210 
i'l l K P4UF4A.E, NKW-YOKKBK 
ANGORA CATS AND RHEUMATISM. 
A newspaper clipping received from a reader 
states that the German Minister to Haiti, recently 
arriving in this country, brought with him a large 
Angora cat which he permitted to sleep in his bed 
to relieve his rheumatism. It was said that the cat 
would gradually contract, the disease, taking it from 
its master, and would eventually die of it. The 
reader wishes to know if there is “anything to 
this.’’ I hope not, though I can sympathize with the 
German Minister, who is doubtless an estimable 
gentleman, and I am far from wishing our turbulent 
sister republic the infliction of a foreign diplomat 
with rheumatism. But I have possessed, or been 
possessed, of, both rheumatism and Angora cats; to¬ 
gether and -separately, and I have never known one 
to react upon the other. Our finest Angora cat, a 
most beautiful “tortoiseshell” creature, died of old 
age at 13, though he lived in a family members of 
which have been almost helpless at times from 
rheumatism. It is an old belief that animals may 
“take” disease from their masters, and it is a well 
recognized fact that some diseases are transmitted 
to man only through the agency of lower animals. 
Unfortunately, however, the donor of disease does 
not rid himself of it; he only passes on a little of the 
seed, retaining the ripened fruit. Moreover, it is 
only the infectious diseases, or those that are trans¬ 
mitted through the agency of germs or parasites, 
that can be thus passed from one animal to another, 
and rheumatism probably does not belong in this 
class. No; this story is probably the offspring of a 
true American reporter’s pen. The staid and scien¬ 
tific German mind never trifles with fact in this 
way, though the genial I)r. Friedmann almost con¬ 
vinced us at one time that some Yankee ways are 
catching. ji. b. d. 
MIXING LIME WITH MANURE. 
Has Prof. Thorne, page 36, in his reply missed the 
point that It. .T. L. will immediately spread the lime 
and manure after loading, and in such case would the 
lime be likely to act chemically upon the manure? We 
should like to know about this, for we are making a 
practice of spreading on top of the spreader load of 
manure a layer of cob ash—10 or 12% potash, 30% 
carbonate lime—before driving to the field. We have 
also planned to spread ground limestone in this manner, 
on land we eventually will seed to Alfalfa. w. A. w. 
If manure and lime are mixed and at once plowed 
under the earth will probably arrest most of the 
ammonia that may be formed; but if the mixture of 
manure and lime is exposed to the air there will be 
considerable escape of ammonia into the atmosphere. 
In the case of ashes, the lime is first in the form 
of oxide or quicklime, which reverts to the carbonate 
form on exposure to the atmosphere, so that fresh 
ashes would have the same effect as quicklime in 
liberating ammonia. Ground limestone would have 
less tendency in this direction, but we think the 
safest plan is to apply all kinds of lime or limestone 
separately from manure or fertilizers. In our ex¬ 
periments on the three-year rotation of corn, oats 
and clover, which has now been running nine years, 
when 1,000 pounds of quicklime has been applied to 
the surface, after plowing under manure, the yield 
is slightly smaller than when an equivalent amount 
of ground limestone has been applied in the same 
manner, although when the quicklime and ground 
limestone are used as direct applications to unma¬ 
nured land, the quicklime is producing a greater in¬ 
crease than the ground stone. We suspect, however, 
that this larger increase is due to the liberation of 
nitrogen by the quicklime from the organic matter 
of the soil. If this is what is taking place the time 
will come when the soil nitrogen must be replaced. 
Ohio Experiment Station. chas. e. tiiorn k, 
WHAT SHALL THE LANDLORDS DO ? 
[We have had something of a discussion over the 
question of conservative father and progressive son. and 
also over the relations between landlord and tenant. 
Here is a new phase of it—presented in the following 
letter. What should be done with these boys?] 
I have been a reader of your paper some few 
years, and as such, I would like to present to you 
a problem for solving. If you think it worth while 
present it to your readers for discussion. A few 
years ago a friend and myself purchased a 100- 
acre farm in one of the Central States, near a large 
and growing city. The farm had been under a 
cash rent for 15 years or more, hence much run 
down. We secured an excellent man (with a large 
family) to run the farm on shares, we furnishing 
the laud as our half; he the work for his half. All 
stock and grains were to be held and paid for on 
this basis, and profits divided accordingly. We de¬ 
cided on dairying, bought a herd of cows, taking 
our farmer’s note for his half of the cost of the 
cows. We were well satisfied; our 
able and a hard worker. All money 
share was put back into the place in shape of a 
new barn, imperishable silo, fences, and a new 
house with bathroom and furnace. But before the 
house was finished our man sickened and died, 
leaving a family, wife and 10 children. The three 
boys, oldest about 19 years, took up the work, but 
we soon noticed the difference; dirty stables, tools 
left out to rust, and a milk check about one-third of 
its usual size. 
Now the question is what to do. A few more items 
may help in making up a decision. Neither my 
Blocker—Hilling Hoe With Shank Straightened. 
Fig. 75. 
partner nor myself need the income from the farm 
for our living. The farmers’ note has been reduced 
by a few small payments (not by the boys, how¬ 
ever). While the boys seem anxious to do the right 
thing, they do not seem to possess the right way. 
Our farm is rapidly being depleted, and the ques¬ 
tion is what to do. If you think this article with 
its question would interest your readers and cause 
some enlightenment I would be thankful to you for 
space in your paper. c. c. h. 
CLOVER SEED IN 1913. 
Mr. Edgerton, on page 35, wants to know “Why 
not tackle clover seed?” Why not, indeed? The 
writer, last season thrashed 25 acres of Medium 
clover, obtaining a fraction less than 45 bushels of 
prime seed. From a part of the field a crop of 
clover hay had been cut early, another portion had 
been cut 10 days later, while a third plot, owing 
to scarcity of labor was clipped, the hay being left 
as a mulch on the ground. The Summer being ex¬ 
cessively dry and hot until a few days before seed 
cutting, the mulched part had far heavier bloom, 
and the seed was better filled than in either of the 
other sections. Several acres of thin land, top- 
dressed the Winter before with cattle manure, gave 
a better yield of both hay and seed than the lower 
fertile portions. 
Before clipping we were told that the heavy top 
growth would certainly smother out the plants be¬ 
neath. and in a wet season this might possibly oc¬ 
cur. but we found only one or two little patches 
killed out. With clover selling at $3 to $4 an acre 
in the field, are we not better justified in clipping 
l'o!j.u.r.> 14, 
Winter overflow, and it grew up so thickly in grass 
we did not thrash it. Red clover, with a wider root¬ 
ing system than Alfalfa, might not stand deep har¬ 
rowing. We shall know about this before another 
year, as we have 10 acres of Mammoth clover that 
is about a two-thirds stand. The ground is thin on 
which it is growing, and we have planned to leave 
it for seed, using the light draft harrow with Al¬ 
falfa teeth to dig up the top two inches, after the 
clover plants start growing. If less than a two- 
thirds stand conies through the Winter we shall drill 
in a light seeding of oats early in Spring. 
Montgomery Co., Ind. w. a. with row. 
man was very 
received as our 
and returning to the soil rather than disposing of 
it and spending the Winter months in hauling man¬ 
ure a mile from town, and sometimes having to 
give straw in exchange for the manure? This clover 
would make two good loads per acre, and consider¬ 
ing the humus added to the soil and the benefits to 
the following seed crop, we think we are justified 
in clipping. 
Has anyone ever tried spring-toothing a light 
stand of Red clover to kill out weeds and grass—on 
the same plan as Alfalfa seedings? We had three 
or four acres that were partially killed out by a 
FARMING IN NEW ENGLAND. 
The case of “A. S. A.,” as narrated on page 80, 
telling of a man of middle age, with an aged father, 
and no woman's counsel or help, seems to me to 
call first for a woman, either in the capacity of 
housekeeper or wife; and next, a modification of 
present management of the farm to meet existing 
conditions as to climate and markets. With a pop¬ 
ulation for this New Hampshire town of 6,000 with¬ 
in seven miles distance, it is a fair presumption 
that the entire product of 10 acres of tillage land 
could find a ready home retail market if put into 
such crops as will withstand the conditions as to 
frost. If beans, cucumbers and tomatoes are too 
risky, these might still be hazarded as a catch- 
crop for favorable seasons, and other crops less 
susceptible to frost substituted for a dependence. 
I believe that any New England town of 7.000 in¬ 
habitants would take care of a half acre of straw¬ 
berries and a like area of asparagus, and these 
two crops are immune to destruction from frosts, 
although somewhat retarded to be sure; however, 
they are capable of producing large values on small 
areas. An acre in these two crops skilfully handled 
should be worth several times the area in such sta¬ 
ples as corn and potatoes. When in Florida a few 
Winters ago, a freeze which destroyed the orange 
crop seemed to have merely a retarding effect upon 
the strawberry crop. This was on the last night of 
the year 1910, and strawberries were in full bloom, 
but much to my surprise, they were harvesting a 
good crop a few weeks later. This was the frost¬ 
proof Klondike variety, which is specially adapted 
to the far North as well as far South conditions. 
As to asparagus, which requires one more year of 
waiting than strawberries for its first crop, the tender 
shoots are spoiled by freezing; but as the life of the 
plant is in the crowns, several inches below the sur¬ 
face, a few warm days suffice to bring on another 
lot of shoots. 
Among annuals, lettuce, peas, beets and onions 
are semi-lmrdy and will go through cold weather 
which would utterly destroy the crops which “A. 
S. A.” mentions. No mention was made of fruits. 
A\ ith 10 acres of tillable land, I should plant at least 
two acres to apple and plum trees, either using the 
plums as fillers between apple, or putting a solid 
block of plum and locating the poultry yards among 
them. Japan plums and their hybrids are adapted 
to our Eastern conditions. Immense crops of these 
are grown as far away as the Pacific States and sold 
in our New England towns. I believe that every¬ 
thing considered the plum is our most promising 
fruit for immediate consumption and canning. And 
as to apples, while planting our staple Baldwins, 
that call for a 10-year wait for cropping, we have 
plenty of early-bearing sorts for fillers, which begin 
to produce crops in one-half that time or less. 
We have in populous New England one advantage 
which goes a long way to offset any defect of soil or 
climate, and that is the market that clamors at our 
doors. A location near a thriving village gives the 
producer a chance at the whole of the consumer’s 
dollar, which no city market can rival. Our op¬ 
portunities here are not yet half worked, although 
the fact that farm values here in the East have 
in many localities trebled within 15 years is signi¬ 
ficant. Probably the greatest of our lacks is the lack 
of farming capacity to grow and market crops to 
the limit of their possibilities. It is true of the 
town in which I live as well as of any locality with 
which I am acquainted, that the home market for 
fruits and vegetables is Inadequately supplied, es¬ 
pecially with that of the choicest quality. Such 
papers as The R. X.-Y. are accomplishing more than 
any other agency to awaken among farmers a sense 
that only more skill is wanted to change many 
comparative failure into a pronounced success. 
Massachusetts. feed w. proctor. 
a 
“Co-operative” silos are popular in Wisconsin. The 
name does not mean that several farmers feed out of 
one silo, but that several farmers Combine and use the 
concrete forms furnished by the College of Agriculture 
Such forms cost about $40 each, but through cooperr 
tive work farmers can obtain them for $10. 
