1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
3i7 
broadcast on corn, just like stable manure. We should 
in addition drill in 400 pounds per acre of a mixture 
of one part of muriate of potash and three parts 
ground bone. 
A Talk About Creaming: Milk. 
Subscriber. ”—A lady says her husband calls her an 
old fogy because sbe does not fill her milk cans full 
when she sets her milk, and she says that she gets 
more cream by putting only a gallon in each can. The 
vessels are two-gallon buckets, and she has a home¬ 
made milk box to set them in ; and as the buckets 
float if the water is very deep, there seems no way 
to cool quickly unless only a little is put in each. She 
says that unless she could aerate the milk, she can’t 
see how she can set it deep. Now, isn’t she right ? It 
seems to me that all scientific experiments are like 
telling the truth : one must tell the whole truth to be 
really truthful. At what temperature should milk be 
kept for the cream to separate best in winter and in 
summer ? 
Ans. —It is very true that scientific experiments must 
tell the whole truth, and the reason why they are mis¬ 
leading is because they do not tell the whole truth. 
As regards the question proposed, it is the whole truth 
that to get the best results from the deep setting of 
milk, we must have at least 16 or 18 inches in depth 
of milk to enable the cream to rise most cempletely. 
In shallow pans it rises best when the milk is only 
three or four inches deep, and the reason why it rises 
more quickly in the deep pails is that the fat globules, 
being lighter than the milk, will rise more freely 
through this depth on account of the pressure and 
greater density due to the pressure, and, moreover, 
the density of the milk is greater at the low tempera¬ 
ture at which it is set. Depth and low temperature 
have in fact such an effect in increasing the specific 
gravity of the milk as to give the fat globules a greater 
comparative lightness, by which they rise more easily. 
And if the milk is not deep enough to cause this differ¬ 
ence, the cold has a directly contrary effect from that 
desired. It is easy to keep the pans from oversetting 
by fixing wires across the tank so as to make divisions 
near the top of the water large enough to hold them 
upright. These wires are fixed both ways and divide 
the surface into squares a little larger than the diame¬ 
ter of the deep pails or cans. The pails should stand 
on three small legs so as to be raised an inch above 
the bottom of the tank, so that the water may circu¬ 
late freely, and the cans should not be more than eight 
inches in diameter. All these conditions go to make 
up the whole truth about the deep setting of milk 
in water not more or less than 45 degrees. The cream 
will rise just the same in winter or summer if all these 
conditions are secured. 
Call in a Vet. on This. 
jET. J. H., Oran, N. Y. —My 14-year-old mare became 
a little lame three years ago in the left hind leg, and 
grew worse, until last spring she became so lame that 
she wouldn’t step on the foot. I blistered for spavin, 
and she got better, though not entirely well. Last 
fall she became just as bad again, and refused to yield 
to spavin treatment; some neighbors thought the 
trouble was in the stifle, so I doctored that, but no 
good resulted. She will step on it quite readily once, 
and the next step won’t touch it to the floor, but will 
hop. Most of the time she stands with her foot away 
over on the toe, with no weight resting on it. What is 
the trouble, and what treatment should follow ? 
Ans.—I am unable to locate the seat of lameness, 
from your description. Being so severe and of such 
long standing, it will probably require the personal 
attention of a competent veterinary surgeon to prop¬ 
erly treat the case. f. l. k. 
Will This Restore His Confidence P 
C. L. B., Hebron, Maine. —I have been a constant 
reader of The R. N.-Y., for the past five years and 
have looked up to it as an “ authority ” a great many 
times, and have taken very much pleasure and interest 
in reading the sketches of the different farmers and 
horticulturists, and their mode of raising their crops ; 
but when I read in The Rural of April 15 about that 
“ one-horse Jersey farmer” I must say my confidence 
was badly shaken. I see on page 261 that he (Mr. 
Johnson) sold hay worth $399.50 ; now as I read on 
toward the close of the article I see, on page 262 in the 
third column, under the subhead “ Best Lesson of 
All,” that he says : “ The farm being now in working 
shape, as I understand the capabilities of the soil, I 
expect to clear over $1,000 a year above my farm and 
household expenses, and that from 18 acres of land, 
15 of which I cultivate.” Now if he cultivates 15 out 
of the 18 acres will he or The Rural or some one who 
can do it, tell me how he raises hay enough to keep 
two cows and a horse and sell $399.50 worth on the 
other three acres. If this can be satisfactorily ex¬ 
plained, my confidence will be once more restored. 
Ans.— Several other parties have asked about this 
matter; we hope this explanation will answer for all. 
We copied the figures exactly from Mr. Johnson’s 
books. We said the above named amount of hay was 
sold during the year. This does not mean that it was 
all raised that same year. Mr. Johnson counts in all 
sales between January 1, 1891, and the same date 1892. 
It so happened that quite a good deal of the 1891 hay 
crop was not sold until early in 1892, while most of 
the 1892 crop was sold in December of that year. It 
was the same way with potatoes. The amount given 
for them in 1892 is but $105.53 ; as a matter of fact, 
Mr. Johnson expected a high price and so held nearly 
200 bushels, which he has sold at $1 per bushel since 
January 1. This $200 will go into the 1893 sales 
though it represents the 1892 crop. Now if he sells all 
this year’s crop in the fall and gives all the cash sales 
for the year, somebody may come forward and make 
the similar statement about his potato crop. Don’t 
you see that this is a record of cash sales without 
regard to the time the crops were grown ? Mr. John¬ 
son gets $20 per ton and sometimes more for his ha^. 
It is about the only product he sells at a retail price. 
When he speaks of cultivating 15 acres he means that 
all but three acres of his farm are in crops—grass 
included. His house, barn and chicken yards occupy 
three acres, there are four acres of strawberries and 
not quite two of potatoes. The cabbage crop was 
grown on an acre of strawberry ground plowed after 
picking. The rest of the land, between nine and ten 
acres, is in grass, including the orchard. On the rich, 
damp soil of this farm 2% tons of Timothy per acre is 
not an extra large yield in a favorable season. Our 
friend has misunderstood Mr. Johnson’s meaning of 
“ cultivate.” What he meant was that he “crops” 15 
acres out of 18 and uses the remaining three for 
chicken yards, etc. We can assure our friends that 
the table of cash sales is correct and that the hay is 
certainly grown on the little farm. We know that 
such reports may seem like “ big stories” to many of 
our readers, but we assure them that we always try to 
get at the exact facts and that whenever figures are 
given we have made a personal investigation of them. 
We shall always be glad to chop these “ big stories ” 
up finer for those who cannot swallow them whole. 
Figuring: the Price of Potash. 
E. D. T. H., Lamberton, N. Y. —In The Rural, page 
265 in the answer to A. W., Malone, N. Y., the writer 
figures potash at 4% cents per pound and G. S., Chau¬ 
tauqua, N. Y., puts it at the same price. Why figure 
at 4>£ cents per pound, as we can buy all we want at 
2^ cents? That is muriate of potash at $50 per ton 
delivered here. 
Ans. —This illustrates anew the need of understand¬ 
ing terms used in the fertilizer trade. Muriate of 
potash contains 50 per cent of potash, while the other 
half is made up of salt, water, etc. When you buy a 
ton of muriate the only value you get is in the 1,000 
pounds of potash. As explained in “ A Bag of Fertil¬ 
izer,” page 201, you cannot get the 1,000 pounds of 
potash without buying the whole ton. When we 
speak of the price of potash we mean, not the price 
per pound of the material in the whole ton, but the 
amount of actual potash in it. In this way your ton, 
containing 1,000 pounds of potash, will cost you five 
cents a pound. You are paying more than it iB worth. 
Uncle Sam Has No Book Agents. 
C. E., Marlboro, N. Y. —An agent claiming to be one 
of 100 Government clerks from Washington is canvass¬ 
ing this district for a Government Columbus Centen¬ 
nial Book, published in the interest of the World’s 
Fair by the Government. He asked for $1, the balance 
($1.50) to be paid on delivery of the book. Is there such 
a work or is it a fraud ? 
Ans. —The man is a fraud if he claims that the 
Dnited States Government is to print a book and 
charge $2.50 for it with Tom, Dick and Harry for 
collectors. Let him alone. 
Plowing In Late Potatoes 
“ X.,” No Address. —1. Many farmers claim that the 
best yield of potatoes is on sod land—a furrow is made 
and the potatoes are dropped and covered by the next 
furrow. Can this be done with reasonable success for 
late potatoes planted from the 10th to the last of May? 
The soil is rich. 2. What is the usual expense of put¬ 
ting out, seeding, working and marketing potatoes 
per acre ? 
Ans. —1. We have raised potatoes in just that way. 
We do not like the plan and in the sandy loam in 
which they were raised the yield was light and the 
“misses” many. 2. We have never estimated the cost 
of raising an acre of potatoes. It would vary mater¬ 
ially in different places. 
Some Fruit Questions. 
W. H, W. J., Nashville, Tenn. —1. Is partially rotted 
sawdust a good mulch for young apple, cherry and 
peach trees the winter after they have been put out 
in the spring of the year? 2. Is sawdust not partially 
rotted as good a mulch for said trees as that partially 
rotted? 3. What is the best fertilizer to put around 
apple, cherry, peach and pear trees to enable one 
to get the fairest and greatest quantity of fruit from 
them? 4. If chicken manure is put around old fruit 
trees what is the best way to apply it, and how much 
to each tree? 
Ans.— 1 and 2. We do not approve of sawdust as a 
mulch for any plants whatever, unless wholly rotted. 
It is the favorite resort of many injurious insects. 3. 
The R. N.-Y.’s favorite fertilizer for fruit trees, as 
often stated, is a mixture of bone flour and potash. 
Use them in the proportion of 1,000 pounds of bone to 
300 pounds of muriate of potash. Crush or grind the 
hen manure and put a peck around each tree. It is 
better to mix it with the bone and potash. 
A Heifer’s Extra Teat. 
Subscriber, PenHeld, N. Y. —I have a Jersey heifer 
which has a sack or swelling on the side of the teat. 
When she came in, her udder was badly swollen and 
this sack appeared to be very full. It is about half 
the distance down the teat. I find now in milking 
that the bottom of this sack gives out milk, so that it 
is very unpleasant to milk her. Is this incurable ? 
Ans. —With a knife scrape or shave to a raw surface 
an area of one-half inch around the opening in the 
rudimentary teat. This will cause it to scab over 
and in healing will close the opening. Care must be 
taken in milking not to remove the scab. If the milk 
cannot be drawn by hand without breaking and re¬ 
moving the scab, use a milking tube for a few days. 
Fertilizer to Raise Canes. 
J. T. 1., Oneida, N. Y. —1. How did the Columbian 
red raspberry plants winter at the Rural Grounds ? 
2. I have five acres of this berry set last spring on a 
sandy loam in ordinary condition. I sowed broadcast 
half a ton of different fertilizers when the plants were 
set, and the latter are looking well. I have this spring 
sowed broadcast 1,000 to 1,200 pounds of unleached 
Canada ashes that seem very good. What other ferti¬ 
lizer would it be advisable to use on this kind of soil 
to produce the best results ? My main object is to 
raise plants. What should I use and how much to the 
acre and where can it be had ? 3. I intend to set five 
acres more this spring, 7x7 feet apart and plant pota¬ 
toes between the rows and use ashes as above. Would 
it be advisable to use the same fertilizers with the 
ashes ? 
Ans.— 1. Very well. Will report later. 2. We would 
add raw bone flour—400 to 800 pounds to the acre, as 
you may prefer. 3. Unleached ashes with us almost 
invariably produce scabby tubers. We would use 
sulphate or even muriate (or kainit) of potash instead. 
Add to this fine bone flour and nitrogen in some form 
in addition to what the bone may contain. The ferti¬ 
lizers can be obtained of the dealers who advertise in 
The Rural. 
To Try The Trench System. 
F. P. W., West Auburn, Me .— I want to use the 
Rural trench system on 1% acre of new land plowed 
last fall; but I have no manure to put on it ; will it 
pay to buy fertilizers; and if so, how much? 
Ans. —Yes, for the Rural trench system we much 
prefer fertilizers to manure. Use all the way from 
800 to 1,500 pounds to the acre sown evenly in the 
trenches after the seed pieces are covered with an inch 
of soil. Our friend should read “The New Potato 
Culture ” of which a new and enlarged edition has 
just been published—price in paper 40 cents. 
Flghtins A Deadly Grasa. 
S. B., Richmond, Ind .— How can I kill a certain grass 
with which I am troubled—I do not know the name. 
It grows very rank, reaching the height of about three 
feet, has a head about four or five inches in length 
and looks something like a head of wheat. The roots 
are rather larger than a Timothy stem, exceedingly 
tough, and fill the ground for a greater depth than the 
plow can reach so that it is very hard to plow. The 
end of the root is as sharp as a needle and often 
grows through a potato. The blade in width is about 
like that of wheat or oats. 
Ans. —We guess it is Triticum (agropyrum) repens, 
known familiarly as Couch or Quack grass. The one 
way to exterminate it is to cultivate during hot, dry 
weather. We speak from experience since the Rural 
Farm is full of it. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Pruning Maple Trees. —H. W., Montgomery City, Mo. 
—No, we do not think it would harm maple trees to 
prune them while the leaves are out. 
Japan Chestnuts and Plums. —W. E. S., Hartwell, 
Neb.—The Japan chestnuts vary in hardiness and in 
every other respect because they are seedlings, with a 
few exceptions, as, for example, the Numbo and the 
Paragon. The latter has been growing in the Rural 
Grounds for four years and has never suffered from 10 
degrees below zero. The Japan plums vary also. We 
have the Abundance (Botan) and it easily stands the 
climate. Neither has been tried in a way that would 
justify any one in pronouncing positively upon its 
hardiness. 
