502 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 1, 
all of which grow well. Cow peas grow on the thin- 
est soil, and Crimson clover does well if the weather 
in the Autumn is favorable to get a stand. 
MARTIN L. BENSON. 
SOME PROBLEMS WITH ALFALFA. 
1 believe in my letter on Alfalfa last Fall I prom¬ 
ised a further report this Spring. The piece was top- 
dressed last Winter, mainly with horse manure pur¬ 
chased in town, spread by hand. This Spring one of 
Clark’s smoothing or leveling harrows was run over 
to stir up the manure and spread it more evenly. As 
I did not wish to rcplow the piece if the Alfalfa was a 
failure or a partial failure, I sowed it to Timothy, 
which was a fine catch and stand before Winter. This 
Spring, about April 1, ] sov d Red clover at rate of 10 
pounds to the acre, so I have a mess and a heavy crop 
on the land. About two-thirds of the piece is a good 
stand of Alfalfa, thick enough; the rest not so good. 
It is now knee high or over, thick and heavy. Where 
Alfalfa is thin Timothy and clover have come in heav¬ 
ily. The query is the survival of the fittest; will the 
Alfalfa run out Lhe grass and clover or vice versa? I 
shall cut as soon as the Alfalfa begins to come in 
bloom if the weather permits. We have had a very wet 
season so far here, which probably has something to do 
with the heavy growth. Until lately roots have been 
smooth. I now find on the fine rootlets and around the 
base of the plant numerous tubercles, the size and 
double the size of pinheads. 
1 think I made a mistake last Spring in preparing 
the bacteria in not keeping it warm enough, or in using 
it too soon, as it did not get that milky or cloudy ap¬ 
pearance spoken of. I sowed another piece this Spring 
and was careful to keep the bacteria about milk warm, 
or at 80 or 90 degrees. It was cloudy enough. I 
soaked the seed in it over night; the seed took it all 
up; sowed the seed-May 1 without any nurse crop, and 
now have as fine a stand of young Alfalfa as could be 
wished for, no bare spots; 6 to 12 inches high. I sowed 
30 pounds to the acre. The piece was plowed last 
Fall, well manured in Winter. The land had had no 
manure or fertilizer for several years previous. I 
used about 250 pounds of a home-mixed fertilizer, 
ammonia, 8 phosphoric acid, 10 potash, except on a 
narrow strip on one side, where I used none; soil clay 
loam with a trace of sand or sandy loam. c. E. b. 
Canton, N. Y. _ 
SELLING DAIRY PRODUCTS. 
I have been interested during the past five years 
in watching the development of the retail butter, 
cheese and egg stores of the Oneida Creamery 
Co., with headquarters in Utica, N. Y. I recently ob¬ 
tained some valuable information from one of the 
proprietors, Wesley McLeod. The company started 
with one store with the idea that these commodities 
should be sold at a smaller margin than customary 
when sold at grocery stores, and by so doing increase 
the consumption. 1 hat the movement has been a pro¬ 
nounced success is evidenced by the growth of the 
business, until now 21 of 'these stores are running un¬ 
der this management, located chiefly in the cities 
and towns from Buffalo to Schenectady. The 
stores are finished in white, kept neat and attractive, 
and certainly in appearance add to the desire for the 
products when one enters. By a very simple device, 
a scheme perfected by Mr. McLeod, the butter has all 
the advantages of the refrigerator without contact with 
the cheese, removing it from any danger of taking on 
the flavors so pronounced in the soft cheeses. The 
retail prices have been cut on cheese from two to three 
cents a pound, and in the city of Utica the increased 
consumption has been one-third per capita. Another 
very interesting feature is the fact that the demand 
for secondary quality has practically ceased, and only 
the finest is kept; no skim cheese or imitation cream¬ 
ery butter is sold. While the trade is among every 
class of people, it has mainly developed among the 
better class of laboring people; that is, those who would 
intelligently purchase in an effort to secure the most 
and best for a given sum. Even the Italian trade, 
said Mr. McLeod, is learning to buy the best; where 
formerly some dairy butter was used it is now only 
creamery. Where they formerly cut one cheese a week, 
now they sell eight to 10. The largest per cent increase 
in the cheese trade has been upon Brick Muenster, 
Limburger and Neufchatel. It matters not what style 
of manufacture people buy if they will only eat cheese. 
The food nutrients in these cheeses just mentioned 
cost more than in the so-called American or Cheddar 
cheese, but the flavor is peculiar and they are soft, and 
so people buy them, even though more costly. One 
fact that has influenced the consumption of Cheddar 
cheese has been the clean, fresh condition of each piece; 
no dry cheese. The goods are all bought at the fac¬ 
tories and shinped direct to the stores. These people 
are heavy buyers of butter and cheese, and so place 
the goods on the shelves at the lowest possible price. 
These stores are managed upon an actual cash basis; 
r.o books are kept and no credit given. The whole 
thing is systematized, is correct in theory and practice, 
and should have a thorough- advertising and backing 
from an agricultural point of view, and be encouraged 
by the producers and consumers. If every town had 
its dairy store it would not be long before we could 
record more than the present 3J4 pounds of cheese per 
capita per annum._ h. e. cook. 
A CONVENIENT BATHROOM. 
Fig. 210 shows a sketch of our bathroom, put in in 
189(5. The leading feature is the water closet placed by 
the kitchen flue (and furnace flue) and ventilating into it 
by two pipes, one of which, from the soil pipe, is car¬ 
ried up a few feet in the flue. The other one runs up 
some four feet before entering the flue. Another feature 
is the locating of a 50-gallon circulating boiler over the 
foot of the bathtub, where it is out of the way and heats 
the bathroom from the kitchen fire. The flue too heats 
well. The expansion tank (our house is heated with 
hot water) is set on a shelf over the basin and is out 
of the way, while the corner wash basin is set in the 
angle by the flue. We have one large window facing 
the south and two doors. The bath and water closet 
were second-hand, and I do not think the whole cost 
for the outfit when put in exceeded $60, and everything 
is good. JOS. PENNELL. 
Pennsylvania. _ 
SORGHUM FOR HORSE FEED. 
In the many statements in The R. N.-Y. as to how 
horses are fed, the above valuable feed is not men¬ 
tioned. It is certainly one of the best, and is much 
AT.FALFA HUNTS FOR WATER. Fig. 211. 
relished by the horses. I am not posted by actual ex¬ 
periment as to how horses fed on it would stand heavy, 
continuous work, but I feel safe in saying that it can 
be economically used as a part of the ration. I do 
not know of any cheaper provender for farm teams 
during the Winter. Fed in connection with corn fod¬ 
der or stover they will do their stint of work and get 
fat. In feeding sorghum to horses, there is no waste, 
for if properly fed, they will clean it up, as well as they 
will the finest quality of clover, or Alfalfa hay. A 
larger amount of it can be grown on an acre than of 
any other matured forage grown for horses. The 
crop is easily taken care of, and easily fed, and makes 
the most desirable feed when most needed, that is, 
during the hard Winter months. On this farm there 
is a mare used for driving that has the heaves. If she 
can get what Alfalfa at a time she will eat, she is not 
fit to drive. Late last Summer she got thin, because 
it was difficult to feed her a sufficient amount of hay to 
keep her in flesh. After the sorghum got ripe, and she 
could have what she wanted, she got in excellent flesh, 
and did all driving required, without distressing her. 
For horse feed it is best to plant in rows, as it would 
be planted to grow for molasses, and when ripe cut 
with a corn harvester in good-sized bundles. It is 
easier cured, and handles better, if one or two sharp 
frosts strike it before it is cut, taking care to cut it 
before the blades begin to drop. Last Fall the crop 
here was shocked in the f dd, immediately after cut¬ 
ting, and fed from the shock, the last of it being used 
in April. But it is best to finish feeding sooner, if it is 
led from the shock. I could not store under shelter, 
because the barns were full of Alfalfa hay, but the 
horses had none of the hay till Spring work began. 
It is not advisable to plant it till after corn planting* 
because it is slow to start when the ground is cold. 
_ JO HN M. JAMISON. 
EFFECT OF LIME UPON CROPS. 
It makes small difference to us brothers of the hoe whether 
lhe lime becomes a carbonate, silicate or •‘slumgum." What 
we want to know is, what is lime best lit ted for, and what it 
absolutely harms. Why not print a list of the plants that 
are most benefited by lime, also a list, not u Jong one, sure, 
that it will harm. m. s, l. 
Long Island. 
The most complete list we know of is the one made 
up by Prof. H. J. Wheeler, of the Rhode Island Statidh. 
Here it is: • 
“According to experiments made by the Rhode Island 
Agricultural Experiment Station on acid soils in that 
State, the plants tested may be classified with regard 
to their behavior toward lime as follows: Plants bene¬ 
fited by liming—Spinach, lettuce (all kinds), beets (all 
kinds), okra (gumbo), salsify (vegetable oyster), cel¬ 
ery, onion, parsnip, cauliflower, cucumber, egg plant, 
cantaloupe, asparagus, kohl rabi, cabbage, dandelion, 
Swedish turnip, pepper, peanut, English or flat turnip, 
upland cress (pepper grass), Martynia, rhubarb, com¬ 
mon pea, pumpkin, Summer squash (scalloped), Golden 
Wax bean. Red Valentine bean, Horticultural Pole bean, 
bush Lima bean, lentil, Hubbard squash, saltbush, hemp, 
tobacco, sorghum, Alfalfa, clover (Red, White, Crimson 
and Alsike), barley, emmer, wheat, oats, Timothy, Ken¬ 
tucky Blue grass, Canada pea, Cuthbert raspberry, goose¬ 
berry, currant (White Dutch), orange, quince, cherry, 
Burbank Japan plum, American linden, American elm, 
Sweet Alyssum, mignonette, nasturtium, balsam, pansy, 
poppy and sweet pea. Plants but little benefited by lim¬ 
ing—Indian corn, spurry, rye, carrot, chicory, Rhode 
Island Bent and Red top. Plants slightly injured by 
liming—Cotton, tomato, cow pea, Zinnia, Phlox (Drum¬ 
mond!), Concord grape, peach, apple and pear. Plants 
distinctly injured by liming—Lupine, common sorrel 
(Rumex acctosella), radish, Velvet bean, castor bean, 
flax, blackberry, blackcap raspberry, cranberry, Norway 
spruce and American White birch. Other plants said 
to be injured are the chestnut, Azalea and Rhododen¬ 
dron.” 
Of course it will not do to say that this behavior will 
be noticed everywhere. Quite likely farmers have ob¬ 
served that lime does not always operate the same on 
their soils. Some things seem to be quite clear, how¬ 
ever. For example, Timothy and clover seem to re¬ 
spond to lime better than Red-top does. Corn does not 
respond to lime as the small grains usually do, so that 
the practice of liming when planting corn is not as 
satisfactory as is the plan of using lime when seeding 
to grass and Fall-sown grain. While lime appears to 
increase the yield of potatoes it also increases the lia¬ 
bility to scab. 
NOTES ON THE CRANBERRY BUSINESS. 
The prices obtained for cranberries during the last six 
or seven years have given the business an impetus to the 
extent of greatly increasing the acreage, which will no doubt 
within a year or two result in a much larger production, and 
it would seem that under certain conditions, i. e., a normal 
crop in the cranberry growing section of the United States, 
together with a good crop of other varieties of fruits, the 
price of cranberries must rule low ; whether so low as to pre¬ 
clude the possibility of profit remains to be seen. In regard 
to lands best suited to cranberry growing in Massachusetts, 
a peat or muck swamp that has been covered with a growth 
of maple, cedar, alder or brush is preferable to a swale or 
grass bottom, as there would be less trouble from grass or 
weeds springing up. I should consider good drainage as of 
prime importance in a cranberry hog. A good peat bottom 
and good sand, covering the bog when graded with about 
three inches of sand. I have known some bogs to do well 
that had very little or no control of water, although I 
think it is a benefit to flood the bog in Winter, but should 
not hesitate to build bog without it. other conditions being 
favorable. The cost of building bogs varies from $1.50 to 
$3.50 an acre. 1 think an average would be about $2.50 
I have used fertilizer to good advantage on young bog where 
vines did not make sufficiently rapid growth; also on old 
bogs, resulting in a more vigorous growth of vines and in¬ 
creased size of berries, although I think it is unnecessarv on 
young vines where they are making a good growth. There 
are quite a number of varieties of cranberries. The Eariv 
Hlack has been the leading early variety in this section, and 
does well on most bogs. The Howes is a hardy late berry 
largely grown in Massachusetts; the Bugle, Beil, McFarlin. 
Centennial and other varieties are grown with more or less 
success, according to the nature of the ground. 
Massachusetts. georgb b. ai.i.ex. 
