12« 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 4 , 
“BACK. TO THE LAND.” 
No Drudgery on this Farm. 
Foolish as it is for city people to at¬ 
tempt to draw a graphic picture of the 
hard lot of the poor downtrodden 
farmer talk whiningly of the drudgery 
farmer takes up the same story. I feel 
an inclination to battle when I hear a 
fearmer talk whiningly of the drudgery 
of the farm, as though that was all 
there is connected with farm life. And 
then to complain that the young folks 
won't stay on the farm! It makes me 
feel much as though some one were 
slandering a friend of mine. There is 
drudgery anywhere, when work is done 
grudgingly in a half-hearted manner. 
We do not always get a square deal, 
and when I can see a chance to place 
a kick where it is likely to be effective 
toward bettering our condition, I will 
kick hard, but this kicking at our own 
business does a lot of harm and no good. 
I would like to tell of a young man 
with whom I am very intimate, who 
grew up on a farm with little love for 
the business, and with no definite idea 
as to what his own life’s work would 
be. He married rather young and found 
himself with the responsibilities of sup¬ 
porting a family, with no means and no 
special training that would fit him for 
any position above that of a day laborer. 
Like many another farmer’s son, he 
went to the city, only to find that city 
life is not so gay as it looks from a 
distance, and that city people have 
troubles just as hard to bear as those 
in the country. 
About this time he met a man who 
is an enthusiastic farmer and a cham¬ 
pion of intensive culture. From this 
man he gradually acquired much infor¬ 
mation, faith and enthusiasm, and finally 
decided to take up farming as his life’s 
work. He worked and saved with this 
in mind for several years. Then we 
find him with a capital of $1150 and a 
determination to make a start for him¬ 
self. He bought 10 acres of land with 
buildings on for $1200. The house was 
fairly good, but the other buildings were 
very poor, and the place had been al¬ 
lowed to go to rack generally. The 
water from one side of the house roof 
ran back under the porch and down cel¬ 
lar. The surface water ran into the 
well until it was unfit to use; the yard 
was full of rubbish, what fences there 
were were in the most dilapidated con¬ 
dition possible and the kitchen garden 
was the only spot on the place that 
would produce a good crop as it was. 
There was not an acre in any one piece 
that did not need ditching, and much of 
it was practically useless without it. A 
tough-looking proposition for a man 
with all his money invested in the real 
estate, $50 in debt and no outfit to begin 
operations with? Yes, but there was to 
be no drudgery here. 
He took hold of this job with some¬ 
thing of the spirit of the contest, fully 
realizing that there were mountains of 
hard work and not a few obstacles 
ahead, and that he was not well fitted 
himself for this kind of work. He 
proposed to transform this place into a 
pleasant, comfortable home, and to make 
the land both productive and profitable. 
It was a big game, but the object was 
worth the effort, and he was going in to 
win. His plan was to begin market gar¬ 
dening and gradually work into the 
berry business, or combine the two. This 
was in the Spring of 1906, the fourth of 
May when he took possession. It re¬ 
quired two weeks of hard work to get 
the house and surroundings in some¬ 
thing of a respectable and sanitary con¬ 
dition. One of the first things done was 
to gather up about four bushels of 
broken whisky jugs and bottles, a tem¬ 
perance sermon in itself after looking 
over the place. It was now too late to 
think of ditching, or of any very ex¬ 
tensive farm operations this year. He 
planted the kitchen garden, two acres of 
potatoes, a few strawberries and other 
things, but the important thing was to 
get the place in better condition for 
next year. The difficulty was to find 
time to do it and at the same time 
make a living for the family. He worked 
for the neighbors, took care of his 
crops the best he could, and did some 
work toward next year’s crops. An 
extremely wet spell in August ruined the 
best of the potatoes and some other 
things, and showed him more forcibly 
the need of drainage. The income from 
the place that season was very small 
indeed. The next year, 1907, it will 
be remembered was a very hard year 
for farmers everywhere. The total in¬ 
come from his farm was $350. The 
Winter was spent as the previous one 
had been, in ditching, hauling manure 
from town and working by the day to 
keep down expenses. Since then there 
has been, a gradual improvement all 
around. 
Last Summer the returns from the 
place were $735, and he had all his own 
butter, eggs, vegetables, fruit and meat 
enough for the Winter. Then he earned 
enough last year by outside work in the 
Winter to pay all cash expense of run¬ 
ning the place. Better than the increase 
in the cash returns is the fact that the 
place is becoming more productive every 
year, and best of all, the manager is 
becoming more capable and efficient in 
his work, and he expects to keep on 
improving both himself and the farm. 
He has never said anything about drud¬ 
gery. Although he has been fighting 
his way up under difficulties, he has 
enjoyed it immensely. Many times he 
has gone to his bed so tired that he 
could not lie flat enough, but feeling as 
though he would like to spread out all 
over the bed until he would hang out 
over both edges; then waken in the 
morning and jump up like the boys go¬ 
ing off to a big ball game, can hardly 
get the fire started and his bit of chores 
done quick enough to get out and at it 
again. He has two inducements to 
work, the necessity of providing for his 
family, and the fun of the thing, and 
we might say he is getting double pay. 
He knows what it is to experience thrills 
of pleasure over the success of some dif¬ 
ficult undertaking on the farm, just as 
keen as any he ever knew on the ball 
field, and he was something of a ball 
player, too. He wants nobody’s sym¬ 
pathy because he is a farmer, he is proud 
of the fact. I do not consider this any 
great or startling success; in fact he is 
just getting started, but if lie keeps on 
improving and enjoys his work in pro¬ 
portion he will certainly have a jolly 
good time after awhile. Suppose we 
consider a doctor, a lawyer or some 
others whom farmers are envying for 
their position, in this man’s place, with 
only a common school education, a gen¬ 
eral knowledge of the work in which 
he intends to engage, and what he can 
pick up by promiscuous reading, mostly 
after a hard day’s work, and started 
under difficulties, would we expect any 
great success? At our high school last 
year several farmers’ sons graduated. 
One is now studying for a civil en¬ 
gineer, one for a mechanical draughts¬ 
man, another for an electrician, etc. Not 
one, as far as I know, intends to re¬ 
main on the farm. It looks as though 
our farmers of the future would be 
those who drop their educational work 
with the district school and work around 
the neighborhood until they get married 
and settle down. When it becomes 
more common for farmers to give their 
best young men a few years’ training 
along agricultural lines, and then keep 
them on the farm, we shall hear less of 
drudgery and the poor downtrodden 
farmer. B. v. e. 
Sharon, Pa. 
Oats and Peas and Alfalfa.—O n page 
55 W. E. C. proposes to sow Alfalfa after 
oats and peas, about August 15. I should 
advise him not to. I did so last August 
and the oats came out so thick as to 
smother the Alfalfa out. Better sow on cul¬ 
tivated ground kept free from weeds up to 
August 10-15. I have a good stand by this 
method. h. l. h. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—It might be better if the oats 
and peas are cut very early for hay—be¬ 
fore they go to seed. 
This is a grain and fruit country, mostly 
corn, oats, rye and buckwheat. Corn is 
selling for 65 to 70 cents retail a bushel; 
oats, 40 to 50 cents; buckwheat, 50 to 60 
cents; buckwheat flour, $2.25 to $2.50; 
hay, $12 to $15 ; rye straw, $8 to $9; rye, 
70 to 80 cents a bushel; milk, five to 
seven cents a quart; butter, 26 to 30 cents 
a pound; eggs, 30 to 40 cents a dozen; 
apples, from $2.50 to $3.50 per barrel, and 
most of the farmers have got rid of their 
fruit around here. A. v. 
Midway, N. Y. 
Early potatoes were good, but late ones 
suffered from blight and dry weather. A 
good many farmers in our vicinity failed 
to get the late crop dug. They can be 
bought for 60 to 75 cents per bushel. Corn 
also was poor. Many crops were less than 
two-thirds owing to the drought; price off 
the car 31 and 35 cents. Oats and wheat 
were good, as they were harvested or at¬ 
tained their growth before the drought 
came on. Wheat, 90 cents; oats, 45 cents. 
Hay was fairly good ; in some places good. 
It will bring now anywhere from $17 to 
$18 per ton. We have marketed our but¬ 
ter all Winter to our regular customers in 
town (New Castle) for 38 cents per pound. 
Eggs, strictly fresh, command 40 and 45 
cents. The price of poultry has been fair; 
turkeys are not to be had here now; the 
dealers offered us 25 cents dressed just be¬ 
fore Christmas. Calves ready for veal are 
12% cents dressed; beef, 9% to 10 cents. 
Pork can be purchased for 10 and 10% cents 
dressed; lard, 20 cents. Choice apples will 
bring from $2 up. H. J. C. 
New Castle, Pa. 
OULDS 
Don’t cro to the well —be up to date and 
pump the water to your house and barn. 
Goulds Reliable Pumps 
bring to the farm one real 
advantage of the city—water 
where it is needed. From 
our complete line we can 
meet any requirement from 
the cistern pump to the large 
power pump for general 
water supply, including 
lift and force pumps, 
thresher pumps, 
hydraulic rams, pneu¬ 
matic water supply 
pumps, rotary, centri¬ 
fugal and irrigation 
pumps. 
The name Goulds on 
every one marks the genu¬ 
ine. Don’t buy any pump 
until you ha-ve read our 
free booklet — 
“Water Supply for the Home 
We want you to select the pump best adapted to your conditions . 1 
This book is a mine of valuable information on the subject. Send for it. 
The Goulds Mfg. Company, Seneca Falls, N. Y. 
Noll’s Tested Seeds 
EACH YEAR OUR BUSINESS 9R0WS-S0 DO OUR SEEDS. 
A TRIAL MAKES YOU A PERMANENT CUSTOMER. 
SPECIAL OFFER—PRIZE COLLECTION 
12 named New Special Varieties Sweet Peas. 
Special colors. Will please most critical. Worth 
separately 00c. Send only 30 CENTS to cover 
postage and packing and receive SEEDS POSTPAID, 
together with beautiful 112-page GARDEN and 
FLOWER BOOK (250 Illustrations) Free. 
J. F. NOLL, 112 MULBERRY STREET, NEWARK, N. J.. 
it 
CORN TALK 
99 
How to produce a maximum crop at a mini¬ 
mum cost. A valuable treatise on the modern 
methods in Corn Culture. Many new sugges¬ 
tions invaluable to Corn raisers, in this my 
revised treatise. It tells how to produce 100 
bushels shelled corn per acre without fertilizer 
or manure, and at the same time increase the 
productiveness of your land. Highest compli¬ 
ments upon the merits of this book received 
from the Agricultural Colleges from a number 
of States. FREE. A postal card will bring it. 
W. OSCAR COLLIER, Corn Specialist 
Easton, Maryland 
"See BEST NEWand STANDARD 
of STRAWBERRY PLANTS at reasonable 
prices send at onoe for my free, large, Illustrated 
catalogue. Eggs from PRIZE-WINNING R. 1. 
lteds at Washington, Philadelphia and other large 
shows—cheap, and I Guarantee Satisfaction. 
W. S. TODD, Greenwood, Del. 
of the Best Varieties 
Descriptive Catalogue 
Strawberry Plants_ 
Free. BASIL. PERRY, D. 18, Cool Spring, Del. 
P LANTS FOR SALE— All varieties of Early and Date 
Vegetable Plants; also forty varieties Straw¬ 
berries; prices right; established twenty years. 
Price list free. S. C. ATHERTON, Green wood, Del. 
S TRAWBERRY PLANTS only $1.50 & $1.75 per 1000. Illus. 
Catalogue Free. S. A. VIRDXN, Hanly, Del. 
THAT YIELD. Our Sensation Oats 
breaks all records. Nothing like it. 
Also SEED CORN. Samples and cat- 
THEO. BURT & SONS, MELROSE, OHIO, 
OATS 
alog free. 
B 
EST SEED POTATOES SL. 
A. 0. ALDRIDGE, Fisher’s, Ontario County, N. Y. 
F OR SALE—A1 Imported Clydesdale Oats, $1.00 per 
bush. CHARLES SUMMERTON, Sheridan, N.Y. 
mm NEWSEEDOATS. Bigraonej 
M in right kind of oats. Here’* 
■ BK H your chance. 1 mported Canadian 
H R II ■ seed oats, raised on Galloway 
■ H Brothers’ big iartn in Canada. 
SflFS ■ New, clean land. Regenerated 
Swedish Select went 116 bushels 
to acre; Early New Market 110 bushels to acre. Farmers who 
bought this seed from us last year raised as high as 7S to 100 
bushels fn this country, and found out their old seed was inbred 
and run out. Change your seed. Try some of this new seed, 
pend for free sample, or 10 cents for large packet. Will also send 
our free booklet, entitled “Big Money in Oats and How to Grow 
Them.” Galloway Bros.-Bowman Company 
662 Galloway Station Waterloo, Iowa 
n/vai|> c Many large yielding 
Pill Mm I Ut3 and choicest early van. 
■ V ■ I' ■ etlt’S. Ohio Wonder, 
the new main crop variety which will supersedethe Car. 
man; pure white, big yielder. Our catalog, sent free, 
tells about it and al 1 other seeds, plants and trees. Get it. 
FORD KKED CO., Dept. 24 Ravenna, Ohio, 
/"X A 'T' O New Victory or Rainy Weather 
V/ A 1 O Oats, extra heavy yielders, storm 
resisting, and best for low bottom land. Price 75c; 
sack free. Cow Horn Turnip, 25c per pound. 
SIEGEL the SEEDSMAN, ERIE, PA. 
Pedigree Seed Potatoes 
Clyde, white, excellent quality, high yielding 
strain, bred true to type. 400 bush, per acre on my 
farm. Price, $3.50 per bbl. sack, 165 lbs. net. 
W. Li. HANNAH, Brunswick, Me. 
Peach and Apple Trees 
For fall or spring planting. Prices right; stock 
light. MYER & SON, Bridgeville, Del. 
McKAV’S Peach Tree s 
McHAY’S Dwarf Apple Trees 
McHAV’S Acre Cherry Orchard, $15 
MchAY’S Rose Bushes on their own roots 
McKAY’S Fertilizer Chemicals 
McKAY’S Agricultural Lime,$3 perton 
McKAY’S Catalogue tells about them—and more 
L. McKay, Geneva. N. Y. 
Bex F 
SALESMEN WANTED 
for terms. 
Commis- 
_„. Write 
PERRY NURS- 
T0 SELL TREES AND PLANTS ERIES, Rochester, N. Y, 
Hardy Highland Nursery Stock 
Acclimated to Northern climate. Always true to 
label. No scale ever found in our Nursery. Send 
forcatalog. L.M. EMPIE, Box A, Johnstown, N.Y. 
i—150 ACRES. Genesee Valley 
grown. “Not the cheapest, but 
the best.’’ Never have had San 
Jose Scale. Established 1869. 
oA-TAfAr cd;c geo. A. SWEET NURSERY CO., 
CATALOG FREE 2 0 Maple St., Dansville, N. Y. 
TREES 
Fruit Tries From tire Grower. 
Save middlemen's expense and get them 
fresh dug. Catalog free. 
WM. J. REILLY, NURSERYMAN, DANSVILLE. N. Y. 
850,000 
GRAPEVINES 
69 Varieties. Also Small Fruits, Trees, etc. Best Root¬ 
ed Stock, Gcuuine, cheap, 2 sample vine* mailed for 10c. Peso, 
price-list free. LK>VIS ROESCH A SOX. Box K, Kredonla, X. Y, 
GATALPA 
CDCPinCA TDCCQ Mine are true to name. 
01 tulUCA I IlLLu Free booklet tells all 
about the 150 acres I am growing for telephone 
poles. H. C. ROGERS, Box 111, Mechanicsburo, 0. 
