1894 
2i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
clover fTrifolium pratense): one pound Red Top 
(Agrostis vulgaris). 
Lowland.—Three pounds Timothy; one pound Fes¬ 
cue; three pounds Alsike clover; one pound White 
clover; three pounds Red Top. 
After sowing the seeds in the fall the ground should 
be rolled with a light roller, and some care should be 
taken to select a time for sowing when the seeds are 
likely to germinate rapidly. If the ground be moist 
and in good condition they may be sown as early as 
the first of August, if it be dry and hot,then the sow¬ 
ing should be deferred to the middle of September. 
If possible the pasture should be mowed the first 
year instead of being grazed, in order to give the grass 
time to form a firm sod. Some of the grasses named 
do not get a strong hold upon the soil the first year, 
and if pastured heavily are likely to die out during 
the dry weather. If it be rot convenient to mow the 
first year, then the grazing should be light. The great 
object is to get a solid and uniform sward. If a really 
good permanent pasture be desired some plant food 
must be spread upon the land from time to time, as 
farm manures, which should, if possible, be put upon 
the land in October and November, or a light dressing 
of a commercial fertilizer composed of two pounds 
phosphoric acid to three of potash. No nitrogen reed 
be used provided clover be kept growing, as these 
leguminous plants will furnish all the nitrogen re¬ 
quired. If at any time in after years the land should 
seem to lack nitrogen it will be entirely due to the 
fact that the clover has died out. 
In this case clover of the ti ree kinds mentioned 
above should be sown in small quantities upon the sod 
and harrowed in with a sharp toothed harrow early in 
the spring, while the land is yet soft. The land should 
then be rolled. Ordinarily ther.3 will be no difficulty in 
starting a good crop of clover, which in turn will feed 
the nitrogen consuming grasses which have been men¬ 
tioned, and thereby the pastures will be greatly bene- 
lited so that the one acre should carry a cow during 
the six grass months. [ritoF.J i. p. kobkbts. 
Patting: Run-Down Soil on Its Feet. 
C. Ji. H., Blacklnton, Mass. —I have lately come into 
possession of four acres of land whicii is considerably 
run down. What is the best way to reclaim it ? It is 
a hillside, and faces the south. The soil is mostly 
a gravelly loam. What kind of fertilizers would you 
recommend me to use, and how much ? 
Ans.—W e would use a complete, high-grade fertil¬ 
izer by all means. The amount will be determined by 
the crop. What do you want to raise on the land after 
it is reclaimed ? You cannot do better than to get a 
good sod on it. Once in sod you can do anything with 
it by adding the needed fertilizers. One way to work 
it at a pr'fit will be to plow the land carefully next 
spring and plant potatoes, using at least 1.200 pounds 
of fertilizer per acre. After the potatoes are dug in 
the fall, sow rye with Timothy seed added, and in the 
spring sow clover. After harvesting the rye, the clover 
and grass will follow. The latter may be kept up for 
years by using 400 pounds of fertilizer per acre, or the 
sod may be plowed for corn, cabbage or other crops. 
Plowing Under Rye for Tomatoes. 
./. B. N., Salem, N. J. —1. Is rye a good green crop to 
plow under for tomatoes ? 2. Would 40 bushels of 
lime per acre be helpful ? 3. Would 250 pounds of 
bone per acre help the crop ? I shall give the land a 
goad coat of manure. The soil is a sandy loam. 
Axs.—1. The best thing you can do is to send to the 
New Jersey Experiment Station at New Brunswick 
for their bulletin on tomatoes. That will give you just 
the facts you need about the use of fertilizers on the 
crop. The use of rye as a green manure is almost al¬ 
ways disappointing. There is usually a heavy growth 
to plow under, but unless manure or a complete fer¬ 
tilizer be added the rye never seems to give the value 
it should. 2. If the soil need lime such an applica¬ 
tion might pay—not otherwise. 3. The bone meal 
will probably give best results, but the details of toe 
field and crop are so obscure that we cannot intelli¬ 
gently advise. The bulletin mentioned above ouglit 
to help you. 
What Ails American Wool? 
II. S. B., Il'ime, N. Y. —Why does American wool 
sell fora lower price under the present protective 
tariff than it has during any year of the last 10 under 
the former taiiff law? What has been the increase in 
the importation of the old filthy rags, the cloth shear¬ 
ings, and mill sweepings o^ foreign cloth mills since 
the present tariff laws went into effect? Why is this 
increase? 
Axs.—We can only say ‘‘we do not know” why wool 
is so cheap. 11 alf a dozen theories have been advanced. 
The low prices are not confined to this country but 
abcurd all over the world. The manufacturers and 
wool dealers general'y claim that uncertainty regard¬ 
ing the tariff has caused wool to drop to practically 
free trade prices—that is, dealers have refused to buy 
at prices above what it was estimated wool would 
bring under free trade. The silver men claim that 
wool in common with wheat and cotton has lost its 
purchasing power in consequence of the appreciation 
of the gold dollar. Others claim that through frauds 
in the custom house certain wools are imported at 
lower rates than they should be, while others main¬ 
tain that the use of shoddy has increased to such an ex¬ 
tent as seriously to diminish the amount of wool used. 
As to importations of rags and shoddy, the statistical 
abstract shows that the heaviest importation of these 
was in 1889 when 8,002,209 pounds were brought in. 
There has been a decrease ever since. In 1891 the 
amount was 1,185,591 pounds, and in 1892 202,992 
pounds, with no great increase for this year. 
Gas Tar, Bees and Moles. 
H. H. O., Northville, Tenn.—i. What is the differ¬ 
ence between gas tar and coal tar? A late RuRxIL 
speaks of gas tar as a tree wash to prevent rabbits 
eating the bark. 2. Do bees eat grapes, or do the 
birds peck holes in them and the bees follow after and 
eat the grape, the same as the mole digs under the 
garden plants and the bob-tailed field mice follow and 
eat the plants? 
Ans —1. There is really no difference. The substance 
is a refuse in the distillation of coal to make gas. 
Many people call kerosene “coal oil”—they are the 
same. 2. It is generally believed that bees seldom or 
never break open the grapes. They eat after other 
birds and insects have done the damage. Does the 
mole never eat plants? 
Tke Perfect Blossomed Keiffer. 
W. n. S., Eocky Hill, N. J.—lias the Keiffer pear a 
perfect blossom ? Is it improved in quality or in any 
way, by having other varieties of pears near it ? 
Ans.— Our belief is that it has a perfect blossom. 
We were among the first to fruit it in the north and 
heavy crops were borne though the tree was not near 
any other pear tree. No, it would not be improved by 
being grown near others. 
The Petting of Puny Plants. 
E. D. B., Holly, Mich. —In what way would The R. 
N.-Y. apply fertTizer to crops that are looking puny 
as mentioned on page 779 ? 
Ans. —Scatter the fertilizer along the rows close 
to the plants and work it in with the cultivator or 
hoe. We think this was answered in the interview 
with Mr. Dwyer last week. A bag of good fertilizer 
will contain more plant food than a ton of manure. 
Not only that, but the food is more quickly available, 
and a handful is equal in fertility to a big forkful of 
manure. 
Analyses of Clover Hay. 
IL C. B., Blairsvllle, Pa. —Was there net a mistake 
in your comparison of the manurial value of Timothy 
and clover ? Why is there so much difference in the 
analyses often given in The R. N.-Y. and those in 
Harris’s Talks on Manure, as in the present instance ? 
Ans. —As we explained later, the analyses for clover 
and Timothy were transposed. That for clover 
should have read 40 pounds nitrogen, 11 of phosphoric 
acid and. 36 of potash. This is taken from analyses 
made at the Pennsylvania Station and is a fair average 
for clover. Harris gives for best clover hay 39 
pounds nitrogen, 3G>^ pounds potash and 11 pounds 
phosphoric acid. Some of our figures are taken from 
reports of special analyses and are not intended to 
show average results. In these cases we try to make 
the difference clear. 
The Growing of Tomato Seeds. 
A. A. M., Bellows Falls, Vt —What is the most 
approved method of saving and curing tomato seeds in 
large quantities ? Can the rest of the tomatoes be 
used for any purpose ; as catsups, etc ? 
Ans —The process of saving and curing tomato seeds 
is a simple one. Grow the tomatoes as for market 
except that greater care is necessary to insure a pure 
strain of seed, and earliness is also a great advantage. 
When the crop ripens, have ready a large tub or vat 
in some open shed, as near the crop as convenient. A 
good supply of water should be at hand. When the 
tomatoes are fully ripe—overripe in fact, but not 
decayed, cut each one in half laterally, and squeeze 
the pulp containing the seeds into the tub ; the fieshy 
portion can be saved for catsup if so desired, and some 
growers make quite an item of this otherwise waste 
product. In from two to four days the pulp will have 
fermented and by the addition of a few pails of water 
and a thorough stirring, the seeds will settle to the 
bottom and the pulp can be run oflf. Wash the seeds 
carefully and spread on shallow racks to dry. It is 
essential that they dry quickly, in order to have a 
bright color, and that they be thoroughly dry when 
packed for shipment, otherwise they will heat, and 
their vitality be destroyed. Tomatoes vary in the 
amount of seed produced, but a fair average is a pound 
from a bushel. Prices range from SI to $1 75 per 
pound, according to the scarcity of the variety. Toma¬ 
toes that have only just begun to color can be seeded, 
but the work is necessarily slower, and the seeds do 
not separate so quickly from the pulp. The grower 
with a conscience will throw out all fruit that is not 
true to standard, and also that from adjoining plants, 
but this can be marketed, so that it is not lost. One 
of my neighbors valued the vines and green tomatoes 
left thereon late in the season, as a food for his milch 
cows, but I have never used them for that purpose. If 
one can find a market for the reed, it is a profitable 
crop. CHAS. riEKSON AUGUR. 
The Croshey Peach and Its Pits. 
H. II, Q., Nortlivlile, Term .—Does the Crosbey peach 
come true from the pit? Where cau the pits be pur¬ 
chased by the pound or quart ? 
Ans. —The Crosbey peach is a native of New Eng¬ 
land and, probably, the most hardy and reliable bearer 
of any peach in the country. It has never been claimed 
that it would surely reproduce itself from the pit. All 
the trees now growing in different sections of the 
country have been propagated by budding ; still, it 
belongs to the hardy type of native New England seed¬ 
lings, which, very nearly, reproduce themselves from 
seed. In fact, in olden times, when there were but 
few varieties about and less chance for admixture of 
the pollen, nearly all these strains of peaches repro¬ 
duced themselves very closely, if not identically, with 
the original type ; and there is little doubt that, if not 
too closely allied with other varieties, seedlings of the 
Crosbey would come true to name. I know of no one 
having the pits for sale from last season’s crop, but 
presume they may be secured in the coming fall from 
the orchards of New England. j. u. hale. 
How to Use 50 Breeding Ewes. 
R. 1. C,, Friend, N. Y .—I have about 50 grade ewes 
which are due to lamb in February. I am feeding clover 
hay now. I have oats, corn, bean straw, turnips and 
potatoes which I can feed. Will Mr. Woodward give 
a few pointers in regard to feeding and handling to 
obtain the best results ? The sheep are housed in a 
good, roomy basement. Will I need a new milch cow 
to help feed the lambs ? 
Ans —Mr. C. has started on the right plan by hous¬ 
ing his ewes in a good, roomy basement, proviaiag it 
is dry and warm. Ewes which will lamb in February 
should now have, every day, some sort of green food. 
He should give the 50 ewes, if he have enougn to do so, 
one bushel of cut turnips; even two bushels would be 
all right after they become accustomed to the food. 
Clover hay and bean straw are both excellent for for¬ 
age ; nothing could be better. Don’t give them any 
corn ; better sell that and buy bran with the money. 
No worse grain could be fed to a pregnant ewe. Oats 
are all right if the price be not too high. With me, 
they are worth 50 cents per bushel, equal to i$25 per 
ton. I can buy bran for $15, and as the bran is worth 
more than the oats, especially for ewes in lamb, I can¬ 
not afford to feed oats. 
If the design be to put the lambs into the early 
market, Mr. C may feed the ewes all the clover hay 
and bean straw they will eat with the daily feed of 
turnips, enough bran to keep them gaining a little up 
to the time of lambing. He may then add to the bran 
enough corn to cause them to gain a little while suck¬ 
ling the lambs. It would be better if he had a little 
oil meal for them also, and if the lambs are to be 
urged forward for the early market they should by all 
means have plenty of oil meal, as about the first thing 
they will eat aside from their mother’s milk will be 
N. P. oil meal. To this may be added a little corn 
cracked so as to break each kernel into about four or 
five pieces. 
Of course the sheep and lambs should have an 
abundant supply of good fresh water, ahd the fold 
should be kept clean and well bedded. A judicious 
use of new milk from a fresh cow will hurry the lambs 
along quickly to market. ,J. s. woodward. 
Salt Hay In Manure. 
C. N. B., Elizabeth, N. J .—Other things being equal, 
would horse manure where salt hay was used for bed¬ 
ding be very much inferior to manure where straw 
was used ? It is to be used on truck and asparagus. 
Ans. —No. It would be just as good and perhaps 
better for asparagus. It would be better if you could 
chop up all the marsh hay before using for bedding. 
Some Raspberries .—T A. P. Independence, Mo.—The 
Royal Church raspberry has thus far disappointed us 
at the Rural Grounds. But we are not yet prepared 
to make an unfavorable report. The Loudon is a very 
different berrj It may be called an improved Cuth- 
bert. 
I CANNOT farm without The R. N.-Y., it has been in 
the family, I think, for 30 years. It is the best agri¬ 
cultural paper publishc d in America. 
Schoharie County, N. Y. Charles Lehman. 
