302 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 2 
number of heifer calves from the best cows are being 
raised. In the past, most of the cows have been 
bought from farmers farther back among the hills. 
Mr. Manchester says that farmers on the hill farms 
might make a good profit in raising heifers and young 
cows to supply the milkmen nearer town. By keep¬ 
ing a first-class bull, and giving the young stock good 
care, they could establish a reputation for good stock, 
and farmers would come to them whenever new cows 
were needed. There is no doubt about the fact that, 
as towns grow and land increases in value, suburban 
dairymen are breeding fewer and fewer of their own 
cows, and many of them would give up this part of 
their business entirely if they were sure of obtaining 
just the animals they needed at fair prices. The man 
on the back country farm can make himself almost as 
useful to the town dairyman as is the Western grain 
raiser, for the man who produces the milk must look 
to some one else to provide the cow and the food. 
(To be continued.) 
MORE ABOUT THOSE EGG QUESTIONS. 
DOES FOOD INFLUENCE THE SIZE AND NUMBER? 
Does tlie feeding of different grains to poultry, have any effect 
on the size of the eggs? In other words, does the feeding of any 
particular grain make the eggs larger or smaller ? Does the differ¬ 
ence in thesizeof the eggs make any dilference in thenumber alien 
will lay? For example, if a hen lay abnormally large eggs, is she as 
likely to lay as many as though the eggs were of average or 
small size ? 
How Hens Vary as Layers. 
In regard to the number and size of eggs, I remem¬ 
ber two pullets that laid much larger eggs than others 
of the same age and breeding, and more than the aver¬ 
age number. One of the pullets was somewhat under¬ 
sized. There were also two other pullets laying very 
small eggs, and much more than the average in num¬ 
ber, blank days occurring at long intervals. These 
observations extended only during the few months of 
hatching, not for the entire season. So far as breeds 
go, it has been my experience to get the fewest eggs 
from hens laying large ones. From Houdans, laying 
very large eggs, very satisfactory numbers were ob¬ 
tained. Leghorns gave more of considerably smaller 
size, and Hamburgs produced a much greater number 
of very small eggs. The Houdans, however, were con¬ 
fined much of the time, the Leghorns some of the time, 
while the Hamburgs had almost unlimited run most of 
the year. This was 15 or 20 years ago, and I cannot 
now give more specific records, for I did not then 
appreciate the importance of collecting them. Later 
experience with Minorcas, which laid very large eggs, 
was to the effect that they were less prolific than 
the Leghorns. 
Eggs from nine Leghorn hens, laying, on the average 
for the year, 143 eggs, averaged 1.90 ounce each, 
while eggs from nine other hens fed the same, and 
whose average egg production was a fraction over 93 
eggs, averaged 1.91 ounce each. Two hens averaging 
114 eggs each during their second year, produced eggs 
that averaged 1.98 ounce in weight, and two other 
similar hens, whose egg production was 72 eggs each, 
laid eggs averaging exactly the same in weight. A 
Cochin hen whose eggs averaged 2.22 ounces in weight, 
laid 132 during the year, and another hen whose eggs 
averaged 1.96 ounce, laid 89 during the year. Another 
(same breed and food) laid 138 eggs, averaging 1.90 
ounce. Of two Leghorns whose eggs averaged the 
same in weight, viz., 2.01 ounces, one laid 132 eggs, 
and the other 62 eggs during the year. Individual in¬ 
stances show such variations as to indicate no general 
relation between number and size of eggs, and enough 
data are not available to justify conclusions from the 
averages. I have always thought, however, that the 
hen laying very large eggs, as a rule, laid fewer than 
the average. wm. p. wheeler. 
Large Eggs Indicate Good Condition. 
A hen will lay the largest egg and the most in num¬ 
ber, when she is in perfect health and not over-fat. 
There is no one grain that we can feed to hens with 
which we can force them without getting them too 
fat; that is my only reason for giving more than one 
kind of grain. 1 wish more muscle-makers and less 
fat. The size of the eggs will make no difference in 
the number laid; in fact, from my experience, it is 
the reverse. A hen that lays large eggs shows that 
she is in better condition, but it is more likely to 
cause diseased oviduct than smaller eggs. 
JAMES II. SEELY. 
How Different Grains Affect Layers. 
Yes, undoubtedly, feeding different grains to fowls 
will affect the size of the eggs, and the number they 
will lay. Corn, and corn meal, for example, will 
increase the size of the eggs, but, fed to excess, will 
decrease the number and make the fowls abnormally 
fat; so will cotton seed and other super-fattening 
foods. Wheat and barley are, probably, the two best 
grains to feed fowls, to induce egg production con¬ 
tinuously ; but wheat and barley fed exclusively, will 
cause smaller eggs, of paler color (both of shell and 
yolk), hence some corn or corn meal, or buckwheat 
and oats, should be added to the ration to supply the 
needed fat-formers to induce the best all-around re¬ 
sults. In other words, a “balanced ration” should be 
fed. A difference in the size of the eggs will cause a 
difference in the number. If a hen lays abnormally 
large eggs, she will lay fewer than if she is laying 
average-sized ones. As to small-sized eggs, that, I 
think, is due more to the habit of the individual bird, 
than to the food. Some fowls lay larger eggs than 
others, and if we breed from large-egg or small-egg 
layers, we increase or decrease the average size of the 
eggs our fowls produce. A. f. hunter. 
HORSE SHOE FARM NOTES. 
HOW A SICK MAN SORTS POTATOES. 
My men were sorting potatoes, and, as I am still 
confined to the house from the effects of the fever, I 
could not see how they managed ; but on counting 
from my window the barrels packed for the day, I 
concluded that something would have to be changed, 
as the potatoes would hardly pay their wages and the 
cost of the barrels. Inquiry revealed the fact that 
they were sorting by hand, picking up the large ones 
and leaving the small ones on the floor. Every time 
a man got a crateful, he had to get up and carry it 
back, stop and take the soreness out of his knees, rub 
his back to drive away the chills, and slap his numb 
fingers. The crates came out slowly, and as the men 
had to use a lantern, the stock all had to be looked 
over again as it was poured into the barrels. A little 
calculation gave me these figures: They had picked 
up 60 bushels, and left five bushels on the floor; or in 
other words, they had picked two tons or over to get 
out 300 pounds. I concluded that I was “hitched to 
the wrong end of the cart,” and at last decided that 
the solution was to pick up the 300 pounds only. This 
study kept me awake about half the night. 
In the morning I had them nail together a box 
without ends, and with a slat bottom, the cracks 
about l.^-inch wide and l)£-inch slats. It was about 
five feet long. To this we nailed four legs, and braced 
them well. The front ones should be just long enough 
to raise the end of the box above a potato crate, and 
the back ones just long enough to raise the end so 
high that a potato will just roll slowly down. I 
had them set the box outside the cellar door, in the 
sun, put a crate under the front end and another just 
back of it, and asked the nimblest-fingered fellow in 
the crowd to sit on the second crate. I picked out the 
strongest, laziest fellow, told him to take a shovel 
and crate into the bin, shovel up a crateful and pour 
it on to the upper end of my sorter. Furthermore, 
he was cautioned that his job depended on his keeping 
that upper end full of potatoes all the time. A third 
man was told to keep an empty crate set against the 
end of the crate that was being filled on the right 
side of it, and also to pull out the filled to the left 
and empty it into the barrels. As he pulled it out the 
sorter pulled the empty one into its place. 
Soon the fun began. The man at the sorter called 
for more potatoes, and the shoveler put in his best 
licks to keep the sorter full, but could but just do it. 
The man who pulled away, was obliged to hasten his 
steps to keep up. Instead of a cold, shivering, dis¬ 
couraged lot of men, struck with “cellar fever,” 
which causes a great pain in the knees, I had an eager 
lot, every one trying to beat the other fellow. A 
crate set to the right received what small and rejected 
ones there were. The results were that I saved one 
man’s labor, for he was now barreling potatoes instead 
of cording up in the cellar, as they did when they 
were sorting by hand. The two men sorted that day 
150 bushels as against 60 bushels the day before, and 
quite in time to help head the 50 barrels, a gain of 90 
bushels sorted and 150 barreled to the credit of the 
sick man’s one-half night of thinking. The sorter 
had handled only 1,800 pounds, while, by the old 
method, he would have handled 4% tons. 
At supper, the men were quite pleased when I com¬ 
mended them highly, but on the morrow, a “ change 
of heart ” seemed to have taken place. Toward noon, 
going to the window, I saw but a few barrels rolled 
out, and I called my regular man and inquired what 
the matter was. He replied that the day men would 
not use the sorter because they had to work, and the 
job would not last. I was angry at their assurance, and 
pleased with their high compliment of the machine. It’s 
almost needless to add that they used the sorter the 
rest of the day. 
For the past few years, our seeding has failed to 
catch well. There is but little clover in the country, 
and many thousands of dollars have been thrown away 
on the ground. Last fall, I concluded to try a new 
venture, and sowed six quarts of Timothy and four 
quarts of clover, with the wheat drill when I sowed 
the wheat. There is a tradition here that clover sowed 
in the fall, will not winter. A neighbor who investi¬ 
gated my field for me, said that it is all there, and a 
good seeding now. I shall try it again, c. e. chapman. 
THE NEW VINELESS STRAWBERRY. 
At Fig. 99, is shown a half-section of a dormant, 
one-year-old plant or stool of my Yineless strawberry. 
The half-section of plant photographed was taken 
from one of three plants sent me by Mr. M. Crawford, 
of Ohio, for the purpose of replenishing my stock of 
this variety, which I accidentally lost two years ago. 
I have no reason to believe that they were selected 
with any view to sending me extraordinary plants. 
The three plants were divided into 25 separate plants, 
all of which are growing, showing that the variety 
can be propagated with considerable rapidity. The 
tapeline shows that the picture is about one-fourth life- 
size, and those roots are, evidently, made for pumping 
water from some distance below the surface, if need be. 
The following from Mr. Crawford’s July report for 
1895, which he pronounces the most unfavorable year 
for strawberries in his experience of over 40 years, 
shows what this variety is capable of doing under un¬ 
favorable conditions, at least. There can be no plants 
of this variety for sale for several years, as the stock 
in existence does not exceed 100 plants, two of which 
Mr. Crawford, with my consent, placed in care of the 
Rural Experiment Grounds, where they will be likely 
to come into competition with the best the country 
produces. .tames nimon. 
MR. CRAWFORD’S REPORT : 
The first ripe berries were picked from the Parker Earle Jr., 
a variety received from the originator, James Nimon, of Texas. 
It is a seedling of the Parker Earle, and is an enormous bearer. 
A few potted plants set outlast August, and well cared for, devel¬ 
oped a large number of crowns, and produced an astonishing 
quantity of most beautiful berries, of fair size, rather long¬ 
necked, very bright glossy red, and of good quality. 
Mr. Nimon also sent me another seedling of the Parker Earle 
that is extraordinary. He calls it Vineless, as it rarely produces 
any runners. I received a single plant in the spring of 1894, and 
made six of it by dividing it. These did not s< nd out a single run¬ 
ner last year, although in a rich soil ! This spring I took up three 
and divided them. They had roots 17 inches long, and the crown 
of one was eight inches in circumference. It is very late in bloom¬ 
ing, and was scarcely hurt by the frost. No other variety here 
produced half so many berries to the plant. They are large, 
rather long, of good color and quality. No variety has better 
foliage. Every leaf produced last year was green and spotless 
when winter came. I think these two varieties are likely to be 
valuable. 
SOMETHING ABOUT DANISH CABBAGE. 
The Danish Ball-Head cabbage has not, I think, re¬ 
ceived the attention it deserves. It is mentioned as 
follows in Burpee’s now to Grow Cabbages and Cauli¬ 
flowers : “ While in Denmark, in the summer of 1886, 
we discovered a variety of cabbage called, from the 
shape of the heads, Ball-Head, which the Danes prize 
so highly that they grow it almost exclusively for win¬ 
ter cabbage, and annually export large quantities. * * 
It has been selected and perfected for more than 50 
years by the Danish gardeners. We have grown the 
Danish Ball-Head in our trial grounds the past season 
(1887), and find it a reliable heading variety, with 
hard, round heads, which, however, were, with us, 
smaller in size than the American standard for late 
cabbages.” 
It was dropped from their catalogue from 1893 to 
1896. In 1886, James Vick’s Sons began importing 
the seed to supply a demand for an extra-hard cabbage 
for market gardeners. There have been some attempts 
to grow the seed of the Danish Ball-Head in this 
country. The resulting stock, though a valuable 
cabbage, loses much of its distinctive character. This 
is the more to be regretted, as the Messrs. Vick report 
the Danish seed crop a failure this season. Possibly, 
by rigid selection, an American strain better adapted 
to our climate may ultimately be developed. 
Two or three years ago, the attention of local ship¬ 
pers and farmers who grow cabbage for the shipping 
trade, was called to this cabbage, and it is now a 
standard crop in this county, buyers paying, at pres¬ 
ent, $6 per ton more than for other kinds. It is, un¬ 
doubtedly, the hardest cabbage grown ; and, what is 
more to the point, the heads are all hard, even when 
not more than half grown. It is a prime favorite with 
our retailers, because, no matter how slow sales may 
be, they never lose any Danish cabbage by withering. 
Its extraordinary hardness makes it a grand variety 
for moist, mucky soils, where other sorts make a soft, 
spongy growth. As it comes from a cool, moist coun¬ 
try, it does not take kindly to our hot, droughty mid¬ 
summer. On upland, it requires rich soil and careful 
conservation of moisture ; for if the growth be allowed 
to be checked by drought in late summer, the crop is 
likely to be lost by blight. It is so valuable where 
successfully grown, that it is certainly worthy of trial 
where not already introduced. 
I have been growing the Danish cabbage four sea¬ 
sons, one or two acres each year, and so far, with the 
slight exception of an occasional sport in color, the 
plants have come absolutely true. No doubt the long 
time this variety has been grown, has served to fix 
the type better than could be the case with newer 
sorts. The plant is a deep, purplish-green, the purple 
sometimes showing plainly after a hard freeze. The 
sporting referred to consists of, perhaps, two or three 
