872 
November 30, 
FARMERS' CLUB 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to in¬ 
sure attention. Before asking a question, 
please see whether it is not answered in 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few 
questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper 1 
Everbearing Hollyhocks. 
Header (No Address ).—Do ever-bearing 
hollyhocks need protection? I had 18 last 
year; they bloomed very nicely, but did not 
live through the Winter. I planted more 
last Spring and would like to keep them if I 
can. 
Ans. —Ever-bearing hollyhocks appear 
more subject to winter-killing than tin 
ordinary kinds. They bloom so late that 
the crowns do not seem to mature enough 
to bear hard freezing or frequent thaw¬ 
ing well. They should be planted, if 
possible, in rather dry soil, at least in a 
place where water will not stand in Win¬ 
ter. We have found altogether the best 
protection to be a light covering of ever 
green boughs put on in December, after 
the first hard freeze. This covering should 
not be thick enough to retain much snow 
or ice, and is really most useful in pro¬ 
tecting the soil from frequent thawing 
during late Winter, 
Trimming Pine Trees. 
E. P., Mt. Lebanon, N. Y .—Before our 
dwelling house there is a wind-break of what 
we take to be balsam and southern pines. 
As the branches are encroaching on the side¬ 
walks and trimming is in order I would like 
to know which is the best season to do it in, 
without damage to the growth of trees. Is 
it a fact that cutting off dead lower branches 
causes the ones above them to die, or is it 
mere prejudice, or would it be caused by trim¬ 
ming at the wrong time of the year? 
Ans. —Trees may be safely trimmed or 
pruned any time during the early part of 
the year, but it is perhaps better on the 
whole to do so just before growth starts 
in early Spring. Much depends upon the 
manner in which the trimming is done. 
Too many large limbs should not be taken 
off at once, and care should be taken 
to make the cuts smooth and close to the 
trunks so that they may soon be over 
grown. If stubs several inches long are 
left it requires many years’ growth to 
cover them, and decay is likely to start 
in at any time. There is probably no truth 
in the idea that cutting off dead lower 
branches causes those above to die. The 
dying of lower limbs of most trees is a 
natural process of pruning, and is caused 
by shade and starvation, the rapid grow¬ 
ing limbs depriving the lower ones of 
sap. We would have no hesitation in 
sawing off dead lower limbs at any time, 
making cuts, as remarked before, as close 
as possible to the tree. 
Keeping Sorghum Hay. 
P. M. O., Hopkinsville, Ky .—I have a lot 
of sorghum bay: it is in first-class condition 
now and under cover. It was cut as bay 
before the heads all appeared; how long it 
will keep as hay I do not know. Will it 
ferment and sour, as the mature sorghum 
does when it begins to freeze and thaw? 
Ans. —For a number of years I grew 
sorghum for stock feed, feeding it to 
everything on the farm except sheep. But 
in making use of it I never cut it before 
the heads were well matured and a sharp 
frost or two had struck it. In this I re¬ 
fer to the main part of the crop, as often 
part of it was used to feed before cut¬ 
ting and shocking for Winter use. I think 
the Kentucky people make a mistake in 
growing the crop thick and cutting as hay. 
Here it was—and is—the custom to plant 
in rows, so it can be cultivated, and put¬ 
ting 10 or a dozen seeds in a hill 18 
inches or two feet apart, then let the crop 
make itself, cutting with a corn binder 
and shocking for Winter use. I put in 
shock 30 to 40 bundles, and let it stand out 
till used, and sometimes not finish feed¬ 
ing it out till well along towards Spring. 
In the Kentucky climate, where it stands 
out in shock, I think it would be necessary 
to feed it out by the first of February. 
A Kansas friend wrote me that sorghum 
and Alfalfa had been the redemption of 
the State. In that State they sow it thick 
and cut for hay as is the custom of our 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Kentucky friend. Cut it and put it up 
in large cocks and feed these cocks as they 
are needed, but they must be finished be¬ 
fore the warmth of Spring comes on, or it 
spoils. I suppose they must finish this 
hay not later than February. If it is well- 
cured as hay, and put under shelter, I do 
not think there is any danger of it spoil¬ 
ing if it is kept till Summer weather 
comes on. When it is sown thickly and 
cut before the heads appear it cannot de¬ 
velop much saccharine matter, which is a 
most valuable property. The heads when 
allowed to mature will produce as much 
as 40 bushels of seed per acre. When 
fed to horses, cattle and hogs in the West¬ 
ern States they always eat the heads first. 
If the stalks are as large as when grown 
for molasses, cattle and horses will con¬ 
sume the whole of them. Hogs only re¬ 
fuse the coarse fiber; after they have 
chewed and secured the juices there is 
enough of this waste to keep them well 
bedded. This crop is certainly a very 
valuable one used as a forage crop, as 
such a large quantity can be grown on an 
acre, and there is so little waste. 
Ross Co., Ohio. John m. jamison. 
Cost of Drainage. 
IP. S., Lyndonville, N. Y .—I have decided to 
tile-drain some land and have bought one car¬ 
load of tile. I would like to know what 
would be a fair price for digging ditches and 
laying tile in first-class way for different 
depths of two feet, three feet and four feet, 
and which depth you think would be best to 
lay them. A good many of them will be laid 
in orchard. The ground is sandy loam with 
no stone or gravel and no clay. 
Ans. —The price of labor varies so 
much in different localities that perhaps 
the better way to deal with this question 
would be to consider the amount of labor 
required, rather than its cost. Digging the 
ditch in making the tile bed from two to 
three feet below the surface in ground 
that would run from fairly good to real 
good digging, I feel satisfied with the day 
when two men and myself prepare from 
15 to 25 rods of ditch for the tile—and 
men without suitable tools and dircctoi 
will not accomplish this much. It is my 
customary plan when working a crew 
of men, green at the work, to distribute 
them over the unper cuts of the ditch so 
as not to endanger my grade, and select 
the most skillful one from their number 
and give him a range of targets back of 
me with a grade of some four or six 
inches higher than the grade proper, at 
which I am making the final bed for the 
tile, and if he lacks the “gumption” to 
make a true grade I try another and 
keep trying until one is selected who ap¬ 
preciates the necessity of perfect work in 
this particular. Then after one is broken 
in at this part of the work there are two 
of us to grade, except when I am laying 
tile. The cost of laying the tile, like the 
digging, depends much upon favorable 
conditions for rapid work. If the bottom 
is firm and even, without stone or soft 
places, and the tile No. 1, that makes 
good joints, one can lay them rapidly. I 
have laid 70 rods of 2]/ 2 and 3-inch tile 
and put a light covering of dirt on them 
in one day. Then I have worked harder 
to get in less than half that number under 
less favorable conditions. The depth of 
drains, like the rest of the work, 
has no iron-clad rules to be strictly fol¬ 
lowed, though in a general way deep 
drains are better than shallow ones, espe¬ 
cially for orchards. I think between three 
and four feet should be the rule for 
orchard work, while from three down to 
two or even one and a half when occasion 
demands will be satisfactory in open field 
culture. On my own farm we are so apt 
to find quicksand below two and a half 
feet that I have tried to keep above that 
with most of the drains, and shall con¬ 
tinue to do so excepting in cutting off 
ooze from higher ground. Here one should 
get well above the ooze and then sink the 
drain enough to tap the flow. In most 
places where I have done this work the 
men received 15 cents per hour, and my 
pay has been $3 per day and expenses, 
including railroad fare when far from 
home. Tile in car lots f. o. b. at our near- | 
est factory (Angola, N. Y.,) two and 
one-half-inch, $9 per 1000; three-inch, $12 
per 1000; four-inch, $18 per 1000; five- 
inch, $22 per 1000; six-inch, $27.50 per 
1000. 
I think this finishes the questions, 
though much more might be said. Advice 
about draining, not unlike other advice, 
should be well mixed with sound judg¬ 
ment before taking in large doses. 
J. F. VAN SCHOONHOVEN. 
“Can a rich men enter the kingdom of 
heaven?” “Yes,” answered wise old Par¬ 
son Brodhead, “but not on a technical¬ 
ity.”—Louisville Courier-Journal. 
For the land’s sake use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers.—They enrich the earth.—Adv. 
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TEN TIMES OVER ^ 
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Write for circular of particu¬ 
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ONLY 81.70 
BUYS AN OVAL HIGH GRADE STANDARD 
CARRIAGE HEATER. 
WE PAY THE FREIGHT. 
This is not a rough unfinished tin box, but 
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READ THIS SPECIAL GUARANTEE OFFER. 
If your dealer cannot supply you send us 
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Dept. B 
The 
Standard 
Stamping CtT 
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PATENTS 
SECURED ON EASY 
PAYMENTS. 
WRITE FOR TERMS. 
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19 Barclay Street, New York City 
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lor 20 
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