THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
8i5 
i89i 
the glass clears, or the butter separates, I stop the churn, 
open It and rinse It down with cold brine, pouring it 
through a hair sieve, so as to make it like a spray. I then 
carefully draw off the buttermilk, when cold water enough 
to cool it below 55 degrees Is added before the churn is 
again agitated. If disturbed before that tempenture is 
reached, it will gather in masses and you cannot wash it 
clean. It is desirable to get all the milky matter, casein, 
etc., out before the butter is massed. I use repeated wash, 
ings until the water comes away clear. To work it prop¬ 
erly, the butter must be raised to about 60 degrees. If 
worked below 55 degrees, it will be crumbly—not compact. 
To get it to the proper temperature in cold weather, I use 
for the last washing water warm enough to bring up the 
butter. It is then salted. I nse from three-quarters of an 
ounce, to an ounce of salt to the pound of butter. I work 
it but once, when it is put in prints or packed in tubs right 
from the butter worker.” 
What a Good Butter Cow Must Do. 
“ How many pounds of butter must a cow produce to be 
a profitable member of a dairy ? ” 
“ No mature cow that produces less than 250 pounds of 
butter annually should be kept in the dairy. I would not 
discard a young cow that made 200 ponnds in her first 
year—she may do better each succeeding year and at ma¬ 
turity be a valuable dairy animal. My best record was in 
one year when I milked 80 cows which averaged 271 pounds 
of butter each.” 
‘‘What do you do with your skim-mllk and buttermilk ?” 
“ Feed them to calves and pigs. I prefer grade Berk- 
shires for swine—they seem to thrive admirably with me.” 
“ What prices have you realized for your butter ? ” 
“ I figured up before going to a dairy meeting in the 
spring of 1890, and found that for the seven or eight pre¬ 
ceding years I had received an average of 40 cents. 
It has been a little lower since.” 
Mr. Gilbert’s barn is a long, low bnilding, with 
only an attic for a mow. He reasoned that with 
ensilage much less mow room would be needed, 
and he has found what he has amply large. The 
drop is covered with a grate, through which 
the droppings pass into a water-tight trench, 
into which some absorbents are put. At intervals 
the wagon is driven right around the stalls, and 
the manure is handled but once from the drop 
to the wagon, and thence to the fields. Sawdust 
is used for bedding, and plaster is sprinkled 
through every day, thus absorbing all the odors 
and adding to the value of the fertilizer. A 
swinging stanchion is used in the stables. The 
lean-to is used for box stalls, for cows about to 
drop calves and for young stock. Water is car¬ 
ried to each cow in a trough, and she helps her¬ 
self when it is wanted. The bottoms of the silos 
are on a level with the stable floor, and the 
ensilage is loaded into a car which takes it to the 
cows. Mr. Gilbert has several improvements in 
the stables under way, of which I hope to speak 
at some future time. 
His success is a capital illustration of what per¬ 
severance coupled with intelligent and studious 
methods may accomplish. He has proven that 
the soil of that section is fertile, and that dairy¬ 
ing may be made a profitable industry—not by control¬ 
ling the price of the finished products, but by reducing 
the cost of production. He has fairly earned the success 
which he has attained, and has given the industry an 
impetus which will long be felt. B. G. F. 
A NEW APPLE OF GREAT PROMISE. 
On the 18th of October, The R. N.-Y. received a box con¬ 
taining six apples from Colfax, Washington, sent by 
George Ruedy, a nurseryman of that place. In quality they 
certainly equal any apple we have ever eaten. The hard¬ 
iness of the tree may be guessed at after reading the fol¬ 
lowing letter from Mr. Ruedy : 
“ By to day’s express I send The R. N.-Y. six specimens 
of the Palouse Apple, a seedling of extreme hardiness, 
which originated near this place. It first attracted my at¬ 
tention in 1889, when it was entered at our county fair and 
took first premium as the best seedling exhibited. The 
original tree was raised from seed brought from Illinois 
in 1879, and although since that time we have had several 
winters when the thermometer registered 38 to 40 degrees 
below zero, the tree is perfectly sound in every way. As 
to the quality of the apple, the samples sent will enable 
one to judge. Please keep some of them on hand as long 
as possible and kindly inform me in dne time what you 
think of their keeping quality. It is needless to say that I 
value the apple very highly, but I lay particular stress on 
the hardiness of the tree. I cannot say too much for it in 
that respect.” 
In the absence of any information we should say that 
this is a seedling of the Esopus Spitzeuburgh, of even bet¬ 
ter quality than that standard of apple excellence. The 
shape is oblong conical, as the illustrations show (Figs. 290 
and 291, page 814). The color is a high, rich golden yellow, 
more than half covered with a crimson-red, which is itself 
splashed, lined and dotted with a somewhat darker red. 
The stalk is an inch long, slender and sometimes curved, 
sometimes straight. The basin is rather shallow, dis¬ 
tinctly furrowed, the furrows often carried to the deep 
cavity. The calyx is often closed, sometimes partly open. 
The flesh is yellowish, crisp, firm, exceedingly aromatic, 
rather acid, rich, juicy, and, as we believe from the speci¬ 
mens sent, unequaled. We have never eaten apples that 
impressed ns as being so near to perfection as the Palouse, 
the name given to it. 
The R. N.-Y.’s happy hits in its praise of hardy fruits 
in general will, we fpel cp&fldent, induce our readers to 
try a tree or so of this apple which, if we may trust the in¬ 
troducer, with whom we have no acquaintance, is as hardy 
as it is excellent. 
CHANGING THE CHARACTER OF CORN. 
CAN WE MAKE IT A NITROGENOUS GRAIN ? 
At the last meeting of the Association of Experiment 
Stations, Professor Atwater spoke of the need of more 
nitrogenous grains, and of a possible nitrogenous variety 
of corn. He then said : “ I think such a variety can be 
bred by careful selection. Is it not possible that by selecting 
a variety comparatively rich in nitrogen, taking seed from 
the ears which show the largest nitrogen content, and fol¬ 
lowing this process for many generations, we may even¬ 
tually obtain a variety of corn suited to our needs f” 
Are there, in your judgment, any possibilities in this 
direction f 
Can we hope to make corn meal a nitrogenous food ? 
Would it be advisable to do so f 
What is the widest chemical difference between the 
different varieties of corn, or the same variety as grown 
in different sections f 
What Chemical Analysis Shows. 
1. I am not a botanist, but from the opinions of botanists 
who have been consulted in this particular there would 
seem to be no reason why a more nitrogenous corn than 
that at present grown could not be bred. That there 
would be limits beyond which we could not hope to go 
would doubtless be true. 
2. That we can make corn meal, strictly speaking, a ni¬ 
trogenous food, is probably not possible, but that its per¬ 
centage of nitrogenous substances could be considerably 
increased there is little doubt. 
“IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND.” Fig. 292. 
3. Our American feeding stuffs are, as a rule, rich in 
fats and carbohydrates and relatively poor in protein. 
This statement seems to me to answer the question as to 
the desirability of making corn meal a more nitrogenous 
food if possible. 
4. The widest ranges of the same species of corn grown 
in New England that have come to my attention, are 
those in the report of this station for 1889 and that of 1890. 
On page 115 of the report of this station for 1890, the re¬ 
sults of the analyses made by this station are summar¬ 
ized. It will be observed that the smallest amount of 
protein fonnd in perfect kernels of corn was nine per 
cent and the largest 13.2 per cent, with an average of 11.4 
per cent. In the whole crop as harvested, including per¬ 
fect ears and nubbins, the minimum was 8 3 per cent, the 
maximum 13.2 per cent, with an average of 10 7 per cent 
of protein. That this minimum of 8.3 per cent was not 
due to the presence of the poor corn (soft ears and nub¬ 
bins) is indicated by the results of the analyses of nine 
samples of poor corn in which the minimum protein was 
11.6 per cent, the maximum 13.4 per cent, with an average 
of 12 5 per cent. The minimum found in 121 analyses 
made in this laboratory was 8.3 per cent protein, with a 
maximum of 13.4, and an average of 11.1. In a compila¬ 
tion of the composition of feeding stuffs made by Dr. E. 
H. Jenkins for the office of experiment stations, there is 
shown a considerably wider range of protein than these 
figures indicate. This was to have been expected since 
his compilation included all American analyses of differ¬ 
ent varieties of corn grown in different sections of the 
country and, what is perhaps as important as anything 
else in giving differences in results, the analyses were 
made by different analysts by methods which were only 
more or less comparable with each other. The analyses 
made by this station, the results of which were quoted 
above, were made by the same analysts, within two years’ 
time and by the same methods. Hence, it is probable that 
for purposes of comparison the results may be considered 
accurate. 
The variations in composition of corn stover (stalks 
after harvest without ears) are even greater than the 
variations in the composition of the grain itself. In the 
table on page 118 of the same report you will notice that 
the protein in the stover of yellow flint corn varied from 
a minimum of 3.9 per cent to a maximum of 10.1 per cent, 
with an average of 6.2 per cent—the number of analyses 
upon which these figures were based being 101. 
Chemist, Storrs School Exp. Sta. chas. d. woods. 
A Richer Cattle Food Possible: Not a Bread 
Flour. 
1. It is quite certain that the maize kernel may be made 
richer in albuminoids by careful selection of seed, by 
abundant—not excessive—fertilization, and by judicious 
planting and tillage. Of the possibilities of improving a 
species wonderfully by Intelligent selection of seed we 
have ample proof. Let me call attention to some striking 
variations in chemical composition due to fertilization and 
methods of planting (which many observers have noted) 
illustrated by our own field experiments. 
The kernels from a dent variety planted in one tenth 
acre plots in drills four feet apart, but at different dis¬ 
tances in the drill, contained the following per cents of 
albuminoids: 
Per cent of 
.Albuminoids 
Distance of planting. In crop. 
One stalk in four feet. 10 .i 
Ono stalk In two feet. 9.2 
One stalk to a foot.. 9.5 
Two stalks to a foot. 7.7 
Four stalks to a foot. 6.9 
Eight stalks to a foot. 8.7 
The larger per cent of albuminoid in the last plot is due 
to the unripe condition of the kernels. But the figures 
show a difference of 3.2 per cent of albuminoids, which 
must be ascribed chiefly, if not entirely, to a difference in 
the distances of planting. 
Again, note the effect of deficiency of plant food on the 
composition of the kernel—that part of the plant which is 
regarded as the least susceptible to variations of chemical 
composition. Four adjacent strips ot land, each containing 
three tenths of an acre, which had been planted to corn and 
had received the same fertilizers in the two previous years, 
were differently fertilized in 1899 and planted again to 
corn. One had cow manure, the second hog 
manure, the third chemical fertilizers, the fourth 
no fertilizer. The hog manure supplied a very 
large amount of nitrogen in excess of the crop 
requirement, the cow manure only half as large 
an excess, and the chemicals only enough to make 
up what the last three crops had taken from 
the soil in excess of the fertilizers that had been 
applied. As far as can be judged from the chem¬ 
ical analyses of the crops and the fertilizers ap¬ 
plied for the two years preceding, available phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash must have been in rela¬ 
tive excess in the soil of all four plots. The per 
cents of albuminoids in the dry matter of the 
corn (kernel) on these plots were as follows: 
Cow manure. 10.31 
Hog manure.. .•..10 63 
Chemicals. 10.66 
No fertilizers . 8.80 
When sufficient nitrogen was supplied, the ker¬ 
nels were as rich in nitrogen (albuminoids) as 
when a large excess was used, but deficiency of 
nitrogen in the soil made the corn poorer in ni¬ 
trogen (albuminoids.) These are illustrations of 
the plasticity, If I may use the word, of the maize 
kernel, i. e , the ease with which changes in 
chemical composition may be made in it. With 
this plasticity may be associated the possibility 
of fixing in a given variety more or less perma¬ 
nently a more highly nitrogenous or farinaceous char¬ 
acter according to the wish of the judicious breeder. 
2. We can make corn meal a richer nitrogenous food for 
cattle than It is to day without doubt. I do not believe it 
can ever be made a bread stuff like wheat, because the 
chemical nature of the albuminoids of Indian corn Is 
radically different from that of the albuminoids of wheat. 
I don’t believe a “ dough ” like wheat dough could ever be 
made from Indian corn. Nor do I think it could ever take 
the Diace of wheat as a food for human beings till the 
alimentary duct of the human race by long centuries of 
“groaning and travailing in pain together ” had become a 
good deal more callous and less Irritable than now. 
3. Perhaps the third question as to the differences In the 
per cent of albuminoids found in corn has been sufficiently 
answered already. On the average, flints and dents con¬ 
tain about the same, 10% per cant of albuminoids—the 
sweet varieties a per cent more. “ Western corn ” brought 
here to market often has two per cent less albuminoids 
than the corresponding varieties raised in Connecticut. 
The difference, I imagine, is due to differences in the 
fertilization and tillage. [dr.] e. h. jenkins. 
We Do Not Need a Nitrogenous Corn. 
From the best data at my command it seems to have 
been shown that the amount of albuminoid nitrogen in 
corn sometimes varies from eight to ten per cent; but I 
do not think it has been shown that this variation is con¬ 
stant with the varieties, but that samples of the same 
variety vary about as much as do the different varieties. 
The differences would seem to be due. not to any con¬ 
stant characteristic, but to accidental circumstances in 
the growth of the crop, such as the condition of the par¬ 
ticular soil, the amount of nitrification in the soil during 
the growth of the crop, etc. I have never yet seen any¬ 
thing, either in my own work or in experiments made 
by others, that would indicate that there is any possi¬ 
bility of making any permanent increase in the nitro¬ 
genous character of Indian corn. Without any facts, 
but reasoning only from probabilities, I would suppose 
that the amount of nitrogen, or rather the relative per¬ 
centage of nitrogen, will vary more from climatic condi¬ 
tions than on account of variety, and that corn grown in 
the North will probably be less nitrogenous than corn 
grown in the South. The widest difference between two 
samples of which I have any record was less than 10 per 
cent. I believe the same variety will probably show a 
lower percentage of nitrogen as it goes northward. Corn 
occupies In our feeding a place that nothing else will. I 
can see no possible advantage to our agriculture in 
