544 
‘The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
April  7,  1023 
Things  To  Think  About 
The  object  of  thi*  department  it  to  give  readers  a  chance  to  express  themselves  on  farm 
matters.  Not  long  articles  can  be  used — just  short,  pointed  opinions  or  suggestions. 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER  does  not  always  endorse  what  is  printed  here.  You  might 
call  this  a  mental  safety  valve. 
Roadside  Markets  and  Sunday  Selling 
On  page  293  1  saw  an  article  where 
..ue  of  your  readers  wondered  if  he  could 
operate  a  roadside  market  without  doing 
business  on  Sunday.  The  following  is 
<<ur  experience : 
We  live  on  the  main  State  road  be¬ 
tween  Syracuse  and  the  Thousand  Islands, 
:<nd  we  have  some  travel,  about  3,000 
ears  a  day,  and  some  days  more.  The 
last  .two  Summers  we  have  sold  all  we 
have  raised  on  our  12-acre  farm  by  the 
roadside.  Our  produce  consists  of  vege¬ 
tables,  fruit,  flowers,  berries,  butter,  eggs 
and  poultry,  and  we  do  no  business  on 
Sunday.  We  were  bothered  at  first  by 
a  few  who  wished  to  buy  truck  on  Sun¬ 
day.  but  we  informed  them  that  we  did 
no  Sunday  business,  and  now  only  once 
in  a  while  does  a  person  stop  on  Sunday. 
We  get  all  the  trade  we  can  handle  the 
rest  of  the  week,  and  many  times  could 
sell  more  if  we  had  it.  We  have  sold  as 
much  as  .$34  worth  in  one  day,  but  on 
an  average  in  the  Summer  months  our 
sales  run  from  $8  to  $20  per  day.  Satur¬ 
day  is  our  busiest  day. 
We  put  our  truck  up  fresh  every  day, 
and  put  it  in  a  cool  cellar  so  as  to  keep 
it  fresh,  and  display  a  few  bunches  or 
articles  of  each  kind  on  our  table  at  a 
time.  We  have  everything  strictly  fresh 
and  offer  no  cull  truck  for  sale.  We  sell 
just  a  little  below  the  retail  market  in 
Syracuse.  We  have  just  a  plain  table 
made  for  the  purpose,  with  plenty  of  room 
to  display  our  goods  and  a  place  for 
sacks,  wrapping  paper,  twine,  etc.  This 
table  is  painted  green,  with  white  top. 
It  is  to  a  good  advantage  to  have  as  large 
a  variety  as  possible.  The  main  thing  is 
to  have  everything  strictly  fresh,  clean 
and  first  class  in  quality,  give  good  meas¬ 
ure.  he  kind  and  courteous  to  all,  and  do 
unto  others  as  you  would  be  done  by,  for 
you  have  all  kinds  and  classes  of  people 
to  deal  with  in  this  business.  As  an 
illustration  of  what  can  be  done  in  the 
roadside  market,  last  season  in  two  weeks’ 
time  we  sold  1,323  qts.  of  strawberries, 
and  they  averaged  us  a  fraction  over  20c 
per  qt.  The  season  before  we  sold  300 
bn.  of  potatoes  at  an  average  of  $1.30 
per  bu.  I  wouldn’t  advise  anybody  who 
lives  on  a  main  State  road  to  be  discour¬ 
aged  because  he  did  not  want  to  sell  on 
Sunday,  for  if  he  manages  the  business 
right  on  six  days  of  the  week  and  rests 
on  the  Lord  s  day  he  will  succeed  in  the 
undertaking.  j.  e.  c. 
Sunday  Roadside  Markets 
Being  a  reader  <4  The  It.  N.-Y.,  and 
also  having  become  interested  in  the  road¬ 
side  market  business,  I  would  like  to 
hear  through  these  columns  from  any, 
if  there  are  any,  who  have  successfully 
conducted  roadside  stand*  without  do¬ 
ing  business  on  Sundays.  Anyone  knows 
that  Sunday  is  the  best  day  of  the  week, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  there  are  many 
more  people  riding  Sunday  than  any 
other  day.  Logically,  Sunday  is  “the” 
day  of  the  week  to  be  on  deck.  Legally, 
I  suppose  a  farmer  can  sell  by  the  road¬ 
side,  although  a  city  retailer  cannot  sell 
at  his  market,  but,  morally,  how  about 
Sunday  roadside  selling?  We  all  know 
what  the  Bible  says  about  observing  the 
Sabbath,  Anyone  who  has  studied  his- 
tory  knows  of  the  fall  of  great  nations, 
and  one  of  the  reasons,  if  not  Hie  reason 
for  their  decadence,  was  the  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath. 
My  farm  is  on  a  good  State  road,  with 
plenty  of  traffic,  and  there  are  several 
other  much  used  State  roads  in  this 
vicinity  on  which  I  could  sell  to  advan¬ 
tage.  I  raised  2,000  bushels  of  apples 
<>n  my  place  last  year,  and  expect  more 
this  year.  In  addition  to  fruit  I  have 
some  other  farm  produce.  I  tried  road¬ 
side  marketing  to  a  very  limited  extent 
last  year,  and  was  much  pleased  with 
results,  but  do  not  think  favorably  of 
Sunday  selling.  w.  E.  A. 
Massachusetts. 
Voters  and  Sheep 
On  page  379  W.  W.  Reynolds  gives 
an  account  of  the  condition  of  sheep  in 
Ohio.  It.  is  just  the  same  here  in  the 
East,  and  will*  continue  so  as  long  as  the 
voters  act  the  way  they  do.  lie  wants 
to  know  what  does  it.  It  is  the  people 
and  nothing  else.  I  was  brought  up  on 
a  farm,  and  I  am  not  sorry,  either;  but 
I  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  city  life  and 
between  the  two  I  think  the  farmer’s  lot 
is  the  best. 
What  can  you  do  when  in  our  city  schools. 
I  won’t  say  children,  but  boys  and  girls 
12  to  18  years  of  age,  do  not  know  what 
a  sheep  is.  for  that,  matter,  a  chicken  or 
a  cow?  They  know  they  get,  their  doth, 
milk  and  eggs,  and  that  is  all ;  but  they 
do  not  know  what,  a  farmer  is.  They 
have  tli<>  idea  that  he  does  not  know  any¬ 
thing.  If  he  goes  to  the  city  they  laugh 
at  him;  but  let  me  tell  you  I  have  run 
into  some  awful  farmers  right  in  New 
York  City,  as  green  as  grass.'  and  when 
they  get  out  on  the  farm  they  go  to  the 
head  of  a  cow  to  milk  it.  Like  a  little 
incident,  that,  happened  last  Summer, 
when  I  had  some  little  city  boys  ask  me 
how  the  chickens  found  the  eggs. 
This  is  to  explain  how  it  is  the  voters 
have  so  much  to  do  with  it.  There  are 
men  I  know  who  buy  clothes  made  of 
shoddy,  and  you  tell  them  that  there  is  no 
wool  in  them,  and  they  ask  i  “What  is 
the  difference?”  Also,  you  tell  them  that 
the  country  ran  short  200.000  sheep  in 
the  last  10  years,  or  we  imported  between 
three  and  four  million  dozen  eggs  last 
year,  what  do  they  say?  They  will  tell 
you :  “I  don’t  care;  I  got  all  I  wanted.” 
1  believe  as  Mr.  Reynolds  does,  that 
we  have  enough  garden  truck.  Let's  g*Jt 
into  the  stock-raising  business  more,  and 
the  only  way  to  do  it  is  to  educate  some 
of  our  “don’t  care”  voters  how  to  vote 
and  then  perhaps  the  farmers  may  get  a 
little  help.  albert  l.  wood. 
Another  Cowardly  Cat 
On  page  431  I  note  F.  P.’s  comments 
on  the  cowardice  of  a  cat,  but  I  think  I 
can  go  him  one  better  in  the  rat-killing 
game.  I  cornered  a  large  rat  in  a  com¬ 
partment  of  my  chicken-house,  so  that  ho 
could  not  escape,  and  put  a  large  cat  in  to 
finish  him.  but  one  look  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Oat  clawed  up  the  side  of  the  wall  and 
howled.  I  put  him  out,  and  got  an  old 
broom  and  challenged  the  rat  to  battle, 
and  to  my  surprise,  and  before  I  knew 
where  I  was  at;  the  rat  was  up  my  trous¬ 
ers’  leg  to  the  belt  line.  I  felt  slighly 
peeved  at  the  rat’s  familiarity  on  so  short 
an  acquaintance,  but  luckily  got,  the 
strangle-hold  on  him  and  choked  Until  hi* 
became  limp,  when  he  dropped  to  the 
floor.  I  would  not  advise  the  human  rat- 
trap  system  to  be  generally  used,  as  it’s 
not  comfortable.  h.  I.  M. 
Dubois,  Pa. 
This  form  of  rat  trap  will  not  become 
popular.  If  the  rats  were  to  learn  about 
if  there  would  be  a  great  jumping  unon 
chairs  and  tables  whenever  a  rat  or  mouse 
appeared. 
Evicting  a  Skunk 
I  would  like  to  know  how  to  get  rid 
<4  skunks  that  live  under  a  kitchen  that, 
has  no  cellar.  I  have  tried  with  poison 
and  traps  without  any  visible  results.  Re¬ 
cently  I  moved  to  a  place  that  seems  to 
lie  full  of  them  ;  the  odor  is  unbearable. 
Would  like  to  hear  from  others  who  may 
have  bad  the  same  experience,  xr.  G.  S. 
Planter  Profits 
A  FTER  you  have  spent  weeks  behind  the 
/A  plow,  the  disk,  and  the  harrow — after 
your  fields  have  been  worked  down  to  a 
perfect  seed  bed — then  comes  the  time  to  make 
planter  profits.  Big  yields  are  largely  the  result 
of  perfect  planting — every  hill  in  its  place  and 
every  hill  a  full  hill.  Year  after  year  the  profits 
of  good  planting  follow 
International  and  C  B  &  Q 
Corn  Planters 
They  plant  accurately  and  evenly  whether  set  for 
checking,  drilling  or  power  drop.  Without  stopping 
the  team  the  variable  clutch  can  be  set  to  plant  2,  3, 
or  4  kernels  to  the  hill.  Edge,  flat,  and  full  hill 
plates  interchange  in  the  same  hopper.  The  automatic 
markers  require  no  attention.  Valve  mechanism  is  so 
carefully  fitted  and  so  accurately  timed  that  missing 
and  stringing  are  entirely  eliminated. 
The  tongue  adjustment  for  leveling  the  boots 
insures  an  even  cross  check.  Fertilizer  attachments 
always  available. 
This  year,  pocket  the  profits  of  good  planting  by 
using  an  International  or  C  B  &  Q  Corn  Planter. 
See  your  McCormick-Deering  dealer  and 
write  for  our  catalog 
International  Harvester  Company 
CHICAGO 
OF  AMERICA 
(incorporated) 
USA 
93  Branch  Homes  and  15,000  Dealers  in  the  United  States 
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