328 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 11 
heifers are not served until such time as would cause 
them to drop their calves when about three years old, 
they are troublesome, and at the same time, often 
prove barren ; they also generally make poor dairy 
animals, as they incline to put flesh upon themselves 
instead of filling the pail. In all cases, it depends 
much upon the individual, and a breeder knowing the 
constitution is the best judge. The above is personal 
experience with grade Jerseys, and thoroughbred 
Guernseys. s. A. w. 
New Jersey. 
As Grandfather Used to Do. 
“ When to breed heifers” is a subject that never 
troubled me much. I do somewhat as grandfather 
did : when they are one year old, turn the bull with 
them while at pasture, which will usually bring them 
fresh at about 23 or 24 months of age. I th ; nk this 
young enough to begin business. I have had grade 
Guernseys calve at 21 months, but as yet see no advan¬ 
tage in it. A. L. WALKS. 
Pennsylvania. _ 
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE MADE EASY. 
“A PLANT DISEASED!” 
What Vegetable Sickness Is and Its Cure. 
There are many boys who go to Cornell University 
for the short course in agriculture, knowing very 
little about the first principles of science. They may 
have read about the Bordeaux Mixture and the benefits 
of spraying fruit trees or shrubs, but why it is done 
and how it helps, are two very dim parts of the pro¬ 
gramme. 
In writing a series of articles about the way things 
are taught at Cornell, I purpose to put myself 
right in the position of one of these boys—ignorant 
of the basic principles of science, and eager to know 
why and how science can serve agriculture. The 
first thing we take up is this matter of doctoring a 
plant disease. The following notes are the result of 
interviews with Prof. Bailey and his assistants. The 
apparatus for teaching horticulture in all its branches 
at Cornell is very complete. A boy has a chance to 
handle every improved tool, and to ask about and in¬ 
vestigate all these new things that are coming up to 
puzzle farmers. If the farmer boys of New York State 
only knew the start they could get through this short 
course, the buildings at Cornell wouldn’t begin to 
hold them next winter. I am going to make it my 
business this summer and fall to make the boys see 
what is going on at some of our best agricultural col¬ 
leges, and how their wheels are slipping several cogs 
at each revolution when they don’t try to keep them¬ 
selves posted. The boy’s father, too, may find some¬ 
thing in this that will interest him. If there is any 
point about this work that doesn’t seem clear to you, 
and you don’t like to write to the station, write to 
Tiie R. N.-Y., and we’ll try to get the answer, or at 
least start up a discussion. 
Now, the first thing I asked Prof. Bailey was a 
point that has bothered me for a long time. 
“ Why do we hear of so many new bugs and blights 
nowadays? Every year seems to bring half a dozen 
new ones. Why didn’t they show up in old times ? ” 
I’ll guarantee that many of our readers have asked 
themselves that question. In fact, so many new bugs, 
blights and bulletins have appeared upon the scene, 
that some farmers have actually gone so far as to say 
that the scientists have brought these things in to 
give themselves a chance to talk and work. 
Prof. Bailey’s explanation of this was simple and in¬ 
teresting. As an illustration, he took the potato 
beetle—which we all know. Sixty or more years ago, 
that insect was found only in the Rocky Mountains, 
living on certain wild plants—nothing but a great 
curiosity to scientific men. It was few in number 
because its food was limited. When people began to 
raise potatoes in Colorado, this bug developed a great 
fouduess for potato vines. It left the wild mountain 
plants and went to the potato fields. This increase 
of food meant an increase of insects, and it spread 
from one field to another all over the country. It was 
simply an increased food supply and better oppor¬ 
tunity that spread the bug. If potatoes had never 
been grown in Colorado, there would probably never 
have been any potato bugs in your field. No doubt, 
there are dozens of other insects now comparatively 
harmless simply because their food supply limits their 
increase. A borer that works on apple trees affords 
another illustration. This insect formerly worked on 
oak trees entirely. It liked apple better, and as or¬ 
chards became more and more numerous, this insect 
left the oak for the apple, and became a dangerous pest. 
That is the way it goes. New methods of culture, 
new crops and new farm areas give these insects and 
plant diseases, a new lease on life, and newer and easier 
means of transportation enable them to be carried 
about more readily. That is a reasonable explanation, 
and it ought to make any thoughtful man understand 
how powerless he is alone to manage these new con¬ 
ditions that are forced upon him by legitimate changes 
of agriculture. You can see that progress in human 
life has a reverse side, and every step forward entails 
new complications and studies on the younger genera¬ 
tions. 
One great reason why you can’t farm as “grand¬ 
father did” is well illustrated in that development of 
the potato bug. Troubles and drawbacks from outside 
your farm are pushed on to you, and you must now go 
outside the farm to learn how to combat them. What 
we call science, as they teach it at Cornell, is the 
classified study of the causes of these natural forces. 
It is easy to see that a farmer with work and planning 
for every day in the year cannot spend the time re¬ 
quired in learning the life history of new insects and 
diseases. Of course not—the men who do this must 
make a business of it and do nothing else—peering 
through their microscopes and testing their machines 
and methods until they learn what to do. It is going 
to be just as much a part of wise farming to put into 
practical use what these scientific men discover as it is 
to know the “ signs o’the weather.” Let the boy 
who is to make the farmer of the future, ponder these 
things well and see if it isn’t going to pay him to 
know more about these things. And now—“ What is 
a plant disease ?”_ H. w. c. 
[Every query must be accompanied by tbe name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.l 
Pasturing the Orchard With Sheep. 
J. It. W., Shortsville, N. Y. —An apple orchard of eight acres on 
this farm has not borne well. The soil is a gravelly loam with 
heavy clay subsoil; the land has been worked. I intend to sow to 
barley, seed down, and use for a sheep pasture for two or three 
years or more. What is the best combination of grass and clover 
seeds for that purpose ? How much per acre ? What is probably 
the reason for the orchard not bearing ? The trees have been 
sprayed. 
Ans. —One bushel of Orchard grass, and six to ten 
pounds each of Medium clover and Blue grass, or Red- 
top instead of the latter if the soil is rather moist, per 
acre. The trees have probably been starved, as you say 
that the land has been worked, but say nothing about 
its having been fertilized. A dressing of wood ashes 
three parts, and fine ground bone, one part, would be 
helpful. Or muriate of potash one part, fine ground 
bone three parts, might form a cheaper combination. 
A Bad Fruit Bug. 
E. J. B., Shenandoah , la.— I send a few insects taken from an 
apple tree. What are they, and how can I destroy them ? They 
puncture the apple blossoms just about the time they begin to 
show red before they bloom, and thus kill every one punctured. 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
The insects sent proved to be the Tarnished plant 
bug (Lygus pratensis). It is a small, greenish-brown 
insect—one of the true bugs—and is one of the most 
common and widely-distributed of insects. There 
are several accounts of its injuries to the buds of 
fruit trees, and a great variety of other injuries are 
also attributed to it. The buds of dahlias, marigolds, 
balsams and asters are often blighted by it. The ter¬ 
minal shoots of potatoes are often killed by its punc¬ 
tures. The “ buttoning” of strawberries is thought 
to be caused by it. During the past year, 1 investi¬ 
gated a mysterious “die-back” of the tender shoots of 
peach nursery stock, which I believe was caused by 
this insect ; the shoots would be punctured by the 
bug and so much sap pumped out, that two or three 
inches of the shoot would wilt, turn brown, and die. 
I have seen the same “ dying back ” of the shoots on 
larger bearing peach trees. We know but little of the 
life history of the insect. It hibernates in the adult 
stage under boards, mullein leaves, or any rubbish 
offering protection. It appears early in the spring, often 
doing great damage on whatever buds are far enough 
advanced to offer food. There are probably two or more 
broods of the insect annually, as the insect is found in 
all stages during the summer. But little is known of 
the egg stage. An egg has been found on a straw¬ 
berry leaf, but our observations thus far indicate that 
the eggs are normally inserted into the tissues of the 
plants. It is a difficult pest to combat. Some have 
killed thousands of them by shaking them off into 
pans of kerosene early in the morning when they are 
said to be dormant ; during the day, they are exceed¬ 
ingly active, dodging out of sight very quickly when 
one approaches them. Prof. Forbes found that they 
readily succumbed to pyrethrum, and to kerosene 
emulsion containing about five per cent of kerosene. 
The pyrethrum might prove practicable on strawberry 
beds. The emulsion could be used effectively on fruit 
trees. Perfectly clean culture, leaving no sheltering 
rubbish near the plants, would be an excellent pre¬ 
ventive, as it would do away with the hibernation of 
the insect near by. 
Care of Grape Vines on the Hudson River. 
P. W. J.-, Pontiac, Mich. —Will some practical man explain the 
philosophy of pruning the grape vine, and tell why grape growers 
grow so much wood to be cut off ? 
ANSWERED BY W. F. TABER. 
The best methods of pruning, both winter and 
summer, are so governed by circumstances, and kinds 
of grapes, and soil upon which they grow, and 
upon location, that all these things must be taken into 
consideration. Therefore, what in my experience in 
growing and pruning grapes in the Hudson River Val¬ 
ley has proved best for me, might not be best under 
other conditions. But there are certain principles to 
be considered, even in so small a matter as trimming 
a grape vine. In this day, when mildew and rot are 
liable to attack our vines, we must guard against 
them ; therefore, we must train our vines upon a 
trellis, and prune them so that while there shall be 
sufficient leaf growth to perfect the fruit, there shall 
not be such a mass of wood and leaf growth as to 
promote dampness and hinder the proper circulation 
of the air, thereby inducing mold and rot. 
The grape vine makes so much wood growth be¬ 
cause it is its nature. In its natural state, it is only 
required of the vine to grow fruit and seeds enough 
to perpetuate its kind, and its strength goes to make 
wood. But by restricting this excessive growth of 
wood, its energies are directed toward fruit produc¬ 
tion, and then we find that different methods of fer¬ 
tilization produce different results on these different 
lines. On a highly nitrogenous soil, trees and vines 
of all kinds make an excessive wood growth, and all 
nitrogenous manures must be avoided, and those 
rich in potash must be used to harden and per¬ 
fect the wood and the bud in order to get fruit. To 
get grapes in sufficient quantity and of best quality, 
it is necessary to restrict the growth of wood by cut¬ 
ting back the old wood, and leaving only wood of the 
last year’s growth, to produce fruit. This is then 
tied to the one or two horizontal wires stretched upon 
the posts, at three and six feet from the ground, this 
being known as the two or four-arm Kniffen system. 
After the shoots have grown out, and the fruit has 
set, there will grow out from the base of these shoots, 
and from the axils of the leaves, other shoots known 
as laterals and seconds, which need to be removed. 
We must also clip out the tendrils or dingers that 
fasten upon neighboring shoots. By removing these 
useless branches, the grapes receive the strength of 
the vine, and I find as the result, clusters of better 
form and size and of better quality and free from 
disease. 
If the vines of P. W. J. have not been sprayed here¬ 
tofore, and he has had much rot, it would be well to 
spray the vines before the buds start if he can, again 
after the fruit has set, and again in 10 or 12 days, 
depending upon the weather. Should the rot show 
itself after this, I would again spray. If the grapes 
are for market purposes, I would spray the last time 
with the ammoniacal solution instead of the Bordeaux 
Mixture, which is the one to use in all previous spray¬ 
ings. The Bordeaux Mixture is made by dissolving 
six pounds of copper sulphate in 1(3 gallons of water ; 
then dissolve four pounds of lime in six gallons of 
water, and strain into the copper solution. I have 
found that the mixture was strong enough when 25 
more gallons of water were added, making about one 
pound of copper to eight gallons of water. 
A Cream Separator “ On the Road." 
S. S. L., Hazard, Wash.—' This part of the country is settled with 
poor people who keep from two to five cows. Is it practicable to 
put a small cream separator on a wagon, go from house to house, 
and collect cream from 50 cows in the day’s drive ? If you were 
going to try that plan, what size of United States separator would 
you use ? How would you keep the machine sweet and clean ? 
Will the machine skim milk 12 to 15 hours old? Would you go 
over the route every day, or would every other day do ? 
Ans.— Theoretically the scheme is practical, and can 
be made to work if two or three conditions can be 
overcome. Overcoming them, would settle, to a large 
extent, the problem in districts where there are but 
few cows, and would give these men a chance to pro¬ 
duce something in the way of butter that would sell 
for money instead of “ store pay.” The serious 
obstacle to overcome in regard to the separator, is not 
in carrying it about, but in having a foundation for it 
to be easily and securely fastened to at each farm¬ 
house. To do good, thorough work, it must have a 
steady foundation, so that it will not shake or tremble; 
this overcome, a good hand machine that would skim 
300 pounds an hour, would answer for twice 50 cows 
a day if the skimming stations were not too far apart. 
To do good work the milk would need to be at a tem¬ 
perature of about 32 degrees, and unless a time pro¬ 
gramme was carried out to about the minute, there 
would be the delay of warming the milk. The age of 
the milk has nothing to do with good creaming with 
a separator ; its good work depends upon three things: 
