1124 
X>he  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
where  such  conditions  prevail.  I  am  strong  on  this 
kind  of  land,  for  I  have  had  a  wide  experience  in 
reclaiming  it;  and  not  in  a  single  instance  have  I 
been  disappointed  in  the  results.  This  class  of 
land  usually  sells  for  much  less  than  land  under 
cultivation,  and  offers  a  greater  opportunity  to  the 
man  of  small  means  and  little  experience. 
RESULT  FROM  DRAINAGE.— To  prove  this  let 
him  try  it  out  in  a  small  way,  or  watch  someone 
who  is  trying  it  out.  and  convince  himself  as  to  the 
feasibility  of  the  proposition.  As  there  is  always  an 
abundant  supply  of  plant  food  in  such  soils  to  be¬ 
gin  with,  it  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  maintain  the 
supply  with  little  effort.  In  this  class  of  soil,  you 
have  the  expense  or  investment  of  the  drainage, 
which,  when  once  done  is  permanent;  also  a  valu¬ 
able  lesson  in  the  possibilities  of  neglected  land. 
In  the  other  class  of  soils  you  have  the  continual 
expense  of  supplying  from  some  outside  source,  the 
necessary  elements  required  to  maintain  the  soil  in 
a  condition  necessary  for  abundant  crop  production. 
Efficient  farm  management  underlies  all  farming 
operations  that  prove  profitable.  For  instance,  tins 
past  season  has  been  unusually  wet  and  backward. 
Still  I  know  farmers  in  this  section  where  bean 
growing  is  followed  quite  extensively,  who  plowed 
early  on  land  that  has  been  nnderdrained.  getting 
the  crop  started  on  time,  and  who  have  harvested 
from  20  to  35  bushels  to  the  acre.  At  present  the 
price  for  beans  is  from  $3  to  $4.50  per  bushel.  Good 
management  brought  rewards,  one  farmer  having 
nearly  threp  thousand  bushels.  I  know  other  farm¬ 
ers  who  farm  it  “any  old  way,"  getting  the  crop 
started  late,  so  that  the  harvesting  held  over  into 
the  rainy  weather  in  the  Fall.  This  caused  great 
damage  to  the  quality  and  greatly  reduced  the 
quantity.  In  most  of  such  instances  the  yield  was 
from  eight  to  10  bushels.  All  other  crops  are  equal¬ 
ly  responsive  to  good  management,  where  soil  condi¬ 
tions  are  adapted  to  the  crop  grown. 
h.  e.  cox. 
Farm  Bureau  Boys’  Camp 
R.  J.  R.  LOOMIS,  chairman  of  the  Glens  Falls 
committee  of  the  Warren  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Farm 
Bureau,  conceived  the  idea  of  bringing  together 
hoys  from  each  of  the  townships  and  letting  them 
learn  by  seeing  what  was  being  done  on  some  of 
the  most  successful  farms.  These  business  men 
know  the  value  of  seeing  what  other  men  in  their 
own  line  are  doing,  and  adapting  all  the  improved 
methods  that  the  other  men  are  using.  Farmers  do 
not  get  this  benefit  of  visiting  other  farms  except  in 
their  immediate  neighborhood. 
This  committee  called  in  their  farm  bureau  man¬ 
ager  and  talked  it  over.  They  were  ready  to  raise 
$300  to  finance  the  project.  Tents  were  secured,  a 
cook  hired  and  means  of  transportation  arranged  to 
carry  the  boys  from  place  to  place.  The  machinery 
of  the  farm  bureau  organization  with  its  advisory 
councilman  in  every  community  in  the  county  were 
set  to  work.  They  picked  their  boys  and  on  June 
20  they  came  together  at  the  farm  bureau  ofiice, 
which  is  In  the  center  of  the  county.  Each  boy 
carried  his  blanket,  towel,  comb,  toothbrush,  and 
soap.  After  dinner  the  boys  were  transported  to 
Glens  Falls  by  trolley.  They  marched  through  the 
town  to  a  point  where  autos  were  in  waiting  to 
carry  them  to  the  camp  on  “Chestnut  Ridge  Farm.” 
The  boys  then  set  up  their  tents,  and  after  supper 
enjoyed  stories  around  the  camp  fire. 
The  first  day  was  spent  on  the  Bayle  Poultry 
Farm,  with  its  3,000  laying  hens,  where  the  boys 
were  instructed  by  Prof.  C.  S.  Brewster  of  the 
Cornell  poultry  department.  Their  method  of  han¬ 
dling  the  hens  and  chicks  and  of  marketing  the  eggs 
was  thoroughly  explained  to  the  boys. 
Warren  County,  although  not  usually  thought  of 
as  an  agricultural  county,  is  very  fortunate  in  hav¬ 
ing  some  of  the  best  purebred  dairy  cattle  in  the 
State.  James  Seaman,  president  of  the  Farm  Bu¬ 
reau  Association,  took  47  of  his  Guernseys  to  the 
State  Fair  last  year  and  brought  hack  14  prizes, 
most  of  them  firsts.  W.  J.  Ilaviland  has  a  fine  herd 
of  Ho Isteiu -Friesian  cows,  headed  by  King  Segis 
Pontiac  Order.  One  of  his  cows  is  second  best  in 
her  class  in  the  United  States  for  production.  She 
made  104  lbs.  of  3.8%  milk  in  24  hours.  Fred  Ste¬ 
vens  has  some  Kerry  cows.  This  breed  is  to  the 
cow  family  what  Shetland  ponies  are  to  the  horse 
family.  He  also  has  Dutch  Belted  cows  and  Nor- 
mandys.  J.  R.  Loomis  and  J.  Seaman  have  some 
fine  Berkshire  hogs.  James  D.  Edwards  of  the  N. 
Y.  State  Agricultural  Department  at  Albany,  made 
good  use  of  the  material,  instructing  the  boys  on 
feeding  and  breeding  pigs  and  dairy  cows. 
Prof.  Brewster  also  gave  a  demonstration  in 
caponizing.  The  boys  showed  a  great  interest  in 
poultry  and  kept  after  Mr.  Brewster  with  questions. 
The  informal  talks  under  the  trees  and  on  the  trips 
from  one  farm  to  another  were  of  great  value  to 
the  boys,  for  it  was  here  that  their  individual  prob¬ 
lems  were  brought  out.  It  is  surprising  how  many 
of  flic  boys  have  hens  of  their  own. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day  the  boys  were 
taken  to  the  Metropolitan  Insurance  Co.'s  farm  with 
its  tine  Ayrshire  herd  of  cows  and  Berkshire  pigs. 
The  boys  also  visited  a  number  of  smaller  farms  on 
which  the  owners  began  without  money  and  earned 
their  farms.  The  farm  of  John  Nassavara  is  a  nota¬ 
ble  example.  This  farm  is  as  neat  as  a  pin  and 
every  available  foot  is  made  to  produce  something. 
Ilis  crops  and  animals  keep  him  employed  the  year 
around  and  bring  in  cash  every  day.  Mr.  Oder- 
kork's  Celery  farm  with  its  long  straight  rows  of 
flourishing  plants  created  no  small  amount  of  in- 
The  Farm  Bureau  Bo.  s’  Camp.  Fig.  452 
terest  and  showed  the  boys  what  can  be  done  on 
the  numerous  muck  beds  throughout  the  county. 
Friday  morning  the  boys  pulled  up  their  stakes, 
folded  their  tents  and  packed  for  home.  They  were 
taken  back  to  Warrensburg  and  from  there  furnished 
their  own  transportation  home.  These  51  boys,  be¬ 
tween  the  ages  of  14  and  18,  will  carry  back  to  the 
farms  many  new  ideas  which  will  enrich  the  agri¬ 
culture  of  the  county.  They  have  become  acquaint¬ 
ed  with  each  other,  and  thus  blazed  the  way  for  an 
interchange  of  farm  stock  and  seeds  on  a  scale  that 
heretofore  was  impossible.  Most  of  the  boys  left 
their  names  at  the  farm  bureau  office  to  be  put  on 
the  mailing  list  to  receive  bulletins  on  the  sub- 
Warren  County,  N.  Y.,  Farm  Boys  Off  for  a  Trip.  Fig.  453 
jects  that  interested  them  most.  One  boy  made  ar¬ 
rangements  to  work  for  a  month  on  Mr.  Bayle’s 
poultry  farm  for  his  board,  so  he  could  learn  more. 
E.  W.  CLEEVES. 
Rye  as  a  Cover  Crop 
For  unlimed  lands,  and  where  lime  delivery  is  in¬ 
convenient,  is  there  a  better  green  crop  to  plow  under 
than  August  rye  where  this  plant  can  be  grown  annu¬ 
ally  11s  a  source  of  humus  and  fertility?  We  have  for 
years  heard  of  its  use  this  way  for  growing  both  pota¬ 
toes  and  corn.  I  once  read  of  a  field  that  had  been 
planted  to  corn  annually,  40-odd  years,  each  time  rye 
was  used  as  a  means  of  adding  fertility  and  humus  to 
this  field.  Is  rye  still  to  he  reckoned  high  in  its  adap¬ 
tation  to  both  corn  and  potatoes,  and  to  which  crop  is 
it  best  adapted?  Soy  beans  have  never  satisfied  us  as 
either  a  seed  or  fertilizer-und-huinus  crop  these  20  years 
past.  Has  rye  planted  with  buckwheat  been  practiced 
and  reported  upon  by  any  of  the  R.  N.-Y.'s  readers? 
From  tests,  I  regard  it  as  an  economic  method  here,  the 
soils  being  of  the  red  shale  class;  but  for  maximum 
grain  yields.  1  should  not  urge  the  rye  sown  at  the  same 
time,  though  good  results  have  been  had  by  this  prac¬ 
tice,  the  rye  becoming  well  established  by  time  the 
buckwheat  is  cut.  Many  Pennsylvania  farmers  sow  rye 
on  the  buckwheat  soils  after  the  latter  is  removed,  and 
too  often  the  rye  has  little  time  to  secure  sufficient 
growth  to  make  a  profitable  green  crop  till  Winter  sets 
in,  while  the  grass  is  liable  to  winter-kill  or  prove  a 
lesson  against  this  late  seeding  practice,  the  time  often 
extending  late  into  October.  C.  w.  G. 
Trout  Run,  Pa. 
ANY  of  the  experts  are  inclined  to  ridicule 
the  advice  to  use  rye  as  a  cover  or  inanurial 
crop.  They  say  it  adds  nothing  to  the  soil  as  clover, 
vetch  or  beans  would  do.  That  is  true,  yet,  in  our 
own  case,  we  have  found  rye  very  valuable  on  such 
soil  as  C.  W.  G.  mentions.  The  rye  is  sure  to  make 
August  2G,  1910. 
a  fair  growth  and,  when  properly  handled,  gives 
good  results  in  the  following  crops.  It  would  be 
much  better  if  lime  could  be  used,  but  if  that  is  im¬ 
possible  we  should  go  ahead  with  rye.  On  our  soil 
which  is  naturally  sour  and  hard.  Alsike  clover  and 
turnips  do  fairly  well,  and  we  should  use  the  seed 
with  the  rye.  The  growth  of  Alsike  on  such  soil  is 
often  remarkable.  It  is  true  that  many  farmers 
have  succeeded  in  growing  corn  your  after  year  by 
seeding  rye  at  tbe  last  cultivation  and  plowing  it 
under  in  Spring.  We  have  done  this  for  10  years 
or  more,  but  we  use  lime  when  plowing  the  rye 
under,  and  also  use  fertilizer  in  the  hills  of  corn. 
Green  rye  plowed  under  and  packed  down  makes  a 
good  seed  bed  for  potatoes,  but  it  must  be  well 
firmed  before  planting.  If  the  rye  is  left  open  and 
loose  in  the  soil  the  air  works  in  and  drives  out  the 
rye  or  starts  fermentation  so  as  to  make  the  seed 
bed  too  sour.  Most  of  the  complaints  against  rye  as 
a  green  or  manorial  crop  can  be  traced  to  this 
failure  to  pack  or  crush  the  soil  after  plowing  the 
rye  under.  We  have  a  number  of  reports  of  suc¬ 
cess  in  seeding  buckwheat  and  rye  together  in  July. 
It  evidently  depends  much  upon  the  season  and  the 
amount  of  moisture  available.  Whenever  two  crops 
are  seeded  together  the  soil  must  carry  a  full  sup¬ 
ply  of  water.  When  the  conditions  are  right  the 
buckwheat,  starts  off  first,  while  the  rye  makes  but  a 
slow  growth. .  Finally,  when  the  buckwheat  is  cut, 
the  rye  comes  up  and  occupies  the  ground. 
The  Value  of  Rye 
ONE  of  our  neighbors  said  be  could  raise  as 
many  bushels  of  wheat  as  of  rye  per  acre,  that 
wheat  always  commanded  the  higher  price;  then 
why  raise  rye?  lie  may  he  right  with  some  quali¬ 
fications.  First,  his  land  must  be  natural  wheat 
land;  the  soil  must  bo  sufficiently  fertile,  and  put 
into  a  fine  mellow  condition  for  the  seed  bed 
wheat  requires,  and  to  raise  a  profitable  crop  must 
certainly  have  the  better  soil,  and  kinder  treat¬ 
ment,  On  some  farms  in  the  best  wheat-growing 
regions,  owing  to  the  composition  of  the  soil,  or  a 
lack  of  fertility,  wheat  cannot  be  grown  profitably  if 
at  all.  It  is  said  that  in  Ilardin  County,  Ohio,  it  is 
getting  to  be  almost,  impossible  to  raise  a  wheat 
crop,  and  farmers  have  to  depend  on  oats  almost 
entirely  for  their  straw.  Winter-killing  appears  to 
be  tbe  principal  destroyer  of  wheat  in  many  regions, 
and  I  would  suggest  that  the  farmers  of  Ilardin 
County  should  try  raising  rye  instead  of  wheat.  It 
would  naturally  take  the  place  of  wheat  in  their  ro¬ 
tation. 
Rye  if  sown  early  enough  for  the  tops  to  cover 
the  ground,  will  proteef  the  roots  against  the  dis¬ 
astrous  effects  of  freezing  and  thawing  when  there 
is  no  snow  oil  the  ground.  It  is  hardier  than  wheat, 
can  withstand  severer  disasters  and  recover  from 
greater  injuries.  It  will  make  a  fair  crop  where 
wheat  would  fail.  It  will  bear  later  sowing  than 
wheat.  I  have  raised  good  crops  of  rye  sown  after 
the  buckwheat  came  off  the  ground  in  the  Fall, 
which  was  so  late  the  plants  had  only  pricked 
through  the  ground  when  Winter  set  in.  There  was 
no  appearance  of  injury,  and  there  was  a  good  yield 
of  grain.  Buckwheat  ground  can  generally  be  sown 
earlier  than  this.  Sown  after  oats,  or  barley,  it 
can  he  sown  in  September,  when  it  will  require  less 
seed  and  will  obtain  sufficient  growth  of  top.  As 
a  proof  of  its  hardiness,  it  will  grow  wild  for  a  year 
or  two  in  a  field  where  it  has  been  raised. 
Having  seeded  a  rye  field  with  clover  and  Tim¬ 
othy  and  obtained  a  good  stand  of  the  mixture 
which  was  cut  for  hay,  rye  continued  to  grow  in  that 
meadow  for  three  years.  It  did  not  grow  from  roots 
left  in  the  ground.  It  grew  from  kernels  of  rye 
shattered  out  of  the  heads  by  tbe  mowing  machine, 
and  took  root  in  the  stubble  in  spite  of  the  unfavor¬ 
able  conditions.  It  has  fewer  enemies  than  wheat. 
We  raised  good  crops  of  rye  in  those  years  when 
our  wheat,  was  destroyed  by  the  weevil  (midge)  for 
several  years  iu  succession,  and  we  had  to  eat  rye 
bread  in  the  place  of  wheat.  Where  straw  is  an  ob¬ 
ject,  rye  will  supply  more  than  any  other  grain, 
and  is  generally  brighter  and  brings  more  when 
sold.  When  both  the  straw  and  grain  are  sold,  a 
crop  of  rye  will  fetch  as  much  as  a  crop  of  wheat, 
and  sometimes  more. 
It  will  ripen  farther  north  than  wheat,  millet, 
barley  or  oats,  and  is  grown  in  Egypt,  and  other 
warm  countries.  It  is  raised  in  Siberia,  up  to  02 
degrees,  and  in  Norway  to  07  degrees  north  latitude. 
Probably  it  cannot  be  raised  in  America  so  far 
north.  Rye  furnishes  the  bread  for  the  inhabitants 
of  northern  Europe,  and  also  for  Germany.  For  a 
long  time  after  the  settlement  of  New  England  rye 
supplied  one  of  the  ingredients  of  the  bread  of  most 
