1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
655 
The partnership would be all right, but I think it 
would be better to set the mill in a stationary place 
and haul the grain to it. My experience is with a 14- 
inch French burr mill weighing 400 pounds ; capacity 
15 bushels per hour. It is required to be set level and 
plumb, and the pulley on the mill must be on true 
line with pulley on speeding jack, and the work re¬ 
quired in fixing it accurately, would require far more 
time and care than loading the grain on a wagon and 
hauling two miles. I built a small house for mine, 
8 x10 and 5 % feet high to eaves, built a hopper to hold 
50 bushels of grain on top of building, and have a 
two-inch tin spout from the bottom of this to the 
hopper on mill. I haul the grain to it with the wagon 
from the granary, shovel it in the hopper on the roof, 
and have no more trouble with it till the meal comes 
from the spout of the mill. 1 set the mill on a solid 
stone foundation, laid on with a plank floor on top, 
the mill bolted to the floor, and staked firmly, and 
have no further trouble, except to sharpen the burrs 
occasionally, and am sure that I get my own meal 
and not partly mill sweepings, as formerly. 
Westerville, S. D. d. billon. 
Don’t Move the Mill Around. 
Mr. E. E. Callahan, of Wellsboro, I’a., gives the 
following figures to prove the value of a mill. He 
says that a mill should not cost more 
than $100 ; farm engine and boiler, $400 ; 
mill building, $100—or a total of $000 
He puts the interest on this for one 
year at $36, and cost of oil and repairs, 
$6 more—or a total of $42. Take the 
New York State farmer who asked the 
question, lie has 600 bushels of corn, 
300 bushels of oats, and probably 500 
bushels of buckwheat and rye. This 
makes a total of 1,500 bushels. The toll 
on this would be 150 bushels, worth 
about $60. With a fair cost of labor, 
this of itself would leave a profit of 
over $10 per year. If the farmer could 
arrange to grind for a few of his neigh¬ 
bors, he could make enough to pay the 
first cost of the mill in a short time. 
Mr. Callahan has a friend with such a 
mill, and also a good 60-acre farm. 
This man says that he makes more clear 
money from the $600 invested in the 
mill than he does from the $3,000 invested 
in the farm. He does not think it advis¬ 
able for every farmer to own such a 
milling outfit, unless he has a large 
amount of grinding. If two or three 
farmers could arrange to have their mill 
in one location, it might pay to own it 
together. As to moving a mill around 
from place to place, this will probably 
not be satisfactory. Unless they have 
a large amount of grain, it would not 
pay the millman, and if they have too 
much grain at one time, the chop or meal 
is liable to heat and spoil. Such feed is 
much better ground a little at a time 
and often. Mr. Callahan likes steam 
power for a mill of this character, 
although water power is good where 
it can be had. 
What a Long Island Man Says. 
I have had a feed mill for three years. During that 
time the repairs have cost about 30 cents for bolts. It 
is simple and durable in construction, and with me 
gives satisfaction. It will grind corn on the cob and 
all small grain, but not as fine as ground at the mill. 
I can see no difference in the feeding value of the 
very fine feed, and that coarsely ground. My mill 
will grind green corn as soon as ready to cut up, with¬ 
out clogging. I put old corn on the cob and rye 
through the mill twice, grinding about eight bushels 
an hour. When grinding shelled corn and oats to¬ 
gether, I run the corn through first, cracking it mod¬ 
erately fine, then fill the hopper with the cracked corn 
and oats, and run them through. The mill will do 
the mixing if a layer of first one, then the other, is 
put in the hopper. We also use it for cracking corn 
for poultry. 
I would rather place the mill in a central location 
and draw the feed to be ground, as it is heavy to load. 
If placed under a shed grinding could be done in 
stormy weather. Mine has never had any cover ex¬ 
cept a piece of canvas thrown over a stick stuck up in 
the hopper (forming a tent), and a rope tied around 
the hopper to keep the canvas from blowing off ; it is 
always dry and in working order. 
I prefer the corn ground coarse for my cattle in 
Winter because the manure pile makes an excellent 
scratching place for the fowls, as they will work hard 
for a little cracked corn found there. In the Summer 
the fowls follow my cattle in the pasture (which is 
near the barn) and spread the droppings searching for 
corn, although fed all they will eat twice a day. They 
lay well the year around, and I attribute it largely to 
the exercise they get hunting for a little cracked corn 
in the voiding-* of the cattle. fiu.nk b. smith. 
No-thport, L. I. 
THE Life OF STONE drains. 
IIOW no THEY compare with tile ? 
Every year we receive questions from farmers who 
want to know how stone drains compare, all things 
considered, with tile. In some parts of the country, 
where farms are hilly and stony, we find that many 
stone drains are still laid. But farmers do not agree 
as to their value. 
Frank Philp, of Columbia County, N. Y., says that, 
in his section, very few tiles are used. They have 
plenty of stone, and putting them into drains is the 
best way to get rid of them. In the next township, 
the soil is yellow clay with no stone, and so the farm¬ 
ers use tiles. About 40 years ago, stone drains were 
put on his farm, and are in good working order yet. 
They make good drains, and where farmers have the 
stones, he considers it good economy to make drains 
of them. 
W. S. Higgins, of Columbia County, says that one 
must make the ditch about three feet in depth with 
sufficient fall so that the water will clear it. Make 
the throat about four inches in diameter, and fill with 
stone to within one foot of the top of the ground. 
One will then have a drain that will last as long as 
the outlet is kept clear. That seems to be the most 
important thing about the stone drains—keeping a 
clear opening at the outlet. Where farmers have 
stones to be got rid of, the cheapest thing is to put 
them underground in the form of drains. 
C. C. Holden, of Vermont, does not find stone drains 
very satisfactory. They clog up, especially if the 
stones are dumped into the ditch, and moles work in 
the land. A good stone drain should be dug down be¬ 
low the frost and covered with earth for about two 
feet at the top, with the throat at the bottom, made 
of flat stones. 
E. P. Birge, of Columbia County, N. Y., says he has 
tried both kinds of drains, and prefers tile to stone. 
As he is situated, the tile drain is cheaper, and will 
last longer if put down right. The round tile is best. 
To make a stone drain, he digs three feet deep, then 
places one stone upright on one side, and then a flat 
stone with one end resting on the side stone, and the 
other end on the bottom side of the ditch. Then fill 
in with small stones, up to within 14 inches of the 
surface. 
E. B. Hunt, of Vermont, says that a stone drain 
properly laid will not clog up any sooner than tile. 
The stone admits the water all along the line. The 
cost for digging the ditch will be more for stone than 
for tile, as it must be wider and deeper. Mr. Hunt 
did this work after haying, and some of these stone 
drains are working well now after i5 years. In build¬ 
ing. he sets the stone from six to eight inches apart in 
the ditch, and eight inches or more high ; then covers 
with fiat or large stones, thus making a throat at the 
bottom; then fills the ditch to the top with small 
stones, taking care that no holes are left for the soil 
to run through into the drain. 
FARMING AMONG WESTCHESTER HILLS. 
AGRICULTURE IN A ROCK-BOUND COUNTRY. 
Hens and Fruits, With Vegetables to Pave the Way. 
[EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.] 
Part IIL 
A Growing 1 Hen Business.— The objective point 
of poultry keeping here is eggs for a fancy trade. 
The business is in a state of evolution. The houses 
now in use are small, cheap ones, each sheltering a 
single colony. However, plans are laid for a long 
new building - divided into pens in which a large num¬ 
ber will be sheltered. Mr. Rice says that isolated 
houses may be all right in a warm climate with little 
snow, but in a country like theirs the single long 
house reduces labor and is preferable. As regards 
liability to disease, he says that, with everything 
kept as clean as it should be, there need be no more 
fear of disease in such a house than in a number of 
small ones. Across the long rows of 
plum trees, is an open space for the new 
building. From each pen, a yard will 
extend on each side, and the plum trees 
have been so set that a row will find 
place in each yard. While the hens are 
running in the yard on one side of the 
house, the one on the opposite side will 
be growing some crop to freshen and 
sweeten the soil. This is the plan. The 
crop will, probably, be decided by cir¬ 
cumstances. 
The Present Houses.— The small 
houses now in use are located in the old 
apple orchard, in a double row. The 
houses of each pair are, possibly, 20 feet 
apart, and the space between is roofed 
over and sided on the north side for a 
scratching shed. The houses are cheaply 
built of rough lumber, with floors, win¬ 
dows on the south side, and a door in 
one end. They have answered the pur¬ 
pose admirably. Mr. Rice has devised a 
combination of roosting platform, nest¬ 
ing boxes and feeding trough which he 
finds very satisfactory. It takes up little 
floor space, is compact and easy to keep 
clean. 
Instead of plaster, South Carolina rock 
is used to scatter on the platforms. It 
is considered equal if not superior to 
plaster as an absorbent and deodorizer, 
besides having a fertilizing value of its 
own. The roosts are thoroughly cleaned 
once a week and sprayed with kerosene 
as needed. The floors are covered thickly 
with straw in the Winter. 
An Improvised Henhouse. —Quart¬ 
ers were being prepared in the old barn 
for upwards of 200 Winter layers. The 
broadside of the barn faces south. There 
is a lean to on the north. The latter and the space 
overhead are all that are needed for storing fodder. 
The stables are in the basement. The whole south 
part of the barn is divided into pens, by wire netting. 
The south front will be filled with glass windows. 
Overhead and at the back it is packed solidly with 
fodder, and all the rest of the siding will be papered 
and extra boarded. The floor is covered deep with 
straw. It can’t help but be warm and comfortable. 
The pullets will be put in here at the approach of 
cold weather, and kept here until Spring. This is 
not so convenient as a well-arranged house for the 
especial use of the hens, but this is only another of 
the numerous ways in which things on hand are util¬ 
ized to save the expense of new ones. 
The Breed. —White Leghorns have the place of 
honor. There are some others, but the business Leg¬ 
horns are the main dependence. The large white eggs 
suit the discriminating trade. The chicks are hatched 
in incubators, and started in a homemade brooder that 
is an ingenious combination of top and bottom heat. 
As soon as the cockerels attain any size, they are put 
in a separate yard, and are fed for growth and fat. 
They are disposed of as broilers as rapidly as possible, 
and the calculation is that enough will be realized 
from the sale of these to pay all expense for them 
and the pullets, so that the latter cost nothing for 
feed. The broilers are sold to regular customers 
at retail prices. I asked as to the age at which hens 
are turned off. They are never turned off so long as 
they do good work. More or less hens will develop 
weakness, and some are, evidently, not good layers ; 
THE GARNET. 
A GROUP OF LUTHER BURBANK’S NEW PLUMS. Fig. 301. 
