10 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January o, 1918 
Garden and Poultry 
Some Virginia Turkeys 
Mr. n. R. Lomaii. su]iprintPiKlpnt, of 
].one Oak Farm. Mrginia. sends us the 
juctuiT of turkeys shown at Fig. 7. He 
says; 
“These are tame or native Bronze tur¬ 
keys. hut l iglit liere on tliis farm are wild 
turkeys whh-h look like tlie tame ones at 
a distance. They eome down from the 
hills and Oreen Mount.ain. which connect 
with the Itlue Ridge ^Mountains.-and there 
is a gieat deal of woodland, second- 
growth jiine. etc., all along the .Tames 
River, which gives the turkeys protection. 
The new hunting or game law is also a 
jii'otection to them, and they are nou get¬ 
ting .so tame that they will venture out 
of the woodland into our grain li(‘lds to 
with them, although one of the men pro¬ 
tested he would be bound to stay and 
milk the .lerseys. 
Well, they hired the best of counsel, 
and one of them, being well connected 
linancially and otherwise, the prospects 
weren't good. Threats of a damage suit 
loomed uj). and many feared we "would 
drop it; .'foO was subscribed by anxious 
ones to hire additional counsel, and stand¬ 
ing room was -at a i)reraium in the big 
court house when the trial came up. 
And then, they offered to plead guilty and 
pay a tine of .$200 each and three months 
in jail if we would agree not to push the 
jtrosecution any further. This, together 
with their other expenses, would ruin 
them anyway, and we agreed. One left 
’A Virginia Group of Bronze Turkeys. Fig. 7 
feed, but on sight of anyone they are off 
like a cannon ball.” 
Tracking a Chicken Thief 
lloir Then ‘'Sinnr Them" in Missouri. 
In the Summer of 19T0 raids on fryers 
began to be i-eimrted here and there over 
the County, sometimes in one direction 
and .vometinu'S in .another. Tbe.se in- 
<'reased in frecpiency .with Winter, and 
.as fta'd was scarce and high, and people 
<lei)ended much on their poultry, there 
soon was a di’cadful howl. One family 
lost every chicken they had while sitting 
up with sickness in the family. They 
laughed at another man who ran them 
away while getting his. The trail seemed 
difficult and peojile suspected each other. 
^ly two farmer sons live on the home 
farm four miles away, and one morning 
when they had both been away for the 
night the daughtei--in-]aw called me over 
the ’phone and said seven hens were miss¬ 
ing. There was an auction sale in the 
neighborhood, and the tracks would be 
badly obliterated. They had passed going 
■and coming, but finding where they had 
driven over a stump and .the axle broke 
over some of the splinters put us on. A 
mule makes :i i>eculiar track and we soon 
learned to recognize any part of it. In¬ 
terested neighbors dropped in and out, 
but all that freezing 2!tth of February wo 
toiled on. my son .-md R We followed 
about 10 miles, and about sundown came 
to the end of the trail in a man’s yard. 
A beautiful herd of Jerseys stood at the 
bars, and we admired and talked trade 
with a boy choi)ping wood. There were 
lots of chicks in sight, but none looked 
like ours. While my son talked with the 
boy I stepped I'ound an old building which 
had a lean-to built on. The lean-to door 
had a lx.j nailed acro.ss and I pulled it 
off, looked in and there, among about 7o 
chicks, were ours. 1 fixed it, winked at 
the boy, and we went away—he to keep 
a lookout from a brushy fence row, and I 
to call an officer, beciiuse it was impor¬ 
tant that we get them with the goods <in. 
The officers soon arrived. The men had 
returned; they were out when my sou 
and I first went, and they vehemently de¬ 
nied getting the chickens, but my boy 
swore to them, and the officer told the 
two men they would have to go to town 
the country as soon as he could, and I 
haven’t heard of another theft since, and 
peoi)le generally are well satisfied with 
the result. n. b. xiroifAS. 
Missouri. 
Soy Beans ; Honey Dew Melons 
Last Spring we received a collection of 
six one-ounce packets of Soy beans of the 
following varieties: Tto San, 3Iongol, .Tet, 
Wilson, Sable and IMikado. These beans 
Avere planted June 2.‘>, and Ito San i)ulled 
Oct. 9. Fro.st soon after this hurt the 
other varieties severely, but all were pull¬ 
ed Noa'. 4. IMongol and Jet ripened enough 
to be apparently all right for seed, and a 
fcAv plants of Wilson gave us about as 
much seed as Ave had to start Avith. Sable 
and Mikado seem to need a much longer 
season than Ave have here. Ito San, Jet 
and ^Mongol Avill probably mature seed 
here in a normal year. The i-abbits de- 
sti-oyed a large number of plants, but Ito 
San and ,Tet gave each about a pound and 
a half and ^Mongol nearly three pounds 
of seed from an ounce. Sable Avas podded 
about as full as Mongol, but did not get 
nearly ripe. On the basis of these tests, 
Ito San, .let and Mongol seem AV’orthy of 
/further trial in this locality. They should 
all ripen se(‘d in a noinial year. 
This Avas a very poor season for melons, 
but we got a fcAV Honey DeAvs to make 
jibout their full gi-oAvth. When the frosts 
<'ame they Avere brought into the hou.se 
and stored about the .same as stpiashes. 
They ripened along, and .some kept until 
about Thanksgiving. Those that were 
nearly matui'e Avhen picked were v('i\v 
good later. It seems likely that Avell- 
matured specimens Avhich had not been 
frosted could be kept in cold storage until 
Avell into the Winter. ai,fi!i:i) c. avkfd. 
Wayne To., N. Y. 
THE MAILBAG 
Seed Corn and Soft Corn 
Reports from the West shoAV a great 
shortage of suitable seed corn. In many 
parts of the corn-groAving belt this has 
come to be a genuine calamity, and Avill 
have had a bad effect upon the next crop 
unless prompt measures are taken to find 
good seeds. Much of the corn is soft, and 
not Avoll matured. Most of it Avould have 
fair feeding value, but the germination 
poAver Avould be very Ioaa*. This great 
quantity of soft corn has made it neces¬ 
sary for the farmers and scientific men to 
find some improved Avay of keeping it. 
This they seem to have found in the use 
of salt. For a good many years certain 
farmers have used salt on the corn Avith 
fair i-esults. This year it is coming to l)e 
quite a general practice. Soft corn is 
thrown into the cribs, as usual, and for 
every load of corn about six quarts of 
common barrel salt is scattered in over 
the ears as they are cribbed. This salt 
seems to take the moisture out of the 
.soft corn, and apparently keeps it in f.-iir 
condition. Tlie salt aa-ouUI do no good 
Avhen u.sed on dry, hard corn. In certain 
parts of the West reports are that seed 
corn is in fair condition. The govern¬ 
ment. through its agents, should get bu.sy 
at once, find out Avliere this hard corn is 
located, and plan to have it distributed 
thioiigh the Cfji-n-groAving sections. 
Troubles of Canners 
Direct to Consumers 
PAN AMERICAN 
TIRES 
New fresh cured stock 
First Grade—not to be confused with in¬ 
ferior tires usually offered at cut prices. 
Guaranteed 3500 miles 
30x3 Plain. 
$10.61 
30x3 Non-skid. 
11.57 
30 x 31/2 Plain . 
13.63 
30x3^/^ Non-skid- 
15.92 
Cash with 
order 
Automobile Sundries Co. 
18 Broadway 
New York City 
We all have our troubles—some of us 
perhaps can SAvalloAV them Avith less noise 
and trouble than others. Here is Avhat 
we get from the inside regarding a big 
canning factory : The situation is com¬ 
plicated by the uncertainty of Avhat the 
HoA'ernment Avill do regarding the 1918 
pack. Will the Government fix a price 
on canned goods, and if so, Avhat Avill that 
l)rice be'f Packers usually contract in 
January Avith farmers for groAA’ing the 
mpiired acreage, akso Avith supply hou.ses 
for cans. They then begin to sell futures 
through brokers to Avholesalers. to be 
shii)ped at end of the coming season. Cans 
and ca.ses ‘have almost doubled in price 
since 191(5, labor has gone up about 50 
per cent, the farmers want 50 per cent 
more, and Uncle 8am Avants 20 per cent 
cent of the pack for the soldiers and is 
exi)ected to fix the price. 8o the canners 
are “up in the air.” 
Mice and Fruit Trees | 
A number of our readers are beginning ' 
to report a plague of field mice, Avhich 
are doing great damage to apple and 
peach trees. La.st Spring Ave had an ac¬ 
count of such a scourge written by Geo. 
T. PoAvell, as the mice Avere very bad in 
.some parts of tlie Hudson Valley. This 
year the reports come from various 
places. I 
Whei-e the mice nest around the tree, 
and Avork above ground, they can be 
kiqit off by removing all trash R'om 
around the tree, and throAving a mound of 
coal ashes around the trunk, or winding 
around it a piece of Avire netting. In 
many cases, however, the mice work un¬ 
derground, and gnaw off the roots, so that 
it is necessary to dig around the tree in 
order to get at them. Some of our peo- 
jile report success for the mice above 
ground by painting or smearing the trunks 
with lime-suljihur solution, one part to 
eight parts of water. The use of tobacco 
stems is recommended by some, altbough 
others report that they have found the 
mice nesting in the tobacco. Several 
Western readers have used bisulphide of 
carbon successfully Avhere the mice Avork 
under ground. They use an injector, 
which is like a large syringe, push the 
point doAvn into the ground around the 
tree, and blow out the liipiid into the soil. 
That .seeims to kill many of the mice, and 
is Avorked on much the same principle as 
the idan of using this liquid in killing 
white grubs around straAvberry plants. 
The annual meeting of the Rural Sav¬ 
ings and I.oan Association Avill be held 
at the office. .TTT AVest .“lOth Street, at one 
o’clock, Tuesday, January 15, 1918. This 
meeting is for the purpose of electing offi¬ 
cers for the ensuing year, and six directors 
for a term of one and three years. 
M. G Keyes. 
Seci’etaiy. 
NEURALGIA ^ 
The 
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relieving power of 
ANDOLIN 
The Penetrative Anodyne Cream 
^ One application givea relief in the most J 
^ obstinate cases. No longer necessary j 
to resort to opiates. Senil 60 cents in j 
stamps for a large tube. 
EDWARD LASSERE, Inc. 
Sole Agents fur America 
400West 23rd Street 
NewYork 
nr ffmnrm 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West Thirtieth Street, New York 
DID YOU RAISE 300 BUSHELS OF 
POTATOES PER ACRE THIS YEAR? 
If you did not you are losing part of your profits. 
With proper care and the right kind of fertilizer pota¬ 
toes can be made one of the most profitable farm crops. 
Our book Potatoes: A Money Crop,” will help 
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THE COE-MORTIMER COMPANY, 51 Chambers St., New York City 
Subsidiary of tlie American Agricultural Chemical Co. 
Manufacturers of E. FRANK COE FERTILIZERS 
1857 The Business Farmer’s Standard for over Sixty Years 1918 
