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THE RURAL NKW-YORKER 
September 2 
“A CROP DOCTOR.” 
That is what they call the farm exports 
in Illinois. It seems that several counties 
have arranged with the Experiment Station 
to send a skilled man who shall spend his 
time visiting farms and giving advice. 
Prof. \Y. G. Eckhardt is doing this work ! 
for DeKalb County, and apparently doing j 
it well. It seems that last Winter De- 
Kalb County raised .$30,000 to pay for an 
expert three years. The county supervis¬ 
ors gave $2,000. More than 700 individual 
farmers contributed, and farmers’ clubs, 
bankers, merchants and others helped. 
Prof. Eckhardt is already at work, advis¬ 
ing and helping as requested. A local 
paper prints an excellent story of a day 
spent with the “soil doctor”—the follow¬ 
ing being a sample : 
Winning Father-in-Law. 
It was a young fellow this time, a renter. 
The farm was owned by his father-in-law. j 
who was not overly enthusiastic over the 
county soil expert. 
“I wanted father-in-law to go over the 
farm with us, but be thinks he would be 
wasting his time,” the young fellow told us. 
' “Call him up and tell him we’re just 
ready to start and want to ask him some 
questions about the farm,” the crop ex¬ 
pert replied. 
We walked down the road and out into 
the pasture opposite father-in-law’s house. 
Before the first hole was dug father-in-law 
was with us. 
“Going to dig a well, or are you looking 
for gold?” he asked. 
“I expect there’s more gold in this farm 
than in some of the Klondike mines, if we 
can only find how to get it out," answered 
the crop doctor. “I see you use a drill, 
young man. That’s good.” be went on, as 
we climbed the woven wire fence into the 
oat field. “You’ve drilled the field north 
and south, too, and have a stand of clover. 
You’re on the right track, all right.” 
But when we had reached a higher spot 
in the field and made a litmus paper test 
of the soil, he shook his head. “See that 
clover?” He pointed to the clover at our 
feet, which was looking sickly and shri¬ 
veled. “You’ll have to give that some 
help if it makes you a hay crop next year. 
Clover can’t stand that.” He showed us 
the litmus paper, which had turned red 
from the acid. 
Father-in-law did not seem greatly im¬ 
pressed, and we went on to the next field, 
which was in corn. The field showed un¬ 
mistakably the result of hard and careful 
work, but the corn had not responded to 
the boy’s efforts as it should. He wanted 
to know the reason why. 
Cornering the Corn Root-Worms. 
A question brought out the fact that j 
this was the third consecutive crop of corn. 
“You've done work enough here for an 
80-bushel crop,” the soil expert said, “but j 
you won’t get more than 40. Let's see 
■what the trouble is.” He pulled up a stalk 
and showed us a root system half eaten 
off. A little probing brought the criminal 
to light—-a little white worm a quarter 
of an inch or so long. “That’s a corn root- 
worm,” he told us. “You can’t get away 
from it where you are raising corn after 
corn. What sort of an ear can a stalk 
produce with a root system like that?” Me 
turned to father-in-law. 
Father-in-law admitted that the pros¬ 
pects for a pound ear were pretty slim. He 
was becoming interested, and insisted on 
hunting up some more of the worms. They 
were not hard to find, for almost every 
hill was affected. When we had gone over 
into the next field and the crop doctor 
exposed to view the root lice that were 
interfering with prospects for a bumper 
crop, father-in-law was still more inter¬ 
ested. 
“I’ve been farming for 40 years, and 
that is the first time I ever saw any of 
those things,” he said. “I’ve often won¬ 
dered what made the corn look like that, 
too.” 
“Here’s what I call an alkali spot.” the 
boy said, as he pointed out a half-acre 
tract where the corn was not over three | 
or four inches high. “Corn never does 
anything here.” 
“Wo’ll see. If it is alkali this will make 
the soil bubble.” The crop doctor took a 
bottle of hydro-chloric acid from his coat 
pocket and poured a little of it on the 
ground. There was no apparent result. 
A little work with the auger showed that 
the supposed alkali spot was a deposit of 
hillside peat, and the soil expert told the j 
boy how to make it productive with po¬ 
tassium. 
The greater part of this field lay on a > 
hillside, and a boring showed a brown 
sandy loam subso’l. The corn showed 
plainly the need of nitrogen. “You asked me 
to pick out a place for an Alfalfa field," 
said the crop doctor. “Here it is. This is an 
ideal Alfalfa field, and the soil is badly 
in need of the nitrogen that the Alfalfa 
will gather.” Then followed detailed in- I 
structions for getting the field into Alfalfa , 
the following Summer. 
Father-in-law had been skeptical when 
the soil expert spoke of putting limestone j 
on the clover. He was still skeptical when 
told that it would be necessary for the j 
Alfalfa. By this time w r e had reached 
the top of the hill, and were surprised to j 
find au acre or so of corn that was almost 
twice as big as the rest. Father-in-law 
and the boy were both sure that the hill 
top had never been manured. 
“I’ll show you what causes it.” The 
crop expert pointed to the pebbles and 
small stones that were scattered through ' 
the soil, and brought out his hydro-chloric 
acid bottle again to prove that they were 
limestone. “There has been clover here 
sometime ?” 
“Three years ago,” father-in-law an¬ 
swered. 
“It grew luxuriantly on this hill top I 
and stored a great deal of nitrogen, and 1 
not much on the rest of the field. That 
explains the difference in the corn crop." 
the crop doctor explained. 
The boy came out to the automobile a 
few minutes later, as the soil expert was 
cranking the automobile. “I believe father- 
in-law is going to come across,” he ex¬ 
claimed eagerly. “He told me to find out 
where we would have to send for lime¬ 
stone.” 
Butterfly Farms. 
Butterfly farms will seem like a new 
thing to many of our people, yet several 
of them have been established. In England 
butterliy farming lias been carried on quite 
successfully, and several varieties of the 
peculiarly marked flies sell at $7 and $8 
apiece. There is one record of a single 
butterfly, jet black, which is valued at 
$5,000 for breeding purposes. This butter¬ 
fly is said to be as big as a robin and was 
imported from New Guinea to England as a 
very rare specimen. We are also told of a 
butterfly which has a hairy body. It is 
covered with hair so thick as to almost 
amount to fur; this insect being a native 
of the snow mountains, the hair having 
developed as nature's protection against 
the cold. There is a batter fly farm in 
northern New Jersey, where specimens of 
brilliant coloring are bred and raised; but 
what in the world can be done with these 
butterflies after they are bred? It is said 
that there is considerable demand for these 
flies from society women. It is at present 
their whim to have these brilliant butter¬ 
flies flying about their conservatories and 
parlors. These flies are considered almost 
as much a part of the room's decoration as 
are flowers or plants. It seems to be a 
case of anything to please the children, 
whether they are in the cradle or grown 
up and trying to get rid of a million. 
Alfalfa in Maine. 
D. B. Bunker is the first man in Somerset 
County, Me. to make a success of growing 
Alfalfa on a large scale. From a three- 
acre field he has already cut 11 tons this 
season and the crop yet to be harvested 
next week will yield at least three tons 
more. The first cutting, July 3, yielded 
seven tons of hay, and in the 20 days fol¬ 
lowing the Alfalfa grew 15 inches. The 
second cutting in August brought the total 
up to 11 tons, and the present stand is 
very nearly as good. Roots dug from vari¬ 
ous parts of the field all show a depth of 
more than three feet, the broken end being 
of the size of a shingle nail that distance 
below the surface. Mr. Bunker sowed his 
Alfalfa on the rich bottom land of the 
Sandy River Valley. In 1910 the field was 
heavily dressed wiith stable manure and 
planted with sweet corn. East year the 
field was limed at the rate of a ton to 
the acre and harrowed thoroughly five or 
six times. The Alfalfa was sown early in 
June at the rate of 20 pounds of seed per 
acre broadcast, first being inoculated with 
uitro-culture. The field was clipped with 
a mowing machine about August 1, and 
again in September, to kill the weeds. It 
came through the Winter with practically a 
perfect stand, and has grown splendidly 
from the early Spring. For the next two 
or three years the yield is expected steadily 
to increase. This particular venture with 
Alfalfa is the result of book-farming, pure 
and simple. Mr. Bunker never saw the 
plant before he had it growing on his own 
farm. Soon after he became interested in 
its possibilities lie bought Coburu’s “Book 
of Alfalfa,” and studied it from cover to 
cover. Then he sowed au experimental 
plot in 1909. When that lived through 
the Winter he resolved to try it on a com¬ 
mercial scale. His success means that 
Alfalfa will hereafter he one of the staple 
crops on his 300-acre farm. 
CIIRISTOl’HER M. GALLUP. 
Somerset County, Me. 
Ginseng Trade in China. 
U. S. Consul William of Swatow, China, 
has made a report of the ginseng market 
conditions. He says that the Chinese value 
the root not from its analysis, but largely 
from its appearance. Roots which bear 
some sort or resemblance to the human 
form are most esteemed, and thus no Chi¬ 
nese dealer in America can quote full 
values on large lots of the roots. He says 
that the local Chinese dealers divide gin¬ 
seng into eight classes. The wholesale price 
runs all the way from $5.76 for the small 
to $18.72 a pound for the extra large, well¬ 
shaped roots. The Chinese declare that 
wild ginseng is the best, but very little of 
the wild article is now in the trade. The 
American ginseng passes through several 
hands of dealers before being sold to the 
final consumers. All sorts of tricks are 
adopted in manipulation of the roots. They 
are treated, fattened by soaking, sometimes 
wrapped with fine wire to give the appear¬ 
ance of natural rings, moistened to in¬ 
crease the weight, and frequently fastened 
together with wires. All roots are now 
subjected to sulphur fumes. Originally 
this was done to prevent molding, but in 
the course of time the public have come to 
regard the taste and smell of sulphur as 
natural, and adding to its medical quali¬ 
ties. 
Japanese ginseng, which brings less than 
$4 a pound, is frequently manipulated, 
marketed and sold as the American prod¬ 
uct. Thus it appears that the ginseng 
growers are up against the fakes and the 
frauds as well as other classes of farmers. 
They also get a comparatively small share 
of the consumer’s dollar, as there are manv 
middlemen between the grower and the 
consumer. It will be bard to get rid of 
these middlemen, because the American 
producer cannot judge accurately the 
value which the Chinamen will put on his 
ginseng, and again correspondence and 
sales must largely be made by means of 
the Chinese language, which, of course, 
cuts out most of our American growers, 
who can only deal with the first buyer, and 
let him pass the ginseng on to the men 
higher up. 
That Champion Pea Crop. 
When* you write advertisers mention The 
I!. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply aud a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Two layers of glass instead of one 
You never cover Sunlight 
Double Glass Sash 
The two layers of glass take 
the place of mats and boards 
Between the two layers is a Vs inch layer of dry air. 
the very best non-conductor. Glass held in place with¬ 
out putty—can’t slip out—easily replaced. 
Crops on the market weeks ahead 
Under Sunlight Double Glass Sash your plants grow 
fast and strong, for they get all the light all the time. 
They enable you to sell your crops while the prices are 
still high. 
I saw a note about a fine crop of peas 
in Monroe Co. Here is a reliable clipping 
from a local paper As far as we can find 
out this is the greatest record for growing 
peas to can that we have ever heard of; it 
shows something over $132 the acre. Under 
the very best circumstances this laud 
which grew these peas would not be worth 
over $50 an acre, so all of the farms in 
New York State are not abandoned. 
“Stittville. Aug. 23.—The friends of S. T. 
Pain of Stittville are extending congratula¬ 
tions upon the excellent piece of peas 
grown on his farm near Floyd this year. 
The seed was sown late in the season. 
June 15, and the product canned August 
20, the latest in the year that peas have 
ever been canned by the Stittville Canning 
Company. On two acres of ground there 
were grown_ 15 loads, which amounted to 
$265.29. While in au ordinary season Mr. 
Pain’s crop of peas would be considered a 
very heavy one, the unfavorable weather 
this year for growing peas makes it phe¬ 
nomenally large.” j a. 
Referring to the rose, American Pillar, 
which The R. N.-Y. distributed as a pre¬ 
mium last Spring, an English correspondent 
of the Florists’ Exchange says it is rather 
a problem with him, as its gigantic shoots 
are soaring up the front of his house and 
are nearly up to the eaves, growing 16 feet 
in two seasons. We have reports of the 
very strong growth of this rose in this 
country, also. 
Commercial Rose Culture, by Eber 
Holmes. For some time past we have felt 
the need for an up-to-date book ou com¬ 
mercial rose culture in America, for in 
spite of the multitude of hooks devoted to 
the Queen of Flowers, there was nothing 
that would exactly fill this place. Mr. 
Holmes has answered this want very hap¬ 
pily. He discusses the business literally 
from the ground up, beginning with the 
location and house, and taking the plant 
all the way from the cutting to the bloom¬ 
ing period. The chapters on greenhouse 
construction and heating will be especially 
valuable. Insects, diseases, fertilizers, spe¬ 
cial varieties, marketing, grading, etc., are 
all discussed, and are all treated with au¬ 
thority. The inexperienced will be espe¬ 
cially in need of the advice about grading 
and packing, while the convenient record 
of cut, sales sheet and temperature chart 
ought to be adopted by every grower. 
Freely illustrated and well Indexed; 165 
pages. Published by the A. T. De La Mare 
Company, New York: price. $1.50. 
Send for these books 
One is our free catalog; the other is a book on hot- 
j beds and cold-frames by Professor Massey. It is 
i authoritative and of vital interest c= 
j to all growers. 4c. in stamps will 
bring Professor Massey's book in j 
addition to the catalog. 
Sunlight Double 
Glass Sash Co. 
924 E. Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 
...SPECIAL... 
SPRAYER 
PRICE'S 
to those who buy 
or exchange for 
new model 
N OW 
“ Friend " Mfg. Co. 
GASPORT, N. Y. 
© 
S3 
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•SB 
© 
Get Busy With a Baler 
I F you have clover, timothy, prairie 
grass, or alfalfa, it will pay you to bale 
it. Loose hay takes bam space. You 
cannot sell it easily and you cannot ship 
it at all. It is the hay that is baled which is in demand 
in the high-priced city markets. This is the hay upon 
which you make your profits. 
The difference between what it costs to bale hay and 
the increase you get in price per ton, gives you a bigger 
margin of profit on your work than anything else you do 
on a farm. You can bale easily from 8 to 16 tons a day 
and under certain conditions, several tons more. Baled 
hay can be made as much a big cash crop to you as 
your wheat, corn, or oats. All you need is the right 
kind of hay press. There is money in owning an 
I H C Hay Press 
An I H C pull power press in either one or two-horse 
style, or an I H C motor press with a 3, 4, or 6-horse 
power I H C engine, will do the work required on any 
farm cheaper, quicker, and with less attention than any 
other hay press so far designed. 
It has taken years of field testing to make these presses 
the best that j'ou can buy. They are that now. The 
horse power presses have greater capacity than any other 
horse press of equal size. They are lighter draft and 
easier on the horses. The step-over is the lowest and 
narrowest made. They have an adjustable bale tension, 
which insures compact bales. They are equipped with a 
roller tucker to turn in all straggling ends, thus making 
each bale neat in appearance. 
I H C motor presses consist of a bale chamber and au 
I H C engine mounted on substantial trucks. The bale 
STV~’V_ 
chamber of the motor press corresponds in size to the 
bale chamber of the horse press—14x18 inches, 16x18 
inches, and 17 x 22 inches. No time is lost in setting up 
the machine. It can be moved easily from place to place, 
backed to the stack or barn, and started to work at once. 
The engine does not need a man to watch it and there is 
no danger from sparks. When not baling hay, the en- 
f ine can be detached. Two extra wheels, an axle, and a 
elt pulley are furnished, so that with a little adjusting, 
you have a regular portable I H C engine ready for busi¬ 
ness 365 days each year. You can operate a small thresher 
or corn shredder, saw wood, shell corn, grind feed, pump 
water, generate electricity, or run a cream separator. 
You thus purchase two useful machines in one. There 
is profit in the hay press and unlimited work in the 
engine. 
Hay time is drawing near. Be prepared for it. Drop 
in and see an I H C local dealer in your town, or write 
for a catalogue. 
International Harvester Company of America 
(Incorporated) 
Chicago USA 
IH C Service Bureau 
The purpose of this Bureau is to furnish, free of 
charge to all. the best information obtainable on 
better farming. If you have any worthy questions 
concerning soils, crops, land drainage, irrigation, 
fertilizer, etc., make your inquiries specific and 
send them to IHC Service Bureau, Harvester 
Building, Chicago, USA 
©■©■©!II©fllffl©! 
