T12 
May Si, 
THE 
re URAL 
NEW-YORKER 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[ Every Query must he accompanied by the 
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attention. Before asking a question, please see 
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FACTS ABOUT COMMERCIAL CANNING 
Replying to Robert N. Merritt, who 
writes about canning conditions in his 
section—Maryland—and inquires about 
co-operative canning, I wish first to correct 
a statement in a previous article in re¬ 
gard to the profits in canning here in 
the Ozarks. The average profit was stated 
Thrashing Vetch. 
F. M. D., Oasport, N. Y. —We are using 
as a cover crop in our orchards rye and 
LLalry vetch, have also sown a couple of 
acres for seed. Will you tell us how to 
thrash, and get the seed ready for sowing 
again the first of August? 
Ans.—T wo years ago we printed di¬ 
rections from Mr. A. D. Shamel for 
thrashing and separating the seed. These 
are here repeated: 
If only a small crop is grown, and no 
power thrasher is available, the seed cau 
be thrashed out satisfactorily with flails. 
The ordinary grain thrasher can be used 
with a little adjustment of the sieves and 
concaves. In several cases small thrashers 
to be “25 to .30 cents a dozen" (cans). 
The figures were intended to apply to a 
“case," which contains two dozen cans. 
In reading Mr. Merritt’s complaint of the 
unjust methods of the canners, I am un¬ 
able to understand how they can con¬ 
tinue their business. The farmers of 
Maryland, I take it, are as little likely to 
submit to unfair treatment as those of 
Missouri, but here the operators of a 
cannery resorting to the practices men¬ 
tioned would soon find their occupation 
gone. An enterprise of this kind must 
have the good will of its patrons or they 
will not grow the stuff it must have to 
keep it in operation, and from mere policy 
the operator would be likely to deal hon¬ 
estly with them. But why do the growers 
enter into an agreement which is so one¬ 
sided, as he states, that they have no 
redress when unfairly dealt with? I am 
inclined to think, Inasmuch as Mr. Merritt 
in estimating, in a previous communica¬ 
tion, the profit of the cauner, took into 
frame to ft. long 
RYE^eo / or)LLER 
CRANK FOR 
TURN INC CANVAS 
tS£LT TOWARDS 
TOP OF INCLINE 
WETCHBIN. 
JFZW/OE CANVAS ENDLESS BELT 
FRAME - 
SEFAIIATING VETCH. 
run by gasoline engines are used, the 
thrasher being owned cooperatively by a 
neighborhood. Inquiry of implement dealers 
will usually result in the address of manu¬ 
facturers of small thrashers. 
As for separating vetch and rye the meth¬ 
od used by Mr. Brewer and the writer was 
suggested by Prof. W. W. Tracy, of the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. The first 
machine was a homemade affair costing 
practically nothing. Later a power sepa¬ 
rator was devised, costing about $25. The 
rough sketch, see above,Illustrates the prin¬ 
ciple of the separator, which can be modi¬ 
fied to suit individual conditions. 
The mixed seed is thrown on the in¬ 
clined canvas belt at about point A. The 
round vetch seed will roll down the belt and 
fall into the vetch bin, while the rye seeds 
will be caught on the nap of the cloth belt 
and be carried up over the top, falling into 
the rye bin. A hopper can be used for 
holding the mixed seed, and so regulated 
as to let the seed fall on the belt in a 
uniform manner. Power can be utilized for 
running the belt if desired by attaching a 
belt wheel to the upper roller instead oi 
crank. 
A Dugout for Potatoes. 
E. H., Bloomington, Ind .—I am thinking 
of building a dugout for potatoes. I can 
got plenty of limestone for $2 per load, can 
make a good wall one foot thick. What 
shall I cover it with and what size would 
you suggest for 2,000 to 3,000 bushels? 
Ans. —The more important points to 
be considered in potato storage are, first, 
conditions to keep the temperature as 
low as possible without freezing; sec¬ 
ond, to provide good ventilation; third, 
darkness. These conditions are secured 
in several ways to suit the convenience 
of the builder. If the storage is to be 
entirely above ground, double walls will 
be necessary with dead-air space be¬ 
tween. It is assumed, however, from 
the correspondent’s reference to a dug- 
out, that he has a chance to dig into a 
side hill and build partly at least below 
the surface. In this case a most effi¬ 
cient storage may be constructed by ex¬ 
cavating, so that about one-third or one- 
half of room required will be Below 
the surface and the excavated earth 
banked around the concrete walls to the 
roof. The roof must be constructed to 
keep out the frost. This is sometimes 
cheaply accomplished by using strong 
supports and rafters and tacking wire 
netting onto the rafters and covering 
with several inches of straw and earth. 
A splendid permanent roof may be made 
of reinforced concrete and all covered 
with earth and sodded over. In any 
case ventilating shafts must be provided. 
Potatoes may be placed four or five feet 
deep in such a house and it will require 
about 1J4 cubic foot of space for a 
bushel of potatoes. For 3,000 bushels it 
will be best to plan for about 4,000 
feet of actual storage space. This would 
mean a building 25 x 40 feet, with what¬ 
ever additional room one would need 
for sorting and handling. Success in 
such an enterprise depends largely upon 
ability to secure an even temperature. 
This can be accomplished only by a good 
practical system of ventilation and con¬ 
stant care. F. L. allen. 
account only one item in the cost of pro¬ 
duction—the price paid for the tomatoes— 
when, as I have shown him, there are 
a dozen others, that his conclusions con¬ 
cerning other matters connected with the 
business are not based on accurate in¬ 
formation. 
As to the large item of labor expense 
in the cost of canning, stated by the writer, 
lie attributes this to the use of a cheap and 
inadequate plant, requiring a large force 
of hands in proportion to the capacity, 
instead of a more costly one equipped 
with labor-saving machinery. The fact is, 
that while these so-called labor-saving de¬ 
vices are to be found in the medium-sized 
as well as in the larger plants, they are 
not the factor in reducing expenses of 
operation that might be supposed, requir¬ 
ing high-priced labor to operate them, and 
as they are, as a rule, not sold outright, 
hut leased, the royalty paid on them is 
no small item of expense. The principal 
advantage in their use is in securing better 
work than by hand labor, and in reducing 
the number of employes, making strikes 
less likely, one of the chief vexations of 
the business. There is one department of 
labor, however, ,in a tomato factory where 
no mechanical device has come into suc¬ 
cessful use, namely, the work of preparing 
the tomatoes for the processes of packing 
and cooking by removing the skin and 
taking out the cores, which is done with a 
knife in the hand of a person, and three- 
fourths of the necessary help in a tomato 
factory must be “peelers,” as they are 
called. The cost of a canning plant is 
in proportion to its capacity, nnd the 
larger plant mentioned by the Maryland 
grower, working on a crop of 300 acres of 
tomatoes (the smaller plant would be en¬ 
tirely inadequate, with anything like a 
full crop), would require a working force 
of SO to 100 peelers to keep it running 
steadily, and then night work would be 
necessary, when delivery was the heaviest, 
if there is any difference in the expense 
of operation of large and small plants, it is 
in favor of the latter, for the reason that 
they are used in rural communities where 
the price of labor is less than in the 
larger towns. The writer has one of 
these small plants on his farm with which 
is canned, in addition to, a small acreage 
of his own, the crop of several of his 
nearest neighbors. 
Mr. Merritt asks our opinion as to the 
advisability of himself and his neighbors 
forming a stock company and putting up 
a factory to can their own products, thus 
adding the canner's profits to their own. 
This idea of a double profit in the business, 
which is always enthusiastically favored 
by manufacturers of canning plants, took 
such a strong hold on the farmers of this 
si'< tion a few years ago that one or more 
was established in almost every county. 
They were generally unsuccessful, espec¬ 
ially with regard to the larger factories. 
The most common causes of failure, were, 
first, too large an investment in a plant, 
the stockholders making the purchase from 
a smooth-tongued “promoter” and paying 
a double price for it. Then, instead of 
employing an experienced manager to oper¬ 
ate it, considering this an unnecessary ex¬ 
panse, they would appoint some of their 
own number to run it. These several 
bosses would frequently disagree as to 
methods of management, and the em¬ 
ployes, recognizing no head to the business, 
would become inefficient in their work, with 
the result that the quality of the goods 
was such as to fail to satisfy the pur¬ 
chaser ; shipments were rejected with con¬ 
sequent loss and discouragement, and finally 
a permanent closing of the factory, not 
infrequently with the larger part of the 
crop still in the fields. With a reason¬ 
able investment in a plant, based on a 
limited acreage, and efficient management, 
a farmer's cooperative cannery ought to 
prove satisfactory to the promoters, but 
with the many instances of failure of 
which I have personal knowledge I am of 
the opinion that the farmer who confines 
his attention to growing the crop, letting 
others take the risks involved in tile other 
end of the business, will he the best satis¬ 
fied at the close of the senson, especially 
if he can get $11 a ton for his tomatoes, 
which is $2 to $3 more than the top 
price paid by the canneries here. u. w. 
KEEPING APPLES IN PITS. 
Last Fall I made an experiment with 
apples which proved a success, and as I 
have in the past received many helpful 
hints from your paper I think it no more 
than fair that I return the compliment and 
let others profit through me. Last Novem¬ 
ber I made a hole about three feet deep in 
the ground, and put in 23 bushels of apples; 
the apples came up even with the top of the 
ground ; then I put posts across and straw 
on top of the posts, then earth on top of 
the straw. I had a tile on top of the 
mound through the dirt and into the straw. 
Some years ago I pitted some apples just 
that way, and they all rotted, but last Fall, 
after I got all completed 1 pouml into the 
tile two tcaspooufuls of carbon bisulphide 
and then plugged up the tile. I knew in 
an atmosphere of carbon bisulphide no form 
of decay could live, and as it was heavier 
than air and the apples were below the 
level of the ground it would surely fill the 
pit and push the air out. This Spring 
there were over 20 bushels of sound apples 
in the pit. The bad ones were all on top. 
A large part were bad through being 
frosted, a few had started to rot. There 
were two field mice living in the pit, which 
showed that the carbon bisulphide had all 
disappeared. Had I treated the pit again 
along in the Winter I do not think there 
would have been any decayed apples. I 
noticed apples I put in that were bruised 
and had little decayed places on them 
were all sound this Spring; the bad places 
had dried down and did not enlarge. 
Michigan. aiithuk DBHW. 
Protecting Seed Corn. —Is there any re¬ 
pellent I can use in seed corn to keep the 
birds away, that will not interfere with its 
germination, and will let it run freely in 
a grain drill? E. B. V. 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
Exterminating Bindweed.—I would like 
to hear from some one who has been suc¬ 
cessful in exterminating bindweed or wild 
morning glory, as to how they did it. So 
far it is too much for me. h. H. o. 
Pennsylvania. 
“For the Land’s Sake, use Bowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those who till it.”— Adv. 
SEASONABLE 
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COW PEAS SOYBEANS 
The best varieties for hay and silage. 
Millets, Buckwheat, Dwarf Essex 
Rape, etc.—all the best varieties. 
Mangel Wurzels and Sugar Beets for stock 
feeding. 
Write for prices on any Farm Seeds desired, 
also ask for free Alfalfa Leaflet. 
HENRY A. DREER 
714 Chestnut Street, Philo., Pa. 
Look 
for the 
letter s 
CB F R 
stamped in 
the coup. 
lingor each 
rod section 
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A lightning rod docs not take the place of in¬ 
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322 South 7th St., St. Louis, Mo. 
ON SOY BEANS-COW PEAS 
VETCH - CLOVERS - ALFALFA 
FREE BOOK NO. 64 
EARP-TH0MAS FARM0GERM CO., BLOOMFIELD, N. J 
VEGETABLE PLANTS 
Sweet Potato. Tomato, Cabbage, Celery. 
Cauliflower Plants-, leading varieties ; large 
or small lots. Prices low, CATALOG LB 
FREE. Any of the above postpaid, (Me. 
hundred. Pepper and Egg Plants 20c. dozen. 
HARRY L. SQUIRES, - Remuenburg, N. Y. 
Thousands and Thousands 
of Tomato, Cabbage, Celery, Cauliflower and Sweet 
Potato plants for sale now. Sweet Potato, Jersi y 
Yellow. $1.50 per 1000. Big Stem Jersey at S2 porliiOe. 
New Stone tomato plants, $1 per 1000. Special prices 
on large lots. Send for our 1913 catalogue and get 
our prices on all kinds oi plants before you ln;> 
KOMANOE SEKI). PLANT ANI) TRICK 
FARM, Caleb Hoggs & Soil, Cheswold, Del. 
Weedless Alfalfa 
Is what we are trying to furnish our customers 
Free samples will show that wo coirm pretty 
near doing it. All other field seeds. Also F eid 
Peas, Soys, Vetch, Rape, Pasture Mixtures. Reid's 
Yellow Rent Corn, etc O. 31. SCOTT & SON. 
No. (>o Main Street, - Blarysville, Ohio 
env RCflMC-MEDIUM GREEN HIGI 
OW I DCHIIO U. S. Dept. Agriculture bought H 
our stock this season. J. G. ALLEN, R. 0. No. 2, Catlit, 0. 
Soo*oL IB eans 
Yellow Eves and White Medium, free from anthrac- 
nose. Excellent samples. Red Marrows, very good 
lot. $8.60 per bushel, tiU lbs. Samuel Fraser, Geiteseo, N.Y. 
SWEET 
CLOVER 
SEED— Large biennial cultivated variety 
for hay, pasture and fertilizer. Price, 
nnd circular how to grow it, on request. 
E. BARTON, Box 29, Falmouth, Ky. 
Pehkena Bionic Beets, Lettuce, Kohl-rabi, 
rIdlllo $i per 1000. Tomato, Sweet 
Potatoes, $1.50 per 1000. Caulitlower, Peppers, $2 per 
1U0U. Send lor list. J. C. SCHMIDT, Bristol, I*n. 
C„l„- MILLIONS OF SWEET POTATO PLANTS AND 
roroaie VEGETABLE PLANTS. Price list free. 
31ICUAEL N. UOKGO, - Vineland, N. J. 
swtrr potato plants 
red and yellow. 100, postpaid 35c.; 100n, $2. -■ i 
for free list. W. S. FOKD&, SON, Hardy, P 
Northern Grown Soy Beans 
Medium green, - D. H. TOWNSEND, Ladi, N. V 
COR SALE-DANISH PEDIGREED CAULIFLOWER SEED Far 
* liest Snowball, Extra Early Dwarf, Erfurt. 
Danish Giant or Dry Weather. 15 cents pa'-kare; 
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grown. E. L. THOMPSON. 81 Quebec St, Portland, Mairc 
Strawberry Plants}; 
-All leading vai ieii'-y 
Northern grown, iff - 11 
thousand. CATALOGUE 
FREE. Harry L. Squires, Remsenburg, N. Y. 
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Largest producers of asphalt, ami largest 
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