1282 
THE RURAI> NEW-YORKER 
December 28, 
Spring the health department of our city accused us of 
adding water to our second grade milk. This is all pure 
Holstein milk. We flatly denied it; because at that 
season we have an excess, and “watering” the milk would 
not help matters any. That milk only tested according 
to the cities’ test—2.8% butter fat, with total solids 
amounting to 11%. According to the cities’ law, milk 
shall test 3% butter fat and contain, 12% of milk solids. 
What did we do? Had to add Guernsey milk to it or 
separate a part of it and replace the cream, in order to 
make it test 3.4%. We never have trouble with the 
Guernsey milk falling in test. Our composite milk will 
test 4% to 4.2% and with total solids of 13.3 per cent. 
In the same paper Herbert T. Borden tells how 
the Guernseys kept him on the farm: 
My father started by buying a purebred heifer calf 
and later on a half interest in a bull with a neighbor. 
At first most of the calves were bulls and the purebred 
herd came slowly, but he got a few good grades. 1 
started for myself five years ago last Spring with seven 
purebred females; four of them being heifers and five 
grades, going into debt for nearly eveiything. In the 
present herd there are 13 purebred females, two purebred 
bulls and nine grades. Since starting I have sold eight 
purebred females and bought two, disposed of most of 
the purebred bull calves to a good advantage and have a 
demand for grade heifer calves. By the end of the year 
the stock will be paid for. This shows that Guernseys 
have been a good investment for me, and that a farmer 
does not need a lot of money to start in a small way 
and breed up a herd. I believe in the Guernsey because 
she has proven both publicly and privately, that she is 
an economical producer of the best colored and flavored 
dairy products, and because of this superior color and 
quality, they bring the best price on the market. The 
milk from our dairy sells for six cents per quart whole¬ 
sale the year round, which is from one to two cents more 
per quart than the average milk is sold for. The Guernsey 
has size, is hardy, and above all is beautiful. She is all 
that the working farmer desires, and more, she attracts 
the man that farms for a side issue, thus creating a de¬ 
mand for breeding stock. 
MISLEADING. FIGURES ON LABOR COST. 
I was particularly interested in the front page article 
(page 1217) relative to the farm traction engine, and 
entitled “This Horse Eats Gasoline.” I was more 
interested than I would ordinarily have been, because 
I had just returned from a trip through the West, 
including quite extended travels in the State of Wis¬ 
consin, and had spent some time in the country 
around Fond du Lac. During this trip I had wit¬ 
nessed some interesting work on the part of tractors, 
and was in a mood to enjoy the article until I came 
to the paragraph containing the figures of plowing 
costs. Right here the writer of the “gasoline-eating 
horse” tale omitted entirely the item of cost usually 
known as “overhead expense,” and consisting of in¬ 
terest on money invested, insurance, depreciation, etc. 
But perhaps this tractor, together with the special rig 
needed to work with it, is being given away in 
Fond du Lac and therefore there is no interest 
charge to be recorded and no need of insurance— 
but I didn’t find the place where they were being 
handed out free while I was there. Not only has this 
interest charge to be met in figuring costs, but it must 
be divided by the number of days of actual use each 
year, and not by 365, to approximate each per day 
cost. So, also, the insurance and all other “overhead 
expense” items. 
Manufacturers with machinery under cover and in 
constant use usually figure a 10 per cent, depreciation 
charge; that is, they charge one-tenth of the original 
cost of the machinery each year in addition to interest 
and insurance, etc., to the cost of maintenance, since 
long years of figure records prove that 10 years is 
the usual life of machinery and they figure that cost 
of repairs, etc., will eat up this discrepancy in interest 
charge and any extra time the machinery may chance 
to last over the 10 years allotted. Automobile owners 
also figure on somewhat the same basis, only that it 
is generally acknowledged that the life of an auto¬ 
mobile will not total 10 years. If Mr. Bush will stop 
and consider the building cost or storage cost for 
housing his tractor, and will fairly divide up every 
legitimate overhead charge among the days each year 
he actually uses his tractor, he will know more about 
the cost of plowing each acre of land with it. 
I am not arguing against the tractor, neither against 
the horse, but simply against loose farm accounting 
which is responsible for more farm failures than is 
the 35-cent dollar every year. We can never make 
of farming a successful business until farmers know 
something of the cost of production. Prices of neces¬ 
sities selling too cheaply will never be higher so long 
as farmers continue to raise these necessities in 
volume simply because they do not know what it costs 
to produce them. Farming is a great industry. The 
farmer averages a greater investment than does the 
retailer. He might grow wealthy more often than is 
now the case if he only knew as closely as does the 
manufacturer what it costs him to supply goods for 
the market and could thus guard against planting un¬ 
profitable crops and guide himself in producing only 
what is most profitable. 
As a case in point, it has been demonstrated that 
it costs $40 to raise a cow to her first milking. She 
is then good for only about 10 years of use. How 
many farmers in figuring cost of milk and butter ever 
reckon in that $2.40 for interest and the $4 for de¬ 
preciation each year? And this is entirely without 
consideration of her chances of sickness or death. 
But you will say, perhaps, we can sell the 13-year-old 
cow for something to offset this $40. How much can 
you get? Is it enough to insure against such sickness, 
accident and death? When farmers come to figure 
costs carefully there will be no more three-cent milk 
sold, and then, when stocks of cattle have been sold 
off and the milk is actually not being produced, the 
“REST AFTER LABOR.” Fig. 534. 
price will come up of its own accord to the point 
where farmers can again afford to produce it. Our 
most valuable farm paper can do no more valuable 
thing for farmers than to encourage them to figure 
correctly the cost of production. r. w. dow. 
Maine.- 
PROPAGATING GRAPE VINES. 
I have a large, thrifty grapevine that is away off from 
the house on a northern piece of my farm. How can I 
get more vines started from it to put some down at the 
house, as the large vine is too large to dig up and move? 
Fernwood, N. Y. f. g. b. 
There are two ways by which the owner of this 
vine can get plants like it to be set wherever he 
chooses. First, he can make cuttings of it, and sec¬ 
ond, if the vine grows closely to the ground he 
can propagate through layering. In the first instance 
wood growth of the current year is cut into pieces 
of two or three bud lengths, care being taken so that 
only well-matured canes are so cut. This is done 
WHAT WILL NEW YEAR’S BRING HIM. Fig. 535. 
after the leaves have dropped in the Fall. Some 
prefer to wait till after a hard freeze, but the writer’s 
observations do not give evidence that there is any 
distinct advantage in this. The cut at the lower 
end of each cutting should be made very close to 
the lower bud, while the upper cut should be at least 
an inch above the upper bud. The cuttings are then 
bundled and tied with strong twine with all the 
butt ends together. Then a trench or pit from 12 
to 18 inches deep is dug in a well-drained place, and 
the bundles are put in this in a vertical position 
with the butt ends up, and covered with earth, well 
tamped. Sometimes a straw mulch is also used. In 
the Spring, at planting time, these cuttings are dug 
and planted in a well-pulverized, rich, open soil—a 
gravelly loam is to be preferred. They are planted 
in trenches two or three inches apart, deep enough 
so that the top bud is just above the ground when 
the trench is filled in and thoroughly tamped. Per¬ 
haps 40 per cent, of those planted will grow and 
make desirable roots. These will be ready for setting 
in their permanent locations the following Spring. 
If the vine grows low to the ground or throws 
suckers about the base very excellent plants can be 
obtained by layering. This is done by digging 
trenches from the base of the vine outward and about 
midsummer bending over some of the current year's 
growth into the' trenches and covering with earth, 
but leaving the ends of the shoot or the growing 
tip uncovered. Sometimes other areas along the 
shoot are not covered, but only alternate joints, in 
which case it will be necessary to use stakes crossed 
to hold the shoot down. Practically every joint that 
is covered will develop roots at these points, and the 
whole shoot or cane can be dug up carefully in the 
•Fall and cut into as many plants as there are well- 
developed root systems. These are set in their per¬ 
manent locations the following Spring. 
F. E. GLADWIN. 
A NOVICE ON A SOUTHERN FARM. 
I bought a farm in Central Alabama last Winter, 253 acres ; 
50 acres are in cultivation. The soil is a sandy loam, 
the subsoil clay mixed with sand; no stones or gravel 
are on it. I intend to move on the place January 1, 
1913. All the money I have left for a start is $300. I 
have not very much experience in farming, except a little 
plowing, cultivating and planting. I do not understand 
the sowing of grain or the different grass seeds, but know 
how to plant corn. How would you advise me to manage 
my $300? How shall I enrich the land without buying 
any fertilizer? I have in a little nursery in my yard 
50 pear and 50 peach trees, some apples, cherries, plums, 
two years old, that I grew from seeds. They have had 
good cultivation. They were cut back last Spring and 
made a growth of three feet. I would like to graft the 
pear trees this Winter. Do you think it advisable to 
dig them out, graft them and keep them packed in the 
cellar until I move, and take them along with me, or 
should not I bother myself with grafting but plant them 
first on my new place? How should I| take care of plum, 
apple and pear seeds? When is the best time to plant 
them ? I intend to raise a nursey and have my own 
trees for making an orchard, for I believe that trees are 
the best when they come from the same land. M. p. 
Pennsylvania. 
If the land is really poor, which is probably true, 
the first thing to do is to plant a large part of it to 
cow peas, cut and cure the vines, feed them to the 
stock kept on the place and put the manure on the 
land. There is no crop that I know of that is quite 
as valuable for enriching land cheaply in the South 
as the cow pea, although it is not the only one suit¬ 
able to that region. The Soy bean, vetch, Crimson 
clover, Velvet bean, kudzu and Lespedeza are all good 
for this purpose and are very valuable stock food 
besides. It may be wise to add commercial fertilizers 
to the soil, but even by using the leguminous crops 
mentioned much good can be done without them. 
There will be almost everything to learn. Instead of 
going ahead to spend the $300 at random it would be 
wise to get a horse or mule, a cow and some chickens 
first of all. This will take half of it or more. By 
growing a good garden and properly caring for the 
cow and hens there will be little else needed to make 
a living. The remainder of the $300 will be needed 
for farm seeds and many little expenses that are 
sure to be necessary. 
The seedling peach trees are of very little value, 
because they must be budded to be worth planting 
and peach seeds planted next Spring at the Alabama 
place would produce trees just right for budding next 
July or August, and they will make better trees for 
planting the second year than the older seedlings 
would make, besides saving cost of transportation and 
replanting. The pear seedlings might pay for moving, 
and it would be well to plant them in nursery rows 
and try to bud them there rather than in permanent 
orchard position, for there will be failures and very 
likely many of them in inexperienced hands. The 
idea of one almost entirely devoid of experience at¬ 
tempting to become his own nurseryman at the start 
is rather more presumptuous than sensible, but it 
might prove successful if there is extraordinary ability 
displayed. With cheap trees to be had of the nurseries 
one must be quite well suited to their home produc¬ 
tion to save anything by it. This, however, can be 
done in skilled hands, but rarely otherwise. 
The proper care of apple, pear, peach and plum 
seeds is simple enough when well understood, but 
there are several things very needful to know. They 
should never be allowed to get very dry, stratifying 
in damp earth, sand or some such material over Win¬ 
ter and planting in the early Spring. The soils should 
be made very fertile and mellow and the young plants 
require the very best of cultivation, so they will make 
strong and vigorous stocks for budding or grafting 
unon. H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
