1168 
7ht  RURAL,  NEW-YORKER 
September  15,  1923 
Greenhouse  Benches  of  Cinders  and 
Concrete 
I  wish  to  build  supports  and  benches  about  5  ft. 
wide  for  greenhouse  of  cinders  and  cement,  reinforced 
with  wire  fencing  and  old  pipe.  No  sand  to  be  used  as 
it  is  very  expensive.  The  idea  is  to  build  supports 
in  wooden  forms  about  2  in.  thick  of  cinder  concrete 
with  lengths  of  half-inch  pipe  inside.  Bench  itself 
of  half-inch  pipe  with  fence  wire  over  it  and  all  covered 
with  cinder  concrete.  What  suggestions  can  you  give? 
Arden,  Del.  R- 
NUMBER  of  years  ago  we  constructed  quite 
a  few  benches  in  our  greenhouse  by  using 
cinders  and  cement.  We  have  never  had  any  suc¬ 
cess  with  ashes  from  anthracite  coal,  but  have  found 
line  ashes  from  bituminous  coal  satisfactory.  It  is 
not  a  difficult  matter  to  erect  these  benches.  We 
built  a  form  in  the  house  including  a  hollow  form 
for  the  legs,  and  the  legs,  bottom  and  sides  were  all 
poured  at  one  time.  The  legs  of  the  bench  should 
be  about  4  ft.  apart  and  not  less  than  5  in.  square. 
The  only  reinforcement  we  used  was  galvanized 
poultry  netting  about  1%  in.  mesh  placed  in  the 
bottom  of  the  bench.  Then  we  poured  2]/2  in.  of 
concrete  in  the  bench  and  made  the  sides  about  2 
in.  thick.  The  wire  netting  was  bent  so  that  it  ex¬ 
tended  part  of  the  way  up  in  the  sides  of  the  bench. 
This  bench  was  satisfactory  in  all  respects  but  one. 
We  did  not  have  sufficient  holes  in  the  bottom  for 
proper  drainage.  These  drainage  holes  can  be  put 
in  the  bench  by  taking  blocks  of  wood  1  in.  square 
and  several  inches  or  more  long,  tapering  them 
and  laying  them  on  the  form  in  such  a  way  that 
after  the  cement  is  hard  and  the  forms  removed 
the  blocks  can  be  punched  out  from  the  top. 
You  can  get  an  idea  how  closely  these  holes 
should  be  by  comparing  with  the  average  green¬ 
house  bench,  which  is  constructed  of  boards  6  or 
8  in.  wide  placed  about  half-inch  apart  for  proper 
drainage.  When  these  benches  are  tilled  with  soil 
a  layer  of  coarse  manure  is  placed  in  the  bottom 
to  keep  the  soil  from  filtering  through. 
Many  greenhouses  at  the  present  time  are  being 
erected  with  concrete  benches  built  in  Sections. 
These  benches  are  made  of  slabs  0  or  8  in.  wide,  and 
placed  on  runners,  which  are  molded  as  a  projec¬ 
tion  on  the  side  member.  The  bottom  slabs  are 
spaced  about  half-inch  apart,  the  same  as  boards 
in  wooden  benches.  These  individual  members  be¬ 
ing  6  or  S  in.  wide  and  about  4 %  ft.  long,  are  re¬ 
inforced  with  two  twisted  quarter-inch  square  steel 
bars.  The  sides  are  also  reinforced.  Benches  con¬ 
structed  in  sections  ^  -<  re  built  of  stone,  sand  and 
cement,  not  cinders.  In  using  cinders  our  practice 
has  been  to  sift  out  the  coarse  clinkers  and  use 
one  part  cement  to  seven  or  eight  parts  of  the 
fine  ashes. 
Sand  is  rarely  necessary  unless  there  are  no 
real  fine  ashes  in  the  aggregate  you  use.  These 
benches  appear  to  last  very  well,  as  we  have  had 
some  in  use  for  a  good  many  years,  e.  .t.  weaver. 
An  Oat  Crop  After  Oats 
I  am  practically  forced  to  sow  oats  two  years  in 
succession  on  the  same  field.  Everybody  says  it  can  t 
be  done  with  any  success,  and  I  am  writing  you  for 
encouragement.  Will  it  be  possible  to  get  any  kind 
of  a  worth-while  yield  off  this  10-acre  piece  without 
spending  more  for  fertilizer  than  the  oats  would  be 
worth  to  feed  my  horses,  and  how  would  you  pro¬ 
ceed?  The  piece  was  meadow  for  years,  then  pas¬ 
tured,  then  turned  over  corn  and  sorghum,  this  year 
oats.  Don’t  think  I  have  enough  manure  to  cover 
properly,  and  would  have  to  buy  some  kind  of  fer¬ 
tilizer.  Can  you  advise  me?  H.  R.  N. 
Hector,  N.  Y. 
T  is  true  that  oats  after  oats  is  bad  practice.  Un¬ 
less  the  soil  is  very  good  or  some  green  crop  can 
be  grown  between  it  rarely  pays  to  grow  two  small 
grain  crops  in  succession.  A  heavy  surface-feeding 
crop  like  oats  takes  most  of  the  available  plant  food 
out  of  the  soil.  In  any  event  we  doubt  if  many 
farmers  in  New  Y'ork  can  grow  a  profitable  crop 
of  oats  at  best.  \\  «.  think  Soy  beans  would  pay 
better.  If  it  is  necessary  to  repeat  with  oats  the 
best  plan  would  be  to  seed  clover  with  the  first 
crop.  Then,  after  the  oats  are  cut,  let  the  clover 
come  on  and  make  such  growth  as  it  can  during 
late  Summer  and  Fall.  Next  Spring  plow  this  clover 
under  and  seed  oats  once  more.  For  such  a  plan 
Ilubam  clover  is  excellent.  It  will  make  a  good 
growth  after  the  oats  are  cut  and  this  plowed  under 
will  greatly  help  the  land.  Where  there  is  no  clover 
now,  you  can,  if  the  labor  is  available,  disk  the  land 
and  seed  rye  and  Winter  vetch  to  be  plowed  under 
next  Spring  for  oats.  That  would  help  the  land 
and  increase  the  crop.  If  Fall  seeding  is  not  prac¬ 
tical  plow  the  land  in  Spring  and  use  at  least  1,200 
lbs.  of  lime  per  acre.  We  have  found  that  lime, 
aside  from  its  usual  virtues,  seems  to  clean  such 
land  and  partly  overcome  tlie  trouble  from  growing 
two  crops  of  the  same  grain  close  together.  We 
should  spread  such  manure  as  you  can  spare  all 
over  the  field  and,  at  seeding  time,  use  about  300 
lbs.  per  acre  of  a  fertilizer  containing  say  3  per 
cent  of  nitrogen,  seven  to  eight  of  phosphoric  acid 
and  four  to  five  of  potash.  That  will  cost  some 
money,  but  it  will  give  you  some  oats,  although,  as 
we  have  said,  we  do  not  think  oats  are  a  profitable 
crop  in  New  York  State. 
Culls  in  the  Southern  Potato  Package 
UNDER  separate  cover  I  am  sending  you  sample 
of  potatoes  found  in  the  barrels  of  Southern 
potatoes  that  we  have  been  getting  for  the  past  two 
months,  and  are  getting  now.  There  is  half  a  bushel 
in  each  barrel  just  like  sample,  and  half  of  the  rest 
in  the  barrel  are  certainly  small  enough.  They 
cost  the  consumer  90  cents  a  peck  to  start  and 
now  are  00  cents.  The  consumer  found  a  lot  of 
fault  on  account  of  so  many  small  ones,  and  they 
had  a  right  to.  What  puzzles  yue  is  this :  What 
can  a  grower  be  thinking  of  to  buy  barrels  and 
Twins  from  Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y„  interested  in  “cat’s 
cradles”  and  freckles.  Plenty  of  the  latter. 
• 
pay  freight  on  that  class  of  potatoes?  He  has  to 
take  less  for  the  lot  than  if  he  had  them  sorted  as 
they  should  be  and  this  size  should  be  kept  home. 
New  York.  e.  e.  stubbins. 
R.  N.-Y.  A  photograph  of  several  of  these  pota¬ 
toes  taken  the  exact  size  is  shown  at  Fig.  499. 
It  is  not  likely  that  this  trash  was  packed  by  the 
grower.  Many  potato  fields  in  the  South  are  bought 
or  handled  by  commission  men  and  dealers.  In  some 
cases  the  commission  men  will  finance  the  grower 
and  handle  the  entire  crop.  They  will  sell  some¬ 
what  on  the  principle  of  the  dealers  who  buy  apples, 
“orchard  run,”  pick  large  and  small  and  pack  to 
suit  themselves — often  putting  the  owner’s  name  on 
the  barrel!  In  selling  these  potatoes  it  is  not  ne¬ 
cessary  to  brand  the  package  with  the  owner’s  name. 
In  a  season  like  this  one,  when  frost  and  drought 
have  cut  the  crop  down,  potatoes  are  high,  and  al¬ 
most  anything  will  go  into  the  barrel.  There  seems 
to  be  no  help  for  such  things  when  the  shipper  is 
determined  to  be  dishonest  and  pack  such  trash. 
Wheat  in  the  Poultry  Ration 
I  FULLY  agree  that  wheat  is  likely  to  sell  at  a 
relatively  low  price  for  some  time.  As  Russia 
pulls  herself  out  of  chaos  she  is  likely,  first  of  all,  to 
boost  her  wheat  exports.  Her  farmers,  under  a 
system  of  direct  ownership  of  their  farms,  instead 
of  the  former  feudal  land  tenure,  will  have  the 
stimulus  to  work  that  goes  with  personal  ownership, 
,and  when  conditions  are  settled,  are  likely  to  con¬ 
tribute  more  wheat  than  before  the  war  to  the  rest 
of  Europe.  This  will  in  turn  affect  the  export  de¬ 
mand  for  American  wheat,  and  will  tend  to  keep 
prices  down. 
In  a  poultry  scratch  grain,  of  course  wheat  is 
highly  desirable.  Henry’s  “Feeds  and  Feeding” 
gives  it  as  about  equal  to  corn.  Most  poultrymen 
think  it  is  better,  but  if  there  is  much  difference  in 
price  not  much  wheat  finds  its  way  into  their 
scratch  grain. 
At  present  I  am  using  four  parts  cracked  corn, 
two  parts  wheat,  one  part  oats;  this  28  per  cent 
wheat  is  more  than  most  of  my  friends,  are  using, 
and  a  lot  more  than  I  can  find  in  the  scratch  grains 
I  have  examined.  If  wheat  goes  to  a  parity  in 
price  with  cracked  corn,  I  think  my  ration  will  be¬ 
come  three  cracked  corn,  three  wheat,  one  oats,, 
though  in  Winter  I  should  increase  the  cracked 
corn. 
With  this  grain,  I  use  a  home-mixed  mash  com¬ 
posed  of  equal  parts  bran,  middlings,  ground  oats, 
cornmeal,  and  generally  meat  scraps.  When  the 
condition  of  the  flock  makes  it  advisable  the  amount 
of  meat  scrap  is  reduced.  Francis  f.  Lincoln. 
Connecticut. 
Rise  and  Fall  of  Wages 
THE  Guaranty  Trust  Co.  of  New  York  issues  a 
statement  of  business  and  financial  conditions 
in  which  we  find  the  following  chart  showing  the 
rise  and  fall  of  wages; 
In  this  chart  the  upper  iine  represents  the  fac¬ 
tory  wages  in  New  York  State.  In  this  case  the 
rate  paid  in  1914  represents  100,  and  we  see  that  the 
increase  ran  up  230  per  cent,  and  is  now  about 
220,  although  cost  of  living  has  dropped.  Farm 
wages  ran  high  shortly  after  the  war,  when  every¬ 
one  was  dogging  the  farmer  along  to  produce  more. 
Now  they  are  back  to  payments  of  1917.  We  see 
that  farm  wages  have  fallen  off  faster  than  wages 
of  any  other  class  of  workers,  and  this  is  because 
prices  of  farm  products  have  ruled  so  low  that  it 
has  been  impossible  for  farmers  to  compete  with 
other  industries.  It  is  of  course  difficult  to  compare 
farm  wages  exactly  with  wages  in  other  industries, 
because  many  farm  helpers  have  board  and  “keep” 
added  to  a  cash  wage.  This  comparison  is  probably 
as  fair  as  could  be  made.  Regarding  these  figures 
the  Guaranty  Trust  Co.  says: 
It  is  evident  that  the  improved  economic  status  of 
factory  workers  has  been  achieved  in  no  small  degree 
at  the  expense  of  rural  workers.  The  reduced  cost  of 
living  since  1920  reflects  especially  the  low  price  of 
food  crops  and  food  a  jmals.  While  urban,  or  factory, 
workers  tire  receiving  wages  nearly  equal  to  the  maxi¬ 
mum  in  1920,  their  greatly  reduced  cost  of  living  re¬ 
flects  a  price  situation  which  bears  heavily  upon  the 
farm  workers.  This  disparity  in  real  wages  repre¬ 
sents  a  condition  which  calls  for  a  readjustment  of  the 
relative  compensation  of  these  respective  groups  of 
employes.  The  farm  workers  whose  wages  are  rela¬ 
tively  so  low  constitute  a  large  proportion  of  the  total 
workers  of  the  country.  In  1920  more  than  4,000.000 
farm  laborers  were  reported  by  the  census,  or  one-half 
the  average  number  of  employes  in  manufacturing  es¬ 
tablishments  enumerated  in  1919  and  1921. 
City’s  Dependence  on  Country 
NOW  and  then  we  find  a  city  man  who  argues 
that  the  city  is  more  essential  to  the  nation's 
prosperity  than  is  the  country.  We  put  this  proposi¬ 
tion  up  to  him :  Suppose  all  the  city  people  stopped 
working.  No  more  shoes,  hats,  watches,  machinery 
or  knives  were  to  be  made.  The  country  people 
would  not  starve  or  go  naked.  They  could  still  pro¬ 
vide  food  and  clothing,  and  maintain  life.  But  let 
us  suppose  that  the  country  people  all  stopped  work¬ 
ing  except  to  provide  their  own  common  necessities! 
What  would  become  of  the  city  people  in  any  such 
event?  Grass  would  grow  through  the  concrete  and 
asphalt  until  Broadway  would  be  like  a  pasture — 
with  no  cattle  to  occupy  it.  Dust  and  gloom  and 
cobwebs  would  fill  the  theaters  and  stores  and  office 
buildings.  Henry  M.  Stanley  says  that  in  Africa  he 
found  that  when  deprived  of  food  any  black  man 
would  become  a  cannibal  in  48  hours,  and  every 
white  man  close  to  it  in  72 !  These  fearful  things 
are  not  going  to  happen,  but  let  our  city  friends 
make  no  mistake  in  presuming  that  their  man-made 
labor  productions  are  more  essential  than  the  God- 
made  essentials  which  must  come  from  the  country. 
