2-0 
THE FtI_TR.-A.lv NEW-YORKER 
January 8. 
PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES OF THE 
HILLY DISTRICTS OF OHIO. 
Part I. 
Our State University and Experiment 
Station (Ohio) recently ran a special dairy, 
fruit and poultry train over the O. It. & 
W. It. It., a narrow-gauge line zigzagging 
its wav among the hills of eastern Ohio 
from Zanesville to Bellaire, a distance of 
about 100 miles by the tortuous route. J his 
is an extremely hilly section of Ohio—not 
low swells that are sometimes called hills 
in the more level sections by those who 
advise cultivation for all characters and 
conditions of land—but great, rugged, steep- 
sloped hills, hundreds of square miles of 
which are piled in confusion throughout 
the eastern and southern parts of the State. 
These hills were formed by erosion—by the 
washing or cutting out of great depressions 
or ravines by the hundreds of tributaries 
of the Ohio River. The ravines, through 
many ages of this washing-out process, have 
become so deep and wide and variously dis¬ 
posed that only great, pointed lulls and 
sharp-crested ridges are left to separate 
them. Erosion was only checked by later 
developing forest growths which eventually 
covered the slopes. The annual growth, fall 
and decay of vegetation throughout still 
other ages following, gradually tilled the 
slopes of the hills with humus and ren¬ 
dered it richer and richer in organic and 
inorganic elements of plant food. The in¬ 
troduction of the white man interrupted 
i his effort of nature to repair the ravages 
of erosion. The hills were denuded of the 
timber growth and cropped year after year. 
Erosion was again resumed at a tenfold 
more rapid rate than before, as the plow 
and cultivator were added to the forces of 
frost, heat, water and gravitation which 
v/ore rapidly breaking down the again ex¬ 
posed soil ‘of the steep slopes by heavy 
rainfall and transported to other regions 
by the great river system. The producing 
power of the hill slopes gradually but surely 
declined. The areas cultivated became 
smaller and smaller, and were more and 
more restricted to favored spots along the 
bases of the hills and bordering the small 
streams. An ever-increasing proportion of 
the hill land became unproductive under the 
wasteful plan of cropping and was per¬ 
mitted to drift back to the slow, recupera¬ 
tive forces of nature. Tens of thousands of 
acres of this hill land are lying idle, grow¬ 
ing up to weeds, brambles, yellow locust, 
and various native trees and shrubs. These 
conditions present one of the tremendous 
problems in agriculture of to-day. Wmrt 
will become of this great area of waste land 
in eastern and southern Ohio? \Miat is 
it good for? , 
The fact that a part of this country is 
in the petroleum producing regions really 
adds to the seriousness of this agricultural 
problem. The majority of the population of 
the section think and talk of little but oil. 
They no longer give thought to the external 
possibilities of their land, but arc intent 
upon drilling the earth crust full of holes 
and rendering nauseous the very atmosphere 
of the region. One is told that p-e-t-r-o-l-e-u-m 
spells “salvation” for this people. What 
about it? Let us admit that the oil in¬ 
dustry is relieving, temporarily at least, the 
financial problems of the more favored areas. 
There are, however, hundreds of square 
miles of the hill country in which oil has 
not and probably never shall be found. 
The agricultural problems are still the lead¬ 
ing issues. What are the almost endless 
stretches of hilly wastes good for? 
The narrow-gauge railroad mentioned runs 
through the heart of this well-nigh moun¬ 
tainous region. It skips over dizzy heights 
of trestle-work from hill-top to hill-top and 
from crest to crest of the ridges ; it labors 
up and glides down grades of alarming 
steepness; it threads the ravines dark and 
deep, in curves so abrupt that in some places 
the roadbed doubles upon itself within a 
very short distance; it reaches good farms 
well kept, fair farms poorly kept, value¬ 
less farms entirely unkept, while towns and 
villages good, poor and indifferent are sit¬ 
uated along the way, according to the char¬ 
acter of the country roundabout. We car¬ 
ried. in one of the coaches, a beautiful 
exhibit of apples, showing not only Ohio- 
grown apples in comparison with apples 
grown in the Far West, but exhibits show¬ 
ing the results of our experiment station's 
demonst rational work in spraying and thin¬ 
ning apples in different sections of Ohio 
during the season of 1909. Our Ohio-grown 
fruit was packed in boxes, as were the 
Colorado apples shown alongside. Our Ohio 
apples did not suffer in comparison; indeed, 
they were larger and of deeper, richer color 
than the Western fruit, for which was paid 
S3 per box of one bushel, upon the Colum¬ 
bus wholesale market. A part of our boxed 
apples and those showing the results of 
t borough spraying were from Washington 
County. Ohio—a hilly county adjoining two, 
and situated in the immediate neighborhood 
of all the counties through which our spe¬ 
cial train passed. These apples were large, 
sound, well colored and of superb quality. 
The finest box of Rome Beauties which ac¬ 
companied the train, however, was brought 
aboard at a little station along the route 
by a local grower who continued with the 
train to the end of the route. This exhibit 
by Mr Herron not only clearly demonstrated 
the possibilities of Ohio hills in apple pro¬ 
duction, but the producing power of the 
verv section through which the “special 
was progressing. It was an exhibit which 
“clinched all arguments” and left no room 
for doubts. F. ballou. 
Lettuce and Cabbage Under Glass. 
F.. C. S., Illinois. —1. While in Chicago 
last Fall 1 saw some very nice head lettuce 
ihat had been shipped in from New York. 
Could vou give the name of variety? 2. 
Would you advise the use of double glass 
sash for growing lettuce, onions and pars¬ 
ley during the Winter months? 3. Among 
the round-headed cabbage claimed to be as 
early as Wakefield, is there a variety that 
is as early? 
Axs.—i. The lettuce which E. C. S. re¬ 
fers to is either Big Boston or some select 
strain of Boston Market or Tennis Ball. If 
it was grown in cold houses or outside, 
perhaps the former was the variety. But 
for hothouse use, some select strain of 
Boston Market is used exclusively. 2. The 
double glass sash is used to some extent, 
but when we take in consideration the 
<ost of repairs in the way of broken glass, 
glazing and painting, I question their prac¬ 
ticability in a commercial sense, especially at 
present prices for the crops inquirer de¬ 
sires to grow. 3. I have not found any 
round variety of cabbage as early as the 
Wakefield; the Early Spring is the best 
round. white. 
THE WAY THE WEST TALKS. 
You have struck the 2:2 gait at last; 
the question, not what you make, but what 
you get. The middleman is eating the 
heart out of this nation. The thing for 
farmers is to raise as little as possible, 
not as much. The more we raise the less 
we get. Take it here in Oklahoma. The 
grain dealers’ association has fixed the price 
according to the crop; where the crop of 
corn is good the price is 48 cents, where 
a little better, 50 cents; so on up to where 
it is very poor, 75 cents, so as to leave 
the farmer only enough, by hard scratching, 
to make another crop. But you alone of 
all the papers of the United States are not 
controlled by the trusts. Roosevelt’s com¬ 
mission found that the trouble with the 
farmer was that he was beset on all sides 
by organized gangs of thieves, and their 
advice was, organize and steal, too. But 
from whom? M. a. dunlap. 
Oklahoma. 
R. N.-Y.—No one advised stealing. It is 
not stealing to compel the handlers to give 
vou a fair share of your money. The only 
“trust" The R. N.-Y. owes any allegience 
to is a trust in the right and in the 
power of the people to reach that right 
through education and action. 
A Snowy Country. —Snow began falling 
Monday, December 13, and Tuesday morn¬ 
ing we had from 15 to 18 inches of solid, 
heavy snow. Wo finished drawing 10 cords 
of four-foot wood Monday. I told my 
man : “We cannot tell what we will have 
to-morrow.” So we worked in storm. I 
have over 200 cords of pulp wood to draw 
to station, and have been breaking our 
road to-day; about all team wants to do 
is to wallow through the snow and draw 
one empty sleigh. We cut the poplar tops 
into stove wood; had 48% cords, and with 
10 cords of four-foot hard wood and 15 
cords of hard dry stove wood in shed I 
guess I can pull through two years. I 
like dry wood. It is a great peace maker 
in the family. When we have green wood, 
as the detective stories have it, “I lay low,” 
and do not make myself very conspicuous, 
cord of dry wood is worth more than 
cords of green wood to burn. With 
you can keep draught shut off 
heat—a stick or two will last 
but with green wood, open the 
let ’er go—should be a bel- 
cook does not do "blowing" 
One 
two 
dry Wood 
and save 
all night, 
throttle and 
lows—if the 
enough. Mv advice to heads of families 
Is, if you burn wood, have plenty of dry 
wood on hand. _ s. c. A. 
Warren County, N. Y. 
“Equal to the Best and Better than the 
Rest." _ 
SCALIME 
Stands at the head of Lime and Sulphur solutions. Re¬ 
quires no boiling. Kills all scale Write for circular. 
CHESTER COUNTY CHEMICAL CO., 
8 N. High Street, West Chester, Pa. 
DIRECT from FACTORY at 
Wholesale Prices, Freight Paid 
We sell to you at the same price we would sell to 
the dealer—pay the freight besides. Stove pol¬ 
ished. ready to set up, safe delivery insured. 
Then, after 
ONE YEAR'S TRIAL 
we refund your 
money if you are 
not satisfied. 
Gold Coin 
Stoves and Ranges 
standard for fifty 
years. 
Send for our 
Illustrated 
Etove Book, 
and our Special 
Summer Premium 
List, both free. 
Gold Coin Stove Co. 
3 OatSt. Troy.N.Y. 
A SUBSTITUTE 
For Bordeaux Mixture 
10-gal. keg making 1,500 gals. Spray; delivered at 
any R.R. station in the United States for $12.50. 
Prompt shipments. Write to-day for full information. 
B. Q. PRATT CO., 
50 CHURCH ST., N. Y. CITY. 
150» $300 SAVED 
IN A GASOLINE ENGINE B&!B& 
Buy from a real engine factory. Save dealer, jobber and 
atalogue house profit. No such offer as I make on the class 
f engine I sell lias ever been made before in all Gasoline 
Engine history. Here is the secret and reason: I turn 
lem out all alike by the thousands in my enormous mod- 
m factory, equipped with automatic machinery. ^ I sell 
nem direct to you for less money than some factories can 
lake them at actual shop cost. All you pay me for is 
ctual raw material, labor and one small profit. 
My engine is made so good in the factory that I will send 
t out anywhere in the U. S. without an expert to any inex- 
•erienced user, on 30 days’ free trial, to test against any en¬ 
gine made, of similar horsepower, that sells for twice as 
ouch, and let him be the judge. . , . t 
Write today for my new 50-page Engine Book, lull ot 
aluable inlormation, showing how 1 make them and how 
-ou can make more money with a Galloway on the farm. 
»ell your poorest horso and buy a 5-H-P. Gallo- 
tray—Only S119i50. 
cay umy « W ||. CALLOWAY CO. 
665 Calloway Station 
Seeds That Grow! 
If you want the Best it is 
possible to grow—such as 
you can rely upon to pro¬ 
duce the Choicest Vegetables and Most Beautiful Flowers, you should try 
Burpee’s Seeds! We shall be pleased to mail you, upon application, 
Burpee’s New Annual for 1910,— long known as “The Leading American 
Seed Catalog.” The first edition is more than four hundred thousand copies, 
and yet it is too expensive a book of 178 pages to mail unsolicited except 
to our regular customers. With elegant colored plates and hundreds of illus¬ 
trations from nature it tells plain 
truth and is a Safe Guide to success W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO. 
in the garden. Do you want a copy? ...... D 
If so, send your address to-day to rfilicide Ip flia, r a. 
DIBBLE’S 
Farm Seed Catalog for 1910 
the leading catalog of the year devoted strictly to farm Seeds is now ready for distribution. 
It is handsomely illustrated with half tones showing our Farm Seeds as they are, beautiful 
photographic reproductions of the best 1-arm Seeds that grow. 
We are Headquarters for barm Seeds. Have over 1,200 acres in our Seed barms and 
ship direct from our Farms to yours. c , .... . 
Seed Potatoes, Corn, Oats, Barley, Alfalfa, Clover and Grass Seeds at the lowest 
possible prices consistent with highest possible quality. 
The Catalog is FREE. Address 
Edward F . Dibble, Seedgrower, 
Box B • Honeoye Falls, fV. V# 
Over half a century of fair dealing has given our products that prom¬ 
inence which merit deserves. Everything of the best for 
Orchard,Vineyard, Lawn, Park, 
Street, Garden and Greenhouse 
Seeds, Bulbs, Flants, Roses, Shrubs, Small Trees, Etc. 
bv mail postpaid—safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Hundreds of 
carloads of FRUIT AN» ORNAMENTAL TREES. If in wnnt of l ruit or 
Ornamental Trees. Shrubs, etc., send for Catalogue No. 1. 112 pages. If 
Seeds, Bulbs. Roses. Palms. Ferns. Geraniums and Greenhouse Plants m 
general. Catalogue No. 2, 168 pages; both FREE. Imm.mso stoek of s. pcrb 
and choice CANNA8—the queen of bedding plants. 1 2EONIE8 and other 
perennial hardy plants in large supply. Direct deal will insure you the 
be“t and save vou money. 56 years. 1200 acres, 44 greenhouses. (6) 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., Box 218. Painesville, Ohio. 
A Republic 
Ornamental Fence 
at small cost, will add more to the value of 
your place than any other improvement that 
you can make and provide positive and per¬ 
manent protection for your lawn and gardens. 
Republic Ornamental Fence Fabrics 
are made by cabling heavy horizontal wires 
quent intervals heavy wire pickets 
crimped only at point of intersection, 
thereby overcoming the rusting of full 
crimped stays commonly used. Erected 
with wooden posts or steel posts with 
special wrought steel base. 
Onr free Style Book shows many 
beautiful patterns of fence, cemetery 
arches, trellises, etc. 
Write tor It today 
You need farm gates; ask for special 
gate circular. 
Republic Fence and Gate Co., 
211 Republic St., No. Chicago, Ill. 
Anthomf knots 10 ,he Farmers Mean Dollars 
There is just about as much difference between Anthony 
woven wire fence and some other wire fences as between Anthony fence and the 
old "Virginia Worm” rail fence. 
‘‘'.IS. 
4Y 
You Gan Compare ANTHONY with any Fence 
The decision is always in favor of Anthony Fence. Never in the history of 
fence making has a tie been used in construction that is so perfe ct as the^ 
Anthony knot which is used exclusively in Anthony fence— 
no Other, The knot is made from tough wire, same 
size as the line wire, will not come off, and leaves no 
kink in line wire inside knot. No possible damage 
to stock, nor loss of wool from sheep from an 
Anthony knot —it is smooth, compact, strong. 
Nothing but the highest grade of heavily galvanized, 
hard spring steel wire; and every bundle of it is rigid¬ 
ly inspected and the fence made from it is given a like 
inspection. We buy the best wire we can get. We make 
the best fence we know how—and we know how. When 
you have your farm fenced with Anthony fence your fence troubles are oven 
See' 
That 
hoot 
rnrr CltlDI C> Shows the Anthony Knot in actual service just as it is m the The 
Mitt oAmiLt. f enC6i The hand sample measures about 3 inches A.nthonv 
and not only shows the Anthony Knot but shows heavy top wire and/ ^ 
line wire. IT IS FREE. Fill out and send us coupon and we will ^ 1Q Michigan st ., 
mail you a sample, with our Booklet. When a man sees arrest- 
fence he at once recognizes its worth. That s why we want ,, e( j in your fence. Please 
to mail you a sample. Ask for it today. ^ send sample and booklet. 
' Name , 
The Anthony Fence Co 7 
IO Michigan St.. ^ 
Tecumseh, Michigan, U.S.A. ^ County...State. 
Postofflce. 
