1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
331 
THAT BIG CORN CROP. 
MORE COMPLETE DETAILS. 
In The Rural of February 18, a statement was 
printed with regard to a big crop of corn I raised last 
summer. Since this item appeared, inquiries have 
been made of me as to what kind of fertilizer was 
used ; and the kind of corn I planted, etc. The fertil¬ 
izer used was the Mapescorn manure; and in order to 
enable readers to know what such fertilizers are made 
of and to more fully undertand the matter I would 
urge those who have not done so to read the article 
contained in Rurals of March 11 and 18, entitled ‘ A 
Bag of Fertilizer,” what it is and how it is made. This 
concise and simple statement has given me more in¬ 
sight and knowledge of complete fertilizers than I ever 
had before. The corn from which I raised the big 
crop, was a selected strain of Pride of the North and 
Yellow Dent, the cobs of which from a bushel of 
ears weighing 70 pounds will only weigh 12 pounds. 
For many of the readers of The Rural it will be a 
useless task to try to raise such a crop, unless their 
land is naturally very rich or is made so with barn¬ 
yard or other manures or combined manures including 
commercial fertilizers, but even then many will fail. 
I have known farmers who while their land is rich 
enough to produce large crops of corn, begrudge the 
price some seedsmen ask for a bushel of good seed- 
corn—81.50 to 82—and yet when we consider 
that this is only from 25 to 30 cents per acre 
(by the way, a ridiculously low price for this 
kind of seed compared with the cost of almost 
all others) it is certainly small economy to pick 
corn out of a man’s corn crib and pay perhaps 
50 cents per bushel for it, and then plant it. 
To those who have grown, and are still annually 
growing large crops of corn it is needless to 
give advice, but those who are striving to 
grow a larger crop every year it may be that 
my experience in the matter may help some¬ 
what. To such I would say that it is not only 
to the kind of corn I raise or the kind of fer¬ 
tilizer I use that I owe the big yields, but to 
the combination of several well-directed ef¬ 
forts on my own part, and unless these are 
followed by others, most of them will fail to 
get extra yields. These are, first, a thorough 
preparation of the soil at the right time, con¬ 
sisting of good plowing and heavy manuring, 
followed by a disc or other good harrow; 
second, the planting of some good kind of corn 
that will mature in one’s own latitude. The 
corn should be tested at least three w<.eks be¬ 
fore it is planted, so that one may know in time 
whether to purchase other seed in case it fails 
to grow. Third, just as soon as the corn shows 
above the ground so that one can see it all, he 
should hoe the ground for a distance of five 
or six inches each way from the plant, no mat¬ 
ter whether there are weeds there or not. 
This may seem somewhat expensive to some, 
but a good man will hoe an acre per day at * 
that time. I wish every one who has never 
done so before would try at least one acre this 
year and he will be convinced of the value 
of the labor bestowed on this early care and 
tender nursing of the corn plant. I believe 
there is no plant on the farm that will so richly repay 
the owner for his labor at that stage. I find that then 
the plant has clear sailing ; it is ahead and stays there 
if one follows as soon as possible with a cultivator of 
some kind. The main thing is to cultivate and keep on 
doing so as often and as long as one can until the corn 
begins to tassel. After this I generally wait about 
two weeks, and if the growth does not interfere too 
much, I then go through it with the cultivator once, 
and sometimes twice. If the season is ordinarily 
favorable and the farmer has given it the required 
care and attention, he may then expect a bountiful 
crop. 
If at husking time one wishes to know, and not 
guess at the quantity raised per acre, he should make 
preparation to have his corn weighed or measured. 
If a large scale is not used on his own place, he may 
perhaps bargain as I did when I raised 83 bushels per 
acre, and pay the scale owner so much for weighing 
the crop. I believe I paid 81 for having the whole 
crop weighed, and when one has the figures before 
him he is very apt to resort to the same means every 
fall thereafter at husking time. The satisfaction ob¬ 
tained from such work is pleasing; even if one does 
not obtain the desired result, he knows what he is 
about, and if any failures occur on his own account 
he is generally inclined to remedy the fault. 
La Crosse County, Wis. john van loon. 
R. N.-Y.—Mr. Van Loon speaks of hoeing the crop. 
There is nothing equal to a hoe in the hands of a 
good man for doing this work. That tool is the 
standard. Harrows and weeders are more or less 
good as imitations of the hoe. They save time where 
hand labor is scarce—that is all. 
WE TAKE MORE ELBOW ROOM. 
It is now three years since The Rural New-Yorker 
announced its marriage to the American Garden. 
We don’t make it a rule to talk much about our family 
matters, believing that good order and neighborly 
feeling are best preserved by keeping private affairs 
at home. Once in a while, however, every family is 
forced into a step that needs some public explanation 
in order that the neighbors may not misunderstand it. 
That is the way it is with us. We have been obliged 
to move into a larger and more comfortable house. We 
want all our friends to understand about this move so 
they may know we are still on the farm—only better 
prepared than ever before to carry out our plans for 
the future. When we moved, three years ago, we 
thought we had things fixed about right. The house 
was large and comfortable with room for all. Around 
our farm were several little tracts of land occupied by 
different parties, all farming on their own hook. For 
example, Miss Popular Gardening had a little place of 
her own. She was running it very successfully, but 
got tired of living alone, so it was proposed to pool 
her issues with ours. Her place was thrown in with 
ours, while she made her home with us, helping with 
housework and other matters. In like manner others 
came in until our folks filled up a very big table. We 
could have stood that well enough, however, but for 
a very interesting event that took place some two 
years ago. Well—to be short about it, they were 
twins ! We called them Book Department and Pre¬ 
mium Department, and the way those children started 
in and grew was enough to make a sturdy old farmer 
like The R. N.-Y. look serious, for he needed a new 
herd of cows to feed them. Those youngsters grew so 
fast that they burst the buttons off their clothes faster 
than half a dozen people could sew them on. During 
the past season The R. N.-Y.’s trade has been just 
about doubled. Some days last winter it took a dozen 
people busy away into the night to get the day’s mail 
all sorted out right. We had all the young folks in the 
neighborhood at work—bed rooms, parlor, kitchen, 
wood shed all filled up. There was no use talking, we 
didn’t have half room enough. A person can’t make 
wages unless he can have play for his el 'iows, and The 
R. N.-Y. and his wife saw that they must have a bigger 
house if those twins were to have anything like a fair 
show. 
So here we are—a picture of our new house is shown 
at Fig. 125 It is entirely new, and we now have ample 
space in which to turn around and grow. The building 
is located at the corner of Chambers and Pearl Streets, 
and is easy of access from all the principal points in the 
city. The business of the city is moving this way, and 
already many large buildings are going up around us 
t > take the places of the dwellings that have so long 
occupied the ground. We are now better prepared 
than ever before for trade in our specialties, and, with 
the help of our friends who have been so kind to us in 
the past, we propose to try to maintain a steady and 
healthy growth. We shall be pleased to have you take 
an interest in the twins whenever they can serve you. 
Inquire for the Scott & Bowne Building. That is the 
name of our new home. Scott & Bowne arc good folks 
to have for neighbors, for they have done a good deal 
to keep people well. 
LEAVINGS. 
Treatment of Scabby Sheep. —Many of the dips 
advertised will effectually cure the scab. The main 
thing is thoroughness in treating it, and the sheep if 
badly affected must be dipped twice. The best way 
is to shear them at once and if the weather is cool 
keep them in warm quarters for a few days; espe¬ 
cially should this be done until they are fully dry after 
they have been dipped. In dipping, each sheep should 
be kept in the dip f;om one to two minutes and 
should be immersed head and all, care being taken 
that the dip does not get into mouth or nose, and 
while they are in the dip all sore places should be 
rubbed so as to break up all scab and have the dip 
penetrate every spot. The first dipping will kill all 
living insects, but will not kill all the eggs and as 
these hatch in about 10 days, the sheep should be 
dipped again in about 12 days or not longer than two 
weeks. 
Crude petroleum will surely kill the scab, but it 
is more expensive than the dips and there is danger 
of getting that which is not pure and then it will take 
the wool off. A good preparation and one that 
will certainly cure is made by boiling tobacco 
stems, such as can be obtained at any tobacco 
factory—say 25 pounds in 25 gallons of soft or 
rain water—for one hour. The water should be 
taken out and 25 gallons more should be put in, 
and this too boiled half an hour; then put back 
the first water and add four gallons of kerosene 
emulsion made as follows : Into a dish contain, 
ing one pound of hard soap dissolved in one gal¬ 
lon of soft water, or one gallon of good soft soap, 
and one gallon more of soft water all boiling- 
hot, put two gallons of kerosene and stir, churn 
and whip till like cream. Have the dip as hot 
as it can be borne without burning the sheep. 
Before such treatment insects are left on 
fences, rocks or gates, wherever the sheep have 
rubbed, and it is not safe to put sound sheep 
into such places for a month more or less, ac¬ 
cording to the weather, although I should fear 
no harm in putting the dipped sheep into such 
quarters. The folds can be made perfectly 
safe, however, by spraying or washing them 
with crude petroleum or with the kerosene 
emulsion, being sure to hit all places the sheep 
have rubbed against. 
The lambs should be dipped also, and if any 
of the poisonous dips are used, especially Cooper s 
which contains arsenic, great care must be used 
in not letting the little things suck until the 
sheep are dry. In fact it is safest to wash the 
udders in clean water before they are allowed 
to SUCk. J. 8 WOODWARD. 
Working A White Elephant. —I have noticed 
in The Rural several articles in regard to a 
certain firm in Chicago who build and equip 
creameries. Of course, I can only conjecture 
what firm it is, but we have had some ex- 
peiience in this county with a Chicago concern 
engaged in that kind of business and the description 
of the one fits the other very well. When I find that 
I have got an elephant on my hands by my own free 
will, I try to use him in some way till some one wants 
him who can make better use of him. We have a good 
dairy country and plenty of cows (such as they are) 
and had believed the creamery could be made to . pay 
not only stockholders, but the community at large, 
and I still believe it can in the light of two years’ ex¬ 
perience. 
The first year the business was carried on under the 
management of the above firm’s butter-maker, who 
was furnished at an expense of 875 per month, and the 
creamery had also to pay 840 per month for an assist¬ 
ant, besides coal, oil, etc., etc. There was plenty of 
milk, but the product was not first-class and did not 
bring the price it ought, and the operating expenses 
were so heavy that the patrons did not make anything. 
They thought they could do better in the old way, 
and the second year the milk supply fell off, but under 
better management we made a little money. After 
trying the old way a year in comparison with the 
new, the people have learned that they were doing all 
the hard work without any compensation except 
what pleasure there may be in making poor butter 
out of good material. The prospects for the current 
year are such that the company has trebled its capac¬ 
ity for handling milk. 
Moral : Don’t sit down and find fault with what 
can’t be helped, but get up and find the best way out. 
Russell, Iowa. a victim. 
Manuring in the Hill for Tomatoes.— In the answer 
to F. R. F., page 245 of The Rural, we are told that 
“ fertilizing in the hill is sure to give small tomatoes.” 
