7h*  RURAL  NEW. YORKER 
around  nights  and  carrying  themselves  with  an  air  wants  to  do  and  can  do  does  not  locate?  The  man 
which  suggests  that  we  owe  them  a  debt  of  grati¬ 
tude.  I  have  heard  that  a  debt  of  gratitude  is  the 
hardest  debt  to  pay  and  believe  it  is  true.  At  the 
present  time  farmers  are  faced  with  the  problem  of 
paying  high  taxes  and  other  enormous  expenses,  be¬ 
sides  making  a  living.  With  most  farmers  this  is 
about  all  they  can  stand  without  trying  to  pay  any 
debts  of  gratitude.  I  think,  however,  that  it  is  very 
unfair  to  discriminate  against  ex-service  men  be- 
foi’e  giving  them  a  trial,  and  do  not  think  any  fair- 
minded  man  would  do  so.  When  it  comes  to  civil 
service  appointments  they  always  have  the  prefer¬ 
ence. 
I  can  only  suggest  that  if  C.  J.  II.’s  services  are 
not  sufficiently  appreciated  where  he  is  located  at 
the  present  time  he  should  ti’y  getting  out  into  a 
richer  section  of  the  country.  Farmers  do  not  like 
to  hire  city  men,  and  that  is  probably  one  reason 
why  C.  J.  H.  failed  to  get  a  position  during  his  first 
trials.  There  is  certainly  no  reason  for  anyone  to 
be  without  work  now,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  this 
labor  problem  is  the  most  serious  question  connected 
with  the  farm  today.  c.  s.  greene. 
Where  Is  My  Job? 
DISCOURAGED  BY  EXPERIENCE.— An  article 
by  Mr.  Greene  on  page  967  has  started  me  thinking.  I 
wras  born  and  brought  up  on  a  farm ;  have  had  a  two- 
year  course  in  an  agricultural  school,  know  what 
farm  work  is  and  both  my  wife  and  I  like  it.  But 
our  last  experiences,  and  what  we  have  seen  in  look¬ 
ing  up  some  positions,  has  about  discouraged  us.  It 
is  either  some  ramshackle  building  for 
living  quarters  with  absolutely  no  con¬ 
veniences  of  any  kind,  or  it  is  that  my 
wife  must  work,  or  it  is  live  in  one 
room  in  the  house,  and  she  work  for 
her  board,  or  some  other  tail  on  the 
kite.  I  consider  she  has  enough  to  do 
to  take  care  of  herself,  child  and  house. 
WANT  OF  CAPITAL.  —  What  I 
would  like  to  do  is  to  start  for  myself 
but  I  lack  the  capital.  My  idea,  or 
rather  ideal,  is  to  get  a  small  place, 
either  rent  or  for  small  payment  down 
to  start,  near  a  town  where  I  could  get 
work  to  piece  out  until  I  could  get  my 
place  going  big  enough  to  pay.  By  a 
small  place  I  mean  one  of  10  or  15 
acres  for  poultry  and  some  fruit,  which 
would  give  me  range  for  stock,  or  bet¬ 
ter  still  a  place  near  some  big  commer¬ 
cial  poultry  farm,  and  work  on  that. 
I  am  a  member  of  the  Farm  Bureau, 
and  my  wife  of  the  Home  Bureau ; 
keep  in  touch  with  the  experiment  sta¬ 
tion  and  read  The  R.  N.-Y.  pretty  thor- 
oughly.  I  try  to  keep  up-to-date  with 
later  views  of  the  agricultural  world. 
I  have  answered  several  position  adver¬ 
tisements  in  The  R.  N.-Y.,  but  do  not  seem  to  get 
results.  Perhaps  I  am  a  poor  salesman  on  paper  of 
my  abilities.  All  of  us  are  more  or  less  faulty  and 
I  have  my  own  share. 
EXPERIENCE  AS  A  WORKER.— Now  for  an  ex¬ 
ample  of  what  I  have  done,  and  the  diversity  of 
work  that  can  be  done  by  study  and  following  ad¬ 
vice  of  the  County  Agent  and  experiment  station. 
Remember  this  crop  was  never  grown  by  writer  be¬ 
fore,  handled  under  glass,  of  which  I  had  no  prev¬ 
ious  experience.  Nearly  2,000  early  tomato  plants 
were  grown,  and  I  had  results  from  them  as  good 
and  as  early  as  nearby  old-timers.  I  x-ecognized 
blight  on  them  in  early  stages,  when  there  liabl  been 
no  previous  record  of  it  in  that  section  of  the  coun¬ 
try.  I  saved  my  employer  nearly  $1  per  cwt.  on  feed 
mixtures  by  coinpounding  and  mixing  our  own 
which  gave  as  good  x*esults.  I  would  like  to  know 
if  there  is  a  place  in  this  universe  for  such  as  my¬ 
self;  if  there  is  an  employer  who  can  afford  and 
will  pay  a  wage  that  will  allow  something  for  a 
future;  one  that  I  can  make  a  profit  for  as  well  as 
myself.  I  can  milk  a  few  cows,  but  on  account  of 
an  injury  am  not  considered  a  very  good  milker; 
can  handle  a  team,  drive  tractor  or  a  car,  have  han¬ 
dled  practically  all  farm  implements  that  are  on  a 
general  farm.  I  have  worked  considerably  in  milk 
plants,  as  I  took  my  training  in  that  department 
especially,  but  on  account  of  health  have  to  be  out¬ 
side.  I  have  had  quite  a  little  experience  with  poul¬ 
try  these  last  two  years,  and  like  the  work.  Am 
a  member  of  the  local  poultry  association  and  keep 
in  close  contact  with  several  local  poulti'ymen. 
There  are  men  who  are  getting  good  wages  and 
living  conditions  where  the  above  is  not  requii'ed  of 
them ;  in  fact  are  only  caretakers  or  farm  labor¬ 
ers  so  to  speak.  Now  why  is  it  that  a  man  who 
has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  that,  I  suppose,  c.  b.  s. 
M 
Strawberries  and  Florida 
Part  II 
’ARKETING  METHODS. — ‘Some  readers  would 
be  interested  in  the  marketing  methods.  It 
will  be  admitted  by  most  growers  of  expei-ience  that 
selling  2,000  quarts  of  berries,  more  or  less,  daily, 
for  long  periods,  distributing  them  without  help  to 
stoics  and  hotels  by  the  crate,  practically  always 
clearing  up  each  day’s  output  the  day  it  is  picked, 
with  no  loss  of  fruit  or  in  collections,  is  a  man- 
sized  job.  As  explained  in  my  articles  on  mai’ket- 
ing,  it  is  thoroughly  xxnderstood  by  the  trade  that  I 
quote  the  pxfice.  That  eliminates  all  waste  of  time 
in  dickering.  I  reserve  the  right  to  decide  how 
many  berries  I  can  spai’e  to  each  dealer  in  case  of 
shortage  with  the  understanding  that  the  allot¬ 
ment  of  each  will  be  in  pi-oportion  to  their  average 
purchases  when  I  can  furnish  all  they  want.  By 
that  arrangement  none  is  ever  entii’ely  disappointed. 
When  the  season  opened  all  buyers  of  small  lots 
were  informed  that  when  the  rush  of  the  season 
came,  it  would  be  necessary  to  sell  by  the  crate 
only.  Some  managed  to  increase  their  trade  to  meet 
that  requii’ement.  The  principle  of  the  same  price 
to  all  for  the  same  day  was  strictly  adliei’ed  to.  All 
business  was  on  a  daily  cash  basis. 
THE  DAY’S  WORK. — A  busy  day  woi’ked  out 
about  as  follows :  The  pickers  began  work  at  seven 
o’clock.  A  half  hour  later  the  packers  began.  By 
10  o’clock  or  a  little  later,  about  20  ci'ates  were 
1037 
problem  of  pei-ishables  left  over  on  a  crowded  mar¬ 
ket.  The  beri-y  market  here  during  the  tourist  sea¬ 
son  is  keen ;  nevertheless  it  is  impossible  to  keep  the 
price  so  nicely  adjusted  to  demand  and  supply  as  to 
avoid  this  pi-oblem  entirely.  I  solved  it  very  satis¬ 
factorily  in  this  way:  Berries  that  were  left  over 
after  all  had  bought  their  supply,  were  offered  to 
the  heavier  dealers  in  lots  of  not  less  than  five 
crates  at  25  per  cent  off  from  the  regular  price  for 
the  day,  and  they  were  always  all  taken.  Some 
may  think  that  was  a  sure  way  to  prevent  sales  at 
regular  quotations.  There  was  little  difficulty  that 
way  as  I  let  it  be  understood  that  if  they  did  not 
buy  their  supply,  they  stood  a  good  chance  of  being 
left,  as  the  bai*gains  would  be  offered  to  those  who 
had  bought  their  regular  supply.  Aside  from  that 
consideration  the  “bargains”  were  offered  in  turn. 
That  may  seem  like  a  heavy  discount  but  if  there 
were  many  left,  it  was  always  understood  that  I 
considered  the  price  too  high,  smd  that  these  held- 
over  berries,  if  not  sold  early  in  the  morning  would 
meet  the  competition  of  my  fresh  bei'ries  at  a  re¬ 
duced  price  the  next  day.  Say  the  market  price 
was  $8  per  crate;  the  left-overs  would  be  offered  at 
$0,  but  if  there  was  any  considerable  quantity  of 
them,  the  regular  quotation  for  fresh  stock  would 
be  $7  next  day.  d.  l.  hartman. 
(To  Be  Continued) 
This  picture  shows  a  scene  in  an  onion  field  in  South  Jersey.  This  field  is 
under  iri’igation.  We  can  see  the  over-head  irrigating  pipes  at  the  right. 
The  onions  are  pulled  and  topped  in  the  field,  then  they  are  put  into  the 
machine.  In  the  picture  this  gi’ades  and  cleans  them  thoroughly,  so  that  they 
are  ready  for  market  as  soon  as  they  pass  out  of  it.  Formerly  this  work 
was  done  almost  entirely  by  hand.  Then  there  were  small  hand-work  sorters, 
but  now  as  we  see,  the  whole  thing  is  done  by  gasoline  power  and  done  well. 
ready.  These  were  loaded  on  a  closed  body  light  de¬ 
livery  truck,  and  I  was  off  to  the  city  with  a  rush. 
One  and  all  want  their  berries  eai’ly.  In  a  general 
way,  the  larger  dealei’s,  those  using  moi*e  than  single 
crates  daily,  are  served  first  from  the  first  load.  Ar¬ 
riving  at  the  first  store,  I  take  in  a  crate  of  berries, 
set  it  down  without  inquiry,  and  if  tlxei*e  has  been 
no  pi-ice  change  I  remark:  “Same  price,  will  call 
again  this  afternoon.”  I  mark  up  the  delivery  by 
one  stroke  of  a  pencil  in  the  proper  check  square 
of  a  booklet  conveniently  prepared  for  the  purpose, 
and  I  am  off  to  the  next  stoi'e  and  so  on.  The 
load  is  soon  distributed  and  in  two  hours  or  less  I 
am  home  again.  Another  load  is  waiting.  The 
crates  are  rushed  on  to  the  truck  and  I  am  off  again. 
It  is  noon,  but  there  is  no  time  for  my  lunch  now : 
dealei*s  and  their  customers  are  waiting  for  ber¬ 
ries.  This  load  goes  mainly  to  outlying  stores  that 
can  use  but  one  ci'ate  daily.  Collections  are  made 
on  delivery,  marked  up  in  the  book  and  checked 
off  at  the  same  tiixxe,  so  this  load  requires  a  little 
more  time  to  dispose  of.  All  customex’s  have  now 
had  some  or  all  of  their  daily  supply,  so  I  go  to  a 
cafeteria  for  lunch.  I  get  home  about  three  o’clock, 
find  a  large  load  ready,  possibly  25  crates.  These 
are  rushed  on  immediately  and  I  am  off  again. 
These  go  mainly  to  the  lax-ger  stores  for  their  eve¬ 
ning  trade,  where  the  first  load  was  distributed.  This 
time  I  ask  how  many  ai-e  wanted  if  there  is  full 
supply,  and  collect  if  that  is  the  last  business  for 
the  day;  then  home  for  the  fourth  and  last  load.  A 
few  times  Saturdays,  with  heavy  picking  and  stox*es 
open  late,  five  trips  were  necessary.  The  fourth 
load  went  to  hotels  and  cafeterias,  finishing  up 
what  was  left  to  the  larger  stores,  often  after  clos¬ 
ing  time  for  their  early  morning  trade. 
THE  LEFT-OVERS. — Every  grower  knows  the 
Fitting  Land  for  Seeding 
I  have  a  farm  that  is  not  working  very  hard  just  now, 
because  my  time  seems  worth  considei’ably  more  at 
something  else  that  is  not  nearly  so  hard,  but  I  would 
like  to  keep  it  looking  productive.  It  is  excellent  land 
and  I  have  been  just  cutting  the  hay  for 
a  few  years  and  selling  it.  Of  course  the 
meadows  are  gradually  running  out,  and 
I  think  of  plowing  or  hiring  a  tractor  to 
plow  up  a  number  of  acres,  as  soon  as 
the  grounds  gets  a  little  moisture  in  it, 
to  sow  Sweet  clover  to  grow  this  Fall 
and  plow  under  another  Spring.  Then 
sow  another  crop  of  some  kind  to  plow 
under  in  August,  and  seed  do,wn  to  grass 
or  Alfalfa.  I  have  had  some  experience 
with  Alfalfa  and  think  I  know  about  how 
to  go  about  it.  I  have  quite  a  notion  I 
ought  to  sow  rye  along  with  the  Sweet 
clover  this  Fall  for  fear  the  clover  might 
not  give  me  a  crop.  I  would  be  sure  of 
the  rye.  I  might  also  put  in  some  rape 
seed.  What  do  you  think  of  the  scheme? 
I  have  to  hire  most  of  the  work  done, 
and  it  is  quite  a  question  if  it  will  pay, 
but  one  does  not  like  to  see  his  farm  all 
run  out.  Of  course  I  will  have  to  lime 
well  and  use  some  fertilizer,  and  it  will 
just  burn  money  to  get  meadows  reseeded. 
New  Jersey.  f.  m.  c. 
NY  plan -ef  this  sort  will  cost  con¬ 
siderable  money,  but  hay  usually 
brings  a  good  price  in  New  Jei’sey, 
and  we  think  the  plan  will  pay.  By 
plowing  in  several  green  crops  and 
using  lime  you  can  put  the  soil  in 
good  condition  for  grass  or  Alfalfa. 
We  would  not  use  Sweet  clover  for 
this  late  seeding.  Hubam  clover  might 
give  a  fair  growth,  but  our  experience 
with  the  regular  'Sweet  clover  in  New  Jersey  is  that 
it  must  be  seeded  by  June  1  in  order  to  make  a  suc¬ 
cess  of  it.  Wle  should  use  a  combination  of  rye  and 
Winter  vetch  after  plowing  those  meadows.  This 
combination  will  grow  through  the  Fall  and  Win¬ 
ter,  and  can  be  plowed  under  in  the  Spring  to  make 
room  for  a  crop  of  oats  and  Canada  peas.  This 
can  be  plowed  in  July  of  next  year,  and  then  have 
the  ground  thoroughly  fitted  for  seeding  to  grass  in 
Alfalfa.  These  crops  will  give  better  satisfaction 
than  the  Sweet  clover,  but  heavy  applications  of 
lime  will  be  needed  to  overcome  the  effect  of  plow¬ 
ing  under  all  these  green  crops. 
A 
The  Science  of  Physics  Applied  to  Bees 
FROM  time  to  time  ax'ticles  appear  in  The  R. 
N.-Y.  which  concei*n  bees.  .  These  articles  touch 
upon  the  various  sides  of  the  bee  industry,  but  there 
is  one  curious  fact  concerning  bees  which  I  have 
never  heard  satisfactorily  explained. 
Old  bee-keepers  sometimes  resort  to  drfimming  on 
a  tin  pan  when  a  swarm  of  bees  threatens  to  fly 
away,  or  is  flying  ai*ound  in  the  vicinity  of  some 
object,  but  is  loath  to  alight.  Persistent  drumming 
often  brings  them  down.  Probably  a  large  share  of 
bee-keepei’s  have  never  given  the  explanation  a 
thought,  or  have  dismissed  it  with  the  idea  that 
the  bees  did  not  like  the  sound.  .  However  cori’ect 
or  incorrect  this  may  be.  another  explanation  may 
be  had  by  resorting  to  the  physics  of  the  phenom¬ 
enon  alone. 
It  is,  of  coui*se,  known  that  all  the  external 
phenomena  of  sound  may  be  present  without  any 
ear  to  hear  the  sounds.  A  large  swaxm  cf  bees 
makes  a  considerable  hum.  That  which  causes  this 
hxxm  is  the  combination  of  all  the  sound  waves 
produced  by  the  vibrating  wings  of  each  individual 
