1895 
THE RURAL 
NEW-YORKER 
841 
I did not hitch up and unhitch five times, as L. E. 
S. intimates, to harrow eight acres of potatoes five 
times ; but when a man harrowed that eight acres, 
he spent about five minutes in getting from that field 
to another of 35 acres, which he sometimes finished 
the same day. If I raised only one acre of potatoes, 
I presume that it would cost about double what it 
does on a large acreage. If L. E. S. wishes one of 
these men that can harrow 40 acres a day, to put on 
exhibition, he can easily have one in his own house 
by sending to J. Grim, of liiver Falls, Wis., for a four- 
section corn harrow, and next spring, hitch up his 
team and follow it himself for 10 hours. He will have 
no trouble in covering 40 acres. 
He objects to the low price I placed upon the seed. 
Our potatoes in 1894, were quite small, and in sorting 
for market, I had about 500 bushels of small ones to 
sell. These I cellared, hoping to sell for seed in the 
spring. I sold 375 bushels of these at 20 and 25 cents 
per bushel, planted 80 bushels on the eight acres of 
which I gave the account, and hauled the rest to the 
dump. Did I charge too low for the seed ? Assorted 
potatoes were w orth 35 cents here last spring. I also 
stated that the reduced cost of handling a 200-bushel 
crop would pay for killing the bugs with which we 
are usually blessed, but which, fortunately, we did 
not have this year. R. H. W. states that he cannot 
figure out how this can be. He evidently did not 
stop to figure, or he could see at once that if it cost 
$17.62 to grow and handle 304 bushels of potatoes, it 
would cost very nearly $2 less per acre to handle a 
200-bushel crop, and $1.50 will hold down the bugs in 
the worst year. Of course, the smaller the yield, the 
greater the cost per bushel. Neither do I get my 
sacks for nothing. I have to pay from three to five 
cents apiece for California grain bags that have been 
used once. 1 keep 800 to 1,000 on hand all the time, 
and, by care in handling, they will last a number of 
years, so that, by buying 200 each year, I always have 
enough to handle my crop of 50 or 60 acres. I charged 
my crop $1 per acre for use of machinery, which I 
claim will cover wear on everything used to handle it. 
Now as to the rent of land. I think that we have 
no right to charge the crop with more than the price 
at which just as good land is offered in the same 
locality, and that here is from $2 to $3 per acre. A 
crop of 300 bushels may leave the ground poorer for 
potatoes, but for corn or any small grain, it is in 
better shape than before cultivating for potatoes. 
With a farm of 300 acres under cultivation, it takes 
five or six years to get over it with potatoes ; and, if 
rightly handled by seeding to clover and applying 
all the manure made on the farm, there is no danger 
but there will always be good potato land. I plow 
down from 50 to 100 acres of clover every year, besides 
the manure from sufficient stock to work up all the 
straw, hay and fodder produced on 225 acres. 
Here are two statements made by reliable men, one 
in my own town, and another near by : 
My estimate of the cost of raising an acre of pota¬ 
toes is as follows: 
Rent of land. 43 on 
Plowing. l’oo 
Pulverizing and harrowing. 50 
Seed and cutting 10 bushels.' 3 $0 
Planting. 40 
Harrowing four times.’->5 
Cultivating three times.” 1.00 
Paris-green applied... \\ \\ 50 
Digging.2'00 
Picking and sacking. 3 00 
Hauling 250 bushels three miles. 3 00 
Total.$18.45 
My seed was the average of the field, worth 35 cents. 
The ground was Timothy sod plowed after haying 
and pulverized in the spring. The crop was free from 
weeds, was planted in rows two feet ten inches apart, 
and 17 inches apart in the row. joiin elliott. 
This statement is based on a 20-acre field, with seed 
at 25 cents per bushel, and rent $3 per acre, and har¬ 
vesting a crop of 200 bushels per acre : 
Rent of land. $60.00 
Plowing twice. 40 00 
Dragging four times..' (j'qq 
Seed, 200 bushels at 25c. . . . . . 50 00 
Planting. 10.50 
Cultivating. 35 00 
Paris-green, 30 pounds at 20c.6 00 
Applying Paris-green.. . . 15 00 
Dl £giug. 25.00 
Picking up and sacking. 40 00 
Hauling.30! 00 
The costof 20 acres.$317.50 
The cost of one acre.$ 15.70 
A. W. STILES. 
A Wash for Peach Trees. 
G. A. H., West Whiteland, Pa .—In The R. N.-Y., of November 23, 
you give a wash for trees to prevent borers. Will you give the 
proportions of lime, crude carbolic acid and sulphur ; also, how 
it is colored to resemble the bark, and the best time to apply it ? 
Also the best time to apply a mixture of pure ground bone and 
potash, to the orchard ? Do you think a liberal use of such fer¬ 
tilizers will prevent yellows in peach trees ? 
Ans.— Make an ordinary lime wash—that is, white¬ 
wash as it is called. Let us say that we have a pail¬ 
ful—that is, full to within three inches of the top of 
the pail. To this, we would add one-half pint of 
flowers of sulphur, and a gill of crude carbolic acid. 
There is no need of an exact formula. What we de¬ 
sire is to make a paint that will be offensive to the 
borer, or to disguise, so to say, the tree. Nearly all 
country, as well as city, grocery or general stores sell 
a mineral powder that is used with linseed oil to make 
a paint for tin roofs, outbuildings, etc. It costs from 
three to five cents a pound. The color is some shade 
of red. Mix with this lampblack, which, in certain 
proportions, with the whitewash, will give the natural 
gray color of the bark. We would apply the bone 
and potash to the orchard in early spring, just before 
the buds break. The best evidence that we have goes 
to show that peach orchards liberally treated to pot¬ 
ash and phosphate, do not suffer from yellows. 
The Story of the Apple Rust. 
I. L. 13., Martinsburg, W. Va .—I mail some apple twigs affected 
by some enemy. We cut these off an orchard of 1,400 young apple 
trees. About 50 of the trees are affected, and they are all together 
and close to the buildings; one of them being right up against 
the henhouse. During the latter part of summer, the leaves were 
affected, being curled somewhat, and looked very much stung. 
What is it, and the remedy ? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
The apple twigs showed curious, spongy enlarge¬ 
ments resembling the familiar Black-knot of plum 
trees. The injury was caused by the fungus known 
as Apple rust. This is a curious and interesting fun¬ 
gus. Its presence on the apple tree is first indicated 
during May or June, by bright, orange-yellow spots 
that occur on the leaves. Later in the season, numer¬ 
ous little cups, with a fringed border, may be seen in 
these spots. Each cup is full of a fine, brownish 
powder, each particle, too small to be seen with the 
naked eye, being a spore or seed of the Apple rust. 
Sometimes the fruit is attacked, and in the case under 
discussion, the branches also ; infested fruits become 
misshapen, and are rendered worthless. Curiously 
enough, the seeds or spores which are formed on the 
apple leaf, fruit, or branch, will not grow on these 
same tissues, but will germinate only on the branches 
of cedar or juniper. Thus, in midsummer, the seeds 
of the Apple rust are borne by winds to the >cedar 
trees, and there fiud congenial surroundings in the 
tissues of the branches. They cause the cedar branches 
to enlarge rapidly in an abnormal manner, resulting 
in the production of hard, rounded, apple-like bodies, 
commonly known as Cedar apples, varying from one- 
half to IX inch in diameter. These Cedar apples at¬ 
tain their full growth in April, and then push forth a 
number of yellow, jelly-like, horn-shaped processes, 
often an inch or two in length, rendering the apple a 
conspicuous object. On the ends of these curious 
processes, spores or seeds are developed. These seeds 
will grow, however, only on the leaves, fruit, or 
branches of an apple tree, where they produce the 
Apple rust. 
The Quince rust is a similar fungus with the same 
curious life history. It has been shown that the seeds 
of cedar apples may be carried to quinces eight miles 
away. It is not known how long these peculiar fungi 
persist in the wood of the apple or quince ; but they 
are probably not perennial in these tissues. Thus, 
wherever cedars occur, the Apple rust may be expected 
to flourish; and, conversely, where there are no cedars 
within 10 miles, the apple will be free from the fun¬ 
gus. Hence it follows that this Apple rust should be 
combated first by removing all sources of infection, 
that is, all cedars or junipers should be destroyed so 
as not to allow the Cedar-apple stage of the fungus to 
develop. Where this is impracticable, the only thing 
that can be done is to spray the infested apple trees 
very thoroughly, literally paint the trees, with Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture early in the season, in May, especially. 
Keep a good coating of the fungicide on the trees for 
at least a month, and I believe the fungus can be 
checked. Sprayed quince orchards have much less of 
the Quince rust than unsprayed ones. The Apple rust 
is rarely very serious, and I believe that it can be 
checked by liberal and judicious spraying with the 
Bordeaux Mixture in May and early June. 
Pears and Peaches for Cold Countries. 
./. M. M., Wellburn, Out. —1. What are a few of the best varieties 
of winter pears capable of withstanding a temperature of 20 de¬ 
grees below zero ? 2. Are there any good varieties of peaches 
capable of enduring the same temperature ? 
Ans.— 1. Angouleme, Anjou, Bose, Clairgeau, Diel, 
Josephine de Malines, Lawrence, Reeder, Vicar and 
Winter Nelis. These are among the best late fall and 
winter pears that will thrive in Ontario. 2. The 
Crosby is thought to be one of the hardiest varieties 
of peaches. 
A Circular Barji and Silo. 
G. F., West Alexandria, O .—Has the circular barn, with a silo in 
the center, described in the sixth or seventh Annual Report of 
the Wisconsin Experiment Station, been found practicable ? That 
is, will the frame of the silo proper last, or will it decay, and so 
injure the barn ? 
Ans.— The circular barn, with a silo in the center, 
is a thoroughly practical structure. There is no 
reason why the frame of the silo itself will not last as 
long as any other part of the frame of the barn. The 
silo is so planned and built, that the dampness of the 
ensilage never reaches the studding, which are prac¬ 
tically and continuously as dry as any other portion 
of the barn frame ; this being true, there is no danger 
from rotting. There are now in Wisconsin seven of 
these circular barns, and one at Mill Point, N. Y., 
built after the plan of the one referred to by G. F., 
each with a silo in the center. f. h. king. 
Value of Soot for Fertilizer. 
C. S., Tackerton, Pa .—What fertilizing value is there in iron 
furnace flue-ash or soot, of which there are many tons for the 
hauling ? Ilow and in what quantity should I apply it ? 
Ans. —This substance varies so much that we advise 
you to have a sample analyzed before estimating its 
value. Send a sample to your State experiment sta¬ 
tion at State College,-Center County, Pa. 
Does It Pay to Cut Corn Fodder ? 
O. //.• W., Miller Corners, N. Y .—Do you mean to say, in answer 
to C. T. M., on page 786, that it does not pay to cut corn fodder at 
all, or cut and soak it? Will not the increase in the amount 
eaten more than repay the cost ? Further, do you consider tank 
heaters a success? Will not warm water for poultry, as a rule, 
make quite a difference in the yield of eggs ? I expect to test 
thoroughly a Keystone corr busker and fodder shredder in a few 
days, and shall try to give Tiie R. N.-Y. the benefit of my experi¬ 
ence. 
Ans. —What we meant to say was that the cost of 
cutting the fodder may amount to more than the in¬ 
creased value, if we are to pay regular hired man’s 
wages for turning a hand cutter. This matter of 
cutting up fodder, is one of the operations of the farm 
that requires wholesale power in order to make it 
profitable. There are men who feed cornstalks to cat¬ 
tle without even husking the ears. They reason that 
what the cows leave, the hogs and poultry will make 
use of, so that the waste is not large enough to bal¬ 
ance the cost of husking, shelling, grinding and cut¬ 
ting. This cost of cutting up the fodder must be 
reduced to the lowest limit before it will pay to at¬ 
tempt it. The new shredding machines promise to 
give a new value to the corn crop, because they will 
do the work cheaply and quickly. Our experiment 
stations should now find out for us the best way to 
keep the shredded fodder without loss. 
Why Use Gasoline Engines V 
Several Readers .—Will L. G. D., who wrote the note about en¬ 
gines, on page 776, give further reasons why gasoline is better 
than steam ? 
Ans. —We are forced to recognize the fact that, in 
these times of close competition, success depends on 
speed. We remember that speed is obtained at the 
expense of power. We also recollect that economy 
is essential. With these facts in view, we decide that we 
will not drive oxen, will not spend time in hauling our 
grain off the farm to have it ground for feed, will not 
wait for power to be generated as with steam, will 
save the time required to provide fuel and water, and 
empty and refill the boiler in freezing weather, will 
save the expense of an engineer, and avoid all danger 
of fire. We compare ultimate cost with first cost. 
Then we say, give us the gas or gasoline engine every 
time as our motor, because it is safest, because it is 
cheapest, because it is simplest, because it requires 
no skilled engineer or machinist to manage or take 
care of it. 1,. Dt 
Heaves in Horses. 
F. 13. 13., Austin, Tex .—Will you give a description of the dis¬ 
ease, heaves, and the treatment that the horse should be given 
so as partially to relieve him; I understand no cure has been dis¬ 
covered. Does the horse have any other symptoms besides heavy 
breathing, as a cough, a slight discharge from the nose, or a foul 
breath ? My horse appears to be in perfect health in other re¬ 
spects. 
Ans. —Heaves, or broken wind, as this disease is 
sometimes called, is much like asthma in the human 
being. The animal breathes with difficulty, and the 
act of respiration is accompanied by a wheezing noise, 
more or less severe according to the intensity of the 
complaint. It is also accompanied by a short, dry, 
almost unnoticeable cough, and this occurs in par¬ 
oxysms when the animal is violently exercised. It is 
also sometimes caused by diseases of the lungs. It is 
sometimes accompanied by a discharge from the nose. 
The disease is considered incurable, except in very 
recent and light cases. But it may be much relieved 
by proper feed and treatment. The horse should 
never be worked or driven beyond a moderate pace, 
and never on a very full stomach. He should not be 
exposed to cold winds or storms. No dusty hay or 
grain should be fed. Cut feed, well moistened, or 
green food, is best. Little bulky food or water should 
be given before the animal is worked or driven, and 
not much hay should be given except at night. Give 
part of a pail of water the first thing in the morning, 
and water frequently but not very much at a time. 
Keep the bowels open. Occasional bran mashes, fed 
warm, are good, and carrots are excellent, as are a 
few potatoes occasionally. Medicines are of little 
avail, unless something in the nature of a tonic. 
