eight tons when it was cured. At the same 
time I was growing mangels at the rate of 
1,200 bushels—nearly 40 tons per acre—and 
although these roots had less than four tons of 
dry matter in them, T got twice as much feed¬ 
ing value in proportion from them as from 
the dry matter. No doubt a very large part 
of the substance of the com fodder becomes 
indigestible in the dry curing, while in the 
process of ensilage the fiber becomes more di¬ 
gestible, although possibly at the expense of 
some loss of carbonaceous matter. Prof. 
Henry’s remarks about deep plowing, cooking 
food, and other crazes, are hardly consistent, 
and tend rather to the repression of improve¬ 
ments. Have we learned everything ? I think 
not. The Rural Experiment Farm has 
proved otherwise iu regard to many things. 
"Prove all things, but, hold fast to that 
which is good ” only. I think ensilage is a 
good thing; for when at no more cost than 
curing the fodder dry, one can have from one 
acre of ground, green food that will feed one 
cow for 400 days, and yet not have a big crop, 
he has got a good thing. 
There is one invaluable service done by the 
Rural experiments, and if there were no 
other it would pay for all, and this is, that 
failures are recorded as well as successes. A 
wise man learns from his failures as well as 
from Ins succes es, and evidently the pains¬ 
taking work at the Rural Grounds teaches 
very valuable lessons in both ways. This is a 
unique enterprise in thisrespoct. No doubt it 
may not be pleasant in some cases to be dis¬ 
appointed and to relate disappointments, but 
it is good and useful discipline for an experi¬ 
menter, aud we get at the truth that way. 
"A pair of beautiful carved, very sharp 
horns” no doubt set off a bovine aud add to its 
appearance very much; and if the bovine would 
only keep these ornaments for show there 
would not be a word to say against them. 
Years ago the human dandies carried bright, 
sharp, gilded aud jeweled swords and daggers 
about with them, and many a bloody death 
happened in consequence until the law forbade 
the practice and made it a crime. Even 
now the practice of carrying deadly weapons 
causes many murders every year aud untold 
unhappiness and misery and crime. If a rea¬ 
soning man cannot be trusted with u deadly 
weapon why should an unreasoning, head¬ 
strong and irritable “bovine” be so trusted. 
When I saw a pet Devon heifer with a pair of 
the prettiest waxy, curved horns attack my 
wife at an unguarded moment aud throw her 
down and thrust a horn clear through her 
clothing, barely escaping impaling her 
through the body, I became an advocate of 
dishorning all the calves, and since then, Id 
years ago, have been continually writing 
to urge the removal of the horns from 
calves when it can be doue with the 
least pain. Now, after so many years, the 
bread 1 have been casting on the waters is 
returning, aud perhaps the general dishorning 
of cattle may lie accomplished in good time. 
What is the yellow-cap raspberry (page 452 /1 
Is it not a sport of the common black-cap? 
W hen helping to pick berries, a few days ago, 
iu a wild, luxuriant plantation of this fruit, I 
came upon a bush of bright, yellow berries, 
evidently a seedling of the black variety, and 
only one among hundreds of black ones. 
About 25 years ago. I found iu a similar wild 
growth, white, yellow, aud red raspberries 
growing together, and white blackberries. 
Living as I am just now, where Nature is 
working in profusion, and wild flowers and 
fruits abound wonderfully, I am convinced 
that many so-called speck's are merely vari¬ 
eties and sports, just as this yellow-cap is a 
sport of the black kind. 
The plague of flies (page 452) is one 
great argument iu favor of soiling cows. 
1 have, for years past, kept the cows 
in an airy, clean stable with green shut¬ 
ters to darken it, and yet admit the air, with 
netting over the windows to keep out the 
llios. A dusting of insect powder then com¬ 
pleted the work by which the cows get per- 
fect rest and a good, square meal in the hot¬ 
test part of the day. Just now l am enjoying 
immunity from this plague, where t here are 
no mosquitoes or other harmful flies, and 
where the hottest part of the day, so far, has 
been 85 degrees for two or three hours on one 
day, and yet this is in latitude 35 degrees. 
Dairying, iu such a climate, is shorn of most 
efits labor and unpleasantness. 
farm Cconomt). 
THE WIND-MILL AGAIN. 
I have my full share of farm machines; 
but there is no oue of them more satisfactory 
than the wiud-mill; it is such a couveuieuee 
to have furnished, without effort, all the 
water we want for the house, the garden, the 
barn, the hog pens, aud the pastures’ Our 
well is 75 feet deep; it is near the house, which 
is on the highest point on the farm. The 
water is forced from the well, into a “house- 
tank,” placed In one of the second story bed¬ 
rooms. This tank holds nearly a barrel, is 
made of galvanized iron, is neatly boxed in, 
with hiuged lid, and sitting, as it does, in one 
corner of the room, it is not iu the way and 
does not look out of place. It is uo trifling 
consideration to have such a tub of water 
handy iu ease of fire. 
The supply pipe to the house-tank comes up 
alongside the kitchen sink, and is furnished 
with the bib-cock conveniently placed over the 
sink so that our women folk can draw water 
from the pump directly if the mill is working, 
or from the tank overhead if it is not, by a 
“simple twist of the wrist,” the waste running 
off through the sink drain. 
The over flow of the house-tank runs into a 
50 barrel tank outside tbe house, from which 
the farm, garden, etc., are supplied. In the 
garden is a hydrant fitted to receive hose. At 
the barn, an automatic valve regulates the 
supply of water in the horse-trough. At the 
hog-yard water is drawn at will by a cock. 
The capacity of the mill seems to be about 
eight barrels an hour: altogether we used 
something over 8<)0 feet of gas-pipe. 
The entire cost of the mill, derrick, pump, 
tauks, pipe, fixtures, setting up and plumbing 
was only $211. I don’t know where else I 
could put that amount of money to do so 
much good. edwin taylor. 
Wyandotte, Kans. 
HANDLING THE POTATO CROP. 
implements; when sorted; use of small 
potatoes; when to market. 
Potato planting on a large scale can now 
be made a comparatively easy operation. A 
man or hoy can sit on a comfortable seat and 
drive bis potato planter over the field. Tools 
for covering and tilling the crop have been 
about perfected. The hard hand work of the 
old time has been pretty much driven out of 
all operations except that of digging. Sev¬ 
eral potato diggers, it is true, have been in¬ 
vented, but while some of them work well ou 
level ground free from weeds, it is safe to say 
that none have proved as satisfactory as the 
planters. The cheaper diggers are made 
somewhat like a double plow with prongs or 
bars above the mold-boards. The earth is 
supposed to fall between these bai-s. while the 
potatoes drop down in front. The larger dig¬ 
gers are quite expensive. The chief objections 
made to them are that the draft is too heavy 
—particularly iu heavy ground or where the 
soil is at all overrun with weeds and grass. 
They cover mauy potatoes also. Some growers 
plow out the tubers and pick up all that are in 
sight, and then mu a smoothing harrow over 
the field. This brings more to the surface 
but there is too much danger of tearing or 
bruising tbe tubers. It seems evident that 
hand digging is still most popular. The prac¬ 
tice of sorting in the field and handling in 
square bushel boxes, made of a size to fit into 
a wagon-box. is generally practiced. Where 
very large areas are cultivated, the small po¬ 
tatoes are often regarded as a waste product. 
Many growers advocate leaving them on the 
ground, arguing that the cost of picking aud 
handling them will be more than they are 
worth. We have heard farmers advised to 
turn hogs into the field to eat these small po¬ 
tatoes. This is poor advice. A hog will kill 
itself on an exclusive diet of raw potatoes. 
The potato is not a root, like the turnip or 
carrot. It coutains more starch, and must be 
cooked to insure perfect digestion. The fol¬ 
lowing notes from our. correspondents will be 
of interest: 
FROM O. H. ALEXANDER. 
My method of harvesting potatoes is to dig 
them by band, I have not as yet used any 
potato diggers. Some have used them iu this 
township, but without success. My potatoes 
are sowed in the field. I feed almost all of 
my small potatoes to my cattle. It does uot 
pay to hold potatoes uutil spring. 
Charlotte, Vt. 
FROM JOHN A. THOMAS & SON. 
We are using the Aspiuwall digger,and find 
it does fair work, but is not a complete suc¬ 
cess, It covers the potatoes somewhat after it 
has thrown them out, so we find it pays to use 
the harrow after we get through pickin g . 
We can dig 500 bushels in a day with four 
horses and the digger aud 10 hands. Half of 
the bauds are boys, each of whom can pick as 
many potatoes as a man. This work includes 
saekiug and sewing. We dig one day aud 
load the ear the next. The hot sun here soou 
spoils and scalds the potatoes, so we have to 
do our work quickly. Where we just dig 
ouly a few bushels, we use the four-tined po¬ 
tato hook. 
We sort the tubers as we pick them up, 
leaving the small ones on the ground, or we 
pick up a few for the cows and pigs. They 
won’t keep at this season. Our crop here is 
all of the early variety, and we find it. as good 
a plan as any to sell as soon as the crop is 
ripe, if we get a fair price—say 40 cents per 
laisbel—as about one-fourth to one-third will 
rot if left in the ground until fall. We think 
it not advisable to hold through the winter, 
unless the crop is short. They shrink and lose 
a great deal. Wo would rather sell them for 
50 cents in the fall, and take no risks, than for 
80 cents in the spring. This has been our ex¬ 
perience for years, 
What, we want is a potato digger that is a 
success; that will get the potatoes all out of 
the ground and not cover any up; and that 
will not choke in weeds or grass. One of our 
neighbors has a Herrington, and it will work 
only in clean ground, aud the consequence is 
he leaves it in the shed 12 months out of a 
year. The Aspiuwall handles green crops, 
weeds and grass pretty well, but is not a full 
success. Their plauter does good work and 
we can say it is a great machine. 
Topeka, Kans. 
FROM E. E. STINE. 
I have tried several ways of harvesting po¬ 
tatoes, but fiud that, if good help can be had. 
digging by hand is the best. Last year my men 
dug with a potato fork, taking two rows each 
and going backward, throwing the potatoes 
from the two rows together, leaving them in 
good shape to pick up 1 had oue man that would 
dig 100 bushels every day. and dig them clean. 
My potatoes are sorted in the field; to do the 
job then requires less time and labor than 
when left for some other time. Small pota- 
toesare drawn into the barn and fed to the 
cows, except several barrels that are put into 
the cellar to be cooked and fed to the chickens 
during the winter. I have corn and oats 
ground together and mix this, in a large pail, 
with tbe cooked potatoes after they are 
mashed. I do not believe that, as a rule, it 
pays to hold potatoes over till spring. Farm¬ 
ers who live near cities can always find cus¬ 
tomers to take their potatoes at a good fair 
price when they are dug. provided they give 
good measure and deal honestly; and when 
this can be done it saves handling; and pota¬ 
toes shrink very much if kept over, especially 
if allowed to grow or sprout before market¬ 
ing. 
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. 
FROM GEO. GIFFORD. 
I have always dug by hand, excepting the 
crop of 1884, which was dug with the Robin¬ 
son potato digger. That season my potatoes 
were ou flat ground, and were free from 
weeds, and gave a very heavy yield—250 
bushels per acre. I think the machine paid 
for itself that year i-815)_ I make it a rule to 
market half of my crop in the fall; the other 
half, if sound, is stored in a cellar built in the 
barn. I think, as a rule.it does not pay to 
hold a crop of potatoes till spring. Small po¬ 
tatoes are fed out, unless other parties want 
them for planting. 
So. Easton, N. Y. 
FROM C. L. HAWLEY. 
I dig my potatoes by hand, with hooks; I 
prefer hooks to forks, hoes or diggers; lean 
get nil the potatoes in a hill without bruising 
them. I always sort in the field, making two 
pickings. Small potatoes are fed to stock. 
Owing to the waste of shrinkage, interest, re¬ 
sorting, frost, rotting, and ether chances one 
must run, the chances of an extra price iu 
spring are not euough to pay for holding over. 
Horuellsville, N. Y. 
FROM ALFRED ROSE. 
In harvesting potatoes I have used potato 
diggers, also plowed them out, and I don’t like 
either, as many potatoes are lost unless the 
ground is dragged, and that takes time, etc. 
My rule is to dig with a fork, and with good 
yielding potatoes of large size, a man with a 
fork will dig from 75 to 100 bushels per day of 
varieties- like the Cream of the Field, Seneca, 
Red Jacket, Rose’s Beauty, Empire State and 
Wild Rose, all of wkieh grow large-sized 
tubers, so that they can be easily and i^iickly 
handled. Many other varieties produce many 
small tubers, aud the digging of 30 to 50 bush¬ 
els of these with a fork is a good day’s work. 
I dig my potatoes as soon as ripe, while the 
vines are somewhat green. The tubers are 
then as soon as dug, picked up and put iu 
shallow pits containing 50 to 100 bushels each. 
These are shingled over with the vines, with 
the roots up, and there are holes on the north 
side for the escape of the gases. The pits are 
covered so as not to admit the sun to “green” 
the tubers. They are left there uutil there is 
danger of freezing. Then the small and de¬ 
cayed tubers are sorted out, aud the remainder 
are put in my cellars in bins of 500 to 600 
bushels each, and there is scarcely a decayed 
one to be found in the spring. My small po¬ 
tatoes are boiled and fed to the hens and some 
to the horses and cows. As to holding the 
potatoes till spring, sometimes it pays; at 
other times it does not, but as I grow for seed 
I sell many thousand bushels for that purpose 
in the spring and through May and June. As 
a general thing, I find it safe to consult the 
Rural New-Yorker, as we there get a fair 
estimate of the general crops from all parts of 
the country, aud each man must judge for 
himself as to the wisdom of holding back his. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. 
SOME OF THE NEW STRAWBERRIES. 
M. CRAWFORD, 
The winter of 1886 and 1887 was unusually 
severe in this locality. Much of the time the 
ground was full of water, and all plants not 
well protected were drawn out more or less. 
The damage done in this way is much greater 
than is generally supposed. To take a plant 
by the crown and pull it up, even an inch, 
must either break every root or pull it out of 
place. Not only this, but the parts pulled out 
are greatly injured by the alternate freezing 
and thawing, aud no more roots can come out 
from the plant because the crown is not in 
contact with the earth. This is one of the 
principal reasons why we get such different 
reports of the same variety from different lo¬ 
calities. 
The damage doue by insect enemies is some¬ 
times very great, even when the grower is 
hardly aware of it. The strawberry root 
worm, although not half as large as a grain of 
wheat, will eat the fine roots off from plants 
in August and September, and thus prevent 
their getting firmly attached to the soil and 
laying up a store of food for the next season’s 
crop. It is well to remember in this connec¬ 
tion that when a plant, becomes weakened 
from any cause, it is all the more liable to 
yield to the attacks of rust, or other fungoid 
diseases. 
Aside from all this, varieties do differ great¬ 
ly iu their ability to recover from injuries re¬ 
ceived, and adapt themselves to circum¬ 
stances. 
Jessie. —This variety fruited with me this 
year for the third time, and after watching it 
carefully, I am still of the opiuion that it is 
—all things considered—the best ever intro¬ 
duced. While it is not perfect in every res¬ 
pect, it combines all the desirable qnalities in 
a higher degree than any other yet offered. It 
has no defects worth naming, and those who 
have a stock of it may congratulate them¬ 
selves on their good fortune. 
Itasca. —This is all that was ever claimed 
for it. For vigorous growth and productive¬ 
ness, it is one of the best. It has shown no 
rust thus far. The fruit is nearly round, 
about the size of the Crescent, and of very 
good quality. 
Summit. —For combining large size, regular 
form aud beauty, this is ahead of all others. 
In these respects it always takes the lead. If 
it were free from rust, aud had a perfect 
blossom, it would stand at the head of the 
list. It is somew hat inclined to rust in some 
localities. At our strawberry show it was the 
finest on exhibition. At the great rose and 
strawberry show in Cleveland, it took the first 
prize as the best new seedling. At F. C. Mil¬ 
ler & Son’s it received the uuanimous vote of 
the superintendent aud pickers, as the best 
variety, holding out in size better than any 
other to the end of the season, 
Ohio. 1 his is of the style of the Kentucky. 
It has a pistillate blossom, is a rampant grow¬ 
er, a great bearer, very late, and not entirely 
free from rust. When it commenced to ripen 
I was disappointed somewhat; but it yielded 
so well after others had failed, and was so at¬ 
tractive in the basket, that it must be- classed 
amoug the profitable varieties to grow for 
market. 
Bubacu's No. 5. —This is, with me, next in 
value to the Jessie; and someeven preferred it 
to that variety. The plant is all right and is a 
great bearer. Blossom, pistillate. The fruit 
is very large, and a little irregular in form, 
ripens all over, and is a very popular vari¬ 
ety. 
Ji.\\ ell. I his is, with me, one of the valu¬ 
able varieties. The plant is free from rust, of 
large size, aud an abundant bearer. Blossom, 
pistillate, it makes few runners. In some lo¬ 
calities it is a poor grower. The fruit is very 
large, of good form and color, and altogether 
a very attractive berry. It seems to do better 
in the East than in the West. 
Ontario. —This is so much like the Sharp 
