i4o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 3 
grown in a temperature between 59 and 55 degrees. If 
the light is good and the temperature uniform, they 
will make very strong, bushy plants, and begin bloom¬ 
ing freely about the last of February, when the flowers 
bring a good priee. It is more likely that you can 
sueceed better with a few good varieties of vegetables, 
such as choice tomatoes, cauliflowers and egg plants, 
or such flowers as pansies, 10-week stocks, verbenas, 
etc., as well-grown plants of the above varieties usu¬ 
ally sell well in spring. When plants are grown from 
seed in a greenhouse, they should be kept as cool as 
their nature will admit, and as near the glass as pos¬ 
sible, in order that they may not draw up weak and 
“spindly.” w. v. f. 
Weeds as a Green Crop. 
C. A. S., Havana, N. Y —On my farm, I have a piece of flat land 
that is covered, both in spring and fall, with a thick growth of 
what is known to us as chickweed. It has been my custom to 
plow it under in the fall, and again in the spring, and I have 
* always considered it a valuable manure. Is the soil benefited by 
the operation, and to what extent? 
Axs.—There are several advantages to be gained by 
plowing under a green crop. The soil is loosened and 
thrown up so that the air, water and frost work 
through it. The humus or vegetable matter lightens 
a heavy soil, provides a storage place for water, while 
its fermentation and decay have a slight solvent 
action on the soil particles. The crop also contains 
more or less actual plant food, which is made useful 
in this way. In some locations, it might pay better to 
cut and burn the weeds to destroy the seeds, but 
where land is overflowed, a new crop of weeds is 
sown every spring. That is the case at Kingston, Pa. 
It is almost impossible to keep the weeds down after 
cultivation stops. 
7 he Sugar in the Corn Stalk. 
It. L. II., Millville, N. J.— The inquiry of G. S. P., page 70, as to 
where the sugar goes, suggests some interesting queries. Of 
course, at first thought, the answer is easily given. Chemistry 
tells us that starch and woody fiber are identical in composition, 
though so different in characteristics, and that sugar differs from 
thearonly in having an additional molecule of water. Our teachers 
of agricultural science have, after pointing out these facts, told 
us that in the process of ripening of grasses and grains, the 
sugar and starch are largely converted by Nature’s alchemy into 
woody fiber; but that by cutting the grass or grain, this process 
is arrested and the sugar and starch remain unconverted. Ex¬ 
perience with the grasses ordinarily used as hay, has taught us 
that that is true, since when cut green a tender, nutritive hay re¬ 
sults; while if let stand till ripe, the resulting hay is about as 
nutritious as pea brush. To a certain extent, this is true of corn, 
but the point I wish to make is: What do we know of the degree 
to which this is true? Does this conversion stop at once with the 
cutting of the corn, or does the conversion continue during the 
drying of the fodd* r in a constantly lessening ratio ? It would 
seem very possible that, owing to the bulk of the stalk and the 
long time taken to cure or dry, that there would probably be a 
considerable continuance of the conversion owing to the move¬ 
ment of the juices in curing. If this should be the case, it would 
clearly account for the greatly increased nutritive value of en¬ 
silage over dry fodder. Would not this be a very desirable line of 
investigation for some of our agricultural experiment stations ? 
If analyses of samples of fodder to determine the amounts of 
sugar, starch and woody fiber were made each week from the 
freshly cut corn until it was thoroughly cured, it would afford 
conclusive data to settle many very interesting and important 
questions concerning which we now have plenty of theories, but 
comparatively little knowledge. 
Ans. —It may not be known to your correspondent 
that this question is one which has already received a 
very considerable degree of attention from several of 
our experiment stations, so that at least we are able 
to explain several of those matters which are of inter¬ 
est to him. Ilad G. S. R. been in possession of suitable 
apparatus and proper methods, he could easily have 
proeured from his corn stalks a syrup, not only in¬ 
tensely sweet, but also entirely free from any unpleas¬ 
ant or disagreeable properties. Indeed, one of the 
oarliest patents was issued by the general court of the 
colony of Connecticut in 1717. to a citizen of that 
colony “for the manufacture of molasses from corn 
stalks, on condition that he should make it as good 
and as cheap as it could be got from the West Indies.” 
And the wife of President John Adams, in 1777. writes 
him that “ scarcely a town or parish within 40 miles 
of us but what has several mills at work grinding corn 
stalks and boiling the liquor into molasses.” 
As the result of my personal investigations in this 
direction, I found as the average of 231 analyses of 12 
varieties of corn stalks (two being sweet corn and the 
others ordinary field corn), and extending during a 
working period of 58 days, the following results : 
Pounds. 
Average weight of stripped stalks. 1.15 
Average per cent of juice expressed. 54.79 
Average density of j nice....;. 1.05.3 
Average per cent ol cane sugar in juice. 8.43 
Average per cent of glucose in juice. 1.4* 
Average per cent of total sugar in juice. 9.84 
Average per cent of otaer solids in juice... 3.:3d 
The above, then, represents the average of field corn 
stalks at the time when, and for a month before, the 
crop is at its best condition for the silo. The question 
arises as to what becomes of this important nutritive 
constituent. It is well known that sugar cane and 
sorghum, if broken down by a heavy storm, are liable 
to very serious deterioration, due mainly to two causes 
—the injury done the cane by which rapid chemical 
changes take place in the juices, resulting in the 
breaking up of the sugar and its ultimate disappear¬ 
ance in simpler compounds ; also in the tendency for 
a new growth of suckers and offshoots from the 
parent stem, which new growth is largely supplied at 
the expense of the juices stored up in the cane. In 
like manner, if, except under favorable conditions, 
sugar cane or sorghum is cut up and not promptly 
worked up in the sugar house, a similar loss will fol¬ 
low in the sugar yield. In like manner, corn as usually 
cut up and awaiting the time of husking, suffers a 
heavy loss in certain of its constituents ; and it is 
largely to prevent this loss that the use of the silo for 
its preservation is justified. It is desirable, therefore, 
to avoid exposure by means of crevices in the silo, and 
by careful packing to 
exclude, 
so far 
as possible, 
access of air by means of which these 
undesirable 
changes are facilitated. 
As the average of six experi- 
ments with corn and ! 
sorghum 
used as 
ensilage, we 
found the following results : 
Pounds Put in 
and Taken 
Out or Silo. 
Put in. Taken out. 
Per cent loss. 
Water. 
...33.89 
35.45 
3.9 
Ash. 
... .537 
.535 
.4 
Albuminoids. 
... .843 
.687 
18.5 
Crude fibre. 
... 2.917 
2.630 
9.8 
Nitrogen-free extract.. 
... 8.050 
6.835 
15.1 
Crude fat. 
... .535 
.778 
—45.4 
Albuminoid nitrogen.. 
... .135 
.110 
18.7 
Amide nitrogen. 
... .043 
.045 
-3.7 
Starch and sugars. 
. .. 5.187 
3.805 
26.6 
Dry matter. 
. ..13.120 
11.470 
12.6 
It will be seen that as the average of these experi¬ 
ments, the amount of loss was largely due to starch 
and sugars. The increase in crude fat was doubtless 
due to the increase in substances soluble in ether, 
not fats. In Michigan, as an average of seven experi¬ 
ments with corn, they found an average loss in the 
silo of 18 per cent of dry matter. PETER COLLIER. 
Geneva Experiment Station. 
Oyster-Shell Bark-Louse On Apples. 
A. E. M., Bristol, 77.—I inclose a piece of branch from one of 
my apple trees. What is the collection on the bark ? I have sev¬ 
eral trees afflicted with the pest. What can I do to rid them of it ? 
Ans. —The bark on the portion of apple limb sent, 
bore an alarming collection of our most common scale 
insect here in the East. This scale has received the 
popular name of the Oyster-shell Bark-louse ; scien¬ 
tifically, it is known as Mytilaspis pomorum. Itseems 
to be on the increase in the East, judgingfrom the 
many queries which reach me through The R. N.-Y., 
and from other sources. The pest also attacks 
several other fruit trees and some forest trees, but 
thus far the apple tree has suffered the most. 
The scales now on the trees are dead, but their 
dead bodies really serve as protecting homes for 
the eggs of the insect which the mother scales laid 
last fall. If the scales be turned over at any time 
during the winter, they will be found packed full of 
minute white eggs from which there will emerge next 
May, active little creatures which will move about the 
tree until they find a suitable place when they will 
establish themselves and begin the secretion of a scale 
similar to their mother's. There is but one brood of 
the scales each year ; those which hatch in Maybe- 
come full-grown and lay eggs in the fall, and these 
eggs hibernate. After the scale has been formed, it 
will be difficult to kill these creatures without injur¬ 
ing the tree. But in May and the early part of June, 
the younginsects are unprotected and tender, and will 
succumb to a thorough drenching with kerosene 
emulsion made according to the formula given in dis¬ 
cussing the plum scale in The R. N.-Y. of November 
10, 1894. For this Oyster-shell Bark-louse, dilute the 
standard emulsion with about nine parts of water. 
Scrape off all of the scales that can be readily gotten 
at now, and spray thoroughly with the emulsiou in 
May, or about June 1. m. v. s. 
Hedge Plants ; Trees and Grasses. 
P. T. jV., Somerville, N. J. —1. What hedges are suitable for north¬ 
ern New Jersey? I am anxious to get facts as to the first cost, the 
rapidity of growth, the utility as fences, and the amount of annual 
labor necessary to keep them in shape. 2. Wnat are the best trees 
to plant on the sides of a coach road leading up to the house, and 
about a thousand feet long. 3. Toe lawn about my house is in 
very poor condition, the grass not growing owing to too much 
shade. 1 intend to take out a number of the trees. What do you 
consider the best grasses to sow, and how should they be sown ? 
Toe lawn contains about five acres. 
Ans.— 1. Assuming that our friend wants a decidu¬ 
ous hedge, our first choice would be the Japan quince. 
It makes a sturdy growth in almost any position or 
soil; the foliage is fine, and while in bloom, it is as 
beautiful as any other plant whatever. Again, it is per¬ 
fectly hardy and long-lived, and is not harmed by being 
cut back from year to year. We would select a variety of 
colors—white, rose and deep red. For suitable plants, 
you will have to pay about $6 per 100. We cannot give 
exact figures as to the cost of pruning. After the plants 
have grown to the desired size, we think that pruning 
once in two years would suffice, and the cost would be 
quite nominal. 2. We would select a grand assort¬ 
ment for this purpose, an assortment that would give 
constant pleasure during the season. For example : 
Purple beech, Golden oak (Concordia), Reitenbach 
maple, Schwedler's maple, Tricolor (Pseudo platanus), 
Purple birch, Double White-flowered horse chestnut, 
d-flowered horse chestnut, Wier’s Cut-leaved maple, 
Catalpa speciosa. Cucumber magnolia. Yellow-wood 
(Cladrastis tinctoria). If we were to make further 
additions, we would choose from the long list of 
maples. 3. Our selection of seed would be either 
Blue grass or Red-top or half of each. A little white 
clover would not be objectionable. Plow up the lawn 
in early spring—the earlier the better—sow bone flour 
and unleached ashes (or muriate of potash, if cheaper) 
then cultivate the surface to the grade desired, roll 
and cultivate, and then sow the seed at the rate of 
not less than three bushels to the acre. Use twice a3 
much ashes as bone or one-half or one-third as much 
muriate. 
What the Lactometer Tells About Milk. 
A. II. F., Silver Creee'c. N. Y .—What does the test of milk by the 
lactometer show ? Recently, an inspector tested the milk sold in 
town. One lot tested 114, another 110, and two others 103. Which 
would be preferable to buy, and which would test the best for 
cream ? 
Ans.—A lactometer is an instrument for determin¬ 
ing the specific gravity of milk ; but as the quality of 
milk may be independent of its specific gravity, the 
lactometer, taken alone, is of little or no use in deter¬ 
mining the quality or value of milk. Milk is a thin 
emulsion of fats in a watery solution of sugar, salts, 
casein, etc. It is slightly heavier than water, its aver¬ 
age specific gravity being 1.032 in comparison with 
water at 1.030. The most common “ adulteration ” of 
milk, is dilution with water ; this, of course, decreases 
the specific gravity, and this the lactometer was de¬ 
vised to detect. It was assumed that no normal milk 
ought to have a specific gravity below 1.029, and the 
lactometer scale was based on this assumption. The 
point on the scale corresponding to a specific gravity 
of 1.029 (pure milk) was marked 100. and the point cor¬ 
responding to a specific gravity of 1.033 (pure water) 
was marked 0, and the intervening space divided into 
103 degrees. Usually the graduation is continued be¬ 
yond the 103 mark for 23 degrees. 
In the cases mentioned by A. II. F.. lactometer tests 
of 114, 110 and 108 simply mean that those samples of 
milk had a specific gravity of 1.033. 1.032 and 1.0313, 
respectively. The specific gravity of milk is depend¬ 
ent upon the amount and kind of solids that it con¬ 
tains. Fats are lighter than water; sugar, casein, 
etc., heavier, the mixture of the whole in ordinary 
milk being slightly heavier than water. The addi¬ 
tion of anything to the milk that is lighter, or the re¬ 
moval of any part that is heavier than the milk itself, 
will lessen the specific gravity and lower the lac¬ 
tometerreading; conversely the contrary will increase 
the specific gravity and raise the lactometer reading. 
The addition of water or cream, will have a like effect 
on the specific gravity and the lactometer reading, 
since both are lighter than milk. Both the removal 
of fat from milk, and the addition of salt to it. will 
increase the specific gravity. Thus it will be readily 
seen that milk may be both watered and shimmed, 
and still the lactometer stand at the 103 point or 
above. For these reasons, and depending upon the 
lactometer alone, your correspondent could not tell 
which of the milks named was the better. It is not 
at all unlikely that the one testing 108. would contain 
the greater percentage of fat. Though it is probable 
that, if all were just as they were drawn from the cow*, 
they would contain fat in the order of their specific 
gravity, since none of them depart very widely from 
the average composition of milk. I append specific 
gravities with corresponding lactometer degrees, taken 
from a recent number of Hoard's Dairyman : 
Specific Decree on 
gravity, lactometer. 
Water. 1.000 0 1 
Milk. 1.03! 110 
Skim-milk. 1.044 153 m3 
Cream, tO per cent fat. 1 015 53 r 
Cream, 30 per cent fat. 1.001 4 
IL IT. WING. 
Feeding Cotton-Seed Meal to Cows. 
A. F. A., Claremont, Fa.—I think that The R. N.-Y. is too afraid 
of cotton-seed meal. I have fed it for five or six years to cows of 
all ages, as a dry feed always with bran, with uniformly good re¬ 
sults, and even to young heifers, commencing with, say, a hand¬ 
ful at first. I have often fed as much as two quarts to a small 
cow with good results. 
Ans.— We prefer to be on the safe side in advising 
the use of this food. Bran is a laxative food, and it 
is always safer to feed something of the sort with the 
cotton-seed meal. There are many thoughtless men 
who, if only the favorable facts about cotton-seed 
meal were given, would plunge in and feed it as freely 
as they would corn meal. This would certainly cause 
loss. Our advice, therefore, is never to feed it unless 
some laxative food is given with it. An interesting 
experiment is just reported from the North Carolina 
Station (Raleigh). It is known that linseed or flax¬ 
seed meal fed with skim-milk, will make a good food 
for calves—the meal supplying the fat taken out of 
the milk as butter. As cotton-seed meal is mueh. 
cheaper than linseed, it was proposed to try the for¬ 
med with the skim-milk. Two out of three cal ves fed in 
this way, died when about six weeks old, and the veter-. 
inarian reported “ cause of death supposed to be the 
toxic effect of cotton-seed meal.” At the same station, 
