1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
SEEDING GRASS IN THE CORN. 
In your answer to “Reader,” on page 747, in regard 
to seeding in corn, I desire to call your attention to 
some points of advantage which might be more clearly 
brought out. To my mind a cornfield, say July 25 to 
August 1, presents almost an ideal seed bed, free from 
weeds, fine, smooth, shaded, hot and moist. Our grass 
seeded in corn makes about six inches’ growth by Sep¬ 
tember 20, when we cut the corn for silage. We prac¬ 
tice seeding about 20 acres per year, averaging about 
12 in corn and eight without nurse plant. The grass 
October 1 generally shows much better in the fields 
sown in corn, the difference being due chiefly to the 
favorable conditions of growth mentioned 
above. As to time it takes to sow, about 
double is required in the corn as compared 
with the open field. I do not think the 
loss of grass seed should cause a question, 
as corn should be about eight feet high 
by the proper time of seeding and prac¬ 
tically no seed is lost. The chief dis¬ 
advantages to my mind are the butts of 
the corn in the hay the first year, and the 
fact that the corn stover, if allowed to 
stand in shocks, will kill out the grass in 
these spots. 1 here are two minor points, 
the small stone loosened by the culti¬ 
vator, and the ruts made by wagons in a 
damp field in drawing the corn to silo. 
I consider it in many cases the best method 
of seeding and a “makeshift” only in the 
sense that it is inferior to methods sim¬ 
ilar to the Clark method. 
I seed by hand when possible. If corn 
has not made a satisfactory growth this 
is more or less difficult. I once used a 
Cahoon sower, riding on horseback 
with a man walking behind to drive 
the horse, as the motion of the 
horse was more than I could regulate in connec¬ 
tion with sower. As to raking in the seed, I have 
used garden and hand hayrakes, also several makes 
of tooth cultivators. Conditions must govern which 
is the best. I much prefer to use none, but to sow 
before a rain. I have never had even a partial failure 
by this method, but if no rain falls for a day or two 
resort to the best substitute in way of tools. With 
labor plenty the common garden rake is best; with level 
fields a tooth cultivator will do a fair job. I think the 
results of any method largely depend upon two factors, 
good, deep, fine seed bed and even distribution of a 
maximum quantity of fertile seed. h. c. burrington. 
R. N.-Y.—“Makeshift” referred chiefly to the sowing 
of clover and other “catch” crops—not so much to per¬ 
manent grass. For some reason 
most of the favorable reports of this 
method come from New England. 
KAINIT FOR CORN. 
Some months ago we read an article 
in one of our papers on the use of 
kainit in growing corn. The state¬ 
ment was made that in one experi¬ 
ment the corn had been increased 40 
per cent by the use of kainit alone. 
This led the writer to make the fol¬ 
lowing experiment: A ton and a half 
of chicken manure was mixed with an 
equal amount of kainit; the cornfield 
was earefuly prepared and marked 
with a three-row marker, the rows 
being three feet six inches apart. 
This field was marked both ways. A 
corn plow was then run through the 
field one way, making a furrow six 
inches deep. A small handful of this 
mixture was then placed in each hill 
and earefuly covered with from two 
to three inches of soil. The corn was 
dropped and covered with a common 
hoe. Alternating plots in this field 
were treated with hog manure. Where- 
ever the kainit and chicken manure 
was used the corn was slow in start¬ 
ing, and in many cases was destroyed, 
while the plots treated with hog 
manure show a fine stand of corn. 
What was the trouble with kainit 
mixture? Can you tell me? Light on 
the subject will prove valuable in 
future work. a. j. h. 
Ruby, N. Y. 
First, what is kainit? It is one of the German pot¬ 
ash salts. It contains on an average 12J4 per cent of 
potash and a large amount of common salt. The article 
you read was probably one describing corn growing in 
a muck swamp in Indiana. The soil in this swamp 
was very deficient in potash, and it was found that 
when kainit was broadcast over this soil the corn crop 
was increased. We think the trouble in your case was 
in putting too much of the kainit in the hill. One action 
of salt is to delay germination, or if too much of it is 
present to destroy the seed. The corn plant must feed 
upon the starch contained in the seed until its roots are 
well established and the leaves are above ground and 
green. The salt would be quite likely to prevent the 
chemical changes which occur in the seed when the 
germ starts to grow. This we believe explains the 
trouble. If you had broadcast the mixture along the 
rows and worked it in with the cultivator we believe 
the seed would have germinated well. We would like 
to know how the corn grew and developed after it 
finally started. The mixture was not the best one, as 
we may see from this table: 
Nitrogen Fotash Phos. acid 
3,000 pounds ben manure 
3,000 pounds 
kainit 
0 
33 390 25 
This gives to each ton 10 pounds of nitrogen, or half 
of one per cent, 130 pounds potash, or per cent, 
DONKEY POWER WITH HAND CULTIVATORS. Fig. 348. 
and eight pounds phpsphoric acid, or less than half of 
one per cent. Possibly the hen manure contained more 
nitrogen than this, but the average mixture for corn 
on fair soil contains at least two per cent of nitrogen, 
10 of phosphoric acid and seven of potash. Unless your 
soil was rich in both nitrogen and phosphoric acid you 
could not expect to get an increased yield with such a 
mixture. Keep kainit out of the hill. 
HUMUS CROPS TO FOLLOW CORN. 
My farm is in southern Vermont in the Connecticut Valley, 
and the tillage is sandy and gravelly loam, soft and easily 
worked, which for 15 years previous to three .years ago, was 
in grass and not worked,—abandoned. The place is now run 
as a dairy farm, but for an additional money crop I wish 
to raise largo areas of potatoes, planting after corn, the 
although your remarks in Hope Farm Notes, page 747, indi¬ 
cate that the middle of September would be too late for Crim¬ 
son clover? How much of either Red or Crimson clover 
should we thus sow per acre? The land has been limed to a 
moderate extent with wood ashes or agricultural lime. What 
other treatment would you recommend to obtain the desired 
results? . Would barky, sown after the corn as indicated, 
make a sufficient growth for turning under in Spring. When 
is the best time in this locality to sow Winter rye for either 
green Spring fodder or grain, or for turning under in Spring? 
Would barley or rye give satisfactory results in humus and 
value, if plowed under in Spring? c. G. 
Vermont. 
1 bis reply is based on experience on our own farm 
in northern New Jersey. We wauld not sow Red clover 
after corn in September. With us such seeding does not 
make growth enough to pay. We would sow 
the clover if at all in the corn at the last 
cultivation, which with us comes early in 
August. Why wait until after the corn 
has been taken off? Crimson clover with 
us does well four times out of five when 
seeded before August 15. By “does well,” 
we mean that it lives through the Winter 
and gives a fair stand in the Spring for 
pasture or hay. Crimson will usually 
grow fairly well through the Fall when 
sown early in September, but with us such 
plants rarely live through March, which is 
the danger month for Crimson. We have 
talked with New England growers who 
sow Crimson clover because it does not 
live over. The Fall growth satisfies them, 
since it is easier to plow where the Crim¬ 
son died than it would be to put under a 
full growth. We sow 12 pounds of Crim¬ 
son or eight of Red clover to the acre. 
Where soil needs humus we would sow 
rye, rape or turnips, and secure as- much 
bulk as possible. We consider it better on 
such soil to plow under a large crop of 
rye and add nitrogen rather than to 
grow a risky crop like Crimson clover for the 
sake of the nitrogen it adds to the soil. With us barley 
has never given a growth equal to that of rye, and we 
would use the latter for such purpose in preference to 
any other small grain. Dwarf Essex rape and Cow- 
horn turnips have proved very satisfactory with us for 
sowing in the corn at last cultivation. The rape is a 
“turnip all run to top.” On good soil it makes a rank 
growth and usually dies during the Winter. We have 
sown Crimson clover and rape together at the last cul¬ 
tivation, and obtained a heavy crop for turning under. 
One trouble with a “catch crop”—that is one seeded in 
the corn—is that in a dry season it hurts the corn crop. 
It seems best for us to seed to rye just before the corn 
is cut or later. We cut some of the rye green for hay 
and plow the rest under, using ferti¬ 
lizer for the potatoes. When such 
a growth of green manure is plowed 
under the ground must be rolled or 
packed with a drag. 
GREAT EXPECTATIONS”—MORE FUN THAN FISH. Fig. 349. 
corn being planted on sod with manure. I have failed in 
three years’ trials of a few acres to obtain a satisfactory 
crop of potatoes. From what papers and bulletins tell me. 
I think it is lack of humus which causes such, failure, as 
my soil looks too yellow, not black enough. We have doubled 
our manure production (the farmer’s gold mine) in two 
years, but it is insufficient to supply the necessary humus, 
and I wish to plow under clover for humus, and want to 
improve the land in the shortest possible time. Frosts come 
early, and we have to harvest our corn for silage and grain 
the early part of September. Would you approve breaking 
up the cornfield right after removing the corn with a disk 
harrow, mellow the soil, and then seed with Red clover, and 
in Spring turn under the whole stand of Red clover for 
potatoes, to be planted with 600 to 1.000 pounds fertilizer, 
extra rich in phosphoric acid and potash? Would Crimsom 
clover grow enough under such treatment in this locality. 
MOVING LARGE TREES. 
About the apple orchard that 
“locks horns,” page 725, all the au¬ 
thorities agreeing that the crowd¬ 
ing trees should come out, perhaps 
my experience might help. Our orig¬ 
inal grove was natural sour orange, 
with over 500 trees per acre, which 
we grafted, removing whole top at 
once. Having all the roots, the 
sweet tops came on very rapidly, so 
that the third year the tops began 
to crowd. Then we began to trans¬ 
plant the usual way of cutting 
around and digging them up, but 
found that nine-tenths of the roots 
we cut belonged to the surrounding 
trees, which hurt my feelings might¬ 
ily. Then while we started to give 
trees good roots the digging split 
up the roots so badly that by the 
time we got them clear and in shape 
to plant there were only short roots 
left, and 70 or 80 per cent was all we 
got to live first year. The second year 
we got a stump puller (differential pulley) and bored holes 
right through the stem—size according to size of tree, 
some 10-inch diameter trees took lj/-inch rod—put steel 
rod through and hooked on each side and started pull¬ 
ing, and as we felt root lifting drove chisel down and 
cut that root. We had chisel made six inches wide with 
long handle. As tree lifted we worked the dirt off roots, 
and so filled holes as tree came out. We got all the 
roots we were willing to cover, and using force pump 
and plenty of water to pack the dirt, we got a rapid 
first-class job and at less cost per tree. We moved 
more than 1,500 trees the second year without losing a 
tree, and it was very satisfactory to see how rapidly the 
new tops came on. We had some fruit second year. 
Moved this way I believe “Maine Reader” would the 
fourth year get as much fruit as those trees bear now. 
Marion Co., Florida. F. c. sampson. 
