IOO 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Feb. 18 
corn over the fence in late July, the ground lay bare 
from that time until the next spring. 
“Why not?” said the old agriculture. “It has 
raised its crop ; what more do you want ? ” 
“ Did you ever hear that ‘ Satan finds some mischief 
still for idle hands to do? ’ ” 
“ Of course ; you can't post me on any of them old 
sayings. But that means people, it doesn’t mean land.” 
“ Beg your pardon, but it does mean land too.” 
Land lying idle from August to April will cut up as 
many tricks as unemployed people do. It is said that 
crops will not grow as well where a bonfire has en¬ 
riched the ground with ashes but destroyed its nitro¬ 
gen, as upon the adjoining land. It is believed that 
the weathering of bare land either in winter or sum¬ 
mer depletes it of its fertility, and that a growing crop 
increases the humus, improves the texture and holds 
the volatile fertilizing ingredients which have a strong 
tendency to escape our grasp whenever our backs are 
turned. But perhaps these questions of comparative 
fertility are not surely settled and should not be 
urged ; but certainly he is a benefactor of his pocket- 
book who makes two crops grow where one grew be¬ 
fore. I am sure, if one will fertilize for it, that land 
constantly cropped will improve faster in humus and 
in the decomposition of its minerals than where 
periods of poverty and inactivity are allowed. These 
liberated minerals make an excellent foundation on 
which to rear a fertile superstructure of nitrogenous 
material with clover and the legumes. 
After changing to level culture in managing our corn 
crop, we found that in the fall the ground had settled 
to a quite even surface, after the seven or five-shovel 
cultivator. 
Now, as fast as we have an acre or half one clear 
of corn, we sow two bushels of winter wheat or rye 
per acre and cultivate both ways with a one-horse cul¬ 
tivator and sometimes bush. Sometimes the grain is 
put in with the two-horse disc harrow. In the spring 
a field roller or heavy smoothing board levels down 
the corn stubs so that there is no difficulty in using a 
mowing machine or a reaper. 
A Mistake With Two Idle Acres. 
June 16, 1892, we cut one acre of heavy wheat just 
coming into the milk and the land was sowed about 
September 1 after late potatoes had been dug and put 
in the cellar. Clover was sowed upon this in April 
1892 and two cuttings of it followed the wheat. The 
clover crop was light on account of dry weather, but 
stands well for next season. This wheat hay is cut 
and mixed with the ensilage half and half. At the 
same time we cut two acres of wheat which was sown 
with the cultivator in September 1891 following acre 
by acre corn as it was put into the silo. These same 
two acres were planted with corn July 19, which was 
cut in early October. Part went into the silo. Then 
a loose knife broke most of the hardware out of the 
cutter enforcing a long wait for repairs; so the silo 
was closed and the remainder of the corn was stacked 
and fed as cut corn fodder in November, as the follow¬ 
ing schedule shows. This corn was just showing 
silk and it would have been better had all been stacked 
and cured, for the quality of the ensilage was not 
good. 
Here you notice an error. These two acres lay idle 
32 of the best growing days of the season on account 
of the pressure of other work. There was manure to 
be carted upon it and plowing to be done, besides a 
steady run of regular June work; then we planted the 
White Southern corn which needs a long season. 
It would have been better to pay $4 per day for 
man and team and put the seed in before July 1. Then 
by planting a quick-growing corn—Crane’s Prolific, 
which we planted May 17, was glazing for the silo 
August 17—we could have had a mttured crop suitable 
for the best ensilage. If one makes no slips in this 
business he must be vigilant and ready for prompt 
action all through the growing season. 
Below is our fodder schedule for 1892. We change 
somewhat each year to conform to farm conditions and 
in the light of previous experience. Substantially it 
is a good schedule for us. The dates are approximate. 
Our location is on the Connecticut shore of Long 
Island Sound 50 miles from New York. A deviation 
in either direction of a few days from the dates given 
might be better or worse according to weather and 
latitude. 
FODDER SCHEDULE SEASON 1892. 
Fodder. 
1 
2 
5 
J 
l 
9 
Rye. 
Clover. 
Pasture. 
Oats. 
Peas. 
Second sowing.. -J 
Evergreen corn. J 
Crane’s Corn. 
Prolific “ . 
White “ . 
Southern “ . 
Barley. 
Peas. 
Cured fodder corn 
Rye pasture. 
Ensilage . 
Seed. 
Sown. 
2 bushels. 
Sept. 1, ’91. 
April 2, ’91. 
2 bush. 1 
m “ ( 
2 bush. ( 
1 !* “ ( 
PI. 3x3. 
5 kernels. 
12 q. per 
acre. 
3!* x 3J*. 
2 bush. 1 
1 “ ( 
i. 
April 1, ’92. 
April 8 , '92. 
April 20, ’92. 
May 17, ’92.1 
May 26, ’92. > 
June 25, '92. , 
July 19, ’92. j 
Aug. 13, '92. 
1 
Cut. 
‘May 14-30, 1892. 
June 1-10, 1992. t 
No grain, i 
June21-July 7, 1892. t 
July 8-18, 1892. i 
July 19-Oct. 8,1892. i 
Silo closed. Oct. 8 . 
Oct. 9-20, 1892. First 
cotton seed meal, t 
Oct. 21-Nov. 13. t 
Nov. 14, 1892. * 
’ Full grain ration, t Half grain ration, t No grain; 23 acres. 
(To be Continued.) 
CONVERTING SKIM-MILK INTO FAT LAMB. 
As it may be of interest to some of the readers of 
The Rural,, I will give them my experience with the 
pair of twin lambs left “ orphans ” by the dogs which 
killed their mother, an account of which was pub¬ 
lished in The Rural of December 24. They were a 
week old when they lost their mother; when 40 days 
old they weighed 26 and 30 pounds respectively. They 
are now 55 days old and still growing nicely. Here is 
my method of feeding them: I made a box (see Fig. 
40) that will hold milk without leaking. Then I 
bored two small holes near the bottom of it, and in¬ 
serted two little plugs of wood which are left sticking 
out about an inch. Through them are holes about the 
size of a common knitting needle for the passage of 
the milk. They are wrapped with a soft cotton rag 
and made to resemble the ewe’s teats as much as pos¬ 
sible. The lambs learned to suck their milk at once 
without any trouble. I feed them exclusively on 
skim-milk made slightly warm, and they get all they 
care to drink from four to six times a day. They are 
allowed to run at large about the premises, and are 
now beginning to eat bran and hay, and I think they 
will weigh more when six months old than if they had 
run with their mother. When I wish to feed them I 
have only to call them by name (Bob and Lucy) and 
they readily respond. If any of the readers of the 
Orphan Lambs and their Nurse. Fig. 40. 
paper desire it, I will give their weights when five or 
six months old, if nothing happens to them or myself 
before that time. j. t. graves, 
R. N.-Y.—We want to hear from them again. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of the 
writer to Insure attention. Before asking a question please see If It Is 
not answered In our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
atone time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
□ Spent Hops; A Big: Corn Yield. 
J. Van Loon, La Crosse County, Wls .—I am able to 
get a large quantity of spent hops at a distance of 
about 2% miles from my farm for a nominal considera¬ 
tion. Would it pay to get them for their manurial 
value ? I intend to use them for a mulch on a currant, 
gooseberry and raspberry patch ; also to spread them 
along with ashes and barnyard manure on a piece of 
land to be planted to melons next spring. I have been 
using them in connection with barnyard manure for 
some years, but am not able to say for certain what 
value they have. Reading Chemicals and Clover set 
me thinking as well as acting last year. On a sod 
plowed one year ago last fall 100 pounds of corn fer¬ 
tilizer per acre were broadcasted last spring, and in 
order to be able to know the effect a larger quantity 
would have, a tablespoonful extra per hill was thor¬ 
oughly mixed with the soil; on the next row to this 
the same quantity of pure Florida phosphate was 
applied and corn planted. Evidently the phosphate 
had no effect whatever, but from the third day after 
the corn had started to grow the effect was noticeable 
all through the season, on the portion that had received 
the fertilizer, and since, as I told The Rural last year, 
I wished to grow 100 bushels of corn per acre if pos¬ 
sible, imagine my surprise when by actual measure¬ 
ment we husked 125 bushels per acre. Eighty three 
bushels per acre had been the largest crop of corn I 
had ever raised before this, and I had always wished to 
see a larger crop somewhere. To tell the truth, I had 
doubted that it could be done at all by any one: we 
had read accounts of such large yiel Is, but the places 
where they were said to have been grown were a long 
way from where I raised corn ; but when The Rural 
said : “ We have raised considerably more than that 
per acre,” I worked harder than ever to accomplish 
my object. From this statement many people might 
infer that chemicals ought to have all the credit for 
this increased yield. Not so ; the land on which this 
crop was raised had been in grass and clover and 
pastured for six years; some of it had been a hog 
pasture (where, by the way, the corn was the best): 
manure had been applied to it in addition the year 
before it was plowed, and tankage at the rate of 400 
pounds per acre had also been applied, and while I 
am satisfied that all this previous preparation materi¬ 
ally added to the effected results, I am also convinced 
that the corn fertilizer added considerably towards 
growing 500 bushels of corn on four acres, and I feel 
secretly proud that I have accomplished a feat which 
to me seemed almost impossible. It shows again that 
hardly any one knows what can be accomplished with 
labor and material used on one acre of ground. 
Ans.—I f the spent hops are about as wet as ordinary 
stable manure, they will contain about theofollowing 
amounts of plant food as compared with ordinary 
mixed manure : 
Spent Mixed 
hops. manure. 
Nitrogen.Percent.. .84 .73 
Phosphoric acid.. “ “ .. .34 .29 
Potash. “ “ .. .14 .77 
The nitrogen of the spent hops is probably not quite 
so available as that in the manure. On the whole the 
hops are worth a little less than the manure so far as 
actual fertility goes. They ought to make a good 
mulch and wood ashes will supply needed potash. No 
man has ever yet fully tested the capacity for produc¬ 
tion of an acre of land. 
Some Butter Rations. 
P. C. B., Kreidersville, Pa .—What is a complete ration 
for butter making from the following: I have a limited 
amount of ensilage (about 25 pounds to the cow) ; corn 
and cob meal at 90 cents per 100 pounds; bran and shorts 
at 90 cents per 100; oil-cake meal at SI.65; cotton¬ 
seed meal at SI 50; sugar feed at 90 cents ; malt sprouts 
at 90 cents ; low-grade flour at 90 cents, with all the 
meadow hay they will eat ? 
Ans. —Send to the Wisconsin Experiment Station 
(Madison, Wis.) and get a copy of the bulletin on “ Ra¬ 
tions for Dairy Cows,” No. 33. This will be of great 
help to you in making up a ration. The foods named 
have about these compositions : 
Meadow hay. 
Protein. 
Carbohydrates. 
Fat. 
. 10 
49.4 
3.1 
Ensilage. . 
. 1.7 
11.1 
0.8 
Cob meal. 
. 8.5 
64.8 
3.8 
Bran. 
. 15.4 
53.9 
4 
OH cake meal. 
. 34 
37 
Sugar feed. 
. 13.5 
54.85 
9 
Malt sprouts. 
. 23.2 
48 5 
1.7 
Cotton-seed meal . 
- 42.3 
23.6 
13.1 
Prof. Woll gives the following standard American 
ration for a 1,000-pound cow, based on the analyses of 
American feeds : 
Pounds. 
Organic matter. 25.5 
Digestible protein. 2.2 
Digestible carbohydrates. 13.3 
Digestible fat. 0.8 
Total digestible matter. 16.3 
With these figures you can make up a suitable 
ration. 
In the bulletin mentioned above these rations are 
given. They are actually fed by dairymen in different 
parts of Wisconsin : 
Pounds. 
1. Good corn ensilage. 27 
Dry fodder corn, some ears. 8 
Clover hay. 6 
OH meal. 4 
Wheat bran . 4 
And a little oat straw. 
Cost of ration, 14.6 cents. 
Pounds. 
2. Corn ensilage. 30 
Hay.5 to 8 
OH meal. 3 
Ground cob, corn and oats. 10 
Cost of ration, 17.7 cents. 
Pounds. 
3. Corn ensilage. 25 
Clover hay. 6 
Cotton-seed meal. 1.5 
Malt sprouts. 3.5 
Bran. 4 
Corn meal. 4 
Cost of ration, 15.3 cents. 
Pounds. 
4 . Corn ensilage. 35 
Hay. “ eaten up clean,” say. 11 
Grain mixture of five parts bran, three of 
ground oats, one of oll-cake meal. 8 
Cost of ration, 15.1 cents. 
Now, to show how these rations compare with the 
standard, we give three analyses for comparison : 
Protein. Carbohydrate. Fat. 
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
No. 1. 2.09 14.45 .75 
No. 2. 1.80 10.66 .70 
No. 3. 1.33 13.50 . 46 
No. 1 is not only nearly right, but is the cheapest of 
the lot. The cows in the cases where Nos. 2 and 3 
were used were small Jerseys averaging not over 800 
pounds in weight, so that the standard should be re¬ 
duced nearly one-fourth. 
Gluten Meal and Cotton-Seed Dust. 
H. F. A.., Cumberland Hill, R. I. —1. How does gluten 
meal compare with cotton-seed meal as a milk-pro¬ 
ducing food when fed with bran and corn-meal ? 2. 
Is there any fertilizing value in cotton dust when used 
in the trench as an absorbent ? 
Ans. —1. Here are average analyses of the four kinds 
of grain, in per cents. 
Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat. 
Gluten meal. 
29.4 
62.4 
6.3 
Cotton-seed meal... 
42.3 
23.6 
13.1 
Wheat bran. 
15.4 
53.9 
4 
Corn meal. 
9.2 
68.7 
8.8 
cotton-seed meal 
is the 
“ stronger 
” food. 
our own feeding we should never use either cotton¬ 
seed or gluten meal in quantities above one pound per 
day, unless we were feeding ensilage, roots or some- 
