7h*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
459 
Remarks  by  a  Gentleman  Farmer 
I  AM  a  “gentleman  farmer”  (we  make  our  money 
in  the  city  and  spend  it  on  our  farm),  but  I  as¬ 
sure  you  there  is  no  better  way  in  spending  money, 
it  surely  has  it  all  over  golf  and  tennis,  it  is  at 
times  difficult  for  a  city  man  to  run  a  farm  on  a 
half-way  profitable  basis,  but  the  very  fact,  to  keep 
in  contact  with  the  soil,  is  worth  more  in  health  of 
body  and  mind,  than  the  few  dollars  which  at  the 
end  of  some  seasons  show  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
ledger.  Land  ownership  by  city  men  should  be  en¬ 
couraged.  especially  in  this  period  of  all  kinds  <>t 
“isms.” 
Just,  think  if  all  the  money  that  was  squandered 
in  all  kinds  of  fake  stocks  in  the  last.  12  months 
could  have  been  directed  to  the  channels  of  land 
investment,  especially  in  suburban  property,  where 
the  city  man  could  take  his  family  out  on  week¬ 
ends,  put  up  a  little  tent  and  breathe  God's  fresh, 
pure  air,  and  enjoy  the  flowers  and  birds,  and  plant 
something,  some  trees  or  vegetables,  or 
any  old  thing,  that  wall  keep  him  in¬ 
terested  in  the  land,  and  make  him 
feel  like  a  landowner,  I  tell  you  he  will 
be  a  better  citizen  in  every  respect,  and 
resume  his  labors  in  the  city  with  new 
vigor  and  new  hopes.  But  instead, 
they  invest  in  all  kinds  of  wildcat 
stocks.-  and  after  they  lose  their  hard- 
earned  dollars  they  feel  radical  and 
blame  the  government  and  society, 
where  they  are  only  to  blame  them¬ 
selves.  Some  of  our  great  papers 
should  take  up  this  matter  of  land- 
ownership  vs.  stock  investments,  the 
city  man.  big  or  small,  should  for  his 
own  physical  as  well  as  material  well¬ 
being.  be  urged  to  keep  in  contact  with 
the  soil.  T  am  sure  it  is  good  for  his 
health,  and  I  am  ready  to  go  on  record 
as  stating  a  thousand  times  safer  in¬ 
vestment  than  most  stocks  that  are 
offered  to  the  public.  This  opinion  has 
been  formed  by  actual  experience  and 
is  by  no  means  mere  theory.  I  sin¬ 
cerely  enjoy  your  paper,  and  have  al¬ 
ways  found  it  one  of  'the  best  invest¬ 
ments  I  ever  made,  catt.  f.  eempteb. 
Michigan. 
quire  it.  It  takes  some  little  time  to  cure  the  pea 
vines  fully,  especially  when  the  crop  stands  too  long, 
spread  out  on  the  ground  so  as  to  dry  up  the  leaves. 
As  a  substitute  for  clover  this  combination  of 
oats  and  peas  is  excellent.  As  soon  as  this  crop  is 
off  it  is  possible  to  plow  the  ground  and  put  in  a 
crop  of  Japanese  millet  or  Soy  beans.  It  is  some¬ 
times  possible  to  get  a  fair  stand  of  grass  and  clover 
seed  with  the  oats  and  peas.  In  our  experience, 
however,  this  depends  on  the  season,  in  a  very  dry 
Spring  the  grass  seeds  are  apt  to  dry  up  and  do 
poorly;  with  an  abundance  of  moisture  the  grass 
will  frequently  do  well  and  give  a  fine  stand. 
Large  Quantities  of  Hen  Manure 
Do  you  know  any  satisfactory  system,  for  handling 
the  droppings  from  5,000  laying  hens  and  10,000  young 
chicks?  Of  course  during  part  of  the  year  they  can  be 
spread  directly  on  crops  or  fields  to  be  planted  the  next 
Spring.  There  are,  however,  times  when  this  is  im- 
Oats  and  Peas  for  Hay 
EVERY  year  many  readers  come 
asking  us  to  name  a  crop  which 
can  be  seeded  early  in  the  Spring  and 
make  a  good  substitute  for  hay.  it 
often  happens  that  a  seeding  has  been 
killed  out,  or  for  some  reason  grass 
seed  could  not  be  used  in  time.  For 
the  Northern  States  there  is  probably 
nothing  better  than  a  mixture  of 
Canada  peas  and  oats  for  this  pur¬ 
pose.  This  crop  can  be  seeded  as 
early  in  the  Spring  as  the  ground  can 
be  fitted.  We  use  a  combination  of  one  bushel  of 
Canadian  peas  and  2%  bushels  of  oats  to  the  acre. 
The  best  way  to  seed  in  a  small  way  is  to  scatter 
the  peas  on  top  of  the  ground  and  plow  them  under 
with  a  small  plow,  or  work  them  under  with  a  disk 
harrow  so  as  to  get  them  4  or  5  in.  under  ground. 
Then  the  oats  are  broadcast  and  worked  iu  with  a 
harrow.  Handled  in  this  way  the  two  crops  gen¬ 
erally  come  up  together.  The  peas  are  held  up  by 
the  oats.  If  they  were  seeded  alone  they  would 
mat  down  on  the  ground  and  make  it  almost  im¬ 
possible  to  cut  them  properly.  In  large  seedings 
farmers  often  mix  the  oats  and  peas  together  and 
run  them  through  the  ordinary  drill.  They  usually 
obtain  a  good  stand  in  that  way.  The  peas  do  bet¬ 
ter  with  an  application  of  lime.  The  combination 
is  an  exhausting  crop,  and  needs  good  soil  or  a  good 
dressing  of  manure  or  fertilizer.  Phosphoric  acid 
is  particularly  needed  for  a  crop  of  this  sort.  The 
crop  grows  from  2*4  to  3  ft.  high;  more  in  some 
eases  on  rich  land. 
The  time  to  cut  is  about  when  the  oats  are  in  the 
ini lk  stage.  That  means  when  the  grain  is  so  soft 
that  it  can  be  pressed  between  the  two  thumb  nails 
and  give  off  a  milky  fluid.  The  crop  is  cured  or 
handled  very  much  the  same  as  clover  hay.  The 
best  way  we  have  found  is  to  cut  the  crop  in  the 
morning.  Let  it  lie  on  the  ground  until  about  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  and  then  rake  into  large 
windrows.  If  the  weather  continues  bright  and 
clear  these  can  be  turned  over  several  times  a  day. 
If  the  weather  is  not  good  we  throw  the  crop  into 
cocks,  much  the  same  as  in  curing  clover,  and  turn 
these  cocks  over  when  good  judgment  seems  to  re¬ 
as  straw  and  chaff,  that  it.  cannot  well  be  mixed 
with  the  chemicals.  In  such  cases  the  coarse  manure 
may  be  spread  and  plowed  under  and  the  chemicals 
used  in  the  hill  or  drill.  The  things  to  remember 
about  hen  manure  are  that  it  needs  a  “balance”  of 
potash  and  phosphorus.  If  used  alone  it  is  a  “forc¬ 
ing”  manure,  and  will  make  a  rank  growth  of  leaf 
and  stem  rather  than  thrifty  seed  or  tuber. 
In  case  we  had  100  tons  of  pure  manure  and  50 
tons  of  litter,  we  should  certainly  use  a  manure 
spreader.  That  will  save  labor  and  put  out  the 
manure  more  evenly  than  it  can  usually  be  done  by 
hand.  We  should  spread  it  as  often  as  a  load  ac¬ 
cumulated.  We  should  put.  it  heavily  on  sod  for 
corn,  and  on  all  grass  and  small  grain  crops.  On 
level  land  there  will  be  little  loss  from  spreading 
during  the  Winter.  We  should  try  to  make  up  15  to 
20  tons  of  the  mixture  as  described  in  this  article 
and  use  it  in  the  Hill  or  drill  of  corn.  We  think 
it  will  be  economy  to  use  some  form  of  phosphorus 
with  this  manure,  no  matter  what 
, crop  It  is  used  for. 
I 
Columbia — One  of  the  'Newer  Noses.  See  Cage  f/79 
practical,  either  because  crops  (corn,  for  instance),  are 
too  large,  or  because  land  is  covered  with  snow,  or  too 
wet  to  drive  on.  Could  this  valuable  fertilizer  be 
economically  dried  to  a  condition  permitting  storage 
in  bulk?  Would  a  manure  spreader  pay  on  such  a 
farm,  or  rather,  could  one  afford  to  do  without  one? 
There  are  produced  probably  75  to  100  tons  of  fresh 
droppings  per  year,  and  50  or  more  loads  of  soiled 
litter.  Spreading  this  by  hand  is  quite  laborious  and 
not  always  efficient,  as  much  of  the  labor  available  is 
not  farm-bred,  and  cannot  seem  to  get  the  proper  “turn 
of  the  wrist”  to  secure  even  an  approximately  equal 
distribution.  *  .T.  H.  o. 
Long  Island. 
WE  are,  at  this  time,  handling  the  pure  drop¬ 
pings  from  2,000  birds,  not  as  efficiently  as 
we  might,  through  lack  of  time:  The  most  eco¬ 
nomical  way  we  know  of  when  labor  is  obtainable  is 
to  dry  out  the  manure  with  lynd  plaster,  sawdust  or 
dry  dirt,  and  mix  with  chemicals.  We  have  given 
this  plan  several  times,  but  repeat  it  once  more. 
Hen  manure  is  the  strongest  of  all  farm  fertil¬ 
izers.  Tt  is  what  we  may  call  a  nitrogenous  manure; 
that  is.  it  is  much  stronger  in  nitrogen  than  in  pot¬ 
ash  and  phosphoric  acid.  In  many  cases  the  pure 
manure  will  run  as  high  as  2 x/>  per  cent  of  nitrogen. 
The  first  thing  suggested,  therefore,  is  to  add  pot¬ 
ash  and  phosphoric  acid  in  some  form.  After  long 
experience,  we  suggest  the  following  as  a  general 
crop  fertilizer:  Get  the  hen  manure  as  dry  as  you 
can  and  then  crush  it  fine.  It  will  pay  to  sift  it 
through  a  fine  screen.  Then  mix  0  lbs.  of  the  line 
manure.  3  lbs.  of  acid  phosphate  and  1  lb.  of  muriate 
of  potash.  Multiply  these  by  10  to  make  100  lbs.,  or 
by  200  to  make  a  ton.  If  you  want  a  stronger  mix¬ 
ture  for  a  garden,  add  %  lb.  of  nitrate  of  soda  to 
the  others.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the  pure  hen  ma¬ 
nure.  In  some  cases  it  is  so  mixed  with  litter,  such 
The  Use  of  “Acid  Soil" 
Legumes 
Is  lime  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
successful  growing  of  corn?  My  reason 
for  asking  is  that  I  am  being  converted 
to  the  use  of  acid  soil  legumes,  partly 
through  yoqr  instrumentality.  If  not 
necessary,  I  wish  to  sell  my  lime  sower, 
for  1 1  only  raise  corn,  tomatoes  and 
Alsike  and  Timothy,  nursed  with  oats, 
which  are  cut  for  hay.  L.  w.  c. 
T  has  been  our  experience  that  corn 
does  best  on  a  mildly  acid  soil.  We 
do  not  consider  it  any  such  lime-loving 
crop  as  wheat.  If  we  were  using  lime 
on  a  rotation  we  should  not  use  it  on 
corn,  but  on  wheat  or  grass  seeding. 
Many  farmers  use  ground  limestone 
on  corn,  and  think  it  pays  to  do  so. 
Of  all  forms  of  lime  we  think  the 
limestone  would  be  the  best  for  corn, 
but  as  stated,  we  think  it  would  pay 
better  on  other  crops.  Some  of  the 
Hint  varieties  which  have  been  devel¬ 
oped  in  New  England  grow  well  on 
soils  which  are  distinctly  acid,  and  we 
think  some  of  the  varieties  long 
grown  on  limestone  soil  might  re¬ 
spond  to  liming.  Of  course  all  plants 
require  more  or  less  lime.  If  there  is 
little  or  no  available  lime  in  the 
soil  we  must  supply  it  in  some  form. 
Some  plants  have  greater  power  of  ex¬ 
tracting  lime  than  others.  The  chief 
use  of  lime,  however,  is  not  to  supply 
plant  food,  but  to  work  a  chemical 
change  in  the  soil  so  that  plants  like 
Alfalfa  and  the  clovers  may  thrive. 
The  present  theory  of  building  up  and 
maintaining  our  Eastern  soils  is  based 
on  the  heavy  use  of  lime  to  fit  the  soil 
for  what  are  called  the  lime-loving 
legumes,  like  clover  and  Alfalfa.  The  greater  pro¬ 
portion  of  our  Eastern  soils  are  naturally  deficient 
in  lime,  and  cannot  be  made  to  grow  these  legumes 
unless  large  quantities  of  lime  are  used. 
9’ he  theory  of  the  acid  soil  legumes  is  that  the 
plants  will  grow  well  without  much,  if  any.  lime. 
Soy  beans,  cow  peas,  vetch  and  several  others  will 
grow  well  and  receive  nitrogen  from  the  air,  even 
on  sour  soils,  such  as  we  have  generally  on  our 
Eastern  farms.  As  an  illustration  of  what  we  mean 
a  farmer  might  take  a  piece  of  rather  sour  land 
and  seed  Alsike  clover.  It  will  usually  grow  well, 
and  if  plowed  under  will  greatly  improve  the  land. 
This  same  thing  could  not  be  done  with  Red  clover 
unless  a  heavy  dressing  of  lime  were  used.  It.  is 
entirely  possible  to  improve  our  soils  and  grow  good 
crops  by  using  these  acid  soil  legumes  without 
lime,  but  of  course  we  cannot  grow  successfully  on 
such  soils  the  crops  which  require  an  alkaline  soil, 
that  is,  “live  lime.”  We  think  L.  W.  C.  can  grow 
corn,  Alsike  and  oats  without  much  use  of  lime,  luff 
with  us  both  tomatoes  and  Timothy  require  some¬ 
thing  beyond  an  acid  soil.  Personally,  we  think 
there  is  much  sense  in  this  idea  of  using  the  acid 
soil  legumes,  but  we  doubt  if  we  can  succeed  in 
growing  all  our  common  crops  with  no  lime  at  all. 
Under  the  present  plan  we  are  expected  to  use  large 
quantities  of  lime  in  order  to  improve  or  build  up 
the  soil.  With  the  acid  soil  legumes  we  think  it 
will  be  possitde  to  maintain  the  soil  without  using 
much  lime,  but  it  will  still  lie  necessary  to  use  some 
of  it.  in  order  to  produce  certain  crops.  Considera¬ 
tion  must  be  given,  not  only  to  the  crops  produced, 
but  also  to  tthe  natural  character  of  the  soil. 
