1893 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
831 
Why is it Better than Ensilage P 
“Let me see,” said the Deacon. “According to 
your story, ycu planted and cultivated the five acres 
with eight days’ work with man or boy and nine days’ 
work for a single horse. That is almost as cheap as 
they raise corn in the West. How does it come that 
you have no silo ? Ensilage seems to be all the go 
nowadays, and some men claim that corn can be 
raised and put in the silo at a ridiculously low figure.” 
“ In the first place, it costs money to build a good 
silo, and then I don’t take any stock in those low es¬ 
timates of the cost of ensilage. I figure it this way : 
The lowest-priced ensilage is always raised on good, 
never on poor land. The same land and labor will 
raise an acre of corn that will husk 50 or (50 bushels. 
In this county (50 bushels of corn are worth ordinarily 
about $36, while the stalks are worth at least $10 
more. Probably 15 tons to the acre is a fair estimate 
of the product of ensilage from good land. This 
would make it cost about $3 per ton. I don’t see any 
other way to estimate the cost fairly. The crop has 
a cash value without the silo, and I believe in reducing 
everything to a cold cash basis. As to its feeding 
value, that is another question. Its advocates claim 
that the feeding value of a crop of corn is greater 
when placed in a silo than it is in dried form, and I 
am inclined to think they are right if the ensilage be 
properly preserved.” 
“ How about Mr. Colcerd’s patent ensilage?” said 
the Deacon. “ I see that he claims to be able to keep 
it perfectly sweet every time.” 
“His plan looks sensible. Did you notice what he 
said about using jack-screws to press the ensilage ? 
I am inclined to think his success is due to those jack- 
screws more than to his air escapes. Before I build a 
silo I want to see some one try pressing corn fodder 
in an ordinary hay press. Horse manure is success¬ 
fully baled in some of our large cities, and I am told 
that the process prevents fermentation. If fresh 
horse manure can be baled tightly enough to prevent 
fermentation, I should think that ensilage could also 
be kept from fermenting in the same way. The main 
thing is to keep the air from it. I should expect to 
see the middle of the bales keep in good condition. 
Whether the outside will mold, or whether they will 
dry, can only be known by experiment.” 
Have any of the readers of The R. N.-Y. ever ex¬ 
perimented in this line ? 
“Why,” said the Deacon; “I have a box stall in 
which I kept a couple of colts all winter, and we did 
not clean it out last spring till after planting. The 
manure and bedding formed a coating nearly two feet 
thick, but it had not fermented in the least, although 
the weather was hot. I presume that was on account 
of its being pressed so tight that the air could not 
penetrate it ” o. w. maces. 
HOW AN EGG BECOMES A CHICKEN. 
In The It. N.-Y. for November 25, a subscriber asks 
how to tell a fertile egg before it has been put under 
a hen or into an incubator. There is no way to do 
this, and no one on earth can tell a fertile egg before 
it has been subjected to heat at the hatching point for 
at least 24 hours. I have been looking into this mat¬ 
ter of incubation pretty closely for several years, and 
have studied the egg from every point of view, and am 
free to say that whether it will or will not hatch can¬ 
not be determined without trying. Eggs that we have 
reason to think are fertile, and those that we know 
cannot possibly be, look exactly alike through a tester, 
and after being brokeu. One who understands some¬ 
thing of the processes of procreation would naturally 
expect this, for the only possible difference in them is 
the presence in the fertile egg of the microscopic 
zoosperm that will finally develop into a chicken when 
the proper conditions are furnished. This microscopic 
germ adds nothing to the contents of the shell outside 
of itself, nor does it make any changes in the composi¬ 
tion of the contents so far as we know, until it is sup¬ 
plied with the heat necessary to vivify it and set it 
growing. 
Many people think that the chicken in the shell just 
grows where it is found just before hatching, but the 
most superficial examination shows this to be wrong. 
One time I set two hens, and the next day began to 
break the eggs and kept this up until the chicks were 
due to hatch. I came very near seeing the beginning 
of life then, and at first a microscope was necessary to 
see the pulsations of the embryotic heart. The eggs 
were set in the evening and the next morning one of 
them was looked at through an ordinary tester, but 
no change could be observed. Then the egg was 
broken, very carefully, and the contents placed in a 
saucer and a lens brought to bear on it. Then I could 
see a minute red speck that by close attention could 
be observed to pulsate. The same evening another 
was tested. It showed a very faint discoloration on 
the side which had been uppermost, and on being 
bi oken the red spot could be plainly seen and under 
the glass an arm was noticed reaching out. The next 
morning—the second after being put under the hen— 
the tester showed a reddish discoloration that was as 
lai-ge as a copper cent, and rather deeper in color at the 
center than on the edges. This egg, on being broken, 
showed a Y-shaped red mark which could be seen to 
pulsate, with the naked eye, and, after that, develop¬ 
ment was rapid. Two black spots that were to be the 
eyes, a rudimentary beak, and faintly defined wings 
and legs showed after the eggs were broken morning 
and evening, and the tester showed a dark spot that 
grew larger and darker as the process of incubation 
progressed. The eggs that were infertile showed clear 
in the tester and after being broken, to the end of the 
experiment, and were in no wise changed, except that 
the contents seemed to become somewhat thinner than 
at the beginning. 
In that experiment, the difference in the eggs that 
developed germs and those that did not could not have 
been detected by any human method of procedure, 
before they had been brought up to the proper tem¬ 
perature and kept there, by the hens. The cricks 
whose career I spoiled in the interests of curiosity 
were no part of the egg shell’s contents beyond their 
Improved Shovel for Potatoes. Fig. 267. 
microscopic selves, until warmth started them into 
life and the mysterious chemistry of Nature was 
enabled to begin its work in such manner that the 
germ could appropriate a part of the whitd to the 
building up of the muscles, bone and feathers of the 
chicks growing there. I say the white of the egg 
advisedly, for the yolk is not drawn upon until the 
chick is perfect and comes out of the shell. It is the 
food supplied by Nature for the chick, to keep it 
growing until it is strong enough to pick up its own 
food, and because of this provision the young chick 
requires no food for from 36 to 48 hours after it comes 
from the shell. The white of an egg is of such nature 
that it is entirely assimilated by the growing chick, 
through a net-work of blood vessels that permeate 
every part of it in the later stages of incubation. The 
yolk is of an entirely different composition, and is 
more of the nature of ordinary food, a part of which 
is assimilated and a part of which is rejected and 
thrown away through the excretory organs. 
It is all very wonderful, and gives room for much 
speculation, and a better understanding of the myster¬ 
ies which are talked of by those who hold that origin¬ 
ally life was the culmination of a “fortuitous concur¬ 
rence of circumstances.” I don’t believe a word of it- 
A New Thing in Check-Reins. Fig. 268. 
I believe that life was brought about through intelli¬ 
gent design, and that not in all the duration of an 
eternity could the process of incubation have been 
brought about by any accident of aimless circum¬ 
stance. Followers of Huxley and Tyndall and other 
great speculative students may not agree with me, but 
I think they have never watched the tremendous 
spectacle of an egg becoming a chicken. 
_ HARRY CAREW. 
TWO TIMELY FARM DEVICES. 
A Potato Scoop. —On page 747 of The R, N.-Y., Fig. 
243, is shown a potato scoop, but that style is out of 
date—causes too much back-ache. I send a sketch 
(see Fig. 267) of a coal and coke scoop of 14 tines, 
which'is a much better tool for handling potatoes, as 
there is nothing on the front edge of the scoop and it 
shoves under the pile easier and does not push the 
dirt along as the one shown. It also holds more and 
does not bruise or cut the tubers so badly. Oval tines 
are preferred. t. b. van o. 
Iowa. 
A New Check-Rein. —Mr. I. Z. Merriam, of White- 
water, Wis., sends us the following description of a 
check-rein device of his invention : “ The reins and 
check line are continuous, and, instead of being fast¬ 
ened rigidly to the bit, they, pass over a small pulley 
at each end of it. The part which runs on the pulley 
is about a foot long and is made of round leather A 
riDg at each end of this round part of the rein pre¬ 
vents its passing further through the pulley. Accord¬ 
ingly, when the reins are taken in hand and drawn 
on, the horse’s head is lifted till the bit comes to the 
upper ring, when the pull becomes direct. On hitch¬ 
ing the horse he can drop his head till the lower ring 
strikes the bit, thus giving all the ease of an un¬ 
checked rein, and at the same time preventing his 
head from reaching the ground. While the bit is very 
effective in handling a horse, one of its chief merits is 
its humane features. It is seemingly the most com¬ 
fortable bit ever put in a horse’s mouth, and doubt¬ 
less will receive the earnest commendation of every 
humane society. 
(Under this heading we propose to print questions that seem to oan 
fora variety of answers. We ask all who have any experiences or 
suKKOStlons to otter to talk Into The R. N.-Y.’8 ear at once.) 
Will not some of the potato growers having home¬ 
made machines for applying Paris-green to potatoes, 
describe them in an early issue of The R. N.-Y.? r s d 
Steel Roofing. —Manufacturers and dealers claim 
that steel roofing is a sure protection againgt light¬ 
ning, and that if laid on paper it will not rust out on 
the under side. I want roofing for a large stock 
barn. Can any of the readers of Tiie R. N.-Y. verify 
or disprove the above claims by actual knowledge ? 
New Berlin, N. Y. e t. 
Will Selection Affect Share ?—Careful experi¬ 
ments continued through the past dozen years have 
convinced me that it pays well to plant the most 
shapely seed potatoes and from the best hills. I have 
been breeding some of my leading varieties to a type 
and plant only the tubers which conform to that type, 
even on a large scale, for my seed crop. The well 
established uniformity of shape that my potatoes show 
seems to me remarkable, and a proof that by such 
means shape is impro/ed; for instance, a knotty or 
warty specimen among my Early Rose or Beauty of 
Hebron or White Stars, which kinds have been longest 
under my hands, is almost a rarity. On the other 
hand, I am pretty certain to have a goodly number of 
misshapen tubers whenever I plant seed of that char¬ 
acter. I am working several of the newer varieties in 
the way above indicated, and the results I obtain 
with each after a few seasons seem to point in exactly 
the same direction. 
Concerning the experiment at the Rural Grounds 
mentioned in The R. N.-Y. of November 11, there can 
be no doubt that the better formed tubers grown from 
selected seed were clearly the result of that selection 
if the yield was not, and I think this also admissible. 
Soil, however, and culture, with plenty of the right 
sort of plant food, have much to do with all this. The 
faster we can get the plants to grow and reach matur¬ 
ity the more likelihood of having a large proportion of 
symmetrical and plump tubers. A well worked, mel¬ 
low soil, pliable enough to accommodate without 
crowding or cramping the rapid growth that is making 
under the surface is best. Trenching gives an ideal 
seed bed. The presence of stones is a frequent cause 
of irregularity of shape. Often, also, an unusually 
vigorous plant, overstimulated—it may be by a one¬ 
sided fertilizer—from which we look for a fine yield, 
will give only a lot of small or knotty specimens 
worthless for market. Any cessation in the regular 
rapid growth of vine, followed by a nev/ start induced 
by better weather conditions, is liable, also, to cause 
knots and bad shape. Some varieties, of course, are 
prone to grow irregularly ; but I firmly believe such 
irregularity can in large measure be bred out and kept 
out by selection of seed. w. s. teator. 
MARKETING THE FALL PIGS. 
Is it better to push the pigs from start to finish, or 
to feed a maintenance ration till spring, graze during 
the summer, and the next fall feed them off at about 
one year old ? It is a common remark to hear from 
the average hog grower, “ Oh ! I am not pushing the 
pigs ; only feeding to keep them along to fatten at a 
certain time.” Such breeders are not aware that they 
are throwing away the most profitable part of the 
pig’s life, the part in which he gives the greatest re¬ 
turn for food consumed. A well and properly fed pig 
is less liable to disease than the pig kept on only a liv¬ 
ing ration. 
Many farmers think that there is no profit in the 
fall pig. No doubt there is none to some that think 
so, but to many of them there would be if the pigs 
were properly cared for. I know of one successful 
farmer that believes he makes as much from the fall 
