1712 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 22, 1910 
of the most productive hills which would 
be likely to reproduce that hill. If you 
selected all large or medium-sized tubers 
you might use many from hills which 
naturally produced only one or two. Yet 
if you adopt that sort of selection you 
will probably be safer in taking the 
medium-sized tubers. A good way to keep 
up the strain is to select the best hills 
year after year, and plant a potato or 
field of seed potatoes by itself, weeding 
out the feeble plants and using only the 
best each year. The advantage of buying 
“certified” seed is that you can make use 
of this work already done by the growers, 
and also get seed reasonably free from 
disease. We think it pays to bring in 
seed from the North, but if the plan of 
selecting seed from the best hills is fol¬ 
lowed this will not be so necessary. The 
point is that selecting seed from the pile 
or bin without knowing about the indi¬ 
vidual plants is like trying to improve 
poultry by selecting eggs of a certain 
size and shape from the entire flock, 
without knowing which hens laid them. 
Figs in Dutchess County, N‘. Y. 
I am interested in Prof. W. F. Mas¬ 
sey’s description of figs on page 1533, as 
members of my family in California are 
in the fig business. At this moment I 
have a fine box. just received, of delicious 
Smyrna figs. The Capri fig tree has been 
described to me. Would they grow in the 
mountains between Pine Plains and 
Stanfordville, N. Y.? What do you 
think of it, and what variety of cutting 
would you suggest for this climate? 
Would you think that a Capri tree im¬ 
ported from California would pollinate 
the tree which might be grown from a 
fig dried on that same farm? A. M. w. 
Stamfordville, N. Y. 
I hardly think that it will ever be pos¬ 
sible to grow the drying figs commonly 
called Smyrna figs in Dutchess County, 
New York. Even if you could grow the 
Capri fig by burying it in Winter, the lit¬ 
tle wasp would hardly survive, and with¬ 
out it the Smyrna figs will not mature, 
even though buried. There is just a pos¬ 
sibility that a hardy fig like the little 
Celeste may be grown there by the bury¬ 
ing method I have described. In North¬ 
ern Maryland, in a cold valley about 25 
miles south of the Pennsylvania line, I 
grew the Brown Turkey, White Marseilles 
CONTENTS 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, NOV. 22, 1919 
FARM TOPICS 
What a Farm Loan Association Did.. 1709, 1710 
An Ohio Low-down Wag-on. 1711 
Selecting Potatoes for Planting.1711, 1712 
Fertilizer Formula for Sandy Loam. 1713 
Lime on Sandy Loam. 1713 
Northern Ohio Notes... 1713 
The 35-cent Dollar. 1716 
An Ex-hired Man Talks. 1716 
A Suggestion as to Selling and Buying a 
Farm . 1716 
Up-State Farm Notes.... 1720 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings. 1720 
Hope Farm Notes.1722, 1723 
What the Wayne Co., N, Y., Farmers Did. 1725 
New York Farm Bureaus Speak Out.. 1725 
LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY 
Some Defects in Tile Silos. 1710 
Cornstalks for Horses. 1711 
Dogs and Sheep. 1716 
Eastern Dairy Conditions. 1725 
Sending Cattle into Pennsylvania. 1728 
Taming an Ugly Cow..... 1728 
Mule Market Wanted. 1728 
Feeding for Milk. 1728 
Renovating Butter . 1728 
From Truck Farming to Dairy. 1730 
Feeding Dry Cow. 1730 
Rye for Cows. 1730 
Ration for Cows and Pigs. 1730 
Ground Wheat for Middlings. 1730 
Milk and Live Stock. 1734 
Obstructed Teat . 1734 
Fistula; Enlarged Gland. 1736 
Scratches . 1736 
Costive Calf . 1736 
Coughing Pig . 1736 
Kicking Horse . 1736 
THE HENYARD 
The Evolution of the One-man Poultry 
Farm .1732, 1733 
Questions About Trap-nests. 1733 
HORTICULTURE 
The European Orchard Situation. 1710 
Renting an Apple Orchard. 1711 
Working with Vegetables. 1711 
Figs in Dutchess Co., N. Y. 1712 
Planting with a Shovel. 1713 
Roofing Paint on Apple Trees. 1714 
Notes from a Maryland Garden. 1719 
Sex in Tomatoes. 1723 
Market for Roots and Herbs. 1723 
Great Apple Yield. 1725 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day. 1726 
The Rural Patterns. 1726 
Some Home Industries.1726, 1727 
Embroidery Designs . 1727 
Vine Peaches and Relishes. 1727 
Notes from Vermont. 1727 
Experience with Fireless Cooker. 1727 
MISCELLANEOUS 
An Ohio Stove-wood Crop. 1713 
Riparian Water Rights. 1716 
P’-ice for Boarding Hired Men. 1716 
Philadelphia Markets . 1720 
Editorials . 1724 
Publisher’s Desk . 1738 
and Brunswick, and carried them safely 
through a temperature of IS degree below 
zero in one Winter, and always more or 
less below zero. The hardiest of the self¬ 
fertilizing figs are the Brown Turkey, 
Celeste and I)oree Narbus, the last about 
the hardiest, but not as good as the Ce¬ 
leste. These winter at Raleigh in the 
average Winter weather without any pro¬ 
tection. The finest figs I grew there were 
the Grosse Yert, a large green-skin fig 
with bright red interior. But this one de¬ 
manded good protection in North Caro¬ 
lina. San Pedro and the White Adriatic 
died in North Carolina even with the pro¬ 
tection of evergreen boughs, and will hard¬ 
ly thrive north of Central Florida. The 
only figs that would have any chance at 
all by the burying method in Dutchess 
County, New York, would be the Celeste 
and the Doree Narbus. Possibly the 
Division of Plant Industry of the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture may furnish you 
the cuttings of these. w. F. MASSEY. 
Countrywide Produce Situation 
SUPPLIES LIBERAL FOR SEASON, BUT DE¬ 
CREASING, AND PRICES STILL TEND 
UPWARD. 
Neither strikes, car shortage, nor West¬ 
ern blizzards have prevented shipments 
of fully 2,000 cars per day of fruits and 
vegetables, which is well ahead of last 
year’s volume in mid-November. Prices 
are much higher. Farmers have been 
paying twice as much for wages as before 
the war. For some crops they are getting 
twice as much in market price, but other 
crops have not advanced in proportion to 
costs, although the average gain is con¬ 
siderable, as compared with last year. 
PRICE NOW AND IN OTHER YEARS 
Average price wholesale on best grades 
of Baldwin apples is around $7 a barrel. 
A year ago it was $5. Potatoes whole¬ 
sale are from .$2.50 to $3.50 per cwt., 
compared with $2 to $2.50 a year ago. 
Onions are two or three times as high 
this year, and best cabbage is selling for 
about 50c per bbl. higher than for the 
corresponding time last year. Judging 
from the rate at which these various 
crops are going to market, the higher cost 
does not seem to have checked the de¬ 
mand. 
POTATOES BEFORE TITE WAR 
Comparing the leading cash trucking 
crop of potatoes with the period before 
the war it is noticed that present farm 
price of around $2 per cwt., which repre¬ 
sents about the average East and West, 
is just about double the average farm 
price of slightly over $1 per cwt. for No¬ 
vember for the seven years, 1008-14, in¬ 
clusive. _ During that period there was 
no consistent trend in prices. The high¬ 
est was in November, 1011, at $1.27 per 
cwt., lowest in 1012. at 75c, and the price 
in 1008 was about the same as the price 
in 1013. With the beginning of the war 
period, however, potato prices moved into 
a new level of values somewhat in line 
with costs. 
ACTIVE MOVEMENT AND STRONG PRICES 
The movement of potatoes to market 
lias been active in recent years during 
the four months. In October this year 
nearly 20.000 cars were shipped, com¬ 
pared with less than 25.000 in October 
last year. The estimated crop is nearly 
50.000,000 bu. below last year’s and about 
14.000.0(H) bu. below the five-year aver¬ 
age. That the shortage is an actual one 
is indicated by the high prices ruling in 
the dry regions of the West, but ship¬ 
ments have been extremely active from 
those States of the North and East that 
were favored with a good crop. Maine 
seems to have about 250 bu. per acre in 
the best potato sections, like Aroostook, 
although only about 75 per cent of the 
crop will grade No. 1. Shipments may 
nearly equal the heavy volume of last year 
from this State. In New York State the 
rot was extremely serious in the east, but 
less destructice in the western north, and 
net results may be shipments about the 
same as last year. The heavy yield per 
acre in the East is no doubt somewhat at 
the expense of quality and oversize. Some 
of the leading potato States in the Great 
Bakes region escaped much of the loss 
from rot which prevailed in the East, hut 
suffered from freezing weather. The va¬ 
rious shortages in the potato crop, to¬ 
gether with the heavy early movement, 
places the market in a much stronger po¬ 
sition than it was a year ago and tends 
to prevent the danger of a low price pe¬ 
riod in Spring, such as occurred last year. 
CHOICE APPLES DOING WELL 
The apple crop has loomed up unex¬ 
pectedly in the Northwest and has turned 
out rather better than first estimates in 
nearly all parts of the country. It looks 
as if the commercial crop would prove to 
be about as large as that of last year. 
The explanation lies in the large size of 
the apples this season. Most varieties are 
overgrown and sometimes hardly to be 
recognized because of the size so far ex¬ 
ceeding the usual type. The result is to 
impair keeping qualities, but volume is 
much increased. Shipments during Oc¬ 
tober this year were nearly 30,000 car¬ 
loads, compared with less than 10.000 car¬ 
loads during October, 1918. Combined 
October and September shipments were 
about 7,000 cars more than last year, or 
about 20 per cent heavier. Indications 
are that the crop is cleaning out faster 
than it did last year, and the movement 
may be expected to fall off rapidly from 
now on. The price of the best grades 
holds up very well, fancy varieties selling 
as high as $8 to $9, top grades, whole¬ 
sale, and standard varieties averaging 
about $7 in the East and reaching or ex¬ 
ceeding $8 in the Middle West, while the 
less choice varieties, like Ben Davis, aver¬ 
age around $0 for best grades. Low grade 
stock is selling anywhere from $3 up and 
markets for cooking fruit are dull on ac¬ 
count of the sugar scarcity. Prices are 
highest in the Middle West and South 
and lowest in Boston and several other 
Northeastern cities. 
Sugar scarcity is also injuring the sale 
of cranberries, which are far from reach¬ 
ing the high values prevailing last year. 
Oranges will offer more competition to the 
apple crop this year. Supplies during 
October were more than twice as large as 
at this time a year ago, and shipments 
for the year are considerably more than 
double those of last year. 
HIGHER FOR ONIONS AND CABBAGE 
Onion prices continue to gain week by 
week. Many city markets have reached 
tops of $5 per cwt. for choice large yel¬ 
low and red stock. Western markets are 
higher than Eastern, but most Eastern 
cities quote at least $4 per cwt. for de¬ 
sirable grades, and shipping sections 
range around $4 f. o. h. in the East and 
from $4.50 to $5 in the West. Prices on 
nearly all lines*. of produce are higher in 
the Middle West than in the East this 
season. The cabbage crop is apparently 
fully 20 per cent short of last year’s yield 
and the shortage seems fairly represented 
by a price of $10 per ton higher this year. 
Western cabbage sells at $35 to $40 per 
ton in the larger cities of the Middle West 
and New York cabbage of the best vari¬ 
eties range $30 to $40 in Eastern cities. 
Growers of this stock are getting $25 to 
$30. New York State domestic cabbage is 
quoted on the average about $18 f. o. b. 
shipping points. 
THE BOOM IN SWEET POTATOES 
Sweet potatoes are becoming quite a 
permanent feature in Northern markets. 
They are retailing very close to the price 
of white potatoes. The volume of the 
crop is over one-fifth that of combined 
potato crop and now that Southern pro¬ 
ducers are learning to prolong the season 
by careful storage the competition is of 
considerable importance. It is estimated 
that storage houses with capacity of about 
3,000.000 bu. have been put up the pres¬ 
ent year. This is in addition to previous 
capacity of perhaps 40.000,000 to 50,000,- 
000 bu.. but the old plan of storage was 
chiefly in earthen banks and poorly con¬ 
structed sheds; such storage causing a 
high per cent of loss and a short season, 
while with careful handling and storage 
sweet potatoes may be shipped and sold 
profitably all Winter. G. B. F. 
“I can’t quite decide as to the best 
means of punishing my children.” said 
the doting mother.” “Well, spanking still 
takes the palm,” suggested the spinster.” 
—Credit Lost. 
PULVERIZED 
POULTRY MANURE 
Latest Development in Fertilizers 
Nature’s Lost Plant Food. Excellent for Lawns, 
Shrubs, Flowers, Gardens, Vines and Trees. 
Well Adapted for Grape Production 
Poultry Manure as a Fertilizer is well known, 
and by our Scientific Process of Preparation it 
is much improved. Ideal for garden and lawn 
and superior for farm purposes. Richer in 
Ammonia and Bone Phosphate of Lime than other 
manures and equal in Potash. Analysis 5% 
Ammo., <?% B. 1*. L., 1.50% Pot. 
(Factories: E. Buffalo, N. Y., and W. Kan¬ 
kakee, Ill.) 
RESPONSIBLE DEALERS WANTED 
Samples and Quotations on Request 
Poultry Feed Company, Suite 1208, Fisher Bldg., Chicago, III. 
\ Lucky Boy Strawberries 
IS. f\ .. BiKprer, Sweeter, nnd more pro¬ 
ductive than any other everbear¬ 
ing strawberries. Fruits on 
Bprintr set plants from June to 
November in the North and 
the year-round in the South. 
Our 20th Century Catalog 
fully describes this and 
more than fifty of the best 
standard varieties straw¬ 
berries, also other small 
fruit plants. Send postal 
today. 
E. W. TOWNSEND & SONS 
Salisbury, Maryland 
Berry Plants and Fruit Trees 
For fall planting. SI'lUWR 
KY, GOOSEBERRY, CURIUM’, 
ASPARAGUS, UllUltARl! and _ 
KltUlT nnd ORNAMENTAL TREKS, SHRUBS. Catalogue free. 
HARRY L. SQUIRES - Good Ground, N. Y ■ 
S a net v ru i L A > t t-rs 
IYBF.RKY, RASPBERRY, HI A1 KISER- 
ANT, DEWHERRY, GRAPE l‘l ANTS : 
and’ WITT,OOF CHICORY ROOTS; 
BERRY PLANTS at Growers' Prices 
GEO, I>. AIKEN - Putney,Vermont 
LARGE ASPARAGUS ROOTS 
For quick re¬ 
sults. 0 -yr. 
roots. $4 per 
too : $2S per 1.000; 4-vr. roots, $‘2,50 per 100; $12 per l.ooo. 
HARRY L. SQUIRES - Goon Ground, New York 
n ,„„1 n Sow unhulled White NOW. 59 Bu. Ex. paid. 
OWeeiu!0Ver A. HLOOJUNGIMLE, S«lieii«et»dy, Ji. Y. 
\mg + RASP BERRY. BLACKBERRY planU 
W OlllCU large Asparagus and Rhubarb roots. 
Harry L. Squires - Good Ground, New York 
U/anlorl 10.000 Apple seedlings. 1,000 one- 
ndlllcu year-old Stsiyman AVinesap. 1 peck 
apple need from healthy trees. JOHN RICK, Rending, l’u. 
COFUNT for Salegr.S?2 
of well-matured corn, on the cob, to sell. $46 per ton, 
F. o. B. C. Thomann, Autuursburg, Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
The Farmer His 
Own Builder 
By H. Armstrong Roberts 
A practical and 
Fan fly book of all 
kinds of building 
information from 
concrete to carpen¬ 
try. Price $1-50. 
For sale by 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 W. 30th St., N. Y. 
Jumpy, Irritable, 
Frazzled Nerves— 
when caused by coffee—are help¬ 
ed to become normal, healthy 
nerves, when a change is made to 
Instant Postum 
This wholesome table beverage 
with a rich aromatic, coffee¬ 
like flavor is deliciously satisfy¬ 
ing, economical, and respects 
both health and pocketbook. 
Made by Postum Cereal Company 
Battle Creek, Michigan 
Sold by Grocers and General Stores 
