33o 
June  11 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
concludes  as  an  average  result  of  a  number  of  ex¬ 
periments. 
Providing  we  can  keep  the  tops  alive  three  or  four  week* 
longer  in  the  fall,  we  may  increase  the  yield  over  25  per  cent, 
to  say  nothing  about  prevention  of  rot  or  imjrrovcmcnt  of 
the  < pwlity  of  the  tubers  due  to  thorough  ripening. 
The  cost  of  the  materials  for  one  acre  will  run  not 
far  from  $1.50,  and  the  cost  of  applying  it  under  $1  or 
$2.50,  for  a  high  estimate  for  one  application.  As  to 
the  best  time  for  spraying  Mr.  Jones  concludes  : 
Judging  from  our  own  experience  we  believe  that 
where  the  blight  is  not  bad  the  better  way  is  to  watch 
the  field  with  great  care  during  the  latter  part  of  July 
and  during  August,  and  spray  as  soon  as  any  blight 
appears.  I)o  not  wait  until  the  blight  begins  to  spread 
badly  or  you  may  be  too  late.  Repeat  the  sprayings 
in  about  ten  days  to  two  weeks  as  noted  above.  The 
latter  method  will  ordinarily  require  from  one  to  three 
applications. 
This  interesting  bulletin  also  contains  an  account  of 
a  new  potato  disease  much  resembling  blight,  but  dif¬ 
fering  in  some  respects  as  follows : 
1.  The  blight  attacks  the  leaf  at  any  point  and  gen¬ 
erally  works  rapidly  ;  in  the  new  disease  the  leaf 
begins  dying  at  the  tip  and  dies  slowly  backward,  the 
leaf  drying  and  curling  meanwhile,  and  the  whole 
progress  of  the  disease  is  comparatively  slow. 
2.  In  the  true  blight  the  black  spots  on  the  leaves 
are  fringed  on  the  under  side  by  a  delicate  fungous 
growth  ;  in  the  new  disease  this  is  never  found. 
3.  The  true  blight  may  be  expected  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  summer — especially  in  August,  and  only 
in  warm,  wet  weather.  The  new  disease  may  be 
expected  earlier  and  develops  in  cooler  and  drier 
weather. 
4.  Following  the  blight  the  tubers  may  be  expected 
to  show  more  or  less  rot,  especially  of  the  dry  rot,  if 
soil  is  heavy  or  moist.  No  such  rotting  of  the  tubers 
occurred  last  year  in  Vermont  as  a  consequence  of  the 
new  disease. 
This  new  disease  will  be  carefully  studied  this  year. 
Comfort  for  Cows. 
AN  KA8Y  WAY  TO  CLEAN  STABLES. 
As  to  those  questions  on  page  330,  here  are  my 
answers  :  With  me,  red  slate  makes  the  best  and  most 
healthful  floor.  I  want  very  little  slope,  if  any.  The 
length  of  the  platform  should  be  four  feet  to  four  feet 
nine  inches,  according  to  the  size  of  the  stock.  The 
best  gutter  is  made  of  12-inch  planks,  with  a  2x0  scant¬ 
ling  spiked  on  each  side,  with  a  12-inch  plank  spiked 
on  each  of  the  2x0  scantlings,  one  of  them  for  the  hind 
feet  of  the  cows,  the  other  to  help  make  a  walk  behind 
them.  Fill  in  from  the  hind  to  the  fore  feet  with  slate 
or  gravel ;  the  plank  being  laid  lengthwise  of  the 
stable,  the  hind  feet  of  the  cows  are  not  so  liable  to 
slip  off  and  the  animals  to  be  strained  as  if  laid  the 
other  way.  The  cows  should  stand  both  face  and  back 
to  each  other  for  convenience  :  the  stanchions  should  be 
crossways  of  the  barn  to  make  them  handy,  with  an 
alley-way  all  around  them  both  at  the  ends  and  sides. 
The  cheapest  and  most  economical  way  of  cleaning  and 
handling  the  manure  from  the  stable  is  the  following  : 
Let  there  be  a  gutter  two  feet  square  the  whole  length 
of  the  front  of  the  stables  on  the  inside,  made  per¬ 
fectly  tight  so  that  no  liquid  manure  will  escape,  with 
drop  doors  made  of  two-inch  plank,  six  or  eight  feet 
long,  to  cover  the  main  gutter.  The  doors,  when  down, 
make  an  alley-way  on  this  side  of  the  stable,  to  be 
raised  when  cleaning  out  the  main  gutter  against  the 
outside  sheeting  of  the  stable.  The  gutters  behind 
the  cows  all  discharge  into  this  main  gutter  and  are 
cleaned  into  it  directly  as  often  as  desirable  with 
very  little  labor.  The  main  gutter  is  covered  up  only 
when  it  is  being  cleaned  out,  and  when  the  stock  go 
over  it  when  passing  in  or  out  of  the  stable.  To  facili¬ 
tate  the  cleaning  of  the  main  gutter— which  need  be 
done  only  once  a  week— the  discharge  of  the  main  gut¬ 
ter  should  be  four  to  five  feet  from  the  ground.  Then 
place  a  sled  or  wagon  or  cart  containing  a  tight  box 
under  it ;  make  a  light  sheet-iron  scraper  nearly  the 
size  of  the  gutter,  fasten  a  long,  light  chain  to  it,  put 
the  other  end  of  the  chain  through  a  pulley  fastened 
to  a  stout  post  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  sled,  fasten 
the  team  to  the  chain  and  load  up,  which  can  be  gen- 
'  erally  done  with  one  draw  of  the  scraper.  Take  the 
manure  to  the  field  and  spread  from  the  load.  By  this 
mode  of  handling,  the  whole  of  the  manure  is  saved, 
the  stables  are  kept  quite  clean,  the  amount  of  labor 
is  reduced  more  than  half,  and  one  has  the  satisfaction 
of  getting  spattered  and  dirted  up  onty  once  a  week 
instead  of  every  day.  In  a  word,  this  is  a  great  econo¬ 
mizer  of  time,  and  time  is  money.  1  have  kept  a  dairy 
for  over  40  years,  and  tried  all  modes  of  fastening, 
and  found  none  so  satisfactory  in  all  respects  as 
stanchions  ;  they  are  clean,  economizers'of  room,  and 
the  safest  fastenings  for  stock.  B.  m.  Gregory. 
*  *  *  • 
Killing  Hose  Bugs. — H.  W.,  Air  Line  Junction,  Ohio. 
— The  only  remedies  known  for  the  rose  bugs  on  grape 
blossoms  are,  Buliacli — two  tablespoonfuls  to  a  pailful 
of  water  (two  gallons) ;  hot  water  (125  degrees) 
sprayed  upon  them. 
[Every  query  must  be  accompanied  by  the  name  and  address  of  the 
writer  to  Insure  attention.  Before  asking  a  question,  please  see  If  It  Is 
not  answered  In  our  advertising  columns.  Ask  only  a  few  questions 
at  one  time.  Put  questions  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper.] 
Some  Important  Milk  Questions. 
Mr.  W.  C.  Parry,  of  Burlington  County,  N.  J.,  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  New  Jersey  Dairymen’s  Protective  Associa¬ 
tion  and  member  of  a  Committee  for  the  General  Asso¬ 
ciation,  propounds  the  following  questions,  which  we 
print  and  answer  seriatim  : 
From  what  distances  is  milk  shipped  to  the  New 
York  market— farthest  and  nearest?  From  what 
points  do  the  heaviest  shipments  come  ? 
Milk  is  shipped  to  the  New  York  market  from  points 
about  250  miles  away,  though  the  quantity  from  that 
distance  is  as  yet  not  very  large.  The  nearby  points 
are  on  the  Central,  New  York  Northern,  New  Haven, 
Long  Island  and  Jersey  roads,  which  begin  taking  on 
milk  very  near  the  city.  The  county  supplying  the 
largest  portion  is  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  Erie 
Railway,  supplying  about  four-fifths  of  all  the  Erie 
brings  to  the  city.  The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and 
Western  Railroad  comes  next,  which  brings  its  milk 
mostly  from  points  more  than  150  miles  distant  :  then 
the  New  York,  Ontario  and  Western,  which  brings  but 
little  milk  from  the  first  100  miles  of  its  line,  the  bulk 
coming  from  Sullivan,  Delaware,  Chenango  and  Otsego 
Counties.  These  are  the  heaviest  lines  in  the  traffic, 
A  Goon  Setting  Out.  King’s  Jester.  Fig.  177. 
bringing  in  more  than  half  of  the  total  daily  supply 
of  about  20,000  cans. 
Is  there  any  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  rail¬ 
road  companies  as  to  special  care  for  this  long-distance 
milk,  or  for  losses  incurred  by  any  delay  in  delivering 
it  ?'  Is  it  carried  on  milk  trains  or  on  passenger  or 
freight  trains  ? 
The  New  York,  Ontario  and  Western  and  Delaware, 
Lackawanna  and  Western  have  taken  special  pains  to 
provide  refrigerator  cars  and  plenty  of  ice  for  the 
transportation  of  this  long-distance  milk,  and  it  comes 
to  the  city  in  really  better  condition  than  much  that  is 
shipped  from  nearby  points  on  other  roads  where  ice 
is  not  used.  We  believe  that  some  of  the  other  roads 
are  introducing  this  desirable  feature.  Further  than 
providing  this  special  care,  they  do  not  assume  any  re¬ 
sponsibility — simply  transporting  it  as  rapidly  as  pos¬ 
sible.  All  the  principal  milk  roads  run  milk  trains. 
The  Erie  requires  two  trains  daily  to  do  its  business, 
devoted  exclusively  to  this  traffic. 
Can  you  give  information  as  to  the  amounts  earned 
by  the  different  roads  for  carrying  milk  ?  If  not,  can 
you  give  the  total  amount  carried  and  the  price  paid  ? 
Including  cream  and  condensed  milk,  the  daily  sup¬ 
ply  of  the  Metropolitan  district  is,  in  round  numbers, 
about  20,000  cans  of  40  quarts  each,  the  freight  on  the 
bulk  of  which  is  32  cents  per  can,  only  12  or  15  per 
cent  of  the  total  coming  for  a  little  less.  The  Erie 
Railroad  brought  into  the  city  during  the  month 
of  April  136,491  cans,  which  amounts  to  $43,677.12. 
The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western  brought 
103,500,  the  New  York,  Ontario  and  Western  75,881, 
the  Central  68,488,  etc.  From  these  figures  you  can 
get  an  idea  of  the  business.  The  total  freight  paid  on 
milk  to  New  York  amounts  to  about  $185,000  to  $188,- 
000  monthly. 
Ts  the  price  you  give  in  your  columns  the  price  paid 
for  milk  at  the  point  of  shipment — wine  measure  ? 
It  is.  In  the  business  here,  when  a  producer  sells  to 
a  city  dealer,  the  price  is  net,  the  dealer  pays  the 
freight  on  the  arrival  of  the  milk — before  he  can  re¬ 
move  a  can  from  the  cars.  Many  members  of  the  New 
York  Milk  Exchange  and  large  dealers  own  creameries 
or  milk-receiving  stations  at  points  along  the  milk 
lines,  where  they  buy  milk  of  producers,  generally 
paying  them  a  half  cent  per  quart  less  than  the  net 
New  York  price.  It  is  these  concerns  which  give  the 
dealers  such  a  powerful  advantage  over  the  producers 
in  any  efforts  to  better  themselves.  They  should  be 
owned  and  operated  by  cooperative  companies  of  pro¬ 
ducers.  Some  of  them  are  so  owned  and  are  very  suc¬ 
cessful,  notably  the  Monroe  and  the  Warwick  Valley 
companies. 
Do  the  shippers  load  their  milk  on  the  train  and  do 
their  own  icing  when  ice  is  needed? 
At  stations  where  only  a  small  quantity  of  milk  is 
shipped,  the  shipper  simply  puts  it  on  the  platform 
and  the  train  hands  of  the  milk  train  load  it.  At  sta¬ 
tions  where  larger  quantities  are  shipped,  a  milk  car 
is  left  on  the  switch,  a  train  hand  is  in  charge  and  the 
shipper  drives  to  the  side  of  the  car  and  unloads,  in¬ 
stead  of  on  the  platform.  The  icing,  when  done  at 
all,  is  done  by  the  railways;  as  stated  before. 
What  price  do  the  dealers  receive  for  their  milk  at 
retail,  and  is  it  rated  by  what  they  pay,  and  if  so,  on 
what  basis? 
Milk  is  sold  at  all  sorts  of  prices,  at  all  times  of  the 
year,  and  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  regular  retail 
price,  nor  are  there,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  any  efforts 
made  to  establish  one.  Some  retailers  get  10  cents  per 
quart  all  the  year  round.  Some  get  10  in  winter  and 
8  in  summer.  Some  sell  for  less  than  the  above  and 
milk  is  sold  at  retail  from  groceries  at  prices  ranging 
from  four  to  six  cents  all  the  year  round.  There  is  no 
system  and  no  uniformity — the  retail  traffic  is  chaos 
confounded. 
How  arc  the  shippers  making  out  in  their  organ¬ 
ization  ? 
Their  organization  is  dead,  defunct,  expired — died 
of  too  many  doctors.  A  company,  known  as  the 
Union  Milk  Company,  born  of  the  late  organization, 
is  alive  and  doing  a  successful  business  in  the  city. 
Its  stock  is  owned  by  milk  producers  and  it  is  prom¬ 
ising  well,  but  it  is  yet  too  young  to  be  an  important 
factor  in  the  matter  of  making  prices. 
On  whose  demands  was  the  Inter-State  Commerce 
Commission  called  upon  to  adjust  the  rates  of  milk 
freights  to  New  York  ?  What  was  the  decision  ? 
The  movement  was  commenced  by  the  late  organ¬ 
ization  of  milk  producers,  and  the  question  is  still  be¬ 
fore  the  Commission,  no  decision  having  been  rendered. 
Do  You  Like  Upright  Potato  Vines? 
Do  you  find  it  an  advantage  or  disadvantage  for  a 
potato  plant  to  grow  straight  up  like  the  R.  N.-Y. 
No.  2,  or  sprawl  over  the  ground  like  other  varieties  ? 
Cannot  you  cultivate  the  upright  varieties  longer  than 
the  others  and  thus  keep  them  cleaner,  or  do  the  others 
shade  and  smother  the  weeds  ? 
I  prefer  a  straight-growing  variety.  Last  season 
where  I  had  my  Rural  No.  2  the  ground  was  much 
freer  from  weeds  than  where  the  spreading  varieties 
grew,  and  the  same  amount  of  Paris-green  will  go 
further  on  straight-growing  plants,  j.  frank  landis. 
I  regard  it  as  an  advantage  for  a^potato  plant  to  grow 
straight  up  like  the  R.  N.-Y.  No.  2.  In  such  cases  one 
can  cultivate  longer-and  also  closer  to  the  plant.  This 
is  especially  the  case  with  those  who  use  the  riding 
cultivator.  The  shares  are  set  close  to  run  through 
the  corn  and  are  then  adapted  to  the  R.  N.-Y.  Pota¬ 
toes.  When  the  time  arrives  to  stop  cultivating,  the 
plant  should,  if  properly  fertilized,  have  become  suffic¬ 
iently  top-heavy  to  fall  to  the  ground  and  help  to 
smother  the  weeds.  geo.  s.  denell. 
My  experience  leads  me  to  a  most  decided  preference 
for  the  upright  growth,  such  as  is  characteristic  of  the 
R.  N.-Y.  No.  2.  Such  varieties  can  be  planted  closer, 
both  in  rows  and  sets,  and  cultivated  longer  and  closer 
without  injury  to  vines,  and  the  closer  planting  gives 
all  the  shade  desirable.  Last  year  I  planted,  side  by 
side,  for  tlie  purpose  of  comparison,  an  acre  each  of 
Hebron  and  Rural  New-Yorker  No.  2 ;  both  were 
planted  on  the  same  day,  under  precisely  similar  con¬ 
ditions,  except  that  the  Hebron  rows  were  36  inches, 
while  the  Rurals  were  30  inches  apart  The  Hebrons. 
were  cultivated  four  times,  when  the  vines  were  so 
large  and  laid  so  flat  that  we  could  not  get  through 
them  without  injury  and  had  to  stop.  The  Rurals 
were  cultivated  nine  times.  The  Hebrons  at  digging 
time  were  a  tangle  of  summer  grass  ;  all  the  grass  and 
weeds  on  the  Rurals  could  have  been  carried  off  on 
two  wheelbarrows.  The  yield  of  the  Hebrons  was  143 
bushel  crates ;  that  of  the  Rurals  319  bushel  crates ; 
each  plot  was  a  measured  acre.  No  hand  hoeing  on 
either  plot.  Breed's  weeder  was  used  as  long  as  practi¬ 
cable,  and  all  large  weeds  pulled,  ix  w.  de  forrest. 
I  do  not  think  there  is  any  special  advantage  in  a 
potato  growing  upright  like  the  Rural  New-Yorker 
No.  2  for  the  ordinary  farmer  who  raises  only  a  small 
patch  ;  for  in  this  neighborhood,  Chester  County,  Pa., 
we  can  usually  cultivate  till  harvest  time  even  early 
planted  varieties  that  fall  and  spread  over  the  ground, 
and  if  they  are  planted  late,  they  will  not  cover  the 
ground  by  that  time,  and  when  we  begin  to  mow,  good 
