298 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
May  7 
A  Maryland  Farmer’s  Business. 
GETTING  BIG  RETURNS  FOR  WATER. 
Does  Such  Farming  Pay  ? 
Mr.  A.  R.  Brigden,  of  Caroline  County,  Md.,  has 
l>een  much  interested  in  the  accounts  of  the  farm  sales 
of  Mr.  Lewis  and  others.  At  our  request  he  sends  us 
the  following  sales  from  his  110-acre  farm,  95  acres  of 
which  are  tillable  : 
Berry  plants . 
...  *223.57 
Buckwheat  flour. . . 
...  $114.68 
Strawberries . 
...  2,743.40 
Eggs  and  poultry.. 
...  540.05 
Raspberries . 
..  295.67 
Vegetables . 
...  90.35 
Wheat . 
..  409.50 
Butter . 
...  28.75 
Scarlet  Clover  seed . 
..  427.45 
Red  Clover  seed... 
...  58.1X1 
Peaches . 
..  425.12 
Meat,  pigs,  etc . 
...  57.20 
32.69 
Buckwheat . 
...  20.80 
Total . *5,485.29 
Mr.  Brigden  says  that  he  flatters  himself  he  can 
handle  a  farm,  but  when  it  comes  to  handling  a  pen 
to  tell  about  it.  he  doesn't  pretend  to  make  a  big 
success.  He  has,  however,  kindly  answered  a  number 
of  questions  from  which  we  can  make  up  the  following 
statement.  During  the  year  we  hope  to  visit  the  farm 
and  make  a  more  complete  story. 
Nine  years  ago  the  soil  was  poor  and  worn  out.  By 
the  heavy  use  of  lime,  fertilizers  and  clover  Mr.  B.  has 
brought  it  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He  gets  two 
crops  a  year  off  much  of  his  land.  For  example,  corn 
can  be  grown  after  strawberries  and  early  clover, 
or  buckwheat  after  wheat  seeded  with  Scarlet 
Clover;  or  after  clover  grown  for  seed.  He  tries  to 
make  the  land  produce  all  it  can  and  to  feed  all  it 
needs.  The  year's  expenses,  including  berry  picking, 
crates  and  baskets,  feed,  fertilizers,  and  everything 
else,  amounted  to  $3,000.  This,  though  large,  left  a 
good  profit  out  of  the  $5,485.29  of  total  sales. 
The  stock  kept  are  two  work  horse  teams,  three 
colts,  two  cows,  a  few  pigs  and  about  200  layicg  hens. 
Plymouth  Rocks  and  Brown 
Leghorns  are  kept ;  mainly 
the  former.  Thus  we  see 
that  Mr.  B.  is  a  “chemicals 
and  clover”  farmer  though 
in  a  different  way  from  Mr. 
Lewis  in  the  fact  that  he 
grows  different  crops  and 
depends  largely  upon  clover 
and  phosphoric  acid  in¬ 
stead  of  complete  fertilizers 
The  year’s  supply  of  fer¬ 
tility  in  addition  to  the 
clover,  is  about  12  tons  of 
fertilizer  —  chiefly  b  o  n  e 
meal — and  all  the  manure 
made  on  the  farm — about 
75  loads.  No  stable  man¬ 
ure,  as  we  understand,  is 
ever  bought.  The  bulk 
of  the  fertilizer  is  used  on 
strawberries — at  least  a  ton 
to  the  acre  —  about  1,200 
pounds  the  first  year  and 
800  pounds  mixed  with 
three  times  its  weight  of  hen  manure  the  second 
season.  The  fertilizer  used  is  a  mixture  of  bone  meal, 
dissolved  bone  and  acid  South  Carolina  rock.  Mr.  B. 
has  studied  the  fertilizer  question  as  it  applies  to  his 
farm  with  great  care  and  has  found  : 
1.  What  his  soil  most  needs  is  phosphoric  acid. 
2.  Potash  has  never  given  him  satisfactory  returns 
and  he  concludes  that  it  is  not  yet  needed  on  his  soil. 
3.  His  heavy  growths  of  clover,  with  the  nitrogen 
bought  in  the  bone,  supply  all  of  that  element  that  he 
thus  far  needs. 
A  knowledge  of  these  facts  has  saved  him  many 
hundreds  of  dollars.  The  only  way  to  know  anything 
about  this  farming  with  chemicals  is  to  find  out  through 
careful  experiments.  Mr.  B.  says  he  never  will  put  in 
a  crop  that  is  not  fertilized  or  manured.  Of  his  bone 
mixture  he  uses  400  pounds  on  wdieat,  300  on  buck¬ 
wheat,  400  on  corn  and  400  on  the  peach  orchards. 
The  stable  manure  is  used  on  raspberries,  blackberries, 
asparagus  and  tomatoes. 
Mr.  B.  says  he  does  not  follow  any  regular  rotation. 
Wheat  is  sown  on  clover  sod.  Corn  follows  straw¬ 
berries — often  two  crops  of  fruit.  Strawberries  are 
set  out  on  either  wheat  or  corn  stubble — the  latter 
being  preferred.  The  strawberry  crop  is  always  set 
on  new  land,  that  is,  not  on  the  same  piece  it  occupied 
before  it  was  plowed  up  and  planted  to  corn.  Some 
of  the  land  is  kept  constantly  in  buckwheat  and 
Scarlet  Clover — first  one  crop  and  then  t^e  other — two 
crops  every  year.  Wheat  is  always  seeded  to  Red 
Clover.  Fifteen  acres  of  the  farm  are  taken  up  with 
buildings,  pasture  and  a  field  for  hay. 
The  strawberry  crops  run  two  years — that  is,  twro 
crops  of  fruit  are  taken  from  the  beds.  One  bed  is 
planted  each  year  and  one  is  plowed. 
Scarlet  Clover  is  the  great  renovating  crop  of  this 
farm.  It  is  seeded  in  July  and  August.  Mr.  B.  says 
he  has  known  it  seeded  the  last  of  September  and  still 
do  well.  It  comes  in  bloom  by  May  1,  and  ripens  its 
seed  by  June  1,  thus  giving  a  fine  chance  for  a  second 
crop  to  follow  it  in  the  latitude  of  Maryland. 
Mr.  Brigden’s  system  of  farming  is  both  instructive 
and  interesting.  The  fact  that  he  can  avoid  buying 
large  quantities  of  nitrogen  and  potash  is  due  partly 
to  the  crops  he  sells.  With  the  exception  of  the  clover 
seed,  wheat,  buckwheat  and  butter,  all  the  products 
sold  are  over  85  per  cent  water.  Only  20  per  cent  of 
the  total  products  sold  take  any  appreciable  portion 
of  fertility  away  from  the  soil,  the  $4,000  of  berries, 
fruits  and  eggs  probably  taking  less  than  Mr.  Lewis's 
hay  crop  alone.  Again,  in  that  part  of  Maryland  the 
quick-growing  Scarlet  Clover  will  survive  the  winters 
and  thus  shorten  the  rotation. 
Mr.  B.  says  he  did  not  sell  all  he  raised,  by  any 
means.  The  family  had  their  full  share,  as  they  fully 
believe  in  having  a  chance  at  the  good  things  of  life — 
a  sensible  conclusion  by  the  way. 
Chemicals  and  Celery.- VI. 
now  I  GREW  $2,000  WORTH  ON  ONE  ACRE. 
Irrigating  Celery  and  Other  Crops. 
The  only  enemy  of  celery  is  dry  weather.  A  crop 
can  be  raised  with  a  greater  degree  of  certainty  than 
of  anything  else,  providing  it  has  all  the  water  it 
needs,  and  of  all  crops  none  is  more  dependent  on 
water  for  success.  The  plant  is  very  hardy  and  is  not 
subject  to  disease  ;  neither  do  insects  attack  it.  If 
plants  are  set  out  they  must  be  transplanted  during 
the  warm  weather  of  June  and  July.  If  there  is  no 
water  for  sprinkling  the  plants  and  wetting  the 
ground,  the  majority  of  your  plants  will  be  lost  in  a 
dry  time. 
The  celery  ground  around  Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  is  a 
deep  muck.  In  the  spring  it  is  drained  with  tile  and 
in  the  summer  the  outlets  of  these  tiles  are  stopped  up 
and  water  from  the  springs  and  streams  of  the  hills  is 
let  in  at  the  upper  ends  of  these  drains,  giving  moist¬ 
ure  to  the  soil  in  the  driest  season:  $70  per  acre  rent 
has  been  paid  for  one  season’s  use  of  celery  ground 
near  Kalamazoo. 
A  very  successful  celery  grower  at  or  near  Mount 
Morris,  N.  Y.,  has  about  10  acres  of  muck  soil  under 
irrigation  by  flooding.  A  stream  is  tapped  some  dis¬ 
tance  above  his  field  and  conducted  to  the  upper  part 
by  a  ditch.  Then  the  main  ditch  is  tapped  at  intervals 
of  30  feet,  letting  the  water  flow  into  smaller  ditches 
leading  to  the  lower  part  of  the  field.  The  smaller 
ditches  are  dammed  up  to  allow’  the  soil  to  get 
thoroug’hly  saturated  with  water.  When  this  is  accom¬ 
plished,  the  dams  are  removed  and  placed  lower  down 
the  ditch.  This  is  the  Western  method  of  irrigating. 
For  growing  large  crops  upon  an  extensive  scale  this 
is  the  cheapest,  most  effective  and  altogether  the  most 
satisfactory  method  of  irrigating.  If  you  have  a  stream 
that  is  available  for  irrigating  your  ground  in  this 
manner,  appreciate  it  highly  and  utilize  it  as  soon  as 
you  can. 
We  must  irrigate  to  guard  against  the  disappointments 
and  failures  due  to  dry  spells  and  to  prevent  the  great 
consequent  losses.  The  rights  and  privileges  to  the 
streams  in  New  Eng’land  are  claimed  by  the  mills  or 
factories  in  nearly  all  available  places:  therefore  we 
cannot  adopt  the  Western  method  in  all  places.  We 
shall  be  obliged  to  resort  to  pumping  by  portable 
steam  engines  and  pumps,  or  stationary  boilers  and 
pumps.  Dumps  are  now  made  that  with  a  20  or  25- 
horse  power  boiler,  can  lift  water  20  or  25  feet  at  the 
rate  of  250  gallons  per  minute.  Mr.  Budlong.  of 
Auburn,  R.  I.,  uses  a  portable  force  pump  for  which 
he  paid  $1,500,  including  hose.  etc.  He  estimated  that 
he  made  $3,000  from  its  use  the  first  season.  He  also 
states  that  tomatoes,  onions  and  celery  are  specially 
benefited  by  irrigation.  Mr.  Pratt  of  Auburn,  R.  I. , 
uses  a  stationary  force  pump,  forcing  the  water  on  his 
grounds  through  2  and  2 M  inch  pipes  having  attach¬ 
ments  for  hose  at  convenient  intervals.  Mr.  Potter, 
also  of  Auburn,  R.  I.,  has  a  stationary  steam  pump 
which  forces  the  water  into  a  large  tank  elevated  50 
feet.  From  this  it  is  conducted  through  iron  pipes 
where  wanted.  These  men  are  successful  market 
gardeners.  From  nearly  all  their  irrigated  ground 
two  crops  are  taken  every  season.  They  could  not 
succeed  without  water.  When  irrigating,  thoroughly 
saturate  the  ground:  then  let  it  stand  until  it  dries  up. 
At  the  West  grain  is  irrigated  only  twice  or  three  times 
and  potatoes  three  or  four  times.  A  very  large  ditch 
has  been  recently  constructed  at  a  cost  of  $1,000,000 
to  irrigate  the  valley  in  the  vicinity  of  Ogden,  Utah. 
With  an  abundant  supply  of  water  and  a  judicious  use 
of  chemical  fertilizers,  the  soil  of  the  East  is  made  more 
productive  than  that  of  the  West,  and  the  higher 
market  prices  obtained  for  the  products  there  will  pay 
for  the  fertilizers.  Farmers,  estimate  the  losses  in  your 
neighborhood  by  drought  some  dry  season,  then  the 
expenses  of  irrigating,  and  you  will  find  that,  in  some 
instances,  they  will  balance.  Robert  niven. 
Benefits  from  Spraying  Apples. 
The  picture  shown  at  Fig.  145  is  taken  from  the 
last  bulletin  of  the  Massachusetts  Experiment  Station 
at  Amherst,  Mass.,  by  Prof.  S.  T.  Maynard,  one  of  the 
best  bulletins  on  spraying  that  has  yet  been  published. 
One  experiment  was  to  prevent  the  apple  scab  and 
destroy  the  tent  caterpillar  and  codling  moth.  The 
trees  were  sprayed  April  16  and  17,  some  with  sul¬ 
phate  of  copper  (one  pound  to  25  gallons  of  water), 
some  with  sulphate  of  iron  (one  pound  in  two  gallons 
of  water),  and  others  with  the  Bordeaux  mixture. 
On  May  5  the  trees  were 
sprayed  with  Bordeaux 
mixture  and  Paris-green 
,one  pound  to  200  gallons), 
and  again  on  May  21  and 
June  9  with  the  same.  On 
July  10  they  were  sprayed 
with  ammoniacal  carbonate 
of  copper  (one  pound  to  25 
gallons  of  water),  and  on 
August  13  with  the  same. 
The  foliage  on  the  sprayed 
trees  showed  much  less  scab 
than  that  of  those  un¬ 
sprayed,  and  the  fruit  was 
entirely  free  from  scab. 
The  cut  easily  shows  the 
difference  in  appearance  be¬ 
tween  the  sprayed  and  un¬ 
sprayed  fruit,  the  latter 
being  covered  with  the 
well-known  blotches  of 
“scab.”  The  middle  apple 
was  intended  to  show  the 
result  of  the  copper  solu¬ 
tions  on  the  fruit,  “  which  causes  the  breaking  of  the 
epidermis  or  skin  of  the  apple,  giving  it  a  russet  appear¬ 
ance.”  The  photograph  does  not  bring  this  out  clearly. 
It  appeared  on  almost  all  the  fruit  sprayed,  but  did  not 
injure  it  in  general* appearance,  because  it  is  confined 
to  the  blossom  end.  Such  fruit  will  keep  as  well  as 
that  not  so  marked.  The  tent  caterpillars  were  almost 
all  killed  by  the  sprajdngs  on  May  5  and  21,  and  the 
fruit  on  the  sprayed  trees  showed  about  20  per  cent 
less  wormy  specimens  than  that  on  the  unsprayed 
ones.  Pear  D-ees  treated  with  the  same  solutions  gave 
favorable  results,  though  not  so  marked  as  with  the 
apple  trees. 
For  spraying  in  1892  Prof.  Maynard  advises  apple 
growers  to  spray  with  the  sulphate  of  copper  or  sul¬ 
phate  of  iron  solutions  (given  above)  to  destroy  spores 
of  apple  scab  and  leaf  blight.  For  tent  caterpillar, 
canker-worm  and  bud  moth,  use  Bordeaux  mixture 
(one-half  strength)  with  Paris-green,  one  pound  to  150 
gallons,  just  before  the  blossoms  unfold,  and  for  the 
same  and  codling  moth  as  soon  as  the  petals  have 
fallen.  Make  a  third  application  two  weeks  from  the 
time  the  petals  fall  (if  there  has  been  no  heavy  rain) 
then  use  the  ammoniacal  carbonate  of  copper  (one 
pound  to  50  gallons  of  water)  at  intervals  of  two  to 
four  weeks,  according  to  the  weather,  until  the  middle 
of  August. 
For  the  plum  curculio  the  Bordeaux  mixture  (half 
strength)  with  one  pound  of  Paris-green  to  200  gallons 
is  recommended. 
As  soon  as  the  larvae  of  the  potato  beetle  begin  to 
appear,  spray  with  the  Bordeaux  mixture,  one-half 
strength,  and  Paris-green  one  pound  to  100  gallons. 
Use  the  same  mixture  as  often  as  they  appear  in  suf¬ 
ficient  numbers  to  be  injurious.  If  the  weather  should 
be  warm  and  moist,  applications  should  be  made  at 
intervals  of  from  one  to  three  weeks  after  the  vines 
have  blossomed,  of  the  Bordeaux  mixture,  one-half 
strength  or  the  ammoniacal  carbonate  of  copper,  one 
SPRAYED.  SPRAYED.  UNSPRAYED. 
Benefits  of  Spraying  Apples  for  Scar  and  Insects.  Fig.  145. 
