120 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



Question. — How many cows will a 40-acre farm, under good 

 management, support? 



Mr. Woodward. — Forty. 



Mr. Smith. — Fifteen acres of ensilage, if it is good, will keep 

 40 cows. Add to that six acres of alfalfa and you have the coarse 

 food part, leaving 19 acres for other purposes. 



Question. — Would it be profitable to sow rye in corn, to be 

 plowed under the following spring on land to be sown to wheat 

 the next fall? 



Mr. Rice. — It certainly would pay to have such a crop to plow 

 under the next spring, as it will hold moisture for the benefit off 

 the wheat or other crops that would follow. 



Question. — What was the yield per acre of your oats last year ? 

 What was the variety sown ? 



Mr. Smith. — We did not grow any clear oats last year. We 

 had oats and peas to quite an extent, cut early and fed green. If 

 the question refers to the Geneva Station, I can give no further 

 information. 



Question. — How do oats and peas compare with .other forage 

 crops? 



Mr. Smith. — 'Not at all with alfalfa: but we could not have 

 carried our animals through the last summer without our silos. 

 The season last year was so dry that we were obliged to rely on the 

 silo. The young stock got the alfalfa, while the cows got the 

 ensilage. But, one season with another, alfalfa is our best forage 

 crop. Over in Onondaga county much of it is grown, and it is 

 worth there now $18 to $20 per ton. (February, 1901.) 



Question. — Would you advise putting cement floors in a wagon- 

 house ? 



Mr. Smith. — I do not know, but for stable floors they are pre- 

 ferred to plank floors by many farmers. 



Question. — Why do tomatoes rot on the vines ? 



Mr. Rice. — It is caused by a fungus. As a rule, where the 

 tomatoes are in the shade or near the ground the rot fungus ap- 

 pears first. It is better to set plants on ground where no tomatoes 

 were grown the year before. One had better do that than fight the 

 rot fungus with the spray pump and Bordeaux mixture. The 

 same is true of cabbage. If " clubfoot " has appeared in cabbage 

 do not set plants on the same land the next =eason. 



Question. — Which pays the farmer best, hay at $10 per ton or 

 butter and cheese at present prices? 



