1902 
“FERTILIZER FARMING” TO DATE . 
Some Changes in Crops and Rotation. 
• Part I. 
Ten years ago in a pamphlet entitled “Fertilizer 
Farming” I described some of the operations on Long 
Island farms. One of the most interesting places 
visited at that time was the Hewlett farm at Mer¬ 
rick. I visited this farm again this year on June 26, 
and I feel sure that readers will be interested in 
studying some of the changes and developments that 
10 years have brought about. 
The soil of this farm is light—backing down upon 
the salt marsh. Mr. Lewis's farm at Cranbury, N. 
J., would pass for a heavy or compact loam, but the 
soil of the Hewlett farm is much lighter, part of it 
coming close to sand. Ten years ago I found much 
the same rotation as that followed by Mr. Lewis, viz., 
corn planted on sod, followed by potatoes, wheat and 
grass for two years. What struck me as remarkable 
at the time was the fact that the Hewletts were using 
3,000 pounds of high-grade potato fertilizer per acre 
on potatoes! Most of it was spread on with a shovel 
and harrowed in; a comparatively small quantity be¬ 
ing put in the drill. The elder Mr. Hewlett at one 
time bought and used large quantities of New York 
stable manure. Long Island farmers at that time be¬ 
lieved that profitable farming without stable manure 
was impossible. Not only did they think that the 
stable manure gave them the cheapest and best plant 
food, but it was felt that this light and open soil de¬ 
manded a bulky product like manure to provide need¬ 
ed vegetable matter. It is now an old story how Mr. 
Hewlett was induced to try an equal value of fertil¬ 
izer by the side of manure applied as he 
was in the habit of using it. The fertil¬ 
izer gave more and better potatoes, but 
that did not fully satisfy the old farmer, 
for he felt, as others did, that the plant 
food in the fertilizer was all used up by 
the potatoes. They had somehow formed 
the idea that manure was the roast beef 
of the plant’s dinner—the part that would 
stay by or “stick to the ribs.” When the 
grain was harvested the fertilizer was 
still ahead of the manure, and when the 
grass also showed marked superiority 
Mr. Hewlett was satisfied with the dem¬ 
onstration, and from that time no ma¬ 
nure has been bought. Ten years ago I 
found a farm of 90 acres. Since that 
time the elder Mr. Hewlett has passed 
away. His son George formed a farm 
partnership with another young farmer, 
Mr. Smith. The two farms united, 
with some additional rented land, give 
them 210 acres which are well and skill¬ 
fully tilled. New crops and new meth¬ 
ods of culture have been introduced since 
“Fertilizer Farming” was written, but 
the old fertilizer foundation remains the 
same. They still use 3,000 pounds of 
fertilizer per acre when planting pota¬ 
toes. This insures a good crop of pota¬ 
toes and also furnishes food for the grain 
and grass which follow. Our scientific 
men have demonstrated to their full sat¬ 
isfaction that 800 pounds of fertilizer is 
all that should be economically supplied 
to an acre of potatoes. This amount, they say, con¬ 
tains far more plant food than the potato crop re¬ 
moves. What are we to say to this when two keen 
business men like Hewlett and Smith, after repeated 
trials, find that they cannot afford to use less than 
3,000 pounds per acre? I am not finding fault with 
scientific experiment, nor do I advise every farmer 
to use fertilizers on this wholesale plan. We must 
apply the pocketbook test to farming and use enough 
manure or fertilizer to leave a balance. I think I 
am safe in saying that the most prosperous Long 
Island farmers are those who use at least a ton to 
the acre on potatoes. Bear in mind that I am not 
trying to write a special plea for the use of ferti¬ 
lizers. I am just giving the facts about what seems 
to me a remarkable system of farming. 
I want to make a comparison between Mr. Hew¬ 
lett’s plan of feeding the crop and that followed by 
Mr. Lewis. The latter has gradually worked into 
dairy farming—at a fair profit. His soil is heavy and 
well adapted to corn and grass, and he has found it 
profitable to utilize his cornstalks by cutting them 
into a silo. This with purchased grain makes more 
and better manure, which has undoubtedly helped the 
farm. Mr. Hewlett, on the other hand, keeps no 
stock except work horses and cows for home sup¬ 
plies of milk. While working a light soil which, in 
theory, one would think needed heavy dressings of 
manure, he has made no effort to increase his sup- 
P \j t ani has no desire to do so. Instead of feeding 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
his cornstalks he sells them as well as hay, straw 
and grain, making up to the farm for the manurial 
loss thus sustained by the heavy use of fertilizers. 
This has now been going on for years, and the fact 
that the farm grows stronger and more productive 
each year tells the desired story. While Mr. Lewis 
has added cows as a new department of fertilizer 
farming, Mr. Hewlett has added new crops, such as 
asparagus, sweet corn, Lima beans and cabbage to 
the old rotation. He also grows rye instead of wheat. 
In fact, the introduction of these new crops and the 
ability to use fertilizers freely has in many cases 
wiped out the old rotation entirely. For example, it 
is often profitable to follow rye with yellow turnips. 
In that case no clover or grass will be seeded in the 
rye. After harvest the stubble will be plowed, a 
liberal dose of fertilizer added and the turnips drilled 
in time to harvest a fine crop. We can see that Mr. 
Lewis, with his well-ordered and exact rotation, 
could not do this successfully, but would seed to grass 
and clover in the rye, and cut hay for two years. 
But I can describe the crops and manner of growing 
them better in another article. h. w. c. 
BIRDS, CHERRIES AND SENTIMENT. 
On page 494 Geo. T. Powell tells us that he plants 
cherries for the birds, and they are satisfied with 
what he allots them, and not two per cent of his best 
cherries are taken. He furthermore assures us that 
if his plan were followed we would have hut little 
loss or annoyance. I regret to report that this 
method has not been effective on this place. Many 
trees, in full bearing, have been given up entirely to 
the birds for years, for we are emphatically bird- 
lovers, and gunners are rigorously excluded, and yet 
this year while promptly devouring their generous 
portion the birds have eaten nearly everything in 
sight, In spite of all we could devise to prevent it. 
Gently “shooing” them away did not move them to 
pity, and even the gun, fired not to kill, but just to 
frighten them, failed to intimidate them. They got 
away with nearly the entire crop, including the sour 
cherries, and then promptly went to work on the 
currants and raspberries until the ground was paint¬ 
ed red with their litter. Does it not look a little as 
if we were having rather too much of the so-called 
bird protection in this locality? Mr. Powell also 
states that rather than kill the birds he would plant 
cherries and let them have the entire crop. This 
may be all right for him, and his pleasure as well as 
privilege, but we thought we had urgent need for the 
cherry money this year, and missed it because the 
dear birds were so abundant and so voracious. A 
recent writer used a rather lame argument in behalf 
of the birds when he compared them to the hired 
man. saying that because we do not object to paying 
the hired man his wages we should not object to the 
birds taking as their wages, the small amount of 
fruit that they use. No one should object to a fair 
allowance for our friends the birds, but when they 
take all we have it is just as if the hired man said to 
the farmer: “Turn over to me in addition to my pay 
every cent you have.” This is a serious practical 
question in the consideration of which gush or senti¬ 
ment should not be accorded undue prominence. 
Hudson, N. Y, j. y. p. 
543 
FARMING IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY. 
Oiling and Repairing Harness. 
Part XI. 
The slack spell that we have in our work every 
Summer during the latter part of June and fore part 
of July is used to good advantage in oiling harness. 
We prefer to oil it at this time in preference to 
March, for several reasons. The harness may be 
dried outdoors in the sun, thereby saving a fire. Har¬ 
ness oiled in the Spring usually becomes very dirty 
and hard by this time, especially if we have a rainy 
Spring. We usually have dry weather at this season, 
and this allows the oil to work thoroughly into the 
leather. After being taken apart each piece is thor¬ 
oughly washed with common soap and warm water. 
A scrub brush aids materially in the washing. The 
harness is then hung on a rack and allowed to dry 
for three or four hours. The first coat of oil is ap¬ 
plied before the leather is thoroughly dry, as it takes 
the oil much better than when allowed to become too 
dry. No pieces after being washed are allowed to 
stand over night without oiling. A low bench made 
of boards laid on saw-horses is used for oiling. Each 
piece is spread on the bench and oil applied with a 
cloth, then it is hung in the sun for 10 or 12 hours, 
or until the first coat has been absorbed, when the 
second coat is applied. The harness is then put to¬ 
gether and allowed to dry two or three days before 
using. Two quarts of oil were required for each set 
of double harness, but this is more than it usually 
requires. 
During March all the harness is gone over and re¬ 
paired. All heavy sewing (collars, hame tugs and 
traces) is done by the local harness- 
maker, and light repairing is done on the 
farm. Breaks that occur during the 
Summer, while at work, are repaired at 
noon or night. Leather is purchased by 
the side, and a supply of cockeyes, hame 
clips, staples and straps, breast strap 
slides, snaps, buckles, rivets (size % to 
one inch), and sweat collars is always 
kept on hand. In connection with the 
harness repairs a supply of about 12 
sizes of carriage and machine bolts is 
kept, ranging in size from %xl}6 to %x 
4 inches; washers, extra nuts, singletree 
hooks, repair links and screws are also 
kept on hand. Bolts are bought in pack¬ 
ages of 50 from a Chicago catalogue 
house, at least 50 per cent being saved 
on them. All our repairing is done in a 
small shop well fitted up with benches 
and tools for wood, light ironwork and 
harness repairing. We have never had 
faith enough in the patent riveting ma¬ 
chines to purchase one, the common cop¬ 
per rivets being used instead. Perhaps 
there is nothing on the farm that pays 
better than the shop, in the saving of re¬ 
pair bills, and there is certainly no bet¬ 
ter or more profitable place to spend a 
stormy day. j. d. b. 
Wolverton, Minn. 
WORK OF A DAKOTA WINDMILL.— 
I am using a 13-foot steel mill on a 38- 
foot wooden tower. The tower has a 
spread of about 14 feet at the bottom, which is board¬ 
ed up outside to about 12 feet, provided with bins in¬ 
side, one bin for ear corn just above the sheller hold¬ 
ing about 35 bushels, and three other bins come above 
the grinder, holding about 50 bushels each of grain or 
shelled corn, giving room enough below to work. It is 
a vertical grinder and foot gear combined, using 6y 2 - 
inch burrs, operating direct on the shafting. It grinds 
from two to 25 bushels per hour, according to the 
velocity of the wind. We feed ground feed to nine 
horses and 20 to 50 hogs the year round, and some 
cows and calves in Winter, and could grind a good 
deal more yet. Of course we have ground feed in ad¬ 
vance, so we have some in case the wind does not 
blow, but there are few calm days that we cannot 
grind at all. I put grain in the bins and let the mill 
grind while I do the chores, or take a few hours 
every week to shell corn and grind. Besides this, I 
run a Rosenthal cyclone corn husker and shredder to 
cut up the cornstalks and husk the corn. This work 
requires a good strong wind for a small wheel, as it 
takes four to six horse-power, although I have shred¬ 
ded a ton in an hour without help, and blow the fod¬ 
der 20 feet into the barn; also cut feed enough for 20 
cows and the same number of calves. I do not think 
that the distance from foot gear to machine makes 
so much difference. My machines are from five to 16 
feet from foot gear. Washing and churning is done 
at the house with a cable over 100 feet distant. The 
belting should be wide enough, and not too tight, 
only so they will not slip, as more power can be de¬ 
veloped in that way. We run grindstone to satisfac¬ 
tion, but have three knives for each mower, so if the 
wind does not blow we have one in reserve. 
South Dakota. a. il mkvrb. 
SPIRAEA VAN nOUTTEI. Fig. 220. Se's Rur^lisms, P.age 546. 
