588 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 2 
destroyed by eating Paris-green, but this is doubtless 
a mistake.” He says, farther, however, that its appli¬ 
cation “ seems often to be of no avail, probably eith°r 
because it does not act immediately upon the bettles, 
or else because they continue to invade the field from 
the outside.” T. B. Terry tells in the Practical 
Farmer of his efforts to poison them with Paris green, 
but he succeeded only in driving them in great swarms 
upon Gome bushes, where, by placing some dry straw 
under them early in the morning and lighting it, great 
numbers of them were burned. He says that they 
will not eat Paris-green, and that if there is any 
poisonous mixture which they will eat, he has not dis¬ 
covered it. They may be caught in the garden by 
brushing them off into pans of hot water, or water 
with a little petroleum on top. Their habit of flying 
when disturbed renders it easy to drive them as 
described by Mr. Unger, and this method was formerly 
employed to destroy them. They were driven upon 
dry hay or straw, and the latter was then fired, destroy¬ 
ing the beetles. Some speak of putting straw between 
the potato rows and firing it; this burns the bugs, and 
doesn’t harm the potatoes. It would seem that the 
method of driving them upon the straw would be pre¬ 
ferable, and this seems to be the most effective remedy 
yet found. 
A TALK ABOUT PLUMS. 
In reply to the question submitted in The Rural 
of August 19 in the middle of page 557, I send a list of 
plums giving date of the first blossom and first fruit 
this year. Where blanks are left the fruit is not 
yet ripe : 
First blossom PLUMS—1893. First fruit 
appeared. ripe. 
May 8. Satsuma. . 
May 9. Orod . July 29 
May 10. Abundance. Aur. 10 
May 11. -pauldlnR. ——— 
M y 12. Marianna. Aur. 15 
May 12. SaratORa. . 
May 12. Burbank. Aug. 8 
May 15. Robinson. . 
May 18. Missouri Apricot. . 
It should be said that owing to peculiarities of the 
weather, the blossoming of Satsum? and Ogon were 
nearer in date to the rest of the list than usual. Bur¬ 
bank usually ripens about a week later than Abund¬ 
ance, but I have a tree bought of Stark Bros., of 
Missouri, in the spring of 1892, which has the vigorous, 
sprawling growth and dark, broad leaf characteristic 
of the Burbank, with Burbank fruit, except that it 
ripens a fortnight earlier this year. It is growing 
upon Marianna stock, as are all my Japanese plums. 
It may be a case of stock influence upon variety, or it 
may be a freak of Nature. In either event the curiosity 
would prove a bonanza .if it can be reliably repro¬ 
duced. Very early fruit of the quality of the Burbank 
plum will sell readily and at a handsome price in any 
market. Spaulding is a European plum and apparently 
just as cureulio-proof as the Japanese varieties, but it 
is peculiarly susceptible to rot. The Bordeau Mixture 
may prove useful here. I mean to try it. Satsuma 
oomes so late that the crop is a superior one to catch 
a good market. u. l. fairchild. 
Connecticut. 
[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 n separate piece of paper.] 
POOR CHANCE FOR A SEED GARDEN. 
A lady in Oregon sends us the following question : 
The same thing is asked from time to time by others. 
Will you be kind enough to tell us what there is to 
say in reply ? “ Would The Rural kindly inform a 
subscriber’s wife who has a few hours’ leisure time 
every day and who loves gardening, if there are any 
kinds of seeds slie could raise and sell to seedsmen, so 
as to earn not less than $100 from an acre ?’.’ 
It is ha T dly necessary f'r us to tell you that prob¬ 
ably the most dangerous thing in the business world 
is for one to attempt to tell another how to make 
money. It is just the same in the seed business as 
any other. Your correspondent has easily asked a 
question that a wise man would hesitate to answer. 
The soil, the climate, the capabilities of the grower 
combine a problem the solution of which is too much 
for US. w. ATLEE BURPEE & CO. 
We have offers of this kind from all sections of the 
country almost daily, and it would be impracticable 
for us, and we believe for any other seedsman, to 
place contracts promiscuously throughout the country 
with parties whose capabilities we are not acquainted 
with. A seedsman cannot be too particular about 
what he sends out, and he can only deal with people 
who have a thorough knowledge of growing seeds 
which will be well ripened and thoroughly rogued and 
true to name. Seedsmen of standing place contracts 
only where they can personally examine the crop at the 
proper time, and it would be a very expensive matter 
to send an expert to so many sections of the country 
where, no doubt, some of the contracts wou'd be of lit¬ 
tle importance. It is quite true, however, that there are 
ladies in America who have made a success of growing 
seeds for the horticultural trade, but it took quite a 
long time for them to claim recognition among seeds¬ 
men, and their secret of success was in working on 
specialties which Ihey proved to the seedsmen to 
whom they were wise enough to send a few seeds for 
trial; these compared with the usual strains showed 
their superiority. Unless a person has the patience 
and push to start in thi3 manner, there is very little 
probability that he or she will make a success of it. 
PETER HENDERSON & CO. 
VAPOR AND GAS ENGINES. 
P. P. IF., Milford , Del .—Will those that have had 
any experience in the running of farm portable gaso¬ 
line engines give us their knowledge of them through 
The Rural ? I think they are going to be the com¬ 
ing power for farmers if they work satisfactorily. 
How They Make It Work. 
These engines are becoming very popular, and we 
want all the practical experience with them we can 
get. The following notes t.re from those who have 
used the Safety vapor engine : 
About the middle of February last I bought a two- 
horse power Safety vapor engine, which was run by 
my head man and manager in my dairy, and connected 
with a Baby De Laval separator No. 3, and also with 
a barrel churn. Since then we have used it, separ¬ 
ating our milk and cream in the morning, which takes 
about 20 minutes, and churning 28 pounds of butter 
each morning when we separate ; time of churning 15 
to 20 minutes. We have found it very satisfactory ; 
it does the work nicely, and it takes but a minute to 
start and stop it, and it is very simple. It took my 
farmer’s son (a lad of 16) but two days to master it, 
and he now runs it perfectly. We find it a great sav¬ 
ing in time, for while we separate we churn, and the 
whole business is done in a half-hour before break¬ 
fast. I think it the coming engine for the farmer 
who needs light power for cutting ensilage, sawing 
wood and dairy purposes. h. l. w. 
Springfield Center, N. Y. 
I use the Safety engine at intervals and do not know 
exactly the cost of working it—it uses up probably 
about 25 to 40 feet of gas per hour. I do not use gaso¬ 
line. It is all right so far in its working, and I can’t 
see why it should not be as durable as any other make 
costing two and three times the money. It is very 
simple and the onl/ thing about it requiring attention 
is the insulating arrangement to the electric sparking 
attachment, which has to be renewed now and then. 
Of course it must be understood that a two-horse 
power gas engine will not give probably more than 
one horse power as compared with a steam engine of 
the same rating. None of them does more. So far as 
my experience goes with it, I do not hesitate to recom¬ 
mend it for light powers. j. b. 
Freehold, N J. 
I have been using one of the two-horse po Ner Safety 
vapor engines for two months to separate my milk 
and churn. I make from 28 to 30 pounds of butter a 
day and churn in the morning at the same time we 
separate and I like the engine very much. My 
separator is the Baby No. 3, which is a good one. The 
cost of running the engine is small—about four cents 
per hour—and it is ready for use as soon as started. 
Springfield Center, N. Y. z. e. 
Paying: for Tested Milk. 
Several Subscribers. — Will some good authority 
answer the following questions ? 1. How do you pay 
for tested milk ? What is the price, and what differ¬ 
ence is made between the price of ordinary milk and 
that of the tested kind ? 2. How did you start the 
new system ? What changes were necessary ? 3. 
How do you take samples for testing and how often ? 
4. Is the new plan generally satisfactory, and what 
class of patrons complain? 5 What are the greatest 
variations you have found in samples of milk ? 
Ans. — 1 . Payment is made for the average amount 
of butter fat in each patron’s milk ascertained by a 
daily test. The total amount of butter churned is ap¬ 
portioned among the patrons in proportion to the 
average amount of butter fat in the milk from each. 
2. An offer was made to put in a separate vat for all 
{those who wished to continue the old method of pool- 
jing, but none wanted to do so when forced to a choice. 
|3. I have a small basin under a little hole in the con- 
jductor pipe, and take a sample from the basin, as each 
tone's milk must pass over this hole. A part of the 
■milk of each pound will reach the basin, and there can 
3be no favoritism. 4. Very satisfactory. At first low¬ 
-grade milk patrons kicked and said that their milk 
was as good as their neighbors’. Testing their own 
cows showed them that a great difference existed. 5. 
For a whole month's average the highest is generally 
2% to 3 pounds above the lowest patron, a. r. hoard. 
Hoard’s Creameries, Fort Atkinson, Wis. 
In the last report of the Wisconsin Dairymen’s As¬ 
sociation Mr. Hoard explained the matter more at 
length. Here is what he said : 
“ After having used the Babcock test for sveral 
months and becoming satisfied with its accuracy, we 
sent the following note to each of our patrons : 
By request of many of the patrons of this creamery, April 1 we shall 
start In operation a test vat. All milk enterlDR this vat will be paid 
for In proportion to the amount of butter It will make, as decided by 
the Babcock test All patrons deslrlnR their milk to ro Into this vat 
must Rive us notice on or before April 1, or wait until the next month. 
Further information will be cheerfully given at the creamery. 
“We anticipated a good deal of opposition from many 
of the patrons, and to preserve harmony proposed a 
separate vat for all those who preferred pooling their 
milk in the old way. To our surprise, on the morning 
of the first not a pound of milk went into the old vat. 
Many of the patrons thought that their milk would 
test low. Certain ones, of course, knew that they 
would have to quit skimming, and in many cases that 
meant sorghum or mustard on the daily bread, but 
when it came to putting theirs in with the rest of the 
poor and dishonest milk, each one had conceit enough 
to see that it would end in a losing game ; they pre¬ 
ferred the society of the best. 
“ Many of the patrons thought tiiat the test would 
be unfair through the taking of the sample. This we 
overcame by punching a little hole in the conductor 
spout and setting a pint basin under it, thus securing 
almost a perfect sample. A few drops from each half 
pound of milk must necessarily reach the basin. Every 
patron’s milk must pass over the same hole, and the 
patron sees that no favoritism is shown. 
“ During the nine months that we have used the test 
our yield has been about three-tenths of a pound 
higher than during the same months of the four years 
previous. If the test will bring about so great an 
improvement in so short a time with the same cows 
we may reasonably expect a still greater improvement 
when the patrons have had time to improve their 
herds. Before, the whole object of the patron was 
milk; now it is butter. The average price per 100 
pounds of milk received by our patrons from April to 
December inclusive, was 90% cents. Patron No. 1 
received $1.17%. Patron No. 2 received $1.03%. 
Patron No. 3, 81 cents. Patron No. 4, 75% cents. A 
difference between the highest and the lowest of 41% 
cents. 
“ One hundred pounds of No. l’s milk made as much 
butter as 155 pounds of No. 4’s and as much as 129 
pounds of the average. In other’words, 100 pounds of 
No. l’s milk brought him 55 per cent more than No. 
4’s and 29 per cent more than the average. We have 
heard many creamery men say that they believed it 
the only fair way to pay for milk, but the extra labor 
and expense of testing and book-keeping made them 
slow to adopt it. We found that it made considerable 
extra work and expense for acid at first, but after 
having a pipette made holding on>.-third the regular 
amount and using the test bottle as a composite jar, 
at the end of three days we have the required amount 
for a sample and have to test but once in three days, 
or 10 times a month. We have about 100 patrons in 
our home factory and it takes us about three hours to 
test them all, equivalent to one hour each day. 
“ The extra work in the book keeping is not much. 
In our case it does not require as much time as we 
used to spend in trying to get honest milk. 
“ On the whole, the increased yield of butter at four 
cents a pound for making will pay all of the extra 
expense. 
“ We have lost four or five patrons and gained two 
or three new ones. Some of the lost will come back. 
Were we to go back to the old way, over half of our 
patrons would leave us. The majority are well 
pleased, we think, as it is. Before the temptations 
were all in the wrong way ; now the tendencies are in 
the right way. As some one has said, you may talk 
about your oil meal, your pea meal, your oats, your 
corn and your cows, but the Babcock test will beat 
them all as a butter producer in factory milk.” 
Do Bats Bring Bed Bugs ? 
Mi's. J. U. S., Stillwater, N. J .—What can I do to get 
rid of bats ? My house is of brick, and they get under 
the cornice and under the slate roof where I believe 
they carry bed-bugs. 
Ans.—T he origin of the idea that the bed-bug, 
Acanthia lectularia, infests bats, and may be brought 
into dwellings by these creatures, we do not know. 
But that this opinion is held by a great many people, 
is a well-known fact. However, so far as we can find 
there is no well-authenticated instance of its occur¬ 
rence. The pest has been known to infest chicken 
coops and pigeon houses. Another species, Acanthia 
hirundinis, has been found in the nests of the barn 
