99 
Exterminating Fleas 
Can .von toll me an.viliiii); alxnit lli'as, 
their_ habits and how to exterminate 
them? K. K. II. 
Delaware. 
Owing to their size ami agility it is 
very difiicu't thoroughly to clean th'a.s 
out of a house when they have heconu' 
well establi.shed. (Ireat patience is re¬ 
quired to do a thorough job. ’I'he Ih'a.s 
are brought into the house by cats and 
dog.s. The insect lays its egg upon the 
hair of these animals. They hatch out 
and scatter through the house making 
their homes in cracks, corners, rubbish 
of any kind or under riig.s and cariiets. 
In most ca.ses the house is kejit well 
stocked with fleas by the hou.se dog. 
When the dog makes his nest inside the 
house and has a regular sleeping jdace, 
he wilh unless carefully w.ashed, make 
a regular incubator for this insect, llis 
sleeping place should be cleaned up fre¬ 
quently. Any hair or straw about it 
ta^en out and burned and carpets or rugs 
taken out and beaten. The dog or cat 
should he washed frequently with some 
form of tar or other soaji to drive oil’ 
the living fleas and destroy tin* eggs. 
If the house is well filled with fhe fleas 
the rugs or carpets should be taken up, 
thoroughly aired or beaten and left out¬ 
doors for several days. The cracks should 
he thoroughly swept out and spray<'d 
■with gasoline and a good insect powder 
scattered or blown into the cormu's and 
crevices. A very jiractical way of gi't- 
ting rid of the fleas is fo make use of 
the (log. Clean him up thoroughly by 
washing and combing and then let him 
into the bouse for u time. Following 
their instinct the fleas will gather on 
him, then take him out and give him an- 
otlu'r washing. 'I'hen after this is done 
b't him in again and go through tin* same 
jirocess. In thi.s way he will in time ab¬ 
sorb the greati'r propnilinu of the in¬ 
sects and if he is (horoughly washed from 
time to time that will dispose of them. 
This may seem to many lik(' a ridiculous 
proposition, but it is a itractical way of 
giving a dog a good name after In* has 
given th(' house a jioor name by bringing 
in the fleas. 
Interbreeding of Birds 
The following ifein is from the I’.os- 
ton Daily (Jlobe: 
“F’or the fifth consecutive Spring a 
robin and his strange mate, a blackbird, 
have returned to their home in a yanl 
in ttrange. X. .1., and built their nest. 
The robin's first mate w.is killed ami 
the blackbird took up her lioiiK' there. 
The (‘ggs each season hatch brown birds 
resembling a thrush.” 
What can you t(dl us about it? 
North Truro, Mass. e. i,. s. 
'J'he story clipiied from the Boston 
tJlob(‘ has no indication of jirobability. 
'J’here are, of course, certain W(‘ll-known 
cases of int<“rbreeding and resulting 
hybridism among birds, but so far as 
recorded, the.se are always between close- 
1y allied .siiecies. Certain of the warb¬ 
lers and dm-ks arc prominent examples. 
The hybrid birds prodiicisl by the inter¬ 
breeding of the blue-winged warbler and 
golden-winged warbler, has for years been 
con.sidered a distinct species under the 
name of Brewster’.s warbler. Tbe Fii- 
ropean blackbird, so called, is a member 
of the thrush family. I do not know of 
cases of its int(‘rbreeding, but it would 
not be remarkable for it to interbreed 
with the song thrush or other allied 
speeie.s. The blackbirds of this country, 
however, belong to an entirely dilTerent 
family than doe.s the robin. Tlndr intm-- 
breeding with the robin would be ex¬ 
tremely imiirobable, to put it mildly. 
Should such interbree(|ing occur, how¬ 
ever, the off.si)ring would not be "brown 
thrushes,” that name being aiqdiisl com¬ 
monly to the brown thrasher. 
'There are a numbm- of birds in East¬ 
ern North America commonly called 
blackbirds. The purjile grackle and the 
bronze grackle are usually referred to as 
crow blackbirds. There ar‘' also tin' red¬ 
wing blackbird and rusty .Uaciibb. , of 
the.se two, the latter wouh' r,miid 
remaining in Ne .T.tsc.v to in...I, and 
the former wo. ' - • t.io •-ina;i fo be 
likely to breed with t;;s robin, even if 
there were no other reasons against such 
■’’terbreedlng. The habits of grackles and 
•■■bins are .so totally different that their 
interbreeding would be doubtful in the 
extreme. B, s. now dish. 
HAe RURAL NLW.YORKER 
Country Wide Markets 
(('ontiniK'd from jiage !)7.) 
limes tin' fis'sh earlot arrivals at large 
city marki'ts weri? nearly all froz.'ii. 
These various conditions have mitiirally 
impi-oved the market jiosilion of good 
produce. 
THE .Ii;.MI' IN CAim.AUE. 
'I'he g('neral upward movement was 
started by cabbage, which nearly doubled 
its value in four wei'ks. This crop .startl'd 
tin' .season too low in iirict' for war tiun's 
and war costs of production. A large 
jiart of the advanct' was no more than re- 
(piired to place cabbage in line with olln'r 
crops. The rest of the ri.si' ri'snlti'd from 
the ('arly frei'ze and the car shortage. 
Tin' price is now about iq) to the ligun's 
IH'i'vailing last year befon' tin' extreiin' 
scarcity In'came evident, but no such boom 
is to be lookc'd for this yi'ar. tn'causi' tin' 
crop was estimati'd to In' twice' that of 
last y('ar. 
ONIONS DOING BETTEU. 
After months of sagging and dragging, 
the onion market.s have .shown a better 
tone. AVholesalc market.s went up a litib' 
and some dcunaud appears for the large' 
stock stored in the' onion-growing se'e'tioiis. 
De'ducting from the estimate'd croi) the' 
stock that has be'en re'porte'd shippe'd, the' 
stock remaining is just about double tlml 
In'ld at this time last yeuir. llolde'rs re'al- 
ize the danger of keeieing this stock too 
long, and they have In'e'ii h'tting a little' 
of it go at close to $2.00 jeer cwt. In the 
Ne^ew York Btate onion see'tion. ;i price 
fairly in line with the range of ,$2.2.'» to $.”, 
ruling in the large city market.s. It see'ins 
like'ly the onion situation will work out 
fairly well if the^ stoe.'k is k('|il mo\'ing 
steadily all 'Winte'r. 
l'()T.\TOi;S STIIONGIJI. 
The cold weather and the' car shortage' 
se'cm to be the main cau.ses of better con¬ 
ditions in the potato markets. I’rices 
have gone uj) 5 to 20c per cwt. in the .shi|i- 
|»ing sections, excejit in the' West, and the 
I'histe'rn cit.v markets have improved ji 
little. Cars have be'en so scarce all the' 
se'a.son that mj great reserve could be 
stored in the citie's, and sharje bulge's in 
price might eiuickly follow any cause that 
would cut off fresh supplie's for awhile'. 
But the fact should not be' forgotten th.al 
if Covernment estimate's were' fairly cor¬ 
rect tlu're' are' still in the country^shipping 
sections nearly twice as many ilolatoes to 
be .sold as at this time' last year. 
AI’I’EEH IN S'rilO.NG noSITION. 
It looks as though the aiiple' situation, 
especially in (he East, ought to work out 
all right. I he* .stock of barre'l aiipb's is 
cerlainly light and not much new siqiiely 
is ceiiidng forward. I’.ox aieiiles are' not 
moving along very fast and are* not likely 
to until milde'r weather arrive's. Without 
doubt ii great many We'stern aiiph'S have 
gone to waste. A lette'r at hand from a 
prominent grower state's (hat his .apple's 
staye'd on the tre'e's be'cause the' best offe'r 
he could get would hardly cover the' e'ost 
of picking. Another letter as.serls that 
apple's are lying under the (re'es in niiuiy 
remote parts of Id.abo and Nevada. .\n 
Idaho farmer wriles that he' was glad to 
se'll all his apiiles at 10c per cwt., "in¬ 
cluding many of the' kind that retail at 
each less than 100 miles away.” Lack 
of cars was (he main trouble' with the' far 
Weste'rn applee country. It .seems that 
these box apple's will be wanted later, but 
a good share of them will never come to 
market be'causi' ne'glected or used in va¬ 
rious ways locally. 
WHY 1{|:a.\.S were DIS.VI'I'OI.NTI.NG. 
'I'he be'an situaliou bas be'en rather dis¬ 
heartening in eve'ry way. Without doubt 
(iH'ro is ;c4*iiDral (iissat isfurt ion aiiioii^ 
growe'rs in regard to (be net proceeds. 
The cau.se's appear to be' in the' large acre¬ 
age ajid the' low yie'ld pe'r acre, rather 
tbiiii in the' marke't jerice'. The; ave'ragej 
lea id to proehice'rs of be'ans, as '"st iimite'd 
Nove'inbe'r L> eef this past .ye'ar, was 
lee'r bu., withji yield pe-r acre of S.O bu., 
anel weerth $.);►. In 101(5, the ave'rage; pe'r 
acre' was 0.e bu., at pe'r bu., and 
Morth .$'10.10. Ill .101,), the' ave'i'jigee jee'r 
acre was ll.I. bu.. at .$2..")0 jeer bu., and 
weerth .$'2.S.Xi). 'I'he' advancing tre'iid of 
pricees at harve'st seasem eluring the past 
thre'e years has bee'u eelLset by progre's- 
sively lowe'r yield pea- acre.' Neetwith- 
standing the light acre yie'ld this year the 
teetal output has been e'stimate'd at abeeiit 
.eO per ce>nt abeeve (hat of eithe'r lOlo or 
IMUI. till' larj^or acroa;**' this yoar liuvin;; 
far meere than eeffset the' lightl'i- yie'ld ja-r 
acre. But for the he'avy pbinting, beans 
would lerobably have been very high thi.s 
.year. As it is, they are met hew, yet it 
IS lelain that the're is basis for the average 
growe'Fs complaint that he is met getting 
enough to eeff.se't (he increased ceest of pro¬ 
duct leen ill war times. o e, i.. 
Sevekai. eef our readers h.ive' asked us 
about .saving see'ds of ve'getables feer heeme 
use in the' garde'ii eer field. 'I'he Dep.-irt- 
iiK'iit eef ,\gricultur(' at Washingteen has 
issued Farmers’ B.ulletin SSl. 'I’lds dis¬ 
cussed the subject eef garde'u seeds and 
tells how many eef the' numerous kinds 
are handh'd and kept feer use. The bidb'- 
lin is written by W. W. Tracy, who has 
hjid leeng e'xpe'rie'lice in the' seed leusine'ss, 
anel thus is eiualitie'd to handle this 
matter. 
rEAGiiEK: "Why doe's (he gireiffe' have 
such a long neck?” Boy: "Ttecause itsi 
head is .so feir away from its beedy !”—Mel¬ 
bourne Australasnin. ' 
Cleveland Tractor 
Does the work of 9 horses 
and 3 men 
Even if horses and men were plentiful, the Cleveland Tractor would 
do your work faster and at much less cost. 
With the Cleveland pulling two 14- 
inch bottoms, it can plow up to 314 miles 
an hour —S to 10 acres a day. 7 hat 
IS more than you can do with 3 good 
three-horse teams and their drivers. 
But labor is scarce. Horses are scarce. 
The urgency of the situation demands 
farm tractors. The government urges 
their use. 
The Cleveland Tractor not only works 
faster and cheaper than horses and men 
but far better. With its aid, you 
can increase your production and reduce 
the cost. 
That means more grain for Uncle Sam 
—and more money for you. 
Because the Cleveland crawls on its own trades, 
it can go almost anywhere. It weighs less than 
3200 pounds and has more than 600 scjuarc inches 
of continuous traction surface—a bearing pressure 
of about 5 pounds per square inch. 
Because of the small size of the Cleveland 
Tractor it can be turned in a twelve foot circle 
and housed in less space than it takes for a horse. 
Its small size enables it to pass through narrow 
spaces between buildings, through wooded grounds, 
through doors and other places where larger 
machines cannot go. 
The work in which The Cleveland Tractor 
can be used to accomplish more, and with greater 
economy, is almost endless—plowing, harrowing, 
discing, seeding, pulling a mower or binder, hay 
loader or manure spreader. , 
It is the tractor par-excellence for hauling of 
any nature, in excavating, road grading, pulling a 
snow-plow or stone-boat, in fact almost anywhere 
that motive power can be utilized. 
Delivering 20 horse-power at the pulley, it 
supplements its hauling capacity by almost in¬ 
numerable uses lor stationary work, such as wood 
sawing, pumping and irrigation work, feed grind¬ 
ing, hay haling, corn shredding, corn shelling, 
ensilage cutting, silo filling, threshing, and many 
other uses where power is needed. 
Kolhn H. White, the famous motor truck en¬ 
gineer, is the designer of the Cleveland. He uses 
only the finest motor truck gears and materials. 
Gears are enclosed in dirt proof, dust proof ^ 
cases. 
Get ready now for spring work- 
Prepare for the bigger, better crops 
America expects of you and must CleveUnJ 
have. Write us today for a Tractor Co. 
complete description of the pA 
Cleveland Tractor and the Clev.lanel. Ohio 
name of the nearest •'"d 
Cleveland dealer. Cleveland'Fractor. 
Address D c j) t. ^ 
L , or use Name_ 
the coupon. 
The Cleveland Tractor Company, Cleveland, Ohio 
^ County. 
State. 
Subscriptions to The Rural New-Yorker 
This Transparent Handle Name Knife 
Your Name 
and Address 
will be printed 
and shown as 
sample. 
JAS, SMITH 
Smithville 
Illinois 
1 *^ 1^ AO r .ALON'I'' A NOVKI.'F Y, but it is a good Pocket Knife. The knife has two 
blades. One laruc spear i)oint and one pen. Half polished German Silver bolster, 
I brass Imin^f, SM-inch Celluloid handle, d'lic material ia of the very best quality, the 
ulaclcs^bcmK made of hiKhest grade Lnglish Crucible Steel. Each blade bears the trade 
rneirk K'cn Kuttcr.” which in itself is sufTicicnt guarantee that it contains nothing but 
the very highest grade of material, and is of the best workmanship. 
This Knife will^nol be given with subscriptions—they are sent as rewards only (in place or cash) 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 333 West 30th Street, NEW YORK CITY 
