474 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 15 
“ Do you consider her a good type of the breed ? ” 
“Yes, she is one of the best bitches in America. 
She has taken a number of first premiums during the 
past two years, and numerous specials for best bitch 
on exhibition. We will go out to the other kennels 
and look at her mates. Ilere is Argoss, the grandest 
specimen of the breed living. He has competed against 
all the most noted Psovie in America, and has never 
been beaten. He won the great silver medal at Mos¬ 
cow in 1891, and has won a large number of firsts and 
specials in this country and in England. Then here 
is the bitch Zerry (see Fig. 165), a large, powerful 
animal, and Modjeska, a sister of Princess Irma, and 
one of the finest animals of the breed to be found in 
England and Russia. She possesses all the qualities 
that go to make up the perfect type of the breed, and 
has but one defect, she is a little small. Were it not 
for this, she would be the best of her breed to be 
found to-day. These four, Argoss, Princess Irma, 
Modjeska and Zerry, are the best four Wolfhounds 
in America.” 
There were a number of others, fine animals, but 
not equal to those named. Several greyhounds were 
also much in evidence. About GO dogs in all were in 
the different kennels, but the number sometimes 
reaches 100. They had all been put in on account of 
a passing shower, but while we were looking at them, 
they were turned out, and such a scampering as they 
made ! Their long legs and muscular frames carry 
them over the ground at a pace that far outstrips the 
fastest horse. They are of a very amiable disposition, 
and readily responded to my friendly advances by 
jumping all over me, a proceeding not particularly 
pleasant considering their weight and agility. They 
are perfect bundles of muscles. Mr. McGregor told 
me that he had known one of them to jump over the 
gate of the paddock, some eight or ten feet high. 
Another shower threatening, they were soon returned 
to their kennels, each dog knowing his place, and re¬ 
sponding quickly to his name, though apparently pre¬ 
ferring to remain outside. 
In the second story of this house extension were 
what are called the toy dogs, most prominent among 
them being the Irish Terriers, bright, wideawake 
little fellows. A litter of pups Mr. McGregor said 
could be bought for $50 each. 
“ Do you take orders for dogs before they are ready 
to deliver ? ” I asked. 
“ Oh, yes, before they are born many times.” 
“ Do you require a deposit with these future delivery 
animals ?” 
“Yes, unless the customer is well known so that we 
are sure he will take what he has ordered. Any 
stranger must make a deposit, but if the dogs are not 
satisfactory, he need not take them, provided he 
notifies us of the fact so that we will not suffer a loss 
by having them left on our hands.” 
I came away convinced that there is a great de 1 to 
be learned about the faithful dog; that he is a much 
misunderstood and maligned animal, and that blood 
will tell both in the dog and the breeder. f. h. v. 
A MAMMOTH CLOVER FARMER. 
( Concluded .) 
Better Than Medium ; When to Cut. 
“ Do you notice any difference in the appearance of 
the blossoms of this and in those of the Medium, or in 
the size of the seed ? ” 
“ None whatever. The only difference I note in the 
two is that the Mammoth grows taller and has a more 
fuzzy stem and leaf.” 
“ Do you consider it safer for a seed crop than the 
Medium ? ” 
“ Oh, yes. All that I can say experience has taught 
me is that it makes much more seed.” 
“ Did you ever know it to fail during your 18 years 
of experience ? ” 
“ The lowest amount that I have got in that time 
has been two bushels per acre, and the highest 5% 
bushels.” 
“ Now give your way of harvesting the seed crop. 
When is it usually ready to cut ? ” 
“The latter part of July, a comparatively leisure 
time with me.” 
“ What stage must it be in before it is cut ? ” 
“When most of the heads are brown and fully ripe, 
when it begins to shatter. You never can get all the 
heads brown, but the cutting must commence some¬ 
time.” 
“ Should it be dry or damp when cut ? ” 
“Perfectly dry. You can’t cut it when damp; no 
machine will handle it.” 
“ Now, what kind of a machine do you use ?” 
“ A self-rake machine. I want to tell you how 1 set 
it. There are four rakes to it, and they are made to 
work automatically, casting a gavel every fourth rake, 
but by putting on the foot trip it can be made to 
throw every second rake, every fourth one makes 
them too large, while every second one makes them 
too small. I use the larger gavel If I could throw 
every third rake I would prefer doing so. The smaller 
the bunches, so they’re not toocsmall, the better.” 
From Field to Thrasher. 
“ How long do you let it lie before thrashing ? ” 
“ Until the clover and weeds are dry—from one to 
three weeks. It cannot be thrashed at all if the least 
bit damp. I turn it once just before thrashing in 
regular rows as it was cut, going the same way the 
machine went. The reason for this: putting the fork 
under the back part of the bunch and lifting it, the 
gave! holds together, because the bunch is made from 
the back towards the front, each rakeful lapping to 
some extent on the preceding one. Never roll up or 
double up a bunch in turning it. I use a three-tine 
wooden fork for this purpose; it is much better than a 
steel one. Never lay a bunch on top of another till 
you are ready to take it to the machine. If you 
should do this and it should get wet, much seed will 
be lost by sprouting or in drying. In turning the 
bunches never lift them ; but thrust the fork under 
them, and gently turn them over. Next comes prepa¬ 
ration for thrashing when the machine is in the field 
and ready for work. Now I start out to bunching for 
the pitchers that pitch on to the wagons. Eight 
swaths or rows of bunches are taken each time the 
wagon crosses the field. The buncher lifts the gavels 
of the fourth swath on to those of the third, and the 
fifth on to the sixth. Then he lifts the first on to the 
second and the eighth on to the seventh, so that each 
pitcher has two rows of bunches to handle, one the 
second and third swaths, and the other the sixth and 
seventh as they counted before doubling. The buncher 
lifts the fourth and fifth swaths on to the third and 
sixth till a good distance in advance of the wagon, 
then he returns with the first swath till he meets the 
team, then he goes to the other side and moves the 
eighth swath on to the seventh. In this way the 
wagon-way is always open, the pitchers have the out¬ 
side swaths to gather till the buncher meets them on 
A Donkey that Weaks Pants. Fig. 166. 
his return. I use three wagons, two pitchers, one 
buncher, three teamsters, who are the loaders and un¬ 
loaders, and an extra man at the machine to help the 
teamsters to pitch to the feeders—seven men in all.” 
“ Now what ? ” 
“ I use the three-tine wooden fork for all purposes 
and every place, except pitching on to the load; for 
this purpose I use a four-tined steel fork, the tines 
being 22 inches long, the fork 18 inches wide.” 
Thrashers, Crop and General Remarks: 
“ What next ? ” 
“ Well, do you want me to say anything about the 
hullers ? ” 
“You may give your opinion.” 
‘ ‘ I prefer hullers that have spikes to the upper and 
lower cylinders rather than having the lower one a 
rasping cylinder.” 
“Why?” 
“ Simply because they do better work when it is a 
little damp and without cutting the seed. Next, see 
that the machine men speed their machine to 1,450 or 
1,500 revolutions per minute ; when slower than this 
it does not do good work. See that the wind is 
properly regulated, so as to not blow out the seed 
with the chaff.” 
“ Do you reclean your seed ? ” 
“ Yes, it wants to be recleaned thoroughly.” 
“ Do you always wholesale your seed ? ” 
“ I generally put it on the cars and go to Cincinnati 
and sell it myself, sometimes holding it till spring. 
In regard to recleaning, I find an under-blast mill the 
best.” 
“ What is your average crop of seed per acre ? ” 
“ In the time I have been growing it I think my seed 
has averaged me about 3% bushels per acre.” 
“ What prices have you realized ? ” 
“1 have sold all the way from $3.50 to $11 per 
bushel. Mostly have sold at $4 and $5. When I sold 
at $3 50 I held till spring, but that year (about three 
years ago) common Red was very low.” 
Mr. M. has found it an advantage to sow a small 
amount of Timothy at the same time the wheat is 
sown. This helps to hold the clover up, acts as a guard 
against lodging, and, more, the Timothy sometimes 
catches on spots missed by the clover. There are 
three points in this matter that are worthy of the 
farmer's careful consideration : 1. The comparatively 
leisure times in which a crop of seed is cut; the favor¬ 
able condition of the weather at that time to secure 
the seed. 2. The certainty of securing a fair seed 
yield. 3. That so far in its history it has not been de¬ 
stroyed by the clover midge, the great enemy to the 
seed crop of the common Red. 
The midge develops its first brood before and the 
second after the bloom of the Mammoth clover. We 
are satisfied that many farmers that are prejudiced 
against Mammoth could use it in the management of 
their farms to a much better and a more profitable 
advantage than they can the common Red. 
Mr. M. says that without Mammoth clover, farming 
would be in a bad way with him ; and without Mam¬ 
moth clover and hogs, he feels that farming would 
be a dead failure. john m. jamison. 
STRENGTH OF THE BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 
In The R. N.-Y. of June 17 the following language 
is used : 
Some of the experiment stations have actually struck the very 
figures of our recipe for the Bordeaux Mixture, viz , one-quarter of a 
pound each of lime and copper sulphate to each gallon of water. 
This diluted Bordeaux was first suggested by The R. N.-Y. two or 
more years ago. This recipe Is one readily remembered and, we 
fancy, Is about right as to strength. 
This would seem to imply that the botanists of the ex¬ 
periment stations are not able to deal as intelligently 
with tbe question of fudgicides as The R. N.-Y., and 
hence were carefully incorporating into their bulletins 
old matter from its files. We all recognize the ability 
and enterprise of The Rural, but such paragraphs in 
a widely-read and influential paper are unfair and do 
injustice to a class of professional men who perhaps 
do their duty as conscientiously as most public ser¬ 
vants. The facts are this strength of Bordeaux is 
but a trifle weaker than the strongest preparation 
recommended by the stations for three years past, 
and very nearly conforms to the one most commonly 
published ; first by the Department of Agriculture as 
early as 1890, and later by nearly all the stations, 
viz., 12 pounds sulphate copper; 8 pounds lime ; 45 
gallons water. 
A week later the following paragraph appeared : 
We were mistaken when the statement was made that one-quarter 
of a pound each of copper and lime to every gallon of water was The 
Rural'S recipe. The stations, or some of them, are using the above 
proportions, but one-eighth of each to the gallon has been found 
strong enough to prevent potato blight at the Rural Grounds, and it 
Is not proposed to use a stronger solution until the weaker one falls. 
The inference is that the writer had in the meantime 
discovered his curious error of putting forth the above 
formula as The R. N.-Y.’s weak Bordeaux, but noth¬ 
ing in his language removes the implied slur at the 
station people. Strange to say, this last formula 
which is styled “ The Rural’s Recipe,” published as a 
weak preparation, is over one-half stronger than a 
formula now largely in use by station workers and 
practical growers of fruit and truck. 
As early as 1889 the writer used and published by 
lectures and newspaper articles a formula having only 
four pounds of copper sulphate to 50 gallons of water 
and this has been repeatedly published every year 
since in the agricultural press, at meetings of special¬ 
ists and in our station bulletins, yet The Rural 
appears not to know of it. 
My only motive in commenting on the above para¬ 
graphs from The Rural is to check what seem6 to me 
a spirit on the part of some persons to write hasty 
paragraphs which discredit others and while pretend¬ 
ing to give co rect information, they are in error as to 
the facts in the case. No one values more highly than 
myself the vim and ability with which The Rural 
New-Yorker is conducted. wm. b. alwood. 
Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. 
R. N.-Y.—In the earlier days of the Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture advocacy, we used the original recipe and nearly 
killed our potato vines. We then diluted it to two 
ounces of copper and two ounces of lime to every gal¬ 
lon of water, and found it protected the vines without 
injuring them. Files of Tbe R. N.-Y. will show this. 
If others at that time were advocating so diluted a 
mixture, we did not know it. We hastened to print 
our experience for the benefit of all. The paragraph 
stating that we used one-foui th of a pound of each to 
every gallon of water was a mistake, and we hastened 
to contradict it. No slur against the stations was 
dreamed of. We thank Mr. Alwood for his communi¬ 
cation. June 30, 1892, we printed for the second or 
third time what we called The R. N.-Y.’s Bordeaux 
Recipe, viz., one ounce of copper and one ounce or 
three-fourths of an ounce of lime to each gallon of 
water. We gave it this name because it was the re¬ 
sult of a good deal of experimenting on our own part. 
