5x8 
July 8, 
T1IE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
handful after handful until they each got about a quart.. 
“Now,” I said, “the next time you ‘get religion’ I want 
the preacher to keep you under the water about an 
hour, so you won’t steal any more pecans. I’m a 
Yankee, and have eyes before and behind. You two 
needn’t come back to work after dinner.” They are 
all Baptists, and often “get religion.” We were then 
almost beside the church building that belongs to the 
plantation, and is for their use. 
FLORIDA EXPERIENCE.—At our fruit farm 
near Miami, Florida, the labor question is a very dif¬ 
ferent one from that in Louisiana. We have both white 
and negro laborers. The former we pay from $2 per 
day to $1.25, which latter is the same that we give the 
negro men. We have had to pay them $1.50 for ordi¬ 
nary labor in clearing land, plowing, etc. 'I hey all 
lodge and board themselves, except as we furnish 
houses and charge rent for them. Ten hours is a day’s 
work there, and the men are very strict about quitting 
on time. We often let jobs to be done by contract, but 
there is so much cheating in the way the work is done 
that our superintendent has to be present in the field 
a good part of the time. They will not do one stroke 
more than is impossible to avoid. Laborers are in good 
demand and very independent. The best ones are the 
older men and women, who were once slaves. The 
young ones have no training to work, but do as they 
please, and that is very little. A few are provident 
enough to buy or make homes of their own, but the 
general rule is to live from hand to mouth, and never 
work a stroke while there is a thing in sight to fill 
the mouth. h. e. van deman. 
THE BABCOCK TEST IN SCHOOL 
The accompanying picture, Fig. 217, shows the district 
school at work making a Babcock test. 1 here is Dwight 
turning the machine and Don holding the watch and 
counting to see that the machine is up to speed. Little 
Ella is assisting Daisy in securing a pipette of milk for 
another test, while Paul is Willie’s assistant for the 
same work. Arthur, Lynn and Lewis are reading test 
bottles to find the per cent of fat in the previous test. 
Lloyd is measuring out acid to add to a sample of milk 
as soon as the sample is ready and in the bottle. Walter 
has done his duty, and is seeing that the rest do theirs. 
Neva and Maude are busy filling pipettes and test bottles, 
and Ray and Ruth are helpers. The testing outfit was 
loaned the school by D. H. Burrell & Co. It consists 
of a four-bottle machine with glassware, including bot¬ 
tles, a pipette, an acid measure and a bottle of acid. 
This was supplemented by some glassware from nearby 
sources. The cost of such an outfit is $5. Used in this 
way it is a means of imparting instruction that is useful. 
It affords opportunity for a little broader knowledge and 
makes certain lines of instruction mean more because of 
greater practicality. It gives an excellent training in 
accuracy, for no one can mal a really good test without 
being accurate. 
The little cups of brass used in this machine are for 
hot water, in which the test bottle is set while being 
whirled. The water keeps the temperature up to the 
proper point, so that the fat does not harden, or shrink 
too much. As to the necessity for careful practice in 
reading tests, I submit the following table, showing 
independent readings of a number of pupils, with little 
or no practice; also the reading made by a more expe¬ 
rienced person. These pupils were from 12 to 10 years 
of age. 
Test No. 
1 
2 
3 
4 
-5 
6 
7 
Pupil No. 
(4 44 
1. 
.3.8 
3.6 
4.4 
3.8 
2. 
.3.0 
3.6 
4.1 
r>. 
6. 
4.1 
44 44 
3. 
. 3.8 
3.4 
3.8 
5. 
6. 
4.8 
3.8 
44 44 
4. 
3.4 
5. 
5.8 
4.6 
3.7 
44 44 
5. 
.3.8 
3.4 
3.8 
4.8 
5.9 
4.6 
3.6 
44 44 
0 . 
.4. 
3.6 
4. 
5. 
6. 
4.8 
3.8 
44 44 
7. 
.3.8 
3.4 
4. 
5. 
6. 
4.8 
4. 
44 44 
8 . 
.4. 
3.6 
3.8 
5. 
6. 
4.6 
4. 
44 4 4 
9. 
.3.8 
3.6 
4. 
r*. 
6. 
4.6 
3.9 
Teacher 
3.7 
3.8 
4.9 
6. 
4.6 
3.8 
H. H. L. 
EXPERIENCE WITH ALFALFA IN NORTH 
CAROLINA. 
I became interested in and began studying Alfalfa 
about 15 years ago. In the Spring of 1892 I made my 
first experiment by sowing a small plot of dark gravelly 
soil in Alfalfa with Spring oats, and succeeded in get¬ 
ting a very good stand. I clipped it twice that year, 
and during the next season, 1893, it produced three good 
crops, but in August the leaves turned yellow, and it 
was evident that something was wrong. In May of 1894 
1 cut one fairly good crop as to growth, but it having 
died out and become rather thin during the previous 
Fall and Winter I plowed it up. In September of that 
year I again seeded the same plot of ground, but the 
result was not satisfactory. Upon examination, I found 
that underlying this land about 18 or 20 inches from the 
surface there was a bed of soft half-decomposed granite 
rock, which prevented drainage and the roots of the 
Alfalfa from going down. In November, 1899, I pur¬ 
chased another tract of land, on 20 acres of which the 
original soil was a dark chocolate, with a good stiff red 
clay subsoil. This land has been in cultivation for 20 or 
25 years, and was exhausted, washed and worn so that 
very little of the native soil remained. It is situated on 
a high ridge, that is of a dry and thirsty nature. I 
selected an acre and a quarter and commenced to pre¬ 
pare it for Alfalfa during the early part of 1900, by 
plowing deep and subsoiling well to break up the hard- 
pan and clay. I manured with stable manure, and 
seeded it to wheat in the Fall. When the wheat was 
harvested in 1901 the ground was prepared and sowed 
COUNTRY SCHOOL MAKING BABCOCK TEST. Fig. 217 
in Clay peas. This cultivation was repeated again next 
year. In October, 1902, I again sowed it in wheat, and 
in March, 1903, after harrowing well both ways, sowed 
30 pounds of Alfalfa seed and secured a splendid stand, 
but in a short while after the wheat was cut the young, 
tender, delicate Alfalfa plants disappeared. Seeing that 
it would not do to seed with a “nurse crop” in this 
climate, I again set to work in November, 1903, thor¬ 
oughly to prepare the same land for Alfalfa. During 
the Winter it was given a good coat of stable manure, 
and in March, 1904, I again plowed deep, using a two- 
horse subsoil plow in the furrow after the turn plow; 
put on one ton of prepared lime, and disked until the 
land was a perfect seed bed. Then 600 pounds of bone 
meal and 30 pounds of Alfalfa seed were put in with a 
drill. The land was harrowed with a fine-tooth smooth¬ 
ing harrow and rolled. 
The seed came up even and thick, making a good 
stand. About the last of May I noticed that the plants 
were turning yellow. Believing that it needed inocula¬ 
tion, I ordered 400 pounds of soil taken from a field 
that had been in Alfalfa for 15 years. This soil was 
applied to a small portion of the square at the rate of 
100 pounds per acre, and the rest at the rate of 300 
pounds per acre. After three weeks the yellow leaves 
disappeared where the heavier application was made, 
but on the other portion there were yellow spots that 
remained, and now scarcely any plants of Alfalfa are 
alive where these spots were, and consequently there 
is not more than two-thirds of a stand on this end of 
the plot. About two months after applying the inocu¬ 
lating soil, upon examination, I found nodules on the 
roots of the plants. It was clipped three times during 
the season, leaving the clipping on the land as a mulch. 
Last Winter stable manure was applied as a top-dress¬ 
ing. The first cutting was made May 15, when it was 
about one-half in bloom. The yield was between 6,000 
rUGET SOUND TOMATO THANTS. Fig. 218. 
and 7,000 pounds of good, well-cured hay, without 
damage by rain. A friend called to see it after it was 
put in the mow, and said, .as he came out of the barn: 
“I have never before been in a barn with such a delight¬ 
ful odor.” 
The second crop was cut on June 16, when about one- 
third of the bloom had appeared. As it has not been 
cured and housed, I cannot tell how the yield will com¬ 
pare with the first, but it will be somewhat less. In 
the “school of experience” I have gained much valuable 
information in regard to Alfalfa, which has many pe¬ 
culiarities of its own, as well as virtues and desirable 
qualities to commend it to the farmer. That it can be 
successfully grown in this section of the country I feel 
assured, but the land must be rich naturally, or made 
so, plowed deep and well prepared, limed, inoculated 
and seeded with the best of clean seed. 
Greensboro, N. C. samuel l. trogdon. 
NOTES ON ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 
An Old Bed of Conover’s Colossal. 
Seeing your note on culture of asparagus, page 407, 
I would like to give M. M. a little of our experience. 
Twenty-two years ago we cleared a spot of new ground 
and sowed asparagus seed (Conover’s Colossal) ; the 
following Spring transplanted, and in the Spring of 
1885 began to cut for the table. The bed has hail no 
other care than plowing the sod off and spreading 
manure on, and this Spring it seems to be doing better 
than ever. We had our first cutting May 6, which is 
somewhat later than common on account of the back¬ 
ward season. One of our new customers says it is 
“decidedly the best asparagus he has ever eaten.” 
Mancelona, Mich. d. u. 
A Long Island Grower Talks. 
When we set out our beds we plowed the ground 
first, then opened trenches with the plow by going twice 
in a trench and then a board over the mold board the 
last time to carry the earth off, but this was hard for 
the team. I have since heard of an easier way, but 
have not tried it. If you wish to put the trenches 
six feet apart start a back-furrow three feet from 
where you wish the trench to-be; plow a couple of 
rounds, then start another back-furrow six feet from 
the first. A few rounds will bring a middle or dead 
furrow, and so on over the whole field. It will be eas¬ 
ier for the team to plow deep in this middle furrow, 
and you will have more room to set the plants. We 
filled our trenches the first year planted; that is, filled 
them in as the plants grew; have since heard it is best 
not to level the first year. When old enough to cut we 
followed the plan of plowing back furrows on to the 
rows, and then ridging with a ridger, a tool something 
like a potato coverer, only larger. For green or white 
“grass” this seems to be the best way, as it saves your 
back, and by running the ridger once a week it keeps 
the weeds down. We do not use the ordinary plow 
nowadays in ridging, as we would get the ridges to one 
side or the other by its use. I took Clark’s Cutaway 
orchard plow, removed the three straight disks, and 
replaced them with two from the other side, first bor¬ 
ing holes and placing the standards on an angle, four 
cutting disks pulling against each other, or two pulling 
against the other two. With two of the disks on the 
other side and one of the straight disks on the outside 
of this side to balance it we can do very good work, 
and get our ridges in the middle. To plow the ridges 
down after the cutting is over we reverse the disks, and 
once over the row does the business with one team. 
Then an Acme crossways in a few days or a week, a 
weeder until the brush grows too high, then a one- 
horse cultivator. g. p. 
Long Island. _ 
PUGET SOUND TOMATOES. 
Fig. 218 shows a few sample tomato plants. The past 
Spring season on Puget Sound has been very favorable 
to the growth of early tomato plants, especially so to 
those who through the lack of proper appliances have 
had more or less difficulty in past seasons. Commercial 
tomato growing on Puget Sound is an art in itself, 
owing the the peculiar climatic conditions, cool nights, 
early and late rains, a combination that is both touchy 
and exacting, requiring of the grower much care and 
forethought. There is no such thing as an “early” 
tomato and a “late” tomato here. While it is possible 
to grow late tomatoes, as a commercial possibility they 
will not do, so far as my experience goes and that of 
many of my fellow growers. The Early Ruby is the 
only commercial tomato for Puget Sound. Some grow¬ 
ers have what is known as the Atlantic Prize. My ex¬ 
perience proves that both tomatoes are the same, and 
so far I hold that opinion. Earliana and Nolte’s Ear¬ 
liest have failed under my hand to equal the Ruby. In 
fact, after seven years’ experience in tomato growing 
on Puget Sound, testing two or more varieties every 
year, the Early Ruby or the Atlantic Prize are the only 
possible commercial varieties. 
I should like to take up this question with some of 
your readers: Does it pay to pot plants? Fig. 218 is 
an object lesson on that subject. The left hand plant is 
in a three-inch pot; the next in a two-inch pot. Look 
close and you will note the two-inch pot below the ball 
of earth. The next plant is a regular cold frame plant; 
the next shows the root growth of a frame plant. The 
verdict of the photograph seems to show that the frame 
plant is the most superior of the lot, and the field results 
so far are also in favor of the frame plant, and the two- 
inch potted plant against the plant in the three-inch pot. 
However, there is much that can be said pro and con 
on the subject, and I would like to hear what some of 
your readers have to say about it. j. p mckail. 
Washington. 
