354 
•Pit RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 21, 1920 
Buy the Best 
THE 
MAPES FAMOUS 
FERTILIZERS 
The Standard for 
Generations 
Basis Bone and Guano 
No Rock Used 
Availability without Acidity 
Choicest Forms of POTASH-- 
Sulphates, Carbonates and 
Nitrates all free from objec¬ 
tionable materials. For 
Tobacco, Fruits, etc., where 
these forms are required. 
Foreign Muriate for General Farm Crops 
Ample Supplies of Potash 
In Our Brands This Year 
Manufactured as in the past 
with precisely the same care 
as to the choiceness and 
adaptability of the materials 
for the crops for which they 
are intended. • 
Send direct to us or to our nearest 
Agent for pamphlet and prices 
THE MAPES FORMULA & 
PERUVIAN GUANO CO. 
143 Liberty Street, New York City, N. Y. 
Hartford Branch 
239 State Street 
Hartford, Conn. 
General Farm Topics 
A Homemade Tractor 
The picture Riven below shows ft home¬ 
made tractor which was put together by 
Abraham Geissinger, Lehigh Co., Pa. Mr. 
Geissinger says that he has had the en¬ 
gine for nine years, and lie bought it sec¬ 
ond-hand in the iirst place. During the 
rainy season of July, 1919, he put this 
outfit together, most of the parts being 
taken from a scrap pile, ns one will see 
that the wheels are evidently parts of old 
machinery. This tractor will travel two 
miles an hour, and will haul over the road 
a thrashing machine that weighs 3.S00 
lbs., and it can be driven up a steep hill. 
Mr. Geissinger says that he can put two 
double-disk harrows behind it. well 
weighted down, and the tractor will haul 
them without trouble. lie fitted it up so 
as to have two speeds, one forward and 
one in reverse. The total cost of this 
tractor was $305 in cash, but it will bo 
evident to anybody that a man, to make 
such a machine, has to have a very clear 
mechanical mind, and be naturally adapt¬ 
ed to handling machinery. Every now 
and then someone sends us an account 
of a homemade contrivance of this sort. 
formity of setting stakes and the proper 
tension on wire. koy c. deyo. 
Ohio. 
For quite a Rood many years we have 
owned and used check-row planters with 
great satisfaction. They work well on all 
our land, which, however, is not broken 
by large rocks or stumps, which would 
prevent the free use of the wire stretched 
across the field, the length of the piece 
to be planted. We use the planter on 
land that is quite rolling and with some 
sharp slopes without serious trouble. The 
piece to be planted should have at least 
one square corner to allow of placing the 
pin that holds the wire at right angles 
with the rows. Then with care in plac¬ 
ing these pins the checks will be perfect 
enough so that a cultivator can be used 
both ways to good advantage. After our 
years of experience with this planter we 
can say that we would plant corn in no 
other way, especially on land that re¬ 
quires much cultivating, as some of ours, 
which is quite well infested with witch 
grass, does. We tried several kinds of 
check-row attachments for ordinary plant¬ 
ers without results before buying this real 
check-row planter, but gave all up in dis¬ 
gust as entirely impractical. The wire 
that came with our planter was 50 rods 
lo.ig, but we had one piece SO rods which 
we wished to plant, and so we got an 
additional length of wire and spliced the 
A Pennsylvania Farmer's Homemade Tractor 
They are interesting and practical, but it 
would not be fair to say that they repre¬ 
sent the possibility of any ordinary farm¬ 
er, because such a farmer lacks the me¬ 
chanical ability to put a machine of this 
kind together. That sort of ability is 
born in the man, and there is no doubt 
that if Mr. Geissinger had started early 
in life to work among cars or trucks, he 
would have developed great ability along 
that line. The average man who lacks 
this skill will do better to let the manu¬ 
facturers handle the work for him. 
The Check-row Corn Planter 
On page 191 Mr. Loveland asks for the 
experience we in the grain section have 
had with the check-row corn planters. 
In this section one will find but very 
little corn planted, as our fathers used to, 
as a result of the advance in the price of 
hoes, I presume. In fact, nearly every 
farmer uses a modern check-row planter, 
and we see but few fields that are not 
checked so that it is possible to use the 
two-horse cultivator both ways, which 
with the labor shortage on our farms at 
present is certainly a great advantage. 
As I have used them and taught several 
to do the same with the best of results, 
I will give a few simple directions that 
will enable anyone to do it very easily. 
Mr. Loveland asks for experience on hill 
land. r ' he only place I ever experienced 
any difficulty has been on the side of a 
hill, where the planter had a tendency to 
slide out of line with the team. First 
reel out the wire, then draw it up 
straight, set the first stake 10 or more 
feet back, and in a center line with the 
tongue of the planter. After first row is 
checked and you are ready to reset stakes, 
remember that here is where your success 
depends upon how near you come to doing 
it the same way every time. Always ap¬ 
ply the same pull on wire when setting 
stakes, which is easily accomplished by 
grasping stake and leaning your weight 
on wire, and with a whirling motion 
swing wire over in line with check head 
of planter, and for a few rods in front 
of the team ; beyond that it will care for 
itself. Always remember to keep wire 
just tight enough so that when the forks 
of planter head strike buttons on wire 
the wire does not give but a trifle ahead 
before tripping planter. Remember, it is 
easy; you can do it. just as well as we 
can. The essential things arc this uni- 
old one and found it to work as well the 
longer distance. Care must be used in 
placing the wire pegs in the ground at 
one end at right angles with the rows, 
but that is not much trouble after the 
piece is once started. 
Maine. b. walker m’keen. 
Improving New England Pastures 
On page 34 A. TL G., in discussing 
New England agriculture advises using 
Alsike clover or Blue grass seed on pas¬ 
tures. Does he mean simply to sow the 
seed without plowing? How much seed 
to one acre? i. ir. o. 
Bedford, N Y. 
I do not feel inclined to advocate any¬ 
thing elaborate or expensive. Better pas¬ 
tures arc a matter of no small impor¬ 
tance. But the average farmer has his 
hands full and his money used up long 
before he gets back to the pasture. It 
is not impossible, however, for the aver¬ 
age man to plan to spend $10 or $20 a 
year on his pasture. In my opinion, such 
a sum will yield best returns if spent 
entirely for seed. I would not attempt 
to figure a certain amount of seed to the 
acre, but would simply spend what money 
1 could afford for seed and sow the seed 
on the best ground in the pasture, or 
wherever most needed, at rates varying 
according as the present turf is good or 
thin. Mix one-half clover, one quarter Ken¬ 
tucky Blue grass and one-quarter Red- 
top, and sow it broadcast when the frost 
is going out. Buy White clover, if pos¬ 
sible, Alsike otherwise; also get Kentucky 
Blue grass, if possible, and Canadian 
Blue grass as second choice. White 
clover is the best pasture clover, but is 
scarce and high (as all clover will be 
this Spring). Ten dollars will buy seed 
enough, however, to sow thinly over quite 
an area. If the ground be scratched over 
a bit later with a spike-tooth harrow or 
th<* old-fashioned brush, so much the bet¬ 
ter. One will find it interesting to pick 
out a certain area in the pasture—the 
best land—and experiment in this and 
other ways. Of course, there is no limit 
to the pasture improvement program that 
one may embark on if he has the money 
and labor available. Rotated pastures, 
a certain amount of tillage, lime, phos¬ 
phates, nitrates—many things are pos¬ 
sible and get results. But) they cost 
money. Most of us have never yet been 
able to put lime and fertilizer enough on 
our crop fields, let alone the pasture. My 
opinion, based on fairly wide observation 
and some experience, is that the pasture 
money should be spent first for seed and 
clean-up work; after that, for lime, fer¬ 
tilizer or tillago. B< G 
