4 
Increasing  price  of  corn,  many  looked  on  the  shred¬ 
ding  and  storing  of  corn  fodder  with  some  favor,  as 
it  would  enable  them  to  save  and  utilize  the  part  of 
this  popular  crop  that  usually,  as  they  looked  at  it. 
went  to  waste.  It  could  be  fed  out  through  the  Win¬ 
ter  as  conveniently  as  hay.  the  little  residue  in  the 
mangers  could  be  used  for  bedding,  and  the  Tim¬ 
othy  and  clover  not  needed  for  that  Spring  feeding 
could  be  sold  for  cash.  But  it  was  not  all  plain 
sailing;  corn  harvesters  were  expensive,  and  cutting 
by  hand  was  laborious  and  slow.  If  you  sought  to 
avoid  the  expense  of  buying  a  harvester,  and  de¬ 
pended  on  using  your  neighbor's,  perhaps  frost  would 
catch  you  before  the  job  was  done.  It  was  also 
found  necessary  to  select  a  time  for  shredding  when 
the  fodder  was  dry.  otherwise  it  would  mold  in  the 
mow  and  be  unfit  for  horse  feed — perhaps  not  good 
even  for  cattle.  To  get  a  shredder  at  just  the  right 
time  was  nor  always  possible.  Men  who  operated 
thrashing  outfits,  and  did  the  community  work  in 
this  line,  bought  shredders,  and  prepared  for  the 
business  that  they  thought  was  coming.  But  it 
never  reached  the  magnitude  they  expected. 
When  all  the  conditions  were  properly  met,  the 
shredded  fodder  kept  well  and  made  a  very  satis¬ 
factory  form  of  roughness.  It  was  customary  to 
run  it  directly  Into  the  mow.  Experiments  in  stack¬ 
ing  were  disappointing.  But  it  proved  somewhat 
expensive,  and  oftentimes  there  was  considerable 
loss. 
The  corn-belt  farmer  invariably  follows  the  lines 
of  least  resistance.  He  learned  to  utilize  his  wheat 
and  oat  straw  for  Winter  feeding  more  and  more, 
and  now  he  is  almost  as  anxious  about  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  his  oat  straw  as  he  is  about  his  Timothy  hay. 
Pasturing  the  stalk  fields  after  the  corn  is  gathered 
has  become  a  regular  practice  with  many,  though 
the  losses  of  the  last  few  years  from  the  so-called 
"stalk  disease"  are  making  some  of  them  cautious. 
So  much  was  said  about  the  wastefulness  of  the 
Western  farmer  in  raking  up  and  burning  his  stalks 
in  the  Spring,  that  ifc  was  thought  shredding  would 
in  time  spare  them  from  this  criticism;  but  this 
problem  is  now  largely  solved  by  disking  them  or 
cutting  them  in  March  or  April  and  turning  them 
under  to  furnish  bumus  and  fertility. 
Dairying  is  becoming  more  popular  in  the  corn 
belt  every  year,  and  an  increasing  number  of  silos 
are  being  built.  Instead  of  shredding  fodder  for 
horse  and  cattle  feed,  it  now  looks  as  if  there  would 
be  a  sale  for  corn  harvesters  to  handle  the  crop 
in  another  and  perhaps  better  way. 
Macon  Co.,  Ill.  J.  c.  nicholls. 
Ice  Supply  for  Small  Families 
A  “  Homemade”  Ice  Factory 
NOTE  the  plan  for  ice  supply,  by  John  P.  Muth 
of  Staten  Island.  N.  Y.,  on  page  1459.  About  10 
years  ago  I  moved  onto  four  acres  just  outside  the 
city,  and  the  second  Winter  started  a  plan  to  make 
ice.  My  first  experiment  was  a  failure.  I  had  a 
couple  of  galvanized  pans  made  of  proper  size  to 
hold  a  cake  of  ice  to  fit  handily  into  our  refriger¬ 
ator:  the  pans  were  made  16  inches  high  and  11x7 
inches  on  the  bottom  and  top.  this  of  course  made 
the  open  surface  11x7.  I  filled  them  with  water  and 
set  them  outside  in  a  freezing  cold  night.  The  water 
froze  all  right,  not  solid  in  the  one  night,  hut  solid 
enough  to  hurst  the  seams  of  both  pans  around  the 
bottom,  making  them  useless ;  then  I  tried  three  pans 
measuring  on  the  bottom  15*4x10  inches  and  on  top 
and  seven  inches  high,  giving  open  surface 
of  16*4x11.  They  were  a  glittering  success.  I  made 
a  little  wooden  frame  about  a  foot  high  on  which  I 
placed  one  of  the  pans;  the  other  two  pans  I  set 
on  top  of  the  first  one  cross-ways,  so  that  the  weath¬ 
er  could  get  at  top.  bottom  and  sides  of  all  three 
pans.  Experience  taught  me  to  fill  the  pans  half 
full  at  first.  If  the  weather  was  “propitious”  the 
water  would  be  frozen  solid  next  morning.  I  then 
filled  the  pans  nearly  full  and  left  them  for  another 
siege  with  Jack  Frost,  and  generally  by  evening  I 
took  them  inside,  turned  the  pans  upside  down — 
poured  a  quart  or  two  of  hot  water  over  the  pan  and 
lifted  it  off  from  a  good  solid  cake  of  “homemade” 
ice.  I  soon  had  a  storage  box  made  with  double 
walls  and  top  also  built  doubly  and  strongly  hinged. 
1  packed  sawdust  between  the  walls,  they  being 
about  two  inches  in  the  clear;  then  I  had  made  a 
zinc  pan  two  inches  high  and  just  large  enough  to 
cover  inside  bottom  of  box  with  a  tube  possibly  an 
inch  diameter,  running  from  the  bottom  of  pan, 
toward  one  end,  and  down  through  bottom  of  box. 
My  storage  box  measures  outside  three  feet  eight 
inches  by  two  feet  nine  inches  by  three  feet  six 
inches  high.  I  set  it  on  a  couple  of  pieces  of  2x4, 
raising  one  end  just  a  little  so  that  water  would 
THE  RURA.L.  NEW-YORKER 
drain  toward  the  drain  tube  before  mentioned — 
ibis  box  will  hold  probably  400  pounds  of  ice  and  in 
good  snappy  Winter  weather  I  have  no  trouble 
whatever  in  keeping  it  filled.  As  required  I  trans¬ 
fer  the  cakes  of  ice  to  the  refrigerator  and  also  put 
many  things  in  the  storage  box  direct  which  would 
he  clumsy  to  keep  iu  refrigerator.  Finding  the  cov¬ 
er  of  the  storage  box  pretty  heavy  for  the  women 
folks  to  lift.  I  usually  being  absent  in  the  city  dur¬ 
ing  the  day.  1  rigged  up  a  counterweight  with  a 
pail  partly  filled  with  sand,  and  by  passing  a  rope 
from  a  staple  fastened  at  front  top  edge  of  cover,  up 
to  ceiling  of  cellar,  through  a  couple  of  pulleys 
properly  placed  to  lead  the  rope  down  again  to  the 
counterweight,  it  becomes  a  very  easy  matter  for 
anyone  to  raise  the  cover  while  the  counterweight 
being  properly  loaded  serves  to  hold  the  cover  up 
until  brought  down  again  by  the  hand. 
Just  how  Mr.  Muth  may  succeed  in  packing  away 
the  ice  with  salt  I  could  not  say.  but  from  my  own 
experience  think  the  scheme  would  work.  I  certain¬ 
ly  would  not  hesitate  to  tackle  the  Glling  of  a  very 
fair-sized  ice-house  for  my  household  use  in  the 
way  I  have  stated,  but.  in  such  case  would  expect 
to  increase  my  “plant”  to  say  eight  to  12  pans  of 
any  size  desired,  and  the  work,  if  properly  arranged 
for,  would  be  found  very  easy,  while  no  great  amount 
of  lime  would  be  required.  j.  b.  b. 
Michigan. 
Referring  to  the  article  on  page  1459,  that  plan 
would  be  a  failure.  If  Mr.  Muth  wishes  to  keep  ice 
through  the  season,  build  his  icehouse  above  the 
ground  and  instead  of  6x6  feet  square  and  10  feet 
high,  build  it  10x10  square  and  six  feet  high.  Noth¬ 
ing  but  wood  should  he  used.  The  board  inside 
should  be  upright.  The  outside  wall  should  be  eight 
inches  from  the  inside  wall,  and  between  these  two 
walls,  sawdust,  shavings,  hay  or  straw  should  be 
packed.  The  bottom  should  be  a  little  off  the  ground 
and  six  or  eight  inches  of  sawdust  under  the  ice. 
Never  mix  anything  with  the  ice,  but  pack  and 
make  it  one  solid  body.  Cover  well  and  see  that  the 
roof  is  tight.  wu.  h.  biuge. 
Pennsylvania. 
On  page  1459  you  have  a  description  of  an  ice  pit 
proposed  by  one  of  your  readers  in  which  he  sug¬ 
gests  storing  alternate  layers  of  ice  and  salt  in  a 
concrete-lined  pit.  The  scheme  seems  impractical  to 
me  for  numerous  reasons,  among  them  the  uninsul¬ 
ated  side  walls  and  floor.  This  together  with  the 
addition  of  the  salt  I  would  expect  to  cause  very 
rapid  melting  of  the  ice.  Robert  h.  smith. 
New  York. 
Owner  and  Tenant  Partnership 
What  are  some  of  the  best  and  most  equitable  meth¬ 
ods  of  renting  farms  on  shares?  The  farm  referred  to 
contains  about  170  acres,  with  50  acres  in  grass  and 
tillage,  the  remainder  in  pasture  and  woodland,  situ¬ 
ated  in  Southern  Connecticut,  carries  10  to  15  cows  and 
three  horses,  and  raises  from  60  to  100  pigs  a  year. 
W.  A.  MANN. 
VERY  year  at  about  this  time  we  begin  to  have 
these  questions  about  rentiug  farms.  They 
cover  all  sorts  of  conditions  and  personalities,  but 
after  long  study  of  many  different  propositions  we 
suggest  what  we  call  the  rule  of  thirds.  This  has 
been  explained  several  times  before,  but  so  many 
requests  are  now  coming  in  that  we  repeat  it. 
In  an  arrangement  between  owner  and  tenant  we 
would  divide  the  business,  if  possible,  into  three 
equal  parts — real  estate,  labor  and  personal  prop¬ 
erty.  The  owner  will  furnish  the  real  estate  which 
will  of  course  include  farm  and  buildings.  The  ten¬ 
ant  furnishes  labor  and  has  his  rent  and  a  share  of 
food  and  fuel.  Thus  far  they  are  equal,  each  taking 
one-third  of  the  proceeds.  The  third  share,  or  per¬ 
sonal  property,  may  be  supplied  by  one  or  both.  It 
includes  stock,  tools  and  other  equipment  and  cash 
for  working  capital.  If  the  farm  owner  supplies 
all  of  these  he  is  entitled  to  two-thirds  of  the  in¬ 
come.  If  the  tenant  supplies  all,  that  share  would 
go  to  him.  Usually  both  partners  in  such  an  ar¬ 
rangement  put  up  part  of  the  personal  property,  in 
which  case  a  fair  inventory  should  be  made,  and 
this  third  share  divided  in  proportion  as  each  con¬ 
tributes  personal  property.  In  some  cases  the  ten¬ 
ant  brings  a  team  of  horses,  tools  and  a  few  cows, 
while  the  owner  contributes  cows  and  some  other 
live  stock.  The  value  of  all  these  should  be  fixed 
fairly,  and  also  the  cash  capital  required  for  fertil¬ 
izer.  seed  and  similar  things.  The  best  arrange¬ 
ment  is  for  landlord  and  tenant  each  to  put  up  equal 
value  of  personal  property  and  thus  each  take  one 
half.  Iu  this  arrangement  it  is  understood  that  the 
tenant  is  to  have  a  fair  living  from  the  farm.  Make 
a  definite  figure  for  milk,  potatoes,  fuel,  meat,  etc., 
which  he  may  take  and  not  exceed.  It  pays  to  be 
liberal  with  most  tenants,  though  as  in  every  other 
January  1,  191G. 
business  there  are  some  naturally  mean  people  who 
do  not  want  to  be  satisfied. 
The  foundation  principle  of  all  this  is  the  plan 
of  dividing  the  business  into  thirds,  and  figuring  the 
contract  on  this  basis.  Many  cases  have  been  pre¬ 
sented  to  us,  but  almost  all  of  them  fall  into  this 
rule.  If  there  are  cases  where  this  could  not  be 
fairly  applied,  or  where  real  estate  could  not  be 
said  to  equal  labor  we  would  like  to  have  them  dis¬ 
cussed. 
Ferrets  for  Killing  Rats 
fin  Pennsylvania  a  rat-killing  campaign  has  been 
started — a  good  thing  too.  There  ought  to  be  an  or¬ 
ganized  fight  made  on  rats  and  mice,  as  these  vermin 
do  great  injury  and  no  good.  There  have  recently 
been  a  number  of  letters  from  farmers  who  ask  about 
using  ferrets  for  rat  killing.  Prof.  II.  A.  Surface,  who 
is  organizing  the  rat  crusade,  gives  the  following  state¬ 
ment.] 
REGARD  the  ferret  as  one  of  the  very  best  aids 
in  rat  extermination.  I  have  seen  it  used  with 
good  results,  and  have  used  ferrets  successfully  for 
this  purpose.  I  do  not  know  about  the  laws  of  New 
Jersey,  but  I  suspect  they  are  similar  to  those  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania.  It  is  not  against  the  law  here  to  own  and 
use  ferrets  for  rat  extermination,  but  it  is  illegal  to 
use  them  for  rabbits.  Also,  one  must  pay  a  license 
of  $25  in  order  to  sell  them.  I  presume  this  is  in 
order  to  make  their  use  less  general  and  protect  the 
rabbits,  but  I  should  like  to  see  such  legislation  as 
will  make  it  possible  to  procure  them  easily,  and  use 
them  generally  in  rat  extermination. 
It  should  be  understood  that  ferrets  will  attack 
rats,  and  may  kill  them,  or  may  in  turn  be  killed. 
When  a  ferret  is  bitten  by  a  rat  it  is  quite  liable  to 
result  in  lockjaw.  Persons  who  think  that  ferrets 
are  used  for  the  direct  purpose  of  killing  the  rats 
are  mistaken.  Their  principal  use  is  to  drive  out 
the  rats.  Where  there  are  more  than  two  holes 
leading  to  the  same  nest,  all  should  be  closed  but 
two  of  them.  Then  a  wire  trap,  box  or  sack  should 
be  fastened  over  one  hole,  or  a  rat  dog  should  be 
held  near  the  hole,  while  the  ferret  is  put  into  the 
other  one.  The  rats  will  come  out  in  frantic  haste. 
As  a  rule  they  do  not  turn  and  fight  the  ferret,  ex¬ 
cepting  where  they  are  cornered  or  in  close  quar¬ 
ters.  Then  they,  of  course,  fight  fiercely,  and  their 
long  sharp  teeth  give  an  advantage  over  the  ferret, 
which  has  only  short  teeth.  It  should  be  plainly 
understood  that  the  proper  use  of  the  ferret  is  for 
driving  out  the  rats,  and  there  should  he  adequate 
provision  for  killing  them  when  they  are  driven 
out,  or  afterward. 
Ferrets  can  be  handled  easily  either  with  the  bare 
hands  or  with  gloves.  They  are  uot.  vicious,  and 
it  is  not  their  nature  to  bite.  When  exposed  to  the 
light  they  act  more  or  less  sleepy  or  sluggish,  but 
when  in  the  rat  holes  they  move  along  rapidly,  and 
will  come  out  of  a  hole  far  enough  that  they  can  be 
caught.  Sometimes  they  will  kill  their  victim  in 
the  hole,  and  then  remain  and  suck  its  blood,  but 
this  generally  does  not  occur.  Where  they  do  not 
readily  come  from  a  hole,  they  can  be  coaxed  out  by 
a  piece  of  raw  meat,  or  by  a  recently  killed  animal. 
In  keeping  them  in  domestication  they  will  readily 
feed  on  bread  and  milk  with  a  little  meat  occasion¬ 
ally.  They  are  generally  carried  in  a  bag  or  box, 
and  inserted  in  the  hole  from  which  they  are  ex¬ 
pected  to  drive  the  vermin.  It  should  be  remem¬ 
bered  that  if  there  are  different  holes  or  openings 
leading  to  the  same  channel,  the  ferret  is  liable  to 
come  out  from  any  of  them.  They  may  thus  escape 
the  person  having  them  in  charge,  and  if  they  do  so, 
they  are  not  especially  liable  to  do  damage,  as  they 
will  feed  on  mice,  vats  and  rabbits,  yet  in  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  these  they  may  attack  poultry.  Their  na¬ 
ture  is  similar  to  that  of  the  weasel,  which  when 
fully  balanced  in  (he  science  of  economic  zoology 
is  found  to  be  much  more  beneficial  than  obnoxious. 
The  ferrets  are  either  gray  or  white,  being  of  two 
distinct  races.  The  whites  are  albino  with  pink 
eyes,  and  generally  do  not  become  as  large  as  the 
gray  ferrets.  I  have  seen  no  difference  in  the  hunt¬ 
ing  qualities  of  the  two  races.  In  disposition  the 
white  ferret  is  more  sluggish. 
I  believe  that  the  best  possible  combination  for 
rat  extermination  is  one  or  two  terrier  dogs  to  catch 
the  rats,  and  a  ferret  to  drive  them  out.  I  recom¬ 
mend  some  enterprising  person  in  each  county  to 
go  into  the  business  of  clearing  premises  of  rats  by 
the  use  of  ferrets.  The  chief  reason  why  they  can¬ 
not  be  used  successfully  against  mice,  is  that  the 
mice  go  into  holes  where  the  ferrets  cannot  follow. 
It  should  be  an  easy  thing  to  obtain  legislation  in 
each  State  that  will  encourage  such  a  business  by 
licensing  a  responsible  person  to  use  ferrets  for  the 
business  of  catching  rats  on  the  premises  of  other 
persons.  There  should  really  be  no  charge  for  such 
license.  h.  a.  surface, 
Economic  Zoologist. 
