THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
seed were cut with a mower, and the seed flailed out, 
then separated. Since then a small thrasher run by a 
gasoline engine has superseded the flail. The vetch 
and rye seed are not easily separated with sieves, 
and we have found that it can be most satisfactorily 
done by use of a broad cloth endless belt arranged 
in a framework which is tilted up at an angle of 
about 45 degrees. The belt is turned towards the top 
slowly, while the mixed seed is sprinkled in the belt 
from a hopper or by hand. The round vetch seed 
rolls down the belt to the bottom, while the long 
rough rye kernels are caught by the nap of the cloth 
and carried up over the top end of the belt. 
Where this seed has been used on tobacco lands it 
has been found that the soil has been greatly im¬ 
proved for tobacco production. The tobacco plants 
on vetch lands are healthier, resist drought or flood¬ 
ing better, and require less commercial fertilizer than 
where no vetch has been used. The writer has visited 
many fields every season for the past five years, where 
tobacco has been planted on vetch lands, and where 
tobacco grew on similar adjoining lands, without 
vetch, and in every case the vetch lands produced the 
earliest, healthiest, best crops of tobacco. In fact, I 
have seen soils that were unhealthy for tobacco grow¬ 
ing brought back to the best of condition, where a 
change could only be attributed to the use of suc¬ 
cessive cover crops of vetch. 
Little or practically no acclimatized seed is avail¬ 
able for any general planting. It seems to the 
writer, that a large amount of waste land, now found 
in New England and New York and nearby States, 
could be utilized for vetch seed production. Not only 
can valuable seed be produced for the cultivated por¬ 
tions of these farms, but the abandoned or semi- 
abandoned fields can in this way be improved for 
the culture of other crops. A number of New Eng¬ 
land farmers are now practicing this plan profitably, 
and I believe it could be widely extended with equally 
good results. 
HAIRY VETCH FOR CORNFIELDS.—In the 
cooperative breeding of a variety of dent corn adapted 
for Connecticut, the writer and N. H. Brewer, of 
Connecticut, conceived the idea of trying vetch as a 
cover crop for cornfields. Accordingly, in 1907, a 
10-acre cornfield was sown with Hairy vetch seed, 
raised on the farm, in addition to the tobacco lands 
which were annually seeded to vetch. The vetch seed 
was pown in the corn about the first of August, broad¬ 
cast by hand, and covered by hitching a horse to a 
small shallow-toothed harrow that could be easily 
dragged between the rows of standing corn. A splen¬ 
did vetch cover crop was secured, which the next 
Spring grew vigorously and produced a deep mat of 
tender foliage. This crop was plowed under easily, 
and the vegetation rooted quickly, and did not in¬ 
terfere in any way with the processes of planting, 
cultivating or handling the land for the succeeding 
corn crop. This field produced a record-breaking 
yield of corn, as it has done since with usual methods 
of culture. Other observations have shown similar 
results, and the importance of the adaptability of 
Hairy vetch for use in cornfields is such that the 
writer cannot too strongly urge similar trials by 
farmers in other sections. In some cases partial 
failure has been met, because the soil was not in¬ 
oculated, from seed that was not Hairy vetch seed 
but some other species palmed off as Hairy vetch 
seed, from lack of knowledge of how to sow and 
cover the seed, or from the lack of hardiness of the 
imported seed. As a whole, however, our observa¬ 
tions have been very encouraging, and point to the 
practicability and profit from this use of the Hairy 
vetch crop for corn lands. 
METHOD OF SOWING IN CORNFIELDS.— 
From 40 to 60 pounds of seed should be sown per 
acre. We have found it advantageous to sow with 
the vetch seed from 10 to 15 pounds of rye seed per 
acre, although this may not be the case in all places. 
In one or two places the writer has seen barley seed 
sown with the vetch seed with good results. One 
man, sowing the seed broadcast, can cover several 
acres per day. We have found it possible to sow over 
three corn rows at a time. A small grain drill, used 
for seeding wheat in corn, can be used to advantage 
where available for this purpose. When the seed is 
sown broadcast a narrow cultivator with small teeth, 
or a small light harrow, or a drag with spikes driven 
through it, can be drawn between the corn rows, with 
one horse, and will cover the vetch seed satisfactorily. 
Care should be taken not to run the cultivator too 
close to the rows of corn so as possibly to injure the 
corn roots. The writer has frequently found that 
this shallow cultivation was a benefit to the corn 
crop in dry seasons, in addition to covering the vetch 
seed. 
SOURCES OF VETCH SEED.—The only ade¬ 
quate source of Hairy vetch seed at present is im¬ 
ported seed. This seed can be secured in Russia, 
Germany, Italy, France and other countries where this 
vetch is extensively grown for improving the soil 
and for forage. All of the leading seed houses carry 
this seed, from whom it can be purchased at any time. 
The desirability of gnnving an acclimated home sup¬ 
ply of seed is to be urged wherever it is practicable to 
do so. This can best be done, perhaps, in some in¬ 
stances, as a co-operative neighborhood undertaking, 
where the necessary machinery, e. g., thrasher, sepa¬ 
rator, etc., can be owned in common. The methods 
of 'seed saving and production have not been fully 
worked out as yet, as regards the best and most econ¬ 
omical method. Improvements on present methods 
will doubtless be effected when the farmers begin 
A SHOCK OF RHODE ISLAND CORN. 
seriously to undertake this business. Enough has been 
done, however, to show and prove that*home seed pro¬ 
duction is perfectly practical under present conditions 
and with our limited knowledge of this crop. 
U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. A. i>. shamel. 
(To be continued .) 
A “DOWN EAST” CORN CROP. 
I am convinced that corn can be raised in New 
England in competition with the West, acre for acre, 
with the balance wheel in favor of New England. I 
will give you a little of my experience. In 1909 I 
planted a three-acre lot that had not been plowed in 
many years, as it was some way from the house, and 
it was in a very poor condition, not raising $5 of fod¬ 
der of any kind. I plowed it and harrowed with a 
disk harrow until I had a fine mellow seed bed; then 
put one-half ton of fertilizer per acre sown broadcast, 
and harrowed it with Acme harrow. I husked 290 
bushels of ears of sound corn. In 1910 I planted the 
same lot, same treatment, same amount of fertilizer, 
and husked 308 bushels of sound corn,, one bushel of 
ears when shelled weighed 35 pounds, making 62 
bushels of shelled corn per acre. I sell most of my 
crop for eating meal, which brings $1.50 per bushel of 
50 pounds at wholesale, and 50 cents per peck at re- 
A VINE OF MICHIGAN VETCH. 
tail. I had another lot of 1% acres from which I 
husked 172 bushels, which is a larger yield than the 
other. 
In regard to the expense, I do not believe it is fail' 
to charge $5 per day for team and man, which is the 
price here, but to charge the actual cash in money, 
because if we farmers should hire everything done at 
highest wages, we might as well give up the idea of 
farming for profit. I have given you the yield of my 
poorest lot of corn. I have just been to the crib to 
shell a bushel of ears of corn, and am surprised at 
February 25. 
the result. The shelled corn from one bushel of ears 
weighed just 35 pounds, or 70 pounds to the bushel, 
making the yield 85 bushels of 56 pounds per acre, 
Allowing six pounds per bushel for toll for grinding, 
we have 85 bushels of meal at $1.50 per bushel per 
acre, or $127.50. I am aware that that is an excep¬ 
tional price, but it is what I get. The above is the 
yield of the best acre, the other was 62 bushels. 
As to the actual cost it is hard to tell, as I did not 
keep a special account of the time on each lot. I 
shall plant about six or seven acres this year and 
intend to keep an accurate account of the cost of each 
lot, but I can give a pretty near estimate for one acre. 
Dr., labor, actual cost.$15.00 
Ono-half ton of fertilizer. 20.00 
Husking 136 bushels at 5 cents. 6.80 
Cr. 85 bushels meal at $1.50.$127.50 
By stalks . 15.00 
$142.50 
41.80 
$100.70 
The poorest yield 02 1-2 bushels at $1.50. $93.75 
By stalks . 15.00 
$108.75 
Dr. to labor .$15.00 
Dr. to fertilizer. 20.00 
Dr. to husking . 5.00 
- 40.00 
Cr. to balance . $68.75 
I think the estimate for labor is full, high enough. 
I do not know what the mills are paying for corn 
now; the last 1 sold to the mill I got $1.50 per bushel 
of 56 pounds. I am situated near a large city, and so 
have exceptional advantages as to market, but never¬ 
theless I am satisfied it is to the advantage of every¬ 
one in New England to raise more corn. The corn 
exposition held at Worcester last Fall opened the 
eyes of a great many as to what New England can 
do in the matter of raising corn. I enclose a photo¬ 
graph of the corn on my poorest lot, this page. The 
shock was not put up for exhibition purposes, buLjust 
as the men put them up, not knowing I was to take 
a photograph of them. The kind of corn I grow is the 
Rhode Island white flint, as the yellow is not salable 
in this vicinity for eating purposes. 
Newport Co., R. I. joshua t. durfee. 
COLD FACTS ABOUT CHESTNUTS. 
In issue of December 17 last I note article on chestnut 
culture by II. E. Van Deman. I have been in correspond¬ 
ence with a nursery firm of Rochester, N. Y., relative to 
chestnut culture. They are introducing the Sober Para¬ 
gon. IVhat about the Sober Paragon? Would this far 
south at practically sea level be favorable to chestnut 
culture? There are none here. n. a. b. 
Run, Tex. 
For several years past I have noticed the claims 
about the “Sober” Paragon chestnut. Now the fact 
is that the Paragoii is one of the best cultivated chest¬ 
nuts, and there is no need to brag about any particu¬ 
lar set of trees of it over another. Mr. Sober in 
Pennsylvania got a start of the variety, which is a 
seedling that originated in that State, and has no 
doubt done well with the trees in the matter of bear¬ 
ing, etc. They are all good and equally good for 
planting where the chestnut will succeed. But there 
is much reason to be very cautious about going into 
chestnut growing with the expectation or hope of 
much profit anywhere in the Eastern States, for two 
reasons, if not more. These reasons are the great 
prevalence of the two chestnut weevils, especially 
where there are wild chestnut trees growing, and the 
terrible ravages of the chestnut trunk-blight which 
is steadily spreading. In the West these troubles do 
not occur as yet, and probably because there are too 
few chestnut trees to furnish opportunity for propa¬ 
gating them. As the climate of Texas is too warm to 
be very suitable for the chestnut to thrive, I would 
think it unwise to do more than try a tree or two. 
And why should anyone want to spend much time 
and trouble on the chestnut, which is of doubtful 
success at best, while the pecan is entirely at home 
there and is the best of all nuts that grow? Why 
chase after a phantom when there is a reality within 
easy reach? h. e. van deman. 
MICHIGAN VETCH.—Mr. Shamel’s ^article is 
printed in response to several hundred questions about 
vetch. Last Fall we printed an article by Mr. R. A. 
Smythe of Michigan, who has been quite successful 
with this crop on light fruit soils. Mr.. Smythe was 
fairly swamped with questions about vetch, and could 
not possibly answer them personally. In order to 
show what this crop comes to when well established, 
we show another picture of a single vine as grown 
in Michigan, see above. You will see that it reaches 
to the top of a tall man’s body and is certainly “great 
stuff” on a fruit farm for adding humus and plant 
food. Mr. Shamel’s article gives the leading facts 
about it. Remember that he is talking about a Fall- 
seeded crop like Crimson clover. This Hairy vetch 
is not to be seeded this Spring. All the leading seeds¬ 
men offer the seed. Spring is the time to observe 
how this crop grows, but not the time to sow it. If 
you have any growing try to save seed from it. 
