i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
345 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
(Every query must be accompanied by the name and address 
of the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question, please 
see if it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate piece 
of paper.] 
Summer Saving of Manure. 
H H. D., Eustis, Fla.— How can I best save cow manure 
from this date until September, so that none of the ferti¬ 
lizing elements will be lost ? I have pens with tight sides, 
and roofs that keep out sun and rain; will it pay to spread 
land plaster in them ? Is land plaster worth $14 per ton 
as a fertilizer for garden truck on coarse, sandy land ? 
Will it pay to apply hard-wood, unleached ashes for onions 
on the same kind of ground—ashes to analyze six to eight 
per cent potash, and to cost $27 per ton ? 
Ans —An excellent plan to keep cow manure through 
the summer is by mixing it with swamp muck in equal 
proportions, and sprinkling plaster through the heap. It 
may then be kept in a pen, but should not be permitted to 
dry out. It will decompose slowly and help the muck to 
decay as well, thus doubling its bulk and value. Good 
swamp muck when decayed is worth as much as ordinary 
cow manure. Plaster is not worth $14 per ton in Florida 
when superphosphate can be got for $25 per ton, as the soil 
although sandy, contains a large quantity of lime. Plaster 
is not an effective fertilizer for the lime it contains, but 
chiefly for the sulphuric acid and this is contained in the su¬ 
perphosphate. The price of the ashes is also too great for 
profitable use. Potash cau be procured more cheaply in the 
form of kainit, which will cost no more and contains 12 or 
more per cent of potash. Superphosphate of lime is the 
most useful fertilizer for onions. The calcareous, sandy 
soils of Florida contain lime and phosphoric acid, but both 
are in an insoluble condition, consequently the superphos¬ 
phate of lime is one of the most effective fertilizers for such 
land. 
About Cranberry Growing. 
M. F. L., Hembree, Oregon —How are cranberries culti¬ 
vated ? If propagated from seeds or cuttings where can 
these be obtained ? 
Ans. —A representative of The R. N. Y. visited the 
cranberry bogs of southern New Jersey, last fall. This 
region and the vicinity of Cape Cod in Massachusetts are 
the principal sources of supply in the East. Cranberries 
have been extensively planted in some parts of Wisconsin 
quite recently, but the danger from frosts both spring and 
fall is greater there than in the Eastern cranberry dis¬ 
tricts. We believe there is much excellent territory for 
the cultivation of the cranberry in Oregon and Washing¬ 
ton. A cranberry field is called a bog. The ideal location 
is a drained bed of an old mill-pond. A bog must be so 
situated that it can be flooded with water when desired. 
A piece of swamp land situated along some stream is 
usually selected. These swamps are usually covered with 
a dense growth of bushes, brakes, wild grasses, etc., and 
clearing them is a formidable and expensive undertaking. 
The first step is to drain and “ turf ” the ground, that is, 
remove all the bushes, brakes, roots, etc., it sometimes be¬ 
ing necessary to remove the surface to the depth of a foot 
or more. Natural water-courses are cleaned out and 
straightened and ditches dug. Several hundred dollars 
per acre are often expended in this way. After the turf¬ 
ing, the surface is covered with four to six inches of sand. 
Sometimes dams are built and the bogs flooded for a suffi¬ 
cient time to kill all vegetation before turfing. This ren¬ 
ders the latter operation easier, but takes a longer time. 
The planting is done any time of year when convenient, 
except during winter. Cuttings six or eight inches long, 
made from thrifty vines, are planted eight or ten inches 
apart and thrust well into the sand. The after cultivation 
consists simply in keeping out the wild grass and weeds 
and opening and shutting the flume gates when it is de¬ 
sired to flood the bog or draw off the water. J. J. H. 
Gregory, Marblehead, Mass., formerly advertised cranber¬ 
ry plants and we presume he does so yet. 
Squash Bugs; Hens; Blackberries. 
F. W. W , Leominster, Mass. —1. What is the best rem¬ 
edy lor squash bugs ? 2. What conditions of soil, etc., 
would produce the largest squashes ? 3. What breed of 
hens would be the most profitable for family use, where 
there is but limited land ? 4. My Lucretia Dewberries are 
hard, sour and ill filled ; what will improve them ? 5. Who 
has a real tree blackberry ? 
Ans. —1. That is a question The R.N.-Y. is unable to an¬ 
swer. Dusting with ground tobacco stems we have found 
as effective as any of the scores of supposed repeliants. 2. 
A thoroughly mellow condition and a fertilizer made of 
unleached ashes, fine bone and nitrate of soda will prob¬ 
ably be as effective as any combination—using four bush¬ 
els of ashes to 100 pounds of bone and 25 pounds of nitrate. 
3. If eggs are the first object, Leghorns. If an “ all-pur¬ 
pose” fowl is preferred, then choose between Brahmas, 
Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes. 4. We fancy you have 
not the true Lucretia. 5. There is no such plant. 
Equivalent of Stable Manure in Chemicals. 
J. M. R., Christian County, Mo— T. Greiner’s “Howto 
Make the Garden Pay ” gives 50 tons of farmyard manure 
as a liberal amount to use in gardening per acre, and, as 
an equivalent, one ton of high-grade fertilizer. According 
to the formula given, the first would represent 400 pounds 
of nitrogen; 500 pounds of potash, 200 pounds of phos¬ 
phoric acid; and the latter 100 pounds of nitrogen, 160 
pounds of potash, 120 pounds of phosphoric acid. Mr. 
Greiner says he would use the first in moderate quantities 
at $2.50 per ton as aggregate cost. The latter would cost 
le3s than $£0 in his section. Of course the prices of both 
kinds would vary greatly. The expense of handling barn¬ 
yard manure would be much the same anywhere, but first 
cost would vary from nothing to, possibly, the figures above 
given. The fertilizers would cost much more in the West, 
by reason of long transportation charges. Now is it a fair 
comparison, as given on pages 32-36 ? What would be the 
comparative effects in a series of years from the applica¬ 
tion of 50 tons of barnyard manure, or one ton of high- 
grade fertilizer ? 
Ans. —If land is manured too heavily for many years, it 
would Anally, like a manure heap, become so rich that 
many plants would not thrive upon it. Plants do best 
when, in an available form, they have all the plant food 
required. We can do no better. Beyond that is waste. 
We do not see but that Mr. Greiner’s comparisons are fair. 
The comparison is for the season only. The farm manure 
is slowly soluble, and would probably be as effective the 
second as the first year. The fertilizer would not. This 
would please us better for most crops if it contained more 
phosphoric acid. 
About Various Apple6. 
H. B. A , Traverse City, Mich—l. Where can I get 
McClelland Apple trees, one or two years old? 2 Do the Mc¬ 
Intosh or Shiawassee Beauty Apples spot or scab? 3. Is the 
Sutton Beauty Apple as productive, and as good a keeper 
as the Baldwin, and as hardy as the Northern Spy? 4. 
How does the Angouleme Pear do as a standard? At what 
age does it bear, and are the pears of as good quality as on 
dwarf trees? 5. Are the Bose, Hardy, Dana’s Hovey, Win¬ 
ter Nelis, Rutter and President Drouard Pears productive 
and salable enough for market pears? At what ages do 
they bear paying crops? 
Ans.— 1. We are unable to say where young trees of 
the M Clelland Apple can be obtained. 2. Shiawassee 
Beauty, like Fameuse, is inclined to spot. The McIn¬ 
tosh we have not fruited yet. 3. Sutton Beauty is pro¬ 
ductive and a longer keeper than the Baldwin, and it is 
as hardy as the Northern Spy. 4. The Angouleme Pear does 
as well as a standard after it has attained age, say 15 
years; the pears are equally as good as on drawf trees; 
but we would advise planting dwarf trees of that 
variety. 5. Bose, Hardy and Winter Nelis are valu¬ 
able pears for market and sell at high prices; Dana’s Hovey 
Is too small for market; Rutter and Pres. Drouard we 
have not had any experience with. ELLWANGEB & BABBY. 
Clovers For Orchard Manuring. 
A. II IT, Baltimore County, Md. —I have about 24 
acres in orchard and being short of the money to expend in 
chemical fertilizers I desire to know how I can make use 
of clover as an improver of my soil and an orchard fertil¬ 
izer? What variety of clover is best suited to my use ? 
Will Crimson Clover do me as much good as Pea-vine 
Clover? If I could doit I would like to be able to raise such 
crops as beans, tobacco, sugar beets, potatoes and sweet 
corn for soiling between the rows of trees and at the same 
time, be able to raise a crop of clover each year to plow 
under about May 1. Of course I would use some fertilizer 
in the spring on the crops above named. Will the same 
amount of green matter, 15,000 pounds, as stated in The 
Rural of March 14, and also the same fertilizing value be 
had from an acre of Crimson Clover by May 1? Would the 
Pea vine Clover sown in September produce that amount 
by the following May? Would any preparing of the 
ground in September for the clover seed be necessary ? 
Ans. —A frequent mistake in the management of an 
orchard is that the trees are not to be thought of and 
treated as a crop. A growing tree takes a large quantity 
of food from the soil, of necessity, and a bearing orchard 
requires food not only for the continued growth of wood, 
but for the growth of the fruit and the seeds. Consequent¬ 
ly it is as bad a practice to grow other crops on the ground 
as it would be to sow a crop of oats with one of corn. In 
fact an orchard should not only have the whole ground to 
itself, but it should have manure as well, and in addition 
the roots of the trees should be protected from damage 
caused by plowing among them, which breaks a multitude 
of the feeding roots, and thus not only checks the growth 
of the trees, but diverts the nutriment from them and the 
fruit, in the repairing of the Injury by the necessary res¬ 
toration of these broken roots. In a young orchard, for 
the first three or four years, partial cropping may be per¬ 
mitted, but the crops grown should not be exhaustive 
ones, as corn or other grains. Potatoes, beans or other 
similar growing crops may be admissible, because the 
tillage of the soil, which the roots have not yet occupied, 
will be of sufficient advantage to make up for the plant 
food abstracted. After this period, however, no plow 
should be put into the ground. The best managed orchard 
I have ever seen is that of Mr. McKinstry of Columbia 
County, N. Y., which covered 300 acres and had 15,000 ap¬ 
ple trees in it. The system practiced was to work the land 
with a cultivator, merely breaking the surface every third 
year. Whatever weeds grew, were mowed do vn and left 
on the ground to decay before any seed was formed. At 
regular intervals clover was sown and mowed for hay, the 
aftermath being left to rot on the ground, forming a 
mulch and rich manure for the soil. As Mr. McKinstry’s 
sales of fruit averaged $30,000 a year this result may be 
taken as a proof of the excellence of his management. 
Annual clover, the Crimson variety, Trifolium incarna- 
tum, I believe to be a much overrated plant. The bsst 
variety for the purpose mentioned is, I believe, the Pea- 
vine Clover. This remains in growth for five years, and 
not only makes a heavy crop of good hay in July, but re¬ 
covers rapidly and makes a large aftermath, which, if left 
on the ground, will afford ample manure for the trees in 
the decaying herbage. It is true there is nothing, practi¬ 
cally, in this except what has come from the soil, but what 
has been thus drawn from the soil Is returned in available 
plant food which no other crop can so easily and effec¬ 
tively gather. It takes up inert nitrogen and mineral 
matter and leaves it in an organic and available condition, 
and thus really leaves the land richer than it was before, in 
available food. It adds nothing to the soil but the nitro¬ 
gen it has gathered from the atmosphere; but it changes 
the form and condition of the matter which it feeds upon, 
and thus acts most beneficially. There is reason to believe 
that Crimson Clover sown in September will go through 
the winter safely and may be plowed under in May in the 
South, (but not in the North.) The root growth, however, 
which is the chief value of the Pea-vine Clover, will be 
very much less in quantity. The plowing under of this 
annual clover might be Injurious so far as it might break 
the surface feeding roots of the trees, but would be help¬ 
ful in adding manure to the land. It is very questionable 
if this clover would make any sufficient growth for the 
purpose desired in Maryland. Further south, as in North 
Carolina, it will do better, but the estimate of 15,000 
pounds per acre, where the growth is stationary during 
the winter, is greatly exaggerated. Pea vine Clover will 
not make any such growth even until July or later, and 
then only on very rich soil, and it must be sown in July or 
August. In sowing any kind of clover the soil should be 
in such a condition that the seed may be covered at least 
an Inch, or successful growth cannot be insured. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Value of Pure Animal Bone. 
R. P. McA., Saxon, N. C.— Please tell me and other 
farmers why the experiment stations that analyze and 
place a valuation upon fertilizers and fertilizing materials 
persistently refuse to place a valuation on pure undissolved 
ground bone ? I have repeatedly asked our fertilizer sta¬ 
tion to give us the value of ground bone, but they say it is 
not met with in sufficient quantities to justify a valuation. 
Why is the price so high.with fertilizer manufacturers if it 
is worthless as a.fertilizer ? 
Ans.—O ur friend is mistaken. Let him turn to the 
annual report of the Connecticut Experiment Station and 
he will find many analyses of pure„raw, ground bone. For 
example, on page 31, Bradley’s analysis Is as follows: Ni¬ 
trogen 3.62, phosphoric acid 22.81. It cost $35 per ton and 
the Station values it at $40. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Wire Worms; Ashes and Bone.— S. S. B., Ithaca, N. Y. 
—The R. N.-Y. has found flowers of sulphur a remedy for 
wire worms. Use from 100 to 250 pounds to the acre. The 
cost of the sulphur is the objectionable part. It may be 
sown over the seed pieces. As to which is most profitable 
to mix with bone meal—hard-wood unleached ashes at $20, 
kainit at $15, or muriate of potash at $42 per ton ; if the 
ashes are of fine quality, we should use them in preference 
to the muriate. It would not be desirable to mix the ashes 
and bone. Why not apply them separately ? Potash is, 
at present cheaper in muriate than in kainit. The form 
is virtually the same. 
Potash With lien Manure. —A. M. H., Cottage, N. Y.— 
Mr. Johnson, page 262, used muriate of potash instead of 
wood ashes with his hen manure because he could buy the 
needed potash in the first form cheaper than in the other. 
The ashes and hen manure may be used but should al¬ 
ways be mixed just belore putting In the soil, otherwise 
the ammonia will escape. The plaster was used to fix and 
hold the ammonia. It is better than muck fori his pur¬ 
pose because it makes a chemical combination with the 
ammonia, while muck only absorbs it, or holds it mechan¬ 
ically. 
Cotton-Seed Meal— G. W. K., Fishersville, Va.—An 
average sample of cotton-seed meal contains seven per 
cent of nitrogen, three of phosphoric acid and two of pot¬ 
ash. A mixture of 1,200 pounds of cotton-seed meal and 
800 pounds of ground bone will give over five per cent of 
nitrogen. 
Slaked Lime for Orchards.— The question as to whether 
slaked lime at five cents per bushel cau be profitabjy used on 
an orchard can be answered only by trial. The effect of 
lime upon land was well presented in an editorial on page 
288. It may have a decided effect to increase the available 
fertility of your soil—it may not. 
Composition of Sorghum Seed.— F. S. W., Sweetwater, 
Tenn.—The comparative analysis of sorghum seed shows 
the following: 
Protein. Fat. Carbohydrates. 
Corn . 10.31 5.53 «y 47 
Wheat ....;. 11 70 .00 71.80 
Rye. 10.60 1.70 73.00 
Sorghum. 9.2 S.il 70.57 
Manure for Big Fruit Farms— Several subscribers. The 
manure bill on some of the great fruit and vegetable 
farms is something enormous. For example, John F. 
White, of Mount Morris, who has over 700 acres in fruit 
and market truck, writes that he used 2,000 loads of stable 
manure last year, procuring what was not made upon the 
farm In near-by villages. Before that, for one season, he 
bought several car-loads at the stock-yards in Buffalo, but 
it did not give satisfactory results. He has used green 
manure in the form of rye, but was not satisfied with the 
results, and thinks he would much prefer oats. He used 
chemical fertilizers one season, but was not pleased with 
their effects, and prefers wood ashes and ground bone, 300 
to 500 pounds to the acre, thoroughly mixed several days 
before using, and sown broadcast. 
Ensilage and Corn Fodder.— W. D. H., East Park, N. 
Y.—Corn stalks lose none of their nutriment when placed 
in a good silo. Analysis shows little difference in the dry 
matter of ensilage and air-cured stalks, but the former are 
softer and more readily eaten besides furnishing “succu¬ 
lence.” We should expect to gain 50 per cent of the value 
of an acre of corn fodder by putting it in the silo. In the 
hands of a skillful farmer an acre of corn fodder may be 
made to equal in feeding value an acre of clover hay. 
Clover hay perfectly prepared is a perfect ration for sus¬ 
taining animal life in a normal condition. In the majority 
of cases it is not perfectly prepared. When extra exertion 
in the way of work, milk, fat or butter production is de¬ 
manded, something must be added, as the hay is too 
bulky. 
New Berries.— R. H. P., Sedlo, Washington.—The Buf¬ 
falo berry is sold by the Cold Spring Seed Farm, Big Horn 
City, Wyoming. We prefer Eke Agnus longlpes. 
