1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
833 
EVERYBODY’S GARDEN. 
The Winter Rhubarb. —Jack Frost 
will need to get a hustle or else the 
Christmas market will surely he shy 
of rhubarb this year. Last night 
(Thanksgiving) was the first freeze that 
would in any way affect the roots, and 
that was of little use, except where they 
were dug out. There will doubtless be 
many thousands of clumps turned out 
within the next few days in this sec¬ 
tion, to take advantage of the first 
really cold weather that comes our way. 
The hotbeds will have to be put in com¬ 
mission if any considerable amount is 
got ready for the market even by Janu¬ 
ary 1. Fortunately they can be utilized 
to hurry forward the first early crop 
by substituting boards and manure for 
covering instead of glass. Confined 
thus, so that the heat comes in close 
contact with the roots, the stalks will 
grow if the roots have not been frozen. 
The yield will not be so large of course 
as frozen roots will produce in the 
roomy cellars, and the roots will be use¬ 
less for propagating afterward, but the 
fancy prices make even the hotbed 
growing remunerative. Among all the 
vegetables grown there is none that so 
nearly takes the place of apples as does 
rhubarb, and there is no other more 
wholesome. Since it can be so easily 
and cheaply grown it is not too much to 
say that every farmer’s table should be 
amply supplied the entire Winter 
through. Then, too, there is the com¬ 
mercial side that is rapidly coming into 
favor and must not be ignored. Toma¬ 
toes were once grown merely for orna¬ 
mentation, but to-day the enterprise is 
one of vast proportions. The luxuries 
of to-day become the necessities of to¬ 
morrow, and the ground-floor growers 
of rhubarb will be the ones to reap the 
benefits of the increasing demand. 
Seed Corn Problems.— My sweet corn 
from which I expected to save seed for 
next season’s planting, was left standing 
very late in hopes of its ripening. Failing 
to mature I cut the stalks and stored them 
in the barn to season out. Recently, upon 
shocking it, I found the grains while some¬ 
what dented, still in the doughy state. A 
large per cent of It was in the miik when 
cut. The fodder cured out nicely, however, 
without mold. 1 desire to plant a liberal 
space to corn forage next season, and do 
not want to take too many chances on the 
seed. Can I hope to get satisfaction from 
the seed, other things being satisfactory? 
Blanchester, O. n. w. d. 
The question is somewhat problemati¬ 
cal, and can be better determined by the 
future behavior of the corn. I have had 
good results by picking corn just after 
it passed the edible stage, or when the 
inner husks turned white. I have gath¬ 
ered it when the outer husks were still 
gieen, and found it all right. In gen¬ 
eral, I think the corn will be safe if cut 
just at the close of the milk stage. 
Yours, although much of it is still in 
that state, may have passed far enough 
before cutting to carry through all right. 
I do not know your way of curing corn, 
but if the shucks were left on the ear, 
braid it up and hang up where it will 
get the best possible circulation of air, 
but keep it from freezing. If you cannot 
trace or braid it then spread as thinly 
as possible and see if it dries out hard, 
without shrinking or shriveling too 
much on the cob. If so it will probably 
grow all right. You can prove the mat¬ 
ter for yourself beyond a doubt by test¬ 
ing after it dries out hard, if it will do 
that. Take tin or sheet iron pans and 
fill them half to,two-thirds full of moist 
soil, and cover with cheesecloth or other 
thin coarse cloth. Shell samples from 
several ears and scatter on the cloth, 
and cover with another thickness and 
half an inch more of the soil. Set the 
pans in a warming oven or other place 
where they will keep warm, and get 
some bottom heat. In five to eight days 
it should be pretty well sprouted. Count 
the grains before covering to see what 
percentage if any germinates. If two- 
thirds to three-fourths of it sprouts un¬ 
der these conditions you may safely 
TC* Christmas will soon bo 
fij* 9 Y * hero, and your folks are 
° trying to decide what to 
buy for you. Why not let them know that 
you like to hunt and that you want one ot our 
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It II 
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!)II Nassau Street, New York 
ITiMAKES^A HOLE IN THE NIGHT 
For placing in front of country churches, in dark pas¬ 
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The Dietz 
BCNS KA8V 
I 
ilaekaehe hi 
BAW8 DOWS 
TKKKtl 
weighs 
count on most of it growing under fair 
conditions in the open field. In this way 
you can determine the vitality very 
closely. If it sprouts feebly and seems 
unconcerned as to whether it lives or 
dies, do not plant it. Poor seed is disap¬ 
pointing at best, and very expensive. 
You would better pay four or five prices 
for good seed than to plant poor if it 
were a gift. Test it as above and you 
may determine the outcome without 
guessing. 
Some Timely Items. —In December of 
last year I urged upon our readers the 
subject of horseradish growing. I am 
just as fully persuaded now as then that 
It is a money crop for those favorably 
situated. Last Winter I saw a pit con¬ 
taining 125 bushels that was grown on 
far less than an acre of ground and was 
selling at $1.25 per bushel. With de¬ 
pendable sets and good soil there is no 
question as to profits either to sell In 
bulk or in the manufactured product. 
Thousands of bushels are shipped from 
this point every Winter and yet, I think, 
the supply is never up to the demand. 
Many farmers and gardeners can make 
a profitable side line of this and there 
is still ample time for a trial next year. 
Numerous questions about hotbeds and 
cold frames are arriving. Some of these 
will be answered next week, and I shall 
be glad to have others. j. e. morse. 
Michigan. 
MEASURING HILLSIDE LAND. 
In your issue of November 29, page 
800, Mr. Walker deals with the measure¬ 
ments of hillside land and level land. 
Lie concludes that in measuring land of 
small area the surface measurement 
should be used, as that more correctly 
represents the actual area. Any prac¬ 
tical surveyor will tell Mr. Walker that 
his plan could not work. In measuring 
a farm to obtain the area the chain or 
tape has to he levelled. If it was chain¬ 
ed on the surface and one side of the 
farm or field was level and the other 
side hilly, the figures when arranged to 
calculate area would not “balance.” A 
hilly farm correctly measured contains 
more land than a level one of the same 
number of acres given. Whether it 
would produce more is a matter on 
which different opinions may be held. 
As an apparent exception to the above 
I would say that for small lots on a uni¬ 
form mountain slope, it is the custom in 
practice to measure on the slope. Where 
the slope is uniform there is no discrep¬ 
ancy in “balancing.” grant davis. 
New Jersey. 
On page 800 of The R. N.-Y. George 
G. Walker advocates giving the exact 
measurement of hillside lands. One 
main reason for giving the level mea¬ 
surements is the impossibility of plot- 
lot 100 feet square, level measurement, 
taken on a slope. For instance, take a 
lot 100 feet square, level measurement, 
and lying accurately with the points of 
compass, with three corners on a level 
and the southwest corner elevated 17 
feet. A description of this lot measured 
on the surface would read, commencing 
at the northwest corner east 100 feet, 
south 100 feet, west 101 feet, north 101 
feet. If Mr. Walker will try marking 
out a lot of this description on paper ho 
will find that the lines do not make a 
closed figure, or “the survey does not 
close.” Of course in this instance the 
level lines show at once where the dis¬ 
crepancy comes in, but with ordinary 
pieces of irregular slope, the slopes 
would have to be accurately measured 
and the level distances computed for 
plotting, which would make a survey 
cost from two to 10 times more. Again, 
suppose I bought the lot described above 
from Mr. Walker, and removed the ma¬ 
terial on the southwest corner so that I 
had a level lot left; would Mr. Walker 
be willing to stand by his description 
and give me 101 feet on the south and 
west sides? The steepness of sidehills 
is commonly much exaggerated. “As 
steep as the roof of a house” is a common 
expression, J)pt as a matter of fact the 
roof mentioned by Mr. Walker (a barn 
30 feet wide with 20-foot rafters) has a 
pitch about one-third greater than is 
given railroad embankments. Land ly¬ 
ing on a slope of one vertical on five 
horizontal, which corresponds practical¬ 
ly with the steepest grades in our coun¬ 
try roads, is increased in area two per 
cent by the slope. It would seem pos¬ 
sible that such land might hear a few 
more strawberries or similar crops, but 
in the case of corn or timber I should 
expect no increase. E. b. harger. 
Connecticut. 
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