92 
EVERY FARM AN EXPERIMENT STATION. 
Trying Out New Things. 
Part II. 
BARLEY AS A COVER CROP.—Our trial of bar¬ 
ley as a cover crop in orchard was one of the bright 
spots of the year's work. The past Summer at 
just about the right time, J. S. Woodward called at¬ 
tention through The R. N.-Y.. to the value of barley 
as a cover crop in orchard, and I have been thank¬ 
ful a good many times since for the timely sug¬ 
gestion. Long after Soy beans, buckwheat and mil¬ 
let had been killed by frost, the barley remained 
green and bright. It is a crop that could not 
fail to interest one who has been struggling for 
years in bringing up a run-down farm, and its value 
as a cover crop is not confined to the orchard, by 
any means. We sowed several strips with a mix¬ 
ture of rye and barley. The barley was killed by 
the hard freezing weather, and snow flattened it, 
but the early-sown rye had made a nice carpet be¬ 
neath the barley, and the combination of these two, 
where both crops are returned to the land after rye 
has made a good growth in Spring certainly looks 
good to me, and especially so in making conditions 
favorable for a good catch of clover, where rye is 
cut with mower when in head and left on the 
land. The Hope Farm man is doing a good work 
in talking rye, rye, rye, and I hope he will not only 
keep right on pounding at it. but add barley to 
the list. If a small part of the time and money 
that are wasted, trying to grow legumes on poor 
land, under unfavorable conditions, were expended 
first on a crop that can be successfully grown on 
poor soil, and then return it to the land, far more 
headway could be made. The man who can grow 
clover and legumes successfully, is pretty well up 
the ladder. 
INFLUENCE OF DENSE SHADE—It was of 
much interest to me, and a big surprise, to find spots 
all through the orchard where the barley was very 
much larger than the average, showing distinctly 
where each tree had been removed during the Sum¬ 
mer of the previous year. In taking out fillers 
through the orchard, the tops were sawed off and 
left lying on the ground until after rush of work 
in the Fall, when the tops were gathered and 
burned and stumps pulled. A large part of the 
work of removing tops was done in midsummer, 
but where some peach trees were removed, the tops 
were not cut back until after Carman peach season 
was over in September. Warm weather continued 
until quite late, and the same difference was no¬ 
ticed where Carman was removed, as those done 
earlier. There seemed to be no other reason for 
the rich green spots of rank growth in the barley, 
excepting the shading of the soil during warm 
weather, as in the case of the apples, at least, the 
dried leaves were still hanging fast when tops were 
burned, and there could have been nothing in the 
way of vegetable matter added. There would seem 
to be possibilities along this line that are worth 
experimenting with. A few years ago. in trying to 
get vetch to grow on poor land, it amounted to noth¬ 
ing. excepting where it got under the edge of bunch¬ 
es of mulch placed about young trees, and the ma¬ 
terial in some cases was simply old brush, like wild 
raspberry bushes, so they could of themselves have 
furnished no fertility. In these places the vetch 
grew rank and green and the roots were covered 
With nodules. While attending the Fruit (1 rowers’ 
meeting at Geneva several years ago, 1 heard a 
member remark at the breakfast table, that the 
crop on a spot where a brush pile had stood and 
been burned showed more benefit than he could get 
from wood ashes where there was no brush pile, 
and he could not understand it. The thought has 
come up a good many times since, especially the 
past Fall. Blowing under rye in the heat of Sum¬ 
mer is usually so much of a job that it is made 
the excuse for removing the crop, but it seems to 
me we get more benefit from cutting it when in 
bead and leaving it on top of the ground, to make 
conditions favorable for growth of clover, and when 
turned under the following year H goes to pieces 
-\Try crfsinV’:-——___ 
HAIRY VETO 1TA boulS^WW a rs ago we left 
•in acre of rye and vetch for seed. St was harvested 
very carefully, but considerable seeti must have 
shattered. There has been no opportunity for much 
to go to seed since then, none that I know V. though 
each time the land was plowed the vetch \ame in 
thickly. The past Summer the land was inVoma- 
toes. and there is now such a nice covering of V^tch, 
we expect to leave it for seed again. This feature 
f the seed lying in the ground would make tl^s 
crop a serious- pest on a grain farm, but unde\i 
i ur conditions we are glad to see it gradually 
preading over much of the farm. 
SOY BEANS._One finds considerable pleasure in 
THE RURAL REW-VOR HER 
watching a new crop grow and come to maturity, 
and this has been especially true with the trial of 
Soy beans, as much so, I think as any crop we have 
ever undertaken, but I believe it will be a long time 
before Soy beans take the place of oats in this sec¬ 
tion ; not because they are less valuable, but for the 
reason that they are, at best, more difficult to han¬ 
dle. Oats are put in early, and the land seems never 
to get so poor that oats do not make some growth: 
besides they stand quite hard frosts, and are more 
easily handled all around. Then too, farmers have 
the oat habit, and it is hard to break, regardless of 
the fact that it is often a very expensive habit, the 
crop frequently costing far more than it comes to. 
The Soy beans will hardly relieve this feature, but 
nine-tenths of the oat ground should be put into 
rye the FaU before. There are difficulties with Soy 
beans at both ends of the season, as they require 
more favorable conditions to get crop started and 
much more care in planting. They must be har¬ 
vested at a season of the year when curing is gen¬ 
erally more difficult. It must be admitted, however, 
that they are not as easily injured by unfavorable 
weather conditions as ordinary field beans. The 
past Fall was espcially wet here, when we had rain 
or snow nearly every day for some weeks, but the 
Soy beans came through it uninjured as far as I 
could see. No doubt they are going to be worth the 
extra labor and care necessary to grow them, but 
they will not displace oats here during this gener¬ 
ation. It has been interesting to watch the nodules 
develop where Soy bean soil was used. Those on the 
plants the first year were smaller and all close 
around the stem, but the second year on the same 
land, the big nodules were sticking around on the 
smaller roots, or any place it was handy. Where 
no soil to inoculate was used, one would spoil the 
looks of a good-sized patch, if he kept on digging 
up plants until he found nodules. 
VARIETIES TESTED.—We tried this year 
Mikado, Mongol, Extra Select Sable, and Jet. Sable 
is entirely too late for this section for grain except¬ 
ing, possibly, during a very favorable season, but 
it makes a fine plant, with heavy foliage, and would 
be good for hay. It ripened no seed; in fact was 
so late it did not even blossom that I could see. 
Mongol had well-developed pods before Mikado even 
blossomed and is the only variety of the lot we 
will consider for further planting for grain. Jet, 
it is claimed, requires about the same time to ma¬ 
ture as Mongol, but with us, it takes several days 
longer and did not mature enough to pay to gather. 
The tops of Soy beans were cut by early frost, but 
Mongol matured a nice lot of seed on lower part 
of plants afterward. A few Mikado on higher 
ground, in protected location, did mature a few 
seeds, but farther down the hill, side by side with 
Mongol, did not ripen a pod that I could see. All 
these varieties made a fairly good growth on rather 
thin soil, and when once started and through the 
surface, seem to be able to look out for themselves, 
as the tiny plants develop a wonderful root system, 
and soon get tough and strong. We planted I to San 
also, but seed nearly all’ failed to grow. The 
few that grew were a little farther up the hillside 
than the Mongol, and escaped first frost. 
Livingston Co., N. Y. I. c. B. 
January 
fit. but no possible combination could be made which 
would benefit all conditions, and men without train¬ 
ing in veterinary medicine cannot diagnose condi¬ 
tions and prescribe the indicated remedies. Cure- 
alls are as fallacious in animal as in human medi¬ 
cation. To one who has some knowledge of drugs 
and their action it is pitiful to see the vile concoc¬ 
tions that are forced down helpless animals; own¬ 
ers using the most powerful and frequently painful 
remedial measures without any knowledge of them 
other than that they are “recommended'’ by some 
ignorant neighbor. A little sober reflection upon the 
statement that some tonic sold for a dollar, will 
double the yearly egg production of any flock makes 
it appear so preposterous that it is quickly dis¬ 
missed from thought, but scores of people are likely 
to pay the dollar and let sober reflection await the 
time when that money is needed for some useful 
purpose. m. b. d. 
T 
INTEREST IN HEN CONTESTS. 
JIERE has been nothing in live stock matters 
for the last 50 years that has started so much 
interest as the egg-laying contests. One pen of 
hens outlays another. Immediately a dozen people 
begin to ask why. The feed and care were alike; 
therefore the difference must have been in the hens. 
What was it and what was responsible for it? When 
people begin to ask themselves such things they are 
on the way to accurate knowledge. They cannot 
obtain it in any other way. A number of people 
ask for a closer analysis of the year’s egg record 
of the two leading pens. How did they stand as 
regards actual profit? Everybody knows that an 
egg in December is worth more than an egg in June. 
Figured on actual prices how did the American and 
English birds compare? Here we have the month¬ 
ly record with wholesale prices for eggs at the 
college. Remember there were 10 hens in each pen. 
The Leghorns laid 20S8 eggs—the Wyandottes 20S5. 
Lincoln’s Leghorns. 
No. Eggs 
Weights 
Doz. 
Total 
November . . . , 
.... 135 
14.25 
$().4S 
$5.40 
December . . . . 
. ... 172 
18.S0 
.50 
7.15 
January . 
, ... 98 
11.44 
.38 
3.09 
February . ... 
... 125 
14.82 
.33 
3.43 
March . 
. . . 194 
23.26 
.30 
4.85 
April . 
. .. 215 
20.20 
°2 
3.93 
May . 
... 237 
29.11 
.21 
3.1-1 
June . 
. .. 218 
20.28 
.24 
4.30 
July .. .. 
... 221 
20.47 
.25 
4.57 
August . 
223 
20.87 
.32 
5.95 
September . .. 
... 102 
19.88 
.40 
5.39 
October . 
... 88 
11.81 
.40 
3.37 
249.25 
$54.63 
Barron’s 
Wyandottes. 
November . . . . 
. . .. 117 
12.57 
$0.48 
$4.68 
December .... 
. . .. 213 
24.34 
.50 
8.80 
January ..... 
, . .. 101 
18.00 
.38 
5.08 
February .... 
. . . 159 
19.28 
.33 
4.37 
March . 
... 219 
20.85 
.30 
5.47 
April . 
. .. 201 
25.08 
.22 
3.07 
May . 
... 20S 
25.77 
.21 
• 3.04 
June .. 
. . .. 100 
21.30 
.24 
3.32 
23.01 
.25 
3.97 
August . 
. . .. 181 
22.48 
.32 
4.83 
September . .. 
. . . 141 
17.47 
.40 
4.09 
October . 
... 127 
10.17 
.40 
4.80 
253.58 
$57.41 
ANOTHER EGG-FOOD FAKE. 
I AM sending a clipping from a farm paper. Do you 
know anything of this “More Eggs,” tonic? If 
it is such a wonder I want it, but would like the 
proof. c - *-• S. 
Lisbon, O. . 
The advertisement states that “a scientific tonic has 
been discovered which revitalizes the flock and makes 
hens work all the time.” “A dollar’s worth will dou¬ 
ble the year's product,” etc., etc. 
I. too. would like proof of this gentleman’s state¬ 
ment that “A scientific tonic has been found that 
revitalizes the flock and makes liens work all the 
time.” There is a wide field for such a tonic for 
human consumption and I could find place for a 
few bottles on my own pantry shelf. 
While milking the cows for a farmer by whom 
I was employed some years ago. the poor fellow 7 
stood talking to me and. among other things, said 
“I suppose that there is some plant growing be¬ 
tween here and the woods that would cure me. if I 
only knew which one it was.” lie was near his end 
from consumption and the plant was never found. 
His remark, however, revealed a very common be¬ 
lief that nature has provided a specific remedy for 
every ailment, and all that remains is for man to 
find it. Trading upon this common, but probably 
entirely erroneous belief, uncounted millions have 
been filched from poor sufferers, and the end is not 
yet. 
So far as the administration of “tonics” to hens 
and other animals is concerned, there are probably 
times when properly chosen drugs would be of bene- 
Thus, from this showing, the English birds gave 
a year’s income of $2.81 larger than the Americans, 
because they laid more eggs in the Winter or Fall 
months. We also see that the Wyandot e eggs 
weighed a small fraction more than the Leghorn. 
The white color of the Leghorn eggs might have 
given a little higher price in some markets, but 
here are the figures counting one fresh egg as good 
as another. Let no man think he can take 10 liens 
and start right in at earning nearly $6 each from 
them. Even if he should buy blood of this stock he 
would not be sure of any such returns. You can 
buy eggs or hens but you cannot buy the part which 
Lincoln and Barron played in this record. The long 
patient work at testing and selecting and observing 
is outside of the hen. These are the things which 
you must supply. No matter how well bred tin* 
hen may be she cannot do your duty for you. 
I 
A NEW JERSEY ONION CROP 
N your issue of Oct. 10, 1914, A. S. A., of New 
Hampshire tells of 50 bushels of onions grown 
on one-eiglith acre of ground. I don’t intend 
to let little old New Jersey be beaten by New Ilamp 
shire or any other State if I can help it. I send pic¬ 
ture (Fig. 27) of my onion crop grown on one- 
twelfth of an acre, one-half pound seed. 58 bushels 
of large onions, besides some small ones which were 
not measured. Had I let the onions grow until tin 1 
tops were ripe, I should have had at least 70 bush¬ 
els, but I pulled all except the two rows next to 
the corn as soon as the tops began to go down, as 
the price was very high, $1 per basket. The two 
rows that I let stand until they were fully ripe 
made five baskets more than the two rows next to 
them. Can anyone beat this? wm. perkjxs. 
New Jersey. 
