1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
in the early morning, lots of bugs were found on the 
underside, when by bringing two pieces together they 
are easily killed. In about 10 days, the bugs were 
nearly exterminated. Much of the injury by the bugs 
is done when the vines have but little more than 
broken ground, by their sucking the juice from the 
upright stem. Late in the season when the vines have 
well covered the ground, it is not rare to see scattered 
leaves almost covered with them. If the squash vines 
have been well fed with food rich in nitrogen, these 
last attacks will do but little harm. I am inclined to 
the belief that this black fellow should be called a 
“pumpkin” rather than “squash” bug, for I have 
noticed that in one section where the cultivation of 
the pumpkin has for years been given up, this bug has 
almost entirely disappeared. j. J. h. Gregory. 
Marblehead, Mass. 
QUALITY IN POTATOES WANTED. 
In The R. N.-Y. of January 26, I saw a letter from 
T., New Jersey, about prices of potatoes, and the fall¬ 
ing off in the consumption; also your answer. Wheat 
being so cheap, of course, has something to do with 
the decreased price. But that is only one of the 
causes. If T. will go to some of our potato-growing 
counties in the fall when they are shipping, and buy 
a bushel at random, take them home and eat them, he 
will have discovered another reason why the consump¬ 
tion is falling off. Potato growers are hugging them¬ 
selves almost to death over the discovery that they 
think they have made, namely, to plant late. They 
get the most rank growing kinds they can find, wait 
till the middle or last of June, and then plant. Of 
course, the tubers do not set much till fall rains set 
in, and then they grow so rapidly that the deposit of 
starch cannot keep up with the growth. The tuber 
may be full grown by the time frost kills the vines, 
and that stops the potato right there ; it gains nothing 
more. The skin is slower to set where the vines 
have been cut by the frost, and in fact, they are a 
ragged-looking lot at best. 
I had been selling potatoes last August for 70, down 
to 60 cents a bushel, some at the stores, some to con¬ 
sumers direct. One day, one of the merchants said to 
me, “I have bought a load of potatoes to-day, and 
you ought to see them.” I went with him down cel¬ 
lar. Turning to me, he said, “ You don’t raise any 
such potatoes as those.” I had to admit then and 
there that I did not. They would weigh from one to 
three pounds, and a coffee pot run through a thrash¬ 
ing machine so as to let it hang together, would de¬ 
scribe their shape and color. He told me that he had 
paid 28 cents a bushel. Some that bought them have 
given up eating potatoes; some have come to me to 
get some, and are willing to pay what I ask for them. 
We are told that we must make a better article of 
cheese, so as to extend the demand. We are told the 
same as to butter. We know that we must spray our 
apple trees, or we cannot give the apples away. We 
know that we must sow clean grass seed, or we can¬ 
not get top prices for hay. Why not halt before we 
go any further, and try to build up instead of de¬ 
stroying such a valuable industry as the potato trade? 
Wellsville, N. Y. j. a. 
CLOVER HAY FOR HORSES; DROPPING OUT 
CORN. 
For several years, the hay used on this farm, win¬ 
ter and summer, has been principally clover, and will 
be the same in the future. During the winter, 
especially the early part, the horses have mainly corn 
fodder for roughage. Many think that clover hay is 
dangerous food for horses. I know one farmer that 
says plainly that he believes clover hay is poisonous 
to them. Another man living in a village would 
hardly accept clover hay as a gift for his horses. Mr. 
Terry appears to have figured that it was cheaper to 
keep his horses on clover without grain, and get less 
work, than to feed clover and grain, and get more 
work. Clover will keep a horse’s bowels more open 
than Timothy. Mr. T., when, using his farm teams on 
the road, never trots them. By training them to 
walk, and keeping them hard at it, he is enabled to 
make better time than the average teamster by spurts 
at walking and trotting. The trotting would have a 
tendency, on account of increased action to produce 
looseness of the bowels. Mr. Terry does not feed his 
driving team exclusively on clover, but feeds some 
wheat and oats also. 
The custom on this farm is to feed clover hay to all 
the stock, horses, cattle, sheep and hogs—the latter 
picking up heads and leaves that fall from the 
mangers and racks. My experience teaches that it 
will not do to feed horses all the clover hay they 
desire, and I ti-y to enforce the rule of never placing 
more before them than they will eat in an hour. 
This is their evening allowance ; in the morning, they 
do not get so much. At noon, when at regular work, 
they have only about pne hour for their grain am} 
hay ration. Two winters ago, the most valuable 
horse on the farm stood next to the drop from the 
mow. He was a voracious eater, and the feeder was 
repeatedly cautioned as to his allowance, but would 
as often disregard my orders. The horse became very 
fat, and pulling when full of clover hay, gave him a 
touch of the heaves, reducing his value on the market 
about one-half. The fault was not in the hay as 
believed by most people, but in the way it was fed. 
The ration for my work teams now is a small feed of 
corn, clover hay and corn fodder ; the amount of corn 
is gauged by the amount of work being done. If I 
wished to feed wheat, I would try cutting some of the 
hay, and mix whole wheat with it, the object being 
to make the horses eat the wheat slowly, and masti¬ 
cate it better. I do not grow oats, consequently do 
not feed them. 
A short rotation of clover and wheat raises a ques¬ 
tion as to how it will succeed. Will the clover be a 
success, growing and occupying the land every other 
year ? The way for W. II. R., page 34, if he wish to 
grow these two crops alone, would be to try them. If 
sowing wheat for hogs, I would not sow the bearded 
varieties, and would hog part of the crop. The dry 
seasons will be favoidable to this kind of harvesting. 
The falling wheat will act as a mulch to the young 
clover, and prevent drought-killing. Besides, the 
young clover that the hogs eat while consuming the 
wheat, is a necessary part ration and is an aid to 
proper digestion of the wheat. If clover flourishes so 
well, why not make the seed crop an important item ? 
The clover crop, as a whole, can be made the most 
profitable of all. I have a curiosity to know how he 
NEW DEVICE FOR AGITATING SPRAYING COMPOUNDS. 
Fig. 53. 
can grow clover so luxuriantly on land so stony that 
it cannot be plowed. Does it grow year after year on 
the same land in continued luxuriance ? I am strong 
in the belief that corn can be grown on their tillable 
land by level cultivation and a system of perfect til¬ 
lage. Such land can be made such a conservator of 
moisture as to be a strong factor against drought. I 
would not give up the corn crop till I had thoroughly 
tested the matter in that direction john m. jamison. 
A NEW AGITATOR FOR SPRAYING OUTFITS. 
The great difficulty which we all have in keeping 
spraying liquids in suspension, has led me to experi¬ 
ment on an automatic agitator, with the result that 
I think I have made one that will keep any liquid, 
fungicide or insecticide, thoroughly agitated. This 
contrivance, shown at Fig. 53, is made for use with 
the barrel lying on its side, which we consider the 
best way to carry it, and consists of an arm (a) of flat 
iron one-eighth inch thick and seven-eighths inch 
wide, attached to the handle of the pump and enter¬ 
ing the barrel about six or eight inches from its head. 
This arm is attached to an elbow (b), with arms six 
inches in length, which is fastened into a socket 
about four inches in length, that is bolted to the 
head of the barrel at (c). At the lower end of 
the elbow is attached a short arm (d), which is joined 
to the long arm that carries the dashers or agitators 
(e). This joint is necessary in order that the dashers 
may lie on the bottom of the barrel, and not be lifted 
up at every stroke of the pump. With the movement 
of the pump handle, the dashers move backward and 
forward over the entire bottom of the barrel, thus 
keeping the liquid in constant motion. In order that 
the liquid that may have settled on the bottom may 
be stirred thoroughly before starting the pump, the 
arm (a) is fitted to the pump handle by a slot (/), so 
that it may be quickly slipped off and worked upward 
and downward a few times before beginning to pump. 
All the parts are ma4© of flat iron one-eighth inch 
159 
thick by three-fourths inch wide, and can be made by 
one having facilities for cutting such iron and drilling 
holes to fasten it together. The parts are held to¬ 
gether by short stove bolts. The dashers are fastened 
to the rod by a screw passing through it. 
In the adjustment of this apparatus to the barrel, 
the pump must be brought near enough to the end of 
the barrel to allow of the full sweep of the pump 
handle, and the rod, (a) fixed to the handle so as to 
give a full sweep to the elbow (h) that the dashers may 
be carried forward and backward to their fullest ex¬ 
tent. We have tested this agitator as far as it is pos¬ 
sible at this season of the year, and feel that, if prop¬ 
erly adjusted, it will be entirely satisfactory. No 
patent has been applied for on this appliance, though 
we think this special form originated with us, and we 
wish the fruit growers of the country to have the 
benefit of it. [prof.] s. t. maynard. 
ONION GROWING AT SOUTHPORT, CONN. 
Land is prepared for onions in the same way as for 
the truck crops generally. The soil should be deep, 
mellow and thoroughly pulverized, but not light or 
sandy. Thorough plowing and harrowing are followed 
in this section, by the use of the Meeker smoothing 
harrow, a tool invented here by a practical onion 
grower for this particular business. It is a tool now 
handled by the trade genei'ally, and does the work 
formerly done by the hand rake. If this tool is not 
used, all litter, stones, etc., must be raked off before 
the seed is sown, and the ground made smooth and 
level. Twelve to fifteen two-horse loads of stable 
manure, and half a ton of superphosphate or blood 
guano per acre, may be used as fertilizer, or 75 bushels 
of unleached ashes and one ton of ground bone ; or 
100 dumps of New York stable manure. When a 
special fertilizer is chosen, complete manure for gar¬ 
den crops is generally used. Of commercial manures, 
probably some form of tankage and potash has been 
most successful. The second named is rather deficient in 
nitrogen, but answers well as an economical change 
to alternate with stable manure. 
Sets are used upon land run out with smut, but the 
bulk of the crop is grown from seed sown 3>£ to 4 
pounds per acre in rows one foot apart. A special seed 
drill is used sowing two rows at a time. Onion growers 
are very particular about the seed. Frequently they 
will pay to neighbors $7 or $8 per pound for white 
seed, and $5 for red and yellow, for seed they are sure 
of, rather than to buy of reliable outside parties for 
$2 to S3. 
Sets are planted by hand here. No machines have 
been used for that purpose. A room for the storage 
of onions should be dry and cool. But no amount of 
care will keep an onion that does not grow properly, 
and an onion that does grow right will stand consider¬ 
able abuse. Onions should be thoroughly dried in the 
field and carted only during the drying part of a good 
day, picking them up by hand clear of dirt and rubbish 
when they are to be binned. White onions are some¬ 
times dried in shallow layers upon floors. When mar¬ 
keted the tops are pulled or cut. The onion tools used 
in the Southport section are nearly all made here, the 
inventions of practical growers for this special work. 
Probably no tools are better adapted to the business. 
E. c. BIRGE. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question jilease 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
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piece of paper.l 
The Value of Cow Manure. 
A. L. G'., Moorestown, AT. /.— What is the manure from a cow 
worth, when she is fed a ration of six pounds wheat bran, 2 l A 
pounds cotton-seed meal, eight to ten pounds mixed clover hay, 
and 10 pounds mangels, per day, with three or five pounds of corn 
leaves, provided all liquid is soaked up by litter and land plaster? 
This feed goes on for six months in the stable, all but one hour 
per day for exercise. Also, what is Nova Scotia land plaster 
worth as a fertilizer direct, and when used as an absorbent in the 
stable ? 
Ans. —The manurial value of the ration which you 
feed, will be influenced more or less by the amount of 
milk which the animal produces. It is usually as¬ 
sumed that 25 per cent of the nitrogen, and 10 per 
cent of the mineral constituents, that are contained in 
the feed, are retained in the animal product, and the 
remainder voided in the solid and liquid portions of 
the manure. On this assumption, the manure value 
of the ration which you are now feeding would be 
about eight cents, valuing the nitrogen at 12 cents 
per pound, phosphoric acid and potash each five cents 
per pound, prices which you would have to pay for 
the same elements in New York horse manure at $2 
per tap. The anqua] report pf the New Jersey station, 
