20 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
the powder: Either with a wooden peg make a hole 
in the stick and fasten it to the fuse, or as follows : 
When loading a hole, cut the stick in two with a knife 
and slit the paper nearly to the ends on two sides. 
Push it gently and firmly to the bottom of the hole, 
then put in the exploder with fuse and the other 
powder on top in the same way. Tamp with fine 
earth, using a wooden stick, always pushing gently 
and firmly. Never pound. By following these direc¬ 
tions, any one may use dynamite with absolute safety, 
and very great convenience. But do not vary these 
rules, at least not until you have used it. 
To remove a stump, put the powder underneath.. 
To remove a troublesome bowlder use the powder on 
top. Fix the charge, using plenty of powder, cover and 
surround with fine earth. On top of all, put another 
rock. To shoot in water, smear the cap and fuse with 
tallow so that no water can get within the exploder. 
To fire, slit the free end of the fuse and put in a small 
pinch of the powder. This will catch instantly from 
a match, but not explode. The fuse burns about 12 
inches per minute. B. H. s. 
Ouray, Colo. 
Make the Holes and Let Experts Do the Rest. 
Having been engaged in a business in which dyna¬ 
mite is an important factor, and in which a case 
“lasts no time,” I may be excused for considering 
myself competent to answer the questions so often put 
by farmers. The “ cakes” or rolls are no more pure 
dynamite than a bag of fertilizer is pure ammonia, 
phosphoric acid and potash. They contain a consider¬ 
able amount of inert matter. The manufacturers do 
not make every case (50 pounds) of uniform strength, 
some containing more than double the percentage of 
pure dynamite than others. The higher percentages 
cost more, and, of course, are stronger, with a corres¬ 
ponding increase of their dangerous character. A 30 
per cent article is probably as strong as any farmer 
need ever buy. There is an immense difference in the 
explosive nature of different makes. Without con¬ 
cussion, simply ignited, I have seen some undergo 
slow combustion like a fuse. I know a certain fore¬ 
man who objected to the change of a brand, because 
the substitute would not explode from the ignition of 
a heavy charge of black powder above it, while the 
other brand would do so. 1 told him to use an “ex¬ 
ploder,” fire the dynamite at the bottom of the hole, 
and with it the black powder above. This settled the 
question. 
Further argument will scarcely be necessary to show 
that the relative danger of dynamite and powder 
depends upon circumstances. The same bulk of the 
former contains considerably more force or power 
than the latter. Powder exerts its force upward ; 
dynamite mainly downward ; both considerably in 
every direction. My advice to all is not to use a 
fuse with any explosives. Fuses are responsible for 
most of the accidents laid at the door of all of them 
combined. Use a battery, and you will save time and 
reduce the risk of accident to a minimum. To the 
inexperienced I would say, get ready as many holes 
as you like, then get an expert to do the blasting. If 
he gives you an honest day’s work, he will accomplish 
more than you would in a week, and you run no risk 
of being made as sick as you were when you puffed 
your first cigar. Few persons can handle dynamite 
with impunity. Immediately after handling, wash 
your hands in several waters. Keep awaj r from the 
fumes after blasting and avoid severe headaches. 
My experience is that dynamite deteriorates with age 
in efficient working force. j. c. sknger. 
SOME ODD AND STRIKING POTATO NOTES. 
Irish Potatoes; Lazy Bed. 
1 have just read Mr. Strong’s article on Intensive 
Potato Growing in The R. N.-Y., page 789. His plan 
is what we call a lazy bed, and the way in which nine- 
tenths of our potatoes are planted. I think that if 
he will plant Early Rose some time between now and 
February 1, and mulch heavily with salt hay, he can 
dig in duly and replant immediately in the same 
manner, and make two crops on the same ground. 1 
plant generally in December, put on about one foot of 
pine straw, dig June 20, replant in a day or two, and 
make two crops every year. A cutting of a tuber of 
the Irish potato is nothing more or less than a scion, 
and perpetuates the good or bad qualities of the parent. 
Alabama. c. c. l. dill. 
Second Crop Potatoes in Pennsylvania. 
March 19, 1894, I planted 1% bushel of Early Rose. 
They were ripe on or before July 1. July 9 we dug 
three bushels in the morning, cut and laid them in the 
sun to dry. By a misunderstanding on the part of the 
hired man, they were planted in the evening of the 
same day. Twenty hills came up in October and No¬ 
vember, and were cut down by an early frost. We 
are now expecting them next spring. If they do come 
up, we will cultivate them well and await results. If 
we except the short time the seed lay drying in the 
sun, all the circumstances connected with the plant¬ 
ing were favorable. The seed was good, ground well 
prepared, trench system adopted, plenty of fertilizer, 
and low land, with plenty of moisture, though the 
season was very dry. h. c. 
Wescosville, Pa. 
Double Potato Crop in Wisconsin. 
In reply to many inquiries, I here give the method 
by which I raised 42 pounds of potatoes from one eye 
in one season. The usual method of propagating by 
cuttings, where one wishes to increase the seed be¬ 
yond the natural way of planting the eyes, is not 
generally satisfactory. The resulting tubers are 
small, and it is held by some that it is deteriorating to 
the seed ; therefore I determined to try for two crops, 
and succeeded in getting them. Furthermore, the 
second crop was by far the best, both in size and 
quality. As I was working upon no lines of science, I 
kept no data or notes, which would be of no value if I 
had, but just simply raised two crops in the same way 
that all potatoes are grown. I started the eye the 
last of February, in a large box in the cellar, the box 
being filled two-thirds full of horse manure and the 
rest with sawdust. I planted out the sprouts in 
March in a hotbed, dug them about June 1 and covered 
them lightly in the old hotbed for about three weeks 
to ripen and then watered them freely from that on. 
I lost all of the largest tubers, but about the middle 
of July the small ones began to sprout, and these I 
planted till September, getting upwards of 60 hills by 
that time. They made an amazing growth. I protected 
them from early frosts, and dug them the day after 
election. The soil was very loose, and the rats bur¬ 
rowed in it and destroyed some. Not anticipating 
such a growth of vine, 1 got them too close, which also 
was against them ; but altogether I am well satisfied 
with the result. There are two queries in the experi¬ 
ment : The first crop was scabby, ill-shaped and 
prongy, while the second, with one exception, are all 
smooth, free from scab and very uniform in size. 
Why did all the large ones of the first crop rot, while 
those that sprouted were only small ones ? 
Wisconsin. m. s. harrington. 
Late or Early Planted Potatoes. 
The R. N.-Y. plan of planting potatoes—either early 
or late varieties—early, would not do here, or, 1 be¬ 
lieve, throughout most of the Western corn belt, owing 
to the intense heat and drought of the last weeks of 
July and all of August. My experience, gained by 35 
years’ investigation, has been that early varieties 
should be planted as early as it can be done with 
safety from frost, so that the crop may ripen \\ ith 
the cool, moist spring weather, before heat sets in. 
But with late varieties, planting should be de¬ 
layed to not earlier than May 15 to June 15, and our 
best results have almost invariably been with June 
planting. If done earlier, they continue to ripen 
during the heat, giving but a small crop; and if 
they continue to live through this season, the fall rains 
cause a new and irregular growth. This, the driest 
and hottest season ever experienced in Iowa, was no 
exception, as the later planted pieces were the only 
ones worth digging. We harvested nearly 150 bushels 
per acre from the last of May and first of June plant¬ 
ing, while within a few miles of us were hundreds of 
acres that entirely died, while the avei*age crop 
was less than 30 bushels per acre. F. B. V. o. 
Lewis, la. 
AN “EYESORE” MADE INTO A SUB- TREASURY 
WHAT WATER DID FOR THE BERRIES. 
Part III. 
Irrigation of Blackberries. 
Being the last of small fruits to ripen, and coming 
in the droughtiest time of the year, the month of 
August, blackberries need irrigation more than any 
other fruits, as a rule, though they draw their sus¬ 
tenance from deeper sources than either black or red 
raspberries. First of all, one must select a deep, rich 
soil, and have it thoroughly underdrained to insure 
success, and the best possible results. Then select the 
right kinds for earliness. Perhaps Snyder has no 
equal, also for hardiness, but for yield and size 
Kittatinny excels all others, its worst fault being rust, 
which should be uprooted and burned as soon as a 
plant shows it, and a new one put in its place. 
On the half acre-plot on which I made my trials 
alongside of blackberries and strawberries, I grew 
Kittatinnys entirely. I set in rows seven feet apart, 
allowing the rows to thicken to about 14 inches in 
width, with the canes cut back in spring to 3% feet in 
height. I work them thoroughly till near fruiting 
time, about July 15 or 20; then mulch heavily with 
long manure, damaged hay or long straw. I prefer 
long manure. The whole plantation should be cov¬ 
ered to the depth of six or eight inches, especially* be¬ 
tween the rows, where the sun's rays penetrate the 
soil. This is best accomplished by means of a 
“ manure boat,” or low platform on wheels. The 
wood work consists of strong two-inch planks bolted 
to two cross-pieces at either end, rounded in front 
like an ordinary stone boat with holes in the cross¬ 
pieces for stakes to hold the side-boards on. The 
wheels are mounted on two-inch axles, made of old 
tumbling rods, or mowing machine axles. I had some 
machine workers turn them down to fit the wheels, 
which I made of the table wheels from an old reaper, 
for those behind, and smaller ones in front to turn 
short. The axle is held by two bolt clips behind ; the 
front one by a king bolt the axle being flattened in 
the center, the whole being drawn by a V-shaped 
chain from the front axle, no tongue being necessary. 
The front wheels should not be over six or eight 
inches in diameter to turn well in drawing a load. 
As soon as the berries began to ripen, I turned on 
the water the same as on the raspberries, and so on 
till the whole had been gone over. After two appli¬ 
cations, I made up my mind to try sprinkling the 
bushes ; so I bought 200 feet of inch hose and sprinkled 
four rows about 4 o’clock p. m. I was of the opinion 
that it was beneficial, so continued to sprinkle till 
the whole plot was watered, and then watered them 
from beneath. The blackberries were as large as my 
thumbs and black and delicious. 
I haven’t an exact account of the number of boxes 
picked and prices obtained, other than the amount of 
sales and expenses incurred, but I cleared something 
over $250 on that half acre. On another patch, older 
but not irrigated or mulched, covering some two acres 
in a high state of cultivation, we realized only some 
$180. No better proof of the profits and satisfactory 
results of irrigation can be given than results like 
those I have attempted to describe. I obtained from 
three half acres more than from 10 acres not irrigated, 
and better fruit in every respect. 
Now for conclusions. Have you on your farm, a 
springy spot of land, or a running stream, or an ele¬ 
vated piece of ground, where you could construct a 
large pond or reservoir, and obtain fall enough to 
carry its contents to those parched berries in summer 
time ? Try irrigation. Now, while your horses in the 
barn are eating their heads off, excavate a big pond 
in some convenient spot, clay it, or water lime it, or 
stone it up as you please. Then when old Drought 
comes along next summer, you can lay your pipes and 
hose and laugh at drought.” A. j. snyder. 
Canada. 
7 HE MANURE SUPPLY ON AN OHIO FARM. 
WILL FERTILIZER FINALLY TAKE ITS PLACE? 
An Interesting Experiment Begun. 
For some years my efforts to improve in farming, 
have led me to increase the manure supply as much as 
possible. From a commencement a few years ago, of 
a score or two of two-horse loads, we have now 
reached from 200 to 300 loads yearly. Sometimes 
nearly one-half of the supply is drawn from two towns 
one and two miles distant; this supply, on account of 
the demand, is becoming to some extent limited. Now 
I feel that to make the crops desired, I must add com¬ 
mercial manures. 
But the question that has particularly interested 
me for a few years, is this : Can I, by an application 
of commercial fertilizer, along with a heavy applica¬ 
tion of barnyard manure, get a profitable return from 
it ? When I top-dress a field, it is done at the rate of 
20 large two-horse loads of stable and barnyard ma¬ 
nure, per acre. This, when on clover sod, is followed 
by corn, then by wheat. After this application of 
barnyard manure, there is a tendency of the wheat to 
lodge ; at the same time the yield is not over 25 or 30 
bushels per acre. Some grow much larger crops than 
this, and their wheat does not lodge. If I grow the 
straw, and it goes down before the grain is perfected, 
there must be some property lacking in the soil, or it 
would have stiffer straw. 
Last fall I sowed a field to wheat that gave the last 
time in wheat 25 bushels per acre. In the past six 
years, the field has had two top-dressings of barnyard 
manure. Last fall, when the corn was off, it was in 
very fine condition for wheat sowing, and with the re¬ 
cent top-dressings, it was a question whether com¬ 
mercial fertilizer would be any help. Most farmers 
would have said that the latter was not needed. I 
have no fear but the growth of straw will be as heavy 
as desired ; but the question is, will it stand up ? One 
solicitous neighbor fears that on account of so much 
manure, all my crops will lodge ; but I hope to escape 
this misfortune. With this object in view, when I 
sowed the wheat last fall, I used commercial fertilizer 
at the rate of 100 to 200 pounds per acre. I had con¬ 
siderable curiosity to know whether it would show 
its effects on the growth of the wheat this fall. The 
first plot was given bag manure at the rate of 100 
pounds per acre. Then the drill ran empty two rounds, 
followed by an increased quantity. As soon as the 
wheat could be seen across the field the increased 
