1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 54i 
the disc harrow, the wheat would have stood the 
drought better. 
Must Use Fertilizer or Q,uit. 
“ You use commercial fertilizers. IIow much per 
acre ? ” 
“ About 150 pounds of acidulated bone ; but I ex¬ 
pect to try pure bone.” 
“ How much does it add to the yield of the crop ? ” 
“ There is an increase of at least one-third per acre, 
and in some places of one-half or more.” 
“ Since you commenced using fertilizers, what has 
been your yield ? ” 
“ On as Ihin land at my first trial I got nearly 23 
bushels per acre. I am satisfied that the land 
would not have produced more than seven bushels 
without the fertilizer. I know what I am talking 
about, as I left places without fertilizer to test the 
matter, and my conclusions are as stated. My second 
test brought me 30 bushels per acre. In this was a 
new-ground piece that had been in corn two years, 
then sowed to wheat on October 17, and it yielded 20)4 
bushels. Without the fertilizer it could not have pro¬ 
duced more than half so much. Another ttrng—the 
fertilizer improves the quality of the grain and makes 
it three to five days earlier in ripening.” 
“Your third year’s experience with fertilizer is 
even better, is it not ? ” 
“ Yes, sir ; I got 32 bushels per acre, and would 
have had a much better yield had it not lodged before 
filling. About 10 acres out of 21 fell down, and of 
course the wheat there was not of as good quality. 
Some may think the fertilizer made it fall, but it did 
not, for it fell just as badly where none had been 
used, as I left places to test the fertilizer. Wheat 
may fall because too thick, but not on account of the 
fertilizer, and I find that 300 pounds of fertilizer per 
acre do not give an appreciable difference in quality 
over the 150 pounds. It is but proper to say here that 
my land yields, on an average, one year with another, 
60 bushels of corn per acre.” 
How to Know What it Costs. 
‘ On what basis do you figure ? ” 
“ I take 40 acres as a basis, as this is one day’s 
thrashing, or 1.200 bushels. 
Six days’ disc harrowing. $16 00 
Six days' dra* narrowing. 15 00 
Six days'Qrllllna. 15 00 
Sixty bushels of seed wheat, at 70 cents per uu.. <12 00 
THIS FOR 1892. 
Three tons commercial fertilizer, at I33V6 per ton 100 00 
four days’ cuttlntt . 12 00 
Usina my own team and harvester. 
Twine, 60 cents per acre.. $20 00 
Three shockers, four days. 24 00 
Board, lour days, four hands, at tO cents per day. 8 00 
Board, three horses, four days. 0 00 
Six teams, one day hauling to thrasher. 15 00 
One team hauling wheat from machine. 2 60 
16 hands. 22 60 
Board for v7 men. 13 10 
Bofrd for 16 horses. 8 00 
Thrashing I,2t0 bushels, at four cents. 48 00 
Cost. 40 acres. 306 to 
Cost, one acre. 9 1 m 
1,100 busnels sold at 05 c.nis per busnel.780 00 
One acre (30 bushels per acre). 19 50 
Profit on one acre—Cost. $9.16; yield, $19.50 ... . 10 34 
Cost per bushel . 30 
Profit per oushel. 35 
One acre. 25 bushels per acre—Cost of producing.. 8 90 
95 busnels, at 05 cents. 10 25 
Profit. 7 29 
Cost per bushel . 30 
Profit. 29 
One acre, <0 Dushels per acre, at 0> cents per hush. 13 00 
Cost of producing. 8 70 
Profit. 4 24 
Cost oer bushel. 43 
Pront. 22 
15 bushels per acre at 05 cents per bushel. 9 75 
Cost. 8 60 
Profit. 1 19 
Cost per oushel. 5? 
Profit per bushel. 08 
10 bushels per acre at 05 cents per bushel. 0 50 
Expense. 8 :-6 
Loss. 1 80 
Cost per otisnel. 83 
Loss per bushel. 17 
These figures of the cost per acre im lube 150 pounds 
of commercial fertilizer.” 
“ What per cent will this give you on the money in¬ 
vested in the land ? ” 
“ Having figured the profits per acre, you can arrive 
at the interest per acre on the money invested ; say 
the land is worth $100 per acre : 
Profit on 30 Dushels at 05 cents per bushel.$10 34 
Over 10 per cent on the money invested. 
25 bushels per acre. Profit over seven per cent. 
20 bushels per acre. Profit over four per cent. 
15 bushels per acre. Proht one per cent. 
“The lower the value of the land, the greater the 
percentage of profit. Thus : 
30 bushels per acre on $'0 land, 20 per cent profit. 
20 bushels per acre on $50 land, eight per cent profit.” 
In giving the experience of this pract cal farmer, I 
hope many of my readers will find much encourage¬ 
ment to continue their efforts in improved wheat 
culture. It will be noticed that Mr. Cory has said 
nothing about the straw. He leaves this out to balance 
discrepancies in the calculation, as many will no doubt 
think he has figured too closely in the matter of ex¬ 
penses ; if he has not, the straw will add much to 
the per cent of profit in the eyes of the Eastern farm¬ 
ers, as well as of others who have learned the value of 
this “ poor man’s hay ” as roughage and when used for 
bedding and as an absorbent. The calculations as 
made will just suit the farmer who applies a match to 
his straw pi es as soon as the thrasher leaves the yard, 
or allows them to rot where the thrasher left them. 
Ross County, O. John m. jamison. 
[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 
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Nursing Seedling Potato Plants. 
J. B. IF. . Dallas, IF. Va. —I have 20 potato stalks 
from the seed ball. They are from three to seven 
inches high. What is the best way to treat them ? 
How can new varieties be raised from the seed ball ? 
A ns. —The entire story has been too recently told 
in these columns. We would advise our friend to buy 
“ The New Potato Culture ” for the desired informa¬ 
tion. Price 40 cent*. 
Swelling on Cow’s Jaw. 
W. \V., Moorheadvllle, Pa.— Under the lower jaw of 
a cow is a swelling, and I do not know what ails her. 
She eats well Whit is the trouble ? 
Ans. —The swelling is probab y due either to an 
ipjury or to tuberculosis. Try painting daily with 
the compound tincture of iodine until the skin is well 
blistered. If due to an ipjury, improvement should 
follow this treatment. If there is no improvement 
after two or three weeks, have the cow examined by 
a qualified veterinary surgeon for tuberculosis. F. l. k. 
Mare That Needs a Dentist. 
C. C. IF., Grand Bay, Ala. —A small mare about 19 
years old, has been a sort of a pet and never had a 
colt. I feed her bran and corn meal as she is past eat¬ 
ing grain; in eating hay, fodder or grass she gets a 
small mouthful, chews it up fine into a wad and spits 
it out. She was in good order till this spring when 
she began to get down and is very poor although she 
will eat four quarts of bran and meal at a feed. I do 
not try to work her. Some time ago she bad a kick¬ 
ing match with another mare, and tue latter planted 
one hoof under the other’s tail hard enough to draw 
blood, cut her somewhat and caused her to walk very 
lame for some time. In currying her or pinching her 
over the loins she does not flinch ? 
Ans —The mare is evidently suffering from an over¬ 
grown or caries tooth, which interferes with the 
proper mastication of the coarse food. Have her 
mouth examined by a competent veterinary surgeon, 
and the offending tooth cut down or removed, as may 
be required. Feeding soft feed or mashes (as scalded 
oats or bran with boiled flax seed), which require 
little mastication should improve her general con¬ 
dition. F. L. K. 
Potash on the Wheat. 
11. S. W., Little Utica, N. Y .—If convinced that 
one’s land needs potash, would it be a safe experi¬ 
ment to drill it with wheat ? If so, bow much per 
acre, in what form and where can it be obtained, and 
at what price ? 
Ans. —Yes, it would be a safe experiment, but we 
should prefer to broadcast it. We should use the 
muriate of potash. Fifty pounds of the muriate per 
acre will give a fair allowance of potash—equal to 
that in 500 pounds of a fertilizer analyzing five per 
cent. It will be well to mix it thoroughly with equal 
parts of good soil. The retail price is about $45 per 
ton. 
Running: in a Run Out Acre. 
C. L. M ., Ellsworth, Me.— I have one acre on my farm, 
which is somewhat run out and which I wish to bring 
under a good state of cultivation to raise hay. Can I 
do better than to top-dress it with stable manure now, 
plow it under and in the spring cross-plow it and plant 
potatoes, using a good deal of stable manure; then 
one year from this fall after harvesting the potatoes, 
bow would it do to plant Crimson or Red clover and the 
following spring lay the land down to oats and grass 
seed? Will this bring it to a high state of cultivation? 
Ans. —Certainly, if you use manure enough and culti¬ 
vate carefully, hot is this the cheapest way? Wnat 
does stable manure cost or do you have plenty of it? 
Why let the land lie idle all the fall and winter ? Put 
on the stable manure if you have it and sow rye. Plow 
the rye under in the spring and plant potatoes, using 
at least 1,000 pounds of a high-grade fertilizer. Then 
so v rye or wheat and seed to Timothy in the fall. If 
you have manure, put it on this seeding and in the 
spring add Red clover seed. You are too far north 
for Crimson clover. This will get the land into good 
grass cheaper and easier than in the way jou propose. 
Bubach and Sbarpless Strawberries. 
IF. T. S., Pennsylvania. —Is there enough difference 
between the fruit and foliage of the Sharpless and 
Bubach strawberry plants to enable one readily to dis¬ 
tinguish one from the other? I have had Snarpless 
for several years, and last year obtained what were 
represented as Bubach plants from a nearby nursery¬ 
man. Planted side by side with Sharpless, we were 
unable to see any difference between the two. I am 
not familiar with the Bubach, as none arc grown by 
my neighbors. 
Ans. —It is some years since we cultivated the Sbarp¬ 
less and Bubach at the same time. Our remembrance 
is that the two sorts differ somewhat in season, color 
and shape of berry and yield of plant. But we cannot 
say from memory just which qualities belong to the 
one or the other. Our friend may determine one variety 
from the other by the flower. Sharpless has a perfect 
flower, Bubach a pistillate. Sharpless has a charac¬ 
teristic square shape. The quality is milder than that 
of Bubach. Bubach is generally more productive than 
the Sharpless. 
Autumn Sweet Peas; Dwarf Cannas. 
J. S T., Newark, N. J. —1. Can sweet pea seeds be 
sown to advantage in autumn ? Will they survive the 
winter here? 2. Can dwarf cannas be lifted in the 
fall and grown through the winter in pots (in the 
bouse) to advantage, or is it preferable to treat them 
as gladioli, dahlias, caladiums, etc.? 
Ans.—1. Yes ; they may be sown in fall and covered 
with mulch of some kind. 2. Yes. The roots multiply 
abundantly, forming large masses which must be 
separated. If confined to pots they would die from 
being crowded and starved. If carefully separated 
the plants will grow on indefinitely. 
Raising: Cream and Estimating: Butter Fat. 
R, F. S., Pittsburgh, Pa. —1. For cream raising I use 
deep cans in water ; but the temperature does not go 
below 60 degrees, and I do not get all the cream, as 
some rises after skimming even when set 36 hours. Is 
there any way to remedy this ? 2. What is the rule to 
compute the number of pounds of butter in milk when 
the percentage of fat is known by Babcock test ? 
Ans. —1. There is no way in which milk can be com¬ 
pletely creamed by setting it in deep cans in water 
that does not get below 60 degrees. If the cream 
must be raised in deep cans, the temperature must be 
brought down to 40 or 44 degrees in order to have 
satisfactory results. 2. The usual rule for computing 
the pounds of butter in milk is to add 15 per cent to 
the pounds of fat in it. For instance, in 500 pounds of 
milk containing four per cent of fat there would be 20 
pounds of fat ; 15 per cent of 20 pounds of fat would 
be three pounds of fat, 20 + 3 are 23. Therefore 500 
pounds of milk containing four per cent of fat should 
make 23 pounds of butter. This is not exact of course, 
as the losses in skimming and churning vary very 
often. Often on farms scarcely more pounds of butter 
will be made than there are pounds of fat in the milk. 
Cornell Dairy School. h. h. wing. 
Pine Sawdust and Needles for Bedding:. 
W W. N., Bellingham. Mass.— I have been using pine 
needles for bedding for my horse, as I had run short 
of any other kind of bedding, and my neighbors all 
shake their heads and say that 1 should not use it, for 
it will spoil the manure, and nothing will grow where 
it is put on the land. Now, is that the truth, or simply 
an old legend among the farmers of this vicinity ? Will 
sawdust (pine) put under cattle for bedding have a 
tendency to inflame and draw the sinews and muscles 
of the feet and make them lame, and will it injure the 
land if put in as an absorbent and thrown on the ma¬ 
nure pile ? 
Ans. —Something like these questions was discussed 
at last winter’s meeting of the Connecticut Board of 
Agriculture. Several farmers, including Edwin Hoyt, 
of Stephen Hoyt’s Sons, declared that they used large 
quantities of sawdust for bedding and absorbents, and 
that they were greatly pleased with the results. They 
had observed no objectionable effects. Prof. S. W. 
Johnson being present, said that fresh pine sawdust 
and needles contain an acid or resin that is injurious to 
vegetation. Wnere the leaves of pine ft 11 thick upon 
the ground, ordinary vegetation will not flourish—the 
needles must be removed before plants will thrive. 
But when fresh sawdust and needles are used for bed¬ 
ding and well mixed with the manure, the ammonia 
will neutralize the acids and render such material 
harmless. Therefore such needles used now and thor¬ 
oughly mixed with tue manure, ought to make good 
bedding and not act inj uriously on the soil. At the 
great horse-breeding farm of John W. Akin pine 
shavings fresh from the planing mills are used for bed¬ 
ding. The horses stand all the time several inches 
deep in these shavings, which certaialy contain as 
much acid as sawdust; yet no injurious effect has been 
noticed on the horses or the land, though the manure 
is hauled directly to the field and spread without com¬ 
posting. 
Coll with a Curb. —J. C. E., Jaffrey, N. H.—Apply a 
biniodide of mercury blister. A single application 
will probably be sufficient; but if not, repeat as soon 
as the effect of the first application ha3 nearly disap¬ 
peared. F. I.. K. 
