THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
873 
General Farm Topics 
“ Stone Meal.” 
Is the “stone meal” recently men¬ 
tioned in The R. N.-Y. the same as 
“phosphate rock”? What is the value of 
it? ^ h. s. c. 
Homer, N. Y. 
No. “Stone meal” is a feldspar or 
form of granite rock crushed or ground 
to a fine meal. “Phosphate rock” is an 
entirely different substance—a much 
softer rock containing phosphoric acid. 
The theory is that this is really petrified 
bone. Ages ago great herds of animals, 
then living on the earth, gathered in cer¬ 
tain places and died there. The immense 
accumulation of their bones in these 
places has been turned to stone which 
is now called “phosphate rock” since it 
contains the lime and the phosphoric acid 
of the original bone. This rock is dug up 
and ground or crushed to a powder. 
What we call “raw phosphate” is 
this crushed rock without any additional 
treatment. When the rock is mixed with 
sulphuric acid it is called “acid phos¬ 
phate” or superphosphate. 
Cover Crop in Orchard. 
In 1009 I planted an apple orchard on 
a rough piece of sidehill ground. The 
land was bushy and very strong, and 
the trees had not grown very much un¬ 
til the present year. A year ago last Fall 
I wrote to you for advice. You recom¬ 
mended to plow the land, sow rye and 
clover in the Spring, all of which I have 
adhered to. The result is an 18-inch 
growth this Spring. The clover at pres¬ 
ent still has a good stand. Would you 
advise to plow the orchard in August 
or September again, and repeat sowing 
of rye, following with clover again in the 
Spring? Would benefits, added to the 
trees, be worth the cost added by an 
expenditure of nearly $50. the cost of 
plowing and seeding? j. s. 
Port Jervis, N. Y. 
Only general advice can be given in 
such a case. One should see the trees 
and estimate their growth and vigor in 
order to give a definite answer. As a 
general proposition we think it would 
pay to plow and cover-crop at least one 
more year, even if all the work must 
he hired. We should therefore plow 
under what is now growing, harrow sev¬ 
eral times, and sow the cover crop in 
August. Probably next year the trees 
will have made such growth that the 
cover crop can be cut and left on the 
ground. 
Feeding an Old Pasture. 
I have a piece of land that has been 
used for pasture for several years. I 
am informed that this can be plowed this 
year, sown to buckwheat and seeded. 
What seed would you suggest to sow to 
get a crop of hay, followed by permanent 
cow pasture? m. m. f, 
Wayne Co., N. Y. 
Certainly this can be done, but you 
will not be satisfied with the results. 
The new seeding will give one crop of 
fair grass, and will then fill up with 
weeds and foul stuff, such as you find 
in the pasture. Plowing the pasture and 
seeding to buckwheat will not kill out 
the old grass, but just bury it out of 
sight. The weeds and trash will surely 
work in once more, unless they are killed 
out by constant and thorough culture. 
We have often described the famous 
“Clark” method of seeding. In this the 
old sod is plowed or torn up in June. 
Then instead of seeding a new crop the 
harrows are kept at work tearing the 
soil again and again as often as any 
green growth starts. In this way sprout¬ 
ing seeds are destroyed and roots are 
worked to the surface, where the sun and 
air kill them. Then in September the 
clean field is seeded to grass. The buck¬ 
wheat will hide the weeds but will not 
destroy them, while the thorough cultiva¬ 
tion cleans them out. Timothy and Red- 
top are the hay grasses. 
A Study of Water Wheels. 
There has just come to my attention 
a copy of your publication for January 
30, 1915, containing a little sketch with 
reference to water power from a faucet, 
wherein the young man states he made 
4S Y-shaped buckets, from old tin cans. 
No doubt you will be interested in know¬ 
ing that Lester A. Pelton, who invented 
the type now known as the Pelton water¬ 
wheel. shaped his bucket for his first 
experimental work from pieces of tin 
taken from tin cans. The experimental 
work was done in an old hotel in Camp- 
tonville of this State. This hotel had its 
water supply from a stream on the hill¬ 
side above, and during the daytime, 
when everyone was using the taps at 
their pleasure, there was not sufficient 
pressure, so Mr. Pelton was compelled 
to wait until after all the other occu 
pants of the house had retired, and 
then throughout the night he would ex¬ 
periment with model water-wheels, the 
buckets, as mentioned above, being bent 
by hand from pieces of old tin cans. In 
this way he finally arrived at the cor¬ 
rect general shape of the Pelton bucket, 
and particularly the principle of the di¬ 
viding wedge. He had the first buckets 
cast in a foundry in Nevada City. 
It is interesting to know that these 
first wheels increased the efficiency of 
water-wheels of the hurdy-gurdy type; a 
term then applied to such water-wheels, 
more than 25%. Mathematical calcula¬ 
tions have since, of course, materially 
increased the efficiency and power of the 
original Pelton wheel. 
I am very much interested indeed to 
see the attention you are giving to that 
great by-product, the running streams of 
the Eastern United States, and when the 
farmer recognizes the potentialities of 
these streams, the social fabric of farm 
life will he materially changed. It is one 
of the big economical problems of the 
country and is surely worth a great deal 
of thought on the part of all ruralists. 
California. j. w. sweenen. 
Growing Onion Sets. 
A neighbor grows most of his onion 
seed and raises his own sets. He pro¬ 
ceeds about as follows: In the early 
Spring he plants large onions selected 
from his previous year’s crop. These 
soon make seed tops, which are allowed 
to grow until seed is mature. The tops 
are then carefully picked off by hand and 
put in baskets, taken near the house and 
spread on a canvas to dry. After drying 
the seed is rubbed out and put away un¬ 
til the following Spring. It is then sown 
very thickly in a broad row. These 
seedlings grow until midsummer, but be¬ 
cause of being so thick in the row do not 
attain a large size. Just as soon as the 
tops die on the small onions, which are 
now called sets, they are pulled and 
spread on trays to dry. They are stored 
in a dry shed until the following Spring, 
when they are set out by hand about two 
inches apart in the row. They start 
growth quickly and make mature onions 
by July 1, at which time they usually 
find a ready market at good prices. Be¬ 
cause of the prevalence of maggot most 
growers prefer to buy their sets from 
western growers. trucker, Jr. 
Late Sown Fodder. 
Four horses cut lively into profits. 
Can anything for them be raised on 
ground where early tomatoes and early 
corn is now growing? They come off by 
September 15, or a week, maybe, later. 
Union Co., N. J. b. h. t. 
Barley is the best crop for such pur¬ 
pose. It will make a fair Fall growth 
and give a light cutting of hay in late 
October. If you seed half and half rye 
and barley you can cut the barley for 
hay. The rye will then grow on, winter 
over and give a green manuring crop for 
next year. 
Hay-making on Shares. 
I would like to have your opinion as 
to the proper basis on the following 
facts. A. furnishes all labor, horses and 
machinery, and cuts hay on the property 
of B., and receives his payment in hay. 
What division of the crop in your opin¬ 
ion is a fair basis? s. o. T. 
Williamstown, Mass. 
In our own section it would depend on 
what is done with the hay. If A. in this 
case, puts half the hay in A.’s barn he 
has the other half. We have cut the 
neighbor's crop on this basis several 
times. If the hay is to be divided in the 
field without housing A. would have one 
third. 
Wood Ashes on Potatoes. 
I have eight or 10 barrels of wood 
ashes and would like to use ashes on my 
potatoes (1 y 2 acre). Is there danger of 
“scabbing” them? The potato seed was 
soaked in formalin and planted with 
home-mixed commercial fertilizer in 
which the potash content was very low. 
There was also a light coat of manure 
plowed under. If you advise that the 
ashes be used should they he scattered 
broadcast befor-e the potato plants are up 
or just before the first leafing and a few 
handfuls placed around each plant? 
Lincolndale, N. Y. c. w. 
That is a very small amount of wood 
ashes for one and one half acre, but we 
would not use it on potatoes. The ashes 
will give better results on corn, and 
there is always danger of increasing the 
scab disease when lime is used. True, 
the seed was soaked to destroy the scab 
germs, but many soils carry these germs 
from previous cropping, and we think 
it wiser to avoid using the ashes on 
the potato crop. 
Grain With Cow Peas. 
What grain is good to sow with cow 
peas for hay that will not be too hard 
on the land? a. r. 
Probably sorghum or Kaffir corn seed¬ 
ed with the cow peas make the best com¬ 
bination. The cow peas make their best 
growth during hot weather when the or¬ 
dinary small grains do not make a good 
growth. The Kaffir corn, however, broad¬ 
cast with the cow peas, makes a thin 
slender stalk, which when cut with the 
peas and properly cured will give fair 
fodder. 
Strawberries in Cornfield. 
The strawberries which I set in my 
Golden Bantam cornfield last year came 
through Winter well, and are going to 
have a fair crop, good if we get a little 
more rain. I pulled the corn up by the 
roots instead of cutting, and laid it 
down along the rows for Winter protec¬ 
tion ; then this Spring cleaned it off and 
piled it around the small apple trees for 
a mulch. I don’t always do things the 
way I would like to, as I am in the 
shop at work every day three miles away 
from seven in the morning until six at 
night, and I have only a small boy for a 
helper, so I do the best I can. z. c. B. 
Connecticut. 
Gardeners try all sorts of tricks to 
double up the work of a piece of ground. 
In this case the strawberry plants were 
out in July right between the corn rows. 
Well As Cesspool. —On page 802. C. 
E. A. asks if safe to drain a cesspool 
into an old abandoned well. I write to 
answer NO! Who can estimate the 
danger to entire community of contamin¬ 
ating the underground streams? They 
are protected by Nature with a thickness 
of earth that forms a perfect filter; but 
once inject directly into these streams 
the poisonous effluvia of the cesspool and 
who can then check the widespread dis¬ 
aster or follow it up to estimate the 
damage? joiin f. keenan, m. d. 
Killing Brush. —If your correspond¬ 
ent on page 725, asking for methods of 
killing brush in hedgerows, will try cut¬ 
ting brush in longest days in June, and 
piling brush back upon the stumps, then 
burn in August, he will have gone a long 
way towards subduing them. By cut¬ 
ting in June much of the strength of 
trees, etc., are in the leaf. New shoots 
will be put forth to be destroyed by Au¬ 
gust burning. I have known of willow 
hedges, the most tenacious of trees to 
be entirely killed by this method. 
Macedon, N. Y. l. f. a. 
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