46i 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
1892 
les6  moisture  in  it  than  what  is  escaping.  Then  the 
soil  must  necessarily  lose  moisture,  and  not  gain  it. 
If  the  soil  is  cooler  than  the  air,  there  can  be  no  cur¬ 
rent  at  all,  because  the  soil  air  being  heavier  cannot 
be  displaced  by  the  warmer  air  above  the  surface. 
Moreover,  the  .soil  is  exceedingly  permeable  to  the 
atmosphere,  and  there  must  be  a  constant  current 
passing  into  or  out  from  the  soil,  at  every  change  of 
temperature  of  it.  Of  course  whatever  effects  as  to  the 
absorption  or  loss  of  moisture  in  the  soil  by  these 
changes  may  occur,  they  will  be  the  same  without  the 
drains  as  with  them ;  and  the  expense  of  drains  for 
this  purpose  will  be  money  thrown  away. 
The  illustration  of  the  pitcher  of  cold  water  does 
not  apply,  because  the  pitcher  is  exposed  to  the  air  in 
the  most  effective  manner,  for  as  the  air  when  uncon¬ 
fined  is  never  at  rest,  the  currents  are  constantly  flow¬ 
ing  about  the  pitcher,  the  more  so  as  the  cooling  of 
the  water  by  which  the  moisture  is  deposited  on  the 
pitcher,  itself  produces  currents  and  movements  of  the 
warm  atmosphere. 
Further,  some  years  ago  much  the  same  hypothesis 
was  proposed  by  a  Mr.  Wilkinson,  who  devised  a 
method  of  ventilation  by  underground  pipes  by  which 
he  proposed  to  cool  dairies  and  cellars.  He  got  a 
patent  for  his  discovery,  which  remains  as  another  of 
those  examples  of  failure  by  neglect  of  the  proposition 
stated  in  the  first  line  of  these  remarks.  For  had  he 
reverted  to  the  principle  involved  in  his  alleged  dis¬ 
covery,  he  would  have  met  with  precisely  the  same 
difficulty  that  defeats  this  one.  That  is,  you  cannot 
make  air  flow  into  a  cold  drain,  unless  the  inflowing 
stream  is  still  colder,  and  as  this  is  not  what  is  pro¬ 
posed,  the  attempt  to  do  what  is  claimed  is  futile. 
The  warm  surface  air  cannot  be  induced  by  any 
amount  of  figuring  to  descend  into  a  drain  where  the 
air  is  colder,  and  hence  the  results  hoped  for  cannot  be 
secured.  And  this  method  of  cooling  by  subsoil  ven¬ 
tilation  was  a  failure,  as  I  insisted  it  would  be  at  the 
time.  On  the  principle  above  stated  I  think  the  theory 
propounded  by  J.  G.  is  wholly  untenable. 
HENRY  STEWART. 
Tiling:  and  Open  Ditching'. 
Unquestionably,  tiling  the  land,  when  properly 
done,  tends  strongly  to  keep  the  soil  in  the  condition 
most  favorable  to  the  growth  and  perfection  of  farm 
and  garden  crops.  For  this  the  soil  must  be  damp 
without  being  saturated,  because  saturation  excludes 
free  air.  The  good  done  by  tiling  is  two-fold:  it  takes 
out  the  excess  of  water,  and  allows  the  ingress  of  air. 
I  have  had  a  considerable  experience  with  “  crawfish” 
land,  and  have  always  found  it  very  good  for  garden 
purposes  when  ditched  or  under-drained,  but  espec¬ 
ially  the  latter,  the  advantage  being  in  the  introduc¬ 
tion  and  circulation  of  air  in  the  soil.  I  emphasize 
the  latter,  because  ditching  alone,  in  withdrawing  the 
water,  aerates  the  land,  as  air  necessarily  enters 
where  the  water  leaves.  But  with  tiling,  properly 
done,  there  must  be  a  constant  circulation  of  air 
through  the  tiles  when  they  are  not  full  of  water. 
The  rain-water  always  has  air  in  solution,  and  in  set¬ 
tling  through  soil  the  water  thus  indirectly  aerates 
the  soil.  Every  observing  tiller  of  the  soil  notes  at 
once,  in  tillage,  the  great  difference  in  the  texture 
and  “  life  ”  of  the  soil  when  it  contains  a  sufficiency 
of  air,  as  contrasted  with  the  reverse  condition,  and 
the  crops  notice  it  still  more.  Regarding  the  ideas 
advanced  by  J.  C.,  while  it  would  not  be  safe  to  accept 
them  wholly  on  theory,  they  seem  to  me  to  be  emi¬ 
nently  worthy  of  being  tested  by  careful  experimen¬ 
tation.  As  for  myself,  while  I  can  agree  that  moist 
air,  passing  through  lines  of  drain  pipe,  would  leave 
a  considerable  portion  of  its  moisture  when  it  is  nearly 
or  quite  at  the  point  of  saturation,  it  should  be  remem¬ 
bered  that  the  earth  and  the  air  act  reciprocally;  and 
while  damp  air  would  deposit  moisture  in  circulating 
through  a  series  of  drain  pipes,  dry  air  would  take 
moisture  out  of  the  soil  under  like  conditions.  Indeed 
the  forcing  of  dry  air  through  a  series  of  porous  pipes 
would  be  one  of  the  most  effective  ways  of  drying  the 
ground.  The  condition  of  the  air  and  of  the  soil,  as 
regards  temperature,  would,  I  think,  control  the  re¬ 
sult,  so  that  while  in  one  case  it  might  benefit,  in  an¬ 
other  it  might  do  harm. 
Where  there  is  a  practically  water-tight  substratum 
— clay  hard-pan — between  the  surface  soil  and  the  sub. 
soil,  it  will  hold  water  in  those  craw-lands  a  long 
time.  But  under  a  protracted  drought  I  have  known  it 
to  become  so  entirely  dry,  that  the  crops  absolutely 
perished.  Here  is  the  essential  difference  between 
drainage  by  open  ditches  and  by  tiling.  But  in  those 
long  dry  spells,  to  which  much  of  the  West  is  liable, 
when  the  soil-water  within  the  reach  of  crops  is  ex¬ 
hausted,  and  the  air  "is  so  dried  out  that  there  is  no 
dew  at  night,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  probable  that 
much  moisture  would  accrue  to  the  soil  from  the  passage 
of  such  air  through  the  most  carefully  constructed 
system  of  tiles.  t.  h.  hoskins. 
J.  C.’s  theory  is  true  to  only  a  very  limited  extent. 
There  is  a  slight  condensation  of  moisture  within  tile 
drains,  but  not  enough  to  materially  affect  the  amount 
in  the  land.  Draining  benefits  the  land  in  many  ways: 
first,  it  carries  off  the  superabundant  water  ;  second, 
it  makes  the  land  more  friable  ;  this  in  turn  fits  it  so 
that  capillary  attraction  is  at  its  best.  That  is,  during 
dry  weather  or  when  the  surface  soil  is  drier  than  the 
subsoil,  the  water  constantly  rises  to  or  near  the  sur¬ 
face — to  the  surface,  if  the  pores  in  the  surface  soil  are 
small;  near  the  surface,  if  the  soil  is  mellow  and  open 
for  an  inch  or  two  at  the  top.  Plants  get  nearly  all 
of  their  moisture  during  dry  weather  in  midsummer 
from  the  water  which  is  carried  up  by  means  of  the 
law  of  capillary  attraction.  The  saturated  subsoil  re¬ 
ferred  to  is  not  due  to  the  craw-fish  holes,  nor  to  con¬ 
densation.  It  is  due  either  to  the  fact  that  the  sub¬ 
soil  is  nearly  impervious  to  water,  or  that  water  from 
higher  land  is  forced  down  through  the  adjoining 
fields  by  the  law  of  gravitation.  I.  p.  r. 
Trouble  With  the  Raspberries. 
F.  H.,  Onekama,  Mich. — There  is  trouble  among  my 
raspberry  canes.  It  is  manifest  in  a  shriveling  or 
crimping  of  the  leaf  and  dwarfing  of  the  growth,  this 
habit  being  often  communicated  to  the  suckers  thrown 
up  a  foot  or  more  away.  The  fruit  sets  abundantly, 
but  is  small  and  seedy.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
running  the  cultivator  too  deep  or  the  white  grub 
may  be  the  cause.  Circumstances  do  not  seem  to 
warrant  either  theory.  Can  The  Rural  throw  any 
light  on  the  matter  ?  I  would  like  to  get  some  of  the 
raspberry  men  who  have  abandoned  the  use  of  stakes, 
into  my  plantation  for  a  brief  conference,  just  to  learn 
how  bushes  from  four  to  five  feet  high  and  from  two 
to  three  feet  thick  would  stand  alone.  These  bushes 
are  not  top-heavy,  being  covered  with  fruit  buds  from 
the  ground,  where  they  are  broadest.  I  tie  my  canes 
to  the  stakes  in  the  fall  when  I  prune.  Then  about 
this  time  of  year  I  have  again  to  encompass  the  entire 
bush  with  a  long  string,  for  did  I  not  do  so,  the 
stockiest  Cuthbert,  Shaffer,  Philadelphia  or  Caroline 
canes  I  can  grow  will  throw  out  laterals  that  will 
trail  their  heavy  clusters  in  the  sand.  The  only  way  I 
perceive  out  of  the  difficulty  is  to  sell  sand  as  well  as 
berries.  Would  an  extra  couple  of  cents  a  quart  and 
a  reputation  for  good  fruit  really  pay  for  stakes  and 
tying  ?  Raspberries  as  I  grow  them  mean  lots  of  work 
for  eight  months  of  the  year. 
Ans. — The  trouble  to  which  you  allude  may  be  what 
is  known  as  “  curl  leaf.”  For  this,  there  is  no  known 
remedy.  The  .late  E.  P.  Roe  thought  it  contagious 
and  advised  cutting  off  all  infected  shoots  and  burn¬ 
ing  them.  It  formerly  prevailed  extensively  among 
the  Antwerps  of  the  Hudson  River  growers.  A  similar 
disease  is  described  by  Fuller,  but  he  says  it  is  more 
general  among  blackberries.  This  is  caused  by  the 
Bramble  Flea  Louse  (Psylla  rubi)  and  the  only  way  of 
combatting  it  is  to  cut  off  the  shoots,  drop  them  into  a 
bag,  carry  them  away  and  burn  them. 
A  Chapter  on  Insects. 
“Subscriber.” — 1.  Is  the  beetle  I  inclose  supposed  to 
be  useful?  2.  What  is  its  name?  3.  Are  there  two 
sorts  in  the  box?  They  have  different  coats.  I  send 
a  box  containing  specimens  of  a  new  sort  of  rose  bug 
that  has  been  trying  to  devour  my  roses,  buds  and 
leaves  at  night.  I  caught  the  specimens  by  lamplight. 
The  leaves  were  becoming  more  torn  every  day.  At 
first  I  thought  them  tent  caterpillars;  they  have  been 
very  numerous  and  troublesome.  4.  The  little  speckled 
bug  tumbled  off  the  bush  at  the  same  time;  what  is  it? 
5.  What  is  the  little  dark  red  bug  in  the  envelope  ? 
6.  I  send  what  I  used  to  call  a  wire  worm.  What  is  it? 
There  are  a  great  many  of  them  in  our  ground.  7. 
Are  they  injurious  to  plants?  8.  Are  those  two  black 
bugs  in  the  envelope  the  “  click  beetle?”  9.  Where  do 
rose  bugs  come  from?  They  are  always  worst  on  the 
bushes  nearest  the  cherry  trees.  Sometimes  they 
come  before  Deutzia  gracilis  buds  open,  and  don’t 
leave  till  they  have  finished  the  stumps  of  the  double 
Deutzia  blossoms  and  eaten  some  green  leaves. 
Ans. — 1,  2  and  3. — No,  the  box  contains  three  species 
of  May  beetles  (Lachnosterna).  They  are  injurious  to 
vegetation.  The  adults  feed  on  the  leaves  of  plants, 
the  larvse  are  “  white  grubs  ”  and  feed  on  the  roots  of 
plants.  4.  Not  found  in  the  box.  5.  One  of  the  cur- 
culios;  the  habits  of  this  species  are  unknown.  6  and 
7.  A  milliped  or  “  thousand-legged  worm.”  These 
usually  feed  on  decaying  vegetation,  but  sometimes 
on  living  plants.  8,  No,  they  are  predacious  ground 
beetles.  9.  The  larvae  live  in  the  ground  and  feed  on 
roots.  [I'ROF.]  J.  H.  COMSTOCK. 
Male  and  Female  Apple  Blossoms. 
E.  Tally,  Penza,  0. — There  was  never  a  fuller  crop 
of  fruit  blossoms  than  we  had  this  season,  but  the  con¬ 
tinued  cold,  wet  weather  kept  the  bees  from  working 
to  any  extent,  and  not  half  of  one  per  cent  of  the  im¬ 
perfect  blossoms  were  fertilized.  My  ideas  of  perfect 
and  imperfect  blossoms  on  apple,  pear,  plum  and 
cherry  trees  may  be  new,  at  least  1  have  never  seen 
them  in  print.  They  first  occurred  to  me  a  short  time 
ago  when  going  through  the  orchard  I  found  trees 
covered  with  dead  blossoms,  with  the  next  tree  of 
another  kind  quite  full  of  small,  healthy  fruit.  Here 
was  an  effect,  the  cause  of  which  I  did  not  under¬ 
stand,  and  after  looking  into  the  matter,  I  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  male  and  female  blossoms  were 
borne  on  every  plant  that  produced  seed.  [No.  Eds.J 
A  visit  later  to  my  brother’s  orchard  confirmed  these 
ideas.  It  was  a  mass  of  white  during  the  blooming 
period  ;  but  all  the  apples  that  are  set  are  on  the  out¬ 
side  rows  and  mighty  few  are  there  ;  and  the  few 
that  are  set  are  just  where  a  bee  would  naturally  find 
them,  on  the  outside  branches.  There  was  a  notice¬ 
able  exception  to  this  rule  on  the  trees  bearing  Har¬ 
vest  Sweet  and  another  sweet  apple.  On  these  nearly 
every  blossom  had  set  fruit.  Was  it  because  there 
was  more  honey  in  these  blossoms  than  in  those  of 
sour  varieties,  or  because  they  had  a  larger  propor¬ 
tion  of  perfect  flowers  ?  The  quince  orchard  seemed 
to  confirm  these  theories — the  blossoms  that  had  set 
fruit  being  the  ones  that  the  bees  would  naturally 
find  first. 
An 8. — There  may  be  distinctly  male  and  female 
blossoms  borne  by  certain  varieties  of  apples,  on  trees 
that  the  botanist  would  call  monoecious  or  even 
dioecious ;  but  we  are  not  aware  that  there  is  any 
positive  information  to  that  effect.  Undoubtedly  the 
sexual  organs  may  be  defective  of  blossoms  here  and 
there,  or  the  anthers  and  stigmas  may  not  be  mature 
at  the  same  time,  so  that  insects  would  be  needed  to 
carry  the  pollen  to  receptive  stigmas.  Undoubtedly, 
too,  climatic  or  weather  conditions  may  weaken  or 
desti-oy  the  sexual  organs,  such  as  frost  or  constant 
rain.  It  is  easy  to  understand  that  a  slight  frost 
might  injure  the  blossoms  on  one  part  of  a  tree  and 
not  on  a  less  exposed  portion.  The  outer  blossoms 
are  naturally  more  vigorous  than  those  box-ne  upon 
the  inner  portions  of  any  plant  whatever. 
Dr.  James  Law  on  Veterinary  Study. 
J.  M.  H.,  Wolfe  Island,  Canada. — I  have  been  think¬ 
ing  of  giving  up  farming  and  taking  a  course  in  some 
veterinary  college.  What  is  the  address  of  some  good 
institution  devoted  to  veterinary  surgei-y  ?  What 
chances  of  success  would  a  man  27  or  28  years  old  with 
a  limited  education  have  of  getting  a  diploma,  and 
what  are  the  prospects  of  veterinary  science  in  the 
United  States  ? 
Ans. — Our  Canadian  correspondent  may  chose  fi’om 
a  lai*ge  number  of  veterinary  colleges  in  North  Amer¬ 
ica,  among  which  are  the  following :  1,  The  Ontario 
Veterinary  College,  Temperance  Street,  Toronto,  Can., 
which  furnishes  a  course  of  two  sessions  of  six  months 
each ;  2,  The  Montreal  Veterinai’y  College,  with  a 
course  of  three  sessions  of  six  months  each  ;  3,  The 
Amei’ican  Veterinary  College,  New  York  city,  provid¬ 
ing  a  course  of  three  sessions  of  five  months  each  ;  4, 
The  New  York  College  of  Veterinary  Surgeons,  hav¬ 
ing  a  course  of  two  sessions  of  six  months  each  ;  5, 
The  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Department  of  Vet¬ 
erinary  Medicine,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  giving  a  course  of 
three  sessions  of  eight  months  each.  For  the  earnest 
student  who  desires  to  make  himself  an  accomplished 
practitioner,  the  longer  courses  are,  of  course,  to  be 
preferred.  In  Europe,  a  veterinary  education  demands 
a  college  study  of  3%  to  four  years  of  nine  months 
each.  Among  the  140,000,000  domestic  quadrupeds  of 
the  United  States  there  is  a  large  field  for  vetei’inary 
practice,  and,  other  things  being  equal,  the  most  accom¬ 
plished  man  may  expect  the  best  results. 
Chemicals  and  Clover  Without  Potatoes. 
II.  S.,  Nichols,  Conn. — Where  there  is  a  good  market 
for  hay,  and  one  doesn’t  wish  to  handle  potatoes, 
could  not  chemicals  be  used  profitably  without  any 
hoed  crops  in  the  rotation  by  simply  turning  over  the 
soil,  enriching  and  seeding  it  to  grass  at  one  opera¬ 
tion,  using  clover  also,  of  course  ?  What  should  be 
the  rotation,  and  what  is  a  formula  of  chemicals,  and 
how  much  should  be  used  ? 
Ans. — The  potatoes  are  not  necessary  to  the  rota¬ 
tion,  though  they  pay  better  than  any  other  crop  in 
it.  In  the  scheme  proposed  you  will  feel  the  need  of 
corn  more  than  of  the  potatoes.  The  corn  is  best 
suited  to  go  on  the  sod,  as  it  leaves  the  ground  in  good 
condition  for  seeding.  We  know  of  farmers  who  follow 
about  this  plan  :  The  meadows  are  cut  as  long  as  they 
yield  1  %  ton.  They  are  then  plowed  shortly  after  hay¬ 
ing,  and  the  soil  is  carefully  worked  up  with  harrow 
and  cultivator.  Wheat  is  sown  early  in  September 
with  Timothy,  with  clover  following  in  the  spring. 
From  400  to  500  pounds  of  complete  fertilizers  are  used 
with  the  wheat.  This  will  give  better  results  than 
your  plan  of  seeding  sod  to  grass.  As  to  a  formula, 
nothing  can  be  said  without  knowing  more  about  the 
soil,  and  its  special  needs.  We  should  experiment 
with  different  combinations  of  potash,  bone  and 
nitrate  of  soda,  using  500  pounds  of  the  best  complete 
fertilizer  as  the  standard. 
