611 
■Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Japanese Millet for Silage 
A Substitute for Corn in Northern New York 
I noticed a recent article about using millet for 
silage. That ought to work well here, where the corn 
crop is not a success. How is millet seeded, and what 
kind of soil does it needV J. 
Northern New York. 
APAXESE barnyard millet will certainly give ex- 
celent silage; on land retentive of moisture and 
in a good state of fertility it will yield surprisingly 
well; 10 to 15 tons per acre is not at all exceptional 
under these conditions. Tf the Aveather is exception¬ 
ally dry in late July and August the yield of millet 
will be seriously reduced on land not retentive of 
moisture. One advantage of millet, that I did not 
mention in my article, is the fact that it can be 
harvested in ample time to put in Fall-sown Avheat 
or rye, which cannot always be safely done after 
silage corn. 
For seeding, 12 to 15 lbs. per acre should give 
you an ample stand if the seed is of good quality. 
Millet seed this year is rather scarce and somewhat 
high in price. There is no reason why a grain drill 
cannot be used for soAving millet, and I belieA'e the 
best results are secured by putting 
might be lost through ventilation. On a farm there 
are always quantities of Avaste or trash Avhich can 
be burned in a fireplace, and Avhen a hot fii'e is made 
there is alwa.A's more heat thrown out into the room 
than is taken aAvay from it. 
Evaporating Sweet Corn in a Greenhouse 
L it. n., page 440, Avonld quite probably make 
• a serious mistake in planting five acres of 
SAveet coini. Avith no other means of evaixirating than 
a greenhouse. We have tried out the method and 
found it unsatisfactory. One objection avus the 
flavor, which Avas very much inferior to the heat- 
feA’aporated corn. i»ossibly because the A'olatile oils 
preserved by the sealing process, mentioned by 
L. H. II., Avere lost in the much slower process of 
sun evaporation. In appearance it is superior to 
the heat-treated corn, being very light in color. The 
sun’s heat through the glass Avill not be too strong 
for the corn, but Avith the A'entilators closed. Avhich 
would be necessary, it Avill be so hot that it Avill be 
almost impossible for anyone to keep the corn 
stirred or turned on the trays. 
With five acres planted at intervals, or a very 
A suggestion for enclosing flie piix? Avould be to 
board them on either side, allowing several inches 
betAveen boards and pipe for air to pass upward. 
If pipe is 1 Vi-inch, make boxing about eight inches 
Avide on inside at top and about four inches Avide at 
bottom. On top, and close to top pipe, place the 
Avire nettinif; then extencL sides four to six inches 
aboA'e netting, so corn can be stirred Avifhout scat¬ 
tering. The open bottom would admit air, Avhich 
becomes heated as it passes upAvard through the 
pipes and carries off the moisture from the corn. 
The rapidity of CA'aporation depends entirely upon 
the number of pipes enclosed, and the pressure of 
steam carried, as one pound of steam generates al)out 
214 degrees of temperature and SO pounds about 2,20 
degrees. ki.mek .r. weaver. 
Pennsylvania. 
jThe Quinine Tree in Missouri 
HE Bulletin of the Missouri Botanical Gar¬ 
den prints the picture shown at Fig. 312 to 
illustrate a plant of Cinchona officinalis, from which 
quinine is obtained. The plant is growing in the 
greenbon.se, and is in floAA'er for the first time in 
i^t. Louis, Mo. It is now 12 feet high. 
millet in the grass-seed hopi>er. With 
an Ontario drill the .set can be regu¬ 
lated to sow very nearly the suggested 
quantit.v. remembering that barnyard 
millet Aveighs 35 pounds per bushel. 
Probably a good coat of immure Avill 
be the most sati.sfactory kind of fer¬ 
tilizer this year, but unless the land is 
in excellent fertility some manure or 
fertilizer should certainly be used, as 
millet is a quick, rank-growing crop 
requiring an abundance of plant food 
and moisture for best results. 
It is doubtful whether a good crop 
of Japanese barnyard millet could be 
haiwested Avith a grain binder. It 
groAA’s A'ery rank, and stands fiA'e or 
six feet high when a good growth has 
been made. Probably the crop coidd 
be cut Avith a reaper, and possibly a 
binder would Avork if the groAvth Avas 
mtt too heaA'y. If you have never had 
any experience in growing millet. I 
suggest that you iil.ant part of your 
acreage to corn and the remainder to 
millet. You can then fill part of the 
silo Avith millet and finish it out Avith 
corn, and get a comparison not only of 
the difference in growth and yield, but 
the ease of handling and feeding A-alue. 
Yon do not state in your letter A\-hy 
corn groAving is not succesful in'your 
locality, and probably the I’eason ma.v 
be that too large A'arieties are planted 
for silage purposes. If the season is 
short, or the land late in getting in 
shape for corn, planting some of the 
early dent varieties or late flint varie¬ 
ties will be more satisfactory than the 
varieties most often sold for silage 
purpo.ses. BEN.r. o. soetttavick. 
I'rcpdrhif/ for (Jnthi Secdiiif/. Fuj. Sl/f 
The flowers .are veiy fragrant, and the 
leaA-es are large, ovate, green, Avith 
reddi.sh A'enation. The Bidletin states 
that this valn.able medicinal iilant is 
indigenous to the isolated districts of 
the western slojies of the Cordilleras at 
an elevation of between 2,(KK) and fl.ddO 
feet. It is named in honor of Countess 
Chinchon, the Avife of a Spanish vice¬ 
roy of Peru, Avho Av.as cured of fever in 
].(>78 l>y the medicine extracted from 
this bark. This medicine has been 
knoAA'n under sei'eral common n.ames, 
the name quinine being deri\'efl from 
the Peruvian name ([uinaqnina, mean¬ 
ing ‘‘bark of barks.’’ 
The qidnine tree yields its maximum 
amount of alkaloid Avheu between six ami 
nine years of age. Several methods are 
used in the eolleetion of hark of both 
roots and stems: (1) The shoot or small 
tree is uprooted and entirely .stripjied of 
bark, this meaning the total loss of the 
plant. (2) The trunk is cut near the 
ground, the stump j»roduciug young 
shoots Avhieh form a fresh plant. (3) 
The bark is stripped in longitudinal lay¬ 
ers, leaving sufficient bark betAveen to pre- 
A'ent injury. The exposixl strip is somi*- 
times covered Avith moss for protection, 
and eventually is covered by the growth 
of the cambium which at the same time 
forms a fresh layer of b.ark. By using 
this latter method a continuous supply of 
bark is secured. 
Quinine is now widely cultivated in 
India and Ceylon. Avhere it Avas intro¬ 
duced in 1S()1. I’or this purpose collec¬ 
tors AA'ere sent to Peru to .secure seeds, 
owing to the fact that the seeds lose 
their germinating powei- very soon after 
ripening. They were shipped to the Bo¬ 
tanic Garden at Kew, where three thou¬ 
sand plants were grOAvn and sent to 
India. Ceylon, and the West ladies, in 
Wardian ca.ses. By 1.80.3 these plants 
Avere fully establisluvl and (piinine was 
made aA'ailable for use by the natives, put 
up in five-grain doses and sold for one 
pice (about half a cent). 
The Open Fireplace and Heat 
I hav'e been thinking about putting in 
an open fireplace in our dining-room, but 
some have claimed that if Ave did it Avould 
draw the heat from the rest of the house, 
which is heated by a hot-air furnace. We 
would not expect it to heat the room in extremely cold 
weather, but thought it Avould take the chill off in mild 
weather. We do not care to go to tlu' expense if it will 
cause the other rooms to be cold. What is your opinion 
on the .subject? Of course, we could close the iloors 
betAveen the rest of the house, but that is not alw.-iys 
desirable. It Avould be built in an outside chimney by 
itself, so it would not affect the draft in the furnace 
flue. AV. .s. B. 
Beacon Falls, Conn. 
W E give our own expcrituicc with throe open 
fireplaces, and Avould like to have a discus¬ 
sion by our readers. The heat of the fire does 
create a strong draft up the chiiune.A', jind this, of 
cour.se, draAVS in con.siderable air from the room. 
This .seem.s to be mostly the cooler air near the floor 
of the room, thus giving splendid ventilation and not 
draAving greatly from the heated air. Y'ou must 
remember that the heat of the burning AA-ood makes 
Cold Frame of Tomato Plants Peadti for Prttina. Fif/. dll 
Michigan Potato Growers 
and Grading 
much sm.-iller area, it may be iiiqK)ssible to cut the 
corn from the Cob only when the sun shines. When 
sweet corn is in condition to evaporate it must come 
off the stalk or be lost. The necessity of this is 
shown by the fact th.-it the Lancaster County farmers 
Avho make a business of c-orn evaporation, have rub¬ 
ber suits for their men, and pay extra AA’ages for 
gathering corn in the rain. Many days at daAvn. 
giA'e promise of a Aveek or two of brilliant sunshine, 
Avhen by noon it is overcast and dreary. Corn that 
Avould be prepared in the morning of such a day. 
and placed in the greenhouse. Avould become .sour 
and entirely unfit for food Itefore .•uiother day Avould 
dawn, especially if the Aveather is hot and humid. 
A greenhouse with a good heating plant could bo 
utilized for this purpose to a fair advantage, though 
The potato growers of .Michigan arc 
very much dissatisfied with the pres¬ 
ent .system of grading potatoe.s as 
practiced by the buyers. The .season of 1017 was un¬ 
favorable, the Spring being very wet and cold. Potatoes 
were not planted until much later than usual ; then 
August Ava.s dry and cold, with a killing frost Septem¬ 
ber 8. so that mmrly 50 per cent of the crop did not 
get full .size. The buyers put them over a grader with 
holes 1% inches the smallest way; for grade No. 2 
they pay (>0 per cent of the price of No. 1. At the 
inesent time the price of No. 1 is bO to t)5c per 100 
Ib.s. at shipping points; No. 2 grade would be 54c per 
100 lbs.: and tlu'se potatoes Avere grown from seed 
that cost ij!.’! to .^1 per bushel. Now the groAvers are 
being paid 32c to 54c per bushel. But here is where 
the greatest rub comes. No. 2 grade are put in the 
.same car with No. 1 grade, and sent to the city con¬ 
sumer as No. 1 grade. The other day a woman in the 
city read of there being tAVo grades of potatoes at 
the shipping points, and that No. 2 grade Avas 00 per 
cent of the price of No. 1 grade. 8he asked her mer¬ 
chant for some No. 2 grade of potatoes. She Avas told 
that he did not handle them—his potatoes were all 
No. 1 grade. 
the brick or stone at the back of the fireplace ex- 
ceediugly hot, and this heat is throAvu out into the 
room, more than making up for the loss in heat due 
to the draft up the chimney. Our experience is that 
the room in Avhich the open fire is located is more 
comfortable by reason of it, and there is no better 
AAay to A'entilate a house than through the fire¬ 
place. The comfort and cheer of such a fireplace is 
so pronounced and valuable that it is Avorth very 
much more than the small amount of heat Avhich 
it AA’ould not be economical in fuel consumption, nor 
in the labor recpiired. Most rose houses have a tier 
of pijies for heating in the side Avails. By enclosing 
a portion of these pipes and placing fine screen on 
top. fair re.sults could be obtained. In this manner. 
Avhile evaporation Avas in progress, the ventilators 
in the hou.se could be opened, though should the sun 
be shining, in combination Avith the extra heat, the 
temperature Avould be .so high in the house that it 
Avould be almo.st impossible to stir the corn. 
The buyers h.iA'e tried very persistently to impress on 
the growers that the present system of grading Avas a 
Federal order, while the facts are that the Agricultural 
Department has never made an order in regard to the 
grading of potatoes. The farmers of Michigan are not 
opposed to the principle of grading stock, according to 
size, quality or any other cla.ssificatiou which may prove 
beneficial to them and the average consumer. But they 
do oppose a double grading of potatoes, in the fixing of 
Avhich they had no voice; Avhich is neither compulsory 
nor universal; Avhich unfairly discriminates against the 
interests of both producer and consumer to the benefit 
of the dealer and retailer. o. M. field. 
Michigan. 
