1892 
829 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
shut  in  a  close,  warm  room  even  in  the  freezing  air, 
and  the  exhilaration  of  a  brisk  walk  in  a  very  cold  day 
is  not  only  pleasant  but  healthful,  and  gives  excite¬ 
ment  to  the  appetite  and  digestion  ;  and  cows  are 
made  of  one  blood  with  human  beings  and  are  in  every 
physiological  way  similar  to  ourselves  in  regard  to 
animal  functions.  This  is  to  be  remembered  and  made 
a  guide  in  our  treatment  of  cows  in  every  season  of 
the  year,  for  the  most  profit  is  made  from  healthful 
and  contented  animals.  Gypsum  is  the  most  valuable 
absorbent  that  can  be  used  in  stables.  The  rock  phos¬ 
phate  has  no  chemical  effect  on  the  manure  to  decom¬ 
pose  the  acrid  ammoniacal  vapors  escaping  from  it,  as 
it  gets  old  and  decomposes :  while  the  gypsum  is 
decomposed  and  its  sulphuric  acid  combines  with  the 
ammonia  and  forms  sulphate  of  ammonia  which  is  not 
volatile,  and  the  lime  of  the  gypsum  takes  up  the  car¬ 
bonic  acid  of  the  ammonia  carbonate.  It  thus  destroys 
the  odor,  or  rather  prevents  it,  and  adds  to  the  value 
of  the  manure.  Every  cow  stable  should  be  littered 
with  gypsum  whenever  it  is  cleaned,  if  it  is  twice  a 
day.  H-  8* 
Tight  Cisterns ;  Lime  in  Stables. 
G.  R.  S.,  New  Haven ,  Vt—  1.  I  have  a  cistern  in  a 
cellar  in  which  vegetables  are  stored  in  winter  and 
which  cannot  be  ventilated  from  the  outside  in  very 
cold  weather.  I  wish  to  attach  a  good  filter  and  use 
the  water  for  drinking  purposes.  The  cistern  is  open 
at  the  top.  I  must  cover  it  to  keep  out  vermin,  etc. 
Would  it  be  all  right  to  cover  it  as  tightly  as  possible, 
or  would  it  be  better  to  have  an  opening  in  the  cover 
at  each  end  of  the  cistern,  say,  one  foot  in  diameter, 
and  covered  with  fine  wire  screening  ?  2.  Will  the 
scattering  of  air-slaked  lime  about  the  stables  be  detri¬ 
mental  to  the  manure  ? 
Ans. — 1.  Most  people  prefer  an  opening  in  the  top  of 
a  cistern,  though  we  do  not  think  it  important  or 
necessary.  The  rain  water  is  thoroughly  aerated  when 
it  falls,  and  that  is  all  that  is  necessary.  Be  sure  that 
openings,  if  any  are  left,  are  so  finely  covered  that  in¬ 
sects  as  well  as  larger  vermin  are  excluded.  2.  Yes. 
Whenever  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  manure,  it  lib¬ 
erates  the  ammonia.  Use  plaster  instead  of  lime.  It 
is  better  as  an  absorbent  and  conserves  the  elements 
of  fertility,  instead  of  wasting  them. 
Shifting  Feeds;  More  About  Bran. 
11.  C.,  McKean,  Pa. — I  was  much  interested  in  The 
Rural’s  answer  to  J.  A.  N.,  Jersey  City,  page  <585,  and 
in  Prof.  Voorhees’s  article  on  page  702,  because  I  have 
been  doing  a  little  shifting  of  feeds  myself.  1  sold 
buckwheat  to  a  miller  at  50  cents  per  bushel,  agree¬ 
ing  to  take  my  pay  in  other  grain.  I  had  my  choice  of 
bran  at  $1,  wheat  shorts  at  SI.  10,  or  buckwheat  shorts 
at  80  cents  per  cwt.  and  chose  the  latter.  My  opinion 
of  buckwheat  as  a  feed  has  changed  since  I  have 
visited  a  mill  and  found  that  about  20  pounds  on 
every  bushel  were  thrown  away.  The  miller  offered 
to  give  me  a  wagon  load  of  hulls,  but  I  thought  it 
would  not  pay  to  draw  them  seven  miles  to  my  home. 
A  prominent  dairyman  living  near  me  thought  it 
would  have  been  better  to  have  bought  the  wheat 
shorts.  He  also  said  that  even  at  the  high  price  of 
bran  a  ration  composed  of  equal  parts  by  measure  of 
bran  and  wheat  shorts  would  be  the  cheapest.  I  tried 
some  of  the  buckwheat  shorts  mixed  with  warm  water 
for  my  hens,  but  they  did  not  seem  to  like  it.  I  am 
feeding  my  hens  on  a  ration  composed  of  half  wheat 
shorts,  one-fourth  buckwheat  shorts  and  one-fourth 
“  horse  feed,”  the  last  being  corn  and  oats  ground  to¬ 
gether — two  bushels  of  corn  and  one  of  oats.  I  am 
feeding  the  same  to  my  hogs,  and  pronounce  it  the 
best  hog  feed  I  have  ever  had  any  experience  with.  If 
I  read  the  answer  to  J.  A.  N.  on  page  685  right,  five 
pounds  of  bran  are  as  good  as  4%  pounds  of  -wheat,  a 
statement  I  can  scarcely  credit,  as  it  seems  to  me  that 
wheat  at  cent  per  pound  must  be  cheaper  feed 
than  bran  at  one  cent  per  pound. 
Ans. — Our  figures  were  based  upon  the  analysis  of 
the  different  feeds.  The  value  of  bran  is  due  to  the 
high  percentage  of  albuminoids  and  fats.  In  flour 
making,  a  large  part  of  the  starch  or  carbohydrates 
is  taken  from  the  wheat  and  most  of  the  costly  albu¬ 
minoids  are  left  in  the  bran.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
discussion  as  to  the  real  feeding  value  of  bran.  Some 
feed*  rs  make  extravagant  claims  for  it,  while  others  go 
so  far  as  to  call  it  a  “  humbug” — while  all  agree  that 
the  manure  from  bran  is  very  “strong.”  We  think 
bran  contains  considerable  nutriment  that  is  not  easily 
digestible  unless  fed  in  proper  combinations  with 
other  foods.  You  ought  to  get  the  last  annual  report 
of  the  New  Jersey  Station  (New  Brunswick,  N.  J.) 
This  question  of  food  values  is  well  discussed  there, 
and  the  system  of  figuring  values  is  described.  The 
prices  per  pound  of  albuminoids,  carbohydrates  and 
fat  in  the  different  feeds  are  figured  about  as  are  those 
for  nitrogen,  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  in  fertilizers. 
This  is  sure  to  be  a  great  help  to  farmers  in  buying  feed 
and  will  doubtless  result  in  a  system  of  feed  regulation 
that  will  compel  dealers  to  sell  on  a  guaranteed  analy¬ 
sis,  as  fertilizers  are  now  sold.  As  to  bran  and  wheat 
shorts,  the  N.  J.  report  gives  these  figures  as  the  aver¬ 
age  of  several  samples  sold  in  that  State. 
POUNDS  PER  HUNDRED. 
Protein.  Carbohydrates. 
Bran . 15. (59  .  54.88 . 
Wheat  shorts . 17.83 . 63.35 . 
Fat. 
....4.71 
....4.08 
The  price  of  the  wheat  shorts  was  $26  per  ton,  and 
the  average  of  the  wheat  bran  was  $21.06.  As  to  the 
feeding  values  of  the  two  foods  Prof  Yoorhees  gives 
these  figures: 
COST  PER  POUND. 
Protein.  Carbohydrates.  Fat.  Selling  Price.  Valuation. 
Bran . 0.85 . 1.05 . 5.62 . 521.06 . 522.60 
Wheat  shortB.  1.04 . 1.28  . 6.75 .  26.00 .  22.80 
That  is  to  say,  at  the  fairest  valuation  that  can  be 
made  from  a  chemical  analysis  the  bran  was  the 
cheaper  source  of  food.  At  the  same  time  it  is  likely 
that  equal  parts  of  bran  and  shorts  would  make  a 
better  fattening  ration  than  the  bran  alone. 
Butter  Fat  and  Butterine  Questions. 
Subscriber ,  address  mislaid. — 1.  What  per  cent  of  but¬ 
ter  fat,  tested  by  a  Babcock  tester,  would  milk  have 
that  tests  20  per  cent  by  a  cream  tester  ?  2.  How  can 
one  test  butterine  at  home  so  as  to  tell  it  from  pure 
butter  ? 
Ans. — 1.  No  one  can  tell.  Cream  varies  so  w’dely  in 
composition  that  the  worthlessness  of  a  cream  gauge 
has  become  generally  admitted.  2.  It  is  a  difficult 
question.  One  method  is  to  get  butter  you  know  to  be 
pure.  Heat  the  blade  of  a  knife  and  pass  it  over  the 
pure  and  the  suspected  articles.  The  difference  in  the 
odor  should  tell  which  contains  hog  fat  and  which  is 
pure.  Only  a  chemical  analysis  can  settle  the  ques¬ 
tion  for  a  court. 
Giving:  Potatoes  a  Start. 
J.  A.  E.,  Tiffin,  0.— Would  it  be  safe  and  practical 
to  start  potatoes  in  a  loft  over  the  kitchen  three  or 
four  weeks  before  the  regular  time  to  plant  them,  then 
mark  out  and  set  them  by  hand,  the  start  of  enough 
for  an  acre  of  early  potatoes  to  be  made  in  paper  boxes 
or  sods  ? 
Ans. — The  only  advantage  we  know  of  from  starting 
the  eyes  of  potatoes  by  placing  them  in  warm,  light 
rooms,  is  that  we  find  out  in  this  way  which  are  the 
strong,  which  the  weak  eyes,  which  the  “blind”  or  dor¬ 
mant  eyes;  and  even  this  is  not  an  infallible  way  of  as¬ 
certaining  as  to  the  potency  of  the  eyes.  For  instance,  if 
we  place  whole  potatoes  of  a  given  variety  in  the  sun  and 
warmth  of  a  room  for  three  weeks  or  more  before  the 
planting  time,  the  seed-end  eyes  will  sprout  first. 
Some  of  the  others  may  sprout  feebly,  some  not  at  all. 
This  sprouting  propensity  varies  greatly  with  different 
varieties.  In  some  kinds,  every  eye  will  sprout  vigor¬ 
ously  and  in  a  few  days.  In  other  kinds,  only  one  or 
two  eyes  will  sprout  as  if  these  eyes  controlled — 
monopolized — the  entire  vitality  of  the  tuber.  Again, 
we  may  take  two  tubers  of  the  same  variety.  Let  us 
cut  one  in  four  pieces,  the  other  not  at  all,  and  place  all 
in  light  and  warmth.  The  whole  tuber  will,  as  to  most 
varieties,  sprout  chiefly  at  the  seed  (or  apex)  por¬ 
tion.  The  one  piece  (of  the  four)  which  contains  the 
seed-end  eyes  will  be  the  first  of  the  four  to  sprout, 
but  these  sprouts  will  not  develop  so  soon  or  so  vigor¬ 
ously  as  if  the  seed-end  piece  had  not  been  severed 
from  the  rest  of  the  tuber  ;  while  the  eyes  of  the  other 
three  pieces  will  sprout  sooner  and  grow  more  vigor¬ 
ously  than  if  they  had  remained  a  portion  of  the  tuber. 
This  has  been  our  repeated  experience.  We  do  not 
attempt  to  account  for  it,  though  a  snap  explanation 
would  be  that  all  the  eyes  are  connected  with  the 
cambium  layer,  which  exerts  its  strongest  developing 
power  at  or  near  the  apex  in  the  stems  of  most  other 
plants  as  well  as  in  the  (swollen)  stem  of  the  potato 
tuber.  We  are  therefore  of  the  opinion  that,  whereas 
only  a  few  eyes  of  a  whole  tuber  will  develop  if  it  be 
placed  in  a  warm,  light  room,  many  of  the  eyes  of  the 
same  tuber  would  have  pushed  had  it  been  cut  in 
pieces  and  similarly  treated.  The  only  real  advantage 
we  know  of  from  starting  the  eyes  of  seed  potatoes  be¬ 
fore  planting,  is  that  we  may,  in  this  way,  be  enabled 
to  select  only  eyes  sure  to  grow.  A  long,  slender 
growth  of  the  eye  is  never  desirable — such  as  that 
which  occurs  in  damp,  warm  cellars.  The  reason  is 
evident  enough.  The  seed  piece  is  exhausted  propor¬ 
tionately  with  the  growth  of  the  eye,  and  the  shoot 
has  less  to  support  it  when  planted  until  it  can  throw 
out  self-supporting  roots.  Pieces  started  in  bits  of 
sod,  pots  or  boxes  would  no  doubt  prove  a  trifle  earlier 
than  pieces  not  so  treated,  but  we  would  not  try  the 
plan  with  any  hope  that  the  increase  in  earliness  or 
yield  -would  pay  for  the  trouble. 
How  Much  Bran  for  a  Pound  of  Butter? 
T.  F.  B.,  Tunbridge,  N.  Y. — I  have  been  quite  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  discussions  in  The  Rural  about  the  value 
of  bran  as  a  feed  for  dairy  cows.  How  many  pounds 
of  it  fed  to  an  average  dairy  cow  would  produce  a 
pound  of  butter,  and  how  many  of  cotton-seed,  corn, 
linseed  and  gluten  meals  would  do  so  ? 
Ans. — It  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  bran  is  re¬ 
quired  to  make  a  pound  of  butter,  because  no  one  has 
ever  confined  cows  to  this  single  food.  No  one  food 
is  so  good  as  several  mixed,  and  the  only  means  of 
judging  of  the  actual  value  of  bran,  or  any  other  single 
food,  is  when  it  is  fed  in  varying  proportions,  and  the 
results  noted.  Bran  is  not  a  butter-making  food,  as  it 
supplies  but  little  fat,  having  only  three  per  cent  of 
it,  while  corn  meal  has  6%  percent.  But  it  has  one- 
fourth  more  digestible  albuminoids  than  corn,  and  is 
therefore  more  suitable  for  making  milk  than  butter. 
It  is  fast  becoming  realized  by  our  scientific  men  that 
the  fat  of  the  foods  makes  the  butter,  and  not  the 
albuminoids,  as  has  heretofore  been  thought,  and  thus, 
for  making  butter,  bran  is  not  the  best  food  by  any 
means,  except  that  its  albuminoids  may  increase  the 
quantity  of  milk  and  thus  make  the  corn  meal  or  other 
fatty  foods  more  available  and  so  add  to  the  butter 
product.  All  this  applies  to  the  other  foods  mentioned, 
and  it  is  impossible  for  any  person  to  say  with  any 
precision  how  much  of  any  one  of  them  will  make  a 
pound  of  butter.  Direct  experiment  even  may  be  mis¬ 
leading  because  the  results  of  other  food  cannot  be 
traced  with  any  certainty,  for  it  is  well  known  that 
when  mixed  foods  are  used,  one  may  have  a  great 
effect  on  the  digestibility  and  assimilation  of  the 
others.  Thus  it  is  the  common  practice  to  feed  several 
together.  In  the  case  of  what  are  called  phenomenal 
cows,  the  food  is  very  much  mixed,  and  six  or  more 
kinds  are  often  used,  and  the  only  way  a  guess  can  be 
made  as  to  the  effect  of  any  particular  one,  is  to  take 
the  known  analyses  of  all  the  foods,  as  to  the  fat  con¬ 
tained  therein,  and  give  each  one  its  due  proportion  of 
the  product.  This  of  course  is  a  very  rough  way  of 
deciding  this  intricate  matter.  Theoretically,  we  may 
reasonably  assume  that,  as  bran  has  three  per  cent  of 
digestible  fat  in  it,  if  a  cow  is  given  a  sufficient  ration 
for  her  maintenance,  and  75  per  cent  of  the  fat  in  the 
bran  goes  into  the  butter,  about  45  pounds  of  bran  in 
addition,  will,  or  should,  yield  a  pound  of  butter. 
n.  STEWART. 
Death  to  Chicken  Lice. 
J.  M.,  Antioch,  Cal. — 1.  What  is  the  best  way  to 
destroy  chicken  lice  ?  2.  Is  kerosene  good  when 
applied  to  the  roost  by  means  of  a  brush  or  sponge  ?  3. 
Is  unslaked  lime  injurious  to  chickens — or  is  it  better 
to  slake  it  before  placing  it  where  poultry  will  have 
free  access  to  it  ? 
Ans. — 1.  Kerosene,  or,  what  is  just  as  good,  and 
somewhat  cheaper  where  it  can  be  obtained,  crude 
petroleum,  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  easily  applied 
remedies,  so  far  as  the  roosts,  nests  and  buildings  are 
concerned.  It  should  be  thoroughly  applied  to  every 
part  of  these,  taking  especial  care  to  force  it  into  all 
cracks  and  crevices.  A  little  of  it  rubbed  through  the 
hens’  feathers  is  good,  but  it  must  not  be  allowed  to 
come  into  contact  with  the  eggs.  Furnish  the  hens  a 
good  dust  bath  of  dry  road  dust,  earth,  or  coal  ashes, 
impregnated  with  a  little  carbolic  acid.  If  the  build¬ 
ings  are  freed  from  vermin  and  kept  clean,  and  the 
hens  furnished  with  a  good  dust  bath,  they  will  keep 
themselves  free  afterward.  Burn  up  all  old  nests, 
boxes  included,  if  they  are  of  the  kind  often  found  ; 
clean  out  all  droppings  and  give  the  hens  the  same 
care  the  other  farm  animals  receive,  or  ought  to  re¬ 
ceive.  2.  Yes,  but  the  most  effective  means  of  apply¬ 
ing  it  is  by  means  of  a  spraying  machine.  3.  They 
will  not  eat  enough  to  injure  them,  but  they  should 
receive  the  lime  in  the  form  of  ground  bone,  or  shells. 
Old  broken  plaster  is  good.  Don’t  forget  to  give  plenty 
of  grit,  unless  the  fowls  have  free  range. 
About  Girdling  Grapes. 
Several  Subscribers. — How  are  grapes  girdled,  and 
how  long  before  the  time  of  ripening  should  the  gird¬ 
ling  be  done  ?  Is  any  knife  made  especially  for  the 
work  ? 
Ans. — It  is  done  by  cutting  out  a  ring  of  bark  per¬ 
haps  half  an  inch  wide  upon  the  cane  below  the  fruit, 
immediately  after  the  fruit  sets.  The  shoot  thus 
girdled  must  be  cut  away  at  the  next  pruning.  The 
object  is  to  make  the  fruit  larger  and  earlier,  though  it 
is  claimed  that  this  is  at  the  expense  of  the  quality. 
If  this  be  true,  it  is  poor  policy,  as  there  are  too  many 
poor  grapes  marketed  every  year.  The  grower  should 
strive  for  better  quality,  and  thus  encourage  an  in¬ 
creased  consumption  We  know  of  no  knife  especially 
for  the  purpose.  Any  sharp  pruning  knife  will  do. 
Tamarack  Ashes  as  a  Fertilizer. 
A.  L.  D  ,  Spokane,  Wash. — In  this  country  we  do  not 
have  hard  wood.  Would  it  pay  to  haul  the  ashes  of 
tamarack  wood  14  miles  to  be  applied  to  celery,  caul¬ 
iflower  and  strawberries  ?  Would  it  be  proper  to  apply 
them  in  addition  to  cow  manure,  both  being  hauled  in 
winter  ? 
Ans. — Unleached  ashes  of  tamarack  (Larix  Amer¬ 
icana)  ought  to  be  worth  as  much  as  $10  a  ton,  though 
we  have  no  analysis  at  hand.  Yes,  cow  manure  would 
serve  well  but  it  would  be  advantageous,  probably,  to 
add  phosphate  in  some  form. 
*  *  * 
Whether  you  win  the  desired  “  speci  *1  ”  or  not,  you 
are  sure  of  a  share  in  the  $2,000  cash  to  be  distributed 
May  1,  if  you  send  in  a  club  of  five  or  more  new  names, 
and  you  are  pretty  sure  of  a  special  anyway  ! 
