1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Keeping:  Cauliflowers. 
S. Lakewood ,  N.  J. — I  have  just  been  reading  about 
Mr.  Horton’s  Cauliflowers.  How  does  he  keep  them 
for  late  fall  and  winter  ? 
Ans. — This  is  a  difficult  question  to  answer,  as  men 
who  store  cauliflowers  for  extreme  prices  meet  with 
a  considerable  loss  in  keeping  them  in  good  order 
and  perfect  condition.  There  is  a  loss  of  three  barrels 
out  of  four  to  get  one  barrel  of  what  would  be  called 
first  quality  to  command  a  fancy  price.  I  have  been 
in  different  places  where  cauliflowers  were  stored  for 
the  winter  and  the  most  successful  way  I  know  of  or 
have  ever  seen  is  this:  Dig  a  pit  two  feet  deep  and 
wide,  and  long  enough  to  give  room  for  all  to  be  placed 
in  it;  board  each  side  up  to  the  level  of  the  soil  and 
place  the  cauliflowers  in  it  with  the  roots  in  the  soil. 
When  the  work  is  completed,  cover  over  With  boards 
and  then  cover  over  the  boards  with  soil  so  that  no 
moisture  will  reach  the  cauliflowers,  while  the  frost 
will  be  kept  out.  Treated  in  this  way,  they  will  keep 
with  complete  success.  e.  willis  horton. 
Planting:  Potatoes  in  Virginia. 
F.  P.  R.,  Cleveland,  Ohio. — My  farm  in  Northampton 
County,  Va.,  contains  100  acres  of  sandy  loam.  Under 
the  present  management  it  produces  about  100  bushels 
of  potatoes  per  acre.  I  want  to  adopt  the  intensive 
system;  my  intention  is  to  sow  clover,  both  for  hay 
and  the  mechanical  effect  it  will  have  upon  the  land. 
In  our  light  soil  we  need  more  humus.  I  think  that  by 
diversification  and  rotation  I  can  plant  potatoes  upon 
a  clover  sod  every  year,  as  only  25  acres  would  be 
planted  in  potatoes  per  year.  1.  Should  the  sod  he 
turned  in  the  fall  or  spring?  2.  Would  the  trench 
mulch  system  he  applicable  to  my  case?  3.  Where  and 
in  what  shape  can  I  buy  minute  detailed  imformation 
to  secure  maximum  crops  of  oats,  clover,  field  corn  and 
sweet  potatoes?  What  I  want  to  know  is  the  correct 
way  to  prepare  the  ground  and  plant;  what  fertilizers 
are  best  adapted  for  each  particular  crop;  the  manner 
of  cultivation;  the  amount  of  fertilizer  to  be  used, 
etc.?  I  think  I  need  a  complete  fertilizer  for  each  crop. 
4.  Does  The  Rurai,  give  preference  to  the  Mapes  com¬ 
plete  potato  fertilizer  for  that  crop?  5.  I  would  like 
to  procure  The  Rural’s  system  of  corn  culture. 
Ans. — 1.  Fall.  2.  We  can  not  say.  We  have  never 
met  with  such  success  from  the  use  of  a  mulch  that  we 
are  ready  to  recommend  it.  During  one  season  the 
mulch  doubled  the  crop.  During  another  it  evidently 
lowered  the  crop.  So  much  depends  on  the  season 
that  no  positive  rule  may  be  made.  3.  Our  best  advice 
is  to  read  the  leading  farm  papers  from  year  to  year. 
There  is  no  other  source  of  such  information  half  so  good 
There  are  notes  on  all  the  crops  mentioned,  as  our  friend 
will  see  upon  glancing  over  the  book  list  of  The  Rural 
Publishing  Co. ,  and  those  issued  by  other  papers.  4.  A 
study  of  the  bulletins  issued  by  the  Connecticut  and 
New  Jersey  Stations  will  give  the  most  reliable  in¬ 
formation  as  to  the  cheapest  fertilizers.  5.  It  has 
never  appeared  in  book  form.  It  is  briefly  this:  Deep 
plowing  and  thorough  tilling.  Broadcast  all  chemical 
fertilizers  and  harrow.  Drill  in  the  seeds  in  rows.  Do 
not  hill  up. 
Feeding  Potatoes;  a  Butter  Ration. 
S.  D.  A.,  Macedon,  N.  Y. — 1.  What  is  the  feeding 
value,  for  cows  making  butter,  of  small  potatoes  in 
connection  with  hay  and  a  grain  ration?  2.  Compound 
a  butter  ration,  for  a  Jersey  cow,  from  bran,  corn  meal, 
clover  hay  or  cured  corn  stalks. 
Ans. — 1.  Estimating  corn  to  be  worth  $1.1 1  per  100 
pounds,  100  pounds  of  potatoes  are  worth  29  cents,  and 
contain  the  following  digestible  nutrients  :  albumin¬ 
oids  2.1  pounds;  carbohydrates  21.8  pounds;  fat  0.2, 
and  their  nutritive  ratio  is  10.6.  2  A  very  good  ration 
for  your  cows  would  be  in  the  following  proportions, 
increasing  its  size  if  necessary:  15  pounds  of  clover 
hay,  5  pounds  of  bran  and  3  pounds  of  corn  meal. 
This  would  contain  of  digestible  nutrients  about  as 
follows:  albuminoids  1.96;  carbohydrates  10.46;  fat  .44. 
If  a  little  less  clover  hay  and  some  corn  fodder  were 
used,  the  change  would  not  materially  disarrange 
the  ration,  which  would  bear  a  little  larger  proportion 
of  carbohydrates  and  still  be  good. 
A  Ration  that  is  “Too  Good.” 
J.  R.  O’Keefe,  Grafton,  Mass. — What  are  the  proper 
rations  for  a  milch  cow  of  these  articles  :  cotton-seed 
meal,  gluten  meal,  wheat  bran  and  English  hay  ?  What 
are  the  proper  proportions  of  the  same  foods  for  fatten¬ 
ing  a  beef  ?  I  am  now  feeding  for  milk  as  follows  : 
3J4  pounds  cotton-seed  meal. 
'A%  pounds  gluten  meal. 
2 pounds  bran. 
16  pounds  English  hay. 
The  price  paid  per  ton,  delivered,  for  these  feeds  is 
as  follows  :  Cotton-seed  meal  $30  ;  gluten  meal  $30.50  ; 
wheat  bran  $25,  and  English  hay  raised  here  $16.  It 
costs  per  day  per  cow  for  feed,  .25  31-100  cents  ;  milk 
is  worth  26  cents  per  can  of  8%  quarts. 
Ans. — You  are  feeding  too  large  a  proportion  of 
nitrogenous  foods.  The  ration  you  are  feeding  foots 
up  about  as  follows  :  albuminoids  2.54  ;  carbohydrates 
10.23  ;  fat  .74,  or  a  nutritive  ratio  of  less  than  4  to  1, 
when  it  should  be  a  little  more  than  5  to  1.  It  would 
be  hard  to  arrange  a  good  ration  of  these  foods  with¬ 
out  giving  too  much  hay.  Buy  some  corn  meal  and 
feed  less  cotton-seed  meal,  with  more  bran ;  that  will 
give  you  a  better  and  a  cheaper  ration.  The  following 
will  be  about  right : 
Alb.  C.  H.  Fat. 
1  pound  cotton-seed  meal . 2a  .22  .11 
pound  corn  meal . 01  .91  .06 
3  pounds  gluten  meal . 70  1.52  .11 
4  pounds  bran . 47  1.78  .10 
16  pounds  English  hay . 58  6.60  .16 
2.01  11.03  .54 
To  fatten  an  animal,  dispense  with  the  cotton-seed 
meal  entirely  and  in  its  place  put  corn  meal,  displacing 
at  least  one  pound  of  the  gluten  meal  also,  supplying 
its  place  with  corn. 
Shrubs  and  Plants  for  South  Dakota. 
O.  C.  J.,  Watertown,  S.  D. — What  are  the  names  of 
shrubs,  bulbs,  plants,  etc.,  which  will  stand  this 
climate,  with  its  dry,  hot  and  cold,  dry  winds,  and  once 
in  a  while  a  temperature  of  100  degrees  Fahrenheit, 
and  once  in  a  great  while  one  of  40  degrees  below 
zero,  and  often  one  of  from  zero  to  10  or  20  below  ? 
Ans. — An  examination  of  our  native  groves  along 
the  streams  and  in  the  ravines  will  show  many  orna¬ 
mental  trees,  shrubs  and  climbers  that  may  be  most 
certainly  relied  on  to  withstand  the  rigors  of  our 
climate.  Here  are  found  the  white  elm,  green  ash, 
hackberry,  box  elder,  hawthorn,  wild  cherry,  buffalo- 
berry,  sand  cherry,  wahoo,  dogwood,  bladder-nut, 
bitter-sweet,  clematis  and  Virginia  creeper.  The  red 
cedar  and  white  spruce,  natives  of  the  Black  Hills,  can 
be  grown  in  any  part  of  the  State.  Outside  of  what 
are  found  native,  experiment  alone  can  tell  what  may 
be  relied  on.  Much  in  this  line  has  already  been  done 
by  the  experiment  station,  and  vastly  more  remains  for 
future  work.  The  following  trees,  shrubs  and  plants 
are  growing  on  the  college  grounds  and  are  in  tine 
condition  :  Cut-leaved  Birch,  White  Birch,  European 
and  American  Larch,  American  Linden,  Russian  Silver 
Poplar,  Silver  Maple,  Laurel  Willow,  Mountain  Ash, 
White  Ash,  Russian  Mulberry,  Scotch  Pine,  Dwarf 
Mountain  Pine,  Abor-vitso,  Colorado  Blue  Spruce,  Nor¬ 
way  Spruce,  Balsam  Fir  ;  Persian  white,  Siberian  and 
common  lilacs,  Syringa,  Snowball,  Spiraea  opulifolia, 
Speraea  Van  Houtii,  Flowering  Currant,  common  and 
Purple-Leaved  Barberry,  snowberry,  High  Bush  Cran¬ 
berry,  tamarisk,  Tartarian  Honeysuckle,  the  rugosas, 
Scotch  and  other  hardy  roses,  paeonies,  irises,  tulips, 
lilies  of  the  valley,  hardy  pinks,  dicentra,  Easter  Lily, 
columbine  and  hollyhock.  The  list  of  herbaceous  per¬ 
ennials  that  may  be  grown  with  careful  winter  pro¬ 
tection,  is  just  as  long  for  South  Dakota  as  for  any 
of  her  sister  States  here  in  the  Northwest.  For  sum¬ 
mer  bedding  on  the  college  campus  the  main  depend¬ 
ence  has  been  geraniums,  pansies,  verbenas,  helio¬ 
tropes,  nasturtiums,  sweet  peas,  ageratums,  asters, 
poppies,  petunias,  coleus,  fever-few,  mignonette,  sweet 
alyssum,  candytuft,  phlox,  daisies,  balsams,  the  ever- 
blooming  roses,  dahlias  and  gladioli.  I  am  confident 
that,  with  a  little  extra  care,  nearly  all  the  summer¬ 
flowering  plants  and  bulbs  can  be  grown  here  success¬ 
fully.  The  main  difference  between  South  Dakota 
and  elsewhere  in  the  culture  of  trees,  shrubs  and 
plants,  lies  in  the  special  care  required  in  transplant¬ 
ing  and  getting  them  started.  Protection  against  the 
excessive  evaporation  of  our  dry  winds  must  be 
attended  to  and  here,  as  everywhere  dlse,  water  must 
be  .supplied  regularly  during  long,  dry  spells  if  growth 
and  blossoms  are  to  be  expected.  In  recommending 
the  above  list  of  trees,  shrubs  and  plants,  it  must  be 
understood  that  intelligent  care  in  handling  is  more 
absolutely  necessary  here  than  in  moister  climates. 
Director  S.  D,  Exp.  Station.  luther  foster. 
Ration  for  Working:  Oxen. 
C.  T.  S. ,  Swanton,  Md. — I  have  watched  in  vain  for  a 
ration  for  work  cattle,  i.  e .,  how  much  protein,  carbo¬ 
hydrates  and  fat  should  their  feed  contain  ? 
Ans. — In  Stewart’s  “  Feeding  Animals  ”  he  gives  the 
nutritive  ratio  for  oxen  at  rest  in  stalls  as  1:12  ;  and 
for  the  same  heavily  worked,  1:6.  He  gives  as  speci¬ 
men  rations  for  oxen  at  work  the  following  : 
20  pounds  meadow  hay. 
10  pounds  corn  meal. 
17  pounds  clover  hay. 
3  pounds  wheat  bran. 
10  pounds  corn  meal. 
25  pounds  oat  straw. 
5  pounds  wheat  bran. 
4  pounds  linseed-oll  meal. 
20  pounds  corn  fodder. 
5  pounds  clover  hay. 
2  pounds  wheat  bran. 
3  pounds  cotton-seed  meal. 
Jerusalem  Artichokes  for  Hogs. 
F.  A.  L.,  Grand  View,  Tenn. — Will  it  pay  to  plant 
Jerusalem  Artichokes  for  swine  ? 
Ans. — That  there  is  a  wide  range  of  opinion  on  this 
matter  is  shown  bv  these  notes  : 
“  No.  It  won’t  pay  to  grow  a  crop  with  so  compara¬ 
tively  little  nutritive  value,  and  which  is  such  a  pest 
when  once  it  gets  a  foothold  on  the  farm.  The  great 
point  advanced  by  those  who  have  Jerusalem  Arti¬ 
chokes  to  sell,  is  that  the  hogs  will  harvest  them  and 
they  will  cost  nothing  for  cultivation.  Both  true, 
and  yet  I  don’t  believe  it  will  pay  to  grow  them.  I 
have  grown  them  for  years  and  have  let  the  hogs  har- 
i53 
vest  them,  and  the  only  profit  I  can  figure  out  is  from 
the  11  bushels  I  sold  to  two  men  who  had  the  artichoke 
fever  as  badly  as  I  had  it  when  I  began  the  experi¬ 
ment.  If  one  has  a  piece  of  land  that  he  is  sure  never 
to  need  for  any  other  crop,  and  that  can  be  pastured 
by  hogs,  then  he  might  plant  it  with  artichokes,  but 
let  him  begin  in  a  small  way.  A.  l.  crosby.” 
“The  varieties  of  this  tuber  seem  coming  into  note  for 
the  table  and  for  stock.  A  recent  French  variety  has 
doubtless  given  impetus  to  its  revival.  No  vegetable 
product  is  more  grateful  to  the  porcine  tribe  than  the 
sweet,  crackling  flesh  of  this  artichoke.  I  have  three 
varieties — the  old  pink  or  red-tinged,  of  a  long,  oval 
shape ;  a  similar  white  kind,  and  the  new  French, 
which  is  an  irregular,  potato-shaped  tuber,  with  numer¬ 
ous  bulblets  studded  over  it.  It  seems  a  pity  that  we 
have  no  analysis  of  its  elements.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
it  comes  near  the  potato  in  food  constituents.  Raw  or 
cooked,  it  is  more  palatable,  tender  and  sugary.  All 
varieties,  sliced  like  cucumbers,  make  quite  an  accept¬ 
able  salad.  Each  boiled  tender,  with  a  white  sauce, 
makes  a  dish  very  acceptable  to  most  palates.  Mixed 
with  half-inch  lengths  of  celery,  the  combination  is 
better  for  the  table  than  either  alone.  I  do  not  know 
of  any  trial  made  of  them  for  swine.  Hogs,  how¬ 
ever,  are  very  fond  of  the  tubers,  and  will  dig  the  crop 
themselves  with  zest  and  profit,  and  leave  plantings 
for  the  next  year.  Crops  of  1,000  to  1,500  bushels  per 
acre  are  claimed.  I  should  judge  from  the  trial  I  have 
made  that  these  claims  are  not  too  high.  The  arti¬ 
choke  should  be  cultivated  in  rows  four  feet  apart,  and 
planted  like  potatoes.  w.  H.  noble.” 
To  Make  Strawberry  Wine. 
F.  M.,  Donnelsville,  Ohio. — What  is  a  good  recipe  for 
making  strawberry  wine?  I  grow  strawberries,  and 
every  year  the  last  few  pickings  are  so  cheap  that  it 
doesn’t  pay  to  market  them.  I  always  give  the  last 
picking — sometimes  20  bushels — to  my  pickers,  just 
for  picking  them.  If  it  will  pay  to  make  them  into 
wine,  I  want  the  benefit  of  them. 
Ans. — Allow  the  berries  to  become  well  ripened. 
Press  the  juice  from  them  in  any  convenient  way.  To 
each  quart  of  juice,  add  a  pint  of  water,  strain  care¬ 
fully,  add  two  pounds  of  sugar  to  each  gallon  of  water 
and  juice  and  put  in  a  barrel  or  keg  for  fermentation. 
It  is  well  to  have  the  package  full  so  that  the  scum 
arising  in  fermentation  will  overflow  at  the  bung.  One 
should  reserve  a  little  in  a  separate  package  to  fill  up 
the  barrel.  When  fermentation  has  ceased,  bung  the 
barrel  up.  The  wine  will  be  fit  for  use  in  about  six 
months,  but  will  improve  with  age.  It  can  be  made 
heavier  by  reducing  the  proportion  of  water  and  add¬ 
ing  more  sugar. 
Miscellaneous. 
Deans  For  Sheep. — A.  II.  FI.,  Dansville,  N.  Y. — 
Beans  are  a  highly  nitrogenous  food,  having  a  nu¬ 
tritive  ratio  of  2.3.  The  ratio  should  be  about  5.5,  and 
hence  the  necessity  of  feeding  some  more  carbonaceous 
food  with  the  beans.  Three  parts  of  corn  meal  to  one 
of  beans,  would  make  a  well-balanced  grain  ration. 
If  you  were  feeding  clover  hay  with  it,  that  would  be 
about  right.  If  straw  is  fed  instead  of  hay,  reduce  the 
proportion  of  corn  meal.  Fed  this  way,  there  will  be 
no  danger.  About  1  or  1%  pound  per  day  of  this  mix¬ 
ture  with  clover  hay  would  make  a  good  ration  and 
one  on  which  the  sheep  would  grow. 
Rural  Thoroughbred  Flint  Corn. — B.  J.  M.,  Cory, 
Ind. — This  corn  is  sold  by  J.  M.  Thorburn  &  Co.,  N.  Y.; 
J.  J.  H.  Gregory,  Marblehead,  Mass. — $2  per  bushel 
(56  pounds).  One  plant  every  one  by  four  feet — not 
closer.  Ensilage  is  “  sweet  ”  so  long  as  it  has  notan 
acid  taste.  It  will  have  a  sweet  odor. 
The  Pea  Weevil. — J.  P.  D.,  Napa  City,  Cal. — The  little 
pest  that  eats  your  peas  is  the  pea  weevil  (Bruchus 
pisi)  and  is  a  hard  thing  to  circumvent.  When  ready 
to  plant  your  peas,  pour  water  on  them  boiling  hot,  or 
a  few  degrees  below;  let  it  remain  a  half  minute  and 
then  pour  off.  This  will  kill  all  the  weevils  and  will 
not  hurt  the  seed.  If  all  planters  would  do  this,  the 
pest  would  soon  become  rare. 
Rot  of  Tomatoes. — E.  H.,  Afton,  Ill. — Tomato  rot 
has  for  years  entailed  a  serious  loss,  prevailing  more 
in  wet  than  in  dry  seasons.  We  should  try  spraying 
with  the  Bordeaux  Mixture  or  the  ammoniacal  solu¬ 
tion,  when  the  first  tomatoes  were  about  half  grown, 
and  repeat  the  application  if  rot  made  its  appearance. 
Send  to  the  New  Jersey  Experiment  Station,  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J.,  for  a  bulletin  on  this  matter. 
Clovers  for  New  Jersey. — A.  C.,  New  Hampton,  N. 
J. — We  should  not  sow  Alsike  with  Red  Clover  and 
Timothy.  We  do  not  think  Crimson  Clover  will  flourish 
as  far  north  as  your  locality.  The  seed  may  be  had 
of  all  our  leading  seedsmen  whose  cards  will  be  found 
in  our  advertising  columns.  Dr.  Beal’s  Grasses  of 
North  America  is  very  good  though  expensive — $5. 
Flint’s  Grasses  and  Forage  Plants,  $2.50,  is  good.  Dr. 
D.  L.  Phares  of  Mississippi,  has  an  excellent  little 
volume,  price  $1.00.  All  can  be  obtained  through  the 
Rural  Publishing  Co. 
