1210 
wise with your weeder, not weighted, and knock 
down the hills. Now the chief part of your cul¬ 
tivating is done, and your potatoes are scarcely in 
sight. When they get up six inches or so cultivate 
with the spring-tooth sulky cultivator; if the tops are 
not large enough for final hilling leave it again. 
When they are, cultivate and hoe. There may be 
some particularly tough spot that will show grass; if 
there is we will tend to that next year.” 
“Won’t there be any grass come between the rows?” 
“Well, you have a one-horse cultivator, haven’t 
you? Put on a whiffletree 12 inches long and work 
over the field, hanging onto the handles. The rows 
are far enough apart so you can work it as needed all 
Summer; better use the wings on your cultivator.” 
“I understand that the witch grass is all done 
now ?” 
“I rather you wouldn’t be quite so bold about that 
statement. There isn’t any between the rows, is there? 
The digger will disturb what there is in the rows at 
digging time, yet if you were to seed this piece when 
the potatoes came off or were to plow and sow to 
grain and grass the next Spring you probably would 
have lots of it, but let the land lie as the digger leaves 
it this Fall. Plow deep in the Spring, harrow and 
cross-harrow two or three times, and there never will* 
be a spear of grass. That grass is done. This time 
you can plant your rows 30 inches apart and raise 
potatoes on plain sailing.” 
“What do you mean by raising potatoes on plain 
sailing?” 
“That is another story.” 
“THE MILLER AS A MIDDLEMAN.” 
On page 1130 there appears an article, “The Miller 
as Middleman.” A Pennsylvania farmer takes $33 
worth of wheat to mill, which he exchanges for va¬ 
rious mill products. The miller according to figures 
given apparently makes a profit of $33.34. The editor 
invites any miller among his readers to set the figures 
right if they are wrong. In working out this particu¬ 
lar transaction referred to it is necessary to figure 
without complete data. 1 feel, however, that I am 
competent to make a few explanatory remarks that 
will give the many readers of The R. N.-Y. an idea 
of the relations and business methods as they exist 
and are commonly practiced between the farmer and 
miller in the rural districts of New York and Penn¬ 
sylvania. 
Thirty years ago the farmer took the grist of wheat 
to mill, the miller ground it with a set of burr stones, 
made the separations of flour, bran and middlings by 
means of a single bolting reel, took the customary 
amount of toll of about one-tenth, and the farmer 
went home with the product of his own wheat. Be¬ 
tween 1880 and 1885 the methods of flour milling were 
completely revolutionized by the advent of the roller 
system. In the roller system with its many machines 
for breaking the wheat, purifying, grading, granulat¬ 
ing, grinding and bolting the separated parts of the 
wheat berry a large amount of stock would be con¬ 
tinually thrashing about among the many machines, 
making it impossible to tell when one grist was finished 
and the proper moment to begin on the next. It was 
necessary to devise some other means or method of 
doing business with the farmer. The flour and wheat 
exchange was then adopted; 36 pounds of flour, 10 
pounds of bran and four pounds of middlings was 
given for one bushel of wheat, or 40 pounds of flour 
with no bran and middlings. 
This exchange worked beautifully until the people 
of the East, the farmer included, began to realize that 
flour made from hard Spring wheat grown in the 
great Northwest, and manufactured by the specially 
constructed Spring wheat mills of the West, would* 
make better bread than the soft Winter wheat grown 
in New York and Pennsylvania. The millers of the 
East soon learned that they could not buy this West¬ 
ern Spring wheat, ship it East, manufacture it in their 
specially constructed Winter wheat mills and com¬ 
pete either in price or quality. Then the Eastern 
millers bought the finished product in the shape of 
the best Spring patent flour, and mixed or blended it 
with their Winter flour, in the hopes of retaining the 
trade with the Eastern farmer who was fast acquiring 
the taste for good bread. This method worked in¬ 
differently well for a while, but at the present time it 
is a fact that the farmers of New York and Pennsyl¬ 
vania do not and will not use flour for bread made 
from their own wheat, but demand and will have the 
best Spring wheat patent that can be produced. The 
flour made from Winter wheat is used for pastry. 
Most of the product in what used to be the famous 
wheat belt of the Genesee of western New York is 
shipped to New England markets, and is used for 
crackers and other food stuffs other than bread. 
THE RURAIi NEW-YORKER 
Many of the farmers of New York and Pennsyl¬ 
vania sell their wheat to the local buyer and buy their 
Spring flour from the grocer; others exchange their 
Winter wheat with the local miller for Spring wheat 
flour that he has bought and keeps for that purpose. 
The exchange is made conditional on a basis of the 
cost of the Spring wheat flour to him and the market 
price of Winter wheat. The old order of things has 
so completely passed away that any other trade or 
deal between the miller and the farmer other than 
what I have described is the exception and not the 
rule. 
In the month of August of this year, 1911, when the 
country was expecting a reciprocity treaty with Can¬ 
ada, the market price of Winter wheat was 80 cents 
per bushel. Our mill was buying it for that, and sell¬ 
ing the flour in New England on a very close margin. 
Our mill was at that time paying $5.30 for the best 
Spring wheat flour. One dollar per bushel of 48 
pounds of barley; 45 cents for one bushel, 32 pounds 
of oats; 72 cents for one bushel, 56 pounds of corn; a 
mixture of feed consisting of equal parts of corn, 
oats and barley, allowing seven cents per 100 pounds 
for grinding, would have cost $1.65 per 100 pounds. 
If H. C. M., of Versailles, Pa., had come to our mill 
in Genesee Co., N. Y., in August, 1911, with 41 bushels 
and 15 pounds of wheat he would have received 80 
cents a bushel, $33. He would have received three 
barrels best Spring flour, actual cost $5.30 per barrel, 
$15.90; 900 pounds corn, oats and barley, actual cost 
$1.65; $14.85; 100 pounds middlings, $1.50; actual cost 
cost of what he got, $32.25; actual profit of miller, 75 
cents. The farmer brought 41 bushels and 15 pounds 
of wheat to mill worth $33. He did not bring flour 
worth so much per barrel or baking powder biscuits 
worth so much per dozen. The miller got what the 
farmer brought him, no more, no less, namely, wheat 
MISSISSIPPI PROD U CTS-PEC A X S AND RADIES. 
worth $33. At present our mill is paying 97 cents for 
Winter wheat, 82 cents for old corn, 53 cents for oats. I 
do not know the price of barley, but believe it to be $1 
or more. Our mill makes one barrel of Winter flour 
from 4bushels of wheat, cost of wheat per barrel 
$4.36. We got for flour in New England this week 
$4.50 per barrel delivered; cost of barrel, 38 cents; 
freight, 24 cents; received for flour net $3.88; get 70 
pounds of bran and middlings per barrel, sell it for 
$30 per ton, $1.05; apparent profit, 57 cents per barrel. 
The mill makes about 400 barrels of flour per week 
when we are not shut down, but as about $100 per 
week is paid for wages besides some other little 
items of expense, like cost of power, lights, oil, capital 
invested, etc., have to come out of the apparent profit 
of 57 cents per barrel, it can easily be construed that 
the milling business is not all a golden dream. 
_ w. w. COLE. 
' A CEMENT GRANARY FLOOR, 
On page 1133 is an inquiry concerning cement 
floors for a granary. The advice given is sound, but 
the cost of placing a cement floor 14 inches above 
the ground would entail an expense that results would 
hardly justify unless the cost of lumber is extremely 
high. Such a plan would necessitate putting in a 
floor of rough planks as a foundation for the cement 
floor. To sustain the weight of both the cement floor 
and the grain it would be necessary to use heavy 
material at a cost to exceed that of a good board 
floor. If one wants a floor that is vermin-proof gal¬ 
vanized sheeting will answer the purpose at less total 
expense. I know of a granary completely lined with 
the material referred to, and so far as I know is very 
satisfactory. 
By no means place a cement granary floor directly 
upon the ground. Seven years ago a neighbor put in 
a cement floor with the result that he lost some grain 
from its musting. The next year this same man ad¬ 
vised me against a cement floor for a granary, but, 
like many others, I had an idea that under my con¬ 
ditions it would be all right, so I went ahead and put 
December 20, 
in the cement floor. The result was about three inches 
of moldy oats in the bottom of the bin. As inti¬ 
mated, when I heard of some one’s failure along a 
certain line, I am apt to ignore the fact, thinking 
that had he done the job just a little differently 
everything would have been all right. So in my case, 
I reasoned that as the barn stood upon a cement wall 
placed a couple of feet in the ground, there was little 
chance for moisture to get in. There was put in about 
four inches of the best of cement work, and to say 
that I was highly pleased with the new granary floor 
is putting it mildly. But the moisture came right up 
throught that cement floor in spite of my pride, with 
the results stated. If placed above the ground as ad¬ 
vised in the reply, by all means trowel the surface as 
smooth as possible, as it is very unpleasant to sweep 
a rough cement floor. 
At the time the floor was put in it was suggested 
that we lay down a layer of three-inch tile and put 
the cement over these, but it was thought to be a 
useless expense under the circumstances. I am now 
convinced that putting in the tiles would have been 
money well spent, as we found it necessary to lay a 
board floor over the cement. Two-inch strips were 
laid down and the flooring nailed to this. This makes 
a nice, though expensive floor, which is vermin as 
well as damp proof. If anyone has ever tried put¬ 
ting in a cement floor over a layer of tiles I should 
like to know with what success so far as solving the 
moisture problem. j. d. prickett. 
Ohio. 
PEACHES FOR CENTRAL NEW YORK. 
On page 1114 appears a communication from Mr. 
T. H. King regarding peaches for central New York. 
Our orchards are less than a mile from Mr. King’s, 
and we are growing some varieties which he does not 
mention and which are doing exceedingly well. I 
agree with Mr. King as to the merits of the Carman 
and Champion. We have a block of Champions too 
young yet for bearing. Our first picking of Carman 
this year occurred August 10. Right on the heels of 
the Carman and sometimes overlapping it we have 
Yellow St. John, which is a very satisfactory early 
peach, both commercially and for home use. The 
joke of it is that this block of trees was bought and 
planted for Chair’s Choice. The outcome in this case, 
however, is more profitable than is usual under sim¬ 
ilar circumstances. Mr. King himself had a block 
which he planted for Chair’s Choice, but the result 
was vacant Chairs and the only choice left for him 
was to pull them out. 
Then as the white sister of the Elberta, both gen¬ 
erally maturing together, we have the Belle of Geor¬ 
gia, one of our best money makers. It is a signifi¬ 
cant fact that among our employees who have the 
whole list to choose from the favorites for eating 
out of hand, table use and canning, are Yellow St. 
John and Belle of Georgia. Following these are 
Crosby and Kalamazoo, yellow, and Stevens Rare¬ 
ripe, white. These require thorough cultivation and 
fertilization to produce the finest fruit. The Crosby 
and Kalamazoo should be thinned so severely that 
it takes nerve to do it properly. The small pit and 
firm flesh of the Kalamazoo render it excellent for 
canning. 
Then comes Smock (get the right strain) and Fox 
Seedling, a very popular white peach. We prefer the 
latter to Iron Mountain for looks and flavor, but it 
demands prompt handling, unless the weather is cool. 
Last of all, but not the least, is the Salway, which 
colors nicely with us. From the foregoing one can 
see that the planting list of peaches for this locality 
can be lengthened considerably. I append a table 
showing our experience for the last three seasons as 
to first and last pickings of the varieties named. The 
influence of meteorological conditions, warm, cold, 
wet and dry spells of weather, etc., can be readily 
seen in the data given. 
—Pate First Picking-. —Pate Last Picking-- 
Variety- 1909 1910 1911 1909 1910 isill 
Carman. Auk. 23 Auk. 17 Auk. 10 Sept.10 Aug.25 Auk. 17 
Ycllow St. John.. Sept. 7 Auk. 20 Auk. 20 Scpt.lG Sept. 0 Sept. 4 
Belle of Georgia.. Sept. 14 Sept. 0 Auk. 28 Get. 1 Sept.16 Sept. 7 
Elberta.Sept. 0 Aug. 31 Auk. 31 Sept.27 Sept.20 Sept.10 
Stevens Rareripe. Sept.25 Sept.10 Sept. 0 Oct. 12 Oct. 1 Sept.15 
Kalamazoo.Sept.10 Sept. 5 Sept. 7 Sept.27 Sept.22 Sept.18 
Crosby.Sept. 9 Sept.12 Sept.13 Sept.28 Sept 20 Sept.24 
Smock.Oct. 3 Sept.25 Sept.19 Oct. 33 Oct. 4 Oct. 3 
Fox Seedling.Sept.30 Sept.27 Sept.20 Oct. 9 Oct. 6 Sept.29 
Salway.Oct. 10 Sept.28 Oct. 2 Oct. 18 Oct. 16 Oct. 11 
Seneca Co., N. Y. n. h. avers. 
The Scandinavians seem to be getting the plant food 
question down to a homemade basis. By means of then 
cheap water power they can extract nitrogen from the 
air at a reasonable cost. I’otash is obtained, with iodine 
by burning seaweed, while phosphate rock provides phos¬ 
phoric acid. 
A plot containing 1,154 square feet of land at the corner 
of Broadway and 34th St.. New York, sold recently for 
SI,000.000, being at the rate of $866.55 a square foot. 
This boats all previous records in New York real estate. 
A single foot on Broadway might buy an abandoned farm. 
A small farm bought for $800 lias been known to support 
a family, which one foot of city land would hardly do. 
