1 
C»c RURAL NEW-YORKER' 
‘^The beater on the axle construction 
saves dollars for me in time, labor 
and cost of upkeep. —An excerpt from a u.er’. letter. 
T] 
“r 
n 
IJ 
rS~i 
K1 
D. 
Mounting the beater on the axle is the keynote of this 
better spreader. With thi§ exclusive construction there 
follows distinctive savings that can be gained in no other 
—advantages that mean more years of service, lower 
cost of maintenance, greater ease of handling and better 
quality of work. 
Exceptional Spreader Value in These Features 
EASY TO LOAD from the 
front to the rear—only 38 inches 
to the top of the box. You see 
where every forkful goes. A 
boy can load^it. 
THE DRIVE WHEELS ARE 
'HIGH. The draft is not 
sacrificed. High drive wheels 
save horse flesh. 
THE BEATER DRIVE is dur¬ 
able and strong. It has the same 
principles and is as simple as the 
triple-geared horse power. Gears 
are enclosed in a dust-proof case. 
They run in an oil bath. No 
dust or dirt can reach them. 
THE JOHN DEERE is the 
simplest spreader built. Only 
half the castings on it necessary 
on other spreaders. No clutches 
or chains. Main working parts 
mounted on the rear axle. They 
can’t get out of line, cause bind¬ 
ing, heavy draft and breakage. 
A BOY CAN OPERATE IT. 
Tell him where to set the feed 
lever and he only needs to put 
the machine in and out of gear. 
That’s all there is to it, 
REVOLVING RAKE IN¬ 
SURES even spreading. No 
bunching or choking. Every 
foot of ground is covered—heavy 
or light to meet field conditions. 
Wide spread attachment and 
straw spreading attachment can 
be furnished. 
Books That Mean Saving and Profit 
on Your Farm—FREE 
$15.00 a Day for Four Days 
Tells the actual experience of a man 
and his two sons who made $60.00 
extra money in four days oh the White 
Rock Farm in Pocahontas County, Iowa. 
Interesting reading based on facts. 
Get this little booklet. Profit by this 
man’s experience. 
John Deere Spreader Booklet 
Tells all about manure, how and when 
to spread it. Shows how- sj^eading 
methods affect the value of mknufe. 
It’s a real treatise on manure.^ Worth 
money to you. It also ;jllu§trates_ and 
..describes the lohn Deere Spreader. 
The upper Ohio Valley, with its rocky, 
forest-clad hills, abundant fuo<l, scarcity of 
vermin, and protective laws, makes an 
ideal home for songbirds, and they con¬ 
gregate there in ntimbers that are exces¬ 
sive. It may he that these birds do some 
good for the fanner, but to the grower of 
' small fruits (especially cherries) they are 
an aggravating and costly nuisance. Fur¬ 
ther back from the Ohio River in the level 
country, the depredations seem much less, 
and some sections practically immune. 
While on a visit last 8\immer with the 
McKee Bros., near Atwater, Ohio, and 
about no miles from here, I was only 
enabled to find one pair of robins, and a 
few blackbirds on their entire farm of oo 
acres. In my own vicinity, too, are places 
largely exempt, hut that is where the ti*ees 
are located along the fences of oi)en fields, 
or perhaps the whole farm isolated 
from the wooded tracts. Still 
other orchards where the trees are un- 
pruiied, unsprayed, and uncultivated the 
loss is but trivial. A robin is too fastid¬ 
ious in his tastes to bother cherries of 
this kind if better are to be had. Fpon 
our own small farm, where the trees are 
carefully tended, tlu' destruction is total. 
Device for Scaring Birds. Fig. 88 
Among the bohlest and most jx’rsisteut 
l)ilferers that I noted last .sca.son were 
robins, thruslu's, catbirds, dickers and 
bluebirds; whib' a nunilxu- of cliipmuuks 
were not adverse to getting up to the 
lunch counter and enjoying their meals 
al fresco with the balance. 
For several years past 1 liave com¬ 
bated these pests with all humane means 
that I could, only to nu'et with disap- 
liointiin'iit. not nnmi.vrd with irritation. 
Last Snmmci 
Thk R. X.-V. 
(page .‘170), 
The rejdies 1 
varied, indeed 
g(‘sted excei»t 
birds’ t.iils. 
trials that 
patience at 
Shows how simple and easy to operate 
it and why this machine will give better 
and longer service than other spreaders. 
Better Farm Implements and 
How To Use Them 
A 156 page text book for your library. 
Worth dollars. Contains a number 
of splendid authoritative articles on 
better farming methods. Tells how to 
adjust and operate many kinds of im¬ 
plements. Illustrates and describes, 
plows of all kinds, disc harrows, corn 
planters, cultivators, listers, cotton 
tools, alfalfa and beet tools, mowers, 
rakes, stackers, loaders, grain and corn 
binders, corn cutters, grain elevators, 
shellers, manure spreaders, drills and 
seeders, lime sowers, hay presses, 
wagons, trucks and buggies. 
To get these books, indicate the imple¬ 
ments in which you are interested and 
ask for Package MS-235. 
JOHN DEERE 
Moline, Illinois 
B 
1 innicd f«> my old friend 
anil stating my situation 
> Diairc 11701. asked for hclplnl advice. 
received were many and 
alxnit everytliing was stig- 
(hrowing s*ilt upon the 
d'o most of thesi' I gave 
were exhaustive — ti) my 
least, and I am again send- 
ing out a S. <>. S. call for assistance. To 
i understand properly what device should 
he given me. it might he well to state 
what remedies have been tried and failed ; 
together with tlmse that I did not try. 
and the reasons therefor. 
At the opening of the fruit season the 
, deviei' that ajipealed to me. most was the 
I suggestion of ('. F. \\., New York, and 
S.. riinton, (>.. to use strips of turkey 
red cloth snsjiended from tln^ trees. I 
first tried stretching a rope between trees 
and attaching strips of the red cloth, 1 
by 2 fe(*t in size, about two feet aitart. 
The birds were at first dubious as to 
whether my intentions were as anarchis¬ 
tic as my emblems indicati'd. They 
t.nickly conchided. however, that I had 
merely put up a suspension bridge for 
their convenience in crossing from tree 
to tree, and used it accordingly. Taking 
down these cloths I addl'd to them a 
number of others ol yellow, green, white, 
purple, in fact ad the glaring colors I 
could find, an.! again put up. It was a 
work and for :nctnres<|ne variega¬ 
tion mn..'' have made .foseph’s coat look 
’like a dainty niece of Parisian millinery. 
As a scarecrow it was a decided failure. 
At the same time I was ti'ying out 
on other trees the ideas advocated by 
Geo. I,. Ferguson, Va.. and the Ohio Ex¬ 
periment Station to place strips of tin 
susi>ended from poles. The flashings 
from the tin could be seen long distances, 
but the birds seemed strangely troubled 
with an ophthalmia that could properly 
be diagnosed as chronic. Taking down 
all this jnnk I then rigged a contrivance 
of my own combining the cloth and tin 
features as follows: Purchasing some 
hemlock strips 1 by 4 inches, 10 feet 
long, I nailed at one end a piece of simi¬ 
lar material projecting six inches on one 
side, nnd two feet on the other. To the 
short arm I attached a number of pieces 
of bright tin. one below the other, the 
last one being round to facilitate twirl¬ 
ing. The tin was suspended so as barely 
to clear the pole, and to clash against it 
at the faintest suspicion of wdnd. To 
the other arm was fastened a piece of 
Turkey r*'d cloth torn into strips that 
were six. five, four, three, two and two 
that were one inch in width, being so 
graduated tliat the slightest air would 
eanse some of the tails to flutter (see 
fliagram. Fig. f'^S). In regions where 
devices of this kind work, this one ought 
to do some good, but with me it was only 
Itartiallyx suqcessfnly The plan of C. 
W. R., Xew York, to hang shingles from 
a tree was also tested, hut must be placed 
in the same category with other devices 
that reipuro wind for their efficiency. 
Carrying out the idea of K. S., Michi¬ 
gan, I hung up a number of oiled manila 
hags containing dried peas, without ap- 
premahle results. On small bush fruits 
■wdiere the weight of the bird will keep 
the sai'k and contents agitatikl good ef¬ 
fects i*m.ght to be olitained. The recom¬ 
mendations of A. C. S., New York, C. A. 
K., Gallon, Mich., Subscriber and the IL 
S; Dejiartment of Agriculture to plant 
mulberry trees have been complied with, 
notwithstanding (hat some of my neigh¬ 
bors who have them, give reports that 
are not reassuring. In a private letter 
from the editor of Till-; R. N.-Y. he ad¬ 
vised me to try throwing clods of dirt 
at the robbers, and it was by long odds 
the best thing I found. A clod of loose 
texture hurled into a tree where it will 
exjdode and scatter jiarticles like a IG- 
inch bomb does have a temporary intim¬ 
idating ctVcct. Sore arms, however, soon 
warned me that I was no I Ians Wagner, 
and I was forced to desist. Putting cats 
in the trees was an idea emanating from 
till' editor, and also S., (’lintoii, C)., 
(l»agc niOl. hut I passed it up, profit¬ 
ing h.v the experience of Mrs. Ainsworth, 
a most estimable neighbor. This lady 
liad a deceased cat that in his time had 
been a miglity battler, and had a mean 
coniitcnaiice that the taxidermist hadn’t 
improved any. hut when placed in her 
solitai'.v cliirry tree the birds treated 
him witli disrespect and even contemiit. 
« A relative volniitei'ied the information 
that throwing liiccrackers among the 
birds might he of value, but I didn't do 
it. To engage in such an ix'cnpation for 
about two weeks is a Fourth of .Inly 
much too jiroloiigcd for a man of my re¬ 
tiring disposition. 1 also sidestepped the 
advice of a writer in Tiik R.*N.-Y. who 
Avaiitcd me to “try having the children 
throw stones caHi day at the birds,’’ as 
there is a suspicion in my mind that he 
knew I was an old bachelor, and was 
linking fun at me. The next step I had 
in mind was to use netting ou the trees, 
but the exiierience 
mimher of a X'ew 
dampened all ardor 
tiou. A snbsi'i ilier 
related in the May 
York fruit journal 
I had in that direc- 
who had all his cher¬ 
ries covered with netting lost them all. 
and wanted to know how to prevent a 
repetition. The editor in his reply stated 
that birds did not bother his own fruit, 
but if they did he would simply plant 
enough trees to furnish cherries for both 
himself and the birds. Maybe that is 
sound sense, but I would travel miles to 
see the lovely, big orchard he would have if 
planted around here. The cost of netting, 
moreover, is entii'ely prohibitive. As a 
last desperate resort I took my .32 cal¬ 
ibre Stevens rifle, and' firing about a foot 
above their heads, would cause a shower 
of leaves to drop about them, but the re¬ 
sults would have been much more posi¬ 
tive had I aimed just 12 inches lower. 
As it was I only frightened the birds to 
other trees. 
(Continued on page 230.) 
.1 « •••.■ Ai.1 1 
