1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
279 
grcnind was solid enough to bear me up in most places. 
The season was well advanced, and I feared more 
rain. 
The next morning I took my hand hoe, and keeping 
as near in a straight line as I could, I took out a hoe¬ 
ful of mud every 12 or 15 inches. When across the 
plot, I turned and made another row of holes back to 
the place of beginning. Then I dropped a piece of 
potato in each hole ; then took the hoe and pulled the 
mud back over the seed piece. I kept this up till May 
5, when I had the whole patch planted. It was cer¬ 
tainly a slow way of planting potatoes, but it was not 
exactly time lost, for it was too wet to do anything 
else. As soon as planted, fertilizer was scattered 
along the rows. It happened that there was a lull in 
the wetness. It only rained a light shower and was 
fair weather again. On May 8 , it was dry enough to 
plow a piece of ground lying alongside the piece 
planted, that had not been plowed since 1892. This 
piece broke up in very fair condition and was planted 
at once. Fertilizer was scattered in the furrows. 
Then the wet weather set in again, and it rained, and 
rained ! Afterwards the dry weather came, and it 
dried, and dried ! But the after fertilizing and culti¬ 
vating were the same for each plot. 
At digging time, it was not convenient to make exact 
weights or measures. The crop was not a large one, 
but there were potatoes enough to make them profit¬ 
able, and there were more tubers of marketable size 
in the mud patch than in the dry patch. This may 
be said to have been an accidental experience, but it 
satisfied me that a dry, friable seed bed is not always 
sure to be a success ; and that mud and packed 
ground do not in every instance mean failure—theories 
and prize essays to the contrary notwithstanding. I 
determined to make a real experiment. 
In the fall of 1893, a piece of land was plowed in the 
field where I intended to plant potatoes the following 
spring. At planting time, a piece was plowed on each 
side of this, and while the soil was fresh and mellow, 
the potatoes were planted. The fall plowed piece 
was furrowed without replowing, and planted at the 
same time. This ground had all been used for pota¬ 
toes, beans, tomatoes, etc., the previous season. The 
fertilizing, cultivating, bug picking, etc., were exactly 
the same for all. I dug these potatoes, measuring 
them all in the same basket. I filled the basket each 
time alike, and begun each row with the basket 
empty. The rows were of the same length. I can say 
positively that there was no more difference in the 
quantity dug from rows of the different plots, than in 
the quantity dug from rows of the same plot. As to 
size, appearance and quality, I defy any one to tell 
them apart. In short, the fall-plowed ground pro¬ 
duced a crop equal in every respect to the crop from 
the spring-plowed ground. The season was very un¬ 
favorable, so that the crop did not exceed 150 bushels 
per acre. 
In 1893, we had a part of our best garden ground 
planted with new and choice varieties of tomatoes. 
When the dry season was setting in, a good mulch of 
straw was spread over the ground to retain moisture ; 
for the ground could not be worked on account of the 
vines. The mulch worked well for the purpose for 
which it was applied, and it also made an excellent 
hiding place for large herds of the old-fashioned, 
long-legged, striped-winged, galloping, nose-in-the- 
air potato bugs. Late in the fall, this ground was 
plowed very carefully. I plowed a furrow, then took 
a fork and put the straw and potato vines carefully 
into it, turned another furrow, filled it with more 
straw, and so on until the job was done. This put 
all the trash under evenly, and far enough below the 
surface not to interfere with working the soil. In the 
spring, as soon as the ground was in good condition, 
I dug trenches across this plot one foot wide and four 
inches deep (without measuring) and planted in them 
one-eye pieces of Carman No. 1 , bought of J. M. Thor- 
burn & Co., and sprouted in the light. The pieces 
were planted one foot (measured) apart in the row. 
They were covered lightly, fertilizer applied, and the 
trench filled. This plot was given the very best atten¬ 
tion, and yielded at the rate of 325 bushels per acre— 
exact weight of potatoes and careful measurement of 
ground. 
These experiences were brought to mind by w hat 
Mr. Strong said on page 789, 1894. They are in line 
with a part of his experience. No doubt different 
soils, seasons and conditions require different treat¬ 
ment ; but one thing is certain : Every one who has 
worked heavy clay land knows that a good soaking 
rain in early spring, will make it just as hard as 
before it was plowed. Now let potatoes be planted 
when the ground is in as good condition as is possible 
to have it. Let a heavy rain come a few days after. 
The ground “runs together” and forms a solid mass 
about the seed pieces. Can any one tell why those 
potatoes will gx-ow better than if they had been 
planted in soil already compacted ? If they will not, 
then do we not waste time, in wet seasons, when time 
is precious, in trying to get land in what is considered 
good condition for planting ? Does not success, so 
far as the mechanical condition of the soil is con¬ 
cerned, depend wholly on cultivation ? 
Is any one sure that he knows just how to l-aise 
potatoes ? j. l. m. 
Wintersville, Ind. 
POSSIBILITIES OF A BACK YARD 
WHERE FRUITS ARE TAKEN INTO PARTNERSHIP 
Another “Big Story ” About a Little Garden. 
Mr. L. S. Johnson, of Cortland, N. Y., has about 
the most remarkable back yard in the counti-y. In¬ 
stead of being an eyesore, filled with weeds, tm cans, 
Crurt' l”* Vi WiL 
i 1 
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L ||m J 
INTERIOR—TWO FLOORS BANK BARN. Fig. 87. 
old boots and similar i-efuse, it has been tx-ansformed 
into a perfect wonderland of flowers and fruits. I 
went there last summer when currants wei’e ripe, to 
have a look at it. Mr. Johnson is a lover of plants, 
and pleasure, not profit, is what he works for. To 
see him tenderly raise a drooping branch, or admire 
a fine bunch of currants, reveals the secret of his suc¬ 
cess. Personal interest and love for the work, stimu¬ 
late thought, and make one insensible to fatigue. The 
soil is a gravelly loam, and never had a plow, hai-row 
WINDOW SILL AND ROOF GUTTER. Fig. 89. 
or horse on it. It is kept mellow with a wheel and 
hand hoe. No weed is ever allowed to get an inch 
high ; in fact, there is so much growing, and it is so 
thick and rank, that weeds have no chance. Still, 
constant cultivation is given. But little watering is 
done, although a pipe and faucet stand ready, be¬ 
cause the mellow soil and abundant shade prevent 
evaporation of moistux-e. I noticed cut cornstalks, 
straw, leaves, refuse tobacco stems, and rotten ma¬ 
nure lying around on the surface, and a half-emptied 
bag of fertilizer in the barn. I did not see even a 
small hole made by a hoe. Level culture for every¬ 
thing, is the rule. The roots are never mutilated, and 
fungous diseases are never known. Is there any con¬ 
nection between them, I wonder ? 
As I walked around and saw strawberries 83^ inches 
in circumference, Carman No. 1 potatoes four inches 
long, heads of lettuce as large as a milk pan and 
gooseberries like eggs, I said in wonder, “ How do 
you do it ?” 
“ It’s easy enough,” he said. “Just stick them in 
and keep them clean. Of course, you need good 
kinds, and the soil fairly rich.” 
“ What did you ptit under those tomatoes?” They 
were planted in the roadway to the barn. A hole 
was made in the stony soil with a pick, and grass sod 
was around each plant. They had never been hoed, 
and had some brush placed around them to keep the 
i*ank foliage from the ground. They wei’e the largest 
vines I ever saw, and were covei’ed with fruit. 
“Oh ! nothing much,” was the reply. “ I had some 
ground meat ; I mixed in one-sixth sulphate of potash, 
and stirred in some of it for each hill. That mulch¬ 
ing of straw keeps them clean.” 
“ Do you use manure ? ” 
“ Not much now. The price is too high, and it’s so 
full of weed seeds. I am beginning to think like The 
R. N.-Y\ about fertilizers. You see, I have been a sub¬ 
scriber 41 years to that paper, and after this long experi¬ 
ence, place complete confidence in its own statements.” 
“ Do you not believe that humus must be supplied?” 
“ Yes, but clean straw, leaves, etc., will do that.’’ 
“ IIow much fertilizer did you use last year ? ” 
“ About 400 pounds of Mapes, 100 pounds of bone 
meal, 15 pounds of sulphate of potash, 100 pounds of 
ground meat, and a load or so of manure. But some¬ 
thing besides fertilizer is needed. Here, for instance, 
are some Fay curi’ants, or said to be. I have paid out 
$000 for new varieties of fruit, and over half of it was 
not true to name. There should be a law to l’emedy 
this. Some of the Fays bore larger than other fruit, 
and I took cuttings from them. Among these were 
some superior ones fi'orn which I propagated again. 
Great gain was made, until some of these bushes have 
borne eight quarts. I sowed currant seed, and tested 
the seedlings until I have what you see. ” 
By actual measurement, I found them one-fourth 
lai’ger than Cherry, with a longer stem, and sweeter. 
They seemed to ripen at the same time. The blossom 
end, which is large on some varieties and makes the 
fruit as it lies in the baskets, look dirty, on these was 
small and not noticeable. They were as red and lai’ge 
as an old-fashioned red cheiTy. The bushes wei’e 
bent to the ground with fruit. One which was four 
years from seed, yielded 10 quarts. 
“ When I sold eight quarts at 15 cents per quart 
from a bush, there was some money in it,” remarked 
Mr. J. 
“I see that you have impi’oved the old kinds by 
selection. What else have you done ?” 
“ I set them 3x4 feet apart to shade the surface, and 
give shallow cultivation. Their l’oots gi-ow close to 
the surface. I make the soil mellow and moist with 
the humus, and rich in potash. I prune back the new 
growth in July and spring.” 
“ Do you give them the tree form ?” 
“ No ! Either foi-m will give equally good l’esults.” 
“ IIow do you keep off the worms ?” 
“ Put on white hellebore, clear !” 
“ Clear ! Isn’t that expensive ?” 
“No; I had a tin tube made that would hold a 
pound, and sift it on. The tin tube has a fine, water¬ 
ing can nozzle on the end. The hellebore is fine, and 
but little comes out at once.” 
“ Do you plant the cuttings in rows?” 
“ Yes, if for sale ; but for my own use, I put them 
where they are to remain.” c. e. chapman. 
(To be continued.) 
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see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
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piece of paper.l 
A Cold Country Basement Barn. 
J. L. 11., Void Spring, Minn .—I am about to build a barn 26x56 
feet, with basement. Can you give me some good pointers in re¬ 
gard to arrangement and plans ? The basement is to be used for 
cows mostly, and the barn for hay and feed. 
ANSWERED BY J. M. DREW. 
In the first place, J. L. B. ought not to build so 
nai’row as 26 feet. The walls should be 18 inches 
thick, which will make the basement only 23 feet 
wide inside ; this is too narrow to stable two rows of 
cows with comfort. Thirty feet wide, giving 27 feet 
clear in the basement, is narrow enough. Fig. 87 
shows the basement plan of a barn 30x56 feet. This 
gives room for 34 cows, and allows a passage three 
feet wide at the end. The manure ditch is one foot 
wide and eight inches deep. The bottom is cemented 
on a good foundation of broken stone well pounded 
down. The stanchions, or mangers, if ties are used, 
should be so placed with reference to the gutter, that 
the standing floor will accommodate long cows at one 
end, and short ones at the other ; then the cows can 
