HE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
35 
1903 ^ 
n CO OPERATIVE CORNSTALK SHREDDER. 
Ohio Neighbors Get Together. 
There are perhaps many farmers who realize the 
value and convenience of shredded fodder but do not 
feel that the results justify the expense of personally 
owning a shredder. Two years ago we hired a husker 
and shredder, the first one ever in our community, at 
$10 per day. But with cold weather, short days, mov¬ 
ing the machine, etc., we found it a very expensive 
method. Besides, the owner was some distance from 
home and did not like to stop work when the fodder 
was not in the best condition for storing. Last year 
eight of us, neighbors, bought a McCormick husker 
and shredder, including a knife grinder, etc., for $225, 
or $25 per share, as one stockholder was allowed two 
shares, he having about twice as much corn as the 
others. He also had to furnish two men when husk¬ 
ing, as it took nine to work it up to full capacity; two 
in the field to load, three to haul corn from field, one 
to haul husked corn and three around the machine, to 
haul water and keep the thing moving in general. 
They also took turns in feeding, as that was perhaps 
the hardest work in connection with it. 
Each shareholder was charged three cents per 
shock, 144 hills, for what he had husked, and was al¬ 
lowed 10 cents per hour for helping the others, no 
charge being made for teams or wagons, as they would 
have been idle anyway. We found this better than 
husking at so much per bushel, as it was less bother. 
If one’s corn was good and large, it cost him less pro¬ 
portionately than his neighbor, but as it took longer 
to husk it he had to pay for more labor, and vice 
versa, so that at the settlement things were pretty 
well evened up. W^e hired a man with his traction 
engine and necessary outfit, at 50 cents per hour 
actual running time. As most of us had considerable 
stock to feed we began at 8 A. M. and quit at 4 P. M., 
so that we were not “rushed to death.’’ If the fodder 
or fields were not in good condition we quit until they 
were. One of the number kept account of the shocks 
and time we were at work. In 110 
hours we husked 1,700 shocks, which 
made at least 3,500 bushels shelled 
corn. Much of the crop had been 
hvisked by hand before getting the 
machine. 
This plan gave very good satisfac¬ 
tion. This year, however, we have 
not accomplished much as the weath¬ 
er has been so unfavorable. We 
found no difficulty in keeping the 
fodder, if practically dry when shred¬ 
ded. The blower is much better than 
the old style carrier, as that requires 
a, man in the mow, which causes the 
fodder to heat where tramped over. 
We tried stacking the fodder and It 
kept very well, except where the 
blower deposited on the stack. But 
it was quite a job to stack It, and 
much of the lightest and best parts 
of the fodder were blown entirely off the stack. It 
was also quite a task to haul the shredded fodder to 
the barn, as it Is difficult to handle by ordinary 
means. A neighbor had some baled, but did not find 
it profitable selling it in competition with hay at $10. 
He said the bales were nearly all moldy when opened 
for feeding. Shredded fodder is all right If one has 
mow room to store it, and plenty of stock to con¬ 
sume it, otherwise we doubt its value when com¬ 
pared with Its cost. 
Newark, 0. _ 
PROBLEMS IN BARN BUILDING. 
A short time ago my barns were destroyed by fire, and 
another season I shall have to build new. Through your 
valued paper, I think I can get Ideas from different sec¬ 
tions of the country. I want but one barn, and that large 
enough to stable 60 to 75 head of cattle besides other 
stock and to hold fodder enough to feed the same. Our 
farm’ contains about 200 acres, nearly all tillable. I 
would like suggestions as to the best kind of stable floors, 
cow ties, and whether best to have the cows’ heads or 
tails together. 
Chateaugay, N. Y. 
It is very hard indeed to draw plans without some 
knowledge of the location and desire of the builder. 
3f an elevation Is at hand no doubt a two-story barn 
will be most economical. Such a barn, which has 
much to commend it, was figured last year, and is 
repeated at Fig. 17. This barn has convenience, two 
;stories and also architectural appearance, which ought 
not to be disregarded so long as it does not interfere 
with convenience. A single-story barn has but one 
objection; increased roofing in proportion to the space 
inclosed. But for convenience and quick work in car¬ 
ing for stock at a minimum cost of labor this style 
will usually win. We have both In use, and use none 
other than cement fioors. The only objection is easily 
removed by putting on a rough finish instead of the 
smooth glassy finish so often given when the trowel 
is brought into free use. Bedding firmly adheres and 
the animal does not feel the cold floor. It is also dur¬ 
able, and once built neither use or fire will destroy it. 
There are numerous cow ties used and upon the mar¬ 
ket. While I do not feel like giving advice where 
notions are so widely varying as they are upon cow 
fasteners, I do believe that no more economical, con¬ 
venient and ever ready fastener is upon the market 
than the swing stanchion hung with chains; side 
pieces small, so that they would not interfere with 
the animal turning her neck and having every free¬ 
dom of a tie. We have cows standing heads together 
and towards tne wall. It is perhaps more convenient 
in feeding to have heads together, but this very small 
gain is more than overcome by the ease of handling 
the manure from both gutters at one haul, and less 
width required for two rows of cows; 34 to 36 feet 
will suffice, while 40 to 42 feet will not be too much 
for the heads together. We must remember that for 
warmth and perfect ventilation a cow must not have 
to exceed 500 cubic feet air space. We must therefore 
arrange for a minimum stable for a given amount of 
stock. Thousands of dollars have been worse than 
wasted in building overgrown stables. Let us now 
come to a rational understanding of this question, and 
understand that pure air comes from a constant 
change in a small room rather than infrequent 
change in a large room. No doubt the best side wall 
is matched boards, both Inside and outside of the 
studding, thus preventing quick condensation upon 
the side walls. _ u. e. cook. 
MAPES, THE HEN MAN. 
BEDDING HOGS.—The coal strike has affected 
many lines of business, and even the pig business has 
not escaped. We were counting on a liberal supply of 
shavings to use as an absorbent this Winter, but the 
planing mill where we usually get our supply has 
been unable to procure coal to run its boilers much of 
the time, and resorted to the use of its shavings as 
fuel with which to keep up steam. The Idea of being 
caught with a hundred hogs penned up In small 
space, and no bedding supply is not suggestive of 
cleanliness. The following arrangement works very 
satisfactorily as a substitute for bedding, but is waste¬ 
ful of fertilizer. We keep 25 to 30 pigs In each pen. 
They always use the same corner of the pen for their 
bed, and In this corner we placed a rack made by 
nailing six-inch strips of fencing to 2x6-inch stud¬ 
ding, laid on edge on the floor In this corner. This 
rack is six feet wide and 16 feet long, with five-eighths- 
inch crack between each board. The floor under It 
is made with a slope, so that the end of the rack on 
which the pigs lie is higher than the other end of 
the rack. By cleaning oft the floor of the pen every 
morning while the pigs are out eating their slop at 
the long trough across the yard, we can keep It rea¬ 
sonably clean, and the high end of the rack which the 
pigs use as their sleeping quarters Is always dry and 
clean in the morning. If any manure works through 
the cracks to the six-inch space between the floor 
and the rack, the rack is easily turned on edge so It 
can be scraped out. 
FEEDING THE HENS.—We got our hens equipped 
with that “big appetite for more than a maintenance 
ration” by the semi-starvation plan, and have now 
begun to feed them up again. The plan of feeding a 
wet mash of the balanced ration twice a day has some 
•bjections in cold weather, so we have abandoned it 
for a time at least It is not pleasant to have to hitch 
up a horse and wagon and distribute the wet feed 
twice a day In severe Winter weather. If a little too 
much of the wet feed Is placed in the troughs it often 
freezes fast in the trough before morning. A supply 
of whole corn was accordingly placed in each house, 
since corn Is the main dependence for whole grain in 
Winter, and a morning mash is being fed in connec¬ 
tion with the whole corn. In preparing this mash I 
tried to make it abound in the nutrients which are 
deficient in the corn. These are protein and mineral 
matter. Our first batch of feed Is composed as fol¬ 
lows: Wheat middlings (fine), 500 pounds; wheat 
bran (ships), 400 pounds; gluten, 200 pounds; malt 
sprouts, 100 pounds; animal meal, 200 pounds. In 
wetting this we use hot skim-milk In part (as we 
have it), and piece it out with hot water. 
What reasons did I have for choosing this mixture? 
The gluten is rich in protein. The wheat feeds are 
rich in both protein and mineral matter, in which 
corn Is deficient. The malt sprouts furnish vegetable 
matter in cheap and convenient form. Probably cab¬ 
bage and cut clover would be preferable for this, but 
not so convenient or cheap. The animal meal and 
skim-milk furnish the animal food which seems so 
essential for egg production. If the hens’ appetites 
only prove equal to 3% ounces each per day of dry 
matter, I shall confidently look for a steady gain at 
the egg basket. They start the new year with only 
about 60 eggs a day. I noticed that one flock (No. 
35) is particularly ravenous for their feed. Casting 
about for a cause, I discovered to-day that there are 
60 hens in this house. Most of the pens are supposed 
to have only 50 hens, and one new man has been giv¬ 
ing this pen only the same allowance as the smaller 
Rocks. They have thus got the starvation treatment 
with a vengeance. I shall watch the behavior of this 
flock with particular interest. 
FERTILIZER NOTES.—I am of an inventive turn 
of mind, and always like to look for the reason of 
things. When I see an effect I like to know the 
cause. When I sprinkled nitrate of soda on that hill¬ 
side of Timothy last Summer, in the form of my ini¬ 
tials, and saw it write O. W. M. on the field In living 
characters of green, which could easily be traced a 
mile away, I knew at once that there was a good 
cause for the effect which I saw. What could it be? 
The field was newly seeded and had a moderate top¬ 
dressing of stable manure the previous Winter. In 
spite of this the effect of the nitrate of soda stood out 
as plainly as the best type could 
place it on a blank page. Just at 
this time The R. N.-Y. (Hope Farm 
Notes) came to my rescue with the 
information that the nitrogen of or¬ 
ganic matter is not available as plant 
food until after it is released by bac¬ 
terial action from its combination 
with carbon and other matter with 
which it has been combined by plant 
and animal life. I saw at once, with 
a shock almost as great as though 
I had discovered perpetual mo¬ 
tion, that here Is one of the great¬ 
est secrets of nature which science 
has yet unlocked for the farm¬ 
er. The key fits many a lock 
which I have never before been 
able to open. One of these con¬ 
tains the secret of Mr. Clark’s 
success in raising larger crops of 
grass than the rest of us have been able to do. We 
have learned that he feeds the plant instead of trying 
to “feed the land”; that he takes two crops a year 
from his sod, and feeds his plants every time a new 
crop starts to grow. In other words, he fertilizes 
twice a year, but does not use large applications at 
any one time. Also, he uses no nitrogen except in 
the form of a nitrate which is at once soluble in water 
and available as plant food. [He uses bone, which 
contains nitrogen.—Eds.] 
The field on which I got the effect of printer’s ink 
from soluble nitrogen would not raise good Timothy, 
even with a fair application of stable manure. Yet 
this same field would raise fine clover. Three years 
previously it was a veritable posy bed with clover 
blooms. I sold the crop on the ground to a man who 
lives three miles away. He cut It in June, cured It 
in good weather, and drew it home at once. It at¬ 
tracted attention as he drew it past our neighbors’ 
premises as being the most fragrant loads of hay ever 
drawn over that road. This was another of the 
“locks” which I had no key to fit. Why would soil 
that would grow such clover refuse to raise good 
Timothy? That good clover sod had been plowed 
under in the meantime, which must have furnished a 
good deal of organic nitrogen, in addition to what 
had been applied with the stable manure. With the 
new “key” in my hand I can now see that the clover 
plants found plenty of potash and phosphoric acid in 
the soil, and had the power to draw their nitrogen 
from the air. The Timothy plants lack this power 
to draw a supply of nitrogen from the air, and have 
no power to draw it from the soil, so long as it is in 
organic forms. Hence, if weather conditions, etc., 
are not such as to change it into soluble and avail¬ 
able forms the 'fimothy plants must starve in the 
midst of plenty. A fuller knowledge of nature’s laws 
will explain many such mysteries to us. o. w. ka-pes. 
SAMPLE OF PINK ROT ON APPLE SCAB. Fro. 19. 
