THE) RURAL NEW-YORKER 
146 
1914. 
TWO NEW YORK COUNTIES COMPARED 
I was greatly interested in that letter 
of Mr. Lindberg on page 1348, in which 
he writes about farm conditions in an 
adjoining county, the high elevations of 
which are visible a few miles to the 
southwest of here. This is a rolling to 
hilly section. Northern Schoharie soils 
are glacial till, mostly from decomposed 
limestone, are as a rule dark brown in 
color, hillsides and all, and underlaid 
with a lighter colored, fairly porous sub¬ 
soil, and belong to the Ontario series; 
do not lack lime, as Alfalfa succeeds if 
given any chance whatever, in fact it is 
beginning to appear as a volunteer plant; 
and naturally these are good wheat and 
corn soils. Southwestern Montgomery 
County lies lower, is moderately rolling 
and even more free from stone than 
northern Schoharie. Soils on uplands 
are glacial till, derived partly from lime¬ 
stone, partly from Catskill gray shale; 
are slightly lighter in color, and heavier 
texture than the Ontario soils. They 
belong to the Mohawk series, and are 
fairly well supplied with lime, as good 
stands of Red clover are obtained. 
The greater part of the soils of Otsego 
County are glacial till, and residual soil, 
derived from Catskill red and gray shale, 
light in color, rough, stony, and as Mr. 
Lindeberg says, needs lime. They are 
poor corn and grass lands, have a hard- 
pan underneath, that means wet, cold 
land in Spring, and a very dry one in 
Summer if season is dry, and equally 
too wet in a wet one; a soil in which 
even were climatic conditions favorable, 
corn as a grain crop would at least be a 
doubtful proposition, and for the same 
reason it is not a good clover or Alfalfa 
land, as both are apt largely, roots and 
all, to lie on the surface in the Spring. 
Rut the worst of these Volusia types of 
soil in Otsego County is their natural 
infertility. If all other conditions are 
met, viz., good culture, good drainage 
and sufficient rainfall, corn on an un¬ 
fertilized sod would not yield more than 
10 to 20 bushels per acre, and on much 
of that soil type no grain would be pro¬ 
duced at all. In northern Schoharie on 
the other hand, soil is darker in color, 
very much warmer, better drained, and 
naturally fertile. The thick growth of 
Sweet clover and Kentucky Blue grass 
along roadsides attest this. 
This type of soil, with good culture 
and sufficient rainfall, will produce 50 
bushels of corn to the acre without 
fertilizing on sod, and all kinds of small 
grains do equally as well in proportion. 
But great as is the contrast in the quality 
and condition of soils, that of climate, in 
so far as it affects the agriculturist, is if 
anything greater still, in fact if all other 
conditions were equal, this factor alone 
would in a series of years, make all the 
difference between success or failure. 
Note what Mr. Lindberg writes, about 
what freezing his corn had to contend with, 
both in June and the beginning of Sep¬ 
tember. But I think another factor, 
which he did not mention, was more 
detrimental than that, and that was the 
low average temperature and the relative 
great degree of cloudiness, as well as a 
soil so light in color that it does not ab¬ 
sorb the sun’s rays and warm up enough 
for corn, which is a tropical plant, and 
no amount of added fertility, or good 
culture can ever overcome this handicap. 
To show, however, what a difference of 
climate really exists between the two sec¬ 
tions following is the record of mean 
and minimum temperatures, rainfall and 
number of clear days for the growing 
months of 1913, as appears in the 
monthly weather review of the United 
States Weather Bureau for Sharon 
Springs, as recorded by myself, as co¬ 
operative weather observer, 821 feet 
above tide in valley bottom of Sulphur 
Creek, and at New Lisbon 1,234 feet 
above tide in Butternut Creek Valley, 
about six or seven miles west of where 
Mr. Lindberg is located. 
Mean monthly temperatures of 1913: 
May. June. July. Aug. Sept. 
Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. 
Sharon Sprgs. 55 64.7 70 66.3 59.5 
New Lisbon.. 50.7 59.7 65 63.5 55.8 
Minimum temperatures, 1913: 
May. June. July. Aug. Sept. 
Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. 
Sharon Sprgs... ‘X5 30 41 40 25 
New Lisbon.... 18 25 36 35 20 
Rainfall, 1913: 
June. July. Aug. 
Inches. Inches. Inches. 
Sharon Springs.... 2.05 2.82 2.37 
New Lisbon. 2.05 2.31 2.10 
Number of clear days: 
June. July. Aug 
Sharon Springs. 20 15 13 
New Lisbon. 17 9 9 
The mean monthly temperatures of 
1913 were almost exactly normal, al¬ 
though miniinums for June and Sep¬ 
tember were abnormally low. Following 
is the record of 1912 at New Lisbon: 
25, 2S, 32, 32 and 27 degrees for May, 
June, July, August and September, re¬ 
spectively. Here there was no damaging 
frost after April 21, 1912, till September 
30, when it was general throughout the 
State. Note the low monthly average at 
New Lisbon and the greater degree of 
cloudiness, which is very retarding to 
vegetative growth. This may be “almost 
like Denmark,” but I do not think frosts 
every month of the year any advantage 
in making a “good living” from a farm. 
Nor are such unfavorable climatic and 
soil conditions likely to be of much in¬ 
ducement to the younger generation to 
remain on the farm. Hence all the young 
people “have gone to town,” as Mr. Lind¬ 
berg says. 
The average date of last killing frost 
from 11 years’ record in the Spring, is 
May 7, and first killing frost in Fall, is 
October 6 in this valley, giving 153 days 
of frostless weather, or long enough to 
ripen Learning corn usually. Farms sell 
from $20 to $75 per acre here according 
to location and improvements; good 
farms well located with good buildings 
can be bought from $30 to $50 per acre. 
An Otsego County farmer came here in 
1909, selling his 50-acre farm there for 
$800, and commenced to work a nearby 
farm on shares, buying it four years later 
for $5,500, or $47 an acre, and had it all 
paid for in Autumn of 1911, besides 
adding during that time at least $1,000 
worth of personal property. This man 
has had to pick very few stones, has 
spent no money for lime, although he has 
good stands of Alfalfa, and his fertilizer 
bill has not averaged $50 per year; his 
sales since 1906 will average more than 
$3,000 per year. Perhaps such as this 
is one of the reasons why Otsego County 
needs good farmers. The case just men¬ 
tioned was general farming. To show 
what can be accomplished here with spe¬ 
cial crops I will mention another 
instance. 
A farmer located on the hills on south 
side of Sharon Springs, but in the vil¬ 
lage limits, rented three acres of hillside, 
adjoining his land, sloping to the west, 
and set it all to Marlboro raspberries; 
third year after setting, it yielded over 
4,000 quarts of berries per acre. Returns 
exceeded $1,900, and this without any 
manure whatever, and only 250 pounds 
of 2-8-10 fertilizer that year. He pays 
$22.50 rent for the three acres. In 1909 
he purchased a four acre lot, abandoned 
to weeds and brush, lying about half a 
mile from the other mentioned, paid $50 
per acre, cleared it up and set to fruit 
the next year. His sales in 1913 from 
this was more than $1,000, and the 
greater part was just coming into bear¬ 
ing, and every small fruit grower knows 
what kind of a season 1913 was in central 
New York. I am positive that since that 
land was originally cleared from forest 
it has never had two tons of fertilizer 
all together, and probably not 25 tons 
of manure. This grower now has in all 
stages of growth, 20 acres red raspber¬ 
ries, 6 acres currants, five acres black¬ 
berries, two acres black raspberries, 
three-quarter acre grapes, 10 acres ap¬ 
ples, 2% acres cherries, two acres pears 
and one acre plums. Ilis soil is Ontario 
fine sandy loam, of which the United 
States Soil Survey says "is of high agri¬ 
cultural value,” yet as in this case sell¬ 
ing for $50 per acre within the corpo¬ 
rate limits of a village that has nearly 
4,000 people to feed in the Summer sea¬ 
son. Farms on this same soil type within 
two miles of the village with fairly good 
buildings have been sold for $25 per acre. 
To those who are anxious to find a home 
where nature will nenly reward ener¬ 
getic, intelligent effort, old Schoharie of¬ 
fers opportunities second to none, for 
here are together at war door, the great 
markets of the East, combined with the 
fertility of the West. wm. M. kling. 
Windswept Soil. 
“In many instances,” said Dean Jar- 
dine, “land has been plowed for years 
with a disk plow, to a depth not exceed¬ 
ing three to five inches. Sometimes the 
disk harx-ow was the only instrument, 
used in preparing the seedbed for wheat. 
Straw has been burned annually. Such 
land, of course, is soon in vex-y poor 
physical condition, and under such con¬ 
ditions windstorms of 20 miles an hour 
have been known to do a great deal of 
damage.” 
This report comes from Kansas, where 
■windstorms often do gr-eat damage to 
soils by blowing the fine particles away 
before the seed is planted. This loss is 
heaviest in those level States where the 
wind has an unmolested range, but it 
is often troublesome in other localities. 
In some cases it seems better to leave 
the soil rough or ridged, to break the 
force of the wind somewhat. A cover 
ci’op like rye helps in ti’ouble of this sort 
as its roots run all through the soil and 
hold it together 1 . s. s. 
Gasoline Power. —A recent issue of 
The R. N.-Y. contains some opinions and 
advice as to horsepower for a gasoline 
engine for farm work. I believe six 
horse-power was the highest mentioned. 
It appears to me that a farmer should 
first detei'mine what kind of work he 
wants to do with it. I have a 12 horse¬ 
power that runs 15 different machines. 
One of these is a mill that grinds corn 
on the cob with other grains, and I have 
to feed vei-y carefully to avoid being 
stuck. Another is a large baling ma¬ 
chine; still another that hoists a quarter 
ton of hay or grain to the mow. It 
should be known that gasoline horse¬ 
power is not to be depended upon to 
equal same rating of steam, and that a 
six power of one maker, might prove to 
be no better than four of another. 
New York. frank hyde. 
>se Bmtes tjg&eavera&e_x>t 
rus per acx^wor the same amjtomt 
41 ^^^^^^lc-Ph<5spltate^. 
U\e7^4?aiinually avalia- ( M 
turn! conditions, 1%. J 
which wouhkb o pur lavayd i 
Of this amount of Ph< tSphort 
M ble under aj rerafoe soi and ci 
W^This 1200 founds of 1 ‘hosphi 
: production of 50 mshels 
t. The bestr methods oLsv 
and the most <mrejuTseed 
;imu m yields u/Ttil, the-6e4 
Phosphorus has beeWsupplied. 
bushels of whet 
and cultivation 
jiency in 
Finely &roiJnd rock pi 
sourJVjqLPhosphorus. 
inomical 
Here is the Territory Where DAYBREAK ROCK PHOSPHATE Has Made Good 
In each of the States shown on this map we have shipped “Daybreak” Rock Phosphate in 
car-load lots and a most persistent follow up of our customers has not found one who has 
not profited from his purchase. 
Here are the crops which have been 
materially and profitably increased 
by the use of Rock Phosphate 
Corn, Wheat, Oats, Clover, 
Potatoes, Silage 
On a typical corn-belt farm the continued use 
of Rock Phosphate at an annual cost of $1.00 per 
acre has given increased yields of 16 bu. corn, 23 
bu. oats and one ton of clover per acre. 
In a recent issue of Breeder’s 
Gazette there was reported an in¬ 
crease of 25 bushels of wheat per 
acre from an application of 600 
pounds of Rock Phosphate. 
Increased yield of 20 bushels 
of oats and one ton of clover per 
aei’e from 1,000 pounds of Rock 
Phosphate is reported in Prairie 
Farmer. 
At the University of Wisconsin 
the use of Rock Phosphate gtive 
an increase of 47 per cent in the 
potato yield. 
What Rock Phosphate Has 
Done in Dollars and Cents 
In a twelve year test at Penn¬ 
sylvania Experiment Station $1.05 
per acre invested in Rock Phosphate 
gave increased crop yields valued at 
$5.85 as an average of the 12 years. 
At present prices these crops would 
be worth $9. 
At the Maryland Experiment Station 
$1.96% worth of Rock Phosphate produced 
crop increases valued at $22.11. At present 
prices this increase would show a profit of 
2000% on the Rock Phosphate investment. 
At the Ohio Agricultural College 15c worth 
of Rock Phosphate added to each ton of ma¬ 
nure increased the crop producing value of 
the manure 75c per ton. On this basis one 
ton of Rock Phosphate is worth $37.50. 
The Ohio Farmer reports an in¬ 
creased clover yield of 2820pounds 
per acre at the Ohio Experiment 
Station. The Rural New-Yorker 
reports 2652 pounds more of clover 
per acre from the use of lime and 
Rock Phosphate than from the 
use of lime alone. Prairie Farm¬ 
er during 1913 gave reports from 
the use of Rock Phosphate on clover in five counties of 
Illinois. On an average Rock Phosphate doubled the 
clover yield. One of America’s best known Jersey 
breeders reports an increase of 8 tons of silage per 
acre from the use of 500 pounds of Rock Phosphate. 
Four fields of typical corn belt land have in ten 
years produced crops value' at $148.75, $151.30, 
$14*9.43 and $149.96, respectively On four ad join- 
ling fields which differed only by two applications of 
Rock Phosphate during the ten year period the ci’op /8\ e ' ^ 
values per acre have been $229.37, $221.30, $229,20 x ^ 
and $225.57. On an average of all tests made 
by the Illinois Agricultural College, each 
dollar invested in Rock Phosphate has given $5.00 
increased crop yields. 
Those are but a few of the many reports from experiment station and progressive farmers which 
show the large yields ami the large x>rofits from the use of ltock Phosphate. The soil’s need for 
Rock Phosphate is not a theory, but a fact which has been shown by extensive soil surveys 
and analyses by state and nation. The use of Rock Phosphate is not an experiment but a 
well established system of fertilization which is increasing the bank ac¬ 
counts of thousands of intelligent farmers and enabling them to make 
their soil permanently productive. Get the facts and you will get 
the prolits. Fill out this coupon and mail it to us today. 
Federal Chemical Go., Columbia, Tend. 
ill 
