368 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JUNE 7 
FARMING 900 ACRES AT A PROFIT IN 
WESTERN NEW YORK. 
OUR HAT CROP. 
A HEAVY growth of natural grass in a new country is a 
sure indication of wealth beneath the surface waiting but 
the plow of the husbandman to bring it forth in tangible 
form, and the grass crop on any cultivated field indicates 
the condition of the soil, and any farm or any nation that 
produces more and more grass per acre every year may be 
said to be in a flourishing condition. 
Our farms have been steadily growing in grass-producing 
power from year to year, and last season 213 acres yielded 
426 tons, fully two tons per acre, or about twice the average 
for the State, as given by the last report. An average of 
one ton per acre means that the farms of this State are 
not being worked as they should be, and it explains why 
many men say that “ farmin’ don’t pay.” 
To make this low average, thousands of 
farms produce less than one ton per acre 
and hundreds of them less than one half 
a ton. Then surely all these farms are 
unprofitable, and half the hay crop of 
t he State is made at a loss, as there is 
no money in raising a ton of hay from 
an acre in New York at the present 
prices. If we could raise the State aver¬ 
age to two tons per acre, New York 
would be a garden and we would never 
need to fear successful Western com¬ 
petition with anything that we placed 
on the market. What man has done 
man can do, and if we can get an aver¬ 
age of two tons per acre from 200 acres, 
representing several varieties of soil, it 
is reasonable to suppose that most of 
the farms in the State can be made to 
produce as well, provided they ’•eceive 
as good culture. 
There is no sight more beautiful than fields of green on 
every hand; nor is there a pleasanter crop to care for and 
harvest than the hay crop. Our success with grass begins 
with the selection of the seed. In a previous number 
I pointed out the importance of pure clover seed and we 
are just as particular in the selection of grass seed. We 
do not mix a large number of different varieties as a great 
many seedsmen and fancy farmers advise; but use the 
clover and Timothy mixture alone, sowing our Timothy 
seed in the autumn along with the wheat in the drill, or 
immediately after, with a wheel barrow seeder, at the rate 
of from five to seven quarts per acre. A great deal has 
been and is being said against sowing clover seed on a 
Timothy sod ; but we always sow our clover seed on the 
wheat about April 1, and the Timothy sod does not injure 
the catch. We use five to eight quarts per acre and 
enough seed grows to insure our hay being about half and 
half clover and Timothy. In fact, I 
cannot remember a single failure to get 
a good stand of grass from our method 
of seeding. In the fall the growth is so 
luxuriant in our wheat stubbles as to 
afford an abundance of pasturage for 
stock, and we pasture them some of the 
time, but not enough to deprive the 
plant of sufficient growth and strength 
to protect it from the rigors of the 
winter. Pasturing new seeding is not 
necessarily injurious if it is not carried 
too far: but there is a limit the passage 
of which will surely prove unprofitable. 
The following spring the meadows are 
rolled with a heavy roller, and if there 
are any large stones on the surface, they 
are carefully picked off at that time. 
We usually begin haying about June 
20, and our haying season lasts two 
weeks at least, and sometimes much 
longer if the weather is not favorable. 
The' mowing is done with the common 
machines, cutting 4% feet; but I think 
it would pay to dispense with these old 
machines and use new wide-cut mowers 
such as the - Eureka or Deering Giant. 
As a rule, we do not cut more one day 
than we can secure in the next day or 
two. On two of the farms the hay- 
tedder is used to help dry the hay and while not strictly 
necessary, it is of great benefit in rainy seasons, as it 
enables one to make the grass cure one-third faster. 
After the grass is dry enough, it is raked with the 
wheel horse-rakes into large windrows and cocked iip by 
hand into cocks containing two or three good-sized fork¬ 
fuls each. Some farmers think they cannot make good 
hay unless it is allowed to cure in the cock a few days 
before it is drawn to the barn; but we always draw it in 
as soon as it is fit; that is, as soon as we are sure that it 
will not heat or burn in the mow, and I would defy any 
one to show a finer lot of hay than ours. 
Cocking and pitching on by hand demand an immense 
amount of unnecessary hand work that will soon be done 
away with, I hope, by a more general introduction and use 
of the Keystone hay-loader. 
I read the advertisement of this machine in the Rural 
last year, and having become convinced of its great value, 
sent for the circulars and as a result we ordered one on 
trial. I cannot say too much in praise of this wonderful 
piece of machinery, as it does all that is claimed for it by 
the manufacturers. 
With the help of two boys, both under 21, and this ma¬ 
chine,'my brother harvested 100 tons of hay from 40 acres and 
did the work rapidly and well. There is only one thing that 
prevents its coming into general use at once, and that is the 
high price charged for it. The local agent’s price to the 
farmer was $60. It cost him $40. and had passed through the 
hands of two other agents, before it got to him. It is 
reasonable to suppose that the agents’ commissions were at 
least $30. Brother farmers, does it not strike you that this 
is a trifle too much of a good thing for the middlemen ? I 
have no doubt that there will be more of these implements 
used on our farms; but they will have to be bought for less 
than the price at present asked. Another labor-saving 
contrivance that should be on every farm is the double 
harpoon horse-fork. We have four, one on each farm and 
their work is a great improvement on the old, slow method 
of pitching off by hand. A complete outfit consisting of 
fork, pulleys, hooks and ropes, only costs about $8 and any 
farmer who harvests 20 tons of hay can not well afford to 
do without one. 
We do not make a practice of stacking any hay, believ¬ 
ing that it is much better in the barn, and if we have 
HOME MADE SPRAYER. Front View. Fig. 120. 
to stack any crop we prefer to do so with either barley 
or wheat. All farmers should seed down each field 
occasionally and so fit and prepare the soil as to in¬ 
sure a larger crop of hay than had been grown on it 
before. 
Clover especially has a very beneficial effect on all soils, 
and I believe there is no more economical way of bringing 
poor land into a good state of cultivation than by getting 
it into clover and then using it to the best advantage. We 
never sow commercial fertilizers on our meadows, prefer¬ 
ring to use them on the wheat in liberal quantities. The 
excess of plant food from fertilizers sown with the wheat 
and not used by that crop, is taken up by our clover and 
Timothy and the increase in the yield of hay resulting 
therefrom, more than pays the first cost of the fer¬ 
tilizers. EDWARD F. DIBBLE. 
Lima, N. Y. 
HOME MADE SPRAYER. Rear View. Fig. 121 
LET’S HAVE YOUR OPINION. 
Readers of the R. N.-Y. are requested to tell us what 
they think about the following questions. Don’t hesi¬ 
tate to express your opinion. 
1. Are not ducks more profitable than chickens f 
2. What breed of fowls make the best mothers ? 
3. What will it c n st to feed 100 chicks from the time they 
are hatched out until they are ready for market ? 
Some Poultry Questions. 
How long should eggs stand after receipt before they 
are put under the hen P Twenty-four hours. 
What does it cost to produce an egg t There is no man, 
in my opinion, who can give a satisfactory answer to this 
question, for much would depend upon the manner in 
which the fowls were kept; the cost of feeding them ; the 
cost of hired help, and the amount of sickness one has to 
contend with in the flock. I would like to see this ques¬ 
tion answered, but doubt if it could be handled satis¬ 
factorily. 
Do Leghorns seem to eat as much as the heavier breeds ? 
In my opinion they do not. They^are the best rustlers I 
have ever seen, and if they can get out of their houses 
at daylight, you will not find one on the roosts after that 
time, which is not the case with some of the other breeds. 
If allowed free range, they will pick up more than one- 
half of their living outside. 
Should eggs for hatching be kept in a warm or a com 
place ? There appears to be quite a difference of opinion 
on this point, but I prefer a cool cellar, placing the eggs on 
their sides and turning them once per day until they are 
required for use. 
What do you think about developing a strain of laying 
hens by selecting eggs from good layers for hatching ? 
While it is well known that some hens will lay more eggs 
than others of the same breed, under the same conditions 
as regards care and feeding, I have never experimented in 
that direction. I intend to do so, however, and will report 
results. 
Which would you advise as the better way to improve 
farm poultry—buying eggs or breeding chickens ? If one 
were intending to raise 200 or 300 chickens per year from 
pure bred fowls and could arrange to purchase the eggs 
from some reliable breeder in lots of 100. I would advise that 
they be bought. There are some breeders 
who would send such eggs as they would 
use themselves, but the majority will 
not. The great trouble in purchasing 
the fowls is to get just what you would 
want. A man who claims 20 years’ ex¬ 
perience, and who says that he has no 
fowls in his yards that score under 90 
points, might have to look a long time 
before he could find in the entire lot 
one that could score that much. When 
you pay a good price for a breeding pen, 
and about twice as much expressage on 
them as they should cost, and have them 
shipped 200 or 300 miles, w'hat does the 
“ satisfaction guaranteed,” so often re¬ 
ferred to in the circulars, amount to ? 
The birds are not what you thought they 
would be, and they are not what the 
party agreed to send. What are you 
going to do about it ? You may be able 
to get the “ satisfaction ” eventually, 
but it’s dollars to dimes.that it will cost you more than the 
original cost of tbe breeding pen. There are some oreeclers 
who will treat a customer fairly, but unless I could select the 
birds myself, I would prefer to spend my money for the eggs. 
What do you find the best case for shipping eggs to 
customers ? For small shipments I use a case made ex¬ 
pressly for me, holding two boxes containing three dozen 
each and packing around these with one inch of excelsior. 
For large orders I have never found anything that would 
take the place of the “ Batchelor case,” holding 30 dozen, 
with space between the sides of the boxes to pack one inch 
of excelsior. Eggs packed in this way can be carried a long 
distance without danger of having them broken. j. D. H. 
Looking Backward at Hen Hatching. 
Now that the season’s hatching is about over, think mat¬ 
ters over a while and see if the following notes are not correct: 
The earlier part of a hen’s clutch of 
eggs are larger and stronger for hatch¬ 
ing than the last of a batch, which get 
smaller and weaker. Hens that lay later 
in spring are more likely to have the 
strongest chicks. 
For stock pens that are kept to raise 
‘ birds for good strong laying pullets, 
only six or seven hens should be allowed 
to each male when confined. In case of 
birds that have a free range on a farm, 
two or three more may be allowed. 
Select for sitting, hens of medium 
size, not too fat and in perfect health. 
Keep the nests clean and inviting for 
the laying hens ; many eggs are lost on 
account of dirty, repulsive nests. This 
matter has more to do with hens laying 
at home than many people suppose, 
especially on a farm. 
Dusting the Hens. 
It is a very good custom to dust the 
hens that have chicks, with Persian in¬ 
sect powder, or carbolate of lime, especi¬ 
ally in damp weather, when the cooped- 
up hen cannot well dust herself or, use 
the dust-bath. If this is done when the 
chicks are about a week or two old, it 
will kill the lice on them, too, and give 
them a healthy start. The best time to do this is just 
before dark, and the operation is „ done best by two 
persons. The hen should be taken out as quietly as 
possible; the two legs should be held with one hand, 
and the wings be kept together over the back with the 
other. Then she should be laid on one side, while an¬ 
other person dusts the powder well under the wings and 
all through the breast and body. When treated on one 
side she should be turned over and the other be attended 
to. Place her in the coop as gently as possible, so that she 
will not shake out the dust. The chicks then settling 
under her for the night get a good dose of the disinfectant 
during the darkness. Many a brood of drooping chicks 
will look much brighter from the effects of one dose ; re 
peating it in another week or two will be found beneficial. 
H. H. 
A Dry Floor Makes the Scales Fly.—Two years ago 
I bought a farm. On it were a hen house, large and warm, 
with a glass front, etc., etc., and a flock of about 30 beauti¬ 
ful Plymouth Rocks. The plumage was faultless, but the 
legs were Bcaly, and the feet more or less swelled or 
crippled. The roosts were up next the roof; the nests 
were fastened to the walls, which the taste of the owner 
said was the best arrangement. The floor was always 
damp, sometimes wet, and in it there were several large 
stones on wbich'the hens, seemed to try to alight when 
coming down from the roosts or nests. I want to improve 
