1004 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
255 
FARM AND DAIRY NOTES. 
Crops on a Dairy Farm. 
Our tenants usually break up about one acre to five 
head of cattle-kept each year, making two acres always 
under cultivation to each five animals. They fertilize 
with manure (from vault), and for 25 to 30 head of cattle 
and a team buy about one ton of chemicals, mixed on 
the farm in the proportion of two parts muriate of pot¬ 
ash. eight parts acid phosphate and one part dried blood. 
They put sown corn, planted corn and potatoes (perhaps 
one or two acres of the last), on the broken land the 
first year, and oats and barley with a seeding for meadow 
of Timothy and clover, using 10 quarts Timothy seed, 
four quarts clover seed and a little Orchard grass or Red- 
top. to the acre, the second year. We break up the sward 
about once in seven years. Last year we used some 
Canada peas with the oats and barley, and the result 
was good. Some of the land is dark (loam?) and is good 
grass land, and some is lighter. We have used this rota¬ 
tion, excepting the peas, for a long time, and I would 
much like to know your opinion as to what way we could 
better it if at all The hay and other fodder is the first 
consideration of importance. We used to depend 
almost exclusively on corn and oats raised on the farm 
for grain for stock and pigs, but in these times of better 
prices for milk we buy some shorts on shares. We paid 
$ 1.75 pet bushel for Canada field peas in home market 
last year. Can we get the genuine cow peas—which are 
a sort of bean, as I am informed—in this State? If not, 
would it be worth our while to pay $3.76 per 100 pounds 
for cow peas, and pay freight from Wisconsin on same, 
instead of using the Canada field peas at $1.75 per bushel 
delivered at home? s - H. h. 
Herkimer Cq., N. Y. 
If the meadows are fertilized so that they are pro¬ 
ductive, breaking once in seven years would perhaps 
give results desired, but I fear in this case they are 
not, and so it would seem advisable to plow more, 
raising perhaps more soiling crops. It is our practice 
to sow equal quantities of clover and Timothy by 
measure, about 12 quarts to the acre. You certainly 
did the right thing in sowing the small Canada peas; 
there is nothing better for your locality. I would 
not advise sowing cow peas where you live. It is not 
far from my home, and cow peas, I am sure, from 
trial and observation, are not at all suited to our 
climate, and the Canada pea is at home. I should 
guess that more corn and grain crops, even if the 
grain was cut for hay, putting the corn in a good silo, 
would increase the productivity and stock-carrying 
capacity of the farm. If the tenant does not take 
kindly to such suggestions, perhaps you could induce 
him to put all of the manure upon the newly-seeded 
land, beginning at once after grain is off. and con¬ 
tinuing until that is covered, and then covering al¬ 
ways with a light dressing the best of the older mea¬ 
dows on the farm. I am sure from extended experi¬ 
ence that the stable manure will be much more satis¬ 
factory than if applied in any other way, provided 
of course that the soil is rich enough without manure 
to secure a good catch of clover. Such practice may 
necessitate the use of more commercial manure upon 
grain and grass seeding, but I am sure it will prove 
after a good start has been made to be a profitable 
and advantageous change. The growth of more grain, 
if thrashed, may be exchanged if so desired, and oats 
bring a good price in your locality for horse feeding, 
for some of the more highly concentrated by-products 
from corn, gluten meal and distillers’ grains, n. e. c. 
Rye and Grass for Pasture. 
I have a pasture on thin land, sandy loam that does 
no( any longer produce pasturage to be useful, or rather 
profitable. The pasture is the remotest lot from tho 
barns and so drawing manure, if it could be spared, 
would be expensive next Spring. Would the following 
plan be practicable? Plow shallow and put rye, ferti¬ 
lizer and grass seed all in the same seeder in separate 
compartments. Then when the rye was tall enough, turn 
in the cattle. T have a small milk rente and wish to 
keep up the flow of milk when the P' . ures are drying 
up or losing their succulence. The an - unt I would seed 
to rye would be 18 acres, the number of milch cows turn¬ 
ed in 18, or one cow to an acre. My plan would be to 
drill in fertilizer. I suppose the treading of the herd 
upon the seeding would not hurt the grasses coming up 
while the animals fed from the rye? Would it be neces¬ 
sary to seed this early for cattle to eat the rye in Au¬ 
gust? That is, how old should the rye be before it is fed 
off and should the seed be Spring rye? Would Winter 
rye do? By this treatment would the pasture be in heart 
for pasturing the newly-seeded grasses off the following 
Spring and Summer, or should the herd be kept off and 
the land treated as a meadow for the following year? 1 
would like to get the cattle back as soon as possible, as 
I must hire the temporary pasturage at $1 per acre. 
Essex, N. Y. c. d. b. 
I know of several such cases that have proved quite 
satisfactory. The result upon light sandy soils has 
at first been commensurate with the amount of fer¬ 
tility added. There is no better grain crop to sow 
than rye, because of its strong feeding power. Such 
strong digestion is not possessed by most other grain 
or forage plants, but one must remember that the 
rank feeding power of the rye, unless enough readily 
available plant food is supplied will interfere with 
the young grass and clover to follow. The following 
mixture would be cheaper than mixed goods, and as 
effective: One hundred pounds nitrate of soda, 2(H) 
pounds cotton-seed meal, 700 pounds dissolved rock, 
applying about 500 pounds to the acre, costing a trifle 
over $4 per acre, drilling the stuff with the grain and 
grass seed. A mixture of equal parts by weight of 
Blue grass. Orchard grass and Timothy, and say five 
quarts of Red clover added for each acre solved would 
make a good mixture. The danger to the young seed¬ 
ing will depend somewhat upon the condition of the 
soil. I would not allow the stock to graze too closely; 
turn them on when the crop is a foot high, and if 
they are likely to injure it by close cropping take 
them off until the rye has taken a new start, and then 
repeat. You will, I think, find the Spring rye prefer¬ 
able for Spring sowing, about V /2 to two bushels per 
acre. Whether it will be most advisable to pasture 
the following year will depend upon how firmly the 
young grass gets rooted, which only the following 
Spring can tell. _ h. e. c. 
HOW TO SPRAY. 
All know that certain preparations will kill in¬ 
sects; certain others will destroy or prevent the 
spread of fungous troubles. The application of spray 
is something like firing at an enemy in the dark with 
neither searchlight or range finder. Later, results 
show whether you have hit him or not. If I were to 
give advice I would say secure all the literature on 
the subject you can. Decide what you need to spray 
for, and what mixture to use. Follow directions 
idosely as possible, and if your judgment is ordinarily 
good you will come out as near right as the rest of 
us. In making the application use nozzles that throw 
a fine misty spray. Avoid those which allow the 
mixture to pass out in drops. I think there are 
nozzles better than the regular Vermorel in this re¬ 
spect. Use great care in applying; see that every 
part of the tree, foliage and fruit is covered. Re¬ 
member any part uncovered is unprotected. Do not 
drench the trees—it is unnecessary. Keep the nozzles 
constantly on the move. A good working bunch of 
nozzles will almost instantly cover a flat space as 
large as the spray will spread. A tree, however, is 
not a flat surface. Its limbs are round, and point in 
different directions. Its leaves and fruit present their 
surface at every angle imaginable. If you attempt 
to spray a tree as you would the side of a building 
much material will be wasted. Some parts will have 
more than they need, some will get little, some noth¬ 
ing, and results are liable to be unsatisfactory. 
Where Stoves are used W here Hot Air Furnace useij Where Hot Watei 
System used 
AS ONE HOT-WATER MAN FINDS IT. Fig. 108. 
The Ohio State Experiment Station states that in 
Grape rot spraying experiments they have found that 
a job poorly done always added its cost to the net 
loss, while a thoroughly well-done job always nearly 
or quite saved the whole crop. I think the indifferent 
results sometimes secured in the control of insects 
and fungous diseases are often due to the method of 
application. A thoroughly good job, while it needs 
more care in its application, need not necessarily take 
more time or material. It is just aimed better and 
hits the spot, that’s all. 
In applying the spray to different-sized plants or 
trees I would use different length and style of nozzle 
rod. For currant or other low bushes use about a 30- 
inch piece of one-half inch gas pipe connected to hose 
by a quick shut-off valve. For trees four to 12 feet 
tall use a rod about six or seven feet long, connected 
to hose by quick shut-off. Make the first 30 inches 
half-inch pipe, then a tee with a four-inch capped 
pipe for a handle, then four feet or so of three-eighths 
pipe, then a tee across the end. Attach the nozzles 
to this tee by elbows in such way that the nozzles can 
be set at right angles to the rod. With this the tree 
can be sprayed all from one side. The operator, with 
scarcely a change of position can direct, the spray 
from right or left, up or down; from inside of tree out 
or from outside in. Every part and side of trunk, 
limbs, leaves and fruit can be covered in a way im¬ 
possible with nozzles pointed in the ordinary way. 
Any breeze except a heavy gale is an advantage. If 
(he breeze is strong set the nozzles at right angles 
to the rod. If light set at about 45 degrees from 
straight ahead. In spraying larger trees where a 
platform is used this style will be found equally ser¬ 
viceable. Some kinds of foliage and fruit, especially 
half-grown plums, are difficult to cover with ordinary 
mixtures. If a small quantity of resin soap is added 
it will greatly improve the spreading and covering 
quality. I think it improves all forms of Bordeaux 
enough to repay its cost well. I think the ideal job 
of spraying is one thoroughly well done, with the 
least waste of material, in the shortest time, with 
the least hard labor. Use only nozzles that throw a 
fine misty spray. Use as many at one time as you can 
without waste of material. See that every branch 
leaf or fruit is covered on every side. Do not hold 
nozzles in any one position long enough to cause large 
drops or little streams to form on the limbs. The 
form of apparatus I refer to is shown at Fig. 107. 
A. £ LOOP. 
A WOOD-BURNING FURNACE. 
The house the writer lives in, built in 1860, is heat¬ 
ed with a furnace that burns wood cut from four to 
five feet long. The fire-box is built egg-shaped, of 
cast iron, and on top is a wrought iron boiler-shaped 
radiator from which the pipe goes into the chimney. 
The furnace is bricked in with double wall six feet, 
square inside, a wooden box bringing cold air from 
the outside into the space between the double brick 
walls, which comes into the inside chamber through 
holes at the bottom all the way around. From the 
top seven hot-air pipes lead into four rooms and a 
large hall below, and two chambers upstairs. The 
house is a large one, with ceilings 11 feet high below, 
and nine feet high upstairs. We use for fuel cord 
wood, cut in lengths as above, or wood of any descrip¬ 
tion which comes handy in the farm economy to get 
rid off; thus at times old rails, brush large enough to 
cut up; old fence posts, in short anything that goes 
under the name of wood does duty in keeping the 
house warm; this we find a great advantage, for in 
the mild seasons a fire built of light, brush will throw 
out heat enough to warm up the house, and it starts 
quickly, and is soon burnt out. 
Our usual custom is to have about 20 cords of wood 
cut in the woods the preceding Winter, corded up 
and let season, and then draw it direct to the house, 
pile it up handy to throw into the cellar to burn as 
we want it. For the past two seasons we have been 
burning slabs and tops of trees from a log job on the 
farm, and there is enough of this to last two years 
more, if it can be secured before it rots. We find in 
zero weather that we burn up a cord of good wood a 
week; by good wood we mean sound chestnut, hem¬ 
lock and oak, mixed. We have no trouble in keeping 
the house warm in the coldest weather, and neither 
do we have to build up a fresh fire every day; there 
are always hot coals enough from which to start up a 
fire any morning, and in 10 minutes after putting on 
wood the house is warm. The expense of putting in 
such a furnace would be from $200 to $300, depending 
on the piping, etc. We do not claim economy where 
wood has to be bought, but where there is an abun¬ 
dance of it, in our opinion, there is no heater that 
excels a wood furnace, like ours. 
Connecticut. hakry sedgwick. 
We cannot see how the advance, already realized, In 
the price of raw cotton can have any effect on wool, or 
materially aid in the enhancement of wool values, for 
even though still higher prices should be demanded for 
the former than are now current, the wide difference In 
the prices of the two commodities would certainly pre¬ 
clude the greater use of the latter. Cotton, when used 
by the manufacturer of woolen goods is but as a substi¬ 
tute, and as such even though cotton should ultimately 
experience a much higher price, it could but result in the 
greater use of other and cheaper substitutes, as shoddy, 
or in the increased cost of the manufactured article to 
the consuming masses. In our estimation the weight on 
wool values has not been irom the cheapening effect 
caused by the use of cotton, but from the increased use 
of wool substituted, which cut the latter out, and we are 
confident we would immediately feel the effect in the en¬ 
hancement of domestic wool values. 
(Chicago. IH . HOWARD, BOYER Jfc CO. 
