792 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 30 
tributed than it could have been if put on with a pail 
or hose. 
If when fed out, the contents of this silo are found 
to be well preserved, it will revolutionize the silo in 
this section. Many farmers have hesitated about 
putting- in silos on account of the cost of machinery 
for filling- ; but by cutting and shocking the corn be¬ 
fore frost comes, one outfit can be made to do a large 
amount of work. My No. 13 Ohio cutter, with a 30- 
foot carrier, has been used this fall to fill five different 
silos ; horse-powers were used either tread or sweep. 
Roughly estimated, the five silos would hold 350 tons. 
At $1 per day, the price charged for a cutter, people 
having small silos holding 50 to 75 tons, find it 
cheaper to hire than to own. Another neighbor filled 
his silo in the old way, putting in as high as 55 loads 
per day ; he used the same sized cutter that I did, but 
had steam power. So there will be the two extremes 
from which to draw conclusions. I shall go to both 
silos while the contents are being fed out, note re¬ 
sults, and give them to the readers of The R. N.-Y. 
Stedman, N. Y. L. D. G. 
It. N.-Y.—By all meaus let us have the report. 
RYE PASTURE MAKES WRY MILK. 
TUBNIPS THE BEST FALL GREEN FOOD. 
I can throw a little light on the subject of rye for 
fall feed. I had a four-acre field of rye last spring 
which was liberally top-dressed during the winter up¬ 
on the snow. The growth of straw was very heavy 
and somewhat tangled, so that considerable grain 
was scattered when harvesting. It became evident 
soon after harvest that, on account of the drought, 
the spring seeding of clover was a failure. The 
manure still lay on the surface and, not liking to 
plow it under, I thought it a good time to experiment 
with Crimson-clover, as it had never been tried in this 
section to my knowledge. We ran the mowing ma¬ 
chine over it to prevent the stubble clogging the har¬ 
row, and easily worked up a mellow seed bed with 
the spring-tooth harrow, on which the Crimson clover 
was sown. A good shower soon after soon brought 
the clover up in fine shape, and along with it a catch 
crop of rye. 
This was about August 1. Of course the weather 
has been too dry, but the soil was mellow and rich, 
and we have had a few showers so that cultivated 
ground has not been very dry. The rye, however, 
has made a sickly, yellow growth with no signs of its 
growing upright so that it could be cut for stock. 
There is a very good catch of Crimson clover, and we 
shall see how it will stand the winter. 
Another piece was sown to rye about September 1, 
on an inverted J une-grass sod, with the intention of 
plowing it under next spring for potatoes. This has 
made a rank growth, and the field is covered with a 
rich, dark green mat of rye. It stools out well, but 
has shown no signs of running up to head this fall. I 
notice that in spots where it is quite thick, the lower 
leaves are turning yellow. 
Pasture and hay are very scarce, and as I expect to 
plow it under next spring, 1 could not resist the 
temptation to give the cows a treat ; so I turned them 
on a few days ago. It was surprising to see how soon 
the effect was noticeable in the milk pail. They 
milked equal to cows on the best June pasture, and I 
was quite pleased with my experiment. Yesterday, 
however, the dealer who uses my milk on his route in 
town, drove up in great excitement saying that he 
had come to see what was the matter with the milk, 
llis customers complained that the milk had a nasty, 
strong taste and smell. He said that he could notice 
nothing wrong with the fresh milk when he served it 
out, but that customer after customer had brought out 
a pitcher of milk that had set over night, which was 
not fit to use. 
I asked him what he thought was the matter, but 
he said that he could not tell. It did not seem to be 
sour, but it was simply “ stinking.” I showed him 
the cows ; they seemed as healthy and happy as any 
he ever saw, and their udders were filled like new 
milkers, although they have been in milk since last 
spring. I showed him the feed, which is nothing but 
wheat bran and ground oats. I took him into the 
milk house, and showed him the morning’s mess 
of milk. We tasted and sampled to his heart’s 
content. 
“The cows seem all right, the feed could not be 
better, and this milk tastes all right,” said he ; “ but 
there is no use talking, when customer after customer 
brings out such milk as mine did this morning, some¬ 
thing must be wi’ong.” 
I had long before made up my mind where the 
trouble was, so I showed him the field of rye and told 
him that I suspected that the difficulty came from 
there. We turned the cows on for an hour this morn¬ 
ing, immediately after milking, and then removed 
them. I think that there will be no more trouble. 
If there be, we shall be obliged to keep them away 
entirely. 
I know of no crop for late green feed equal to tur¬ 
nips. The seed can be sown at any time from July 15 
to August 15, and will make plenty of succulence on 
good soil with very little work. The greatest diffi¬ 
culty is to get the seed'on thin enough, and uniformly 
sown. I believe that it would be a good plan to mix 
it with Crimson clover, say, half a pound of Yellow 
Stone turnip and a peck of Crimson clover to the 
acre. Has any one tried this plan ? 
The turnips should be fed immediately after milk¬ 
ing, and a good grain ration with them. I have fed 
loads upon loads of them in this way when I had a 
milk route of my own among the best families in 
town, and never a complaint of turnips in the milk. 
Orange County, N. Y. o. w. mapes. 
WHAT THEY SAY? 
Portable Fence. —In describing the operations at 
Willswood Farm some weeks ago. mention was made 
of a portable fence that has given good satisfaction 
there. A picture of one panel of this fence is shown 
at Fig. 254. It is made of small chestnut poles, 12 
A PORTABLE FENCE FOR TIMBERED COUNTRIES. Fig. 254 
feet long—peeled and split. The uprights at either 
end are made long enough to suit the desired height 
of the fence. The lower ends are sharpened so as to 
be driven a foot or more into the ground. These up¬ 
rights are bored to receive the rounded ends of the 
poles. Braces are nailed from top to bottom as shown. 
In use, these hurdles are driven with the ends close 
together so as to form a continuous fence or a pen. 
They are light, strong, easily made and, where timber 
is plentiful, are cheap. They are easily transported, 
and quickly put in place. 
A Potato Picker. —The implement pictured at 
Fig. 255, is made in England, but how extensively it 
is used we do not know. It is designed to save hand¬ 
picking after a potato digger. As we understand it, 
the potatoes are dug and left several hours to dry. 
Then the one-horse machine is run along the rows 
The curved scraper is supposed to gather up the pota¬ 
toes, and the revolving kickers throw them into the 
wire drum. Here the dirt is shaken out, and the 
tubers are carried around until they fall through a 
hole at the back into a basket or bag. If required, 
they may be assorted into two sizes at this operation. 
Some years ago, one of our subscribers suggested 
very much the same thing. In Colorado or Wiscon¬ 
sin, where potatoes are grown on a large scale and 
there are few stones, such a device, with improve¬ 
ments, might pay ; but on stony ground, the farmer 
would be likely to bag as many stones as potatoes, 
and in any event the tubers would not be picked up 
clean. It is interesting, though, as showing a possible 
way of cheapening the cost of “ picking up,” which is 
now quite an item of expense. 
For Setting Strawberries. —I regard a new ma¬ 
son’s trowel as a despicable and unserviceable thing 
for setting out strawberry plants ; but an old one, 
one that has lost its spring, and has seen sufficient 
service to have become rounded, is hard to beat for 
the purpose, particularly if it is sharpened with a file 
or on the grindstone. Years ago, I used to make the 
holes for the plants with the trowel. Of late, 1 have, 
instead, made small furrows of the proper depth. I 
then at once take up the plants with the trowel, 
place them with the adhering earth in shallow trays, 
etc., and as fast as one can place the plants in the 
furrows at the right distance, another can draw the 
loose earth around them. Planted in this way, I will 
take my chances on their growing against any potted 
plants I ever saw. A worn trowel can generally be 
bought quite cheap, while, in my opinion, it is 
decidedly preferable to a new one for this purpose. 
Ore Banks, Va. j. c. s. 
Keeping Apples Down South. —How to keep apples 
all winter for family use, is a problem that annually 
confronts the farmer in the Southern States. Not long 
ago, I spent a night in Indian River Hundred, Del., 
where the housewife was carefully wrapping the finest 
samplesof apples in newspapers, first coating each ap¬ 
ple with the thinnest film of lard. No doubt, this process 
shuts out the various kinds of microbes that cause 
decay, and helps preserve the fruit. Another method 
that has been tried with ' success and satisfaction in 
Kent County, is to have a tight box of the required 
size, and sprinkle a little air-slaked lime in the bot¬ 
tom ; over this place a newspaper, and on this paper 
place a single layer of apples. Then put on another 
newspaper, on which sprinkle lime as before; place 
another newspaper on this lime ; then put on another 
layer of apples, and so proceed until the box is full. 
The apples may be used as wanted, carefully remov¬ 
ing a layer at a time. 
To keep for market, a successful method practiced 
by J. W. Kerr, of Maryland, is to dig a trench, say, 
six feet wide, in the ground. The barrels, double¬ 
headed and carefully packed, are rolled in on their 
sides in a double row, that is, two barrels end to end, 
and piled as high as circumstances make desirable. 
This trench is then roofed over, and covered with 
soil, the soil, however, not coming into contact with 
the barrels. WESLEY webb. 
Delaware. 
“Tiie Best Early Apples.” —I have been watching 
the behavior of the Tetofsky in the orchard, as well 
as its other characteristics, for the past 28 years, and 
in various States, from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky 
Mountains. The tree grows fairly, is hardy, and 
bears well; but the fruit is small, of poor quality, 
often water-cored, rots quickly, and the tree is some¬ 
what subject to blight. I see little reason for plant¬ 
ing it, even in the extreme north, and certainly in 
New Jersey it is of much less value for any purpose 
than many others. 
There is comparatively little profit in any early ap¬ 
ple in New Jersey ; but, if I were going to plant for 
market purposes there, I would prefer the following : 
Yellow Transparent is larger, of better quality, and 
begins to bear earlier. The main objections to it are 
the light color, which shows bruises readily, and the 
blighting of the tree. Red J une is far higher colored, 
better in flavor, and as good in every other way for 
New Jersey and southward, as Tetofsky. Red As- 
trachan and Fourth of July are both larger, but not 
of better quality. For family use, Summer Rose is 
my choice of all the very early apples, all things con¬ 
sidered. It is small, but good in every other way ex¬ 
cept that in the extreme North, it would, probably, 
not be hardy, although I have never seen it tried 
there. For second early, William’s Early is my first 
choice for market, and Fanny for all purposes. Both 
are of the most brilliant red, and Fanny is especially 
good in quality for that season. Primate is of the 
best flavor, but its light color and delicate texture 
render it fit only for the family orchard, where it 
should always be found. My good and wise old pre¬ 
ceptor, Dr. Warder, used to say that he could not 
carry a Primate to the house in his pocket without 
bruising it. Early Joe is small, but for home use, it 
more than makes up in good qualities for this one 
fault. It is nearly sweet and handsomely striped 
with red. Bcnoni possesses many good qualities, as 
it is of fair size, red and yellow color, the flesh is 
heavy and firm, and of very rich quality. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
RECUPERATIVE FORCES IN THE SOIL IV. 
Do any of the American farmers who talk of the 
exhausted farms of our Eastern seaboard, ever let 
their thoughts go so far afield as to ask themselves 
how the crowded populations of China, or of India, 
are kept from starvation ? China occupies on the 
Pacific a position like that of the United States on 
the Atlantic, and the general character of the two 
countries is fairly comparable, the one with the 
other. China has reached that density of population, 
over much of its territory, which greatly limits the 
production of flesh meat as food for the mass of its 
people. These have necessarily adopted the dietetic 
principles known here as “Grahamite,” and apparent¬ 
ly without loss of mental or physical vigor ; though 
the poorer classes have lost something of size, as 
compared with other peoples. The farming of China 
can scarcely be called scientific, from our point of 
view. It is simply careful and ingenious ; yet we 
rarely hear of famine, even in its poorer and most 
