1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE PROSPECT. 
A lArge part of those who have tried Crimson 
clover the past year, report failures, owing, largely 
no doubt, to the severe winter, a very dry summer 
and fall, aDd, in some cases, to late seeding. I firmly 
believe that it will yet prove about as hardy as com¬ 
mon clover. Even though it does winterkill, there is 
a great future for the plant in the corn-growing 
regions of the West. The practice here is to harvest 
the corn standing in the field, and then turn in the 
stock to take what is left. Why not sow Crimson 
clover the last of June or first of July? By fall it 
will have made a good growth, furnishing a large 
amount of feed for young stock of all kinds. We 
usually have open weather until towards Christmas, 
which would give nearly two months’ feeding, which 
would mean a great saving of corn used in fattening. 
The benefit derived from the increased fertility of the 
soil would certainly pay all cost for seed and sowing. 
It is doubtful whether this plan would work in the 
extreme West, where the rainfall is light during sum¬ 
mer. It is only a matter of time when Illinois, Iowa, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri 
will sing the praises of Crimson clover. 
Illinois. DWIGHT HERRICK. 
o 
It is estimated that during the past 90 days, 250,000 
factory and mill operatives of various classes in this 
country, have had their wages raised all the way from 
5 to 20 per cent, averaging, perhaps, 10 per cent all 
around. In addition to this, large numbers of manu¬ 
facturing concerns previously closed, have been 
opened, giving employment to large numbers of un¬ 
employed workingmen and women. General business 
is picking up, so that the transportation lines have 
more work, employ more men and distribute more 
money. In the aggregate, millions of dollars more 
are circulated monthly than during the previous 
months. This means better times for all classes, 
especially the producing ones like the farmers. A 
greater demand means better prices, more active 
trade in all directions, and general good times. Help 
push it along ! 
O 
The following extract from a recent short story in 
The Outlook, will appeal forcibly to many who have 
planted the famous “ Government seeds” : 
Ye see, ole Gin’ul Dixon, our Member, that my husband useter 
always vote fer, he ups an’ sends us, last Christmas, er whole 
passel er them Guv’ment seeds, an’ the upshet of it all wus, I tried 
ter plant ’em ’cordin’ ter whut wus on the papers they come in. 
These here had er name that stumped the circuit-rider clean an’ 
clear. I never tried the Presidin’ Elder—he mought of knowed 
whut it meant. But we could read under the name, “ Large scar¬ 
let; highly ornamental. Sow under glass in January an’trans¬ 
plant as soon as danger of frost is past.” Well, I done that, 
thinkin’I had got some new kind of er posy; an’here it turns 
out nothin’ but the very same ole bull-nose pepper I’ve raised all 
my life, an’ my folks befo’ me. 
The result was that the peppers were ripe far ahead 
of time—when the weather was too hot without them. 
What a farce the whole thing is ! What a burlesque 
on the name of agriculture to spend $160,000 a year 
distributing such stuff. Good luck and a backing to 
Secretary Morton in his fight against it ! 
Q 
The practice of subsoiling cannot be advised as an 
operation sure to benefit all soils. It is useful in stiff, 
heavy soils, where the subsoil is so tough and com¬ 
pacted that water will not flow readily through it. 
The subsoil plow opens up this tough mass, andsper¬ 
mits a much freer circulation of water. In a soil with 
an open, porous subsoil, with the particles growing 
larger as we go deeper, subsoiling would be the worst 
thing that could be done, because it would hasten the 
passage of water, while the object of the farmer 
should be to retain it. On these light soils, especially 
in droughty districts, a mere scratching of the surface 
is the best tillage. Many farmers went from Eastern 
farms to Dakota and Nebraska, and plowed the sod as 
deep as they did in their former location. They thus 
ruined the soil, and were unable to get it in grass 
again. At home, they had heavy rainfalls and a tough 
subsoil, while in the new place, the conditions were 
exactly opposite, and they ruined the soil’s capacity 
for holding water. 
O 
The statistics relating to American railroads have 
been printed. In the year 1894, there were 178,708 
miles of railroads in operation in this country. There 
were 35, 409 locomotives and 1,^78,078 cars, of which 
1,205,169 were for freight. The number of persons 
employed was 779,608. The total value of all equip¬ 
ment was $10,796,473,813, and total debt $5,356,683,019. 
The railroads carried 619,688,199 passengers and 638,- 
186,553 tons of freight. They earned $1,073,361,797 
during the year, while the operating expenses were 
$731,414,322. During the year 1823 employees and 324 
passengers were killed, and 23,422 employees and 
3,304 passengers injured. As compared with former 
years, there was a loss of business and very much less* 
building of new roads. During that year, 93,994 per-^ 
sons lost employment at railroading. These figures 
show what a vast industry our railroads have become. 
The revenue from freight was $699,490,913, which 
shows how these great corporations depend on the 
trade of country people. 
There has been considerable discussion of the 
“ hired man ” question, and like all questions, there 
are two well-defined sides to it. We wish to draw a 
little picture from life, and ask our readers what 
they think of it. It is not claimed to be an ideal one 
at all, but has the virtue of being true to life. The 
writer sees the farm every day. The man married 
eight years ago, and began life in a village, depend¬ 
ing upon day’s work for a living. It was a poor 
dependence. lie knew little of farm work when he 
came to Mr. X and asked for steady employment on 
his farm. It was a venture, but X rented him a 
tenant house, and gave him the customary wages of 
the neighborhood. The man worked side by side 
with X for a few years, learning to do everything 
just as X did it. His ideas of proper methods of till¬ 
ing crops, handling them, handling stock and doing 
general work, were taken direct from his employer. 
It is easy to see that such a man yearly grew in value 
to his employer, and twice without solicitation, X 
has increased his wages. The man half protested 
each time, saying he was already doing better than 
most hands. X tore down the old tenant house and 
built a neat, warm one, costing several hundred dol¬ 
lars, and charged him $2 a month for it and the use 
of one acre of good land. A team is furnished free, 
and on this acre enough potatoes are grown each 
year, as a rule, to supply the family, now composed of 
six members, pay the rent, and leave a surplus. When 
illness comes to this man’s family, substantial gifts 
of money are made to help pay doctor bills. Care 
is used to save him useless expenditure of money. 
On the other hand, that man pushes the work on the 
farm, watches all the details to save loss, would work 
willingly at night, or on a holiday to prevent loss to 
X, has sufficient judgment to assume proper responsi¬ 
bility when X is necessarily away from his farm, and 
seems fully as anxious for good yields as is X. The 
man boards at home, is able to clothe his children de¬ 
cently for school and church, buys occasional luxuries, 
and always has some cash in his pocket. X says that 
he is the cheapest man on the farm. Employer and 
employee treat each other with respect, and while X is 
one who believes that a man must be sole master of 
his own business, he is not above asking his man for 
his opinion, and profiting by it when he can. There 
have been seven years of this relationship, and it 
seems much more of a fixture than it did seven years 
ago. X and his man are mutually profitable to each 
other, and it is business and not sentiment that makes 
them so. Neighbors say to X : “ You are fortunate in 
having such a man.” Yes, but he is such because X 
helped him to be such. Both learned the value of 
mutual interest. Does this sketch from life help to a 
solution of the vexed question ? 
IRRIGATION THROUGH DRAIN TILES. 
In the last report of the Wisconsin Experiment 
Station, Prof. F. II. King records an experiment in 
sub-irrigation which opens a vast field of possibili¬ 
ties. By means of a force pump, water was driven 
back into a system of tile drains, thus watering the 
land upward and laterally by percolation and capil¬ 
larity. On the station farm, is a field of five acres 
with a system of tile drainage measuring 7,022 feet in 
length. These tiles are laid about four feet deep in 
sand, below three feet of clay subsoil. This drainage 
system terminates at a small lake. In order to study 
the effect of sub-irrigation, as well as the movement 
of water through the soil, it was determined to force 
water from the lake back into the tiles in the belief 
that, under this pressure, the water would rise 
through the soil so as to benefit crops growing on it. 
Accordingly a six-inch steam pipe 16 feet long, was 
placed at the lake as the outlet of the drainage sys¬ 
tem, and to this was connected a small pump capable 
of raising about 100 gallons per minute. In four 
days’ pumping, 99,089 cubic feet of water were forced 
into the tiles. This would have covered the surface 
with water about five inches deep. The “ water 
level” in the soil was raised all over the field, and in 
some cases the surface itself was saturated. All this 
time, crops were growing on the field, and measures 
were taken to compare their yield with similar crops 
grown alongside, which were forced to depend on 
rainfall or the natural water stored up in the soil. 
Without going into details, we may say that the 
yield of corn on the land into which water was forced 
through the tiles, was from 50 to 90 per cent greater 
than on land where no water was added. In the case 
of potatoes, the increase in yield due to this sub-irri¬ 
461 
gation, was 35 per cent. Another point is brought 
out by these trials. 
From experiments with thick and thin seeding of 
’corn on the field, Prof. King concludes that when 
’ample water is furnished and less wasted, a much 
closer stand, both of corn and potatoes, is possible, 
'and, consequently, a larger yield. In other words, 
when we can fill the soil with water at will, we can 
put our plants closer together, and expect full 
development. It was found that plants directly over 
the tiles made a better development than those half¬ 
way between. This illustrates one defect in sub¬ 
irrigation, viz.: the difficulty in forcing the water all 
over the soil. 
These experiments suggest many possibilities for 
farmers located near a stream or pond. With some 
changes in laying, tile may be placed in the soil so 
that both drainage and irrigation ai’e possible. The 
pump would hasten drainage in a very wet time, as it 
could be used to draw the water out of the tiles faster 
than it would run of its own accord. In a dry time, 
water from stream, pond or swamp, could be foi’ced 
into the tiles as was done in Prof. King’s experiment. 
While probably less effective than surface irrigation, 
this simple tile irrigation is least expensive, and 
would save many a crop if used in time. It is grati¬ 
fying to see that farmers are coming more and more 
to see that water is cheaper than manure in the pro¬ 
duction of a full crop. 
THE EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 
Bulletin 30 of the Massachusetts Station (Amherst), {jives the 
results of certain aualyses made at this station, and the trade 
values of fertilizers. 
The Clay Industries op New York, is the title of the bulletin of 
the University of New York State, for March. This pamphlet 
gives an interesting account of the brickmaking business in New 
York State, and shows where the beds of brick clay are located, 
and how they are worked. The price of this interesting bulletin 
is 30 cents. 
T Central Experiment Station (Ottawa, Canada). Bulletin 20 is 
devoted to raspberries—a description of varieties and methods of 
culture as applied to Canadian conditions. Bulletin 21 gives some 
interesting results of experiments to determine whether early, 
medium, or late so wing of. grain is most desirable. The results 
show the loss occasioned by delay in sowing spring grain. 
Bulletin 23 is on spraying injurious insects, and plant diseases 
like potato scab and blights and black knot. 
^Wisconsin Experiment Station (Madison). The eleventh annual 
report of this station is a very valuable volume. It gives a gen¬ 
eral review of the work done in all the departments during the 
past year, and also gives detailed accounts of some more im 
portant experiments in dairying, sheep feeding, soil culture and 
horticulture. The work at the Wisconsin Station is always prac¬ 
tical and the reports are always readable because they are simply 
written and finely illustrated. As usual, we shall quote largely 
from this report. We feel sure that our readers will find much to 
interest them in this volume. 
New York State Experiment Station (Geneva). Bulletin 88 
gives the results of experiments with forcing lettuce in pots. In 
this method, the lettuce plants are transplanted but once—from 
the seed flats to two-inch pots. The whole process is well de¬ 
scribed in the bulletin. It also contains an excellent article on 
mushrooms as a greenhouse crop, in which the culture of this 
vegetable is well described. Bulletin 89 deals with dairy matters, 
and discusses the comparative profits of selling milk, cream, but¬ 
ter or cheese. From the figures given, it appears that a good 
cream trade is more profitable than selling either whole milk or 
butter or cheese. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
“Tiik Great Leak on the Farm,” is the title of a little book 
issued by the Keystone Mfg. Co., Sterling, Ill. It is sent free on 
application. Send a card for it. 
Mr. Edward T. Ingram, West Chester, Pa., the originator of the 
Brandywine strawberry, reports a full crop for the sixth con¬ 
secutive season. His plants will be ready to ship July 16. 
Before buying a new harness, send a two-cent stamp to King 
& Co., 10 Church Street, Owego, N. Y., for their illustrated cata¬ 
logues of harness. They make a good harness, and sell it direct 
to the user. 
If you are going to buy a hay press this season, send to Collins 
Plow Co., Box 11, Quincy, Ill., for description of the “Eli” press. 
This house make a specialty of hay presses, and can supply any 
desired kind of press. 
Prof. E. H. Farrington, of Wisconsin, has devised an “alkaline 
tablet” which will enable you to tell just how much acidity there 
is in your milk. Almost as useful as the Babcock test. Write to 
Chas. R. Baker & Co., Station R, Chicago, Ill., about it. 
Fay’s Manilla Roofing has been used now for a quarter of a 
century. Besides roofing, it is used for sheathing, and in many 
cases, to take the place of plaster in houses. The Fay Manilla 
Roofing Co., Camden, N. J., will send samples, etc., on application. 
There is no potato digger that will do good work on some soils, 
and probably no one digger that will do the most satisfactory 
work on all soils and under all conditions. But the invention of 
potato diggers has saved the growers of the country a great 
many dollars all the same in the cost of gathering the crop. The 
Success Jr., is one of the cheaper diggers that gives general sat¬ 
isfaction where the conditions for its use are right. In proof of 
the manufacturers’ confidence in it, they agree to send it on trial 
when the applicant gives good references. D. Y. Ilallock & Sons, 
York, Pa., will send further particulars. 
An authority on dairy matters has recently said in The R. N.-Y. 
that poor butter is doomed. Oleo will take its place, but the high¬ 
est grades of butter will command higher prices, especially to 
private customers, and consumers who are educated to the use of 
the best products. But care must be taken in packing and ship 
ping the butter, as well as in making it. It will absorb taints and 
odors readily from its surroundings, unless properly protected. 
A tightly sealed package made by the Record Mfg. Co., Conneaut, 
O., affords about the best protection of anything yet on the mar¬ 
ket in the shape of a shipping package. Better get quotations. 
