Efce  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1027 
leaved  varieties  are  used  for  these  later  planting; 
then  if  they  cannot,  he  cut  that  Fall  they  will  be 
move  apt  to  winter  over  and  produce  a  good  crop  in 
fhe  Spring. 
SOWING. — The  seed  is  sown  with  a  seed  drill 
in  rows  about  12  inches  apart,  using  from  six  to 
nine  pounds  of  seed  to  the  acre.  When  the  spinach 
plants  are  an  inch  or  two  high  a  wheel  line  or 
scuffle  hoe  should  he  run  along  the  rows  very  close 
to  the  plants,  so  that  the  soil's  surface  may  he 
stirred  and  the  sprouting  weeds  killed.  Weeding  iu 
Fall  spinach  is  frequently  unnecessary,  especially 
if  the  ground  lias  been  properly  prepared  and  cared 
for  ahead  of  time.  B.  w.  i>. 
The  Useful  Quail  or  Bob  White 
THE  picture  at  Fig.  404  is  taken  from  the  report 
of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agricul¬ 
ture  which  shows  the  contents  of  the  crop  of  a  Bob- 
The  Potato  Beetles  and  Weed  Seeds  in  a  Quail’s  Crop.  Fig.  404 
white  or  Quail.  This  bird  was  accidentally  killed 
while  on  its  nest  in  Connecticut  by  being  run  over 
by  a  mowing  machine.  When  the  bird's  crop  was 
opened  it  was  found  to  contain  40  Colorado  potato 
beetles  and  2o0  seeds  of  different  species  of  weeds. 
The  stomach  was  not  saved  and  may  have  contained 
the  remains  of  as  many  more.  We  have  often  had 
reports  which  go  to  show  that  the  Quail  or  “Bob- 
white"  feeds  on  potato  beetles  and  there  is  no  ques¬ 
tion  about  the  work  it  does  iu  eating  the  seeds  of 
weeds.  We  find  very  few  other  birds  that  will  eat 
the  potato  beetle.  It  has  been  said  that  ducks  will 
devour  them  but  after  long  and  patient  trial  we 
were  never  aide  to  get  our  ducts  to  touch  this  pest. 
If  the  quail  destroys  the  potato  beetle  in  this  way 
we  do  not  question  (he  claim  made  by  one  farmer 
that  each  quail  raised  on  his  farm  is  worth  $5  as 
an  insect  destroyer.  In  fact  a  quail  is  one  of  the 
most  useful  birds  to  have  on  the  farm. 
In  our  experience,  however,  a  flock  of  these  use¬ 
ful  birds  serve  as  an  advertisement  for  every  hunt¬ 
er  in  the  neighborhood  and  the  moment  the  law  is 
off  one  would  think  that  one  of  the  battles  north  of 
Paris  had  been  transferred  to  the  farm  and  the 
farmer  himself  will  have  very  little  chance  to  eat 
ipmil  on  toast,  by  the  time  the  hunters  get  through 
with  the  quail. 
Steam  Tractor  for  Sterilizing  Soils 
THE  picture  at  Fig.  406  is  taken  from  the  annual 
report  of  the  director  of  the  Wisconsin  Experi¬ 
ment  Station,  which  by  the  way  is  a  very  sugges¬ 
tive  pamphlet.  The  picture  shows  a  method  of 
sterilizing  land  to  he  used  for  growing  tobacco 
plants,  by  utilizing  a  steam  tractor.  Everyone  from 
an  old-fashioned  farmer  to  a  new-fashioned  scien¬ 
tist  knows  that  it  is  an  advantage  to  sterilize  the 
soil  used  for  growing  young  plants.  Old  farmers 
followed  the  plan  of  building  a  pile  of  brush  on  the 
spot  where  they  want  to  start  their  tobacco  seed¬ 
lings.  Tliis  pile  was  burned  down,  making  a  hot 
lire.  Then  when  the  ground  was  cold  the  ashes  were 
spaded  or  raked  in,  and  the  seed  was  started.  Many 
farmers  do  the  same  Ihing  in  the  laud  used  for  cab¬ 
bage  seed.  These  farmers  do  not  call  it.  sterilizing 
the  soil,  but  they  know  their  plants  do  better,  are 
less  likely  to  be  troubled  with  disease  or  maggots, 
and  there  are  fewer  weeds  to  be  pulled  out.  The 
heat  of  the  fire  and  the  ashes  do  the  trick,  by  kill¬ 
ing  germs,  destroying  weed  seed,  and  giving  tlie  soil 
a  better  body  or  form.  The  modern  scientist  lias 
learned  to  do  this  work  in  other  Ways.  He  gets  much 
the  same  effect,  or  perhaps  a  better  effect,  without 
the  trouble  of  piling  up  brush  and  burning  it.  Per¬ 
haps  that’s  one  evidence  of  the  value  of  science,  if  it 
can  show  a  man  how  to  obtain  good  results  in  a 
cheaper,  easier  or  quicker  manner. 
In  some  cases  the  soil  of  hotbeds  or  plant  beds 
is  roasted  in  an  oven.  Chemicals  are  sometimes  used 
dissolved  in  water  and  sprinkled  over  the  soil,  or  one 
effective  way  is  to  force  live  steam  into  the  soil  until 
it  is  thoroughly  cooked.  This  is  what  we  see  going 
on  in  the  picture.  Soil  for  the  plant  bed  is  covered 
by  a  pan  or  cover  so  as  to  hold  the  steam  down. 
Then  a  pipe  is  run  from  the  tractor  under  this  pail, 
and  steam  forced  in.  That  takes  care  of  it.  for  the 
soil  is  thoroughly  cooked  all  through,  to  the  prompt 
destruction  of  weed  seeds  and  germs.  Soil  cleaned 
in  this  way  invariably  gives  better  plants  for  trans¬ 
planting. 
Clover  or  Alfalfa  in  the  Silo 
A  Growing  Practice  in  South  New  York 
N  our  section  there  are  several  new  silos  being 
put  up.  Some  of  these  are  for  the  purpose  of 
storing  clover  as  silage  in  the  place  of  trying  to  cure 
it  for  hay.  For  a  year  or  two  farmers  have  been 
making  silage  iu  this  way,  and  they  approve  it  where 
it  has  been  tried.  This  year  one  of  our  best  farm¬ 
ers  has  purposely  omitted  planting  any  corn  for  the 
express  purpose  of  making  silage  of  his  clover.  He 
says  he  got  better  results  from  Ills  clover  last  year 
iu  the  way  of  silage  than  lie  had  by  curing  it,  ami  it 
A  Days  Shipment  of  700  Baby  Chicks.  Fig.  405 
was  better  silage  than  corn,  lie  had  both  kinds 
last  year.  ‘Weather  conditions  are  very  likely  to  be 
unfavorable  at  the  time  clover  is  ready  to  cut,  and 
it  seldom  happens  that  all  of  the  clover  is  got  witli- 
t  ut  hurting.  There  may  not  he  so  large  a  crop  pro¬ 
duction  in  this  as  when  corn  is  grown,  but  the 
farmer  in  question  says  lie  is  trying  to  get  along 
with  less  hired  help,  and  make  more  money.  The 
State  College  has  issued  a  leaflet  stating  that  some 
clover  has  not  been  satisfactory  as  silage,  that  it 
does  not  always  keep  well,  and  that  there  is  a  strong 
odor,  and  it  is  not  first-class  feed.  It  also  states 
that  where  grass  is  mixed  with  it  the  quality  is 
ninth  improved.  It  may  be  that  this  fact  is  respon¬ 
sible  for  the  excellent  quality  reported  by  our  farm¬ 
ers  who  have  tried  it.  There  is  almost  always  grass 
in  the  clover  we  grow.  The  farmer  whom  I  quoted 
reported  that  there  was  a  marked  change  when  he 
changed  from  coni  silage  to  the  clover  silage  last 
year,  and  another  change  when  he  changed  back 
again,  as  he  did  later  in  the  Winter.  I  am  not  pre¬ 
pared  to  advise  strongly,  but  these  reports  are  from 
men  thoroughly  reliable.  When  it  comes  to  the  use 
of  second  growth  clover  later  in  I  lie  season,  it  may 
be  necessary  to  be  cautious.  If  it  is  the  grass  that 
keeps  the  silage  sweet,  the  second  growth  clover 
alone  will  not  he  the  tiling,  apparently.  Tt  may  be 
possible  to  find  some  grass  to  mix  with  the  clover. 
Personally,  I  lsive  had  no  experience. 
Chenango  Co.,  N.  Y.  h.  h.  eyon. 
Not  Satisfactory  in  New  Jersey 
It  has  been  my  observation  that  the  practice  of 
ensiling  clover  and  Alfalfa  is  an  unsatisfactory 
one.  It  lias  been  my  own  observation  that  the  silage 
resulting  from  this  method  is  unsatisfactory,  the 
silage  being  badly  discolored,  subject  to  a  great 
many  chemical  changes  owing  to  the  rather  high  ni- 
trogen  content  that  legumes  contain.  It  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  put  some  concentrated  product  such  as  rye 
straw  in  the  silo  at  the  same  time  if  the  best  re¬ 
sults  are  to  he  maintained.  In  1010  we  ensiled  at 
the  College  Farm  our  soiling  crops,  aud  after  they 
were  all  placed  in  the  silo  our  buildings  were  burned 
the  -silos  included.  We  thought  the  ensiled  mass 
would  I»e  a  total  loss  inasmuch  ns  it  was  not  pro¬ 
tected  in  any  way,  but  to  my  surprise  in  an  emer¬ 
gency  we  tried  feeding  some  of  this  ensiled  mass 
to  the  dairy  cows,  and  while  it  was  very  much  dis¬ 
colored,  rather  sour  and  distinctly  unpalatable  in 
appearance,  the  cows  consumed  the  bulk  of  it  with 
relish,  and  gave  fairly  good  results,  but  personally  I 
believe  that  the  practice  should  be  discouraged.  It 
would  lie  much  safer  to  cut  the  product  and  cure 
it  as  hay.  even  though  the  hay  was  not  of  first 
quality,  and  feed  it  as  roughage  rather  than  as  a 
succulent  feed  later  on.  f.  c.  minkler. 
X.  J.  Experiment  Station. 
Ground  Limestone  and  Manure 
I  am  disposed  to  get  some  limestone  (ground  raw 
rock)  and  use  it  freely  in  my  stable  (cows,  horses) 
also  iu  my  poultry  houses  to  sweeten  the  air.  to  act 
as  a  mechanical  betterment  of  the  manure  and  as  a 
means  of  getting  the  limestone  onto  the  land  with  the 
daily  or  frequent  removal  of  manure.  But  I  am  confi¬ 
dent  I  have  read  iu  either  The  R.  N.-Y.  or  in  other 
sources  of  information  that  ground  limestone  mixed 
with  some  manures  injures  them.  Possibly  the  in¬ 
jurious  effect  of  lime  might  be  less  if  the  manure  was 
spread  on  the  land  within  a  day  or  two  than  it'  the 
lime  were  put  into  a  plie  of  manure  and  left  for  a 
Winter.  Then  again,  possibly  the  effect  <  if  the  lime  on 
the  manure  might  be  the  same  if  the  lime  was  mixed 
with  the  manure  whether  the  mixture  was  spread  on 
the  land  or  put  into  a  pile.  And  again  the  loss  of 
quality  in  the  manure  (if  lime  mixed  with  manure  in¬ 
jures  it)  may  not  be  so  great  as  to  outweigh  the 
advantages  of  the  free  use  of  ground  raw  rock  limestone 
in  stables.  R.  W. 
Connecticut. 
E  have  had  several  discussions  about  this. 
The  authorities  do  not  quite  agree.  Most  of 
the  argument  in  favor  of  using  ground  limestone  in 
the  stable  or  on  the  manure  seems  to  come  from 
people  who  are  in  some  way  interested  in  the  sale 
of  limestone  or  marl.  Most  of  the  scientific  men 
seem  to  prefer  gypsum  plaster,  or  sulphate  of  lime 
for  the  purpose.  The  plaster  gives  a  good  chemical 
action  iu  the  manure  and  is,  we  believe,  better  for 
the  purpose  though  it  is  more  expensive. 
If  the  manure  is  to  be  promptly  used  we  do  not 
believe  the  crushed  limestone  would  drive  off  any 
great  amount  of  ammonia  which  is  the  thing  fo  be 
feared  in  any  use  of  lime  on  manure.  Burnt  or  air- 
sterilizing  Soil  With  Steam  Tractor.  Fig.  406 
slaked  lime  would  not  answer,  for  this  would  break 
up  the  manure  and  undoubtedly  set  free  some  am¬ 
monia.  The  ground  limestoue  would  not  have  this 
effect  except  it  might  he  to  a  slight  extent.  We  have 
heard  from  several  farmers  who  say  they  use  ground 
limestoue  iu  the  stable  with  good  results.  Of  course 
they  have  not  conducted  chemical  experiments  and 
do  not  actually  know  whether  ammonia  is  lost.  They 
think  not  and  are  satisfied  and  their  practice  is 
good  although  we  think  piaster  would  be  better. 
