68 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 30 
proof. Both ends and the south side of this shed are 
boarded up on the outside of the posts, and a good 
manger runs the whole length along the wall with 
little loss of room. In front of the shed, are the 
straw stacks of the farm. 
I constructed six feeding racks in the yard, made 
as follows: I cut four pieces 2% feet long ; these 
may be 2 x 3 or 4 inches, or may be of round poles if 
flattened on one side. These are for corner posts. 
Out six boards, two feet long, 1x6 inches is a good 
size. Three boards, nailed to two of these posts, will 
make the end of the rack. A load of rails or poles of 
the same size should be on the ground. Set up the 
ends, smooth side out, and secure a piece of fence 
wire to the lower end of the post by staples. Lay the 
rails one at a time upon one another, winding them 
tight to the post with the wire, until the top is 
reached, and secure the wire. This is a rack that will 
not upset, and may be lifted and moved ; the sides are 
stiff and need no support, and no animal can be hurt 
upon it. To the outside ends of each rack, nail a 
feed box—18 inches long, 10 or 12 wide, and 6 inches 
deep is good. Now we have six good racks, 12 boxes, a 
good shed and manger ; but to feed 20 horses, we need 
25 boxes. So we set 12 more boxes on good blocks 
two feet high. We place the racks in rows or con¬ 
venient shape to drive alongside with a team, and 20 
feet apart, and the block feed boxes in double rows 
far enough apart to be safe. 
A corn crib stands in this lot at the north side, be¬ 
tween which and the shed are the boxes. A basket 
that holds a bushel of ears, and a scoop shovel, enable 
a man to feed these horses grain in a very short time. 
One bushel of good, sound corn, given them twice a 
day, is ample. Oats, bran and other feed may be 
given as well, if preferred. Once each day, these 
racks, and the 100-foot manger under the shed are 
filled with shredded fodder, and for a change, hay 
is put in occasionally. Good water and a box always 
intended to contain salt, are where they can help 
themselves, and they can amuse themselves eating 
straw if fancy inclines. This is all they get, and this 
is all the attention paid to them. They are never sick, 
never crippled or blemished, and with this treatment, 
every one gains in flesh more than on the grass in 
summer. They will be in better flesh in the spring 
than when they went into the feeding lot, and they 
use the shed fully as much in summer as a cool, shady 
place to try to elude the flies, as in winter to avoid 
the storms, for well-fed, fat horses care little for 
storm or cold. I have plenty of good, warm box- 
stalls now empty, because I know that they do better 
outside, and I can raise them so much cheaper. 
These horses consist of young stock over two years 
old, brood mares, and the workers not now in use. To 
prove that they are not common things I will men¬ 
tion that among them is “ Verney,” the dam of Vern- 
wood, 2:13%, Wauseon, 2:19, and Edifice, 2:20, and 
that she is now heavy in foal to Online, 2:04 ; and 
Jenny Lewis, the dam of Beechnut, 2:23%. They are 
healthier and safer, will have better foals kept as 
they are, than in box stalls and pampered. This 
article is not written for the fancy farmer, the gentle¬ 
man who runs his farm for pleasure or pride, and not 
to make his living. I could, I think, write an article 
on his side. I commenced in 1874, to keep a stock 
farm, and took pattern after such establishments. I 
got along very well while high prices lasted, but 
when the crash came, I found that I was following 
the rush to bankruptcy. I attempted to save myself, 
and this is what I did : I turned off the stable men, 
turned out the horses—as I have tried to explain. 
This article is commended to the farmer who, like 
myself, must do his own work, and must make a liv¬ 
ing for himself and family out of the products of that 
farm. 
As I now have it, one hour out of every 24 is all 
that the 20 horses need or get of my time, and they 
are so much better and healthier that I would not go 
back to the old way if I could. Colts the first and 
second winter are kept as much like the older ones as 
possible, the weanlings in one lot, the yearlings* in 
another, and fed with a team, rough feed ; but their 
grain ration is oats and bran. As now managed, one 
man takes care of these horses, including the stallions, 
workers and driver kept shod that cannot go out, 
milks four cows, and cares for them (they are stabled), 
has charge of 70 ewes, and 10 brood sows with their 
produce. He does it well and is not overworked. 
Ligonier, Ind. w. w. latta. 
Estimated Yield of Potatoes. 
./. W., Olympia, Wash .—A friend requested me to tell you that 
he raised six pounds of potatoes from that one-fourth pound of 
Carman No. 3—all large. I raised 13 potatoes from my one-fourth 
pound of No. 3—12 marketable and one small. My friend raised 
386 pounds of potatoes on two rows 12 rods long. He wishes to 
know what yield that is per acre. 
Ans —About 472 bushels, estimating the rows at 
three feet apart. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompan ied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
Cucumbers Under Glass. 
./. B. Y., Montrose, Col .—Can cucumbers be grown and forced 
in a greenhouse successfully ? If so, how should they be started 
and trained ? What is the best variety for forcing ? 
Ans.—C ucumbers are very largely raised in forcing 
houses, the greater part of the Eastern crop coming 
from the vicinity of Boston. The varie¬ 
ties commonly grown are improved 
forms of White Spine. The cucumbers 
usually follow a crop of lettuce, which 
is removed about January 1. The 
cucumber seed is sown in a warm bed 
about December 1, the bed receiving 
bottom heat from steam or hot-water 
pipes, or, in some instances, from fer¬ 
menting manure. The young plants are 
transplanted twice, and finally potted 
into five-inch pots, being encouraged to 
make a good root development before 
planting out early in January. The 
beds in the houses are made upon the 
ground, and the soil from which the 
lettuce was taken is very rich and mel¬ 
low, but it is further enriched before 
planting the cucumbers. Trenches are 
dug lengthwise of the house, about one 
foot wide and 18 inches deep, a trench 
for each row of plants. Fermenting 
manure is firmly packed in the trenches 
to the depth of 10 inches ; then the 
trench is filled, and the cucumbers 
planted right over the manure. A very 
high temperature is maintained, 60 de¬ 
grees at night, and during the day, with sun heat, it 
may go up to 100 degrees. Cold soon stunts the 
plants. The cucumbers are set 3% feet apart, and 
are trained over A-shaped trellises, reaching nearly 
to the glass, having wires eight inches apart. The 
plants have to be tied to these trellises. Fig. 39, from 
Dreer’s Vegetables Under Glass, shows the style of 
growing. Cucumbers under glass must be artificially 
fertilized, or they will not set fruit, and the large 
growers secure this by a hive of bees in the house. 
If bees are not kept, the work must be done by hand, 
with a fine brush. 
In addition to these ordinary cucumbers, the choice 
English forcing varieties are grown for fancy trade, 
such as Rollison’s Telegraph(shown above),Sion House 
Improved, or Duke of Edinburg. They are about 
three times the length of ordinary cucumbers, almost 
seedless, and very tender and crisp. The vines are 
much longer lived than the common type. They may 
be planted four feet apart, on benches, and are 
usually trained on a roof trellis of stout wires about 
TRELLIS FOR CUCUMBERS UNDER GLASS. Fig. 39. 
15 inches from the glass. Red spider is an enemy to 
forced cucumbers : it is the usual result of a very dry 
atmosphere. 
Shall Vt/e Chop Up the Hay ? 
C. I). S., ■Stepney, Conn .—Which is the better way, to cut hay, 
Btraw, etc, of either good or poor quality, dampeu and mix grain 
with it for horses and cows; or to feed the grain dry, and the hay, 
etc., in bulk ? What grain should be mixed with cut stalks to 
feed cows, due to calve in March, in order to keep them in as good 
condition as if fed on good hay ? 
Ans. —If hay is of the best quality and not dusty or 
musty, it is probable that it does not pay to cut it 
before feeding. If the hay is dusty, then it should, 
by all means, be wet down before feeding. If the 
coarse food, whether hay, straw, or corn fodder, is of 
a poor quality, the only object in cutting and wetting 
and mixing with grain is to improve its palatability. 
The animal will leave less waste material. The food 
is eaten with a relish which would otherwise be miss¬ 
ing. If I had good, bright, clean hay, I should feed 
it alone and feed the grain alone. If the supply of 
coarse fodder was short, and it is the wish to make 
the animal consume as much straw or corn fodder as 
possible, then they should be cut and moistened and 
mixed with the grain. Cows due to calve in March 
should not be grained heavily. They might be fed 
two or three quarts daily of a grain ration made up 
of corn and oats, equal parts, and ground together, 
and one quart of oil meal. l. a. clinton. 
A Milk Ration With Brewers’ Grains. 
W. R. If., Paterson, N. J .—What is the best balanced ration for 
cows, to obtain the largest quantity of milk, the ration to be fed 
with fresh brewers’ grains and all the fodder corn they can eat ? 
Ans.—I would recommend a ration made up as fol¬ 
lows : 
Pounds. 
Corn fodder. 25 
Brewers’grains. 20 
Cotton-seed meal. 2 
Wheat bran. 4 
This will give a nutritive ratio of about 1:5.8. If 
you had stated what grains you have handy or can 
purchase cheapest at your market, I could, perhaps, 
have made it more nearly meet your needs. Linseed 
meal might be made to take the place of the cotton¬ 
seed meal, or equal parts of each might be used. 
Wheat middlings might be made to take the place, in 
part, of the wheat bran. u. a. c. 
Ensilage for Sheep. 
W. L. C., West Groton, N. Y. —Is corn ensilage a success for 
feeding sheep ? 
Ans. —Several of our agricultural experiment sta¬ 
tions have conducted experiments with reference to 
the fattening of sheep and lambs with ensilage, and 
it has been found to be a valuable food. The Michigan 
Experiment Station found that they could produce a 
pound of gain in lambs at a cost of .049 cent per 
pound, somewhat more than the cost of a pound of 
gain when roots were the succulent food given. The 
amount fed the lambs daily was one pound grain, 
eight-tenths of one pound hay, and 4.4 pounds of 
ensilage. The grain was oats and bran, mixed, two 
pounds of oats to one of bran. The experiment con¬ 
clusively proved that lambs can be fattened without 
the use of a heavy grain ration. The experiment has 
not been tried as extensively on sheep as upon lambs, 
but when combined with a grain ration relatively 
rich in albuminoids, it has proved a success. Best 
results would be obtained by combining it with hay 
and not attempting to feed it alone. u. A. c. 
Cost of Making Butter ; Caustic Potash. 
E. B. L., Binghamton, N. Y. —How much ought I to pay per 
pound for making butter, if I furnish all utensils, salt, and de. 
liver the milk at the door ? Does it affect the health of a calf to 
touch its horns with caustic potash ? I have tried it on three. 
They would soon appear not as lively, and begin to have loose¬ 
ness of the bowels, and do not do as well as formerly. 
Ans. —The ordinary price charged for making but¬ 
ter where all utensils are furnished, is three cents 
per pound. Where the factory furnishes the uten¬ 
sils, the usual price charged is four cents per pound. 
The caustic potash should produce no ill effect what¬ 
ever on the general health of the calf. This is, by 
far, the best method known for dishorning or prevent¬ 
ing the growth of horns. In an experiment at the 
Cornell Experiment Station, the calves aged one month 
or less were operated upon, and the growth of horns 
was prevented by a single application. The follow¬ 
ing directions for applying the caustic potash may 
prove useful : The hair should be closely clipped 
from the skin, and the little horn moistened with 
a little water, to which soap or a few drops of 
ammonia have been added to dissolve the oily secre¬ 
tion of the skin, so that the potash will more readily 
adhere to the surface of the horn. Care must be taken 
not to moisten the skin except on the horn where the 
potash is to be applied. One end of a stick of caustic 
potash is dipped in water until it is slightly softened. 
It is then rubbed on the moistened surface of the 
little horn. This operation is repeated from five to 
eight times, until the surface of the horn becomes 
slightly sensitive. The whole operation need take 
but a few minutes, and the calf is apparently insen¬ 
sible to it. A slight scab forms over the surface of 
the budding horn, drops off in the course of a month 
or six weeks, and leaves a perfectly smooth poll. No 
suppuration or inflammation has taken place in any 
of the trials we have made. l. a. c. 
The Miller and Other Raspberries. 
A. R. B., Oakland, Me .—Is the Miller raspberry as bardy as, or 
hardier than, the Cuthbert? Where can I find some reports on 
raspberries up to date ? 
Ans. —We have not had the Miller raspberry long 
enough to test its hardiness. For many years, The 
R. N.-Y. has for every season reported as to the hardi¬ 
ness of raspberries, blackberries, grapes, etc. We 
would, therefore, refer our inquirer to the files of The 
R. N.-Y. Several of the bulletins of the experiment 
stations are making annual reports upon this subject, 
notably the New York (Geneva), Cornell (Ithaca), 
