i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
35 
only) at the rate of 1,000 pounds to the acre, 
and the remaining inch filled in. 
FIRST SERIES. 
RATS PER ACRE. 
Plot 1—2 inches deep. 140 bushels. 
“2—4 “ “ 238 
“3—6 “ “ 146 
“4—8 “ “ 205 “ 
“ 5—10 “ “ 110 
Fig. 1 4. 
SECOND SERIES. 
Plot 6 — 2 inches deep. 
238 bushels. 
<i ~ 4 <i << 
155 
“ 8 — 6 “ “ . 
265 
“ 9—8 “ “ . 
185 “ 
“ 10—10 “ “ . 
187 
THIRD SERIES. 
Plot 11— 2 inches deep. 
191 bushels. 
“ 12 _4 “ “ 
320 
“ 13 — 6 “ “ . 
166 
“ 14— 8 “ “ . 
230 “ 
“ 15—10 “ “ . 
154 
FOURTH SERIES. 
Plot 16— 2 inches deep . 
290 bushels. 
“ 17— 4 “ “ . 
154 
“ 18— 6 “ “ . 
210 
“ 19_ g “ “ . 99 
“ 20—10 “ “ . 265 
FIFTH SERIES. 
Plot 21— 2 inches deep 
“ 22— 4 “ “ 
“ 23— 6 “ “ 
“ 24— 8 “ 
“ 25—10 “ 
AVERAGES. 
2 inches yielded 
4 “ “ 
6 
8 “ “ 
10 “ 
220 bushels. 
249 
147 
165 “ 
105 “ 
PER ACRE. 
217 bushels. 
223 
187 “ 
177 
152 
It is needless to add that it was the wet¬ 
test season ever known in this part of the 
country. The soil may be defined as mid¬ 
way between a clay soil and a sandy loam. 
It will be seen that four inches in depth 
gave the largest yield, though the differ¬ 
ence between the yield from that depth and 
that from the two-inch trenches is immate¬ 
rial. The experiment will be continued 
next spring. 
form coiionu). 
REELING BARBED WIRE. 
I INCLOSE a few diagrams of a contri¬ 
vance for reeling up barbed wire when a 
fence is to be taken down. It was made of 
pine lumber in a very short time. I used 
horse-rake wheels ; the chain and sprocket- 
wheels were borrowed from an old binder. 
It is a very handy rig and can be run by 
one man. The device is shown at Figures 
14 and 15, Figure 14 representing a side 
view while Figure 15 shows a view from 
above; a, spool; h, chain-belt; c c, sprocket- 
wheels; d, crauk. 
Dakota County, Minn. 
STAKING YOUNG TREES. 
BY L. D. SNOOK. 
Young trees set last spring or in the au¬ 
tumn, if in an exposed situation, should 
be staked up, and if this matter has been 
neglected it should now receive prompt at¬ 
tention, as the constant moving to and fro 
by the wind not only causes the tree to 
grow out of the perpendicular, but strains 
and often checks the bark, not infrequent¬ 
ly girdling the tree where it continually 
grates against the frozen ground, all of 
which should be avoided. The general 
plan of staking is shown at Fig. 16, and 
three forms of band ( are also exhibited 
They are best made from old rubber boots 
or shoes cut in strips seven inches long and 
from one to two inches wide; but in the 
absence of rubber thin leather may be 
used. In either case connection may be 
made with the stake with No. 12 annealed 
wire. Of course, the stake should be locat¬ 
ed upon the windward side of the tree, and 
when large trees are set, two or three stakes 
should be used. In all cases the band 
should be large enough to contain two 
years’ growth of the trees without pressing, 
and unless in a very exposed situation in 
two years from setting, a tree should be so 
firmly established as to dispense with fur¬ 
ther support. 
Yates County. N. Y. 
CHUTE FOR A SILO. 
The sketch shown at Figure 17 is intend¬ 
ed to show how we handle the silage in 
feeding. The chute is feet square and 
at the bottom is fixed as shown in the en¬ 
graving. A floor (a) is built about three 
feet above the stable floor and supported by 
1 
Fig. 15. 
legs made of fence boards (b b). The cart is 
left under the chute in the position shown, 
while the silage is being thrown down. 
Enough for two feedings for all the cattle 
is thrown down at once. About half runs 
over into the cart which is backed along the 
gangway and the silage is shoveled out 
with a scoop-shovel into the mangers on 
either side. At the other end of the gang¬ 
way is the feed-bin where the cart can be 
filled and the feeding finished on the return 
trip. After again placing the cart under 
the chute the remaining silage is raked in¬ 
to it with a common garden rake. The 
main end of the cart is left open (with the 
exception of the small board c) for conveni¬ 
ence in shoveling. J. M. D. 
Winona County, Minn. 
WM. FALCONER. 
The season is extremely mild. It is now 
the 30th of December and we have had only 
two brief wintry storms—one in the middle 
of November and the other in the middle 
of this month. 
Spinach iu the open ground is in fine 
picking condition; I am afraid to cover it 
us the weather is too mild. That in frames 
is growing a little all the time, and instead 
of cutting it clean I just thin it. There 
has been less leaf maggot than usual. 
Lettuces. —The mild weather has has¬ 
tened past the September-planted stock, so 
now all large kinds are done, and we have 
begun upon Tennis-ball which has grown 
well. The young store lettuces in frames 
were growing so much that I thinned out 
one-half to three-fourths of them, plantiug 
the thinnings in other frames. But if I 
hadn’t these frames ready I would have 
thinned and thrown the thinnings away 
rather than let the lettuces get overcrowd¬ 
ed and weakened. 
Parsley.—I could get lots outside yet, 
but what’s the use wheu the midsummer- 
sown crop in the cold-frames is so fine. 
Chervil is a favorite herb for flavoring. 
I grow and treat it precisely as I do pars¬ 
ley. 
Leeks.—I lifted them in the fall, trimmed 
them a little, and then heeled them in 
close together in a cold-frame for conven¬ 
ience in getting at them in winter. They 
are perfectly hardy and don’t “ bolt.” 
Cauliflower heeled m close together in 
a deep cold-frame is hearting nicely. We 
mustn’t let frost reach it. 
Brussels-sprouts heeled in in a shed are 
keeping perfectly. 
Rhubarb.—I have planted a few roots in 
deep boxes and kegs, and brought them in¬ 
to a greenhouse. I will bring in a few 
more once a fortnight. 
Chives.— Outdoor plants are beginning 
to peep up above ground again. I have 
brought some clumps indoors in shallow 
boxes to start. They are esteemed in winter 
in salads. 
Cold-frames.— It is now we begin to 
know how important it is to have all our 
growing crops right beside each other, and 
to have them so arranged that when we be¬ 
gin emptying the frames we can empty 
them in a line, right after each other, and 
not one here and there. This saves in 
labor in covering, and also gives us an op¬ 
portunity to fill up the empty frames with 
fresh crops or turn them into hot-beds. 
Cabbage.— That which was pretty ripe 
when buried is inclined to burst, but the 
heads which were scarcely matured are 
keeping fresh and firming up. Savoys are 
keeping better than white cabbage. We 
haven’t earthed them up as heavily as 
usual, and even the present covering, so far, 
has been too much. 
Celery is keeping very nicely. I uncover 
the ridges occasionally in fine weather to 
dry off the surface and keep it cool. 
Parsnips have been dug up and stored 
in part, and in part left in the ground. All 
are doing well. 
Oyster Plant (Salsify and Scorzonera) 
is sprouting in the bins more than usual. 
We must overhaul it and rub off the 
sprouts, else the plants will lose in flavor 
and become stringy. The Sandwich Island 
Mammoth Salsify has, this year, so eclipsed 
the common form in size and evenness that 
I am inclined to grow it as my main crop in 
the future. 
Sprouting Vegetables.— Carrots, oys¬ 
ter-plants, beets, horse-radish and other 
root crops often sprout considerably when 
stored in winter, and with the same result 
—injured quality. Perhaps this is more 
appareut in horse radish than in the others; 
it not only becomes stringy but it loses its 
pungency, hence its usefulness. We should 
therefore keep our root cellars as cool as 
possible without admitting frost, and dis¬ 
bud sprouts before the buds become dan¬ 
gerously prominent. 
Covering Frames.— Frost doesn’t ben¬ 
efit vegetables we grow in frames, no 
matter if it doesn’t seem to hurt lettuces, 
leeks, parsley, chervil and spinach; hence 
we should give covering enough to protect 
from frost. For covering I use sea thatch, 
rye-straw mats and light wooden shutters. 
In cold weather these are put on in the 
afternoon, more or less according to the 
intensity of the cold, and removed iu fine 
weather. The frames are ventilated in 
favorable weather by tilting up the sashes 
an inch oi two at the side, and in fine 
weather by stripping them off altogether 
for some hours in the day-time. A 
thoroughly well protected frame ground 
which is well drained, warm and sunny, 
very much lessens the need of heavy cover¬ 
ing. Contiguous buildings and temporary 
close wooden fences usually afford the nec¬ 
essary shelter. I use a makeshift hedge of 
Red Cedar. I cut the cedars in the waste 
fields near here and stand them up close 
together and against a one-rail fence where 
they are held in place by another rail 
against their backs and fastened to the posts 
or face rail with wire. This makes a capi¬ 
tal wind-break for frame-ground, cow- 
yard, or for whatever else we wish to use it. 
CLOVER QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
E. T. Jrt., Perquimans Co., N. C —Will 
Mr. Terry give us his way of seeding clover 
land ? How is the land prepared ? How 
much seed is used per acre ? When and how 
is it sown ? In plowing in the clover, does he 
broadcast lime and, if so, how much ? What 
tools are used ? Mr. Terry’s practical articles 
are just what we want. What rations does 
he feed his horses ? It is said he uses no 
grain. 
ANSWERED BY T. B. TERRY. 
I plow the ground as soon as it is dry 
enough to crumble nicely in the spring, 
plant potatoes, and keep them clean and the 
ground thoroughly tilled on the surface all 
summer, as nearly as is practicable. About 
the first of September the potatoes are dug, 
and then with a Cutaway and disc harrow 
the ground is worked most thoroughly both 
ways. Then we finish up with the Thomas 
smoothing harrow and roller, and drill in 
winter wheat. The land is then prepared 
for seeding. When the ground is frozen 
and bare in winter we spread a little ma¬ 
nure very evenly on any poor spots (these 
can be noticed by the small growth of 
wheat) and cover any unusually exposed 
or clayey portions of the field with a light, 
even coat of straw, say, a ton to the acre. 
This will help the wheat somewhat, and 
the clover more. The amount of good done 
to the clever on a poor, bleak spot is 
simply wonderful on my farm. 
I always sow the seed as soon as the win¬ 
ter snow melts away and we begin to have 
frosty mornings with the ground thawing 
up during the day-time. This time comes 
here usually in the last week in February 
or the first week in March. This early 
sowing, right on the surface, has never 
once failed. I take my Cahoon seeder and 
start as soon as I can see (I always do this 
job myself) and sow about five quarts of 
clover seed per acre. No stakes are needed 
if the air is still so I can sow the same way 
the drills run. I follow the drills, step¬ 
ping across at the ends about seven paces, 
stopping only to get seed. The next still 
morning I go over the field -with Timothy 
seed, sowing about 16 feet wide and two or 
three quarts to the acre. On much of the 
field it will not make any show perhaps ; 
but there are usually some spots where 
clover will not do well and Timothy will. 
The seed can be sown when the air is not 
quite still, by sowing squarely against and 
with the wind ; but it isn’t as pleasant a 
job. If you cannot follow the drill marks 
and the ground is not frozen hard, pitch- 
forks make the handiest stakes. If the 
ground be frozen hard, take pieces of board 
about 16 inches square, bore holes in the 
center of them and put your stakes in. I 
have used the same little seeder 20 years. 
It is perfect; I have never had a single 
streak or miss in sowing; but of course it 
must be handled with skill. 
