980 
Tahe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 18, 1917. 
that has lived the Summer through is worthy of a 
place in the new laying flock. A slightly different 
basis of selection must be used than has been sug¬ 
gested for use in culling out the old birds, because 
the pullets have not been through a season or 
production. Size, weight and development are the 
most essntial points to consider. Keep the biggest 
healthiest pullets, discarding any undersized, thin, 
sickly pullets that have not grown steadily through 
the Summer. The bright eye, well-developed comb, 
bright head parts, sleek plumage, well-colored shank 
and earlobe, and general desirable characteristics, 
should be looked for. Bear in mind the standard 
descriptimi of the birds handled. Improve the 
quality of the laj’ers every year by selecting only 
the best pullets. Do not fall heir to the custom of 
saving a doubtful pullet and giving lier the benefit 
of the doubt. Save only the best. It is on these 
ocks of pullets that the poultry-raiser depends for 
the greater part of the eggs produced for tal)le use 
during the j'ear. It is natural for the younger hen 
to produce the greater number of eggs, and do it 
on a comparatively lesser amount of feed than her 
older sisder. Pullets can be fed and managed so 
as to force egg i)roduction without harmrng them 
if good judgment is used in this work. They are to 
be the egg machines for the coming season. In 
order to keep these machines running most eco¬ 
nomically, these factors just discussed, early hous¬ 
ing, careful selection and careful management must 
be borne in mind. 
A WAIINING.—Either on the genei'al farm where 
a flock of two hundi’ed layers or less is kei»t or on 
the poultry farm ivhere five hundred or more are 
kept more profit can be realized this coming year if 
the owner will cull out his old birds and select his 
pullets carefully. .Start a new flock this Fall and 
commence the improvement of its quality. 
WILn.VRD C. THOMPSON. 
Notes on Canning Corn 
On page 70.3. on canning corn, L. F. B, says: 
“Screw can tops lightly down, place in a boiler with 
cold water up to neck of cans and boil three hours.” 
I have tried this two or three times, and about one- 
third of the juice of the corn boils out into the boiler. 
Can anyone tell me how to avoid this, and if I should 
open cans and fill up with hot water before sealing? 
New York. j. s. M. 
I F ,7. .S. M. will boil the ears for about three min¬ 
utes before cutting the corn from the cob, pack 
in the jars while hot and fill the jars with boiling 
water befoi’e placing top in position, then screw top 
down almost tight and while the jar is still hot 
place in the boiler in the water and cook the re¬ 
quired time as directed I think that he will have 
less trouble from the juice boiling out of the jar 
during the cooking, and even then with all his pre¬ 
cautions I believe that he will have some wastage. 
If the goods are for his own use I should advise 
screwing down the top tightly at the end of the 
cooking period rather than opening the jar to fill 
with hot watei', fro mthe danger of spoilage spores 
getting in the can during the short time he might 
be pouring in the hot water. If he pours in extra 
water it should be boiling and then tne Jars should 
be returned to the kettle and given another short 
cook of a few minutes to kill all germs or spores 
that may happen to enter jar during the short 
time taken. The running out of the juices is of 
course caused by the expansion of the juices and 
also to a certain attractive force the larger con¬ 
tainer, which is the kettle or boiler, has for the 
contents of the .smaller container or jar. The large 
commercial canners who can in glass overcome this 
trouble by cooking the jars under i)ressure. After 
the jars are filled and placed in the boiler or kettle 
the cover of the kettle is fastened down securely 
and air is pumped in so that the tops of the jars 
are held in position and also the contents of jars 
are as it were pushed back in the jars by the i)res- 
.sure .so there is no loss of contents. In canning in 
tin cans, which is really the only perfect method, 
the can is sealed perfectly airtight during the cook¬ 
ing operation, and when the cans are removed from 
the kettles the ends of the cans bulge out nearly a 
half inch from the intense pressure of the steam 
w’ithin them but when tluw cool they spring back 
into their original position. If a gla.ss jar could 
stand the intense pressure the tops could be 
.screwed down absolutely tight during the cooking 
and this trouble of running out would be obviated. 
C. 0. WARFOKD. 
Draining Low Land 
I have about .30 acres of level land to drain. It is 
entirely surrounded by high laud. 'There Is at present 
an outlet ditch which is seven feet deep where it cuts 
through the highest point, but is not deep enough to be 
of much benefit. See diagram. Fig. 424. The laud to 
be drained lies at the left; the water flows to the 
right. This outlet is two miles long and most 
of the way is cut through high land and has very lit¬ 
tle fall. My plan is to cut ditch through land to be 
drained four feet deep; build watertight concrete well 
and dam at highest point in outlet ditch; place wind¬ 
mill and pump here to rai.se water over the dam. What 
is the matter with my plan? IIow large a pump and 
mill would I need? There are no .springs, just the 
f/ishe%t 
Contour of Undrained Land. Fig. 424 
rainfall on .30 acres. Can you suggest a better or less 
expensive way to drain this land? E. u. c. 
Princess Anne, Md. 
IIILE E. B. C.’s scheme in general is entirely 
practical, I Avill suggest some changes in the 
jdan which appear necessary to a successful result. 
A windmill cannot be depended upon to d(j the 
pumping, first because there is not power enough to 
operate the size of pumping machinery that will be 
needed, and seeond, the wind may not be blowing 
good and steady just when the pump mu.st get busy. 
I do not know how large the watershed Is that dis¬ 
charges the surface run-off onto this .30 acres, or 
how deep the water gets when the outlet is dammed 
up. These things must be known before the size 
of pump can be determined. I have little use for 
open ditches for draining land. They are expen¬ 
sive from every point of view, and water drags 
through them very slowly in level land. On a 
level piece of land, if underdrains are installed and 
laid perfectly level, and the outlet kept open, the 
excess water will all drain out. When the surface 
and soil is covered w'ith water over the drains, the 
water follows the line of least re.sistance, and flows 
as possible. To hasten this work further, the grower 
stirs them frequently. These onion trays are usually 
four feet long, two to three feet wide, and four 
inches deep. The sides and end boards are made 
of material four inches wide and one inch thick, 
while the bottom is made of mason lath (i/4xli4in.x4 
feet) nailed ine-uuarter inch apart. These trays 
are strengthened and braced by nailing strips an 
inch thick across the corners on top of the frame. 
These serve a double purpose, for when one tray 
is piled upon another, an air space an inch wide is 
provided. 
After the onions have dried for a few days in 
the open air, they are poured upon a wire sieve 
with a quarter-inch mesh. This is shaken back and 
forth until the loose dirt has fallen through, and 
until some of the dry skins and leaves have fallen 
from the sets. Then they are poured from a height 
when the wind is quite brisk. This blows out 
the light stuff and the sets are again spread out 
three or four inches deep in the trays. These are 
piled up in tiers and are covered with anj’thing 
that will .shed rain. The sets are left here until 
cold weather, when they are removed to the stor¬ 
age-house to be held in a dry atmosphere just above 
the freezing point until the next Spring. 
B. W. DE BAUN. 
The Velvet Bean for Feeding 
A new feeding substance is appearing in the 
Northern market—the velvet bean as grown 
throughout the South. Very large quantities of this 
bean will be produced this year. Last year’s crop 
was heavy, and experiments were tried in the South 
with grinding or crushing the bean and mixing with 
corn and other grain as a cattle ration. This proved 
very successful, and there being a surplus of the 
beans this year, large quantities will be shipped to 
the North if desired. This velvet bean makes a 
heavy growth in the Southern State.s, and we be¬ 
lieve it is destined to come into great use as cattle 
food. The following table 
gives an idea of 
the 
comparative food 
value of this bean: 
Protein 
Carbohydrates 
Fat 
Velvet bean. 
18.1 
50.8 
6.3 
Canada pea. 
19 
55.8 
0.6 
Cow jjea. 
54.5 
1.1 
Wheat bran. 
12.5 
41.6 
3 
Oatmeal . 
12.8 
56.9 
6 
out the main outlet. The water will flow out faster 
at first, and slower as the water level over the field 
is drawn down, but it will all come, and if the drains 
are laid true, there will be no clogging of 
the tiles. In this case there can be a slight fall, 
for at the well or outlet the main drain can be 
four or four and a half feet deep, graduating 
up to lt/4 feet at the upper end of the ot Fig. 425 
shows the way I .should lay these drains. The size 
of tiles will be determined by the amount of water 
to be removed. With us hei’e in New York State 
such land as you do.scribe is very valuable after 
proper drainage. Any of the big pump manufactur¬ 
ing concerns will figure out the size of pumping 
machinery that you will need when the proper data 
is given. ii. E. cox. 
Storing Onion Sets 
I have planted quite a goodly amount of onion .seed 
for next Spring’s sets. \\'bat is the best way to 
keep them during Winter? e. E. W. 
Showell, Md. 
NION .sets should be gathered when part of the 
tops have fallen over. Most growers do not 
gather their onion .sets as early as they should. 
Evidently the best use for these velvet beans 
would be in preparing a mixed ration, where the 
beans could be crushed with corn, oats and other 
grain, or mixed with bran and other by-products. 
The value of the velvet bean has been demon.strated 
in the South, and it would seem like a fine oppor¬ 
tunity for Northern dairymen to obtain a cheap and 
valuable food. Like any other new product, it will 
be fed cautiously at first, until just the right kind 
of combination for dairy feeding has been worked 
out. If we only had several of the mills de.scribed 
by Mr. Berner on page 809 the dairymen of New 
York would be in a position to try out this new feed 
promptly, and find what combination is best suited 
to their needs. This is the sort of work which 
should be done promptly and thoroughly. When new 
feeding products come upon the market, some one 
should be right on hand to te.st them out at once, 
and if possible secure them dii'ect for the farmers. 
We think the velvet bean in the future is sure to 
play a large part in our feeding rations. This crop 
can be easily grown in the South, to perhaps better 
advantage than the Soy bean. Vast quantities can 
be produced, and the crop will improve the soil as 
well as furnish an excellent feeding. Here is where 
the dairymen of the North, and the farmers of the 
South, ought to get together, and utilize this new 
crop to the best advantage. There are 1,000,(100 
acres of velvet beans growing in the State of Mis¬ 
sissippi right now. 
Onion Sets Drying in the Field. Fig. 426 
At harvest time the onions are quickly pulled, most 
growers twist the tops off of each handful of sets 
as they are being pulled. Ilegardless of this optional 
point, the sets are immediately thrown into “onion 
trays.” These are spread around in the field so 
that the sun and air will dry them out as rapidly 
Potatoes Die Down 
I planted some potatoe.s in early May (Irish Cob¬ 
bler) following the Hope Farm man’s formula strictly. 
Had a 98 per cent, stand, have grown well. About 25 
per cent, of the vines have died down; the balance are 
slowly following suit. Question No. 1: How do I 
know when the potatoes are riiM? and ready for dig¬ 
ging? The potatoes were planted 32 inches apart in 
the rows. Can I plant late Winter cabbage between 
the rows or wait until the potatoes are out? r. 
T hose potatoes have probably blighted or have 
been ruinetl by green lice or bugs. Irish Cob¬ 
bler i)otatoes ought to keep growing until the mid¬ 
dle of August, at least. When potatoes ripen nat¬ 
urally the tubers grow to full size, and the vines 
slowly change color and die down naturally. If you 
can clean up the space between the rows you can 
plant cabbage now and dig the potatoes later. A 
small plow or manure cultivator may be run be¬ 
tween the rows to fit the soi l for the c abba ge^ 
