806 
ijiyors for rootinjr. Tliis may ho dono hy iisinj: a 
l)!uriiin jmsliod down at tlio joint ovor tlio ninnor. 
or liy ]»lacinfr a little stone on the joint to hold it 
down—after lijilitly seratohintr or difij-din; the soil 
with a trowel or little rake. These aix* to make 
layer jdants. and if (hit; tip wlien wet with a little 
hall of earth they are as nsefnl as j)otted plants. 
'I’Ik* berries shown here were frrown on tliese layer 
plants dnjr last Septemher, and ]»roniiitly set in the 
aioniul. They produced each one ;rood s)»ray of 
fniit. avera^rinir six or seven pmod-sized berries. If 
the runners are kept off and tlx* weeds chained ont 
Ihese phmts can he made to averat'e neaijy a quart 
of berries next year. The pottint; and layering takes 
somethinfx from the strength of the jiarent plant. 
lOn cannot ex]»ect to obtain a full yield of berries 
;nid also jiroduce plants. It is also much harder to 
keep the weeds down when potting is done, for the 
pots and layers are in the way so that the wheel 
cultivator cannot lie used. If a man wants big her- 
1 ies he would better let the ]jots alone tm nio.st of 
the field and keep the runners cut away. If he lets 
tliese runners get away from him he will have a mat 
h\ Fall, ami the result will he a few big berries on 
the outside edges and a lot of inferior fruit inside. 
F.ut what about the second year? Do you start a 
new bed each season? We will tell what we do after 
Pe king next week, just In time to jait the jtlan in 
iqieratioii if desired. 
The Other Side of “Misfit” Trees 
V jiage 7oS you have a comiilaint from W. T. P.. 
that iieach tri'cs he bought from a reliable 
nur.sery firm bore worthless fruit, and after four 
years lie jailled them up and then asked for damages. 
I know nothing of this case exceiit as it aiqiears from 
reading his comjdaint, hut. judging from that alone, 
I should say that W. '1'. 15. was too hasty.. He may 
not know that the lirst fruits of a tree are often in¬ 
ferior. even though the tree he genuine. 1 raised 
and sold trees for years, and have fruited trees 
for ."id years. I sometimes returned money paid me 
for trei's where mistakes were made, hut I would 
not in W. q'. 15.'s case have been willing to return it 
merely on his say-so. without some further evidence. 
I have seen so many cases where the first fruits were 
disai»poiiit ing. 
I once knew a case where a ijuantity of Hraven- 
stein ajijde trees wi're jturcliased from a .\ew York 
nursery and planted in Mas.sacliiisctts on poor, thin 
soil, 'fhe first crops Avere small and very inferior, 
q’he owner comjdaimal. 'fhe nurseryman was amen¬ 
able and desirous of correcting a wrong if one had 
been maile. Kxjierienced fruit men were sent to look 
into the case. avIio decided that the trees were not 
genuine, and that damages Avere du<>. 'fhe nursery¬ 
man settled up satisfactorily and the case Avas con¬ 
sidered closed. Put four or five years nfter, under 
better cultural conditions, those same trees iiroduced 
real {;ra\-cnst(*in ajiples and all parties, ilesiring only 
Avhat Avas right, the same formality of judging Avas 
gone through, and I think hy the same men. and the 
former judgment rcAcr.sed, the nurseryman cleared 
and everything all right. 8 . rr.ATT. 
Fonnecticut. 
Cheap Methods of Husking Corn 
1 liavc a 222-acre farm here. 20.'! acres all level and 
tillable. i5() aci-es of it in apples, peaches and ]iears. On 
:iccount of Aveather, market and help, this year I have 
discontinued raising beans and cabbage as field crops, 
.ind 15 acres of corn is too much ftnlder (have no silo). 
With Avages high it costs IIO cents a bushel for shelled 
corn for hu.sking. Of late years Ave let <nir corn grow 
until frost hits it, and the day after the frost it must be 
cut. 'To continue the corn crop means a ncAV corn har¬ 
vester at an expense of .$150. (hitting and shocking 
<-omes when we are jiicking apples. What profitable 
crop can take the place of corn and leave the ground 
in shajte for a good oat crop? KE.AniCR. 
HE ipiestions brought up here are jirohlems that 
concern many New York farmers avIio find it 
diliicult to secure labor for harvesting the corn crop, 
(>s])ecially Avhen the corn harvesting in the Fall must 
come in comiietition Avith some other important farm 
operation. Many farmers found it almost iniiiossiide 
to get their corn husked last Fall. At the same 
lime the corn crop fits into their rotation, and the 
grain is valuable, and they desii-e to kec]) on with 
their growing of corn if it is possible to do so. 
'rivis brings up the cpiestion of Avliether it Avould 
not he desirable now for many farmers to consider 
harvesting tludr corn in very much the same fash¬ 
ion as it is harve.sled in the West. In the Western 
States very little of the corn is ever cut for fodder. 
It is generally left standing and husked from the 
.Malks during the Winter. In the West husking caii 
usually begin in the middle of November and is jiret- 
ty well finished hy the first of .Tanuary. 'Fheir acre¬ 
age there, however, is usually larire and one man is 
C56e RURAL NEW-YORKER 
counted on to husk 40 to (in acres. One ditficulty in 
New York. hoAvever. is that Winter snows may come 
too soon, makin.g it ditlicult to do Winter husking, 
esiiecially with flint A'arieties Avhere the ears are so 
close to the ground. IIoweA-er. a small acreage ought 
to he handled in this Avay A’ery easily. A good man 
ought to husk 50 or (50 husluds (shelled corn) a day 
from the standing stalk.s. 'Fhe iirice for husking in 
the field in tin* West used to he two or three cents a 
bushel (shelled corn), although last I'\-ill. with the 
large crop and scarcity of labor, they jiaid from five 
to eight cf'iits ]ier bushel. 
As foAv farmers here have seen the Western 
method of husking, a hiief descri])tion may he given. 
.\ Avjigon is first fitted uj) hy imtting a high “throAV- 
hoard” usually on the right side of the Avagon box. 
'I’his hoard stands up two or three feet ahoA’e the 
box. 'I’iie team straddles a row Avliile the busker 
takes tAvo roAVS on the low side of the Avagon. throw¬ 
ing the corn directly into the Avagon. Of cour.se, a 
man not accustomed to this method AA’ould not make 
very much sjieed at first, hut Avith a little practice 
he would soon find the method Avas jirohahl.v three 
times as rapid as the ordinary method of husking 
from the shock. 
Where hogs are raised on the farm, the method of 
“hogging doAvn" is becoming more pojmlar in .some 
sections of the West. A temporary fence is usually 
run around a iiortlon of the cornfield and a suffi¬ 
cient number of hogs turned in to oat up the corn in 
a reasonable time. T'his is the cheapest and most 
Enylish Tomalo "Siimine," (jntini o/i Shijjlc Stem 
Fi(j. 388 
satisfactory method of feeding corn to hogs, Avhere 
they are being fattened on grain. 'Fhere is, Iioav- 
ever, one disadvantage in NeAV York Avitli the method, 
and that is that Ave often liaA'e a lot of rain in the 
Fall, and Avhere the ground is a heavy clay the 
ground is likely to get badly tramped up. esiiecially 
near the shelter or .sleeping jilace, and the hogs are 
also likely to tramp more or less grain into the 
ground. AA-hich is lost. 'Fhis ditliculty can he par¬ 
tially avoided hy fencing off only small area.s at a 
time. 
I call attention to the above tAvo methods of har¬ 
vesting corn with the minimum amount of labor, as 
I helicA'e this is going to he an important factor in 
corn production through the coming .season, as corn 
is a croi) that reipiires a rather large amount of 
labor, especially Avhen harvested in the ordimuy 
way. E. G. MONTOOMEliY. 
“ Home Rule ” Again 
A ll rural school districts are rejoicing at the 
present time over the reiieal of the toAvnship 
school laAA'. and the return to the old regime. Avhere 
each district controls its OAvn affairs. 
’Fhe folloAving arguments against the ncAv .system 
have been raised; (1) 'Fhe country d''^riots were 
com])ell(Ml to share the burden of increa^ xation, 
due to the heavier ex])enses of nearby toAvn and vil¬ 
lage schools, although they could say nothing as to 
the Ava.A' the affairs of the district Avere managed. 
Hoav much did this differ from “taxation without 
.Tune 22 , ipts 
re))resentation," against Avhich our forefathers fought 
so nobly? (21 'Fhe rights of AA’omen Avere also l(*s- 
sened. for mothers and taxiiayers had no voting 
jioAver under the iieAv hiAv. (,‘l) 'Fhe education of the 
country chihlren Avas injured, for the consolidated 
.schools Avere located so far from .some of the homes 
that it Avas imixtssihle for the little folks to attemi 
Avith any degree of regularity, esiiecially during the 
cold Winter months. 'Fhese facts, though stated 
briefly, tire sutlicient to ju’oA’e the inetliciency of the 
toAvnship school Iuav. ami the advisability of return¬ 
ing to the old .'<ystem. 
No om* is h(>tter able to control the affairs of a di.s- 
trict than its oavii memlicrs. 'Fhis fact has been 
realized hy scores of peojile tliroughout the State. 
Much credit is due 'Fife K. N.-Y. for the Avay in 
Avhich it fought, and also to Mr. l.eAvis M. Martin, 
through AvIios(‘ siqiport tlu* old system Avas brought 
hack into use. .Viitocrac.v has lieen defeated, and 
democracy is (uice more in control. 
No district appreciat<»s the change more than Dis¬ 
trict No. 2. toAvn of ItridgcAvater, Oneida ('o.. Avhere, 
'Fuesda.A* CA’cning. .Turn* 4, in connection AA'ith the an¬ 
nual .school meeting, a celebration and social time 
Avas held. Men. Avonien and children—A'oter.s and 
non-voter.s—to the number of .50 peojile. gathered at 
the school building'. Avhere musical numbers Avere 
rendered on a victrola. and refreshments served, 
follOAA'ed hy the annual husim'ss meeting. 'Fhe CA'en- 
ing Avill long lx* riuiKuiihered. not only lavause of the 
pleasure it alTordeil. hut also because of the mani¬ 
festation of satisfai’tion jirodiicc'd through the tri- 
um]ili of the cause, for Avhicli all have been fighting. 
A. K. )!. 
The Coal Dealer’s Dollar 
O NE result of this .‘1.5-cent dollar discussion is the 
fact that I'onsumers are beginning to try to fig¬ 
ure out the difference hetAveen their iirice and Avhat 
the AA'orking jiroducer r<*c(*iA'es. 'I'hey cannot always 
trace it through clearly, and soimdimes they get it 
AA'rong, hut it all li(*l]ts, for this sort of figuring Avill 
.sooner or later make the great buying imhlie realize 
hoAV it is being treat(?d. 
Food and fuel are the tAvo great human necessities 
—AA’ith clothing fidloAA’ing closely. 'Fhe fuel question 
is a niglitmai’(‘ to many a iii.-in of limited income. 
M hat is the margin ladAvemi )»roduc<‘r and consumer? 
'i'he folloAving (piestion starts off the discus.sion : 
Hard coal sells for .$I0.((() p(‘r ton here. I understand 
that the miner Avho digs the coal gets 75 cents jier ton 
and the feamstc-r Avho deliviu’s the coal get.s 2.5 ^-ents. 
Noav, if all the hard Avork in the coal business <-osts onlv 
.$1 jier ton. 1 Avould like to knoAV Avlnit the .$l).q() is for. 
Indiana. K. p. o. 
'Flint is Avliat avo all Avant to knoAv. and it Avill he a 
job to find out. .Vs for Avliat the miner gets, here is 
a re])ort from one iioint in the anthracite coal region : 
'The Kingston Coal ('onipany. one of tlie leading com- 
jiauics for mining anthracite coal, itays the miner for 
digging a mine carload of coal from ,$1.27 to .$1.75 u 
car. 'Fhe miner, himself, pays tlie laborer. 'Fhe average 
is about .$1.7(1. E.’O’li car contains about t.AVo ami one- 
half tons. 'Fhe difVerenci* in (he cost of mining dejiends 
ujion the location of the vein and the ditliculty in min¬ 
ing. I am sorry that I cannot give you the aA'erage fig¬ 
ures for all the mines putting out anthracite coal. Each 
mine has its oavii ditlicultii's and advantages. I,. L. .s. 
'J’Ikmi it stMMiis tlnu’c is still another angle to it. In 
digging out one car containing Iaa-o and one-half tons 
lie .gets (Is emits a ton. We still have .$.S.1)2 to he ac¬ 
counted for. Who can tell us Avhere it goes to? 
'Fhen it .seems there is till another angle to it. in 
many jiarts of Penn.sylvania the coal lands are still 
OAvned by farmers and leased hy them to the coal 
companies. 'Fhus a farmer may lx* Avorking the sur¬ 
face of his farm Avhile heloAV him. in the soil, tlu* 
miners are digging out the coal. Due of our readers 
.sends us the folloAAdng statement about the farmer 
and his coal: 
Here is where the IIoix* Farm man Avill have to scale 
that .'5.5-cent dollar. Most of the farmer.s sold their «’oal 
at .$100 jier acre. It is five feet thick, and. according 
to the Heologirail Survey, contains 2(5(I,(K)0 bushels jier 
acre. 'Fhe farmers can go to the mines and buy it hack 
at 11 cents per bushel. If the Hope Farm man can get 
a .'55-eent dollar out of this he ought to join our friend 
LeAvis in California. 
Your paper is sure the jiap of them all. .s. 
Wa.shington ('o.. I’a. 
'Fho IIoix* Farm man never Avas good at figures, 
hut this is Avhat he makes out of it: In Pennsyl- 
A’ania a hushel of anthracite coal Aveighs 75 pounds. 
.Yt 11 cents a bushel the cost is .$2.0.‘5 jier ton. On 
the other hand. 2(I(i.(M)0 husliels at 11 cents jier hushel 
means $20.2(i0 at the price Avhich the farmer /u///.t. 
As he receives .$100 for the coal, his shiire of the 
consumer’s dollar fades out of sight. Put. take it 
another Avay: If the mine company can sell to the 
farmer at .$2.0.'> and our Indiana friend pays .$10.50, 
Ave ask once jiiore. avIio gets the .$7.07 Avhicli is 
squeezed out or tacked on hetAveen the tAVO? 
