1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
5L3 
this plan is not often approved. One word as to 
“ potash” ; while it is true that potash is a good thing 
to promote the growth of clover, and thereby enhance 
the fertility of the soil, phosphoric acid (rock) is 
equally, or even more generally, desirable. The con¬ 
ditions ai*e rare that would justify the use of the 
former to the exclusion of the latter. Mr. Derby is not 
the “ Apostle of Potash” alone , but of rock and potash. 
Crimson Clover to Cure Chicory. 
A. B. L., Upperville, Va .— I have just bought a field that is badly 
infested with chicory, and is also rather worn-out from having 
been badly farmed; but is naturally a good, black loamy soil. I 
have it to corn and wish to sow rye and Crimson clover, turn that 
under in the spring, and sow cow peas; turn them under and sow 
rye and clover and then raise corn, wheat and grass. Is that 
overdoing the green manure business ? The land has been 
cropped year after year, and has not been given time to make 
much growth, even of weeds, to return anything to the soil. I ex¬ 
pect to use some fertilizer with these crops to be turned under. 
Ans. —Our plun would be to give the corn first-rate 
cultivation, and then sow the field to Crimson clover, 
using a liberal quantity of potash and a lesser quan¬ 
tity of phosphate. We would next season plant or 
sow a hoed crop of some kind, again fertilizing liber¬ 
ally and giving thorough cultivation. We think that 
this would subdue the chicory. 
What Fertilizer for Wheat ? 
S. B., Crescent , 0. —Last fall, I sowed about six acres of oat 
stubble to wheat, using one-half ton of phosphate and bone. Last 
spring, I sowed one bushel of clover seed on the wheat; it came 
up well, but the dry weather killed all of it except a small plot 
where the water ran from the public road on to the field. I har¬ 
vested a good crop of wheat, and the field now has a heavy coat 
of stubble on it. Shall I plow it again for wheat and use the 
same kind of fertilizer; or shall I use some other kind of fertilizer? 
Ans. —Of course we cannot tell about the fertilizer 
without knowing its analysis. From the fact that it 
gave a good wheat crop last year, it is safe to conclude 
that it is well suited to that crop. Possibly a higher 
per cent of potash would help the clover—we cannot 
say without the analysis. We would sow wheat 
again and try clover next spring. 
What Chemicals to Add to Cotton-seed Meal ? 
A. B., Galveston , Tex.— Wbat must I add to 1,000 pounds of cot¬ 
ton-seed meal, to produce a proper balanced fertilizer for general 
use, which I may use with or without stable manure ? The soil on 
this island is very sandy, and more or less salty from former 
overflows; besides, there is an almost constant southerly breeze 
from the gulf which is also impregnated with salt. 
Ans. —Under your circumstances, we think that 
nitrate of soda, dissolved South Carolina rock and 
muriate of potash, should be mixed with the cotton¬ 
seed meal. A mixture made up as follows would 
doubtless prove satisfactory for general garden crops: 
300 pounds nitrate of soda. 
800 pounds cotton-seed meal. 
600 pounds dissolved South Carolina rock. 
300 pounds muriate of potash. 
We think that you will find it easier to broadcast the 
cotton-seed meal, and harrow it in well, then mix the 
other ingredients, and use this mixture along the 
rows. Of course, you understand that no mixture of 
chemicals will give the bulk and organic matter to be 
found in strawy manure. The cotton-seed meal con¬ 
tains a good deal of organic matter, but to obtain the 
best results, some form of vegetable matter should be 
used with the chemicals. A catch crop of Crimson 
clover or cow peas will do this well. 
Mowing and Burning Berry Plants. 
A. 11. It., Denver , Col .— I have a field of strawberries which is 
infested with the leaf roller. How would it do to mow off close to 
the ground, all the foliage at once, and burn it to destroy the eggs? 
I have some fear that the mowing away of the foliage so early in 
the season, will stimulate the plants to grow a new crop of foliage, 
thereby taxing their strength to the injury of the next year’s crop. 
Ans.—I do not know whether the eggs of the in¬ 
sects are on the leaves and stalks of the plants when 
the picking season is over, or not; but A. H. R. need 
not be afraid of injuring the plants by mowing off the 
foliage. It is the best thing to do in the case. The 
worst thing that can happen to plants after they are 
done bearing, is to be let alone. m. crawford. 
The Use of Ornamental Grasses. 
E. W., Conklin Forks , N. Y .— I am quite anxious to learn more 
about the ornamental grasses as forage plants, recently referred 
to in The R. N.-Y. Has it ever tried Enanthus Ravennae ? Would 
not any of these grasses become dry and woody, so as to be use¬ 
less late in the season? I have five acres of rocky hillsiue pas¬ 
ture, naturally good land, part dry, and part wet and springy, 
which I would like to have covered with something that would 
really do what has been claimed for Saghalin, without spreading 
around so as to become a noxious weed. Do you think that the 
above grasses could be mowed and make good hay ? I think they 
would, at least, make good bedding and thus add to the comfort 
of stock, and to the manure pile. Other things being equal, I 
would much prefer a pure green to a striped variety. 
Ans. —We grew Erianthus Ravennae for many years. 
We do not think that it is as hardy as the Eulalia. 
We do not know whether stock are fond of it or not. 
The stems of the Eulalia become woody the same as 
those of corn when mature ; but they make an early 
growth which cattle relish—the stems as well as the 
leaves. Of the several kinds of Eulalias, we would 
prefer Gracillima. We think that the Eulalias, and 
also the striped Ribbon grass, would make a fair 
quality of hay if cut at the proper season, and cer¬ 
tainly very good bedding. The longitudinal and 
transverse striped Eulalias, as well as Gracillima, are 
offered by all leading florists and nurserymen. 
What Is “ Gluten Meal. ” 
A. F., Oradell, N. J. —What is gluten meal ? 
Ans. —The New Jersey Experiment Station has made 
a careful study of the gluten feeds, and the following 
facts are obtained from their Bulletin No. 105. The 
various gluten feeds are obtained from corn in the 
manufacture of starch or glucose. A kernel of corn 
is a complex substance, when you come to examine it 
carefully. Split through the center, it would appear 
much like Fig. 173. In this figure, a represents the 
hard, outer skin. It is in two layers. If it could be 
scraped off alone and ground, it would be called 
“ bran.” b shows a layer of gluten which lies just 
under the husk. It is yellow in color, and firmly at¬ 
tached to the rest of the kernel. Gluten may be best 
described as the sticky substance that makes bread 
adhere instead of crumble apart, c is the germ of 
the corn, while the large part, d, shows the starch. 
The dark color shows the hard, yellow part in which 
the starch cells are packed more firmly together. The 
following table shows how these different parts com- 
pare in 
composition and 
proportion with 
the entire 
kernel. 
Muscle- 
Fat- 
Pure 
Proportion. 
Makers. 
Formers. 
Fat. 
Skin.. 
. 5.56 
6.60 
75.36 
1.59 
Germ . 
. 10 17 
21.71 
45.79 
29.62 
Starch 
. 84.27 
12.23 
85.58 
1.54 
Whole 
kernel.... 
12.65 
79.26 
4.34 
That gives a fair idea of the difference in these differ¬ 
ent parts. The skin or bran is not a specially strong 
feed, because it contains quite a large proportion of 
the fiber or tough, indigestible portion of the grain. 
The germ, you see, contains nearly all the oil or pure 
fat in the kernel. In fact, some manufacturers make 
a point of separating the germs and pressing out the 
oil, which is used as a substitute for several other 
vegetable oils. 
In separating the starch from the other parts of the 
kernel, the whole grain is crushed and soaked in 
warm water. The germs, being heavier, sink to the 
bottom, while the hulls float on the surface leaving 
the starch and gluten mixed. They are separated by 
running the *fiuid containing them slowly through 
long troughs. The heavier starch drops to the bot¬ 
tom, while the yellow residue floats off. Of course in 
this way some of the starch goes away with the 
residue, and it is this part when dried that is sold as 
gluten “meal,” “feed,” or under various other names. 
The hull, germ and gluten mixed, make what is 
called “gluten feed.” The gluten alone as separated 
from the starch, is called “ gluten meal.” The germs 
when pressed and ground, are known as “germ food” 
or “ germ meal”. The hulls alone are called “corn 
bran.” 
It is unfortunate that these four by-products of 
corn vary so much in composition, because a farmer 
is likely to pay a high price for a comparatively poor 
product unless he realizes that there is a wide differ¬ 
ence in these foods. The following table shows the 
average composition as found in New Jersey : 
Muscle- Fat- Pure 
makers. formers. fat. 
Gluten feed. 23.58 54.10 13.91 
Gluten meal. 32.83 41.99 14.06 
Germ meal. 12.07 57.37 16.90 
Corn bran. 11.37 59.72 8.08 
Hominy chop. 11.00 60.53 11.17 
Cerealine feed. 10.12 65.16 7.82 
“ Hominy chop” and “cerealine feed” are products 
obtained in the manufacture of hominy and “cerealine” 
from corn. They are chiefly parts of the germ and 
hull. Those who went over the “ Balanced Ration ” 
problem last season, will see that there is consider¬ 
able difference in the value of these substances. It 
will require some little knowledge to buy them to 
advantage. These foods are all agreeable in taste 
and flavor, and cattle soon learn to cat them readily. 
They all contain considerable fat or oil, and some 
animals cannot eat large quantities without being 
thrown “ off their feed.” Generally speaking, they 
are better for produciug milk than for butter dairies, 
as they are likely to produce a soft, salvy butter. Our 
own advice is not to feed more than three pounds 
per day to any single animal, though we know that 
five or six pounds are often fed. In most localities, 
these foods are not so cheap that it will pay dairymen 
to discard oil meal, bran, and cotton-seed meal, if 
one has a good supply of ensilage. Dairymen near the 
starch factories, can often buy these foods very 
cheaply in car-load lots—so cheap, in fact, that other 
feed can hardly compare with them. 
The Queen of the Night. 
A. V. S., Hopkinton, lotva. —I have a pair of butterflies unlike 
those usually seen here ; I inclose a rude outline, showing the 
size and shape. The color is a beautiful green, with spots, and 
the borders of the wings, of amethyst purple. Are they rare? I 
have others which are uncommon here. 
ANSWERED 1JY M. V. SLINOERLANIl. 
A glance at the outline drawing of the insect, told 
me that A. V. S. had a pair of those moths which Dr. 
Harris characterized as “ preeminent above all our 
moths in queenly beauty.” The insect is very widely 
distributed, and was named Attacus luna by Linmmis 
more than a century ago ; it is now placed in the 
genus Tropaea. Its specific name, luna, is the Roman 
name of the moon, poetically styled “ fair empress or 
queen of the night.” No one who has seen these 
beautiful moths, will hesitate to accord to them 
supremacy in grace, elegance, and chasteness ; and as 
they fly only at night, they are, indeed, queens of the 
night. They are great favorites with amateur col¬ 
lectors, and are not rare in many localities in our 
country. The shape and size of the moth (not a but¬ 
terfly ; butterflies usually have their antenna) knob¬ 
bed at the end) is well shown at Fig. 171 on first page. 
The wings are of a delicate light green color, with a 
broad, purple stripe along the front edge of the fore¬ 
wings, extending also across the body, and sending a 
little branch to an eye-like spot near the middle of 
the wing. These eye spots, of which there is one on 
each wing, are transparent in the center, and are 
encircled by rings of white, red, yellow, and black. 
Most of the moths appear in June, and the females 
lay nearly 200 quite large, smooth, rounded, chocolate- 
colored eggs on the leaves of walnut, hickory, and 
other forest trees. The eggs hatch in about 10 days, 
and the caterpillars feed ravenously on the leaves. 
They attain their full growth in about four weeks. 
They are of a pale and very clear, bluish-green color ; 
there is a yellow stripe on each side of the body, and 
also across the back between the segments there are 
transverse stripes of the same color. Each segment 
bears six minute pearl-colored warts, tinged with 
purple, and furnished with a few hairs. When at rest, 
the caterpillar is of the size shown at a in the figure ; 
but when in motion, it extends to a length of over 
three inches. Most of them become full grown in 
August, and then make their cocoons, one of which is 
shown at b in the figure. The caterpillar draws to¬ 
gether with silken threads two or three leaves, and 
within the hollow thus formed, spins an oval and very 
close and strong cocoon, within which it soon changes 
to a pupa. The pupa, a dark-brown, quiescent object, 
is shown at c in the figure. The cocoons fall from the 
trees in autumn with the leaves in which they are 
enveloped ; the moths emerge the next year in May 
and J une. To enable the moths to burst through the 
strong walls of the cocoon, the pupa first softens the 
silk at one end by secreting a fluid which thoroughly 
wets one end of the cocoon. It seems marvelous that 
such a large-winged moth could have been packed 
away in such small space as the size of the pupa at c 
indicates ; it is true that, when the moth first crawls 
out of the pupa, its wings are comparatively small, 
wet and limp, thin sacks, which, however, soon ex¬ 
pand to the size shown. All of the figures were 
photographed from nature, except the caterpillar at 
a, which is from Dr. Riley’s drawing. The insect has 
never become so numerous as to be of economic im¬ 
portance. Efforts have been made to utilize the silk 
used in making the cocoon, but with no practical re¬ 
sults. A. V. S. might write to II. L. Osborn, the 
entomologist at Ames, Iowa, in regard to the other 
insects mentioned. 
Why Do Pears Crack ? 
B. F. B.. Brockton , Mass. —I have two pear trees which bear 
abundantly, but nearly all the pears crack open before they are 
ripe. How can I prevent it ? 
Ans.—T he cracking of the pears is due to a fupgus 
known as the Pear Leaf-blight. It causes the dropping 
of foliage in mid-summer, and often attacks the stems 
and the fruit, causing the latter to crack open. It is 
now too late in the season to check the destructive 
work of this fungus this year ; but the fruit and foli¬ 
age can be kept healthy next year by the thorough 
use of the Bordeaux Mixture. Make about three 
applications, one just before the blossoms open, one 
just after they open, and the third about 10 days 
later. See page 537, R. N.-Y. of August 10, for further 
information about pear blight. m. v. s. 
