264 
April 28 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
from the milk by adding to the pounds of fat a pro¬ 
portion equal to the average weight of water, salt, 
etc., which we find combined with the fat in what is 
known as butter. The figures given in Mr. Carll’s 
test and the actual results from his churn, show how 
closely this theory and practice agree. Who cannot 
see the advantage of knowing in this way just what 
each cow in the herd is capable of doing ? 
Thus ends our story of “A Pound of Butter.” It is a 
plain, true history of the actual practices of one suc¬ 
cessful dairyman. We give it without further com¬ 
ment. There may be better ways and simpler methods. 
The processes described in these articles have at least, 
the merit of practical success, and better than all, are 
within the reach of any whole-hearted dairyman. 
__ H. w. c. 
PEAR SCAB AND ITS TREATMENT. 
The excellent picture shown on our first page is 
taken from Bulletin 67 of the New York Experiment 
Station at Geneva. It shows the fruit and leaves of 
a White Doyenn6 pear affected by the pear scab. This 
disease is-caused by a parasitic fungus which attacks 
both leaf and fruit. To quote from this bulletin : 
Before the blosBoms open, the dark scab spots beKin to appear on 
the tender new growth thus showicg, as previously stated, that Infec¬ 
tion takes place soon after the fruit buds open. Whether or not the 
fungus Is In an active state of growth before the buds open, Is not at 
present known. The scab spots at first appear as a dark olive green 
or brown mold with an almost velvety surface, bearing minute little 
bodies known as spores. The function of these spores will be readily 
underrtood if we say they are the seeds of the fungus, although 
strictly speaking, they are too simple In structure to be called seeds. 
Under favorable conditions of moisture and temperature, they readily 
germinate, and If they happen to be located In the foliage or fruit of 
the pear, they soon send out a net-work of branching threads, abscrb 
nourishment from the skin of the leaf or fruit and rapidly form a new 
scab spat which In turn produces vast numbers of spores. Scattered 
by the winds, the spores quickly spread the disease to other portions 
of the same tree and to other trees. Being very light, they easily 
float In the air and are quickly distributed over wide areas by the 
winds. Since each scab spct Is capable of producing great numbers 
of the spores. It Is seen at once that the disease may spread very 
rapidly under favorable circumstances. Damp locations and damp, 
cool weather are generally considered most favorable to the spread 
of the disease. 
The remedy for this disease is to spray with the 
Bordeaux Mixture. This should be begun soon after 
the fruit buds start to open and continued till the 
middle or last of June. The early sprayings are 
naturally most useful since they prevent the spread 
of the disease ; still the scab continues to develop 
through the season when the weather is favorable for 
it. Those who are interested in spraying and spray¬ 
ing mixtures will find much to interest them in this 
bulletin. 
WILL FERTILIZERS KILL INSECTS ? 
Under the above heading was a note by M. V. 
Slingerland of the Cornell Experiment Station, on 
page 184 of The R. N.-Y. Mr. Slingerland speaks of 
“ one entomologist” who has recommended the use of 
the mineral fertilizers as against certain underground 
insects, and that “one” is the undersigned. I am 
greatly pleased to be able to say that I still hold to 
my recommendation, and that I am more than ever i 
confirmed in my belief, by my own experiments and i 
by those of others. Mr. Slingerland has overlooked i 
the fact that I have published details of an experiment 
with the Pear midge in which I actually destroyed or 
killed the larvae by means of kainit, nitrate of soda 
and muriate of potash, and this result was confirmed 
by a practical field experiment. Mr. Slingerland will ^ 
not claim that the result was based on an increased ^ 
vigor of the tree, because the fruit is attacked, and ’ 
the absence of larvae in the fruit demonstrates the ^ 
success of the experiment. Mr. Slingerland seems also ^ 
to have overlooked the fact that in experiments made ^ 
with fertilizers at the Delaware Station, on corn, the ^ 
results were rendered valueless so far as the effect of ^ 
the fertilizers as such were concerned, because some 
of the fertilizers killed the root web-worms and others ^ 
did not. I have also recorded the fact that of two 
adjacent corn fields treated alike so far as cultivation ^ 
and planting were concerned, one was badly infested ? 
and the other was not—on the latter kainit had been 
used, .on the former barnyard manure. I examined 
the fields myself, and the difference was not that the 
plants in one field were better able to resist, but that 
the larvae were actually absent. 1j 
During the season of 1893, the onion maggot ap- tl 
peared in some numbers in Cumberland County, New u 
Jersey. At my suggestion, kainit was applied in fer- Ic 
tilizing quantities along the rows, the soil having been 
first turned back and afterward again turned to the pi 
rows. It ended the maggot for the season, not on T 
one, but on several of the farms. My confidence in cv 
the mineral fertilizers is based largely upon Held ex- rc 
periments and actual outdoor observation, and if it ca 
were merely a question of vigor, why should kainit 13 
act so much more rapidly and effectively than muriate th 
or sulphate of potash, which, as fertilizers, are of a fu 
much higher grade ? 
The question is one that deserves our best attention, au 
and is just beginning to be understood. But after all ou 
—merely for the sake of argument—let us admit that 
fertilizers act only to stimulate the plants and enable 
them to resist injury. Does not this in itself authorize 
or even command their use ? What practical differ¬ 
ence does it make whether we kill the insects or 
merely get our crop in spite of the insects ? 
I am far from claiming for the saline fertilizers a 
uniform killing power as against all insects. We know 
that even arsenic acts very differently on different 
species, and that what will kill one will not incon¬ 
venience another. So of kerosene and of everything 
else. Even in insects of the same natural family, differ¬ 
ences exist. Some plant lice succumb readily to tobacco 
decoctions—others will resist it at any strength, and 
so on. 
New Jersey has many good farmers—men who are 
educated, who are observing and who are, above all, 
successful. It is a matter entitled to at least some 
consideration, that all of these, without any excep¬ 
tion, find that their experience accords with my pub¬ 
lished recommendations. .tohn b. smith. 
New Jersey Agricultural College Ex. Sta. 
[Every query must be eooompanled by the name and address of the 
writer to Insure attention. Before asklnK a question please see If It Is 
not answered In our advertising oolumns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate pleoe of paper.] 
WHAT MAKES CELERY BITTER ? 
1. Is celery grown by the new method any more likely to be bitter 
than If earthed up ? 2. What makes It bitter 7 K. h. m. 
Stony Point, N. Y. 
How Earthing Helps the Quality. 
There is an acrid principle or element in celery that 
is the most active in its growing state. This element 
is mollified by the exclusion of light, which, too, has 
the effect of blanching the celery. But this is not all; 
by earthing up the plants, as formerly practiced, the 
soil through or by some chemical action, more effec¬ 
tually neutralizes this active principle. At the same 
time, the juices of the plant are not absorbed, which 
makes the stems more solid and crisp. I have tried 
the self-blanching varieties, and find them the poorest 
when self-blanched, b^lfer under the new method, 
and best when earthed up. c. u. allen. 
The “New Method” a Success. 
It is a false notion that the earth draws the bitter¬ 
ness out of celery as a poultice draws the offensive 
matter out of an old sore. Celery grown by the new 
method is just as free from all bitterness if grown 
rank so that the foliage completely covers the stalks, 
thereby excluding the sun and dry atmosphere, as 
celery banked with earth. It is the sun and dry air 
that make the celery bitter—the same as exposure to 
the sun and air makes potatoes and asparagus green, 
strong and bitter. Anything that will keep celery 
moist and excluded from the light, will bleach it just 
as well as earth. bobert niven. 
Providence, R. I. 
“Blanching” Affects the Flavor. 
1. No, I have grown celery by the new method the 
past two years and there was none that was bitter. 
In fact, it was sweeter and tenderer than that earthed 
up. Last season I visited a field near Dover, Del., 
where something over 50,000 plants were grown by 
the new method, and none was found that was not 
very crisp, sweet and tender. 2. This is a very dif¬ 
ficult question to answer. I have noticed that celery 
is very frequently bitter during a very dry season, 
when the plants have not had a sufficient amount of 
water to keep them growing rapidly. Celery that is 
not well blanched is often bitter, and undoubtedly 
the blanching process which removes the chlorophyl 
or green coloring matter of the stalks, causes a change 
in the fiavor. m. h. beckwith. 
Del. College Agrl. Exp. Station. 
Cultivating: Blackberries on a Hillside. 
E. H. M., Stony Point, N. Y .—I have an acre of 
blackberries on a stony hillside. How can I cultivate 
them without constantly deepening the soil on the 
upper side of the rows and scraping it away on the 
lower side ? Is not this injurious ? 
Ans.—M y own “ patch” is located in exactly the 
position described. It is a problem hard to solve. 
The blackberry is a deep rooted plant, and ordinary 
cultivation does not injure it. I plow between the 
rows with a reversible plow turning all the soil we 
can up the hill. I use cultivators with narrow teeth, 
13^ inch steels, which move the soil but little. When 
the earth gets thin on the lower side, I turn a heavy 
furrow toward the plants from the upper side and pull 
it through between the canes with a hoe. This hoes 
and mulches them with fresh soil, which will work 
out on the lower side soon enough. I am trying to 
b get along with one cultivation per year by mulching 
i with fine rotted manure first, and putting a heavy 
* coating of swale hay on top of that. When the rows 
are not more than six feet apart and the plants are set 
r 23^ feet apart in the rows, the weeds will be smothered 
by the mulch and killed by the shade. On good soil 
i adapted to their culture, blackberries do not need 
' much cultivation. c. e. chapman. 
' Onions and Fertilizer in Verse. 
J. C. A., Washinqton, Ind—1. Dear Rural, 1 will 
ask of you. If by the “Onion Culture New,” Prizetaker 
onions I should grow. All planted nicely in a row. 
With Silver Kings set close beside. The rows just 14 
inches wide. Will mix and thus their beauty spoil. 
And 1 have nothing for my toil ? 
2. Another question I would ask. If answering isn’t 
too hard a task. Some fertilizer I have bought. Which 
doesn t look just as it ought. Eaeb-bag contains one 
solid cake. All packed and very hard to break. Its 
color dark. Its smell not strong. It may have been on 
hand too long. Already I have used one sack, S lould 
I not take the others back, For fear that I shall find at 
length. This fertilizer has lost its strength ? 
—1. We will have to try prose in answering 
this. If the onions were permitted to go to seed the 
seed would be found mixed. The Jyulbs, however, are 
grown without any mixing. 2. That fertilizer has 
evidently been soaked and is now caked or hard. Its 
value is probably somewhat injured and it should be 
crushed or ground up fine before using. If this is the 
way it came from the dealer we would expect him to 
give fine, dry goods in its place. 
How Potatoes Chang-e Their Shape, 
fl. W., Clinton, 111. —1. Several weeks ago there was 
something said about potatoes changing their shape, 
and I believe The R. N.-Y. thought they would not. 
I am certain that they will here. I have selected hills 
of Early Chios that were round or nearly so, yet from 
this seed there would be many hills of long, slim 
potatoes. No one would take them for Early Chios. 
In fact they do that way every season in this part of 
the country. All of the buds of the peaches, apricots, 
Japan plums, European plums and grapes, were 
killed the latter part of January. Even the Damsons 
appear to be all gone. The Wild Goose and all other 
Southern plums, have only a very few buds left, while 
the Miner and Northern red kinds are all right. Also 
apples and pears, including the Keiffer. 2. I notice 
many small or rudimentary buds on the grapes by the 
side of the large ones. These are not killed. Can we 
expect a crop from them ? 
■^^8-—!• The shape of potatoes necessarily varies 
according to the soil in which they are planted; 
according to the obstructions met with in growth; 
according to drought or moisture. Different pota¬ 
toes in the same hill may’thus vary greatly and, in¬ 
deed, must vary. So, too, tubers that form later will 
vary in shape as compared with those that form 
earlier. But this does not prove that a given potato 
will retain the abnormal shape in future seasons. It 
is possible that we may improve or change the shape of 
a potato by selecting from year to year those of a 
particular form—but we cannot say positively. It is 
our belief that a certain variety, if raised under per¬ 
fect conditions, setting every tuber at the same time, 
would always give tubers of the same form. 2. We 
fancy not—at any rate not a large crop. 
Adding: Chemicals to a Compost. 
0. S., Fitchburg, Mass. —I have a compost heap the 
analysis of which is : Moisture at 100 degrees C., 3 43 
per cent; phosphoric acid, 1.28 per cent; potassium 
oxide, 1.60 per cent; nitrogen, 0 98 percent; insoluble 
matter, 68.84. What shall I add to this compost to 
make it equal to Bradley’s Special for Potatoes ? 
Which is the best crop to use it on, corn or potatoes ? 
There is considerable hen manure in this compost and 
The R. N.-Y. tells us to be careful not to mix ashes 
with hen manure. Can I mix potash with this com¬ 
post and be safe ? 
Ans. —Comparing the fertilizer mentioned we have 
the following—omitting small fractions : 
POUNDS TO THE TON. 
Nitrogen. 
Compost. 10 
Fertilizer. 60 
Phos. Acid. 
25 
125 
The problem now is to add 50 pounds of nitrogen, 100 
of phosphoric acid and 78 of potash to the ton of com¬ 
post. Nitrogen may be added in the form of nitrate 
of soda or sulphate of ammonia. In each 100 pounds 
of nitrate there^ are 16 pounds of nitrogen and in 
sulphate of ammonia, 20 pounds. You need, there¬ 
fore, 300 of nitrate or 250 of sulphate to give the 
needed nitrogen. As for phosphoric acid, you will 
need 400 pounds of ground bone or 800 of dissolved 
rock to give 100 pounds. The potash you can supply 
in 160 pounds of muriate. The best you can do, there¬ 
fore, would be to add 1,000 pounds of the most concen¬ 
trated chemicals to 1,000 pounds of the compost. This 
will not pay. The cost and labor of mixing may all 
be ^voided. Our advice would be to broadcast the 
