word for the "tree peddler" but I am going to say it if it breaks the
heart of every horticultural baby in the land. Since a time to which the
memory of man runneth not back, the poor "tree peddler" has been abused
and maligned by horticultural speakers and writers. In conventions he
has been ridiculed and denounced. Every cross-road nursery-man not
possessed of stock sufficient to warrant a line of advertising even in
his local paper, nor business force enough to send an agent through his
own neighborhood to take orders for trees, has spoken in a horticultural
meeting or written a letter to his favorite paper, warning the farmers
against the wiles of the oily tongued fellow with colored fruit plates,
specimens of preserved fruits, and an order book for trees, shrubs, and
vines. And I think I have known of some of the big fish in the nursery
business who with one end of their tongues have lashed some other big
fish in the same business for employing irresponsible agents to sell
stock for them, while with the other end they were commanding a small
army of the same class of agents to go forth into all the world and
preach the gospel of tree planting and--sell trees. Others have sold and
continue to sell trees to peddlers without limit, for cash, and of any
and all varieties called for, while they denounced the system of
peddling in unmeasured terms. Now it is just as possible for a tree
peddler to be an honest man as it is for the man who grows trees to sell
to be honest. I do not say that all men belonging to either class are
honest. It would be equally absurd to say that all of either class are
dishonest. I despise the quack, the liar, the deceiver in any business,
and I have no respect or love for the man who will sell worthless
varieties of trees or wrongly named varieties, knowingly. Honesty here
as elsewhere is the best policy. But here is a fact, as I believe: It is
better to plant an inferior tree than none at all, and I know of
neighbors who would go down into their graves without ever planting a
tree if some persuasive peddler had not talked it into them to do so,
and these same neighbors now have quite respectable orchards. Here is
another fact: One half the orders sent to nursery-men by farmers during
the past twenty years have called for varieties utterly worthless for
the localities in which they were to be planted. And the tree peddler
often gratifies the purchaser by pretending to sell to him a sort which
he has made up his mind to have because he knows it was good in his old
home a thousand miles away. But the peddler, not having this variety,
and knowing that if he did have it it would prove worthless, substitutes
a Ben Davis or some other approved variety, and it goes into the ground
and in due time produces an abundance of excellent fruit. In this case
the peddler does a really good thing. If nursery-men will stop
propagating everything but varieties adapted to the country and the
markets, and many of them are doing this, the tree peddler will be
powerless for mischief--will in fact become a great public benefactor.
But so long as nursery-men will continue to grow and sell worthless
varieties, and so long as the people will remain in ignorance regarding
adaptability, so long will the dishonest peddler remain an unmitigated
nuisance and fraud. In brief these three things are wanted: Intelligent
and honest nurserymen; orchard planters who either know what varieties
are best for them to have, or who are willing to trust the selection to
the afore-mentioned intelligent and honest nursery-men; and third,
first-class talkers, intelligent as to varieties and methods of culture,
who buy only of the intelligent and honest nursery-men, to go through
the country and sell trees. It is unfortunate that it takes so many
words to express what I wanted to say, but I am done at last.
* * * * *
I have got it! Yes, all the ice I want is now white for the harvest in
our "artificial" pond. It is the only thing that reconciles me to this
fierce visit of polar weather. As soon as a trifle milder wave gets
along our way we shall carefully store away sufficient for the year's
use. By the way, where are the poor deluded woodchucks, muskrats, and
Old Settlers, who told us we were to bask in mild etherialness all
winter long? I am disgusted this morning, with the mercury at 30 degrees
below zero, and still going down, at the whole batch of them, and with
Vennor and Hazen, and all professionally weatherwise men and things. I
have heard of little real suffering in my neighborhood from the cold,
among either humans or brutes. Doubtless, when the weather moderates
and people get out to tell each other all about the cold spell, there
will be many true tales of intense suffering and more than the usual
romancing about the terrible week. And then the Oldest Inhabitant will
thaw out, and with all the self-satisfaction that superior age and
experience crown him with, will tell how much colder it was in such and
such a year, until we wish this little spell had sealed his memory and
mouth, for we do all take a great pride in living in a time that excels
all other times, albeit, if it be only in a storm or a freeze. But in
these things the early times of the Old Settler can never be excelled,
no matter in what century he flourishes. He is always master of the
situation. His experiences are like those of no other settler that ever
lived and died. With him, imagination has gradually usurped the place of
experience and its isothermal dips and dodges carry him through hotter
and through colder seasons than are marked down in any Standard Time
PRAIRIE FARMER, or any other map or chart in existence. But for this
weather business I should like to live next door to the Old Settler, for
he is generally truthful, good, kind, full of practical knowledge and
common sense.
LETTER FROM CHAMPAIGN.
We are having some very sharp winter weather, and sleighing as
uninterruptedly good since the 20th of December as I ever remember. This
morning, January 5th, the mercury reported 28 degrees below zero at 5:30
A.M., and 20 degrees below at 10 o'clock. This is the coldest since
January 29th, 1873, when 36 degrees below was recorded at the Industrial
University here, and 42 degrees below by the spirit thermometer at one
of the Jacksonville institutions. But the wind was west at that date,
and it is so to-day, showing our coldest weather comes from that
direction rather than from the northwest or north. The explanation I
suppose to be, those great fountains of cold storage, the Colorado
mountains, lie west and southwest of us, and are several hundred miles
nearer than the lower peaks and ranges northwest.
* * * * *
It is an interesting and important truth to know at this time that an
unexpected source for seed corn has been discovered here at home. It has
been ascertained by experiment and investigation that the early frosted
corn, which has been allowed to stand in the field, has a sound germ,
and though shrunken, will make fairly good seed, whereas corn which was
not frosted till late in October, and ripened in most respects, save
drying out, is wholly unfit for seed, having had the cells of the
kernels ruptured by the freezings it has been subjected to. This rupture
of cells the grain of the frosted corn escaped, having parted with the
surplus water of vegetation before hard weather set in. However, the
early frosted and shrunken cane fit for seed may be confined to this
county or neighborhood, or a narrow area, and therefore I advise every
one who thinks of making use of it to ascertain for himself, by the
usual methods, whether the germ is sound or not.
* * * * *
Several parties have written me--one from Missouri, another from
Indiana, and a third from Kentucky, that they have seed corn for sale,
cheap and in quantity. I have no doubt of it, and I have accordingly
advised each to advertise it in THE PRAIRIE FARMER, if they are really
desirous of selling, stating briefly what variety, where grown, and at
what price. I should be glad to advertise it for them gratuitously, but
the contract of THE PRAIRIE FARMER with its contributors contains a
clause to the effect that "they shall neither use its columns to grind
their own axes nor the axes of anybody else." With the recourse of early
frosted corn to go to, and the assistance of appropriately selected seed
from abroad, the gross mistakes and disappointments of 1883 are pretty
certain to be avoided in 1884.
* * * * *
No doubt many who are more or less familiar with the Reports on Hog
Cholera in the official publication of the Department of Agriculture,
ask themselves why Dr. Detmers is singled out by Frenchmen as the sole
authority on swine diseases, when his colleagues of the commission, Dr.
Salmon and Laws went nearly as far as he did in their extravagant
statements. But the prominence Dr. Detmers has obtained in the
estimation of Frenchmen is now explained in this: At a late sitting of
the French Academy of Sciences that eminent savant, Pasteur, referred to
him and his investigations in flattering terms. Giving an account of the
discovery of the microbe which causes the rouget of swine in France,
Pasteur said: "Respect for historic truth compels me to state, however,
that in the month of March, 1882, the microbe of the rouget was
discovered at Chicago, in America, by Professor Detmers, in a series of
investigations which did great honor to their author." With the
indorsement of one of the most eminent scientists in the world, before a
body equally distinguished, Dr. Detmers may find some compensation in
being singled out as the scape goat for an unfortunate commission which
has cost the country many millions.
B.F.J.
* * * * *
REMEMBER _that $2.00 pays for_ THE PRAIRIE FARMER _one year, and the
subscriber gets a copy of_ THE PRAIRIE FARMER COUNTY MAP OF THE UNITED
STATES, FREE! _This is the most liberal offer ever made by any
first-class weekly agricultural paper in this country._
POULTRY NOTES.
Poultry-raisers. Write For Your Paper.
A DUCK FARM.
You will not find it on the map because it is not mentioned there, and I
shall not tell you where it is because I promised the little woman who
owns it, and who gave me permission to tell other women what she had
done, that I would not mention her name or the name of the place where
she lives and works. How did I happen to find her? I didn't find her; it
just happened--i.e., if anything ever happens in this queer old world of
ours. We bumped our heads together once in a railway accident, and we
have been firm friends ever since.
Her farm is only a bit of land, some thirty acres, but for the last five
years she has made from ten to twelve hundred dollars a year from it,
and most of the money came from the ducks. She sells eggs for hatching,
and ducks for breeding and for exhibition, but the main object is ducks
and feathers for market. She thinks ducks are less trouble and quite as
profitable as hens. She keeps twenty-four stock ducks, eight males and
sixteen females, through the winter. The ducks commence laying from the
middle of February to the first of March, and lay from 100 to 125 eggs
each in a season. The first laid eggs are set to get ducks to sell for
breeding stock and for the early summer market. For this purpose the
eggs from the ducks that are two or three years old are used, and when
hatched the ducklings from those eggs are marked by punching a small
round hole in the web of the feet. She thinks, and rightly, too, that
the eggs from the older ducks procure larger and more vigorous birds
than the first eggs from the young ducks.
As soon as the weather gets warm enough to ship without danger of
chilling on the way, she sells eggs for hatching at $3 per dozen, and
finds no difficulty in disposing of as many as she cares to spare at
that price. Her sales of eggs for hatching amount to about $100 yearly.
Besides the eggs used and sold for hatching she generally sends a
twenty-four-dozen case to New York just before Easter. These large,
finely-shaped, pure white eggs sell readily for Easter eggs, and bring
from forty to fifty cents per dozen.
From the eggs set on her own place during the season she raises from ten
to twelve hundred ducks each year. The ducklings are hatched from the
first of April up to about the first of August. Most of the ducklings
are raised by hen mothers, and she keeps some fifty hens for that
purpose. The hens are all pure Buff Cochins, and are kept until they are
two years and a half old. Besides raising two broods of ducks each
season, each hen pays her owner an average profit of seventy-five cents
a year from the sale of eggs for market. When fattened for market at the
end of the second season, these Cochin hens are large and heavy, and the
carcass of the old fowl generally sells for enough to pay for a pullet
to take her place. No chickens are raised on the farm; the pullets are
bought of a neighbor who keeps the Buff Cochins.
She aims to set several hens and the incubator at the same time; when
the eggs hatch the incubator ducklings are divided up among the hens;
one hen will care for twenty ducklings until they are old enough to care
for themselves. The eggs hatch well--those in the incubator quite as
well as those under hens, and when the incubator ducklings are once
mixed up with the others she finds it impossible to distinguish "which
from 'tother."
When the ducklings are ten or twelve hours old they are moved with the
mother hen to coops and safety runs, which are placed in an orchard near
the house. This orchard contains about four and a half acres, and the
coops are scattered over it a few rods apart. On the side of the orchard
that leads to the "pond lot," the bottom board of the fence is a foot
wide and comes close to the ground in order to keep the ducklings from
taking to the water too early in life.
When the ducklings are four weeks old the hens are taken away, but the
ducklings are kept in the orchard until they are six weeks old, or until
they are well feathered on the breast and under part of their bodies,
when they are turned into the pond lot, where they "take to the water
like ducks."
The pond lot contains nearly thirteen acres, five of which are covered
with water. Originally, this lot was a piece of low, rocky, bushy
pasture land, between two low ranges of hills. A stream of clear,
sparkling water, a famous trout brook, ran through the center. The woman
who proposed to raise ducks saw at once the advantage of such a
situation, and had a dam constructed near the upper end of the lot, and
later another was made lower down, so that the lot contained two large
ponds. Where the fences which separate my friend's land from that of her
neighbor cross the stream, water-gates are put in, which keep the ducks
from swimming out with the water; and the bottom boards of the fence
around the rest of the lot keep them from getting out that way. Two
well-trained dogs guard this lot at night, and woe to the two-footed or
four-footed prowler who intrudes.
The duck houses are simply long, low sheds--with the exception of the
one where the breeding stock is wintered, which is inclosed--placed on
the slope a few rods back from the water. They were built of refuse
lumber, and the cost was comparatively trifling. Connected with the
house for the breeding-stock is a small yard where the ducks are shut in
at night through the laying season. From the time when they are twelve
hours old till within twenty-four hours of the time when they are killed
for market, the ducklings are well fed with a great variety of food.
From the first meal until they are turned into the pond lot they are fed
every two hours between daylight and dark. "Little and often," is the
motto. Before they take to the water the ducklings are fed a little
cooked meat once each day, and doubtless this ration of meat has much to
do toward making the fine large ducks that my friend has a reputation
for raising. After they are turned into the pond lot the ducklings are
fed but three times a day till within two or three weeks of the time
when they are to be marketed; then they are confined in the fattening
yards and fed oftener.
The fattening yards are situated between the two ponds, and so arranged
as to inclose a portion of the stream.
The ducklings are marketed as fast as they reach a suitable age and
size. She commences sending them to market about the middle of June and
keeps it up till about the middle of September, when she quits till near
the middle of January. These prime young ducks, getting into market at a
time when such poultry is scarce, bring good prices--from 22 to 25 cents
a pound, dressed. By the time the price begins to decline she has
marketed all the earlier ones that she cares to spare, and the
later-hatched she keeps growing till mid-winter, when fine ducks are
again scarce and the price goes up. At Thanksgiving and during the
holidays when the markets are crowded with poultry of all kinds, she
holds on to her ducks, unless she has an order at an extra price.
At first my friend kept the Rouens; then she tried the Aylesburys, but
now she keeps only the pure Pekins, and is so well satisfied with them
that she has no desire to change for anything else. She says, "For
laying qualities, quick growth, great size, fine flesh and fine
feathers, the Pekins can not be excelled."
On her place I have seen six-weeks old Pekins that weighed six pounds a
pair alive, and those that dressed from three to four pounds each at ten
or twelve weeks. At five and six months her ducks dress from six to
eight pounds each. For the feathers, the best and finest of which are
carefully saved by themselves, my friend obtains forty cents per pound.
All the work connected with the duck-raising, except now and then some
heavy work which is necessary in the pond lot, is now performed by my
friend and her three children, a boy of fifteen, and two girls of
thirteen and eighteen.
There is a moral to this, but if you can't find it it will not do you
one bit of good.
FANNY FIELD.
* * * * *
CONSUMPTION CURED.
An old physician, retired from practice, having had placed in his hands
by an East India missionary the formula of a simple vegetable remedy for
the speedy and permanent cure of Consumption, Bronchitis, Catarrh,
Asthma and all throat and Lung Affections, also a positive and radical
cure for Nervous Debility and all Nervous Complaints, after having
tested its wonderful curative powers in thousands of cases, has felt it
his duty to make it known to his suffering fellows. Actuated by this
motive and a desire to relieve human suffering, I will send free of
charge, to all who desire it, this recipe, in German, French, or
English, with full directions for preparing and using. Sent by mail by
addressing with stamp, naming this paper.
W.A. NOYES, _149 Power's Block, Rochester, N.Y._
* * * * *
A GUILT frame--the prison window.
THE APIARY.
APIARY APPLIANCES.
In the last issue of THE PRAIRIE FARMER the "Italian and German Bees"
were described true as life, by that prince of writers, L.L. Langstroth.
After a careful perusal of the article named, in which the good and bad
traits of each race are delineated, any person ought to be able to
choose intelligently which bee is best, all things taken into
consideration, for him to procure.
In starting an apiary, there is another item of equal importance, and
that is what kind of dwellings should be erected for the occupants of
this future city. The wants of the future tenants should be considered;
provide them with all modern conveniences, as to pantry and larder, and
don't forget, as some architects do, that abodes should be ventilated as
well as warm. Some bee-masters prefer houses that are high between
ceilings, others low; some prefer large houses, many again those that
are smaller. The size has to be made according to the frame chosen.
There are five different sizes of movable frames now in use among
bee-keepers, and those are equally successful who use either size. The
Langstroth is more in common use than any other. Some object to it,
claiming that it is too shallow.
[Illustration]
In looking at the plates of the five different sizes of frames, an idea
is gained how minds differ. Each one has its advocates, and its votaries
claim that the frame they use is the very best for all purposes. We were
once looking out of the window of a friend's house on her neat,
well-kept apiary, and remarked what baby hives. And we found no fault
with the baby, when this lady showed us her beautiful white sections of
comb-honey, and ate her delicious peaches, canned, with extracted honey
for sweetening.
It must be fun to handle the little Gallup, but the Langstroth has an
advantage over all others; it consists in this: that it is most used,
and if a person desires to sell his hives and frames, he can more
readily do so. It is also easily obtained, as it is kept in stock by
supply dealers, and can be quickly sent forward when ordered, but if it
was an off size wanted, a delay would occur; some change might have to
be made in the machinery, and it would cost more, as well as the delay
occasioned, which, if in the midst of the honey harvest, might cause
great loss.
Other appliances of the apiary, to suit this frame, are kept by supply
dealers; such as extractors, comb-baskets, uncapping cans, etc. With any
of these frames a hive can be made large or small, by regulating the
number of frames. If the hives are bottomless, as many make them, a tall
hive can be made by tiering up, as is practiced by those who work for
extracted honey. The Adair frame was formerly used in a hive called the
"New Idea, or Non-swarming Hive." Its non-swarming qualities consisted
in its being a long hive, and if empty frames were always kept in front,
so that the bees had to pass through empty space to reach the brood
nest, they would not swarm.
Frames should be placed in a hive an inch and one-half from center to
center, and should have three-eighths of an inch space between them and
the hive. This last item was considered of enough importance to have a
patent issued for it. If the distance from the top of the frames to the
honey board, or between the frames and the hive, is less than
three-eighths of an inch, the bees will propolis it together, and if it
is more, they will build comb between.
MRS. L. HARRISON.
WHAT SHOULD BE WORKED FOR.
As publishers, says the Weekly Bee Journal, we should,
1. Encourage planting bee-pasturage, that there may be, every season, a
crop of honey to gather, in order to make apiculture a certain
occupation.
2. Foster district and local societies to afford mutual instruction, and
strengthen fraternization.
3. Institute large and attractive honey and apiarian exhibits at all
fairs, to educate the community to the desirableness of a superior
product.
4. Cultivate a discriminating domestic market, to encourage superiority
and excellence.
5. Sell at all times, and in all places, an honest article under an
honest name.
* * * * *
BROWN'S BRONCHIAL TROCHES for Coughs and Colds: "I do not see how it
is possible for a public man to be himself in winter without this
valuable aid."--_Rev. R.M. Devens, Pocasset, Mass._
* * * * *
The Prairie Farmer
and
Youth's Companion
One Year, $3 for the two.
It is not required that both papers be sent to one address, nor to the
same post-office.
Address PRAIRIE FARMER PUB. CO., 150 Monroe Street, Chicago.
* * * * *
RAILROADS.
A MAN WHO IS UNACQUAINTED WITH THE GEOGRAPHY OF THIS COUNTRY WILL SEE BY
EXAMINING THIS MAP THAT THE
[Illustration]
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC R'Y
By the central position of its line, connects the East and the West by
the shortest route, and carries passengers, without change of cars,
between Chicago and Kansas City, Council Bluffs, Leavenworth, Atchison,
Minneapolis and St. Paul. It connects in Union Depots with all the
principal lines of road between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Its
equipment is unrivaled and magnificent, being composed of Most
Comfortable and Beautiful Day Coaches, Magnificent Horton Reclining
Chair Cars, Pullman's Prettiest Palace Sleeping Cars, and the Best Line
of Dining Cars in the World. Three Trains between Chicago and Missouri
River Points. Two Trains between Chicago and Minneapolis and St. Paul,
via the Famous
"ALBERT LEA ROUTE."
A New and Direct Line, via Seneca and Kankakee, has recently been opened
between Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Augusta,
Nashville, Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and
Lafayette, and Omaha, Minneapolis and St. Paul and intermediate points.
All Through Passengers Travel on Fast Express Trains.
Tickets for sale at all principal Ticket Offices in the United States
and Canada.
Baggage checked through and rates of fare always as low as competitors
that offer less advantages.
For detailed information, get the Maps and Folders of the
GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE,
At your nearest Ticket Office, or address
R.R. CABLE, Vice-Pres. & Gen'l M'g'r,
E. ST. JOHN, Gen'l Tkt. & Pass. Agt.
CHICAGO.
* * * * *
STANDARD BOOKS.
NOW READY FOR DISTRIBUTION.
VOLUMES ONE AND TWO
OF THE
NATIONAL REGISTER NORMAN HORSES
The most reliable, concise, and exhaustive history of the horse in
general, and by far the most complete and authentic one of the Norman
horse in particular, ever published in the United States.
PRICES:
Volume I.........................................$ 2.00
Volume II........................................ 1.50
When the two volumes are sent in one package to one address, $3.00.
Sent, postpaid, on receipt of price.
Address your orders to
PRAIRIE FARMER PUBLISHING CO., Chicago
* * * * *
REMEMBER _that_ $2.00 _pays for_ THE PRAIRIE FARMER _one year and, the
subscriber gets a copy of_ THE PRAIRIE FARMER COUNTY MAP OF THE UNITED
STATES, FREE! _This is the most liberal offer ever made by any
first-class weekly agricultural paper in this country._
SCIENTIFIC.
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.