IOO 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
February  13 
steers  the  entire  winter  and  feed  a  larger  proportion 
of  bran  and  oil  meal.  I  also  approve  of  his  present 
course  in  drawing  and  applying  the  manure  as  fast  as  it 
is  made,  unless  he  finds  the  practice  causes  an  increase 
of  potato  scab,  in  which  case  he  would  be  obliged  to  keep 
and  apply  the  manure  to  the  corn  following.  While 
this  would  obviate  the  scab  trouble,  it  would  necessi¬ 
tate  a  good  deal  more  labor,  but  to  compensate  for  this 
it  would  greatly  increase  the  corn  crop. 
I  would  also  advise  that  when  cultivating  the  corn 
the  last  time,  he  should  sow  broadcast  not  less  than 
1%  bushel  of  rye  per  acre.  This  would  cover  the 
ground  by  the  beginning  of  winter  and  afford  a  good 
coat  of  green  to  be  plowed  down  in  spring  for  the 
potatoes.  .r.  s.  woodward. 
R.  N.-Y. — Prof.  I.  P.  Roberts  has  these  comments 
to  make  on  Mr.  Taylor’s  feeding  ration :  “  If  Mr. 
Taylor  will  feed  a  ration  of  not  less  than  60  pounds  of 
corn  ensilage,  10  pounds  of  which  shall  be  corn  in  con¬ 
nection  with  oil  cake,  and  clover  hay  or  straw,  10 
pounds  per  animal,  he  will  greatly  reduce  the  cost  of 
the  ration  fed,  while  improving  its  feeding  value. 
Good  field  corn,  ensilaged  at  the  proper  time,  will  con¬ 
tain  about  10  pounds,  or  its  equivalent,  of  dry  shelled 
corn  to  60  to  65  pounds  of  ensilage.  The  ration  is  de¬ 
fective  in  the  great  cost  of  the  corn  and  cob  meal 
which  is,  upon  the  whole,  not  very  digestible.” 
Effects  of  Food  on  the  Dairy  Cow. 
IS  NOT  FEED  GREATER  THAN  BREED  ? 
[Extracts  from  a  paper  delivered  by  Prof.  I.  P.  Roberts  before  the 
Ontario  Dairymen’s  Association  on  January  7—8, 1892.] 
“How  did  our  domestic  animals  become  better? 
What  forces  have  produced  from  the  wild  cattle  of  the 
forests  the  modern  dairy  cow  ?  Which  factor  has  had 
the  most  to  do  with  the  change  ?  Which  factor,  if  left 
out,  is  likely  to  work  the  greatest  injury  to  the  dairy  ? 
The  questions  I  have  asked  imply  that  there  is  more 
than  one  factor  to  be  studied.  But  which  one  is  the 
foundation,  the  beginning,  the  factor  of  them  all  ?  ” 
Opinions  of  Experts. 
‘ '  Andrew  Knight  attributed  the  variation  of  both 
animals  and  plants  to  a  more  abundant  supply  of 
nourishment,  or  to  a  more  favorable  climate  than  was 
natural  to  the  species.”  Darwin  says:  “A  more 
genial  climate,  however,  is  far  from  necessary  ;  the 
kidney-bean  is  often  injured  by  our  spring  frosts,  and 
peaches,  which  require  the  protection  of  a  wall,  have 
varied  in  England  as  has  the  orange  tree  in  northern 
Italy.”  Again  he  says;  “It  does  not  appear  that  a 
change  of  climate,  whether  more  or  less  genial,  is  one 
of  the  most  potent  causes  which  induce  variability.” 
And,  again  :  “Of  all  the  causes  which  induce  varia¬ 
bility,  excess  of  food  (over  subsistence),  whether  or 
not  the  food  be  changed  in  nature  (quality)  is  prob¬ 
ably  the  most  powerful.” 
Andrew  Knight  and  Schleiden  both  hold  the  same 
view,  more  especially  in  reference  to  the  inorganic 
elements  of  the  food.  Hardy  &  Sons  (England),  great 
raisers  of  seeds  of  all  kinds,  say:  “It  is  a  rule  in¬ 
variably  with  us  when  we  desire  to  keep  a  true  stock 
of  any  kind  of  seeds,  to  grow  it  on  poor  land  without 
dung ;  but  when  we  grow  for  quantity  we  act  con¬ 
trary,  and  sometimes  dearly  repent  of  it.”  After 
many  chapters  of  facts  and  reasoning,  Darwin  sums  up 
as  follows:  “Excess  of  nutriment  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  effective  single  exciting  cause  of  variability.” 
Food  Produces  Marked  Changes. 
All  this  does  not  mean  that  there  are  not  other 
causes  of  variation  ;  some  tending  towards  improve¬ 
ment,  some  towards  deterioration.  I  desire  to  call 
your  attention  specifically  to  the  fact  that  in  the  food 
of  the  animal  and  plant  we  find  the  most  powerful 
single  factor  for  producing  variation  and  specialized 
qualities  and  for  the  rapid  improvement  of  plants  and 
animals  if  we  know  how  properly  to  use  them.  Im¬ 
provement  is  simply  another  term  for  making  plants 
and  animals  vary  ;  vary  for  the  better,  and  improved 
and  increased  food  is  not  only  the  great  factor  always 
at  hand  to  the  farmer  for  producing  specialized  im¬ 
proved  qualities,  but  is  the  one  which  is  likely  to  give  the 
greatest  results  from  the  least  expenditure  of  money. 
Good  and  sufficient  food  may  do  great  injury  in  the 
dairy  as  well  as  great  good.  In  fact  the  more  con¬ 
centrated  and  the  better  it  is,  the  more  likely  it  is  to 
injure  both  cow  and  calf  when  in  inexperienced  hands. 
Poor  and  insufficient  food  works  marvelous  changes 
for  worse  even  in  the  hands  of  the  most  skillful  feeders. 
Take  native  animals  to  the  manner  born  and  change 
their  food  to  succulent  roots,  clover  hay,  oats  and 
corn  in  abundance,  and  immediately  they  increase  in 
production,  some  more,  some  less  ;  but  all  begin  to 
specialize  in  some  direction  or  other,  and  this  improve¬ 
ment  will  show,  though  no  change  of  environment  has 
taken  place.  Beginning  with  the  cow  of  the  cane 
brake,  it  is  only  a  matter  of  five  or  six  generations  of 
scientific  feeding  before  a  good  cow  could  be  produced. 
It  would  not  be  wise  to  begin  our  improvement  with 
so  poor  an  animal  if  a  better  one  could  be  secured,  but 
in  case  poor  ones  were  the  only  ones  available,  then  by 
judicious  feeding  alone,  without  any  admixture  of 
blood,  and  without  improving  the  climate,  fair  success 
could  be  obtained. 
Bakewell  by  food  alone,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  learn, 
changed  the  almost  worthless  sheep  of  his  time  into  a 
breed  which  brought  fabulous  prices  for  a  single  sea¬ 
son’s  service  of  the  males.  Bakewell  had  no  thorough¬ 
breds  from  which  to  draw;  so  far  as  we  know,  he  did 
not  have  a  single  really  good  animal  from  which  to 
start.  History  informs  us  that  the  sheep  of  England 
at  the  time  Bakewell  began  his  wonderful  course 
of  breeding,  were  of  a  poor  kind,  and  if  the  pict¬ 
ures  of  the  sheep  which  have  been  handed  down  to  us, 
from  the  last  century  are  not  caricatures,  we  may  be 
certain  that  Bakewell  had  for  the  foundation  of  his 
then  unrivaled  breed,  the  pure,  genuine  “scrub.” 
Scarcely  five  generations  of  scientifically  feeding 
grades  set  all  England  wild  on  the  improvement  of 
domestic  animals.  True,  they  started  out  with  the  best 
animals  of  the  country,  and  it  is  equally  true  that  they 
were  all  mixed  blooded  or  grade  specimens.  Charles 
and  Robert  Colling  learned  of  Bakewell  how  to  feed, 
and  went  home  and  gathered  up  the  best  natives  or 
mixed  blooded  cattle  of  their  neighborhood,  and  in  a 
few  years  astonished  all  England  with  the  mammoth  ox 
and  white  heifer,  both  of  which  were  grades.  The 
race  horse  and  the  trotter  are  quite  as  much  the  prod¬ 
uct  primarily  of  improved  food  as  are  the  Shorthorns, 
Jerseys  and  Ilolsteins. 
My  neighbor  is  breeding  Hambletonian  colts  which 
are  a  small  variety.  He  has  the  same  foundation  stock 
as  his  neighbors,  who  are  breeding  the  same  variety 
of  horses,  but  by  increased  and  improved  food  alone, 
with  correspondingly  increased  exercise,  he  is  pro¬ 
ducing  an  animal  at  least  20  per  cent  larger  and 
stronger  when  two  years  old  than  can  his  neighbors, 
and  his  animals  sell  for  correspondingly  larger  prices. 
Theodore  Lewis,  the  great  authority  on  swine  breed¬ 
ing,  at  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  last  December,  said  that 
through  partial  starvation  and  injudicious  feeding  of  a 
pair  of  pigs,  which  he  sent  to  one  of  his  customers, 
the  owner  in  a  single  year  had  starved  out  all  of  the 
thoroughbredness  which  he  had  been  10  years  feeding 
into  them.  Here  is  another  illustration  of  the  fact 
that  the  greatest  factor  in  improvement  or  deteriora¬ 
tion  is  food.  A  variety  or  sub-breed  can  be  made  in 
three  or  four  generations,  if  rigid  selection  is  prac¬ 
ticed,  and  strictly  scientific  feeding  is  adhered  to  from 
the  beginning  till  the  close  of  the  animal’s  life. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Scraps. 
Free  Delivery  of  Mails. — The  greater  part  of  my 
life  has  been  spent  on  a  farm  five  miles  from  a  railroad, 
post  office  and  the  other  privileges  of  a  town.  A  few 
years  since  a  progressive  farmer  of  our  community,  in 
Seneca  County,  N.  Y.,  conceived  the  thought  of  taking 
steps  towards  securing  a  post  office  in  our  neighborhood. 
A  little  efficient  labor  resulted  in  the  opening  of  an  office. 
At  first  the  mail  bag  was  carried  by  a  few  neighbors 
who  called  for  it  at  the  neighboring  town  when  they 
went  there  on  their  own  affairs.  Later  a  mail  route 
was  established,  and  the  trip  was  made  three  times  a 
week.  Now  we  have  two  mails  daily,  and  the  amount 
of  mail  received  and  sent  out  has  increased  beyond 
belief.  Several  daily  papers  are  taken,  and  the  pleasure 
and  profit  which  we  have  enjoyed  from  this  bridge 
between  our  isolation  and  the  outer  world  can  scarcely 
be  computed.  By  all  means  work  for  so  important  an 
issue.  A  government  mail  delivery  will  save  many  a 
trip  to  town  when  the  time  is  needed  on  the  farm.  It 
will  bring  crop  reports,  as  well  as  general  news,  daily 
to  our  homes.  It  will  bring  us  nearer  to  the  great 
centers  of  thought  and  education.  It  will  broaden  our 
outlook  and  make  our  lives  fuller  and  richer,  because 
it  will  aid  us  in  gleaning  from  all  useful  fields.  It  will 
prove  a  long  step  in  the  advancement  of  our  class.  By 
all  means  let  us  labor  for  a  free  delivery  of  mails  in 
the  country  as  well  as  in  the  towns.  s.  A.  little. 
Glue  on  Grapes. — I  have  1,400  grape  vines  and  have 
been  spraying  them  for  three  seasons.  In  1888  I  did 
not  spray,  and  cut  only  240  pounds  of  grapes  from  the 
vines.  I  commenced  to  spray  in  1889,  and  cut  1,300 
pounds  of  grapes;  in  1890  I  cut  8,000  pounds,  and  in 
1891,  16,000  pounds.  1  never  had  finer  looking  fruit 
than  last  season,  and  there  were  not  five  pounds  of  rot¬ 
ten  fruit.  My  first  three  applications  were  the  Bor¬ 
deaux  mixture,  the  two  last,  the  carbonate  of  copper 
and  ammonia  mixture.  When  the  carbonate  of  copper 
and  ammonia  were  applied  the  weather  was  quite  wet, 
and  to  prevent  the  mixture  from  being  washed  off,  I 
mixed  pulverized  glue  with  it.  My  formula  was  15 
ounces  of  the  carbonate  and  8  ounces  of  glue  to  40  gal¬ 
lons  of  water.  I  made  two  applications  with  this 
mixture,  the  first  on  June  29  ;  the  second  on  July  10. 
The  glue  injured  the  fruit  very  much — just  about 
ruined  it.  My  commission  merchant  wrote  me  that  there 
was  something  the  matter  with  the  grapes.  He  said 
that  when  he  received  them  the  juice  was  running  out 
of  the  baskets,  and  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
sell  them.  He  said  that  they  were  packed  all  right, 
and  the  bunches  were  very  fine.  (The  year  before  my 
grapes  netted  me  eight  cents  per  pound. )  The  Aga warns 
would  shatter  off  the  bunch  like  Hartfords,  and  that 
is  something  they  never  do.  It  was  my  first  experience 
with  glue,  and  it  will  be  my  last,  so  far  as  grapes 
are  concerned  ;  but  the  glue  will  be  good  to  use  with 
hellebore  on  gooseberries :  hellebore  10  ounces,  glue  5 
ounces,  water  40  gallons.  I  use  a  mixture  of  that 
strength,  and  have  gooseberries  every  year.  I  make 
the  first  application  as  soon  as  the  bushes  are  in  full 
leaf.  I  don’t  wait  until  the  worms  have  stripped  the 
foliage  off.  If  one  does,  he  won’t  have  any  fruit  the 
next  year,  as  I  know  from  experience,  l.  e.  Anthony. 
Money  in  Early  Tomatoes. — Last  fall  Mr.  E.  C. 
Willison  of  Fairfield  County,  Ohio,  grew  a  quarter  of 
an  acre  of  Acme  and  Dwarf  Champion  Tomatoes,  half 
of  each,  for  which  he  received  .$119.  He  also  gave 
away  some  30  bushels,  and  the  family  used  them  con¬ 
stantly  from  the  time  they  began  to  ripen,  and  what 
they  ate  fully  offset  the  entire  cost  of  production.  He 
has  had  no  rot  for  three  years ;  he  trains  to  a  single 
stalk,  prunes  freely,  but  never  uses  the  same  ground 
two  years  in  succession.  a.  w.  l. 
I  have  the  Warfield  No.  2  Strawberry  which  with 
me  does  exceedingly  well  when  we  don’t  let  it  have  its 
“  own  sweet  way”  too  much.  It  is  a  great  runner,  ex¬ 
ceeding  in  this  respect  the  old  Crescent,  which  is  the 
standard  by  which  others  are  gauged.  I  fruited  them 
for  the  first  this  year  and  thought  so  much  of  them 
that  I  pulled  up  a  row  of  a  late  variety  set  in  the 
spring,  and  planted  the  Warfield  No.  2  in  their  place, 
after  they  had  borne  fruit,  and  now  there  are  in  that 
row  as  many  plants  as  we  want.  j  w.  A. 
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ANSWER  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 
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Covering-s  for  Roofs. 
H.  B.,  Brown  County,  N.  C. — I  have  some  roofs  that 
are  covered  with  two-ply  paper,  and  I  wish  to  put  a 
covering  of  tar  or  something  on  them  to  make  them 
durable.  One  of  my  neighbors  used  the  following  in¬ 
gredients,  but  the  roof  gets  soft  and  runs  in  hot 
weather.  Here  is  the  mixture  :  to  two  pounds  of  gas 
tar  add  20  pounds  of  asphalt  and  20  pounds  of  resin. 
It  is  heated  and  spread  on  with  a  brush.  What  should 
be  used  to  make  it  hard  so  that  it  can  not  run  ?  Would 
the  addition  of  field  plaster  make  it  any  better  ? 
Ans. — It  would  be  best  to  procure  the  ready-pre¬ 
pared  covering  for  the  roof,  and  even  then  it  is  desir¬ 
able  to  take  precautions  to  prevent  the  flowing  of  the 
covering  owing  to  the  summer  heat.  This  is  done  by 
spreading  common  water  lime  or  hydraulic  cement  on 
the  roof  as  soon  as  the  covering  has  been  put  on.  This 
will  prevent  the  flowing.  The  preparation  of  this  tar 
dressing  for  roofs  is  a  disagreeable  business  which  is 
to  be  avoided  if  possible,  and  the  right  mixture,  as  sold 
ready  for  use,  is  better  than  any  that  can  be  made  by 
an  inexperienced  person.  Field  plaster  would  not 
answer  the  purpose  very  well,  as  it  is  too  finely  ground 
and  would  not  make  the  proper  combination  with  the 
tar.  Some  alkaline  substance  is  necessary  to  do  this. 
Bringing:  Southern  Land  to  Clover. 
E.  F.  C.,  Watcrvleit,  Mich. — How  can  I  make  some 
worn-out  lands  in  Powhatan  County,  Va.,  and  Hen¬ 
derson  and  Cherokee  Counties,  N.  C. ,  productive  ?  They 
are  the  red  and  gray  clays  so  common  at  the  South. 
The  soil  is  not  so  impoverished  that  it  will  not  produce 
a  fair  crop  of  corn,  and  with  fertilizers  it  produces 
good  tobacco.  But  it  does  not  furnish  sufficient  nour¬ 
ishment  for  a  good  growth  of  grass.  e.  f.  case. 
Ans. — My  experience  with  the  old  fields  of  the  South 
has  been  that  the  land  is  by  no  means  exhausted,  but 
that  the  surface  only  has  been  cultivated  to  the  exclu¬ 
sion  of  the  still  fertile  soil  below.  There  is  no  drift 
here.  The  soil  lies  on  the  original  rock  whence  it  has 
been  derived  by  its  gradual  decomposition  or  wearing 
down  into  soil.  Thus  the  land  may  be  washed  until 
the  surface  is  denuded  to  a  depth  of  a  foot  or  several 
feet,  and  yet  the  soil  will  produce  as  good  crops  by 
thorough  plowing  as  before.  There  is  thus  no  hard- 
pan  or  raw  soil  below  the  surface,  but  the  same  kind 
down  to  the  rock,  and  this  is  found  soft  and  decayed  sev¬ 
eral  feet  lower  down.  The  rock  is  made  up  of  materials 
rich  in  all  kinds  of  mineral  plant  food,  and  the  drainage 
has  carried  the  nitrates  down  from  the  surface,  and 
