1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
for grass and grain, so far as the nitrogen and phos¬ 
phoric acid go, but without potash you will make lit¬ 
tle real headway towards a substitute for manure. The 
lye will not pay. The saltpeter or nitrate of potash is 
good so far as it goes, but 150 pounds will not cover 
much ground. Can you not get wood ashes ? They 
would supply potash. Get prices on muriate of potash 
where you buy the bone black. Whife the fish and 
bone black may answer your purpose for a few years, 
sooner or later you will have to use potash in some 
form. Our plan would be to spread the fish and plow 
it in, using the bone black and potash broadcast and 
worked in with the harrow. 
Raw Potatoes for Sheep. 
W. D., Portage County, Ohio. —Have raw potatoes any 
value as a food for sheep ? Will they keep the digest¬ 
ive organs in a healthy condition ? 
Ans. —I have fed many raw potatoes to my sheep ; 
in 'fact I may say that the best thing that ever hap¬ 
pened to me was in having at one time an abundance 
of potatoes with the price so low that it would not pay 
to haul them to the market. The result was that I 
fed my sheep all they could eat; and, having some 
young lambs, the potato diet so agreed with the sheep 
that the lambs made such a rapid growth that I 
learned the secret of success in this business, “ succu¬ 
lent food.” In digestible nutrients, the potato ranks 
far ahead of any other root. Its total carbohydrates 
including woody fiber is 17.9 per cent while 17.3 per 
cent is digestible. Compared with this, the carrot, 
best of all roots other than potatoes, has 8.9 per cent 
of total fiber of which eight per cent is digestible. It 
will be seen that the potato is more than twice as 
valuable as the carrot. The difficulty with the potato 
is that the carbohydrate is so tied up in the starch 
globules that for most animals this is not digestible 
without cooking. Sheep, however, have the power of 
digesting the potato in its raw state. No root is better 
to keep the digestive organs of a sheep in a healthy 
condition. It is very rarely, however, that potatoes 
are so low in price as to be economical as sheep food. 
J. S. WOODWABD. 
Tests for Glanders and Tuberculosis. 
S. T. S., Whiting, Iowa. —What is the Mallein test 
for discovering glanders ? Where may it be obtained 
and how is it used ? Where may tuberculin for dis¬ 
covering consumption in cattle be obtained ? 
Ans. —Mallein is a preparation containing the prod¬ 
ucts of growth of the bacillus malleus or “ germ of 
glanders.” The “ mallein test” is the injection under 
the skin of a horse suspected of having glanders or 
farcy, of a small quantity of this mallein (usually about 
two c. c.; or one-half dram). If the horse have gland¬ 
ers, a rise in the body temperature of two to five de¬ 
grees will occur in 12 to 15 hours. There will also be 
a local, painful swelling at the point of the injection 
of the mallein. If the horse be healthy, very little or 
no such reaction will follow the injection. 
The tuberculin is a similar preparation containing 
the products of growth of the germ of tuberculosis, 
and is used by injection under the skin of cattle for 
the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Mallein and tuberculin 
are both prepared in the laboratory of the Bureau of 
Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture, 
at Washington, D. 0., and are being sent to State ex¬ 
periment stations. State veterinarians, boards of 
health, or other public officials having control of con¬ 
tagious diseases of domestic animals. The department 
does not send the mallein or tuberculin to private in¬ 
dividuals. Any person having animals suspected of 
having glanders or tuberculosis, and wishing to have 
them tested, should report them to the State veteri¬ 
narian, or to the local board of health. If these officials 
deem it necessary or advisable to make the test, they 
can obtain the material for this purpose from the 
Bureau of Animal Industry. Such tests should always 
he made under the direction of a qualified veteri¬ 
narian. F. L. KILBORNE. 
Influence of Heredity in Strawberries. 
Svbscriber, Salem, Mass. —I grow strawberries for 
market and like every one who desires to keep up with 
the times, am trying to find that method which prom¬ 
ises larger yields and better fruit. 1. With plants 
propagated from seed, I take it for granted as a fact 
that by selection we can improve the strain, or at 
least prevent deterioration. 2. Will this apply, and 
to what extent, to small fruits ? 3. Cuttings from 
currant bushes, it seems, should resemble the parent. 
4. If we have a hundred bushes of one variety and ob¬ 
serve that one or more are superior in size of fruit and 
other good qualities, will not cuttings from these in¬ 
herit the characteristics of the stock ? 5. If so, by car¬ 
rying out this selection for several years, shall we not 
have a better strain than we can possibly buy ? Sup¬ 
pose we have a row of strawberries in stools, one va¬ 
riety only, say, a couple of hundred or so. We pick 
out one or two plants superior in vigor, size of fruit, 
productiveness, etc., cut off the fruit stalks, causing it 
to throw out runners and propagate from these few 
plants, carrying out this selection through as many 
generations as we choose. 6. One matter to be taken 
into consideration is whether or not some very local 
advantage, such as a little more manure or better soil, 
or similar cause, has contributed to the superiority 
of the selected plants ; in other words, if some one of 
the other plants had been in this precise spot, might 
it not have done better even than the selected one ? 
However, I suppose we could determine with suffiaient 
accuracy. 7. Another matter; are the layers nearest 
to the parent any better than those which have taken 
root later ? 8. Again, take certain plants which are 
very free growing and throw out many runners, and 
other plants of the same variety which do not; as a 
general rule, are the former less fruitful ? If this is 
the case, it is not surprising that our varieties deterio¬ 
rate, as most growers take up plants for setting mid¬ 
way between the rows whore the path must be cut 
out, and most certainly these plants in the center 
would be from rampant growers, and this process con¬ 
tinued each year would soon show its effect. 9. Those 
varieties which we term pistillate have, I believe, 
stamens, but they are imperfectly developed. When 
we find imperfect, knotty, twisted berries in a pistil¬ 
late, we say it is not well fertilized, but the same fault 
in a variety showing strong stamens I have never seen 
accounted for. The Belmont is a good illustration. It 
will blossom abundantly, but will set very little fruit, 
and a good deal of tnat will be knotty. Even if it is 
21 7 
deficient in pollen, it ought not to be affected, as pis- 
tillates adjoining are all right. Can the trouble be 
with the pistils ? 10. If it is certain that we may im¬ 
prove and build up a strain of any variety, may not 
this account for the unsatisfactory results from many 
of our new varieties ? The originators, in their eager¬ 
ness to place them upon the market, cannot wait for 
any selection, and sell strong and weak plants as well. 
11. One of my acquaintances will not set layers from 
plants which have fruited, notwithstanding they ap¬ 
pear strong and vigorous. I have a good many surplus 
plants from a bed which bore last season, the cultiva¬ 
tor having been run between the rows ; these plants 
took root. They appear strong, and I thought of both 
using and selling them. 12. I would like to ask if The 
R. N.-Y. considers the Fay currant superior to Cherry 
for market. The sale of currants is often slow, and 
the finest in appearance, of course, sell most readily. 
It has been termed “ the best advertised of all cur¬ 
rants ” by those who saw little difference. 
Ans. —This is a thoughtful, excellent letter which 
we are glad to get. It helps us to make new inquiries; 
helps us to set our friends to thinking and inquiring 
about matters of general interest. 1. There is no 
doubt about it. 2. Unquestionably it will apply to 
small fruits. 3. Yes ; cuttings ought to resemble the 
parent plant exactly. Any difference would be owing 
to more or less favorable conditions of the plants from 
the cuttings. It must be considered, however, that 
cuttings may be more or less vigorous ; they may be 
perfectly healthy or they may have become weakened 
by insectsor fungous growths. In this case the plants 
from these cuttings would be likely to be less vigorous 
than plants raised from vigorous, healthy cuttings. 
4. Certainly, we should propagate from the strongest, 
healthiest plants. To propagate from the weakly or 
diseased plants would be to propagate the disability. 
5. Yes, no doubt by such selection all inherent or 
acquired weaknesses might be bred out. 6, It is hard 
to judge accurately as to this. Any unusual vigor due 
to extra manuring or to superior care or cultivation 
in our opinion would not count at all. By such favor¬ 
itism the naturally weak plant might be made to seem 
of superior vigor of plant and excellence of fruit, 
which, under ordinary care would go back to its orig¬ 
inal feebleness. Still, we must consider that good 
food and care may cure feebleness. 7. Yes, probably, 
because they were first formed and had the chance of 
a fuller maturity. 8. We would choose the fewer 
runners for propagation, all else equal. 9. Yes, that 
is true. Very few varieties are utterly destitute of 
anthers. A glass will show this. “ Knotty” straw¬ 
berries are by no means always caused by deficient 
pollination. Any injury—cold, wet, insects—may 
cause deformed fruit. There is no doubt of it. The 
failing of the Belmont may be owing to inherent 
weakness. We must bear in mind that pistils may be 
weak as well as st amens. 10. Probably. 11. It is, in 
theory at any rate, a first-rate idea. 12. We have had 
the Pay at the Rural Grounds since its introduction. 
We must say that, all things considered, we see little 
superiority in the Pay over the Cherry. The habit of 
the plant is less upright, more sprawling than that of 
the Cherry and it seems to us is oftener attacked by 
the borer. 
THE MAPES MANURES. 
Send for Pamphlets, Price Lists—MAPES COMPANY, 143 Liberty Street, New York. 
Experience of Eight Years with Mapes on Appie and Pear Orchards, Etc. 
WILMER ATKINSON, editor and proprietor of the Farm Journal, has used the Mapes Manures for many years on his farms. Under the heading “ Orchards,” in 
the Farm Journal, January, 1894, Mr. Atkinson writes: “ We are often asked what kind of fertilizers to use in the orchard, and perhaps as good an answer as we can 
give is, use Mapes Manures, for this is the kind and only kind we have used in our young thirty-acre orchard since it was planted eight years ago. The trees are 
vigorous and healthy, are now coming into bearing, and the past season we cut three tons of Timothy hay per acre off of a part of the orchard, and we have not used 
a ton of stable manure from the beginning. While pure, fine-ground bone and muriate of potash are splendid fertilizers for all orchards, and we can recommend them, 
but in Mapes Manures we have something ready-mixed ; we know what we are getting, and they are good enough for us. We have found these manures equally good 
for grass, potatoes and corn as for orchard trees.” 
The Mapes Fertilizers Head Both Lists of Fertilizers Reported in the Year 1893 by the Connecticut Experimental Station. 
[From Connecticut Farm {Hartford) March 3, 1834.] 
It will be difficult for the careful and unprejudiced reader of the Experiment Station reports, not to be impressed with the remarkable high standard maintained 
by all the Mapes goods. In Part 1, lately issued, of the Connecticut Station Report for 1893, the analyses of 61 “ Nitrogenous superphosphates” and 76 “ special 
manures ” show that Mapes heads the list in both classes, in being found to have the highest valuation, as figured by the Station as compared with the cost to the farmer. 
[From the New England Homestead, March 8, 1894.] 
As to the quality of the goods of The Mapes Formula and Peruvian Guano Company, analysis shows them to be unexcelled for farm, fruit or garden purposes. 
The analyses of 61 nitrogenous superphosphates and 76 special manures by the Connecticut State Experiment Station, show that Mapes heads the list in both classes 
in being found to have the HIGHEST VALUATION COMPARED TO THE COST TO THE FARMER. 
Top=Dressing in Spring Old or Worn Out Meadows or Pasture Lands, Lawns. 
Farmers in all sections are claiming that they can make HAY GROWING PROFITABLE with the Mapes Top-Dressing Manures. Some of the most successful 
farmers are using twenty tons and upwards per year of the Mapes Grass Top-Dressing, for bringing up and sustaining their grass lands. They prefer to TOP-DRESS 
rather than plow up and seed to ^rass. It pays dairy farmers to top-dress. 
