1911 . 
043 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
DUTIES OF POSTMASTERS. 
E. M. F., Port Byron, X. Y .—I live on 
an R. F. D. route. Mail is delivered about 
10 a. in. If I expect important mail and 
believe it is at the post office on Saturday 
night, and go to the office and ask for it, 
is the postmaster obliged to ascertain if it 
is there or not, and if there hand it out? 
I called for such matter last Saturday 
evening and was informed that I live on an 
II. F. D. and would get my mail through 
that course. 
Ans. —Our understanding is that in 
such cases the postmaster can use his 
judgment—or does as he pleases. He 
ought to be accommodating enough to 
get the mail. Some of them, will do so. 
We have been in the country and had a 
farmer send a note to the postmaster 
asking for such letters. They were 
cheerfully delivered. A postmaster is 
supposed to be a public servant. He is 
usually well paid and well provided with 
help, and be should be decent and ac¬ 
commodating to patrons. 
A HIGH VACATION. 
No—the man pictured at Fig. 371 
does not pretend to be monarch of all 
he surveys. He is a reader of The R. 
N.-Y. —a farmer in Western Nebraska. 
He went on a vacation to Western Mon¬ 
tana and climbed a high mountain 
peak—where you see him pictured. It 
is a good thing to be among the clouds 
3000 FEET ABOVE THE SEA. Fig. 371. 
at play time but the place for a farmer 
to work is away from the rock and 
nearer the soil. We print this to show 
where our people go on their vacation, 
and also to show something of the way. 
the “crags and peaks” look when you 
get close to them. 
Killing Out Quack Grass. 
IT. M. L., Elmira, X. Y .—I have read with 
much interest the article on page S55, by 
Mr. ,T. S. Woodward, regarding the destruc¬ 
tion of the Canada thistle. In the second 
line of his article ho mentions Quack grass 
as another weed -that he knows how to get 
rid of. Quack grass has begun to appear 
in my lawn in this city, and of course I 
wish to clear it out as quickly as possible. 
Would Mr. Woodward inform me how quack 
grass may be eradicated? 
Ans.— Quack grass in a lawn and 
same in a field is a very different propo¬ 
sition to solve. I used to have a holy 
horror of quack, but I have now no 
fear of it in a field open to cultivation. 
I have found that by letting it grow 
unmolested until about flowering time, 
then cutting it and follow this with the 
plow and this with constant cultivation 
during balance of Summer, plowing 
deep late in the Fall and following with 
clean cultivation until time to plant late 
potatoes, will entirely eradicate quack; 
no guesswork about it. But this means 
absolute clean cultivation. By letting 
the quack grow until blossoming the 
pabulum of the root stalks will be nearly 
exhausted, and if then plowed and sub¬ 
sequent cultivation be so thoroughly 
done that no leaf is allowed to get 
full size, nothing will be returned to 
sustain the root growth, and the plant 
will starve to death. The best tool I 
have ever seen for use after plowing to 
subdue quack is an old-fashioned “A” 
cultivator having 10 teeth, and the teeth 
made broad enough so as to cut over 
all the ground and then kept so sharp 
as to cut off every spear of quack, and 
it is advisable to go over field with a 
sharp hoe after a day or so and cut even- 
plant that has escaped the cultivator. 
But quack in a lawn or in an orchard 
is much more difficult to eradicate. If 
the lawn is badly infested the best way 
is to take it up and kill the quack anil 
reseed. If there is only a little it may 
be killed with salt, which though it may 
kill other grasses, will in the end be 
beneficial for the lawn. But there is no 
use in trying to kill quack by any half¬ 
way measure. “It simply can’t be did.” 
j. s. WOODWARD. 
Wild Garlic Spoils a Farm. 
I bnvo found a farm cheap, but the land 
is full of wild garlic. We think that is 
against the land, for we cannot keep cows 
to sell butter or milk. Would you advise 
us to buy. and is there any way to get rid 
of it or not? We think of raising beef cat¬ 
tle and trucking; we could got along nicely, 
and maybe, by some remedy, got rid of the 
garlic. That is the reason nobody wants 
the farm : that is why it is so cheap. 
West Virginia. w. g. s. 
Not having seen the farm we could not 
advise. It is true that a farm well stocked 
with weeds is worth much less than a clean 
farm. The garlic will hurt the milk and 
butter, but you could keep beef cattle, shefcp 
or hogs until the garlic is conquered. That 
will be a long, hard job. There is no way 
to do it except by giving long and thorough 
culture. You should start a rotation that 
will include two hoed crops and keep such 
crops perfectly clean. Bv taking the farm 
in this way and sticking to it you can finally 
clean it, but the job will take a long time. 
Confessions of a Tree Agent. 
I want to say a word in reply to Mr. 
Ohas. Broyles, on page 855. I believe; he is 
trying to leave the impression that the nur¬ 
seryman advances the full amount of the 
agent’s commission every week, which they 
do not do. Almost all reliable nurseries 
will pay you 40 cents on the dollar to solicit 
orders for them, bin they will not “advance” 
you over 25. 'cents. • ami in ; somes cases, if 
you are an extra good .salesman, they will 
advance you 30 cents on the dollar on ..your 
weekly sales, but they will hold back 10 or 
15 per cent, of your weekly sales until the 
nursery stock is delivered, and then if there 
is no stock left on hand or no orders can¬ 
celled you will get the balance of your 
money. They hold this 10 or 15 per cent, to 
cover just such cases as Mr. Ten Eyck, on 
page 783. The nurseries do not lose any¬ 
thing; it comes out of the agent's commis¬ 
sion. Of course the agent h..'s a right to be 
on the ground when tile Stivk is delivered, 
and if there are any orders left undelivered 
he can dispose of them in any way that lie 
sees fit to do. and generally he will not 
have any trouble whatever in disposing of 
the stock. I know, because I have been 
there. But why a farmer will pay an agent 
30 cents for an apple tree, 25 for a peach 
and 50 to 75 for a cherry, arid other stock 
in proportion, I can’t figure out. I can buy 
here for the best trees that grow, and pick 
them out myself, at from 7% to 12 cents 
each, and if I take a hundred trees I can 
got them for less money. g. w. c. 
It. N.-Y.—Nurserymen have been telling us 
that they are obliged to pay their agents by 
the week a month before the trees are deliv¬ 
ered. They gave tin 1 impression that every¬ 
thing is paid for ahead. \Ye never heard 
of any other business that handled agents 
that way, and the above statement puts a 
very different face upon it. Whenever this 
tree agent proposition comes up we intend 
to ask the old question : “Tell us why one 
of our readers should buy trees of an agent 
and sign a contract? What will he gain 
by doing so?” We are willing to be shown. 
DAILY 
OUTPUT 
18,000 i 
BBLS. 
YEARLY 
OUTPUT 
OVER 
6,500,000 
ALPHA 
PORTLAND CEMENT 
is absolutely the best that can be made 
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Send for Booklet and learn why it is the best. 
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ADDRESS 
2 Center Square, EASTON, PA. 
Farmers’ Handy Wagon 
at a Low Price 
Absolutely the best wagon built for every kind 
of heavy teaming. Bow steel wheels, wide tiros. 
Will last a lifetime without repairs. 
^TEEL WHEELS 
for farm wagons 
—any size to lit 
, any axle. Send 
1 for our free 
booklet before 
you buy a wagon 
^ or a set of wheels. 
EMPIRE MFG. CO., Box 96 -l Quincy, III. 
D 
B 11 fl I I I 
^ „ n£ asbestos and asphalt] 
• , „^everaUaye«o£aso ;neralroofin g 
I consists of se f ing an an . veat herproo£, 
itl combination, ten waterpr 0 of, 
Which is ^^practically wearpro • needs 
U cid Ct co^the oaly coS n t ;t ^ rust , peel 
paiatiag °atid Isasdy app^d. „ 
or crack, a ROOitFIg 
1 “ The Everlasting Century , s 
Nl°re erlenco Behind rt 
ROOfing EXP oear est Branch will » I 
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P°“Write"tot specimen c£ 
LAYER OF PURE 
WHITE ASBESTOS 
j-^LAYER OF ASPHALT 
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FELT SATURATED 
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FIREPROOF 
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PRACTICALLY 
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NEVER 
NEEDS 
PAINT 
TRADE MARK REGISTERED IN U. S. PATENT OFFICE- 
. . . MANUFACTURED ONLY BY . . . 
‘The Rogers & Hubbard Co., 
Middletown, Conn. 
Send-for free Almanac telling all about 
Hubbard’s ” Bone Base” Fertilizers. 
HARVEY BOLSTER SPRINGS 
> Soon save their cost. Make every wagon a spring 
jj wagon, therefore fruit, vegetables, eggs, etc., 
(bring more money. Ask for special proposition. 
JlUrvey Spring Co. # Jl(M7th St., Hacine, Wia. 
GUARANTEED 
Makes Work on Rainy Days p 
A Pleasure 
OurKEFLEXedqe (Pat’d)runs the 
entire length ot coat and storm 
lap. — Guides all waterto 
the bottom where it drops off 
Absolutely no Possibility 
of Getting Wet 
J Practical-Serviceable-Fconomical 
K5| Asxyour DEALER to snow you 
The Fish BrandREFLEXSlicker 
A J Tower Co 
COOK 
fORTMis REFLC* o 
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THE 
i FARMERS’ 
FAVORITE 
Cider Mill m Press Combined 
^Pronounced ^ k° be the best, simplest and most perfect mill and press 
These mills have taken more first premiums than any mill on the market. 
The grinding apparatus is so made that it does not slice and cut tiie 
fruit and leave it in hard lumps, but thoroughly crushes and grates it, 
so that every fruit-cell is broken and a fine pomace produced, lienee 
you get more juice from the same amount of fruit than any other mill. 
THE FARMERS’ FAVORITE mills will grind from 6 to 75 bushels 
per hour—depending upon how hard you crowd. 
These mills work on an entirely new plan, and have greater grinding 
capacity, and are easier running than any other mill on the market. 
We make several sizes of Mills and Presses, separate and combined. 
Write us this day for prices and full information. Our stock is com¬ 
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CUTAWAY HARROW CO.. 839 Main St., lllgganum. Conn. 
Farmers 
ELLIS 
CHAMPION 
THRESHERS 
are equally well suited to threshermen 
and grain growers desirous of doing their 
own work. Herewith is shown Ellis Cham¬ 
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elevator and grain bagger; operated by gasoline, 
steam or tread power. No clogging of straw in these 
threshers. Made in different sizes to meet all needs. 
We also make Tread and Sweep Horse-Power, circular 
and drag saws, ensilage cutters, corn shellers, etc. Send 
for catalog giving full information about these machines. 
ELLIS KEYSTONE AGRICULTURAL WORKS , 
Do Your Own Threshing! 
You can save the cost of a rig 
in a few years besides doing the 
work at the most ^ conveni¬ 
ent time 
