464 
THE RURAL* NEW-YORKER 
April 6, 
best security. It is absolutely indestructible, it will 
neither burn up or be ruined by incompetent officers, 
as may be the case in an industrial plant or a rail¬ 
road. The fact that American farmers pay from one 
per cent to three per cent more interest for their 
loans than large corporations pay is not because the 
security is not so good, but because they have not or¬ 
ganized so as to utilize their credit to the best ad¬ 
vantage. Another thing w’hich the organization does, 
which is no small consideration, is to insure the 
prompt and punctual payment of interest, which is not 
always the case with private loans. Many men hesi¬ 
tate to make farm loans, although they know the 
security is perfectly good, because they never know 
when they will get their interest. While the security 
is good, the interest cannot be depended upon as to 
prompt payment. Next week I will tell something of 
the different organizations in Germany and their rela¬ 
tion to the individual farmer. h. c. price. 
Halle a. Saale, Germany. 
AN ENORMOUS WASTE. 
This waste is the almost if not total loss of the 
clover seed sown upon many farms. This is especially 
so upon those farms which might be called “run 
down,” of which many are found in the States east 
of the Mississippi River. We are advised to sow- 
clover seed, and yet as a matter of fact in many sec¬ 
tions not one field in 10 seeded ever shows a good or 
fair clover sod. Why is this so and how remedy it? 
We would better stop buying clover seed at $12 per 
bushel and devote some time and money to studying 
better seeding methods. My own one year’s experi¬ 
ence in clover seeding upon a poor sandy loam has 
been a failure, except that a few points have been 
noted that may be vital ones, and these will be tried 
in this Spring seeding. Last year the seed was broad¬ 
cast in early Spring upon Fall-sown rye, seed being 
sown during last freezes. The rye was poor, and we 
had but little rain, and apparently the seed thrown 
upon surface of ground either failed to grow or 
sprouted and then dried out. There is no other kind 
of high-priced seed scattered so freely and under such 
poor conditions for germination and growth as clover. 
This year I shall try the plan advocated by the Ohio 
Experiment Station, broadcast seed upon Fall-sown 
grain, then harrow over twice with a spike-tooth 
smoothing harrow. In their tests this did not injure 
yield of grain, and gave a good clover seeding in al¬ 
most every instance. A light top-dressing of straw 
over Fall-sown grain also almost always gave a good 
catch. 
Last Spring I also seeded clover with oats, sowing 
oats V/z bushel to the acre, and clover seed applied 
in front of drill hoes, and 300 pounds basic slag 
drilled in with oats. The land was in fine condition. 
Here a few more clover plants grew than where 
seeded with rye, but not enough to make a decent crop 
of clover hay, but my lesson here was that all through 
the Spring and Summer both before and after oats 
were harvested a row of thrifty clover plants showed 
where the wheels of the drill had thoroughly com¬ 
pacted the ground, also at both ends of field where 
the team in harrowing and drilling had compacted the 
ground the stand was good, and in many places in the 
field the footsteps of the horses attached to drill 
could be traced by the regularly placed clumps of 
clover plants. Therefore this year in seeding with 
oats a thorough compacting of the ground after seed¬ 
ing will be made so as to insure a quick and thorough 
germination of all live seed. We cannot, at present 
prices, afford to gamble with clover seed. b. d. v. b. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. 
“GOLD BRICKS” IN TREE MEDICINES. 
The season is approaching when fruit growers and 
owners of shrubs and shade trees try to protect their 
plants and trees from fungus and insect enemies. Each 
year brings a new crop of spray mixtures and tree 
“dopes,” and many people are persuaded to spend 
money for some new discovery that is “sure death 
to all bugs and diseases.” 
A few years ago there were the travelling agents, 
who went to the farmers in the country and offered 
to make their trees more fruitful by boring holes in 
the trunks of the trees and inserting a special mix¬ 
ture which would be absorbed and distributed by the 
sap. The price for such treatments was commonly 
$1 per tree, and the material used was often largely 
composed of sulphur. For a time this was a profitable 
gold brick, but the worthlessness of such treatments 
finally became so well known that the old game could 
no longer be worked. The introduction of the San 
Jose scale revived it, however, dressed in a new suit 
of clothes. New mixtures were discovered, which 
the promoters smoothly explained were to be placed 
in holes bored in the trunks of the trees where they 
would be absorbed into the circulation of the sap of 
the trees and carried to the branches and twigs and 
every San Jose scale would be killed. A few more 
people were persuaded to invest in this gold brick, 
while the scale grew fat. 
Then, certain localities became afflicted with the 
carbolic acid discovery. People were told if they 
CURING ALFALFA HAY. 
Much has been said about curing Alfalfa; as yet 
I have not seen my method explained. I commence 
cutting when but few blossoms are open, and in the 
morning, soon as the dew is off. If the day is warm 
(a good hay day) I began raking the next morning, 
using an old-fashioned revolving wooden rake, going 
around the field in same direction as when mowing. 
This gathers the stalks evenly on the rake, and when 
revolved, places the leaves and small branches, which 
are partially cured, underneath the windrow and all 
the large stems on top, where the sun can get at them 
direct. In one or two days, or as soon as the stems 
are properl}- cured, I haul to the barn. No bedding, 
bunching or caps needed, and no loss of leaves. Being 
underneath the windrow, they remain damp enough 
to handle without falling off. Should there come a 
rain while in the windrow it will do no damage. 
The leaves and small branches being underneath do 
not bleach. I have 4j4 acres in Alfalfa. The first 
year I used a spring-tooth wheel rake and canvas 
covers. When I came to haul, which was soon as 
properly cured, I found' the new growth under the 
bunches had all turned yellow, and did not recover for 
several days. For the last two seasons I have used the 
revolving rake and find it a great saving of time, and 
no loss of leaves. N. a. hadden. 
Ohio. 
GOLDEN SWEET APPLE. Fig. 160. 
(See page 467.) 
would paint the trunks of their trees with crude car¬ 
bolic acid, it would be absorbed through the bark, be 
taken up by the sap and distributed to the branches 
and all scale destroyed. No matter if experiment 
station experts did say that crude carbolic acid was 
destructive to live plant tissue, some persisted in 
making their own experiments, and they found that 
the carbolic acid would destroy the bark on young 
trees and eventually kill them. 
Special tree “dopes,” guaranteed to prevent and 
cure the chestnut tree disease have’ recently sprung 
up like mushrooms. Some tell the old story of intro¬ 
ducing some material into the sap circulation of the 
tree by applications to the bark, others by means of 
boring a hole in the trunk and inserting material, 
and still others expect to effect a cure by fertilization. 
Much more attention is now being given each year 
to the preservation of our shade trees, especially in 
suburban towns. Experts are engaged to prune them; 
to fill up cavities and treat all bad wounds. Many 
people in the suburbs and towns know very little 
about plant growth or the value or effect of various 
Z/z in. LY/c/e 
PUNCHER AND TONGS USE IN TRANSPLANTING. 
Fig. 161. 
spray materials in protecting trees from their insect 
and disease- enemies, or what they can and cannot ac¬ 
complish, and a still fewer number of these people 
have ever had any experience with the old gold brick 
games. It is in this new field that the manufacturer 
of some new tree dope now finds the most fertile soil 
to plant his wares. Let owners of shade and fruit 
trees beware of any material that is said to kill all 
insects and prevent all plant diseases. It is likely to 
prove to be an affliction in itself. m. a. blake. 
New Jersey Experiment Station. 
The Kansas Agricultural College will send men out to 
show- farmers how to build concrete silos. Such “exten¬ 
sion” work is good. 
THE DIRECT SALE OF SILAGE. 
There seems to be a lot of conjecture about market¬ 
ing silage. The feeding value of this product is con¬ 
ceded by those who have silos. The professional 
writers in farm journals distort the protein and fat 
content figures so that it makes a conspicuous joke. 
I have read several articles on the subject and find 
they differ. Take for instance the article of F. L. 
Allen, page 154; he places a money value of $2.50 to 
$3 per ton, and at the same time gives a feeding value 
of nearly one-fourth the value of clover hay and half 
the value of Timothy hay. If he is right, then why 
should not silage have a market value at the same 
ratio? Mixed bay is selling here at $25 to $26 the ton 
at the barn and baled hay at $25 the ton; in either case 
it would bring the price of silage up to $6 to $8 per 
ton. Thus $2.50 is too low an estimate. If we take A. 
L. Mitchell’s figure on page 174, the cost of putting in 
the silage after the crop is grown $1.20 the ton, and he 
is evidently correct, because he quotes figures on labor 
that compare favorably with the market price for such 
labor in general, it certainly costs something to grow 
the crop. 
The writer is selling silage locally, and finds a ready 
sale at $6 the ton at the silo, $8 delivered within a 
radius of two or three miles. We find, however, 
this price is too low; $8 at the silo and $10 delivered 
would be nearer right, for the reason it takes time to 
handle it and there is some waste, and last but not 
least the silo dealers estimate the capacity too high. 
Any farmer who buys a 14x18 foot silo with the 
understanding he can put away 70 tons “is stung.” 
Actual measurements over the scales make a tub of 
this size hold about half, or 40 tons. We handle it 
in bags ; an ordinary bran sack holds about two bushels, 
or from 45 to 55 pounds, according to how- much the 
bag is bounced to settle while filling. The customer 
comes every fourth day and takes away 20 bags, feed¬ 
ing five bags per day. The last bag is apparently as 
good as the first, as the stock relish it and there seems 
to be no ill effects. It has shown after the second 
day of its use the flow of milk has increased 30 to 50 
per cent and put a very perceptible amount of flesh on 
each creature in three weeks’ time over a mixed hay 
and grain ration. In our own dairy it has increased 
the milk flow double, or 100 per cent, besides the in¬ 
crease in flesh. We feed nothing else except what 
water the stock want to drink (we feed three times a 
day). Our customers say they feed silage morning 
and evening and at noon hay and some grain. We 
know it is practicable to market it locally. It need not 
be taken out each day in Winter; what can be done 
in warm weather remains to be seen, as well as what 
can be done by drying. We may have something to 
say later, as we are experimenting on these lines. 
The only regrets we have at present are that the sup¬ 
ply is limited. We wish we had 10 or a dozen silos 
of good proportions and all full; we would try to get 
a few more of these 35-cent dollars; the farmer’s 
share. j. c. B. 
Connecticut. 
R. N.-Y.—We have claimed that good silage is 
worth from one-quarter to one-third the local price of 
good hay. This was about what Mr. Allen figured. 
Where hay is worth $20 per ton on this figuring, silage 
should bring $5 to $6. It is really worth more than 
this for feeding dairy cattle. The above article sug¬ 
gests a possible new business in many localities where 
family cows are kept. The silage handled in bags as 
described above, would make good feed for such cows 
and retail buyers would pay almost any price for r. 
It will not work so well when warm weather comes. 
