1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
57 1 
Most  of  the  trees  were  heavily  loaded  with  fruit.  But 
the  really  remarkable  thing  was  the  apparent  cure  of 
yellows.  There  were  hundreds  of  trees  which  had 
been  more  or  less  affected  with  this  disease  and  which 
plainly  showed  it  in  the  little  crop  of  bristly  growth 
spread  over  the  trunk  and  large  limbs,  hut  which  were, 
this  season,  a  mass  of  the  darkest,  greenest,  healthiest 
looking  foliage  we  have  ever  seen,  and  most  of  them 
were  filled  with  fruit,  which  showed  no  signs  of  yel¬ 
lows.  The  secret  of  this  we  learned  from  Mr.  Vincent 
was  simply  high  fertilizing  and  high  culture.  The 
bone  dust  and  phosphates  have  been  spread  on  with  a 
lavishness  that  would  appal  timid  men,  but  they  have 
been  a  good  investment.  One  only  needs  to  look 
through  these  orchards  to  become  well  satisfied  that 
“yellows”  is  largely  a  matter  of  starvation,  or  if  not 
starvation,  a  lack  of  the  necessary  food  elements. 
From  this  farm,  Mr.  Vincent  made  the  following 
sales  last  year:  Peaches,  7,369  baskets;  apples,  66 
baskets  ;  strawberries,  5,365  quarts  ;  gooseberries,  828 
quarts  ;  currants,  3,038  quarts  ;  raspberries,  459  quarts; 
blackberries,  757  quarts ;  grapes,  4,900  pounds  ;  milk, 
268,845  quarts.  For  this  year  his  product  will  be 
largely  increased,  as  he  estimates  that  he  will  have 
3,000  baskets  of  peaches  more  than  he  had  last  season. 
Other  crops  have  also  done  better. 
Mr.  Vincent’s  operations  are  really  worth  more  con¬ 
sideration  than  we  were  able  to  give  them  on  this 
hurried  call.  We  shall  endeavor  to  find  what  his  ex¬ 
penditures  have  been  for  fertilizers  and  then  his  con¬ 
clusions  as  to  their  profitableness,  and  give  them  to 
Rural  readers.  F. 
Another  Way  to  Sterilize  Milk  for 
Market. 
The  Rural  of  July  23  contained  an  interesting  arti¬ 
cle  on  Dr.  Rowland  G.  Freeman’s  method  of  sterilizing 
milk  for  hospital  use,  that  might  he  adopted  by  dairy¬ 
men  in  sending  milk  to  the  city  market.  The  method 
described  was  practically  that  known  in  Paris  as  Pas¬ 
teurizing  milk,  which  was  recently  described  by  Prof. 
W.  II.  Conn,  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly.  This  is 
heating  milk  to  about  155  degrees  F.  for  a  few  min¬ 
utes  and  then  rapidly  reducing  the  temperature.  By 
Dr.  Freeman’s  method  the  milk  is  heated  a  little  higher 
— to  about  167  degrees  F.  The  claim  in  both  cases  is 
that  milk  heated  merely  to  this  low  degree  is  not  im¬ 
paired  in  food  value  nor  given  the  “  boiled  milk  taste,” 
which  is  disagreeable  to  some,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
the  greater  number  of  the  kinds  of  bacteria  liable  to 
be  present  are  destroyed. 
By  neither  of  the  methods  mentioned  above  will  the 
milk  keep  sweet  longer  than  a  few  days — three  to  ten 
at  most — whereas,  in  order  for  a  dairyman  living  100 
or  200  miles  from  a  large  city  to  compete  successfully 
with  one  only  a  few  miles  out,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
milk  shall  be  so  completely  sterilized  that  it  will  keep 
for  an  indefinite  period.  There  is  a  way  by  which 
this  can  be  done  without  the  milk  suffering  any  de¬ 
terioration.  Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg,  of  the  Battle  Creek 
Sanitarium,  being  greatly  interested  in  the  steriliza¬ 
tion  of  milk  from  the  standpoint  of  health  and  for 
special  hospital  use,  has  devoted  considerable  time  to 
making  practical  tests  of  ways  to  sterilize  it,  and  has 
at  last  hit  upon  a  simple  yet  very  effectual  plan.  Since 
some  of  the  germs  liable  to  be  found  in  milk  are  very 
tenacious  of  life  and  require  for  their  destruction  a 
tmperature  above  that  of  boiling  water,  he  tried  the 
plan  of  placing  the  vessels  containing  the  milk  in  a 
denser  medium.  Milk  in  a  tin  can  was  boiled  in  water, 
when  the  pressure  indicated  or  showed  no  very  con¬ 
siderable  increase  of  pressure  within  the  closed  recep- 
table.  He  then  boiled  the  tin  vessel  in  a  saturated 
solution  of  salt,  which  boils  at  about  230  degrees  F., 
varying  slightly  with  the  altitude,  when  the  guage  in¬ 
dicated  four  pounds.  His  next  experiment  was  to 
boil  milk  tightly  sealed  in  strong  bottles,  in  a  satur¬ 
ated  solution  of  salt.  As  a  result,  he  has  found  that 
milk  boiled  at  this  high  temperature  for  half  an  hour 
will  keep  perfectly  sweet  for  an  indefinite  period.  The 
solution  of  salt  and  water  must  be  cool  or  cold  when 
the  bottles  are  placed  in  it,  and  they  must  not  be  re¬ 
moved  until  it  has  had  time  to  cool  after  it  has  been 
taken  from  the  fire.  If  taken  out  while  hot,  they  will 
burst  almost  instantly,  their  temperature  being  so 
much  above  that  of  the  surrounding  atmosphere. 
When  cold,  place  them  in  an  ice-chest  or  refrigera¬ 
tor  ;  dry  the  tops  carefully  and  cover  with  sealing-wax 
such  as  is  ordinarily  used  for  canning  purposes.  Soda- 
water  bottles  are  excellent  for  canning  milk.  Wrap 
each  separately  with  a  cloth  and  tie  securely  with  a 
string.  The  bottles  will  then  be  protected  from  each 
other  and  from  the  bottom  of  the  boiler.  Do  not  fill 
them  quite  full — leave,  say,  about  the  space  of  an  inch 
at  the  top  ;  put  in  the  corks  lightly  during  the  first  10 
or  15  minutes  of  boiling,  until  the  air  is  expelled,  then 
press  them  in  tightly,  fasten  down  with  a  wire  and  boil 
for  half  an  hour  longer.  If  common  corks  are  used  as 
pt'Oppers,  they  should  he  previously  boiled  for  half  ar¬ 
bour  and  left  to  lie  in  the  boiling  water  until  needed. 
Milk  sterilized  in  this  way,  being  heated  under  pres¬ 
sure  and  without  exposure  to  the  air,  possesses  other 
advantages  than  that  of  keeping  sweet  for  months.  It 
does  not  seem  to  undergo  the  changes  easily  recogniz¬ 
able  in  milk  boiled  in  the  ordinary  way.  It  is  free 
from  the  flavor  of  scalded  milk,  being  sweet  and  palat¬ 
able  like  fresh  milk.  Again,  no  surface  scum  is  formed. 
The  coagulated  albumen  which  rises  to  the  surface 
when  milk  is  boiled  in  an  unsealed  vessel  is  quite  indi¬ 
gestible,  and,  with  some,  produces  a  tendency  to  inac¬ 
tivity  of  the  bowels. 
When  once  equipped  for  sterilizing  milk  in  this 
fashion,  it  would  be  no  great  trouble  or  expense  for 
any  dairyman  to  bottle  and  seal  his  milk  product  for 
market,  and  it  would  command  the  highest  price,  for 
the  consumer  would  rejoice  in  having  perfectly  pure, 
sweet  milk,  purchasable  in  quantities  to  suit  circum¬ 
stances,  and  ready  for  use  at  any  time  by  merely  un¬ 
sealing  a  bottle.  HELEN  L.  MANNING. 
At  Fig.  235  is  shown  the  sterilizer  used  by  Dr.  Kel¬ 
logg.  It  is  eight  inches  high  and  10%  inches  in 
diameter.  The  bottom  of  the  inner  dish  is  of  perfor¬ 
ated  tin  on  which  the  bottom  of  the  bottles  rest.  The 
round  handle  is  clasped  about  the  upright  center 
shaft  by  means  of  a  spiral  wire  spring,  so  that  it  can 
be  removed  in  adjusting  the  tin  cover.  The  bottles 
are  furnished  with  special  stoppers  strongly  held  to 
place  by  easily  adjusted  wires. 
The  following  directions  will  add  to  what  is  said 
above:  “Take  six  quarts  of  warm  water,  to  which 
add  4%  pounds  of  salt.  Thoroughly  stir  or  shake 
until  the  salt  is  entirely  dissolved.  Pour  the  solution 
into  the  sterilizer.  Carefully  rinse  the  bottles  and  fill 
to  within  about  3%  inches  of  the  opening.  Place  the 
bottles  in  the  sterilizer  without  corking.  Slip  a  piece 
of  waxed  cloth  over  the  top  of  the  bottle,  then  close 
down  and  cork  asjtiglitly  as  possible.  Place  the  bottles 
in  the  sterilizer,  and  then  place  the  latter  over  a  fire. 
The  Sanitarium  Milk  Sterilizer.  Fig.  235. 
Note  the  time  when  the  liquid  in  it  begins  to  boil,  and 
continue  boiling  for  20  minutes,  after  which  it  should 
be  taken  from  the  stove  without  removing  the  bottles 
from  it,  and  allowed  to  cool  gradually.  If  the  bottles 
are  taken  from  it  before  becoming  cool,  they  will 
break.  After  the  solution  and  bottles  have  cooled, 
place  the  latter  in  an  upright  position  in  a  cool  place. 
The  solution  should  be  removed  from  the  sterilizer, 
and  the  latter  carefully  rinsed  each  time  it  is  used,  as 
the  long-continued  action  of  the  salt  on  the  metal  will 
injure  it.  The  solution  can  be  used  any  number  of 
times,  it  being  only  necessary  to  replace,  each  time, 
the  water  lost  by  evaporation. 
A  Discussion  of  Fertilizers. 
Part  III. 
Nitrogen  Continued.— The  power  of  the  corn  plant 
to  gather  nitrogen  for  itself  does  not  seem  to  have  at¬ 
tracted  the  attention  which  its  importance  deserves. 
Suppose  you  are  going  to  plant  corn  in  a  rotation 
after  a  growth  of  Timothy  and  Red  Top.  The  sod 
will  contain  about  80  pounds  of  nitrogen,  but  a  good 
crop  of  corn  and  the  fodder  contain  only  from  70  to 
75  pounds  of  nitrogen,  so  that  if  you  had  to  supply  all 
of  the  nitrogen  for  the  crop,  there  would  be  enough 
in  the  soil.  Now,  if  you  buy  a  special  corn  fertilizer 
to  put  upon  the  corn,  you  will  pay  out  about  $10  for 
nitrogen  in  every  ton  you  buy.  This  is  the  average 
cost  of  nitrogen  in  eight  leading  brands  of  commer¬ 
cial  corn  fertilizer.  But  if  your  corn  is  fully  provided 
with  nitrogen,  why  pay  out  money  for  more  ?  Nitrogen 
will  not  stay  in  the  soil  like  potash ;  it  is  easily 
washed  away  by  rains,  and  lost.  Hence  the  greater 
need  of  care  in  its  application,  especially  if  nitrate  of 
soda  and  sulphate  of  ammonia  are  used. 
But  suppose  jrou  are  going  to  plant  corn  on  land 
which  you  know  is  deficient  in  nitrogen,  what  is  the 
cheapest  way  to  obtain  a  supply  ?  If  you  have  good, 
rich,  well-cared  for  stable  manure,  it  will  best  answer 
the  purpose.  A  load  of  such  manure  will  usually 
contain  about  10  pounds  of  nitrogen,  so  that  a  fair 
dressing  of  it  would  supply  a  full  ration  of  nitrogen 
to  a  crop  of  corn.  But  lots  of  farpiers  manure  a  field 
well  with  manure,  and  then  put  on  quite  a  large  quan¬ 
tity  of  commercial  fertilizer  containing  several  dol¬ 
lars’  worth  of  nitrogen  in  each  ton.  If  your  corn 
ground  needs  potash  or  phosphoric  acid,  and  you  have 
not  a  sufficient  home  supply,  buy  these  and  apply 
them,  but  beware  how  you  pay  out  money  for  nitrogen 
to  be  put  on  corn.  One  curious  fact,  however,  must 
be  mentioned  in  this  connection  :  The  Storrs  Station 
found  that  “  the  addition  of  nitrogen  in  the  fertili¬ 
zers  increased  the  total  amount  of  protein  in  the  crop, 
even  where  it  did  not  increase  the  number  of  bushels 
of  corn  or  the  pounds  of  stover  per  acre.”  It  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  the  stations  have  a  good  deal  to  find  out 
about  the  corn  plant.  Twenty  tons  of  ensilage  re¬ 
quire  113  pounds  of  nitrogen,  and  if  we  had  to  buy 
this  and  pay  16  to  18  cents  per  pound  for  it,  it  would 
make  quite  a  heavy  expense.  But  when  we  know 
that  only  a  small  part  of  this  amount  has  to  be  sup¬ 
plied,  and  that  this  can  be  furnished  in  clover  or  grass 
sod,  or  in  rich  manure,  all  this  expense  is  saved. 
There  is  another  class  of  plants  called  nitrogen  con¬ 
sumers.  These  must  be  supplied  with  nitrogen,  but 
as  different  soils  furnish  varying  amounts,  the  right 
quantity  can  be  found  only  by  careful  experiment. 
One  bushel  of  oats  and  the  natural  proportion  of  straw 
remove  about  one  pound  of  nitrogen  from  the  soil ;  a 
bushel  of  wheat  and  its  straw  require  nearly  two 
pound ;  five  bushels  of  potatoes  require  about  one 
pounds;  a  ton  of  hay  lakes  about  30  pounds.  What 
about  a  nitrogen  supply  for  these  plants  ? 
Not  all  nitrogen  compounds  are  utilized  by  plants, 
especially  by  this  class  as  food.  A  large  part  of  the 
nitrogen  in  stable  manure  is  not  immediately  available 
as  plant  food,  but  must  undergo  certain  chemical 
changes  in  the  soil  before  it  can  be  of  use.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  roots  and  stubble  of  plants,  as  clover, 
etc.  Some  soils  contain  a  large  quantity  of  nitrogen 
in  an  insoluble  form  so  that  it  is  of  no  use  to  the  crop. 
Thus  a  crop  of  wheat,  corn  or  even  of  clover  may  at 
its  start  need  nitrogen  in  a  more  soluble  form  than 
the  rootlets  can  find  in  the  soil,  and  a  light  dressing 
of  nitrate  of  soda  may  be  a  great  help  to  the  crop. 
Commercial  fertilizers  contain  organic  nitrogen,  but 
this  varies  in  solubility.  A  fertilizer  may  analyze 
three  or  four  per  cent  of  nitrogen  and  this  may  be  in 
a  form  that  is  practically  worthless — ground  leather, 
hoof  or  horn.  The  nitrogen  in  fertilizers  of  this  kind 
will  not  be  available  for  years,  while  if  the  organic 
nitrogen  is  in  the  form  of  dried  blood  or  meat,  dried 
and  ground  fish,  cotton-seed  meal,  etc.,  it  will  be 
quickly  available.  Cotton-seed  meal  is  one  of  the 
cheapest  sources  of  quickly  available  nitrogen,  100 
pounds  containing  ordinarily  from  5.75  to  7.50  pounds 
of  nitrogen.  It  also  contains  phosphoric  acid  and 
potash,  so  that  this  meal  is  worth  ordinarily  $22  to  $27 
per  ton  as  a  fertilizer.  Nitrogen  comes  highest  in  sul¬ 
phate  of  ammonia,  18%  cents  per  pound.  In  nitrate 
of  soda  it  is  14%  cents.  In  cotton-need  meal  the  actual 
price  is  from  12  to  14  cents. 
As  The  R.  N.-Y.  has  recently  said,  the  nitrogen 
problem  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  those  which 
confront  the  farmer.  Its  necessity  in  the  production 
of  crops,  its  high  cost,  the  ease  with  which  it  is  washed 
out  of  the  soil,  the  uncertainty  of  its  action,  all  com¬ 
bine  to  make  its  study  of  the  greatest  importance. 
The  bulletins  and  reports  of  the  Storrs  Experiment 
Station  contain  much  valuable  information  upon  this 
subject,  and  have  been  freely  used  in  the  preparation 
of  these  articles.  The  writer  hopes  in  other  articles 
to  discuss  phosphoric  acid  and  potash. 
Lamoille  County,  Vt.  j.  w.  newton. 
Who  Kills  Cock  Robin  P 
A  ULAIN  WORD  TO  OUR  FUNGOLOGISTS. 
Would  one  pound  of  copper  sulphate,  dissolved  in  50 
gallons  of  water  harm  potato  vines?  Would  it  pre¬ 
vent  blight?  Would  any  solution  of  copper  sulphate 
prevent  potato  blight  without  injuring  the  vines? 
Respectfully  submitted  to  our  fungologists. 
Have  any  of  the  readers  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  tried  a 
simple  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper  and  water  upon 
potato  tops  as  a  preventive  of  blight  ?  Of  course,  the 
amount  of  copper  sulphate  used  must  be  considerably 
less  than  that  of  the  Bordeaux  mixture,  in  which  the 
lime  lessens  the  injurious  effects  of  the  copper. 
The  foregoing  are  questions  propounded  by  the 
editor  of  The  Rural  in  a  recent  issue.  Surely  it  is 
time  to  ask  these  and  many  other  similar  questions. 
For  a  long  time  I  have  been  suspicious  that  our  so- 
called  “scientific”  vegetable  pathologists  are  simply 
playing  the  role  of  the  blind  leading  the  blind.  If 
the  leaders  will  not  open  their  eyes,  it  is  high  time 
that  their  followers  should. 
Our  fungologists  have  been  crying  “copper  solu¬ 
tion”  ad  nauseam.  Is  copper  really  the  agent  in  these 
solutions,  that  kills  the  germs  ?  If  so,  will  some  of 
our  scientists  kindly  explain  in  what  way  insoluble 
copper  salts  take  their  effect  ? 
Is  it  not  a  significant  fact  that  if  we  leave  the  cop¬ 
per  carbonate  preparations  out  of  consideration, 
nearly  all  of  the  fungicicles  jiovf  in(  more  or  less  ge^T 
