1288 
•Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 11, 1924 
Ohio, is in much better condition than the average 
binder of five years of age. The red paint is still 
bright. The bolts that have gripped the castings 
to the sturdy wooden braces and framework are 
still firm in the wood. Mr. C. A. Jones stands with 
his left hand on the large wooden box which held 
hall after ball of twine during the 43 years, to be 
exact. From 40 to 50 acres of grain were cut each 
year. 
The beloved Grandfather Hart has passed away 
fully 30 years. The binder was kept carefully 
housed, and carefully oiled. The table is five feet in 
length. The binder was built by artisans of the past 
generation skilled in grouping wood and metal into 
a successful machine. Even the drive wheel is wood 
with a steel tire. Mr. Jones is replacing two or 
three of the gears, and he declares it will do as 
fine a job of binding as a new machine. This is 
without doubt the oldest binder in fine serviceable 
condition in the Middle West, and was the first suc¬ 
cessful binder sold in Ashtabula County. w. j. 
Helping Teachers in New Jersey 
I HAVE read with much interest the discussion 
of the rural school question in The II. N.-Y. 
This question is very interesting to me, because I 
« 
received my elementary education in a rural school 
in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and taught a rural 
school in the same county before going to college. 
That was just previous to the present plan of rural 
school supervision, namely, the district superin¬ 
tendent. 
It is true that there was almost no supervision 
of instruction under the old county plan. 1 believe 
ic is a sei-ious question whether there is any better 
supervision under the present plan. 1 refer entirely 
to supervision of instruction, not to supervision of 
supplies, transportation and the like. ' 
The point that I wish to bring out in this letter 
is the good work that is being done in New Jersey 
among the rural schools under the county super¬ 
visory system. The county superintendent is an ad¬ 
ministrator and has general supervision over the 
schools of the county. He has, as his assistants, 
helping teachers, usually women, who travel from 
school to school giving aid to the classroom teacher. 
These helping teachers are chosen for their skill in 
the classroom and for their devotion to the profes¬ 
sion. I have observed this system at work now fox- 
some time, and I must say that it is the most efii- 
•J _ 
cient plan I have ever seen in school work. Some 
will say that it is impractical in most parts of New 
York State on account of the long hard Winters. 
I do not believe it. 1 think there are superior wo- 
men teachers in rural New York who, if they were 
helping teachers, would not stop very often on ac¬ 
count of bad weather. 1 know of such teachers in 
Vermont, whei-e the weather is just as bad and the 
roads worse. 
I was in the State Department of Education at 
Albany for three years visiting rural schools. From 
what knowledge 1 have of the rural schools of New 
York I believe that the New Jersey plan is work¬ 
able, and that it would be a decided improvement 
over the present plan. I know there are many good 
men who are now district superintendents in New 
York. I know these same men could do vastly more 
for the rural schools under the helping teacher plan. 
After I had graduated from high school in 1909 
1 was employed to teach in a nearby rural school the 
following year. At mid-year I nearly lost my job 
because I was not getting good i-esults. If I had had 
the help of a visiting teacher, one who had been 
through the mill and made good, my pupils would 
ndt have lost so much time and instruction. I rea- 
alize that teachers as a rule are better trained now, 
but I also know that most, teachers are unskilled 
until after they have taught a few years. 
I do not believe that consolidation to any extent 
will ever be a sxiccess in New York State. There¬ 
fore the best instruction possible must be brought 
to the pupils. 1 do not believe there is any better 
way to do this than by real helping teachers. 
New Jersey. c. c. hitciicock. 
Sweet Clover in New Jersey 
HE Board of Agriculture News of Sussex Co., 
N. J., has a description of the Sweet clover 
crop grown by Mat Haggerty: 
When it comes to Sweet clover we have to award 
the first honors to Mat Haggerty of Sussex as being 
the leading booster for this crop in the county. He has 
used the crop for both hay and pasture. The first time 
he made it into hay he took 34 loads from six acres of 
land, and a few weeks later, after the plants started 
their renewal growth, he turned on his cows and got 
some excellent pasturage during the remainder of the 
season. 
This field was sown in oats and Sweet clover foui- 
years ago. He put on 1,500 lbs. of ground limestone 
to the acre. The Sweet clover seed was inoculated. It 
takes the same inoculation as Alfalfa. After oats har¬ 
vest the Sweet clover came on with a fine stand and 
the cows were pastured on it during the Summer and 
Fall. 
The next year he cut the Sweet clover for hay, mak¬ 
ing a point of cutting high so as not to ruin the 
stand, and he received the yield of hay mentioned above. 
For three years he cut hay from this field, each year 
pasturing the renewal growth. Last Fall the field was 
plowed and this Spring planted to corn. The corn 
shows the effect of the Sweet clover in building up the 
fertility of the soil. 
Mat says he got as much good roughage from this 
six-acre field as from half the remainder of his farm. 
One time when he stopped feeding Sweet clover hay 
and went on to good mixed hay, the production from his 
30 cows fell off a can of milk a day. The first time he 
cut the field the plants had come into blossom and were 
a little too far advanced for best results for hay. The 
crop was coarse and stemmy. He was somewhat dis¬ 
couraged with the crop and did not think it would 
amount to much, but when he started feeding it the re¬ 
sults showed immediately in the milk pail, and the cows 
cleaned up practically the whole of it, stems and all. 
A plan used by some growers in making this ci-op 
into hay is to pasture the second year’s growth very 
early in the Spring for several weeks, then the cows 
are "taken off and the crop allowed to come on for hay. 
This preliminary pasturing thickens the stand, thus in¬ 
creasing the number of stems and making them less 
coarse. Early pasturing also makes the date of hay 
harvest several weeks later when there is better hay¬ 
making weather. 
The gx-eatest value of Sweet clover, however, is as a 
pasture and soil improvement crop. A few acres in 
Sweet clover would be a great help to the dairyman in 
giving him very early pasture of high feeding value sev¬ 
eral weeks ahead of the time when he would be able to 
An Old-time Binder. Fig. 532 
turn the stock on his grass pasture. Sweet clover 
wants a sweet soil, but it is not necessai-y to lime as 
heavily for it as for Alfalfa. 
There seems to be quite a little pi-ejudice against 
Sweet clover on the part of some farmers who re¬ 
gard it as a weed. They see it growing in waste 
places like ragweed or goldeni-od and conclude that 
it should be ranked with these plants. One great 
recommendation for Sweet clover is the fact that it 
will grow under such hard conditions. It is as rich 
in nitrogen as Alfalfa and better for pasture, and if 
lime can be reasonably used it will be sure to im- 
prove the soil on any farm. 
Lighting the Poultry House 
We have just installed electric lights in our laying- 
houses, and have transferred the new pullets to these 
quarters just recently. Could you furnish us with any 
available information regarding the proper amount of 
light to furnish these pullets to maintain a 50 per cent 
egg production throughout the Fall and Winter months, 
also method of feeding to produce this result? When 
is the best time to use the electric lights, in the morn¬ 
ing or evening? If used in the evening we suppose a 
dim light will be necessary to enable the birds to find 
their roosts, after the bright lights are turned off. Is it 
possible to keep the birds from going to roost even with 
the lights on? Even now darkness coming at 7:30 
p. m. daylight saving time, the birds go to roost about 
one hour before this time. We heard that one objec¬ 
tion to getting the birds off the roost in the early hours 
of Winter days is that this is really the coldest part 
of the day. We have heard some enthusiastic reports, 
and then again some reports just opposite, but we de¬ 
sire to use the lights moderately, and get the best re¬ 
sults which can be expected. W. B. 
New York. 
I PREFER .the lights in the morning. While it 
might be the coldest part of the day, the pullets 
will get warmed up through exercising, sci-atching 
for feed. I find in lighting at night there is quite 
a lot of trouble to get the birds back on their 
pei-ches. I recommend the grain and mash formula 
of the New Jersey egg-laying contest. Would also 
suggest mangels or sprouted oats not less than four 
days per week, and warm .water during the cold 
weather at all times. If any of the pixllets are to 
be used as breeders use no lights, huge j. hoehn. 
New York. 
These questions are answered very completely by 
pamphlets issued by the State Agricultural College 
of New Jersey at New Brunswick. I can only an¬ 
swer vei*y briefly, as there is so much to be said 
that I hardly know where to stai-t. Our experience 
has been that best results wei*e obtained by throwing 
on the lights in the houses between S and 9 p. m. 
No dimmers are required, as the birds are all back 
on the roost at 9 p. m. We feed 14 lbs. of grain per 
100 birds, 2 lbs. at 7 :30 a. in., 2 lbs. at 4 p. m., and 
10 lbs. at 8 p. m. Dry mash is in front of the birds 
at all times. At 10 a. m. we feed a small quantity of 
mash mixed with buttermilk (just enough to make 
it crumby). This stimulates the appetite for mash. 
At 2 p. m. we feed mangels or sprouted oats. We 
allow the birds to go to i-oost at their regular time, 
but they go to roost hungry, as we have crowded as 
much mash into them as possible during the day¬ 
light hours; then when the lights go on at S p. m. 
they rush fi-om the x-oosts, eat their fill of gi’ain, and 
return just as soon as they ax-e satisfied. We have 
had Very good results using this method. We have 
tx-ied the early morning and evening lights, also 
morning lights alone, but this method has proved the 
best for us. julia j. Arnold. 
New Jersey. 
Thei*e is no question in my mind that a reasonable 
use of electric lights will increase egg production 
during the Fall and Winter months, especially with 
Leghorns. After five or six years of lighting we 
have discontinued the use of lights on all stock we 
use for breeding, except for about two months, be¬ 
ginning January 15, to bring the birds into earlier 
production when the eggs ai - e needed for incubation. 
An hour of lighting from 9 p. m. to 10 p. m. is 
sufficient, and whether the birds will be maintained 
at 50 per cent px-oduction during the Fall and Win¬ 
ter will depend on the quality of the stock and the 
skill in feeding and handling. A liberal feeding of 
grain should be given at this time, and the birds will 
feed up and many be back on the roosts befox-e the 
hour is up. Lights will px-oduce more eggs when 
eggs are high, but thei’e is a serious question develop¬ 
ing whether we can secure the maximum egg pro¬ 
duction and still use the same birds to repi’oduce 
high quality chicks. a. b. hall. 
Connecticut. 
,About 13 hours of light seems to give best results 
on pullets, either morning or evening makes no dif¬ 
ference. They should have all the grain they will 
eat twice each day, 50 to 60 per cent cracked corn in 
the grain l-ation. A dim light may be used at night, 
and it is possible to get along without any dim lights. 
Do not think that pullets must run around like mad 
because the lights are turned on if they feel like 
staying on the roosts. Don’t worry, you must be 
lucky to have good pullets to avei*age 50 per cent all 
Winter; 40 per cent would be good. geo. s. raynor. 
New Jersey. 
After using big lanterns for a year or two, I put 
in a small lighting plant. This gave more light and 
was better. Last year a power company extended 
its line so that its current was available, and that 
is still bettei\ For a 20x20-section of a laying-house 
we are using two 50-watt bulbs, and the white¬ 
washed walls helping out, the houses are quite 
bright. 
In feeding the gi*eat aim should be to keep the 
birds up to weight, as with the longer day they have 
a tendency to get run down. I should say not over 
16 per cent meat scrap in the mash, and to give plen¬ 
ty of scratch grain; 14 lbs. of grain per 100 pullets 
is not at all a heavy ration if the birds are laying 
well. 
As to the time to use lights, the so-called night 
lunch is liked by nearly everyone who has used it 
in comparison with other systems. In using this 
method the hens are given a good supper half an 
hour before sunset, and allowed to go on their 
pei’dies in normal fashion. Then at about 9 jx. m. 
the lights are turned on, another meal is given, 
equal in quantity to the earlier supper, and in an 
hour the lights are turned off, and the hens go to 
bed for the night. About a quarter of an hour be¬ 
fore the lights are turned off they should be dimmed 
so that the hens will go to the perches and be set¬ 
tled there when darkness closes down. Combined 
with this use of lights some men snap them on 
when daylight begins to break in the morning so 
that when the heps leave the perches they can see 
to eat right away. 
As to maintaining a 50 per cent production 
thi*ough Fall and Winter by lights, this is a large 
contract for lights alone. If the pullets are of good 
stock, well grown, properly mature, and in good con¬ 
dition, it is not impossible, but that steady 50 per 
cent production is more than simply a matter of 
turning on the lights. francis f. Lincoln. 
Connecticut. 
The radio has taken much of the noise and excite¬ 
ment out of the election. 
Good morning—have you eaten your three apples to¬ 
day? If not how can you ask others to do so? 
