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Manxifacturers of Asbestos AKD Magnesia Products

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THREE MONTHS

Galloway Is giving away engine poweri Ton can Ket all you want—l^i H. P. to 1.5 H. P.— for one month, two months or three months absolutely free. That's

the w»v I sell Galloway Engines. I send one to a man and let , , .

Um tZT it. If be doeeo't w&Dt to keep it. be jost aecd^ itbock aod 1 pay the frcisbt charffM both ways. •ohaUn't outapttam.

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WILLIAM CALLOWAY. Pr««ld«nt ^

William Galloway Co., 745 Galloway Staton, Waterico, Iowa

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Rats and the Bubonic Plague

By Clifford E. Davis

■ .jARMERS as a rule are careless* I about the rat. They read of the

* — 1 bubonic-plague germs carried by the rat and agree about the danger of his presence, but neglect to make war on him. And the rat goes on his way, destroying all that he can reach and raising a prolific family as a side issue. When a neighbor's farm becomes infested with rats, it is a menace to every farmer around, for rats travel even by day from house to house. A farm so infested should be compelled by law to make a general rat- hunt. Poisons won't do, for they are almost certain to drag it out where chickens, stock or dogs will get hold of it, or into grain-bins or corn, with dire results. Where there are good hiding-places, or chinks behind boards nailed on barns and stables, cats cannot reach them, though the cats watch ever so patiently.

An occasional trap of the spring variety will kill some, but set it where nothing else can get in it. Two things few rats can resist, be they ever so wary — strong cheese and fresh corn bread.

When you find a rat with its tail lacking an inch, apparently bit or broken off and leaving a wovmd, then that i^t has bubonic plague. Soak it in oil, and burn the last scrap of the carcass.

The Department of Agriculture has found that the plague attacks rabbits also. Not long ago several were killed here in Mary- land most terribly diseased.

The Barrel-of-Chaff Trap

As to the rat, clear away all old rubbish- piles wherein he can hide, organize a rat- hunt, and if necessary pay a premium for their killing. Where they are numerous, the barrel-of-chaff trap is best. Fill a barrel two thirds full of chaff, and scatter bread, meat and grain on top until you get the rats used to coming there. Then empty it, fill just that full of water, and put rocks in the bottom, leaving one sharp one above the surface with just room for one rat on it. Now cover all the surface of the water with a coat of chaff or bran.

The first rat in will climb on the rock, and the next rat will fight for the place. The racket will attract all the others, and you will have half a barrel of drowned rats in the morning.

Never try to force a cat to catch a penned rat, for it will not do so, and the rat will win or escape. The cat must catch the rat in her own way, or she gets frightened and fails. Qubs, traps and a good rat-terrier are the best ; but clean them out, not next week, but NOW. «

Practical Test for Acidity

By B. F. W. Thorpe

OST farm-lands need lime after thirty or forty years of cropping. Land kept in grass for hay is likely to become acid unless frequently manured.

The best way to test for acidity is to put a load of lime on a patch of land here and there at the rate of a ton to the acre, and see whether it is beneficial to the crops, especially the clovers and legumes. If ground raw limestone is used it should be put on at the rate of not less than' a ton to the acre.

Large Getting and Small Giving

By Robert S. Doubleday

'T'HE popular con- * tention that labor- saving machinery has driven men from the farms to the cities is, in my judgment, en- tirely unsound. It is true that fifty years ago men sweated with the grain-cradle and bent their backs and ^^^^ calloused their palms

Jf^' " with relatively primi-

' tive hand tools, while

to-day, with modern farm machinery, greater results are achieved with less labor by pro- portionately fewer hands.

It is true that the average expenditure of time and labor for the production of a bushel f wheat lias been materially lessened. There has also been a marked reduction in the laDor of producing an average bushel of com, and the same is true of the growing of potatoes and the harvesting of hay. But there has been no considerable saving of labor by machinery in the raising of the great staples of beef and pork and mutton.

Obversely, labor-saving machinery as util- ized in the cities has entirely eliminated the cobbler and replaced him with the man at the machine who can, with at least no greater effort, produce twenty pairs of boots or shoes where one could have been made before. The telephone has displaced th'e mcs.<!enger. The automatic cash systems have displaced the cash-boys. The subwajrs and-thc clc^'ated systems and the electric car systems have displaced many buses and bus-drivers and carriage lines. And so we might continue citations with-

Farm and Fireside, April 12, 1913

out limit. If increased productive capacity through the use of farm machinery has driven men from the farms to the cities, why has Hot the vastly greater increase of pro- ductive capacity through the use of machin- ery in the cities driven men to the country?

As a matter of fact, the aggregate pro- duction from the farms has not kept pace with the increase of production and demand. It has been confidently predicted that the time is not far distant when the United States will be importing wheat to meet its do- mestic requirements, instead of exportiijg it. And the prediction is based upon the safe criterion of measured crops and the estab- lished increase of known consumption.

Coupled with the erroneous contention to which I have referred we also find an ac- companying view of marked peculiarity, most recently expressed to the effect that if we would "destroy all agricultural imple- ments and forget how to make them," "back to the farm the hungry, barefooted populace will pour, with crooked sticks for hoes and ox-teams for power "

I find it difficult to reconcile this with good sense, and it seems to me to miss sound economics by only a trifle less than a thousand miles. Lessening the sweating in the corn-fields has not driven men into the sweat-shops of the cities. The whistle of the steam thrasher has driven no men to- ward the whistle of the factory. The riding plow has not crowded men on to the park benches. The harvest- ing-m acbine upon which the farmer rides in comparative ease and comfort and har- vests more grain in a day than he could cradle or mow now in a week of hardest toil has produced no harvest of half-paid, under- fed, ignorant and overworked city laborers.

They Overlook the Ethical Side

An abnormal social condition exists under which those who labor most arduously re- ceive the least and farming is exclusively a matter of labor; not so much a matter of brawn entirely, as in years gone by, but none the less a matter of labor of both muscle and brain. The worn and ill-re- warded farmer and the farmer's son are confronted with the fact that, while they labor to the point of exhaustion for a meager and uncertain reward, there are at least some in the cities who have acquired the knack or had the fortune to get without giving, to acquire in great and generous measure without rendering an equivalent Others have done it, then why not they ? There are no such opportunities on the farm. The purely ethical aspect of it has never been impressed upon them.

The simple, easily ascertainable, all-suf- ficient truth is many farmers have made little more than a scant living. And men have no relish for labor which is so tragically underpaid, and in the field of which there is no opportunity, no lottery chance, of large gains for small gifts. They are willing to take a chance even though they don't know the game.

Average Returns, $700

Two years ago the aggregate of farm crops was estimated to be worth ten billions of dollars. Whereupon tlie press yelped a strident paean for the "rich farmer," the farmer made affluent by protective tariffs, Philippine domination and other political devices, aided by the compelling influence of certain show-window statesmen with the gods of rain and sunshine and circumstance. As a matter of fact, what the farmers actually received at the farms was vastly less than ten billions. And the .Agricultural De- partment, with its normal consistency, had included in the aggregate the hay and the grain and the cattle and the horses and the swine raised, blissfully oblivious of the fact that most of the hay and the grain raised by the farmers was fed to their own cattle and their own horses and their own swine.

But even with our calculations made upon a liberal basis the average returns to^ those engaged in farming did not exceed $700 a year. When we have taken from this the cost of extra labor, taxes, interest and the inevitable incidentals, the net average income of the farmer is reduced to a shadow. Confronted with increased and rapidly increasing value of farm lands upon the one hand, and inc.eased cost of what he is ob- liged to purchase on the other, he observes that his candle is burning briskly at both ends. Is it then remarkable that he leaves the dust and the relative isola- tion and becomes a strap-hanger and a flat- dweller, with an eye that he fancies keen, ever open for iiis chance at large getting and small giving?

And have we not then the country prob- lem as well as the city problem, one as press- ing as the other, and lieither' of them to be befogged by the element of machinery ?

Stretching Wire Fences

By H. F. Grinstead T IS always best when practicable to set fence-posts early in the spring, a month before the wire is to be stretched. The posts thus become settled and more stable. To the novice it seems a simpler matter to fasten the stretcher-chain to a tree or post beyond the corner post so that it will not interfere with the work of stapling the wire to the corner post.

This is a great mistake ; for, unless the stretcher is fastened to the corner post or end support of the fence in making the final stretch, it will slacken when the stretcher is removed, for the reason that the' corner post has not been pulled solid against the brace with the stretcher. A stretcher with a lever at top and also at bottom is to be preferred to a single-lever stretcher, since with this the wire can be brought to the proper tension on uneven ground.

Staple the wire at every post, but not every strand. Wire stretched in hot weather will remain tighter than if stretched in win- ter. This is due to contraction and ex- pansion of the metal.

The Price of Gas-engine Fuels

By James A. King

This is the Fourth of a Series of Short Articles on the Gas-Hngine

COURSE the price of gas-engine fuels ^"^is reguteted chiefly by the supply and demand. That always regulates the price of anything, so we will disregard it in this discussion. We will also ignore the matter of freight charges for the present, because that depends on the distance one is from the refinery from which he buys his oil.

What Determines the Price to the Consumer?

So now we have the subject trimmed down to three items: (1) the cost of the crude oil to the refiner, (2) the percentage of each grade obtainable from the crude and (3) the cost of distilling and refining. The first of these is controlled entirely by the difference between the supply and demand. The third is dependent upon the methods used. So the really important item for us to consider is the second one, the percentage of the crude oil which is available in the form of each grade of fuel. And also remember that the demand for gasolene is growing much faster than is the demand for any or all of the others.

Why Kerosene is Cheaper

Are you surprised that kerosene can be bought by the» barrel for a half to a third what gasolene can ? And then remember that it adds several cents a gallon to the final price we pay in order to make that gasolene or kerosene water-white. And re- member that taking out .that coloring does not add materially, if at all, to its value for burning in an engine.

The refiner pays a certain amount for each barrel of his crude oil. It costs him a cer- tain amount to distil each of these grades of fuel from his crude oil. He must have a certain average net profit from his business. So what fuels he does have a demand for he must sell at such a price that he can pay for his crude, pay the total cost of all the refin- ing processes, and still leave him a profit.

He can easily sell all the gasolene he gets. In fact, he could sell more if he could get it. He can sell only a small fraction of the other fuels he gets. The surplus of these other fuels he must store up in expensive tanks that hold millions of gallons. The expense of storing this surplus and the interest on all this idle money must also be paid out of the price he gets for what he does sell.

Consequently, he must have a good big price for all that he can sell. He would be glad to sell all that surplus of heavy fuels left on his hands at practically what it costs him. That would be better than storing it and taking all the risk of loss from fire. So that gasolene, for which there is a big de- mand and of which there is a comparatively small supply, costs the consumer a big price, while naphtha, kerosene and distillates, of which there is an immense supply and for which there is only a comparatively small demand, are gladly sold at a small price. If all the internal-combustion engines in America to-day could burn any or all of these fuels, there would be an abundant supply. All fuels would sell for a much less price than gasolene does to-day, but of course for a little more than the unrefined distillates, the cheapest and most powerful of all fuels to-day.

Estimating Fuel Costs

Let us just make a little comparison on this subject of costs to the consumer. We will base the comparison on prices as they exist to-day. We will take the prices at the refineries so that the comparison will apply to all sections of the country, because freight rates to any point are practically the same for the different grades of petroleum fuel. In each case we will figure the fuel in barrel lots without considering the cost of the bar- rels, as it is the same in each case.

Water-white gasolene costs thirteen cents a gallon. Gasolene of the sam,e flash-point and gravity test, but not water-white, costs

ten cents a gallon. Water-white kerosene costs five cents, and engine kerosene of the same tests which is not water-white costs four cents. Mid-continent distillate testing about 38° will cost only three cents.

Suppose a man has a little two-horse sta- tionary engine which will burn about one hundred gallons of gasolene in a year. He also has an automobile which will burn at least three hundred gallons a year. On top of this he has a tractor that will burn five thousand gallons a year. This makes a total of 5,400 gallons of gasolene a year which he burns. We will suppose that he can burn the cheaper grade of gasolene costing ten cents at the refinery. Now, if all three of these engines were built to burn distillate, costing three cents at the refinery, instead of having to burn gasolene, he would have to burn only eighty-four per cent, as much fuel, or 4,536 gallons. This would cost him only $136.08. So that, by being able to burn this heavier, cheaper, more powerful fuel, he would be saving $403.92 a year.

Better be a little lazy than so smart that you always overdo.

The well-tilled corn-field is not disturbed by political agitations.

Debt is a brake on the wheels of progress. Get the brake off as soon as possible.

Before starting any farm machinery see that all the parts are in good working order, and safe.

Loans' for Farm Improvements

[By R. H. Wood COME bankers, it has often seemed to me, have been slow to adopt modern ideas. In many cases they have retarded agricul- tural development. I hav^ known them to refuse loans to good farmers, and upon good security, for the purchase of fencing, siloes, lime, fertilizer and improved live stock. I have known them to advise farm- ers to stick to wheat, potatoes, corn and beans. In the South they advised planters to stick to cotton and tobacco.

r know of a case where a man has bor- rowed five hundred (^ollars for a saloon license, with very little trouble and little security, yet the same bank advised a good farmer against investing one hundred dol- lars in a pure-bred bull calf. Fortunately there are bankers whose advice is better.

Short Loans are of Little Value to Farmers

Let it be noted, however, that there is much dift'erence in men as to the -use of money. Some men can make better use of five hundred dollars than others can make ot a thousand dollars.

A certain man has eighty acres of fair land. He has such improvements as he has been able to make. His land cost him six- teen hundred dollars and is worth the money. He wants to fence the entire farm and to cut it into two fields'. This will give him plenty of pasture and protect the crop upon his tillable land. He has two cows and wants to buy three more. He wants part of a car of ground limestone and some ground phosphate rock. He wants a little clover-seed and a couple- hundred apple- trees. He believes in good fences, good tillage and good stock. He says that six hundred dollars would put his farm upon a paying basis. I firmly believe that with the improvements he desires, put upon the place as he would put them there, his farm would be worth over three thousand dollars.

The local banker does not loan money upon farm lands. He lends entirely upon secured notes and chattel mortgages. He loans for short time only, sixty days being the usual period. My friend, the eighty-acre farmer, has good security for six hundred dollars, and if he could get it for five years at six per cent, he could put his" farm upon a paying basis.

Farmers' Money for Farmers

This is a typical case and a fair one, for this farmer is a capable and intelligent man, and he needs the* money.

Again, to-day I was talking with a well- to-do farmer who has a large farm and most of the modern improvements. He said, "Of course, as for myself, I am past the need of such loans, but I have seen the time when such a loan as your friend desires would have been a great advantage to me. It would have set the date of my income from fi\ e to ten years ahead.

"To-day I have a little money in the bank, and I wish that some way could be arranged that farmers' money could b'e loaned to farmers."

These two cases illustrate conditions, de- mands and possibilities.

What the farmer wants, and what, eventu- ally, he will have', is prompt loans without any disgrace or embarrassment, upon reason- able real-estate security and at reasonable interest.

This he wants, and with payments so ar- ranged that he can feel safe in going ahead and improving his farm. Any system that does not satisfy these demands will not be of any permanent benefit. If the farmers but knew the value of their own assets, they would not be long in combining to devise a system that "would be safe, stable and satis- factory.

Helps Soh^e ^ Hired- GM Question

Old Dutch Cleanser keeps the hired girl satisfied and makes the work far easier and pleasanter for the housewife when *'help" is not obtain- able. For it takes half the drudgery out of cleaning cooking utensils, kitchen cut- lery, churns, milk pails and pans and half the rubbing out of scrub- bing. The hardest things clean easiest with Old Dutch Cleanser.

Many Uses and Full Directions on Large Sifter Can — 10c.

can be raised cheaper and will produce more eggs on our small farms in the Sacra- mento Valley, Cali- fornia, where green feed, such as alfalfa forms two-thirds of the diet and where they forage in the field every month in the year. On a 20 acre farm with cows and hogs you can raise one himdred hens with al- most no extra cost.

Here is one man's net profit from one thousand hens:

January, February, March, . April, May, .

S224.99 149.64 185.34 222.50 157.70

Write us to-day for information about our irrigated farms in Northern California. They are the wonder of agricultm-al experts

all over the world. Our new booklet "Settlers' Stories from the Sacramento Valley" gives you names of men who have had remarkable success. Write Us To-day.

KUHN IRRIGATED LAND CO., Dept. 157A

Sll Wood Street. - Pittsburgh, Pa. 412 Market Street, San Francisco. CaL

Will Give You Three Fine Apple Trees

One each of Delicious, Stayman Winesap and Jonathan,

greatest and best varieties, three to four-foot trees, cut back to 22 inches, ready to plant.

Sent free, prepaid, by parcel post to introduce our great farm magazine, 'TRUIT- GROWER AND FARIMER," regular rate a year. February, Garden and Poultry number, ICQ pages, alone worth SI.

Send only 50c, half price, for a full year's trial, and the names of two friends interestea in farming, and trees will be sent ■ithout charge. Money back if not pleased.

Send stamps or coin at my risk. This offer good in United ; .States only. Must be accepted by April 22. Write quickly, ^before supply is gone.

J. M.Irvine, Editor, Box 301, St. Joseph, Mo.

Reg. Trade-Mark "Brother Jonathan"

5 Year (iuaranteed Bugqies At- K2 Retail Price / '

You take no risR when you buy a buggy

from us. Wc guarantee it to please you, and to be a bigger value for your money than you can get anywhere else, or you needn't keep it. Reference: S. lU. Natl. Bank, East St. Louis, III.

Mutual Buggies, Surreys, Wagons, etc., are

the higheBt qoslity. handBomest.mostecyliah Tebiclee! uilt. The only line guaranteed 5 years. We sell direct at wholesale prices — and save you S25.00 to $100.00. Write lor catalog and delivered prices.

MUTUAL HARNESS at $5.S5 per set up: double $14.10 up; work harness $19 up, allgenuine leath-