378 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
We have really had no Winter thus 
far, and our people are all puzzled as 
to what they should do about Spring 
•work. The ice men certainly feel as if 
they had their feet on a large cake of 
their ice. Some of us feel that there 
must be some Winter yet before we are 
done with it. I can remember the great 
blizzard of 1888. We had given up all 
idea of bad weather when suddenly, on 
March 12, there pounced down upon us 
the worst storm ever known in these 
parts. We may get a dose of it yet, but 
it does not look like it today, with the 
sky clear and blue and the ground en¬ 
tirely bare. There is a fierce wind blow¬ 
ing off the hills, but it is nothing like 
the season of frozen pipes, drifted snow 
and roaring storms we had last year. 
The season’s plans should be made by 
this time, and the materials and seeds 
all ordered. 
* * * * * 
We shall plant about 200 fruit trees. 
Our available orchard land is pretty well 
filled up, but there are some dead apple 
trees and a few places to be supplied. 
There is one orchard of peach trees to be 
ripped out. Our way of doing that is 
to saw off the top, leaving a crotch about 
five feet high. Then we dig on one side 
and cut the roots, and fasten a chain high 
up on the crotch. Then, the big horses 
are hitched to this chain and told to 
“get up.” They do it. and the tree goes 
along with them. Dynamite might do it 
faster, but the horses would otherwise be 
doing nothing. This peach orchard is 
about 15 years old, and had given great 
service. Some years ago we began plant¬ 
ing McIntosh apples so they would stand 
32 feet apart—the peaches being 1G feet. 
The older of these trees are now about 
ready to bear. By ripping out the peach 
trees we can plant in more McIntosh, and 
thus have a good and permanent orchard. 
While it is coming on we can grow sweet 
corn to good advantage. 
As for varieties, two years ago I should 
have advised planting eight out of 10 
McIntosh. Our experience last year with 
the early varieties has changed my mind 
somewhat. Such kinds as Twenty Ounce, 
Aetradian or Yellow Transparent and 
Maiden Blush paid us as well as any¬ 
thing on the farm. Before we had the 
truck we seldom handled such varieties 
to advantage, but with the ability to 
put them promptly right into the large 
markets we find them very profitable. 
Take Twenty Ounce, for example, or Wolt 
River. I would not care to eat either 
raw, but without question there is a 
great demand for such big handsome ap¬ 
ples for baking. The restaurants and 
hotels call for them, and when properly 
baked they satisfy customers. I shall 
plant more Twenty Ounce in order to 
supply this trade. But do not. get the 
idea that I advise you or anyone else to 
plant Twenty Ounce or Wolf Itiver. We 
have a trade that will take such apples, 
and we can get them into market. It 
vou are selling in a small town or cannot 
reach the big markets quickly my advice 
is to keep away from these large low- 
quality varieties. 
***** 
Shall we let the locusts (sure to 
come this year) interfere with our plant¬ 
ing? I shall not pay much attention to 
them. At the last visitation they did 
very little damage on this farm, although 
a mile or so away they were bad. They 
will slit some of the young trees, but 
they usually recover. As a rule when we 
plant we cut almost half the tree off. 
This year it will be better to plant the 
trees about as they come from the nursery, 
or at best clip them just a little. Then 
after the locusts have disappeared we 
can go over these trees and cut them 
back so as to overcome the effect of the 
locusts. Or we can unpack the nursery 
trees and plant them close together in 
some convenient place, spray them with 
whitewash and keep them covered with 
mosquito netting during May. That will 
keep the locusts away from them, and 
when they go, early in June, these trees 
can be taken up and planted where they 
are to stand permanently. At any rate 
there is no use worrying about these 
locusts. They are sure to come, and they 
are, after all. about the most harmless 
insects we have. In the West something 
of a business has developed in gathering 
grasshoppers and drying them. In that 
state they have a commercial value as 
chicken feed. Some of you chicken men 
might get some valuable protein out of 
dried locusts. 
* * * * 
We believe in lime on 
for years we have used it 
are situated annual application of 500 
or 000 pounds per acre pay us better 
than larger doses every few years, 
is largely because we try to plow 
a cover crop each Spring. The lime . 
well with such a crop. But how much 
can a farmer afford to pay for lime? 
There comes a limit to all things. When 
I started buying burnt lime I paid $0 per 
ton in New York, with freight about $2. 
The price has been steadily raised until 
this year the same kind of lime is offered 
at $11.50 per ton, with freight about 
$3.60. I cannot see where it can possibly 
cost more to produce this lime than it did 
last year. By the time it gets to the 
farm this lime will cost more than I can 
expect to get out of it. I cannot afford 
to pay any such price with the prospects 
now in sight for disposal of our crops. 
We have about two tons of lime left 
from last year. We shall use this as 
far as it goes, and then stop for the year, 
for at the price lime has gone past our 
limit. Why not use limestone? I do 
not get the quick returns from it on our 
soil that we do from the burnt lime and, 
anyway, when you use twice as much 
limestone as you do burnt lime there is 
not much difference in cost. 
***** 
This lime incident is only one of many 
cases where farmers feel that they have 
been driven beyond the limit. Everything 
we buy has been crowded up, and we 
begin to question whether we can pos¬ 
sibly get enough for our crops to pay 
for all this expense. Anyone can raise 
big crops if he will spend the money 
needed for thorough cultivation, expensive 
machinery or high-priced lime and fer¬ 
tilizers. We can raise the crops if we 
are willing to pay those fearful prices, 
but can we get out whole? Can we get 
enough more for our goods this year to 
pay the increase? That is a mighty 
serious question for many of us. Which is 
better, to do a business of $1,500 and 
make $400. or to turn over $3,000 and 
barely come out even? I can see little 
in the immediate future to warrant any 
“plunging.” 
* * * * * 
This year we plan to plant most of 
our available land in sweet corn. That 
is a food crop which we seem to know 
how to handle. Our soil is well adapted 
to it with sod and cover crop, and with 
our truck we can handle this bulky 
product quickly. I shall cut out the 
potato crop, growing only enough for 
home use, and increase the area in to¬ 
matoes and peppers somewhat. Our soil 
is not well adapted to potatoes, and the 
labor required to plant, spray, cultivate 
and dig an acre will take reasonable care 
of four acres of sweet corn, while the 
cost of fertilizer and seed for an acre 
of potatoes will fertilize six acres of corn. 
After selling the sweet corn ears we have 
the stalks tor feeding, and we can seed 
turnips after the early varieties, or rye 
or clover after the late ones. Let it be 
understood, however, that this is not <ien- 
eral advice. It is what we figure out to 
suit our own conditions. Do not special¬ 
ize in sweet corn unless you know just 
where you can sqll it at a fair price. 
***** 
Market Garden Crops 
Mean Quick Profits. 
Ask for your copy of 
our new “Vege¬ 
table 
Book.” 
March 1, 1019 
Extra early 
potatoes pay 
best. Our 
‘Potato Book’’ 
will help you. 
Send for a copy. 
DON’T 
GET LEFT 
Order a Full Supply of 
E. FRANK COE’S 
(Registered U. S. Patent Office) 
it 
Hay is 
bringing 
high prices. 
Why not increase 
your crop? Ask 
for our new 
“Hay Book.” 
FERTILIZERS 
They will help you secure 
A GREATER YIELD FROM EVERY FIELD’’ 
Write today for prices and the name of our nearest agent. 
Address Crop Book Department 
THE COE-MORTIMER COMPANY 
Subsidiary of the American AKrictiltural Chemical Co. 
51 Chambers St., New York City 
Corn is in great 
demand. Our 
‘Corn Book” will help 
you increase your yields. 
Send today for a copy. 
* 
this farm, and 
freely. As we 
' 1 of 
ns 1_ 
This 
under 
goes 
There is a big pile of coal ashes out 
back of tin* house. This Winter's supply 
contains more potash than usual, since 
we have burned far more wood. It is 
usually a problem to know what to do 
with such ashes. After some study I 
have decided to haul them to the hill 
orchard; and put 40-50 pounds close 
around each apple tree. That will kill 
out the grass growing up to the tree, sup¬ 
ply a little potash, serve as a mulch and 
give some protection against fire. A few 
weeks ago two men passed through one 
of our orchards which is in what they 
call «od mulch. Thus there is a thick 
coat of dry grass. One of these men 
evidently lit. his pipe and threw the 
lighted match on the grass. A little later 
our hoys saw that orchard in a blaze. 
They finally got the fire out, hut I notice 
that where the coal ashes are spread 
under tin* tree the blaze never reached 
the trunk, while in one or two places 
where there were no ashes tin* trunks 
are scorched a little. The one great 
weakness of the mulch or sod orchard 
is the danger from fire, and the coal ashes 
give some protection. If this pile of 
ashes could have had the house slops 
poured over it during the Winter they 
would be worth more as a fertilizer, for 
such ashes hold plant food like a sponge. 
I shall give each of these apple trees 
about eight pounds of phosphate and, if 
they show the need of it, a little nitrate 
of soda. 
***** 
Our hoys started to collect and dry 
wild cherry bark. Wo have tried to 
clean up the wild cherry trees, since they 
are breeding spots for the caterpillars, 
but there are some trees left. The boys 
cut them down, chop them up and bring 
them to the house, where they shave 
off the hark before the tire. There seems 
to be a genuine demand for this bark, 
which is used in making cough and cold 
medicines. This Winter’s siege with the 
disease here increased the demand, and 
prices for the dried bark run from 10 to 
20 cents a pound. That seems like a 
good figure, but if you think there is 
any fortune in it ask our boys how long 
it takes to fix up a pound of it. By the 
time they scraped off enough of the bark 
to cure a hard cold their enthusiasm for 
the job had grown colder. You may think 
you have a great pile of the fresh bark, 
but the drying does take the weight out 
of it. So as the fire blazes.up I do not 
know that I blame the boy for biting off 
his bark job. Now he will make a batch 
of his famous fudge, as there will lx* com¬ 
pany tomorrow. Little Rose goes to 
watch him cook the sugar and chocolate 
demanding a taste at frequent intervals. 
She seems to be pretty much the boss 
of the family, having found a way of 
bossing the former boss—mother. The 
rest of us are all busy, mother with her 
mending, the little girls sewing and the 
oldest boy at his drawing. I ought to 
be at work, lmt this fire seems to make 
me lazy, and so I take up a new book 
“Salt,” and become absorbed in it. Thb 
is the story of a boy’s, education told in 
terms of cold, hard truth, and it seems 
to me that every father and mother should 
get its message. H. w. c. 
WHETHER SIDE. HILLS-LEVEL-OR SJ0NY,STUMPY^GROUND 
There’s an Eddy 
Plow to Fit Your Farm 
Why buy just a common, ordinary plow when you can 
get a plow with a “pedigree” at equal cost ono that 
has in it all the experience of 84 years l 
There are several models of Eddy Plows. Each is designed for 
a distinct kind of soil—and has several advantages over other plows. 
There is an Eddy Plow for your farm that wdl give you the most plow 
value for vo r money. Only two Eddy Plows are described here. Give 
us an opportunity of telling you about the others-and of showing how you 
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Gr< 
i ier 
Eddy Plows Nos. 5A-12 and 5A-14 
Everything firmly lx>ltcd to standard not to 
beam. Mouldboard, share and landside easily 
removed — beam can’t get out of alignment. 
Chilled mouldboard by Eddy process — uniform 
hnrdness and temper for any soil. Horn point 
gives new shin piece or cutting edge with each 
new share. No wear on landside. Slip heel re¬ 
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quickly—less than half the number of bolts 
usually required. Many other desirable features 
Eddy Improved No. 36Reversible Sidebill Plow 
Almost unlimited range of usefulness. Mould- 
board modeled so as to run evenly and turn fur¬ 
row equal to any flat land plow. Reinforced wheel 
block '‘strap” is there to stay. No doping. 
Coulter fastened to top of beam where it s out 
of the way. Best for old ground as well as 
eo<i No more broken coulter bloeks. Coulter 
knife will give three times ordinary wear. 
Foot latch adjustable to take up wear. Best 
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Let Us Tell You More About Eddy Plows 
There is a plow for YOITR farm. Just what you’ve been looking for. You can get it at 
i, year nearest goo.l dealer or direct from us-or drop a postal for our catalog before you « 
buy from anyone — and you will decide upon an Eddy. 
W. Eddy Plow Co., 30-40 Eddy St., Greenwich, N. Y. 
The Result 
of 84 Years of 
Honest Plow 
Making 
- IF AN 
"EDDY 1 ALWAYS READY a 
Generations 
of Manufacturers 
of Plows 
Behind Eddy Plows 
RHODES MFG. CO. 
Division Ave., Grand Rapids, Michigan 
•THE only 
* pruner 
made that cuts 
from both sides of 
the limb and does not 
bruise the bark. Made in 
all styles and sizes. All 
shears delivered free 
to your door. 
Write for 
circular and 
prices. 
That’s Enough 
For Any Engine to Weigh 
Any engine that weighs more than 60 pounds per horsepower 
is too heavy for farm work. It wastes gasoline, material, 
F , time and energy. 
Cushman Engines weigh only one-fourth as much as 
ordinary farm engines, but they are balanced so carefully and 
w governed so accurately that they run even more steadily and 
y quietly. They are also the most durable farm engines in the world, 
on account of improved design and better material and construction. 
Light Weight 
Farm Motors 
4 H. P. weighs only 190 lbs., being only 43 lbs. per horsepower. 
Besides doing all ordinnry jobs, it may be attached to any gram 
hinder, saving a team, and in a wet harvest saving the crop. Also it 
may be used on corn binders and potato diggers. 
8 H. P. weighs only 320 lbs., being only 40 ltis. per horsepower. 
Eor all medium jobs. Also may be attached to bay presses, corn 
pickers, saw rigs, etc. 
4C H. P. weighs only 780 lbs,, being only 52 lbs. per horsepower. 
I w Ror heavier farm jobs, such as 6-holo corn ahollcru, en ilago 
cutters, large feed grinders, small threshers, etc. 
H. P. weighs only 1200 lbs., being only 60 lbs. per borsq- 
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separators, heavy sawing, etc. 
Cushman Engines do not wear unevenly and lose compression. Every 
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Cushman Motor Works Lincoln, Nebraska 
Easy to Move from Job to Job 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page* 
