1914, 
087 
♦ 
CLEANING UP FIELD STONES. 
A Systematic Campaign Against A Nuisance. 
W ORKING TOOLS.—How to get rid of surplus 
field stones with the least labor is a problem 
of vital interest to many eastern farmers. 
While clearing up a stony farm we have tried out 
many ways of handling the work. At one time we 
built a special tool for gathering up small stones. 
It was, in effect, an “A” drag, with the wide opening 
ahead (Fig. 420). The stones and clods are left 
in windrows about seven feet apart. When hauling 
away the windrows the wagons can be loaded from 
both sides. A few years ago we 
cleared an excessively stony field of 
seven acres at a cost of $35 for the 
time of the men employed. As made 
by us the tool was not entirely satis¬ 
factory ; but the idea seems so well 
worth developing that we give full de¬ 
tails. We found a 3%-inch clear space 
between teeth was too wide, and halv¬ 
ing it by inserting more teeth made 
the teeth too close. A clear space of 
2 y* inches would be about right. The 
teeth should he heavy enough to he 
rigid. We used half-inch steel rods 
and had so much trouble with the 
teeth bending that we finally aban¬ 
doned the use of the tool. The teeth 
should have a length of eight inches 
in the clear. We found trouble in ad¬ 
justing the hitching to conform to 
varying conditions of soil, the drag 
tilting forward or backward too much. 
We believe that a drag made along the lines indi¬ 
cated and provided with wheels at the corners would 
he a good practical tool for clearing ground of small 
stones, provided the soil can be first put in good 
condition. It would be pretty expensive on lumpy 
ground. 
GATHERING AND LOADING.—We find that a 
wagon box that dumps the load by pulling a lever 
saves much time in disposing of stone. To get the 
full benefit of the dump box we drive over the stone 
pile. Throwing the large stones to one side and oc¬ 
casionally adding loads of small stones and clods 
that have been raked up enables us 
to keep the drive over the pile pass¬ 
able. We have added to this pile until 
it is now several rods in diameter, 
seven to eight feet high, and contains 
over one thousand yards. Mechanical 
stone pickers have been patented and 
advertised. A few years ago we made 
diligent but unsuccessful search for 
such a machine. We hope that some 
inventive genius will yet devise a prac¬ 
tical apparatus for gathering up loose 
stones and conveying them into a dump 
wagon. Such a machine would make 
farm life seem better worth the living 
to many a country boy. Getting scat¬ 
tering field stones into a wagon is an 
irksome and apparently a never-ending 
task. A coke fork is a convenient tool 
for handling small stones. The teeth 
are stiffer than those of a dung fork 
and the spaces between the teeth are 
about an inch and one-quarter. 
DISPOSING OF THE STONES.— 
We like to use the surplus stone for 
building roadways and filling ditches; 
hut when it comes to getting rid of old 
walls a faster method is called for. 
With plow and scraper we dig a 
"canal” as close to the wall as possible, 
so that the stone can he thrown in 
without rehandling. The most econom¬ 
ical time to do this work is just before 
Winter closes in. During the slack 
time with our work, in midsummer, 
the subsoil is so hard that the cost of 
excavating is increased. When exca¬ 
vating long trenches it is well to make 
“sidings” at frequent intervals, to 
avoid moving the dirt too far. Where 
a wide trench was undesirable we 
have kept to the width of the ordinary bail scraper 
by using either one horse, or two horses driven tan¬ 
dem. for the plowing and scraping. 
STONE DRAINAGE.—In one field we struck 
quicksand and excavated a "canal” that held the 
boulders from the base of a long line of stone wall. 
This has given good drainage to a corner that we 
had been unable to drain satisfactorily with tile. 
The overflow to this trench is necessarily very shal¬ 
low, and we were in doubt as to the outcome. Since 
the first Spring, however, there has been no trouble, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
the water never standing at the level of the overflow 
as we feared it might. In the case of a few depres¬ 
sions that cannot he drained at a reasonable cost 
we are thinking of blowing out large holes with 
dynamite and filling the holes from nearby walls. 
To he effective we think heavy charges would be 
needed, so that we could get down about eight feet 
into the ground. 
THE STONE NUISANCE.—Nothing about a farm 
is more discouraging than going over the same ground 
year after year, picking stones. They seem never 
to grow less, and many people believe that such is 
really the case. The old walls on this farm are, or 
THE LITTLE HOG FEEDER. Fig. 422. 
were, a refutation of that idea. If the entire farm 
were hand raked to the depth of the furrow we 
could not get stone enough to replace the old stone 
walls. One thorough clearing of the seven-acre field 
above mentioned took it permanently out of the "ex¬ 
cessively stony” class. Hand raking the same seed¬ 
bed year after year, we now have less than one-tenth 
of the material to haul away that we had the first 
year. So we may say that the work of picking stone 
is tedious and expensive, but not altogether in vain. 
It is an investment that gives a large return in in¬ 
creased crop area, economy of labor and satisfac- 
PICKING A CROP OF SWEET PEPPERS. Fig. 423. 
tion at having got rid of the constant annoyance of 
working the stones over year after year. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. james vick’s sons. 
POISONING THE CORN WORM. 
A New Method for an Old Trouble. 
T HE hateful insect that eats into the end of the 
corn ear has had a sort of monopoly of life 
thus far. The entomologists had worked out 
schemes for destroying potato beetles, scale insects 
or cabbage worms, but it was thought impossible to 
get at the corn worm with any practical remedy. 
Recent experiments in New Jersey indicate that this 
rascal must stand up and take his dose of poison 
like the rest. The following statement from Prof. 
C. H. Richardson. Assistant Entomologist of New 
Jersey, will he good news to many 
corn growers. 
"We found that a mixture of equal 
proportions of finely pulverized sulphur 
and dry arsenate of lead, when applied 
to the growing tip of the corn ear, 
would kill any of the worms attempt¬ 
ing to enter there. As most of the 
eggs are deposited on the corn silk, 
the majority of the worms enter the 
ear at the tip and are thus poisoned. 
It is important to maintain a coating 
of the poison on the corn silks during 
the entire growing season, from the 
first appearance of the silk until ma¬ 
turity of the ear. The applications of 
the mixture were made with a small 
shaker; simply a baking powder can 
with holes punched in the bottom. A 
little of the powder was shaken on to 
the tip of each corn ear as the laborer 
passed along the row. One application 
will last about a week under ordinary weather con¬ 
ditions; but if the worms are very abundant should 
be more frequent, especially when the silk is young.” 
One duty of the Kansas County demonstration agent 
is to keep a list of all persons in that county who have 
purebred stock or seed for sale. 
To show how people watch and read The R. N.-Y. 
we may say that recently one woman advised another 
to make and advertise rompers for children as a means 
of earning money. Already we have a call from a busy 
mother who wants to know where these rompers can bo 
bought 
THE LOCAL STOREKEEPER. 
I DO not think much of B. C. Wood’s argument on 
page 830, relative to the local store. One writer, 
on page 618, states he can see no reason why 
the country storekeeper cannot sell as cheaply as 
anyone else. There are others of the same opinion. 
It is true that the mail order house can carry a 
much larger stock, but there is nothing to prevent 
the local merchant having catalogues 
available from the big supply houses 
from which he can order goods for his 
customers, and nine out of ten pur¬ 
chasers would rather let the merchant 
order goods for him if he could get 
them anywhere near the mail order 
prices. Probably the local merchant 
does not make an excessive profit on 
his sales, but if he does not buy right 
he cannot sell right. There is an army 
of drummers traveling up and down 
the country selling to merchants, and it 
costs money to keep them moving, but 
the mail order houses are not in on 
this expense. The man who makes his 
purchases over the country counter 
helps pay this enormous tax every time 
he buys anything. Mr. Wood says 
every country merchant carries his cus¬ 
tomers and has thousands tied up in 
accounts, some of which he never gets. 
The man who pays, however, settles 
with the merchant for these dead ones. 
Give the mail order house a five or ten 
per cent, advantage on this item. The 
remedy for this lies with merchants 
and their associations. 
Your local bank extends credit, but 
bankers do business along business 
lines, and the average sucker doesn't 
put one over very often on these people, 
and through them on the man who 
does pay, by reason of a no-good busi¬ 
ness system. I believe the public pre¬ 
fers to trade at home, and local mer¬ 
chants should be progressive enough to 
get in a position to furnish anything 
the catalogue houses can at pi*ices 
equally low; then the quarrel will end. 
New York. c. 
R. N.-Y.—It is understood by all that The R. N.- 
Y. attempts to discuss these public matters in a fair 
and broad way. by giving all sides a fair hearing. 
It does not follow that because we give a person 
space to state his views, we fully agree with him. 
If his position is unsound, fair discussion will prove 
it so. We ask correspondents to be fair, honest, 
good-natured—and brief. 
German railroads carry manure and fertilizer a 
per cent, less than the regular rates. These rates 
openly for the encouragement of farming. 
