1902 
849 
\ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Will you give me some information as 
to what dark forcing of rhubarb is, and 
how it is done? I saw a note of it in The 
R. N.-Y. of November 15, but no descrip¬ 
tions as to methods. a. k. j. 
Eden, N. Y. 
By dark forcing we mean growing the 
rhubarb in the dark. It is grown in the 
house or root cellar, or cellars construct¬ 
ed purposely for the work. The forcing 
cellar can be made very cheaply; the 
only requirements being that it must 
keep out frost and light. It requires 
some artificial heat, 45 or 50 degrees at 
least, but it may be heated to 85 or 90 
degrees and do no harm. The heat may 
be furnished very cheaply by means of 
a stove, or sometimes kerosene lamps 
are used. The roots must be strong and 
vigorous, two or three years old and up¬ 
ward. They are dug out of the ground 
and allowed to freeze solidly before put¬ 
ting them into the cellar. They are 
taken up with as much soil adhering to 
their roots as possible, and are set snug¬ 
ly together on the cellar bottom. The 
spaces between the roots are filled in 
with loose soil. As soon as the roots 
are thawed out, the stalks begin to 
grow, and the rhubarb is ready for pick¬ 
ing in three to four weeks—if the heat 
has been kept up to 70 degrees or high¬ 
er. The lower temperature usually gives 
a larger yield, but of course requires 
more time. The ordinary kinds such as 
we grow out of doors are used for forc¬ 
ing. Any of the varieties will answer, 
but Victoria and Linnaeus are best. It 
is grown from December 15 or a little 
later until April, and is very profitable. 
As all the work is done during the Win¬ 
ter months it bridges over a period of 
inactivity and brings cash returns at a 
time of year when most needed. To give 
the methods so that they could be in¬ 
telligently applied would require col¬ 
umns of space. However, a text book 
covering every feature of the work is 
for sale by The R. N.-Y., price 50 cents. 
A New Departure. —Experience is 
suggesting some new features in the 
work which very greatly reduce the 
cost of growing. Forcing sheds are now 
built entirely above ground. The side 
walls are two to 2% feet high, of single 
boards, nailed to the posts. The sides 
and rafters are put up to stand perma¬ 
nently, but the roof boards are laid with 
one or 1 y 2 inch lap, and only nailed 
sufficiently to hold in place. The roots 
are put into the shed and allowed to 
freeze before the roof is put on. They 
remain there regardless of rain or snow. 
When ready to start the, forcing the 
boaras are put on and the shed is bank¬ 
ed around and covered over with ma¬ 
nure. The stove is set up and fire start¬ 
ed. I was in a shed recently built in 
this way, which was nearly filled with 
roots, but will not be covered until 
about January 1, and fires will not be 
started until the middle of that month, 
by which time the roots will have thaw¬ 
ed out, and will be ready to jump when 
heat is applied. The reason for delaying 
the work is that apples are plentiful and 
are not keeping very well—my friend 
argues that by the middle of February 
they will be scarce and high, and con¬ 
sequently the rhubarb market will be 
stronger than it will be earlier in the 
season. The question of when to force 
must necessarily vary, and one must 
study conditions of other products as 
well as those of the one he is engaged 
in producing if he expects to realize 
large returns from his labor. I have 
found February and March to be the 
best season for marketing rhubarb. 
Nearly all the vegetables and more com¬ 
mon fruits are scarce at that time, and 
Holiday Spinach. —I recently saw covering of stable manure and then be 
some very fine spinach growing for the plowed. On this a crop of oats or rye 
Christmas market. The seed was sown may be planted, in which a mixture of 
late in September in the hotbeds, using Timothy and Blue grass seed may be 
of course no glass. In case of severe sown. Or, if one will plow and plant 
freezing weather or heavy snow the beds cow peas or Soy beans and then either 
will be covered with boards, and can mow off or plow under the conditions 
thus be gathered very easily. Of course will be materially improved for a set of 
to grow any considerable amount in this Blue grass, which should be sown with 
way requires a large amount of hotbed 
space. For those who are thus provid¬ 
ed it makes a paying crop, as prices 
rule high at this season. It is late to 
talk of this for this year, but it is a 
thought well worth carrying through to 
our plans for next year. With only a 
hotbed or two at our service, or even 
temporary beds, a family supply could 
be grown and the hotbeds would then 
be vacant in ample time for the early 
Spring use. J. e. morse. 
Michigan. _ 
Grass and Fertilizer Questions. 
M. L. I 1 ., AusLin, O.—What fertilizer should 
i apply to Alfalfa? I have some 16-per-cent 
phosphoric acid goods on hand. Is it ad¬ 
visable to use it? I have a moderately 
steep hillside that used to be pretty well 
set in grass, but is now washing badly. 
What grass can I sow to prevent wash¬ 
ing? 1 have an upland held of 17 acres 
sowed to wheat. We sowed Timothy seed 
this Fall. I want a permanent pasture, 
and have thought of sowing Red clover, 
Red-top, White clover, Orchard grass and 
Alfalfa in the Spring. Is this the best 
mixture to use? What proportion of seed 
per acre should I use? Soil is limestone 
clay. 
Ans.—I t is quite impossible to tell what 
fertilizer should be used on a field where 
one is not familiar with the conditions 
and past history. Even then the chem¬ 
ist would not advise the use of any spe¬ 
cific fertilizer. He would rather advise 
doing a bit of practical experimental 
work, laying off equal areas in long 
strips across the ground planted to Al¬ 
falfa, and using different fertilizers, and 
so studying the needs of the soil in 
question. Such a method need not be 
expensive, yet it no doubt would teach 
the experimenter a valuable lesson as 
to what fertilizer his land is most in 
need of for a given crop. We might put 
a complete fertilizer on one plot, some 
of the acid phosphate you have on an¬ 
other, some nitrate of soda and acid 
phosphate on a third, nitrate of soda on 
a fourth, muriate of potash on a fifth, 
These may be applied in early Spring 
before plants begin growth, or in newly- 
prepared land at time of seeding. In 
this connection the writer recommends 
that M. L. P. study with care that valu¬ 
able book on “Fertilizers,” written by 
Prof. E. B. Voorhees. The R. N.-Y. will 
supply it for $1. You should also get a 
copy of Farmers’ Bulletin No. 31 on 
“Alfalfa,” of the United States DepaYt- 
ment of Agriculture. 
For a permanent pasture no grass sur¬ 
passes Kentucky Blue grass. This for 
the reason that it is extremely nutri¬ 
tious, is very hardy, will survive severe 
drought, and is relished highly by 
hoi-ses, cattle and sheep. Usually it can¬ 
not be started with greatest success if 
seeded alone, but requires being sown 
with some other grass. This mixture 
should give good results, if sown early 
in Spring on the wheat, say during the 
last of the frosts: six pounds Blue grass, 
six pounds Timothy, six pounds Orchard 
grass, three pounds Red clover per acre. 
Alfalfa is not suited for permanent pas¬ 
ture, and in my opinion Timothy as a 
starter is superior to Orchard grass. 
Ultimately of course the Blue grass will 
occupy the place of the others, unless 
some White clover and weeds creep in. 
For the State of Ohio I know of no 
grass that should succeed better on an 
average hillside than Kentucky Blue 
Timothy or Red-top. Such treatment 
will usually result satisfactorily. In the 
South terracing has been found highly 
satisfactory in reclaiming washed hill¬ 
sides; in fact, the South Carolina Sta¬ 
tion deems terracing and cultivation 
with green manuring as a necessity. 
Tile drainage wiu also often prove 
beneficial. c. s. p. 
Co-operation in Buying Large Machinery. 
Reports are that farmers in the West 
frequently combine in buying and operat¬ 
ing such machinery as corn huskers and 
grain separators. How do they do it? 
Here are three reports: 
Let four or as many farmers as wish 
to join get together and buy an outfit, 
then hire an engineer and a man to 
tend the separator. The man who tends 
the separator has the right to take the 
jobs and none else. When the grain is 
fit to thrash the first member that is 
ready thrashes first, then the one that 
has his name on the book next, and so 
on until they have all thrashed; then 
the machine is put up for the season. 
The two hired men run the machine as 
if it was their own, but only for the 
company thrashing. a. j. r. 
Rockefeller, Ill. 
I am interested in a good deal of ma¬ 
chinery, and find it a great advantage. 
Last year six of us neighbors bought a 
shredder and hired an engine, and we 
all worked together. It required 10 men 
to operate this machine, which is a Mc¬ 
Cormick, and will shred about 12 loads 
a day on an average. I also have an 
interest in a company thrashing ma¬ 
chine which is owned by me and three 
other neighbors. We bought it this 
Fall. This is also a successful invest¬ 
ment. Our weather has been wet /til 
Summer and Fall, but still we made a 
good run. We were new hands at the 
business, but determined to learn. We 
give ourselves great credit for operat¬ 
ing said machine so well with no ex¬ 
perience. Our crops are damaged con¬ 
siderably by water and frost, but we 
had fairly good crops. Our oats aver¬ 
aged about 40 bushels per acre and our 
corn will do better. a. j. barton. 
Peotone, Ill. 
In one case four or five farmers here 
purchased an eight-roller Milwaukee 
husker and thrasher and hire a steam 
engine from a thrashing outfit to operate 
it, a 12 horse-power engine. As regards 
dates, they arrange to husk part of each 
lot as needed, exchanging work of men 
and teams needed in hauling. The corn 
is generally cut with a corn harvester, 
shocked and hauled from the shock to 
the machine when husked and needed 
for use. They will generally have two 
or three spells of husking and shredding 
dependent upon weather and kind of 
corn to cut. In other cases the farmers 
will individually own a small husker 
and shredder (say with four rollers) and 
will operate it with an eight horse-power 
gasoline engine that they own. There 
are also big rigs of eight rollers that go 
from farm to farm as work can be ob¬ 
tained, charging by the load. These 
outfits are operated usually by a 16 
horse-power steam traction engine. I 
know of no cooperative company form¬ 
ed under by-laws; they are simply form¬ 
ed by a few neighbors together. 
Garden Prairie, Ill. c. e. c. 
Massachusetts Appi.es.— My 125 Baldwin 
apple trees, many of them badly used up 
by ice storms, gave me about 175 barrels, 
as choice fruit as I ever picked, which I 
have stored in above-ground room for 
Winter sales. Apples sold at about $1.25 
per barrel at picking. Two or three weeks 
later a buyer came around, and with 
slumpy talk managed to buy 400 barrels 
of my neighbors at 70 cents per barrel; in 
two cases men of good business sharpness 
as lumbermen. They do not take The R. 
N.-Y., however. reader. 
Spencer, Mass. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
EVEI 
k:> 
DflVC f As Christmas is 
DU | 3 i coming, don't you 
- think one of our 
FIREARMS would come in 
handy? Your folks aro now 
wondering what you want. We 
make a largo line of 
RIFLES 
From $3.00 to $150.00 
PISTOLS 
From $2.50 to $50.00 
^SHOTGUNS 
From $7.50 to $25.00 
and if you want the most pop- 
pular rifle ever made, ask for 
our “FAVORITE.” Nearly 
every dealer in Sporting Goods 
handles our ARMS. Don't ac¬ 
cept a substitute, but insist 
upon a STE V ENS. 
Send for our 123-page Catalogue. 
|J, STEVENS ARMS &, TOOL CO. 
No. 775 Main Street. 
CHICOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS 
um 
MAPLE EVAPORATORS 
Most Durable, Most Economical, Cheapest. 
Syrup Cans ami Sap Pails. 
McLANE-SCHANCK HDW. CO., Linesville, Pa. 
Also, Mfrs. of the “Sunlight” Acetylene Gas Machine. 
Clark’s 
Cider 
Mills 
One to eight Barrels. 
Clark’s Double-Action 
CUTAWAY HARROW 
will easily move 15,0(10 tons 
of earth one foot in a day. 
Send for Circulars to 
THE CUTAWAY HARROW CO., Kigganum, Ct. 
■ 111 A circular and Drag Saw Machines. Also 
W SB wV horse powers, silos, cutters, engines. 
UH WW w Harder MfgCo.,Coble8kill,N.Y. 
Union 
Lock Poultry Fence 
Is Strongest and Best. 
All horizontal lines are cables. It will lit any 
unevenness of the ground without cutting; has a 
close mesh at the bottom to stop small chicks. 
We sell at one-half manufacturers’ prices. 
CASE BROS., COLCHESTER, CONN. 
If You Have 
never used Page Fence, take the judgment of 
over 500,000 farmers, and try just one roll of It. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., ADRIAN,.MICH. 
OTHERS MAY CLAIM 
~ r r— r~ t — r 
hey can furnish you with Colled Spring wire equal 
. theFKOST, but they do not know how to make It. 
' 0 originated the genuine product. Send for cata- 
igne and wholesale prices. 
THE FROST WIRE FENCE CO.. Cleveland, O. 
people are eager for Spring luxuries. *■ 
Cheap Heating. —This shed is 14x68 
feet, and it required less than a cord of 
wood to grow the entire crop last year. 
As soon as the crop is grown the ma¬ 
nure is hauled to the field, the roof 
boards are removed and piled until 
needed for blanching celery. 
grass. In southern Indiana, right near 
the Ohio line, and in other sections of 
Indiana much like Ohio, on steep hill¬ 
sides I have seen the most luxuriant 
growth of Blue grass, this forming the 
finest of grazing. Land that has been 
washed, that is only moderately steep, 
if not rocky in character, should have a 
Perfect Woven Fencea 
Not of short wires to disengage and injure stock with joose ^s^Honzonta^ and 
nn>1 Vv/"vf 
strong and permanent. Provides for expansion and contraction in heat and cold. 
" " Never sags while posts stand up. \\ rite for catalog. . 
CUYAHOGA WIRE & FENCE CO., Dept-M, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. 
