THE r/ y s^^^-m,* "t-i- '^'^^^ my hil ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics Cornell University S 411 B88 °'^"*" ""'™™''^ '-''"■^'■>' ^''Iflinmniiiimi'^'''" ^"'^ ®*°'='< cyclopedia e 3 1924 000 307 706 XI Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000307706 CONTENTMENT. THE PEOPLE'S Farm and Stock Cyclopedia EMBRACING COMPREHENSIVE AND PRACTICAL TREATISES ON FARM TOPICS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION, INCLUDING FARM MANAGEMENT ; FENCING ; FARM DRAINAGE ; FERTILIZERS ; THE SOIL, AND ITS IMPROVE- MENT ; grasses; corn; wheat; miscellaneous crops of every description; ROOT crops; fruit on the farm; gardening; insects; timber- growing; FARM HOMES AND SURROUNDINGS; SMALL FARMS FOR POOR MEN ; HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM, ETC. TO WHICH IS ADDED A COMPLErE VOLUME ON FARM STOCK IN ALL ITS DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING THE BREEDING, CARE, AND MANAGEMENT OF HORSES, CATTLE, HOGS, SHEEP, POULTRY, BEES, ETC. ; FOODS FOR ANIMALS; BARNS AND BAKN-YARDS ; THE DISEASES OF HORSES AND LIVE STOCK, WITH NUMEROUS APPENDIXES INVALCABLE FOE EKIERENCE IN ALL DEPARTMENTS 0! AGRICULTURAL LIFE. ©wo UOLUMES IK One. - yjt^' By "WALDO Kl BROWK, Late Agricultural Editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer ; Autliorof "Success in Farming,'' "Highland Farm Papers;" Contributor to the ^xfcya/ Wifze/ Yorker, Country Gentleman, New York Tribune, Etc. ASSISTED BY THE FOLLOWING CORPS OF SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS : L. N. BONHAM, Agricultural Editor Cincinnati Commercial, R. S. THOMPSON, Author of "Science in Farming." R. W. STEWART, D. V. S., The Popular Veterinary Surgeon. HENRY TALCOTT, Pres't Ashtabula Co. (Ohio) Sorghum Association. JOHN G. OXER, The Successful Cattle Breeder. A. J. COOK, Prof, in the Michigan State Agricultural College. " FANNY FIELD," The'Popular Writer and Successful Poultry Raiser. JOHN GOULD,. Agricultural Editor Cleveland Herald. STEPHEN POWERS, Author 'of " Sheep Experience Papers," etc. EDWIN W. BROWN, Practical Cattle Breeder. «Jrat^ tsai\ it^arfg 400 ^ttgritmng* atti |)iagram$. JO?JES BROTHERS & COMPANY, CINCINNATF, CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS, DALLAS, TEX. COPYRIGHTED, 1884, BY J. T. JONES. INTRODUCTION. WHEN I began the preparation of The People's Farm AND Stock Cyclopedia, I asked myself the questioni, ''^' Why add another to the multiplied list of books already written on farm topics ? I was aware that the ground had been thoroughly covered. We have books on all the special depart- ments of the farm; agricultural cyclopedias, and books on agri- cultural chemistry, botany, and other sciences with which the farmer needs more or less to be familiar. Many of these are of great value, and should be found in the library of every intelligent farmer; and it is not my purpose or expectation to produce a book that will supersede them. There is one fact connected with our agricultural literature which has led me to undertake this work, and that is that few books have been written by practical farmers. Farmers as a rule are too busy to write books, particularly in their younger days, and after years of labor have stiffened the muscles few of them ever take up the pen to record their experiences for the instruc- tion of their fellow-laborers. This was my own experience, for up to the age of forty I had never written a line for publication. Beginning life on the farm with no capital, and dependent on my hands for whatever of success I might attain, I had no time to write of what I was doing. During these years I was im- pressed with the fact that the farmer, isolated as he is, often learns from experience, obtained at great cost of time and labor, that which perhaps a neighbor could have told him, and a sin- gle item in an agricultural paper has often been worth to me many dollars, but still oftener I have, after years of experiment and costly failure, settled some simple fact and been led to INTRODUCTION. exclaim, Why could not some older and more experienced farmer have told me this ? A little more than ten years ago I wrote my first article for publication. I began writing of the daily experiences of farm life, sometimes telling that which I thought would be helpful to others, but oftener asking for information which I stood in need of. These articles under the title of " Highland Farm Papers," were continued for many years, and were received with such favor by their readers that the work of writing for the agri- cultural press grew on my hands, and during the past three years I have been constantly employed in writing for the leading agri- cultural papers both East and West. In 1882 I published a book of 250 pages, entitled Success in Farming, which met with favor and reached a third edition within ten months. It will readily be seen that the present book is a natural outgrowth of the labors and thought of the past ten years. It is pleasant to me to know that I do not come as a stranger before the farmers of America, as my writings have rendered my name more or less familiar to them in all parts of the Union, whUe in a narrower circle, including my own State and the border counties of Indi- ana, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, I have had the pleasure, at fairs and farmers' institutes, of meeting and addressing thou- sands of the more progressive farmers. It seems to me to be a propitious time to bring out a book of this character, for there is no question that the old prejudice against "book farming" is fast disappearing, and that the more intelligent farmers fully recognize the truth that a record of ex- perience given through the medium of the press to tens of thou- sands, is none the less true than if spoken to a neighbor, and that the good it can do is thus increased infinitely, and that when printed in a book, so that it can be preserved and referred to, its value is much greater than if it was only in the paper which is INTRODUCTION. soon thrown aside and lost. Our agricultural interests are so varied, and the subject is so vast, that no one man can be ex- pected to understand or excel in all the branches of farm man- agement. Recognizing this, I have availed myself of the assistance of others, whose contributions will be found valuable in their various departments. All my life has been spent on the farm. Its trials and hardships as well as its compensations are familiar to me, and there is no work that I feel to be more useful or honorable than to write that which will help the farmer in his calling. It is on the farm that the habits of industry and hardy endurance are formed which fit our young men to enter the struggle of life and win its prizes. And just as our cities must, at whatever cost, bring a supply of pure country water for the use of their inhabi- tants to prevent contamination, disease, and death, so there must be reared in our country homes those who are to take the promi- nent places in the world's history and repair the moral waste of the cities. In some great emergency of a nation how often has God put honor upon country life by selecting from it a leader for the people. Moses, though learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, must spend forty years as a keeper of sheep in the wilderness before he was fitted for his great work. David was taken from following the sheep, Putnam and Washington from the plow, and Abraham Lincoln from the humble cabin, and all these were called to labors and honors which fall to the lot of but few. The rain which falls on the barren mountain is not wasted, but by it are fed the perennial springs which flow through the valleys, bringing verdure and life, and the mighty rivers which float the commerce of a nation. So in the isolated homes of the farmers are being reared the men and women who are to help the world on towards the fulfillment of a grand destiny. W. F. B. CONTENTS. Part I— THK KARM. CHAPTER I. GENERAL FAEM MANAGEMENT. Selection of Farm.— Condition of Soil and Improvements.— Water Supply.— Koads.— Farm Products.— Rotation of Crops.— Amount to Cultivate.— Capital— Hired Help Pages 17-33 CHAPTER n. FARM FENCING. How to reduce the cost of Fencing.— Hedges.— Live Fence Posts.— Post and Board Fence.— Wire Fence.— Portable Fences.— Self-supporting Truss Fence.— Fence Rows.— Water-gaps and Flood-gates.— Farm Gates, 34-53 CHAPTER III. FARM DRAINAGE. Advantages of Draining.— How Draining Helps the Soil.— Prevents Failure of Crops. — When to Drain. — What Lands need Draining. — Tiles.— Materials for Drainage.— Open Ditches.— Depth and Distance apart of Drains.— The Outlet- Laying out the Drains.— Silt Basins.— Digging the Ditch. — Cost of Drainage, . 54-72 CHAPTER IV. MANURES. How to get the most Manure. — How to Save it. — Pulverizing Manures. — Ad- vantages of Manures. — Bommer's Method. — Special Fertilizers. — Commercial Manures. — Green Manuring: clover, rye, buckwheat, 73-92 CHAPTER V. THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. Origin of Soil. — Source of Nitrogen in Soils.— Purposes of Soil. — Varieties of Soil.— Sand.— Clay. — Humus.— Changing the Character of Soil.— What constitutes a Fertile Soil. — Drainage. — Cultivation. — Manures: Barn-yard, green, commer- cial.— Valuation of Fertilizers. — Food and Manure 93-117 (7) O CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. GKASSES AND CLOVBB. Grass Crop of the Country. — Varieties of Grasses. — Growing Grass. — Hay Making. — Shrinkage of Hay in Barn. — Millet. — Clover. — Time to sow Red Clover. — Clover for Pasture. — Fertilizers for Clover. — Growing Clover Seed. — Hoven, Clover Bloat, and Slobbers, Pages 118-139 CHAPTER VH. CORN. Average yield of Corn. — Reports from' Corn-growers. — Seed Com. — Soil adapted to the Crop. — Manures for Corn. — Preparing the Soil. — Corn-fodder and Fodder- corn. — Experimental Corn-plots. — Disposing of the Crop. — Corn-cribs, . • 140-165 CHAPTER Vni. Its Importance. — Soil. — Drainage. — Preparation of the Seed Bed. — Wheat on Corn Lands. — Fertilizers. — How and when to Sow. — Seeding, thick or thin. — Depth. — Varieties! — Harvesting. — Cost of Wheat-growing, 166-186 CHAPTER IX. MISCELLANEOUS CROPS. Oats. — Barley. — Eye. — Beans. — Broom-corn. — Harvesting. — Making Brooms. — Buckwheat. — Pumpkins. — Flax. — Cotton. — Sorghum. — Tobacco, 187-225 CHAPTER X. , ROOT CROPS. Potatoes. — Planting and Tillage. — Harvesting, Storing, and Marketing.— Imple- ments. — Sweet Potatoes. — Cultivation. — Onions. — Turnips. — Beets and Mangold- Wurzels. — Carrots. — Artichokes, ." 226-252 CHAPTER XL PEUIT ON THE FARM. Selection of Orchard Site. — Selection of Trees. — Plant young Trees. — Selection of Varieties. — Planting an Orchard. — Cultivation. — Apples. — Peaches. — Pears. — Dwarf Pears. — Plums. — Quinces. — Cherries. — Grapes. — Small Fruits : Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Currants, Gooseberries. — Commercial Fruit-grow- ing 253-281 CHAPTER XII. G.^RDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. What can be Grown on an Acre. — Selecting and Preparing the Garden Spot. — Laying out the Garden. — Implements. — ^The Hot-bed. — When to Plant.— Insects. — Rotation and Succession of Crops. — Planting.— Disposing of Garden Crops. — Veg- etables: Asparagus, Beans, Pole Beans, Beets, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Sweet Corn, Pop-corn, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Muskmelons, Watermelons, Onions and Po- tatoes, Parsnips, Peas, Peppers, Radishes, Rhubarb, Salsify, Spinach, Squashes, Tomatoes, Turnips, 282-315 CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTER XIII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD. Colorado Potato Beetle.— Cut worms.— The May Beetle.— Wheat Midge. — Hes- sian Fly.— Wire Worm.— Pea Weevil- Bean Weevil. — Squash Bug. — Squash Vine Eoot-borer.— Tomato Worm.— Cabbage Cut-worms.— Cabbage Leaf-roller.— Striped Flea-beetle.— Other Cabbage Moths.— Cabbage Fly.— Radish Fly.— Bhster Beetle.— Striped Cucumber-beetle.— The Coddling Moth.— Old Apple-tree Borer.— Flat- headed Borer.— Apple-tree Bark-louse.— Twig Borers.— Canker Worm.— Tent Cat- erpillar.— The Fall Web-worm.— Plant Lice.— Plum Curculio.— Peach Borer.— Pear or Cherry-tree Slugs. — Plant Lice (Aphides). — Imported Currant Borer.— Imported Gooseberry Saw-fly.— CUmbing Cut-worms.— The Rose Chafer.— Army Worm.— Cotton Worm.— Cotton Boll Worm.— Lice and Mites, . Pages 316-365 CHAPTER XIV. TIMBER GROWING FOR PROFIT. Facts regarding timber.— Efiects of Forests.— What Trees to Plant.— Where and How to Plant— Locust Growing. — How to start a Locust Plantation, . 366-377 CHAPTER XV. THE HOME AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. Location of the House. — Size of House-lot. — The House. — Plans. — The Door- yard. — Shade-trees. — The Lawn. — Shrubs and Flowers. — Fences and Walks. — Out- buildings, .... . . . 378-394 CHAPTER XVI. SMALL FARMS FOR POOR MEN. Small Capital. — Home Influences. —How to get a Home. — Building Associ- ations. — How to Manage a Small Farm, . . . . 395-402 CHAPTER XVII. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. Wagon-jacks. — Hog-iack. — Hanging-rack for Hogs. — Post-holder. — Log-holder. — Log-lifter.— Wood-holder. — Platform for Fence-building. — Hay-gatherer. — Husking Table. — Ladder for Loading Fodder. — Shocking-horse. — Hay Hook. — Crab for Shocking Corn. — Cheap Broom-corn Scraper. — Bag-holder. — Killing-post for Fowls. — Instruments for Preventing Self-sucking in Cattle. — Snow-plow. — Water- gap. — Stump-puller. — Wagon-bed Attachment. — Self-dumping Sled. — Potato Screen. — Roller Cover. — Feed Cooker. — Evener. — Land Measurer. — Tether Pin. — Beef Rack.— Shipping-box for Fowls. — Barrel Well-curb. — Ventilators for Stacks. — Bushel-box. —Gates. — Ladders.— -Scare-crows. — Plant Protector. — Hogshead Sheep- rack. — Feed-boxes. — Tagging- table for Sheep. — Butting Preventor. — Shearing ■ Table. — Hog Loader. — Home-made Root-cutter. — Kicking-curer — Hanging Rat- proof Shelf. — Wheel Drying-rack. — Clothes-line Lifter. — Foot-sorapers. — Barrel Chairs. — Chair Step-ladder. — Chair Tool-box. — Slat Shelves.— Revolving Shelves.— Self-sucking Preventive. — Rack for Tomatoes. — Portable Shelter.^Garden Reel. — Water-gap. — Wire Stand. — Stacking Stage. — Rack and Manger. — Rain' Gauge. — Land Measurer. — Barrel Coop. — Mink-trap. — Ringing a Hog. — Rat-trap. — Bag- holder. — Home-made Press. — Barn Closet. — Harness Clamp. — Corner Shelves. — Saw-buck for Long Wood.— Water-tight Box.— Hoof Hook.— Stable Barrow.— BaiTel Sled 403-436 10 CONTENTS. PARI" II. IvIVB STOCK DKPARTPvlENT. Introduction ... . . Page 439 CHAPTER I. THE HORSE— HISTORY. The Fossil Horse. — Written History. — The Lesson of History. — ^The Hebrew Horse. — The Greek Horse. — Improvement of Horses came from Egypt. — Horse- races Instituted. — Endurance and Docility. — Olympian Races. — Southern European Horses. — Roman. — Arab. — Barb. — Degraded with Man.— Influence of Barb on Arab and English Horses. — Breeds of Arabian Horses.— The Thorough-bred.— Ele- ments. — The Horse in Agriculture. — English Horses. — The Flanders Element. — Pedigree of Race-horse. — The Stud-book. — Climatic Influence. — Speed.— Draft- horses. — Norman. — French. — War Demands. — Percheron. — In America. — Can- adian. — English Draft-horses.— Cleveland Bays. — The Farmer's Horse. — The Sad- dle-horse. — The Trotting Horse. — VarioUs Trotters. — Ponies. — Shetland Ponies. — Mustang and Indian Ponies 449-532 CHAPTER II. THE HORSE — BREEDING. Jacob a Color-specialist. — Bakewell, of England. — Heredity and Atavism. — Value of Pedigree. — Earliest Records. — High Breeding more than Appearance. — Breeding for Special Ends. — American and English Farmers. — Vices propagated. — Docility and Endurance Increased.— In-and-in Breeding. — General Principles of Breeding. — Cross Breeding. — Soundness of Parents. — Best age to Breed. — Color and size of Brood-mare. — Choosing the Stallion.^Farm Horses. — How size may be in- creased. — Influence of Sire and Dam.— Soundness, Quietness, and Temperament. — Condition at Breeding Time. — Working the Mare and Stallion. — French and Amer- ican Methods. — Care of Breeding Mares. — Period of • Gestation. — How to know Foaling Time. — ^Treatment of Mare at and after Foaling. — Care of Colts. — Abor- tion. — Sex: Can it be Controlled? — Importance of First Impregnation. — Valuable Hints, ■• 533-593 CHAPTER III. THE HORSE — BUYING AND SELLING. Why Difficult— What is unsoundness? — Warranty. — Vices and Disabilities — ■ The Eyes.— The Feet.— The Limbs.— The Back and Body.— General Hints to Pur- chasers.— Points of the Horse, .... 594-610 CHAPTER IV. THE HORSE — ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. A System of Organisms.— Frame-work.— Muscular Development.— Physiology of Muscle. — The Blood. — Respiration. — Digestion. — Secretion and Excretion.— The Nervous System. — The Foot. — Mouth and Teeth. — Appearances of Teeth at different ages.— Diseases of Teeth 611-634 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER V. HYOIBNB AND SANITARY CONDITIONS OF THE FARM. The Air. — Ventilation. — Location of Barns and Stables. — Bank Bams. — Light and Pure Air. — Impure Air Poisonous. — Warm Stables. — Temperature of the Stable. — Size. — Ventilators. — Predisposing Causes of Disease. — The Stable Floor. — Care of the Feet. — Grooming. — The Stalls. — The Rack or Manger. — Disinfectants.— Labor and Fatigue. — Feeding, how and what. — Economy in Feeding.— Value of Bulky Food. — Corn-meal. — Accumulated Experience. — Drink. — Grooming for Health.— Condition Powders.— Hospital.— The Horse-blanket, .... Pages 635-672 CHAPTER VI. THE ASS AND THE MULB. The Ass.- His Antiquity.— Value.— Sire.— The Mule.— In America.— General Washington's Asses. — Breeding and Breaking Mules. — Experience in Breed- ing. — Managing. — Will-power and Stubbornness. — Longevity. — Winter Care. — ^The Hinny 673-685 CHAPTER VII. DISEASES OP HORSES. Catarrhs. — Pneumonia.— Pleurisy. — Influenza. — Pink-eye. — Strangles, or Dis- temper. — Scratches, or Cracked Heels. — Mud Fever. — Grease-heel. — Eczema. — Sur- feit. — Mange, etc. — Lymphangitis. — Elephantiasis. — Conjunctivitis (sore eyes).— SpUnts. — Spavin. — Collar-galls. — Saddle-galls. — Poll Evil. — Fistula of the Withers. — Sweeny. — Puflfs. — Bog-spavin. — Blood Spavin. — Thorough-pin. — Curb. — Lami- nitis. — Navicular Disease. — Corns. — Punctures. — Bruises and Abscesses. — Lampas. — Wolf-teeth. — Indigestion. — Colic. — Worms. — Diarrhoea, or Scours. — Enteritis. — Azoturia.— Blistering.— Bots, . . 686-737 CHAPTER VIII. CATTLE — HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OP BREEDS. Short-horns. — ^Their Origin. — Short-horns in America. — Characteristics. — The Herefords.— The Aberdeen- Angus, Galloway, or Polled Cattle.— The Holstein.— Devons. — In the United States. — The Ayrshires. — In the United States.— Channel Island Cattle : Jerseys, Alderneys, Guernseys.— Spanish, or Texan Cattle, . . 738-769 CHAPTER IX. CATTLE — GENERAL MANAGEMENT. Mistakes of Stock-men.— Raising Calves.— Fall Calves.— Plan of J. G. Oxer.- Pastures and Grazing.— Winter Care of Cattle.— Feeding for Beef.— Different Sys- tems of Feeding.— The Labor-saving System.— Stall-feedmg.— Feeding in general.— Grass and Grain combined.— Summer Feeding 770-808 CHAPTER X. CATTLE — SOILING AND ENSILAGE. What is Soiling?— Saving of Land.— Saving of Fences.— Extermination of Weeds.— Saving of Food.— Of Manure.— Greater Production of Milk.— Objections to Soiling.— Who should Soil ?— Soiling Crops.— Double-cropping in Soiling.— Silos and Ensilage.— How to make a Silo.— Filling the Silo.— Cost of Ensilage.— Crops for Ensilage.— Experiments, 809-832 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. CATTLE— THE DAIRY. The Butter Product of the Country. — Selecting the Cows for a Dairy. — Test- ing. — Breeds.— Gilt-edged Butter.— Pastures and Food. — Full Feeding profitable. — Milking. — Milking Tubes. — How to manage the Milk. — Ice-houses. — Ice-chests. — Causes of Bad Flavor in Butter. — Skimming. — Churns and Churning. — Washing and Working. — Keeping Butter. — Brining Butter. — Family Cheese-making; — Curing. — The Factory System and its Variations. — Milk. — A good Cow. — Main- tenance. — Handling Milk. — Modern Invention. — Lowering Temperature. — Deep or Shallow Setting. — The Centrifugal Cream-separator. — Its Superiority. — Results. — Associated Dairying. — The Stock Factory. — Private Factories. — Different Factory Systems. — At a Creamery. — A Full Stock Cheese. — The Curing Room. — Supply- houses. — The Exclusive Creamery. — The general Plan. — Co-operative Creameries. — A New System. — Creamery Butter. — Sweet and Sour Cream Butter. — Warnines. — Wastes of the Dairy Pages 833-877 CHAPTER XII. CATTLE HERDING. Herding Cattle in Kansas. — Personal Experience. — Hard, long Winter. — Dis- asters. — Herding. — Selecting a Ranch. — Fire-guards. — The Best Breed. — Land Titles. — New Beginners. — Markets. — Brands. — Branding Chutes and Corrals. — Castration 878-897 CHAPTER XIII. DISEASES OF CATTLE. Pulsation and Temperature. — Catarrh. — Anaemia. — Hollow-horn. — Broken Horns. — Bronchitis. — Choking. — Hoven. — Grairi-sick. — Diarrhoea. , — Scours (white). — Enteritis. — Parturition. — Abortion. — Inversion of the Uterus. — Parturient Apoplexy. — Paralysis. — Milk Fever. — Caked Bag, or Garget. — Texas Fever. — Mange. — Wounds. — Fractures. — Rheumatism. — Bathing. — Doses for Young Ani- mals. — Condition Powders. — White Lotion. — Carbolic Lotion. — Black-leg, . . 899-930 CHAPTER XIV. SWINE AND THEIll MANAGEMENT. Hogs on the Range. — Of no particular Breed. — Hogs in the United States. — Who should raise Hogs ? — Improvement of Stock. — Selection of Breeding Stock. — Management of Swine. — Litters. — Diseases of Swine.— Causes of Disease. — Prevent- ive Measures, 931-947 CHAPTER XV. « SWINE — DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS. The Poland-Chinas.- The Berksh ires. —The Chester Whites.— The Essex.— Jersey Reds.^— The Sufiblks. — The Yorkshire. — The Cheshire. — Lancashires. — Victorias 948-965 CONTENTS. 13 CHAPTER XVI. SWINE — HOUSING AND FATTENING. Hog-houses atid Pens. — Plans of Hog-houses. — Portable Pig-pens. — Swill-bar- rels and Troughs. — Shall we cook Food for Hogs ? — Green Food for Hogs. — Winter care of Hogs. — Fattening. — How much Pork from a Bushel of Corn. — The Hog as a Manure-maker Pages 966-991 CHAPTER XVII. The Spanish Breed, or Merino. — Mutton. — On the Atlantic Slope. — ^The Sub- montane District. — The Prairie Section. — The Far West. — Australia.^South Amer- ica. — Mexico. — The Cotswold Sheep. — The Leicester. — South-Down. — In-and-in Breeding. — Lambs. — Time for. — Feeding. — Tagging. — Lambing. — Lambs with the Flock. — Winter care of Lambs. — Fattening. — Wool. — Housing Sheep. — Washing. — Shearing. — Wool-press. — Time for Shearing. — Drafting and Marking. — Ticks. — Mag- gots. — Water for Sheep. — Salt. — The Fly. — Paper Skin. — Scald-foot, or Fouls. — Scab. — Sheep Barns..— Plan of Sheep-houses and Yards. — Mangers. — Sheep-hook, or Shepherd's Crook. — Sheep as Scavengers of Foul Lands. — Dogs, . . . . 992-1039 CHAPTER XVIII. Is Poultry-keeping Profitable 7 — Poultry on the Farm. — Poultry-keeping for Women. — Poultry-keeping for Boys and Giris. — Number of Fowls that may be kept profitably. — Capital required. — Location.— Poultry-houses. — Plans and Descrip- tions. — Inside Fixtures. — Yards and Fences.— Best Breeds for Special Purposes.— Hamburgs, Leghorns, Houdans, Black Spanish, Polish, Bramahs, Cochins, Ply- mouth Rocks, Dominiques, Wyandottes, Dorkings. — Improve the common Fowl. — Choice of a Cock.— Eggs. — Market Poultry.— Management of Laying Hens.— Food and Drink.— Best Market in Prices for Eggs.— Shipping Eggs.— Preserving Eggs.— Spring Chickens.— Eggs for Hatching.— Nests and Sitting Hens.— Egg Testers.— Ar- tificial Incubation.— Care of Young Chicks. — How to raise Incubator Chicks. — Coops and Runs for Young Chicks.— Feeding Pens. — When, where, and how to market Spring Chickens.— Fall and Winter Chickens.— Capons. — Turkeys : — Bronze Turkeys.— White Holland.— Setting the Eggs.— Feeding the Young Turkeys.— Taking care of the Brood.— Fattening Turkeys.— Ducks :—Pekins, Rouens, and Aylesburys. — Cayugas. — Muscovies. — Treatment of Ducks. — Food. — Picking.— Geese :— Toulouse, Embden, China. — Time of Laying.— Hatching. — Feeding and Fattening.— Preparing Poultry for Market.— Laws of New York and New England.— Shipping Poultry and Wild Fowls.— Packing 1040-1118 CHAPTER XIX. POULTRY : DISEASES AND THEIR REMEDIES. Causes.— Prevention.— The Douglass Mixture.— Care.— Lice.— Lice on Chicks.-/^ Chicken Cholera.— Roup.— Gapes. — Chills. — Cramps. —Scaly Legs.— Leg Weak- ness. — "Rheumatism. — Canker. — Bumble-foot. — Diarrhoea. — Frost-bites.— Crop- bound.— Egg-bound.— Eggs broken in Oviduct.— Apoplexy.— Soft-shelled Eggs.— Egg-eating.— Feather-eating.— Moulting.— Obscure Diseases of Chicks, . .^19-1132 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XX. BEES AND BEE CULTURE. Agricultural Journals. — Hindrances to the Culture of Bees. — Bequisites to Suc- cess. — Natural History of Bees. — The Queen. — Drones. — Worker Bee.— Kaces of Bees. — Products. — Practical Bee-keeping: — Hives, Frames, and Crates. — Location of Apiary. — Transferring Bees. — Feeding. — Queen Bearing. — Clipping the Queen's Wings. — Fertile Workers. — Uniting Colonies. — Increasing the Number of Colonies. — Hiving. — To prevent Swarming. — How to Italianize. — To Introduce a Queen. — ■ Shipping Queens. — The Good Candy. — Shipping Bees. — Extracting Honey, and the Extractor. — Handling Bees. — Comb Foundation. — Save the Wax. — Marketing Honey.— Honey Plants. — Wintering Bees. — Spring Dwindling. — Diseases of Bees. — Enemies of Bees ^ Pages 1133-1170 CHAPTER XXI. THE CHEMISTRY OF POODS AND FEEDING Composition of the Animal Body. — Foods. — Use of Food. — Use of Different Food Constituents. — Different Foods. — Digestibility of Foods. — Albuminoid Ratio. — Influence of Water in Foods. — Feeding. — Reducing the Food of Support. — Increasing the Amount of Food Supplied. — Proper Adjustment of Food. — Ratio for Young Animals. — Ratio for Milk. —Fattening Animals. — Feeding as influenced by Age.— Profitable Feeding, 1171-1192 CHAPTER XXII. THE BARN AND BARN-YARD. Careful Thought and Planning necessary. — Plan for a Tasty and Convenient Barn. — A Bank Barn. — Cheap Barn and Barracks. — Lumber Required. — Cost. — Approaches. — Sheds and Racks. — Rack for Stacking. — ^The Barn-yard.— Manure Ditch.— Cow-stable.-Slatted Floor.— Stanchions, 1193-1202 Appendix. Principal Cereals in the United States. — Number of Live-stock in the United States. — Total Cotton Production, and average Product per acre. — Highest and Lowest price of Cotton for 42 years. — Tobacco Production in all the States. — State- ment of the Tobacco Crop of the United States. — Census of the United States. — Acreage and Value of Crops of Principal Cereals in the United States. — Average Cash Value of Farm Crops.^Sugar Product of Louisiana for 48 years. — Area of the States and Territories of the United States. — Relative Number of Plants or Hills to an Acre. — Area occupied by the Principal Crops of the United States. — Duration of Animal Life. — Weight of a Bushel of Produce. — Interest Laws of the United States. — Compound Interest Table.— Classification of Soils. — Comparison' of Meas- ures of Capacity. — Measures of an Acre Plot.—Square Feet and Feet Square in Fractions of an Acre. — To Measure Cisterns and Casks. — To Measure Land. — Meas- urement of Hay. — ^To Measure Corn. — Measurement of Wood and Lumber. -r-Quan- tity of Seed or Plants required per Acre, 1203-1215 Index, 1217-1234 Missing Page Missing Page THK people's Farm and Stock Cyclopedia. PART I.-THE FARM. CHAF'TER I. WE often see two farmers living side by side, whose land is very similar, and who began life with equal chances, one of whom is surrounded with comforts and evidences of thrift, and who loves his calling, while the other is surrounded with evidences of failure, and is constantly complaining of the hardness of a farmer's lot. It is not always the case that the successful farmer is the more intelligent man, for often men of good minds, industrious habits, and more than average intelli- ' gence fail as farmers ; and the difference between the two, a dif- ference which often involves the happiness of a life-time, consists not in intelligence, but management. Want of success in farming is often due to the fact that the farmer does not appreciate the dignity of his calling. He looks upon farming as a simple art, requiring but little education or thought, and 'dependent more upon muscle than brain, and there- fore fails to study it and wisely plan for the future. While Divine Providence has wisely ordered that the cultivation of the soil shall be a simple art, so that even the uneducated and ignorant may gain thereby a living, it is also true that it is a profound science, sufficient to call into use the best mental powers of the wisest man. The young farmer who understands 2 (17) 18 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. this will stand a better chance of success than he who looks upon it as an occupation but one step above that of a day- laborer. "' In many instances the first thing calling for the exercise of thought and judgment is The Selection of the Farm. — One should not be too hasty in deciding a question of so great importance as this, for it is far better in a majority of cases that the young farmer should make a permanent selection. It is one of the evils of farm life in America that so many of our farmers are ready to sell out at the first good ojQTer, and that so few have lived on their farms long enough to become attached to them. If, then, the farmer is locating for life, it becomes a matter of serious importance that he should study carefully every detail, and act understandingly in J;he matter. Let us look at some of the considerations which should influence his decision in this important matter. First the farm must be suited to his means. Many farmers, to-day, are tired of their calling, discouraged in their efibrts to improve, and failing to farm at a profit, from the fact that they are in debt. It is the bane of farm life. I do not, by any means, say that the farmer should never incur debt in buying a farm, for the majority of young farmers must do this, but it should be only after the most care- ful thought and study. It is often wiser to buy a smaller farm than to run deeply in debt for a larger one. The question of the size of the farm should be determined by the means of the farmer, the particular branch of farming. he intends to follow, and his business capacity. Both large and small farms have their advantages. On a large farm it will pay to invest in more labor-saving machinery, and this can be kept more fully em- ployed. More help can be kept permanently, and this will enable the farmer to ' concentrate the labor on some particular work in an emergency. On a large farm there is a better op- portunity for rotation of crops and diversified farming, and more stock can be kept, which will, under good management, not only keep the farm more fertile, but also give an equal income with less labor than where most of the soil must be cultivated. On GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 19 a large farm the proportion of fencing to the number of acres may be greatly reduced, and thus one heavy item of investment and expense be materially lessened. It must be remembered, however, that to conduct successfully a large farm, requires executive ability and business habits, and that many men can successfully carry on a small farm who would fail on a large one. On the other hand, there are many advantages connected with small farms. They are usually cultivated by their owners, and this gives a more densely settled neighborhood and better improvements. The man on the small farm can largely dispense with hired help, and save his wife the extra labor which their board and lodging brings upon her, often when she is already overburdened with the cafe of little children. The man on the small farm can usually control his expenses so that a failure of crops will not be so disastrous to him as to the man with a large farm. As a rule, small farms are more thoroughly culti- vated, and produce more, in proportion to their size, than larger ones, and this means larger yields per acre and less cost per bushel. Adaptation of Farm to Individual is another important consideration. Tastes diifer in farming as well as in other mat- ters, and while one man prefers to make a specialty of sheep, another will prefer cattle or hogs. One man delights in "high farming," and will succeed best as a "truck farmer," cultivating a few acres with a large amount of labor and manure, while another has no taste for this method, but wants to follow the regular order of large breadths of staple crops. Now, each man will succeed best in that which he likes beSt, and should consult his taste in purchasing a farm. If he wishes to make a specialty of sheep, a high, rolling farm will be best for him. If hogs, he will require rich bottom lands or loamy upland. If he wishes to follow truck farming, he must locate near a village or city where labor is abundant and he can obtain manure and find a market for his products, and he must have warm, sheltered land, or he can not get his vegetables into market early and realize the best prices. Thousands of farmers have worked at a disadvan- tage aU their lives simply because they did not consider this 20 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. matter of personal taste and adaptation of farm to the particular line of farming they wished to follow, and therefore located un- wisely. StiU another point which should receive careful consid- eration in selecting a farm is the Condition of Soil and Improvements. — Shall he pur- chase a run-down farm and improve it, or one highly fertile and with buildings, fences, etc., in good repair? Here is a matter requiring the exercise of good judgment and thorough investiga- tion. My own experience teaches that a poor, run-down farm may often be bought so low that it will pay to make the neces- sary improvement in soil and buildings. If the farm offered has the reputation of being unproductive, examine carefully the causes. If the land is rolling and its want of productiveness comes from the soil having been washed away, or if the soil is thin and leachy, do not for a moment think of settling down for life upon it. If, on the other hand, you find a naturally strong, retentive soil, especially a clay on lime- stone foundation, which has been exhausted by cropping without rotation or manuring, or if the farm is cold and unproductive from the want of drainage, and there is sufficient fall to thor- oughly drain it, the question becomes simply one of price, and a farm of this kind can often be bought so cheaply that it will prove a profitable investment. The same is true of improve- ments, and while, as a rule, it wiU cost more to put up new buildings than to buy them, it is not always so, and new build- ings wiU cost nothing for repairs for many years, and may be planned and arranged to suit your taste. To take an unpro- ductive farm with buildings dilapidated and make it productive and sightly, is a work which pays in the pleasure it affords, and which should entitle one to the gratitude of the community. As health of body is essential to comfort in life and to the discharge of our duty, the matter of the healthfulness of the locality should be carefully looked into. Fertility of soil is de- sirable, but there are many localities where the very richness of the soil gives proof of malaria, and to settle on these lands is to invite fever and to endanger the life of your loved ones. Even in healthy localities there are often local causes of dis- GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 21 ease, and the situation of the buildings or the location of wells, drains, or barnyard may be such as to cause contamination of the air or water, and bring disease. The Water Supply. — On every farm there should be an unfailing supply of pure water, convenient to house and barn. I would not purchase a farm that was deficient in this respect. In some of the finest farming lands with which I am acquainted there is nearly every year a surplus and a famine of water. In the Winter and early Spring the wells are flooded, and the water stands at the surface, while in the drought of Summer they fail entirely, and the supply for both man and beast is precarious and unwholesome. In some localities this defect can be remedied by constructing cisterns, but where the supply is deficient and there are serious natural obstacles in the way of overcoming this difficulty, it will be well to think twice before locating. Roads and Convenience to Market should receive care- ful consideration. The farmer who must wagon his crop for many miles over mud roads to reach a market, and who is often mud-bound for months in an open Winter, is living at a decided disadvantage. The cost of marketing grain from a farm on a good turnpike within two or three miles of a railroad station is seldom more than one or two cents a bushel, but if ten miles of hilly and muddy roads intervene between the farm and the mar- ket, this cost will be doubled or even quadrupled. Convenience to post-office, store, blacksmith shop, schools, and churches will add largely to the value of the farm and the comfort of the far- mer and his family. In going to a new locality, one can no£ be too careful in his inquiries as tb the character of the community. There are neigh- borhoods entirely destitute of public spirit. The citizens are con- tent to drag through the mud rather than to make good roads, although plenty of material lies near at hand. They allow their stock to roam at large and trespass upon their neighbors, and would quarrel with any one who would try to enforce the law against it. Again there are neighborhoods where there is a spirit of infidelity or immorality prevailing, where the Sabbath is disregarded and profanity openly indulged in. The wise par- 22 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. ent will find out the spirit of a community before taking his family to live in it, as no pecuniary gain can compensate for moral loss. " Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom," attracted by a rich soil, but the wickedness of the inhabitants involved him in ruin. Choice of Farm Products. — The farm being selected, the next question to settle is what particular line of farming shall be followed, and as it is important to start right, you should give this matter careful study. Two adjoining farms often call for an entirely different system. For example, along the water- courses there are usually wide bottoms, and here we have one or more tiers of farms which are admirably adapted to hogs. The soil is warm and rich, and will bear almost continuous cropping in corn, and often it is so situated that the rains, which would greatly damage rolling lands, bring rich sediment on to these fields and increase their fertility. On these farms a rotation which includes clover once in four years will keep the land at a maximum fertility. A short distance further back from the stream will be found a row of farms located on the hill side. The land often slopes quite rapidly, and is broken by ravines. To follow a system of corn cropping on these farms is ruinous, as it soon results in the washing away of the soil, and reduces the farms to sterility. The only system on these farms that will pay in the long run is to make grass a principal crop. These broken farms are often the best fruit lands in the vicin- ity, and the farmers in the bottoms can better afford to buy their fruit from their hill-side neighbors than to grow it on their richer lands. It is not at all certain, because your neighbor whose farm joins your own has found a certain crop profitable, that you will do so, for the conditions of the soil or the capacity of the individual may vary so as to make a system that is profitable on one farm unprofitable on an adjoining one. It would seem as though the above fact wag so obvious that it would be unnec- essary to even allude to it, but observation will soon show that many farmers fail in this particular. Side-hill farms are cropped and cultivated until they will not even produce grass ; orchards GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 23 are planted on low, rich land, where they are almost sure to be winter-killed, and farmers are continually changing and shifting their plans and varying their products, in hopes of increasing their profits, without any definite plan or purpose in view. It is of the utmost importance that the farmer take into con- sideration all the circumstances connected with his farm and its surroundings, soil, climate, market, location, and roads, and then fix upon a settled plan and adhere to it. Do not forget that the farmer who has any product to sell every year is sure to hit the high prices as well as the low, while the one who is contin- ually changing is usually tempted to do so when some product is high, and oftener than otherwise by the time he has a crop ready for mar-ket the reaction has come, and prices are at the bottom. I feel that this is a matter of such importance as to justify my saying a good deal about it, for there is a constant temptation to the farmer to change his plans, and unless he has wisely studied the matter and determined what crops he will grow he is liable to blunder. I have often seen farmers when sheep and wool commanded the highest prices sell off their other stock and buy sheep at twice their real value, and by the time they were able to realize from them the price was belo.w the cost of production. Occasionally there comes a season when broom corn brush brings from two hundred dollars to three hundred dollars a ton, and it is almost universally the case that so many farmers wiU plant it the following year as to bring the price down to a point that will leave no profit. I have known it to sell at forty dollars per ton. I do not mean to teach that a farmer should never change his plans or products, but he should do so cautiously and intelligently, after mature deliberation, and should always be able to gixe a satisfactory reason for the change. I think that in a great majority of cases the change is made in the same spirit that a lottery ticket is bought. An important consideration in determining what shall be the leading product of the farm is the cost of marketing. If, as is often the case, a farmer living from six to ten miles from market on bad roads depends on the sale of corn, the cost of delivering it will be from five to eight cents a bushel, and if he sells at 24 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. forty cents per bushel, this will be from twelve to twenty per cent of what he receives, while wheat at one dollar per bushel could be delivered at from four to seven per cent, or a drove of cattle or hogs could be delivered at the same market for a very small fraction of one per cent of their value. The effect on the fertility of the soil of the system adopted must be carefully considered. Too much of our farming is illus- trated by "killing the goose that laid the. golden egg." The American system of farming has been a prodigal one, for it is not long since the day when it cost less to destroy a forest and thus get a new and fertile field than to enrich an old one; but in most of the States the limit has been reached in this direc- tion, and now the farmer must not only maintain but increase the fertility of his soU. The farm is his capital, and any sys- tem which reduces its fertility is wasteful and improvident. One of the greatest aids in maintaining fertility is Rotation of Crops. — The fact is well known to all prac- tical farmers that the continual growing of any particular crop on a field wiU gradually reduce its productiveness until the point is reached at which it can no longer be profitably cultivated. This period may be longer or shorter, according to the nature of the soil or the character of the crop, but the result wUl be inevit- able. Another fact, equally familiar to the farmer, is that a field partially exhausted by one crop will produce some other. Another fact, not so easily understood, is that after the second crop has been grown for some years the soil will be found to have regained to a greater or less extent the capacity of pro- ducing the first. Practically a good system of rotation enables the farmer to grow, at little or no expense, his fertilizers in the soil where they are needed. It also more than doubles the value of the manure applied if used intelligently and judiciously. But as these questions will be more fully discussed in the chapter on manures I will pass them for the present. How Much to Cultivate is an important question to settle In your plan of farm management. In large sections the greatest evil is over-cropping. I am familiar, and have been for nearly GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 25 forty years, with many farms two-thirds of which are kept under the plow. Some of these farms have not during that time pro- duced an average of ten bushels of wheat or thirty of corn to the acre, and yet the owners keep on in the old ruts, producing crops which five minutes' calculation would show them do not pay the expense of cultivation, and apparently deluding them- selves with the idea that they are doing something because they are going over so much land each year. Their management recalls the anecdote of the German clothier who solemnly assured his customer that he was selling his goods at less than cash cost, and on being asked how he made a living, answered : " Pecos I sells so many." There are a few facts connected with this question of the amount of land to plow that should be understood by every farmer : First — ^AU the profit in farming comes from maximum crops. From the statistics, as shown by the census reports of the United States, it appears that the average yield of the corn crop is about thirty bushels per acre, and that the average yield of the wheat crop is about fourteen bushels per acre. That these averages will give no profit is evident to every experi- enced farmer, and as these are the averages, there must be many who grow less, for we know there are many who grow much more to the acre. We might, then, divide farmers into three classes — those who are growing crops above the average and make money, those who grow average crops and make a living, and those who grow crops below the average and barely keep soul and body together. Second — The man who cultivates a smaller part of his land can do it more thoroughly, and can have it richer. It is often of the greatest importance to a crop that the cultivation should be at a certain stage of growth or condition of soil; for example, on our heavy clay lands a heavy rain forms a crust, which should be broken as soon as possible after the land is dry enough to work. The farmer who undertakes to cultivate forty acres with one team is obliged to neglect this at this critical time, and his crop is often permanently injured. If, as I believe, the adage 26 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. " tillage is manure " is true, the farmer is wise who so arranges his crops that the tillage can be most thorough. I say that he who tills less land can have it richer. This is plain for two reasons — with more land in grass he can keep more stock and save more manure, and he can also grow sod to turn under, which is the best and cheapest manure in the world, and produces the best mechanical effect on the soil. Third^-The cost of grain per bushel is decreased in the exact ratio that the yield per acre is increased. Suppose we take twelve dollars as the average cost of producing an acre of wheat or corn, this sum to cover rent of land, preparation of soil, plant- ing, cultivating, and harvesting. A crop of wheat averaging twelve bushels per acre will cost one dollar per bushel. Twenty bushels will bring the cost down to sixty cents per bushel, and thirty bushels per acre will cost but forty cents per bushel. Thirty bushels of corn to the acre will cost forty cents per bushel; forty bushels per acre will cost thirty cents per bushel, and sixty bushels will cost but twenty cents per bushel. You may think my estimate of twelve dollars per acre incorrect, but take any other amount you please, and it will not change the principle. Now, the surest way on many farms to double the yield per acre, and so reduce the cost per bushel, would be to reduce the acres under cultivation one-half. The land not in grain would be producing grass or clover, and the soil filling with roots to decay and furnish humus to the plants to follow after. This matter of decreasing the acres under cultivation and increasing the yield per acre, and at the same time keeping down expenses, is so important that I wish to present it in still another light. Let us suppose two farmers starting in life on adjoining farms of equal quality, each of which has eighty acres of tillable land. One of them, possessed with the prevailing idea that he must cultivate a large breadth, begins with two teams, and plows from fifty to sixty acres each year. Let us make an estimate of the additional expense tha.t this extra team will involve during a term of ten years. We will call the team and harness three hundred dollars to start with, and as the team GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 27 must have a driver it will necessitate keeping a hired hand for say eight months of the year, and at fifteen dollars a month this would be one hundred and twenty dollars per annum, or twelve hundred dollars for the ten years. Then, both horses and hand must be fed, and counting that ft costs one- dollar a week to keep a horse, the bill for the team will be one hundred and four dollars a year, or one thousand and forty dollars more. The board of the hand at the moderate rate of two dollars per week would make seventy dollars a year additional, and this gives us seven hundred dollars. We will offset what the old horses and harness would be worth at the end of the ten years against extra plows, horseshoeing, and repairs to farm imple- ments, and as the teams would be pretty well worn out this seems to me to be a liberal price for them. Now we will bring these items together, and see what they foot up. 'First cost of team and harness, .... $300 00 Keep of team for ten years, 1,040 00 Hired man, eight months a year for ten years, . . 1,200 00 Board of hired man, 700 00 Total, $3,240 00 The above sum can, I think, be fairly charged as the expense involved by keeping the extra team, and the question to be de- cided is, Has this expenditure brought a corresponding increase of income? I think it safe to say in nine cases out of ten it has not. The fact of having the two teams and keeping the extra hired man has been a continual temptation to plow too much land, and the consequence has been exhaustion of the soil, decreased yield per acre, and more frequent failure of crops. Now, let us look at the management of the other farmer, who has learned that bushels, not acres, is the thing to be sought. He starts with a single team, and plows from thirty to forty acres a year. This enables him to practice a rotation, so that he has a breadth of clover sod to plow each year. He can also keep more stock and save more barnyard manure. While his neighbor's farm is necessarily growing less productive his is increasing its yield. His wheat, on a rich soil, resists frost, fly, and chinch-bug, and makes a crop when his neighbor's fails, and 28 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. before the ten years expires he is producing more grain than his neighbor, who is cultivating double the acres. He has had less labor, worry, and risk, his wife has had less care, and his farm is in much the better condition. Even if half the sum my figures show could ise saved, it would make a great difference in the financial condition of the two farmers, and the succeeding ten years I think would, if the same systems were followed, show a still greater difference in favor of the man who cultivated the smaller area. There is still one other way in which to look at this matter. I have already shown that the cost per bushel of grain decreases as the yield per acre increases. The same fact can be forcibly illustrated in another way. Our first farmer, we will suppose, plows and cultivates forty acres of land to raise six hundred bushels of corn and two hundred bushels of wheat, the other but twenty acres to secure the same amount. Now, at first glance one might think that the rent, the plowing, planting, cultivating, and harvesting of the extra twenty acres would represent the difference between the two systems, but looking with a little more care into the matter, we shall see that the extra twenty acres, if in grass or clover, wiU bring a good income with little or no expense. The twenty acres in grain will be more or less impoverished, while that in grass or clover wiU have grown a second crop below the soil to enrich the land and improve its mechanical condition, so that, instead of a dimin- ished yield the following year, we can confidently look for an increased one. Capital in Farming, — ^Perhaps there is nothing which so cripples the farmers of our country as the want of a cash work- ing capital. A very large per cent of our farmers are in debt, and every spare dollar must go to pay interest or reduce indebt- edness. I know this is an evil more easily pointed out than remedied, but I can at least protest against the practice so com- mon among farmers of running in debt for more land as soon as they can see their way out of debt for what they have. The farmer with a fair working cash capital has a great advantage over the one who is always cramped for money. GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 29 There are numbers of farms whose capacity would be doubled by drainage, whose owners, instead of investing their profits in this way, will buy out their neighbor, whose farm is in the same condition. It often happens that the hay or corn crop is short, and a farmer has not enough to carry his stock through the Winter. If he has money to spare, and has good judgment to anticipate the coming rise, he can lay in a supply of feed while the price is low, but if he is cramped for cash, he may be compelled to sacrifice his stock or defer purchasing feed until the price has advanced so that he will lose money. The season of 1881 illustrated this fully. Throughout the Mississippi vaUey a long-continued drought cut short the corn crop, so that it was evident to all that prices must be very high. There was plenty of old corn still in the country, which could be bought at from forty-five to fifty cents per bushel. Some farmers who had the money to spare bought a year's supply, and were enabled to fatten their stock and sell at high prices, but the majority of farmers had no money to spare, and bought a few bushels of corn at a time as they were compelled to, and before the crop of 1882 was fit for use they were paying one dollar a bushel for corn to feed their teams, or, what was worse, working them with no food but grass. There can be no ^question as to which is the better off" and able to farm best, and take the most comfort in Ufe, the man with two hundred acres of land and in debt two or three thou- sand dollars, or he with one hundred acres and two thousand doUars cash working capital. I should strongly urge the far- mer before buying more land or making any outside investment to see if he can not use the money to better advantage in his business, either in draining, fertilizing his land, improving his stock, or in some other way that will increase his comforts or profits. Hired Help on the Farm. — The young farmer may for a while do without hired help, but if this is long continued he is likely to overwork so as to injure his health, atfd at the same time neglect many things that ought to be done. The team 30 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. must be kept at work, and at the same time there are daily calls for odd jobs, such as making garden, repairing fences, looking after the stock, going on errands to town, etc., and the farmer soon finds that both profit and comfort demand help. There often comes a time when, from previous bad weather or other causes, there is a large amount of work on hand which must be done at once or loss will ensue. At such times it is usually particularly difficult to obtain day labor, and the farmer who has a regular hand has a great advantage. The man who in addition to a full day's work in the field must attend to all the etceteras will soon become a mere clodhopper. He will be too tired to read, and will have no time to visit, and life will mean little more to him than drudgery. On the other hand, if he hires a single man and boards him, he often imposes a burden upon his wife that she is scarcely able to bear. The duties of a mother who has the care of a family of little children are heavy enough at the best. If the boarding of a man in the family must involve the hiring of a girl in the house, it will often be cheaper to hire a married man who will board himself. If the man must be boarded and the wife is likely to be overworked, her husband should furnish her the assistance she needs. If he does not furnish a hired woman, he can at least see that she has wood and water in the kitchen, relieve her of the milking, churn, and carry the milk into and out of the cellar. This work he wiU have leisure for if he has a man to help him. I have usually found it as cheap, all things considered, to hire a man who boarded himself as one who boarded in the family. If you will give him a garden spot and pasture a cow for him, or, if he does not keep a cow, furnish him a few quarts of skim milk each day, and allow him the use of a house rent free, a married man can often be hired at the same wages that a single man will ask. A cheap, comfortable cottage on the farm for a laborer will often prove a good investment. I believe that it is best for both parties to pay good wages. Cheap help is generally dearest in the long run, and the man who is jewed down to the lowest possible price in making a bargain will not be likely to serve you with the interest and GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 31 enthusiasm he would if he felt that you were liberal in your dealings with him. Of late years I am very cautious about making a contract with a work hand for a specified time unless I know him thor- oughly, for I do not wish to be obliged to keep a man who proves to be ill-tempered, immoral, or disobliging; so I hire a hand for a specified time, but insert dn the contract that either may ter- mijiate the engagement on a week's notice. I state to the man frankly when I hire him what I shall expect of him, and tell him that I do not wish him to stay with me a day longer than he is well treated, and that I shall dispense with his services whenever our relations cease to be agreeable. There should be a form of contract or memorandum of agreement drawn up, to be signed by both parties, and in this every thing should be plainly stated, nothing left to memory. If your hand is a mar- ried man, and is to have garden, cow pasture, house rent, and other privileges, specify exactly what they are to be. Some young men think that if they work' through the day it is no business of their employer if they spend every evening at the village, and come into the house at midnight or remain away over night and get back after the feeding is done in the morning. A fair understanding on all these points, written out at the beginning, will go far toward preventing misunderstanding and trouble in the future. There are some kinds of work needed occasionally on the farm which can hardly be called farm work — for example, quarrying stone, ditching, and well-digging — and if you have not specified these in your memorandum, I think it fair that they should be done by help hired expressly for the purpose or extra pay allowed your hand if he does the work. There is no better rule in the treatment of employes than " do unto others as ye would they should do unto you ;" if there is first a fair understanding between the parties and an approxi- mate observance of this rule, there will be little trouble. Some farmers have adopted the plan of giving a bonus for good behavior and faithful work, and have found it satisfactory. The plan is this : After the bargain is made, say for eight months at fifteen dollars per month, with a memorandum that the engage- 32 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. ment may be terminated by either party at a week's notice, you say to your hand, " If I find you faithful and obliging, at the end of your term I will give you ten cents a day extra for all the time you work, and as I shall not keep you unless you are so, the fact that you remain with me eight months will insure you this amount." You will thus give him a motive to do his best. There often comes a time in the life of a farmer when, he feels the care and burden of the farm to be too heavy for him. He has reached perhaps the age of fifty, is in comfortable cir- cumstances, and feels that he has fairly earned something of rest. In many cases he rents his farm and moves to town. I think, generally speaking, he makes a mistake in so doing. A man who has been active and industrious up to this time of life will not be happy in idleness; the change in his life is too radical. Besides, he will soon find that his farm is running down. The tenant can not be expected to take the same interest in it as the owner. StocTi will be allowed to tramp the fields when soft, fences will run down, a proper rotation will not be followed, and before long the farm will be reduced in fertility. In my judg- ment the best plan is for the farmer to remain on his farm, but he should be relieved from heavy labor and care much earlier than he usually is. The fact is that a majority of farmers work more hours in a day and harder than a day laborer, and keep it up till feeble old age, even though their financial condition is such that there is no necessity for it. Now, the remedy for this is renting, not the whole farm, but fields, to be cultivated on shares. I have never seen a neighborhood in which there were not men ready to take fields in this way. This leaves the farmer in possession of his house, garden, orchard, and pasture, and with full control of the farm as to what part shall be in clover or grass, and what in grain, and at the same time relieves him of the heavy work. The terms of grain rent vary in dilFerent localities, but where I live there are two systems. One is for the landlord to furnish teams, tools, and seed, and feed the teams, and get two- thirds of the crop, and the other for the tenant to furnish these GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 33 and get half the crop. There is no settled rule as to whether the landlord is to take his wheat in the shock or bushel, or his corn in field or crib, but this is a matter of agreement. If the tenant has no privileges, he is usually paid for this part of the work, but where the landlord can furnish him a house, garden, and cow pasture, the tenant usually will deliver in crib or bushel the landlord's share of the crop. It is often best for the farmer to first try renting out his farm on the thirds till he sees how the plan suits him, for then, if he wishes to farm it again himself, he has his stock and tools. If he is pleased with the plan, he can in a year or two sell these and rent on the halves. The plan of renting on the thirds often gives some industrious, enterprising young man a chance to get a start in life and rise above the condition of a laborer, and I have been surprised to find so large a number of our best farmers who began life in this way. The first five hundred dollars I ever possessed I made by cropping on the thirds on my father's farm. I would urge this plan upon the prosperous farmer who has passed middle life, for to me there is no more pitiable sight than that of a man broken down with hard work when but little past his prime, painfully dragging through the heavy labors of the farm long after his financial condition is such that he can afford rest and recreation. To all such I would say, God gives a man but one journey through life, and if we make this life similar to that of a galley slave, we shall have no opportunity to go back and correct mistakes. A careful study of this subject of farm management shows that brains on the farm count for more than muscle, and that success depends more an a systematic plan, wisely chosen and faithfully executed, than on physical labor. 3 34 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter II. farm; kencing. THE history of farm fencing in our country is a good illustra- tion of the force of habit. In all the timbered regions the question was, until recently, " How shall we get rid of the timber?" and as straight thrifty rail timber abounded and it seemed a pity to burn it, the farms were fenced into small fields, often from six to ten acres each; and now with the rail timber gone, and a good fence costing one dollar or more a rod, there are multitudes of farmers who still retain the small fields, and think they must replace every fence that was built in the early pioneer days. I assert that half the fences in most of our States might be dispensed with and the farmers would be actual gainers. A few figures will show what a saving this would be. We will estimate that a fence will cost one dollar a rod — which is much less than a good post and board fence can be built for — and we find that to fence a farm of one hundred and sixty acres will cost as follows : To inclose it, $640 00 To divide it into forty-acre fields, ...... 320 00 To again divide so as to make twenty-acre fields, . . . 320 00 And to make ten-acre fields, 320 00 Total, $1,600 00 Even if we count that these fences would last twenty years, which is much longer than they will in most cases — all this heavy expense, as well as some additional for repairs, must be met again at the end of this time ; and it becomes a problem of great inter- est and worthy of careful study, How to Reduce the Cost of Fencing. — Three methods occur to me by which this expense, can be greatly lessened. FARM FENCING. 35 First, by reducing the amount of division fences. Second, by good stock laws well enforced. Third, by adopting the cheaper styles of fence. Under the first head we can make a great saving. I have on Eastview Farm for twenty years abolished division fence on all my best plow land. Here I have sixty-five acres in one field, and by agreement with my neighbor we have had no division fence between us, he having forty acres of his best land in the same inclosure. Neither of us ever turn stock on this land, but always cultivate or mow it, and I think it has been just as profitable to us as it would have been if divided into small fields. Moreover, the land has been mellow and in good condition to plow when the fields in my neighborhood that have been tramped over have been rough and cloddy. After this long experience I am pre- pared to recommend this plan of never pasturing the best plow lands of the farm. Another way in which a great saving can be made is by fencing against cattle and horses only. There are farms by the thousand not adapted to corn, and on which but few hogs are kept, and yet every fence is pig tight and the extra cost of fences is more than all the profit on the hogs. I have found a two-board fence a perfect protection against cattle, while four or five boards are always used where a fence is made to turn hogs. To be sure, hogs need some green food, but it will be found much cheaper to confine them to a lot or single field and carry green food to them than to fence the entire farm. There are farms adapted to hogs or sheep, which must be fenced with reference to keeping this stock, but the farmer before deciding to fence against hogs should count the cost and see whether the extra expense of fences will not swallow the profits. We already have in many of the States all the legislation needed on the question of stock running at large. In Ohio the law makes the owner of stock responsible for all depredations, and all stock can be prohibited from running at large whenever the law is enforced. It is a singular fact that the opposition to the law has come mainly from the farmers themselves, and there are still many localities where it is impossible to enforce it. 36 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. When we remember that ordinarily there is not more than three or four acres of grass-bearing land to the mile of highway, it will be seen how penny-wise the farmers are who insist on pasturing it. Even where it is desirable to keep all the land fenced, our stock is much more likely to break out if stock is feeding along the highway. In my own neighborhood the law is so perfectly enforced thg,t for three years I have had no front gate, and stock coming in would have free access to over one hundred acres of land, several of which is cultivated in gar- den an& nursery stock. The June flood of 1882 in this neighborhood did more to se- cure the enforcement of the stock law than years of agitation would have done. Coming as it did within a week or two of harvest, and sweeping away more fence than was ever known to go in a single flood, it was actually impossible to replace it at that time, and aU stock was shut up, and many of the farmers, finding that they could grow crops without fences — even along the streams where the extra amount of waste land made the temptation to turn stock on the highways greatest — have never replaced their fences and never will. This has relieved the own- ers of bottom lands from a heavy tax, for their fences are often swept away. I would advise farmers everywhere to agitate this question of prohibiting stock from running at large. If your State has no law on the subject, petition for one. If you have a law, enforce it. One man can not do this alone, but whenever you can get a number of farmers to unite and post a notice that all stock run- ning at large wOl be impounded, you will have no further difficulty.' The third method of reducing the expense of fencing by adopting cheaper methods, you will find illustrated and described under the appropriate heads of this chapter. It seems hardly worth while to devote space to the rail fence, for it is fast disap- pearing, and with the ever increasing scarcity of timber and the facilities for transportation afforded by our railroads, there are few localities where rail fences will be replaced. FARM FENCING. 37 Hedge Fences have been on trial for thirty or forty years, but are least in favor with the farmers who are best ac- quainted with them. When I meet a man who is enthusiastic in advocating the planting of hedge, I feel quite sure that he is a novice in the business, and that should I meet him ten years later I should find that his ardor had cooled considerably. I do not speak from theory on this matter, for I have had the constant care of from half a mile to a mile of hedge for over thirty years, and there is scarcely a farm in my neighborhood but has more or less of it. There are locations where hedge is the cheapest fence that the farmer can have, and where it wiU give excellent satisfac- tion. For example, along the border of a permanent pasture, where the shade will do no harm, and you do not care if the view is interrupted, you can start a hedge, and need give it no care after it is large enough to turn cattle for a long term of years. In such a location I have known hedges to make a per- fect cattle fence without any expense beyond planting and a lit- tle care for the first two years, and in twenty years they had grown large enough so that from six to twelve posts could be cut to the rod, and these posts are not excelled in durability by any timber in the world. There is no trouble whatever in making a hedge that will turn cattle, and the cost is small. For a cattle fence I would set the plants eighteen inches apart. This will require eleven plants to the rod, costing about three cents. The cost of preparing the hedge row and setting out the plants will vary somewhat, but should not exceed five cents a rod, and the entire cost of a hedge four years old should not exceed thirty cents a rod, unless you must build a fence to protect it from the stock while grow- ing it. The best way to prepare a hedge row is to plant it in potatoes the previous year. If the row crosses a poor spot, it is well to manure it. The hedge should be thoroughly cultivated for two years after planting, and should not be cut back till two or three years old; then cut to the ground, and let it make a new start, and it will grow dense enough to make a good cattle fence. Instead of cutting back, the hedge is often plashed, by 38 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. which we mean that the plants are bent down and twisted to- gether so as to thicken the hedge at the bottom. I have rarely, if ever, however, seen a hedge made hog proof by this means. An English neighbor of mine has a hedge of which he has taken admirable care, having plashed it twice, but the hogs go through it, and' as it grows older it wiU get worse. If you only want a hedge to turn cattle, no plashing will be necessary, as it wiU grow up thick enough for this purpose. If you want a hog fence I would advise that two six inch boards, or two barbed wires be used at the bottom. The great objection to a hedge fence, except where it can be neglected as I suggest, is that it must be trimmed regularly and at the right time, or it is soon too large and out of shape, and becomes a nuisance; and as this work comes at a season when the crops demand all the time and attention of the farmer, it be- comes a heavy tax. The only way to keep a hedge in good shape is to trim frequently when the new growth is soft, and this requires three ^trimmings a Summer. If neglected ten days after it should be cut, till the wood hardens, you can not keep a good shape to your hedge. Where you wish an ornamental hedge you should always trim with sloping sides, as a hedge with perpendicular sides is always more or less open. The best form is pyramidal, with a regular slope from the ground to the top. The best implement to trim with is the Dutch sickle, or grass hook. With a little practice one can trim as true with it as with shears, and very much more easily and rapidly. If trimmed at the proper time there will be no thorns scattered, for it will be done before they harden. When barbed wires or boards are to be used to make the hedge hog proof, they should be put in place when the hedge is cut back to the ground, so that in making the new growth a part of the shoots will grow up on either side, thus holding the boards or wires in place. The boards or wires should be secured to stakes driven along the hedge row. My advice to the farmer is, plant but little hedge, except in such places as you are willing to allow it to grow without the labor of trimming. Another way to re- duce the cost of fencing is to plant a row of trees, and thus FARM FENCING. 39 Grow Live Fence Posts, These would not be suitable for all localities, as in places the shade would be objectionable, but some such lines of trees might be grown on every farm, and even though they occupy some land, they will grow into valu- able timber, and will also make wind-breaks which will protect the crops and stock. I find on my limestone soil that the com- mon black locust (called also yellow) is the best tree for this purpose. I planted a row fifty rods long in 1879, and as the Spring was very dry and unfavorable, and they made a poor growth, I cut them back to the ground in 1880. In the Spring of 1883 they were large enough to support panels of fence, but as we had one of the neglected hedges which I recommend, we cut it back and made a fence of the brush by laying one row along the row of locust trees, and another row on top of this with the brush locked between the trees, which were four feet apart. The labor of cutting and placing the brush cost us just four dollars, or eight cents a rod, for our line of fifty rods. I know this is not a handsome fence, but it is effective and wiU last for years by the addition of a few more brush. When you use the row of trees to support panels of board fence, you do not nail them to the trees, as this would injure them, and the swaying of the trees in the wind would break the nails. Nail your boards to oak or some other good timber to hold nails, and then set the panels up along the row of trees, drive a stake to keep the bottom in place, and secure the top by a piece of cheap rope, tarred twine, or wire. These ties will need inspecting annua,lly, so as to see that they do not get tight and girdle the trees. If I was planting a row of locust trees again for this purpose, I would start them only two feet apart, and then would cut out for bean poles and fence stakes such as I did not wish to leave. In making these movable panels of fence, I nail the boards to oak two inches square, and find it strong enough. I do not call this a handsome fence, but eveiy good' locust post, well set, costs me thirty cents, and in twenty- five years will probably be past its usefulness. The tree and oak upright will not both cost above eight cents, and in twenty- five years the trees will sell for enough to build several new 40 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. fences of the same length. A neighbor of mine cut a row twenty rods long, and sold from it one hundred and ten dollars worth of posts. I think there are few farms on which there might not be grown profitably one or more of these lines of live fence posts. Post and Board Fence is considered by many the cheap- est and best in the long run, and if well built and of good ma- terial, it will last many years> with little or no expense for re- pairs. The cost of building a board fence is so great that one can not afford to use poor material. A sappy oak post that will rot ofif in from six to ten years will cost as much to set as a good locust or cedar, which will last from twenty-five to forty years. All posts should be well seasoned, set not less than thirty inches deep, and thoroughly tamped. There is some difference of opinion as to the best time to cut posts, but the weight of testimony is in favor of August, cutting when the wood is freest from sap^and will dry out rapidly. There is a popu- lar idea that a post set top end down wiU outlast one set as it grew, but experiment has, I think, failed to verify it. With good, thoroughly seasoned posts of our best timbers, I do not think any preparation for preserving them necessary, but with posts of inferior timber immersing in coal tar would probably be profitable. There are two ways by which we may decrease the cost of post and board fence, one of which is by reducing the number of boards, and the other by increasing the distance between the posts. Not many years ago most farmers used five boards and sometimes a cap in addition, thus making a top-heavy fence, likely to be leaned and twisted by the wind when the ground was soft. Of late years it is seldom that more than four boards are used, however. I have for several years advocated, on all level land, a three-board fence, and some of our best farmers have adopted it, and find that it turns all stock perfectly. The plan is simply to nail the first board so that the bottom of it will be fifteen inches from the ground, and then plow a furrow or two each side and bank up under the fence. This leaves a shallow ditch each side, so that an animal coming up to it is in an unnat- ural position. They can not jump with the front feet in the FARM FENCING. 41 ditch, for they are too far from the fence, and if they come close enough to get their front feet on the bank, the hind feet will be in the ditch. Even if the bottom board of the fence is only raised twelve inches, if the ditch is six inches lower than the level of the field it makes a fence very hard to jump. The fill under the fence should be made broad, and both it and the ditch heavily seeded with grass. The dis- tance apart of the ■^^^l A THREE-BOARD FENCE WITH PILL. BOARDS NAILED TO BOTH SIDES OP POSTS. posts may be increased, and much time cutting and fitting the boards to the posts saved by nailing the boards to both sides of the posts. The illustration gives a good idea of how this is done. The posts should be set about six inches closer together than the length of the boards, so that you will not need to nail close to the end of the board, there is then less danger of splitting out and the boards hold to the post better. With a twelve-foot board, a cheap stake of lasting tim- ber, or even a three-inch strip of oak board in the center of the panel to stay it, makes a very good fence. It is a good plan to have a movable panel in every line of board fence, even in those between neighbors, as it is often very convenient to be able to get through with the wagon, plow, or mowing machine. How these movable panels can be made is shown in the illustration. You will notice that the top board of this panel projects a few inches and drops into the slot made by saw- ing into the top' of the posts. The slot is shown in the post A MOVABLE PANEL. 42 TSE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. A NEAT BOARD PENCE. at the left. The slot to receive an inch board should be one and a fourth inches wide, so that the panel can be lifted out without binding. A pair of good stakes should be driven in the ground at each end, to prevent the panel swinging back and forth when the wind blows. Where a board fence is buUt along the front of the farm, and it is desirable to make a neat, tasty fence, it wUl add to its appearance to put two three-inch strips, ^ crossing each other as shown in the cut. A fence made in this way, of dressed lumber, and well painted, will by many be preferred to a paling fence, which will cost much more money. Wire Fences are now fast superseding aU other kinds in many parts of the country, particularly in the prairie States. The barbed wire fence has its advocates and also many who oppose it as dangerous to stock. There is no denying the fact that valuable animals have been ruined by it, and I would ad- vise that there should always be one board used with the wire, as this will enable the stock to see the fence and they will be much less likely to run into it than if wire alone was used. As an additional precaution, introduce your horses to the fence be- fore you turn them out. Lead them up to it and let them feel the barbs, and their natural instinct will cause them to avoid it. I think one runs a great risk in turning a playful horse out where there is a barbed wire fence without taking this precaution. There are two facts connected with wire fence which make it very much cheaper than post and board fence ; these are that the posts may be much farther apart, and that a cheaper quality of posts can be used. It is very difficult to use crooked posts in making post and board fence, as the boards will need to be cut to different lengths to fit them, but for wire fence a crooked post is as good as a straight one, and it can usually be bought for half price. I am hardly prepared to state what is FARM FENCING. 43 the best distance apart for posts for a wire fence, as I have seen them all the way from eight up to fifty feet or more. I believe, however, that a good post every two rods, with two or more stays of some kind between, will be found sufficient. I think that if a strip of board, of hard wood, three inches wide and one inch thick, is used every six feet and the wire stapled to it it wUl support the wires sufficiently. I think a combined wire and board fence will be found cheap and satisfactory, and where only a cattle fence is needed, two wires and a strip of board three inches wide between them is all that wiU be required. The two wires alone will turn cattle, but the strip of board renders the fence safer. There is prob- ably no stock worse to fence against than town cows, and the college campus in my village has been fenced with two barbed wires for several years, and I have never known the cattle to trespass. My plan of making this fence with the three-inch strip of board is this : Set the posts a little less than thirty-two feet apart, so that when one end of a three-inch board sixteen feet long is nailed to each post the other ends wiU lap a few inches. Be- WIEE AND BOARD CATTLE FENCE. tween the ends of the boards, set up a three-inch strip and put a carriage bolt with washers through both boards and the up- right. Then use one more of these uprights for each board. These uprights should rest on a flat stone or block. The cost of this fence would be about as follows for each panel of nearly two rods : One post set 30 cts. Four pounds of barbed wire, . . . . . . • 28 " Five upright strips four feet long and three inches wide, . . 12J " Two boards three inches wide and sixteen feet long, . . . 16 " Bolt, staples, and putting up, ■ • 12^ Total, 99 44 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. or about fifty cents per rod. This cost could be materially re- duced in many cases, as I have figured every thing at retail prices. I recently bought a lot of large split locust posts for this purpose at half price because they were crooked. I have recently examined a combined fence which is giving excellent satisfaction, in which the posts are sixty-six feet apart. Sawed oak stakes two inches square are driven a foot FENCE WITH POSTS SIXTY-SIX FEET APART. into the ground every six feet and the wires are stapled to these stakes, and between the two upper wires a strip of board three inches wide is nailed to the stakes. These are not continuous, but each board is nailed to two stakes and is independent of the others. This fence looks well and turns stock perfectly. In making wire fence of any kind the end posts must be thoroughly braced. Set large posts deep and firm for the ends, and at the distance of eight or ten feet from them set others. Then cut a notch near the top of your end post, and cut your brace so that the bottom will set against the second post, just below the surface of the ground. This brace should be of lasting timber and well fitted. There is another form of combined wire and board fence be- ing built which turns all stock even pigs. In this fence two boards are used at the bottom and two barbed wires above. With this fence only one long post is needed to each two panels of fourteen or sixteen feet each. A short post, projecting two feet above HOW TO BRACE A POST. COMBINED WIRE AND BOARD FENCE. FARM FENCING. 45 the ground will be needed to splice the boards on, while a good stake in the center of each panel will be all that is required. I estimate the cost of this fence to be about forty cents a rod less than that of a four board fence with a post every eight feet. I would, nail the bottom board eight inches above the ground, and bank up; then a four-inch crack between the two boards and this would bring the top of the second board two feet above the level of the ground. Put the first wire eight inches above the board and the second sixteen inches above the first. As plain wire costs but half as much as barbed, and is per- fectly safe, it is preferred by many for fences. I have seen a fence of this kind made with seven wires, and posts thirty-six feet apart with an upright of inch board stapled on every four feet, and the 'owner assured me that it turned all stock. The saving in the cost of wire over boards would be about twenty- five cents per rod, and the saving in posts would be considerably more than this. Next we have the wire and slat fence, which is economical from the fact that refuse lumber can be used in making it. Old WOVEN-WIRB SIjAT fence. boards which have been used until rotten at the post so that they will no longer hold nails, are often sound between the posts, and can be cut up and used in this fence and will last for many years, or the farmer with timber that will split freely — oak or hickory is excellent — can rive out slats. It is sometimes made with boards but three feet long and a barbed wire stretched above it. In making this fence, slats of any width from two inches up to six or eight may be used. Two plain wires are stretched eight inches above the ground and two 46 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. I/OOU FOE WEAV- Tjiy,^ ia ING IN SI.ATS. others about thirty-two inches higher up. These are not stapled to the posts but are stretched tight enough to keep them to their place. As the tension will need to be changed as the work progresses, it is a good plan to attach the wires to a sled loaded with stone, and by moving the sled either way the tension can be increased or lessened. It is advisable that the wires run on the side of the posts next the prevailing winds. After the wires are in place the slats are woven in by means of a simple implement called a loom, and shown in the cut. It will be seen that by taking hold of the lever at the top and giving a half turn the wires will be made to cross each other, and then by reversing the motion you cross them back again. The secret of making a good 'fence of this to have every slat driven tight and snug, so that the cracks are of uniform width and there shall be no chance for a slat to work loose, for if one slat gets out it allows the rest to slip, and the fence soon becomes shaky. A friend of mine who was inexperienced in making this fence, thought he could save a slat at each post, and so left wide cracks where the fence passed the posts, and soon found it coming to pieces. For the same reason the slats should be seasoned and dry. If you make the fence of green lumber the seasoning process will be likely to shrink them- so that the fence wiU become loose, and the slats work out. After the slats are woven in you attach the fence to the posts by passing a loop of wire around each post at the top, letting it cross the two wires through which the slats pass, including one slat, and securing it by a staple. Where a crack comes opposite a post, so you can staple the wires to it, do so ; and whenever a slat comes fairly against the post put in one or two good fence nails. It is a good plan in building this fence to have a piece of board on the ground to set the slats on, so as to keep the fence level. It seems to me that with these instructions a novice can successfully build this fence. FARM FENCING. 47 Portable Fences. — One great need for the farm is a really good portable fence, which can be taken down and set up easily and rapidly, without injury to the panels. The man who will give us such a fence wiU deserve the gratitude of farmers. I have never yet seen a portable fence that was free from serious objections. Either it would blow over in a gale, or it was made zigzag, and occupied as much space as a rail fence, or it Inust have ground sills, keys, and braces which were in the way or liable to get out of order, or worse still, as is often the case, had no merit or value except that it paid the patent-right man a fee. I think that during the last thirty years half the farmers of my acquaintance have bought the right to use some kind of portable fence, and a search thr.ough a township would not ordi- narily result in finding a quarter of a mile of it in use. In 1878 I invented what I call a Self-supporting Truss Fence. — I have had this fence in use ever since on my farm, and for certain purposes I like it well, and it has grown in favor with me each year I have used it. The principle of this fence, as you wiU see from the cut, is that one panel supports the other. I first tried making it with oak pieces three inches square for the uprights, and . , , 1 r. i /» 1 SELF-SUPPOKTIlfG TKTJSS FENCE. With panels fourteen leet long. I found it was heavy to handle, and that the boards would sag in the middle. I now make it with oak uprights, two inches square, and panels eight feet long. These panels are light and easy to handle, and stand much firmer than if made longer. In exposed situations, when I used the longer panels, this fence was sometimes blown down in a gale, but I have never had the eight-foot panels blown over, although I have for two years used it for a barnyard fence, where it is five feet high. In all exposed situations, I would recommend an occasional stake, as the cost would be very small and the advantage great. All that would be necessary would be to drive a stake in the notch once in two rods, or every fourth panel, and drive a fence 48 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. nail through the board into it. The cost of this would not ex- ceed a dollar and a half for forty rods of fence, as it would require but twenty stakes, worth not more than five cents each, and they could be driven down in two hours. A still cheaper way to guard against wind, is to drive short stakes against the brace boards, near the outer part of the upright. Let the stake come up a foot above the ground, and drive a nail through it into the upright. When this fence is to be put up to stand some years, I would recom- mend that it be made but three boards high, and ^ that a barbed wire be TRUSS FENCE WITH STAKES AND wiRp. stretchod ovor It, and fastened to the stakes. There would only need to be posts used at the ends, as the stakes set in the notches would be held firmly by the fence which would be nailed to them. If before setting up this fence a few furrows were thrown together so as to raise the land six inches above the level of the field, and leave a shal- low ditch each side, I think that three boards and a wire would turn a breachy mule. This fence is not strictly portable, but it can be taken apart and moved without disturbing the panels, and quite rapidly. We do not fasten the tops of the uprights together at all, as we find that the short brace-boards nailed to the uprights hold it perfectly. If you are putting up the fence for temporary use, I would not nail it to the stakes at all, but would drive them on alternate sides, and one to every sixteen feet. In this case cheap stakes would be sufficient, as there would be no danger of their rotting off. One great advantage of a fence of this kind is that it can be made in the barn or shop during the leisure of winter or on stormy days when outside work can not be done, and it can be set up when the ground is frozen, or when so wet that it would be impossible to dig post holes and set posts. Even if you make the fence full height without the wire, it will take but three feet of lumber for the uprights for each panel, and this costs you but one-third as much as a good post. We also save FARM FENCING. 49 the expense of digging holes and setting posts, and, besides, gain the advantage mentioned above, of doing most of the work in bad weather. I have never put up a long string of this fence at one time, but I know that two men can set up a quarter of a mile of it in a day. The cost of the brace-boards will be very little, as they can be cut from waste lumber. In making this fence you will want a mitre-box for sawing your uprights. The tops of the uprights should fit exactly when the panels are set up, so as to give the proper spread at the bottom. For a three-board fence that is to have wire and stakes to complete it, two feet will be ample spread for the bottom. My barn-yard fence, which is five boards high, has a spread of three feet. You will measure carefully, and get your first panel squared and spaced exactly right, and then use it for a pattern, laying the cross-pieces and boards exactly above the ones on your pattern. When you wish to move a line of this fence, loosen one end, and take it apart by lifting the panel and twisting it around at right angles with the fence, as in this way you will break the nails without splitting so many of the brace-boards. I should not consider it expensive to move the fence, however, if you split half of the short boards, as new ones would cost but little, and the split pieces would be worth nearly cost for kindling. In sawing the brace-boards you wUl save lumber and work to reverse the board each cut. I think the cost of moving a fence of this kind, even if new brace-boards must be furnished, would be less than to move a rail-fence of the same length. The bot- toms of the uprights can be placed on a flat stone, or piece of board, to keep them from decay. I feel quite sure that, if farmers will give this fence a trial, they will find it cheap, and, in many places, the best fence they can get for the money. Fence Rows. — There are many farms marred by the neg- lected fence-rows, where sprouts and briers hold undisputed sway. These should be cleaned out, and kept cleaned, and in doing this, "a stitch in time will save nine." Do not wait till a wilderness has grown up, but go over the row, spring and fall, and cut or grub whatever has made its appearance. Line-fences 4 50 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. are most often neglected in this manner. If you have any such, make an arrangement with your neighbor by which the fence shall be set over a few feet, one way or the other, till the row is cleaned out and the briers and weeds thoroughly sub- dued, when it can be put back. Whatever other fences you neglect, be sure and keep good line-fences, for this goes a great ways towards making good neighbors. If, by accident, your neighbor's stock trespasses on you, try and keep your temper, for to lose this often involves the loss of a friend, and causes years of unhappiness. If your stock trespass upon your neigh- bor, oflPer to pay him the fuU damage, and do your best to pre- vent a repetition of the offense. "Water-gaps and Flood-gates are on many farms a great vexation to the fence-builder. Where the banks are high and firm enough to support a pole, and not so far apart but that one can be found to reach, it is not a difficult matter to put up a swing-gate; but, when abutments must be built, the difficulty is greatly increased. I have hit upon a plan for an abutment which is cheap and dura- ble, and in many cases will answer the purpose admirably: Get an oak hogshead, such as is used for shipping crockery; take it to the blacksmith's, and have it hooped with old wagon- tire, and place it where you need the support for your pole. In some cases you wUl need to dig a little to settle it, or, if the bottom is sandy or mucky, to drive a row of stakes around it, at a little distance, to protect it. After it is in place fill it with stone. If your abutment needs to be higher than the hogshead, you can buUd flat stone up two or three feet above it. If you wish to make it extra strong and permanent, mix thin mortar — one part lime to four of sharp sand — and pour it in to fill the interstices and bind the stone together. Such an abutment is cheap, and the rounded surface of the hogshead presents but A GOOD WATER-GAP. FARM FENCING. 51 little resistance to the water, and, unless undermined, it is not liable to be washed away. The best way I have found to attach the gate to the pole is shown in the cut. Use oak pieces, two by four inches, for the uprights ; bore an inch-hole near the top to pass the chain through, and suspend them with chains. The pieces need not be more than four feet long, and the chains must suit in length the distance from the pole to the bed of the stream. After passing them through the uprights the chains should be attached to the pole by driving large spikes through a link into it on the lower, or down-stream, side. The chains must then pass over the pole, and hang down on the upper side. This will make them draw across the pole, and relieve the strain on the spikes. Before putting up the uprights they should be bored, with a three-eighth bit, where the boards are to go on. Place the boards on the upper side, and bolt them with strong carriage- bolts and good washers. If the gap is one where there is a swift current, and likely to be much water, it is best to use oak boards. It is cheaper, in the long run, to pay two or three dollars for a good locust pole than to take a sappy elm, or some other timber that will soon rot. Where only cattle are to be fenced against, barbed wires may often be stretched across a stream, and will make the cheapest and best fence in such a location. Farm-gates. — It is not as common as it was a few years ago to see rickety bars in use on the farm, or, what is worse, a panel of rail-fence opened to get into a field; but gates are not yet as plenty as they should be. There should be a gate of some kind in every line of fence, so that you can always get from one field to another without going too far out of the way, or having to open a fence. Our illustration shows what is called the lift-gate. These have come into general use, and have almost entirely superseded bars, and are a good substitute for other gates in all places where a gate will only be used one or two days in a week. It should always be made of the lightest material consistent with strength. There should be a piece of board, one or two feet long, under 52 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. A I/IFT-GATE. the end of the gate, which yoa swing around, and the other end should rest on a round stick, as there will be less friction as it pivots around. Two of the boards should project four inches at the end of the gate you open, so as to pass between the stakes and hold the gate to its place. In opening this gate you slide it back till clear of the post or stakes, and then carry the end around while the other pivots be- tween the stakes. You will notice that, at the hinge end, the stakes are not set opposite each other, but angling. This is to enable the gate to be swung open without binding. There are some places on every farm where good, permanent gates will be needed, and these should be well made, of good material, and well hung to a good post, firmly set. It were better to make a lift-gate than to hang a gate to spindling-posts, so set as to lean out of perpendicular as soon as the ground becomes soft, or to put up a gate made of soft lumber, badly braced, and so put together as to become loose and rickety in a few months. I would recommend that the lumber for a gate be thoroughly seasoned and planed. The cheapest and best way to make it is to bolt it together, using washers with the bolts. Use long strap-hinges, and put an extra strip on the gate where each hinge goes to bolt the hinges to. Before hanging give the gate two good coats of paint. To make a gate in this way no mortises will be needed, but I would recommend hard wood for the slats, which take the place of the uprights in the framed gate. When the gate is hung, put up- a post, or strong stake, for it to swing against when open, and have a strap or hook to fasten it, so that it will not blow against your team or wagon-wheels as you pass through on a windy day. Always arrange a rest for the gate, so that, when open or closed, the weight will not hang on the hinges, but rest on the bottom. This rest may be a smooth stone or a piece of scantling, and should be placed so as to slope a little towards the gate, so that it will gradually receive its weight. FARM FENCING. 5 3 This plan, which will not take five minutes to arrange, will relieve the gate and post of much strain. Wherever a permanent gate is needed it will pay to have a good post well set. It is of more importance to have it of good size below ground than above. A locust tree that will square six or eight inches, dug up by the roots, will have a base large enough to set firmly. It should be put in the ground not less tjian forty inches and well tamped. Always hang the gate high, not less than eight inches above the level, and then with broken stone and fine gravel make an easy grade on both sides to the gate. This will prevent it from dragging or being im- peded by snow and wiU insure a solid road-bed through the gateway, and drainage which will lead the water away. I think that nine gates out of ten are hung too near the ground. The best fastening for a gate is a wooden latch made of hard wood and so hung that, whenever the gate is swung to, it will spring into the mortise in the post made to receive it. A gate properly made, well hung to a good post, with a well graded roadway, will cost quite a sum, but will last for years and be a comfort every time you must pass through it; and counting time lost and repairs, the gate illy made and badly hung, which must be dragged around through a mud hole, will cost more in the long run. I find it a decided advantage to have small gates at the barn-yard to pass through to milk and feed, and to turn the cattle in and out. For this purpose a gate three and a half feet wide is as good as a wide one and is much easier to handle and not likely to get out of repair. By having gates of this kind at the barn-yard, lift-gates can be used for the wagon-way. 54 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter III. KA.R]Vt DRAINAGE. IT is a fact well known to the farmer that uniformly good crops can only be grown on a well drained soil. While a good start has been made in the drainage of our farm lands during the present generation, it is only a start, and there yet remains in all parts of the country much land which would be improved by drainage. Probably, under a better system of farming, we shall see much of our upland drained which is not at present thought to need it. A large per cent of our uplands are retentive of water, and slow to dry out in the spring, so as to be in fit condition to work, and the farmer must often wait till the cool, favorable weather of April has passed, and hot weather has come, before he can plow these lands. Under these conditions his team suffers with the heat and heavy work of breaking the land, and, without great care and labor, it is likely to dry and bake in bad condition, so as to render it im- possible to grow a heavy crop. Advantages of Drainage. — Farmers who have drained extensively have found many benefits from it which would not be thought of by those who have no practical experience in the matter. Dr. Townshend, who was one of the first farmers in the West to drain with tile, gave in a lecture on this subject the following points of advantage gained by thorough drainage. 1st. It deepens the soil. 2d. It prevents the killing out of the best grasses and the bringing in of sedges in their place. 3d. It makes the land warmer. 4th. It improves the texture of soils. FARM DRAINAGE. 55 5th. It enables us to work our lands much earlier in the spring. 6th. It prevents washing and waste of manure. 7th. It prevents wheat and other winter grain from freez- ing out. To these I would add that it prevents failure of crops in excessively wet seasons, and enables them to endure drought better. It also saves time, as the farmer whose lands are drained can not only work them earlier in the spring, but also gain a day or more after each heavy rain. How Drainage Helps the Soil. — To understand how drainage can accomplish all the points claimed above, some of which seem to be incompatible with each other, it will be neces- sary for us to consider some of the characteristics of the soil and the conditions of successful plant growth. No soil can produce useful crops when it is permanently sat- urated with water. Even the cultivated grasses will perish, and nothing but reeds, rushes, and sedges grow. The best condition of soil for plant growth is that in which the particles of soil are moist but with no standing water between them. Our figures show the difference between dry, wet, and drained soils as seen under a magni- fying glass. A soil is made up of small particles thrown together mis- cellaneously, having small spaces be- tween them, like a sponge. There are also small pores and cells in the par- ticles themselves. Fig. 1 shows a dry soil, there being no moisture either between the particles or in them, but all the cavities filled with air alone. As moisture is a prime essential for the growth of plants, it is evident that the seed a can not germinate nor plants gi'ow in a soil in this condition. Pig. 2 shows a block of soil saturated with water, and here both pores and cells are filled with water. In a FIG. 1.— DRY SOIL. 56 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. soil in this condition no cultivated plant can long grow. Fig. 3 shows the condition of a drained soil ; you will notice that while the pores in the particles are filled with moist- ure, the spaces between them are filled with air, and this is the best condition for plant growth, for the roots have access to both air and moisture, and these FIG. 2.— WET SOIL. FIG. 3— DRAINED SOIL. are neces- sary to produce the chemical changes in the soil which prepare the food for the plant. Soils vary greatly in the amount of water they will hold by absorption, and a well di-ained soil is not necessarily a dry one. Oareful experiment has shown that one hun- dred pounds of soil would retain the following weight of water which would not flow off by drainage. Sand, 25 lbs. Loamy soil, . . . . . . . . . 40 " Clay loam, 50 " Pure clay, 70 " Garden mould, ........ 89 " Having seen why a drained soil furnishes the most favor- able conditions of plant growth, let us look in detail at the points of advantage claimed for it. Drainage deepens the soil by allowing sun and air to pene- trate it, and thus chemical action is induced. Every intelligent farmer knows that a crude and unproductive subsoil, when brought to the surface, is soon changed in color and texture 'by atmospheric action, and, although at first nearly barren, will finally become fertile. An excellent illustration is furnished by the brick-yards of my locality, where the subsoil is a stifi", red- dish clay. I have known all the soil removed, and a field to lie barren for a few years, but finally to become productive from FARM DRAINAGE. 57 the chemical changes wrought upon it. Precisely this is accom- plished in the soil by drainage; for, as we lower the water-line and admit the air and warmth, this chemical action is induced. Still another way in which drainage deepens the soil is by enabling the roots to penetrate the subsoil, and by their decay they form humus, which is one of the most important ingredi- ents of a fertile soil. The character and value of humus will be explained in another chapter. The fact is well known to every observant farmer that only the sedges and coarser plants will flourish on a soil saturated with water. The growth of flags, sedges, skunk cabbage, etc., is one of the signs nature hangs out, like a flag of distress, to show that the land needs to be drained. When such soils are drained, these worthless plants die out, and are replaced by those of value to the farmer. Underdraining makes the land warmer, by admitting the warm air to the soil, for, as nature never allows a vacuum, as fast as the water is drawn off", the air penetrates and warms the soil. A dry soil is warmer than a wet one, because evaporation is avoided. Science teaches us that the evaporation of one pound of water requires more than five times as much heat as would be needed to raise the same amount from the freezing to the boiling point. We have many illustrations of the truth of this, as, for example, the water in a jug will remain cool as long as it is kept wrapped in wet flannel. Perspiration on the body, by its evaporation, keeps us cool, and enables us to endure heat that would soon be fatal if it were not for this wise arrangement of Providence. If the water which falls upon a field must be removed by evaporation, it is easy to see that the heat which otherwise would warm the soil, and fit it for pushing the growth of plants, must be expended in evaporating the water. Many tests have been made with the thermometer, and the temperature of the drained field has been shown, during the spring, to be several degrees higher than that of the undrained. A drained soil can be plowed much earlier in the Spring than an undrained one, and, as a loose soil admits sun and air, and 58 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. warms up much sooner than a compact one, we see another reason why the drained soil is warmer. Drainage improves the texture of the soil, as already indi- cated, by allowing greater chemical action, and by producing a better mechanical condition, and also because, by lengthening the season, it enables the farmer to prepare his land more thoroughly. In other words, a weU-drained soil will not only be found in such a condition that the work of preparation will be more effectual, but, as the work can be begun earlier, the farmer will not only have more time in which to do it, but more favorable conditions. If the plows can be started in March, and the breaking finished early in April, the weather will usually be cool, and the work much easier for the teams. Land plowed at this sea- son does not dry and bake quickly, as when it is done later, after the hot weather comes. It also undergoes some changes, which make it crumble more readily, and the farmer whose land has been plowed early has abundant time to pulverize his soil and get it in good condition. All these causes combine to give a better condition of soil on the well-drained farm. It is. difficult to estimate the importance of the lengthened season which drainage gives. For several years business led me to travel the length of Ohio, from north to south, in early spring, and the contrast was striking. Several counties through which I passed in the south-western part of the State are nat- urally and artificially well drained, and here the spring work would be well advanced, gardens made, oats coming up, and most of the corn land plowed. When I reached the flat coun- ties, where little, if any, attention had been paid to drainage, often as late as the first- of May not a furrow had been plowed, and water would be seen standing on the fields, and the outlook was most discouraging. The effect of frost is disastrous on undrained lands, both in spring and fall, as the land cools so rapidly by evaporation that the fruit and gardens are often killed on such lands when they do not suflFer at all on drained lands. Thus the season is shortened at both ends. My garden, which is thoroughly FARM DRAINAGE. 59 underdrained, is an excellent illustration of the eflfect of drainage in lengthening the season and enabling plants to withstand cold. I usually find it dry enough to work the last week in February or first in March, and though mercury often goes down to within ten degrees of zero after it is planted, I have never lost hardy vegetables, such as peas, cabbage, beets, etc. In the fall, also, corn, tomatoes, and lima beans usually remain green for weeks after they are killed on flat, wet lands of the neighborhood. On soils well underdrained, there will be less damage from washing and less waste of the manure dropped by the stock, for the earth will take more water and less will run off at the surface, and water that percolates through the soil, leaves much fertilizing material which would be lost if it flowed off in the runs. Drainage prevents winter grain and clover from freezing out, for this is not ordinarily caused by simple cold, but by the ex- pansion of the soil, which freezes when full of water and breaks the roots, thus destroying the plants. The claim that drainage prevents failure of crops in both wet and dry seasons may seem paradoxical, but a little study will, I think, make the matter plain. It is easy to understand how it helps land in a wet season, but to many it is not so clear how it will help in a dry season. It enables the farmer to thoroughly pulverize the soil. A fine surface acts as a mulch which retains the moisture ; also, by capillary attraction it draws moisture from below. This principle of capillary attraction is illustrated by the lamp-wick which draws up the oil. Our most severe droughts often follow exceedingly wet weather, and the land saturated with water can not be mellowed in time, but bakes and dries and ruins the crop. On the other hand, the drained soil discharges its surplus water through the drain much quicker, and leaves the land in better condition, and it can be planted or cultivated enough sooner, so as often to make all the difference between a good and poor crop. On the drained soil the roots will extend to a much greater depth, thus enabling the plants to endure drought much better than if they were near the surface. 60 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. When to Drain. — On most soils the best time to drain will be in the early spring, when the land is wet enough to spade easily, and the water will follow in the drain, but the work may be done in autumn, or at any time during an open winter. When draining is done in the winter care must be taken to lay the tile and cover it as soon as possible, or the freez- ing and thawing of the banks will cause them to cave and ob- struct the drain. What Lands need Draining. — The first land the far- mer should drain, if he can not be at the expense of a general system of drainage for his farm, is the swales or low places through his cultivated fields. On many of our best upland farms these are quite common, and they usually angle through the fields, making them a bad shape and causing quite a loss of time in cultivating, and become nurseries of foul seeds. These swales are often found on farms which are otherwise comparatively dry. There is usually sufiicient fall, and they can be cheaply and easily drained, and I have often known the entire expense paid in a single crop. There was on Bastview Farm when I bought it one hundred and fifty rods of these swales, too wet to be cultivated, and in the spring of the year often too soft to cross with a wagon. They grew only flags and sedges, and as they angled through my best fields with a width varying from two to six rods, it is easy to see how great a disadvantage they were to the farm. By draining these, from three to four acres of the best land on the farm was rendered productive, and as, in favorable years, it has produced thirty bushels of wheat, or eighty of corn, to the acre, and the entire cost of draining was less than one hundred dollars, it can be seen that it has been largely profitable. Before laying tile in these swales, a careful examination of the adjoining lands should be made to decide whether, at some future time, it will be profitable to drain them and use these drains as mains, and if it is probable that this will be the case, tile large enough to receive all the water that is to be brought to them should be laid. Most flat lands under cultivation, which are not underlaid with gravel, will pay for draining, as the natural drainage is too FARM DRAINAGE. 61 slow in the spring to fit them for the growth of plants as early as they ought to be planted. Without drainage there is often a temptation to plow and cultivate them too wet, and this results in poor crops and. permanent injury to the soil. I have little doubt that it would be found profitable to drain all lands having a stiff subsoil in which, during the spring, or after a rain, the water collects if a hole two or three feet deep is dug. It will often be found profitable to underdrain even rolling lands. It is, of course, wise for the farmer to drain first his wet- test lands, such as without drainage will not produce grain at all; but after this is done he should experiment with his drier lands, and see if he can not invest his money better in draining them than in something outside of his business. The size of tile to use is a matter which will require good judgment, and I do not think any general rule can be laid down, for where there is a heavy fall a tile will carry considerably more water than where the fall is slight. If the tile is laid deep it will not need to be so large as if shallow, for the land will hold a large amount of water, which wiU not, for a time, interfere with the growing crops, and we can, therefore, take a longer time to remove it. From Mr. Billingsly's work on drainage I copy the following : " For drains not more than five hundred feet long a two-inch tile will drain two acres ; a three-inch tile will drain five acres, and should not be of greater length than one thousand feet ; a four- inch tile will drain twelve acres ; a five-inch tile will drain twenty acres ; a six-inch tile will drain forty acres ; a seven- inch tile will drain sixty acres." This calculation is made for a drain three feet deep, and for flat lands, with three inches' fall to the hundred feet. Where a fall of from eight inches, to a foot could be had in this distance, the carrying capacity of the drain would be increased one-third or more. The longer the drain the larger tile will be needed, the grade being the same. The size of the tile may diminish toward the upper end of the main drain, as the amount of water will be much less. In deter- mining the size of tile needed it should be borne in mind that the capacities of tiles laid upon the same grade are to each other 62 THE PEOPLE 'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. as the squares of their diameters. Thus the capacity of a two- inch tile is to that of a four-inch as four to sixteen. I would not advise the use of smaller tile than three-inch, except for short laterals. It is better to err by laying Jarger tile than are needed than smaller, for in this case the only loss is the extra cost of the tile, while if those too small are used it may involve the taking up of the entire drain." While general directions can be given, the intelligent farmer will understand that they must be varied to suit the circum- stances by which he is surrounded. The work of drainage should not be entered upon without careful planning and forethought, as it is costly, aud, unless properly done, will not prove a profitable investment. There are many farms where the fall is so good that the farmer will need no assistance from an engineer, as the lay of the land wiU show where the mains and laterals are needed, and it will be an easy matter to lay out a system of drains. On other farms there may be but little fall, and difficulties to overcome which will require skill and experience. Under these circumstances it would be folly for the inexperienced farmer to trust to his own judgment, but he should employ an engineer, and have the work all mapped out for him, and the grades estab- lished. A map of the drains, which will enable the farmer to locate every line of drain on his farm, should be carefully pre- served, as it may be of great benefit in case of any obstruc- tion which will render it necessary to take up a section of the drain. Material for Drains. — ^AU sorts of make-shifts have been resorted to in underdraining. Stone, gravel, boards, rails, brush, etc., have been used and recommended, but nothing has stood the test of time but tile. These should be well burned, so as to ring when struck with a piece of metal, and should be made from good clay, and be smooth inside, so as to offer the least resist- ance to the flow of water. Reject all that are soft or much curved, or twisted out of shape by excessive heat in burning. The best shape for tile is round inside, and either round or hexagonal outside, so that they can be turned any side up in FARM DRAINAGE. 63 laying, as this will enable you to lay them more easily, and gives greater capacity for the material used. Some tile-makers make tile with a flat bottom. These are not only more difficult to lay than the round, but are more likely to become obstructed, as the broad, flat channel offers better facilities for the deposit of sediment. There has recently been introduced a concrete tile which is made in the ditch by a simple machine. This method of drain- ing promises well, but has not yet been introduced or tested sufficiently to enable me to pronounce upon it. The tile is made of the best quality of hydraulic cement, lime, and coarse sand. These are mixed so as to make a stiff mortar, which is fed into the machine through a hopper, and comes out at the rear of the machine a continuous pipe, smooth inside and out. By means of a trowel made for the purpose, this is cut into sections of any desired length, in such a way as to leave the bottom continuous, and give sufficient crevices to admit the water. The pipe will harden in a day so as to bear the weight of the earth used in filling. When hardened this tilfe appears as durable as stone. Neither the machine or material is expensive, and should further trial show it to be as good as it appears, it will doubtless be largely introduced. Open Ditches. — ^While there are many disadvantages con- nected with open ditches, and the farmer is fortunate whose land is in such shape that he can do without them, it is often necessary that they should be made to give an outlet for tile drains. The large seed farms of D. M. Perry & Co., near De- troit, Michigan, are all drained into an open ditch which is lo- cated along the ave!nue. This gave a sufficient fall to thoroughly drain several hundred acres of land which could not have been drained otherwise. When it is necessary to have an open ditch it should be properly made or it will fail to answer the purpose for which it it is intended and wiU become a nursery of weeds and briers, seeding the farm and greatly disfiguring it. A ditch three feet deep should be not less than twelve feet wide at the top with the sides properly graded, and the earth taken out should not be left 64 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. in a ridge along the side of the ditch, but should be spread evenly over the adjoining land. The sloping sides should be sown in grass and mowed ; and if weeds or sprouts grow in the bottom of the ditch they should be cut and burned. An open ditch can be con- AN OPEN DITCH. structed and managed in this way so as to give an outlet for the water from the tile and with comparatively little waste of land. Much of the work can be done with the plow and scraper. Where an open ditch is badly constructed, made too narrow, with steep sides, and the earth thrown out left in piles, it can not give good satisfaction, or be kept clean with any reasonable amount of labor. Open drains wiU not prove satis- factory as a substitute for tile drains, but only in connection with them, and should never be resorted to where they can be avoided. They are expensive to construct ; wasteful of land ; and will require considerable labor each year to keep in good condition. They will also be impassable for the teams unless bridged, and must often angle through the fields. Wherever a tile drain can be put in without having an open ditch through the farm, it should always be done. The requisites of a good tile drain are : 1st. Good durable tile of sufficient size. 2d. A free outlet. 3d. The grade must be regular. Depth and Distance Apart of Drains. — ^No general rule can be given as to the depth at which tile should be laid, as this must to some extent be governed by the character of the soil and lay of the land. On Eastview Farm we strike lime- stone in many places at a depth of two feet or less, and have never been able to lay tile deeper than two feet, and these drains have given good satisfaction. Where there is fall enough and a good outlet, and the soil is such as to admit of spading, I would recommend three feet, as the extra cost of the deeper FARM DRAINAGE. 65 digging would be more than balanced by the fact that the drains could be put farther apart. I should not be deterred from draining, however, even though the stone came so near the surface that I could only lay the tile twenty inches deep. I have tiles laid at this depth that have done good service for twenty years and have never given me any trouble. As to the distance apart, I am inclined to think that the usual directions call for more drains than are necessary. War- ing in his book on drainage recommends "that drains four feet deep be laid from forty to fifty feet apart and on retentive clays even as close as eighteen feet, and that there are few soils which need draining at all on which it will be safe to place four foot drains at much wider intervals than forty feet." Professor Mapes says "three-foot drains should be placed twenty feet apart, and for each foot added to the depth the distance may be doubled." Mr. Billingsly in his recent work on drainage says : " In our experience, drains placed one hundred feet apart on loamy soils and three and a half feet deep, will thoroughly drain the soil. If, however, the soil is very retentive, especially near the surface, a distance of fifty to seventy-five feet may be required to give thorough drainage." So far as my own experience ,goes I should agree with Mr. Billingsly rather than the other authors quoted. I have on my own farm had the fact demon- strated that a drain but two feet deep will affect the land to a greater distance than is commonly supposed. The subsoil on my farm is a stiff, yellow clay, and in my earlier draining I laid my laterals two rods apart, as I could only place them two feet deep. Near the head of my drains which flow south-east, w^e reach a level, and in a few rods the land falls to the north-west, and here I have another line of tile running to the north-west, the head of it being twenty rods from the head of the drain flowing in the opposite direction. Immediately north of the line of drain which flows south-east, and east of the head of the drain which flows to the north-west, is an acre of land belonging to a neighbor .and which is about eight inches lower than my land south and west of it. Before I put in these drains this land 66 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. was flooded every winter and often till late in the spring, but these drains have relieved it of water so that now it grows good crops and can be plowed as early in the spring as the re- mainder of the field, which is rolling, with good natural sur- face drainage. My nearest line of tile is about forty feet from the edge of it, and considerably more than one hundred from the center of it. There are two more laterals parallel with the one mentioned and thirty-three and sixty-six feet farther away from the line between me and my neighbor, as I put in three parallel lines running to the main ditch. These drains, although laid much shallower than is usually recommended, have removed the surplus water from a strip fully double the distance that most of our .writers recommend. In my own judgment the cases are rare where it would be necessary to lay the laterals nearer than one hundred feet. The Outlet. — The first consideration in drainage is the outlet. The English call it the "outfall," which name is very appropriate as there must be a fall to carry away the water and keep the mouth clear or the drain will not long continue to do good work. More drains are ruined from lack of a good outlet at the start or from neglect to properly finish the mouth of the ditch than from all other causes combined. Whatever the expense, necessary drains must be opened and a way pro- vided for the water to flow from the mouth of the tile with perfect freedom, or the drain will fail to give satisfac- tion and will be in danger of becoming worthless. I have often seen drains so located A FAULTY OUTLET. that au outlay of from three to five dollars would have opened a clear way for the water to es- cape, but instead of doing this, a barrel or box had been sunk, and so arranged that the water had to rise a foot or more above the tile and then flow off. Now if the fall were six inches to the hundred feet, this would back the water two hundred feet up the tile, not only raising the water line to a level with the FARM DRAINAGE. 67 A GOOD OUTLET. top of the barrel but also making it certain that sediment would be deposited. Our cut on page 66 shows a faulty outlet with the line of saturation in the soil extending back up the line of drain. The outlet of every drain should be pro- tected from stock and al- so from ver- m i n. The best way is to build a •good wall of stone, which should extend down so as to have a firm foundation, and an iron grate should be built in so as to protect the mouth of the tile from the en- trance of rabbits, muskrats, etc. Laying Out the Drains. — Having selected the outlet, which will usually be indicated by the natural course of the sur- face water, you should lay out your drains before beginning the work of digging. Each field will need a different arrangement of drains, suited to the lay of the land. In one field a single main will answer, with laterals extending on either side and the size of the tile in the main may decrease as yOu approach the head. In another field two or more mains may be necessary which can all be brought to the same outlet, or such mains may enter the principal main some distance above its mouth. The straighter we can lay off" our drains, the better, because there will be less friction when the water flows straight, and a straight line being the shortest distance between two points, it will take less tile; and if in mapping the drain the points of angles are established, by stretching a line the exact line of the drain can at once be determined, if it is necessary to open it for examination. Most works on drainage give elaborate directions for level- ing, and cuts of various instruments to be used for the purpose. 68 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. I agree with Mr. W. I. Chamberlain, one of our best modern writers on drainage, when he says : " The soil water is the poor man's theodolite and level." As previously stated, if the fall is slight, or there are unusual difficulties to overcome, I would secure the services of a competent engineer; but otherwise I would lay out the, drains according to the slope of the land, and dig them when the water would follow, and level by it. If the water will flow after the first spade of earth is removed, it will be easier to establish the grade at this point than at the bottom of the ditcli. It is wise to begin the work at a time when there is enough water in the soil to flow through the drain, as this will not only enable you to get the grade right, but the ground will spade much easier than when dry and hard. Silt-Basins. — Where the lay of the land is such that sub- mains must join the main drain, a silt-basin should be located to receive them. It may be described as a small well, and may be made of stone, brick, or wood. It may be of such size as suits, but should always be at least one foot deeper than the bottom of the drain; and the top of the tile at the outlet should not be higher than the bottom of those through which the water flows into it. This will enable us to unite several drains entering at different angles without the objectionable feature of short turns. It also permits the set- tling of any sediment that may find its way, into the tile, where it can be easily removed. The basin should be thor- oughly made, and have a tight-fitting cover. This silt-basin, if properl}'^ made and protected, can be used as a well, and will furnish good drinking water for men and horses whenever the drains are flowing. It is best to construct these basins at points where the grade suddenly changes from a steep to a less one. Whether silt-basins will be needed at all, or how many of them, will be A SIIiT-BASIN. FARM DRAINAGE. 69 w determined by the nature of the soil and number of branches to the drain. In a firm clay soil there may be little or no deposits of silt after the drain has been in operation for a short time ; but in sandy soils, or those streaked with sand, quite an amount of silt will ^4\^, n^I^ find its way into the tile for some " time. I would always advise their use where, as shown in the cut, several drains must be brought together. Digging the Ditch. — The tools necessary to do good work several drains traiTED at a silt-basin. are : First — A ditching-spade for the first spading ; this has a blade eighteen inches long, a little narrower than the common spade, and slightly curved, so as to enable it to hold the earth and lift it out. Second — A tile-spade, which is narrower than the ditching-spade, and tapers towards the point. Third — A -pull-scoop, or tile-hoe, for cleaning the bottom of the ditch. These spades are familiar to our readers, and are kept on sale by most hardware dealers ; but, as the tile-hoe is not so com- mon, we give a cut of it below. The narrower the ditch can be dug the less weight of earth must be handled. The sides should be cut smooth, and slanting to the bottom, which should only be dug wide enough to receive the tile. In good soil, which can be spaded, a ditch need not be over ten or twelve inches wide at the top. If the land is so hard that a pick must be used, it may be necessary to have the ditch much wider at the top, but it should always slant to the width of the tile at the bottom. It is best to lay the tile by hand, although, if the bottom is soft, it can be done from the A TILE-HOE OR PULL-SCOOP. gurface wlth a tile-hook; but, if the bottom is firm and hard, the workman may stand on the tile 70 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. already laid, first covering them with moist clay to the depth of six inches, and pressing it firmly about them. This clay can be sliced from the sides of the ditch with a spade. Great pains should be taken in laying the tile to see that they fit exactly, as the current will be greatly impe|^ed and the danger of obstruc- tion increased if there are inequalities in the line. There is no danger whatever of laying them so close that the water can not enter. ^ With a good team and plow the first ten inches of the drain can be dug more expeditiously and with less labor by plowing; and in filling the ditch after the first six inches of earth is put on, the horse can often be tised to advantage, either to turn the soil in with the bar plow or to loosen it with the cultivator, so that it wUl shovel easily. All the earth should be piled on the drain, as it wUl be needed when it settles. If the drain is in low land where the water is likely to gather during a heavy rain, a channel must be cut for it at one side, if possible, until the earth has settled, or there will be danger of the tile being washed out. All these necessary precautions should be attended to at once, as if neglected then, they are often never done and the entire work may be endangered. The upper end of the last tile should always be closed with a flat stone or brick before filling. In a clay soil no covering of the joints wiU be neces- sary, but in sandy, as other loose land, it may be needed, and nothing better can be had for the purpose than pieces of sod cut from a stiff clay soil, but fine hay will answer. Spouty places are sometimes encountered where the bottom of the drain is so yielding that the tile can not be laid evenly. In such places a fence board can be placed in the bottom, or if good gravel can be had, enough of it can be placed in the drain to give a solid foundation. It is best to deaden or remove all trees from the line of the drain, and willows are especially dan- gerous. Experience has shown that it is not safe to have a willow tree within seventy-five feet. If these trees are left near the drain they will often in two years entirely fill it with fibrous roots. The elm is nearly as bad as the willow. If the drain has been properly constructed and aU trees removed, the FAMM DRAINAGE. 71 only care it will need will be to keep the outlet free and attend to emptying the silt basins. Cost of Drainage. — The cost of drainage prevents many farmers from undertaking it at all, but aS it will often add to the permanent profits from the land, and greatly increase its value, the farmer should look upon it as an investment of capital, and often it will prove the best investment he can make. Doubtless there are many farms whose productive capacity might be in- creased fifty per cent by one-fourth the outlay that the pur- chase of one-half more land would cost, and no extra fences or taxes would be called for, or extra teams . to work it required, as in the other case. The entire cost of drainage is often repaid by one or two crops. Professor Townshend, in a lecture on drainage, at the State University of Ohio, made the following statement : " I once underdrained a part of a field at a cost of. $22.50 per acre, and seeded it to wheat, and at harvest it yielded twenty bushels to the acre more than the part of the field not drained. I sold the wheat for $1.25 per bushel, and the extra yield paid all the expense of draining, and left me a little in pocket." A friend, T. B. Barkley, living a few miles from me, in the flat lands of Franklin County, Indiana, in response to my request that he should give me his experience in draining, writes me as follows : " When I took possession of my farm I found a twelve-acre field which my neighbors pronounced barren. They told me that ten bushels of wheat to the acre was the largest crop it had ever grown, and it required a good season to give that, and they ad- vised me to use it for pasture. I determined to drain it, and laid two mains, with five and six inch tile, and five laterals with four inch. My first wheat crop after draining gave me an average of thirty-five bushels to the acre, and at one dollar per bushel, the extra yield of wheat paid double what the draining cost." The cost of draining will vary somewhat in different local- ities, but less than three feet deep, 'in ordinary soil the digging and laying of the tile should not cost above twenty-five cents per rod ; the filling can be done for five cents per rod, and when 72 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. you add the cost of tile, you will know the cost per rod of the work. Mr. Billingsley estimates the cost per acre, with the lat- erals, from sixty to one hundred feet apart, at from fifteen to twenty dollars, and a field may often be sufficiently drained at a much less expense. There are localities where there is, at a depth which can be reached, a strata of gravel, and by digging till this is reached the surface water will sink. This is called perpendicular drainage. Surface drainage should receive attention on all farms, whether underdrained or not. Heavy crops of wheat are often grown on fla|; land by plowing in narrow lands and opening the dead furrows so that the water can escape. More or less wheat is winter-killed annually because the water is allowed to stand on it. Hilly pastures are gullied and ruined also for the want of a little care in dividing the water so that it will pass off in several small streams, instead of allowing it to gather in the low places and form a torrent. Every thing connected with the re- moval of the surplus water from the farm calls for prompt and intelligent action. MANURES. 73 Chapter IV. IvIANURBS. THAT the majority of farmers need to be educated on the subject of making, saving, and applying mamire requires no argument. Look about you in almost any locality, see how small an amount of the land is manured at all, how little intelligence is shown in handling and applying the manure used, how universal the waste of manure, and how large an area is cultivated which does not pay the farmer even fair wages for his labor, and you will agree with me that the work of fertili- zing the farm must begin with the education of the farmer. In writing on this subject I shall not attempt to be scientific, but treat it from the stand-point of the practical farmer. In another chapter you will find the chemical constituents of plants and manures given, and I recommend a careful study of that chapter, for the intelligent farmer should not be willing to live in entire ignorance of a science in which he is so deeply interested. To farm profitably we must maintain the fertility of the soil, and in many cases restore fertility to soils that have been im- poverished by bad management. This necessitates care, econ- omy, and intelligence in saving and applying all the manurial substances at our command. The practical fact meets us that without manure and rotation, our fields produce less from year to year, until they reach a point — ^and many of them have al- ready reached it — when they will yield no profit. It is our custom to speak of such soils as exhausted ; it would be nearer the truth to say that their available plant food was exhausted. When we apply manure to the soil, we do more than furnish it with the amount of potash, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, etc., con- 74 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. tained in the manure we apply, for we start a chemical action by which compounds are formed in the soil, and fertilizing sub- stances which are inert and unavailable, are unlocked and brought within reach of plants. In enriching the farm we should ex- haust home resources before attempting to buy manures. There are thousands of farmers buying manures from the village and drawing it to their farms at heavy expense, or buying commer- cial manures, who have never yet half utilized the sources of plant food on their own farms. How shall we get the most manure on the farm? Not by the system generally practiced, for I think that, on a majority of the farms I have seen, the amount lost is much greater than that which is saved. On many farms the wheat is thrashed in the fields or wood lot, where the straw is left — often for years — to slowly decay. The corn is husked in the fields from the standing stalk, and through the winter the cattle roam over the farm and get a precarious living from the stalk pastures. The manure from the horse stables is thrown out of a window and accumulates in a pile, where it heats and burns out its nitrogen, and is then leached of its more valuable soluble constituents, until it possesses but little value. The hogs are penned for fattening, on some stony knoll or ravine, for the very reason that the rains will wash away their dung and leave them a clean place to feed. This picture of mismanagement is not overdrawn, and that must be a rare neighborhood where one could ride even an hour or two without seeing it verified in a greater or less degree. One reason why farmers are not more careful to save manure is, I think, that they apply what they do save in such a condi- tion, and on such soil and in such a way, as to get but little good from it. It would probably astonish a farmer who is drawing out a dripping load of half-rotted straw — called, by courtesy, manure — if he could see how much, or, rather, how little, actual plant food his load contained. A ton of average farm-yard manure contains nearly three-fourths of its weight of water, and but twenty-three pounds of valuable plant food, the remainder being made up of sand, lime, carbonaceous matter, etc. ; and, if this is true of average manure, we can largely discount the value MANURES. 75 of half-rotted straw or manure that has been injured by heating or leaching. Then the farmer, instead of applying this manure to a crop which will of itself produce something to enrich the soil, draws it out to some poor spot in the field, where he intends to plant corn, hoping in this way to bring that spot up to average fertility with the rest of the field. Instead of put- ting it near the surface to warm the soil and be acted upon by the atmosphere, he plows it under as deeply as possible. He sees but little effect from it, and is glad that he has no more of it to handle. Coming back to the question : How Shall We Save the Most Manure? — Firsl^-We must have a good barn-yard, but this I shall describe in another chapter. The cattle should, when not in the stable, be confined in the barn-yard from the time they leave the pasture in the fall till turned out in the spring. To this barn-yard should be brought all the waste of the farm. Stack the straw here ; bring the corn-fodder from the fields ; carry the waste from the mangers, and wheel the manure from the stables, and spread it so that it will be mixed and incorporated with the waste material. Every thing in the way of vegetable refuse that will absorb liquids should be brought here — potato-tops, cornstalks, straw, sorgo bagasse or sawdust from the mill. The farmer who has followed the old plan of stacking straw in the fields and pastur- ing his cornstalks, will be astonished at the bulk of material he can get together in a winter in this way. If the hogs can be kept in pens adjoining the barn-yard, so as to be bedded with some of the waste, and let out a part of each day, they will add to the value of the manure. In the stable there should be tight floors, and enough sawdust or other absorbents used to save all the liquid manure, for this from horses, cattle, or sheep is of much greater value than the solid. To save the liquid manure in the cow-stable there should be a water-tight manure ditch, and this will be illustrated and described in another chapter. The farmer should guard against the sources of waste in manure, and the greatest causes of waste I conceive to be, first, from leaching; second, loss of ammonia from excessive heating; third, unwisely applying the manure to the soil. To guard 76 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. against the first it is necessary to see that nothing leaches from the manure-pile, or, at least, if it does, that it is put back. A manure-heap may be arranged so that there will be drainage from it into a tank, or, if on a clay soil, to an excavation, so puddled that it wiU not leak, and this liquid dipped or pumped back upon the heap. The leaching which causes loss is where the barn-yard is so located that the water from the eaves of the barn, or from adjoining land, flows through it, carrying away the soluble portions of the manure. If the compost heap is kept in proper shape, and is of sufficient depth, the rainfall will not be likely to leach it, and will be an advantage. The shape of a manure-heap has much to do with its condi- tion. If thrown up loose, in a conical heap, fermentation will be so excessive as to cause a large loss of ammonia. The rem- edy for this is to make the heap flat; and, whenever you wish to check fermentation, tramp it down solid. By this means you can regulate the degree of fermentation perfectly. If any one doubts this, let him try the following experiment : Draw out a cord of good horse-manure, and fork it out of the wagon into a pile six feet high, built up, with a regular slope, to a point at the top. In about twenty-four hours you will find a violent fermentation, the heap will smoke like a chimney, and there will be a pungent smell of ammonia, which will extend, perhaps, a quarter of a mile, and last for several days. After the fermentation has subsided, if you examine the pile you will find all the upper part of it dry and fire-fanged. If you attempt to fork it, you will find it in dry flakes, which will adhere to the fork-tines, and it will be in such a condition that it will be impossible to spread it evenly. If, at the same time, you put a cord of the same manure beside this, but build it in a flat pile, three or four feet high, with perpendicular sides, .and tramped down as solid as you can, there will be very little escape of ammonia, but a mild fermentation will go on, and when you open the pile you will find it fine and moist, and in the best possible condition for application to the soil. With a little care and intelligence the farmer can guard against loss from either leaching or evaporation, but carelessness MANURES. 77 in these matters may result in the loss of more than half the value of his manure. The third cause of loss which I mentioned — want of intelli- gence in its use — is, perhaps, greater than is generally sus- pected. Manure is so valuable that we must apply it, first, to such crops as will give an immediate profit; and, second, as far as possible with reference to its growing at the same time a crop which shall furnish plant food in the soil. Many farmers use the bulk of their manure on corn land. While this is undoubt- edly profitable in the East, where corn brings a high price, and the fodder will go far towards paying the expense of growing the crop, I think that, west of the Alleghany Mountains, where we must come in competition with the great prairie corn-fields, we can not afford to use manure, direct, for corn-growing. I have long since settled this question in my own practice, and have not for years applied a' load of manure, directly, to the corn crop, and should feel that I was not getting half its value if I did. I use all the manure I can spare from the garden and potato- patch on my wheat. By so doing I rarely fail to get well paid for my manure from the wheat crop, and at the same time it grows a clover crop, which is worth more to fertilize the corn crop which will follow than the manure would be if applied directly to the corn. By this plan we can make our manure do double duty, grow a paying crop of grain, and at the same time a clover crop, which, even if all utilized for hay or pasture, will fill the soil with roots, change its chemical and mechanical condi- tion, and, by its dense shade, keep the surface cool and moist, so as to cause the weeds to come up, and then smother them; so that we have a field for corn cleaner, richer, and mellower than if we had made a direct application of manure. There are some other incidental advantages in using manure on the wheat crop. It gives us more time to get it in good con- dition. We keep — or at least ought to — our stock in the barn- yard till after our corn land is plowed, and are adding straw, corn- stalks and other litter each day. I do not want to begin fork- ing up the manure till after the stock goes to pasture, for it will make the yard dirty and uncomfortable for them. Again, in 78 THE PEOPLE 'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. early spring the manure usually contains a much larger amount of water, making it more laborious to handle and heavy to draw, and the fields are soft, so that the wagon draws heavily and at the same time the land is damaged. I think that I can reduce the labor of drawing out the manure one-half by proper handling and leaving it to be taken out in August, and this saving will pay for all the work of handling. My plan of management is this : If we find in April that the cattle are not likely to reduce the straw stack, we help them by cutting down or pitching ofi" from the top, or if we need it, we draw the remainder of the stack to the barn. Our barn-yard is now covered with a coating from one to three feet deep, com- posed of the droppings of the cattle and the manure from the stable, mixed with the straw and corn stalks, and all tramped down solid. The first heavy rain that comes after corn-planting which makes the land too wet to work and thoroughly soaks the contents of the barn-yard, we put all hands at work turning it over. We take pains to shake it up well and to see that there are no dry spots, and throw it up in ridges four or five feet high, drawing them in at the top so as to favor fermentation. We make these ridges parallel, so that at a second turning we can get two of them together into a bed. If we find fermentation be- coming too rapid at any time, we level the tops of the piles and tramp them, or what is easier done, let our hogs into the barn- yard and feed them on the tops of the piles a few times. Any time within a month when we have another rain to stop field work, we turn the manure again, taking great pains to fine it as much as we can and to get it into as large beds as possible. This time we leave it flat on top and think it a great advantage to dip some strong manure water over it. If we expect to thrash early, we at this time try and make room for stacking the straw from the new crop, and sometimes to do this we must draw out a part of our manure and pile it convenient to where it will be needed. We have generally turned our manure but twice, but I am so thoroughly convinced of the value of fine manure that I intend giving it an extra handling in the future. " What ! handle your manure three times before hauling out?" Yes, and at a MANURES. 79 profit, for I shall not only save much labor when I do draw it to the fields, but I shall have the manure in a condition to go fur- ther, and to be at once available to the crop. My experience teaches that a small amount of manure in good condition, applied at the right time and place, is worth more than three times as much in bad condition and unwisely applied. Every experiment which I have ever made in this line has confirmed me more and more in the belief that to get the best results from manure it must be pulverized. In the fall of 1882 I sowed a number of experimental plots of wheat. Bach plot contained exactly four square rods or one-fortieth of an acre, and as I could not well drill so small an amount, I sowed broadcast. Adjoining plots were sown at the same time ajjd with the same amount of seed per acre. One had no manure and on the other I scattered just four bushels of fine manure — one bushel to the square rod or at the rate of four moderate loads per acre. The unmanured plot was entirely killed by the severe winter that followed, while the manured plot came through in fair condition. The value of pulverization in making fertilizers promptly available may be illustrated thus : Two hundred pounds of finely ground bones, applied to an acre, will often make an increase that year of a ton of hay or ten bushels of wheat, while a ton of whole bones would have no visible effect, though containing ten times the amount of plant food.. Our State Boards of Agricul- ture appreciate so highly the influence of pulverization in ren- dering plant food in manures available, that they have adopted a higher rate of valuation for phosphate contained in finely ground bones than for that in bones ground coarsely. I think this par- ticularly true when we use manure on the wheat crop. The period of growth in autumn being short, it is important that the plant shall make sufficient growth to cover the ground, furnish protection to the roots for the winter, get well rooted so as to be ready to make a vigorous start in the spring and also be able to resist the enemies that seek to destroy it. A little manure, finely pulverized and thoroughly incorporated with the soil at the surface, will do this, and for many years I have there- fore used the manure for a wheat crop as a top dressing. An- 80 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. other reason why I prefer to keep the manure at the surface is that we wish it to help the grass or clover, and if plowed under deeply it will not be immediately available for them. There are two other points in the influence which manure has upon plants worthy of notice ; one that it causes early maturity, the other that it enables the plant to resist enemies. The first of these is of especial importance to the market gardener, as a differ ence of two or three days in getting a crop into market will often change the profits materially. I remember planting an acre in sweet potatoes in 1862 and had only manure sufficient for half the plot. The manured part was marketed in August and early September, and yielded one bushel to the square rod, and sold for one dollar and sixty cents per bushel. The unmanured part came into market later, when the price was but one dollar per bushel, and yielded but one bushel of merchantable tubers to four square rods. The first half acre was very profitable, the last paid but little more than the expense of growing and marketing. Every farmer has noticed how a little manure enables a wheat crop to resist enemies. The manured land in the wheat field makes a good crop, though the remainder may be eaten up by the fly or chinch-bug, frozen out by the winter, or shrunken by rust. Still another advantage from the use of manure is that it im- proves the quality of the produgt. This is more noticeable with some croj)S than with others. I have, in experimenting with potatoes, manured alternate rows and found the manured rows to be nearly all merchantable, while the unmanured rows would have from twenty-five to forty per cent of small, unsalable tubers. Next to applying manure to the wheat crop, I think the best use we can make of it is on grass land ; for this purpose it may be taken out and spread in winter while the ground is frozen, and this I think is the best time to apply it to this crop. It should be spread evenly from the wagon, for if dropped in piles it would kill out the grass. When the manure is applied to pasture land some coarse litter with it will not be objection- able as it will protect the grass and make it start earlier in the spring, but when applied to meadows it should be well rotted. MANURES. 81 Chere is little difficulty in reducing coarse manure even in winter f there is enough horse dung in it to cause active fermentation, "or "it is always summer in a manure heap." There are many armers who think a straw stack, or corn butts, can not be reduced o a condition in which it can be used for top dressing, in less ;han a year, and I have often received letters asking if it could )e done and how. When I followed truck farming I wanted nost of my manure for spring use, and I have fed out twenty Lcres of heavy corn fodder, cut up at the ground, thrown all the )utts into the manure pile, and had it in good condition for the garden before the first of April. The way I managed it was this : My barn-yard was small, ibout forty by fifty feet, and we took pains to see that all the ma- terial was well mixed ; I do not mean that we mixed it by fork- ng over, but merely that we did not dump the horse manure n one part of the yard and the cow manure in another, and ;hrow the corn butts in a pile by themselves, but we took pains ;o see that the wheelbarrow loads of manure from the horse and ;ow stable were placed so that they would be sure to become nixed', and instead of throwing an armful of corn stalks down n a pile we scattered them singly. About six weeks before ve wanted to use this manure we put a few good-sized, vigor- )us hogs in the barn-yard and fed them on the manure pile, rhey would work it over every day to the depth of a foot or nore, and in about two weeks the stalks were pretty well broken ip and the manure ready to turn. Then we began at one side md turned it from the bottom, mixing thoroughly, and in three ?reeks it was ready for use. Bommer's Method. — Some forty years ago a process of ■apidly reducing crude vegetable material to manure was pat- jnted by George Bommer, and in 1847 the right for the United States was bought by Eli Barnett, of Connecticut. I think the nethod was never adopted, at least not to any great extent, but t contained some valuable ideas, which in a modified form could )e used to good advantage by farmers to-day. The method briefly stated is this : An excavation is made — m a hard soil that will not leach — to the depth of eight to 82 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. twelve inches. This is made dishing, and with a slight fall, so that any liquid will drain into a vat ; or it may simply be a pond, if in a stiff clay. Strong poles are laid across the excavation, on which an open floor of rails or old boards is laid. On this floor is built up the material to be made into manure, which may be straw, weeds, corn-stalks, sods, sawdust, spent tan, apple pomace, peat, swamp mud, or any or all of them mixed. The pond or vat is to be filled with water, which is to be made into what is called saturated or corrupted water. This is done by throwing into it dead animals, butchers' offal, chamber and kitchen refuse, hen manure, etc. It is claimed that the addition of a pint of quicklime — ^previously slaked — to each barrel of water will prevent any unhealthy exhalations from this pond. After this water has become polluted it is to be made into a lye by adding to each thirty barrels the following : 2 bushels of quicklime. 2 bushels of chimney soot (if obtainable). 2 bushels of wood ashes. 4 pounds of salt. 2 pounds of saltpeter. 5 bushels of plaster paris. 3 barrels of night soil. 1 barrel of water leached from manure. This lye is then to be dipped or pumped over the mass of absorbents which have been built on the floor over the excavar tion and will produce a violent fermentation, killing all seeds and causing rapid decomposition. The liquid should be applied until it leaches through, and care should be taken to apply it to all parts. After it has heated up thoroughly, give it a second wat- ering, and a few days later still a third. The manure will be ready for use in from fifteen to twenty-five days. I have described this method, not because I suppose that our readers will be likely to adopt it, but because it suggests the best use to be made of our liquid manures. I believe it would pay to have a vat adjoining every barn-yard to conduct the liquid manure into, and that the best way to use this liquid would be to saturate the manure heap with it. On our clay upland there is no difficulty in making a pond water-tight, and all we should need to guard against would be its overflowing MANURES. 83 from the surface water. A pile of coarse manure wet with this lye would be improved in quality, and it would greatly hasten its decomposition and aid in pulverizing it. Special Fertilizers. — I find that we can save in a year a large amount of valuable fertilizers. Our plan is this : I have a shed sixteen feet by eight set apart for this purpose; during the fall we store here two or three wagon loads of the richest and finest soil we can get. I sometimes get it from the woods, sometimes from an old chip-yard, and again from under an old building. We put with it some sods. On this heap we pour our chamber slops, and once a month, or oftener, we clean the box under the privy, and the floor under the hen-roost, and take this material to the shed; we mix this at one end of the shed with an equal bulk of the earth and sprinkle a little plaster over it, and by spring we have accumulated quite a bulk. W^ now cut it down with the spade, mix it thoroughly, and work it over till it can be screened, and then pass it through a ma- son's sieve. The coarse part is wheeled to the compost heap, and the fine spread out to dry. This makes a fine and good manure for using in the hill or for top dressing the radishes, onions, etc., in the garden, or it can be sown with the fertilizer drill on the wheat crop. I think such a fertilizer, when care- fully prepared, is worth at least ten dollars per ton. I have had as good results from pulverized hen manure, drilled at the rate of two barrels to the acre, as from two hundred pounds of bone meal. There is" nothing disagreeable about preparing this compost, except cleaning the privy box, for if laid up in alter- nate layers of earth, and sprinkled with a small amount of plaster, the mixture is odorless. A single experiment which I have made with bran as a ma- nure, will, perhaps, be read with interest, and lead others to ex- periment further. I mixed one hundred pounds of bran with an equal bulk of rich mold, and wet it with leachings from the manure pile. It underwent a violent fermentation, and I then spread it out on the barn floor and turned it every day till it cooled off, and was so thoroughly decomposed that no one could have told what it was. I planted in June on a poor clay knoll 84 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. some peach-blow potatoes, and manured every alternate row with a handful to the hill of this bran mixture, using at the rate of five hundred pounds of bran to the acre, which, at that time, cost me but ten dollars per ton. In a month there was a diiFerence of six inches in height in favor of the rows fertilized with the bran, and they were a better color. At digging time I dug and weighed first from the manured, and then from the unmanured rows, and repeated this several times ; in no case did I get less than fifty per cent more from the manured rows, and in sev- eral cases double, and the quality was very superior. I esti- mated that the extra potatoes produced by the bran did not cost more than eight cents per bushel. A friend of mine the same year tried dry bran in the hill for his potatoes, and the result was that scarcely any of them came up, either the fer- Uientation killed the sprouts or the dry bran absorbed the moist- ure from the seed so that it could not grow. In another chapter you wiU find tables giving the relative values of manure from different kinds of stock, and also the amount and value of the manurial constituents found in one ton of different foods, and I recommend a careful study of these tables. I think that but few of our farmers give sufficient weight to the fact that manure ' contains only what we put into it, and that a ton of manure made by a fat animal, fed on grain, bran, and oil meal is worth several tons from a poor animal fed on straw or poor hay. By recording the experiment with bran as a manure, I do not wish to be understood as recommending its general use, for under ordinary circumstances it would not, perhaps, be economical. The best way to use bran as a ma- nure, is to feed our cattle liberally with it, and carefully save the droppings, both liquid and solid, for its value will be found nearly as great after passing through the animal as before. You will find in the table referred to the manurial value of a ton of bran given at $13.25, and I think that in preparing a special manure for use in the hill, or for drilling with the fertil- izer drill, it may be much more than this. I find_ it especially valuable when I wish to produce a quick, active fermentation in order to thoroughly mix and pulverize some special manure, MANURES. 85 such as night soil, or poultry manure which has been wet so as to have lost its heating power. When it can be bought at low prices I would recommend that experiments be made with it as a fertilizer. I think if bone meal is to be applied broad-cast, it would pay to mix it with an equal bulk of bran, and wet it with lye from the manure heap, and as soon as it is thoroughly hot mix again with an equal bulk of rich sifted mold, with a sprinkle of plaster, and turn it every day till cool. I recommend this for the reason that I think the fermentation produced by the bran would partly decompose the bone and make it immediately available to the wheat plant, which, as the season of growth in the fall is short, is a matter of great importance. My expe- rience with bone meal on the wheat crop has been that I could see no effect from it until the following spring, and if only the bran in the mixture was immediately available, it would be a decided advantage, but if in addition the fermentation rendered a portion of the plant , food in the bone meal at once available to the plant, it would be a still greater advantage. Commercial Manures. — Under this head we include ground bone, super-phosphate, guano, poudrette, dried blood, rock-phosphate, plaster, and many other substances which are sold in the market as fertilizers. While their use is general in many parts of the East and South, it is but recently that they have been introduced in the Mississippi Valley, and there is much misapprehension among farmers in regard to them. Many regard them as stimulants only, which, while they will enable the farmer to reap larger crops for a while, will result in the final exhaustion of the soil. Others look upon them as a substitute for stable manure, and think that by their use they can escape much of the dirty, disagreeable work of handling barn-yard ma- nure. Both these ideas are incorrect. Most commercial fertili- zers furnish plant food, and cause an increase of crops in the same way that stable manure does, the difference being that they do not, like stable manure, furnish all the constituents of the plant, and so by the continued and exclusive use of a fertil- izer that is deficient in some elements of plant food, heavy 86 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. crops may be grown,, which will ultimately exhaust the soil of the elements wanting in the fertilizer. The remedy is to change the fertilizer, or use it in connection with stable manures. These manures are not a substitute for stable manure, but should be used to supplement it, and the farmer should carefully save and apply every manurial substance produced on the farm before he invests in commercial manures. I would not advise any one to invest largely in any commercial fertilizers till by careful experiment on his own farm he has tested their value, for they are not uniform and certain in their effect like barn- yard manure. It is wise, therefore, for all farmers, even though they do not now need them, to experiment each year with small amounts of commercial fertilizers of different kinds, so that if at some future time they should wish to use them, they will be able to make an intelligent selection. Three questions should be carefully considered in deciding whether or not to invest in any commercial fertilizer. First. Is it what your soil needs? Second. Is it adapted to the crop to which you wish to apply it? Third. Is it worth the price charged for it? This question of commercial fertilizers will be treated more fully in another chapter. Green Manuring. — Under this head I include any and all crops that help to enrich the soil or improve it mechanically, whether grown especially for the purpose or utilized for other purposes, and the fertilizing merely incidental. I have already in this chapter intimated that, as far as possible, we should use our manure with reference to its producing, in addition to a grain crop, something that we can return to the soil. Probably the best manure we can have, especially for corn, is an old blue- grass sod; but it takes years to produce this, and we can not afford to depend on it. All things considered, clover should be placed at the head of the list of plants valuable for green manur- ing; and one reason why I give it this preference is, that the crop may be utilized for stock food, and yet excellent effects produced on the soil. This is largely due to the network of roots, which penetrate the soil far below the reach of the plow, and which constitute more than half the weight of the plant, MANURES. 87 and contain more inorganic matter than the foliage. In my own experience, on land that had been cropped until it yielded ao profit, I have found that plowing -under the second growth of clover, after cutting the first for hay, has given me an increase of ten to fifteen bushels of wheat to the acre, and as good results as a dressing of ten or twelve loads of stable manure to the acre. Farmers of large experience in growing clover seed find that, even when the crop is cut twice (once for hay and then for seed) , the land is greatly benefited, and careful experiment has shown that the greatest development of root comes after the first cut- ting, and while the plant is maturing the seed. Harlan, in his book. Farming with Green Manures, not only recommends using the entire crop for manure, but that the clover from four acres be cut and spread on one acre, and left there to rot, and that this cutting and spreading be done two or three times through the season. It seems to me that this would be too expensive manuring, for the crop is generally worth from twelve to twenty dollars per acre, and, in exceptional seasons, even more than this, for food and seed, and the cost of manuring an acre by this plan would often exceed the value of the land. Besides, if the clover was fed to cattle, and the manure properly saved and applied, it would be worth almost as much to the land as if it was all left to rot on the field. Our farmers who have had the most experience with clover, find that they can improve their land by its use while utilizing the crop. Professor Brown, of Indianapolis, writes as follows : "In the jJrocess of recuperating exhausted soils, clover has long held an important place. In this process it performs its good work by two distinct methods : First, it increases the organic matter in the soil to a greater extent than any other crop; second, it brings within the reach of other crops a large supply of mineral elements. In regard to the first of these statements, we observe the large leaf surface which it exposes to the air, and by which it absorbs carbonic acid that is subse- quently converted into organic matter. From this is formed the large amount of root which is a special characteristic of the red clover. 88 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. " One who has never performed the experiment will be aston- ished if he will carefully dig up a plant of red clover so as to preserve all the roots. He will find them penetrating far below any depth reached by his plow, and spreading laterally, so as to fill a wide space of earth with a complete network of organic matter. More than half the weight of a red clover plant is under ground, and is seldom taken into the account when we calculate the manurial value of a full crop of glover turned under with the plow. By repeating this process every third year, pre- ceding a wheat crop, even a soil badly exhausted in organic mat- ter may, in a few years, be made rich in vegetable mold. To produce the best results with clover on an exhausted soil, it will be necessary to apply a liberal top-dressing of gypsum and bone- meal every spring. By this means the activity of the vegetable forces is greatly increased, and the amount of vegetable matter to be plowed in, both top and root, will be correspondingly large. The effect of this on stiff" clay soils will be to render them more brittle and easily pulverized, and to increase their power to absorb moisture and gases from the air. These properties con- stitute the leading features in the physical conditions of a fertile soil; and a soil brought into this state will need only the proper mineral elements to give it' a high fertility." It is evident from the next sentence that Prof. Brown un- derstands practically not only the importance of a mellow soil, but also that the use of clover will produce this desirable condition : "There is no more direct road to this desirable state than by green manuring with clover. Practical farmers, who are the best observers of facts, and who too seldom inquire into the causes which lie behind these, all concur in the maxim that the mellowest soil they cultivate is that which follows a heavy clover crop plowed in. All this, however, presupposes that the clay soil has been properly relieved of water by underdrainage. Without this no soil can be made permanently mellow. " The influence of clover on the mineral elements of a soil is that in which its chief manurial value lies. Professor Way gives us an analysis of the clover plant in all its parts — root. MANURES. 89 stem, leaves and flowers — taken at the period of growth when the flowers had begun to fade. In order to get the mineral elements he reduced the plant to ashes, one hundred parts of which showed: Phosphoric acid 5.82 Lime, 35.02 Potash 18.44 Soda, 2.79 Sulphuric acid, 3.01 Earthy matter, 34.92 100.00 "The striking feature of this analysis is the large propor- tion of lime and potash. Now, while it is evident that the clover did not produce these alkalies, yet it was the instrument for collecting them and bringing them into easy reach of other crops, and placing them in an available form for their use. The clover sent its roots down into the subsoil, far beyond the reach of the plow, and gathered up these important minerals and incorporated them in its own structure; and this, being decom- posed, leaves its elements in the surface soil, ready for the use of subsequent crops." Many farmers fail to benefit their soil by clovering, from the fact that they turn on it when too young and pasture it off too closely. The development of the roots in the soil must corre- spond with the growth of the foliage, and a clover pasture that is closely cropped through the entire season will have but little effect upon the soil. I think that clover should never be pas- tured till the blossoms begin to show, and that this will be found more profitable both for food and fertilizer than to turn on it earlier. In favorable seasons I have had clover grow to its full height the first fall, making a crop that would cut two tons of cured hay to the acre. If, instead of cutting this, it is allowed to remain and is turned under the following spring, it wiU give a large amount of fertilizing matter for a corn crop. I turned under clover crops of this age in the spring of 1882 and 1883 that were as heavy as any growth I ever turned down, and produced as good effects on the corn crop that followed. 90 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. I have seen wheat crops ruined from plowing under a heavy- growth of clover late in the season and seeding on it before the land had time to settle. I think that it may be set down as a rule that when clover is used as a fertilizer for wheat, it is safest to cut and remove the clover crop if heavy, unless it can be plowed under at least six weeks before seeding. Whether the damage to the wheat crop comes from the fermentation of the mass of vegetable matter in the soil or from the fact that it does not allow the land to become settled, and the spaces fill with water which in freezing expands the soil and kills the wheat, or from both these causes, I can not say; but the fact remains that the wheat is killed, and we should avoid the cause. My observation of this has been confined to clay lands, but I should hesitate on any soil to turn under a heavy growth just before seeding. For more than twenty-five years I have made it a rule to sow clover with all small grain, and it has paid me, even when I have plowed the field again for wheat the same fall. I think that next in value to clover for green manuring I would place rye. It is admirable for this purpose, because, first, it can be grown to its full development between other crops without losing the rent of the land ; second, it is an exceedingly hardy plant, which will grow on poor land and is seldom injured by the winter ; third, its length of straw produces a great body of vegetable matter and makes it easy to plow under (by the use of a chain or the patent weed hook we can put it so thoroughly below the soil as to plant and cultivate a crop with- out disturbing it) ; fourth, its early growth in the spring prepares it for turning under, so that it may be followed by almost any regular farm crop. In the latitude of southern Ohio, rye will usually have attained its growth by the middle of May. I usually grow a half acre or so of it each year., and cut it when in blossom to be used for bands for corn fodder, and my diary shows that I have cut it as early as May 19th, and rarely later than the 24th. When the crop is to be used as a fertilizer, it is ready to plow down a week or ten days sooner. The late J. B. Root, of Rockford, Illinois, was an earnest ad- MANURES. 91 TOcate of rye as a fertilizer. His first experience of its value svas by accident. Wishing to grow a few acres of melon seed jne season, after all his own land was occupied, he rented a piece jf land on which rye was growing and plowed it under. The season proved dry, and while his crop was almost a failure on bis own land which had been liberally manured, he found that the land on which the rye had been plowed under was loose and moist through the entire season, and produced a good crop. For several years after, until his death, Mr. Root made use of rye on all land wanted for late crops, and each year added to his appreciation of its value. In 1875 he wrote "I can not say thart it adds as much to the fertility of the soil as forty two-horse loads of manure, but I do say that in dry seasons it produces as great an increase of crop. It certainly pays to use it largely even on land well supplied with stable manure." I would recommend, when rye is sown for the purpose of plowing under, that two bushels of seed be used to the acre, and if the land is poor I would use some fertilizer to give the rye a start. In my own experience I have found the effect of rye quite lasting in the soil, and it gave a larger increase of the corn crop the second year than the year it was plowed down. Taking into consideration all the advantages of this crop, its hardiness, the ease with which it can be put in, its adaptation to poor soils, and the short time in which it will produce a large amount of vegetable matter to turn under, I can recommend it most heartly as a green manure. Buckwheat is another quick-growing crop and can be sown in July, when, as is sometimes the case, the farmer fails to get a stand of clover. Where the entire season's growth is to be devoted to enriching the land, rye could be plowed under early in May md buckwheat sown, and plowed under in July, and a second- 3rop of buckwheat sown, which would be large enough to plow under before frost. Mr. Harlan tells of a crop of buckwheat tvhich he grew, that in fifty-one days, (between July 14th and September 3d,) made a growth of twenty-seven tons to the icre. The advantages of this crop are its rapid growth, which 92 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. enables it to smother out all the weeds and produce in a very short time a large amount of vegetable matter to plow under, and also the fact that it is tender and succulent, and can be easily plowed under and will decay rapidly in the soil. Another crop which, I think, would be found profitable for this purpose, is corn. I have seldom known it to be plowed under, but in the few experiments that have come to my notice the result was highly satisfactory. In 1878 a neighbor, finding that his clover had failed, plowed up a piece of wheat-stubble, and with the force feed wheat-drill sowed corn at the rate of three bushels to the acre. This was about the first of August, and before frost the corn had attained a height of several feet, and was showing the tassels. As soon as the frost killed it it was plowed under, and the next spring the entire field was planted to corn. The growth of corn on the part where this crop had been plowed under was so marked that it could be seen to a row. I think it important, when green crops are plowed under early in the season, and we expect to seed with some other crop, that we should follow the plow at once with the roller or har- row, or both, so as to compact the soil and bring it in close contact with the green plants; but, when we plow under a green crop late in the fall, and leave the land for corn, this should be omitted, and the land left as loose and uneven as possible. Every year of experience on the farm deepens my conviction that through green manuring will be found the cheapest and best method of both maintaining and restoring fertility, and that the wise farmer of the future will use his manure more with refer- ence to what it will produce to feed the land than to its imme- diate returns in grain. With less land under cultivation, more -stock kept to consume the grass, all the manure saved and intel- ligently applied, and the land kept always at work producing a crop to be returned to the soil, our farms will increase in produc- tiveness, and we shall solve the problem of profitable farming. THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 93 Chapter V. THE SOIL AND ITS HvIPROVEMENT. THE soil, the air, and the sun are the sources of all earthly life. From the sun is obtained all energy or force; from the soil and air the means of subsistence. Vegetable life, which is the original supporter of all animal life, draws from these three sources. From the soil it obtains a small per cent of its substance; from the air a larger per cent of substance, and from the sun the power by which it is able to take up dead minerals and invisible gases and work them up into all the use- ful and beautiful forms of vegetable life. The sun pours down its rays of life-giving energy unasked and unhelped. The air brings daUy to the plant unlimited supplies of food. It needs no help from man ; he could not change it if he needed to ; it is everywhere plentiful, everywhere alike in its supplies of material. But the soil varies greatly. We have soils which seem to contain all the material for the sustenance of vegetable life in exhaustless abundance. We have soils which are either entirely destitute of these substances, or else hold them in forms and conditions which render them as unavailable as though in the original rock, and we have soils occupying every shade of differ- ence between these. The fertility of the soil is the measure of its capability for supporting vegetable life, and on this depends the prosperity, not of individuals alone, but of nations. The civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome had been impossible but for the won- derful fertility of the soil they possessed. The remarkable progress which has been made in the United States during the first century of its existence has not been due merely to the 94 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. intelligence and enterprise of its inhabitants, but also to the fact that within its limits was soil of unsurpassed fertility. Whenever the soil of a nation becomes so impoverished that it is no longer able to furnish food in abundance, the prosperity of that nation must vanish and its progress cease. There is, therefore, no subject of more vital interest to humanity than the methods by which the fertility of the soil can be maintained and increased. There is no subject which, to the farmer, should possess so deep an interest as the origin, character, and treat- ment of his soil. He needs to know what it contains, what the crop derives from it, how loss of fertility under continued crop- ping may be avoided, and how its fertility, when once impaired by bad management, can be restored. Origin of Soil. — It is supposed that, when the earth was first created and had cooled from its original condition of a mass of fiery molten material, it was simply a great ball of rock. The surface was seamed and scarred, and wrinkled with the strug- gles it had passed through. Water covered the more depressed portions of the surface, forming oceans, while great mountains of barren rocks reared their heads far above the clouds. On this rocky waste the sun poured its rays, and the rains descended in torrents, wearing away the rock, grinding the fragments into sand, which was strewn over the more level portions. Other influences worked upon the rock. The frosts of win- ter, acting on the water that penetrated the cracks and fissures, broke off" fragments, that were ground to powder by other forces. In presence of sun and water and air, chemical forces worked, causing the rock to soften and melt away in the form of clay, and the water took this and spread it and mixed it with the sand. Thus a soil began to be formed of sand and clay, containing many substances from the rock, but specially two that were to be of great importance in the future history of the world, phos- phoric acid and potash. Over all this waste floated the atmos- phere, formed then, as now, chiefly of two gases, nitrogen and oxygen. Through the upper regions of this atmosphere, at times, roared great thunder-storms, more fierce and wild than those we THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 95 know to-day. The lightning would cause a little of the elements of the air to unite, forming a substance called nitric acid, which the rains washed out and brought down to the slowly forming soil, thus adding the substance, nitrogen. Low forms of vegetable life were placed upon ' the earth. Mosses and lichens clung to the rocks and corroded them, draw- ing from them material needed for their own life. When these died, the substances thus obtained were added to the soil. Higher forms of life were placed upon the soil, taking from it nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, and some other substances we need not mention here, and gathering from the air the sub- stance, carbon, which we see so often in the form of charcoal. This exists in the air in the form of an invisible gas, but the plant can take it from the air and change it into a solid form. When these plants died and decayed they added this new sub- stance, carbon, to the soil, and it began to assume a dark color. This work went on through the years and ages, and very likely through thousands of ages, and the soil was constantly being increased in quantity by the destruction of the rocks, gaining from them potash, phosphoric acid, and other mineral elements of plant life, and gaining from the rains nitrogen, in the form of nitric acid. The growing plants took these from the soil, added the carbon from the air, worked it all up into forms of life, and, dying, returned to the soil all that had been taken from it, and the carbon from the air besides. This car- bon, thus added to the soil, could not be taken up by the roots of plants, but it made a suitable bed for them to grow in, and formed a soil that could retain the warmth and moisture so needful to their growth, and which was porous, to admit the air, also needed. As the process of decay in the soil continued further, this carbon gradually united with the oxygen of the air, forming carbonic acid, to begin the great circuit over again. Thus excess of this substance in the soil was avoided, except in places where the soil was aMays soaked with water. In these places the carbon of the decaying plants could not unite with oxygen from the air, and it accumulated, forming beds of muck, or peat, composed principally of carbon. 96 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Thus was formed the soil on which we live, and it contains three substances of great importance — of such importance that it will be well to repeat them: Phosphoric acid and potash, obtained from decaying rocks, and nitrogen, brought down by the rains from the air ; also, a substance of scarcely less import- ance, carbon, gathered by the plants from the air, and added to the soil on the death of the plant. This work is still going on. The rocks still decay and furnish their share of plant food ; the rains still bring down nitrogen, and the plants, when allowed to decay upon the land on which they are grown, still add carbon. Source of Nitrogen in Soils. — We have seen that the original source of nitrogen in the soil was that brought down by the rains in the form of nitric acid. Of course decaying plants add much nitrogen to the soil, but this they obtained in the first place from the soil, as they have no power to gather nitrogen from the air, although their leaves are constantly bathed in an ocean of it. Therefore crops by growing and decaying can not increase the amount of nitrogen in the soil. The amount gained each year from the air is very small, not more than from five to ten pounds on the surface of an acre. It is therefore a question of both interest and importance to know if there is any other source of nitrogen in the soil. On this point scientific men have difiered, and long and warm have been the controversies over it. The writer of this article is of the opinion that there is another source. All soils — ^at least all good soils — ^are porous, and the pores of the soil, when not filled with water are filled with air, four- fifths of which is nitrogen. Now we believe that under certain circumstances this nitrogen contained in the pores of the soil combines with oxygen, forming nitric acid, which remains in the soil, adding to the total amount of nitrogen it contains. The circumstances we believe to be essential are these: Warmth. A porous soil, moist but not wet, and containing a good pro- portion of decaying vegetable matter. The presence of some alkaline substance, such as lime, in the soil. THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 97 As these are conditions of soil completely under the farmer's control, it is evident that if this theory is correct the farmer has it in his power to add to the nitrogen in his soil without the purchase of fertilizers from outside his farm ; and as these condi- tions of soil are desirable on ail accounts it is perfectly safe for the farmer to endeavor to add to the nitrogen in his soil in this manner. On the other hand, as this is as yet only an opinion and has not been demonstrated, it is perfectly safe for the farmer to be very careful about his farm and stable and allow ao waste of this substance (nitrogen) which is one of the most essential for the growth of plants and one of the most expensive if it has to be purchased. Purposes of Soil. — The soil serves a threefold purpose in the economy of nature. 1st. A bed to support the plant and afford protection and moisture to the roots. 2d. It furnishes a supply of food for the plants. Just as truly as animals eat and live upon the food set before them, so truly do plants live upon the soil. Although they get compara- tively a small portion of their food from the soil (the greater part being obtained from the air), yet this portion is essential to their existence, and without it they have no power to take food [rom the air. 3d. The soil is a great chemical laboratory, in which mate- rial that is in itself inert and valueless is changed into forms sapable of sustaining plant life. * In any fertile soil this pro- 3ess goes on continually, except when stopped by frost. Through these changes a soil that seems barren and infertile may become fertile without any thing being added to it, and if Lhis process is -stopped or proceeds wrongly, a fertile soil may ose its fertility without any thing being taken from it. Varieties of Soil, — The substances we have mentioned, phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen form but a small percent- ige (usually less than one per cent) of even a fertile soil. The •emainder is composed of sand, clay, and the partially decom- 30sed remains of plants, called humus. According as sand or jlay predominate in the soil it is called a clay, a clay-loam, a 98 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. loam, a sandy loam, or a sand. When humus predominates largely it is called muck or bog soil. Sand. — Perfectly pure quartz sand furnishes nothing for the sustenance of the plant. Some sands contain valuable mineral substances, which, in the laboratory of the soil, are grad- ually fitted for the use of the plant. Any kind of sand, if present in due proportion, is a valuable constituent in soil. It causes the soil to grow warm readily in the spring; it favors the escape of surplus water; it makes the soil porous, thus per- mitting the roots of plants to permeate it readily in search of food; it admits air to the soil, so essential for the chemical changes; it makes the soil easy to work. Excess of sand is a disadvantage. From its tendency to acquire heat, it may cause the roots to perish in hot weather; it is liable to permit too much of the water to escape in a dry season ; it is liable to permit the water to pass through it so readily that the most valuable fertilizing elements will be leached out. Soils that are defective in this respect are called " leachy." Sandy soils usu- ally respond very promptly to the application of fertilizers, but the eifect is usually short lived. Of all soils, sand has the least power of retaining moisture and elements of fertility. Clay. — The presence of this substance in large proportion in a soil, renders it "retentive," by which is meant that it has the power of retaining whatever is added to it, whether water or manure. Clay soils are generally " strong " soils, and wear well. They are less likely to be injured by bad treatment than other soils, and are more readily restored, after having been " run down." A soil containing excess of clay, however, is apt to be heavy to work, difficult to drain, and "bakes" badly. Humus. — The partially decayed vegetable matter to which this name has been applied, is one of the most valuable con- stituents of any soil. An artificial soil can be made whiclr will support plant life perfectly, and which contains no humus, but practically all fertile soils contain humus, and the proportion of this substance is sometimes the measure of their fertility. It not only contains all the soil elements needed for plant life, but it also contains carbon, or charcoal, in large proportion. THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 99 This substance does not furnish any food to the roots of plants, but it has a wonderful power of retaining moisture, and the elements of fertility. In any ordinary soil it is always under- going decay, and by this process the elements of plant food contained in the humus itself, and also those contained in the sand and clay, of which the remainder of the soil is com- posed, are set free in forms which the plant can use. When in excess, humus renders the soil light and chaify, and it is commonly noticed that in reclaimed bogs and swamps, the soil, which* is usually largely composed of this substance, though very productive at first, soon loses its fertility. This is due to the lack of sufficient mineral elements. Humus is not a constant element in the soil. As we have already seen, it is always undergoing decomposition; the min- eral matters it contains return to their original form, while the carbon, combining with oxygen from the air, is converted into carbonic dioxide, and escapes into the air. The more thor- oughly the land is cultivated, the more rapidly does this pro- cess take place, and a soil that contains but a moderate per cent of' humus may lose nearly all of it after a few years' persistent cropping and cultivating. Such a soil is said to be " run down," and though it may still contain in abundance the materials needed for the sustenance of plant life, it becomes in- fertile, because the chemical processes by which this material is made available for the plant proceed but slowly, unless there is a reasonable percentage of humus in the soil. Changing the Character of Soil.— The gardener, with a small amount of ground yielding crops of great propor- tionate value, may find it profitable to change the character of his soil by hauling on clay if too sandy, or sand if it is a heavy clay, but in the operations of the farm, this is impracticable. Humus alone, of the three great constituents of the soil, can practically be controlled by the farmer. If it is in excess, he can diminish it by cultivation, and the use of lime K,nd mineral manures. If it is deficient, it can be increased by growing clover, rye, buckwheat, or other similar crops, and plowing them under. The reader will also notice that it corrects the 100 TSE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. defects of both sand and clay soils. Added to sand it makes it more retentive of moisture and elements of fertility. Added to clay, it makes it more porous and more easily worked. By the use of green crops plowed under to increase the proportion of humus, or by cultivation and use of lime to decrease its pro- portion, the farmer can thus change the character of his soil, and to a considerable extent make such a soil as he needs. What Constitutes a Fertile Soil ? — ^A fertile soil is one that is capable of yielding, under favorable conditions of season, large crops. The requisites of fertility are • 1st. A sufficient supply in the soil of plant food — that is, of the material which the plant draws from the soil. In practical estimates we may consider this plant food to consist of nitro- gen, phosphoric acid, and potash. There are other substances, such as lime, magnesia, sulphuric acid, and iron, which are equally essential for the growth and health of the plant, but as these are almost always present in sufficient quantity the real question of fertility rests on the first three named. 2d. The plant food in the soil must be in such a state of combination that the plant can use it. This is a point of the utmost importance. Many soils contain plant food in abun- dance, yet are infertile, because the material is in forms that the plant can not use. Where one piece of soil will be found that is unproductive on account of lack of plant food, a hundred can be found which produce but poor crops, though containing plant food in abundance, because the food is in forms which the plant can not use. It is not uncommon to find soils containing in the upper twelve inches from five thousand to ten thousand pounds of nitrogen to the acre, and which yet show greatly increased crops by the addition of thirty or forty pounds of nitrogen to the acre. Of course, such an addition would make no appreci- able difference in the actual amount of nitrogen the soil con- tained, but the benefit was due to the fact that the thirty or forty pounds of nitrogen contained in the manure was in form that the crop could immediately use, while nearly all of the ni- trogen originally in the soil was in unavailable forms. 3d. The fertile soil must contain sufficient moisture to supply THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 101 the needs of the plants, but must not be "water-logged." Ex- perience has shown that the condition of soil, with regard to moisture, most favorable for plant growth, is that in which the particles of soil are moist, but the spaces between the particles contain no water. 4th. The soil must be in a state of minute division. The won- derful fertility of the soil in many river bottom lands is largely due to the fact that the particles of which they are composed are exceedingly fine. When the soil is in lumps, or even in large, coarse particles, the roots of plants can not draw from it the nourishment they need, nor can the chemical changes, so essen- tial for fertility, proceed with any degree of rapidity. 5th. The soil must be in such condition that chemical action can proceed rapidly, whereby the plant food it contains may be rendered available. It will be seen by this that the requirements of a fertile soil are many, and that an abundant supply of plant food is neces- sary. This food, instead of being, as has often been supposed, the one essential characteristic, is but one of several, all equally needful. We wiU usually find all these essentials in a soil that is composed of a due proportion of sand, clay, and humus; that is thoroughly drained, either naturally or artificially; that is kept in fine condition by thorough cultivation, and that is sup- plied with plant food by proper applications of manure. Improvement of Soils. — There are three different meth- ods by which soils may be improved, or by which the five essen- tials of fertility can be secured. These are Drainage, Cultiva- tion, Manure. Drainage. — We place this first because when needed, the improvement of the soil by the other two methods is impossible. Cultivation and manure are alike wasted on a water-logged soil. The practice of drainage is sufficiently explained in the chapter on that subject, and we will need here only to give a brief ex- planation of the scientific principles connected with it. One of the essentials of fertility we have seen is such a condition of soil that chemical change can progress rapidly, constantly converting plant food into available forms. This 102 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. chemical action proceeds most rapidly when the soil is moist and warm, the spaces between the particles being filled with air. In the chapter on drainage it is shown that this condition of soil is secured by this method. When the soil is water- logged this process of change ceases altogether, and hence manures applied to such a soil are without effect. Drainage, therefore, not only secures the condition of soil best fitted for plant growth, but it also secures that chemical action essential to fertility. ■ When corn turns yellow and dies in a long wet spell, it is not because — as seems to be commonly supposed — the corn is " drowned out," but because the presence of excess of water in the soil has stopped the chemical work, and the plant starves. There is plenty of food all around it, but the process by which that food is made available has ceased. The first ques- tion to be considered in the improvement of a piece of land is therefore : " Does it need draining ?" If it does, this should first be attended to, as without it aU other treatment wiU be ineffectual. Cultivation. — By thorough cultivation the soil is pulver- ized and the quality of fineness secured. The soil is also more exposed to the air, and chemical "change is thus facili- tated. Cultivation should be preceded by drainage — when needed — and should usually be accompanied by the use of manure. Cases are on record of fields, which had become almost barren, but were restored to fertility by thorough culti- vation. Cultivation to a small extent adds to the amount of plant food in the soil, as by exposing so much surface to the air it causes an increased absorption of ammonia from the air, but its principal value consists in the fact that it renders available ma- terial already present in the soil. Manures. — These are usually divided into three classes — barn-yard manures, green manures, and commercial manures. They act in two different ways : first, by supplying plant food ; second, by rendering available plant food already present. Some manures act in one way, some in the other, and many in both. THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. iUS Barn-yard Manure. — This varies greatly in value accord- ing to the animals it is obtained from, the food on which they are fed, and the care with which it is treated. The actual value of the manure comes in all cases from the food, and not from the animal. No animal can put into the manure heap any substance that was not contained in the food, and the manure produced from any animal can never contain any more plant food than was contained in the food the animal consumed. There has been much misconception on this subject, and many persons have imagined that a field could be enriched by simply pasturing sheep on it. The manure produced by the sheep wiU be valuable, but it can not by any possibility be of more value than the crop they ate oflf would have been if turned under, except in the fact that it might decompose in the soil more rapidly. Poultry are often spoken of as being of great value because they produce such rich manure, and some enthu- siastic individuals have claimed that poultry would pay for their feed in their manure. But the manure produced by a flock of poultry while eating a bushel of corn could not contain any more plant food than was contained in the corn, and in fact would contain somewhat less. Nevertheless, there is a difference in the value of the manure according to the animal producing it, which arises from two causes. First. Some animals take more plant food out of the food given them than others, and so leave less of it in the manure. The manure produced from a ton of corn fed to animals which are neither giving milk nor gaining in weight, will contain almost precisely the same amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash that was contained in the corn. But if the ton of corn is fed to cows giving milk or to young animals that are growing rapidly, the manure produced will not contain more than from fifty to seventy-five per cent of the nitrogen, phos- phoric acidj and potash that was contained in the food. Hence the value of manure produced from a given amount of food will vary much, according to the animal to which the food is given, not because any animal can add to the amount of plant 104 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. food contained in the food given it, but because some take out more of it for their own use. In general it may be said that the loss of nitrogen, phos- phoric acid, and potash in feeding will be : in feeding animals that are neither growing nor giving milk, practically none; in fattening full grown animals, from five to ten per cent; in young animals that are growing rapidly or giving milk, from twenty-five to fifty per cent. In common farm practice the real loss is always much heavier than this because the manure is never entirely saved. All scientific calculations must of course be made with reference to the whole amount of manure pro- duced by the animal. The farmer must make his own calcula- tion as to how much of this manure he allows to go to waste. Second. Some animals produce a larger quantity of manure from a given quantity of food than others, which of course makes it worth less per pound. This is due to the fact that some animals consume in their systems a larger proportion of the carbonaceous matter in the food than others and also because some animals drink more water than others. To illustrate : If ten bushels of corn were fed to a fattening steer, and another ten bushels fed to a flock of fattening poultry, there would be very little difference in the value of the two piles of manure, but the pile made by the ox would be three or four times as large as that made by the poultry. The latter would be worth three or four times as much per pound. The food given to the animal which produces the manure has a, great influence on its value. This is evident from what has already been said. The manure made by an ox while eat- ing a ton of bran will be worth more than that made by another ox while eating a ton of corn, which again will be worth a great deal more than that made by another ox while eating a ton of straw. This result is inevitable: poor food makes poor manure; rich food makes rich manure. In making a selection of foods it is always a matter of importance to consider what' will be the value of the manure produced. If the farmer wishes to buy fertilizers from outside his farm, there is usually no more profita- ble way than to buy good food and feed it to stock on his farm : TSE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 105 that is, if he takes care of the manure. The treatment of the manure makes a great difference in its value. There are three sources of loss : First — Leakage. Many farmers make little attempt to save the lic[uid manure. By reference to the tables given further on in this chapter, it will be seen that one ton of horse urine is worth about as much as ten tons of solid manure from cattle. It will thus be readily understood that the quality of the manure will be greatly depreciated if the liquid is allowed to escape and only the solid saved. Second — Leaching. Much of the plant food in manure is in insoluble forms, but there is a portion that can very readily be washed out. Therefore, if the manure pile is kept where so much water will fall on it that it will leach through it, great loss will be incurred. Whenever the farmer sees a stream of dark-brown liquid draining from his manure pile, he may be sure that much of the richness of his farm is leaking away. The better the quality of the manure the more it is likely to be injured by leaching, as the more soluble matter it will contain. Third — Heating. When manure is thrown into a pile it soon grows warm, and decomposition commences. If the manure is sufficiently wet to prevent this process from being too rapid or going too far, the manure will be benefited and no loss be incurred; but, if it proceeds so rapidly that the pile gets dry inside and the smell of ammonia is perceptible, the farmer may know that one of the most valuable substances (nitrogen) is escaping. Fermentation of Manure. — Barn-yard manure, we have seen, consists of a large bulk of material containing a small amount of- certain valuable substances. The composition of a ton of average fresh barn-yard manure is about as follows : Water 1,42Q lbs. Carbonaceous matter, etc 556.4 " Nitrogen, 9 " Phosphoric acid, 4.2 " Potash 10.4 " Total, 2,000 " 106 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA- When manure undergoes fermentation, a considerable portion of the carbon unites with oxygen from the air, and escapes in the form of gas. The heat which this occasions drives off part of the water, and, if the process is properly managed, the total weight of the heap may be reduced one-half without any appre- ciable loss of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or potash, and the manure that is left wiU be worth twice as much per ton. This will not be because the fermentation has added any thing to the heap, but because it has reduced the total quantity in the heap without reducing its total value. It is evident that, if a farmer had a heap of manure weighing twenty tons, and worth forty doUars, if it could be reduced to ten tons and stiU be worth forty doUars, the smaller pile would be worth twice as much per ton as the larger one had been. Another advantage gained by fermentation, and thus reducing the bulk, is that the cost of hauling and spreading is reduced. Farmers who buy manure in town and haul to their farms will often find the expense of hauling fresh manure is greater than its value, while a pile of old and thoroughly rotted manure may be a profitable purchase. Fermenting manure also improves it by rendering the plant food it contains more soluble. In fresh manure nearly all the nitrogen is in combinations which are not available to the plant, and it only becomes available as the manure undergoes decom- position, either in the manure heap or in the soil; and, as this process is much more rapid in the manure heap than in the soil, there is an advantage in having the manure thoroughly fer- mented in the heap. In these calculations we have supposed that the carbonaceous matter in the manure was of no A^alue in the soil. It is of no value as plant food, but it has a value when the soil is deficient in humus, as by its decomposition it is converted into that sub- stance, which is so essential to a fertile soil. At the same time the humus in the soil can usually be increased more cheaply by plowing under green crops than by hauling out manure. There- fore, the great object in manure should be to secure the largest proportion of plant food ; but the carbonaceous matter it con- THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 107 tains will not be without value, especially on sandy or clayey soUs. Green Manures. — As the practical instructions concerning green manures are given in the appropriate chapter, we here need to consider only the scientific principles connected with their use. When a farmer grows a heavy crop of clover or rye, and plows it under, he adds to the soil a large amount of vegetable matter — perhaps eight tons to the acre. The composition of this would be about as follows : "Water, 12,600 lbs. Carbonaceous matter, 3,100 Lime, sand, etc 120 Nitrogen, 80 Potash, 78 Phosphoric acid, ....... 22 Total, 16,000 " Of this, the one hundred and eighty pounds of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash are valuable plant food, and were all obtained from the soil. The carbonaceous matter was obtained from the air, and is not plant food. The question, then, nat- urally arises : " Seeing that all the plant food which this crop adds to the soil was taken from it by the crop, how . can the soU be enriched by the process? Does a man get rich by taking a dollar out of his pocket and then putting it back again ?" It must be remembered that there are two ways of improv- ing the soil : one by adding plant food to it, the other by ren- dering available that which it already contains. The green crop enriches the soil by the latter method. The clover plant gathers from the soil large quantities of plant food which other plants can not use, and when it decays in the soil it leaves this plant food in available forms. It also sends its roots deep into the soil, and gathers food which is out of reach of other crops ; when it decays it leaves this in the surface soil, within reach of other crops. But it has yet another effect: By keeping the soil moist and shaded, and full of decaying vegetable matter, it furnishes 108 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. just the conditions needed for those chemical changes by which plant food is changed from inert into available forms. There is also always a risk of loss of fertility by drainage. As the plant food is rendered soluble by chemical action, it may be washed out by a sudden heavy rain. Clover saves this waste by taking up the material as rapidly as it is rendered soluble, organizing it into forms which will not waste, but can be readily used by the succeeding crop. As this waste from drainage is most likely to occur in the latter part of the summer and early fall, the great advantage of sowing clover with wheat becomes apparent. Experiments have shown that, if the soil is left bare after the wheat is cut, there will often be more fertility lost by drainage than was taken up by the crop. If the theory referred to in the beginning of this chapter — that, under certain conditions and in some climates, the nitrogen in the soil may be increased by chemical action — then it is prob- able that, in warm climates, on suitable soils, clover actually causes an increase of nitrogen in the soil. This point, however, is not yet established, and, while it favors clover, should not be depended on. Another question will probably occur to the reader: "If clover adds no plant food to the soil, but only enables the suc- ceeding crop to draw more heavily on the original supply, will not the constant use of green manures, unaccompanied by the addition of plant food, either in barn-yard manures or commer- cial fertilizers, bring about the ultimate exhaustion of the soil more rapidly than continuous cropping without clover?" The answer must be that, with regard to phosphoric acid and potash, it certainly will ; and, unless the theory already referred to con- cerning nitrogen is true, the result will be the same with it. Sir J. B. Lawes, the great English experimenter, found that a plat which he cropped alternately with clover and wheat, through a long term of years, showed at the end of the period a much greater red.uction in the percentage of plant food in the soil, than another plat which he cropped continuously with wheat, no manure being used in either case. But the ultimate exhaustion of the soil is not a thing so TH£ SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMEMT. 109 easily reached as is commonly supposed. No soil that was orig- inally fertile has ever been entirely exhausted of plant food by cropping alone. A soil of ordinary fertility contains in the upper twelve inches plant food enough — could it all be utilized — to produce a crop of thirty bushels of wheat per acre every year for two hundred years, supposing the entire crop to be removed and nothing returned. Of course, it is not possible to draw from the soil in this manner, but these facts show that it is a matter of fully as much importance to know how to render available the plant food the soil already contains, as to apply more. Of course this wonderful abundance of material provided by nature should not cause the farmer to be prodigal or wasteful of this supply, but the farmer who uses clover or other green manures intelligently and in connection with barn-yard manures, and a proper rotation of crops, need have no fear of reaching the ul- timate exhaustion of his soil. Fallow. — In olden times the system of summer fallowing was largely relied on for the improvement of soils. It was called " resting the land," an erroneous term, as the soil being simply passive in the matter of producing a crop, can need no rest. Experiments have shown that a field cropped with wheat each alternate year, and cultivated as a fallow the intervening years, produced more wheat in a given time than another field cropped continuously. By fallowing, nothing-- is added to the land except a little ammonia, which is absorbed from the air by the exposed sur- face. The gain of fertility is due to the fact that by the ex- posure to the air, and constant stirring, chemical changes are induced by which plant food in the soil is rendered available. Fallowing is, therefore, similar in principle to green manuring, but is inferior to it, the disadvantages being : A crop is lost the fallow year. The humus in the soil instead of being increased is de- creased. It costs more to keep the soil constantly stirred than to grow a crop of clover. The chance of a gain of nitrogen under the influence of shade, 110 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. moisture, and decaying vegetable matter is lost. There is liable to be a great waste of fertility by drainage, and if a field that has been kept stirred in fallow through a hot summer receives a long, heavy, drenching rain in the fall before the crop has started, it is possible for a large part of the liberated fertility to be washed out and wasted. Commercial Manures. — We consider under this head the various fertilizing materials usually bought off the farm. Lime. — This has been long in use for the improvement of the soil. AU crops contain lime, and yet it is difficult to imag- ine that lime is valuable as a fertilizer, by supplying plant food, for nearly aU soils contain it far in excess of the needs of any crop. But lime acts in improving the soil in a twofold manner. On heavy clay lime is valuable, as it renders it more easily pul- verized and less adhesive. This not only makes it more easy to work, but enables the roots of plants to penetrate it more readily. Lime, also, has the eflFect of causing the decomposition of veg- etable matter in the soil. Hence, when lime is added to soils rich in vegetable matter, this is rapidly decomposed and ren- dered useful. Lime, therefore, improves the soil by rendering available the plant food it already contains, and it does this at the expense of the humus. Hence has arisen the proverb : "Lime and lime without manure, Will make both the farm and the farmer poor." There are instances where lime has been continuously used for a long course of years without either green crops or barn- yard manure, resulting in reducing the soil almost to sterility. Properly used, however, lime is a valuable material for increas- ing the fertility of the soil. Its chief use should be : 1. On heavy clays to render them more easily worked. In this case its application should be accompanied by green manuring to avoid too greatly reducing the amount of humus in the soil. 2. On soils rich in vegetable matter, which has but partially decayed. It is specially valuable on reclaimed swamps and bogs. 3. In connection with barn-yard or green manures to render their action more prompt. When lime and barn-yard manure are used in connection, the manure should be thoroughly mixed with THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. Ill the soil before the lime is added. In no case should barn-yard manure and lime be mixed, as loss of ammonia is certain to result. There is yet another manner in which lime is beneficial. When vegetable matter undergoes decomposition in the soil where there is an excess of water, and consequent deficiency of air, certain organic acids are formed in the soil which are inju- rious to vegetations. This is indicated by the growth of moss and plants like red sorrel. When lime is added to a soil in this condition, it combines with these acids, forming harmless com- pounds. Draining such land by removing the water, and ad- mitting the air, overcomes the cause of " sourness." Gypsum. — Land Plaster. — The beneficial action of this sub- stance has never been fully understood, but some recent experi- ments seem to show that when sprinkled on the clover, it is ab- sorbed by the leaves. If this is the fact, the benefit derived from plaster probably arises from its furnishing lime to the plant in a soluble form, as plaster is the most soluble of any of the or- dinary compounds of lime. Bone Meal. — This important fertilizer is or should be simply bones reduced to powder. The object of the grinding is to cause the bones to undergo decomposition in the soil more rap- idly. It contains all the important elements of plant food in large proportion. Bones are entirely insoluble in water, but when mixed in the soil with decaying vegetable matter they un- dergo decomposition and are changed into available plant food. The more finely they are ground the more rapidly this decompo- sition proceeds. As the presence of vegetable matter is essen- tial, it is found that bones act more rapidly when applied to a sod. Rock Phosphate. — In South Carolina and some other coun- tries immense deposits of phosphate of lime are found. This, when reduced by grinding to a fine powder, is known as rock phosphate, and is valuable as a manure for the purpose of sup- plying phosphoric acid. Like bones it is more rapid in its action when applied to soil containing decaying vegetable mat- ter, and hence is most useful on sod ground. It contains no nitrogen and would seem to be best adapted to lands over-rich 112 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. in vegetable matter. The acids produced in such soils decom- pose the phosphate, rendering it more soluble and the acids harmless. Superphosphate. — Phosphoric acid in bones, or rock phos- phate, is in combination with lime; in form called by chemists tricalcic phosphate. This form is very insoluble. When an acid such as sulphuric is added to this tricalcic phosphate it takes part of the lime, and of course the compound of lime and phos- phoric lime that is left, containing less lime, has a larger propor- tion of phosphoric acid. This new combination is known by chemists as bicalcic and mono-calcic phosphate, according to the amount of lime that is removed, but it is commonly known as superphosphate. Its advantage as a fertilizer over bones or rock phosphate arises from the fact that it is more soluble. Rock phosphate is often converted into superphosphate by treatment with acid, and is then called "Dissolved Rock." Commercial " superphosphate " is a substance of very uncer- tain composition. It is usually made from bones treated with acid, to which is added slaughter-house refuse, nitrate of soda, and sometimes other more questionable materials to bring up the per cent of nitrogen. Much of it is made by treating the re- fuse bone black of the sugar refineries with acid. As the bone black contains phosphoric acid but no nitrogen, either slaughter- house refuse or nitrate of soda is usually added to make it show a due proportion on analysis. When superphosphate is mixed with the soil it often combines with more lime, and returns to its original condition of " bone phosphate " or tricalcic phosphate ; but this new formed phosphate is in a state of such fine division that it is readily acted on by the roots of plants. Guano. — This is the excrement of sea-fowls, which in some of the Pacific islands has accumulated for ages. There are two kinds, one found on islands where rain never falls. This is rich in nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid. The other kind has had the nitrogen and potash washed out by the rains, and con- tains phosphoric acid only. This latter kind is often treated with sulphuric acid and converted into superphosphate before being sold. THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 113 These commercial fertilizers are all valuable solely for the plant food they contain, having no beneficial action on the soil, such as is produced by barn-yard manure or green crops. Valuation of Fertilizers. — It would of course be im- possible to adopt any standard of valuation which could show exactly what any particular fertilizer would be worth to the farmer. That would depend on his soil and crop. A certain fertilizer might, from the nitrogen it contained, be worth forty dollars a ton, and yet on some field or crop that did not need nitrogen it would be worth nothing. But for convenience in comparison experiment stations have adopted certain standards of value for nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. By these standards the intrinsic value of diflferent fertilizers can be deter- mined, and by their means and analysis a farmer can determine whether he is paying more for a fertilizer than it is really worth, and he can compare the value of commercial fertilizers with barn-yard, and he can compare different kinds of barn-yard manure with each other. The same article of plant food has a different value, accord- ing t6 the condition it is in. A pound of nitrogen in nitrate of soda is worth more than a pound of nitrogen in barn-yard manure, for the nitrogen in the former article will be almost all, and immediately available for the use of the crop, while the nitrogen in the latter may have to lie in the soil for many years before it will be converted into available forms. We shall give in this book the valuations adopted by the Ohio State Board of Agriculture. Value per pound. I Ammonia, . 18 cts. y Which is equal to nitrogen, 21.86 " J Phosphoric acid in compounds which are soluble in water, and which is described in official analysis as "soluble" phos- phoric acid, ......... 12 cts. Phosphoric acid in compounds which though insoluble in water are yet available as plant food, and which is described in official analysis as " reverted phosphoric acid," . . 10 cts. Phosphoric acid in insoluble compounST which must undergo decomposition in the soil before being available as plant food, and which is described in official analysis as "insolu- uble phosphoric acid," ....... 5 cts. Potash 6 " 8 114 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. These valuations have been agreed upon for commercial fer- tilizers. As the condition of plant food in barn-yard manures is seldom twice the same, the determination of a standard of valua- tion for them is both difficult and uncertain. A pound of nitro- gen in the manure from highly fed cattle will be worth more than a pound of nitrogen in the manure produced by those which have been poorly fed. An average estimate is therefore the best that can be obtained. In preparing my work, Science in Farming, I adopted the' following standards of value, and have not since seen reason for making any change : VALUE OF PLANT FOOD IN MIXED MANUEE. Nitrogen, Phosphoric acid, ....... Potash, VALUE OF PLANT FOOD IN SOLID EXCREMENT. Nitrogen, Phosphoric acid, Potash, . VALUE OF PLANT FOOD IN URINE. Nitrogen, ........ Phosphoric acid, Potash, VALUE OF PLANT FOOD IN FOODS. Nitrogen, ........ Phosphoric acid, ....... Potash, 15 cents. 8 " 5 " 10 cents. 6 " 4 " 22 cents. 12 " 6 " V 15 cents. 8 " 5 " I give now the following table, taken from Science in Farm- ing, showing the composition of various barn-yard manures, and their values according to the above standard. The calculations are made for one ton of each kind : Name of Manure. Nitrogen, lbs. Phosphoric Acid, lbs. Potash, lbs. Value. Fresh barn-yard manure. Fresh hen manure Dried hen manure, Solid excrement, horses,., cattle,.. " " sheep,.. " " swine,.. Urine, horses, " cattle, " sheep, " swine,... 9 32.6 65.2 8.8 5.8 11 12 31 11.6 39 8.6 4.2 30.8 61.6 3.4 3.4 6.2 8.2 0.2 1.4 10.4 17 34 7 2 3 2.6 30 9.8 45.2 16.6 82 21 8 20 16 41 36 86 59 79 8 62 3 14 11 31 3 06 THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 115 The low value of the urine of cattle and swine is largely due to the amount of water they take with their food. This table does not show what any particular manure wiU be worth to the farmer, as that will depend on the soil and crop, but it does show the comparative value. A ton of dried hen manure may not be worth to the farmer $16.41; but if not, then a ton of solid cattle manure will not be worth 86 cents ; and, if the ton of solid manure from cattle is worth more than 86 cents, then the ton of dried hen manure will be worth more than 116.41. Food and Manure. — ^As we have seen that the value of the manure all comes from the food, and not from the animal, it is often important to know what will be the value of the manure produced from a ton of food. This will depend not only on the food, but on the animal: for, although animals can not add any thing to the manure, yet some take up more of the valuable con- stituents of the food for their own use than others. The following table, which is taken from Science in Farm- ing, gives the amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in different foods, and their value according to the standard already given. It differs slightly from the one prepared by Sir J. B. Lawes, which has been so extensively published, as the valu- ation of fertilizers in this country and England is somewhat different. In using this table it should be remembered that the manure made from a ton of any of these articles, when fed to fattening animals, will be worth about ten per cent less than the figures here given, and that, when the food is given to young, growing animals, or animals giving milk, the manure will be worth from twenty-five to fifty per cent less than the figures given. It should also be remembered that the estimate thus obtained will be the value of the total amount of manure produced, and the farmer must calculate for himself how much he will allow to be wasted. The plant food in manure produced from foods that are largely digestible will be more soluble, and, there- fore, more promptly available than that in manure made from poor food. 116 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. AMOUNT AND VALUE OF THE MANUEIAL CONSTITUENTS CONTAINED IN ONE TON OP DIFFERENT FOODS. Name of Food. Linseed cake, Cotton cake, decorticated,.. " " undecorticated,.. Beans, Peas, Bran, Oats, Barley, Indian corn, Clover hay , Meadow hay, Wheat straw, Barley straw, Oat straw Pea straw, cut in bloom,..., " ripe Corn-stalks, Qreen Fodder — Grass,.. Red clover, Peas Oats, Rye, Corn, Hungarian,. Sorgum, Roots — Potatoes Mangels Carots, Turnips, Nitrogen, lbs. 90.0 132.0 78.0 82.0 72.0 44.0 41.2 34.0 33.2 39.4 31.0 9.6 10.0 10.0 45.8 20.8 9.6 10.8 10.2 10.2 7.4 10.6 3.8 20.0 8.0 6.8 3.8 3.2 3.6 Phosphoric acid, lbs. 39.2 62.4 45.8 23.2 17.6 64.6 12.4 14.6 12.2 11.2 7.6 5.2 4.0 5.0 13.6 7.0 10.6 3.0 2.8 3.0 3.4 4.8 2.6 2.5 1.6 3.6 1.4 2.0 1.2 Potash, lbs. 29.4 30.0 40.2 24.0 19.6 29.6 9.0 9.8 7.2 39.0 33.6 11.6 19.4 20.8 46.4 20.2 19.2 9.2 8.8 10.2 15.0 12.6 8.6 17.0 7.2 11.2 7.8 6.4 5.8 Value. $18 10 26 29 17 37 15 36 13 18 13 25 62 76 32 76 94 44 79 2.94 10 28 4 69 3 25 32 37 50 73 60 21 05 69 1 87 1 07 96 92 Summary. — ^We have seen how the soil was formed during the countless ages of the past — how from the rocks and air were gathered the exact materials needed to make a soil. We have seen what a wealth of material has thus been placed under our feet. So great is this wealth that if the nitrogen, phos- phoric acid, and potash contained in the upper twelve inches of a good soil were valued at the prices charged for them in a com- mercial fertilizer the soil of a farm of one hundred and sixty- acres would be worth about a half million dollars. It is the duty of the farmer to wisely husband and use this THE SOIL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. 117 wealth, not to squander it, but to develop it, use it, and finally re- turn it to the soil from whence it came. The development of this wealth is accomplished by drainage, cultivation, and green ma- nures, and sometimes by the use of lime. The husbanding of it is accomplished by growing, as far as possible, those crops that can be fed on the farm, and by avoiding all wastes of ma- nure, particularly of the liquid portion. For the improvement of the soil we may safely adopt the following rules : Drain all land that requires it, not only reraoving surplus water but admitting the air, without which development of plant food can not take place. Cultivate thoroughly, thus stiU further favoring chemical action. Keep the surface of the soil, when not growing a cultivated crop, in grass or clover, thus avoiding waste of fertility by drainage. Adopt such a rotation of crops as will give every cultivated field a term in clover every few years. The exception to this last rule is in the case of fields over-rich in humus. Use lime only on land over-rich in humus, or in connection with green crops or barn-yard manure. Feed on the farm all crops that you can, and if you sell grain largely, strive to balance the loss by the purchase of bran, or other food from outside the farm. 118 TWE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter VI- GRASSES AND CLOVER. TO get a true idea of the value of the grass crop of the county requires some thought and study. When by study and comparison we see the many products of the farm which come directly or indirectly from this crop, we shall realize that in it is the farmer's wealth. Not only does the bulk of his income often come from the grass crop, but it comes with less labor and loss of fertility than from any other. A few statistics will prove this. The last compendium of the census puts the hay crop of the United States in round numbers at 35,000,000 tons, and this at |10 per ton is worth $350,000,000. The butter product is placed at 806,672,071 pounds, worth at 20 cents a pound, 1161,334,414. Of cheese we produce 243,157,850 pounds, worth, at 10 cents a pound, $24,315,785. Of wool 155,000,000 pounds, worth at 25 cents a pound, $38,750,000. These three items, butter, cheese, and wool, may be said to be almost en- tirely the product of grass. The entire valuation of the Hve stock of the United States is $1,500,000,000, and it would be a very moderate estimate to allow that one-half of this is due to the grass crop, for nearly two-thirds of the value of all our live stock is cattle and sheep, and much more than half of their value comes from grass. It is a little difficult to know what part of this stock is disposed of each year, but I should think it a fair estimate to add $200,000,000 to the income from grass for this item, and this added to the value of the hay, butter, cheese, and wool, gives an aggregate value to the annual grass products of the farms of the country of about $774,400,199. The annual wheat crop is GRASSES AND CLOVER. ' 119 about 450,00i),000 bushels, and worth on an average the same number of dollars, and the annual corn crop at forty cents per bushel would bring about |700,000,000. In getting at the relative values of these different crops it must be remembered that the expense of each acre of corn, or wheat, for plowing, harrowing, seed, and harvesting, will on an average amount to nearly or quite half, the value of the crops. Grass, however, being usually sown with small grain, requires no special preparation of soil, and as a single seeding lasts from two to an indefinite number of years, the expense to be charged to the crop amounts to a very small per cent of its value. That a system of farming which keeps a large per cent of the land in grass wUl, under right management improve the soil, scarcely needs an argument, for every farmer knows ; first, that continual cropping in grain always reduces the fertility of the soU, and, second, that the cheapest plant food at the farmer's command is a decaying sod. A proper proportion of grass on the farm enables us to follow a wise rotation of crops, and to grow stock to consume the grainj straw, and fodder, and thus produce the manure which is indispensable to good farming. Farms which on account of a rolling surface, and the quality of the soil would soon be ruined by washing if cultivated in grain, can be kept in good condition by keeping them seeded to grass. I have seen this illustrated along the " Big Miami River." For some twenty miles above its mouth the bluffs will average about three hundred feet high, and on the farms whose owners have persisted in cultivating them these hill-sides are now barren, seamed, and gullied, so that they can never produce grain again; and even to get them set in grass will require the planting of trees and building of dams in the washes, and will be a work requiring long time and great labor, and even then the grass product of these hill-sides will be small compared with those which have been kept in grass and thus saved from this loss. Often on the adjoining farm will be seen hill-sides just as steep, clothed from base to summit with a velvety sward of blue grass, which starts into rapid growth with the first warm days of 120 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. spring, enabling the farmer to pasture his stock a month before the clover fields are ready. I am aware of the fact that farms may be reduced in fertility while kept in grass, when pastured close in summer and little or no manure applied to them ; and I have seen examples of this among the factory dairies, where the cows are wintered on hay alone and no rotation followed. Varieties. — Botanists have classified about four thousand species of grass, and there is no soil but some of them are adapted to. When we name those of value to the farmer, how- ever, we reduce the list to a small number of varieties, and for much the larger part of the United States four will very nearly cover the list. These are timothy, blue-grass, orchard-grass, and redtop. Through a wide scope of territory with which I am familiar — ^if we except clover and the millets — these are the only grasses ever sown. There are other varieties which are valuable for certain localities or special purposes, among which may be named the following : Meadow, fox-tail, fowl meadow, rough stalked meadow, perennial rye grass, English bent, meadow fescue, and sweet-scented vernal. Timothy. — Of the varieties named, all things considered, this is the most valuable. It forms a large proportion of all the hay sold in our markets, and is the standard of value for this purpose. It contains a large percentage of nutritive matter. It thrives best on loamy soils, or a rich clay, and is not well suited to light or sandy lands. On moist soils its roots are fibrous, and on dry, loamy ones bulbous. On rich lands, well suited to it, this grass makes a rapid growth, and will sometimes yield from three to four tons of cured hay per acre. It is not well suited for pasture, as it is soon killed out by close grazing, and in a dry fall will make very little, if any, aftermath. When sown for pasture, therefore, it should always be in connection with other grasses. BLtns-GRASS. — This is known in many localities as "June grass," and it varies much in size and appearance on different soils. It flourishes best on limestone lands, and is universally esteemed for pasture. It starts early, and forms a turf which can be tramped with little injury when the land is in a condition GRASSES AND CLOVER. 121 that would not admit of pasturing many other varieties. The grass is nutritious, and stock fatten rapidly on it, and it is not in the least injured by close cropping. It is seldom injured by the frosts of winter. As it starts slowly, and requires at least four years to become well set, it is not advisable to sow it on level plow lands ; but on all soils where it flourishes, it should always be sown with other grasses for permanent pastures. It should be sown during the winter, that the melting snows and the freezing and thawing may cover it, so that it wiU start in early spring. Wherever it gains a foot-hold, it will, in time, crowd out all other grasses. It is claimed that it will catch as well on the hard surface of an old pasture as on a mellow field. It is usually recommended to sow about four pounds of this seed to the acre in connection with other grasses, but I would not sow less than twice that amount, and believe that one bushel (14 pounds) is none too much. I would not sow old seed, as I doubt if it will germinate, and to know that you get new seed will require care, as much seed is held over and sold the second year, or later. Orchaed-gbass. — also called Rough Cocksfoot, stands pre-emi- nent as a pasture grass. It possesses a host of good qualities. It is palatable and nutritious, and makes a very rapid growth. It blossoms early, and when pastured close or cut, makes a luxu- riant aftermath. It resists drought well, and is less exhaustive to the soil than Timothy. The seed weighs twelve pounds to the bushel, and when sown alone requires two bushels to the acre. When sown with a mixture of other grasses for pasture, about one-fourth the above amount is best. I have succeeded best with this grass sown in the spring with oats or barley. It forms an admirable mixture with red clover, either for pasture or hay, as it blossoms about the same time, and keeps the clover from lodging. Red-top. — This grass is called herds-grass in Pennsylvania, and is known by many local names, and assumes a variety of forms on different soils. It is well adapted to a great variety of soils, but flourishes best on a moist loam. It makes a heavy crop of hay, but inferior in quality to timothy. It is well suited 122 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. to permanent pasture, as it bears close feeding, but if allowed to run to seed, it becomes wiry and unpalatable to cattle. It endures all the vicissitudes of heat and cold, wet and dry, as well as any grass we have, and should form part of the mixture for permanent grass lands. As the seed is very fine, only a small quantity will be needed. Meadow Foxtail. — This grass resembles timothy, but is earlier and has a softer spike. It is not valuable to sow by itself for a crop, but a little of it in a permanent pasture will add greatly to its value. It requires three or four years to get a firm footing in the soil. The seed weighs but five pounds to the bushel, and contains over seventy thousand seed to the ounce. Two pounds of seed is enough for an acre. Fowl Meadow Grass. — .This variety is of great value for low, marshy grounds, where it flourishes best. It is one of the most nutritious of grasses. It thrives best in mixture with other grasses, and should be sown on aU rich, moist lands, whether seeded for pasture or hay. Rough Stalked Meadow Grass. — This resembles the June grass, but can be distinguished from it by its having a rough sheath, while the former has a smooth one. It grows best on moist, sheltered meadows. It is quite nutritous, and the second crop more so than the first. Seven pounds of seed to the acre will form a good sward, but it is better to sow two pounds of it in mixture with other grasses. Perennial Rye Grass. — This grass is more prized abroad than in this country. It is better adapted to a wet climate than to one where drought is as common as with us. It is quite palatable and nutritious up to the time of blossoming, when it changes rapidly from a palatable and succulent plant to one with much woody fiber, and but little soluble matter. English Bent Grass. — This is much like red-top, but may be distinguished from it by the roughness of the sheath when the hand is drawn down from above. Its qualities are very similar to those of red-top. Meadow Fescue. — This is said to be identical with the Ran- dall-grass of Virginia. It is a good pasture grass, and ripens its grasses' AND CLOVER. 123 seed very early. If sown it should be in a mixture with other grasses. Its greatest value is when in flower. Sweet-scented Vernal Grass. — This is not .a palatable or nutritious grass, but it comes very early in the spring and grows late in autumn, and in a mixture for pasture is of some value. It derives its name from its sweetness of smell when partly wilted or when crushed in the hand, and it is this, chiefly, that gives the fragrance to new mown hay. It is rarely sown, but comes spontaneously into fields and along roadsides. Of the varieties of grass named the blue-grass and orchard- grass do best in the shade, and will produce heavy crops in orchards and timber groves. Botanists speak of dislikes and affinities among plants, and blue-grass and the locust tree seem to illustrate the latter, jor they grow together with no apparent injury to each other. ( I have seen a second crop of locust trees grow large enough for^posts in twelve years,^in a heavy blue- grass sward, and our most dense groves of locust timber produce about as much of this grass as the open fields. The length of time land should remain in grass must be determined by the character of the land and the system of farming pursued. On every farm there should be a permanent pasture ; and, if this is seeded with a mixture of the grasses recommended, those best suited to the soil will get possession and become permanent. In all locations where blue-grass flour- ishes it will crowd out all others, and the land will not need reseeding in a generation. These pastures become more valua- ble with age, and are often the most profitable lands on the farm. On level plow lands, where the object of growing grass is to improve the soil,. as well as for hay and pasture, the period the land should remain in grass will vary somewhat. In most rota- tions the period will be two years, and sometimes a poor catch, or the damaging of the crop by a very dry summer or an unusu- ally severe winter, will make it wise to plow up the land after one year. Again, a field may be so well seeded and prove so productive that it will be found profitable to allow it to remain in grass for a series of years. I have known timothy meadows to give from four to six good crops from a single seeding. 124 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. On all plow lands the farmer should strive to so manage as to grow a heavy sward as soon as possible. This will often prove as valuable for manure as the crop will for food. If the farmer can accomplish this in two years he may be said to have grown three crops in this time, — two of grass, for pasture or hay, and one (beneath the soil) of plant food for succeeding crops. To secure this sward the land must be thoroughly prepared and heavily seeded. When fine, delicate seed like that of most of our grasses is sown on a rough, clayey surface, a large part of it never comes up at all, as it is covered so deeply that the germs perish before reaching the surface. It is of the greatest importance that the land be made fine and mellow, and, fortu- nately, this also gives the best seed-bed for the small grains with which our grasses are usually sown. It is of much greater importance that two or three inches of the sijrfece soil be fine and mellow than thatttj^KlSlnJ be deeply plowed. One is not likely to err by xigiSgthe plank-drag too much. I think, as a rule, that farmers are too sparing of seed, and that the best results will follow heavy seeding. I have often known farmers sow a bushel of timothy seed on ten acres, and think they were seeding liberally. I recommend, when timothy is sown alone for meadows, that a bushel be sown to three acres, and when seeding land for permanent pasture I would seed heavily with a mixture of as many valuable varieties as I could command that were suited to the soil. In seeding a pasture which is to remain permanently in grass, I would recommend as a suitable quantity for an acre: Timothy 10 lbs. Orchard-grass, . . 6 " Eed-top 2 " Blue-grass, 7 " Clover, 4 " There is no economy in stinting the seed for grass land. Most of our grasses do best when sown with small grain, and, as this saves the labor of preparing a seed-bed specially for the grass, it is economical to do so. It occasionally becomes neces- sary, however, in order that we may have pasture or meadow, that grass be sown so as to give a crop the first year. When GRASSES AND CLOVER. 125 it is required for pasture, seed with rye, as recommended iu another chapter. If for hay, clean land should be selected and put in order for seeding early in September, for the grass should get a good start in the fall to enable it to endure the winter, and also that it may get the start of weeds. It will pay to top-dress with fine manure, if it is available, and, if not, with bone-meal, which is a special manure for grass. I have found that timothy does much better sown in fall than in spring, as it roots deep enough to enable it to withstand drought, which, if sown in spring, would be fatal to it. It is sometimes desira- ble to reseed old pastures without plowing them or losing the pasturing for a season, and I find this can be done by harrow- ing until the surface is a little scarified and sowing in the fall. If the land is quite bare, I would recommend rye to be sown with the grass, as it will catch when sown on the surface if it is slightly mellowed, and wUl not only protect the young grass, but also furnish early feed. Bare spots in pastures not only give no income, but are unsightly, and they should be top-dressed with fertilizers of some kind, and re-seeded. I believe it wise to use the larger part of the manure made on the farm with reference to its effect on the grass crop. Where this can be done (as recommended in other chapters) so as to secure the benefit of the manure for a grain crop, and at the same time have it fertilize the grass, this is probably the wisest use that can be made of it; but, when a grass-field is to be plowed for corn, if manure can be had to top-dress it a year beforehand, it wUl cause the roots to multiply in the soU and the sward to thicken up, so as to furnish as great, or a greater, amount of plant food for the corn, and give in addition a very heavy grass crop. In 1883 I saw on the farm of a neighbor a good illustration of the value of manure for grass. A field of ten and a half acres was liberally top-dressed with good barn-yard manure, and it produced at two cuttings fifty-six loads of hay. Bight of these loads were weighed, and averaged twenty-one hundred pounds to the load ; and, taking these as an average, the field 126 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. yielded at the two cuttings over five and a quarter tons to the acre.* Chemical analysis shows, also, that hay grown on land well fertilized is of a much greater feeding value than that grown on a poor soil. A dressing of manure on permanent pastures will not only give one or two largely increased crops, but wUl make the pas- ture better for many years. I have passed daily, for several years, some pasture lots which have been heavily top-dressed with manure, and they carry fully double the stock per acre that the ordinary pastures of the same neighborhood do, and endure drought better. While pastures should not be overstocked, it is often a decided advantage to have them eaten short, as many varieties of grass become dry and of little value if allowed to go to seed. It is wise, therefore, to have the pasture divided so as to enable the farmer to concentrate the stock on one field while another is growing up. This changing of the stock is of advantage both to them and to the pasture. Hay Making, — I doubt if in any farm operation there is so little judgment exercised as in hay making, or if on any other point a little scientific knowledge would be of so great value. The practice of a majority of the farmers of my acquaintance is to allow their grass to stand till ripe, often so that the seed shatters in handling it. Chemical analysis shows that the changes the plant undergoes in maturing the seed, greatly re- duces the value of the grass for food, and careful experiments in feeding confirm this. On this subject Professor Jordan, of the Pennsylvania State College, says : " So far as composition is any indication of value, the hay from early cut grass is more valuable pound for pound than that from late cut grass." Some experiments made by Professor Jordan in feeding early and late eut hay, confirm this: During the winter of 1881 and 1882, four steers were selected for experiment and two fed on early cut hay for twenty-eight days and the other two on late cut hay for the same period. Then they were changed and for the same period those that had been fed early cut hay were fed * These two cuttings were made the same year. GRASSES AND CLOVER. 127 on late cut. The result of the fifty-six days' feeding is, given in the following table: Total amount of hay eaten Ha,y eaten per day. Corn-meal eaten per day.. Total gain in weight Gain of two steers per day Gain per lb. of hay fed Early cut Hay. Pounds. Late cut Hay. Founds. 1,696 30.3 12 176 3.14 .104 1,634 29.2 12 134 2.4 .082 at This gives the relative value of early and late cut hay : 100: 79. A second experiment was made, in which a smaller quantity of corn-meal was fed in connection with the hay. This experiment lasted nearly three months, beginning December 1st, and endiag February 25th. Weight of two steers Dec. 1st " " " " Feb. 25th Total gain in weight Total amount of hay eaten Corn-meal eaten per day Gain per lb. of hay fed Gain of two steers per day Fed early cut Hay Founds. Fed late out Hay. Founds. 1,750 1,922 , 172 2,924 7 .059 2 1,630 1,702 72 2,284 7 .082 .84 This experiment would show a relative value of early cut to late cut ::100:55. These cattle were fed all they would eat clean, and it is noticeable that the two fed on the early cut hay ate 690 pounds more than those fed on that which was cut late. These steers were sold at 6 J cents per pound, which gave a return for the 690 pounds extra of early cut hay, equal to $18.80 per ton. Not only does the degree of ripeness, but also the method of curing, affect the quality of the hay. The quicker hay can be cured the better the quality will be, and it is almost as damaging to leave it exposed too long to the hot sun, as to have a rain fall on it. All grasses should be cut when free from external moisture and then cured as rapidly as possible. Under favorable circum- stances hay can be cured and put in the barn the same day, and 128 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. when this can not be done it is best to put it in cocks so as to pro- tect it from the dew. There is a great difference between good sweet hay cut before the rich juices have turned to woody fiber, and that which has been allowed to get over-ripe, and then allowed to lie for two or three days exposed to dew and burning sun, and the farmer who likes to see his stock comfortable and thrifty, and who expects to find a profit from feeding, will be watchful and vigilant to see that all the work of hay-making is done at the right time and in the best possible manner. The use of hay caps is usually recommended in giving directions about hay-making, but I have serious doubts as to whether they would pay. If the rain is heavy and long-continued the hay will be wet from the ground, and the heat and moisture from the cock will gather under the cap and damage the top. Besides, our summer showers usually come up so suddenly that it would be impossible to cover a field of hay in time to protect it. Bar- racks similar to those described in our chapter on wheat, will be found profitable on farms where hay is grown as a leading crop, and for this purpose they can be built cheaply by setting posts of lasting wood in the ground to support the roof. When hay is to be stacked or put in barracks in the field, much time and labor in handling can be saved by the use of the "twenty-foot hay rake," which you will find described and illustrated in the chapter on "Handy things." Since the introduction of the self-binders for wheat, I have heard of some farmers cutting the timothy hay with these ma- chines. I believe that it would cure out in the shock as well as wheat, and would be very little damaged by rain, and I would recommend that farmer's owning these machines try this plan. Shrinkage of Hay in Barn. — It is a question of con- siderable interest to the farmer who sells hay, to know what the shrinkage will be between the time it is stored and the following winter or spring when it has thoroughly dried out. I have before me the results of seventeen trials made at the Pennsylvania State College Farm. The experiments extended over a space of three years, 1879-81, and included timothy and clover, and the cutting was made at different stages of growth GRASSES AND CLOVER. 129 from the time the grass began to head, until it was nearly dead. In all of these trials hut three, about two tons was put in a lot. In the three eight hundred pounds each. The greatest shrinkage was 36 per cent, and in four cases it exceeded 30 per cent. The smallest was 12 per cent, on clover nearly dead, and in five cases it was less than twenty per cent. The average for the seventeen trials was 24.1 per cent. The second weighing was made in December or at a later period during the winter. From these experiments it will be seen that it will require a large advance in price to pay for the shrinkage and rehandling of hay. Millet. — The mUlet family is better for green feeding than for hay, but as it will make the best crop when sown about the first of June, and the yield of hay from our meadows can be estimated closely by that date, it is often wise for the farmer to sow a field in millet when he finds the hay crop likely to be short. If the crop is to be grown for seed, not more than twelve quarts of seed should be sown to the acre. If for hay, from sixteen to twenty quarts. The yield is often very heavy, and the quality is fair. For fodder it should be cut before ripen- ing. It does best on loamy land, but will produce a crop on any good soU. Great pains must be taken in the preparation of the seed bed, as when it is sown at the hot season of the year the land soon dries out, making it difficult to get a stand, and if the millet is thin on the ground it will be coarse and inferior as food, and likely to be mixed with weeds. In preparing land for millet I would recommend that it be rolled as fast as plowed, then har- rowed fine and the seed sown and covered with the plank drag. It will make a better start if sown soon after a rain, than if sown before one heavy enough to crust the land, particularly on a clay upland. The hay is better for cattle than horses, and it is thought to be unwholesome for the latter if the seed is near maturity. Clover. — I have, in a previous chapter, spoken of clover as a renovator and cleanser of the soil, and here I shall speak more particularly of it as a food-producing plant. While the va,rieties are numerous, there are but few which are of suffi- cient value to the farmer to justify the devoting of our space n 130 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. to them. These are the " Common Red," of which we have two varieties, the larger of which is called the " Sapling," and also " Large English," and in Europe goes by the name of " Cow Grass." The " White," or " Dutch," the " Alsike," and " Al- falfa," or " Lucerne." The common red and white need no de- scription, as they are familiar to all. The " Sapling " is of larger and coarser growth than the common red, and some weeks later in ripening, which makes it valuable to sow for hay with tim- othy, as it will be ready to cut with the latter grass, and will not only be supported during its growth by it and prevented from lodging, but can be much more easily cured. It also grows finer when mixed with timothy. It makes a wonderful growth and is, I think, of much greater value for fertilizing purposes ■ than the common red, and so far as my experience goes, makes as good pasture. The heaviest crops of hay we have ever cut on " East View Farm," were when we had sown two or three pounds of this mammoth clover seed with the timothy. I think that the hay from this variety of clover is more easily cured than from the common red, one reason being that it is not so sappy, and another that, being cut later, the weather is usually hotter and better for curing. I have found that it is relished by the stock as well and eaten with as little waste. The sapling clover seeds in the first crop, and does not make a heavy second growth like the common red. I would advise every farmer to give it a trial, but as it might not succeed as well on all soils as on our limestone, it would be prudent to .experiment with a single field for a year or two before substituting it entirely. Alsike cloA'^er is an intermediate variety between the white and common red. It grows nearly as tall as the latter, with a much finer stem and foliage, and has a pale red or pinkish blos- som. It is a perennial, extremely hardy, and will yield good crops for eight or ten years. It branches very heavily, and throws out many stalks from one root, and so requires but thin seeding ; the roots strike very deeply into the subsoil. The period of bloom is much longer than with red clover, and it will be ready to cut with timothy. Only half as much seed will be re- quired as of red clover, and it may be sown either spring or faU. GRASfiES AND CLO VER. 131 It bears its sefed in the first crop. It yields a fair crop of hay or pasture, and is in great favor with bee keepers, as, like the white clover, bees can work it, vsrhile they can not reach the sweets in the common red clover. Lucern, or alfalfa, is largely cultivated in some countries to supply green food for cattle. It is not valuable for hay, as it be- comes very woody and fibrous as it matures, and should be cut for green food before it conies into blossom. It will bear several crops in a season, and produce a large amount of succulent food. It does not succeed on wet soil or tenacious clays, but is specially adapted to warm, sandy soils, and to hot climates as its long roots enable it to withstand drought. It is largely grown in Peru, under the he^-t of a tropical sun, and is es- teemed a valuable plant in California and the South. As it is very sensitive to weeds, it is best to sow in drills and hoe the first season, till it becomes well established, and top dress each fall with well-rotted manure. When once well established, it will yield bountiful crops for many years. White clover is rarely sown as a farm crop, but seems to be indigenjQUs to many soils, and comes in of itself along the road- sides, pastures, and meadows. I was much troubled with it in my strawberry beds many years ago, when engaged in market garden- ing, and was puzzled to know how the seed came there, as I was sure that I had not taken it in the manure. A study of the habits of the plant showed how the seed was disseminated. The white clover, unlike the red, seeds in the first crop, and the seed is not inclosed in a tight hull, but shatters readily. As the head ripens half the spikes or flowerets turn down, and when ripe the stem becomes brittle and the head breaks off, and is nearly as round as a ball, and is rolled along by the wind, scattering its seed as it goes. The seed of white clover possesses great vi- tality, and will remain for many years in the soil, and then grow when the conditions are favorable. By dressing old meadows with ashes, a heavy crop of white clover will often result, although none has grown on the field for a generation. I think that on soils where white clover flourishes it would be profitable in seeding permanent pastures to use a pound or two of it per 132 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. acre in the mixture, as it will fill the vacancies and protect the soil, and also furnish a large amount of sweet and nutritious food. As red clover is the variety of universal growth and great- est value to the farmer, I shall confine myself to it in the re- mainder of this chapter. I place a very high value on clover, and believe that it ranks in value and importance with our lead- ing grain crops. My reasons for this are : 1st. Because of the large amount of food it furnishes at small expense. 2d. Be- cause of the value of the manure made from it. 3d. It can be produced not only without reducing the fertility of the soil, but on the contrary, the field which has grown a crop of clover has a larger supply of available plant food, and is improved in its mechanical condition. 4th. It i? a cleansing crop, by which I mean that we have much less trouble with weeds, when cultiva- ting a field that has been in clover than when one grain crop follows another. In estimating the profit of a crop, we can not be governed entirely by its cash market value, but must take into consider- ation, 1st. The cost of producing and getting it into market, and, 2d The condition of the soil after the crop has been re- moved, and its capacity to grow a succeeding crop. Tried by these standards, clover compares favorably with any crop of the farm. While it is difficult, if not impossible, to estimate accurately the fertility, either removed from or added to the soil, we may, perhaps, approximate it, and I give the following as what I believe to be a fair estimate : I should not expect to keep a field at average fertility if continuously cultivated in grain without the addition of manure, and if the field was dressed once in five years with fifteen loads of manure, worth one dollar a load, it would average three dol- lars a year per acre ; and this seems to me to fairly represent on average soils the reduction of fertility by a grain crop. On the other hand, I have rarely failed to get an increase of grain when following clover ranging from five to twelve or fifteen dollars in value per acre, and, even taking the lowest estimate, it would give a difference of eight dollars per acre in the con- dition of the soil in favor of the clover crop ; and this estimate GRASSES AND CLOVER. 133 I make on the supposition that both crops are removed from the soil. The feeding value of a clover crop depends on so many circumstances that we can not lay down any fixed rules in determining it. We can, however, get an approximate idea of its worth. Mr. Coburn, in his work on Swine Husbandry, estimates that an acre of clover fed to hogs will produce one- half more pork than an average acre of corn. He claims that fifteen pounds of green clover will make a pound of pork, and that an acre of good average clover will produce six tons green, and foots up a feeding value of thirty-two dollars for it. While I would not dispute that, under favorable circumstances, this might be realized from it, yet I know that the estimate is more than double what we could expect as an average result. Mr. L. N. Bonham, who has a bottom farm, and follows a rotation which gives a clover-field of about thirty acres each year, has made the feeding value of clover a matter of careful study, and puts the average pasture value at nine dollars per acre. I con- sider this a safe and moderate estimate, and think that the clover crop will compare favorably with our grain crops on this basis. I should call eight dollars pel* acre a low estimate for the cost of growing and harvesting an acre of corn or Avheat ; and, if we add to this the three dollars which we have estimated the soil is reduced in fertility, it will make eleven dollars to be deducted from the grain crop in making up our balance-sheet to find out what the profit is. We deduct from the clover crop only one dollar per acre as the expense of seeding; but, on the other hand, credit it with the value of fertilizing elements developed in the soil. When the crop is cut fofr hay and seed it often proves very profitable, especially near a city or village market, as clover-hay is considered superior food for milch cows, producing yellow butter in winter. When the second crop is to be cut for seed it is important to cut the first crop early, and I would advise cut- ting as soon as the earliest blossoms have turned brown. It will be harder to cure than if cut later, but will contain less indigest- ible woody fiber, and the seed crop will be heavier. The nutritive value of clover hay, if cut at the right season 134 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. and well cured, is fully equal to that of timothy, and in some combinations it is even more valuable, on account of the larger proportion of albuminoids it contains, but is not considered so good for horses as for cattle. When hay is the main object from clover it vpill pay to sow grass with it. If the large English clover is sown, timothy is the best, and I recommend that not less than double the amount of timothy seed be used that you do of clover, or the latter will entirely smother out the timothy for the first season. If the common red clover is sown, orchard-grass will give the best sat- isfaction, as it ripens with the clover. Clover hay is more dam- aged if wet when partially dried than the grasses, and also by being overdried, for in either case the leaves will crumble and fall off. The best plan is to cut clover in the afternoon, and not disturb it till the next day, after the dew has dried and the top wilted ; then turn and dry as rapidly as possible, and get it into the barn if it will do ; if not, put in small cocks, and open the next day. If the farmer has a supply of old hay or bright straw, and will put a layer of this in the mow every eighteen inches or two feet, the clover may be put in safely with much less curing than if put by itself, as the moisture will be absorbed so as to prevent its taking harm. A method of curing clover-hay by its own heat is coming into practice with some of our best farmers. The conditions of success in this method are that it should be entirely free from external moisture, and that it be packed into the mow as solid as possible. The clover is cut after the dew is thoroughly dried off in the morning, and allowed to wilt, and by two o'clock it is ready to draw to the barn ; at the first appearance of dampness in the afternoon the work should be stopped. If more hay is cut than can be taken to the bam it should be cocked up, and these cocks should not be opened the next day till the outside is thoroughly dry, and then two hours' sun will be sufficient for them. When a mow is filled in this way the moisture will gather at the top and spoil a little of the hay, but the bulk of the mow will be found sweet and bright, and of the best quality. Clover-hay can not be kept in the stack without damage, GRASSES AND CLOVER. 135 unless some better material is used to top out, and those who expect to use much of it should provide barracks for it if they have not barn room. Salt as it is put into the mow, as it will render it more palatable to the stock. Over-salting is injurious, and I would recommend not more than one gallon to the ton. Time to Sow. — As a rule, I think the best results will be had from early seeding — say about the first half of March. If, however, the farmer sows his seed in the chaff, as is the custom with many, it may be sown in February, as the seed, when inclosed in the hull, does not germinate so soon, and the young germ is somewhat protected. If the farmer will harrow his wheat, so as to loosen the surface a little, the seeding can be safely postponed to a later date, and any time the first half of April is seasonable. When seeding with spring grain smooth off" the field with the plank-drag (a cut of which you will find in the chapter on corn) before sowing, and, unless a rain falls within two or three days, run over the field again with the drag. I am seeding more heavily of late years than formerly, as I am con- vinced that it is profitable. The testimony of a man who was for many years in charge of a clover-hulling machine is that the heaviest yields of seed are where the land was seeded at the rate of ten pounds to the acre, and I think this none too much, but, on fresh, loose land, or that which had been well top-dressed with manure, I should expect a good stand from a less quantity of seed. When the land is not to be harrowed I prefer to sow on frozen ground, on a clear morning, when there is likely to be a thaw, as this settles the seed and covers it, so that it is not likely to b^ washed into bunches by a rain. It would be of great advantage if clover could be sown in the com with a certainity of getting a stand, and this is often done. My own experience, however, has not been favorable to this method, as I have found that I often failed to get a stand. Other farmers have been more successful, and it would be so great an advantage to be able to seed our corn fields with clover, that I would advise every farmer to try experiments to ascertain the best time and manner of seeding in the corn-field. I would try sowing in July when the corn was worked the last time, and also 136 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. about the first of September. It is certain that there are soils or seasons that give excellent results for summer or fall seeding of clover, and if an acre or two of the corn-field was sown each year at different times, and the experiment repeated for several years, it would not be long till the farmer would learn the conditions necessary to success. As a rule, farmers turn their stock on the clover too soon after harvest, and by so doing they not only permanently injure the crop, but also fail to get the benefit from the fall feed which they would if they would allow it to make more growth. The same rule holds good as with spring pasturing. It should not be pas- tured, at least heavily, until the blossom buds show. In favor- able autumns clover will grow large enough after harvest to make a heavy crop of hay, and wiU also mature seed. I have known nearly two tons of hay cut to the acre, or a bushel of seed, from the growth after a wheat crop. If it is the intention to follow with corn the following spring, I would advise that the clover be allowed to make all the growth it will and neither be pastured or mowed; but if it is to stand over it is not safe to leave this mass of foliage on the soil, as it will in some cases kill out the entire crop. I had in the fall of 1882 thirty acres of heavy clover, and allowed the stock to partially pasture all of it but five acres. The pastured part came through the winter in fine condition, while the part on which the fall growth was left was entirely dead the next spring. It was not winter- killed, for there was such a mass on the ground that it could scarcely freeze at all, but was either smothered or killed by field mice. I did not at the time make a careful examination to de- termine the cause, but as I noticed a number of owls aU winter near the field I am inclined to suspect that the mice caused the trouble. I have been told by farmers who have wintered heavy clover without pasturing or mowing, that it is quite common for field mice to greatly damage the crop. Clover for Pasture. — I consider clover as only a supple- mentary pasture crop, by which I mean that the farmer never should depend on it entirely. We have grasses that are less injured by tramping or close feeding, which wiU enable the grasse;s and clover. 137 farmer to turn his stock out more than a month earlier than clover ought to be pastured. It is especially damaging to allow stock to run on clover while there are frosts in spring, as every plant that is touched when frozen is killed. If the clover is al- lowed to grow until it begins to blossom before stock is turned on it, the roots have pushed down deeply into the soil, and the land is so densely shaded that it will take a very severe drought to affect it at all; and when the grasses are drying up and their growth is entirely stopped, the clover will stiU grow and furnish an abundant supply of food. Fertilizers for Clover. — As clover is always sown with a grain crop, manure is seldom if ever applied with reference to the growth of the clover, but I have shown that when the ma- nure is applied at the surface and finely pulverized, it will greatly benefit the clover as well as the grain. I consider this a strong argument in favor of using the manure as a top dress- ing on small grain, and also for thoroughly pulverizing it. Gyp- sum or land plaster is considered a valuable fertilizer for clover, and particularly to give the second crop a start when it is to be cut for seed. The plaster should be applied when the dew is on in the morning or on a damp day. Two hundred pounds per acre is sufficient. "Harris" in his Talks on Manures says : " The effect of a top dressing of gypsum on clover was often wonderful. The crop was larger and more luxuriant, and this extra growth was caused by the small dressing of powdered gypsum rock." Growfng Clover Seed. — The yield of clover-seed varies from one to seven bushels per acre, and three bushels is about a fair average. In one important particular, clover differs from most other plants, which is, that it produces a better effect on the soil when allowed to ripen its seed than when removed in the green state either by mowing or pasturing. In investigating to find the reason of this it has been found, that the greatest development of roots in the soil is during the period of the growth of the second crop. In an ex- periment by " Dr. Augustus Voelcker " it was estimated that an acre of clover contained after cutting for hay in round numbers 138 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 1,500 pounds of dried roots. In November following, after the field had produced a crop of seed, further careful experiments showed 3,600 pounds to the acre. Taking, then, the improvement in soil, the crop of hay, and the seed, a clover crop will often prove more profitable than a grain crop. The seed crop should not be allowed to stand too long, or much of it will be lost by the heads breaking ofF. It should be left by the reaper in bunches large enough for a good forkfuU; and the less it is handled- the better, as each handling causes waste. The better plan is to thresh from the field, as it can not be stacked so as to shed water, and is so dusty as to be very unpleasant to handle in the barn. I think it wiU pay many farmers who do not grow it as a money crop to grow their own seed. A few acres can be grown and tramped off with horses, and sown in the chaff. I have never had a better stand than when I have sown in this way. I think it advisable for farmers to grow their own seed, not only for the sake of economy, but from the fact that often the seed bought contains the seeds of troublesome weeds which will prove a pest to the farm, or it may be old and worthless. I can not tell how long clover-seed retains its vitality, but dear- bought experience leads me to advise farmers not to sow old seed. I think old seed can usually be distinguished from new by its color, the new seed appearing bright and glossy, while the old has a dull appearance. Often old seed will be mixed with new, or the seed may be adulterated with sand or stone, ground and sifted to the size of cloA'^er seed. These mixtures and adulterations are difficult to detect with the naked eye, but by the aid of a small magnifying, glass they can easily be seen. I would advise the farmer to always carry with him one of these small glasses. I prefer the kind called linen glass or linen tester, as they are made with hinges to fold flat and when closed one of them occupies but little more room than a nickel, and can be carried in the purse or vest pocket. The magnifying power of this glass is sufficient to make a clover seed look as large as a pea, and will readily indicate whether the seed is mixed or adulterated. GRASSES AND CL VER. 139 Hoven, or Clover Bloat, and Slobbers. — These are rth produced by clover, and the former sometimes becomes a srious matter, as it is often fatal, and sometimes in a very lort time. I have known a cow to be milked and turned out irly in the morning perfectly well, and to be found dead, from lis cause, before 9 o'clock. I shall not speak of the treatment • relieve this, as that will be found in our veterinary depart- ent, but wiU mention what I believe to be preventives. Ho- 3n is caused by fermentation instead of digestion of the green lod in the stomach, and is due to eating too large a quantity, ten imperfectly masticated, and is most liable to occur when lis is taken into the stomach early in tlie morning, when the over is covered with dew or frost. The danger will be greatly ssened if the farmer has early pastures for the cattle to run 1, so as to become accustomed to green food before being irned on the clover. When you first turn on the pasture, do ) in the afternoon of a clear day, when the clover is warm. . straw stack in the field, or a little hay fed in the morning is so said to be a preventive. The risk from this cause is cer- linly small, for I have had more or less clover on my farm rery year, and have not lost an animal in thirty-five years, id have known of but few cases among my neighbors. This ads me to think that mixed pasture is a preventive, for while .1 of our farmers sow clover, most of them sow timothy or or- lard grass with it, or have permanent pastures to turn on early. What is commonly called slobbers, is in reality a salivation, )mewhat similar to that produced by calomel. Cattle are not Tected by it, and horses from the second crop only. It is lid to be caused by an acid which is developed in the late rowth of the clover, particularly after the cool nights arrest the ipid growth. While this can hot be classed as a disease, it aes reduce the strength and flesh of the horse, and work arses should not be allowed to run on clover after it reaches le stage at which this effect is produced. 140 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter VII. CORN, THE com cropi of the United States exceeds one thousand million bushels a year. The mind can not comprehend the vastness of these figures, but, perhaps, by looking at the matter in detail, we can get some idea of it. It amounts to about twenty bushels for each man and woman and child in the nation. It would load thirty million wagons, with thirty-three and a half bushels each, and these wagons arranged in a pro- cession one hundred to the mile, would encircle the globe twelve times. If loaded on cars, four hundred bushels to a car, it would take two and a half million cars to transport it, or sixty- two thousand five hundred trains, of forty cars each, and these trains, one mile apart, would encircle the globe two and a half times. The average yield per acre in the United States, for the eleven years, from 1871 to 1881, inclusive, was twenty-six bushels. The center of production has been for years moving westward, and may j&nally cross the Mississippi River. The largest yield per acre is found in the New England States, and is accounted for by the fact that the acreage is small and the crop manured and cultivated like a garden. Ohio has long ranked high as a corn-producing State, and during the last thirty years its averages have twice reached forty bushels per acre, and eight times fallen below thirty bushels. Our smallest yield since 1850 was in 1854, when the average was twenty-six bush- els per acre, and the heaviest in 1872, when it was nearly forty-one bushels, and the average for the entire period of thirty-one years is nearly thirty-four bushels. I fully believe that by the adoption of a system of rotation that would give CORN. 141 a clover sod on which to plant corn, by keeping more stock and saving more manure, and by the more thorough preparation of the soil, and cultivation of the crop, we might easily increase this average one-half, and possibly it might be doubled. In the chapter on " Farm Management," I show the* differ- ence in the cost per bushel between a light and heavy yield of this crop. In the spring of 1877, when conducting the agricul- tural department of the Cincinnati Enquirer, I offered several premiums for the largest yields of corn. We organized what we called " The Hundred Bushel Club," consisting of about seventy members, and I here give in fuU the reports of nearly a score of them: MuNCiE, Ind., November 2, 1877. The following is a report of my one-hundred-bushel acre of corn : It was black burr-oak land ; it was a very stiff blue-grass sod. I plowed it in- April, and planted it in choice white corn on the 7th of May. Plowed it five times. Just cultivated it the same as the balance of my crop (ninety-five acres). Did not hoe, use any manure, or any thing else but the common two-horse cultivator. Now for the result : The first ' ' choice acre " made 102 bushels ; the second made 98 bushels ; the entire field averaged 78 J bushels. Geoege Niswangee. MiLLGEOVE, Blackford County, Ind. , ") November 3, 1877. j I, to-day, have gathered my " Club acre," which yielded 98 bushels and 31 pounds. The variety of corn planted was the Martin yfeUow. It was planted on new, black, loamy soil, it being the second crop, and planted May 16. Breaking the ground, $1.50; harrowing and rolling, $1; furrowing and planting, %\; plowing five times, $3; husking and cribbing, 13; total, 19.50. The greatest yield from a single grain was two ears from one stalk, which yielded 2,326 grains, and weighed one pound and ten ounces sheUed corn. I have selected a bushel of ears of the Martin yellow field-corn which just took fifty-nine ears to make the bushel, or seventy pounds. Heney S. McFeeren. GiBsoNBUEG, Sandusky County, O.,") November 26, 1877. j The following is the report of my choice acre of corn, grown on black, sandy land, clover and timothy sod : I plowed it the 1st of May with the Oliver chilled plow, from ten to twelve inches deep ; harrowed twice. Planted on the 17th of May with a one-horse drill, 3^ feet apart. Cultivated as fol- lows: Harrowed the com with two-horse harrow once; plowed with double- shovel plow twice ; did not hoe ; used no manure. Now for the result ; 142 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Weighed 7,339 pounds, being 104 bushels 59 pounds, of corn; shelled 70 pounds of ears ; made 58^ pounds of shelled corn. The expenses are as fol- lows: Plowing land, $1.50; harrowing, 50 cents; planting with drill, 25 cents ; harrowing the com, 25 cents ; plowing corn twice, $1 ; husking and cribbing, $5; total, $8.50. «- Blue Eidge, Ind., November 27, 1877. The following is a report of my acre of corn : Yield, 91 bushels ; variety of corn plantej^, mammoth white ; variety of soil, black loam. First crop. Plowing, $2; harrowing, $1; crossing off and planting, $1; plowing three times with double-shovel, $2 ; husking and cribbing, $4.50; total, $8.50. We have selected iifty-three ears that weigh seventy-one pounds. e. a. bueton. Whitewater, Wayne Gotjnty, Ind.,") November, 27, 1877. | I send the result of my acre to the club. I selected my acre out of a five-acre piece of rich sand loam, black burr-oak bottom ; broke on the 5th of May ; harrowed and rolled ; then took one of Ag's top-drags over it ; marked off, with three-runner sled, three and one-half feet each way ; planted eighth day of May with hand-planter, three and four grains to the hill, of the Excelsior K^ansas corn ; rolled soon as corn was up ; plowed once each way with small shovel, then each way with large shovel, using the Western two-horse cultivator; plowed close two first times; whole five acres plowed alike, only the one acre I followed with the hoe first and fourth time, then finished clearing it second week, in July. Laid by plowing 28th June; plowed four times, hoed twice, and cleaned up. I husked the first week in Novem- ber four loads' of corn, weighing 26 bushels 10 pounds per load, 70 pounds per bushel, making 104 bushels. I shelled one barrel of 2 bushels 10 pounds, making 2 bushels 1-| gallons strong measure; then weighed the shelled, 2 bushels 19 pounds of 56 pounds standard. This will bring me up to about 107 bushels, which is 10 short of what I expected. Expenses as follows: Half day plowing, $1.25 ; harrowing, rolling, and dragging, $1.25 ; marking, 50 cents; seed, 25 cents; hoeing and cleaning, $1.50; plowing four times, $2; husking and cribbing, $2.25. Total, $8.90. J. S. Long. WiLLIAMSPOET, PiCKAWAY CoUNTY, O., November 23, 1877. } I am now prepared to give you a full report of my one acre of corn. The acre of l&nd used was a part of a pond which had remained idle for a number of years, filled with water almost the year round. It was ditched last spring, just before plowing, which I did the 1st of May. I planted the 14th of May, in rows three feet seven inches wide, and twenty-one inches in the row, the variety known as the Kentucky, being white, large ears, deep grains, and comparatively small cob. The seed used did n't come up as well CORN. 143 as it should, and the 1st of July I had a very irregular stand ; also a little dry at the time it was earing. I plowed it four times, and went through with the hoe twice, but did n't draw any earth to the corn. I cut it the 1st of October, and finished shucking the 14th of November 110 bushels and 56 pounds. The least number of ears to the bushel was 62 ; actual cost of labor performed on the acre, $9.60, or eight cents to the bushel. I think, if all things had been favorable, I should have had at least fifteen bushels more corn. And now, in conclusion, I would say that the experiment has been worth the efibrt and all the labor performed, and has taught me that it pays to underdrain, to plow deep and pulverize well before planting ; and if we, as farmers, were more careful in this particular, the average yield per acre of com would be raised far above what statistics have shown. H. A. Miller. MoKEiSTOWN, Ind., November 23, 1877. I herewith send report of my premium acre of corn : 8 cords stable manure at f 1, $8 ; hauling and spreading same, $6 ; breaking and pulverizing, $2.50; seed, 25c. and planting 50c.; 4^ bush, salt, 30c. (sown broadcast), $1.35; cultivation, $2; harvesting 88 bush, at 3o., $2.64; interest on land at 10 per cent, $7; total, $30.24. Credit by 88 bush, corn at 30c., $26.40. credit by 1 acre stalks, $1 ; total, $27.40. The soil is a black swamp land of good quality, and has been in cultivation about fifteen years. The planting had to be done a second time. May 18th. Drilled twelve inches in the rows, with the rows three feet apart. Variety of corn, large yellow Dent. Full one-fourth of the stalks failed to produce any thing. I think it was planted too late and too thickly. Cultivation first and second times with a one-horse harrow ; third time with a small tooth cultivator, and fourth with a double shovel. A glance at the fiigures is sufficient to satisfy any one that the experiment was a failure financially, but perhaps the few remaining dol- lars are saved in experience. J. C. Davis. Ellsworth, III., November 24, 1877. I have husked my premium acre, and have for my pains 118 bushels, 33 pounds of as good corn as I ever raised. The land on which my corn grew has been in cultivation since the year 1853, has never had any manure of any kind on it, and I had thirty-five acres to tend with one team. I first plowed my land from four to five inches in depth; I then harrowed it once, marked it off" three feet, nine inches, and planted the same distance ; I then plowed it three times. This was all the attention my corn received, the entire piece receiving the same attention. On the 7th of November I measured the acre, 10 by 16 from east to west, the length ; the width from north to south. I went into the entire piece, and from it selected the best acre, as I thought. Then on the 12th I husked and weighed it in baskets. The corn is of the variety known as the Kickapoo Beauty, a corn peculiar to this locality. 144 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. The entire cost of production and gathering for the acre is $8.60. We averaged the piece at eighty-five bushels. My premium bushel of the same variety took sixty-one ears. This was thoroughly dried by artificial heat, heat, and weighed to-day, November 24th. If necessary, all the above will be certified to when required. George L. Hoovee. Bloomington, Clinton County, O., ) November 24, 1877. j I send you the result of my premium acre of corn, gathered the 21st and 22d of this month. The acre was measured and weighed by two disin- terested men — named J. P. Delaplane and J. M. Earley. The land is sugar- tree, laying open to the south; the first crop, a timothy sod ; no manure ; cul- tivated with a double-shovel plow ; sufficient harrowing before the corn was planted ; plowed three times ; drilled the 18th of May ; a large yellow corn called the Leaming; weighec^ out one hundred and six bushels, allowing seventy pounds to the bushel. Jonas Speaes. P. P. Delaplane, J. M. Earley, witnesses. New Lancaster, Tipton, County, Ind., ) November 20, 1877. j The following is a report of my one hundred bushel acre of corn: It was black walnut land, and a very stifl? red-top sod of eleven years' standing. I broke it in March, and planted it the 1st of May with a Hoosier drill, twenty inches apart, with a large speckled corn, a gourd-seed variety; har- rowed once; hoed once; plowed five times ; no manure. Now for the result: My choice acre made 110 bushels and 33 pounds; the second 105 bushels and 13 pounds. The ground and corn were measured by H. Lamb, C. Van- ness, and myself. Now for the expenses: Breaking, $1.50; three times har- rowing, 50 cents; furrowing and planting, |1 ; plowing five times, $2.50; husking and cribbing, $2.50; hoeing once, $1.50; total, $9.50. William Lamm. Coles County, III., November 26, 1877. The undersigned respectfully reports the following concerning his club acre of corn. The land on which it grew is timber land, and has been in culti- vation eleven years. The soil is black walnut land, underdrained with three- inch tile two and a half feet under ground, and runs very near through the ceuter of said club acre. The land has been in corn five seasons, and the balance of the time in small grain and clover pasture ; has never been ma- nured; was sown in rye and clover in 1875, and was pastured with cattle and hogs, rye and all, until it was planted in corn last spring ; allowed no stock to roam over in the latter part of winter and spring when the ground was soft. The ground was broken about six inches deep the latter part of April and put in as fine condition for planting as the harrow and roller could make it. It was laid off with a marker three feet, nine inches apart, was drilled CORN. 145 ■with a one-horse drill, sixteen inches apart, on the second day of May. The seed was yellow dent, and was as sound as seed-corn can be, came up well, was plowed with double-shovel May 11th and hoed May 12th, plowed with two-horse cultivator May 23d, June 11th and June 23d, and hoed again July 7th. All the extra labor that was performed on this acre was more care iu doing the work and one additional hoeing. This made the expense of rais- ing it only a trifle more than of ordinary cultivation, and the results about twenty bushels of good corn more. We had one drawback in the shape of a big storm about the middle of August, which damaged it to the ex- tent of from fifteen to twenty-five bushels ; at least, that was the estimate put upon it by the man who helped to gather it. Respectfully, Geo. Bidue. [The product of this acre, as certified by two persons, was eighty-two bushels and ten pounds.] Ellswoeth, McLean County, III.,") November 28, 1877. J My club acre of com weighed on Fairbanks scales, net, 7,075 pounds. Taking 70 pounds for a bushel, there would be 101 bushels and 5 pounds. I husked and weighed on the 13th and 15th inst. The variety was the yel- low Dent. The land is prairie bottom, and been in cultivation but three seasons only. Depth of soil 18 inches, light and sandy loam, and black as the "ace of spades.'' It was broken up to the depth of ten inches on Sat- urday, the 26th of May last, and immediately afterward harrowed level and planted on the following Monday (the 28th), using the common two-horse planter, making the rows 3 feet 8 inches wide, and dropping the hills 2 feet 7 inches apart ; had an average of two stalks to the hill. As soon as planted I rolled the ground, and as, soon as the corn was two inches high I began to work it with the "Bloomington two-horse double-shovel cultivator." I gave it three plowings with this, and "laid it by" with a one-horse "Barshare plow;'' I cultivated through "one way," as it is called. I made use of no fertilizers or manure of any kind. I had three and one-half acres in this strip of land, and gave it all the same attention, and the result was 310 bushels. Now, the cost of my one acre was : For breaking up with two horses and hand, $1; harrowing, 50 cents; seed, 20 cents; planting, 50 cents; rolling, 25 cents; plowing three times with cultivator, $1.50; plowing once with Barshare, 50 cents; harvesting, at 2^ cents per bushel, $2.52^; total cost, $6.97^. David E. Arrowsmith, surveyor; Willard C. Banks, weigher; W. W. Harsha, witness to gathering and weighing. Daniel Ajreowsmith. P. S. — Largest production from single grain, one large stalk and sucker stocks bearing three ears and one "nubbin," weight 2 pounds 1^ ounces, cob and corn. D. A. 10 146 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Lexington, Scott County, Ind., December 5, 1877. I now report for publication my success as a competitor for the prizes offered to farmers. In my effort to raise one hundred bushels of corn on an acre of land : Corn planted on the 17th day of May, on land that had been in corn two seasons previous — ^bottom land, sandy loam soil ; rows, three and a half feet apart; hills, two and a half feet apart ; two stalks in a hill ; seed, common white corn, yellow cob and deep, long grain ; cobs weighing only ten pounds two ounces to the bushel; corn gathered and weighed in the ear on the 19th of November, making ninety-one bushels and a fraction. ,. Solon T. Hardy. Forest Hill, Decatur County, Ind. , ] December 1, 1877. j I make a report of one acre of com cultivated this season. My ground was sandy. I drilled three feet seven inches apart, grains one foot apart, and gave four plowings, with a common double-shovel plow. It was some- what injured in our August drought, but made a yield of eighty-eight and one-half bushels, and of tlie same forty-seven ears weighed just seventy-one pounds. It was planted May 10th. H. J. Powner. West Eushville, Fairfield County, O., ) November 26, 1877. J Having gathered my club acre of corn I now report to you. The ground that I selected was a piece of sod, the soil a black loam. I plowed it in March, harrowed it, then rolled it ; planted May 9th ; furrowed it 3 feet 9 inches each way ; planted three stalks in each hill. It made 68f bushels, allowing 70 pounds to the bushel; plowed it four times with a two-horse cul- tivator ; the cost, $5 per acre ; had seventeen acres in the same field that averaged 60 bushels to the acre. William Eyman. Canton, Ohio, December 5, 1877. There being so very few reports yet from members of the Corn Club, I am afraid there will be some who, through failure to realize the 100 bushels, wiU not deem a report of any consequence, and we shall not hear from them. I have no doubt there are more of us who have realized under 100 bushels than who reached or exceeded that figure. Probably the same circumstan- ces of soil, and season did not attend any two members of the Club. While members from the southern part of the State, and from the corn producing sections of Indiana, reported favorable growing weather through the months of July and August, we of Northern Ohio had a long and severe drought to encounter. This necessitated us working our corn after it was as high as a horse, to keep the soil loose and mellow, that it might better retain moisture. Here- was not only a chance to benefit the corn, but a still better chance to kill the weeds, which always will appear in the cornfield. As a direct result CORN. 147 of this late working I have never, I believe, seen the fields so clean of weeds as they appeared after the corn was harvested. This item alone, I think, has well repaid the extra cultivating required by our dry weather. But we must come to the club acre. Our acre was a clay loam ; in wheat the pre- vious season, well set with clover, manured with twelve loads barn-yard ma- nure and plowed about a week before planting-time. Planted May 12th in cliecks three and a half feet apart each way, and three grains to the hill. Worked four times with shovel plow, and puUed what weeds could not be plowed out. Susked and weighed November 12th. Product, seventy-eight bushels of seventy pounds. Cost of crop as fdlows : Hauling twelve loads manure, $S ; plowing and harrowing, $3 ; marking and planting, $1 ; culti- vating, $2 ; husking seventy-eight bushels, at four cents per bushel, |3.12; total, $12.12. On the creditor side we have seventy-eight bushels of corn at fifty cents, worth $39, leaving a net profit of 126.88. Variety, pure yellow Dent. We did not cut off and save the fodder of this acre, or we would have $3.12 to add to the profit, as the fodder when saved will pay for husk- ing. I feel satisfied, had our season at the beginning been more favorable the corn would all have come up, and we would have realized the one hundred bushels, as this acre did not average over two stalks to the hill. However, the yield was high enough above our usual average to pay the en- tire cost of production. Theo. Klinker. Geemautown, O., December 1, 1877. I went into the ' ' Hundred Bushel Club '' to try what I could do toward increasing the yield of corn, and have been successful, raising a hundred bushels. My acre is rich twin-bottom, two years in clover ; no manure. Ground broke in fall, and harrowed last of April, and checked off 4 by 3 J ; planted 8th of May, covered with hoe ; dropped four grains, and thinned to three stalks; then, before corn came up, went over with drag, and after up with Thomas harrow, and after that with double-shovel, using narrow bull- tongue until last plowing. My plan was to cultivate as level as possible; plowed four times ; did not give any hoeing, as ground was very clean. Ex- pense of raising, $5 ; and here is the result : 105 bushels and 45 pounds. The variety of corn is very large, white, heavy cob, and deep grain ; do not know any name for it. S. Lindemuth. Elmwood, Madison County, Ind. December 3, 1877. •} I am ready to report my success as a hundred-bushel corn-grower. The land is a sandy clay soil, having been timbered with mulberry, black walnut, red-bud, sugar-tree, red-elm, burr-oak, blue-ash, and poplar, deadened some five or six years, and attained a pretty good set of blue-grass ; was cleared, and having grown three successive corn crops and a crop of oats in 1876, which was a good crop, but, being badly tangled and very stumpy, I pastured with hogs. Then I fed about a thousand bushels of corn to my fat hogs in the fall 148 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. and winter on said ground. Plowed the ground in March, $2 ; harrowing the last week in April, both ways, 81 ; drilling, May 10th, three feet 4 inches wido. by twenty inches in the row, 50 cents, with white and red-striped corn^ pre- mium of Madison County, a thorough hand-hoeing at about five inches high, $1 ; harrowing with two-horse harrow the next week, 50 cents ; plowed four times with two-horse cultivator, $1.25; and one plowing about the 10th of July, with single-shovel, two furrows between each row, 50 cents ; husking and cribbing, $2 ; total expense, $8.75. The ground was measured by Henry Yohe, J. F. Stephens, and myself. The corn was weighed in the barrel, with steelyards drawing 162 pounds, by William J. Grover, Louis C. Eiley, Henry Yohe, and myself, making 103 bushels and 12 pounds; selecting 64 ears, which weighed 70 pounds. All this is good, honest work. Daniel Yohe. The average yield per acre of the nineteen most successful growers was a fraction over ninety-seven bushels. If you wiU carefully examine these reports you will see that, in most cases, the corn was planted a little closer than four feet each way, and that there was an unusual amount of work done in the way of harrowing and rolling before the corn was planted. The reports of the cost of growing these crops are imperfect, as some seem to adopt one' standard of wages and some another ; but, taking them as they are given, they average a little less than nine dol- lars per acre, and, if we allow five dollars per acre for rent of land, it shows the cost of the corn to be less than fifteen cents per bushel. It will also be noticed that but two of those re- porting used manure of any kind, but a majority planted on sod land. In the one case where the grower foots up a loss on his crop, he has charged all the manure (f 14) to the crop, which is obviously unfair, for this manure will benefit several succeeding crops. The facts suggested by these reports show that the adoption of a rotation which would give a clover sod for corn, on which there had been a liberal application of manure for a previous wheat crop, together with thorough preparation of the soil, would often enable us to double the yield of our corn crop. Seed-corn. — We can not expect a good crop of corn with- out a good stand, and our chances for a heavy crop are increased if the seed is not only certain to sprout, but also to make a strong growth. CORN. 149 I have for many years believed that we could add twenty per cent to the yield of our corn by attention to the matter of selec- tion of seed. I like the term used by Dr. Sturdevant, " Pedi- greed seed-corn," and I believe that pedigree is just as valuable in corn as in live stock. The cost of seed-corn is so small per acre that no farmer should take any risk in the matter ; but the fact is that, once in every three or four years, a very large per cent of the corn must be replanted from the sole cause that the seed was poor. I think nearly half the farmers in Ohio and adjoining States bought seed-corn in the spring of 1883 at from one to three dollars a bushel, when from one to ten hours' work would have secured for them a full supply of which there would have been no possible doubt. Many farmers learned, also, by dear experience, that it is not safe to plant seed brought from a different climate. Many car-loads of seed-corn were shipped from Kansas and Nebraska, and some from Kentucky, and sold through the Northern States, in the spring of 1883, and it proved to be too late for these localities, and, under the most favorable circumstances, the corn was soft and poor, and in many cases it proved a total failure. Seed-corn should be gathered early, and thoroughly dried before winter sets in. Many of our best farmers have adopted the plan of putting their seed-corn in their smoke-houses, ar- ranging the ears on slatted racks, so as to give a free circulation of air, and then smoking it until thoroughly cured. I have tried this, and would recommend it, as I never had corn come up stronger, or of a better color. It is claimed that the corn not only grows stronger, but is less liable to be damaged by worms, as the smoke not only fertilizes the young germ, but makes it distasteful to many insects. My own experience shows that we need not fear injuring seed-corn by too much drying. In the fall of 1882 I put my seed-corn on racks surrounding a stove-pipe, and some of the ears Were less than a foot from the pipe, where the temperature all day was so high as to make it uncomfortable to the hand. Toward spring it was suggested by some of the family that, after months of such drying, the germ of that corn must be 150 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. killed, but, on testing it, every grain sprouted as thriftily as any corn I ever saw. I believe that every farmer should each year select a small amount of the very finest ears of corn for stock- seed. Plant from them a small field, and from this select the stock-seed for the coming year, and also the seed for the entire crop. I would cut this corn up as green as would be safe, let it partly cure in small shocks, and then husk, and select the seed-corn, and smoke or cure by fire heat before cold weather. The farmer who will adopt this rule, and stick to it, will not only greatly improve his corn, but will avoid the annoyance and loss occasioned by the failure of seed to grow. Let your seed-corn be saved as it may, I advise testing it a month before planting time. It will be but little trouble, and the satisfaction of knowing when you plant that there is no possible danger of failure is worth ten times the trouble. In the spring of 1883 thirty-five bushels of corn was planted in my neighborhood which would not grow. This was all furnished by one man ; iind yet the agricultural papers had been sounding the warning all winter that the farmers would have' trouble with their seed-corn, as but a very small per cent of the crop of 1882 would grow. This lot of corn, however, was of the growth of 1881, and, supposing that to be perfectly good, no one thought of testing it. I am convinced that seed-corn grows better if gathered quite green, and cured when it will shrink somewhat, than if allowed to fuUy ripen on the stalk. I should have dismissed this sub- ject of seed-corn with a paragraph were it not that I see so often that our farmers need "line upon line, and precept upon precept," in this matter. Professor Blount, of Colorado, who originated the variety of corn which bears his name, is excellent authority on the matter of saving and improving seed-corn. He says : "AU seed-corn should be selected in the field, because there, and there only, is it possible to obtain the seed true to name and possessed of the desired characteristics. Only in the field can perfected ears and perfected stalks be found together. Seed-corn should always be picked from those stalks that bear the best ears, and usually CORN. 151 the greatest number of ears, so as to make it more prolific. Seed-corn should always be selepted from the top ear of those stalks that bear the largest number, because on the top ear is always found the genuine typical grain, the others below not having developed sufficiently to produce good seed, on account of an insufficient amount of pollen. Seed-corn should always be saved from those stalks that ripen earliest, to make the season of its maturity as short as possible. Seed-corn should be taken from well-formed ears, tapering uniformly, with straight rows, because they are more easily and better protected by the husk, and bear more grain in regular than irregular and crooked rows." Another matter of great importance is to plant on Soil Adapted to the Crop. — If a New Englander view- ing our rich western lands should ask me, " Why is your aver- age so much below ours ? " I should say one great reason is be- cause so much corn is planted on land unsuited to it. Corn delights in warm black and sandy lands, and you will notice in the reports of the " Hundred Bushel Club," that " sugar tree land," " burr oak land," " drained pond," and " black swamp " lands are mentioned. A large per cent of the land planted in corn is unsuited to the crop. Land which is undrained and so full of water that it remains cold till late in the season, or land which is so hilly that plowing involves great loss from washing, is planted in corn year after year, although it wiU not produce a crop that will pay for the labor expended on it, and might be profitable if kept in grass Corn is not an exhaustive crop, and it will pay to underdrain thoroughly your best lands and keep them up by a rotation which will give clover every fourth year, and by applying a liberal dressing of manure to the wheat on which you sow the clover. If this is done, and the clover not pastured at all after harvest, we can often get a heavy growth to plow under the following spring, and grow three successive crops of corn in the rotation. There are some lands so well adapted to corn as to bear continuous cropping. I am familiar with a bottom field in Union County, Indiana, which my grandfather bought in 1838, 152 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. and was told that it had grown twenty-five consecutive crops of corn. It has been planted in com forty-four out of the forty- five years since — having been sown in wheat once — ^it has never had any manure, and receives no benefit from an overflow, as there is always a swift current that carries off more soil than it leaves. This field still produces profitable crops, and I believe that if put in clover a single year it would restore it to its former productiveness. Manures for Corn. — In a previous chapter I have said that under ordinary circumstances I thought the farmer could not afford to apply stable manure to the corn crop and that a sod was the best and cheapest manure for it. I believe, how- ever, that it would pay to apply a little manure in the hill to give the corn a start, as the plant-food from the sod is not available early in the season, and such a manure can be easily and cheaply prepared as I describe. Some of our drills and planters already have fertilizer attachments and our manufacturers will furnish them to all whenever the farmers demand them. I should expect good results from a manure composted with bran like that which I used on my potato crop with such good re- sults. It will be easy to experiment with manures in the hill, applied by hand, to determine whether it will pay, and if it does, the fertilizer attachment to the planter can be purchased. I would also advise that experiments be made with plaster, used after the corn is up and applied to the plant when the dew is on. I have not been troubled with cut worms for several years, but if I should be I would try a mixture of salt and plaster; two parts of the latter to one of the salt. At a meeting of farmers in Logan County, Ohio, I heard the following statement : "I had a field of corn on sod this year, and found soon after it came up that the cut worms were destroying it. They kept it so short that we could not see it in the row and I thought I should be obliged to plant it over. I mixed salt and plaster; two parts of plaster to one of salt, and we applied it at the rate of a barrel of the mixture to eight acres, dropping about a tea- spoonful on each hill, and two days after, on careful examina- CORK 153 tion, I failed to find a stalk injured, and there was no more trou- ble. We ran out of the mixture and left a half acre on which we did not apply it. On this the worms worked for some time, and the crop was cut short fully one-half" The gentleman fur- ther stated that his corn was some days earlier on the part to which the mixture was applied, and that he thought it paid largely as a fertilizer in addition to saving his crop from the cut worm. The remedy is so cheap and easily appHed that I would recommend that it be thoroughly tested. Preparation of Soil. — I believe in thorough preparation of the soil for corn, but soils and seasons vary so much that there are no rules to be laid down. There was a time when the motto " Plow deep while sluggards sleep, And you shall have corn to sell and keep," was considered profound wisdom, but most intelligent farmers now know that there are soils which would be permanently in- jured by deep plowing, and that good judgment must be used in this as in other matters pertaining to the farm. I advocate deep plowing on soils which are deep, but I would expect a better crop from six inches well pulverized than from eight or ten inches imperfectly prepared. Both experience and observation lead me to favor fall plow- ing for corn on a well-drained soil, and especially where there is much vegetable matter to turn under. I would not rebreak this fall-plowed-land in the spring, even though it becomes packed so as to be quite hard, but would mellow it from the surface with the best implements I could command. The slicing and cut- ting harrows, such as the "Randall Disk," and the "Acme," are admirable for this purpose, but before I had these I used the two- horse cultivator to break the crust and loosen the surface, and then followed with the heavy Scotch harrow. If I do not plow in the fall I want to do it as early in the spring as the land is dry enough. I can make a seed bed for corn that suits me much better after the land has been settled by rains than if fresh plowed. If I am delayed and must break the land late and plant on fresh plowed land, I never aUow it to become dry and 154 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. cloddy after plowing, but keep a roller or some other good pulver- izing implement in the field, and use it each half day as I plow. It is a matter of the greatest importance in all operations con- nected with the preparation of the soil, to do the work at the right time. If the roller or drag is kept in the field and used on the fresh plowed land it will always pulverize the clods and compact the soil so as to enable it to retain the moisture, while it is often the case that where an entire field is plowed and left rough and cloddy it will get in such a condition that the farmer must wait for heavy rains before he can prepare a seed bed. A light shower will moisten the smooth mellow surface of the field that was rolled or dragged at the proper time, but will have no perceptible effect on the rough field. I have spoken of dragging. The drag is a substitute for the roller, and under certain conditions of soil will do better work. It is the cheapest implement that can be had on the farm, and no farmer should be without it. In fact, it will pay to have two or three of different sizes. I always keep a light one to be used with one horse in the garden, and also a two-horse one, and the farmer who runs two teams should have one large enough for four horses. There are two ways of making them, one by bolting plank to- gether as shown in the illustration. Here we simply take two-inch planks and bolt them together with strong carriage bolts, using washers with the bolts. I find that four plank, ten feet long and one foot wide, and two inches thick makes a very good size for two horses. We lap the plank on to each other four inches, and put the bolts through from below so as to have the smooth head run on the ground and the tap above. When this is completed it is three feet wide, and if it is not heavy enough it can be weighted. If made of oak and the driver rides, it will be about right, but if of pine or other light wood, some weight will need to be added. BOLTED PLANK DKAG. CORN. 155 SPIKED PLANK DRAG. The other plan of making we show in the illustration. In this case, instead of bolts we use spikes, and fasten the plank to end pieces, and if the drag is long, it is well to have a middle piece. You can regulate the weight of your drag by the size of the pieces to which you attach the plank. It is advisable to have a box on the drag into which you can drop stones to carry them from the field. This drag if used at the proper time, either when the land is freshly plowed, or as soon after a rain as it will crumble, will put the land in fine condition for the sled marker. The sled marker is another cheap and valuable implement which the farmer can make himself. I think it a great advan- tage to plant corn near the surface instead of at the bottom of a furrow, as .was the universal practice until the introduction of machinery for planting. The corn plant de- lights in heat, and if planted in a furrow whioh is filled with water by every heavy rain, and where the roots are not in soil well exposed to the sun, it does not start so quickly into rapid growth as if nearer' the surface. The sled marker has runners three inches thick, beveled on both edges so as to make a V shaped mark about three inches deep. This leaves plenty of mellow earth under the corn, and when it is covered, the field is very nearly level. A shows a reversible marker which is changed from side to side. 5 is a rope by which it is attached to the hame hook on the horse. This makes a mark which is a guide in returning, and saves setting stakes, as by keeping the tongue over this mark you keep the SliED UABKEB. 156 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. right distance between the rows. If the two-horse lever planter is used, you drive across these marks, but if the driU, you run the wheel of the drill in the mark. On farms where there are large fields clear of stumps, the two-horse planter, with a check-rower, can be used without marking out at all, and wiU drop the corn so that it can be cultivated both ways. Both hiU and drill culture have advantages. It is easier to keep a field clean in a wet season when you can plow both- ways, but there is little question that more corn can be grown by the more equal distribution of stalk which the drill gives. I think we can get closer to the corn at the first plowing when drilled than when in hills, for the grains in the hill are, or should be, scattered a little. With suitable implements for culti- vating, such as are now easily obtained, there is little difficulty in keeping drilled corn clean, but if the land is foul, or the farmer has not the right implements, I would advise hilling. I think that under ordinary circumstances about one and a half inches is the best depth to cover corn. It is a fact, perhaps not gen- erally known to farmers, that the young plant can receive no nutriment from the soil till the leaves reach the surface, and ex- pand in the light and air, but is nourished by the plant food stored in the grain, and if planted too deeply this will be ex- hausted, and the plant enfeebled before it comes up. We usu- ally begin the cultivation of corn before it is up, and the condi- tion of the soil and the weather will determine what we shall do. If the land is in good condition, not packed by heavy rains, and warm, so that the corn will come up quickly, and start at once into a thrifty growth, the plank drag run over it a few days after planting will put it in excellent condition for the plow. This must be used before the plumule is near the surface, or some of the stalks will be broken. If a rain falls, and you are not able to get on to the field until too late to use the drag, the harrow should be used, and for this I prefer a sloping tooth har- row, as the teeth may be run directly through the rows or hills without damage. If, however, the soil has been made very com- pact by heavy rains, a heavy straight tooth harrow will be needed. For the first plowing, after careful experiment and observa- CORN. 157 tion, I have adopted the bar plow with fender; aad after try- ing several forms of fenders, I give preference to the rolling cut- ter. With this plow you may run as close as you wish to the corn without covering a stalk. The great advantage of plow- ing corn in this way, however, is that it leaves it on a narrow ridge, which warms through readily and starts the corn at once into a vigorous growth. When corn is plowed in this way the earth is ridged up between the rows like a sweet potato ridge, and it not only kUls all the weeds, but this ridge soon warms up, and when a week or two later it is leveled down and brought back to the corn rows, it is mellow and fine, and of necessity free from weeds. I tested this matter two years in succession. A strip was plowed with the bar plow, as above described, and an adjoining strip cultivated level with the bull-tongue cultiva- tor. In both instances in a single week the difference was plain, the corn plowed with the bar plow being darker in color and a much more vigorous growth. We plow with the bar plow about four inches deep, and run so close to the corn that you can often notice the fibrous roots left bare. The double 'bar plow is now largely used for the first plowing, and is growing in favor. The plows can be easily sep- arated and used singly, as they are light and easily guided, so that they can be used with but one handle. With this plow properly ad- justed, and a little experi- ence in handling it, you can plow in corn two inches high and not cover up a single stalk. Our cut of the double bar plow shows it without fenders, but they should always be attached to all plows which are used when thq corn is small. I think the rolling cutter the best form of fender, as it loosens and cracks the little ridge on which the corn is left standing. At the second plowing we use the buU-tongues on the double cultivator, so as to level down the ridges between DOUBLE BAR PLOW. 158 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. the rows and get the earth back to the roots of the corn. I do not think any rule can be laid down as to how many times corn should be cultivated. In some seasons three workings would give better results than six in others. I believe that as a rule we giv^e too little work, and that the majority of farmers stop the plows too soon. There are many farmers who think that it injures corn to plow it after the tassels show, but if it has not been neglected, and the land allowed to become hard and weedy, I think late cultivation beneficial. Mr. L. N. Bonham, a well known agricultural writer, has experimented in this matter, and states that he has found plowing beneficial, even when the poUen was formed and falling from the tassels. Corn-fodder and Fodder-corn; — There is no one point in which the opinions of farmers, East and West, vary more than in the estimate they put on corn-fodder. In estimating the value of his corn crop the New England farmer always takes the fodder into consideration, and values it often at fifteen or twenty dollars an acre — sometimes more ; whUe in the West but little value is attached to it, and, as often managed, the farmer dam- ages his land more by getting what he does from it than it is worth to his stock. I have, for many years, been a firm be- liever in the value of corn-fodder. I have often, for several years in succession, wintered my horses and cattle without any hay. I have always found my stock to relish the fodder better than hay, and to eat it with less waste ; and, after over twenty years' experience, I have decided that the fodder from an acre of com, if properly saved, is worth as much as all the timothy- hay would be that would grow on that acre. I have been con- firmed in this opinion by many practical farmers who have had large experience in feeding corn-fodder. The average yield of hay per acre in the United States is but little above one ton, and rarely, if ever, reaches one and a quarter tons. I have before me a table giving the result of fifteen trial plots of corn, from each of which the product was weighed, the grain and stalks separately, and the result shows an average of a little over 104 pounds of fodder to each 100 pounds of corn, CORN. 159 and an average yield of fodder per acre of 4,229 pounds. The average yield of corn on the fifteen plots was 58 bushels per acre. I have made quite a number of experiments in feeding corn-fodder, which show that two-thirds of good, dry corn-fodder is eaten by the stock. Now, if we grow fifty-five bushels of corn to the acre, it will give us a little over two tons of fodder to the acre ; deduct for the waste one-third, and it leaves us, in round numbers, 2,600 pounds net of fodder from our acre of corn. It is very probable that the chemist would tell us that this was worth much less than hay, but I have always found it more palatable to the stock, and that they would thrive as weU on it. The question to be decided, however, seems to me, not "Is an acre of corn-fodder worth as much as an acre of hay ? " but, "Is it worth saving?" The cost of securing the acre of hay, counting the rent of land, will be not less than eight dollars, as the work must be done at a busy, pushing time, when wages are high. This is allowing three dollars for cutting, curing, and hauling to barn or stack, and five dollars per acre for rent of land and taxes. I can secure an average acre of fodder in barn or stack for three dollars. If we put one hundred hills in a shock it gives twenty-seven to thirty shocks to the acre, and, unless the corn is very heavy, I can get it cut for four cents a shock, and have never paid more than five cents for this sized shock. At these prices our cutters will average two dollars a day. We can get the corn husked and the fodder bound in bundles for from one to two cents more a shock than we pay for cutting, or an average of six cents for a hundred hiUs, and certainly not more than one-third of this should be charged to the fodder, as it would cost two-thirds as much to husk the corn if left standing on the stalk. The cost of hauling, which will depend somewhat on the distance from the barn or stack- yard, does not average above fifty cents a load, or one dollar per acre. I think the great trouble with farmers in securing their corn- fodder is that it is a job that can be postponed. They know that the hay crop must be secured, and they engage plenty of 160 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. help and finish it at once. But, because corn-fodder can usually stand out several weeks without damage, the farmer puts off securing it, and works along, with insufficient help, tiU finally winter catches him with half his crop out, and gives him double work to secure an inferior article. Often the deterioration in quality is more than would have paid the entire expense of husking and putting in barn or stack. I believe that no farmer can afford to leave an acre of corn-stalks in the field ; the waste alone in the barn-yard is worth half the cost of saving the fod- der, as there are few better absorbents than corn-stalks. My plan is to hire a gang of men, and put the work through as quickly as possible after the corn is in a condition to crib. I spoke of binding with rye-straw. We grow a small piece of rye each season for this express purpose, and cut it when in blossom, as this gives us a tough, elastic band, and we do not scatter rye over our fields, as we are sure to do if the grain has been allowed to ripen; and, as we usually seed with wheat on the land where corn has been cut up, we do not want a mix- ture of rye. There is no point that needs more careful watching than the binding of fodder, and it, is wise to select one of your best and most careful hands for this part of the work rather than to have the buskers do it. The bundles should be medium-sized, and bound near the middle. E,ye-straw is long enough, so that a single band will make as large a bundle as is convenient to handle ; but I prefer to turn half the straw of which the band is made, so as to have the band of equal size throughout. A band made in this way is much less likely to break than if the heads are all one way. There is no product of the farm that can be so easily stacked to turn water as corn-fodder. I prefer to put up medium-sized stacks, from seventy-five to one hundred shocks to a stack, so as not to expose much fodder to the wfeather in feeding. It can be fed directly from the stack, or a stack can be moved into the barn. All that is necessary to make it turn water is to keep the middle fuU, so that the bundles will have a good slope to the out- side of the stack, and take pains in topping out. CORN. 161 While I am an advocate of corn-fodder, I have never liked sowed corn for winter feeding. It is difficult to cure so as to keep when stored away, and seems to be deficient both in nutri- ment and flavor. My stock do not eat it well, or appear to thrive as well on it as on fodder from corn which has matured a crop of grain. I am of the opinion that the best way to grow corn for cattle feeding is by thick planting, so that there will be a large growth of fodder and small ears — this to be fed without husking. Some years ago, in visiting Mr. Chauncy Hills, a prominent short-horn breeder, of Delaware, 0., he told me that he found it his most profitable crop. My recollection is that he planted this corn about twice as thick as is usually done, having the rows the usual width apart, and the hills from eighteen inches to two feet apart in the row. In the experimental work at our agricultural colleges careful tests are being made to determine the most profitable distance apart to plant corn. At the Ohio experiment station this work was begun in 1882, and I give entire the tables, which show the results of planting at different distances apart for the years 1882-83. EXPERIMENTAL CORN PLOTS FOR 1882. Table 1. a jii y oS ff « s ^ t. c &'5n" ■oS. n S ►tfi? -^1 .il I it i a if It pa s°SS 1 CD ^ H fa i 1 6 54.2 9.7 63.9 15.1 5,369 1 20. 2 9 53.1 9.3 62.4 14.8 4,375 1 00.1 3 12 56.4 5.6 62. 9. 3,906 94.3 4 i- ' 15 53.6 6.7 60.3 11.1 3,874 91. 6 18 49.1 5.4 64.5 9.9 3,282 86. 6 21 46.5 7.8 54.3 14.3 3,419 89.9 7 24 37.1 4.7 41.8 11.2 3,185 1 08.8 8 2 12 58.4 8.3 66.7 12.4 4,996 1 07. 9 2 18 56.3 7.2 63.5 11.3 5,021 1 12.9 10 2 24 56.7 6.3 63. 10. 4,368 99. 11 2 30 53.3 4.7 58. 8.1 3,822 94.1 12 3 18 50.3 11.7 62. 18.8 5,499 1 26.7 13 3 24 46.8 9. 55.8 16.1 4,303 1 10.1 14 3 30 45.1 10.1 55.2 18.2 4,251 1 10. 15 3 36 39.1 8.2 47.3 17.3 3,770 1 13.8 11 162 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. EXPERIMENTAL CORN PLOTS FOR 1883. Table 2. a si H w ^ hj h: ti H H >■ la i! ti 3. 3 HOW PLANTED. PI lip . CO g \% o II a it 1 a II i ^ i ^ a 1^ i & : ; 1 3 is 1 kernel, 6 in. 55.09 5.8 60.89 6.37 93.63 14,048 24,368 10,208 .17 240 2 9 " 86.6 2.3 88.9 33.77 66.23 12,176 14,096 7,360 .44 118 3 12 « 85.3 0.7 86.0 50.4 49.6 9,808 11,120 7,104 .54 118 4 15 " 80.0 0.9 80.9 61.1 38.9 8,352 8,768 6,368 .64 112 5 18 " 71.6 0.0 71.6 70.0 80.0 6,560 6,912 5,088 .73 101 6 21 " 67.0 0.0 67.0 73.1 26.9 6,368 5,984 4,800 .78 102 7 24 " 72.9 0.0 72.9 76.6 23.4 6,496 6,272 5,184 .81 101 8 2 kernels, 12 in. 77.5 5.5 83.0 17.7 82.3 14,464 23,648 7,744 .25 133 9 2 15 " 87.8 4.3 92.1 34.3 65.7 13,232 20,480 6,528 .31 101 10 2 18 " 84.8 2.3 87.1 40.8 59.2 11,904 17,248 7,008 .35 115 n 2 21 " 77.3 1.4 78.7 45.2 54.8 11,424 14,816 5,728 .37 104 12 2 24 " 78.0 1.4 79.4 67.5 55.2 44.8 10,144 12,832 5,184 .43 93 13 2 27 '■ 66.8 0.7 58.8 41.2 9,120 11,488 4,480 .41 95 14 2 30 " 76.6 0.0 76.6 66.6 33.4 8,624 10,272 5,024 .52 94 15 3 18" 59.7 3.4 63.1 14 2 85.8 12,960 25,296 7,104 .17 161 16 3 24" 59.9 0.0 59.9 29.3 70.7 11,680 19,104 5,760 .22 137 17 3 30" 62.9 0.5 63.4 57.2 42.8 10,208 15,456 5,024 .29 113 18 3 36" 76.1 0.5 76.6 68.3 31.7 9,664 12,624 5,024 .42 94 These tables should be carefully studied. It will be noticed that more details are given in the table for 1883 than for the previous year. It is the intention of the manager of the station, " Professor Lazenby," to continue these experiments for a long series of years. The experiments are conducted with the Titinost care. The land was carefully^ selected and all pre- pared in one day, and the planting and cultivation was exactly the same for all the plots. The rows were three and a half feet apart. In the table for 1882, in every case you wiU notice that close planting gave the heaviest yields of grain, the lightest yield being from one grain twenty-four inches apart, which yielded forty-one bushels of corn per acre, and 3,185 pounds of stalk, or a total weight of corn and stalk of 6,055 pounds per acre. Plots 1, 8, 9, and 12, all of which were much closer than farmers usually plant,''yielded respectively of grain, 63+, 66+, 63+, and 62 bushels per acre, and a total weight' — cured — of corn and fodder of 9,779, 9,616, 9,431, and 9,839 pounds per acre. The year 1882, in which this experiment was made, was unfavor- COBN. 163 able for the growth of corn in the earlier part, but was very favorable at earing time. Table No. 2 shows some remarkable yields both of corn and fodder ; but as this season dry weather prevailed at earing time, the largest yields of grain are not from the thickest planting, as -was the case the previous year. Five of the plots, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 8, and 10, yielded of corn and fodder over six tons each per acre. ; No. 1 producing over seven tons. The five plots referred to averaged about eighty bushels of corn per acre, about seventy per cent of which was nubbins, which makes it very suitable for feeding to cattle without husking, I am fully convinced that no crop the farmer can grow will afford so much and so good cattle feed as this closely planted corn, and in looking at the figures given in these tables the question naturally arises: "Why should farmers winter their cattle on an exclusive hay diet, which has been grown at the rate of one ton per acre, when from three to seven tons of better food can be so easily produced " — for there is no doubt that the corn and fodder fed together will give better results than feeding hay. Even if one-third of the weight of this crop goes into the waste, it would still leave from two to four times as much food as the same land in hay would produce, and if run through a cutter be- fore feeding, this waste would make excellent bedding and one of the very best absorbents. Probably there is no question connected with stock-feeding that will pay so well for careful experiment, as that of growing and feeding of corn and fodder, and I believe that careful ex- periment would show that a single acre of this crop rightly managed would furnish food to winter two cattle of one thou- sand pounds each, while under the hay feeding system it will take about two acres to winter one. I can not give better advice to farmers than that they experiment with thickly planted corn to determine how much food can be produced per acre and the relative value of that food. It should be remembered, however, that the planting should always be thin enough so that the corn will produce ears, as this not only furnishes grain for feed, but also improves the quality of the fodder. 164 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Disposing of the Crop. — I think that too many farmers sell their corn. If the crop is fed to scrub cattle, " Elm-peeler" hogs, or old horses, it will, no doubt, fail to be profitable. But the farmer who keeps good stock, and manages well, will certainly realize a greater profit from his corn by feeding than by semng it, and ii^ii i |iiiij iiii iii i || i i i j| irmiijn!i will at the same time keep his farm in bet- ter condition. The cost of taking a thou- sand bushels of corn to market even a few COKN-CBIB. Si miles is considerable, while the beef or pork which it represents can be driven the same distance in a few hours. It is best that the corn should be stored in a separate building, as it needs thorough ventilation, and it is much easier to protect it from rats than when the crib is connected with the barn. The crib shown in the illustration is probably the best and most convenient that can be made, and it can be utilized for a wagon-shed as well as a corn-crib. It is easy to make such a crib rat-proof, as it will be impossible for a rat to hold on to the outside of the crib long enough to gnaw into it. The foundation may be of stone or brick; or posts of durable wood like locust, if set below frost, will answer the pur- pose. The building should project a little beyond the foundation, so that a rat, even if it climbed up to the crib, would then find it impossible to get to the slats. As in some seasons we are obliged to crib corn damp, it will be wise to arrange for extra ventUation in such seasons. This can be done by making trap-doors, eight inches square, in B VENTLLATOB FOR CBIB. COMN. 165 the center of the floor, and above these place ventilators, extend- ing up to the top of the crib. These ventilators can be made by first putting together some small square frames of two by four studding, so that they will measure nine inches outside measure, and nailing two strips, three inches wide, of inch boards to each of the four sides. Probably four of these frames would be needed for each ventilator ten feet long, as the pressure of the corn would crush them if the space between frames was too great. With a row of these ventilators placed five or six feet apart along the center of the crib, such thorough ventilation would be secured that the risk of damage would be greatly re- duced. About thirty feet of lumber would be required for each ventilator ten feet long, and when once made they would last for many years. When not in use they could be stored overhead. Our engraving on page 164 shows how the frames should be made, and also a ventUator complete. 166 THE PEOPLES FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter VIII. ^?VHEA.T. IN many parts of our country wheat is the most important crop the farmers grow. Its importance is due to the following facts : 1st. It is a crop which always commands the cash, and is always in demand. 2d. It divides the work so that a single team can do much more work on a farm where wheat and corn are grown in aboiit equal proportions than where corn is the sole or principal crop. 3d. It can be successfully grown on rolling lands, which, if continuously cultivated in corn, would soon be ruined by washing. 4th. It gives an opportunity to start clover to occupy the land, and furnish plant food for succeeding crops, and is, there- fore, an almost essential crop in any good rotation. 5th. It can be easily stored ; there is little risk of injury from dampness, and, almost no loss from shrinkage, and at the usual prices, a team can take to market four or five times as many dollars worth of wheat as of corn. 6th. Probably no farm crop grown gives such certain and large returns for manure as this, and at the same time, under proper treatment, leaves the land in good condition for a suc- ceeding crop. 7th. It furnishes the farmer with a large bulk of straw, which can be utilized for food, bedding, shelter, and as an ab- sorbent for liquids, which would, without it, on many farms, be wasted. 8th. As wheat is exported to a large extent, and can be held for one or more years, if desired, it is less subject to flue- WHEAT. 167 tuations in price than many other farm products, and is not so likely to be depressed by an unusually heavy crop. The aggregate production of wheat in the United States has rapidly increased during the last ten years. The following table shows the total production, value, and area of the wheat crop of the United States from 1871 to 1880, inclusive : Value Value Yield Year. Bushels. DoUais. Acres. per bush. per acre, per acre, Dushels. cents. dollars. 1871 230,722,400 290,411,820 19,943,893 125.8 14 56 11.5 1872 249,997,100 - 310,180,375 20,858,359 124.0 14 87 11.9 1873 281,254,700 323,594,805 22,171,676 115.0 14 59 12.7 1874 308,102,700 291,107,895 24,967,027 94.4 11 66 12.3 1875 292.136,000 294,580,990 26,381,512 100.0 11 16 11.0. 1876 289,356,500 300,259,300 27,627,021 103.7 10 86 10.4 1877 364,194,146 394,695,779 26,277,548 108.2 15 08 19.9 1878 420,122,400 326,346,424 32,108,560 77.2 10 16 13.1 1879 448,756,600 497,030,100 32,545,950 110.8 15 27 13.8 1880 480,849,723 460,597,000 36,037,000 95.8 12 74 13.3 It will be noticed that the average price for the entire period of ten years is fl.05i per bushel; the average yield per acre, 13 bushels ; the acreage nearly doubled during the ten years ; and the average per acre for the last four years is 15 bushels against 12 for the first four years, and 13 for the entire period. This increase in the amount of wheat grown is due to several causes, among which are the opening up of new and fertile wheat lands in Minnesota, Dakota, etc.; the introduction of new and greatly improved machinery for handling the crop ; the stimula- tion of good prices consequent upon a heavy foreign demand; the introduction of better modes of cultivation, and the use of more fertilizers, both home-made and commercial. One gratifying feature of this increase in wheat production is that it is not due merely to the opening of new and fertile lands in the West, but in the States which have been longest under cultivation, the improvement has been striking. Take, for example, the statistics of Ohio, the leading wheat growing State of the Union. Dividing the thirty-three years, from 1850 to 1882, inclusive, into three periods of nine years each, and one 168 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. period of six years, we get the following table of average yield per acre, and average annual aggregate production of the State : Years. Average yield per acre. Average an- nual crop. From 1850 to 1858 .... From 1859 to 1867 .... From 1868 to 1876 .... From 1877 to 1882 .... 12.89 9.86 12.11 16.25 21,000,000 17,000,000 20,000,000 39,000,000 The favorable showing of the first nine years is probably to be accounted for in part by the larger proportion of virgin soil at that time, and partly by the fact that statistics had not tjien been reduced to as complete a science as since. '' Two causes account for the extremely unfavorable showing of the second period ; the absence of a large part of the agri- cultural class in the army reduced the number of acres under cultivation, and the disastrous crop failures of 1865 and 1866 reduced the average per acre, which in 1865 was but nine, and in 1866 but four and a half bushels. The wet season of 1875 explains why the third period did not quite equal the first one. The fourth period of six years marks apparently a new era in wheat growing, the annual aggregate production being doubled, and the average yield per acre being increased forty per cent. This greatly increased yield was doubtless due to better drainage, better preparation of the soil, better fertilization, including a largfer use of commercial fertilizers and the introduction of new and improved varieties. Soil. — Wheat flourishes on a great variety of soils, the es- sential conditions being good natural or artificial drainage, as it is easily injured by excess of water in the soil, and a supply of available plant food. A limestone clay, under favorable con- ditions,, is probably one of the safest soils for the crop, but it is grown with success even on rich black bottom soils. Drainage. — There is no crop which is more benefited by drainage than this ; in fact, it is scarcely wise to attempt the cul- tivation of wheat on a soil that is not drained, either naturally or artificially, as a profitable crop can only be grown on such WHEAT. 169 land in exceptionally favorable seasons. If the surface soil is filled with water during the winter and spring, the freezing and thawing will heave out the young plants, and if water renOiains upon the surface, the result will be even more disastrous. Where the surroundings or the circumstances of the farmer are such as to make thorough underdrainage impracticable, very good crops may often be secured by plowing in narrow lands and opening out the dead furrows, making provisions for a clear outlet, so that the water will never stand in these furrows. It win be sufficient for this purpose that the furrows be opened -without rounding the lands. The latter practice, by giving a greater depth of soil in the center of the land, is liable to cause the crop to mature unevenly. Aa outlet should be opened with the plow to every low place in the field, so as to prevent the water from standing on any portion of it. Of course, these open furrows across a wheat field are objectionable, and greatly interfere with the convenient use of machinery; but they are less objectionable than the loss of a crop from excess of water. As soon as thorough underdraining can be accomplished, these open furrows may be dispensed with. Preparation of the Seed Bed. — I believe that the in- creased yield of wheat during the last few years is due more to the care and intelligence in this matter than to any other one cause. One important point is early plowing. This is espe- cially true on the clay lands of which I have spoken as particu- larly adapted to wheat. Our farmers have found that wheat does best on a seed bed that is compacted with a few inches of mellow soil at the surface, and that this can be secured best after the land has been plowed for some time and has been settled by rains. I have often had an opportunity to notice the difference be- tween early and late plowing, where a farmer began plowing a field in July, and stopped when the ground became hard and was unable to finish until September. In such instances I have seen in the same field a difference of ten bushels to the acre in favor of the part which was plowed early. I do not think the farmer ever likely to make a mistake by putting too much work 170 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. on his wheat land in the way of mellowing and fining. The best yield I ever secured was on a field that I harrowed, rolled, and dragged six times between breaking and seeding. I fully believe in the truth of the maxim, " Tillage is manure," and that a soil which is kept mellow and fine for six weeks or two months during the heat of summer, becomes vitalized and enriched so as to give the young plant a thrifty start. It is of the utmost importance in all the work of preparing the seed-bed for wheat to so arrange that the work can be done at the right time. During the heat of summer we usually have after each rain, one or two cool, cloudy days. This is the time when the teams should be kept at work early and late. The land is moist and turns up easily, and the team will do twelve or even fourteen hours of work with less strain and worry than they will do eight a week later, when the ground has become dry and the mercury is up in the nineties. It is the same with the work of pulverizing. There are times when one day's work will accomplish more than three a little later. There is a time after a rain when the ground will crumble at a touch, and if the farmer can go on his fields then with a harrow that will take a wide sweep he can meUow a large amount in a day, and leave it in a condition to be benefited by sun and air, while if neg- lected a few days, till a crust forms, it will be impossible to get it in good order till another rain falls. My advice in preparing land for wheat is to roll as soon as plowed. At the first plowing after a rain it will do to plow a day or sometimes two days before rolling, but as the weather gets hot and the land begins to dry, roU each half day, and under some circumstances it will pay to unhitch from the plow and hitch to the roller as soon as a sufficient number of furrows are plowed to make a round for the latter. I think that any farmer who will give this plan a fair test will never abandon it. It is wonderful what power of retaining moisture a fine soil has. A field that is at once made fine and compact with the roller wiU be put in excellent condition for seeding by a shower which would not make any impression on a field that had been left rough and cloddy. I think there can be no beneficial chemical action in WHEAT. 171 the soil without moisture, and the field which is allowed to be baked and hard for some weeks previous to seeding time, loses the cheapest and best source of fertility which is at the com- mand of the farmer. If any of my readers think I am giving undue promi- nence to this matter of pulverization, I would recommend that they test it on a strip in the field, and continue the experiment for a series of years that they may hit both dry and wet seasons. I am sure that the experiment will result in convincing them that thorough preparation of the seed-bed is one of the most import- ant points connected with the crop. There are seasons when it is impossible on account of dry weather to plow early for wheat ; and when the plowing must be done just before sowing, I would recommend that it be shallow, four or at most five inches. A deep, loose seed bed holds too much water, and if we can not have our land settled and compact it is best to plow only what we can thoroughly pulverize, and I think that four inches of soil made fine and mellow is better than eight less thoroughly fined. The seed is also likely to be covered too deeply on the loose soil. "Wheat on Corn Lands. — There are many farmers who think it slipshod farming to sow wheat on corn land ; but on a farm where a large breadth of land is devoted to corn, and in a locality too far south to find oats reliable or profitable, it be- comes a necessity in our rotation to seed corn-land to wheat. I seed more or less in this way each year, and grow full average crops, frequently obtaining twenty-five to thirty bushels to the acre in this manner ; and my neighbor, L. N. Bonham, grew on corn-land a crop that averaged thirty-eight bushels. I do not sow in the standing corn, but cut and shock the corn before seeding. Mr. Bonham, whom I have just mentioned, one year seeded a corn-field to wheat, sowing one-half of the field in the standing corn, and cutting off the corn on the other half. Equal care was taken in the preparation of the land in each case and the wheat put in with a one-horse drill, but the yield on the portion where the corn was cut up before seeding was more than double that on the other half. 172 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. I never plow the land where corn has been cut off, but work it mellow with cultivators and harrows. The first thing to be attended to is to keep the corn clean, plow as late as you can, and then if necessary go through with hoes. I prefer putting twenty rows of corn in a shock row, setting the shocks close, and do not try to seed between'them. Then with the best imple- ments at command, go to work and mellow three inches of the surface of the field. Sometimes this can be done with a common harrow, followed by the roller or plank drag, but if the ground has been compacted by heavy rains the cultivators or one of the improved cutting harrows will do the best work, and should be used if practicable. Whatever implements are used the land should be in fine order before starting the drill. It is better to be a week or two later with the ground in good condition than to secure earliness by imperfect preparation. Fertilizers. — The cheapest wheat I have ever grown was on a clover sod, turned under early and given time to thoroughly decompose; and when I do not put wheat on corn land, my preference is to so arrange a rotation as to have a crop of clover followed by two crops of wheat, applying fertilizers to the second wheat crop. I regard stable manure as the best and most reliable fertil- izer for wheat, and have never been disappointed in its effects. I think universal experience shows it to furnish all the elements needed by the plant. From the records of work at the experi- ment stations, and from my own observation when I have visited them, I see stable manure is always the standard, and nearly always gives the largest yield. In my own experience I have rarely failed to get an extra bushel of wheat for every two-horse load of manure applied, and think I have sometimes obtained twice this amount. If I had an unlimited supply of stable manure, I would apply twelve loads to each acre ; but as I never have enough for all my wheat land, I prefer to spend more time and labor in fining it, and make eight loads cover an acre. I would always apply manure to wheat as a top dressing, spreading it after the ground has been plowed WHEAT. 173 and rolled, and thoroughly mixing it with the surface soil by harrowing. Bone-meal and superphosphate have at times given me ex- cellent results on wheat; at other times I have received no benefit. When I use them alone I apply two hundred pounds of either to the acre, but prefer to .apply one hundred pounds to the acre, and four loads of stable manure. The use of stable manure in connection with the commercial fertilizers is more particularly important when bone-meal is used, as the lat- ter is so slow to decompose that it gives the plant but little aid in making a start in the fall. Superphosphate has not this disadvantage. We begin in May or June the work of getting ready the stable manure we intend to use on the wheat, and endeavor to have it in such condition that it can be handled without loss of time, for where we have to put wheat on corn- land every day is precious. How and "When to Sow are questions of importance. In answer to the first, I say emphatically with the drill. There seems occasionally a disposition to go back to the old methods, and because during some of the years of bountiful yields when every thing was favorable there have been heavy crops grown by broadcast sowing, some farmers are advocating that we throw aside the drill and go back to the old method. Should any do so, I think a little experience in bad seasons would convince them of their mistake. In the fall of 1882 I drilled in a field and left a strip two rods wide at one side with which to ex- periment with diff'erent amounts of seed per acre, and these ex- perimental plots I sowed broadcast. The winter proved a very hard one, the cold being excessive, and March gave cold nights and thawing days, and my broadcast wheat was entirely killed, while the drilled wheat made a half crop. The advantages of drill- ing are, even seeding at uniforin depth, and the protection afi"orded the plant by the ridges between the rows, which not only protect from the wind, but also crumble and protect the roots during the freezing and thawing of winter. I sometimes see a recommendation to roll wheat after drilling. I think that rolling would largely defeat one object of drilling and that the 174 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. wheat would be much more liable to be frozen out than if the land was left in ridges by the driU. I am in favor of early sowing, and prefer the first half of September if the weather is suitable. It is wise to have the land in order the first of September, and then take advantage of the first favorable weather. I find it much better to seed after a rain than before, as a heavy rain after seeding packs the ground and the wheat does not make a thrifty start. If one has a large crop to sow he can not wait, but must take his chance ; but with only two or three days' work to do, advantage can be taken of weather and the crop put in at the best time. I have grown excellent crops of wheat sown as late as the 10th of October. The time to sow will depend much on the season as well as latitude. I would not usually sow wheat while the weather is very warm, as there is more danger of injury from insects ; nor do I like to sow when the ground is too dry to give the wheat a prompt and uniform start. The best time to sow wheat is one of those questions which can not be definitely set- tled, but on which the farmer must use his own judgment. In seasons or localities when the fly works on the crop, early seed- ing will sometimes fail entirely, while wheat sown a month or even six weeks later will make a good crop. In very dry seasons it is usually wiser to wait for rain and sow later than to run the risk of putting the seed in dry soil. Thick or Thin Seeding is a matter in which I have felt a deep interest and have experimented on to some extent. My experiments have all been with Fultz wheat (which is a small-grained variety), and have led me to believe that three pecks of seed will produce all the wheat the land is capable of bearing. In 1877 I sowed two adjoining acres in wheat, using a half bushel of seed on one acre and a bushel on the other. There was a perceptible diflFerence in the appearance of the two plots during the first two or three weeks, but less as the wheat began to stool, and in the spring I could see no diff'erence. At harvest there were fifty-two shocks on one acre, and fifty-three on the other, and the product was seventy bushels from the two acres. In 1878 I sowed six acres with three WHEAT. 175 pecks of seed to the acre, and harvested thirty bushels to the acre. Careful experiments at the experimental farm at Columbus have shown, however, the largest yield from compara- tively heavy seeding. Depth. — Many experiments have shown that the best re- sults are obtained from shallow planting. I would recommend from an inch to one and a half inches. Below I give a table showing the results of experiments made at the Agricultural College, at Lansing, Mich. The first column shows the depth of planting, the second the time that elapsed between planting and the appearance of the plant above the soil, and the third the proportion of the seed that grew. _ . , Proportion of seed Depth. Time incoming up. that grew. \ inch 1 " 2 " 3 " 4 " •5 " 6 " 11 days i 12 " aJl 18 " I 20 " * 21 " 22 " f 23 " * It was also noticeable that the plants from the deep sown wheat were weak and lacked vigor. Varieties. — I do not propose to recommend any variety above all others, for diflferent localities undoubtedly require dif- ferent varieties. I have found, however, in an experience of thirty-five years as a wheat grower, that there is a tendency with most varieties to deteriorate or, as the farmer usually ex- presses it, to " run out," when long sown on the same soil. I have found it of so much advantage to change varieties occasionally, that I rarely allow a year to pass without testing some new kind, and I heartily recommend farmers to adopt this plan. There is not now a single variety of wheat growing in my neighborhood that was grown here twenty years ago. I have no doubt but that the introduction of the Fultz wheat in Ohio added millions of dollars to the wealth of the farmers, but after growing it for nearly ten years on my farm, it is beginning to show signs of deterioration, and I am testing other varieties to supersede it. In trying a new variety, unless it has already been tested in your own locality, I would advise that but a single bushel be 176 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. sown. This is more than enough, if it proves a failure, and if it does well wUl furnish seed for a large field the following year. Never discard a tried variety that is giving good satis- faction till you have thoroughly tested another and are sure it is better. In choosing a variety of wheat, it is wise to grow one that suits the market. A quarter of a century ago white wheat was worth ten or twelve cents a bushel more than red. Now, this is changed, white wheat is not wanted, and can only be sold at a discount. * There are other points to be considered in selecting a, variety. One that ripens early is less likely to be damaged by storms or rust than a late kind. Some have soft straw, and are conse- quently liable to lodge; while still others have a 'soft grain which sprouts easily, causing liability to damage in a wet season. I discarded the Clawson for this reason after two years' trial, for I found it would grow badly in the shock, when the Fultz and other hard varieties showed no signs of sprouting. The smooth varieties have nearly superseded the bearded as far as I know, and I greatly prefer them, as they are pleasanter to handle and not inferior in yield or quality. The following description of different varieties, taken from the report of the Ohio Experiment Station, will be useful in en- abling a farmer to make a "selection for experimenting : BRIEF NOTES DESCEIPTIVE OF STANDARD VARIETIES. Clawson. — ^A smooth white wheat with soft grain. This va- riety has been grown for several years upon the farm of the Ohio State University. Although it continues to yield fairly good crops, it shows some signs of deterioration. It has a tendency to lodge, and the straw is very brittle when ripe. The grain is frequently more or less shrunken. Among its qualities are har- diness, and a freedom from rust and smut ; although less produc- tive than some other varieties, it is still worthy of cultivation. Fultz. — This variety is sometimes called the Red Clawson. Few sorts cultivated in Ohio have given uniformly better results ; it is early, has large, smooth heads, and strong straw of medium height. For the past two or or three years it has shown a ten- WHEAT. 177 dency to rust, and is also affected more or less with smut. It is the leading variety in many parts of the State. It appears to do better, in comparison with other varieties, upon high grounds and light soils than on bottom lands or heavy clays. Silver Chaff. — This is now quite widely disseminated through- out the State, and, under favorable conditions, is one of the most productive varieties. It is a white, bald wheat, with a rather coarse straw of medium strength. It is not troubled with rust, ripens a few days later than the Fultz, about the same time as the Clawson. Velvet Chaff. — This variety continues to grow in popular favor. Although less productive than some other kinds it main- tains a good average. It has rather short, but well filled heads ; straw erect and moderately strong. It is sometimes troubled with smut, though not often seriously affected. Like nearly all red, bearded varieties, it is very hardy, good to sow in exposed situations. It ripens about the time, or a little earlier than the Fultz. Its milling qualities are good. Arnold's Gold Medal. — A bald, white wheat, with large, compact heads; somewhat variable as to yield and quality of grain. Very productive under favorable conditions. It ripens late, and shatters badly, unless promptly harvested; was for- merly much prized by millers, but is not now so highly regarded. Golden Straw. — A red wheat, which ripens early, and is fairly productive. The heads are bald, small, compact, and well filled. Grains of small size, usually plump. Straw short, of medium strength, not perfectly hardy, and often suffers from winter killing; is worthy of trial, but should be experimented with carefully. Mediterranean. — ^An old standard sort. Heads small, loose, and heavily bearded ; not very productive, but sure. Straw tall, rather weak, and inclined to lodge on rich ground. Yield and quality of grain quite variable. One of the hardiest varieties, but is being rapidly superseded by more productive sorts. Its milling qualities are good. Lancaster. — A variety resembling the Mediterranean, but more productive. Heads large, and usually well fille It is often a difficult question with the jgrower of early pota- toes to know when to dig an early crop. | Perhaps the first of August finds them ripe and the vines def^d, and if left in the ground and heavy rains follow, they are ir^ danger of either rot- ting or taking a second growth. If pick*^d up as soon as dug, and put in bins ventilated like that shpwn in the cut, I find there is no risk in putting potatoes in tl^e cellar in August, pro- viding they are ripe. Perhaps there is no crop which. 'i* is so difficult to tell when to seU to the best advantage as potatoes. There is often a rush which gluts the market at digging time and reduces the price very low, and if held till sprang there is some risk, labor, and shrinkage, and but a short t'^me to sell in before the new crop from the South comes in cRAQ. It is bcst to makc it of light material, and then, when you wish more weight, you can load it or ride on it. ' Good seed is of the greatest importance, and it should be bought only of men of established reputation. If a large amount is to be sown, a seed drill is indispensable. I prefer that the rows be fourteen inches apart, and it is very important that they be made straight. Stretch a line at the side of the bed, and with a marker you can lay off four rows at a time. In using this marker you walk backward and keep the first runner at the line ; in coming back you run the first runner in the last mark, and if at any time you find the rows are getting crooked, it will be best to stretch the line again and start anew. The seed should not be covered deep, and it is wise to attend to the sowing yourself, unless you have a perfectly trusty hand. The drill covers as it drops, and can be run so as to cover from a fourth inch to two or three inches. For early sown onions, the lighter the covering the better; I would advise that where only a small plot is sown, and the sowing is early, the seed be sown on the surface and covered with sifted manure, as this will give the plants a thrifty start. Some care and calculation will be necessary to know that you are sowing the right quantity of seed per acre. I would recommend that an ounce be weighed out and put in the drill, ROOT CROPS. 247 and a calculation made from the amount of land it covers as to how much you are using to the acre. At the rate of four pounds per acre, an ounce should cover two and a half square rods, and the drill should drop from ten to fifteen seeds to a foot of row. This will seem like thick seeding to the uninitiated, but I have often counted twelve or more perfect onions to a foot of drill. I have never found a drill that possessed so many good points as the Mathews, not only for onions but for general work. We use it for any seed from a pea to portulacca or petunia. AU the tools described for onions can be used for other garden crops. The best varieties for general cultivation are the red Wethersfield and yellow Danvers, as they are large yielders and good keepers. For home use, some of the white onions are said to be of better flavor. Let the cultivation begin as soon as the plants can be seen in the row, and now you will find the advantage of straight rows, for it will enable you to cut close with the scuffle hoe and have a narrower strip for hand weeding. The best implement for the first weeding is the scuffle hoe. It is very easy to use, as it does not require you to stoop or bear down as with a common hoe, but the force is applied by pushing it from you. Another advantage is that you walk backwards and do not tramp the land after it is worked, but the weeds are left loose and are more likely to die than if you walk over the land after it is hoed. In a few days after the scuffle hoeing the crop will need weeding by hand, and this should be thoroughly done. There is no other way but to get down on your knees, and with a common table-knife take the weeds from the row. Onions do not need deep culture, but they must be kept clean, and the scuffle hoeings and hand weed- ings must be repeated often enough to keep down all weeds. After the onions are six inches high souffle hob. the hand plow can be used between the rows, and this will enable you to do the work more rapidly. 248 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Harvesting. — When the tops have fallen, and the larger part of them are dry, the crop is ready to pull, and three or four rows should be thrown together. If there are any weeds, be sure and destroy them at this time. At the end of a week stir carefully with a wooden rake, taking pains not to bruise them, and repeat as often as necessary ; and when dried so as to feel hard they are ready for market or storing, and they may be taken to the barn and spread two feet deep, but the doors should be left open in pleasant weather. The sorting and top- ping can be done as they are wanted for market. I would advise selling in the fall whenever a fair price can be had, as there is both labor and risk in wintering. The best way to winter is to spread them on the floor of an outbuilding to the depth of eighteen inches, and leave them till frozen hard. Then cover, to the depth of two feet, with hay or straw. If you have long straw in bundles nothing else will be necessary ; but if loose straw or hay is used, it will be best to cover first with sheets, so as to keep the chaff or broken straw from mix- ing with them. The onions should not be put against the wall, but a space of eighteen inches left, and packed with hay or straw. Under favorable circumstances the crop is enormously profit- able. I have seen six hundred bushels grown to the acre when the price was two and a half dollars a bushel, but such yield and price are exceptional. At one dollar per bushel, and a yield of two hundred bushels per acre, the crop will be found a profit- able one. In closing I will sum up the requisites for successful onion growing, which are : First, clean, rich land ; second, plenty of good, fine manure, with no foul seeds in it; third, thorough preparation of the soil ; fourth, good seed, properly sown ; fifth, clean culture. The gardener who begins with a small area, and increases as he gains experience, will be likely to make a suc- cess of onion growing. Turnips. — The turnip can be so easily grown, on account of its quick maturity, and so cheaply, because it can be grown as a second crop, and generally with no cultivation, that it de- ROOT CHOPS. 249 serves a more prominent place in our agriculture than it has yet attained. In my experience as a mark'et gardener no one crop ever gave me so large a profit, cost considered, as this in occa- sional years. I have grown from one to five hundred bushels to the acre, and often they have cost less than five cents a bushel when pitted for winter. Of the flat turnips there are many varieties, but in all the Western markets the "Purple top strap-leaf" sells best, and this is the variety generally cultivated. We sow in Southern Ohio from the middle of July to the first of September, but consider the first ten days of August the best if the weather is favorable. The soil need not be very rich, but they do best where a little manure has been used for a spring crop. I usually grow my heaviest crops among my melons and cucumbers, as these crops are generally planted on manured land, and the shade of the vines is favorable to getting a stand, and the turnip crop will make after the frosts have killed the vines. I have grown profitable crops by plowing a clover-stubble after cutting the first growth for hay, and also by burning off wheat stubble and harrowing the' surface till fine and mellow. I have never succeeded with turnips sown on freshly plowed land, but find they do best on land that has become settled, and the surface made fine. Where stubble is to be prepared for turnips, plow as early as possible, and shallow; then harrow and roll at once. When a heavy rain falls, so as to settle it, harrow again, and drag with the plank- drag. If any manure is used it should be applied after plowing, so as to be well mixed with the surface soil by the harrow and drag. One pound of good seed is sufficient for an acre. I pre- fer not to mix with any thing to sow it, but find that, by using only the thumb and one finger, I can sow evenly, and about the right quantity. The most important direction I can give for sowing is, always sow after a rain. The common practice is to watch, and when a rain is coming sow the seed, so that the rain will wash it in. It is the worst possible plan, as the rain forms a crust and starts a crop of weeds, which often outgrow the turnips and smother them. The turnip fly is also much more liable to 250 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. destroy the plants if their growth is checked by a hard crust. When sown as soon after a rain as the land can be nicely worked, the plants come up in two or three days, and start at once into vigorous growth. You can not have the land too smooth or fine to sow on, and after sowing you should run over it with a light plank-drag. If you are putting in a large field it will pay to hitch a horse at each end of a plank sixteen feet long, and make a quick job of it. Turnips may be pitted with less labor than potatoes, as they are not injured by a little freezing, and do not require as much earth. I do not use straw in pitting them, but throw the earth directly on the turnips. Profits of the Crop. — Those near a city market, so that the crop can be transported in wagons, will find them more profita- ble, as they can watch the market and take advantage of a scarcity. I have sold by the wagon load at sixty cents a bushel, and by the car load at thirty-three, the buyer paying freight. If I could contract all I could grow at twenty cents a bushel I should put out large fields each year. I think it as easy to grow two hundred bushels of turnips to the acre as forty of corn, and, as stated, I have groAvn five hundred bushels. If there is no demand for them, they can be fed to the stock. I have found them of great advantage in fattening old cows, the turnips keeping the system in such a condition that they could eat and digest more grain, and thus be able to lay on flesh rapidly. Beets and Mangold Wurzels. — Perhaps no other plant will give so great a bulk of food to the acre as beets. From forty to sixty tons of roots have often been grown, and there is one crop on record of over eighty tons to the acre. We have of the mangolds the long and the round, or globe shaped, and the red and yellow in color, while the sugar-beets are white. AnalA ysis shows that size is usually gained at the expense of qualityy and that roots weighing eight to nine pounds each contained but about three per cent of sugar, while roots of from one to two V pounds each contained over ten per cent. Beets require a rich, deep soil, and for this crop deep plowing is best. Early planting is advisable, and in this latitude the ROOT CROPS. 251 earlier in April the better, if the land is in good order. Plant level, as they can be cultivated easier thus than on ridges. Make the rows two feet apart. Set the drill so as to drop four to six seeds to the foot, as it is easy to thin the crop, and a good stand is desirable. By planting in rows, this distance apart, most of the cultivation can be done with a horse after the plants are six inches high. Attend to the thinning as soon as the plants are large enough so that you can get hold of them with the thumb and finger. Every day's delay in thinning will reduce the yield of the crop. Leave the plants from eight to twelve inches apart in the row. It is not nearly so much work to cultivate a beet crop as onions, for they grow rapidly, and in a few weeks shade the ground so completely as to keep down all weeds. The crop should be gathered before the weather is cold enough to freeze them, for (if frosted they will not keep^ The tops should be removed either by twisting them off or by cut- ting, care being taken not to cut the beets, as it will cause them to rot. They may be stored either in the cellar or in pits ; in the latter case they must be as well protected as pota- toes. Mangolds undergo a ripening process after they are gath- ered, which makes them more healthful and nutritious, a part of the starch being converted into sugar; and it is, therefore, best that they should be kept till the latter part of the winter. In feeding roots of any kind, begin with a moderate quantity, and increase gradually. When only a limited quantity are grown they may be cut with a spade, but where grown largely a good root cutting maphine will pay. The dairyman or farmer who is feeding cattle for beef in winter who gives beets a fair trial will be likely to continue their cultivation. Carrots. — This root is greatly esteemed for feed both for horses and milch cows. A few fed daily to a horse or other grain-fed animal aids the digestion and makes the hair glossy, and the color of the milk and butter is greatly improved by feeding the cows on carrots. Every thing that has been said about selecting clean soil, giving thorough preparation, and clean culture to other root 252 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. crops, applies with equal force to carrots. The plants come up small and weak, and prompt and vigorous work will be necessary to save them from the weeds. It is best to sow rather early, as the seed wiU not bear deep covering, and if planting is post- poned tUl the sun is hot and the ground dry, it is difficult to get a stand. Sow in rows fifteen inches apart, and thin to three or four inches in the row. One and a -half to two pounds of good seed per acre is all that will be needed. The Short Horn is recommended by Mr. Gregory, and the particular strain known as the Danvers as the best. It is of a rich dark orange color, smooth, and handsome, and much easier to dig than the long Orange. On good soil, with thorough culture, from twenty to forty tons per acre are grown, or from four to eight hundred bushels. The same implements and general cultivation that is recom- mended for onions will suit for carrots, except that while the cultivation of onions should always be shallow, deep culture is beneficial to the carrot. I use a long, narrow buU-tongue, which will work six inches or more in depth, and find no difficulty in driving a gentle horse in a fifteen-inch row. The growing of roots of all the varieties mentioned calls for high farming. The land must not only be rich and clean, but help must be plenty, and the work done at the right time and well done. With these conditions fulfilled, these crops will prove profitable ; but without, tjiem, vexation and loss will result. ^^ -Xiiav\on6 l|5wej^imp|prtant d^d^dti to giv^ ^illtlrtiiig^lfeiSEhok^ andfw^i^ embot^ed in one Ranted itiwo/bushds foiir yeijfs ago/ and have CMpp^p %ii&M[^^ipY^rmii:k, .growii^ corn, wineat, arfd vines on u,t,|^^'h|5^faifea to Kiil|iiChj6m out/; I didWot find Ihem ptofit- able or palatable for stoSk/ and "would as ^oqh 'recomnlend the planting of Canada Thistles. M^ot^^ JLJk''(9j|J[v ,, FRUIT ON THE FARM. 253 Chapter XI. KRUIT ON THE KAR]VI. WHILE but few farmers should undertake fruit-growing as a business, with a view to making money out of it, there is no farmer, whether his land is rich or poor, or the area small or great, but should plant fruit for the family; and, notwithstanding occasional failures and the many enemies the fruit-grower must contend with, there is no other way in which, at the same cost, 'so much of luxury can be provided for the family. Fruits are also healthful, and those who eat freely and reg- ularly of fresh, ripe fruits, are usually free from derangements of the stomach and bowels. This is not true of fruits bought in market, which are often stale and unwholesome; but on the farm, where they can be had fresh, children may be allowed to eat all they want through the season, and will be benefited rather than injured thereby. A moderate amount of land de- voted to fruit, if managed intelligently, will furnish a constant succession from the time strawberries ripen till freezing weather, and a sufficiency to can for winter use, and it should be the aim of every farmer to provide fruits for this succession. The first requisite in fruit-growing is common sense, and to see how fruit-growing is managed on many farms one might think this a scarce commodity. The farmer who will thoroughly prepare his land and cultivate grain crops, will plant out a few peach and cherry trees in the fence corners, and pay no further attention to them, and will grow a crop of grain in the apple orchard each year, and- from these neglected trees expect a sup- ply of fruit for the family. To successfully grow fruit of any kind requires intelligence in 254 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. tiiQ selection of location for the orchard or garden and of varieties, and thorough cultivation of the soil and attention to the wants of the trees, and without these failure is assured as certainly as it would be if a crop of corn was badly put in and then left with- out further care. There is no mystery about fruit-growing, and no valid reason why every farmer should not succeed at least with some varieties, while many who are favorably located as to soil, markets, etc., could embark in the business of growing fruit for market with a certainty of profit. Selection of Orchard Site. — Wherever it is possible, the orchard should be located on rolling land having good sur- face drainage. Even hillsides that are too steep for profitable cultivation will make good orchard lands, and clay land is pref- erable to that which is rich in vegetable matter. Our best grain lands, black loam or alluvial, are not to be chosen for orchards, as they tend to produce t6o great a growth of wood, and to keep it growing late in the fall, so that the new growth is not well matured, and the buds consequently not well developed. Such lands usually lie low, and are more subject to frost in early spring than the higher rolling lands. The farmer can not always have a good location for an orchard, but he should understand what is likely to prove successful, and not attempt to engage in fruit growing as a business on a farm well suited to grain, and on which fruit growing is almost certain to prove unprofitable. Fruit trees will not be thrifty and will be likely to winter-kill on lands that are saturated with water in winter and spring, and on such land drainage must be provided. I have seen such good results from a very simple and inex- pensive method of surface drainage that I am prepared to re- commend it. My attention was first called to this plan in 1860, in the flat lands of Allen County, Indiana. My father was buying and shipping apples from that part of the State, and he found some orchards that were wonderfully prolific, and with fruit' of the highest excellence on flat wet lands, that were so flooded with water as to endanger the life of trees planted in the usual manner. In these orchards the ground was plowed in FRUIT ON THE FARM. 255 narrow lands, back furrowing where the row of trees was to be planted and ridging the earth as much as possible. The trees were then placed on the top of the plowed land, the roots spread out and earth brought from the dead furrows to cover the roots and raise a mound around each tree, so as to hold it firm. Every time the orchard was plowed or cultivated, the earth was worked towards the trees and the dead furrows kept open, and by the time the trees were in bearing they stood on a ridge more than three feet above the bottom of the dead fur- rows, and with more than double depth of the best soil under the roots. In 1868 I planted one hundred Early May cherry trees on this plan on a piece of cold, wet, clay land. As these trees were but one rod apart we could shovel the soil from the dead furrows directly around the roots, which made it easy to get earth to cover them. At the lower side of the orchard there was not fall enough to remove the water, and one row of trees was drowned out entirely; but as far as I kept the furrows clear and the trees on the ridges, they made a most excellent growth, and the orchard has proved the most uniformly profit- able of any that I ever planted. I mention these instances to show that natural difficulties may often be overcome by the exercise of judgment. Selection of Trees. — What I have to say under this head applies with equal force to all varieties of fruit. Never buy a fruit tree of an irresponsible agent who is a stranger to you. There is no business that offers so easy an opportunity for swindling as that of selling fruit trees, from the fact that it is impossible to detect the imposture till the orchard comes into bearing, and this gives the dishonest agent an opportunity to cheat the buyer with perfect safety. Refuse stock has been bought by the car load from the large commercial nurseries and sold under false names and at high prices to the farmers of the West. A nursery man often overestimates the demand for a particular variety of apple or some other fruit, and finds himself over-stocked, and is glad to sell out for a cent or two a tree, as he would otherwise be 256 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. obliged to dig and burn. them. These trees are bought by un- principled scoundrels, and labeled to suit the wants of customers. Then armed with a book of colored plates and an oUed tongue, the purchaser starts out to gull the farmers. Often the agents employed to canvass are honest and ignorant of the fraud, but that does not help the farmer. It seems strange that so many intelligent farmers who are shrewd enough in all ordinary business transactions should allow themselves to be swindled by tree agents. Go to the nursery and select your own trees. I presume there are few farmers but can find a good reliable nursery within from twenty to fifty miles, and it were better to be at the expense of a journey for ten dollars' worth of trees than to find after years of care and waiting that you have some worthless variety. Often several neighbors can unite and send one of their number to the nursery, and thus reduce the expense. Plant Young Trees. — I give this advice after more than twenty-five years' experience in tree-planting, during which time I have set and fruited more than one thousand trees. Peach, pear, cherry, plum, and quince, I would always set in the orchard at one year old, and apples at two. I can give a number of valid reasons for this advice. 1st. The trees will cost less at the nursery, and can be packed and transported cheaper, and it will be less work to plant them. 2d. They will be surer to grow, as they wUl be less dis- turbed by transplanting, and will have better roots in proportion to their tops than if older. 3d. They will become established sooner and adapted to the soil in which they are to grow if transplanted young, and can be more easily brought to the shape the owner desires. 4th. In a few years from setting they will be as large, and will come into bearing as soon or sooner than the larger and more expensive trees. In planting the cherry orchard before referred to I tested the relative value of large and small trees. One row was set with large trees six feet high, which were retailing at forty cents each, and the remainder of the orchard from a lot of FRUIT ON THE FARM. 257 small ta-ees, averaging about two feet high, which I bought for six cents each. I cut the small trees back to within a foot or less of the ground, and in four years they had fully caught up with the large ones, and came into bearing just as soon. So thoroughly convinced am I of the superiority of young trees, that I would plant them if they cost fifty per cent more than larger ones, instead of considerably less. Selection of Varieties. — Many mistakes are made under this head, and the more common one is to plant too mnny kinds. It is a matter, too, in which the advice given in books is of little value, for each soil and locality has its varieties which are suited to it, and often a variety that will give good satisfaction in one locality may be nearly worthless fifty miles away. Every one intending to plant an orchard should take pains for some months beforehand to inquire among his neighbors as to what kinds have been most prolific and regular bearers, and have sold best in the market, and given the best satisfaction in the fam- ily. This matter becomes one of special importance in commer- cial fruit growing; and in planting for this purpose a few lead- ing varieties will usually give a large profit, while an orchard planted with a large number will often prove unprofitable. To illustrate this, I planted in 1860 an orchard containing one hundred apple and three hundred peach trees. I htid little experience in fruit growing, and thought it best to plant a great number of varieties and so planted nearly thirty varieties of apple and fifteen of peach. The result was that fully three-fourths of the orchard never paid for planting, while the remaining fourth gave a very large profit. Nearly all the money made from apples came from three varieties, Baldwin and Smith-cider, for winter fruit, and Maiden Blush for summer, of which the or- chard contained about twenty trees. If the entire orchard had been of these varieties the profit would have been increased from $500 to $1,000. Three varieties of peach, Crawford's Early, Honest John, and Cooledge's Favorite, of which there were seventy-five trees, gave more profit than all the rest of the orchard. It will not do to be governed by the advice of some one in 17 258 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. a different locality, for climate and soil may totally change the character of a fruit. The Northern Spy is a good illustration, of this. In Michigan, Northern Ohio, and New York, I find it an excellent keeper, and one of the very best winter apples, while on our limestone soil in South-western Ohio, it is a fall apple, and comes in at a season when the market is glutted and prices at the lowest. A little thought will show how important it is for the farmer who expects to make money by fruit grow- ing, to not only have a general knowledge of the business, but also to understand thoroughly the peculiarities of his own local- ity. He must also understand how to market, as it is not always the best fruit that will give the greatest profit. A red apple of inferior quality will out sell a much better one that has a duU color, and an apple of the greatest excellence, is often a shy or irregular bearer. A fruit well adapted to can- ning is always in demand, but one unsuited to this purpose will find comparatively few customers. For example, when the " Wild Goose Plum " was first introduced, I bought some of the fruit and had it cooked, and found that though it was of very pleasant flavor raw, it was sour and acrid when cooked. I wrote an article for the agricultural press cautioning fruit growers against planting it largely, and giving my reasons. The article was replied to by a prominent nurseryman in the Miami Valley, who took issue with me, and greatly praised the fruit as one that would give great and sure profit. Six years later I noticed in a report of a meeting of horticulturists, this same nursery- man conceded the very points I had made, and advised against planting it. Two orchards of this fruit set out in my neighbor- hood were cut down within ten years without giving a dollar profit. Under each kind of fruit I shall give a list of general excellence, but wish it distinctly understood that judgment must be used by the individual. Planting an Orchard. — ^With young, healthy trees, of good varieties selected, you are ready to plant, and to this work be sure and give your personal supervision. The land should be broken up beforehand, as you can not grow good trees in a wheat or grass field, and it is more difficult to plow the land FRUIT ON THE FARM. 259 well after the trees are set out without injuring them. If sur- face drainage is needed, as suggested previously, dig a shallow hole, or set the trees on the surface and raise the earth around them. Ordinarily, however, you will need to dig a hole two spits deep, and much labor can be saved by proper management. For small trees dig the hole two feet in diameter, and lay the surface soil to one side, then go another spit deep and put this subsoil on the opposite side of the hole. This hole will usually be six or eight inches deeper than you will want to set the tree. Now, with the spade cut down the edges of the hole, and fill the bottom with the soil as you widen the hole, and you will have a bed of good, mellow surface soil to set your tree on, and a hole three or three and a half feet wide. Spread out the roots of the tree so they will be in a natural position, and sift down among them well fined earth from the surface soil. Churn the tree up and down slightly to make sure that all the intersti- ces are filled, and when well covered press firmly on all sides with the foot. Finally, put the subsoil on the surface around the tree. If there are any sods place them inverted around the outer edge of the hole, and see that they are covered so that they can not sprout and they will decay and furnish just the plant food the trees need. It will take time and labor to plant a, tree well, but the future growth will repay it. An orchard not only presents a better appearance if the rows are straight, but it will be easier to cultivate between the trees. It is easy to set the stakes straight, but after the holes are dug, if the trees vary a few inches from the center of the holes, or the hole is not dug so that the stake was the center, the result is a crooked row. A very simple device, which can be made in a few min- utes, will enable you to set the trees exactly where the stake stood. It is shown in the cut. It is simply a piece of board, five or six feet long, with a hole near each end and a notch cut out of the side. When you are ready a tree planter. to dig the hole lay your board down so that the stake will fit in the notch. Then drive a small stake through each of the holes in the board, take up your board and center stake and dig 260 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. the hole. When ready to plant the tree, lay your board across the hole so that the two stakes will fit in the end holes, and set your tree in the notch, and it must stand just where the stake did ; and if the stakes were set right, the rows must be straight. This board also serves to steady the tree while the earth is being filled in around it. Pruning. — The top of fruit trees when transplanted should be well cut back, especially if the roots have been at all injured. I have always succeeded in getting a better shaped head when setting young, small trees by cutting off all side branches and heading back a little. If any roots have been bruised or man- gled they should be pared smooth with a knife. If pains is taken from the start, but little pruning will be necessary. Much of the pruning can be done with the hand by rubbing out sprouts as they start. Perhaps less wisdom is shown in tree pruning as usually done than in any other farm operation. The orchard will be neglected for years, and then with ax and saw is cut and slashed so as to nearly ruin it. In pruning a young orchard, one needs to look for- ward and anticipate the growth, and the intelligent orchardist will be able to give a reason for every cut he makes. Our objects in pruning are, to prevent the branches from becoming crowded, which would cause small fruit and injury from abrasion; to ad- mit sun and air; and to preserve a well-balanced and symmetri- cal top. By keeping these points in mind, and remembering that there is to be constant growth, one can easily prune correctly. Cultivation. — Every young orchard should have thorough cultivation for at least three years. It is quite a common prac- tice to set out fruit trees in a wheat field or to sow the young orchard in oats, and I have seen a large orchard planted in a meadow, great care being taken to kill as little grass as possible. A thrifty and profitable orchard can not be grown in this way. The young orchard should always be planted in a crop that will neither shade the trees or deprive them of moisture. Beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, or vines of any kind can be grown at a positive advantage to the trees. Great care must be taken when using. a horse among the trees not to FRUIT ON THE FARM. 261 injure them. Only a gentle horse and a careful man should be allowed to cultivate among them, and a short single-tree should be used, and the end of it well padded. A quince or peach orchard should be cultivated as long as it remains in bearing; but apples, pears, and cherries may have clover sown among them after they have a good, thrifty start of three or four years, and be pastured with hogs. I think hogs a great benefit to an orchard if they are properly managed, as by eating the fruit which falls prema- turely and that which is decaying they destroy the many inju- rious insects which, if not kept in check, would soon make it Impossible for us to grow fruit. Hogs allowed the run of the orchard should be -rung, and should be shut out during wet weather, when the land is soft. I think clover better than grass in the orchard, because it does not form a sod, and the growth is not heavy in dense shade, and if pastured moderately close the orchard will be benefited more by the droppings of the hogs than damaged by the clover. I would not leave the orchard in grass or clover for a series of years, but would cultivate it thoroughly every third year. In plowing up an old orchard, the plow should not run so deep as to tear up many of the roots, but as shallow as can be done to kill out weeds and grass and give a mellow surface. Where plenty of material can be had, it is a good plan to mulch the ground under the trees, so as to kill out all grass and weeds. If this mulching is done with coarse, half-rotted ma- nure, all the better. To manure or mulch a fruit tree prop- erly is not merely to put it around the trunk, but it should extend as far as the drip of the branches. Thorough cultiva- tion and manuring will often work wonders on an old, unthrifty orchard. In the chapter on Entomology you will find a description of insect enemies, with directions how to combat them. Apples. — I would plant apples thirty-three feet apart, which gives forty trees to the acre. If peaches are wanted, they may be set between the apple-trees each way, which will make three peach-trees to one of apple, and make the trees just 262 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. one rod apart. Two and a half aores will contain just four hun- dred trees of both kinds. I planted an orchard of this size in this way, and found that the peach-trees were out of the way before the apple-trees needed the room. I give below a list of general excellence for family use : Earl^ — Early Harvest, Benoni, Red Astrachan. Fall — Maiden Blush, Porter, Bellmont, Fall Wine, Fall Pippin, Jersey Sweet. Winter — Yellow Bellflower, Baldwin, Smith Cider, Rambo, White Pippin, Wine Sap, Golden Russet, Ben Davis, Rome Beauty, Rawles Janet, Wagoner. Peaches. — I have never found any trouble in growing a vigorous, healthy peach-tree, although, on account of the tender- ness of the fruit-buds, I have often had the crop killed by frost, and sometimes an orchard will bear but a single crop during its life-time. One rod apart each way is a suitable width for plant- ing; but if a large orchard is planted, I would recommend that every fifth space be left wider, so that there would be no diffi- culty in driving through to gather the fruit. A small peach-tree wiU do better than a large one, and I would not plant a tree more than one year old from the bud if I could get it for nothing. Nursery men often sort out the trees under four feet high, and sell them at half price as second class, and I have frequently tested them beside first class trees from five to seven feet high, and in two years the small trees will overtake the large ones. In planting a large orchard, the use of these small trees makes a large saving. I advise that all side branches be removed at the time of transplanting and the trees headed back. This close pruning will cause a much stronger and more satisfactory growth. After setting, the peach requires but little pruning, and large branches should never be cut. The twigs should be thinned out a little, and the new growth cut back each year. Cultivation wiU largely increase the size and market value of the fruit. The following list embraces such as have proved the best in my experience : Troth's Early, Early Amsden, Crawford's Early, Crawford's Late, Smock, Stump the World, Old Mixon, Switzer- land, Oxford Late, Heath Cling, Salway. FRUIT ON THE FARM. 263 Pears. — The one great drawback to the cultivation of pears is the blight. Probably the most successful pear grower in the West, if not in the Union, is N. Ohmer, of Dayton, 0, He has planted since 1868 over 3,500 pear-trees, and made the growing of pears profitable. He recommends, a deep, well underdrained, rich clay s^oil, and that no manure be used; that planting be shallow, and the earth worked to the trees, so as to give surface drainage. Cultivate three years, and then seed to clover and allow the second crop to decay on the ground. After this the orchard is not cultivated, but the grass allowed to come in and take possession. Mr. Ohmer is quite sure that to stimulate the growth of wood by either manure or cultivation increases the danger of blight. In proof of this he cites the following examples: In 1869 he planted an orchard of seven hundred Bartletts, and cultivated it for five years, losing more or less each year, tiU more than one hundred were dead. He then seeded it to grass, and the blight disappeared in two years. Another orchard, which had not blighted, but had a heavy sod, was plowed up, thinking it would improve the fruit, and the blight appeared, and many of the trees died. He also recommends that the trees be headed low, so that the branches shall shade and pro- tect the trunk. I have referred thus at length to Mr. Ohmer's experience, because his twenty-five years of success in the business give weight to his suggestions. He does not believe that blight can be avoided entirely by following the directions given above, but that its evils may be mitigated. My own experience in pear culture extends over twenty-five years, during which time I have planted about three hundred trees. I have found the BufFum, Flemish Beauty, Seckel, and Tyson free from blight, but have lost about half the Bartletts; but notwithstanding the blight, I have found pear culture fairly profitable. The following list is given as embracing the best varieties for family use: Bartlett, Osband's Summer, Sheldon, Tyson, Seckel, Clapp's Favorite, Lawrence, Bloodgood. Mr. Ohmer recommends for an orchard of one thousand trees, 150 Bartlett, 264 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 150 Beurre de Anjou, 150 Duchess, 150 Lawrence, 100 Beurre Clairgeau, 50 Howell, 50 Flemish Beauty, 50 Seckel, 50 Ros- tiezer, 50 Louise Bonne, and 50 Sheldon. I find that after the blight has prevailed for a series of years, it will often disappear and the trees that remain will be healthy, vigorous bearers for a long period. I think the farmer with a soil suited to pears could scarcely fail to make their growing profitable, for if three-fourths of the trees on an acre died, there would be enough left to give a large profit, as the crop from a single tree will often bring more money than an acre of corn. I would plant sixteen and a half feet apart, as the growth of pear trees is usually upright, and they will bear close planting. My Bartlett orchard is now fourteen years old and is planted this distance apart, and none of the trees interfere with each other, or look as though they would for many years to come. I have always had good success in transplanting pear trees at one year old from the bud or graft, but have found when large trees were moved a considerable per cent of them would die. I think that one-year old trees can be bought at most nurseries for about twenty cents each. One hundred and sixty trees, which would plant an acre, would cost, including the labor of setting, about forty dollars. During the three or four years that the orchard should be cultivated, crops may be grown on the land, which will pay for the labor and a fair interest on the investment, and after that the grass would pay at least a moder- ate interest, and if forty trees- escaped the blight and came into full bearing, enough would be left to give a large profit, as good pears are always in demand at fair prices. In proof of the statement that enough trees are likely to sur- vive to render pear growing profitable, I give the record of sev- eral orchards. My first planting was in 1859, twenty-seven trees. In 1883 there were thirteen alive, ten of them vigorous and full of fruit. In 1869 I planted an orchard of eighty Barl> letts, of which there are now standing forty-five. This orchard has suffered severely with blight, but it has been decreasing for a few years, and it now shows very little blight. Another FRUIT ON THE FARM. 265 orchard of sixty trees, twelve years old, all Bartlett, is three- fourths dead, but seems to have now passed the blighting stage. There is one old tree near, which for thirty-five years has borne heavy crops, never missing except when a heavy freeze came late in the season, as in 1875 and 1882. This tree has made so little new wood that it has not increased perceptibly in size during the time I have known it, but all its energies are devoted to the production of fruit. Mr. Ohmer reported twenty years after planting his first orchard of four hundred and twenty trees, that but eighty had died, and if we except three varieties which proved failures, his five orchards of three thousand five hundred trees show about the same per cent of loss. Dwarf Pears. — Dwarf pears are produced by grafting pear stock on the roots of the Anglers Quince. This produces a small tree which comes early into bearing and produces a very fine quality of fruit. These dwarf trees may be planted eight feet apart each way, which gives 680 trees to the acre. Some varieties do not succeed well on the quince, while others do re- markably well. Mr. Ohmer had great success with Beurre de Anjou and Duchess as dwarfs, and on my grounds the Flemish Beauty and Seckel have given good satisfaction. If dwarf pears are set deeply they will often strike root from the pear stock and become vigorous standard trees. Of eighteen dwarfs which I planted in 1859, there are now, in 1884, six large, thrifty trees in full bearing. Any one who has a taste for horticulture, and the time to de- vote to it, can pro- duce a pleasing ef- fect by training dwarf pear trees to the sides DWAKF PEAR TREE BOWER. of a bower, as shown in the cut. A grape-vine might be planted at each end to run over the top of the bower, and the pear trees kept on the sides, as the grape would give a better shade, and is also less liable to rot if allowed to run high above the ground. 266 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Plums. — The great enemy of the plum is the curculio, which stings the fruit when young and tender, and deposits within it an egg. This hatches into a grub, which causes the fruit to fall before maturity. The tree is also subject to a dis- ease called black knot, and to rotting of the fruit and defolia- tion during July and August. For the curculio, planting the trees in a hog lot, or poultry yard, or where the branches over- hang water, or paving under the trees has often proved a rem- edy, as the instinct of the insect seems to teach it to deposit its eggs only under such circumstances as will insure reproduction. The most effectual remedy is jarring the trees to cause the insects to fall on a sheet held for the purpose of catching them. The habit of the insects when disturbed of folding their legs and feigning death, makes it easy to capture them thus. For large orchards various devices have been used. A frame like an in- verted umbrella, lined with canvas, and with an opening at one side to receive the tree, is- placed on a wheelbarrow and trun- dled from tree to tree. The operator carries a heavy mallet with which he strikes the tree on a spike which has been driven in it for the purpose. In some of these it is arranged that the insects fall into a pan of coal oil, and others are provided with pockets; which retain them till they can be destroyed with hot water. As the period when the curculio damages the fruit is but short, this method will pay for large orchards. The trees should be jarred early in the morning, at which time the insects are sluggish. The work of jarring should begin soon after the fruit forms, and should be repeated every morning for two or three weeks, if rewarded by the capture of sufficient insects to pay. For the diseases mentioned, there are no specific remedies, but supplying manure and salt to the soil often acts as a cure or preventive, and sprinkling the trees with a solution of one ounce of copperas to two gallons of water is said to be a cure. Ashes applied to the soil is also a preventive. Thinning the fruit is found a remedy for rotting, as it is believed to originate from exhaustion of the tree from overbearing. The plum will flourish on a great variety of soils, but should never be planted on wet land, as it needs thorough drainage. FRUir ON THE FARM. 267 Varieties. — Probably the most profitable of all the plums grown is the " Damson." It is a small, blue plum, with a bloom of a lighter blue, and is a popular and excellent fruit for can- ning. The tree is a prolific bearer, and the fruit possesses the valuable quality of remaining fit for market for some weeks, and also bears transportation well. The tree comes into bearing early, and often proves exceedingly profitable. Although wri- ters catalogue a hundred varieties of this fruit, it would be im- possible to name a list that would be of general value, and we therefore leave it for each planter to decide for himself. Quinces. — I have found the quince a more regular and constant bearer than any other of the orchard fruits. Even in the seasons of hard, late frosts which kill the blossoms, the quince will, like the grape, put out a second bloom and make some fruit. I have gathered eleven successive crops — most of them heavy — from the same orchard. The quince requires a deep soil, and should be kept free from grass and weeds, either by mulching or cultivation. Salt at the rate of a quart to the tree is recommended to be used in connection with stable manure. Quinces are hardy^, and may be planted in the fall. They do best transplanted at one year old from cutting. Plant twelve feet apart, which will give three hundred and two trees to the acre, but if a large orchard is planted, leave every fifth space twenty feet wide for drawing in manure and taking out the fruit. The trees require considera- ble pruning, as the fruit is produced on spurs two or more years old, and shortening the wood induces the formation of fruit buds. One excellent quality of the quince is that it bears handling and keeps well, and may be shipped to a distant market with> safety. The varieties are few, and the Orange is the standard, and the one 6est suited for the family or market. Cherries. — A moderate sized cherry orchard, of well se- lected varieties will furnish a succession of fruit for two months or more. Cherries will grow on most soils if well drained, and as I have proved in the orchard before referred to, they can be grown successfully on wet soils by surface drainage alone. The smaller varieties, such as the Dukes and Morellos, may be set 268 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. as close as the peach, but the larger varieties should be twenty to twenty-five feet apart. But little pruning will be needed for any of the varieties, but if it is necessary to remove branches, it is best to do it in July, or when the terminal buds are forming. Like all- other varieties of fruit, the cherry should have clean cultivation for a few years until the trees are well established. The following list comprises the varieties which have proved best in my experience: Early Purple Gruigne, Bowman's May, Early Richmond, May Duke, Belle De Choisy, Elton, Black Tar- tarian, Governor Wood, and Belle Magnifique. Of these, the first two named are the earliest, ripening before or with straw- berries. I have not found them profitable for market,. but valu- able for the family because of their earliness. Belle Magni- fique is the latest, and ripens slowly, lasting till the first of August. The fruit of this variety is very large and of especial value for culinary purposes. For rich and delicate flavor, the Belle De Choisy stands unrivaled. I have never tasted its equal. It is only a moderate bearer, but quite .regular, and is not suited for marketing. It ripens the last of June. For market, the Early Richmond arid Black Tartai'ian are the varieties which I have found most profitable. The first named is also called early May, the Pie Cherry, the Canning Cherry, and by other local names. There are prob- ably ten bushels of this cherry sold in Cincinnati market to one of aU other varieties, and no other that I am acquainted with gives so great profit. The trees come into bearing young, and give large and regular crops. They may be headed low, so that for many years a large part of the fruit can be gathered by •standing on a chair. The fruit grows in pairs, is of a light red, is very prolific, and when fully ripe of a delicious flavor. The orchard before alluded to, is almost wholly of 'this variety, and has missed giving a full crop but twice in eight years, and then gave an abundance for family use. The cherries from this orchard have been mostly sold at five cents a quart on the tree, the purchaser gathering them. No pains has ever been taken to keep the birds from them, as we prefer to have them tame and never allow one killed, and no account has been kept of FRUIT ON THE FARM. 269 cherries canned or used in the family, and the sales have aver- aged fifty dollars a year. The trees are not long-lived, but will usually continue in bearing from ten to fifteen years. The Black Tartarian is a large, sweet cherry, heart-shaped and glossy, of a purplish-black color, and ripens the last of June. The tree is of a peculiar, upright and compact habit of growth, with large, dark foliage, and often attains to great size. It is a very prolific bearer, often producing many bushels of fruit to the tree, which, on account of its size, beauty, and flavor is very salable. Grapes. — Probably no other fruit grown wiU furnish a family supply with so little labor and risk of failure as the grape. If one owns a single square yard of land in which to put the roots of a grape-vine, it can be trained to the house side and will for years produce a liberal supply of fruit. There are in my neighborhood thrifty vines in full bearing, that I have known for thirty-five years, and they were old in appearance when I first saw them. I have a single Concord vine which is trained to the south end of a summer kitchen and arbor over the west door, which covers about twenty square yards and has not missed a crop in ten years, and in favorable years I have counted one thousand clusters on it. It has had no cultivation, and aside from gathering the fruit, less thfin a half hour's work a year in pruning keeps it in order. I would always transplant at one year old. I do not advise close planting and training to stakes, as by training to trellises and wider planting I have seen the best results. A cheap treUis can be made by setting posts and stretching wires, or cheap bowers can be made of rough poles or some lasting wood like locust. A family supply of fruit can Usually be grown by train- ing vines to out-buildings or to rough bowers or trellises 8ei,f-supporting geape tkelus. where a screen shade or good protection is desirable. Another cheap and servicable trellis is shown in the cut. This is a self-supporting trellis for two rows, and is made by leaning 270 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. scantling against each other like the rafters of a house. A short board near the top and a strip near the ground should be nailed across to keep them from spreading and to hold them to their place, and the strips nailed to them to support the vines would hold them firmly. When first put up it would be neces- sary to secure the bottoms to prevent their being blown over in a gale, and this could be done by driving a stake firmly into the ground flat against the side of the uprights of the trellis and driving a spike through it. As the vines grow and cover the trellis, they can be made to hold it down firmly by training some of them under and some over the strips. This trellis should always run north and south so as to give the vines an equal share of sun. I would recommend oak two by four inches and eight feet long for the uprights, set them edge- wise and place the bottoms six feet apart. I would plant the vines for trellising in this way: in rows eight feet apart where the trellis was to go, and twelve feet be- tween the trellises. This would leave a space between the trellises to drive a wagon to take in manure and get the fruit, and these spaces could be cultivated and made to grow good crops, as the vines running up the leaning trellis would shade much less than if perpendicular. The vines would stand a foot from the bottom of the trellis, which would give room to hoe or spade around them. Light poles of durable wood could be used to spike on to this trellis in place of boards. The land under the trellis would be so shaded that it would be impos- sible for weeds to grow. The cost of this trellis will vary in different localities; but as it will answer for two rows, it would not be expensive, and it seems to me to possess advantages over all others. If tender va- rieties are planted, which sBLF-suppoBTiNG wiKE TKKLLis. Heed wiutcr pTotection, a row of corn fodder can be leaned up against them. Still another way to make a cheap trellis for two rows is to set strong posts, seven feet high and thirty feet apart, and lean FRUIT ON THE FARM. 271 a scantling from each side and secure tliem to the posts by a carriage bolt, and then stretch wires for the vines to run on. This would be much cheaper than boards, as the posts could be much farther apart, and the wires would be more durable. The varieties of grapes are almost numberless, and each year brings out new ones, which sell at high prices. These are often exceedingly valuable to the nurseryman, but seldom to the buyer. I have at difierent times bought one or more of these new high-priced varieties — probably ten or twelve in all — and have never been rewarded with a single bunch of grapes from one of them. Those which have given me the best satisfaction are the Concord, Catawba, Ives, Delaware, Clinton, and Hartford Prolific. With the exception of the Catawba and Delaware, these are not first-class grapes; but they bear abundant crops, and when fully ripe are very eatable. The Catawba in its perfection is delicious; but occasionally it fails to ripen. With me it will mature a crop two years out of three, and if it would only do so every third year, I would still grow it for family use. The Concord is the grape for the million. It is an early and abundant bearer, has large fruit in large clusters covered with a blue bloom. I have fruited this variety for twelve years without a single failure; but some years the vines so exhaust them- selves by overbearing that the crop is inferior both in quality and quantity the ensuing year ; yet this can be largely remedied by attention to pruning. The Delaware, where it will succeed, is an excellent table grape, and will give the best of satisfaction for family use. The Ives is prolific and hardy, and when fully ripe is good flavored. But as it colors long before it is ripe, it is usually gathered before its fine flavor is developed, and many who have fruited it for years have very little idea of its excellence. In pruning the grape, bear in mind that the fruit grows on new wood made from buds which start the same spring. In prun- ing young vines, the object is to get a good, healthy vine. At one year old the vine should be cut back to two buds, and when they start rub out the weaker one. Cut back well each 272 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. spring till the vines are old enough to bear, and then train upon the trellis two canes for leaders. After this the pruning will con- sist in cutting back the laterals to one bud, which wiU grow the bearing wood for the coming season. The best time to prune is after the leaves fall in autumn ; but it may be done any time during the winter when the wood is not frozen. If deferred till the sap starts in the spring, the vines will bleed profusely; and while I have known vines to bear good crops when treated thus, I would advise early pruning so as to avoid it. If possible, place the vineyard on rolling land; but whatever situation you have for them, you will be likely to succeed with the hardy varieties. Small Fruits. — It is a deplorable fact that berries are rarely found on the tables of the majority of farmers. I think it safe to affirm that not one farmer in jfive — possibly not one in ten — ^has ever grown a strawberry, and there seems to be an opinion that peculiar skill and knowledge is required to grow this fruit. It will require more labor, but not more skiU, to grow a good crop of strawberries than of potatoes. It is necessary in either case to have a good variety, a good soil, and good cultivation. The varieties of strawberries are so numerous that to merely name them would more than fill a page of our book. But no list can be given that would be a safe guide to the planter, for the variety that does best on one soil or in one locatiop is often unpro^table in another. The only safe rule in choosing is to find out what kinds are giving satisfaction to the growers of your own neighborhood. It is well also to experiment with a few new varieties on your own grounds each year, discarding such as are unprofitable, and extending the cultivation- of those which you find suited to your soil and locality. The following list is from standard varieties, some of which have given good success with growers in all parts of the country: Charles Downing, Cumberland Triumph, Sharpless, Duchess, Crescent Seedling, Wilson, Windsor Chief, (Champion), Mount Vernon, (Kirkwood), BidweU, Captain Jack, Defiance, and Seth Boyden. Among the newer varieties which promise well are Manchester, James Vick, Big Bob, Finch's Prolific, and Indiana. Kentucky and GHendale are desirable late varieties. FRUIT ON THE FARM. 273 Soil. — Strawberries flourish on a great variety of soils, and no one should be deterred from planting them because his soil is not the best. Any soil that will grow good corn will grow strawberries; but it should be made rich, and should be clean, deep, and mellow. A good loam or loamy clay upland will give the best results. Plow deep in the fall, and manure on the surface with finely rotted barn-yard manure that contains no foul seed, and plant as early in spring as the plants are in good condition for setting. This will be when they have started to grow, but before the fruit buds show. I much prefer spring planting to fall, as it is easier to put a bed in good order and plant it in spring than to get it so if it has been planted in the fall, and a fall planted bed will not give a crop the en- suing spring, and requires more care and labor than if the planting is deferred, as it must be protected two winters before getting a crop. There is little question that the best results will be obtained by keeping off all runners, as the energies of the plant will then be directed to the development of fruit buds. The advantages of this plan are that the fruit will be finer and more abundant, the bed cultivated with less labor, and can be kept longer in bearing, and nearly all the work of cultivation can be done with a horse; whUe, if the runners are allowed to set and form a matted row, they must be kept clean by hand. In garden cul- ture, plant rows two feet apart and the plants twelve to fifteen inches ; but for field culture, where the hill system is to be fol- lowed, I would plant two by two and half feet, so as to culti- vate both ways. This would give 8,712 plants to the acre. See that the plant are fresh and vigorous; the roots should never he allowed to dry. Our best strawberry growers emphasize this point, and even recommend that the plants should not be dropped ahead of the one who is setting them out, but carried in a vessel with a little water or damp moss. It is also recom- mended that the roots be shortened one-third of their length, and the tops should always be trimmed of all dead leaves and old runners, so as to leave three green, vigorous leaves. With the close planting recommended it is important that the rows be per- is 274 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. fectly straight and regular, as it will save much hard work in cultivating them. Remove all blossom buds from the newly set plants as fast as they appear, as the plant will not have vigor enough to produce a crop of fruit and a healthy, vigorous growth at the same time, and as the fruit will at best be inferior in quality, it is better to allow the plant to get all the strength, rather than divert a part of it to the fruit. I would not advise any one who must buy plants from a distance to set out strawberries largely. It will be better to def«r the general planting a year, and grow your own plants. Be sure you obtain plants true to name from some reliable nurseryman. I think more farmers have made a failure from getting plants of some worthless variety than from any other cause. Because they can get them for the digging, farmers will sometimes go to an old, run-out bed, and dig spindling, weak plants of perhaps several varieties mixed, and because they do not succeed in growing a crop, they conclude there is some mystery about strawberry growing. The next point necessary to success is winter protection. This is necessary, not to keep the plants from freezing, but from the alternations of freezing and thawing. Whatever material is used should be prepared beforehand, but is better applied after the ground has frozen. When the plants are kept in hills, less material will protect them. Be sure that there is no seed of any kind in your mulch ; old, half-rotted straw, the bagasse from the sorgo mill, leaves, second crop hay, or any waste material will answer. If you want the very best results, work thoroughly in the spring as soon as the soil is in good condition, and then mulch so as to keep the land moist. A very small bed treated in this way will furnish, a liberal family supply of the finest fruit. I have known sixty quarts gathered from a square rod, and much larger crops are often grown. E. P. Roe, who is a very suc- cessful strawberry grower, recommends this plan of high ma- nuring and cutting off runners, and calls it " Stimulation and Restriction," and claims that we need not fear too much stimu- lation by manuring and deep and thorough culture, if we prac- FRUIT ON THE FARM. 275 tice the restriction recommended. If the matted row system is followed, it will pay best to plow up the bed after one crop, as it is cheaper to plant a new bed than to clean out an old one, but if the hill system is adopted, three crops may be profitably grown from one planting. It is wise in strawberry culture to begin with a limited area and increase as you learn what varieties are suited to your soil, and how best to manage and dispose of the crop. If the hill system is followed, it will be necessary to have nursery beds for growing plants ; and to make sure of enough, I would advise that one thousand plants be set in the nursery bed for each acre you intend planting the coming year. In a good season this would probably produce four times as many plants as would be needed, but in a dry, unfavorable season, less plants would be produced, and it is better to have a surplus than to fall short. If there is a great abundance of plants, enough can be taken up without disturbing the rows, and a crop be gathered from the nursery beds, and this will enable you to compare the matted row and the hill system.. Every successful strawberry grower can sell more or less plants, and often he finds a good income from this source, and it is well to always provide a surplus. If intending to set out a plantation of strawberries, I -would advise 'that you manage to have the land in clover the preceding year; cut the first crop for hay, and plow down the second growth in July, and seed heavily with buckwheat. When the buckwheat blooms, plow it under and then top dress the bed thoroughly with manure that has been composted, so that you are sure there is no seed in it that will grow. In the spring work the bed till it is perfectly fine and mellow, and then mark it both ways perfectly straight. For this purpose you will need a light sled marker which a man can draw and mark three rows at a time. You wiU need two sleds of different widths for this purpose, but they can be cheaply and easily made. Stretch the garden line to start with, and walk backwards in marking and you will have no difficulty in keeping the rows straight. When ready to plant have plenty of help. One man will take up plants as fast as two can trim and prepare them, and 276 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. two more set them out, and it will be best to have help enough to do the work in a day if you can. I would recommend that the plants be puddled with a mixture of cow dung and clay, as is described in the chapter on sweet potatoes. I would advise, in growing strawberries on a large scale on this plan of hill culr ture, that, every four rods, a space of eight feet be left for a wagon-drive, for convenience in drawing in manure and mulch and in taking out the fruit. These strips should be kept culti- vated, and after the berry season is over can be planted in some late crop. As soon as the bed is done bearing, give a thorough work- ing both ways and see that all runners are kept off". Sonnie growers recommend that the plants be closely trimmed of all old leaves and fruit stalks, with a sharp sickle, and I am inclined to favor the plan. Bone meal and ashes are valuable and con- centrated fertilizers for the strawberry. The former I would apply at the first working after the bearing season, and the lat- ter in early spring. I will condense a few points which, if attended to, will in- sure success in strawberry growing : 1st. A clean soil thoroughly prepared ; 2d. A liberal application of well rotted manure ; 3d. Strong plants, true to name, set out fresh, with roots always kept moist; 4th. The earth well firmed around the young plants ; 5th. Thorough and constant cultivation ; 6th. All blos- som stalks and runners removed the first spring, as soon as they appear, and all fruit stalks and dead leaves trimmed oif as soon as the bearing season is over; 7th. Good winter protection. Raspberries. — It is doubtful if any other fruit can be pro- duced with so little labor and with so great certainty of an annual crop as the raspberry, if it is intelligently managed. A single planting will last a generation. I have known raspberries to remain in vigorous bearing on the same spot for more than thirty years, and when removed, they seemed to have lost no vigor. As the raspberry renews its canes each year, all that is necessary to keep a plantation healthy, is to give good cultiva- tion, plenty of plant food, and attend to pruning and the removal of the old canes each year, and there seems to be no limit to the FRUIT ON THE FARM. 277 time in which they will remain in bearing. It was the practice formerly to trellis or stake and tie up the canes, which involved the grower in a heavy expense; but our best growers have learned to manage them so that this is not necessary. Mr. Ohmer, on whose fruit farm I have seen eight or ten acres of raspberries in a field, says : " I can and do grow raspberries al- most as cheaply as I do corn, not counting the cost of gathering. At one time I advocated and practiced tying up the canes, espe- cially of the black varieties. I have entirely abandoned this, and raise as many bushels per acre and as nice fruit at a much less expense. The additional expense of providing stakes, or posts and wire, is not all I save, as the tying up of the canes took much time, and, of course, cost money." The way to manage raspberries to avoid trellising, is to pinch back the tops of the canes when two feet high. They then throw out laterals in aU directions, which balance and support the main stem. Early the following spring these lat- erals must be cut back to about one foot in length, and when managed in this way, they will stand up and support the fruit as well as if staked. Most cultivators of the raspberry make a mistake in planting too close. The rows should not be less than eight feet apart and the plants set three feet in the rows, as this width is neces- sary for proper cultivation. In planting the Black Caps, or any of the varieties that propagate from the tips, it is usual to ad- vise shallow planting, but when these are not to be staked, they sliould be set at least three inches deep and then the earth worked to them. Cultivation should be thorough till August, and all surplus plants should be killed out as remorselessly as weeds. The varieties that propagate by suckers will overrun the ground and become a tangled wilderness, and cease bearing unless the suckers a-re kept down. Three or four canes to a hiU will give more and better fruit than a larger number. Probably the cheapest and most satisfactory way to manage a plantation for home use is to mulch it heavily. Give the land a thorough working in the spring, and then cover it so thickly with straw that no weeds can grow, and you will have large, fine 278 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. berries when your neighbor's neglected plot will suffer greatly with drought. If the mulching is forked away from the rows a little, and the land spaded and the mulch returned and a Uttle extra added each spring, the labor of keeping the plot in order will be greatly reduced, the yield largely increased, and the qual- ity of the fruit greatly improved. Either mulching or thorough cultivation must be given, and on most farms material for mulch- ing is so abundant that it would be cheaper than cultivation. Varieties. — 'The Gregg, Doolittle and Souhegan are probably the best varieties of iHie Black Caps, and the Hansell, Cuthbert, Turner, and Brandy wine of the red. Blackberries. — The same general directions for cultivation will apply to the blackberry as the raspberry, except that the blackberry should be trellised. The cheapest and best trellis is a single wire three feet above the ground to which the canes are tied. Some years since nearly all the cultivated varieties were attacked with an orange-colored rust which completely de- stroyed them, and all attempts to renew the plantations were fruitless, as the plants were killed. before they came into bearing. Of late years the disease has disappeared, it is to be hoped never to return. Before this disease appeared I could grow a bushel of blackberriesj aside from gathering, as cheaply as a bushel of corn. A very few square rods of land will supply a family for nearly a month, and furnish all that is needed for canning. As it is difficult to keep them in a narrow row, I would recommend that blackberries be planted in rows eight feet apart. The standard varieties are: the Lawton or New Rochelle, Kittatinny, Wilson's Early, Snyder, and Taylor's Prolific. The Snyder is the hardiest, and is recommended for cold climates or localities where other varieties have been killed out by rust. Currants. — The currant is very hardy and thrives on almost any soil. If neglected and allowed to become crowded with old wood and choked with grass the plant is short-lived ; but if well cultivated and pruned annually, removing all wood that shows signs of decay, and thinning out the new shoots, they can be kept thrifty and bearing for many years. One thing which adds greatly to the value of the currant, is the long time it continues FRUIT ON THE FARM. 279 in use, beginning before the fruit is grown and continuing for many weeks. The season for this fruit may be prolonged till September if the bushes are shaded after the middle of May. This can be done by spreading straw mats, or coffee-sacking over them, allowing it to rest on a frame so as to relieve the bush of its weight. On light soils mulching will keep the land cool and prolong the season. A few bushes well cared for will give better results than a much larger number neglected. I would not advise planting nearer than five feet each way. This will give over seventeen hundred plants to the acre, and four quarts to the plant would make over two hundred bushels of fruit. Near a good market the crop often proves largely profitable, sometimes bringing five hundred dollars or more per acre. Of late years the currant-worm, in many localities, has eaten all the leaves from the plant, ruining the crop and damaging the plantation. It is not difficult to destroy them if taken in time. They may be treated with powdered hellebore, which may be applied in solution, one tablespoonful to a pailful of water, or it may be mixed with sifted ashes at the rate of one pint to one gallon of ashes and one pint of flour of sulphur. This mixture should be applied when the dew is on, so it will adhere to the leaves. It is important that these remedies be used at the first appearance of thd worm, and that they be followed up regu- larly until aU are destroyed. The Red Dutch, White Grape, and Cherry are standard varieties. Gooseberries, — The same general treatment is required for the gooseberry as for the currant. Plant so as to cultivate both ways, five feet apart each way, and keep well pruned. They yield enormously. I have gathered a bushel from six plants of the Houghton. The large English varieties are subject to mildew and are hardly worthy of cultivation in this country, but the Downing, Smith's Improved, and Houghton are seldom affected, and bear heavy crops. They can be very cheaply gathered by using thick gloves to protect the hands. The picker should wear a long apron, and in gathering he kneels and spreads this on the ground under the bush, then with the gloved hands strips off the berries and lets them fall on the apron. 280 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. The berries so gathered are afterwards passed through a fanning- raill to blow out the leaves. In this way one man will gather several bushels in a day. A very few plants wiU furnish a family supply, and where there is a market for them it will prove largely profitable to grow them for sale. Commercial Fruit GroAving. — There are many locations in which growing fruit for market will prove a profitable busi- ness to the man that understands it. To be successful in the business, however, requires a combination of qualities rarely found. The successful fruit grower must be industrious, care- ful, patient, intelligent, and honest. Industrious, because there is much labor connected with the business which can not be trusted to others, but requires the presence and oversight of the owner. Careful, because there are many things, which, if not done promptly, will result in great loss. Patient, because he will have many difficulties to encounter and many losses to meet, and he must not be easily discouraged. Intelligent, be- cause there are points to be settled upon which his profits largely depend in all the operations of planting and caring for the trees, selecting varieties, and disposing of the crop, which can only be determined by wisdom and experience. Honest, because the man who expects to retain his customers and sell his fruit at a profit, must not " top " his barrels and measures, or attempt to smuggle worthless friiit in the middle of his packages. Thousands attempt the business of fruit growing and fail for the want of some one or more of these qualities. They hear of the success of some one who has a good market and has thoroughly mastered the business, and without an idea of the necessary qualifications they plant an orchard or set a plot of berries, and the only one who makes any money out of it is the nurseryman who furnishes the stock. The fruit grower must be prepared to handle his fruit promptly, and know just what to do with it, for many kinds of fruit will spoil in twenty- four hours after it is gathered. It must be put up for market in an attractive form, and such as the public demand, for there is fashion in the way fruits must be handled as well as in other FRUIT ON THE FARM. 281 things. All boxes, crates, baskets, etc., must be prepared be- forehand, and help engaged to handle the fruit, for there must be no delay. Always give good, honest measure, and a uniform quality throughout the package. Thousands of bushels of fruit are sent to market every year that would have brought more money if one-third of it had been fed to the hogs and the remainder sold. On this point I quote Mr. Ohmer, whose success and long experience give great authority to what he says: "Many in- voices of fruit have been sold for less than the freight and com- mission charges, principally because they were not properly put up. Dealers want you to face the packages with nice fruit, but they do not want all under the facing to be worthless or indif- ferent, but merchantable fruit all through. The man who will face a package of fruit and fill up with that which is worthless is not an honest man, but a disgrace to the profession. Such a man ought not and does not make fruit growing pay." One other point I consider of great importance, especially in the growing of small fruits for market, and that is not to attempt it on a large scale until you have gained some experi- ence. Feel your way carefully into the business, and master every detail as you go along. The man who undertakes to start a large fruit plantation without experience is likely to pay high tuition in the school of experience, and too often fail to get a good education at last. 282 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter Xll. QARDENING AND TRUCK KARIVEING. THE oid-fashioned garden — which, unfortunately, is not yet a thing of the past — will be recognized with a slight de- scription. It is usually paled in, and contains from one- eighth to one-fourth acre. There is a wide border around it which can not be plowed, and here dock, wild parsnips, and other weeds struggle for the mastery, and continually encroach upon the cultivated portions. It contains, also, a row of currant bushes, raspberries, blackberries, and a few quince bushes and grape-vines. The little space left for cultivation is planted in the spring, and after maturing a single crop is neglected for the rest of the season, and before the summer is ended it becomes a wil- derness of weeds, and produces seed enough to sow a quarter section of land. It is quite a common sight in September to see the farmer in a garden of this description with a scythe and dung fork trying to find his potato patch. Very often after the garden is plowed in the spring, the entire care of it devolves on the farmer's wife — who is, perhaps, already overburdened — and what of good it affords, is the re- sult of her warfare with the weeds. The garden can be made the pleasantest and most profitable spot on the farm, and will furnish labor suited to the boys not old enough to do regular field work, and to the grandfather whose day of hard field labor has passed. A fourth acre of rich land in garden, kept clean and thoroughly cultivated, and the land constantly occupied with a succession of crops through the season, will produce a very large amount of family supplies, and I think it a safe estimate that what would cost one hundred dollars in the market can be grown on it. GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 283 The business of market gardening has a promising outlook in this country. Good, fresh vegetables are wholesome and cheap living, and our cities are increasing in population much fa^er than the .country, and wiU furnish a market for a large amount of garden products. Young men with a taste for gar- dening, who will make themselves masters of the business, will find it remunerative. No one should begin the business of market gardening unless he is willing to work, and can devote his entire time to it and give personal supervision to all the details of the work. To give some idea of how much can be sold from an acre of garden, I quote from Peter Henderson the cost and proceeds per acre for a few leading crops, and he gives this as the aver- age for ten years : EXPENDITTJKES FOE ONE ACEE PEE TEAE. Rent $50 00 Labor, 300 GO Horse labor, 35 00 Manure 100 00 Seeds, ; . . 10 00 Wear and tear of tools, etc., 10 00 Cost of marketing, 100 00 Total, $605 00 EECEIPTS FOE ONE ACEE PEE YEAR. 12,000 early cabbages at 5 cents per head, . . . $600 00 14,000 lettuce at 1 cent per head 140 00 30,000 celery at 2 cents per head, . . . . 600 00 Total $1,340 00 Deduct cost 605 00 Leaves profit, $735 00 All three of the above crops were gtown on the land the same year, which will account for the large amount of labor and manure expended. Selecting and Preparing the Garden Spot. — ^Whether the garden is to ^be merely for the family or a market garden, the same general directions will apply. It should be well drained. The soil should be warm and early worked. It must be rich. It must be kept free from weeds. If one is going into the business of market gardening, he 284 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. should locate on land well suited to the purpose. But on the farm he can often better afford to make the land what it should be than to have his garden at an inconvenient distance from the house. I would advise that where possible the farm garden'be at the rear of the house, near the kitchen, so t^hat it can be seen and be convenient, and that it be protected on the north and west by a tight board fence or an evergreen hedge. If the land is a stiff, cold clay, draw sand and black loam on it till you get it in the right condition, or if a leachy sand, give it a coat of clay. If you are starting a new garden, manure heavUy and plow under, and then top dress with manure. There is no dan- ger of getting the land too rich; but after it is once well ma- nured, it will hot need so much, and a light top dressing each year will answer. The garden must be thoroughly drained, and, in addition to underdrains, you should always leave it in such shape in the fall as to give good surface drainage, for you can not have an early, mellow garden on land that the water has stood on through the winter. I find fall plowing a great help in getting land in good order for gardening, and the plan which has given the best satisfaction on my farm is to plow in narrow lands, running with the slope of the land, and then open the dead furrows so as to leave them clear and unobstructed for the water. Pains must be taken to provide an outlet for the water, so it will not stand in the furrows and saturate the land. It is surprising how soon land will dry off in the spring and be ready to plant, and how mellow it will be when treated in this way. The beginner should not be discouraged if he does not suc- ceed in growing large crops the first year, for it takes several years of manuring and thorough culture to get land into the best condition for growing some of our garden crops. By' con- stant, thorough, and clean culture and a dressing of manure each year, the land can be brought to such a condition that there will be little danger of failure of crops. All the manure for the garden should be well composted, so as to kill any foul seeds it may contain, and so that will be in a condition for immediate use. It should always be kept in flat piles, as this will enable GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 285 the manure to maintain uniform heat throughout and decompose, so as to be in the best condition for plant food. Except when starting a garden on new land, I find the greatest benefit from using manure at the surface, and thoroughly incorporating it with the soil by repeated harrowing and stirring with the culti- vators. Be careful to avoid getting small stones on the garden with the manure. It is often the case that manure from the village is thrown into a graveled alley and mixed with small stones, which would do little or no harm in a grain field, but which duU the hoes and give great trouble in the garden. If starting a large garden, and manure enough can not be had to put it in good condition, it wiU pay to devote a part to green crops for manure the first year. A crop of rye sown in the fall can be turned under in May, and followed by buckwheat, which would be ready to turn under early in July. Then a sec- ond crop of buckwheat or one of sowed corn can be grown, and plowed down in time to seed again with rye, and this will make the land so mellow and clean that it will grow good crops of many kinds with but little manure. The vegetable and fruit gardens should, be kept separate, for if currants, raspberries, blackberries, etc., are allowed in the garden, they are almost sure to spread until they take up too much space, and too often to be choked with weeds and seed the balance of the garden. Laying out the Garden. — The old plan of a grass bor- der and narrow beds sowed crosswise, to be cultivated entirely with the hoe, is no longer followed by experienced gardeners. Whether there is a fourth acre to be cultivated for family use, or the market garden of five or ten acres, it should be laid off so that every thing can be planted in long rows, and cultivated by horse power or with the hand plow. We shall never be able to dispense with the hoe or hand work in the garden; but by proper management and keeping the soil free from weed seeds we can greatly reduce the labor. No weeds should be allowed to go to seed in the garden under any circumstances. It is not so difficult to prevent this as is often supposed. In most gardens which are allowed to 286 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. become overrun with weeds it is due to neglect after the crops have matured. The very day that a crop has gone past use, the land should be cleared and cultivated, and if not planted in another crop, should be stirred often enough to keep it clear of weeds. I would not, however, allow any part of the garden to remain idle, for it is as easy to cultivate a crop as the bare land, and one is not so likely to neglect it. I shall speak of succession of crops elsewhere in this chapter. A garden managed in this way can after a few years be cultivated with much less labor than one where the land is full of foul seed. If not experienced in market gardening, it is best to begin with a few crops which are easily managed, and at the same time experiment with others on a small scale, so as to gain experience in their management. The crops best suited for truck farming are tomatoes, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, turnips, and cabbages. Lima beans, nutmeg melons, Hubbard squashes, and pickles are also largely profit- able when you have a good market for them. Onions require rich land and a good deal of labor, and it will be wise to begin their cultivation on a small scale. But grow some each year, so as to learn their management, and increase if you find them profitable. Implements. — ^You will need a good breaking plow, two barrows — one a slicing harrow like the Randall and the other a steel tooth — a roller, drag, marker, cultivator, and seed drill; also garden line and reel, hand plow, hoes, forks, potato hook, spades, watering can, and transplanting trowel. I have never seen a five or seven-tooth cultivator that suited me for garden work. They are too clumsy and hard to manage. I prefer a good " three-shovel," with the shovels set at just the right slope, and two sets of them — one very narrow to use among small plants, and the other wider, to throw up some earth when the plants are large enough to receive it. For work among small plants it should be provided with a fender, as this will enable you to work very close without covering them. For a seed drill I have never found a better than the Mathews. It is easily GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 287 and quickly adjusted to sow seeds of uny size from a turnip to a bean, and is very easy to operate. In a large garden a good hand plow is indispensable. Under certain conditions of soil, one man with one of these will do as much good as six with hoes. On most soils a heavy rain forms a crust and starts a crop of weeds unless the land is stirred as soon as it is in good condition, and with a good hand plow a man can run over an acre in about two hours, and loosen the surface, while to do this with hoes in the same time would require several men. If the surface is only mellowed an inch deep it will kill the weeds that are just starting and prevent the land from crusting and drying out. I have tried several hand- plows, some rigged up with a dozen different tools to be used on the same stock, but I find most of these attachments of lit- tle value, and if- 1 were to choose one, it would be a narrow shovel or bull-tongue, not to exceed two inches in width. Next in value to this is a small share, something like that of a break- ing plow, so attached that the. earth can be turned away from the plants. All the tools used on the hand-plow should be of polished steel, and kept bright, and in using it, run shallow, so that you can walk rapidly with little labor. More can be ac- complished in a day by going over the ground twice with it rapidly and easily than once slowly and laboriously. For starting early plants, a hot-bed will be necessary. It should always be located where it will be protected from the wind, and there should be buildings or a high, tight, board fence to the north and west of it. I prefer one made above hot-bed. groand, as shown in the cut, but if made early, it should be banked up with manure to the top of the frame. The proper slope for the sash can be had by making the rear board a foot wider than the front. The manure should be hot and moist when put in the bed, and should be thoroughly shaken apart, so as to contain no lumps, and be evenly packed. This can be best done by using 288 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. small pieces of board, stepping from one to the other and mov- ing them as you cross the bed. For an early bed there should be eighteen inches of manure, when packed, and five or six inches of good soil. There are three evils to be guarded against in the manage- ment of a hot-bed — cold, heat, and over-crowding — which makes the plants weak and spindling. The first can be guarded against by the means already named — a sheltered spot for the beds, and banking up with manure, and in addition, by covering the beds at night with boards, mats, or bundles of straw. To guard against overheating requires constant care; for whenever the sun shines brightly, the bed must be partly opened in the mid- dle of the day, or the plants will be damaged, if not ruined. As the plants grow, they must be thinned, so as to give them room. They may be transplanted into other beds, tlnough plants can be started under one sash to fill beds that a dozen wiU cover, and the plants will be made stocky and much im- proved by the transplanting. If^you have a warm house and a south window, a box may be fitted to the window-sill and held in place by a wire at each end, and enough plants for a family started in it, and these can be transplanted to a hoi^bed or cold frame, to give them a start before it is warm enough to put them in the open ground. A cold frame is the same as a hot-bed without manure. That is, you use the frame and sash, and avail yourself of pro- tection from winds, but depend on the sun for warmth. It will require less watching than the hot-bed, and will give plants sev- eral weeks earlier than they can be grown in the open ground. It is of great value also, late in the spring, for protecting ten- der plants like tomatoes from late frosts, and for this purpose they can be used without glass, as covering will only be required at night. When to Plant. — No directions can be given when to start a hot-bed, or plant any particular crop, which will suit all parts of a country of such varied climate as ours ; but I shall give the time which I have found best in latitude one-half degree north of Cincinnati, and shall try to show how much cold the different OABDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 289 plants will endure, and readers must decide for themselves when to plant in their locality. Every gardener should keep a diary, and record every operation with the date. It becomes exceed- ingly valuable as the years pass, to be able to look back and see how early and late the different garden crops have been planted, what degree of cold they have endured, and at what date they have matured. All these points are important, and should not be left to memory, but be made a matter of record. Insects. — In another chapter you will find a description of the various insects which are injurious to the garden, and the best means of preventing their ravages, and I shall only say that to avoid many of them, all that is necessary is a soil so rich and well cultivated as to insure a strong thrifty plant. This is not true of all, and for some, poisons must be used, and when this is done, it should be with extreme care. The rem- edy should also be applied in time, as a little delay may cause the loss of the plants in spite of all efforts to the contrary. When you have such crops as are liable to the attacks of in- sects — as young cabbage plants, cucumbers, squashes, melons, etc., — watch them constantly, and have your poisons already mixed and ready for use. Fortunately, with most of these pests, the period in which they injure the plants is short, and attention for a few days will usually save them. Rotation and Succession of Crops. — Most garden crops do best if not planted on the same land year after year — onions being perhaps the only exception — and this should be kept in mind in assigning the different vegetables their place in the garden. A garden brought to the condition it should be, is too valuable to grow only one crop in a season, and as there are quick maturing crops, and the planting season lasts from the first of March, or earlier, till September, there is no need of any vacancies. Keep something growing on every foot of the garden, if only sweet corn to grow fodder for the cows. In some cases two crops can stand on the ground at once for a short time, as for example, vines can be planted among the early potatoes and get a little start before the potatoes are dug, or cabbage or sweet corn can be planted in the same way. Beans or cabbage can 19 290 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. follow early lettuce and radishes, cucumbers or sweet corn the early peas, and turnips can be sown among the melon and cu- cumber vines. As an example of a succession of crops on the same land in a single year, I one season planted an acre in early peas, and as soon as they were ripe prepared the land and planted it in pickles, and at the last working of the pickles I sowed a pound of turnip-seed. I had very heavy crops of all these, the turnips measuring five hundred bushels. When two or three crops are to be grown on the land there must be no delay in removing one and planting another. If the land is to be manured again, the manure should be hauled beforehand and heaped at the most convenient point, and there must be help enough to do the work as rapidly as possible. I have often had a crop standing on an acre of land in the morning, and before night it was removed, the land plowed, manured, rolled, harrowed, dragged, and planted in another crop. The cultivation of the garden can not be too thorough. The late Mr. Root, of Rockford, Illinois, was one of the most suc- cessful gardeners and seed growers I ever knew, and his rule was to keep a horse at work all the time, that the land could be stirred on each four acres. Thorough cultivation not only increases the yield, but also improves the quality of the vege- tables, for those grown on a rich, well worked soil are more crisp and tender, and of better flavor than such as are of slow, stunted growth. Planting. — I shall give some hints as to planting and cul- tivation, with the description of the vegetables, but some gen- eral directions for planting seem necessary also. We have some varieties of vegetables so hardy that they wiU endure a hard freeze without injury, and these should be planted as soon as the land can be worked in the spring, and if it is plowed and rounded up in narrow lands the preceding fall, as directed elsewhere, it will often be ready to plant two weeks earlier than if left flat to be plowed in the spring. In my latitude we can occasionally plant the last week in February and usually during the first ten days of March. The hardy GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 291 vegetables which we plant at this season, are Peas, Beets, Cab- ba'ges, Lettuce, Spinach, and Radishes. Mercury may go down to fifteen degrees without damage to any of these, and I have often had them planted when a week or more of severe winter weather would come, with snow and frozen ground, and mercury, as low as eight degrees above zero, and no damage whatever be- fall them. Sometimes, if the ground freezes hard after they are up, the radishes will be killed, but all the others will survive it. In planting crops which must be cultivated entirely by hand, and especially those which come up small and delicate, like onions, carrots, parsnips, etc., the greatest pains should be taken to get the rows straight. Not only should they be planted by line, but the row should be narrow. If a crooked drill three inches wide is made to receive the seed, which is scattered the full width, there will be three times the amount of hand weed- ing required than if the seed is deposited in a straight drill less than an inch in width. Judgment must be used also in deter- mining the depth and manner of covering the seed. Most seeds sown late in the season, after the hot weather has come, will need to be covered two or three times as deep as those sown in March or April. Walking on the row to press the soil to the seed has been recommended in many agricultural books and papers of late years, but whether this should be done or not de- pends on the season, the variety of seed, and kind and condition of soil. On a clay soil, early in the spring, if this was done with some varieties of seed, they would never come up at all, but later in the season it is often necessary to secure a stand. When it is desirable to press the soil lightly to the seed, the best way is to draw a board over the row, and the pressure can be regulated by weighting the board with earth or stones. In hot weather when there is but little moisture in the soil, this pressing of the earth to the seed will often insure a perfect stand, when without it not half the seed would come up. If the garden contains so much clay as to be liable to run together and pack after a heavy rain, it will pay to provide sand to cover with. Delicate seeds, such as parsnip, carrot, and 292 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. onion, often fail to come up from the fact that they are not strong enough to penetrate the crust, and beans, melons, cucum- bers, and the class of plants that come up with a curved stem, also often perish under the weight of water-soaked clay. All these seeds can be sown in shallow drills, and instead of cover- ing them with the clay soil, a little sand used for the purpose. This will not only make a stand surer, but as pure sand usually contains no seeds there will be less labor in weeding the young plants. There is a best time in which to perform every operation in gardening, and he is most likely to be successful who knows when this time is, and is ready to do the work then. A delay of a single day in preparing the land and putting in a crop will sometimes make all the difference between success and failure, and two or three days' waiting wUl often add many dollars to the expense of cleaning an acre. The gardener should visit and inspect every part of his garden daily and be ready to concen- trate his force upon the part which most needs it. He should also have at his command extra help for times when it is needed. Disposing of Garden Crops. — It is not enough to know how to grow good garden crops, for the profit will depend largely on the market and the success the gardener has in selling. It would be foolish for a man living several miles from a village to undertake to grow perishable crops which must be sold the day they are gathered. He may find such crops as sweet and Irish potatoes, melons, turnips, and squashes profitable, but he should not attempt to do a regular market garden business. I think any village of one thousand inhabitants will support one good gardener, and the best way to manage is to sell direct to the families, as, if you try to furnish them through the groceries, the commissions and goods that are allowed to become stale and unsalable will largely reduce the profits, and as the people will not get their vegetables fresh, the amount consumed will be greatly reduced. If you intend starting in the business, notify all the families in your village some weeks in advance, either personally or by a printed circular, and as soon as your vegetables are ready, drive GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 293 around to their houses regularly every day or every other day. Take orders at each trip for the next. Always give good meas- ure, and do not top out, so that they will think they are getting nicer vegetables than they are. Have every thing you sell in as attractive a form as possible. Be obliging, and carry the vege- tables into the cellar or back shed if they wish you to, and try to establish a reputation for fair dealing. If you will do this, you can retain your customers as long as you wish. Those living near a city can often grow tomatoes, melons, sweet corn, and other truck, and sell it at wholesale better than to try to market it themselves, and it will often pay to keep the larger part of the farm in grass, and buy grain and feed as much stock as possible in winter to furnish manure for the truck patch. To those who have a taste for gardening and are so situated as to have a good market, and who can command the help and manure needed, there is no way in which so large an income can be realized from a few acres of land. There is this advan- tage, also, that there is a regular cash income during the larger part of the year. If one engages in regular market gardening and grows early vegetables, such as radishes and lettuce, under glass, he should have no other business. But truck farming can be profitably combined on many farms with dairying, and where the farmer can establish a milk route and sell the milk from a half dozen or more of cows, he will find a largely in- creased profit from combining the two. This system of truck farming will become more and more profitable as our population increases, and its adoption will enable many young men to remain on the farm who would gladly do so, but are led to go to the cities because they think it takes one hundred acres of land to furnish support for a family. In the following pages will be found directions for the cultivation of vegetables and descriptions of varieties. DESCRIPTION OF VEGETABLES, AND DIRECTIONS FOR PLANTING AND CULTIVATING. Asparagus. — It is a matter of surprise that asparagus is so seldom found in the farmer's garden, for there is no vegetable 294 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. grown that will furnish so large a return with so little laboi', and it is in use in advance even of early peas, and at a season when the scarcity of other vegetables makes it of great value. A bed properly planted will last a life-time. If only enough for family use is wanted, buy the plants, as in this way a year's time will be saved, but if you wish to plant largely for market, grow your own plants. Sow the seed in shallow drills, far enough apart so that you can work with a narro\v cultivator, and thin so as to have them grow stocky. Give thorough cultivation and they will be large enough to transplant at one year old. One thousand or more good plants can be grown on a square rod. For family use plant a row or two at the side of the garden. Plow the land deep as you can. It is best often to plow out a deep dead furrow, and coat it liberally with manure, and then plow back the earth till it is level. Set the plants two feet apart in the row and four inches below the surface, spreading out the roots evenly in all directions. For an ordinary family, a row ten rods long will be sufficient, but if the family is large, double the amount. If two rows are planted, set them four feet apart. Cover the row heavily with manure every fall, and as early in the spring as the land can be worked, fork off the ma- nure and cultivate the rows thoroughly and then replace it. The plant is perfectly hardy and wiU not be killed by the hardest freezing, but it will start earjier and make a stronger growth if well protected through the winter. The secret of large, tender shoots is plenty of manure, clean culture, and sufficient distance between the plants. Salt may be used on the bed in sufficient quantities to kill weeds, and will be of benefit to the asparagus. Cut sparingly the second spring, and after that it should be kept cut close till about the first of June. At the last cutting work thoroughly. The tops should not be removed in the fall tiU fully ripe. For field cul- ture I would recoipmend that it be planted three by four feet apart and worked with a horse both ways. This crop is very salable, and bears shipping and handling well, and is very profit- able where a market can be had for it. Peter Henderson says : "It is safe to say that in the vicinity of New York the net OARDENINQ AND TRUCK FARMING. 295 profits from asparagus will average $400.00 per acre. But two varieties are named in the catalogues, " Conover's Colossal," and "Giant," of which the first named is the largest and most profitable. Beans. — In the chapter on miscellaneous crops the cultiva- tion of the navy bean is treated. The best bush bean for the garden that I have ever seen is the black wax. To call it a string bean is a misnomer, for it is absolutely stringless. It is also tender and of excellent flavor, and is best when fully grown. The seed is a glossy black, and the pod a clear yellow. They are very prolific, and bear quite close planting. I prefer hills one foot apart, with three beans in a hill and the rows may be from eighteen inches to two feet apart. They are quite hardy, and the first planting may be made the latter part of April and every two weeks thereafter till the first of August. They are not suitable for shelling, for which purpose the golden wax and white kidney are the best. Pole Beans. — ^As the poling of beans is expensive I would never plant pole beans if there were as good dwarf varieties, but none have been found that compare with the Lima. There are three varieties, the " Large Lima," the " Small Lima," also called the " Sieva," or " Carolina," and " Dreer's Improved." Of these, the second is best for family use, as it is earliest, most prolific, and easiest to shell, and it also takes to the poles more readily than the other varieties. The Dreer's Improved is the largest and best flavored of all; the seeds are not white when ripe, but of a pale greenish color, and are formed more closely in the pod than any other variety. All these varieties are excellent for winter use and can be grown at a profit for this purpose, or for sale. The most durable bean poles I ever saw are those cut from Osage orange hedges, as they are almost indestructible. Any one expecting to engage in growing pole beans should plant a plot of black locusts to provide a supply of poles ; they can be grown large enough in three or four years, and have not the objectionable thorns that the Osage has. Over ten thou- sand can be grown on an acre, and six hundred of the best left 296 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. for timber, and the bean poles will pay all the.,^ xpens g> In the chapter on " Timber Growing" directions are given for growing them. The beans should be planted in hiUs four feet apart each way, and the poles set at least a foot deep so that they will bear the weight of the vines. All the lima beans are tender, and should not be planted till the land is warm, say from May 15th to June 15th. For family use some weeks may be gained by planting a few hills in three-inch pots under glass, and trans- planting to the open ground when the danger of frost is over. There is one other variety of bean which I find profitable to pole, the "Dutch Case-knife." It is early and very prolific, and is the best dry bean for winter use that I am acquaiated with. It succeeds, also, very well on corn. Beets. — The cultivation of field beets is treated in another chapter. For the garden, I prefer the turnip-rooted varieties, and the Early Egyptian and Improved Blood Turnips are the best. AU the beets are hardy, and may be sown as early as the land can be worked, as the freezing of the ground after they are up wiU not kill them. Early sowing wiU give the lar- gest yield, but a late sowing — about July 1st — ^will give a bet- ter and tenderer table beet for winter use. The largest yield of beets I have ever seen was from the Early Bassano. This is a turnip beet, light red on the outside, and marbled, with red within, and is • recommended for fall feeding of cows, as on rich land, with good culture, they will grow enormously large. They are also excellent for the table when young, but not so at- tractive as the red fleshed varieties. For garden culture plant beets in rows fifteen inches apart, and thin to six or eight inches in the row. The thinnings may be used for greens the same as spinach. Cabbage. — The varieties of cabbage are numerous. Many of our seedsmen describe in their catalogues from forty to fifty, but the farmer or gardener will ordinarily grow less than a half dozen. The Early Jersey Wakefield is the best and earliest variety, and for second early there is, perhaps, none better than the Winningstadt. Other good summer and early autumn vari- eties are Henderson's Summer, Fotler's Brunswick, and Stone- GARDEN AND TRUCK FARMING. 297 mason. Often the grower will succeed best with these summer varieties for winter cabbage, by sowing the seed late in May or the first of June. For the main crop of winter cabbage, the Premium Flat Dutch succeeds better in most localities than any other, and on very rich land Marble Head Mammoth will grow the largest heads. The Savoy cabbages are wrinkled and grow a rather loose head. They have a more delicate flavor than other varieties, and are recommended for the South, where others do not head well. Red Dutch is used exclusively for pickling. It is very hardy, and forms a solid head, which keeps well. It is a late variety, and requires a rich soil for its per- fect development. The earliest cabbages are usually started under glass or in boxes in the house, but as the cabbage is very hardy, I succeed in growing them nearly as early and with much less trouble in the open ground. I mix a little Wakefield cabbage seed with the early radish seed, which I sow as early as the land can be worked, and as we begin to use the radishes, we pull first those near the cabbage plants, and by the time the radishes are too old for use we have a row of fine, ^tocky cabbages. Cabbage plants grown in the hot-bed are often! spindled, and have long stems. When this is the case, they should always, in transplanting, be set in the ground up to the first leaf, no matter how long the stem may be. The gardener can often make the growing of cabbage plants very profitable. The earliest must be grown under glass, but if some are sown in the open ground in a warm, sheltered location as soon as the ground can be worked, there will often be sale for them. For winter cabbage make two sowings in the open ground, about the first and the middle of May. Never sow them near where you are growing turnip seed, as the garden flea breeds on the turnips, and when the seed is cut they will destroy the cabbages, even after they have attained a large growth. Very often the garden flea is as destructive to young cabbage plants as the striped bug is to melons, and the utmost vigilance will be required to save them. As soon as the plants are up so as to be seen in the row, they should be dusted with air-slaked lime, and this should be repeated every few days till 298 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. they are of good size. This dusting should be done when the dew is on. I have had a hundred thousand plants destroyed in a day by these pests. Cabbage seed may be sown with the seed drill, and one ounce of seed allowed for each three thousand plants wanted. The plants may be grown in rows eighteen inches apart, and enough left in every other row to occupy the land and make a crop. The Marblehead Mammoth is said to do much better when grown from the seed where it is to stand, than when transplanted. Cabbages do best on heavily manured land, but thorough culture will, to some extent, make up for lack of manure. The summer varieties, sown late, will often head better on land that is mod- erately rich, than the large late varieties. Joseph Harris says, in speaking of the cabbage worm : " On my own farm I do noth- '^ing to check the ravages of the cabbage worm but to dust the plants when the dew is on with a mixture of plaster and super- phosphate. I am not sure that it lessens the number of the worms, but at any rate it stimulates the . growth of the plant. The only practical remedy I have ever tried is heavy manuring and thorough cultivation and setting out plants by the thousand instead of by the hundred." Winter cabbages may be set out in July on the land which has grown peas and early potatoes. From five to seven thou- sand can be grown per acre, which, at ordinary prices, will give a handsome profit. Cabbages that have begun to head, but are not large enough to be salable at the close of the growing season, may be headed in pits during the winter so as to be solid in the spring. Select a piece of ground where there is no possi- bility of flooding, and dig a trench one spade deep and wide enough for four or five rows of cabbage set in as close as it is possible to pack them. There should be plenty of good soil and a little fine manure under them, and as each row is put in, the earth should be tramped on to the roots. They should be in beds not over four feet wide and as long as necessary. Set boards, a foot wide, on edge at the sides, and at the approach of winter cover the cabbage with leaves, fine hay, or cut straw, and then above this with corn fodder enough to keep out the rain, GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 299 arranged so that its weight will rest on the frame, or, if pre- ferred, a larger quantity of straw or leaves can be used, and a roof of boards put over it; managed in this way cabbages that are worthless in the fall will grow a salable head during the winter. Carrots. — In the chapter on " Root Crops," I have given directions for gro_wing carrots as a field crop. There should be a small bed of the early scarlet Horn planted in the garden, as they are useful for flavoring soups. As they are great yielders, and bear close planting, two or three square yards will suffice for the family. If there is a demand for them in market, it will pay to grow all that can be sold, as they are very profitable. Among the Germans they are in great demand. Celery. — This plant is seldom found in the farmer's garden. The reason for this is probably that a great amount of labor is supposed to be necessary in growing it. A family supply of celery can be grown with but little more labor than is required to grow an equal amount of parsnips, if properly managed. Peter Henderson says of it: "I know of no vegetable on the cultivation of which so much useless labor is expended^ with such unsatisfactory results." The best varieties are the dwarf, as they can be planted closer and will require less labor. I would recommend "Crawford's Half Dwarf," "Incomparable Dwarf," and " Boston Market." Seed should be sown in the open ground early in April. The land should be rich and well pulverized, and the seed sown in drills wide enough apart to admit of the use of the hoe. Cultivation should be constant and thorough. Cutting the tops back once or twice with the shears induces a stocky growth, and enables them to endure transplanting better. Any time in July the plants may be transplanted to the garden, and may be set out where early peas or potatoes have been grown. Make the soil rich and mellow, as it will require but little land to grow a family supply, and the more rapid the growth, the better the quality. Plant one foot apart each way and give thorough cul- tivation, and plenty of water if the weather is dry. This close planting will induce an upright growth, and no banking or earth- ing up will be necessary ; but a longer growth can be had by set- 300 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. ting boards a foot wide on edge, at the sides of the bed, and fill- ing between the plants with earth. The last of October take up a part of the plants and put in the cellar to blanch for use, and the middle or latter part of November the remainder. Celery will endure sharp frost without injury, but should never be handled when frozen, and it should not stand out tUl the ground freezes. To blanch it and keep it for winter it can be put in old barrels or narrow boxes. Put a few inches of mel- low earth in the bottom and set the roots in it, pressing the earth to them as if transplanting it, and set in the cellar. It may be packed in quite closely, and from twelve to twenty plants can be put in a barrel. If you have more than you wish to put in the cellar, a part can be kept in trenches. Dig as nar- row as you can — not to exceed twelve inches — and as deep as the length of your plants. Place the celery in the trench as nearly perpendicular as you can, and as closely as it can be packed. No earth will be necessary except what adheres to the roots. It should always be handled when dry. It wiU need no covering for a few days, but the material should be on the ground so as to be ready for use, and should be added gradually as needed. The cleanest and best material is sawdust, and a load of it will protect a large amount of celery. If kept dry, eight or ten inches of sawdust will keep out the frost in the coldest weather, and there should always be a covering of boards, corn-fodder, or some other material, to keep the sawdust dry. The reason for making the trenches narrow, and covering gradually, is to prevent the celery from heating, which would cause it to decay. The celery after being placed in the boxes or bar- rels in the cellar or in the pits, will be fit for use in five or six weeks, and will remain in good condition till spring. Following the directions here given, the growing of celery is so simple that there is no excuse for any family being with- out it. Sweet Corn. — The growing of corn is an easy matter if one has a rich soil, and sweet corn will be found a profitable crop for the truck farmer. In the family garden I would advise that the first planting be made early in April, or as soon as the GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 301 ground is warm. Probably three years out of four you will save this early planting and gain a few days' time. Do not wait to see if it is killed before making a second planting, but plant again a week later, and at this second planting plant an early and a late variety. All the varieties of sweet corn require a rich soil, and especially the quick maturing kinds. I think a thousand dozen ears of the larger varieties can be grown on an acre, and the smaller kinds can be planted much closer. Plant the larger varieties in rows three and a half feet apart, and the stalks one foot in the row. This will give over 12,000 stalks to the acre, and it is safe to estimate that one- fourth of them will bear two ears. The small early varieties wiU bear much closer planting — ^rows three feet and stalks six inches, which would make over 28,000 stalks to the acre. Late corn I usually find the most profitable, and it can be planted after early peas or a crop of turnip seed has matured. In my latitude, the last week in June and the first in July is the time we plant the late crop, using the large varieties, as they sell best. For family use the early varieties may be planted two weeks later. ^Vhere dairying and truck farming are combined, sweet corn is a very profitable crop, for the fodder will pay all the expense, and all the corn sold is clear profit. The earliest varieties are. Early Boynton — also called Tom Thumb — Mar- blehead, Early Minnesota, and Early Red Narragansett. These varieties will be fit for the table in from eight to ten weeks from planting, varying with the weather and time of plant- ing. Stowell Evergreen is the standard variety for the main crop, and the one grown almost exclusively for the canning establishments. The ears are large, and it is sweet and tender, and remains for some weeks in good condition and produces heavy crops. Mammoth Sweet is a large and very excellent variety, sweet and tender, and with ears as large as field corn. Amber Cream is a productive, vigorous variety, which endures drought better than most kinds, and is of excellent flavor — a good family variety. There are a score more of varieties, but those named I believe to be the best. Pop-corn. — When a contract can be made for its sale, or 302 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. you are sure of a market, pop-corn will be found a profitable crop. It bears quite close planting, and much of it will produce two or more ears to a stalk. As it comes up rather weak, and does not require a long season, it is best to defer planting till the weather is settled and the land warm. For family use I pre- fer the Rice, which has larger ears than the common white, and pointed kernels. It is very tender and sweet. When grow- ing for market you must grow that which will sell best. Cucumbers. — The best varieties of cucumbers are Early Russian, White Spine, Early Frame, Early Cluster, and Long Green. If I was to choose one of these for all purposes, I would take the Cluster. Probably the White Spine or Long Green is nicer for slicing, but the Cluster makes the best shaped pickle, and begins bearing very young, and does not mat the ground with vines as the Long Green does. The earliest cucumbers are usually grown in the hot-bed, one hiU being planted to each sash, after the earlier grown plants have been pulled out. For the open ground they may be started in three-inch pots in the hot-bed and transplanted after the weather has become warm and settled. Another way in which some weeks may be gained, is to use a bottomless box a foot square, at each hill. Settle the boxes well into the ground and tip them to the south, and have a piece of board to cover each in case of a cold rain or night. For the earliest planting a single pane of glass can be used on the box. These boxes will be a protection not only from cold, but also from the striped bug. To grow a profitable crop of cucumbers plenty of manure and thorough cultivation is necessary. It is best to manure both broad-cast and in the hill. I grow them very successfully after early peas. The main crop for pickles may be planted from June 15th to July 10th, and they will rarely be troubled by the striped bug after the first-named date. The best soil for cu- cumbers is a black, loamy clay, and I think they will produce double on this that they wUl on an equally rich soil which is of a lighter color and heavier. The plant requires a great deal of heat, and the black soil absorbs much more heat than the lighter colored one. The land should be put in good order and laid off QABDENINO AND TRUCK FARMING. 303 five feet apart each way. A large shovel fuU of fine manure to a hill is none too much. It is best to mix the manure with the ea,rth, and there should be three or four inches of earth above it. The hill should be made four to six inches above the level, or the plants will be too low, for in planting you want to brush off" two inches of the hill, so as to drop the seed on fresh, moist soil, and then step on it so as to press it firmly into the soil, and this will settle the hill two or three inches more. All the cov- ering they will need when treated in this way will be a little fresh earth, and a slight motion of the foot covers them. An acre can be planted in this way in less than two hours. As the vines will run in about five weeks so that they can no longer be cultivated with a horse, it is best to cultivate often; twice a week is not too much. As soon as fairly in the rough leaf, thin to four plants, leaving those most stocky, and as well scattered as possible. If weeds start, or a heavy rain packs the soil after the vines have run so as to prevent horse work, it will pay to hoe the ground over lightly. At the final working I always sow turnips, as they do not interfere with the vines in the least, and will make a fine crop after the cucumbers are done bearing. I very seldom fail in getting a good turnip crop on my cucumber land. If the weather is good you can begin gathering pickles in six weeks from planting, and if warm, they must be picked every day, but cold nights will soon check their bearing. If you are growing largely, it will pay to have a foreman for each five or six pickers, to follow and see that they are picked clean and to empty the baskets. The vines should never be lifted or disturbed any more than necessary, and boys and girls with bare feet will tramp the vines less than men with heavy boots. The cleaner they are picked, and the more carefuUy handled, the longer they will continue in bearing, and every cucumber should be removed from the vines. If any were overlooked the pre- vious day, and are too large for pickles, cut them and throw them away, for if left to form seed, they will take all the strength of the vine, and it will stop bearing. The pickles should be assorted, the small ones, those from two and a half 304 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. to three inches long are the most salable, and a barrel wiU hold from four to five thousand of them. The price at the factories varies from one dollar to one dollar and a half per thousand, and at these prices the crop is quite profitable. Lettuce. — This plant is very hardy, and may be sown in the fall and protected with evergreen brush or any light cover- ing. If sown in spring, put the seed in as early as the land can be worked. To grow crisp, tender lettuce, the land must be very rich and in high cultivation. It is a profitable crop to grow under glass for a city market. If you expect large, well de- veloped heads, it must be thinned early, before the plants have become spindled. Thin to a foot in the row for the large varieties. There are many farmers who have never seen or eaten good lettuce, because they allow the plants to be so crowded that they do not develop perfectly. On rich soil, with plenty of room and good culture, any of the large varieties may be grown so that one plant will be sufficient for a meal for a family of ten. The varieties are numerous, but a few will be sufficient for the family or market gardener. Among the best kinds are: Early Tennis BaU, Simpson's Early Curled, Early Curled Silesia, Large Drumhead, and Prize Head. The last named is the best summer variety I have ever seen, and the handsomest plant. It is slow to run up to seed and is wonderfully crisp and tender. Melons, Musk. — The same general directions given for growing cucumbers, wiU apply to musk-melons. There is no danger of getting the land too rich, or of cultivating too thoroughly. Plant a little wider than for cucumbers. Five feet each way will give over seventeen hundred hiUs to the acre, and the Nutmeg varieties will usually yield eight or ten melons to the hill, and if they can be sold at an average of two cents each, a good crop will pay a large profit. The greatest trouble with melons of all kinds is to get a stand early enough in the season, as the striped bug is nearly sure to visit them. By constant watchfulness and care and using plenty of seed a stand can be secured. Make the hills rather broad, and ele- vated three or four inches above the level, so that a heavy rain GARDENING AND TRVCK FARMING. 305 will not flood them, then with the finger or a stick draw a mark through the center of the hill each way, dividing it into four equal parts. Plant the southwest quarter of the hill as soon as the land is warm, which will be often in this latitude the last week in April or the first in May. Three or four days later plant the southeast quarter, and follow round till you have made four plantings. About one dollar's worth of seed and a day's work to the acre will be the cost of these three extra plantings and you will be almost certain to save one of them. If your soil is heavy, I advise that a large shovel full of sand be put on the top of each hill before planting. As soon as the plants begin to come up visit the patch every day and carefully inspect it, and when a hill is fairly above ground, apply a handful of bran to it; dust it thickly over the top of the plants and heap it around the stem till it touches the leaves. It will often save them from the bugs, and besides is a good fertilizer. Rev. L. L. Langstroth, who is a careful experi- menter in every thing that regards insect life, recommends that gritty turnpike dust be used. It should be sifted and then applied liberally when the dew is on, and should be applied to the stems and under side of the leaf as well as the top. These applications should be made as soon as the plants are fairly above ground, whether any bugs are to be seen or not, for pre- vention is much better than cure. After the bugs once get on a hill of melons, it seldom thrives, for if they do not kill it they poison it and leave it unthrifty. Any thing that you can do to hurry the growth and increase the thrift of the plant will be a help and shorten the time of danger, for as soon as fairly in the rough leaf the plants are safe. A handful of fine, rich manure near the surface will hurry the plants, but if superphosphate or chicken manure is used, it must not come in contact with the seed, or it may destroy it. Cow manure pulverized so that it can be sifted is excellent for this purpose. It will pay for the first ten days after the melons come up to work them every other day, and the best implement I have ever seen for this purpose is the Excelsior Hand Weeder. With it you can loosen the soil be- 20 ~ THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. en the plants and work in a little fine manure if desired without disturbing them. If melons are managed as here recommended you can hardly fail to get a stand, as if one planting is eaten up by the bugs you LsioB HAND WEEDEE. havB others coming on to take their places. 5 green-fleshed, netted varieties are the most prolific and ible. Jenny Lind is the earliest, but is too small to be Stable for market. Green nutmeg is the popular market iety. Bay View and Cassaba, are large, green-fleshed varie- , the former often growing to a length of sixteen or iteen inches. Early YeUow cantelope and Long Yellow are [ow-fleshed. Watermelons. — The same general directions given above ■ ^PPly to the management of watermelons, but they aid be planted much wider apart, not less than eight by , feet, and as soon as the vines are four or five feet in fth they should be covered with earth about two feet from hill, so as to enable them to take root. Next to the ped bug the evil most common with watermelons is prema- s dying of the vines, and if we can cause the vines to ke root at some distance from the hill it will be a preventive this trouble. The best time to cover the vines is as soon r a rain as the land will work nicely. With the corner of hoe make a furrow three inches deep alongside the vine, carefully lift it into it. Then fill the furrow with fresh low earth, and with the foot press it firmly. If large ons are wanted, but few specimens must be allowed to N OTO. a. hill, and the ends of the vines nipped a few joints ond the fruit. Another cause of vines dying prematurely ;hat the manure used in the hill is not sufficiently mixed 1 earth. The directions given for planting melons are often errone- The planter is told to dig a hole two feet in diameter and Ive to eighteen inches deep and fill it with manure ; if this one the vines are almost certain to perish when the weather )mes hot and dry. The same amount of manure spread over GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 307 a space six or eight feet in diameter and thoroughly worked into the soil will be of greater benefit to the vines. A gallon of fine, thoroughly rotted manure is enough for a hill, and.it .should be partly mixed with the soil. Although I use the term "hill" I do not recommend that it should be elevated much above the level of the field ; an inch or two, so that there is no danger of the hill flooding, is better than a high hill. The earlier you can get thrifty vines started the better, but if for any cause you have no early vines, I would plant any time in June. I usually pick ripe melons in twelve weeks from planting when it is deferred till the weather and land are warm, and often vines planted from the first to the fifteenth of June are ahead of those started a month earlier. Phinney's Early, Peerless, Mountain Sweet, Mountain Sprout, and Cuban Queen, are the leading varieties. Of these the Peerless is the finest flavored. It has small, white seeds and a scarlet flesh solid to the center, and very sweet. Phin- ney's Early, small drab seeds, and scarlet flesh of excellent quality. Mountain Sweet, seeds mahogany color and rather large, flesh scarlet, solid and delicious. All three of these var- ieties are superior for family use or a home market, but all have such thin and brittle rind, that they are not suitable for shipping. Mountain Sprout has the qualities for shipping. It is of large size, scarlet flesh, a good keeper, and bears carriage well; seeds drab. Cuban Queen is the largest melon grown. Specimens have been produced that weighed over eighty pounds. The vine is vigorous, requiring wide planting, flesh red and of fine flavor. It bears shipment well. Onions and Potatoes. — As onions and potatoes are field rather than garden crops, they are treated in the chapter on "Root Crops." Parsnips. — As far as a market can be had for them there are few crops that will give a better profit than parsnips. They start with a much stronger growth than the carrot, require less hand weeding, and will yield as many bushels to the acre. Another advantage of the crop is, that it can be left in the ground all winter without injury. They will be found a profit- 308 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. able crop to grow for feeding to stock, in the spring, as five hun- dred bushels can be grown on an acre, and on rich garden soil this has often been exceeded by one-third. Planting should be done early, but not until the ground is in good condition. If the soil is heavy it will pay to use sand to cover the seed, as the plants are not strong and can not lift a heavy, packed soil. For the same reason the seed should be sown thickly, so that they will help each other through the soil. Before they become spindled, thin to about four inches, or, if your land is not very rich, six inches. Be particular that the plants stand singly, as you can not grow good shaped roots if crowded. After the first hoeing, most of the work of cultivation can be done with the horse, if the rows are twenty inches apart. The best implement to use is a single shovel plow, with a long, nar- row shovel, or bull-tongue, as it is called. If planted as close as recommended, the plants will shade the land and keep the weeds from growing, after the middle of June. It is important that clean land be selected for the crop, and that it be made deep and mellow. Fall plowing of the land into beds sixteen feet wide will give good satisfaction, for although you will lose a row or two where the dead furrows come, the deepening of the soil and the good surface drainage will more than compensate for it. Deep fall plowing will give cleaner land, if weeds have been allowed to go to seed, as most of the seed will be turned down so deep as to prevent its germination, or at least to retard it until the crop has ^ good start. Although the crop will keep perfectly in the ground, it is wise to dig and pit a part of it, so that it will be accessible in frozen weather, as there will often be a good demand and high prices at such times, and the gardener who can market his crop will realize a large profit. Peter Henderson once realized nearly eight hundred dollars from a half acre, by being able to market his crop when the ground was hard frozen. Any vegetable that is to be marketed from pits in the winter should be cov- ered with corn-fodder, straw, or coarse manure, so that the ground over them can not freeze. A small load of corn-fodder can be stacked over a pit containing a hundred bushels of roots, GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 309 SO as to protect it from freezing, and without any damage to the fodder, which can be taken to the barn and fed in the spring. There are but few varieties of parsnips. The Long Dutch or Sugar, and Hollow Crown are those usually grown, and on my soil I have never been able to detect any difference between them. Peas. — These are a valuable garden crop, either for market or the family, as they can be had early, and by judicious selec- tion of varieties and successive plantings, the season can be pro- longed for many weeks. The soil can not be made too rich for the small, early varieties, nor can they be planted too early. The tall, later varieties will bear good crops on land only mod- erately rich. For early peas always plow and manure the land in the fall, and sow as soon as the land can be worked. In my latitude the earliest I ever sowed was February 23d, and the earliest date at which we have had them for use, May 23d, and in backward seasons it is sometimes as late as June 8th or 10th before we get the first mess. The early, smooth varieties should be used for the first planting, as the wrinkled kinds are not so hardy. We have now so many excellent dwarf varieties that I do not plant those which require sticks. These varieties may be planted very thick, rows fifteen to eighteen inches apart, and a pea to the inch, in the row. Planted in this way I have often gathered a bushel in the pod, to the square rod. At a second planting, about the first of April, plant again of the early kinds, ■ and at the same time some of the large, late varieties. A third planting, about the middle of May, should be made of late kinds, as the early ones do not do well during the heat of summer. My diary shows that a planting of Champion of England and Marrowfats, made May 16th, gave a supply from the middle of July till into August. I have not bushed a pea for years, and never expect to again, for even the tallest varieties will pro- duce a fair crop without it. They grow up about three feet high and fall down and form an elbow, and grow up again and produce a crop. You will not get as many peas as if you stick them, but land is usually cheaper than the labor. Two rows. 310 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. twelve rods long, without sticks, furnished a family of ten with all they could use while they lasted. I have been told by market men from Boston and New York, and also London, Eng- land, that the tallest varieties are never bushed. The best dwarf varieties are : Tom Thumb, McLean's Little Gem, Blue Peter or Blue Tom Thumb, and American Wonder. The Tom Thumb is a little the earliest, and the American Won- der the best flavored. It and McLean's Little Gem are wrinkled varieties. There are several early varieties which grow from two to three feet high, such as Daniel O'Rourke, Early May, Early Philadelphia, etc., but none of them possess any greater merit than the dwarf kinds named above, and as these bear closer planting and can be gathered much more rapidly, I give them the preference. For the late, tall growing varieties, the Cham- pion of England and Marrowfat I have never found surpassed. The Sugar pea with edible pod, is thought by some desirable for the private garden, but is seldom grown for market. About two bushels of seed of the dwarf early kinds is required for an acre, but as the tall kinds must be planted in wide rows and not so thick in the row, one-fourth as much seed will be sufficient. Peppers. — Mango peppers are in considerable demand, and are a profitable market crop; they are usually sold green by measure or count. They should be started early in hot-beds and set in rows wide enough to admit of horse culture, and about fifteen inches apart in the row. The Bull Nose, or Bell,. Squash, and Sweet Mountain are the varieties most commonly grown. The small, pungent Cayenne Pepper requires the same treatment, but may be planted much closer. They are usually pulled up by the roots and sold in market on the plant. Radishes. — There are few garden crops that will give so large a profit from a small amount of land as radishes. The land should be plowed in the fall for -the early crop, and if heavy should have a liberal dressing of sand, or of leaf mold from the woods or both. The manure should be fine and spread over the surface in the fall, and it will pay to dress with superphos- phate. Well-rotted chip dirt is one of the best fertilizers for radishes. The quicker a radish can be grown, the sweeter and GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 311 I' tenderer it will be. The earliest sowing may be made as soon as the land can be worked; but as these are sometimes killed, sow again in a few days, and every two weeks for a succession. The best varieties are French Breakfast, Early Olive-shaped, Long Scarlet, and White and Scarlet Turnip. We have-, also, several varieties of winter radish, which may be sown in August and used through the winter. The best of these are the Chi- nese Rose, Chinese White, California Mammoth, White and Black Spanish. Rhubarb. — Whether for the family or market, rhubarb is a valuable crop. It comes into use earlier than any other prod- uct of the garden, and at a season when the system craves something tart. The land should be plowed as deep as possi- ble, and made very rich for this plant, and it should be covered with manure every fall so as to protect it from frost, and enable it to start early in the spring. The crop is a profitable one and will bring several hundred dollars per acre. The common method of propagating is by subdividing the roots, but after many years experience in growing it from seed, I would recommend this method : Seed should be sown in May in a rich, fine soil. If thoroughly cultivated, the plants will usually grow large enough by fall so that good sized stems for table use can be had from them, and if not transplanted will yield a half crop the next spring. If transplanted it is best not to use from it till the second year. The plants may be grown within six inches of each other in the nursery bed, but should be thinned to four feet the following spring. Rhubarb may be had very early in the spring if well covered with manure in the fall, and about the middle of February the manure is removed from the crown and an old barrel, with both heads knocked out, placed over it and banked round the outside with warm, fresh manure. The varieties most in use are the Linnaeus, Victoria, and Gaboon. The first named is the earliest, and is of excellent flavor, and less acid than any other. The Victoria is later, but very large, and is the most profitable for the main crop. The Gaboon is a large, late variety, and was extensively sold under the name of Wine Plant some years ago. 312 THE PEOPLE'S FARM ANt STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Salsify. — ;This is also called Vegetable Oyster. It is seldom grown, but as its cultivation is easy, and it is healthful and deli- cious when properly cooked, it should be oftener found in the garden. Its management is precisely the same as the parsnip, and like it can be left in the ground all winter. It is cooked like the parsnip, and is also used in soups, to which it gives a decided oyster flavor. There is but one variety. Spinach. — No vegetable is more easily grown than this, and yet it is not found in one garden out of ten among farmers, but all market gardeners know its value, and find it a very profitable crop. It is very hardy, and may be sown in the fall if lightly protected with evergreen brush, leaves, or straw, or it may be sown as early as the land can be worked. A second sowing may be made two weeks later. It makes delicious greens, and a very smaU bed will supply a family. It runs up to seed early, and as soon as past use, the land should be cleared and some other crop sown. There are two varieties, the Round and Prickly Seeded, but the first named is the best. Squash. — The summer squashes are of easy cultivation. They require a rich soil and good culture, and it will pay to use a gill of superphosphate in a hill, as it gives them an early start; it must not come in contact with the seed, but should be thor- oughly mixed with the soil. Most of the summer varieties do not run, and may be planted four feet apart. There are two va- rieties, the Crook-neck, which is yellow and covered with warty excrescences, and from seven to nine inches long, and is consid- ered the best flavored, and the Scalloped. This variety is grown exclusively at the South, where they are called Cymbals. There are two colors, white and yellow. Squash, Winter. — We have several good varieties of win- ter squash, among which are the Boston Marrow, Turban, Hub- bard, Marblehead, and Winter Crook-neck. I find the Hubbard the best for market, and the Crook-neck the most profitable for stock. One point in favor of growing squashes is that they can be grown after early potatoes, and make a full crop, and so cost nothing for ground rent. I have never been successful with the Hubbard squash when planted alone, as the striped bugs would GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 313 always destroy them. Whether the bugs do not find them among the potatoes, or there is something about potato vines that is distasteful to them, I do not know ; the fact remains that I have never had them disturbed when planted in this way. The crook- neck squash is more hardy, and is seldom disturbed by the bugs, and may be planted after early peas or among sweet corn. Squashes do not require a long season, and may be planted the latter part of June. My ''Hubbards" were planted this year the 26th of June, and on September 20th, twelve weeks from planting, were matured so as to be out of the way of frost. During the three weeks ending August 14th, one of these vines ran fourteen feet. Wherever a market can be had for them the Hubbard squashes can be made very profitable, as they are ex- cellent keepers and can be marketed at any time during the winter. Care should be taken in gathering them to cut the stem and leave most of it on the squash, for if broken from the .squashes they are likely to rot. They should also be handled carefully so as not to bruise them. They should be stored where the temperature can be kept uniform, and forty degrees is the best temperature ; but some range is allowable. Enough for family use can be kept in a dry cellar, but when grown in large quantities for a winter market, they should be stored in a room where fire can be made in damp or very cold weather. If they are to be put in the cellar, it is best to keep them in an upper room or out-building for a few weeks first. They should always be gathered when perfectly dry. Tomatoes. — To have this crop early requires starting in the hotrbed. The seed may be sown quite thickly, about the first of March, and the plants, when about four weeks old, pricked out into other beds, setting them four or five inches apart. Enough plants can be started under one sash to fill fifty when transplanted. By giving plenty of room, these transplanted plants can be kept in the hot-bed till they are in blossom, and then if watered copiously the night before, and taken up care- fully with a ball of earth, they will be checked but little in their growth, and will fruit quite early. I can get ripe tomatoes early in July by this treatment. For the main crop this trouble 314 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. and expense is not necessary, but the seed may be sown in a cold frame the middle of April, and no sash used. Boards or mats must be provided, however, to cover them in case there is danger of frost. The plants must be thinned so as to prevent them from becoming spindled. The mnin crop may be grown on ordinary land — by which I mean that rich garden soil is not necessary — by manuring the hills well. It is claimed by those who grow the crop largely for the factories, that they bear better on rather thin land, the manure giving the plant a thrifty start, and when the roots ex- tend beyond it and reach the poor soil, the check in its growth induces fruitfulness. From two to four hundred bushels to the acre can be grown in field culture, and I have known market gar- deners, by extra care, to sell an average of a bushel from each plant on a plot containing several hundred plants. I would never plant closer thfin four feet apart each way, and on rich soil they will cover the ground if planted five feet. , In growing them largely it is wise to leave a road for the wagons every ten rows. The roads can be used for growing some early-maturing crop, so that the land need not be idle. The advantage of this is that you need not carry the tomatoes far, and as they are very heavy, this will be. a great relief in the labor of gathering them. The first week in June is season- able for planting the main crop, and as it often happens that the late gathered fruit brings a high price, it is wise for the gardener to plant late as well as early. There are few garden products that vary more in price than tomatoes, the earliest bringing almost any price you may ask for them. In the flush of the season the market is often glutted, and the price is sometimes down to twenty-five cents a bushel. At forty cents they are a profitable crop, and as the very early and late ones will sell high, the average price will usually be considerably above forty cents. New varieties have been brought out nearly every year, with claims that they were earlier than any that had preceded them, but on trial, very little difference in this respect is found among the leading varie- ties, the earliness depending more on the treatment the plants GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. 315 receive than the variety grown. If I was confined to one variety I would choose the Acme, as it is early, large, and prolific. It continues to bear till frost, and is invariably round, smooth, and of good size. It ripens evenly and bfears shipping well. Among other desirable varieties are, Hathaway 's Excelsior, Early Large, Smooth Red, Essex Hybrid, Paragon, and Trophy. Turnips. — ^You will find the cultivation of the flat turnip described in the chapter on " Root Culture," but as the Ruta Baga or Swede turnip is usually grown as a garden crop, it is treated here. They require a rich, well-worked soil. In addi- tion to stable manure, it will pay to use some superphosphate, as this is especially adapted to the turnip. It is well to seed heavily, as the garden flea, the same that destroys cabbage plants, often attacks them. As soon as they can be seen break- ing ground, apply plaster to them, and repeat after each rain. The seed should be sown in May or the first of June, in rows far enough apart to work with the horse ; about two feet wiU answer. They may be sown on level land or in low ridges ; in the latter case they must be thirty inches apart. As soon as they are in the rough leaf thin to ten or twelve inches in the row. They will need to be thoroughly cultivated, and under favorable circumstances will yield one thousand bushels to the acre. The best time to market them is in the spring, as they are excellent keepers and will be in good condition after the flat turnips are past use. They can be wintered in pits as described for other vegetables. 316 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter XIII. INSECTS INJURIOUS Hk > neath, may be seen feeding on the leaves by day, \ ^f 1 and hid under some chip, clod, or in some crevice by * * V night. Soon the brown eggs are laid in clusters no. ii.-imago. glued to the under side of the leaves, and the greenish larvae, which soon become grayish, which hatch from these, commence a thorough work of despoliation, in which they are aided by their parents, which seem unwilling to die with so much good provision at hand. After a time, stubs of wings appear, which, with increased growth, is all that serves to dis- tinguish these pupoe from their former larval condition. Nor can these afford time for quiet, like most pupae. On the other hand, they continue to gorge themselves with the juices which they suck from the plant. Soon they attain full growth, and fully developed wings, and are called imagos. These images live through the winter, and are ready to repeat the same ruin- ous work another season. Remedies. — The habit that these squash bugs have of con- cealment suggests a very practical means to capture them, which was tried here at the college the past season with perfect success. It is similar to the Ransom process for capturing the plum cur- culio, and consists simply in placing small pieces, boards, chips, INJURIOUS INSECTS. 331 or even green leaves, on the ground, close around the vines. The bugs appropriate these as hiding places during the night. We may then go around each morning, early in the season, be- fore the eggs are laid, and gather and destroy the bugs thus concealed, and soon extirpate the cause of the evil. These morning visits must be so early that the insects will not have yet left their hiding places. If the eggs are laid before we cap- ture the bugs, we should either gather the eggs from beneath the leaves, or continue the same process narrated above to get rid of the young. In all cases where mature insects come forth in the spring, of course in limited numbers, as with the potato beetle, the squash bug, etc., we shall save very much by early battle ; and if we can persuade our neighbors to engage with us, the late battles and the battles of succeeding years will be but skir- mishes. The pas^^mmer I have killed several bugs by use of kero- sene oil. VBugs do not eat, but insert their beaks, and. sip the juices of the^.£lant■s^v &o we can not poison them by use of the arsehites^-efc! Nftrtber do they care for pyrethrum. Here, then, we may be glad of kerosene. To apply this, dilute with sour milk — one of oil to five of milk — stir thoroughly, and apply with fountain pump. This may also be used successfully in kill- ing the striped bug — Capsws qudarivittatus, Harr — ^which often does great harm to potatoes, wheat, corn, and others of our farm and garden plants. This beautiful little bug is yellow, with four black bands, and is about three-eighths of an inch long. The tarnished plant bug — Lygus lineolaris, Beauv. — which is very commonly distributed through the country, is also indis- criminate as a feeder. This is the bug that destroyed thousiands of dollars' worth of strawberries in Southern Illinois the past season, sucking the juice and vitality from the unripe fruit. It is probable that kerosene and milk will fix them. Care is re- quisite that the mixture be not too strong, or the plants may be killed. Professor Forbes has found kerosene an excellent specific against the terrible chinch-bug of Illinois and the West. Aside 332 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. from destroying rubbish, etc., that the imago may have no suita- ble place to hibernate, this is about the only known cure for this terrible pest. Squash Vine Root Borer. — Melittia cucurbitce, Harr. Family, ^gereidoB. Order, Lepidoptera. This insect, a near relative of the peach-tree borer and currant borer, is no new enemy, having worked in Massachusetts and other States East for many years. Natural History. — The moth, which is a beautiful orange, with deep blue wings, in common with all of this family, flies dur- ing the hottest ^ — ^ sunshine, and with great swiftness. She / \ lays her eggs during July and August, on ./ /^ \ the vine, close to the ground. The larva, which I l ul I I would be known as a cater- pillar from its possessing Wm sixteen legs, bores the base of the stem and ▼ roots, and thus entirely destroys the vines. ^^^' ^^' They pupate in a rough cocoon of earth, about the roots. Dr. Packard has noticed their forming their cocoon in the stem. These are formed in autumn. The imago comes forth the next summer to inaugurate the same round of ruin. Remedies. — To dig out the borers so soon as discovered is a sure but tedious method, and the vines are often ruined before the presence of the larva is discovered. It is asserted that covering the stem and insect with earth prevents further dami- INJURIOUS INSECTS. , 333 age. It would be well to try this. It has been recommended to catch the moths; also to carefully gather the eggs. But I much doubt the practicability of these methods, especially the latter. It is possible, and certainly very desirable, that we might discover some preparation with which to surround the vine, that would be so obnoxious to the moth as to prevent egg-laying. Limited trials of gas-lime, whale-oil soap, weak solution of carbolic acid, and other insecticides might be made. It would be very well to try the remedy given by Secretary Bateham, of Ohio, to prevent the work of the peach borer, which is given in the description of that pest. Tomato Worm. — Macrosila quinquemaculata, Haw. All who grow that beautiful and savory vegetable, the tomato, are acquainted with the formidable pest which, unless prevented, too often brings all our hopes of satisfied tomato appetites to naught. Who has not seen the beautiful larva, so fat and gay in its robes of deepest green, trimmed with yellow or white and beaded with the sa,me, and who has not heard of the utterly groundless stories of its fatal horn, whose poisonous thrust it is said brings pain and death. Natural History. — In July, the beautiful large gray moths (Fig. 12) appear, lay their eggs on the leaves of the tomato, not refusing potato vines in the absence of tomato plants, which they evidently prefer, at which ^^°- ^^ work they may be seen early in the evening. I have fre- quently caught these so-called humming-bird moths around the tomato plants, or poised above flowers, where, with their long sucking-tube, they seem engaged in ex- tra c ting nectar. The ^'°"- greenish larvae (Pig. 13), though they are not infrequently dark brown, eat voraciously, grow rapidly, and by the last of August they have not only 334 THE PEOPIE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. stripped the plants of their foliage, but have become full grown, when they measure three inches in length. They then go into the earth, where they pupate in an earthen cocoon. The peculiar form of the pupa is a marked character of this family (Fig 14). These brown pupge may be found in the earth, a few inches beneath the surface, until the following summer, when the fine moth again comes forth. Remedies. — Hand-picking is a quick, easy, and sure preven- tive. The only objection to this, so far as I know, is that it is disagreeable, and sometimes prevented by timidity. Yet I pre- sume that a good pair of gloves will insure the temerity neces- sary to its successful practice. As before intimated, the feafl^ entirely groundless, for there are no more .harmless creatures in \ existence. To be sure they can give quite a sharp pinch with/ their strong jaws, which they will attempt to do if held, and which I have often experienced while handling them, but this is almost painless and entirely harmless. They never use their caudal horn, the supposed weapon of immemorial dread. So hand-picking, with or without gloves, is entirely safe, and as effectual as safe. Of course, the disfigured leaves will guide us in our search. I have found that skunks are powerful aids in this fight, as they feed extensively on the pupae. Cabbage Cut- Worms. — Agrotis devastator, Harr. As a full account of the natural history of the Agrotians has already been given in connection with field crops (see page 322), we need say but little of the species which is often so ruinous to our cabbage and tomato plants. As wiU be remembered, the larvce generally lie concealed by day just beneath the soil, and come forth, cloaked in darkness, to do their evil work. This is not strictly true, as frequently, on cloudy days, their eager appetites, or else an innate longing for destruction (for these cut-worms do seem the most totally depraved of all insects), impel them forth to work havoc. I have known sixty tomato plants cut off between the hours of 3 and 6 P. M. Sandy gardens, and those near meadows, pastures, or lawns. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 335 where the insects have commenced and nearly completed their growth by feeding on the grass or its roots, are by far the most liable to attack. Remedies. — ^After the ground is well fitted for the plants, great advantage will result from placing newly mown grass, fresh cornstalks, etc., in heaps about the plat. Coming to these by night, the larvae will feed and crawl beneath, and may be cap- tured and destroyed each morning. I have known large num- bers to be thus entrapped. Securing those immediately within the ground to be planted, however, is not alone sufficient. These larv£e have not sixteen legs for nothing, and especially is there danger from immigrants if grass is grown contiguous to the ground planted. It might be well to continue, in such a case, to place the bunches of grass around the border of the planted area, to stiU attract these night marauders. Sized paper, such as we usually write on, wound closely about the plants, and held in place by banking slightly about the base with earth, is a sure preventive, as the larvae can not pass up its smooth surface. I have known this to be practiced with the happiest results. Care is only necessary that the paper may closely encircle the plant, and that the banking be so efficient as to surely hold it in place. Hand-work, digging out the larvae, is always to be com- mended. No more injury need be expected from these trouble- some " worms," if they are once in the grasp of an irate gardener, who is disgusted at seeing his plants prostrate upon the earth. And it must give rare satisfaction to dig the culprits out from beneath the plants which their rapacity has simply cut asunder and left to wilt, and aggravate the owner who had already reckoned up and planned to expend the proceeds from the same mutilated plants. Here, too, especially on light soils, it will be wise to set a superfluous number of plants. Cabbage Leaf-Roller. — Plutella cruciferarum. Family, TortricidcB. Order, Lepidoptera. While treating of cabbage insects, I might describe the cabbage leaf-roller, or Cabbage tineid {Plutella cruciferarum), which little green " worms," or more ,M,f 336 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. properly caterpillars, mine the cabbage leaves quite disastrously, and which gray moths, with a white stripe along the back, are quite too small to produce alarm, and yet are the parents of the same green larvae. But I will only say that I have never been troubled with them, nor have I seen much of their work. If they are annoying, it would be well to try plaster with a little turpentine mixed in, whale-oU soap solution, or lime ; nor should I fear to experiment with a little powdered white hellebore. All of the leaf-rollers, several of which are quite destructive to the apple foliage, are quickly destroyed by use of the arse- nites ; but it is unsafe to use these on the cabbages. Pyre thrum, which, as we shall show, is a most satisfactory specific against the cabbage caterpillar, would doubtless also destroy the insect just described. Striped Flea-Beetle. — Haltica striolata, Fabr. Family, Chrysomelidce. Order, Coleoptera. There is a flea-beetle, too (JSaltica striolata, Fabr.), which I have found to puncture the leaves of cabbages, and is thus quite destructive to young plants. It also works on radishes, turnips, etc. Natural History. — This beetle is of a shining black color, with two waving lines of buff along the back, one on each side, is very small, less than one-tenth of an inch in length, but is so active, briskly leaping away at the least disturbance, that, though so small, it can hardly escape notice. (Fig. 15.) These beetles often fairly fiq. is. swarm on young plants, and at such times do considerable damage. Remedies. — In England, where a nearly related beetle has long given annoyance by attacking cruciferous plants, lime, soot, and even ashes, are recommended as securing the plants against the ravages of these pests. I have tried these remedies, but without perfect success. Still I think they are to be recom- mended. Quick lime will do even more to protect the plants. Any thing which promotes vigor of growth is, of course, desir- able, for vigorous plants are far less liable to suffer destruction. By sweeping a fine gauze net over the plants, large numbers of the insects may be caught and destroyed. The grape flea-beetle {Haltica chalyhea), a small, steel-blue INJURIOUS INSECTS. 337 beetle is closely related to the above in style and habits, though not in color. Eats the buds from the grapes in early spring, and the grubs destroy the foliage later. I have found that the arsenites and kerosene used as already described are both entirely satisfactory in destroying this enemy of the grape. Other Cabbage Moths. — I might speak of the larvae of various moths which feed on the leaves of the cabbage ; but for lack of space I will only say that pyrethrum will destroy aH or nearly all. Should it fail, kerosene or hand picking should be tried. Cabbage Fly. — So, too, I might discuss the cabbage mag- got {Anthomyia hrassicce, Bouche) ; but this, as also the onion maggot {Anthomyia ceparum, see Fig. 16), both of which are in our State, are so similar to the radish fly and maggot {Anthomyia raphani) that what I shall „ ,„ , *,,.<, i« j r I Fig. 16.— o. larva, natural size. -6. Same magnlfled. say as to the natural history "• ^"'^°- The lines beneath show the natural size. and habits of that species will apply to both of the others. Aside from the carbolic acid remedy recommended in fighting the radish maggot, I have found bisulphide of carbon a certain destroyer of the cabbage maggot, which has done serious damage in this vicinity. By use of a cane I made a hole in the earth close beside the cabbage two or three inches deep, in which I turned a half teaspoonful of the explosive, and quickly filled the hole with earth, which was fij-mly pressed down by stepping on it. The vapor spreads and kills the maggots at once. Rape Butterfly. — Pieris rapce, S c h r a n k . Family, Papilionidce . Order, Lepidoptera. This insect, so recently imported, is now widely extended in our country, and a most serious pest. Description. — This butterfly is white, spotted with black, 22 Fig. 17. 338 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. resembling very much our old speckled white cabbage butterfly {Pieris proiodice, Boisd.), though, as will be seen by the figures (Fig. 17, male, Fig. 18, female), the spots are better defined, while usually there is less black. This larva (Fig. 19, a) is pale green, finely dotted with black, and when mature, one and one-half inches in lengthy while the larva of our old spotted butterfly is blue, striped with yellow. The chrysalis (Fig. 19, b), which fastens under a board or clod, at- taches at one end, and fastens a silken band around near the other ex- tremity. It is brown, while the old Fiam one is gray. I am thus particular in this description, as it is imperative, that we may know the enemy at the first onset, so as to give quick battle. Natuhal History. — These butterflies, like both species of our common white ones, are two-brooded. The first butterflies ap- pear early in spring, in April or May. After pair- ing, the eggs are deposited on the under side of the cabbage leaves. These hatch, and the larvae feed on the leaves, assume the chrysalis state, o^ and the imagoes come forth again in June or July. The second brood behave similarly, except that they remain as pupa or chrysalids through the winter. Remedies. — ^As pyrethrum is so fatal to these- ^^\oit^si£!^*' pests and so entirely non-poisonous to higher animals, it alone is all the remedy needed. Mixed one to twenty with flour, or one tablespoonful to two gallons of water — ^the first to be blown on by use of a hand bellows, the latter forced on by use of a fountain pump — I have found it quick death to these pests of the cabbage grower. This pyrethrum, which is the powdered flowers of a com- dosite plant, Pyrethrum cineraricefolium, is now extensively grown in California, and sold at reasonable prices. We find it admirable to kill house flies. We darken the rest of the INJURIOUS INSECTS. 339 house, and make the kitchen light. After getting the kitchen as full of flies as possible, we blow a little of the pyrethrum into the room, and in an hour have the pleasure of sweeping up the flies and burning them in the stove. They all fall in a stupor to the floor. Unless burned a few may recover. To breathe or even to eat it is entirely harmless to man and the higher animals. I have also used, the past season, kerosene to kill these insects. It can be mixed with sour milk or with soft soap, as before described. The evil from the cabbage butterfly is likely to be greatly mitigated among us by a parasite, which also pupates in the pupa skin of the butterfly. No pupa containing these should be de- stroyed. Such chrysalids may be known by their darker color. The Radish Fly. — Anthomyia raphani, Haw. Family, Muscidce. Order, Diptera. Natukal Histoey. — The small, ash-colored flies, very like the onion fly (Fig. 16), doubtless hibernate, though some may pass the winter as pupae. However this may be, the flies are around early in the spring, for our earliest radishes are the ones most liable to suffer from attacks. The eggs are laid on the stem close to the ground. These soon hatch, and the whitish, footless, conical larvae, very like the onion maggot (Fig. 16), feed on the roots, forming grooves all over its surface, which induces decay, and renders the roots unfit for use. In June they tranform to pupae and to images, and are ready to make a new deposit of eggs. Hence we see why our early radishes are so very liable to attack, while later ones are often free from injury, though some years none seem to escape. Whether th^re are more than two broods a year, and whether they attack other plants than radishes, are, so far as I know, still open questions. Remedies. — The late Dr. Walsh recommended hot water as fatal to these maggots and harmless to the plants. I have tried this with some, though not satisfactory success. I have suc- ceeded better by use of a carbolic acid mixture — ^the same that I would recommend to repel the peach borer moth and the squash borer moth. I mix one quart of soft soap and one gallon of water. Heat till the mixture boils, and then add one pint of 340 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. crude carbolic acid. This may be diluted with from twenty to fifty parts of water, and either sprinkled on to the young rad- ishes or turned into a trench made close beside the row. This preparation is also good to use about stables to keep the flies away, and in poultry houses to destroy lice and mites. For these last I have replaced the carbolic acid with kerosene. It is easier, however, to mix kerosene with sour milk. Blister Beetles. — L^tta cinerea, Fabr., and Li/tta atrata, Fabr. Family, Meloidw. Order, Coleoptera. These soft -shell, long -necked, .^ ,-__-. "r trim beetles — the one ash- 5i\ /mV colored (Fig. 20, a), the "^ other coal-black (Fig. 20, b) — are frequently very Flo.20.-e. Male and female aEtennse of 6. d. Same of o. injurious to VarfoUS Vege- tables and flowers. They sometimes attack beans and asters, and make quick work of whatever falls a prey to their vora- cious habits. Natural History. — The larval condition of these beetles has been unknown or involved in doubt. It is now known that allied species have a very strange and intricate metamorphosis, and are parasite on bees. The beetles appear in early summer and in autumn, and are very voracious feeders. Remedies. — These beetles have the habit of falling oif of the plants whenever the latter are suddenly jarred. So in case the plants are tall enough to receive a sheet beneath, or can be bent over an umbrella, the beetles may be readily gathered, and then destroyed by scalding or crushing. A striped blister beetle {Lytta vittata) is often called the old potato beetle, from its attacks on the potato. All of these beetles can be killed by use of Paris green or London purple. The Striped Cucumber Beetle. — Diabrotica vittata, Fabr. Family, Chrysomelidce. Order, Coleoptera. This beautiful little beetle, yellow with black stripes (Fig. 21), which seems suddenly to fairly swarm fig. 21. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 341 ■ on the cucumber and melon vines, is often the cause of great vexation to the gardener. Natural HisTORr. — The larvae (1, Fig. 22) feed on the roots and underground stems, mature in about a month, pupate in the ground, in which state they continue about two weeks, when the imagos appear. There are two broods a year, and may be three. It r passes the winter in the pupa state. The I first imagos of the season attack the young 1 vines, and in a single day may destroy them utterly. The later insects do not do so much damage, as the vines, from increased growth, are able to stand the attack. ^^- 22- Remedies. — Boxes covered with glass or millinet and placed over the vines are sure protection, providing^ the beetles do not get inside. If glass is used, care must Betaken to shade from the hot sunshine, or the plants may be ruined. These will form miniature hot-beds, and will hasten growth if rightly managed. Paris green is a certain preventive, and in careful hands is harmless to the vines. I have used this remedy with the very best success. I would put one part green to eight parts flour, apply when the vines are dry, and add just as little as I could and see it on the vines. Add a little too much, and the vines are sure to be killed. The past summer I found that the kero- sene and milk, one to ten, worked well in combating these insects. The Codling Moth. — Carpocapsapomonella, Linn. Family, Tortricidw. Order, Lepidoptera. — All will concede that this insect holds first rank among our insect pests. Natural History. — The little gray moths (Fig. 23, / and g), come forth in May and June, are wholly nocturnal, and therefore seldom seen. As soon as the fruit forms, a single egg is laid on the blossom end of the fruit (Fig. 23, h), and as soon as the egg hatches, the larva (Fig. 23, e) enters the apple. All know the subsequent history of the larva in the fruit, for who has 342 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. not seen the tiny white caterpillar, with its black head, min- , ing away at the rich pulp, which it replaces with filth ? In three weeks the larva matures, leaves the apple, and in some concealed place spins a silken cocoon (Fig. 23, i) and assumes the chry- salis state (Fig. 23, d) . In from nine to fifteen days, varying with the temperature, the moth issues. The apples are again stocked with eggs as before, after which comes a recurrence of all the disgusting work narrated above, except that the larvae, Fig. 23,-a, Work In Apple. 6, Place of En" UDOU leaving the apple, simplv trance, d, Papa, e, Larva. / and g. Images- ^ " i. r 7 c j h, Head of Larva, i. Cocoon. gpin cocoons, in which they re- main till spring, when they pupate, and in about two weeks the first moths appear. The time when the first moths come forth varies from May 1st tUl July 1st; so that moths wUl be issuing from May 1st tiU August 1st, and the "worms" will be leaving the apples from the last of June till the fruit is gathered. My own experience seems to show that no pupse are formed after the last week of August, as, so far as I have examined, all larvae that leave the apple after that time simply spin a cocoon, in which they remain as larvae till the next spring. Some of the observing fruit men of our State think that during the past season many of these insects pupated after that time. Such cases come not within my observation. Of those larvae which leave the apple while it still hangs in the tree, about one-half crawl down, till beneath some bark or in some crevice they find seclusion in which to spin unobserved. Those which fall to the ground with the fruit crawl out, and if the ground is free from all rubbish, stumps, etc., they crawl up the tree and hide as before. Remedies. — The old method of placing bands around the tree was not satisfactory, so many would not practice it, and so INJURIOUS INSECTS. 343 many who did put the bands in place, neglected to examine them and kill the worms, that this plan justly lost favor. A better method is to turn hogs and sheep into the orchard. They will eat the major half of the affected fruit. By discreet thinning, using a forked stick, we can ive the hogs nearly all the wormy fruit, and the increased size of the remaining fruit will I y for the thinning. The best way is to sprinkle ill bcdiinj, tittb \rith the arsenites two weeks after the trees bloom, and then two and four weeks later. Enough poison lodges on the apples to kill the worms ; but it is all washed off long before the fruit is fit to use. Three years' trial proves this remedy most ez- cellent. I use one pound of London purple to one hun- dred gallons of water ; draw it through the orchard in an open barrel with a float to pre- vent slopping, and distribute by means of Whitman's Fountain Pump. The practice of this method makes it less necessary to place close wire screens over the cellar windows in May, June, and July. Fires, or bottles of sweetened water, or vessels of sour milk, so often recommended to destroy these insects, will do no good whatever. Old Apple-tree Borer. — Saperda Candida, Fab. Family Cerambycidce. Order, Coleoptera. — This pest, which has been so long in our country, is widely distributed in our State. Very few, if any, orchards are exempt from its attacks. Not that it always, or generally, totally destroys the trees; still, those suffering from its attacks are always lessened in vitality, and it not unfrequently happens that the trunks become so riddled with their tunnels that the tree becomes a prey to the hard winds, which are sure to come with each re- turning year. FiQ. 24.— Whitman's Fountain Pump. 344 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. ^ -^ Natural History. — The beautiful brown beetle (Fig. 25, c), with its two stripes of white, appears early in June, and thence on through July. So the egg-laying is principally done in these two months. The grub (Pig. 25, j^H^L^pi 'lim^S^lll j mi3 j[ a) whitish, with ^'^SMf ' liiBrfflMt '^'-'wTMTv^ ^ round black head, eats through the bark, and then usually passes in and up, fre- quently eating through the branches far out toward the extremity. I have frequently found apple-tree limbs no larger than my thumbs, with a tunnel as large as a pipe-stem. These larvae push their saw-dust like particles back of them and out of the hole where they first entered, so that it is not diflScult to find them. They live and feed on the wood of the tree for three years; hence, we see how that a single larva may bore, if left undisturbed, for a distance of several feet. They finally bore a hole for exit, fill it slightly with their sawdust, and a little back of the same make a cocoon of their own chips, in which they pupate (Fig. 25, h). Soon after, in June and July, the beetles again appear. Remedies. — Soapy mixtures are found to be obnoxious to these beetles, so that in their egg-laying they are found to avoid trees to which such ah application has been made. Thus we may hope to escape all danger by washing the smooth trunks of our trees early in June, and again early in July, with soft soap or a very strong solution of the same. T. T. Lyon, now of South Haven, whose judgment is very reliable in such matters, urges that we always use the soap itself. I have found the car- bolic acid mixture, recommended for the radish maggot, undi- luted even better than clear soft soap. Its obnoxious principle is more lasting. We should always examine the trees carefully in September, and wherever we find this pernicious grub's saw-dust shingle out, we should give him a call. Perhaps we may reach INJURIOUS INSECTS. 345 him with a wire thrust into the hole, and by a vigorous ram- ming crush the culprit. If we have doubt as to the crushing, we should follow him with a knife ; but in cutting out the borers too great care can not be taken to wound the tree just as little as possible. This heroic method is sure, and requires very little time, and no person who takes pride in his orchard, or looks to it as a source of profit, can afford to neglect this September examination, nor the previous application of soap, to which it is supplementary. The Flat-Headed Borer.: — Chrysobothris femorata, Fab. Family, Buprestidce. « Order, Coleoptera. At present this borer is quite as ruinous as the preceding one, and I should not think it strange if in a well balanced account it was found even to surpass the other in the evil which it works to our fruit in- terests. I have seen young orchards nearly ruined the first summer after setting, by this devastator. Not long since a nurseryman came from a distant part of the State to consult me as to the ravages of this pest. He said that during the past summer, in some regions of the State, more than half the trees he sold were killed by this scourge, and of course he was un- justly blamed. At present, no nurseryman should sell trees without throwing in advice in regard to protecting against this devastator; for, as we shall see, such trees are peculiarly liable to attack. These borers are not confined to the apple-trees, as I have found them working in oak, maple, and other trees of our forests. Natural History. — This brownish beetle (Fig. 26), with a coppery luster, is found from May till August, though I have found them more common in June and July. As with the striped 8aperda, the eggs are laid on the bark. The whitish grubs (Figi 27), with their enormous front, brown head, and curled tail, usually bore only superficially, eating the inner bark and sapwood; yet I have seen, and have now on exhibition here at the college, sections fi°-28- of young trees over an inch in diameter, bored completely through by these big-headed rascals. They eat but a single le stripea 346 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. season, pupate as in the preceding case, and come forth as imagoes early in the spring. They usually work on the trunk, though sometimes in the branches, almost always on the south, the west, or the south- west sides of the tree ; and their whereabouts may always be ascertained, not only by the saw-dust, but also, and more certainly, by the black color of the bark. When the black color offers the suggestion of FiG.27. the presence of this borer, we can quickly become assured by striking a knife into the same. If the blade pierces the bark and goes on stiU a little further, we may be sure of the enemy's presence. This borer is far more liable to attack feeble trees. Any thing, therefore, which serves to diminish the vitality of the trees promotes the ravages of this borer. Hence, after such a winter as we have just experienced, or after having the growth of our trees interrupted by the removal from the nursery to our orchards, we are in special danger of harm from these destructive borers. Hence, the coming season, when loss will be inevitable, we should more than ever be on the alert to mitigate the dam- age by our vigilance and care, and by the timely application of Remedies. — The remedies for the flat-headed borer are the same as those given for the old borer — though these grubs may be found in. July and August, and to delay the cutting out till September would often be fatal, especially to trees in newly set orchards. I have known cases where labor of this kind in July would have paid more than f 100 a day, besides saving a great amount of vexation. Apple-Tree Bark Louse. — Mytilaspis conchiformis, Grme- lin. Family, Coccidce. Order, Hemiptera. This old enemy, though less destructive than formerly (probably because of par- asites and mites which prey upon it, so that, like the Hessian fly, wheat midge, and many other insects, it has probably done its worst work) , yet, to leave it to itself at the present time would be to yield the strife prematurely. Natural History. — The bark-colored, oblong scales (Pig. 28), so harmless in appearance, serve from August to May only for INJURIOUS INSECTS. 347 FiG. 28. protection to the 60 or 70 wee white eggs (1, Fig. 29) which are found underneath. About the first of June the young lice (2, Fig. 29) appear, — so small that, though clad in yellow, they can hardly be seen without a glass. Coming forth from under the scale, they roam about for a few days, — are sometimes blown to other trees, thus spreading their evil work, — ^but very soon settle down to earnest business. This consists in inserting their tiny beak and sucking the vitality from the trees. Very soon a scale (3, 4, 5, and 6, Fig. 29, diiferent stages of development of scale) commences to form around them, from an exudation which is a secretion from the general surface. By August the imper- vious scale is complete (7, Fig. 29). The eggs are then soon deposited, and the parent louse dr^es up and shrinks away to nothingness. ■ Remedies. — As the scale is impervious to most fluids, though oils win penetrate it and destroy the eggs, the best fio. 29. time to fight these insects is just after the eggs hatch. Hence, the same remedy recommended for the borers just described will prove effective here. The time of application is the same. Here then, three "birds are killed with one stone." Twig Borers. — There are two species of beetles which bore into the twigs of the apple tree and cause them to wither, one as a larva, the other when mature. Space will only permit me to state that to fight these we have but to cut oJff and burn the blighted twigs. Canker Worm. — Anisopteryx vernata, Peck. Family Pha- Icenidce. Order, Lepidoptera. This insect is widely prevalent in the United States, and once in an orchard, must be destroyed or the orchard will be. 348 THE PEOPLE '8 FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Natural History. — The wingless female moth (Fig. 30, b), and the trim male (Fig. 30, a), with his ample wings, both gray or ash color, the female being a little the darker, come forth from the U ^^^M^^^^^ ground early in the spring: — I have often seen the males dur- ' vvH'Z'!" "^ "**** iiig warm winter days. The fe- male crawls up the trunks of the apple trees, and after meeting the male, lays her cluster of eggs (Fig. 31, V), often to the num- ber of one hundred. If the female fails for any reason to gain access to the tree, she fastens these egg clusters to any convenient object. I have often seen them in Cambridge, Massachu- setts, fastened to the pickets or boards of BJi)--^ ^^S^T^ fences. After egg-laying these insects soon die. Just as the leaves begin to burst ^'°- *^- forth, the larvae (Fig. 31, a) begin to come forth. The larvae (Fig. 31, ffl) vary very much in color. At first they are very dark, with faint, yellowish stripes. When full-grown they are striped with ash color, black, and yellow, and are about one inch in length. These larvae belong to the loopers, or measuring worms, both names referring to their peculiar method of locomo- tion. They do not have the usual number of legs for caterpillars (16), but must be content with only ten. Hence their looping gait. They are also called drop worms, because of the habit of swinging from the tree by a thread when disturbed, or when they desire to go to the ground to pupate. As they are often seen thus suspended, it has been supposed that they frequently swing just for the pleasure of the thing. It may be that some disturbing wind or bird induced this strange maneuver. About the middle of June the larvae are full fed, the tree fully denuded of its foliage, and that, too, at the worst possible time, the growing season, when the " worms " make for the ground, some creeping down the trunk, others dropping down by a silken thread spun for the purpose. Upon reaching the ground they burrow to the depth of four or five inches, and in an earthen cocoon change to pupae. The chrysalis is of a light brown color. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 349 This destructive insect is not content to injure the apple tree alone, but is equally rieady to attack the elm, and not infrequently attacks cherry, plum, and other fruit and forest trees. Remedies. — The many old-time remedies must all sink before the use of the arsenites, just as advised for the codling moth. In fact, fighting these insects gave us the knowledge of our best remedy for the apple-worm. As soon as the blighted leaves show that the enemy has come, the poison should be applied. It is easy, safe, sure, and what more can we desire ? Here too, if the trees are in bearing, " we kill two birds with one stone," the codling moth and the canker worm. Tent Caterpillar. — Clisiocampa Americana, Harr. Family, BomhycidcB. Order, Lepidoptera. These familiar insects, so sure to fix their silken tents within our trees, come just at the right time to do the greatest harm, and should never be left to their miserable work of despoilation. Natural History. — These pretty moths (Fig. 32), brown in color, the female a little lighter and larger than the male, with two light bands running obliquely across the fore wings, appear in June and July. For the past four during our warm July evenings. years I have taken the first of these during the first week '( of July, and those reared in confinement came forth at the same time. These moths, unlike the codling moth, are attracte4 by lights, and very frequently fly into our rooms After pairing, the female moths 350 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. lay their eggs (c, Fig. 32) in a compact cluster about the small twigs, covering them with a glistening glue, so that they are impervious to water. These eggs — three hundred or four hun- dred in a cluster — hatch just as the leaves of the apple and cherry are putting forth, on both of which trees they are wont to engage in their ruinous work, seeming rather to prefer the wild cherry. They immediately weave their tents, and become conspicuous objects in the orchard. They remain huddled in these tents, except when going forth to feed. They are quite regular in taking their meals, and usually all go forth at once. These larvae or caterpillars (a, Fig. 32), variously striped with white, yellow, black and blue, are very handsome, feed vora- ciously, so that by the middle of June they are not only ma- tured in size — ^being now two inches in length — but have managed to strip the trees pretty thoroughly of their leaves. They then disperse, seeking in all directions for some crevice in which they may form their closely woven cocoons undisturbed and unseen. They pupate almost immediately. In about two weeks they come forth as moths. And thus, the cycle of growth and change completed, the moth sallies forth to again prepare for future evil. Remedies. — Among the many suggestions to destroy these pests, but one is worthy of adoption. As soon as the webs appear, go when the worms are in the tents, and by use of the hand, crush all the worms. This is easy, quick, and sure, and should never be neglected, as to strip the trees of leaves early in the season is very harmful. The Fall >A/'eb W^orm. — This insect comes in August; eats other leaves than those of the apple; feeds only while in the tent, and only eats the cuticle of the leaf. While these, coming so late, do little harm, compared with the tent caterpillar, they should be destroyed in the same way that we destroy that insect, for even neatness demands the death war- rant, and they do harm the trees. Plant Lice. — Aphides. Family, Aphidce. Order, Hemiptera. As plant lice, some species of which attack nearly every kind of plant, are so preyed upon by natural enemies that they INJURIO US INSECTS. 351 are of little importance as enemies to out-door plants, I shall not discuss them in detail, only remarking that tobacco water, whale oil soap solution, or a weak solution of petroleum, will destroy them. The kerosene and sour milk mixture is an excellent specific against plant lice. I have used one of kerosene to three of milk, without injuring the foliage, and yet all lice were killed. One to five I think perfectly safe on nearly all kinds of out- door plants. The mixture should be well stirred before use. Plum Curculio. — Conotrachelus nenuphar, Herbst. Fam- ily, Curculionidce. Order, Coleoptera. This little beetle, though so small, certainly ranks very high as an orchard pest. It is he that has almost banished plum culture in our State. It is he that ruins our cherries, often by wholesale. It is he that has a tooth for the luscious peach ; and unless prevented, materially lessens the profits. And even our king of fruits, the apple, is frequently made to contribute to the support of the little Turk. His presence in wind-fall apples has misled some good observers into thinking that the codling moth larvae had worked slightly on the apple and then left it. If this report could in- duce the restoration of plum culture in our country, by show- ing how easily we can secure our crops, it would pay its cost a million times over. Habits. — The curculio (Fig. 33 c) hibernates during the win- ter in the mature state. In early spring, and even later, he lies concealed by day under boards, clods, etc. This weevil is nocturnal, being active at night. So soon as our plums, peaches, and cherries set, the curculio, a little brown beetle, commences operations, imprinting the familiar crescent (Fig. 33, d) and placing an egg inside. This egg-laying continues even to July. As the weather becomes warmer the insect forsakes its habit of going down to the ground by day to hide, but remains in the tree. These beetles are not solely engaged in pairing and egg- la/ing, for they are good feeders, and gouge out many a hole in •our fruits to satisfy their appetites. The eggs soon hatch, when the young larvae bore into the fruit and continue to eat. As these are sometimes, though quite rarely, found in apples, I 352 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. would state that they can be easily told from the codling moth larvae, as they are without legs, thus resembling maggots. They grow rapidly to maturity (Fig. 35, a), thus causing plums, apples, and peaches to fall prematurely, though cher- ries usually remain on the tree. The earliest larvae are ready to go into the ground and pupate (Fig. 33, b) by the last of June. As egg-laying goes _ ^ on even till July, it will readily be ^jCTJ^M^ ^ -^ nHni ^^^^ ^^^^ larvse will be found in the Ji*v t|5^™ \aoM fruit all through the summer, and I ^"^jT have found them in peaches even in ^°- ^- September. All of these pupae change into mature insects during summer and autumn, so the in- sects all pass the winter as mature beetles, concealed either under boards, or in crevices, or even in the ground. In May they commence coming forth, and continue to put in an appear- ance even to mid-summer. We see, then, that the old disputed question is settled — that these insects are single brooded, and that the old notion that they were double brooded, arose from the fact that some are so early, while others are very tardy in coming from their winter retreat; though it may be that those insects that appear so late in our orchards come from other orchards, or even from the forests. As was said above, these insects are nocturnal, though they will fly in the hot sunshine. Yet they will fly more freely at night, and seem far less. timid. It is a fortunate peculiarity of this beetle to fall from the tree if it is suddenly jarred. In this condition, when it seems to contract itself to the utmost, it has been compared not inaptly to a dried bud. Remedies. — Early in the season the curculio hides during the day beneath chip or clod at the base of the tree. Hence the peach growers of the " Michigan Fruit Belt " trap these weevils under chips early in the season. During the day they are gathered and destroyed. The gathering must not be com- menced too early or delayed too late or we may fail to find all. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 353 The jarring process alone will prove successful late in the season, and many use it exclusively. This consists in passing through the orchard, morning or evening, placing under each tree a sheet, and then giviug the tree a sharp blow with a mallet, whereupon the insects will fall upon the sheet and can be gath- ered and destroyed. The sheet had best be fastened to a frame in the shape of an inverted umbrella, and carried on one or two wheels, if it is to be used extensively. A slit in the front, opposite the handles, allows the sheet to be brought under the tree. The size of the wheels and the sheet can be adjusted to suit the ideas of the orchardist and the size of his trees. If there are but few trees, the sheet can be tacked to a frame and carried by two persons. The mallet should be of rubber, so as not to mar the trees, though some saw off a limb or drive in a spike, in which case the blow will cause no injury to the tree. In case of a few plum trees, it is well to have chickens con- fined beneath them. The jarring winds will bring the beetles down, when the chickens will pick them up. There is consider- able evidence in favor of this plan. StiU, with the present high price of plums, no one can affor^ to be without these trees, nor can we afford to leave them solely to the care of fowls, but should always practice the other method, which will insure good crops of this luscious fruit, and thus give us a luxury for our tables and money for our pockets. I have had a fine annual crop of plums for several years. I use a padded mallet and a square sheet, tacked on one side to a pine strip as long as the side of the sheet. From the middle of the opposite side it is sHtted to the center, and to the edge each side of the slit a light pine strip, half the length of the other strip, is tacked. This is light, easily hand- I'm Si.-a, Male. 6, Female. led, and convenient to bring immediately under the tree, As many know, we are greatly aided in our attempts to baffle the 23 354 TEE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. evil attempts of injurious insects, by a host of parasites, chief among which are the ichneumon flies, which may readily he known by their long, compressed abdomens, and long, ex- serted ovipositors. It is wonderful, the instinct that guides these insect destroyers to their enemies. Eyen the plum cur- culio, secluded, as he is, and seemingly so exempt from moles- tation as a larva, has more than one of these wily foes to cut short his work of destruction. One of these (Fig. 34), the Sigalphus curculonis, Fitch, has been known to work on the cur- culio for a number of years. The female in the illustration shows the attitude in which the fatal thrust is made. It is very interesting to watch the operation of egg-laying, as I have fre- quently done, of another ichneumon during the past summer, on our currant "worms." Peach Borer. — Mgeria exitosa, Say. Family, Mgereidoe. Order, Lepidoptera. — This beautiful, slender, blue moth, which flies in the bright sunshine, is not as well known as the whitish caterpillar which does such pernicious work boring into our peach trees. In the recent statements from leading fruit men in Indiana and Michigan, ^h^re this pest has been so per- sistently and vigorously fought that it seems to be nearly exter- minated, we have encouraging intimation of what concerted action, which this report is aiming to promote, will do in de- stroying any of our insects. Such news items should encourage aU to enlist and press forward in the good work. Natural History. — These gay moths (Fig. 35), resembling wasps in appearance, come forth in July, August, and Septem- ber. I have hatched them in all of these months. They soon pair, and then egg-laying com- mences. The eggs are laid just at the base of the trunk. Soon Fia. 35.-1, Male. 2, Female. after the whitish larvse win be found, as they have commenced boring in the bark and sap- wood just beneath the surface of the ground. Wherever they work, just beneath the earth will be found a sticky mass formed of the oozing gum and their chip-dust, which gives quick indi- INJURIOUS INSECTS. 355 cation of their presence. These larvae are found of varying sizes, which is easily understood, from the fact of the length of time at which the moths come forth, from July to Septem- ber. These larvae will be found at work till about the first week of July, when we will often only find a pupa incased in a rough cocoon of chip-dust, earth, and gum. By seeking out these oval cocoons, any one may, by keeping them in earth in a close box, rear the beautiful moths. The female (1, Fig. 35), is larger^ darker, than the male, and has a bright, yellow band across her abdomen. The male (2, Fig. 35), expands about an inch. In hatching a large number, I have found that the ratio of males to females is about one to five, which would seem to indicate that polygamy reigned among insects. In pushing out of their cocoon, the pupa skin is always left pro- jecting from the opening. Perhaps the split cocoon serves them as a vi^e, thus aiding them to gain their freedom. Remedies. — It has been recommended to mound the trees with earth in summer. Of course, the caterpillars will still work near the top of the mound. In fall, say the last of September, these mounds are pulled down, and the hot sun kills the tender-skinned larvae. There are three objections to this plan: 1st. The mounds interfere with the Ransom process of fighting the cur- culio. 2d. Removing the earth in autumn endangers the trees during our severe winters. 3d. It is not absolutely safe. The best method, and I believe a cheaper than the above, is to dig them out in the fall, the last of September. The oozing gum leads to their quick detection, when they can be easily crushed. Our best pomologists, for fear some wee depredators escaped detection, go over the trees again in May. This is not a tedious process, and should never be neglected. I have seen whole orchards languishing, and many trees killed outright by neglect to destroy these hateful miners. Such neg- lect in case of a fruit so rare, so delicious, and so profitable wherever it can be successfully grown, is most unwise. Judge J. G. Ramsdell, so well and favorably known as a pomologist, tells me of a new method of mounding which is Tvithout the usual objections, and he claims a great saving of 356 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. labor. He hooks tins around the trees — the same used to keep the cut-worm at bay. These are some larger than the tree, and four or five inches wide. He fills in between them and the tree with earth. This is done about the first week of July, after the cut-worms have ceased work, and in time for the first eggs of the borer. In September he removes the tins and de- stroys the caterpillars, which can be done with far less labor than when we have to dig them from beneath the earth at its usual level. The late Secretary Bateham, of Ohio, was the first to recom- mend the carbolic acid mixture, already referred to in treating of the radish maggot and apple tree borers, to repel the peach borer. It should be turned on the earth at the base of the tree in July and August. It prevents the moth from egg- laying. Pear or Cherry Tree Slugs. — Selandria cerasi, Peck. Family, Tenthredinidce. Order, Hymenoptera. The destructive proclivities of these slimy "worms" are far too well known in our State. I have seen cherry trees in various localities badly injured by them, and the pear trees of one of our first pomologists almost destroyed. Pew insects are so easily over- come; so with knowledge, vigilance, and promptness we may expect to soon be rid of a grievous pest. Natural History. — The shining black fly, less than one- fourth of an inch-long, appears in early and late summer. The eggs are deposited on the under side of the leaves. The larvae are brown, possess twenty feet, taper posteriorly, and are covered with a viscid, olive-colored slime, hence the name slug. Not all so-called slugs among insect larvae are characterized by this unctuous covering, but all the larvae of this destructive family may be quickly determined by the excessive number of legs, as they never contain less than eighteen, and sometimes as many as twenty-two. No other insect larvae have to exceed sixteen, the number generally possessed by caterpillars. These larvae only eat the cuticle of the leaf, thus causing it to turn brown and sere. In three or four weeks the larvae have ma- tured, and pass down the tree and enter the earth, where they INJURIOUS INSECTS. 357 pupate, the flies of the first brood appearing late in August, those of the second late in May or early in June. These destructive insects belong to the very destructive family known as saw-flies, so named because of the wonderful organs terminat- ing their bodies, which they use to form the groove for their eggs. As they may be seen in the microscope, these organs are very beautiful, and would serve well for models of our instruments of the same name. These cherry-tree slugs have been known to work on the plum tree, and some other of our shrubs. Remedies. — The slime of these insects makes them peculiarly susceptible to any application like ashes, road dust (some deny that road dust is effectual), or lime. Hence, throwing any of the above substances into the tree where these insects are at work is sure to check their ravages. Such treatment goes to the root of the matter by destroying the source of the evil. These larvae, as also those of other slugs, as the rose slug, so destruc- tive in our State, and the pine tree slug, are destroyed by such solutions as white hellebore, quassia, Pai'is green with water, whale oil soap, carbolic acid, or coal oil. These last, of course, must be applied very weak, or the tree or plant will be injured. My friend, B. Reynolds, has killed the pine tree slug with Paris green, applied at my suggestion, one-half tablespoonful to a pail of water. The same remedy will banish the rose slug. The past season I have destroyed the rose slug, raspberry slug, and currant slug by use of pyrethrum, as recommended for cabbage- butterfly, and also by kerosene and sour milk, as used for squash-bug. Plant Lice. — Aphis mali, Fabr., A. cerasi, Fabr. Family, AphidoB. Order, Hemiptera. All our fruit men are familiar with the plant lice, as hardly a plant but suffers from the at- tack of some species. Yet, doubtless owing to the many natu- ral enemies, and notwithstanding their wonderfully prolific ten- dencies, they are rarely very destructive. Sometimes they will attack a tree, and seem to draw heavily upon its vitality, and the very next year not a single louse will be found on the tree. I have noticed this repeatedly. 358 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Natural History. — These aphides, sometimes green, as is the case with the apple and rose aphis, and sometimes black, as seen in the species attacking the cherry, pass the winter as eggs. I speak of those left out of doors. These hatch into females, which keep producing young, without any appearance of males, all sum- mer through; so that the number of insects which may come from a single egg in a season is alarmingly prodigious. This may continue for eight or nine generations. But with the last brood in autumn there come forth true males and females. These pair and lay the eggs which are to produce the females in the succeeding spring. This kind of reproduction is not confined to plant lice. Other insects show the same peculiarity. In fact, it is a well demonstrated fact that drone bees are the product of unfertilized eggs. The two projecting tubes from the posterior parts of the flask-shaped bodies of these lice are called nectaries, as there exudes therefrom a sweet substance. This sweet secre- tion attracts the ants, hence the reason that we usually see plants attacked by lice also covered with ants. The lice and ants seem to dwell together very amicably. In fact, there seems to be an affection, not disinterested, to be sure, between them, as the ants caress the lice in a very loving manner, and in case of disturbance are very eager in their efforts to protect and care for the lice. Remedies. — Syringing the plants with tobacco water is sure destruction to these insects. If limbs of small trees are alone attacked, they may be dipped in the fluid. Whale oil soap so- lution, and even common soap-suds are beneficial, while the kero- sene and sour milk already recommended, is a sure remedy. I think that these insects, where they are exposed to our cold winters and to the host of lice destroyers, will never do great mischief; but in our green-houses and on our house plants they have full chance to work their ruin. But in these cases tobacco water and tobacco smoke are effectual preventives, and where else can this article, tobacco, be so appropriately used as in the destruction of these miserable lice ? Imported Currant Borer. — ^geria tipuKformis, Linn. Family, MgeridoR. Order, Lepidoptera. This moth is widely INJURIOUS INSECTS. 359 distributed through the United States, as the weak and dying currant bushes with their hollow stems clearly prove. As will be noticed, this beautiful wasp-like moth belongs to the same family and genus as the peach borer. The moths of this family may be readily told by their trim form, quick movements, diurnal habits, flying in the hot sunshine, and especially by the brush- like character of the tip of the body. This last character will serve to distinguish them from the wasps, — an important fact, as even entomologists of considerable experience are liable to be deceived, so striking is the resemblance. The larvse of the family, so far as I know, are without exception borers. They are white with a brownish head, and generally pupate in a co- coon made of their own chips or dust. Description and Natural History. — The moth is a little less than one-half inch long, and expands three-fourths of an inch. The color is deep blue, with three yellow bands across the ab- domen, a yellow collar, and yellow mixed with blue marking the legs. These yellow bands, so like the same in many of our wasps, render this species all the more liable to be mistaken, especially as they mingle with the wasps, making a gay company in the bright sunshine. Yet the tufted extremity, in lieu of a pointed one tipped with a dreaded spear, will quickly un- deceive us. These moths appear in. June and July. They deposit their eggs near a bud, at which work they seem very busily engaged during the heat of the day. These eggs soon hatch, and the tiny caterpillar at once bores to the center of the stem. These larvse may be found in the stem from June to July the fol- lowing year. I have taken the moth from the bushes with my net, and the nearly full-grown larvse from the hollow stem the same day, June 22d. A curious example of wise foresight is afforded by these larvse in their eating through the hard wood and bark before assuming the pupa state, as without such forecast and action the hollow stem would be a fatal dungeon to the moth, whose slender sucking tube and wanting jaws would render their escape hopeless. 360 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. These insects seem to attack the red currant more generally, yet the black variety, and even the gooseberry, is not exempt from its blasting work. Not only do the broken stems, so weak- ened as to be unable to stand upright, but also the sickly ap- pearance of the foliage tell of this insect's presence and work. Bending the stocks wiU also generally give the needed informa- tion, as the affected ones bend more readUy. The hollows in stocks cut across will inform us of their previous or present work. Remedies. — It has been suggested that we catch the moths. I think this is not a practical remedy. The moths are so small, so quick, so wasp-like, that I should despair of this ever becom- ing generally practiced. I would suggest letting the bushes sprout up pretty freely, and then each springs practice heavy pruning, taking pains to cut and burn the feeble and limber stocks. This should be done about May 20th; if later, some of the earlier moths might escape, if earlier, the pruner could not discriminate so wisely between healthy and diseased stems. Imported Gooseberry Saw^-Fly.' — Nematus ventricosus, Klug. Family, Tenthredinidce. Order, Hymenoptera. This gooseberry (or currant) slug is a fearful devastator, often com- pletely defoliating the bushes the first year that it appears. Natural History. — The yellow female saw-fly (Pig 36, h), about the size of the house-fly, with black head, meets the smaller male (Fig. 37, a) which has more black, and commences laying her whitish transparent eggs along the veins underneath the leaf, about the first of May. These hatch in three or four days, and the green twenty-legged " worms " (Fig 37, a) dotted with black until the last moult, when they are entirely green, commence immediately to feed on the leaves. These larvae eat voraciously, and soon become full grown, being then INJURIOUS INSErm. 361 three-fourths of an inch long. These larvae either go into the earth, under leaves, or remain attached to the bushes, and spin a cocoon of brownish silk. The larvae will be found at work till in July, as there are two broods each season. They remain as pupse till the following spring, when the flies come forth to repeat the round of mischief. Remedies. — Prevention being universally conceded to be bet- ter than cure, all should be certain not to import these insects in procuring the plants. As the cocoons are hid in spring among the roots, these should be carefully washed and the material washed off and burned. The absence of such precautionary measures accounts for the rapid spread of these pests. The leaves when first worked on are perforated with small holes (Fig. 37). As there are comparatively few, the eggs being so compactly placed that but few leaves receive them, they can be gathered and burned. But if we have failed, either through ignorance or neglect, to destroy these destroyers fill they become scattered over the bushes, we still can offer effec- tual battle. White hellebore, dusted upon the vine in the same manner that we would recommend for applying the Paris green mixture on the potato, is sure destruction to these " worms." This is the best applied when there is little or no wind ; and, though poisonous, is entirely safe if used cautiously. If it is preferred, as in most cases it doubtless will be, the hellebore may be mixed with water and applied with a sprinkler, in which case we are independent of wind, and can not inhale it. An ounce to a pail of water is sufficient. As it costs but forty cents per pound, it will be seen that it is not expensive. Climbing Cut-Worms. — Agrotis me!worm can not pass over the surface of smooth tin. Judge Ramsdell would have the tins longer, and fasten by hooking, as the ends are bent for that purpose. He thinks there is little danger of the larva passing between the band and tree. He uses these same bands in fighting the peach-borer, as already described. As these pests work far worse on sandy land, those having orchards on light soil will have to be specially vigilant. The Rose Chafer. — Macrodactt/lus sulspinosa, Fabr. Family, Scarabeidce. Order, Coleoptera. As this old pest of the rose is becoming quite destructive to the grape in various sec- tions of our country I wiU give it brief attention. Natural History. — Its history and habits closely resemble those of its family relation, the May beetle, already described. The beetles appear in June and July; eat most ravenously, seeming to relish rose leaves, grape leaves, and even cherry leaves. After this wedding feast is over, the females lay their eggs in the ground. The grubs feed on the roots of plants, but are not sufficiently destructive to attract attention. The pupae may be found in May, and in June the beetles come forth again. Remedies. — As this beetle will, like the curculio and blister beetles, faU from the plants whenever disturbed, they may be shaken onto sheets placed under the vines, and destroyed. 364 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. It is said that Paris green is no help in warding off these beetles. Occasionally a person states that he has defeated them by the use of this poison. Is it not probable that the arsenites will kill them, but that they come in such armies that where one falls two are ready to take its place ? Were I confronted by this host of destroyers, I should try Paris green, or London- purple, the kerosene and sour milk, and the pyrethrum in hopes of finding an easier way to banish them, than that of jarring them onto sheets and killing them. Space will only permit a brief mention of several insects which often do serious damage. The Army Worm. — Fortunately these insects appear in destroying numbers so rarely that, though sometimes they com- mit terrible havoc, they are not a great source of annoyance with our farmers. Paris green will poison them; but they invade the oat fields in such numbers that this is not a practical cure. The best way to keep them away is to dig a ditch on the side of the field which they approach with a steep side toward the field. Every few feet at the bottom of the ditch something like post holes are dug. These catch the worms, which by use of a sort of pounding stick we may destroy en masse. The National Agricultural Reports treat elaborately of this insect. The Cotton Worm. — This terrible pest of the South is best destroyed by use of London purple, as already described. Hose carts made purposely to apply the poison mixed with water are extensively used. This insect is also fully considered in the reports of the Department of Agriculture. The Cotton Ball W^orm of the South, or Corn W^orm of the West. — These insects, which fed extensively on the ears of green corn as far north as Michigan in 1881, are very destructive South and West. These insects in the mature or moth stage, like the cut worm moths, are attracted by sour milk, by sirup, and by bright lights, which suggests ways to destroy them. Lfice and Mites. — These insects, which attack our domes- tic animals, often work quite serious mischief. They cause the poultry to languish, and our larger animals to become poor and INJURIOUS INSECTl>. 365 feeble. A salve made by mixing kerosene and lard or kerosene and sulphur is an excellent specific against these pests. In case of poultry, it should be rubbed on the roost poles and on various parts of the body of the fowl. On cattle or larger animals it should be rubbed on the bodies where the lice are thickest. A decoction made by steeping tobacco stems will quickly kill lice on any animal if the latter is washed with it. In winter this is troublesome to apply. Ticks on sheep can be destroyed by dipping in tobacco water. I have killed sheep ticks by smoking with tobacco, making use of a common bee smoker. Long-wool sheep are most affected. It is quite easy to part the long coat and apply the poisonous fumes. Pyrethrum is excellent to destroy lice and mites on our do- mestic animals. In close buildings it may be blown into the rooms containing the affected animals, or it may be rubbed on the skin between the hairs or feathers. Space forbids further mention of our insect enemies. With the hints already given, the wise, thoughtful man may be able to treat others not mentioned. For those eating foliage which is not to be fed to animals, like that of the potato and our fruit and shade trees, use the arsenites. On cabbage and currants, where these virulent poisons are not safe, use pyrethrum. For the sucking insects, like plant lice or bugs, the kerosene and milk will prove effectual. Kerosene and carbolic acid are excellent to repel insects and so prevent egg-laying, as suggested in case of the apple-tree and peach-tree borers. Bisulphide of carbon is a most excellent insecticide when the insects can be confined in a close box, like grain weevils, etc. We must remember, however, that the va- pors are very explosive. 366 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter XIV. tim:be>r qrowing kor prokit. THE wanton waste and destruction of timber in the United States is unparalleled. Dr. Townshend, in a lecture on forestry at the State University at Columbus, Ohio, stated that in twenty-five years the area of timber in the United States had been reduced more than one-half. In many localities I have seen the farmer deadening and burning the timber on his land, or giving it to any one who would take it away, and in less than twenty years in the same locality the scarcity was so great that timber lands were worth double the price of those that were cleared, and often a single tree would bring the price of an acre of land. In the absence of any laws regulating the amount of forests in this country, the only way to secure a proper quantity of timber seems to be to appeal to the farmer's pocket and show him that the growing of timber can be made profitable, thus en- listing the same motive in the work of replacing our forests which has led to their destruction. Scarcely one farmer in a thousand has any experience in growing timber, and to most of them it seems so great an un- dertaking, and one requiring so great length of time and beset by so many difficulties, that they are inclined to leave it to the next generation. I have been fortunately situated for observing the growth of forest trees, particularly the black locust, and am able to show conclusively that on cheap lands, to which it is adapted, there is no farm product which can be grown at so large a profit, and that instead of planting for the next genera- tion, a man may sell two or three crops from the same plot during an ordinary life-time, or may have a steady income for many years from a locust plantation. TIMBER GROWING FOR PROFIT. 367 Before going into details as to how to plant, cultivate, and care for timber to make it profitable, there are a few facts which I wish to impress. 1st. The area of timber in the United States is rapidly decreasing, while the consumption is increasing. The value of the annual product of sawed lumber for the ten years included in the last census, 1870 to 1880, was in round num- bers two hundred and thirty-three million dollars. At the pres- ent rate of consumption the supply will not last a generation. 2d. Under these circumstances prices must advance, for it is certain that the demand will exceed the supply. 3d. The at- tention of farmers generally has not been called to this subject, and for many years to come there will be but little systematic tree-planting, which insures a large profit to those who first en- gage in it. 4th. Aside from the question of pecuniary profit, there are many incidental advantages connected with timber planting which are worthy of attention. Forests temper the heat of summer and break the cold winds of winter, and the history of many wooded countries that have been stripped of their timber shows that drought and floods were greatly increased in severity thereby. The value of shelter belts of timber both for the protection of stock and crops has been shown on the prairies, and when even one-sixth of the land has been devoted to this purpose, it has been found that the remainder produced as much grain as the entire amount without such protection. The humidity of the atmosphere is largely affected by the leaves of growing forests, and while I think the danger of our country becoming rainless by the depletion of its forests has been exaggerated, I am sure that much further reduc- tion of forest would be unfavorable. The effect of forests upon the beauty of the landscape is worth taking into account in connection with the question of tree-planting, for there are few sights more lovely than a land- scape dotted with forests, with light and shadow playing upon them, or with the vivid green of midsummer or the brilliant tints of autumn. Much of our steep hill land is liable to wash, and on some soils this caii only be prevented by the roots of growing trees. There are hillsides now gullied and seamed so that they 368 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. produce no grass, which can only be clothed with verdure again by first planting trees upon them. Another fact not generally known to farmers is that trees will make a profitable growth on lands that have been so ex- hausted by cropping or even by washing that they will not pro- duce a crop of grain that will pay for cultivating, and also on wet, cold lands that would not produce grain without drainage. It is also true — of some varieties of timber, at least, and on some lands — that more grass wUl be produced with the trees growing than if the land was bare. This is especially true of lands that have a steep southern slope, so as to receive the rays of the sun almost vertically, for without shade the grass will be burned out. These southern slopes when planted in timber produce the ear- liest pasture, for the fallen leaves protect the grass through the winter, and it starts early and makes a large growth before the trees leave out in the spring. Botany teaches us that plants have their afl&nities and dislikes, and locust-trees and blue grass illustrate the first, for while this grass may not be as nutritious when grown in a locust plantation, it produces as large a crop, and on some lands very much more, than if there were no trees growing. What Trees to Plant. — The tree planter must be gov- erned by his soil and needs in determining this question. It would be unwise to plant largely of varieties that do not grow naturally in your locality, at least until they had been tested. In all localties where the black locust flourishes it will without doubt furnish valuable timber, and be ready for market sooner than any other. Where a quick growth is wanted for a shelter belt or. where the object is to grow a supply of fire-wood as soon as possible, I doubt if any thing better than the soft maple can be had, although in some localities the box elder or cotton-wood might be preferable, or on wet soils some variety of willow. On many farms there are fields which might be fenced with lines of osage hedge and these allowed to grow into timber, while at the same time they were utilized for fences. In other localities, where evergreens flourish, they will be found profit- able. When the object is to establish a permanent forest, with- TIMBER GROWING FOR PROFIT. 369 out regard to quick returns, hard or sugar maple, ash, oak, and black walnut will be found profitable varieties, and on soils and in localities suited to it, the American sweet chestnut. I do not recommend the catalpa, because its crooked habit of growth prevents it from being valuable for timber, and there are other trees more profitable for fire-wood. "Where to Plant. — As a rule, timber should be planted on land unsuited for cultivation — hillsides or small, ill-shaped de- tached pieces of land separated from the other parts of the farm by a road or stream. The exceptions to this are on farms where all the land is level and suitable for cultivation, or where it is desirable to plant for a wind-break across the end of a level field. Clumps or borders of trees should be planted in the permanent pastures, or rows of them may be planted along the fences adjoining these pastures. Wherever a field is exposed to the west winds, a strip one or two rods wide across that side of the field may be profitably devoted to a belt of trees, as they wiU furnish protection to grain and stock, and at the same time be growing into valuable timber. In most localities the waste lands if planted in timber Would give a large area, and perhaps all that would be necessary to preserve a proper balance between timbered and cultivated lands. • How to Plant. — ^A great deal of foolish advice is given about starting a timber plantation. A majority of the farmers whom I have heard talk about it, think that aU that is neces- sary is to keep the cattle out of the wood lots and allow them to renew themselves, or that the seed should be sown broadcast, and if the trees come up too thick allow them to thin them- selves by a natural process. This is as unwise as it would be to depend on our wheat fields reseeding themselves from the shattered grain. We need as thorough preparation of the soil for planting a forest as for putting out a grain crop, and the land should be fully occupied. Nature is prodigal. She sows a million Seeds for one tree that comes to maturity, and the work assigned to man is to im- prove on nature. Nature starts a hundred trees on a square rod and leaves a dozen rods without any. Man improves, and 24 370 TBI! PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. systematizes the work by planting the trees so that they can be cultivated and so that all the land will be occupied. Nature is never hurried, it makes no difference to her if a hundred years pass before the tree is large enough to be valuable, but man can not afford to wait. As a rule it is not well to replant the old wood lots, for it is better to start our timber plots on old worn fields and leave the fresh virgin soil of the wood lot — when cleared — for grain. Forest trees should be started in a nursery, and transplanted at one or two years old. The quick-growing varieties, such as the locust and soft maple, should be transplanted at one year old, as if they have received proper care they will have attained sufficient size by that time. Most varieties can be bought at from two to fifteen dollars per thousand, of nurserymen who make a specialty of growing them, and some the farmer can grow himself. The soft maples mature their seed early in May, and this may be gathered and planted immediately, and with good care the trees will grow from three to five feet high the first summer. All forest trees should be thoroughly cultivated after being set out in the plantation, till they are well established and have made a good start to grow. Under favorable circumstances they will only require to be cultivated the first season after transplanting, but two, or even three years of cultivation will often pay. As a rule they should be planted much thicker than they are to stand, as this will induce a straight, upward growth. My first planting of forest trees was made in 1863, at which time I planted a lot of soft maples and evergreens. The maples were two years old from seed and the evergreens about two feet high. In twenty years the largest of these maples standing singly girted forty-six inches, four feet above the gi'ound, and those standing in a row at an average distance of three feet apart in the row, had a circumference varying from twenty-five to thirty-five inches at the same height, and carried a good-sized trunk to the height of twenty -five feet. The Aus- trian pines averaged forty inches in circumference near the ground, and thirty inches as high up as I could reach. In 1872 TIMBER GROWING FOR PROFIT. 371 I set oae thousand soft-maple trees in nursery rows, planting them one foot apart in the row, the plot comprising about one- tenth of an acre. Nine years- later I cut a half cord of wood from eighteen of these trees, occupying one row fifty feet long, the rows having been thinned by digging shade trees. I do not consider these growths remarkable, and think it would be easy to find timber plots that have done better. Locust GroAAring. — In all localities where it will flourish — and it adapts itself to a great variety of soils and a wide range of climate — it is doubtful if any tree can compare with the locust for profit. The valuable variety is known both as the black and yellow locust, and both names are given to it in the catalogues. The botanical name is Rohinia pseudacacia. It has short thorns, quite sharp and plenty on the young trees, but they become few and blunt as the tree gets older. (This should not be confounded with the honey locust, which has long sharp thorns, and is of but little value for timber.) It is ex- tremely hardy, can be grown easily from seed, bears transplant- ing well, makes a very rapid growth, and is surpassed by few if any varieties of timber for durability. I have seen posts of this timber still in a good state of preservation that had been in use for thirty-five years. Another thing which adds to its value is that it has but little sap-wood, and the trees may be cut as soon as their diameter is sufficient for a post, and will be nearly or quite as durable as older timber. A plantation once started is for life, for when cut off, it at once renews itself, and the second crop will be large enough for posts in about three years less time than the first grew. I have watched the growth of locust timber grown from the seed, for more than thirty years, and have seen the same plot cut and marketed twice in that time, and for five years I have been planting an average of about one thousand trees a year, so it will be seen that I speak from experience in the mat- ter. The first locust plantation that I ever saw planted was in the spring of 1850. The seed was dropped in hills four feet apart each way, where it was to grow. I would never recommend this plan, as some hiUs will be crowded and others 372 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. vacant, and the young plants are not likely to receive the care they require when scattered over so much land. Enough plants to set an acre can be grown on from five to ten square rods, and it is always best to grow the plants in the nursery, and at least one year will be gained by this plan. The plantation above mentioned was cut off clean and mar- keted in 1868, but as the owner is dead I have no means of knowing what amount of money was realized, but I know that it was several hundred dollars per acre. The trees had been thinned first for bean poles, and when larger for fence stakes, until at the time it was cut off clean they stood about eight feet apart each way, or at the rate of six hundred and forty to the acre. In 1879, eleven years from the time it was cut clean, I noticed the owner bringing out a load of posts from it, and I made a careful examination of the plot. I found that each stump had thrown up from three to seven sprouts, the largest of which. were now being cut, and I estimated that there were from twenty-five hundred to three thousand trees to the acre. This thinning process has now been carried on for five years, and in the spring of 1881 over four hundred posts to the acre were cut, and there are still trees enough left to make a dense forest. This plantation is on a piece of level land that is separated from the rest of the farm by a ravine. A few years later, about 1856, 1 think, the same man planted eight acres of steep hill-side in locust. The land slopes to the south, and is of irregular shape, following the windings of a creek. As this plot lies near the road, I have seen it almost every day for twenty-five years, and have been able to watch the growth of the trees, and to note the product of grass. As soon as the trees were out of the way of calves, blue-grass was sown, and for twenty years the sod has been undisturbed, for when the first growth of timber was cut off in 1870, the field was not plowed. In the spring of 1883 I examined it, and found from two hundred to five hundred trees growing to the acre, two-thirds of them large enough for posts, and tall enough to make two cuts to the tree. There had been several hundred TIMBER GROWING FOR PROFIT. 373 i posts cut. to the acre from this plot, so that the trees now stood in clumps of from three to five, in rows ahout one rod apart each way. In the sumtHer of 1883 the present owner of this land, at my request, examined his books to see what his sales had been, and he reported 6,608 posts and stakes sold in four years, at an average price of fifteen cents each, making |991.20. The farm, which contains one hundred acres, has been rented at $350 a year during this time, and the income from these ten acres — eight of which are unfit to cultivate — ^has averaged $247.80 per year for the four years. The larger part of the posts were from the thinnings of the grove, and there can be as many more sold during the next four years, and the plantation is continually renewing itself. In my judgment this land has produced double the grass that it would have done if exposed to the sun, and while I do not think it is as nutritious as that grown in the open field, young stock do fairly well on it. In the spring of 1867, thirty-three locust trees, which stood in a row not far from my house, were cut and made into posts. I do not know the age of these trees, as they were standing ■when I moved to the State in 1848, but they were not far from twenty-five years old at the time of cutting. They made an average of twelve good posts and six fence stakes each, and the wood from the limbs paid for cutting and splitting the posts. There, grew from the stumps and roots of this row two hundred trees, and when the owner, thirteen years later, began cutting posts from them, I found that the largest of them would make four post lengths, and were large enough to split into two posts at the butt, and second cut. In the fall of 1883 I again exam- ined this plot, and counted one hundred trees large enough for posts (although many had been cut), and nearly as many smaller ones. This hundred trees would average three posts to the tree, and as there was but an eighth acre of land occupied this would give a handsome profit. My first planting of locust (1,800 trees), was made on a piece of cold, wet land, which I could not conveniently drain. The soil is a heavy clay, with a compact yellow clay subsoil. 374 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. The trees have made an excellent growth, and now, at six years old, are large enough for fence stakes. Four years ago I planted a row of locusts trees (one year old from seed), four feet apart in the row, between a cultivated field and a piece of permanent pasture which lay north of it. The row is fifty rods long, and I designed to use the trees for posts, either attaching wires to them or setting up light panels of board fence against them. The spring they were set we had the dryest May I ever remem- ber, and all the trees died down to the ground, but on the 30th day of May a soaking rain revived them, and they started from the root, and every tree grew. As this growth was not strong or straight as I wished, I cut them back to the ground the fol- lowing spring, and rubbed off" all but one sprout, when they started to grow. Three summers' growth made these trees strong enough to support panels of fence, but I made instead a brush fence by weaving hedge brush between them at a cost of eight cents per rod, as you will find described in the chapter on fences. In one place this row of trees crosses a knoll from which the soil has been washed, leaving the yellow clay, and here the trees have grown as strong and healthy as on the richer land, although the spot would not produce grain enough to pay for cultivation. Another point to be considered in growing timber is that taxes are light. The land in locust which I refer to and which has paid nearly twenty-five dollars a year for posts sold, is not taxed any heavier than similar land on adjoining farms, which does not pay to the owners two dollars an acre. In many States there is a special provision which exempts from taxation land planted in timber, and I have never known it to be taxed more heavily than similar land adjoining. How to Start a Locust Plantation. — The seed should be sown in nursery rows. The best time' to sow is about corn planting time, but fair sized plants can be grown from seed sown as late as the middle of June. The seed must be scalded, as without this preparation, not one seed in a hundred will grow, Put the seed in a water-tight vessel and pour over it water nearly boiling ; let it stand till cool. You will find a part of the TIMBER GROWING FOR PROFIT. 375 seeds swollen to about four times the ordinary size. Sometimes nearly half the seed wUl swell from the first application of water, but generally but a small per cent. The swollen seeds must be separated from the others. With a small quantity this can be done by hand, but it is more con- venient to do it with a sieve, and I find that the right size is five meshes to the inch. I have a mason's hand screen which I use for this purpose. After separating the swollen seeds, ap- ply the hot water again and go through the same process, and it is often necessary to repeat it five or six times before all the seed will swell. As it is difficult to sift the seed when wet, spread it thinly in the sun and allow it to dry, but it should not remain any longer than is necessary to dry the outside. This swollen seed is ready to plant and will come up as quickly and certainly as corn, but if the weather should be unsuitable for planting, it can be kept safely for several days by spreading not more than an inch deep, covering with a damp cloth, and set- ting on the cellar floor or in some cool, damp place. Sow in drills about a seed to the inch, and wide enough so as to admit of horse culture ; keep them free from weeds and thoroughly worked all summer, and they will grow from three to five feet high. Always set out in plantation at one year old. The expense of taking them up and planting will be- less than half what it would if left another year, and the trees will scarcely be checked in their growth, while if left till two years old the roots will be mutilated so that the trees will be much injured in transplanting. The soil in the plantation should be thoroughly prepared by plowing, harrowing, and rolling, as the work of setting out can be done much better and more rapidly than if it is left rough and cloddy. My plantations are set in rows both ways, four feet apart each way, and we are now thinning to eight feet, cut- ting out for bean poles and fence stakes. In my future plant- ing I shall adopt the plan of making the rows eight feet apart, and plant quite close in the row. Where there is a demand for bean poles it will pay to set one foot apart, and I would not set wider than two feet apart in the row. This close planting causes a straight, upright growth, and the advantage of planting 376 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. thickly in rows eight feet apart rather than four by four is, that it gives a better chance to select the best trees in thinning. Often two nice, straight trees may be left within two or three feet of each other till one is large enough for a post. The secret of a profitable crop is having the land well occupied, and this way of planting gives a better opportunity to do this. When the land is thoroughly prepared, lay it off with a two horse plow so as to make a deep furrow. Two men and a boy will work to the best advantage. The boy holds the tree up- right while the men shovel the earth to the roots and tramp it solid. They should be cultivated for one year at least, and two are better. In planting the trees it is best to assort, and put the large and small ones separate, as, if a large and S'mall tree are set side by side, the large one usually gets the start and the other is overshadowed. No tree excels the locust in hardiness, and with ordinary care, scarcely one tree in a thousand will die. If from drought or any other cause, the first summer's growth is not satisfactory, it is a good plan to cut back close to the ground the next spring, as by this time the roots will be well developed, and the trees will make a strong, straight growth. If this is done, it will be necessary to rub off all the sprouts but one. A little trimming will be of advantage for a few years, re- moving side branches and bringing the trees into good shape, and this may be done during the leisure of winter. As the trees attain a sufficient size to be of value, cut out where they are thickest until the number is reduced to six or eight hundred to the acre. After the trees are four years old, the plantation may be seeded to grass and pastured — at first with young cattle. I think pasturing an advantage while the thinning is being done, as the stock will keep down the sprouts. When the plantation is cleared, the stock must be kept out two years or until the second growth is out of their way. The second growth is more rapid than the first, as the old roots nourish the young plants and cause a growth of eight or ten feet the first summer. In locations where the locust trees grow, the farmer can save hi« own seed. It may be gathered any time from October to May, TIMBER GROWING FOR PROFIT. 377 and those who can not gather it can get it from our seedsmen, as most of them now advertise it at about one dollar per pound, post-paid. A pound contains about twenty-five thousand seeds, but it is not safe to count on more than one-fourth this number of perfect plants, and it will require care and experience to get even half this amount. Taking into consideration all the facts presented, it would seem that few investments are oifered that are so sure of large profit with little risk, expense, or taxes, as the planting of locust timber on all soils where it flourishes, and I most heartily re- commend it, especially to the young farmer in all locations where timber is becoming scarce. The only enemy to this tree that I have ever seen is the borer, and it does not often seriously injure large plantations, particularly where the soil and cultivation is such as to insure a rapid growth. I do not think the danger from the borer worth taking into consideration under good management. 378 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Chapter XV. THE HOJVIE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. AN estimable member of the society of Friends when asked why he was so particular about his daily conduct, replied; "God has given me but one journey through life, and I can not come back to rectify mistakes." It seems to me that many farmers make a mistake which involves the happiness of their lives and that of their families, by look- ing upon the farm as merely something to dig money out of. They become strict utilitarians, and bring every thing to the standard of dollars and cents, and believe flowers, shrubbery, walks, etc., to be useless vanities. These tendencies are likely to grow with age, until the words of the poet become literally true, when he says of the old farmer: " He had some notions which did not improve him : He never kissed his children, so they say ; And fairest flowers and finest scenes would move him Less than a horseshoe picked up by the way. He could see naught but vanity in beauty, And only weakness in a fond caress; And pitied those whose views of Christian duty Allowed indulgence in such foolishness." I have little doubt that the utter want of attractiveness about many farmers' homes, and the uneouthness bred by these sur- roundings, has driven more boys from the farm than the hard work. There are no pleasures so inexpensive as those which can be had by surrounding a country home with trees, flowers, and shrubs, and none more refining in their influence. No other home brings the children so closely into communion with nature, or gives so good an opportunity to train eye, mind, and hand. THE HOME AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 379 Grod bless our country homes ; they are the hope of the nation, and whether our children are to remain in them, or go out to some other sphere of duty, we should, as far as possible, make every thing else on the farm subordinate to the home, so that they will always look back to it with longing, if duty calls them away, or if they remain, have no feeling that farm life is de- grading, but be contented and happy in their calling. The pjist decade has witnessed a marked improvement in the surroundings of country homes, which is due partly to growing wealth and intelligence, partly to the influence of the agricul- tural papers, and the beautiful catalogues with which our seeds- men have flooded the country, but perhaps most of all to the example of those who were pioneers in the work. No good ex- ample is more contagious than this, and in any neighborhood where one family begins the good work of rendering the home attractive, others are sure to attempt it. To say all that might be said on this subject would call for the writing of a book, and in a brief chapter I can only hope to call attention to some points which the intelligent reader must develop for himself. Location of the House. — Most of those who read this chapter will not build their own houses, but must take such as they find and do the best they can with them. Still, as most persons build at some period of their lives, it seems legitimate to treat of this subject. In locating the farm-house a number of points should be considered. One of the first of these is health. The house should be so located as to secure thorough drainage. I have known farm- houses built on flat land, where the soil was a tenacious clay, with the floors not more than a foot above the level of the land, involving the digging of a long drain, and perhaps making it difficult to drain the cellar at all. I have known families to live all winter with three or four feet of water in the cellar under the sitting-room because of this defect. If possible, a slight ele- vation should be chosen for the house, but if you must build on flat land, dig a cellar but three feet deep, and then at a suitable distance from the house, plow and scrape till you have 380 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. made a regular grade. In many cases this will cost less than to dig a deep cellar, and will not only give good surface drain- age, but a good outlet for the drain. The position of the home in relation to the barn should be such that there could be no possibility of contamination of the water from the barn-yard drainage, and while the barn should be near enough so that too much time would not be lost in going back and forth, it should not be so near as to contaminate air or water, and should not be in the direction of prevailing winds. Where I live the best direction for the barn is north, for when the wind is in that direction, the weather is usually brigbt and clear, with a strong breeze, which purijfies the air, while with the wind southerly, we often have muggy weather with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. This matter of drainage and location of barn and other out-buildings in their relation to health, can not be urged too strongly, or receive too careful attention. Convenience to farm, road, etc., should be carefully consid- ered in locating the buildings. I would not build away from the road in order to save a little distance in drawing the crops from the fields, but would get as near the center of the farm as possible, consistent with convenience to the road, as a little saving on each trip to the fields, when these are to be re- peated daily or oftener, for a life-time, will amount to a large aggregate. Size of House Lot. — This must depend to some extent on the size of the farm, the lay of the land, and the size and style of the buildings. A small yard, well cared for, is better than a large one neglected. I do not think, however, that a farm house should ever have a little box of a front yard, and there are few farms where there should be less than a half-acre devoted to the yard. When the farm is large, and the owner wealthy, several acres can often be well set apart for ornamental purposes. The dis- tance of the house from the road must be governed by the grade, style of house, size of yard, etc., but I think should never be less than forty or fifty feet, and the yard should extend at the sides somewhat farther. I consider an east front TEE HOME AND ITS SURROUND TNGS. 381 much the most desirable, as it gives a cool shaded yard in the afternoon and evening during the summer, but if one lives east of the road, and must build facing the west, I would advise a south portico and frontage, and an arrangement of trees to secure shade. The size of the house must depend largely on the means of the owner, but a small house may be made tasty, and be con- veniently arranged, as well as^a large and expensive one. A building plan should never be decided on hastily, but every de- tail should be carefully studied, and before the work is begun you should know to a dollar what the house is to cost. Many people think this impossible, and hundreds have begun to build expecting to get through on a certain sum and have found the cost double what they had estimated. This comes from begin- ning the work without thorough preparation. Even if there is a contract with the builder to put up the house at a given price, if the plan is changed after the work is begun it annuls the contract and gives an opportunity for extra charges, which often increase the cost greatly. Settle your plan fully before you begin if it takes a year. Spare no time or expense to know that your plan is one that you will be satisfied with. Get illustrated books on house building, and study the plans given, take your wife with you and visit all the best houses near you, and note their defects as well as their excellencies ; and when sure your plan will suit you, have a contract drawn which shall cover every detail, and specify every point, and give out the job to a competent, honest builder, and you will have no extras to pay for when the work is done. I feel that I can not emphasize this point too strongly, as I have known so many cases where the cost of a house has exce^3ed by from five hundred to one thousand dollars what was expected, leaving the builder burdened with a debt which he had not anticipated and would not have knowingly con- tracted. My own experience in building shows that it is as easy to know the cost of a house before its erection is begun as it is when completed, or as it is that of a farm or any other piece of property. 382 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. If your funds are limited and you must put up a small house, it is often wise to build so that you can add to it at some future time, and the possibility of this must be considered, for if the part built first is to be a wing, and a front to be added, it must be set far enough back to allow room for the front without con- tracting the yard too much, and in planting shade trees this must be borne in mind. It is sometimes wise to build the house as large as you expect to need it and defer finishing and furnishing a part of it till some future time when you can better afford it. One should never lose sight of the fact that a large and expen- sive house calls for expensive furnishing, and therefore all spare means should not be put into the building. One point which should be kept in mind in building is thoroughness. Use only good material. There is no economy in green lumber, sappy shingles, or poor material of any kind; better have three rooms built substantially of good material than twice the number that will be shackly and prematurly old in a few years. The house should be built so as to admit of good ventilation and a free circulation of air in hot weather, and so arranged that the sun will shine into every room at some time during the day. The living rooms should be large and the dining-room and kitchen arranged with special reference to economy of strength and time. A flight of steps leading up to the front door is allowable, but at the rear the grading should be such that a single step will reach from the ground to the floor, and if possi- ble the wood and water should be on a level with the kitchen. The living room, which will be used most in winter, should always have a southern front. A bay window adds greatly to the cheerfulness of a sitting-room and is very desirable. The arrangements in the kitchen and dining-room should be with reference to saving steps, and the relative position of stove, cis- tern, cupboard, pantry and cellar stairs carefully considered. A dumb-waiter from the cellar to the dining-room, or to come up between the dining-room and pantry, so as to be accessible from both, will save many trips to the cellar, and much heavy work in carrying milk, cream, etc., up and down stairs. Screens for rHE HOME AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 383 the doors and windows are a cheap luxury, and should be found in every farm house. There are many little conveniences which add to the com- fort and save labor. A bracket lamp with a hinged stem, and a reflector on a pivot, will enable the light to be thrown on any point in the room, and is of especial value in the kitchen, as in the winter much of the cooking must be done by lamp light, and it is neither safe nor convenient to have a lamp near the stove. Often the location of a cupboard can be changed so as to save two or more steps each trip, and when we count the trips for a single day, and multiply by the days in a year and the years in a life-time, we begin to get some conception of the Fig. 2.-ELEVATI0N OF FAEM COTTAGE. importance of saving a step. The location of a door or the cellar stairs should be such as to reach the desired point in the easiest and shortest possible way. The stairway should be wide, with broad steps and easy grade, without crooks or turns. We give plans of cottage and farm house, which may be of value to those intending to build, even though they may not adopt them. 384 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Via. 2.— Ground Plan of Farm Cottage. H, Hall. P, Parlor. B, Bedroom. L, Kitchen UOUSe. The design of a farm cottage (Fig. 1, page 383) will meet the wants of many who wish to build at a moderate expense. The style and finish can be varied to suit the taste and means of the owner. From the hall you can reach all the rooms on the ground floor, and the arrangement of the house gives the sun access to every room. A Convenient Farm House.— Our illustrations 3, 4, and 5 show the elevation, ground and second floor, of a roomy and convenient farm It is so arranged or Living Room. P, Pantry. H, tlhimney. , , . , , , . . , Low bedrooms can be fliilshed off above. ■ that ' the SUU ShlUeS luto each room in the course of the day. The hall is entered from the front piazza, and this hall gives access to the principal rooms below, and by an easy flight of stairs to the sleeping apartments above. The parlor has an octagonal bay-window and a fire-place opposite. The kitchen has both doors and windows on opposite sides. The Door Yard. — ^It is useless to attempt to lay down a set of rules for laying out or management of the grounds about a farm dwelling. The size of yard, location, and style of house, slope of the land, means of the owner, and many other ques- tions must be understood before one can give intelligent advice in the matter. Some hints, however, can be given, which may prove of value to those with little experience. One common error. to be avoided is crowding too much into the grounds. The ;wife is likely to want a plant of every handsome rose or flowering shrub she sees, and they are set out here and there, wherever there is a vacant space, and grow and spread till a tangled thicket is formed, inaccessible to scythe or hoe, and in which noxious weeds get a footholdy from which they spread and gain possession of the yard. THE HOME AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 385 386 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Another common mistake is in planting trees too close to the house. It is difficult to realize when setting an evergreen no larger than a currant bush, or an elm-tree the size of a bean Pig. 4.— Gbotjnd Flan of Farm House. .4, Front Veranda, 10x16. A Hall, 7x20. a Parlor, 12 x 18, with bay-window, 4 x 6. A Din- ing-room, 15x20. E, Library, 12x15, with square bay-window, 4 zS. J^, Kitchen, 11 x 12. Cr, Pantry, 8x8. H, Store-room, 10 x 12, I, Coal-room, 1% x 8. K, Wash-room, 7x8. L, Veranda, 8 x 16. 2M, Veranda, 4x30. iv', Cistern, 9 feel diameter. O, Well, c, c. Closets, s, s. Shelves, b, Bath. /, Back stairs, t, Sink, p, Pump. pole, that in a few years they will develop into stately trees. A tree that is to • remain permanently in a door yard should never be planted nearer than thirty feet from the house. It is Pig. 6.— Pi. an of Upper Ploor, HaJl. 7 feet wide. C, C, C, C, Closets. D, Linen Closets. E, Attic Stairs. F, Servant's Bed- room, 11x20. O, Garret. S, Bedroom, 15x15. H, Bedroom, 12x15. ^, Bedroom, 12x18. The upper hall Is lighted by a window. ' often advisable to plant some rapidly growing trees nearer than this to furnish a temporary shade while those at a distance THE HOME AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 387 ,re growing; but they should be removed as soon as they can le spared. For a temporary shade there is no better tree than the soft Qaple, as it has a dense foliage and makes a rapid growth. If rees of this variety three inches in diameter are carefully ransplanted and well cultivated, they will afford a fine shade a three years. I planted a group of these trees in the spring of .877, grown from seed planted in 1871, and in August of 1883 the argest one, three feet from the ground, measured twenty-five nches in circumference, and several others were nearly as large. Che objection to this tree for permanent shade is that the wood is ,0 soft that it is liable to be broken by winds which would do no lamage to many others. It is also subject to a bursting of the )ark on the south-west side, caused probably by the sun shining in it when frozen, and it is rare to find a tree with a smooth, )erfect trunk. These imperfections make it more liable to be >roken by the wind. The trees which I prefer to all others for ihade are the elm, hard maple, and ash. I put the elm first on Lccount of its rapid growth, its elasticity and toughness, and its ;race and beauty of contour. One need not fear the loss of his ilm trees by any ordinary wind, for nothing short of a hurricane vill injure them. The hard maple is worthy of a place in every arm yard, as it is unsurpassed in the beauty of its autumn bliage, and possesses also the merits of durability, compactness, ymmetry of shape, and density of foliage. The ash possesses ill the good qualities of the maple, and as its prevailing autumn lolor is yellow, it forms a fine contrast with the scarlet of the aaples. The catalpa and linden are also valuable trees for shade, md when in bloom present a beautiful appearance. Where the grounds are large enough to allow of it, there is lothing gives a better effect than a small forest planted in imita- ion of nature. This forest may be made up of the varieties ibove named, or it may contain specimens of all the varieties vhich grow in the locality. I would never plant evergreens in the front yard or near the louse. The only use for which I would recommend them is for vind-breaks and screens, planted at some distance from the 388 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. house. One great objection to the conifers is that they keep the yard littered the entire year by the falling cones, and the most beautiful varieties are the worst in this respect. The Scotch pine is one of our most beautiful evergreens, always keep- ing a good shape and retaining its color perfectly the entire year ; but the cones are a perennial nuisance. This and the American spruce I would plant in clumps or thick rows, not less than one hundred feet from the house to the north and west. For an evergreen hedge I would use the red cedar, or American arbor vitse. Either will bear close trimming, and can be made ornamental and valuable as a protection. To secure rapid growth of shade-trees, thorough culture for the first few years js absolutely essential. I planted in 1877 a group of about thirty forest trees, half of which were set in what had been a flower garden and the balance in a blue-grass sod. The ground in the first-named part was cultivated more or less for the next five years, and there the trees have made a wonderful growth, and in three years were giving a good shade. On the sod the growth has scarcely been perceptible, and after seven years they afford but little shade. I have had the same experience with elm-trees planted in my door yard. A fine, thrifty tree planted in the sod stood ten years before it was large enough to afford valuable shade, while another planted ten years later and cultiyated is likely to outstrip the first in growth. If you wish a newly planted tree to grow rapidly, attend personally to the transplanting. See that it is taken up with as little mutilation of roots as possible, that it is planted in good soil, well mellowed, and that for three or four years a circle around it not less than eight feet in diameter be kept clean and mellow by cultivation or mulch. If in grading the surface soil has been removed, it will pay to draw a load of good soil to put in the hole to give the tree a start. Forest trees will grow on almost any soil after they get a start and do not need coddling ; but where shade is wanted soon, it will pay to be at some trouble and expense to give them the start needed. In no other way at so little expense and labor can the sur- roundings of a house be made beautiful as by planting trees. In THE HOME AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 389 almost any neighborhood choice trees can be had for the digging, and after they are three or four years planted no labor will be required. That yard is beautiful that has a sufficiency of good shade trees and a well-kept lawn, and can be kept so with very little expense. The Lawn. — The first point requiring attention in making a lawn is grading. In a majority of cases, in order to save what grass there is, and to avoid the temporary inconvenience of a fresh plowed yard, grading is neglected and the ground left with bumps and hollows. In all cases where old door-yards are in this condition, I would recommend that they be plowed, graded, and re-seeded. Early spring is the best time for this work, because it saves the annoyance of a bare yard, and the mud which will be troublesome all winter. A yard graded the latter part of March, or- early April, and properly seeded, will in four weeks present a good appearance, and by midsummer have a fair turf. The grading must be governed by the eleva- tion of the house and the natural slope of the land. It should be such that there will be no depressions to hold water. The front yard should be nearly level, if the land admits of it, and the slope uniform from the point where it begins to the lowest part. To make this matter plain we will suppose that the house stands fifty feet from the road, and that the door-yard is two hundred feet wide. The first floor of the house three feet above the level of the yard and six feet above the lowest point where the outlet for the surface water will be. In this case I would grade the front yard so as to give a fall of six inches from the front door to the road which would be ample to carry off the water. For twenty feet on each side of the house I would maintain the same grade, and then would, from this point, in- crease the grade to that necessary to make it uniform to the lowest point. If in grading you are obliged to make fills of a foot or more at some points, it will be necessary to wait a week or two after the fill is made to allow it to settle, and then re- grade, or else the fills will settle and leave your grade imper- fect. If you cut down to the subsoil in places, you should save 390 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYLOCPEDIA. some of the best earth to cover these spots with, so that the grass may make a uniform growth. It will pay also to dress the surface liberally with fiue manure, or with bone meal at the rate of four hundred pounds to the acre. After the land has settled, and every depression been filled so that the grade is just right, harrow the surface fine, sow your grass seed and cover it lightly by dragging with a light plank drag. Most writers recommend a mixture of several kinds of grasses for the lawn, but I would sow only timothy and blue-grass, and with it a little oats. I would sow at the rate of two bushels of blue-grass and half a bushel of timothy and two bushels of oats to the acre. The oats will cover the ground in three or four weeks so as to relieve the bare look, and will shade and protect the young grass. Just as soon as it is high enough so that a scythe will cut it, it should be mown, and once every ten days or two weeks afterward. By the mid- dle of June your yard will look well, and before fall there will be a good turf. It will pay to do this work of grading and seeding thoroughly for when once done it is done for a life-time. A lawn can be kept in better condition with a lawn mower than a scythe, but on a smooth grade a sharp scythe will do good work. Shrubs and Flow^ers. — Whether shrubbery does or does not add to the beauty of a door-yard depends entirely on its management. I believe that in a majority of cases it detracts from rather than adds to it. I would advise, first, that no shrubbery be planted in front of the house; second, that no part of the grounds be crowded, and, third, that as a rule all shrubs be in groups in cultivated beds. All that should be allowed in the front yard, beside shade trees and grass, is a border of flowers along the walk. There are a few shrubs that may stand singly — for example, the lilac^ snow-ball, and japonica — but each should have a circle around it, spaded and kept clear of grass and weeds. Most varieties of roses and other shrubs should be grown in groups, and a much better effect will be produced by a rose garden containing one or two square rods, and kept trimmed and spaded, than by a dozen or more roses scattered here and there, struggling with the grass. THE HOME AND ITS SUSHOUNDINGS. 391 Unless a gardener is to be kept to attend to the yard (which is rarely the case on the farm), very few shrubs and vines should be planted. For the climbing roses, honeysuckles, clem- atis, etc., a rustic trellis made of lasting wood like the locust or osage orange is preferable to any fancy work, for the beauty should be in the vines, not the trellis, and the less conspicuous the latter is the better. Most varieties of flowers give the best efifect when grown in masses, and it is best to set apart a suita- ble place in the yard for a flower garden rather than cut up the lawn with little beds made in fancy shapes. I will name a few varieties of flowers of easy cultivation which will continue long in bloom and give good satisfaction. Of annuals we have Pansies, Petunias, Verbenas, Phlox Drum- mondii, Salvia-splendens, Portulacca, Scabiosa, and Dwarf Nas- turtium. Most of these continue long in bloom, and there wiU be an abundance of flowers from June till November. For climbers the balloon vine, Sweet Pea, Clematis, and Cypress, will furnish delicacy of foliage, beauty, and fragrance. A bed of Geraniums will give a fine show, both of foliage and blossoms. The plants named above, if well arranged, will be sufficient to ornament any door-yard, will furnish fine flowers for cut- ting, and give a succession of bloom for the summer and au- tumn. Many others can be used to advantage if desired, and there is time to attend to them properly. Foliage plants, such as the Euphorbia and Ricinus, and the various Am- aranthus, Celosia, Antirrhinum, Zinnias, and Dahlias, are of easy cultivation. Fences and Walks. — Fences, as far as possible, should be conspicuous by their absence, and where imperatively neces- sary should be given as little prominence as possible. I would never build a paling fence near a dwelling and would not fence off" a front yard by itself, neither would I paint a fence white. Let the fences at the sides of the yard be hidden by a grape trellis or evergreen hedge, and at the rear let it stand well back out of sight. For the front fence, a close trimmed hedge is, perhaps, best, but if a fence must be built, make it low and paint a neu- tral color. A plain board fence, with one board a foot wide at 392 TBE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. the bottom, and three four-inch boards above, and capp^^d, makes a much better fence for a farm-house than palings. The walk leading to the front door must be suited to the size of the yard and surroundings. It should rarely, if ever, be straight, but should be semicircular or serpentine. When the house is at such a distance from the road that a true half circle, will reach the front fence at the right points of exit, and the center come to the front door, the semicircular walk looks well. If the drive-way is located at the proper distance, one end of the walk can terminate there. A neat stile, with easy, broad steps is often better than a gate. The walks at the rear of the house should be made for utility, and should usually be the shortest distance between the points connected by them. They may be paved with stone or brick, or made of plank, gravel, or spent tan-bark. Where good gravel can be had a permanent substantial walk can be easily and cheaply made, and it wiU be greatly improved by a light dressing of tan-bark each fall. To make a good walk there must be such grading as will give perfect surface drainage. I would throw up a walk not less than six feet wide, with the center a foot above the ditches at the sides. Then cover with coarse gravel or a single layer of flat stone, and above this a coat of fine gravel. The advan- tage of tan bark is, that it does not get sloppy and track into the house during a thaw as gravel does. The best way to make a plank walk is probably to place 2x4 scantling on edge the distance apart that the width of the walk is to be, and nail short boards across from one to the other. A very neat and serviceable walk two feet wide can be made in this way for about one dollar a rod. The out-buildings shoiild be conveniently located. The wood-shed should be large enough to hold a winter's supply of wood, and should be convenient to the house. The privy should be hidden by a clump of evergreens or a vine-covered trellis, and should have instead of a vault a shallow wooden box, so arranged as to be easy of access. This box should be made water-tight and placed on the top of the ground, and there should be a hinged door at the rear of the privy which will give THE HOME AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 393 easy access to it. There should also be a shed, or large box covered so as to exclude rain, in which a wagon load of dry- earth can be stored, and two or three times a week enough of this should be shoveled into the box to absorb all moisture. Managed in this way a privy can be kept odorless with no danger of contamination of water or air, and a large amount of valuable fertilizer made from it during the year. It will take but a few hours' labor in a year to attend properly to this, and by so doing, what is usually a most disgusting nuisance, and often a cause of disease, will be rendered inoffensive. Other out-buildings such as piggeries, poultry house, carriage house, etc., should be located so as to offend neither eye nor nose. On many farms the out-buildings have no order or arrangement, but are dumped down herO' and there without regard to appearance or convenience of access. It is easy to save steps and avoid this helter-skelter arrangement by a little planning. There is one point which concerns the health of the family which can not be impressed too strongly, and that is the care necessary to insure pure drinking water. Disease is no longer looked upon as a mysterious dispensation of Providence, but as a penalty for the violation of nature's laws, and contaminated water is a fruitful source of disease. A well located near the house in a soil which fills it with water to the surface, can not afford pure, safe drinking water. There are large sections of country where the land is rich and every thing favorable except the water supply, and the wells which are flooded to the surface during wet seasons, get low during a drought, and cause fevers and diseases of the stomach and bowels. It is often very diffi- cult to construct cisterns in these soils, as the pressure of the water from without breaks the cement and they become flooded like the weUs. An experienced cistern-builder tells me that one can be made that will exclude the water in the most spouty soils. A brick wall should be made an inch or two from the sides of the cistern and plastered on the outside as it is laid up, and then this space filled with a grout of cement, poured in so that it wiU fill aU the interstices. When this becomes solid and 394 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. the wall is plastered inside it will defy all water from without. A cistern filled with rain water during winter wUl furnish safe, pure water for summer use. Too much care can not be taken in the disposition of the slops from the kitchen and chambers. I would not risk a sink drain, as there is great danger of contamination and disease from it, and there is a better way to dispose of this waste. As near the house as it can be done put up a small shed roof, under which put a wagon load or two of dry earth, and empty the slops on it. Keep a shovel in the shed and each time you empty a pail of the slops shovel some dry earth over it. This shed may be an enlargement of the one recommended for. the privy. Chamber slops disposed of in this way will never be offensive, and in the course of a year a large amount of valuable fertil- izers will be made. These slops can never, with safety, be thrown on the ground around the house. TUB HOME AND ITS SUSSOUNDINGS. 395 Chapter XVI. SMAIvIv FARMS KOR POOR ISdEN. THERE is in every community a large class of men whose tastes would lead them to become tillers of the soil, but who are deterred from attempting it because they haA^e not the capital to buy and stock a farm of fifty or one hundred acres, which they imagine would be necessary for the support of their families. France is one of the best cultivated and most prosperous countries on the globe, and its prosperity is largely due to the fact that it abounds in small farms of from one to five acres. If, as I believe, a very few acres can be so managed as to give a comfortable support to a family, it is clearly within the scope of this book to show how it can be done. The tendency of the age in nearly all callings is for capital to combine, and form great corporations, so that the mechanic no longer works for an individual who may have a feeling of inter- est in and some compassion for him, but for a soulless corpora- tion, whose only interest in him is to get his labor for the small- est possible sum that will keep his family from the poor-house. To counteract this "trades unions," and various forms of labor combinations have been formed, and the laborer who belongs to one of these must stop work whenever a strike is ordered, even if he has no money to support his family. If he stands aloof from the labor organizations he is denominated a " scab," and is often subjected to petty persecution, or, if he attempts to take the place of a striking workman, to bodily injury. The dishon- esty or reckless speculation of a single member of the corpora- tion, or some unforeseen and unavoidable financial disaster, may, and often does throw thousands of laborers out of employment, 396 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. perhaps at the beginning of winter, when family expenses are largely increased, and untold suffering results. Under these cir- cumstances those who depend on their labor for the support of their families are too often ground to powder between the " upper and nether millstones." Another matter of deep interest to parents is the influences which surround their children during their early years, when they are forming the habits which will go with them through life and largely affect their future destiny. In this respect the man who owns a few acres of land has a great advantage over the laborer who must live in a tenement house. In the latter case there are no pleasant local associations connected with child- hood. The parents can not choose the associates for their chil- dren, as the man who has no income but his daily wages and must buy all that his family uses can not afford to be very par- ticular about his location, and cheap rent must necessarily be considered first, and not unfrequently he moves every year or oftener. Still another evil. There is no work suited to the capac- ity of his children during their earlier years, and when not in school they are idle, and so much more likely to form bad asso- ciations and acquire bad habits. The condition of the man who owns a few acres of land and knows how to cultivate them when contrasted with that of the laborer seems to me to be enviable. He owns the soil which he cultivates, and feels that he is independent. He pays no rent, and though his home is humble, it is his own, and he is stimu- lated to improve it. As soon as his children are old enough to follow him, there is something for them to do suited to their capacity, and they early acquire habits of industry. During a a large part of the year every day in which good wages can not be earned elsewhere can be profitably employed on his land, and often all his time, summer and winter, can be put in at home. He may not handle as many dollars in a year as he would if he worked for wages ; but the saving in rent, and the family sup- plies which his land furnishes, will make it far more likely that he will have something laid up at the end of the year. He will be able to control the associates and form the habits of his SMALL FARMS FOR POOR MEN.. 397 children to a much greater extent than if working out as a laborer. There is still another side to this question, and that is the ad- vantage to the community in having honest, industrious neighbors, ready to help in the many emergencies which arise on the farm. The farmer is often obliged to keep a hired man, thus adding to the work and burden of his wife, often when she is already overtaxed, which he could dispense with had he a neighbor on whose services he could rely when extra help was needed. The man with one or two acres of land could work out the larger part of his time; but with from five to ten acres he could employ the most or all of his time at home. How^ to get a Home. — If a laboring man must wait tiU he has saved money to pay for his land, he will stand a poor chance of ever owning it. His best plan is to buy on long time, and apply the money which would be paid out for rent toward paying for the place. Fortunately, in most of our States, building associations have been organized to meet such cases as this, and wherever one is accessible it makes it an easy matter for a man with any enterprise to secure a home. These building associations issue stock to be paid in small weekly installments. In all that I am familiar with, the shares of stock are two hundred dollars and the weekly installments twenty-five cents a share. This gives eight hundred weeks or over fifteen years in which to pay up his stock. Any one can own stock in the association ; but no one can borrow out money except a member of the association who owns real estate, and the loan is secured by first mortgage. Any member who has not borrowed can withdraw his money and have his stock can- celed at any time, but must wait till the end of the year or lose his dividends, which are declared annually. If the stock- holder has the money to spare, and wishes to save the trouble of weekly payments, he may pay monthly, semi-annually, or an- nually in advance, and when he pays six months or more in ad- vance, he is allowed interest at the rate of six per cent on the money so paid. A fine of five cents per share of stock is im- posed each week in default of payment of dues. At the end of 398 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. each year a dividend is struck, and the profits are divided jaro rata among the members. The association is governed by a board of directors chosen from the stockholders, who serve without pay, and the only salaried officer is the secretary, who keeps the books. The money accumulating from dues and interest is put up at auction and sold, to the highest bidder, the amount bid being the pre- mium above six per cent. For example, if a stockholder at a sale of money should bid one cent and the money is knocked down to him, he will pay seven per cent interest on the money advanced to him until all his stock is paid up and canceled. To do this, he can take the full time of eight hundred weeks from the date of his stock, or at any time when he can get the money he can pay it off and have his stock and mortgage canceled. Each association has an attorney, whose business it is to see that the property offered for security for the loan is free from incumbrance and to draw the necessary writings, and fqf this service a moderate fee is fixed by the association and paid by the borrower. The attorney also sees that the buildings are insured. When any one borrows money from the association, a committee of members is appointed to examine the property and report if it is ample security for the amount wanted on it, and the attorney at once examines the record to see that the title is clear. We will suppose that a man finds a piece of property which will make him a home, which he can buy for $600.00. His payment of dues would be 75 cents a week on this amount of money, or $39.00 a year. His interest the first year will be on the $600.00, and at seven per cent would amount to $42.00; but the next year he will only pay interest on $561.00, and so his interest will be reduced each year until it will finally cease when the principal is all paid. There are many localities where small tracts of land can be bought at from $50.00 to $100.00 per acre and often for less, where a man could buy from two to six acres and build a comfortable house on it, and his annual pay- ments would not greatly oxceetl what he pays for rent for a SMALL FARMS FOR POOR MEN. 399 bare house to live in, and in the latter case there is no need of moving every year, for he has a home of his own, which he can improve and adorn. To be in debt a small amount for the pur- pose of paying for a home ought to stimulate a man to be in- dustrious and economical, and be of great advantage to him. How to Manage a Small Farm. — With a few acres of land secured for a home, the next question is how to make the best use of it. No set of rules can be laid down for the guidance of all, for the location and surroundings must determine this largely. It is safe to advise, however, that as far as it can be profitably done, the family supplies be home-grown. All the potatoes, beans, beets, squashes, tomatoes, and other vegetables needed in the family, can by thorough cultivation, be grown on a very small piece of land. If there are two acres or more of land, I should advise that a cow be kept, and with a farm of ten acres it might be profitable to keep several. These cows should be kept in the stable, and green crops grown for soiling. A small lot should be provided, in which they could be turned for a short time each day for exercise. If the amount of land will admit, an acre or two of wheat should be grown to supply the family with flour, and a small plot of corn would fatten the pigs for the family meat, and fur- nish fodder and corn for the cows through the winter. This much or more could be done on a few acres, and very little time taken from other work; and a mechanic who works on the ten hour system could put in full time at his trade, and by hir- ing an occasional day's work, get a large part of his family sup- plies from his little farm. In other cases it would pay the man to put in all his time on a few acres, and his study would be, not how can I get along with the least work, but how can I profitably employ my entire time? There are many ways of getting an income from a few acres that the industrious, thoughtful man will discover. A fair income can be derived from poultry, by any one with a taste for the business, and the necessary carefulness and patience to at- tend to it properly. This could be carried on without taking much time, as the wife or children could look after them if the 400 THE PEOPLE 'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. man would provide coops and do the heavier jobs. Just as heavy crops of potatoes, corn, and most other products could be grown if the fowls were allowed to run at large, and by having a small lot to confine them in for a part of the year, they can be kept from damaging other crops. It would not be difficult, by soiling, to keep six cows on ten acres, and where the milk could be sold at retail, this would give a fair income ; or if a fine quality of butter was md,de, that would sell at a fancy price, this and the pork made from feeding the skim-milk to pigs, would amount to a good sum. Still, another man might prefer to cultivate his land in broom-corn and manufacture the crop in winter, and would find this profitable. Those who have a taste for gardening and small fruit growing, and who are so located as to be convenient to a good market, and what ii^ more important, to a good supply of manure, will find that from five to ten acres will furnish employment for one or more additional hands, and give a handsome income. In every neighborhood one or more persons can net a hand- some sum by growing, for sale, plants of cabbage, tomato, sweet- potato, pepper, etc., and this will require but a few square rods of ground. Examples might be quoted without number of men who have supported their families, and even acquired a compe- tency from a few acres in garden. In 1875 I hired a young German for one year. He had landed penniless. He earned during the year one hundred and eighty-six dollars, nearly aU of which he saved. The following spring he rented four acres of good garden land, put what money he had into sash, manure, and tools, got credit for his garden seeds, and went to work. He has bought the land. I clip from an agricultural paper the following account of the success of a house-carpenter who settled on a bit of land, less than three acres, in New Jersey. He expected to have a gar- den and depend on his trade for support, but times were dull and wages dropped, and the outlook became dismal. He deter- mined to go to work on his land and see if he could not make a dollar a day from it. The sequel is told in his own words. " Some of my neighbors said it would be a failure — ^farming SMALL FARMS FOR POOR MEN. 401 did not pay. Many who had ten to twelve acres left it to grow up to brush and weeds, and took their departure. I had buried • ray money here and I was going to dig for it. I dug stumps, raked roots, and grubbed until I got the land in pretty fair condition. Then I dressed it well with fertilizers, put out the best varieties of fruit, gave them the best of care, and I soon be- gan to realize what I have often heard repeated : a little farm well tilled ; a little home well filled ; a little wife well willed ; then you are on the road to prosperity. My efforts were crowned with success. I was not long in realizing my dollar a day, with an increase as the condition of my land improved, untU the past season I turned off from my little 2 85-100 acres over five hundred dollars worth of fruit, vegetables, and seeds besides keeping from one quarter to one third in grass. I will give you some of the items : 10,000 young onions $25.00 Spinach and pie-plant , 8.00 Plants, various kinds 15.00 112 bushels of strawberries 358.40 300 quarts raspberries 25.00 275 quarts currants 22.00 15 bushels early potatoes 20.00 20 bushels pears 25.00 5 bushels onion sets 20.00 Other fruits 5.00 25 pounds sage 12.50 15 pounds turnip seed 15.00 4 pounds sage seed 10.00 " Besides the above, not extended in figures, we have canned fruit, etc. : 100 one-quart cans pears ; 12 do. strawberries, 12 do. crab-apples ; 10 quarts pear jelly ; 10 quarts crab-apple jelly." No doubt larger sums have been realized from garden crops in many instances, but it is not the purpose in this chapter to enumerate them, or to give details of management. The reader will find suggestions which will be of value in managing a small farm in the chapter on Poultry, Soiling, Gardening, etc. Even if only ordinary farm crops are grown on the small farm, it will be found profitable to own a few acres of land, and 26 402 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. in a large majority of cases no doubt it would be best to grow these crops. I know a man with but four acres, who has made wheat his leading crop for years, and has excelled all his neigh-, bors in yield. His little wheat field has not taken much of his time, and the manure -made from the straw used as bedding for his cow and pigs, and the dropping from the poultry have enabled him to keep his land in high condition, so that his crops have been uniformly profitable. With but a few acres of land to cul- tivate, the owner could do the work thoroughly and at the right time, and can, in consequence, expect better crops than his neighbor, who has a large area to go over. The tendency to large farms is not, I believe, conducive to the good of the nation or the best interests of society, and I should rejoice to see small farms multiplied. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 403 Chapter XVI I. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE KARM!. LIFE is made up of little things, and our comfort often de- pends largely on the little conveniences found around our homes. Some farms abound in them, while on others they are conspicuous by their absence. It is proposed in this chap- ter to illustrate and briefly describe quite a number of cheap and convenient articles, most of which can be made by the farmer himself with saw and hatchet, and any of which can be made by the blacksmith or carpenter. WhUe no one farmer will be likely to use all of these, it is believed that all will find in this chapter many things so valuable and cheap that they will adopt them. On perhaps a majority of farms no lifting-jack of any kind is to be found, but the farmer when he wishes to grease his wagon axles, hunts for a rail and board, and often after spending more time in hunting than should be required to do the job, only succeeds in getting a crooked or rotten rail and a board either too long or too short. Fig. 1 shows the cheapest sub- stitute for a jack. P'°' i-wagon-jack. It has the merit of being always ready for use, and the up- right swings into place of itself, leaving both hands free to lift with. Pins or cleats on the lever prevent the axle from slipping. The illustration (Fig. 2) shows a jack that has given good 404 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. satisfaction for many years. It is light, easily handled, and does not shove in lifting. It should be made of tough, hard wood, and is best planed and painted. The base, a, should be of two-inch plank, 8 x 14 inches, the upright, b, 3x4 inches and two and one-half feet high. The lever, c, should be of one and one-half inch stuif, five feet long and three inches wide at the short end, but may taper to two inches at the handle. There Fig. 2.-W agon-Jack. — should be Several holes for the bolt, to accommodate different heights of axle, and it should fit loosely. The bolt should have a hole or slot in the end op- posite the head, so that a leather key can be drawn in to pre- vent it from falling out when carrying the jack. The ratchet, d, should be so shaped and hung as to work readily in the notches on the lever. Fig. 3 shows one of the simplest and best wagon-jacks I have ever seen. The base should be of 4x4 scantling, eighteen Inches long ; the upright 3x4 inches and twenty-six inches high ; the lever one and a half inches thick. The ratchet, which is of wrought iron, is hung by a single bolt to the lever, and a handle is bent back over the lever, so that when you wish to lower the wheel you grasp both the lever and ratchet handles. When you wish to raise it, however, you grasp only the lever, fig. 3.-wagon-jack. and the ratchet plays in the staple and catches of itself. This jack (Pig 4) will be found convenient in handling heavy hogs, as it can be swung round in any direction, combining the properties of a crane and a hoisting machine. The upright HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 405 Fig. 4.— a Hog Jack. should be six inches square and two feet long, and the legs mor- tised in firmly. The head in which the lever works should be secured by a strong iron pin, which acts as a pivot, and at the end of the lever should be a swivel hook with a sharp point. The lever should be sixteen feet long, and may have several holes in it, so as to give more or less power as needed. Fig. 5 shows a cheap and simple contrivance for hanging up hogs. It consists of three poles or scantling eight feet long, bolted together at the top so that they can be raised or lowered. Hooks should be driven into the front of the two outside pieces on which to hang the hog. These are so easily made that it will pay to have one for each hog. The farmer often wishes to hew a lot of posts to prepare them for the fence, and needs some simple device to hold them in position. Our cut (Fig. 6) shows one so sim- ple as to need no explanation. With the improvement in cross-cut saws, and the growing scarcity of timber, the ax is used less and the saw more than formerly in cutting wood. It is hard on the back to saw a log flat on the ground, and the saw is likely to be dulled, and also to have the set taken out of it by pinching. By the use of the handy log- holder shown in the cut ^^^- 6.-post-holi.er. on the following page (Fig. 7), two men can easily roll up a Fig. 5.— Hanging Rack foe Hogs. 406 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Fib. 7.— L/OG-holder. 2x6 inches, and 7 feet long. large log. It can be made of round poles, and the legs should be about twenty, inches long, the other ends resting on the ground. Several holes should be bored in the poles so that the log can be held at any desired spot. Fig. 8 is a device for raising logs, by means of which one man can lift a heavy log. The standard is made of two strong plank, Cleats are put between them at the ends, and it is securely bolted together. The leg, or sup- port, is fastened with a bolt, so that it can be raised or lowered at pleasure. Two rows of holes are bored in the standard to receive the pins, and the lever has a notch to fit them. In working the machine the pins are alter- nately moved up a hole at a time. Any one who has tried to split stove-wood, knows how difficult it often is to hold the stick in such a position as to enable one to strike it to the best advantage. A very few minutes work will prepare a holder like that shown in Pig. 9. On our heavy clay soils posts can be driven into the ground so as to stand quite firmly, if the work is done just after the frost ^ comes out in ,the spring. Where posts are set in holes, it is a great saving of labor to drive a stake for the middle Fig. 9.-W00D-H0I.DBK. of the panel. The device shown in Fig. 10 is a very convenient platform on which, to stand while Fig. 8.— Log-lifter. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 407 Pig. 10— Platform fok Fence Building. driving the posts. As two hands are usually required for this work, this platform would be cheaper and just about as valuable if made without wheels, and handles instead on both sides. Mr. John M. Jameson, of Ross County, Ohio, sends me a description of a 20-foot hay gatherer (Fig. 11), which he has used for several years to great advantage. With it the hay is taken from the ground and delivered at the stack without any pitching or handling. Mr. Jameson describes its construction as follows: The head should be 5x6 inches, and 20 feet long. The teeth split from tough, straight timber, six feet long and two inches in diameter at the head, and tapered somewhat to the point. They should be sharp and sloped on the under side. The corners of head piece should be rounded on the lower side to enable it to slip over the stubble with little friction. A clevis should be Fig. 11.-HAY gathekbr. attached to each end, so ar- ranged that it will turn round the end when you wish to draw the rake backward. When going out from the stack for a load, the rake is drawn backward. The chains to which the horses are attached should be seven feet long to enable them to keep out of the way of the teeth. Mr. Jameson found that no up- rights in the head were necessary to keep the hay from sliding over the rake. He first put on uprights, but the rake was soon turned over and the uprights broken off, and he then found that it worked as well without them. Hay gathered in this way will have less dust than when raked with the sulky-rake. 408 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. The practice of cutting up corn is becoming more common each year, as farmers learn the value of corn fodder. It is tire- some work to husk all day on one's knees, or with the back bent. A husking table, as g shown in Pig. 12, will keep the fodder from the dirt, and en- able the husker to stand up to Fig. 12.-HTJSKING Table. work. It is, also, moro con- venient to bind the fodder on the table than the ground. It should be made strong and well braced, but of light material. It is often necessary for some one to go alone to the field to bring in a load of shock corn, and any one who has tried it knows how difficult it is to load. Fig. 13 shows how to arrange a ladder up which a man can easily walk with his arms full of fodder. It corn IS FiQ. 13.— Ladder foe Loading Fodder. merely a plank, two inches thick, a foot wide and ten or twelve feet long, attached by ropes or chains to the rear end of the wagon. Fig. 14 shows a cheap corn horse. It is often desirable to cut off the corn and seed the shock row before setting up the shocks. This can be done by the use of the "horse." The pin should fit loosely, and be long enough so that it can be easily drawn out after the shock is set up, when the horse can be drawn forward to where the next shock is wanted and the pin put back. Fig. 15 illustrates a simple device for pulling straw out of a stack. Go to the woods and cut a limb five or six feet long with a branch near the large end, which fis. is.— hay hook. must be cut off and sharpened, and the end of the limb sharp- FlG. 14.— Shookikg-hobsb. SANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 409 Fig. 16.— Ckab foe Shocking (Dorn. ened also, as shown in the cut. Plunge this into the stack as far as you can and pull out. It will be found very useful. Fig. 16 shows another form of corn horse, called a crab. One of the legs is fast- ened firmly to the block; the others are fitted in loosely, so that they can be easily removed. In shock- ing corn with a horse of any kind, the center of the shock should be set quite straight, and ^ when twenty or thirty hiUs are set up, tie firmly, and when the shock is finished tie it tightly again. Fig. 17 shows a broom-corn scraper. It is a cheap way to get the year's stock of brooms to grow your own brush, and the above simple device, which can be made in a few minutes, will answer to scrape the seed from a few hundred pounds. It is made by sawing into the end of a tough half-inch board, so as to make a comb. The teeth should be tapered a little both ways, and pointed at the top. It should be a foot wide, and the cuts six inches Fig. 17.— Cheap Beoom-coen , xt -i /< i Scraper. deep. JNail firmly to a heavy piece of timber so that it will lean a little from the operator. To re- move the seed, strike the brush onto the comb and pull towards you. A cheap and convenient bag-holder will be found a great convenience, and this is shown in Fig. 18. The arm which holds the bag is hung on a bolt, which fits loosely, so as to raise or lower it to suit different lengths of bags. When not in use it can be let down, as it will FiQ. 18.— Bag-holder. 410 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. be less in the way and not so likely to be broken. The addition of wheels to the platform would make it still more convenient. As chickens furnish a large part of the meat used on the farm in the summer, and when killed in the ordinary way often bruise and dirty them- selves, we give an illustration (Fig. 19) of an arrangement for holding them while cut- ting off their heads and afterwards while bleeding. The post should be set firmly in the ground and the top sawed off square- Saw a notch in a board to receive the fowl's neck, and nail to the back of the post. Make the hoppers eight inches square at the top and let them taper to two inches at the bottom. As soon as the head is cut oif, drop the fowl in the hopper, neck down. It can not bruise itself, and is in a position to drain all the blood out of its body. Any one will appreciate this who has had his clothes dabbled with blood, or who has been obliged to hunt ten minutes for a chicken that had flopped fifty feet into the high, wet weeds on a dewy morning, and find it dripping and dirty. Pis. 19.— KiLiiiNO-POST FOR Fowls. Pig. 20.— To Prevent SBiiF-spoKiNG. Fig. 21.— Another Method to Prevent Sbi-p-sucking. Figs. 20 and 21 show a cheap and convenient device to pre- vent a cow from sucking herself. Either style may be used and wiU be found effectual. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 411 FiQ. 22^-Feame Foil Nbok to Pkbvent Sblf-suckinq. Fig. 22 shows another device for the prevention of self-suck- ing, which is easily made and applied. The spikes shown in the cut should not be used unless it is found absolutely necessary, as they will pre- vent the cow from using her head to fight flies in warm weather. The frames are fastened "together at the top with leather or strong cloth, and by straps and buckles below. The nose jewel illustrated in Fig. 23 may be used on a cow to prevent self-sucking, or on a calf which you wish to wean. In. order that they may fit so as to not be easily removed by the animal, it is best .to have one side movable and put on with screws, as shown in the cut. It should be made of hard wood, half or three-fourths inch thick, and well polished. A snow-plow will save a good deal of labor in shoveling out paths in winter, in localities where deep snows fall, and the one shown in Fig. 24 is cheap and efi"ective. With such a snow-plow it will be quick work to make all the paths needed fig. 24.-snow-plow. on the farm, to the nearest neighbors, or to the school. Fig. 25 shows a form of flood-gate which will be found cheap and durable in many localities. It could be used in con- nection with the hogshead abutments illustrated in our fence chapter, in which case staples should be driven through the staves of the hogsheads and clinched before they are filled with stone. A stream twenty feet wide or more can be fenced in Fis. 23.— Nose Jewel. 412 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. this way. If not more than twelve or fifteen feet wide, but one set of rails would be needed, which could be hinged at one end and rest on pins driven into the post at the other. The pins should be on the lower side and should slant upward, so that the rails would not be easily blown or crowded off from them, but as the water rises they Pig. 25.-WATEK-QAP. yf[\i \)Q lifted and float around. Fig. 26 illustrates a cheap and effective stump-puller which can be made by many farmers themselves or by any black- smith, and by means of which two horses can twist quite a large stump out of the ground. It should be made as strong as possible, as there will be such a leverage in using it, that two horses can exert great power. The point p is • driven into the stump, the chain passed half-way round, and the lever put through a link, and the horses attached to the hook. Fig. 27 shows an attachment to a wagon-bed, to be used when corn, potatoes, sawdust, etc., is to be shoveled out. When attached to the wagon, the tail-board can be at once removed without spilling any of the load on the ground. When not wanted, it can be taken off and put away. This is a great improvement on the plan of placing a board inside the bed with one end on the top of the tail-board and the other on the bottom of the bed of the wagon. Figs. 28 and 29 illustrate a dumping-sled for drawing ma- nure, stone, or earth. The sled may be used either side up, Fig. 26.— Stump-pui-leh. Fig. 27.— Wagon-bed Attachment. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 413 Fig. 28.— Self-dumping Sled Empty. and drawn either backward or forward. The runners are made of strong plank, and serve for side-boards as well as runners. The manner of dumping is shown in Fig. 29. Jhe short chain is unfastened, and the team is allowed to draw by the long chain, which dumps the sled. Fig. 30 illustrates a cheap and convenient potato screen, by means of which not only the loose earth among the potatoes, but the small potatoes also can be taken out. The slats should be rounded on the upper side and planed smooth, so as to reduce friction as much as possible, and should be a Fig. 29.— sblp-domping Sled Loaded. little wider apart at the bot- tom than the top of the screen. A good width for it is twenty inches, and the lower end should be high enough to receive a basket. Often it can be so arranged that the potatoes can be run directly into a bin in the cellar through a window. An old cloth spread under the screen will facilitate gathering up what passes through, and also prevent dirt and litter near the house. Fig. 31 shows a cover for a roller. It is well known that exposure to the weather dam- ages farm machinery more than its use, and as the roller is large and awkward to put in the shed and occupies a ^'^ good deal of space, it is more '■•'^'?3 likely to be left out than most pig. 3o.-potato sckebn. implements. If raised a few inches from the ground and covered with a box like that shown in our engraving, it will be as 414 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. secure as if in the barn. The sides of this cover should be of light lumber and lapped like weather-boarding to keep out the rain. The top -should be of matched lumber and well painted. Fig. 32 illustrates the cheapest and most convenient plan for cooking food for stock, heating water, or boiling maple sap. It consists 'of a vpooden box with sheet-iron bottom, and as this Fig. 3i.-roi.i,eb Cover. thin iron heats through quickly, water can be boiled in it in much less time than in an iron kettle. The box should be of two-inch plank, and sixteen inches wider than the fire chamber. The sheet iron can be put on with common shingle nails. The furnace can be built of stone laid up with clay, which will endure the heat much better than lime mortar. Care must be taken to protect the wood at the ends from the fire. The sides will be well protected by extend- ing out on to the wall. The furnace should be made high, so as to give room for the wood, and a piece of sheet iron will answer for a door. Any laborer can build such a furnace, for the wall being cov- ered with earth can be built rough. The entire expense for a pan that will cook two barrels should not exceed five dollars. An old stove-pipe can be used for a chimney When the pan fig. 32.-feed cooker. is emptied, care must be taken to see that the fire is all out, or a little cold water put, in the pan, as the bottom is so thin it will be easily burned out. If the door is left open, the draft will HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 415 soon cool the furnace. I prefer this to any of the high-priced steamers or cookers I have ever seen. Fig. 33 shows a simple three-horse evener, which can be made by any blacksmith. While ordinarily the single horse hitched to the upper part will ■want twice the length of shank that the two hitched below will, it would be well to have several holes, so as to vary it to suit a light or heavy horse. fig- 33.-ev«:neb. Fig. 34 shows a simple device for measuring land. It is a wheel sixteen and one-half feet in circumference, so that each revolution will make a rod. The rim can be spaced off into feet, so as to measure fractions of a rod. One spoke should be painted a different color from the rest, or can have a white or red strip of cloth tied arojand it, so as to make no mistakes in counting the revolutions. Mine was made from an old spinning wheel; but an old buggy hub can easily be provided with long spokes and a light rim, and will answer for the purpose. By holding the handle, it can be trundled in front of the operator ajid the revolutions counted, and a field measured almost as accurately as by two men carrying a chain. It is often desirable to tether a horse or cow in order to save grass that is not protected by a fence, so that the animal can be turned on it, and to do this safely rec^uires a good tether- pin with swivel, as shown in Fig, 35. By the use of such a pin and a chain instead of a rope, the animal may be tethered with perfect safety, as it is impossible to wind up the chain on the pin. Fig. 36 on page 416, shows a rack for hang- ing a beef. The cross-piece should be square at fig. 35.-tethek pin. the ends and fitted to the front uprights so that they can not Fig. 34.— Land Measubke. 416 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Fig. 36.— Beep Bace. turn, while the single upright at the rear should have a round hole, so as turn on the cross-piece. The hooks should be mov- able, so as to be adjusted to a large or small beef. Fig. 37 shows a neat and at- tractive shipping box for poultry, or it may be used for young pigs or puppies. For poultry, all but the ends may be made of half-inch stuff. A good size for a single pair of fowls is eighteen inches long, twelve inches wide, and six- teen to eighteen inches high at the highest point. The slats may be two inches wide and from two to three inches apart, according to the size of fowls to be shipped. Cheap handles can be made by boring half-inch holes and passing a small rope through, tying a knot on the inside to pre- vent it from slip- ping through. The bottom should be closed tight for six inches to prevent the fowls from getting their legs through. Fig. 38 shows what is called "a make-shift well curbing." In a new prairie country, where stone can not be had, the new settler often needs a well at once before he is able to pay for brick to wall it. Good oak hogsheads can often be bought cheaply, and will last in the Fig. 38.— BakkelWell- ° ^ •" CDRB. ground for many years, or if these can not be had, even cement barrels will answer the purpose. It is often necessary to stack hay or' corn fodder wheji FiQ. 37.— Shipping-box fob Fowls. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 417 Fig. 39.— Section of Venti- LATOK. little damp, so that there is more or less danger of molding, and if the stack can be arranged so as to give ventilation through the center, this danger will be greatly reduced. Fig. 39 shows how a cheap frame can be made to be used for this purpose, and Fig. 40 shows how they can be placed one above another and carried «p to any desired height. The corner pieces should be two inches square, and three-inch strips of board will be sufficient to hold them together. When once made with care they wUl last for years. Fig. 41 shows another cheap way of ventilating a hay or fod- der stack, while Fig. 42 shows how two boards nailed together may keep open a passage for the air and m- fiq. 4o.— ventilatob; sure perfect ventilation. Fig. 43 on page 418 illustrates a bushel box. These are not only much cheaper than baskets, but more convenient, especially for the market gardener, as they pack into a wagon better. They are also better than barrels for storing winter apples in the cellar, as they are light to handle and can be placed one above another to the ceiling and afford good ventilation. To hold a bushel and not be so fuU but that they can be set on top of each other, they should be Sraade one foot wide, one foot deep, "S^ eighteen and a half inches 27 Fig. 41.— Ventilator foe Stack. Fig. 42.— Bottom Ventilation. 418 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. long. Make the ends of inch pine with holes cut for handles, and the bottom and sides of lath or narrow strips. Fig. 44 illustrates a gate with pivot hinge. The pin at the bottom may be of hard wood or of iron, while for the top hinge a piece of round iron can be bent to fit the hole Fig. 43.-A BUSHEL-BOX. in the top of the upright, and with the other end flattened and two or three holes punched in it so it can be nailed to the post. Figures 45 and 46 illus- trate a form of gate which will be found very convenient in localities where deep snows make it difficult to keep the passageway clear so that a gate will swing readily. The gate is cheap and easily made. It should be put together with bolts and the post to which the gate is hung must be set leaning. A gallon paint pail, filled with small stone can be used for a weight. Fig. 47 illustrates a double pivot gate which is very cheap and convenient, particularly for pas- FlQ. 44.— PiVOT-HtNGED GATE. Fig. 45.— Gate hung with Weight, Open. Fig. 46.— Gate hung with Weight, Closed. tures where large herds of cattle are to be driven through. No hinges will be needed, as the upright in the center will HANDY THIN08 ABOUT THE FARM. 419 be rounded to two inches and fitted into a hole in the top cross- piece, and the b tt m to a hole in a post or piece of tim- ber at the bot- tom. The long braces will keep the gate from fm. 47.-dotjble pivot gate. sagging. The latch and catch can be made so that the gate can be swung either way. Pig. 48 illustrates a very convenient form of ladder for the orchard. Old wheels can be found on many farms or can be bought very cheap at the repair shops, and the cost of fitting u]^ such a ladder would be trifling compared with the benefit derived from it in the orchard. Care must be exercised in making it that it does not extend so high as to overbalance with the weight of a basket of fruit. Fig. 49 illustrates a ladder which will be FiQ. 48.— Barkow Ladder. found very useful in the orchard. The finer fruit grows at the extrem- ities of the branches, and usually can not be reached by a ladder which must be supported by leaning against the tree, as the branches are not strong ^la- 49.-self-supportinq ladder. enough to support the ladder with the added weight of a man. 420 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. With such a "ladder as the above the fruit at the ends of the branches can be easily reached. The braces which support this ladder are secured by a single bolt to a piece of board firmly bolted to the top of the ladder. The ladder shown in Fig. 50 can be used as a step-ladder for the low trees or branches, or when open and turned hinge side down, its length will be doubled, strap hinges, such as are used on gates will an- swer the purpose. Fig. 51 shows a cheap ladde'r which possesses some advantages. If made of light wood it is Fig. 60.— csombined Straight and step-ladder. easily raised, and can be made to stand firmly by placing it in a small fork, where a common two-sided ladder would not go. If made of free-splitting timber, a bolt with washers should be used at the upper part of the split. It is often necessary to put up a scarecrow of some kind to protect the corn-fields or poultry-yard, and we here il- lustrate two. Fig. 52 is an imitation crow made by stick- ing feathers into a cork or block of wood. The piece of bright tin above serves to help keep it in motion, and by its reflection makes it more effective. In Fig. 53 the tin is hung below and a pair of nails Fig. 51.— Pole Laddek. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 421 so arranged as to strike the sides of a bottle from which the bottom has been removed, or an old tin can may be substituted for the bottle. The noise added to the motion makes this more terrifying to the birds. It is often desirable to protect valuable jslants, either from the sun or frost, and Fig. 54 shows a convenient and simple plan. The left hand figure shows twigs bent and stuck in the ground to form an arch, Avhile at the right hand these- twigs are fig. 52.-A scare-orow. covered with a newspaper, which is kept in place by clods or small stones laid on the edges. Fig. 55 shows a hogshead sheep rack. Mr. J. M. Jameson writes me that he has used this for some years and is much pleased with it. He cuts nine in diameter. ''Sa1s:^°^^" in diameter in such a " rack " as this the sheep do not waste the hay or interfere with each other. It will be best to have the hogsheads hooped with old buggy tires, as the cost will be small and it will make them more durable. It is often advisable to Fig. 54.— Plant Protector. holes in a hogshead three feet The holes should be ten inches the widest part. When fed from |> I |I3- 1 Fig. 58.— Hogshead Sheep Back. 422 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Fig. 57.— Feed-box ■WTTH Handle. keep some of the cattle in the barn-yard when there is good shelter at the stack, and they wiU need a little meal or grain. Some kind of a feed box will be necessary, and it should be so ar- ranged as' to be pro- tected from snow and rain. Fig. 56 shows a hinged feed-box, which when not in use can be turned up against FIG. 56.-HINGED FEED-BOX. the fcHce and held in place by an iron hasp or wooden catch. Fig. 57 shows a box to be set on the ground, with an upright, which can be used for a handle to move it, or' which will keep the edges out of the mud if it is turned over. Fig. 58 shows a box with a hinged lid, which can be closed when desired. Fig. 59 illustrates a trough or table for tagging sheep. A sheep placed on its back in this can not turn over, and, without being tied, can be readily managed by one man. It wiU be FiG. 58.— Feed-Box with Cover. found a great convenience and saving of time where large flocks are to be handled. Fig. 60 illustrates a method of prevention and cure for a butting ram. Valuable rams are often so fiq. 59.-tagging-table fok sheep. confirmed in the habit of butting as to render it necessary to kill HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 423 or cure them, as they become dangerous. As a ram always backs a few steps to prepare for a lunge, if a pair of light poles are fastened to his horns so as to prevent his backing, his butting intentions will be diverted. After wearing them for a short time, one can be removed, and when the habit is cured the other taken off. Fig. 61 illustrates a sheep pig. 6o.-butting prevbntok. shearing table. The cords shown at the sides can be used for fastening its legs if neces- sary. The table can be made of a height to suit the shearer. ' In these days of fine- bred hogs it is often quicker and safer to take them to market in a wagon than to FiQ.ei-SHBABnrG 5DABI.E. drive them, and such a rack as is illustrated by Fig. 62 will be found very convenient in loading and unloading them. It can be made so as to be taken apart when not in use, as it will be lighter to han- dle and easier to store. There should be cleats nailed on the floor to prevent the hogs from slipping. The rack for the bed will often be found of advantage in hauling stove wood, pumpkins, or any light material of which the horses can draw more than a wagon bed full. Fig. 63 shows a home-made root-cutter. The farmer who Fig. 62.— Hog Loader. 424 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. grows a large quantity of beets or other roots to feed will want a better and more expen- sive machine, but one such as shown in the cut will answer the purpose where but one or two cows are to be fed. The box should be large enough to hold a bushel or more of roots without their being in the way of the operator. Some very valuable horses acquire a nervous Fig. 63.— Home-made Root Cutteb. habit of kicking in the stable, and although they are not vicious and only kick in play, the habit is very annoying. One of the best horses I ever owned would kick the har- ness down when it was hung six feet from the floor, or if put in a stable where he could reach the weather- boarding, he would batter it off before morning. The simple device shown in Fig.. 64 is said to be an effective cure. When the horse kicks the log it swings back and strikes him and he soon learns to be quiet. The stick should be smooth, not too heavy, and hung near enough to the horse so that "he can not kick it with full force. A hook or rack should be arranged to receive it when it is not needed. Fig. 66 shows a hanging milk and fruit shelf which is not only inaccessible to rats and mice, but affords a good circulation of air. It can be made of any size desired. The floor may be Fig. 64.— To Cxike the Kicking Habit. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 425 supported by nailing incli boards to the hanging supports, or the latter may be mortised. If long shelves are wanted, a middle support will be necessary. Pig. 65.— Hanging Rat-pboof SHBia'. ■Wheel Drying Rack. The suu and wind are the great purifiers, and the house- wife understanding this, puts out her milk pans, pails, dish- cloths, etc., where they can receive their fuU benefit. Fig. 66 shows a convenient rack for the purpose, and one that will save steps, as it can be revolved so as to bring any article to the side nearest the kitchen door. An old buggy wheel that has served its time for purposes of locomotion, may have years of usefulness added to its existence, and also save the farmer's wife many steps, by doing duty in this way. Fig. 67 shows a simple de- vice for elevating the clothes line. It is inconvenient for a woman to reach to hang sheets, table-cloths, etc., as high as they ought to be while drying, and by this arrangement the clothes can be hung with the line low and then raised. The post should be broad, and the lever bolted to it so as turn Fig. 67. -Clothes une lxeter. q^ ^]jg \io\i, and pius cau bc ar- ranged so as to keep the line at any desired height. 426 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Fig. 68 shows a good foot-scraper, such as should be found at every door. If the boys — and men — are taught to use the scraper in muddy weather whenever they come into the house, and an old broom is kept hanging by it to sweep the feet, much Fia. t)8.-FooT scRAPBB. labor in sweeping and dust and dirt on the carpets will be avoided,^ and in many cases cross words and hard thoughts prevented. -Fig. 69 shows how an olC^ spade can be utilized for a scraper, and a little ingenuity will enable one to arrange an old broom on either side to clean the sides of the boots. Home-made articles of furniture are often more __^^___ appreciated than those fig. 69.-foot-scbapeb aud brush. bought from the shop. Our cut shows how an easy-chair caa be made from a barrel. Fig. 70 shows how it should be cut Fia. 70.— BaebeI/ Chaib. Fig. 71.— Babbei, Chaib Upholstered. and how the castors are attached, while Fig. 71 shows how the chair will look after it is finished. While visiting Professor Townshend at Columbus, he had occasion to refer to a book on a high shelf in his library, and HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 427 getting up he took hold of the back of his chair and in a twink- ling it was converted into a step-ladder. Such a chair would be a convenience in every house, as the housekeeper almost Fig. 72.— Chaie and Step-ladder. Pig. 73.— As a Step-I/Addeb. daily needs to hang a picture, arrange a curtain, wash a window, or reach a high shelf. The chair (Figs. 72, 73) can be neatly finished, so as to be ornamental, and when not wanted as a step- ladder can be used as a chair. Figs. 74 and 75 illustrate another simple convenience, and Fig. 74.— Tooii-Box Chaie Closed. Fig. 75.— Tool-box Chaik Open. may be used for a variety of purposes. If the farmer has some mechanical skill and wishes to work evenings, he can use this 428 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. to keep his tools, awls, gimlet, hammer, etc. It would, if not wanted for this purpose, make an excellent place to keep the blacking brush and blacking, or the shoes for a small family could be kept in it. One could be used by the mother for stockings and darning material. If neatly made and cushioned, it would look well and make a comfortable chair, and if on castors, could be easily moved. It should be made just the height of an ordinary chair. Fig. 76 shows a set of stationary slat shelves. They have many advantages over boards. They are much cheaper and more easily kept clean, and when used for milk, the bottom of the pan being exposed to the air, the milk cools sooner than when on a board shelf. These shelves can easily be made inaccessible to rats, as sug- gested for the revolving shelves. There is no simpler device to prevent a cow from sucking herself than that shown in Fig. 77. The stick should be of hard wood, and the ends sharpened apd firmly bound to the horns. It can be re- moved when the cow loses the inclination to suck, which will usually be in a short time. We have for many years used in the cel- lar a set of shelves shown in Fig. 78 quickly made Fig. 76.— Slat Shelves. Fig. 77.— To Prevent Self-sucking. made to revolve, as It is very easily and The upright should be four inches square, and the strips half inch thick and two inches wide. They should project far enough to receive a milk pan or plate. The post or upright should have a strong pin of hard wood in Fig. 78.— Bbvolviwg Shelves. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 429 Fig. 79.— Back foe Tomatoes. The shelves may be any dis- each end. The upper one will pass through a hole in a board nailed to the joists above, and the lower pin in a block on the cellar floor. Even if this is made stationary, it will be found very con- venient, as it occupies but little room, and can be put up in a short time and at a very small expense. It can easily be made inaccessible to rats by putting the first slats two and half feet from the floor and covering the post with tin. tance apart desired. In growing early tomatoes for the family, it will pay to furnish some kind of support, as the fruit will be nicer, earlier, and more abundant than if the vines are allowed to trail on the ground. Eig. 79 shows a cheap rack, which can be made of re- fuse lumber, which will give good satisfaction for the purpose. A similar rack made of lath might be used for the taU varie- ties of peas. Fig. 80 illustrates a cheap, portable shelter, which may be used for a sow and her litter when turned to pasture in spring, or it can be made high enough for calves, or one of them placed on a dry spot in the poultry yard and supplied with ashes would make a good wal- lowing place for the chickens and turkeys in bad weather. Fig. 81 shows a cheap and convenient gar- den reel. The side pieces A A are slightly curved to the center. The cross pieces B B are two inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick. The center stake C should be two and a half feet long and with a shoulder below the lower cross-piece. A pin through it above the upper cross-piece holds it in place. The cord is wound up by the handle D, and the other end is fastened to the stake E. AU parts ^^' bkbi,.*''™*' Fig. 80 — PoETAEiiK Shelter. 430 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. of the reel should be made of hard wood, and for the stakes there is none that I am familiar with so good as the osage orange. In many localities a water gap may be made as shown in Fig. 82. All the timbers used should be strong and of durable /\ y^ /I timber. The end of -^r»"^^^^^iS7'^ the poles resting in the bed of the stream must be weighted down with stone. If it is desirable to fill up the bed of the creek, brush and Fio. 82.-ANOTHER Water-gap. straW placed On the poles will stop the sediment and soon make a dam that will stop the wash. In suitable locations there is no better way of fencing across a stream. Some of our flowering plants are weak in the stem and re- quire support, or they are easily beaten down by the rain. A cheap and tasty support for such plants may be made of heavy wire, as shown in rig. 83. A similar one, made strong enough to support a coffee boiler, would be very con- venient for picnic parties . when getting up a dinner in the woods. In topping out a stack, the distance is often too great for one to pitch from a wagon the last material needed, and one can not well stand on a common ladder and take hay or sheaves on a fork and pass them up to the one finishing the stack. Fig. 84 shows how a platform may be arranged on which the middle man can stand and work with ease and safety. There are many horses who have the bad habit of throwing the hay or fodder out of FIG. 84.-STACKING Stage. ^^ manger, either under their feet or else over the front of the manger. Fig. 85 shows a simple de- I.— A Wire Stand or Support. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 431 vice to prevent this. The rack, which is shown turned up, is made of iron — old, worn tires are suitable and cheap — and hinged so that it can be turned up at the front of the manger or turned down so as to rest on the hay. The bars of the rack should be ten inches apart, so that the horse can easily get his nose through to eat. I would recommend a slatted floor to the manger, and that it be placed a foot or eighteen inches above the stable floor. The dirt and waste will then fall on the floor and go out with the soiled bedding. fio. 85.-rack and manqee. Many of our readers, who keep a diary of the weather, would without doubt be glad also to keep a record of the rain- fall. Fig. 86 shows how a cheap rain gauge may be made, which for all practical purposes will be accurate enough. A scale of inches and fractions should be marked on a common two-quart glass fruit jar, a cork fitted into the neck, and a funnel with the top exactly the size of the inside dia- meter of the jar fitted through the cork. It will be best to keep it in a covered box with only the top of the funnel projecting above the cover. It should be placed where there will be no trees or buildings to interfere with the rain-fall. For winter use, when there is danger of freezing, the jar can be protected by dry saw-dust. Fig. 87 shows a cheap and convenient land measurer. It may be made of two sections of old wagon bows or of limbs having a natural curve. The legs A A should be mortised, and the cross piece B should pass through the mortises and be marked with feet and inches, and a thumb-screw inserted in one of the legs to hold it to its place. When you wish to Jig. 86.— a Home- KADE Bain Gattqe. 432 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYLOCPEDIA. measure across a field, set it to four feet one and a half inches^ and four measurements will be just one rod. It will he found very convenient to mark the spaces for plants in the garden, or the dis- tance apart for rows where accuracy is desirable. It is used like a pair of compasses, by stepping or pivot- ing it along. Fig. 88 shows how an old barrel 2\ can be utilized for a chicken coop. Fig. 78.-CHEAP Land measueer. If large barrels — sugar barrels, for example — are used, the coops will be of comfortable size. If more room is needed, two of them can be placed side by side, and two or more staves cut out of each to make an open- ing large enough for the hens to pass through, and these openings placed opposite each other. If there is dan- ger from rats, one barrel should be set on a board floor, and should have but one- opening, and this should be closed at night. Some auger holes should be bored in the staves for ventilation. The poultry raiser is often troubled by the depredations of minks or other small animals which prey upon his flocks, and these animals are so cunning as to make it difficult to trap them. A hole can be cut in a log and sharp spikes driA^en. in at such an angle that the head of the animal will readily slip past them when it attempts to reach the bait beyond them, but wUl hold it when it attempts to draw the head out. The hole FiQ. 88.— Bakeel Coop. Fig. 89.— a Mink Tkap.' HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 433 should be rubbed with earth so as to make it look dark like the outside of the log, as if it was left fresh and white it would be likely to excite suspicion. Every farmer who has tried holding a hog to ring or snout knows how difi&cult it is to keep them still, so that the operation can be well performed. By using a noose, as shown in Fig. 90, the pig wiU hold "himself. Often the noose can be worked into his pig- 9o.— ringino a hoo. mouth when he is eating without catching him at all; but when caught, he at once begins to squeal and opens his mouth, when the noose can be passed round his upper jaw, and he at once pulls back and tightens it. The losses to the farmer from the depre- dations of rats are enormous, and sometimes a single rat that develops a taste for young chickens may do several dollars worth of damage. A rat can usually be caught in a steel trap, by setting boards on edge so as to narrow to three inches, the point through which he must pass and covering the trap with bran or sawdust. Fig. 91 shows a trap by means of which a large number of rats may be caught. The top of the trap is hung with a pivot, the upper side being heavy enough so as to remain closed, but so nearly balanced that the weight of a rat on the other side will tip it. It will be best to fasten the drop and feed the rats for a few nights on top of the trap before setting it. Bait with toasted cheese. Put six inches of water in the bottom of the trap and place in it a piece of board three inches wide and six long. This will hold one rat, but if two or more get in they will fight for possession of the block and drown each other. This trap can be made of the half of a barrel, and the top can be laid over it with the trap-door or pit-fall in the center. 28 Fio. 91.— A Bat Trap. 434 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. FiQ. 92.— A Cheap Bag-holdek. A device for holding bags is shown in Fig. 92. A strong table can be cheaply made, and your tinner will charge but little for a tin or sheet iron funnel. The funnel when pressed down closely will hold the bag in place. This could be used without the funnel by attaching the bag to small hooks on the table. Fig. 93 shows a good form of press for small cheeses. The amount of pressure can be regulated by moving the hoop near or farther from the fulcrum, and also by increasing the weight. In press- ing cheese the pressure must be light at first or the cream wiU run off with the whey. The same press can be used for lard, jeUy, etc. There should be in every stable a closet where curry- combs, brushes, open links, fiq. 93.— a home-made press. rings, simple remedies, etc., can be kept free from dust and Vermin. It can be made and attached to the waU as shown in Fig. 94. A similar closet with hooks, instead of shelves, can be arranged for the buggy harness, and the horse blankets can be either hung up or folded and laid on the bottom. The harness often needs the " stich in time " which will save the annoyance of a break in an emergency or a trip to town, and with some oak barrel staves a cheap and convenient clamp Fia 94.— Bahn-closet. HANDY THINGS ABOUT THE FARM. 435 Fig. 95.— Harness Clamp. (Fig. 95) can be easily made to hold it while mending. It is best to use screws to fasten the boards to the block, as there will be less danger of splitting. It will be easy to arrange this clamp so that the pressure will be sufficient to hold the leather. Fig. 96 shows a cupboard or set of shelves, which will be found very convenient in the kitchen or summer kitchen. They can be made cheaply, and may be of any required size. A door can be fitted to the cupboard, or a curtain hung in front. If the latter, it should be made with rings to slide on a wire, so that it can be easily opened or closed. In Fig. 97 we have a cheap and convenient saw-buck -for sawing up long poles which can not be balanced on an ordinary saw- buck. Wood or old rails are often brought to the wood-yard in lengths varying from five to twelve feet, and such an arrange- ment as is shown in the engraving is both cheap and conven- ient in sawing these long pieces. How a water-tight box or trough can be made is shown in Fig. 98. It will be found convenient for scalding hogs or to use as a trough to mix chop-feed for horses, as the sloping ends will be convenient when it is used for either pur- pose. It can also be used as a watering-trough. The sides should be of good, two-inch plank, and the ends fitted into gains, Fig. 98.— Set of Shelves. Fig. 97.— SAWBncK for Long Wood. 436 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. and it should be put together with white lead. The rods should be of half-inch iron, and made with a tap at one end, so that it can be kept well drawn together. Fig. 99 shows a convenient Fig. 98.-WATER-TIGHT BOX. hook for cleaning out the bot- tom of a horse's foot. It is often the case that ice or dung becomes compacted into the shoe, so that the horse can not stand to draw a load on an icy hill, and the teamster must clean out the hoof before starting up the hill. This hook is made with a hinge so. that it can be fig. 99.-a hoop hook. folded and carried in the pocket, and thus always be on hand when needed. It is often desirable to save as much as possible of the lit- ter used for bedding the stock, and by the use of such a bar- row as we show in the engrav- ing the litter from several stalls can be wheeled out and left in the sun to dry, and brought back and used again at night. Such a barrow will also be ^ FIG. 100.-A STABLE BARROW. fouud convemeut for moving straw, corn-fodder, pea-brush, empty barrels, or any light bulky material. It is often desirable to have a cheap, low sled, on which to move a barrel of vinegar or molasses or to draw in sugar-water. It will also be found convenient to move a harrow or plow from fig. loi.— cheap barrei.-si.ed. one field to another. Fig. 101 shows how such a sled can be made. THE PEOPLE'S Farm and Stock Cyclopedia EMBRACING FARM STOCK IN ALL ITS DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING THE BREEDING, CARE, AND MANAGEMENT OF HORSES, CATTLE, HOGS, SHEEP, POULTRY, BEES, Etc.; FOODS FOR ANIMALS; BARNS AND BARN-YARDS; THE DISEASES OF HORSES AND LIVE STOCK, With Numerous Appendixes INVALUABLE FOR REFERENCE IN ALL DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE VOLUNIE II. JONES BROTHERS & COMPANY, CINCINNATI, O., CHICAGO, ILLS., ST.LOUIS, MO., DALLAS, TEX. INTRODUCTIOlSr. SUCCESSFUL farming means more than the growing of heavy crops. The farmer may begin on a fertile farm, and at first get heavy yields of grain, but if he follows this for a series of years, selling the grain and restoring nothing to the soil, his crops must decrease in yield until his lands cease to pay for cultivation. Again, the farmer may be situated at such a distance from market that the expense of delivering his grain will largely reduce the profits, In most localities the farmer win lighten his labor and increase his profits by making promi- nent the rearing and feeding of stock. In addition to this, and what is of greater importance, he will, by this means, be ena- bled to keep his land at a maximum degree of fertility. No branch of farming requires greater intelligence or more careful study than the breeding and handling of stock. The fact that the farmer keeps on his farm stock enough to con- sume its products, does not, of itself, prove that he is making it profitable. Many questions are involved in the business of stock growing, with which we must be familiar before we can tell whether the farmer is making or losing money by it. The intelligent farmer should understand the various purposes for which he keeps stock, and should see that that which he keeps is adapted to the purpose intended. For example : The horse and mule are kept to furnish power, while the other domestic ani- mals furnish food and clothing, and all furnish valuable fertilizers. To make the greatest profit from stock requires attention to several points: 1st. The stock must be suited to the farm. 2d. The amount kept must correspond to the size of the farm. 3d. The stock of all kinds must be good, and there must be a 439 440 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. constant effort to improve it. 4th. Its food and care must be such as to give the best development for the purpose for which it is kept. 5th. It should always be managed so as to increase the fertility of the farm, both by the system of rotation which it renders practicable, and by the saving and intelligent applica- tion of the manure produced. Although these points will be fully discussed in the various chapters of the book, I wish briefly to notice them here. 1st. The farmer who attempts to make pork a leading pro- duct must have a farm well adapted to corn. If his lands are broken and unfit for the plow, sheep will probably give the best profit, or if he keeps cattle he will need some of the smaller and more active breeds. 2d. On many farms too much stock is kept. Four old, run- down horses are kept to do the work that two good ones would easily perform. The farmer attempts to winter more stock than he has food for, and the consequent scrimping brings them to the spring in such poor condition that the best season of growth is required to get them back to the weight and condition of the previous autumn. 3d. The poorer quality of stock — which, unfortunately, is still too common — ^never does and never will give any profit. Scrub colts — ^that are never worth seventy-five dollars each — scrub cattle, which must be kept to three or four years old to attain a weight of one thousand pounds ; leggy sheep, with light carcasses, which shear but three or four pounds of wool each, and " Elm Peeler " hogs, that like " Pharaoh's lean kine," are still thin and poor when they have devoured the pro- ducts of the years of plenty — such stock the farmer should not keep. It should be remembered that stock never improves without care and watchfulness, and that as the neglected field will inevitably grow up to weeds and briers, so certainly will the stock on the farm deteriorate unless careful attention is given to breeding and feeding. The farmer who never consulted the market reports, and who sold his grain at a price far below what they were offering at his nearest station, would be thought a fit candidate for a lunatic asylum, but how much wiser is he INTRODUCTION. 441 who feeds the products of his farm to stock so poorly bred that there is no possibility of profit from it. 4th. In feeding farm stock there should be an intelligent idea of the purpose for which the food is given, and some knowl- edge of the properties of the different foods and the purposes they subserve in the animal economy. These will be discussed fully in the chapter on Feeding Animals. I wish, however, briefly to state a few points : (1.) Breeding stock should never be pampered and made over fat, as it often impairs their fertility, and injures their offspring. It is, therefore, often unwise to buy show stock at fairs for breeding purposes. (2.) Working stock should be fed with those foods which produce muscle rather than fat, and the practice of heavy corn feeding for horses is both unscientific and injurious. (3.) Growing stock must be fed liberally so as to maintain a constant development, for it takes less food and gives better results to keep an animal growing and thrifty, than to make it so after it has been checked in its growth. All the profit in feeding animals must come from the surplus of food given above what is necessary to repair the waste of the system. (4.) One of the purposes of food is to produce heat, and shelter is usually cheaper than food. For the same reason it is wise to fatten farm animals as far as possible in warm weather, when but little of the food will be required to maintain vital heat. (5.) An animal to be thrifty must be comfortable ; therefore, a good bed and kind treatment are equivalent to food. 5th. In order that animals should be managed so as to increase the fertility of the farm, requires that the pastures be not overstocked, for there must be grass enough for full feed and some left on the ground. The stock must not be allowed to roam over the farm in winter and early spring, wasting their manure and injuring the land by tramping it when wet. The manure made must be protected from, loss by leaching or firing, and applied to the soil in the way that will secure the best and most lasting results. It is a wonderful and benefi- cent arrangement of Providence that the waste and offensive 442 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. matter of the farm may be transmuted in the soil into golden grains, luscious fruits, and palatable and nutritious vegetables ; that the vegetable matter decaying on the surface, or in the soil, should furnish the elements necessary to produce the plants that are to foUow. The poet says : "Life evermore is fed by death, In earth and sea and sky; And that a rose may breathe its breath, Something must die. Earth is a sepulcher of flowers, Whose vitalizing mould Through endless transmutation towers In green and gold. The oak-tree struggling with the blast Devours its parent tree, And sheds its leaves and drops its mast. That more may be." On the farm the offensive poisonous excrement, which, if allowed to accumulate would contaminate air and water, and the decaying vegetable matter are vitalized and utilized in the soil, so as to give health and wealth to the farmer who uses them intelligently. Stock Grooving on High-priced Lands. — It is thought by many farmers that to make stock growing profitable, cheap lands are necessary, and that this branch of farming is only suited to a new country, or broken lands unsuited to the plow. I believe that on farms suitable for grain growing, and which are worth one hundred dollars or more per acre, by intelligent management stock growing can be combined with the produc- tion of grain, so as to give a greater profit with less labor, and a much better condition of soil, than would be possible if grain alone was produced. I give below the views on this sub- ject of Mr. Chambers Stewart, a farmer now over eighty years old, who has spent his life on a farm such as I describe, and whose success gives weight to his words. " The greatest distinction conferred on man at the creation was dominion over all things, animate and inanimate. Invested INTRODUCTION. 443 with this grand heritage, how to obtain the fruits of the earth and subordinate to his use the animals necessary to his subsist- ence and comfort, must have been one of the first questions that occupied his mind; and now, after the lapse of ages, we are en- gaged in the study of precisely the same question. How shall we make the most of the gifts of a munificent Providence ? Can stock growing as a part of our mixed husbandry be made profitable on our high-priced lands ? " There are those with whom it has become a conviction that stock growing is not a paying business, and who do not propose to raise even the horses required to cultivate their own farms. Our railroads, furnishing a cash market for grain at every depot, have induced many of our farmers to devote their lands almost entirely to the production of grain to be sold. Farms of very rich soil may endure this incessant plowing for a time; but already we hear of farms that are growing poor and unproduc- tive. For a man to so cultivate his land as to be obliged to admit that it is growing poor under his management, is to exclude himself from the number of those who may be called good farmers. We believe farming on land worth one hundred dol- lars per acre may be so conducted as to make it a reasonably lucrative occupation, and at the same time the fertility of the soil be retained and even improved. But we also believe this can only be done by making stock growing a part of our mixed husbandry. This can only be done by having good stock and keeping it well. "In stock growing there is an opportunity offered for every one to consult his taste, or, if you choose, his talent. Some men have a talent for producing a superior quality of a certain kind of stock. Let such cultivate their talent. A higher de- gree of success is often attained by making a specialty of one kind of stock. I believe, however, the average farmer will do best to raise and keep a variety, and in this way the various products of the farm can be utilized with more economy and greater profit. If one has a taste for sheep, they may be kept with profit, especially if a large portion of the farm be of broken land or thin soil. The breeding and feeding of hogs has been 444 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. a source of wealth to a large number of farmers, notwithstand- ing some losses from cholera. "In determining the relative profits of , the several products of our farms or of a single product, we must take a series of years, and the farmers who have adhered to the business of raising and feeding hogs have found it profitable. While this business is so generally and so well understood, I will venture the single criticism that as a rule hogs are kept too exclusively on corn, and would do better to use more grass and clover. "I have said we must have good stock. In most localities where hogs are a leading product of the farm there has been such marked improvement that but little trouble or expense will be required to furnish the farmer with a good stock of hogs. "As regards cattle, the case is different. The farmer who keeps five or six cows, will say he can not afford to buy a thor- oughbred short-horn bull; but five or six farmers living on con- tiguous farms can unite in the purchase of one. In my neigh- borhood there are two groups of farmers operating on this plan. The sire should be changed once in three years, and at the end of twelve years most of the stock on these farms will be seven- eights and fifteen-sixteenths short-horn. These would be called high grades, and are as good for grazing and feeding as the thoroughbreds. Men largely engaged in raising and feeding cattle find from experience that the grain and grass that will grow two hundred pounds on a scrub steer will make three hundred pounds on a high grade. My own experience and ob- servation assure me that the same treatment which will make a scrub steer weigh twelve hundred pounds at three years old, will bring the high grade to fifteen hundred pounds at the same age, and the grade will bring five cents a pound as readily as the scrub will four. One is worth seventy-five dollars, the other forty-eight. This illustrates the difference between the highly improved and the common, in all the meat producing animals. It is easy to see that there may be a profit in one when there would be none in the other. " I believe it is only those who have been raising stock of an inferior quality, who think there is no profit in stock grow- INTRODUCTION. 445 ing. In horses the difference in quality makes a much greater difference in value than in other stock. I think every farmer who owns eighty acres of land might find it profitable to have one good brood mare. Let her be large, strong, and handsome ; if she is well bred and suitably mated, he may expect valuable progeny. When not breeding she will be as good as any horse for work, and even when raising a foal, may perform a great deal of service. In this way the farmer can supply his own wants and occasionally have a horse to sell. " There is another class of horses that is in great demand and at high prices, which, if a man has taste, judgment, and skill in breeding and training, may afford a greater profit. They are large, handsome, and elegant horses that travel well, among horsemen formerly called harness-horses. They are now more frequently called coach-horses, and are adapted to the gentle- man's family carriage, the omnibus and express wagon, and are the best for general purposes. For several years past there has been an active demand for horses of this class for exportation. The farmer who has mares adapted to breeding such horses, by mating them properly may do a large proportion of, if not all, the work on the farm with these mares and the three and four year old horses of their produce. It is better for horses of this age to be worked on the farm for two years. They make better horses. They are better trained and more reliable, and at five or six years old sell readily in the market at good prices, and are, I think, the most profitable horse for the farmer to raise, because he can make the colts pay their way at work from the time they are three years old until they go to market. I would allow the farmer to feel a just pride and ambition to produce a team that will draw the plow at the depth of six inches from morning to evening and from day to day ; a team that can be relied upon at all times and under any circumstances to move a load if it is in their power. "A slight modification of this class by taking the lighter mare (lighter because they have been bred with a larger infu- sion of pure blood) and breed these to the handsome and well- bred trotter, and you may hope to produce as good a roadster 446 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. as any one ; an active, light-footed horse, with spirit and mettle disposing him to promptly respond to every call, and seem de- lighted to accommodate you with any rate of speed down to 2.40, if you choose, with ease, grace, and elegance in every movement; one that will occasion persons meeting you to look back just to enjoy the poetry. To sit behind such a horse helps a man's digestion, and to produce such a one is just as laudable an ambition as to make improvements in mechanics. "And here I am willing to record my protest against the overshadowing consequence given by nearly all our live stock journals and agricultural boards to the mere trotter. The horse that can go his mile on a track as smooth as can be made, attached to a vehicle as light as can possibly be constructed to carry the weight of one man, and can come out two seconds ahead, without regard to size, form, or color — that such a test should be regarded as a standard of merit, is, we think, an ab- surdity. But it is not so much to the trotter that we object as to the undue space and consideration given this class in our papers, and the disproportionate awards by our agricultural boards. We believe it is exceedingly doubtful whether this course has resulted, or will result, in any material improvement in our roadster horse. It leads to the neglect and under-value of qualities other than mere speed at the trot.. While the cul- tivated aesthetic taste of men, women, and children is ever ready to proclaim a thing of beauty a joy forever, we should cultivate beauty and docility, and this can be done without sacri- ficing any other desirable quality. " We have said something of the kind and quality of stock that we think may be produced with profit, but this will de- pend entirely on the treatment it receives, and to insure suc- cess the first and indispensable thing to be done is to provide an abundance of pasture. We recognize the red clover, mixed with timothy, as the grand fertilizer and renovator of our fields, and at the same time it furnishes the largest amount of pas- ture ; and we hold that the management that secures the largest possible amount of benefit to the stock is entirely consistent with a large benefit to the soil. The stock must have an abun- INTBOBUCriON. 447 dance and some left; reduce the number of stock rather than fail in this. Have some left to protect and encourage the growth of- the roots. It should be allowed to grow in the spring until a considerable portion of the clover is in bloom, and it may be so managed that a portion will be in bloom all season. On almost every farm there may be some permanent pasture. All good clay limestone land will produce bluegrass. Timber land where the timber is not too dense, hillsides that would soon become poor if plowed much, corners cut off by a ravine, if well set in bluegrass and properly managed will afford a great deal of pasture. It enables the farmer to alternate, to have some growing while some is being eaten down. If this variety of pasture is provided, stock can be carried over a much greater portion of the year on pasture, and there is no feed equal to good pasture for young stock. "The treatment of stock during winter should be made a study. To carry stock through the winter it should be classi- fied. The younger and weaker should be separated from the stronger, and very special attention given to the young. An old and successful farmer and stock grower once made a single remark to me, when I was yet quite a young man, that has been worth more to me than the reading of some volumes. He said, " Do not forget that every young thing needs nursing," and he intended the remark to apply to plants as well as animals. " Young, growing stock should have such care, attention, and feed, as will secure a constant, uninterrupted growth, winter and summer. Nature demands this, and if from any cause growth is suspended for any considerable time, loss and injury are sus- tained. This is especially true of the meat-producing animals that are sold by weight. Whatever these animals may eat dur- ing the period that growth is intermitted is more than a clear loss. The disposition to take on flesh and mature early is injured. And now I do not think I am putting it too strongly when I give it as an opinion that one-half of the young cattle stock will from year to year weigh more on the scales in the month of November than they will the following April. If children were treated in this way — ^if their diet, clothing, and 448 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. lodging were so unsuitable as to entirely suspend growth for five months in the year, and this continued from year to year — the consequences would be ruinous. Protection from the rigors of winter, ample provision of suitable food, strict care and atten- tion that this is given them regularly and with economy, is an absolute necessity, A good authority on the subject has said, ' Be diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds.' AU this is a condition of success. " In farming, especially if stock growing is included, as in every other business or profession, a man who has a taste and love for it, who takes into his business some degree of enthusiasm and a purpose, if possible, to excel, is the man most likely to succeed. "Let us congratulate ourselves that ours is a mixed hus- bandry. Favored with a great variety of soil and climate, we can successfully cultivate a great variety of crops, and breed and rear all the domestic animals necessary for our use and comfort. Our occupation, thus varied, is far more attractive, and makes necessary a higher degree of intelligence, and is relieved of the monotony and irksome drudgery that attach to farm life in less favored countries." Stock on the farm, intelligently managed, gives a home mar- ket for its bulky products, thus making of the farmer a manufac- turer, and furnishes the means of enriching the soil and improv- ing and greatly increasing its productions. The breeding, rearing, feeding, and care of stock will be treated in these pages from a practical stand-point, and I shall avail myself of all the help I can get from practical farmers, be- lieving that a record of successful management will be of greater benefit to our readers than histories of breeds, long pedigrees, or fine-spun theories. Live Stock Department. Chaptkr I. THE HORSE— HISTORY, THE Fossil Horse. — Paleontology teaches that the horse inhabited America during the post-pliocene period, contem- poraneous with the mastodon and Megalonyx. He was unknown to the natives of America at the time of the discovery of America. Fossil remains, chiefly molar teeth, have been so frequently found on the plains and plateaus of the Southern States, and in Central and South America, and have been so carefully identified by such paleontologists as Dr. Lund, Profes- sor Owen, and other competent paleontologists, that there is no longer room for doubt that the horse found existence in the Western world congenial to his nature. Though the vast plains of the Northern and Central and Southern divisions of the American continent are perfectly adapted by climate, soil, and products to the necessities of the species, no single living specimen was found by the Europeans in America. The rapid increase of horses, that swelled into vast herds on the plains and plateaus, shows how weU adapted is this country to the production of the species. Just when, in the past geological periods, the horse became extinct as a living fauna, would be interesting to know, but as yet science has not revealed it to us. The broad plains of both continents seem perfectly adapted to the necessities of the genus Hippus, as is proved by the readiness with which the individuals that have escaped from the control of man have been speedily succeeded in their wild homes by vast herds of wild horses. Science has failed to show that the specimens of the fauna of 29 449 450 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. the periods which produced the fossil horse have escaped the fate of its contemporaries, the mammoth or mastodon, and we are left to surmise onlj^ as to how and where the horse of to-day originated, unless we accept the solution oiFered in Mosaic his- tory. The preservation of the species by means of the ark is corroborated by circumstances attending the propagation and dis- semination of the horse of ancient and modern times. That the plains of Southern Africa are more likely to have been the original habitat of the genus JEquus can not justly be inferred from the better adaptation of the soil and climate of that region to the existence of the horse, since the rapid spread and successful, healthful growth of the animal in the wild state on the plateaus of the Western continent, show the perfect adap- tation of soil and climate and produce in the Western home to the wants of the species. From the few horses which escaped from the discoverers of America have, in a short period, sprung as by magic, such vast numbers of powerful and hardy animals, that the wants of their nature are as fully met as on the plains of Africa. It is a question, then, of time, of beginning, or ap- pearance of individual specimens of the species on the plains of Africa and America, and not of unfitness of the West as an original habitat. The history of the horse in Africa goes not farther back than the Flood of Genesis. Assuming what seems most prob- able, in the light of Scriptural history and absence of any clearly arranged chain of scientific records to the contrary, that the horses of ancient and modern times have proceeded from the individuals that escaped destruction in the great Flood, there are good reasons for belief that the plains of the Eastern conti- nent have been dotted and grazed by the descendants of the specimens which escaped on Ararat. Until a more rational and scientific explanation of the origin of the horse appears, we are compelled to conclude that the horses of the Eastern and West- ern Hemispheres have descended from the remnant remaining somewhere on the Eastern Hemisphere. In speaking of the history of the horse, Colonel Hamilton Smith, in Vol. XII of the Naturalist's Library, says : "We know THE HORSE— HISTORY. 451 SO little of the primitive seat of civilization, the original center, perhaps in Bactria, in the higher valleys of the Oxus, or in Cashmere, whence knowledge radiated to China, India, and Egypt, that it may be surmised that the first domestication of the post-diluvian horse was achieved in Central Asia, or com- menced nearly simultaneously in several regions where the wild animals of the horse form existed. The fossil beds of New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming belong to the eocene period, and furnish us fossils of the earliest forms to which the modern horse can be traced. jThis would indicate that the horse inhab- ited America before Asia or Africa, as similar evidence can not now be shown in favor of their being the ancient habitat of the horse. Yet this is not proof to the contrary, since paleontolo- gists have not explored the immense tracts of older Asia and Africa as they have this newer continent." On this subject the American Cyclopedia says: "The E. neo- ffeus (Lund), and U. Major (De Kay), two species of the closely allied genus Hipparion, and one of the Hippotherium, indicate that the equine family were well represented in America in former geological periods. Whether this ancient horse, of about the same size as the recent one, and distinguished by the usually more complex folds of the enamel of the molars, became entirely extinct before the creation of man, may admit of question." Professor Leidy says, " There is no room to doubt the former existence of the horse on the American continent at the same time with the mastodon, and that 'man, probably, was his com- panion.' " The fossil horse has also been found in the Old World in the pliocene of Europe with the mastodon and tapir, and through all the diluvial period, and in the upper tertiary of Asia; there are two or three species described in Europe and as many in Asia. From this it appears that the horse inhab- ited the Old World, as well as the New, before the advent of man, while others persisted in a decUning condition during the early part of the human epoch. Written History. — Egypt the Producer of Horses. — The earliest writings pertaining to the horse are of Sanskrit ori- gin. The hieroglyphics of Egypt show that Egyptians used 452 THE PEOPLE 'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. horses to chariots and for riding, but not for labor in bearing burdens or drawing the plow. There is little doubt that the horse was domesticated among Egyptians two thousand years before the Christian era. The Hebrews furnish the world the earliest written accounts of existence and use of horses. Stone- henge says: "The earliest record of the horse which we pos- sess is in the Old Testament, where we first find him inferen- tially mentioned in the thirty-sixth chapter of Genesis as exist- ing in the wUderness of Idumea about the beginning of the six- teenth century before Christ." But 1650 B. C, Joseph pro- ceeded from Egypt into Canaan with his father's body, accom- panied with chariots and horsemen, which shows that horses had at least become recognized as valuable among men of high rank. But as they had long been used by Egyptians for war purposes before they were used in pageants and as a means of transpor- tation, their use dates further back than 1600 B. C. Lenormant dates the introduction of the horse into Egypt at the time of the " Shepherd Kings," 2200 B. 0. We may safely say that the horse has been an important factor in civilization four thousand years. What civilization would have been without the horse is difficult to imagine. Professor Brewer says : " The higher the enlightenment of a people, the greater the variety of uses to which horses are applied." In the earlier civilizations the ass, the ox, the sheep, and even the dog, figured on their monuments before the horse was recognized of great public value. Even among the Assyrians and Phoenicians the horse appears to have been subordinate in rank to the ass, ox, and sheep. Egyp- tian civilization gave him a place on monuments and works of art some five hundred years before he was alluded to in the writings of the Israelites. They spoke of the horse as belong- ing to their enemies. Pharaoh is recorded as taking " six hun- dred chosen chariots, and all the horses," in his pursuit of the Israelites to the Red Sea. Notwithstanding the fact that in the history of Arabia, it has become most noted as the home of the Arab horse, yet, while the Israelites wandered there, we find an entire omission of record to show that there were horses used by this peculiar people. Even six hundred years later, Stone- THE HORSE— HISTORY. 453 henge says, "Arabia could not have been remarkable in any way for her horses ; for Solomon, while he resorted to her for silver and gold, mounted his cavalry 'from Egypt." The Israelites were, indeed, a peculiar people, viewed in the light of the civilization of the nineteenth century ; for they even hamstrung the horses of the Canaanites, which fell into their hands. They were able to drive out the inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valleys, because these had chariots of iron. (Judges i, 19.) The Lesson of History. — Thus we have the lesson of history begun, that the people who fought with horses could not be conquered by those who owned not cavalry. The Israelites became possessors of a hUl country, where horses and chariots could not be employed. This was 1443 B. C. A few years later we find in Deuteronomy the order, " But he [their chosen king] shall not multiply horses to him- self, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to the end that he should multiply horses." This warning shows that about 1450 B. C, kings were accustomed to make, themselves strong by mul- tiplying horses and chariots, and that Egypt was rich in horses, and had them to sell to princes who would increase their power by weU-appointed cavalry. Though Egypt was rich in horses, we may not infer that it was the native land of the horse. The presumption is rather that Egypt was more advanced in civiliza- tion and the arts and agriculture, and had learned much of the value of .the horse as a means of gain and power. Youatt, in an early edition of his book, was inclined "to trace the first domestication of the horse to Egypt;" but later, on further investigation, he adopted the opinion of Colonel Ham- ilton Smith, " that it took place in Central Asia, and, perhaps, nearly simultaneously in the several regions where the wild animals of the horse form existed. Prom the higher valleys of the Oxus, and from Cashmere, the knowledge of his usefulness seems to have radiated to China, India, and Egypt." " The original horse of the Southern and Western countries came from the north-eastern part of Asia, the domicile of those who escaped from the ravages of the Flood." " To ancient Egypt we appear 454 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. to be indebted for the first systematic attention to reviving and improving the breeds of horses. Numerous carved or outlined pictures represent steeds,' whose symmetry, beauty, and color attest that they are designed from high-bred types." Egypt seems to have taken the lead of aU other nations in breeding and propagating horses. We do not find, however, any authority supporting the view that the Egyptians first tamed and brought the ass or horse into use for riding or draw- ing chariots in war. Her civilization and higher cultivation of the soil and the arts of husbandry, however, gave special facil- ities for breeding and rearing horses, and her commerce facili- tated the dissemination of them among the nations that came to her for supplies. The Hebrew Horse. — The Horse Potent in Civiliza- tion. — The Hebrews make record of l^orses owned and used by the kings, five hundred years after they were common among the Egyptians. The learned Dr. William Smith says, "David first established a force of cavalry and chariots after the defeat of Hadadezer (2 Sam. viii, 4), when he reserved a hundred chariots, and, as we may infer, all the horses." From Sam. xvi, we may infer that Absalom was the possessor of horses. But not until the days of Solomon do we find that the Hebrew leader found it convenient to disregard the orders in Deuter- onomy, and multiply horses to himself, and draw his supplies from Egypt. His kingdom had come to embrace all the land from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines-, even to the frontiers of Egypt on the south. He had grown so strong as to have the kingdoms of Syria, Damascus, Uwat, and Ammon for his tributaries. But from these he did not obtain his "forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand cavalry horses," but such war supplies he drew from Egypt; and the sacred historian says in these days of Solomon, " Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beersheba." Thus the possession of horses gave security to that people. All history shows the value of horses as an element of strength in a nation's resources. THE HORSE— HISTORY. 455 The Tartars and the Bedouins have been the scourge of na- tions in proportion as they had horses. "By the horse and on the horse Mohammedan conquests were made." The Israelites only followed the law of national development when they added the horse to their possessions of asses and cattle. Like the nomads of the plains in America, they were feeble to resist or invade until they got unto themselves horses. Our Indian tribes before 1795 had only dogs as their beasts of burden; but after they began to draw horses from Mexico, these wild men of the plain were metamorphosed into horsemen ; and of their power for evil ever after, the history of our frontier attests. The nations and tribes in history were feeble and little to be feared until they got unto themselves horses. The horse has been adopted by nations in their progress into civilization. The Greek Horse. — A Great Factor in Civilization. — On this principle we find the Greeks become powerful as they possess horses. So great, is he as a factor in civilization, 1500 B. 0. horsemen in the chase and war were seen in the paintings of the palace of Nimroud, which are supposed to be coeval with the siege of Troy. The horses first' used by the Greeks were small. Those of the Quirinal are mere ponies, in contrast with the human figures in same paintings. As the Greeks advanced in power, we note their increased use of horses. In their early history, the horse was only used for riding. Then neither bridle, saddle, nor whip was used. The chariot was long in use in Persia before in Greece, and the Greeks employed the chariot in their great games long before they did in war. In the age of Phidias it is evident the horse was held in high esteem. The statues, coins, engraved gems, bas-reliefs, and other works of art that have come down to us, show that the Greek horse could not have been speedy as the English thoroughbred or the American trotter. We know this from the form given in their ideals. Their bodies were compact, neck and shoulders heavy, buttocks round and short, while we never see a speedy animal without the long sloping shoulder-blade, the more open flank, and the longer hip. On the Elgin marbles, or portion of the frieze of the Parthenon now in England, may be seen over 466 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. two hundred representations of horses. In the art school of Yale College, there are casts of twenty-eight horses, represent- ing the ideal horse of the third century before Christ. They are small, tough, muscular beasts, all dish-faced like the Oriental breeds of modern times. The representations of horses of ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Phoenician art are of similar type. It is an interesting fact, too, seen in all these ancient works of art, that in the attitudes given the figures, there is not one trotting, but ambling, or, as we say in the West, pacing, and running. The pacing gait suited best peoples and tribes who used no stirrups, and did not drive in vehicles or trotting wagons. Greek art, then, tells us more than of the form and trappings of the horse ; it also tells of the gait and how he was ridden. This ambling gait was the ideal for eight centu- ries before the Christian era. The later works of art may have but followed the style of the masters, which is more probable, than that ambling and running were the only two gaits of the horse during the history of Greece. Professor Brewer teaches this, and in speaking of the horses represented in the earliest Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek sculptures, says : " However much the individual animals differed, or even the breeds differ, the most prized animals, as a whole, were strong rather than swift, heavy for their height, with heavy necks, broad chests, and well-rounded buttocks." As the civilization of the Greeks rose above that of pre- ceding and surrounding nations, we would expect to learn more from writings of Greek authors and artists concerning the horse, not only in Greece, but also in other parts of the world. Improvement of Horses Came From Egypt. — The improvement of the horse in Greece came with the colonies of Egyptians that emigrated into Greece. The first colony that came about the time of the birth of Moses, whUe the Pharaohs were in power, settled in Thessaly, in the north of Greece. The soil and produce of Greece were not favorable to production of best horses. Thessaly abounded in rich pastures and pure waters. The Thessalians, after the emigration of Egyptian colonists, ex- celled as breeders of horses. As about this time horses became THE HORSE— HISTORY. 457 a recogaized factor as a means of defense and offense, horse- breeding in Thessaly became a matter of profit. Instead of using the horse for breaking the ground and preparing for crops, the Egyptian colonist's first business was to rid the forests of wild cattle and other dangerous beasts. In this way the horse became most useful as a hunter. Horse-fiaces Instituted. — As the next step in his im- provement, horse-races were instituted. These races gratified the pride of owners, and gave zest to public spectacles. Soon followed those most celebrated at Olympia in the Peloponnesus, in honor of Jupiter. The feats of horsemanship, accompanied by manly exercises, drew multitudes from all parts of Greece. This, with similar games in other districts, stimulated horseman- ship and athletic exercises, which were so liberally rewarded and honored by the government as to strengthen love of country, for which the Greeks became distinguished. In the course of one century the wrestlers and runners and boxers gave way to the horsemen and steeds, who alone appeared at this national contest. Each horse was ridden by his owner. The space to be run over was four miles, which was designed not only to test the powers of endurance and speed and training of the horses, but also the horsemanship of his owner. In the twenty-fifth Olympiad the horse first appeared in chariot-races. Endurance and Docility Sought. — The endurance and docility of the horses and skill of the driver were severely tested, as the course was one-third of a mile, at the end of which was a pillar, around which the horses were sent at full speed and back over the course six times. It was a severe test of skill of driver and of docility of the horses. Near it was the enor- mous and horrid statue, called Taraxippus, the terrifier of horses. A little further on, in the center of the course, was a defile, be- tween rocks, on which a group of men with blaring trumpets tested the courage of the steeds. The unfortunate and wrecked teams and drivers, of which there were many, were jeered by the crowds of spectators. The crown of the victor was hardly earned in such a fearful contest. But these national games, in the course of one century, became grand tournaments of horse- 458 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. manship. The finest horses of Greece and Thessaly, and even neighboring countries, competed there, and the athletes and boxers of the earlier times were wholly superseded by the gen- eral interest in the more powerful animal, the horse. Orators, poets, sculptors, and painters eulogized and extolled his power and form, by eloquence, poetry, and art. When a nation should in a short century become entranced with admiration of the horse, his improvement riiust be marked. The Greek ideal of the horse impressed itself on all the nations brought under the influence of Greek civilization. The Olympian Races Lead to Improved Breed- ing. — If we consider thfe rank the Olympic games had attained, while only athletes appeared in the games, and then reflect that when the improvement of horses in Greece had become of so grand proportions that princes and kings and men of highest rank and wealth expended fortunes in obtaining and fitting their horses for these contests, we may get a pfirtial view of the esteem in which breeding of good horses was held in Greece. Homer has many examples wherein princes, heroes, and great men distinguished themselves in the handling of horses and the chariot. The owners were persons of considerable rank. Kings themselves aspired to the glory of the victor at Olympian races, and considered that the Olympic palm added new dignity to the splendors of a throne. Gelon and Hiero, kings of Syracuse, and later Dionysius, were among the competitors. In the Electra of Sophocles we have a vivid description of a chariot-race run by ten competitors. In the twelfth and last round, Orestes, having only one antagonist left — the rest having been thrown out — broke a wheel against the boundary, and was dragged by his horses and torn in pieces. Philip was equally delighted by three couriers bringing him advices at the same time ; first, that the lUyrians had been defeated by his general Palermo; second, that he had won the prize at a horse-race in the Olympic games ; and third, that his queen was delivered of a son. When Hiero sent horses to these races he caused a magnificent pavil- ion to be erected for them. History tells us that no one ever THE HORSE— HISTORY. 459 carried ambition to display at the public races of Greece so far as did Alcibiades. He distinguished himself by the great num- ber of horses kept only for the races. He sent seven chariots at one time to the Olympic games, at which contest he carried off the first, second, and third prizes. This victory had never been equaled, and was the theme for a celebrated ode by the distinguished poet, Euripides. The interest aroused among citizens of Greece and neigh- boring countries by these feats of horsemen and their teams of two, three, and four trained horses, is manifest by artists and poets, while statues were erected in honor of the victors, and even of the horses. A Monument to a Mare. — In the sixth book of Pausa- nias we are told of a monument erected in honor of the mare Aura. Her rider having fallen off at the beginning of the race, the mare continued to run as if he had been on her back. She outran all competitors, and at the final sound of the trumpets, near the close of the contest, she rounded the goal as if con- scious that she had won the race, and presented herself proudly before the judges. When we consider that these games were attended by the flower of Greece, and that the audiences were entertained by the finest orators, historians, and poets the world had then produced, we can appreciate to some extent the impe- tus that must have been given to the business of breeding and training a class of horses possessing the style, speed, docility, and endurance demanded in the contestants of these world- renowned games. Herodotus read his history at these games to all Greece. His contemporary, the famous Athenian orator, Lysias, chose the occasion of these games to congratulate the Greeks on the reconciliation of their States. The Greek Horse Improves those of Southern Europe. — I have enumerated some of the influences in Greek civilization that led to the improvement of the horse in the southern part of Europe. The type of horse developed in Greece became that of Eastern Asia, Thrace, Macedonia, and the more distant countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. Wherever the commerce of Greece extended, it carried a knowl- 460 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. edge of a mighty people, made more powerful by her ships and horses. A better knowledge of the history of the nations bor- dering on the Mediterranean, doubtless, would show that the influence of the highly bred horses of the Greek Empire has improved the horses of every land in Southern Europe that has felt the elevating power of Grreek civilization. The language, cus- toms, and learning of the Greeks had much to do in improving the people of the Roman Empire, and the ideas and tastes of the Greek manifested themselves among the Romans in their religion and games, races and feasts, art and literature; their highest attainments in art, oratory, poetry, agriculture, horse- manship, and seamanship became models for the Roman people. The Ideal Greek Horse was described by Xenophon in a masterly manner, and we find in the writings of T. Varro a description of a horse so like that of Xenophon's ideal that the Roman must have been familiar with the writings of Xenophon ; and as each wrote the best description of the horse of his day and country, it is a reasonable inference that the ideal of The Roman Horse was not very unlike that of the Greek. Varro says : " We may prognosticate great things of a horse if, when running in the pastures, he is ambitious to get before his companions, and if coming to a river he strives to be first to plunge into it. His head should be small and bony, his limbs clean and compact, his eyes bright and sparkling, his nostrils open and large, his ears placed near each other, his mane strong and full, his chest broad, his shoulders flat and sloping back- ward, his barrel round and compact, his loins broad and strong, his tail full and bushy, his legs straight and even, his knees broad and well knit, his hoofs hard and tough, and his veins large and swelling over all his body." This was written in the century before Christ. Virgil, in the century after Christ, speaks in his florid style of the horse taken from pursuits of war, and his powers turned to the advantage of agriculture. Had not the irruptions of Goths and Vandals, soon after, swept away every record of science in the Eastern and West- ern Hemispheres, the history of the development of the horse in Southern Europe would not have been so unsatisfactory as it is. THE HORSE— HISTORY. 461 Roman Horse Inferior to the Greek. — From the history of the Roman Empire we find that, while the people learned much from the civilization of the Greeks in the way of art, poetry, and oratory, they did not profit by the example of the noble Greek in the improvement of horses. They imitated the games of Greece, so far as they were theatrical and spectacular enter- tainments, but they lost the central idea of the later Olympiads, where the Grecian games were made to develop the speed, docility, and endurance of the Greek horses. Italy may be un- favorable in climate and soil, and this may be another cause for the Roman cavalry always proving inferior to that mustered by their enemies in Macedonia, Thessalia, Epirus, Parthia, and farther east and north. Csesar, with the cavalry he had drawn from Gaul, easily rode down that of Pompey, drawn from Italy. During the dissen- sions that wrecked the empire the best cavalry was made up of horses from bordering tribes and nations. After conquest be- came the ruling idea in the Roman Empire, agriculture in all its parts declined, and the Romans procured better horses for cav- alry from surrounding provinces than could be found in Italy. The intelligence of a people, in the case of the Romans, does not seem to be as important a factor in the development of the highest type of horses, as do the agencies of food, climate, and soil, and the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. The Arab Horse illustrates this. The devotion of the Arab to his horse atones for the want of fertile fields and abun- dant stores for the support of his horses. Barley and straw and milk form the diet of the horse of the Bedouins, Mame- lukes, and Arabs. But these are not the breeders of the Ara- bians that have had so wonderful an influence on the blood of horses in England, Prance, and America. Burckhardt says it is a mistaken idea that Arabia is very rich in horses. The breed in that country is limited to the extent of its fertile pasturing districts, and it is in these parts only that the breed prospers ; while the Bedouins, who are in possession of poor ground, sel- dom possess any horses. We, therefore, see that the tribes richest in horses are those who dwell in the comparatively fertile THE HORSE— HISTORY. 463 plain of Mesopotamia, on the borders of the Euphrates, and in the Syrian deserts. It is there the horses can feed, for sev- eral spring months, upon the green grass and herbs of the val- leys and plains, produced by rains which seem to be an absolute requisite for its reaching its full vigor and growth. The Origin of the Arabian Horse. — Buffon and many subsequent writers claim that Arabia is the birthplace of the horse. Stonehenge, with a learned following, does not agree. He thinks the dry nature of the country and the scantiness of- herbage show that in a wild state the horse could hardly exist there, and that it is only by the care and superintendence of man that the Arabian horse has become famous. The condi- tions of the climate surely favor hardy growth, and the concen- trated, aromatic grasses and herbage of that country favor better development of bone and muscle than do the more succulent grasses of a damper climate and richer soil like that of Italy. Low, in his great work, attaches great importance to the agencies of food and climate in the development of the horse. " There may be other causes unknown to us." The " other causes " are as yet the unknown quantity in the problem of the existence of so grand a breed of horses in a seemingly infer- tile, austere country, among a semi-civilized people. While the people have, in the last seventeen centuries, declined below the average of the nations of the East, their horses have been models of style, fleetness, and endurance for centuries. It is probable they drew their first good blood from the famous studs of Solomon, and their almost superstitious devotion to the horse, coupled with the salubrity of the atmosphere and the fragrant and concentrated nature of the grasses and herbage and food, together with their singular fidelity to pedigree and care in breeding, have evolved the wonderful Arabian horse. Similar influences combine in the ancestral history of The Barb, to make it one of the most valuable breeds the world has known. The barb is of Arab stock. The Arabs now found in Barbary are emigrants. It includes that northern part of Africa extending along the coast of the Mediterranean, and inland to the great desert, from the 464 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. frontiers of Egypt. Bruce writes that "the best African horses are said to be descended from one of five, on which Mohammed and Ms four immediate successors fled from Mecca to Medina, on the night of the Hegira." . Youatt says, " The barb alone excels the Arabian in noble and spirited action ; but if there is a defect in the barb, he is perfect for that which he was designed. The barb improves toward the west- ern coast of Africa, both in his form and graceful action." The Arabs found in Barbary are descendants or emigrants from Eastern Arabia. " The horses are likewise all of Arab stock considerably modified by change of climate, food, and management." Berenger furnishes the following description of a true barb : " The forehead is long, slender, and ill-fu'rnished with mane, but rising distinctly and boldly out of the withers; the head is small and lean; the ears well-formed and well-placed; the shoulders light, sloping backward, and flat; the withers fine and high ; the loins straight and short ; the flanks and ribs round and full, and with too much bend; the haunches strong; the croup, perhaps, a little too long ; the quarters muscular and well de- veloped; the legs clean, with tendons boldly detached from the bone ; the pastern somewhat too long and oblique ; and the foot sound and good. They are rather lower than the Arabian, seldom exceeding fourteen hands and an inch, and have not his spirit or speed or continuance, although in general form they are probably his superior." The barb is the chief element of excellence in the Spanish horse, and was at a very early period of systematic improve- ment of the English thorough-bred introduced into England. The Godolphin Arabian was a barb, and to him trace some of the best racing blood in England. The Barbary and Arabian horse are found on the south of the Desert of Sahara, among the inferior tribes. These horses are " small, weak, unsafe, and untractable." Horse Degraded With Man. — ^As we go to the west, along the , African coast, we find fewer horses, and greatly in- ferior in form and quality. It is worthy of note here, that as TSE HORSE— HISTORY. 465 we have descended the stream of time, and along the course of the emigration of the Arabs, with their horse, bred from their best ancient stock, from the plains east of Egypt to the coun- try along the coasts of Africa, that the people and horses de- cline in courage and value as we approach the African slave- trade region. Some of the tribes neighboring Egypt wiU not own a good horse, or if they should, they deform or injure it to prevent the Egyptian and Turkish tyrants from robbing them of their horses. The improvement of the breeds of horses seems to be influenced by the liberty and independence of the people as well as the character of soil and climate. Although the Arab horse and his descendant, the barb, have done so much for the improvement of the horse of modern times, it is not capable of proof that, in very early times, the horse could be found in Arabia. Solomon imported spices, gold, and silver from Arabia, but not horses. He procured them from Egypt, which at that time led the world as a civilized power. Egypt exported horses into Arabia as presents to reign- ing monarchs. In the fourth century the Roman Emperor sent two hundred Cappadocian horses as a present to a powerful prince in Arabia. As late as the seventh century the Arabs must have had few horses. Mohammed could muster only two horses when he attacked the Koreish near Mecca; nor did he get a, single horse from the vanquished. The history of the horse in Barbary shows that, though the common horse of that country is a very inferior animal, just such as years of debasement and degradation of a nation must produce, yet the infusion of Arab blood in the best parts of the country has produced a vast improvement. Those about Morocco, Fez, and the interior of Tripoli are the best. Though rather lower than the Arab, seldom exceeding fourteen hands, the general form is thought by many superior to the Arab, yet they lack the courage, spirit, speed and endurance of the best Arab. Influence of Barb on Arab and English Horse. — The Godolphin Arabian was a true barb, and to him is traced some of the best racing blood in England. The African mares 30 466 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND iSTOCK CYCLOPEDIA. imported from Barbary into England have been the source of some of the best turf-horses. The males are never castrated. There is about him a sort of religious reverence, as a descend- ant from the five which Mohammed escaped with in the Hegira. " A Mussulman would not mutilate or sell the skin of the beast of the Prophet." This reverence for the valuable horses has done much to improve the race of horses wherever the religion of Mohammed has had power. The African never rides the mare in war. The Asiatic or Arabian never rides the horse. The reason of this may be found in their different modes of warfare. The Arab is always at war with his neighbor, and plans to take his enemy by sur- prise. A stallion is not suitable for this, since as soon as he comes into the neighborhood of the enemy, and smells the stale of mares, his shrill neigh tells of his approach. The , African fights in an open country, and his approach can be known when afar off; so he must rely on the energy, endurance, and spirit of his stallions. The barb improves towards the western coast of Africa, both in form and graceful action. Godolphin Arabian. — ^A brief history of the Godolphin Arabian may be of interest, as his blood is found mingled with that of so many noted racers. He is believed to have been pre- sented to Louis XIV by the Emperor of Morocco. He was so little appreciated in Paris that he was then used in a water-cart. A Mr. Coke bought him, and presented him to the keeper of the St. James Coifee-house, who presented him to the Earl of Godolphin. The horse was used by the Earl as a teaser to Hobgoblin. He was allowed to cover Roxana simply because Hobgoblin refused. The produce of this cross was Lath, one of the best horses of his day. His excellence as a foal-getter proved to be even better than that of the Darley Arabian, im- ported some twenty years before. The Darley Arabian. — The Darley Arabian was the par- ent of some of England's best racing stock. He was purchased at Aleppo, and bred in the desert of Palmyra. Flying Childers and Bartlett's Childers were the two stallions by which the blood and fame of the Darley Arabian became famous. The THE HORSE— HISTORY. 467 blood of the Darley -and Godolphin both unite in that of the celebrated horse Eclipse, whose superiority was such that his owner, O'Kelly, placed the wager on " Eclipse first, and the rest nowhere;" or, in other words, the roarer distanced the field. These two horses — Darley Arabian, from the desert of Palmyra, and the barb, called Godolphin Arabian — made such a marked im- provement on the English horses of their day that any history of English horses would be most defective without notice of them. I will quote from Stonehenge : " Pure Arabs are considerably smaller than our modern thorough-breds, seldom exceeding fourteen hands, two inches in height. The head is remarkable for the width across the fore- head, which is also full and square, while the muzzle is finer, the face more hollowed out, and the jaws more fully developed in their proportions than any other breed with which we are acquainted. The eye is full and soft, yet sparkling with anima- tion at the least excitement ; the ear is small ; the neck arched ; the shoulders oblique, but muscular ; the withers moderately high and thin ; the chest rather light in girth, but the back ribs rather deep in proportion ; and the hips, though narrow, well united to the back by a rounded mass of powerful muscles ; the croup is high, and the tail set on with a considerable arch ; the bones of the leg are large in proportion to the size, and the tendons full and free, the suspensory ligaments being particularly clean and strong ; the hocks are large and free both from curbs and spav- ins ; and, lastly, the feet, though small, are sound, and capable of bearing an amount of battering which few well-bred English horses can sustain. From the full development of the brain in this breed, it might be expected, a priori, that the amount of intelligence and courage possessed by them would be far above the average ; and such is the result of experience." They are generally docile, and have "fine tempers." If, however, they are highly fed, and deprived of the necessary amount of exercise and cruelly treated, their nervous system is so sensitive that they rebel, and when they fight they per- severe to the death. " The colors of the Arabian horse are mostly bay, chestnut, aa# gray, but oQeasionally black. The skin 468 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. itself of the gray horses is of a deep slate-color, and the manes and tails are darker than the rest of the body." The Origin of the Arabian Horse. — The origin of this wonderful race of horses will probably never be fully known. Many historians accept the tradition that Mohammed,, desiring mares for his steed, selected a number from his best cavalry, and kept them two days without water. When frenzied with thirst, they were turiied out to water. As they approached the drinking-place, the war-charge was sounded by his trumpeters. Five of the mares abandoned the water, and hastened at once to the spot where the call indicated the excite- ment of battle. These five mares were selected for the founda- tion of his royal stud. Oriental travelers assert that pedigrees trace back five hundred years, and even to the time of Solo- mon. Many ceremonies are performed at the covering of these royally bred mares. "After the birth of the foal, a certificate is made out " in due form, by local authorities, within one week after the foal is dropped. The Arab Mare as a War-horse. — The mare is highly prized by the Arab, and, as has been said, is used by the Arab in war, he never trusting his stallion in surprising an enemy. For this reason many writers have argued that the Arabs value more highly the qualities of the mare 'than the horse ; but their motto el Mr ilelal el fahal — " the foal follows the sire " — does not warrant the conclusion. Under the Laws of Breeding we shall notice this again,. The Unique Character of the Arabian. — The reader who is interested in a fuller history of the horse will find that the Arab horse has given character to the horses of every na- tion bordering on the Mediterranean Sea and the lands invaded by the devotees of Mohammed. In modern times the English thorough-bred traces many of the best families to the Arabians. What influence the Arabian has had on the celebrated French horses we can not now tell ; but that his blood has given char- acter to the noble Percheron and the ancient Norman we can not doubt. The Turkish horse "seems to be merely the Arab developed by higher food into a larger size and more massive THE HORSE— HISTORY. 469 proportions," says Stonehenge. The best horses of Persia are found on the border of the gulf, and their ancestors were brought from the opposite shore of Arabia. The unique character of the Arabian excites our admira- tion. Its ability to impress its rare qualities on every other breed on which it has been crossed, we conclude, comes from the fact that for centuries it has been bred with greater care than any other animal that blesses the earth. Its feed and surroundings and use have given stamina and quality. The centuries of kind treatment, which has been a peculiarity of the Arab, have developed a docility without a parallel. The Thorough-bred. — The excellence of the English and American thorough-bred horses trace directly to Oriental ances- try. The countries which have races most nearly related, and possessing peculiarly valuable characteristics, are Arabia, Syria, Persia, Turkestan, and the Barbary States. We have shown be- fore that, in all these, the Arab and barb have given character to the horses of the East. As England became a power in civ- ilization, and her commerce extended to these Eastern countries, we find her looking to them for blood to improve the En- glish horses, just as did Greece, when she rose to a high civiliza- tion, Ipok to the older country, Egypt, for horses to improve the Orecian horse. In the English and American thorough-bred we have the accumulated excellences that have, by centuries of selection and development, arising from improved methods of systematic breeding, centered in the best of the race. The marvelous tales of travelers, colored by all the imagery peculiar to Eastern and mythical stories, together with the charm of the past and distance, have led many to believe that the Arab has never been equaled. We believe that the close student of the development of the species will find that the evolution of the thorough-bred must go back in history to the Egyptian, thence to the days of Solomon in all his wisdom and glory, thence to the Grecian and the regions where its highest civiliza- tion had influence, and thence to the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. Under the wonderful influence of Moham- med the people of the desert country collected and developed 470 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. the flower of the race, and the modern civilizations have felt and further developed the power of the well-bred animals, that had made the history of the horse brilliant all along the line of progress of the human race. The Arab Element. — The history, then, of the thorough- bred is so linked to that of the Oriental horse as to be really lost in antiquity. James I bought of Mr. Markham the first Arab staUion, early in the seventeenth century. Either from national prejudice or lack of merit, this horse, called Markham Arabian, failed to become popular. Charles I gave some atten- tion to the importation of ancient blood; but little was done till Charles II imported, for breeding purposes, animals afterwards known as the "royal mares of the Stud-book." The Barb Element. — James II continued importations from the South. The "royal mares," "to which nine-tenths of our modern thorough-bred horses trace," Herbert claims, "were Tunisian or Tangier barbs. But the horse of England, before this time, probably, had been improved by ancient blood, brought to the island in the course of the invasions by the Gauls, who ravaged Upper Greece and Northern Italy. Herbert argues that the horses of the earliest times of England were probably im- proved by specimens of an Oriental race, that came by way of Thessaly, and improved later by waifs from the Numidian cav- alry, employed by the Carthaginian Barcas, long before the invasion of Brittany by Csesar in his Gallic campaigns. Youatt affirms that Caesar thought the British horses "so valuable that he carried many of them to Rome." Of course, during the oc- cupation of England by the Romans, the British horse was im- pressed by the influence of the cavalry of Caesar, which had been collected from the various parts of the Roman Empire. The German Element, — After the Romans left England we find the Saxon conquerors giving attention to the improve- ment of horses, and after Alfred " running horses were imported from Germany." Herbert says, " This is the first intimation we have of run- ning horses in England." It is a fair inference that the Ger- man horses presented by Hugh Capet to Athelstan, together with THE HORSE— HISTORY. 471 the blood introduced by the Roman and Grallic horse, improved the horses of England ; for they were at this time prized on the Continent. In Athelstan's reign, history tells us, many Spanish horses were imported, which we know were largely imbued with the blood of the horses of the States of Barbary. In 930 A. D., there was a law made to prohibit the exportation of horses, which shows the characteristic desire of the English to hold a monopoly of a good thing. Spanish, Norman, and Flanders Blood. — William the Conqueror improved horses of his kingdom by the importation of many fine animals from Normandy, Flanders, and Spain. His powerful cavalry gave him the victory at the battle of Has- tings; nevertheless, he showed his appreciation of the Southern and Oriental blood by riding a Spanish horse. It will be no- ticed that, thus far in the history of the horse, his use has been exclusively under the saddle, if we except the chariot- races in ancient history. The Horse in Agriculture. — Under William the Con- queror we find the first mention of the use of the horse for purposes of agriculture. It is well to bear in mind that the ancient historians were monks and priests, and that book learn- ing was largely confined to the monasteries, which will help us to understand how it comes that so little is left recorded about the development of the breed or breeds, and their use as a fac- tor in the development of the nations. The English Begin to Use Horses. — The Venerable Bede, an English monk, who wrote just after the triumph of the Roman over the Scottish Church, is high authority, and in- forms us that the English began to use horses as early as 631 A. D. Ecclesiastical history tells us that Alexander I, king of Scotland, presented a considerable estate and an Arab horse, with valuable accouterments, to the Church of St. Andrews. What this horse did for the Church or people, the monks have not thought of enough importance to record. This was during the reign of Henry I. First English Race-course. — During his reign the first race-course was established at Smithfield, which was used both 472 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. as a horse-market and race-course. Let us keep in mind that Henry I was the son of William I, surnamed Conqueror, and Matilda of Flanders, and that these kings held power in England and on the continent. It is plain that under such intimate rela- tions of Flanders and England the blood of their horses was freely mingled, and the value of the Flanders horse became ap- preciated in England for war and agriculture. We have said the Spanish horse was esteemed by William at Hastings. Her- bert doubts if the English then were aware that the value of their horses came from the large per cent of Oriental blood in their veins. The Flanders Element. — King John, who gained pos- session of England and Normandy in 1199, "paid great atten- tion to the improvement of horses for agricultural purposes, and he has the credit of originating the draught-horses of England. He imported at one time on« hundred chosen stallions from Flanders. He was so anxious i to possess the finest stock from them, that he accepted strong horses for rent of crown lands. One hundred years later, Edward II purchased thirty war- horses and twelve draught-horses from Flanders and Germany. Edward III had - many running horses, and purchased fifty Spanish horses, at a cost of £160 each. Coming down to Hedry VII, we find that he caused under-sized horses to be de- stroyed, and had great numbers of full-sized mares and stallions kept in the deer-parks and rural parishes. His reign was marked by an increase of powerful, well-formed animals, adding greatly to the wealth of his people. One authority states that at the close of a May party the king and his brother-in-law, the Duke of Suffolk, rode races on great coursers, like the Flemish breed of Arab horse. During the reign of Henry VII (1509-1547), an "annual race was run at Chester, the prize being a wooden ball, handsomely embellished, for which, in 1540, a silver bell, called St. George's Bell, was substituted. Hence the phrase, " Bear the Bell." " In the reign of James I races were merely matches against time, trials of speed and bottom, for long and ' cruel distances.' " From this time, the history of English racing may be said to fairly begin. THE HORSE— HISTORY. 473 The Pedigree of Race-horse. — The pedigrees of the race-horse do not clearly trace to the time of James I; but from his reign down to the present time there has been an increasing carefulness as to the matter of breeding horses for speed and endurance, as well as for intelligence and strength. From what has been gathered from the writers on the horse, and from ex- tended research among history and literature incidentally detail- ing items of interest about the horse, we see that what is now known as the thorough-bred or race-horse had its origin in England prior to the seventeeth century, and that the Oriental horse, coming to England through Spain, Gaul, Italy, Arabia, Barbary, and Thessaly, together with the more ponderous ani- mals of Normandy and Flanders, made the base on which the English breeders of horses have builded, and by an intelligent selection have, in the course of two centuries, produced a horse far superior to any that contributed to the make-up of the parent stock of the matchless thorough-bred. The Historic Trio.— The breeders of the English thor- ough-bred of this country have special pride in tracing the an- cestral lines of the best race-horses to three animals, of which history furnishes fairly intelligent and accurate accounts. First, the Byerly Turk, used by Captain Byerly in King William's war in Ireland ; second, the Darley Arabian, imported from Aleppo, in the reign of Queen Anne (1700-1706) ; third, the Oodolphia Arabian, of which we spoke under the history of Arabians. These horses, bred to English mares already infused with Oriental blood, produced horses of rare speed, enduraiice, and quality. The value of the Arabian blood became so es- teemed that the proof of its presence became important. The Stud-book. — In 1791 a Stud-book was established. The first volume appeared in 1808. It traced pedigrees bnck to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Of course it con- tained inaccuracies ; but it is now accepted as the most reliable authority in matters of breeding of the race-horse or thorough- bred. From our history it is evident the term thorough-bred is a misnomer, as the breed of race-horses has,, perhaps, as many elements in its make-up as has any breed of animals of which a 474 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. record now is made. The Arabian, the barb, the Turk, the Spanish, and the Gallic horse mingled with the blood of the pon- derous Flanders, Norman, and English horses. From such an ancestry came the breeds of England. But the forms the horse in the British isles has been made to assume under the laws of selection and variation, guided by the intelligence and good judgment of the English and Scotch breed- ers, fill us with admiration at the wonders nature and man may perform. By a judicious crossing and training and feeding, the same tight little isle has in two centuries evolved the wonder of the ages in the thorough-bred ; and from and by the aid of his ancient ancestry come the hunters, hackneys, coach and cart horses, each of great excellence for their special uses. Climatic Influence. — There is nothing in the climate to account for the rapid development of the horse in England. Darwin in his Domestication of Plants and Animals shows that a damp climate does not favor the development of the highest type of the horse. In climate the Arabian or barb had the advantage, and Darwin says that America favors a higher develop- ment of the species, because of its superior climate and excel- lence of forage. Mr. William Percivall, in 1834, at University College, said : " The grand first cause of this success appears to come from a steady prosecution and scientific management of breeding, by which I do not only mean the procuration of orig- inal stock of a good description, but the continual progressive cultivation of that stock in the progeny, by the greatest care in rearing and feeding, and by the most careful selection. On these two circumstances, and particularly on the latter, a great deal more depends than on the original characters or attributes of the parents. Thus we have progressed from good to better, losing sight of no subsidiary help until we have attained a per- fection in horse-flesh unknown in the whole world beside." Size and Power Sacrificed to Speed.— The fusion of bloods has added size and strength to the -finely formed Oriental horse, and diminished none of his spirit and docility. The thorough-bred excels the best Arabian blood in size and speed and endurance. 476 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STfiCK CYCLOPEDIA. The thorough-bred was bred for running. In his early his- tory endurance and power were of more importance than speed. It is to be regretted that, in the last half century, speed has been the great desideratum, and to secure it there has been a reduction in weight, the shoulders are lighter, the hips not so broad, and the muscles finer. As a means of improving other horses for the road and the farm, or for war, he has lost in pro- portion as his stoutness has diminished. The farmer and the business man demand a horse that can make himself generally useful. " Without high breeding, how- ever, this is impossible," says Stonehenge. He thinks the En- glish should interfere and prevent the diminishing of size and quality of the thorough-bred in the mad effort to attain speed only. Youatt likewise deplores the same evil. By careful selection and breeding for the most powerful and lasting horse, it is argued that England can furnish the model horse for busi- ness, pleasure, and the cavalry, by use of thorough-bred sires of stamina and substance. Stamina, or power to endure, comes with the best breeding, as is indicated by the old proverb, " An •ounce of blood is worth a pound of bone." Stonehenge says : ■" But, in spite of ail this recognized supeiiority of blood, it is indisputable that, for the highest degree of success, there must be not only high purity of blood, and that of the most winning strains, but there must also be a frame of the most useful character if not always of the most elegant form." Draft Horses. — We now come to a class of horses that should interest every farmer, teamster, and breeder of horses for profitable use or sale. In the history of thorough-breds we al- head of fkench Horse. ludc'l to the Flanders horses, and those of Normandy, and showed that they were important factors in the improvement of even the ancient and power- THE HORSE—HISTORY. All ful race-horse of England. If a complete history of the horse in the feudal ages could be found, it would doubtless show that the English as well as the French are indebted to the farmers of Flanders for the foundation crosses on which have been produced by selection, and infusion of the choice Ori- ental blood, the modern breeds of draft-horses, now so much esteemed. The Flanders Element, — William the Conqueror im- ported many fine horses from Flanders and Normandy. His powerful cavalry gave him the victory at Hastings, but he showed his appreciation of Oriental blood, in that he rode a Spanish horse. Under his reign we find the first mention of the horse in agriculture. Henry I, the son of William the Con- queror and Matilda of Flanders, was influential in transporting the large horses of Normandy and Flanders across the Straits of Dover, for use in the studs and on the farms of England. King John took possession of England and Normandy about 1200, and took pride in the improvement of the horses of Eng- land for purposes of agriculture. He has the credit of origi- nating the draft-horses of England and Scotland. He valued the Flanders horse so highly that history tells us he imported at one time one hundred stallions from Flanders. The reign of Henry VII was marked by increase of power- ful, well-formed horses. At a May-party, he. and the Duke of Suffolk rode a race on " great coursers like the Flemish breed of dray-horses.^' By the time of Henry VIII the Flemish breed of draft-horses must have been well known in England, for immense size and massive proportions. He said of Princess Anne of Cleves when he first saw her, " Egad ! she is built like unto a great Flanders mare." His coarse remark was "ap- preciated by his courtiers as a fitting simile, and was received with shouts of laughter. The low country in Western Europe, now included in Bel- gium, Holland, and France, stretching along the German Ocean from the west inlet of the Scheldt to the entrance of Straits of Dover, joining the province of Artois on the south, was first called Flanders in the seventh century. It took the name of 478 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. Normaady about the beginning of the tenth century, from the Northmen, who then got possession of it. The Norman Name. — The first duke of Normandy and direct ancestor in the sixth generation, of William the Con- queror, " was so mighty of stature," says Snorro Sturleson, " that there was no horse of strength and size to bear him. He was therefore always on foot, and was called ' Rollo the Marcher.' " This was in the tenth century. He distributed among his followers the lands of Neustria, and laid the founda- tion of the feudal system, which later was transplanted to Eng- land. With this vigorous race of people came marked and rapid changes in the low country, where, e^en during the feudal ages, agriculture flourished, and the abundant crops produced along the fertile valleys in a genial climate soon gave size to the cattle and horses of that -noted country. Because of the enterprise of these Northmen, now called Normans, we find the name became a synomym of power. From euphony or association must come the precedence given the name Norman, to the horses of that country, rather than that of Flanders. The Flanders horse was tlie product of high agriculture. The climate, liberal feed, and diligent care, com- bined with the infusion of the blood of the best horses which a line of conquerors could gather from the nations they ravaged, laid the foundation for the noted breeds of powerful horses that have become most valuable in this age, when the sword is less trusted than the plowshare. The Norman Conquests Mingle Bloods. — We may find a clue to the large infusion of good blood into the powerful horses of this noted country, in the conquests of the Nor- mans. Rollo devastated Holland, and appeared as far south as the Seine. A band sacked Bordeaux, Lisbon, and Seville.- They defeated the Moorish conquerors of Spain, crossed the straits into Morocco and back, overran Tuscany, and returned to France. They made safe winter-quarters in Spain, and from there ravaged Naples, Sicily, and the coasts of the Greek Empire. These very countries will be recognized as those especially rich at that time in horses of Oriental blood. The Moors had THE HOUSE— HISTORY. 479 the finest of cavalry, when they entered Spain. Their horses were of the breeding such as gave the barb power to impress the best blood of England with new . life, courage, endurance, and fleetness. In 912 the most redoubtable of the Northmen, Bjolf, afterwards called RoUo, accepted the hand of a daughter of Charles the Simple, and the territory north of the Seine, from Audleys to the sea, known as modern Normandy, in exchange for Christian baptism and an oath of fealty, and from this date vpe find the energy of this wonderful people turned from conquest to the arts of peace. The rich country was made richer and more powerful by the infusion of the best blood of the horses of every nation that had made progression in civilization, which then was synonymous with the improvement of the horse for war and ceremony. Soil and Climate Affect Size. — In the low country of East and West Flanders the country is generally flat, and along the Scheldt and its tributaries have been agricultural prosperity, and great numbers of horses, and cattle produced. The climate, soil, and herbage, and diligent care, have combined to produce great growth among the horses of that region. It is there En- glish and American buyers find the massive horses that are sought especially for size and powerful draft. In the interior of France, where the country is more elevated and varied in surface, and the air rare and bracing, and the pas- tures closer and more concentrated, we find a smaller type of horse, with more activity and endurance. The history bearing on the development and foundation of the long-established breed of powerful horses will help us to understand something of the elements of blood, and the training and uses that have combined to establish a powerful type of horses, combining ex- cellencies of form and temper, and action and power, such as to attract the attention and admiration of all nations and people who have advanced in civilization and the arts of husbandry far enough to make the horse a valuable factor in labor. From the foundation laid in that historic country we note an advance to make such improvements as the taste, habits, and necessities of a people demand. 480 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. This ancient history, thus briefly and imperfectly traced, may be fairly considered the early history of all noted draft-horses of the present century. France and England, located near this remarkable territory, where the Northmen settled and founded a mighty people and a mighty breed of horses, have not only been most affected in their language, habits, and history by con- tact and intercourse, but have also drawn from it horses which have enabled them to establish their best breeds of draft-horses, as well as horses of power and action and docility, suited to the work of the plow or wagon. The French Draft-horse. — In the United States the farmer is bewildered by the number of names given to the draft- horses imported from France. He hears them called Normans, Percherons, Percheron-Normans, and Norman-Percherons. The advocates of the name Norman claim this name, because two centuries ago there was a noted breed of powerful horses in Normandy; but they have failed to show that this breed had any more to do in the make-up of the horses of the ancient province of La Perche, than had the powerful horses of Flanders, which became noted before those of the country south of it. La Perche' was an ancient division of France, in the old province of Maine, and is now divided among the departments of Orne, Eure-et-Loire, and Bure, and is not so insigiiifilcant a department as some would have us believe. But the powerful horses, which are the base of the modern Percheron, were not confined to Normandy, nor does history warrant the conclusion that they were superior to those of Flanders or Picardie, or of the country along the Scheldt, whence the modern breeders of draft-horses in England and France have drawn mares and stall- ions of great excellence. It is clear that the mighty race of horses was not confined to any one of the provinces named. As far back as the time of William the Conqueror we know they had, from the Scheldt south to Bi-etagne, a most powerful horse ; large, active, and spirited, well suited for the mode of warfare when the riders wore heavy coats of mail, and carried heavy lance and battle-ax and sword. How these wonderful horses were produced has not been recorded in history. But 482 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYLOCPEDIA. the country was well suited to raising horses, because of .the fine climate, rich pastures, and abundant feed at all seasons of the year, so the foals never had check in growth. The Demands of War Mould the Type. — The use of the horse in their mode of warfare led to the selection of the hardiest and most imposing in appearance. Great weight and powerful action were requisites in their onslaughts, when riders were unhorsed and horses hurled to the ground by the violence of their collisions. In such uses the horse of greatest weight and activity had the advantage. The feed, climate, and necessities of their uses developed a powerful race. But the high courage and docility and activity of these great horses point to a large infusion of Oriental blood. This came with the fi-equent incursions from the south, invited by the fertility and abundance which have characterized this eastern coast of France for centuries. The Saracens, three hundred thousand strong, as far back as 732 A. D., invaded this land, and left the finest blood of Arabia and Barbary on the plains, between Poictiers and Tours, in the possession of Charles Martel and his valiant followers. The crusaders brought another installment of the choicest blood of Arabia. These were some of the means by which the noble race was made more noble within the time of well-authenticated history. From the same we may learn of frequent irregular supplies of fresh blood from Arabia and Andalusia. Then we come to the men of wealth and public spirit, like Lord Montdoubleau, Geoflfroy IV, Rotrou, Count of Mallart, Count of La Perche, Count Roger, and many others of the nobility who interested themselves in the improvement of the horses of France. As late as 1820 we find the government of France fostering the breeding of horses and the historic gray stallions, Godolphin and GaUipoli, left their impress in the studs of the Empire. The Evolution of the Percheron. — The country of La Perche was especially favorable in elements of soil and climate for producing horses. The people, too, were, and are, as fond of their favorites as ever were the Arabs in their best estate. The pride of the people was gratified by the fostering care of THE HORSE— HISTORY. 483 the government. Like the Arab, they left entire their horses that they might have the widest range of selection for crosses. Their uses in war made a demand for the horse of greatest power, hardiness, and spirit, for which centuries of like wants created a constant demand, which it was to the interest of farmer and ruler to supply. Such influences were more powerful and constant in the evolution of the Percheron horse than can be the fitful and limited aims of the most enthusiastic combina- tions of men of diverse interests and tastes. While we may search in vain for the starting-point in the history of the French draft-horse, at which there was a distinct breed formed by a known and recorded combination of blood, we are assured that a distinct type has been established on the law of selection and " survival of the fittest." We find in France a most wonderful race of horses, so allied to the Arab and the ponderous ancient breeds of Normandy and Flanders, as to concentrate in a better form the excellences of both. Ohio Investigates the French Horse. — In 1865 the Ohio State Board of Agriculture sent their Secretary, Hon. J. H. Klippart, to France and the German States to study methods of agriculture and stock-raising. His report may be found in the Ohio Agricultural Report for 1865. He describes the vari- ous subdivisions of Percherons as follows : "In the Percherons, various subdivisions may be distin- guished : The ' Fine Perchekon,' chiefly in the departments of Eure and Loire and Cher, is a powerful, fiery animal, very well fed from youth up, with oblique shoulders, long croup, and pro- jecting hips ; very fine specimens are found on the Cantons d'll- liers, Courville, and Chateauneuf, where they are fed as much oats as they can eat." "The 'Heavy Perchekon' on the Orne, Sarthe, and Eure, is nothing less than a fine or well-built animal, but a horse re- nowned for heavy draft." " The ' Small Percheron,' in the west, in the vicinity of I'Aigle and Mortague is much smaller and lighter, has straighter shoulders, a shorter croup, hips more level than fine ; yet he is a solid and useful horse, but not very fast." The " Small Per- THE HORSE— HISTOR Y. 485 cherons " are found in large numbers in the omnibus stables, but a few only of the " Fine," because they are used by the admin- istration. The latter are more frequently seen in the mail om- nibus, conveying the letter-carriers to their respective districts, and in private wagons. " The Percherons are mostly dapple-gray, and, while young, iron-gray." So-called Percherons. — In 1873 Mr. Klippart, in a letter to a Chicago journal, wrote: "Since 1866 a great number of so-called Percherons have been imported into Ohio from France." He says he has not seen one of these so-called Percherons which possesses all the points, style, and action of the Percherons he saw in France. He expresses surprise " that some of our other- wise well-informed horsemen dispute the existence of a breed known as Percherons." He cites, after thorough examination of written history in Paris, and after close study of the horse and the methods of breeding and handling them, the best of authority found in authentic encyclopedias of agriculture to prove that so early as 1790 it was recognized there as a separate and distinct race or breed. " The origin of the breed is no less obscure than that of the Short-horn." Those desiring to further examine the history of the noted Percherons are referred to his report. Corroborative of the views presented before, we quote from Vol. I, Percheron-Norman Stud-book, revised edition : " In that part of Normandy lying along the coast, especially north of the Seine River,- the Flemish element seems to have made its influ- ence more strongly felt, and there the horses possess more of the Flemish and less of the Percheron characteristics than those hred farther south, in the heart of La Perche, which will ac- ■count for the diversity in the character of the horses brought to this country by our importers. Those who have purchased near the coast, or north of the river Seine, have usually ob- tained horses that leaned strongly toward the Flemish type. They are larger, coarser, and more sluggish, with less energy, endurance, and action than those bred in Eure et Loire and the adjacent departments. They are better adapted to heavy draft purposes than their lighter but more hardy, active, and stylish 486 THU PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA: , relations of the interior, freq[uently weighing from seventeen hundred to two thousand pounds in high flesh, and producing larger horses when crossed on, our common stock. The Flemish Blood preponderating in the composition of the former, they and their progeny partake more of the draft- horse type, while south of the Seine and towards the interior may be found a type which possesses nearly all of the good qual- ities which have made the pure Percheron race so famous, mod- ified by a reunion with its ancient kindred blood of Northern France, which has given it greater size and other qualities which justly entitle it to be called, par excellence, the farmer's horse." The Name Norman in America. — This remarkable, many-named breed of horses is destined to have a wonderful effect on the horses of America, and a history would be most defective which does not notice the introduction of this blood to our country. The energy and enterprise of the Norman people led them, as early as the 16th century, to explore the St. Lawrence river, and to attempt to colonize its banks. They founded Quebec, and as at that time they possessed the best horses in all Europe, and were improving their lands at home, making it " one of the best cultivated and most industrious provinces in France," it is scarcely possible that they would not bring to their new colony some of their choice horses. We have, in the Canadas, a breed of horses which inherit marked characteristics of the French horses called Normans, modified by climate, feed, and uses pe- culiar to the more severe climate. The Pilots, the Royal Georges, the St. Lawrences, the Copperbottoms, and the Mor- gans, aU show marked characteristics of the race as bred two centuries ago in La Perche, then a part of Normandy. About the year 1816 a stallion came into Canada from France, called European or McNitt horse. He was sire of the Morse horse, and founder of the famous Norman family, of which Lula, May Queen, and the Blackwoods have been especially noted. " This horse is described as a large, dapple gray ; nearly white, about sixteen hands high ; clean flat legs, beautiful head, body long and round, back short, loins strong, lofty carriage, strong, active, and a very fast trotter. Mr. James McNitt, of THE HORSE— HISTORY. 487 New York, bought him near Montreal, about 1826 or 1827, and the stallion became better known through his own son, the Morse horse, sire of Alexander's Noripan. The McNitt horse was known as an imported horse, and in every particular of color, size, form, action, and character, he may be considered a true representative of the race, as bred at that date. The French Blood in Canada and New Jersey. — In 1839 Mr. Edward Harris, of Moorestown, New Jersey, pur- chased two stallions and two mares of French blood, but landed only one, that a mare, safely on his farm at Moorestown, New Jersey. In three weeks time he returned to France, and was more fortunate, bringing back the stallion Diligence, and two mares. In writing to a friend about these horses, he says : "Those who are acquainted with the thorough-bred Canadian horse will see in him a perfect model, on a small scale, of the Percheron horse." This is a peculiar breed of Normandy, and, from the best French authorities, he claims they were produced by the cross of the Andalusian horse on the heavy Norman horse. This horse Diligence was heavy, compactly built, and a little over fifteen hands high. He is said to have made a valuable impress on the stock of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. French Horse in Ohio. — In 1851 Messrs. Charles FuU- ington and Erastus Martin, of Union County, Ohio, went to France, in quest of fine cattle and sheep, for the Darby Plains Importing Co. Mr. FuUington, like Mr. Harris, became im- pressed with the superiority of the French horses, when riding behind them over hills and valleys in the heavy dili- gences of that country. It is told that Mr. FuUington was led to select and buy the big, gray, three-year colt through the persuasive powers of his landlady, Madame BaUleau. The colt proved the lady to be a good judge of a horse ; for that short- legged, blocky, close-ribbed colt was none other than the famous Louis Napoleon. "The French horse," as he was called by Mr. Fullington's neighbors, was not appreciated until his foals began to develop. In the autumn of 1854 Mr. A. P. Cushman, of DeWitt County, Illinois, purchased him for $1,500, and he kept him until 1858, 488 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. selling him to Messrs. Dillon, who kept him until his death, in 1871. He got glory for himself, and shekels for his owners and the State of Illinois. " He was undoubtedly the best known and most popular French horse ever brought to America," says the author of the Percheron-Norman Stud-book. It is estimated that he left over 400 successful sires among his sons. In 1851, OLD LOUIS NAPOLEON. 281. First FreDCh Sralt-horse Imported to the West. Imported by FulUngtoudk Martin, of Union Co., Ohio, in 1851. Died Aug, 13, 1871, aged 23 years, the property ot Dilloa Bros., Normal, Ills. Dr. Marcus Brown, of Circleville, Ohio, imported Normandy, or the Valley horse. He was kept at Circleville until 1856, when he was taken to Pleasant Valley, Madison County, Ohio, where he died in 1872. The French Horse in Illinois. — In 1868, W. J. Ed- wards, of Illinois, imported Success and French Emperor. Suc- cess has, since 1874, been at the head of Mr. M. W. Dunham's stud, and French Emperor was sold to Hon. J. B. Grinnell, of Iowa. These horses and their get, have established the character of the French horse in America. 490 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. By the politeness of Mr. A. J. Sanders, author of the P