join. 
the RURAL NEW-YORKER 
86© 
A LARGER ALFALFA SERMON. 
Mr. D. C. Lewis, in Alfalfa Sermon 
No. 2 gives liis experience with the 
plant. I do not know what I should do 
if it required so much commercial ferti¬ 
lizer to give the plant a start. Farmers 
who can grow it satisfactorily, without 
the aid of commercial or farm manures, 
are certainly very fortunate. If the crop 
is profitable after such treatment, as 
given by Mr. Lewis, it is worth the 
while of all farmers to try to grow it. 
Under normal conditions, that is, when 
the crop does not have to battle with an 
excess of weeds, it should grow better 
for three or four years, and then remain 
about the same for a few years after¬ 
wards. The Crab and Blue grass be¬ 
came a serious problem in the Alfalfa 
fields on this farm. The first crop would 
he comparatively clean. But with each 
succeeding one they became stronger 
and more abundant. If there was a 
fourth crop, the half of it in some parts 
of the field would be crab or Fall grass. 
1 felt that if I continued to grow Al¬ 
falfa some way must be devised to get 
rid of these grasses. The disk machines 
are of little use. A thick stand of Crab 
or Blue grass cannot possibly be eradi¬ 
cated with a disk or Cutaway harrow 
without injuring the Alfalfa. If they 
can, it requires too much and too hard 
team work. In view of these facts I 
became discouraged as to future pros¬ 
pects. 
About a year ago I found that two ex¬ 
periment stations were using spring- 
tooth harrows successfully in their Al¬ 
falfa fields. Now I had done some work 
in the cornfield with a spring-tooth cul¬ 
tivator, and soon learned that the teeth, 
as they are pointed, do not get the grip 
desirable on hard ground, but concluded 
that if the teeth were pointed differently 
they would dig in almost any soil that 
could be cultivated for other crops. If 
a man will hold up the fingers of his 
hand before him, and note how their 
ends are rounded, it will give him a good 
idea of how the points of a spring-tooth 
harrow tooth should be pointed to work 
in an Alfalfa field. The spring-tooth 
is 1-34 inch wide, that is, the spring part. 
In dressing a point it is wider, and in 
some makes the working point is some¬ 
what rounded. In this shape, working 
in hard ground it soon dulls and slips 
over the soil, rather t! an digging it up. 
If this point is cut to about three-fourths 
of an inch and slightly rounded, the 
cutting extending three inches up i.ie 
main part of the tooth, we then have a 
point that will dig in almost any soil. 
An Alfalfa root is very hard to cut dur¬ 
ing the growing season. If the soil is 
at all soft about the plant it will give a 
little when a harrow tooth strikes it, and 
with the spring back of the point, it 
readily slips by the root without injuring 
it. I feel sure that it would not do to 
put the- stiff beam of a plow or cultiva¬ 
tor back of one of the points, as they 
would strike the roots solid and injure, 
if not cut them off. Nor do I think it is 
advisable to use a spring-tooth harrow 
in an Alfalfa field before the Alfalfa is 
is a year old. After that time there is no 
injury worth noting. If the land is in 
good condition, probably not one crown 
in a thousand will be cut off. But if 
the Alfalfa field is several years old, and 
has been without cultivation, sometimes 
a crown may be cut off, but even this, is 
not worthy of note, as so few are in¬ 
jured. As soon as manufacturers find 
there is a demand for an implement of 
this kind they will doubtless be ready 
to meet it. Some blacksmiths say they 
cannot sharpen a spring-tooth, as it 
will break to pieces. The second man 
I went to undertook the job, but said it 
was about a day’s work to cut down and 
sharpen the 17 teeth. After working 
about 100 acres of land there are no 
broken ones. It will be the aim on this 
farm to.make a certain acreage, by culti¬ 
vation and fertilization, produce the 
needed supply, instead of enlarging the 
acreage. For Alfalfa will certainly bear 
intensive cultivation. 
Ross Co., O. JOHN M. JAMISON. 
Questions About Goats. “ 
I have just read with Interest your ar¬ 
ticle on goats, page 707, and would like 
to ask a few questions. What breed would 
you recommend for “meat and mohair?” 
Where can they be had? Will they eat 
and eradicate norsc nettle? Is there a 
ready sale for their meat? E. a. p. 
Pennsylvania. 
A ns. —The Angora is the best breed 
of goats to keep for mohair and meat. 
The fleece usually pays for all the trou¬ 
ble and cost of keeping them. The 
does bear twins, and the annual increase 
is about clear profit. There is need of 
close attention to them at kidding time, 
for the does are not very faithful 
mothers at first. They should at such 
time be kept in an enclosure where they 
can be seen frequently by the attendant, 
who must see that each doe owns her 
kids and suckles them for a few days. 
Then they may be turned out to browse 
with the common herd. The meat is 
excellent and as good as lamb, for which 
it is often sold in the dressed form, so 
I have been told by meat dealers. I 
have eaten it frequently and know that 
the flavor is delicious. I think it resem¬ 
bles young venison. Goats will eat about 
every weed that grows, and I think they 
like the “horse nettle,” although I am 
not sure of it. There are many who 
have goats for sale, both East and 
West, and they advertise in some of the 
rural papers. The Bureau of Animal 
Industry at Washington, I). C., may be 
able to direct those wanting goats to 
the right places to buy them. Any com¬ 
mon breed of goats will destroy weeds 
as well as the Angora, but they pay the 
best because of the mohair. 
Goats and Pigs for Clearing Brush. 
C. J>. ft-, Harnard, X. Y .—On page 797 
II. E. Van Donian tells how to clear off 
brush land with goats. The article solves 
a problem of mine, clearing about an acre 
of valuable celery land, now a swale heavily 
grown over with small brush and full of 
roots. I had thought of putting in pigs to 
root out the roots, and rather think yet 
that pigs and goats together would make a 
better job. I low can I turn the goats into 
profit? 1 did not know that goats were 
of value except for boys to play with. 
Would one male and two females clean 
up an acre very rapidly 
Ans. —Goats like high ground and not 
that which is wet, but they would go 
wherever browse could be found, cxcent 
into very muddy places. Just how far 
they might be induced to go in clearing 
wet land I do not know. It would re¬ 
quire more than three goats to clear 
an acre of heavy brush land in a short 
time. Hogs would help materially, for 
they like to root in mud and would no 
doubt destroy considerable of wild veg¬ 
etation. The meat of goats is excellent, 
and the surplus of a small herd would 
find a ready market at home. The pelts 
have a staple market price; the same as 
other hides. If the breed that gives 
milk abundantly was kept there would 
be a revenue from that source, and they 
would find ready sale at any time. 
H. E. VAN DEM AN. 
Would Not Your Name 
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It would mean more money in your pocket, more 
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have wanted for so lonff, or to invest in the little 
things that make the home more bright and cheerful. 
A PARSONS “LOW-DOWN” 
in your delivery means all of the above and more. It 
means personal convenience if you drive the wagon 
yourself, anti anyway the satisfaction of knowing 
that you arc using the most modern and sanitary 
delivery outfit on the market. 
Complete illustrated descriptions will be sent on 
request. Just a postal today before you forget it. 
THK PAR80NS WAGON CO., 
Dairy Dept. Earlville, N, Y. 
Write for 
FREE BOOK 
On Silage 
Cutters 
Send postal now for the greatest book ever written 
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Silver Mfg. Co. 
per Supply Co., Fond tfu !.»«•, Wisconsin. 
Ve also distribute from Minneapolis, Minn.: Kansas City, Mo.: ht. Lotus, Mo.; Springfield 
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PAPEC MACHINE CO., Box 10, Shortsville, New York. 
DISTRIBUTING POINTS: I)P8 Moines Silo & Mfg. Co., Des Moines, Iowa. 
Western Implement Co.. 113 Capital Ave.. Indianapolis, Ind. The Daliman & 
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SILO-FILLERS 
The only line of Feed Cutters 
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THE BETTER WAY’DISTRIBUTER 
and Steel Square Elbow is the only device that equal¬ 
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SATISFACTION GUARANTEED W. W. BATEMAN CO. 
or money refunded. boonville, ind. 
C — —Farm of 176 acres, 350,000 feet Of 
L)I OdlC timber; fourteen-room house 
orth $14,000; three barus: fruit; well watered; 
le-fonrth mile from church, creamery and mar- 
;ts. Price $3,600— easy terms. HALL'S FARM 
GENCY, Owego, Tioga County, New York. 
THE TIME TO BUY A FARM 
IS WHEN THE CROPS ARE GROWING. Don’t wait until 
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railroad (D. L. & W.) for $2000. 
J. GRANT MORSE, Hamilton, N. Y. 
C IDER PRESS FOR SALE— Boomer & Boschert—four 
screw, large size, in good working order. 
CHAS. C. COPELAND, Milton, Mass. 
|Cn Pormo FOR SALE CHEAP, in fertile 
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= Cider Mill ^ Press Combined 
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CUTAWAY HARROW CO., 8S» Main St., Illgganum, Conn. 
