1!)04. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 491 
TOMATO GROWING. 
I have a level to plant in tomatoes, and could not get the 
fertilizer when the hills were prepared. Ilow and when 
is the best time to apply the fertilizer? Would you suggest 
working them level or otherwise? How much per acre will 
tomatoes yield on fair land? Which is the more profitable 
to grow, tomatoes at $7.50 per ton or sugar corn at $8 per 
ton? Will those who have had experience with sugar corn 
and tomato growing for factory give their views? 
Port Tobacco, Md. R- s. s. 
I am afraid our friend has made a slight mistake in 
preparing his ground without any fertilizer or manure, 
unless the soil is in a very good state of cultivation. In 
the case of R. S. S. I would apply from 175 to 200 
pounds nitrate of soda at once, and put a part of it 
as near the plant as possible, to furnish available nitro¬ 
gen to stimulate the young plant into active vine growth. 
The first requisite in tomato growing is to have a good 
healthy vine, "and I know of no better or surer way to 
get it than by using nitrate of soda, but this cannot be 
depended on alone to produce the crop. The tomato is 
a potash-consuming plant, and also requires considerable 
phosphoric acid. I would suggest that R. S. S. broad¬ 
cast his tomato field with a fertilizer analyzing three to 
four per cent ammonia, seven to eight per cent phos¬ 
phoric acid and 10 per cent potash, working all well into 
the soil, using from 000 to 800 pounds per acre. If this 
mixture had been broadcast prior to setting the plants 
I think better results would follow. The objections to 
using a ready-mixed fertilizer around the plants after 
being set is this: The amount of nitrogen in most ready- 
mixed fertilizers is small, and the greater part of it is 
organic and not immediately available, while the nitrate 
of soda is available at once. I imagine that the in¬ 
quirer’s ground is quite level or fiat; in that case I 
would cultivate in such a manner that the rows 'would 
shed water in case of very heavy showers or a pro¬ 
tracted spell of wet weather, but I would not ridge them 
so high that the crop would suffer in case of drought. 
“How much will tomatoes yield per acre?” This is a 
hard one. I have seen them yield two tons; I have also 
seen them yield 14 tons per acre. There is so much 
that goes to make the difference between two and 14 
tons it could not possibly be told in an article of this 
kind. The season is one of the prime factors; the 
knowledge possessed and put in practice by the grower, 
the soil they are planted on, and many other things. 
No one should expect the same yield from tomatoes 
planted on light sandy soil that they would if they were 
planted on a good loam. In comparing tomatoes at 
$7.50 per ton with sugar corn at $8 per ton, I would 
say there is nearly or quite half difference. Let us com¬ 
pare the two crops a moment. We will take the maxi¬ 
mum of the two crops; 12 tons tomatoes at $7.50 per 
ton would reach $90, and six tons sweet corn at $8 per 
ton would amount to but $48. I feel that I have been 
more liberal with the corn than I should; this is taking 
a number of years as a standard. We all know that 
sugar corn is much more easily produced and gathered; 
consequently cost of production less than in the case of 
tomatoes. Nevertheless, the net profit between the two 
crops will be from 30 to 35 per cent in favor of tomatoes. 
C. C. HULSART. 
LITTLE CHICKS AS CANNIBALS. 
Last week on page 478 was a question from a reader 
whose little chicks had acquired the bad habit of killing 
and eating their companions. The following notes will show 
that this is not unusual. 
We have little trouble with chicks, incubator hatched, 
eating each other. Occasionally a chick from a younger 
hatch would get in with those three weeks older, and 
they would usually attack the toes and feet of the 
little fellow and soon have him mutilated, but never 
have chicks attacked one of their own age. We raise 
1,000 to 1,500 S. C. White Leghorns each season, and 
feed plenty of skim-milk and prepared meat meal with 
a variety of grain, grit and charcoal. We think the 
person who is losing so many should feed meat of some 
kind to satisfy their appetites. zimmer bros. 
New York. 
In regard to young chickens eating members of the 
flock, it is quite common, usually commenced by a 
chicken getting injured in some way so the blood starts. 
Other chickens pick this blood and will not stop until 
there is nothing left of the chicken. The habit once 
formed, they are always looking for blood, and it is an 
easy matter to get it started on another chicken. The 
remedy is to remove a chicken as soon as one is noticed 
that the others are picking. In the case mentioned 
we would advise getting some bones with a little raw 
meat on them from the market; give them one bone at 
a time, and let them pick; also put in the yard chaff or 
hay seed from the barn; something to keep them busy. 
Massachusetts. r. g. buffinton. 
I have never had anything of the kind, and am at a 
loss to offer any advice. The only case of the kind that 
1 have heard of was about a year ago, when one of 
my neighbors came here to know what to do with 
their chickens. A flock of White Leghorns was the 
same as you speak of, generally picking at the toes until 
they would start the blood, then would not stop until 
the chick was killed and eaten. I advised giving fresh 
meat, as I thought they would be satisfied in that 
way, but the inquirer came back in about a week saying 
they were worse than ever; they seemed to be regu¬ 
lar cannibals. If I should have such an experience 1 
should move them to an entirely new place and change 
their surroundings as much as possible, and that might 
have some effect. I think probably we are overdoing 
the matter with the most approved chicken feed; most 
likely too much meat, etc., in it, which has perhaps 
started the trouble. d. a. mount. 
New Jersey. 
I have had cases similar to your reader’s, but they 
were never allowed to reach the epidemic stage. Chicks 
and ducklings yarded seem to grow irritable in confine- 
WHITE WYANDOTTE; RECORD 219 EGGS. Fig. 212. 
ment, and occasionally contract the mischievous habits 
of “pecking” and feather pulling. When once blood 
is drawn there is no let-up, unless the victims are res¬ 
cued and cared for. In the case of feather pulling, if 
the wings and back feathers of the tormented are bathed 
with kerosene—not to wet them—their companions will 
leave them alone. If the wound is raw, it should be 
bathed in warm water and a healing salve applied; 
over that corn starch or rice powder sifted, if it is to 
be restored to the flock, but it is better, even with this 
treatment, to keep it separate till healed. A flock 
acquiring this habit of cannibalism needs close watching 
and the prompt withdrawal of the injured. A few good 
and occasional doses of worms is a healthy counter- 
irritant, and good for the little fellows, mentally and 
physically. F. E. w. 
New York. 
HENS WITH AN EGG PEDIGREE. 
A few weeks ago we showed pictures of a “trap 
nest” which is used to separate the drones from the 
layers in a flock of hens. These nests are arranged so 
that when the hen goes in to lay the door closes and 
she cannot get out alone. As she is left there with her 
egg, it is easy to tell which birds are laying. The Maine 
Experiment Station has done some excellent work in 
this line. Over 1,000 hens have been tested, and we are 
able to give pictures of two hens that arc more than 
good. Fig. 212 shows a White Wyandotte hen now foui 
PLYMOUTH ROCK HEN; RECORD 237 EGGS. Fig. 213. 
years old. In her first year of laying she laid 219 eggs, 
second year 162 and third year 72. Here is evidently a 
good hen for breeding purposes. In the same pen was 
another White Wyandotte with the same breeding. This 
hen was also kept until she was four years old. but so 
far as could be learned, she never laid an egg in that 
time. In shape and size she was much like the other— 
both would probably have been selected as “egg type” 
hens. Fig. 213 shows a Plymouth Rock hen which laid 
237 eggs in her first year. Another hen in this flock, 
looking very much like the good one here pictured, did 
not start laying until she was nine months old. She then 
laid eight eggs in one month, and then laid no more for 
six months. The trap nests make such things sure. 
These nests reveal other things, for experiments have 
been made to test the fertility of eggs from differ¬ 
ent hens. For example, the hen shown at Fig. 213 is 
strong and vigorous and a fine layer, but very few ol 
her eggs produce good chicks, or are even well fertilized. 
Something is wrong with that hen, and the trap nests 
show other things about the birds that are worth know¬ 
ing. They are not generally used, because poultry keep¬ 
ers lack the time needed to watch them. 
GOVERNMENT FRACTIONAL CURRENCY. 
There lias always been a demand for a more convenient 
form of paper money of small denominations. Such money 
would be very useful to country people who wish to make 
purchases by mail. In the Fall of 1901, while Hon. Lyman 
J. Gage was Secretary of the Treasury, we wrote asking 
if there was any good reason why the Government should 
not issue fractional currency in amount large enough to 
satisfy the needs of country people. The following reply 
was received: 
The Department is in receipt of your letter asking 
whether there is any good reason why the Government 
should not issue a fair amount of fractional currency 
in order that country people may have it to use in mak¬ 
ing small purchases through the mail, and for other 
similar purposes. In reply you are informed that the 
proposition heretofore submitted to this Department in 
connection with this matter, provided for the issue oi 
fractional paper money in sufficient amount to cause 
it to enter into general circulation, so that any person 
desiring to make a small remittance through the mails 
might at all times and everywhere be able to put his 
hand on the necessary amount of such currency. This 
scheme, of course, would involve the Government in a 
very large expense, since it would be necessary to have 
the currency in general use as money, and would put 
the great mass of people in this country, who do not 
frequently desire such money for small remittances, to 
the great inconvenience of being obliged to receive 
and pay out fractional currency in their ordinary trans¬ 
actions. 
Several years ago, a statement was prepared to show 
the relative cost of maintaining fractional currency and 
subsidiary silver coins. In that statement it was shown 
that the total amount of fractional currency issued dur¬ 
ing a period of 14 years was $239,228,932, that amount 
being necessary to maintain an average amount out¬ 
standing of about $26,000,000. The cost of preparation, 
issue and redemption was $12,221,053.66. Resides this 
cost, the people lost, in the way of destroyed fractional 
currency, about $14,000,000 more. 
The cost of maintaining the fractional currency from 
the first day of July, 1S69, to the first day of July, 1876, 
was $6,438,473.48 for the expense of printing and papei 
alone. This did not include the expense arising from 
the increased force required to deal with the issues and 
redemptions, nor the expense incurred by the people in 
sending the worn and mutilated notes to the Treasury 
to be exchanged for fresh notes. For a similar period 
from July 1, 1881, to December 31, 1S87, the total ex¬ 
pense of coinage of fractional silver to replace worn- 
out silver was only $81,782.30. m. e. ailes. 
Assistant Secretary. 
It happened that this letter was not printed at the 
time. We recently wrote Secretary Shaw for his opin¬ 
ion, and receive this reply: 
Secretary Shaw directs me to acknowledge the re¬ 
ceipt of of your letter, in which you ask for an article 
touching the demand among the country people for an 
issue of fractional currency. The Secretary regrets that 
he cannot comply with your request, inasmuch as it has 
been his policy not to write articles on any subject 
during his incumbency of the office he now holds, and 
has heretofore declined all such requests. 
J. H. EDWARDS. 
Secretary to the Secretary of the Treasury. 
DYNAMITE AND A HORSE.—We were almost 
through cleaning up the stone on a 10-acre field six 
miles from home, and had only a couple of hours more 
work when a man came in the field from the adjoining 
highway, asking for a little help. He had been moving 
a load of goods, and near the foot of the hill one of 
the horses dropped dead; I presume from over pulling. 
He wanted a place to bury the horse, so we told 
him he could bury it in the field, and we got our 
stone boat and dragged the horse on to the field. The 
man was to return shortly after he reached his destina¬ 
tion, a half mile away, and bury the horse, but he was 
late, and we didn’t care to leave the horse over Sunday 
and had no time ourselves, so under one of the stones, 
weighing a half ton or more we made a hole three 
feet deep with the crowbar, and put in a stick of dyna¬ 
mite; a half stick would have answered for the stone. 
I do not gamble, but would not be afraid to bet a 
grave for a horse was never dug quicker. We lit the 
fuse, scampered out of the way, and “quicker than 
you can say Jack Robinson” the stone was out and 
a hole was there big enough for the horse. We tumbled 
him in, and he was quickly covered with practically no 
expense to us and none to its owner. He came after 
we were gone, couldn’t find the horse, and came again 
Sunday. Monday he made another trip to our home 
place to see who had disposed of the horse, and how, 
and was very thankful to have got out of the matter 
5>o easily. H. g. m. 
