Across the Country With 
N O doubt some of our readers have noticed pic¬ 
tures in the papers of the ox outfit in which 
,T. ('. Berrang and his wife intend to take the over¬ 
land trip to California. The other day Mr. Berrang 
came to see us just before leaving New York for his 
long journey. He has been a subscriber to The R. 
N.-Y. for some years, and he gave us an entertaining 
account of what he expected to do. 
You might call Mr. Berrang a back-to-the-lander. 
He formerly lived in Hoboken. N. J.. but went up 
into the hills of Connecticut and started farming. 
In April, 1910, fire broke out and destroyed the farm 
buildings. The old-fashioned house was about 2 <xt 
years old. Up in that country those old houses were 
put ui> to last, and when they finally go down there 
is little left of farm value. Not many of them are 
ever rebuilt. Mr. Berrang says that the day after 
the fire he looked into the cellar and saw the wreck 
if contained, and he then thought he would like to 
get away from it. Many of us can realize just how 
for a time until the weather grows warmer, and 
then work north to the Lincoln Highway and follow 
it west. Unless the weather prevents they will keep 
going and work right through. Deep snow is about 
the only thing that can stop them, though deep mud 
might slow them up a little. Mr. Berrang says rain 
does not bother them, since both oxen and humans 
are rain and waterproof. Our readers will remember 
how Mr. and Mrs. Olds of Michigan made the cross 
country journey with a horse. During the war they 
hit several places where labor was scarce and wages 
high. They took several jobs—Mrs. Olds cooking for 
a big outfit of men and her husband, caring for stock. 
At times they drew almost fabulous wages for such 
work. Mr. and Mrs. Berrang are not looking for 
such jobs—they are out to travel—yet they might 
stop now and then if need be. 
When we asked Mr. Berrang how he came to 
select the oxen for motive power he said he just had 
the oxen and did not own an airship or an automo¬ 
an Ox Team 
across the continent, railroad journeys, walks and 
carriage rides, but this is the first time, we think, 
that, one of our readers has started in an ox team. 
Indeed, as Mr. Berrang says, they will “see more of 
the country” than they ever could in a swift car. 
Some people travel in order to see the country, while 
others seem to try to see as little of. it as possible. 
We have no doubt that while on their journey Mr. 
and Mrs. Berrang will meet other readers of The 
R. N.-Y., and this relationship will serve as an intro¬ 
duction. L'he picture shows the oxen and wagons 
and a good likeness of Mr. and Mrs. Berrang. 
“ Inoculated ” Lime and Others 
\\ ould you state what you know about inoculated 
lime? There are some agents coming around who try 
to sell it to farmers. n. e. b. 
Pennsylvania. 
T HIS business of selling “inoculated” material is 
being worked to the limit. It is generally sup- 
All Rcari.i/ for the Journey from Now York to California. Fir/. /,7 
he felt—it seemed as if he would like to put the 
entire continent between himself and the evidence 
of this calamity. It was hard to start once more 
with labor out of sight and the fields full of rocks. 
He bad always wanted to see California, and that 
fire decided him to start. 
He says he proposed the trip to Mrs. Berrang and 
she agreed. The oxen represented about all they 
saved from the fire, and they decided to make this 
team pull them across the continent—just as hun¬ 
dreds of other New England families traveled in the 
old pioneer days. They have no children, and are 
free to travel as they like. These oxen are shown 
in the picture. The yoke of cattle will haul the big 
wagon, while the single steer hauls a “trailer” packed 
with household goods and a tent under which the 
oxen are sheltered at night. For these faithful 
brutes will be well cared for all the way across. 
Mr. Berrang figures on making about 10 miles a 
day. That will be within the limits of the oxen, and 
will require about 18 months for the trip. Tt will 
surely give these passengers a chance to “see the 
country.” They will work to the south and will rest 
bile. He took what he had and started. He thinks 
the oxen will stand the trip and last through it. as 
they will have good care. They will go through 
“unless an automobile hits them.” 
Me understand that Mr. Berrang made the wagon 
himself. He says he planned to start a year ago. 
but labor was so scarce that he had to do about all 
the work himself. The wagon is fitted up like a 
comfortable room. There is a kitchenette, oil stove, 
refrigerator, office desk, a drop bed and a laundry. 
It is really a condensed fiat in one room, surprisingly 
cosy and comfortable. In this warm room, with the 
oxen safe in a closed tent nearby, our travelers will 
be as quiet and comfortable as need be. 
They are well supplied with food. There is a 
good-sized hog. well cured, with sausage, lard and 
all the rest. A fair-sized beef has also been salted, 
dried or canned. Then they have about 300 cans of 
fruit, vegetables and other food—in fact, kerosene 
and food for the oxen will be about all they will lie 
obliged to buy for a long time. And so our good 
friends start out bravely and happily on their long 
journey. We have told the story of an auto trip 
posed that inoculated soil or seed simply carries the 
germs or bacteria which work in the roots of legume 
or pod-bearing plants and obtain nitrogen from the 
air. We have never before heard of lime being used 
for this purpose, but there is no good reason why it 
should not be as useful as sand. The trouble is that 
agents or dealers often claim that this “inoculated” 
material is more valuable as a fertilizer than plain 
lime or soil would be without the germs. That is a 
mistake. The “inoculation” of itself has no fertil¬ 
izing value whatever. It adds nothing of value ex¬ 
cept what may come to clover or beans or Alfalfa 
or peas through the work of these germs on their 
roots. A yeast cake adds no particular food value 
to flour except as it encourages the bread to “rise.” 
There are a number of such materials on tin* market. 
“Nitro-bacter" is a liquid said to contain these 
inoculating germs. Instead of being used on the 
seed, this liquid is to be diluted with water and 
sprinkled on the soil, along the rows. It will, no 
doubt, supply these germs where they are needed, 
but any claim that this stuff or anything like it is 
a fertilizer—supplying large quantities of plant food 
