4 887 
ceptible change in the quantity of milk. I 
am therefore of opinion—not only from this 
special fact, but from later and even present 
experience that millet or Hungarian hay, if 
well-grown aud well-made, is quite equal in 
feeding value to good clover hay. One point 
iu its value is that it may be sown aud har¬ 
vested all within eight weeks or 10 at the latest. 
THE EMPIRE STATE GRAPE. 
./. AT., Stroudsburg, Pa .—When does the 
Empire State grape ripen? Is it earlier than 
Concord ? 
ANSWERED UY GEO. W. CAMPBELL, DELA¬ 
WARE, OHIO. 
I have had the Empire State in bearing for 
four years, aud think it is not fully ripe any 
earlier than the Concord; but it is usually 
eatable, and would by many persons be called 
ripe, a week or perhaps ten days before the 
Concord is perfectly ripened. The character 
of the, two grapes in this respect is quite differ¬ 
ent, and an accurate comparison is somewhat 
difficult. The Concord is quite ripe, and as 
good as it ever becomes very soon after it is 
perfectly colored, aud if left long on the vine 
does not improve, aud when over-ripe, deteri¬ 
orates. The Empire State matures more slow¬ 
ly; and although, as before said, it is fairly 
eatable, and quite good before the Concord, it 
does nob attaiu its best flavor for some days 
after, and then it may be left on tho vino for 
a month without losing flavor or character, 
and seems to grow better all the time, attain¬ 
ing an excellence, almost equal to the White 
Frontiguan, which it somewhat resembles, I 
left several clusters upon the vines in paper 
bags till the latter part of October, aud after 
we had some sharp frosts, without apparent 
injury, 1 found the Niagara also the present 
season to improve very much by being left to 
hang upon the vines iu bags, several weeks 
after they were quite ripe. They lost 
their usual foxy odor aud taste, aud were 
really good, better to my taste than either 
Pockliugton or Concord. The past season has 
been warm mid very dry, and gropes were 
generally higher flavored than usual, and 
there was very little of either rot or mildew 
in this section of che State. 
SPLITTING OF BARK OF APPLE TREES, ETC. 
F. *4. .1., Matherton, Mich. —1. For a num¬ 
ber of years the bark of the apple trees in my 
orchard has split open from stem up. The 
ground has been iu Timothy meadow for the 
last two years, and was before that cultivated 
to wheat, oats and clover heavily manured; 
what is the trouble? 2. I wish to pasture the 
orchard next Seasou with sheep and hogs, 
would it be safe to spray the trees with Paris- 
green; and if so, when? 
Ans. —1. The splitting of tho bark on the 
trunks of apple t rees near the ground is occa¬ 
sioned by severe freezes early in the fall, 
while the trees are yet iu leaf and the sap in 
motion. As the injury is rarely noticed until 
spriug, it is generally supposed to occur in the 
winter. There is no practical way of prevent¬ 
ing this kind of injury to orchards aud nurser¬ 
ies. Sume varieties arc much more subject to 
it thau others, and these varieties had better 
be top-grafted on such as do not split. ‘.1 
Spraying apple trees for the coddling moth 
should be done soon after the fall of the bloom. 
If done with a proper instrument, and no un¬ 
necessary excess of the green is used, the risk 
to sheep or swine turned into the orchard a 
week or two afterwords would probably be 
very slight. Only those nozzles which throw 
a very tine, mist-like spray, should be used, 
and there is doubtless some danger, eveu when 
these are carefully used, that enough of tho 
poison may reach the grass to harm the ani¬ 
mals which may feed upon it. especially before 
heavy rains wash it into the ground. 
FERTILIZER QUERY. 
“7?” Tom's Tiiicr, N. ./.—My garden soil is 
a fine gravel mixed with sand, both of a yel¬ 
lowish color naturally. Stable manure freely 
mixed with marsh hay for bedding, after 
lyiug in layers all winter, is well rotted by 
spring, au<l if mixed with some coal-ashes 
spriukled over the layers as they are laid up, 
each about six inches thick, and applied to 
corn, it produces a good growth of stalks, but 
a poor one of ears. What is thu best com¬ 
mercial fertilizer to be sprinkled over the 
layers of manure as they are laid up, to pro¬ 
mote a yield of grain. 1 have tried nmuy 
sorts of commercial fertilizers iu the bill at 
plauting, also spriukled round the corn in tho 
hill after it was up from three to six weeks; 
Peruvian guano, superphosphate, bone dust, 
and some others never seemed to bo of the 
least benefit. 1 think they washed through 
the land, the soil is so porous, uud gave tho 
ends of the roots no chance to absorb them. 
Dried fish Is one of the best fertilizers applied 
here; also fresh ditto us soon as taken from 
the water, both applied around the hill aud 
covered with soil. 
Ans. —We should use the manure aud fer¬ 
tilizers separately, as a matter of preference. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
But to answer the question, we should add 
bone-meal (not flour) and kainit for our own 
soil. If Peruvian guano, bone, &c., have 
no effect upon our inquirer’s land, there is 
no reason why fish should be so effective. 
WOOD AND IRON STABLE FLOOR. , 
T. A. II ., Norwich, Vt. — Will the Rural 
describe the wood and iron stable floor with 
trench, spoken of in the issue of August 20 as 
Stewart’s plan, if not patented. 
Ans. —This self-cleaning stable is described 
in “Feeding Animals,” pages 97-101. In a 
general way it may be said that the device is 
a platform composed parity of wood and 
partly of iron, The wooden part is next the 
mauger and is three feet six inches wide, 
raised 12 inches. This platform is made of 
heavy plank. Behind it is an iron grating 
four feet wide restingonau iron sill supported 
on stone posts at the back side aud on the 
wooden platform in front. A concrete gutter 
is left beneath this grating four feet wide and 
18 inches deep. This gutter holds the drop¬ 
pings of the cow for nearly three weeks. The 
cow stands with her forefeet on the plank 
platform and her hind feet on the iron bars 
of tlie grating. The manure falls through the 
bars so that the animal is always kept clean. 
Besides, the circulation of air uuder the plat¬ 
form seems to prevent disease of the feet. 
This grating is made by Stewart Bros., Lake 
View, N. Y. 
POISONED UDDER, 
R. S., Smyth, F«,—Three days ago one of- 
ray cows went to pasture all right in the morn¬ 
ing; but returned in the evening, kicking as if 
to scare flies from her udder. Next morning 
the hide was cracked and the teats were swol¬ 
len. The teats now look as if they had been 
burned with acid, aud ou licking the udder the 
cow’s nose becomes sore. What is the matter? 
Ans. —No doubt the cow has been poisoned 
by some irritant plant—probably poison su¬ 
mac (Rhus venenata) or poison oak or ivy (Rhus 
toxicodendron). The former is tbe more poi¬ 
sonous, and when cattle pass through brushes 
the udder is most exposed to injury. The symp¬ 
toms stated are quite like those produced by 
poisoning by this plant, which grows very 
abundantly iu low grounds and damp, swampy 
woods. For treatment apply the ordinary 
ammonia liniment or Goulard's Lotion, or a 
solution of 10 grains of sugar of lead iu an 
ounce of water. Apply with a sponge, so as 
to moisten the skin, and leave it on to dry. 
GAS-LIME FOR FRUIT TREES. 
C. H. G., Trenton, N. J .—I have just plant¬ 
ed some pear trees and aiu advised to put 
gas-lime around them. Is that good advice? 
Ans, —No. if the gas-lime is fresh it will 
not only do no good, but may very likely 
injure the trees. It should never be used un¬ 
til it has been exposed to the weather for 
several mouths, and is never equal to ordinary 
lime as a fertilizer. It seems as if this fact is 
one of the hardest for farmers to believe. The 
facts that the gas-lime is discolored and gives 
off an odor are taken as evidences that, it has 
acquired au additioual fertilizing value. It is 
a common belief that everything that “smells 
bad” must be a stroug fertilizer. This belief 
is false, as some of the worst smells known 
come from combinations of sulphur and 
hydrogen. 
Miscellaneous. 
J. J. Doland, Dak. —1. Would the mesquit 
trees be worth a trial as far north as Spink 
County, Dakota? 2, What is a reliable live 
stock insurance company. 
ANS.—1. No; it is too tender. 2. We do 
not know of auy livestock insurance company 
which we could venture to recommend There 
are several thoroughly trustworthy companies 
that insure live stock in transit to or from 
Europe, etc., aud a considerable number of 
companies that insure live stock on the farm, 
but the latter is so risky a business that the 
companies, however honest iu their manage¬ 
ment, are generally short-lived, and the man¬ 
agement of many of them has been anything 
but honest. Several times we have been on 
the point of mentioning one or other as trust¬ 
worthy, but we have afterward had reason to 
be thankful that we did uot do so. 
P. R. IT., ApalaeKin, N. Y. —1. What is 
tho best food to start hens laying? 2, What 
causes club-root iu cabbage? 
Ans.— 1. Wheat is as good a food as you can 
give laying hens, but, of course, they must 
have a variety. Give wheat for the graiu, 
aud add chopped cabbage or boiled potatoes 
with au abundance of lime. Let the hens 
be warm and comfortable, and keep them free 
from vermin. 2. It is caused by the attacks 
of insects; the cabbage maggot is the worst. 
Several remedies are proposed, such as the 
use of strong chemical fertilizers, lime, etc. 
(Continued on page 786.) 
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