Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
961 
Late Cultivation of Corn 
T HINKIXG that perhaps some of your readers 
hesitate to cultivate corn when it is lai’ge be¬ 
cause of the danger of breaking it down, I will give 
you a little of my experience. First, have a hoy 
along with you to lead the horse. It will pay you 
to do this, as I shall try to show later. Then drive 
to the end of the row. Now with one hand gather 
up the lines and with the other unhook the Whittle- 
tree from the cultivator and have the boy turn the 
horse short around into the next row. This can 
usually be done without injuring a stalk of corn. 
Now drop your lines and whillietree and run the 
cultivator around on the wheel into the row behind 
the horse. Hook on the whiffletree and go ahead 
again. This does not take as long as it would seem 
once you get the hang of it. A stick about - l /j or 3 
l't. long with two snaps on it, one for each side of 
the bit, is handy to lead the horse With. 
As to the late cultivation of corn, I regard it as 
very essential to best results. I have observed in 
my own fields and some others for many years that 
it is the late cultivation that produces the ears, i 
think most people stop cultivating their corn too 
soon. Some years ago 1 visited an uncle, and lie 
told me that, he had not been able to cultivate his 
corn very much (as his wife was an invalid, and he 
had to do most of the housework ) and that the last 
time he started to go through it lie had broken down 
so much that he gave it up. We went out into the 
held, and I could see very plainly where lie had 
stopped cultivating. The part that had the late 
cultivation had a better color and more ears on it. 
This idea of late cultivation is not a new one. I 
used to hear of how our grandfathers used to go 
through the corn when the stalks could he tied to¬ 
gether over the horse's back. They were said to 
have unhitched and lifted the cultivator around. 
Hut they evidently knew how to raise corn. They 
could not have told us why or how this late cultiva¬ 
tion benefited the corn, but experience had taught 
them cause and effect, and that is all they needed 
to know. I had an old neighbor once who used to 
cultivate his corn when both horse and man would 
disappear in it. and not lie seen again until they 
came out at the end of the. row. 
In this late cultivation I use sweeps on the culti¬ 
vator. I presume most of your readers know what 
they are—a flat shoe with narrow spreading Wings. 
I use one on each side with a spread of 8 In., and 
one behind with a spread of 12 or 15 in. This will 
clean out a row very nicely, and you can go very 
close to the corn without danger of injuring It, as 
they run shallow and leave the ground nearly level. 
The front shoes should be of the ordinary type, and 
the wheel should be lowered so as to have the 
sweeps run just under the surface. They save u 
great deal of labor in hoeing and weeding. Of 
course some fields may he more difficult to manage 
in this way than others, especially stony fields. It 
takes a good deal of work and patienoe to produce 
anything worth while, but it spite of it all I enjoy 
raising a good crop of corn. rurton coox. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
K. N.-Y.—We think the condition of the season— 
whether wot or dry—lias much to do with it. In 
a very dry season we should think this late cultiva¬ 
tion just the thing not to do, as it would rip out the 
many feeding roots, which in a dry soil would not 
be replaced. 
The Bees and the Tractor 
A N article by Howard G. Wood on page 814 states 
that the bees came tumbling out of the hives 
when a tractor was used in an orchard next to the bee 
yard, and went'hack to the hives when the tractor 
was shut down. Is Mr. Wood an old and experienced 
beekeeper, and has he watched bees and their habits 
for years, or is it his first or second season with 
them? Was this not the play spell of young bees 
which happens in the late morning or early after¬ 
noon, and which to the experienced beekeeper is a 
happy sign? The writer’s apiary of 10 colonies is 
Tla* big American elm tree shown here is growing in 
Granron, Delaware County, X. Y., near the river. 
There are many of these fine trees scattered through 
the country, and they always add beauty and character 
to any farm. Many years ago. when these little trees 
were started, who could think that they might grow up 
to prove such a blessing to coming generations? It may 
be much the same with some of the things you do. They 
seem insignificant, but you build for the future when 
you start them. 
hounded on the south by the main line of the X. V.. 
X. H. & II. It. It. Company, and hives are located 
by measure just .'10 ft. from the tracks over which 
pass many times a day swiftly moving passenger 
trains, to say nothing of dozens of heavily loaded 
freights, botli of which shake the very soil on which 
these hives are located. Eight of these colonies, In 
1921, produced 550 lbs. of extracted honey, which Is 
a mighty good average in this section. I have for 
years wondered how the effects of heavy moving, 
noise-making machines might affect bees or the pro¬ 
duction of honey, hut have come to the conclusion 
that they in no way harm either. So far as the case 
of the person having two swarms from one hive 
located near a garage, this person is evidently a poor 
beekeeper, else he would not have had two swarms 
from the one colony and missed a quantity of honey in 
the supers besides. These 10 colonies of mine stand 
on the same ground 12 mouths in the year, and have 
been in this same location eight years. Every year 
so far I have had an average of at least 45 lbs. of 
extracted lnmey per colony or better. I await with 
interest the experience <>f others, always keeping in 
mind that each day brings to a fellow a better knowl¬ 
edge of his hobby by reading the experiences of 
others. Howard h. mignerey. 
Connecticut. 
Two Foxes and a Hole in the Ground 
There is a place near Reading where they make a 
specialty of raising black silver foxes. They claim they 
are very easy to raise, and the pelts are worth anywhere 
from .$100 to $900. Their object is to sell breeding 
slock at $2,000 per pair, They demand a uote of $1,000 
down, the balance in monthly installments. If desired, 
they will take care of your foxes for $300 per year. 
Several of my friends have become interested, but I 
would like to know a little more about it. Can you 
give me any information as ro whether it is profitable 
and whether in your estimation the firm is responsible? 
Pennsylvania. s. a. 
F you want to gamble with $1,000, with $300 for 
a side stake, here is your chance. This company 
cannot possibly lose. They get your money and note, 
and are paid for caring for the foxes. It is what 
we call a jug-handled proposition if there ever was 
one. There are some things about the fur-farming 
business which are true—without doubt. The nat¬ 
ural supplies of fine furs cannot be kept up as civil¬ 
ization spreads and the wild places are peopled. 
The demand will not cease, for fashionable people 
will still he clad in fur. Therefore the supply must 
come from domesticated animals, and "fur farming” 
properly conducted is as legitimate as fruit farming 
or duck farming. Thus far the profits coming from 
it seem to have been confined to the sale of breeding 
stock on some such plan as is here outlined. While 
some expensive furs from domesticated foxes have 
been sold, the chief business has been in selling 
breeding animals. Some men claim great success at 
the business, while on the other hand we hear of 
many failures. It requires a person of peculiar 
make-up to succeed at fox farming. He must be 
“half fox." a born hunter, and with that peculiar 
faculty for understanding animals which some per¬ 
sons possess. Our judgment is that most persons 
would make a dismal failure at fox farming through 
inability to understand the mind of a fox. Wo know 
one man who ran hopelessly in debt at the chicken 
business, yet made a fair success with foxes, but 
with nine out of 10 people, taken as they run, it 
would work the other way. Rut all this is no argu¬ 
ment for buying a pair of foxes for $2,000 and pay¬ 
ing $300 to have them eared for. Fruit growing, 
gardening. Alfalfa farming, are ail reasonably safe 
when some man who understands the business can 
have personal charge. Xot one of them, however, 
lias ever paid any profit when the man who puts up 
tlie money delegates the management to outsiders. 
For the past 10 years or more we have had "unit 
orchards" and all sorts of schemes for inducing peo¬ 
ple to put up money and then pay some promoter 
for running the business. In every case that we ever 
heard of rlie result of such a scheme Is failure. It 
is a plain gamble with cards and spades and every 
other advantage with the other fellow. We regard 
this scheme of buying a pair of foxes and leaving 
them to be eared for as on just about the same basis 
as the "hog ranches” which flourished so woll a few 
Wolf ltivcr. Petiole long,’ blade often only slightlg folded, narrow at 
base and apex (A); serrations course and dull, often double (li). Fig. 'i%7 
Northern Spg. Blade large, somewhat folded and leaved , upright, often 
somewhat re flexed; serrations sharp, often curved (A). Fig. 428. 
