<Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1707 
the scenes he pictures in his poem. The' 
great tragedy of human life is found when 
children grow tired of their parents, and 
refuse to care for the old folks. There 
are parts of New York which do not seem 
to wake up until night comes and the 
electric lights blaze up. By the time you 
and I are ready for bed in the country 
thousands of these city nighthawks are 
beginning to tune up. Broadway was 
packed that night with men and women, 
out to spend a few hours in forgetting 
their troubles. At one corner a Salva¬ 
tion Army woman was preaching; at the 
next a man was telling of the great bless¬ 
ings to come from the League of Nations. 
Still further along the way a Socialist 
was holding forth, while across the way 
a blind man sat holding out his hat for 
alms. The lights blazed over all and up 
in the sky the bright-faced moon seemed 
to go sailing over the great city. And 
the selfish, ever-hungry crowd swept up 
and down the street—our best customers, 
and yet held apart from us by our real 
masters—the middlemen and the poli¬ 
ticians. Broadway is bright, and you 
seem to be doubly alive in that great 
crowd, and yet we were well content to 
get off at our little country station in the 
dark, hunt up our car and go speeding 
over the hills toward home. The stars 
were out and the sweet country air never 
did seem so satisfying before. And I had 
to eat two baked apples before going to 
bed—that meant f>0c at city prices. 
n. w. c. 
Removing Sprouts from Seed Potatoes 
T have been reading in The R. N -Y. 
why seed potatoes are slow in sprouting 
when the seed is planted. Never leave 
any sprouts in the eyes of the potatoes 
before planting, because planting the seed 
with sprouts in the eyes takes about three 
weeks before the sprout decays and the 
new sprout drives out again. When you 
are going to get ready for planting, never 
take seed out of storage until just on that 
clay when you cut the potatoes for seed. 
When I cut my seed potatoes I break off 
the sprouts and all of my potatoes come 
up in two weeks. MRS. f. n. 
You hardly realize that the potato is 
simply a- cluster of terminal branches em¬ 
bedded in a fleshy tuber. The eyes are 
simply the terminal buds of these 
branches. Now if you cut off the terminal 
bud on a branch of a young tree you will 
develop a cluster of lateral buds. The 
same thing happens when you rub off the 
terminal bud of a potato. The fact that 
the terminal bud had sprouted showed 
that some demand had been made on the 
food stored in the potato, and to that ex¬ 
tent it was less capable of superior 
growth. Instead of a strong growth from 
the terminal bud you get the lateral buds 
excited and get a cluster of shoots instead 
of the strong single stem the terminal bud 
would have given you. Any experienced 
potato grower will know that this strong 
single stem will make more and better po¬ 
tatoes than the cluster of lateral shoots. 
The superior production of the Southern 
late-crop seed jwitatoes is largely due to 
the fact that they are not dug till No¬ 
vember or December, when the tops are 
cut by frost, and hence lack something of 
complete maturity. They are slower to 
start in the Spring and never sprout in 
the cellar in Winter. Hence they grow 
with the strong terminal bud and will 
make heavier crops than the Northern 
seed potatoes, which are dug earlier and 
sprout in the cellar and have the sprouts 
rubbed off. 
I had some of this kind last Spring. 
Wanting to get seed of the old Bovee 
potato I bo fight some from the North, 
which had evidently been sprouted and 
cleaned off. They all grew with a cluster 
of stems, and I knew at once I would not 
got the crop I hoped for. And I did not, 
but got clusters of small potatoes. These 
potatoes, dug in June, will doubtless get 
to sprouting soon. To prevent this I in¬ 
tend to plant them in December, cover 
thickly and get an earlier start in Spring. 
Whenever you rub off the first sprouts 
from a potato you are decreasing the crop 
the potatoes will make when planted. 
Keep the potatoes so cold and dark in 
Winter that, they will not sprout, and 
then if allowed to sprout before planting, 
and the sprouts are carefully saved in 
planting, you will get far better results 
from them when used as seed. 
w. F. MASSEY. 
Planting Apple Seed and Peach Pits 
IIow is apple seed planted to start 
young trees for grafting? Would seed 
have to be washed and dried, or could 
seed be used ae it. comes from cider mills, 
pomace and all, and when is the best time 
to plant? I am very anxious to grow 
some young stock. When is the best time 
to plant peach pits? E. L, w. 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
The apple seed should be separated 
from the pomace by placing in a tub of 
water and stirring. The pulp floats and 
can he removed, while the seeds sink to 
the bottom. The main reason for sep¬ 
arating the seeds is so they can be dis¬ 
tributed evenly in the rows when plant¬ 
ing. If the pulp was not separated it 
would also decay, giving an unpleasant 
odor. The best time for planting is early 
Bpring. 
With the peach the seeds are gathered 
in the Fall and mixed with sand. T! 
are exposed to frost, which opens tin* 
pits. The meat is picked out and planted 
ui the Spring. Some plant peach p*t* 
m the Fall, allowing them to crack and 
open during the Winter. i. h. t. 
Equipment and Cost 
T HERE was but one way in 
which the railroads could have 
been made ready for the peak 
load of commerce this fall. That 
was by placing large orders for 
equipment and making heavy in¬ 
vestments one, two and even three 
years ago. 
During the period from 1914 to 
1919, the New York Central Lines 
purchased 925 locomotives, 473 
passenger cars and 54,408 freight 
cars at an aggregate cost of $128,- 
717,930. Today this equipment 
would cost $245,378,150. 
During March, 1920, orders were 
placed for 196 locomotives, 265 
passenger cars, 9744 freight cars, 
including 1000 stock cars, single 
and double decks, at a total cost of 
$4y,534,035. In addition, 1000 
coal cars are being rebuilt at a cost 
of $2,283,300. This new equip¬ 
ment will be available for service 
this fall. 
Equipment for shipping agri¬ 
cultural products is being increased 
in quantity and improved in qual¬ 
ity. The new stock cars are 40 
feet instead of the average 36 feet. 
Better ventilation and greater dura¬ 
bility in refrigerator cars are insured 
by the use of a new imported wood 
for insulation. This type of car 
has been tested with unusually 
perishable products over long and 
trying runs, and has made new 
records. Milk cars have likewise 
been improved. 
The Agricultural Department 
follows closely all phases of this 
vast scheme for service to the 
agricultural communities. 
THE NEW YORK CENTRAL LINES 
MICHIGAN CENTRAL - BIG FOUR — LAKE ERIE WESTERN 
BOSTON &■ ALBANY - TOLEDO & OHIO CENTRAL - PITTSBURGH &LAKE ERIE 
NEW YORK CENTRAL-AND-SUBSIDIARY LINES 
New York Central Station AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT La Salle Street Station 
Rochester, N. Y. Grand Central Terminal, New York City Chicago, 111. 
N P • Sterling Furnace 
“ The One Register Furnace’* 
D u IL f to heat the 
^ homes of men and 
women who take pride 
in having the best equip¬ 
ment money can buy. 
This heating plant has the 
highest type Sterling Furnace 
Unit, will last a lifetime, is easy 
and convenient to operate, is 
economical in the use of fuel, 
bias scientifically designed 
outside cool air return pipes 
which permit the warm air to 
flow from the furnace in great 
volume and with great force. 
This is why the N. P. heats 
the entire house evenly and 
economically thru one register. 
IVrile for Book giving com¬ 
plete information about this 
splendid furnace. 
SILL STOVE WORKS, Rochester, N. Y. 
ESTABLISHED 1849 
Manufacturers of Sterling Warm Air Furnaces, Sterling Ranges, 
Scientific Sterling Combination Ranges 
l 
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Lowest priees on Ready Made 
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THE EDWARDS MFG. CO., 
1121-1173 •’*•‘0 SI.. Cincinnati, 0. 
KELLY DUPLEX CR n'.K g 
One of the Easiest Running Mills Made 
Grinds ear corn, shelled corn, oat*, 
wheat, barley, rye, kaftir corn, 
cotton seed, corn in shucks, 
alfalfa, sheaf oats, or any 
kiml of grain. Bagger has a 
double 9 pout attached to 
either side of mill. We 
furnish extra hopper for 
grindiug small grain aud 
ear corn at the same time. 
Mado with double set 
of grinders or burrs. 
Have a grinding surface ol 
just double that of. most 
mills of equal size, there* 
fore, do twice as much work Requires 25% less power. 
Especially adapted for gasoline eugiues. We make 7 sizes 
Writ* tor Fr*e Catalog 
DUPLEX MILL A MFG. CO., Bos 320, Springfield, Ohio 
