366 
April 28, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
circulation of the magazines. The annual meeting is 
held the first Monday in March. At that meeting it is 
decided what magazines shall be taken for the ensuing 
year. The secretary then sends this list of magazines 
to several subscription agencies, and the lowest price 
quoted plus the cost of printing the circulation slips, 
incidentals, etc., is raised by an assessment on the 
members. The magazines are all sent by the publishers 
to the secretary, who pastes a circulation slip in each 
one, and the first Saturday in the month sends each 
member one of the magazines, it having been previously 
decided with whom each magazine is to start. These 
are kept until the following Saturday, when each mem¬ 
ber passes his magazine to the next one named on the 
circulation slip. I his is done until the magazine has 
been passed to each member in the club, when it is 
returned to the secretary. 1 hey are then given to some 
charitable institution or divided among the members. 
By following the above directions each member has the 
reading of two and sometimes three magazines each 
week. We are this year taking 15 periodicals, viz.. 
Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s, Munsey’s, American Illus¬ 
trated, New Idea, Red Book, Metropolitan, Strand, 
World’s Work, Ladies’ Home Journal, Farming, Mc¬ 
Clure’s, Everybody’s, Country Life in America and 
Argosy. T he total cost of the above named magazines 
for one year is nearly $25. Each member of our club 
has the reading of these magazines (180 during the 
year) at a cost of only $1.50, that amount being the 
annual assessment for the current year. I might men¬ 
tion here the social part of the club, which consists of 
an occasional gathering where an oyster supper, games, 
etc., are enjoyed by all. The club, which was started 
as an experiment, has grown in favor and also in num¬ 
bers, we now having 17 members, all of whom are very 
much pleased, with this method of getting a large 
amount of good literature at a very low cost. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. _ e. l. clark. 
ROAD WORKING IN NEBRASKA. 
On page 236 I see a paragraph on good roads, and a 
project started to put in operation the so-called King 
method of improving the roads in your State. As I 
have been road supervisor in this locality, and have used 
this simple method of improving our bottom roads, I 
will give you a short sketch of this excellent method. 
As the road drag does not give satisfaction on level 
roads, it is most essential to grade roads, so as to give 
a good drain from center to ditch. Remove all rocks 
and roots possible, and see that water does not stand 
in ditches more than is necessary, on account of not 
being able to drain them. After every rain, as soon as 
ground is crumbly, hitch up to drag, stand it so as to 
work dirt toward center of road, and you will soon see 
a difference in the roads; they will not get as muddy, 
or be cut up as badly as before. 
As to the construction of drag, which must be made 
of good strong material, it requires 2 planks 3 x 6, 6 
feet long marked 1 in diagram; 2 pieces of 4 x 4, 3 feet 
long, 2, 2 iron rods with bur, 3, one steel plate three 
inches wide, sharpened and bolted on front plank slant¬ 
ing slightly forward, 4, one heavy log-chain, straight link, 
5, 10 feet long, and bolted on front plank; one adjust¬ 
able ring on chain to fasten doubletree, 6. Always 
hitch four horses to drag if you wish to do good work. 
Nail boards across drag on 4 x 4 so a common farm 
wagon seat can be fastened on for the drivers to ride, 
or if the drivers prefer to walk place some other weight 
on drag. If drag should slide toward ditch adjust link 
on chain, so as to run more level, and if it does not 
deliver dirt to center slant it until it does. 
Nebraska. L. a. albertin. 
R. N.-Y.—In a recent issue we stated that Clark 
Allis of Medina, N. Y., is interested in the King drag 
system of smoothing the road. Mr. Allis has received 
quite a number of letters from farmers who are in¬ 
terested in roads. Among others is the following from 
Iowa: 
I notice that you are interested in the King road drag, 
and contemplate sending for Mr. King to make a practical 
demonstration of his implement. I suggest that if you will 
put the $50 it will cost you to get Mr. King, into well-made 
drags and distribute them over your township, the problem 
will be solved. Anyone who can drive a team can use the 
drag successfully. In our State the King road drag has 
been made an “official” implement, and town trustees are 
authorized to pay farmers at the rate of 50 cents per mile 
for each round trip with a drag. m. j. graham. 
We understand that some of these drags have been 
made and used in western New York, and that they 
are very satisfactory. 
REPORT OF A POTATO CROP. 
On May 1 and 2. 1905, we seeded 280 square rods, or 
1M acre of well-prepared soil to potatoes. We planted 
two bushels of White Mammoth and 11 bushels each 
of Carman No. 3 and Sir Walter Raleigh, making in 
all 24 bushels seed. The plot had been a heavy clover 
sod in 1904, yielding two good crops of hay. Immedi¬ 
ately following the harvesting of the second crop the 
BROWNIE AND MAJOR AT HOrE FARM. Fig. 145. 
plot was heavily manured. This, together with the 
Fall growth, made a heavy coat of humus which was 
plowed under on March 27, 1905. We used a Syra¬ 
cuse swivel plow and let it down, going possibly 10 
inches deep. By plowing thus early we hoped that all 
this humus would become incorporated with the soil 
by the time the tubers would be ready to call upon it. 
We believe it had, as the report will show. The seed 
was carefully selected and all given the corrosive sub¬ 
limate treatment to destroy all scab germs. We had 
given the soil thorough aeration and frequent drag¬ 
gings from the time of plowing up till planting, with 
the object of having as nearly a perfect seed bed as 
possible, and to make available an abundance of plant 
food. At planting time we used a homemade marker, 
making two rows at a time, exactly three feet apart, and 
going fully six inches deep. You see we kept above 
the manure so that the seed would not come in direct 
touch with it, but sufficiently near to get its full benefit. 
The seed was cut two eyes to the piece, and planted 
as nearly as possible 15 inches apart in the rows, two 
pieces to the place. We covered about three inches 
deep. The planting was followed by a shower, which 
somewhat crusted the ground. This was broken with 
the weeder the next day, and frequently stirred there¬ 
after with the same tool until May 27, when one could 
see, with fair distinctness, the plants from one end of 
the row to the other. Regular stirring of the surface 
followed throughout the growing season, the last one 
when the tops so completely covered the ground that 
A HANDY SILAGE CART. Fig. 147 
we used “board wings” on the cultivator to push them 
aside, that we might not tear them too much. The bugs 
troubling us somewhat, we used Paris-green twice, 
mixed dry with white middlings, and applied in dust 
form. We sprayed twice with Bordeaux to offset blight. 
The crop was dug September 8, 9 and 13. 
The White Mammoth scabbed so badly that we made 
no attempt to market them. Carman and Sir Walter 
Raleigh were as nearly a full crop as we have ever 
raised. The seeding was extremely heavy, which we 
thought justifiable on account of the prime condition 
of the soil. At this date, March 22, we can deter¬ 
mine exactly the financial side of the operation. We 
have sold, after having had sufficient for home use in 
a family of five $250.58 worth. Of these none save 12 
bushels were moved more than one mile. We still have 
26 bushels for seed and plenty of eatable ones left to 
do us until the new crop comes in. The first 100 
bushels were sold November 1 at 50 cents per measured 
bushel; the second hundred on November 10 at 62 y 2 
cents per bushel; the third hundred on November 12 
at 75 cents, and all the remainder at 75 cents. Since 
we still have at least 35 bushels on hand, which are 
worth at least $25, we look upon the crop as having 
been a profitable one. w. m. patton. 
Armstrong Co., Pa._ 
BARN PLAN AND SILAGE CART. 
I have seen in The R. N.-Y several plans of farm 
barns. I have one I like quite well I built three years 
ago, shown in Fig. 146. It is 32 by 78 feet on the wall. 
I can stanchion 34 cows on the two sides of the alley. 
1 he basement is where I water my cattle in the Win¬ 
ter. I have a pen in there where I let my cows a few 
days before freshening. From the alley-way to the 
silo is a cement bottom. My silo is a Green Mountain, 
and a good one, 18 x 26. Over the door where I go to 
the silo, on each side I built a grain box, one for bran 
and the other for middlings; thev hold one ton each. 
I put a chute at the bottom, pull a slide, and I can 
draw it all out. I use a cart to feed my stock their 
silage, as shown in Fig. 147; it will hold enough silage 
to feed 25 head two feeds. On the floor above the 
stable I have a good large bay, 20 x 32; barn floor, 
16 x 32; wagon room, 22 x 32, and a horse stable, 
20 x 32; with two box stalls and four other common 
stalls. R. D. in plan are rolling doors. There are two 
windows on the east end of the barn floor that do not 
show in this cut. Over the wagon room and horse 
stable I have space for hay; I also have a grain box 
which holds 350 bushels of oats, with two spouts which 
lead down into the stable. I have nine-foot posts in 
the basement and 18-foot on the next floor. There is 
a good wall on the west side and north end to the dou¬ 
ble door, and on the east side and south end it is double 
boarded, with tarred paper between; on the next floor 
it is double boarded from the barn floor to the north 
end, also the north end and east side to the door on 
the east side. I put tarred paper between the upper 
floors to prevent any hayseed from dropping down. The 
horse manure is put into the basement, and we use it 
in the gutter each day. I use one of the Cherry manure 
carriers; they work finely. L. E. avery. 
Vermont. 
THE VALUE OF HUMUS. 
Recently I attended a farmer’s institute in which one of 
the speakers had for his subject, “Humus, Soil Bacteria and 
Tillage.” I cannot give here his entire lecture; but he 
made one statement upon which I would like the Hope Farm 
man’s opinion, viz., that we have all the mineral elements 
of plant, food in our soils that we shall ever need if we 
keep plenty of humus in them. No need of applying any 
commercial fertilizers at all. And by applying more 
plant food for a given crop than that crop can make use 
of we lose the plant food not taken up by that crop, by its 
reverting into insoluble compounds which future crops can¬ 
not utilize. That is, by applying 15 or 20 loads of manure 
per acre, we apply a great deal more plant food than the 
following crop can make use of, and consequently we would 
lose what that crop could not use. He said he only ap¬ 
plied three to four loads per acre, applied with manure 
spreader. Now I have no manure spreader, and it would 
be utterly impossible to spread with fork three or four 
loads evenlv over an acre. I believe we can all agree with 
him that humus is an important factor in the most profit¬ 
able cultivation of our soils. But is it everything? This 
is a broad statement. If his statements are correct, then I 
have been throwing away tons and tons of manure, and 
commercial fertilizers. I would like to have this discussed 
in The R. N.-Y. s. B. f. 
Ohio. 
We think this man, like some other institute speakers, 
rode a very good hobby too far. Some of these speak¬ 
ers are very much in earnest, and want to drive an 
important point home. They sometimes make very 
strong statements—forgetting that others who have not 
fully studied the matter out cannot apply what they say. 
Humus is of very great importance to the soil, but it 
is not the whole story. Most soils contain large quan¬ 
tities of plant food, but it is locked up in such forms 
that it can be made only slowly available. There are 
swamps so rich in humus that they analyze nearly as 
well as manure, yet you cannot make them productive 
by plowing in more humus. A dressing of lime or 
potash will make crops grow there. The action of 
humus in decaying does set free some plant food—more 
in some soils than in others, but we think its chief value 
lies in fitting the soil so that it will hold moisture better 
and admit air and sunshine. It seems to us nonsense 
to say that plant food unused by a crop reverts into 
unsoluble forms. Take the case of ground bone. It 
becomes more and more available as it remains in the 
ground and decays. A fair share of farm manures is 
not at. once available. Some of it decays slowly and 
thus gives up its plant food. If a heavy coat of manure 
is put on a sod and all plowed under for corn, when 
the corn is cut a fair share of that manure will still be 
available. If rye or clover be seeded in the corn little 
if any of this plant food will be wasted. We consider 
it better farming whenever possible to overfeed a crop 
and follow at once with another rather than to under¬ 
feed both. We shall not follow this man’s plan, but 
shall continue to manure heavily and add fertilizer. 
