1084 
earlier than that bought in the trade. Mr. Kings¬ 
ley had a good stand of corn all silked out on July 
25—and this at a latitude of 45 degrees—and he 
assured me that the ground froze after the corn 
was planted. This variety, from home-grown seed, 
has been known to furnish good table corn 74 days 
after planting. Peas, too, are found to he more 
hardy and to bear better if seed can he saved each 
year. The varieties of small fruits are. in general, 
kinds little known, and Mr. Kingsley finds that if he 
can set his own plants they will make a far better 
growth, especially the first season. Four varieties 
of blackcaps were bought and set out five years ago, 
but only one proved of value, and this today is quite 
different from the old Plum Farmer bought five 
years ago. 
By the selection of hardy varieties and the devel¬ 
opment of further hardiness by using his own plants, 
Mr. Kingsley finds he has very little Winter injury 
with either reds, blackcaps or purple raspberries. 
The Herbert, a Canadian variety, is by far the best 
of the reds, while the old Columbian is the best of 
the purple sorts. With strawberries, too. he has 
made use of kinds little known farther south. 
Oaks Early and Oswego are his choicest kinds, and 
these he finds show very little Winter loss and give 
good yields through a long period. 
With vegetables he specializes in whatever the 
market most demands. The laboring classes he finds 
want the staple vegetables and so he tries to fill the 
demand, always planning for a succession. Aspara¬ 
gus, peas, string beans, onions, beets, early cab¬ 
bage, sweet corn and cucumbers for Summer, and 
squash, melons, cauliflower and turnips for early 
Fall are the chief money crops. 
A family of a wife, three boys and one girl, with 
the father, do most of the work and enjoy the fruits 
of their labor in the home and also by participating 
in the business Mr. Kingsley believes in living 
while he lives. The best of everything from the 
farm that the family needs he considers worth more 
to him on the table than if is on the market wagon. 
Mr. Kingsley makes a point of growing, and of using 
in and out of season, whatever he thinks will add 
to the welfare and comfort of the family. Fall 
strawberries, everbearing raspberries, wild berries 
not commonly cultivated, vegetables in and out of 
season, honey from the wild, sugar from the sugar- 
hush and game from the forest, are in common use 
by the family, and are the delight and admiration 
of his friends when they happen to drop in. 
Canton. N. Y. c. s. p. 
Preparing the Soil for Winter Wheat. 
INTER wheat, if it is to get a good start and 
keep it. demands a thoughtfully prepared 
seed bed. Not only must the Fall growth be con¬ 
sidered, but in addition the long season of Winter 
idleness, interspersed frequently by snows and dry 
freezes, followed in all probability by destructive 
Spring thaws and floods, must, as well, be forecast 
and prepared for. Plowing, the feature naturally 
considered first, is of vital concern in wheat raising; 
and in connection with subsequent cultivative pro¬ 
cesses largely determines the size of the yield. Un¬ 
less this initial process is properly performed all 
subsequent working of the land is useless, for the 
results are foreordained to end in failure. 
How deep should wheat land be plowed? Exper¬ 
ienced farmers generally consider that five inches 
is just about right, and expert observations since 
have verified their conclusions. Wheat is rather a 
shallow feeder, and this depth gives ample room 
for the roots to establish themselves in the soil. A 
greater depth than this is not only unnecessary, but 
if the Winter following proves snowless and ex¬ 
tremely cold, it is apt to produce excessive heaving 
of the soil—the prime cause of the “freezing out” 
so destructive of wheat during dry Winters. In ad¬ 
dition to this deep plowing turns the poorer under 
soil to the surface, and furnishes a less efficient 
germinating bed. 
Every inch of soil intended for wheat must be 
turned over and broken—that is if a good crop is 
desired—for wheat will not root well in a skim 
of soil, especially if that skim lies over hard, un¬ 
plowed ground. The writer has known good wheat 
lands that have had their yields greatly reduced 
through haste and carelessness in plowing. Those 
guilty of such negligence often do so through erron¬ 
eously reasoning that insomuch as wheat is a shal¬ 
low rooted plant, “cut and cover” methods do not 
matter very much—an error always apparent when 
the crop is harvested. Subsequent harrowing and 
disking will not undo the damage, though it may 
hide the cheat until revealed by the stunted results 
of the following Summer. 
Plowing under a heavy growth of weeds and grass 
THIS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
is a poor thing to do, as it tends to leave the soil 
spongy, and also to permit the formation of air 
pockets in which water and ice remain. Such vege¬ 
tation should first be mowed and allowed to dry be¬ 
fore being plowed under. It then turns easily to the 
bottom of the furrow, and in no way interferes sub¬ 
sequently with harrowing, disking, and with seed¬ 
ing. Plowing under great masses of vegetation— 
an easy thing to do with riding plows and heavy 
drag chains—is one of the prime causes of poor 
yields upon natively productive land. These cau¬ 
tions do not apply to clovers, which are fine textured 
and decompose very quickly when turned under, but 
to rank foreign vegetation. 
After the ground is plowed it will need to be 
worked into a finely pulverized condition by harrow¬ 
ing and disking. It will need also to be firmed and 
pressed until all air spaces and pockets are filled in. 
Wheat does not germinate well in a coarse, cloddy 
soil, and grows very slowly when it does germinate. 
In a soil garden-like in its texture germination takes 
place quite readily, even though there is a scarcity 
of moisture. The roots establish themselves firmly, 
reaching down and out in a durable cluster well 
calculated to withstand the rigors of the coming 
Winter. 
In order to attain this perfect condition it may 
be necessary to disk and re-disk, harrow and re¬ 
harrow. The drag and roller may often be used 
to advantage, especially if the ground was some¬ 
what cloddy'when plowed. There is seldom tiny 
danger in working the soil too much for the more the 
ground is pulverized and pressed the better it is for 
the coming crop. Only when all clods and lumps are 
reduced, and the porosities produced by plowing are 
filled in. may the preparation of the seed bed be 
considered completed. In such a condition it will 
nourish the growing crop in the best manner, will 
expand 'about’equally in all directions when the 
freezes of Winter come on, and consequently will ex¬ 
pose very few 'of the plants through heaving. 
Iowa. E. V. LAUGHLIN. 
The Transportation Problem in Farm 
Management. 
OW much does it cost me to deliver my hay 
to the market? How much to draw my ap¬ 
ples, oats, potatoes, milk? These products I have to 
sell every year, like most of the farmers of North¬ 
ern New York. Today, as I was riding to the fac¬ 
tory. six miles away, through a cold drizzly rain, 
taking along the milk, not quite 400 pounds from my 
15 cows, T got to thinking how much it was worth 
to me to take that ride every morning; it had not 
occurred to me before with the same force. Any¬ 
way it was worth a dollar and a half this morning. 
Uould it be possible that the real cost would approx¬ 
imate this price? I began to figure; I was paying 
a man a dollar a day and his board, and it always 
spoiled half a day when he took the milk—50 cents 
—and the horse a dollar a day if I had to hire it, 
another 50 cents. One dollar! Yes sir, and tlie 
wagon, I bought it three years ago; this is the third 
year running it and it is all worn out. It cost .$45; 
$15 a year for a wagon—call it five cents a day. It 
is worth a third of what the milk brought me to 
take it down! flu ess I would better produce eggs 
and poultry, there is at least some revenue from 
them with proper handling.” 
This might well be what would run through a 
man’s mind if he thought at all, and it would be 
representative of the thoughts of many a hard¬ 
working man. The fact is that the cost of hauling 
milk is too high. If it costs a dollar to draw (he 
milk as above noted, and it surely does—it would 
cost 25 cents per hundred for 400 pounds. 20 for 
500, and 50 cents for 200; a very common amount 
to be drawn during the Fall and even less in Winter. 
Think of it! Even if you were to put the cost at 
a half dollar (because farmers as a rule under¬ 
estimate their costs) you would then he paying for 
the 400 pounds over 12 cents a hundred, and you 
object to paying 17 cents per hundred upon chemical 
fertilizers, and they are shipped much more efficient¬ 
ly. Think of it, I repeat! 
And the further query is, why does each farmer 
on that route do the very same thing in eight neigh¬ 
borhoods out of ten? It would pay the farmer in 
question if six farmers lived between his farm and 
the factory to sell his cows and draw their milk 
for them at 10 cents a hundred. But he might bet¬ 
ter keep his, draw his own and theirs for them at 
the price stated, or even a little less if there was a 
rather large amount to be drawn. I have seen farm¬ 
ers on the road to the factory from adjoining farms 
with a 40-quart can of milk apiece and the distance 
to the factory was four to six miles! Is this effi¬ 
ciency? Is this farming to the best advantage? 
September 4, 1015. 
No wonder the milk industry is uninviting. Again, 
we are prone to omit the consideration of cost of 
hauling our apples and hay and other produce. 
Perhaps the reader may think the writer crazy for 
mentioning the selling of the hay, for I know of 
farmers who feed Timothy hay to cows when the 
hay is selling for $15 to $18, and censure the man 
who is selling it. They may have grounds for criti¬ 
cising his farming methods but they should hesitate 
to criticise him for selling the hay; 3,000 pounds 
is the ordinary load for pressed hay, and the dis¬ 
tance is two to seven miles one way. Note the cost 
here if six miles be the distance the man and team 
will work to haul two loads of the weight given; this 
would make three tons. The man and team are 
worth at the least $3.50 a day, usually more. This 
is a cost of $1.16 2-3 a ton besides the wear and 
tear of the wagon and harness. The cost can be les¬ 
sened a little by increasing the load, for upon the 
State roads and many country roads a good team 
can haul two tons; moreover, if two loads go to¬ 
gether it is an easy matter to double up when the 
hard place or hill is reached. Apples and other 
farm produce can be hauled more cheaply if the 
producers will work together, and try to lessen costs. 
New York. w. j. hagar. 
Good Shade Trees. 
Under the above caption A. C. W., on page 683. 
places Carolina poplar at the head of the list of good 
shade trees. I cannot comprehend how any person who 
has given serious thought to shade trees, as A. C. W. 
has apparently done, can even recommend, much less 
place at the head, a tree so full of objectionable and so 
devoid of desirable features as is Carolina poplar. It 
lias absolutely nothing to commend except its rank 
growth, and even that soon becomes a menace. The 
main branches are stiff, ascending and almost without 
laterals. The wood is brittle and easily broken by 
storm. The foliage is thin and uninteresting, and be¬ 
gins to shed with first frosts. The bloom litters walks 
and dooryards. Unless persistently pruned—and it is 
all a man’s life is worth to prune them—dead wood 
forms which is blown about by storms. The roots are 
positive trouble makers, ramifying near the surface 
and making tillage almost impossible; they sucker 
freely too; they go into the substrata of the earth as 
well as near the surface; they enter sewers and drains; 
they find their way into cellar bottoms and even break 
up and ruin concrete floors. In some municipalities 
an ordinance forbids the planting of poplars as street 
trees. 
lie says he thinks it “a mistake to plant any kind 
of maple.” Here he is equally mistaken. It is a mis¬ 
take to plant Sugar maple in New York State owing 
to a destructive and deadly disease that affects it for 
which there is no known remedy. It is a mistake to 
plant Soft or Swamp maple because there are far bet¬ 
ter shade trees. Except Acer Pennsylvanieum or 
Striped maple there is no desirable and safe native 
maple to plant. Among those of European or horti¬ 
cultural origin Norway maple is entirely satisfactory, 
and even more beautiful and interesting than Sugar 
maple, and free from any inherent disease. Acer 
Sehwedleri or Red Norway maple is of the same habit 
of growth, but with blood-red buds and leaves that in 
Summer turn to a rich dark purple and in Autumn 
to an intense golden hue. Weir’s cut-leaf weeping 
maple is a stately symmetrical tree of graceful drooping 
habit but must not be planted in situations exposed 
to unfettered winds. Who plants any of these latter 
plants a hope, but who plants the native maple plants 
trouble and disappointment for himself or for those 
who come after him. c. F. bley. 
I T was not intended to place Carolina poplar at the 
head of good shade trees, but of quick growing 
( lies. It is not at all desirable for permanent plant¬ 
ing, hut will make a fairly good-looking tree of good 
size quicker than any other hardy variety. In places 
where there is no frost some of the Australian gums 
are much better. 
Some of the objections to the Carolina poplar 
mentioned above are valid, while others are more 
or less a matter of opinion. The growth is so coarse 
and rank that it does not have the grace of some 
more slow-growing trees. When the trees are large 
the limbs will break of their own weight, the same 
as our native Soft, Red, Silver or Swamp maple. 
I am informed that there is a variety, or strain, of 
this poplar which is immune to the disease which 
causes the small twigs to die, but we usually want 
to take out the whole tree before this makes much 
difference. We do not usually want to till the 
land where shade trees are planted. The elm and 
some other trees are fully as bad as Carolina poplar 
in the matter of stopping sewers. No sewer or 
drain in which there is a constant stream of water 
should be made in any way except of waterproof 
material and with the joints cemented or leaded. 
In the matter of the maples the native species 
were considered because the Norway maple has not 
been planted long enough to show what it will do. 
It has some good features so far, and one positive 
disadvantage; it makes so dense a shade that it is 
hard to get grass to grow under it. The Striped 
maple is hardly large enough to be called a tree. 
For planting purposes it would rather be classed as 
a large tree-like bush. a. c. w. 
The general advice seems to be to stop cutting Al¬ 
falfa in the North after Sept. 1. Let the growth made 
after that fall down for Winter protection. 
