1882 
'The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
into the contract that the land need not be paid for 
until this is done. It is just here that the joker 
conies in, for the first payment which is made is 
50 per cent of the purchase price, and gives the 
philanthropic promoter from 600 to 1,000 per cent 
on his investment. The land remains the property 
of the real estate company until paid for. and in 
most cases the purchaser becomes so dissatisfied with 
the carrying out of the contract that he turns the 
property over again to the real estate company to 
resell to other and less experienced people. 
Premature Sprouting of Potatoes Before Digging — 
Fig. 630 
left them vigorous enough to make second growth. 
Another trouble is what is known as a spindle- 
sprout. It seems to be in some way connected with 
freezing or some injury from the cold during Winter 
freezing. The spindling sprouts grow into very 
weak, small plants, which either die early or else 
produce a very poor crop. It has been found that 
home-grown seed develops the trouble much more 
than Northern-grown tubers. Probably excessive 
heat and drought while the tubers are growing have 
something to do with the trouble. 
Fig. 632 shows a tuber afflicted with what is com¬ 
monly called hollow heart. This name is given in 
cases where there is a fair-sized cavity in the center 
of the potato. This trouble is apt to occur in large 
tubers rather than in small ones, and some varieties 
are very much worse than others. The trouble usu¬ 
ally appears in a season which is favorable for very 
rapid growth. In some cases dry weather will pre¬ 
vent growth of the tuber for some little time: then 
comes a wet season, and the tubers that stood still 
start to make a quick growth. A large tuber under 
these conditions would almost invariably produce a 
hollow heart. It is said that the cracking of fruit 
in certain varieties of peaches and muskmelons is a 
habit of very much the same nature. 
Winter Care of Young Grapevines 
Last Spring 1 set out a number of grape cuttings, 
and they rooted and grew vines about 6 to 18 in. How 
should I care for them through the Winter? p. e. 
Claverack, N.*Y. 
W HILE the nurseryman usually digs his grape 
roots in the Fall, after they have shed their 
leaves, it is not uncommon that they are of necessity 
left as they grew until the following Spring, when 
they are dug. Occasionally the temperatures of Win¬ 
ter are so severe that the growth of the previous sea¬ 
son is killed back, yet this is the exception. In one 
December is, 1020 
Asking me aboiit the profits of raising pigs is 
certainly a joke just at present. Years ago I used 
to make up our milk at home and raise pigs on the 
refuse. I kept registered Berkshires, and sold as 
many of the pigs as I could for breeding purposes. 
These used to pay somewhat better than they did 
for pork. Then the Berks were ready for market 
at almost any time, and they were well liked by the 
local butchers. If I were going to raise pigs at 
present T think I should get some kind of purebreds. 
After selling what I could as breeders, I would 
butcher the rest at home and sell the product to my 
neighbors. All pork products bring a good price 
almost anywhere. Of course it must be done right, 
but there is no great trick in curing side pork, bacon 
and hams, while there is always a big demand for 
good homemade lard. 
Now here is where the joke of asking me about 
the profit in pigs comes in : A year ago last Spring 
1 bought a pair of pigs for my own use. Being now 
engaged in selling whole milk, we bought the feed 
for the pigs, excepting the refuse from the kitchen 
(which is not much in a well-regulated one). When 
it got cold weather last Fall we lcWled one of the 
pigs, but kept the other until the fresh meat of the 
first one was gone. In the meantime I was left 
alone with 50 head of stock to care for, and there 
being no one to help me. the pig continued to live. 
When I finally got ready to kill it. the question came 
up as to whether it would pay to kill and sell this 
one and buy little ones in its place. The little ones 
would have to be fed some whole milk for a time to 
get them nicely started, while the old one would eat 
anything eatable by a lrog. So the pig has kept eat¬ 
ing, mostly eornmeal bought from the feed store at 
war prices. Therefore 1 have raised a hog at a cost 
of about 25 cents a pound—and I can get 10 for it. 
But never mind. We will eat piggy and imagine 
that we are buying the meat at the shop for 35 cents 
a pound. So we will come out all right after all. 
Of course the moral to this is that it doesn’t pay to 
raise pigs to sell to the butcher for less than the cost 
of raising, when you can just as well sell them at 
retail yourself and get 100 per cent on your dollar. 
Just at present the League is in no shape to force 
prices. Hence the drop of 47 cents per hundred 
for December. Of course, there should have been 
no such drop, but, with so many of the members 
holding out against the pooling plan, the League 
could not force the dealers to pay a living price. 
I am not sure but this will work out for the general 
benefit of the business. As the producer gets only 
half of the price to the consumer, the dealers should 
have dropped the retail price two cents a quart, 
but they have made no reduction at all, merely 
pocketing the extra profit. This ought to make the 
consumer see that he cannot hope for lower prices 
through the cutting down of the price to the pro¬ 
ducer, or making him subservient to the dealer. The 
producer and consumer must combine either to cut 
out the middleman, or put him in a position where 
he can't hog the biggest share of the product. 
The country is full of potatoes, cabbage, apples, 
etc, yet there is not a pound of produce that would 
not be eaten if the people could get it. There are 
two terrible highwaymen who are keeping these 
Potato With “Hollow Heart.'’ Fig. 63,i 
producers and consumers apart. One is the middle¬ 
man, who will pass along only such food as the 
consumer will pay an exorbitant price for, and the 
other is the labor organization that will not allow 
the food to be moved at a living rate. The car 
builder, the railroad man or the stevedore should 
get no more than the man who raises the produce. 
But we are not going to quit producing. The people 
want the food, and they are going to get it. The 
forces that stand between the producer and the 
consumer will be removed, and the least resistance 
they make, the fewer the bruises will be. 
J. GRANT MORSE. 
LIVE STOCK POSSIBILITIES.—There are a 
few bright spots in the locality, and the soil of the 
lake ridge seems to be well adapted to the growth 
of certain sub-tropical grasses. These grasses, such 
as Napier grass, make a growth which is beyond 
that of anything known in the Northern States, and 
seem to be excellent feed for cattle. Indeed, cattle 
raising seems to be the most promising industry for 
Southern Florida, as many of the crops which can 
be raised here yield enormous amounts of good for¬ 
age. Stock raising does not appeal so much to the 
promoter, as it requires larger tracts of land and a 
great deal more capital than it takes to start truck 
farming. 
ADVICE TO HOME-SEEKERS.—I do not want 
to be quoted as saying that there are few oppor¬ 
tunities in Florida for men of experience and initia¬ 
tive. The State is still largely undeveloped, and 
many men will make legitimate fortunes within its 
borders. What I wish to convey is the need of great 
caution. Any person who wishes to locate in 
Florida should stay there throughout an entire year 
before he makes a permanent investment. There 
are just as many poor soils and just as many places 
where success is impossible in Florida as in any 
other State. More than that, the long railroad 
haul, the heavy icing charges and the lack of efficient 
organization in selling put the small grower so much 
in the hands of the railroads and commission houses 
that it is inevitable that many will fail. As a place 
to live, particularly during the Winter months, 
Florida is all that has been claimed for it. The 
climate is most delightful, the flowers are beautiful, 
the fishing and hunting are good, the people are most 
delightful, and the general tone of the State is 
progressive and forward-looking, but as a place for 
an inexperienced man to make a living from the soil 
with small capital, it is just as difficult as, if not 
more so, than any of the Northern States. 
H. F. BUTTON. 
Some Unusual Potato Troubles 
RECENT bulletin from the Connecticut Experi¬ 
ment Station contains notes on some unusual 
plant diseases that were found in Connecticut. It is 
written by Prof. George P. Clinton. Some of the 
notes and pictures on potatoes will certainlly in¬ 
terest our readers. Fig. 631 shows a potato where a 
root of nut-grass has gone directly through the 
tuber. This plant bored completely through the po¬ 
tato and formed a leafy shoot above ground. It is 
not- clear whether these root-stocks take any nour¬ 
ishment from the potato tubers. Of course, such 
potatoes have no marke* value, but they are inter¬ 
esting as showing the penetrating power of some of 
these roots. 
Another trouble reported in recent years is the 
premature sprouting of tubers before they are dug. 
The picture at Fig. 630 shows how these sprouts ap¬ 
pear. Usually only occasionally a hill here and 
there develops this trouble. In some cases, however, 
a fair proportion of the tubers start these sprouts, 
and they even appear above ground and form foli¬ 
age. The cause cf this premature sprouting is not 
fully known. Prof. Clinton believes that it may be 
caused by a severe setback caused by drought or 
some similar cause. This may happen before they 
are fully matured. That seems to be the general 
cause of knobby potatoes, as they are commonly 
called. These tubers ax*e often found in fields where 
tip-bum or blight has partly injured the vines, but 
Potatoes Pierced by Nut-grass Root. Fig. 631 
instance the roots were killed in place. After dig¬ 
ging the roots should have their tops cut back, to a 
foot or more and then be tied in bundles. 'They are 
usually stored in cool cellars, piled up like cord 
wood, in a horizontal position. In a small way it 
would probably be advisable to cover with burlap 
bags and to wet down the roots at various intervals. 
It is not advisable to keep them too wet. and yet they 
should not be allowed to dry excessively. We have 
pored many in an underground cellar, heeled in in 
sand or fine gravel. Here it has been necessary to 
wet the soil occasionally. Too much moisture results 
in mold growing on the canes. f. e. glabwin. 
Grain Thrashing and Pigs 
We planted oats and peas last Spring for hay, but 
saved about an acre for seed. Being unable to have 
these thrashed out we would like to know whether we 
could not rig up something to thrash them by power. 
Having been making butter during the milk strike, I 
have been considering pigs and butter as a regular 
thing. We cannot raise corn here. Can you advise us 
as to the profits in pigs on this basis? It seems as 
though war prices being over, the dealers are deter¬ 
mined to drop prices to pre-League days. w. a. 
Arcade, N. Y. 
KNOW of no way in which a machine could be 
rigged up to thrash out one acre of peas and oats 
in a profitable manner. If 1 had no other thrashing 
to do, I think I should have tried to arrange with a 
neighbor, and draw the stuff to his place when the 
regular thrashing machine visited the neighborhood. 
If it is too late to do that now, I think I would 
thrash them out by spreading on the barn floor and 
driving the horses over them. Of course a neater 
way would be to pound them out with an old-fash¬ 
ioned flail. This is a good deal like work, but might 
pay a young man to do it. just by giving him some 
idea of how our fathers had to get along, and giving 
him an idea that maybe things are not so bad £1$ 
present as they might be. 
