Tie RURAL NEW*YORKER 
tny claws! That being so, I sit here anti 
wonder why you permit an inferior class 
of so-called brain workers to dicate to you 
who create! 
‘‘You smile at those old Pilgrims who 
would not permit ball playing at Christ¬ 
mas. Blue laws! you say. Have you 
thought that only through such stern dis¬ 
cipline was it possible for them to sur¬ 
vive? They may have been hard and un¬ 
relenting and overbearing, but what hap¬ 
pened to other colonies that were lax in 
discipline? Why. those white men who' 
became slaves to the Indians were brought 
to that condition by much the same spirit 
that induced those people to play ball on 
Christmas, when their very life and safe¬ 
ty depended on work. My ancestors ran 
in packs for protection. We would soon 
have been cleaned out if we had tried to 
live as individuals. The pack had stern 
discipline about killing and eating. If a 
member disobeyed lie was promptly killed 
and torn up by the rest. I have seen you 
sit here night after night thinking about 
the future of farming in this country. 
Can you not see what is coming? To 
me it is easy in view of the past.” 
But right there Bruce sprang to his feet 
and ran to the window with the hair on 
his back bristling. Then his tail began 
to wag. for he heard the “chug” of the 
car bringing our folks home. And the 
sleepy cat stirred with a sigh, for he knew 
his hour for the outer darkness had come. 
What he will do will be to crawl into the 
cellar and sleep on top of the heater, 
when he should be hunting mice. And in 
come our folks, rosy with the cold, thank¬ 
ful that I have kept up the fire. 
“We lad a flue time.” say the children. 
“So did I.” I reply, as I glance across 
at Bruce. I only wish he could have told 
us the future of farming. 
And then the little girl picks up “The 
Bradford History.” 
“Oh, dear, how dull! That hook would 
send me to sleep!” 
I imagine it would cure some cases of 
insomnia. ir. w. c. 
Soil Sterilization 
Would you give a little information on 
sterilizing soil with steam for use in pot¬ 
ting. particularly vegetable plants? I 
will state my proposition and perhaps 
some one can tell me whether it is prac¬ 
ticable. I have about .‘1.000 ft. of glass, 
besides cold frames. Soil is infected with 
club-root. My boiler for heating houses 
is hot water boiler. 11 sections; size of 
boiler 4S in. long, 28 in. wide 47 in. high. 
I thought of building a table, say 4 ft. 
wide by 10 ft. long (or more if there was 
steam capacity enough) with sides 6 in. 
high connecting a system of 1 in. pipes 
with holes drilled in sides for outlet for 
steam: lay that on table, fill earth on 
top and cover with canvas and turn on 
steam from pipe from boiler. Of course 
previous to this will close gate valves in 
pipes to boiler and draw off a foot or 
more of water to allow room for steam. 
I have a safety valve on boiler. Is 
boiler large enough to steam that much 
soil at one time and how many pipes 
should there be on table? What size 
holes in them and how close? II. E. 
Salem, O. 
H. E. 0. has outlined a very satis¬ 
factory method of soil sterilization. I 
do not know anything about the boiler 
mentioned, but feel sure that it is large 
enough to steam a box of soil 10 ft. long. 
4 ft. wide, and 1*2 in. deep. A box 0 in. 
deep is too shallow for quick, economic si 
work. Four lines of 1 in. or better 1*4 
in. pipe will be sufficient. Drill a three- 
sixteenths in. hole through both sides of 
the pipe every S in. Make your box 
with tight bottom and lay the pipe an 
inch or two from the bottom, with holes 
facing towards each side. Do not have 
all holes opposite each other, but stagger 
them. Have the end where the steam 
enters a little bit higher than the other 
end. where each pipe should have an elbow 
turned downward containing an air cock. 
This air cock should be left open when 
steam is turned on. to drain all water con¬ 
densation off while the pipes are heating 
up. ThP soil will be finished without 
becoming soggy 'wet if these cocks are 
left partly open during the entire steam¬ 
ing period. The soil should be pretty dry 
when placed in the steaming box. The 
steam pressure should be about 20 lbs. 
and allowed to flow into the soil for about 
20 to SO minutes. It will be a benefit to 
allow the soil to remain in the box for an 
hour after the steam is turned oil. As 
soon as the steam starts coming through 
the top of the soil, cover with canvas or 
heavy burlap. This treatment, if per¬ 
formed carefully will kill all weed seeds, 
as well as all tin* nematodes which cause 
Toot-gall or club-root. E. J. W. 
Getting Rid of Watercress 
An inquirer wishes to know how to re- i 
move watercress. We have a team of 
borses that weigh about 1.S00 lbs. We 
hitched them on a good spring-tooth har¬ 
row and drove the horses in the brook. ■ 
When the harrow got plugged up. two men 
would lift up the harrow and one man 
pitched the cress out on the bank, where 
it was drawn off later.. We have done 
this every year since. k. ii. ii. 
Wilmington. X. Y. 
“You seem very feeble.” said the medi¬ 
cal examiner. “Well,” explained the ap¬ 
plicant for insurance, “the agent nearly 
talked me to death before I surrendered.” I 
—Toronto Farmers’ Sun. I 
115 
I J I HHW I H . III llliyiHIJHHI.. 
REACH OF EVERY FARM. 
SELL INTERNATIONAL 
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■ ■ 
<■ .::: Vv 
Tractors 
BINDER TWINE AND REPAIRS 
■ .' . - v : 
TITAN 10-20 
With a Year to Pay —At Next Spring’s Lowest Price 
I N ORDER to place International Har¬ 
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farmer, arrangements have been made 
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The plan enables you to get immediate 
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The Titan 10-20 has led the three-plow tractor field for the last five years. Farmers 
have bought over $70,000,000 worth of Titans. See the International dealer and 
join those who are making the most of this opportunity and buying Titans now. 
International Harvester Company 
CHIOAGO USA 
THERE ARE 92 INTERNATIONAL 
BRANCH HOUSES, SERVING 
OVER 15.000 DEALERS, SO 
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Increases Yield—Lowers Labor Cost 
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WV/to inf CThtnlncr 
In Stock 
Near 
You 
PUTS PEP IN HORSES 
Spring clipping puts pep and pull in horses— 
makes them feel fit and deliver the goods. Clipped 
horses suffer no loss of vitality from oversweating, 
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Clipped horses are stronger, feel 
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No. 1 Ball Bearing Clipping Machine 
is one of the best paying invest¬ 
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Complete, only $14. At your deal¬ 
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balance payable on arrival. 
CHICAGO FLEXIBLE SHAFT 
COMPANY 
0«pt. *H1,5600 Roosevelt Rood, CHICAGO 
Writ® for Catalog No. 69 if interested 
in sheep shearing machines 
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'^89^mpiir^ldOjj^itsburgh^^ 
CALIFORNIA FARM LAND 
" ill make you more money with less work. Raise the 
crops you know about. You may prefer alfalfa and grain 
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guarantee editorial page. 
