APRIL i9 
248 
5. My strawberries were covered during the winter with 
low-land hay. I have just raked it off the plants into the 
paths. I then clean out all weeds and grass and do noth¬ 
ing further until after the berries have been picked. I 
generally pick a patch for two years ; then I plow it up 
and put in cabbages or fodder-corn. I have not tried any 
new varieties of strawberries for four or five years except 
the Prince of Berries. Last year, in spite of good care, this 
proved very unsatisfactory. A few years ago I had a con¬ 
siderable patch of a dozen or more varieties. Out of the 
lot the Great American and Crescent were by far the best 
in yield and as general-purpose berries. The Sharpless and 
Charles Downing did well, but were too soft for market. 
I have raised the American and Crescent since they first 
came out, and have never failed to secure a good crop. I 
intend to try some of the new varieties this season. 
6. The composition of my home-made fertilizers is as fol¬ 
lows : 400 pounds of sifted hen manure, 200 pounds of dis¬ 
solved bone-black, 100 pounds of muriate of potash, 150 
pounds of plaster. These ingredients are well mixed to¬ 
gether on the bam floor. I have used this fertilizer for the 
past three years, and it has given good satisfaction in com¬ 
parison with other fertilizers used alongside of it. 
FARMING 900 ACRES AT A PROFIT IN WESTERN 
NEW YORK. 
BARLEY AND OATS PAY A PROFIT. 
Soil, fertilizers and culture for barley; profitable pros¬ 
pect; exclusion of Canadian barley likely to enhance 
the price of American; its increasing use for beer- 
making and stock feed; oat culture; fertilizers and va¬ 
rieties. 
Barley delights in a strong, rich soil: any land that 
will produce 25 to 80 bushels of wheat per acre is quite 
suitable for barley. Being less affected by climatic condi¬ 
tions and nearly free from the attacks of the insect pests 
that infest grain-growing districts, it is rapidly taking the 
place of wheat and oats in many sections. In Western 
New York barley is largely grown after corn and potatoes, 
though some is sown on land that has been fall-plowed. 
We are growing from 70 to 100 acres annually aud this 
season we expect to sow 100 acres. Corn stubble on which 
40 to 50 loads of manure have been plowed under the previ¬ 
ous season is the best kind of land for this crop. One field 
of 85 acres which we propose to sow this spring made a re¬ 
markable record un¬ 
der barley four years 
ago. It had been 
under corn the pre¬ 
vious season and 
yielded a big crop, as 
it had the best of cul¬ 
ture and in the early 
spring it was plowed 
six inches deep and 
thoroughly pulveriz¬ 
ed by means of com¬ 
mon and spring-tooth 
harrows and it was 
also rolled once before 
seeding. Two bush¬ 
els of carefully select¬ 
ed seed of the Adams 
variety and 175 
pounds of fertilizer 
(analysis, ammonia 
two to three per cent.; 
available phosphoric 
acid eight to 10 per 
cent.; potash two or 
three per cent.) were 
sown per acre w T ith a 
Macedon drill. Im¬ 
mediately after drill¬ 
ing it was rolled with 
a roller of medium 
weight which com¬ 
pressed the earth tightly about the seed. The crop 
was cut with a reaper and handled in a loose condi¬ 
tion. After it had been thrashed it was several months 
before it was drawn to market and then we were 
surprised at the yield of 53>£ bushels per acre for the en¬ 
tire field. The average yield in the county the same year 
was about 21 bushels per acre. 
Barley will pay the farmer well when it receives the best 
possible culture. This year we shall pursue the same 
method of culture as heretofore, only we shall not use 
quite so much fertilizer. Under our system of crop ro¬ 
tation our soil is constantly improving and we have found 
it wise to dispense with heavy doses of commercial fertil¬ 
izers on the barley crop. Last year our crop was a little 
lower than the average of the two or three preceding sea¬ 
sons—only 35 bushels per acre on about 71 acres. Some 
seasons our average yield has run up to nearly 50 bushels 
per acre for the entire acreage. 
The results of barley culture with ub seem to justify the 
statement that it thrives best in the richest kind of well- 
drained, dark soil. Some object to the culture of this crop 
on the ground that it is a hard one to harvest. For sev¬ 
eral seasons my brother has bound most of his barley with 
a self-binder. It is far easier to handle it in this shape, 
but it requires a longer time for curing than if it were 
loose. If it is to be bound it should be allowed to ripen 
well before it is cut. An argument in favor of binding 
barley is that when bound it will not take up more than 
half as much barn room. I do not advise any one to bind 
barley, as the novice may come to^grief in so doing. On my 
own place I do not grow barley at all. Two years ago we 
tried 10 acres and as it yielded only 23 bushels per acre I 
“quit,” and since then I’ve been growing oats very success¬ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
fully on the same land. The leading varieties of barley are 
known as six-rowed, two-rowed, Adams and Manshury or 
German. The six-rowed commands the highest price and 
has been grown longer than the other kinds, but on most 
soils the Adams and Manshury have proven far better 
yielders, and weighed, in many instances, more than 50 
pounds per bushel. As to the future of this crop as a pay¬ 
ing product, I think it likely that barley will continue to 
be one of the leading crops for many farmers as long as 
there are laws on the statute books allowing the manufac¬ 
ture of beer and ale. In those good old times about which 
our grandfathers are always telling us, barley was decid¬ 
edly a cereal crop of minor importance : whisky, wine, 
brandy and West India rum were the drinks of the day. 
The great influx of Germans beginning about 1847 or ’8 
and continuing to the present time, has had a great deal to 
do with the cultivation of this cereal. Then, too, on the 
opening up of California in 1850, thousands of men and 
horses found their way to the new Eldorado and a serious 
question confronted the pioneers in regard to a grain ra¬ 
tion for the horses and mules, which was speedily solved 
by the introduction of barley as the main cereal crop of the 
territory. 
The acreage has been steadily increased in California 
until to-day that far Western State is the principal barley- 
producing section of the Union. The larger part of the 
crop is either cut green for hay or used in its ripened state 
as a grain food for stock in the absence of corn and oats. 
In the Eastern States, especially in the towns and cities, 
and also in some parts of the West the influence of the 
German appetite for beer and the English love of ale is 
shown in the fact that those two drinks have supplanted, 
to a great degree, the beverages of our forefathers. 
If there is any virtue in a protective tariff—and we do 
not doubt the wisdom of such a measure when it protects 
something that we produce—then surely the McKinley bill 
gives the barley grower a very substantial lift along the 
high road to wealth. A duty of 30 cents a bushel is in 
reality a prohibitory measure as it affects our Canadian 
neighbors who have been in the habit of exporting a half 
dozen million or more bushels into the States every year. 
[Last year Canada sent us 9,934,504 bushels of barley which 
paid an import duty of 10 cents per bushel. Eds.] Cana¬ 
dian barley is of a higher grade than that produced south 
of the Lakes, and if it is shut out of our markets there 
will be a much better demand for our best grades, and for 
the poor stuff as well. Despite the best efforts of the vast 
WAITING FOR DINNER.” 
From a Photograph.” Fig. 72. 
army of temperance workers, the consumption of beers is 
on the increase. [Recently it was officially stated that the 
production of beer in the United States had increased from 
8,388,720 barrels in 1875 to 25,098,765 barrels in 1889. Eds.] 
Canadian barley will probably be excluded from our ports, 
and the outlook for the barley grower seems very bright 
indeed, for the next few years at least. 
There is a good time coming I hope, when a national 
law prohibiting the manufacture of liquors will be 
passed and enforced. Even after that is done barley will 
be raised as a food for domestic animals in many parts of 
our broad land where corn and oats do not thrive well. 
I have seen it stated by an eminent authority that for a 
dozen years, on an average, barley has been cheap at a cent 
a pound as a grain ration for stock in comparison with the 
prevailing prices of the other foods. Barley is the hardiest 
of the spring grains and owing to this fact alone, succeed¬ 
ing generations will continue to raise it for profit. In 
Western New York when the price falls below 40 cents a 
bushel it is more profitable to feed it out on the farm than 
to sell it. 
Oats require about the same cultivation as barley. 
Many agricultural writers, among them my venerable 
friend, Mr. Curtis, advocate the sowing of oats broadcast 
on snow in the spring in the fond hope that the thawing 
and freezing of the soil will properly cover the seed and 
give the crop an early start. Others say broadcast the 
seed and harrow it in. Either of these methods might be 
all right in the West where all grain growing is carried on 
in an extensive manner, but in the East I consider it ad¬ 
visable to sow the seed with a drill. If I were to try for a 
prize crop I would drill in each way one bushel and a peck. 
This amount would make 2% bushels on the acre and it 
would be distributed and covered much more evenly than 
would be possible with broadcast seeding. The oat at first 
is a surface feeder and the drill should be set so as to sow 
the seed as shallow as possible, while still doing good 
work in covering. By far too many farmers have the idea 
that oats should be sown as deep as wheat, and as a con¬ 
sequence their crops in many seasons are surprisingly 
light. 
As to plant food, I find that oats are very fond of phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash. This spring I am going to make 
some oat manure that will give the crop just what it 
needs. The ingredients will be 25 pounds of muriate of 
potash and 75 pounds of bone-black per acre. There is 
plenty of ammonia in our oat ground to give the seed a 
good start. Were it otherwise I would use a complete 
fertilizer. We must make a study of the needs of each 
crop and also ascertain what elements are already in the 
soil in abundance. It is foolish for a farmer to pay 17 or 18 
cents a pound for nitrogen in the form of ammonia when 
there is an immense stock in the ground waiting to be 
used. Last year was a poor season in Western New \ ork 
for the best results from oat culture. The spring was not 
favorable for the early growth and then the continuous 
rains of June, July aud August ruined many fields, 
yet, in spite of these disadvantages, our 70 acres yielded 40 
bushels per acre. The different varieties of oats are in 
nearly endless profusion. Enterprising originators and, 
more often, unscrupulous seedsmen foist an oat upon an 
innocent public with a flourish of trumpets and blatant 
descriptions, giving it a high-sounding name with a wonder¬ 
ful record of its yield. Two years ago an agent canvassed 
in Livingston County selling the “ New Swede Oat,” aud 
claiming that it would yield 100 bushels per acre on aver¬ 
age land. Well, the Swede did yield well the first year; 
but the variety is the worst in the world to lodge. A com¬ 
mon heavy rain as the time of ripening appoaches will lay 
them out as flat as a pan-cake, and last season it was im¬ 
possible to save over half the grain ou many fields. T le 
perfect oat should have a thin hull. The Swede. Badger 
Queen, Welcome and Clydesdale have very thick husks 
and should never be raised for feeding purposes. The 
White Maine, White Russian aud the improved Probsteier 
are the favorites with us. 
All these are good varieties standing up well, com¬ 
paratively free from rust and weighing more than the 
legal standard. The White Maine and Russian are 
very similar, but more good qualities are united in 
the Maine than 
are found in any 
other oat with which 
I am acquainted. 
We raised 20 acres of 
them last year; 17 
acres were on quite 
poor land, and they 
yielded 47 bushels 
per acre, weighing 
37K pounds to the 
bushel. They paid 
us fairly well, as we 
sold them direct to 
the consumers for 80 
aud 32 cents a bushel; 
while the common 
kinds were selling 
at 24 and 25 cents. 
While barley straw 
is not of any great 
value, oat straw 
ranks next to rye 
as a marketable pro¬ 
duct, and is worth 
nearly as much as 
corn stover and not 
quite half as much 
as common hay as 
food for stock. I have 
noticed, however, 
what has been said by 
others concerning the value of barley hay for horses, and 
have no doubt it may pay others to grow' the crop for this 
purpose. It is a grain crop with us and will continue to 
be grown as described above. EDWARD F. dibble. 
“ WHY DO BOYS STAY ON THE FARM ? ” 
Figure 78 represents a scene which actually came 
under my observation last summer. The two young men 
were fine, intelligent young fellows and much above the 
ordinary run of hired farm hands. Neither of them would 
be guilty of intentionally abusing or wronging a boy, but, 
like many other and older people, they did not consider 
that the carrying of two gallon jugs of water—which to 
either one of them w'ould have been a small matter—was 
looked upon in a serious light by the boy whose arms were 
aching under the load. The boy was too manly to ask one 
of the young men to help him, but in all probability he 
kept up a “ mighty lot o’ thinking ” about the carelessness 
of his companions as he trudged over that half mile of 
dusty road. A boy like the one who is the subject of this 
sketch, who is always “on hand” and looking for some 
thing to do instead of something to sit on, is an invaluable 
assistant on any farm, yet how' many of them ever get 
credit for w'hat they do? 
Leaving out of account all cruel parents and guardians— 
who are beneath consideration—how do the majority of 
people treat the boys under their charge ? Is not the boy 
too often treated simply as a machine from which a large 
amount of work can be extracted at a small cost ? It is so 
convenient to tell the boy to do the disagreeable jobs that 
we don’t like to do ourselves. I hope I shall not be mis¬ 
understood on this point. Every boy should be taught to 
