222 
APRIL S 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
best single grain for a sow suckling pigs, when 
there is no cow’s milk to be had. Oat-meal 
comes next. The hulls should lie sifted out. 
Fine wheat middlings is also excellent food 
for young pigs. A mixture of oat-meal and 
wheat middlings would supply their wants 
as perfectly as an entire feed of grniu could 
do. This food should do slightly fermented, 
an.l mixed with kitchen slops, in the absence 
of milk, and given t> them in small quan¬ 
tities, at regular intervals, five or six times 
during twenty-four hours. 2. Tobacco will 
undoubtedly do well in Nebraska, an 5 i ,979 
pounds were grown there in 1372, according 
to the census returns. Any variety which 
will mature iu a northern latitude will be 
sui' able. The seeds should be started in a 
hot-bed, or iu a bed specially prepared, where 
the plants will make a rapid growth, and 
where they r can be carefully attended to, 
as the seeds are exceedingly small. The bed 
must be kept moist until the plants get well 
started. Wnen broad leaves are thrown out, 
the plants may be transplanted into rows, 
three feet apart, and from 20 to 24 inches dis¬ 
tant from each other. Gen. Grant is the ear¬ 
liest variety, and Connecticut Seed-leaf is ex¬ 
tensively grown. 
BOKHARA CLOVER. 
R. H. C. M., Humboldt, Tenn.—Vi hat is 
Bokhara Clover good for? 
Ans. —Bokhara Clover is only a varietal 
form of the common White Sweet Clover or 
Melilot Clover—Melilotus alba. This clover 
grows very rink, and, except that stock seem 
not to relish it, would be a very valuable pas¬ 
ture and hay plant. It is sometimes said that 
stock will eat it. From our own experiments 
we conclude that this is, when they can get 
nothing else. For green manuring it is re¬ 
ported valuable, and from its vigorous growth 
this seems not improbable. As a honey plant 
melilot is hardly surpassed It furnishes a 
great abundance of most excellent nectar, 
which from the loud, joyful notes of the bees, 
as they throng its fragrant flower clusters, it 
is evident they greatly appreciate. It com¬ 
mences to bloom, when cultivated, nearly as 
early as the White Clover, and remains in 
bloom much longer. In waste places in will 
be seen iu bloom even in Autumn. Cutting 
i t back in Summer delays its period of bloom. 
This clover is a biennial, as it dues not bloom 
till the second year; but oneoin the soil the 
seeds, which are very n imerous, aud very 
sure to take root, continue the plants, so that 
there is an abundant bloom each season. 
About Chicago, and along the streets of many 
parts of Illinois and Sew York, this plant has 
wholly replaced the old-time Mayweed. The 
plant has sometimes been objected to as a 
noxious weed. 
BARLEY. 
S. M., Kingsville, Ohio .—Which kind of 
barley is the best to raise for feeding purposes? 
Ans.—O nly two varieties of barley have 
been grown in this country until recently—the 
two and the six-rowed. The two-rowed is a 
tall-growing, late variety, and yields well. 
The six-rowed, improperly called four-rowed, 
is ten days earlier, does not grow so tall or 
yield as well as the two-rowed, but sells for a 
higher price. Manshury is a six-rowed barley 
from Russia, we believe, imported aud dis¬ 
seminated a few years ago by the Department 
of Agriculture, It is a tall, strong-growing, 
six-rowed Variety, as late as the two-rowed, 
and on strong, rich land it yiel Is large crops. 
Imperial is a six-rowed variety, last yenr im¬ 
ported and grown by Hiram Sibley & Co., of 
Rochester, N. Y., and it is well spoken of by 
them. Maushury Barley is offered for sale by 
B. K. Bliss & Sons, of New York, and by 
Howard Tryon, Flemming, N. Y, To produce 
the best crops the laud should be strong clayey 
loam and very rich. We knew a crop of bar¬ 
ley in Niagara Co., N. Y., last year, which 
gave 517 bushels grown on seven acres, or 
73 8-7 bushels per acre. This was on rich 
land, following corn; 200 pounds of phosphate 
were used per acre, and the barley was said 
to be a cross between two-rowed and six- 
rowed varieties. For stock feed one kind is 
about as good as another; the main thing is 
to get a big crop. 
MERINO SHEEP. 
E. V. H., Arbor Hill, Fa.—1. Where can I 
get pure bred Bpauisb Merino sheep? Are 
they heavy? How does the price of their wool 
compare with that of the Cots wold? W hat is 
the average live-weight of the sheep? 2. 
What is a good work on sheep husbandry? 
Ans.— 1. There are no pure-bred Spanish 
sheep in the country. The pure American 
Merino is descended from the best of the 
Spanish sbeep, but is much improved. The 
American Meriuo is extremely hardy, aud 
does well from Vermont to Texas, and from 
Maine to California. There are breeders all 
over the country. W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 
Philadelphia, Pa., are successful breeders. 
The wool sells higher than the Cotswold, and 
the sheep are more easily kept. The average 
live-weight is 120 pounds for ewes, 150 for rams; 
fleeces of ewes as sheared average 12 to 14 
pounds; of rams from IS to 25 pounds. There 
are no better breeders or mothers; no sheep 
vi ill have foot-rot. where it has never been if 
they are well looked after. This is a disease 
that is produced and encouraged by neglect. 
2. Stewart's Shepherd’s Manual will give you 
full information about sheep. It can be pro¬ 
cured of the American News Company for 
$1.50, postage paid 
PREPARING BONES FOR A FERTILIZER. 
J. H. C., Sanford Corners. — 1. What is 
the Havaua method of preserving eggs? 2. 
How can I utilize bones fur a home-tuade fer¬ 
tilizer? 
Ans.— 1. Havana is not a chicken country, 
and we do not believe they have any methods 
of preserving eggs. The best method, and the 
one commonly followed, is to mix one ounce 
of common salt and one pound of lime in one 
gallon of.water, and into this pickle put per¬ 
fectly fresh eggs; as many as it will hold. 2 
Bones should l>e broken as finely as possible 
with an old ax or large hammer, and piled iu 
alternate layers with fresh stable manure, a 
layer of manure being at the top and another 
at the bottom. When finished, the layers of 
manure should each be one foot thick, the lay¬ 
ers of bones not more than three inches. The 
pile should be kept sufficiently moist to fer¬ 
ment rapidly, and to prevent fire-fanging. 
Wash and house slops will add much to the 
value of the compost. When thoroughly rot¬ 
ted, the whole mass should he broken up and 
thoroughly mixed; sny pieces of bone not de¬ 
composed can be again piled in the same man¬ 
ner with fresh manure. The bones may be 
treated also in the same way with wood ashes, 
keeping the mass as moist as possible, and not 
permitting any liquids to drain off. 
raising artichokes. 
J. B. W., Charlton Depot, Mass.— How 
should artichokes be raised? Will they do 
well on moist land? Will it be necessary to 
plant seed? Will ground bone answer for 
manure? Is it advisable to use muriate of 
potash upon artichokes? 
Ans.— Artichokes will thrive upon almost 
any kind of land, if not too wet; but the 
richer the laud the larger the crop, of course. 
Ground bone and muriate of potash would 
both be good special fertilizers. Fit the ground 
as for a crop of potatoes; furrow out three 
feet apart with a shovel or one-horse plow; 
drop the seed (which should consist of small 
artichokes or large oues cut fine) about one 
foot apart; cover by harrowing lengthwise of 
the furrows. Cultivate and hoe so as to keep 
the land cleau until the plants get well started, 
when they will take care of themselves and 
overgrow everything else. Dig these in the 
Fall, after frosts, with a spading fork and 
pick as clean as you please, yet you will leave 
enough for seed in the ground. It is very 
doubtful whether there is any profit iu a crop, 
however good it may be. 
HEN MANURE AND CNLEACHED ASHES. 
T. N. L.. White Hall, N. J — 1. How can I 
use dry, unleached wood ashes and hen man¬ 
ure to produce the best results on corn, oats, 
or potatoes? 2. What is the value of unleached 
wood ashes as compared with other fertilizers? 
Ans.— 1. Make the hen manure fine by put¬ 
ting it into barrels and cutting down through 
it with a spade, or by putting it on the barn 
or other convenient floor, aud beating it with 
a flail or heavy stick. Use it on corn by drop¬ 
ping a large handful in a place, covering it 
slightly with soil, on which drop the corn. 
For oats, scatter it broadcast and harrow it 
in before sowing the seed. The ashes should 
be sowed broadcast and harrowed in. They 
are almost an essential manure for potatoes, 
and if the quautity is limited, or you wish to 
get the greatest immediate returns, they may 
be applied and mixed with the soil in or about 
the hill. 2. Unleached wood ashes contain 
from five to nine per cent, of potash, about 30 
per cent, of lime, and two to three per cent, 
of phosphoric acid. At the market price of 
these fertilizers, the ashes would be worth 
about 42 cents per bushel, besides the value of 
the other elements which they contain, 
GRASSES FOR A LAWN, ETC. 
R. T. Me. N., Jackson, Mich.—Is any 
grass better than Blue Grass for a lawn 
which is to be ornamental, while the grass is to 
be used for hay ? 
Ans.— To sow a lawn for this double pur¬ 
pose would produce neither one nor other effect 
at its best. To have the best lawn, we must 
mow often; this keeps the turf flue and velvety. 
To allow grass to grow sufficiently for hay 
causes it to spindle aud become thin at the 
bottom, and one can hardly secure satisfacto¬ 
ry results after mowing. The writer kuowing 
y 0U r lawn, would advise the application of 20 
bushels of unleached ashes and 200 pounds of 
bone (lour per acre. This application would 
have a magic effect. Then sow one bushel- 
14 pounds—of Blue Grass (Poa prateusis); one 
half bushel—five pounds—of Sweet Vernal 
Grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum); one-half 
bushel of Wood Meadow Grass (Poa nemor- 
alis,) and eight pounds of White Clover 
(Trifolium repens) per acre. Harrow with a 
smoothing harrow or brush. On the mucky 
parts, add to the above one bushel of Red Top 
(Agrostis vulgaris). 
KEEPING APPLES; WEIGHT OF CATTLE BY 
MEASUREMENT. 
H. C. R.. Coles Ferry, Va. —1. What is the 
best method of keeping apples? 2. Is there 
any accurate method of approximating the 
weight of a fattening beef, by measurement? 
Ans —1. The best way to keep apples is to 
put them in a cellar, the bottom of which is 
cemented over. Store the apples iu bulk, in 
bins resting on the bottom of the cellar, or on 
boards placed on t ne bottom; fill the bins three 
or four feet deep. Keep the cellar as cool os 
possible, provided the apples will not freeze; a 
moist cellar is better than a dry one. Do not 
keep the apples in a temperature below 28®, 
2. Take the girth and length in feet, multiply 
the square of the girth by the length, and 
multiply the product by 8.36. The live weight 
multiplied by .<305 gives nearly the net weight. 
But getting the weight of cattle iu this man¬ 
ner is not much better thau guess-work, be¬ 
cause all cattle differ greatly in quality aud 
solidity of frame, aud a gaunt, bony animal 
with much offal will weigh much less than a 
well-bred, compact one of the same measure¬ 
ment. 
1 PO LAND-CHIN A, BERKSHIRE AND ESSEX HOGS. 
O. C. T , Maple La nding, Iowa.— What is a 
description of the Poland China, Berkshire 
and Essex breeds of hogs? 2. Which is the 
best, and which matures the earliest? 
Ans.— The improved Polaud-China is a 
large hog. spotted black and white, the black 
predominating. It is a good eater, grows 
rapidly, aud makes a large proportion of side 
pork. The Berkshire is a smaller, liner-boned 
hog. The best stratus are black, except a 
small white spot on the forehead, a little 
white above each hoof, and a little at the end 
of the tail. The Berkshires are not nearly so 
long as the Poland Chinas, and have a much 
larger proportion of ham and shoulder meat. 
They are healthy and active—a little too active 
sometimes to fatten well. The Essex are the 
finest-boned and thinnest-skinned of all. They 
are pure black, quiet and very peaceable. They 
fatten at any age, and are, iu fact, a little iu 
dined to over fat. Each breed has some ad¬ 
vantages, but for Iowa the Poland-China is 
the best. 
RYe FOR HOGS. 
“Subscriber,'' Allendale, Mr.—What is the 
best vi ay to feed rye to hogs when a man has 
a mill of his own, and should rye and corn be 
1 ground together? 
ANSWERED BY COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Hogs relish rye the least of any grain. They 
do best on it when it is cooked or scalded. 
When mixed with milk or swill it should be 
allowed to ferment slightly, otherwise the hogs 
will uot eat it well, and it will not digest as 
well. The hugs seem to know this by instinct, 
or it makes them sick, for they will not eat 
freely of rye meal or bran mixed with either 
water or swill and fed fresh—i.e., at once, 
without any fermentation. A little corn meal 
mixed with it, will make it more palatable, 
and the pigs "ill always eat it better when 
thus mixed. One fourth com Bill make a 
guod feed, with rye bran half aud half. The 
more corn, the better the hogs will eat, but 
one-fourth of coru meal will make the hogs 
eat the rye better. Rye is almost tts heating 
as corn, and must uot be fed too freely, 
KRAME-LIGHTS FOR HOT-BEDS. 
H. C., What Cheer, la — 1. How can can¬ 
vas for hot-beds be made water-proof, while 
admitting abundance of light? 1. Will cab¬ 
bage and tomatoes raised under such u cover, 
do well ? 
Axs.—1- Muslin is better than canvas, as it 
admits more light. Make the frame-lights 
of wooden strips; stretch the muslin over 
them, aud tack it lightly in place; theu paint 
it with a mixture of fourouuces of pulverized 
resin and one ounce of sugar-of-lead iu a quart 
of linseed oil, heated aud dissolved in au iron 
vessel 2 For cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, 
corn-salad, lettuces, beets, and other moder¬ 
ately hardy vegetables, muslin lights make a 
pretty good makeshift; but, for tomatoes, 
egg-plants, cucumbers and others as tender, 
we cannot recommend them. Canvas aud 
calico ure sometimes used in pluee of muslin, 
but, while they are stronger, they ure darker; 
hence not so good. If you can get glazed 
sashes at $2 to $2.5<i each, we should not con¬ 
sider it economy to use many muslin oues. 
WATER RAMS. 
c. II., Ida Grove, la .—What kind of a wa¬ 
ter ram will raise water seven feet out of a 
well? 
Ans. —You cannot raise water out of a well 
with a ram. A ram is operated by a fall of 
water. A’fall of three feet.in 10 or 12 feet of 
one-and-one-half-inch pipe is sufficient to raise 
a portion of the water only, to a hight of 50 
or even 100 feet; but the quantity will be 
1 smaller ns the hight is greater. Thus the 
I quantity of water raised 50 feet will be only 
. one-half of what could be raised 25 feet. The 
1 actual work of a water ram is pqual to about 
one half of the force of the supply of water. 
Thus, if 40 pounds of water full three 
feet in one minute, the ram will raise 
two pounds of it 30 feet high in the 
same time. The quantity or weight of 
1 water, and the hight of fall—40x3—are equal to 
the weight and rise—2x30—multiplied by two, 
which is the loss by friction and waste of wa¬ 
ter while the ram is not, working for the short 
time between each pulsation. 
FERTILIZER FORMULA. 
G. E. IF., Rutland, Vt — l. What amount, 
each, of unleached wood ashes, ground bone, 
hen manure, and lime should be mixed to¬ 
gether, to make a fertilizer equal to a ton of 
average superphosphate? 
Ass.—1. No lime is required; there is enough 
in the bones and ashes. The following for¬ 
mula will about equal a ton of good super¬ 
phosphate, but the hen mauure is an uncer¬ 
tain quautity, as it varies greatly in value: 
Fine ground raw bone, 1,<K>0 pounds; un¬ 
leached wood ashes, 12 bushels: hen mauure, 
four barrels. The latter should be dry aud 
beaten fine before mixing. Shovel over very 
thoroughly and carefully six or eight times to 
insure evenness of composition. If this mix 
ture is to be used in the hilt or drill, or har¬ 
rowed in on the fresh furrow, broadcast, 01- 
even kept a while, if all the materials are 
dry, they may be all mixed together. If the 
boue or hen manure is damp, the ushes 
ought not to be mixed with them, but can be 
applied separately. 
PERIOD OF GESTATION OF FARM ANIMALS. 
J G. C., Miller's, Fa.— What is the average 
period of gestation of farm animals? 
Ans.— The period of gestation varies consid¬ 
erably in case of each class of domestic ani¬ 
mals. but the mean is about as follows- mare, 
347 days; ass, 12 months; cow, 285 days; ewe, 
L>1 days; sow, lift days; goat, ll<i days; dog. 
62 or *33 days; cat, 5<l days; rabbit, 30 days: 
guinea-pig. 21 days; turkey, 26 to 30 days, 
guinea-hen, 25 to 26 days; pea-hen, 28 to 30 
days; ducks, 25 to 30 days; geese, 27 to 33 
days: hens, lfl to 24 days—or an average of 21 
days; pigeons, 1*3 to 20 days; cauary birds 1- 
to 14 days. Cold weather or an east wind will 
lengthen the time a day or two more in the 
case of birds, while warm weather aud au at¬ 
tentive sitter will shorten it. The small 
breeds of all animals require less time than 
the large breeds. The period of gestation of 
a mare may be extended or diminished as 
much as five or six weeks; while that of cows 
has varied from 220 to 313 days. 
CORN FOR WESTERN NEW YORK. 
N. R., Canisteo, AT. Y —What kind of corn 
should be planted here; how, and with what 
fertilizers? 
Ans. —In your section you must have an 
early variety of com and can hardly expect to 
succeed with any dent. King Philip, Red 
Glaze, white or yellow, all eight-rowed, would 
suit you, we think. Try Queen of the Prairie 
or Pride of the North. Some prefer hill and 
some drill planting; if in hills, plant, threc- 
aud-one-lialf feet each way, and four kernels 
to the hill; if in drills, put the drills 
three feet eight inches apart, and the 
plants, one in a place 15 iuches apart. Culti¬ 
vate flat by all means. Barn-yard manure i- 
the best of all fertilizers for corn. In addition 
to this, use any good brand of complete fertile 
izer. After frost, no matter how green it may 
be, cut the corn as soon as possible. It is much 
better to cut it before frost, even if only in 
the milk. 
UNHULLED CLOVER SEED. 
B. G., Hebbardsville, O.— 1. How much 
ctover seed iu the chaff will it take to make 
one bushel of clean seed? 2. At what should 
unhulled clover seed be sold to get the proper 
price of clean seed ? There is no buller here¬ 
abouts. 
Ans.— 1. It is impossible to tell how much 
seed there is in clover seed chaff or how to 
sell it, as it varies greatly, without in some 
way getting a unit to start from. 3Vp sug¬ 
gest that a small quantity, say four ounces, 
bo accurately weighed lu a druggist's scale; it 
should be dried most thoroughly and hulled 
and cleaned by hand and mouth. Get the 
druggist to weigh the seed, uud change his 
apothecary weight into avoirdupois. This 
will give a unit that will be fairly accurate 
and the seed iu the chuff may now he sold by 
weight. Unhullod clover seed is far more 
likely to grow thau cleaned seed. 
POULTRY KEEPING BY A NOVICE, FOR A LIVING. 
M. M. L., Buffalo, N. Y — Can a lady make 
a good living raising poultry^or the market, 
where she has to buy feed ? 
Ans.— To make a good living by poultry- 
raising, one must undertand the business as 
