1042 
THE MULCH FOR ALFALFA. 
Much is said about leaving a growth of Alfalfa on 
the land as a protection against hard Winter weather. 
It occurs to the writer that this protection is exceed¬ 
ingly costly sometimes. Mr. Martin, on page 935, cuts 
third time and leaves it lying on the land, and says 
that part of the crop is fine, probably three-fourths of 
a ton per acre. Here at the county seat hay market, 
Alfalfa has been selling at $15 per ton all Fall. It 
looks as though a mulch that costs $10.25 per acre 
is rather expensive, and it is a question whether it is 
worth it. The writer has had the crop go into Win¬ 
ter, and pass through without any apparent injury, 
with only the stubble one to three inches higher to 
protect it. A neighbor, in his absence from home, 
found on returning that his Alfalfa field was grazed 
as close as possible by sheep; still could not see any 
evil result in the Spring. This is also the testimony 
of the farmer who first grew it in this section. Still 
there are undoubtedly exceptions to these instances, 
and their main cause lands that are too wet for 
best results in growing the crop. On such land a 
heavy mulch will not save the crop. The writer is 
growing it on land that without drainage only carried 
Red clover over Winter when the weather was un¬ 
usually mild, and to make Alfalfa a safe crop, re¬ 
quired 50 to 75 rods of tile per acre. And yet this is 
much cheaper than a yearly mulch costing ten or 
more dollars per acre yearly. 
July 15 last, I sowed b]/ 2 acres to Alfalfa, after a 
crop of peas grown for the factory. October 4, four 
tons of hay were taken from the field. One reason 
it was taken off, was to get a lot of unsightly weeds 
out of sight. The hay ready for the mow weighed 
8,700 pounds, leaving a small amount, probably 150 
pounds, on the land. A second reason for cutting the 
crop was to have the field present a fine appearance. 
There are two or three spots that need tile; if the 
growth is off these show up plain, and can be tiled 
before serious injury results to the Alfalfa. The .tile 
would have been put down last Spring, but were not 
to be had. The order is now placed for them, and as 
soon as they come, they will be piled along the fence 
where they will be handy when wanted. This kind 
of mulch for Alfalfa stands first, and in the end 
costs less than surface mulch. After this comes as 
first a good top-dressing of manure, and the growing 
of the crop makes it possible to have the manure. 
Ross Co., O. JOHN M. JAMISON. 
THE FARM BOY AND COLLEGE. 
I, as a reader, was much interested in an article 
under the heading of “College Education,” on page 
949. I am traveling the same road that this young 
man wishes to travel, only very slowly now. But 
good things come slow. I was brought up on a farm 
and wished to engage in fruit culture, and as there 
was no fruit to speak of in that section, I thought of 
going where there was fruit. But where should I go? 
I did not know. So having a little money I went to 
the New York State-College of Agriculture at Cornell, 
and took a short course in general agriculture. There, 
at the end of the term, I was recommended by the 
instructors to a farmer who had a small place in the 
fruit or grape belt. There was some fruit on the 
place and I have learned many things about the busi¬ 
ness while here. I get a little larger wages than if I 
had not gone to college, but that is only a small pro¬ 
portion of the benefit I received there. It put me in 
touch with many people representing all parts of 
the State and country. It gave me a broader view 
of agriculture. It gave me higher ideals of real 
farming. It gave me a desire to accomplish more 
in life. I had more than enough saved last Summer 
to take me through the horticultural Winter course 
this Winter at Cornell. I would then like to rent 
a place for a series of years, and raise small fruit 
as a side issue in order to get a start. v. T. 
Eden, N. Y. 
Take the Entire College Course 
In the “Hope Farm Notes,” page 949, you refer to 
“College Education,” and print a letter of inquiry 
from W. S. C. From one who has just completed the 
agricultural course of the State Agricultural College, 
and from observations before and since my “college 
days,” I would say take the time to obtain a full 
college course, and do not depend on a Winter course 
or all practical experience by hard work for others. 
Why? Well, there are several reasons. First, he refers 
to “renting a small place and begin and learn it by 
myself.” As for this method, there are many things 
which are essential for success which he cannot learn 
from reading and experimenting, and such as he does 
obtain in this way will cost him more and take more 
time than , a full college course. And then a man on 
a rented place realizes that all improvements are for 
the benefit of the owner, which does not inspire many 
renters to do their best. Secondly, he asks as to sav¬ 
ing “enough money to take me through an agricul- 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
tural college for a year” and again I say no. Better 
take the Winter course; it will do you as much good 
as one year. But better still, take what money you 
have and enter some good college, up in the line you 
wish to specialize in, and by the end of the first year, 
if you show by your work that you mean business, vou 
will find that ways and means for the next year have 
been solved. Thirdly, as for “a situation with some 
up-to-date fruit grower” it is all right. But have 
your professor get it for you for vacation time, and 
thus have the scientific and practical go hand in hand, 
as well as providing some of that money for the sec¬ 
ond year. The financial part of a college education 
has been the problem of many a student, but if you 
will look on down the college course you will, with 
very few exceptions, find them still at the wheel doing 
credit to themselves and their institution. In fact it 
is my belief that if more students had financial prob¬ 
lems there would be less of them go home for “Spring 
plowing.” As for work, at the Oregon Agricultural 
College the agricultural faculty, and especially the 
horticultural department, cannot supply the demand 
made upon them for graduate and student help. If 
you try to get all your learning from some successful 
man in the special line you wish to take you will get 
that and nothing else, while in a college course you 
will get along with your special study a general edu¬ 
cation as well as much of great future value to you 
that does not appear in the catalogue. And the more 
you go after the more you will get. 
Oregon. chas. h. hays. 
RUBBER PLANTING IN MEXICO. 
The advance guard of the American rubber planters 
appeared in Mexico in 1898, at the same time that the 
English began planting Para (South American) rub¬ 
ber in Ceylon on a commercial scale. Here we used 
the Castilloa, which is native to Mexico. In those 
days of pipe-dreams and rosy hopes the planters 
figured on a pound of rubber per annum from each 
tree six years old, and two pounds at eight to ten 
years of age. Wild trees in the forest give ten or 
more pounds per tapping, so our guess seemed a con¬ 
servative one, although we had no means of knowing 
the age of the wild trees nor how much they would 
yield annually if tapped moderately but steadily every 
year. In the forest the trees are tapped to death in 
two or three exhaustive attacks. Wherever the wild 
tree was found it was assumed that soil and climate 
would favor its cultivation, and extravagant salaries 
were paid managers because extravagant profits were 
expected from the business. These managers were 
almost invariably Americans fresh from the States 
and knew nothing of tropical life in general nor of 
the Mexican tropics in particular; usually they could 
not even speak the language of the country, and of 
course they knew nothing of rubber culture, because 
no one did anywhere. 
As the result of 10 years’ experience we now know 
that the Castilloa tree at six years of age yields only 
one or two ounces of rubber per annum, although 
the product could undoubtedly be doubled by another 
10 years of culture if only selected seed were sown, 
the most favorable locations picked and our present 
cultural knowledge made use of. But at least three- 
four-ths of the plantations now planted are hopeless 
propositions, as they have the wrong soil or climate 
or both or have been ruined by ignorant or corrupt 
management. The Castilloa tree requires a rich soil 
with a porous subsoil to enable the tap-root to de¬ 
velop; it should have at least 100 inches of rainfall 
per annum, -the thermometer should never go below 
60 Fahrenheit, and the land must be well drained. 
Virgin forest tracts should be used to avoid grass, 
which stunts the young trees. The forest is cut down 
in the Winter and burned over in the dry months of 
the Spring. When the Summer rains begin the rub¬ 
ber seeds are planted in the field, or a nursery is made 
and the plants transplanted when they are a few inches 
tall. About 500 to 700 trees to the acre is the popular 
number at present for planting, with the idea of 
ultimately maturing 200. The first two years little 
cleaning is necessary, as the fire has killed out roots 
and seeds, and by the third year the rubber should 
be 12 to 30 feet tall, and beyond need of much care. 
Bushes and other small trees are encouraged from 
this time on to keep out grass, and to mimic forest 
conditions for the roots and trunks of the rubber 
trees. Tapping begins at five to six years of age. but 
the product is not of good quality until about the 
eighth year. The latex is not the sap of the tree, but 
is found in vertical pores of the bark, so oblique 
cuts are made to secure it; they are made 15 inches 
apart and cups are placed to catch the flow. At the 
house the latex is diluted with water until a cream 
comes to the surface, and that dries into rubber. 
These methods of cultivation produce trees very 
cheaply; under favorable conditions they may cost as 
little as 15 cents each when six years old aside from 
interest on the capital invested, but the latter makes 
„ , December 4, 
a big item in the cost of each pound of rubber when 
the trees yield so little and the capital has been tied 
up five years to grow the trees. Under the most 
favorable conditions Mexican rubber now costs 40 to 
75 cents a pound to produce, including capital charges, 
and sells for $1.25 to $1.50. 
The most ominous fact that the Mexican industry 
faces is the discovery of multiple tapping of the Para 
tree which the English made in Ceylon a few years 
ago. This means that each cut made on the tree can 
be reopened one hundred or more times a year and a 
new supply of latex secured. Tapping increases the 
secretion of the fluid, just as milking a cow encour¬ 
ages her production of milk. This fact was unknown 
ten years ago, and does not appear to be true of any 
rubber tree but the Para. It enables the Para planter 
to secure several pounds of rubber per annum from 
each of his trees, where we get here only a few 
ounces from ours. Para rubber too is better than 
• 
Castilloa, and sells for more money. Ceylon Para 
costs less than 25 cents a pound laid down in Lon¬ 
don, including interest charges, and sells now at $2 
to $2.25. Is it any wonder that the English public 
is now crazy over Para rubber planting? The Para 
tree costs little more than ours to produce, and I 
believe that hereafter it will be planted in Mexico 
instead of Castilloa. A few small experimental 
patches arc already growing here. Castilloa planta¬ 
tions that enjoy the most favorable conditions will pay 
well on what they have actually cost so long as rubber 
remains high, but they cannot pay interest on the 
fancy capitalization that most of them labor under 
and which chiefly represents promoters’ profits. 
Mexico. j. Herbert poster. 
A DISCUSSION ON FARM STEAM POWER. 
On page 997, I notice a question about a farm 
boiler, with answer by T. T. P. This subject is one 
which is interesting to me at all times, and especially 
so since I left engineering and came on a farm two 
seasons ago. I want to put in a word of caution, for 
I verily believe too great care cannot be exercised 
in a olant of this kind. Of course it looks very 
simple to T. T. P. and to me to understand how a 
boiler should be set up and what care it should have. 
But how many farmers, do you suppose, would know 
what to do if the waterglass should break or become 
clogged, or the fuse plug should blow out? I feel 
that it is quite a serious thing to put a boiler carry¬ 
ing 75-pounds pressure in the care of an inexperi¬ 
enced person, even though he might be an understand¬ 
ing and careful man. If they have had no instruction 
or experience in the care of steam boilers, it is not 
« 
safe for them to undertake the installation and care 
of boilers without assistance. I have had experience 
with help who were unaccustomed to such work, and 
the various things they would do were sometimes 
startling, as well as surprising. 
When you set and connect a boiler in proper shape 
for a direct return of condensation, the level of the 
boiler and the grade of the pipes must be considered, 
or there will be trouble. Also proper valves and 
check-valves must be placed in position, and a knowl¬ 
edge of how to operate them for any required con¬ 
dition must be gained. Then as to water supply. 
How many farmers, who perhaps never used a boiler 
before, would know what to do if the injector re¬ 
fused to work just as the water was getting low in 
the boiler with a good head of steam ? I should not 
want to depend on the injector alone for water 
supply. A high-pressure boiler in the hands of a 
competent person is a fine thing to have, but for the 
small farmer, I believe a low pressure boiler—not 
over 20 pounds per square inch—for heating, etc., is 
the best. This will do all the heating, cooking, and 
even canning, as 15 pounds will give a temperature 
of 250 degrees, which is high enough for all nractical 
purposes. As for using 25 pounds on the radiators, 
I do not consider it practical, as the heat and pres¬ 
sure will cause so much expansion as soon to cause 
leaks and various troubles. I should use a steel boiler 
as he describes even for low pressure work. It is 
true that you cannot run your engine with this low 
pressure, nor do I consider it advisable to try to run 
a steam engine for farm work. I believe the necessary 
delay, the fuel required to raise steam to required 
pressure, and the heat wasted after the engine stops, 
will more than compensate for the extra cost of gaso¬ 
line as claimed. Then, too, it is not so flexible a 
power, nor so easily adapted to the various needs of 
the farm. The steam engine must of necessity be 
permanently located near the boiler, and the wood or 
grain or whatever requires the power must be brought 
to the engine, whereas the gasoline engine can be 
easily carried to the work and quickly adapted to 
various conditions. The boiler for heating need not 
be so large, and while no more economical in propor¬ 
tion, will require less fuel and be far safer. If I am 
correctly informed, such a plant as T. T. P. describes 
cannot be operated, in many States, without a license; 
and I fancy not many farmers would enjoy going 
through the cross fire of an engineer’s examination. 
I do not want by this to discourage anyone from 
attempting to make use of the boiler and power on 
the farm, only to the point of being conducive to 
safety, and that will safeguard their homes and inter¬ 
ests as well. 
Maine. v. L. H. 
