102 
third large stack of soil, and still beyond this on the 
opposite side of the street, another pile partly com¬ 
posted. Not all the children in the village are boys; 
they are watching the stranger. It would be an inex¬ 
cusable breach of etiquette for girls and women to 
appear thus curious. They do have eyes at the small 
windows or just at the edge of the doorways. Still 
further on in the street and similarly in the other 
streets large piles of earth are stacked. Fig. 35 
shows a finished pile of compost, the farm team and 
Chinese children at play in a clean orderly court. 
Note the two small piles of manure sweepings just 
beyond the compost stack. Everything which can be 
made to add to the supply of fertilizer is religiously 
saved. 
Each household has its supply of earth, and has 
besides a manure or compost pit five or six feet deep, 
usually under shelter and convenient to the street. 
Its size varies with the amount of land to be served. 
Into it all organic refuse, coarse manure and roughage 
are placed to ferment slowly, water and soil being 
added, the water being usually just sufficient to show 
above the surface in the low places. When this con¬ 
trolled fermentation has lasted three to six months, 
and the material is well rotted, it is taken out on to 
the street or upon the floor of an inner court, in the 
condition of a thick mortar, the organic matter being 
largely broken down, having lost relatively much 
more of the carbon and hydrogen than of its nitrogen 
content. In this conditions fresh soil is added and the 
whole worked and reworked as opportunity permits, 
adding ashes, liquid manure or water from time to 
time until the whole has been converted into a rich, 
ripe bed of niter heavily charged with potassium 
nitrate from the plant ashes, if these have been suf¬ 
ficient to transform the lime and magnesium nitrates, 
formed in the fermentation, back into carbonates. 
Phosphates in the soil, in the ashes and in the plant 
tissues, have also been rendered more or less soluble 
during the process of composting so that the soil, 
when it goes back to the field, is very heavily charged 
with humus and with immediately available plant food. 
Where the prepared fertilizer is to be used in 
“plant feeding,” the highly nitrified compost is worked 
and reworked until it is dry and then finely pulverized 
'so that it may be uniformly and economically distribu¬ 
ted where it will be of the greatest service. Some¬ 
times it will be planted in the hills or in the drills with 
the seed; sometimes it will be sowed in a drill along¬ 
side the row and covered in. When used for sweet 
potatoes just ready for transplanting, a shallow fur¬ 
row was struck through the field with the plow drawn 
by the donkey-and-cow team. The prepared fertilizer 
had been drawn to the field and was distributed in 
piles. Behind the plow a man followed with the fer¬ 
tilizer in a basket, distributing it along the furrow, 
which was then turned back over the fertilizer, two 
other furrows turned, forming a ridge, its summit 
leveled and smoothed with a hand harrow, and the 
sweet potatoes transplanted directly above the fer¬ 
tilizer. 
If there is time and favorable moisture conditions 
for nitrification to occur in the field, the prepared 
compost may. be carried, wet or partially dried, and 
applied directly to the soil, doing what they call 
“manuring the land,” in contrast with “feeding the 
plants.” It was this practice of highly charging soil 
rich in lime with organic matter, frequently wetting 
it with old urine and liquid manure, turning and stir¬ 
ring it to keep it well aerated, that, in olden times, 
constituted what was known as niter farming in 
Europe. Its object was the production of saltpetre 
or potassium nitrate for the manufacture of gun 
powder. But saltpetre is one of the best plant foods, 
for it carries both nitrogen and potash in the form 
most readily assimilated by plants. If lime carbonate 
is present in the soil rich in organic matter instead of 
potassium carbonate, lime nitrate will be formed, and 
this, too, is an available source of nitrogen for plants. 
This is one of the reasons why soils should be well 
supplied with lime and why soils rich in lime are so 
generally fertile. 
It cannot be emphasized too strongly or repeated 
too often that the frequent cultivation of a soil rich 
in humus, rich in lime, potash or magnesium carbonate 
and rich in moisture is, in fact, niter farming on a 
field-wide scale whereby nitrates, which are plant food 
nitrogen, are produced in the soil. Fitting the rich 
soil to be planted to corn or potatoes two or three 
weeks before the time for planting and then disking 
or harrowing to save moisture and kill one or two 
crops of weeds before planting, has the other ad¬ 
vantage of enriching the soil in immediately available 
plant food. The old Chinese farmers here referred to, 
in order to save time, to save room, and in order to be 
able to bring the plant food to the crop at the time when 
it can utilize it best, carry the soil to the villages, 
enrich it to the highest limit it will stand and work 
with it until very highly charged with available plant 
food. Saving, as they do, all plant ash and all the 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
human and animal manure to incorporate with the 
soil, they really produce a competent fertilizer, how 
well balanced I do know, but it is evident that they 
are succeeding in maintaining the fertility of their 
soil. It is very evident too that they have long ago 
become convinced that no system of rotation of crops 
and of tillage combined can .alone maintain a suf¬ 
ficiently high maintenance capacity of soil to meet 
the demands of such dense populations as theirs, for 
the amount of time and labor which they devote to 
fertilizing is enormous. F. H. king. 
THE BOX CAR FRAUD. 
This is a popular swindle in some country neighborhoods. 
A slack-jawed individual appears with samples of groceries 
and other goods. These samples are usually of fine quality, 
and anyone can sec that the prices charged for such goods 
are low. Usually these agents make a great haul and 
take away part of the money. I>ater, buyers are notified 
that their goods are at the station. They find a freight 
car filled with stuff with a man in charge—who is in a 
great rush to get away, as the railroad company has 
“ordered the car off the siding.” There is a quick delivery 
and payment and off rolls the “box-car fraud” into new 
pastures. When they come to examine the goods these 
buyers find a few good samples and the rest very poor- 
far inferior to what they could buy at home for the same 
money. The box-car fraud knows better than to come 
back again, and there is no chance to get at him. Out 
in North Dakota they boxed up these fellows in the 
following manner : 
As to these so-called box-car merchants, or those 
transient dealers who come in and take orders from 
the farmers for groceries and general supplies and 
then deliver the same on a certain date from a car, 
our experience in North Dakota has been that the 
class of products which they handle is very inferior. 
They offer very tempting prices on a few staple 
articles like sugar, tobacco and rice, just enough to 
bait the party, and then the balance of the order is 
often made up of very inferior products. Their 
“JENNY,” A MILCH GOAT. Fig. 30. 
canned goods would be low grade, colored with coal- 
tar dyes and containing saccharin. Their syrup, sup¬ 
posed to be maple, would be flavored glucose. Their 
extracts would be artificial, and coffee would be a 
large fine-looking berry to one not familiar with the 
character of coffee, but prove to be mainly the wild 
African berry. And so we might go through the list. 
In North Dakota we at once put inspectors on the 
road, and wherever these goods came in the inspector 
at once took samples, and if they were found to be 
in violation of our Pure Food Law, a suit was brought 
against the dealer before he could leave town. In 
this way we have practically broken up the trade in 
the State. We have offered no objection to the sale 
of legitimate products, sold under their true name, 
but the deception and fraud that has been practiced 
we have succeeded, largely, in breaking up. My ex¬ 
perience is that those who buy direct from this class 
of dealer always do so at a heavy loss to themselves. 
E. F. LADD, 
Food Commissioner. 
TREATMENT OF “MILK FEVER.” 
I am told that milk fever in cows is often caused by 
milking them out clean the first time after calving. My 
authority says that at least half of the milk should be 
left at the first milking, and about a third at second 
milking, after which the cow should be milked dry. Can 
you tell me if this is correct, and if so, why? r. w. j. 
Westboro, Mass. 
The suggestion is reasonable, as the calf, when al¬ 
lowed to nurse the cow, never at first empties the 
udder, but takes a little milk often. Milk fever is 
practically unknown where the calf sucks the dam, 
and it is considered a good plan to allow the calf to 
nurse for a few days in all cases where the cow is 
subject to the attack, or in such plethoric condition 
that an attack may be feared. Even now the cause 
of milk fever is not thoroughly determined. As in¬ 
jecting sterilized air to dilate the udder and so drive 
out the blood restores consciousness and puts the 
cow upon her feet when affected with milk fever, 
we are of the opinion that the attack in the first 
January 20. 
place is due to such abnormal distension of the udder 
with blood that the brain is deprived of its proper 
amount of blood and cerebral anemia is the result, 
and is indicated by paresis. Emptying the udder of 
milk stimulates fresh flow of the blood to the udder 
and the consequent congestion we mention. Partial 
milking, done at frequent intervals, reduces the tension 
on the udder, but does not lead to tremendous blood 
flow and congestion. We quite agree that the milk 
should not be wholly removed just after calving. We 
more thoroughly believe that milk fever should be 
warded off by lighter, more succulent and Laxative 
rations and adequate exercise daily in the open air. 
_ a. s. A. 
“FOUR GENERATIONS.” 
One of the pleasantest things about the great sub¬ 
scription family of The R. N.-Y. is the great number 
of elderly men now living, who have taken the 
paper almost from the first issue. These men are 
usually followed by son and grandson, and it is a 
part of the family tradition that The R. N.-Y. shall 
continue to be taken “as long as it is true to our 
interests.” We know of cases where men have made 
provision in their wills for the continuation of the 
subscription. 
Sometimes these elderly men live to a ripe old 
age, to see their descendants of four generations 
grouped around them. Such a group is shown at 
Fig. 39. The central figure is Obed H. Jones of 
Delaware Co., N. Y. Mr. Jones is 84 years old, 
and still active and well. He has been a farmer and 
beekeeper for years, as well as an active temperance 
worker. His daughter stands behind him with her 
daughter and granddaughter to make the four genera¬ 
tions. We cannot say that such groups are common, 
yet here and there among the members of the great 
R. N.-Y. family may be found the four generations 
left without a break. It ought to be a proud and 
happy home in which such a wide span of human 
life can be seen._ 
GARDENING WITHOUT MANURE. 
I was much interested in the article by “A. W. S.,” 
on page 1, “Improving Farms Without Live Stock,” 
as I am trying to work out the same idea, with this 
difference: A. W. S.’s operations are conducted with 
general farm crops, upon large areas,, and with a 
rotation which furnishes large amounts of roughage 
to be plowed under and supply the needed organic 
matter. My operations have to do with a limited 
area of land, used for the production of general 
market-garden crops by intensive methods, with all 
land continuously used for hoed crop or berries, with 
very little opportunity to practice green manuring, and 
with no stock kept, except one horse, and from 75 
to 100 fowls. The way to good crops under these 
conditions is given in A. W. S.’s article. He says: 
“Nothing is burned that can be plowed under, and 
all hoed crops receive the best cultivation known to 
modern agriculture.” Following this method the past 
season, I secured good crops in all standard lines, 
using no manure except from above-named sources, 
and without the use of chemicals, unless wood ashes 
are considered as coming under that head. 
Nearly all of the horse manure is spread on land 
in Fall and Spring, and plowed under. For carrots 
or mangels some hen manure is also plowed under, 
but is mostly used in drills for peas and beans, in 
hills for sweet corn, melons, etc., or spread after 
plowing and harrowed in for root crops. I also use 
litter from henhouse floors in this way for all crops, 
and in drills for potatoes, and consider it a very 
valuable fertilizer. I have wood floors in my hen¬ 
houses, which are covered with an inch or two of 
loam during the Summer. In the Fall dry leaves— 
usually maple or oak—are spread on floors a foot 
deep, and more added from time to time through¬ 
out the Winter. All dry grain is scattered in this 
litter to induce scratching. In the Spring the floors 
are covered with a brown, powder-like compost of 
leaves and poultry droppings, perfectly dry and very 
convenient to handle. These finely powdered leaves 
furnish organic matter in a form that is very quickly 
available for plant food. The accompanying picture, 
Fig. 37, shows my method of gathering and storing 
leaves for Winter, in bran sacks. Two persons 
working together can rake and sack them very quickly. 
During the Summer all weeds that are pulled or 
hoed up are left on the ground, where they act as 
a light mulch to the growing plants, and are plowed 
under to furnish humus for succeeding crop. All 
beets, carrots, etc., are topped when pulled, and tops 
left scattered over land. When green beans are picked 
the vines are pulled or cut and left to decay; dry 
bean vines are spread on land after thrashing, or 
used as mulch for currants or strawberries. I have 
been working along these lines for the past four 
years. I can see that the soil is increasing in 
productiveness. I believe that the amount of humus 
burned or otherwise wasted on many farms would be 
sufficient to reclaim many acres of so-called “worn- 
out” land. And I believe that the small farmer or 
market gardener who looks to the conservation of all 
organic matter, who will use straw or forest leaves— 
hard wood or pine—as bedding for his stock, in 
place of sawdust, who will practice rotation of crops, 
and will study his soil, so as to apply his available 
store of fertilizer to the best advantage, will find 
his soil increasing in fertility, even if under con¬ 
tinuous cultivation for many years. L. H. P. 
Orange, Mass. 
