MARCH 5 
FARMERS’ CLUB. 
(Continued from, page 158.) 
and good for all kinds of stock. They should 
be cooked or steamed for cows and also for pigs. 
They muy be used to good advantage for 
colts. They art? a well balanced food for 
growing animals, as may bo seen by the fol¬ 
lowing analysis. Malt sprouts: in 100 parts 
of the substance there are of protein 22.95; 
fat 1.70; nitrogen free extract or carbohy¬ 
drates 48.(50. Wheat bran: protein 14.54; fat 
3.00; nitrogen, free extractor carbohydrates 
55.10. Thus it may be seen both foods are 
better suited for cows ami growing animals 
than for fattening purposes. Cows should 
, have,at least twice,a liberal feeding of cotton¬ 
seed meal, linseed meal or corn meal. Malt 
sprouts will increase the flow of milk, but they 
make weak milk or that lacking in cream. 
3. There are no special ill eff< cts from feed¬ 
ing a large amount; but o ten-feeding with any 
kind of food is injurious. Bee “Value of Feed- 
tuffs, etc.,” elsewhere in this department. 
FERTILIZER QUERIES. 
A. S. Al*iUqfield, Jit. —1. Is wheat bran a 
good fertilizer at $1(1 a ton ? 2. Would it be 
advisable to spread fresh manure and cat straw 
on the laud now rather than in the Spring; 3 
Would it be better to buy bone dust at two 
cents per pound than to use the other fertilizers ? 
Ans.— 1. Sir J. B. Lawes estimates the 
value of a ton of manure made from a ton of 
wheat bran at $1(5. 15; as it contains 44 pounds 
of nitrogen, Styjtj' pounds of potash and 
pounds of phosphoric acid. As the bran itself 
must necessarily be worth more than the man¬ 
ure made from it, it ought to l>e u very cheap 
fertilizer at 610 per ton. But bran contains a 
large quantity of carbonaceous matters—fat, 
starch, gum, etc.,—and these are more avail¬ 
able and valuable as foou than as manure; 
hence it pays better to feed the bran to stock 
of some kind and save the manure from it. 
2. Many fanners advocate and practice (he 
spreading of manure on the land during the 
winter, as fust as it is made; others think it 
better to keep it fermenting in a heap until 
spring, when it is plowed under for the crops. 
It depends much upon circumstance^. For 
grass land or fall grain it is, no doubt, best to 
spread the manure now, which is u convenient 
time. Cut stra w might 1 letter Iie used for 1 f tier 
and made into manure than spread on the 
land, ns it, would probably be blown off the 
ground and lost. In your locality where straw 
is abundant, and can be used in no other way 
it is advisable to s(ireud the straw on fall grain 
for protection as well as for its use as manure. 
3. It is questionable if it would be a wise 
economy to pay $40 u ton for bone dust when 
it is possible to make manure from the large 
quantity of straw and cheap feed to be pro¬ 
cured in your State. Ordinarily superphos¬ 
phate of lime, which contains soluble phos¬ 
phoric acid, is a more available fertilizer than 
bone dust. The first object of n,Western farm¬ 
er, should lie to make and save all the manure 
possible before he spends money in artificial 
fertilizers, and utilize his straw and the cheap 
feeding stuffs which he can procure. 
i« t - — 
Miscellaneous. 
J. Me. L., Calhoun, Mich. —1. What is the 
right, time to plant corn? Last Spring I plant¬ 
ed Early Minnesota on April 25 on a warm, 
dry, heavy clay; but the weather turned cold 
and wet about two weeks later, and I found 
that the corn had all sprouted, but more than 
half had rotted after doing so. I planted 
more of the same variety in the middle of May 
and it guve a good yield, and matured as 
early as that planted sooner. 2. For years 
we have been keeping hens that didn’t lay. 
Last May 1 got some from a neighbor, and 
among them was a Plymouth Itock pulletjthat 
began to lay in au open shed where the ther¬ 
mometer had sunk below zero. Anything in 
breed? 
Ans. —1. ’The question resolves itself into 
whether we cate to risk much or little. A 
favorable season will give a better crop of 
early than of late planted corn, judging from 
careful experience and observation in light 
soil. We prefer, however, to delay planting 
until about May 10 for our climate. 2. Yes, 
there is much in the breed. We must select 
hens that are suited to our climate. After 
that there is more in the care than in the breed. 
./. •). C., Detroit, Mich. —1. How can I make 
shell lime? 2, Is Horticola’s land (page 210, 
Rural of lKHtjj near salt water? 8. What ap¬ 
plication should be made to the roots of cab 
bages to prevent the ravages of the maggot? 
4. Can 1 put salt enough on iny land to injure 
the crops? 5. I have fresh horse manure, a 
bag of kai nit and lime, which is cheap here; 
ought T to use a complete cabbage fertilizer, 
or instead of it, what should I add to what f 
have on hand? 
Ans.— 1. Burn the oyster shells and then 
they can be easily pounded to powder. ;j. 
Within 20 miles, 3. Add a gill of kainit to ft 
pail of water and wet the soil and roots. 4. 
Yes, indeed, and it is problematical whether 
salt will help your crops at all. We should 
add raw bone flour and potash in some form 
in connection with the manure at any rate. 
Complete chemical fertilizers,if of high grade, 
would help the crops, especially the earlier 
ones, by the soluble nitrogen contained there¬ 
in. 
DISCUSSION. 
ABOUT FILBERTS. 
E. L. W., Brooklyn, Pa.— The Rural asks 
for experience with filberts. My father set 
bushes of Red-Skinned, Frizzle 1, Prolific and 
Purpurea early in the sixties. They did well 
for 15 or IK years, producing fair crops every 
other year. One year we had one-fourth of a 
bushel of nuts from one bush of Frizzled. 
Lately they have not done as well, apparently 
suffering from too cold winters. We have 
propagated them both from suckers and nuts; 
but have been unable to get any bushes large 
enough to bear before t hey were killed back on 
both day and dry, st ouy land. The Frizzled 
is the most productive and apparently the 
hardiest, and is the only one that still sur¬ 
vives. The Prolific was nearly as productive 
as the Frizzled and the nuts were much larger 
and better in quality. The Purpurea was 
valuable only as an ornamental shrub: the 
leaves were dark purple till mid-summer. The 
Red-skinned was neither hardy, productive 
nor good, the red skin covering the meat of 
the nut giving it a rank, bitter taste. 
R. N. Y.—We have often spoken of the 
Purple-leaved Hazel as an ornamental shrub. 
DEODORIZERS IN AN EARTH CLOSET. 
H. A. W., Fluvanna, N. Y.— A. B. 
A., Flushing, L. I., aud H. H., Mon¬ 
treal, will fiud a great improvement 
over their methods of deodorizing the 
gases arising from earth closets in the use 
of common land plaster, which will do the 
work well at a trifling expense, making the 
contents one of the best "and strongest fer¬ 
tilizers. My water-closet is situated elose to 
my wash-house. It is supplied with tw o large 
drawers into Which 2-inch pipes run from the 
sink in the wash-house. On washing days all 
soapsuds are emptied iuto these drawers, 
from which au K-iueli pipe runs to a cesspooj 
or reservoir, underground, about (50 feet away. 
This reservoil holds 150 barrels. When full, 
or nearly so. the contents are pumped iuto 
a large vat, holding about five barrels, in which 
three 3-inch augur holes are I sired, in which 
stakes fit. closely, and this being upon a sled 
or dray is easily taken to where the stuff is to 
be used. The stakes being removed, the 
horses in walking soou distribute it evenly 
upon the ground, and a better fertilizer 1 
never have used. The soapsuds so completely 
deodorize this, that, it is impossible for any 
one to tell that it is composed in part of the con¬ 
tents of the water closet. Soapsuds are a 
complete deodorizer, especially if from soft- 
soap. As I always use laud plaster and the 
soapsuds in my closets there is never any un¬ 
pleasantness. 
A Visit to j. S. Woodward’s Farm.— 
President McCann,of the State Board of Agri¬ 
culture, describing in a late Husbandman a 
visit uiade by himself to Mr. J. S. Wood¬ 
ward’s farm at Lockport, N. Y., tells of 
the enormous barns with annexes, the main 
buildings being each 10 K feet, square. Here 
were several hundred sheep, 50 or fit) cows and 
as many bogs. The sheep are bought uuy 
time along in the fall and put In the barns 
with the first, cold weather, to be kept there 
until they ure sold, some time lu winter or 
spring, They drop their lambs there, aud the 
lambs never go out until they are sold. They 
bring from six to eight dollars per head. A 
ready market at the best, prices is found in 
New York, Buffalo and other Cities for every 
lamb as soon as it is old enough to sell After 
the ewes have parted with their lambs and 
that is when they are marketed—they are well 
led, as. of course (hey are during the whole 
time when suckling lambs. But though Mr. 
McCann has always deuouncedsheuring sheep 
in winter as cruel, he modifies his views with 
regard to Mr. Woodward’s sheep, which 
he saw with their fleeces off; because 
on entering the burn, a feeling «f warmth is 
at once felt, and water never freezes there, as 
the animal heat of so many confined in a 
tight though carefully ventilated barn pro¬ 
duces a comfortable temperature. As to cows, 
Mr. Woodward buys in the fall cows none of 
which are beyond eight years old, and he 
makes a‘special effort to get farrow cows which 
can bo obtained cheap from dairies where they 
are not. likely to be serviceable the following 
season, He milks them all winter, feeding 
meantime clover hay, straw, or other coarse 
fodder in conjunction with roots, cotton- 
seed meal, and wheat bran. This is 
the feed also for bis sheep. Thu cows 
gain in flesh all winter, keeping up meantime 
the milk flow until it is deemed advisable to 
dry them Off. Then they ure pushed a little 
faster, *uid when beef is highest in early spring 
they are ready for the market. The milk has 
paid partly for feeding, the flesh pays more, 
and the manure, which Mr. McCann fails to 
mention, is highly prized by Mr, Woodward 
as no small part of the results. The hogs are 
fed largely ou beaus, the refuse of fields in 
that locality where the bean crop is important. 
These beaus are cooked and fed with cotton¬ 
seed meal, roots and wheat bran. His hogs 
are in thrifty condition, not yet so well fat¬ 
tened as to be ready for the market, but sure 
to be in early spring when there will be active 
demand for fresh pork. The water is pumped 
by a windmill to au immense tank in the loft, 
from which pipes lead to every part where the 
animals are kept. Before them are troughs, 
into which water can tie turued in a moment 
and shut, off as quickly. M r. Wood wa rd d< icsnot 
pasture animals so his farm is given to the pro¬ 
duction of grass—meadow land—and grain 
all to be used in feeding his animals in winter. 
Of course, lie raises large quantities of roots, 
and he buys enormous quantities of coarse 
feed, bran principally, which is obtained iu 
summer or autumn and stored for winter feed¬ 
ing. All this bust uess is conducted on a grand 
scale, and as Mr. MeCanu thinks, and we hap¬ 
pen to know, with profits that ought to satisfy 
any farmer of moderate expectations. 
Prof. L, R. Taft, in a bulletin issued by the 
Missouri Agricultural College (Columbia), tells 
of his last season’s trials of vegetables and 
fruits. The Early Yellow Six Weeks Bean 
was very productive, one of the earliest and 
free from blight. Early Valentine ripens a 
week later and is one of the best snaps. Im¬ 
proved Early Valentine (offered this year in 
the Rural’s distribution) was found to be six 
days ahead of Early Valentine in ripening and 
rather more productive. The Eclipse Beet 
proved a very early turnip-shaped variety. It 
differs widely as obtu.iued from different seeds¬ 
men. Prof. Taft considers the Early Russian 
Cucumber as among the lies! early kinds, and 
Long Green the best late. The Green Prolific 
is among the best, for pickles. 
The Boston Curled and Tennis Ball Lettuces 
are umoug the best for general cultivation. 
The Curled Silesia is au excellent variety for 
forcing, and Salamander ismiequaled for sum¬ 
mer growing. If plants of any of these vari¬ 
eties are transplanted in a rich soil, one foot 
apart, they will soon form largo heads. 
The Whit© Portugal and White Tripoli On¬ 
ions are among the best, for sets, while the Sil 
ver Skin is one of the best, early varieties to 
grow from seed, with Wethersfield Red for 
late. 
Seeds of the Alaska Pea (Cleveland’s) were 
received, both from the originator aud the 
Rural New-Yorker, and proved to lie from 
two to six days earlier than the other extra 
early varieties. The Alaska seems to be a dis 
tiuct variety, and in yield and quality stands 
at, the head. The early varieties sent out by 
the leading seed men of the country, under dif¬ 
ferent name*, are practically the same in 
growth, curliness and productiveness, contin¬ 
ues Prof, Taft. One of the best of these is the 
Rural New-Yorker, which is a vigorous grow¬ 
er with pods large and well filled. It gave its 
first picking two days after the Alaska. The 
other varieties are too much alike to be dis¬ 
tinguished. 
Of the newer strawberries, Wood house, was 
the most promising. Jewell did well, so did 
Jersey Queeu. Of the older varieties for or¬ 
dinary cultivation, Cumberland Triumph, 
Capt. -Jack and Crescent stand at the head. 
For matted rows, especially, they are al] 
well adapted. 
The Shaffer Raspberry was loaded with its 
large fruit. Turner is hardy and productive. 
Cuthbcrt does well in iuuuy purls of Missouri 
-not with him. Marlboro Is unproductive. 
Hansell a good early, but not productive at 
ways. ()i blackcaps .Sou began and Tyler are 
the surest. Hopkins and Gregg are liable to 
winter kill. Carman seems hardy, early and 
productive. Nemaiia does not seem hardy. 
Taylor and Snyder are hardy aud produc¬ 
tive blackberries. Kittatinuy injured by the 
winter. Early Harvest was somewhat in¬ 
jured. 
The Kieffer Pear is good for canning. 
The Wild Goose varieties of plums give full 
crops. Early Richmond and English Morello 
are the only kinds of cherries that do well. 
For family use in most parts of the Slate, 
t he following apples will be found ft good se¬ 
lection, viz: Early Harvest, Red June and 
Golden Sweet for summer ; Rarnbo, Maiden’s 
Blush and Smith’s Cider for fall and Grimes’s 
Golden. Jonathan, Janet, Huntsman, Winesnp 
and Willow Twig for winter. For shipping 
purposes nothing answers as well as Ben Da¬ 
vis. 
Several trees of Russian Mulberries were 
black with fruit, aud the Morns alba also 
gave a fair crop. The trees are rapid grow¬ 
ers, and furnish valuable timber. The her 
ries are two-thirds the size of the Snyder 
Blackberry, and are valuable for canning. 
The trees ran be cheaply obtained, and for 
the fruit grower or market gardener a few 
would prove a good investment, as the frail 
will draw the birds away from the peas and 
strawberries, aud thus prevent serious rav¬ 
ages. Downing’s Everbearing produces 1 ct - 
ter fruit, but will not prove hardy in all lo 
calities. 
WIDE-AWAKE ITEMS. 
When the young ladies of America begin to 
place a higher estimation on soberness and re¬ 
ligion, and discountenance the slightest intem¬ 
perance, says Home and Farm, h brighter sun 
will begin to rise on our country, and send its 
rays to chase away the dark clouds now hover 
iugover us. 
The measure for a full-fledged Department 
of Agriculture is of doubtful virtue; ns like 
wise is the experiment station bill, says E. II. 
Libby. But a really-crying need of American 
farming is a reduction of the taxes ou seeds 
and plants, imposed iu the shape of postage, 
for which our government charges Id cents a 
pound, while Canada and European Countries 
charge only four to eight eeuts i>or jamiid for 
similar service.... ... . . ... 
A WRITER in the Western Plowman asks 
that we consider the actual character of aver¬ 
age cider—that made from imperfect and unripe 
apples, those more or less rotten, more or Ins¬ 
tilled with worms, bugs and the like; a filthy 
extract of worms, snails, vermin and apple 
juice. If pure food, air and general purity 
are favorable, filthy eider cannot be recom¬ 
mended .... .... 
Congress has been asked to establish an 
experiment farm in every State and Territory 
at. a cost, of $15,000 each, says Our Country 
Home. Efficient experimental farms, vig«u 
uu&ly supported and thoroughly worked oil 
sound scientific principles, would la* sources of 
immense benefit to the farming imterest. But 
one such farm perfectly equipped and worked 
for all it is worth, would be of more value 
than 50 starveling institutions, whose chief 
results would be exasperation at what they 
fail to do by reason of inellioicncy. 
According to the N. Y. Voice, the follow¬ 
ing words were indelibly written on a green¬ 
back: “This is the last of $30,000—whisky did 
it.”. 
As to dehorning cattle, Prof. Wallace, of 
England, according to the Albany Cultivator, 
says the best time to dehorn is atone month 
old. The “embryo of the horn’ should be cut 
out with a sharp knife, close to the skin, tak¬ 
ing a little skin with it. There will be but 
little pain, and this usually ends the horn. Ii 
is not cruel as asserted bv some. The pain 
caused is, no doubt, much less than in castra 
tion.... 
Mr. Cbkkvkr remarks that many farmers 
having a preference for horns, on visiting 
herds of polled cuttle, and noticing their re¬ 
markable docility, have been converted on the 
spot..... 
Before meeting Mr. Haaff personally, at 
Chicago, a few weeks since, the Ag. editor of 
the much-improved N. E. Farmer, had imng 
ined him an ignorant, self-conceited crank, 
who was trying to get his living by a little 
notoriety, but instead, he found a man of edu¬ 
cation, formerly for many years a popular 
lawyer in Chicago, but now a large farmer 
and cattle owner, having several thousand 
acres, and keeping from 1,200 to 1,500 or more 
cattle which are fed for beef. 
Mr. Haaff buyH large numbers of cattle, 
taking the horns off as soon as purchased; and 
finds that, they go through the winter in his 
closed cattle sheds with less food, and make 
more gain than cattle not dehorned. Nearly 
all his neighbors have adopted Ids practice. 
Mr. Huntl’ is very particular to cut nt the right 
place so as to prevent a stub horn from grow¬ 
ing after the operation... 
Through the Live Stock Indicator, wo learn 
of a case of dehorning that proved nearly 
fatal. The horns of n yearling were sawed 
off just where the skin joins the horns. In 
about lo minutes the flow of blood ceased ou 
one side but the other side continued to bleed 
for nearly two hours and was then stopped 
only by inserting a red hot j ion into the cavi- 
tg from which the blood spurted! It will 
take, the owner thinks, fully n month for re* 
co very mi mu uimi Inc.. 
