{ title: 'The Otsego farmer. (Cooperstown, N.Y.) 1885-1910, March 06, 1886, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-03-06/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-03-06/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-03-06/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-03-06/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
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_ H. 1. RUSSELL, Publisher. - YOL IX. Farm Hopics. “mlnllcpncel of Farm Life of Oiden 'Times, Stories, flea-11110. 11. Written expressly for Tas. Oreeso ._. By in BARKER We would oniit one important brguch of the doings of our fathers if we failed to give some attention to their lumber inter- ests. | The first business was of- course to make a home. 'To do that, whatever of timber came in the way was cut and draivn . --- into piles and.consumbd. We have seen as | fine pine as ever need grow, cut into mov- able lengths, piled into heaps and burned. 'We could now name a man with whom we were well acquainted, who died but afew years ago, who has cut pine timber enough in the Susquehanna valley to enrich every one of his numerous descendents, if they could have the présent value of the timber by him so slaughtered. Every community in all the southem portion of our State is full of such cases. When saw thills began to be erected in our new country, they were: mostly upon the erecks instead of the rivers. | The flow of such streams was 'ab that time sufficiently continuops to run the rude mills of those -. --digiase much of the time as their owners could generally make profitable. About the middle of the decade of 1820, tamber began to run down the Susquehan- na river from many of its tributaries. . An COOPE seribed, nnd then put in position, , TJ was called \'shipping the cars.\ > When these parts of the rafts were com- pleted they were run out of the small streams into the river, and then as many of them attached together as was best suited. 'to the height of water and circumstances. A cabin would be erected upon the raft in which the men would live while making the trip to tide water. \Going down the river\ was quite an event in the lives of many, and if capable and observing, after two or three trips a man would learn: to | take charge of the oar as \pilot\ or \steers- man,\ and. would thus be <enabled, if suc- cessful, to command good wages. 'To becoine an expert pilot of a raft half -woentury or more ago, down the Susque- hanna river, was about equivalent to being in charge of a line of Atlantic steamers of to-day. - Probably full as dignified a posi- tion in the opinionof many a man, himgelf, 'being the judge. Fa Lumber would be hauled his from mills not situated upon the naviguble streams and piled upon the river banks in a suitable place for rafting, so that in the spring 'To be able to get_Jumber for a raft or two, was quite an event in the lifeof an ordina- ry man, and if he was successful in his navigation scheme and\ sate at he might become the possessor “(My-Maw bie resyegsit 4 One of our neighbors, a Hoods it could be run down and marketed MLSMwhs a | A. FARM AND FIRESIDE JOURNAL. RSTOWN, N. Y., SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1886. the packages as No 1; of the 11 packages of ensilage butter only 1 was found in the first class. Mr. Folsom, a commission merchant, | also gave his experience: to the effect that. ensilage butter is inferior in flavor,. ___ No one -was disposed to dispute the prop- osition that ensilage meg-crises the product of milk and butter; andthat for fattening stock it is a superior food. , Mr. Deveraux of Deposit, gave, examples to substantiate the latter statement: It appeared in the discussion that the ad- voentes of ensilage fed corn meal with shorts industry he managed, one year to get ig: gether lumber enough for a fine raft. (In the spring at the proper time he in compa- ny with many others run. it down the riv- , er. Arriving at their destination and not mgeting with n ready sale for his raft, and produced a perfect reformation in Smith, Pel'ng too poor to spend much time who afterwards evidently tried by an hon- in idleness, he left it in charge of a neigh- | ost, correct life, to redeem and deserve a bor for sale and he with his men returned | reputation of which he had «always before home. After a few days the neighbor also | seemed oblivious to the importance of pos: | returned. When called upon for the mon- sessing. - ey he had received for the taff, he af'once We haye known several instances where denied owing u cent for it, nfirming that like lessons were justly deserved, and he had paid for it when it was leftin his which would no doubt have provedtof you would hardly think such a question necessary, at the end of the time named, T would surely have been dead, as I truly de- served to be. . -\'Jones' lesson, as we were assured, had plants. s 0.1 per cent., the ash ash of onts, 4.9 per cent., straw, 8. i cent., the ash of tobacco; $7,0 per The foregoing table shows that. plants' riake very unegd 'demand&? inay care. He also was profuse in such mutual benefit, if Jones' tactics could} to milch cows, notwithstanding the fact meut to all the neighbors, even threatning have effectually been put in force. | that the ensilage is composed of the entire IIIEJQEHE man for reporting to the con-| We have nothing but contempt for the) corn crop cut up just as the ear begins to rary. - +man-who makes a great ado about religion, | glaze. \The transaction by the young man.had m in i or other valuable qualities, whose sense of |- Several Chester Co., Pa., faumers were lrunspxrct} between them alone without any right, and honesty, is confined to the legal present, who opposed the silo, saying it ox'u: as Tmucsq, and without any written ability-of others to enforce it. It is hope-| was a thing of the past with them, and stipulxlllyn. In fact, a writing for any | ful that the heaven prepared for the habita-| that the 75 bushels of corn which they transaction except real estate, was in those | tion of that kind of christians, will be so raiged per acre could be utilized to quite as days very ture. 'The young man found arranged that if their dishonest acts are to good advantage in the ordinary way as in “in\ he was completely cheated out of his , be-plied hereafter, that their practices may the silo. } entire raft, amounting to several hundred | be confined entirely to experiméuts upon | Messrs, Powell and Smith were closely «dollars, and was powerless for uny legal r¢ | cach other, leaving the honest und true en- | ontechised asito their methodof putting up dress. JammmflTmW == | ousllagey they said concerning ed the man who had wronged him as pleas- to no -# tte > 'it it was clear that the sweet or \fresh\ en- {antly as 1m had been accustomed to in for- | National :\Kfl°ll:l!ll':“l Dat silage from their silos is one thing and the nu-erfc. L ___: sour, fermented stuff which the inexper- ''Thus some months had passed, and the , The sixth annual meeting. of. this so- fenced. farmer would produce is quite an- matter had ceased to be a subject of talk | ciation was held at the G d Céfitral other. Hence the good results obtained by New York city, Fob. 16th, 17th, | the young man's friends almost began to and 18th. A prominent feature of ( first [Ly Associa- ‘ ir the mele! > the scientific knowledge required, but the these gentlemen. They not only have W931“: examination of The éarly Tawa of ayy State \ -xvill-reten) the factthit\Wilthe streams flow\ noted and successful JamDerfian. remarkably lucky in all ffs siles. | He car-, riedon the business He was Edoubt but what he had actually received ; day's proceedings was a resolution nsking his pay for the raft, as the neighbor had so ' congress to extend the benefits of the signal resources and the meaty to experiment,.tést. und improve the methods, .Mr. Powel} spoke. of. the rapid progress ' ing south were made by statute, public highways for the purpose of making them at all times availible for navignble purpos- es. Even the Otego creek in Otsego coun- ty is thus made a public highway. After mich legislative action, the right to obstruct the stream by a dam lind to be ob- tained from the same power beforo such © dam could be constructed, and such right or charter generally specified the mannet of construction sufficient to preserve the rights of the public, to the navigation of the stream. The lumber run down the Susquehannn found its principal market in Baltimore, unless after arriving at the Chesapeake bay it was found desirable to float it to some other market. | That which was run down the Delaware found a better market gener- ally than from the Susquehanon, so that it was often transported by tenns from points on the Sasquebuona, to the Delaware be- fore rafting. * The munner of constructing a raft, was by first placing two picces of four to six | Inch plunk, with two or two and a half inch augur holes bored near cach end and having large amounts manufuctured, and besides be sometimes purchased | exten- sively of others. le was a sqnare, up- right, honest man, always polite and' pleas- ant. - We onee after he had quit the busi- ness, heard him relate the story of his first satisfactory sile of lumber, down the Bus- quebanna river. - He ogespringran a coup- le of rafts of mostly two by eight inch hemlock. Such was then much used in Maryland for fencing. | Arriving and land- ing at their usual place at the head of Ches upcake, in company with several others, he cleaned his rafts off in good shape to be ready for selling or buling from the water, whichever might be necessary, | The next morning an old rough looking mun came wlong looking over the rafts. Some of him some man of no account, He came to Mr. 8's rafts and was by him, as was ever his custom, treated ns civilly as he would bave been had he been dressed in the Intest fashjon, and a high gove ment officiid, - He at once entered into con- versation, eoquiring the: amount, quality, sometimes in the middle, and then they and prilcg por lholwuxd of 11.1“ m1” “3m\ to were boxed on the bottom to admit Ill-c all of which questions Mr. 8. gm'u him the . R , . correct answer, He at once bargained for the hend of (he-“gt‘rnl; or pin wbu'l.) ** 19 | rafts at a good price, the condition being that hold the \cribs Logcuutr so that it would all the lumber not answering the recommend not \grouse\ or catch as the raft rin f)\'('r | given should be thrown out, and that be dams or Cflhursuhflnncm These bed pm“, with his men would come immediately and of the cribs were scarfed off at each end nasist in bauling it from the water. | He on the bottom so 113.1101 to presful * \TTC (hen turned down the cull of his cont and end to any obstruction they might meet, | took out a large bill and puid it, as be said, These grubs were made by digging UP / to bind the bargain. small hickory, oak, or other tough kinds || Thelumberanswered fully the recommend rn- == of wood-nt- making a-herd-en-th6: £004 ond was all taken and paid for, and Mr. B. end to set up into the box. above named in | returned home, having made the best and in the bed-picces of the cribs, and the tree 1 quickest aaleof the season. The rough old part was made into a pin to piss up tbr0'! men proved to be one of themest able and their owners eated him uncivilly, thinking | often aflirmed. 'Fhey even wohderst ow f service, This netion drew out a crificism the young. man could treat so very pleas- from the Tribune, which characterized the antly one who bad so grossly wronged association asa body of \gentlemen fur- ;hi|n.'\ - mers,\ and politicians out of office, who A'creek noted for trout, ran néar the res- did not represent our great leading indus of the neighbor, who for distinc- try, In response to this stigma Mr, John ‘lion we will nume Smith, and the young 8. Murray, of Delaware Co., on Wednesday, I man Jones. Smith was an idler and much , proposed to ascertain the make-up of the | given to fishing. Finally-Joues: was occu-: convention, when it was found that of the igionally seen. with his fishing rod. Some- one bundred delegates in the room at that 'times Joues and Smith were seen coming time all but four or five were practical iin together, cach with his rod and string of ' furmers. tine trout. Thus things went on for some) The representatives were for the most weeks until past the middle of suminer, part men given to speaking in public, and Smith was known by one or two of his in- | there was a strong tendency to drift into | timate. friends to always have s vert the silver question and the tariff, as touch- hundred dollirs in his pocket, which be ing the farmers, interests, and even the {continually carried with nim. Jones hud ' Negro question was introduced by Dr. | 'learned that fact. , Holt, of Virginia, in a stong and: flowery \One misty morning in the last days of (speech on the agricultural status and pros- August, Jones shouldered his pole and pects of hi«state, 'The Doctor's argument with basket in hand went past Smith's ngninst the capabilities of \out brother in ; house to the creek und commienced fishing. | black\ was reduced to shreds by Mr. Beas- ‘b'uun Smith comes out and says \Joues it ' ley, of North Carolina, who represented | you ure willing, 1 will join you, it is a fine ; the more advanced ideas of the new south, i (day for fishing.\ \Certainly 1 am. lim; and whose representation of the resources, foud of company, and as L am go-: condition and. prospects of his section, tained by the courts. ing to fish far up fato “If: ‘VQOUS lam sure given in a charming and often amusing . Mr. Temple, butter broker of New York, illnuu wilt be trout exough to suusfy US manfier, was much more: readily accepted | and Commissioner Brown believed that both,\ sicd Jones, by the northern mind is a fair statement unbenlthfuiness of olcomargarine would bo the two men. fished and. thin the views of the ante-bellum Virginia be established by physlological investiga- made in the increase of possible yield of milk, and confidently predicted that in five years the cow would be produced which should produce 25,000 pounds in a year. 1 Tuesday was nearly all taken up with | the discussion of the bogus butter question. The Grocers Tnaion, and the National Dairymen's Protective Association.united | in a meeting on that day, There were present Senator Low, Dairy Cominissioner Brown and Assistant Van Valkenburg, Ex- | T, 8. Internal Revenue Commissioner Raum of Washington, Col. F. D. Curtis, and others not in attendance on the pre- vious days. 'The several speakers brought showed up the magnitude of the trade in imitation of butter, its effect on the legitimate trade in honest dairy products, and the remedy to be applied. Judge-Low sai ed gs to the magnitude of the work before us but must get rid of the idea that the manufacture of olcomargarine cannot be prohibited. - A prohibitory law will be stis- 1 heavy demands also, nearly their ash being lime, Forest nearly. every sort, atte atiounts'of Hme fromthe; need lime, and maby deinand . ry largely, | It is therefore an essentlal.con- stituent of the milncrdl /of plants. 20k e The agrictiltural value of limg 1s 806 to the fact thatiitis really plant food; ' lutely necéssary to th tion of plants,. All. pian as we have seen, notably tob it in large quantities, The graiges forest trees must have H A114 an mg of shade free causes'yet to be H said, is always sufficiently abu soil to mest the deiatida of contains from 20 to 87 per cent. of Jime, it will be obvious that the removaliof . from the soil by successive hedvy=crops must be- so large-that- the-soll-willbstome- at- length-too-deficient...in.lime.forremun: of lime, in some form .orother,. is an ob» vious necessity to prevent this result. © The productive power of tle soll is ditiinished we are sure much: oftener end.mord Iirgely than people generally: imagine by ciency of lime in the soll, ' The chief value of lime; itis posed, is due to its genera! sup- ustic and tganiz- a 4 Cono H d we must not bo déteiy- ime ing the growing season, for plant food only after itsdeéco And. just here a mistakes notin ty made. - When tho amout d turned under is scant, i will all roti Jul nssimilated during the growing season, and sometimes, perhaps, before the crops chatted up the creek, cach catching many | doctor, ‘ tion. - These reports knock oleo. out. , fine trout, until they were about a amie up | A paper was read by a Japanese, on the -- The President of the Butter, Eggs and : the stream in the deep forest, when saddeu- pist and present of agriculture in | that Cheese Association, Mr. Windsor, read an ty Junessquarcly ficed Smith und said, 10W | country, address in which he took the ground that \WM-5m}Ur mmith, bave not you carried my -- Representative Glass of read . the true solution of this question is to pro- mouey about long enough to hand it over a paper on ''What Agriculture has done hitit the coloring of natural butter as weil to mes \If you think you bave Bot, 1 for us and what we have done for Agricul- as olcomargarine; but: this suggestion was will convince you in the matter,\ - Bnuth | fore,\ saying that more than balf, or about ' not: fnvornbly received 1 the convention. seemed dazed and made mo reply, | Jobes 52 per cent., ofour people are engaged | Mr. Brown said it would not .d° to stop in still [utilfx him, lu'Lfkiug him squaresy ®) in farming, and pay Jlfllftht‘ taxon. Con- t2::;dgg?o:efgggizmzfiéends. The eye and drawing a pistol trom his gresa has given $105,000,000 to rivers 510 ' oustom of coloring natural butter is time- \You hand me over that mon- - r cent interest from the day i the pocket said harbors, three times that. amount: to mil- ' bonored and is not intended to deceive. Mr. Bussing, president of the Grocer's the crib to the \binders\ or top pice! influential man in the vicinity, which tled the cribs together and also C01+ | square, bonest dealing, and civility, secur- ' nected one crib with another to form them | oq over after his patronage and influence, | and Mr. S's ey and feu pe you receiver it, or you are a dead mun?\ Smith hesitated. - Jones: cocked his pis- tol and contimued, \I have been waiting\ roads, untold inillions to protect mauufac- tures, and only $5,000,000, in all its history, to agriculture. | France gave, last year, to encourage farming, $20,000,000; Brazil, : Union, representing n thousand retail deal- 'er« in New York and Brooklyn, read an address, giving. some startling facts in ref- ; erence to the trade in imitation butter. . In are matured. 'The ap‘plicntion of: lime under such circumstances is hdrtfol. hastens vegetable demposiffi) that supply of the products of thigidec tion became exhausted or riiupigly. before the crops are matiited. Lime natomlizes selds by | lostog itr own. When thestomactt acid, the doctor prossribes= limo «water Lime corrects the acidity because it combines 'with: identical reasons limé ts preskribed soils, - Our crops will;notigrd soils, and soma solilf-are' an's fate.\ Sixteen to cighteen inches the into a raft. 1 which proved to be of great benefit to Mr. : e n After theso bud pieces were in position, | 8. A tesson of how little can be told by | long tor this opportunity, - You have the i $12,000,000; Russia, $11,000,000; Austris, ‘spgnkur‘ of the retailers 2510 butane ilk he cross plauks were bored and put O0 | outside appearances, and the advantage of money in your pocket, you have. contlut- ' $5,500,000; Japan, $1,000,000; the United “Effie\ sulifiiffifcsi'éffm'rngi’; %e°p55%g, the same pins or grubs which thus formed | trcn‘xing everybody with civility, may be {ally wrouged me, lied to me, and to OUr States, $650,000, und who pay a fine when d and |; the foundation of each separate Crib. | TBC jogged by our old Jumberman's success. ' neighbors about me. . You will now count __ The recommendation of Mr. Glass that j convicted as readily and willingly as the Tumber forming the crib was then closely | Large amounts of lumber were for years | out to me my money and promise to co- | the Bureau of Agriculture be raised to a | PBF their bills for the {mnddr t ”Si: placed, both lengthways and crossw8y$, Al- | yun from the West Branch of the Susque- ; fess your Iymgdishovnesly‘lo our neighbors, | Department, with a cabinet officer at its, 3133335370 2ngwflflgxufgcggfie or ternating each course until the PTOPCT ( honng and its tributaries. | Much long tim- | 0T 394. 1i®Y* but five minutes. to live. | 1| head, was afterward formulated into A TCS / these swindlers, who was fined $100, open height was attained. The depth Of tht) per was run from that river as well as saw» will teach you thata man cannot always} olution and passed unanimously by the ly boasted that he could aiférd to pay crib depended upon the kind anld txnylnm ed lumber. - The trees for the \spars\ or' Play the part of a villian, and escape a vil-> convuntfon. Izlfxclidaggg; $251 1:10:32 fidbtggiknawx‘rkfllg lifters\? the lumber, the heavier the 168% | long timber would be fallen and the timber . ! Mr. Corsa of Delaware, | spoke at length | nought the goods be sold for 11 conts per e depthiln small stresms. - Where the water was sufficiently deep any depth might be used. * Deep rafts were found bad in passing over dams or rifts or rocks, so that very great depth was seldom risked. If heavy Kinds of timber, like maple or oak was to be rafted, a larger proportion of pine or other light kind had to be rafted with it, to buoy up the heavy kinds. Sometimes if the crib was to be wide, three of these bed peces be used, one being in the middle of {he trib. When a sufficient number of IhésA'tribs: for a \colt\ or ai part af ataft were faile, they were attach- ed together, end to. end and a picce of tin: ber each other end of the raft called an ver block, to which the carstems wore festoued.. 'These head-blocks were se. * curely fastened to the gribs before named. *The cars were formed by obtaining poles of pice, spruce, or bemlock, some eight or Teninckes 5 # Throagirand from fhirty to forty- feet long, amd morlising outa long sig bs the bat end into plauk tem or fee oxen y {in that form, a thing hard to accomplish, except from favorable localities. The amount of lumber which has found tide | 'water through the Susquehanna river is simply enormous. And all the region which then contributed to itgiyast supply is now ing and ing in for home use.\ During the decade of 1880 we took a trip out into that then wilderness world as far as into Alleghany county in this State, and Potter county, Penusylvania Land had little value there at that time, and lumber was worth what it cost to produce it. We got exiough of that new region in a few 3353157 satisfy our ambition, and on foot, in the mooth of March, we made tracks fifty miles per day. | Such would now bea good feet for the modern pedestrian, with al the advantages of .s good rond, and otfier @tinivetientes then unknown. but no-stege dine wes continuous on war tooth, asd -we walked' the two hun edatalog tavern rear a at which yo ?m’s&¢y‘“- few 5 ] abore de- \a poor yourg by Lie & gy e-3\ Hmith, trembling and blanched with fear, | of the good results of the Delaware Fruit pound, and the poorflocked to his 'place 1 squared as long as suitable, and then mfted ' back to our home at an average rateof over’ ,. Dar still hesitated. Jones drew out his old | Exchange, through which all the fruit of and sot ; bulls eye waxclh' and \commetmxd to count that state is now marketed, greatly to the | Pr _ ngbgdgetgg?fi butter butter can bp the minutes. '0m':, he s'md, and with a advantage of the grower. Other spetker® | sold on its merits, Why is it not done? It look of determination which would have ; on this subject recommended the system has been tried “933310351- again in Ian oak at its expiration, repeated ' for other farm products. city, with but one result. Sfic‘l‘one of ot \tzwofisull covering the trembling Smifhi Charles Wetmor, president of th: Cali- gigging rdet to Jwe 'n iew «days with his cocked pistol. | Smith saw | in fornia Agricultural Society, spoke on the | rey 3 Jones' look that nothing temained but to ' wine and raisin producing resources of his ' comply with his just terms, or die. | state, and said that protection front imite~ \_ He put his hand to his inside vest pocket, ' tions and aduiterations is the great need ' pulled fortlt his pocket-book and counted ' of the wine industry. \out the demanded amounts, and handed it' Thesubject of ensilage occupied consid- ito Jones, who took it and put itin his erable time on Wednesday evening and pocket, and then said take your fish and Thursday morning. It bad two strongad- steer straight for the tavern. . He Gbeyed, | vocntes in MF. Powell, of the firm of Smith: and Jones still keeping his pistol in hand, { & Powell, Syracuse N. T., and Mr. Smith, followed. , of Vermont. Both these gentleien had \As they neared the hotel, Jones ssid, | been very successfal in the use of easilage, \now Smith you are to go into the | tavern | both for buttenmakingand stock-fattening. with ime and I will show this money, and | Mr, Powell's ensiluge butter had taken thad you are to acknowledge before whoeverffirgpdmatme exhibition of the Butter, mmmmnmeiwrsjw us they are | Eggs and Cheese Assoq at Chicago, | in relstion to this with s, fed exclu- l Wyn him 25 cents for what tag-g , come + whole matter, and & shall | and Mr. Smith > . mindwsfidywmmafifim , tha ir product in the i on j 1
