392 
June 23 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
iently removed from the field and stored during the 
winter. The reel may be feet long with four arms 
a foot long at each end. A pair of old, light, buggy 
wheels with inch gas pipe for an axle, on which both 
wheels and reel may revolve, will be found convenient 
to use in winding or unwinding the wire. 
Not many years ago, a large amount of timber was 
required to build and keep in repair what were sup¬ 
posed to be necessary fences. Now farms are not 
divided into as many fields as formerly, and less tim¬ 
ber is used in the construction of fences; but so long 
as the price of land is low, and the price of labor 
relatively high, farm stock will be pastured in sum¬ 
mer and fences will remain a necessity. The practice 
of soiling can never prevail with good pasture land at 
less than S50 per acre and labor at S20 per month and 
board. The improvement made in wire fences in the 
past few years, has done much toward solving the 
fence question. Most of the objections heretofore 
urged against farm fences, do not hold good with the 
wire fence which occupies but little land, does not 
cause snow to drift along highways, does not harbor 
and promote the growth and spread of noxious weeds, 
and does not offend the eye or disfigure the landscape. 
The cost is not excessive. The Page fence has 
abundant provisiom for shrinkage when exposed to a 
low temperature, and its durability is unquestionable. 
Lowville, N. Y. c. s. rice. 
A Hog-Tight and Bull-Strong Fence. 
I think A. H. S. will be troubled to get any of the 
wire netting fences that will withstand the attacks of 
the bull. It is easy enough to find one that will stop 
pigs from going through, but the trouble with them is 
that they will slip under between the posts. The 
stallion will reach over and bear down on the top 
wire until the upright or diagonal wires are bent; 
then the top wires will not come back to their proper 
places, and pretty soon the fence is bent until it is so 
low that stock will get over. In using several of the 
wire fences, they may be made to meet the require¬ 
ments pretty well by getting the narrower widths and 
placing below them a strand or line of the linked 
barbed wire having the barbs only two or three 
inches apart. This will prevent the pigs from slip¬ 
ping under the fence. If another line of this barbed 
wire be strung above the fence from the tops of the 
posts, which should go six or eight inches above the 
top of the fence for that purpose, no horse will crowd 
it down by reaching over. The only trouble will be 
with the bull. If it be an old bull which has learned 
the tricks, it will be a puzzle to stop him. No wire 
fence made, not even the Page woven wire, which is 
probably the strongest, would stop him five minutes. 
He would simply take his horn and rip out the cross 
wires, and go through as easily as an eel through a 
pump log. (Cut off his horns I—Eds ] 
I have made a line of fence which is cheap and fills 
all the requirements of A. H. S. Tue posts are set 24 
feet apart, and are feet out of the ground. To 
these are made fast seven strands of No. 9 galvanized 
wire; the lowest wire is six inches from the ground, 
with a line of linked barhed wire three inches below 
it. I then made an implement by which these wires 
could be made to go back and forth like the threads of 
warp in weaving cloth. Into these wires were placed 
upright pickets, one foot apart, woven in so that the 
wires passed the alternate sides of the pickets. The 
pickets were one inch thick and 1>^ inch wide. When 
the pickets were in, staples one inch long, such as are 
made for fastening wire netting to the posts for 
chicken yards, were driven into each picket over each 
wire and driven up tight. When this fence was fin¬ 
ished, it was very strong—so strong that a person 
could climb over it at any place. I then strung a line 
of the linkpd barhed wire along the top of the posts, 
stapling it firmly to the top of each, which made it six 
inches above the top of the pickets. This fence is 
feet high and no pig can get through or under nt. No 
bull can get through it, and no horse will attempt to 
reach over it the second time. The pickets will give 
enough to allow of the contraction of the wires in 
cold weather, and spring back to take up the expan¬ 
sion in summer. j. s. w. 
RAPE AS FOOD FOR SHEEP. 
A number of readers have asked for information 
about feeding rape to sheep. Mr. George E. Breck, 
of Paw Paw, Mich., prepared the following article for 
us some time since. It will answer the questions 
asked: 
A crop of rape on good soil and under favorable con¬ 
ditions, will grow and be ready for the sheep within 
six weeks from the time of sowing, and it may be 
sown at any time from May 1 to August 10. We 
usually sow from May 20 to July 1, to give us rape 
pasture during the droughts which almost uniformly 
prevail in southern Michigan in July and August. 
We sow another piece from July 1 to 20 for late fall 
pasture. At The Willows, our object is to raise feed 
for sheep, which are our only cash resource. For 
this purpose we sow rye in the corn about August 1.5, 
and pasture it during the fall and spring. About May 
10 we plow this rye under and harrow it once, allow 
the weeds to start, then give it a thorough cultiva¬ 
tion, put the ground in fine tilth and sow the rape 
broadcast, using from five to six pounds per acre. 
We then brush it over lightly with a smoothing har¬ 
row, and if there are any lumps and the ground is not 
too moist, we roll it. The rape comes up quickly, and 
in six weeks will average two feet high o/er the field, 
and be so thick that the sheep will eat into it without 
tramping it down so as to in j are it. For the second 
sowing, we usually plow a piece from which we have 
just cut clover hay, allow the weeds to start in the 
same way, put the ground in the best possible condi¬ 
tion for seeding, and sow the same quantity of seed, 
which gives us a crop for October and November past¬ 
ure. One acre of rape will carry 15 head of Shrop¬ 
shire sheep for six weeks on the average. Both our 
soil and climate seem well adapted to it. In England 
rape is always sown in drills and cultivated, but their 
ground is much harder than ours, is more foul, and 
crops do not grow so quickly, which seems to make it 
necessary to cultivate it in drills. Rape, like buck¬ 
wheat, springs up so quickly that there is very little 
trouble from weeds, because the rape gets the start 
of them and smothers them back. 
By this combination of rye and rape, we are enabled 
to carry our sheep over the drought of summer and 
late into the fall without feeding hay, and we get a 
better growth on our breeding sheep and more flesh 
on those that are intended for the feeding pen. We 
have also found rape a valuable crop for bringing 
otherwise barren ewes into breeding. When our 
ewes have been running in the rape through the 
breeding season, it has been a rare exception that we 
have had one fail to breed. Sheep thrive upon it and 
make a growth that is more than satisfactory, and 
which, to people unaccustomed to it, often seems won¬ 
derful. I know of no better preparation for sheep 
intended for the feeding pen. 
I have grown three successive crops of rye and rape, 
or six crops in three years upon the same ground, and 
it is continually growing richer, the crop increasing 
each year. I am thus able to save my pasture at a 
time when stock is most injurious to it, and this is a 
secondary object of considerable importance where we 
carry from 100 to 500 Shropshire sheep on 200 acres of 
land. 
The Dwarf Essex rape does not seed the first year, 
and .our winters kill it so that there is no danger of 
its fouling the land. In fact, I have found it a good 
cleaning crop. Among my numerous inquiries have 
been some asking if it can be sown in the corn before 
the last plowing without injuring the corn, and if it 
can be sown in woods or on poor land. To these ques¬ 
tions my answer would have to be in the negative. 
It might make something of a growth in the corn 
field, but I doubt if it would be profitable. The rape 
is grown entirely for the top, the root being valueless 
for any purpose, and when a full crop covers the 
ground it is not easy to even walk through it. It re¬ 
quires good soil in good condition. Under these con¬ 
ditions and for the purpose for which I grow it, I have 
found it very satisfactory and shall sow each year 
what I require for my flock. 
While I am speaking of sheep feed, allow me to add 
that on account of the drought and my absence at the 
World’s Fair, at a time when I should have ensiloed 
my corn, our silos were not filled last year, and we 
have missed them more than we expected. Twelve 
or fifteen acres of corn which we have usually had in 
the form of ensilage, have done us more good than 40 
acres of corn fodder this year, harvested in the usual 
way and fed dry. I hope never again to winter iny 
stock without my silos well filled. While we have 
silos, rape, rye and clover hay, I can afford to raise 
sheep for mutton and make more money than I can 
raising wheat at $1 a bushel. 
TURNIPS, AND HOW TO RAISE THEM. 
Nothing is better from the time grass fails in the 
fall up to the first or middle of February, for all kinds 
of stock—unless it may be cows giving milk—than a 
big supply of the common English turnips. While 
we think everything of ensilage as a sheep food, still 
it is a fact that they will do better with an abundance 
of roots, even when eating plenty of ensilage, and no 
kind of roots is better for them than turnips while 
in good eating condition. Last year was the first 
in a long time when we have not had all the turnips 
we could get out of the ground while unfrozen, and 
still leave thousands of bushels unharvested. Some 
open winters we have had our men pulling turnips 
every open spell, going over and over the same ground, 
pulling the sizable turnips each time, they continuing 
to grow. But last year we had so many grasshoppers 
that they were too much for the turnips, and we failed 
entirely, although we sowed 15 acres, and when feed¬ 
ing time came we realized more than ever the worth 
of the turnip crop. 
While we think so highly of turnips as stock food, 
we have a way of raising them that costs next to 
nothing, and fits the land in splendid order for a suc¬ 
ceeding spring crop of barley or oats. Now is the 
time to be thinking of growing them, and I will 
detail my way : I select a field that is in good condi¬ 
tion, and well seeded—if to clover, so much the better, 
though any sod will answer. I mow this early, get¬ 
ting the ground clear not later than July 1, and at 
once plow it well, being sure that it is all turned over. 
I roll it down flat and go over it the same way that it 
is plowed, with the Cutaway harrow. After this I go 
over it every three or four days with harrow or culti¬ 
vator, until July 20, by which time it should be in 
fine tilth. I then sow 200 pounds of some high-grade 
fertilizer per acre, go over it with a smoothing harrow 
and then sow with two pounds of Purple-top Strap- 
leaf turnip seed per acre After sowing, I roll 
the ground, and when the turnips have rough leaves 
two inches in diameter, if too thick, which, if the 
weather has been favorable and the seed good, will 
most likely be the case, I put on the smoothing harrow 
and run over them. This will take out many of the 
turnips, but none too many, possibly not enough, in 
which case a week later I go over the field crosswise 
with the same tool. I have sometimes taken a steel 
frame cultivator and put on a set of plates only 13^ 
inch wide, spreading it to the full width and gone 
over the turnip field with great advantage to the 
yield. Grown in this way, aside from the pulling, 
they don’t cost a half cent per bushel, and the small 
ones and leaves which will be left on the ground, I 
regard as worth more as fertilizer than the cost of the 
seed. 
The best barley we ever grew was on a field where a 
large crop of turnips was frozen in and rotted on the 
ground. Although the men found lots of fault while 
plowing it, the barley grow to my shoulders and, al¬ 
though common six-rowed barley, the yield was over 
60 bushels of cleaned grain per acre. Sowed in this 
way, the turnips grow thickly, and their broad leaves 
smother out all kinds of foul stuff; even Quack has a 
poor show, and this alone will pay for the labor. To 
the man who likes to have his stock kept cheaply and 
look well, the above plan will give more satisfaction 
than any other. Try it. j. s woodward 
Tjfc 
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Kalnit for the Stables. 
Several Sxibscrlbera —We have been told that kainit 
will take the place of plaster used as an absorbent in 
stables or manure piles, and that it will also supply 
potash. What are the facts about it ? 
Ans.—T he following notes give the facts about 
kainit. We consider its use an excellent way to in¬ 
crease the amount of potash in the manure at a cheap 
price. If kainit will do all that plaster does in “ fix¬ 
ing ” or holding ammonia, the difference in price of 
the kainit and the plaster will represent the cost of 
the potash. Kainit will not give the white, pretty ap¬ 
pearance to stables that is found when plaster is 
heavily used. Otherwise it is as good : 
I consider kainit a more efficient absorbent of free 
ammonia than gypsum, as the former contains, besides 
sulphate of potash, magnesium sulphate and other valu¬ 
able salines for absorption. I advise the application 
of one-half to one pound per head per day, scattered 
in the stalls or on the well-protected manure heap. 
Massachusetts Station. c. A goessman. 
We have never tried kainit as a means of preserving 
manure, but have used gypsum with good results. I 
have it in mind to try kainit for this purpose, and have 
recently ordered a supply to be sent us. Comparative 
experiments, by Troschke, quoted in “ Storer’s Agri¬ 
culture,” Vol. I, page 214 ; Vol. II, page 131, appear 
to favor kainit. I would say that from one-half to one 
pound per animal daily of either would be sufficient 
to use, although, of course, more than this would do 
no harm. Joseph l. hills. 
Vermont Station. 
Three-fourths of a pound per day and head of 
kainit, is about the proper q uantity to use in a cow 
stable. It should not be above the litter, but below 
it, because it has been found in some cases in Ger¬ 
many that, where put directly under the feet of cattle, 
it produced inflammation of the hoof ; but if the litter 
is thrown over it, even a thin coating, it prevents this 
trouble. Kainit will preserve manure in the heap from 
rotting better than almost anything else, but I do not 
