834 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 5 
rich yellow cream, and springs out at once when the 
hark is cut, but soon subsides to a very lazy trickle. 
One or two ounces may be exuded from each cut before 
the surface glazes. When a sufficient number of trees 
was tapped a return was made to the first one, calcu¬ 
lating to reach it in about three hours after tapping; 
the milk was emptied into a calabash, the shell re¬ 
placed to catch any slight further dripping, and the 
trees revisited in the same sequence until the day’s 
output was collected. We would seldom get more 
than three gallons, which was about all that could be 
carried in the cliumsy calabashes. 
COAGULATING THE RUBBER.—On arriving home 
the milk was poured into a large turtle shell of the 
capacity of a washtuh, together with that of other col¬ 
lections in partnership, a fire kindled and fed with 
dried palm nuts, about the shape and size of a lemon. 
A large funnel-like vessel of clay made without a bot¬ 
tom but encircled with draft holes was Inverted over 
the burning nuts, so that the dense yellow fragrant 
smoke was confined to a column three inches across. 
One of the stay-at-home natives then took a paddle¬ 
shaped implement made of hard wood, and disposing 
himself comfortably, would alternately dip the paddle 
in the milk, hold it in the smoke, turning it over and 
over for a few seconds until the coating hardened into 
a film of honey-colored rubber. This was repeated 
until the pad of rubber amounted to four or five 
pounds, when it was cut down one side and placed 
under shelter to cure. This forms the famous Para 
rubber—^the best in the world. It is worth consider¬ 
ably over $1 a pound now, though much l|ess at the 
time mentioned. A gallon of milk yields about two 
pounds of rubber. The poor hunters could make tol¬ 
erable incomes if they were fairly treated. The occu¬ 
pation as at present conducted is rather unhealthy, 
and not free from the dangers incident to wild coun¬ 
tries. In time it will yieljd to improved conditions, 
but changes take place slowly in the far interior of 
South America. w. v. k. 
fl PENNSYLVANIA CELERY FARM. 
TAPPING ONE OF NATURE’S POCKETS. 
Heavy Fertilizing in a Swamp. 
Papt II. 
This idea of regarding the “richest soil outdoors” 
as only the plate from which tlie crop eats its dinner, 
wihh startle many farmers, whose idea of soil culture 
is to put fertility slowly into the soil and then take it 
out again. I speak of this fertilizing which Mr. Niles 
has done so that we may understand that there is no 
cast-iron rule in farming. We must study out the 
method and plan which is best adapted to our crop 
and soil. I visited this valley in October, saw the cel¬ 
ery then growing, compared it with other crops grown 
with other fertilizers and saw the figures. There can 
be no question about the success of this experiment 
both as regards the quality of the crop and the re¬ 
turns from it. Up to November 10 there had been 
shipped over 50,000 dozen plants from 30 acres, which 
brought about 20 cents per dozen—and there were 
more to follow! As most celery growers know, this 
has been a hard season, but Mr. Niles has been able 
to push his crop steadily along, since there has never 
been a day when the plants did not have close at hand 
a full supply of available plant food. On part of the 
field Mr. Niles used 2,700 pounds per acre. During 
this cold and wet season we have all known crops 
which we supposed were well fertilized to stand still 
and refuse to grow. The chief reason was that the 
fertilizer used contained organic forms of nitrogen, 
which could not be made available in cold or sour 
soils. This celery crop did not stop growing because 
it had, close at hand, a supply of availahle food which 
fed it regardless of the condition of the soil. Where 
low-grade fertilizers were used the crop was expected 
to obtain part of its nitrogen from the natural soil, 
and in a season like the past this was almost impos¬ 
sible. One advantage of stable manure in such soils 
is that it “warms” them or starts bacterial action, so 
that such cold soil is “cooked” or slowly gives up its 
plant food. The high-grade fertilizer is already 
“cooked” and is available anywhere. 
It will be said that 3,000 pounds of fertilizer per 
acre is very expensive manuring. If one were raising 
wheat or corn it would not pay, but when such celery 
gives average returns of $350 per acre the cost seems 
much smaller. Mr. Niles showed us an acre where 
lettuce had been grown. Last year this acre was 
rough swamp. It cost nearly $100 to fit such an acre 
for the plow and harrow. One ton of fertilizer was 
used. The seed was sown on July 28 and shipping 
began September 15. Counting the small crop left at 
the time of my visit, the lettuce from this acre will 
bring over $900. 
Mr. Niles has a small crop of R. N.-Y. No. 2 pota¬ 
toes growing in the swamp. This variety is not noted 
for high quality, and when grown on heavy soil is 
quite likely to be soggy and hollow-hearted. One 
would think they would surely be inferior when 
grown in the sour, sticky soil, but I was surprised to 
find them firm and white, with not a speck of black 
heart. These potatoes were grown on the same prin¬ 
ciple on which the celery was handled—with a heavy 
application of a fertilizer rich in potash, without con¬ 
sidering the natural fertility in the soil. Mr. Niles 
says that a fair crop of potatoes can be grown in this 
swamp soil without any fertilizer whatever, but that 
the tuhers are watery and heavy. 
I wish to call special attention to this plan of using 
large quantities of fertilizer on this rich land. It is 
the keynote of Mr. Niles’s success thus far. I am not 
advising every farmer to follow the same plan with 
every crop. That would be absurd; I merely give the 
facts about this celery farm in this particular swamp. 
It is true, however, that all truck growers, or those 
who grow crops which sell at a high price, generally 
agree that it pays to use manure or plant food heavily 
—far in excess of what the crop takes out of the soil. 
What would be thought of a feeder who expected a 
steer or a hog to make one pound of gain for each 
pound of food consumed? After much experimenting 
Mr. Niles concludes that his best results are obtained 
by using half the fertilizer broadcast—before planting. 
This is mixed with the soil by using a spring-tooth 
harrow set to work about three inches deep. After 
this has been done the ground is marked out; then a 
Planet Jr. cultivator, set so that it will make a trench 
eight to 10 inches wide and four to five inches deep, 
is run over the marks to make rows. The remaining 
fertilizer is then sown in these trenches, after which 
the cultivator teeth are reversed and roller attached. 
When this is run up and dowu the rows the soil is 
thrown back, covering the fertilizer and preparing the 
ridge for setting the plants. By this preparation the 
cel^y is'induced to root deeper, so that it will not be 
injured in banking up. it. w. c. 
Bf\RN PLANS FOR COWS. 
Any breed of cows may be crowded in too small a 
space for their best health and largest production of 
milk and butter. Very many barns, especially the 
older ones, are too Ipw between joints to afford ade¬ 
quate air space without putting too few into a given 
fioor area. The ventilation will be better and it will 
be in every way better to have more height in the 
stable. I would never build one less than 10 feet, and 
12 is still better yet. A perfectly safe rule is to give 
each cow one cubic foot of air space to each pound of 
live weight. But this presupposes a stable fairly well 
ventilated. To comply with this rule would require in 
a stable for 12 cows from 7,000 to 12,000 cubic feet, 
according to breed of cows kept. If the stable was 10 
feet high it should have from 700 to 1,200 feet of floor 
space. Of course thousands of cows are housed much 
more closely than this, and are kept in comparatively 
good health and with good production, but such cows 
are usually turned out of doors for a considerable 
portion of each day. I have been in the stable of a 
large breeder of Holstein cattle which was not an inch 
more than seven feet in height, and the cows were 
very closely crowded together. But the owner told 
me he did not keep them housed at all during the day, 
and he was a great stickler for exercise. It is less 
trouble to care for them, they will consume less food, 
yield larger production and be healthier if given am¬ 
ple room in a thoroughly ventilated stable and then 
housed continually. 
If a man has 12 1,000-pound cows he will then re¬ 
quire 1,200 feet of floor space, or a stable 30x40, or ot 
some other proportion to give the same area. If he 
put them in a single row along one side he will have 
them three feet apart with a four-foot alley at one 
end. But I would not like this arrangement. I would 
much prefer putting them in two rows across the 
stable, heads in, putting them three feet apart. This 
would leave a 12-foot alley along one side, which 
would be very convenient for hauling out the manure. 
which should be done every day. Some advise giving 
each cow a box stall, but I do not like the ordinary 
box stall. Where the cow can turn around, no matter 
how much bedding is used it is almost impossible to 
keep them clean. It is well to have one or two box 
stalls for cows about to calve, or for sick cows, but I 
would have none of them for ordinary use. By giving 
the two rows of cows 31 feet, including feeding alley, 
which is Plenty, there would still be left nine feet on 
one end by 18 feet to driveway which would make 
two box stalls of good size. The cows should be so 
kept as to be least liable to injury while lying down 
by having adjoining cows step on teats, tails, legs or 
udder. One of my neighbors lost his best cow with a 
broken leg, by having it stepped on by the next cow 
while lying in the stable. And then one should not 
ignore comfort, for comfort has a cash value to every 
man who keeps cows. It is important to reduce to the 
minimum the danger of spreading tuberculosis or 
other diseases by the cows eating from each other’s 
mangers or drinking from a common trough. What 
is wanted is cleanliness, comfort, safety from injury, 
immunity from disease and ease in caring for the 
wants of the cows. 
The stable floor may be of plank, brick, cement or 
mixed clay and gravel. If good stiff clay can be had, 
and clean gravel, a floor made of two parts clay and 
one of gravel, thoroughly mixed and well pounded, 
when of proper state of dryness, will make a floor 
which I prefer to all others. There should be a fall of 
one-half inch to a foot to the standing floor towards 
the trench, and if a clay and gravel floor be used a 
plank of good durable wood 2x12 should be set up on 
edge and securely bolted to the back of 3x3-inch 
pieces firmly driven into the ground. The trench may 
be made of durable planks, but cement is better. Very 
few trenches are made deep enough, for when shallow 
the cows will often step down into them and stand 
with the hind feet in the manure, thus making it hard 
to keep them clean. But if the trench is not less than 
eight or 10 inches deep the cow will not step into it 
except by accident, will never stand in it and conse¬ 
quently keep much cleaner. If the trench be made only 
wide enough to fit the scoop shovel used for cleaning, 
it will be found better than if made wider. 
Whatever the material of floor or style of fastener 
or stall used plenty of bedding should be used where 
it is obtainable; it adds greatly to the comfort of the 
cows and helps to keep them clican. The plan shown ! 
at Fig. 310 gives arrangement of stalls, feeding alley 
and box stalls with driveway for cleaning out ma¬ 
nure. The doors of box stalls are shown, the one 
opening into the other, but if preferred the back one 
may have the door inside. The water pipes are shown 
by the dotted line with drinking basins in each two 
stalls, and a supply tank at A or B as convenient. 
This supply tank is fed from a large tank or from 
spring as desired. The silo is shown outside the 
stable, but so placed that the door opens into the 
feeding alley and still leaves a window for lighting. 
If the basement is 10 feet and the posts above 18 feet 
the silo may be made 30 feet deep by excavating a 
little for the bottom, or by running the roof up upon 
the roof of stable a few feet, thus making it necessary 
to have silo but 10 feet square. If the walls of this 
stable are made of stones they need not be over 18 
inches thick and in this case the driveway would he 
only nine instead of 12 feet. The box stalls would be 
6x9 feet, which would stilj give plenty of room. 
J. s. WOODWARD. 
QUESTIONS ABOUT POP CORN. 
How much pop corn ought I to plant to the acre? Men¬ 
tion a good kind to plant. Will all pop corn pop the same 
year it is grown? Ought the soil to be as rich as or 
richer than for field corn? R. 
Sod us, N. Y. 
Pop corn is one of those special crops grown by 
small farmers of the East in small patdhes, generally 
for home use or for local markets. Like many other 
special crops the profit depends largely upon the 
quality of the product, the markets and the ability 
of the grower to produce the greatest amount of 
salable ears of the desired variety. The most popular 
variety is VTrite Rice. Any good corn land will grow 
pop corn provided the season is long enough. Plant 
in check rows same distance as other corn; four to 
five kernels in a hill has given good satisfaction. 
The larger and the nearer square the area planted 
the larger proportion of perfect ears will be pro¬ 
duced; same will apply to other corn, provided cul¬ 
tivation has been thorough. Pop corn readily mixes 
with other varieties of field corn, therefore sbould be 
plante(i where the influence of the pollen from other 
varieties of corn cannot be readily transmitted by the 
winds. Cross-fertilization Is often uie cause of corn 
not popping. Ears should be left standing on stalk 
until thoroughly ripe, and never allowed to sweat in 
the shock. Much pop corn'is ruined by hurrying the 
cui-ing. and consequently we find it will not pop and 
lay the blame to the seed. Pop corn that is fully 
matured and allowed to dry on the stalk before being 
gathered, omd then kept in a dry place will pop the 
year it is grown. As regards the amount of seed, 
would say 2 V 2 to 314 quarts per acre is enough. The 
price wholesale is from 2% to three cents per pound 
(ears). I would consider one ton per acre a fair 
yield; under favorable conditions it is possible to 
increase the amount one-half or to 3.000 pounds. The 
stover is of better value. .totin .te.\nxi.\, .ir. 
