THE RURAL NEW-YOKKEK 
183 
1913. - 
A BACK-TO-THE-LANDER’S diary. 
Part II. 
Jnne 28.—Business seems to be very dull. 
I Lave not been doing much; occasionally 
a Friday night job in a bakery or a Satur¬ 
day night in a barber shop. I have a 
friend over East who needs a harvest 
hand. I wonder how it would seem to 
pitch hay again? Am going to try it. 
August 3.—We finished harvesting to- 
13— wants me to stay until Novem¬ 
ber, but that would keep me from the hop 
fields. 
September 15.—Back in the hop yard 
once more. The smell of the hops, and the 
songs of the girls seem like old times. 
October 3.—On my way from hop-picking 
I stopped off at Howe’s Cave, and went to 
work for a lime and cement company. I 
am feeding the crusher. It is some work 
for two of us to put through 14 yards of 
stone in an hour, but we do it. 
December 22.—Got a letter from H—’s 
bakery to come and go to work at once. 
January 10.—(One year later). Still at 
H.—’s, a whole year at one job, pretty 
good for me. I have been troubled with 
baker’s asthma all Fall and Winter. My 
physician tells me I shall have to give up 
this work. 
July 23.—Quit baking to-day; am all 
in. 
October 23.—I am in the tea and coffee 
business; am picking up quite a trade, but 
if anyone should offer me anything better 
I think I could close out in a very short 
time. 
December 12.—Am working on the Hud¬ 
son cutting ice. This is not such a dis¬ 
agreeable job as I always supposed it to 
be. 
January 2S.—Met a man from Canada 
to-day; he is looking for men to work in 
a sawmill. Am going to start Monday. 
May 19.—I am tending the saw now, was 
“promoted” some time ago. Came near 
losing a hand to-day. 
August 12.—Timber all cut and sawed. 
I am going back home and rest up for hop- 
picking. 
November 9.—Back in the Army again. I 
was sent down here (Ft. Screven, Ga.). 
to take charge of the post bakery. This is 
a very pleasant place, lots of saw palmet¬ 
to trees, oak trees with whiskers, holly, 
sand and soft marsh. 
April 10.—Am down here running around 
in the southern parts of Georgia. Alabama 
and Florida on a 10-day furlough. I saw 
rifles in Florida in which the streets are 
paved with saw palmetto trunks and roots, 
two feet deep. I can’t understand how tho 
agent got fn to put up the names of the 
streets. Down in — i saw buzzards eating 
out of garbage cans and cleaning up the 
street; they are protected by law. If 
they were not I presume some of the streets 
of certain cities would be hardly fit for 
occupation. 
September 29.—I passed tb£ gunner’s ex¬ 
amination trdtU 1 ; maab first-class gunner 
faitT shall draw gunner’s pay, and 
oehg a gunner will not interfere with my 
other duties. 
February 2.—Am up here in the Smoky 
Mountains, hunting, or shall I say hunted? 
The snakes certainly have me on the run. 
I do not like a snake “nohow,” and these 
are mostly poisonous ones, which though 
it may increase my respect, does not in¬ 
crease my affection for them. 
June 10.—Ft. Hunt, Va.; was sent up 
here to take charge of post bakery during 
naval manoeuvers. We are about 12 miles 
from Washington on the Potomac RiVei*. 
From what I see of Virginia it strikes 
me as a pretty good State to live in. I 
almost think I would like to own a nice 
little farm up the Shenandoah Valley. 
November 18.— (Two years later). Back 
in New York town once more. When I 
was discharged at Screven I was all in 
(asthma) ; am feeling better now. 
April 1.—Am selling nursery stock; such 
nice plums and peaches and grapes (in 
my book) ! Certainly no agent in this 
business can complain of small commis¬ 
sions. 
May 1.—Nursery business played out. I 
have purchased a cigar and confectionery 
store. 
July 6.'—T did a rushing business during 
the 4th. Sold fireworks and ice cream. 
October 12.—Sold out at a fairly good 
profit. Am now running a banding ma¬ 
chine in a tablet factory. 
December 30.—Am just recovering from 
measles, had a pretty tough time of it. 
The doctor tells me that if I wish to regain 
my health fully, back to the farm for 
mine, and stay there. 
February 22.—We have purchased the old 
farm; also I am to be married soon. 
April 15.—Well, I am back on the old 
farm, the place where I was born. There 
will be no more roaming. I have seen 
some little bit of life, as she goes, and 
have enjoyed life as much, I think, as the 
average man who has to earn his bread by 
hard labor. But had I stayed on the old 
farm and turned my energies toward im¬ 
proving the farm and making it pay, what 
a lot of time I would have saved, and 
how much better home we would have! 
New York. a. j. h. 
NEW YORK STATE BREEDERS. 
The annual session of the State Breed¬ 
ers’ Association was held .in Utica the lat¬ 
ter part of January. This is an associa¬ 
tion of breeders of horses, cattle, sheep 
and swine. There are State associations 
of the various breeds of cattle, and sheep 
and swine, and these held sessions for short 
periods during the two days’ meeting of the 
association. Especial emphasis was put 
upon the breeding of horses at this meet¬ 
ing, but cattle and sheep were considered 
to quite an extent. There is no doubt 
that horse breeding is to receive much more 
attention in the next few years than it has 
in the past. The price of horses is now so 
high, and the demand for them in tile West 
is so great, that we can no longer depend 
upon the West for our supply at fair 
prices. Besides, an enormous amount of 
money has gone out of the State in past 
years for the purchase of horses. Com- 
miss.oner Huson put the amount at $1(3,- 
000,000 annually. He also called attention 
to the fact that we are dropping behind in 
breeding of most animals, for a few years 
past. Naturally if we are to breed horses, 
as seems likely, we should have a clear 
idea of the sort of horse that is needed. 
Practically all of the speakers advocated 
the heavier or draft breeds. No partic¬ 
ular breed was named as superior, but the 
I’ercheron, Clydesdale and the Belgian were 
among those considered. One speaker from 
Minnesota said that a colt of the right 
stamp can be raised to the age of eight 
years and be made to pay his way by the 
work he does, and then if sold the price 
received is so mucli profit. It was clearly 
brought out that the stallions in use in the 
State are of an inferior order as a rule; 
that it is folly to think of breeding horses 
without getting better sires. Mares too 
come in for some criticism, but the better 
ones may be used if the sire is of the 
right stamp. 
Another topic that received attention was 
that of preparing show animals. Sheep 
and cattle for show were considered by 
two speakers. Both seemed to agree that 
one must have the right ideal of an animal 
for show purposes, if success is to be at¬ 
tained. Then it is necessary to commence 
with the young and develop them according 
to the ideal. They must be kept growing 
and should make an early development. As 
a whole it is hard to see how these speak¬ 
ers differed from the notions of the best 
farmers in bringing their stock to the pink 
of perfection for herd or flock purposes. It 
was stated that perfecting an animal for 
show is not in any way detrimental to the 
practical development for use on the farm. 
Perfecting for the show ring does not neces¬ 
sitate different ideals from the proper de¬ 
velopment for use. Some may differ from 
this statement, but if it can be estab¬ 
lished it will be a good thing. If the ideals 
of stock judges can be made to tally with 
those of practical farmers there will be 
less objection to the show ring. 
The advantages of breeding purebred ani¬ 
mals was one subject discussed, and it 
was shown that in the case of the speaker 
it had been profitable to breed pure. Less 
than a dozen years ago he was keeping 
mixed bloods or those of no particular 
breeding. By changing to pure breeding he 
had increased his receipts per cow some 
sevenfold. He seemed to have been pe¬ 
culiarly fortunate in getting results from 
his cows in the way of milk production, and 
the excellent results of production enabled 
him to get better sales and better prices. 
N. 
BUFFALO MARKETS. 
This is getting to be a critical time oi 
the year for apples, because it will sooi 
be determined whether the supply is to< 
great for the demand. The local quota 
tions are to the retailer, $2.50 for fancj 
green and $3.25 for fancy red, which is 
not much promise of a boom. The mar 
ket is quiet. Someone has made matter; 
about as bad as possible by resortin'? 
lhidd]£ o£ January fully t 
rmllign byof apples in storage ii 
Liieana and Niagara counties, alone, an< 
another report has it that Batavia associ 
ated fruit packers have shipped 40.00( 
barrels this Winter and have nearly hal 
as many on hand. The Winter has beei 
warm, Dut so far as my experience goei 
apples have kept fully as well as they dk 
last Winter, probably on account of tin 
late Fall, which was long and favorabb 
to the ripening of fruit. The far westeri 
apples offered in the Buffalo retail market: 
are not in large quantity. Some verj 
bright-looking western Spitzenburgs sell bi 
the dozen for 20 cents, which is not higi 
for such fruit. One market woman win 
sells them Is also offering Northern Sp' 
for less, but they did not color well las’ 
Fall and will not burnish up much. Sin 
notes it and says that too many wen 
allowed to grow on a tree. However, shi 
declares the Spy to be the best appl. 
grown, spite of western or any other fruit 
This is also the turning point for mos 
northern-grown vegetables. Lettuce nov 
comes from Florida and our own celery i: 
gone. It has sold low, a good bunch o 
two or three plants going for five cents 
Both fruit and vegetables are much mon 
plenty than they usually are in Winter 
It looks as if the scant showing commoi 
in early Spring would not occur this year 
The Winter squash season is also waning 
The quality has not been very good, bu 
at three cents a pound, the present prici 
to consumers, there ought to be good mono’ 
in squashes for the vigilant grower. f 
he is equal to the task of beating out th< 
black bugs he can raise Winter squashe: 
but if his grip is poor at that point hi 
can do nothing with the crop. 
The cabbage supply is as much in exces; 
as ever, so that cattle and fowls aregettim 
about all they want of it. A cabbage hea< 
swinging on a string over the heads o 
the fowls at the late poultry show wa: 
a much more familiar sight than I bavi 
observed it before. Good heads retail a 
three cents yet. The open season bring; 
us water cress, as Winter has not dom 
often before. At five cents a bunch it i; 
cheap to its fanciers, and yet it is a goo< 
profit on the mere labor of gathering it 
The egg market Is of course weak. Price; 
are about as various as they can possibb 
be, so that only the poultry keeper witi 
private customers can command 40 cents i 
dozen. Grocers are offering storage egg; 
as low as 19 cents and warranting thenUal 
good. The market quotation is not abovi 
28 cents for fancy. 
JOHN W. CHAMBERLIN. 
The “Gold-Watch Gao" heralded by you 
on page 34 as “a new one” is not a new 
one at all. About 20 years ago. on West 
2Jd street. New York, I was swindled out 
of $8 on the same story, the details being 
almost identical with those of your corro- 
spondent. Being young and inexperienced 
then, I don’t mind telling it on myself, 
borne time later, on Broadway, a young 
man wanted to sell me a gold chain on 
a similar yarn. 1 suspect that this scheme 
will be found to have as ancient and hon¬ 
orable lineage as the “gold brick” one. Just 
as Mark Twain found that his jumping- 
frog trick had been worked in Athens about 
500 B. C„ so I suspect an account of this 
one will some day be dug up in the ruins 
of Pompeii. gkorge w. colles. 
R. N.-Y.— “There is no new thing under 
tho sun.” 
that you must paint 
your house white if 
you use white lead. 
You can have any 
tint, any shade, and 
it lasts if you use 
Dutch Boy White 
Lead and Dutch Boy 
Linseed Oil. 
Dutch Boy White Lead in steel 
kegs, 12K, 25,50 and 100 lbs. Dutch 
Boy Linseed Oil. 1 and 5 gallon 
sealed cans. Ask your painLdeai^ 
Let u» send you "Pamting Pack- 
44 ,” full ot facts every house own. 
*r know about painting. 
Also Handy Book on Painting Tull 
of information for the man on the 
farm. We will include our catalogue 
of 100 beautiful stencils for walls. 
NATIONAL LEAD 
COMPANY 
New York Boston Buffalo 
Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland 
San Francisco St. Louis 
(John T. Lewis A Bros. Co., Philadelphia) 
(National Lead A Oil Co., Pittsburgh) 
Tie Loi^-Lifc 
* • 
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Stave silos are dipped in pure 
creosote oil preservative, such as 
the government recommends for 
fence posts and timbers. These 
silos will last during your life 
time. There are other superior 
features. Ask for catalogue. 
THE CREAMERY PACKAGE MFG. CO. 
West St., Rutland, Vt. 
3 Minutes Du//Ax 
‘It took just 3 minutes to put very dull ax In 
perfect order”, writes J. A. Sudan, of Newark, 
Del. Thousands more like this. .DIMO- 
GRIT, the new artificial diamond 
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plow points, saws, discs, sickles, en¬ 
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saving of work, time and money. 
LUTHER DIMO-GRIT GRINDER 
has metal frame, enclosed Bhaft drive, 
dust-proof bearings, runs easy as sewing 
machine, 25 times faster than grindstone, 
10 times better than emery, will not draw 
temper. Special attachments, such as 
forge, milk tester, j 1 g saw, rip saw, 
lathe, drill, etc., furnished lr desired) 
fully guaranteed. Write for free book on 
tool grinding and liberal free trial offer. 
LUTHER GRINDER MF6. C0„ *03 Stroll Bldg., Hlwaukea, Wit. 
FREE SAMPLES! See Them! Try Them! 
They Give 
More SAP 
The Air Trap 
does it. 
every day for 
More Days and make 
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other, and there is a i) 
scientific reason for 
explained in our Free^^ 
Catalogue 
drying up pre¬ 
vented ; t r e e con- 
stantflow. No injury 
to trees. 
Samples and 
prloe list for 
asking. 
Writs today 
C. C. STELLB, 75 Fifth Av«.. BROOKLYN, N.lfc 
DOUBLE QUICK 
SeedCornTester 
Makes complete tests In three 
to live days. Adapted to the 
Saturation, the Saw-dust or 
Sand, and the Earth or Soil test. 
Six Sizes: 2 % to 66 bushels. This 
machine is also the 
DOUBLE QUICK - 
Sprouter 
SILO 
ForSproutin goats for laying hen* 
Also Starts GARDEN PLANTS Quickly 
A useful machine forever* farm. Send forfree 
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Run on gasoline, kerosene, distillate, 
any cheap fuel oil. Cost less to run— 
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12 Handy Tools in 1 
Automatic Combination Tool 
lifts or pulls 3 tons, is a wire stretcher and 
splicer, post and stump puller, vise, clamp, 
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Saves cost of eleven tools. 10 days FREE 
trial . State and County Agents Wanted . 
Write today for booklet and exclusive territory. 
Automatic Jack Co„ Box 150 Bloomfield, lad. 
9 CORDS IN IOHOURS 
■96- BBSS EASY f V_ 
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