702 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 20 
and playful actions were worth seeing. They would 
yell and play, run races with teams and race in shov¬ 
eling to get out of the pit first, throw stones at each 
other, hide a hat or piece of harness and pull their 
load out while the competitor was hunting them, 
throw rocks at each other, careless if it hit its mark, 
throw at chickens and turkeys along the road, and 
carry jokes nearly to the fighting point. Woe to 
the one who could not take care of himself in the 
racing and jesting. This was, however, short-lived, 
since the work was completed in a day or two, and 
all as quiet about the pit as death. Perhaps next day 
another set would have the pit engaged, and the stir 
would begin again. This time they are hauling for 
the county under a superintendent, repairing old 
gravel roads. Our jolly neighbors that just went out 
now apply to the commissioners to “receive” their 
pike, and a surveyor runs over it, and if it shows a 
fair grade, with four yards of good gravel to the rod. 
it is received, and ever after the whole county is taxed 
to keep it in repair. The grade for this road is pre¬ 
pared by farmers working out “Spring tax.” They 
put in the sewer pipe furnished by the county and fill 
in the grades that approach the bridges. The commis¬ 
sioners buy and put in the bridges. By this system 
splendid roads are built where gravel is to be hauled 
under five miles, and they are built at a trifling cost 
compared with the cumbersome methods afforded v 
law. E. H. COLLINS. 
Central Indiana. 
CUTTING AND CRUSHING STALKS. 
The Dry Side of the Corn-Fodder Question. 
THE STALK NUISANCE.—A man may raise his 
corn and cure it in the manner described in my 
former articles, giving it the very best of care, and 
upon placing it before the stock, will find an im¬ 
mense amount of waste, especially with large corn, 
while the butts remaining in the manger will be a 
great nuisance. Until four years ago we lugged them 
out in great quantities. They were a sore trial from 
beginning to end, and we have several times been so 
disgusted that we burned great heaps of them. In 
the year of the short hay crop In this section, we 
purchased a 10-inch cutter, and undertook to cut 
stalks for a 10-cow dairy by hand, and after cutting 
enough for two nice meais, we considered one ex¬ 
perience sufficient to advise against trying any such 
foolish operation. But lugging cornstalk butts ceased 
to be a virtue. We saw the picture of a machine In 
a catalogue, studied its principle, decided that it 
ought to be far ahead of any ordinary cutter, and 
sent an order for an outfit consisting of a two-horse 
tread power and a 12-inch cutter and crusher. Do 
not get the idea confused with a shredder; it is noth¬ 
ing like one. The outfit arrived in due season, and 
waJs placed in position for business. Fot a long time 
it was like the "one-hoss shay,” a wonder and noth¬ 
ing less. People came, and have kept coming from 
near and far to see it in operation. 
HOW THE MACHINE WORKS.—I will explain for 
the benefit of those who do not know, that this ma¬ 
chine cuts the stalks the same as any cutter; then 
they fall into a rapidly-revolving cylinder running 
above a concave, as in a thrashing machine, sharp¬ 
ened spikes on both cylinder and concave running 
close to each other. The shell or outside part of the 
stalk is torn off and broken up, usually leaving the 
pith in cylindrical form. Ears large or small on 
the stalk make no difference, except to take a little 
more power to run the machine. One can simply de¬ 
tach one wheel that drives the crusher, put In a 
board that comes with the machine, and you are 
ready to cut hay or straw as with any ordinary cut¬ 
ter. Hay or straw, being fine and light, will clog if 
run into the crusher. Green stalks can be cut and 
crushed the same as when dry. I will briefly give 
our method of feeding cut and crushed stalks, thus 
answering questions frequently asked me. 
SUCCESSFUL FEEDING.—In the first place, does 
the fodder go any farther, and if so, to what extent? 
In the old way of feeding we gave each cow three 
large bundles of stalks per day, and a'll know about 
how much would b waste. With early-cut well- 
cured com fodder run through the cutter and 
crusher, the cattle will eat 95 per cent until about the 
middle of February; from that time on they do not 
like the stalks so well. We feed each cow three 
bushels a day, which is about all she will eat clean. 
A good average bundle of stalks will make 1% bushel 
when run through the machine. A good many farm¬ 
ers have had their entire crop of stalks cut in the 
Fall and piled up in the mow, where they are sure 
to heat and mold. Nine out of ten inexperienced 
men will say that heating will soften and make them 
better. Don’t you believe it! We do not like to 
have our cut stalks even heat. The cows will eat 
them best when cut fresh every day. We have a 
room in our basement large enough to contain cut 
stalks for 15 cattle for eight or 10 days, but we cut 
twice a week all Winter, and the crushing part is as 
much ahead of the old way as the old way was 
ahead of not cutting at all. To say that we are 
pleased with what was at first an experiment is put¬ 
ting it mildly. 
TREAD POWERS are fast coming back into gen¬ 
eral use, and I believe them to be the power for a 
farmer. Most people know but little about tnem, and 
then only of the old-fashioned kinds. There is as 
much difference between the modern tread and the 
one of 25 years ago as between mowing machines 
compared the same way. Many people are prejudiced 
against putting a horse in a tread-power, and speak 
of accidents known to have occurred years ago. That 
THE MATTHEWS PEACH. Fig. 265. See Page 706. 
is all done away with now. We once tried putting 
the bull in the tread, but where one has any amount 
of work, and good horses, he would better not bother 
with an animal so stupid in this direction as a bull. 
If in need of any amount of power it could not be 
acquired without two three or four-year-old bulls, 
and a man will fool away some time before he gets 
them to work without constant attention. Another 
requirement for an animal to work in a tread is to be 
properly shod. It is no trick at all to get a horse to 
work in a tread. Put him in the first few times fully 
harnessed, and one at a time. Have one man tend 
the brake, while you walk in the tread by the side 
of the horse to give him confidence, being gentle 
with him, governing the motion until he has ac¬ 
quired the proper step, which usually takes from 
about 15 to 30 minutes. Be very careful not to scare 
him at first, and the most 'spirited horses often make 
the best treaders. The only real difficulty is in the 
horses crowding sometimes when two are put in to¬ 
gether. Teach each one separately. They very soon 
learn to go in and out easily, and work with the tie- 
strap entirely free. Risk of accidents is almost en¬ 
tirely obviaied by the use of the patent governors. A 
AN INDIANA COW-PEA FIELD. Fig. 266. 
horse is not injured in the least for any other occu¬ 
pation, but gets much needed exercise in Winter. 
'FACTS ABOUT IT.—The first cost of a good tread 
power is considerable, but once acquired, it costs 
nothing for fuel, and as it is nearly always used in 
cold weather, you don’t need to wait to get up steam; 
water does not freeze or pipes burst, but it is always 
ready, and with proper care will last a lifetime for 
farm use. On green stalkis our two-horse tread will 
run a 12-inch cutter to its full capacity with one 
horse. Two horses in the power will run a 16-inch 
cutter and 24 feet of carrier full capacity. A 12- 
inch cutter and crusher is right for a two-horse tread 
on dry stalks. The power is gained entirely from 
the weight of the horses. The larger the horses the 
more power acquired. One horse will run a large- 
size corn-sheller elevator and bagger. Have your 
mill and grind any and all kinds of grain with it, 
before you can get started for town, and where one 
grinds 1,200 or 1,500 bushels of grain each year it is 
a great saving. We are especially pleased with this 
part of the programme. There is the same power 
in a modern two-horse tread as in a four or five- 
horse sweep-power, while it has the advantage of 
being entirely under shelter and may be used largely 
on stormy days. We now cut all our wood with buzz- 
saw, using one horse on all sticks up to three and 
four inches in diameter, and two horses on the larger 
wood only. If one gets the power, the remainder can 
be added from time to time at a comparatively small 
additional cost. The entire outfit can be operated 
on a floor space of 12x24, but a little larger each way 
would be better, say 16x30. I truthfully do not know 
of a single drawback to the whole business. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. n. s. weight. 
RAISING SUGAR BEETS IN NEBRASKA. 
The first thing to be done when desirous f raising 
beets for the factory 1® to select the land. This 
should be a deep rich soil, not too hard and stiff. 
Next is the contract; this lays down certain rules to 
be observed, gives some general instructions, specifies 
amount of seed and charges for same. Having re¬ 
ceived the contract and Spring coming, the land is 
fitted. The best growers plow 12 inches deep, and 
then proceed to fine it down, and be sure not to 
overdo it in this locality, or a Nebraska zephyr may 
take land and seed into the next county. This may 
seem strange to an eastern reader, but as I spent a 
part of my boyhood days in eastern Ontario it seemed 
strange to me to see fields of heavy sticky gumbo 
flying across the country when sufficiently worked. 
A four-row drill is used to plant $3 worth of seed 
to the acre, 20 pounds at 15 cents a pound. In a 
few days the beets are showing above the ground, 
and then fun commences. The beets are in rows 18 
inches apart, and a one-horse two-row cultivator is 
used to keep them clean. This with very fine knives 
is started as soon as the beets are above ground. 
As soon as the second set of leaves appears thinning is 
in order. One row 5% miles long represents the 
beets lin one acre. Think of crawling on your hands 
and knees that distance to thin the beet! But it 
must be done. If you are not used to this kind of 
work you will soon wish that your contract was a 
rope around the neck of the man who induced you 
to raise beets. It is usual, however, to put on suffi¬ 
cient workers to thin out in a short time, as the 
beets grow rapidly, making the work more difficult. 
The beets are usually hoed by hand twice, but the 
cultivator goes over the ground about once a week 
until the growth of leaves forbids. 
When the factory starts the beets are loosened with 
a special plow pulled by hand, and carefully topped. 
That portion of the beet growing above ground must 
be removed. When the beets arrive at the factory 
a sample is taken, 20 pounds for a wagonload, 50 for 
a carload. These beets are properly cleaned and 
topped, and the difference in weight determines the 
amount of tare. Sometimes it amounts to 25 or 30 
per cent; then you may be sure there is a kick. The 
juice is then pressed out of the beets to ascertain 
their purity and sugar strength, for that determines 
their price; $4 a ton .is the standard price. With the 
exception of drawing his pay and some kicking the 
grower’s troubles are at an end as soon as the beets 
are delivered. He may, however, obtain ah the pulp 
he needs free of charge. All others 20 cents a wagon¬ 
load, large or small. Pulp is of considerable value as 
a milk-producing food if sufficient is fed. Prof. Lyons 
of our experiment station said at the institute here 
last Winter that one could not change the per cent 
of fat in a cow’s milk with her feed. Last Summer 
the pastures were very poor, and my solitary milker 
gave a small amount of milk from which we made 
three pounds of butter a week. When the factory 
started I immediately got her all the fresh pulp she 
would eat, and her milk flow nearly doubled, but not 
a bit more butter. After about two weeks I got a 
load of beet tops, and while we got no more milk 
we got seven pounds of butter a week. The professor 
said he had reference to “full feed.” What did he 
mean? 
Mr. Butterfield, who has a feeding yard near the 
factory, last year fed 1,500 cattle on pulp, with straw 
and sorghum hay for growing stock, and pulp mixed 
with cornmeal for fattening stock. A great many 
smaller farmers feed pulp, and all are eager to obtain 
it, piling it up in a large heap in cold weather, so that 
when the factory closes they will still have a supply. 
Pulp spoils very rapidly in warm weather. It heats, 
gets soft and slimy, and will spread out over the 
ground if piled up high. One can dump pulp from a 
point 15 feet above ground all Summer long, and 
after the third day the pile will not get any higher, 
but the base of it will constantly widen until it 
reaches some obstacle to arrest it. It will carry away 
a barb wire fence, posts and all, but It makes a good 
feed for stock just the same. Hogs will not eat it until 
it decays. A buttermaker will find sugar beets a 
great help to him, and where feed is as high as it is 
in the East, I do not believe it will pay to grow beets 
for factory at $5 a ton; better feed them to the cows. 
Norfolk, Neb. s. b. 
