356 The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Back-to-the-Landers 
A very large share of our questions come from people who meditate moving 
to the country, or who have already made such a move. They have a story to 
tell, or they ask for advice. This department will be a sort of clearing-house 
for the back-to-the-lander, where he may obtain information and swap troubles 
and triumphs, failures, fads and fancies. 
Wanted: An Ideal Farm 
I would like to retire from iny practice 
and enter the farming field. I have had 
some experience at it, though a while 
ago; hut I have read and otherwise kept 
in contact with all modern agricultural 
pursuits. My investigations of farms to 
buy have somewhat dampened my enthusi¬ 
asm, and for the sake of clarification I 
ask your counsel in the matter. I would 
like to buy a fruit and dairy farm in 
New York or States in the proximity— 
150 miles from New York City. A farm 
that has at least between 2,000 and 4,000 
producing fruit trees and a modern up- 
to-date dairy of at least 40 cows. I shall 
expect to raise some pigs and chickens— 
at least 200 to 300 pigs and quite well- 
equipped poultry plant of at least' 2.000 
to 3,000 chickens. I do not want a gen¬ 
tleman’s estate, something that will cost 
$2 to produce one egg, but a thorough¬ 
going business—something that has paid 
for years an income of, say, at least 
$8,000 to $10,000 net. To all my advertise¬ 
ments I received replies which were not 
in keeping with the plans I have in mind. 
Some of the orchards were too old and 
ill-kept, dairies non-sanitary and run 
down : the rest of the outbuildings were 
mere shacks of improper construction. As 
to the stock, some were good, some were 
bad, implements rusty and neglected or the 
good dairy was not where the good or¬ 
chard was, etc., or there was missing 
water, proper roads, distance from mar¬ 
kets, etc. Are there such farms, or really 
they do not exist? Is there such a pos¬ 
sibility to get a farm as I outlined above 
in New York State? If so, how shall I 
go about it? me A. s. 
New York. 
Our friend certainly has some large 
ideas about farming. No doubt there are 
such farms, but has he stopped to consider 
what they would be worth? A business 
that will net $10,000 profit would hardly 
be given away. As a rule the large dairy 
and the- large orchard do not go together. 
There are cases where they combine well, 
but as a rule, in these times, a man with 
4,000 trees has about all he can handle 
to advantage, and if he wants to combine 
stock-keeping he is more likely to winter- 
feed sheep or cattle. A man of reasonable 
age would do better to buy an orchard 
farm and then add the dairy or poultry 
business to suit him—or buy a dairy farm 
and plant the orchards he wants. That 
would be more economical, and he would 
have far more enjoyment in working that 
way. 
Sure! Have Berries! 
I must disagree with the Indiana wom¬ 
an who advises tree fruits«to the exclusion 
of berries for the home fruit supply, be¬ 
cause berries require more care. Ilere in 
New York the tree fruits require mucli 
spraying, etc., but berries will furnish a 
home supply practically of their own ac¬ 
cord. From a dozen or two each of red 
and black raspberries I canned 17 quarts, 
besides using all we could use on the table 
over a long season. A little over 100 
blackberry plants furnished plenty for 
table use, 20 quarts of jam, pickles, and 
canned fruit, and 115 quarts for market. 
None of these canes receive a bit of indi¬ 
vidual care; seven or eight of them got 
some cultivation when my young orchard 
is cultivated, but all the rest are in weeds 
till I can hardly find them. Even my 
everbearing strawberries were giving us 
shortcakes every day, and were loaded with 
berries and blossoms, though they were 
not reset last Spring, were terribly choked 
with weeds and had been practically 
eaten up by grasshoppers once last Sum¬ 
mer. In June, before the grasshoppers 
came, I canned over 30 quarts. They were 
small because they needed resetting and 
fertilizing, etc., but they do bear well 
without care, though it is no way to raise 
fruit. It simply proves that here, at least, 
anyone can have berries with or without 
correct care. mbs. e. m. a. 
New York. 
February 21, 1920 
A Back-to*the-Land Story 
I am sending you a picture of my 
home. I was raised in the city, but al¬ 
ways wanted to be in the country; made 
one attempt to buy a place, but it was 
a poor one, poor land and I had no capi¬ 
tal, so had to give it up. I worked on 
railroad and in shops, but my heart all 
the while was for the country. 
It seemed that every year in some way 
some of my family would be sick in the 
city, and take our savings, what little we 
could save, and the year before I got my 
home my wife and two children had diph¬ 
theria all at once, and I was quarantined 
in with them for six weeks. My savings 
dwindled that time. I made up my mind 
I would try the country again. I went 
for a walk one Sunday and saw this little 
place, and finally made a bargain to buy 
it, 15 acres of land for $1,300. It was in 
.Tune, 1908, and I only had $200 to pay 
down. They let me have the house to 
move in, but could not have possession of 
farm until April, 1, 1909, and then I 
was to pay $150 more. By having no 
rent to pay and working at my job I 
paid the $150. I will make my last pay¬ 
ment April 1. 1920. I have installed a 
furnace, acetylene lights, water system, 
bath and toilet, built a new garage and 
have an auto, but I have not done it 
off the farm. I am at present employed 
as a machinist; have been here three 
years, but in the Spring when I pay my 
last cent that I owe to anyone the coun¬ 
try and home for me the rest of my days. 
I want my wife to have due credit for 
being able to get a home, as she stayed 
there and took care of cow and horse, and 
helped in every way; was very saving. I 
have not been at home Winters, as I 
worked in shop, but srnce I have had an 
auto I went back and forth in Summer. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. m. p. 
Emollient for Chapped Hands 
I note on page 1880, issue for Decem¬ 
ber 27, 1919, a recipe for curing chapped 
hands. While I do not know the merits 
of the recipe given. I do know that the 
following is good—the best remedy I have 
ever known: Lanolin, * 1 oz.; boro- 
glyceride, V> oz.; cold cream made with 
white vaseline, 3 ozs. Any druggist can 
prepare it, and it is not costly. I use it 
at night. First wash the hands thor¬ 
oughly and then hold them in water as 
warm as can be borne for the purpose of 
opening the pores of the skin ; dry quickly 
and rub on the above mixture thoroughly. 
One application will often effect 1 a cure. 
M. J. SPALDING. 
The Back-io-the-Landcr’s Home 
Kept for One Year on the Product of One Acre 
can keep seven cows a year on the product of one acre of 
ireka Corn when milk is selling at seven cents per quart, 
what would it be worth when milk is 14 cents per quart? 
It is hardly believable. Keeping seven cows for a whole year on 
the product of one acre. If every acre of corn that was planted 
would produce even one-half or one-quarter of this amount, milk 
would be produced at one-half of what it is being produced for at 
the present time. On one acre of land in the State of Michigan, 
Ross’ Eureka Ensilage Corn produced in one year 70 tons 800 
pounds of the best quality of sweet ensilage. Figuring at the rate 
of 50 pounds per day for each cow, which is very liberal, this 
would be sufficient to feed 7 cows for one year, with enough left 
over for 261 feeds. 
Ross’ Eureka Corn is being planted in nearly every section of 
U. S. and Canada. This corn outyields any other variety and the 
quality is always the best. 
Ross’ Eureka Corn grows the tallest, has the most leaves, is 
very short jointed and will produce more tons of good, sweet 
ensilage than any other variety. Four of the heaviest yields of this 
corn in one year produced 200 tons 96 pounds or an average of 50 
tons and 24 pounds per acre. 
Ross’ Eureka Corn has not advanced in proportion to other 
Every bag of 
Ross Eureka 
Corn bears 
this trade¬ 
mark- dopt- 
ed for your 
p rolecl ion. 
commodities and the best money you can spend on the farm is for 
good seed. We have been selling Eureka Corn for nearly 40 
years and we know before we ship it that it will grow under 
favorable conditions. There is a lot of corn being sold under 
the name of Eureka, but the yield is not over two- 
thirds what you will get from Ross’ Genuine Eureka 
which is a smooth, white, dent variety and grows 
from 14 to 18 ft, tall. We have heard of it over 20 ft. 
tall. 
Every bushel of genuine Eureka is put up in our 
trade-mark bags and is seed from selected ears, butts 
and tips removed and well fanned to remove any hull 
or waste material. 
We also handle farm seeds: Oats, Barley, Potatoes, 
Rye, Wheat, Buckwheat, Cowpeas, Vetch, Soy Beans, 
Essex Rape and other field and ensilage corn, Grass 
Seed and all kinds of Alfalfa. Full line of agricul¬ 
tural tools, dairy goods, insecticides, etc. 
Early Fairmont potatoes give increased yield over 
common varieties that pays for cost of seed and ferti¬ 
lizer. Our 120-page catalogue will be mailed free 
if you ask for it. 
ROSS BROTHERS COMPANY 67 Front Street, Worcester, Mass. 
Ross’ Eureka Corn 
MEADOWBROOK FARM 
Home of. the 
Fifteen Thousand Dollar Jersey Bull 
Melia Ann’s King.56581 
George E. Peer, Proprietor 
Chili Station, N. Y. 
It has boon my intention for some time to write 
yon and tell yon the remarkable success that 1 had 
tiie past year with your Eureka Corn, although we 
bad a poor corn year in this section, it being nothing 
but ruin, rain, all the time early in the season, so it 
made us very late in getting the corn planted, and 
after that as you well know we went through one of 
the very worst droughts this section ever saw. Not¬ 
withstanding all tills we got simply an immense 
yield from your Eureka Seed, in fact we filled one 
immense silo from nine acres alone, and a friend of 
mine near here, a Mr. Ely Buell, even had more 
phenomenal success than we did. 1 think 1 never 
saw such corn as he raised from your Eureka Seed, 
great big cars be bad and a great height. In fact, 
I am so well pleased with the corn, I desire right 
now to ask you to reserve for me next season the 
same kind and amount of seed as sent me then. 
GEORGE E. PEER. 
Scranton, Pa., Dec. 2, 1919. 
Regarding seed corn bought from you. I planted 
three plots of your Eureka Corn. One plot of three 
acres had not been plowed for 35 years. Corn plant¬ 
ed May 12th stood 15 to 17 ft. high and cared very 
heavy. Plot No. 2 lias been planted to corn 4 years. 
Planted it May 22nd, averaged 15 ft. high and was 
eared good. Plot No. 3, good sod, plowed under first 
week in June, planted June 8th and averaged 1(1 ft. 
high. I paid a little more for my seed corn than 
my neighbors but my corn was the wonder of the 
county. It sure was the cheapest corn and fodder 
we have ever had. My advice is, if you want the 
best there is for ensilage, plant Ross’ Eureka Corn. 
C. B. DEREMElt & SON. 
