lh*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Mr.  Edward  DufReld,  of  Long  Island,  sends  this 
picture.  He  says  it  represents  a  four-year-old  graft 
of  Banana  apple  with  72  fruits  on  it. 
necessary  to  send  long  distances  to  buy  goats,  as  all 
parts  of  the  country  have  herds  of  more  or  less 
reputation,  and  they  will  do  better  if  purchased  in 
about  the  same  latitude  in  which  you  live,  than  if 
brought  in  from  more  remote  sections.  Therefore 
if  you  live  in  New  York  State,  buy  your  goats  as 
near  you  as  is  possible,  provided  you  can  secure 
what  you  require.  If  you  live  in  the  South,  it  is 
best  to  buy  goats  accustomed  to  that  climate,  al¬ 
though  the  milk  goats  are  very  hardy,  and  withstand 
all  sorts  of  climatic  changes.  Our  experiences  have 
been  that  goats  brought  from  California  to  the 
Adirondacks  in  Northern  New  York,  did  not  ac¬ 
climate  themselves  until  the  second  year.  Animals 
bought  in  the  North  can  safely  be  sent  South,  as 
they  will  adapt  themselves  to  a  warm  climate 
easier  than  they  will  to  a  cold  one,  although  the 
northern  limits  of  Canada  breed  many  of  the  finest 
milkers  to  he  had,  as  well  as  Nova  Scotia,  and  even 
Labrador.  These  extremes  show  that  the  animals 
will  acclimate  themselves  in  almost  any  section 
within  a  short  time.  A  note  of  interest,  to  us,  was 
the  acquirement  of  a  purebred  Nubian  buck  from 
California.  He  came  to  us  in  early  June,  and  was 
then  a  mature  animal  three  years  old.  Nubians 
have  short,  soft,  silky  coats,  and  this  one  in  par¬ 
ticular  was  as  soft  as  satin.  The  first  Winter  he 
had  to  be  kept  in  the  warmest  part  of  the  stables, 
and  even  then  seemed  to  suffer  from  the  cold,  his 
coat  being  so  short  and  fine  that  little  protection 
was  afforded,  but  at  the  end  of  the  second  Winter, 
lie  had  acquired  a  coat  as  thick  as  that  of  a  Shet¬ 
land  pony,  and  became  as  hardy  as  an  oak,  with¬ 
standing  our  weather,  which  often  goes  to  80  below 
zero,  which  I  assure  you  will  pucker  up  the  Jer¬ 
seys  and  many  other  breeds  of  cows.  All  things 
considered,  the  milk  goat  is  the  most  hardy  of  any 
of  our  domestic  animal  servants. 
BREEDING  MILK  GOATS  ON  FARMS.— The 
foregoing  has  been  written  largely  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  wish  to  keep  one  or  two  milk  does  for 
a  family  milk  supply,  and  now  we  turn  our  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  interest  being  developed  by  breeding  on 
farms  where  we  have  more  natural  conditions  and 
plenty  of  range  for  them.  In  cut-over  sections  and 
in  mountainous  districts  are  the  ideal  home  for  the 
goats.  As  brush  removers,  where  help  is  expensive, 
they  have  no  equal  and  will  pay  you  a  profit  while 
doing  the  job  and  save  you  the  expense,  time  and 
labor.  If  you  have  a  brush  pasture  where  the  cows 
can  scarcely  find  enough  to  fill  them  up,  unless 
compelled  to  travel  all  day,  if  you  will  turn  in  a 
few  milk  goats,  you  will  be  amazed  at  what  they 
will  do  to  the  brush  in  a  single  Summer.  Naturally 
goats  are  browsers,  and  not  grazers,  and  if  given 
their  liberty  and  choice  of  feeds,  they  will  in¬ 
variably  strip  the  green  leaves  and  shoots  as  high 
as  they  can  reach,  until  eventually  every  bit  of 
browse  and  brush  has  been  killed  out,  and  in  its 
place  green  grass  for  other  kinds  of  stock  will  grow. 
Milk  goats  would  be  entirely  out  of  place  in  a  young 
orchard,  but  right  in  their  element  amid  a  tangle 
of  cut-over  or  burned-over  .land  which  it  is  desired 
to  have  cleared.  Angora  goats  are  used  in  the  West 
for  this  purpose,  but  they  are  not  milk  goats,  and 
are  kept  for  their  mohair,  or  wool,  which  is  long  and 
coarse;  while  milk  goats,  either  Toggenberg  or 
Nubians,  are  equally  as  good  brush  destroyers  and 
will  yield  a  handsome  profit  in  the  form  of  a  pair 
of  large  robust  kids  each  year,  which  readily  sell 
at  $25  to  $40  each  for  the  best  strains  of  grade 
stock  and  many  times  higher  for  the  purebreds. 
Rail  Movement  of  Fruits  and  Vegetables 
Part  II 
OVER-PRODUCTION.  —  Under  the  impetus  of 
war  conditions  we  over-stimulated  the  production  of 
these  commodities,  especially  in  certain  lines,  so 
that  1920  anu  1921  witnessed  a  reaction.  Deflation, 
which  began  in  May  or  June,  1920,  hit  the  producer 
hard ;  much  which  was  produced  did  not  pay  to 
move.  Frequently  the  prices  received  at  terminal 
markets  were  inadequate  to  cover  the  fixed  charges 
of  package,  packing,  storage,  freight  and  cartage. 
The  increase  in  freight  rates  which  became  effective 
August  26,  1920.  and  which  amounted  to  40  per  cent 
in  the  Eastern  States,  curtailed  rail  movements,  but 
even  with  a  reduced  volume,  owing  to  lack  of  buy¬ 
ing  power  on  the  part  of  the  public  and  deflation, 
prices  at  destination  continued  to  decline,  and  the 
producers  of  these  and  other  agricultural  commodi¬ 
ties  suffered  great  losses.  The  losses  of  1920,  com¬ 
bined  with  unseasonable  weather  in  the  Spring  of 
1921,  led  to  a  reduced  output  in  1921,  and  a  further 
decline  in  traffic.  The  1920  figures  show  a  decrease 
Two  Apple  Growers  in  Maine 
from  1919  of  12.6  per  cent,  in  spite  of  the  greatest 
production  of  modern  times,  and  the  1921  decrease 
from  1919  was  16.6  per  cent ;  the  1921  decrease  from 
1920  was  4.5'  per  cent. 
The  following  table  shows  the  tonnage  of  fresh 
fruits  and  vegetables,  dried  fruits  and  vegetables 
and  canned  food  products  originated  and  handled 
by  rail  carriers  in  the  United  States,  1889-1921. 
Fresh  fruits  and  vegetables,  dried  fruits  and  vege¬ 
tables  and  canned  food  products  originated  and 
handled  by  rail  carriers  in  the  United  States,  1889- 
1921.  Tonnage  from  annual  and  quarterly  reports 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission: 
Originated  Handled 
Year 
Carloads 
Tons  Carloads 
Tons 
1899 
4,582,573 
1  1,68;>. 846 
1900 
5,213,210 
13,106,026 
1901 
5,846.184 
14,508,551 
1902 
6,295,028 
14,501,968 
1903 
7,210,190 
17,033.868 
1904 
7,838,914 
18,832,436 
1905 
9,280,535 
21,447,415 
1906 
8,921,262 
20,502,428 
1907 
9,719,117 
21,982,854 
1908 
9,516,962 
22,136,182 
1909 
9.762.769 
24,298,311 
1910 
11.389.921 
27.968,788 
1911 
11,084,010 
27,620,942 
1912 
12.180.061 
29.696,291 
1913 
15,424.690 
84.724,817 
1914 
16,034.696 
37.986,618 
1915 
17.188.451 
40,566,680 
1916 
17.408.558 
40.221,655 
1917 
17.678,958 
43,145, 895 
1918 
IS  737.419 
44,674.265 
1919 
19,726.069 
50,976.469 
1920 
983,679 
17,252,471.  2.725,030 
48.328,796 
1921 
984,643 
16,468.498  2,862,896 
47,70^,869 
NOTES — (1)  From  1899  to  1919  inclusive  the 
figures  include  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables,  dried 
fruits  and  vegetables  and  canned  fruits  and  vege¬ 
tables.  The  figures  for  1920  and  1921  include  fresh 
fruits  and  vegetables,  dried  fruits  and  vegetables 
and  all  canned  food  products,  whether  fruits  or 
99  i 
vegetables  or  otherwise.  Prior  to  1920  fresh  fruits 
and  vegetables  were  not  segregated  in  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission's  reports.  Dried  fruits  and 
vegetables  and  canned  food  products,  have,  there¬ 
fore,  been  added  to  the  fresh  fruit  and  vegetable 
tonnage  for  1920  and  1921  as  a  basis  for  compari¬ 
son.  All  canned  food  products  have  been  used  be¬ 
cause,  since  1920,  the  Commission’s  reports  do  not 
segregate  canned  fruits  and  vegetables.  In  so  far  as 
all  canned  food  products  include  other  foods  than 
fruits  and  vegetables,  fish  for  example,  the  1920 
and  1921  figures  show  in  excess  of  the  actual  ton¬ 
nage  of  fresh,  dried  and  canned  fruits  and  vege¬ 
tables  actually  originated  and  handled.  The  de¬ 
crease  in  fruit  and  vegetable  tonnage  proper  for  the 
year  1920  and  1921  was,  therefore,  greater  than  the 
figures  indicate. 
(2)  Tonnage  from  1899-1910  inclusive  covers  all 
operating  roads.  Tonnage  for  1911-1921  inclusive 
covers  Class  1  roads,  i.  e.,  roads  having  annual  op¬ 
erating  revenue  in  excess  of  $1,000,000. 
(3)  Actual  carloads  are  not  available  prior  to 
1920,  the  figures  up  to  that  time  having  been  "com¬ 
piled  on  a  tonnage  basis  only.  Actual  carloads  for 
1920  and  1921  have  been  taken  from  the  carriers' 
quarterly  reports  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission.  The  average  per  car  on  fresh  and  dried 
fruits  and  vegetables  and  all  canned  food  products 
originated  for  1920  was  17.53  tons;  for  1921,  16.72 
tons;  average  for  both  years  17.12  tons.  The  num¬ 
ber  of  carloads  per  year  prior  to  1920  could  be  ap¬ 
proximated  by  using  the  factor  of  17.12  tons  per 
car,  but  the  result  would  not  be  accurate,  due  to 
variation  in  loading.  Loading  prior  to  the  war  was 
not  as  heavy  as  during  the  war,  when  under  the 
existing  necessities,  loading  was  abnormally  heavy 
and  in  many  cases  in  excess  of  safe  carrying  capa 
city.  The  average  per  car  on  fresh  fruits  and  vege¬ 
tables  originated  in  1920  was  15.97  tons,  in  1921. 
15.36  tons. 
(4)  “Originated”  means  tonnage  originated  af 
point  of  origin  and  shows  the  inception  of  the  move 
ment.  This  is  the  true  index  of  the  amount  of  a 
crop  or  product  actually  moved  from  point  of  pro¬ 
duction.  The  column  “Handled”  includes  movement 
over  more  than  one  line.  For  example,  a  carload 
of  apples  may  “originate”  on  the  Great  Northern 
and  pass  thence  to  the  Burlington,  thence  to  the 
Erie.  It  would  be  reported  as  “Handled”  by  the 
two  latter. 
Tt  is  not  possible  to  furnish  the  number  of  cars 
of  fresh,  dried  and  canned  fruits  and  vegetables 
prior  to  1920,  but  for  that  year  and  since  the  num¬ 
ber  and  tonnage  originated  is  as  follows : 
1920  1921 
Oars  Tons  Cars  Tons 
Fresh  Fruits 
and  Veget.  .  814,887  13,006.186  824,109  12,663,889 
Dried  Fruits 
and  Veget.  .  44,981  1,165,694  46,978  1,178,934 
Canned  Food 
Products  .  .  .  124,311  3,080,591  113,556  2,625,675 
TOTAL  .  983,679  17,252.471  984,643  16.468.498 
This  corn  was  grown  by  Casper  Eggler  of  Tioga 
Co.,  Pa.  Some  corn !  as  you  might,  say. 
WILLET  RANDALL. 
