1344 
proving itself so great an asset in advanced agricul¬ 
ture in many parts of the country. While nature 
sows the unhulled seed, she is more generous than 
we can afford to be, and, besides, she does not try 
to raise a crop on a given field. 
In my experience both in North Dakota and here 
in New Yoi’k we have found discouragement in sow¬ 
ing unhulled SAveet clover seed. It has been far 
better with us sown in warm ground early in the 
S]iring, then using scarified seed, which is sure of 
early gei’mination. The Department of Agriculture 
is definitely opposed to the sowing of unhullod seed, 
for one thing, because of the light-weight immature 
seed and trash that is not separated from the good 
seed before hulling. This may be seen in the fact 
that it takes 90 to 100 pounds of unhulled seed to 
give 60 pounds of good hulled seed. 
For the Eastei-n States I am coming to believe the 
lack of lime in the soil or applied will probably ac¬ 
count for more failures with Sweet clover than all 
other things combined. Inoculation is important, but 
with the “glue method” that is simple, while putting 
on two tons of good lime per acre is not simple—but 
it is exceedingly profitable when converted into cx*ops 
of Sweet clover. The growing importance of Sweet 
clover Is indicated by the Department of Agiicul- 
ture’s is.suing three new bulletins on the subject this 
year, all by H. S. Coe, a most reliable investigator in 
all clover matters. Anyone seriously interested in 
Sweet clover should certainly send for these three 
bulletins. Nos. 797, 820 and 836. datus c. smith. 
Columbia, Co., N. Y. 
Wooden Pipes for Carrying Water 
R. N.-y., page 1289, has a few words regarding 
water pipes, in reply to J. C. G., Tompkins Co., N. Y. 
The "writer has had some experience in that line that 
may be of use. I was born in a hilly section of IMavs- 
sachusetts, where water from the hills to farm build¬ 
ings by gravity is of common occurrence. A farm 
with which I am familiar had an aqueduct of pine 
logs, bored by hand. It was laid in 1821, and was in 
use in 1890. This line of logs was about 800 feet 
long. The fall from the spring was about 40 feet. 
The line was tapped several times in its course from 
spring to house to meet the demands of 30 head of 
cows, 100 to 150 sheep, with other stock, and a cider 
mill. Such a line of pipe, with the pine found at 
that date, gave good satisfaction. Being always wet 
the decay of the wood was very slow. I recall that 
at one time there was a stoppage of the water by 
reason of the roots of willow trees which had forced 
a way in at a joint, and so had filled up the pipe 
to some extent. With mOtal pipe this would have 
been avoided, but as a rule little was demanded by 
way of repairs. The water was, of course, free from 
iron rust and the life of the logs satisfactory. One 
could not expect more durability of service from 
either lead or iron pipe. 
At present labor prices the cost of boring and fit¬ 
ting the logs might prohibit the use of wood pipes. 
It was a long, slow process, and needs an expert man 
to do a satisfactory job. I have had experience of 
70 years with another farm that was equipped with 
a log aqueduct that supplied three families ■with 
water for more than 40 years through wood. This 
has a fall of about 40 feet, and is 700 feet in length, 
fc runs under a mill stream at one point and some 
years ago this part was washed out by high water 
for a length of some 70 feet or more. It was decided 
to replace the wood with lead pipe. The lead pipe 
has been in use since 1837, with little expense for re¬ 
pairs to the present time. The Avater is used for all 
purposes of the farm and family, and has been fre¬ 
quently analyzed for any trace of lead. It is satis¬ 
factory in evei'y Avay, and never freezes, since a con¬ 
stant flow of water is -maintained in all seasons. It 
seems to the writer that under present labor prices 
and values of good timber, a use of lead pipe would 
be pi'cfei'able to AA’Ood. I am not familiar with the 
use of iron pipe in the ground. In the house I use it 
and it fills up with rust; .sometimes is incoiwenient 
to repair. I would not use iron in preference to lead 
in the ground. 
"She R U R AL N E W-YO R K E R 
on fallOAA* ground or oat stubble, the use of stable 
manure, lime, etc., and two or three hundred pounds 
of commercial fertilizer in the drill would put the 
cost well up. Or harvesting; a binder will cut 10 
acres in a day, and $5 an acre, $50, for the day’s 
work, is an absurd price. 
But the real “joker” in the case is to be found 
in the first item, $7 for rent for land. Every farmer 
who takes a journey into the mysterious land of mod¬ 
ern fann bookkeeping is taught that the very first 
item his pen records must be a charge of six per cent 
on the value of the land, against whatever crop is to 
be accounted foi*. Then, when the crop pays that 
six per cent, in this case $7, it gets no credit for it. 
The net profit in this account is really $8.60 instead 
of $1.00, $7 intere.st on an investment of $115 in the 
acre of land, and $1.60 in addition. The Avheat paid 
it. The land may have cost Government prices, or 
$400 an acre; or, being inherited, may have called 
for no investment by its OAvner, but if un tilled would 
not return the OAvner a buffalo nickel. And so any 
sum denoting the nominal value of the land has no 
legitimate place in an account of the coat of groicing 
an acre of AA-heat on it. If farmers followed a sys¬ 
tem of bookkeeping requiring this the end of the 
farm year Avould find each one of them hopelessly in 
debt, W the book record, though the net cash bal¬ 
ance in bank might be most satisfactory. But that 
is another story.” E- J- 
Clinton Co., Pa. 
K. N.-Y'.—Yet that is the way town and city busi¬ 
ness is figured, and profits are allowed on that basi.s. 
We shall get a taste of this in the milk business if 
the Government steps in to determine the price after 
figuring the cost of production and distributing. The 
distributors may be trusted to get aAvay Avith “over¬ 
head” charges and rents. 
Auto Truck for Farmer 
Would it pay a farmer to purchase an automobile 
truck 31 /. tons, and deliver his produce direct to 
New York to the various markets? Our crops thm 
vear were 75 tons cabbage, 500,000 pickles and 5000 
bushels of potatoes. We still have the potatoes to 
sell We also run a dairy. What makes us think of 
purchasing a truck is that the speculators come here 
Slid offer us 75c to $1 less a barrel Gian ^e_w York 
price, and take potatoes in Avith auto truck. It seems 
to me if it pays them it Avould pay us a.s we Avould drive 
the truck ourselves. There are times when one does 
not care to sell a carload, and by having a truck he 
can di.spose of his produce such as potatoes, when he 
sees fit. We are by road from New York oO miles, 
one Avay. Do you think we are too far froni New 
Y^ork Citv to make it pay? We also dislike to sell 
to these speculators, as they are often dishonest. As 
a truck co.sts $3000 to .$4000, Ave would not like to 
invest that much money without getting some advice on 
the matter, and Ave think you would be able to give us 
some information. Up here we groAV pickles and cab¬ 
bage for the factories, but the factories do not give New 
York prices at any time, and when they have about all 
the stock they want they give you what they please. 
We also have a 10-mile haul to and from the factory 
with horses 
Suffolk Co., N. Y. 
Some of our readers avIio have used such trucks 
can answer this bettei* than aa’C can, but Ave have 
no doubt the truck AA'ould pay Avell in this case. We 
knoAV of farmers Avho deliver their produce in this 
way and carry it more than 50 miles at a profit. 
The truck will make a farmer independent. If a 
dealer and speculator can afford* to come to the 
farm and buy the goods for truck delivery, the 
farmer can afford to deliver his oavu crop, provided 
he has enough produce to keep the truck busy. 
There Avill be many times Avhen, if a farmer could 
deliver his crop promptly right at the market, he 
would gain 25 per cent or more by doing so. We 
knoAV of several cases Avhere a farmer is able to 
make expenses and partly pay for the truck by 
hauling pi'oduce for neighbors. In almost any farm 
community it would be possible to get seA’eral 
farmers to join in selling their goods in this way. 
Of cour.se the purchase of expensiA’e machinery 
presents a personal problem Avhich a man must 
figure out for himself on the basis of his farm busi¬ 
ness, but as a general proposition where a farm has 
as much produce as S. L. mentions the truck aaGII 
pay. 
November 24, 1917 
continues until the first frost, the exact date thus 
being set by time of seeding and that of frost. It 
is .sown as late as possible, having regard for the 
danger of early frost in the Fall, and matures in 
about 10 weeks. As a honey plant it ranks very high. 
In New York State, where it is a crop of consider¬ 
able importance, it is depended upon by bee-keepers 
for a large part of their product. If clover, rasp¬ 
berries, bas-swood, etc., fail, or give a short crop, the 
bee-keeper still expects a surplus from buckwheat, 
and is not often disappointed. Buckwheat honey, 
however, requires a cultivated taste for its apprecia¬ 
tion. It is dark, .strong and delicious—to those Avho 
like it. Perhaps a large part of those who acquired 
their taste for honey during childhood, and in the 
buckwheat regions of our country, prefer it to the 
lighter colored, milder honeys from clover and bas.s- 
A\-ood, but those who do not make its acquaintance 
until later in life are apt to consider it too acrid In 
flavor to suit their palates. It is a standard product, 
hoAA’ever, and always in good demand. 
As for raising buckAA'hoat simply for the honey, I 
think it doubtful if yob could afford to do it. If you 
can utilize the grain for human or animal con¬ 
sumption, it is a different matter. Buckwheat flour 
is the foundation for the old-fashioned pancake, the 
recollection of which still brings many inquiries for 
flour from those who have long since moved to the 
far West and South. The grain is a A''aluable poul¬ 
try and cattle food; fed Avhole to poultry and ground 
for cattle. If buckwheat is not an important local 
product, you might have difficulty in getting it 
milled for household use, but you would undoubt¬ 
edly have no difliculty in utilizing it for stock. 
Only a brief discussion of buckwheat production 
can be given here; an inquiry addressed to the New 
York College of Agriculture at Ithaca, N. Y., Avould 
probably bring you a bulletin Avdth more complete 
Information. Buckwheat is usually grown upon com¬ 
paratively rough land not suited to crops more fin¬ 
icky in their requirements. Such land should be 
plowed as early as possible in the Spring, the earlier 
the better. The crop is not seeded, however, until as 
late as it is deemed safe to wait In Central and 
Southern New York this is usually during the last 
week in June and the first week in July. Three to 
, four ])ecks of seed per acre are soAvn broadcast or 
* drilled in. About 10 weeks later, when the greater 
part of the grain has reached maturity, though there 
will still be blossoms and Immature grain upon the 
stalks, and frosts threaten, the buckwheat Is cut 
with cradle or drop reaper, and each bundle or sheaf 
is set up on end by itself. A wisp of the straw is used 
to bind the heads of the sheaves together and they are 
allowed to stand in the field until cured. They are 
usually thrashed direct from the field, though they 
may be stored under shelter after curing in the open. 
Fifteen to 25 bushels of grain per acre are ordinarily 
secured, though it is only fair to State that the crop 
is considered one of the most uncertain ones grown. 
Unfavorable weather while the grain is maturing 
frequently “blasts” the crop. No one could state 
how many acres would be utilized by 12 colonies of 
bees. E. 
Figuring the Cost of Wheat 
O N page 1266 the editor says: “Pick these figures 
(on the cost of an acre of Avheat) apart, and 
find any joker.” For my locality, where Avheat is 
groAvn on nearly every farm, the figui'es are much 
askew. Seed, for instance; a bushel and a half is 
much neai'ei’ the amount sown than tAVO and a half. 
Or the item of “labor and fertilizer” might be $5 
or $15 per acre, depending on conditions. Wheat 
is frequently drilled on corn or tobacco stubble, with 
little or no preparatory Avork, and the cost of labor 
would not reach the first figure. Or. team work 
Buckwheat for Bee Food 
I have some beehives and am interested in what I 
hear of raising buckwheat for them. Here w^e have 
quite an orchard, several acres of raspberries, and soine 
White clover to furnish their food. AVhat time would 
the buckwheat be in bloom; before, after, or at same 
time as raspberries? Will poultry eat the wheat, and of 
what value to them? How large a piece could 12 hives 
handle? Would you tell me a little about raising buek- 
Avheat, preparation of soil and harvesting r 1 AV'ould 
like to find some honey producer to fill up the breaks in 
the flow. There are three during the season, making it 
difficult to produce first-class comb honey. 
Wells, YIe. J- 
Buckwheat is a Fall-blooming plant, being among 
the latest of those producing honey in considerable 
quantities. It begins to bloom before maturity and 
A One Man Chicken Business 
I HAVE read with great interest the articles in 
your paper in regard to profits of poultrymen in 
war time.s. YVe have from 500 to 1,500 Leghorns, Reds 
and Plymouth Rocks, with the lay bred in them, and 
from years of experience and a fair knowledge of 
the business w^e are able to show a good balance 
on the right side of the ledger. I would consider 
anyone with less than five years’ experience an 
apprentice, and Avould not expect him to make good. 
We sell both Avholesale and retail, and do not get 
the extreme high prices that w'e hear so much 
about. An an example, 50e per dozen was the high¬ 
est price W’’e received for eggs last year, even for 
our fancy White Leghorn eggs w^eighing 27 ounces 
to the dozen, but we do not have to hunt a market 
for our eggs, broilers and roasters; we find difliculty 
in supplying the demand. 
We do not sell eggs for hatching to any extent, 
nor breeding fowls at fancy prices, and only a mod¬ 
erate day-old chick business, so you can see that our 
total income is entirely along commercial lines. 
Total receipts for 10 months, from January 1 
to November 1, 1917. 
Total expense.. 1,.323.03 
Profit .$1,459.31 
This is a one-man business, and we buy all our 
feedstuffs excepting green food, which we grow. At 
normal times I would expect about $400 more profit 
on the amount of business done, so that is about the 
extent the Avar has affected me. l. w. combs. 
New Jersey. 
