76o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
damp, as the least moisture will cause mildew. Con¬ 
sequently the picking cannot begin early in the morn¬ 
ing, and the prevalence of thunder showers, at that 
season of the year, causes much anxiety. It is some¬ 
times necessary to put the whole force of hands into 
the field to pick during the dry part of the day, and 
then let all hands work in the packing house. When 
it can he avoided, none but experienced and skillful 
packers should be allowed to do the packing, as an 
improperly packed basket is more liable to damage, 
and does not .sell so readily. Crapes should be allowed 
to lie on the tables a few hours, even overnight, to 
become somewhat wilted before packing. This is 
desirable, as they are more easily packed when in this 
condition. 
In this State, North Carolina, the packers are mostly 
negro women. Each is supplied with a pair of scis¬ 
sors. Their work is to cut out of every bunch all green 
or decayed fruit, and to remove all dirt and any in¬ 
jurious matter. After carefully examining each 
bunch, it is placed in the package in which it is to be 
shipped. Here the worker needs to be skillful, in 
order to pack the bunches firmly enough to prevent 
shaking, without mashing the grapes. The packages 
generally used are the five and 10-pound baskets. The 
packers are paid two cents per basket. These baskets 
should be heaped up so that after settling, the fruit 
will not have spare room in which to shake about. 
The lids should be put on carefully, and fastened se¬ 
curely with the wires secured for the purpose. 
In Thk R. N.-Y. of September 20, C. L. II. says that 
the use of scissors by the packers, is unnecessary red 
tape. I wish that he would explain how he does the 
work. If it is done with the fingers, the bloom will 
be rubbed off of the fruit, which will injure the ap¬ 
pearance considerably. It is important to handle the 
fruit as little as possible. The bunch is invariably 
taken up by the stem between the thumb and finger, 
and not in the palm of the hand, with the fingers 
grasping the bunch. It is a good plan to put a few 
bunches of red or white grapes on the top of each bas¬ 
ket of black ones. This adds much to the attractive¬ 
ness of the package, and has a very beneficial effect 
upon the price. A. ii. prince. 
FIGURING THOSE “ BALANCED RATIONS.” 
In figuring on those feeding problems given on page 
738, I proceeded as follows : Clover hay being practi¬ 
cally a complete ration, i. c., containing about the 
proper proportions, it is evident that bran and ensilage 
must form our basis of attack on the problem. Muscle- 
makers being our first consideration, we see by a little 
inspection, that two pounds of bran are a fair equiva¬ 
lent of three pounds of clover hay—the one too con¬ 
centrated, the other too bulky ; but, by combining 
them, we get 
Pounds of 
muscle-makers. 
16 pounds clover hay contain. 1.2512 
10% pounds of bran contain. 1.2501 
Total. 2.5013 
We lose some fat, but the loss is probably only a fair 
average of what we are sure to get in most rations 
that contain a sufficiency of muscle-makers. When 
one has only these two items of feed, it may be as 
good a combination as can be made. Rut in this case, 
we also have ensilage. We must, therefore, use less 
of one or both of the others. Let us save some of the 
more costly bran. Dividing .1172, the protein equiva¬ 
lent of one pound of bran, by .012, the protein equiva¬ 
lent of one pound of ensilage, we find that we can 
substitute 0.7^ pounds of the latter for every pound 
we remove of the former. Dropping three pounds of 
bran from the ration we can substitute 29.3 pounds 
ensilage therefore, and now have 
Muscle- Fat- Pure 
Pounds, makers, formers. fat. 
Clover hay. 16 1.251 6.44 .238 
Bran. 7% .898 3.42 .197 
Ensilage. 29.3 .351 3.51 .155 
Total. 2.50 13.37 .590 
Making up a ration of things forced upon you, and 
supplementing necessary adjuncts to enable you to 
feed the items on hand to the best advantage, are two 
different things. I consider the latter course the more 
economical. In my own practice, I do not believe in 
mixing different kinds of roughage. Stock are liable 
to waste the less palatable. That tongue is not pro¬ 
truded unintelligently like an automatic machine. 
When feeding on clover hay, my ration is about as 
follows: 
Muscle- Fat- Pure 
Pounds, makers, formers, fat. 
Clover hay. 16 1.25 6.44 .238 
Bran. 6 .70 2.68 .155 
Cotton-seed meal. 1 .37 .19 .125 
Turnips. 30 .18 2.00 .006 
Total. 2.50 11.31 .524 
This ration shows the advantage of root crops in 
preventing a loss of fat and fat-formers, while afford¬ 
ing considerable bulk. Remembering that stock re¬ 
quire, not only a variety, but also a change of variety. 
when feeding corn stover (the entire plant, minus only 
the grain), I make the following ration : 
Muscle- Fat- Pure 
Pounds, makers, formers, fat. 
Corn stover. 30 .4.56 7.68 .099 
Cotton-seed meal. 3 1.10 .57 .375 
Corn meal. 4 .29 2.54 .131 
Bran. 5 ..58 2.23 .129 
Turnips. 30 .18 2.00 .006 
Total. 2.61 1.5.02 .740 
On the face of this, it seems to be too high a ration. 
Rut other considerations come into play. It is not 
the amount of digestible matter fed, but the amount 
that is consumed, that can prove efficient. It is safe to 
assume that of all the corn stover fed, e.specially 
where none or only a part is cut, in the neighborhood 
of one-fourth goes to waste. We must, therefore, de¬ 
duct one-fourth from the feeding value of the forego¬ 
ing ration of corn stover : 
Muscle- 
Fat- 
Pure 
makers. 
formers. 
fat. 
Total ratio.. 
.... 2.61 
15.02 
.740 
Corn stover waste. 
.11 
1.92 
.025 
Total. 
,... 2..50 
13.10 
.715 
The ration now approximates the standard. Other 
rations I adapt to the nature of the roughage fed, and 
diversify even these, but, like The R. N.-Y., I want to 
hear from others. I don’t believe in Timothy, regard¬ 
ing it in the light of the fine-looking robber cow. Am 
I mistaken ? j. c. senger. 
POTATO AND POULTRY NOTES. 
Some years, ago I bought a bushel of Green Moun¬ 
tain potatoes. They did so well that since that time I 
have planted that variety for the main crop. Some 
untried varieties have been tested each year, but not 
one of them so far has come near rivaling the Green 
Mountain in yield. As potatoes are invariably fol¬ 
lowed by wheat, for a few years their lack of early 
maturity was considered an objection, because the 
skin would slip in handling. Now with more careful 
handling, their marketable appearance is but .slightly 
marred, and this is out-weighed by having immature 
seed that certainly has the vigor of Southern second- 
crop seed. 
I was under the impression that Carman No. 1 was 
an early potato, but a single trial with it indicates 
that the color and shape of tubers, strong growth of 
vines and time at which tops die are pretty nearly the 
same as Green Mountain. 
I have 12.5 R. R. Rock yearling hens and pullets. 
To-day (November 19) they laid 41 eggs. They ought 
to be doing better, and the reason that they are not is 
not because it has snowed, (they don’t know it) eight 
days ouc of the last fortnight, but because some of 
the hens were late moulting, and some of the pullets 
not early hatched. A small fiock of S. C. R. Leghorns 
from a $4 trio bought partly on the strength of The 
Rural’s praise of Miss Leghorn, refuses to lay an egg, 
and what hurts most, some eggs have already been 
sold at 25 cents per dozen. With me, a Leghorn lays 
like a queen bee, when eggs are selling around nine 
cents per dozen, and a fellow has scarcely time to 
market them ; but a Plymouth Rock lays right along 
when an egg is worth more than a letter stamp, and 
people so eager that they will send after them. 
Mosgrove, Pa. s. j. p. 
GRINDING FEED AT HOME. 
A JOB TAKEN FROM THE MILLER. 
What Is Saved by If? 
1. with your farm mill, can you grind feed as well as the millers 
do ? 2. What do yo\i calculate is the saving ? 3. How much w’ork 
must a farmer have, to make a mill pay him ? How much will 
your mill grind per hour ? 4. What power would you use if you 
had your choice ? 5. Can you grind corn-and-cob, and how do you 
like that feed ? What grain do you mostly grind ? 6. What about 
the economy of owning a farm mill, and would you advise the 
average farmer to get one ? 
Grain Holds Out Better at Home. 
1. With our farm mill, we could not grind grain all 
into dust as some people here seem to want it, but I 
became satisfied long ago that the product of our lit¬ 
tle farm mill would produce fully as good results with 
all kinds of stock as feed ground much finer. 2. In my 
estimation, the saving is nearly double the toll or cost 
of grinding, because the farmer can grind his feed 
stormy days, and can grind it quicker than he can draw 
it four or five miles to mill and back again. Resides, 
if there are any leaks in the elevators, they are in the 
farmer’s own granary and he knows that he has all 
his own grain. Some may sneer at this, but I have 
had a good deal of experience with different millers, 
and our grain always held out much better when we 
ground it at home. 3. That depends largely on whether 
he has any other uses for a power. If a farmer al¬ 
ready own a power, and have 400 or 500 bushels to 
grind, it would certainly pay him to own a feed mill, 
because those little mills can be bought very cheap 
now, and the expense of keeping them up is very little 
—about $1.50 or $2 per year, according to the kind of 
mill. We grind 9 to 13 bushels per hour with a two- 
horse power. 4. I would choose wind power placed on 
the barn in such a manner that I could grind, or run 
the fodder cutter, etc., because a windmill requires 
no fuel or horse to run it, and is always ready to 
run when the wind blows. Elevators and bins can be 
so placed and of such size, that one can put in 10 or 
15 bags of grain, start his mill, and leave it for an 
hour or two at a time. My next choice would be a 
small engine, either burning coal or gasoline, of four 
or six horse power. This would be the best if one 
wished to run a separator, because, as far as my knowl- 
edge goes, no other power will give quite as good 
satisfaction running a separator as an engine. There 
is one thing in favor of wind power for grinding feed, 
it can be so regulated than when the grain is nearly 
run out, the mill will throw itself out of gear so that 
when once set grinding, one need not keep it in mind 
every minute. 5. We did not have a cob breaker to 
our mill, because we never husked any corn—it all 
went into the silo. I have never had any experience 
with corn and cob ground together. We ground all 
kinds of grain grown on the farm separately or mixed. 
6. I think a feed mill fully as economical as a fodder 
cutter or any similar farm machinery, and I would 
advise any farmer who already owns a power of two 
or more horse, to get one. As to the average farmer, 
I don’t know. There are so many that have not me¬ 
chanical ingenuity enough to run a wheelbarrow 
properly, which fact is attested by the wheelbarrow 
itself crying grease! grease! at every turn of the wheel. 
Copenhagen, N. Y. ii. e. k. 
Makes Good Wet Day Work. 
The Messinger mill is an iron mill, and will there¬ 
fore not grind as fine as a French burr mill, and will 
also cost considerably less. It w ill make very good 
feed for cattle, equally as good as any other mill. 
Here our millers will take one-tenth for grinding, and 
that is about what one gains. In the time required to 
go to the mill, one can do the grinding. You can 
grind from five to fifteen bushels per hour according 
to the power, and the fineness of the chop desired. 
The best power is steam, about five to seven-horse, 
but lever powers will also do good work. Most of them 
are run by a two-horse tread power, but can grind 
only about five to eight bushels per hour. The mill 
will not grind corn in the ear, but shelled as well as 
all kinds of small grain. The grain mostly ground 
with it is shelled corn, and some wheat, rye and oats. 
The economy of owning a farm mill is that all the 
grinding if you have indoor power, may be done 
when outdoor work cannot be done. Where a man 
has hired help, he can put them at this at such times, 
and it virtually co.sis him nothing. If one feed many 
hogs and cattle, it w'ill be a great saving, and he can 
get the chop when wanted. J. A. h. 
Nazareth, Pa. 
Buys Whole Grain to Better Advantage. 
1. With my mill, a good burr-stone, yes, and better 
than the average meal and feed bought. 2. At least, 
the toll and time consumed in cartage to and from 
the mill. Rut a much larger saving is in being able 
to buy, at wholesale prices, a better grade of grain, 
mixing and grinding as I wish, thus getting better 
and cheaper feed than from the millers. 3. There 
should be work enough so that the saving, after a 
fair allowance for depreciation, will pay a reasonable 
interest on the investment: 5 to 20 bushels per hour, 
4, Steam power. A good six-horse power engine and 
eight-horse power boiler, will do all necessary work 
on the average farm, and steam for cooking, heating, 
etc., especially on a dairy farm, is a' large item. 
5. Yes, but I prefer wheat bran to feed with the 
heavier, richer grains—corn, wheat, oats and rye—to 
cob meal. 6. It seems good business judgment to me, 
for the average farmer, if he has use for it, and has 
the capital at command, to invest it in a mill or any 
other farm machine, thus keeping capital and profits 
under his own control. I find that money invested 
in this way pays better than in the bank. J. A. t. 
Summit, R. I. 
Hiring an Idle Thrashing Engine. 
1. We have used Rowsher’s No. 7 Combination feed 
mill for the past four or five years and can grind as 
well as millers do. 2. We calculate the saving as 
nearly one-quarter, 3. It is hard to say how much 
work a farmer must have to make a mill pay, but I 
think it will pay every farmer to grind his feed. If he 
has but little stock, he will not need to grind so often. 
I grind about 30 bushels per hour of ear corn, and 45 
or 50 of shelled corn. 4. We use a 10-horse power 
thrashing engine, and pay $3.50 per day for the use of 
the engine and a man to run it; I think that the 
