36 
Z>he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
“Great Crops of 
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Strawberries grown the KELLOGG 
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Is the amount Frank 
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grown the KELLOGG 
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P LANT the right kind and grow 
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THE W. F. ALLEN CO, 
72 Market St., Salisbury, Md. 
mm 
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Greatest c^rly money-maker. nLX Belter than^ 
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Th is book fully explains our20th 
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STRAWBERRIES 
AND OTHER SMALL FRUITS 
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Realizing the wonderful 
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I 
Various Notes 
An English Hay Case 
The English furin papers are well 
filled with comments on the hay and 
straw situation. The British govern¬ 
ment has forbidden the sale of hay and 
straw without oflicial permission. The 
government reserves the first right to buy 
hay, and farmei'.s are not permitted to 
sell until an inspector visits their place 
and takes wlmt the government may 
need. After inspection the government 
will permit tlie release of a certain 
quantity of hay, and then the farmers 
may sell it. Under this system a com¬ 
plication recently arose which will seem 
strange to many of our readers. An 
Engli.sh farmer obtained permission from 
the govi'rnment to sell some haj’. There 
were 20 tons of hay, probably mi.xed 
clover in one lot which had been heated. 
This hay was sold, and after they found 
it was heating the farmer sent word to 
the buyer to come and take it at once. 
The latter delayed mairly a month, and 
before he finally came the hay took fire 
and burned. Then the farmer demanded 
payment for the hay whicli he had sold 
while in the barn, and before the danger 
set in. In many of such cases in Eng¬ 
land the parties do not go to law, but 
sul iiiit tlii'ir case to the Earmei’s' Union, 
whicli is an organization of farmers de- 
.signed to do a cooperative or general 
business. U'his casi’ was submitted to 
the Union, and aftc'r a long discussion it 
was decided that the farmer who sold the 
hay was entitled to $875. The l)uy(>r was 
obliged to pay this because he did not 
come and remove the hay when he was 
notified. 
Experience with Sweet Clover 
In the Spring of 1915 I planted some 
small sweet clover plants h.v graiie posts, 
so I could tie them up as they gi-ew. 
I'hoy grew six and seven and eight 
branches heavily loaded with blossom, and 
wei’e alive with honey bees ever.v da.v, 
though there are no bees kept within a 
mile of my place. 
In the Fall, when the seed was ripe, 
I sju-ead blankets under them and cut tlie 
jiarts having seed off onto other blankets 
to try to save all the seed. 
In the Spring of 191() I noticed the 
ground around where they grew was 
thickly seeded from seeds that must have 
fallen before I gathered the seed stalks, so 
I left the ground undisturbed to see what 
stand I would have. It grew a close 
stand from three to four feet high, scat- 
teri'd plants five feet. 
There are two poiiiters for me in this 
experiment. The jdants grew so large, 
making large bu.qhes; the leaders or cen¬ 
tre stalk grew 10 and 11 feet high. Here 
is the first pointer. Being jilanted by 
the grape posts, the roots must have fol¬ 
lowed down by the posts, and got lots of 
moisture and nourishment to grow so 
large, I could have made walking canes 
of the main stalks. Pointer number two: 
.Sow the seed in the Fall as nature does. 
lister Co., N. Y. .joskph bailey. 
Potatoes for Flour 
Perhaps some of your readers would he 
interested in my experiments to find 
methods of substituting potatoes for flour. 
I will give two bread recipes tb.at have 
pi-oved excellent, and as I work out 
others will send them in. if the.v are de¬ 
sired, I shall try cake, doughnuts, etc., as 
fme permits, until I find ways, if iiossi- 
hle, to use my potatoes in all foods and 
thus cut down the grocer’s bill. 
White Bread—Two quarts hot mashed 
jiotatoes, 1 cake compressed yeast, one 
tahlespoonful salt, one pint milk. Place 
in round-bottomed mixing bowl and mash 
with a wire potato masher until creamy. 
This takes about three minutes, but is 
most important. Add flour to make a 
very stiff dough. Bai.se, mold into 
loaves, raise and bake. It takes slightly 
longer to bake than all-flour bread. Lard 
ami sugar can bo added if desii-ed. but are 
not necessary. Water can be substituted 
for milk, but is not desirable when milk is 
obtainable. 
Graham bread is made the same, using 
four parts graham, one part wheat flour, 
and after adding some flour add another 
pint of milk. F. E. paksons, 
Massachusetts. 
Force of Artesian Wells 
The United States Geological Survey 
makes an interesting report of deep wells 
which seem to feel the force of the sea. 
Those are mostly artesian wells, which 
have been sunk along the Atlantic coa.st. 
There is a variation in flow from these 
wells, there being a stronger flow at 
flood tide, and a weaker flow as the tide 
ebbs away. Well drillers have the opin¬ 
ion that this is true of all flowing wells, 
.which are near tidal waters. 
It is customary to explain these 
changes by supposing a direct connec¬ 
tion between the river, lake, or bay ; but 
in many jilacos. as in Eastern Virginia, 
such connection is clearly impossible, 
owing to the depth of the wells and the 
nature of the intervening bed.s, some of 
them dense, tough marls and clays. 
These bed.s, however, though the.v do not 
transmit water, nevertheless contain it, 
and as water is practically incompressi¬ 
ble, any variation of level on the river or 
hay is transmitted to the well through 
the water-filled gravels, sands, clays, and 
marls. When a porous bed is tapped by 
a well the water rises to the point of 
equilibrium and fluctuates as the hand 
of the ocean varies its pressure on the 
beds that confine the artesian flow. 
An I(>telligent Snake 
.Some time ago one of your correspon¬ 
dents made a plea for the common garden 
snake, and drew attention to its harm- 
lessness and value. This Hummer we 
had an intere.sting illustration of hotli the 
value and sagacity of tliese pretty little 
roptile.s. On one of the mountain roads, 
attention was attracted to the (luoer 
antics of a garter snake that had been 
startled h.v the passers-by, and was mak¬ 
ing frantic efforts to get info a loose ctono 
fenee that ('xtonded along one side of the 
road. But it seemed to be trying to get 
in tail first I On closer insp('ction it was 
diseovej'(‘d that the snaki' was not “too 
.seared to know whieh end he was stand¬ 
ing on” but had good and sufficient rea¬ 
sons for “turning tail.” It had a stran¬ 
gle-hold on a mucilaginous slug of a girth 
gi’eater than its own ; coiisequenfl.v a for¬ 
ward oiitrance through the narrow inter- 
sHcos of the stones was out of tlie ques¬ 
tion and the snake was enginoei'ing a 
backward imll. Tlie interested spectators 
remained quii’t and watelied the proceed¬ 
ing which was successfully accomplished ; 
the exploring tail hitting an opening be- 
fween the stones and the snake drawing 
itself and the sing backward into its home 
quarters. 
Probably not many Eastern people are 
acquainted with onr Pacific coast slugs. 
^1 hose are yellowisli-hrowii slimv creatures 
that grow to jirodigious size in damp lo¬ 
calities where the cropiiing is good. They 
“sure-to-goodness” cut a swath in gar¬ 
dens, mowing down the succulent vegeta¬ 
tion and leaving behind them nothing but 
a trail of white slime. As a check on 
these ravaging gastropods, this incident 
proves the harmless garden snake to be a 
public benefactor on the Pacific coast. 
California. yi. ki*ssell james. 
“ The Other Side ” of the Snake 
Jit ha.s^ alwa.vs been our plan to per¬ 
mit a fair di.scus.sion of farm topics— 
not long-drawn-out. but pointed and 
brief. Thus we permit the city man to 
discuss suake.s.—Ed.s.] 
It was with some disaiipfiintment that 
I read in a recent i.ssue a <*ommunica- 
tiou from one .1. xVndrew Gasterline hav¬ 
ing as its theme a plea for the general 
destruction of snakes. I assume your 
corresiiondent to be a farmer, and his 
view of the snake question is a prevail¬ 
ing one throughout the country. It is 
almost tragic that farmers and subur- 
haniles do not appreciate or care to 
iiivestigafe the fact that there is another 
side to he considered. 
Is tlu'ro anything more di.sgusting, 
more cowardly than a man clubbing to 
death six or seven inches of quivering 
muscle? There certainly is not. yet it 
is no uncommon sight to see such an 
occurrence during the Hummer. Mr. Ca.s- 
terline bewails the loss of birds and 
toads. A toad subsists on flies and other 
in.sects. and is considered by the Depart¬ 
ment of xVgricultnre to be woj'th tlie sum 
of $17.50 to the farmer per annum. 
Birds are without doubt wortli a con¬ 
siderable amount, though they help 
themselves very generou.sly to grain and 
seed when the oiiiiortunit.y comes their 
way. But snakes! x\.re they worth 
nothing? Only a slight knowledge of 
natural history is necessary to figure the 
worth of snakes to the farmer. Black 
snakes do not feed entirel.v or very fre¬ 
quently on birds. Instead, the.v prefer 
rats, field mice, red squirrehs, and other 
destructive rodents. If we, human be¬ 
ings, had to live entirely upon one sort 
of food without variety, we would soon 
die out. Black snakc’s feed about once 
ever.v five or six da.ys, but when the.v 
do, they devour one or two nests of 
young rodents, perhaps also the jiarents. 
A nest of field mice every few days is 
the fare of milk snakes, with perhaps 
a chipmunk thrown in. Garter snakes 
prefer worms, but also take insects with 
an occasional toad. The familiar little 
green snake subsists almo.st entirely 
upon various destructive insects, as do 
most all of the smaller reptiles, such as 
ring-necks, Htorer's. DeKay’s, etc. The 
above are true facts based upon j)er.soual 
observation and backed by the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture and all naturalists 
who have been sufficiently interested to 
study reptiles. Though I uphold the de¬ 
struction of poisonous species, fairness 
compels me to say that they are to be 
listed among the most valuable aids that 
January 13, 1917. 
Dame Nature has provided to help the 
farmer. 
For the benefit of those who still be¬ 
lieve the atrocious and fantastical tales 
and superstitions told of snakes, please 
observe that: the “hoop’’ snake is a 
myth; snakes bite, not sting; snakes do 
not protrude their “legs’’ when thrown 
in fire: the “puff adder” (hog-nosed 
snake I is not poisonous hut is the most 
harmless snake in this country as it 
feigns death when approached and noth¬ 
ing can induce it to bite, and above all 
things, milk snakes do not drink milk 
and if they could, their consumption 
would be no more than an ounce or two. 
FHEDERICK FRANKLIN SCHRADER, JR. 
New York. 
Siphoning Water from Well 
In reply to II. M’’. ]M., page 1071, re¬ 
garding siphoning water from well, I had 
a well dug about IS years ago to get 
water to run to house. I struck rock at 
12 feet and stoned it up; had water, but 
if faucet was loft open in a dry time it 
would run out the water, and I would 
have to fill the pipe to start it, as the 
faucet in the house was lower. After 
two or throe years I took a level and 
found my faucet was SO feet below top 
of ground at well. I got a well driller 
and had him drill 20 feet into the rock, 
making well 32 feet deep, which was the 
length of the pipe going into the well. I 
lived there several years and never had 
trouble, as the water would stop running 
when it got down to the level of the fau¬ 
cet. w J. B. 
Cuyler, N. Y. 
Bird Protection 
I came from Vermont 40 years ago, 
and at that time ever.v boy had a col¬ 
lection of birds’ eggs and a sling-.shot. 
Every nest, except the English spar¬ 
row's was robbed and ever.v bird was a 
mark for the sling; man.v birds were 
killed and no knowing how man.v of 
the young died as the result. M’e had 
no breeding places for mosquitoes, and 
no screens in our windows, but strange 
to say there are about as many mos¬ 
quitoes now as then. ^Ye had no worms 
killing our apple trees then, and know 
nothing about sprays, and onr barns, 
ehimne.vs and oaves on the farm were 
alive with the swallows, and song birds 
of all kinds all around. Today what is 
it? The English sparrow has driven all 
these away; he lives in the graiufield in 
Summer and corn barn with the rats in 
IVintor, and not a bug will he eat. Of 
course the man who has the spra.vs to 
sell wants to sell, and the man with the 
gun and powder to sell wants all to 
shoot, but from a financial standpoint it 
is a poor investment for a hard-working 
faniH'r. M’hat the xUmighty put on this 
earth he jint for a good purpose, and if 
we destroy it we must pay dear for it 
as we are doing now. 
IVe can d('stro.v birds’ eggs and pre¬ 
vent their incrcuise. I remember j’ears 
ago we put up bird boxes and every year 
the.v were inhabited by the bluebird and 
martin. la't’s see you do it today. This 
year I sat on the piazza of the old farm 
and with a 22 rifle killed near a hun¬ 
dred English sparrows. That will be 
less 400 eggs next year. Have your song¬ 
birds and they will save you in dollars 
and hard work in the long run. 
New York. j. G. jioore. 
Farm Sanitation 
If Beader, page 1222, burns coal and 
will put the ashes every day into the 
vault, they will absolutely eliminate a’l 
odor and make no ob.ieetionable feature 
when the vault is cleaned. .V trench can 
be dug in the garden and an excellent 
fertilizer obtained by placing in it the 
contents of the closet. F. c. c. 
The wa.v suggested for an earth closet 
has worked satisfactorily here for years, 
though it has been a wooden pail instead 
of a galvanized, and it should be so ar¬ 
ranged that it can be taken out at the 
top instead of the bottom. j. E. 
Packing Eggs. — ^”11611 the packer of 
eggs will leave out the long eggs there 
will be less broken. In nearly ever.v case 
I find the damage comes from that, and 
again some shipiiers pack cracked eggs. 
I sent eggs weekly for 30 years to a cus¬ 
tomer in New York City, and onl.v one 
complaint of damage b.v express. It is not 
tlie express company every time that is .‘it 
fault. G. w. n. 
Port .Tervis, N. Y. 
■Water in Cellar. —If M. B. M., page 
1409, will follow this plan he will have 
a dr.v cellar. On the side which leaks 
make a hole through the wall for an inch 
pipe. Make hole two or three inches 
from cellar floor, say middle of length 
of wall. Make water run through this 
hole; the pipe may project into cellar 
two inches, the out end even with wall. 
Pack back in wall with something to 
hold pipe steady. 'When water ceases 
to seep through make a mixture of two 
very fine sand and one cement. Go over 
wall and around pipe. M^hen nearly dry 
make a thick paint of just cement. Put 
on with brush. If well done water will 
not come through wall after short pipe 
is plugged up. In this case a pipe may 
be attached and run along wall to cellar 
drain. But that will not be necessary. 
I fixed a cistern once this very way. 
Wilmington, O. L. H. E. 
