May  14 
326 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Some  Experiment  Station 
Bulletins. 
Iowa  Station,  Ames,  Iowa. — Bulletin 
15  discusses  a  number  of  topics.  Great 
•quantities  of  flax-seed  are  grown  in 
Iowa.  Can  the  seed  be  fed  to  cattle 
whole  more  economically  than  in  the 
form  of  oil  meal  ?  After  feeding  ex¬ 
periments  with  cattle,  the  station  con¬ 
cludes  that : 
1.  Mature  cows  will  eat  eight  pounds  a 
day  of  either  without  bad  effects  of  any 
kind,  if  they  are  gradually  increased  to 
that  amount. 
2.  There  was  little  difference  in  in¬ 
creased  weight  from  feeding  flaxseed 
and  oil  meal,  with  12  pounds  of  corn 
meal,  and  all  the  corn  fodder  the  cows 
would  eat  each  day. 
3.  Feeding  flax  meal  and  oil  meal 
heavily  to  pregnant  cows  had  no  injuri¬ 
ous  effects  in  this  case. 
This  does  not  seem  to  answer  the  ques¬ 
tions  asked,  but  is  important  as  many 
authorities  have  been  claiming  that  oil 
meal  will  cause  abortion 
Experiments  were  made  to  determine 
the  cost  of  growing  a  bushel  of  corn,  a 
bushel  of  barley,  and  of  putting  a  ton  of 
ensilage  in  the  silo.  On  one  field  the  corn 
cost  about  9%  cents  a  bushel,  and  on  the 
other  about  7%  cents.  The  yield  per 
acre  was  greater  in  the  latter  case,  and 
this  field  received  more  hand  work  in  the 
way  of  hoeing  and  thinning.  It  cost  1 1 
cents  to  grow  a  bushel  of  barley.  In 
making  the  estimates,  plowing,  planting, 
cultivating,  harrowing  were  valued  at 
23  cents  an  hour,  with  hoeing,  thinning, 
shocking  and  thrashing  at  15  cents. 
Three  silos  were  filled.  In  one  of  55 
tons'  capacity,  the  cost  of  cutting,  haul¬ 
ing,  running  engine  and  repairs  for  one 
ton  was  79%  cents,  of  another  of  46  tons 
71%  cents,  and  of  another  of  66  tons  a 
little  less  than  66  cents.  This  is  merely 
the  cost  of  filling,  and  not  the  cost  of 
growing  the  crop.  One  silo  was  filled, 
half  with  green  fodder  corn  and  half 
with  stalks  from  which  the  ears  had  been 
husked.  Each  load,  as  it  came  to  the 
silo,  was  mixed  half  and  half.  The  ensi¬ 
lage  was  said  to  be  fine. 
In  the  experiments  with  potatoes  The 
R.  N.-Y.  No.  2  “  was  the  finest  potato 
we  had.” 
An  exhaustive  article  on  Lice  Affecting 
Domestic  Animals  is  given,  and  also  a 
paper  by  Prof.  J.  L.  Budd,  on  What  to 
Plant  on  the  Home  Grounds. 
Some  Cotton  Experiments. — The  Ar¬ 
kansas  Station,  Fayetteville,  Ark  ,  has 
been  trying  to  answer  some  questions 
about  cotton  and  its  products.  The  oil 
mills  at  small  towns  pay  only  about  .1?6. 50 
per  ton  for  seed.  Is  not  the  seed  worth 
more  than  this  for  fertilizing-  ?  It  was 
found  that  500  pounds  of  rotted  seed  gave 
an  increase  of  250  pounds  of  cotton  over 
land  where  no  fertilizer  was  used.  The 
increased  value  was  $5.55,  while  if  the 
seed  had  been  sold  to  the  mill  it  would 
have  brought  but  $1.62.  Southern  farmers 
have  been  urged  to  sell  their  whole  seed 
and  buy  back  cotton-seed  meal  for  a  fer¬ 
tilizer.  They  receive  $6.50  per  ton  for 
the  whole  seed  while  they  must  pay  $20 
per  ton  for  meal.  Tested  side  by  side,  500 
pounds  of  seed  yielded  949  pounds  of  cot¬ 
ton  while  500  pounds  of  meal  yielded 
1,199  pounds.  The  former  cost  $1.62 
while  the  latter  cost  $5.  To  fertilize  50 
acres  with  seed  at  this  rate  would  cost 
$81,  while  with  meal  it  would  cost  $250. 
A  rotation  experiment  in  which  cotton 
ground  was  sowed  to  field  peas  the  vines 
of  which  were  plowed  under,  the  land 
sowed  to  barley  which  was  plowed  under 
the  next  year  and  the  ground  planted  to 
cotton  gave  excellent  success  and  gives 
additional  testimony  to  the  value  of  the 
field  pea  for  the  South.  Out  of  39  reported 
tests  in  four  different  States,  the  best 
yield  per  acre  was  1,957  pounds,  of  which 
591  pounds  were  lint  and  1,366  seed.  The 
proportion  of  seed  to  lint  varies  from  75 
to  65  per  cent. 
Artesian  Well  Irrigation. — This  is 
discussed  in  Bulletin  28  of  the  South 
Dakota  Station  (Brookings).  The  wells 
of  South  Dakota  flow  from  500  to  3,000 
gallons  per  minute.  They  cost  from 
$2,000  to  $5,000.  It  is  stated  that  in  Col¬ 
orado  a  constant  flow  of  450  gallons  per 
minute  for  90  to  100  days  will  irrigate 
thoroughly  55  acres.  The  artesian  wells 
flow  all  the  year  and  by  means  of  reser¬ 
voirs  or  lakes  the  fall  and  winter  flow 
can  be  stored  for  spring  and  summer  use. 
It  is  estimated  that  a  well  flowing  2,000 
gallons  per  minute  will  water  a  section 
of  land — 640  acres.  Directions  for  hand¬ 
ling  the  water  are  given.  These  facts 
about  garden  irrigation  may  be  useful. 
Nearly  all  garden  vegetables  can  be  ir¬ 
rigated  by  running  the  water  between 
the  rows  and  allowing  it  to  seep  through 
the  soil  around  the  roots.  When  it  is 
necessary  to  flood  garden  vegetables  the 
ground  should  be  hoed  as  soon  thereafter 
as  it  is  dry  enough,  to  prevent  surface 
baking.  Cabbage,  as  a  rule,  will  do  well 
without  much  moisture,  while  cauliflower 
and  celery  will  flourish  if  water  is  kept 
running  between  the  rows,  but  celery 
will  not  have  as  fine  a  flavor  if  treated  in 
this  manner  as  if  less  moisture  is  applied. 
It  should  be  irrigated  about  once  each 
week  until  ready  for  blanching.  Toma¬ 
toes  do  not  need  much  water  after  reach¬ 
ing  a  certain  stage  of  growth  unless  the 
soil  is  sandy,  as  all  the  growth  will  go  to 
the  vines,  and  such  vines  will  not  bear 
well  and  the  tomatoes  on  them  will  not 
ripen.  In  setting  out  tomatoes,  and  in 
fact  all  gai-den  plants,  the  ground  should 
be  marked  out,  making  a  small  trench  in 
which  to  run  the  water.  The  plants  are 
set  in  these  trenches  and  the  water  is 
turned  on  as  soon  as  they  are  set.  After 
irrigation  dry  earth  should  be  hoed 
around  the  plants  to  keep  the  soil  from 
baking.  Another  method  is  to  irrigate 
the  ground  first,  setting  out  the  plants  as 
soon  as  the  ground  is  dry  enough  to  work. 
Strawberries  require  more  water  when 
first  set  out  than  after  the  roots  are  well 
developed,  and  the  ground  should  be  ir¬ 
rigated  immediately  after  the  setting. 
Irrigated  strawberries  are  generally 
grown  in  matted  rows  or  in  hills.  When 
preparing  a  strawberry  bed,  the  marking 
is  done  by  plowing  a  furrow  for  each 
row;  this  furrow  is  levelled  over  to  the 
next  and  the  plants  are  set  along  the 
edge  at  a  point  where  the  running  water 
will  just  come  up  to  them.  When  straw¬ 
berries  are  grown  in  beds,  the  usual 
method  of  irrigation  is  by  flooding,  but 
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New  Buildings  of  any 
Kind  Must  Use  Them. 
They  cost  very  much  less  than  Shingles  ;  absolutely  WATER 
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NEPONSET 
WATER-PROOF 
FABRICS 
YOU  NEED  THEM! 
Barns,  Henhouses,  Green¬ 
houses,  Hothouses,  Dwelling 
Houses  and  Outbuildings 
Of  any  kind,  Inside  and  Out. 
Tliis  Trade-Mark  on  every  Roll 
Sole 
Manufacturers, 
BINDERS  Mi 
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MACHINES 
MILLION 
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Wm.  PEERING  &  CO. 
POUNDS  OF  TWINE 
AND  TWENTY-SIX 
DEERING  AGENTS 
EVERYWHERE 
Chicago,  U.  S.  A 
For  Over  Thirty  Years 
1892 
£ataloo|J| 
presenting  to  them  my  Annual  Vegetable  and 
Flower  Seed  Catalogue.  .  It  contains  .the  usual 
rijT-jk  immense  variety  of  seed,  with  such  new  kinds  added 
as  have  proved  to  be  real  acquisitions.  Raising  many 
jfar  ™  of  these  varieties  myself,  on  my  four  seed  farms, 
W  and  testing  others,  I  am  able  to  warrant  their  fresh- 
f  ness  and  purity,  under  such  reasonable  conditions  as  are  con¬ 
tained  in  my  Catalogue.  Having  been  their  original  intro¬ 
ducer,  I  am  headquarters  for  choice  Cory  Corn,  Miller  Melon, 
clipse  Beet,  Hubbard  Squash,  Deep  Head,  All  Seasons  and 
M»... 
1892 
51500  FOR  A  PANSY  BLOSSOM! 
— ^  ^  Every  reader  of  this  paper  should  not  fail  to  enjoy  some  of  the 
i  linn  Do  noioo  this  summer,  which  were  named  by  Mrs.  Harrison.  They 
tllUc  I  allot  bo  create  a  sensation  everywhere  and  their  Beauty  Is  beyond 
description.  Their  Mammoth  Size  of  odd  colors  is  wonderful,  and  they  have 
cost  mo  an  enonnousprice  to  secure  them,  but  they  are  far  ahead  of  all  other 
i  varieties  of  Pansies  and  can  be  had  from  no  other  seedsman.  I  want  to  in¬ 
crease  their  size  and  will  pay  S500  in  CASH  to  any  person  growing  a 
.  ■*/.  Blossom  measuring  3  in.  in  diameter;  2-X  in.  are  very  common  size.  See 
3fg§;  catalogue.  For  25c.  in  silver  or  28c.  in  stamps,  I  will  mail,  carefully 
Igigr  packed, so  they  will  goseveral  days, 12  plants  of  the  “Alice  Pansies  ’ 
(soon  be  blooming!, a  Pearl  Tube  Rose  Bulb  and  my  Illustrated  Cata- 
iipSi.  logrue.  For  $1.00,  I  will  mail  50  good  plants,  enough  for  an  elegant 
bed,  4  Tube  Rose  Bulbs,  and  Catalogue.  VST  At  these  prices  not  a 
|gig||§§yt  reader  of  this  paper  should  fail  to  enjoy  at  least  a  few  of  the  finest 
aa&gag:.- ,  pansies  in  the  world,  which  were  named  “  AXiXCE”  by  Mrs.Harri- 
son-  You  can  have  the  nicest  pansies  around,  besides  you  may 
|Sfisg§||fe.  grow3  in.  blossom  and  get  $500.  Every  person  ordering  any 
fc.  of  the  above  will  receive  FREE  a  packet  of  Mammoth  Pas- 
sion  Flower  Seed,  Hardy  Climbing  Vine,  perfect  beauty 
that  will  flower  the  first  year  from  seed  and  Is  worth  *1.00. 
With  every  *1  order.  I  will  give  FHX1H,  6  Mammoth 
i»w  and  elegant,  F.  B.  MILLS,  Rose  Hill,  OnOIKlaga  Q©.,  N.Yo 
BEST 
Necessary  to  the  Success 
AND 
of  Poultrymen 
„  CHEAPEST! 
and  Fanners. 
