THH RURAL NEW-YORKER 
MARCH 7 
186 
Concentration of Work and Ex¬ 
penses. 
J. H. Griffith, Providence County, R.I. 
—There is a world of truth In the statement 
in the article describing a “ Yankee Farm:” 
*• It is the concentration of effort and the 
possibility of doing business enough to 
keep a large force of men employed during 
the whole year that have made the farm 
profitable. Cut it into 10 parts and let 
each part maintain a family with 10 sets of 
tools, 10 sets of small fields, and 10 sets of 
retail prices for supplies, and there will be 
at least eight cases of farmin’ don’t pay, 
instead of one case of organized success.” 
The process of subdivision by partition 
sales, dividing estates and selling off re¬ 
mote fields to raise money for household 
luxuries or extra farm buildings has been 
going on in the older States so long as to 
seriously injure the business of farming. 
While the sizes of farms have been decreas¬ 
ing, the power of cultivation by means of 
improved implements and machinery has 
been increasing. It is evident that the re¬ 
sult must be the consolidation of the farms 
and the use of improved implements and 
machinery. I hope the statistician of The 
Rural will tell us the difference In the ex¬ 
pense of cultivating, say, a farm of 400 
acres in fields of 50 to 100 acres each by 
means of the latest improved implements, 
such as the Aspinwall potato planter, the 
horse potato diggers, harvesting machines, 
steam thrashers, etc., etc., and the cultiva¬ 
tion of, say, 20 farms of 20 acres each with 
fields of from one to four or five acres as 
they are usually cultivated. As a matter 
of course, statements of the probable rela¬ 
tive product and cost of cultivation are 
only two elements of the problem. In the 
case of the consolidated farm there would 
be, say, three or four large barns, a dwell¬ 
ing house and tenements, a comparatively 
small outlay for insurance and taxes, little 
or no waste land along the few fences 
which would be required, and the advan¬ 
tages of the purchasing and marketing of 
supplies and products In large lots. As the 
farms of New England are now divided 
there would be 20 barns, 20 houses and an 
endless number and variety of outbuild¬ 
ings, acres of waste land along the hedge 
rows and fences, miles of unnecessary 
fencing, a dozen or more superfluous horses, 
and any number of miserable, antiquated 
implements; many of which increase 
rather than diminish the labor of cultivat¬ 
ing the soil, increased taxes and insurance, 
etc., etc. 
However we may deplore the formation 
of trusts and ths centralization of business 
and power with the consequent loss of indi¬ 
vidual independence, it is evident that 
farming, like all other kinds of manufac¬ 
turing or business, must be done on a large 
scale. The small farmer of New England 
and the older States must go. The old im¬ 
plements with hand or one horse labor, can 
no longer compete with modern imple¬ 
ments and machinery run with heavy horse 
power and steam. “ Individual farming ” 
has already degenerated very nearly to the 
peasant farming of Europe, and has ceased 
to become a congenial employment for live 
Yankees. There is, however, hope that the 
older farming sections may be redeemed by 
consolidation. 
R. N.-Y.—It would be next to Impossible 
to give accurate statistics in this matter, 
though we shall attempt to gather them. 
We have no doubt that 40 per cent of the 
operating expenses would be saved by 
grouping the 20 farms under one manage¬ 
ment. The trouble is that the present gen¬ 
eration of American farmers show slight 
disposition to “get together” in the way 
proposed. They are too jealous and sus¬ 
picious, too much afraid that the leader in 
the movement will “ make something out 
of it.” In most localities about the only 
way would be for one man to buy all the 
farms outright. Why not give the small 
farms better culture ? As a rule, the men 
on the little farms are making propor¬ 
tionately the most money. 
Partial Soiling for Cows. 
C. S. Rice, Lewis County, N. Y.— 
Pastures differ greatly In the quality and 
quantity of the feed produced. In some 
localities it may be good management to 
use three acres of pasture to keep one cow 
through the summer ; but I do not believe 
that it is the best practice under usual con¬ 
ditions. It is not an economical use of 
good tillable land. Dairy cows cannot be 
kept through the season and be made to do 
their best with even this large amount of 
pasture. In the early part of the season 
there will be much more feed than they 
can consume, and, later, there will be a 
large area covered with ripened or dried 
grass, while on other portions of the field 
the feed is green, but is kept too short for 
rapid growth. When confined to such 
pastures through the season, cows will 
shrink badly in August, and although they 
may fill themselves with the surplus 
growth of earlier months and may appear 
in fairly good condition, still there can be 
no profitable milk production under such 
circumstances. A smaller amount of land 
devoted to pasture in connection with 
partial soiling will give better results. 
Feed for 20 cows on 60 acres of pasture 
for five months is equivalent to feed for 
100 months for one cow. Now 30 cows may 
be supplied with the best of feed from this 
amount of pasture for the first two months 
of the season, and the whole surface will 
be evenly grazed and the unsightly and 
unprofitable patches of ripened grass will 
be avoided. This well grazed pasture will 
then be in condition to profit by every 
shower and will afford feed of excellent 
quality sufficient for half keeping the 30 
cows for the remaining three months of 
the season. Partial soiling and meadow 
after feed may profitably complete the 
ration for these three months. In this way 
the pasturage from 60 acres is equivalent to 
keeping 20 cows through the season on the 
best of feed. This is economical pasturing 
and good cows kept in this way will yield 
satisfactory returns. 
My practice has been to use about half 
the usual number of acres for pasture, and, 
after the flush of early feed was past, to 
cut clover, and, later in the season, pease 
and oats, and, still later, fodder corn to 
supplement the pasture. I try to so 
manage the meadows that the cows can 
have plenty of after feed from the first of 
August through the season. In this way 
sufficient and suitable food is provided for 
every day through the season of pasturing, 
and the flow of milk is kept up much 
better than when the cows are kept in the 
usual way. 
If the failure of pastures, as mentioned 
by Mr. Talcott in a recent number of The 
Rural, should result in the general adop¬ 
tion of a system of partial soiling, the con¬ 
ditions would be favorable for greatly in¬ 
creased milk production, and the 10,000 
pound dairy would surely follow. It is 
quite possible that improvement of farms 
may result from pasturing as described by 
Mr. Budlong on page 126 ; but I think that 
such improvement, if limited to tillable 
land, will result more from the rotting of 
the sod in a rotation than from the drop¬ 
pings from the cattle. Indeed, the uneven 
distribution of manure is one of the draw¬ 
backs to profitable pasturing. Cattle have 
favorite resorts for resting and often a 
comparatively small part of the land is 
greatly enriched while other portions are 
becoming poorer year by year. Temporary 
fencing, plowing and cropping may be 
made to correct this evil in a measure, but 
even distribution of manure can never be 
secured In a pasture. 
Origin of the Rochester Grape. 
Ellwanger & Barry, Monroe County, 
N. Y.—In 1867, we fruited more than 100 
seedling grapes, which we raised from seed 
taken from vines on a wall, where Dela¬ 
ware, Diana, Concord and Rebecca were 
planted and trained together. We num¬ 
bered and described them up to 60, but as 
we fruited them from year to year, we re¬ 
jected one after another until we finally 
got down to two, Monroe and Rochester, 
which we concluded to offer for sale. We 
do not claim them to be the best of all 
grapes, but we confidently believe that their 
good quality, earliness and certainty of 
ripening, wherever any grape can be 
ripened, the hardiness of the vines in both 
wood and foliage, resisting equally the cold 
of winter and the heat of summer, place 
them among our most valuable grapes. The 
following is a description of the Rochester : 
Bunch, large to very large, shouldered, 
frequently double-shouldered, very com¬ 
pact. Berries, medium to large in size, 
round, dark-purple or purplish lilac, pecu¬ 
liar, with thin white bloom. Flesh, very 
sweet, vinous, rich and aromatic. Vine, a 
remarkably vigorous grower ; wood short- 
jointed and hardy. Foliage, large, thick, 
healthy, has never been known to mildew 
in our grounds. The habits of the vine are 
similar to those of the Diana, and it requires 
ample room and rather long pruning. Ripe 
usually the first week in September. It has 
never failed to ripen well in the worst sea¬ 
sons since it first bore. 
Some Canadian Apples. 
R. Brodie, Montreal, Can.— I send you 
by post an apple that, I think, will put the 
Ben Davis in the shade. I got it for Belle 
de Boskoop, but am not sure of its being 
that variety. It is hardier, more vigorous 
in growth, a good annual bearer, and far 
better in quality, the only thing it lacks is 
the bright red color of the Ben Davis. The 
tree that bore this apple was shaded by a 
large tree alongside, and did not give the 
apples a chance to color up ; but tastes dif¬ 
fer. I beard of an Englishman who went 
into a fHend’s orchard, and after admiring 
a few trees loaded with Ben Davis, he ate 
one and clapped his hand on his side and 
said it was the best apple he had ever en¬ 
joyed. My standard for quality is our St. 
Lawrence and Fameuse, as we grow them 
in this locality. The following is a list 
suited for our section, all good for market 
or home use, and hardy: Summer: Yel¬ 
low Transparent, Red Astrachan, Montreal 
Strawberry, Duchess of Oldenburgh. Au¬ 
tumn : Montreal Peach Apple, tree very 
hardy and fruit of the best quality; St. 
Lawrence, Golden White, a new Russian 
of good quality, Alexander, good for mar¬ 
ket. Early Winter: Fameuse and Winter 
St. Lawrence, Wealthy to be picked before 
ripe, for it drops easily ; Bethel of Ver¬ 
mont, Utter’s Red and Grimes’s Golden, 
trees a little tender, but they produce 
enough for friends and ourselves. Late 
Winter: Golden and Roxbury Russet, 
Ben Davis and Belle de Boskoop. 
No Buckwheat Cakes Without the 
Japan Variety. 
H. L. Wysor, Pulaski County, Va.— 
There is no truth in the statement recently 
made by correspondents of The R. N.-Y. as 
coming from the millers, that the flour 
made from this variety is bitter and in¬ 
ferior to that of common buckwheat. It is 
true that the grains—simply on account of 
their size—are hard to clean, as they will 
not pass through the meshes of the sieves 
of the fanning mills. After the first clean¬ 
ing, when the chaff and coarse straw are 
blown out, the sieve which is intended to 
roll off gravel, small sticks, etc., is put in 
for the second cleaning. The meshes of 
this are too small for the Japan, but large 
enough for the common variety. The same 
difficulty occurs at the mills, and this is 
probably the real objection which the mil¬ 
lers have to this grain. The remedy would 
be to put in sieves with larger meshes. 
Had it not been for the introduction 
of the Japan, buckwheat growing in 
this climate would have been abandoned, 
as the Silver Hull and the old black, if 
sown eftrly, blighted in hot weather; and 
if sown late, were caught by frost. Their 
habit of flowering all through the season— 
having grains perfect, imperfect, and flow¬ 
ers at the same time—made it a question 
when to harvest to secure the best results. 
The Japan never blights in the hottest 
weather, flowers but once, matures all its 
grain at the same time, and is consequent¬ 
ly earlier than any of the others, while it 
yields three times as much. 
Wlitstlteum# gutmtising. 
When writing to advertisers, please 
mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
When 
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The Bracing Effect of 
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