i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
289 
Business. 
BUSINESS IN ENSILAGE MACHINERY. 
From E. W. Ross &. Co. 
SINCE ensilage became an established method of pre¬ 
serving fodder, we have made and sold a large number of 
cutters, and very many of them have been used for putting 
up silage. We should say, at a rough estimate, that within 
the past five years we have sold 15,000 to 20,000 cutters that 
were used for that purpose. Possibly this figure should 
be very much larger from the fact that many of our 
smaller-sized cutters that we presumed were ordered for 
hay or dry fodder, have been used in preparing silage. We 
are very positive, however, that irrespective of the number 
of cutters sold, the use of silage is on the increase. While 
there are a good many doubters with regard to the system, 
on the whole, the farmers are becoming pretty generally 
convinced that the saving of fodder in silos is productive 
of wonderful economy and benefit in the feeding of cattle. 
As parties obtain more experience, they learn better how 
to construct silos as well as how to prepare the silage and 
keep it sweet. 
From The Belcher & Taylor Co. 
Our sales of cylinder cutters have probably averaged for 
the past four years 400 each year. We cannot tell how 
many silos there are in this country, but in this town there 
are three or four. Trade this season has opened fairly 
well. The great trouble with regard to trade in agricul¬ 
tural tools is the strong competition between the manufac¬ 
turers who are cutting prices badly. There are too many 
who are ready to sell for four dollars a plow that costs 
them four dollars and over to make, to say nothing about 
expenses. By and by such concerns must of course fail. 
From C. Plerpont & Co. 
We have sold about 13,000 cutters since ensilage became 
a settled factor in farm economy. These have not all been 
large enough for cutting silage; but probably about 3,000 
were suitable for that purpose. The past year’s trade in 
cutters has been slack, owing, we think, to the large crops 
and low prices of fodder. The feed-cutter trade is always 
better when fodder crops are short. This year’s trade will 
not begin until next fall. 
From the Silver & Deming Manufacturing Co. 
As nearly as we can estimate, we sold last season 150 
silage cutters. By this we mean that we shipped 150 cut¬ 
ters and carriers to be used in connection with the silo. 
In 1888, we sold from 50 to 75. It is too early yet to form 
any idea of what the demand will be this year; but we ex¬ 
pect our sales will be heavier than they were last year. 
The writer attended the second annual meeting of the 
Central Silo Congress, held in Cleveland, on March 13th 
and 14th. The attendance was made up mostly of parties 
who had from one to six years’ experience in the use of 
silage. Not one voice was raised against the system. 
Every one who had had actual and practical experience 
was heartily in favor of it. 
From W. R. Harrison. 
It is impossible to give any adequate idea as to how 
many Tornado cutters have been sold for silage cutting. 
We have sold many more during the past season for this 
special work than in any previous year—an indication 
that ensilage is growing in favor among farmers. The 
general cutter trade has not been so large as in some pre¬ 
vious seasons, owing to large crops and an extremely open, 
warm winter. 
SELLING SILAGE. 
The R. N.-Y. has received many samples of silage by 
mail and express. They generally arrived in good con¬ 
dition and were greatly relished by stock. It is evident 
that silage can be safely transported. Can it be made a 
profitable article of commerce? In other words, can we 
build up a market for silage so that it will be sold like hay 
and grain? All who are convinced of the value of silage 
say that it ought to have a place in the market. In a few 
instances it has been sold, but only where it could be de¬ 
livered and fed as soon as possible after it has been taken 
from the silo, or else packed at once in air-tight barrels, in 
which it may be kept for months. At auction sales in 
dairy districts where silage has been compared with other 
fodders, farmers seem ready to pay about $2 per ton, esti¬ 
mated weight, when clover hay is considered worth $7 or $8. 
Ordinary silage contains nearly 75 per cent, of water, on 
which transportation rates must be paid if it is to become 
an article of commerce. Clover hay, for example, contains 
about 15 per cent, of water. That is, in every 100 pounds 
of hay sent to market, freight must be paid on 15 pounds 
of water. Now in carrying 100 pounds of silage we are 
obliged to pay freight on 75 pounds of water, unless we 
can squeeze a portion of it out before starting. Again, a 
bale of hay can be bound with a few wires, costing a frac¬ 
tion of a cent; while an equal weight of silage, to keep as 
well as the hay, must be packed in a heavy cask and tight¬ 
ly sealed. To render it a profitable commercial product 
the dry matter of silage should be worth more, pound for 
pound, than the dry matter of clover hay. In reality it is 
not worth so much. It does not seem probable therefore 
that silage can ever enter the general market as a commer¬ 
cial product. If sold at all, it will be handled on the same 
basis on which green clover, green rye and green oats are 
now sol(i in this market during the spring and early sum¬ 
mer. There is always a demand for a limited quantity of 
this green food. The moment the supply exceeds the de¬ 
mand, the price falls so that it will not pay to haul the 
heavy weight of water contained in the fodder. 
IMPLEMENT NOTES. 
Stone Rakes. 
In none of my agricultural papers do I find any ad¬ 
vertisement of, or allusion to a cobble gatherer. It would 
seem to be not a very difficult thing to make after the 
fashion of a horse-rake or horse shovel with strong prongs 
or fingers. It could be drawn by one or two horses over a 
plowed field and gather the cobbles into rows, so that they 
could be readily picked up and thrown in the wagon or on a 
stone-boat. It seems a very difficult matter to get help 
willing to pick them up singly—at least, I have tried to do 
so in vain for 10 years. They will mow, rake and hoe year 
after year, with the same stones to grumble about. H. o. 
B- N.-Y.—We do not know of any tool made for this 
special purpose. We have seen old hay-rakes used with 
good success. Such a tool as Breed’s weeder, with heavier 
rods, would be very useful. If this weeder could be made 
with detachable rods, one could use it as made now for 
weeding, and then, by putting in others twice as thick, 
have a good stone rake. The same might be said of hay- 
rakes. Some farmers bury their stones as they plow. They 
use a swivel plow and a boy follows with an iron rake, rak¬ 
ing the small stones into the furrow. At the next furrow 
these stones are all covered. This answers on land that is 
to be seeded to grain or grass. A heavy plank or log 
dragged over the ground will collect many of the stones. 
A friend in Canada used a steel rail from the railroad for 
this purpose. Six horses were fastened to it with the re¬ 
sult that the stones were pushed into “ windrows ” where 
they could be easily loaded. 
Haying Tools For Australia. 
B. B., Tasmania, Australia—In the R. N.-Y. for June 
22, ’89, page 414, in an article on “ Curing Hay and the 
Hay-loader,” Mr. C. S. Rice gives his 14 years’ experience 
in the use of the hay-loader and harpoon hay-fork in un¬ 
loading. 
In “ Brevities ” page 416, we are told that Mr. Rice’s 
remarks are deserving of attention, as he “makes farming 
pay.” What tools does he use ? 
For years past farmers over here have been unable in hay 
harvest to get anything like a supply of labor, even at ex¬ 
orbitant wages—from six to 10 shillings per day, equal to 
one and a-half to two and a-half dollars and board (five 
meals per day) and with hay at present selling at from 30 
to 50 shillings per ton. ($10 to $12.50) there is no profit in 
making it. Rust has been awfully prevalent all over this 
section, and this season especially in wheat. Such a 
plague has not visited us for 18 years. 
Our hay here is not grass or clover, but grain—wheat, 
oats or barley. Wheat is preferred and cut when the ears 
are about half-filled and the straw green. I had some over 
six feet high last year. Would a hay-loader handle such 
stuff ? It usually runs about three feet high. 
Ans.—W e believe Mr. Rice has used a Faust hay-loader 
for a good many years. From our own observation we should 
recommend the “Keystone” as the most serviceable loader 
that we have seen. This will surely give satisfaction in 
heavy grass and will greatly facilitate the handling of the 
hay crop. Those who have seen this machine work in the 
hay field find it a difficult matter to say enough in its 
praise. Yes, the loader would handle this successfully. 
O. W. D., Bingham, Conn .—I was very much pleased 
with the cow stalls I saw on a visit to Houghton Farm, 
Orange County, N. Y., though I can’t describe them ex¬ 
actly. There was a small partition between each pair of 
cows, and each of them was fastened rather loosely to each 
side of the manger, and when any of them lay down or got 
up she seemed to do so with perfect ease and without 
straining. Is there a better way ? 
Ans —These cows were fastened with a chain—the ring 
running on a rod about like that described by Mr. Gates 
on page 281. With regard to the merits of different 
kinds of cow fastenings, see the symposium on the subject 
elsewhere in this issue. 
Cider Presses.— The importance of the cider and vinegar 
business is hardly comprehended by farmers outside of the 
sections where apple-growing is the chief industry. Mil¬ 
lions of dollars’ worth of cider apples are annually wasted. 
If the proper machinery were provided, these might be 
saved and turned into a money product. The cider busi¬ 
ness demands co-operation or the investment of private 
capital in order to make it successful. Hand-power cider 
presses are nuisances. The writer has wasted too much 
time over one of them to have any respect left for it. 
Money spent for one good, heavy press can be made to pay 
interest, while if spent for a dozen hand-presses, it can 
never do it. The Boomer & Boschert Press Co., of Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y., make the best presses that the R. N.-Y. has 
ever examined. They are good people to deal with too. 
Rubber Roofing. —The roofing made by the Indiana 
Paint & Roofing Company of this city, is having an enor 
mous sale. It gives good satisfaction when put on as 
directed. It is very useful on sheds, chicken-houses and 
other out-buildings. The R. N.-Y. is going to try some of 
it this season. It is induced to try it by the very sensible 
reports from those who have used it. 
Plant Protectors. —Sherman & Crouch, of Sidney, N. 
Y., issue a very neat little catalogue, in which are described 
their plant protectors. S. & C. are practical gardeners and 
claim to have produced a device that will answer all the 
requirements of a cold weather garden. 
The Cutaway In a Peach Orchard.— The R. N.-Y. re 
cently sent out a circular to a number of orchardists, ask 
ing what tools were most desirable for cultivating an 
orchard. The majority of them seemed to agree that “ the 
only tool that should be permitted to touch the soil in any 
orchard is'a hog’s snout.” Mr. J. H. Hale, the most success¬ 
ful peach-grower in New England, does not believe this, as 
we may see from theTbllo wing note. The Cutaway is made by 
the Higganum Manufacturing Co., Higganum, Conn, and 
Water street. New York. 
“ For two years past we have greatly reduced the cost 
of cultivation in our peach orchards (besides doing bet¬ 
ter work) by the use of Clark’s Cutaway harrow, a 
wonderful machine for cutting and tearing up the soil; 
yet in the orchard there has been one objection to 
it—that it turns the soil up out of the middle of the 
row and gradually banks it up towards the trees. 
Senator Clark, the inventor, has put on the market 
this season a new Cutaway, that can be reversed and so 
draw the earth away from the trees. A trial in our 
orchards indicates that it will do the work to perfection, 
and if it pans out as I now expect it will, before the 
end of this week our 22-acre orchard will have been put in 
proper shape with it, without any plowing, which, even 
with the most careful driver, would be likely to do con¬ 
siderable damage to the roots.” 
The Thomas Harrow.— This has been well named “ the 
universal tool,” because there are so many uses to which it 
can be put. It is very useful for smoothing and leveling 
plowed ground, or for crushing lumps and clods, while for 
working over young corn and potatoes it is also excellent. 
The slanting teeth will slide over the plants while the soil 
is well worked. Used on the wheat and rye, too, it gives 
excellent results. This tool has been in use now many 
years, and the fact that it still commands a good sale is a 
strong argument in its favor. 
Low-Down Truck Wagons are much desired in hand¬ 
ling green corn or other heavy crops. No engineer has yet 
been able to explain what a farmer gains by lifting mer¬ 
chandise on to a high wagon. A foot saved on each lift 
represents many years of health and vigor to the man who 
is compelled to do the lifting. Many farmers try to make 
their own low wagons, while others wish to buy one ready 
made. The R. N.-Y. can speak well of Kemp’s farm 
wagon, made by the Kemp & Burpee Manufacturing Co., 
Syracuse, N. Y. The wheels are only 2% feet in diameter 
with three-inch tires. The platform is 4X feet wide and 
13 feet long with side-boards seven inches high. One can 
readily see how useful this low, light wagon can be made 
in carrying crops of all kinds from the field to the barn. 
--£ 
The Mapes Corn Manure distances all Competitors. 
Full nmorts^nhRshpd in m'"" h 1 ENT J ° KNTS per bushel - Crops X.'13, 110 and 05 bushels each; grown on one measured acre exclusively with the Mapes Corn Manure. 
Full reports published in March number of The American Agriculturist. The largest crop grown with fertilizers other than the Mapes (45 crops in all) was S4 bushels (chemically 
• dried, 60 bushels). 
Mape^Corn ^Ijuuire 41 1 A , JO> **' THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE AGRICULTURAL STATION THE PAST SEASON. 
Mapes Potato Manure - I " ' “ ' “ per ton, *43 55 
Mapes Cabbage Manure - . » _ _ _ " " 
° ,her bm “ dS °' C ° rD ManUre8 W6re ***■ *** «“• «*•«• "«* valuations given to other brands of Cabbage 
the Krtll'i'varietv'of tormfal'd S”X™™?! °' *1" MaPeS Ma ““ re ?“ r6 ol ver »' chol “ 3t ^“I'ty and of the highest concentration. The aim of the Mapes Company is to give 
Therms of a T J° U “ n ° Ue the VCry best materials - No Rock, Horn, Leather, Marl, or any other inferior ingredients. No make-weights 
Foddor w M • complete and special crop Manures is pure bone and pure Peruvian Guano. The Mapes Corn Manure may also be used on Sweet Corn, Corn for Ensilage' 
SEES M= - - - - «■— — »' 0- w. do not hesitate to nTS 
VUanZZ ■**" *«*« « “* ~ 
THE MAPES FORMULA AND PERUVIAN GUANO CO., 158 Front Street, New York. 
