722 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 17 
If tke corn is dried for a length of time we should 
require to put back all that was dried out, and per¬ 
haps more, for the reason it could not be as uniformly 
distributed as were the original juices of the plant. 
The average per cent of water found in corn stover 
is 40; we would therefore conclude that there was a 
direct loss of water through sun-drying of 35 to 40 
per cent. If we should replace this loss, it would 
require 700 to 800 pounds for each ton. I feel sure 
these figures are quite safe to work from. I have 
silaged corn that was quite dry, so that the leaves 
would rattle, and had the best of silage. Just how 
much water had been lost I am unable to say, perhaps 
20 per cent. If so then we would have lost half of the 
amount that usually dries out when the corn is 
shocked, and to bring back this amount would call 
for 350 to 400 pounds per ton. Again, the water con¬ 
tent of the shocks would depend to a degree upon the 
weather. If frequent rains occur, or even much 
cloudy weather, the per cent of water will be higher. 
If the days are dry and clear the result will be other¬ 
wise. I put in frozen corn a few years ago, and used 
about 300 pounds to a load of probably 3,000 pounds. 
I think, however, that less would have done equally 
as well. I do not think there will be much danger of 
using too much. I should want to cut corn to feel 
wet after drying and being run into the silo, and then 
should take the chances on all coming out well. 
New York. ___ e. cook. 
QUESTIONS ABOUT HAIRY VETCH. 
Will the man from Maine who writes about the Hairy 
vetch on page 594 answer a few questions? At what time 
does he sow the seed? How is it sown, broadcast or 
drilled? How much seed is sown per acre? Where can 
it be bought, and at what price? When does he plow it 
under? w\ 
Fulton. N. Y. 
We usually sow the seed for cover crops at the 
time of the last harrowing—the first or second week 
in August. After the ground is thoroughly stirred 
the seed is sown broadcast, using from one-half to 
one bushel per acre, and then lightly covered with 
the Acme harrow. This year the seed was sown Au¬ 
gust 12, and there is now (August 28) an excellent 
stand. The seed of Hairy vetch may be bought from 
most of the leading seedsmen. Our stock this year 
cost $7 per bushel. The price is very high, and if a 
considerable amount were to be used it might well 
be produced upon the home farm. With the increased 
demand for the seed there will soon be an increased 
supply, however, and the price must drop. The time 
for turning under the crop will depend upon latitude, 
soil and season. In the Experiment Station orchard 
the cover crop is usually turned under from the mid¬ 
dle of May to the first of June. In New York the time 
would doubtless be at least two weeks earlier. On 
general principles, if the ground is inclined to be wet, 
it is well to allow the cover crop to grow long enough 
to pump out some of the surplus moisture. On soils 
which are inclined to be dry, however, the croj) 
should be turned under as early as the first of May. 
Maine Exp. Station. w. m. munson. 
COLD FROM CALIFORNIA ORCHARDS. 
At some places near the Sacramento River in Cali¬ 
fornia peach orchards and vineyards were planted on 
riverside land. Some of these lands rest upon a 
stratum of gold-bearing gravel. The gold in this 
gravel is often worth more than the orchards, and 
we are told that some fruit growers are turning gravel 
miners and dredging over the entire soil. Dredgers 
are used, which work in from the river, scooping up 
the soil to a depth of 30 feet. This soil is all washed 
for gold, and after the precious metal has been ex¬ 
tracted the dirt is pumped out and deposited in the 
rear. The Pacific Rural Press gives the following 
figures: 
Cf the extent of these operations in a single district, 
it may be stated that on the gravelly bottom land below 
Oroville, upon a strip of land nine miles long by two 
miles in width, bordering on and adjacent to the Feather 
River, 21 dredgers are at present working. These dredg¬ 
ers are the property of about 12 companies, who own 
dredging land varying from 80 to 800 acres. Some indi¬ 
cation of the profit in the work is found in statements 
giving the value of the gravel between 17 cents and 19 
cents per cubic yard, an average depth of 11 yards. As 
a dredfrer handles from 1,200 to 2,000 cubic yards per day, 
at a cost of from five to eight cents—average six cents— 
per cubic yard, it is evident that the returns in this work 
are considerable. But the miners near Oroville are get¬ 
ting rather low-grade bullion for a very interesting rea¬ 
son. This region has been a great small game country, 
and during the last 50 years doubtless thousands of 
pounds of shot have been scattered over the gravels 
which the dredger is now recovering. Nor does it re 
quire such reckless shooting on the part of these old 
hunters to reduce the bullion grade as would at first 
appear. An expert has calculated that to reduce the 
value of the bullion from $19 to $17 per ounce for each 
acre, 50 ordinary shotguns, 12 gauge, would furnish 
enough shot. The baseness of the bullion, however, does 
not truthfully represent the amount of shot, as on most 
of the dredgers the lead is separated by panning, and 
carefully picked, before the bullion is melted. On one 
dredger the.v collected about 50 pounds of shot from 
about two acres of gravel. Occasionally a pistol ball Is 
found, recalling the golden, glorious old days of Cali¬ 
fornia history, when quick shooting was a civic virtue. 
This dredging certainly gives “thorough culture” 
which ought to make the next crop of peaches shine. 
CO-OPERATION IN SELLING. 
I am a manufacturer and also own a farm. I do 
not spend as much time on the farm as I would like 
to, but do spend enough to see the mistakes and 
troubles of the farmers. I think you can do a great 
deal of good by constant talk along the line of the 
farmers doing as the business men are doing to-day, 
and that is consolidation. I do not see why one man 
cannot market more of the stuff raised on the farm. 
The creameries have done a great good in making 
better butter as well as in getting more for it and at 
a small fraction of the expense. "Why could not the 
same man sell the maple sugar? He could sell for 
25 farms just as cheap as he could for one. He should 
be trained for the work. The sugar ought to be put 
up in the shape of candy, and not compete with cane 
sugar. The creameries could do that just as well as 
they can take the cream and make it into butter. 
The different agents could get together and fix prices 
which would give the farmer a reasonable profit. 
If the manufacturers ran their business on the same 
plan that the farmers do they would not run long. 
They have picked men to look after each department, 
and a picked man to sell the goods, and often the 
man who sells the goods will handle several lines, 
but a farmer tries to do both, and then wonders why 
DR. CUMAIINGS PEACH. Fig. 270, 
he does not make more. He should join with his 
neighbors and hire a good salesman and get a good 
price for his goods. f. o. wei.i.s. 
Massachusetts. 
BRIEF FERTILIZER TALKS. 
Hauling Manure; Use of Wood Ashes. 
1. I can get all the stable manure from city stable.s 
eight miles away for the drawing. \V!jlI it pay me to get 
it with one horse, or would i better buy chemicals at 
market prices? 2. Which would be better for fertilizing 
fruit trees, wood ashes or a mixture of nitrate of soda, 
sulphate of potash and acid phosphate? r. e. t. 
Ashby, Mass. 
1. It will depend on the cost of hauling the manure. 
It is doubtful if you can haul with one horse much 
over $2 worth of plant food at a load. That is, for $2 
you can probably buy as much nitrogen, potash and 
phosphoric acid in the form of chemicals as you can 
haul in one load of manure. This manure will of 
course be better as a mulch. If a farmer has little 
else to do in Winter it might pay him to haul manure 
eight miles, but he will not make large wages at it. 
In our country, where the hills are steep and the roads 
are rough it would only pay to do this in the best 
of weather. Still, it is likeiy that .a farmer often 
works with his team at jobs which pay less than $1 
per day! 2. Wood ashes alone will not equal the 
combination because the ashes contain no nitrogen, 
which is a necessity in fruit growing. The 'ashes 
with nitrate of soda or tankage or bone added will 
do as well as the mixture, provided you use enough 
of the ashes to furnish needed potash and phosphoric 
acid. Ashes contain lime and are excellent for all 
trees, provided they can be bought low enough to.get 
the potash at a reasonable price. 
What Fertilizers To Use. 
We frequently receive questions from readers who 
wish to know what proportions of nitrogen, potash 
and phosphoric acid they should use in mixing chemi¬ 
cals. It is hard to give a definite answer, because 
much depends on the crop and the condition of the 
soil. The Ohio Experiment Station, after much study 
of poor soil which has been under cultivation for a 
long time, suggests the following combinations: 
Percentage Composition. 
Ammo- Phos. Pot- 
Conditions. nia. acid. ash. 
For crops immediately following clover..1 1.3 •> 
For crops 1 or 2 years after clover.3 12 3 
For crops 2 or 3 years after clover.4 12 4 
For crops on exhausted soils.6 11 6 
This is meant for poor soil on which the usual farm 
crops are grown. This gives a good idea of the great 
value of clover as a fertilizer. Six times as much 
nitrogen and three times as much potash are needed 
on exhausted land as for crops which follow just after 
clover. On that soil there seems to be a special need 
for phosphoric acid. On the other hand, investigation 
in Texas on garden crops and fruit indicate the fol¬ 
lowing crop needs: 
Relative amounts of— 
Available 
Nitro 
Kind of crop. gen. 
Tomatoes .4 
Irish potatoes . ..4 
Onions . 4 
Melons .4 
Cabbages .4 
Beets . 4 
Strawberries .4 
Sweet potatoes .1 
Beans .l 
Corn .3 
Cotton .3 
Oats .3 
Cucumbers .4 
In this case the garden crops are grown on sandy 
land with clay subsoil, and corn and cotton on land 
naturally richer. No manure is to be used with these 
Pot¬ 
ash. 
B 
6 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
6 
4 
4 
Phosphoric 
acid. 
7 per cent 
7 “ 
7 “ 
8 " 
8 “ 
8 “ 
8 “ 
7 
7 " 
7 " 
9 " 
9 " 
8 " 
fertilizers. It will thus be seen that except where 
there is a good ciover sod to be plowed under the 
cheap “superphosphate” cannot be expected to give a 
large yield. 
Pea vines and Lime as Manure. 
Will it pay to draw peavines two miles for spreading 
under apple trees and on land intended for oats next 
year? Our land is clay loam with red clay subsoil. We 
can get vines from canning factory from 150 acres of 
peas for the drawing next Winter; also air-slaked lime 
at $2 per ton. drawing lime three miles and vines two 
miles. s. a. a. 
Holley. N. Y. 
The following table shows some comparative 
figures: 
Pounds In One fi'on. 
Nitro- Phos. Pot- 
gen. acid. ash. 
Manure .10 6 13 
Green clover .12 2V^ 12 
Peas .10 2% 8 
.Ypples . 2V2 1 3'4 
Turni!)s . 31/> 2y> 8 
This analysis of peavines contained the peas. .V 
ton of such vines as you mention will contain net 
far from 70 per cent as much plant food as average 
manure. We would like the chance of hauling them 
to use as mulch around apple trees. If spread on 
the ground this Winter and plowed under in Spring 
they will certainly help the oats. It will surprise 
some readers to be told that a ton of green clover 
contains about as much actual plant food as a ton 
of average manure. Probably most farmers will say 
that they have plowed under clover and never found 
it as quick to respond as an equal weight of manure. 
This is true, for the manure contains a part of its 
nitrogen in such condition that it is ready for plane 
food at once, while the clover must be thoroughly 
rotted before it will be ready. Of course 
in all such plans for hauling manure or refuse 
the cost of man and team must be considered. Air- 
siaked iime at $2 per ton is a good bargain, especially 
for use on clay soils. At such a price we would use 
at least 1,500 pounds of lime per acre every five years 
—if possible when seeding down in the Fall. 
APPLES IN HUDSON VALLEY. 
Thi.s Spring I set an orchard of about 400 apple trees, 
and as I have still room for nearly 100 more I would like 
to know of the merits of Banana and Grimes. Are they 
valuable for market or only for family use? Is either 
.suitable for a filler? What do you consider better fancy 
market apples for permanent and filler trees for this 
locality? , w. h. 
Kinderhook, N. Y. 
Banana and Grimes are both early yellow Winter 
apples of very high quality. The trees begin to bear 
reasonably early and are as regular bearers as the 
average. They both sell very well in market, espe¬ 
cially to those who appreciate a really good apple. In 
the Hudson Valley they will begin to be eatable about 
October to November, and in good storage rooms may 
be kept nearly all Winter, or at least past January in 
ordinary years. These varieties would be good for 
fillers between such kinds as Northern Spy and Sut¬ 
ton, which, I think, are among the best for perma¬ 
nent trees for that section. Jonathan would also be 
suitable for fancy market, and would do either for the 
permanent trees or fillers. The old and delicious 
Esopus is one of the best apples for New York, and 
when the trees are well sprayed the fruit is as good 
there now as it was many years ago. If these apples 
are well grown, graded with scrupulous care, packed 
in bushel boxes and offered to the fancy trade they 
would surely sell at a good price. I know fancy cus¬ 
tomers in New York City who are now inquiring for 
just such fruit, R. e- y, d. 
