i5o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 10 
packed in five-pound earthen jars, which have the 
label of the firm on the side. A'eloth covers the but¬ 
ter, and between the two thicknesses of parchment 
paper, the following note is placed : 
This Butter iB made at “The Gates TIomestead Farm,” 
Chitteuaniro, Madison County, N. T., by the “ Separator 
Process,” under our own supervision. To be genuine. 
GATBS must be plainly stamped In the butter, on top of 
each package. We have pure spring water In abundance, 
and aim at the strictest cleanliness In Its manufacture. 
If It pleases you, order another package of 
wbo have the exclusive sale of our butter. If you wish 
to return this package, thoroughly cleanse It. 
If at any time you do not find our Butter at the usual 
place, write at once to us, and we will either Inform you 
where you can get It, or bring It to you. Our customers 
are Invited to Inspect our Model Creamery. 
F. II. GATES & SONS, 
Chlttenango, N. V. 
This slip is necessary because others would get these 
second-hand jars filled and sell them for this now 
famous brand. A funnel shaped tin band that will 
just slip over the jar pushes the paper cover down and 
holds it in place till tied. This is an invention of Mr. 
Gates, Sr., and is a “real help.” 
How and What They Sell. 
“ What arrangement do you make with the seller ? ” 
“We give him a fixed price for selling each jar. 
He has no inducement to be tricky. We make our own 
price. Any butter not sold or that does not suit our 
customers is ours. We assume all responsibility, and 
the dealer having a sure profit, works for a big 
trade.” 
“ What price does your butter average you ? ” 
“ About 33 cents.” 
“ Do not buyers complain of high prices ? ” 
“ Sometimes. I tell them there is cheaper but¬ 
ter, but there is such a lack of uniformity in 
what they get that they soon come back.” 
“ Will you give me the figures for 1893 ? ” 
“From February 1 to December 23, 1893, we 
have received from the home dairy : 
For butter. 13,057 89 
For veal. 72 39 
For beef. 295 07 
Value of young stock raised. 130 00 
Total. 13,555 86 
By February 1, 1894, the dairy, which will aver¬ 
age 35 cows, will have given, exclusive of pork, 
over $100 for each cow.” 
The use of steam on a large farm is very eco¬ 
nomical. As the farms are well supplied with 
pure spring water which is piped to all parts, no 
pumping is necessary; but grain is ground, 
water is warmed, hogs are scalded, food is 
cooked with surplus steam after separating and 
churning is done, with no extra expense. An 
oil engine was first used, but was not satisfac¬ 
tory. The second venture was an upright, which 
was not considered economical. A horizontal 
eight-horse-power Watertown just fills the bill. 
In speaking of current literature, I learned that 
they pay from $30 to $40 per year for reading. I 
carelessly inquired for the favorite; “ The Rural 
is brightest and best,” was the unhesitating re¬ 
ply. Everything is done in the best practical 
manner. Durability and profit are sought rather than 
useless show. The trade prices, and profits they 
receive in Syracuse can be duplicated in every city in 
the United States, if one will try to sell iMll with his 
produces. C. E. CHAPMAN. 
HOW MUCH SEED TO THE ACRE? 
WHAT THE ARLINGTON MARKET GARDENERS USE 
The painstaking gardener never plants his seeds 
until he has first tested them to determine the per cent 
of seeds of perfect vitality. Even then there are 
climatic conditions which may upset all his calcula¬ 
tions. Surely no one should buy seeds until he has 
first tested them. Experimenters tell us that certain 
seeds retain their vitality for so many years, and we 
suppose they do; but what becomes of seeds that have 
had their vitality impaired by keeping under imper¬ 
fect conditions, or those which may have reached 
their limit of vitality ? Surely there must be some 
such remaining in the seedsmen’s hands. I know it is 
a common practice with seedsmen to mix seeds that 
they didn’t succeed in selling the previous year, with 
the present year’s supply. It is always good practice 
to buy seeds early in the season; it gives you a 
chance to sprout them, and the seedsman will more 
generally supply you with his freshest stock. As 
the supply of seed in his hands runs short, he will 
fiee to any supply that he may have ; he argues that 
if 50 per cent sprout the purchaser will never know 
the difference. 
In sowing seed, it is always advisable to sow more 
than is actually required ; it is better to have a sur¬ 
plus of plants rather than'to be>unting for them. A 
very important condition to be considered when 
recommending the quantity of seed required is. how 
close will the fertility of the soil admit of planting ? 
Land in a high state of cultivation like the land of a 
professional market gardener, will admit of closer 
planting than the general run of farm land. In my 
recommendation as to quantity of seed required, I 
shall specify the distance apart the plants may stand, 
and that distance will be from the standard of our 
Boston market garden lands. Taking it for granted 
that the cultivator is familiar with the conditions of 
heat and moisture, most conductive to germination 
of the different varieties of seeds, and that the seed 
has 90 per cent of vitality, the quantity will be as 
follows: 
Beans, dwarf, in drills three feet apart and eight 
inches apart in the drill, IM bushel per acre ; one 
quart to 100 feet of drill. Beans, pole, in hills three 
feet apart both ways, 10 to 12 quarts; six seeds to the 
hill. Beets, table varieties, in rows 14 inches apart, 
six to eight pounds. One ounce will sow 50 feet of 
drill. Cabbage in beds, one ounce will produce 3,000 
plants. It will take 6,500 plants for an acre with rows 
three feet apart and the plants two feet apart in the 
row. With seed sown in the field, thinning out to a 
single plant, with six seeds planted to the hill, two 
pounds will be required. Carrots, with rows 12 inches 
apart, three pounds. One ounce will sow 100 feet of 
drill. Caulifiower, the same as cabbage. Celery, one 
ounce will produce 4,000 plants. One and one-half 
pound will be required for drilling in in the field. 
Corn in rows 3J^ feet apart, the stalks to stand 10 
Cabbage Club Root. Fig. 53. 
inches apart in the row, 10 quarts. One quart will 
plant 200 hills. Cucumbers, in hills four feet apart 
each way, one to two pounds. One ounce will plant 
50 hills, SIX seeds to the hill. Dandelions, in rows 12 
inches apart, one pound. One ounce will sow 200 feet 
of drill. Egg plants, plants four feet each way, one- 
fourth pound. One ounce will produce about 1,000 
plants. Lettuce in beds to transplant, one-fourth 
pound. One ounce will produce 4,000 plants. With 
seed sown in drills 12 inches apart in the field, about 
one pound ; plants to be thinned to 12 inches apart in 
the row. Watermelons, hills six feet apart each way, 
four pounds. One ounce will plant about 30 hills with 
six seeds to the hill. Muskmelons in hills five feet 
apart each way, about two pounds. One ounce will 
plant about 60 hills, eight seeds to the hill. Onions in 
rows 12 inches apart, five pounds. One ounce will sow 
100 feet of drill. Parsley in rows 12 inches apart, 13^ 
pound. One ounce will sow 150 feet of drill. Parsnips 
in rows 14 inches apart, six pounds. One ounce will 
sow 100 feet of drill. Peas in rows three feet apart, 
lii bushel of the early varieties and one bushel of the 
later sorts. One quart will sow 100 feet of drill. Pep¬ 
pers, one ounce will produce 2,000 plants. Radishes 
in drills six inches apart, six to eight pounds. One 
ounce will sow 100 feet of drill. Potatoes in rows 
three feet apart, plants one foot apart in the row, 
eight bushels of cut tubers. Salsify in drills 14 inches 
apart, 8 to 10 pounds. One ounce will sow 50 feet of 
drill. Spinach in drills 12 inches apart, 12 to 16 pounds. 
One ounce will sow 50 feet of drill. Squashes in hills 
eight feet apart both ways, three to four pounds. One 
ounce will plant 15 hills, six seeds to the hill. Toma¬ 
toes, one ounce will produce 2,000 plants, 4,000 plants 
to the acre. Turnips, flat, in drills, 12 inches apart, 
one to two pounds; broadcast three to four pounds. One 
ounce will sow 150 feet of drill. ewd. p. kibbt. 
CLUB ROOT OF CABBAGE AND ITS ALLIES. 
This is the title of a very interesting bulletin by 
Byron D. Halsted, of the New Jersey Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. Every year dozens of questions are asked about 
this disease. Some facts, therefore, from this bulletin 
will be of great interest to our readers. Dr. Halsted 
says that the disease, under different names has been 
known in Europe for more than 100 years. He esti¬ 
mates that it causes a loss of millions of dollars in 
this country alone. 
What is “ club root ? ” At Fig. 53 is shown a photo¬ 
graph of three young cabbage plants taken from a field 
that was nearly ruined by the disease. Instead of the 
numerous long, fibrous roots, by means of which the 
plants are able to obtain the required nourishment 
from the soil, there is in each an extravagant malfor¬ 
mation consisting of a much-knotted and enlarged root 
system. 
What causes it ? It was formerly thought that in¬ 
sects caused the trouble, but after much investigation 
it was found that a low form of fungoun growth or slime 
was at the bottom of it. To quote from Dr. Halsted : 
“This fungus, in the form of a slime or plasma, obtains 
entrance to the cells of the growing root, and there 
robs the infested tissue of its vital fluids, and, gath¬ 
ering new forces to itself, fills the cells with its own 
substance. This semi-fluid material then begins the 
process of spore formation, which results in the 
production of millions of minute bodies, each of 
which is capable of a new growth when condi¬ 
tions are favorable.” 
All this causes a swelling and enlargement of 
the root, which becomes very much distorted. 
In consequence, when the roots decay, the germs 
of this disease are set free in the soil ready to 
. attack other roots in the same way. The earth 
holds these germs for an indefinite time so that 
subsequent crops will suffer. 
If cabbage alone suffered, it might be possible 
to kill off the disease by a rotation of crops, but 
several other plants are affected, and thus keep 
the germs afloat. At Fig. 52 is shown a photo¬ 
graph of turnips with the club root. The other 
plants affected are mostly of the cabbage family, 
turnips, kale, radish, cauliflower, and two weeds, 
shepherd’s purse and hedge mustard. 
What to do about it ? It is evident from the 
nature of the disease that preventive measures 
rather than fungicides will be most effective. 
All the refuse of a diseased crop should be 
burned. The best methods of spreading the 
disease are to leave cabbage stumps in the field, 
feed them to stock, or put them in the manure 
pile. Start with healthy plants, and burn all the 
seedlings that show signs of the disease. Rotate 
the crops so that cabbage or any of its allies 
like turnips, radish, kale, etc., shall not be upon 
the soil oftener than once in three years. Keep 
the land free from weeds that harbor the dis¬ 
ease. It is probable that some forms of ferti 
lizers will check the trouble. The only actually 
effective remedy that has been found is to use lime at 
the rate of 75 bushels per acre. 
HOW I TEST MY HATCHING EGGS. 
The thrifty farmer looks as carefully for the possi¬ 
ble losses as for the possible gains, knowing that the 
loss side of his account may seriously lessen the profits 
of the year. Nowhere is this care more necessary 
than in the poultry yard. One unnecessary loss is that 
of infertile eggs, quite an item when 300 chicks are 
hatched every spring. My purpose is to tell the read¬ 
ers of The R. N.-Y. my method of testing eggs. My 
“ egg tester ” is an oblong box 15 inches long by 6 
inches square, inside measurement. It is made as 
follows : The bottom should be eight inches and the 
top six inches square ; three-quarter-inch pine is about 
right. Through the top cut a three-inch hole for ven¬ 
tilation of lamp. Make sides, back and door of any 
light material—one-half inch is thick enough. Near 
the bottom in each side, bore two three-quarter-inch 
holes; also leave a three-quarter-inch space at the bot¬ 
tom of the door. These, with the hole in the top piece, 
will give sufficient ventilation to the lamp. In the 
center of the door, so as to come opposite the flame of 
the lamp you expect to use, cut a hole two inches in 
diameter. O ^er this tack a washer-like piece cut from 
the leg of an old rubber boot. This rubber piece should 
have a IJ^-inch hole cut through it, and is to serve as 
a cushion to prevent breaking the eggs while testing. 
Put a pair of light hinges on the left, a small closet 
hook on the right side of the door, paint the inside of 
the tester black, and you are ready for work. 
My hatching is done almost entirely by homemade 
