23o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 17, 
“This may be so on your farm, but this is about as 
good as any virgin soil I know.” When the tobacco 
went off I was seeded down with one-half bushel of 
barley per acre and Alfalfa seed; the master was look¬ 
ing me over some days since and said: “Well, I 
don’t know what this Alfalfa is going to do, but this 
barley looks now like it would make 40 bushels per 
acre, and I was not trying to raise a crop of barley.” 
Privately I will say, that if the Alfalfa does well or ill 
you will hear from me about it, but if it doesn’t do 
well 1 just have enough conceit accumulated by so 
much experience to say you need not try to raise 
Alfalfa in the Blue grass. j. m. g. 
two to three tons of hay per acre were usual crops. 
For the past four years the fact that we had not enough 
land that was to be depended upon to produce a good 
crop of strawberries in off years has caused us to 
shorten the above rotation to four years as follows: 
Clover, potatoes, strawberries two years. Fertilizers 
used one-half ton commercial fertilizers on potatoes and 
30 loads of stable manure as mulch on strawberries. 
A DWARF PEAR TREE GRAFTED. Fig. 100. 
Oats after potatoes are harvested and Cow-horn tur¬ 
nips after strawberries, with which the clover seed is 
sown, keeps the ground covered Winters. This usu¬ 
ally gives us three to four tons per acre clover hay (two 
cuttings), 200 bushels of potatoes, 200 bushels of straw¬ 
berries and 150 to 200 bushels turnips in the four years. 
The potatoes and covef crops of oats precede the straw¬ 
berries for the benefit derived from clea.i culture and 
the fine mechanical condition of the soil the following 
Spring for setting plants. Either rotation gives but 
one year’s picking of strawberries, but with the matted- 
AN ALLIGATOR INCUBATOR. Fig. 101. 
manure; harrow in 400 pounds fertilizer just before 
resetting to strawberries. On part of the old bed we 
raise one crop of tomatoes; sow to oats in the Spring 
and seed this to clover to plow under the next Spring 
for strawberries. When there is a miss with the clover 
we sow peas. In this way we keep our clay land loose 
and rich in material to produce fine strawberries. We 
are this Winter ditching and otherwise preparing five 
acres of new clay ground for Spring setting. For small 
fruit we make the ditches from 33 to 50 feet apart. 
Wells Co., Ind. O. J. MONTGOMERY. 
STARTING A NEW LAWN. 
How anrl when shall I seed a lawn? What Is the best 
seed to use, what kind of manure to apply, and when? 
My lawn is about 100 x 150 feet; was made two years ago 
this coming Summer by hauling on S00 loads of dirt, and it 
now drains perfectly. I have kept it cultivated the past 
Summer, and think I have destroyed most of the foul seed. 
I also wish to put down some tile to lead into an open 
ditch which is 2>A feet deep; the length of tiling from 
upper end to open ditch is 300 feet. How much fall should 
It have? IIow far apart should they he. and what size tile 
is best, to use? The land is what we call a clay soil with 
about seven Inches of good soil, no sand, and a tough clay 
subsoil. I wish to drain from a shallow open ditch into the 
upper end of one of these strings of tile. Is it possible to do 
this In any way without the tiling becoming choked? 
Clara, Md. j. u. it. 
The best lawn fertilizer is conceded to be old, well- 
rotted stable manure that has been repeatedly turned, so 
that the contained weed seeds have sprouted and have 
been destroyed, applied at the rate of five or six tons 
for your plot 100x150 feet, something more than one- 
third acre, broadcast after plowing ami well harrowed 
in. As such manure is not always obtainable, and it 
is not advisable to use rough raw animal manures, 400 
pounds of ground raw bone and about 700 pounds of 
wood ashes may be broadcast and worked in with har¬ 
row or cultivator. Any reliable high-grade chemical 
fertilizer may also be applied in the same manner, using 
at least 500 pounds for your plot. To maintain vigor 
after grass is well established dressings of fine old stable 
manure spread in February or March or Spring appli¬ 
cations of about 60 pounds of nitrate of soda and 300 to 
400 pounds wood ashes, broadcast before rain, have 
proven effective. 
Late September and early Spring are the times best 
favored for starting new lawns, when the manure or fer¬ 
tilizer may be worked in and the seed sown. The most 
useful grasses are Kentucky Blue and Red-top. Use 
equal quantities by weight sown at the rate of five bush¬ 
els of the mixture to the acre—two bushels would be 
sufficient for the plot under consideration. These grass 
seeds as generally sold weigh 14 pounds to the bushel, 
but fancy re-cleaned grades, weighing 20 to 25 pounds 
to the bushel, may be had from reliable dealers, and are 
correspondingly better. If White clover is liked, and it 
has its uses in making a close cover and gathering nitro¬ 
gen, it should be separately sown, as the seeds are too 
heavy to distribute well when mixed with the fine 
grasses, hour pounds would be ample for the plot 
mentioned. 1 he grass seeds should be covered by a 
light harrow or may carefully be raked in by hand and 
the soil well rolled if conveniences are at hand. 
Drain tile should have at least one inch fall in 20 
feet; more is, of course, better. As your ditch is 30 
inches deep you can start your tiles 10 inches deep at 
bottom and drop 20 inches, more than the minimum, in 
the 300 feet. Use two-inch tiles, placing the drains not 
over 18 feet apart. We would use three-inch tiles for 
the line to drain open ditches, or even four-inch if the 
volume of water is at times considerable. There is al¬ 
ways danger of tile drains choking if deep rooting plants 
are grown nearby. _ 
A NOVEL INCUBATOR.—In Fig. 101 we have a 
picture of an old canoe containing alligator eggs which 
were placed in this queer incubator to be hatched by 
the heat of the sun. Alligator eggs somewhat resemble 
duck eggs, but are more elongated, and are pointed both 
ends so that a novice is puzzled to tell which end is 
which. When hatched, the ‘“critters” sell readily for 
25 cents each, and are at once transformed into ele¬ 
phants in the hands of the buyers, who throw them 
away or let them die as soon as possible. Dead and 
stuffed they are more valuable, and easier to keep. The 
good-looking man, shown in the picture, is known as 
Alligator Joe. He owns the whole show. He says he 
eats alligator eggs, and is fond of them, and declares 
that they are especially fine on toast. If these eggs are 
really edible, should not the subject of the “gator,” 
illustrated by this picture, receive recognition in the 
next edition of “The Business Hen”? j. Y. p. 
Florida. _ 
DRY FARMING.—The city of Las Vegas has a grant of 
500,000 acres, nearly all without water, which is an ele¬ 
phant on their hands, hut the more progressive business men 
have determined to raise if 10.000 and make a thorough trial 
for at least three years on one section of land to see if dry 
farming can be made a success. They are going in largely 
on what two of us have done the past year. I have been 
experimenting some along the lines of Clark, the grass man. 
New Mexico. w, h. C % 
ROTATION AND FERTILIZER FOR STRAW¬ 
BERRY GROWERS. 
Will some of our successful strawberry and potato growers 
loll us which they consider the more profitable, everything 
considered, for a term of years? Give rotation of crops, 
(lie amount of fertilizer used and how applied. a. g. s. 
Indiana. 
Wc plant our strawberries on the richest and clean¬ 
est land we have. As a rule celery or onions precede 
them. We pick two seasons and follow with corn or 
potatoes. After corn and potatoes give the land a good 
dressing of stable manure for next season’s celery and 
onions. As a rule we use about 25 tons of well-rotted 
manure to the acre. After many trials this seems to 
suit our soil the best. john grape. 
Waukesha Co., Wis. 
I have no set rule to follow in the rotation of crops. 
I always like to plow under a green crop for strawberry 
setting, like Crimson clover, Red clover or rye. T crop 
sod ground with corn, using manure on sod ; seed with 
clover in the corn, turn this under the following 
Spring and set strawberry plants, using commercial 
fertilizer, about 500 pounds to the acre; cover these 
strawberry rows quite heavily with horse manure in the 
early Winter (my present plot of six acres has 150 tons 
spread on the rows). Clean the rows out thoroughly 
after fruiting; keep them clean and cover again as be¬ 
fore. I seldom keep the beds over more than two years, 
but sometimes, if the plants are strong and healthy, I 
carry them over another year. Much depends upon the 
variety. I do not grow vegetables for market other 
than corn and potatoes. Tf the soil is close and com¬ 
pact the potato crop helps to place it in good condition 
for berries. I do not like a grain crop of any kind to 
precede berries unless it is plowed under in a green 
state. 1 have had excellent results from so doing. A 
soil full of humus gives best results in growing berries, 
as it holds the moisture needed for plant growth. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. Walter f. taber. 
My rotation of crops is about as follows: Starting 
with a strawberry patch which will have fruited two or 
three years and will have the mulch of two or three 
Winters lying on it, immediately after the crop is gath¬ 
ered it is mowed over; the largest and roughest part 
of it is raked up and hauled off and the ground imme¬ 
diately plowed and harrowed and rolled down tight. 
This mulch consists of strawy stable manure at the time 
it was put on, but had mostly rotted down and acts as 
a good fertilizer, when plowed under. I let it lie until 
I am ready to set celery, about July 20; 1 then 
cross-plow with a subsoil plow, used the same as a 
turning plow, which brings but little of the mulch and 
strawberry roots to the surface, and harrow well with 
an Acme harrow, which rather forces the trash down. 
I have now an ideal bed for celery, which, with favor¬ 
able weather conditions, should produce a good crop. 
This land will he in fine condition for onions the next 
Spring. It will not need to be plowed, but after a 
good harrowing and leveling and a good dressing of 
fertilizer with a high percentage of potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid, it will be ready for the onion seed, or it is 
also a good chance for potatoes, and can be sown 
about September, with clover and Timothy, or kept 
clean during the Fall, and followed the next Spring 
with strawberries again. If put in grass, the first crop 
of hay is cut, and the second allowed to lie on the 
ground, to be plowed under the next Spring for sweet 
corn or potatoes. I aim to have the different plots in 
sod once in four or five years at least. 
Hunterdon Co., N. J. thomas r. hunt. 
Formerly we practiced a nine-year rotation with 
strawberries as follows: Corn on Fall-plowed sod, 
potatoes, strawberries two years, potatoes, Winter 
wheat, grass three years. Turnips seeded in the corn, 
oats after the first year of potatoes and turnips after 
the strawberries were picked the second year made 
sheep feed and a cover crop for Winter. The wheat 
and grass seed were sown in September after potatoes 
the second time. Fertilizers used were 20 loads of 
stable manure per acre for corn and 30 loads to mulch 
strawberries, and one-half ton commercial fertilizer per 
acre each time the ground was in potatoes. Where the 
area adapted to strawberries is sufficient this will give 
satisfactory yields of all the crops. With us 100 bushels 
of corn, 200 bushels of potatoes, 200 bushels of turnips, 
200 bushels of strawberries, 40 bushels of wheat and 
row plan on rich land it is more work to clean out an 
old bed than set a new one, and the freedom from in¬ 
sect and weed pests that are propagated in an old 
strawberry bed is a decided advantage. Neither of these 
is a market gardener’s rotation for high-priced land, 
but up here in the beech woods, and with the Jerseys, 
black-faced sheep and Leghorns it fits in nicely. 
Susquehanna Co., Pa. e. l. weston. 
We fruit our strawberries two years as a rule. Plow 
the ground as soon after fruiting as possible, sow to 
wheat in September, seed to clover in the early Spring. 
The next Spring plow under the clover after applying 
