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The  Rural  New  Yorker 
The  Business  Farmer’s  Paper 
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Vol.  LXXV. 
NEW  YORK,  DECEMBER  16.  3910. 
No.  440s. 
A  Crisis  in  Production 
How  Shall  We  Meet  It? 
IIE  ELDER  WORKERS.— A .  crisis  faces  pro¬ 
ducers,  and  they  must  revise  their  methods. 
With  the  efficient  implements  of  tillage  it  is  possi¬ 
ble  to  put  in  double  the  amount,  of  crop  that  the 
planters  can  care  for.  This  is  what  we  have  been 
doing,  but  it  must  stop.  When  labor  was  ample 
there  were  extra  workers  to  build  fences  and  tidy 
up  the  farm,  and  this  was  looked  after  by  the  mid¬ 
dle-aged  and  old  men,  and  they  joined  at  the  in¬ 
gathering,  but  they  are  the  producers  now,  and  a 
good  many  places  on  many  farms  are  beginning  to 
look  seedy.  These  old  fellows  a  re  planting  nearly 
as  much  as  formerly  and  the  result  is  that  grain 
wastes  in  the  wheat,  oat  and  corn  fields,  liny  and 
fodder  spoils,  potatoes  and  apples  for  home  use 
are  poor  because  there  is  no  chore  time,  and  the 
question  coiues,  “How  can  we  save  what  we  grow, 
and  do  the  necessary  farm  chores  with  our  home 
labor?” 
REVIEWING  THE  TROUBLE.— Personal  condi- 
titudes  of  farmers  who  would  like  to  Work  their 
places  to  the  full  capacity,  and  I  cannot  see  a  better 
way  than  the  above.  Sheep  are  peculiarly  fitted  to 
reduce  labor  troubles.  With  good  pasture  and  some 
attention  they  will  thrive  during  Summer,  and  the 
hay  mows,  fodder,  a  little  grain  and  the  old  Blue 
grass  for  many  nice  Winter  days  will  make  long 
wool  and  nice  bodies  for  Spring.  We  have  come 
to  the  end  of  our  old  style  farming.  Apples  are  two 
for  five  or  15  cents  a  quarter  peck  in  the  groceries, 
while  there  are  100  bushels  of  them  frozen  in  our 
acre  and  a  half  orchard,  one  mile  from  them.  They 
were  sprayed  but  once.  These  that  are  lost  should 
have  been  200  bushels,  and  the  120  sold  should  also 
have  been  200.  and  brought  a  better  price.  This 
apple  business  alone,  is  enough  to  teach  a  good  les¬ 
son,  but  we  got  it  all  along  the  line,  and  evidences 
are  too  plenty  that  Hill  Top  Farm  will  become  a 
total  failure  by  an  attempted  following  of  the  sys¬ 
tem  that  obtained  a  decade  ago. 
CONDENSED  EFFORT. — We  will  associate  close¬ 
ly  with  240  Sheep,  bed  and  feed  them  well,  clean 
their  stables  out  for  the  corn  ground,  and  plan  new 
cents  an  hour  to  husk — when  they  feel  like  it.  This 
was  a  fine  day  for  the  work  and  we  saw  three  of 
them  not  interested  in  production.  They  have  hunt¬ 
ing  licenses  and  divided  the  labor  for  the  day  by 
one  holding  the  plug  horse,  one  buying  ammunition 
in  hardware  store  and  the  other  in  a  saloon.  All  the 
good  hands  are  in  the  factories  at  higher  wages 
than  we  would  pay  them,  also  some  of  the  poor 
ones,  and  the  poorest  sometimes  favor  us  with  their 
presence  in  a  field,  and  it  lias  become  our  duty  to 
grow  something  as  easy  as  we  can,  and  intensive 
production  must  be  the  watenword.  The  nice,  long 
Winter  evenings  will  be  a  suitable  time  to  plan  for 
it.  W.  W.  REYNOLDS. 
Ohio. 
Prize  Winners  at  the  Egg-laying  Contest 
Some  of  the  Results 
Part  II. 
FEEDING  TESTS. — Among  other  experiments  in 
connection  with  this  contest,  was  one  in  which 
Barred  Rocks,  Wyandottes,  Reds,  Light  Brahmas 
The  Pride  of  the  Flock  and  the  Pride  of  the  Family ;  Columbia  Co.,  N.  Y.  Fig.  595. 
tions,  these  long  evenings  have  led  us  to  review  our 
progressive  farm  troubles.  At  this  rate  it  is  only 
a  matter  of  time  until  our  place  will  look  like  one 
‘‘belonging  to  heirs.”  Eighteen  acres  of  corn  was 
in  (lie  field,  Nov.  22,  and  quite  a  lot  of  it  is  in  lean¬ 
ing  or  lying  shocks,  even  if  we  did  pay  the  nice 
sum  of  $4  a  day  and  board  for  half  hands  to  cut  it, 
and  it  is  the  last  example  of  mistakes  for  1010.  We 
have  made  ourselves  a  solemn  promise  that  we  will 
cut  loose  from  all  scalawag  hired  hands,  and  to  do 
this  we  will  limit  production,  if  necessary.  We 
will  plant  one-half  the  usual  amount  of  ground  next 
Spring.  It  will  he  manured,  fertilized,  limed  and 
well  put  in.  All  the  clover  and  Alfalfa  possible  will 
he  grown,  giving  a  long  season  to  fill  the  barns,  and 
Hie  Timothy  acreage  will  he  cut  in  two.  The  re- 
mainder  of  the  land  will  lie  in  pasture,  and  we  will 
t  ry  to  use  it,  but  if  we  cannot  get  to  all  of  it,  or  if 
the  season  is  too  short  for  all  the  hay,  it  can  fall 
down  and  he  tramped  by  the  stock  for  future  good. 
We  will  also  increase  our  sheep  census  50  per  cent. 
THE  LABOR  SITUATION.— The  labor  situation 
has  been  the  cause  of  considerable  worry  with  mul- 
systems  for  all  farm  endeavors  this  Winter.  Take 
the  corn  for  example.  Our  20  acres  this  year  should 
have  made  a  yield  of  40  or  50  bushels  per  acre,  even 
if  it  was  ext  remely  dry,  while  it  goes  but  half  that 
because  of  neglect,  and  it  is  an  awful  shame.  It 
is  wicked.  We  will  put  in  15  acres  and  give  them 
as  much  added  fertility  and  care  and  get  a  crop  in 
any  event.  We  will  follow  this  course  with  every 
crop  except  the  grasses,  get  all  we  can  and  at  the 
same  time  leave  us  vacations  between  to  make  im¬ 
provements  always  necessary  on  a  fa  inn.  Old  for¬ 
eign  countries  double  our  yields  because  they  are 
short  on  land  and  we  must  equal  their  yield  lie- 
cause  we  are  short  on  help.  A  good  crop  is  easier 
to  handle  on  a  small  area  than  a  fair  or  poor  one 
on  a  large  one. 
INTENSIVE  WORK. — Simple  souls  may  have 
some  anxiety  about  the  ultimate  consumer  if  grow¬ 
ers  generally  adopt  such  a  course,  hut  we  have 
failed  to  notice  any  solicitude  for  u.s  on  their  part. 
Labor  has  shown  its  ability  to  care  for  itself  and 
we  will  lose  no  sleep  on  account  of  the  fellows  who 
cut  corn  in  F”N  -<>  :!■  it.  imr  the  ones  who  want  40 
and  White  Leghorns  were  put  in  a  feeding  test. 
In  one  case  the  regular  ration  was  used.  In  the 
oilier  the  beef  scrap  and  fish  were  taken  out  and 
sour  milk  used  in  their  place.  The  object  was  to 
see  if  the  sour  milk  would  make  a  full  substitute 
for  the  meat.  On  the  whole  it  did.  The  total  of 
all  these  pens  was  7.380  eggs  from  the  regular  ra¬ 
tion,  and  8,355)  from  the  milk.  The  Rods  laid  more 
on  the  regular  ration,  all  the  others  did  better  with 
the  milk,  and  we  should  regard  this  as  demonstrat¬ 
ing  the  fact  that  skiunned  milk  will  make  a  full 
substitute  for  beef  scrap.  This  fact  is  leading  some 
of  our  poultrymen  to  consider  the  plan  of  keeping  a 
small  herd  of  Holstein  cows  in  connection  with 
their  poultry.  The  chicken  manure  is  excellent 
for  growing  porn.  By  using  a  silo  they  can  provide 
a  cheap  ration  for  the  cattle,  sell  the  cream  to  give 
them  an  income,  while  the  skim-milk  will  save  them 
considerable  money  in  their  purchase  of  poultry 
feed. 
VALUE  OF  EGGS. — Some  very  interesting  figures 
have  been  worked  out  regarding  the  value  of  eggs 
I  ov  dozen.  The  value  of  course  is  figured  from  the 
