306 
THE RI3BAL HEW-¥0R8CER. 
MAY § 
THE 
RURAL- NEW'YORKER, 
ANatlonal Journal for Country and Suburban Home . 
Conducted by 
ELBERT 8. CUtUAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1888. 
Mr. Eli Mmcn writes us that he has 
determined to plant two acres of potatoes 
strictly in accordance with the R. N.-Y. 
trench system. We wishhim success and 
at the same time request that he will keep 
an accurate account of the entire cost of 
raising the crop. 
We neglected to mention last week 
that the Early Harvest Blackberry was 
killed nearly to the soil during the past 
winter at the Rural Grounds. It is a 
great pity this distinctly beautiful berry 
is not hardier. It is the earliest variety 
we have ever tested. The Early King is 
said to be earlier, of great hardiness and 
of fine quality. Plants of this were set 
last week. 
Baled silage must be the next product. 
In the powerful hay presses of the present 
day green grass could be pressed into 
such a compact mass that it would keep 
well. Chopped corn stalks ca_ be pressed 
and packed into cakes and shipped, much 
as dates are now shipped This green 
fodder would find a fine market in 
the cities. Something of the kind is now 
done in England. Edward Atkinson, 
some years since, shipped two casks of 
silage safely to England. There is a good 
chance here for some enterprising maD. 
Last summer, in crossing roses, we 
used pollen from many different varieties 
upon Rosa rugosa—that is, Rosa rugosa 
was the mother of all, while there were, 
perhaps, over a dozen fathers. Last week 
we potted some 50 of these hybrid seed¬ 
lings and, more remarkable now than two 
years ago when Harrison’s Yellow was the 
father, not one as yet shows any of the 
marked characteristics of the mother. 
As the result of again crossing blackber¬ 
ries and raspberries, we have but six 
plants, though probably not less than 50 
seeds were planted. The hybrids of 1887 
have wintered well. 
Clover silage is not looked upon with 
favor by many dairymen. They prefer to 
feed it dry in connection with corn silage. 
It is urged that clover is apt to mould in 
the silo and that a larger proportion is 
reasonably sure to spoil than will be 
found in the case of corn. Chopped 
clover keeps better than long, and it is 
found that allowing the clover to wilt on 
the ground before hauling to the silo is a 
great advantage. In fact, with any kind 
of crop, this wilting is beneficial. Clover 
ranks second as a silage crop, but corn is 
so far ahead on the list that the natural 
tendency is to make the clover into hay. 
From the figures that we have been 
able to collate we should say that the 
average weight of a cubic foot of silage 
is a trifle over 40 pounds. Thus it will 
require a space of 50 cubic feet to hold a 
ton of silage. Farmers can safely figure 
on this basis when determining the size 
of their silos. Many farmers ask how 
large a silo must be built to hold the fod¬ 
der from an acre of corn. It is obvious 
that no satisfactory answer can be given 
to this question. Some enthusiasts claim 
to have raised 40 tons of fodder per acre. 
Others know that seven tons taxed their 
soil. Where one has little idea of the 
amount of fodder he can produce per 
acre, it will be safer to build a small silo, 
fill that and handle the rest of the stalks 
about as Mr. Rice—page 804—proposes. 
This will guide him for future silage 
work. 
SIR J. B. LAWES’S PORTRAIT. 
W e are pleased to announce that in a 
short time we shall place before 
our readers a portrait of Sir J. B. Lawes 
as he looks to-day, so to speak. The 
portrait is being drawn from a photo¬ 
graph which Dr. Lawes, in kindly com¬ 
pliance with our request, had taken a few 
weeks ago. The R. N.-Y. was the first 
journal in America to induce him to 
write for it; the first to present his por¬ 
trait, the original of which, now in the 
writer’s office, was taken years ago. It 
appeared on December 28, 1878. Not well 
satisfied j^with the draughtsman’s work, 
it was again drawn from the same pho¬ 
tograph and appeared August 20, 1881. 
The execution was this time satisfactory 
enough, but still it was not the Dr. Lawes 
of that time—but when he was compar¬ 
atively young. The present photograph 
shows a man whose hair and whiskers are 
as white as snow, but whose eyes are bright 
and whose face is full of life and deter¬ 
mination. He was born in 1814 and is 
therefore now 74 years of age. No 
doubt our readers will be pleased to See a 
life-like portrait of this grand, good man 
who is well known to have done more to 
further agricultural science through 45 
years of the most thorough, disinterested, 
experimental work than any other man 
living or dead. The people of America 
are just as much indebted to him as those 
of his native land, and could they give 
expression to their wishes at this time, 
they would heartily join us in the hope 
that his useful life may long be spared. 
ENSILAGE WISDOM. 
W nAT are we to learn from the con¬ 
tents of this paper? There is a world 
of wisdom here if we will but take advan¬ 
tage of it. Does the silo offer farmers 
the chance to make cheaper beef, milk 
and butter? Will it let them keep more 
stock, make more manure, and, to a cer¬ 
tain extent escape the dire consequences 
of wet in the hay field and drought in 
the growing season? If it will with 
proper study and development do any of 
these things, it can safely be considered a 
blessing, a hopeful indication of future 
prosperity, a ladder up which the enter¬ 
prising farmer may climb to a greater 
success. It is well to be conservative. 
It is always the cool-headed, cautious 
element that prevents a dangerous stam¬ 
pede. There is such a thing, however, 
as being too conservative. When the 
truth comes strong, straight and clear, 
backed up by unanswerable facts and 
arguments, it is time to look at it fairly, 
without prejudice. The time has come 
when the ensilage discussion has devel¬ 
oped actual facts amply proved by actual 
experience. We have tried to lay such 
before our readers. The men who write 
them know their business. What they 
say can be relied upon. It will be noticed 
that they make no extravagant claims for 
silage. They are business men talking 
about business matters. Do they prove 
that the silo pays them? That is the 
question the reader must answer for him¬ 
self. The facts and statements are here. 
What do they prove? 
THE “CONTEST” PLOT. 
T nE “contest” plot of potatoes was 
planted on the morning of April 20. 
Very little progress had been made when 
a shower came up. The work was con¬ 
tinued to completion, however, though 
the soil became somewhat muddy towards 
the last. Of the R. N.-Y. No. 2, 33 
pieces were planted, all the seed we had. 
Of the R. N.-Y. Nos. 3 and 4, 66 pieces 
of each were planted, which exhausted 
the entire stock of each. In all, therefore, 
there are 165 hills, which placed one by 
three feet apart, make one eighty-eighth 
of an acre. The seed potatoes were 
brought to a warm (averaging 75°) sunny 
room 10 days previously and spread out 
upon the floor to sprout. We are advised 
by a successful potato grower that this 
treatment is absolutely ruinous to seed 
potatoes, causing chemical changes in the 
body of the potato which deprives the 
shoots of food when the pieces are placed 
in the ground. If so, the contest is over 
before it begins and the Rural fails. 
But we are in hopes our friend is mis¬ 
taken. 
When sound potatoes, before they have 
sprouted in the cellar, are placed in 
warmth and light, strong, stubby, warty 
sprouts grow from the stronger eyes and 
our idea was that a selection of seed pieces 
might then be made that would almost 
insure a perfect stand. But it was an 
experiment and one which we had never 
before tried. 
The potatoes, of medium size, were for 
the most part cut in halves which gave 
about three eyes to each half. The trenches 
were dug about five inches deep and at 
the rate of 880 pounds of potato fer¬ 
tilizer was spread in the bottom. An 
inch of soil was then raked upon this and 
the pieces planted. Then another inch 
of soil was raked over the pieces so as to 
cover them and a second 880 pounds of 
fertilizer spread, thus giving half above 
and half below the pieces—or at the 
rate of 1760 pounds to the acre. The 
trenches were then nearly filled and at the 
rate of 440 pounds of powdered sulphur 
was sown in the hopes of repelling the 
wire-worm which, as we have often said, 
causes the “scab” in this soil. The 
trenches were then filled level with soil 
and the work was ended. 
At the Rural Farm (Long Island) we 
are planting an acre by this method, leav¬ 
ing out all fussy details, such as the 
sulphur, two sowings of fertilizer, placing 
the seed pieces at exact distances apart, 
etc., while the trenches are plowed and 
the cultivation will be done by horse 
power. 
The interest shown in this method of 
raising potatoes is beyond all precedent, 
and it is to be hoped that whether in this 
one attempt the R. N.-Y. fails or suc¬ 
ceeds—a trifling matter in itself— the hun¬ 
dreds of trials proposed and already being 
made in various parts of the country will 
in more ways than one throw light upon 
potato culture by showing how the yield 
may profitably be increased. 
CHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE CORN 
PLANT. 
C orn (maize) is the great silage crop. 
The fact is generally acknowledged 
that the corn plant will produce the great¬ 
est weight of green growth to the acre, 
and that its form is such that the cutter 
and the silo offer the best chance of feed¬ 
ing it without waste. It is not strange, 
therefore, that our experiment stations 
have of recent years given extra attention 
to the chemical composition of the maize 
plant. The stations of New York, 
New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin and 
Minnesota have been particularly active in 
gathering this information, until now a 
careful synopsis of the various experi¬ 
ments will net some valuable facts. 
It has been supposed that sweet corn 
would give the best results in the silo. 
Careful investigation does not uphold 
this theory, but proves that the sweet 
corn does not possess a very high percent¬ 
age of feeding value. When the small 
yield of stalks per acre is estimated, sweet 
corn ranks lowest in agricultural value. 
Chemistry proves that it is not profitable 
to raise sweet corn for an exclusive ensi¬ 
lage crop when a large field corn can be 
grown and allowed to mature ears. At 
the same time, when a crop of sweet corn 
can be grown so that the ears can be sold 
in the market and the stalks put in the 
silo, an excellent profit is made. Chem¬ 
istry shows that there is considerable dif¬ 
ference in composition between the differ¬ 
ent varieties of corn, and that different 
soils produce different grades of grain. 
Rich land not only produces more corn, 
but better corn than that grown on poor 
land. This difference is more marked 
than is generally supposed. Chemistry 
also shows that when the ensilage crop is 
planted so that each plant has room to 
produce an ear and to reach a perfect de¬ 
velopment, far more nutriment per acre is 
produced than when the stalks are thick¬ 
ly crowded into drills. Chemical analy¬ 
sis would indicate that an acre 
of stover or field corn from which 
the ears are taken, will yield more and 
better silage than an acre of thickly plant¬ 
ed corn which does not mature ears. 
Analyses by Professor'Johnson show 
that the leaves of the corn plant contain 
one-third of the dry matter, the lower 
half of the stalk one-third, and the husk 
and upper part of the stalk the remainder. 
The leaves and the husks are by far the 
richest in the albuminoids, the former 
containing 51 per cent, of the total 
amount found in the entire plant, while 
the husks contain 22 per cent. Thus the 
leaves and the husks together con¬ 
tain about three-fourths of the al¬ 
buminoids, and we see that the old 
practice of “stripping” secured much 
of the feeding value at comparatively lit¬ 
tle cost. But the silo has proved that 
the stripped stalks can be made valuable 
too. In chemical composition there is 
little difference between the upper and 
lower parts of the stalks. This is con¬ 
trary to general belief, as is also the state¬ 
ment that there is very little difference in 
the digestibility of the different parts of 
the plant. As the chemists all insist that 
the stalks must be cut or shredded in or¬ 
der to insure digestion, it is evident that 
the silo affords an excellent means of se¬ 
curing their feeding value. It appears 
that the lower half of the stalks contains 
one-fifth of the albuminoids, one-third of 
the starch and fat, and from one-third to 
one-half of the fiber. It is evident that 
the most profitable variety of corn for 
fodder or ensilage is one that suckers 
freely, and presents the greatest amount 
of leaf surface with the smallest stalks. 
BREVITIES. 
Plant some Golden Queen Raspberries for 
home use. 
Z, Bran, shorts or oil-meal are better for feed¬ 
ing with silage than corn meal, and dry clover 
hay is an excellent supplement. 
Is the common use of salt in the silo cov¬ 
ered by Mr. Colcord’s patent. 
It appears that silage itself is its best pro¬ 
tection against cold. In air-tight wooden silos 
frozen silage is practically unknown. 
Silage is generally considered ready to 
feed after it has passed three weeks in the si¬ 
lo. By that time the heat falls to about 80°. 
Mr. P. Barry says that the Agawam Black¬ 
berry bears fruit of medium size, jet black, 
sweet, melting to the core, early. The plant 
is early and prolific. 
Read what Mr. Rice says about his corn 
fodder. Here we have a species of modifica¬ 
tion of the English silage stack that gives 
excellent results. 
Readers will notice that several of our cor¬ 
respondents speak of cutting fodder corn with 
a reaper. The raking from the table is done 
by the man who follows the reaper. 
Does the substance put into the silo gain 
anything in nutriment there? This is a much- 
discussed and never-settled question. Henry 
Stewart, page 300, gives a rational answer to 
it. 
In addition to the usual thickness of tarred 
aper in wooden silos a coating of hot tar on 
oth thicknesses of boards is now proposed. 
This, it is claimed will preserve the boards 
from rotting. 
It is best to divide a large silo into two or 
three compartments of equal size, divided by 
temporary partitions. By this means slow 
filling can be practiced about as is described 
by Hiram Smith on page 301. 
The number of farmers who are making 
good silage in the barn bays is certainly sur¬ 
prising. Professor Gulley’s plan of filling the 
silos and using the hay for weighting is prac¬ 
tised by many very successfully. 
In feeding silage or grain it pays to weigh 
a shovelful or measureful and thus systema¬ 
tize the feeding. It is better to feed by the 
pound, but it will not pay to weigh every feed. 
Know what your measureful weighs. 
The increased use of the silo will tend to 
make oats more popular with dairy farmers. 
Crushed or ground oats will make an excellent 
grain ration to go with the silage and the oat 
straw will make the needed dry food. 
When a man tells you he has raised over 40 
tons of corn fodder per acre and feeds his 
cows on an exclusive silage ration, the best 
thing to do is to smile and say nothing. It is 
an amusing statement and talking never will 
help such a man. 
It appears that many farmers are using a 
few inches of muck, sand or sawdust for 
weighting their silage. Tarred paper is put at 
the top of the silo, over this plank and the 
muck or other substance piled on this. After 
the silo is opened the muck is used as an ab¬ 
sorbent behind the cattle. 
Observe that all our correspondents favor 
slow filling. They want the silage to beat up 
to a high temperature. Thus it “cooks itself” 
so to speak. The “patent silage” of Mr. Col- 
cord is not made on this plan however. He 
aims to destroy all fermentation and thus keep 
the com without any change in its chemical 
condition. 
In the West where the ensilage system is be¬ 
ing extensively pushed, the system of hiring 
cutters as thrashing machines are hired is 
very popular. The cutter and engine go 
about from house to house with men enough 
to take care of the fodder as fast as it is pre¬ 
sented. Thus many smaller farmers who 
could not afford to own a cutter and power 
are enabled to fill their silos at a reasonable 
cost. 
Why have any dry fodder? Why not put 
all the grass into the silo and cut all the grain 
with the stalks? This question is often asked. 
Why not feed the members of the family en¬ 
tirely on canned goods? Both questions can 
be answered alike. Animals, as well as men, 
need a variety. Cattle like a little dry hay 
with their silage, and there are many ways in 
which it is cheaper to feed dry grain alone. 
Again, hay is a good crop to sell when the silo 
is in proper operation. 
It is unfortunate that analyses of silage 
vary so widelj . No other food product seems 
to have such a wide range of published anal¬ 
yses. Such a thing as a standard silage anal¬ 
ysis is hardly possible yet while so many dif¬ 
ferent systems of ensiloing are in vogue and 
the crop is cut at such widely different stages 
of its growth. In making up a ration includ¬ 
ing silage, the feeder must make his judg¬ 
ment and observation take the place of a 
standard analysis which would aid him with 
hay or grain. 
The past few years have about demon¬ 
strated the fact that tarred paper ranks next 
to wood as a valuable material for building 
chicken houses. The silo experience of late 
years has proved that for wooden silo build¬ 
ings, tarred paper is practically indispen c able. 
The use of tarred paper is becoming so univer¬ 
sal that there is hardly a good farm in the 
country where a roll of it cannot be found. 
Its use lessens the lumber bills materially. It 
appears that many thicknesses of boards are 
used simply to keep out the air. The tarred 
paper will do this work equally well. 
One of the truest portraits we have seen for 
many a day is that of Milton George in the 
Feb, 25th number of the Chicago Illustrated 
News. Mr. George owns 300 acres of good 
land in Cook County, 20 miles south from the 
Chicago Court House, that he offers to donate 
to a School of Agriculture and Manual Train¬ 
ing for poor boys, for the purpose of accom¬ 
modating and amplifying the work of the 
Illinois Training School for boys now locat¬ 
ed at Norwood Park, on the condition that 
$350,000 in cash be raised for the equip¬ 
ment and endowment of the same by the 
f eople of Illinois. No doubt the people of 
llinois will accept of this generous proposi¬ 
tion. 
