THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
i89i 
Business. 
WHEAT FOLLOWING CORN. 
MORE ABOUT AN ABUSED FARM PRACTICE. 
Impracticable to Haul Corn Away Before Sowing. 
The weather controls many farmers. If corn is slow in 
ripening, it may be necessary to sow wheat in it with a 
one-hon-e drill, passing between the rows. Then the corn 
can be either cut up or pulled, and the stalks broken down 
when frozen. I have one of these drills, but use it only as 
a last resort. If Mr. Agee is allowed a little more time, if 
the corn is not down and tangled too much, if the weeds 
are not too thick, an 1 if the ground is not too hard, I should 
think his plan would work well. Cut, say, every 12 rows, 
laying four or five hills in a bunch among the standing 
corn. Now “ cultivate ” the rows so cut, and drill wheat 
in them. Then cut the best of the corn and put it in the 
shocks on the rows first cut and drilled. If practicable 
spread the hoes of the drill so as to avoid the stubs of 
corn. 
Last fall we hauled in for the hogs the corn on three 
acres, feeding it unhusked. On that part of the field we 
plowed the entire stalk under; but the corn on the re¬ 
maining seven acres was shocked up in the usual way. 
The wheat on the three acres certainly always appeared 
better than that on the seven; but the land was better, 
and the absence of stubs and shock rows helped the ap¬ 
pearance. Much corn hereabouts was prostrated on Aug¬ 
ust 23, and some farmers are now laying it over and 
straightening it out so as to get in their wheat. Last year 
I had 12 acres of oat stubble (with no clover.) The field 
was plowed three times, and harrowed, etc , in proportion. 
The yield of wheat was about 24 bushels to the acre. In a 
16 acre field adjoining the corn was put into shocks, be¬ 
ginning September 16. The ground was simply “culti 
vated,” harrowed and drilled. In both fields the wheat 
was badly lodged. Yield of the 16 acre field 28 bushels per 
acre; yield of the 10 acres about 20 bushels per acre. 
Commercial fertilizers are but rarely used here. At the 
Ohio Experiment Station they have come to the conclu¬ 
sion that on that farm, where by thorough drainage and 
tillage, they produced In 1890 an average of 30 bushels of 
wheat per acre without any fertilizer, no combination of 
fertilizers has paid their cost, while barn-yard manure 
has paid more than three times the cost of its application, 
Troy, Ohio. E. c. H. 
I Make More Money Out of Corn-Wheat, 
considering the expense of production, than from any 
other crop on the farm. I commence operations early in 
the spring. My corn ground is the summer fallow also. I 
have two styles of summer-fallow this year. The 
earliest was plowed in April, being first covered with ma¬ 
nure. Extra pains were taken to secure a good seed bed ; 
it was then planted to corn. The ground was worked al¬ 
most constantly until the corn came up. There being 
some stone in places, we now use a Gale lever harrow, 
instead of Breed’s weeder. This harrow was used with 
the teeth set slanting at an angle of about 50 degrees, and 
the field was crossed each way two or three times. This 
year we worked the corn in some places until it was three 
inches high, and not one hill in 200 was destroyed. Then 
we used a spring tooth riding c ltivator until harvest 
time. The corn was now too high for this implement, 
and a one-horse cultivator was used Instead. 
In this way we keep the ground moist and mellow on 
top by shallow cultivation, and kill all weeds in their 
“infancy.” This makes a fine fallow, and also a good 
crop of corn. The other summer fallow, by the way, was 
plowed just before harvest, and a very heavy crop of clover 
turned under. 
About the middle of September we generally begin cut¬ 
ting corn. We put 15 rows in each row of shocks. The 
two middle strips are seeded to wheat just before the corn 
is cut. As soon as the first row of shocks is cut, one team 
begins to prepare the seed bed. If the soil is a clay loam, 
and packed, we use the disc harrow, set to run light, 
merely to loosen the surface. We drive back and forth 
and lap half way. This will fit the ground for sowing, but 
care must be taken not to run too deep. We use a Triumph 
solid disc, instead of the Cutaway, for this purpose. The 
discs are 20 inches in diameter, consequently never clog, 
no matter how deep they run, and the corn hills are left in 
good condition for rolling or harrowing with the Gale 
smoothing harrow. If the drill hoes run too deep, we roll 
down just ahead of the drill. If the soil was a sandy 
loam, and free from weeds, I should use the spring-tooth 
riding cultivator just as it was arranged to cultivate corn 
in the spring. This will prepare a fine seed bed and leave 
the surface quite level. The seed should not be deposited 
more than 1 % inch deep, and the drill hoes should run in 
line, Instead of zigzag, as many farmers use them. I hire 
a boy to lollow behind the drill with a hook, if necessary, 
to keep the hoes clean. 
Some farmers use a spring-tooth harrow for every pur¬ 
pose in preparing their seed bed, but I could not dispense 
with my disc harrow. It is a new tool in this section, and 
is gradually growing into favor among progressive farm¬ 
ers. It does better work where there is any digging to 
be done. 
We husk our corn in the field and haul the stalks to the 
barn as fast as husked. This will prevent the wheat under¬ 
neath the shocks from being smothered, and give it a 
chance to grow. By doing thorough work all through the 
season, we generally secure a good crop of corn, and also a 
fine yield of wheat the following year. This has been our 
practice for the last 14 or 15 years, and we have had but 
one poor yield of corn ground wheat in all that time. 
Kalamazoo County, Mich. j. h. brown. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Prize for the Extractor.— The Vermont Farm Mach-- 
ine Company informs us that at the late Swedish Nation¬ 
al Royal Agricultural Show, open to Sweden and Norway, 
Denmark, Holland and Finland, the butter extractor won 
first prize—a gold medal—over all competitors. 
Butter Box —A circular from the Colbyvllle Manufac¬ 
turing Company, Waterbury, Vermont, describes Dumas’ 
butter box—a package for shipping butter. It holds five 
pounds of packed butter and is of nearly brick shape. 
The butter Is ready to be cut for the table in squares like 
prints. There is a lining of parchment that folds down 
over the top of the butter. The boxes fit into 30, 40 or 60 
pound crates. 
A “Dumb Waiter.”— Lane Bros., makers of the cele¬ 
brated door hangers, have recently patented a “ dumb 
waiter” that has some valuable exclusive features, the 
principle one being the automatic lock. This is on the bear¬ 
ing of the main shaft, and holds the load at any point as^soon 
as the hand is off the rope. The mechanical principle in¬ 
volved in this brake is not in general use, though quite 
generally understood. It is simply that of a coiled spring 
wound around a shaft. When caught at one end the shaft 
is unable to turn one way, while perfectly free to turn in 
the opposite direction. As soon as the rope is grasped and 
pulled, the lock is off, and is on again as soon as the rope 
is released, thus holding the load at any point. Of course 
an extra brake rope is needed. 
A Big Carriage Business.— The Alliance Carriage Com¬ 
pany, of Cincinnati, Ohio, inform us that their business 
has increased so rapidly that they have been forced to buy 
or lease every available piece of property on their square 
in order to keep up with the spread of the business. This 
looks well, particularly as we hope that their occupancy of 
the entire square will enable them to stick closer than 
ever to their square way of doing business. 
Fruit Canner for Colorado.—I want the name and 
address of a man experienced in the canning business. He 
must understand the building, equipping and operating of 
a factory in all its branches; such as canning tomatoes, 
corn, and beans, also pickling, and making kraut. We are 
not prepared to employ such a man, but would like to 
have correspondence with some competent man with this 
end in view. Pueblo is a town of 35,000 inhabitants and 
there are abundant facilities for a factory ot perhaps 500,- 
000 cans per annum. A factory under the supervision of a 
man able to turn out first-class merchantable goods will do 
well. w. M. F. 
Pueblo, Colo. 
R. N.-Y —Are any of our readers interested in the above ? 
“ Hoof Paste.” —Mr. E. Dillon, of Sullivan County, N. 
Y., sends us the following note of experience: One of my 
finest Jersey cows had a teat split open by a barb wire 
fence early in June. It was cut so deep that the milk ran 
through during milking. The cut was finally healed, but 
a large lump remained in the udder, and the use of the 
teat was nearly lost. I spent hours, yes, days, rubbing it, 
and applied every remedy I could think of, but the lump 
remained and the flow of milk decreased. Scott’s Hoof 
Paste was finally recommended, and I tried it. The result 
surprised me. In a short time the swelling began to de¬ 
crease, and finally disappeared altogether. The teat is 
now yielding nearly as much milk as the others. The cow 
was a valuable one, and the saving of her udder was a 
matter of much concern to me. 
Tiling Times are Coming.— Jackson Bros., Albany, N. 
Y., claim that farmers are laying more and more tile 
drains every year. That this firm gets its share of the In 
crease is proved by the fact that it is putting up an en 
tirely new plant. This concern ships tiles all over the 
country because it makes a good article. It has the finest 
quality of clay and perfect machinery. It also knows how 
to burn tiles and exercises great care in this important 
operation. As a consequence the tiles are smooth, straight, 
and of uniform length, and will last over a lifetime. 
Careless burning makes it sure that some of the tile3 will 
be of inferior quality and one or two such will spoil the 
drain. 
IMPLEMENT NOTES. 
We know that Clark’s Cutaway harrow will do good 
work among tall weeds, but the following note taken 
from a bulletin of the Florida Experiment Station, gives 
about the best record yet: “ On light land Clark’s Cut¬ 
away harrow, as late as October 28, broke down, cut up 
and covered, by the time seeds were harrowed, fennel and 
other weeds six feet high.” 
The Baby Separator.— Among other dairy questions 
received of late are the following : 
“ Are the ‘ Baby separators ’ adapted to use in a farm 
dairy ? How long would it take to ‘separate ’ 14 gallons of 
milk ? What is the cost and of whom may they be got? ” 
“ Is it practical for a farmer with from 20 to 40 cows to 
buy and use a cream separator? Can it be run with a one- 
horse tread power ? ” 
“ I have no ice this year. Shall I buy a hand separator 
or wait till that air-pressure separator is put on the 
market ?” 
These separators are very successful. There can be no 
question about their ability to take the cream out of milk 
quickly and completely. The smaller sizes should run from 
1 % to two quarts per minute. They are made by the De 
Laval Separator Co., New York, and cost $100 and $125, 
according to size. Larger sizes are marie for horse or 
steam power. The smaller sizes mentioned above are run 
by hand. It seems evident to us that the tendency is to¬ 
wards the inert ased use of separators or of the extractor. 
The separator is quicker, neater, more effective and, in the 
long run, cheaper than the pan or can syetem. Good but¬ 
ter can be made from separated cream. A steady horde in a 
661 
tread power can run a separator. The air pressure device 
is not yet on the market. It will naturally take a good 
while to perfect it even after it is Introduced. 
Fruit Nippers. —A number of devices have been proposed 
for saving the fingers in picking fruits. The fingers and 
thumbs are often wounded in picking blackberries and rasp¬ 
berries, and sore fingers and hands always prevent rapid 
work. It is often unhandy, too, to pull off pears or apples 
without bruising the fruit or pulling too much of the stems. 
Most of the work of “ nipping” off fruit is done with the 
thumb nail pressed against the forefinger. Many florists and 
small-fruit men permit the thumb nail to grow very long 
for this purpose. Naturally these fruit nippers were in¬ 
tended to provide a stout and sharp substitute for the 
thumb nail. One is In the form of a steel thimble that 
fits on the thumb and is fastened at the wrist. At the 
end is a cutting knife shaped exactly like a thumb nail. 
With this all fruit stems can be nipped off without mak¬ 
ing the thumb sore. The latest device is shown at Fig. 
239. This, as will be readily seen, Is only a short, thick 
pair of shears made to fit between the thumb and fore 
finger. This effort to save the thumb is a commendable 
one. The thumb is of more importance than any finger. 
Hay Press Improvements.—P. K. Dederick & Co., of 
Albany, N. Y., have added another new feature to their 
famous Perpetual hay press this year. Instead of the 
wooden box or frame so long in use, they have substituted 
steel, which makes the press lighter, more durable, and 
free from liability to bre ikage. They are also patting up 
a press with endless tread power. Instead of the sweep 
power, by which they economize both space and power. 
Mr. Dederick always takes the precaution to thoroughly 
test any new feature before offering it to the public, and 
it is now after the second year’s trial that he launches his 
new steel machine. 
Light Farm Engines. —The little machine shown at Fig. 
240 was shown at a recent French exposition near Paris. 
While often used as a fire engine or for pumping water for 
irrigating or even for spraying with Insecticides, it can 
also be used for driving machinery of all kinds. It is light 
but very strong and, as can be seen, m ly be hauled about 
A Little Farm Engine. Fig. 240. 
by hand power if need be. Such engines would be useful 
in many farm communities. Usually, when a fire breaks 
out in the country, about all that can be done is to “ stand 
and look at it.” In a dry season like the past such an en¬ 
gine would more than pay for itself if kept at work pump¬ 
ing water out of some pond hole or brook up to some cul¬ 
tivated field or even on to the grass. 
“Best Fruit Drier.” —What is the best kind of drier 
—a cheap one for drying prunes ? Are the patent driers, 
like the American, Pneumatic and Zimmerman, as good 
and cheap as the common, unpatented driers that are 
built over brick furnaces arranged with pipes for drying 
with hot air ? H. B.' L. 
Ans. —We do not know which is “ best.” Those you 
mention have all been thoroughly tested and are praised 
by many who have used them. Some of the home made 
machines do good work, but the “patent” ones are, 
we think, easier to handle and more accurate. Much de¬ 
pends upon the amount of fruit you have to dry. If you 
have a large quantity you can doubtless build a special 
room or house that would suit you better than any “ pat¬ 
ent ” machine, though its cost would be much greater. 
We are Informed that mo3t of the California evaporators 
are home made—large and quite expensive. 
A Leg Corn Cutter. —The success of the many sled 
corn cutters has shown people how much energy they have 
been wasting at the old work of cutting corn. The ma¬ 
chines thus far brought out depend upon horse power. Is 
there no relief for man power—the force that must still be 
depended upon on the majority of American farms? A 
man in Wisconsin seems to think so, for he has invented a 
device for using the legs in corn cutting. It is very gener¬ 
ally believed that the “ legs are stronger than the arms.” 
Acting on this idea the Inventor proposes a sword or knife 
which, by means of a standard, is fastened to the leg at the 
knee and ankle. Thus, as the workman walks along, the 
knife stands out from his foot and slices off the stalks on 
the same principle used with the sled. This work would 
probably make a man “ leg weary” when he first started 
out, but with practice we think he could cut more corn in 
a day with the leg knife than with a hand cutter. The 
name of this machine is the Badger “ Clipper.” It is 
male by I. Z. Merrlam, Whitewater, Wis. 
