34o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 22 
day. The ridges should be made a few days before¬ 
hand so as to become somewhat compact. Scatter 
the plants along the ridge about 18 inches apart (not 
too far ahead, as they will soon wilt) ; use a pointed 
stick to make the hole, and place the plant in it the 
same depth as it was in the hotbed. If the ground 
be dry, pour in a little water and press the soil down 
firmly around it. If the ground be moist, there is no 
need of using the water. Plants set in this manner 
will scarcely show that they have been moved. 
They should be cultivated after each rain until the 
vines cover the ground ; they will then take care of 
themselves. Use the cultivator between the ridges. 
In cultivating the ridges until the plants get started, 
I find nothing better than a common garden rake. 
After the vines cover the ground, I do not disturb 
them Last fall, I tried cutting off the ends of some 
of the vines, and where I did, the potatoes were not 
as good as where I did not disturb them. 
In the fall, as soon as they will do, they should be 
dug, as a heavy frost will injure them if allowed to 
remain in the ground. If left in the ground until 
after frost, they will appear all right when dug, but 
they will rot very badly when stored, hence the neces¬ 
sity of digging them at the proper time. 
Ohio. M. C. THOMAS. 
GRASS AND CLOVER NOTES. 
Fall Seeding ; Spring-Sown Crimson Clover. 
Early last October, we sowed four acres of gravelly 
loam land from which a heavy growth of cow peas 
had just been taken, with a mixture of Orchard grass, 
Red-top, Meadow Fescue and perennial Rye grass, the 
object being pasture. Part of the land was stirred 
deeply with a shovel plow, and then harrowed as fine 
as ashes. The remainder received no treatment but 
a thorough and repeated harrowing with a spike¬ 
toothed harrow, making a very fine, loose seed bed 
two inches deep. The seed on both plots was lightly 
harrowed in. The grass did equally well on all parts 
of the field in the fall, but that on the land which was 
harrowed only came through the winter (a very try¬ 
ing one) in much better shape than that where the 
land was stirred deeply. Altogether, we are well 
pleased with the results of the experiment. 
On March 20, 1805, we sowed Crimson clover on a 
young apple orchard, on thoroughly prepared soil, 
most of which had received stable manure during the 
winter. The plants made a perfect stand, grew to a 
height of from three to six inches, and stopped short. 
The final result was an immense growth of rag 
weed, but very little clover. That satisfied me with 
spring sowing of Crimson clover, but on August 6 
last, we sowed an acre of good, sandy loam from 
which wheat had been harvested, with turnips and 
Crimson clover, applying 100 pounds of bone and pot¬ 
ash fertilizer. This gave us a heavy yield of turnips 
and a good growth of clover, which came through a 
very trying winter in good shape. When plowing it 
under for corn, April 20, several average-sized plants 
which were dug up for examination had tap roots 14 
inches long, although the tops were only four to six 
inches high at that time. I shall sow six acres of 
corn and three acres of turnips with Crimson clover 
this summer. It’s a good thing. j. b. l. 
Eubanks, Ky. 
A Chance for Ohio Scientists. 
I send you one plant each of Crimson and Mammoth 
clover; they are average specimens, sown side by side, 
on the same date. Both germinated nicely, but the 
Mammoth made so feeble a growth that a little hot 
sunshine and drought killed out about half, while the 
Crimson made a quick start, got a firm hold and every 
plant lived. I have not been dabbling with this valu¬ 
able plant like most of those who have been giving 
their experience ; my first sowing consisted of 17 
acres on light sandy soil, at the last cultivation of 
melons, sweet and field corn. It was a success, covered 
the ground nicely when winter set in, and the tops 
and roots were then worth 10 times their cost. About 
one-half killed out during the winter, which was a 
very severe one (1896). What lived made a fine 
growth—18 to 24 inches—and in some instances we 
had to use a chain in plowing to cover it. I have, at 
this writing, nearly every available acre of my farm 
covered from four to eight inches deep with Crimson 
clover. I sowed from June to September (1896), in 
nearly all cultivated crops, on light sand, gravel, 
black sand, bleak sand knolls, and even on a pond of 
water one foot in depth or more; the water settled 
away and the clover is a perfect stand. I have yet to 
find the first plant injured by the past winter, and we 
had it 20 degrees below zero. Sand knolls were bare 
of snow, peach buds were all killed, and not a plant 
of Crimson clover injured; yet some of our noted 
agriculturists of Ohio have pronounced it a fraud. If 
such will visit my farm before June 15, and I cannot 
prove to them that they are in error, I will pay their 
traveling expenses, and will try to entertain them 
royally well. Twelve acres will be cut for seed, the 
ground plowed at once and reseeded with the same 
clover in the fall. It will again be plowed, bone and 
potash applied, and the following spring set to straw¬ 
berries. GEORGE BITTNER. 
Milan, O 
R N.-Y.—The Crimson clover plant sent by Mr. 
Bittner had roots 14 inches long. The top was nine 
inches long with 56 stems from the one root. The 
Mammoth clover had roots seven inches long, with 
top three inches high and 12 stems from the root. 
THE FARMER'S HOME MARKET. 
HOW TO MAKE BEST USE OF IT. 
To know how to sell the perishable crops of the 
farm and garden is very important. I called at a 
village market last season to sell strawberries. I 
stated my price. “ Why,” said the dealer, “I just 
had a chance to buy very much lower.” I would not 
sell for less, and started out, when I met the man of 
low prices and examined his fruit. They were the 
smallest berries I ever saw in market. The dealer 
would have liked to buy good fruit at the price asked 
for poor. Three or four years ago, I drove into the 
Bame village and commenced retailing Crescent straw¬ 
berries for 15 cents per basket. Soon a neighbor—a 
good peddler and first-class man—drove up with 
some very handsome Bubach berries which he was 
selling at retail for 15 cents. I said to him, “Those 
berries are worth 18 cents wholesale, in the city,” 
and I stated what I knew to be true. But he replied 
by saying that, the day before, he sent some to the 
city and could get but 12 cents. I asked who carried 
them. He mentioned a neighbor who, probably, 
never went to market half a dozen times in his life. 
I know just the experience he had. As he entered 
the city dealers would say, “ We can buy for 12 
cents.” After being told that two or three times, he 
was ready to sell. When we go to market over that 
same route, our best berries are at the bottom of the 
wagon and not shown to the class of dealers who will 
pay about as much for Crescents as they would for 
Marshalls. Only regular marketmen know about the 
classes of customers. 
The proprietors of the best markets in our nearest 
city are always (nearly always) ready to buy extra 
good goods. Several years ago, I drove up and offered 
squashes. “No, we have more than we can sell.” 
“ Look at them ? ” I asked. “Yes, bring in a couple 
of dozen,” he said. Why did he change his mind ? 
Because I had extra good goods. We sell produce in 
the city 10 miles one way, and a village seven miles, 
and a watering place 10 miles away in another direc¬ 
tion. The village and watering place require only a 
limited quantity of goods. I usually know just about 
what and how much to carry. Twice, last season, I 
carried a couple of crates too many of berries. On 
both occasions, the fruit was in good condition, and 
the weather was wet and cold. The next day I sent 
the same fruit to the city, and got a fair price. Some 
others, on these occasions, sold their berries for very 
low prices—almost nothing. It has been the practice 
—I used to do it myself—to sell the last ends at any 
price offered. I don’t do it now, and urge others not 
to do so, thinking it better to lose a trifle entirely to 
making a low price for the next day. I used to retail 
largely at village and watering place, going myself 
to market, my son attending to the city end of the 
business. But I was getting old, besides it was im¬ 
portant for me to get home as early as possible to at¬ 
tend personally to gathering and loading for next 
day. So I said to dealers and hotelkeepers, “I pur¬ 
pose giving up the retail trade entirely. By so doing, 
I can get to my last customer early in the morning ; 
I will try to serve you faithfully and sell fresh goods, 
properly put up and in good order for fair prices. I 
do not purpose to compete in price with those who 
retail all they can, and then come around with wilted 
or damaged goods at 12 or 1 o’clock to sell out. I will 
try this way as long as the arrangement is mutually 
satisfactory.” For the markets and hotels to be sure 
to get fresh stock every morning was appreciated. Only 
once in a while, a hotel man would buy a “ tail end 
lot ” of stock for next day’s consumption, because it 
was cheap. I have frequently seen such stock in 
hotel kitchens and cellars. I don’t want to eat it. 
The plan has worked well for the past three years, 
and I am frequently on the way home at 7 o’clock. 
All this goes to show the necessity of knowing the 
market and values and customers. 
I always keep account of sales. Last season, I was 
furnishing cabbage to one of my best customers, a 
perfectly fair, honest man. He was in the habit of 
saying “ How much ?” and paying cash for what he 
had had. I usually made a memorandum and handed 
it to him. He would look at the footing, pay the 
amount and throw down the paper without further 
attention, it being his busy time. I asked him, “How 
many cabbages ?” “ Not any,” he replied. “ I can’t 
afford your prices.” I went on my way thinking 
about it. Returning half an hour later, i ran in and 
asked, “ How much do you think you are paying me 
for cabbages?” “1% cent per pound,” he replied. 
“ You have not paid that in two weeks,” I said, and I 
showed him that I had fallen to l\i and then to one 
cent per pound without his knowledge. “ All right, 
bring me a barrel to-morrow.” 
Many times I have found that reference to my sales 
has saved trouble and settled disputes. Of course, I 
would like to stay at home, but it is not easy to get 
the right man to go to market now. With our small 
business, can I afford to pay the “right man” such 
wages as he ought to have ? The longest days and 
the busiest season, especially during the strawberry 
season, I get up soon after two o’clock, and get back 
home about 10 A. m. I usually have good common 
help and have been especially fortunate in getting 
good pickers. To pick berries, peas and beans, I 
employ women and girls almost exclusively. Those 
who do not do the work satisfactorily, are not kept. 
My pickers are always told at night where to pick 
next morning, and always keep their own account of 
how many they pick. I won’t have a picker that 
I can’t trust. I pay off every night, and compare pay 
roll with quantity of berries in the crates, and have 
never found too few berries to tally with the pay 
roll, but once, several years ago, and that might 
have been a mistake. May be the picking, etc., has 
not much to do with marketing, but, in my case, it 
has a connection. 
Many irregular and some regular peddlers will sell 
what they can to markets, and then go out and retail 
(in front of the store), and not only retail, but often 
at the same price they charged the dealer. This is 
not fair or right, and the dealer will buy of such men 
only when obliged to do so. b t. w. 
Rochester, Mass. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
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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.) 
Quality of an Egg. 
O. F. T., Derrick City, Pa. —Does the size of an egg affect its 
food value ? In other words, is a small egg worth as much for 
eating purposes as a large one ? 
Ans —We find the following differences in analyses 
of eggs: 
PER CENT OF COMPOSITION. 
Muscle-makers. Pure fat. 
Highest. 16.5 11.9 
Lowest. 13.9 9.9 
This shows quite a wide difference in composition. 
It happens that the eggs lowest in muscle-makers 
were highest in pure fat. We have not noticed that 
small eggs are richer than large ones. Some authori¬ 
ties claim that eggs from the Brahma or other Asiatic 
breeds are “ richer” than those of Leghorns or 
Minorcas. We do not think it is a question of breed 
at all, certainly not to the extent that the milk of 
different breeds of cows is found to vary. We think 
the quality of the egg is determined more by the 
character of the food than is the milk of the cow. 
Prof. Atwater analyzed specimens of Buff Ccchin and 
Plymouth Rock eggs, with the following result : 
ANALYSIS OF YOLK ALONE. 
Muscle-makers. Pure fat. 
Buff Cochin. 17 01 32.61 
Plymouth Rock. 16.56 34.07 
ANALYSIS OF “ WHITE”. 
Muscle-makers, Pure fat. 
Buff Cochin. 11.62 .05 
Plymouth Rock. 11.43 .19 
ANALYSIS OF WHOLE EGO. 
Muscle-makers. Pure fat. 
BuffCochin. 13.44 11.18 
Plymouth Rock. 13.29 12.50 
If the habits and general characteristics of the breed 
had much to do with the quality of the egg, we should 
expect the fat, sluggish Cochin to put more fat into 
the egg than the more active Plymouth Rock. It is 
true that the nervous and active Jersey secretes milk 
with a larger per cent of fat than the heavier and 
slower beef breeds, but we do not understand that 
the formation of an egg in the hen’s body is a process 
resembling closely the secretion of milk. This is a 
matter that some of our poultrymen might well 
take up. 
Making a Pond in Gravel. 
S. A. E. L , Cleveland, 0. —What is the most economical method 
of making a pond in a gravelly, sandy soil, to contain about 
1,000 barrels of water ? If possible, give an estimate of the cost. 
Ans.— The most economical way to make a pond in 
a gravelly soil is to remove the gravel necessary in 
making the excavation entirely with horses and 
scraper. The earth can be removed much handier 
and quicker in this way than in any other. To make 
the pond hold water, the whole of the bottom and 
sides must be covered with puddled clay. The cost of 
making the pond will, in a large measure, depend 
upon the clay being in close proximity to the pond 
hole. If the clay can be put in with the scraper, all 
the better and cheaper. In any case, the clay should 
be, at least, four to five inches thick over the entire 
