1911 
THE1 RURAL NEW-YORKER 
321 
A MINER AND HIS FARM. 
,He Digs Out a Home. 
PART I. 
I was born in England, of very poor 
parents, in the year 1866, in Warwick¬ 
shire. At the age of a little over nine 
years I commenced work in a brick¬ 
yard, 12 hours a day for tenpcnce, or 
20 cents a day. At 10 years of age I 
went into the coal mine, against father's 
and mother’s wishes, because I could 
earn eighteenpence in nine hours, and it 
looked big to me, father not being able 
to work at all for many years before 
he died, having asthma. I was the 
only boy at home at that time, or ever 
after that, four others living but being 
at different parts of the globe, scarcely 
ever even writing. There were three 
sisters and I at home at that time, so it 
was up to me to hustle a little. Before 
I was 13 years of age I got the roving 
idea too strongly to resist, and left home 
among tears, but I knew I could make 
more money, so I went to Rotheram, in 
South Yorkshire, where I earned four 
shillings a day,- 15 or 20 shillings of 
which I invariably sent home every two 
weeks until my sisters got work in the 
cotton mills, which were about that time 
shut down for a long period. Here let 
me say that the worst thing that hurt 
me was to ask some one to write me 
a letter to send home, and also some one 
to read each one I would receive, as I 
could neither read nor write. I got tired 
of tl’.at and vowed I would learn, so 
with spelling book and copy book I 
learned what little I know without the 
aid of any teacher. What a blessing 
learning is! Like everything else, once 
learned it is yours, no person can rob 
you of it. So time went on until I was 
nearly 16 years of age. The roving 
spirit had been gnawing almost a year, 
sometimes to enlist in the army, some¬ 
times to emigrate, so I came to this 
country in 1882, and have been in 19 
States since that time, some of them a 
dozen times, until I got married in the 
Spring of 1890 without ever saving a 
dollar, although making good wages, 
sometimes big wages. Being big and 
strong, never ailing anything at that 
time, I would pay my board and send 
whatever I thought was necessary home, 
something I never forgot (I am glad of 
that now) while my parents lived; then 
spent the rest. After marriage awhile 
a man wakes up. We set up house¬ 
keeping partly on the installment plan, 
a very good plan by the way when you 
want to pay two prices for what you 
get. Before that was paid for a baby 
girl came, 20 months after that another, 
23 months after that twin girls, and so 
on until now there are nine girls living 
and one dead, the oldest, one boy, mak¬ 
ing 11 children in all, with only the old 
man to hustle. So in 1905 I had saved 
some' little money, and work in the 
mines was so irregular that it was next 
to impossible to make ends meet, and I 
foresaw that something must be done. 
I had a great longing for a farm, not 
wanting to rent one; I wanted to own 
one, so that repairs or building up would 
be of interest to myself or my family. 
It was a hard proposition with me with 
my limited capital and the family 1 had, 
but I decided to go ahead. I bought 64 
acres of land with a four-roomed house 
and a small stable, and moved on the 
9th of November, 1905. I paid what I 
had and gave a mortgage of $1,000 on 
the place at six per cent for two years. 
That, by the way, was a very nice pic¬ 
ture to look at through the first Winter 
months on the farm. After moving here 
unknown to anyone things looked very 
blue; my wife and children did not like 
it. I got work at the mine near here 
and went ahead, but they were very 
lonesome and almost discouraged me. 
We had nothing but the nine children 
for stock, but after working awhile I 
bought about 30 chickens and a Jersey 
heifer at a sale. In two weeks the 
heifer came fresh with a heifer calf, 
which of course had to be raised. 
Things looked quite different. I am 
leaving you all to judge how much I 
knew about buying a farm or farming 
it when I had one by giving you my 
previous history, but I worked on in the 
mine. In the Spring I bought two more 
cows and four pigs, and more chickens. 
Of course I had a farm, and like all 
other farmers I had to have lots of 
stock, also a horse, a dandy at that. 
She would suck wind through a goose 
quill if she couldn’t find anything big¬ 
ger ; also buggy, harness, cultivators, 
'rw rows . ar *d several other things. 
That reminds of the same bill that I 
>ead and reread before I went, for you 
know how sales go, nine months’ credit, 
and what I have often thought funny 
since, my note was never questioned, 
for being handy they knew I had bought 
a farm. Surely everything was coming 
our way at last. 
The Spring rains came through the 
shingles on the house fast ancr lurious 
on wet days, so that when I went in our 
place inside resembled an old-fashioned 
creamery, dishpans, crocks, buckets and 
almost everything else was set to catch 
the drippings. The old stable was still 
worse. This thoroughly . discouraged 
everybody but me. I never let on; no 
room for me to say anything then. I 
got shingles and reshingled the house, 
hired a man to plow acres for corn 
V /2 acre for potatoes, beans, cabbage 
etc., and I planted it, nothing extraor¬ 
dinary for a farmer to do, but to me 
quite a job. The potatoes .. got along 
with quite well, but the peas and beans 
were a long time coming through, 
just about put the finishing touches on 
the corn, for I marked out all the rows 
for everything the full depth of the 
plow, but I never squealed to anyone 
at that time. I had learned the ok 
adage: “Silence is golden,” but I leffnec 
over fences and watched when I saw 
other people sowing and working theirs, 
and what saved me a good deal was I 
was early with mine, so that I had time 
to replant, and I worked that field time 
and again. What a job I had on a hill¬ 
side! I turned back long furrows of 
sod in running my plow too deep; look 
ing over fences I saw other fields nice 
and smooth, corn up in nice straight 
rows. .Mine was very rough and zigzag, 
though I tried to go straight as I could. 
Still by dint of hard work I had very 
good corn, over 400 bushels of ears. 
How I worked in cutting that corn, 
shocks as big as haystacks, lugging big 
armfuls up that hillside! I have often 
wondered since why I did not try to 
put it all in one shock. My potatoes 
did well; I sold some at $1.20 a bushel, 
and all I had to sell were sold in July, 
90 cents being the lowest I received for 
any of them, and I sold a good many 
peas and beans. I put in four rows 
of each across a big field, never hoed 
either peas, beans or potatoes that year, 
and they did well. I am not an advo¬ 
cate of that kino of fanning, but I sim¬ 
ply did not have time to do it, and had 
not the money to hire it done. Please 
don’t forget that all this time I was 
working at the mine, coming home about 
half past four o'clock. d.w. 
QUALITY 
It is not the quantity but 
the inherent quality of 
SCOTTS EMULSION 
that enables it to perform its 
mission. It is the one reme¬ 
dy universally known and 
used because of its ability to 
quickly restore lost strength, 
increase weight, and vitalize 
the nerve centers. 
There is vitality in every 
drop of 
Scott’s Emulsion 
ALL DRUGGISTS 
One Animal and Three Hogs 
to an Acre 
T HIS is a fair estimate of the 
the soil. On a farm of 80 
average feeding ability of 
acres the highest limit of 
efficiency is 20-acre fields. Large fields diminish the 
earning power because two small fields alternated will furnish 
much more support for stock than the same average in one big 
field. The fence is the important factor; and with the liber..! 
use of gates, unlimited extension and alternation is simple. 
The steel in Ellwood fence in specially as to prevent sagging. The small a ml 
made from carefully selected stock. 
It is hard, elastic, tough and springy. 
The line wires, composed of. two or 
more wires twisted into cables, give 
each individual wire the shape of an 
elongated, coiled spring. The fence is 
therefore sufficiently elastic to take 
care of expansion and contraction, and 
yet so rigid when properly stretched 
permanent mesli is made by weavi ; 
one continuous wire throughout i.:e 
fabric. The mesh or stay wires are so 
interwoven that slipping is impossible. 
The triangular truss is the strongest 
form of construction known. For this 
reason. Ellwood fence will stand the 
hardest usage and still retain 
shape. 
its 
Ellwood Fence is sold in your town. 
Look for tho 
. . - Ellwood deal¬ 
er and let him show you his different styles offence and quote you his low 
prices. Get his expert advice on yoi-.r special needs. He is on the spot, 
buys in largre quantities, g-ots the lowest carload freight rates, demonstrates 
qnality before your eyes and is the man from whom you will get the most 
for your money. 
FRANK BAACKES, Vice President and General Sales Agent 
American Steel & Wire Co. 
Chicago New York Denver Sar, Francisco 
Send for copy of “Ellwood Fence Newer ■profusely illnstraterl, devoted to theinteresls of farmers and show- 
ing how fence may be employed to enhance the earning power of a farm. Furnished free upon application. 
HOW THE BEST WIRE 
FENCE IN THE WORLD 
IS SOLD AT A LOW 
PRICE. 
Proved by every test to be 
the strongest and most dur¬ 
able Fence made. Straight to 
you from the maker, free from 
jobber’s and middlemen’s pro¬ 
fits 1 Made from Basic Open- 
Hearth Steel, and doubly 
strengthened by virtue of the famous 
“Security” knot. . Sold by us for 
less money than inferior fencing 
owing to the immensiiy of the num¬ 
ber of orders we are constantly filling 
for it. We pay freight on all orders of 
Wire Fence amounting to $10.00 or 
over, within 300 miles of Pittsburg. 
Write for Catalog of prices and descrip¬ 
tions of Wire-Fence; also contains pictures 
prices and particulars!of 10,000 other useful ar¬ 
ticles. 20 to 40 per cent, savings by our 
“factory to yon” system. 
MANUFACTURERS DISTRIBUTING CO. 
Dzjt. H, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
DIRT 
out of the 
■ 
You can*t 
“ strain” it 
out— kee 
it out! 
One milk pail and only one will do it. Milk goes 
through the strainer cloth into the pail, untainted, 
while the dirt shelf catches all the dirt from the 
udders and handling in the 
Sterilac Milk Pail 
(Try It 1 O Days Free). 
You will never give it up if you try it. The only 
sanitary milking pail that ever got the approval of 
a'l dairymen. Heavy, well made, the proper 
height, just the right set,” easy to pour milk out 
of, easy to clean, and, above all, ft keeps milk 
pure. Best way to keep milk from souring, surest 
way to keen out of trouble with Boards of Health 
and Milk Commissions. Price *2.50. Ask your 
dealer. If he hasn’t it we will send trial pail pre¬ 
paid. Return at our expense if not satis, actory. 
STERILAC COMPANY, 6 Merchants Row. Boston, Mass. 
EMPIRE FENCE 
Get tho genuine EMPIRE big 
wire fence, direct.at wholesale. 
Save dealer’s profits. 
Big Factory, Big 
Sales, 23 Styles 
No traveling salesmen, small 
expense, prices low. Every- 
guaranteed. Free samples by 
ma.fl. Prices of leadingscylesfrelght pre- 
paia to a!} points north of the Ohio and 
east of the Mississippi River:— 
lnoh*« high Medium Weight Extra hoa»j(all No.9) 
39 23c per rod 37e per rod 
47 28c per rod 4lc per rod 
65 32c per rod 49c per rod 
Special rates beyond this territory. 
BOND STEEL POST CO., 23 E. Mauaee St., Adrian, Mich. 
] 3i Gents a Rad 
■»- For 18-in. 14 3-4e for 22-in. Hog "=■■*=*=* 
Fence; loefor 26-Inch; l8 3-4ts 
for 32-inch; 25c for a 47-lnch 
Farm Fence. 48-inch Poultry 
fence 28 l-2e. Sold on 30 days 
trial. 80 rod spool Ideal Barb 
Wire $1.45 Catalogue free. 
KITSELMAN BROS., 
Bo» 230 MUNCIE, ind. 
FROST 
WIRE FENCES 
Extra Heavyweight Farm Fences. Built I 
for service and satisfaction. Quality 
first consideration. Best material and 
■workmanship used in our Woven i 
Wire or Field Erected Fences. | 
Ask vour denier. FREE catalog. 
THE FROST WIRE FENCE CO. 
Dept. IX Cleveland, O. 
48 iN.™ c d E 
25c 
Best high carbon coile.l steel 
wire. Easy to stretch over 
hills and hollows. L AEE 
Catalog—fences, tools. Buy 
from factory at wholesale 
prices. Write today to Box (57 
7^ MASON FENCE CO., LEESIU KG, 0. 
FENCE Mado?-~**. 
Made of High Carbon Double Strength 
Colled Wire. Heavily Galvanized to 
prevent rust. Have no agents. Sell at 
factory prices on 30 days’ free trial. 
We pay al I freight. 37 heights of farm 
and poultry fence. Catalog Free. 
COILED SPRING FENCE CO. 
Box 263 Winchester, Indiana. 
Heaviest Fence Made 
Heaviest Galvanizing 
We make 160 styles Horse 
cattle, sheep, hog, and bull 
proof fences made of No. 9 
double galvanized wires 
and absolutely rust proof 
Bargain Prices: 
14 cents per Rod Bp 
Poultry and Rabbit Proof 
Fences, Lawn Pences and 
Gates. Send for Catalog 
and Free sample tor test. 
The Brown Fence Ac Wire € 0 , 
Bepti 59 Cleveland, Ohio 
wszsm** 
CYCLONE 
Fences and Gates for Farm. Home, 
Parks or Cemeteries. Increase prop¬ 
erty values. Strong, Lasting. Hand¬ 
some. Easily erected—all heights up to 10 tV-.-t. Our 
catalog and price* will interest you. We pay freight. 
The Cyclone woven Wire fence Co. 
1237.K- 56th STREET CLEVELAND. OHIO 
LOW PRICES hand's mno FENCE 
nW ° l i ef Man J cheaper than wood—all better. For Lawns, 
Writ6 for Pattern Book and sptvt l offer. 
THE WARD FENCE CO.. Box 945 Dooa.ur, Ind. 
i auih cr&inc _ LAWN FENCE 
LMBVI1 IklVUE ; iTBee SoSjar vl KlL ' lL Many Styles. Sold on trial at 
.let ’ 
Many designs. Cheap as 
wood. 82 pa,*e Catalogue 
free. Special Prices to 
Churches and Cemeteries, 
oiled Spring Fence Co* 
Be* 314 W incheater. Ind. 
factor* 1 
Ini*® 
rat 
I at 
wholesale prices. Srvs 20 
to 30 per cent. Ill :.-trated 
Catalogue free. Write today. 
KITSELMAN BROS. 
Bo.-: 440 Muncie, Indiari. 
