^he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1201 
apples for me to have one. Like iny.self, many farm¬ 
ers and fniit friwver.s, no doulrt. have the vronp idea 
as to the size track tliey need. A talk a few days 
ago with a motor-track owner opened my eyes so 
com]iletely on a few points, I thoaeht perhaps it 
misht be of interest to otliors also. 
A few weeks afto an aticnt for a motor track cami' 
to this man and started to tell him how mncli “over¬ 
load" his track wonld stand. He was i)i‘omptl.v 
told that he need not try to talk that, as he ha<l been 
throajih the mill. When the atcent for the track 
he now has .sold it to him, he made preat claims for 
the overload idea. He bonght this two-ton track, 
with the assarance that it was good for three tons 
or more, and it is a common thing, even for nuuni- 
factarers, to make snch claims, bat the e.xpert for 
the same company came ronnd the past Sammer and 
asked how he likcfl his track. Well, he was fairly 
well satisfied with it, as a general thing, I)ut there 
were some things that were not entirely sati.sfac- 
t(.»ry. The expert said to him: “Yon expected too 
mnch of yonr track. Tlie very first load yoa pat on 
that two-ton track was (l.OOd poiinds or more, wasn’t 
it’/’’ Y'es, it was trne, and the agent himself prob¬ 
ably was there to prove his claims. That was the 
big mistake this man had made, as the overloading 
he had contimted to do had can.sed little breaks here 
and there, that had laid np the track every now and 
then, whereas, had he been warned at the start that 
a two-ton track was bailt for two tons, not tliree 
tons or more, he wonld have been .saved mnch loss 
and bother, bat he had gotten the information at his 
own expense by (‘xperience. He had fonnd daring 
the year or more he had been using the track, Stim- 
mer and Winter alike, having lost bat .six days dar¬ 
ing Winter on accoant of bad roads, and in ase all 
the re.st of the year, every working day, ex¬ 
cepting Avhen losing time for little breaks, that over¬ 
loading was not onl.v not satisfactory, bat was the 
direct caase of most of his tronbles with the track. 
Farther than that, not only did the overloading 
seem to “worry” the machine, as overloading does a 
horse, but in the matter of making mile.s, lie had 
also learned, that while he might 
make a trij» to market, 27^ miles di.s- 
tant, in 3 Vi hours, pashing it 
through for all then' was in it, an¬ 
other man might make the .'<ame trip 
in two hour.s, and still another 
in 2Vi hour.s, and the man who took 
the longest time to it, all things 
considered, got just as much doi»e at 
the end of the Aveek. There might 
la? a suggestion in this in the mat¬ 
ter of handling motor cars, as well 
as motor tracks. The man Avho has 
got to make “miles p(>r hour,” re¬ 
gardless of Avlio else is iinnoyed or 
inconvenienced, gains bat little by 
the end of the .vear in the long run. 
Reference Avas made to a truck 
owner Avho noAv has six trucks, and 
one of the largest, and at one time 
the Ix'.st of the lot Avas now on the 
jnnk idle from oA'erloading. This 
Avas a two-ton truck, but the owner 
had hauled a T.WO-jkmuuI machine on it, and made a 
practice of OA’erloading it, Avith the above result. 
.Vnother firm Avith .a .‘:,ri0n-i,oand truck makes a busi¬ 
ness of overloading it, carrying two tons or more, 
Avith the re.sult tliat it is continually being laid up 
for little break.s, all of which, though small in them- 
.selA'cs, cahse loss of time and satisfaction Avith the 
machine, ami as these are of different inake.s, trouble 
is not confined to any one line. 
Judging from convcrsijtion with this man. who 
kncAv Avhat he wjis talking about, if the agents for 
these motor trucks, Avho come talking •■o\’erlo:i<i.’’ 
Avere given their Aval king ])aper.s. 
and the manufacturer.s, instead of 
inviting trouble and losing second 
sales, Avould state the truth, that if 
a man needed to haul two tons at 
a time, he would m*e<l a two-tou 
truck, not a n.OOO-pound truck, own¬ 
ers and operat(»rs of motor trucks 
Would have less cause for <lissatis- 
faction in having to learn these 
things by ex]iensive experience, and 
it is from such a source these point¬ 
ers are derived. Whih? some Avill 
di.sagree, it is the safety of the ad- 
vk'e AAhich appealed to nu‘. i. c. it. 
R. N.-Y. —OA'erloading 'is jieA’er a 
safe practice, whether it applies to 
farm machinery, horses or men. The 
temporary gain A\'ill be discounted 
by undue wear or breakdown. 
A Corn Crop Fertilized by Fire 
Fertile Land in North Carolina 
I AM .sending you three photographs showing a 
North Carolina cornfield. The three itictures 
are of the same l,GC»0-acre field. One sIioavs wliat 
the land Avas one year ago, tlie others AA'hat it is noAv. 
This is Q good-looking field of corn, as anyone can 
see, but Avhat Avill probably most interest your read¬ 
ers is the Avay it Avas groAvn. 
A year ago this land Avas covered Avith a heavy 
groAA’th of timber, as shoAvn in Fig. o4.3. Last Fall 
and Winter it Avas cut dOAvn and allOAA-ed to lie as it 
fell until the first part of May, AA’hen it Avas fired 
and burned OA'er. Then the corn Avas “stuck”; that 
is, a small regiment of men, Avomen and children 
Avere lined np on one side of the field, each one 
.armed Avith a .sharp stick, about like an ordinary 
AA^alking cane, and a bag of seed corn. The march 
commenced back and forth across the field, and at 
each step the stick was thrust in the soft dirt and a 
foAV grains of corn dropped in the hole thus made. 
The other tAA’o pictures shoAv the result. From be¬ 
ginning to end no other tools than axes, crosscut 
saAA's and hoes Avere used in converting this forest 
into the cornfield you .see. Can any other than this 
Ivastern Shore country groAV such corn, Avith oidy an 
ax, a sharp stick and a hoe Avith Avhich to prepare 
the land and cultiA’ate the crop? There are many 
thousands of acres here that Avill groAv such corn, 
as Avell as many other crops and stock. Beef and 
bacon can be made here for half or even less than 
half AA’hat it will cost to make it in the North or 
West, .yet tons of meat are shipiied in here evi'ry 
year. 
It .seems to me here is a good chance for men Avith 
mone.v to invest to do Avell for themselves and to help 
feed the nations. 
As to Avhether or not the corn is hoed-^cliopped, 
as they say here—depends upon the season ami Iioav 
heaA’y the groAvth of timber and brush that Avas cut 
<loAA’u. If there AA’as an extra heavy groAvth cut 
doAvu and Jlarch jind April are reasonably dry, so 
that a good burn is secured, little 
or no chopping (hoeing) is done; 
othenA'ise it 'is generally chopped 
out once. Chopping means going 
through the corn and cutting out the 
larger Aveeds, knocking off the 
sprouts that come up from the 
stAunps. A part of the field shoAvn 
in the picture AA’as choi»j»ed once, the 
remainder not at all. Of course, no 
attempt is made actually to hoe the 
corn, as .a’ou prol)ably understand 
the Avork is ju.st to chop off or knock 
doAvn the larger AA’eeds and bru.sh. 
“Htiick” corn Avill not thrive on 
all land here. It is oidy groAvn in 
the SAA’amps that have been drained. 
We are only from tAvo to 10 or 12 
feet above .sea level, and the sAvaiup, 
Avhich Is only <a continuation of the 
great IWsmal SAvamp of Virginia, is 
drained by cutting large canals 
through it, at regular intervals, usu¬ 
ally one mile apart each Avay. Canals are cut Avith 
steam dredges. Of course this land is very fertile; 
a deep black soil composed largely of deca.A’cd A ege- 
tation. It is a stockman’s paradise, luit the people 
here don’t knoAV it. But they do knoAv that it Avill 
groAv immense crops of corn, potatoes and cotton, and 
tliey grow them, and are happy and contented. 
Beaufort Co., N. C. s.vm corcii. 
R. N.-Y. — Tridy a Avonderful jierformance. AVe 
have been told hoAV in parts of Roumania corn or 
maize is broadcast like Avheat or rye and harroAved 
in. After it starts men and AAmmen go in Avith hoes 
and chop it out so the .stalks stand 
about IS inches apart in irregular 
i-oAv.s. It is cultivated by hand in 
this Avay, the hix’ge farmers refusing 
to buy improved machinery becau.se 
this hand labor is cheap. Croat 
yi(dds are obtained in this Avay. 
When the Avood groAvth is burned 
off the land is left coA-ered Avith a 
layer of ashes, Avhich furnish lime, 
potash and phosphoric acid. The 
action of fire on the soil Avill helji 
make the organic matter in the Ioav- 
er .soil more 'aA’ailable. It is a Avon- 
<ler that here, in America, corn 
should be thus groAvn, and evidently 
tAvo or three years Avould exhaust 
the poAver of the .soil to produce cro’ 
in this Avay. In early New Fii--. s 
d.iys something of this plan Avas 
The Cornfield Before Burning Over. Fig. 543 
followed. A piece of ground covered Avitli scrub oak 
or pine and Aveeds Avould be burned over and planted 
to corn. Avith fish in the hill. After a fOAv yt'ars the 
fish failed to produce corn, and the lieUl Avas aban¬ 
doned. Then, after another groAvth of scrubs and 
Aveeds appeared, this Avould be burned otf and tAvo 
or three more corn crops groAvn by using fish in the 
hill. Noav Ave knoAV that the fish supplied nitrogen 
and phosphorus. The ashes gave jiotash and lime. 
The fish acted to .sour the land and Avhen the effect 
of the ashes aa’us OA’ercome the corn AVould not groAA' 
Avell. The .scrubs and AA’oeds took supplies of jiot- 
ash AA'hich the corn could not use, and Avhen this 
Another View of Corn on Virgin Soil. Fig. 544 
growth Avas burned the i»otasIi av:is made availalde 
for corn, thus giving an unending round of plant 
food. If the ears are ])icked from the big corn crop 
de.scribed b.v Mr. Couch and the stalks are burned, the 
crops could be kept up for 'Some years Avithout ])1oav- 
ing. Then, Avheu the roots and stumiis Avere Avorked 
out, coAV peas or clover Avould keep up the fertility. 
Overloading of Motor Trucks 
L IKF many another farmer, 1 have been inter- 
est(‘d in motor trucks for some tinu', hoiiing for 
the day Avhen the orchard Avould be bearing enough 
Sixteen Hundred Acres of North Carolina Corn. Fig. 545 
