1336 
much as heretofore. It was live years ago when the 
price of beef fell off that we started with the dairy 
cow. We have not increased rapidly, but steadily. 
With the increase in dairy population we are adding 
the silo, and the beef man is now learning from the 
dairyman that he can use silage to advantage. The 
number of silos was doubled this year. The farmer 
has more faith in the creamery man. At one time he 
was fearful of his test, he thought he was being 
skinned by the creamery man, but now under State 
inspection the farmer is more confident in increasing 
his dairy herd.” w. j. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Then Winter oats in that climate will grow like rye 
or wheat. After they are harvested corn comes on 
again. 
DYNAMITE OR TILE FOR DRAINAGE. 
J N reply to Henry C. Cox, page 12G0. while he gave 
credit to dynamite for a lot of things it would do, 
he failed to show why dynamite would not drain 
the field. The fact that dynamite was used to blow 
the stumps is no reason to be eve that the one oper¬ 
ation would do both, clear the field of stumps and 
drain it. In my estimation dynamite has not failed 
to drain this field because dyn mite was not used for 
that purpose there. 
In regard to the pits that "stayed full” of water 
1 would think that perhaps the persons in charge of 
the work wanted to make sure of getting the stumps 
out and used too much dynamite. A little goes a 
great way when properly placed. In that case the 
too much dynamite gave too big a hole. One must not 
get the impression that by blasting stumps in a 
swamp, the swamp will be drained. It will not, and 
this is the reason why it won’t work out. 
When we blast stumps we are not draining; these 
are two entirely different operations. In blasting a 
stump the charge is so placed that its force will 
throw up the stump. Dynamite will blow in the di¬ 
rection of least resistance. The stump goes, also 
some of the earth close to the stump. While it spent 
most of its force on the stump it also forced down¬ 
ward. This downward forcing, if the land is wet. 
will have a tendency to compact the earth. In order 
to test this out all we need do is to discharge a piece 
of dynamite that lies on the ground. We will find, 
after the explosion, that while little or no earth was 
blown into the air. there is a hole. If water were to 
be poured into it I doubt if it would drain off. These 
conditions, such as large pits, are many times made 
far worse by using too much dynamite. 
The charge that is placed to drain land by the sub¬ 
soil method is placed in a very different position 
from that of blasting a stump. In stump blasting 
the charges are placed or inserted under the stump 
in a slanting position, while in subsoiling it is placed 
at least three to five times deeper, and in an up¬ 
right position. When rightly tamped its force is con¬ 
fined to the lower strata of the earth. Many a hole 
has been drained by placing the charge 10 to 18 feet 
deep. While some people have trouble in using dyna¬ 
mite for one purpose or other there are hundreds 
who have the best results. f. a. k. 
Williamsville, N. Y. 
REMARKABLE FARMING IN TENNESSEE. 
I ENCLOSE a picture of a field of corn planted 
July 4. after a crop of oats had been pastured 
off until last half of June. It got so dry I could 
not plow it and kept stock on it. This field and two 
others, one planted June 24, the other July 6, have 
been in corn at least eight years out of the last ten. 
They are close to my dairy barn and I cover them 
with manure every year, about 20 acres, and make 
my silage corn on them, besides a crop of oat hay 
on at least one of them. The corn was cut for silage 
October (i to 10. making it three months and four 
to six days old. It was not quite as matured as I 
like it. but was afraid to wait longer. I got 250 tons 
of silage off the land: seems good enough at this 
time. 
With plenty of good manure, rotation is of little 
use to such land as this. I commenced rotating 
these fields 25 years since and found that 1 had 
much heavier expense in filling silo from fields far¬ 
ther away, and find my silo fields are good as ever, 
yes. better. The second thought is kindred to this. 
Rotation is talked so much that many people begin 
to rely on it entirely to improve their lands, 'and they 
find it a very slow business to sow wheat, corn, 
clover and grass, and cut it all off and sell it. The 
only rotation I think useful is one that puts some¬ 
thing back when you remove the crop. Pay your 
land as you go. w. g. jjsnoik. 
Tennessee. 
R. N.-Y.—The photograph was so dim that we 
could not make an engraving from it. It showed a 
field of corn standing like a thick forest. We see 
what Mr. Lenoir does with this land. Tt is close to 
the barn and therefore gives a very short haul for 
'be bulky silage crop. Each year a heavy coat of 
manure is applied—this also giving a short haul. 
C 
THE FRENCH-CANADIAN CATTLE. 
OULD you give me any information in regard to 
the French Canadian cattle? I have seen some at 
the fairs, and like the looks of them very much, 
but would like to know a little more about them 
before buying any. Would they be good cows for but¬ 
ter, and do they give a good mess of milk? Are they 
easy keepers? Are they nervous, like the Jerseys? 
Chenango Co., N. Y. i". f. s. 
The French Canadian cattle are well described in 
publications issued by the Canadian Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. Bulletins may be obtained by addressing the 
Department of Agriculture at Ottawa, Canada. This 
breed is chiefly noted for its hardiness and ability to 
rustle under rather poor conditions. The individual 
cow is rather small, weighing only TOO to 900 pounds. 
A good bull will weigh about 1.000 pounds. In shape 
or general conformation they are inclined to he 
A TYPICAL FRENCH CANADIAN BULL. Fig. 579. 
rather rough and angular, lacking the smoothness 
and even type of the Jerseys or Cuernseys. In the 
cows, the wedge shape, so prominent in dairy cat¬ 
tle. is present and well developed. The color varies, 
usually a dark shade running from black to a dark 
brown. As milk producers they are not equal to the 
Jersey either in quantity or quality, although they 
resemble that breed closely in many of their charac¬ 
teristics. Probably an average of (5.500 pounds of 
milk a year, with a little over 4 per cent, butter fat. 
would be a fair standard production for the French 
Canadian. It is thought that the first individuals of 
this breed were brought from Normandy or Brittany 
by the early French settlers who came to Quebec and 
settled along the St. Lawrence River. Starting with 
this old-time stock the French Canadians represent 
:v 
FRENCH CANADIAN COW, (5,639 POUNDS 
MILK IN 269 DAYS. Fig. 580. 
the result of many years of “roughing it.” As a re¬ 
sult. while they may have fallen away in size, and 
somewhat in dairy quality from the old stock, they 
have acquired great hardiness, and are probably the 
most economical cattle in their ability to hustle and 
produce fairly well on light and rather poor rations. 
Our impression is that under forced feeding at dairy 
contests the French Canadians have not made a 
great showing, but as rustlers on a rough pasture, or 
in a cold country, they are hard to beat. 
T 
THE MOST PROFITABLE APPLE. 
Figures from Nova Scotia. 
HE question of varieties when planting apple 
trees is a most fundamental one. Most grow¬ 
ers surmise there is a difference in net profits 
as between varieties, but in many cases their favor¬ 
ite is the one which turned out most barrels and 
most money the year before. Our Nova Scotian fruit 
is mainly middle-class apples, such as Blenheim, 
Ribston. Baldwin. Stark. Ben Davis, with Craven- 
stein. King, Spy. Wagoner and Colden Russet as our 
high-class eating apples. Blenheims rarely go over 
45 j»er cent. No. I (214-inch diameter free from spot 
and worms), and soften easily in our ordinary stor¬ 
age. Ribstons are still worse, often not giving more 
November 14, 
than 38 per cent. No. 1, and have a very restricted 
market in London, not being liked in the North of 
England. They also soften badly in ordinary stor¬ 
age. Baldwins are a little smaller than the States 
apples—at least, such is the general opinion—and 
with less color. They average about 48 per cent. No. 
1. They keep well, but need much thinning and 
pruning to get the size 214 inches diameter, and I 
always disliked the color in Nova Scotia. Stark is 
an early bearer, extra fine growing tree, with solid 
crotches and an even branching system. The apples 
keep well, are fairly well flavored, though coarse, and 
for the last three years sell better than our Bald¬ 
wins. Stark pack about 55 per cent. No. 1. 
Ben Davis lacks size here. The color is fair. It 
keeps well, but becomes greasy and unappetizing to 
look at.. It packs badly, only 40 per cent. No. 1. 
Cravenstein is largely grown here, but being a 
delicate apple and having to be shipped in a hot part 
of the year, they arrive in poor condition, not mak¬ 
ing prices in proportion to their quality. Whether 
because of intensive cultivation or extensive prun¬ 
ing. about eight years ago it seemed quite probable 
that Nova Scotia Cravenstein trees would all die out. 
The trees appear healthier than at that time. Few 
are being planted. Cravenstein may have a future 
in Nova Scotia, as they can grow to fine size, color 
and flavor, but they will need pre-cooling or cold 
storage and better orchard care. 
King is one of the varieties which suffered most 
from the old system of pruning. “Prune to stiffen 
up the branches" made the King grow much wood 
and "Thin out your top” gave the owner the pleas¬ 
ure of cutting it out. It usually took 12 to 15 years 
before Kings bore much fruit. Kings pack well—02 
per cent. No. 1. 
The Spy grows very fairly in Nova Scotia. The 
tree is sufficiently hardy, but needs much pruning 
(after the first six or eight years), as it sets too 
many apples, and also grows too dense. The apples 
as grown here in the past have poor color and size. 
They also packed badly, 42 per cent. No. 1. This tree 
will probably pay even better than most for extra 
pruning and thinning. 
Wagener has come to the front as a filler and early 
bearer. They are also high-priced and a good ship 
. per, the best being sent to South Africa from here 
The quality is good, and as the tree is small they are 
ideal to thin. They pack about (51 per cent. No. 1 
I have few Colden Russets, but as mine only pack 
IS per cent. No. 1 perhaps I have too many. I ox 
ceedingly dislike Mann as a tree, a bearer and as an 
apple to eat. Ontario is another poor variety whiff; 
is an early and heavy bearer of very tender-skinne I 
apples. They are poor shippers—worse than Spy 
to handle. These percentages of pack are based on 
the No. 1 apples packed out from the 100 barrels as 
they come from the tree on an average of about five 
years. We in Nova Scotia also pack No. 2 which are 
smaller, and No. 3, which are rougher or perhaps a 
little defective. 
lor the five crops, 1908 to 1912. I have my own 
figures and also those of smother orchard, giving 
prices realized per barrel of about 125 pounds net 
weight of apples. This price is for the barrel of ap¬ 
ples sis it comes rough from the tree, and sill expense 
>>f packing, commission and freight has been paid, 
leaving the following figures: 
My fruit, five years to 1912: other orchard, 5 years to 
1912: my last i911-’12-’13 prices. 
Cravenstein . 
Ribston . 
King. 
Wagener . 
Ben Davis. 
Northern Spy . 
Stark ... 
Blenheim . 
Baldwin . 
Mann . 
Ontario . 
These figures are useful, but to get an idea of what 
variety is most profitable one needs to have the fig¬ 
ures on production. For instance, 15 King trees 
planted in 1886, in the nine crops. 1904 to 1912, bore 
an average of 2.67 barrels per tree per year; 18 Ben 
Davis, same age, same period, 3.35 barrels per tree 
per year. 
But each barrel of apples costs to pick 15 cents, 
hauling five cents, barrel 2s cents and thinning live 
cents. So at values given above a King tree of this 
age would make a profit of $4.08 a year, and Ben 
Davis $3.28 a year, and a Spy tree $5.26. An acre 
of 50 Kings would be worth $87.50 a year more than 
an acre of Ben Davis, and 50 Spys would beat the 
Kings by $61.50 a year. As the base for my figures 
gets wider these figures will alter, and perhaps 
others will join to obtain them, john buchanax. 
Nova Scotia. 
1912 
1912 
1911-12-in 
$1.60 
$1.63 
$1.56 
1.53 
1.50 
1.10 
2.04 
2 ‘•’9 
2 09 
1.94 
2!oo 
2.00 
1.51 
1.5(5 
Not settled 
2.11 
1.88 
Not settled 
1.80 
1.75 
1.61 
1.4(5 
None 
1.49 
2.03 
None 
1.55 
1.15 
1.04 
It seems to us very necessary that pupils in country 
schools should be taught to know the names and habits 
of weeds. 
