1912. 
677 
the rukae new-yorkeb 
Thousand-headed Kale and Marrow Cabbage. 
The Western Washington Experiment 
Station at Puyallup has issued a bulletin 
calling attention to the above members of 
the cabbage family, which form convenient 
soiling crops for either dairy cattle or poul¬ 
try. Unlike ordinary cabbage, they do not 
form a compact head, but their leaves 
spread out from more elongated stems, 
the entire plant, except a small portion of 
the basal stem, being greatly relished by 
cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry. Neither 
plant is suitable for silage or for curing 
like hay, but must be fed green. They are 
not injured by freezing weather down to 
about 10 degrees above zero. 
Thousand-headed or cow kale produces 
SO to 40 tons an acre, still larger yields 
being reported. It grows to a height of 
from two to 4% feet, a single plant often 
weighing SO pounds. The kale has a 
nutritive ratio of 1 :2.4, being more nitro¬ 
genous than vetch or clover, while its suc¬ 
culence gives it a value not shown by the 
chemical analysis. 
The marrow cabbage, shown in Fig. 209, 
is a hybrid secured by crossing kohl rabi, 
thousand-headed kale, and the Jersey cbou. 
It resembles kale very closely when young, 
but as it grows older the stalk enlarges, 
PLANT OF MARROW CABBAGE. Fig. 209. 
reaching a diameter of from three to six 
inches at the largest part. The stalk va¬ 
ries in height from two to four feet, de¬ 
pending upon the richness of the soil, and 
often weighs 10 or more pounds. It has 
a solid pith, or marrow, and it is from this 
that it takes its name. A peculiar natural 
habit of the marrow cabbage is that the 
lower leaves enlarge and then turn yellow 
and fall off. Then the next lower leaves 
enlarge and in due time turn yellow and 
fall, and so on, until the stalk becomes 
bare for two-thirds or more of its length. 
These leaves may be pulled off and fed 
just before they begin to turn yellow. It 
is this habit that makes the marrow cab¬ 
bage an especially suitable soiling crop for 
poultry during Summer and Fall. Poultry 
do not eat the large loaf stalks unless they 
are cut up, but these may be fed to hogs 
or cattle. The marrow cabbage is not 
•luite so resistant to frost as the kale, but 
Is regarded as equal to it in feeding value. 
The cultural treatment for both these 
plants is the same as for common cabbage. 
PLANTING WITH PUNCHER AND TONGS. 
I have just read on page 455 an article on 
the use of “puncher and tongs” for planting, 
lo the casual observer it would go un¬ 
noticed ; to a man paying .$2 per day it 
would seem that he was wasting money to 
plant with a trowel when one man can 
plant 20,000 plants in a day with these two 
simple tools, and do the work of live men 
at $2 per day. I am 45 years in this 
planting business and have planted every¬ 
thing that grows under every condition and 
claim to be an expert at this particular 
thing, and always made my boast that I 
could plant all round any man I ever met 
with a trowel at planting, so I cannot let 
“Trucker, Jr.” have it all his own way, as 
it is misleading in the extreme. The best 
day’s planting I ever did was 7,(500 cab¬ 
bage in 8 V 2 hours, and on one occasion^ I 
planted 1,000 in one hour, and I did not 
finish fighting for my head. That was 
under the best possible conditions on silt 
land, and a man will not exert himself 
to that painful degree working for $2 a 
day. 
Now let us consider for a minute the 
idea of a man picking up in a pair of tongs 
20,000 plants at a distance of three feet 
from his hand and placing them carefully 
in a hole. He has three movements for 
each plant, and would have to plant 2,000 
per hour, or over 300 per minute; that is 
over 900 movements per minute, which 
seems ridiculous, and the poor boy dropping 
the plants must hustle. I had a man to 
dig the plants and carry to each end of the 
rows and place them in tubs, so that the 
boy did not have to run after plants, as he 
could fill up at each end, and he could not 
drop them fast enough, or I could have 
done my stunt in eight hours. If 20,000 
plants of any kind were put in boxes and 
a man had a chair beside them he could 
not take them out singly and drop them at 
his side in a day. If my comment seems 
severe do something for a minute and see 
how many movements by hand you can do 
in a minute; count for instance. You 
cannot count 300 in a minute. Now just 
fancy strawberry plants going in at that 
rate. There is no use for a machine with 
two horses and throe men planting truck at 
the rate of 10,000 per day and calling it a 
big day. It pales into nothing compared 
with this apparatus. It does seem as 
though there was a mistake in the ciphers. 
If there is not it will be a long time be¬ 
fore “Trucker Jr.” can make Trucker Sr. 
swallow that story. Ralph hall. 
Essex Co., N. J. 
Reply by Trucker Jr. 
Mr. Ilall evidently thinks I have been 
telling a “fairy tale.” I stated on page 
455 that by using puncher and tongs a 
man with boy to drop plants can set from 
14,000 to 20,000 plants a day. I can 
assure Mr. Hall that that statement is 
altogether within the facts, and there is no 
mistake in the ciphers. But there cer¬ 
tainly is a mistake in his ciphers. Ac¬ 
cording to his figures a man setting 20,000 
plants a day must put in 300 a minute and 
make 900 movements. That certainly would 
be going some. My “extremely misleading 
statements,” as he terms them, have upset 
his calculations. To set 20,000 plants in a 
day of 10 hours requires, according to my 
figuring, that they go in at the" rate of 
33 1-3 plants per minute, and that is not 
so ridiculous after all. When making the 
statement as to the number of plants that 
could be set in a day I kept well within 
the facts. Mr. Walter Heritage, a Glou¬ 
cester County farmer, writing of this ma¬ 
chine or tool in an extract of the "Thirty- 
first Annual Report of the N. J. State 
Board of Agriculture,” sent out as a bul 
letin on sweet potato production, says 
“An expert hand can put out 15,000 to 
22,000 plants a day. and I have heard of 
some reaching 25,000.” Now I have never 
seen anyone set 25,000 plants in a day, 
but I know 20,000 has been exceeded many 
times. 
Now as to the boy who drops the plants, 
I will admit that the speed of the operator 
depends largely on the dropper, but surely 
a normal boy over 12 years of age who 
could drop but 7,000 or 8,000 plants a 
day was never raised on a truck farm. If 
he was the sooner he takes up the study 
of law or medicine the better it will he 
for him. If Mr. Hall will get another 
expert to join him and come down here 
at sweet potato time, and each do what 
he considers a fair day's work of 6,000 to 
7,000 plants, I will find a girl who win 
drop plants fast enough to keep both of 
them going. A boy will not be required. 
The average dropper can easily drop 14,- 
000 to 16,000 plants a day, while one quick 
and active can drop 20,000 or more. A 
man sitting on a chair picking plants 
singly from a tub might fall asleep, and 
thereby fail in doing his 20.000 stunt. 
But that is no reason it cannot be done. 
Although I myself am long out of practice 
at dropping, still I will guarantee, pro¬ 
vided the day is calm and there is not 
too much sorting, to drop 20,000 sweet po¬ 
tato plants, placing them one at a time, 
18 inches apart on the row and lay them 
in the position desired by the man doing 
the setting, and I will not be more than 
10 hours doing the work. 
To the readers of Thu R. N.-Y. I wish 
to say the puncher and tongs is a good 
thing, and will prove a valuable acquisi¬ 
tion to any farmer having plants to set. 
Here in the sweet potato growing section’ 
of Gloucester Couuty this machine or a 
modification of it is used almost exclusively 
for setting the millions of plants that are 
put in annually. In the whole section I 
do not know of a single horse-drawn trans¬ 
planter being used. On this farm between 
150,000 to 200.000 plants of various kinds 
are set annually, and all are put in with 
puncher and tongs, the only trowel on the 
place being a mason's trowel. 
For Mr. Hall I have a suggestion. He 
lives in Essex County, and it will cost him 
but a few dollars in car fare t.o come to 
this section. If he will come down almost 
any good day between May 10th and 20th 
and visit sweet potato growers in the 
vicinity of Swedesboro or Bridgeport in 
Gloucester County or Fedricktown and 
Penn’s Grove in Salem County, he will 
see this machine in actual use. If he is 
not too old he may learn to use it, and 
thereby do what ho considers the work of 
two to five men at $2 a day. That will 
more than pay for the car 'fare. I will 
not promise that he will find many putting 
out 20,000 or more a day, but he will find 
any number of operators putting out just 
twice as many as he can put out when 
making a record, and they will not be 
exerting themselves to the painful degree 
he describes either. After he comes down 
then let him report what ho sees in TnE 
R. N.-Y. and say whether he has suc¬ 
ceeded in swallowing my story. 
TRUCKER ,TR. 
R. N.-Y.—That certainly puts it up to 
Mr. Hall! _ 
Lentils in the North. 
Can lentils be grown in a northern cli¬ 
mate ? w. p. 
Michigan. 
We do not think the lentil would ripen 
seed in a northern climate, as it is a warm 
weather plant, grown in southern Europe 
and the warmer parts of the Orient. It is 
usually sown in March, which would not 
seem possible for any bean in Michigan. It 
is of very simple culture, being sown in 
drills in light sandy soil. It is subject to 
weevil attacks, and is said to keep better 
in the pod than when thrashed out. 
Parsley for Family Use. 
Will you tell me how to handle parsley 
the whole year, as my family uses it in the 
Winter and I wish to know how to have it 
green and fresh. c. r. 
Port Jervis, N. Y. 
Sufficient parsley for the needs of a fam¬ 
ily in the Winter may be had by taking up 
the plants in the Fall. Plant them in a 
flat and keep them in a sunny window the 
same as you would house plants, g. g. i. 
Paper Pots. —On page 490 W. F. Massey 
gives his experience in the matter of start¬ 
ing early tomatoes, and in the main I think 
his advice is good, but he makes a mistake 
in quoting paper pots at $5 per 1,000, as I 
am of the opinion that this would pre¬ 
clude the use of them as too expensive. 
However, I find an advertisement, offering 
these pots at $1.25 per 1,000, which puts 
them within the reach of the truck farmer. 
I know from my experience that the point 
to be made by tliet tomato grower is to get 
them into the market at the earliest possi¬ 
ble moment. h. h. 
Hupmobile Long-Stroke “ 32” Touring Car, $900 
F. O. B. Detroit, including equipment of windshield, gas lamps and generator, oil lamps, toola 
and horn. Three speeds forward and reverse ; sliding gears. Four cylinder motor, 31-4-inch 
bore and 5 1-2-inch stroke. Bosch magneto, 106-inch wiieel base, 32 x 3 1-2-inch tire’s, 
standard Hupmobile blue. Roadster, $900. 
Says it’s the best car on 
earth to pull in the mud 
Late last March, when_the country 
rds drove 
_ _ roads 
were at their worst, Earl Sowards 
a recently-bought Hupmobile ‘32’ touring 
car, fresh from the Detroit factory, to his 
home in Decatur, Ind. 
His testimony as to the pulling power of the 
‘32’ is so convincing and emphatic that 
we quote it verbatim from his letter to 
us describing the trip 
“It is the best mud-turtle you ever saw. I 
could not tell you how bad the roads were, 
for if I did you would not believe me,” 
the letter says. 
“ I had 23 miles where I never saw a place 
that the mud was less than six inches 
deep; and one place the mud came above 
the running board for a space of 40 rods 
or more, it is impossi¬ 
ble to stick the car. 
“The Model ‘32’ is the best 
car on earth to pull in 
the mud. I know, for I 
have driven several of 
the best makes. I have 
had eight years of ex¬ 
perience. I never 
touched any part of the 
motor, only to put in oil. 
Standard 20 h. p 
F. O. B. Detroit, with same power plant that 
four cylinders, 20 h. p., sliding gears, Bosch 
lamps and generator, oil lamps, tools and horn 
finished steel box mounted on rear deck, $850. 
I was pulling through the mud along by a 
farmer’s house. Just in front of the house 
was some water, and I thought I would 
have some fun; so I let my motor die 
slowly and stopped for a chat. I asked 
him if he would get his team and pull me 
out. He answered: ‘There are not two 
teams in the country that could do it.’ 
“Then I told him that I would have to pull 
myself, and he said : ‘ I guess you can 
stay with me until the mud dries up 
a little.’ 
“When I was ready to go on, I started up as 
if nothing had happened. 
“He said he was going to have a car of that 
kind. ” 
On account of its low center of gravity, 
the Hupmobile ‘32’ 
clings to the road under 
all conditions, with 
the least possible side- 
sway and wind resis¬ 
tance. 
Absolutely lowest in point 
of upkeep-cost. You can¬ 
not buy better style or 
better service at any 
price. 
. Runabout, $750 
took the world touring car around the world- 
magneto. Equipped with top, windshield, gas 
Roadster, with 110-inch wheelbase and highly 
HUPP MOTOR CAR COMPANY, 1220 Milwaukee Ave, Detroit, Mich. 
HOOVER POTATO DIGGER 
Built on scientific 
principles which 
twenty-five years 
experience has 
proved to be 
correct. 
Guaranteed to Work. 
All 
up-to-date 
features 
patented. 
THE HOOVER MANUFACTURING CO., Box 56, Avery, Ohio. 
MAKE SURE OF A GOOD 
POTATO CROP THIS YEAR 
Use Hubbard’s 
Bone Base” Fertilizers 
and take no chances 
October 25, 1911 
The Rogers & Hubbard Co., 
Middletown, Conn. 
Gentlemen: 
On 14 acres of land, using 1,000 pounds of 
Hubbard's “ Bone Base ” Soluble Potato Manure 
broadcast and 500 pounds of Hubbard's “ Bone Base” 
Potato Phosphate in the hill per acre, we raised 3,763 
bushels of potatoes. 
Yours truly, 
Enfield, N. H. Thomas P. Crowe 
TRADE MARK REG. U. S. PAT. OFFICE 
„ October 18, 1911 
The Rogers & Hubbard Co., 
Middletown, Conn. 
Gentlemen: 
When I planted my potatoes this year I found that 
I bad sold myself short of Hubbard’s and went to a 
neighbor and got enough of another brand to finish the 
P iece. The rows planted on Hubbard's "Bone Base" 
’otato Phosphate yielded 1 I -2 bushels more than the 
other, and 1 estimate the difference at fully 40 bushels 
per acre. Yours truly, 
Judson R. Potter 
Northumberland, N. H. 
Our 1912 Almanac FREE 
Send for it today and our book¬ 
let on Soil Fertility. They will 
help you on your own problems. 
Rogers 6 Hubbard Co. 
Middletown, Conn. 
