RURAL NEW-YORKER 
512 
iiiflnonoo. tliore are fatalities with both ewes and 
lainhs Irein weakened eonstitutiinis. The man who 
does net eai’e for his sheeji does not deserve any 
inoi-(*. (>n tlie otlier hand, the assessoi- ))ena]izes 
every man wli<» <-,ires for his stoek. This seems 
stran,t:(‘. hnl in this, as in all other eases, the man 
who does I’ijrht can stand it and sneeeed l)ett<‘r than 
the other ftdlow. 
THE SON'S OI’J‘OltTUNITY.—The write»» takes 
little credit foi- our hai)p.v Hock, since I have put 
i (‘arly all the car(* of it on the son. who was not 
dec-eived b.v the hire of town or cit.v. and the shwp 
have arrived hy his attention and study. He saj's 
nothiiiK about their merits, hut T know he has in¬ 
ternal satisfaction when good .iudges tell him, “It is 
the best hunch of stock sheep I ever saw.’’ Tlien 
how indifferent he is when asked to jirice some of 
them, es]teciall.v when we .sell wether yearlings and 
wool only. Comiiare the listless, eight-hour worker 
with his da.v and night close attention. He has got 
awa.v from me with m.v lanterns and outside water, 
and turns a button or a h.vdrant, that I now confe.«s 
he fixed to perfection right past my objections. T 
look this chap out of high school, sent him to agri- 
culturitl college for three months to get the hang of 
hooks on farming, and a look upwards, gathered 
some good .shei'p for him and started him to grow 
f('(‘d for them. Looking out at older hoys getting 
wages or salaries, he said for a coujile of years, “I’m 
not making anything,’’ Imt was told to “hang cn 
and wait.” 
THE rOLLEtJE HAN.—I tore ojicn a lettei- today 
from an ajiiiarently ver.v nice young man. wanting 
a place on a stock farm, sa.ving he has had “a four- 
year ciiurse at an agricultural college.” Hy repl.v 
was. “(trail the first thing you can get to. Work like 
the dickens, think while at it, and ask (piestions of 
the boss about the work, read along the line of your 
work, and if this place doesn’t suit .vou, some man 
who needs a man like you will call you. Keeii on 
for years and .vou will know something and he one 
of the most indeiiendent men in the world.’’ The 
pajiers are full of graduate apjilicants. seeking to 
manage farms or he forenum, some of whom get 
positions from merit, others from a “pull,” and I 
have my doubts about the efiiciency of any of tliiMu 
(Hiualling, either in managing or doing the menial 
work of this home-grown specimen, I have never seen 
a bunch of 50 or more sheeji, about an agricultui’al 
college fti- anywhere, that did not have a “tail end,” 
and sometimes a s<u-ry one. All the “.^killed’’ stock¬ 
men I have known have a scajiegoat for that—])ara- 
.sites, and the r»*asons in lec-tuivs a)id books on the 
cause is “infestc'd jiastures,” while the prevention 
and cure is to use muv grass. Our jiastiu'es are from 
115 to 42 .vears old. on which .shec']) run Summer and 
Winter. Then “dogs carry infestation,” while the 
town slaughter-house is in a ])asture u.sed for sheep 
5.) .veai's, over Avhich the dogs drag and gnaw be(?f 
heads. Ilducation and books ai'e good, but there are 
means,of knowledge within the resources of all with¬ 
out either. w. w. i{Eyxoi.n,s. 
( )hio. 
Oats, the Crop for the North 
Part II. 
I’lH'H ENTINH Itl'.'^T.—No chemical has yet been 
found with which black stem rust can be combated. 
It can, howevei-, l>e controlled somewhat l)y pre¬ 
ventive measiires. Chief among the.se is early 
i^eeding. As mentioned before in this article, late 
grain, because of usual weather conditions in the 
l.atte]’ stages of its deA’elopment, is more likely to 
be “stnick’’ with rust: the mugg.v, damp days of 
the “dog days” ])ei-iod being especially favorable 
for this di.^ease. Air drainage through the field, 
secured by thin seeding, and to a still greater ex¬ 
tent by drilling, is also an aid in warding off this 
enemy of the oat. 
SEED SEI.ECTION.—An examination of the oat 
l)lant Avill show that the seeds ai’c usuall.v borne in 
pair.s, a small oat and a large one being carried 
together. Naturally the larger oat carries a greater 
supply of ])lant food for the .voung ])lant. and if 
other conditions are ecpial a field .sown from these 
selected .seeds avIII give better returns than if the 
small oats were sown. For this reason, as well as 
to remove all foul weed seeds jiossible, oats should 
be carefull.v graded by means of a good fanning 
mill and the weed seeds so extracted carefully 
ground or fed to ]ioultry at a i>lace where there is 
no pos.sibility of their getting into the manure and 
so back to the land—a seed that goes through the 
digestive .system of a fowl is destroyed. This grad¬ 
ing and cleaning, aside from .■sorting out the best 
seed and cleaning it from weeds, secures seed of a 
uniform size, and removes small sticks and straws 
that might clog the drill, making seeding even. 
WEED ENEMIES.—Weed enemie.s, among wliicb 
is wild mustard—the worst weed pest of the 
northern oat fields—can best be combated at this 
time. A careful cleaning of the seed each year, 
making sui’e that no weed seed is returned to the 
land, helps to keep this ])est in check. Where the 
('at ci-op follows one that is cultivated, as coni, 
which is usually the case, clean culture of the crop 
helps to keep the field clean the next year. This 
coupled with a careful pulling of the scattering 
specimens before the.y seed kee])s the farm clean and 
makes for better yield.s. Where a farm is so in¬ 
fested with weeds that any of the above methods 
cannot be used. s)»rayin.g is sometimes re.sorted to. 
For this imrpo.se an iron sulphate solution or a 
cop])er sulphate solution is used. The proportion 
Ilonicmndc Er/f/ Catidlhuj Device. FUj. 2(>0 
for the iron sulphate s-olution is 75 pounds to 5(» 
gallons of wafer, this making a 20 per cent solution, 
while for the copper sulphate solution but 12 pounds 
are ustal for 50 gallons of Avater, as only a 3 per 
cent solution is re<iuii'ed. The quantity indicated 
makes about enough thoroughly to spray an acre, 
and the spraying should be done before any seed 
jiods are formed to give l>est results. 
PFTTIN(i IN SEED.—As a .sc'Cding device (he 
di'ill is alK^ad of all other machines. If the field 
lias been well prepared the seed can be placed at a 
very even depth Avith a drill and as, unless on a 
very dr.v soil, the seeding should be shallow, this 
is quite an advantage as all of the seed is covered 
though not too deep. Becaiise of this even cover¬ 
ing drilled grain comes up evenly and quickly, and 
YIELD OF 
P/f/C£ NOV. OEC. JAK. fEB MCH, APR MAY JUNE JULI AUS. SEPf, OCT. EGGS 
birds and other enemies have little time to Avork 
upon it Avhile at the pro])er stage for them to do 
much damage. I.ess seed is nMjuired per acre, and 
this in it.self is (luite an item if a large area is to 
be sown; there seems to be less ti'ouble from laist 
Avith drilled gi'ain, probably becau.se of the better 
air drainage mentioned, and finally experiment 
stations report a larger yield i)er acre, no doubt 
due to a combination of all the causes enumerated 
above. 
SEED IMPROVEMENT.—Reports of experiment 
.stations ^oaa' that, althou.gh little has been done by 
the individual farmer along this line, the oat is 
capable of rapid improvement by careful selection 
of the seed. Qualities to be tried for are large, 
plump, uniform kei’nels, carrying a thin shuck, so 
that the percentage of kernel meat compared to 
shuck is high; a high percentage of grain compared 
April 6, 1918 
to straw; stiff straw and an upright habit of groAvth 
tending to prevent lodging and, of cour.se, a high 
yield per acre. Oats vary widel.y in these respects, 
even in the same variet.A’, hut in general an oat that 
is well adapfed to the locality in which grown will 
luiA'e a thinner .shuck and more of the other desir¬ 
able characteri.stics, than Avill an oat AA'hich is not. 
After a desirable strain has been obtained it may 
be improved by going through the field before har¬ 
vesting and selecting the fine, early ripening heads 
haA'ing the qualities desired. bobert it. smith. 
Home Preservation of Eggs 
Part I. 
TARILIZING THE SUPPLY.— Hoav can eggs at 
45 to 50 cents a dozen he made to take tlie place 
of eggs at 05 to 70 cents a dozen? This is a question 
Avhich Avill be asked countless times this year. The 
ansAA'er is a short one, namel.A’, by home preseiwation 
of eggs. As the months of March, April, and IMay 
are the months of the year Avhen eggs are the m<,st 
plentiful, it is quite evident that those are the 
months when eggs are the cheapest; also, as Dc- 
tober, NoA’cmber, and December are the mouths 
Avhen eggs are the lea.st plentiful, it is evident that 
those are the months when eggs are the deai'e;-t. 
If eggs, thei’efoi’e, inirchasd at 45 to .50 cents .a 
dozen can be sa\'tal for use when eggs are Avorth 05 
to 70 cents a dozen, there is a manife.st saving. That 
is exactl.v AA'hat is done by man.v every year, and 
what slnmld be done b.A* a great man.v more. 
METHODS OF PRESERVING.-There are tAvo 
methods by which eggs may be preserved for home 
consumidion; one is b.A^ means of waiter glass— 
sodium silicate—and the other is b.v means of a 
high melting jioint A’aseline or other pastes. For 
the first method, a large earthen crock should be 
]trocui’ed—a good size being a four-gallon capacity. 
Avhich will hold about 10 dozen eggs. The crock 
should be washed and sterilized Avith boiling bot 
water. To make the pi’eseiwing solution, add nine 
liarts b.v A’olume of Avater— jireviously boiled and 
later cooled—to one part of sodium silieatt'. The 
eggs ma.v then lie placed in the crock. .«mall end 
down to keej) the contents of egg in normal jmsition, 
and the solution poured on the eggs, care being taken 
to cover the eggs completely, foi* eggs w’ill spoil if 
not completely coA'ored. Put the lid on the crock 
and set it aw'a.v in a dark, cool jjlace. To remoA’e the 
glassy coating' on the eggs when r(*ad.v to use them. 
simpl.v Avash Avith a damp cloth. They may be used 
when desiiHMl, taking them from the crock as they 
are AA-anted; the.v do not hai’e to be used all at the 
sam(‘ time. 
KINDS OF EGGS TO USE.—When buying eggs 
for home ])re.servation, the consumer should b<‘ ver.,- 
careful to get only infertile (‘ggs. Fertile eggs could, 
of course, be u.sed, but tbe.v ai'e much inferior to 
infertile eggs becau.se there is the jxissibility of 
germ development Avith the couseiiuent spoiling of 
the eggs for consumi»tion. Infertile eggs Avill never 
contain a develoi)ed gei-m, are .sIoav to (h'cay, Avill 
Avithstand heat Avell, and cost no more than fertile 
egg.s. Cracked eggs, dirt.v eggs and thin-.shellel 
eggs should iKwer be used, for if one egg is broke i 
in the pre.serving solution it de(.-ay.s and si)oils tbe 
rest of the eggs in the container. Old eggs shoul I 
not be u.'^ed—only strictly fresh, not older than a 
week. The ago of the eggs can Imi asc(‘rtained Avith 
a fair degi-ee of accuracy by the houstnvife befoia; 
preserving. ’Phis can be done by candling. A home 
Candler can Cijsily be made similar to the one shoAvn 
in the accompjinying picture. Fig. 260. By holding 
the egg up to eithei- of the small openings of.the 
box the light Avill shine through tlie egg, enabling 
the candler to see the size of the air cell and to 
detect the presence or absence of blood .spots. In 
an egg Avhich Is strictly fn'sh the air f?ell appears 
about one-half an inch Avide and one-eighth of an 
inch in depth. Only strictly fresh eggs .should be 
used. If the air cell is lai'ger than one-half inch 
the egg is old—the size of the air cell increasing 
Avith the age of the egg. Eggs (amtaining blood clots 
should not be used for preservation. If a blood 
clot is present, the egg has a dark, cloudy ajipcar- 
ance. Eggs should not be Avashed before jireserving 
as this opims the pores of the egg, alloAving (piicker 
('vaporation of the Avater in the (‘ggs. In buying 
eggs for this purpose it is best to order th(*m from 
.some reliable poultryman, ])lacing the order several 
Aveeks ahead of time, so the.v Avill b(' ivady and 
available Avhen desired. A good plan is for seiau-al 
pui’chasers to club together and buy eggs by the 
case. A slight amount ma.v be .sav(*d by buying in 
large quantities, and it is much easier to ship egg.s 
in ci'ate.s than in smaller packages. 
R.ALSTON B. II.A.N’N.A.S. 
