1911. 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKEH 
803 
Ruralisms 
MISSOURI GARDEN NOTES. 
At last the drought which must pass 
into horticultural history as one of the 
most disastrous of recent years, has ap¬ 
parently been terminated, this 10th of 
July, by a rainfall of over an inch, 
whose benefit was increased by accom¬ 
panying cool weather. It is indeed sel¬ 
dom that drought has the temerity to 
invade the season of Spring itself, but 
it began its record in the first days of 
May and has thus covered a period of 
nearly two months and a half. The 
strawberry crop was diminished one- 
half, raspberries and blackberries some¬ 
what less, and tree fruits little or none. 
Grapes, with their extensive root sys¬ 
tem and affinity for a hot sun, show no 
damage at this time except in restricted 
growth of new wood. When we speak 
of gardens, however, we must adopt 
funereal tones, for here the ruin ap¬ 
proached completeness. The larger and 
later vegetables, such as beans and to¬ 
matoes, stood the ordeal without great 
damage, although exposed fruits of the 
latter were blistered white by the torrid 
sun, a result usually seen only in the 
dog days of August. Sweet corn was 
stunted in stalk and ear, but the most 
important crop to be stricken was pota¬ 
toes. The Irish potato is one of the 
great staple foods, and any serious di¬ 
minution in its supply is felt by people 
of every class. Upon the poor, espe¬ 
cially, will the scarcity and high price 
of the homely tuber fall keenly and 
still more keenly as the Fall and Winter 
months come. From the standpoint of 
the grower, however, things are not so 
bad as they might be. The high prices 
are compensating him in fair degree 
for limited quantity. Potatoes are retail¬ 
ing at 50 and 60 cents per peck, corn 
at 25 and 30 cents per dozen, tomatoes 
30 cents per basket, cabbage six cents 
per pound and beans 10 cents per 
pound. Yesterday we began digging the 
Early Ohios, and found about one-third 
of a normal yield. True to its breed¬ 
ing the Ohio presents us with a mini¬ 
middles of these plantings for potatoes 
or strawberries, and find it works well, 
thus getting some income from the land 
the first year. Such combinations are 
essential to economy. Black raspberries 
make too much growth to admit a for¬ 
eign plant between them in the row, 
but in the middles between the rows 
potatoes fit in well. 
In the case of blackberries we follow 
up the potatoes with cow peas, drilling 
a double row close together. When 
there is room they are cultivated a time 
or two, but weeds by this late date are 
pretty well subdued, and disturb little. 
The peas make a great growth that ulti¬ 
mately fills all the space between the 
bushes, shading the ground and pro¬ 
moting the formation of nitrates. In 
the Fall they die down and form a valu¬ 
able mulch. Sometimes Red clover is 
sown instead of peas and displaces cul¬ 
tivation the next Summer. 
The peach crop here is good in spots 
which is to be expected where there are 
no commercial orchards conducted on 
modern methods. The Dewey bore its 
first crop this year and we found it 
a good-sized yellow-fleshed peach, about 
as large as the Carman, but much in¬ 
ferior to the latter in quality. It came 
in, however, two weeks ahead of the 
Carman, which surely counts for some¬ 
thing. We are always grateful to and 
appreciative of the first fruits to ripen 
and the factor of earliness is by no 
means to be despised. Carman trees here 
are loaded with fine fruit that with the 
assistance of the drought showed no 
disposition to rot, although that dis¬ 
ease has to be regularly reckoned with. 
Yet our local market has to annually 
depend on distant shipments for the 
bulk of its supply, both of peaches and 
apples. Interest in fruit growing has 
never been aroused in this district, al¬ 
though natural conditions are alluring. 
The “river hills” as they are called 
which border the Mississippi present 
countless ideal sites for orchards with 
their elevation, air drainage, proximity 
to a large body of water, fertile though 
sometimes rocky soil and land prices 
within reach of the slenderest purse. 
A farmer living on these heights re¬ 
cently told me that he had not known 
of a total peach failure in 11 years. 
The ranking Missouri peaches for mar¬ 
ket are the Carman, Elberta and Cham¬ 
pion. The Elberta among peaches oc¬ 
cupies the position of the Ben Davis 
among apples, possessing an ideal com¬ 
bination of characteristics with the ex¬ 
ception of the supreme one of high 
quality. l. r. johnson. 
Cape Girardeau Co., Mo. 
mum of tubers below marketable size, ' 
often concentrating all its energies in 
forming a single one of good propor¬ 
tions. Still we sift out the ultra-small 
and rough ones, albeit the price induces 
many to make no exceptions. At last 
we feel that we rather have the whip 
hand over the grocers. It is a pleasant 
sensation to answer the telephone call 
and find the man who so often looked 
askance at your truck, beseeching you 
to send in something, and equally pleas¬ 
ant to feel yourself safe in making 
conditions. This year we sternly demand 
cash instead of trade or part trade, and 
fix a price without a tremor when re¬ 
quested. This morning a grocer eager¬ 
ly volunteered to send his own wagon 
to the farm for two bushels of potatoes 
at $1.75 per bushel. 
Our system is to follow early pota¬ 
toes with sweet orn, and in this lati¬ 
tude we are safe n planting up to the 
first of August. Between now and that 
date we shall get out all the potatoes 
and replant all the space with corn, 
cabbage, tomatoes and turnips. Almost 
of equal value to its ears do we value 
the sweet corn as a soiling crop for the 
horses and cow and for Winter feeding 
and when well cured and stored in tied 
bundles I should not be willing to ex¬ 
change it for an equal weight of Timothy 
hay. Old strawberry beds were hard 
hit by the drought, and in many cases 
it will not pay to clean them out for 
a second crop. I find so many plants 
have died here that greatly to my re¬ 
luctance I shall have to plow up the 
ground for other crops and rely for 
next season entirely on the Spring 
plantings. These latter under good, 
clean cultivation stood the drought un¬ 
injured except where trees robbed them 
of moisture. 
There was some mortality among the 
young blackberries that were planted 
late. We always utilize the rows and 
We Want to Start a Few 
Good, Hustling Young 
Men in a Paying Business 
W E want to get in touch with a few 
good, hustling young men who want 
to earn from $ 15 to $20 a day from 
a small investment. 
Cutting Buckeye ditches is a good. 
Staple business that laSts the entire Summer 
season. Ditches cut with the Buckeye 
Traction Ditcher are from 25% to 50% 
cheaper than the old method. The ditches 
are truer, cleaner cut and better. Farmers 
are demanding them, 
A Buckeye Traction Ditcher will 
cut from 100 to 150 rods of ditch per day— 
10 to 15 rods an hour—between two and 
three feet a minute. Figure the earnings 
for yourself at the average price paid for 
ditch digging in your locality. 
Are you one of the men who wants to 
make money ? 
Write to day for Catalog No. 3 
The Buckeye Traction Ditcher Co., 
Findlay, Ohio. 
White Lead on the Farm 
For Houses 
Paint your house when it needs 
it and use the best paint—that 
is the whole story of paint econ¬ 
omy. The longer you put 
off painting the more paint 
will be required. Paint 
made of 
“Dutch Boy Painter” 
Pure White Lead 
and pure linseed oil is the 
most economical paint in 
the world because it is-the 
most durable. It holds to 
the wood like a nail and 
protects the surface per¬ 
fectly against the attacks 
of the weather. 
Our Free Painting Helps 
We will send you free on request 
color schemes and miscellaneous paint¬ 
ing instructions that you will find of 
real practical value. Ask for Helps2208 
NATIONAL LEAD CO. 
XewYork Cleveland Chicago St. I-ouia 
BoBton Buffalo Cincinnati San Frnnoiaco 
(John T. Lewis & Bros. Co., Philadelphia) 
(.National Lead & Oil Co., Pittsburgh) 
Pump A11 the Water Von Wont 
on farm or estate without engino 
trouli 1 es or expense, 
with an auto^ 
matic 
Raises 
water 30 
feetforeach 
u RAM foot of fall—no 
trouble or Dumping 
expense. Booklet, plans, 
estimate, FREE, 
Rife Engine Co.,'2429 Trinity Bldg., N.Y. 
PATENT 
Whex you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
SECURED OR FEE RETURNED. 
Free Patent Book, Selling Guide and 
List of Buyers and Manufacturers of 
Inventions. ADVICE FREE. Send sketch. 
FARNHAM & SUES, Attys., 548 F. SJ„Wa»hington, D. C. 
DAILY 
OUTPUT 
18,000 
BBLS. 
YEARLY 
OUTPUT 
OVER 
6,500.000 
ALPHA 
PORTLAND CEMENT 
is absolutely the best that can be made 
for all farm work. Largely used by 
U. S. Government and in State, Munici¬ 
pal and Railroad work—a reputation of 
20 years behind it. Ask your dealer for 
ALPHA 
Send for Booklet and learn why it is the best. 
ALPHA PORTLAND CEMENT GO., 
ADDRESS 
2 Center Square, EASTON, PA. 
STAND¬ 
ARD 
THE 
WORLD 
OVER 
WELL AND PROSPECTING 
DRILLING MACHINERY 
43 years’ successful operation. 
Used In nearly al) parts of the 
world. We make a complete line 
of Drilling Machines and tools 
for every condition of earth 
and rock: drilling and min¬ 
eral prospecting. Complete 
catalogue No. 120 showing over 
40 styles of machines free. 
THE AMERICAN WELL WORKS 
General Office and Works: 
Aurora, HI. 
XTnttAnal TJ n r> Tr- 
OHnn rr/\ rWnoAi 
T O secure the best results, manure must be spread with 
a machine, because fork-spreading wastes manure, 
wastes time, wastes energy, and wastes opportunities 
for increasing the income which a farm is capable of yielding. 
In progressive communities you will find that most of the 
manure spreaders in use bear the I H C trade-mark. Pro¬ 
gressive farmers take no chances on their crop insurance. 
They want absolute assurance before they decide. 
Before they bought I H C manure spreaders, they found 
that they were simple in design—unusual^ in strength—and 
remarkably efficient. 
They found the power transmitting mechanism the most 
durable used on any machine, because the beater gear was 
held in a single casting which prevented the gears from spring¬ 
ing out of alignment and cutting the teeth. They found that 
the long, square, chisel pointed teeth insured positive pulver¬ 
izing of all manure; that the teeth were long enough to tear 
the "manure to pieces before it wedged against the bars; that 
the teeth did not rim the bars; that the beater was large enough 
in diameter so it did not wind. They found that the rollers 
which supported the apron were large, that the apron moved 
easily; and that self-aligning roller bearings on the main 
drive axle not only reduced the draft but prevented the axle 
from binding, and cutting the axle brackets, a fault not un¬ 
common to spreaders, 
Kemp 20th Century 
Corn King Cloverleaf 
You have choice of these three styles. Each 
style is made in several sizes to meet every 
condition. 
Don’t plant another crop before you see the 
I H C local dealer. Let him tell you all the 
facts. Let him point out the many advan¬ 
tages of an I H C spreader. Pick out the 
one that suits you best. Get catalogues from 
him, or, if you prefer, write direct for any 
information you desire. 
International Harvester Company 
of America 
(Incorporated) 
USA 
IHC 
Service Bureau 
The purpose of 
this Bureau is to 
furnish farmers 
with information 
on better farming. 
If you have any 
worthy question 
concerning soils, 
crops, pests, fer¬ 
tilizer, etc., write 
to the IHC Serv¬ 
ice Bureau, and 
learn what our 
experts and others 
have found out 
'concerning these 
subjects. 
