662 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 9 
ful where he sends his money to. I for one will risk 
no money on anything before inquiring very carefully. 
Ohio. _ ERNST DREWITZ. 
USE OF HAYING MACHINERY. 
In a discussion on haying machinery, I notice the 
hay loader and horse fork are not very favorably spoken 
of. This part of Maryland raises a good deal of hay. 
1 myself putting up 100 tons or more a season, and I 
must say to give up either the hay loader or horse fork 
would be entirely out of the question. I have used the 
fork for 25 years and the loader about 12; have never 
had a side-delivery rake or thought that I was badly 
handicapped by not owning one. I felt that I owed 
these two good friends of mine at least a word in 
their favor. jos. t. moore, jr. . 
Montgomery Co.,. Md. 
I notice Mr. Lyon questions the value of the horse 
fork in barns. For such barns as we build here, where 
the hay must all go up into the mow, they are invalua¬ 
ble. In our own barn there are two mows, each 32 x 36, 
one each side of a 16-foot driveway. There are no 
cross beams between mow floor and track (30 feet), and 
the 500-pound forkfuls swing in just clear of the mow 
at whatever height it may be, so that an active man 
can roll them off to the side as fast as they come. We 
find it best to use two horses on the rope. We have 
not been troubled by pressure of hay on sides of barn. 
We have used a hay loader without side-delivery rake 
for many years. Our present loader takes from swath 
or windrow of any size equally well. Both fork and 
loader are necessities on this farm. G. w. p. 
Pana, Ill. 
On page 614 Id. H. Lyon asks those who have had 
experience to give opinions as to the profitableness of 
using haying machinery. I believe there is no ma¬ 
chinery used by farmers that pays so great a profit as 
that used in securing the hay crop, especially the mow¬ 
ing machine, horse rake, and horse fork. I he hay 
crop is so easily and so greatly injured by rain or even 
by heavy dew when once dry that anything anything 
that will hasten the securing of the crop is valuable. 
Old Major or some other horse, at a cost of about 25 
cents per day, will unload more hay in a day with good 
horse fork than four men at $1.50 each. In regard to 
injuring the barn by letting the hay pile up in the 
center and then rolling to outside, lie will find that after 
the hay has settled a few days there will be almost no 
pressure on the sides of the building, as it seems to 
draw in rather than press out. When put in in this 
way it does not come out as easily perhaps, but we 
consider that a small item, as we usually have all Win¬ 
ter to take it out in, and only one day (at a time) in 
which to put it in, and it is better to have 20 loads good 
and bright and dry in the barn than five such loads in 
the barn and the remainder out over night in the rain. 
The word hustle doesn’t apply to any other farm work 
with so much force as in securing the hay crop. 
MICHIGAN. 
For at least 25 years I have been a careful reader of 
The R. N.Y., and I have always found it a thorough 
digester of farm subjects. Although its contributors 
are mostly from the East it is none the less valuable to 
a Wisconsin farmer. There may be a difference in 
climate, soil and markets to be reckoned with, yet as 
a general subject of agriculture I find much that is 
written by them beneficial to me. After reading what 
H. H. Lyon said on page 614 about hay machinery, 1 
thought it might interest R. N.-Y. readers to hear how 
we hay in Wisconsin. By giving my own method it may 
answer some of the questions he asked. My barn is 
40 x 100 feet; first floor, eight-foot posts, arranged for 
stock. The upper part is in one room without sills or 
posts, making an open space the full size of the barn 32 
feet from floor to carrier track, with an estimated ca¬ 
pacity of 200 tons of hay. The hay is taken in with a 
fork from the outside at one end, requiring it to be 
elevated over 40 feet. I use a tedder and loader, and 
two teams to haul in. One man is kept on the load at 
the bariifto handle the fork. The team and driver 
who brings the load from the field help unload. In 
the field is the other team, driver and two other men 
on the load. In this way I keep all hands constantly 
busy, and a good day’s work is 20 loads that will aver¬ 
age one ton of dry hay each. No rake is used, as the 
loader gathers it from the swath as cleanly as the rake 
can. The mowing away is mostly done by one man as 
soon as the hay drops from the fork. Tf this is neglected 
and the hay allowed to roll off from the pile where 
dumped it becomes packed and matted, making it a 
difficult job to get it out. This season I have made 
over 200 tons of fine hay, notwithstanding the inclem¬ 
ency of the weather, where on adjoining farms with¬ 
out the tedder and loader the hay was ruined by 
the rain. I find that where one has a large quantity 
of hay to make it pays to have hay machinery. To 
show the economy of a hay loader I will mention 
the case of a farmer a few miles from here, wdio 
w r as short of help, with a big crop of hay on his 
hands, He purchased a loader and did considerable 
of the hauling in without any other help. He did the 
driving, loading and unloading alone. To one unac¬ 
customed to using a loader this will seem impossible, 
yet it can be done, and thereby the problem of “short 
help” partially solved. JOHN A. ocden. 
Wisconsin. _ 
OCTAGON SILO AND PIG PEN. 
I saw on page 455 a picture of an octagon or eight¬ 
sided silo which looks like mine, and as I built mine a 
little different, I thought I would tell how I did it. 
First, I dug a hole 4)4 feet deep, then 1 built a good 
solid octagonal wall two feet w’ide, with lime and ce¬ 
ment mortar. Then I made a sill of two thicknesses of 
2x8 oak plank. I next bought some good hemlock 
2x4 scantling, and laid them up log-house fashion one 
on top of the other flat ways, spiking them well and 
breaking joints every layer, and ran them up 22 feet, 
leaving every other one back one-half inch, so as to 
make a shoulder to plaster on. I put on a roof like Mr. 
Manchester has, only I put a dormer window in 
one side to run the silage in. I next put tar paper on 
the outside and ceiled up with matched boards. I ce¬ 
mented the bottom and sides with good cement clear to 
the roof. In cementing I put it on thicker in the cor¬ 
ners, so made it about round. I did not buy patent 
doors, but we made them ourselves; they are tight and 
all right, and I have a silo that keeps silage first rate. 
I built the silo just outside of the barn, so the silage 
will come in the walk in front of two rows of cows 
facing each other. There is no need of putting tar 
paper and matched boards on the outside if a person 
cannot afford it, as I think the cement and 2x4 
scantling laid tightly will keep it all right, but it looks 
better boarded up. When done my silo was 14 feet in 
diameter and 26 feet high, and when full will feed 18 or 
20 cows all they want. 
I have just finished a pigpen of which I send a rough 
sketch accompanying. The building is 16 x 24 feet and 
14 feet high, with cement floors. The walk in front is 
four feet wide, and the pens are 8 x 12, with a door 
in each corner for the pigs to go out in the yard, and 
in the other corner is the bed made of 2 x 6 plank left 
apart one-half inch, so it will drain off and keep dry. 
The sides of the beds are four inches high. The walk 
is raised four inches higher than the pens, so it will 
WE AND OUR DOG. Fig. 280. 
always be dry, and I have a gutter at the lower side of 
the pen with a pipe at the end to carry off all liquid. 
There are two windows in front and two at the back of 
the pens, so there is plenty of ventilation, and I also 
have a ventilator to carry off the steam and foul air, 
and overhead or upstairs I have a fine large room where 
I intend to store light farming tools and straw for bed¬ 
ding the pigs. I have swing doors to shut off the 
troughs when feeding. I think I have got a very con¬ 
venient pigpen. F. k. c. 
Charlotte, Vt. 
STRAWBERRIES UNDER GLASS. 
How can I raise strawberries in a greenhouse? I wish t( 
try some this Fall and Winter. If the runners which 1 art 
now transplanting are kept going will they go on and fruit 1 
Andover, N. II. J. F. M. 
Commercial growers fruit their greenhouse straw¬ 
berries in benches which arc emptied each season, new 
plants and new soil being provided- The soil is a wcll- 
rotted compost, prepared as for roses or carnations 
thoroughly pulverized when put into the benches, its 
depth being five inches. The plants for the first crop 
are runners layered into three-inch pots, and planted 
in the benches early in September, five or six inches 
apart. Fire heat usually begins early in November, but 
when grown on a large commercial scale some houses 
are kept cool until later provide a succession. Houses 
that are being brought into bearing are kept at a tem¬ 
perature of 60 degrees at night, often running up to 
90 degrees in the day, with sun heat. On warm, sunny 
days free ventilation is given. Watering must be man¬ 
aged with very great care; although the benches do 
not dry out rapidly in Winter, a daily sprinkling must 
be given to avoid infestation by red spider. An excess 
of moisture results in mildew, often a source of seri¬ 
ous damage, especially in dull or foggy weather. No 
mulch is used on the bench, and the surface of the 
soil is frequently stirred, to prevent the growth of 
moss. As soon as a flower opens a little crotchcd 
twig is put under it, stuck in the earth ; this supports 
both flower and fruit. If the flower is not supported it 
is likely to mildew without setting fruit; it is also nec¬ 
essary to support the fruit both to keep it clean and to 
invite ripening. The first crop from these young plants 
is expected to be ripe about Christmas- In addition to 
the runner plants, mature crowns are lifted with a 
good ball of roots and set in cold frames in late Fall. 
As the young plants cease fruiting, these are trans¬ 
ferred from the frames and planted in the benches 
among the young plants, where they fruit in February 
or March. The benches are cleared out in April. In¬ 
sect enemies are few; the perennial red spider, and a 
small black cutworm, which seems to amuse itself by 
cutting off the stem of the young fruit. The runners 
the inquirer is now preparing should be suitable for the 
first crop. 
ANOTHER HARD STRAWBERRY QUESTION 
I have read with much interest “Massachusetts” 
trouble with strawberries, and thought my experience 
might prove interesting. I set out Spring of 1904 three- 
quarters acre of Climax, Sample and President in one 
plot; Uncle Jim, Brandywine and Parsons’ Beauty in 
the other. The first plot was set four feet apart, two 
feet in the rows, the second three feet by two. The 
former were allowed to make wide, matted rows, the 
other narrow ones; kept well cultivated all Summer, 
and in the Fall was a fine sight, free from weeds, with 
good strong, healthy plants. They were mulched with 
swamp hay raked off in the Spring and put between the 
rows. They blossomed full and were a fine sight, and 
the berries that set a wonder. I looked for 200 bushels. 
About the time they commenced to ripen we had that 
heavy, warm rain; result, berries rotted, ripe and green 
ones, very badly. I picked and sold 75 bushels. I got 
double the amount of berries from the wide, matted 
rows than I did from the narrow ones; the wide rows 
were Climax, Sample and President. My neighbor, 
with one acre, one-half the bed kept over, and the other 
new narrow rows, varieties New York and Corsican, 
mulched with horse manure, lost half his crop. My soil 
is sandy loam, low land, and has been used for market 
garden crops for several years- My neighbor’s was 
light soil, high land. There was no fertilizer put on in 
the Spring on my land; there was none put on when 
plants were set. I thought the ground was rich enough 
from growing garden crops. They tell us in the papers 
to take our best land for strawberries; can’t get it 
too rich. What caused my failure? w. l. hannah. 
Connecticut. _ 
MORE ABOUT ALFALFA. 
There has been so much said about the difficulty of 
starting an Alfalfa field that after my experience this 
season I feel it my duty to tell about .it for the benefit 
of those who hesitate to try this crop. After studying 
the question for four or five years, I came to the fol¬ 
lowing conclusion: First, sow without a nurse crop; 
second, sow at same time you would oats in the Spring; 
third, use plenty of seed. 1 tried it on land that I was 
not acquainted with, but consider that I have a sure 
thing of it now. I sowed about one-half acre April 20, 
using 20 pounds of seed that tested 85 per cent fertile; 
cut the first time June 20 and cut again August 15, and 
to-day, August 19, the ground is green as can be again. 
This ground slopes slightly to east and north; had been 
used for garden truck, was as weedy as land could be, 
and was rather wet. We have had a very wet season, 
but no water stood on it. It has had a fierce fight, but 
has seemed to have the best of the game from the start, 
having had a good color and growing fast. Tt was be¬ 
ginning to blossom at second cutting. August 17 I put 
the first fertilizer on it as follows: 200 pounds wood 
ashes, unleached; 180 pounds 2-8-10 commercial fertil¬ 
izer. Will report results of this application later. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. o. j. b, 
