678 
October 12 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
almost exclusively on all the great duck farms. Its 
large size, rapid growth, plump, attractive appear¬ 
ance when dressed, and the excellent quality of its 
flesh, render it very desirable as a market duck. 
Although the main object is the production of young 
ducks which are marketed when about 10 weeks old, 
some birds are sold for breeding purposes, as well as 
eggs for hatching. Many orders for the latter are 
refused, as it pays better to hatch and sell the ducks, 
and eggs are not usually sold except when the incu¬ 
bators are full. About 12,000 ducks were hatched 
last year, and 16,500 sold. The others are purchased, 
fed for a time, and then put on the market. At Fig. 
213 is shown the trademark that is put on the web 
foot of every duck that goes to market from this 
farm. An orange-colored tag represents the ducks 
that are produced here, and a red tag those which 
are purchased and fattened and fitted for market here. 
How the Eggs Are Hatched. 
The incubator room—or rooms, for it has had addi¬ 
tions to meet increased requirements—contains about 
30 incubators, mostly of the Prairie State, special 288- 
egg duck machines, such as are used on most of the 
poultry farms on Long Island. Mr. Truslow has two 
or three machines which he made himself in his earlier 
experience, but he says that they cost him more than 
those he purchased, and, on the whole, are not so 
satisfactory. lie has an incubator on trial, which is 
built on a principle entirely different from any here¬ 
tofore embodied in incubator manufacture. It is the 
first machine made, of the kind, and its success in 
practical work is to be learned. 
The incubators are in charge of a woman, Miss 
Meixell, an innovation, so far as any of the large duck 
farms I have visited, are con¬ 
cerned. She has had charge here 
since early spring, doing all the 
work of filling the incubators, 
testing and turning the eggs, 
filling the lamps, etc., and is 
doing the work well. This seems 
like a promising field for woman. 
She has qualities which render 
her just suited for the neat, 
careful, accurate, painstaking work required in this 
business. Most of the work is light, and for one in¬ 
terested, it is a fascinating employment—it's far more 
satisfactory than domestic service or school teaching, 
and more remunerative than shop or factory work. 
The incubators are run as near to 103 degrees as 
possible. Eggs are turned twice daily. To render 
this work lighter for the attendant, Mr. Truslow has 
devised an arrangement for turning the trays. Ordi¬ 
narily, an empty tray is placed over a full one, the 
two are clasped tightly in the hands, and reversed. 
It requires some strength and practice, and not a 
little skill to do this, and a bungler might drop the 
whole thing. In Mr. Truslow’s device, the two trays 
are clamped together in a frame, and by a turn of a 
crank, are turned quickly, safely and easily. Another 
little device, simple but serviceable, is a common 
small machine oil can, with a piece of candle wick 
drawn up through the top ; filled with kerosene oil, 
this is lighted and used to light the lamps, lanterns, 
etc. It not only saves matches, but a great deal of 
valuable time. Such little labor and time-saving de¬ 
vices count for a great deal in an extensive business, 
and are worth considering in any business. 
The thermometers used in the incubators are called 
hoptoads by the men. They are so hung in wire 
frames which fit over the eggs, that the bulbs rest 
directly on the eggs, thus showing exactly their 
temperature. F H v 
(To be continued.) 
A ROOF FOR A HAYSTACK. 
Where it is necessary to build stacks of either hay 
or grain, it is sometimes desirable to make them 
larger than is practicable in the ordinary, round form. 
To do this, they are often built in an elongated shape, 
with straight sides, the tops carried up to a ridge in¬ 
stead of to a peak, and hence, from their form, called 
“ barn-stacks.” Frequently from 20 to 30 tons are 
thus stored in one mass. The advantage of this 
method is that in proportion to the number of tons 
stored, there is less surface exposed to the elements 
than would be the case were the same amount built 
into several round stacks. 
There is, however, always difficulty in making the 
straight sides of such a stack, where it slopes to the 
ridge, so perfect that it will completely protect the 
contents during a prolonged rain storm, such as fre¬ 
quently comes in the early fall. In the conical form 
of the top of round stacks there seems to be no such 
difficulty ; but for some reason, perhaps because the 
larger body is not likely to be so evenly trampled in 
building, the straight roof of the barn stack is quite 
likely to form hollows in settling. With the first 
Shower these become damp and still deeper, until 
finally, a small leak lets a trickling stream of water 
into the interior. 
To guard against this, various ways of securing the 
top have been tried. Thatching answers the purpose 
fairly well, but in order to do a good job, it is neces- 
sary to use rye straw, which is worth as much here 
as the best hay ; and, besides, few men can be found 
now who will do such a piece of work without spend¬ 
ing too much time on it. A better way is to roof it 
with boards ; but here again is met the necessity of 
fastening them together by some device in such a 
way that they can be readily removed and stored for 
use again. Some fasten them together with small 
nails that may be drawn; but this practice is almost 
sure to result in the injury and final destruction of 
the boards. Another way is, after the boards are 
carefully placed in position, to run two or three wires 
over the top, and fasten them with staples to each 
board. This is open to the same objection as nails, 
though, perhaps, in a less degree. A better manner 
is to fasten them with hooks and eyes. These, made 
of wii*e and attached to shanks that screw directly 
into the wood, may now be purchased very cheap, 
by the dozen, at any hardware store. Use good pine 
boards, 16 feet in length. A cleat of the same thick¬ 
ness should be securely nailed, with long wire nails, 
directly against each end of the boards to secure 
them against checking and warping. The ridge is 
made by securely nailing together two boards. On 
the lower edge of each of them fasten two of the 
hooks ; when they are placed in position on top of the 
stack, thrust the next boards under the edges of 
these so that they shall lap one inch, and insert the 
eye, which is a small ring with a screw shank, at the 
right distance from the hook. When all the boards 
are thus fastened in place by being hooked together, 
they form a storm-proof stack roof ; but one which is 
flexible on its fastenings, so that it will lie close to 
the hay or grain, and wind cannot get under it to 
lift it off. Its great superiority consists in the ease 
with which it may be unhooked and taken down, one 
board at a time, and stored for use year after year. 
Fig. 214 represents a barn stack roofed in this way. 
Where large amounts are stored, two, and sometimes 
several, lengths of roofing are used. In this case, 
only one length is taken off at a time as the stack is 
removed or tln*ashed. It can be cut down in sections 
with a hay knife, and thus only a small portion at a 
time is exposed to the chances of bad weather. 
Bristol Co., Mass. chaki.ks k. dknton. 
WHOLESALE SEED-POTATO GROWING. 
THE economies of i.akge production. 
A Big Enterprise in Western New York. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
Part II. 
The most interesting field on all the Dibble farms, 
is a 12 -acre patch of sandy loam soil which is used 
for a trial ground, and for growing new varieties that 
have proved more than usually valuable. On one acre 
of the field, are 159 new and old varieties planted side 
by side under exactly the same conditions. There are, 
at least, 50 hills of each sort. To make a test, 25 hills 
of each will be carefully dug and weighed, with 
records as to the proportion of large tubers, amount 
of scab, shape, vigor of vine, etc. Standard early and 
late varieties are planted with the newer sorts forcorn- 
parison. The other 11 acres are planted to 18 new varie¬ 
ties that proved the best of 207 tested last year. That is 
a fair proportion of really good varieties out of the hun¬ 
dreds that are sent for trial. Several of these new 
varieties are remarkably promising. Enough of them 
have been dug to indicate fairly what the yield will 
be. The varieties run from 300 to 600 bushels per acre. 
I am sure that, at least, 5,000 bushels of potatoes will 
be dug from that field, and I doubt whether there is 
another 12 -acre field in the country that will equal it. 
In looking over these thrifty fields where old varie¬ 
ties grow with the vigor of new ones, we are led to 
ask why and how the older varieties weaken or run 
out. 
“ How long should a variety last, and what is the 
chief reason for their running out ?” was asked of Mr 
Dibble. 
In answer to that, he said, “I ^vill give you an illus¬ 
tration ; We have a strain of White Star potatoes 
that have been grown by one grower for 12 years, and 
they have proved equally as productive, and of as 
good form and shape for the past three years, as they 
did for the first nine. Each season he has selected 
the very best potatoes, has planted them on good 
land, well fertilized, and given them the best of cul¬ 
ture. They have averaged for the entire period, over 
200 bushels per acre, and we have hopes this year, 
that they will give us 250 bushels per acre. At least, 
at this time they seem to bear out that promise. 
I do not think, however, that ordinary potatoes can 
be kept up, or are kept up for a dozen years, as far 
too many people plant small and inferior tubers. We 
select the best tubers for our own planting, and never 
use any stock that is blighted or scabby, and thus 
keep up the strains and keep them vigorous.” 
“ Do you not think that many promising new varie¬ 
ties are hurt by the practice of sending out all the 
small and scabby tubers for seed ?” 
“ There is no doubt about it. The use of such seed 
will certainly weaken the strain. I know that when 
a new variety of potato is first offered, at a high 
price, there will be a good demand for it. Should the 
season have been a poor one, and the firm have a 
large stock on hand to sell, rather than send back the 
money to customers, they are very likely to fill the 
orders with what stock they have on hand. This is a 
mistake. It is sure to injure the variety in the end.” 
“ What variety do you consider best adapted to drill 
culture ?” 
“The Peerless Jr., Rural New-Yorker No. 2 , Car¬ 
man No. 1 , Carman No. 3, Victor Rose, Lightning 
Express, Clay Rose, Maggie Murphy and Champion, 
are well adapted for culture in drills, as they are all 
large potatoes and have a tendency to large tubers, so 
that by planting in drills, we get a little finer stock 
and more of them in a hill. One man said of the R. 
N.-Y. No. 2 , that it grew so large that he cut it in two, 
and used the cavity for a dog kennel. But by cutting 
the seed finer, and planting closely in drills, this big 
size might have been prevented. This variety really 
never forms any very small tubers, so that, in drill 
culture, about all are marketable.” 
“ What varieties seem to do better in hills ?” 
“ The Freeman and Irish Daisy should both be 
planted in hills, and the seed cut down to one-eye 
pieces. These two varieties set heavier than any 
other kinds with which I am acquainted, and, there¬ 
fore, the seed should be limited, in order that the soil 
will have sufficient strength to mature to merchant¬ 
able size all of the tubers in a hill. If the land is ex¬ 
traordinarily rich, either of these kinds might possibly 
be cut to two eyes, and it would be safe, under such 
circumstances, to say that they will run from 15 to 20 
merchantable potatoes to a hill. The (treat Divide is 
a good potato—the quality is good, and it has proved 
a good yielder with us. It shows no sign of scab 
whatsoever. I would advise that it be planted in 
hills, and cultivated so that the long tubers will have 
a chance fully to mature.” 
“ What varieties seem most liable to scab ? ” 
14 The varieties on our list that seem to need soak¬ 
ing in corrosive sublimate solution to prevent scab, 
are Freeman, Early Ohio, Ohio Jr., World’s Fair, 
Carman No. 1 , Irish Daisy, Henderson's Late Puritan, 
and Nonesuch, when grown on certain soils. Carman 
No. 1 , on some soils, has shown a tendency to scab ; 
but we would not throw it out on this account, as it 
is certainly an enormous yielder of choice potatoes, 
and on the larger part of our soil, it is all right as far 
as scab is concerned. Of the three R. N.-Y. seedlings, 
I think that Carman No. 3 is the most desirable. It 
grows much like No. 2, but is later, a heavier yielder, 
and the tubers on the whole, are of better shape.” 
44 What as to quality ? ” 
“The Freeman, Peerless Jr., Early Ohio, Early 
Puritan, World’s Fair, Early Harvest, Early Norther, 
Bui pee s Extra Early, Brownell’s Winner, Money 
Maker and Great Divide, are first-class for eating. 
Of the other varieties, some are equally as heavy 
yielders, if not heavier, but their eating quality is not 
so good.” 
“ Dow do varieties rank as to time of ripening, with 
you ” 
‘•The Peerless Jr., Freeman, Early White Prize, 
Early Six Weeks, Polaris. Early Ohio, Early Puritan, 
Ohio Jr., New Queen, World’s Fair, Early Sunrise, 
Crown Jewel, Early Harvest, Early Maine, Early 
Norther, Burpee s Extra Early, and Summit, may be 
claimed as early potatoes, although the Peerless Jr. 
has proved to be intermediate in ripening this year, 
as has Carman No. 1 . We might list these two varie¬ 
ties in the lines of intermediate or second early with 
the Victor Rose, Lightning Express, Brownell’s Win¬ 
ner, Rochester Rose, Reeve’s Rose and Everett. 
Among the late potatoes that we would advise for a 
general crop, would be the Money Maker, Great 
Divide, Irish Daisy, Carman No. 3, Clay Rose, Rural 
New-Yorker No, 2, Maggie Murphy, American Won- 
