1640 
Jhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 23 , 1920 
LOWER PRICES 
are here on Farm Equipment 
Lower prices have come. There is no doubt about it. Our fine, new and enlarged 
Fall Catalog is filled from cover to cover with wonderful price-savings on every thing 
you need on your farm. Weeks and months of planning resulted in warehouses full of 
the finest farm equipment at manufacturing costs which mean big savings to you. You 
can buy now and here at prices incomparably low. Again National Farm Equipment 
Company is able to demonstrate to its farmer frinds, its unchallenged low price leader¬ 
ship, its ability under any and all conditions to undersell all competition. You can get 
any new farm equipment, shipped the day your order reaches us, from big stocks in 
New York, with the distinct understanding and agreement that no sale is complete until 
you have tried the equipment bought from us on your own farm in your own way for 
thirty days. Then if you are not fully satisfied that you have made a big saving and 
secured absolutely satisfactory merchandise, you may return your purchase at our ex¬ 
pense of transportation charges both ways, and will return the purchase price in full. 
Get our book. Compare our prices. Then take advantage of our free trial offers on 
anything you need. Better still, if there is anything in this advertisement you need, 
order direct from this farm paper and you will get it quickly. 
SAVE YOUR MILK PROFITS 
The big condensers are refusing to buy milk at any price. 
There are seven good reasons why you should buy a Premier 
Cream Cream Separator which will enable you to save your 
milk profits. 
No. 1—The improved self-balancing bowl, with perfected 
milk distributor is the “last word” in close skimming and as¬ 
sembling. No. 2—Bell speed indicator insures correct speed— 
consequently perfect work. No. 3—Strong, rigid, handsome— 
built to stand up under daily bard service. No. 4 —Guaranteed 
for 5 years. No. 5—All guess taken out of the purchase—sold 
on 30 days’ trial—your money back if after 30 days’ use 
you are not entirely satisfied. No. 6—So low priced that 
the investment is very small—so small that you cannoti 
afford to be without a Premier, for use in any emergency’ 
—even if you sell most of your mlik. No. 7—Easy pay¬ 
ments if desired—let the Premier pay for itself from the 
sale of cream and butter. 
CAPACITIES and PRICES 
300-lb. capacity. Cash price §49.25. On time $5.00 dowm and 
$5.00 a month for ten months. 500-lb. capacity. Cash price 
§56.00. Time $6.00 and $5.50 a month for ten months. 700-lb. 
capacity. Cash price $64.35. Time $7.00 down and $6.50 a 
month for ten months. 900-lb. capacity. Cash price $69.30. On 
time $8.00 down and $6.80 a month for ten months. A smaller 
size without stand—bolts to table or shelf. 275-lb. capacity. Cash price $32.00. On time 
$2.00 down and $3.20 a month for ten months. Order from this ad and we will ship 
from stock in New York same day order reaches us. 
BARGAINS IN ROOFING 
Our Pyramid, Shedwcll and National Chief, 
casy-to-lay roofings, are of the finest quali¬ 
ties and sold much under pres¬ 
ent prices, due to large supplies 
secured before recent advances. 
In our three grades and various 
weights in each grade, we offer 
a quality suited to your every 
need and at astonishingly low 
prices. Made of selected long 
fiber felt, thoroughly saturated 
with asphalt, they are weather 
proof, water proof, storm proof 
and practically fire proof. En¬ 
dorsed by the fire underwrit¬ 
ers. None better at any price. 
GP 317—1-ply National Chief Rubber Roof¬ 
ing, $2.10; 2-ply, $2.60; 3-ply, $3.00. GP 321 
—Heavy Slate .Surfaced, $3.75 ; extra heavy, 
$4.35. Cement and nails free with every roll. 
FEED GRINDER BARGAIN 
The National Chief Feed Grinder is the fin¬ 
est quality grinder on the market—no other 
machine at anywhere 
near the price compares 
with it. Takes little 
power, grinds ear corn, 
shelled corn or small 
grains without changing 
burrs. Selected steel con¬ 
struction, grinds coarse 
or fine at will, easily and 
quickly adjusted, lasts a 
lifetime. No. D-1662 6- 
inch Mill, capacity 6 to 
10 bu. dry ear corn or 6 to 20 bu. shelled 
corn, wheat, oats or barley per hour. Price, 
with one extra set of burrs, $27.00. Eight- 
inch mill, $35.00. 10-inch mill, $46.50. Com¬ 
plete line of Feed CooRers, Corn Shellers, 
etc., at very low prices. See our free catalog. 
NATIONAL CHIEF PORTABLE SAW RIGS 
5 H.P 
7 H.P 
Meet the Demand for Wood This Winter 
Coal shortage this winter insures big demand and good prices for stove wood. You 
can clear the cost of a saw rig quickly—our easy payment plan allows you to pay as 
you earn—the outfit will pay for itself and leave you a handsome profit. 
National Chief Saw Rigs consist of our famous National Chief engine, either 5 or 7 
horse power, mounted on a steel wheel truck, with saw frame, saw and belt, a com¬ 
pact, easily moved rig. 
National Chief Engines are equipped to bum gasoline or kersene as desired 
without change—throttle governed—water cooled—Webster Magneto ignition—high 
grade—guaranteed five years—sold on 30 days’ trial—and priced down to bed rock. 
5 H. P. Saw Rig Complete—Cash Price $223.00. Easy Payments—$70.00 cash—$15.00 
a month for eleven months. 
7 H. P. Saw Rig Complete—Cash price §299.00. Easy Payments — §93.00 cash — §20.00 
a month for eleven months. 
National Chief Engines—1% to 12 II. P.—all sold on easy payments—a year to 
pay—Guaranteed to suit you, or your money back. Separate saw frames $19.00 up. 
Full details regarding engines and saw frames in our Catalog. Write for it today—• 
order while stocks are complete and get quick shipment. 
Send a Postal and get a copy of this Free Book 
You cannot afford to buy any kind of farm equipment until you have 
first sent for a free copy of our new fall catalog. It lias been very 
carefully revised, the lines have been extended and new lines added. 
You cannot buy better goods at home or elsewhere at anywhere 
near our prise. This is in truth “Farm Implement Headquarters”— 
the place where every farmer can buy needed farm equipment in the 
full confidence that he will always secure the best to be had for any 
purpose and always at a saving. We bring the factory nearer to you, 
the consumer, and in doing so we make your dollar go further than 
it will go anywhere else we know of. You can quickly prove this 
to your own satisfaction by sending for a copy of this free hook and 
comparing our merchandise and prices with the merchandise and 
prices of any other concern. More than 5,000 farmers have saved money here in the 
past few months. Just a letter or a post card will bring this book by return mail. 
aiional PariStptfqulpmenl 
nrD»DTMFMT a 96 CHAMBERS NT STREET NEW YORK CIT 
Natural History Notts 
Winter Coat of Arctic Animals 
Just what takes place in the hair of 
an animal when it changes from a dark 
color to white in Winter? j. B. 
It is, of course, a well-known fact that 
certain species of animals, notably the 
Arctic fox, Arctic and other northern 
hares, ermine, and certain lemmings, turn 
white in Winter, and that this is in some 
way controlled by climate, seems to be 
proven by the fact that in the case of 
most of these animals, individuals inhab¬ 
iting the more northern parts of the 
range of the species turn completely white, 
while individuals of the same species oc¬ 
cupying the southern part of its range 
exhibit this change in a less marked de¬ 
gree, or perhaps not at all. This change 
is known in all eases to be brought about 
by a complete molt of the hair. As far 
as we know, however, the exact reason for 
this change is not known. The fact that 
the change to Winter pelage takes place 
at the time when the cold is rapidly in¬ 
creasing, and that Spring brings a re¬ 
sumption of the Summer pelage, would 
seem to indicate that in some way these 
changes in temperature act upon the 
physiological functions of the animal so 
as to withhold or furnish the normal col¬ 
oring matter. e. w. nelson. 
Quills Upon the Fretful Porcupine 
It occurs to me that an incident that 
occurred at our place last night may be 
of interest to country people other than 
ourselves. It was about 1:30 that I was 
wakened by a grinding sound under the 
house or the back porch, from which a 
door opens to my room. On that porch 
ice and salt are mixed when ice cream 
is made, tind I think the salting of the 
underpinning by leakage has made agree¬ 
able gnawing for certain animals. That 
had been my conclusion when the same 
gnawing, grinding sound had disturbed 
us about two months ago. It took a 
good deal of stamping to scare away our 
visitor ou that occasion, and I thought 
to frighten him more thoroughly this 
time, so I took down a high-power rifle 
that hangs always handy by. slipped softly 
out on the porch, shoved the muzzle well 
under and “let ’er go.” She went in the 
best Fourth of July style, but our visitor, 
instead of running for the farther side 
of the building and remaining unseen, as 
anticipated by me, showed himself coming 
from under the porch corner about a dozen 
feet from me. There wasn’t moonlight 
enough under the trees to see gun sights, 
hut I threw the lock and pointed at him 
from the waist and fired again. He wad¬ 
dled—it was a porcupine—about 20 feet 
and dropped. Now Comes the point of all 
this. When I looked him over this morn¬ 
ing, as he lay just as I saw him with a 
lantern immediately after killing him, he 
was surrounded by a roughly circular 
area, which was sprinkled with quills. I 
measured two diameters of the circle, 
about perpendicular to each other, and 
found one to be 14. the other 16 feet. 
There seems no way of explaining that 
circle hut by admitting that the porcupine 
“threw” them from his skin, which T have 
always understood to be denied by au¬ 
thorities. f. w. B. 
Ferrets as Rat Exterminators 
I have bought a new place, and find it 
is overrun with rats, and have been told 
by several people to get a ferret to get 
rid of them. Can you give me any in¬ 
formation on the subject? Are ferrets 
good as a fur-bearing animal? Are their 
skins of any value on the market? 
Westwood, N. J. h. w. 
Much will depend upon the ferret and 
its previous training. As a rule ferrets 
are treacherous animals, liable to escape 
from captivity at any time, and become 
one of the worst pests of the poultry 
yard imaginable. They have even been 
known to attack and kill sheep. On the 
other hand, there are strains in which the 
reverse is true in all respects. However, 
if your premises are not extensive and 
are not very badly infested a ferret will 
kill a great many rats and drive the 
others to your neighbor’s buildings, and 
you will think they are totally extermi¬ 
nated. If the premises are extensive and 
badly infested the ferret, unless of n gen¬ 
uine fighting strain, will soon tire of the 
sport anil become of no more value than 
a cat. Ferret skins are valuable in home 
economics when tanned by home pro¬ 
cesses, and it seems as though they should 
have a marketable value, hut they are 
not quoted in any price list to which I 
have had access. Neither have rat skins 
any marketable value, hut if home tanned 
by the sumac process they make a leather 
that is a close imitation of imported kid. 
A good way to catch rats is to set a 
barrel in a dark corner, fill it nearly full 
of water, cover the water with chaff, or 
bran, or sawdust, or oats, or other light 
material. Incline a board against the 
barrel for a runway. Smear the board 
well with beef suet, and if a little rancid, 
so much the better, and then put a big 
slice of the suet in the barrel. Rats will 
smell the suet, run up the board and jump 
upon the chaff to reach the large lump. 
The chaff will move and let the rats into 
the water, where they will drown. In a 
trial of this kind recently made the barrel 
was more than half full of dead rats the 
following morning. c. o. o. 
Catching the Weasel 
I note your request in “Brevities” for 
a method of catching weasels when they 
are after chicks. Weasels are very fond 
of mice, and they may be called out if one 
makes a squeaking noise with the lips, as 
nearly as possible like the squeak of a 
mouse. Your shotgun will do the rest. 
They usually stay close to the scene of 
their depi*edations, or will return to it. 
I have used this method with perfect suc¬ 
cess on the three occasions in my experi¬ 
ence when Mr. Weasel developed an ap¬ 
petite for poultry. If fowls have been 
killed, they should be left where they arc 
as an inducement for the weasel’s return. 
Go slow, and you can call him out into 
the open. P. w. many. 
New York. 
You ask “how to catch a. weasel”; 
that’s easy. Mi-. Weasel kills almost al¬ 
ways in the daytime. Keep the shotgun 
handy. He will be found in the woodpile, 
an old stone wall, or any form of shelter 
near the chickens. When you hear a 
chicken squall, get busy; go quickly, hut 
go quietly; iu a moment you will see a 
cruel head sticking out of some hole, 
when bang, and it will be all over. Should 
the killing be done at night, where fowls 
or pet stock are confined, leave the dead 
as found, and place a steel trap at the 
only place of entrance and near the car¬ 
cass ; you will be almost certain to have 
him next morning. 
Last year I went to feed the chicks in 
the brooder house, and saw two freshly 
killed. I went back for the gun, anil 
after waiting a moment I saw the mur¬ 
derer’s head sticking out of the woodpile. 
I got five before I finished with them— 
evidently a brood of young. This year 
it was a young rabbit and the housekeep¬ 
er’s guinea pig. I thought a mouse could 
not get in, but I found them both dead 
one morning. I had my weasel in a trap 
the next morning. GEO. E. IIOWELL. 
New York. 
A Friend of the Weasel 
Ou page 1298, under the title of “Brev¬ 
ities,” the question is asked: “How may a 
weasel he caught?” 
Strange! Better ask how may it he 
bred, and its numbers increased. Here 
we have the rat, the most noxious and 
destructive little rodent on the face of 
the earth, over-running evei*y part of the 
United States, spreading diseases of vari¬ 
ous kinds, destroying property, according 
to the estimates of the Bureau of Bio¬ 
logical Survey, to the value of more than 
$200,000,000 every year 1 , and increasing 
at such a rate that, were it allowed to 
breed and increase without hindrance for 
five years, its numbers would be suf¬ 
ficient to destroy every particle of food 
that the whole world is capable of produc¬ 
ing. We have recently awakened to our 
danger, and now the Biological Survey is 
racking its brains to find improved meth¬ 
ods of fighting the pest, and is sending 
out circulars by the hundreds of thou¬ 
sands giving all the information available. 
Anti-rat clubs are being formed in various 
parts of the country. Many cities are 
offering bounties for rat scalps, and a 
general warfare is being waged against 
the rat. Yet, in spite of all our efforts 
at control, the rat is rapidly increasing 
in numbers and destructiveness. 
And now The R. N.-Y. comes forth and 
in a semi-editorial question asks for a 
method of destroying the one great arch¬ 
enemy of the rat, and the enemy which, 
with the exception of cannibalism on the 
part of the old inales, is responsible more 
than all other influences combined for 
holding the rat iu check. Pennsylvania 
has for years offered a liberal bounty for 
the destruction of the weasel, and in con¬ 
sequence the rats have increased to such 
dangerous numbers that Philadelphia 'and 
some other cities find themselves obliged 
to offer bounties for the destruction of 
the rats. 
However, it cannot be denied that the 
weasel is a nuisance in the poultry yard— 
almost as great a nuisance as the rat 
itself. If it is desired to kill it and thus 
allow the rats to live, it may easily he 
entrapped, placing a wire trap, or cage, 
containing a few live rats, in a locality 
where weasels are supposed to frequent, 
and surround the cage with a double row 
of small steel traps, lightly covered with 
leaves or chaff. But iu trapping the 
weasel it should be remembered that its 
skin at the present time is worth but live 
cents. If the animal is caught in Janu¬ 
ary, and its fur is white and prime, it 
may be worth three dollars or more. 
C. O. OKMSBEE. 
Moles in the Cellar 
A reader inquired about moles. The 
past Winter they frequented our cellar. 
Every few days the cat would bring up a 
little gray mole. Once we found a jet 
black, star-nosed mole, much larger than 
the gray ones. The cats refused to eat 
either kind. jenny lino. 
“Do you know, Henry,” asked Mrs. 
Figgus, newspaper iu hand, “that every 
time you draw your breach somebody 
dies?” “Well, I’m sorry,” returned Mr- 
Figgus, “but if I stop drawing it I 11 
die myself.”—New York Globe. 
