THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
HICKORY-HILL FARM NOTES. 
V alue of Shade Trees.— There is a hemlock knoll 
contesting of about four acres acros3 the brook that 
descends to the northwest. This knoll has been a 
source of trouble to me eve* since we bought the 
farm. The next year after we came, I plowed this 
piece of land, and removed over 100 loads of stones. 
Then I planted it to potatoes and corn,using a liberal 
amount of commercial fertilizer. The next year, it 
was seeded down, using more fertilizer. We got fair 
crops each year—but the seeding was poor, and as T 
was using all the manure on other parts of the farm, 
the land was not much better than before. 
At the time I broke up this knoll, there was a very 
bushy beech tree growing on the top of it. I thought 
of cutting it down, but knew it would be nearly im¬ 
possible to chop it into wood, so it was left standing. 
After this knoll was seeded, it was used for pasture 
in connection with the lowland along the brook, and 
I Eoon noticed that the cows would fill themselves on 
the low, mucky ground, and then go up and lie in the 
shade of the old beech. About noon, they would go 
down to the brook for a drink, pick around a while, 
and start back to the knoll again. The result is that 
the upper part of that knoll has become first-class 
pasture, covered with Blue grass and White clover. 
Where the seed came from, I don’t know, but that old 
tree is certainly to blame for the change. This Spring 
I have scattered some fine manure on the poorer parts 
of the rest of the lot, and I hope to see that knoll in 
good shape yet. 
Good Corn Ground.— This is the first year that I 
have had a good piece of land to plant to corn. The 
old meadows and pasture have been all reseeded, and 
this Spring I have broken up five acres of two-year- 
old meadow. At the time it was plowed, 
the grass, with quite a good deal cf 1 
clover, was from four to six inches high, ' 
and we spread.10 or 12 loads of manure . 
to the acre. This manure was too coarse 
to use as top-dressing for seeding down, 
and 1 preferred to use it here instead of 
keeping it over. I shall use 300 pounds 
of the best fertilizer 1 can buy, to the 
acre, also. This year, I shall broadcast 
the fertilizer with the grain dr'll, then 
plant the corn by hand in ebc;k rows 36 
inches apart each way. 1 have used a 
horse planter for several years, and 
while it hastens the planting, I think 
it is more work to keep the ground free 
from weeds. This year, with the weeder 
and cultivator running both ways, 1 
expect to work that corn without the 
use of the hoe. 
Testing tlie Cows.—I expect to test 
three of the cows soon, for a weekly 
butter record. Two of these cows are 
being tested for a year’s milk record, and 
I wish to add their butter record, 
also. I have engaged the services of 
an old creameryman, who is thoroughly reliable, to 
make the tests, and the milk and c earn will be 
kept under lock by him. It seems a pity that one 
must go to all this trouble to test a cow, but there 
are so many who keep scrubs, and think they are as 
good as any, and refuse to believe that there are better 
ones, that I wish to make this test conclusive. I in¬ 
tended to begin the test May 23, but have postponed 
it for a week on account of the weather. The past 
week has been simply horrid for milch cows. When 
we first turned the cows to pasture (May 12), one was 
giving about 35 pounds daily. , She began to gain, and 
went steadily up to 44 pounds. Then came the cold 
rains, and back she went to 38 pounds. These cows 
have been kept in the barn every night, and although 
the time was about one-half hour shorter, they have 
given rather more milk in the morning than evening 
milking. During this rainy weather, the cows have 
been returned to the stable during the day whenever 
they have gathered around the gate and showed an 
inclination to get out of the storm. Yet it has made 
them shrink. I wonder how they get along when 
they stay out on the cold, wet ground all night. 
Those Kicking Heifers. —A neighbor, a man 72 
years old, has had three heifers come in for the first 
time this Spring. They are part Short-horn, part 
Holstein, some Jersey and a good deal contrary. He 
came over one morning with a long face, and reported 
that one had been kicking him all around the stable, 
and he would like a little help to milk her. I went 
over with him, and not having Mr. R. D. Button there 
to “ take her firmly by the hind leg and lay her gently 
over on her side”, I resorted to my old plan of placing 
a bull ring in her nose with a good stout cord at¬ 
tached. We placed the cord over the top of the stan¬ 
chions, and while the old man hung on to the string, 
I milked the heifer. We did this for two or three 
milkings, when I just placed the string where I could 
give it a pull if necessary, and milked her that way. 
In less than a week, the old man was milking his 
heifer without anything on her, and all three have 
been broken in this way. It may be all right for some 
to sit right down and hold them; but for old men, 
small men and lazy men, I recommend the other way. 
Madison County, N. Y. j. gbant mobsk. 
THE BUSINESS SH0RT-H0BN CUTTLE. 
The history of the Short-horn breed begins a long 
way back. Permanent records were kept as early as 
1740, and fine Short-horns were found in England in 
1600. But they first attracted general notice about 
1780, when ColliugBros. began raising them for profit 
in England. After them came other breeders, some 
of whom bent all of their energies to producing beef 
animals, while others strove to develop milking quali¬ 
ties. Breeding along these different lines has given 
rise to numerous strains, but all having the same gen¬ 
eral characteristics. 
In England, the dairy Short-horn has been more 
highly developed than in this country. For many 
years, the Short-horn was the prevailing beef breed 
of the West. With lower prices for beef cattle, and 
greater attention to dairying, the distinctively dairy 
breeds have crowded the beef breed from many a 
farm. But with the revival of the beef industry, these 
cattle are again in demand. Where a general-pur¬ 
pose animal is desired, the Short-horn is finding a 
welcome, especially if of a milking strain. The 
weights of this breed are among the heaviest of any 
cattle known. The bulls weigh from 1,900 to 2,300 
pounds, and the cows from 1,200 to 1,600, though some 
individuals considerably exceed these figures. 
At Fig. 173, is shown a picture of Yalasco Jr. 130681, 
the property of W. I. Wood, Williamsport, O., and one 
of the animals offered at his sale on June 8. He was 
two years old July 2 last. His pedigree shows him 
to be of the best breeding, and descended from some 
noted ancestors, in this country, Canada and England. 
THE NITROGEN IN CRIMSON CLOVER. 
COMl’ABKD WITH NITBATE OF SODA. 
Clover in the Soutli.—Last March, while visiting 
the nursery of J. H. Harrison & Sons, at Berlin, Md., 
I was very much interested in the growing of Crimson 
clover. The crop certainly made a fine showing in 
their soil, but it struck me that they were plowing it 
under too early in the season to obtain the full benefit 
from it. With us, in northern New Jersey, one objec¬ 
tion to the clover has been that it does not make its 
full growth until the latter part of May. This is too 
late for most of our earlier crops. Another thing is 
the fact that, on our northern soil, organic nitrogen 
does not seem to be thoroughly available until late in 
the season, when the ground is well warmed up. 
How it is Handled. —Mr. Harrison now says that, 
if we could see the results of the Crimson clover, we 
would be convinced of its great value. They have had 
five weeks of drought, but where the clover was 
plowed under and the ground well fitted, the trees in 
the peach nursery have grown freely. The land has 
kept in good working condition and fairly moist. He 
says that their plan of working in the peach trees is 
to bar-plow the trees with a very small plow as soon 
as cultivation starts in the Spring. They plow the 
ground near the trees, but do not cover the Crimson 
clover in the middle of the row. This is left until it 
is a foot or more high before it is plowed under; in 
this way, they are able to cultivate several times 
close to the trees, and at the same time leave a strip 
of clover down the middle for a humus crop. 
Compared with Nitrate. —In the peach nursery, 
part of the land had no Crimson clover, and to supply 
the nitrogen, they used nitrate of soda. Fifteen 
pounds of Crimson clover seed to the acre at 4% cents 
cost 64 cents ; 100 pounds of nitrate of soda cost $2 20. 
This leaves a credit to the clover sod of $1 56 per acre. 
The application of nitrate is to be repeated in four 
weeks, which would make a credit of 83.76 The land 
where the Crimson clover was plowed in was, evi¬ 
dently, in better mechanical condition. Mr. Harrison 
says he expects to get the best trees and much better 
roots where the clover grew. Of course, these results 
could not be obtained if the middle clover were plowed 
an as early in the Spring as cultivation starts. By 
leaving the narrow strip down through the middle, 
they are able to get cultivation for the trees, and still 
leave the best of the clover crop. This comparison 
between the Crimson clover and nitrate of soda is a 
very interesting and valuable one. I do not think, 
however, that such a result could be obtained in the 
North, where the soil is colder and where there is a 
greater need of soluble nitrates in early Spring. I 
thiak better results will be obtained with this clover 
in Maryland and Delaware than either farther north 
or farther south. h. w c. 
AN OHIO RURAL TELEPHONE LINE. 
IT IS A QBE AT SUCCESS 
I noticed in a recent Rural Nkw-Yoiskek about a rural tele¬ 
phone line. Would It be asuins: too much to have a more specific 
article about Its working details, coat to erect, price of ’phones, 
and exchange with other lines and the like ? s. b. 
Garland, Ohio. 
This particular line was built as an investment, and 
to stay, was constructed of the best material, and well 
built throughout The poles are White cedar, 24 feet 
long, set \ x / t feet deep, rigged with cross arms, pins 
and glass insulators, and wired with the best double 
galvanized wire. Figuring all cost of 
erection as money paid out, the line cost 
$;>0 per mile ; but the line is owned and 
operated by a company of farmers, who 
do much of the work of erecting, and 
this labor is credited up to profit, as it 
calls for so much less outlay. Another 
farmer stockholder has perfected him¬ 
self as the electrician, and puts in the 
’phones, wires them, and keeps the line 
in repair. As the line now covers about 
25 miles of poles, he has not a little to 
do, but is accounted for the same way as 
the erecting item The ’phones them¬ 
selves are of a Chicago and Cleveland 
make, up to date in every way, two-jar 
batteries, long-distance transmitters, and 
are of a style known as the bridging 
telephone. The price of these ’phones is 
about 815 complete ready to use. 
The circuit is what is known as the 
metallic ; and the wires used are the No. 
11, double galvanized, and are equal to 
all strains made upon them. Very little 
repair is needed, and the’phones are sel¬ 
dom complained of. There is one central, 
that is, too, in a farmer’s house, and the different 
loops concentrate there, so that service is prompt. 
There are from five to seven ’phones on a line, in one 
case nine, so that a group of neighbors call each 
other without the aid of the central. Often one has 
to wait a few minutes to get in a chance. The social 
feature of the group system is a pleasant one, and a 
two-minute visit with a friend on a dull, lonesome day, 
even though 10 miles away, makes the rest of the day 
all the more bearable. The amount of information 
given, farm matters talked over, errands done, and the 
like, pay the cost to the subscriber 10 times over in a 
year. The company make a uniform charge of 812 per 
year per ’phone, which gives them the free use now 
of about 200 boxes. Outside parties wishing to use 
the line, pay to the ’phone where used 10 cents, and 
of this, part goes to the family, for their trouble The 
Bainbridge line connects with several independent 
lines which, with it, exchange business, so that the 
reach of this line is greatly extended, and that with¬ 
out additional expense. Beyond this, other lines are 
reached with a 10 cent rate, which practically covers 
all of northeastern Ohio. Within a few weeks, connec¬ 
tion is to be made direct with the great Cuyahoga 
Telegraph Company, of Cleveland, which will add 
about, 3,000 calls, including Cleveland, to be covered 
with the 10-cent rate, which brings city and country 
together instantly. At present, the line has free ex¬ 
change with the city of Chagrin Falls, Burton and 
Cha’-don, and the cheap rate with Youngstown, 
Warren, l’ainesville, and all territory covered with 
the independent northeastern Ohio lines. With the 
Bell lines, messages are exchanged by transfer, but 
not at reduced rates 
The demand for extension of its lines, is beyond the 
ability of the company to comply with. Three new 
lines are in active canvass, and soon to be built, which 
will add about 40 boxes more to the exchange. Were 
the company disposed, any amount of stock could be 
subscribed to extend the lines, but the original eight 
stockholders at present prefer to build slower, and 
largely from the income of the line. In all respects, 
the line seems a model one, and its conduct is as well 
behaved as though run by a syndicate of business 
men - JOHN GOULD. 
SHORT-HORN BULL YALASCO JR. 130681. Fie. 173. 
