RURAL NEW-YORKER 
refrarcl to his success, claiming that .‘;easonal condi¬ 
tions vary the income so much tliat it is very diffi¬ 
cult to give a fair average. For example, ho said 
last year his fruit croi) was heavy and i)rices were 
extra good, while some years the crop and prices 
are both small. It is evident, however, that enough 
sources of profit will soon he developed on this farm 
so that no year will bring meagre retvirns. Last year 
the total .sales from fruit and farm crops were about 
fi’om 100 acres. It 'must l)e remembered, too. 
that a large part of this area is still unproductive. 
Avith a constant exi)en.se instead of income. 
PUBLIC' ACTIVITIES.—AVith all his farm I)usi- 
ness. Air Schauber still finds time for some public 
and community Avork. He is A'ice-president of the 
County F.-irm Bureau and t.akes an active interest in 
its work. With several other i)rogressive farmers he 
developed the idea of having established in his com- 
munit.v an agricultural high school. This has been 
in operation only two years, but is metding Avith 
much a])preciated success. At the State Fair, at the 
exhibits of the Larger horticultural societies of the 
State, and at local Lairs, he is one of the most suc¬ 
cessful exhibitors. His knoAA'ledge of fruits is so 
Avide and so accurate that he is commonly sougb.t 
out by those AA'ho are in doubt with regard to varie¬ 
ties. The conspicuous features Avhich predominate 
to m.ake his AA’ork .a success may be summarized as 
great faith in his business, untiring enei-gy, good 
natural fruit .soil, taking advantage of high-cl.ass 
markets and utilizing .all ])Ossible sources of scien- 
litic knoAvledgc that may liaA'e a bearing on his busi- 
ne.-<S. CHARLES S. PHELPS, 
Boys and Girls Can Spell 
XL of the most la.sting and far-reaching in its 
effects of any feature of the great Xew York 
State Fair is the annual si>elling contest, an inno¬ 
vation due to CommLssioner of Agriculture Charles 
S. AVilson's practical turn of mind. The first State 
.‘■■pelling bee was held tw(.» years ago and was a great 
succes.s. Fifty-one counties competed this year, the 
entrants from each being tlie guest of the fair. Avith 
all expenses i)aid. Spelling contests are held in each 
county C'arlier in the .sea.son to determine the county 
chami)ion. Of the A’arious county champions enter- 
tain<>d by the State this year 20 were .girls and 22 
were boys. 
It look five hours of steady work to determine the 
best speller in this number, the contest being con¬ 
ducted by Commi.ssioner AA'ilson, as.sisted by Dr. W. 
H. .Iordan, director of the Geneva Experimeict Sta- 
tit)n. Charles Isenberg, of Schenectady, only I,‘*> 
years old, won the State chami)ionship: Mary Moore, 
15 yc'ars, of Svdlivan County, Avon second honors, 
and Alildred OAven, 1(5 ycair.s. of Onondaga, third. 
Ali.ss ()Aven Avon the second i)rize last year. The 
first test given AA'as Avritten. and this eliminated 
ii majority of the boys. The final test Avas oral, 
mostly girls participating, but the final Avinner Avas 
a boy. Some of the county champions Avere as fol- 
IcAA’s: Lillian I.ozon, Auburn: George F. Pei'kin.s, 
XcAv Berlin. Chenango; Alonroe G.-iincn*. Cuyler, 
t'ortland: Abram Beynolds, Malone: Helen I. AA'in- 
nie, Fulton; Ada MatraAV, AV.-itei'toAvn; Donald P.ran- 
agan, Carthage: M.ary Moore. Canastota: Charles 
Inger.soll. Sheriall; ('ath(‘rine Alcmgher, East Bloom¬ 
field: George McCullough. Alinetto; Alildred Keys, 
liisbon; Kuth I'uT’vy, Ovid: I.eon Kothermuch, 
Ithaca; Hazel Moore, North Bose. .Ar. o. f. 
Another Steer Feeding Story 
UR old friend the Rochester Herald is at it 
again in its efforts to sIioav that farmers are 
making great fortune.s, and that hogs and cattle per¬ 
form the miracle of buying their own feed and board¬ 
ing themselves .so as to help the farmer. The latest 
Herald effusion folloAvs: 
PROFITS 
Here is another of those farming incidents Avhich 
cause commotion in the e<litorial sanctum of Thf. Rural 
Commissioner Wilson and the Champion Speller, 
Fif/. 591 
Xrav-A'orker. and Avhich Avas published on the market 
page of the lndianai>olis Neirs about 10 days ago: 
“Three carloads of steers, including 40 head, the total 
weight of Avhich approximated 07,00() pounds, or an aA • 
erage of 1.402 pounds a head, were sold this morning for 
,'?12.01S.75 in the local market. This is the highest 
price ever i):ud. it is said, for one shipment of cattle in 
Indi.anapolis. The <';ittle were oavikhI by Messi's. 11. D. 
& ('. E. AA'illan of Trafalgar. They Avere fed by A'ictor 
LaAvli^', mamiger of the AA’illan fjirm. Tin* United 
Dressed Beef (’ompany of NeAv A'ork City bought the 
cattle through the commis.sion firm of Tibbs. Great- 
house & Co. of this cit.v. The OAvners s:iy tin' cattle 
Avere i)laced in a feed lot last November, Avhen they av¬ 
eraged 1.0.20 i)ounds and had cost them a i)urcha.se price 
of ,$104.10 a head. The amount of profit realized by 
the oAvners aa os .$7..54S.’’ 
The experts Avill. of course, knock these figures repre¬ 
senting profits to smithereens Avhen they take tin' matter 
in hand, but until they do the AVillans of Trafalgar Avill 
revel in the delusion that they are ahead in their cattle 
speculation. 
It did cause something of a commotion here to 
realize that the Herald Avouhl make such a foolish 
Farm Women to the liescae. Ftp. 592 
statment Avithout going over these figure.s. AA’e are 
told that 40 steers Aveighe(. 1,020 pounds each Avhen 
they Avere bought, and Avhen sold, eight months later, 
Aveighed (>7,000 pound.s. According to the figures the 
steers made an average gain of 422 pounds eacln 
They cost .$104.10 each, or ,$7,548.00. They sold for 
.$12.()1S.75. or a gain, not a profit, of .$.5,070.1,5. That 
is .$2,177.85 short of the Herald's calculation, but a 
sniiill m.-itter of about ,$2..500 is nothing to a rich 
fa rmer! 
Noav, Avhat about this ,$5,(.>70.15 Avhich tlie Herald 
calls profit? The R. N.-A'. has readers in the part of 
Indiana Avhere the.se steers Avere fed. and fron; them 
it has obtained the facts. It is not (luite true. a., the 
Herald Avould liaA’e us believe, that the.se steers gre.; 
fat on Avater and sunshine, or that they brought 
their lunch along Avith inem. They Avere husky fel- 
loAv.s, and demanded good corn, Iniy and grass. The 
feeder had to l■•.■.y for their food in labor or ca.sh. 
They gained, all told, Iff.ffis pounds. Every pound 
of this gain repro.sented corn feeding, and one bushel 
of coiTi produces about seven pounds of .gain. These 
steers con.sumed .at least 2.000 bushels of corn, at a 
loAV iiA'crage price of .$1..50 per bushel. It cost some- 
1231 
thing in L-ibor to care for tlie.se steers for eight 
months. The Rochester Herald Avould not do it for 
.$(>0 per month. The hay, cottonseed meal and other 
fei'ds could not be bought for $500. AA'e therefore 
h:iA-e the folioAving: 
Original cost of steers. .$7,548.00 
Gost. of corn. 4,.5()0.0() 
('ost of feed and bay. 500.00 
Cost of Libor. 480.00 
$12,028.00 
1‘roceeds from sale. 12,018 75 
$400 ..-iff 
This includes no interest for eight months on the 
purchase price and no charge for pasture or overhead 
ex|ienses. All of Avhich is respectfully submitted to 
the Roche.ster Herald for corre<'tion or corroboration 
•—or. most likely, another story of the .same sort. 
And let us print as a companion picture the follOAving 
letter from one of our subscribers avIio live.s iu the 
county Avhere these famous steers Avei'e fed: 
A FARMER AVITH SOITND PHILO.SOPHV 
I read in Indianapolis Star iu regard to R. D. & 
C. E. Willan making a clear profit of .$7..548 on three 
cai'loads of steers sold on Indianapolis market, and 
Avhat^my remarks to my Avife Avere I do not Avant to 
.see in print. I Avould rather tell of my exiierience, 
as I liaA-e lived in Indianapolis all of my life (15 
years), and four years ago I moA^ed to the country; 
had farm all paid for. $1,200 in cash, and crib full of 
corn. Avheat planted for first year, and it looked llki' 
a good start to me. a-s my business in toAvn did not 
require near that amount of capital, for if I ran 
short I could borroAv from bank for 10 days and have 
my money back from .surplus amount of business by 
that time. But on the farm I found things altogether 
different. I had to pay ,$000 foi'-hor.se.s, $00 for har- 
nes.s. $100 for Avagons, ,$800 for farm implement.s, 
$100 for four brood .soavs, ,$50 for boar, ,$210 for three 
coAvs, ,$00 for eight sheep. I was over ,$1,0(X) in debt 
before I reall.v Avas started and had to live eight 
months before I had a cent of income; I Avas up 
,‘igainst something I had never experienced before. 
^Results Avere, 1 Avent to bank and ImrroAved money, 
not at six per cent, but at eight; not for 10 day.s, 
but for one year, and after four years I still OAve 
$4,50 of first loan. 
I do not belioA'e that I was Avorkeil one-half us 
hard nor one-half as many hours in the city as I do 
noAv, and I can truthfully say that I spent more for 
things that 1 do not need noAV, or am getting along 
Avithout thi'in. every day in the city, than 1 am mak¬ 
ing noAv. In other Avords, I believe that city people 
spend more money for luxuries than nine-tenths of 
the farmers make clear in profits. I do not Avant to 
leave the impres.sion that I am not .satisfied on the 
farm, for it is an ideal life. Such as God intendcHl 
for man to live, and Avhen my Avork is done I do not 
need a cradle or rocking chair to go to .sleep in, but 
am contenteil to lie doAvn any old place and .sleep 
till daybreak next morning. I can enjoy my .meals 
three times a day, and most any Avholesome food 
tastes good to me. I do not need stra'Avberries in 
Winter, nor ice in Summer, but I get everything that 
comes along in its proper time and sea.son and I en¬ 
joy it, too. 
If I find 12 pigs Avith one .soav and another soav 
with only one or tAvo, I speak of both .soavs having 14 
pig.s. I take things as they are giA'cn and do iny 
best all the time and try to improve my methods by 
reading of others, and if I find somebody has a better 
method I try to folloAA' his ideas. 
I do not Avish to leave the impre.s.sion that I liave 
not been successful, nor that a farmer is rolling in 
Avealth : Ave all haA-e our ups and doAvns, but from 
my oAvn exiierience I can say that if a farmer Is 
careful and Avatches CA’crythiug as it .should be, he is 
on the job nearly 24 hours a day and 2G5 days each 
yea r. 
A man in the city does not realize what a fanner 
has to do nor hoAV hard he has to Avoi-k foi- a little 
gain, and I do not belieA'e he could or AA'ould Avork 
half as hard in his Avay as a farmer does. I do not 
Seene in an Apple Orchard. Fig. 590 
A Trio of .ipplc Pickers. Fig. 593 
