1910. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
C86 
STORY OF A STRAWBERRY CROP. 
Last Winter Mr. S. H. Burton of In¬ 
diana, told us about his crop of straw¬ 
berries and what he hoped for this sea¬ 
son. All fruit growers have their hopes, 
which are often blasted, but this berry 
crop made good as we see from this 
clipping from a local paper: 
From this one and one-fourth acres Mr. 
Burton has already gathered 900 gallons, 
and when the season ends the latter part 
of this week he will nave gathered fully 
1,000 gallons, all of which he marketed 
in this city at an average of 50 cents the 
gallon. The cost of picking a id market¬ 
ing will amount to .$100, leaving Mr. Bur¬ 
ton a net profit of $400. To accomplish 
such results requires scientific culture and 
close attention, but Mr. Burton has des¬ 
troyed the idea of many farmers ot the 
old school who cling to the idea tnat it is 
impossible to make money on a farm of 
less than 100 acres. The average Daviess 
County farm yields 20 bushels of wheat. 
With wheat at $1 a bushel, an uncommon 
value, the average gross earnings per acre 
when planted in wheat is $20. Mr. Bur¬ 
ton's one and one-fourth acres of strawber¬ 
ries earned gross as much as 20 average 
acres of wheat. 
Mr. Burton adds the following com¬ 
ment : 
We woke up one morning in May when 
all our plants were in full bloom and 
looked out at the window anl saw our 
patch covered with snow ! I omy laughed, 
for I felt somehow that the Lord was | 
with us and those big lat healthy plants 
would come through it all wicu colors 
flying. For over 48 hours the aierinom- 
eter hanging out on a stick in the middi° 
of the field hovered dangerously ' tar the 
freezing point, and it looked ve y serious 
to one of a less optim stic turn cf mind. 
We thought of smudge hres and of cover¬ 
ing the plants again with the straw mulch¬ 
ing. But the wind blew a perfect gale, 
and smudging wouid be out of the ques¬ 
tion ; straw would blow off the fork as 
fast as it was picked up. We just sim¬ 
ply decided that we were foolish to try to 
battle with the elements, and that it was 
the Lord's way, and tnat wo were not 
showing our faith in 1-lim by tijing to 
work against His will. The re,j rter who 
wrote the above item figured that this acre 
and a quarter of berries was equal to 20 
acres of average Indiana wheat, which is 
true, but I wouldn't want the fanners of 
Indiana to quit raising wheat ard go to 
inising strawberries, for then we would 
miss the flour for our dearly beloved short¬ 
cake. . S. H. BURTON. 
WORK OF A CORN HARVESTER. 
On page 917 is a statement or experi 
ence of J. Henry Rines with corn har¬ 
vesters. I also have had experience with 
them, but my experience is different from 
his. I have used a corn harvester for 
eight years. In that time 1 have cut 
over 300 acres. I have cut for my neigh¬ 
bors every year. If I did not do satis¬ 
factory work 1 would not get the corn 
to cut. I have gone seven and eight 
miles from home to cut corn. The 
other day I had a call to go 10 
miles to cut a piece of corn. In re¬ 
gard to driving through a piece of corn, 
I wish to say I have done that way 
quite often, then back swath. By drop¬ 
ping the guides on to the ground all the 
stalks will be picked up unless they are 
broken or lie lengthway of the row. The 
most satisfactory way to do is to have 
two rows cut through the piece with a 
sickle every 40 or 50 rows, and a rod 
and a half on the end to turn around on. 
Three horses will handle my binder 
without any trouble. The number of 
acres a man can cut in a day depends on 
the distance the rows are apart. I aver¬ 
age five or six acres a day of 10 hours. 
I believe I cut as close to the ground as 
a man will with a sickle, which is three 
or four inches. It is not necessary to cut 
stubbles eight inches high, anyway not 
with the kind I have. I think the men 
are very scarce that will cut corn day- 
after day to one inch of the ground. I 
have used my binder on ground where 
the water stood, and have had very little 
trouble in having ti.e binder settle in the 
ground. If it did all that was necessary 
was to raise the machine until you got 
out of the soft place, then lower it again 
and go on. The bull wheel of my ma¬ 
chine is eight inches across, which helps 
to keep it up. The farmers in this local¬ 
ity will not cut corn with a sickle to any 
great amount if they possibly can get a 
harvester. My experience certainly has 
not been like J. Henry Rines, and I be¬ 
lieve I have cut as many acres of corn 
with a corn harvester as any other man. 
I certainly would advise farmers to buy 
corn harvesters to cut their corn if they 
could not hire one of their neighbor. 
Bath, N. Y. j. p. K. 
ALFALFA GROWS IN MAINE. 
During the past week I have seen two 
patches of Alfalfa growing in a way that 
dispelled any doubts I may have enter¬ 
tained regarding its possibilities in 
Maine. The first was in the gutter of 
an out-lying street in Augusta, where 
the roadway cut through a clay knoll. 
There was a stretch of it for about 50 
feet, vigorous and green, growing right 
there in the raw subsoil. There was 
some Sweet clover with it, too, and 
everything indicated that it had never 
been planted, to say the least. The other 
piece was an experimental plot, sown 
last June by E. B. Rowell, of this place. 
Most of it looked pretty sick, but along 
one edge the growth was astonishing, 
two feet high after having been cut back 
once. I proceeded to hold an inquisition, 
and I think 1 located the cause of the 
failure. 
The soil was gravelly loam with ample 
slope for good drainage. The sod had 
been broken early in May, after which 
the piece was harrow-ed frequently until 
planting. Lime was applied at the rate 
of one ton per acre, and the seed was 
inoculated with cultures from Washing¬ 
ton. In fact Mr. Rowell had done every¬ 
thing he coulq think of to secure success. 
When we came to examine the strip 
along the edge where it was doing so 
well, I asked him which way the furrows 
had been turned. He said, “Away from 
this edge.” Here, too, the Alfalfa was 
growing practically in the- raw subsoil, 
and it was growing tremendously. As 
it appeared to me, he had turned under 
the live sod, smothered it, and soured 
the soil. The Alfalfa roots had gone 
down faster than the lime, had come to 
the sour layer, and had stopped. 1 saw 
this same niece when it was one month 
old, and at that time it was growing 
beautifully. If we keep on trying, and 
succeed in avoiding the same mistake 
twice, it won’t take long to make Alfalfa 
one of our staple crops. To my mind 
the above experience suggests plowing 
and liming in the Fall, and sowing the 
seed after intensive cultivation the next 
Spring. c. M. G. 
Skowhegan, Me. 
DAILY 
OUTPUT 
17,500 
BBLS. 
YEARLY 
OUTPUT 
OVER 
6 , 000,000 
ALPHA 
PORTLAND CEMENT 
is absolutely the best that can be made 
for all farm work. Largely used by 
U. S. Government and in State, Munici¬ 
pal and Railroad work—a reputation of 
20 years behind it. Ask your dealer for 
ALPHA 
Send for Booklet and learn why it is the best. 
ALPHA PORTLAND CEMENT CO., 
ADDRESS 
2 Center Square, EASTON, PA. 
LET ME START YOU IN BUSINESS ! 
I will furnish the advertising: matter and the plans. 1 
want one sincere, earnest man in every town and town¬ 
ship. Farmers, Mechanics, Builders, Small Business man 
Anyone anxious to improve his condition. Address 
COMMERCIAL DEMOCRACY, Dept. D-35, Elyria. Ohio. 
How We Saved You 
$300 Per Car 
for 1911 
Licensed under Selden patent __ 
In the past two years we have cut the cost of Overlands 28 % by 
investing' $3,000,000 in the highest type of modern equipment. 
When the Overland was perfected, and the demand 
came in Hoods, we began investing every dollar of 
earnings in modern, automatic machinery. 
Every machine cut the cost of some part, and made 
that part with utter exactness. Now we have many 
acres of floor space filled with these wonderful ma¬ 
chines. 
This labor-saving machinery, and our enormous pro¬ 
duction, has reduced the cost of Overlands, on the 
average, $;(00 per car. And every cent of the saving, 
as fast as we made it, has been given to Overland 
buyers. 
Every material in every Overland chassis is the best 
that money can buy. Every feature, regardless o' 
cost, is made in accord with the best engineering prac¬ 
tice. The car is inspected Letter than any other car 
iii the world. We have too much' at stake to take 
chances. 
But our matchless machinery enables us to build 
utterly perfect cars at prices which none can meet. 
20,000. in Use 
The Overland is not yet three years old, yet 20,000 
owners are now running these remarkable cars. And 
dealers have already paid their deposits on more than 
18,000 of the new-season models just out. 
Never was a car so successful. The demand for 
the Overlands, for much of the time, has been from 
two to three times the supply. 
When you Come to select an automobile, the first 
car to consider is the one which lias made such a 
record. 
22 Models for 1911 
For 19il—the season just opening—-we are putting 
out 22 models. They run from 20 to 35-horsepower— 
from 96-inch to 118-inch wheel bases—from $775 to 
$i,675. All are 4-cylinder cars. 
We can meet any idea on size, style and power at a 
lower cost than anyone else. 
The models include all the newest designs—the tor¬ 
pedo roadsters—the touring cars with fore doors—the 
drop frames—the straight lines. Not a new model 
of the highest-priced makes excels them in style ot 
appearance. 
Fore Doors Included 
On some of our models we offer the option of fore 
doors or open front—your choice at an equal price. 
The fore-door models are the coming vogue, and 
most makers, because of their newness, charge an 
extra price tor them. In the Overland line these up- 
to-date models sell at the standard price. 
Some of the models have the pedal control—some 
the sliding gear transmission. All have double igni¬ 
tion—magneto and battery. All are built to keep the 
cost of upkeep down to the lowest minimum. 
From $775 to $1,675 
This year we sell a 20 -horsepower roadster, with 
96-inch wheel base, for $775. Its possible speed is 45 
miles an hour. 
Our 25-horsepower touring cars, with 102 -inch wheel 
base, sell for $ 1 , 000 . That’s nine per cent, less than 
last year. Your choice of five styles of body. 
The 30-horsepovver Overlands sell for $1,250—110- 
inch wheel bases. Fore door or open fronts—torpedos 
or touring cars. 
The 35-horsepower Overlands, with 118-inch wheel 
bases, sell for $1,600 and $1,675. All prices include 
gas lamps and magneto. 
You can easily prove that there is no other way 
to get nearly so much for your money. 
Send us this coupon and we will mail you our 1911 
Book free. It shows all the designs and gives all 
specifications. It gives all of the latest motor car 
ideas. We will direct you also to the nearest dealer 
showing the Overland cars. 
The Willys-Overland Company 
(Licensed Under Selden patent) 
Toledo, Ohio 
Please mail the 1911 book to 
(086) 
Our $1,000 touring car — i£5 h. p. 102-inch wheel baie, 
Five styles of body. The tonneau shown above is detach¬ 
able, allowing room for milk cans or farm truck. 
The $775 Overland Roadster—four-cylinders—20 h. p. 
96-inch wheel base. We also make three styles 
of Torpedo Roadsters—one as low as $850. 
( 122 ) 
All prices include gas lamps and magneto 
