1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
737 
Salt for Stock.— Sonn recent experiments with sheep 
in Switzerland are interesting. F our lots of sheep were 
fed. One pea had no Silt; another h-id six grammes per 
day, another 12 a id another 24 grammes. An “attlflcial 
forage ” of wheat straw and chopped beets was fed to the 
sheep for one month. Where no salt was fed the gain 
was 14 Milos; with 24 grammes of salt the gain was 16 
kilos; with 12 grammes 18, with six grimmes 21)^ and 
with three grammes 3l>£. It did not pay to give too much 
salt or to give nona at ail. We have found that stock do 
btst when they have salt before them all the time, being 
free to eat it or not as they wish. Too much salt mixed 
in the food will make many cows rej ct the whole mess. 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
1 Every query musr. be accompanied by the name and address of the 
writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please see if it is 
not auswere t In our advertlsing columns. Xsa oniy a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
GETTING H.4Y OUT OF THE BARN. 
A Big Chance for Some Inventor. 
What have you found to oe the easiest way of getting 
hay out of the mow or stack for feeding to stock ? Must 
it all be handled with the hand fork, or cm you make use 
of the horse fork for getting it out as well as pulling it up? 
Will you be kind enough to describe any method or device 
you have seen used for this purpose or suggest anything 
that you think might auswer? 
Never Used a Horse Fork. 
In my barn as now arranged—eight feet below the barn 
floor for hay bays, narrow bays, three barn fl mrs. two 
movable and converted into deep bays, and the middle one 
permanent and with rat-proof gran try under It, and with 
14 foot posts above the barn floor—with a barn thus ar¬ 
ranged 1 do not use a horse fork at all. I mast soon re 
build and enlarge, make the posts 20 feet, and put In a 
horse fork or sling and carriers, and must then study now 
to get tne hay one to the stock. But the stock are stabled 
close to the hay, the bays are narrow (14 feet) and short 
(24 feet) and as the hay is pitched in and mowed by hand 
now, it Is pitched out easily. As it is so close to the stock 
in the basement, and there is no up pitching, I think we 
can piten it out by hand in winter even If lc is pitched in 
by horse power. w. I. chamberlain. 
The Horse Fork Needs an Extra Man. 
I have never used a horse fork for getting bay out of the 
mow or stack, because it would not do very well to load 
the hay on to a wagon and, moreover, an extra man wonld 
be needed. Neither have I ever used tne Implement to 
loosen or pull up the hay for the same reason—the need of 
an extra man. I believe the extra man if put ou the mow 
would expedite matters more than If he were used to 
handle the horse fork. If the mow or stack be large, the 
hay knife can be used to advantage, cutting down, say, ia 
the middle, or catting into smaller sections; by this means 
the hay is moie easily handled. I notice that the farm 
hands voluntarily u^e the hay knife in the large mow In 
the barn—pretty sure evidence tUat it saves labor. If the 
hay is put away with a horse fork and time enough is 
taken to spread the forkfuls evenly, it can be taken out by 
means of hand forks without any difficulty. Taere is a 
call for a more easily working nay knife than chose we 
now have, which work too hard and slowly in well settled 
Timothy hay ; if we had one that would requtre no more 
tnau halt the power needed to work those we now have, it 
would be a great gain. Then the mow could be cut into 
seciions and loaded on to a wagon with great ease and no 
waste. In handling hay that is to be run through a cuGter 
for feediug, or, If to be fed uacut, It should be looseaei 
up as muen as possible for convenience In cutting or feed¬ 
ing, but for loading it on to a wagon to haul it to market 
(and it is In this way farmers sell tneir hay here), we want 
it as comp me as possiole. If hay is to be baled or when 
large quantities are to be handled in one day, then I be¬ 
lieve tne horse fork could ba used to pull the hay out of 
the mow if care is used in naadilng the Implement so as 
not to get tne hay rolled together, for doing this would 
much increase the work of tne hand forks. Tne horse 
fork is an econom cal implement only when it wo ks to 
its full capacity, for wneu three or four men are waiting 
for a lorklul lc must be big enough to keep tnem at work 
till the next forkful arrives, oouerwise Cnere will be too 
much lost time. In putting hay In the mow this is easily 
managed; in taking it out it would not be so easy to do 
so; therefore 1 have never used the horse fork, except In 
mowing away or stacking. A. L. CrOsB?. 
Hay Fastens Itself Down. 
Getticg hay out of a mow by haDd, which has been put 
in with a noise lork, is a good deal like getting Ice out of an 
icehouse without tne use of a crowbar. As usually put in, 
the hay is allowtd hrot to pile up in a high ridge along the 
middle of the barn, ihen it is tumbled off at the sides In 
this way tnat in the middle is bound fast by that at the 
sides, and caunot be moved without first getting out the 
latier. This is a difficult thing to do oy hanu; but can be 
easily accomplished wita the horse fork. In case one has a 
carrier track that is hung so that It will swing from side 
to side, tne carrier can be tied or chaiaed to tne crack at 
the desired place, and the hay at the sides can be easily 
lifted to the middle by horse power. Some farmers go to 
the trouble of putting an extra stop block over the mow 
the same as that usea over the floor, but this seems to me 
unnecessary, in tne case of a rigid track, such as I have 
In my old barn, where there would be danger of pullii g 
the Carrier off at the side, one end of the r^ps can be tied 
to the track, and a pulley caalned beside it. This answers 
every purpose. Several years ago, when I was teaching 
school and boarding at home, we used to dig oat enough 
hay every Saturday by mule-power to last the cattle all 
the week. jas. M. DREW. 
Put In So as to Take Out. 
For farmers who keep large herds of cattle and feed a 
great balk of hay during tie winter, the task of removing 
it from the mow with tne hand fork ii an item of no small 
expanse, and yet very few farmers have attempted to evade 
or diminish it. The few efforts made have proved unsatis¬ 
factory for two reasons: first, because th ) hay has not been 
properly stored to rmder its removal easy; secind, the 
horse fork has usually been employed and the time occu¬ 
pied in harnessiug the team, taking them from the horse 
barn, to the cow barn, e^c , was longer than would be re¬ 
quired to perform tae work by hand. This is the plan I 
have to saomit, and I think large stock farmers will find 
it worth trying: 
First, as to filling the barn with hay, don’t dump it all 
over a large bay or scaffold, building it level as it rises 
in height. Commence at the back end and build a sec¬ 
tion—say 12 feet deep—from floor to roof; thea against 
this place another section, always carrying the front up as 
straight and even as possible, and so continue until the 
storage room is full. I think this can be accomplished 
more easily by using the hay slings than with any pat¬ 
tern of fork I have ever seen. For use in winter, procure 
a gearing .-uch as is used upon hand building derricks, the 
wheels being of suca proportionate sizs that the small 
pinion will make ab me live revolutions to one by tne 
other. Attach it firmly to a po t near the spot where you 
wish to drop the hay ; use one double aud one single pul¬ 
ley block. Use the same track and arrangement of pulleys 
as for removing hay by means of a horse power, but run 
the end of toe rope to wnlcn the team would be attached 
upon a shaft of a large gear wheal with cranks upon the 
small shaft. Cat cross sections of the hay so as to leave 
blocks of hay about square in form and use a harp ion 
fork. Dm’t be afraid that tais gearing and pulleys will 
not give sufficient power. I have one like that de¬ 
scribed and have often raised 3,000 pounds, working 
alone upon the crank. c. T. Leonard. 
Hay Knife and Fork. 
I know no better way of getiiag hay from the stack than 
the old one of cutting down with a hay knife aad lorktag 
it by hand. No harder work is done on the farm than 
this, aud he who invents a practical machine for doing it, 
will confer a great favor on laboring men. 8 E. H. 
We have never used the horse fork in getting hiy from 
the barn or stack. I have heaid of it being used, especially 
in case of stacks. Where the hay is to be fed to large 
numbers of animals, I think the horse fork might be used 
with some advantage—better from a stack or rick than 
from a bay in a barn. There would be difficulty in satis¬ 
factorily loading it on wagons, owing to the trouble iu con¬ 
trolling the size of the forkfuls, [prof ] a. e. morrow. 
Mr. and Mrs. Asparagus Plant. 
C. N. B., Elizabeth, N. J —I believe I have read in The 
Rural that there are male aud lemale asparagus plants ; 
that the male Is the more desirable to set out; aud that, un¬ 
like most other plants, it is not necessary to have both sexes 
to insure proper fertiliz itiou. If I am right, would it be 
advisable to set out a bed of male plants only? How can 
I determine the sex in selecting the roots ? 
Ans. —Both sexes are necessary for seed production. We 
are in favor of male plants. It is reasonable to assume 
that they will give stronger, perhaps earlier snoots. The 
sex cannot be determined by the root. Tne flowers alone 
show the sex. The females a one, of course, bear the 
berries. They may also readily be distinguished by the 
blossoms. Toe males are twice as large as the females aud 
without the conspicuous ovaries of the latter. 
How to Treat the Strawberries. 
L. M. S, Castleton, N. Y —I put out some strawberries 
last spring four feet by 18 inches in the rows, and they 
nearly cover the ground; which would oe the better plan— 
to cut them out to 18 or 2i) inches between the rows and 
cultivate well before the ground freezes up and manure 
quite well with flue manure this fall, or to sow on the plot 
a standard fertilizer and cover up the plants after the 
ground has frozen quite hard, to protect them from the 
Cold winter ? 
Ans.—Y es, better to cut between the rows as stated and 
cultivate well until the ground is frozen. Then apply 
the manure. In the spring a fertilizer may be sown if 
desited. 
Mowing the Wheat; Wood Ashes. 
J. L , Qlanworlh, Ont.—l. We are having a very re- 
marnaole aUoumn ; the wtather is keepi ig very warm, in 
fact, warmer tQan July, and a wouderiul growta of fall 
wheat has oeen made, in fact, so great a one tnat quite a 
large number of farmers are turning their sheep and calves 
on tneir wheat to keep it from getting too muca top How 
would it do to mow it with the mower, as the horses would 
not tramp It any more than otner stock woul 1 ? Would it 
need to oe raked off ? 2. I can get hard-wood ashes deliv¬ 
ered on my farm at 12 cents per busnel; would it pay me 
to buy them at tnat price ? Are tney a good fertilizer for 
potatoes ? I have been told they will cause scao; would 
lime prevent the disease ? 
ANS.—1. We see no objection to mowing the wheat. 
There would be no need of raking It off; in fact, it would 
serve a good purpose as a mulch. 2. We tnlnk the q les- 
tions regarding wood a->hes are answered in the last two 
issues. Ac 12 cents per busael the price will be about $4 50 
per ton. The asnes are excellent for potatoes out may 
often *‘caus8 scab.” Lime will not prevent this disease. 
As nobody knows just wnat causes it, it Is impossible to 
tell j ast wnat will surely prevent it. It is now generally 
btilevtd that at lea-t one form of scab is caused by a fungus. 
This form is probably infectious and conveyed from one 
tuber to another. It Is probable that certain conditions of 
soil and certain manures form just the right conditions to 
cause this disease to thrive. It is not unlikely that lime 
aud other substances tend to c jrrec"< this state of things 
and thus weaken the tendency to the disease. Tne study 
of these plant diseases Is one of the most Interesting things 
of modern scleuce and we are very glad that some of our 
most practical experimenters are studyiug them. At the 
Rural Grounds powdered sulphur seems to have prevented 
scab. 
Preparing Ground for Cabbage. 
W. L , Kankakee 111 —I have a piece of laad. which has 
been used as a pasture for several years. O a it i lute id to 
pi int early cabbages aid early potatoes next spring. 
Saould It be plowed this fall aad repio wed next spring? 
Is lc necessary to apply any stable manure to It; or would 
it do If I would give it a good top-dressing of calcken 
mauure ? 
Ans —We should by all means plow both this fall aud 
next spring aud work the land up floe with a good h arrow. 
The Cutaway or Acme will tsar Cue sod upas well as a 
spring-tooth, it is about impossible to give laad too much 
preparation for potatoes or caobage, aud both crops will 
resent any halfway treatmsut. Caicken manure well 
worked into the soil is tirst rate for caboage, provided you 
use enough of it. It is next to imposslole for you to use 
too muca for a big crop of cabbage. Cnickea manure has 
never given us good results when used on potatoes. It 
seems to make vlue growth at tne expense of tubers. As 
our readers well know. The R. N.-Y believes that good 
chemical fertilizers are best for the potato crop. With us, 
chemicals aud we J rotted sod are caeaper aud better tnan 
stable mauure. In your section pernaps the manure will 
be cheaoec. We should spread It oals tall and onoroughly 
work It Into tne soil next spring. As between horse aud 
chicken mauure for potatoes, we should prefer the former. 
Wood Ashes; Feeding Substances. 
E. E. E., Poplar Blaff, Mo. —1. Are soft-wood ashes on 
whicn a lew raius h »ve lallou worcu $1 per con, delivered, 
for fertilizer for fruits, vegetaoles, etc., on a clay soli ? 2. 
Wn.cn is the cheapest food for a milch cow aud work 
horse—bran at $L per nuudrei welgno, liuseed-oll meal at 
$1.40 per nuudred weight, or corn at 5J cents per bushel ? 
ANS.—1. This q uestlon was pretty well answered i osc week. 
Soft wood ames are worcu out little nuro than naif as 
much as those irorn hard wood. “ A few raius " Is some- 
waat ludeflnite. It cue asnes are in a small neap aud ia 
a place wuere the drainage Is good, several good soaking 
rains would greatly reduce their value. We wouid not 
pay $4 per con for the asnes nuiess we were satisfied tnat 
they contained enough pocasn aud paospnoric acid at 4)^ 
and eigut cents p=r pound respec i/eiy to come to tnis 
amount. Tne State Experiment Station at Commola will 
doubtless analyze a sample for yon. 2. i'ae figures given 
la^t week will enable you to estimate tae value ot taesa 
foods. Something will depend upon your hay ration. At 
the figures given corn is tne most expensive food, though, 
if you are making butter, some corn meal will be very 
useful to add firmness and flavor to it. Waeat bran Is tue 
cheapest food for the horces. You can make the cheapest 
cow feed by mixing corn meal aud linseed meal. 
Laws Against Truancy and Mendicancy. 
J. M. E , Sclo , N. Y. — What can be done with a man 
and Uls wife wuo are abie to work aud support tneir fa niiy 
of seven children, of wnom live should be in school; but 
they keep them at home to run all over Cue neighborhood 
to beg tneir living ? is there not a school la w to compel 
them to send them to school, and whose business Is lc to 
enforce It ? 
ANS.—There are laws against truancy and mendicancy 
on tne statute books; but tne enactments against boon are 
more laxly enforced, probably, than chose against any otner 
penal offences. In Cue large cities It Is tne duty of special 
officers to see to it that children under a specified age snail 
attend school for a certain time each year ; and the offenders 
are liable to arrest if found playing truant daring scaool 
hoars. Any police officer is autuo.izeu to arrest anyoody, 
old or young, for beggiuz, ana tne offiesrs of tne Meudi- 
cancy Society nave ihe same authority. Tne officers of tne 
Society for tae Prevention o£ C.u<.lty to (Jmid.en, aioo. 
often arrest cnlldreu lor oegglng, and aiso their parents 
for permitting or orJeriug tnem to do so. In country 
places wnere no special officers are charged wita these 
duties they fall to tne local constaoie, out are seldom per¬ 
formed by him unless puolio opinion is etrougly In favor of 
their enforcement, in suen matters, as in uiiuy otuers, 
tne eufoi cement of the laws depends aim oot entirely ou Che 
nature of pool c op nlou In regard to tuem. Where this is 
lax or divided, tne enforcement of certain laws Is slack or 
altogether su-.ponded, aud vice versa. In some cases, In¬ 
deed, as prooaOly in tne present instance, the very exist¬ 
ence of tue laws Is generally unkuown, aud therefore, of 
coarse, nobody croab es ni nself to see to tneir enforcement. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Poultry are Animals — H L. U , Winchester, Mass.— 
Certainly ; In Massachusetts as well as iu other parts of the 
world, ’* poultry are legally classed as animals.” 
Jelly Making.— S. L. B, Norfork, Vt.-Fruit Pastes, 
Syrups aud Preserves, oy Salrly D iro, price 25 ceats post¬ 
paid from tms office, will prooaoly g.ve yoa ad needed In¬ 
formation. C. H. Grim n, Hudson, O do* and Tne Ver¬ 
mont 3arm Maculae Co., Bellows Fails, Vo., manufacture 
the lat st improved apparatus for tae. manufacture of 
jollies, syrups, etc. Write tnem for ci rculars and prices. 
New Grapes —W. H. B, Wina’mac, Iud. — The new 
grapes uieut.ontd ou page 6ill oau b e obtained of E 1 wauger 
cfc Barry, Rjcues er, N PocQ dx Nurseries, Blooming¬ 
ton, ill.; Scorrs Harrisoa Co., Painesvlde, Omo; J. T. 
Lovett, Little Silver, N. J. F^jid tor their catalogues. 
