7&0 
Hope Farm Notes 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Hope Farm man has referred to rye 
straw at $20 per ton, and your paper quotes 
it at $12 to $13 per ton, yet we are of¬ 
fered In Burlington County $6 per ton. 
Please give some explanation of this con¬ 
dition. Also, what is the value of one ton 
of rye straw dry or thrown in barnyard as 
a fertilizer? What would be the result to 
spread dry on top of ground and plow 
under in Spring? It would not pay to 
cart to press at $6 per ton in my opinion. 
Camden, N. J. d. s. c. 
Our straw usually sells at $20 or even 
more. Sales are usually made in Win¬ 
ter—there is little demand for it now. 
This straw is sold in bundles—not in 
bales. It is thrashed in machines which 
keep the straw straight and do not 
smash it up. It is used mostly for bed¬ 
ding in livery stables or in private barns. 
The baled straw referred to in New 
York is not crushed or broken, but rep¬ 
resents the straight bundles bound to¬ 
gether. The crushed or broken straw 
would not bring any such price. At this 
season there is a smaller demand for 
good straw in the cities because many 
of the high-class carriage horses are 
away. They are taken to the country in 
Summer and return in Winter, when the 
price of straw goes higher. You must 
understand that the prices we quote are 
local, and in many cases limited to the 
local crop. We have given the local 
prices for fresh pork, and whenever this 
is done we get many letters from people 
at a distance who want us to take their 
pork and sell it for them. Of course 
this could not be done with any satis¬ 
faction. Usually the express charges 
would more than eat up the difference. 
Our friend with his $G a ton can easily 
figure out the share of the consumer’s 
dollar that comes to him. 
A ton of rye straw contains about 10 
pounds of nitrogen, five of phosphoric 
acid and 16 of potash. By analysis 
therefore it is richer than manure, but 
no one would expect to get equal results 
from the straw, for it is tough and hard, 
and will not rot easilv. Dry rye straw 
spread on the ground and plowed under 
would do little good. I have a case this 
year where I think such practice has 
done more harm than good. Such straw 
is best used as bedding, or to rot down 
in the barnyard or manure pile. 
Farm Notes.— We had one light 
shower which colored the dust about 
one inch deep. Then a hot wind came 
and licked the moisture out before the 
crops could get hold of it. Each day 
seems hotter and drier than the one be¬ 
fore it. I am sure that we injured some 
of our corn by cultivating it too much. 
The soil was so dry that the corn feed¬ 
ing roots were mostly at the surface. 
The cultivating ripped out these roots 
and did more harm than good. Since 
we stopped cultivating the ragweed has 
crowded in. This pest grows in the 
driest soil. Several big plants work in 
by a hill of corn and grow like a debt 
out at interest while the corn stands 
still. I have been curious to see how 
this ragweed can make such growth. 
A study of the roots seems to tell the 
story. These roots work down into the 
soil like a root-pruned tree—large tap 
roots work straight down and it is no 
wonder that they rob a hill of corn. This 
ragweed will beat Alfalfa for growing 
in a dry time, and I do not know of any¬ 
thing else on the farm that will do so. 
Mr. Burbank ought to make a “cross” 
between corn and ragweed. If he will 
do it he may have a quit claim deed to 
our $10,000 Wonderberry reward to be¬ 
gin with. On several fields of very dry 
soil we are cutting these weeds off with 
sickles rather than work with cultiva¬ 
tor or hoe. Much of our corn is tassel- 
ing out long before its time, and often 
when barely two feet high. This is our 
flint corn, which is naturally a dwarf, 
but the drought will cut it down shorter 
than ever. A large proportion of our 
celery plants died, but the cabbage on 
that newly drained field has started 
well, and in spite of the dry weather is 
growing well. They will have a dressing 
of lime and good culture, and may bring 
us back something of what we shall drop 
on other crops. . . . Potting straw¬ 
berries in this drought is something like 
■drinking desert sand, but we have sev¬ 
eral thousand good ones under way. We 
were obliged to set our plants this 
Spring on a naturally wet piece of 
ground. In fact it was so wet that we 
could not start the plants on time. Now 
we get the advantage of this wet soil, 
for the plants are making runners quite 
freely, and they can be potted. This 
operation is simple enough to us, but I 
find many who do not understand it. 
You will know, of course, that the straw¬ 
berry plant propagates or increases by 
sending out runners. These form joints 
and at these joints a new plant starts 
setting its roots into the soil and sending 
its leaves and stems above the roots. In 
potting we take a small pot, dig a hole 
with a trowel and set the pot down into 
the hole, filling the pot with good soil. 
The roots of the new plant on the run¬ 
ner are put into this pot and held there 
by weighting with a stone or lump of 
dirt. Thus the plant roots in the pot. 
It is fed from the parent plant not unlike 
a calf nourished by the cow. With a 
reasonable amount of moisture the roots 
fill the pot and make a large plant. This 
can be cut away from the parent plant 
and shipped in the pot, or taken out and 
wrapped in paper. These plants when 
put into good, moist soil make a strong 
growth, and will usually give one spray 
of fruit next year. We have had orders 
for shipment to the Pacific coast, but I 
should hesitate to send them that far. 
It would not be practical to buy potted 
plants for large culture, but where a 
man wants to start with some new va¬ 
riety or wants a garden outfit they are 
worth while. ... I have not seen 
anything that will start off like that im¬ 
ported German rye. I seeded some in 
very dry ground July 23. One week 
later it was nearly three inches high. 
How it ever sprouted and got anywhere 
is more than I can figure, but it is com¬ 
ing right through this drought. I some¬ 
times hear from the people who say 
they want a cover crop that will grow 
through the Fall and die in Winter. The 
object is to have something on the soil 
during the Fall, and not be obliged to 
plow under a heavy crop in Spring. This 
German rye ought to answer. . . . 
For the first time in some years I shall 
not sow a “cover crop” early in the corn. 
It would be folly to attempt it in this 
drought. There is not moisture enough 
for the corn alone. I shall wait and sow 
rye or rye and vetch later. Among other 
crops which are likely to fade away in 
a drought is the crop of philosophy 
which every farmer ought to work for. 
It is bad enough when one soaking rain 
follows another, but when day after day 
the hot sun shines out of the pitiless sky, 
and you see green things burning up 
while you are powerless to help them, 
you strike about the limit of human en¬ 
durance. This year I know there are 
thousands who can understand just 
what I mean. I have no right to com¬ 
plain about a dry time, for less than 50 
days ago I was inclined to find .fault be¬ 
cause it was too wet! It is tough, but 
there are worse things after all that might 
strike us. We lost most of our straw¬ 
berry crop from wet, and seem likely to 
lose much of our corn from drought, 
but we never had such hay and rye, the 
potatoes are good and the cabbage fine, 
and the trees have made a fine growth. 
What good would it do us to growl ? 
Far better eat apples if you can get 
them. 
August 13, 
Hillside Orchards. —A friend in 
North Carolina sends me this statement 
of his orchard: 
My orchard lies in a very steep hillside, 
which I terraced about five years ago, three 
feet contour lines, and as the hill is so 
steep, some of the terraces are narrow, in 
several places not over 10 to 12 feet. Two 
of these narrow terraces have trees on 
them, headed low, peaches 18 inches, apples 
about 30 inches. I cannot get around the 
trees with -horse and cultivator now. I 
cannot hire labor to work them by hand, 
and in this mild southern climate a grass 
and clover sod seems to harbor all kinds 
of pests. My terrace banks are a lot of 
worry too. I have used a great deal of 
high-grade fertilizer, and, the banks grow 
weeds, daisies and wild carrots with the 
most extraordinary luxuriance. We pull 
what we can, but shorthanded, and with 
lots of other work, it is hard to keep the 
weeds down. There is nothing for it but 
the scythe, and that makes a half a dozen 
sprouts where one grew before. Terracing 
saves a hillside, but it brings complications. 
Swannanoa, N. C. p. r. 
We use the scythe in such situations 
and do not object seriously to weeds. 
“Anything that will rot around a tree” 
suits us. In part of our orchards we 
have not yet mowed this trash at all. It 
will be cut during August and piled at 
the base of the trees—grass, weeds, 
brush and all. I see no possibility of 
giving thorough culture in such situa¬ 
tions. It is simply a question of scythe 
rather than plow or hoe. Our trees 
have now made about all the growth I 
want. If they can harden up and keep 
their foliage I shall be satisfied. 
H. W. C 
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