£44 
•Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
All Sorts 
^ Naming the Country Roads 
' One of ovir readers in St. Joseph Coun¬ 
ty, Ind., tells us about a plan for naming 
country roads which has been worked out 
in that county. The plan was to develop 
a system of naming highways after the 
plan of naming the streets in a city. 
Now that roads are being improved and 
straightened, while so many farmers are 
making use of cars, it is more and more 
desirable to have exact locations of farm 
homes, and the people of St. Joseph Coun¬ 
ty felt that something more than the 
townships should be used to identify and 
locate their farms and homes. So they 
worked out a plan of naming the roads 
or streets, and numbering the houses on 
these roads. A map is prepared, showing 
the exact location of the country roads, 
north and south, east and west, as well. 
Then a commission was appointed to 
make a full study of the situation and 
decide about names and road arrange¬ 
ments. After a full discussion and re¬ 
port, the following plan was worked out: 
The roads are named alphabetically 
from the east boundary of the county to- 
wai’d the west and from the north boun¬ 
dary south. The names of the north and 
south roads are selected from names of 
timber for section lines, flowers and 
shrubs on intermediate lines. The names 
of the east and west roads on section 
lines are selected from names of the Pres¬ 
idents, Indiana governors, statesmen and 
authors. The angling roads are desig¬ 
nated as highways and trails. The num¬ 
bering of the roads begins at the east 
boundary and north boundary of the coun¬ 
ty, the first of inital number to be the 
number of the section line west or south 
of the beginning point. The residences 
on east and west roads will have odd 
numbers on the north and even numbers 
on the south side. The residences on the 
north and south roads will have even 
numbers on the east side and odd num¬ 
bers on the west side of the road. 
This makes a very simple arrangement, 
especially as in that country the roads 
are, for the most part, laid out at right 
angles, following the lines of the town¬ 
ships. For instance, the road at the north 
of the county is named Adams, and this 
runs from east to west. Then follows 
Hamilton, Cleveland, Douglas, Fillmore, 
Jefferson, Harrison, and so on. Then 
at the east boundary the first county road 
is named Beech, and then follow Cedar, 
Dogwood, Elm, Fir, and so on, through 
Maple, Ironwood, Redwood and others. 
Now, under such a system, a man 
named John Smith would live on Madison 
street or road, between Ironwood and 
Hickory. His farm or house would be 
numbered, and he would be as easy to find 
as would be the case if he lived' on a 
numebered street in the city of South 
Bend. That is a very simple arrange¬ 
ment and a good one. We understand 
that the people of St. Joseph are the 
first to put such a plan over. On the 
face of it, it seems an excellent plan, 
and many of the counties in the country 
might well follow it. 
Why Not Grow Buckwheat ? 
T.ove is proverbially blind. Trotting 
. stock and autos have blinded thousands. 
Thousands have been so infatuated with 
the speculative potato as to reject surer 
means of making a living. In the South, 
cotton has blinded the farmer to both 
corn and cow. Corn clubs have arousei.. 
great interest in the noble grain, but 
neither potatoes nor corn are best for all 
localities. 
In Maine alone thex'e were wasted last 
year without doubt hundreds of tons of 
hay for lack of help, or room to store it, 
or faith to cut and hold it when it was 
dirt cheap and no light in sight, enough 
I think to Winter half our stock. If a 
small part of this hay land had been put 
into buckwheat the crop might easily 
have taken care of all the poultry in the 
State. Why neglect a crop that has so 
much to recommend it and so little to the 
contrary? It requires but a bushel of 
seed to the acre; on fairly good land 
needs no fertilizer; can be sown later 
than any other grain; is able to make a 
crop on rough and cloddy ground; grows 
more rapidly than the weeds and smoth¬ 
ers them; is almost as easily cured as 
hay; and can be thrashed with the flail 
almost as easily as beans, if no machine 
is available. No grain affords the hen 
greater enjoyment than thrashing it her¬ 
self. The somewhat acid straw is eaten 
by stock, or makes excellent bedding. If 
advertised by club competition as corn 
has been, it would soon be a most popu¬ 
lar grain. If the seed is not needed, the 
crop may be plowed under to lighten and 
enrich the land. 
Therefore, why not give buckwheat 
chance, and on part of our land let the 
hoe and the weeder rest awhile? At a 
time when the whole poultry interest is 
threatened by prohibitive prices, a crop 
so near a gift as buckwheat is surely 
worth while, and the advantages of one 
crop should not be permitted to blind us 
to those of another which may be as good 
or better. G. 8. PAINE. 
Maine. 
Where are Those Farms? 
After reading “The Hired Man’s Chil¬ 
dren” and several other articles on same 
I had to smile w'hen I read article by G. 
H., Vermont, on page 513. I am no hired 
man and don’t want to be, but I bet he 
has no children or he never would write 
what he did. He says often the distance 
to school is one drawback. In this part 
of Vermont we have several back school 
houses that are near for children on farms 
to go to, but the superintendent of the 
schools here have closed moi^ of these, 
and are hiring men with teams to carry 
lots of small children into the village 
schools; instead of putting good teachers 
into these schools and opening them 
where small children can walk back and 
forth. It would not be near the expense 
that they are now going to, only it makes 
it easier for said superintendent not to 
have to drive round to so many different 
schools. He would rather see a lot of 
small children freeze during the Winter 
coming back and forth than get out him¬ 
self. It certainly hurts hiring help and 
hurts selling farms, as folks wish to be 
near to school to have their children at¬ 
tend. Then he says there are and have 
been many small farms for sale at rea- 
•sonable prices for a man with “ambition” 
as his only capital. I wish he w'ould be 
kind enough to advertise these farms, 
as there are plenty of men with families 
and without, who would like to buy a 
farm with only “ambition” as their cap¬ 
ital. 
If G. H. will tell us of these farms for 
sale there are several of us. who would 
be willing to get one of them. We have 
the “ambition” and don’t want to be _a 
hired man, and wouldn’t be. We will 
thank him very kindly. Last year every¬ 
one was looking for a piece of land to 
plant potatoes. This year everyone who 
has no farm ought to get one, as there is 
no healthier life than that on a farm. 
Vermont. A. H. D. 
Fighting Against the Crow 
To prepare corn for planting, by put¬ 
ting coal tar on it. place corn in pail or 
kettle up to within two inches of the 
top, cover icitlh tepid tenter, pour on small 
amount of coal tar. one-half teaspoonful, 
stir for three minutes or so, until each 
kernel is covered with a very thin film 
May 4, 191S 
of tar, adding very little more tar if 
necessary. Remove from water, drain, 
dry with road dust or gypsum. Corn 
prepared in this manner may be planted 
with a planter, as it will not be sticky, 
and each kernel will be separate. I have 
used this method for 40 years. 
S. F. AVEBY. 
I enjoyed reading the schemes for 
“beating out” the crows, on page 579. 
I thought I had tried nearly everything 
until I saw this page. For the past five 
or six years, however, the crows have not 
worried me a bit. and the reason for this 
peace lies in the fact that my cousin told 
me how to tar my corn To my mind, 
if this method is followed according to 
the following directions, it is the most 
practical of any. I plan to tar about 12 
quarts of corn at a time. Place the 
corn in a watertight pail and fill with 
moderately hot water until it just covers 
the seed Take a small stick and drop 
about a tablespoon of coal tar in the 
center of the pail of corn Have ready a 
small square-pointed shovel and a box 
that wall conveniently hold the 12 quarts 
of seed. The box should not be water¬ 
tight, because the water must drain off 
the coim slowly as it is being worked. 
Dump the corn into the box immediately 
after adding the tar, and with the small 
shovel work the corn with the motion 
used in spading up earth It really is 
surprising the rapid way in which the w'Ct 
corn wall take on a thin coating of tar 
that will not bother in planting after it 
has been dried in the sun. I used a large 
sheet of paper for drying, and after it 
was dry enough not to stick to my fingers 
I lifted the four corners of the p.aper and 
poured it into a box. If it is necessary 
to use the seed before thoroughly dry, 
add a very little lime, .s. m. ewtng. 
Massachusetts. 
How do Your Sacrifices 
Compare with These? 
\ 
T he American boy who goes to war gives vip 
the position which means so much to his 
future, or the little business which has just begun 
to show promise of success. 
He severs home ties; gives up home comforts; leaves 
behind parents, friends, wife, or sweetheart. 
He faces the probability of being obliged to take up life 
anew when he returns; of losing all the advantages which 
years of hard work have won for him. 
He faces the possibility of coming back incapacitated for 
earning a living, and of being dependent upon his friends or 
upon charity. 
He faces the possibility of never coming home at all. 
Facing these things he goes to France to fight for us who 
remain safely at home,—and when the moment comes for him 
to go over the top—he GOES ! 
What will he think, how will he feel, if 
we complain because we are asked to make 
a few sacrifices for him,—sacrifices so 
insignificant when compared with his ? 
Show him that to invest in Liberty Bonds is not 
a sacrifice but a privilege,—an appreciation of his sacrifice! 
And when you buy — 
BUY! 
LIBERTY LOAN COMMITTEE 
Second Federal Reserve District 
120 BROADWAY - NEW YORK CITY 
This is one of several advertisements contributed by 
GUARDIAN L'.IFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
To endorse and recommend the purchase of bonds of the THIRD LIBERTY LOAN 
