1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
429 
they  know  nothing-  about  it  themselves.  Their  whole 
stock  in  trade  consists  in  misrepresentation  and  abuse, 
coupled  with  the  one  solitary  fact  that  the  price  of 
milk  is  lower  than  it  was  20  years  ago. — Milk  Reporter. 
The  suit  alluded  to  is  the  one  undertaken  for  the 
annulment  of  the  charter  of  the  Milk  Exchange,  the 
preliminary  movement  in  which  has  been  decided  ad¬ 
versely  to  the  Exchange.  As  usual,  the  Reporter  is 
all  muddled  in  this  matter.  The  suit  was  not  com¬ 
menced  by  a  “  Delaware  County  man,”  but  by  the  late 
Union  of  Milk  Producers,  who  employed  a  Delaware 
County  lawyer  of  national  fame  to  conduct  the  suit. 
So  far,  instead  of  being  as  ignorant  as  the  Reporter 
would  have  us  understand,  he  seems  to  know  a  good 
deal  and  is  doing  well.  But  the  cream  of  the  above  is 
that  part  which  intimates  that  the  annulment  of  the 
charter  would  be  a  calamity  to  producers.  For  what 
market  is  the  Reporter  writing  ?  It  cannot  expect  pro¬ 
ducers  to  believe  any  such  rot,  and  the  Exchange  men 
know  just  how  ridiculous  the  statement  is.  How  can 
producers  be  benefited  by  having  a  lot  of  men  in  this 
city  assume  the  right,  and  enforce  it,  of  putting  a  price 
on  their  product  ? 
It  is  arrant  nonsense  to  blame  the  Milk  Exchange  for 
the  condition  of  the  milk  market.  That  it  has  continu¬ 
ally  named  prices  as  high  as  the  market  would  bear  is 
well  known  to  all  who  have  looked  into  the  matter, 
and  the  indisputable  fact  that  producers  undersell  its 
price  every  month  in  the  year  is  sufficient  proof  to 
convince  any  one  of  common  sense. — Milk  Reporter. 
If  our  esteemed  comtemporary  were  known  to  be  in 
training  as  a  rival  to  Ananias,  the  above  would  be  a 
very  creditable  effort.  But  as  a  statement  soberly 
made,  it  reflects  very  seriously  upon  its  judgment  or 
its  character  for  truthfulness.  We  shall  next  have  it 
trying  to  demonstrate  that  the  Milk  Exchange  is  the 
farmer’s  friend,  and  that  it  never  adulterates  milk  by 
adding  from  five  to  ten  quarts  of  skimmed  milk  to  a 
can  of  pure. 
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Asparagus  Plants  that  are  all 
Voters. 
As  a  matter  of  business  would  it  pay  to  go  to  the 
expense  and  trouble  of  securing  a  field  of  entirely 
male  asparagus  plants  ?  That  is,  would  the  yield  from 
such  a  field  be  enough  greater  than  that  from  part 
male  and  part  female  plants  to  pay  for  the  extra 
work  of  selection  ? 
If  the  results  obtained  by  Mr.  Green,  of  the  Ohio 
Experiment  Station,  can  be  depended  upon  for  all 
plantations  of  asparagus,  it  seems  to  me  that  all  grow¬ 
ers  of  this  vegetable  located  upon  high-priced  land  can 
afford  the  extra  labor  required  to  grow  exclusively 
male  plants.  Mr.  Green  reports  that  the  male  plants 
proved  “about  50  per  cent  more  productive  than  the* 
female,  and  the  shoots  being  larger,  have  a  greater 
market  value.”  (Bulletin  Ohio  Experiment  Station, 
2nd  Series,  Volume  III.,  No.  9.)  For  such  plantations, 
the  seedlings  could  be  grown  in  the  country,  where 
land  is  cheap,  and  set  out  closely  where  they  could 
remain  until  their  character  can  be  determined,  when 
the  male  plants  could  be  assorted  out  and  removed  to 
their  permanent  place.  I  think  it  may  fairly  be  ques¬ 
tioned  if  all  plantations  of  asparagus  would  show  so 
marked  a  difference  in  favor  of  the  male  plants  as  did 
Mr.  Green’s.  In  a  trial  conducted  by  myself  in  1889, 
on  a  garden  bed,  the  male  plants  showed  no  appreciable 
advantage  in  productiveness.  The  report  of  this  trial 
has  not  been  published,  because  the  bed  was  not  a 
large  one,  and  the  plants  were  rather  uneven. 
Wisconsin  Experiment  Station.  k.  s.  goff. 
In  my  opinion  the  extra  trouble  of  seleiting  male 
plants  would  be  justified.  There  is  certainly  a  marked 
difference  in  the  yield  of  male  and  female  plants,  and 
the  best  is  never  too  good.  w.  m.  munson. 
Maine  Experiment  Station. 
The  only  safe  way  I  know  of  to  distinguish  the  male 
from  the  female  plants  would  be  to  let  both  grow  in 
the  seed  beds  for  at  least  two  years,  for  the  plants 
rarely  bear  seeds  the  first  year,  and  then  mark  the 
sexes  in  such  a  way  that  each  can  be  known.  If  by 
this  means  we  get  a  nice  bed  of  pure  staminate  plants, 
it  is  said  that  no  seeds  will  come  up  in  the  spring,  an¬ 
noying  us  with  a  great  host  of  young  plants ;  and 
these  must  be  destroyed  or  the  bearing  beds  will  be 
ruined  within  a  few  years.  After  I  have  finished  cut¬ 
ting  for  the  season,  my  beds  make  a  tremendous 
growth,  and  a  large  crop  of  seed  ripens  every  fall. 
This  growth  is  all  allowed  to  remain  on  the  ground 
during  the  winter,  as  it  is  the  most  perfect  mulch  I 
have  ever  seen.  After  taking  off  and  burning  the 
tops,  the  beds  get  a  very  heavy  dressing  of  manure, 
which  is  worked  in,  care  being  taken  not  to  disturb 
the  roots,  and  the  beds  are  ready  for  their  season’s 
work.  After  a  time  the  weeds  begin  to  come  up,  and 
as  the  weather  becomes  warmer,  the  young  plants 
from  the  seeds  left  upon  the  beds  start  also,  and  both 
must  be  destroyed.  The  best  way  to  do  this  is  to  set 
some  good  careful  men  at  work  with  broad  hoes,  just 
after  we  have  cut  the  beds  very  close.  They  destroy 
the  weeds  and  the  young  asparagus  plants  at  the  same 
time.  We  finished  hoeing  our  beds  on  June  9,  and  I 
doubt  very  much  whether  it  has  cost  me  $1  extra  to 
destroy  the  young  asparagus  plants  with  the  weeds, 
and  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  found  it  necessary 
to  go  over  the  beds  on  purpose  to  destroy  the  young 
plants.  I  do  not  believe  that  I  could  make  any  money 
by  going  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  making  beds 
of  purely  male  plants.  If  I  had  thought  so — and  I 
have  thought  the  matter  over  many  times — I  would 
certainly  have  had  beds  of  them  a  number  of  years 
ago.  j.  M.  SMITH. 
Preparing:  Sterilized  Milk. 
Ii.  W.  B.,  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y. — A  physician  hav¬ 
ing  a  large  practice  here  has  urged  me  to  undertake 
the  furnishing  of  sterilized  milk  and  I  wish  to  find  out 
how  to  do  it. 
A  ns. — “  Sterilized  milk  ”  corresponds  to  canned  corn 
or  peaches.  It  is  perfectly  sealed  while  hot  enough 
to  kill  the  bacteria  that  cause  milk  to  sour.  In  theory 
the  thing  is  very  simple  ;  all  that  is  needed  is  to  put 
the  milk  in  bottles,  raise  it  to  a  high  temperature  and 
then  seal  tightly  while  hot.  In  practice,  however,  this 
does  not  always  work.  In  spite  of  the  greatest  care 
such  milk  frequently  insists  upon  spoiling  just  when 
it  ought  not  to.  There  are  three  or  four  people  in  the 
country  who  are  preparing  this  milk  with  great  suc¬ 
cess.  They  all  refuse  to  describe  their  methods  of 
sterilizing  on  the  ground  that  it  has  cost  them  too 
much  time  and  money  to  perfect  their  apparatus. 
They  also  say  that  it  is  useless  to  tell  how  they  do  it 
because  90  per  cent  of  their  success  depends  upon  the 
milk  itself.  What  most  farmers  consider  perfectly 
clean  is  wholly  unfit  to  sterilize.  The  slight  sediment 
that  forms  at  the  bottom  of  most  milk  when  permit¬ 
ted  to  stand  in  a  deep  glass  or  bottle  consists  mainly 
of  small  bits  of  manure.  This  must  be  filtered  out  of 
the  milk  or  it  will  not  keep.  As  nearly  as  we  can  learn, 
the  methods  employed  on  one  sterilized  milk  farm  are 
about  as  follows.  The  cows  are  Jersey  grades. 
They  are  fed  on  corn  meal,  bran,  hay  and  stalks 
— with  soiling  crops  in  summer.  No  ensilage, 
linseed  or  cotton-seed  meals  are  fed.  The  cows 
are  washed  off  every  day  before  milking  and  no  man¬ 
ure  is  permitted  to  accumulate  in  the  stable.  As 
soon  as  it  is  taken  from  the  cow  the  milk  is  carried  to 
the  dairy  room  and  thoroughly  cooled  and  aerated. 
It  is  then  filtered  through  thick  blotting  paper  or 
'heavy  felting.  It  is  then  poured  into  quart  or  pint 
bottles  shaped  somewhat  like  beer  bottles — round  at 
the  bottom  so  that  they  cannot  be  stood  on  end.  These 
bottles  are  placed  in  a  deep  tin  pan  containing  water 
which  rises  to  the  neck  of  the  bottle.  Steam  is  let  in 
and  the  water  heated  to  about  150  degrees.  It  is  then 
cooled  down  to  00  degrees  and  at  once  heated  again  to 
140  degrees  or  thereabouts,  at  which  heat  the  bottles 
are  closed  with  rubber  corks  and  sealed  closely  with 
wax.  Such  milk  sells  at  25  cents  a  quart.  In  Boston 
it  is  on  sale  at  the  large  drug  stores  and  physicians 
prescribe  it  as  they  do  other  well-known  food  prepara¬ 
tions.  It  is  used  mainly  for  infants  or  invalids,  but 
would  be  largely  used  for  general  consumption  if  it 
could  be  had  in  sufficient  quantity.  The  writer  has 
kept  sample  bottles  of  it  for  three  weeks.  There  is  a 
big  chance  for  some  enterprising  and  careful  dairyman 
to  develop  a  trade  in  sterilized  milk.  Lots  of  city 
people  are  afraid  of  tuberculosis  and  other  cow  diseases 
and  will  be  ready  to  pay  for  a  guaranteed  uniform 
product.  A  man  starting  in  the  business  will  have 
little  to  guide  him.  He  will  have  to  invent  his  own 
apparatus  and  do  his  own  experimenting.  Our  experi¬ 
ment  stations  cannot  possibly  do  a  better  thing  for 
farmers  than  to  show  them  how  to  bottle  hot  milk,  and 
how  such  milk  must  be  handled  to  keep  it  pure.  Dr. 
Babcock  might  well  invent  a  cheap  “  sterilizing  bath” 
to  match  his  milk  tester.  One  thing  is  sure  ;  the 
ordinary  milk,  as  it  comes  to  this  city,  cannot  be  suc¬ 
cessfully  sterilized.  It  is  too  dirty. 
Mushroom  Packages  and  Prices. 
C.  E.  S.,  Bridgeport,  Conn. — What  are  the  best  pack¬ 
ages  for  shipping  mushrooms  ? 
Ans. — Archdeacon  &  Co.,  of  85  Barclay  street,  New 
York,  who  deal  largely  in  mushrooms,  say  the  best 
package  is  a  flat  splint-handle  basket  holding  about 
five  pounds.  The  baskets  are  generally  lined  with 
paraffine  paper  and  canvas  covers  are  sewed  over  them 
when  filled.  Some  growers  ship  the  mushrooms  in 
the  ordinary  square  quart  strawberry  boxes,  packing 
the  boxes  in  crates  as  berries  are  packed,  and  a  few 
use  pasteboard  boxes,  packed  similarly,  but  neither 
are  as  desirable  as  the  five-pound  basket.  The  season 
lasts  from  September  to  June  1,  and  the  price  varies 
greatly,  the  extremes  the  past  season  having  been  35 
cents  and  $1.50.  The  latter  price  was  reached  only  on 
a  day  when  the  demand  largely  exceeded  the  supply. 
The  bulk  of  the  crop  sold  at  prices  ranging  between 
35  and  75  cents  per  pound. 
More  About  “The  New  Onion  Culture.” 
C.  M.  S.,  Wilcox,  Nebraska. — I  am  trying  the  New 
Onion  Culture  this  year,  but  with  only  reasonable  suc¬ 
cess.  I  don’t  know  that  I  really  understand  the  busi¬ 
ness  yet.  I  find  some  trouble  to  get  seedlings  to  live 
after  transplanting,  perhaps  because  I  set  them  too 
deep,  as  the  last  I  transplanted  seem  to  be  doing  bet¬ 
ter.  I  don’t  think  the  book  “  The  New  Onion  Culture  ” 
tells  plainly  enough  how  to  manage  them  from  the 
liot-bed  to  the  ground.  It  does  not  state  whether  to 
pour  water  in  the  holes  or  to  take  the  onions  out  of 
the  bed,  put  them  into  water  before  putting  them  in 
the  holes  or  to  plant  them  dry. 
Ans. — Let  the  onion  plants  get  some  size,  say  one- 
eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  then  they  have  a  re¬ 
markable  degree  of  vitality,  and  will  live  and  grow 
right  along  if  put  into  well  prepared  soil  with  even 
less  than  ordinary  care.  There  is  no  need  of  using 
water  in  transplanting  onion  seedlings.  Just  pull 
them  up  from  the  seed-bed,  and  if  tops  are  unreason¬ 
ably  long,  break  off  part,  say  one-half.  I  usually 
plant  about  one  inch  deep,  and  if  the  ground  is  a  soft, 
moist,  mellow,  loam,  the  work  is  done  with  the  fingers 
alone,  without  the  use  of  dibbers.  t.  gkf.iner. 
Shall  I  Inbreed  the  Sheep  P 
H.  C.,  McKean,  Pa. — I  have  a  flock  of  about  35  breed¬ 
ing  ewes,  a  cross  between  the  Cotswold  and  Merino. 
I  used  on  them  last  year  a  Shropshire  ram,  which  is 
strong  and  healthy,  and  he  got  good,  large,  strong, 
healthy  lambs.  I  would  like  to  use  the  same  ram 
again  this  year,  but  nearly  half  of  my  flock  will  be  his 
progeny.  Ought  I  to  reject  him  on  that  account  ? 
Ans. — There  is  no  reason  why  the  same  ram  may 
not  be  used  again  this  year:  this  has  often  been  done 
by  breeders  to  fix  more  certainly  any  good  character¬ 
istic  of  the  same  on  the  flock.  In  close  breeding  in 
this  manner  good  judgment  is  to  be  exercised,  and  the 
vigor  of  the  first  cross  is  a  favorable  indication  that  a 
good  result  may  be  secured  by  a  second  one.  But  it 
would  be  safe  to  draw  the  line  at  this,  and  choose  one 
of  the  first  cross,  the  pick  of  the  flock,  for  use  next 
season,  or  procure  an  unrelated  pure-bred  ram.  The 
Shropshire  is  a  hardy,  vigorous  race,  and  will  bear  in- 
breeding  to  a  moderate  extent. 
Will  Detasselling  Corn  PayP 
C.  M.  S.,  Wilcox,  Nebraska. — Will  it  pay  me  to  detas¬ 
sel  every  other  row  of  my  corn  this  fall  just  as  the 
tassels  start  ? 
Ans. — No,  we  would  not  detassel  every  other  row. 
Every  other  plant  in  the  row  would  probably  serve 
better.  Cut  out  the  tassel  as  soon  as  it  appears — the 
sooner  the  better.  This  will  induce  sets  to  push  which 
would  otherwise  remain  dormant  and  thus  increase 
the  crop.  Such  has  been  The  R.  N.-Y.’s  experience 
through  many  years. 
The  Bean  Weevil. 
H.  H.,  Morris,  N.  Y. — I  send  samples  of  some  beans 
with  the  insects  that  ate  the  holes  in  them.  What  are 
they  .’  What  are  the  habits  of  the  pests  and  how  can 
the  beans  be  kept  so  as  to  save  them  from  the  insects? 
Ans. — The  insect  is  the  bean  weevil.  The  female 
deposits  her  eggs  on  the  growing  pods  and  as  soon  as 
hatched,  the  larvae  gnaw  through  the  pods  into  the 
beans.  They  remain  there,  feeding  on  the  beans,  all 
summer,  most  of  them  pupating  before  fall.  Some 
become  full  adult  beetles  that  season,  while  others  do 
not  become  fully  changed  until  spring.  Preventive 
measures  consist  in  destroying  every  beetle  before  the 
beans  are  planted.  To  do  this  put  the  seed  in  a  close 
vessel  with  a  little  benzine  or  gasoline,  the  fumes  of 
which  will  destroy  the  pests. 
Killing'  a  Tree’s  Roots. 
“  Subscriber.'’, — What  liquid  inserted  into  a  main  root 
of  an  elm  tree  will  kill  it  the  quickest,  or  what 
liquid  is  most  destructive  to  vegetable  life  ?  The  tree 
sends  its  roots  into  a  strawberry  bed.  (I  suggest 
muriatic  acid,  creosote,  kerosene  and  a  solution  of  blue 
vitriol,  poured  into  an  inch  auger  hole  made  in  the 
root.  What  would  be  most  effectual?) 
Ans. — All  things  considered,  we  would  choose  kero¬ 
sene.  No  doubt  that  would  kill  the  roots  if  applied  as 
suggested. 
How  Long  Will  Water  Live  ? 
J.  O.  S.,  Philadelphia. — How  long  will  spring  water 
keep  in  a  tank,  fit  for  use  and  not  become  too  bad  for 
general  purposes,  etc.  ? 
Ans. — We  do  not  know  of  any  way  to  answer  the 
above  without  examining  the  water.  So  long  as  it 
tastes  and  smells  all  right,  we  should  have  no  hesita¬ 
tion  in  using  it.  No  danger  could  be  possible,  if  the 
water  was  boiled  before  using,  and  we  apprehend  there 
is  none  in  any  case. 
