■Ghe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ins 
General Farm Topics 
Carborundum Grinding; Stooling Rye 
1. On itage 851 W. W. Koyiiolds of 
Oliio tolls of fixing niowor soction with 
a onrhorundiun stone. Would he toll 
more about that? The grindstono way 
soems to me one of the hardest and most 
tedious jobs connootod with haying. 
What is the grit of his stone, how largo, 
and how does he manage? 2. Somewhere 
I have hoard or road of increasing the 
yield of rye or oth<‘r grains through caus¬ 
ing them to “stool” more freely by sow¬ 
ing the seed in a hollow, say three or 
four inches deep, and then when it has 
sprouted to cover it; when it has 
sprouted or come up again, cover it. 
Am I correct? Should it be covered en¬ 
tirely each time or only partially? 
Salisbury, Muss. C. o. A. 
1. I have a mower-grinder, also a 
grindstone. I alsf) have a wlndstone to 
fix the sections and let the others rest. 
I shaped a knife up this morning in a 
short time. 'J’he stone is 8x2x1, and 
is No. no. I'liis number, I presiinie 
indicates its coarseness, and it bit<s 
<iuicl;ly. It cost me a dollar in our local 
market, and if there were no more I 
would be sick all harvest, I lay the 
knif(“ on the board over the front wheel 
of th(‘ lia.v loader, back towards me, 
which is the right height to stand and 
sharpen. f)ther times 1 lay u board on 
trestles and sit down to it. 
2. As for rye, tbe shallower it is 
planted, the more stools. I wouldn’t 
have wheat or rye touched after they arc 
drilled, and hate to see a big rain lill the 
furrows before Winter. The jirinciple is 
this: The nature and vigor of the plants 
induce a certain number of tillers close 
to the grain. If that is burled they will 
start from half an inch to an inch fur¬ 
ther up, and there will be fewer, until 
if the grain is too deep for them, there 
will be nothing but the main .stalk. A 
little farther, of course, there will be 
notbing. All small grains want to be a.s 
near the surface as possible, so they will 
siirout. Nature sows her seeds on to[», 
and the elements leave them close to the 
surface for sprouting. w. w. K. 
Pumpkin Molasses and Squash Sugar 
On page 045 is an Imiuiry regarding 
these sweets and the process of making 
them. I have seen and eaten the former. 
’I'hat which I tasted was made by grind¬ 
ing and i»ressing the pumpkins, iirecisely 
as apple cider is made, except that the 
seeds and pulp which incloses them were 
removed. In fact the juice was extracted 
ill an old-fashioiK'd cider mill, and cider 
making machinery was used. .\s I re¬ 
member, the yield of juice was about the 
same as when apples are used, and it re¬ 
quired about 25 gallons of juice to make 
one of syru]). This approximates the per¬ 
centage of sugar in maple .sap, but it is a 
good deal less than that of the beet. Still, 
different varieties of pumpkins might give 
a greater percentage than this. The juice 
was boiled in a rig used for boiling maple 
sail, and a thick, dark-colored syruii, of a 
peculiar though rather pleasant flavor, 
resulted. It would not crystallize so as 
to make sugar. However, it made a very 
fair table syrup and was far superior to 
any sample of beet syrup that I ever 
tasted, that was made Tiy any homemade 
process, though it was not particularly 
Ii-ilatable to one who was almost daily 
indulging in choice maple .syru|). Hut 
it answered very well for coarse co<ikery, 
such as sweetening beans, brown bread, 
etc. 
Another method commonly emiiloyed by 
our grandjiarents was to pare and core 
tin* pumpkins, stew tlieni till soft, jiress 
fhrougb a colander, return to the fire, add 
a large amount of water, and cook till a 
thin SOU]) resulted. ’I'his was strained 
througb a cloth and a qiiaidity of the old- 
fashioned West India niolass(*s, not now 
procurable, was added. It was then re¬ 
turned to the fire and boiled to tbe de¬ 
sired consistency. ’I'his was used ns a 
table syrup, and, as a small boy, I found 
a great deal of enjoymmit in eating this 
from a stone jar in my grandmother’s 
at lie and using a wooden iiaddle for a 
spoon, though I am not certain ttiat I 
would relish it at the present time. 
However, the substitution of a good grade 
of syrup or sugar for the strong, ill-fla¬ 
vored VV’est India molasses might make 
the product more palatable. 
I'umpkin leather was an old-time deli¬ 
cacy, and, in the early days of New Mng- 
land it was sei ved to company, much as 
we serve choice confectionery at the [ires- 
ent time. I have sometimes made it in 
recent years. It is made by cutting tbe 
pumpkin into rather thin slices, rmnoving 
the skin and core, rolling the slic(‘s in 
sugar, and drying them slowly until they 
assume the appearance fif leal lier. 
I’umjikin candy was another delicacy of 
our grandparents in their younger days. 
It was made by stewing the pumpkin till 
soft, pressing through a colander, adding 
lilenty of sugar, sjireading on a plalt('r 
and drying. Another mellmd was to boil 
the slices in .syrup till rather soft but not 
siifliciently to cause them to fall apart. 
’Pile slices were then lifted out of the 
s.vrup, drained and dried. 'Plu'si* confea*- 
tions are (piite jmlatable. though they 
might not be so regarded by a generation 
th,at i.s acaaistomed to clnaadale diaqi.^ and 
velvet ice cream, but they were diamied 
(hdicioiis by our grandparents. llow(‘V(‘r, 
a really didicioiis .syriii> may be made by 
boiling the juice of the red iiiilp of water¬ 
melons. c. o. (lItM.m{KK. 
Destroying Johnson Grass 
I have lately purchased a farm here 
in Southwestern Arkan.sas, that has some 
.lohmson grass ou it, some old blocks 
that have not Ix'en jilowed fm- sevi-ral 
years. I would like to hear from some 
of your Hfjiithern readers as to best meth¬ 
ods of killing it out. Will deep plowing 
in freezing weather and tearing out roots 
with spring-tooth harrow destroy it? Soil 
is dee|), mellow loam. s. K. ic. 
-Ashdown, Ark. 
Where .T(din.son grass has become well 
established in any section it would be 
better to adapt the farming methods to 
the fact than to try to eradicate it. In 
Mississippi, in the section where the 
Agricultural College is situated, Johnson 
grn.ss has simply captui’ed the whole 
country, and has driven the farmer out 
of the «dd all-cotton farming into hay 
and stock feeding, and what was at first 
regarded as a curse lias been found to 
be the greatest blessing to the cultivators 
of the soil. I would never advise the 
introduction of .lohnson grass into a s<‘c- 
tion where general farming is done fairly 
well, but where it has once established 
itself I would make tin* best use of it. 
One way to get rid of it is to pasture it 
hard. In Mi.ssi.ssip|»i I noticed a i»er- 
manent pasture surrounded by fields 
den.se in Johnson grass, ami the pasture 
was clean of it and was all Ilermuda 
and Ii(*spedeza. Thim the root-.stocks of 
this grass ta’cni to be of nearly an annual 
character, and if the grass is deeply 
turned under just before the new root¬ 
stocks form, it may be killed. One of 
my old students who has been long con¬ 
nected with the Agricultural Department 
in VA’ashington published a method for 
the erarlication of .Johnson grass from a 
study of its habits. This method is pub¬ 
lished in Farmers’ Bulletin No. 270, 
which you can get from the Deiiaitment 
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
w. r. ^rAS.SI^Y. 
Crops and Farm News 
'I'omntoes sell at lOc jicr %-bu. basket 
for fancy gO(K]s, retail at Norristown for 
50c; l-ima bean.s, retail, (iOc per ()t.; corn. 
(lOo per doz. We are Iarg»dy governed by 
Norristown markets, (bun looks like a 
short crop; some very early fields look 
fair, with short, pointed ears, about ready 
to cut. Cbickens retail at 45c j)er lb. 
for fancy roosters; young chickeii.s, alive, 
4f)c, at do((r to dimb-rs, some being ship¬ 
ped to I’hil.'idelphia. Oats good, some 
weighing 40 lbs. to bu. Wheat good; 
oats, .$1 ,at mill ; corn, .$2.10. Beaches 
lel-'iil at .$1..50 per Yj-\>u. basket. Ap|>les 
show sale at 25c per pk. Bartlett 
pears. $2.75 per basket: grapes. .5c per 
11).; onions, 40c % pk. ami up. Botatoes, 
.'R2 bu. .ami uj); short crop. Almost jili 
fiaiifs hardly half caajp. Milk retails jit 
10c (jt.; butter at stores, 58 to tiOc; oleo, 
20c. lOggs, 50c per doz., wholesale. Horse¬ 
shoeing, .$2.25. II. Y. 
.Montgom(*ry Ho., Bii. 
.Ajiples are 50 to 7.5c per bn. Blums and 
pears aroumi $1 per bu. 'I'he pmich crop 
is a comi)lel<‘ failure in this i)art of the 
State. In Hcranton jieaches are selling 
from .$2 to $‘2..50 fau- basket. . Fn'sh <-ggs, 
50c; butter, .'»(! to 4.5c per lb. New po¬ 
tatoes, from $I..50 to .$2 per bu. ’I'he 
selling price for oats here is 05c per bu. 
'I'lie chief farm industry here is «lairying. 
'I'ln- leading farm products are fruit, 
grain and potato raising. Fruit <aa>p is 
only about 20 per emit, and potatoes are 
about .50 iier cent here this year. 
1/ackawanna, Ba. n. K. w. 
Crojis ar<> fair. Hay wa.s very good. 
We had a good harv«‘st of oats, wheat 
and rye. Wheat .sells at .$2.10; rye, $1.50; 
oats, 80c per bu.; con:, .$1.7(>; potato<*s, 
$1.25. Botato crop medium. Corn will 
be below the average on account of 
drought. Figgs. 42c; butter, 48c. Fruit 
is lookng good. Beaches, $1.25 pi-r basket 
and up. p. It. 
Berks Co., Ba. 
At the [iresent very little business is 
done, as the farmers are very bii.sy pre¬ 
paring fields to sow wheal. I’otatoes, 
.$2 50 per bu.; tomatoc.s, $1.50. Hay, 
$25 per ton, unbaled. Cabbage, 4c per 
lb.; cucumber.s, .$2 jier bu.; little jiicdcles, 
$1 per hundred; sweet corn, 25 to 5()c 
a doz. Spring chicken, 50c iter lb„ live; 
broilers, .‘i.5c: apples, .SOc per bu., fallen. 
Business outlook is very poor, as we de¬ 
pend greatly upon lime and jthosphate, 
and railroad {•omlilions are so poor we 
do not know when we can get things in 
or out. Cl. F. 
Westmoreland Co., Pa. 
Hay about $20 a ton. Wheat, $2.10 
per bu. : potatoes, $2; buttm’, 42c peril).; 
eggs, 50 to .55c. lame was greatly in de¬ 
mand and hard to get. Farm laborers 
ai'e scarce, as this is a mining district. 
’I’he price of coal at the mine is about 
.$2.,80 a ton. It. .r. 
Indiana Co., Ba. 
During the bitter part of August we 
were in need of rain. It is .so <iry that 
many cannot plow ; I'ven tractors are laid 
by, and tho.se that do use them do 
wretched work. Oats were a good crop, 
but a bad one to harvest, as they were 
down badl.v; some fiidds had to be cut 
one way. ’I'hey are thrashing out well, 
as is abso barley. Om‘ man reports 50 
bu. per acre Wheat is yielding more 
than it was expecteil it would, tuit the 
average will not oiual last year’s. Corn 
is being hurt with drought. .Some cab- 
liage is sull'ering from dry weather. Po¬ 
tatoes in one locality have blighted, al¬ 
though sprayed. .Some contract beans 
have blightial very badly. K. T. n. 
Ontario Co., N, Y. 
We have had a fair .season for all crops. 
Crops were all good except wheat; it will 
average about 11 bu. per acre. ’I'he hay 
crop was good, and a big crop of after¬ 
math ; tliree crops of Alfalfa; rye was 
poor; oats a big crop; it was big in the 
straw and well lilleil, and theri* was a 
big lu'reage sown. ’I'here is a big acreage 
of corn, and it is maturing well; some 
fields are about ready to cut. Farly im- 
tatoes were not more than Imlf a cro),; 
late ones are looking good. ’I'oiis are 
green. 1 think there will be a fair crop, 
’.riie ajipb' crop here is a large one. Ap- 
I) les, $1 per bu.; jiotatoes, $2; wheat, 
$2; rye, $1.75; oats, $1 ; plums, 15c per 
(jt.; roasting ears, 25c per doz.; eggs, 
40c; butter, 5()c. AVo get 20c ja-r lb. for 
veal. Conditions here are not very good 
for farmers ; it is so hard to get ladj); they 
want $1 and .$5 a day when you do get 
help. A farmer cannot pay these wages; 
he will have to do what be can himself 
and b't the n-st go. .T. W. Y. 
Clearfield Co., Ba. 
.Summer has been very dry and the 
corn croj) is damaged from the drought. 
’I’lie hay cro]) was extra good ; wheat and 
oats, about two-tbirds of a crop; a full 
apple croj) and abou one-half peaidi crop. 
Corn, .$2 per bu.; oats, $1; hens and 
fri'u-M, 24c [ler lb.; eggs, 25c; tomatoes, 
47V.C jier bu. Hogs unusually high and 
not‘many to sell. Butter, 2.5c per lb., to 
go on the grease market. AV. u. 
Grainger Co., ’I'enn. 
Hay, $12 to $18; rye straw, $15. Rye, 
$1.00 per bu.; oats, $1 ; corn, $1.70. Bo- 
tatoi'S, $‘2 to $2 i>er bu. of 00 lbs. Buck¬ 
wheat, .$1.75. Butter, 40c to 45c per lb.; 
eggs, 40c to 45c jier doz. Beans, $7 to 
.$0 per bu. Veal calves, $12 per 100 lbs; 
cows, $75 to $00. Fowls, 20c to 20c per 
II) . live. Our main crops here are rye, 
oats, corn, hay, apples. Hay is about .50 
per cent; rye and oats are good; corn 
fair for this time of year; potatoes are 
good but a small lot planted in this .sec¬ 
tion. ir. I-, r. 
Greene Co., N. Y. 
“Many a smart man,’’ said I'ncle Eben, 
“gets discouraged too ea.sy. An’ many a 
fool man doesn’ git discouragol easy 
enough.”—Washington Star. 
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Your House but Keeps 
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ns yen wish -regiiliile tem|)eralur<- to 
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iJLiIj t.|i|ity or send for our l)lg FUlOK 
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FULLER & WARREN CO., TROY, N. Y. 
Makers of STEWART Stoves and 
_ . Ranges Since 1832. 
H e have books on ] 
all subjects of 
farming* by rec¬ 
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Write us and we will 
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THE RURAL NEAA/.yoRKER 
333 West 30th Street, New York 
Over A Billion Dbllars! 
Is the estimated annual loss on fruits, 
vegetables, etc. from iiuscct pests. 
What’s YOUR Share? 
The war demands increased produc¬ 
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INTERSTATE CHEMICAL CO., 14 Bay view Ave., Jersey City, N.J. 
