462 
THE RURAT 
NEW-YORKER 
IUNE 20 
years tfce back breaking, shirt splitting end of ensilage. 
Several farmers should join and purchase a machine, and 
change work during the ensilage harvest; or one man should 
own a machine and cut for his neighbors by the acre or day. 
We have learned to raise corn (not sowed corn), and are 
inclined to put it in the silo instead of so much wood and 
water. The corn harvester was the one missing link ; now 
that that has been discovered, corn ensilage will become 
more popular and cheaper than ever. 
Cornell University. [prof.) I. P. Roberts. 
SPECIAL FARMING STILL PAYS BEST. 
No more strawberries for market; grapes do not pay; 
better buy them with potato money; every man to his 
local possibilities; pick out your crop and push it. 
T. B. TERRY. 
Every year’s experience ms kes it clearer to me that as 
this country grows older and the chances for transportation 
better, both profit and pleasure on the farm will be in the 
direction of special rather than very much mixed farming. 
This seemed quite clear to me 18 years ago, and after much 
study and thought my farming was gradually changed 
from a little of everything to potatoes, wheat and clover 
only. I have made a great deal more money than could 
ever have been made in the old way. A few years ago I 
set out a quarter of an acre of strawberries, and over half 
an acre of grapes, raspberries, blackberries and currants. 
Afterwards I increased the strawberry patch to half an 
acre. There was a good home market for choice fruit, and 
I thought we might as well take care of a large patch 
while we were about it, and have the surplus amount to 
something. Well, we sold $237 worth of strawberries last 
year, and probably used and gave away $50 worth more. 
But after a careful study of the matter, I decided to set 
out only enough strawberries for our own use this spring, 
I am certain this is the wise thing for me. With about a 
dozen acres each of potatoes, wheat and clover, we can 
keep ourselves profitably employed. We had better put 
extra work on these crops than have our attention diverted 
to another, or others. Again, potatoes are a safer crop 
than berries on our farm. Two years out of the last four 
we have met with severe loss from late frosts. We can 
help this somewhat by selecting varieties that are the 
least liable to be injured, and by heavy mulching to keep 
them back, but berry growing is not then as safe for us as 
the potato business. I probably lost $200 worth of berries 
by the freeze of May 16. We are subject to late frosts and 
hard ones, and It Is unwise for us to do much with crops 
that are liable to serious injury. 
Along with the strawberries for market 1 fear the grapes 
will have to go. I wish I had never set any out. Two years 
out of three they have been frozen to the ground, after 
starting. We ought to have had nearly a ton of grapes 
this year; we will probably get none. I have kept them 
on stakes so far, but this spring I bought $14 worth of 
posts for a trellis. They are piled up in the covered barn¬ 
yard. Probably they will stay there until needed for fence 
posts. I am beginning to get my bearings. Why couldn’t 
some kind horticultural friend, of the many consulted, 
have told me to let grapes alone—have given me a fair pict¬ 
ure »f the chances ? 
This is the way I look at it now : we are 26 miles by rail 
only from a special grape region on the lake shore, where 
the crop is almost certain, and from the longer season, the 
lake keeping frost off, people can grow finer grapes than 
we possibly can. Again, from making a specialty of the 
business they can sell, and do at very low prices. For ex¬ 
ample, I bought 20 baskets at once, last fall, of the choicest 
Concords and Catawbas, for 34 cents a basket, delivered 
here by express. I have been all through that grape region 
and can beat them all out on potatoes. I had better grow 
these and let the others grow grapes and then exchange 
products. My friend, Kellogg, of Wisconsin, in telling the 
best way to keep early grapes like the Concord, in a late 
number of the Practical Farmer, said, sell them and buy 
Catawbas. Now, that is sound. But I wonder if he thought 
that the advice might be carried still farther, perhaps, to 
advantage ? Why shouldn’t I sell potatoes and buy all 
my grapes ? 
If there is any one thing in this world that I dislike, it 
is to give up beaten. But it looks as though I would have 
to do so on the grapes. We drew two or three loads of 
straw in the winter, when the ground was frozen, and 
heavily mulched the vineyard, excepting two rows. It did 
no good. I had hoped it would keep the buds back some¬ 
what. We can grow strawberries, raspberries, blackberries 
and currants enough for our own use, and we shall, as we 
can get better ones and have them fresh right here. The 
perfect strawberry must get fully ripe on the vines and 
then go into the mouth without much delay. We can buy 
nicer grapes than we can possibly raise in the best season, 
and get a quantity at once, and they will keep. But for us 
to raise any of the above to .sell, as a matter of business, is 
not wise. Within a mile of my home is a hill en which I 
would not hesitate to go into berry-growing largely for 
money. The season is safely a month longer on that hill, 
and the soil is moist and mellow. It would be business 
for the owner of that farm to grow small fruits and supply 
his more frosty neighbors. In the good time coming, such 
things will be looked after, and farmers will make more 
money and do it more easily. I am well aware, however, 
that at present most of them would eat precious little 
fruit, if they had to buy it. A well-to-do, 300-acre farmer, 
who took me home with him from an institute last winter, 
said they had not had an apple in the house all winter. 
When the potato crop fails I know many go without po¬ 
tatoes. Little chance for them to buy berries. We have 
been used to having grapes every year, buying them. If 
we can raise them but one year out of three, and the other 
two years we have to do all the work, and then buy the 
grapes, why we will raise the vines once for all with a 
team and chain. If we lived where we could not buy 
them readily it would be different. All the grapes one 
could eat one year in three, would be better than no grapes. 
Summit Co., Ohio. 
TWO USEFUL TOOLS. 
Reel for Fence Wire.— A device for reeling fence 
wire easily has been made by a farmer near Clyde, N. Y., 
which is so cheap and practical that it deserves a descrip¬ 
tion—see Fig. 174. Two wheels of a light wagon were 
taken, attached to their axle. Four pieces of board were 
placed at regular intervals through the wheels and wired 
to the felloes. This makes a large reel, which may be 
rolled along by the side of the fence and which takes the 
wire up neatly and rapidly. 8 . A. L. 
A Dirt Wheel-Barrel.— There has been a fierce strug¬ 
gle in New York City for clean streets. Almost every 
known system has been tried with but poor success. The 
authorities have now decided to try hand machinery in 
preference to horse power machines. Hundreds of work¬ 
men go about with the implements illustrated at Fig. 175. 
They brush up the dirt with stiff brushes, shovel it into 
the barrel and wheel it off to some central point where 
they meet the dump cart. The machine is simply a barrel 
on wheels, so nicely balanced that it will tip easily. The 
hooks in front make a place for broom, hoe and shovel to 
hang. For many purposes a wheel barrel like this is better 
for farm work than the usual wheelbarrow. One can take 
Reel for Barbed Wire. Fig. 1 74. 
a heavier load with less work on two wheels. One novel 
use to which we recently saw one of these wheel barrels 
put was in planting potatoes. The barrel of seed was 
wheeled through the field, and five or six rows were 
dropped at one trip, making short journeys to the barrel. 
NOTES ON TREE AND VINE PLANTING. 
Another season’s trial confirms my faith in the late 
planting of black raspberries when the plants are grown 
close by. My plan is to allow the young shoot to make a 
growth of three or four inches before transplanting. In 
the meantime we have plenty of time to get the ground in 
good condition, as it is usually then in better order for 
plowing than earlier in the season, when plants are dor¬ 
mant or comparatively so. I usually dig the plants from 
a patch of the previous year’s setting, so that the canes 
are low enough to allow driving through by “ straddling” 
a row. Planks are placed upon the wagon, on which the 
plants are placed in a single layer as fast as dug, having 
considerable earth adhering to them. When a load is dug 
it is at once planted. When possible, I select a damp, 
cloudy day for the work, but this is not absolutely neces¬ 
sary. 
I find many advantages in this plan. The stand is bet¬ 
ter and more uniform. The work can be done after the 
rush of early spring planting is over and the labor of cul¬ 
tivation is much less, as plants three to six inches high 
are set in clean ground and cultivation can begin at once, 
thus keeping the start of the weeds. Of course this plan 
can not be employed when plants are moved any great dis¬ 
tance. I set about half an acre of currants last fall with 
very excellent results although they were set very late- 
just before the ground froze up. They were covered at 
once with a forkful of manure on each plant. I have failed 
to find a missing plant and they are making a very vigor¬ 
ous growth. The ground where they stand was previously 
occupied by a derrick and engine used in drilling for oil 
and had become very hard and lumpy from being badly 
tramped by men, teams and loaded wagons when wet. It 
would have been next to impossible to secure a fair stand 
or good growth had I waited until spring. An orchard of 
May Dukes was planted last fall with the exception of 
about a dozen trees which were left until spring. The 
former are doing much better now. 
1 have frequent inquiries from fruit growers in relation 
to planting fruit trees among berries. My answer usually 
is “ Don’t.” However, you can plant berries among fruit 
trees. The point Is to plant the trees first or at latest at 
the same time. After berries have obtained possession of 
the ground they do not care to yield any of their territory 
to new comers an I the roots of the newly transplanted 
trees are likely to find every inch of feeding ground already 
occupied. Trees can be successfully planted under such 
conditions, but it requires much more than ordinary care. 
I have had considerable experience in this line as most of 
my land Is devoted to orchards and small fruits conjointly, 
except in the case of the first plantings where the ground 
is now given over to the exclusive use of the trees. 
It would seem that any nurseryman who cared for the 
success of the trees he sends out or for his own reputa¬ 
tion must be greatly discouraged in passing through the 
country to observe how many of the trees are treated after 
leaving his hands. They are too often planted “ tops and 
all ” in the tough sod of the old orchard where “ trees are 
missing,” and the only care or culture they receive is the 
friendly rubbing of the stock to keep them (the trees) from 
becoming “ bark bound,” or the enthusiastic, if not scien¬ 
tific, pruning they obtain from these same hungry brows¬ 
ers. Or, perhaps, they are planted around the house 
where excess of slops from the house and continuous 
trampling have made the soil impervious to air and light, 
and where the roots are water-soaked and rotted instead of 
fed. 
My method of fighting the currant worm is to dust on 
pure white hellebore when the worms appear in clusters 
and before the bushes are generally covered with them. 
After they are pretty generally distributed I prefer spray¬ 
ing the entire bush with one ounce of hellebore to three 
gallons of water. w. w. Farnsworth. 
Lucas County, Ohio. 
A LISTENER’S NOTES. 
Some Things That Are Talked About. 
Winter Wheat in Dakota,— As readers of The R. N.- 
Y. doubtless know the Dakotas are spring wheat States. 
But little if any spring wheat has been sown, Now, how¬ 
ever, a number of parties are urging farmers to sow winter 
wheat, figuring out good profits from doing so. Director 
Foster of the South Dakota Experiment Station, sends 
this little note about it. 
“The station has done a little experimenting with win¬ 
ter wheat but sowed none in corn till last fall. It now 
promises well. The two previous seasons it was sown 
broadcast on an open field. My experience, so far, would 
not warrant me in advising Dakota farmers to go exten¬ 
sively into winter wheat growing.” 
Feeding Cactus.— The plains of Western Texas, Colo 
rado, Kansas and other States are covered with prickly 
pear or cactus. What place in the economy of Nature was 
it intended that this plant should fill. It grows where 
nothing else of value will grow during a drought. It con¬ 
tains water enough to quench thirst, and is almost as 
valuable as carrots or turnips for stock food. Yet It is so 
covered with sharp thorns that animals cannot eat it in its 
natural state. Prof. G. W. Curtis, of the Texas Experi¬ 
ment Station, sends the following note about this plant : 
“The feeding of prickly pear cactus (Opuntia vulgaris) 
has been followed for years in this State, and with excel¬ 
lent results. A great many practice singeing off the 
prickles, but the great majority simply boil it with bran 
or some other by-product of grain, finding that the boiling 
softens the prickles so as to render them practically harm¬ 
less. It is worthy of note that the feeding of prickly pear 
has proved of special value in the acclimating of cattle 
imported from sections outside the southern fever belt. 
In one of our bulletins this note occurs: The plant is 
nutritious and contains a medicinal principle which is an 
excellent laxative. Those who live where the cactus is 
abundant may feed it crushed and mixed with bran, or 
better still, boiled with bran ; talking with a number of 
gentlemen who had tried feeding it both raw and cooked, 
we found the general verdict in favor of the latter, as boil¬ 
ing makes it more palatable and renders the prickles 
entirely harmless.” 
June Planted Potatoes.— How late may potatoes be 
planted to Insure a good yield ? Advocates of green man¬ 
uring suggest delaying the planting until the last moment 
so as to get the greatest possible growth of clover to plow 
under. In this case, they assume that the clover provides 
not only nourishment but moisture for the plants, and 
enables them to withstand drought and make rapid 
growth. Mr. J. F. Noggle of Beaver County, Pa., gives 
this account of his practice which is as near to the green 
manuring ideal as we are likely to get. 
“ I have never tried plowing under a full crop of clover 
for potatoes, but believe the plan would be a good one if 
the potatoes could be got in, say, by the middle of June. 
“ I have several times raised a good crop (usually averag¬ 
ing about 200 bushels per acre) by plowing a sod from the 
1st to the 10th of June, using a jointer on the plow, then 
harrowing until well pulverized; then marking deep and 
applying about 200 pounds of some complete fertilizer to 
the acre. Potatoes are then dropped one foot apart in the 
drill and are covered with three or four inches of soil. 
This leaves the furow or drill not entirely filled up. When 
the first plants are seen coming up the ground is harrowed 
effectually (sometimes cross-harrowed); this levels up the 
furrows and conquers all weeds that may have started. 
When the plants are from four to six inches high a culti¬ 
vator and shovel-plow combined is run through the rows 
stirring the ground as deep as possible without tearing up 
the sod, and finally a plow is run through, which hills them 
up. This last work is done about the time the potatoes 
commence to bloom. I have never tried cutting a full crop 
of clover and then planting potatoes on it. I do not think 
they would mature in this section if put in as late as July 
1st. Ours is a clay soil and it is but recently that we have 
succeeded in growing clover and that mainly by a liberal 
use of commercial fertilizers—the rotation being corn or 
potatoes, oats, wheat and grass—clover or clover and 
Timothy.” 
