708 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
IDSS “I 
the wheat and grass will get the most of the 
plant food which will be made available dur¬ 
ing the summer by the action of the soil. 
Consequently I would advise that the manure 
should be turned under, not deeply, but well 
covered, and when the time comes for turning 
the oat-stubble I would then turn the land an 
inch or two deeper so as to mix the soil and 
decomposed manure thoroughly. It is diffi¬ 
cult to get an even spreading of manure by 
harrowing, unless it is quite fine and breaks 
up easily. If there is no danger of washing 
the land, the manure might bespread through 
the winter and turned under in time to get the 
oats sown in the fresh land. Oats are sown in 
Virginia in February or March, any time 
when the danger of severe frost that would 
kill the young plants is past, but as early as 
possible. You will be safe in following the 
lead of your neighbors in this respect. Oats, 
however, should be sown as early as the sea¬ 
son will admit: 2% bushels to the acre is the 
right quantity of seed, and drilling is prefer¬ 
able to broadcasting, if it can be done with¬ 
out much inconvenience. Oats do very well 
sown broadcast, but should be well covered. 
The quantity of manure is to be measured by 
the ability of the farmer; 15 or 20 loads per 
acre would be a fair quantity to serve for the 
oats and wheat too; 10 are more often used,but 
the more the better up to 20 tons per acre. 
ASSORTING APPLES. 
G. T. D., East Randolph, Vt .—In assorting 
apples, what should be the smallest size of 
perfect apples to go into a No. 1 package? 
For instance, in case of a small variety like 
Golden Russet, would any that would not pass 
through a two-inch ring be too small, and what 
should be the limit with regard to larger 
varieties, such as the Baldwin, R. I. Greening, 
etc.? 
Ans. In sorting apples for market we be¬ 
lieve there are no established rules for regu¬ 
lating the exact size of what would be termed 
merchantable apples. At the same time near¬ 
ly all fruit growers of experience have in 
mind a certain size that would be accounted 
such, corresponding, very nearly, to the speci¬ 
men of the Golden Russet referred to above. 
Indeed we would consider that, where only 
oue grade is designed in sorting, the same 
rule would apply to the Baldwin, Northern 
Spy, etc., providing the specimens are perfect 
in form and well colored; but where first 
and second grades are designed, it would be 
better and perhaps more profitable to run the 
size referred to of the latter varieties in with 
the second. After all, it is the relation of 
supply and demand that is the more impor¬ 
tant factor in regulating the merchantable 
size. During the present season, for example, 
with its abundance of perfect and well de¬ 
veloped fruit, even at the ruinously low prices 
prevailing it is more difficult to dispose of 
the fine crop than it was to dispose of the re¬ 
duced and inferior crop of last season at re¬ 
munerative prices. Consequently thousands 
of barrels are now being rejected and must 
be resorted before seeking a market. 
BUCKWHEAT AS STOCK FEED. 
J. R. W., Elmira, N. Y .,—What is an 
analysis of buckwheat straw? Will ground 
corn and buckwheat make a fair ration for 
cows in milk? 
G. T. D., East Randolph, Vt .—What 
breeds were used to make up the Wyandotte 
fowl? 
Ans. —It is claimed that the Wyandotte 
breed sprang from a cross of Silver Spangled 
Hamburg and Dark Brahma; but this is dis¬ 
puted, as there are several strains. It is, how¬ 
ever, as nearly correct as any other suppo¬ 
sition. 
DISCUSSION. 
UNCERTAINTIES OF POTATO GROWING. 
W. V., Franklin, New Jersey. —I have 
been looking over the Potato Number of the 
Rural and would like to say something about 
potatoes in this neighborhood. I planted, on 
corn ground on a hillside facing southeast on 
about one acre, two barrels of Early Rose seed, 
one from Canada and one from Northern New 
York. The vines of these died early and the 
crop was very light—only 50 bushels from half 
an acre. The remaining half acre I planted 
with Rural Blush a little mixed with White 
Elephant, both raised by myself. This half 
acre yielded about 100 bushels. The tubers 
were large and the vines were green up to the 
middle of September when I dug the crop. I 
used about 1,500 pounds of potato fertilizer on 
the acre. I also plowed in barn yard manure 
on part of the land, but paid no attention to 
this. I fertilized all alike and could see very 
little difference between the yield where the 
manure was put and that where there was 
none. Now, potatoes where the vines 
lived the longest, the tubers were the 
largest and the yield the heaviest, are rotting 
badly, while the others, or Early Rose, are 
keeping all right My first thought was that the 
difference was due to the kind of seed planted; 
but my neighbor used sod ground, manured 
heavily, plowed the manure under and plant¬ 
ed his potatoes in every third furrow a week 
or so later than I did, about the last of April. 
His crop is larger and his potatoes bigger, but 
they rotted worse than mine. His were dug in 
October, and he said that he left nearly one 
half on the ground. He also tells me that he 
planted two rows of potatoes around his pole 
beans, and on one side the tubers were so small 
that they were not worth digging, and on the 
other side they were very large and commen¬ 
ced to rot early. He used no fertilizer but all 
manure. I used nearly all fertilizer, and 
hardly any manure. 
To sum up:—I planted on corn ground, us¬ 
ing some foreign and some home-grown seed, 
and applying fertilizer almost altogether 
with very little manure, and the large pota¬ 
toes rotted most. Ho planted on sod ground, 
applied a heavy dressing of manure which 
was plowed under with the potatoes, and he 
obtained a heavy crop, one half of which rot¬ 
ted before they were got off the ground, and 
on the highest and most sandy ground there 
were as many rotten as on the lower spots. 
Another neighbor plowed his seed under the 
sod with the manure and his crop is less, but 
of quite fine quality, there being scarcely a 
rotten one. I find others whose crops of pota¬ 
toes are rotting badly. Potato growing in 
this section at least seems to be a very uncer¬ 
tain business. 
JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT AND OTHER SEEDS. 
Ans. —Buckwheat straw[contains very little 
nitrogen, but is rich in mineral elements. It 
has 6.15 per cent, of ash and the ash contains 
46% per cent, of potash; 2.2 per cent, of soda: 
3.6 per cent, of magnesia; 18.4 per cent, of lime 
and 11.9 per cent, of phosphoric acid. The 
grain contains nine per cent, of nitrogenous 
substance (corn has 15) and 58 per cent, of car¬ 
bonaceous. It is most valuable for food for 
cows,when mixed with equal quantities of corn 
and wheat bran; but alone it is not a good food 
for making rich milk. 
RAISING POTATOES FROM SEED-BALLS. 
A. M. L., Alden, Rl .—How can potatoes be 
raised from seed-balls? 
Ans. —This has been fully explained in the 
R. N.-Y. time and time again. We would 
advise our new friend to consult files of the 
R. N.-Y. if procurable. Briefly let us repeat: 
Sow the seeds in pots or boxes precisely as 
you would tomato seeds. The seeds sprout 
in a few days. As soon as the little plants 
get five or six inches high, transplant each 
one to a little pot (thre-einch). Let them 
grow until the middle of May. Then thump 
them out into the soil, one foot by three feet 
apart, and treat as other potatoes. Sow the 
seeds from January to February. 
Miscellaneous. 
D. McO., Berryville, Va .—Does the Rural 
know of any large sauerkraut manufacturer 
to whom I would be likely to sell a large lot 
of cabbage? I have about 15 acres. 
An s, —No. Can any of our readers answer? 
C. H, E., Avoca, N. Y.—Here are the results 
of some experiments with new varieties. Last 
spring 1 purchased some Japanese buckwheat 
and, as I think a test of new things to be true 
and beneficial should be made in comparison 
with some standard variety on soil of the same 
fertility, I did not give the new sort a fair 
chance and the result was a disappointment. 
I shall try it once more, however, but I would 
advise those who think of trying it not to in¬ 
vest too heavily in it; but to be sure to get 
the seed of some reliable seedsman or of some 
one with whom the experimenter is personally 
acquainted. I never purchase what are called 
“ store seeds,” as I always receive several seeds¬ 
men’s catalogues and by trying new varieties 
with older sorts I have found what I consider 
the best. Several years ago I got some of 
Bliss’s Abundance peas, and although I have 
tried a great many other kinds, I think Abun¬ 
dance the best as well as the most prolific. 
For medium peas for early use, the Alaska 
sent out by the R. N.-Y. a few years ago, and 
Rawson’s Clipper are my choice; ^vhile the 
much extolled American Wonder I consider 
worthless. I find that the purchasers must 
make great allowance; for the seedsmen are 
quite apt to extol a new variety too highly. 
All lovers of celery should try Henderson’s 
White Plume and Golden Self-blanching, with 
some Golden Heart for spring use. Last 
spring an agent for a seed company in Roch¬ 
ester, N.Y., came through this section taking 
orders for a new kind of oats called Early 
Swedish. He showed testimonials from 
prominent agriculturists praising this va¬ 
riety very highly. The result was that 
he disposed of over a car-load. The 
yield on every acre sown with the new 
kind was at least one-fourth less than the 
amount produced from common oats, and 
some farmers had invested in as much as 40 
bushels. They are very heavy but do not 
yield as well as one would expect by looking 
at them before cutting, the grain is so small. 
I purchased a barrel of Charter Oak potatoes 
last spring of a person whom I have always 
considered reliable—a prominent seedsman in 
New York. The potatoes answered the de¬ 
scription as to size and shape: but they were 
to be late and heavy croppers; whereas with 
me they were very early and small, and the 
yield was very light. ' 
RAW POTATOES INJURIOUS TO A HORSE. 
A. B. A., Flushing, N. Y.—Sometimes 
just for a change of food to a horse, 1 have 
given a quart or less of raw cut potatoes. 
Much more than this quantity I found was 
apt to bring on colic or scours. On page 
746 of the Rural of Nuvember 10, under the 
caption, “What killed the horse?’’ a case 
is mentioned where a horse got, in one 
day, a pailful of raw potatoes, and I do 
not wonder that he suffered from colic 
and died, more especially as the potatoes 
were accompanied with corn meal, which 
is also a promoter of colic, and then, too, 
he was allowed to drink all the cold water 
he wanted. 
I wonder Dr. KQborne should be in any 
doubt as to the cause of the animal’s death. A 
pailful or more per day of raw potatoes may 
be fed to cattle with benefit, but they have 
much larger stomachs than horses; indeed 
they have four of them while a horse 
has only one, and therefore they can easily 
digest raw roots of all kinds. Carrots are 
more safely fed to horses in liberal measure 
and are highly approved. Some horsemen go 
so far as to say that, quantity for quantity, 
as part of a ration, they are nearly as bene¬ 
ficial as oats. Perhaps this may be so, as they 
moisten the hay that has been eaten about 
the same time, in the stomach, rendering it 
nearly equivalent to the amount of grass 
from which it was made, and more easily 
digested. A ration of raw potatoes mixed 
with corn meal and then drenched with cold 
water is a very indigestible mess. 
THE TARIFF ON WOOL AND WOOLEN GOODS. 
H. B. G., Queens Co , N. Y.—Is it not true 
that it is the relative tariff on wool and the 
articles which are manufactured from it, 
which determines the price of the American 
sheep-grower’s product ? The woolen manu¬ 
facturer claims that the tariff on the manu¬ 
factured product is relatively lower than it is 
upon the raw material and cites the enormous 
importation of foreign cloths, to prove his 
assertion. It is evident from the drift of 
things that he will go to Washington and de¬ 
mand more protection for the manufactured 
product. Ostensibly this will be done to pro¬ 
tect American industry; but the real object will 
be to advance the price of cloth so as to enable 
the manufacturer to import foreign wools 
and undersell the importers of the foreign 
manufactured product. Unless the tariff on 
wool is kept proportionately higher than it is 
upon cloth, the wool-grower will not reap the 
benefit contemplated by the protective tariff. 
This was the weak point in the Mills bill. 
Free wool would, without doubt, help the 
woolen manufacturers, but it is a question 
whether it would cheapen the price of cloth 
to the purchaser while it would certainly in¬ 
jure the wool-grower. What we want Is little 
or no duty on grades of cloth or carpets made 
chiefly of wools not grown in this country, a 
prohibitory tariff on wools that can be raised 
here, and an increased tariff on cloths or car¬ 
pets that are made abroad from similar raw 
material. 
THE AILANTHUS. 
V. M. H., Milford, Del.— Seeing two com¬ 
munications in recent issues of the Rural 
New-Yorker calling attention to the beauty 
and great economic value of this tree, I am 
reminded that when a boy at home in Lan¬ 
caster County, Pennsylvania, we had two 
fine, large trees in front of our dwelling; the 
seeds from them fell upon the roof of the 
house. At my father’s suggestion I collected 
a barrel of seeds and sent them to the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. The Hon. Frederick 
Watts, the Commissioner, in acknowledging 
my donation, wrote, “It will aid materially 
the cherished purpose of the Department to 
distribute tree seeds at the West; and im¬ 
mediate and careful measures will at once be 
taken to give your gift proper direction.” 
This was in 1873. I have since been curious to 
learn if the experiment proved successful. 
Probably some of the numerous Western 
readers of the Rural could give the interest¬ 
ing information. 
MORE ABOUT JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT. 
E. G. S., Cuba, N. Y.—For the benefit of 
P. S. B., Fremont, N. Y., I wish to say that I 
have raised the Japanese b lekwheat for two 
years, and believe it to be far ahead of all 
other kinds. It is certainly a distinct variety. 
So far with me it out-yields the old Gray or 
the Silver Hull, two to one. It makes a 
better growth on poorer soil than any buck- 
wneat that I have ever raised. It has one 
peculiarity—bees do not work on its blossoms. 
Do honey bees lessen the yield of fruit or 
grain by extracting honey from the blossoms? 
If they do, score one for the Japanese 
buckwheat. I expect to test its flouring 
qualities soon. If any of my brother 
farmers wish to get seed at “living rates” 
they must watch the advertising columns of 
the Rural next January. 
CARP CULTURE. 
A. W., New Hartford, N. Y.— Ou page 
682 an inquiry is made concerning the quality 
of the flesh of the German carp. I have a 
small pond containing carp, and from my ex¬ 
perience with them I should say that carp 
would live where any fish would and the flesh 
is certainly much sweeter and better than 
that of any sucker that I ever tasted. As 
regards the profit of carp culture, I do not be¬ 
lieve it will pay to go to much expense in 
building ponds for carp raising; but where 
one has a pond already built which can be 
kept free from fish of prey and from loss by 
overflowing in time of flood, it may pay well 
for the cost of stocking with carp. 
F. L. P., New Providence, Ind —Please 
reverse the order of the cartoon, “ A Fight to 
a Finish” on page 723. Place “Uncle Sam” 
behind the tatooed bully where he belongs. 
Let the farmer receive the blow; substitute 
“ Biodle ” for Ballot on the arm tbat strikes, 
and ignorance for “ Honesty ” on the farmer’s 
belt, and you will have a picture true to life, 
Inscribe. 
“ Trusts are private affairs 
Keep your nose out of 
Other people’s business. 
R. N.-Y.—Whatever the farmer’s position 
may be in the matter, our picture shows where 
he ought to stand. 
A. A. C. Ames, Iowa.— P. S. B. on page 
748, speaks of Japanese buckwheat and asks 
the experience of others. At the Agricul¬ 
tural Experiment Station here we find the 
yield better than that of the ordinary kind, 
the grains larger, and the plants far more 
vigorous. The Station is distributing the 
seeds to the farmers of the State. 
Experience with Manures at Rotham- 
sted. —SirJ. B. Lawessays that a continuous¬ 
ly unmanured plot in his grounds at Rotham- 
sted, now yields only 10 bushels of wheat per 
acre, instead of about 12, the average of the 
preceding 10 years, or 13 the average of the 
preceding 36 years. The farmyard manure 
plot, on the other hand, yields 38 bushels, of 
60 pounds per bushel, against an average 
of only 32X, but of rearly 61 pounds per bush¬ 
el, over the preceding 10 years, and of 33% 
bushels, at 60% pounds per bushel, over the 
preceding 36 years. That is to say, whilst the 
unmanured produce is about three bushels be¬ 
low its average of 13, the farmyard manure 
produce is more than four bushels above its 
average of 33%. Again, another plot, which 
receives, besides mineral manures, a liberal, 
but not excessive, amount of salts of ammonia, 
yields nearly 36 bushels, at 59% pounds per 
bushel, against an average of only 32% bushels 
at the same weight, over the preceding 36 
years; that is, it gives an excess this year of 
rather over three bushels. Another plot, on 
the other hand, with the same mineral man¬ 
ures, but one-and-a-half time as much salts 
of ammonia as plot seven, yields only 35% 
bushels against its average of 36% bushels; 
that is, with the excess of ammonia-salts, 
there is this year 1% bushel less than its 
average, and even less than with the smaller 
amount of salts of ammonia. The mineral 
and nitrate plot, again yields only 33% bush¬ 
els, against its average of 36% bushels, show¬ 
ing, therefore, a deficiency of three bushels 
this year. 
“A Slip ’Twixt the Cup and the Lip.”— 
“The outcome of the * Grand Potato Contest ’ 
ou the grounds of the Rural New-Yorker, 
only furnishes another instance of the uncer¬ 
tainty of even the best made calculations as to 
prospective crops, especially when these are 
intended to be phenomenally large.” So says 
our respected friend Orchard and Garden. 
And the editor goes on to say: “ It may be a 
hard task to produce these unusally large, 
almost excessive yields (although the Rural 
