1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
425 
When to “ Abandon Stable Manure." 
N. P., Ithaca, IV. Y. —The R. N.-Y. is devoting: a great deal of 
space to commercial fertilizer. Does it advise abandoning stable 
and barnyard manure, and substituting commercial fertilizers in 
their stead ? If barnyard or stable manure can be had for 50 
cents per load at the stable, and the purchaser is obiiged to draw 
it three miles, which do you consider the cheaper, barnyard ma¬ 
nure or commercial fertilizer ? Or would you advise an applica¬ 
tion of both ? If so, in what proportions ? 
Ans. —It is very hard, apparently, to make our posi¬ 
tion on the fertilizer question clear. Suppose that 
you had asked these two questions : 1. Do you advise 
farmers to quit raising corn, and buy cotton-seed 
meal and other foods instead ? 2. Do you advise us 
to quit raising wheat for our own flour, and buy 
baker’s bread ? Those questions are just about as 
comprehensive as the one about fertilizers and ma¬ 
nure. No doubt many farmers can buy stock food 
cheaper than they can raise it. For example, Mr. 
Bancroft puts all his corn and cow peas into the silo, 
and buys cotton-seed meal—thus getting a good deal 
cheaper ration than would be possible if he let his 
corn form dry grain. Many other farmers, if they 
would only look at the thing fairly, would find that it 
is cheaper to buy grain and put the corn in a silo. 
Yet, it would be foolish for us to claim that such a 
course is to be advocated as a general rule. The same 
with the bread problem. Many farmers near cities 
and towns, buy their bread, because, all things con¬ 
sidered, they find it cheaper to do so ; but we could 
only advise those to give up growing their own grain 
who have first carefully figured out the comparative 
cost of the bread. Just so with fertilizers and stable 
manure. The average farmer must keep more or less 
stock, and in any event, he should carefully save and 
apply every ounce of homemade manure. The ma¬ 
nure that he should abandon is that from uni/rofitable 
stock.' There are many farmers who keep a good 
many cattle or sheep without knowing whether they 
pay or not. Were they to figure the matter out, they 
would find that the only way to make such stock pay 
for their food, is to credit the manure at a high price. 
We do advise abandoning such stable manure, and 
substituting fertilizers and green crops in place of it. 
We advise a farmer before making any change, to 
figure the whole thing out with care, and see just 
what the manure costs him. That is the only fair 
basis for comparison. In any event, we would add to 
every ton of average stable manure, at least 30 pounds 
muriate of potash and 50 of some dissolved rock. As 
we have often explained, average manure is deficient 
in potash and phosphoric acid as compared with its 
nitrogen. In the case mentioned, we would buy the 
stable manure at 50 cents a load, and add the potash 
and dissolved rock mentioned above. This will be 
excellent for most crops. For potatoes, we prefer a 
good fertilizer to manure. 
How to Build a Small Barn. 
J. M., Glen Mary, Tenn .— I would like a little information in re¬ 
gard to a small barn I wish to build. I wish to build it 26 or 27 
feet by about 35, which will be sufficient for my needs, and to put 
in about 10 grown cows, two or three horses and young stock. I 
can get a second-class vitrified paving brick, which measures 
3x4x9 inches, at $8 per 1,000 delivered at the depot, and I thought 
it would be a good thing to build a wall about three feet high to 
put the frame on. The ground is level where I intend to build. I 
wish to build two stories high, that is, to use all the room above 
the cattle, for hay and fodder, and I thought about making the 
sides 16 or 18 feet high. How thick shall I make the walls for 
the frame ? Would it pay to build the walls any higher or lower 
of brick, as I can get lumber at $10 per M ? How should I frame it 
so that I can use a hay carrier with horse-power to unload the 
wagons from the outside or end of the barn ? What do you think 
of the paving brick for a floor for cattle and horses to stand on ? 
Would the brick need anything under them but the soil leveled 
off if put down with cement ? W T hat do you think of the relative 
qualities of shingles, iron, and steel roofing? 
Ans.— The great insurmountable objection to the 
barn proposed, is the size ; 27x35 feet would give only 
845 square feet of floor surface ; if built even 10 feet 
high, it would give only 650 cubic feet of air space to 
each one of 13 animals, an amount entirely inadequate 
to mature animals, even with the most perfect venti¬ 
lation. If he will make his barn 30x40, with nine feet 
in the clear, he will have 830 cubic feet. Hut while I 
was at it, I would add another foot to the height, and 
give 923 cubic feet which would be much better. The 
difference in cost would be but a trifle, there being 
only 16 linear feet more walls. This would enable 
him to put the 10 cows and one youngster in a single 
row lengthwise the barn, with heads into the center 
and thus use less than one-half the floor space. In 
one corner of the other half, put two horse stalls, say, 
five feet wide, and there would still be left an open 
space which would be handy for a good many uses. 
Among others, a roomy box stall might be fitted up 
for any animal coming in, or which, for any reason, 
it was desirable to give plenty of room. 
As it would require about five bricks to the surface 
foot of wall, or 15 for a wall three bricks thick, I 
would not build the wall over two feet high, and 
above this would use double boarding and building 
paper to make it frostproof. This would be much 
cheaper, and equally good. Don’t build the barn with 
less than 24-foot posts, as this will give but 12 feet 
above the flqor if the stable is 10 feet high, and this 
space is none too much for storage for so many head 
of stock. 
By putting in a ridgepole, letting it run back 12 
or more feet, and fastening it firmly to the rafters, 
and having the rafters well tied together, it can be 
run out one of the gables far enough to support the 
end of the tracks so that a hay fork can be used. Or, 
by making the doors of the loft pretty large, the 
hooks and pulleys may be so placed that it will not 
be necessary to have any timber project to which to 
attach the track. Such a barn should have a good- 
sized cupola ventilator, not less than four feet square, 
with such a ventilating device as was shown in Tiik 
B. N.-Y. of 1894, page 502. To be out of the way in 
putting in hay, it may branch under the roof, and go 
down the rafters, and down each side of the barn. 
I think the cull paving bricks would make a capital 
floor. They should be laid on edge, on a good sand 
foundation, and well filled in with hydraulic grout 
and given time to set. The trench for manure should 
not be less than nine inches deep, and 18 inches wide; 
this may be made of the bricks and cement. 
Nothing is said of the relative cost of shingles, 
iron, or steel, for roofing, so I can only advise on gen¬ 
eral principles. As a rule, no other roof is so cheap or 
satisfactory as good shingles. In most places, the 
interest on the extra cost of any other roof over one 
of shingles, will keep the shingle roof in good repair 
indefinitely, and the latter is always reliable and sat¬ 
isfactory. 
1 would advise fitting the stable with some stalls 
which give the cows the most perfect freedom, and 
making them of different widths to fit animals of 
various sizes. j. 9 . w. 
A New Apple Pest. 
W. S., Point Terrace, Oreg .—I inclose a specimen of an apple 
pest of which I would like to know the name and the remedy. It 
has been here for three years. I have sprayed with Bordeaux 
Mixture and kerosene emulsion, with poor success. The pests 
make their appearance about April 1, and stay all summer ; they 
are the worst on apples, and work very little on plums or pears. 
AN8WKRED BY M. Y. SLING ERL AND. 
This apple pest proved to be an insect which, so far 
as I know, has never been recorded on the apple. The 
THE HAWTHORN TINGIS (NEW APPLE PEST). Fio. 136. 
specimens were too badly crushed for identification, 
but are probably what is commonly known as the 
Hawthorn Tingis (Corythuca arcuta). The Tingids 
are unique and curious insects. An adult Hawthorn 
Tingis is shown much enlarged (the hair line at the side 
indicates its natural size) in Fig. 136. The reticulated 
and gauze-like structure of the wing covers, usually 
accompanied by similar expansions from the sides of 
the thorax, gives these insects a characteristic appear¬ 
ance which needs only to be once seen to be recognized 
in the future. The insect punctures the under sur¬ 
face of the leaves, often giving them a brown and 
sunburnt appearance. On the leaves sent by W. S., 
there were several of the adult insects and many of 
their curious eggs. These eggs are smooth, whitish, 
and ovoid in shape. It would take eight of them 
placed end to end, to measure an inch. They are laid 
on the under surface of the leaf, and are completely 
covered by a brown, sticky substance which hardens 
soon after oviposition. This covering is cut off squarely 
at the upper end. Three eggs, much enlarged, are 
shown projecting from a bit of leaf in Fig. 136. The 
young insects make their exit from the funnel-shaped 
summit of the eggs. The immature insects or nymphs 
are of the same dirty-brown color as the egg covering. 
They are broad and flat, and spines seem to project 
from almost every portion of their bodies. One of 
them is shown above the eggs in the figure. Hrof. 
Comstock, from whose report as the Entomologist for 
1879. the figures are taken, says that the nymphs re¬ 
minded him of a lobe of prickly cactus. As the cast¬ 
off skins stick to the leaf, they give it the appearance 
of being much more seriously infested than it really 
is. There are probably several broods of this curious 
insect each year, and the tisual mode of hibernation is 
in the adult state in sheltered places in old rubbish, 
or under the loose bark of the tree. The insect will 
readily succumb to a spray of kerosene emulsion, but 
must be hit by it; this will necessitate drenching the 
under sides of the leaves which will be a somewhat 
difficult task. The first application should be made 
early in the season, so as to destroy as many of 
the adults as have come forth from hibernation. 
Every one of these killed means many less of the 
insects later in the season. 
Some Worms and Webs. 
E. U. W., Croton Falls, N. Y. —What shall I do to currant and 
gooseberry bushes, to prevent the web which seems to be woven 
by a fiendish-looking spider, and which produces a large and in¬ 
dustrious crop of green worms ? My currant bushes have a dis¬ 
ease or some worm or insect, which causes a decay through the 
center of the stalks, and they break under their own weight as 
early in the season as this. What is the cause and the remedy ? 
I find a small, green worm on my young apple trees. Will spray¬ 
ing kill them at this date, and what kind of spray, if any, shall I 
use ? 
Ans. —The “ fiendish-looking spider ” and its nest, 
are undoubtedly benefactors, and they certainly have 
nothing to do with the “large and industrious crop of 
green worms.” These worms are the well-known 
larvae of the Currant worm (Nematus ventricosus) 
with which every currant grower, nearly the world 
over, is only too familiar. The adult insect is a bright 
yellow-bodied, four-winged fly about the size of the 
common house fly. White hellebore dusted on the 
bushes is a sure remedy for these worms ; Paris-green 
can be used very effectively before the fruit is half- 
grown. 
The currant stems have doubtless been tunneled by 
one of the Currant borers ; it will be impossible, with¬ 
out specimens, to say whether it is the work of the 
caterpillar of the Imported Currant-borer moth (allied 
to the well-known Peach borer), or the footless grub 
of the American Currant-borer beetle. Their life 
history and habits are practically the same, and both 
may be easily combated by simply cutting out and 
burning the infested stalks early in the spring, thus 
destroying the nearly mature insects which they then 
contain. The infested stalks will either not leaf out 
at all, or start later than the others in the spring, it 
will doubtless be a little late to catch any of the 
insects in the stalks now, but I would make the effort, 
for a few belated ones may be thus caught and 
destroyed before they have a chance to carry on their 
work of providing for the development of the next 
brood. 
It is now too late effectually to check the green 
worms of the apple trees by spraying. Hand picking 
will prove the most practicable method of combating 
them now on young trees. One or two applications of 
Paris-green before and just after blossoming, will 
check them. m. v. s. 
A Case of “ Die Back.” 
P., Wheeling, Mo. —I have 20 acres of the Botan plum trees; they 
died back badly last winter. On each limb or twig would be 
found stings two or three inches apart. I send a piece of limb, 
also samples of bugs found on the trees. 
Ans. —There was nothing among the specimens sent 
that would account for the dying back of the branches. 
The severe winter was doubtless the principal cause. 
1 cannot explain the “stings” on the branches ; gum 
had exuded from many of the places. Almost any 
mechanical injury on plum, peach or cherry, will 
cause a gummy exudation. Possibly the large weevils 
found on the trees may have caused the “stings.” 
These weevils are commonly known as the Imbri¬ 
cated Snout beetle (Epicaerus imbricatus). They work 
upon the branches, leaves and fruit of several fruit 
trees, on gooseberries, and have sometimes done con¬ 
siderable damage to garden vegetables. Nothing has 
been recorded of the life history of this insect, and it 
is rarely that it occurs insufficient numbers to become 
of economic importance. The small beetle found on 
a plum is the well-known Pluincurculio, the author of 
the conspicuous, crescent-shaped marks on the fruit. 
It is the worst pest the plum grower has to fight, and 
it also does great damage to peafch and.apple orchards. 
It has been too often discussed in agricultural litera¬ 
ture to need further comment here. m. y. s. 
Rundown Meadow ; City Garbage. 
B. II., West Philadelphia, Pa.—I have a 17-acre field of low 
meadow land which is over-run with sorrel or sour grass, and 
our grass crop is a failure. I shall plow and sow to German 
millet with 300 pounds of acid rock containing 14 per cent phos¬ 
phoric acid. Then I purpose to manure and sow to wheat and 
grass. Will gashouse lime help in this field ? It may be bought 
for one-half cent per bushel. Of what use is city garbage that has 
been pressed to extract the bulk of the water, and then mixed 
with gas lime to suppress the odor ? 
Ans. —If the gas-lime is fresh, we would not use it 
at all. In fact, it is a question whether lime is needed 
on that soil. You will make a mistake if you do not 
use potash with the acid rock. We would use at least 
150 pounds per acre of muriate of potash. We could 
only make a guess at the value of the garbage. In 
any event, we would not advise you to use it on that 
field. The greatest need there, is evidently for miner¬ 
als—not for organic matter. Better send a sample of 
the garbage to your experiment station (State College, 
Pa.,) for analysis, before you buy it. 
4 Homemade Hose. 
F. B. W., North Bloomfield, N. Y .— How can I make a hose of 
factory cloth for conducting water for irrigating purposes? How 
much pressure will it stand ? 
Ans. —We have had no experience in making this 
sort of hose, and doubt whether it will prove satis¬ 
factory. We have read of its being made by taking 
long strips of canvas, about 18 inches wide, lapping 
the edges and sewing them together on a sewing 
machine. These sections of hose are joined by means 
of two tubes which tit into the ends. If any of our 
readers can tell us more about this, we shall be 
pleased to have them do so. 
