662 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 20 
R. N.-Y. found that 42 Paragon nuts weighed a pound, 
while 208 native American chestnuts were needed to 
give the same weight. As to quality, while not to 
sweet and tender as the small natives, it has none of 
the coarse and bitter taste so objectionable in the 
•Japan and Spanish varieties. We have always found 
it a very heavy bearer of large, handsome burrs. In 
fact, The R N.-Y. from the first has been almost as 
enthusiastic as Mr. Engle over the possibilities of 
chestnut culture. 
Mr. E. was quick to see the chances for profit in a 
good Paragon grove. Every year we import large 
quantities of the Spanish nuts, even though no effort 
has been made to popularize the chestnut as a cheap 
food —not as a luxury. If he could grow large quan¬ 
tities of the Paragon—a better nut in all respects than 
the Spanish—there seemed no good reason why they 
should rot sell readily. Then the question arose, 
where should they be grown ? Should be set out 
orchards on good land suitable for vegetables or fruits? 
Mr. Engle is an “ intensive ” farmer. He grows now, 
on 25 acres, with the aid of green crops and fertiliz¬ 
ers, a more valuable crop than he formerly grew on 
120 acres with the manure from 30 cows. He could 
not afford the land for a chestnut orchard, for his soil 
must yield crops at once. But there was that idle 
chestnut ridge across the river. If it could grow wild 
chestnuts, why should it not grow Paragons ? If it is 
possible to graft a fine and valuable apple on the stock 
of a worthless variety, why would not the same hold 
true of chestnuts ? The result was that a small por¬ 
tion of the timber was cut off and sold. Paragon 
grafts were set on the sprouts that came up from the 
chestnut stumps, and these first grafts are the five- 
year-old trees of to-day. This was the beginning. In 
subsequent articles I shall try to tell something of 
Mr. Eagle’s experience and conclusions. h. w. c. 
“ INTENSIVE FARMING.” 
HOW MUCH MANURE SHALE WE USE ? 
In The R. N,-Y. of September 1 is an article which 
I do not wish to criticise but to discuss. I deprecate 
more than you can, the too common practice of “ get¬ 
ting hot .under the collar” whenever one writer’s ex¬ 
periences and practices lead him to different conclu¬ 
sions from those of another. Often these criticisms 
lead to unkind words and sometimes to actual dis¬ 
courtesy. 
There are three classes of farmers : One aims to 
keep production up to the “ greatest profitable yield ” ; 
another “ to get the greatest possible crops,” and the 
third “ to get the greatest results possible with the 
least expenditure of culture, fertilizers and brains.” 
The latter class take no thought for the generations 
that are to follow, but work the land for all it is worth. 
In the past, some of this latter class who purchased 
good land, by careful economy have been successful 
in immediate financial results. As a teacher, the 
question arises, which of these three classes of farmers 
should I teach my students to imitate ? 
In the article referred to above, is found a partial 
statement of the management and results of about 
four-tenths of an acre of poor land. The ground was 
covered “ at least three inches deep with rich manure 
from the cow stables.” It requires 403 cubic yards of 
manure to cover an acre three inches deep. Cow 
manure, where a moderate amount of bedding is used, 
weighs about three-quarters of a ton to the cubic 
yard. This gives in round numbers 300 tons per acre 
or 120 tons of manure on four-tenths of an acre. An 
experiment conducted with 18 Jersey and Holstein 
grades in milk (see Cornell Bulletin No. 27, 1891), 
gave the following percentage composition of the 
mixed excrements : 
Nitrogen.51 per cent at $ .15 per pound. 
f hosphorlc add.35 •* .07 “ 
Potash.51 “ .045 ‘‘ 
Value per ton, $2.46. 
In 1893—Cornell Bulletin No. 56—four experiments 
were made, with nearly the entire herd of milch cows. 
The fcod and bedding used were as follows : 
Pounds. Pounds. 
Har. 780 Corn meal. 61.52 
Ensilage .3,)05 Cotton-seed meal .. 171).80 
Beets. 475 Straw. 612.2 
Wheat bran. 275.68 
The manure produced from this feeding gave the fol¬ 
lowing percentage composition; 
Nitrogen.426 per cent 
Phosphoric acid.29 " 
Putash.44 •* 
This shows a value of $2.02 per ton for the manure ; 
or, as our detailed figures show, a value of $2,167 for 
the excrements without the bedding. Of the experi¬ 
ments where bedding was used, we have the follow¬ 
ing average percentage composition : 
Nitrogen. 0 468 per cent, 
Phosphoric acid. 0.32 “ 
Potash. 0.475 “ 
This gives in 120 tons. 
Nitrogen.1123 pounds at 10.15 $168.45 
Phosphoric acid. 768 " “ 07 63.76 
Potash.1140 “ " 045 51 30 
Total.$273.51 
The products of the “ patch” amounted to $239.52 
with an estimated value of products still in the ground. 
enough to bring the total up to $300. The writer says : 
“ I am sure that the returns would have been much 
greater had I given the bed a dressing of nitrate of 
soda early in the spring.” As yet nothing has been 
said about the seed and labor necessary to raise these 
crops and market them. The question is, had there 
been a quarter to an eighth as much manure and 
nitrate of soda applied to this “patch” with suoerior 
preparation of the soil, and the rest of the manure 
placed upon the poor, hungry acres, which the writer 
has, I understand, in abundance, would the results 
have been better ? The 80 or 100 loads of good, rich 
manure should have benefited the pasture or meadow 
lands greatly, by not only supplying plant food but by 
conserving moisture and, finally, by furnishing humus 
in the soil which is so necessary in most cases to the 
highest conditions in agriculture. It is probable that 
the plant food contained in the manures was not 
worth as much as it was rated above, because it was 
not all soluble ; but there is no other way of compar¬ 
ing farm manures than by taking the standards given, 
since we have no experiments showing the relative 
availability of the constituents of cow manure as com¬ 
pared with those of commercial fertilizers. 
The question arises, if we practice such intensive 
farming, what is to become of the rest of the farm ? 
Since there are many correspondents who are more 
able to answer these questions than I, I leave the sub¬ 
ject, hoping that I have accomplished my purpose, 
namely : To draw out facts and set your many readers 
to thinking and discussing this question of fertility 
which is of such prime importance to all. I fully 
understand that one may at times feed plants far 
more than they can assimilate either for the purpose 
of promoting early maturity, thereby securing high 
prices before the market is supplied, or in order to 
improve the crispness or color of the plants. I also 
realize that the mineral matter placed in the soil by 
liberal manuring is not lost, but it is certain that the 
nitiogen is leached out in large amounts where it is 
applied in such lavish quantities Farm manures im¬ 
prove the physical condition of the land, conserve 
moisture, and produce humus ; all of these effects are 
so beneficial that it is believed by some that they make 
up the value which the manures lack in solubility as 
compared with commercial fertilizers. Can one afford 
to have so much dead capital in bank, a part of which 
is not likely to draw interest for years to come ? All 
are striving to determine the right length of the corn 
row, and an honest discussion of the subject will help 
greatly. [prof ] i. p. Roberts. 
What They Say! 
Fork for Qatherino Leaves. —Many people col¬ 
lect forest leaves at this season—for bedding or other 
purposes. These leaves are hard to handle. Some 
put them into large baskets ; others rake them into 
large blankets, gather the four corners together, then 
carry them on to the cart, walking up a plank, one 
end of which is laid on the cart, the other on the 
ground. Others use a dung fork, but I have invented 
a special fork for handling them. It may he made of 
three-sixteenth steel wire, or of old barrel staves; 
but the wire is the lightest and strongest. It should 
be doubled or bent into the shape of a tooth, which 
should be V-shaped four inches back from the point. 
At the wide end of the V, it should measure 43^ 
inches; then the wires should run parallel back 23 
inches, and turn up at right angles 12 inches, which 
forms a back to the fork ; this makes one tooth, and 
three teeth will make a very good-sized fork, putting 
them the same distance apart as the wires which form 
one tooth This makes the fork a little less than two 
feet square. To hold these teeth together, use two 
strips of one-half-inch boards four inches wide ; mark 
off the places where the wire comes, and let each wire 
into the board one-half its thickness, put the teeth 
between the boards and nail the latter together with 
wrought nails. At the top of the back, place a two- 
inch piece of sheet iron and bend it together, making 
it one inch wide. Put the wires between the folds 
and pound them close together ; this will stiffen the 
fork very much. Have a shank made at any black¬ 
smith shop, to fit into a manure fork handle, and rivet 
it to the boards. This will make a fork large enough 
to handle damp leaves, but for very dry ones it could 
be made one tooth wider. 
By pushing the fork on the ground under the pile, 
one can lift from two to three bushels of loose leaves, 
and can handle them as fast as he can strawy manure 
with a dung fork. All will slip off when the fork is 
turned over into the cart, without any of the leaves 
sticking to any part of the fork. Care should be taken 
in cutting into the boards, not to make the grooves 
too large; but the latter should fit snugly or the 
teeth will push back; in that case, nail a strip of 
board back of the heel of the teeth. If made accord¬ 
ing to directions, it will weigh only about six pounds. 
If made of barrel staves, cut out the center of the 
stave, leaving the point solid, and nail some uprights 
for the back ; this will make it much lighter than to 
put the staves in whole. s. h. w, 
Warren, Mass. 
•Justice for Western Nebraska —In The R. N.-Y. 
of September 22, I notice a short paragraph that puts 
western Nebraska before R N.-Y. readers in a bad 
light. I have lived in the northwest corner (Dawes 
County), for m^re than 10 years, and want to protest 
against this county being included in that dry, parched 
and dreary tract of which you speak. Although 
drought has huvt our crops greatly this year, we still 
have enough to keep our people, and grain, especially 
wheat, is being shipped east. Our corn and most of 
our rye, barley and wheat, will be fed here, however, 
as hogs and cattle are being shipped in. 
The land here was taken from the Government by 
actual settlers, although a great many did not remain 
settlers long after making final proof. Many of the 
people that came here were extremely pcor in pocket, 
but they knew how to get money out of land without 
much work. They would take a preemption claim, 
live on it six months, make final proof, obtain the 
largest loan possible, then move on to a homestead, 
obtain a loan on that as soon as possible and then say 
good-by to the West, The next are the reports in 
Eastern papers about worthless land, etc. 
My brother and myself came to this county in 1884 
with one team and wagon, less than $5 in money and 
over $100 in debt, We took land and have lived on it 
and worked it ever since. We now have 440 acres of 
well improved land, fences, buildings, etc., nine horses, 
between 50 and 60 cattle, 32 hogs, poultry, machinery, 
windmill, etc., and seme money in bank, part of 
which is drawing interest. We also have some money 
loaned to private parties. Our money was got out of 
the farm, garden and stock. There are people here 
that have done better than we, and some of course 
that have not. I send you this, not because I think 
we have done extra well (for I don’t and am not satis¬ 
fied), but because I know what we have and think the 
majority of the people here are fixed about the same. 
Chadron, Neb. c. m. b. 
Irrigating Celery. —In reply to the query of G. E. 
K., page 600, it is not desirable to keep the pipes full 
of water in underground irrigation; the constant 
saturation of the soil will entirely defeat the object in 
view, as it would simply make a subsoil pond or swamp 
of the ground. If my figuring is correct, and I think 
it is, the pipes mentioned, 23^ inches in the clear, will 
supply one inch of water a day, and this is quite suf¬ 
ficient for a whole week or more, as the rainfall is not 
quite equal to that amount of water. This is with the 
pipes five feet apart, thus making each foot of pipe 
water five square feet of ground, and by the single 
filling of the pipes each day, the total quantity is sup¬ 
plied. Celery grows well under irrigation, but it will 
not grow in constantly stagnant water. There must 
be some drainage at least. Drainage is the necessary 
corollary of irrigation ; the water must be in motion, 
and there must not be more than will keep the ground 
moist, and not wet. The best crops for this kind 
of irrigation are celery and cauliflower, and in 
countries where these two crops are grown to perfec¬ 
tion, the land is laid out in broad rows having ditches 
on each side, with drains laid in the middle of the 
plots. These plots are about 25 feet wide. The 
method suggested will be practically the same as this, 
if the pipes are laid 20 feet apart, and drains equi¬ 
distant between them not less than two feet deep. 
This will afford a constant underground flow of fresh 
water, and suit celery admirably. h. s. 
Macon County, N. C, 
Record of a Small Potato, —I received a small 
potato labeled Carman No 1, one evening last Novem¬ 
ber. Snow was deep and the ground frozen hard. It 
was tenderly handled, and viewed with as much ad¬ 
miration as the Kohinoor diamond ever was. When 
we had sufficiently admired it, it was carefully re¬ 
placed in its little box and stowed away in the cellar. 
Twice during the long winter, the lonely little pet was 
examined to see if it was keeping well. When warm 
weather came to stay, the little potato was taken to 
the light to have the sprouts start right. A long rain 
storm delayed spring planting until very late, so the 
little Carman No. 1 was not planted until the last of 
May. It was cut in six pieces, each piece rolled in 
plaster, and planted in six hills in an old garden where 
no commercial fertilizer was ever used, and no manure 
this year. More rain came, so water stood among the 
hills, the ground was so soaked. The potatos proved 
true to name. No. 1. Large thrifty vines were soon 
growing there. A drought came—no “ wet rain” 
from the last of Jane until September. The vines 
were ripening well, the leaves turning yellow and 
falling. Then rain came, and the vines looked like a 
new growth. The ground was so wet and the weather 
so warm, that I was afraid they would rot so I dug 
them September 10. The vines did not blight at all. 
