At RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
16! 
It is a wonderful day for January; one 
of those sunny, Spring-like days, when 
you are always looking over your shoulder 
at the horizon line to see how long it is 
going to last. The wind blew fiercely in 
the night, and it rained in big driving 
drops that took away the snow and left 
the rye a glowing green. The liens are 
out, and the gallant Red rooster is lead¬ 
ing a few chosen favorites across the 
front lawn, either for a constitutional or 
from force of habit, and they are putting 
their feelings into a chorus of cheerful, 
raspy voices, which human beings inter¬ 
pret as eggs for breakfast every morning. 
One old lien is actually considering a nest 
under the lumber pile. She goes under 
at. one side, coming out the other, as un¬ 
decided as when she first thought of it. 
She is going in and out, repeatedly, like 
people we have seeu at the drygoods 
counter who cannot bring themselves to 
make a decision. Even the crows have 
made a long and straggling flight over 
from the south to look up a field of corn, 
and are trying to rush the season by caw¬ 
ing down “Set-your-hens!” 
This is the kind of a day when no one 
likes to stay indoors, and the dishes are 
hustled over into the cupboard as if 
housework did not matter anyhow. Tit¬ 
tle Jane has caught the spirit too. bring¬ 
ing her cap and coat from the nail before 
I am half through with the sweeping, 
making use of the only two words she 
knows best. "Daddy” and "Goodb.v.” Dad¬ 
dy has been in to say “H’m. I guess I’d 
better take the tractor apart today, be¬ 
fore the weather changes. Aren’t you 
coming out?” 
We are. The suu is shining on the 
lumber pile with a tint of orange, as 
beautiful as it is transient, and under the 
lumber pile, as Elsie rushes up to assure 
us, is an old Red hen who has made up 
her mind. We go cautiously to the edge 
and peep at her on our hands and knees, 
b\it she doesn’t notice us. Her feathers 
are smooth and tight, and she has lost 
that distracted look: as Elsie observes, 
she really has a rather nice face. “But, 
my! old lien, don’t you know that it’s 
January?” Our English makes no im¬ 
pression on her. unless she settles dowu 
a little closer. She has merely jumped at 
wrong conclusions, and as humane we 
cannot point to ourselves as a very shin¬ 
ing example. 
Over across the fence is a field of cab¬ 
bage, ravaged by frost into a dull, 
drenched appearance. We often look out 
over this field and remember the work 
and time spent to further the growth of 
those big ball-shaped heads, feeling a 
share of our neighbor’s discouragement. 
But this morning six hungry cows are 
helping themselves to what must be an 
unwonted repast. “Who care if the hay 
crop is short? It is an ill wind that 
blows nobody good.” says old Brindle ns 
she picks out a head that is beginning to 
grow. And really, when we think of it. 
she is not only helping harvest the cab¬ 
bage, but the hay that didn’t grow. 
But it is time that we visited daddy 
over in the machinery shed, that, low red 
building behind the barn. We find daddy 
with a pencil over his ear. and the tractor 
has a coquettish slant that makes it 
look as if it were trying to kick up its 
heels. T/Ooking closer we see that it is 
hung up to the heavy stringers above by 
a big log chain, and that two apple tree 
chunks are under the front axles. Little 
Jane is clutching me tight, for oyer 
against the wall is a supicious looking 
two-gang plow flanked by a dreadful 
double-disk harrow, that she is afraid will 
get her if she don’t watch out. and who 
knows when something will start roaring? 
Then she sees a gray muff of tiger- 
striped fur lying on the straw, and cries 
out eagerly. “See the kitty.” whereupon 
the muff turns out to be merely George, 
curled into a ball to keep out the weather, 
and expressing his satisfaction in a loud 
snorey purr, while bis brother Jimmy 
sleeps in an oft-defended position under 
the kitchen stove, and curls six-toed claws 
in an attitude of expectancy. We like 
George’s sociable disposition, hut there 
are times, say at 4 o’clock in the morning, 
when we cannot be said to reciprocate. 
He is often lonesome on the very morning 
we want to sleep. 
Daddy is taking out a big bearing. lie 
has already taken off the track and heavy 
shields from each side, which makes the 
inside works or roller bearings accessible. 
Every year the tractor service station 
sends us a card printed with three sen¬ 
tences, which we are asked to choose be¬ 
tween. Daddy always marks the one 
which reads “My tractor needs no re¬ 
pairs.” which is the most truthful way 
out of it unless we want the service sta¬ 
tion to do the overhauling. It has been 
known to cost as much as $“>00 for re¬ 
placements and labor over at the service 
station, but of course our labor is cheaper, 
and an owner will think out a remedy 
where the service man would take time 
only to install a new part. We think 
daddy is an expert mechanic, for we have 
never yet seen him stumped by a job of 
this kind, and no ordinary person could 
fill a half-bushel basket with screws, nuts, 
and small irregular pieces of iron and get 
them all hack again right. To me, for 
instance, it would be like reading Chi¬ 
nese. Machinery is as obedient to daddy 
as a horse that loves his master; it is not 
tiresome for him when spark plugs need 
Cleaning, or the oil cups need refilling; 
he knows by its quiver when the plow 
blades have found a big root or fast 
stone, and stops before mischief is done. 
And now. it seems to be a part of his re¬ 
ligion to wash these gears and bearings 
in kerosene. 
In our sand, this crawler type seems 
indispensable. We pity the man who 
would attempt to drive anything without 
a track over into our back lots. If it 
were an ordinary four-wheeled type we 
should be called upon to go out and tow 
him in, and even if there was a track 
around the back wheels I doubt if he 
could follow a row across the sand knolls. 
Last Fall we tried to make a test of the 
strength of our machine by hitching to a 
stoneboat loaded with 2.200 lbs. of po¬ 
tatoes, but had to give up, for it made 
light work of that amount, and we consid¬ 
ered the stoneboat. Although daddy saye 
that we’d quit farming if we couldn’t have 
the caterpillar, he admits that there are 
drawbacks to running a tractor. The 
sound from the exhaust is quite harsh and 
unpleasant to listen to for very long. 
After a few hours of it, a humming sen¬ 
sation begins in the ears of the driver 
that continues for a while even after the 
engine .stops. If you have a conscience, 
there is a feeling of guilt at breaking into 
the country stillness; it is embarrassing 
to have people in the next township look¬ 
ing for the aeroplane when it is onlv you 
at the Spring hai-rowing. I doubt, very 
much if any man who does not love ma¬ 
chinery can run a tractor economically; 
the driver must possess an instinct tell¬ 
ing. him when a roller bearing is dry, or 
he is using too much gas. 
Elsie has been out to gather the Red 
hen’s eggs, three of them, one with a 
crack made by Jack Frost. The sun is 
high, and we remember about a pan of 
potatoes which must soon be peeled. Lit¬ 
tle Jane has her mind set on getting back 
where there is a cooky jar, and she is not 
to be resisted for long. The mailman is in 
the distance, and it is Saturday. When 
I peel those potatoes I will cut by feeling 
and spread the paper on one knee. Is 
peeling potatoes stupid work or a chance 
to read? There! I’ve told one of my 
secrets. mbs. f. ii. ungek. 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings 
January 22-29 — National Western 
Stock Show, Denver, Col. 
January 24 - 28 — Pennsylvania Farm 
Products Show. Harrisburg, Pa. 
January 25-27 — Pennsylvania State 
Agricultural Association, Harrisburg, Pa. 
January 29 — American Cranberry 
Growers’ Association. Philadelphia, Pa. 
January 81 - February 4—- Farmers’ 
Week, Ohio State Universitv, Columbus, 
O. 
January 31 - February 4— Farmers’ 
Week and Potato Show, Michigan Agri- 
Horticul- 
State 
uiiiuittl IvallMIlg, iua\;u, 
February 1-2 — Ohio State 
tural Society. Columbus, O. 
February 1-4 — New York 
Grange. Utica, N. Y. 
1 ebruary 1-3 — Ohio Farm Bureau 
Federation. Columbus, O. 
February 7-12—Sixth Annual National 
Tractor Show, Columbus. O. 
^ February 14-19—Farmers’ Week, New 
York State College of Agriculture, 
Ithaca. N. Y. 
January 3-February 25—Short courses 
in Agriculture, Home Economics, Ice 
Cream Making, New York State School 
of Agriculture. Cobleskill, N. Y. 
Coming Live Stock Sales 
January 28—Holsteins. Pennsylvania 
State Sale. Harrisburg. Pa. 
March 29-30 — Holsteins. Watertown 
Holstein Sales Co., Watertown, Wits. F. 
Darcey, secretary. 
May 9 — Holsteins. Brown County 
Holstein Breeders’ Sale at De Pere, Wis. 
May 17 — Holsteins. Wisconsin Hol¬ 
stein Breeders’ Sale, West Allis, Wis. 
. We are having a very mild Winter up 
in Lewis County, thus far. Cattle are 
wintering well. Mill feed is somewhat 
lower than . last year. Cornmeal $41; 
middlings $40: oats and barley a fine 
crop this season: large yield and flue 
quality. Milk is bringing a fair price 
according to the price of feed. w. s. G. 
T-ewis Co., N. Y. 
What’s the best Title to this 
Goodrich. Bictare? 
Forty different money prizes ranging from 
$250 to $10—costs you nothing to submit a 
title. Contest runs from January 1st to April 
1st. Send your suggestion to the B.F. Good¬ 
rich Rubber Company in either New York, 
Boston, Chicago,Kansas City,Seat tie, Denver 
or Akron—and when next you buy rubber 
boots or shoes insist on the kind with the 
Red Line ‘Round the Top. 
Goodrich 
-.Rubber 
Footwear 
