JUNE 3 
374 
was exported to England in the hope of find¬ 
ing a market for it. Jt was Timothy grown 
in Maine, and the Maine Timothy is not sur¬ 
passed by that of any other State. But the 
English people rejected it on account of its 
green color and its harsh, wiry character. 
Now a green color is here considered a very 
desirable feature in hay, and we are contin¬ 
ually reading of how the “ sweet, bright- 
green, dried grass ” shou Id be so highly esti¬ 
mated for its feeding value. 
I have long contended that this is a mistake, 
and I know it is from my own practice for 
years past in making and feeding hay', and 
yet we can never hope to approach very near 
to the English hay in regard to its feeding 
quality', because this is developed in its 
peculiar method of curing, which is indispen¬ 
sable in the English rainy and comparatively 
sunless climate, as our different method is 
made necessary by our hot, sunny and rain¬ 
less climate in our hay-making season. It is 
as rare here to have our hay' wetted in the 
making as for the English to have theirs baked 
and dried by a scorching sun which often 
lays the farmer low by sunstroke unless pre¬ 
cautions are taken. If our hay were exposed 
to the sun and air for two or three days, clover 
would be entirely ruined, the leaves aud heads 
would be reduced to powder and the stalks 
would be like wire. I have cut hay from nine 
to eleven iu the morning and had it dry enough 
to go into cock by four in the afternoon. And 
it is this system of making bay, which I would 
like to see general here, for it would greatly 
improve the quality of it and remove the 
serious objection from it which now so serious¬ 
ly reduces its value iu the market, as has been 
pointed out by Dr. Dawes. We are under 
obligation to Dr. Dawes for his very sugges¬ 
tive communication, aud it is to be hoped our 
farmers will profit by it; for the loss of value 
iu the market is a very small portion of the 
damage incurred, a much greater loss being 
suffered iu the feeding value, by the deteriora¬ 
tion. I do not believe any American farmer 
has ever been able to bring himself to believe 
in the matiurial value of clover hay that is 
assigned to it by the foreign chemists aud ex¬ 
perimenters, although many have been some¬ 
what staggered in their disbelief by the con¬ 
fidence we place iu any statement made by 
Dr. Lawea; aud simply because of the very 
great difference iu the values of the two kinds 
of hay. As a rule, I have noticed that the 
actual market values of fodders and food, are 
based pretty accurately upon their intrinsic 
feeding values. The feeding value, too, bears 
a pretty constant ratio with the manurial 
value. If, then, Eaglish clover hay is worth 
$27 per ton and its manurial value is about 
$15, or nearly 50 per cent, of its feeding value, 
and American clover hay is worth $Li a ton,' 
we are certainly justified in our doubt about 
its manurial value, and the paradox which has 
long staggered us—viz, that the manurial 
value of clover hay is higher than its money 
and feediug value—is easily explained away 
and accounted for. 
Now this process of curing in the cock, 
which I have seen practiced iu England, i' 3 
a very important element in securing all the 
valuable constituents of clover, and as I am 
convinced, in actually adding to them by 
changing sorno of the indigestible matter in 
the clover—viz, the woody fluer—iuto more 
nutritious substances. And on' this point 
an expression of opinion from Dr. Dawes 
would be very interesting and valuable to 
American funners, and the special point is 
this.—At our haying season the temperature 
ranges from 80 to »0 degrees and sometimes 
near to 100 in the shade, and the direct sun’s 
heat will frequently reach 120 degrees. The 
dew on the herbage will generally ail be off 
by eight o’clock aud quite often there will be 
no dew, but evaporation will be quite active 
all night. The clover wifi be free from all 
outside moisture theu, when it is cut. If it 
lies 24 to 30 hours exposed to the sun aud is 
turned by a tedder or by rakes aud still 
further dried and is then raked up iuto loose 
windrows where it stays perhaps 24 or 30 hours 
before it is taken to the barn aud is then so 
dry that it rarely heats under pressure, but 
will break and crack and loose its loaves when 
trampled on, what is the condition of such 
hay as regards itsuutritive value! And again, 
if after six hours’ etposure, to the air and aun[ 
by which it is wilted and partly dried, the 
clover is raked and put into cocks of 250 or 
SOO pounds and there undergoes fermentation 
and moderate heating for two or three days, 
and is then taken to the barn, being aired aud 
cooled in the process, and in the barn again 
heats and ferments to a moderate extent, but 
never so as to produce vapor, what would be 
the value of hay so made, and is this method 
better than the other! 
I have made hay, and cured rye, oats, peas, 
and millet fodder in this manner for some 
years past, using hay caps when rain threat¬ 
ened to fall, and I am sure the hay is better 
for feeding; that is, the cows e>at it with more 
avidity, and milk better on it than on the 
ordinary hay which i sometimes purchase for 
surplus stock. Further, I can feed clover so 
cured, to horses, without producing any 
coughing or bronchial disturbance. Clover 
hay is worth more to me than Timothy for 
dairy cows; in fact, its value for milk and 
butter is quite double that of Timothy, than 
which I would rather feed the common grass 
and sedge from my undrained meadow. Our 
clover is the same as that grown in England 
no doubt, because we export a good deal of 
clover seed to that country. We have a coarse 
variety known as Mammoth or Pea-vine 
Clover, but this is rarely grown excepting for 
green soiling or for plowing under, and 1 be¬ 
lieve this same large variety is grown in 
England; but our common Red Clover is the 
same as that of England, differing perhaps 
somewhat In size of the stalk because of the 
comparative thinness and lightness of the crop 
here and its thickness and weight in England. 
Finally,! would suggest in reply to Dr. Dawes’s 
query, that the difference in the estimated 
values is due to the different methods of curing 
or to the peculiarities of climate. 
RURAL EXPERIMENT CORN GROUND, 
Our Indian corn fertilizing experiments are, 
this year, conducted upon the poorest land we 
have ever attempted to cultivate. This year 
they are carried on at the Rural’s Ex. 
Grounds, River Edge, Bergen Co., New Jer¬ 
sey, instead of in Queens Co., Long Island, as 
hitherto. We learn through Squire Webb, an 
old resident and owner of the land, that it re 
ceived farm manure in the hill for corn in 
1871, with which exception it has received no 
manure of any kind in 16 years for certain 
and possibly not for a much longer time. 
Fertilizer Tests. 
No. l. 
No manure. 
No. 2. 
i 
No. 3. 
5 bbls. hen manure. 
No. 4. 
200 lbs. of Mapes’s. 
No. 5. 
400 lbs. Baugh's. 
No. 6. 
4 tons farm manure. 
After corn, in 1871, it was seeded to Timothy 
and clover, with rye. The soil is light and in 
the western part so sandy th. t not even weeds 
will grow. This western portion is evenly 
divided among the six plots, so that for ex¬ 
perimental purposes no allowances need be 
made. We are, indeed, glad of our selection 
of this field, since to test the efficacy of con¬ 
centrated fertilizers, the more unproductive 
the field naturally is, the more apparent are 
the effects of the fertilizers used. It wos 
plowed Auril 211, turning under whatever of 
sod, brambles and weeds had, in a severe 
struggle for existence, survived during the 
past 11 years. 
The plots (excepting 1 and 2) are 48 feet in 
width by 181.5 in length, running east and 
west. Nos. 1 and 2 are just half those dimen¬ 
sions, or 1-10 of an acre—the others being 15. 
The 'and was harrowed twice. Upon Plot No. 
1 no manure or fertilizer was used. Upon No. 
2 we propose to sow fertilizer after the corn 
has germinated. Upon Plot No. 3 five barrels 
of chicken manure were evenly spread. Upon 
i lot 4 Mapes’s corn manure was sown—one 
bag, or at the rule of 1,000 lbs. to the acre. 
Upon Plot 5, Baugh & Sons’ ammoniated su¬ 
perphosphate was sown—two bags, or at the 
rate of one ton to the acre. Upon Plot 6,4 
tons of barn yard manure were spread, or at 
the rate of 20 tons to the acre. All the fer¬ 
tilizers were sown on a still day (May 17), and 
a cord was strotched from stake to stake, so 
as not to mingle the fertilizers of adjoiuiug 
plots. The price of Baugh & Sons’ fertilizer 
is, iu Philadelphia, $25.00 per ton. It ana¬ 
lyzes os follows: 
Ammonia . ... ...2 to 2^ per cent. 
Soluble aud precipitated phosphoric 
acid.5 to 6 “ 
JLnsoluulo bone phosphate. 7 to 8 •• 
The analysis of Mapes’s Corn Manure is as 
follows: 
Ammonia...........4.50 to 5 percent. 
PtuM. acid.IU to 12 “ 
Foiash... 6 to 7 11 
The price of this is $50.00 per ton in New 
York City. 
Oat Fertilizer Tests. 
In order to further test these fertilizers side 
by side, i a well as the effects of different quan¬ 
tities of chemical manures upon an impover¬ 
ished soil, we have made the following tests, 
using oats as tbo crop plant. A strip running 
ucross the entire field was laid out in 33x33 
feet plots. Upon Plot No. IBiugh & Sons 
Ammoniated Superphosphate was sown at the 
rate of 800 lbs. to the acre. Plot 2—400 lbs. 
Plot 3—200 lbs. Plot 4—Nothing. Upon Plot 
5 —800 lbs. of Mapes’s. Plot 6—100 lbs. Plot 7 
—200 lbs. It will be seen, therefore, that we 
have respectively 800, 400 aud 200 lbs. of 
Baugh’s ($25 00) phosphate upon one set and 
800, 400 and 200 lbs. of Mapes’s Oat or Light 
Soil Complete Manure ($54.00 per ton) upon 
another, with an unfertilized plot between the 
two. This Ligut Soil Fertilizer analyzes as 
follows: 
Ammonia, 6 to 3 per cent: phosphoric acid, 7 to 9 : 
potash, 0 iu 7. 
It will be seen that it differs from the Corn 
Manure cbieliy in having more ammonia 
which explains its higher cost. 
The corn planted was Blount’s Improved, as 
we may call it, since we have fertilized and 
selected it through several years with pains¬ 
taking care, with the result that for this cli¬ 
mate it is improved in essential particulars. 
It was planted (by hand) one foot apart, in 
drills four feet apart. Our corn planter was 
at the Dong Island farm, and we were thus 
obliged to adopt this infinitely tedious method. 
The oats were drilled in (Aprils) at the rate 
of less than a bushel per acre, as our seed, 
being a new variet}', was limited. 
Other Lests have been started with Baker's 
and other fertilizers, to which we shall have 
occasion to refer later. 
farm topics 
THE TEUTH ABOUT IT. 
[Tub object of articles under this heading Is not so 
much to deal with ••humbugs” as with the many un¬ 
conscious errors that creep into the methods of daUy 
country routine life.— Eds. I 
FRAUDS UPON FARMERS. 
Mr. Cha3IBerlain, in his communication 
under the above heading in a late Rural, 
deals rather hardly with the injured farmer*. 
The truth is, that farmers are not business 
men, and cannot be expected to consider or 
even think of, or realize, the points put forth 
when plausible pretences and excuses are made 
by swindlers, “the same with intent to de¬ 
ceive.” The laws and morals, too, look at the 
intent and not so much the act; and we can¬ 
not doubt that the intent measures the guilt 
or the dishonesty of an act. Can we not see 
how a practiced professional scamp who makes 
it his business to deceive and swindle, is not to 
be compared with an unsuspecting, inexpe¬ 
rienced man who merely looks at a bargain 
offered to him, as Mr. C. might himself con¬ 
sider a horse or a cow trade iu which he sees 
he can purchase at such an advantage as will 
give him a large profit, and without entering 
at all into the morality of the business. 
Farmers are swiudled every day in mere 
matters of business in which no element of 
dishonesty on their part can possibly enter, 
and. as a rule, are far more honest in their 
dealiugs than business men who, too often, not 
only in their daily vocations try to cheat 
their customers, but deliberately go oo work 
to ruiu competitors by whatever means they 
may be able to get their business from them. 
All sorts of worthless things are palmed off 
upon farmers in the way of lu-iiness. Bogus 
fertilizers (of which I send the Editor of the 
Rural a sample with this, which is sold for 
$18 a ton, and is not worth a dollar); bogus 
seeds, plants, useless tools, implements, worth¬ 
less investments and fraudulent business en¬ 
terprises are constantly pressed upon them 
day by day by swindlers who have the voices 
of angels, the promises of a Munchausen, 
cheeks of brass, hearts of tiiut, and the man¬ 
ners of “Oily Gammon, Esq.” It is the busi¬ 
ness of these men to cheat and rob; they are 
educated for it; and young men are actually 
put in training to become “agents,” as Oliver 
Twist was taught by Fagan to pick pockets; 
and are then sent out to practice their profes¬ 
sion. Here is where the dishonesty lies and 
not with the deluded victim who may be made 
to believe he is getting a very good bargain, 
and in the simplicity aud innocence of his 
nature is led imthiuking into the trap. Let us 
pity these weak brothers aud not cast reproach 
upon them. It is nut the farmer who puts 
stones iu his hay bales, or oleomargarine into 
his butter, or keeps his seed wheat, which he 
is selling, in his cellar to make it plump and 
heavy bv the damp, or crams his chickens 
with corn xud water when the poultry buver 
is comiug around for them, or sands Lis fleeces 
or drags his hides in the mud, or waters his 
milk, or practices other ways that are dark, it 
is not this farmer who becomes the victim of 
the sharper. Such a man can give points to 
the ordinary swindler and beat him, but gene¬ 
rally has nothing to do with him. On the 
contrary, it is the simple-minded, unsuspicious 
persons who have no thought of wrong doing 
when they think they are offered a bargain 
and who could not tell what it is to smuggle 
goods through the Custom House, not having 
any clear idea at all about tariffs and duties 
of that kind. 
It may, perhaps, do some good that Mr. 
Chamberlain has put “frightful examples’’ 
before your readers, much the same as a 
preacher may dissect before his hearers some 
double-dyed but imaginary villain, as an ex¬ 
ample of wbatto avoid and induce them to 
live virtuous lives; for he shows to honest 
farmers what risks they run of being thought 
rascals themselves, “ tarred, in fact, with the 
same stick,” when they deal with swindlers 
and cheats; but it won’t help much; and when 
the next Judson Branching Corn; or a new 
kind from Felix Arabia; or a new preserving 
substance; or a lightning-rod that lightens 
only the pocket; or a useless washing machine; 
or 8 per-cent bonds of the Cannibal Island 
railroad; or a new fruit that is un old oue; or 
any other fraud or humbug may be presented 
to them, they will from very ignorance go 
right in and get cheated again. Scolding 
won’t do. The root should be touched, and 
that is to raise the standard of rural educa¬ 
tion, and induce the farmers to read papers 
more. It is the same old story—the farmers 
against the whole world, and the farmer 
pays for alL . H. s. 
-•--» -♦- 
ADULTERATION OF COTTON. 
In the Rural of April Sth. 1882, on page 
240, is an article on the adulteration of cotton, 
in which some hard things are said against 
the Southern planters. I don’t suppose the 
writer ever saw a stalk of cotton growing or 
matured in h-s life, or he would surely have 
known that when the cotton is open the 
lint hangs out and very often in picking after 
a heavy rain, nearly one-third (sometimes 
more) of the cotton is knocked out on the 
ground and gets either sandy or dirty, and 1 
have no doubt that a great many reported 
cases of adulteration occur in this way; hence 
there is no just cause for such sweeping 
strictures. Besides, a great many gentlemen 
own and run plantations (or fur nish them 
with supplies and very often teams and tools), 
who never see their places more than once a 
year, the plantations being managed exclu¬ 
sively by “ gentleman of African persuasion’* 
who, if any one can be accused of adulteration 
of the staple, do it themselves. Lf j r ou have 
any of the negroes around you or know any¬ 
thing about them, you know' that as a general 
thing they never lose an opportunity to 
swindle a pale-face. 1 see more talk of adul¬ 
teration of food and farm products in the North 
than of cotton in the South, said adulterations 
uetually causing death in some cases, so don’t 
you think that your Legislature and law¬ 
making bodies ought to try and stop such 
practices,and that the good pressof the country 
ought to ably second such a cause. I dou’t 
pretend to say that there is no cotton adulter¬ 
ated,but to prove the integrity of the Southern 
planter, was there auy corpplaint previous to 
the war! 1 think we ought to be more chari 
t ible than to say such thiugs as you say, but 
i agree with y ou that auy one that will adulter¬ 
ate anything aud sell it for pure is, as you say 
of the Southern planters, mean, unprincipled 
contemptibly dishonest and abjectly selfish. I 
am very much pleased with the Rural New- 
\ okker, and was sorry to see so much venom 
iu your columns against us. Hoping that in 
the future, when you want to show up fraud 
etc., you will not accuse the whole section 
indiscriminately, 1 am yours, very friendly. 
Morehouse Barish, La. B. Turpin. 
Remarks. —Oar friend cannot have read the 
article referred to, earsfully, or else he must 
have a very poor recollection of its drift it he 
can suppose for a moment that Southern 
planters were therein charged with any form 
of dishonesty. To guard against the possibil¬ 
ity of any such misconception as well as out of 
a sense of common fairness, this emphatic 
statement was made: “There is uo doubt that 
the vast bulb of American cotton is honestly 
baled and put on the market, but the great 
body of planters suffer from the rascality of 
a few growers and packers.” During a resi¬ 
dence of a good many years iu the South, 
the writer of that article saw cotton in everv 
stage of growth and preparation for the mar¬ 
ket in every State iu the Cotton Belt, and 
handled more of it probably than our friend 
has ever done, so that he is quite aware of the 
causes of accidental adulteration mentioned 
above; but while the presence of sand and soil 
in baled cotton may sometimes be due to 
Oat Fertilizer Tests. 
No. 1. 
No. 2. 
| 
No. 3. 
No. 4. No. 5. 
i . 
No. 6. No. 7. 
Baugh 
Bau*'h. 
I augh. 
Siapcs. 
Mapes. Mupes. 
20 lbs. 
101b . 
& ILlS. 
_1 
Nothing. 20 lbs. 
10 lbs. 5 lbs. 1 
The above are iijuure plots, 33xoii fecfcut -10 acre. 
