1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
267 
“  We  have  not  as  yet.  There  is  no  lack  of  humus — 
the  soil  is  nothing  but  humus,  all  the  way  down.” 
“  When  do  you  plow  ?  ” 
“  Other  things  being  equal,  I  prefer  fall  plowing — 
just  as  soon  as  the  onions  are  off  the  ground.  The 
weeds  will  then  sprout,  but  will  not  have  time  to  go  to 
seed.  In  spring,  we  put  on  a  cultivator  or  weighted 
harrow  and  mellow  up  the  soil.” 
“  How  much  fertilizer  do  you  use  ?  ” 
“  From  1,500  to  2,000  pounds  per  acre.  We  spread  it 
broadcast  before  the  cultivating  or  harrowing  and 
work  it  well  into  the  soil.” 
“  When  do  you  plant?” 
“Just  as  soon  as  the  ground  is  dry  enough  to  work — 
from  the  5th  to  the  20th  of  April,  depending  on  the 
season.  We  use  a  drill  which  plants  three  rows  at 
once — 15  inches  apart.  We  have  tried  other  distances, 
wider  and  narrower,  but  the  consensus  of  opinion  is 
that  15  inches  is  best.” 
Seed,  Varieties  and  Culture. 
“  How  much  seed  do  you  use  to  an  acre  ?” 
“  I  use  about  seven  pounds.  Formerly  we  used  four, 
but  on  account  of  smut  and  maggots,  which  at  times 
interfere  with  the  growth,  we  use  more  seed,  in  order 
to  have  plants  enough  and  to  spare.” 
“  What  variety  do  you  grow  ?  ” 
“  I  grow  what  is  known  as  the  Medium  Early  Red 
Globe.  I  grow  my  own  seed,  and  have  done  so  for 
many  years,  selecting  the  onions  for  seed  with  the 
greatest  care,  in  order  to  secure  the  type  which  is 
wanted.  Very  few  yellow  and  white  onions  are  grown 
here.  My  experience  shows  that  there  is  more  money 
in  red  than  in  any  of  the  others.  I  have  never  grown 
any  of  the  Italian  varieties.  Our  onions  do  not  sell 
for  quite  as  high  a  price  as  Connecticut  onions,  which 
are  a  little  more  solid,  being  grown  on  upland.  Hut 
I  think  ours  are  best  in  quality,  being  milder.” 
“  When  do  you  begin  cultivating  the  onions  ?” 
“Just  as  soon  as  the  rows  can  be  seen.  We  go 
through  them  with  a  hoe  especially  constructed  for 
this  work.  It  is  a  strip  of  saw  steel,  10  inches  long 
and  two  inches  wide.  When  laid  flat  on  the  surface, 
the  two  ends  are  curved  upward.  A  long  handle,  like 
a  rake,  is  attached  at  an  angle  to  suit  its  user,  and  it 
can  be  worked  both  backward  and  forward.  A  good 
man  will  clean  out  about  three-fourths  of  an  acre  per 
day.” 
*'■  When  do  you  next  work  them  ?  ” 
“  There  is  no  next.  It  is  one  continuous  working 
from  that  time  on  until  they  are  nearly  ready  to  pull. 
The  hoe  first,  then  down  on  the  knees  astride  the 
row,  they  are  hand  weeded  and  thinned,  and  the  work 
is  repeated  right  along.  The  latter  part  of  the  work¬ 
ing  is  done  with  a  hand  cultivator.  We  probably  go 
through  them  not  less  that  four  or  five  times  in  all. 
They  really  need  working  once  a  week,  until  within 
three  or  four  weeks  of  their  ripening.” 
“  When  do  you  begin  pulling  them  ?” 
“  Not  far  from  September  1.  When  pulled,  they  are 
allowed  to  lie  on  the  ground  for  a  week  or  so  to  cure  ; 
then  they  are  topped.  The  time  required  for  curing 
varies  with  the  condition  of  the  onions.  If  they  are 
quite  ripe,  and  the  weather  is  good,  two  or  three  days 
will  sometimes  suffice.” 
“  Where  do  you  market  them  ?  ” 
“  The  greater  part  of  our  crop  is  sold  in  New  York 
city,  but  we  ship  car-load  lots  to  Philadelphia  and  to 
St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  other  points  West.” 
“  What  do  you  consider  a  remunerative  price  ?” 
“  If  we  could  average  50  cents  per  bushel,  one  year 
with  another,  the  business  would  be  fairly  profitable. 
We  have  had  some  very  profitable  seasons.  During 
the  later  years  of  the  war  they  ruled  high — I  have 
known  them  sold  at  $6  per  barrel.  Then  again  I  have 
known  them  so  low  that  they  were  thrown  on  the  ma¬ 
nure  heap  and  allowed  to  rot.  Two  dollars  per  barrel 
net  us  about  50  cents  per  bushel ;  the  cost  of  the 
barrel  and  freight  and  commission  leaving  about  $1.50 
for  the  three  bushels  a  barrel  contains.” 
“  What  do  you  consider  a  fair  crop  per  acre  ?  ” 
“  From  500  to  700  bushels.  I  raised  750  barrels  on 
2%  acres  last  year,  or  900  bushels  per  acre.  But  that 
is  above  the  average.  Twelve  hundred  bushels  have 
been  grown  on  an  acre.” 
“Can  you  grow  onions  continuously  on  the  same 
soil  ?” 
“I  have  grown  onions  for  25  consecutive  years  on 
the  same  soil ;  then,  noting  that  the  crops  did  not  seem 
quite  up  to  the  average,  I  planted  corn  or  potatoes  on 
it  for  a  couple  of  years,  then  went  back  to  onions.” 
Mr.  Joseph  Board  of  Chester,  an  ingenious  gentleman 
of  a  mechanical  turn  of  mind,  has  devised  and  manu¬ 
factured  a  seed  drill,  which  is  in  general  use  in  this 
section.  It  sows  three  rows  at  once,  sows  them  in  lines 
mathematically  correct,  covers  them  nicely  and  does  the 
work  well.  In  the  hands  of  a  skilled  man,  from  five  to 
seven  acres  per  day  can  be  planted.  It  is  not  adapted 
for  upland,  but  for  muck  soils,  it  is  the  machine— par 
excellence. 
About  five  miles  west,  on  the  line  of  the  Erie  is 
Goshen,  from  which  point  a  branch  railway  is  in  oper¬ 
ation  to  Pine  Island,  about  a  dozen  miles.  This  road 
borders  the  muck  lands  of  the  Wallkill  Valley  and  of 
late  years,  at  various  points  along  it,  the  onion  busi¬ 
ness  has  made  great  progress.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
from  1,000  to  1,200  acres  in  this  section  are  annually 
planted  to  this  savory  bulb  and  the  area  is  steadily 
increasing.  Some  of  the  muck  land  owners  are  can¬ 
vassing  the  wisdom  of  celery  culture  and  doubtless, 
before  many  years  elapse,  this  will  become  a  celeiy 
center,  excelling  Kalamazoo  or  Tecumseli,  Mich.  There 
are  thousands  of  acres  of  muck  lands  in  this  valley 
available  for  these  purposes. 
To  Heat  Maple  Sap  Quickly. 
At  Fig.  137  is  shown  a  picture  of  a  device  which  we, 
in  Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  use  for  heating  our  maple 
sap  before  it  goes  into  the  boiling  pan.  It  is  a  piece 
of  inch  pipe,  14  feet  long,  first  bent  in  the  form  of  an 
ox  bow  (see  lower  figure),  one  end  being  left  two  feet 
longer  than  the  other  ;  then  the  ends  are  bent  up  as 
in  the  upper  drawing.  The  bow  end  is  then  inserted 
into  the  fire-place  in  such  manner  that  the  long  end 
of  the  pipe  receives  the  sap  which  runs  around  through 
Device  fok  Heating  Maple  Sap.  Fig.  137. 
the  fire,  and  out  at  the  short  end  into  the  pan.  By 
this  means  our  boiling  capacity  is  more  than  doubled. 
Indeed  we  have  been  able  in  this  way  in  a  seven-foot 
pan  with  a  pipe  for  heating  the  sap,  to  boil  five  barrels 
in  three  hours.  j.  q.  w. 
An  English  Hay  Cart. 
The  picture  (Fig.  138),  shows  a  cart  often  advertised 
in  English  papers  and  very  popular  with  English 
farmers.  As  shown,  it  is  arranged  for  carting  hay, 
straw  or  roots.  With  the  rack  taken  out  it  will  hold 
manure  or  sand.  It  is  suited  to  one-horse  farming — 
with  a  big  horse  ! 
Nothing  Like  Corn. 
The  Rural  of  April  9  with  Uncle  Sam’s  black-board 
on  the  front  page,  was  just  about  right,  for  there  is  no 
plant  that  will  produce  so  many  pounds  of  food  to  the 
acre  as  corn  on  good  corn  land.  The  best  corn  I  have 
ever  raised  has  been  in  drills  ;  but,  as  the  professors 
say,  the  slothful  farmer  often  “gets  left”  with  his 
corn  in  drills  ;  but  with  the  right  kind  of  tools  corn 
An  English  Hay  Cart.  Fig.  138. 
can  be  kept  in  as  fine  condition  in  drills  as  in  hills.  I 
think  that  when  our  farmers  once  make  up  their  minds 
as  to  the  worth  of  the  corn  plant  both  for  its  food 
value  and  its  benefit  to  the  soil,  more  of  it  will  be 
grown ;  for  its  roots  reach  far  down  into  the  soil  for 
sustenance,  and  if  cared  for  as  it  should  be,  it  leaves 
the  land  in  such  good  condition  for  oats  or  barley  as 
cannot  be  secured  in  any  other  way.  The  one  serious 
trouble  with  the  corn  crop  is  the  cost  of  help,  as 
the  expense  of  husking  is  heavy ;  but  the  use  of  the 
silo  and  cutting  the  corn  and  stalks  together  and  feed¬ 
ing  them  as  grown  make  quite  a  large  difference.  Corn 
is  always  handy,  and  when  the  corn  bin  is  empty  the 
stock  show  the  fact.  Good  clover  or  mixed  hay  and  a 
few  ears  of  corn  keep  the  work  horses  or  boarders  in 
good  condition  without  much  expense.  Corn  helps  me 
in  two  ways:  first,  to  keep  up  animal  heat  in  cold 
winters  and,  second,  to  give  my  colts  something  to 
bite  and  prevent  what  is  called  lampas ;  then, 
too,  it  makes  them  kick  up  their  heels  when 
turned  out  for  their  daily  exercise  ;  in  fact,  I  would 
not  know  how  to  farm  without  corn.  A  few  ears 
broken  up  and  carried  in  the  field  will  bring  the  colts 
up  when  you  want  them,  and  the  same  is  the  case  with 
the  sheep  or  calves ;  and  no  other  feed  will  summon 
the  hens  so  easily.  Corn  should  be  grown  on  every 
suitable  farm  in  New  York  State  ;  but  to  get  a  good 
crop,  good  corn  land  is  needed.  Its  roots  will  not 
stand  soaking  in  water,  nor  will  they  look  for  nourish¬ 
ment  in  clods  of  earth.  An  acre  of  good  corn  fodder  is 
worth  more  than  an  acre  of  hay  if  properly  cared  for ; 
but  if  treated  in  the  old  slipshod  way,  disappointment 
may  be  looked  for  just  the  same  as  in  case  of  an  over¬ 
ripe  crop  of  hay  ;  but  if  cut  and  cured  in  time  corn  is 
the  most  valuable  forage  plant.  A.  baker. 
Lima  Bean  Farmers. 
A  BERGEN  COUNTY,  N.  J.  CROP. 
Bergen  County,  N.  J. ,  is  one  of  the  best  sections  in 
the  country  for  growing  Lima  beans.  The  climate  and 
soil  are  well  suited  to  this  crop  and  as  a  consequence 
almost  every  farmer  has  500  or  more  poles.  It  is 
almost  as  much  of  a  rarity  to  find  a  farm  without  its 
bean  patch  as  it  is  to  find  a  Bergen  County  cow  with¬ 
out  more  or  less  Jersey  blood  in  her  veins. 
Tn  The  R.  N.-Y.’s  neighborhood  lives  a  Pole  who 
some  15  years  ago  came  and  bought  a  small  place  of  18 
acres — a  portion  of  which  is  a  low  swamp,  suitable  only 
for  pasture.  This  man  has  paid  for  his  farm  and  has  a 
good  surplus  in  the  bank.  Lima  beans  did  it  for  him. 
He  is  not  a  particularly  strong  man  and  cannot  work 
as  hard  as  many  of  his  neighbors,  but  he  has  a  large 
family  of  children.  They  make  good  “  pickers”  and 
he  selected  the  crops  that  give,  “  pickers”  the  best 
chance  to  earn  their  wages.  He  used  to  raise  early 
peas,  sweet  corn,  Limas  and  potatoes — planting  late 
sweet  corn  after  the  peas — but  of  late  years  he  has 
given  up  the  peas  entirely,  planting  more  Limas. 
Last  year  he  had  over  9,000  poles  and  will  have  more 
this  year.  Several  acres  of  his  farm  are  light,  high  and 
warm,  facing  the  sun,  the  best  possible  location  for 
Lima  beans.  He  has  had  Limas  on  this  field  every 
year  for  12  years.  Here  is  one  beauty  of  this  crop — it 
does  not  need  a  rotation,  but  will  grow  indefinitely  on 
the  part  of  the  farm  best  suited  to  it. 
This  farmer  keeps  only  one  horse  and  two  cows. 
Every  spring  he  buys  several  car-loads  of  stable  man¬ 
ure  from  the  city  and  spreads  it  on  the  ground  intended 
for  beans.  It  is  well  plowed  in  and  thoroughly  worked 
with  a  harrow  and  cultivator.  Stout  poles  are  then 
stuck  firmly  in  the  ground,  four  feet  apart  each  way. 
The  ground  is  first  marked  each  way  to  get  the  rows 
straight  and  then  holes  are  made  with  a  crowbar  for 
the  poles.  As  early  as  the  weather  permits,  say  the 
middle  or  latter  part  of  April,  the  beans  are  planted 
around  the  poles — five  or  six  to  each  hill.  In  plant¬ 
ing,  the  beans  are  simply  pushed  into  the  ground  an 
inch  or  so  with  the  eye  down.  Three  strong  vines  are 
enough  to  have  to  each  pole,  but  most  of  the  best 
farmers  plant  five  or  six  so  as  to  allow  for  all  losses  by 
rot  or  frost — as  in  cold,  damp  seasons  many  of  the 
beans  will  not  sprout  readily  and  they  are  easily 
nipped  by  the  frost.  The  early  bean  catches  the  profit. 
Those  first  in  the  market  frequently  bring  $3.50  to 
$4.50  per  bag,  while  in  10  days  the  price  may  drop  to 
$3.  Farmers  with  warm,  bright  hillsides  therefore 
often  take  their  chances  and  plant  earlier  than  others, 
preferring  to  take  the  risk  of  losing  the  crop  by  cold 
weather. 
From  the  day  the  beans  are  out  of  the  ground  until 
they  are  picked  there  is  “  always  something  to  do.” 
Before  the  vines  are  large  the  ground  is  cultivated 
both  ways  between  the  poles  with  a  horse  cultivator. 
When  the  vines  are  so  large  that  the  whilfletree  catches 
and  tears  them  off  the  horse  tools  are  taken  out  and 
hand  work  substituted.  There  is  plenty  of  this.  Not 
only  must  the  ground  be  kept  well  stirred  about  the 
plants  but  the  vines  must  be  twined  and  tied  around 
the  poles.  The  vines  are  carefully  tied  up  with  strings 
or  strips  of  waste  cloth.  Each  vine  is  liable  to  grow  sev¬ 
eral  inches  during  one  night,  and  as  they  straggle  in  all 
directions  one  can  imagine  that  9,000  poles  give  “quite 
some  work.”  This  is  a  job  where  light,  active  children 
are  useful.  We  have  often  seen  them  mounted  on 
chairs,  boxes  or  even  step  ladders  working  near  the 
top  of  the  poles  tying  the  rebellious  vines  into  shape. 
Few  things  in  the  vegetable  line  can  equal  a  stout 
Lima  bean  vine  for  being  “  mean  ”  when  it  makes  up 
its  mind  to  grow  across  to  another  pole.  When  the 
vines  reach  the  tops  of  the  poles  the  tips  are  nipped 
off  and  kept  from  spreading  across  the  rows.  The 
beans  ripen  gradually  through  the  season — from  the 
early  part  of  August  till  frost.  A  good  Lima  bean 
patch  is  a  beautiful  sight  when  at  its  best,  presenting 
a  solid  mass  of  dark  green  foliage  from  eight  to  ten 
feet  high. 
A  talk  with  our  Polish  friend  drew  out  the  following 
facts  concerning  his  culture: 
The  crop  suits  him  best  because  he  can  get  more 
money  to  the  acre  with  it  than  with  any  other.  The 
work,  while  constant,  is  light  and  gives  his  children  a 
chance  to  help.  It  can  be  grown  on  the  same  ground 
year  after  year.  The  “  life  ”  of  green  Lima  beans  is 
