844 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Pastoral Parson and His Country Folks 
By Rev. George B. Gilbert 
That Cold Pantry. —Sometimes it is 
a mighty good thing for the men folks 
to do the housework for a while. A lit¬ 
tle experience will take hold more than a 
vast deal of talking. One woman found 
her pantry dreadfully cold. Her feet 
were like 'ice when working in it. She 
kept talking about it. to no purpose. 
‘•Women are always having queer ideas 
in their heads.” he probably said to him¬ 
self But this Winter the woman went 
away for a little visit. The man had to 
work in the pantry and stand on the floor 
and do dishes there. He found the cold 
wind came right through the wall of the 
house. On examination he found that 
tlie clapboards were old and there never 
was anv paper under them, lie had it re- 
clapboarded with a heavy paper lining 
and it made all the difference in the world 
with that woman’s feet. 
The CnuRCn Plastering. —This same 
principle might sometimes be applied to 
church work. An old darkey preacher 
was once doing his level best to collect 
money for repairing the church ceiling. 
The plastering kept falling down. Attei 
vehemently exhorting the congregation 
Sunday, and passing the plate to little 01 
no purpose, something happened. A huge 
piece of that plastering let go, and. com¬ 
ing down, struck the head deacon fairly on 
the bean “I’ll give $10 to have this ceil¬ 
ing fixed'.” he cried, springing to his feet 
The preacher clasped his hands and laised 
his eyes toward heaven.„ O, Hold, nit 
him again, hit him again. _ 
Chapped Hands.— This ^ the time o 
vear for chapped hands, and the boys 
complain each night as they get rea<■ y 
supper. We have found such a wondeiful 
reinedy for this that Mrs Parson say we 
ought to tell all our friends about it. bhe 
can get along without it herself. It is 
made up of eight ounces of witch hazel, 
four ounces of bay rum. and 10 ounces o 
glvcerine. A bottle like this will last a 
long time, as it only takes a drop or so 
for each application. 
The Bacon.— There is an old saymg 
about bringing home the bacon. 1 he 
Parson is sure most anyone m these times 
would be glad to see company coming it 
thev had a strip of good home-cured bacon 
under their arms. We have never en¬ 
joyed our bacon so much as this. year, aud 
some of our company has claimed that 
thev never enjoyed any bacon as much as 
thev did ours. They did seem to enjoy 
it for a fact. We slice the ham very 
thin, almost like you would slice bacon. 
Wo think it is much better this way. to 
sav nothing of it going a great deal fur¬ 
ther. But one thing we lack, and the 
Parson is determined to have one if he 
makes it himself, and that is a smoke¬ 
house. „ , 
Tiie Stone One. —The Parson has seen 
many such houses, but the one that suits 
him is way down on l’eeden Place Farr- 
built by the hard-working baek-to-the- 
lauder Bohemian down there. It is a 
stone one. with very thick walls and a 
thick stone and concrete floor. These 
thick stone walls seem to keep it cool in 
Summer and the thick roof keeps the sun s 
beat out. This man claims that ham and 
bacon will keep all Summer hanging in 
this smokehouse. The fire is oft' about 
20 feet, and the smoke comes up into the 
house through a stone passage way. Of 
course, the place is dark, with the door 
shut all the time. The Parson figures 
that by furnishing the boys with a kettle 
and an occasional hand-out of cocoa aud 
bread, thev would keep a smudge going 
up to that meat any old time you wanted 
it. The more meat is smoked, the better 
it tastes, and the better i,t keeps—if you 
don’t eat it up. . , 
Young Bacon. —This really might be 
called bacon or pork week in this house. 
There has been much excitement ever 
siuce Monday. The boys liavelong teased 
that we have some little pigs. The Par¬ 
son does not believe it pays to winter 
hogs if it can be helped. Of course, some¬ 
one has to, but let it be the one who has 
plenty of skim-milk or home-raised corn. 
However, “Reddie” lias such a pet, and 
so gentle nd the boys hated to have her 
killed, so that at last the Parson con¬ 
sented to try our luck at pigs. 
Wiiat She Ate.—W hen one reads the 
usual diet prescribed by those who answer 
questions for pigs of this sort, it certainly 
looks like quite a proposition. The mix¬ 
ture consists of innumerable ingredients, 
weighed oift to the fraction of an ounce 
and fed to a nicety on certain strokes of 
Green wich time. However, even the Par¬ 
son’s elastic conscience had sometimes 
troubled him during the Winter as he read 
these prescriptions, and mused on the diet 
and treatment generally that poor Reddie 
received. We planned to feed her once a 
day. anyway, rain or shine, but fortu¬ 
nately no account of this was kept. Time 
of feeding, when she squealed loudly. 
Menu served, potato parings, cooked pre¬ 
ferred, but. often raw with some water 
and o little No. 2. Two or three times 
during the Winter, a hod of ashes thrown 
in the pen. Quite often, to save time 
aud work, a few nubbins 
hurled through the window 
die’s pen. Twice she w r as 
sun bath. 
The Babies. —Monday 
seven living babies. The seven 
deed small, but she is still on 
of 
of 
let 
corn were 
poor Red¬ 
out for a 
there arrived 
were iu- 
the job. 
We put them in a basket as the weather 
was quite cold, and brought them into 
the house, and kept them nice and warm. 
About every two hours we would take 
them over for food. The Parson got up 
at two and four o’clock that night and 
took them over. Clossie and Sit are home 
on vacation, and so as the Parson was 
away all next day, they carried them back 
and forth. We left them over with Red¬ 
die some in the daytime, but for three 
nights we have kept them in the house, 
two of these nights in the parlor in a 
bushel basket. Once, due to the cold 
while over to the barn, Little Speckie, 
the smallest one, was pronounced by Clos¬ 
sie to be dead. The Parson investigated, 
and by applying a thoroughly warmed dis¬ 
carded pair of boy’s corduroy trousers 
and rushing it over to Reddie for a full 
quota of pig’s own nectar, it gradually 
revived. 
A Gentle Mother. —There is certainly 
nothing like having a gentle mother pig. 
Little Sit and Clossie go into the pen and 
take Reddie’s babies away from her aud 
carry them off without so much as a grunt 
of protest. If she does not lie down, as 
she should, you can pull her about till 
she does. Then you can sit down upon 
her and watch the piggies get their dinner. 
If she raises the seven it will not be so 
bad for the first time, and Reddie was 
a very late Summer pig. given to the 
Parson by 'a down-county back-to-the- 
lander. 
Her Feed. —Most trouble with raising 
pigs is caused by feeding the mamma pig 
too much at first. The first day Reddie 
got nothing but warm water. The next 
day she got nothing but warm skim-milk. 
Then the third day a little No. 2 in the 
skim-milk. Pretty soon she will get all 
she can stand up to, as she will need it. 
She seems quite fat, in spite of her Win¬ 
ter’s fare, and the county expert pro¬ 
nounces the pigs of extra size and nimble¬ 
ness. 
The Spring’s Work. —Here it is the 
12th of April, and the Parson is late with 
his letter. We got the oats in last week, 
but haven’t rolled them down yet. They 
are snugly frozen in this morning, but 
oats like cold weather, aud it will not 
hurt them. We got the garden ready for 
peas and such things a week ago. but the 
ground is frozen every morning, and what 
with being away so much, they are not 
in yet. The manure is all out and spread 
and so we have a good start on the 
Spring’s work. There is nothing like get¬ 
ting an early start in the Spring. It 
makes all the difference in the world all 
Summer. 
Seed Potatoes.— There is a great call 
for seed potatoes this Spring, and a great 
scarcity. The Parson got a limted supply 
of choice seed in Vermont last Fall, and 
has been able to supply every family con¬ 
nected with the little church down country 
for $2 a bushel. This is just half it 
would cost them for poorer seed in town. 
Having got a taste of what, a little co¬ 
operation can do in the potato line, they 
may be able to carry it further in con¬ 
nection with other buying and selling. 
AVe are going to have a farm bureau meet¬ 
ing in the church soon and talk it over. 
The County Club Leader. —Down at 
one of the village missions yesterday we 
had a Congregational deacon from a near¬ 
by town to the Episcopal service. He 
wasn’t there because he is anxious to be¬ 
come an Episcopalian, but because during 
Sunday School he was to meet the Par¬ 
son’s down-in-the-cellar-hot-cocoa-stereop- 
tieon-picture-boys’ class. Before going 
down to the lower regions he explained 
to the children—all of them—about the 
County Club work for both boys and girls. 
Then we talked it all over with the boys 
downstairs. Most of them seemed inter- 
April r:-, 3 r ' '.o 
osted, and he meets them again after 
school one night this week with the State 
Club leader to get the organization into 
shape. 
A Country Camp Ground. —A very 
public-spirited man, interested in all kinds 
of good work, has just bought a whole 
farm situated on a beautiful lake right in 
the heart of the country, very accessible 
to all. This is to be a big couuty camp 
grouud for boys and girls. What finer 
gift could anyone make to the county? 
If the Parson didn’t love his own little 
place so much, he would like the job of 
going down and living on that farm. 
The A’acuum Cleaner. —This week 
marks an epoch in the life of Mrs. Par¬ 
son, for the vacuum cleaner has arrived, 
run, of course, by electricity. Mrs. Par¬ 
son has had little use of it herself, as 
it has been vacation time, and the boys 
have had entire charge of the cleaning. 
They cleaned all the rooms, from the attic 
down, and then nearly wept because there 
was no more dirt to conquer. If one 
couldn't have both cleaner and lights, the 
cleaner might well come first. For down¬ 
stairs a special “plug” was put in just 
between the two big rooms, and for up¬ 
stairs we shall have an extension cord to 
run up the stairway. It is not very sat¬ 
isfactory attaching it to the light sockets 
each time. The next thing will probably 
be the electric washer. 
One Tongue Between Them. —We 
men folks will have to admit that in most 
cases the barn aud farm have had first 
whacks at the improvements, but now the 
house is going to come in for its share. 
There will not have to be any trouble 
about it—just remember the story of the 
couple and oxen. A farmer and his wife 
were walking along the street and saw a 
yoke of oxen coming along toward them 
pulling so steadily and evenly. “How 
nicely that pair seems to work together,” 
remarked the man. “How nice it would 
be if we could get along that way.” 
“Perhaps we could.” remarked his wife, 
“if we had but one tongue between us.” 
Cut Down the High Cost of Farming j 
Seeder 
only 
$ 12.00 
Man Weight 
Plow only 
$10.50 
Both Tools 
in on » 
$17.50 
TThis Combination Tool is 
furnished three 
uiaus. 
A It Steel Low When 
Picot Axle Cultivator 
No. 69 
Light 
Handles rows 30 to 43 
ins. apart. Quick dodg¬ 
ing foot pressure gang 
shift. Price n<ith 6 
shovels, pin break, pole, 
trees and .50 
yoke. 450 lbs.' 
Y OU reduce your farm profits eveiy time you pay a need¬ 
lessly high price for a farm tool. On tire average farm the 
net profit per acre, after deducting living expenses, is about 
.$10. Every time you save $10, you save the yearly profit from 
one acre. If you pay $50 for an implement that we will sell you 
for $40, you wipe out the profit from one acre. 
Does this pay? Does it pay you to toil from early Spring 
until late Fall, on an acre of ground, and then throw the profit 
away by purchasing a tool that is priced higher tlian necessary? 
Does it pay you to add a needless premium to prices already 
high, when for a great deal less money you can get a tool 
that will do the work exactly as well? 
N. F. E. Implements are not “just implements.’’They are 
guaranteed implements. We guarantee them to do in a thor- 
ougldy satisfactory manner, the work for which they are in¬ 
tended. We guarantee that with trans¬ 
portation added, they will rejiresent an 
actual saving of from 15% to 35%. 
We guarantee that if after a fair field trial, 
you do not find them exactly as represented, 
we will take them back and return your 
money and all transportation charges. We 
guarantee prompt and efficient repair service. 
That’s what we mean when we say N. F. E. 
Implements are guaranteed . 
N. F. E. Guaranteed Implements do cut 
down the “high cost of living,” because we 
buy and sell them by the “Short Line Route” 
— the shortest route from factory to farm. 
Proof? Compare the prices in this advertisement with 
the lowest prices you can get elsewhere for tools of the 
same high quality. If you do not find that we can save 
you the profit on several acres, then we cannot con¬ 
scientiously ask for your business. If you do find that we 
can save you money let us make this saving a reality. 
Send us your order today for any of these items 
shown here. It will be filled as carefully and shipped 
as promptly as though you made your selection from 
our salesroom floors. Also, ask for our General 
Catalogue and new “Spring Bargain Supplement,” 
showing engines, cream separators, farm, garden, 
poultry and bee keeping supplies, at prices equally 
low. A postal request will bring them. Mail it today. 
National Farm Equipment Company 
Brass 
Pump, 
Steel 
‘Uatikand 
2 /<. 7/o5<$5.35 
Write today 
for this 
FREE 
BOOK! 
Ten 16 in. 
Discs. 
Dept. D 
98 Chambers St. 
Wood Beam Chilled 
Plow for OneHcavy or 
Two Light Horses. 
Alt steel, rigidly braced. Is in. sauare steel 
axles. Wt. 365 lbs. Price with Cft 
oscillating truck, ... flJ.JU 
Furrow capacity 
Wt. 66 lbs. 
with one extra share 
FA'.r • 
1 ' • /..k'UL- > - t 
... J * 10 in. 
^ $ 11.00 v 
