244 
April 8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
there is less live weight to be sustained, and because 
their digestion is better. Besides, on the lambs a large 
amount of flesh—not fat—can be added, while on ma¬ 
ture sheep, very little, if anything, can be added ex¬ 
cept pure fat. The folds should be so divided that 
not more than 20 lambs should be put into a pen, and 
they should be sorted as to size, so that no weak ones 
should be compelled to rustle with a lot of stronger 
ones for their daily food. When put in, as above, they 
should not go out for anything until fitted for market, 
and should never be disturbed, except at feeding time, 
which should be regulated by the clock and should 
never vary a minute in any day. 
Ventilation is another very essential thing. 1 he 
air should be kept pure and sweet without causing 
drafts of cold air. This can be done by providing 
a way of taking the impure air out, by air trunks or 
chutes running from the folds up to and out of the 
roof. Plenty of land plaster or other absorbent should 
be used daily or at least twice or three times a week 
in the pens. This will fix the ammonia and while 
preventing the vitiating of the air, will add many 
times its cost to the value of the manure. By fol¬ 
lowing this plan he will soon find his crops growing 
larger and his farm will look, surrounded by those of 
his grain growing ani selling neighbors, like an oasis 
in a desert. J s * woodward. 
Does Nitrate of Soda Exhaust Soil? 
11. E. Biggins, Connecticut. —My soil is a sar dy loam 
with a yellow subsoil. Two years ago 1 purchased 
500 pounds of nitrate of soda and sow ed it on three 
acres of grass land, and the consequent growth of hay 
was very gratifying to me and an object of wonder to 
my neighbors, who upon seeing it were desirous of 
knowing the cause. In the early fall, after the hay 
had been cut, I spread a very liberal allowance of 
stable manure on this piece of ground in anticipation 
of a good crop the following year, but my hopes were 
doomed to disappointment ; for next season last 
summer—I cut the lightest crop I had cut in some 
years. The words of caution administered to me by 
the seller of the nitrate, that it was dangerous stuff 
and would pump the life out of the soil if I was not 
careful in using it, seemed to me to be about true. 
What is the condition of things following the use of 
nitrate of soda ? Does it leave the soil in a sort of 
debilitated state the following year ? 
Ans.—I f it were not for the fact that stable manure 
was applied in the fall, the failure of the hay crop 
would not be at all surprising. Before the nitrate 
was applied, the soil undoubtedly contained enough 
of all the elements of plant food, except nitrogeD, to 
produce a good crop of hay. The nitrate of soda fur¬ 
nished the nitrogen and the result was a big crop. 
The grass had to have other food besides nitrogen and 
so used the phosphoric acid, potash, etc., that were 
already in the soil, and thus in one sense “ pumped 
the life out of the soil.” But it was not the nitrate, 
but the big crop of hay that did it. “ You cannot eat 
your cake and keep it.” If you grow big crops, and 
especially big crops of hay, you must expect that they 
will remove more plant food from the soil than small 
crops. An equally large crop of hay produced by any 
other means than by the application of nitrate, would 
“ pump ” just as much “ life out of the soil”—that is, 
remove as much plant food—as the crop produced by 
the nitrate. If superphosphate and muriate of potash, 
or phosphoric acid and potash in some other forms, 
had been applied with the nitrate, the land would 
have been left in practically the same condition after 
the hay was removed as it was before. We have used 
nitrate of soda at Moreton Farm for many years and 
never noticed any injurious effect on the soil; but we 
almost invariably used superphosphate and sometimes 
potash in connection with it. It does not seem to be 
clearly understood by everybody that nitrate of soda 
furnishes nitrogen in its best and most available form, 
but nothing else. By using nitrate of soda, super¬ 
phosphate and muriate of potash, a “ complete fer¬ 
tilizer” can be made far cheaper, and in many cases 
better, than the same amount of plant food can be 
bought in a ready-mixed fertilizer with a high-sound¬ 
ing name. That the manure that Mr. Biggins applied 
to his grass did not produce a good crop of hay was 
probably due to the fact that it was applied in the 
fall and thus was exposed to the heavy rains of winter 
and spring, which washed away the larger part of the 
soluble nitrogen it contained, and so left the land 
without a sufficient supply of this necessary element 
If Mr. Biggins had again applied nitrate of soda in 
the spring he would, I think, have had another good 
crop of hay and would not have found his land so 
“debilitated” s - M - Harris. 
A Well Drain ; Steaming Wood. 
G. T. D., Narrowsburg, N. Y. —1. Can I drain a piece 
of land 700 feet long that slopes a little to the north, 
by digging a ditch in the center and filling it with 
round stones, and digging a well or pit at the north 
end to receive the discharge from the drain ? The soil 
is a sandy loam, and the subsoil a sandy clay. Will it 
be necessary to run the drain open to the river ? In the 
spring the latter backs up ; would that stop the drain ? 
2. How can hard wood be steamed in a small way for 
shares and runners, and how long will it have to stay 
in the steam box, and how much water is needed to 
make steam for this kind of work ? Should the wood 
be green or dry ? 
A ns.—1. The possibility of disposing of the drainage 
water by means of a well depends on several contin¬ 
gencies. There must be a loose, open stratum of gravel 
or sand by which the water may escape. There must 
not be such an excess of water as to overtax the 
capacity of the well to dispose of it; and there must 
be no other way of getting rid of the water, as this 
should be a last resort under any circumstances, for 
in time the sediment will probably fill the porous 
stratum and stop the sub drainage. It will be far the 
best to carry the drain to a river or stream that will 
dispose of the water, although the stream may risecon- 
sideiably at times. This rise, and the back water will 
tend to fill a drain of tile, and hence an open ditch will 
be preferable to a closed drain. 2 Steaming wood for 
the purpose of bending it is by no means difficult. It 
may be done in this way : a wooden box is made with 
steam-tight joints by packing tl e latter, put together 
by screws, with white lead. It may be made of any 
suitable shape, but one long and narrow, so as to re¬ 
ceive pieces for ox bows or sled runners, or buggy 
shafts, will be the most convenient. The front end 
has a tight door, to be closed by means of a wedge 
when in use, and through this the work is put in. Ihe 
box is set on common trestles and is connected with a 
portable boiler, as a common sugar kettle, having a 
Fig. 98. 
.wooden cover fitted lightly and clamped down by 
screws. This work may all be done by any one who 
can handle a saw and plane. The cover of the box has 
a wooden pipe fitted into it, and this is carried into 
the steam chest by making a square elbow in it. Or 
a quite cheap tin pipe may be procured to convey the 
steam. No pressure is required, but it is well to have 
a safety valve made in the cover of the kettle to be 
weighted lightly. At first the steam is condensed quite 
rapidly, but when the box and timber have become 
saturated, the pressure may rise so as to lift the cover; 
but usually there is sufficient escape through the 
joints to avoid any trouble from steam pressure. The 
wood will need to be steamed several hours to become 
softened quite through, and green wood will be more 
quickly steamed thoroughly than dry. It is better to 
finish the work before bending it. The bending is 
done on a frame made of a two-inch plank provided with 
11^-inch holes and hard-wood pins to hold the shape. 
The light wood-work of pleasure sleighs, as well as 
that for what is known as Vienna furniture may be 
handled in the easiest manner by this simple and cheap 
apparatus. When the work has cooled in the frame 
and has become quite dry. it will keep its shape. The 
steamer should be made of two-inch dry pine plank. 
H. STEWART. 
A Pair of Duchess Pears. 
J. T. R., Syracuse, N. Y.— 1. Is there a well known 
pear bearing the name ‘' Duchess ” distinct from the 
“Duchesse d’ Angouleme ?” I can answer the question 
to my own satisfact'on, but I wish The R. N . to 
say “ yes ” or “ no ” to satisfy an obstinate neighbor, 
who will accept only the highest authority. 2. What 
is the proper pronunciation of “ Bubach,” “ Michel,’’ 
“Lovett,” “Gladiolus?” 3. Are there two “Puritans” 
in the potato list—an early and a late variety? 4. Is 
“ Burpee’s Extra Early ” a white or pink sort? I 
have some of both colors that were procured from two 
sources under the same name. 5. Is “ Gov. Rusk ” 
early or late? I have seen it classed as both, but con¬ 
sider it early. 
Ans. —1. Yes, there are at least eight other varieties 
of which “Duchess” or “Duchesse” (the French form) 
is a part of the name; e. g-, Duchesse Precoce. Then 
there is the Duchesse de Brabant. Hence it is that 
the American Pomological Society has decreed that 
the Duchesse d’ Angouleme shall be AngoulOme; and 
that the others shall be Brabant, Aremberg, etc.: 2. 
Bubaw, Mikel, Lovett. The accent should fall upon 
the antepenult Gla di-olus. 3. Yes, early and late. 
4 The skin is about the color of that of the Early Rose 
—buff shaded with pink. 5. We have never tried it. 
Potash Added to Stable Manure. 
G. G., Pedricktown, N. J.—l have a half acre of land 
which I am going to plant in onions from plants 
grown under glass. I sowed the seed in February. I 
broadcasted 18 tons of good horse manure and a ton 
and a half of hen manure and set the onions in rows 
one foot apart, putting strawberries in every fourth 
row. Would lime be of any use? Would it damage 
either crop ? Would any special fertilizer be of any 
service ? 
Ans. —We doubt if lime would help either the onions 
or the strawberries. The R. N.-Y. would advise you 
to add unleached wood ashes in liberal measure. If 
they cannot be economically obtained, use 200 pounds 
of muriate of potash to the acre. Th a , potash may be 
obtained through any fertilizer firm. We would not 
add lime to the fertilizer. 
Extra Feed for Strawberries. 
B. C. R., Chester, Vt.—l. Where can I purchase ni¬ 
trate of soda and what will it cost per 100 pounds ? 2. 
I have half an acre on which I intend to plant straw¬ 
berries this spring. The land was broken up in 1891 
and planted to potatoes with stable manure applied at 
the rate of 20 cords per acre. In 1892 it was planted 
to corn with one tablespoonful of fertilizer in the hill. 
With no other manure it yielded 58 bushels of ears of 
hard corn. The plot was plowed again last fall ; now 
I have about five cords of fresh horse manure which I 
intend to apply this spring and harrow in before the 
plants are set; also 20 bushels of hard-wood ashes. I 
am afraid I shall not get the soil rich enough, but do 
not wish to apply fresh barnyard manure for fear it 
will breed white grubs. Should I apply more wood 
ashes or some other fertilizer ? 
Ans. —1. Of any fertilizer firm that advertises in our 
columns. The price should be about $48 a ton. 2. We 
would advise you to add not less than at the rate of 
600 pounds of bone flour to the ashes. 
To Cast an Animal. 
F. W. H., Warren, Me.—How should a horse or ox 
be cast ? 
Ans. —The methods shown below at Figs. 97 and 98 
are given in Fleming’s Operative Veterinary Surgery. 
The Babcock Test at Cheese Factories. 
A. L. L., Rusliford, N. Y. —The patrons of the 
Podunyne, N. Y. cheese factory wish to change from 
the system of pooling their milk to the use of the 
Babcock tester; what would be the additional ex¬ 
pense in making the tests of the milk, and making 
dividends according to its quality ? How many pounds 
of milk testing five per cent of butter fat, will it take 
to make a pound of cheese ? What would be the ap¬ 
proximate difference in the milk made from the best 
Timothy hay and two quarts each of wheat middlings 
and corn meal per day ; and that made from the best 
clover hay and the same grain ration ? 
Ans. —In order to make Babcock tests at the cheese 
factory so that the dividends could be made according 
to the quality of the milk, it would be necessary to 
purchase a Babcock machine of at least 40 bottle 
capacity; those that run on the steam plan are most 
convenient for factory work. A 40-bottle tester will 
cost in the neighborhood of $40. The acid for the 
test will cost, at wholesale by the carboy, two cents 
per pound and a pound will make about 14 tests. The 
labor required will depend upon the frequency with 
which the tests are made. The best plan probably is 
to make what is known as a “ composite test ” ; that is 
from each patron’s milk each day an aliquot sample is 
taken and put in a jar labeled with the patron’s name. 
At the end of the week a very small amount of caustic 
potash is added to the milk—just sufficient to neutral¬ 
ize the acid and dissolve the casein, so that a fair 
sample can be readily taken from the combined 
samples of the six days. In order that this should be 
a fair test, it is quite essential that the amount taken 
each day be an aliquot part of the whole amount for 
that day. Tubes have been invented for taking such 
tests; one of the best is that devised by Prof. M. A. 
Scovell, of Kentucky, for taking the samples in the 
dairy tests at the World’s Fair. One man after he has 
become a little experienced can make from 20 to 30 
tests an hour. 
In regard to the amount of cheese that may be made 
