THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 30. 
7 IQ 
•was required. 1 he juice (lowed front the heater into 
the tin tube in the filter, went to the bottom and filtered 
up, passing out at the top through an inch hose into 
the coolest p^rt of the evaporator in a continuous 
stream. The arch was capable of burning either wood 
or bagasse (the cane after the juice is expressed) ; the 
latter was preferred if the weather was suitable for 
drying. One day’s drying converted it into 'me fuel. 
I could give specifications for building the arch which 
my father used, if they would prove of use to the in¬ 
quirer. but ours was a custom mill, grinding cane for 
a wide area and possibly on larger scale than C. E. B. 
contemplates. The process produced a high grade of 
molasses. 1 remember that the evaporation of syrup 
was produced at great heat, and that' when it was 
completed the syrup was cooled in tanks of water t< 
insure rapid cooling, as it was much whiter than when 
long in cooling. A small quantity of raw sugar was 
made several times by heating the molasses in an 
iron kettle on the kitchen stove to from 230 to 23t 
degrees Falrnnheit, and leaving it in an earthen vessel 
in the warming closet of the stove until crystallized- It 
was drained in an earthen bowl through which a few 
small holes were drilled. 
After experimenting somewhat my father began 
grinding (the process was nearer squeezing) the cane 
with the leaves on, drying the waste, when he secured 
a fodder which stock relished and which kept them in 
fine condition. It was fed in alternation with corn 
stover and hay, and the cattle never looked better than 
the years when it was used. It was kept in stacks or 
in the barn as space made necessary. The seed was 
an ideal poultry food, and all the animals liked it. The 
estimate of value which my father made of an acre of 
good Amber cane was 3/ tons of dry fodder, as good 
as hay; 25 to 30 bushels of seed, when frost did not 
come too early, and 1(50 gallons of molasses. We never 
had a silo, but while the cane without pressing might 
not keep well the bagasse, if cut into a silo, would 
make fine food. Amber cane is a very heavy growth 
so it is unnecessary to advise that the bundles be made 
very small. Like sweet cornstalks, it is a little diffi¬ 
cult to dry properly. I remember that the bundles 
were never put up like corn, but built like a “cob 
house" so that the cut ends of the stalks did not rest 
on the ground, as they were liable to mold. Amber 
cane made a fine growth this year, and although no 
molasses has been made here since my father’s death, 
1 always raise some of it, for when the seed ripens it 
is the best grain for laying hens I ever used, in alterna¬ 
tion with other foods. sara a. little. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. 
BRIEF FERTILIZER TALKS. 
Sowing Rye After Potatoes. 
Having recently become interested in a very small way in 
gardening, owning a full acre of land, I found the land had 
not been enriched with any kind of manure or fertilizer for 
eight or to years. Last Winter I bought a carload of horse 
and cow manure, principally the former. My friends around 
here are telling me it would be a good idea to sow it with 
rye this Fall after digging my potatoes, while others who 
claim to know all about farming say rye plowed under would 
have no fertilizer value other than moisture. The land is 
quite sandy, but it got quite hard this year in most places 
although it was dragged three times. I have grown pota¬ 
toes this year and would like to do so again next year. 
Buffalo. X. Y. m. a. g. 
Sow the rye by all means. If it had no other value 
than that of holding moisture it would pay well. Rye 
does not add plant-food to the soil as clover and simi¬ 
lar plants do, but it helps in various ways. During the 
Fall quite large quantities of soluble plant food are 
found in the soil. Nitrates in particular give the solu¬ 
ble form of nitrogen. If the ground is left bare these 
nitrates will be leached out of the soil and lost. If a 
living plant like rye is growing after the potatoes die 
the rye will use this nitrogen, save it and hold it se¬ 
curely for the next crop. It is also quite likely that 
the rye will be able to use some plant food which the 
potatoes could not The rye will have another value 
in keeping the soil open. When the humus or organic 
matter is removed the soil bakes hard and cannot hold 
moisture well. Tt will be muddy for a while after a 
rain, and then bake like a brick. The rye plowed un¬ 
der and well pressed down with a roller or fiat harrow 
will hold moisture so that the soil will dry quicker after 
a rain, and at the same time supply more water in a 
drought. Another good reason for sowing rye between 
two crops of potatoes is that the crop is less likely to 
be troubled by scab when the green crop is plowed 
under. 
Chemicals for Clover Sod. 
A field of clover, not harvested on account of wet weather, 
is now plowed under and sown to rye, which will also be 
plowed under in the Spring and planted to potatoes. What 
commercial fertilizer or what constituents should be used to 
“balance up'’ food for the potato crop? Clay soil, sand 
mixed. N. G. 
Xenia, Ohio. 
Clay soils which contain a good supply of humus are 
usually rwite strong in potash. The clover will supply 
considerable nitrogen, most of it in organic form, and 
* not at once available for potatoes. These things indi¬ 
cate the need of a fertilizer high in phosphoric acid, 
fairly rich in potash, and with a small quantity of sol¬ 
uble nitrogen needed to carry the young plants through 
until the clover decays in the soil. We should use 
nitrate of soda for the nitrogen, acid phosphate for phos¬ 
phoric acid, and sulphate of potash in the proportions 
of 200 pounds nitrate, 200 pounds sulphate and 1.200 
rounds acid phosphate. It will not be necessary to mix 
TUNA OR PRICKLY PEAR FRUIT. NATURAL SIZE. 
Fig. 300. Sec Ruralisms, Page 714. 
the chemicals. The acid phosphate and sulphate can 
be broadcast and harrowed in, and the nitrate of soda 
used along the rows as the potatoes come up. We 
should use 500 pounds or more of this combination 
to the acre. 
Short Rotation of Hay and Potatoes. 
I have 00 acres; have been arranging to put one-third in 
potatoes and mow two-thirds; sow clover and Timothy after 
potatoes each year and mow no second crop at all. Which 
will pay the best, to do this, or to put half in potatoes and 
mow the other half but one year, and put in potatoes again 
this way? I should have a tine crop of second crop clover to 
plow under in the Spring, for potatoes, and the other way I 
Would have a Timothy sod instead of clover sod. and it would 
have been mowed twice. I top-dress in the Fall with what 
manure I make, but not enough to cover all. Would the 
potatoes be apt to be Infested with bugs being raised every 
other year on clover sod? By using 1.000 or 1.500 pounds 
of high-grade fertilizer to acre would not this clover every 
other year soon enrich my farm? I have always cut big hay 
after potatoes. I keep but one cow and take horses to 
pasture on meadow land $1 per week ; we have a good potato 
market and get the highest prices. All that I am afraid of 
is whether the potatoes will be more buggy growing so close 
together every other year. We also have a good hay market: 
price has been for several years from $14 to $18 per ton. 
SECTION OF TUNA FRUIT. NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 301. 
See Ruralisms, I'age 714. 
Last year I got $18 per ton for most of my hay. This 
year I have 50 tons to sell. We can mostly clear $50 or 
$00 an acre on potatoes, so with me it is potatoes and hay, 
and hay and potatoes. c. f. 
Monmouth, N. J. 
Of course ever)- man must settle his own plans, but 
we would, on our own farm, cut the hay two years, and 
thus have one-third of the farm in potatoes each year, 
If you seed to Timothy grass and clover as soon as the 
potatoes are out you will get a fair crop of Timothy the 
next year and a good grop of clover the year following. 
That is our experience in sowing the two together 
without grain—the 1 imotliy comes in first, as the grain 
does when you sow that. Thus if you cut the first 
crop of clover you can have a large second crop to 
plow under. That is the way Mr. Fagan of Connecti¬ 
cut does (sec page 597). He feels sure that it pays 
him best to let the land stay in grass two years. The 
hay crop brings in good money, and with the farm 
divided between three crops you are less likely to have 
a bad year than if it were in two crops—potatoes and 
clover. By “buggy" we presume you mean scab. \\ e 
should not feel afraid of the Potato bug, for it can 
be killed by spraying. If, as we understand it, you 
intend to top-dress the sod with manure and plow it 
under for potatoes we should be afraid of scab from 
the manure. If you cut hay two years and top- 
dressed the first year there would be less danger. We 
think the danger from scab would be greater with only 
one year between crops than with two, though by 
soaking the seed carefully and using sulphur in the 
potato planter you could control most of it. 
Chemicals for an Acre of Clover. 
I wish to seed an acre of land to clover early next Spring. 
1 intend plowing and fitting the land this Fall, sowing the 
seed early In the Spring when the frost is coming out of the 
ground. I shall have to use a commercial fertilizer, as I 
have not enough stable manure. Can it be put on this Fall 
and harrowed in. or would it be better to put it on in the 
form of a top-dressing in the Spring? The soil is a sandy 
loam. If commercial fertilizer is used, what proportion and 
amount would It be wise to use? b. w. s. 
I’lympton, Mass. 
If you buy a ready-mixed fertilizer we would wait 
until Spring before using it. It is reasonably safe to 
broadcast potash and phosphoric acid in the Fall, but 
nitrogen may be leached out before Spring. If you arc 
to use the chemicals separately you can broadcast 400 
Pounds acid phosphate and 100 pounds muriate of pot¬ 
ash this I-all, and then in the Spring apply 100 pounds 
nitrate of soda or 150 pounds of dried blood. It would 
not pay to use so much fertilizer on an acre in field 
practice, but where a good crop is wanted on a small 
field it will pay to feed well. 
A CHEAP WHEAT CROP. 
It has been a question with many farmers whether 
it would pay to continue growing wheat here, but this 
year there can be no question about it where the crop 
was given a reasonable chance. 1 he cheapest and most 
profitable wheat crop I know of was produced on a field 
that was it. tomatoes last season. After the tomatoes 
were removed the wheat was drilled without any prep¬ 
aration wdiatever except the thorough cultivation that 
had been given the tomatoes, which really left the 
ground in fine condition as a seed bed for the wheat. 
1 he cost of this crop per acre was as follows: 
Drilling and use of drill. $ r, ( ) 
1(4 bushel seed wheat @ $ 1 .T)o.”” t'b-, 
200 pounds 14 per cent acid phosphate. l lib 
Cutting and shocking. ‘75 
3 pound's twine @ 10Vj cents. !!.!!! ’. 3 : > 
Stacking . '75 
Thrashing and hauling. 2 40 
Rent of land, or interest.] j gjoo 
Total cost. . $ 10.22 
The yield on this field was 30 bushels per acre, mak¬ 
ing the total cost only a fraction over 34 cents per 
bushel. True, this result might not be duplicated 
again in many years, but there is no doubt in the minds 
of those who have given it a fair trial that tomatoes 
furnish the most desirable seed-bed that .can be con¬ 
veniently obtained for a cheap and profitable crop of 
wheat f. j. h. 
Canton, Ind. _ 
THE SQUAB BUSINESS.—When The R. N.-Y. 
man announced the squab business a failure, I was 
inclined to be indignant. I had just visited a man 
who recently purchased an outfit consisting of two long 
houses and several hundred pigeons. This man had 
kept a few for a year or so, and believed there was good, 
money in the pigeon business. The person of whom he 
purchased hadn’t made a success, but “he didn't attend 
to the needs of the birds properly.” Squabs sold at $(5, 
and that figured up pretty fast. It did not cost very 
much to raise a pair of squabs. I have just returned 
from a second visit to this pigeon man. He is just as 
confident as ever that the pigeon business will pay, but 
I have to confess that his tone of voice is less firm. 
“There is good money in them if you can get them to 
work,” he said. He went on to state that these birds 
had never been properly mated. Some of his hadn’t 
produced over one pair of squabs in all the season. 
Squabs are still bringing $3.75, he said, and that was 
a good price. He had some that he raised last Spring 
and mated himself that had already produced six pairs 
this Summer. Just as soon as the season is over he 
proposes to go at it and mate his pigeons. If I hadn’t 
seen the notes in The R. N.-Y. about the poor chances, 
I presume I should have continued to think that this 
man has a good thing, and that his apparent ill-fortune 
this year is due simply to the unfavorable condition, as 
he described it. Had T not known The R, N.-Y.’s 
statements, I suppose T should have continued to think 
(hat large success is in the future. h, h. l, 
v 
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