1909. 
THE K.XJR.A_I> NEW-YORKER 
369 
THE WAY I RUN TWO FARMS. 
The farm on which I have lived for 10 years be¬ 
longs to my father, and is 70 acres in extent. The 
one adjoining, which I purchased, contains 102 acres. 
On my farm I have a man of small family who has 
rent free, gets one acre of land for corn and potatoes, 
kindling wood, hay and pasture for one cow, keeps 50 
A COUPLE OF PRIZE WINNERS. Fig. 146. 
chickens, and then receives the wages per day which 
are paid in the neighborhood. Wages average about 
90 cents per day. He also tends the stock at the barn, 
which consists of several horses and some young 
cattle. Last year I had a man by the year, paying 
him $150 in money, rent free, one acre of land for 
corn and potatoes, kindling wood, kept about 70 
chickens, two cows, got 10 bushels wheat. He had 
good cows and good hens, or, perhaps gave them 
extra care, and had over $200 to lay aside at the end 
of the year. He had only a small family and was 
economical. My father-in-law, who lives with us, 
helps- nearly every day. I have a 13-year-old son, 
who can run the harrow, roller, etc. With these 
three helpers I can go ahead cpiite well up to har¬ 
vest, when we have several extra men for a few 
days. 
My specialty is potato raising. I had 30 acres last 
year, besides 18 acres of corn, 10 of oats and three 
of Soy beans. Thus we had to plow last Spring about 
50 acres with two plows and three horses to the 
plow. We started plowing the latter part of March 
and finished the latter part of April. I should have 
had three plows running and will do so hereafter. 
Before planting we harrow once with a double-action 
Cutaway harrow, hitching four horses abreast and 
setting the harrow at the hardest angle. The potatoes 
are put in with a planter and after we are through 
with these we plant the corn with a double-row corn 
planter, which goes very fast. The weeders are soon 
run after the potato planter. I have two; one an 
adjustable weeder for one horse and the other is a 
two-horse riding weeder. This one is 12 feet wide, 
is used the most, and I run it myself. On it I do 
not get tired and can use my head for planning work. 
I believe a farmer should not use his muscles so 
much and his brain more. We go over the potatoes 
with weeders about four times before they are up, 
and about five or six times after they are up, till they 
are about one foot high, after which we use the one- 
horse cultivator till the vines cover the ground be¬ 
tween the rows. 
I had seven horses last season, but will have at 
least nine this season, as I believe it pays to do the 
work on time and do it well. I can beat my neigh¬ 
bors raising wheat and potatoes right along, which 
comes simply by tilling more intensively and perhaps 
also by following a shorter and better l'otation. I 
pasture no fields, for I took all middle fences out on 
both farms. There is a creek running through my 
farm, and along this on each side is some pasture 
which I have fenced in. One field is not nice to plow 
and cultivate, and is also fenced in for pasture. In 
these two fields the cows and cattle run all Summer, 
and if the pasture gets short we feed hay in stables. 
We have s-ix cows and keep them in the barn at night 
and half the day. Thus we get lots of good manure 
in the cement gutter. They are fed Alfalfa hay all 
Summer and are doing well. 
We use sawdust in the gutter for absorbent, which 
gives fine manure that is hauled out as it is made. 
I put cement floors in the stables as soon as I bought 
the farm, and think it pays. My aim is to get the 
soil richer each year. I sow Crimson clover always 
in the corn at the last working and this year intend 
to put corn stubble in Soy beans planted in rows to 
cultivate, and then put the field in wheat. This par¬ 
ticular field is a little barren, and this way I hope to 
improve it most economically. Year before last I 
averaged 26bushels wheat per acre and last year 
24 bushels per acre. Potatoes were almost a failure 
on account of drought. We got 800 bushels; in 1907 
we had 3,000 bushels on 26 acres. Price 1907 was 55 
cents per bushel, last year 90 cents. I have now 
about 18 acres in Alfalfa and intend to put in more. 
In harvesting we ran two mowers, but will run three 
this season. We haul the hay on racks 7x18 feet, on 
low-down wagons with broad tires; use slings to un¬ 
load, three slings to the load. Thus we unload in a 
very few minutes. In harvesting wheat I run the 
binder and the others follow with wagons and haul 
it into the harm We husk the corn by hand and cut all 
the fodder with a good gasoline engine. I have a four- 
horse digger which I ride. One man hauls bushel 
crates out and scatters them along the rows. This is 
done with a low-down wagon with metal wheels with 
wide tires. Six pickers fill the crates. The driver 
takes in a load, empties it and brings the crates out 
again, and so on. In this way we can harvest four 
acres a day, but when the crop is a good one it 
takes a few pickers more, and two men hauling them. 
As soon as the potatoes are all out of the ground we 
harrow it for wheat. I get other men meanwhile to 
cut the corn, and we hurry to get in the wheat. After 
that is sown we haul potatoes, some years to the rail¬ 
road station only, and other years to consumers in 
nearby towns. During the Winter I usually feed a 
good many cattle and hogs. But this Winter hog 
feeding does not pay very well, as feed is too high, 
and hogs low. In the Summer I keep the hogs in 
pasture, which consists of four acres of Alfalfa and 
CONCRETE PQSTS FOR RAIL FENCE. Fig. 147, 
six acres of woodland. If it were not for these 10 
acres I would not have so many hogs. 
C. R. BASHORE. 
Berks Co., Pa. 
ANOTHER CONCRETE POST. 
On page 106, I noticed a picture of a concrete 
fence post, designed by my friend, M. H., of Pater¬ 
son, N. J. I thought perhaps I could go one better 
in concrete posts, as Fig. 147 shows the kind I am 
making. The way they are made and their cost may 
perhaps be interesting to the readers of The R. 
N.-Y. About a year ago I purchased a farm of 78 
acres in Lancaster County, Pa. This farm was 
fenced nearly all with posts and rails, the rails 
being very good yet, but the posts were weak, and 
some rotted off at the ground. I concluded to mak( 
a post that would last, and use the best rails again; 
as the life of a good rail is about 40 years, and a 
post about 15 years, I figured I could spend a little 
more for a cement post than one of wood. My 
second attempt in making a post proved that it 
cost about one-third more than wood. We have 
now made about 80 posts, and will begin to construct 
a new fence shortly. The cost of these four-hole 
posts is as follows: Cement, 10 cents; crushed 
stone, six cents; old wagon tire, five cents; labor, 
seven cents; total, 28 cents. 
They are made in a mold on a solid plank, two 
rails lengthwise 2x3 inch, two end blocks and four 
slightly tapered blocks for the holes. The mixture 
is one part cement and seven parts fine crushed stone 
(no sand") ; in fact, so fine that the stone dust takes 
the place of sand. After mixing it dry, screen a 
small portion of this mixture and wet it to plaster 
the sides and bottom of the mold for a smooth sur¬ 
face; then mix the coarse for filling. When 
the mold is half filled we put in an old wagon 
tire for reinforcing, it being the cheapest we 
can find for this purpose. We first cut and 
straighten the tire, then bend it in the center, 
with a curve at the top of the post; put it in the 
mold, and fill it up; finish the top with the screened 
mixture. After 12 hours pull the plugs, and in 24 
hours take away the rails, then leave the post lying 
on the bed of the’ mold for three days before you 
turn it over. If it needs a little patching anywhere 
you can do so with the fine cement mixture. We 
have dropped these posts on brick pavement several 
times before they would show even a crack, h. w. 
Ephrata, Pa. 
A CHEAP ICE HOUSE. 
Fig. 148 shows the kind of icehouses used in New 
Salem, Mass., for many years. They cost almost 
nothing, and keep ice better than the most expensive 
buildings. The one showing the little girl was built 
by an old gentleman 82 years old, a carpenter by 
trade, who owns hundreds of acres of pine timber. 
So he lacked neither experience, skill nor material, 
if he had wished not to follow the town fashions. A 
roof is not needed, the farmer told me. Last year I 
put a foot of sawdust on the ground behind my barn, 
packed the ice on it, and built the house around it, 
using sawed fence posts for the corners. Between the 
ice and the boards was a foot of well-tramped saw¬ 
dust and on the top as much. 
“Your ice won’t keep till the Fourth of July,” the 
wise men of the village told me. But it did keep 
well. 1'he top sawdust never dried out, and the ice 
did not waste away as I have seen it do in double- 
walled and roofed houses. My neighbor, who sells 
ice, put up a little last year in a house like mine. 
This year he has stored it all in that way. c. H. 
Windham Co., Vt. 
R. N.-Y.—We must, of course, understand that 
Vermont is a cool country with at least 50 days less 
of melting weather than States farther south. 
FITTING SOIL FOR FERTILIZERS. 
We often receive questions from farmers who 
ask what fertilizers they shall use for certain crops 
Usually very little is said about the character of 
the soil or its condition. People seems to think 
that the use of chemicals is the main thing—the 
only thing they need consider. In a Urge propor¬ 
tion of cases farmers do not receive the full value 
of the chemicals because the soil is not fit. Very 
often it is not well drained. A soil that is wet 
and soggy cannot yield a full crop, no matter how 
much fertilizer you dump into it. Another essential 
in fertilizer farming is a soil well filled with or¬ 
ganic matter or humus. The eastern farmers have 
spent millions of dollars in trying to learn how to 
use chemicals with economy. Many of them have 
not- learned yet. Those who have come nearest 
to it know that the soil must be in proper condi¬ 
tion, open and mellow, and well filled with humus 
before the chemicals can supply their plant food 
properly. This thorough preparation of the soil is 
even more necessary for chemicals than for stable 
manure. There are aiso many soils so sour that 
ordinary crops will not respond to chemical fer¬ 
tilizers. Manure is more effective on these soils 
because the manure is alkaline and helps sweeten 
A CHEAP VERMONT ICEHOUSE. Fig. 148. 
the soil. Those who use chemicals, and especially 
those who are beginning their use, must remem¬ 
ber that they cannot hope for full returns unless 
the soil is well drained, mellow and open. There 
are, no doubt, many farms which need drainage 
more than they need chemicals. 
