1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
53 
Bale and the surplus goes for as good prices as the 
market ever bears. Upon this basis it does not cost 
me on the average quite SIO per cow. 
Before I built my silos eight years ago I used this 
same farm and same rotation of crops except I planted 
common field corn and it would then not produce much 
more than 10 or 12 tons per acre. 1 had to feed dry 
ground feed because field corn was so hard that the 
cattle could never digest it when fed in the ear. But 
this large white corn heats up in the silo, cooks soft 
and is in splendid condition for mastication and diges¬ 
tion. The farm will now carry more than 50 per cent 
increase of cattle since the commencement of ensilage 
farming. hexby talcott. 
Vermont Pear and Crandall Currant in Iowa. 
J. 0., Quick, lowa.—l. Is the Vermont pear hardy in 
Iowa? 2. Is the Crandall tree currant hardy there ? 
An 3 —1. So far as I know the Vermont pear has not 
been tried in Iowa. On the bluffs in Pottawattamie 
County, it might succeed if it is not specially subject 
to blight. 2. The Crandall currant is hardy and a free 
beaier, but the fruit has no relative value. We make 
use of the Black Naples for canning, and when pro¬ 
perly managed we prize it for winter use. But the 
Crandall we have not been able to use during its 
season, or for canning on account of its peculiar flavor, 
or lack of flavor, I am not certain which. 
[PUOF.] J. L,. BUDD. 
Wbite Mold On Greenhouse Soil. 
L. E. A., Smyrna, Del. —What is the matter with the 
soil in my greenhouse ? In the morning the ground 
is covered with a white mold which is thick all over 
the surface. I have been using tankage and nitrate 
of soda. I did not have any mold until I had used 
these fertilizers. Will it do any harm ? Plants seem 
to grow all right. I keep the house at a temperature 
of from 58 to 60 degrees at night and 70 to 80 degrees 
during the day. I am forcing rhubarb. 
Ans.—T he mold is probably, caused by the rapid 
decomposition of the tankage brought about by the 
nitrate of soda, and will do no harm. The ground is 
probably rich enough and we would not advise using 
any fertilizer other than frequent light applications of 
the nitrate of soda. 
Keep Salt Away from Fruits. 
\V. J. B., Chambersburg, 0. —To which of the small 
fruits is packing-house salt especially beneficial? How 
much should be used to each variety ? This salt con¬ 
tains a good per cent of blood, and can be obtained at 
Dayton, O., at a small cost. 
Ans.—W e would not use the salt on any fruits, as 
we believe it would affect the quality injuriously. We 
would use salt only on such crops as asparagus, cel¬ 
ery, cabbage or grain. 
Some Grafting and Other Questions. 
D C. D., Beverly, N. J, —1. Will it pay to graft pears 
on quince? 2. What is the method of grafting grapes 
and the best time ? Are stocks two inches in diameter 
too large? 3. What is the method of raising LeConte 
and Keiffer pears from cuttings ? Is this latitude too 
far north for them ? 4. Will The R. N.-Y. describe 
the Seneca pear and tree ? 
Ans.— 1. That depends. Dwarf pears bear much 
sooner then standards, but they are shorter lived. 
Again, but few varieties do as well on quince as on 
pear stock. It may pay to plant in an orchard both 
dwarfs and standards, the former to yield several 
crops, and to be destroyed when the standards come 
into bearing. 2. The R. N.-Y. has tried several 
methods, but succeeded with only one method. That 
is to cut the stock off near or even a little below the 
surface of the soil. Insert the scion—bark to bark— 
by the old cleft grafting. Bind it tightly and heap 
the soil around and above the graft. 3. Use cuttings 
as soon as mature, about 10 inches long, and plant 
them in well-prepared soil as you would gooseberry or 
currant cuttings. They would need protection. 4. 
The Seneca may be described as a late Bartlett, ripen¬ 
ing a month later. It is of good quality—not best. 
The tree is said to hold its foliage well and to be less 
liable to blight than Bartlett. 
Wants to Stunt the R. R.-Y. Ho. 2 Potato. 
0, T. P., Eallsport, N. Y. —What can I do to tone down 
my R. N.-Y. No 2 potatoes? Last season I raised quite 
a quantity of them, and they were unfit for market, be¬ 
ing altogether too large. They are simpiy great, deep¬ 
eyed, coarse monsters. One of my men while digging 
picked up seven from the row he had jnst dug, and 
they weighed 17K pounds. There was not one per 
cent of them small, while fully 75 per cent are too 
large for market. They were raised on a deep, loamy 
soil where I raised fodder corn the year before fertil¬ 
ized heavily with cow manure, but with no manure 
this season. Upon a portion of the field I placed a 
complete potato fertilizer at the rate of about 800 
pounds to the acre, but saw no difference in the yield. 
An average of one in three of these “ pumpkins,” as 
my neighbors called them, was hollow, but I ascribe 
that to the season, as I have found that any large, late 
potato is liable to be hollow if there be a lack of moisture 
about the time they mature. I like to raise such a 
crop, 350 bushels to the acre, but I raise them to sell, 
and these are not salable. They were planted 2 feet 
10 inches apart each way. Do vou think I could keep 
up the yield and make them grow smaller by crowding 
them in the rows, or by planting more seed or how ? 
Of course, I could starve them, but tiat would lessen 
the yield. I raise from 16 to 20 acres of potatoes each 
year, and these yielded nearly double any ethers I 
had, so it is quite an item with me. 
Ans —Our friend does not tell us several things we 
need to know. What per cent of nitrogen, phos¬ 
phate and potash did the ” complete ” fertilizer con¬ 
tain ? What sized pieces did he plant ? Does he 
know from experiment whether his “ deep, loamy 
soil ” is especially rich in potash, nitrogen or phos¬ 
phate—one, two or all ? The case is an interesting 
one, and we would be glad to assist in solving the 
problem. Advising blindly, we would suggest an in¬ 
crease of a well-known brand of potato fertilizer; that 
is, one containing about four per cent of nitrogen, 
eight per cent of phosphate and six per cent of potash. 
We would plant not in hills, but in deep drills or 
trenches—the drills three feet apart and not less than 
a half potato dropped every foot in the drills or 
trenches. 
A Sitting: of Tbonght Eggs. 
Subscriber, No address. —1. Can one make any profit 
selling butter for 15 cents a pound, with hay worth 
from $7 to $10 a ton, bran 65 cents per ICO pounds, corn 
40 cents a bushel and 10 cents for grinding ? 2. Which 
is the cheaper hay, Timothy at $8 per ton or Red Top 
for $7 ? 3. Are cooked vegetables, such as potatoes, 
turnips, etc., any better than raw for hens ? I have 
always cooked them, but notice that some feed them 
raw—which is much less work. 
Ans, —1. Yes; if you will make the corn into ensil¬ 
age. Mr. Baker told the New York State dairymen 
that his butter cost him only 10 cents a pound. We 
would like to have others tell us what their butter 
costs. But why sell good butter at 15 cents ? It is 
worth more than that now 1 2. The Red Top is more 
valuable for cow feed if the hays are equally well cured. 
3. It is well enough to feed turnips and beets raw, but 
potatoes should be cooked. This is because the pota¬ 
toes contain more starch which must be cooked in 
order to obtain the best results from it. 
Cut Bone or Balled Rabbits for Hens. 
O. M. A., Tamaroa, 111. —Would it pay me to buy a 
bone cutter for 100 hens when I can g=t lean meat, 
rabbits, for about two cents a pound ? How does such 
meat compare in value with cut, raw bone ? Is it as 
cheap as the advertised dried meat and bone ? The 
latter would cost me about three cents per pound de¬ 
livered. 
, Ans —We cannot soy. Wait till the reports come in 
from those who have used the bone cutters in sma 1 
flocks. We would call an equal weight of rabbit meat 
cheaper than an equal weight of cut bone, and as good 
as the dried meat, if properly fed. We would boil the 
rabbits and make a thick mush of the soup by stirring 
in corn meal and bran and mixing all together. 
Another Talk About That Ensilage Failure. 
G. S. S., Pennsylvania. —Will J. Q Wells, who wrote 
about his ensilage on page 862, tell us how near ripe 
the corn was, and also what variety he used ? 
Ans. —Nine-tenths of the corn that I cut for ensilage 
last year, excepting the fodder corn put on top, was 
ripe enough for seeo ; the husks had largely turned 
yellow, but the most of the leaves and stalks were 
green. I do not know, but surmise that the reason 
that the very green corn does not keep so well as corn 
that is mature, is because of an excess of moisture. 
The variety was Pride of the North. I have used sev¬ 
eral other varieties, both of dent and flint, with good 
results. I prefer the dent varieties to any of the flint 
varieties with which I am acquainted, for ensilage, 
because the stalks and leaves remain green until the 
ear is ripe, thereby retaining moisture enough in the 
plant as a whole to cause it to pack well, and not 
enough to spoil it. I have seen quite a number of 
silos and their contents, and have seen the ensilage at 
the Geneva Experiment Station several times, but I 
have never seen any quite so good as that from my 
own silo. I think the reason of my ensilage being so 
good is because it was cut and stored at just the right 
time, being neither too ripe nor too green. 
JOHN Q. WELLS. 
The Power In a Waterfall. 
C. W., Blshopvllle, N. Y. —What will be the horse¬ 
power of a stream of water four inches square, under 
an eight-foot head? Will it be more in a large pen¬ 
stock than a small one ? 
Ans. —To find the amount of power in any stream, 
the quantity of water flowing over the danc in one 
minute, or more correctly the weight of it, is multi¬ 
plied by the height of the fall. Thus to find the 
power of four inches square of water flowing 200 feet 
in one minute over an eight-inch fall, we multip y 
seven, the pounds in weight of 16 square inches of 
water one foot in length, by 300 the velocity of the 
stream, and then by eight the fall in feet, and the 
total is the weight of water falling in one minute or 
11,200 pounds. This is one-third of 33,000 which is the 
weight in pounds falling one foot per minute, or as it 
is called, foot pounds, estimated as one horse-power. 
So that this quantity of water with the height of fall, 
will be equal to one-third of one horse-power. There 
should be deducted from this one-fourth as the loss in 
friction of the machinery and the remainder equal to 
one fourth of a horse-power gives the actual power 
gained. The size of the penstock makes no difference, 
it is only the quantity of water passing through the 
opening in the flume and going on, or into the wheel 
that gives the power. A well made and nicely bal¬ 
anced overshot wheel would probably be the best for 
this small power, although there are turbine wheels 
made of brass and quite ligot for this kind of powers. 
Too Mach to Ask of Oae Grass. 
S. D., Hagerstown, N. J. —What is the best grass to 
sow for spring pasture and hay ? How should the soil 
be prepared, and when should the seed be so'vn ? Can 
it be sown on wheat and make pasture and hay after 
the wheat is cut? 
Ans—T here is no kind of grass that will make 
spring pasture and bay both, any more thin there is 
any kind of apple that a man can eat and have it too. 
To pasture a meadow in the spring will ruin it for hay, 
whatever kind of grass may be sown. The nearest 
approach to anything of this kind is the Mammoth or 
Pea Vine clover, which, if pastured until Jane, may 
be left to grow, and will make a fair crop of hay in 
August, but not as much feed in the whole as if the 
hay were made in July and the new growth pastured 
until October. Of all the grasses for either pasture or 
hay Orcaard grass is perhaps the most valuable, as it 
is early enough to be fed or cut for feeding early in 
Mayor Jane, and then pastured until fall after a 
month’s growth. More good will be got from the same 
quantity of land by dividing it and sowing one half 
for pasture and the other for hay, than by trying to 
get both from the whole. Grass sown on wheat in 
the spring will not make pasture the same year, it is 
true it will afford some feed if the land be rich and the 
season favorable, but it will be unwise to use it in 
that way. Doubtless the most feed may be got by 
sowing Orchard grass and clover together on land well 
prepared in the spring without any grain crop There 
will be good pasture in the fall and after the first year, 
hay in June and pasture throughout the rest of the 
summer. For the best results there should be at 
least 24 pounds of the grass seed sown, and not less 
than 10 pounds of the clover to the acre. 
A Fertilizer Formala for Minnesota. 
Q. W. B., Wolverton, Minn. —What is a formula for 
making a fertilizsr for potatoes ? I wish tq buy the 
chemicals and mix them myself, as we cannot afford 
to p »y the freights that would be charged on ferti¬ 
lizers from Eastern factories. 
Ans. —It will make some difference whether you 
p‘'ant the potatoes on a c over sod or on bare ground 
and also whether the soil is rich or poor. The formulas 
for potatoes and other crops are mistly made on the 
basis of what the long cropped Eastern soils need and 
when their use in large quantities is urged the high 
prices obtained for potatoes near the large towns and 
cities are considered. It is therefore very diflB -.ult to 
figure a profitable formula for farms as far west as 
Minnesota. In your case we would use dried blood, 
fine ground bone, superphosphate and muriate of pot¬ 
ash. You can probably obtain blood and bone from 
the slaughter houses cheaper than any other form of 
nitrogen. A mixture of 250 pounds blood, 150 muriate 
of potash, 200 superphosphate and 500 ground bone 
will be sure to grow potatoes if used 500 or 600 pounds 
per a3re. It may not be the cheapest dressing, how¬ 
ever. We would experiment. Use this mixture on 
different strips so as to test it both on clover and bare 
land. On other strips use potash alone at the rate of 
125 pounds per acre on others this amount of potash 
with 300 pounds of superphosphate and on still others 
the potash and 300 pounds of ground bone. This will 
show you whether your soil needs all these elements 
or one or two. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
J., Salem, Mass. —Tne only advantage we know of 
in using sulphate of potash is that it improves the 
quality of fruits and vegetables. 
Iron for Agriculture. —M. S., East Patchogue, L. I. 
—We do not think iron can be used successfully as a 
fertilizer on Long Island light soils. 
Eape for Hogs. —R. M. Me A., Homer, Mich.—We 
have had no experience in feeding rape to hogs. If 
any of our readers can help us we shall bo glad to 
hear from them. 
