37o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 25 
or rat-tooth like. One reason is that a flat grain has 
a larger germ; another is that it drills better. This 
i.s one reason why I shell off the tips and butts. The 
grains are Inferior in shape and size. They drill bad¬ 
ly, and I have more faith in a good grain and germ 
rightly drilled than in the late supply of pollen af¬ 
forded by the tip grains. Corn drills much better if 
fanned, on account of removing scales and dirt that 
will sometimes run the grain over and make a skip. 
If seed is carefully selected, and the drill brush is in 
good repair the machine ought to drop even enough 
so as to not requii'C thinning. 
PLANTINC.—In the Central West we are shred¬ 
ding so much fodder that we do not care for an ear¬ 
less stalk now and then. In fact, we plant twice as 
thick for the silo as we used to, and for shredding we 
plant thicker, and never care to thin. Sometimes we 
plant twice as thick for shredding. Some that feed 
out fodder with corn on, without shredding, plant 
thick so that there will be more ears with the same 
amount of corn, and smaller ears, so that the cattle 
can eat fodder and corn without crushing. Where 
our corn is planted IG inches apart, one grain in a 
place, and rows 44 inches apart, the ears are so large 
and hard that we have to use a splitter or crusher to 
get a steer to eat enough to fatten. The drillers and 
hillers are about equal in numbers in c ntral Indiana. 
This depends largely on the kind of land. If laud is 
wet it is best not to put seed in a furrow. Some claim 
that if it is foul it is more easily kept clean in hills. 
The writer prefers drilling even in foul land. The 
stalks are single, and letting the fenders drag one 
can lap the earth around a stalk better than around 
two or three. We have a double drill that we like 
very much. It does its own furrowing, and drills two 
rows at a time. Many make a mistake planting corn 
deep in order to keep the roots down away from the 
plow. Corn is a grass, like wheat and Blue grass, and 
after coming to the top abandons the first root and 
makes a new root system near the top. It may sur¬ 
prise some to know that the roots of corn are no deep¬ 
er under ground after it is a foot high, if planted four 
inches deep, than if planted one inch deep. The way 
to get the roots down is to plant in a furrow. The 
stalk comes up and sets near the top, and after once 
setting it will not change again if soil is thrown to 
it. The bottom of the furrow being two or three inches 
below the lop the roots run off that low' or low^er. 
I have tried both ways of planting, and am sure 
that the cultivator tears roots off much worse when 
planted without a furrow. Then, too, it is necessary 
in lapping dirt around the stalk to have a furrow. 
That is one reason I object to hilling. But with our 
late tools one may plant in a furrow and hill. As to 
depth of planting: Nature plants seeds two to four 
times as deep as the seed is thick, and corn will do 
well planted that way if it could be covered with a 
mulch, to prevent drying out, as Nature does. Prac¬ 
tically, I like to plant corn as shallow as possible and 
not have it dry out in the hill before growing. The 
plant depends entirely on the starch in the seed to 
make its growth to the air, and if it is too deep it 
may exhaust that starch and come up spindling, or 
curl up in the ground. e. ii. collins. 
Central Indiana. 
THE HEN ASA MACH! HE. 
Whai She Needs in Her Food. 
Part I. 
In order thoroughly to understand this subject, let 
us begin at the bottom, or at least as near the bottom 
as present knowledge will permit us. First, let us 
quote from The R. N.-Y. of August 28, 1897: 
The realm of matter Is composed of about 70 primary or 
chemical elements. By a primary element, we mean an 
element w'hich cannot be subdivided by any known process 
of chemistry. Of these 70 elements, about 14 go to make 
up the vegetable and animal kingdoms. A subtle principle, 
which we call life, is present In every fruitful seed, fertile 
egg and embryo animal, which, if given the proper con¬ 
ditions, w’ill gather to itself enough of these 14 elements 
of matter, and combine them in such a way as to form 
a complete specimen of its kind, and, taking the male 
and the female together, to perpetuate its species. In the 
case of the fertile egg, the first condition to be supplied 
is heat. Supply the proper degree of heat, and the life 
principle within the egg begins to gather to Itself the 
Clements of matter which Nature has placed within the 
shell of the egg. At the end of about 20 days, we have a 
chick with sufficient strength to burst its prison walls 
and come forth to the battle of life. Its next requirement 
is oxygen. As soon as respiration begins, it must have 
oxygen to unite with the carbon in its system, and keep 
up the fire of life begun in weakness. It can get part of 
the heat necessary to sustain life in this way, but it must 
flee often to the shelter of its mother’s wing for addi¬ 
tional warmth. As it increases in size and strength, it 
depends less and less upon the heat from its mother’s 
body, till, at about six weeks of age, it can “go it alone’’ 
if it has proper shelter from storm and cold. 
Its next requirement is food and drink. These must 
contain the same 14 elements of matter which it found 
within its shell. Nine of these are needed in very small 
quantities, and are supposed to be present in sufficient 
quantity in all ordinary food, viz: Sulphur, chlorine, iron, 
silicon, potassium, sodium, magnesium, manganese and 
phosphorus. The remaining five are oxygen, hydrogen, 
calcium, nitrogen and carbon. Of these, the chick can 
get a supply of oxygen and hydrogen from fresh pure air 
and water, so we need not worry about supplying them 
in the food. We now have the food question narrowed 
down to the throe elements, carbon, nitrogen and calcium. 
The chick seems to have the power of securing a supply 
of the latter from crushed oyster shells and bones, so, if 
we keej) a supply of these constantly in reach, we need 
not worry about supplying it in the food. We now have 
the food sui)ply narrowed down to the two elements, 
nitrogen and carbon. If we supply these two elcmenis 
in the food in digestible form, and in the right propor¬ 
tions, the vital functions can go on to best advantage, 
and the development of the chick will be normal and 
healthy. 
If we fui’iiish an insutlicient supply of any of the ele¬ 
ments needed, develoitment will be checked. If we give 
an excess of carbon in the food, the chick has the power 
of storing up some of it for a future time of need, in the 
form of surplus fat; but this is not a normal condition, and 
the extra fat is in the way. I know no natural provision 
for storing up surplus nitrogen, but believe it quickly 
clogs up the system, poisons the blood, and is responsible 
for many of the ills of life, whether of chick or child. As 
soon as the pullet is sufliciently developed, part of the 
matter in the food is used to produce an egg in the effort 
of life to perpetuate its species. If she have comfortable 
shelter, and a well-balanced ration of food, with pure air 
and water, and crushed bones and oyster shells ad libitum 
she will lay all the eggs of which her individuality is 
capable. If her ration is not well balanced, or if any of 
the other requirements are wanting, she cannot do her 
best. 
To illustrate: The Deacon has plenty of maple trees, and 
a good evaporating pan. His 'man, Mike, knows how to 
use it, and can make 50 pounds of sugar a day with it. 
If the Deacon sot Mike to making sugar in the morning, 
what are his chief requirements? Sap to keep the pan 
filled, and wood to keep the fire burning. If the Deacon 
furnishes him with only half enough wood, or half enough 
sap, to make 50 pounds of sugar, Mike can go out and 
gather more wood oi- more saj) as the case may be, just 
BLACK TARTARIAN CHERRY TREE IN CALIFORNIA. Fig. 148 
so the hen at liberty goes out and secures what we fail 
to furnish her in her food. Now, let the Deacon lock 
Mike in the sugar house with the evaporating pan, and 
we have a good illustration of a hen shut up in a pen, or 
in Winter when the earth is covered with ice and snow. 
Unless the Deacon passes in the sap, wood, and other re¬ 
quirements, in the right quantity and proper proportions, 
Mike cannot pass out his 50 pounds of sugar at night. 
Remember that the sugar house is small, and has storage 
room for only enough wood and sap to last a few hours 
at a time. If the Deacon keeps on bringing wood when 
Mike needs sap, his sugar is likely to scorch. He may 
pile up a little of the extra wood, but it will only be in 
his way, like the surplus fat on the hen’s body. If the 
Deacon keeps on bringing sap when Mike needs wood, the 
pan will soon run over and quench his fire completely. If, 
however, the Deacon keeps on bringing the wood and the 
sap in just the right proportions, and in abundance, Mike 
can make his 50 pounds of sugar a day just as easily as 
if the door were not locked. If corn contains an excess 
of carbon for a hen’s regular needs, then it is poor policy 
to give a hen a full meal of corn at any time, as some of 
her functions must wait for nitrogen, while the corn is 
being disposed of. If wheat bran or lean meat contains 
an excess of nitrogen for her regular needs, then it is 
poor policy to give a hen a full meal of wheat bran or of 
lean meat, as the case may be, at any time, for similar 
reasons. 
The above was written more than three years ago. 
After three years of additional study and experience, 
I can find but little occasion to criticise it. I will, 
however, draw my pencil through the sentence where 
I said “Nine of these elements are needed in very 
small amounts, and are supposed to he present in all 
ordinary food in sufficient quantity,” etc. While this 
is the popular belief, even among the best-informed 
scientific men, and may be true in feeding a cow or a 
horse, which consumes food for three or four years 
in order to build up the framework or skeleton of its 
body, my hens tell me that it is not true in their 
case, where this framework must be built up from the 
food consumed in five or six months. Some of these 
elements, besides the calcium, are undoubtedly se¬ 
cured from the' crushed bones, particularly the suR 
phur and phosphorus. There are others, however, 
about which I am not so sure. Besides the 14 ele¬ 
ments which the chemist can name, there may be 
others, as yet unknown even to the modern chemist. 
O. W. MAl’ES. 
SUGAR FROM SORGHUM AGAIN. 
About 20 years ago considerable interest was 
aroused in the production of sugar from sorghum. 
Several factories were established, and quite a little 
money was spent by the Government in experiment¬ 
ing. It was finally decided that the beet and sugar 
cane were more profitable plants for the production 
of sugar, and, if we are not mistaken, the last factory 
in Kansas was abandoned several years ago. q'hc 
great success of Germany and France in cultivating 
the sugar beet has changed the whole history of sugar 
making. A century ago the sugar islands in the South 
Atlantic were more valuable to their owners than gold 
mines, as they held a practical monopoly of the sugar 
production. When Napoleon began to encourage the 
cultivation of the sugar beet, without knowing it, he 
struck what has proved the death blow of these sugar 
islands. It has been argued of late years that the 
beet is to provide a large proportion of the sugar of 
the future, both in this country and Europe. Strange 
to say, we are again hearing from sorghum. Bulletin 
No. 51, from the Delaware Experiment Station, at 
Newark, contains some statements by Prof. A. T. 
Neale, which seem remarkable in the light of past 
experience. He states that the tropical cane of Hawaii 
surpasses all rivals, with a record of 10,400 pounds of 
supar per acre, as the average of 30,000 acres. As 
sugar cane requires 18 months to mature, the planting 
and milling of this would require the use of the land 
for two years. Hence, the actual annual yield of 
sugar per acre was 5,200 pounds. In Ijouisiana the 
best plantations have reached 4,500 pounds, but the 
average for the State is 3,000 pounds of sugar per 
acre. The beet in Germany is said to average 3.510 
pounds per acre. In 1897 the average from the beet 
in this country was 2,700 pounds, although in Califor¬ 
nia under the best conditions, 4,800 pounds of sugar 
have been made from an acre of beets. With these 
figures in mind, experiments have been made for the 
past few years in Delaware to see what could be done 
with what is known as “pedigreed” sorghum, that is, 
sorghum selected year after year from seed taken 
from the best plants. In 1898 the average crop was 
2,717 pounds per acre, while the best acre reached 
3,371. In 1899 the poorest yield was 3,500 pounds, and 
the most productive 4,700. In 1900 only one crop was 
made by the Station. For the month of October the 
average was 4,420 pounds per acre, one test during 
this period indicating 6,600 pounds. These figures, 
while, of course, on a small scale, indicate that “pedi¬ 
greed” sorghum in Delaware can be made to yield as 
much sugar per acre as the average in Hawaii, and 
more than from the German beet farms. Prof. Neale, 
in speaking of the labor question, says that the 
Hawaiian planter has serious labor troubles to solve. 
He is experimenting with laborers from various coun¬ 
tries; land is very expensive, and much capital is re¬ 
quired for irrigation. In Delaware land is cheap and 
the labor question is simple, as the laborers are al¬ 
ready on hand. At four cents per pound for raw 
sugar, one ton of sorghum, carrying 250 pounds of 
sugar, would be worth ?10. A crop of 20 tons per 
acre is not unusual. During the past few years, ex¬ 
perience with the silo has taught farmers how to grow 
corn and similar crops in large quantities. They can 
produce it for $3 per ton, and, if the figures are cor¬ 
rect regarding the amount of sugar, there ought to be 
a good profit in the business. Prof. Neale goes into 
many details regarding the business of growing cane 
and making sugar. It must be said that he makes a 
good case at least from the scientific aspect of the 
matter. If it is possible to turn a large share of the 
Delaware peninsula into a sugar field the results will 
certainly be most gratifying to the farmers of that 
section of the country. 
A Farmer’s Stock.—I have a farm of 110 acres, well 
elevated. I am branching out largely In fruit. I have 
10 acres of young apple orchard set 12 years, and fruit¬ 
ing finely; 10 acres or 250 trees set last Fall; 1,200 peach 
trees In their prime, and 700 Japan plums. I have seven 
cows, 10 sheep, four horses and 20 hogs, old and young; 
am quite largely interested in poultry. I have 225 pure 
Brown Leghorn hens; am going to add to my fiock the 
Black Minorca this season. t. c. 
La Grangerllle, N. Y. 
Po'rATO Notes.—A correspondent from Oregon, in a 
recent issue of The R. N.-Y., stated that he got most 
of his potato seed-balls in the shade. This concurs with 
my experience. I find that to get potato seed-balls, even 
in ball-bearing varieties, they must be planted in the 
shade. Two years ago I planted Carman No. 1 east of 
a piece of woodland, w’here the shade was on them most 
of the afternoon, and nearly all of the balls were in 
this shade. I have now some promising seedlings from 
this seed. I find that white potatoes are more easily 
affected with Potato rot, especially the stem end, than 
the pink and cream-colored varieties. Why is this? On 
this account I have to discard such varieties as the 
Carman No. 3, Rural New Yorker type, and plant Uncle 
Sam and the Rose class. If I could find a remedy for 
this stem-end rot I would still plant them, as they are 
good yielders, good shape and color and very smooth. 
New Bell.sville, Inff. (?: Fr F- 
