1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
545 
Buying  Flour  or  Grinding  Wheat. 
Does  it  pay  better  to  sell  wheat  and  buy  flour  or  to  keep  enough 
wheat  for  your  own  use  and  have  It  ground  at  a  neighboring  mill,  pay¬ 
ing  the  usual  toll  in  flour  and  bran?  What  Is  the  usual  practice  In 
your  section? 
Here,  iu  Baltimore  County.  Md.,  I  always  sell  my 
wheat  and  buy  my  flour  and  believe  that  to  be  the 
best  and  most  economical  plan.  It  costs  something-  to 
carry  the  wheat  to  the  mill  and  then  go  after  the  flour, 
then  add  the  toll  and  the  fact  that  small  country  mills 
do  not  make  so  good  a  grade  of  flour  as  the  steel  roller 
mills,  and  I  believe  it  will  be  shown  that  my  plan  is 
the  best.  In  an  adjoining  county  where  there  is  a 
large  flouring  mill,  farmers  sell  their  wheat  crops  to 
the  mill  and  buy  their  flour  from  it,  choosing  any 
grade  they  please,  but  they  do  not  expect  to  get  it 
ground  from  their  own  wheat.  It  is  a  separate  and 
distinct  transaction.  In  my  section  I  know  of  no 
farmer  who  has  his  wheat  ground  for  his  own  use. 
A.  I,.  CUOSBY. 
Here,  in  Middlesex  County,  N.  J.,  in  earlier  days  we 
reserved  wheat,  and  had  it  ground  for  domestic  use  as 
needed.  Nowadays  the  practice  is  to  sell  all  our  wheat 
and  purchase  our  flour  as  needed,  or  exchange  wheat 
for  flour.  This  latter  has  been  the  rule  since  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  the  new  process — or  roller  flour.  My  own 
custom  is  to  sell  my  wheat  and  buy  my  flour  as  needed. 
D.  C.  LEWIS. 
The  primitive  method  of  taking  the  “  grist  ”  of  wheat 
to  the  mill  for  the  supply  of  flour  for  the  family  is 
still  adhered  to  by  myself  as  well  as  by  nearly  all  of 
the  farming  public  in  this  locality,  Seneca  County,  N. 
Y.  The  miller  deducts  one-tenth  of  the  amount  as 
toll,  leaving  us  3(5  pounds  of  flour  for  every  bushel  of 
merchantable  wheat,  besides  the  bran  and  canaille  ; 
the  latter  we  consider  as  profit  in  the  transaction, 
amply  paying  us  for  the  time  and  expense  of  going  to 
the  mill.  That  the  laboring  classes  often  prefer  to  buy 
wheat  at  the  market  price,  and  thus  obtain  their  flour 
and  the  usual  allowance  of  “  feed,”  is  sufficient  proof 
that  this  method  is  preferable  to  buying  the  flour,  pro¬ 
vided  they  can  send  it  with  the  farmer’s  grist  to  the 
mill  at  slight  expense.  Instances  occur  where  a  whiter, 
and,  as  considered  by  some,  a  superior  quality  of  bread 
is  desired,  and  then  Western  spring-wheat  flour  is 
bought  in  the  markets.  It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to 
add  that,  were  the  farmer  obliged  to  pay  teamsters’ 
usual  rates  for  taking  the  wheat  to  the  mill,  and  for 
leaving  the  flour  at  his  door,  he  would  at  once  con¬ 
clude  that  it  would  be  better  to  buy  his  flour,  but,  as 
it  is,  the  milling  is  often  done  at  odd  spells,  during 
rainy  weather,  etc.,  when  time  on  the  farm  would  be 
of  comparatively  little  account.  ikving  d.  cook. 
Some  Wheat-Seeding  Notes. 
Can  the  New  York  State  farmer  compete  with  the 
West  at  growing  wheat  ?  At  this  season  of  the  year 
this  question  comes  up  with  startling  regularity.  The 
answers  to  it  are  various.  “  No,”  says  the  farmer  who 
grows  10  or  12  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  “  I  have  tried  it 
and  know  what  I  am  talking  about.”  As  a  rule,  that 
man  has  a  large  farm — too  large  for  one  man  to  handle 
successfully.  He  uses  only  the  home  supply  of  man¬ 
ure,  and  the  creek  gets  a  share  of  that,  because  the 
barnyard  leaks,  and  lets  the  water  leach  through  the 
manure.  The  manure,  such  as  it  is,  is  thinly  scattered 
over  the  corn  or  potato  land,  and  the  wheat  gets  what 
these  crops  see  fit  to  leave.  No  wonder  the  West,  with 
its  newer  and  richer  soil,  improved  tools  and  easier 
cultivation,  can  raise  wheat  cheaper  than  such  a  farm 
as  this. 
While  this  man  is  right  in  what  he  says  about  the 
cost  of  a  bushel  of  wheat,  his  neighbor  may  tell  a  very 
different  story.  Mr.  Lewis,  for  example,  has  grown  as 
high  as  37  bushels  to  the  acre,  while  his  average,  one 
year  with  another,  is  over  25  bushels.  He  puts  no 
more  labor  and  time  on  his  crop  than  the  man  who 
grows  only  10  bushels.  The  only  difference  is  that  he 
feeds  better  than  the  other  man  does.  Some  farmers 
fail  with  the  corn  crop  because  they  do  not  hoe  or 
cultivate  it  properly  after  it  comes  up.  After  the 
wheat  crop  is  once  in  the  ground,  little  can  be  done  in 
the  way  of  working  it  until  it  is  ready  to  harvest  ;  so 
that  the  seed  bed  and  the  feed  are  the  two  chief  points 
to  be  considered  in  growing  wheat. 
The  Seed  Bed. — The  upper  two  inches  of  the  soil 
are  about  all  the  wheat  plant  has  any  use  for,  but  this 
part  cannot  be  too  carefully  or  finely  worked.  To  plow 
and  stir  the  soil  as  deeply  for  wheat  as  we  do  for  pota¬ 
toes  would  injure  rather  than  help  the  crop,  because 
the  seed  would  be  placed  too  deep  in  a  soil  that  would 
surely  run  together,  “  puddle  ”  and  heave  as  water, 
heat  or  frost  came  in  excess.  The  “  ideal  seed  bed” 
would  be  two  inches  of  soil  as  fine  and  open  as  a  bed  of 
ashes  on  top  of  a  firm,  solid  foundation.  We  see  from 
this  why  the  roller  is  so  popular  with  those  who  plow 
their  wheat  ground  deeply.  The  heavy  roller  firms  and 
compacts  the  soil,  crushing  and  powdering  the  lumps 
and  pushing  the  “  seed  bed”  into  a  solid  and  compact 
form.  Without  the  roller  such  deeply-plowed  soil 
would  be  too  open,  and  the  seed  would  not  only  be  de¬ 
layed  in  starting  up,  but  would  be  injured  by  the 
heaving  and  settling  of  the  ground.  This  also  explains 
why  potato  ground  that  is  to  go  into  wheat  is  seldom 
or  never  plowed  by  the  best  growers.  The  work  oi 
the  potato  digger  and  cultivator,  or  one  of  the  new 
diggers,  like  the  Cutaway  harrow,  is  suflicient  to  stir 
up  the  ground  to  the  necessary  depth,  and,  if  thor¬ 
oughly  fined  with  a  harrow,  such  ground  will  usually 
do  better  than  when  plowed  deeply.  In  fact,  the  best 
place  for  wheat  in  a  rotation  is  after  some  crop  like 
potatoes,  that  had  so  much  working  during  the  grow¬ 
ing  season  that  a  light  harrowing  or  cultivating  will 
properly  fit  the  land  for  wheat.  The  use  of  the  roller 
is  becoming  more  general,  particularly  on  farms  where 
wheat  is  sown  on  newly-plowed  grounds  or  on  a  sum¬ 
mer  fallow.  In  addition  to  the  reasons  given  else¬ 
where  in  this  issue  for  using  the  roller,  the  following 
are  given  by  the  Wisconsin  Experiment  Station  : 
1.  Rolling  makes  the  temperature  at  one  and  a  half 
inch  below  the  surface  from  one  degree  to  nine  de¬ 
grees  Fahrenheit  warmer  than  similar  unrolled  ground 
in  the  same  locality,  and  at  three  inches  one  degree  to 
six  degrees  warmer.  2.  Rolling  land  by  firming  the 
soil  increases  its  power  of  drawing  water  to  the  sur¬ 
face  from  below,  and  this  influence  has  been  observed 
to  extend  to  a  depth  of  three  feet.  3.  The  evapora¬ 
tion  of  moisture  is  more  rapid  from  unrolled  ground, 
unless  the  surface  soil  is  very  wet,  and  then  the  reverse 
is  true,  and  the  drying.  4.  In  cases  of  bi'oadcast  seed¬ 
ing,  germination  is  more  rapid  and  complete  on  rolled 
than  on  unrolled.  It  was  (53  per  cent  greater  on  rolled, 
greatest  in  dry  and  least  in  wet  weather,  and  weighed 
about  two  pounds  per  bushel  the  most.  Rolled  oats 
yielded  a  trifle  over  two  bushels  more  per  acre. 
Food  for  the  Wheat. — In  this  thin,  mellow  seed 
bed  suitable  plant  food  must  be  placed  evenly  and  in 
a  fine  condition.  Big,  thick  lumps  of  stable  manure 
are  out  of  place  in  a  wheat  seeding.  The  great  work 
of  preparing  the  seed  bed  has  been  to  crush  up  all 
clods  and  lumps.  The  young  wheat  plant  is  tender. 
It  will  have  a  hard  trial  during  the  winter  and  must 
make  a  good  growth  and  push  its  roots  in  firmly  before 
it  can  hope  to  live.  Its  food  must  be  within  reach  and 
so  soluble  that  the  plants  can  readily  use  it.  With 
the  usual  fitting  that  wheat  ground  receives  stable 
manure  is  not  a  good  dressing  for  wheat  seeding.  We 
should  prefer  to  use  all  the  stable  manure  on  the  corn, 
thus  condensing  the  farm’s  fertility  and  manuring  the 
corn  directly  and  the  wheat  indirectly.  If  used  on 
wheat  at  all,  we  should  prefer  to  apply  it  in  winter  as 
a  mulch  for  the  young  crop. 
rl  he  farmer  east  of  the  Alleghanies  and  in  many  sec¬ 
tions  to  the  west  of  them  must  depend  upon  chemical 
fertilizers  for  the  wheat  crop,  if  he  would  grow  it  at 
anything  of  a  profit.  The  average  farmer  does  not 
make  stable  manure  enough  to  feed  his  corn  crop  prop¬ 
erly.  It  would  be  economy  of  money,  labor  and  time 
if  he  would  apply  all  the  stable  manure  to  the  corn, 
and  yet  this  is  one  of  the  hardest  things  for  the  farmer 
to  believe.  In  the  present  condition  of  agriculture,  no 
Eastern  farmer  can  hope  to  compete  with  the  West 
and  use  stable  manure  on  his  wheat.  Yet  many  of 
those  who  use  chemical  fertilizers  make  three  mis¬ 
takes.  They  use  too  little,  goods  of  poor  quality,  and 
they  do  not  apply  them  to  the  best  advantage.  Too 
many  are  afraid  to  go  beyond  200  pounds  per  acre, 
when  their  soil  and  the  crop  they  expect  demand  400 
pounds.  It  is  safe  to  remember  that  on  well-prepared 
and  reasonably  level  ground,  wheat  fertilizer  is  not 
lost,  but  will  reappear,  if  not  in  grain,  in  the  shape 
of  grass.  It  is  just  as  foolish  to  buy  a  low-grade  fer¬ 
tilizer  as  it  is  to  buy  a  low-grade  cow.  They  are  both 
scrubs,  demanding  just  as  much  labor  and  time  as  the 
better  ones,  and  giving  far  less  returns.  Never  use  a 
fertilizer  that  your  State  chemist  does  not  amply  guar¬ 
antee  as  high-grade  and  suitable.  Don't  use  cheap  goods 
just  because  they  are  cheap.  The  proper  way  to  apply 
fertilizers  is  to  broadcast  them.  The  fertilizer  attach¬ 
ments  on  most  seed  drills  save  time  and  labor,  but  they 
do  not  give  the  wheat  plant  the  best  chance  to  grow. 
The  fertilizer  comes  too  close  to  the  seed  and  is  not 
spread  out  enough  thus  filling  the  entire  ground 
as  it  should.  Broadcast  the  fertilizer  before  drilling. 
It  will  mean  one  more  riding  over  the  land,  but  it  will 
pay.  When  farmers  understand  this  fertilizer  ques- 
lion,  as  they  will  some  day,  they  will  make  two  appli¬ 
cations  of  fertilizer — a  mixture  of  potash  and  phos¬ 
phate  in  the  fall  with  the  wheat,  and  a  dressing  of 
nitrate  of  soda  in  the  following  spring.  This  is  the 
ideal  fertilizing  for  wheat.  The  closer  we  come  to  it, 
the  more  money  we  save  in  buying  fertilizers  and  the 
greater  our  crop.  When  the  fertilizer  gives  out  you 
had  better  drive  to  the  barn  and  rest  rather  than  go 
on  seeding  without  it. 
Some  Hard-Hearted  Soil. 
(?.  S.,  La  Plume,  Pa. — Our  soil  is  a  heavy  clay  and 
has  been  worked  many  years  in  growing  small  fruits. 
It  has  become  very  hard  and  heavy  ;  applications  of 
both  commercial  and  stable  manures  fail  to  produce 
paying  ci’ops.  What  is  the  quickest  and  cheapest  way 
to  restore  it  ?  Does  it  injure  the  land  to  take  off  the 
small  stones  year  after  year  ?  Would  it  be  advisable 
to  sow  rape  to  be  plowed  in  ? 
Ans. — The  fact  that  neither  stable  nor  commercial 
manures  aid  in  the  productiveness  of  the  soil  is  a  pretty 
sure  indication  of  improper  physical  conditions.  If 
the  land  had  been  properly  drained,  an  application  of 
lime  and  kainit  would  doubtless  be  beneficial  and  aid 
in  the  production  of  a  clover  crop  which  should  be 
used  as  a  green  manure.  Twenty-five  bushels  of  lime 
and  400  to  500  pounds  of  kainit  per  acre  would  be  a 
fair  dressing.  The  lime  should  be  evenly  spread  and 
the  kainit  sown  broadcast  and  harrowed  in.  Clover 
may  be  sown  at  any  time  now  when  the  weather  con¬ 
ditions  are  favorable.  Crimson  or  Scarlet  Clover  might 
be  substitixted  for  the  red  varieties  if  suitable  to  the 
locality.  This  if  sown  now  would  mature  a  cx-op  ea'  ly 
enough  to  be  plowed  under  next  year  for  corn  or  pota¬ 
toes.  Clover  is  preferable  to  rape  for  green  manure. 
On  clayey  land  inclined  to  run  or  bake,  removing  the 
small  stones  would  be  likely  to  be  detrimental. 
E.  b.  voorhees. 
Down  with  the  Weeds. 
Weeds  have  their  uses  if  plowed  under  the  soil  before 
they  go  to  seed.  In  fact  chemical  analysis  indicates 
that  some  of  our  common  weeds  are  better  for  green 
manuring  than  some  sorts  of  grass.  We  don’t  advo¬ 
cate  the  growing  of  weeds  as  a 
special  ci*op.  The  kind  providence 
that  makes  a  business  of  shaming 
the  lazy  man,  sows  weed  seeds  a 
plenty,  and  every  one  of  them  is 
bound  to  grow.  Fight  the  weeds, 
but  if  they  are  beating  you,  plow 
them  down  before  they  seed.  Well 
how  ?  That  is  a  fair  ques¬ 
tion,  as  any  one  who  has 
tried  to  plow  under  a  mass 
of  green  growth  and  make  a 
clean  job  of  it  will  testify. 
We  are  often  advised  to  tie  a 
chain  to  the  plow  and  drag 
the  weeds  down.  This  works 
everywhere  but  in  actual 
Fig.  230.  practice.  One  reason  why 
gi’een  manuring  is  not  more 
practiced  is  becaxxse  of  the  difficulty  of  doing  a  clean 
job  at  plowing.  In  our  opinion  the  man  who  invented 
the  little  device  shown  at  Fig.  230  solved  this  problem. 
It  is  called  t^ie  “  Lambert  Plow  Coulter  ”  and  is  made 
by  Lambert  &  Young,  East  Orrington,  Maine.  No  use 
describing  it— see  for  yourself  how  the  metal  arm 
holds  the  growth  down  firmly  till  the  plow  covers  it. 
We  believe  it  will  pi’ove  a  first-rate  thing  and  its 
price  is  low  enough  for  anybody. 
Business  Bits. 
IIon.  Andrew  D.  White  writes  this:  “In  my  opinion,  ‘grain 
gambling, ’  as  at  present  conducted  In  this  country,  Is  a  sort  of  cancer, 
whose  malignant  roots  extend  to  every  town  in  the  land  where  there  Is 
a  ticker.  It  Is  on  many  accounts  far  worse  than  the  lottery  ticket 
gambling,  about  which  so  much  has  been  said  and  done,” 
Going  to  use  fertilizer  on  your  wheat  this  fall  ?  Of  course,  if  you 
expect  any  crop  1  Wbat  are  you  going  to  use  ?  “Don't  know— want  to 
save  all  the  money  I  can.”  Well,  then,  get  the  best  goods  you  can  find, 
and  save  money  at  the  right  end.  What’s  the  matter  with  the  Bradley 
goods  ?  They’re  all  right,  and  will  help  to  fill  your  wheat  bln. 
Canning  Fruits.— Some  weeks  ago  Mr.  Chapman  wrote  about  the 
home  fruit  canning  Industry  of  Mr.  Bradbury.  We  have  been  trying 
to  obtain  the  full  particulars  regarding  the  methods  employed.  Here 
Is  what  Mr.  Bradbury  himself  says:  “  If  I  should  give  a  description  of 
my  method  of  putting  up  fruits  and  vegetables  it  would  bo  of  but 
little  use  to  others,  as  every  one  has  a  different  idea  In  regard  to  the 
amount  of  sugar  to  be  put  In  the  fruit.  The  fact  Is  that  putting 
up  fine  fruits  Is  like  making  fine  bread,  cake,  etc.,  or  doing  first- 
class  cooking-the  manner  of  doing  the  work  is  learned  only  by  long 
practice.” 
We  are  in  receipt  of  Bulletin  No.  43  from  the  New  York  State  Ex¬ 
periment  Station,  and  it  Is  a  highly  valuable  and  practical  contribu¬ 
tion  to  the  dairy  literature  of  the  country.  It  contains  an  account  of 
a  continuation,  during  last  May,  of  the  experiments  in  cheese  making 
which  were  begun  last  year  and  which  It  Is  proposed  to  carry  through 
the  season.  The  experiments  are  conducted  by  the  station  officials 
with  the  cfioperatlon  of  the  cheese  expeits  of  the  State  Dairy  Com¬ 
mission.  Every  cheese  maker  should  secure  these  bulletins,  if  pos¬ 
sible,  as  he  will  find  them  of  great  value.  Wo  shall  make  further 
notes  on  this  one  at  a  later  date. 
That  Old  Fraud.— a  concern  calling  itself  the  Ohio  Fruit  Com 
pany,  but  which  smacks  of  Bain,  Is  sending  out  circulars  pertaining  to 
the  “  California  Cold  Process  ”  of  preserving  fruit.  It  kindly  conveys 
the  Information  that  the  material  used  in  this  process  Is  “  the  com¬ 
pound  extract  of  salyx.”  Of  course,  you  go  to  your  druggist  for  this, 
and  he  has  never  heard  of  it.  Then  the  “  Ohio  Fruit  Company  ”  will’ 
step  in  and  furnish  the  article.  That’s  the  scheme.  It  Is  modelled 
after  that  distinguished  philanthropist,  who,  though  his  “  sands  of  life 
have  nearly  run  out,”  is  still  anxious  to  send  you  a  valuable  prescrip¬ 
tion  free.  One  Is  as  big  a  fraud  as  the  other.  If  this  company  sends 
anything,  It  would  probably  be  salicylic  acid,  a  poisonous  drug,  which 
should  never  enter  food  preparations,  but  which  has  wonderful  powers 
in  destroying  the  germs  of  fermentation,  and  so  preserving  fruits, 
juices,  etc.  We  hope  our  readers  will  let  these  preparations  severely 
alone.  They  are  dangerous  to  health 
