79o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 4, 
transmitted by the belt driving the machine was .15, .14 
and .15 horse-power respectively. In these trials the 
machine was in first-class running order and the amounts 
of milk separated were 334 pounds, 309.6 pounds and 
329 pounds respectively. This is the amount of power 
necessary to maintain the machine in operation after it 
has been brought up to speed. Considerably more power 
would be required to start the machine. It would not, 
however, be impracticable, if necessary, so to arrange 
that the starting could be assisted by hand. Judging 
from the experiments cited your correspondent could 
not hope to get along with as little as .15 of a horse¬ 
power which could be directly transmitted to the belt, 
allowing for all losses of power through the water 
motor and through friction of the water flowing through 
the pipe. 
If it is assumed that a fall of fully 40 feet could be 
secured between the spring and the water motor the 
maximum horse-power which the V/2 inch pipe, running * 
full, could be expected to deliver to tbe motor would not 
exceed .168 horse-power. It is doubtful if any small 
motor on the market, under the small head that would 
be available here, for this quantity of water, would be 
able to deliver to the separator more than one-half the 
theoretical power possessed by the water on reaching 
the motor. Your correspondent therefore cannot hope 
to secure power enough from the direct discharge of 
water from the 1 T A inch pipe satisfactorily to drive a 
separator. A reservoir constructed at the spring, no 
matter how large, could not help the situation without 
laying a larger pipe. It would be possible, but probably 
not practicable on account of expense, to build a ^nk 
in connection with the dairy which would hold water 
enough to run a motor of sufficient power during one or 
two hours’ work to enable the work of separating and 
churning to be done. We see little encouragement for 
thinking that this water supply can be economically used 
for doing the work of driving the milk separator and the 
churn. _ F. h. king. 
THE LAND OF COW PEAS AND CLOVER. 
Farming on the Delaware Peninsula. 
Part II. 
Mr. Allen prefers the Whippoorwill cow pea for hay 
and forage. It holds its leaves well, and the grain does 
not shell out. He showed me an improved Whippoor¬ 
will which gives more grain, but drops its leaves early. 
While the old Whippoorwill was covered with green 
leaves the improved was quite bare. Some years ago 
most Delaware farmers seemed to use the cow peas 
largely for green manure, plowing most of the vines 
under or leaving them on the soil. Now I should say 
that the tendency is to cut the vines for hay and work 
under the stubble. Where the vines are left they are 
not usually plowed under in the Fall, but are left until 
Spring, when they look like little sticks on the ground. 
In the Spring they are worked under with a disk har¬ 
row, the light, open soil offering good opportunities for 
this tool. A good crop of cow peas looks not unlike 
a tangle of Lima beans not on poles. When these vines 
rot on the ground it is hard for a farmer to realize that 
they have any fertilizing value. I have known cases 
where farmers became so disgusted at the appearance 
of the few sticks that were left in Spring that they 
paid no attention to them, and the credit for a good 
yield which followed was actually given to something 
else. 
Crimson clover is still largely used on the Peninsula. 
I saw many fields of it growing alone, after melons or 
tomatoes, or in orchards, while cornfields were green 
with it. There seems to be in the minds of many peo¬ 
ple a curious mix-up about Crimson clover. It is an 
annual plant like corn, and grows best in cool weather. 
Red clover, as we ill know, lives two years or more. 
If we can keep cutting it before the seed forms we 
might keep it growing for years. Crimson, on the other 
hand, makes its growth in eight months or so and then 
dies. If Crimson is seeded in the Spring it will make 
a growth of a few inches, and then when hot weather 
comes make its seed and die. It is best seeded in late 
Summer or early Fall. It makes a vigorous growth 
until the ground freezes, and starts again in Spring. 
During May it ripens, and may be cut for hay, pastured 
or plowed under for manure. In Delaware the Crimson 
is used very successfully to follow crops like melons, 
tomatoes or corn. Before these crops are fully mature 
the .Crimson can be seeded among- the plants, and 
get a fair start. Then when the early crop is taken 
off the Crimson clover occupies the land during the 
Fall. The Delaware Station figures that an acre of 
Crimson clover contained in vine and roots 108 pounds 
of nitrogen, 58.2 of potash and 23.9 of phosphoric acid, 
a large part of the nitrogen being a clear gain to the 
soil, and part of remainder saved, since it would have 
been leached away had there been no crop growing 
through the Fall. 
It is no wonder that when farmers realize this their 
cornfields are now green with Crimson clover. The 
seed is usually sown at the last cultivation of the corn, 
and after the corn is cut the Crimson holds the soil 
until early May. I have seen fields where corn has 
been grown year after year on the same ground with 
Crimson clover between two corn crops. The yield has 
steaddy increased until the light sandy soil has been 
made to produce as large a yield of grain as the rich 
soil of the Mississippi Valley. In other words, Crim¬ 
son clover gives to old $30 land the power to produce 
WESTERN CORNFIELD SCENE. Fig. 337. 
as much corn as $100 land in the West! It will be 
seen that no fair comparison can be made between cow 
peas and Crimson clover. The pea is a hot weather 
crop, while the clover does best in cool weather. The 
cow pea will make a fair growth on land so poor that 
Crimson clover would barely sprout on it. A farmer 
can take a poor piece of land and sow cow peas in May. 
The vines may be plowed under in September, and 
Crimson clover seeded with fair hope of a crop, and 
the following Spring corn may be planted and produce 
a good yield. 
Crimson clover has given better satisfaction at the 
North than cow peas when farmers .understand its habit 
and limitations. I have known farmers to find fault 
because when they sowed it in the Fall with Timothy 
it killed out much of the grass and refused to grow 
after going to seed. Others have complained because 
when they seeded it on the wheat in Spring as they do 
Red clover, they saw little of it again. In northern New 
Jersey we have succeeded eight times out of 10 in secur¬ 
ing a good stand of Crimson and carrying it through 
the Winter. The danger point is in March, when the 
heave and settle of alternate freeze and thaw often 
pulls the clover up until it dries out. We have had 
best results by mixing seed of Cow-horn turnips with 
the Crimson clover. The crop is well worth trying at 
the North for a Fall cover and Spring manurial crop, 
but it does better in the South. Another crop now 
working into many places on the Peninsula is the Soy 
bean. I saw a fine field of this at Mr. Allen’s place. 
While the cow pea sprawls on the ground the Soy bean 
stands erect and makes a good height. This makes it 
easier to cut and cure. The dried Soy bean vines will 
“TIP” PLANT OF BLACK RASPBERRY. Much Reduced. 
Fig. 338. 
make excellent hay for horses, and the yield will prob¬ 
ably average heavier than cow-pea vines. The bean 
seems to require a richer soil, and needs a longer grow¬ 
ing season. The Delaware Station estimated that an 
acre of Soy beans furnishes in top and root 140.2 
pounds of nitrogen, 4S pounds of potash and 40.2 pounds 
of phosphoric acid. This is a better showing than the 
cow peas made, but the latter will grow on poorer soil, 
and will make their growth in less time. For the North 
the Soy bean seems the more desirable plant, but it does 
not seem likely to supersede the cow pea at the South. 
The Delaware Station has tried several combinations of 
seeds, such as Soy beans and Cow-horn turnips together, 
or sorghum and Crimson clover. The turnip is not gen¬ 
erally regarded as a manurial plant, yet it was estimated 
that an acre of Cow-horn turnips furnished 109.1 pounds 
of nitrogen, 42.7 pounds of potash and 25.9 pounds of 
phosphoric acid! All these crops are at their be-st in the 
light open soil of the Peninsula, and the fact that they 
will grow so well is perhaps the greatest natural advan¬ 
tage of that section. 
A northern farmer would be astonished at the corn 
which grows on this light soil. Where Crimson 
clover has been plowed under the stalks stand nine feet 
or more in height, with long, plump ears. I saw one 
field where a crop of Crimson clover was grown for the 
seed. After this was cut a new crop came up. This 
made a quick growth, and was plowed under for corn. 
This corn looked as if it would give at least 90 bushels 
of grain per acre, and another crop of Crimson was 
growing in it ready for next year’s crop of tomatoes, 
strawberries or melons! 
Many cornfields are “topped”; that is, all the stalk 
above the ear is cut off, bound in bundles and cured, 
while the lower part of the stalk and the ear arc left to 
dry. Some farmers say there is no defence to be made 
for this practice—“it is merely an old habit.” Others 
say that where there is plenty of other fodder “topping” 
is a reasonable practice. The upper part of the stalk is 
the best part of it. The grain cures much better in this 
way. It must be husked any way, and can be husked 
from the stalk and thrown into a wagon easier than it 
can be handled on the ground. Late in the season the 
butts are cut down by hand or mowing machine and 
left on the ground, to be plowed under in the Spring. 
We could not afford to lose the feeding value of these 
stalks in the Nortln_ H . w. c. 
FALL PLANTING FOR RASPBERRIES. 
Most planters agree that in localities where hard 
freezing can be expected raspberries arc better planted 
in Spring than Fall. Plants of most varieties are hardy 
enough, but the damage comes from heaving by frost 
before the roots have taken sufficient hold of the soil. 
Where frost does not deeply penetrate, however, Fall 
planting is advocated, as the plants are well settled in 
position by Winter rains, and vigorously start in Spring, 
big. 338 shows a good tip-rooted black raspberry plant. 
If firmly planted, three or four inches deep, in soil not 
too deeply plowed, such a plant would be likely to winter 
in good condition. Raspberries thrive best if given a 
fair amount of room. Rows six feet apart with the 
plants three feet apart in the row are about right. 
MAPES, THE HEN MAN. 
Why do chickens seek an elevated perch at night? 
1 he popular belief seems to be that it is in order to 
secure greater safety. This is undoubtedly true in re¬ 
spect to some of their nocturnal enemies; still the high¬ 
est limb of a tree is sometimes no security. I have 
frequently had losses at night that I was sure had 
occurred from treetops. A good many of our hens and 
young stock have been allowed to roost in trees. It 
got to be a regular occurrence to find one killed every 
few mornings. A young negro in the neighborhood, 
who is noted as a hunter and trapper, insisted that it 
was the work of an opossum. He says they will climb 
a tree like a squirrel and kill chickens. A peculiarity 
about the work of our enemy was that the head and 
neck were always devoured first. I have noticed for 
years that an occasional dead bird would be found, 
from the neck bones of which all traces of meat would 
be scraped clean, while the rest of the body would be 
untouched. There was a mystery about this which I 
could not understand. Our new hired man, John, also 
has a genius for trapping, and after he had seen a few 
of these mysterious losses he brought out his traps. He 
soon solved the mystery, but instead of an opossum lie 
proudly came marching across the fields one morning 
with a monstrous big owl, with eyes almost as big as 
saucers. Such a bird of prey could swoop down upon 
a hen in the highest treetop with perfect ease. This one 
had killed a hen and eaten the head and neck the first 
night, leaving the carcass lying on the ground. When 
he came back the next night to make another meal from 
it he stepped into one of John’s traps. 
One of the disagreeable things connected with the 
job of preparing dry-picked fowls or chicks for market 
is the annoyance to the picker caused by lice crawling 
from the birds upon the person and clothing. Where 
the birds are scalded before picking this is of course 
avoided. I suppose the wise ones will shake their heads 
and say there is no necessity for having lice on chickens 
that are hatched in incubators and raised in brooders. 
Our chickens were thus hatchecf and raised, and they 
are fat and thrifty too for the most part, and their 
quarters free from mites, yet many of them have “bugs,” 
as the pickers call them. These are the body lice 
