1913. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
©6 
Spring Sown Cover Crops. 
IE. 0. B., Ipswich, Mass .—I have three 
acres of run-out land from which I cut a 
thin crop of Red-top the middle of June. 
I then plowed and sowed to buckwheat, 
using 200 pounds quick fertilizer to the 
acre. Early in the Fall I plowed under 
this buckwheat. It was from two to three 
feet nine inches tall. I then sowed to rye 
and now when the ground is frozen it is 
from two to three inches tall. The pheas¬ 
ants and crows and pigeons scratched up 
a lot of the rye seed, and I have not a 
first-clasp catch. Can I go over this land 
and sow anything early in the Spring on the 
"last snowstorm that will grow up with the 
rye, something that will catch itself and 
not have to be harrowed it? I intend to 
plow under the rye about June for manure. 
Ans. —You cannot hope to get a full 
crop of anything seeded in this way. 
Red or Mammoth clover would make a 
light growth and probably more than 
pay the cost of seed, but you could not 
hope to get much more than a good 
start. Dwarf Essex rape or turnips 
seeded with the clover will help by 
adding to the growth and in a fav¬ 
orable season will give considerable to 
plow under. It will pay to run over the 
field with a light harrow or weedcr after 
sowing the seed. 
berries. The blackberry crop, generally, 
was almost a failure. One veteran ber¬ 
ry grower near here said he got only 
two pickings, the rest dried up on the 
bushes. Some other reports were no 
better. Our berries were cultivated reg¬ 
ularly until the crop was all harvested. 
We picked from July 13 until August 
16, and gathered 71 bushels from one 
acre, which we thought was about half 
what we would have had with plenty of 
rain. About five-sixths of our 1912 
crop was killed by the freeze of June 
12. We picked only 23 bushels. The 
red raspberries suffered less from the 
drought on account of ripening earlier, 
also less from the freeze, for while they 
ripen first, they do not blossom as early 
as the blackberries. We had about half 
a crop in 1912. I cannot give an accu¬ 
rate acreage report of the reds, as we 
did not keep the berries from our young 
and old patches separate. Where con¬ 
ditions have been just right they have 
produced nearly as many bushels per 
acre as the blacks. After all I said 
about drainage I must confess that dur¬ 
ing the last two Winters we have had 
a part of our red raspberries badly 
damaged by water. Our soil is heavy 
clay, with tile drains two rods apart, 
which take the water away quickly in the 
Summer, but we find that after a few 
freezes and thawings the water does 
not get into the ditches readily, but 
will stand at, or near the surface for 
days during a very wet spell in Winter. 
The other berries do not seem to be af¬ 
fected, but the red raspberries cannot 
stand too much water even while in the 
dormant state. 
We thought when our tile drains were 
laid and we could see they were work¬ 
ing properly, that the drainage problem 
was settled, but we had to get our 
thinking cap on again. So last Fall we 
ridged the rows slightly and ran a good 
furrow down each middle for Winter, 
surface drainage. 
We are as enthusiastic as ever about 
this system of tying up the canes. With 
all that we have had to contend with 
our berries have paid us as well as any 
crop we grow. The last two years the 
prices have been higher' on account of 
the scarcity. Our berries were prac¬ 
tically all sold at wholesale. In 1911 
the blackberries were sold at $3.20 per 
bushel and the reds at $4.50 and $4.80. 
In 1912 the blacks were all sold at $4 
and the reds at $4.80. b. v. Egbert. 
Pennsylvania. 
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THE C. 0. JELLIFF MFG. CORP. 
SOUTHPORT, CONNECTICUT 
A Crop of “Perfect Potatoes.” 
There has been considerable interest in 
the account of the Maine potato contest 
mentioned some time ago. We asked Mr. 
Littlefield of Maine—who won the first 
prize—how he would operate if he were 
trying again and whether a crop of extra 
quality, medium sized potatoes will pay 
better than the larger tubers. 
Spreading the seed potatoes on the 
ground in the sun for a week or 10 
days before planting in order to let 
the eyes start, making a strong healthy 
sprout, has a good deal to do with mak¬ 
ing medium size potatoes, as these will 
come quicker and make a better stand. 
Of course you understand that seed 
rotting in the ground, making missing 
hills, is what causes potatoes to grow 
large. One thing that causes the seed 
to rot is putting in too much fertilizer 
at time of planting. The best way in 
my opinion is to put half at the time 
of planting and the remainder just as 
the potatoes are breaking the ground. 
Planting medium size potatoes has some¬ 
thing to do with the size of the pota¬ 
toes. 
If I were going to plant another con¬ 
test acre I would plant and care for 
them the same as I did last year, except 
that I would put them either six or eight 
inches in the hill instead of 10 inches, 
and would plow under a heavy second 
crop of clover to plant on, and not use 
so much fertilizer. I think it pays to 
raise a medium size potato, for the 
buyers as a rule are very particular, 
and will sort out the big ones and will 
not pay more than half price for them. 
The Boston market will take coarser 
potatoes than New York. Sometimes 
the buyers will come here and buy a 
coarse lot of stuff .and send it south 
for seed. You speak as if a man could 
not raise as large a crop of medium 
size potatoes as he could of large ones, 
but in my opinion I think he can. If 
you will notice the scores of the potato 
contest you will see that one man who 
raised 268 bushels scored 35 per cent 
table size, while mine scored 76 per 
cent. You will see that it pays to raise 
medium-sized potatoes and get a big 
yield at the same time, which with good 
seed and proper care can be done. 
L. A. LITTLEFIELD. 
REPORT ON BERRY CROPS. 
J., (No Address ).—In May, 1911, B. V. 
Egbert of Pennsylvania, described his meth¬ 
od of handling blackberries and raspberries. 
The vines were tied up to wires and the 
soil well cultivated. Mr. Egbert also re¬ 
ported on drainage for his heavy soil and 
thought lie had solved the problem. What 
does he say now? 
Ans. —The Summer of 1911 was the 
driest of any in my recollection. Crops 
suffered severely, especially the cane 
) 
Each a Lucky Car 
*By R . E . Olds . Designer 
In every make an occa¬ 
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The man who gets it tells 
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car. 
But every buyer of Reo 
the Fifth gets a lucky car. 
This is how I insure it. 
How I Do It 
A lucky car means simply a car 
built with proper care and caution. 
I have spent 26 years in learning all 
that is necessary. 
I have all of my steel made to 
formula. Then every lot is analyzed 
twice to prove its accord with the 
formula. 
Then the finished parts are tested. 
In every part I require over-capacity, 
not less than 50 per cent. 
The gears are tested in a crushing 
machine, to prove that each tooth 
will stand 75,000 pounds. 
Springs are tested in another 
machine for 100,000 vibrations 
Added Cost 
I use big tires—34x4—to save you 
tire expense and trouble. This year, 
by adding 30 per cent to my tire 
cost, I have added 65 per cent to 
the average tire mileage. 
I use in this car 190 drop forgings, 
to avoid all hidden flaws. Steel 
castings would cost half as much. 
I use 15 roller bearings—11 of them 
Timken, 4 Hyatt High Duty. The 
usual ball bearings cost one-fifth as 
much, but ball bearings often break. 
I use a $75 magneto to save igni¬ 
tion troubles. 
I doubly heat my carburetor — 
with hot air and hot water—to deal 
with low-grade gasoline. 
I use a centrifugal pump, instead 
of a syphon, to insure positive cir¬ 
culation. 
I use 14-inch brake drums for 
safety. Also seven-leaf springs, two 
inches wide. 
1,000 Tests 
The various parts of this car, dur¬ 
ing the making, get a thousand tests 
and inspections. 
Each engine, forinstance, is tested 
48 hours—20 hours on blocks, 28 
hours in the chassis. 
Reo the Fifth, without these pre¬ 
cautions, could be easily built for 
$200 less. For the first few months 
you might not know the difference. 
But in years to come this skimping 
might cost you several times $200. * 
I know this well, for I have built 
cars for26 years — over 60,000 of 
them. I know the cause of troubles. 
I save this $200 per car by building 
only one model, by building all my 
Fitted parts are ground over and 
over, until we get utter exactness. 
Each body is finished with 17 
coats. It is deeply upholstered with 
genuine leather, filled with the best 
curled hair. _ 
The electric dash lights are set flush 
with the dashboard. Thus the car’s 
appearance shows the care we use. 
Center Control 
No other car has such easy control 
as you find in this Reo the Fifth. 
All the gear shifting is done by 
moving a handle only three inches 
in each of four directions. 
Both brakes are operated by foot 
pedals. So the car has no levers, 
either side or center, to clog the 
way in front. 
You get in this car the wanted 
left side drive. The driver sits close 
to the cars he passes. Yet you shift 
the gears with your right hand, just 
as with the old right hand drive. 
own parts, by wonderful factory 
efficiency. And I put that saving 
into these extremes, to save you 
after-cost. 
* If you think that it pays to have 
a car like this, ask us to send you 
the details. 
Our thousand dealers now are 
showing the 1913 model of Reo the 
Fifth. Write for our catalog and we 
will tell you where to see the car. 
Costs Me $200 Per Car 
R.M. OWEN & CO. c a” 1 s .:';‘ REO MOTOR CAR CO., Lansing, Mich. 
Canadian Factory, St. Catharines, OnL 
30-35 
Horsepower 
Wheel Base— 
112 Inches 
Tires— 
34 x 4 Inches 
Center Control 
Roller 
Bearings 
Demountable 
Rims 
Three electric 
lights 
Speed— 
45 Miles per 
Hour 
Made with 
2 and 5 
Passenger 
Bodies 
Reo the Fifth 
The 1913 Series 
$1,095 
Top and windshield not included in price. We equip this car with mohair top, side curtains and slip cover, 
windshield, gas tank for headlights, speedometer, self-starter, extra rim and brackets—all for $100 extra (list price $170). 
