RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Hauling Celery to Storage with Motor Truck. Fig. 663 
local outlets anti visiting hu.vef.s, anti make their 
deais direct, making of themselves virtually both 
growers and dealers. The auto truck in such in¬ 
stances is often merely one of the factors employed 
in production and distribution on a big .scale. 
A concrete instance of the value of the large truck 
on the farm is offered by one of the large muck 
farms in Wayne County. N. Y.; that of J. II. 
.Snyder. This is the second year of the- same truck 
in the work, and is still in excellent condition. Mr. 
►Snyder’s farm is something over five miles out from 
the cold storage, with unimproved dirt roads and a 
few hills to be negotiated each trip. Over 75 acres 
of celery and 25 of lettuce are hauled by truck to 
the storage. Forty-two Northern standard celery 
crates make up the load and from eight to ten 
trips are made dail 3 ', several Aveeks being required 
to transfer the entire haiwest to the storage. When 
it is seen that the truck maintained an average 
of from SO to 100 miles dail.v. delivering at the 
storage clo.se to 400 crates each.day. it will be appar¬ 
ent that the truck is one of the vital factors in the 
.-uccess of the enterpri.se. In the ca.se under mention 
the performance of the truck is limited by the 
unusual heavy Fall roads and the wait of turn at the 
storage, el.se a still higher total of day’s haul 
would be recorded. 
The picture. Fig. 002, shows a load of celery on 
its way to the storage. It may be added that in 
this same town one enterprising j’oung man main¬ 
tains two large trucks for hire and does a con¬ 
siderable business during the .season.' There ai-e 
no reasons Avhj' a truck .should not help ‘‘paj' its 
way” by work done for others out of season, when 
not needed for active use on the farm. In comi)ar- 
ison with team hire the truck can do so mucli 
The Barrel Method and Resulting Crop. Fig. 664 
Back Yards and Potato Pens 
Getting Down to Actual Facts 
6 6 /^ ROW potatoes by the sky-scraper method and 
vjr raise enough in a corner of the back j-ard 
to feed the family all Winter.” This Avas one of the 
‘•war measures” that came to us last Spring, and 
Ave decided to give it a trial. MeauAvhile, thanks 
to the px'ess—chieflj' the Sunday editions of the 
city dailies—the moving pictui’e shoAvs, and 
certain back-j^ard-farming advocates, the pen 
method of gi-OAving potatoes Avas Avidely ad¬ 
vertised, and not a fexv Avere induced to 
embark on this alleged short cut to an 
abundant food supplj'. 
The pen prepared for the trial was GxGxG, with 
four corner-supporting, posts and a central piece of 
iron pipe Avith holes punched in it for Avatering, as 
shown in Fig. G61. In other words it Avas con¬ 
structed as nearly as practicable in the orthodox 
Avay, that is in accordance Avith the directions 
given by the advocates of the pen method. After 
completion a layer of soil Avas placed over the 
bottom of the pen and a roAV of potatoes planted 
all the Avaj’ around, the seed being set back about 
a foot from the outer edge of the pen. Another 
laj’er of soil Avas uoaa' added and another roAA' of 
potatoes planted in the same AA-ay, and so on until 
there Avere five rows or 150 hills in the pen, and 57 
large Avheelbarrow loads of soil, an amount Avhich 
most city dwellers Avould find it very difficult to 
obtain or get into the pen, the lattter being no 
small job. 
The planting Avas done June 28, and it required 
about half a bushel of potatoes, the McCormack 
A'ariety being used. Gi’OAA'th Avas sIoaa* —A'eiy slow in 
fact, and for a long time it seemed that none of 
the seed Avould come up, but finally there Avas some 
groAvth, as shoAvn in Fig. GGl. The 
vines Avere carefully Avatered through¬ 
out the season, aud Avere free from 
diseases and insects. 
On November 1, after the vines had 
died, the sides of the bin Avere torn 
doAvn and the crop harvested. The 
total yield, Avhich is shoAvn in Fig. 
G62, Avas exactly eight pounds and 
four ounces, and there Avas not a 
respectable-sized ‘‘.spud’’ in the lot. 
So much for the pen method. 
Because of the backyard grower’s 
difficulty in getting lumber and mak¬ 
ing a pen it Avas thought desirable 
to give the barrel method of groAving 
potatoes a trial, barrels being usually 
easily procurable aud lending them¬ 
selves to even more intensive cultural 
methods than the pen method. 
Around each of three barrels five 
rows of holes Avere bored, a layer 
of soil Avas placed over the bottom 
of each, and a piece of potato planted 
opposite each hole, and this procedure 
Avas repeated until there Avere five rows of 
.seed and three Avheelbarrows of soil in each 
barrel. 
On November 1 the soil Avas emptied out of the 
barrels and the crop harvested. The crop from 
two of the barrels Aveighed one pound 12 ounces 
each and from the third barrel one pound and seven 
ounce.s. Fig. GG4 tells the whole storj* of the ex¬ 
periment. As a result of these experiments and 
from Avhat Ave have seen Ave Avould prefer to put our 
potatoes, if Ave had anj% in the ground in the usual 
waj', or if ground Avere not available to eat them 
rather than take the risk of having not more than 
half the seed returned in the crop, to say nothing 
of the comparatively vast amount of labor con¬ 
nected with the pen and bari-el methods. 
a. T. C.AT.T.OW.AV. 
The Potato Pen in Growth. Fig. 661 
Now they tell us that one-third of the needed potash 
for this country may be found in the dust passing from 
the cement factories. 
Motor Trucks for Hauling Farm Produce 
O N page 1344, S. L., Suffolk Co., N. Y., raises 
the query as to the value of the automobile 
truck of about 3^ tons to the groAver living about 
50 miles from New York City. In his particular 
case he sells produce in sufficient volume to pay 
the buyer thereof to pick it up Avith a truck but, 
of course, the buyer is at his regular bu.siness in 
this kind of Avork. and makes full seasons of it. 
Yield of the Potato Pen. Fig. 662 
The groAver must find reasons for making the pur¬ 
chase on other grounds, and the evidence is quite 
complete that the oAvnership of a heavy truck on 
farms having an abundance of hauling to do is a 
positve Ixmeficial iuA'estment. 
More and more as groAvers deA^elop the A^olume of 
their production thej’ seek more advantageous con¬ 
tracts of sale, such as Avould not fall to the smaller 
groAver by reason of his not having enough of the 
crops desired to fili the requirements. The big 
groAA-ers as a natural development often steii around 
1415 ’ 
moi'e in a day that what might seem like hi.gh rates 
are not considered exorbitant. alvaii h. pula'eb. 
New Y'ork. 
The Mixed Feed Situation 
T he feed situation in the dairj- disti’icts seems 
hardly to be in a more satisfactorj" situation 
than for some time past. ’There are a number of 
mixed feeds on the market, some of Avhich are 
good. The Grange feed Avas calculated by the 
College of Agriculture, as is the Dairymen’s League 
feed. One or tAvo other “mixed feeds” undoubtedl.v 
have a good composition. The.se and possiblj^ a feAV 
others can be recommended for composition. The 
best proprietary feeds are handled by concerns that 
huA'c long been in the bu.siness, and they can be 
tlei>ended upon to laj' in a stock of ingredients 
Avhen loAvest in price. The Grange feed is uoaa" 
handled bj' a corporation, and they secured much 
of their material earlier in the sea.son. The onlj' 
difference in all these .seems to be that the Grange 
feed is sold to farmers or others Avho Avill take car 
lots. .Vli the others, including the League feed, 
appears to go only through the hands of dealers, 
unless the dealers are paid a commission. None 
of these is cheap. 
Evulentl.v no real .solution of the feed question 
is j-et in sight. Even if the League buys a mill, as 
is intimated, it uoaa' seems possible that the local 
dealers Avill still hold control of its output. The 
right .system does not yet seem to have been hit 
upon. The Avriter feels strongly that Ave .shall have 
to get aAvay from the present organized system, or 
Ave shall be absolutelj' under its control. It is 
doubtful if this can be done A’eiy successfullj" AA’ith- 
out a pretty good local organization of farmers in 
the vai-ious communities, and possiblj* not Avithout 
the local organizations OAvning some 
propert.v along the railroad track. 
This Avili be a right step if it can be 
brought about Avithout too large an 
investment. This Avill not be fullj- 
ellicient until some means is provided 
to get back nearer the producer than 
is possible at pre.sent.. It seems to 
me that the League ought to do this, 
and can. So long as Ave tie xip to 
any one part of the present organ¬ 
ized chain of feed speculatoi's and 
ham I lens, that long Ave are more or 
less tied to it ail. 
I am bj^ no means sure that Ave ought 
to depend xipon mixed feeds. Tiie man¬ 
ufacturers buy their different ingre¬ 
dients at different times, and store 
them Avhen thej' are cheapest. .V 
farmer can do the same, and ought 
to, and then do his OAvn mixing. It 
is true that this is some Avork, but 
it pays. I mix 1200 lbs. at a time, 
aud a good hand Avill do this in 
about an hour. Even if it takes 
tAvo hours, Ave have feed for over tAventy head of 
coAvs and some young stock for about a Aveek, so 
the burden of mixing is not heavy. Even if we 
continue to bu.v our several ingredients through 
our local dealer, Ave can, by paying cash and by 
buying at the most advantageous time make a large 
saving most j’ears over buying mixed feeds as needed 
along through the year. Add to this a feAV car lots 
Jirought in by the local organization of farmers at 
the most opportune time to steady the market, and 
Ave have a pretty fair method. Then go a feAA' steps 
further and get an occasional car from the producei", 
and it Avonld seem like getting on .something soliil. 
ir. IT. r.A'ox. 
