The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
993 
and  you  have  your  straw  where  you  can  get  it 
when  wanted.  There  are  losses  in  fertilizer  value 
of  thrashing  jobs,  especially  on  rented  farms. 
Try  this  system.  Haul  your  manure  often,  and 
then  ask  the  ground  what  interest  on  the  investment 
of  a  big  mow.  I*  see  none  on  the  other  side  than 
sale  of  baling  machinery.  And  besides  the  farmer 
cannot  get  the  help  to  do  this  extra  work  when  he 
should.  MARTIN  SMITH. 
Hunterdon  Co.,  N.  J. 
Where  Do  Plants  Come  From? 
How  are  we  to  account  for  it,  that  if  lime  or  ashes 
are  spread  on  the  dooryard,  where  no  clover  seed  has 
been  sown,  or  clover  grown  for  years,  clover  will  make 
its  appearance?  Also,  if  there  is  a  wet  spot  on  the 
farm  where  no  water  plants  are  growing,  and  a  pond  is 
made  on  the  spot,  soon  cat  tails  and  other  water  plants 
will  be  growing  in  the  pond?  reader. 
IT  is  clear  that  there  cannot  be  any  growth  of  a 
plant  of  clover  unless  the  clover  seeds  are  in  the 
ground.  We  have  heard  farmers  claim  that  ashes 
contain  such  seed,  but,  of  course,  that  is  impossible. 
The  seeds  may  remain  in  the  ground  for  many  years 
without  having  their  vitality  destroyed.  Experi¬ 
ments  have  shown  that  this  is  quite  possible.  In  the 
great  majority  of  cases  where  clover  appeared  in 
this  way  it  is  evident  that  the  seeds  remained  for 
years  in  the  ground.  The  application  of  lime,  either 
direct  or  in  the  ashes,  made  the  soil  fit  for  the  ger¬ 
mination  and  growth  of  the  clover,  and  thus  it 
appeared.  Seeds  may  be  brought  to  a  soil  by  the 
wind,  on  the  clothing  or  boots  of  passersby,  in  the 
fur  or  hair  of  animals,  or  in  other  ways  not  at  first 
thought  of.  In  such  cases  as  you  speak  of,  it  is 
evident  that  the  seeds  were  there  in  the  soil  waiting 
for  the  proper  conditions  to  grow,  or  else  they  were 
brought  in  as  mentioned  above.  In  the  case  of  the 
wet  spot,  it  may  be  possible  that  seeds  are  already 
in  the  soil,  blown  in  by  the  wind  or 
brought  in  some  other  way,  or  that 
when  the  pond  is  formed  they  are 
brought  in  by  wild  birds  or  even  by 
wild  animals  from  the  outside.  Either 
of  these  things  would  account  for  the 
appearance  of  such  plants. 
The  toe  puncher  for  marking  or  identifying  little 
chicks. 
leading  or  staple  crop.  The  lint  was  separated 
from  the  shed  by  hand.  This  required  cheap 
hand  labor,  and  for  years  America  could  not.  com¬ 
pete  with  other  countries  where  human  life-  was 
cheaper  and  less  essential.  Then  came  the  invention 
of  the  cotton  gin.  Steel  fingers,  worked  by  water 
or  steam  power,  separated  the  lint  and  multiplied 
the  power  of  the  human  hand.  Cotton  became  our 
great  export  crop.  It  handled  the  trade  balance 
nor  clothing.  It  simply  created  a  vice  or  habit,  but 
when  this  was  once  established  tobacco  quickly  be¬ 
came  an  article  of  world-wide  importance.  For 
many  years  it  was  about  the  only  American  farm 
product  which  commanded  an  export  trade.  It  paid 
the  foreign  debts  of  this  country  and  served  as 
money  or  a  medium  of  exchange.  As  with  the  cot¬ 
ton  plant,  the  wastes  were  neglected  for  many  years. 
Now  they  are  being  utilized.  The  discovery  that  to¬ 
bacco  as  a  dust  or  an  extra  is  useful  as  an  insecti¬ 
cide  has  given  the  stems  and  wastes  a  value  far 
greater  than  was  found  in  their  use  as  a  fertilizer. 
Practically  every  part  of  the  tobacco  plant  is  now 
used  for  some  purpose.  Unlike  cotton,  except  for  its 
use  as  an  insecticide,  tobacco  has  no  economic  value. 
Another  illustration  of  this  development  of  wastes 
is  found  in  apple  pomace.  This  represents  what  is 
left  at  cider  mills  when  apples  are  crushed.  For¬ 
merly  it  was  thrown  away  as  waste.  Now  is  is 
soaked  to  extract  the  pectin  from  which  jelly  is 
made.  Then  the  pomace  is  fed,  either  damp  or 
dried  and  ground,  much  after  the  plan  of  using  beet 
pulp.  Millions  of  gallons  of  sterilized  apple  juice 
are  now  sold.  In  years  to  come  this  dried  and 
ground  pomace  will  be  one  of  the  staple  articles  of 
cattle  food.  Still  another  idea  in  this  line  is  being 
worked  out  with  wheat  screenings.  Years  ago  such 
screenings  and  wastes  were  blown  into  the  rivers  or 
piled  outdoors  to  decay.  Forty  years  ago  the  writer 
worked  near  a  Western  mill  where  these  mill  wastes 
were  given  away  to  anyone  who  would  take  them. 
Now  they  are  being  used  successfully  for  sheep  feed¬ 
ing. 
These  are 
so 
Selling  Hay  in  the  Field 
THIS  advertisement  has  been  ap¬ 
pearing  in  local  papers  in  a  town 
of  Eastern  New  York: 
HAY,  standing,  for  sale ;  sell  cheaper 
than  you  can  raise  it.  John  Sautter. 
This  hay  is  standing  on  a  fine  farm 
which  the  owner  is  unable  to  work. 
There  are  about  200  acres,  and  the 
man  says:  “It  was  raising  good  hay 
before  you  were  born  and  will  continue 
to  produce  hay  after  you  have  passed 
along.”  That  will  make  quite  a  con¬ 
tinuous  performance  at  hay  producing. 
The  owner  also  says: 
No  hiring  teams  at  $6  to  $10  a  day  to  plow  ;  no  pay¬ 
ing  $15  to  $20  a  bushel  for  clover  seed;  no  ripping  and 
tearing  of  any  kind  every  year — just  chop  down  the 
crop  of  Timothy,  Red-top  and  clover,  and  there  you 
are !  Of  course  it  isn’t  “real  farming”  to  sell  the  hay  off 
the  place.  It  would  pay  ever  so  much  better  via  the 
milkpail  and  have  the  manure  to  grow  other  crops.  Last 
year  the  hay  brought  in  better  than  5  per  cent  on  $15,- 
000.  which  is  considerably  better  than  nothing,  al¬ 
though  far  from  being  what  the  place  can  do  and  ha* 
done.  But  how  is  it  for  a  “cold  storage”  proposition? 
Do  you  know  of  any  others  that  can  beat  it? 
No,  we  do  not,  but  it  is  hard  to  beat  the  actual 
experience  of  some  of  our  people.  No  doubt  we  shall 
hear  from  them.  This  plan,  -while  not  common,  is 
practiced  more  or  less  in  many  localities.  It  is  sel¬ 
dom  that  we  hear  of  land  producing 
crops  of  hay  continuously.  Most 
meadows  go  back  to  weeds  after  sev¬ 
eral  years’  cutting.  From  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  high-class  strawberries  to  this 
sort  of  hay  farming  is  a  long  journey. 
It  only  shows  what  a  range  of  indus¬ 
try  we  have  in  this  country.  There 
has  been  much  fear  among  hay  grow¬ 
ers  regarding  the  future  of  hay  prices. 
We  think  the  demand  will  increase 
slowly  during  the  next  few  years.  One 
striking  thing  in  this  connection  is  the 
present  high  price  of  rye  straw.  We 
doubt  if  there  ever  was  a  time  when 
the  price  of  rye  straw  was  so  high  as 
compared  with  hay. 
wire  enclosed  runs  in  an  Ohio  poultry  farm.  These  are  arranged 
that  chicks  of  the  same  age  or  size  may  all  run  together. 
with  Europe,  built  up  a  slave  holding  aristocracy, 
and  dictated  the  policy  of  the  nation.  All  this  was 
worked  out  on  the  sale  of  the  lint  alone.  The  seeds 
were  hardly  valued.  Some  were  fed,  millions  of 
tons  were  burned  or  dumped  into  rivers  and  ponds 
to  get  rid  of  them.  Then  value  was  found  in  the  oil 
and  in  the  meal  from  the  crushed  seeds.  Now  noth¬ 
ing  is  wasted,  and  the  value  of  the  seeds  is  about 
equal  to  that  of  the  lint.  It  is  quite  likely  that  in 
the  future  even  the  stems  will  be  used  for  fiber  or 
in  paper  making. 
The  history  of  the  tobacco  plant  in  America  is 
much  the  same.  It  provided  neither  food,  shelter 
King  Cotton  as  Hired  Man 
READER  in  Mitchell  County,  Georgia,  sends 
us  clippings  from  the  local  papers  to  show 
how  the  boll-weevil  has  helped  his  county.  He  says 
the  cotton  crop  is  still  important  down 
there,  but  the  farmers  are  planting 
fewer  acres,  and  giving  better  care. 
Wllien  the  weevil  came,  destroying 
crops  as  grown  under  the  old  system, 
ruin  seemed  to  stare  these  people  in 
the  face.  That  was  only  temporary, 
however,  for  the  necessity  of  finding 
new  crops  drove  these  farmers  into  a 
better  position  than  they  had  occupied 
before.  The  cow,  the  hen,  and  the  hog 
are  saving  the  country,  and  doing  far 
more  for  it  than  cotton  ever  did.  There 
is  a  Co-operative  Hog  Sales  Associa¬ 
tion  in  the  county,  and  the  other  day 
they  had  a  public  sale  at  which  they 
sold  188,855  lbs.  of  live  hogs  at  an 
average  price  of  a  little  over  seven 
cents  a  pound.  There  was  also  a  chick¬ 
en  sale,  one  single  lot  being  700  broil¬ 
ers.  These  were  brought  in  on  a  truck, 
sold  without  trouble,  and  promptly  de¬ 
livered.  This  is  the  way  many  of  the 
former  cotton  counties  of  the  South 
It  will  mean  a  little  smaller  produc¬ 
tion  of  cotton,  and  that  will  mean  a  fairer  price 
for  the  crop.  The  introduction  of  the  hen,  the  hog, 
and  the  cow  means  a  list  of  new  side  lines  which 
will  give  new  incomes  of  cash  and  also  help  to  im¬ 
prove  the  soil.  Instead  of  reigning  as  a  king,  cot¬ 
ton  will  now  take  the  place  of  a  high-class  hired 
man. 
are  going. 
Oil-can  Drinking  Fountains 
ON  page  870  is  a  picture  of  a  barrel  as  a  drink¬ 
ing  fountain  for  poultry.  Barrels  are  all  right 
if  they  can  be  had.  Old  leaky  barrels 
are  no  good.  Cider  barrels  are  needed 
for  vinegar,  and  new  barrels  are  ad¬ 
vertised  in  Concord  at  $8  apiece.  This 
Summer  I  am  using  five-gallon  pans 
that  are  so  numerous  in  places  where 
the  oil  is  used.  While  they  are  not  as 
good  as  barrels  they  do  very  well  for 
small  flocks.  They  can  be  filled  with 
water,  loaded  onto  the  wheelbarrow 
and  taken  right  into  the  poultry  runs, 
under  the  trees  where  it  is  cool  and 
shady,  the  faucet  turned  just  right, 
then  let  it  drip,  but  watch  it  to  see 
that  it  does  drip,  so  the  poultry  won't 
be  without  water  part  of  the  day.  They 
would  have  to  be  filled  every  two  or 
three  days,  depending  on  the  size  of 
the  flock  and  how  hot  it  was.  To 
clean  the  oil  out,  take  hot  soapsuds 
right  from  the  boiler  on  washday,  put 
some  soap  powder  of  some  kind  in  the 
can  and  give  it  a  good  shaking,  pour  it 
Wastes  of  Crops  Make  Business 
THE  use  of  the  cotton  plant  has 
gone  along  with  the  development 
of  the  country.  At  first  it  was  not  a 
This  picture,  taken  last  year,  shows  our  subscriber,  H.  A.  Roberts  on  his 
farm  in  South  Dakota  in  a  12-acre  field  of  buckwheat.  Mr.  Roberts  was 
born  near  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  80  years  ago.  He  says  he  can  eat  cakes  from 
this  buckwheat  flour  every  day  in  the  year,  and  can  keep  up  his  end  in 
walking  with  any  of  his  neighbors. 
