s>7e 
THE RUKA L, NEW-YORKER 
August 3. 
AUTOMOBILE FOR FARM POWER. 
Will you give information regarding 
the use of an automobile for farm power. 
Can the power be taken from one of 
the rear wheels after they have been 
jacked up without in some way locking 
one side of the differential? 1 want to 
use a car for cutting silage this Fall, 
and would like to know if I can get 
my power from one rear wheel, without 
affecting the other. H. G. 
Winsted, Conn. 
During the past few years we have 
several times called for facts about this 
matter, and have obtained information 
from both manufacturers and owners 
of cars. The great majority say that it 
is a mistake to use the car for this pur¬ 
pose. It is not usually constructed for 
turning machinery, and the car is usually 
injured more or less by using it for 
that purpose. It is cheaper to buy a 
small power engine for farm work than 
to use the expensive auto for work which 
it was not designed for. A few farmers 
report the successful use of their cars in 
this way, but the great majority oppose 
it. 
Clearing Swamp. 
I have a piece of swamp land that I 
am clearing up, which at one time gave 
large crops of Timothy and Red-top, 
but nothing but wild grass has grown 
on it for the past 25 years. Tins land 
can be all plowed and at present I have 
corn and garden truck on what has been 
plowed. I have tested it with litmus 
paper and it does not show it to be 
sour. This land is overflowed in the 
early Spring by high water. There is 
a dike and a water gate to keep the 
tide from overflowing it. I have open 
ditches around and across it, so that 
the water level is about two to 2% feet 
below the surface. There is plenty of 
moisture even at this time. Alter being 
plowed and the wild sods are taken off 
the ground works up very nicely. Do I 
need to put anything on this land, such 
as potash, etc.? F, N. 
Catskill, N. Y. 
In spite of your test with the litmus 
paper we think this soil will respond 
to a good coat of lime. It is rare to 
find soil of this sort which does not 
need liming. At any rate the lime will 
break it up and make some of the nitro¬ 
gen available. Such soils usually are 
rich in nitrogen, but it is often in such 
form that crops cannot use it. Those 
soils are low in phosphoric acid and 
have very little potash. In most, eases 
lime will make the nitrogen available and 
with potash provides plant food for 
grass or corn. Thus a good quality of 
wood ashes will give great results on 
such swamp lands, for both the lime and 
potash which they contain are in the 
best forms for action. We should lime 
that soil and use a mixture of three part? 
fine bone and one part nitrate of potash 
An Alfalfa Experiment. 
The College of Agriculture of Ohi< 
gives this bit of news: 
“Having purchased land worth $500‘ 
an acre, Dr. A. F. Emmiuger, of Frank¬ 
lin County, encountered the problem of 
choosing a crop that would pay the in¬ 
terest on the investment while he was 
holding the land for manufacturing sites. 
He selected Alfalfa, believing that this 
crop would give the best I'eturn on such 
high-priced land. The plan to be fol¬ 
lowed is to seed three or four acres this 
Fall and gradually work the farm over 
into Alfalfa. The land lies a mile and 
a half east of Columbus.” 
This experiment is a good one. If 
Alfalfa can be made to pay a good in¬ 
terest on $500 land it ought to beat a 
gold mine on $75 land. 
Testing Concrete Sand. —The Con¬ 
crete Age gives two tests for determining 
the value of concrete sand and cement: 
“Take by measure about one quart of 
Portland cement, well shaken down, and 
three quarts of sand, of the variety under 
consideration, and mix the sand and ce¬ 
ment thoroughly dry, and then temper 
with clean water to about the consist¬ 
ency commonly used in the work. Put 
this wet mixture in a form—if of wood, 
have some previously wet; if of metal, 
this, of course, is not necessary; tamp 
or shake down, and allow to stand in a 
protected place without being disturbed, 
and examine at the end of one day, two 
days, or three days. If the sand is of 
good quality, the mortar should be hard, 
and possessed of considerable strength at 
the end of forty-eight hours. It should 
be fairly hard at the end of one day; 
at the end of forty-eight hours remove 
from the form, and test by striking with 
a hammer for sti’ength and hardness. If 
several sands are under consideration and 
tested in the same manner, it will be 
easy to to distinguish between the best 
and the inferior sands. Another test of 
sand that is perhaps more suggestive 
than conclusive is to fill a pint bottle 
about half full of sand, then entirely full 
of water, shako thoroughly, and then al¬ 
low to settle. If much discoloration re¬ 
sults, it is certainly an indication of dirt 
or loam, and this should always be 
avoided. After settling, the fine loam or 
non-siliceous material will be found on 
the top of the sand, and if in any quan¬ 
tity, this would suggest the need of 
further tests by combining with cement, 
as above described, before use.” 
The week ending August 17 was ex¬ 
cessively hot and generally dry, but the 
heavy rains on the night of the 10th, and 
the local showers that occurred on sev¬ 
eral other days gave sufficient moisture 
for present needs. Damage was done by 
the wind in various sections, but the in¬ 
jury to the crop as a whole will be light 
in comparison to the vast amount of bene¬ 
fit resulting from the aboundant mois¬ 
ture. The corn crop as a whole was 
greatly benefited, but the rain came too 
late to improve the early corn in the 
southern counties where the drought has 
been severe and of long duration. Late 
potatoes, garden truck, pastures, mea¬ 
dows, and fruits were also greatly bene¬ 
fited by the rains. Fall plowing has 
begun. GEO. M. CIIAPl’EL. 
Iowa. 
The following are the prices obtainable 
August 16: Butter, 20 to 25; eggs, 14 
to 15; apples, 40 to 50; fancy apples, 
75. Potatoes are scarce and sell for $1 
to $1.40; cream. 24. Hogs are in de¬ 
mand at $7 to $S.25; steers. 7% to 8% ; 
heifers 5% to 6% ; cows, 4 jA to 6% : 
veals, seven to 10. Good milch cows, $75 
to $100. Hay, $7 to $.8; corn, shelled, 
65: wheat. 75: oats, 35%. Not irfucli 
gardening at this place. A heavy wind¬ 
storm August 10 blew corn down, dam¬ 
aging it badly. Condition of corn crop 
not to exceed 60 per cent. ii. G. s. 
Dallas Co., Iowa. 
Fat cattle from five to six cents; milch 
cows, $25 to $75; calves, three and four 
months old, $10 to $15; stock cattle, four 
cents. Butter, 25; butter fat shipped 
out, 27. Milk, 20 cents per gallon. Po¬ 
tatoes, $1.; tomatoes. $1; cabbage, three 
cents per pound. Good horses, $125; 
plug horses. $25 to $50; mules, good, 
$125 to $150; fat hogs, $7.75; stock 
hogs, $7. Wheat, 84; corn, 80; rye, 80; 
oats, 55; hay, $14; straw, $6. Sheep, 
from $2.50 to $?> per head. Mill feed, 
bran, $1.25; ship feed, $1.40; chop, $1.60. 
Peaches, 75; apples, 50. a. u. 
Dixon, Mo. 
England and Europe are developing a 
large demand for Alfalfa hay. While 
Great Britain is a good grass country, 
there were imported last year over 70,000 
tons, with 20,000 the year before. Much 
of this is Canadian hay, or prairie grass, 
but there is a great and growing demand 
for Alfalfa. Some years ago imports of 
Alfalfa from Chile began, but an embargo 
was placed on this to keep out insects 
and disease. Alfalfa has been brought 
from Texas, but the freight was too high 
to make it profitable. It is believed on 
the other side that when the Panama 
Canal is opened, Alfalfa from California 
and Oregon can be shipped to Europe at 
a good profit. Belgium, too, being large¬ 
ly a market garden or truck country, de¬ 
mands large quantities of hay, and here 
again Alfalfa if of good quality will bring 
good prices. In the Eastern part of this 
^country Alfalfa is too valuable to ship 
'abroad. Every pound of it should be 
kept here, and 10 times as much as is 
now produced should be grown. 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
FAIRBANKS “BULL DOG” ENGINES 
Write for Prices and Terms 
“Bull Dog” Engines U* to 16 H. P. 
Vertical Engines 8 to 60 H. P. 
GAS, GASOLENE, or KEROSENE 
Equiped with Batteries or Magneto 
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Concrete Mixers, Stone Crushers, Electric 
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Portable, Semi-Portable, and Stationary Types 
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Bulletin No. 28 describes them. Copy upon 
request. 
THE FAIRBANKS COMPANY 
Albany, N. Y. 
Balt imorc, Md. 
Boston, Mass. 
Buffalo. N. Y. 
Hartford, Conn. 
New Orleans. La. 
Paterson, N. j, 
Philadelphia, Pa, 
NEW YORK 
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London, Enland 
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Hamburg Germany 
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BOOKS WORTH BUYING: 
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Lawn Making, Barron. 1.10 
Agriculture and Chemistry, Storer. 5.00 
Fertilizers and Crops, Van Slyke.... 2.50 
Weeds of Farm and Garden, Pammel 1.50 
Book of Wheat. DondUnger. 2.00 
Successful Fruit Culture, Maynard.. 1.00 
Irrigation and Drainage, King- 1.50 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
33 $ WEST 30tli ST., NEW YORK. 
We now make a full line of both Steel-Wheel 
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On account of the ease with which work can 
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HAVANA HKTAL WHKBLCO., Box 17, HAVANA, ILL. 
DEY0-MACEY 
ENGINE CO., 
22 Washinoton Street, 
Biiioltainton, N. Y 
Kictiurdfon Mfg. Co., Worcester, Mass, 
^curtail & Whitney, Portland, Muiuo 
Write Today for Free 
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You discover a 
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THE “DEYO” ENGINE 
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We’ll Be Glad To See You—We Want To Show You The Greatest Engine Ever Made For The Farm 
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AVOID WINTER KILLING 
Plant less seed, but plant it right. Use Van Brunt. 
With the Van Brunt disc, seed falls into the furrow 
when it is wide open. Every seed is well covered and 
every plant protected from frost. This is important. 
The “Van Brunt” secures a good stand with the least 
amount of seed. The saving in seed and increase in 
crop make the price of the drill seem small. 
These Features Made Van Brunt Famous 
-Wheels always stand true 
“Hopper trussed—don’t sag 
-Adjustable gate force feed 
5° 
% 
-Bearings extend under frame 
djustable spring pressure 
Every seed at bottom of furrow 
Van Brunt 
Drills 
Even Seeding .. The Van Brunt ad¬ 
justable gate feed guarantees an even 
flow of any kind of seed without bunch¬ 
ing or damaging a single kernel. 
Correct Planting .. Disc openers 
will not choke or dog in any ground 
that can be seeded. Seed falls into the 
furrow when it is wide open; it beats 
the dirt. 
Light Draft .. These drills are light 
weight, but strong. Trussed hoppers, 
full length axles and wheel bearings ex¬ 
tending under frame, make the light- 
draft drill. 
Durability ...Disc bearings are guar¬ 
anteed for the life of the drill. Any 
that wear out are replaced free. All 
parts of Van Brunt Drills show the re¬ 
sult of fifty years experience in drill 
making. 
Our new free drill book tells the com¬ 
plete story of Van Brunt superiority. 
Write and ask for book, VB Mo. ;;;) 
John Deere Plow Co. 
Moline, Illinois 
II 
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