JUNE 3 
and hay barn, and is 36x00 feet, vrith a base¬ 
ment. The stables are in the basement and 
occupy the whole except one end, which is used 
as a milk cooling room. The first floor is all 
used as carriage and harness rooms: the second 
floor is used as a granary and hay loft. 
The main barn,standing next south running 
east and west, is 40x80 feet, with basement 
all used as stabling for horses and sheep. The 
first floor on one end is used as a corn storage 
and tool house; the remainder and all the loft 
as a grain and forage room. Adjoining this 
and running south is a cattle barn, 36x60 feet, 
with basement stables. All above is used as 
a h iy storage room. Nrxt to this is a root 
cellar. Aside from buildings mentioned.there 
are a hen house, a work-shop, and small tool 
house and an ice house. The buildings are 
substantially built and all, except the cattle 
b irn, are roofed with iron. The entire build¬ 
ings and yards, with fountains, are abund¬ 
antly furnished with a never-failing supply of 
water brought from a spring in two-inch iron 
pipes, and distributed all over the house and 
barns. 
As you stand ou the veranda of the house, 
you overlook the entire village, getting a 
magnificent view of the lake and, looking over 
beyond, you can see much of Seneca County, 
with its Qne farms. Rose Hill, the beautiful 
r 'sid-mee and farm of President Swan (of the 
Board of Control), is in full sight, as are also 
the farm and residence of the late John John¬ 
son, to whom the farmers of New York 
State, and of America as well, owe a debt of 
gratitude they can hardly pay. Although 
this had no influence -with the Board in select, 
ing the farm, still I consider it is very appro¬ 
priate that tlie Station should be located at 
G “n°va, the home of the old pioneer in agricul¬ 
tural improvement, and my only regret is that 
he did not live to see the Station in successful 
operation. The view-, Fig. 175, page 372, is of 
the whole buildings from the southeast, look¬ 
ing northwest. J. S. Woodward, 
A Trustee. 
Crops. 
ADVANCED IDEAS AND PRACTICES 
APPLIED TO THE CORN CROPS IN 
ILLINOIS. 
B. F. JOHNSON. 
The first impressions in respect to corn- 
growing in Illinois would quite naturally be 
th it where the crop was grown so largely and 
so successfully, there would be found prevail¬ 
ing most, if not all, of the best ideas on the 
subject and the best practices. But on further 
thought and investigation, quite a contrary 
conclusion might be arrived at, because where 
soil, situation or climate particularly favor 
any one agricultural product, less care and 
labor are given to it than where the conditions 
are not so favorable. And then there is the 
predominating influence of the great corn 
crop years, like I860, 1872 and 1879, when the 
seed once committed to the earth produced 
enormous crops under almost every circum¬ 
stance and with but little reference to seed, 
soil or situation, early or late seeding, and 
much, or little, or no cultivation. To be 
s ire, crops partially fail quite as often as they 
fully succeed, as in 1874 and 1881, on account 
of drought, and in 1863, and 1875 on account 
of excess of rainfall, but the successes have 
ten times the influence on agricultural prac¬ 
tices, just as one big prize drawn in a lottery 
prompts to a hundred times larger invest¬ 
ments in such institutions than are prevented 
by the drawing of a thousand blanks. 
Nevertheless, there is progress in Illinois 
agriculture, as in almost every form of human 
industry. As the laud becomes worn by a 
succession of crops without manures, fertili¬ 
zers or rotation, the crop diminishes in grain 
yield, if not in apparent stalk and leaf growth, 
weeds and grasses, both annual and perennial, 
mike their appearance, the soil loses its ruel 
low character, lightens in color by parting 
with a portion of its humus and, in short, 
the yield ter acre diminishes more than 
one half, while the labor required to 
make the crop is more than doubled. This 
b nng the usual downward course—which isap- 
pirent every where on the black soil of the prai¬ 
ries as well as on the strong, yellow clay-loam 
of the timber—the movement to arrest this 
slow march of decay manifests itself in many 
ways, thecnief of which may be stated, and in 
comparison with the old style of doing things, 
under three heads, as follows : 1, breaking 
the land and preparing it for a crop; 2, plant¬ 
ing and, 3, its after cultivation. Formerly 
under the old style of doing things, the land was 
not broken until immediately before planting, 
and 'hen deep or shallow to meet the strength 
of the team rather than because the fact was 
recognized that thin soils should be plowed 
shallow, or strong, rich soils deep. After 
plowing planting followed at once, the almost 
universal notiou being there was an immense 
gain in putting the seed into a loose, mellow 
soil. Under the new dispensation, where it Is 
possible to do so, the land is plowed deep in 
the Fall; hut where corn follows corn and 
this cannot be done, the work is performed 
as early as possible in the Spring, 
The reasons offered for the new method are 
that beyond the advantages of doing Spring 
work in the Fall and thus relieving a portion 
of the pressure of Spring labor, when the 
surface soil is turned under, the chemical ac¬ 
tions and reactions of what is known as nitrifl 
cation goon more successfully, and the resulb- 
ing plant food is brought to the surface ready 
for the use of the young corn. And when 
plowed deep in the Fall, just before the time 
of planting, the surface is again broken so as 
to make a fine but shallow seed bed. And in 
case of early Spring plowing a second shallow 
stirring of the surface is also given before the 
seed is committed to the earth. These opera¬ 
tions are believed to he more in accordance 
with the wants of the crop than the old style, 
since time is given for the food elements in the 
earth to put themselves into form to feed the 
new crop, and for the soil to so arrange its 
particles as best to suit the needs of the crop. 
When planting, the old practices consisted 
in bunching the corn in hills, with rows three- 
and-a-half to three feet eight inches apart one 
way, no attention being paid to the rows the 
other way, except in the case of check sow¬ 
ing, when, in order to cultivate on the four 
sides of each hill, the average distance was per¬ 
haps something more than three feet. While 
the crop was massed in hills having from 
three to five stalks, no preference was given 
whether the open or the closed rows ran north 
and south and hindered or facilitated the cir¬ 
culation of the air during the extremes of 
Summer heat. 
The latest and improved practices in seed¬ 
ing consists in planting in drills, four feet 
apart and dropping single kernels from ten to 
to fifteen inches each apart from the other, 
and in every case having the direction of the 
drills run north and south, which is an easy 
thing to do, since all, or nearly all, boundaries 
run on east and west, north and south lines. 
The advantages of this method of planting 
are, that the plants, being more evenly dis¬ 
tributed, the food elements in the soil are 
taken up iu large measure; the earing is so 
good there are rarely barren stalks, and the 
sun during the mid-day hours gets better di¬ 
rect access to the ground and warms it up 
more, and, last but not lea-t, the broad, open 
spaces afforded by rows four feet apart and 
running north and south, admit of u free cir¬ 
culation of the south winds which are sure to 
prevail during the intense heat of July and 
August. Just why this provision for the cir¬ 
culation of air is necessary has never been 
clearly told, but so essential Is it south of lati 
tude 37 degrees, that ou the richest lands 
even, corn will not ear satisfactorily if plant 
ed closer than one stalk in a single spot, four 
feet each way from every other stalk. Get¬ 
ting the views of an extensive corn grower 
and cattle feeder of forty years’ experience 
on the black soil of Illinois, he gave it as his 
deliberate judgment that the new method of 
drills four feet apart and runuing north and 
south would produce fifteen bushels per acre 
more than the old way. 
Until within a short time the opinion was near¬ 
ly universal that corn could neither be cultiva¬ 
ted too early, too deep or too often, and three- 
fourths of the hundred and one forms of culti¬ 
vators have been constructed on that idea. 
Most of these instruments now on wheels are 
fitted with narrow, curved steel shovels, sharp 
on their edges and made to scour in a dry soil. 
Besides, the shovels are so hung and balauced 
as to afford to the workman every opportu¬ 
nity to plow close to the corn and to plow 
deep, hence requiring a pair of horsesaud many 
affording a seat for the driver: they will go 
over five or six acres in a day. In case of a 
wet or a moist growing season, the parts of the 
corn-plant massed about the germ have so 
much streugtb and vital energy the severe root- 
pruniugs of deep aud constant cultivation are 
overcome, and the corn goes through the phases 
of growth without serious check. But when 
dry and hot weather sets in, deep cultivation 
proves disastrous, because severe root-pruning 
first checks growth and subsequently, if per¬ 
sisted in, will purtially destroy the crop by 
what is called '‘filing it,” that is, causing the 
lower leaves to dry up and turn yellow. 
The new methods in the cultivation of corn 
recognize the fact that it is not a tap. but a 
surface-rooted plant, like all of the other ce¬ 
reals, and that though frequent cultivation 
is essential to keep weeds under control, the 
corn shows in rows across the field. Then a 
sharp toothed harrow is put over It in both 
directions, and after a week the same process 
is repeated. This arrests and interferes with 
the growth of weeds, offers new food to the 
rootlets in displacing without wounding them, 
and keeps the entire surface of the field loose 
and mellow. After the corn has acquired a 
growth of four or five inches in bight the 
two horse cultivator is put to work aud is used 
as lightly as possible, the main object being to 
prevent weed growth and to mellow and 
aerate the soil, and disturb the feeding roots 
aslittleas possible. If harrowing is begun early 
and continued as long as it can be done with¬ 
out injury, and if the cultivator follows close 
after, all that needs to be done for the crop is 
accomplished by the time the corn is boot log 
high, when it will soon so shade the ground 
as to prevent too rapid evaporation from the 
surface and wholly arrest weed-growth. 
Such are some of the details of advanced 
modern methods of corn growing as practiced 
by many of the experienced farmers of Central 
Illinois, while at the same time they have a 
considerably close resemblance to what has 
been demonstrated to be the best methods as 
ascertained by the successful corn growing at 
the Rural New-Yorker’s Experimental 
Farm. 
BROOM CORN IN THE MOHAWK 
VALLEY. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
surface soil loose so as to allow of penetration 
by the atmosphere and to offer new food to 
the roots, there Is no call for deep cultivation 
and no demand that the steel of the cultivating 
instrument shall run to near the germ and 
crown of the plant as to cut or mutilate it. 
Consequently a system of as shallow cultiva¬ 
tion is adopted as there are tools fitted for the 
work. As soon as planting is done, some im¬ 
mediately after harrow, and subsequently, if 
the soil is dry and disposed to be cloddy, go 
over the field with a heavy roller. But gen¬ 
erally harrowing is delayed till the young 
Method of Culture. 
Broom com flourishes best on alluvial or 
bottom lands, but good crops can be produced 
with proper culture on any soil suited to the 
growth of Indian corn. The preparation of 
the ground is quite similar to that required for 
corn, with the exception, perhaps, that it is 
more essential with broom corn that the soil 
should ba made very flue, as the seed is smaller 
aud the young plants more delicate in their 
growth. The land should be plowed deeply and 
thoroughly harrowed and then rolled before 
planting, which may be from the middle of 
May to the middle of June according to the 
season. It tabes a week for the seed to germi¬ 
nate The planting is done best with a Camp- 
field planter which plants two rows, and at the 
same time makes a mark 18 inches from the 
planting tooth to return by, which brings the 
rows three feet apart, the proper distance for 
the rows in planting broom corn. The ma¬ 
chine is run by a horse, drops the seed in 
drills and covers it at the same time. Two 
quarts of seed are ample for a t acre, as it is 
desirable that the stalks should be at least six 
inches apart, or else, if too thick, the stalks 
will be smaller, yielding brush of proportion¬ 
ate and inferior size. When the land is strong 
the broom corn will send up suckers, or extra 
plants, quite extensively. The valley of the 
Mohawk River in New York was for more than 
half a century the only locality in the United 
States where broom corn was atall extensively 
grown, and it was not an uucomtnon thing for 
the farmers in this favored valley to devote 
almost their entire acres to the growth of this 
productive crop. The old red variety was the 
only one known for a great many years, and 
ou account of its long-continued growth there, 
became known as the Mohawk Broom Corn 
It has latterly, however, been superseded by 
theEvergreeu, which, I believe, was imported 
originally from China, and which yields more 
than the red and is more desirable on account 
of its green color, as well as smoother and 
straighter brush. It takes it longer to mature 
than the old variety. 
Like all special crops, broom corn culture 
requires implements adapted to the work. 
Besides the planter, a horse-scraper is essential 
to be used as soon as the rows can be seen 
This implement is very much like a common 
cultivator with the exception that the hind 
teeth are turned from the row, and shaped 
like wings, which cut the weeds up and at the 
same time turn the soil towards the center. 
Tuis leaves a space about four inches wide 
which is dressed with a hoe—one side at a 
time. If any weeds are standing in the row 
between the plants they should be pulled out 
by hand. Tne cultivating can be done much 
more efficiently when the rows are straight. 
In about two weeks, the broom corn should 
again be cultivated in the manner described 
and if the land Ls clean from weeds no more 
work of this kind will be necessary, but if it 
is uot, the cultivation should be repeated iu a 
few days. As soon as the plants are large 
enough—which will be in about ten days after 
the cultivating spoken of—the cultivator 
should be used with the teeth turned towards 
the row, which will have the effect to move 
the ridge left by the former working in the 
middle, towards the outside of tbe rows, aud 
to cast the mellow ground around the plants. 
When the plants are a foot high a double 
mold-board plow should be run between the 
rows to lull the broom-corn; at bast this is 
the custom of the farmers in the Mohawk 
Valley, but, as with Indian corn, it is probably 
not essential with tuorough flat cultivation, 
aud in my judgment in a time of drought it is 
a disadvantage, throwing the mellow earth 
away from the roots, where it is most needed, 
around the plant when it is not needed. 
Handling. 
In this latitude, by the last of August the 
broom corn will be in full blossom, when it is 
in condition to break over. This sbouldalways 
be done before the milk is formed in the seed, 
as ittbeu makes finer brush, and the breaking 
prevents it from turning yellow, whbh is a 
damage. The crop then is also less exh .ust- 
ive to the soiL The effect of breaking is to 
facilitate cutting and likewise to check the 
maturing of the seed. It should all be cut 
before this occurs, and, of course, the work 
must be begun earlv when there is a great 
amount to do, or a large force must lie em¬ 
ployed. When the brush is not all sufllclen ly 
matured at the first breaking, after a few days 
it must be gone over again. It should be 
broken over one arm, and so that the brush 
will be within two feet of tbe ground. When 
cut the stalks should be within six to eight 
inches in length from the hase of the brush. 
Three rows are put into one in piles to allow 
gathering in wagons, when it is taken to the 
barn and sorted on temporary tables into two 
sizes, in bunches of a handful, piled across each 
other. It is then scraped; that Is, the brush 
is held into the scraper to take the seed off. 
The scraper consists of two cybnders moving 
in opposite directions, run by horse power. 
After the seed is removed the brush is taken to 
the dry house for drying and put in layers an 
inch thick on poles, so that the air can readily 
pass around it. If the weather is suitable it 
will dry in two weeks. Barns are sometimes 
utilized to dry in, by making openings in the 
sides. 
After drying it Ls packed in bundles of from 
thirty to fifty pounds, and stored in a dark 
room away from the air and light to keep it 
bright. It is sold by the hundred or ton to 
manufacturers or speculators, the price vary¬ 
ing from five to tea dollars per hundred. It is 
now generally made up iu factories, but in old 
times it was worked up on tbe farms during 
the Winter. It is yet the leading staple of the 
Mohawk Valley, although the control of the 
market has passed to the prairie lauds of the 
West. For generations broom-corn has been 
grown on tbe same laud in the Mohawk Valley 
without any manuring other than an occa¬ 
sional overflow. The average yield is 600 
pounds per acre, although the crop s ill some¬ 
times reach 1,000 pounds. The seed is utilized 
by allowing the pigs to root it over, when they 
pick out the mature seeds, which ure often 
quite plentiful, aud have a feeding value equal 
to that of oats. The mature seed is healthful 
for pigs and fowls, aud when ground may be 
fed Bparinjy to cows with profitable results- 
The green seed is good for nothing except the 
compost heap. When allowed to ripen, brootn- 
coru will yield from 40 to 50 bushels of seed 
per acre; but the brush is inferior, ami on this 
account none is allowed to ripen beyond what 
may be required for seed. The seed co.tts 
about three dollars per bushel. It must be 
drbd perfectly on the brush and then rnbl>ed 
off with a hand machine. It is fitted to sow, 
in a planter, by chopping it with a spade in a 
barrel, which removes the beards on the seeds. 
This somewhat tedious work is necessary to 
prevent its clogging in the planter. Formerly 
tiie stalks were plowed under in the Spring, or 
gathered into windrows wdth a drag and 
burned. It has been found by experience, 
however, that they contain an amount of 
nutrition fully equal to that of corn-stalks, 
when cut right after the brush is removed. 
They are cut by band or by a reaping-machine, 
ami bound up into small bundles, mid these are 
put together in largo st >oks aud left in the 
field until late in the Fall or earlv Winter. 
Tney should be cut fine with a machine, when 
it h found that rattle and horses will winter 
well on th-m. It is a notion of the Molmwk 
Valiev farmers that they contain more sugar 
thau Indian corn stalks. When cut green the 
crop is not so exhaustive as corn, and the cost 
of productlou is estimated to be from ten to 
fifteen dollars per acre. 
CLOVER HAY. 
A Reply to Dr. Lawes. 
H. STEWART. 
The communication of Dr. Lawes in a late 
Rural, under the above heading, is timely 
and suggestive. If there is a weak point in 
our bay making it is in regard to our treat¬ 
ment of clover bay, and it must be confessed 
that the English farmers beat us altogether iu 
this respect. In America clover hay is iu 
great disrepute for the reason that it is in¬ 
jurious to horses, and a horseman will never 
use it, choosing rather to feed straw, on 
account of its tendency to provoke bronchial 
disorder generally' known as heaven, or severe 
irritation which produces violent coughing, 
this being caused by the dust from the dry, 
powdered leaves and blossoms and seed cap¬ 
sules. The English clover bay is free from 
this objection, which is not due, as Dr. Luwes 
suggests, to uuy difference in the quality of 
the clover grown here ft# compared w(rh that 
grown in England, but is caused wholly by 
the manner of curing the hay. Some years 
ago a quantity of the best of American hay 
