1126 
“How about your losses from foxes?’ I said. • 
“Many gi’owers report losses both day and night 
from this sly marauder.” 
“You see, our turkeys are housed and locked 
in at night. The windows are all out of the house, 
but the openings are well screened. We have no 
losses in the day time for two reasons. You notice 
we have practically no woods where Mr. Fox can 
sneak up on the birds and furthermore we rarely 
let the birds out of sight any time during the day. 
Constant watchfulness is our motto.” 
“Yes, but that must make your work very confin¬ 
ing?” 
“.So it is, but it means bread and butter to us, 
so we take no chances during the growing season. 
In Winter we get our relief.” 
“What about the markets? Will extra fine birds 
command an extra price?” 
“They surely will,” came the prompt response. 
“We often get one and two cents a pound above 
our neighbors because we have larger plump birds.” 
“Where do you sell?” 
“You know. Northern New York birds have a 
reputation beyond all others. Vermont turkeys may 
still appear on the bill of fare of many Boston hotels 
but more hotels i-eally serve Northern New York 
turkeys and the rose may be sweeter under another 
name.” 
MARKETING.—I was aware of the fact that 
those northern grown turkeys commanded the best 
price in the Worcester and Boston mai-kets. Tur¬ 
key day is a time of great interest throughout the 
north country. This is the day that the local buyers 
bid on the turkeys as they are brought into the .ship¬ 
ping center.s. The big day comes on Wetlnesday, 
Thui’sday or Friday of the week before Thanksgiv¬ 
ing. A standard method of dressing for market is 
usually employed in St. Lawrence County. The 
birds are commonly not fed for the 12 hours before 
killing, though occasionally we hear of .someone 
feeding a mixture of cornmeal mash and gravel to 
gain weight. Bleeding, the plucking of the feathers, 
and the i-emoval of the entrails completes the job 
to the .satisfaction of most buyers. Head and feet 
are left on. This means a .shrinkage of only about 
two pounds for a good-sized bird. These birds must 
be handled quickly, especially if the weather is mild. 
The express companies are always prepared for the 
added business and two express cars .started from 
Massena the .Saturday before Thanksgiving. On the 
special sale day for any locality the buyers gather 
at the selling point and farmers bring in their loads 
of turkeys to receive bids. 
BUSINES.S RISKS.—^The buyers are often ac¬ 
cused of getting the lion’s share of the profit.s, but 
they have their risks to run. For example, if the 
weather is mild the birds sometimes lose their 
freshness before reaching the market, and the price 
is shaded. Then again, as the case wa.s last .season, 
the price was pu.shed up so high that even some of 
the wealthy refused to purchase, and substituted the 
humble chicken to grace the Thanksgiving table. 
The price last year ranged from 30 to 33 cents per 
pound wholesale, and certainly with the feed prices 
then existing it seemed as if there was good profit 
in the business. c. s. phelps. 
Thrashing Beans With Grain Separator 
You had last Summer several articles relating to 
growing beans, but I have seen nothing relating to 
thrashing them. I have 30 acres of common white 
beaus, and they must be thrashed with a common oat 
sepai-ator. Will some one describe just how an old 
oat thrasher can be fixed so to thrash and clean beans 
effectively and not split the bean? x. E. c. 
E. C. says these beaus must be thi’ashed with a 
• grain separator. He will certainly be up against 
serious loss if this determination is adhered to. If 
beans could be thrashed by these ma<dunes, there 
would never have been the necessity of building and 
operating a separate machine for doing this work. 
In using a grain separator for thrashing beaus, one 
of two things will occur; either the beans will be 
badly split, or they will not be thrashed clean from 
the pods, but will land in the stack of bean foddei*. 
To thi-ash them with a grain machine a part of the 
concave teeth must be removed and the motion re¬ 
duced. If the beans are very dry, as they should be 
when thrashed, they will be badly split if thrashed 
clean from the pods; if damp enough to avoid split- 
ing, they cannot be thrashed clean from the pods by 
this method. The bean machine has two cylinders 
and other parts of the machine differ materially from 
a grain thrashei'. 
In our earlier experience in growing beans in 
Western New Yoi‘k all kinds of makeshifts were 
tried out to thrash the crop before a practical ma¬ 
chine was invented, and until this occurred most of 
the beans were thrashed out by treading with horses 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
over the barn floor. The flooring was laid pretty 
thick, about 18 inches deep as they were spread loose 
over the floor. The horses used were either without 
shoe.? or were smooth-shod. This method thrashes 
the beans quite rapidly if they are dry and the 
weather is clear and drying, as beans are very easily 
affected by weather conditions, and are hai’d to 
thrash during damp weather. Few beans will be split, 
and the beans will have a better gloss because of the 
treading. The flooring must be frequently stirred 
up and turned over, and when a few floorings have 
been thrashed off’ and the vines I’emoved, the beans 
and dirt are put at one side of the floor and run 
through a fanning mill. By placing the mill at the 
barn doors, so that the wind is blowing through, the 
dust and dirt will pass out in the open. To rig the 
mill the bottom is taken out of the hopper, the chess 
tjoard removed and replaced by the rake. Special 
/ 
Roller for Fitting Seedbed. Fig. 416. See Page 1128 
bean sieves and .screens are used. These are made of 
zinc, and the openings are round. In this way they 
can be cleaned quite i-apidly. 
Again the beans can be thrashed with a flail, and 
although some will be split, good satisfactory work 
can be done. As T. E. C. has quite an acreage of 
beans, i:>erhaps he could get a bean thrasher to come 
quite a distance to help him out, or get acreage 
enough pledged for next year, so that some one could 
be induced to invest in a machine this Fall. 
H. E. c. 
Trespass Signs and Farm Protection 
Every year we have many questions about the farm¬ 
er’s right to his own farm. This may seem like a strange 
thing when a man does not know how he .stands with 
his own land—but hunters, thieves and “ramblers” seem 
to think they have equal rights with land ow’ner.s. The 
following general statement about trespass notices and 
property rights should be kept or posted up in the barn. 
HERE is no set legal form for such notices. Tliey 
should be of sufficient definiteness to apprise 
persons that their presence on the land will be un¬ 
lawful. The following is a good form: 
Trespassing on this property for anj' purpose is for¬ 
bidden under penalty of the law. .Owmer. 
These .should be j^laced along the boundaries of the 
farm at the places most frequented by people in get- 
Sprayer for Getting Under Sides of Leaves. Fig. 417. See Page 1129 
ting on the farm, such as cross-roads, and placed 
saitficiently close together to make it practically im¬ 
possible for a trespasser to get on the land without 
seeing a notice. It would be well, if pos.sible, to get 
all the farmers of your neighborhood to post their 
lands wnth the same foi-m of notices, make hunters, 
fishermen, etc., understand, the signs were not put up 
merelj’ as decollations, then make a test case of the 
first trespasser found doing damage, and this scourge 
will gradually grotv less. 
This is a case of trespass; ownership of land, as 
one writer puts it, “comprehends the soil of the earth 
and the permanent productions and erections upon 
it, the trees, houses, fences, poles, wires and other 
structures. It includes all the strata of the soil and 
the space dowmward to the center of the earth, as 
well as all the space and structures above the .sur- 
fac-e indefinitely outw’ard. If one own an acre on the 
September 29, 1917 
surface of the soil, his land is ordinarily embraced 
within a cone or pyramid, having the center of the 
earth as its apex, extending upward and outward in¬ 
definitely into space, with its sides passing through 
the edges of the plot marked out by the acre upon 
the surface of the soil. The sides of this cone con¬ 
stitute his “close,” for the wrongful breaking through 
of w’hich by another the common law gives to the 
owner of the land an action of tre.spass.” 
It is the common law theory, followetl in prac¬ 
tically all the States, that every man’s land is en¬ 
closed either by a material fence or an invisible 
boundai’y» and that every unwarrantable entry 
thereon is a trespass for w’hich the owmer may main¬ 
tain an action for damages if for nothing more than 
the grass trampled on. Every injury further than 
this is but an aggravation of damages. The entry 
need not necessarily be in person, but may be by 
casting some object upon the land, or driving, or 
permitting animals thereon. It is not legally neces¬ 
sary for one to post his land but the custom in this 
country of allowing fishing and hunting on one’s land 
has become so universally established that before tak¬ 
ing any firmer steps to stop this nuisance it is best 
to put up the signs. In many of the States any in¬ 
jury to property, such as .stealing or destroying fruit, 
burning woods or fields, is made a crime. Massa¬ 
chusetts is particularly strict in this respect. The 
farmer is in most instances protected if he will 
but exerci.s6 his rights. In Massachusetts, and also 
in New .Tersey and other States, defacing of the 
notice against trespassers is punishable by fine. Akso 
the use of force by one person upon another is not 
unlawful when committed by a party or by another 
person in his aid or defen.se, in preventing or at¬ 
tempting to prevent a trespa.ss on real property in 
his possession if the force used is not more than 
sufficient to prevent such offense. This is true in 
New Y^ork, and in New .Jersey, a trespasser, after 
having been forbidden to enter the land of another, 
may be summarily apprehended by the owner or oc¬ 
cupant of the land and taken before any justice of 
the peace of the county and immediately tried, and 
if found guilty fined ,‘?.5 and cost.s, and if the fine is 
not paid he may be .sent to jail. 
Of course, the laws in the different States vary, 
but generally, the farmer has entire jurisdiction over 
his e.s'tate, and he may take such steps as are neces¬ 
sary, after notice, to put off, and keep off any tres¬ 
passers, especially if they are doing damage. As 
the cities increase in population, this is becoming 
more of a problem. If concerted action is taken by 
farmers, their rights will be gradually learned and 
respected by the city folk without the necessity of 
any great show of force, which, in the majority of 
cases, would be both unnecessary and Irritating, and 
the same ends may be better obtained by gentler 
methods. 
What is the Fertilizer Answer? 
I H.VVE been agitating the matter of fertilizer 
costs with “the Circumlocution Office” and would 
like to .see this question thoroughly aired. I ad¬ 
dressed an individual in the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, was referred to Federal Trade Commission, 
by them to Mr. Hoover, and by his board back to 
the I>epartment of Agriculture. 
I bought basic slag (best foreign) in 1914 at 
.$13.05, freight paid. In 1915 I bought Tennessee 
Coal, Iron & R. R. Co. slag at .$16.50, freight paid. 
In .Tune of this year the same product was quoted 
$19.50, freight paid. On July 1st this product was 
advanced .$4 per ton, and .subsequently $2 per ton; 
price is now $24 per ton in carload lots f. o. b. Rich¬ 
mond, as against $18 June .30th. 
These are purely arbitrary advances, for slag costs 
no more to produce than in 1915, save some added 
labor cost, and increased cost of sack.s. 
In 1914 I contracted 16 per cent acid pho.sphate 
for first half of 1915 at $12.0.5, freight paid. In 
March of this year I bought 16 per cent acid phos¬ 
phate at $15.99, freight paid. Lowest price now ob¬ 
tainable is $18.70, net cash, freight paid. 
The peak of high prices for sulphuric acid was 
reached in 1915, I believe, and I am morally certain 
that there is no justification of or for present price 
basis on acid phosphate. 
We are asked to expand our acreage in food pro¬ 
ducts, but to do so .succe.s-sfully we must fertilize. 
With prohibitive pidces on fertilizer, what is the 
answer? edwin eable. 
R. N.-Y.—Exactly! What is the answer? We do 
not know of any better way to find out than to 
shake the question right up to the air. .\re pres¬ 
ent prices for acid phosphate justified? If .so, let 
us know and we will all do our be.st to fall in with¬ 
out complaint. If they are ju.stified it should be 
quite ea.sy to prove it. 
