646 
‘The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
PUT THIS 
a O 
CONCRETE MIXER | 
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' It fully describes all types of Sheldon Mixers, 
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pou can build a Sheldon 
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Sheldon Manufacturing Co. 
| Bor 876 Nehawka, Neb. 
WOODEN SILOS 
Tanks Oak or Cypress 10'xl4' and 14’xlO' and 13'x 
12' closed. Cypress tanks 8'x9' open, olher small tanks, 
tabs, rubber hose, piping galvanized and wrought. Brewery 
being dismantled—all for sale cheap. Three team bob¬ 
sleds $15 each, f. o. b. cars. Address 
A. M. Stadler, %Manilla Anchor Brewery 
Dobbs Ferry, N. Y. Salesman on |oi> airday 
15% More Wool 
That’s what you'll get by shearing with a mu- 
cbine—tests have proved 1 it. Old methods of 
shearing leave too much wool on the sheep. The 
Stewart No. i) Ball Bearing Shearing Machine 
shears flocks up to .’100 head and leaves no second 
,. u ts— Price $14. You can get it l>y sending $2 
and pay balance on arrival. Write for catalog. 
CHICAGO FLEXIBLE SHAFT COMPANY 
Dept. B 141, 12th St. & Central Ave., Chicago, Ill. 
-WELCOME SONG- 
Every Mother, Wife and Sweetheart 
Should buy this song-welcome to our returning soldier 
heroes; a tribute to those who gave their all for Democ¬ 
racy; a sweet melody. 1 Oc by mail, stamps or coin. 
J. B. LOWNDES 
-—302 Broadway, New York— - — 
EVERYWOMAN’S 
CANNING BOOK 
The A B C of Safe Home Canning and Preserving 
MARY B. HUGHES 
publication and is 
E VERY housekeeper is planning for renewed 
efforts in canning this year, and there is a 
wider interest in modern practice than 
ever before. Methods have changed greatly 
within a comparatively short period, and many 
women feel the need of up-to-date recipes, brought 
together in convenient form. "Everywoman’s 
Canning Book" is calculated to meet this need ; 
it is practical, modern and complete. 
tfTi Fruits, vegetables and meats'are discussed from 
tjj the housekeeper’s standpoint, and the condensed 
form and moderate price meet popular demands. 
The inexperienced canner will llnd it a safe guide, 
and the experienced worker will llnd something 
new and helpful between its covers. Bound 
attractively in cloth, 91 pages, live pages of index. 
gri XVill be sent postpaid for THREE YEARLY 
VJ1 SUBSCRIPTIONS «o Tho Rural Now-Yorkor 
now or renewal.) Three subscriptions to tin eo 
different addresses. (One of the tore© may be the 
renewal of your own subscription.) 
Will be mailed to any address upon receipt of 75c 
Address Department “L" 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th Street, New York City 
All Sorts 
Shall I Try Farming? Three Generations of Farmers 
I cannot toll you how much comfort 
your paper brings to me. 1 Was born 
on a farm. My people all have boon 
good farmers. I left tho farm in my 
teens. The great desire to farm is in 
me, and The R. N.-Y. keeps wish 
aflickering. I have no experience in 
farming; just study and observation and 
taking a hand while visiting a few days 
at a time at my wife’s sister’s farms. I 
have raised poultry, hogs and calves, 
have never handled a plow or cultivator; 
have raised crops of corn, potatoes, cab¬ 
bage, also garden stuff. I have never 
milked; don’t understand breeding stock. 
My wife is young and strong, and of a 
happy disposition—a farmer’s daughter— 
and a rattling good farmer. I am 40 
years old. We own our home with one 
acre, just outside of the city line. I 
have a few extra hundreds saved. My' 
sister went to France as a Red Cross 
nurse, and my wife’s brother joined the 
Ti. S. Marines and was one of the first 
to go across, so we thought, if we wanted 
to feel right when the war was over 
we should do what we could too. We 
went to Philadelphia. I went to the 
shipyards and my wife went to the TT. S. 
Arsenal. We did what we could to help, 
and stayed until the war was over. On 
arriving home The R. N.-\ r .’s were piled 
up waiting for me; they had accumulated 
since April, and I’ve enjoyed going 
through them, I can tell you. What 
would you do if you were me? Buy a 
farm, go in debt for most of it, go work 
on a farm at first, or leave it alone? 
Maybe you can help me. Suggest some¬ 
thing to me. G. A. 
New York. 
This is so typical of the story told by 
many an American family that we print 
it here. None will ever know how so 
many of these fine, plain Americans did 
their duty in the back trenches-—far 
away from the fireworks and fame. M hat 
shall tliis man do? But for one fine 
asset which he possesses we should ad¬ 
vise him to let farming alone at his age. 
That one redeeming asset is the young 
wife —daughter of a good farmer and 
with “a happy disposition.” She will 
need that disposition and all she can get 
by heredity when it conies to making a 
farm pay, hut surely such a woman may 
well be called man’s “better half.” Our 
advice is to hire out on some first-class 
farm where there is a variety- of work. 
If thio man is capable he will, in time, 
make himself useful enough to command 
fair wages. lie vill find out whether he 
likes farm work well enough to keep it 
up for life as his own boss, and there is 
no other way to find out and receive 
pay for the education. 
New Plan for School Lunches 
I have read with interest, the excellent 
“Defense of Rural School Lunches” by 
Mabel II. Meeker, on page 311. The plan, 
as outlined there, seems almost ideal, and 
the statements as to the children’s dis¬ 
position of the cold lunch give evidence 
of practical experience. It has been ex¬ 
actly so with us. But many rural schools 
cannot possibly use the plan outlined. 
What may be done successfully by 15 
often cannot he carried out by 40. Our 
teachers are not all as able, or as willing 
as this one to add school housekeeping 
to the curriculum, an<T a hundred prac¬ 
tical obstacles arise in the rural town 
with :i- centralized school of two or three 
rooms. Yet the need is great. A plan 
which works well is to eliminate the noon 
hour altogether. Open school at 8:30 
a. m. Have a *20 or 30 minute period 
between 11 and 12, wheu the children 
are allowed to eat a light lunch brought 
from home, in the school room, decently 
and in order; not as in the old way, 
racing about the school yard with food 
in their hands. The actual eating of a 
sandwich, a piece of cake and an apple 
will not occupy over 10 minutes, and the 
children are given full liberty during the 
rest of the period allowed. 
School closes for the day .it 1 or ~ 
j). in.: the former if possible. This allows 
the children to have a substantial meal 
at home early in the afternoon, with 
much time for out-of-door exercise before 
the light supper. Of course there are 
additional short recesses or rest periods 
for the youngest pupils. 
This one-session plan works finely, and 
the pupils do better work in-school. The 
afternoon session by the old plan was 
always characterized by dullness and 
weariness of both pupils and teacher, due 
in part to the bolting of a large heavy 
lunch. The hot meal is good, but if not 
practicable try getting rid of the need 
of it. T-. B. D. 
Bedford, Mass. 
In reviewing some old copies 
It. N.-Y. your editorial on Mr. Mapes’s 
article and your statement that it takes 
three generations to make a farmer 
aroused my interest and curiosity. If 
your statement is correct my case is hope¬ 
less, as ever since my ancestors came 
from Wah'.s I can find no instance where 
one of them was a farmer. I live in the 
country, and have hopes of owning a 
farm, but according to your statement 
there will be no farmers on it until it 
passes to my grandchildren. My impres¬ 
sion was that if a man kept his soil built 
up so he could raise good crops, improved 
his stock so that they were more profitable, 
and had business ability he was a pretty 
good farmer. Do you mean that a man 
must have three generations of farm life 
behind him to accomplish this? We 
trained an army in a year that more than 
equalled the Germans with more than 
three generations of«.military training be¬ 
hind them. In our neighborhood there 
are a good many farmers with two or 
three generations of farm* life behind 
them, and I would hate to farm* as they 
do. They sell nearly all their hay and 
straw, so that they have to turn their 
cattle out on pasture as soon as the first 
blade of grass shows. Stock are all grade. 
Anything that can stand up to a manger 
and give a little milk is a cow. There is 
not a purebred bull in this neighborhood. 
Hogs are the same. I went to see a 
farmer’s hogs that he said were purebred, 
and one of his boars had a crease in his 
neck you could nearly lay your arm in. 
Another told me he had a Hampshire 
boar that could be registered. He was 
belted from his shoulders two-thirds of 
the distance along his back. Chickens are 
no good .and they just keep them because 
their dad did. and they are used to see¬ 
ing them around. They do most things 
because their dad did, and just about 
like he did, too. There isn't a manure 
spreader in the township, but then they 
don’t need them, because they can haul 
all the manure their cattle make in about 
four days. A neighbor told me he did 
not get a disk harrow because it cut the 
sod up in his corn ground, and he would 
not get a good crop. If they are farmers, 
I never want to he one. Perhaps there is 
some hope for me, as my wife has three 
generations of farm life behind her, and 
our children might be able to help me out 
if I were to get stuck, aud then there are 
exceptions to all rules anyhow, I am 
hoping for the best. H. F. R. 
Our advice is to keep right on hoping. 
The poet Tennyson says that he who 
starts a line is as much to be admired as 
he who is heir to one. The first genera¬ 
tion of a farmer has more work and a 
harder time than his grandchild. We 
hardly meant the thought in just that 
way. Still our idea of a farmer is not 
alone one who can produce good crops or 
make money out of a farm. Tie is a 
bigger man through that he has acquired 
au instinct and a free-hand sympathy 
and understanding which seem somehow 
to fit right into the soil. As for the 
farmers you find fault with, you must 
remember that evolution may work both 
ways. It is not always progressive. Life 
never stands still anil if men and wonn n 
do not grow up they must grow down. 
We should rank you as a near-farmer 
anyway. Y’ou are getting to be one. You 
are* a farmer by marriage at least, and 
most of us acquire character, reputation 
and life habits in that way. 
Waterproofing Cloth 
Recently, in reply to a question in your 
columns, someone suggested using linseed’ 
oil to waterproof aud preserve cloth, tent 
or plant-bed covers. I have proved, to 
my own satisfaction, that cotton cloth 
treated with linseed oil will rot faster 
than untreated cloth. The oil in- becoming 
oxidized affects the cotton also in the 
same way. I would suggest sugar of 
lead and alum. Make a separate solution 
of each in a wooden vessel, about one 
pounds to five gallons of water. Soak 
the clean cloth thoroughly iu the solution. 
Drain or wring out cloth; then while 
still wet. but not dripping, dip the doth 
well in the alum solution, drain and dry. 
This can be repeated if necessary. The 
idea is to impregnate the fibers of the 
cotton with the insoluble water-resisting 
lead sulphate. This will also probably 
tend to prevent mildew. But I can see 
no advantage in waterproofing <i plant- 
bed doth; for several reasons it would 
he a disadvantage. Some of the tent- 
makers use a waterproofing process which 
they keep secret. I have not tried the 
above process and would like to hear the 
result if some of your readers try it. It 
L correct chemically, whether it works 
or not. »• n* 
North Carolina. 
Seedless Grape Wanted 
I would like to find a grape, of the Con¬ 
cord type preferably, that is seedless, or 
almost seedless. It should be a grape that 
will thrive here, not the Viuifera. 
Weaverville, N. C. E. V. H. 
This inquiry expresses the wishes of 
most workers with the grape, be .they 
amateur fanciers or research investigat¬ 
ors. The writer knows of but two seed- 
Aprll 12, 1919 
less varieties, one Thompson’s Seedless, a 
Vinifera. and the other Hubbard Seedless. 
The Hubbard Seedless normally develops 
berries that are as small as those of the 
Clinton, or, iu other words, its bulk is 
that of Concord less the seeds. Like the 
Clinton, the Hubbard is black. There 
seems to be a relationship between the 
number of seeds and size of the berry 
with the grape, the varieties with no 
seeds being -the smallest, those with one 
seed larger, while the four-seeded berry 
reaches the maximum size. The number 
of seeds is variable from year to year, 
depending probably upon the degree of 
fertilization attained at the bloom and 
probably to some extent upon soil and 
climatic conditions under which the vine 
is growing. Hence it does not follow that 
a variety developing but few seeds in one 
season will show this character in tin- 
following. From a commercial stand¬ 
point it. lias been shown that seed forma¬ 
tion should be encouraged with the seeded 
varieties. f. e. GLADWIN. 
Care of Family Grapevine 
W ill you give me some information as 
to the be.st way to -handle our grapevine 
to get us good results? The local grain- 
supply i.s almost nothing, ami the supply 
of basket fruit for the last few years has 
been few in numbers, low in quality and 
high in price, and we want to try to de¬ 
velop our own. Here are the facts: Tt is 
one vine, on a root at least 35 years old, 
some variety of Concord, somewhat small¬ 
er and more acid than what we have 
thought the Concord to he, and has never- 
had anything but amateur attention and 
neglect. It stands iu sod on a rather 
poor gravel soil, mostly dug from a cel¬ 
lar, and is the sole survivor of a lot of 
four vines planted at that time. It has 
never had any fertilizer except that af¬ 
forded from burying a dead chicken near 
its roots occasionally, and two years ago 
the whole top was cut down to the root. 
The next Spring it came back finely and 
made quite a good growth and produced a 
fairly good crop, and the severe Winter 
following made absolutely no impression 
on it. Last Fall the makeshift trellis that 
supported- it was blown down and tin- 
vine is now lying on the ground where it 
fell. b. c. w. 
St. .Tohusville, N. Y. 
It is suggested that the owner of rhis 
vine dig up or spade the soil about this 
vine so that it is loosened for four feet 
from rhe base in every direction; that is, 
the vine stands in the center of the dug- 
up area. After this is done the spaded 
area should be covered with a liberal 
mulch of stable manure containing consid¬ 
erable straw, and care should he taken 
that this mulch is maintained throughout 
the season. A trellis of three wires should 
be built, supported by posts either driven 
or set. The lower wire can be placed at 
20 ins. from the level of the soil, the up¬ 
per wire about 34 ius. above the lower, 
while the third wire is .placed midway be¬ 
tween the two. It is needless to state 
that the wires should be held tautly aud 
with but little sag. 
Four or five canes of the growth of 
1918 are now selected, preferably those 
starting from near the ground level, and 
these are cut just long enough so that 
they reach to above the upper wire as 
they are carried up obliquely to it. All 
other growth is cut entirely away and 
removed. The four or five canes are tln-u 
tied to the upper wire tightly, in a man¬ 
ner that resembles the ribs of a fan when 
opened, the cane from near the center of 
the vine head -being tied up almost ver¬ 
tically. The tying to the lower and mid¬ 
dle wires should he .somewhat, loosely that 
the canes may not he girdled. From the 
rather meager description of this variety 
it is suggested that it. be the Clinton or 
one of tin; same type. The Clinton is not 
u first quality table grape, but it. makes a 
wine aud unfermented grape juice much 
superior to similar products made from 
the Concord. If if. is desired to change 
this variety to a Concord or some other 
table grape, it can readily he done by 
graftage. f. e. gladwin. 
The Coal Dealer Talks 
I have been reading your reply to W. 
P. L. of Baldwinsville, Mass., who wants 
to know if there is any remedy for egg 
coal containing one-eighth stone, and think 
that I can enlighten him on this trouble. 
Many complaints are made against coal 
when it is‘not always the fault of the 
coal, but rather the size. When coal is 
too large it cannot burn satisfactorily iu 
some stoves. The substance which he 
calls stone is known in the eoal trade as 
“bone,” which will ignite and burn with 
the rest of the coal provided it is not too 
large, aud there‘being sufficient coal to get 
it burning. If the proper size of coal, is 
used it will burn up 15 per cent of these 
impurities to satisfaction. So. therefore, 
I would- suggest that W. P. L. try the 
next smaller size, called stove coal, and 
am almost sure that he would have no 
further cause for complaint. 1 am, how¬ 
ever. taking for granted that he has not 
been miforunUte as to receive the kind 
that is absolutely indestructible and a fine 
substitute for asbestos. If he lias, I 
would like to take the matter up with hhn 
and would see that he gets a "square 
deal.” I have taken the trouble to make 
this reply as I would like to have the. peo¬ 
ple understand that the coal man is not 
as black .as his commodity, and is always 
anxious to give bis customers a good 
coal. S. M. FERENCZl. 
New Jersey, 
