632 
IHE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 6 
or Boston. Pack carefully, facing the barrels and 
shaking them down after; press in the head firmly, 
but not so as to crush the fruit. Mark the name 
neatly with stencil plate, and ship in car-load lots, and 
whether you get satisfactory prices or not, you will at 
least be satisfied, that your apples were fairly sold in 
the greatest market in the world, the price depending 
upon their quality and condition and the state of the 
market. t. s. golp. 
Secretary Connecticut Board of Agriculture. 
WHAT ONE CARMAN POTATO DID. 
I dug the produce of the little potato you sent me, to¬ 
day (September 11). 12% pounds, from less than a two- 
ounce potato. Thirteen weighed 6% pounds. 13 three 
pounds, 15 two pounds, and 22 one pound ; 41 of them 
were merchantable potatoes ; one weighed 14 ounces 
and was over eight inches long. They were generally 
a rough, ill-shaped lot, caused, I think, by repeated 
waterings. The vines were green when I dug them, 
and between four and five feet in length. They would 
probably have done a little better if I had waited until 
frost, but I became impatient and wanted to see what 
they were doing. I thought they might have all gone 
to vines. The white grub ate enough to have made 
them weigh 13 pounds. I am well pleased with the 
yield, and shall plant again expecting to get a smaller 
yield, but a more shapely lot of potatoes, by letting 
Nature take her course in the matter of moisture. 
I will tell you a little of my experience with the 
little potato. Last February I split it, and placed it 
in a hotbed that contained cabbage and lettuce plants, 
for the purpose of sprouting some plants. I pulled 13 
off of the two pieces, which I transplanted into cans 
in a flower pit, and all rotted and died. My potato 
was gradually shriveling and growing smaller. I 
think by this time (about the middle of March), it 
would have weighed but little over an ounce. I 
thought it necessary to try some other method if I 
was to grow any potatoes from those two little shriv¬ 
eled up pieces. So I split the eyes, making 15 pieces 
which I placed back in the bed, of which 11 sent up 
sprouts. These 111 transferred into a ditch about six 
inches deep by about 12 inches wide, using plenty of 
water and shaded with a board for several days, stir¬ 
ring the soil about them after every shower, until the 
vines fell over the ground. Then I laid them back 
twice after watering them, and loosened up the soil, 
replacing them in their natural position. Some of the 
water had a good deal of soapsuds mixed with it. I 
watered about twice a week from July 15 to Septem¬ 
ber, except when we had a little shower. The bugs 
were very bad, both Colorado and the long, black 
kind. I picked them off two to three times a day until 
August 1, when I dosed them with Paris-green. By 
that time, all the potatoes in the neighborhood were 
dead, and the bugs were getting too numerous to pick. 
There were a good many to-day when I dug them. 
The potato crop is very short with us in Kentucky 
this year. Th''se who planted in March, got a very 
fair yield from what remained after the March freeze. 
Mt. Sterling, Ky. w. w. w. 
KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. 
The time for putting up sweet potatoes is now near 
at hand, and as there are a number of different ways 
of putting them up, not all of which prove successful, 
I will tell my way which has been very successful. I 
build a house of pine logs 16 feet square, chink and 
daub it and then cover the walls inside and out with 
rough edge, and ceil overhead with the same. My 
joists are six inches wide and the space is filled in 
with sawdust, then the floor is laid. The loft over¬ 
head can be used for storing the vines or hay. The 
inside is divided into four compartments, each of 
which will hold from 100 to 200 bushels according to 
height of the house. Not more than 50 bushels should 
be put in one pile until the potatoes are through 
sweating. All around the house are sheds six feet 
wide for drying or curing the potatoes, and where 
they may be left until freezing weather, when they 
are carefully assorted and put inside. 
In dry cloudy weather the potatoes may be left 
where they were dug for two or three days. The 
more they dry the better; but if the weather is clear 
it is well to throw a few vines over them to protect 
them from the hot rays of the sun. In order to con¬ 
tinue this drying process, in the bottom of each compart¬ 
ment is a box six inches square bored full of holes; and 
in the center of each compartment is a box four inches 
square that extends up into the loft. These boxes or 
tubes let the warm moist air out and cool dry air in. 
Potatoes when they begin to ripen begin to ferment, 
and this fermentation or sweating continues long after 
the potatoes are housed producing heat and moisture, 
which if not permitted to escape, and their place 
filled with dry pure air, cause the black or soft rot, 
both of which are highly contagious. When found 
to exist the potatoes should be assorted at once. 
Some think that sweet potatoes should be kept 
quite warm ; but they will stand as much cold as the 
Irish potato. I keep a thermometer in my potato 
houses, and keep the temperature as near 50 degrees 
as I can. The main thing is to keep them dry. Some 
sprinkle dry sand over them as they put them up, as 
an aid to absorb moisture, but if put up as above indi¬ 
cated, the bins slatted, except in the sides next the 
walls, and the door thrown open in fine weather, po¬ 
tatoes will keep. 
On July 21 I received two small potatoes from Aus¬ 
tralia in fine condition, and the plants are growing 
nicely. They may not mature before frost; if not, I 
shall try to carry them through some way, and shall 
be glad if some one will tell me the best way to do it. 
Dillburgh, Ala. _ C. o. L. dilt^ 
UTILIZING WASTES; AN AGE OF WIRE. 
Long ago I found that wire was a great convenience 
on the farm. But it was diffiiult to get wire of the 
size wanted, at the stores in this vicinity. At last a 
happy discovery was made. Bales of hay are secured 
with just such wire as a farmer needs most, and in 
many places where it is cut from the bales, it is a 
nuisance which is gladly got rid of. So here was a 
chance to get plenty of wire. I had to depend on a 
friend living near Boston to get it for me. I sent him 
an old bran sack, and it came back crammed full of 
wire. It was a big sack, and my friend wrote that 
there must be enough to last a lifetime. Well, it is 
going fast. vVe wanted a trellis for peas, and the wire 
stretched on posts was just the thing. An ax helve 
began to split, and a piece of wire drawn tightly 
around it and the ends twisted together with pliers, 
has prolonged its usefulness for months. A short 
piece of rail fence was rubbed down every few days 
by a neighbor’s colts. Holes were made with the crow¬ 
bar into which the stakes were firmly driven. Then 
they were securely wired, and the colts have not 
started them all summer. A horse needed to be tethered 
in the wet, dewy grass. Wet is death to ropes and 
straps, and all the light chains were in use. Why not 
make a chain of wire ? It was done and has proved a 
great success. The links are three wires side by side, 
with loops at the ends into which the next links are 
looped, and a fourth wound around them. The links 
are about six feet long, and five of them give the horse 
a chance to eat a long time without having the tether 
stake moved. It is light and does not drag on a horse 
like a chain. A basket was getting demoralized; a 
few pieces of wire made it all right. A hoop was lost 
from a pail; two strands of wire filled its place. A 
pail wanted a bail; the wire and a bit of sacking tied 
around for the hand, supplied the want. The strings 
of a hran-sack milking apron were often wearing out. 
A wire loop and a wire hook made a durable fastening. 
A bit of wire twisted around the end of a rope keeps 
it from unraveling. But to use wire in such ways, one 
must have pliers. Mine are combined cutters and 
pliers, very strong and made both to hold and cut wire, 
or'bend it in any shape. 
Bran, cctton-seed and fertilizer sacks may be used 
to cover cattle and horses from the flies, to protect 
tender vines, etc., from frost, as curtains to darken 
stables or keep out cold, and put “ things ” in. They 
will make rag bags, grain bags, potato bags, apple 
bags ; in fact, there are few things which go into bags 
that a cotton-seed meal or fertilizer sack will not 
hold. * J. W. NEWTON. 
NOTES FROM « THORNDALE 
The first annual public sale of Shropshire sheep 
from the “Thorndale ” herd (Millbrook, N. Y.,) took 
place September 18. Toe offering comprised the 
largest and finest lot of Shropshires ever offered at 
public auction in this country. There was absolutely 
no reserve, every animal being sold for what it would 
bring at public competition. The arrangements for 
the sale were perfect. Catalogues containing pedi¬ 
grees of the sheep were sent to all applicants. Bayers 
could thus study these pedigrees before they came to 
the farm. The sheep were found in large, numbered 
pens on the floor of the great barn—the rams singly 
and the ewes in lots of three—so that it was easy to 
identify them, and before they were driven into the 
ring for sale each purchaser knew what he wanted and 
was prepared to bid. The R. N.-Y. has often told its 
readers that just now a farmer with a fair amount of 
cash can buy improved pedigreed stock to better advan¬ 
tage than ever before. This “ Thorndale ” sale proves 
this statement as regards Shropshire sheep. No better 
bargains were ever made since Shropshires became 
popular in America than were made by some of the 
farmers who purchased at this sale. Of 181 sheep sold, 
the average price was S13 83—the rams alone averag¬ 
ing 317 85 To those who know anything of the quality 
of the “ Thorndale” stock such prices are almost be¬ 
yond belief even in these days of “depression.” As a 
jpatter of fact, the outlook for mutton-growing was 
never more promising than it is at present. Wool 
sheep are undoubtedly at a discount, but the market 
for mutton and lamb is sure to improve. Instead of 
rushing all the flock off to market it would be far 
better economy to change rams and put at the head of 
the flo;k such Shropshires as were bought at this sale. 
The “Thorndale” sales are to be continued each year. 
Nfxt fall another fine lot will be offered, and while 
such low prices as were realized this year cannot be 
predicted, buyers are sure to find good sheep sold on 
their merits and without reserve. 
A FARM like “Thorndale” is like a great experiment 
station for the growing of stock food. Every effort is 
made to fill the great barns with fodder for the cattle 
and sheep. We have explained before how this farm 
is run like a great manufacturing enterprise—at a 
profit. Mr. Thorne is a constant student of agricul¬ 
ture and is quick to test new things or take advantage 
of changes in crops or methods. For example, this 
fall, instead of sowing acres of wheat and rye as in 
former years, not a peck of small grains has been 
sown. The grain, of rye and wheat, as they farm at 
“Thorndale,” is not profitable to sell and far cheaper 
grain for feeding can be bought from the West in car¬ 
load lots. The chief value of these crops lies in the 
straw they provide—in properly caring for this great 
flock of Shropshires vast quantities of bedding are re¬ 
quired. Mr. Thorne has found that he can obtain 
cheaper and better bedding from corn stalks. Dam¬ 
aged stalks, butts and other coarse parts are run 
through a shredder. This splits and tears them up (it 
does not cut) and leaves a mass of material better 
suited for absorbent and bedding than any straw. 
When we consider the weight of an acre of fodder- 
corn as compared with that of an acre of straw, it will 
be seen that this is a far cheaper way to provide 
bedding. 
Mr. Thorne sowed a quantity of Crimson clover 
seed this fall and it is up—doing nicely. A portion of 
it was sown in the corn and the rest alone. That in 
the corn has the better appearance. A part of it will 
be covf red with manure this winter to see if that will 
help carry it through. If this Crimson clover will 
thrive at “ Thorndale” it will prove a great help and 
will, to some extent, change the rotation. We are all 
familiar with the statement that Timothy hay has no 
place on a sheep farm, but that clover alone should be 
grown. That may be true when all the hay grown on 
the farm is to be fed at home. Mr. Thorne is figuring 
to see if it will not pay him to raise Timothy to sell 
and use the money thus obtained to buy clover. 
The severe drought has affected the crops at “Thorn¬ 
dale.” The hay crop was somewhat better than last 
year, but oats and peas, roots, cabbage, etc., are all 
short. The cabbage crop on this farm is quite an 
item. The cabbages are cut in a root cutter as the 
sheep like them better that way. The Banbury 
cutter is used. This is an English machine and slices 
or cuts roots or cabbage into slivers about as large as 
one’s thumb. There are hundreds of interesting things 
on this farm which must be reserved for future 
articles. 
A Talk About Feeding- Wheat. 
O E., Mendon Center, N. Y .—I have horses that I 
work, though not very steadily, cows that give milk, 
and pigs two months old that I wish to grow rapidly. 
My pastures are short, so that my cows and horses do 
not get enough to eat without feeding them. Wheat 
sells at the mills for 53 cents for 60 pounds. At the 
same mills they ask 317 per ton for bran, that is, 51 
cents for 60 pounds. Oats sell for 38 and 39 cents 
for 33 pounds. I have mixed hay worth here 36 
per ton ; also corn that is about glazed. Will it pay 
to buy bran to feed in part, or shall I feed wheat ? 
With the food products mentioned, what will make 
the best rations respectively, for horses, cows and pigs, 
that is, best with regard to economy ? Batter is worth 
20 cents per pound and pork 7 to 7% cents. The miller 
who has the bran thinks it will pay to buy bran at the 
price mentioned. 
Ans. —The questions asked in the foregoing letter 
present themselves to many farmers for solution. The 
extremely low price of wheat at the present time 
brings the question to those who have wheat to sell 
and concentrated stock food of some kind to buy, 
whether it will not be more profitable to feed the wheat 
than to sell it and buy other foods. Heretofore, the 
price of wheat, with few exceptions, has been so far 
above its feeding value when compared to other foods, 
that this question has not been settled by individual 
farmers in the Middle and Eastern States. Not only 
is there a lack of knowledge as to the feeding value 
of wheat, but also a lack of experience in feeding this 
