The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-12-02
FARMERS ARITHMETIC.
How English Farmers Measure Space
and WEIGHT.

7oW Engiish Farmers measure opaCe
and Weight.
Farmers have an arithmetic pecul-
iarly their own. This is essential,
seeing that their conditions for buy
ing and selling are totally different
from those of ordinary tradesmen.
Suppose, for instance, you wanted to
purchase farmers crop of turnips
in a ten-acre field, the townsman
would be at his wits end to Judge the
weight of the roots in that field. The
experienced farmer, however, would
find it an easy matter to arrive at
correct calculation.
Turnips or swedes are usually plant
ed in ridges twenty-eight inches apart
This the farmer knows, means nine
ty ridges to the acre. Then he care
fully measures off a yard from row
where the crop seems about the av-
erage, pulls up the roots in that yard
and weighs them. Supposing they
weigh ten pounds, a simple calcula-
ton proves that the crop averages a
little over twenty-eight tons to the
acre. Eleven pounds is equivalent to
nearly thirty-one tons, and so on. At
ter he has found out the weight of
one acre, 1t is quite an easy matter
to estimate the weight of the whole
field.
When a man of the soil sets about
planting an orchard, he does not or
der so many hundred of trees until
he has carefully calculated how many
trees will be actually required. This
number will, of course, depend on the
distance apart at which the trees are
planted If they are set at even dis
tances of twenty-five feet an acre will
hold exactly seventy trees; II only
twenty feet, 100 trees will be re-
quired. In this way all waste is pre-.
vented.
In regard to planting cabbages,
strawberries, or any other small fruit
the distances apart are, of course,
much smaller. 1t might be interest,
ing to note that if they were planted
a foot from each other an acre of
land could accommodate no fewer
than 1850 plants.
It is equally essential for farmer
to be able to tell the weight of cattle
without troubling to put them on the
scales. The way in which he does
this is to measure the girth of the
animal just behind the shoulders and
square the product. Multiply the re.
suit by the length in feet from shoul.
der to iuncture of tail. This is then
multiplied by .23, "a, .26, .2S, or 80,
according to the animals fatness. The
result will give the carcass weight in
stones. Carcass weight, by the way,
is much less than live weight.
Now, the. novice in attempting to
buy stack of hay would run great
risk of being swindled in regard to
its weight. Not so with the farmer
who knows his business. He would
calmly take out his foot-rule and
measure the stack to the caves and
add to this number of feet half the
height from the caves to the ridge.
Multiply the result by the length in
feet, and that by the width in feet.
Then divide by twenty-seven. This
gives him the total number of cubic
yards in the stack. A cubic yard Of
new hay weighs six stone, and Of old
hay nine stone. Therefore, If he null
tiplies the number of cubic yards in
the stack by six or nine, according TO
the age of the hay, he will find the
exact weight of the stack.
The farmers arithmetic is very use
full TO him in checking the work Of
his employees. He knows that an av-
erage ploughman can walk about
eighteen miles day, and he must,
therefore, be able to estimate how
much land this eighteen-mile walk
will cultivate. 1t depends largely, of
course, on the size of the plough.
Supposing the plough can cut a sew
en-inch furrow, 2. full days work will
mean the ploughing of an acre and
quarter of land. If it cuts an eleven
inch slice, two acres would be an av-
erage days work, and fifteen-inch,
two and three-quarter acres.-Tit-Bits