1909. 
ADVICE FROM A COLLEGE STUDENT. 
What the Course Does. 
I wish to write a few lines to “W. S. C.”, w r ho asked 
for advice on page 949. I am 21 years of age, married 
and nearly through college. You ask whether you 
shall go to college or work. Now, I believe you 
should go to college because, you are almost too 
young, and if you went into a business such as fruit 
growing now you possibly would make some mistake 
that would set you back for life. A bad start is 
what you want to avoid. Then at college you will 
grow to be more independent and more used to push 
ahead in your dealings with business men. One o’f 
the worst drawbacks to the farmer to-day is his lack 
of business knowledge, and yet very little is done about 
it in school or in the papers. Merely raising good 
fruit and poultry is not success for a commercial 
grower. He must dispose of his product, and here 
is where many a farmer falls down. For example, 
yesterday I saw some apples put in baskets for the 
market. Probably 80 per cent of them were just the 
right color and size, the remainder were these little, 
bitter apples. Don’t you think this man would have 
secured a better price if lie had taken these out? Just 
like the man who had a quart of small strawberries, 
and put two or three large ones on top! He never 
realized that the buyer made a comparison, and it 
was between these two or three large ones and the 
rest. But above all, a 'college education will be at 
your elbow at every turn in life. If you never get it 
you will not miss it as much as the boy who goes two 
years and then has to give 
it up. It will be useless for 
me to tell you how much 
good chemistry, bacteri¬ 
ology, etc., will do you. 
Now as to your finan¬ 
cial side. You say you 
would have to work two 
years before you could 
go to college. For your 
line of work (fruit and 
poultry) I believe the 
best college for you is 
the Michigan Agricul¬ 
tural College. As to ex¬ 
pense, the first year it 
will cost you $15 for a 
uniform (all students 
are required to drill), 
and about $18 for book 
and fees; not more. 
Then your board will be 
about $2.50 a week, and 
room about $1.50 to $2. 
At Christmas and Easter 
you will have to buy 
more books which will 
cost about $25 altogeth¬ 
er. These arc the high¬ 
est prices. You will have 
to do outside work. There is all you want at 15 cents 
an hour; you can work any hour that you get off. I 
know of several boys who pay for their board just by 
waiting on table. If President Snyder sees that you 
are doing your best to get through school you will 
get there. During the Summer you can save up about 
$50, and undoubtedly a little help from home will 
come, and before you know it you have been gradu¬ 
ated. That doesn’t mean that you have a license to 
go out and tell the farmers how to work, and for 
you to have large fancy barns with electric lights, 
steam heat, etc., but it means that you have been 
instructed how to pick up the small things and to 
make large ones of them; how to pick out a good hog, 
one with a good heart girth, straight bottom line, 
etc.; how to feed your cows and not give them twice 
as much as they need. It is true that many boys think 
they are too good for the farm when they get a couple 
of letters added to their name, but I will not, and I 
don’t think you will. There is an old man near the 
college who has bred Chester White pigs for 20 years, 
and I have spent many pleasant hours looking over 
his farm. He has a herd of 50 Holstein cow r s, about 
150 excellent pigs, nice horses and chickens and a 
300-acre farm. He raised six boys—sent the four 
oldest to school and they went finally to the city to 
work. The two youngest lie kept at home, and he 
has them yet. He has said many a time to me, “My, 
my, what a difference there is in some boys! Here I 
want ray boys on the farm and they won’t stay, and 
you are dying for the farm and your folks are doing- 
all in their power to keep you from it.” I might say 
here that my parents arc against my going on the 
farm, but you will find me there soon. I don’t know 
if you have got my point, but the gist of what I have 
said is: Go to college next September; take the regu¬ 
lar course; work hard from now on; don’t get the 
big head; and above all stick to the farm. r. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ALFALFA GROWING IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
A Disappointment Followed by Success. 
About eight years ago I started to raise Alfalfa. 
I had never before seen Alfalfa, but had read much 
of its merits in the farm papers. When I told my 
neighbors my idea of Alfalfa they only laughed at me, 
and had no faith in it. I was so anxious to raise 
Alfalfa that I started the best field (5 y 2 acres) I had. 
It was in corn with an extra crop of Crimson clover 
sown at the last working. I plowed this in April 
early, and soon had it worked down fine—a good 
seed bed. I sowed about 12 pounds of seed alone, 
and I rolled the soil in April before sowing, which 
was done with a broadcast clover seeder. With the 
weeder I harrowed in the seed. I had read much of 
the necessity of inoculating the soil when starting, but 
as I could not easily get any inoculating soil, and also 
because I did not believe such a little sprinkling of 
earth over the field would amount to anything, I tried 
it without. Oh, how I watched for the Alfalfa plants 
to come out of the ground! I expected soon to show 
my neighbors, who ridiculed me only, what Alfalfa 
is, and that I would cut three heavy crops of hay the 
first season. This field is bounded on two sides by a 
public road, so it was watched a good deal by many. 
I was asked by many passers-by what I would have 
in this field, and nearly everybody seemed to have no 
knowledge of Alfalfa at all. 
The plants came up, and so also the weeds. So 
far it did not grow quite as fast as I had expected. 
I expected it to grow faster than the weeds and 
choke them out. After the Alfalfa and weeds were 
about eight inches high T clipped them, expecting 
then that the weeds would die and that the Alfalfa 
would get new life and grow fast, but alas, the weeds 
were not all dead yet, and the Alfalfa did not seem 
to get new life. The season was a wet one and so I 
clipped it about three times the first season, and 
every time the Alfalfa got less. However, I gave it 
a chance the next season, and made the hay, but it 
was hardly worth mentioning. 
By this time the laugh was on me. Of course it 
was not very pleasant to bear all the criticism which 
my neighbors and “friends” made, but I kept quiet 
and was not discouraged. I was determined to raise 
Alfalfa. The next Spring I plowed it again and 
planted early potatoes, with which I put 600 nounds 
of high-grade fertilizer per acre. The field was limed 
about four years before. It is red shale soil, well 
drained naturally. I plowed nine inches deep. I dug 
the potatoes in July, harrowed the land well and 
sowed the last days in July. By this time I wanted 
to take no chances by not inoculating, so I sowed about 
400 pounds of soil to the acre. Where did I get the 
inoculating soil this time? I had a small patch in 
the field where the Alfalfa seemed to be very vigorous 
and thrifty. From this patch I took the soil about 
as deep as I had it plowed. Nodules were found 
clinging to the roots of these plants at this place, 
which proved to me that the bacteria are found in this 
soil. To put this soil on without much hard work 
I rigged up a one-horse cart and shovelled the soil 
on. A little boy rode the horse and a man sat on his 
knees in front of the box of soil and spread it with 
the hands as the horse was walking. This was done 
at the same time that the seed was sown, and har¬ 
rowed in right after with the weeder. This time the 
stand of Alfalfa surprised me favorably as much 
at the first time unfavorably. There was a perfect 
1083 
stand all over the field, and no weeds at all. In that 
Summer it grew about a foot high, but I did not 
mow it. Of course the weather was not favorable 
for starting it. The following season I cut three 
nice crops. The first crop was a very heavy one; it 
was almost ready to lodge—leaning nearly all over 
the field. Ever since I have cut three crops in a 
season except this one, which was an exceedingly dry 
Summer. The stand is still perfect, except where 
some dodder crept in in some patches. How this got 
in I cannot understand; did not find any the first 
two years. By this time I have started about 18 acres 
in Alfalfa and expect to start still more. My neigh¬ 
bors who first ridiculed me have started some too, 
and others are contemplating starting some. Alfalfa 
is a wonderful feed. I feed it to all stock—horses, 
cows, hogs and chickens. When I feed Alfalfa hay I 
feed very little grain to horses. Whenever I start 
a new piece now I inoculate it. Many others have 
obtained inoculating, soil from my field. Alfalfa can 
be grown on almost any soil except low undrained 
land. c. R. b. 
Bethel, Pa. 
THE GREAT CORN YIELD. 
I have read the following statement in my local 
paper: 
The winner in the corn growing contest, in this country 
was announced today by the State Commissioner of 
Agriculture, Mr. Graham, as Mr. J. F. Batts, who had 
grown 227 bushels on one acre. 
Now I don’t believe this, as I do not consider it 
possible. With corn in 
hills 3]/ 2 feet apart there 
would be 3,556 hills. 
With an average of three 
stalks to the hill this 
would be 10,668 stalks. 
Now do those people ex¬ 
pect anybody to believe 
that each stalk produced 
more than 25 ounces of 
corn? f. L. K. 
R. N.-Y.—We wrote 
W. A. Graham, Agricul¬ 
tural Commissioner of 
North Carolina, for the 
facts. He sends us state¬ 
ments which he says arc 
correct. Prof. Massey 
mentioned this same 
yield last • eek. From 
the report we learn that 
there were 19,000 stalks 
on the acre. The corn 
was planted April 17 
eight inches apart in 
the drills, and the drills 
41 inches apart. The 
land and the corn were 
both measured by relia¬ 
ble parties who certified 
to the results. The soil is described as a stiff, 
dark sandy upland—old land with yellow subsoil. 
Last year it was in wheat, followed by cow peas. 
The wheat yielded eight bushels. On the 12 th of 
March 25 two-horse loads of cow manure were 
spread on the acre. It was then plowed 12 inches 
deep and subsoiled six inches deeper. On the 
9th of April 20 more loads of manure were spread, 
and the field was plowed and subsoiled again—this 
time 20 inches deep. Three days later 800 pounds of 
acid phosphate and 2,000 pounds of cotton-seed meal 
were spread and harrowed in. Then furrows were 
made 41 inches apart and 600 pounds of an 8-3-3 
fertilizer put in the row. On May 20 a mixture of 
400 pounds cotton-seed meal, 400 acid phosphate, 800 
pounds kainit and 200 pounds nitrate of soda was 
put along the rows. Again on the 27th, another mix¬ 
ture of 200 pounds cotton-seed meal, 200 pounds acid 
phosphate, 400 pounds kainit and 200 pounds nitrate 
was broadcast and harrowed in. As if that were not 
enough, on June 9 still another mixture of 200 pounds 
cotton-seed meal, 200 pounds acid phosphate, 400 
pounds kainit and 200 pounds nitrate were dumped on. 
The corn was well cultivated and had to grow. The 
actual reported yield was 226^ bushels of ears. 
Let us see what this awful dose of manure and 
fertilizer looks like when 
brought 
together. 
Nitrogen 
Thos. Acid 
Potash 
45 tons manure 
450 
270 
540 
800 pounds fertilizer 
24 
64 
24 
2,800 lbs. cotton-seed meal 
196 
84 
42 
1,600 ills, acid phosphate 
256 
1,600 lbs. kainit 
200 
600 lbs. nitrate 
96 
Total 
766 
674 
806 
Here we have the nitrogen contained in nearly 80 
tons of manure put on one single acre. This corn 
crop, large as it was, removed from the soil about 250 
pounds of nitrogen, 90 of phosphoric acid and 75 of 
potash. Mr. Batts says that the total cost of this 
corn crop was $139.02, including $56.25 for manure, 
and $58.80 for fertilizers. We would certainly like 
to have that field as lie left it to plant strawberries on. 
A HILLSIDE PEACH ORCHARD IN SOUTHERN INDIANA. Fig. 587. 
