1 
74 
verves to dovetail poultry work into general farm 
work. 
CONVENIENCE IN Bli001>lNG.—Tile plan of 
hatching at different seasons rather than doing all 
his hatching at once serves the commercial poultry- 
man a good turn by lengthening his season so that 
hi^ heavy -work does not come all in a bunch. As 
the brooding is the work that requires the care and 
attention and intensive concentration, it is unwise 
jo bring off all tlie chicks at one time so that tlu\\ 
must be brooded at one time: it is rather the wiser 
plan to brood them in smaller groups and give them 
more attention than to try to brood too large a num¬ 
ber, and not give them the care they demand— 
especially at this time when it is so hard to get the 
help necessary to care for a large number of chicks. 
To be sure, there is the disadvantage of slightly 
•ower fertility at this season of the year, but this 
can be overcome somewhat by keeping the flock 
healthy, keeping them exercising properly, keeping 
them out as long as possible, and feeding them pro¬ 
perly. However, in spite of this slightly lower fer¬ 
tility, I believe it is worth the poultry man’s while 
to try a .certain amount of early hatching, for un¬ 
doubtedly he will make it up in the end. 
THE MAIN HATCHING.—However, by no means 
.,11 „f a poultryman’s hatching should be done in 
January or February. His main hatching ought to 
come off in March or April. As has been mentioned 
above, from one-quarter to one-third of a mans flock 
should be hatched early; the remainder may be 
hatched in March or April, as suggested, or part may 
be done then and part (a small part) in May. 1 he 
l a lter lengthens the hatch season somewhat, and is 
not as a rule advisable unless the hatches in March 
or April have been poor for any reason. The Spring 
months, March and April, are the natural months in 
which to hatch, for it is at this time that the natural 
instinct, for reproduction is the strongest, resulting 
in the greatest production of eggs of any season in 
the year, and the highest fertility. Birds that are 
hatched at this time will come into laying the latter 
1 : ,rt of October or first part of November and will 
generally continue until mid-Summer. 
THE END OF THE SEASON.—It is not advisable 
to hatch later than the middle of May. Many poul¬ 
try keepers do hatch in June, some getting good re¬ 
sults. some poor results. It has been my experience 
that chicks hatched in June do not do so well, due 
to the fact that they do not get a proper start before 
severe hot weather. Of course, there is the one ad¬ 
vantage, in this connection, that they miss all the 
poor weather such as is experienced in early Spring, 
however, they do not do well unless an abundance of 
shade and green food is supplied. Some advocate 
June hatching whore birds are being bred for the 
show, saying that they come into prime condition 
for late Fall and early Winter shows. For commer¬ 
cial purposes. I would say that it is not advisable 
as a rule to hatch this late, for the birds don't seem 
to get the start, and for that reason do not matuie 
the way they should. Another fact to consider here, 
too, is that, ordinarily, poorer results in hatching 
are obtained at this season than in the normal hat< h- 
ing season, due. probably, to the increase in the 
temperature of the air and the difficulty in regulating 
incubators. 
The advantages of balancing the hatching season 
may be easily seen and the effect upon a poultry 
keeper's business, or the receipts from bis flock, 
estimated. It has been pointed out that balancing 
jhe hatching season properly will affect the whole 
year’s plans for the flock, balancing the rest of the 
year’s work and insuring a more even distribution 
of labor and cash returns, and greater cash returns. 
A trial of this plan will convince. Try it. 
R. R. HANNAS. 
What Puts the “Pop” in Pop Corn ? 
I N legat'd to what puts the pop in pop corn. I am 
afraid that 1 can give you little more than specu¬ 
lation. 1 know of no one who has gone into the 
physical and chemical problems involved. It lias 
been found incidentally that pop corn lias a very 
tough outer skin or pericarp. Some crosses were 
made at this station some years ago between sweet 
corn and pop corn, and some nice-looking sweet corn 
strains were obtained from this material, but when 
it came to trying some of the ears on the table they 
were hopeless. Their tough skins made them most 
unpleasant to eat, as the skins got into one’s teeth, 
sweet corn at its best is bad enough in this respect. 
At one time I investigated the effect of removing 
this outer hull upon the popping of corn with the 
results shown in the accompanying photograph. 
Without the outer hull there is no popping. t$o it 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
seems reasonable to assume that heat expands the 
volatile products in the seed (water, oil or any other 
volatile substances). These gases are held within 
the starch grains by the tough pericarp on the out¬ 
side of the seed until sufficient pressure is created 
to burst this hull. When this occurs the sudden re¬ 
lease of pressure expands the starch grains and the 
i esult is popped corn. 
The size of the seed lias considerable importance 
largely from the fact, 1 believe, that only a small 
sC »ed can become heated through evenly before erup¬ 
tion takes place. But also there is probably a phy¬ 
sical relation between the volume and the surface 
area. The larger seeds have less surface in propor¬ 
tion to the volume contained than the smaller seeds 
and therefore the total amount of expending force, 
which can be contained before bursting, is less. 
As you probably know from experience, the amount 
ol moisture in pop corn to insure good results is very 
important. Corn kept in heated stores or houses in 
, pen receptacles almost invariably becomes too dry 
i,> pop well. Corn must also be allowed to cure be¬ 
fore ns'ng. Generally it does not give good results 
i ,,til r t least a year old. Just what takes place in 
tliis curing process I don t know other than getting 
'own to the proper moisture content, l’ossibly time 
i- needed to toughen the outer hull. 
it is interesting to know that other seeds besides 
corn will pop. Broom corn seed will do this and 
The Upper Bunch of Corn Had Slcin Removed and 
Did Not Bop. Fiy. J7 
possibly some other grains as well. The principle in 
popping corn is utilized in the manufacture of the 
puffed breakfast foods. Here the function of the 
tough outer hull of pop corn is replaced by tight 
metal containers in which the grain is placed and 
heated. After the temperature has reached a certain 
point the pressure is suddenly released and the ef¬ 
fect produced is essentially the same as by the erup¬ 
tion of the corn hull in the open popper. 
Conn. Experiment Station. n. v. jones. 
The New York Alfalfa Belt 
Its Buckle Is at Syracuse 
Part II. 
CURING THE HAY.—There are various methods 
of curing Alfalfa. Some growers leave it for a day 
• s it falls when mown, use the tedder the next day, 
following with a side-delivery rake, and later with a 
hay loader and then haul to the barn or stack. 
Others object to the use of the tedder because it 
leads to the loss of many leaves, which are the most 
valuable part of the hay. Others use a side-delivery 
rake as soon as the Alfalfa is well wilted, and let 
the curug process go on in the windrows. These 
are turned over a few hours before the hay is loaded 
in order that the moisture that lias been gathered 
may lie dried from the part that was directly on the 
ground. This method prevents too rapid drying of 
the leaves, and allows them to remove much of 
the moisture from the stems by transpiration, it 
also protects a large proportion of the hay from the 
dew, which, when followed by sunlight, injures its 
January 18, 1010 
appearance. and in some degree lowers its quality. 
Curing in this manner requires two or three days 
of good weather. A few growers cure Alfalfa in the 
cock, in which it stands for several days. It is 
opened a little, and what was on the ground is ex¬ 
posed to the air awhile before it is moved from the 
field. This method involves a good deal of work. and. 
especially where hay-caps are used, is more expensive 
than the other ways; but it gives a brighter color 
and insures a better quality. When hay is to he 
suld. curing in the cock is advised by some, who fol¬ 
low a shorter course when it is to lie fed on the 
larm. 
MEMBER OF CUTTINGS AND TOTAL YIELD. 
(>n all the farms two crops of hay are taken every 
year. On several three crops are harvested, and on a 
, ery few a fourth cutting is made on small areas when 
i He growth is heavy after the third has been re¬ 
moved. Not more than two crops a year should be 
taken from an average field until the Alfalfa has 
been down at least three years, and some growers 
claim that even in long-established fields only two 
cuttings should be allowed. Estimates of the total 
yield of dry hay do not average quite as high as 
they did nine years ago. The usual range at present 
i> from three to four tons per acre. Only a few 
claims of as much as five tons are made. 
WHAT IS DONE WITH ALFALFA.—A great 
deal of Alfalfa is fed to live stock on the farms 
where it is grown. Nearly all the farms carry con¬ 
siderable stock. On several of them there are from 
20 to 50, and on a few over 100 head of cattle. Most 
of what is used in the Summer is cured, but a few 
growers feed it green. Some who formerly used it 
green now feed it dry. They have changed because 
the results of feeding it green were not as uniformly 
satisfactory as those of feeding it as hay, and also 
to save labor and time. For feeding to cows and 
young stock Alfalfa is a universal favorite. The 
third cutting is well liked for calves. Quite a num¬ 
ber of growers feed it to horses, and they have good 
teams. Other growers think it is likely to •cause 
kidney trouble or heaves, or both, if it is fed in large 
quantities. The manager of a large stock farm to 
which several veterinarians have been called to in¬ 
spect cattle that were for sale states that in reply 
to his Inquiry they all said that they had never seen 
a case of kidney trouble in horses that could he 
directly traced to feeding Alfalfa. Probably it af¬ 
fects some horses differently from others, and the 
condition of the Alfalfa, both as to its maturity and 
and the way it was cured, may also he a factor. The 
times and quantities in which it is fed will certainly 
have an influence upon the results of its.use. Sev¬ 
eral growers feed Alfalfa to hogs and think well of 
it for this purpose. 
SILAGE AND PASTURE.—Very little Alfalfa is 
put in the sih>. 1>. Andrews used some in this 
way a few years ago, when his supply of corn was 
Insufficient The results would fully justify a repeti¬ 
tion under similar conditions. But the general 
opinion is that silage can be made from corn to much 
better advantage than from Alfalfa. For pasture 
Alfalfa has not become popular, though it is used to 
some extent. Some pasture it on steep hills where 
tiie harvesting of hay is difficult, and others use it 
thus where practically all their grass land is in 
Alfalfa. Some who formerly pastured it do not 
pasture it now. One grower tried it one year and 
killed the Alfalfa. Some have lost cows from bloat 
caused by eating too much Alfalfa when it was wet 
•vith dew. It is certain that an Alfalfa field should 
i ot be pastured early in the Spring or late in the 
Fall; and not at all until the third or fourth year 
after seeding. 
CO-OPERATIVE SELLING.—All the Alfalfa that 
is not needed for use where It is grown finds a ready 
sale. Quite a quantity is disposed of in Syracuse. 
Some growers have customers in Boston and New 
York, who buy for dairymen near those cities, to 
v.-liom they have sold for several years. The Onon¬ 
daga Alfalfa Growers’ Association, formed in 1.015, 
with headquarters in Syracuse, is a great help in 
finding a market and in securing good prices. It is 
a co-operative organization, representing 350 growers 
in Onondaga and parts of Madison and ( ayuga 
counties. It looks after the interests of its members 
and also buys outright from non-members. It ships 
io New England. Eastern New York, Long Island 
and Pennsylvania; and handles about 6,000 tons of 
Alfalfa per year. It has close connections with the 
Onondaga Milling Company, which lias a storehouse 
at Fayetteville, with a capacity of 350 tons, and a 
mill with which Alfalfa is converted into meal which 
is used for stock feed, and is considered an excellent 
substitute for wheat Urau, J - E - B * 
