822 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
condensery in Now York form an organization. You 
who have the same proposition to deal with that we 
have, get busy. Issue a call in your local paper 
for a meeting of the patrons of your condensery. 
Organize! You do not need a lot of red tape. Draw 
up a short form of constitution and by-laws, elect 
your officers, get every patron to join. Then im¬ 
mediately take steps toward affiliation with the 
other like organizations of your State. The above 
is the program being carried out in Michigan. An 
officer of the company remarked recently that this 
movement would count for nothing, because the 
farmers never had stood together and never would 
stand together. I for one am confident that for 
once that slur on the farmer’s business acumen and 
stability will not hold. We have hut one issue to 
hold together on. We can lose absolutely nothing, 
and if each man does his part, chief of which is to 
join and then stick, we can surely advance the in¬ 
terests of every individual concerned. 
RENXKTT A. CT.AXCY, 
President Jackson Co., Mich., Milk 
Producers’ Association. 
“ When to Cut Hay.” 
A LFALFA.—In the growth of any hay-produc¬ 
ing crop there is just one short period at 
which it can be harvested and good hay made 
from it, and when that time has arrived we should 
not lose a moment’s time in getting the mowers in 
the field. A good deal more depends on hay being 
made at the right time than the manner of harvest¬ 
ing the crop. When is the best time to cut Alfalfa? 
This is an important question, and one that every 
Alfalfa grower needs to study and master. Many 
fields of Alfalfa are injured by the crop being cut 
too soon or left too long. In my experience I have 
found that I can make an extra good quality of hay 
by cutting the crop when it is about one-third in 
bloom. At this time new growth has started from 
the bottom of the plants, which is a good indication 
that the crop is ready to cut. It is very essential 
that the crop he harvested immediately when this 
new growth appears; and it should not be cut before 
that time, for if it is cut before these buds or new 
shoots have been thrown out from the root the Al¬ 
falfa will be at a standstill until it has time to make 
this new growth. It will require about 10 days for 
the Alfalfa to start these buds or shoots, and dur¬ 
ing that time troublesome weeds will make their 
appearance, the Alfalfa in many cases will become 
of a yellowish color, and the following crop will 
inevitably be a short one. Hence we must not cut 
Alfalfa until it has thrown out buds or new shoots 
near the root. Then the new crop will start off 
vigorously and we shall soon have a good growth for 
a second, third or fourth cutting. If, however, we 
neglect to cut the Alfalfa immediately after it has 
made this new growth the plants will begin to throw 
their strength to these buds, the main stalk will 
start to crinkle down, and the hay will not be of the 
best quality. If the first crop is not harvested at 
all it will grow and produce seed, but the second 
crop will not be as good as it would have been had 
the first crop been removed, for a seed crop de¬ 
tracts a good deal from the next cutting. 
CLOVER CUTTING.—The best time to cut clover 
for hay is as soon as the field presents a rather red 
color; that is, when about two-thirds of the heads 
have reached full bloom. If we fail to start the 
mower till all the heads have blossomed out about 
a third of the crop will have started making seed, 
and the clover will begin to lose in feeding value. 
It is better to begin cutting too soon than to wait 
too long. After the period of full bloom certain 
changes take place within the plant, and part of 
the protein, fats and carbohydrates are transported 
from the stems and leaves to the heads for the de¬ 
velopment of seed. The total amount of protein, 
fats and carbohydrates is not thereby changed, but 
they are changed in form, and when stored up in 
the seed they become lost so far as food for stock 
is concerned. A goodly amount of the food value of 
the forage is lost when the clover is allowed to get 
too ripe before being harvested. Not only does the 
protein in the leaves and stems decrease during the 
period of seed formation, but the crude fibre in¬ 
creases correspondingly and this, to a certain extent, 
interferes with the digestion of the protein and car¬ 
bohydrates. Many farmers make the mistake of 
waiting too long before cutting their clover. I know 
that sometimes this cannot be avoided because of 
other work or unfavorable weather conditions, and 
where this is the case I have nothing to say, but I 
want to urge every one to make a strong effort to 
begin cutting his clover in plenty of time. When 
the clover is “just right” to cut for hay it has 
taken up all the plant food from the soil and the 
atmosphere that it is going to take up, and it con¬ 
tains all of the nutrients it. ever will possess. 
OTHER GRASSES.—Timothy is at the best stage 
for cutting when all the bloom has dropped and 
about two-thirds of the heads are of a brown color. 
Hay made from Timothy cut at this time makes a 
more strength-giving and flesh-forming food than 
that made from Timothy cut at an earlier or later 
period. Some farmers harvest their Timothy just 
as it. begins to bloom, claiming that it makes better 
hay than that from the ripe grass. This, however, 
is not the case. If the weather is favorable when 
the green or immature grass is cut it will make 
beautiful green colored hay, but the chemical 
changes which take place result in hay having sour 
and bitter qualities, instead of a sweet taste which 
is natural when the Timothy is cut at the proper 
time. While the latter is brown, and may present 
a harsh, rough appearance, it is sweet to the taste, 
consumed freely by the stock and they gain strength 
and become fat The stalks of green Timothy hay 
will be found black at the joints, and when chewed 
will he found bitter. Green-cut hay is harder to 
cure and more difficult to keep free from mold when 
stored than that made from properly-ripened grass. 
CURING THE HAY.—While we want, to “make 
hay while the sun shines” we must not expose it 
too long to the sun. Sweet-smelling, sweet-tasting 
hay carrying a large per cent, of the leaves of the 
original plant is best in quality. Hay of this kind 
cannot be made, however, when the crop is cut and 
exposed to the hot sunshine for a long time. Some 
sunshine is helpful, of course, but in the production 
of first-class hay it is not necessary to allow it to 
be bleached and parched by the sun. Aside from 
the loss of aroma by long exposure to the sunshine 
a large per cent, of the leaves will shatter off in 
handling and thus he lost. And when the leaves 
are lost, hay of poor quality is the result, for it 
has been shown that a little more than three-fourths 
of the food nutrients of the entire plant is in the 
leaves. h. w. u. 
Illinois. 
A Verdict for Misfit Trees. 
[The following statement of a case brought by C. S. 
Lunt against Brown Brothers Co. for damages in a pur¬ 
chase of misfit nursery stock, is. we believe, a fair one. 
If it is not fair we will offer Brown Brother Co. an 
equal amount of space to present their side.] 
HE case of Clarence 8. Lunt against Brown 
Brothers Company was tried before Judge 
Benton and a jury on May 20th in the Su¬ 
preme Court at Rochester. A verdict for $700 was 
rendered in favor of Mr. Lunt. The case had to do 
with nursery stock proving untrue to name, and at¬ 
tracted wide attention. 
Mr. Lunt, who is the proprietor of Cloverdale 
Farm at Charlotte, N. Y., was desirous of setting out 
an apple orchard for commercial purposes. Brown 
Brothers Co. offered to furnish him fine Baldwin 
apple trees of the first grade, and Mr. Lunt pur¬ 
chased his trees by that name and description. 
After the trees had been set out several years it. 
was discovered that the trees were not of the Bald* 
win variety, but were of various varieties. The at¬ 
tention of Brown Brothers Company was called to 
the matter in the Fall of 1912 and they admitted 
that the trees were not of the Baldwin variety and 
agreed that the following Spring they would top- 
work the entire orchard and make of it a real 
Baldwin orchard. This they failed to do, though 
repeatedly urged to make good. After waiting in 
vain for them to do something Mr. Lunt did have 
the trees budded with Baldwin stock by an expert. 
The trees were not adapted to budding; they were 
of varieties not adapted to the locality, they were 
dwarfish, and the wood was so hard that it was 
doubtful whether the Baldwin buds would ever de¬ 
velop properly. 
After having followed the advice of Brown Broth¬ 
ers Company as to making the trees conform to 
what they should have been, Mr. Lunt came to the 
conclusion that the trees were worthless, and sued 
for the difference between what the trees would 
have been worth if they had been as ordered, and 
what they actually were worth. The jury esti¬ 
mated the damages at $700. 
Part of the cause of action was eliminated from 
the case by the trial judge, in a ruling that i. s of 
particular interest to fruit growers. In addition to 
the trees upon which recovery was had Mr. Lunt 
had previously purchased some Baldwin apple trees 
and Elberta peach trees of the same defendant. 
When these had come into bearing the apple trees 
were of other varieties than Baldwins, and the 
peaches were of no known variety, but were small 
and hard and commercially worthless. These first 
trees were purchased in 1908, but their true char¬ 
acter was not discovered until the Fall of 1912. 
The action to recover upon the breach of warranty 
June 19, ioir». 
as to varieties was instituted two years later. The 
court held that although the action was started 
within two years after their true character was dis¬ 
covered, yet inasmuch as the action was not brought 
within six years of the time the trees were delivered 
the action had outlawed by the running of the sta¬ 
tute of limitations. 
In making this ruling the court followed the rul¬ 
ing in the old case of Allen vs. Flood, decided in 
New York State in 1S72, where a man had bought 
trees under the name of Twenty Ounce apple trees, 
had set them out and as they did not hear fruit un¬ 
til seven years later he did not discover until then 
that the trees were not Twenty Ounce trees, hut 
were natural fruit. The court there held that the 
' uyer was remedyless because lie had not brought 
hL- action within six year of the time the trees were 
sold, even though it was impossible for him to have 
done so because the character of the trees was not 
as ascertainable until after six years. 
Mr. Lunt’s counsel, George 8. Van Schaiek, argued 
that any such rule was absurd, and placed one of 
the parties to the contract absolutely at the mercy 
of the other. That a Baldwin apple tree means a 
tree that will produce Baldwin apples, that a Twenty 
Ounce apple tree means a tree that will produce 
Twenty Ounce apples, and that an Dlberta peach 
tree means a peach tree that will produce Elberta 
poaches. That the cause of action does not arise 
until it i.s possible to ascertain what variety of fruit 
I he tree will produce, and for one to bring his 
action before he is able to know that fact i.s to 
nring the action prematurely and while in an in¬ 
complete condition. 
It would seem to he common sense that a man’s 
cause of action does not accrue or arise until it is 
possible to know whether one has a cause of action. 
If so, the statute of limitations in such cases should 
not begin to run until the true character of trees is 
discoverable. It i.s to he hoped that this ruling in 
Mr. Lunt’s case may be reviewed by the Appellate 
courts. 
The New York Statute of 1914 relative to the 
sale of nursery trees obviates this question in cases 
covered by the statute by giving the purchaser any 
time prior to the "third bearing year” in which to 
bring his action because of trees not. proving true 
to name. It may, however, reqhire a judicial inter¬ 
pretation to decide what is meant by “prior to the 
third bearing year.” 
Maple Growing for Syrup. 
I hope some day you will have a discussion on grow¬ 
ing maple trees for syrup. I have a lot crowded with 
both old and young maples. r. m. 
HE planting of sugar maples for the sake of 
future returns in syrup is a money-making 
project in which the returns are sure to he 
too long deferred, if not too uncertain, to interest 
the average American farmer. While acknowledg¬ 
ing our indebtedness to our ancestors, and subscrib¬ 
ing to the doctrine of our responsibility to those who 
are to come after us, most of us still have a lurking 
feeling that posterity hasn’t yet done enough for us 
to warrant our going to too great expense in their 
behalf; in fact, we are much more inclined to leave 
liabilities than assets. Twenty to 25 years is a long 
time to wait for returns upon an investment; we 
know of several ways of getting rich in much less 
time than that. 
Tiie making of maple syrup from small groves 
and for family use seems to he on the decline. Per¬ 
haps the low price at which refined sugar i.s sold 
at. the groceries has something to do with this, per¬ 
haps most owners of such groves have found that 
the time, expense, and labor involved in making 
syrup may better he expended in other ways. Ma¬ 
ple syrup may certainly he made at a profit if one 
has the trees and can command the labor, and fuel 
i.s not too expensive. It is just as delicious as it 
ever was, and facilities for making it are better 
than in (he days of wooden buckets and deep iron 
kettles. But fewer trees are probably tapped each 
yea r. 
The writer formerly tapped a few trees about 
his house to make a family supply; he doesn’t any 
more, for it is a messy job, requires a lot of time, 
a lot of fuel, and usually the re-papering of the 
kitchen. It seems better to purchase a few gallons 
from some one with a large orchard who can make 
something of a business of syrup-making in its sea¬ 
son. Several neighbors with fair-sized maple groves 
can, and do, make a hundred dollars or so from 
their syrup in a good season, and perhaps it is as 
nearly “clean money” as any made on the farm, 
yet, a great many good maple trees are made into 
firewood each year, and no one seems to consider 
it anything more than an incidental source of profit, 
and a somewhat uncertain one at that. m. b. d. 
