J2oa 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
supply. The demand will create an opportunity for 
deception on the part of the unscrupulous dealer. 
SIBERIAN VARIETIES.—Now as to the Siberian 
Alfalfas, I believe the government spent $10,000 or 
$15,000 to import a comparatively few pounds of 
these rare strains, and even now several years after 
the tirst importation, there are only a very few 
pounds of the seed in America. The price on some 
of them is prohibitive; however, this is not so very 
material because what we really care for is actually 
to know what these new strains will do, and whether 
we want them when we can get them or not. Tin 1 
quantity of seed will be increased very rapidly. In 
a few years some of them will be offered at $1 per 
pound, and in a few more years for much less. I 
examined only a few of the more important of these 
new Siberian Alfalfas. The Cossack is one of the 
most important, and some .seed will be offered this 
year at about $5 per pound. This strain is almost 
exactly like Grimm, except in the color of its blos¬ 
som. Anybody could tell that he had Cossack Al¬ 
falfa simply from its blossom. It seems to he fully 
as valuable as Grimm in every way, with no very 
material differences: the grower, however, consider¬ 
ing it a heavier yielder. I think probably it might 
some time be used in preference to Grimm, just on 
account of the ease with which it could be distin 
guislied. Grimm Alfalfa looks just like the ordinary 
unless you dig the plants up. The Cossack in bloom 
has many different colored flowers and this distin¬ 
guishes both from Grimm and from common. 
THE CHERNO is so much like the Cossack that 
I could see no practical difference between them, and 
I believe even Professor Hansen thinks they are so 
nearly alike that the differences between them are 
of no importance. The Semipalitinsk was brought 
over with the expectation that it would make a pas¬ 
ture variety suitable for dry, stony ground, that it 
would reseed itself and multiply. It has net been 
as successful along this line. I believe, av Professor 
Hansen hoped. I saw places whe re, iJ r^uui died out 
in pastures. It is in experiment^. tfage a* yet. and 
for myself I am not convinced as to Its importance, 
especially when compared with Melilotus alba, the 
White Sweet clover, which seems to me to be fully as 
good a pasture plant, which will reseed admirably, 
whose seed is inexpensive and whicn is decidedly out 
of the experimental stage. 
THE ORENBERG ALFALFA is another of the 
new Siberian importations. Its seed as yet is ex¬ 
tremely scarce, and the grower told me that he 
would not part with any of it at all excepting in an 
experimental way: that is. he would encourage far¬ 
mers to sow a few seeds in their garden to ascertain 
whether they wanted this variety or not, and by the 
time they knew, he would have the seed to offer. 
This strain has not been tested in the corn belt, and 
we do not. know just what it will do here yet. I have 
a little growing in test plot, seeded this last Spring, 
and in a year or so I shall know what it does in this 
climate. Certainly its appearance places it in a 
class by itself. It practically has no tap-root what¬ 
ever, or, at least, the tap-root, if it might be called 
such, is only a few inches long. Its crown is four 
inches under ground. Below the crown the roots 
almost immediately start to fork in every direction, 
sending long, vigorous roots not only down, but later¬ 
ally. Many of these roots grow six or eight inches 
under ground, and from time to time send up a new 
plant. In order thoroughly to convince myself of 
this point, I dug up one plant, carefully traced its 
roots and found runners or new plants coming up 
from these underground roots; the total spreading 
out over a diameter of seven feet. The original 
crown of this plant was, at the surface of the ground, 
about 15 inches in diameter. Close beside it was an¬ 
other plant with a crown over two feet in diameter, 
and I estimated over 500 stalks coming up from the 
one crown. The stalks are finer than ordinary Al¬ 
falfa ; grow apparently about as tall; have smaller 
leaves but a larger percentage of them, and it looks 
as if one cutting of it would procruce more heavily 
and especially more feed value than one cutting of 
any other strain of Alfalfa I have ever seen. Its 
flowers are yellow. The probabilities are that this 
strain will produce only two cuttings a year in the 
corn belt It is slow about recovering after a cut¬ 
ting, and while it might produce three, we think 
possibly there would be only two cuttings. It is as 
hardy as any of the other varieties, and if it is found 
to produce as heavily as the others. I think it would 
be the greatest variety of Alfalfa ever introduced 
into America. I advise farmers to obtain just a few 
seeds of it this year to put in their gardens. They 
will he unable to buy much of it, as the grower will 
absolutely limit the amount he puts out, hut if you 
had even 10 seeds, you would get plenty of plants to 
watch, and after a year or so, if desired, the original 
plants can be dug up and divided into many plants. 
These could be reset and possibly a little money 
could even be made while the seed is high-priced by 
saving seed from it. It seems to me that it would 
be impossible to lift this variety out with frost. It 
ought to grow over hardpan or poorly drained soil 
and the quality of its hay ought to he the best of any 
thei’e is in existence. cttas. b. wing. 
Ohio. 
A CROP OF SWEET POTATOES. 
W ILL you give culture of sweet potatoes? How 
long does it take them to mature, and when is 
the best time to dig them? H. w. 
North Devon, O. 
Just now (the middle of September) South Jersey 
growers are quite busy moving their sweet pota¬ 
toes. The yield this year is somewhat below the 
average, but prices are good. To-day (September 
14) the average price paid at the station was $2.J5 
per barrel. This price leaves a fair margin of profit 
for the producer who can secure a good yield. 
PREPARING THE LAND.—The wise grower 
plans for his sweets three to five years ahead of 
planting by working out a rotation that will leave 
the ground in the best possible shape for his main 
crop. In planning this rotation the fertilization re¬ 
quirements of sweets should be considered. Manure 
is beneficial, but it should be given to the crops pre¬ 
ceding sweets. If applied directly it often results 
in stringy potatoes and excessive vine growth. 
Glover sod, rye, cover crops and catch crops are val¬ 
uable, but any heavy sod should be turned under at 
least one and better two years before sweets are 
planted. The object is to have an abundance of 
thorough!i/ decayed vegetable matter in the soil at 
planting time. In the older potato sections a rota¬ 
tion bringing the ground in sweets once in four or 
five years is short enough. In new sections three 
years is safe. A good general rotation, bringing in 
other truck crops and used by many growers, is as 
follows: First year, early tomatoes, manured liber¬ 
ally; second year, clover sod: third year, melons or 
cantaloupes, manured lightly: fourth year, sweets 
without manure. This is often modified fior local 
conditions and other crops substituted. The above 
rotation permits of a Winter cover throughout, the 
entire time, but the year sweets are planted the 
cover crop is plowed early before much Spring 
growth is made. 
FERTILIZERS.—Sweets are p’anted in hills and 
drills. At Swedesboro the hill system is popular and 
the distance is usually 2*4 feet each way. In drills 
the rows are 2*4 to three feet apart, and plants IS 
to 20 inches apart in the row. The ground for 
sweets is plowed in early Spring and harrowed at 
frequent intervals to hold the moisture. Between 
plowing and ridging all fertilizers are applied. 
Sweets need large amounts of available potash and 
a small amount of soluble nitrogen. An excess of 
nitrogen promotes vine growth at the expense of po¬ 
tatoes, and the potatoes are of poor quality. Most 
manufacturers supply ready-mixed sweet potato fer¬ 
tilizers containing 10 to 12 per cent, of potash and 
seldom above 2% per cent, nitrogen. The brands in 
general use at Swedesboro analyze 1.05 per cent, 
nitrogen. 8 to 0 per cent, phosphoric acid, and 10 per 
cent, potash. The quantity applied depends on the 
soil, but 700 pounds per acre of a 1.05—0-10 mixture 
distributed in the row is an average application. 
METHODS OF APPLICATION.—Rows are made 
with a drag marker about the middle of April so 
the fertilizer can be distributed and have at least one 
rain on it before ridging. This washes out the in¬ 
jurious salts that would otherwise burn the plants. 
Because of burning it is very important to have fer¬ 
tilizers in early, especially on light soils. The fer¬ 
tilizer is distributed with a drill having a tooth be¬ 
hind to mix it in the soil. From 200 to 400 pounds 
of sulphate or muriate of potash is often used to 
supplement that supplied in the ready-mixed goods. 
This is applied broadcast over the ground and har¬ 
rowed in before marking. Sulphate has the prefer¬ 
ence over muriate. Ridges or hills are made toward 
the last of April with a sweet potato ridger. A 
rain before setting time settles the soil in the ridges 
and makes ideal conditions for planting. 
PLANTING.—Plants or slips are grown from po¬ 
tatoes imbedded in a hotbed. Small potatoes from 
one to iy 2 inches in diameter are used for this pur¬ 
pose. Near Swedesboro sweets are bedded between 
March 20 and April 1, and they are usually in the 
field by May 15. Some growers put them out in 
April. Those who did so this year are far ahead of 
their neighbors who got them out later right in the 
midst of a drought that lasted until after June 15. 
Those who put their plants in the field before May 
5. this year, were, many of them, able to get their 
crop off before September 1, and secured very high 
prices. Plants put out about June 1 are just begin¬ 
October 10, 
ning to reach marketable size. Near Vineland sweets 
are bedded much later than at Swedesboro. I 
visited one grower who did not bed his potatoes un¬ 
til May 10. lie grew a crop of early peas, then put 
out sweet potato plants about July 1. They grew 
right off and will mature before frost. Few growers 
in that section try to get ther plants out before May 
15. and quite a number of them follow the practice 
of setting plants after peas* One year with another 
it works out quite well, but. of course, they do not 
get off any potatoes for the early market. Most of 
their crop is stored. Puddling the roots of plants 
before setting is an advantage. If soil is dry, plants 
must be watered. This year some of our own pota¬ 
toes were watered three times, and then barely pulled 
through. 
CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING should 
begin when plants are thoroughly rooted and con¬ 
tinue once a week until vines cover the ground. Po¬ 
tatoes set in warm sandy soil and pushed for earli¬ 
ness can often be dug in August. Such a crop always 
pays, and has some advantages over a crop dug 
later. The bulk of the crop, however, is usually dug 
between September 15 and October 20. When dig¬ 
ging. it is best to cut vines first with one of the 
better makes of vine-cutters now on the market, and 
then run under the potatoes with a regular sweet 
potato digger. The diggers are similar to a plow, 
only they have an iron strap or else several fingers 
attached to a short mold-board. Potatoes are al¬ 
lowed to dry off before being put into baskets and 
should not be dug when the soil is very wet. When 
intended for storage the plants or hills should be 
lifted carefully and laid in piles, after which the 
potatoes can be picked off by hand. When shaken 
off in heaps there is much bruising and skinning, 
which favors rot in storage. Ordinary %-bushe! 
baskets are generally used for marketing sweets in 
home markets. When shipped to distant markets 
they are sold in double-head barrels or bushel ham¬ 
pers. Sweets for storage should be dug before tin* 
ground freezes, handled carefully and placed in 
storehouses where plenty of ventilation can be given. 
When first, stored a temperature of 80 to 90 degrees 
Fahrenheit should be maintained, and all possible 
ventilation given until potatoes have passed through 
the sweating stage, after which the temperature can 
be reduced and held at 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. 
TRUCKEK, JR. 
FITTING THE FALL-PLOWED GROUND. 
NT land that is in the proper condition for 
plowing will always be in the best condition for 
working down in a few hours after being 
turned over. This practice is an economy in every 
instance, whether the soil be of light texture or of 
the clay loam order. This Fall I have seen many 
fields even on farms where progressive agricultural 
methods are supposed to be practiced, where the 
whole field has been plowed over before any attempt 
has been made to pulverize the surface. The result 
of such treatment is that the expense of preparing a 
seed bed has been doubled, while the work is done 
by a grinding, crushing process. That injures the 
soil texture, and moisture has been allowed to escape 
that can never be replaced in the same condition as 
when the soil was first turned over, even if showers 
should occur. Such treatment of the soil is an in¬ 
sult to generous nature. All this results from the 
short-sighted idea that the important thing is to get 
the field plowed over, and that the fitting down can 
be done at any time. If the fresh turned furrows 
were worked down with a plank drag, or log clod- 
crusher, the surface would be leveled, all the holes 
made in the soft earth by the horses’ feet, would be 
filled, as well as the strip between the furrow slices, 
and the surface would be left with a rough print, the 
best possible condition for moisture retention. A 
roller does not fill up the boles, does not break the 
clods any better, and leaves too smooth a surface. It 
does not level the ground. 
Tf this work be done toward evening, after each 
day’s plowing, the seed bed will be in better condi¬ 
tion at a greatly reduced expense. I have just re¬ 
turned from an afternoon ride through a good farm¬ 
ing section where spring-tooth harrows were being 
hauled over the dry and crusted furrows, in the at¬ 
tempt to fit the fields for wheat. Once over at the 
right time with the right implement would have ac¬ 
complished more than three times over in the pres¬ 
ent condition. After the furrows have been run over 
with the drag or clod crusher, and perhaps a shower 
has occurred, then the spring-tooth harrow is a most 
effective implement to mellow the soil. When we do 
not have time to prepare the seed bed properly 
either there is a lack of efficient farm management, 
or the job on hand is too big for us. and less acres 
might be a better proposition. 
HENRY E. cox. 
