i8 
T1IE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 9 
to be done whenever convenient, and the other work 
is in for first attention. “We want to haul some logs 
to-day, so let the chores go until we get back,” or 
they are slighted. The cows are watered to-day at 
seven in the morning or to-morrow it may be after 
dinner. "Usually the milking is done at five o’clock 
in the morning, but we want to get an early start, so 
they w r ere milked at four this morning, or we went 
to Grange last night and didn’t get home until after 
midnight and it was 6:30 before we crawled out. The 
cow t s were impatient to be milked, and didn’t stand 
as well as usual, and we felt cranky for lack of sleep. 
Between the two things didn’t go smoothly and we 
hammered one or two and yelled at several that didn’t 
step around to suit us.” “We usually feed the cows 
at four in the afternoon but didn’t get home until 
rather late, so did our chores (?) after supper.” We 
have seen a good deal of this kind of dairying, and 
know it doesn’t pay. Our cows will do much better 
and things will run smoothly if we are quite partic¬ 
ular to be very regular in all our work in the dairy. 
Feed at the same time, water at the same time and 
milk as regularly each day at the same hour. It is 
also better to have the same person do the feeding 
•each time; then he will know how much they are get¬ 
ting and if they are making a proper return for it. 
There are a good many things you can trust to others, 
but if possible do your own feeding, and above all 
do not let some irresponsible heedless boy feed the 
calves and young stock. n. o. Manchester. 
CLEARING OUT STUMPS. 
In answer to H. T., page 786, last volume, I would 
say that a few years ago I had 12 acres of stumps, 
largely heavy oak, ranging from one to 3 y 2 feet in 
diameter, deeply rooted in a heavy clay 
subsoil. There was also some hickory, 
and upon the lighter ridges some 
chestnut and cherry. The field was my 
chosen location for a garden, but con¬ 
tained over 800 of these stumps, cut six 
or seven years before, besides a dense 
growth of thorn bushes and other trash. 
When I first faced this “proposition” 
my nerves had been overwrought with 
mental work, and my muscles were soft 
for want of exercise. I had had no ex¬ 
perience in this business since my boy¬ 
hood. Alone I started for my task. I 
hitched my horse in the shade, stuck my 
ax in a stump, sat down on a log and 
meditated while the boys on an adjoin¬ 
ing farm watched the “city feller” be¬ 
gin. Several methods of removing the 
stumps were tried, but at last I resorted 
to 40-per-cent dynamite. 1 knew noth¬ 
ing about using it, and could find no 
one who did know, but after a half day’s 
experimenting with many fizzles and a 
mighty headache I began to “catch on” 
and soon considered myself an expert. 
The greater part of those 800 stumps 1 
lifted with dynamite, and consider it by far the best 
means that can be used. After a few days’ practice 1 
could throw out.from 30 to 40 stumps per day. But it 
requires some skill and precaution to do the work 
successfully and safely. I give a few general direc¬ 
tions and then the operator must use his own judg¬ 
ment in the details, that will vary with conditions. 
Use 40-per-cent dynamite, which is put up in half- 
pound sticks, and waterproof fuse with necessary 
caps. Furnish yourself with a pointed iron exploring 
bar five or six feet long, a two-inch auger with shank 
extended to the length of five or six feet, an old 
broomstick as a tamping rod, a hard-wood stick the 
size of a lead pencil as a charging stick to make a 
hole in the end of a stick of dynamite in which to 
insert the capped end of the fuse, and a pair of pinch¬ 
ers to pinch the sides of the cap firmly on to the 
fuse. Look out a safe hiding place eight or 10 rods 
from the place of operations. With the bar puncture 
the earth between the main brace-roots of the stump, 
holding the bar at an angle of about 45 degrees, and 
insert to the center root, if there be one, carry the 
point of the bar past that center root a few inches 
at a distance of IV 2 or two’feet below the general level 
of the. ground. Now take the auger and follow the 
hole made by the bar, withdrawing it frequently to 
clean out the loose earth, until you have a clear two- 
inch opening somewhat beyond the center and beside 
the center root. Success depends largely on the prop¬ 
er location of the charge. Next insert the necessary 
amount of dynamite sticks, except the last one, push¬ 
ing them to the low-er end of the opening with the 
tamping rod, having first torn off the ends of the 
paper doubled over the ends of the stick. With your 
charging stick punch a hole two or three inches deep 
in one end of the last stick of dynamite, slip a cap 
on one end of the fuse, pinching the sides tightly 
on the fuse so that the latter will not easily be drawn 
out, insert this cap end of the fuse in the dynamite 
stick, pressing this together closely. Now lay this in 
the upper end of the opening and with the tamping 
rod against the end of the charge, holding the fuse 
lightly in your hand so that it will not be drawn 
out, carefully push the stick to its place against those 
first inserted. Still holding the fuse against the up¬ 
per side of the opening roll in pieces of clay removed 
with the auger, carefully tamping them until the 
opening is filled and well compacted. Now light the 
fuse and run to your retreat. 
The fuse should be cut long enough to reach to the 
surface, but never shorter than 15 inches, in order 
to give you time to reach cover. How much dynamite 
should be used, of course, depends on the soil and the 
stumps, but be sure to use enough and a little more, 
for after a futile blast you cannot again blast, since 
the earth will be too loose, and you will be“compelled 
to dig. In my heavy clay, under an oak stump three 
feet across, cut six years, I found it necessary .to use 
five or six sticks, and sometimes another stick or two 
would have been better. I had a number of oaks and 
hickorys recently cut that measured 10 to 12 inches. 
Under these I used four sticks successfully. Hem¬ 
locks, chestnuts, maples and others having no center 
roots will require somewhat less. Experience on your 
own ground will soon show you what is necessary, 
but be sure to use enough. It is economy. 
Two or three precautions are necessary. A 40-per¬ 
cent dynamite is not so dangerous as is often sup¬ 
posed. While I have thrown fragments into the fire 
without an explosion I would prefer to keep It away 
from the fire. Do not let it freeze, which will occur 
at 48 degrees. The cap is the dangerous thing in the 
outfit. Keep the caps away from the dynamite until 
ready for use. The least scratch on the inside of the 
cap will produce an explosion sufficient to blow a 
man’s hand off. After an explosion do not inhale the 
smoke, for it will produce a violent headache. 
New Castle, Pa. _ 1 . a. thayek. 
WHEN TO PLOW CLOVER SOD. 
Shall we plow good clover sod in Indiana in the Fall 
and let it stand exposed through the Winter—or wait till 
Spring before plowing? 
While I think the freezing of our Winters is a great 
benefit to our red clay lands I would never plow a 
good clover sod in the Fall; would leave plowing as 
late as possible to get the benefit of clover growth, 
as our lands are apt to wash very much. Southern 
Indiana is a hilly country. j. w. 
Greenville, Ind. 
I certainly should not plow clover sod until Spring, 
especially if it is upland, or well situated. Although 
at present writing weather conditions here are some¬ 
what severe, yet in this section there are usually 
many weeks in Winter in which growth may be made 
in sod, and every particle of growth is valuable.’ When 
the ground is hard from frost or becomes quite dry, 
we should haul out as much manure as we can pro¬ 
duce, spread as evenly as possible. When the snow 
or rain comes the manure will do the clover good, and 
the clover will hold all the nutriment. Any growth 
made in early Spring is an advantage. As soon as it 
can be well done in the Spring plow deeply so that the 
sod is well buried, and then till the land thoroughly, 
going over it again and again until the surface is pul¬ 
verized and level. Then plant corn and keep it work¬ 
ed. The clover sod and’stable manure gradually de¬ 
caying in the ground is the finest fertilizer we can 
have; it will hold moisture for the corn plant and 
keep it fed regularly. Then if the surface is as it 
should be there will be little evaporation and it can 
face a possible drought without fear. Of course where 
a sod is old and foul and contains many cutworms it 
may be well to plow in Fall and let the frost kill the 
pests if possible. But in my opinion any advantage 
gained this way is likely to be lost by sacrificing some 
growth in late Fall and early Spring. j. w. c. 
Jeffersonville, Ind. 
BRIEF FERTILIZER TALKS. 
Hauling Out Manure. 
Woukl you. at this time, cart manure on to level, light 
sandy loam intended for corn next season? If so, should 
it be spread or left in heaps till Spring? Part of this 
piece has a light cover of clover and good crop of turnips. 
Massachusetts. reader. 
Yes, if the land is reasonably level. We would 
either leave it in one large pile after the plan of a 
compost, or in smaller heaps about the field. If the 
field w'ere in grass or grain we would spread the ma¬ 
nure, as such crops will begin to grow as soon as frost 
is out of the ground, and will use the plant food be¬ 
fore the manure could be well spread in the mud. 
For corn the case is different, since that crop will 
not be planted for at least six weeks after the grass 
or grain begins to grow, and there would be some loss 
by leaching. It might be well enough to spread as 
hauled on the clover. 
Grinding Bones at Home. 
I saw in The R. N.-Y. a way of treating bones for ferti¬ 
lizer. As it referred to green bones I would like to know 
if the dry bones that are going to waste around every 
farm can be worked Up at hohie so as to be used as ferti • 
lizer? Can they be ground fine in the dry bone grinders 
sold by some dealers, and what else will they need to fit 
them for fertilizing garden land? j. t. 
Glenwood. Col. 
Yes, the bones can be crushed at home, but it may 
cost more than they are worth. Great 
power is required to grind hard bones 
fine enough for fertilizers. In parts of 
New England certain farmers collect 
bones and crush them. The old way was 
first to stamp them under a trip hammer 
or crush them in a machine like a rock 
crusher. Then they were ground in 
bone mills. The power was generally 
obtained from a waterwheel on some 
swift stream. The writer used to pick¬ 
up old bones and sell them at “half a 
cent a pound.” Now the bones are first 
steamed in a steel tank under high pres¬ 
sure. This softens them, and when 
dried they can be ground in a stout mill 
run by a common steam engine. Bonos 
contain nitrogen and phosphoric acid, 
but no potash. A good combination is 
either one part by weight of bone and 
two parts of wood ashes or three parts 
of bone, and one of muriate of potash. 
You must handle a good many bones if 
you expect to pay cost of a grinding out¬ 
fit. In some localities where waste bones 
have no value it will often pay a man to 
collect ahd grind them, but in most sec¬ 
tions of the East bones are quickly disposed of, cut 
green for hens or sold to fertilizer makers. 
Manure Loss in Mulching. 
On page 8S3, last volume, is a question about the escape 
of nitrogen out of heated horse manure. How much of 
the three fertilizer elements are lost out of fresh, well- 
saved horse manure (including some urine) by putting it 
on a strawberry lot as a mulch, when ground is frozen 
about four or five inches deep, and rain follows a few 
days later, the thermometer rising to about 48 degrees 
and the ground thawing out only about an inch? As I 
walked over the field after the rain the water between 
the row's was quite dark, and as my land slopes, some of 
the water runs off. I have for the last seven years mulch¬ 
ed with manure, but I am always thinking I lose a good 
deal of it, as it also washes in the Spring before the frost 
is out. In case there is any loss, would you advise put¬ 
ting salt hay on as a mulch and a good fertilizer in the 
Spring, and use the manure for another crop? s. k. 
Milford, Conn. 
It would be impossible to say just what the loss 
will be. The color of the liquid does not prove that 
it contains large amounts of plant food. Still, on 
frozen ground, and with a slope away from the straw¬ 
berry bed there must be more or less loss. Some ex¬ 
periments with manure exposed outdoors during the 
Summer showed that about half of its fertilizing 
value was removed by leaching. The loSs would not 
be so great in Winter. When we mulch berries with 
manure we always expect to lose part of the plant 
food by leaching. We would rather use salt hay or 
straw for mulching, and either plow manure under 
when setting the strawberries or use fertilizers at 
that time. The proper time to feed strawberries is 
when they are planted, or during late Summer or 
Fall when the fruit buds are forming. Since a fair 
share of the plant food in the manure will be washed 
out of it in Winter we would rather mulch with some 
other material and keep the manure in good piles or 
on level sod ground for other crops. 
