860 
push wet bedding up under the manger in the morn¬ 
ing to fester all day and then serve as bedding at 
night. Horses earn and deserve fresh bedding. Al¬ 
low work horses a daily chance to roll and so 
“scratch their backs.” What a luxury! That is na¬ 
ture’s way for a horse to groom his hack. Give him 
the chance; but do not forget the daily cleansing of 
the skin. Wash soiled parts. This is beneficial in 
hot weather; but remember to dry the parts washed. 
Groom the skin perfectly. Keep the curry comb off 
the legs below the knees and hocks. The curry comb 
should be used mainly to clean the brush; not to 
scratch the skin. Space will not permit us to enter 
into a hundred more details. Those referred to will 
suffice as reminders. Man likes comfort for himself 
and should not neglect it for his horse. 
A. S. ALEXANDER, M. D. C. 
University of Wisconsin. 
WATER—HOW AND WHEN TO USE. 
Probably the driest portion of all the year is with 
us. Everywhere is the crying need of water for 
growing vegetation. In the towns, in the country, 
wherever a plant is watched for the hope of its per¬ 
fect maturity, someone is trying to keep it alive. 
Are you getting the most out of the water rrsed? 
Plants are peculiar things and respond much as 
they are treated. Nine people out of ten who water 
plants do it wrongly and do more harm than good. 
Let us look at the nature of plants, their need of 
moisture. Those with the most water in their parts 
above ground go down the quickest on a hot day. 
Many kinds, he the ground ever so wet, cannot main¬ 
tain an upright position through the hottest part of 
the day for their root systems will not take up the 
moisture as fast as it passes off through the leaves. 
The wiry stems, thin leaves and generally stiff parts 
of many plants are a decided protection and they 
will stand defiantly before the hottest sun in a 
ground that seems like a dust mulch. To tired hu¬ 
mans these plants generally assume the appearance 
of weeds. 
In the field, the garden and the fruit patch, we 
can seldom "apply any moisture other than that 
which comes from the clouds. For that reason we 
must hasten after the copious rain to hold that 
moisture for use till the next downpour. We read 
about the dust mulch. If you doubt its effectiveness, 
try to pour water through it from above. It acts 
the same from the other side and will not let the 
water out. But here is a point we often overlook, 
and that is to get this dust mulch at work right 
after the rain. One hot day will take out almost 
as much rain as will fall in several hours. There¬ 
fore it is necessary to cultivate before the surface 
of the ground has become dry and keep it up till 
the true dust mulch is formed. Wait 24 hours be¬ 
fore you run the cultivator through the garden and 
most of the precious moisture has gone whence it 
came. This can be given very close attention in the 
average small garden and there is no need to lose 
a crop if this point is carefully watched, for a big 
rain can be held for two months if one gets right at 
it after it comes. Have a hand hoe cultivator with 
three or five teeth with which you can get right 
around the bottom of the currants, raspberries, and 
other like fruits, for it is through the hard surface 
generally found for a foot or so around these small 
fruits, that our profits go, causing small fruit that 
is neither tasty nor marketable. 
If you have neglected to save the moisture and 
are going to apply it with a hose, or any other de¬ 
vice, unless you make up your mind to do a thor¬ 
ough job, do not commence. What I mean is that 
unless you can put moisture in plenty where the 
roots are, you only injure the tiling watered. The 
roots of most plant life begin about an inch or so 
below the surface and work down and out, with a 
long tap root to reach far below to a hidden source 
of water, but go over your garden once a day with 
a sprinkling can for a week, making the ground 
look nice and wet, and in a week’s time the roots 
will be out watching for you. Don’t make the loots 
hunt the water, put it where they are, for roots at 
the surface will die the first day you forget to take 
care of them, but down deep where they belong they 
will stand a lot of neglect. Better far to soak but 
one row a day in your garden than to just sprinkle 
the whole tiling every day. After you are through 
watering run your.finger into the soil and if you 
find it wet as far as you can reach, your work is well 
done and if the cultivator is promptly used the next 
day the watering will probably not have to be re- 
jieated. 
The same principles apply to the flower beds, the 
vines by the porch, the pot plants, the seeds in flats 
or cold frame, only the application must vary a lit¬ 
tle in all these cases. If it is a pot plant, water to 
the edge of the pot—assuming that the dirt is at 
THE RURAL* NEW-YORKER 
least one-half inch below the edge of pot—and a 
half hour later with a pointed stick or hairpin 
loosen (cultivate) the dirt in the pot, and the plant 
will hold the moisture much longer and will in addi¬ 
tion have plenty of air. which is perhaps just as 
necessary. When I plant small seeds in cold frames 
or shallow boxes I put them in rows about two 
inches apart, sticking a toothpick or small stick at 
the end of each row so that I can both water and 
cultivate the soil before the seeds appear if they 
happen to be a slow germinating variety. Great 
care must be exercised not to wash out small seeds 
in watering and to avoid this I plant as above and 
use a can with a hole in the bottom for watering. 
This hole is made at one side of the can with a 
ten-penny nail. The can is filled with water, having 
a finger placed over the hole, and brought to the 
box of seeds to be watered. Pass the can. with the 
hole close over the center of the space between the 
rows, very slowly the length of each row and the 
watering will be thoroughly done and the soil not 
washed from the seeds or tiny plants knocked over. 
When a little larger, the plants can be cared for in 
the same way with a long spouted sprinkler with¬ 
out a rose and only a small opening at the end of 
“UNDER THE VILLAGE CHESTNUT TREE.” 
Fig. 307. 
the spout. But always water thoroughly, keep the 
soil stirred on top, and do not water except when 
there is actual need of it. p. l. w. 
Michigan. 
CHICKEN THIEVES AND MANSLAUGHTER. 
Many of our readers have complained bitterly < f 
damage and loss caused by hen thieves. We are 
often asked what can be done when the owner finds 
a gang of thieves at work in his houses. A recent 
case at Bridgewater, Mass., will coiue home to many 
of our people. David D. Farnsworth was convicted 
of manslaughter for shooting a hen thief. The story 
is told by a writer in the Boston Globe: 
The circumstances of this case are so pathetic that 
one cannot fail to be moved by them. The man who did 
the shooting is a cripple and is highly regarded for his 
lovable nature and honored for the brave effort he has 
made, despite his physical handicap, to support him¬ 
self and his wife by raising chickens and eggs. Within 
a week prior to the tragic occurrence his poultry houses 
had been twice raided by thieves, and he had suffered 
heavy losses thereby which he could ill afford from his 
slender resources. On each of these occasions he had 
fired a gun into the air, hoping thus to frighten away 
the thieves, but without success. 
On the fatal night an alarm was sounded by his dog 
and he went forth in the dark on his crutches with a 
lantern and a gun, followed by his wife who had a re¬ 
volver. and by a young woman who was visiting them, 
to face an unknown number of lawbreakers. It was 
a brave little party of defenders—a frail man with but 
one leg, two slender women and a small dog—wonder¬ 
fully courageous but pitifully helpless, against the pos¬ 
sible assault of strong men. 
The gun and revolver were fired as before, and, as 
they went about the place to see what could be discovered, 
they were suddenly confronted by a man, who cried 
out to the wife, who was nearest to him. “Don’t fire, 
lady.” They allowed this man to escape, as thev had 
no means of detaining him. As he disappeared. Farns¬ 
worth, for that is the cripple’s name, sent a shot in the 
direction that the intruder had gone, but, as he testi¬ 
fied, too high to hit him. 
The next day a man, a notorious character, was 
found dead by the roadside a little more than half a 
mile away, and there was a trail of blood leading along 
the road to a point in front of the field iq which the 
shooting had taken place. 
The man who had been seen in the field was later 
identified by Farnsworth as one of the witnesses who 
July 19 , 
appeared on the stand during the trial, thus establish¬ 
ing the fact that the man whom they had encountered 
was not the one who had been killed. 
A charge of manslaughter was brought and indict¬ 
ment followed. This charge does not include any wilful 
attempt or intention to kill. All that had to be shown 
to warrant the jury in bringing in a verdict of “guilty,” 
as it did. was that the death of the deceased was caused 
by the firing of a gun by the defendant and that the 
gun was not fired with due regard for the safety of 
persons who might be concealed by the darkness or 
behind trees or bushes within gunshot. The essence 
of the crime was the failure of Farnsworth to be suffi¬ 
ciently careful of the safety of the thieves who came 
upon his premises to steal his property. The situation, 
in its practical phase, is that the law provides no ade¬ 
quate means to protect the property of a person en¬ 
gaged in the eminently peaceful and lawful business of 
raising poultry on a farm remote from village or town, 
but it does give complete protection to the personal 
safety of a thief, outside of a dwelling, in the unlawful 
business of stealing chickens, live stock and other prop¬ 
erty that cannot be taken into a dwelling. 
Mr. Farnsworth was found guilty and sentenced 
by the court. There is now under the Massachusetts 
law nothing to do but petition Governor Foss to 
pardon the prisoner. This is being done and we 
hope the Governor will act. 
‘•THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS.” 
In the Hope Farm notes, page 736, you write: 
“These men feel so sure of themselves through long 
practice that they forget all about the ‘law of dimin¬ 
ishing returns.’ Each man has his limit of profitable 
production.” Can you give me an outline, or a refer¬ 
ence to the “law of diminishing returns?” Does it 
refer to the man or his plant? What is the “law?” 
Bristol, Conn. F. s. w. 
The following extract from “Principles of Rural 
Economy,” by Carver, gives an outline of this law: 
Even assuming it to be possible to make one acre 
produce a hundred bushels of wheat, it by no means 
follows that it would be economical to try to do so. 
In fact, it most certainly would not be economical, for 
the reason that it would require such a quantity of 
labor and care in the preparation of the soil, in the 
selection of the seed, and in the nurture of the plants, 
as to amount to a great waste of time and energy—a 
waste so great as to overbalance the economy of land. 
It would require much less labor to produce a hundred 
bushels on two acres than on one, probably less on 
three acres than on one, and quite possibly less on four 
than on one. This being the case, each farmer will find 
it to his advantage to spread his cultivation over more 
acres rather than to try to make each acre produce all 
that is physically possible. Where each and every 
farmer finds it to his advantage to spread out in this 
way, it follows that the agricultural nation as a whole 
spreads out over a wider and wider area as it increases 
in population, so long as there is more land to be had. 
It is only under stress of necessity, of sheer scarcity of 
land, that it begins to economize land by more intensive 
cultivation—that is, but putting more labor on each 
acre in the attempt to make it produce a larger crop. 
When this necessity arises it will be very difficult for 
any nation to prevent its growing population from 
migrating to other countries, provided there are other 
countries where land is still aboundant. 
In China, where labor is very cheap, it will pay 
a man to work an acre or less entirely with a hoe 
or spade. He thus obtains a very large yield of 
grain or of vegetables per acre or rod, and he can 
afford to do it, because men work for a few cents 
per day. When men command $1.50 or more per 
day this sort of work would not pay and in order 
to make such labor profitable horse tools and more 
laud may be used. A man may be able to produce 
a certain crop through his own labor on a small 
place. He hires a man and pays him cash, which 
must be obtained from the product of this hired 
man’s labor. Suppose he keeps on hiring man after 
man in this way. There will come a time when 
the new man will not produce enough extra to pay 
his wages and board, and if the owner kept on hir¬ 
ing laborers on this basis he would come to a point 
where there was loss instead of profit. 
Or suppose a man is keeping 10 cows or 200 hens. 
A herd or flock of this size pays a fair profit, but 
he keeps on adding cows or hens until he must 
hire a man to help him. There are natural man¬ 
agers who could go on and enlarge operations and 
still pay a profit, but most men would soon reach a 
point when the extra hired man or the extra ani¬ 
mals will not pay. Then they strike this “law of 
diminishing returns.” The point is that there is a 
limit to the profit in one man’s labor, or to bis 
power to direct the labor of man or beast. Usually 
men fail to run a farm at a profit because they do 
not use their own labor to best advantage, or be¬ 
cause they get beyond the point where one man’s 
labor pays. 
Poison ivy cures continue to come to us, one of the 
latest suggested being wood ashes rubbed on with 
dampened hand until the skin smarts, or fine salt and 
baking powder, equal parts, put on in the same way. 
A Pennsylvania man writes that his father and 
grandfather kept as many as 000 sheep % his district 
being especially favorable to sheep. W hy does he 
change from sheep to cows? The usual answer too 
many worthless and destructive dogs. 
The recent disastrous explosion at Buffalo that 
wrecked a big mill and caused heavy loss of life, brings 
out the danger from grain dust. The Director of the 
U. S. Bureau of Mines says that starch and flour dust 
is nearly as dangerous as dynamite; that no open -inline 
light should ever be carried into a mill or elevator that 
no smoking should be allowed, nor even the carrying o 
matches. 
