200 
March 31 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
staves after the ensilage is removed would be consider¬ 
able, and unless the greatest care were taken, would 
burst the whole thing. It is not like a water tank for 
that is never permitted to dry out. There is also a 
greater liability to rot. In fact, outside of a big barrel 
for two or three cows, it will be more economical to 
build a “round box” without staves such as has been 
described in The R. N.-Y. 
To Raise Good Watermelons. 
I.., (No address )—I have a low, sandy piece of land 
which I wish to plant to watermelons, and have been 
advised to plant in hills prepared as follows : Dig holes 
two feet deep, put in one peck of fresh stable manure, 
not ihixed with the soil, but covered with about three 
inches of sand. Would not this burn the vines in case 
a dry season should follow planting ? Would not a 
good commercial fertilizer be better than the stable 
manure ? If so, what are some good mixtures ? What 
quantities should be applied, and how ? 
Ans. —We would not advise the use of “ fresh stable 
manure ” for watermelons or anything else of which 
we hoped to raise superior crops. One way would be 
to mix old manure with the soil of the hill. Large 
holes are advantageous, as they enable us thoroughly 
to do this mixing and to give the melon root plenty of 
room to spread out, a warm bed and plenty of food 
Besides the manure, we would spread upon the top of 
the hill and rake into the soil almost any high-grade 
complete fertilizer at the rate of a full handful to the 
hill, so spreading it as to cover a circle two feet in 
diameter. 
A Homeopathic Soil Test. 
L. M. S. J., Canajolmrie^ N. Y. —Testing the soil to 
find what fertilizer is needed is commonly thought to 
be the best way. Instead of a trial plot for each fer¬ 
tilizer, which is not always reliable because the field 
may not be at all uniform, why not do as is done to 
test the vitality of seeds, take a very small sample of 
earth from many different portions of the field, and, 
having mixed them thoroughly, put in window boxes 
and sow with buckwheat or some quick-growing 
plant, and then use different kinds of fertilizer in 
each, leaving one without fertilizer. Would not this 
give fairly good results, sooner, and with less trouble 
and expense than the other ? 
Ans. —No, we do not think so. The test is too small 
—too homeopathic. The sunlight is not direct m a 
window and not long enough continued. A shade upon 
one plant, or half an hour less of sunshine, a little 
more or less draft, would influence the result. A green¬ 
house might be arranged to test the question more 
reliably. Better still, we would get soil from various 
parts of the farm, mix it thoroughly and make an out¬ 
door plot—say 33 x 33 feet square—and dig this out at 
least six inches in depth, and fill in w’th the thor¬ 
oughly mixed soil. 
Better Pastures and Hay Without Manure. 
S. H., R. , lY. Brookfield, Mass. —I wish to so improve my 
under next spring. Also plow wheat or oat stubble 
and sow buckwheat—this to be plowed in for rye next 
fall. However, this is no advice, as we know nothing 
about your crops and soil. Another subscriber in 
Illinois wants to know if the roots of cow peas contain 
much fertility. In an experiment made in Connecticut 
it was found that the crop gave the following showing: 
POUNDS ON AN ACRE. 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid. Potash. 
Cow pea vines. 95 20 ’ 68 
Cow pea roots. 22 6 13 
A ton of stable manure contains about 10 pounds of 
nitrogen, six of phosphoric acid and eight of potash. 
That will give an idea of the fertilizing value of the 
roots after cutting and feeding the vines. 
Different Forms of Potash. 
II. J. F., Ida, Mich. —Mr. Bittner says, in The R. 
N.-Y., that he uses muriate of potash on other crops 
than potatoes. Which kind is the best ? Will muriate 
injure potatoes ? Muriate is $50 per ton, 50 per cent 
actual potash ; sulphate is $40, 26 per cent actual pot¬ 
ash. One contains only one-half as much potash and 
is one-fifth less in price. What are they worth at the 
actual price of pure potash ? I am at a loss to know 
which to use, as some use muriate on potatoes. 
Ans. —The article on page 152 partly answers this. 
The sulphate gives a better quality in potatoes and for 
that reason is better. In estimating the value of fer¬ 
tilizers, the stations estimate potash from sulphate at 
5K cents a pound and that in muriate at 43^ cents. In 
your muriate there are 1,000 pounds potash to the ton ' 
or five cents a pound. In the sulphate 520 pounds or 
7 3-5 cents a pound for the potash. This sulphate is 
too high. 
Cow Manure Enoug-h for Corn. 
IS. E. M., West Orove, Pa. —Where a heavy coat of 
green cow manure is used, what other fertilizing ma¬ 
terial may be added to advantage on corn stubbles ? 
On Timothy sod ? I can get a fertilizer containing 
ammonia, three per cent, bone phosphate, 24 per 
cent, at $25 per ton. Is that too much for it ? What 
shall we add to make it good for corn on corn-stub¬ 
ble ground ? For potatoes ? Our soil is mostly heavy 
clay loam. 
Ans. —It depends upon the crop largely. If for corn, 
the manure ought to be enough. If, however, the corn 
seemed weak and backward, we would broadcast just 
before cultivating, 300 pounds per acre of a high-grade 
corn fertilizer. As to this fertilizer, we do not know 
whether the phosphoric acid is available or not. Read 
the article on page 168. We would prefer a first-class 
special fertilizer to this one for corn or potatoes. 
Beets for Sheep ; Millet or Clover. 
S. S. O., Marion, Minn. —My soil is a sandy loam. 
What kinds of beets should I grow to feed my breed¬ 
ing ewes next winter ? How much ground should I 
plant for 75 ewes ? Which will pay bsst, to sow mil¬ 
let, or to buy clover hay at $5 a ton, and plant the 
We grow these for feeding before the mangels are in 
their best feeding condition, which will not be before 
January 1. 
An acre of land will produce two to four times the 
money or feeding value from a corn crop as from 
millet. And when clover hay can be bought for $5 per 
ton, it will surely be better policy to devote the land 
to some other crop and buy the clover. It will thus 
be seen that the true policy should be to raise corn for 
hogs and buy clover for sheep. Besides this, the 
clover is a much more desirable sheep food than 
millet. But in feeding the corn to the hogs one should 
not lose sight of the fact that it is not a good food to 
feed alone, but should be balanced up with something 
more nitrogenous. Clover hay is wonderfully good 
for the hogs also. j. g. w. 
Feeding- Beans to Cows. 
W. D. F., South Haven, Mich —I have some feed com¬ 
posed of two parts of beans, one of corn and one of 
oats, ground; the beans have been wet and discolored 
and were not salable. I am feeding a light ration of 
this, with half a pailful of carrots, twice a day to a 
young cow that I am milking yet, but which is due to 
calve the middle of April. Will it injure her ? I am 
told that it will. She has plenty of water and good 
clover hay, and good shelter. 
Ans.—T he mixture as indicated by W. D. F., stands 
as follows in digestible nutrients : 
Two ponndB of beans, 
One pound corn meal 
Albumen. 
Carb. ny. 
Fat. 
.430 
1.004 
.028 
.083 
.651 
.047 
.087 
.457 
.041 
Total.600 2.112 .116 
These have a ratio of 1:4, which being fed with clover 
hay, which is 1:3.9, makes far too close a ratio for 
profitable milk production. If fed with ensilage with 
a ratio of 1:11.4, it would go very well. While 1 con¬ 
cede oats to be an excellent cow food, I don’t see how 
one can afford to feed them. Usually the price of oats 
will run about double that of wheat bran, while I 
would prefer the latter. If W. D. F. would substitute 
bran for oats, and formulate the mixture as follows, 
equal parts by weight of bean meal, corn meal and 
bran, he would have the ratio about 1:5, which would 
be much better. I would prefer to leave out one-half 
the bean meal even then, but as he has the beans, this 
ration will answer very well, especially as he is feed¬ 
ing apples and carrots, but he should be sure that the 
cow is kept warm. While beans are an excellent cow 
feed, I would advise that from now until she drops her 
calf, he eliminate the bean meal from her ration and 
substitute bran. The bean meal is so highly nitro¬ 
genous that a heavy feed of it is liable to create two 
much feverishness at time of parturition. I know 
dairymen who are feeding boiled beans to their cows 
with extremely good results and feeding them in very 
large quantities; but they are selling milk instead of 
making butter. j. g. 
A Sheep Fence Around an Orchard. 
pastures that now summer 25 cows as to keep 35 sure. 
I wish to fertilize with something reliable all my mow¬ 
ing land that I .cannot cover with stable manure after 
manuring 8 or 10 acres of corn. I wintered 40 head of 
stock, aged from one to four years, and wish to raise 
English hay enough to keep them all in milk on the 
farm, as they are a choice lot. 
Ans. —The note on page 73 is reliable. Mr. Walcott 
is a good farmer, and what he says is sound. Mr. Wal¬ 
cott uses the Mapes topdressing on his grass. We have 
no doubt that by the use of a good fertilizer, pastures 
and hay fields may be greatly improved so that more 
cows may be kept and more manure made to be put 07 i 
the corn for fodder or ensilage. Still another plan is 
that followed by Mr. Ilam (page 99), of using ferti¬ 
lizer to grow a crop of barley or oats, and cutting the 
crop green for hay. 
A Little About Green Manures. 
L. Y. S., Conevoango, N. Y .—Will any green crop 
plowed under fertilize the soil equal to commercial 
. fertilizer ? I own a farm without stock, and must de¬ 
pend on something besides stable manure this year. 
Economy in expenditure is necessary. 
Ans. —A book would be too short to answer these and 
dozens of other similar questions about green manures 
and fertilizers. We advise a reading of “Chemicals 
and Clover” and “Fertilizer Farming” for details. 
On some farms, a first-rate crop of clover plowed in 
will give the plant food needed for a good crop of corn 
or potatoes. On most Eastern farms trying to raise 
crops on green manures alone is like feeding dairy 
cows on hay or ensilage alone. The addition of 
manure or chemicals in one case and grain in another 
is profitable. We do not know anything about the 
condition of this farm, and therefore cannot give a 
more definite answer. In a general way, we would 
plow all the sod ground possible and plant corn or 
potatoes on it with as much of a high grade fertilizer 
as we could afford. If we wanted simply to improve 
the land, we would sow rye at the last cultivating of 
the corn and let it grow to bei'pastured or plowed 
ground to corn for my hogs ? I will have some clover 
hay, but not enough. 
Ans. —Mangels are not quite so valuable per ton for 
sheep feeding as sugar beets ; but when the difference 
in yield and cost of cultivation and harvesting are 
taken into account, there is no comparison between 
the two. Mangels are vastly superior. Whether S. S. G. 
should feed roots to ewes and how many, should de¬ 
pend upon whether they are housed, and how warmly. 
If allowed to run out;of-doors and shiver in the cold 
of a Minnesota winter, they should have but a few 
daily, say a half bushel to the 75 ewes, and those 
should be cut fine so that they might be eaten quickly 
before becoming frozen. But if warmly housed in 
folds which do not freeze, the 75 ewes, after a few 
days feeding of a lesser quantity, may be safely and 
profitably fed three bushels daily. At the first, they 
should have but a few, say, a half bushel to the lot, 
but the quantity may be increased daily so that they 
have full feed at the end of two weeks. They will 
waste less if the mangels be cut, but will do just as 
well if they be given whole and the ewes allowed to 
gnaw upon them. Of course, in this case, the fold 
must be well littered so that they be not filthy, else 
the mangels will be so soiled that they will not eat 
them. 
As to how much land will be required to grow the 
requisite amount, say, 600 bushels, so much depends 
upon soil and climate that it is hard to tell. But good 
land should raise from 500 to 1,200 bushels per acre, 
planted 30 inches apart in drills and allowed to grow 
from eight to 12 inches apart in the row. 
In our practice, we feed our ewes all the roots they 
will eat, from the day they get on full feed after being 
put into folds, but our folds are warm and our sheep 
are constantly housed. To supply these, we plow up 
clover meadows as soon as mowed, and fit the ground 
well to sow Purple Top Strap-Leaf turnips broadcast. 
If, on coming up, they prove too thick, we run over 
them when in the third and fourth leaf with a smooth¬ 
ing harrow, and if still too thick, in a few days after 
we go cross-wise the field with the same implement. 
J. D., Springvillc, N. Y .—I have a small orchard 
which I wish to pasture with a flock of sheep, and am 
at a loss to know the best and most economical fecce 
to use, not only around the orchard, but in other places 
where the surface is uneven and trees can be used for 
support. What sheep fence does J. S. Woodward use, 
or what kind would be cheapest and best for my pur¬ 
pose ? 
Ans. —The fence asked for can be purchased ready 
made for about 30 or 35 cents per rod in the form of 
the slat and wire fence. If this be stretched taut, 
and firmly stapled to posts placed not more than 30 
feet apart, it will make a very good and durable fence. 
A cheaper one may be made by first setting posts 30 
feet apart, and then stretching eight strands of No. 
9 galvanized steel wire. The first should be drawn 
four inches above the ground,the next three inches 
above that, the third four inches above the second, 
and so on increasing the distance between the wires 
one inch each. Now, commence at one end of the 
fence and place in a slat or picket five-eighths cr 
three-fourths inch thick and 13^ inch wide, weaving 
it in so that each alternate wire shall be on the oppo¬ 
site side. Two feet from that weave in another picket 
crossing the wires. What is wanted is to have pickets 
put in like the threads in cloth, so that the spring of 
the timber shall compensate for the expansion and 
contraction of the wires by heat and cold. When the 
pickets are all in, the wires should be fastened to each 
picket with galvanized staples such as are used to 
staple chicken wire to posts and long enough so as 
to go through the pickets and clinch. The wires should 
also be double stapled to the posts. When this fence 
is done, the pickets will extend a couple of inches be¬ 
low the bottom wire, and about the same distance 
above the top, as they will be four feet long. If this 
fence be built with the posts leaning a little outward, 
no dog can get over it. If the staples be driven in 
tight, no sheep can slip pickets, and without this they 
cannot crawl through. If, when building the fence, 
the posts be put in long enough so as to extend six 
inches above the fence, and a strand of linked barbed 
