a month or two, and the outsids hay will not 
hare become very much weather-beaten. 
Now cut it around the base, as shown in Fig. 
2, and the hay thus taken off, at a time when 
farm work is not so pressing, can be made 
into a stack by itself, or carted to the barn, 
where by that time mows have been settled, 
giving room to fill up. In this way the bot¬ 
tom hay is saved from the waste and damage 
by wet ground and from the feet of the cat¬ 
tle about the stacks, and the main portion of 
have grown about a foot high, turn in the 
sheep. When the sheep have eaten close 
enough, take them from the field until grown 
enough, when they can be turned on again. 
If the grass does not grow any more, turn in 
the bogs, first digging enough for seed and 
eating. Hogs will grow fat on them, plow¬ 
ing the ground thoroughly at the same time. 
Pella,‘Iowa. Jf. C. 
FOOD FOR STOCK 
PROLIFIC JOINT CORN 
Robert E. C. Stearns, writes to the Cal. 
Horticulturist the following tolerably large 
story concerning wliat he calls “Prolific 
Joint” Coni: 
Three seasons ago I noticed in the Illus¬ 
trated Catalogue (1871) of B. K. Bliss & Sons, 
seedsmen, an advertisement of a new varie¬ 
ty of corn, which was highly recommended 
by him. Having known of the excellent 
reputation of the firm for many years, 1 sent 
to them for a few email packages of the seed, 
and gave it a trial. I should mention, how¬ 
ever, that aside from their recommendation. 
I, by accident, met with an Indiana paper, 
and in glancing over it, I noticed that this 
corn had taken two premiums for great 
yield, at two of the County Fail’s of that 
State. 
My place of residence was at the time just 
outside the city limits of Petaluma, and on 
nearly the highest land thereabout* ; the 
soil a gravelly loam, with some clay and 
some little fine sand intermingled ; it had 
been In pasture for many years prior to 
planting; was plowed deep, and well bro¬ 
ken up and pulverized ; but the spring rains 
being exceedingly meager, the soil was very 
dry in some places—“as dry as an ash heap” 
—so dry that some of the seed never sprout¬ 
ed, and was dug up as hard and sound as 
when put in the ground. Of course the corn 
that did grow was a long time in getting a 
start, yet under these exceedingly unfavora¬ 
ble influences, the crop was most abundant, 
and with a fair shine, would have been enor¬ 
mous. I was more than satisfied, and fully 
believe that the yield would have reached, if 
not have exceeded, the statement of its 
originator. One stalk—from a single seed of 
course—which 1 exhibited at the Sonoma 
County Fair, had fifteen ears on it, and ten 
ears to a stalk wus not uncommon, the ears 
being from five to seven inches long when 
husked. It is a white corn, with a small 
kernel and slender cob. 
One secret of its great yield per acre, is in 
the fact that it is not a tall-growing corn, 
and therefore admits of closeplo nt ing, which 
will not answer for the common varieties. 
It can be planted in drills or furrows which 
are no farther than three feet apart, and a 
kernel dropped every twelve to eighteen inch¬ 
es ; the latter distance being ample in ground 
that is iu a good condition. At this spacing 
(three feet by eighteen inches) the number 
of stools per acre would be nearly nine thou¬ 
sand, which is nearly or quite three times as 
many as when or where the common corn is 
planted. 
It is a good parching corn, though not the 
very best for this purpose ; and as good for 
feed as any other, especially for poultry, as 
the kernels are small and do not need crack¬ 
ing. 
For the purpose of fodder, cut green, to 
feed milch cows late in the season, it is 
first-rate, as the stalk or butt is slender and 
tender ; and if the stalks are saved after har¬ 
vest, the proportion of husks is so great as 
to make it superior. If sowed, to be cut 
green for fodder, I should put the seed not 
over six to nine inches apart in the row. 
It is a heavy corn, weighing sixty to sixty- 
two pounds to the stricken bushel. I culti¬ 
vated it as nearly on a level as possible, using 
a cultivator between the rows, and not a 
plow. It is by far tin; most prolific corn that 
lever saw ; and unless a pe:son is prejudiced 
against white corn, will prove as satisfactory 
as it has to me. 
FIELD NOTES, 
Alfalfa Seed Per Here.—One Californian 
recommends sowing twenty-five pounds of 
alfalfa seed per acre; another, both more 
careful and critical, claims ten pounds to be 
an abundance, and has calculated that this 
would give 86 seeds to oach square foot of 
land, if evenly ?own. He has learned, from 
actual count, that one seed of alfalfa sown 
on his farm in February, 1873, produced a 
stock that yielded 7,809 seeds, which weighed 
827 grains, apothecaries’ weight. Of like 
seed one pound would coutuin 157,840 seeds. 
Peas for Stock .—What varieties of peas 
are grown for feed for stock—hogs, sheep, 
&o.,—where obtained, how cultivated, how 
harvested, proper time to harvest, and how 
prepared to feed ? If some of your numer¬ 
ous readers will answer the above, I will be 
under obligations.—A. T., Morristown, Ind. 
Alfalfa in California .—A California agri- 
cultural writer estimates that there will bo 
sown in California this year 15,000 acres with 
alfalfa, and that the annual income from 
these 15,000 acres will thereby be at least 
doubled. 
Chufa, or Earth Almond, I. A. T. is in¬ 
formed, is not identical with the Japan pea, 
and that we know no reason why it should 
not succeed in Northern Louisiana. 
Fio. 2. 
the stacks can be fed off with the best possi¬ 
ble economy. 
With small farmers this will not be neces¬ 
sary ; but in many portions of the wide 
West, where farms are -large and cattle are 
numerous and labor scarce, the plan will 
commend itself as well worthy of adoption. 
Hudson, O., Nov., 1873. s. n. h. 
BONE DUST BRICKS 
An Australian paper, speaking of the vast 
quantities of bones that have been accumu¬ 
lating in Melbourne since the meat preserving 
occupations commenced there, says :—The 
Militades, bound for London, has on board a 
shipment of lOl) tons of bone dust, prepared 
for exportation in an altogether novel man¬ 
ner and one which promises to come into 
extensive use. To facilitate this trade, an 
apparatus lias been contrived for Compressing 
bone dust into half it* original compass, 
reducing it at the same time into a form 
very convenient, for shipment. By means of 
strong pressure, the crushed bones are molded 
into cakes of six inches square and three 
inches thick, something like flooring tiles, 
each cake weighing a little over four pounds. 
These bone dust tiles are just adhesive 
enough to admit their being handled freely 
—thrown about like bricks, if necessary—and 
arc yet so free, that when required for use 
they can readily be crushed, or melted by 
the application of a little hot water. A ton 
weight of the manure measures 26 cubic feet, 
and contains 252 of the cakes. 
LETTERS FROM TOWARDS SUNSET 
TRIMMING HAY STACKS FOR WINTER. 
The best way to put up a stack of buy is : 
Fay a bottom of rails or poles and build a 
pen of the same, to keep the bottom from 
the ground and to hold the stack in place, 
and also to keep off cattle from pulling out 
the hay, in fields where cattle are permitted 
to run at large. But in a prairie country, 
where rails or poles tire scarce and hay is 
abundant, the plan of fencing is inconven¬ 
ient, expensive and almost impossible. The 
same is true where hay is made upon large 
marshes or low grounds. Added to this ob¬ 
jection is the fact that in the season of hay¬ 
making farmers are too much driven with 
work to do any more than is absolutely ne¬ 
cessary for the time being. 
To accommodate all these objections to 
fencing stacks in advance of building, I have 
seen a way of trimming off stacks which 
were built flat Upon the ground, especially 
on heavy marshes, where the hay is fed from 
the stacks in winter and spring, and cattle 
allowed the range of the fields in the mean- 
EC0N0M1CAL NOTES, 
Spent Tan Bark .--Please state whether 
spent tan bark is of any value as a manure 
—composted with stable manure.—I. a. t. 
We would not advise using it as it comes 
from the tannery with barn-yard manure. 
The acids iu it should first bo neutralized by 
mixing it with iimo und salt, letting it lie to 
decompose before mixing it with the manure. 
When once decomposed and the acids thus 
neutralized, it is an equivalent of prepared 
mu ok. 
Cow Hair as a Manure. —I. A. T., is in¬ 
formed that cow hair, composted with stable 
manure is valuable to apply to any crop, 
whether in the garden or elsewhere. 
CHUFAS OR EARTH ALMOND 
SPORTSMEN’S NOTES, 
Fig. 1. 
time, being kept off only for a few weeks at 
most after the hay is put up, and until the 
staeks are well settled. For this purpose the 
stacks are built with a wide base, bo they 
will settle evenly and stand firm,; then, when 
it is desired to turn the stock in for fall feed¬ 
ing, or to feed from the stacks of hay, the 
farmer takes a sharp hay knife, and standing 
upon some convenient platform, commences 
to cut, some five feet from the ground, cut¬ 
ting under so as to reduce the breadth of the 
base and present a solid surface to the forag¬ 
ing of cattle, which prevents them from 
pulling out and trampling on the hay, and 
at the same time affords a partial shelter 
for the cattle from storms. 
The accompanying illustrations will show 
how this work is done. Fig. 1 is the stack 
as put up during the press of work iu hay¬ 
ing time. Such a stack, if properly put up, 
will settle evenly and solid in the course of 
Editor Rural New-Yorker: — Seeing a 
great many inquiries about chufas, or earth 
almonds, and how to grow them, in reply I 
would say that I have raised them for two 
years, growing each year a largo crop from 
a small piece of land, planting as follows : 
Making furrows IS inches apart and drop a 
chufa every foot; covering two inches deep. 
Time of planting, last of April ur first of M^y. 
If kept clean of weeds at first, they will soon 
cover the ground and need uo more atten¬ 
tion. The growth of the plant resembles 
that of grass. Dig in the first part of Octo¬ 
ber, sifting out the chufas. Dry them thor¬ 
oughly before eating. They very closely 
resemble, iu sweetness and richness of flavor, 
a coeoanut. Store in a dry, w arm place, 
free from danger of frost. When a large 
amount is to be planted, as for pasturage for 
sheep and hogs, plant iu drills wide enough 
apart to be worked with cultivator or plow, 
one foot apart in the drills. When they 
Sport in Greenland .—A Tribune corres¬ 
pondent says that bears are seldom seen in 
Greenland, and that so largo a number of 
reindeer have been killed since the introduc¬ 
tion of guns and gun-powder that they are 
becoming scarce. The inspector of the Dis¬ 
trict of Oorninak states that no less than ten 
thousand reindeer have been killed within 
his jurisdiction during the past thirty years. 
The natives kill them for mere sport, and 
will in time almost, if not wholly, extermin¬ 
ate them fron> the Greenland coast. 
The Dead-Fall Trap for M ink .—Tell F. W. 
R., that the dead-fall is the best trap he can 
get for mink. Set ic on the edge of the bank 
and bait it with the carcass of the muskrat ; 
the same will do for muskrat bait. Bait 
with parsnip.— a. s. h. 
Ferrets are recommended highly as agents 
for destroying: rabbits in winter, and thus 
preventing their ravages upon fruit trees. ' 
