room here to exercise in¬ 
genuity to increase profits; but the fact that these 
results have been secured in a location eight miles 
from market and the same distance from an ade¬ 
quate manure supply, all crops produced continuously 
almost entirely by the use of commercial fertilizers, 
on gravelly, somewhat stony, rolling upland, well 
adapted to fruit-growing or general farming but far 
from the ideal market garden; these facts and the re¬ 
sults produced under these conditions can scarcely fail 
to interest the man with small farm and meager 
profits. But if he would change his line of work let 
him “make haste slowly.” 
Receipts. 
Dairy Products.$ 60.93 
Eggs and Poultry. 89.88 
Strawberries. 322.35 
Raspberries. 376 90 
Blackberries. 119.34 
Currants. 20.79 
Grapes. 496.23 
Apples . 6(5.16 
Pears... 44.48 
Honey. 17.68 
Lettuce. 70.10 
Radishes. 260 54 
Beets. 72.57 
Egg-plant. 80.82 
Peppers. 83.96 
Lima Beans... 25.48 
Beans. 29.73 
Onions. 136.56 
Potatoes. 62.20 
Tomatoes. 708.81 
Cantaloupes. 251.27 
Cucumbers. 178.99 
Cauliflower. 83.06 
Cabbage. 588.34 
Corn. 457.08 
Miscellaneous. 68.58 
Total Receipts.$4762.31 
Expenditures. 
Labor.$1191.12 
Berry Picking. 183.72 
Extra Hauling. 41 82 
Market Expenses. 82.87 
Seeds. 44.77 
Fertilizers. 685.08 
Spraying. 23.05 
Freight Charges . 19.06 
Crates and Baskets. 66.44 
Blacksmith and Harness.. 25.19 
Feed. 860.83 
Taxes. 30.33 
Implements and Inci¬ 
dentals. 33.26 
Total Expenditures.2687 54 
Net Earnings.$2074.77 
Some friends may he wondering if plans miscarried 
that we are still in Pennsylvania. That southern 
farm will have to wait at least another season. We 
are doing business at the same old stand, and crops 
are starting finely. The fact is, the demand for farm 
lands in this locality was so entirely lacking last 
Summer and Fall that it was impossible to sell. Every¬ 
body wanted to go to town. But 811106 the city em¬ 
ployer is no longer handing oiit well-paid jobs so 
freely, there is every indication that a great many 
will find it expedient to return to the land and find 
work for themselves. d. l. hartman. 
Pennsylvania. _ 
A WESTERN HARVESTING JOB. 
f I am a college boy and spend my vacations at borne, 
working on the farm, but as I desire to see some of the 
country and last, but not least, make some money. ], 
along with my brother, have planned 1o go to the harvest¬ 
ing regions this Summer. We decided that we would bet¬ 
ter have some information since there might lie a great 
number who would go to those places for work, and we 
did not. like the prospect. of going out and finding that 
there was no chance for ns. Do you think we could pay 
our expenses and clear sa.v $S0 from July 1 to October 1 ? 
Where would you advise us to go? What shall we do 
about a position? We are both husky lads; I am five feet 
10f,4. weight 105 pounds, and brother five feet 10 inches, 
weight 150 pounds. We have always lived on a farm, so 
it would not he new work to us, and anyway the work 
will not trouble us, as we are trying to pay our college 
expenses with the least possible expense to our pa rents. 
Pennsylvania. j. a. s. ' 
This letter was sent to Secretary F. D. Coburn, of 
Kansas. It seems that work of this sort is p'aced 
in the hands of a State Free Employment Bureau, of 
which Colonel T. B. Gerow, of Topeka, is chief. At 
the request of Mr. Coburn Colonel Gerow sends the 
following statement: 
“We need a great number of men this year, some¬ 
thing like 22,000, and we have had applicants from 
all over this country to whom I have written, almost 
identically this: The fare from New York city to 
Chicago is $20 flat unless a sufficient number of young 
fellows can go together and secure a reduced labor 
rate on one of the ‘Trunk’ lines. At Chicago they 
will find a reduced rate of $6.25. per capita, for 10 
or more on one ticket to Kansas City, and called a 
AN EARLY START IN DAIRYING. Fig. 235. 
‘labor rate.’ That rate, we hope, will meet the usual 
rate of one-cent-a-mile one way for parties of five 
or more through Kansas to the wheatfields. We have 
not yet secured this one-cent-a-mile rate, but the 
Governor is now working upon it and we hope by the 
time the wheat is ripe to be able to announce it. 
Should we fail to get it, the rate wi'l be two cents a 
mile through Kansas, and I would advise J. A. S. and 
his companions to start so as to reach Pawnee County, 
in the southern part of Kansas, by the 20th of June, 
and upon arrival there report to E. E. Frizell, and 
then have one of their number write to me that they 
have secured work. Wages will average $2.50 per day 
with board and lodging, and when they have com¬ 
pleted the harvest in one county they can work into 
another, and if they desire to continue northward 
they can work through central Kansas, reaching 
northern Kansas about July 2, when the harvest will 
he ripe there, and work thence into Nebraska, Minne¬ 
sota, the Dakotas, and, I am informed this year, into 
Canada, thus completing the harvest round. What the 
wages will be in other States I do not know. Prob¬ 
ably they will vary some in this State. My advice to 
the boys is to travel as light as possible, taking with 
them one good blanket, and a complete kit of camping 
tools. They will, of course, be housed and receive 
their board, but it may be preferable, sometimes, to 
sleep outdoors. They must go where they are sent, 
and not be diverted with promises of higher wages, 
because the work will be there if they reach there 
on the 20th of June. We are receiving a great many 
applications from college boys this season, and we are 
doing our best to send them where they can earn the 
most money by doing thorough work. We have re¬ 
ceived excellent reports from boys whom we have 
sent out in former years, and we rely upon these boys 
to make good.” t. b. gerow. 
