62 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TAN. 24 
A PROBLEM FOR GRAIN FARMERS. 
How to Best Dispose of Farm Produce : Sell Grain 
and Buy Feed. 
In conversation with a farmer a few days ago in regard 
to the prospects of farming in general, he said that he had 
pursued grain and stock farming for nearly 40 years in 
central New Jersey; that, on the whole, he had made it 
pay, not very highly in dollars and cents, but in the sense 
that he had always come out a little ahead at the end of 
the year. He had always had good health, a good living, 
and altogether an enjoyable life. He also stated that he 
thought “that under the conditions existing this year, 
there was a chance to make a little more money than 
formerly by his method «f farming if he knew a little 
more about buying concentrated feeds for his stock; ” and 
asked if it was possible to sell all his grain and buy feeds 
to keep his stock in prime condition and the fertility of 
the farm without material reduction. He stated his con¬ 
ditions essentially as follows: His farm consisted of 
about 150 acres ; in area and yield the crops were : Wheat, 
25 acres, 500 bushels ; corn, 25 acres, 2,600 bushels of ears, 
which would shell 1,430 bushels; oats, 25 acres, 1,000 
bushels ; hay, 40 acres, 75 tons, 40 of which consisted of 
about four parts of clover to one of Timothy, the remaining 
35 tons being prime Timothy. The remainder of the farm 
was meadow pasture, with about four acres of woodland. 
The stock consisted of five horses, four two-year-old steers, 
six yearlings, 12 calves five to nine months old, and six 
milch cows. It was his custom to feed the two-year-olds 
four pounds of corn meal per day, the yearlings a pound 
of oats, and the calves about half a pound per day. The 
cows were fed when in milk on about five pounds of ground 
corn and oats; and all had, in addition to the feed, all the 
corn-stalks and straw they would eat, hay being used only 
when stalks are gone. The horses were fed about six pounds 
of oats daily for six months, and double that amount when 
amount for the calves; and also that the horses are fed 
throughout the year and that the cattle are in the yard 
for six months. Feeding the horses mixed hay through¬ 
out the year and substituting in their daily rations five 
pounds of bran for six of oats, or one of linseed meal for 
two of oats, and substituting two pounds of cotton seed 
meal for six of corn meal for the steers, feeding the year¬ 
lings half a pound and the calves a quarter of a pound of 
linseed meal per day ; giving the milch cows a mixture of 
two pounds of bran and one of linseed meal instead of five 
First Floor of Fruit Barn. Fig. 26. 
pounds of ground corn and oats, the actual digestible 
food compounds in the daily rations furnished to the ani¬ 
mals, would be at least an equivalent in amount to those 
fed by the farmer, and more than an equivalent in food 
value, because provided in more economical proportions. 
The corn-stalks consumed being the same in both methods 
of feeding, and nine tons of mixed clover being substituted 
for nine of Timothy in the old method, the general changes 
would stand as follows : 
Deducting this cost from No. 2 , the balance would stand: 
Value of sales under No. 2 , or proposed method....$1,509 25 
V alue of sales under No. 1, or farmer’s method_ 1,267.00 
Gain from proposed method. $242.25 
It is evident therefore that the farmer could sell all his 
corn, all his oats, and all his Timothy hay, properly feed 
his stock and make $242 25. There is, however, another 
matter to be taken into consideration in reference to fer¬ 
tility, and that leads to the question : By which method 
is the greatest amount of fertility or plant food elements 
made on the farm t In the extra 660 bushels of oats and 
100 bushels of corn sold under the ne *v method there are 
contained 496 pounds of nitrogen, 207 of phosphoric acid 
and 153 of potash. By selling all the Timothy hay and re¬ 
taining the clover, there are saved to the farm 160 pounds 
of nitrogen and 68 of potash. There are contained in the 
foods bought: 
Nltro- Phos Pot- 
geh. acid. ash. 
7 tons of wheat bran. 343 ' 408 322 
1 ton of linseed meal. 114 44 32 
Y\ ton of cotton seed meal... 105 48 39 
Add difference in favor of selling Timothy 160 68 
Totfll . ... 722 500 351 
Deduct from this total the amounts sold in extra oats 
and corn and we have remaining 
Nitrogen, Phos Acid, Potash, 
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
722 500 351 
m , 496 207 153 
To the credit of the pro-1 - - - 
posed method.j 226 293 198 
This is equivalent to two tons of a high grade commer¬ 
cial fertilizer, which would cost at least $35 per ton. 
It is but fair, then, to add $70 to the $242.25, making a total 
of $312.25 in favor of selling grain and buying concentrated 
feeds in the manner indicated. This amount would be 
on full work in summer, and, in addition, all the mixed hay Farmer's Method, No. 1 .— The horses would consume 
they would eat in winter, and Timothy hay when at hard nine tons of Timothy hay, nine tc"'t of clover mixed and 
work in summer ; sometimes a little corn was mixed with 
the oats. He was also feeding half a dozen shoats all the 
corn they would eat. In the local markets corn was 
worth 60 cents to 65 cents per bushel; oats, 55 cents ; 
Timothy hay, prime, $12, and mixed hay, mostly clover, 
$7 i o $8 per ton. He had always had a prejudice against 
selling hay, but in recent years had sold enough to buy a 
ton or so of fertilizer each year. It had also seemed 
queer to him to have farmers buy any kind of food for 
stock—" they ought to raise enough.” I know the above 
statements to be in the main correct, and it is evident 
from them that the gentleman has a good farm, and is a 
liberal feeder in his way. 
The question asked is, however, very interesting, and 
for three reasons: 1 , because the detailed statement in 
connection with the question is proof that the old-line 
farmer is beginning to think that some way other than his 
way may be better; 2 , because the conditions given are 
true in a general way at least for a large proportion ot 
farmers of the Middle and Central Western States, and, 3 , 
because it is an indication that there are farmers who are 
successful in the best sense of that term, even under the 
present depressed condition of agriculture. 
The question as stated needs to be studied from two 
Second Floor of Fruit Barn. Fig. 27. 
standpoints: 1, of fertility; 2, of food. The farmers’ 
capital stock is fertility; when converted into grain, hay, 
etc., it has a fertilizing and feeding value regardless of 
market price; that is, if the produce be returned to the 
laud it will again aid in the growth of plants by virtue of 
the manurial elements contained in it; if used as food, the 
compounds in certain quantities of it will, under proper 
conditions, produce a certain quantity of beef, pork or 
milk, as the case may be. In the case under consideration, 
the actual food produced is in excess of the requirements 
of the stock kept. Disregarding] food values entirely, the 
first important point is fertility. Chemical analyses of 
all the crops mentioned except wheat—which should be 
sold in any case—show that they contain the following 
average amounts per ton of the essential fertilizing ele¬ 
ments—nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash : 
Pounds of Pounds of Pounds of 
nitrogen. 
phos. acid. 
potash. 
Clover hay, mixed..... 
40.0 
7.20 
33.6 
Timothy hay. 
20.0 
7.20 
26.0 
Corn. 
29.0 
12.40 
7.8 
Oats. 
37.2 
15.40 
11.8 
The farmer by selling clover hay at $8 per ton, Timothy 
at $ 12 , corn at 60 cents per bushel, or $21.40 per ton, and 
oats at 50 cents per bushel, or $31.20 per ton, would receive 
the following prices per pound for his essential elements 
of fertility, i. e., those that are usually required to form 
the basis of value of commercial fertilizers : 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid, Potash. 
Cents. Cents. Cents. 
Clover hay, mixed. 15.0 7 0 4 0 
Timothy hay. 40.7 19.1 lo '8 
Corn. 58.0 27.3 15 4 
Oats. 65.6 30.8 17.4 
Mixed hay would bring for fertilizing elements alone 
lets than would have to be paid for them in the best brands 
of commercial fertilizers. The elements in the Timothy 
hay would bring about 2% times as much, while the corn 
and oats on the same basis would bring comparatively 
high prices. From the standpoint of fertility, then, the 
teaching is plain, viz., that we should sell, first, oats ; sec¬ 
ond, corn, third, Timothy hay, and feed clover at home. 
There should be a well developed prejudice against selling 
clover hay at any price less that $15 per ton. 
Coming now to the question of food 1 Could the farmer 
sell all his grain, all his Timothy hay, and still keep his 
stock in good growing condition by buying concentrated 
feeds, and if so, how much would he make by the opera¬ 
tion ? In this case we have to assume that the term " all 
they will eat ” of hay and stalks means 20 pounds of hay 
per day for the horses, and 35 pounds of corn-stalks, or an 
equivalent in hay for the grown cattle,and a proportionate 
500 bushels of oats. The cattle altogether would have 
corn stalks and straw, ad libitum, together with 100 
bushels of corn and 160 bushels of oats. 
Proposed Method, No. 2 —The horses would consume 
18 tons of clover-mixed hay, six tons of wheat bran, or a 
part of the bran would be replaced by an equivalent in 
food value of linseed meal or dried brewers’ grains. The 
cattle, in addition to the corn-stalks, would consume 20 
tons of mixed clover hay, one ton of wheat bran, one 
ton of linseed meal and 1,500 pounds of cotton-seed meal. 
The sales of grain under these differing conditions would 
stand as follows, if in both cases 50 bushels of oats were 
1 ~~~~! 
Fodder 
1 
JjLL :-V-, 
| iCrain . __ * 
Floor 
tZKit) 
Hay 
.10X20 
1_ 
\lcetrif. 
Med ding 
10X20 
Third Floor of Fruit Barn. Fig. 28. 
reserved tor seed, and 100 bushels of corn reserved for the 
shoats : 
1.—No Food Purchased, or Farmer’s Method. 
290 bushelsof oats at 50cents per bushel.. .$145.00 
1,230 bushels of corn at 60 cents per bushel... 738 00 
26 tons of Timothy hay at $12 per ton. 312 00 
9 tons of clover hay at $8 per ton. 72 00 
Total Sales.$1,267.00 
2.—Food Purchased, or Proposed Method. 
950 bushels of oats at 50 cents per bushel.. .$475 00 
1,330 bushels of corn at 60 cents per bushel... 798 00 
35 tons of Timothy hay at $12 per ton. 420.00 
Tota ^.$1,693.00 
Cost of Food Purchased. 
7 tons of wheat bran at $20 per ton.$140.00 
1 ton of linseed meal at $25 per ton. 25.00 
% ton of cotton-seed meal at $25 per ton__ 18^75 
Total cost of food bought.$183.75 
equivalent to three per cent interest on the capital this 
farmer has invested in his farm ; or, better still, more than 
equivalent to the yearly expenses of his son at the agri¬ 
cultural college of his State, where a knowledge of sci¬ 
ence in all its relations to the farm may be secured. 
N. J. Experiment Station. E. b. voorhees. 
GOOD BARN FOR A FRUIT GROWER. 
At Figs 26, 27 and 28, are shown plans for a building 
which I consider well adapted to the wants of a fruit 
grower. The basement is not shown. It consists of a 
cellar 20x52 feet and an inclosed winter shed of the same 
size. The sides and ends of this shed are shingled and 
made in 10 and 12 -foot sections, hinged to the sides of the 
barn three feet above the first floor so that they may be 
raised and braced from the posts below, thus making In 
summer a covered barn-yard 30x72 feet, a capital place to 
keep apples till cold weather. The wings of the basement 
wall are at A A, Fig. 26, an arrangement which admits of 
a drive-way on the next floor. The cellar is kept cool and 
dry by conveying the wastage of the ice house in metal 
troughs or pipes along the ceiling and on these conductors 
all humidity will be condensed. 
Fig. 26 shows the first floor with two smaller cellars 
which may be connected with the ice-house by doors and 
which are suitable for retarding grapes and pears, keep¬ 
ing berries fresh till shipped or for the storage of cider 
vinegar. A draft from the ice-house through either or all 
of the cellars may be created by an air-shaft, with suitable 
connections, extending from the basement to the roof and 
surrounded between the stable and basement floors by a 
trunk filled from above with horse manure which can be 
removed from below as fermentation ceases. Stabling for 
four horses and two cows is deemed sufficient for a fruit 
specialist; but a nice shop which may be also used for a 
carriage shelter, is indispensable. It will be seen that the 
tread-power is so situated as to be handy to the stable 
while affording power at all needed points on each floor. 
At Fig. 27 is shown the location of the cider mill, gran¬ 
ary, mows, etc , on the second floor, while Fig. 28 shows 
the third floor, suitable for storing and working up cider 
apples in their season and the winter protection of farm 
implements after the roof of the basement shed is let 
down. The posts need not extend above this floor, except 
for side gables over the drive-way, unless more stock than 
above mentioned is kept. 
Some men have more muscle than brains; when they 
happen to be farmers, they drive on to the first floor with 
their crops and pitch and carry them all upward till they 
leave the barn. From the way everything—fodder, bed- 
ding, grain, cider apples, cider, pomace, ice, manure_ 
gravitates downward in this barn, the designer evidently 
thinks horse-power cheaper than man-power, and the hill¬ 
sides of western Maryland cheaper than horse-hay forks. 
Garrett County, Md. q ^ sweet 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Shull the Distance Apart of the Seed Pieces 
Planted be Proportionate to the Size 
of the Seed? 
Mr. T. B. Terry, in commenting upon the experiments 
made by several stations as well as by The R. N.-Y., which 
seemed to show that small (one or two-eyed) pieces were not 
profitable, expressed the opinion that experimenters should 
plant small seeds closer together in order to make the con¬ 
ditions equal. We were therefore induced to resume a 
long series of similar trials made years ago and reported in 
these columns, in the hopes of throwing more light upon 
this really important problem. As a single experiment, 
this trial is not worth much except as continued trials', 
season after season in different land and with different 
varieties, may confirm the outcome or give data for gen¬ 
eralizations. All the potatoes used for seed were of me¬ 
dium size. It may be said that the tubers (crop) from the 
whole seed ‘were smaller than those from any of the 
