684 
THE BUBAL MEW-Y0BK1B, 
manuring. Or, if the laud was inclosed by a 
low bank on the edge of the river, and a self¬ 
closing gate were putin the drain, the over¬ 
flow might be retained for a few days, which 
would make of the land a typical water- 
meadow, that would furnish very heavy crops 
of grass and hay. The other method suggest¬ 
ed would be to pump out the water by means 
of a wind-mill. But this would cost several 
times as much money as the above plan and 
would not do away with the draiD, for the 
drairs must be made to bring the water to-the 
pump. To raise six inches of water flowing 
100 feet in a minute, five feet high, would re¬ 
quire a mill costing about $300, and the oil¬ 
ing, repairs and attention would cost consid¬ 
erably more than the cleaning out of the open 
drain, with no gain whatever attached to it; 
so that this method would cost as much as the 
other for the drain, and, in addition, there 
would be the expense of the mill, pump, and 
care and wear of the machinery—in all, sev¬ 
eral times as much as the£cost of the first 
method. 
PLANTING AN ORCHARD. 
A. H. H., Raijville, Md.—l want to 
plant about three acres of hill-side with apple 
trees; 1. What varieties would thrive best 
here? What would be the most profitable for 
market? The trees should be productive and 
thrifty, and the fruit keep well, and be salable. 
2. There are two or three good nurseries 
near this place; would it be best to buy from 
them? 3. What should be the size of the 
trees? 4 How far apart should they be 
planted? 5. Should they be set out in the fall 
or spring? 6. Can the land be kept in culti. 
vated crops,such as drilled corn, mangels, etc., 
I want to soil my cattle; can I plant drilled 
com, mangels, oats and peas in tjie orchard? 
7. I have also two acres of bottom land which 
I want to plant with fruit trees; what kinds 
would be likely to pay best? I was thinking 
of planting quinces or green gages or dwarf 
pears; would quinces pay better than the 
others? I would make the ground rich, and 
cultivate sugar-beets between tbe quince 
rows. 8. How far apart should quince trees 
be planted? Which are the best varieties for 
market, thrift and productiveness being the 
chief points to be considered. 
ANSWERED BY T. T. LYON. 
1. In the catalogue of the American Borno¬ 
logical Society, Cannon Bearmain, Fallawa- 
ter, Gilpin (Little Romanite,) London Pippin, 
Nickajack, Pryor’s Red, Rawle’s Genet, 
Shockley, Smith’s Cider, Smokehouse, Tewkes¬ 
bury Winter, Winesap, and York Imperial 
are mentioned as well adapted to Maryland. 
If to these we add Ben Davis, Buckingham 
Grimes’s Golden and Limber Twig, we will 
beyond doubt, include the cream of the winter 
varieties for that State, and with this list in 
mind, it will be the wisest course to examine 
the most successful and profitable orchards of 
the region, and select the varieties to be plant¬ 
ed in the light of local experience. 2. Other 
circumstancesbeingequal.it may always be 
considered preferable to buy trees from the 
nearest trustworthy nurseries. 3. My advice 
i«, unless in exceptional cases, to buy young, 
unbranched trees, since they soonest recover 
from the shock of removal; while the tops 
may the more readily be molded to the de¬ 
sired hight and form. 4. Plant not less than 
33 feet apart, and if land is plenty and cheap, 
even 40 feet will be found profitable, when 
trees have acquired age. 5, In the latitude cf 
Maryland, fall planting is preferable, unless 
upon “ heavy” soils, or in localities exposed to 
cold, drying wind. Fall planting should be 
done at as early a date as practicable after 
the young wood is fully ripened. 6 The 
ground should be kept under cultivation, bet¬ 
ter in hoed than in sowed crops, for several 
years. If crops are grown, care should be had 
to keep the trees well manured and in vigorous 
condition. Either corn or vegetables, if grown 
in drills far enough apart, to admit of horse 
cultivation, would doubtless be found satis¬ 
factory. 7. What is usually known as 
“bottom land,” if not too liaBle to late and 
early frosts, and if not too wet or springy, 
would be better adapted to quinces than to 
plums or pears, although none of these would 
be likely to succeed <n wet soils. Quinces, 
should they prove adapted to the soil and 
climate, would probably be found quite as 
profitable as either plums or pears. 8. 
Quinces should be planted not less than eight 
feet apart each way. There is as yet no better 
or more prolific market variety than the 
Apple or Orange quince. 
SMALL FRUIT QUERIES. 
G. W.S., St.Remy,N. Y.—l. About four years 
ago I set out a patch of Snyder Blackberries: 
they bore all right for a few seasons, but last 
year and this, tbe young canes have come up 
thicker in spots, although they have had little 
or no thorns on them, blossomed but little and 
here and there there were little pieces of 
berry, as if from imperfect blossoms. Why 
did they bear for a couple of seasons and then 
run in that way? The habit seems to spread. 
2. Young shoots of grape-vines were rubbed 
off below tbe first vine; should those between 
the first and second vine be rubbed off too ? 
3. Wbat early and hardy black cap will take 
the place of the Doolittle, which has rusted so 
much that I want to discard it? 
Ans. —1. This is a s'range change and 
one difficult to account for without 
an inspection of the vines. The thick 
growth of young shoots and their lack 
of thorns suggest the pcssibility cf the 
presence of the orange rust. This fungus 
changes the character of the plant in that 
way. 2. Rub off all shoots emanaiing from 
the trunk of the vine, that are not wanted. 3. 
Souhegan, Tyler and Carman are all good 
early and hardy black-caps, as much so as the 
Doolittle; but if the Doolittle rusts, tbe others 
will be likely to rust also. We do not know 
that one is any more liable to disease than the 
other. We presume it is the orange rust that 
is meant. Destroy all affected plants and set 
new, healthy ones in a new place, devoting the 
affected ground to some other crop for a few 
years, and you will be likely to avoid the 
trouble for a time at least. Quarantine 
against it. 
TANKAGE, DRIERS, ETC. 
W. O. F., Greensburg, Jnd., asks several 
questions with regard to the above matters. 
ANSWERED BY W. H. BOWKER, 
The best way to work up the dried blcod and 
tankage from the hogs that are slaughtered in 
your vicinity, is to obtain a drier, and, after 
the grease has been extracted from the tank¬ 
age and blood, dry them by steam heat in one of 
these machines. They are made in various 
parts of the country, and cost from $2,000 
to $5,000 set up. The best ones, I think, 
consist of a large iron shell, through which 
pass tubes conveying steam, and the whole 
is made to revolve, so that the contents are 
kept agitated, and, to some extent, ground, 
while the moisture is being thrown off. For 
taking out the grease, there are concems in 
almost every large city that manufacture 
tanks that admit a steam pressure of 00 pounds. 
This throw's the grease out, which rises to 
the top and is drawn off. The tankage is 
taken out at tbe bottom, put into powerful 
presses, and the water and remaining grease 
are pressed out. Then the tankage is put, 
with the blood or separately, into the driers 
and reduced to a fine, dry powder, When it 
is dried, it tests, if the blood is mixed with it, 
eight to ten per cent, of ammonia, and 15 to 
20 per cent, of bone phosphate. If the blood 
is left out, it tests from six to eight per cent, 
of ammonia, and 25 to 30 per cent, of bone 
phcsphate. The blood, if dried separately, 
carries from 12 to 17 per cent, of ammonia. 
The best way to ascertain which are the best 
driers is to visit some of the large slaughtering 
establishments in the West, especially those 
in Chicago, where they have the latest im¬ 
proved appliances. 
GROWING STRAWBERRIES IN A LIGHT SOIL. 
W. H. Bayport, N. Y. —How can a good 
crop of strawberries be raised on a light soil? 
What is the best fertilizer for them, and how 
much should be applied? What are the three 
best market varieties for a light soil? 
Ans.— If we were going to attempt the rais¬ 
ing of strawberries on light (sandy) soil we 
would first attempt to get it iu gcod condition 
by turning under grass crops or by generous 
applications of manure preferably, all we 
could afford from the cow stable. This done, 
we w'ould.set good healthy and well grown 
plants in good condition in early spring, two 
or two and a half feet apart in the row, and 
the rows five feet apait. Cultivate and keep 
the bed, clean and as the runners start train 
them along the row, distributing them evenly 
so as to cover a space about two or three feet 
wide. Plant the Crescent, May King, and 
Downing, which are as likely to succeed as 
any. Sharpless will produce large berries 
if the ground is strong enough; but fewer in 
numbers than the otheis. If one doesn't 
object to paying $10 per 1,000 for plants, it 
would be well to try the Pearl, but the safest 
w ay is to try a small number of different kinds 
first, and then enlaige onthose which suit best. 
LIVE-STOCK INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
M. T. L. Bergen, Co. N. J. —Is there any 
company of good standing in New York City 
that insures the lives of horses, cattle and 
other live stock, against accidents and death? 
Ans.— Several enterprises of the kind were 
started both here and in Brooklyn, but dili¬ 
gent investigation has failed to discover any 
now in existence. The People’s Live Stock 
Company, of Pennsylvania, with head quar¬ 
ters in Philadelphia, is recommended by in¬ 
surance men in this city as being the most 
reliable of li% r estock companies. It was 
founded in 18S4. Its report for last year shows 
premium receipts for the year, $02,628^pay¬ 
ments to policy-holders, $47,530; actual ex¬ 
penses of management, including taxes, $41, 
675; total expenditure, $89 205; new policies 
issued and revived, $1,283,521; policies in force 
at the end of the year, $1,572,685; total assets, 
$27,151. You see it isn't a large concern; 
though probably it is the largest of its kind. 
Personally we know nothing about it, the 
above information being the result of in¬ 
quiries among insurance men here. 
Miscellaneous. 
H. S., Brookfield, Fa.— The insect you send 
us is a Walking Stick or Spectre, entomologi- 
cally known as Diapheromera femoral a. They 
are sluggish insects found on twigs and leaves. 
D. G. B., Ella, Wis. —Without the flower 
we cannot say positively what the plant is, 
but it seems to be Moneses uDiflora, a near 
relative of the Pyrola or Wintergreen. It 
has no value that we know of. 
P. P. W., Grenston, Va.— From what reli¬ 
able firm can I buy asparagus roots at low 
figures? 
Ans.— Nearly every seedman’s catalogue iu 
the country offers the roots for sale. 
J. H. V., Bradford, Mass. —What varieties 
of gooseberries would the Rural recommend 
for a plantation of one acre? Can any of the 
foreign varieties reported in last Rural be 
obtained, such as Dougal’s Hybrid, etc. ? 
Ans.—A t present wemust answer the Down¬ 
ing. Industry is a foreign variety introduced 
by Ellwanger & Barry of Rochester, N. Y. 
It mildews at the Rural Grounds but succeeds 
admirably in many parts of the North. We 
can not ascertain that Dougal’s No. 2 has 
been propagated for sale. 
W. A. W., Elmwood, Conn.— 1. Why are 
there no tails on potato vines nowadays? 2. 
In this section turkeys are delicate and die 
before they are full-grown; what should be 
done for them? 
Ans —1. Itisthesameeverywhere, though to 
a less extent further north. The reason is not 
known. Botanists say that as, through many 
years, the potaio has been cultivated for its 
tubers, the energies of the plant are more ex¬ 
pended upon the tuber formation and less 
upon the fruit. Some of the older varieties 
still seed freely. 2. We cannot say. 
W. T. S., Pine Bluff, Ark.— The soil in my 
large greenhouse is very badly infested with 
tbe White May beetle or grub-worm; is there 
any way of driving the pests out or killing 
them? Would a heavy dressing of tobacco 
dust—say a barrel to 2,000 square feet—be 
injurious to crops of lettuce, and get rid of 
the pests? 
Ans.— Remove completely the grub-infested 
soil and procure some that is free from the 
pest. We know of no effectual means of des¬ 
troying the grubs in the soil without at the 
same time injuring the plants growing in it. 
Tobacco dust plowed into the soil, and at the 
rate of a barrel to 2,000 square feet of land, 
will not injure your orops, or, do we believe, 
the grubs either. 
■ — 
DISCUSSION. 
SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS IN REAPERS AND 
MOWERS. 
G. M. C.,New York.—R eferring to tkearti 
cle by Mr. Macomber on page 612, as to the 
knife-head with the ball-joint connection, the 
first machine to adopt that was the Clipper, 
so far as I know, and it became necessary in 
that machine because it was a tilting-bar, 
and the macmne was considered Dy all a de¬ 
cided success. So far as the ball-joint con¬ 
nection in the knife-head is concerned, that 
is as good a connection as it is possible to 
make, and tbe only connection that can be 
made with the tilting-bar, so far as has been 
discovered, and I agree with this gentleman 
in relation to the tiltiDg-bar and also in rela¬ 
tion to 1 he ball-and-socket joint. I agree with 
w hat he says with regard to the crank-sliaft, ex¬ 
cept that the boxes should be made in two parts, 
of brass, as the proper way to make them, al¬ 
though this does not give the full take-up mo¬ 
tion, but it gives the best that can be done in a 
parallel box. The ball-joint connection has a 
perfect take up motion. I also agree with 
I im in relation to the gang shaft bearings and 
Babbitt box. I would add that all of the 
quick-moving bearings should be made in two 
parts and Babbitted, so as to be easily renewed. 
As to the rachet wheels being on the outside 
of the driving wheels of the mam shaft, I 
don’t know of any important change to be 
made, or that it makes any difference on which 
side of the wheel they are placed. So far as 
the guards being fastened on with bolts in¬ 
stead of rivets is concerned, it is much more 
convenient for the operator to tighten a nut 
than a rivet. In relation to wheels upon tbe 
cutting-bar, if it is made to tilt, a shoe is de¬ 
cidedly preferable. I might suggest other 
points in connection with the mowing machine. 
Prominent among those that now occur to me 
is the motion of the knife. No machine has 
ever been successful that did not have a suffi¬ 
cient motion to more than cover the ground. 
That is, if the machine advances two inches 
at each motion of the knife, and the knife 
overhangs 2)^ inches, the ground will be 
overcut a quarter of an inch at each stroke. 
Some machines at each stroke of the knife-bar 
overlap the ground nearly three-eighths of an 
inch, and those machines that have overlapped 
the largest amount in each cut have been the 
most successful, and such machines, I should 
say, had overlapped very nearly or quite 
three eighths of an inch with each action of 
the knife bar. In my experience, I found that 
no machine that bad worn to the extent of 
lc st motion of half an inch would stand. That 
is, w-hen the pitman and crank-shaft, in line 
with the knife-bar, could be moved back and 
overhang half an inch, something would break 
inside of an hour. The point which would 
break would be the weakest, whether it was 
the motion drive-wheel or any of the connect¬ 
ing guards. The knife-head would be sure to 
break with half an inch lost motion, inside of 
60 minutes’ use. That was my experience with 
machines that have nearly one-eighth of an 
inch lost motion to start with, and they will 
often break where they have worn so as to get 
a quarter of an inch more. A large majority 
of the mowing machines that are sold for 
scrap-iron, if in the hands of parties who 
knew what the trouble was with them, could, 
at the cost of a few dollars in repairs, be made 
to run for a great many years. This is es¬ 
pecially true of iron-frame machines. Like 
Mr. Macomber, I am not interested in the 
manufacture of any machines. I am certain 
now that if a little more knowledge concern¬ 
ing the use of - mowing machines could be 
coveyed to farmers, their bills for mowing 
machines would be reduced one-half or more. 
“DAIRY IDEAS” AGAIN. 
H. A. W., Fluvanna, N. Y.—There is noth¬ 
ing more unwise than for the average farmer, 
and especially the dairyman, to allow his herd 
of cows, or even young cattle, to begin the 
winter in any other than a thriving condition. 
The more flesh they can approach the winter 
with the greater is their power of endurance, 
and the better prospects of their braving the 
severities of storm and cold. The cow that 
goes into winter-quarters in even half flesh 
will require double the feed and care to bring 
her through to grass, and the result will never 
be so satisfactory. According to the charac¬ 
ter of tbe season the time will vary in regard 
to commencing extra feed. If the season is 
dry and grass is short, extra feeding becomes 
a necessity, and wind fall apples, pumpkins, 
pomace from the cider mills, small potatoes, 
sowed corn fodder have, each, their beneficial 
effects in increasing flesh as well as milk. A 
small grain ration in conjunction with either 
of the above very soon makes apparen*- a 
‘change for the better. This extra feed should 
always be commenced as soon as drought 
makes its appearance, or when pastures be¬ 
come over-stocked. Should a farmer be un¬ 
fortunate in securing his hay in prime 
condition, I have from experience learned 
that it is better to feed it for the first 
rations, and with some roots or meal or both 
he can keep up the condition of his stock. 
Corn-fodder should always be used in early 
winter. Few bettei’feed rations can be had 
than cut corn fodder (well cured) with a 
small ration of meal. A dairy of cows with 
this feed and proper care will fall off very 
little in the quality of their milk and not at 
all iu its quantity when passing from grass to 
dry feed. As winter advances, going from 
poorer and coarser to better and finer fodder 
usually produces very pleasing results both 
in flesh and milk. Be sure your cattle go 
from hay to grass in the best possible condi¬ 
tion and the result will be most gratifying 
in healthy offspring and will pay good profits 
from the first in milk and butter. Cows 
turned to grass in low flesh require some time 
to recuperate sufficiently to get up to the con¬ 
dition at which they should have started at tbe 
first. 1 have never found a better rule to fol¬ 
low than to begin with the coarse lodder with a 
ration of roots, meal and bran, and as the sea¬ 
son advances and cold increases, to increase the 
feed in accordance with the demands of na¬ 
ture and the wastes of the system. 
N. B. C., Whitleysburgh, Md-I n the 
Rural of Sept. 8 mention was made of the 
Landreth w heat raised at the Rural Grounds. 
Was it meant that 4,666 acres were seeded and 
that the yield was 40 bushels per acre? Who 
has that kind of wheat for sale? How many 
subscribers shall l have to get for the Rural 
to entitle me to two bushels? The Rural’s 
cartoon of Uncle Sam and Trusts hits off one 
