/■ 966 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
use of lime. The heavy dressing of fertilizer pushed 
the grass along from the start, and the heavy seed¬ 
ing covered the ground thickly. Mr. Clark’s object 
in using Ited-fop was the fact that this fine and 
slender grass would grow up between the stalks of 
Timothy, fill out the stand and thicken it up so that 
it would give at least one ton to the acre more than 
the Timothy alone. Not many farmers are able to 
carry out this Clark plan entirely, but the general 
theory of it is sound. That is, the soil must be made 
sweet by the use of lime and thoroughly fine by 
constant working. We believe that Clark is right 
in his theory that in x’eseeding an old sod something 
more than turning it upside down and fitting the 
lower side of it must be done, for in that case it 
would only be a year or two before the weeds and 
the old trash would come up and occupy the land. 
Where grass is grown in a rotation so that it is to 
be cut only two years at most the Clark plan would 
not pay, although we have known cases where 
wheat and grass were seeded after potatoes, and a 
good imitation of the Clark system gave good results. 
Mr. Clark’s plan was to seed down a field in this 
thorough manner, fertilizing it heavily every year, 
and then continue cutting for eight or nine years 
before breaking up and reseeding once mere. We 
seldom hear of this plan now, although we believe 
it is still practiced in sume few places. On a market 
garden, where only a small area can be put into 
crops, it would pay to take one field of natural grass 
land and handle it in about this way, and then keep 
it permanently in grass, but anyone who tries this 
method must be prepared to spend money and time 
freely in order to get a good start. The ground 
must be thoroughly fitted and made smooth, and a 
good quantity of lime must be used with a heavy 
seeding and a large application of soluble fertilizer. 
Keeping a Field in Grass 
How is it best to manage a piece of land in order to 
keep it in permanent meadow, if possible? This year 
a meadow here was in the second year, and the prospect 
for a hay crop was not good; however, the pressure of 
orchard work prevented our plowing and planting the 
land to another crop. So we applied 400 lbs. of fer¬ 
tilizer to the acre of a mixture of two parts of acid 
phosphate, one part of nitrate of soda and one part of 
muriate of potash. This mixture of fertilizer cost about 
.$10.50 per acre, and I am sure gave an increase of over 
a ton of hay to the acre. The hay is principally 
Timothy and Alsike clover, and there are still poor or 
thin spots in the field. Can this field be disked or 
cultivated, and grass seed sown this Summer, so that 
the stand will be improved for another application of 
fertilizer next 'Spring? Also, what mixture of grass 
seed would be suitable? C. W. W. 
New York. 
MEADOW on good soil, well set In grass and 
well handled, should be good for five or six 
years. The fact that this fertilizer gives an increase 
of over a ton to the acre shows that the stand is 
good. It can be thickened up a little by seeding 
grass seed while the soil is moist and scratching 
over with a light harrow or weeder. We should xisc 
equal parts of Timothy and Red-top for such seeding 
—quite thickly on the bare and thin spots. Then 
scratch over at once with spike harrow or weeder. 
It will pay to use at least one ton of ground lime¬ 
stone per acre. It can be used at the time of seeding 
and scratched in. The limestone will help the 
Timothy and keep down the growth of some foul 
stuff and weeds. You will need to use fertilizer 
every year. The mixture you mention is a good one, 
but you must use more of it in following years. In 
a case of this sort we think it pays to keep such a 
field in grass for six years or even longer. 
Doing Things with the Mail 
T HERE are postmasters who get things to 
farmers, and there are others who say to the 
soil tillers “Come and get it,” even if they get any¬ 
thing at all. An Illinois postmaster allowed patrons 
to go to the end of a route marked by a telephone 
pole on which at one time there were nailed 17 mail 
boxes belonging to as many outlying households. 
There is another postmaster in Wisconsin who got 
the United States Post Office Department to run a 
mail car to the gateway of a vast orchard in order 
to take their daily shipments by parcel post. The 
cars are manned by efficient postal clex-ks, who take 
the packages at the door of the car, weigh them, 
adjust the postage rates and route them to their 
respective zones. We do not knoxv why the first 
postmaster did so little, but the second mentioned 
official simply met the demands of a gi’eat and grow¬ 
ing fruit growing region. lie is the postmaster of 
Sturgeon Bay, and Sturgeon Bay is the county seat 
of Door County, which is a peninsula planted almost 
wholly in young orchards. Formerly the postoffice 
was swamped by the sending of thousands of parcels 
of cherries by mail. There was not room to handle 
the business, but the postmaster met the situation. 
In Chicago, mail oixler concerns have postal cars 
run right in their houses to take away their offer¬ 
ings. It required powerful influence to do that, but 
this Badger postmaster exei*eised a little common 
sense and went to the farmers with it. J. r,. graff. 
Precocious Pullets and Auto Hogs 
Under separate cover I am sending two S. C. W. 
Leghorn pullet eggs, laid on July 4 and 5, from chicks 
hatched March 1, 1921. I read with great satisfaction 
the arguments regarding auto thieves. Our method 
employed here to offset any tendency to thievery is to 
put up a couple of signs and then unlimber a .401 
Mr, Bar rah Discusses Auto Dogs, Fig, 307 
express rifle, as a shotgun does not burst a tire. All 
stray dogs, cats, etc., are shot on sight, and a few guinea 
hens in the trees do for hawks and crows, so I must say 
to your readers, protect yourselves, and do not wait for 
Albany to act the part of police on one’s farm. 
Long Island. A. F. barraii. 
N.-Y.—The eggs which Mr. Barrah refers to 
• came safely. They are small, as would be 
expected from such young pullets, but they are good 
eggs, and certainly indicate a precocious habit in 
these pullets. When a pullet will come into the 
world on March 1 and pi-oceed to celebx*ate the 
Fourth of July with such a display of fireworks she 
certainly sets a fine example to youth. 
A picture of Mr. Bari-ah is shown at Fig. 397. It 
looks as if he could handle an entire caidoad of auto 
hogs and brand them properly. Many of our readers 
would like to see this gentleman in action against 
a carload of some of the thieves who spread over 
the farm, taking what they can lay their hands on. 
A Congregation of Rural Mail Boxes. Fig. 398 
It is reported in the daily papers that the American 
Legion of Los Angeles, Cal., have offered $250,000 to 
any soldier of the late war who will whip the present 
champion, Jack Dempsey. Several young men have 
applied for the job. Mr. Barrah seems to be large 
enough to fill the bill, but we hope he will confine 
his energies to handling the auto hogs. 
July 30, 1921 
Goose Raising on a Large Scale 
I come to you for some information in regard to 
raising geese on a large scale. I would like to start 
next Spring, to raise 1,000 geese, and wish to know 
how many breeders I will need, method of housing, and 
whether or not to hatch with incubators. I shall have 
plenty of pasture for grazing; also water. F. j 
Buffalo, N. Y. 
BELIEVE F. J. is afflicted with a very rare kind 
of ambition, which does not trouble ordinary mor¬ 
tals. In order to raise 1,000 Toulouse geese, he will 
need a very large flock of laying bii-ds, for they only 
average fi-om 15 to 30 eggs in a yeai-, which will not 
be all fertile, of course. It would also depend very 
much on the success he had in i*aising them. I 
would say that he should have at least 100 birds 
with the required number of ganders. Many breed¬ 
ers advise a gander to evex*y goose, but others keep 
one gander to every two geese. If the Emhden are 
the chosen bi*eed, about twice the number will be 
necessary if he wishes to raise 1,000 young birds. 
The Chinese ai - e much smaller than the other two, 
but will about double the egg production. They 
will average 50 or 00 eggs in a year, so he will need 
to keep only 50 or 00 laying geese. It will be neces¬ 
sary to keep only one gander to about four of these 
geese. 
I would suggest that he raise some bird having 
white plumage, as white feathers will bring about 
half again as much as colored or mixed ones, and 
with such a flock this would be no small item. Good 
goose feathers are very hard to get at the present 
time. The Toulouse or Emhden can be made to 
weigh about twice as much as the Chinese, hut the 
flesh of the Chinese is decidedly superior to the 
other breeds and the cost of production is not so 
great. For market purposes a good cross can be 
made with an Embden gander and a White Chinese 
goose, but of course those birds should not be kept 
for breeding purposes. That will give the large size 
of the Embden with the early maturing qualities of 
the Chinese. In keeping so many birds it would be 
well to buy the breeding stock early in the Fall be¬ 
fore they choose their mates, and put about a dozen 
geese with the required number of ganders in sepa¬ 
rate fields, at least until time to shelter them. If 
they could have separate houses it would be better, 
but one might leg-band them, then separate in the 
same way in the Spring. That would be considerable 
trouble, but would probably be worth while, as they 
are quite apt to choose certain mates and x'efuse to 
notice the other birds. Consequently there would be 
considerable loss from infertile eggs. This is espe¬ 
cially true with the larger breeds. 
I would never advise anyone to hatch duck or 
goose eggs in an incubator, although it can be done. 
The losses are apt to be very great, and it is much 
more satisfactory to use hens or geese after they 
have stopped laying. The geese also make excel¬ 
lent mothers. If hens are used for hatching, I like 
best to take the goslings from them as soon as they 
are dry, then keep in a box with a jug of warm 
water in the center at night, and on cold days. A 
good warm brooder without a floor is also good, but 
do not attempt to keep them on a board floor for long 
at a time. Give plenty of finely chopped gi’ass and 
water to drink, arranged so they can wash out their 
eyes but cannot get wet. I like bread and milk best, 
as it seems to get them started the best of any feed 
I have tided. Feed four or five times a day at first, 
gradually lessening the feeds until by the time they 
are a month or six weeks old, twice a day is often 
enough. At that time feed principally cornmeal with 
bran and middlings, with some beef scraps. Keep 
grit, water and green food always before them. 
They will live entirely on pasture, but that does not 
pay if the birds are being prepared for mai*ket. 
When the weather becomes cool, and a few weeks 
before it is desix*ed to sell them, confine in a dark¬ 
ened shed and feed all they will eat of coni and the 
food previously mentioned. Young geese should be 
marketed in October, as it is much harder to dress 
goslings in cold weather. When fattening geese, 
be very careful not to excite them. One attendant 
should do the feeding in each pen, and no strangers 
ever be allowed to see the geese. 
Only the simplest kinds of sheds ai*e needed for 
shelter, as they prefer to be out of doors altogether, 
and should be driven in on vexy cold nights. If the 
building is partly open on the side it will be quite 
satisfactoxy, and should be large enough so there 
will be no crowding. Be sure there is good di*ain- 
age, as the birds must not sit in the wet. A dirt 
floor covered with straw is best, and the roof of the 
building should of course be tight. A dry place, 
warm enough so they will not freeze their feet, is all 
that is required. They will not do well if kept too 
warm. marie betts. 
Michigan. 
