1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
4i i 
the damp air and the rains will cause it to lose its 
toughness, and it then is very short-lived. When we 
fi st started here we didn’t have much money, and 
had to get along as cheaply as possible, so when we 
built our house we covered it with tarred paper, but 
it didn’t last long. The best protection against cold 
is a dead-air space.” 
“ Your new brooder houses extend east and west, 
with the brooder pipes on the north, and glass in the 
south sides only. Don’t you agree with Mr. Ilallock 
that the north and south houses are the best ?” 
“ Yes, I prefer bis; but I couldn’t get help to build 
as I wanted to, and this style of house is easier to 
build, so I put it up the easiest way. It is almost im¬ 
possible to get carpenters or plumbers either.” 
“ How long have you occupied your place ? ” 
“About 10 years. It was all covered with under¬ 
brush and scrubby trees when we came here, but we 
have been clearing it up gradually.” 
High-Priced Land to Start On. 
“ I suppose you bought it pretty cheap ? ” 
“No; it cost us $100 per acre, water and all. We 
had but $000 or $800, and we had to start in on 
a small scale and work up. It was slow work, but it 
was probably the best thing for us in the end.” 
“ How many ducks do you turn off in a year ? ” 
“ About 10,000 ; probably more this year.” 
“ How expensive is a plant to handle that number 
to advantage?” 
“There ought to be at least $10,000 invested. Of 
course the work can be done on a less capital.” 
“ What do you estimate as the cost per pound of 
growing the young ducks ready for market ? ” 
“ I don’t know <hat we ever estimated it that way. 
We calculate that we ought to make a profit of 40 
cents on each bird.” 
“Is there mrch difference between the method of 
handling the incubators for ducks’ and hens’ eggs ? ” 
“ A great difference. In the matter of ventilation, 
we want a slow, steady current of air. We keep the 
ventilators nearly closed for the first three weeks, 
gradually opening them. I put very little water in 
the moisture pans, at first, putting in more at the last, 
and then most in the pans over the lamps.” 
“ How often do you turn and air the eggs? ” 
“We turn them twice a day, and air them once, 
leaving the incubators open for a longer or shorter 
time according to the weather.” 
1 ‘ Do you have to sit up nights with your incubators ? ” 
“Never. They are all self-regulating, and work all 
right without any watching if the lamps are properly 
filled and trimmed.” 
“I dcn’t see any large incubators. Do you consider 
the smaller machines superior ? ” 
“ Yes, they are safer. If anything should happen 
to one of the large machines, there would be an im¬ 
mense loss. Then the smaller machines are easier 
handled and regulated.” 
“ You seem to be doing well at the business ? ” 
“ Oh, fairly well, but it is a business that needs close 
attention and hard work. It must be thoroughly 
learned.” 
The cut shown represents only a small part of the 
yards and ducks, but gives a good idea of the general 
plan. The picket fences shown are in the water, and 
must be high enough not to be covered during high 
tides. On land, a very low fence is sufficient to 
restrain the ducks. It is a beautiful sight to see these 
thousands of pure white ducks sporting in the water 
or s vanning out around their feeding troughs, f. h. v. 
FEEDING MANGOLDS IN GERMANY. 
All kinds of cattle are fed extensively on mangolds 
in middle and south Germany as well as in France and 
England, and they are one of the most important and 
safest crops we grow. We aim to make turnips last 
from November 1 until Christmas, by which time they 
begin to get bitter, and then we start on the man¬ 
golds, arranging the daily ration so as to make them 
hold out until May 15. When the supply is plentiful, 
I feed 40 pounds per day to each cow in milk and 50 
pounds to a 6teer. They are cut into fine strips. I have 
fed them for the last 30 years and never known any 
damage to arise therefrom. They are fed with ad¬ 
vantage to young stock, sheep and hrrses. Mangolds 
do best the year after the land has been manured. I 
haul my barnyard manure on clover stubble and seed 
down the middle of September to rye and winter 
vetches which give me a heavy crop of green fodder 
the coming spring, before anything else is in s : ght. 
Whatever is left of this on May 15 is cured to hay, tne 
land is broadcasted with 300 pounds of basic slag and 
200 of kainit and turned under to be ready on June 1 
for the planting of the mangolds. The Eckindorfer is 
to-day by far the most profitable kind to grow, per¬ 
fectly cylindrical, smooth and flat at the top, with 
scant foliage and but one root. Then it is easily 
harvested and has no woody part about it; even speci¬ 
mens 20 pounds in weight are to-day—May 8—fresh 
and soft all through. We consider 20 tons per acre a 
good crop. We plant at 24 inches between the rows 
and keep the ground well stirred and free from weeds. 
Mangolds are never given alone, but always in com¬ 
bination with hay and straw cut into 1%-inch lengths. 
As we cannot have the silo, we contrive to get a palat¬ 
able food in the following manner : A box, shown at 
Fig. 146, is built out of pine scantling and 1%-inch 
boards, with the top and front open, the whole divided 
into three equal compartments, each to hold an entire 
day’s feed for all animals, space being calculated on 
the basis of two cubic feet for each cow. A three- 
inch layer of chopped hay and straw is now spread 
evenly on the floor of the first compartment; then 
follows a thin layer of sliced mangolds, which have 
previously been mixed with the daily allowance of 
oil-meal and bran ; then another layer of chopped hay 
and straw, treading down firm as it grows up and set¬ 
ting in the front boards as needed. When full, a 
board covering is put on. On the second day the next 
compartment is similarly filled and on the third day 
the last one. On the third day we commence to feed 
from the first compartment ; this has now become 
thoroughly heated and has entered into a sweet fer¬ 
mentation giving an agreeable odor to the whole 
mixture and the avidity with which it is consumed 
proves that it is relished. The increased flow of milk 
shows that the cows are grateful for our having 
“ roots on the brain.” j. f. sarg. 
THE FARMER’S BEST FRIEND, CLOVER. 
WHY SHOULD IT NURSE WEEDS ? 
Give the Young Plant a Start. 
As a renovator of soils and for keeping up their fer¬ 
tility, clover stands preeminent. The common custom 
is to sow the seed in the spring among wheat which, 
with the usual rotation of crops, is perhaps the most 
available method, but the many failures in setting 
well should induce farmers to experiment with other 
methods. Glover is about the only seed the farmer 
Home in your Garden. Fig. 147. 
or any one else sows without preparing the ground for 
its reception, and why it is made an exception I am un¬ 
able to explain, unless it is its persistency to grow 
and flourish in many cases with the most careless 
treatment; for as soon as the wheat is removed, stock 
of all kinds are turned on, which gnaw and trample it 
down until frosts or cold weather set in, when with 
a few blades for winter protection it is left to go into 
winter-quarters with the expectation that it will come 
out smilingly in the spring and produce a full crop. 
The seed bed, however, is the point of importance. 
Excellent results have been produced by harrowing 
the wheat in the spring as soon as the ground is suf¬ 
ficiently dry to venture on it with a horse ; sow the 
clover seed before or after harrowing. The favorable 
effects on both seed and wheat generally outbalance 
by far the small amount of wheat that is destroyed by 
harrowing. The writer never had a better set nor 
finer clover than when sown with pats; the latter, 
however, should not be sown too thickly. Sow after 
the oats are harrowed and follow with a plank drag. 
Clover seed sown alone on clean, well prepared 
ground in the spring will produce a crop the same 
season that will surprise any one who has never tried 
or seen it. 
One of the causes of failure, or partial failure, is 
the sowing of seed too sparingly. Close pasturing 
young clover after harvest is the general custom, but 
mowing instead has advantages that cannot be ig¬ 
nored if the best results are to be secured. 
The Mower's Teeth Beat the Cow’s Teeth. 
The objections to pasturing are that stock invari¬ 
ably eat where the grass is weakest, leaving the 
rankest growth as a last resort; the consequence is an 
uneven crop, besides irregular fertilization of the soil. 
Pasturing when the ground is wet is also objection¬ 
able, as it will cause the clover to heave out more dur¬ 
ing the winter. This, however, is a point upon which 
farmers differ, but please observe that wherever 
catt e trample most there will be the most heaving 
out. The mower is far superior to pasturing if we 
aim at a clean field and fine, even stand of clover, and 
the crop when well cured into hay ; I find that stock 
will pick out the clover in preference to ordinary hay. 
My custom is to throw it in front of the stock in the 
stable, let them pick out the clover and use the stubble 
for bedding. 
The principal advantages of this method are: We 
will have a clean and even field for hay the following 
season, but the most important is the gradual eradica¬ 
tion of bitter weed, the worst weed pest on the farm. 
Travel over your broad country during the month of 
September and find if you can a ripened stubble field 
with young clover, which is not literally overgrown 
with bitter weed, in many instances two feet high ; 
why should this intruder at every rotation of crops 
stand in its full vigor, robbing the young clover of so 
much f rtility—which the latter should have. Pastur¬ 
ing does not destroy it, for the stock will not eat it ex¬ 
cept as a last resort, and when cows eat it, the result 
is bitter milk. 
Now, brother farmer, why foster this intruder at 
the expense of your better friend (clover) when it 
may be barred out ? The writer no longer fears its 
encroachment. Have you ever thought of why or 
how it is always on hand at a regular period ? Of 
course the weed as other weeds is always on hand in 
our corn and potato fields, but not in such quantity as 
in wheat stubbles. The reason is that we have been 
growing a full crop of well ripened seed on every 
wheat stubble field sown with clover. Will some of 
you try the writer’s method and report at some future 
time ? 
Instead of pasturing, mow your young clover, wheat 
stubble, bitter weed and all, about the last of August 
or first of September, or just before the seed of the 
weed is ripe enough to germinate, cure the whole as 
hay, and utilize as mentioned above, which, if a good 
growth, will be worth tons of hay ; in addition, you 
have not sown a crop of weeds for next season, but do 
not think you have done with it, until you cease 
growing seed, but juBt as soon as there is no more seed 
in the ground and we grow no seed, it v\ ill no longer 
trouble us, and henceforth we may expect to grow 
pure field crops instead of those mixed with weeds. 
Take Clover at Its Best. 
Now a word as to hay : The great mistake of mak¬ 
ing hay is its being left to get too ripe before cutting. 
I am aware that chemists tell us that grasses possess 
the greatest amount of nutrition when ripe, or nearly 
so, but the question is whether the stomach of an 
animal can fully indorse the teachings of the chemists’ 
laboratory. My experience is that the period when 
grass (pasture) gives the greatest flow of milk is the 
time to cut it to make the most nutritious hay, and l 
would rather err in cutting too early than too late, 
for several reasons. Of course, grass requires more 
labor and care in curing, but at the same time will not 
suffer as much from rains as that cut too ripe. It will 
be less harsh and will occupy less space in storing j 
stock will relish it better, and the flow of milk will 
be greater than from grass cut too ripe. By cutting 
clover quite early, we get a good second crop, which 
is of more value than it generally gets credit for. 
Clover will not die out so soon as when cut too ripe ; 
for example, a clover seed crop generally finishes up 
plant and all. To secure a good stand of clover, not less 
than six quarts of prime seed per acre should be sown. 
On well prepared ground, less will answer the pur¬ 
pose. By mixing some Alsike clover seed with it, a 
better stand is often secured, and the latter will not 
heave out. Crimson clover may be a valuable acquit i- 
tion, but will require further trial to prove its adapta¬ 
tion to different soils and latitudes. Sowed on well 
prepared ground in August or early in September, it 
has produced excellent crops the following season, and 
is in full bloom 10 days or more in advance of common 
clover, and makes pasture equal to the latter. Whether 
it will prove equal as a fertilizer or renovator of soils, 
I am not prepared to say, but, in my opinion, it de¬ 
serves more extensive trial. h m. engle. 
