758 
October 13, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
even a heavy rain, if it is not heaped. After it lias 
cured somewhat, and in a dry time, we draw it to the 
barn and spread it on the.barn floor, or put it in the 
cribs, placing it on shelves there; as it were, a layer 
of corn a foot thick, then a space of, say, four inches. 
In this way we have sometimes put in several hundred 
bushels. We could then husk it at our leisure, and it 
comes out in good condition, not quite as hard as if 
dried on the stalk, but free from mold, and perfectly 
satisfactory for feed. I would advise a like course in 
this case. edw’d van alstyne. 
THE DRAFT OF A CULTIVATOR . 
Do you increase the draft of a cultivator when you 
widen it without increasing the number of teeth? That is, 
is Hie draft greater when the width is eight feet than it 
is if the.width is five feet, both having the same number 
of teeth? INQUIRER. 
In spading it requires more pressure to put the spade 
into the ground the first time than it does afterward 
provided a thin cut is made. Whoever has 
used a spade, too, knows that, in soil at all 
hard, it is much more difficult to cut a thick slice 
than it is to cut a thin one. So, also, in plowing, 
the draft is materially heavier when striking the 
first furrow through the field than it is afterward, 
unless the plow is made to “cut and cover.” 
The reason for the lessened pressure and the lessened 
draft, in the cases cited, is, of course, to be found in 
the opportunity which has been afforded for the soil 
to be set aside without compressing it to any notable 
extent, there having been provided space into which 
the earth may be moved without disturbing other soil. 
In the case of the cultivator which your correspond¬ 
ent names the draft will usually increase as the teeth 
arc spread farther apart, until the distance between 
them has become so great that each shovel is in no 
way moving soil at the edge of the furrow cut by 
another shovel; and provided, always, that the depth 
of cultivation remains the same. When the shovels 
of a cultivator are worked pretty close together so that 
all the soil is moved there is a tendency for the culti¬ 
vator to run deeper into the ground, and so it may 
occur that, because of the greater depth, tlffi cultivator 
with the teeth set close may have an equal or even 
heavier draft than when the shovels are set wider apart. 
F. H. KING. 
ALFALFA IN AN ORCHARD. 
Y'by would not Alfalfa be a good crop to sow In an apple 
or pear orchard where all was allowed to go back to the 
ground, or in other words, mow it two or three times a 
year and let it remain? G. J. I. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
1 he chief objection to Alfalfa in an orchard is that 
the Alfalfa requires a large amount of water, and in 
a dry season would be likely r to rob the trees. We 
should consider it a great mistake to sow Alfalfa in a 
young orchard, even if the crop is cut regularly. The 
trees would suffer. In an older orchard, especially 
where the soil was naturally moist, we would sow 
Alfalfa under some conditions. We saw near Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y„ an apple orchard about 15 years old with 
a heavy stand of Alfalfa. The trees were in fine con¬ 
dition. The chief objection seemed to be that the 
Alfalfa made a good nesting place for mice, which 
gnawed the trees somewhat. In this case two cuttings 
of Alfalfa were made into hay, while the third was 
cut and left on the ground. The manure made from 
feeding the Alfalfa was hauled back and spread in the 
orchard. Handled in this way the trees had made a 
fine growth, while the Alfalfa had added a new busi¬ 
ness to the farm. There was a large barn, and on 
seeing it we supposed it was like others—an abandoned 
barn given up when the change was made from dairy¬ 
ing to fruit. To our surprise the reverse was true, 
'fhe great crop of Alfalfa growing in the orchard had 
made it necessary to build the barn for Winter feeding 
of stock! 
MACHINE FOR UNLOADING HAY. 
Those who have watched the development of the 
gasoline engine have been surprised to see how its 
power has been extended. New devices and appliances 
have been perfected, so that the engine now does far 
more than pump water and grind feed. By means of 
an electric apparatus it may be used to light the house 
or store up power to be carried to various parts of the 
farm. It runs the sprayer, drives a boat on the lake or 
river, drives the milking machine and numberless other 
things.' Its growing use is not unlike the development 
of the human hand. At first it may be able to do only 
the roughest work, such as hewing and lifting, but 
by training and practice the stiff fingers became pliable 
and the joints supple until the range of hand work is 
multiplied a dozen times. The latest development of 
farm engine power is the machine for unloading hay 
or straw shown in Fig. 321. U. J. Nelson, of Massachu¬ 
setts, has used this machine for three years in place 
of a horse for pulling the horse fork. By means of 
suitable levers and windlass this machine pulls up the 
fork, dumps the load and pulls the fork back—doing 
the horse work—the power being given by a stationary 
engine. As will be seen, the machine is composed of 
two rope drums, the large one for the hoist, and the 
small one for the trip and return of fork to load. These 
two drums are carried loosely on the shafts, and using 
either of the levers causes them to come in frictional 
contact with the gears, causing them to rotate, and 
wind the rope.. When ready to hoist place foot on 
large drum lever, till hay is elevated to desired point, 
MACHINE FOR UNLOADING IIAY. Fig. .321. 
then take foot from lever, and take hold of hand lever, 
pull to you a little and hay is immediately dumped. 
Continue to hold lever in same position and fork will 
return to load, then place hand lever back in upright 
position. The drums are both under full control. Mr. 
Nelson claims that this machine will get most of the 
load off before the horses can be unhitched from the 
wagon. The machine can be used indoors or out— 
wherever it can be connected with a power—an engine 
of three to five horse power being required. 
STUDYING THE PLANT FOOD QUESTION. 
What books could I got that would give me informa¬ 
tion regarding the amount of lime, potash, etc., used by 
different crops in growing? I would like to farm my 
place as closely as possible, and as manure is a scarce 
article, commercial fertilizers will have to be used. I 
would like a book giving the chemical composition of each 
crop so that I will be able to tell which crop would be 
best to plow under as food for a crop the following year. 
This idea of trying to farm by the old process is like find¬ 
ing a keyhole in the dark, mostly guess work. I want to 
know what I am doing and why I am doing it. J. a. 
Waukesha, Wis. 
We would write to Prof. W. A. Henry at your State 
Experiment Station (Madison), and ask for suitable 
NEW HYBRID BEAR, REDUCED IN SIZE. Fig. 322. 
See Ituralisms, I’age T(!2. 
bulletins. Also write to the directors of the following 
Stations for similar bulletms: Massachusetts (Am¬ 
herst) ; Connecticut (New Haven) ; New Jersey (New 
Brunswick) ; Delaware (Newark) ; Pennsylvania (State 
College) ; Ohio (Wooster) : Illinois (Urbana) ; Min¬ 
nesota (St. Anthony Park). There are other good 
ones, but this list will give you a good start if you 
study these bulletins carefully. A little book by Frank 
Sempers, called “Farm Manures,” is good, and an old 
book by Joseph Harris, called “Talks on Manure," 
will be useful. From the Rhode Island Station (Kings¬ 
ton) you can obtain pamphlets telling about the use 
of lime, which on many soils is very important. You 
will probably find as the first result of your study that 
the way to use your manure is to value it largely for 
the nitrogen it contains. Use less of it to the acre and 
add bone or acid phosphate and wood ashes or the 
potash salts. You will notice from your study that 
plants require potash and phosphoric acid, while in 
order to supply them in manure you must use more 
nitrogen than necessary. The bulletins from Delaware 
will give you a good idea of the amount of organic 
matter and plant food grown in a ton of clover, rye, 
turnips or other crops. You will see how one may 
pay better than another under same conditions. For 
example, cow peas and clover gain nitrogen from the 
air, while turnips, rape and buckwheat seem to be able 
to acquire quantities of phosphoric acid which some 
other crops cannot take from the soil. The Minne¬ 
sota bulletins will help you in studying the need of 
“humus” in the soil. You will find that chemical farm¬ 
ing cannot be figured down to a pound of plant food. 
You cannot say that because a ton of wheat or a ton of 
potatoes take so many pounds of nitrogen, potash or 
phosphoric acid from the soil—therefore, by putting 
just this plant food back each year you may keep u:> 
the crop! Get over that idea at once, and feed liber¬ 
ally if at all. Above all things don’t expect to learn 
all about it at once. There is no sure thing about 
fertilizing. Sometimes we think we have the thing 
exactly right—figured down to a pound of plant food, 
only f o find that Nature has hardly begun to tell us 
about it. 
COURAGE WANTED FOR THE MULCH 
SYSTEM. 
I have come this time to talk mulch with you. What 
does the word Imply that you can do when you mulch? Can 
you place a lot of weeds and litter about your apple trees 
and feel sure that they will not be attacked by mice, dur¬ 
ing the Winter, as a result? Have you done this with 
sufficient success to enable you to continue it in your own 
orchards? Have you ever had a lot of trees girdled by 
mice? Where sod culture is followed, is the grass all mown 
and allowed to remain and decay where it. fell before the 
knives, or is it raked up, and then placed about the trunks 
of the trees? IIow close to the trunks, as a rule, do they 
place it? I have always felt that I would use the mulch 
method, but never had the courage to do it when fhe time 
came, hut now filings are very suitable for it in a very 
hilly field, and I think the soil is suited to it, but I do not 
want to have a lot of girdled trees as a result. I have tons 
of weeds, and a whole stack of straw which I shall use. 
A friend of mine lost about COO trees in one Winter by 
mice girdling them, and I am nervous about it. e. i*. 
Pennsylvania. 
First of all read Bulletin 171 from the Ohio Station 
(Wooster). That gives an excellent account of the 
mulch method. With us, mulching the young tree 
means piling weeds, grass or any trash that will decay 
around the base of the tree. No, we cannot do this 
and feel sure that the mice will not work there unless 
we protect the tree. The best way to do this is to 
wrap a small sheet of wire cloth around the lower trunk 
of the tree—pushing it slightly into the soil and fasten¬ 
ing by lapping over the edges or putting wire around it. 
This keeps off mice and also prevents some of the 
work of borers. Another method is to fasten on thm 
strips of wood or veneer to the lower trunk. We have 
not protected many trees in this way, and in late No¬ 
vember we go over the orchard, push the mulch away 
from the tree and make a mound of earth around the 
base by throwing several spadefuls of earth and press¬ 
ing it down. With this method we have had but little 
trouble with mice. The plan of protecting the trees is 
better, for then the mulch can be left around the trees 
all Winter—an advantage, we are sure. Whenever we 
have been able to obtain enough mulching material this 
plan has given us as good results as cultivation. 'Flic 
trouble with us is to obtain all the mulch we need. 
We consider it better to cut the grass or weeds, rake 
and pile under the trees—as far out as the branches 
extend. We throw it up against the trunks of the 
trees. Although reports are sent to us of cases where 
mice have done great damage in Summer, they have 
only injured us in Winter. It is much safer to protect 
the trees. We know from experience that it takes 
courage to try this or any other new plan which is 
opposed to general practice. Our experience shows that 
there are few more foolish things than planting a 
tree in sod and then letting it alone without culture or 
mulch, cutting the grass and taking it away for hay! 
Yet many of the arguments against the mulch method 
seem to be based on the results of such an experiment. 
Tt would be almost as foolish to put a thick mulch 
around an unprotected tree, and leave it there for the 
entire year. The mice will nest under the mulch and 
gnaw the tree, unless something harder than their teeth 
is put around it. Mr. Vergon, of Ohio, puts a mound 
of cinders around the tree, and puts the mulch only 
up to this mound. Tt is a question if the mice would 
do very much more damage than a careless man with 
a cultivator. 
