lbc RURAL NEW-YORKER 
571 
the cookies were handed to her for dis¬ 
tribution. For a great many centuries, 
it must be said that the farmer never had 
much of a chance with the town man 
when it came to receiving favors from 
the ladies, and in the distribution of that 
pie John and Mary usually ate about 
seven-eighths of it, and handed the bal¬ 
ance to Bert, for even then those city 
children had formed the idea that a 
silent, unresisting farm boy was made to 
be the beast of burden, fit for the frosty 
side of the barn, and I am frank to say 
after all these years that the diminutive 
slice of pie served out to Bert gave me 
the original idea of the 35-cent dollar. 
* * >s * * 
And just as happens in other and 
larger forms of business, there were in 
that toy performance of a great drama, 
forms of legislative bribery for middlemen 
and farmers. Those children were told 
that if they would hurry and get the 
woodshed filled up, they would receive 
pleasure and a present. John and Mary, 
as middlemen, might go to the circus, 
while the boy on the saw would receive 
a fine present. This would be a book 
which told how a splendid little boy sawed 
15 cords of wood in two weeks, and then 
asked his mother if he couldn't please go 
down the road and saw five cords more 
for a poor widow woman duriug *his 
play time. Ever since the world began, 
that seems to have beeu the idea of 
agricultural legislation. The real direct 
pleasure and profit have gone to John 
and Mary, while to Bert has gone the 
promise of an education which will teach 
him how to work a little harder. Look¬ 
ing back over the world’s history, the 
most astonishing thing to me is that 
society has failed to see that the best 
investment of public money and power 
is that made closest up to the ground, 
the great mother of us all. Other inter¬ 
ests have received it. largely because they 
have been able to organize and make a 
stronger appeal to the imagination. 
❖ # >:« * 
Of course in every drama of human life 
there has to be a crisis where the actors 
come to blows, and it happened so in 
this case. There came one day particu¬ 
larly cold, and with a special run of 
hard and knotty wood to be sawed. That 
gave John and Mary more time for play, 
and put an extra job on Bert. I cannot 
tell just how the battle started: it may 
have beeu caused by Mary, for a thousand 
times in the history of the world the re¬ 
lations between two boys and a girl have 
upset al calculations and changed the 
history of the world. Or it may be that 
the spirit of injustice boiled up in the 
heart of that boy on the saw. and swept 
away his peaceful disposition. At any 
rate, when John found fault because be 
did not work faster, Bert dropped his 
saw and tackled the tormentor. We are 
now in a great building that was erected 
as a temple of agriculture, a»d in such 
a temple we should only be told. I sup¬ 
pose, of the cases where science has come 
to the aid of the farmer. If I am to tell 
the truth, however, I am forced to admit 
that there was no science at all about the 
battle which that boy put up for the rights 
of farm labor, lie should, I suppose, have 
imitated some of the old heroes described 
by Homer and Virgil, but as the rage of 
battle came over him. the most effective 
tighter he could think of was the old ram. 
and I regret to say that he lowered his 
head, and, without regard for science, 
butted John in the stomach and knocked 
him down. Then he sat on his enemy, 
took hold of his hair with both hands, and 
proceeded to pound his head on the frosty 
ground, while Mary danced about, not 
caring to interfere, but evidently waiting 
to bestow her favors upon the victor. 
And just as John was getting ready to 
call “enough” the kitchen door opened : 
and out came the woman of the house 
with the old minister. h. w. c. 
(To Be Continued) 
Imperial Epineuse and Pacific Plums 
< >n page 351 is a very interesting ar¬ 
ticle on different fruits to be grown in 
the East. Regarding the plum, after care¬ 
ful reading of same. I have come to the 
conclusion that the Imperial Epineuse 
and Pacific should be grown here in the 
East to the exclusion of other kinds, when 
for one's own home use. I will appre¬ 
ciate very much indeed your candid opin¬ 
ion regarding this, and where the two 
varieties named can be purchased. 
New York. l. s. p. 
Prof. Hedrick says he feels sure that 
the Imperial Epineuse and Pacific plum 
are well adapted to this locality. At 
present they can only bo obtained from 
some of the Pacific coast nurseries. 
Poor Coal 
IVhat can I do about poor coal? The 
egg coal I get is about one-eighth stone, 
and that means I pay $120 per year for 
stone. Is there any remedy? w. p. t.. 
Baldwinsville. Mass. 
(Jrin and bear it or change coal dealers. 
But we doubt if the other fellow can do 
better, until competition re-establishes 
quality. As long as any black thing that 
came in a car was coal and was sold at a 
fixed price there was no escape for the lit¬ 
tle fellow who could not buy on analysis. 
If we ate coal we could appeal to all- 
powerful boards of health to “establish a 
standard." as for milk, but till such a 
standard is fixed you can sell anything 
you like as “coal” if you can get buyers. 
F. D.'c. 
These 
Letters 
Tell the 
Users’ 
Stories 
In Their 
Own Words 
Read Them 
Mt. Pleasant. Mich. 
With the Martin we dug 60 
rods, 2 feet deep, in 1 hour and 
30 minutes, using 3 horses and 
2 men. and after putting in the 
tile filled it up in 30 minutes. 
THOMAS HUTCHINGS. 
R. P. D. No. 3. 
I Want To Prove To You 
That You Can Absolutely 
Insure Against Crop Failure 
Get This 
Free Book Now 
T HERE is no need trusting to the luck of the 
season if you own one of these wonderful 
machines. Read the letters reproduced on this 
page. We have thousands of such letters from 
Martin users in every state. They tell the story 
of the Martin better than we can teli it. Get 
full story by sending for our free book. 
Green Bay. Wis. 
The Martin: We had 320 
acres of flat land and al¬ 
ways when it rained the 
water stood on the land 
until it soaked into the 
ground and consequently 
the land kept soft and too 
wet to work. 
Before ditching we could 
not get over from $15 to $20 
per acre for our land. After 
ditching and getting the 
land into shape for cultiva¬ 
tion, it is worth $75 an acre. 
The water rushes through 
these ditches when it rams 
and no water remains 
standing on the land. 
I have promised myself 
great results from the ma¬ 
chine and I am glad to say 
I was not mistaken in it. 
Sincerely yours, 
M. BODENHEIMF.R 
Remember, the Mar¬ 
tin is not a big. 
heavy,expensive ma¬ 
chine. Every farmer 
in America can afford 
to own one. It will 
do your farm Ditch¬ 
ing for open drainage 
or irrigation. Tiling, 
Terracing. Road 
Making, Filling, Lev- 
eling, and it builds 
Dikes, moves Snow, 
cleans out weed- 
clogged 
Ditches, 
does every 
conceiv¬ 
able dirt- 
moving job. 
Model 20 
I want to tell yon the 
true story of what 
this tool does. It 
has made thousands 
of poor farms profit- 
ableand hasincreas- 
ed production on 
farms that were 
thought to be al¬ 
ready producing 
their limit. Good 
drainage enables the 
soil to breathe. It 
prevents soil becom¬ 
ing sour and stale, enables the warmth 
of the sun to creep down to the plant 
roots. Drainage is true crop 
insurance. 
Leesville, S. C. 
I like the MARTIN fine. 
I terraced about 200 acres 
of land in two days. It 
wouldhave taken 20hands 
a week to do the work. 
Yours truly. 
F. A. BARR. 
Sold on 10 Days’ Trial 
Uniontown, Ala. 
My Manager, Mr. Tacker, pronounces the 
implements a great success in ditching, es¬ 
pecially hillside and terrace ditching. He 
tells me, with four good mules the Martin 
and two men he can do more ditching in one 
day than 100 men can with picks and shovels. 
I could not be made to part with my ditchers 
for any coiuideration. 
Respect fully, 
G. B. JOHNSON. 
Farm Ditcher, Terracer, 
Road Grader 
Arkville, New York, 
I have tried the Ditcher 
in roots, stones and dirt 
and I cannot say too much 
in its praise. 
It will do the work of 20 
men easily In the Catskill 
Mountains of New York. 
Yours very truly, 
R. H. MOLYNEAUX. 
Reversible, adjustable; no wheels or cogs. All steel. Made 
in 2, 4 and 6-horse and tractor sizes. Economical and 
easy to handle. No farm or ranch outfit complete without a ‘‘MARTIN.” 
Get the Full Story—Insure Against' Crop 
Failure—Write For the Free Book 
Don't turn away from this page in 
your paper without sending me 
your name. I will show you as 
many letters from owners as you 
want to see and will tell you many 
interesting facts about the machine. 
Writing to me commits you to noth¬ 
ing. It only gives me the chance to 
tell you more about the wonderful 
tool that can not be told in an adver¬ 
tisement. 
W. A. STEELE, Pres, and Gen’l Mgr. 
OWENSBORO DITCHER & 
GRADER COMPANY 
Box 1934 Owensboro, 
Kentucky 
Dear Sirs:— 
While conducting: a tractor 
demonstration at the Uni¬ 
versity of Arizona, The 
Yuba Tractor people ap¬ 
peared on the scene with¬ 
out a load for their tractor. 
I discovered one of your 
ditchers at the Rondstadt 
Machine Company, which 
I borrowed to use as a load 
on the Yuba 40 H. P. Trac¬ 
tor. 
We dug: an irrigation ditch 
about 5 feet deep, complet¬ 
ing the ditch in about four 
runs, plowing some soft 
caliche, which is about as 
hard as our shale-like lime¬ 
stone 
We pulled a large chain in 
two, and straightened sev¬ 
eral links in this same 
chain. Your ditcher stood 
the strain perfectly and 
came out without apparent 
damage. Yours very truly. 
JAS, A. FARRA, 
Agricultural Euguntr. 
Top Dress Your Crops 
with NITROGEN and POTASH. 
Obtained by concentration of the Potash found in Caliche 
at our Chilean Refineries—analysis 17% Ammonia. 17% 
1 otash : all water soluble, and is the best and most effective 
combination of Nitrate Potash. 
Cheapest Nitrogen 
Cheapest Potash — 
Equal to Nitrate of 
Soda at $81.00 per 
ton, and Potash at 
$4.00 per unit . 
It is all available. Use one hundred pounds per acre alone, or mix 
with Acid Phosphate and any other fertilize or fertilizer material, and 
.von have the best complete fertilizer. 
Mil. K. M. TURNER. Pres. 
(IOO% AVAILABLE. 
General Acoustic Company. New York City, says: 
"1 placed this on corn when it was about twelve inches high, with 
splendid results. The corn was considered the best raised in Rock¬ 
land County and was awarded first prize at the New City Fair. It 
yielded almost one hundred bushels to the acre.” 
We have many other testimonials 
PRJCp • F- O. B. Cars, New York, Baltimore, Wilmington, 
_* Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, New 
Orleans, $7.50 per 100 lbs. Special carload prices. 
For further information, directions, formulas for mixing, etc., write 
nearest office to you. Address Desk N. P.-29, any branch. 
NiTRATE^fli Agencies 
85 Water St. 
4/P N> New York 
* City 
Main 
Office 
Norfolk. Va. 
Savannah. Ga. 
Jacksonville, Fla. 
New Orleans. I.a. 
Columbus. Ohio 
San Juan. P. R. 
Havana. Cuba 
Nitrate of Soda, Fertilizers, Insecticides, Chemicals, Colors, Feeds 
says; Don t take chances with 
lightning—insurance won’t repay 
the property loss when it strikes 
—nor bring back the life that’s 
snuffed out by a thunderbolt. 
Security Lightning Rods 
Give Guaranteed Protection 
Made of 99. 8fo pure Lake 
Superior Copper—the best light¬ 
ning conductor known. En¬ 
dorsed by National Board of Fire 
Underwriters and State Insur¬ 
ance Exchanges. 
Our Patented Security Water 
Ground Connection insures 
permanently moist grounding 
under all conditions. 
M rite for free book—Stop Lightning Losses 
Security Lightning Rod Co. 
504 Pine St. Burlington, Wis. 
WELL 
DRILLING 
PAYS 
WELL 
Owa a machine of your own. Cash or easy 
terms. Many styles and sizes for all purposes. 
Write for Circular 
WILLIAMS BROS., 432 W. State St. Ithaca. N. Y. 
