1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
185 
of mellow soil over the sod, which, thus exposed to the 
influence of the air, rapidly decays and the grass is com¬ 
pletely killed and turned into manure. With such man¬ 
agement I have always had clean corn fields and no grass 
among the corn to give trouble and make work. The cut¬ 
worms will in such a case be more apt to work on the sod 
than on the corn. But if the seed is steeped in a weak 
solution of nitrate of soda, one ounce to the gallon of water, 
for a few hours, and then the seed is well stirred with a 
tarry stick so as to give it merely the odor of tar, the cut¬ 
worms will not damage the young plants, nor will birds 
pull them or squirrels dig up the seed, as the smell of the 
tar is a disguise to that of the plants. I have followed 
this plan for years with success. If the corn is planted by 
machine, it is necessary to dry the seed before the plant¬ 
ing, or it may stick in the cups of the planter. I would 
never plow a sod less than seven inches deep unless the 
land was very poor; the depth is immaterial if the sod is 
turned in the way mentioned and not completely buried, 
because the soil and the manure are well mixed from the 
surface to the bottom of the furrow. 
Wrought-Iron Water Pipe. 
A. E. A., Johnsonville, N. Y. —I wish to run my cream¬ 
ery with water from a spring 12 rods from the house with 
a fall of 10 or 12 feet. What kind and size of pipe will in¬ 
sure the coolest water if allowed to run full? Two half¬ 
inch pipes have not been able to take all of the water for 
several years. 
Ans.— The pipe should be at least one inch to be safe 
from obstructions. The Wells Rustless pipe is the best as 
it will not rust and is much cheaper than lead pipe. To 
insure cool water lay the pipe at least two feet in the 
ground, and, if possible, cover it with stone. 
Fresh Brewers’ Grains for Milch Cows. 
J. O. W., Windsor, N. J. —What has been the experience 
of those who have fed wet brewers’ grains to milch cows ? 
Ans.— Fresh brewers’ grains are an excellent food for 
cows kept for milk. They are exceedingly nutritious and 
quite healthful when used fresh and before they have be¬ 
come sour. The dry matter contains 24 per cent of albu¬ 
minoids, 54 per cent of carbohydrates and six per cent of 
fat, which makes them worth about twice as much as 
corn meal. The usual quantity given to a cow is half a 
bushel at a meal, fresh as they are brought from the 
brewery, and about five pounds of hay—sufficient for 
the meal. In many of the best dairies the large cows are 
fed one bushel of the grains, a peck of corn meal and 20 
pounds of hay par day in three feeds. They make the best 
of milk on such feed, and keep fat enough for the butcher 
when the milk begins to fail. 
Two Year Old Scions. 
F. II. P., East Winthrop, Me. —Will the use of two-year- 
old grafts as scions have a deleterious effect on the future 
bearing of the tree in which the scions are inserted as com¬ 
pared with the results from the use of scions cut from the 
ends of bearing limbs ? 
Ans. —No ill effect whatever. The only objection to the 
use of wood more than one year old for grafting is that it 
is more difficult to get a perfect union between the stock 
and the scion. But it is often used when no better can be 
had. 
Thickening Pastures, etc. 
W. II. J., Edgewood, Pa. —1. Will it pay to sow grass 
seed on permanent pasture land to make it thicker? If so, 
when is the best time? What kind of seeds and how much 
per acre? 2. When cows retain the afterbirth and it has 
to be removed what should be given to cleanse the system? 
There is always a discharge afterwards. 
Ans.— 1. It will always pay to make a pasture better. It 
is always the rule to add fresh seed to a pasture every 
year when manure or fertilizer is applied. The quantity 
of seed used, would, of course, depend upon the necessities 
of the case. If parts of the flbld are bare the surface should 
be harrowed and as much seed sown as would be used at 
the first seeding or a little more, and then manure or fer¬ 
tilizer should be applied. The best time is as soon as the 
ground is visible and when a frost opens the surface. If 
the whole field is thought to need seed, about one-fourth 
as much as for a regular seeding may be given and a har¬ 
row should be run over the field. The kind of seed should 
be the same as was originally sown, unless it is desired to 
add other kinds. A good mixture is Timothy, Red Top, 
Orchard Grass, Meadow Fescue, Yellow Oat Grass and 
Kentucky Blue Grass; about 8 or 10 pounds in all, per acre 
may be sown. Fifty or 100 pounds of nitrate of soda per 
acre applied as soon as the ground is clear in the spring, 
would be a great help to any grass land. It should not be 
pastured until after a good rain has washed the fertilizer 
into the soil and cleaned the grass. 2. Give one ounce of 
hyposulphite of soda to avoid any ill effects of any absorp¬ 
tion of matter into the system. Repeat daily for a week. 
Give it in bran mash. 
Wood Ashes and Ground Bone. 
W. (I., West Troy, N. Y. —1. I have two tons of wood 
ashes, how much ground bane would it be profitable to 
mix with them ? Would it do to make the mixture one or 
two months before it is used ? 2. Is there any loss by the 
smell thrown off after mixing ? 3. Is there anything to 
absorb the smell ? Would plaster be of any use ? If so, 
how much ? 4. I would like to apply the mixture to my 
currant bushes, and six weeks before we can work the 
ground; would there ba any loss by so doing ? We can 
not work the ground until May and I would like to put on 
the mixture in April. Some of the bashes are so large 
that we can not work around them at any time. Would 
it pay to apply the mixture to them, leaving it on top of 
the ground ? 5. Wouid tfiis same mixture be of any bene¬ 
fit to cherry trees, tfiree to six years old ? 6. Is this a good 
mixture for potatoes, onions, turnips and celery ? 
Ans.— 1. Why mix the ashes and bone at all ? Noth¬ 
ing is gained. The labor of mixing is lost. Besides, the 
ashes would facilitate the escape of ammonia from the bone. 
You might well use as high as one ton of bone to two of a 
good quality of unleached ashes. 2. Yes, in the case of 
bone and ashes mixed, the ammoniacal odor would indi¬ 
cate the loss of ammonia. 3. Piaster would assist in fix¬ 
ing the ammonia, but the'loss by volatilization of the nitro¬ 
gen would be equal to the gain by the mixing of the 
fertilizers or more. 4. In the case of heavy rains upon a 
frozen surface there would certainly be a loss. Better 
wait untii there is no frost. If sown upon the surface it 
would gradually find its way to the roots. 5. If the soil is 
moderately fertile we would not apply it to the cherry 
trees. 6. Very good, except that it is a little weak in nit¬ 
rogen. We would add, say, two per cent of nitrogen in the 
form of nitrate of soda for the potatoes, etc., not for the 
trees. Apply it not until planting time. 
Some North Carolina Apples. 
Subscriber, Qoldsborough, Wayne County, N. C.— 
I am thinking of planting 300 winter apple trees this 
spring; what varieties should I plant and how far apart 
should the trees be ? I want good keepers. Will any 
variety keep till June ? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. MASSEY, N. C. EXPERIMENT STATION. 
In all the upland country of North Carolina there is 
such an abundance of good native winter apples that the 
chief difficulty would be to know which to reject. Few 
people realize the great number of really fine winter ap¬ 
ples that have been raised in the mountain country of 
North Carolina, where, as an old farmer remarked to me 
last summer, when lecturing on the propagation and 
pruning of apples: “Why, sir, we don’t have to go to all 
that trouble here; apples grow here on our mountain 
sides just as naturally as old-field pines do in the low 
country.” The result of all this wonderful adaptability 
of soil and climate to the apple is that seedling naiive ap¬ 
ples are almost numberless and many are of very fine 
character that are unknown in the trade. If the inquirer 
will correspond with Mr. J. Van Liudley, of Greensboro, 
or John May, of Pigeon River, N. C., he can get the ad¬ 
vice of men who have been growing fruit here much longer 
than I have. I think he is making a mistake in planting 
his trees in spring here. I would not care to defer the 
planting here later than January, and would prefer to 
plant in December. The following sorts I can recommend 
with confidence in any of the upland red clay region of 
North Carolina: Winesap, Mangum, N. C. Vandevere, 
Ben Davis, Shockley (not first-class, but the best keeper), 
Cannon Pearmain, Nickajick, Pryor’s Red and Grimes’s 
Golden. I would advise this correspondent to seek his 
trees in near-by nurseries or in those south of him. It 
will be almost impossible for him to get a successful plant¬ 
ing tree at this season from the North. He should plant the 
trees about 30 feet apart and train them with low heads. 
The Crandall Currant. 
M. S. W., Uhrichsville, Ohio.— Is the Crandall Currant 
hardy, productive, and valuable ? 
ANS. —Yes; it Is hardy and productive, though variable. 
It is a seedling of the wild currant of the West. The ber¬ 
ries are large, free of that musky flavor of foreign blacks, 
and the plants sometimes bear early and abundantly. 
Cost of Fertilizers for Experiments. 
T. P., Ilawkinsville, N. Y. —I want to experiment with 
different quantities of nitrate of soda, potash and bone 
meal; what is each worth per 100 pounds in the New York 
market? Wouldn’t it be advisable to mix the soda, pot¬ 
ash and “meal” with gypsum or land piaster before using 
them ? 
Ans.—N itrate of soda averages about 16 per cent of ni¬ 
trogen, which is worth about 16 cents per pound. There 
are, then, 16 pounds to every 100 pounds, which would 
make the cost about $2 50. It usually comes 200 pounds to 
the bag. Muriate of potash is now the cheapest form of 
potash. It contains about 50 per cent of potash which, at 
Y/x cents per pound, would cost $2.25 per 100 pounds. Bone 
flour contains about 20 per cent of pbosphoric acid which,at 
eight cents the pound, would cost $1.60 per 100 pounds. 
To this must be added about four per cent of nitrogen, 
which would increase the cost, say, 50 cents. No; we 
should not mix the bone, potash and nitrate with plaster. 
Leaching of Manure on Frozen Hillsides. 
W. It N., Sodus, N. Y.— In The Rural for February 7 
in the article by H. Stewart, of Macon County, N. C., on 
“ Hauling out manure : lessons for hillside farmers,” he 
gives his experience for his section where he does not have 
the frosts of our Northern latitudes to contend with. Will 
the results be as satisfactory as far north as Rochester, 
N. Y., where the frost eaters the ground deeply and the 
earth stays solid until after snow is all gone and until 
after we have heavy spring rains, in which case, it seems 
to me that not even our lower neighbor would be bene¬ 
fited, but that the fertilizing principles would be washed 
away worse than they would even in the average farm 
barnyard, which Is little better than a large leach tub ? 
ANSWERED BY HENRY STEWART. 
The experiences given relate to Michigan and northern 
Pennsylvania chiefly, where I was then residing, but I 
have found them applicable to the South as well. In writ¬ 
ing them, however, my mind was mostly on my farming 
in the North, and reference was intended to those colder 
regions where the ground is covered with snow the greater 
part of the winter. 
Second Crops After Potatoes. 
W. li. N., Wayne County, N. Y.—l am going to plant 
’ two acres to early potatoes on rented land, and wish to 
know what crop I can best put on the land for a second 
crop to be harvested another fail. The potatoes would be 
off by August 10. The land produced a good crop of 
cabDages last year. I have thought of sowing millet, 
Hungarian or barley for fodder. Which would The 
Rural advise and what fertilizers should I use ? I have 
thought, too, of setting out turnip plants. The land is not 
suited to celery. 
Ans.— English (flat) turnips of an early variety are the 
cheapest and handiest crop to sow, and with au open fall 
will give a good yield. But probably a better is winter 
rye, which will need only a moderate dressing, say 300 
pounds per acre, of a good complete fertilizer. With it 
may be sown grass and clover if that is desired, as a suc¬ 
cession. As potatoes are exhaustive of potash, a dressing 
of ashes on the light snow in the spring would be a help 
to any succeeding crop. But if a garden crop only is 
wanted, turnip plants would perhaps be the best—some 
early, quick-growing Swede would probably pay as well 
as anything. The winter rye, if preferred, may be fed off 
in the spring, or turned under as a fertilizer, but it will 
pay very well to leave it to ripen as the crop is much 
heavier than from spring rye. Fifty bushels to the acre 
are not uncommon. 
Grasses for Kansas Pastures. 
W. J., Atchison, Kan. —I want to lay out in pasture 10 
acres each for hogs, cows and horses. What would be the 
best grass or mixture of grasses for each of the plots ? 
What is the best grass for sheep ? How many head of 
stock will the above plots pasture ? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. C. C. GEORGESON, KANSAS AGRICUL¬ 
TURAL COLLEGE. 
In Atchison County and in north-eastern Kansas gener¬ 
ally, Alfalfa can be successfully raised. I would sow the 
10-acre hog lot to Alfalfa. Prepare the ground well and 
sow it early by itself. If sown with oats or otfier crops the 
chances of failure are greater than when it is started alone. 
If the soil is rich, 20 pounds of seed to the acre is enough; 
but if it lacks fertility, sow 22 to 25 pounds to the acre or 
even more. Sow broadcast and harrow it in lightly. Keep 
the weeds mowed down during the first summer, but do not 
allow the hogs on the lot until it is well started next 
spring. If the crop is successful it should support about 
50 head of hogs for about six months every year there¬ 
after for 10 years. 
In the two remaining lots I would sow a mixture of 
grasses and clover. Tuts, too, should be sown as soon as 
possible, and nothing else should occupy the ground. It 
would be best not to allow the stock on it till next year, 
or at least till late in the summer of the first year. Young 
grass is easily tramped out. Sow broadcast, if possible, 
but if continued high winds render this impracticable, sow 
with a drill rather than wait till the season is too far ad¬ 
vanced. Set it to run shallow. A shoe drill or a Dowagiac 
roller drill is to be preferred. We have had splendid results 
from sowing grass seed with the last-named drill. As to 
the mixtures, the following would be suitable for the 
HORSE LOT, PER ACRE. 
Lbs. 
Timothy .20 
Orchard Grass. 15 
English Rye Grass. 10 
Meadow Foxtail. 5 
Red Top . 5 
Blue Gruss. 4 
Red Clover. 2 
COW LOT, PER ACRE. 
Orchard Grass, two bushels.21 
Roil Clover. 6 
Tail Meadow Oat Grass. 10 
English RyeGiuss . 7 
Timothy. 5 
Blue Grass. 5 
Meadow Foxtail. 2 
Red Top. 2 
This may appear somewhat heavy seeding, but it is none 
too heavy for the purpose intended. If there are no draw¬ 
backs to the growth on account of poor soil or dry seasons, 
each lot should afford pasture for about five animals, in 
general terms. No definite number cau be specified. It 
must be borne in mind that the larger the animals the 
more they eat. A 1,600-pound Holstein cow will eat at 
least a third more than a 900-pound Jersey. 
In general, the flne-bladed grasses which make a close 
growth are best for sheep, such as English and Italian Rye 
Grass, Blue Grass, Creeping Bent Grass, Sweet Vernal 
Grass and White Clover. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Pears on Apple Stock— D. C. A., Cattaraugus, N. Y.-— 
It will not answer to graft pear on apple root pieces, as 
pears will not thrive on apple stock. Grafting the peach 
rarely succeeds in the North. It should be budded. 
Emily Agnes Carman Rose— J. Van L.—This rose is in 
the hands of the Scorrs & Harrison Co , of Painesville, 
O. It propagates with difficulty, and the firm has been 
slow in acccumulating a stock large enough to justify 
them in offering it for sale. 
Scotch Magnum Bonum Potatoes.—J. E. T., Balti¬ 
more, Md.—We raised the English Magnum Bonum 
(which you say command high prices in your trade) when 
it was first offered. The yield was small, the quality 
soggy. Seedlings, also, proved to be inferior. They will 
not pay for seed. 
Different Kinds of Mustard.—L. S. S., Lacyville, N. Y. 
—You are right in saying that black mustard plants 
never live through the winter. There are many kinds of 
mustard. Tower Mustard (Arabis perfoliata; is biennial. 
Treacle Mustard, Worm-seed Mustard are also biennial. 
Black Mustard (Sinapis or Brassica nigra), White Mus¬ 
tard (S. alba) are annuals. 
Fertilizers vs Stable Manure.— H. G. W., Hudson Co., 
N. J.—On a very poor, sandy (Impoverished soil) for pota¬ 
toes we should prefer half a ton of high-grade fertilizer to 
stable manure, though we should use from 1,200 to 1,500 
pounds to the acre. 
Prices of Potash .—W. E , Sardinia, N. Y.—Muriate of 
potash costs at retail about 4>£ cents the pound of actual 
potash. Sulphate costs about six cents. The muriate 
contains about 50 per cent of actual potash, the sulphate 
varies from 26 to 43 per cent of purity. The muriate is con¬ 
sidered inferior for tobacco, potatoes and beets. For other 
crops it is not known that tne muriate is less valuable than 
the sulphate. Muriate is the cheapest kind of potash. The 
Strassfurt mines of Germany give the main supply. 
