306 
'THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
niiimiu 
• • 
• • 
Bu 
s 1 n e s s 
• • 
• • 
iiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMniiiiintiiiiiiiiMitiiiiiiiuiiniiiiiiiiiiiiMuiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiitiiitmHiiiiitiiiiiiiiniiiiiiMiiiiniuuiiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiifiniiiMMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifitiiiiiiimiiiuiimiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiui- = 
IIIIIIIMIIMIIHIIIIMIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIItUIIIMUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMHIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIftllllftllllllllllllllllinilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllMllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllii^ 
Pin Money for the Wife. 
WANT to tell my experience in earn¬ 
ing a little pin money. We always 
have) a nice garden, and try to get it 
planted as early as possible. Last Sum¬ 
mer I determined to sell some of the 
surplus. First, I talked with my grocery 
man and he said he would take what he 
could. I would telephone him the morn¬ 
ing I had things to sell, and as my hus¬ 
band had to pass the store each morning 
on his way to the milk station it was 
easy to send the vegetables and took lit¬ 
tle time. These are my actual sales for 
the Summer: 
35 dozen large eating cucumbers 
at 12c. per doz.$4.20 
500 pickling cucumbers at 35c. per 
100 . 1.75 
200 ears early corn at $1.50 per 100 5.00 
10 very early pie pumpkins at 20c. 2.00 
30 muskmelons at 3 for 25c. 2.50 
2 bushels wax beans at $1..... 2.00 
50 heads early cabbage at .05c... 2.50 
20 heads cauliflower at 15c. 3.00 
10 bushels tomatoes at 00c. 0.00 
10 Hubbard squash at 10c.. 1.00 
4 dozen red peppers at 15c.00 
Total .$28.55 
This was not hard work and I assure 
you I was pleased with the result. 
This year I am planning to have a 
blackboard nailed to the garden fence 
facing the road, selling to tourists. Each 
day I shall write on the board what my 
garden offers, also eggs. I must add 
I also raised 20 I’ekin ducks, which 
hatched late. I sold them for about $1 
apiece dressed, and have a fine pair of 
pillows beside. I wish to add that I 
think farmers’ wives make a mistake in 
not saving all the best chicken feathers. 
I know my city friends are delighted 
when I send them a Christmas gift of 
a nice creton covered pillow filled with 
the softest chicken feathers and the cost 
in actual cash is small, mbs. ii. d. w. 
The Parcel-Post Business. 
OR some time I have been interested 
in the work which Mrs. Julian 
Heath is doing, so as soon as Uncle Sam 
had given us the service, went to Wash¬ 
ington to see if a Housewives’ League 
had been formed there. Later, our Wom¬ 
en’s Auxiliary to Northern Virginia 
Farmers’ Institute induced Mrs. Heath 
to come to Manassas, hoping through 
her to find direct ways and means of 
selling to organized Housewives’ Leagues 
in the cities. Although enthusiasm ran 
high for awhile, no direct benefit was 
derived. It struck me then, and experi¬ 
ence has since impressed the fact more 
forcibly, that women of the city, so ac¬ 
customed to every convenience of home 
and market, are somewhat inclined to 
be a little inconsiderate. I don’t wholly 
blame them. Human nature is much the 
same the world over, whether in city or 
country, and I guess we all appreciate 
getting things as cheap as possible. 
Frankly, my experience has been that 
the majority writing for prices, plainly 
showed that they expected fresh products 
considerably below what city dealers 
were asking for the same thing, not so 
fresh. This conclusion is based upon 
the fact that about only one out of 
seven inquirers seemed willing to give 
but little more than was paid at country 
stores. Perhaps they think this is that 
much in favor of the country cousin. On 
the other hand, we hear of the high prices 
they are actually paying in cities which 
is confirmed when we ask Mr. Middle¬ 
man how he sells this or that. Let’s di¬ 
vide the profit he usually gets. 
Personally, the customers I have had 
for butter and eggs have been satisfac¬ 
tory, and only once have I lost through 
shipping to persons who did not pay. I 
never could locate him. and by the way, 
here’s a point, country people are easily 
located—some poor women being as much 
fixtures as the farm itself, while the 
population of cities is transient. 
Ordinarily, I believe it is more satis¬ 
factory to meet your patrons, agree upon 
price, shipments, etc.; but where this 
cannot be done, advertise of course in 
some paper within circulation of first 
and second zones. Before the holidays 
one advertisement in “Parcel Post News,” 
secured customers for evergreens and 
nuts much farther away, one man in 
New Jersey ordering $11 worth of nuts, 
and I believe we will continue to sell 
to him. The beautiful woodsy ever¬ 
greens, trailing vines, etc., usually sold 
for Christmas, promise to be acceptable 
as wedding decorations, which occur at 
all seasons. 
For years we have been line-breeding 
a strain of Brown Leghorns, for size, 
vigor and egg production. Advertise¬ 
ments in regard to these promise to pay, 
as the incubation season comes on. Op¬ 
portunities are within the reach of all, 
and the parcel post makes it possible to 
see them fulfilled. In the first place, 
because it is right; second, because we 
want to secure and retain customers. Let 
us give honest measure, wholesome 
products and I believe there are many 
city housewives who will willingly pay 
a fair price, nor lose anything either. 
Virginia. mbs. w. n. doak. 
Poultry Products Light the Home . 
T HERE are many who may be finan¬ 
cially limited to other lighting than 
the electric plant. For a long time the 
lamp question was a sore topic for me, 
but when an old neighbor came along 
selling a gasoline system like one he had 
been using for over a year, this after¬ 
ward proved to be the solution. He of¬ 
fered to put in one of the systems, letting 
us use it. until we were satisfied before 
paying for it. That seemed good to me, 
for I knew him to be a man of his word, 
so I ordered a two-light system, and in 
due time it was installed. 
We have used it over a year, and would 
not part with it for 10 times what it 
cost, if we could not have another, nor 
would we trade it for any other lighting 
system, as far as we are personally con¬ 
cerned. The upkeep is very small, the 
cost of operation is low. The following 
is what it has cost us for a year, and our 
lights are often burned until midnight or 
after. First cost of tank and two lights 
installed, $23.40; upkeep, nine mantles 
and two generators, $1.25; wood alcohol, 
40 cents; gasoline, $6.65. Any time we 
are ready for more lights we can get 
them at $5 each with common globes. 
Friends from the city compliment us 
on the excellent lights and to our delight 
we have been told that these lights are 
brighter than either gas or electricity, 
and the expense of operating is less than 
either. A friend who has acetylene envies 
our installation. It requires very little 
attention, only having to be filled with 
gasoline about once in six weeks, and 
the pressure pumped up to 30 pounds. 
As the pressure goes down, the light is 
less bright, but with the pressure at one 
pound, it gives more light than four 
ordinary kerosene lamps. The pressure 
causes the lamps to make a humming 
noise when burning; but within a week 
after they are installed this noise is not 
noticed. The lamps must be generated 
with an alcohol torch, much the same 
way as you would heat up the gasoliuo 
stove before using it. This only takes 
a minute or two. and one does not mind 
the trouble, as the whole room is soon 
flooded with light. 
As far as safety is concerned I con¬ 
sider them safer than kerosene lamps, as 
they are up out of the reach of the chil¬ 
dren, and the slender piping, 50 feet, 
really nothing more than hollow wire, 
only contains one half pint of gasoline. 
If one fills the tank and pumps it up by 
daylight, there is in my opinion no 
danger. Four of our neighbors already 
have them, and more are considering their 
installation. However, one should re¬ 
member that as in everything else, some 
systems are good, and some are bad. A 
brother-in-law tried a $200 system, which 
was guaranteed to work properly. It 
failed to do so, and the company took 
it out, and returned his money, and reim¬ 
bursed him for some damage which had 
been done as the result of the installa¬ 
tion. It will further interest 11. N.-Y. 
readers to know that butter, eggs and 
chickens paid for the system, and it is 
possible for many another one to do the 
same thing. mrs. m. Kennedy. 
Michigan. 
A Shool Teacher as Lamb Raiser. 
Y success, if I have been successful 
in sheep raising has been through 
“main strength and ignorance,” an ex¬ 
pression long in use in our family. In 
the Winter of 10— it fell to my lot to 
care for the old homestead, or rather I 
took this duty upon myself and decided 
to see what I could do. Had it not been 
for the very excellent flock of Sliopshires 
I scarcely see how we could have been 
able to meet our expenses. We, means 
my mother and myself. The flock at first 
numbered 43. The first Winter, much 
February 27./ 
to our surprise and disappointment, and 
here illustrates ignorance, the sheep be¬ 
gan lambing the last of February, and all 
through the cold snowy March they kept 
coming, rapidly, too. We were having 
a school vacation at that time on account 
of bad weather, so I was at home to help. 
We had a young boy with us, and to¬ 
gether we cared for the lambs. By cov¬ 
ering them with pieces of old carpet or 
any available article that protected them 
from the cold we would bring the newly- 
born lambs to the house, dry them thor¬ 
oughly. and as soon as they could stand 
well carry them back to the barn to get 
their first meal. This is not the easiest 
part of the proposition; we must find 
whether the mother had milk for her 
lamb and then in a great many instances 
exercise great patience, and some “main 
strength.” Some lambs were slow in 
learning how to get their food, and then 
too it was so cold that the poor things 
would rather die than eat, I suspect; 
anyway a great many did die that ter¬ 
rible first Winter. Another thing we did 
to many of the sheep was to clip the 
dirty tags hanging about the udder so 
that the lambs would not get hold of 
them in trying to nurse. 
Of course, we made partitions in the 
sheep barn so as not to have too many 
together, put straw in the pens and made 
their apartments as warm as we could. 
We succeeded in raising 42 at this time, 
and sold 30 in the Fall, keeping the re¬ 
maining 12 to improve the flock, and dis¬ 
posing of any old sheep that were not 
profitable to keep. We separated the 
lambs from the mothers in August and 
put them in good feed and sold them the 
last of October. We received over five 
dollars a piece for them. We have since 
done much better than this. Last year 
we raised 50 lambs from 45 sheep, and 
our wool and lambs together brought us 
over $300. We have learned Q, great 
many things and have iTiUtij more to 
learn. I am sure any woman can do as 
well as we have done if she is not afraid 
to undertake the work. 
CHARLOTTE FA1BCIILLD. 
Women as Would-be Homesteaders. 
I HAVE noticed that you answer ques¬ 
tions in your paper, and so am tak¬ 
ing it for granted that you will an¬ 
swer my question. A friend and myself 
are talking of going West in the Spring, 
and taking up a homestead, either in 
Montana, Idaho or Oregon. Will you 
tell me to what official or officials I 
should write in regard to homesteads? 
Also, would you consider this an ad¬ 
visable thing to do? We are both young 
women, country born and bred, with 10 
years of experience in caring for our¬ 
selves. We have a bank account of 
several hundred dollars and as good 
health as the average woman. We can 
support ourselves by teaching, or if 
necessary, qualify as cooks or practical 
nurses. We know enough about garden¬ 
ing and farm animals to be able to care 
for them, and figure that we could prob¬ 
ably find someone to work our land on 
shares, at least enough of it so that we 
could prove up on it. We are not plann¬ 
ing a get-rich-quick scheme. If at the 
end of the three years we break even on 
the financial side we shall be satisfied. 
We think that the increased strength and 
breadth of experience will more than 
counterbalance the discomforts of rough¬ 
ing it. Please give us your opinion. 
15. s. D. 
We answered this privately, but print 
it here, as we usually do where new 
propositions are started. The Interior 
Department at Washington will give the 
facts about public land and how to ob¬ 
tain it. When it comes to a question 
of selecting a new home in a strange land 
we never express an opinion or give di¬ 
rect advice, unless we know all about 
the people. In this case we know neither, 
and so we “open the meeting” to those 
who can give these enterprising women 
the help they need. 
Pests In Furniture. —Did you ever 
have pests in furniture, particularly 
upholstered work. Sometimes there are 
cases where new chairs and davenports 
from the store are infested with book 
lice, and it is a question in the mind of 
the dealer and purchaser where these 
pests come from. Too, there are other 
pests which will succumb to the follow¬ 
ing treatment: Sprinkle the furniture, or 
in case it is bedclothing, abundantly 
with gasoline. Keep fire out of the room 
where it is being done, open the windows 
and let it ventilate well, or take the fur¬ 
niture out of doors and sprinkle there. 
Give it a good thorough treatment. Wlierc- 
ever the gasoline touches one of these pests 
it means sudden death, and at the same 
time the fabric will not be injured: 
