The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
843 
Kale, bbl. 2 50 © 5 00 
chicory and lisearol, bbl. 2 00 @ 3 00 
Garlic. lb..... 15 © 00 
Peas, bu.10 00 @13 00 
Parsley, bbl. 4 00 @8 00 
Parsnips, bbl. 2 50 @ 4 00 
HAY AND STBAW. 
Hay. Timothy, No. 1. ton. 54 00 @5GOO 
No. 2.50 00 @52 00 
No. 3 .46 00 @49 00 
Shipping.40 00 @4100 
Clover.mixed.45 00 @50 00 
4 traw, Kye.32 00 @34 00 
The Frightful Damage From Mice 
On account of the heavy snow during 
the past Winter the fruit trees in this 
vicinity have suffered an immense amount 
of damage from mice and possibly rab¬ 
bits. In my own case I have lost, fully 
one-half of a small orchard of dwarf 
apple trees. The bark in some cases was 
stripped well out to the ends of the 
branches. I would be glad to learn if 
there is not some way of protecting trees 
from mice and rabbits by the application 
of poison in the Fall. How would it do 
to add arsenate of lead or something of 
that nature to the dormant spray? Is 
it possible that a lime and sulphur spray 
is in itself sufficiently poisonous to pro¬ 
tect the trees, and should it be applied 
in the late Fall instead of the Spring? 
Judging from the condition of the fields, 
lawns, etc., it seems to me that there 
must be an abnormal number of mice 
about, and I have been wondering if this 
might not be partially due to the killing 
off of the skunks and other fur bearing 
animals. I have understood that a skunk 
is kept in the cellar of every well-regu¬ 
lated farmhouse to keep down the mice, 
and that in the fields they do a great 
deal of good in this respect. Possibly 
thing can be said in favor of a few 
crows and hawks. j. c. L. 
Massachusetts. 
We have had many letters from people 
who claim t haw escaped injury from 
the mice, and brief summary of their 
methods is given The first remedy 
suggested is a screen of wire cloth. The 
eloth is cut of sufficient width to wrap 
it around the lower trunk of the tree, 
where it is fastened by twisting wire or 
string around it. The ends of the wire 
cloth are pushed down into the ground. 
This serves as a protection against rab¬ 
bits if the wire is high enough on the 
trunk, but in some cases the mice work 
underground, and have actually been 
known to work along the roots and up 
inside the wire protector. In our own 
orchards we have had little or no loss 
where there was a cleared space around 
the tree, and a good pile of coal ashes 
packed around the lower part of the 
trunk. The mice do not seem to cross 
nn open space to attack the tree. When 
the trunk can be mounted up in this way, 
and the snow stamped hard about it, the 
mice generally keep away, except in cases 
where they work under ground, as. they 
often do, and destroy the roots. 
The rabbits can reach high in the air 
by standing on their bind legs, and fre- 
quently do great damage even above the 
ordinary wire screen. Our people have 
suggested a number of substances for 
protecting the tree. One man claims'he 
had complete protection by painting the 
lower trunks with raw linseed oil, using 
so much that it-run down and soaked 
into the roots. Coal tar had been recom¬ 
mended by several, while others claimed 
that they ruined their trees by using it. 
Our experience with coal tar is that it 
is not uniform. Some samples certainly 
injure the trunk, and on the whole we 
would not advise its use. The most pop¬ 
ular wash or paint for giving protection 
is a thick solution of lime-sulphur with 
a small quantity of arsenate of lead, and 
11 little melted rosin added. This makes 
n sticky paint, which has proved very 
useful except for the work of underground 
mice. Several people have stated that by 
scattering tobacco stems around the base 
f t the tree, and adding a little sulphur, 
'hev have kept the. mice away. Almost 
*n the same mail will come reports from 
people who say that they used the tobacco 
stems, and foupd the mice breeding and 
raising their families in a tobacco nest 
In several cases, where the mice were 
•'idently at work below ground, fruit 
growers have injected a small amount of 
hisi.’pliide of carbon to‘a depth of two or 
’li iee inches on both sides of the tree. 
I his seems to kill many of the under¬ 
ground mice. The most practical plan 
S,, eins to be to use a combination of the 
wire screen protector and a thick wash 
1 'innt-sulphur and poison, keeping the 
^ "'nid around the tree clear of grass and 
trash. There seems to be no doubt that 
’ 11 killing off of skunks does tend to 
increase the number of field mice. 
• i' for the crow, we are not sure about 
his work, but we think he does secure 
many of these rascals. The cat is the 
best fi’iend of the fruit grower in his 
fight with these mice. During the past 
few years anti-cat societies have sprung 
up in many communities, and a good 
many of the cats have been killed, with 
the. result that mice have increased 
beyond anything known before. 
Damp-proof Floor for Farm Buildings 
Can you give me information on how 
to make a damp-proof concrete floor for 
a hoghouse or henhouse? av. t, 
Thawville, Ill. 
There should be no difficulty in making 
a damp-proof concrete floor if two things 
are observed: First, drainage to prevent 
water from standing beneath or about the 
floor, and, second, proper mixing and 
placing of the concrete. A poultry-house 
floor may ordinarily be raised several 
inches above the surrounding level of the 
ground by means of a layer of stones, 
cinders or other porous materials, and if 
upon a slope ditches may be provided to 
carry off surface water from melting snow 
or heavy rains. The concrete should be 
mixed in proper proportions and of suit¬ 
able materials to make a dense water¬ 
proof mixture, and should be properly 
placed after mixing. This means that 
cement, sand and gravel, if these mate¬ 
rials are used, as they usually are, should 
be combined in a proportion of about 
1:2 :4, that the sand and gravel should be 
free from loam or dirt and that the mix¬ 
ture should be of a jelly-like, quaky con¬ 
sistency and should be promptly put into 
place and tamped after the water is 
added. The dampness of a concrete floor 
supposed to come from beneath is fre¬ 
quently due instead to condensation of 
the moisture in the air of the building 
because of lack of sufficient ventilation. 
This is to be remedied by open windows. 
M. b. D. 
Crop Reports 
You ask me to tell you what the farm¬ 
ers are receiving for their products in my 
local market. We are getting 60c per lb. 
for butter, 55c per doz. for eggs; fowls, 
32e per lb., live weight; veal calves, 10c 
per lb., live weight; beef cattle, 20c per 
lb., dressed; hogs. 20c per lb., dressed; 
milk, $3 per 100 lbs., but not much milk 
sold bere. Apples, a poor crop last year 
and we haven’t had any to sell this Win¬ 
ter. Potatoes. $2.75 to $3 per bu. The 
outlook for the farmer around here is not 
very good just now. We have to pay such 
high wages for hired men to work on the 
farm ; we pay $40 and $45 per month and 
board for men, and cannot' get help for 
that. And now the creameries have cut 
the price of milk $1 on 100 lbs., and the 
dairy feed is $3.50 per 100 lbs. The farm¬ 
ers cannot sell their milk for $3 per 100 
His. and pay $3.50 for feed. f. c. 
New Jersey. 
In reply to your request for informa¬ 
tion regarding our local products and 
prices received for same, will say that 
nearly all of the farmers here are making 
maple syrup and sugar for which there is 
a fair market at $3 per gal. for syrup and 
35 to 40c per lb. for sugar. It has been a 
poor season. With 700 buckets I have 
made less than 100 gals, of syrup. Gen¬ 
eral farming is practiced almost entirely 
in this section. Not nearly enough grain 
raised for home use, and a number have 
to buy hay. Quite a good crop of po¬ 
tatoes last year, for which there is a good 
market now at $3 per bu. Apples, $1.50 
per bu. (for cooking). Eggs, 60c doz. 
Butter, 70c lb. Help is scarce and no re¬ 
lief in sight as there are two pieces of 
State road being built in town and they 
pay $4 for nine hours’ work, which is 
more than we farmers can afford to pay. 
We have a good Summer market here for 
most any kind of farm produce at good 
prices. I think there will be the usual 
amount, of crop put in this Spring, as 
most of us got quite a lot of Fall plowing 
done. H. c. c. 
New York. 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings 
Patriotic sheep show. sale, and public 
shearing, Fair Grounds, Perry, N. Y., 
May 15. 
. Annual meeting of the National Ayr¬ 
shire Breeders’ Association, Chicago, Ill., 
Wednesday. June 0. The second annual 
national sale will be held in connection 
with same on Thursday, June 10. 
Eastern Soil Fertility School, State 
College, Pa., June 28. 
Apple Shippers’ Association, Chicago, 
Ill., August 11-14. 
Hornell Fair. Hornell, N. Y., August 
31-September 3. 
At the annual meeting of the New Eng¬ 
land Agricultural Society, held at the 
Quincy House. Boston. Mass., recently, 
it was voted to hold the New England 
Fair this year with the Worcester Agri- 
cutural Society on September 3, 4, 5, 6 
and 7. This will make the seventeenth 
consecutive year that our New England 
Fair has been held at Worcester. The 
following officers were elected for the en¬ 
suing year : President, Richard M. Bow¬ 
en. Buttonwood, R, I.. re-elected; secre¬ 
tary, B. Durell. Worcester, Mass.; treas¬ 
urer. L. F. Herrick. Worcester, Mass., to 
fill the vacancy caused by the death of 
Warren Brown of Hampton Falls, N. II.. 
who had been treasurer for 25 years. 
Vice-presidents from the different New 
England States as follows: II. L. Whit¬ 
ney, Hebron. Me.; C. J. Bell. Hollis. N. 
II.; G. II. Dinsmore. Swanton, Yt. ; C. 
II. Ellsworth, Worcester, Mass.; N. S. 
Winsor. Greenville, R. I.; J. B. Palmer. 
Norwich. Conn. The treasurer’s books 
showed a balance of $2,200 on hand and 
all bills paid. bichakd ji. bowen. 
Bobby, just home from his first visit to 
the country, was telling the folks of its 
wonders. “And say. ma,” he said, “out 
on the farm they get milk from cows, and 
it's just as good as any."—Boston Trans¬ 
cript. 
Jesuits 
Just as you cannot 
tell whether or not 
tested seed corn is 
worth while until 
you have tried it 
and compared re¬ 
sults, so you cannot 
realize the actual 
economy of Uni¬ 
corn till you have 
measured the in¬ 
crease in milk pro¬ 
duced. 
Why Use Jested Seed G)rn ? 
It costs more — but you know that it is really 
an economy because it gives better results • 
So it is with a dairy ration. 
Unicorn is tested . Thousands of dairymen 
have- proved that it reduces the cost of milk 
production. 
Tested seed corn is economical because of 
growing results—Unicorn is economicalbecause 
of milk results twice*a-day. 
CHAPIN & CO., CHICAGO 
