1128 
September 29, 1917 
from external changes of tcmiierature, 
the tubers should remain in good shape 
until they arc removed from the pit in 
the Spring. 
Only the late or main-crop poUitoes are 
stored. The early or truck-crop potatoes 
do not kwp so well, and are consumed 
within two weeks after harvest. The 
storage of second-crop potatoes in pits 
has been practiced in the South for seed 
purposes, and the practice will probably 
become more general. 
The location of the bank is important. 
A Avell-drained spot, either in the neigh¬ 
borhood of some of the farm buildings, 
or in the shelter of the sti'ip of woods 
adjoining the potato field, is a good site. 
The surface soil is generally removed to 
a depth of six or eight inches, making 
the pit long and rather narrow, so that 
when the potatoes are in place and cov¬ 
ered, they will form a “bank.” In this 
way better aeration of the pile is secured, 
and the dangc'r of the tubers heating or 
the accumulation of excess moisture i.s 
avoided. Hay, cornstalks or straw of 
any kind may be used for the insulating 
material. Pine needles are generally used 
in s(‘ctimjs where they are obtainable. A 
thin layer of straw is placed over the 
floor of the pit, and the potatoes are piled 
onto this as they are hauled from the 
field. If the whole pit is not filled in 
one day, the potatoes should be succes¬ 
sively covered with straw to a depth of 
eight inches on the same day that they 
are plac*ed in the pit. While lying loosely 
covered in this manner, the pile of tubers 
gives up the excess heat and moisture 
brought from the field, while they are pro¬ 
tected from light and frost. 
Upon the approach of cold weather a 
layer of earth must be thrown on the pit 
over the straw to a depth of six inches 
when leveled and compacted. This will 
serve to shed rain, and together with the 
straw, will protect the tubers from the 
alternate freezing and thrawing which 
is so injurious. In the South this amount 
of protection will generally be sufficient, 
but where the temperature falls around 
zero very often, it must be supplemented 
with a .set'ond layer of straw and another 
layer of earth on the outside. If the pit 
or bank contains a large quantity of po¬ 
tatoes, some sort of ventilation is neces- 
sjiry to carry off the moisture trauspiiaMj 
by the tubers during storage. This is geu- 
er.ally furnished by one or more wooden 
flues projecting above the surface of the 
bank, the vents of which are closed in in 
very cold weather only. J. T. B. 
Selecting Sweet Corn Seed 
Could you give some advice on select¬ 
ing seed of Golden Bantam and Black 
Mexican sweet corn, both of which do 
very well here? w. G. c. 
Norwmlk, Conn. 
The points brought out by the writer 
of the article on page 1049, regarding 
seed corn, apply also to sweet corn, so 
far as selecting ears from vigorous stalks 
in the field is concerned. More emphasis 
should be placed upon having sweet corn 
seed thoroughly <*un‘d. On account of the 
high sugar content the seed is much more 
apt to mold. The ears do not have to 
be left on the stalks until dry, but may 
l)e ]iicked when the seeds begin to 
shrivel if dried out thoroughly as quickly 
as pos.'-'ible. 
With the small-eared varieties, like 
Golden Bantam and Black Mexican, 
stalks should be selected which produce 
at least two or more well-developed ears, 
(‘ylindrical eai*s with straight rows aud 
well filed kernels should be the type 
sought for, since uniformity is more 
chsi-iable in table corn than in field corn, 
where the selection of merely handsome 
ears or “show corn” does not necessarily 
result in any increase in yield. 
In any kind of corn too rigid selection 
should be guarded against, as the effects 
of more or less inbreeding may offset 
any improvement which might otherwise 
be made. In other words, seed corn 
should be made up of a mixture from 
many good ears, rather than from a few 
of the very best ears. 
Ears of sweet corn which have a few 
starchy seeds upon them, due to being 
cross-pollinated by field corn, can be 
used if otherwise all right and if the 
crossed seeds are all discarded. The re¬ 
maining sweet seeds are in no way af¬ 
fected by the cross-pollination. 
D. F. JONES. 
IShc RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Home Storage of Vegetables 
The Agricultural Department at Wash¬ 
ington has issued, under this title. Farm¬ 
ers’ Bulletin No. 379, by .Tames II. Beat- 
tie. It contains pictures and descriptions of 
many buildings or pits for storing a 
home supply of garden produce. A stor¬ 
age place of this sort is as necessary as 
a curing or drying outfit; more so, be¬ 
cause the vegetables will not last much 
beyond January 1 unless some good stor¬ 
age room is prepared. What is the use of 
toiling through the Summer to produce a 
crop and then giving it away to decay or 
frost? 
In the South a shack or outdoor stor¬ 
age for sweet potatoes may be made as 
Shack for Storing Sweet Potatoes. Fig. 420 
shown by Fig. 420. This is just a frame 
of poles and planks, covered with sods 
and straw. It would not answer for the 
North. 
Concrete is now largely used for mak¬ 
ing an outdoor storage, but we have 
learned through sad experience that a 
concrete wall will simply in\dte Jack 
Frost and introduce him to the vegetables 
unless well covered with layers of dirt 
aud well ventilated. Fig. 421 show's a sec- 
P20e8JHP 
Concrete Storage House. Fig. 421 
lion of a concrete house 12 feet long with 
the wooden w'all inside the ventilatoi-s 
aud the dirt covering. Such a house 
8*10x12 feet will hold the crop from an 
acre garden. Such a house is dug partly 
into the ground in a side hill and the 
couc."ete is covered with two to three feet 
of soil or straw and manure. 
The outdoor storage pit for potatoes or 
cabbage is built as shown at Fig. 422, 
which represents a cross section. The 
P 60 MTHP 
Storage House for Potatoes and Cabbage, Fig. 422 
ditches or drains at the side carry off the 
water and the potatoes are piled on the 
level ground and covered first witli straw 
aud then with a layer of dirt. The straw 
is carried up to the top, as shown in the 
picture, and a board aud a stone at the top 
serve as ventilators. Potatoes aud most 
other vegetables can be safely carried 
through the Winter in this way. There 
will usually be some little loss from rot, 
but if fair drainage is provided this will 
not be serious. 
Measuring Hay in Stack 
Every year from now' on during the 
Winter we have many questions about 
measuring hay in . the stack or mow'. Of 
course, it is not possible to get the actual 
w'eight without weighing at least one load, 
but a fair estimate may be made by 
measuring. The following, rules, given 
by T. E. Leiper of the Colorado Agricul¬ 
tural College refer to Alfalfa hay : 
The following table gives the number 
of cubic feet required to make one ton of 
Alfalfa at various seasons of settling, 
these figures being accepted as fair 
amounts to allow for a ton: 
Number of days 
in stack. 
30 
60 
90 
120 
Late Winter 
Number of cubic 
feet per ton. 
560 
540 
512. 
485 
450 
Native hay packs more closely, the usual 
figure being 422 cubic feet for one ton 
in a w’oll-settled stack. 
There are three general methods of ar¬ 
riving at the number of cubic feet in the 
stack. All three methods require the 
width, length and over-measurement. 
The latter is the distance from the ground 
on one side, .straight over the top to the 
ground on the other side. Where stacks 
are irregular, it is best to secure a num¬ 
ber of measurements for the width and 
length and the over-measurement, and use 
the average. 
Rule I. One-fourth of the “over” mul¬ 
tiplied by the width, then multiplied by 
the length and divided by the required 
number of cubic feet to make one ton. 
This rule gives accurate figures on small, 
.squat stacks when the width is from one- 
third to oiie-half of the “over.” 
Last Fall the Experiment Station 
bought 98.55 tons by the use of this rule, 
and when weighed out it w'eighed 98.18 
tons. 
Rule IT (Colorado Rule). Subtract the 
width from the over. Multiply one-half 
the result by the width; multiply the 
product by the length; divide by the 
number of cubic feet required to make 
one ton. This rule is most accurate w'hen 
the width exct'eds one-half the over. 
Rule III (Government Rule). Width 
plus “over,” divided by four and squared; 
then multiplied by length and divided by 
the number of cubic feet required to make 
one ton. This rule is satisfactory for 
large tall stacks of 2.5 to 45 tons, and 
favors the seller with ordinary small 
squat Colorado stacks. 
Lime and Hen Manure 
You have taught us that burned lime, 
if spread on dropping boards^ in poultry 
houses releases the ammonia in the man¬ 
ure. We have on hand raw ground 
limestone, also phosphate. Cna we use 
either of these, and which can we nee 
to the best advantage? We keep our 
poultry manure in barrels under cover, 
and w-ill have tw’O to three tons by 
Spring. We have heretofore used ground 
bone in setting out fruit trees and plants. 
Can we use the poultry manure to as 
good advantage? Shall we have to use 
more of the latter, weight for weight? For 
tomatoes the hen manure is fine, aud 
the no-trellis straw-mnich system is also 
excellent. We have-liow tried both and 
the verdict for us is no more trellising. 
New Jersey. s. F. 
It is true that burnt lime will have a 
chemical effect upon organic matter to 
drive off some of the ammonia. The 
ground limestone does not have this effect, 
except in some cases to a very slight de¬ 
gree. The ground limestone, therefore, 
can be used as a drier for the chicken 
manure, although we would prefer to 
use laud plaster for that purpose. The 
ground limestone aud the manure will 
not make a ci>mplete substitute for the 
ground boue. The latter contains phos¬ 
phoric acid. The chicken manure has 
very little of this phosphorus, and, of 
course, the ground limestone adds noth¬ 
ing of the sort. IMiile the chicken manure 
is rich in nitrogen, and has some potash, 
it is lacking in phosphorus, and would 
not, therefore, entirely take the place of 
the ground bone. The best plan would be 
to dry out the manure with plaster or 
ground limestone, amt then add 1-3 of 
its weight of the ground boue. This will 
give a very good mixture for all kinds of 
plants. While the tomatoes do well with 
the chicken manure, the addition of the 
ground boue will prove a benefit, espe- 
eially in the quality and firmness of the 
fruit. 
Don’t Think Only of Scale 
when you think of 
“SCALECIDE” 
it is all there is to 
Dormant Spraying 
Does all that any other spray will do 
—but no other spray will do a// that 
“SCALECIDE” will do. Kills all kinds of 
scale—all formsof fungus and insects that 
can be reached in dormant season—ana 
invigorates your trees—and cost8_ _no 
more. Read our money^baek proposition 
before ordering anything else. 
,, Send for free booklet. 
Profits in Fall Spraying" 
B. G. Pratt Co., M’f’^ Chemists 
Church St. Dept. N New York 
_Dreer’s_ 
Choice Farm Seeds 
Winter Vetch (Vicia viUoia) 
Valuable as a Winter cover crop, also for hay 
and green manure. Vicia Vlllosa Is the only 
reliable Vetch for Fall sowing, Write for our 
leaflet and price of seed, 
Dreer’s Autumn Catalogue 
offers a list of Farm Seeds for Fall sowing 
including Wheat, Dwarf Essex Rape, Grass 
and Clover Seeds, also a complete list of 
Spring-Flowering Bulbs, Hyacinths, Tulips, 
Narcissus, Crocus, Lilies, etc. Write for copy 
and mention this Publication. 
Henry A. Dreer 
714-716 Chestnut St. PhiU., Pa. 
MALONEY TREES 
Per Fall Planting, Fruit and Ornamental. 
Vlnae, Shroba, Maloney A-1 Quality, direct 
from the oaroery at wholesale. 
3 Bearing AgcTrecs $1.00 
ff to 10 fcetiT Trees that will bear in 1918. 
1 McIntoshKodApplerlBartlettPoargl AA 
I Montmorency ^ur Cherry, aU for v 
nte for free wholesale catalog today. 
MALONEY BROS. A WELLS CO. 
75 Main Street. _ DansvHle, N. Y 
Dg n sviUe's Pioneer 
Wholesale y-nrseries 
itfi 
Are 
in prime 
condition for 
^ Fall planting. 
Send for our new Fall Catalog 
^ ""today. It is a money Saver for you. 
Kelly Bros. Wholesale NursOTies 
Half Million 
For Fall planting. Direct from Certified Growar of 27 
years’ experience, at Half Agents Price. CCaUAJITKED 
Fresh Dnpr, True to Name and to reach you in good grow¬ 
ing couditiou. Send for Free Wliole^ale FaliPrict LisU 
THE WM. J. REILLY NURSERIES, 163 Ossian S«., Danjvilk. N, Y. 
(Originators of •'Half Agents Price.**) 
For Sale-SEED RYE threshed Two 
dollars per bushel. HOMESTUD FARMS, Fictoryville, Pa. 
RYE FOR SEED 
No. 1 quality, 1917 crop; any part of 50 bushels at 
$2.50. SKT MEADOW S. R. R. He. 1, Bex 95, Jehnston, 8.1. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
rOR SEPTEMBER AND fAtL PL ANTING 
Pot-prown and i-uniier plants that wlU bear fiaiit next 
Hiiinnier. June-bearing and Ever-bearing varieties. Also 
Raspberry, Blackberry Plants isd Fruit Trees. Catalon-ue 
free. HARRY L. SQCIRES, Good Ground, N. Y. 
Russian Pitkus Seed Rye Supply limited. 
Big yielder, grain and straw. Sow until freezing 
weather. S2.30perba. CLOVERDALE FARM. Charlotte.N.T. 
A iniTlotll Vi^lute Rye ^haT'^oti^-. 
***********'^*** Catalogue and Sample Free. 
S, New Curllsle, Ohio 
Best Standard APPLE BARRELS 
Car lots or less 
Proinnt shinment. 
Hawkweed in Hay 
I biive beard that fireweed or devil's 
paiut-brusb is poisonous to cattle, and 
sint-e I have a good deal in one of my 
fields I should like to know if the hay 
will hurt the cows. A few years ago a 
cow died very suddenly in pasture. vSbe 
was found deep in the woods. Unfortu¬ 
nately no autopsy was made, but to pre¬ 
vent possible poisoning I should like to 
know what plants poisonous to cattle 
grow in New Hampshire hill pastures, 
and bow they may be recognized. 
D. F. F. 
We have never fou»d that the “orange 
hawkweed” is poisonous. Indeed, it is so 
bitter that the cows won’t eat it, but 
leave it in the mangers, and so far as the 
pastures are concerned, its hairy nature 
aud acrid qualities repel the animals. 
This weed is so very common all over our 
State in grass lands and hill pastures that 
if it poisoned animals, we should cer¬ 
tainly know it long before this. The bot¬ 
anist at the New Hampshire College at 
Durham could help with the list of plants. 
Vermont Exp. Sta. J. L. hill. 
The Modem 
Gas 
Tractor 
Its construction, 
^ ^ utility, opera- 
est tion and repair. 
ip lefe By Victor W. Page. 
' 5'Ax7l4. Cl. 475 pp. 24 III. 
ta on 3 folding plates, 
u tract- ..... 
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1 carburetors, latest forms of power plants and 
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3 tioa engineering practice is fully covered, 
he above book will be sent postpaid for Two 
V Yearly Subscriptions or Twenty Ten-week Trial 
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One New Yearly Subscription and Two Renewal 
iscriptions. 
USE NATCO DRAIN TILE 
Farm drainage demands durable tile, Onr drain tile mo made of best 
Ohio clay, thoroughly hard burned—everlaating. Don’t Imve to dig 
’em ap to be replaced every few years. Write for prices. Sold in cmload 
lots. Also manufacturers of the famous NATCO IMPERISHABLE 
SILO, Natco Building Tile and Natco Sewer Pipe. 
National Fire Proofing Company - 1121 Fulton Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
