3158 
X AI IT RURAL NEW-VU.-; 
October 2,. 
Hope Farm Notes 
What is the value of the disk plow? I 
do not mean a disk harrow, but a single 
big disk mounted on a frame. E. M. 
We have such a plow, but do not find 
much use for it. The draft is a little 
heavier than a turning or dragging plow. 
The work is quite different. While the 
turning plow turns the furrow slice up¬ 
side down the disk cuts and chops up 
the soil leaving it rough and in chunks. 
Geo. M. Clark, the grass man, argued 
that the disk was the only tool to use, 
since it tossed up the sod or rough soil 
and gave you a chance to kill out all the 
trash and roots. Tossing this soil up 
so the air could work all through it 
meant the rapid decay of organic matter 
and the quick formation of humus. Thus 
it is that whenever soil is worked in that 
way the first crop or two will be very 
heavy. They have to be, for this con¬ 
stant working makes the plant food in the 
sod and other organic matter available— 
and also uses it up rapidly. 
Clark’s proposition was to kill out 
every bit of old grass growth with the 
disk. Then sow seed thickly and add 
fertilizer so as to get a quick, heavy 
growth. Of course this destroyed the 
humus in the soil but Clark said that the 
roots of the grass and clover would re¬ 
place the humus, and that we must feed 
the grass heavily each year. He claimed 
that we could not destroy all the old 
growth with the turning plow—the toss¬ 
ing or chopping action of the disk was 
needed to break up the organic matter 
fully. I think he was right in this, yet 
I question whether his plan was best for 
all soils. On most of our soils it is a 
mistake to break up the organic matter 
too fast We need it in the soil. A 
turning plow puts under a good sod or 
a growth of rye, vetch or clover. Now I 
call it a mistake to work that soil so that 
this mass of green stuff will be rapidly 
broken up. Tar better leave most of it 
in the soil to decay slowly. Thus I would 
plow it under as deep as the soil will 
stand. Put lime on top and then har¬ 
row the surface thoroughly, working the 
lime down into the green matter and 
packing it solid. In this way we make 
a fine upper seed bed, and have below a 
mass of organic matter which slowly 
breaks up and holds moisture. If this fat 
furrow slice were left loose and open it 
would be worse than nothing, for the air 
would work in and dry out the moisture, 
while the soil water below this loose dry 
mass could not work up. Thus for most 
situations the turning plow is better than 
the big disk. It is excellent practice to 
chop up the sod or the cover crop with 
the disk harrow before plowing it under. 
The cut-up pieces pack better at the bot¬ 
tom of the furrow, and decay more read¬ 
ily. In a general way the best practice 
for plowing sod or any growth under is 
to turn it under, pack it down and then 
harrow the upper four inches. If lime 
is used add it right after plowing. 
There are at least two situations where 
the big disk does better than the turning 
plow. Sometimes the soil is hard as a 
brick from drought. There is no way of 
getting a plow into it. There may come 
a light rain, soaking down a few inches, 
leaving the surface open. On such a soil 
the disk will rip and tear, going deeper 
than any turning plow. Surely we have 
been able to fit fields for Fall grain in 
this way which could not possibly be 
plowed. Again, when clearing a pasture 
or some old field, of brush and small trees. 
In such a field the big disk, heavily 
weighted down, will cut and chop off the 
smaller roots and ride over the big ones. 
The turning plow will catch and hold on 
many of these roots. Oxen will rip the 
plow through, but with horses I greatly 
prefer the big disk. It will hardly pay 
to have both tools. Of the two the plow 
is the better. 
Lawn Making. —What they call in¬ 
tense grass culture is really lawn-making 
by the aci-e. It means the finest sort of 
fitting, heavy fertilizing, exact grading 
and heavy seeding. An acre of land 
handled in this way might easily give 
three to four tons of hay for five years 
or more. This would mean $75 to $100 
per acre. It sounds easy, but I doubt 
if one man in 10 would have the patient 
power to go in and fit an acre like a 
lawn for commercial haying. We have 
just finished a small addition to the lawn 
and know something about it This is a 
piece of stiff, hard soil—not natural grass 
land. It was in garden last year and 
plowed last Fall. I intended to plant 
early potatoes, but other things prevented, 
so we worked it several times with the 
Cutaway and put on lime. A good weed 
crop started and w r e clipped it to prevent 
seeding, then plowed again and limed and 
worked it six times or more with the 
Cutaway and Acme. Then it was hand- 
raked and all the stones picked off. Then 
fertilizer at the rate of 800 pounds per 
acre was broadcast and the piece was 
hand-raked again and graded. Then 
lawn grass seed—about 60 pounds to 
the acre—was evenly spread—going three 
times over. Then another hand-raking 
and a light rolling and the job was done. 
It will be good for 12 years’ anyway, and 
Timothy and Red-top put in with the same 
care will last as long. With some horse 
tool to take the place of hand-raking such 
seeding would pay on a small farm at 
least. I think such hay culture on a 
few acres would pay a back-to-the-lander 
about as well as anything he could start. 
Advertising. —We are advertising ap¬ 
ples in our local papers, and getting good 
returns. It seems that many town peo¬ 
ple are very glad to buy direct from farm¬ 
ers. In every place of reasonable size 
customers can be found. You will be sur¬ 
prised to see what it will lead to if you 
follow it up. Send a statement of what 
you have to sell to the local paper. If 
you do not feel like writing the adver¬ 
tisement yourself the editor will do it for 
you. Use parcel post if you can, or de¬ 
liver your own goods. Do not advertise 
once and then quit, but keep the “ad” 
running. You must expect to spend a 
little money in order to get started. Re¬ 
member what it must cost to start people 
to buying a new breakfast food or a new 
cigar. Be sure to keep a list of all who 
answer your advertisement and “follow 
them up.” We have found this one of 
the most profitable things in retail busi¬ 
ness. If you can satisfy your customers 
they will want more of your goods, but 
you must not expect them to chase after 
you. Send them cards or letters now 
and then, telling what you have to sell. 
If they do not respond—try them again 
and still again. This would be fine busi¬ 
ness training for some smart boy or girl 
who can write a good letter. We know 
there are great possibilities in this retail 
trade, and that the seller must develop 
it. 
“Johnson.” —I hate to be beaten or to 
admit the The II. N.-Y. folks cannot find 
the answer to any reasonable question 
That is about the only reason to give for 
putting up the following case. We have a 
subscriber in Mexico named Mark Y. 
Johnson. This man’s father was Edgar 
Mortimer Johnson, who was born some¬ 
where in Wayne Co., N. Y., June 27, 
1849. The older Johnson has died, and 
under the Mexican laws Mark V. must 
submit a true record of his father’s birth. 
The older man left no such records, and 
was very secretive about his early life. 
Not knowing where else to go Mark Y. 
comes to us for help. We found about 
80 different Johnsons on our list in New 
York alone, and wrote to 15 who live in 
and near Wayne County. Not one of 
them ever heard of Edgar M. Now who 
can help us find Johnson? It means a 
lot to Mark V. The best way to hunt 
for a needle in a haystack is to spread 
out the hay and roll all over it. Now’ 
who can help us find Johnson? 
Life Insurance. —Here is a “sum” 
for the people w r ho are good on figures. 
I know a man v’lio, 20 years ago, insured 
his life in a large company for $3,000. 
This man paid $160 per year—$80 every 
six months. At the end of the 20 years 
the company offer him $3,991.74, which 
they say is $3,000 and what it has 
“earned.” The agent of course promised 
this man very much more, but when he 
looked over the policy he found that the 
company merely agreed to give him just 
what it saw fit. Now here is what I 
would like figured out. 1. I understand this 
company loans money on an average of 
about five per cent. This being so, what 
has this man’s money been worth to the 
company—paid in $80 each six months or 
40 payments in all? 2. Suppose this 
man had put $80 each six months in a 
savings bank at four per cent, instead of 
taking the insurance, how much would 
he have now? 3. Suppose he had taken 
a simple death policy for about $60 per 
year and banked $100 each year at four 
per cent, what would he have now? 
These are actual figures on insurance in a 
big company. What do you make out of 
it? . h. w. c. 
HERE ARE THE FACTS 
CONCERNING THE RESULTS FROM THE USE OF 
ROCK PHOSPHATE 
The Pennsylvania State College conducted an ex¬ 
periment for twelve years, in which $1.05 per acre was 
invested in Rock Phosphate with a rotation of corn, oats, 
wheat, and hay (clover and timothy), and the value of the 
increase produced by the phosphorus amounted to $5.85 as 
an average of the twelve years, and to $8.41 as an average 
for the last eight years. 
At the Maryland Experiment Station, six tests per 
year, over a period of twelve years, showed that $1.96^ in¬ 
vested in Rock Phosphate produced increased yields of corn, 
wheat and hay valued at $22.11. 
At the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, 320 
pounds of Rock Phosphate added to manure gave 8.4 bushels 
corn, 4.7 bushels wheat, and .49 ton more hay than where 
manure alone was used. 
The general need of Phosphorus on practically all soils 
in the Middle and Eastern States has been definitely proven 
by soil investigation conducted by the agricultural colleges 
of these States and by the National Soil Bureau. 
If your land is not giving you maximum returns for 
your labor and investment you owe it to yourself and family 
to investigate the merits of Rock Phosphate. Write us for 
‘‘The Farm That Won't Wear Out,’’ and for prices on Rock 
Phosphate delivered to your station. 
FEDERAL CHEMICAL CO. 
GROUND ROCK DEPARTMENT 
BOX No. 13 COLUMBIA, TENN. 
Fix Your Roof 
You can make the old worn-out tin, iron, 
steel, felt or gravel roof give you as much 
service as a new roof and you can double 
the life of tl^at old shingle roof. 
ROOF-FIX Troubles 
and keeps them cured. Cost slight.- Oue coat 
docs the work. In black and red. Ready for 
use. Absolutely guaranteed to do the work. 
Write at once for the free Roof Book. Address 
6. E. CONKEY CO.. 3345 Woodland Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. 
BEST 
ON EARTH 
Write us for Litmus Paper to test your soil for 
lime requirements. It is FREE. Our Lime Car- 
bonate guaranteed in every respect. Let us 
prove it to you. 
INTERNATIONAL AGR’L CORP. 
Caledonia Marl Branch 
812 MARINE BANK BLDG., BUFFALO, N. Y. 
Three Gallons a Minute 
flowing from a stream, artesian well or 
spring operates a FiAM 
pumping all the time sufficient 
_ water lor house or farm use. 
Costs little to install, requires no at¬ 
tention—no operating expense. 
Free information on request 
RIFE ENGINE CO., 2429 Trinity Bldg., New York 
MAKE BIG PAY DRILLING 
WATER WELLS 
Our Free Drillers’ Book with 
catalog of Keystone Drills 
tells how. Many sizes; trac¬ 
tion and portable. Easy 
terms. These machines 
make good anywhere. 
KEYSTONE WATER DRILL CO 
Beaver Falls. Ra. 
31 
fl 
Crushed Limestone —■ A Soil-Food 
Be glad if you have limestone rocks 
on your land. Get a Wheeling Forced 
Feed Crusher and grind them into fertilizer 
that will make your land more productive. If 
impoverished, the Wheel¬ 
ing-Crusher kind of crush¬ 
ed limestone will feed it, 
for lime is a plant food. The 
crushed stones are great 
for good road-building, too. 
Farm bigger and bet¬ 
ter crops. Don’t use kiln 
lime—ground limestone is 
better and costs only 
about one-sixth as much. 
Only an 8 H. P. engine re¬ 
quired to drive a farm 
size Wheeling Crusher— 
and if you haven’t one, 
we can save you 10 to 
25 per cent on engines for all farm purposes. 
Write today for booklet— “Mixing Brains With Farming” 12 
Wheeling Mold & Foundry Co., 130 Raymond St., Wheeling, w.Va. 
WHEELING 
"Built Ilk* a Battl«*hip- 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply 
and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
