1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
793 
crowded parts. There is certainly nothing of that 
exhaustion of soil there of which we hear as happen¬ 
ing in some parts of New England where “exhausted 
farms” are said to exist. An expert Chinese farmer 
would, probably, drop some terse and caustic ob¬ 
servations upon the “outside barbarians” who coined 
this surpassingly stupid phrase. 
What is said here of China is also found to be true, 
even in that most cold and barren portion of Asia, 
Thibet. Whatever of misery exists in populous Asia, 
is due to wars and bad government, and not to the 
incapacity of its soil to feed its people, How, then, 
can any one say, of Vermont settled, and that but 
sparsely, for less than 100 years, that its available 
soil—soils of enticing natural fertility when first 
opened by cultivation—are in any way seriously in¬ 
jured? It is true, however, in New England, and is 
now rapidly being noted as far West as Illinois, that 
crops are not so good as when these farms were new¬ 
ly opened; and their apparent declension needs 
greatly to be explained, and the remedies pointed 
out. It was with such a purpose that our agri¬ 
cultural schools were established and endowed by our 
National Government. The agricultural press seeks 
to take a leading and effective part in this work, be¬ 
coming all the time and everywhere more and more 
requisite to our national prosperity. Western 
Europe feels the same pressure in even greater de¬ 
gree, and its governments are fully awakened to the 
need. Cannot every intelligent American farmer be¬ 
come a student, an earnest investigator, and partici¬ 
pator in this great and essential work ? It strikes 
me that it is his duty to become at once a student in 
the art and science of farming. I hope that my ex¬ 
ample in here writing down the results of my own 
study, will stimulate, in some effective degree, this 
work which has become a duty for each and every 
one of us. 
The gist of the matter with me has been, first, to 
make myself as fully as possible acquainted with the 
present real condition of my land ; and, secondly, to 
learn how to rectify its defects as thoroughly and 
rapidly and cheaply as possible. I have found that 
curing a sick farm does not differ greatly from curing 
a sick man. We must neutralize evil activities, and 
aid those which are beneficial. The land is not an 
inert mass. Changes go on in it continually—some 
injurious and some beneficial, from the cultivator’s 
standpoint. How to control these is a thing to be 
studied carefully and continuously. 
I began on my new farm by plowing about 30 acres 
of “run out” grass, which would scarcely have yielded 
a half ton of hay per acre, and planting to potatoes, 
to corn, and to beans, the main object being to learn 
as nearly as possible, of what the land was capable. 
A part of each crop received a dressing of fertilizer, 
and a part nothing other than the clean cultivation 
which was attempted to be given to the whole. This 
attempted test was, in part, nullified by continuous 
fall rains ; and we could call that season’s work little 
more than a beginning. What was learned was what 
I was expecting to find, that the land was like a good 
horse in bad condition. 
From observation of the area turned up and planted, 
I found that this farm was a part of a great moraine 
formed by ice, which came down from the mountains 
about the upper sources of the Connecticut River, 
crowded into the valley, and dug out the bed of Lake 
Memphremagog. Every kind of primitive rock, 
ground into fragments, is to be seen in the stone 
heaps which my predecessors have piled up along the 
boundaries of the farm. For this I am much indebted 
to them, for it would surely have cost more money 
than the farm cost me to make such a thorough 
clearance. There are still some large bowlders ; and 
in plowing, occasionally we grate upon and some¬ 
times turn up blocks that must be drawn off, but this 
is rare. The forest ground all about us testifies, by a 
vigorous growth, the streng-th and fertility of such a 
soil. In my judgment, such soils are practically inex¬ 
haustible of plant food for any crop suited to the 
climate. Had management can get this kind of soil 
somewhat out of condition, but the stuff will always 
be thei’e to make a first-rate farm for a first-rate 
farmer. t. h. hoskins. 
IS OUR POULTRY DEGENERATING? 
constitution of the modern hen. It has been lately 
ascribed to the use of the incubator and brooder; 
while there is, doubtless, some truth in the charge, 
nevertheless, a chick well incubated with heat never 
over 10(3 to 108 degrees, and brooded in a well-venti¬ 
lated brooder regulated with as much precision as the 
incubator, will be better than when left to the in¬ 
stinct and slight judgment of Mrs. Hen. The faxxlt is 
in the management rather than in the system. 
The greatest source of weak constitution is the 
heresy that has passed current, and is still taught as 
sound doctrine, that hens should be killed off after 
the second year. We breed from fowls too young. 
A hen in her third year, and a cock of the same age, 
if both are healthy and vigorous, will, all other 
things being equal, produce the most vigorous chicks. 
Hens will lay well up to five and six years of age ; I 
have known some which exceeded that age. Cocks 
will retain vigor to nearly the same age. Probably 
out of 20 specimens, not one-third will come up to the 
required standard, but from these we should breed. 
It need not be said that we inbreed too much ; fancy 
is too much consulted, and vigor of constitution is 
not a point. If we will spare the vigorous old hens, 
and change around the vigorous old cocks, or effect 
an exchange, or purchase old cocks which show the 
stamina, we shall assist the constitution of our fowls 
in bettering itself ; but if we continue inbreeding and 
the use of young cocks and hens, we shall see further 
deterioration. 
Old hens lay larger eggs than young fowls ; they 
may not lay quite so many in the year, but if eggs 
sold by the pound, they would be more profitable 
than younger hens. The old hen, generally, is a 
better winter layer than young hens of the same 
breed. 
The larger egg leaves more room for the chick to 
develop, and gives more vitality, and the chick is 
hatched under more favorable circumstances. Our 
poultry shows should give the old fowls a chance, of¬ 
fering prizes that excluded fowls under four years, 
and in other ways encouraging the conservation of 
the very best old birds. Give the old hen a show and 
she will vindicate herself ; but if we continue in the 
present path, it will not be long before poultry will 
become too delicate of constitution to be profitable. 
G. 1). COLEMAN. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the 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.! 
WHAT COLORS THE YOLKS OF EGGS? 
What affects the color of the yolks of eggs? Last winter, the 
yolks of my eggs were very light colored, so much so as to cause 
remark by many customers. My hens were confined most of the 
time on board floors, covered with machine shavings or buck¬ 
wheat hulls. The grain fed was mostly wheat. I experimented 
on a few pens by substituting the yellowest corn I could find, but 
without any noticeable change in color. The trouble disappeared 
when warm weather came and the hens had their liberty. 
Middletown, N. Y. 0. w. M. 
A SET OF REPLIES. 
A liberal supply of green food, such as green wheat 
or rye, cabbage, etc., will always give a high color 
to the yolk of the egg. I would think that, from his 
own experience, O. W. M. would have learned that, 
as when the birds were turned out in the spring, and 
had all the green food needed, they were all right. 
Fowls are never so vigorous when confined in the 
winter, without green food. j. rankin. 
Massachusetts. 
I have had the same trouble when my hens were 
shut up and fed mostly on wheat, but never when I 
fed com. Cut clover is a great help in this respect. 
It does not do to use one kind of grain exclusively ; a 
clear wheat ration is good to make hens lay, but the 
eggs are weak and poor. james h. seely. 
Dutchess County, N. Y. 
Our grandfather’s chickens were not afflicted with 
the many maladies to which the modern chick has 
fallen heir ; neither were they so tender and difficult 
to raise. To-day the hen man must be quite a doc¬ 
tor, wise in hen ailments, and able to prescribe for 
his flock. This may not be so difficult for the gentle¬ 
man of leisure who follows his fancy, and whose flock 
numbers less than 100 ; but to the poultry specialist 
whose sale runs into the thousands per year, and the 
practical farmer who makes quite an item of poultry, 
the diseases of the modern fowl are quite a draw¬ 
back. There are many good reasons for the delicate 
The color of the yolks depends largely on the food. 
In the seasons when poultry have full liberty, and 
can procure clover and grass in abundance, the yolks 
have a deeper color than when grain is fed exclu¬ 
sively. The proportion of coloring matter in the 
yolks is very small, and a change of food which adds 
but little to the amount, effects a marked difference 
in the color. When red pepper is given, the color is 
also deepened. Experiments made by me with a little 
annatto in the food, resulted in deeper color of the 
yolks. P. U. JACOBS. 
New Jersey. 
What Chemicals for Strawberries ? 
A. W. B., Thomaslon, Me.— I have a one-half acre bed of straw¬ 
berries newly set in light, sandy land, that are looking well. This 
land has been planted and manured heavily for several years. 
What chemicals would you advise using in the spring, and how 
much to insure the largest yield ? Most of the newly set beds are 
a failure in this section, the plants making few runners and few 
of those rooting owing to drought. 
Ans. —For a “home mixture” of fertilizers, there is 
nothing better, all things considered, than muriate of 
potash one part, and fine ground bone, three parts. 
In case wood ashes of good quality can be bought at 
$8 per ton, you might use them in place of the muriate 
—two parts ashes to one of bone. In some cases, 
where the plants are poor, it is good practice to add 
200 pounds nitrate of soda to a ton of the muriate and 
bone. 
When to Prune Grape Vines. 
M. M., Benton Harbor, Mich .—I would like a little information 
about pruning grape vines ; I generally prune them during the 
winter. Would it be just as well to prune before frost sets in, the 
same as noted in The R. N.-Y. of Nov. 9 ? I don’t lay mine down 
for protection from cold, although the thermometer reaches 10 
degrees below zero sometimes. 
Ans. —Just exactly the best time to prune grape 
vines has never, so far as we know, been ascertained 
from comparative experiments. Our belief is that 
there is no better time to prune grape vines than just 
after the leaves have fallen. 
What Is a “ Seedling” Potato ? 
W. H. C., Port Union, Ont. —Are there two distinct varieties of 
potatoes, one by the name of Burbank, and the other Burbank 
Seedling f Some of my neighbors have a potato they call Burbank 
Seedling, which is the color of Beauty of Hebron. Is this a true 
variety ? 
Ans. —No, they are the same. It is absurd to tack 
on the word “seedling” to any fruit or plant whatever 
that is propagated otherwise than by seed. The orig¬ 
inal plant fx'om seed is the only seedling. 
A Bad Substitute for Mountain Rose. 
G. W. SI., Pleasant Plains, N. Y .—Will you name the peaches 
which I send ? I bought the trees for Mountain Rose ; they made 
a splendid growth and are now three years old. What shall I do 
with the trees, pull them out or let them grow ? I have 400 trees 
bought of the same party, and set three years. 
Ans. —The peach is not Mountain Rose, but a very 
late and very poor little worthless variety, if the 
specimen received is a fair index of that borne by the 
trees. The grower says that he has 400 trees set 
three years, and from the same nursery, but does not 
say that all the 400 bear fruit like the sample sent, or 
that more than one tree bears such fruit. All such 
trees are a serious damage to him—how serious it is 
hard to tell. He has lost the first cost of the trees, 
their freight chai’ges, cost of planting and caring for 
them for three years, the use of the land they occupy 
for as long a time as the whole orchard will stand, the 
net value of all the fruit that good trees would bear in 
all that time, and the worx-y and disappointment which 
money cannot fully repay. They must be dug up at 
once. If the mistake had been discovered the first, or 
even the second year after planting, the loss would 
have been much less ; but now it would be useless to 
re-plant, because young trees would not succeed 
among othei’s of bearing age. Taking for gi’anted 
that the orchard is in a successful peach region, if all 
the 400 trees are bogus, the damage is not less than 
$1,000, because all that has been paid out and done up 
to date is lost, and a new start must be made. If there 
are but a few scattered trees of this character, the 
loss that has been and will be entailed is not less than 
$5 per tree. If the orchard consisted of more per¬ 
manent species, such as the apple or pear, the loss of 
a few scattered trees would be fully $10 per tree. 
II. E. VAN DEMAN. 
How to Kill Moles. 
G. U., Mancie, Ind .—Is the diet of the mole animal or vegeta¬ 
ble matter ? The subsoil here for two years has not been tilled 
with water to destroy their young, and the moles have be¬ 
come destructive pests—more difficult to repress than potato 
bugs, chinch bugs, and striped melon bugs combined. Can 
they be poisoned or trapped with certainty? I have been told 
that Castor oil beans dropped in their runs would cause them 
to leave. 
Ans. —The food preferred by moles is animal. 
Thei’e is but one way of killing moles in an economi¬ 
cal way, and that is by trapping them, using the 
modern trap. The best and cheapest of these we 
have found to be the Reddick, and we have tried all 
kinds so far as we are aware. This trap is very easily 
set—more so than any other—the spring is more pow¬ 
erful, the trigger plate wider and the retail cost is 
but $1. We gave Castor oil beans a thorough trial 
many years ago. They are no more effective in 
driving moles away than any other beans would be. 
Poisoning moles is impracticable. A somewhat ex¬ 
haustive article as to the best methods of exterminat¬ 
ing moles, with illustrations of the leading traps, ap¬ 
peared in The R. N.-Y. ot April (5, 1895. This really 
gave the whole story. An interesting thing about 
it was that some dogs and cats became expert 
mole catchers. 
