IS3 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
There are 10 herds in this association, and much land and burned the brush and stumps. We have 
of the stock is purebred stock worth $200. $300 and 
$400 each, so that $150 each would be a reasonable 
value to place on these cows at prevailing prices for 
milch cows. At $150 each the value of 375 cows is 
$56,250. Add to this $3,750 for bulls siring these 
herds and we have a total of $60,000. Forty thou¬ 
sand would hardly buy, build and equip a plant for 
375 cows. We will, however, accept $100,000 as an 
inventory valuation of stock juid equipment. At 
hve per cent the interest on $100,000 would be 
$5,000 annually, .or $417 per month. This would 
make necessary an additional return of $206 
(206 per cent) per 100 pounds of milk to cover 
interest on investment, making now a production cost 
of $4,036 per 100 pounds of milk. 
If we follow the practice of the Government in 
connection with other industries and add 10 per cent 
to cost of production, our finished product will be 
worth $4,036 plus 10 per cent, or $4.03. which brings 
the value of the milk delivered at the depot $4.46. 
The average test being approximately 3.6 per cent, 
tiiis shows a cost just 21c above the League price, 
which is the farmers’ loss. 
As grain prices in January are higher than those 
of December. I equnot see any grounds for a lower 
price in January; for the milk production of these 
cows will be about the same. The money returned 
by sale of calves may cover many incidental items, 
such as veterinary fees, depreciation of stock due to 
age, losses of stock by death, ice, light, power, etc. 
Somerset C’o., X. .T. j. K . over. 
Sheep Manure and Wood Ashes 
N The It. X.-Y. of Dec. 21 A. 8. A. asks if pul¬ 
verized sheep manure can be used successfully 
for all crops. I have a small farm in Xew Hamp¬ 
shire, on a high elevation. Last Spring I used pul¬ 
verized sheep manure for all my garden crops and 
for potatoes. I did not use any stable manure, and 
none had been used in the soil for a number of years. 
My corn, Summer and Winter beans, beets, carrots, 
parsnips, peas, turnips, chard, lettuce and radishes 
all grew well and yielded well. I used 100 pounds 
of sheep manure to a bushel of seed potatoes. At 
the second hoeing I hoed in some wood ashes. I dug 
18 bushels of smooth, handsome potatoes, no sign of 
scab or rot. When the heavy frost came, the first of 
September, my potato tops were green and healthy. 
II the frost had held off two or three weeks my yield 
would have been much larger. I do not think sheep 
manure will produce scab if the disease is not in the 
seed or soil. I am satisfied that sheep manure is the 
best fertilizer to use until such a time as we can 
get a full supply of potash in this country to make 
the special manure called the 4—6—10 mixture. 
I have always used wood ashes when I could get 
them: have used them for potash with good success. 
I never saw any scab and do not believe wood ashes 
ever produced the scab. I have been a successful 
grower of strawberries for about 50 years: have 
never thought I could set out a new bed unless I had 
a good supply of wood ashes to put in the soil. Straw¬ 
berries need plenty of potash, and wood ashes furnish 
that to a certain extent. They also help to keep out 
cutworms. I have never been bothered with cut¬ 
worms where wood ashds were used. If anyone has 
trouble with sweet peas not blooming just cut out 
using much manure or other fertilizer and use wood 
ashes, and he will get good results. I have talked 
with old men who bought wild land, cleared it and 
started their farms. They cut down the virgin trees 
and burned them where they fell, and the ashes were 
all the manure or fertilizer they had to mix with 
the virgin soil. In this they grew their crops and 
they all say they never raised such smooth, hand¬ 
some potatoes as they did then. Allowing that the 
soil with the decayed leaves that had been gathering 
for ages supplied good plant food, the wood ashes 
helped to a great extent in making a complete fer¬ 
tilizer. Use the best of seed, free from disease, and 
do not be afraid of using plenty of wood ashes and 
sheep manure if you can get them. f. a. childs. 
Xew Hampshire. 
R. N.-Y.—Of course we have never claimed that 
Sheep manure, ashes, lime or anything else could 
produce the germs of scab disease. Such a claim 
would be worse than nonsense. What we do claim 
is, that if those scab germs are present in the soil 
or in the seed, anything which give an alkaline con¬ 
dition in the soil will encourage the development of 
these germs. That has been demonstrated. Sheep 
manure, lime and wood ashes are all alkaline, and 
will certainly increase the scab if the germs are 
present. There are some soils which seem to be en¬ 
tirely free from these germs. For instance, some of 
our readers have no doubt cleared off the wood from 
seen potatoes planted right in the ashes on such land 
aud grow smooth and fair as any we could wish. 
We think the heat of burning destroyed all the scab 
germs. Such results would make no argument in 
favor of using ashes on scabby land. Usually, when 
sheep manure is used, it pays to use phosphate with 
it. There is no use denying the value of pure, un¬ 
leached wood ashes. No chemist can put together 
any combination of chemicals of similar analysis 
Sectional T ieic of Plant House. Fir/. J/2 (sec next page). 
that will equal pure ashes in results. But where can 
you buy pure ashes at this time? As for ashes and 
strawberries, we merely give our own experience, 
and on our own farm the ashes do us more harm 
than good when put on this fruit. 
Alfalfa Growing Under Adverse Con¬ 
ditions 
STUDY OF METHODS.—The growing of Al¬ 
falfa under ideal conditions has been very ably 
discussed in The It. X.-Y., but the great majority of 
/ToP/e, 
J-tJ-P/O+f 
Exterior of Plant House. Fig. Jg3 (sec next page) 
us who are growing Alfalfa do not live in the lime¬ 
stone belt, and so we must adopt different methods. 
During the Spring and Summer of 191S the writer 
visited over 100 Alfalfa growers in about 20 different 
counties for the purpose of studying the methods 
which bring either success or failure, as the case 
might be. Questions were asked, answers were re¬ 
corded, weights were taken and observations were 
made. The summary of all this work is given below. 
SEEDING.—All the men plowed in Spring after 
either corn, potatoes or some tilled crop, then liar- 
re wed or disked thoroughly at weekly intervals, 
Hag Covering to Retain Heat. Fig. (see next page) 
deep at first, but very shallow at the last. Then they 
rolled the ground, seeded both ways, either - with 
wheelbarrow or Alfalfa seeder, ran over the field 
with a smoothing harrow, and then rolled again. 
The majority used acid phosphate and limestone. 
Even on the edge of the limestone belt, the successful 
growers used lime to insure a catch, and more than 
SO per cent used inoculation; 70 per cent used lime, 
and SO per cent used fertilizer. 
TOP-DRESS 1XG.—Fully 75 per cent used a top¬ 
dressing of stable manure. The point of emphasis 
here is to apply when the plant is dormant, or dur¬ 
ing the time the ground is frozen; otherwise there 
may lie injury from smothering. Many use acid 
phosphate as a top-dressing with excellent success. 
Alfalfa being a plant which draws heavily on phos¬ 
phorus. 
TIME OF SEEPING.—This factor was considered 
of great importance. Much depended upon whether 
there was a nurse crop or not. But the important 
point to consider is that 70 per cent of the growers 
in the limestone section seeded Alfalfa alone during 
the last of June or early July. A few seeded early 
with a nurse crop, but these ran a risk. Weeds were 
controlled mostly by careful preparation of seed bed. 
as outlined above. 
KIND OF SEED.—In 1915 this department start¬ 
ed a number of variety tests of Alfalfa. I visited 
these fields and made observations and secured 
weights last June. From these observations I con¬ 
clude that the variegated type, especially the Baltic, 
is much preferable for most of Xew York State, and 
especially outside of the limestone belt. The aver¬ 
age production from seven tests actually weighed 
follows: 
1. Baltic . 
2. ) mtario variegated. 
Grimm. 
Xorthwestern variega ted 
Black Ilills common.... 
o. 
4. 
5. 
6 
A r n f - o ri »■> TA T *•* /-l 
5.408 lbs. per acre 
5,088 lbs. per acre 
4.256 lbs. per acre 
3.968 lbs. per acre 
3.920 lbs. per acre 
3.16S lbs. per acre 
Of the observations made, Baltic secured eight 
firsts and five seconds; Ontario made six firsts ai d 
two seconds, and the Grimm three firsts. One should 
note that the lower weights above had a much higher 
percentage of weeds, and that this was the third 
year of cutting—a very good test of the enduring 
quality of the hardy, variegated Alfalfas. 
f. c. SMITH. 
New 5 ork State College of Agriculture. 
Spreading Manure on Wheat 
■ -V ° 11 think is the best way to handle manure 
111 o AV uter ’ %vhou oue does uot have time to take it 
out.' 1 \\ ken I could get time to draw it out in the Sum- 
n*oi time I found it b^6t to top-dress and drag it in just 
before sowing time. I would like to top-dress mv wheat 
and rye this Winter, but I am afraid to do it. A ueigh- 
bor of mine tried that four or five times for two Win¬ 
ters. He spread it ou top by band, putting it as thin a* 
be could, and it injured the wheat. Then he thought he 
put it on too thick, and thought he had lost monev 
enough to paj to buy a spreader, so he got one and tried 
t.iat two or three years, putting it on thin. He said it 
hurt, the w heat, and he told me he had got enough of it 
It always injured the wheat. I thought perhaps in puttiiw 
it on the snow it might be it caused ice to form on top 
ot the wheat and smother it when it was thawing out 
in the Spring; thawing a day or two, then freezing 
again. & 
in the Spring, when the ground would freeze hard 
enough to hold up the spreader, but the ground do'>s 
not freeze up long enough to get all of it out. It did uot 
b ln the wheat any. Perhaps I did not put it ou thick 
enough, but it certainly was great for the clover seedin'- 
I.ast A inter I spread quite a lot on corn stubble ou top 
ot the snow, and plowed it under iu the Spring for oas 
and I did not see any benefit from it. The ground was 
frozen hard, and when the snow went off I think the 
best of the manure went with it. so I did not like that 
way ot doing it. When the ground is settled enough iu 
the Spring to draw manure it is dry enough to plow, 
and I -iaye to start it. A\ hat would you think about 
drawing if out iu the Winter and putting it iu lar w e 
piles, not deep enough to burn or heat it. say three or 
tour teet deep, and put about 50 loads iu a pile on the 
poorest places iu the field ; then after part of the field 
is Plowed top-dress it from the piles? It could bo done 
m about halt the time then. What do you think of if' 
. Michigan. \ i b ’ 
ID X.-Y. We would like to have a full discussion 
■EA.* of this by experienced farmers. The Ohio Ex¬ 
periment Station lias studied the manure question 
lor many years, and Dr. Thorne advises as follows: 
“We are encouraging our farmers to top-dress 
their wheat with manure throughout the Winter, 
especially during these frozen days of January, where 
in our State this year we are having very little 
snow. Our advice is not to go ou the ground except 
when Irozen, because otherwise rhe tea mb and 
wheels will injure considerable wheat. It is also 
important to so distribute the manure that the 
"heat will not be smothered with it. This, how¬ 
ever, is very easily done by use of the manure 
spreader. We are very sure that if it is spread 
thinly and in the manner above suggested, it will not 
injure the wheat, while we have seen a remarkable 
increase iu the clover sown with the wheat on land 
that had been treated as above suggested. We 
would decidedly advise spreading it immediately 
from the stable rather than piling it up and handling 
it again, both iu order to save labor and also in order 
to save waste of manure, for even though manure 
may not heat, it will lose very rapidly from the rain, 
as shown by our experiments, which hare now been 
In progress for 20 years, and in which we find that 
manure thus treated loses between January and 
April from 25 to 30 per cent of its value, and this 
without any heating at all." 
