922 
TH13 RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ber, and the cabbages used and the onions cleaned 
and cultivated and the earth pulled to them as a 
Winter protection. The sets are grown from seed 
sown very thickly in late April, and they ripen in 
July. I use sets only for the production of early 
green onions in the Spring, and the sets are the 
Norfolk Queen, the earliest onion I have ever grown, 
as we usually here have them ready for use in late 
February. In September also I plant sets of the 
Yellow Potato onion to follow the Queen (which 
is not the Queen of the Northern Catalogues). The 
offsets of the potato onions are used as green onions 
and the main bulb ripens in June, and succession 
crops of string beans follow the onions. 
Celery comes in after the early cabbages, and is 
grown after the Baltimore method in six foot beds, 
which are covered and stand where grown till used 
up. Between the latest corn, seeds of the Winter 
cabbage, the Late Flat Dutch, are planted in hills in 
July, and the plants thinned to one in the hill and 
the thinnings transplanted to any vacant space else¬ 
where. Plants that need the whole late season 
like salsify, parsnips, carrots and late beets are 
sown in June, for here I never sow parsnips and 
salsify early, as the roots get overgrown and poor. 
All these crops stand in the rows where they grew 
all Winter, and are given the full room after some 
earlier crop like the wrinkled peas which are over 
with us in June. Then in September any vacant 
place .is utilized for Norfolk kale and spinach. 
Between some of the later corn plantings the Fall 
turnips go in. In fact I endeavor to have something 
coming in at all times, Fall, Winter, Spring and 
Summer, and there is not a day in the year when 
we do not get some kinds of vegetables from the 
garden either outside or from the cold frames. Let¬ 
tuce seed for the first Fall crop is scattered broad¬ 
cast anywhere among other things that are worked 
out, as I want to get scattering plants and not 
plants crowded in rows for transplanting. This 
first lettuce sowing is made early in August and 
usually heads outside. Another Sowing in Septem¬ 
ber is set in the frames for Christmas. Some of 
these plants are set in open furrows to winter over 
for early heading in the Spring. These rows are 
between the rows of early cabbage plants from seed 
also sown in September, and if they winter well 
they head before the cabbages need the room. Then 
we sow lettuce seed outside in late February and 
transplant for a succession to those wintered over. 
The frames in which the Christmas crop of let¬ 
tuce is grown, are sown in beets and radishes in 
January in rows alternately six inches apart. I 
use the double glazed sashes, and these crops do 
very well. The radishes come out early and by 
the first of March, or a little later, the sashes are 
removed from the beets to cover the frames where 
the tomato plants from the greenhouse are set for 
hardening off. Then in late Spring or June, any va¬ 
cant frames are filled with eggplants turned out of 
pots merely to keep the frames clean, two plants 
being set to each sash space. I keep my eggplants 
growing inside in pots till June and then have large 
ones to set out, and they generally go in between 
the rows of early lettuce that is cut out. 
Maryland. w. f. massey. 
LATE CROP COMBINATIONS. 
ERE we do nearly all cultivating with horses. 
No crops are planted in rows closer together 
than 2)4 feet, and we cannot plant as close as 
gardeners operating on small areas and using wheel 
hoes. Neither do we intercrop to the extent prac¬ 
ticed by such growers. Nevertheless we have found 
it profitable on different occasions to have two crops 
growing on the land at the same time. 
We have often drilled in early peas in rows five 
feet apart and then started cantaloupes in hills be¬ 
tween the rows of peas. The ground was marked 
for both at one operation. The peas were off before 
the cantaloupes required the entire space between 
the rows. We have also grown onions from sets in 
between rows of strawberries planted 4*4 feet apart; 
the onions being marketed early in July, after which 
the strawberries had the entire space. There are 
a number of other combinations we could use for 
early planting but our experience is that the late 
crop combinations, of which there are a number, are 
best suited to our system of trucking. They pay 
well, and by using them the ground is kept busy 
the entire Summer; two and sometimes more crops 
are grown from the same piece of land and the 
boil is in good condition for early Spring planting. 
Today (June 29) I have been plowing a three- 
year old strawberry bed. This will be harrowed to¬ 
morrow and in a few days will be planted in 
“Hoosier” white potatoes. These will mature here 
if planted as late as July 15. Last year we had 
over 1,400 five-eighth-bushel baskets on a five acre 
field, planted the first of July after berries. We get 
a crop of berries—then finish with a crop of white 
potatoes. The plot of ground which produced our 
early peas is now furrowed out in rows 7)4 feet 
apart and will be planted soon in Boston Marrow 
squashes. If nothing happens they will mature be¬ 
fore frost. Onions grown from sets are not yet out 
of the ground but we have .Stone tomatoes set out 
SOUR MILK VESSEL FOR CHICK FEEDING. 
Fig. 3S2. 
four feet apart along the north side of every other 
row of onions. These were set out June 17. and are 
making a fine growth. The onions will be marketed 
in a few days, after which the tomatoes will be given 
a thorough cultivation and if all goes well will make 
a full crop before frost. 
Another plot of ground from which a crop of wax 
beans has already been gathered will be planted in 
sugar corn for the Fall market. Early tomatoes 
on low ground can be followed by a crop of spin¬ 
ach, which will mature if planted before August 
35. String beans, sugar corn, late tomatoes, late 
white potatoes, beets, spinach and a number of other 
crops can all be matured here if planted after July 
1, and they can be arranged in so many different 
combinations that each grower can work out the 
one that suits him best. The beauty of them all 
lies in the fact that they can be grown with 
but little if any extra fertilization. Ground that 
has been well fed for early crops will have plant 
food going to waste during July, August and Septem¬ 
ber, unless some crop is occupying the ground and 
making use of it. tbuckeb, jb. 
New Jersey. 
SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION OF FINE APPLES. 
From Plowing to Packing. 
Pabt IV. 
FACING THE BARREL.—Ordinarily the barrels 
will need some coopering before they are filled. 
Nails will need to be turned down, hoops tightened 
and bottoms removed. The smoothest and neatest 
head should be selected for the top (“head”), the 
head hoops driven down firmly and the bottom re¬ 
moved. A corrugated circular cardboard is first 
dropped into the empty barrel with corrugations 
next the wood. A lace ring or border of heavy 
white paper is sometimes placed on this disk, which 
adds to the appearance of the package when opened. 
“Facer” apples are then placed on this disk in con¬ 
centric circles and with stems next the cardboard. 
Uniform fruit of good size and appearance should 
be used for this purpose, although it is not fair to 
use the choicest or largest specimens to be found. 
If the outer circle does not fit snugly, fruit of a 
different size should be used, but a mixture of 
sizes should not be used in order to make them fit. 
The second circle may consist of slightly larger 
fruit, but should also be uniform in size. Frequent- 
July 15, 
ly three circles with a single center apple will com¬ 
plete the layer. If these different circles vary in 
size of fruit the increase should be toward the cen¬ 
ter, and where this is the case the “face” of the 
barrel will be a more exact representation of the 
quality throughout the package. Too many growers 
and apple packers have a faulty idea of proper 
facing, and it is not surprising that the name of 
the grower or those who are responsible for the 
packing fails to appear on the barrel. 
FILLING THE BARREL.—After the barrel is 
properly faced the remainder of the filling is quick¬ 
ly done by basket, by allowing it to run in from the 
table, or otherwise. In the meantime the barrel is 
rocked so as to settle the fruit well into place. 
The crown layer should be made level, preferably 
with the stems upward, and the center slightly 
higher than the edges, which latter should stand 
about an inch above the stave ends. This will pro¬ 
vide proper compression and insure a solid pack 
when the bottom is forced into place. Before plac¬ 
ing the bottom, however, a corrugated disk—or bet¬ 
ter two—similar to the one used in the head is 
placed over the fruit. Either a screw or lever press 
is satisfactory for forcing the bottom into place. 
In case either is used the barrel should stand on a 
plank about 12 inches in width so as to permit of 
the arms of the press being promptly hooked over 
the chine. As soon as the press is in position the 
upper hoop is removed and the lower one loosened. 
As the press is operated the bottom pieces should 
be guided into place by the use of the flat side of 
the hammer, after which the hoops are driven down 
and fastened with 3d nails. Wooden strips or 
“liners” may then be nailed about the chine for 
additional security. 
The head of the barrel should then be stenciled 
with at least the name of the grower, the variety, 
and the grade of fruit. These stencils may be se¬ 
cured of practically all firms dealing in fruit pack¬ 
ages. Those made of sheet brass or copper are 
preferable. The barrel is now ready to be delivered 
to the dealer or storage, but if this is not possible 
at once it should be held in some cool place until 
delivery can be made. b. h. bell. 
MILKING TIME. 
IIE picture shown at Fig. 3S5 is said to be 
taken from life and certainly shows a new 
way of conducting a milking machine and 
raising hothouse lambs. We have had pictures of 
cows being milked by little pigs, goats and other ani¬ 
mals and now and then there comes a man who 
claims that he saw a snake taking the milk from a 
cow. We have never seen that ourselves and doubt 
the possibilities of the story but it is a fact that 
some strange alliance are made with the good old 
cow, who is the mother among farm animals, ever 
ready to feed the hungry and take care of the 
thirsty. _ 
SOUR MILK FOR POULTRY. 
REAT interest is being taken in the 
plan of feeding sour milk to chicks. We 
have had a number of articles about the 
beneficial effects of this, and the great suc¬ 
cess of our sour milk pen of Leghorns at the Storrs 
Egg Laying Contest has increased interest 
This pen has been fed on sour milk from 
the first. It has made a remarkable record, and is 
now giving Tom Barron’s White Wyandottes a great 
run for their money. We rather expect to see this 
sour milk pen beat out the English Wyandottes yet 
to the end of the contest. Many requests have come 
to us for information as to how this sour milk is 
fed. We therefore print the picture of a device used 
at the Connecticut Agricultural College. This is 
shown at Fig. 3S2, and the following remarks are 
printed concerning the feeding of this sour milk. 
In the feeding of sour milk we have found it most 
desirable to keep milk before the chicks constantly, and 
in small shallow glazed or enameled pans. The chicks 
are prevented from getting into the pans by fastening 
a piece of coarse mesh wire screen over the pans. It is 
unnecessary to mix the milk with ordinary solid feed, 
like mash, in order to induce the chicks to eat it. If 
the milk has been soured in the right way, and if a new 
fresh supply is put before the chicks every day, or two 
or three times a day, it will be consumed as rapidly as 
is necessary. The broken bits of casein in the milk 
serve as objects of attraction; hence it is desirable from 
this standpoint alone, to fill the pans with the normal 
proportions of whey and coagulated casein. There are 
certain objections to mixing the milk with mash or 
other solid feed, one of the most significant being the 
fact that the milk-moistened food will tend to become 
mouldy, unless it is given in small amounts, and unless 
the pans or troughs are thoroughly and frequently 
cleaned. In all of our sour-milk feeding experiments 
there was not the least indication at any time that 
chicks suffered any injurious effects as the result of 
the milk diet. Since the milk was fed to chicks almost 
immediately after incubation, and many hundreds of 
them received this diet, the results clearly show that 
sour milk is not in the least unwholesome, but is an 
important agent in fostering growth and in reducing 
general mortality. 
