3I2 
THE HURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 19 
than the best forms of nitrogen which are used in 
commercial fertilizers, while the phosphoric acid and 
potash are certainly no more available. The great 
value of stable manure lies in its effect on the char¬ 
acter of the soil. It makes a very light soil more re¬ 
tentive cf moisture and, on the other hand, it lightens 
heavy clay soil, it sweetens sour soil; in a word it 
“tempers” soil as commercial fertilizers never can. 
It is these effects of stable manure which in some 
places make it more valuable than any commercial 
fertilizer. Whether commercial fertilizers or stable 
manure will be more profitable on this land, no one 
can tell without trying it. Why does not 0. C. H. try 
it himself ? Get a car-load cf the stable manure and 
use it at the rate of, say, six cords per acre. Figure 
what the cost of this per acre is, and use on a measured 
area of similar land the same money value of a com¬ 
mercial fertilizer, carrying, say, about three per cent 
of nitrogen, six to ten of phosphoric acid and three 
to four of potash. [prof.] e. n. .tknkins. 
Would Prefer the Fertilizers. 
1. Yes, the fertility can be maintained with fertili¬ 
zers as well as with manure. 2. Manure is of too 
variable and uncertain quality to compare with com¬ 
mercial fertilizers. Some barnyard manure is worth 
three to five times as much as other ; hence it is only 
hy analysis that it can be compared with commercial 
fertilizers. 3. I would choose the latter always, even 
if of equal value, since the labor and expense of ap¬ 
plying it to the soil is an easy and inexpensive matter 
compared with hauling and spreading manure. 
Marietta. Pa. h. m. enqle. 
As Figured By a New England Farmer. 
The stockyard manure should be an excellent 
article if it has not lost a portion of its fertilizing 
properties through heating or exposure to the weather. 
Yard manure on the farm is all right, but can one 
afford to pay much more than the expense of getting 
it from any great distance away ? It is heavy and 
costly to handle in comparison with high-grade fer¬ 
tilizers. The supplying of vegetable matter to the 
soil, as a heavy sod or stubble plowed under in connec¬ 
tion with a complete fertilizer, should improve it 
quite as much as the stockyard manure, both being 
used [freely. Much Western land (new land) would 
not need vegetable matter for some time, and so, what 
in some localities would be a point in favor of the 
yard manure, would not count. The item of labor in 
applying to the land, would be greatly in favor of the 
fertilizers, as well as the cartage if, as here, team 
work in the busy season is worth 50 cents per hour. 
I am using a fertilizer of my own mixing this sea¬ 
son (as I have done for several seasons) composed of 
350 pounds of muriate of potash (testing 86 per cent 
muriate), 1,200 pounds of tankage, 150 pounds of 
nitrate of soda and 300 pounds dissolved South Carolina 
rock. This mixture analyzes about 9 per cent potash, 
10 per cent phosphoric acid, 4)^ per cent nitrogen and 
cost me for materials delivered at the farm and for 
mixing, about $27 per ton. I use 1,500 to 1,800 pounds 
per acre—1,200 pounds broadcast—for a crop like pota¬ 
toes, and would want at least 10 cords of ordinary 
yard manure per acre without fertilizers. The ferti¬ 
lizer can be applied for $1 per acre. One can estimate 
for himself the cost of applying the yard manure. 
Applying 10 cords, or 40 loads per acre of the yard 
manure at the cost of 1,500 pounds of fertilizer, would 
make the yard manure cost $2 per cord at the farm. 
For lightening the soil, and enabling it to better re¬ 
tain moisture, also for mulching purposes, stable 
manure has a value entirely apart from the value of 
the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash it may con¬ 
tain, and one must decide for himself how much this 
is worth to him. j. n. b. 
New Haven County, Conn. 
FARMING ON RENTED LAND. 
WAITING FOR “THE GREATER NEW YORK.” 
[KDITORIAL CORRESPOXDENCE.] 
New Strawberry and a New Coal Sifter. 
On May Day, I had the pleasure of visiting The 
Rural’s old friend and contributor, Nicholas Hallock, 
at Queens, Long Island. Mr. H. has been for many 
years an enthusiastic experimenter in horticultural 
lines. He formerly owned a farm some little distance 
from the station, but has sold that and is now on a 
small place in the edge of the village, where he de¬ 
votes his time more exclusively to horticultural work. 
I found him busily engaged in planting gladiolus 
bulbs. As his place is a new one, he hasn’t yet made 
much of a show on it in the way of trees and vines, 
but has it well set with a good variety which will be 
heard from later. 
One of Mr. Hallock’s specialties has been the origi¬ 
nating of new varieties of strawberries. He has one 
now which he thinks will prove to be a great berry 
for the market gardener. He says that he does not 
believe in putting out new fruits until they have been 
thoroughly tested. This one he has fruited for eight 
years, and, with the exception of one year, it has 
never failed to give him berries in May. It is a per¬ 
fect flowered variety, quite an advantage to the mar¬ 
ket grower, is an abundant bearer, and is of good, 
though not large, size; the berries are firm and of 
good color ; these qualities ought to make it a valuable 
acquisition among our market berries. Mr. Hallock 
is satisfied from his long test that it is a good thing 
and he purposes to propagate a stock of plants. On 
the day of my visit, the plants were thickly covered 
with blossoms, while on a number of varieties along¬ 
side scarcely a blossom was to be seen. 
In addition to his horticultural work, Mr. Hallock 
has a small shcp where his mechanical genius finds 
full play. He has a number of machines of his own 
construction, designed for various uses. He is getting 
up a spraying pump to use on the few trees he has on 
his grounds. “ Spraying is no longer an experiment,” 
said Mr. H. “It is a necessity to the fruitgrower.” 
Mr. Hallock has an ash-sifter of his own invention and 
construction, that consists of a sieve in the shape of an 
inclined cylinder inclosed in a box and turned by a 
crank. The ashes are poured in at the higher end 
and the cinders come out at the opposite and lower 
end. The fine ashes drop down into the box below. 
It is quite an advance over the shaking of an open 
sieve over a barrel. Mr. Hallock cautioned me not to 
steal the patent and I shan’t, for I never could see 
where any one could make very big wages sifting coal 
ashes. 
_ The Crops for This Country. 
“ What are the principal crops grown in this part of 
the country ?” I asked Mr. Hallock. 
“ Potatoes and garden truck chiefly. I wouldn’t 
know where to take you on this part of the Island, to 
find a farmer who raises grain—aside from corn, which 
is grown on a small scale by some.” 
“ Do the owners of the farms work the land them¬ 
selves ?” 
“ No, they mostly rent the land. I know of but two 
farmers within five miles of here who work their own 
farms.” 
“ Do they rent the land for a share of the crops or 
for a money rent ?” 
“ For money rent, almost exclusively.” 
“ How much is paid per acre ?” 
“ Considerable depends upon the location and the 
land ; some pay $9 ; much is rented at $10, and some 
extra good as high as $12. Perhaps the average price 
is not far from $10 per acre.” 
“ What class of people rent the land ?” 
“ Mostly foreigners, many of them Poles, some Ger¬ 
man and other nationalities.” 
“ Won’t they in time come to own the land ?” , 
“ No, I think not. The present owners have an idea 
that it will be wanted some time for the greater New 
York, and that they can then sell it for good prices ; 
very little of it is for sale now.” 
“ But won’t this system of renting the land tend to 
run it down ?” 
“ No, for if a man pays a good rent for a place, he 
must get all he can out of it, and he can do this only 
by feeding it and working it well. They use great 
quantities of fertilizers.’’ 
“ Do they use manure, or fertilizers mostly for their 
crops ?” 
“ Fertilizers mostly for the potatoes, but for the 
other crops, manure and commercial fertilizers both.” 
“ What brand of .commercial fertilizer do they use 
mostly ?” 
“The mixed commercial manures largely; though 
a considerable of the odorless phosphate is used. I 
think the latter should be put on in the fall to produce 
the best results, as it is rather slow in its action. 
The fertilizer that is most largely used is generally 
the one sold by the most wide-awake agent. The kind 
purchased depends on the push of the-agent more than 
upon the quality of the fertilizer. If most of the 
buyers judge of a fertilizer for themselves, they do it 
by the smell. The worse it smells the better it is.” 
Potatoes, Cabbage and Cucumbers. ' 
“Are the farmers planting many potatoes this 
year ?” 
“ Yes, apparently more than ever before; they don’t 
seem to be frightened out by the poor yields and low 
prices of recent years. Many were planted in the 
warm weather in March, and many of these rotted 
and had to be replanted.” 
“ Do they follow the trench system of cultivation?” 
“Not to any extent; shallow furrows are made; 
fertilizer scattered in these and the potatoes dropped 
and covered by a horse coverer. This is a sort of a 
V-shaped affair drawn by two horses, and having a 
contrivance in the center to press the earth down over 
the row. As the potatoes grow, they are hilled, too 
much so for the best results, I think; as whatever 
rain comes is thrown off the hills into the middle of 
the rows. Level culture, or nearly so, would be much 
better for onr soil, which, as you see, is rather light. 
“ Where commercial fertilizers are largely used, how 
is the humus in the soil maintained 
“We don’t bother much about humus. It isn’t so 
necessary in our soil as it would be in a heavier one.” 
“ I see considerable land yet unplowed. For what 
crop is that intended ?” 
“Mostly for late cabbage; some corn is planted, 
and some of the fields you see furrowed out now, are 
intended for corn, but most of the land now un¬ 
occupied is intended for late cabbage. Good cabbage 
land is considered quite valuable and rents for the 
highest prices. They want new land for this crop 
every few years, as it doesn’t seem to do well when 
grown successively on the same field for a number of 
years. The same is true of cauliflowers. Large quan¬ 
tities of cauliflowers formerly were grown around 
Jamaica, hut now farmers can hardly grow enough 
for their own use. Most of this crop is now grown on 
the east end of the Island.” 
“ Are many cucumbers grown here ?” 
“ A good many farther east, around Hicksville, 
where are one or two pickling factories.” 
“ When are the cucumbers planted ?” 
“ As a general thing early in July for the picklers, 
though they plant many considerably earlier, and 
some later, so as to extend the season of gathering.” 
The principal enemy of the cucumber plant is the 
little Striped beetle, but he is not very destructive in 
large fields. The cucumbers are planted in hills about 
four feet apart each way, or, sometimes in drills. About 
a dozen seeds are planted in a hill, and the plants may 
be thinned after danger of destruction by bugs is 
past. The White Spine is largely grown for pickling, 
also the Long Green. Commercial fertilizers are largely 
used. Cucumbers may be grown as a second crop 
after peas or other early crops. The cultivation is 
very simple, consisting simply in keeping the surface 
clean, mellow and level. The picklers make contracts 
with the farmers for a certain number of acres, and 
usually specify the variety they wish planted. 
“ Are the growers interested in the canning factories 
themselves ?” 
“No, a big pickling firm owns the factories and the 
cucumbers are grown on contract. The same firm has 
another factory in the cauliflower district, where they 
pickle large quantities of cauliflower. They have big 
tank cars in which the pickles are taken to head¬ 
quarters, where they are bottled and packed for 
market. Peas are quite extensively grown also. 
The greatest work connected with them is the picking. 
Sometimes the growers go miles for pickers, and it is 
common to see 30 or 40 pickers in one field. They go 
from one grower to another. Many carrots are grown, 
as well as string beans and many other vegetables.” 
“ Where are the products marketed ?” 
“In the city mostly. The big market wagons are 
each loaded with a variety of products. Formerly we 
took a load of one thing, of cabbages, or potatoes, or 
carrots, but they now follow a different plan.” 
“ Is any hay grown here ?” 
“ Very little ; it is mostly purchased as the land is 
considered more valuable for garden purposes.” 
A visit to this locality would be a revelation to a 
gram farmer. The crops grown and the methods 
pursued are so different, and are even very unlike the 
operations pursued on the east end of the Island, and 
further away from the great Metropolitan markets. 
_ F. H. V. 
A VISIT TO A TYPICAL FARMER. 
SOME YANKEE DEVICES FOR DODGING DRUDGERY. 
Mr. C. E. Chapman’s advertisement in The R. N.-Y. 
sent me to his place in Peruville after some of his 
potatoes. I found Mr. Chapman at the plow, in 
farmer’s garb, with sleeves rolled up. He is a young 
man, a typical New Yorker, and a good representative 
of thousands of young farmers of the Northern States 
who have to help themselves and are willing and able 
to do it. His premises are also representative—a 
workingman’s place, with no money for furbelows or 
fixings, but everything is made to pay its way. He 
has a farm of 100 acres, some of which he has drained 
and cleared himself at a large outlay of labor. His 
specialties are potatoes, poultry and pigs. His 
Cheshires are beauties, quiet, docile and easy keepers. 
A fine sow about to farrow had been kept all winter 
on flat turnips and 100 pounds of bran and she was in 
good flesh ; as I remarked, too fat. 
The first thing I noticed was his own device for 
watering his cows. It is simply a V-shaped trough in 
front of the cows, about two feet from the floor, and 
forming the top of the manger, with a lid in front of 
each cow hung with leather hinges and projecting 
over the side toward the cow an inch or two. The cow 
soon learns to lift it with her nose, and when through 
drinking, it drops back to its place. 
His Brown Leghorns are bred for eggs, with an eye 
also to improvement in size. He showed me a mag¬ 
nificent rooster for which he paid $5. By spotting his 
best layers and breeding only from them, he improves 
