los^.scs and anxiety t" Aroostook's seed onstoiners. 
^Maine's discai'^c'd jixtato seed iiersuaded many more 
South .7ers(>y farmers to jilant a second or seed eroii 
in July, iisiiiii potatoes wliieli had been kept in cold 
storage sine(> .March. All sickly jdants will he 
rftinu'd out. d'he tops of the.se potatoes will l>e cut 
down hy frost. They will he hand-du.ir and hill- 
selected. This plan irives the desired immature and 
hiyh-yieldinji seed which, in repeated tests, has pro¬ 
duced as well as or hetter than the common run <>f 
Aroostook seed, and at a savin,ic in costs. This 
uietl'.od of trrowiu'-' potato seed in mild climates was 
Hrirf/i)if/ TJomc the JIaiflond. Fir/. o-'/O 
worked out hy French tind llel.^ijin .^rowers Avho loiiix 
since .ijave up huyin.ir seed from iiorlhern countries. 
And they .i:row more pottitoes to the acre tlmn even 
Aroostook’s best soils. 
North .Terse.v farnu>rs have ]»l:iced ordtu's for this 
South Jersey second-crop .seed and will te.st it out 
next S]»rin,Lr alou.icside of .Vroostook's staal. if it is 
satisfactory, man.v New .iersey fartmu’s will coni- 
n!('nc(' to .irrow seed iiotatoos as w(‘ll as table stock. 
Hut if Aroostook will i|uickl,v start .m'owin.ii deitend- 
ahle. certilied s(‘(.'d. she will la* able to hold and in- 
ci'ea-ie her .seed trade in New Ji'i-sey. 
A Car For All Work 
T he jiictures shown here were seal to Tis hy a 
woman faimier. who wants to show liow she 
I'.ses her ear in farm opcu’ations. She has read 
about the hiix trucks and tractors which arc doin.i; 
so much work in man.v cas(‘s to save horse and man 
laiior. Her farm o]iei-ations weiv on a smaller scale 
in which the tracloi- oi- truck could hai'dly tit. 1 low- 
ex ei’. the car ha.'^' been us(‘d lo do much of h(‘r work, 
and here we s(‘e it in a h.ayliehl haulin.i.' tlu' ]ia.v-rak(‘ 
and takin.e;' a loa<l of ha.\' to the haiai. It does its 
work w(dl. and then if there is anythin,;; to la* sold 
the little car hacks up to tin* shed. tak(‘s its load of 
jiroduce. and ,w<‘s merialy off to mark(‘t. While 
j.rohahly the niakei-s of the cai* never intended it 
for this kind of work, it is full of tin* sjurit of serv¬ 
ice. and stt'its ill to take hold of lliiu;rs and lielii out 
with the work. 
White Mice As Live Stock 
I would like soim* iiifonaation on the raisiut!; of guiui'a 
I)igs and xvhite iiiico for profit. 1 have some friends 
who liave gone in this Inisiiiess exijecting to .sell the 
.xonng back to the c nnpan.v. T am sending .von a book 
whicli the.v sent out about white mice. ^Vill you in¬ 
vestigate and find out? A. .1. T. 
(’onnecti<-nt. 
In a pamphlet, entith'd "Wealth in Mice." which 
lies hefori' me. it is stated that lt» miet; should earn 
.'i'l'.Ki ill a year. :ind l.tMMt the corres])ondin,g amount 
of $l.M.ht)0. lti>aders are aski'd to compan* 1h(*s(‘ 
marvellous mice with all oflu'r domestic animals. 
I liave done so and am willin.g to admit that all 
othei domestii- animals known to me are mt're 
jiikers comiiarcd with them. Such tn-olits in iivi* 
stock exceed an.vthin.L' that I have ever dreamed of. 
itnd 1 havt* iirohahl.v done as much dreamin.g ahm.g 
that line as it is iirofitahle for any one to do. 
Seriousl.v. however, if one can he serious after 
reading this iiamphlet. there is a marki't for white 
mice, as well as for guine.i jiigs and rabbits. These 
animals tire used in lar.ge numhers by the manu- 
faettireis of serums usisl in medicine, and like lab¬ 
oratory products, and white mice are said to Ik* now 
used for the purpo.se of detectin.g iioisonous ,gas;*s 
in submarines and battle trenches. J’hey do not 
contribute tinything to the medicinal s(*i*ums. hut an* 
useil for the purjiose of testing them before tlu*y an* 
sent out for the human use. :ind it is tlu*ir sensitivc*- 
ness to the* presc'uce of jioisonous ,gas(*s that makes 
them ax'ailahle for war .st-rvici*. As with all other 
market ]»roducts, their values vary with tlu* d(*maud 
and supply. Just now. ]irices are iK*rhaps oo per 
cent higher than in ord.inary times. The II. K. 
yiulford Co., them.selvos large users of Avliite mice, 
RURAL NEVZ-YORKER 
guinea pi.gs and rabbits for laboratory imrposes. 
have replied to my questions as to present market 
(onditions b.v .saying: "It has always he(*n our 
[lolicy to encourage the br(*edin,g of .guinea pigs and 
rabbits b.v amat<*urs. ami we have known a .great 
man.v pooiile who have taken uii this work on a small 
scale and have found it protitahle. There was a 
great scarcity last Winter of white mice, and very 
high prices xvere paid. 'Hut this demand has been 
taken care of and. at present, wt* are overstocked. 
While it is not likel.v that the high prices paid for 
white mice last Winter xvill he repeated, the demand 
will iirohahly h(* steady. The present market price 
is .$2.1 per hundred. The jirice of guinea pigs is from 
cents to .$1 each, according to weight, the limits 
of weight being S to 12 ounces." 
I Inive said that these itrices are 10 per cent 
above those of before the war tim-es; u]ion second 
thought. I .should say that they are more nearly one 
hundr(*d per cent higher. Under ordinary condi¬ 
tions. however, there is undouhtedl.v a reasonable 
jirofit lo he made in raising these little animals, and 
many p.eoiile would find it an iuterestin.g hobby. For 
those who are adapted to the woi’k and xvho have 
the facilities, it might he made a ver.v respectable 
busiiK*ss. hut no sensible person will need to he told 
that there are no such fortunes in it :(s are promised 
in the pamphlet quoted above. m. n. n. 
Stands for the Spray-gun 
T he spra.x’-gun discussion. ])a.ge hlH, is ,so much 
at variance with I'esults iu our orchards of 
(O’er 20.0(i(» peach and ;ipph* trees, that your corre- 
spondent H. H. H. must either have chosen the 
wi’oiig gun. or. possibly through inadeipiate power, 
is not .gettin.g tin* results lu* ought to. Helatively 
low iiow(*r. by tin* way. we have* st*en overcome a 
do7.en times with tlu* s|iray-.gun by simply usin.g 
disk*< with v(*r,v sni;ill oiK*iiiugs. 
W(* ha'(* \!sed Hu* -grns two s<*asons. We use 
the diistin.g .‘iiqi.-iratus on ]K*aelu*s for .Summei* pro- 
Thc Car and the Uaii-ralcc. Fir/. S.'fl 
tectimi, when we have the iieaches, aiul with ex- 
c(*IU*nt results. J’he twt.» methods are so dissimilai’, 
and serve such different purpo.*;es. that it s(*enis to 
nu* vei'.v far fetched to assume the siiray-.gun w:is 
inti*nded to offs<*t the dust method. Dusting cannot 
he done for dormant work, while this method, al¬ 
though more exjiensive in first cost of materials, is 
so rajiid in operation, and effective in iieach ]U'ii- 
t(*ction. that spraying with rods or guns c;innot 
compare with it either in cost or effectiveness. 
With spray-.guns we havi* proved lime ami again 
that we put out more niat(*ri:il. over a larger area 
of trees, and in much less time, and one-third saving 
ill laboi*. The .saving in material is inqxirtant as to 
first cost, hut more .so in the rednc(*d number of 
tank tillings reipiirtsl for a given area, a very im¬ 
portant, factor in doing the work at the jiroper time. 
(*sp(*cially where distant water supply ami mudd\' 
fields ai'e to he coiit(*iuh*d with. These latt(*r coiuli 
tioiis a bine. wlu*re tlu'v exist, are snl!ici(*nt .justitiva- 
tion for the u.se of tlu* spra\-gun. Hmt. in addition 
to'th(*se advanta.g«*s. we ari* fairly sure that on appl(*s 
we .get much hetter r(*sulls with tlu* gun than we 
ever had with the angle noz'/.h*s and long poh*s. Dur 
apples this y(*ar. both (*arly and late, more nearly 
apliroach the W(*st(*ni-grown fruit than W(* (*xpi*cted 
—clean, smooth, bright-colored and delicati*. waxen 
surfaet*. fre(* from curculio and inapiiri'ciable codling 
injury. .\nd they hrin.g tlu* right prici*. for tlu* N(*w 
En.gland flavor is all there, too. 
■Vs lar.ge peach growers, tlu* curculio is constantly 
Avith us. We are in the hrowntail-.gyps.v-moth lK*lt 
as wc*ll. Fruit growers in this section don't take 
their hats off to any other region for variety of 
pests or severity of their attacks. The hrowntail 
is a[i|iar(*ntly .going out of fashion, thank .gomlness, 
and tlie .gyp.sy-moth damage is lessening yearly. 
Once their existence is linished. we believe the siiray- 
1089 
,gnn will he a substantial factor in producing New 
England fruit to compete with the W(*stern boxed 
apfile in aiqiearance. and t<i compan* the flavor of 
the fruit from the two sections is like judging apides 
with cheese. On our dormant :ind blossom spra.A's 
we made our (pmiititative comptirisons between 
poles and spray-.gun in tanks, not gallons jier tret*, 
and we are satisfied the siiray-guu saves us one tank 
in five hy the pole method. K. a. ii. 
Massachusett.s. 
The Grades of Wool 
There are a niunber of ix'oiih* who have taken iq) the 
keeping of slice]) on small |)hu'es. I have done so ;ind 
nmv have 10 sh(*e|). I havi* secured as much information 
as iiossible from the Htati* agricultural pimple, but come 
now to you for the following infornmtion ; In your 
issue of August .‘11. on jiage 1021. you giv(* a statement 
<if wool prices iMany of us jire absolutely ignorant <if 
the meaning of the term's used in grading wool. We 
have sold our wool as it was sheared for fair prices, 
but wish to know further Avhat the t<*rms nH*an us(*d iu 
grading wool: Del,•line: half-blood staple: half-blood 
clothing; Ij blood; % staiile. sind so on down tin* list. 
Will The H. N.-Y. take the siiace to elucidate the terms 
for the wayfaring man. who is trying to do his bit. but 
would like to know just a little more about the grading 
of wool? (lEORUE W. .X.X.Stt. 
T’lster Co.. N. Y. 
HTLE the .grades given ttre merel.v arbitrary 
ones ami vary gre.-itly according to imirket. 
retpiiremeuts or buyers’ whims, yet the followitig tire 
the meauiu.gs .generally .given to avooI .gntdes: 
Fine delaine is wool from the ileritio family of 
sheet), .gradiu.g strictl.v spetiking two inches or more* 
iu length, thou.gh .generally 2i/. inclu's is taken as 
minimum length. All wools of this length staide are 
classed as comhin.g, all .shorter as clothiu,g. This 
api)lies to a stretched fd)er. Combing wools are :ilso 
t(*i‘med staiile wools. Fine clothiii.g are merino wools 
under delaine len.gtli staple. 
Half blood, .strictl.v speaking, means wool from 
cross-bred merino-mutton-hred stuff, and is applied 
to wools of similar .grade, such as high (pmlit.v South¬ 
down or Shrop.shire wool. It is not as fine in ipialit.v 
as fine avooI. Three-ei.ghths blood avooIs are i)roduced 
from .sheejA three-eighths iu blood of Alerino or avooIs 
of like nature, such as the blood of Shropshires. etc. 
Quarter blood is still coarser and is found in Ox¬ 
fords, Hampshires, etc. Braid avooIs are Ioav iu 
(luality, of long liber, .such as CotSAVolds, Tancolns. 
(*tc. Hucks are heavy shrinking gray avooIs. Tags 
are shoi't ends of avooIs that separate from the lleecc 
in .shearin.g. Cots are mattetl fleeces: rejections are 
very inferior or damaged Avools. Burry or seedy 
wools ai'e terms that explain themsleves. 
J . F. AVALKER, 
yec'y-Treas. Ohio Sheep & Wool OroAvers’ Ass’n. 
The Truck and the Market 
A new plan for marketing farm produce has been 
started iu the Harlem Yalley. On August 24th 
a motor truck carrying about $200 Avorth of produce 
rail out of this valley to the upper part of New York 
City, and the produce Avas put on sale iu a store 
ami Avas (piickly .sold out dii'cct to housekeepers. 
Tin* neAvs of the sale .spread rapidl.v through the 
mi.ghborhood ami many came Avith baski'ts to buy 
the goods. In this casi* the fri*sh farm iiroduce Avas 
sold for about 2.1 ])(*r cent less than the .grocerv 
stores Avere chargin.g. The jiroduce Avas jiicked tin* 
night before and kejit cool ami shijiped early so that 
if AA'ould be in jirime condition. Every farmer Avbo 
has used a, motor truck successfully Avill knoAv ho\v 
't'he Qacen of the lltii'/icld. Fit/. . 1 .}.? 
(piickly such a trip can I (* made, ami it is ahm.g such 
lim*s that Avc must hope for in the future. 
The farmers of the Harlem \alU*y having lri(*d 
out this jilaii are disiios(*d to eiilargi* th(*ir oi)(*ratioiis 
ami make heavier and r(*.gular shijiments. It is evi¬ 
dent that jiracticali.v all kinds of food can Ik* sold 
at r(*asonabh* jirices in Ncav York Cit.v, if it onl.v 
can be brought to the consumers, 'fhe motor truck 
Avill .give the ojiportuiiity for this. Such a truck can 
make a good trij). in fact .';ev(*ral trijis a day. and 
Avith an organization on the farm to assemble and 
pack the produce, it surely can be put (juickly on the 
