DEC. IS 
THE RURAL fJEW-YOBKER 
cat tip and cooked together, so as to soften the 
harder parts of the former. A great deal of 
straw, coarse hay and other unpalatable ma¬ 
terial Is eaten up clean and brought within 
the range of action of the digestive organs, 
which would otherwise be rejected and thrown 
into the manure pile, to the value of which 
they would add practically nothing. Herein 
lies, at least mainly, the explanation of the 
statement so commonly made, by those who 
claim to have proved it by their own exper¬ 
ience, that steamed fodder is more digestible, 
and that a saving of from one-tenth to one- 
third or even more is effected by cooking. 
What is really done is to cause one-tenth to 
one-third more of the produce of the farm, 
good and poor together, to be eaten. Some¬ 
thing may therefore be gained by cooking, 
either In this way or by selling good hay and 
buying straw. 
In estimating the real saving effected, the 
cost of cooking must be taken into account, as 
well as the fact that it is only the poorer and 
least valuable part of the fodder that is thus 
utilized and saved from waste; all the good 
hay, the roots, the meal or oil-cake would pro¬ 
duce just as much uncooked; when cooked 
up with the poor fodder they perform the ad¬ 
ditional service of securing the conveyance of 
that fodder into the digestive organs; some 
nutriment might even be gained from saw-dust 
or shavings in this way. As to the cost of 
cooking the fodder, the most ardent cham¬ 
pions of the operation allow that it does not 
pay for a small number of animals ; for as 
much outlay is necessary for ten cows as for 
thirty. In favor of the cooking it can be urged, 
further, with good reason, that the coarse 
product of the farm has much greater value 
for manure if passed through the animal body 
than if simply used for litter or scattered about 
the fields. 
Culling and Grinding Fodder. 
While some go so far as to claim that it pays 
to grind 6traw to a fine powder; othera affirm 
that for beef cattle it does not pay even to cut 
any fodder. Cattle are fully provided by na¬ 
ture with means for masticating their ordinary 
food, and we need not be surprised to find that 
both ordinary experience and careful experi¬ 
ments agree in showing that little if anything 
is gained by catting. In fact it appears from 
some experiments that positive damage is 
done, as the fodder is not so thoroughly chew¬ 
ed and impregnated with saliva, a portion even 
passing at once into the second stomach. Cut¬ 
ting alone can do but little good, even with 
old and hard-stalked fodder, without the soft¬ 
ening produced by cooking, for it cannot open 
the fodder to digestive action, nor save much 
labor of maBtication. By far the greater part 
of this labor is expended on chewing the cud, 
and it is best that the animal should perform 
this entirely natural operation for itself. 
Corn-Cob*. 
The composition of average hay, straw and 
corn-cobs is given in the following table :— 
Hay. Oat straw. Wheat straw. Cobs. 
15. 
14.3 
14.3 
8.2 
10 . 
4. 
3.1 
2.7 
. 3.1 
2 
1.3 
0.4 
19:4 
35.6 
37.5 
57.2 
30. 
39.7 
40. 
30.3 
8.3 
4.4 
3.9 
1.2 
The cobs contain less of the valuable protein 
than is contained in straw, and less fat, but 
more of the mm-nitrogenous extract. No di¬ 
gestion experiments have been tried with 
cobs, but with their delicate texture it is qnite 
likely that, ground to meal, they would be as 
digestible as good straw. Such few careful 
experiments as have been made in feeding cob- 
meal, or cob and kernel ground together, show 
that the cob is digestible, a given result being 
obtained with less kernel when given with the 
cob than when given by itself; but all who 
have received good returns from cob-meal 
feeding insist that the whole shall be ground 
fine. It must be remembered further that for 
good results in feeding a dne proportion of 
nitrogenous and non-nitrogenouB constituents 
must te maintained. The cob contaius a large 
quantity of the latter, as does also the kernel 
itself, and liberal feeding with cob-meal would 
require some addition of rich nitrogenous food 
to restore the balance between the two classes 
of nutrients, and keep the animal in good 
health. 
-- 
Device Tor Raising or Hauling up llog*. 
A, A, A, represent three sticks like hand¬ 
spikes, all five or six feet long, according to 
thelength of the hogs. E, B, are the spikes on 
which the gambrel sticks rest. 0, is a long 
bolt that goes through the ends of all the 
sticks. The following ia the mode of using 
the device : Place the hog on his back and the 
two sticks with spikes between his hind legs 
and outside the fore legs; the third to go be¬ 
hind, as shown. One man then holds the 
bottom of the two sticks steady, while another, 
A B/? <riC 
them at any hight one may wish, somewhat 
like a tripod or derrick. By this means two 
men can raise a 400-pound hog with ease. 
J. D. Payne. 
lortiraltural, 
THE CAROLINE RASPBERRY. 
PETER B. MEAD. 
It has been announced, and very generally 
accepted as a fact, that the Caroline Raspbarry 
is a hybrid between Brinckle’s Orange and Cat- 
awissa. I may remark that my plants are from 
headquarters. The first year’s growth con¬ 
vinced me that the Caroline was a hybrid, but 
I very soon began to doubt its reputed parent¬ 
age. 1 thought I could see, instead of the 
Catawissa, the growth of an old ar.d familiar 
friend that I had known for 20 years. At the 
suggestion of Mr. Downing, I followed up the 
clue by calling on the originator of the Caro¬ 
line, Mr. S. P. Carpenter, of New Rochelle, 
Westchester County. N. Y. 
I propose to give the result of the interview 
very briefly. 1 asked Mr. C. what reason he 
had for saying the Caroline was a cross be¬ 
tween the Brinckle and the Catawissa. His reply 
was, “ I have no reason for supposing so. and 
have never said so, though others have. It is 
a seedling of Brinckle's Orange.” That, so 
far, was entirely satisfactory. In the mean¬ 
time we had arrived at the spot where the 
Brinckle plants had stood some eight years 
before. Now was my time. “ Mr. Carpenter, 
do you know the old Yellow Cap ?” “Oh, yes.” 
“Did you ever grow it?” “Yes; I had a clump 
of it right there,”—probably some eight feet 
from where the Brinckle had stood. “Then 
the Caroline is a natural cross between the 
Brinckle and the Yellow Cap. Everything 
points that way.” This seemed to be satisfac¬ 
tory to Mr. C., as it was to me. He then ex¬ 
plained to me that he saw a very large and 
handsome berry on the Brinckle, and from that 
berry came the Caroline. Much more was 
said, but I only give the substance. 
We next went to a plot of two acres or more 
of the Caroline. It has been said that the Car¬ 
oline is no't a strong grower. Mr. Carpenter is 
a very tall man, but the plants towered away 
over his head and hid him out of sight, while I 
was nowhere. The whole plantation is self- 
supporting. there being no stakes in it. A great 
many of the stalks measure an inch or more in 
diameter. My own grow equally strong. I 
can show a good many stalks an inch in diam¬ 
eter on plants only two years old the past Fall. 
So much for the feeble growth of the Caroline. 
At my request Mr. C. showed me hi6 sales 
to the hardiness of the Caroline. It was raised 
about seven years ago, has never been protect¬ 
ed, and has received no injury whatever from 
frost. 
The accompanying illustration gives a fair 
idea of the average size of the berry of the 
Caroline, but not of its remarkable product¬ 
iveness. The berry is nearly round, and when 
ripe of a rich salmon color, and very attractive 
when placed on the table. The flesh is tender 
and sweet, with a peculiarly rich raspberry 
flavor. The more you eat of it the more you 
like it. Some have said that it is as good as 
the Brinckle. I do not think so. The Brinckle, 
for quality, still stands unequaled. The Car¬ 
oline. however, when ripe, does remind one of 
the Brinckle, and that is no little praise. It is 
an improvement in the right direction, and 
not its least merit is its well-tested hardiness. 
It is said to be too tender for market, but 
chiefly by those who have not tried it. I am 
inclined not to agree with them. Carefully 
packed, I think it will carry well from 50 to 
75 miles ; at least I have carried it that dis¬ 
tance and used it pretty roughly. Still 1 only 
express an opinion. It has been demonstrated 
clearly enough that it will earn to a near 
market. Be this as it may, it is a splendid 
plant for the garden. 
The Caroline is a rampant grower. The cane 
for a foot or so above ground is very thickly 
set with Bhort prickles, like the Brinckle ; they " 
then gradually become very few, and the whole 
top growth becomes exceedingly like the Yel¬ 
low Cap, as will be readily recognized by any¬ 
body familiar with the latter. The ripe wood 
is a dull brown, covered with bloom while 
young. 
It may not be out of place to remark that 
Westchester County has made a good record 
thus far in the berry business. First there was 
the New Rochelle Blackberry, a wildling: 
then the New Rochelle Raspberry, raised by 
Mr. Carpenter, and almost at the same time the 
Caroline, also by Mr. C.; and just a few miles 
away Mr. Cuthbert gave us tfie fine berry which 
bears his name. 
-» » » ■ ■ ■ — 
The Caroline Raspberry, 
This vareity, like the New Rochelle, origi¬ 
nated with Mr. 8. P. Carpenter, and is compar¬ 
atively a new variety. The plant is a strong, 
vigorous grower, and, thus far, appears to be 
perfectly hardy and very productive. The berry 
is of good size, and, when ripe, of a beautiful 
salmon color, not so firm as the New Rochelle, 
but decidedly better in quality. It has been ; 
claimed to resemble the Brinckle’s Orange so . 
closely in this respect as to render it difficult 
to detect the difference between them. This 
may be so to a novice, but not to those well 
posted. It propagates from the tips and by 
suckers from the roots—pretty strong evidence , 
THE CAROLINE RASPBERRY.—FROM LIFE.—FIG. 448. 
book. I found that he had received an average 
of nearly 20 cents a quart, his lowest price 
being 18 and the highest 22. The entire crop 
was engaged by one dealer (as it had been be¬ 
fore), who retailed them for from 25 to 80 
cents a quart. I was eating all the time I was 
talking, and suppose I must be somewhat in 
that man’s debt at these prices. One word as 
that it is a hybrid and quite probably there is 
Brinckle “ blood ” in it. 
An amateur friend who has investigated the 
subject pretty well, gives it as his opinion "that 
it will carry well a distance of 50 to 75 miles, 
and as the fruit retailed the past season at 25 
and 30 cents per quart, he thinks 1 there is 
money in it.’ ” But what matters it whether 
^ere is or is not money in it, or whether it will 
carry well ? Are these the chief requisites by 
which to judge of its value ? Do we do not do 
injustice to fruits and injure the cause of hor¬ 
ticulture by laying too great a stress on these 
tests ? 
In tens of thousands of private gardens there 
is great need of just such a hardy, productive 
and good quality raspberry of this color as 
the Carol mvpromises lobe, and there the profit 
in it will not be computed in dollars and cents, 
but in the satisfaction of having an abundance 
of the delicious, healthful fruit, without the 
cost and labor of covering the canes in Winter, 
as is needed with the finer kinds heretofore 
grown. I sincerely hope the promises of the 
Caroline will be fulfilled. E. Williams. 
Montclair, N. J. 
-- — 
The Wilson ha* a Friend In Need. 
No horticultural advice has been more delu¬ 
sive or disastrous in its results than the recom¬ 
mendation of varieties in strawberry culture. 
The fascinating pictures and glowing descrip¬ 
tions of new varieties in the catalogues, and 
the wonderful figures of actual yield per acre 
published in the horticultural papers, have 
deluded us ysar after year with the hope that 
we had found the berry to “beat the Wilson.” 
So we have tried Jucunda, Boyden’s 80, Mon- 
ar _-h of the West, Great American, Forest Rose 
and Sharpless, ouly to meet with total failure, 
while Pronty, Charles Downing and Crescent 
have proved, on an average, about half as 
valuable as the Wilson. 
Notwithstanding our losses and disappoint¬ 
ments, we are listening to the Barne advice, and 
looking at the same pictures with new names 
attached, and will next year try Marvin, Glen¬ 
dale, Mount Vernon, and a score of just as 
worthless new sorts. 
One hundred plants of the Crescent yielded 
the next season after planting, 33 quarts, while 
100 plants of the Great American, treated in 
the same manner, gave only 10 berries, and 
200 plants of the Sharpless, only three quarts. 
The soil was a rich, black prairie, somewhat 
sandy, with a clay subsoil. The ground for 
all was kept perfectly clean, o. w . 
Rock Falls, 111. 
--- 
Preparing Asparagus Beds or Fields. 
It is our humble belief that thousands of 
loads of manure have been thrown away upon 
garden asparagus beds. Onr teachers, or many 
of them, have instructed us to trench two feet 
deep and fill in with manure aud soil. ThuB 
treated, they say, “an asparagus bed will last 
a lifetime." No donbt. We know of fields of 
asparagus 20 acres in extent, that have never 
received any manure, according to the state¬ 
ments of the owners, and they have yielded 
plentifully for 25 years. The soil is simply a 
sandy loam, such as exists in a long belt along 
the south side of the Long Island Railroad. 
We do not wish to make any extreme state¬ 
ments. We have talked with the asparagus 
growers of this Long Island asparagus belt—as 
it may be called—and mauy ot them are of opin¬ 
ion that asparagus grows as well and as large 
without as with, manure. This is inexplicable; 
but we are fully of the opinion that an occa¬ 
sional top-dressing of manure is all that is 
needed in field culture, and the same treatment 
should apply for a family bed. As for bury¬ 
ing an immense amount of manure a foot or 
more beneath the surface so that a bed may 
“last for a lifetime,” probably a great part of 
the manure i« not available to the roots at all. 
For ihe rest, its effects could scarcely extend 
beyond 10 years, if so long. 
RTJRALISMS. 
Thanks, Mr. Editor, for the alcoholic sug¬ 
gestion. It proved to be a good one, and the 
lady alluded to returns her thanks. The mealy 
bugs were treated to it, and it made them dead 
drunk. It had the same effect on the scale 
and some other pests on which I tried it, and 
it might be made use of as a general insecticide 
if it were not too costly. It will bear some 
dilution. 
The above reminds me to make a suggestion. 
Why not try this remedy on the phylloxera in 
Europe? In France there is a great deal of 
very bad, adulterated wine ; so bad, indeed, as 
to have called for a certain kind of action on 
the part of the government. This wine, or a 
large part ol it, is unqestionably not fit for 
human beings to drink, being essentially pois¬ 
onous. Recourse has been had to flooding to 
destroy the phylloxera. Why not, then, take 
all this bad wine, and flood the vineyatds with 
t? It contains alcohol and active poisons 
enough to kill ten times the number of phyl¬ 
loxera to be found in all Europe. In this way 
we shall get rid of two great evils at once. 
I wish to say a word or two about Lonicera 
Halliana, or Hall’s Honeysuckle, received from 
Japan some years ago by the Messrs. Parsons, 
but not yet, in my opinion, half as much grown 
as it should be. It has been objected to it, if I 
mistake not, that it does not hold its foliage as 
