84 
‘Ihe RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
January IS. 1910 
DONT GIVE UP THE FARM 
MAKE IT PAY!! 
DON’T spend money needlessly for plant (stimulants. 
DON’T 'buy nitrogen, use the inexhaustible supply which nature has 
provided, taking it from the air by growing heavy legume crops. 
Depend on them for your main source of nitrogen, organic mat¬ 
ter and humus. 
DON’T buy potash unless you are dead sure your land is deficient in 
this element. German potash propaganda worked wonders for 
the Potash Trust, but did you grow smaller crops when the 
supnly was cut off for four years? 
DON’T use "Acid Phosphate as a source of phosphorus, unless you apply 
liberal quantities of lime to neutralize its bad effects, lor it is 
bound to create acid soil conditions and an acid soil is bacteri- 
ally dead. 
KEEP THESE FACTS IN MIND 
That Phosphorus is the lacking element in most soils. 
That crops won’t grow on acid soils. 
That essential bacteria cannot live in acid soils. 
That you cannot maintain the land’s fertility by depending on 
plant stimulants. 
BARIUM-PHOSPHATE 
IS AN ALKALINE FERTILIZER 
ANALYSING 
16 % Phosphoric Acid 7 % Barium Sulphide 
Barium phosphate is a mixture of a water soluble alkali, barium 
sulphide, and 1 phosphate of lime. It will never make a v soil arid and it 
will correct acid soil conditions. 
Tins material supplies phosphorus in a most desirable form at a 
reasonable cost and also contains 7% of Barium Sulphide, an active 
alkali which 
SWEETENS THE SOIL AND PROMOTES THE GROWTH 
OF FAVORABLE BACTERIA 
Phosphorus and decaying organic matter are the two substances 
which constitute ttie key to profitable systems of permanent agriculture. 
I"seil in combination with manure or plowed under with green crops 
Barium-Phosphate will produce profitable yields and build up the fertility 
of your farm. 
It will pay you to write for our book describing this material and 
its uses. 
Witherbee, Sherman & Company, Inc. 
2 Rector Street, New York City 
ADDRESS INQUIRIES TO FERTILIZER DEPT. GRAFTON. MASS. 
All Sorts 
Fish for Pond 
Clipped Army Horses 
Veterinarians of the Allied Armies ordered regu¬ 
lar clipping of the horses and mules in all 
branches of the service. They were clipped with 
ihe Stewart No. 1 machine. YOT’U horses also 
will do better work if clipped. Get a Stewart 
No. 1 Ball Bearing Clipping Machine, $9.7. r >; 
*2.00 down, balance when received. Or write 
for 1019 catalog. 
CMICACO FLEXIBLE SHAFT COMPANY 
Dept. 141.1 2th Street and Cantral Avenue, Chicago, III. 
This plow’s patented Auto Foot 
Frame Shift enables you to regulate 
furrow width accurately under all 
conditions by slight pressure on con¬ 
venient foot levers. Automatic Clevis 
Shift and Horse Lift further relieve 
you of labor. Wheels are set wide 
apart—plow doesn’t tip over on hill¬ 
sides. 
On every field on your farm you 
can make the maximum area of seed 
beds with this handy plow—work close 
100 Bond Letterheads opes, printed, all pre¬ 
paid. S I 60. THE SALES MART. WmTNEYVir.I.E, Conn. 
Wanted-GinsengRoot-MNus RawFurs J v 1 . r i , c t e* l j£ 
state value and ship to X. X. TEEPXE, Hankins. N.Y. 
For Sale—10-20 Tractor chalker* brown, aple.«.». 
to fences, plow out nooks and corners 
of irregular fields, and do away with 
dead furrows and back ridges where 
these are not desirable. 
Equipped with genuine Syracuse 
Chilled bottoms, famous throughout 
the East for good work and long life. 
You will like the John Deere Two- 
Way Plow. Your John Deere dealer 
can show it to you. 
Write for full information. 
What kind of edible fish should be col¬ 
onized in a dam of fresh water ! 
Mobnton, Pa. n.g. 
In answering a question of this kind it 
is necessary to do a little guessing. Look¬ 
ing on the map, we see that the location 
is in the mountain or at least hilly part 
of Eastern Pennsylvania. It is so far 
south that it is not likely to be good for 
trout, with the possible exception of 
brown trout, or rainbow trout. It is also 
probably too far south for the best of the 
pickerels. 
In the group of basses are many excel¬ 
lent pond fish which are also very good to 
eat. Smallmouth black bass require al¬ 
most as cold water as trout, and do best 
in a pond where the bottom is stony or 
gravelly. Rainbow trout, brown trout or 
smallmouth bass need about the same kind 
of a pond, and would be the best fish to 
put in a pond where the water in the 
deepest parts does not go above b0 to <0 
degrees in the hottest weather. The crap- 
pies, strawberry bass or calico bass, as 
they are variously called, are very good 
pan fish and especially suited to pond cul¬ 
ture. The various sunfishes are rather 
small, but most excellent in the frying- 
pan and easily raised in a pond. Yellow 
perch and white perch do well in ponds 
and are good to eat. Many of the cat- 
fishes are suited to pond culture. Large- 
mouth bass is a fine pond fish, and grows 
to great size in warm water if it has 
plenty to eat. ALFRED C. weed 
Wayne Co.. X. Y. 
Lizards in Aquarium 
Pp in this section of the country there 
are about three varieties of small lizards 
which can be found on the roads in Sum¬ 
mer. I would like to place same in a four- 
gallon balanced aquarium I possess m 
which there are at present five varieties ot 
small-sized gold and silver fish. Are the 
lizards likelv to live in this tank, what 
should thev'be fed. and how adjust the 
tank to their use? I also desire to keep 
a few small-sized fish found in the brooks 
up here, not fish whose capture is pro¬ 
hibited by the game laws, but the very 
small common variety which seem to he 
of no use to anybody. Are the fish likely 
to live in the above mentioned tank, and 
what should I feed them? V. M. 
Sullivan Co., N. Y. 
The animals mentioned probably are 
not lizards, because there are not that 
many different kinds living in that region. 
All lizards are covered with scales; have, 
therefore, a dry, lmrsh surface, and never 
live in water. Salamanders, which are 
of similar form, have a smooth, moist 
skin, and some species do live in water. 
Those found crawling about on the 
ground or under logs, however, are not 
adapted to long-continued life in water, 
in fact I believe there Is only one kind 
of salamander in Sullivan County, New 
York, that is adapted to aquatic life, and 
this species will only be found living in 
water under normal conditions. This is 
the newt, an olive greenish species, with 
small black spots and four or five larger 
red spots along each side. 
When adding new animals to an 
aquarium it will be well to select speci¬ 
mens that are of such a size that they 
can neither eat the animals already in 
the aquarium nor be eaten by them. Any 
great discrepancy in size surely will re¬ 
sult in disappearance of the smaller speci¬ 
mens. Small fishes ot the minnow family, 
which V. M. probably has in mind, will 
live under conditions suitable for gold fish 
and can subsist on the same food. 
E. W. NELSON. 
U. S. Biological Survey. 
Filler in Bran 
I am enclosing a sample of table bran 
in the original sack bought at one of our 
local stores. I wish to call your atten¬ 
tion to the filler it contains. It seems to 
me there is too much for good health, 
saving nothing about its conforming to 
the law. Is it lawful to adulterate like 
that? N. P. g. 
Vermont. 
We submitted the sample of bran you 
sent us to our chemist, and he reports 
that it cau scarcely be called adulterated 
or filled because there is a little oat bran 
mixed with it. especially as there is no 
evidence that this was done to cheapen 
the product, since other grains often grow 
in wheat fields and are harvested and 
ground with the wheat. The object of 
this bran is to provide a certain propor¬ 
tion of trash for those who, for various 
reasons, desire to eat a mixture of it 
with food, and it seems to make little 
difference from what grain the trash is 
derived. The chances are that you will 
get a far better quality of bran from a 
local feed store than you can buy in a 
bag at a fancy price, and the chances also 
are it will be a cleaner article. If you 
can get some fairly clean whole wheat 
and a coffee mill you can grind a whole 
wheat flour yourself which will have all 
the trash value the bran has. and a lot 
of nutritive value besides. 
Painted Matting 
Iu answer to the query as to whether 
it is practicable to paint faded matting. I 
send the experience of one of our family. 
On moving into a house, one of the small¬ 
er rooms was found to have a very poor 
floor. We could hardly know what to 
contrive to cover it, as linoleum would 
soon have been worn out by the many 
projections that would have pushed them¬ 
selves through. We bethought ourselve.s 
of some worn matting, tacked it smoothly 
in place, and gave it a coat of paint so it 
would be more durable and more easily 
cleaned. At this time the matting is still 
doing good service after six years of hard 
usage. It must be understood that the 
appearance is changed, and the matting is 
best left in position permanently. The 
floor and matting being thoroughly clean 
before painting, the result will be tin* 
same as if linoleum had been laid down, 
except for the fastenings to the floor. 
However, if the strips of matting are 
sewed together before laying it will be 
possible to remove it all in one piece, but 
it would be advisable to have laid several 
thicknesses of paper under it to absorb 
any surplus of paint that by chance 
might find its way through to* the floor, 
thus making it hard to separate the mat¬ 
ting from the floor. If the matting is in 
a room where the wear is not very severe, 
I have no doubt but that a varnish stain 
would give good results. 
Table oilcloth may be painted and used 
for a floor covering, by using floor paint 
on the reverse side. Tack smoothly in 
place before painting. By renewing the 
paint it will last a long time. Old carpet 
or burlap may be used the same way, but 
should be placed where it is to remain, 
then sized with a boiled paste or starch 
before applying the paint. MBS. F. BEE. 
Vinegar from Parings 
Iii a November issue of The R. N.-Y. 
someone wished to know how to make 
vinegar of parings. I make a fairly good 
vinegar from parings of apples or pears. 
Dover the parings with water; if you have 
mother in vinegar, add to the water, or a 
little brown sugar or molasses. Cover 
with a piece of muslin. Put it where it 
will not be disturbed for six weeks or 
more. It should be kept warm to start 
fermentation. j. m. s. 
Westfield, N. ,T. 
Crude Oil as Wood Preservative 
On page 1423. issue of R. N.-Y". for De¬ 
cember 28. J. F. C., Versailles, O., asks 
about crude oil as a wood preserver. It 
might, not be valuable on solid, dressed 
wood, as it will not penetrate very far. 
and would soon evaporate and wash off. 
My experience with a pine sawed shingle 
roof might be interesting. A liberal sup- 
lily of oil was applied to such a roof on 
a dry. hot day in 1887. and is still in good 
condition, while a part of the same roof 
that was not oiled was renewed 10 years 
ago. I would not advise its U6e on a 
dwelling because of danger from fire. 
Cadiz, O. h. c. 
Improving State Roads 
I learn we are to go at State road 
building soon. I think we farmers should 
get at our best efforts to make improve¬ 
ments in the road building. I run two 
cars and two teams, so I know how poor 
the roads are for both. The Broadway, 
N. Y., road to Albany is a fair sample, 
and passes through here, as does the 
Great Barrington road, and to its credit it 
is the best I know of for seven miles for 
motors. That is, it is well tarred and so 
for 10 years the surface is kept good, but 
many a horse has been ruined by falls on 
its slippery surface. We motorists think 
we should have a flue road and we pay 
for it. We farmers think the same thing, 
and most farmers have their own cars and 
like a good surface road. State roads near 
cities need to be wide, but most of the 
State roads should, I think, be made nar¬ 
row for cars; that is, richly tarred only 
about a foot on either side of where a car 
would track when in the center of the 
road. Cars would run on that point, and 
from there out use less tar and yet make 
it just as reliable for horses; then, as 
cars turn out they will damage the horse 
track, but it will still be a horse track 
and solid, while the cars will always have 
a good track in the center, which will 
practically never need repairs, and the 
horse track can be repaired more cheaply 
and one track would always be good. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. c. B. snyder. 
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JOHN DEERE, Moline, Illinois 
GET QUALITY 
AND SERVICE 
JOHN DEERE 
DEALERS GIVE BOTH 
The Ideal 
Plow for Hilly; 
Stony Land 
Without any real labor on your part you can maintain a full 
width furrow in plowing on hillsides and around stones or other 
obstructions with the 
JOHN-ghDEERE Two-Way Plow 
BUILT IN THE EAST FOR THE EAST 
