4888 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. $84 
not been what it was formerly, and we 
are not doing so well. Our Russet was the 
best field potato and the best yielder, but was 
not wanted in other markets. The dry 
weather early in the spring injured our crop 
to some extent, and too much rain after it 
came up was not much better. The crop will 
not be quite up to the average in our vicinity. 
Corn is doing well Wheat is not quite as 
well as last year, having been injured by rust. 
Not much of it will weigh 60 pounds. 
Ohio County, Indiana. f. h. 
FROM M. C. NEWMAN. 
I use a potato digger or plow manufactured 
at Rising Sud, Indiana. With careful hands 
to pick up the tubers and harrowing once, we 
can get them as clean as by han d digging. I 
have known 9-) barrels headed up ready for 
shipment in half a day. A two-horse team 
and driver with four or five hands to pick 
them up will go over as much ground as a 
man and team will mark in a day. I don’t 
intend to get along without the plow. I have 
never estimated the actual cost of digging by 
hand or with the plow; but I would put the 
cost of the latter’s work at one-half that of the 
former, and when one wants his potatoes dug 
he can do so with the plow, and have done 
with the job. The most popular potatoes here 
are the Early Onio and Early and Late Rose. 
An average yield is 100 bushels per acre. Most 
of the potatoes grown on the Ohio River bot¬ 
toms are shipped to New Orleans; those grown 
in the interior, to Covington and Cincinnati 
at digging time. The crop pays as well now 
as formerly, where the grower can market it 
himself. I can only suggest to plant the best 
varieties on the best land with all the well 
rotted barn-yard manure one can give them, 
and to cultivate well. 
Boone County, Ky. 
• FROM D. S. SMITH. 
I grow four to five acres of potatoes. I 
used the Common Sense Potato Digg r one 
year. If the ground is clean and dry it does 
good work and saves labor. I can suggest no 
improvement except that for this soil it 
should be made of soft center steel and case- 
hardened like our best plows. For an early 
variety the Early Ohio, and for medium and 
late the Empire State are the most popular 
varieties hereabouts at present. 
Greene County, Iowa. 
SALT BOXES FOR FARM STOCK. 
It is just as necessary for the thrift of farm 
animals that they should have salt, as that 
their food should be clean and wholesome; 
futhermore, the salt should be so placed that 
it may be obtained by them whenever nature 
craves it, and they should not be obliged to 
wait until the attendant deals it out to them, 
and as this is usually done it would be at ir¬ 
regular periods and in irregular quantities. 
It is to suggest a good nnans of properly 
“ salting” stock that the designs of salt boxes 
shown at Fig. 227, are given. They are cheap 
Salt Boxes. Fig. 227. 
and simple affairs, but well adapted for the 
purpose intended. The object is to have a box 
holdiug a quart or more salt on the bottom, so 
arranged that when placed out-of-doors it will 
be accessible to stock and yet protected from 
rain. 
The one at the left, Fig. 227, is nearly a foot 
square and eight inches deep at the back, and 
six inches in front, which is only partly in¬ 
closed. The lid E projects one inch in front. 
The whole arrangement is firmly attached to 
a post or building. The salt is placed at B in 
sight of the stock which soon learn to push up 
the hinged cover with their noses, and help 
themselves whenever they so desire. The oue 
at the right is a little different, as the door is 
attached at the top, and is simply pressed 
against wben salt is needed. It is best to 
fasten the door back as shown, for a few days 
until the animals know what the box con¬ 
tains, and then it can be allowed to swing in 
position. Any one using these or similar 
boxes will be surprised at the frequency with 
which stock visit them, and the sight will, I 
trust, educate the farmer to be more liberal 
with salt in the future. l. d. s. 
Barrington, N. Y. 
SKIPPING SEED PLANTERS. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
Great ingenuity has been displayed in the 
invention of seed planters, and some of them 
seem to be, at least theoretically, perfect. 
Among these I have used in the garden the 
Planet Jr., and in the field the Eclipse for corn 
and beans, and the Aspinwall for potatoes. 
Going over the fields early in July, I was com¬ 
pelled to notice by far too many skips of seed 
or of fertilizer in both the horse machines. 
Where there was a long skip of fertilizer or 
seed, I am disposed to believe that in some, 
and perhaps in all cases, the fault was in the 
man rather than in the machine; that is, the 
man had neglected to fill the hoppers. But 
the man in charge was a careful one, besides 
being very handy aud ingenious, understand¬ 
ing and working farm machines as well as 
any hand 1 have employed. The land planted 
(some 40 acres in all), was part fallow and 
part turned sod, all well plowed and worked 
fine with the Cutaway and Thomas Harrows. 
There were of course some broken sods; and 
the surface, in places, was somewhat stony; 
but, on the whole, much better than the av¬ 
erage New England farm in both particular. 
1 do not think that the Eclipse Planter ever 
fails to drop the seed regularly, and with a 
good degree of evenness, if the seed is free 
from sticks and dirt. All my seed was care- 
tully hand-picked, and the “skips” were, 
strictly-speaking, not skips, but perhaps an 
even worse fault—the pushing along of the 
planted seed, making bare places with the seed 
bunched together at the N end. This is caused 
by the coverer picking up a piece of soil, or a 
stone or stick, and pushing it along until the 
accumulating obstacles cause it to lise and go 
over. As said above, the land was much 
smoother and treer from these hindrances 
than the average. 
The fertib'zer used was Stoekbridge, the me¬ 
chanical condition of which is certainly good; 
yet it was plainly to be seen along the bean 
rows where the full quantity was not distrib¬ 
uted, the crop showing exactly the increase 
and decrease, with the absolute skips, where 
no fertilizer escaped. Now soft lumps are 
found in the best fertilizers. In a sample sent 
me from a new fertilizer factory at the cop¬ 
per mines in Capelton, Quebec, (where acid 
from the power copper ore is used in connec¬ 
tion with apatite in making a very good and 
cheap superphosphate), the lumpiness fre¬ 
quently obstructed the machine, this being 
the only detect in the fertilizer, and one easi¬ 
ly remedied. I mention this to show that the 
trouble with the fertilizer feed in the Eclipse 
Planter is that the pipe conveying the fertil¬ 
izer becomes obstructed, when there are lumps 
in it. 
As to tne Aspinwall Planter, there are no 
signs of lack of uniformity in the distribu¬ 
tion of the fertilizer, the color and growth of 
the crop being very uniform; but there are 
a great many skips, mostly short, but in all 
equaling at least 10 per cent of the whole 
field. 1 hat the fault is in the machine is 
proved by the fact that about a-quarter of the 
field was planted by hand, before I got the 
machine. The wheel that picks up the sets is 
a most ingenious affair, and I followed along¬ 
side, watching it for some time when it first 
started, without noticing a skip; yet the crop 
shows distinctly that some were made, and 
generally, when made, the skip indicated a 
succession of misses,—from two to 10 or more, 
—before it began to plant again. If this can 
be nelped, this planter will do perfect work, 
and auy way I should use it. But I don’t like 
the waste of fertilizer, running out without 
seed. 
HOUSE FOR A FARMER. 
Because farmers do uot often patronize ar¬ 
chitects, few of their building plans are really 
adapted to a farmer’s needs. The building 
shown at Fig. 225 and 226 combines cheapness 
with beauty aud the conveniences of modern 
life. As it is nearly square aud has only one 
chimney and no expensive front hall and 
stairs it ought to be built almost anywhere, 
at from a $1,000 to $1,500, according to the 
finish. The kitchen and pantry are of good 
size; the back hall gives ample room fora 
farmer’s necessary changes of coats, hats, etc.; 
while the porch and its sink afford a conven¬ 
ient place for men to wash and await meals 
without being in the women’s way. By en¬ 
tering the cellar from the hall the expense 
and increased danger from frost of an outside 
cellar-way are saved. As shown by the dot¬ 
ted line, the ceiling of the hall next the kitchen 
is only seven feet in night, so as to permit the 
kitchen stove-pipe to enter the chimney above 
it. The vestibule in front, is large enough for 
a hat-rack and umbrella stand and is lighted 
by a glass door. The stair door might also 
have a circle of glass in it, and should open on 
top of the first step so as to indicate its char¬ 
acter to a stranger. Where nut coal can be 
cheaply procured the chimney proper may 
commence seven feet six inches from the first 
floor and the coal be conducted by a chute 
from a bin in the attic into the base of the 
chimney, beneath the flue, where if the in¬ 
ner shell has openings, and the outer, small 
doors, it is always convenient for each stove 
The kitchen side of the house can generally be 
backed against a hill side where a light, tem¬ 
porary bridge affords easy means of filling the 
bin. 
Upstairs,Fig 226,all the bed-rooms have clos- 
Upper Floor. Fig. 226. 
ets; there is ore in the hall for extra bedding and 
the bath-room is convenient for towels, soap, 
etc. The attic stairs start about two feet 
from the floor. The ball, bath-room and two 
smaller bed-rooms are heated by registers in 
the kitchen ceiling. The family and spare 
bed-rooms have access to the chimney. If 
stoves are closed when not in use, the pipes 
from all may enter one flue. Two tanks or 
cisterns in the attic, filled by pipes placed in 
the angles of the double roof, can supply 
water for the bath-room. A pipe entering 
the chimney and returning to one of the 
tanks would give a choice of cold or warm 
water. The kitchen, ball, etc., of this house 
could be built first, and the more costly front 
portion could be added afterward. 0 . T. s. 
Swanton, Md. 
DAIRY CONFERENCES IN CLINTON 
COUNTY, NEW YORK. 
IL 
Three conferences; number and kind of 
cows; their feed; treatment of the cream ; 
handling and sale of butter; large quan¬ 
tities held back for future sale. 
AT WEST BKEKMANTOWN. 
The conference at this place was held at the 
creamery of Mr. Thomas Me Gaulley, at 
which the milk from 400 cows and 60 patrons 
is daily made into butter. The cream was 
taken from the large vat into which it ran 
from the separator, after having ripened 37 
hours, at a temperature of 60 degrees; the 
machine is a 25-inch Danish Weston, run at a 
speed of 2,700 revolutions. The cream was 
churned in a Blanchard 200-gallon box churn. 
The butter was washed in the churn, placed 
on a “ Mason’s Improved Center-drip” revolv¬ 
ing worker, salted with Ashton salt at the 
rate of 1% ounce to the pound and packed in 
62-pound packages. The cream was churned 
at 60 degrees; the temperature of the butter 
was 64 degrees. It was washed in the churn 
with water at 45 degrees. Pounds of milk 
creamed 6,682; pounds of butter produced 
293%; ratio, one pound of butter to 22.76 
pounds of milk. Quality very good. The 
cows are pastured on common uiland pasture 
on which grow native grasses. No grain 
ration is fed. There is plenty of spring brook 
water in the pastures. The animals are salted 
at least once a week, and the milking is done 
at 5 A m. and 6 pm. The milk is delivered at 
the creamery only once a day—in the morn¬ 
ing. The cream is ripened in a large vat at 
a temperature of 60 degrees regulated with 
ice, which is put into the cream, the work be¬ 
ing done by the creamery man. 
The afternoon churning was of cream from 
the herd of Mr E. A. Rea, of East Beekman- 
town; 267 pounds of milk were creamed in a 
Cooley Creamer. It was the product of six 
cows, one of which was a pure Jersey, two Jer¬ 
sey grades, a Holstein grade, and two na¬ 
tives. The milk was set 24 hours, at a tem¬ 
perature of 40 degrees. The cream ripened in 24 
hours, at a temperature of 62 degrees t< 64 de¬ 
grees. It was churned in a Stoddard Churn at 
60 degrees, by band, at 60 revolutions per min¬ 
ute. Time of churning one hour. The butter was 
washed in the churn and worked on the 
creamery worker, salted with Syracuse salt 
one ounce to the pound. Product 11% pounds; 
ratio, one of butter to 23 21 of mi'k. The 
cows have common upland native grass pas¬ 
ture, plenty of rurning water and they are 
salted every day. The butter is mostly sold in 
Plattsburgh, to private customers, at 23 cents 
per pound. The water used at this creamery is 
trom a well, showing a temperature of 45 de¬ 
grees; it is pumped into a large vat on the sec¬ 
ond story of the building, where is also locat¬ 
ed a steam-box where the butter packages are 
steamed, then soaked. The packages used are 
Welch tubs of ash and spruce, holding 62 
pounds each. The butter is sold a 3 fast as 
possible, mostly to hotels in the Adirondacks, 
at prices averaging 23 cents per pound, deliv¬ 
ered on the trains. 
The conference was held in the school-house, 
which was more than filled by an interested 
audience. Messrs. Gilbert and Curtis did the 
talking, or rather instructing. After the ad¬ 
journment, an agricultural society to he called 
the “Plattsburg and Beekmantown Agricul¬ 
tural Society,” was started by the appoint¬ 
ment of a secretary and committee of five 
from each town. These are to meet and per¬ 
fect the organization. It is hoped that much 
good will be the outcome of this conference. 
at mooer’s. 
Ac this creamery, which is one of Mr. 
Boomhower’s, the milk is bought by him. 
At Saranac aud Ellenburgh, and at the Peru 
cheese-factory it is made up for the pafons. 
There are 60 patrons and 450 cows. Three 
huudred packages containing 62 pounds of 
butter each, are in cold storage at the cream¬ 
ery. Very good butter is produced. The 
cream is raised by a 15-inch Danish Weston 
machine; ratio now one to 23 : 7,200 pounds 
of milk are now received daily: maximum 
receipts 9,200 pounds. Average price for 
milk, SO cents per 100 pounds. But one 
churniDg was done—the afternoon’s. The 
cream was from the dairy of H. J Hill, one 
of the patrons of the creamery; 184 pounds of 
milk from Monday night’s and Tuesday 
morning's milkings were set in Fairlamb 
cans, in spring water at a temperature of 
50 degrees. The milk was skimmed Wed¬ 
nesday morning, and on Wednesday even¬ 
ing the cream was mixed and left 
in a Fairlamb can, placed on the house 
piazza at a temperature of 65 degrees, where 
it was left to ripen till Thursday morning, 
when it was drawn four miles to the creamery, 
cooled down to 60 degrees, and churned in 
two churnings at 2 and 3 p. m. in a Stoddard 
Churn, driven by hand power. Temperature 
ot cream 64 degrees, of butter 66; average 
time 28 minutes; product 8% pounds of 
butter; ratio, one of butter to21 64 pounds of 
milk. The herd consists of two Ayrshire and 
Short-horn crosses, one Holstein grade, and 
eight Short-hoin grades. The cream w^as 
from the milk of the eight Short-born grades 
only. The pasture is both low and upland, 
consisting of June Grass, Timothy and White 
Clover. The grain ration fed was eight 
quart* of wheat middlings in two feeds, per 
