3 a a 
THK RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 
SUGGESTION FOR TRAP HENHOUSE. 
Although I never have used trap-nests, 
a plan has come to me of an arrangement 
that will do away with all watching to let 
hens off. I would have a long henhouse, 
say 100 feet, and 12 feet wide, divided into 
say 10 pens, numbered 1 to 10. In the 
Fall I should have the common trap-nests 
in the flock of pullets. As soon as one 
laid, I would put her in Pen No. 1 of 
long house. Now in the partitions of this 
100-foot house I would build trap-nests. 
After pullet passes into trap-nest of Pen 
No. 1 it closes behind her. When through 
laying she pushes a wire door open into 
Pen No. 2. The next day she lays she 
passes into Pen No. .3. On the night of the 
day when she reaches Pen No. 10 she can 
be put in Pen No. 1, and 10 eggs added to 
the leg-band number. I know there are 
drawbacks to my idea. There is some 
trouble in starting, as the house cannot 
be filled all at once. Also, some pens 
may have a few fowls and some too many. 
I give you the idea for what it is worth. 
Berlin, Mass. M. s .w. 
This plan seems to be a long way- 
ahead of the ordinary trap-nests, but like 
the old plan, would not work with large 
flocks for several reasons. First, if one 
has 700 to 1,000 pullets nearly ready to 
lay, they must be housed quickly, and the 
housing capacity is crowded to the ut¬ 
most to house the unsold stock, the 
■stock reserved for breeding and all these 
pullets. Then as suggested, there would 
be some houses crowded and some with 
only a few, besides a hen never does her 
best unless she feels at home, and it is 
a question whether this continual moving 
would not prove a detriment. There is 
some lively scrapping when one of our 
hens gets into the wrong pen. but with 
this arrangement it does not seem as if 
they could get used to any pen, or feel 
very strange in any company, and might 
be worth trying with small flocks. 
FLOYD Q. WHITE. 
THE STORY OF SWEET CLOVER, 
A Crop for Wasted Land. 
No cultivated plant which we have, 
with the exception of Mr. Burbank’s 
“Wonderberry,” has created more diverse 
opinions and more radically opposed state¬ 
ments than has file Sweet clover or Mclilo- 
tus. All of us are familiar with this 
plant in its weedy character. We have 
watched it beside roads, in fence corners 
and along the railroad, and it has been 
very natural to despise it. Of late, how¬ 
ever, there has been much discussion of 
it, some writers being very enthusiastic 
over its merits, claiming that it is even 
superior to Alfalfa, some claiming that 
it is a vile weed with no virtues, and 
still others taking a middle course, and 
claiming that when properly handled it had 
much usefulness, and that if it were not 
neglected it need have few if auj dangeis. 
After having studied the plant for many 
years, and having corresponded with grow¬ 
ers in every section of the country, the 
writer is inclined to take the middle course 
with the plant. It seems probable that dif¬ 
ferent sections of the country must influ¬ 
ence the plant in different ways. The 
writer has many letters from growers in 
the Southern States, who claim that all 
kinds of stock relish the plant either as 
pasture or as hay. They make the one 
qualifying statement, that it must be utilized 
before becoming too ripe. The writer has 
talked with men who have pastured it, or 
said they had, and were very enthusiastic 
over the plant as a pasture crop, but ho 
is free to admit that on Ohio soils where 
he has observed it, stock do not eat it in 
pasture, and, if they did relish it in other 
places, it must be owing to different soil or 
climatic conditions giving it a different 
flavor, causing stock to like it. 
There is no possible question that the 
plant is a weed in its habits, and that 
if it escapes cultivation into’ waste places, 
it is difficult to eradicate, and as such 
would always be an eyesore, just as any 
other weed would. But it is becoming more 
apparent that the plant has a sphere of 
usefulness which places it in an important 
position among the crops of to-day. This 
sphere is in bringing up worn-out lands, 
and in this work I know of no other plant 
that will quite take its place. 
Sweet clover will probably grow on 
soils that are slightly acid, but it much 
prefers limestone soil. It will grow on 
soil that is practically exhausted and 
worthless, and will thrive there, producing 
considerable humus from its decaying 
roots and tops, and also adding much 
nitrogen to the soil through its bacteria. 
The writer has corresponded with many 
men who have sown down fields that they 
considered practically worthless, leaving 
the Sweet clover to grow up, fall and 
decay, for three or four years’ time, then 
plowing and cultivating for more useful 
crops, and without exception they state 
that one would never recognize it as the 
same soil that they at first seeded down to 
this plant. Sweet clover is a biennial; 
that is, it lives for just two years. A 
field sown to it will come into bloom the 
second year, and if not harvested will re¬ 
seed itself on the same ground, thus con¬ 
tinuing indefinitely to grow, to deposit its 
roots and tops in the soil as a fertilizer, 
as well as to build up the soil by its 
bacteria. Some writers prefer seeding the 
field two years in succession, thereby ob¬ 
taining somewhat quicker results, because 
there will be plants in bloom each year, 
whereas if sown but once for the most 
part there will be plants in bloom only 
every other year. 
Sweet clover seed is said to heat very 
easily, and most commercial samples appear 
to be worthless. Every one of our corre¬ 
spondents recommends caution in buying 
the seed. Probably if it were grown more, 
the growers would learn better how to 
handle it, and a better article would be put 
upon the market. It is also quite slow 
about germinating, many writers claiming 
that some of the seed will not come up 
until the second year. \Ye find this to be 
somewhat the case ourselves. Sweet clover 
possesses many advantages over the other 
plants which are commonly used for build¬ 
ing up soils. Crimson clover is undoubt¬ 
edly one of the greatest of these plants, but 
it is an annual, and requires seeding every 
year, while the Sweet - clover requires but 
one seeding. Winter vetch is also a splen¬ 
did soil builder. It is a little high-priced, 
and the crop is decidedly uncertain in the 
Northern States unless inoculated, and It 
also requires reseeding each year. Mam¬ 
moth clover is one of the best, but it is a 
biennial, and not so certain to reseed itself 
as is the Sweet clover. Moreover, the 
Sweet clover produces larger plants than 
any of the other legumes mentioned. Its 
stalks will sometimes be as large as a 
man's thumb, and six or eight feet tall, 
thus producing very large amounts or 
humus to add to the soil. 
We would always bear in mind that it 
must not be allowed to escape cultivation 
to fence corners or to other waste places, 
but if sown and confined to cultivated fields, 
no one need fear it, because one or two 
years’ cultivation will entirely destroy it. 
I think it possible that many of the -men 
who are laboring over the abandoned farm 
question in the Eastern States would be 
more than repaid for trying this plant, 
and I think that if they would apply good- 
sized amounts of ground limestone to the 
worn-out fields at the same time, they 
would accomplish the desired result about 
as quickly and as cheaply its is possible. 
And I feel sure that farmers having any 
kind of soil that simply needs building up 
will find this plant as useful in bringing 
it up as any legume that we have. 
Ohio. CHAS. B. WING. 
WANT TO KNOW. 
I would like information about sulky 
riding plows. l>o your readers use them? 
If not. why? How do they compare with 
the walking plow as to draft and work¬ 
manship? 1 know of several who have 
purchased riding plows, but for some rea¬ 
son they do not use them. Is there a 
riding sulky plow made that can be used 
with two horses to good advantage, with 
which a man could plow 1 V 2 or two 
acres a day and not kill his team? 
Cayuga Co., N. Y. g. h. 
KRESO'DIP 
AND 
Hand Dressing All Stock. 
PUTS AN END TO 
LICE, TICKS, MITES, 
FLEAS, MANGE, SCAB, 
RINGWORM, ALL 
SKIN DISEASES. 
Don’t waste time and money on inferior dips. 
-USE- 
NON-CARBOLIC. STANDARDIZED. 
Prepared in our own laboratories. Ask your 
druggist for Kreso Dip. Write us for free 
booklets telling how to use on all live stock. 
PARKE, DAVIS & CO. 
DETROIT, MICHIGAN. 
Branches: New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Boston. Balti¬ 
more, New Orleans, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Minneap¬ 
olis, • etnphis; London, Eng.; Mont eal, Que.; Sydney, 
N.S.W.;St. Petersburg, Russia; Bombay, India; 
Tokio, Japan; Buenos Aires, Argentina. 
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AvAl.-u . «ru;\ . .fill. -. }■ 
I//My.. 
1 •< fi ./S 
If 
m 
P- 
itt 
tv 
floating 
FRAME 
DIRECT UNDER 
DRAFT 
TILTINC LEVER 
Walter A. 
y WOOD 
. MOWERS - HARVESTERS 
are easy on man and horse—do more and 
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1. The Floating Frame allows the cutter-bar 
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2. Genuine Underdraft. The pull of the 
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and floating-frame under the tongue. 
3. The Tilt is absolutely uniform. Tilting 
the cutter bar up or down does not throw 
the knife out of alignment. 
4. Carrying Springs which put almost the 
entire weight of cutter bar and frame on the 
main axle, not on the horses’ necks. 
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We want you to know more about the Wood. 
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Box 231 >, Hoosick Falls, N. Y. 
Established 1S52 
Oldest and Largest Independent Manufacturers 
of Harvesting Machines. 
Guaranteed 
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the only one that can be used anywhere for 
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140 SHERIDAN 140 SHERIDAN 
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Most of your neighbors have 
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Cleveland, O. 
Kept. 59 
GET MY PRICE StlES 
Buy direct from the biggest 
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—My pricehas made it. No such 
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made before in all manure 
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You pay me only for the actual 
material and labor at cost and one 
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factory capacity of 30,(X)0 spreaders a 
year. And I pay the freight right through 
to your station. Any farmer can afford 
to have a spreader when he can get in on 
a wholesale deal like this on a 
Only Successful Wagon Box 
CALLOWAY 
Get my brand new proposition with 
proof. Lowest price ever made on a 
first-class spreader. My agreement 
to pay you back your money after a 
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II. Guthberson, Gladbrook, Iowa, “Works fine. Spreads T. F. Stice, Oswcga. Kans. “Often pull it with my 
all kinds of manure better than any spreader I ever saw. small buggy team. Does good work. Have always used 
So simple, nothing to get out of repair as compared with the-before. Galloway much the best. If going to 
other spreaders.” buy a dozen more they would all be Galloways.” 
The William Galloway Company, 669 Galloway Station, Waterloo, Iowa 
