4889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 243 
tion to the locality—and then careful and per¬ 
sistent selection of seed with reference to its 
having all the qualities desired—hence se¬ 
lection from the stalk rather than from the 
crib—and giving the crop the best possible 
“conditions of life" in the way of soil and cul¬ 
tivation, 1 believe the most practicable means 
by which to improve corn by most farmers. 
Ordinarily, oa any but an experimental 
farm, I think I should cultivate but two va¬ 
rieties of held corn, and those alike in color 
and general type; one being an early-ripening 
variety; the other a medium-late variety, but 
usually larger in stalk and ear and yielding a 
few bushels more per acre than the early va¬ 
riety, to which about one-fourth of the total 
acreage in corn would be planted, for early 
autumn feeding. Such a variety we also find 
valuable when unusually late planting is nec¬ 
essary from any cause. 
University of Illinois, Champaign. 
ENSILAGE NOTES. 
TWO QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
G. S. X., Middleburgh, Pa. —I wish to try 
an acre of ensilage or maybe two, and do not 
wish to go to a great expense. How can I 
construct a cheap silo? I have plenty of room 
at one end of my barn and I have a stable for 
which there is no particular use—bank barn. 
Could I construct a silo in there by running it 
up into the mow—say 15 or 18 feet—and lin¬ 
ing it with heavy paper. On two sides there 
is a stone wall eight feet high. 1 suppose the 
silo must be air-tight; above it (the mow) joins 
the barn floor and I could cut the corn-stalks 
right into the pit without any trouble. 1 
would prefer to grow roots, but my land is 
not adapted for this crop, while corn or 
clover can grow. Must the silage be packed 
very tight, and must the silo be filled right 
along without stopping? How large should 
the silo be for 12 to 20 tons from an acre? At 
what stage of growth should the corn be cut? 
Dry corn fodder is a poor feed for milk, and 
on one or two acres I could grow as much as 
I need. 
ANSWERED BY JOHN GOULD, OHIO. 
Yes, you can construct a silo admirably in 
the stable of the bank barn. Put on false 
girts so as to bring them out flush with the 
inside edge of the silo. Set up 16-feet-long 
studding, letting them go down inside of the 
wall, but resting against it. Set them 16 
inches apart: 2x4 inch stuff will be heavy 
enough Line this up with cheap inch pine or 
hemlock lumber. Paper this with ordinary 
tarred paper, then put on another layer of 
cheap lumber over this paper, and nail the 
two boards and paper strongly to the stud¬ 
ding. This arrangement avoids all bother 
and failure in making an air-tight joint be¬ 
tween the wood and stone and makes an air 
space, not only between the wall but the barn, 
and is all the protection that a silo needs from 
cold weather. When the silo is complete, 
paint it thoroughly on the inside with gas-tar 
and resin, using about three or four pounds 
to the gallon. Melt it over a slow fire, and 
apply boiling-hot. This makes. an air-and- 
moisture-proof wall. It would be well to 
paint the lower end of the studding with the 
same “ drop ” before setting up. 
This i3 the cheapest silo yet built that is 
both durable, and superior to a stone wall for 
keeping silage. Ensilage has now become so 
established that foi cows or sheep one cannot 
afford to raise roots. Prof. Sanborn’s fig¬ 
ures on my silage crop make silage cost about 
half as much to raise and pit as roots; and he 
makes it worth over three times as much to 
feed stock. 
The silo can be filled fast or slow, as the 
farmer may be situated. The corn for the 
silo should be allowed to become mature— 
commencing to pass out of the milk stage— 
before silo filling should commence. If you 
plant the Virginia corn (and I doubt if you 
can afford to plant any other), plant early and 
do not use over eight quarts per acre, and do 
not root-prune it—cultivate as shallow as pos¬ 
sible. You can easily put an acre—20 tons of 
silage—in a box 10 feet square; but don’t 
build a silo so small! Build one 12x12 and 16 
feet deep at least, and keep stock enough to 
eat what it will hold—say 50 tons, which 10 
cows will eat in 20 weeks, or longer, if some 
dry feed should be given along with the si¬ 
lage corn. 
Packing silage very closely in the pits when 
filling is not as popular now as it once was. 
Tramp as little as possible when filling, but 
when it gets hot , then tramp along the walls 
and sides. When the silo is filled, do not 
cover it at once. Let it remaiu uncovered 
four or five days to allow the silage to settle, 
heat, and throw out the air Then you can 
cover it, or not, as you choose. In any event, 
do not put on more than a foot of straws 
tramped down, and a few old boards to hold 
it in place. If no cover at all is put on, little 
damage will be done—not more than three 
inches will mold, and the molded layer of it¬ 
self makes an air-proof cover; so, taking time, 
labor a.id material into account, I doubt if so 
cheap a cover can be used as no cover at all. 
POTATO GROWING IN WISCONSIN. 
PROFESSOR E, S. GOFF. 
Profits from a poor soil; culture; varieties; 
insecticides; digging; storage; marketing. 
have as yet been unable to get the list of the 
Horticulturists of the stations completed, and 
have, also, not been able to learn the line of 
work which the different Stations intend to 
pursue; but as there is a strong desire on the 
part of many originators and growers of spec¬ 
ialties in horticulture to enter into correspon¬ 
dence with the Stations concerning the test¬ 
ing of new fruits and vegetables, the commit¬ 
tee have decided to publish this incomplete 
list of those having the horticultural work in 
charge at the several Stations mentioned be¬ 
low: 
Alabama, Auburn, P. H. Well, M. E., Ph. 
D , Horticulturist and Meteorologist. 
Arkansas, Fayetteville, E. S. Ricbman, B. 
S., Horticulturist. 
Colorado, Fort Collins, James Cassidy, P.S., 
Botanist and Horticulturist. 
Delaware, Newark, M. H Beckwith, Horti¬ 
culturist and Entomologist. 
Illinois, Champaign, T. J. Burrill, Ph.D., 
Horticulturist and Botanist. 
Indiana, Lafayette, James Troop, M. S., 
Horticulturist. 
Iowa. Ames, J. L. Budd, M.H..Horticultur¬ 
ist. 
Kansas, Manhattan, Edward A. Popenoe, 
A. M., Horticulturist. 
Kentucky, Lexington, A. R. Crandall, Ph. 
D., Botanist. 
Maine, Irons, F. L Harvey, M.S., Botanist 
and Eutomologist. 
Maryland, Agricultural College P. O., 
William H. Bishop, B S., Horticulturist. 
Massachusetts, Amherst, Samuel T. May¬ 
nard, B. Sc„ Horticulturist. 
Michigan. Agricultural College, L. R Taft, 
M. S , Horticulturist. 
Minnesota, St. Anthony Park, Samuel B. 
Green, B. S., Horticulturist. 
Mississippi, Agricultural College. A. B. 
McKay. B S., Horticulturist 
Missouri, Columbia, J. W. ClarK, B. S , 
Horticulturist and Entomologist. 
Nebraska, Lincoln, Charles E. Bessey. Ph. 
D.. Director and Botanist. 
Nevada, Reno.Walter McNab Miller, B. S., 
Botanist. 
New York. Ithaca. Liberty H. Baily, M. S., 
Horticulturist. 
New York, Geneva, Emmett S. Goff, Horti¬ 
culturist. 
New Jersey, New Brunswick, Byron D. Hal- 
sted, Sc. D., Horticulturist. 
North Caroliua, Raleigh, Gerald McCarthy, 
B. Sc., Botanist. 
Oregon, Corvallis, E. R. Lake, M. S., Bota¬ 
nist and Horticulturist. 
Ohio, Columbus, William Green, Horti¬ 
culturist. 
Pennsylvania, State College, Centre 
County, George C. Butz, M. S., Horticulturist. 
South Carolina, Columbia, G T. Atkinson, 
Ph. D., Botanist and Entomologist. 
Tennessee, Knoxville, T. Lamson Scribner, 
B. S., Botanist and Horticulturist. 
Texas, College Station, T. L. Brunk, B. Sc., 
Horticulturist. 
Vermont, Burlington, C W. Minott, B. 
Agr., Horticulturist. 
Virginia, Blacksburg, Wm. B. Alwood, 
Botanist and Entomologist. 
MYSTERY OF THE SEED TRADE. 
NO. II. 
Multiplication of varieties;—by giving new 
names to old or undeserving new kinds; 
by introduction of the same sorts by dif¬ 
ferent seedsmen under different names ; 
by tacking on special names to European 
varieties; by reviving by-gone kinds under 
new names; catalogues to be cut down 
one-half with profit to seedsman and cus¬ 
tomer; choice kinds of peas, tomatoes; 
fraudulent deception; a matter worthy of 
grave consideration. 
To the criticisms of seedsmen in a former 
article, may be added one on their multipli¬ 
cation of varieties. This is done in two ways 
—by giving a new name to a variety already 
named, or by naming one that by reason of 
its slight variation from a well known kind is 
undeserving of it. Take peas, for example. 
The R. N.-Y. has often remarked that many 
so called varieties were one and the same. 
This applies particularly to the extra early 
white peas that have almost as many names 
as there are prominent seedsmen. The dif¬ 
ference, in the whole, is no greater than must 
be under a close or careless selection of seed 
stock. Numerous tests by the writer hive 
convinced him of this. The moment one 
seedsman puts out a new sort, others follow 
suit; that is, they put out a pea just like the 
newcomer under another name. This is illus¬ 
trated in the Alaska. The year after its in¬ 
troduction numerous other extra-early blue 
peas appeared, all equal if not superior to it! 
It was said by them to be nothing but the 
F. M., Springford , Ontario, Canada.—1 
wish to build a silo; would it be advisable to 
build it of brick and stone,as I have these and 
wood is scarce ? If I have not enough brick 
and stone to build it, could I finish the walls 
with wood ? If so,bow could the wood be join¬ 
ed on the brick and stone so that the silo will 
be air-tight ? Would it be advisable to build 
it partially underground,the soil being sandy ? 
What kind of a floor would it need ? Would it 
be necessary to plaster insiie of the brick,and 
how ? Which is the better for ensilage corn— 
Mammoth Southern sweet or our common 
northern field corn,letting the field corn stand 
till in the glazing state ? 
ANSWERED BY JOHN GOULD. 
Judging from what I saw and heard during 
my recent trip to Canada, I doubt if you can 
profitably build either a stone or bricx silo. 
Lumber is not so scarce that you cannot get 
good fair pine or hem'ock for about 812 per 
1,000 feet and toe silo if built in the barn, 
need not cost more than 875, all told You can, 
however, make the walls of brick or stone, 
but I would line them with wood inside: even 
then, in your cold climate, the frost would go 
through stone or brick again and again, and 
more or less damage would be done to the silage 
by repeated freezings and thawings along 
the walls, and this is almost wholly avoided 
by the use of wooden walls and an air-space. 
I think that a silo built of wood, the studding 
set 16 inches apart, lined upon the inside with 
two thicknesses of inch lumber, with tarred 
paper between, and covered on the out¬ 
side with ordinary matched, or “drop” 
siding, will make the best and cheapest 
silo. Gas-tar and resin melted together 
and applied to the inside, boiling hot, 
will make the silo wholly durable. It 
is hard work to so join brick and stone 
with wood that, in the end, your silo will not 
practically amount to a wooden one; for from 
the wooden superstructure you will need to 
run “spurs’’ down the inside of the wall to 
the ground, and start the “lining” from the 
bottom; else the lateral pressure will start 
the wooden addition off from the wall, and 
under it more or less air will enter, that will 
be fatal to more or less silage. Make all the 
silo either of wood or stone. The uniting of the 
two usually ends in a sort of a “new-wine-in- 
old-bottles” affair, 
There is no advantage in building a silo 
partially underground. It only involves extra 
labor and expense, for which no one gets pay. 
The silage doesn't keep any better by using a 
cellar silo. The man who has a silo below 
ground, and has to elevate the silage to the 
cattle, will soon find that it is far better to let 
the carrier of the cutter put the silage high 
enough at the start, by having the bottom of 
the silo as high as the feeding floor. The 
silos built on the surface of the ground, or 
built in the barn, starting from the basement 
or ground floor, are now most popular. 
A silo does not need any floor beyond the 
natural soil, well pounded down. It may be 
dug out from the center a few inches, and the 
surplus dirt may be thrown up around the in¬ 
side walls so as to make the bottom somewhat 
concave. This is superior to stone, grout, 
or a cement bottom. A half inch of straw 
may be thrown over the bottom, but this is 
wholly unnecessary. If the silo is built of 
brick or stone, you will need to plaster it, and 
make a very smooth face, or else the silage 
will bind against the rough walls and “drag,” 
and not settle properly. This cement plaster 
should be the best. The walls may be laid up 
with a rough face to which the plaster will 
cling and harden. 
Possibly in Canada you might find that 
your own best, most rank-growing kinds of 
field corn might be best. I think if you will 
plant “B & IV” Southern corn' thin—about 
eight quarts per acre—early, if you can 
“chance it” until September 20, you will 
have little difficulty in getting a large yield 
of good silage from it; but you will not go 
wrong with your own kinds, only you may 
fail in getting so large a crop. Let the crop, 
whatever the kind of corn it may be, get ma¬ 
ture, passing out of the milk stage; then fill 
the silo. 
A good many lath and plaster a silo us¬ 
ing what is known as bovel lath put on a little 
bias so as to have the lath cross the cracks of 
the sheeting or inside lining boards. The 
cemtnt plaster is made very strong, and given 
a smooth finish. In the event of the cement 
proviug poor, it makes a bad job, and I doubt 
if the plastered silo will, in the end, prove 
superior to one double-boarded and painted 
with hot asphalt, or gas-tar and resin. 
Waushara and Marquette Counties in 
Central Wisconsin offer a striking illustration 
of what may sometimes be accomplished upon 
a poor soil by growing a special crop that is 
adapted to it. The soil of these counties con¬ 
sists largely of a poor, yellow sand, of little 
value for ordinary mixed farming. By the 
help of the fertility furnished by clover, how¬ 
ever, it yields good crops of potatoes of super¬ 
ior quality, and these two counties are becom¬ 
ing famous in the Northwest as the home of 
this most important article of food. It is not 
very uncommon to find a grower who raises 
10J acres of potatoes in a single season, though 
it must be confessed that the largest net 
profits have not generally come from these ex¬ 
travagantly large plantations. During a re¬ 
cent visit to this region, I had an opportunity 
of learning something of the methods of cul¬ 
ture practiced there, and thinking the infor¬ 
mation may have some interest to Rural 
readers, I send an abstract of it. 
The potatoes are generally grown upon clo¬ 
ver sod. After having been well plowed, the 
ground is marked one way with an ordinary 
corn-marker, and the other way with the 
riding cultivator having its shares arranged 
to form a furrow four to six inches deep. 
The hills are spaced three to three-and-a-half 
feet apart both ways. A single two-eye cut¬ 
ting from a tuber of medium size is dropped 
in each hill, when the row is covered with the 
cultivator. It is thought necessary to plant 
at least four inches deep A few growers 
prefer to use whole potatoes of small to 
medium size, but the majority appeared to 
favor the two-eye cuttings. After the plant¬ 
ing, the smoothing harrow is started, and its 
use is continued at intervals until the tops 
are two to three inches high. The Colorado 
beetle is destroyed with Paris-green either 
mixed with land plaster, or suspended in 
water. Many growers think that the fertiliz¬ 
ing value of the plaster is sufficient to repay 
its cost. Machines for applying the Paris- 
green mixtures are being tested, but have not 
as yet come much into use. 
The crop is dug exclusively by hand, the 
potato digger not having yet been tried to any 
considerable extent. In the light, sandy soil, 
the cost of diggiug by hand is not great, aud 
some growers regard the picking up as a more 
serious matter than the digging. The varie¬ 
ties most grown appeared to be White Star 
and Early and Late Beauty of Hebron. The 
Empire State is being tested, and seems to be 
generally satisfactory. But few sorts are 
grown, as the market calls for but three or 
four standard varieties. The crop is quite 
largely purchased by local buyers who store 
the potatoes in elevators at the railway 
stations. I visited one of these elevators which 
was said to contain 20,000 bushels. It was a 
long, rather narrow building, only one story 
high, but with a cellar extending under the 
whole. The potatoes were stored in huge bins 
reaching nearly to the ceiling and occupying 
th9 entire floors, with the exception of a 
narrow walk next to the outside. 
The building was built with double walls, 
aud the potatoes were kept from freezing by 
stoves. Potatoes are shipped from these 
elevators to Milwaukee and Chicago, the 
principal markets for this region, during 
moderate weather throughout the winter. 
The production of potatoes in thes9 counties 
appears to be rapidly increasing. It would 
probably increase faster than it does, but for 
the fact that potatoes being a very bulky 
crop, can be profitably grown only within a 
few miles of a railway station. The price at 
present rules low—from 18 to 20 cents per 
bushel—but it is claimed that at these figures 
the crop is fairly profitable. The price oc¬ 
casionally rises to 50 aud even 75 cents per 
bushel, aud then the crop proves highly re¬ 
munerative. About 200 bushels to the acre 
are considered a good yield, and the net 
profit from such a crop when sold at a fair 
price is often sufficient to pay for the land 
that produced it. 
Geneva, N. Y. 
Eumt (Topics. 
LIST OF HORTICULTURISTS AT THE 
EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 
The Committee appointed by the recent 
convention of Agricultural Colleges aud Ex¬ 
periment Stations, held at Knoxville, Tenn., 
to further co-operative work in horticulture, 
