1130 
The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
July 2C, 1010 
What is the mailer icith your Red pul¬ 
lets at the Vineland egg contest? 
A number of friends have asked that 
question, and several were disappointed 
because they felt inclined to back the 
llop.e Farm birds for first place among 
the Reds. We certainly never encouraged 
that; but when it comes to excuses we 
have a good one this time. Our bird No. 
11 laid only one egg since November 1—in 
,‘14 weeks. Her two full sisters laid in 
the first 30 weeks 140 and 143 respective¬ 
ly, but No. 0 laid only one egg that any¬ 
one could find. She was a fine-looking, 
upstanding bird, a good eater and singer, 
and inclined to be fat. She would not, 
or did not lay, while her two sisters kept 
< n and the other nine pullets did their 
best to hold up the reputation of Hope 
Farm. After waiting 34 weeks and get¬ 
ting one egg I concluded it was time to 
offer that hen up in the interests of the 
frying-pan or science. So she was killed 
and examined to see what the trouble was. 
* if it if if 
On page 1142 you will find the explana¬ 
tion by Prof. Thompson. This hen had 
what is called an ovarian tumor. She 
was not able to produce and lay a normal 
egg. I now recall that during the past 
year quite a number of such cases have 
been reported to us. They are usually 
from flocks noted for heavy laying. In 
some cases the birds die; in others, as in 
. ur case, they live along, apparently in 
good health. Some of them look so well 
and sing with such energy that they pass 
as great layers when in reality they arc 
literally stuffed bluffers and poor drones. 
1 think there, are more of those afflicted 
birds than we realize, and there seems no 
way of detecting them except by means 
of the trap-nest. It brings up a new 
problem for poultrymen. and all this forc¬ 
ing of birds for high records is likely to 
produce a good many weak individuals. 
At any rate this unfortunate drone 
spoiled whatever chances the Hope Farm 
pen had for making a good record, but we 
accept the verdict with a smile, and mere¬ 
ly say that this unhappy bird’s affliction 
is good evidence that we have a good¬ 
laying strain. Something like a man af¬ 
flicted with the gout comforting himself 
with the thought that .some of his ances¬ 
tors must have been rich enough to be 
high livers. 
* * * * * 
But suppose the rules of the contest 
permitted us to introduce an “if’ now and 
then! At the end of the thirty-sixth 
week our nine pullets had laid 1.233 eggs, 
or 137 to the bird. Now we might claim 
that this unfortunate drone was as good 
as the average. Therefore the pen was 
good for 1.370. which would make us No. 
2 among all the Beds ! Too bad w r e can¬ 
not figure that way, but the nine have 
done well, and I am prepared to back 
them to beat the pullet record of their 
mothers! Two years ago the mothers of 
these pullets laid 1.425 eggs during the 
year. There were 10 of them, and I back 
the present nine daughters to beat the 
record of the 10 mothers. In order to do 
it they must lay 192 eggs in 113 days. 
What a race this egg-laying contest has 
developed. At the end of the thirty-sixth 
week the score was as follows: 
Eggs 
T'nderhill Bros.. B. I. Beds. 1.759 
Pinehurst Farm, W. Leghorns. 1.751 
C. S. Greene, W. Leghorns. 1.689 
P. G. Platt, W. Leghorns. 1.689 
Lay well Farm, W. Leghorns. 1.678 
In that last week Underhill and Pine¬ 
hurst were tied, each with 55 eggs! The 
showing made by these Beds is astonish¬ 
ing. It does not seem possible that they 
can hold their lead with the breed’s well- 
earned reputation for going broody, but 
we shall see about that. Which will you 
back on the homestretch of the last 100 
days? Our sympathies are with the Beds, 
but sober judgment doesn’t see how they 
can hold out. 
* * * * * 
This is the season for second crops to 
follow the earlier one. For instance, we 
have plowed under the pea vines and 
drilled in yellow turnips. These will 
grow until late in the Fall and make fair 
size. We can also plant cabbage after 
peas or strawberries or other early crops. 
We cut the oats early for hay, and now 
comes buckwheat seeded thickly and with 
about half a seeding of rye with it. Both 
oats and buckwheat were seeded in the 
hope of smothering out quack grass. The 
oats certainly held it in check, and I 
think the buckwheat will come close to 
finishing it. If we have a moderate 
amount of wet weather the rye will come 
up after buckwheat is cut and make a 
fair growth. Another crop which can lie 
seeded now is a combination of rye and 
barley. They grow up together with the 
barley ahead. Late in September you 
can. if you like, cut a ton or less of bar¬ 
ley hay to the acre without injuring the 
rye. Of course the soil must be good and 
well fed in order to expect it to do double 
time. 
* * * * * 
We shall soon be ready to throw in the 
cover crops. It looks now as if the first 
ears of Cory sweet corn will be picked 
about July 20. At any time now when 
we have a shower we can put in the rye 
and clover and cultivate lightly. There 
are already pumpkins planted in the corn. 
As soon as convenient after the ears are 
picked the stalks will be cut and shocked, 
as this will give the rye and pumpkins a 
better chance. We plan to feed this sweet 
corn fodder out. early so as to save the 
lmy. Corn fodder is never better for feed¬ 
ing than when it comes out of the field. 
I think many of us make a mistake in 
holding it until late Winter before feed¬ 
ing. llay holds its value better. Bye, 
Alsike clover and turnips make a good 
combination for seeding in the corn. I 
find a good many farmers who prefer 
vetch with the rye. The seed is quit*' 
expensive, and on the whole Alsike and 
turnips give us a good showing. At any 
rate my advice is to use something as a 
cover crop at least. Put in rye anyway. 
Tt is just like having some good friend 
haul and spread six tons or more of ma¬ 
nure to the acre next Spring. 
* :Jc sje :Jt :*jt 
I have told about planting Golden Ban¬ 
tam sweet corn in between the strawberry 
plants. Some of our people seem to think 
this cannot be done. Well, we have them 
growing together like a happy family. 
The plants are set two feet apart each 
way and the corn is planted in every 
other row. That makes the corn rows 
four feet apart. The suckers are pulled 
from the cornstalks and this dwarf va¬ 
riety does not shade the plants too much. 
At least the plants in the corn rows are 
as vigorous as any. Some of them are 
sending out six and seven runners al¬ 
ready. You must understand that in or¬ 
der to do double duty in this way both 
strawberries and corn must have all the 
food and water they need. The soil where 
those plants are growing was well ma¬ 
nured and fitted and has been fertilized 
with sulphate of ammonia and phosphate. 
Then we can connect a hose with the pipe 
from the spring if need be and soak the 
place now and then. You must consider 
all these things when you come to think 
about double, cropping. It would be fool¬ 
ish to think about doing it on poor, thin 
land, without a water supply. You can¬ 
not raise healthy plants without plenty of 
food and water, any more than you can 
raise a good brood of children without 
plenty of fnilk and bread. 
***** 
We are coming now to the bud-making 
season of the year, and all fruit growers 
should realize it. There are some growers 
who seem to think the entire fruit, from 
bud to finish, is made in the Spring. 
That is not true; the fruit buds from 
which next year’s fruit will be made are 
produced in the plant during late Sum¬ 
mer and Fall. Unless they are produced 
then there will be little or no fruit the 
following year. In order to produce fruit 
buds properly the plant must have a form 
of rest, and plenty of bud or bone forming 
material. If a plant or tree is forced too 
hard during late Summer and Fall by fer¬ 
tilizing or cultivation it will make a 
strong growth of wood and leaf, but will 
not form many fruit buds. I am sure 
that many a grower is too kind to his 
plants and trees—keeps on feeding them 
through the Summer and Fall, and then 
wonders why they do not bear. It is like 
some of these children who are petted and 
pampered up through the years when they 
should be gaining individual character. 
Then when the test, comes it is found 
they have no pith or persistence in them. 
It. is time now to stop cultivating the 
trees, and either let the weeds grow or 
put in a cover crop. That will stop their 
growth and make them consider their 
future by forming fruit buds. I have 
found phosphorus the element most need¬ 
ed in fruit-bud making. Now is the time 
to use one of the phosphates on fruit. If 
in an orchard, let the phosphate go with 
the cover crop. 
***** 
The business of breeding and selling 
little pigs is fairly profitable with us. 
Many a country family can find two- 
thirds of a pig’s food in the waste from 
table and garden. With ground feed used 
economically with these wastes it is pos¬ 
sible to produce 150 lbs. of pork at a cost 
far below the butcher’s price. I never 
encourage a man to buy a pig when he 
must buy all the grain. He should be 
able to get about half the feed in the form 
of wastes in order to make it pay. The 
pigs we sell are cross-bred Berkshire. 
Chester White and Jersey Bed. I rather 
think these pigs of mixed blood are a lit¬ 
tle better for the sty member of the fam¬ 
ily. while of course where you must have 
uniform lots for large sale the purebreds 
are superior. In any event there should 
be one parent of pure blood. In our 
case this is a Berk. Our sows give us an 
average income of from $100 to $125 per 
year, and of course when properly han¬ 
dled a sow will nearly take care of her¬ 
self. I have come to have great respect 
for a pig. Given anything like a fair 
chance, a well-bred pig is a clean, intelli¬ 
gent and profitable animal. 11 is evil rep¬ 
utation has been tacked on him by people 
who never gave him a fair chance. 
n. w. c. 
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AN IDEAL FERTILIZER FOR FALL SEEDING 
ANALYSING 
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deteriorate. 
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