1913. 
866 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
CONSTANT SUPPLIES NEEDED. 
Here is another feature of direct deal¬ 
ing with consumers which we must all 
consider: 
The leading market gardener of this 
section sought customers for his lettuce 
this past Winter, of which he makes a 
specialty, raising the best I ever ate. I 
suggested to my wife that she buy her 
lettuce from him, and she did; each Sat¬ 
urday a supply was delivered to the 
house by parcel post. It came in splen¬ 
did condition, costing her about the price 
that she would have paid in the market 
and was of much better quality, crisp, 
.vith little waste. She was delighted, 
but on May 1 the gardener notified her 
that he could not deliver it longer as his 
supply had run out. Thus she was 
obliged to turn back to her provision man. 
Now, how was the provision man left? 
For three months he did not sell her let¬ 
tuce, but sold her meats and other pro¬ 
visions and lost profit on the lettuce. 
Suppose all his customers had followed 
the same course—then during those three 
months he would have had to make up 
the profit which he lost on the lettuce, on 
something else in order to keep his store 
going and make a living for himself. 
Now, if this and other market gardeners 
want to sell direct to the consumer they 
must start markets for that purpose and 
keep them regularly supplied with stand¬ 
ardized produce Summer and Winter, 
and if they do not produce what the mar¬ 
ket requires they must import it from 
other sections. They cannot hope to 
keep the trade of the housewives one 
week by turning it down the next. 
That is true for buyers want steady 
supplies without being troubled to 
change. Farmers often try to obtain a 
chance to sell eggs to a hotel or fancy 
trade. A high-class hotel, using many 
fresh eggs, must have a daily supply. 
They cannot afford to buy from a farmer 
during the laying season and then be left 
to hunt new supplies when the hens run 
dry. That is why most of them prefer to 
deal with commission men. They can 
thus contract for a steady and uniform 
supply and have some one right at hand 
to hold personally responsible. The rem¬ 
edy for this trouble is co-operation—a 
number of gardeners or farmers or hen 
men combining so as to produce a con¬ 
stant supply. In the case of this lettuce 
it is not likely that the customer will be 
willing to buy direct from the gardener 
again. 
ALFALFA AND ITS VALUE. 
Would you tell me how to cure and 
handle Alfalfa, also the effect it has upon 
feeding it to cows and horses, horses in 
particular? S. L. 
Newburgh, N. Y. 
The management of Alfalfa varies 
somewhat in different sections of the 
country, and with different growers in 
the same section, but the following prac¬ 
tice has been found well adapted to con¬ 
ditions as they are generally found in 
New York State. Alfalfa should be cut 
when beginning to bloom, the rule form¬ 
erly being to cut when about one-tenth 
in bloom, but it is now considered bet¬ 
ter to watch for the formation of new 
shoots from the crown of the plant, and 
to cut when these are about one inch in 
length. Alfalfa is cured very much as 
clover of equal weight would be. The 
first cutting, which in this State usually 
comes from the middle to the last of 
.lime, is apt to be much heavier than 
subsequent ones, and more difficult to 
handle, though farmers who are accus¬ 
tomed to curing heavy clover should be 
able to handle this crop. Probably the 
best practice is to bunch the Alfalfa in 
sm nll cocks after it has become thor¬ 
oughly wilted, and to cure in the cock as 
clover would be cured. Hay caps, if one 
has them, are a great help in handling 
this crop in the catchy weather of late 
•lune, and if one has only enough caps for 
a portion of the crop he will find them of 
great help. The later cuttings, being 
lighter and coming in the better hay 
weather of July and August, are more 
easily cared for, and may be handled in 
the same way, or if the weather is favor¬ 
able, may be cured in the windrow and 
put into the mow without cocking. While 
Alfalfa should be thoroughly “cured"’ be¬ 
fore being placed in the mow, care should 
be taken that it does not become dry and 
biittle, as it easily may under too pro- 
onged exposure to the sun and wind, for 
this condition it is impossible to lian- 
1 J. 1 without losing a large proportion 
of the leaves, the most valuable part of 
the plant. Exposure to a shower after 
t)( 'ing partly cured will damage Alfalfa 
oven more than it will Red clover, though 
* discoloration that becomes so marked 
alter such exposure seems to be of little 
consequence. 
Alfalfa has long been recognized as the 
most valuable roughage that we have for 
dairy cows and growing stock. Cows 
will give their maximum flow of milk 
with comparatively small amounts of 
grain when Alfalfa forms the dry portion 
of their roughage ration, and young stock 
will thrive upon it, even without grain at 
all. The dairyman who possesses a plent¬ 
iful supply of Alfalfa and silage is in 
position to make the most out of his cows, 
as far as feed is concerned. For horses, 
there has long been a prejudice against 
the feeding of Alfalfa hay, possibly be¬ 
cause of its resemblance to clover hay, 
which has never been considered as suit¬ 
able for horses as Timothy or mixed hay. 
Recent tests at experiment stations and 
the experience of many farmers seem, 
however, to disprove the idea that there 
is anything deleterious to horses in prop¬ 
erly cured Alfalfa hay, and the writer, 
who has used it in a small way for his 
own horses, would be delighted to have 
enough of it to feed them the year round. 
The conclusions "reached by the Wyom¬ 
ing Agricultural Experiment Station af¬ 
ter a test of Alfalfa for feeding horses 
are: Alfalfa is a satisfactory feed for 
all classes of horses, and the careful 
horseman need not hesitate to incorporate 
it into the rations he uses. From the 
tests, we may safely give Alfalfa a 
higher value for horses than either na¬ 
tive hay or Timothy. m. b. d. 
runs up to immense figures, and the busi¬ 
ness is constantly growing, for there was 
a gain of nearly $25,000,000 in this past 
year over the year that ended in 1911. 
Alfalfa After Oats. 
FARMER AND THE BANKRUPTCY ACT. 
To settle an argument will you tell 
me this? An acquaintance of mine (say 
A), a young man, started in farming on 
shares, running in debt for stock and 
tools, etc., and through sickness and poor 
crops lost all he had. He was in debt 
about $1,200 or $1,400 besides doctor’s 
bills, feed bills, etc., and now has even 
lost his furniture, in storage. He now 
has a chance to get started again, but 
creditors hold judgments against him and 
will not let him own anything. Can a 
man as hard up as that take the bank¬ 
rupt act? What is the process, how long 
will it take and is the cost low enough 
for a man in those circumstances? 
Kent, N. Y. f. w. 
The Bankruptcy Act was made ex¬ 
pressly for people in the situation of this 
man, and he can avail himself of its pro¬ 
visions by filing a petition as an involun¬ 
tary bankrupt. It will be best for him 
to get some lawyer to do this for him. 
The charges will not be heavy. The dis¬ 
bursements will run between $30 and $40 
besides the lawyer’s fees, which ought 
not to amount to more than $25. Unless 
there is some contest made by the credi¬ 
tors, he ought to be discharged of his 
debts as a bankrupt within, say, two or 
three months after his petition is filed. 
M. D. 
VETERANS’ TAX EXEMPTION. 
Are Spanish War veterans exempt on 
any taxes, poll tax, etc.? w. M. 
Belle Mead, N. J. 
Section four of the General Tax Act 
of 1903 of New Jersey provides that “All 
honorably discharged soldiers and sailors 
who have served in the army or navy 
of the United States during any war 
or rebellion and their widows during 
widowhood . . . shall be exempt on 
proper claim made therefor from poll 
taxes and from State, county and muni¬ 
cipal taxation upon real and personal 
property, or both, to a valuation not 
exceeding in the aggregate five hundred 
dollars, which may be assessed against 
their property . . . in the case of 
soldiers and sailors, in the municipality 
or township in which they reside; no 
taxpayer shall be allowed more than one 
exemption under this section : Sufficient 
evidence to the assessor or collector of 
taxes of the right to the exemptions in 
this section authorized shall be as fol¬ 
lows ... in the case of honorably 
discharged soldiers and sailors, or then- 
widows, an honorable discharge, which 
shall be their last discharge, or the 
certificate of the Adjutant-General of the 
State. . . 
Values in the Junk Heap. 
Have you any idea of the value found 
m the American Junk heap? One part 
of it alone, and that is the secondary 
metals taken out as scrap, amounted last • 
year to the value of $77,395,843. What 
are known as the “secondary metals,” are 
those recovered from scrap metals, 
sweepings, etc. The name is used to dis¬ 
tinguish them from the metals derived 
directly from ore. These are called pri¬ 
mary metals. The figures given above do 
not include what are known as precious 
metals, such as silver and gold. This 
immense value of scrap metal gives an 
idea of the value of the waste product. 
The ordinary dealer in old iron traveling 
through the country with his broken- 
down horse and wagon does not look 
much like a millionaire as he dickers for 
rusty old nails, or castaway metals, yet 
in the aggregate as we see," his business 
Will it be practical to plow down oat 
stubble after harvest, and seed to Al¬ 
falfa, same having been limed in April 
last? j. s. 
Oxford, Pa. 
Yes, if the soil is in good heart and 
not sour, the oat stubble may be plowed 
or disked and fitted for Alfalfa after 
harvest. Of course you realize that there 
must be good preparation and strong 
ground. _ 
Sowing Vetch and Rape in July. 
Can I plow a field of old Orchard grass 
in July and plant vetch or rape so as to 
have a pasture for hogs early in the 
Spring? H . H. s. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
Yes, you can sow rape and vetch on 
the plowed sod, but there will be little of 
the rape left by Spring. It usually kills 
out during Winter. The rape will make 
a. Fall pasture by September 1. If the 
pigs have nose-rings so they will not root 
too much they will not destroy the vetch 
as they would free to root in old sod. 
They go after white grubs and would 
tear up the entire field. We should sow 
rye with the rape and vetch. You will 
then be sure of a fair pasture in Spring. 
Making Bordeaux Mixture. 
I have been much interested in the dis¬ 
cussion of how to make Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture. Will you tell me whether any bad 
effects will be seen if the copper sulphate 
(bluestone) _ is heated to dissolve it? 
Bluestone will dissolve very quickly when 
heated, but I notice it is always advised 
to dissolve in cold water. c. F. s. 
Danville, Pa. 
There would be no harm in using the 
hot water. The sulphate of copper would 
dissolve more readily. Cold water is 
usually suggested because it is handier 
to get. 
Use for Green Peaches. 
Is there any market for the small 
green peaches picked from trees for thin¬ 
ning? I have heard that confectioners 
make some use of them. g. b. 
Highland, N. Y. 
^ We do not know of any such market. 
Every year some one starts the joke that 
green plums are boiled and sold as 
“olives.” We have chased this story 
down several times and found nothing as 
substantial as a rainbow at the end. 
In the Philippine Agricultural Review 
a note is made of plants which resist in¬ 
sect attack by throwing out a sticky sap. 
Such a thing occurs in the seed heads of 
lettuce (Laetuca sativa L). When this 
seed head is touched the plant exudes a 
milky substance. Insects alighting upon 
it are immediately fastened to that plant, 
and in their efforts to get away the plant 
is disturbed, and throws out more and 
more of this fluid. At last there is so 
much of it that the insects are held rigid 
and soon die. In a recent case the heads 
of this lettuce wex-e found covered with 
eight different kinds of insects. 
Iodine Stains. —In a recent R. N.-Y. 
was mentioned the removal of iodine 
stains. If you have some “hypo” of the 
photographers (sodium thiosulphate) at 
hand try it on your iodine stains. The 
hypo solution will not injure the goods, 
but causes the stain to disappear by 
combining with the iodine. Wash in 
clear water. w. e. duckwall. 
Ohio. 
When you write advertisers mention 
The R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick 
reply and a “square deal.” See guaran¬ 
tee editorial page. : : : : 
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-- -- - • - ■- 
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275 Galloway Station. Waterloo, Iowa 
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IT PAtS.IO USE 
FARMOGERM 
THE STANDARD I r*jOC4JI. ATION 
BEWARE OF IMITATORS 
ON" SOY BEANS - COW PEAS 
VETCH - CLOVERS - ALFALFA 
FREE BOOK NO. 54 
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Z 
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Seed Down 
Your Fields 
So That You Won’t Have to Plow 
Every Few Years 
One Dollar Invested 
in Hubbard’s 
Fertilizers for 
Seeding Down 
buys as much actual plant food as $1.70 to $1.90 in low grade 
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That’s why experts in the Business of Farming use 
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B iogeq 
ETTEll 
CROPS 
Much valuable information about soils and fertilizers is 
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OFFICE AND WORKS. PORTLAND, CONN. 
