THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
he can handle. The income from our or¬ 
chards might in most cases be doubled by 
better care, more manure and better market¬ 
ing. Select a good commission dealer and 
stick to him. He has sent his produce to the 
same Arm for 25 years. The yellows are 
troublesome, yet New Jersey growers have 
now as many healthy, thrifty trees as at any 
time before. There are so-called yellows that 
come from want of proper care or proper 
feeding, and from other causes that can be 
remedied. There'are also the genuine yellows 
so much dreaded, that we as yet know little 
about. Speaking of the matter of transpor¬ 
tation, he calls attention to the concessions 
that the Association of American Nurserymen 
have obtained from transportation com¬ 
panies. This has not been done without con¬ 
siderable effort; but it should stimulate fruit¬ 
growers to exert themselves in the same direc¬ 
tion. The States can do much to aid horti. 
culture. The Experiment Stations have done 
much towards educating the people; for in¬ 
stance in regard to fertilizers. Almost every 
farmer now knows something about the three 
chief elements of plant food. The grape- 
grower Anas himself face to face with the 
problems of excessive production of grapes, 
and unproAtable prices, and President Baird 
seems to see a ray of hope in the possible use 
that might bo made of a large share of the 
crop in the manufacture of “new wine,” (un¬ 
fermented grape juice), so highly eulogized as 
a beverage and medicine. 
THE PEACH YELLOWS. 
Prof. Edwin F. Smith, of the Section of 
Vegetable Pathology, Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, has made the subject of peach yellows a 
special study, and came to prove to the New 
Jersey peach grower, by a long array of in¬ 
stances and statistics, covering large sections 
of Delaware and Maryland, that the true dis¬ 
ease is not caused by lack of proper food in 
the soil (by soil exhaustion,) a fact which the 
progressive New Jersey peach growers have 
long since recognized. The results of the 
various experiments made by experiment 
stations, professors and growers are 'often 
conAicting. There may be a disease resulting 
from starvation, that somewhat resembles in 
its symptoms the true yellows, but which is 
curable by proper feeding. Commercial 
fertilizers have been largely applied to peach 
orchards, but as a cure or preventive they 
have no value. There are many authenticated 
cases where the application of kainit and 
muriate of potash did no good. The most 
that could be gleaned from the Professor’s 
remarks, was that the nature of the disease 
has not yet been discovered, and that the 
Department cannot suggest a remedy. The 
investigator has not been able to And the 
incipient disease or its cause (fungus) by 
microscope or otherwise. He has succeeded 
in transferring the disease from one tree to 
another. The investigation is not completed, 
but the hope is held out that the Department, 
in a year or two, will be able to give us more 
deAnite information. T his then leaves the 
whole matter in the old unsettled and unsatis¬ 
factory state. One member reports that he 
has used salt with good effects. Another 
member preaches against the practice of root- 
priming, and considers it the chief cause of 
weakness and early decay of peach and pear 
trees. 
INSECTS AND INSECTICIDES. 
Geo. D. Hulst, Entomologist of the Experi¬ 
ment Station, holds to the opinion that in¬ 
jurious insects after all, are not an unmiti¬ 
gated evil. They make production a little 
more laborious, he says, and add to the chances 
of Auancial success for the careful man. We 
have yet much to learn about insects, and how 
to deal with them; but we are advancing. A 
knowledge of the life history of every insect 
is needed in order to show us at what stage of 
its existence—egg, worm or caterpillar, chry¬ 
salis-, and perfect insect—we can take it at its 
greatest disadvantage. Of poisonous reme¬ 
dies the arsenical preparations answer the 
purpose for leaf-eaters in almost every in¬ 
stance. Kerosene and pyrethrum kill by con¬ 
tact. A mixture of the two kinds, however, 
J ’aris-green or London-purple with kerosene 
emulsion or pyrethrum), secures two chances 
to kill, and will be found most effective in 
many cases. 
Mr. Hulst also states that we need stricter 
laws, or stricter enforcement of existing laws, 
against the destruction of birds. The de¬ 
mands for material for decorating female 
head gear have done more to strip the country 
of our song birds than the quarrelsome nature 
of the English sparrow. Among useful in¬ 
sect-eaters Mr. Hulst names toads, snakes, 
moles, the latter the only enemy that preys 
upon the rose-beetle when in the larval state. 
Beople should begin to Aght insects at their 
Arst appearance, and not wait until they have 
grown numerous and destructive. 
To the query ; “ Would you advise using 
Paris-green for the cabbage worm ?” Mr. 
Hulst replied in the negative. Hot water, 
pyrethrum, and other non-poisonous remedies 
are good and effective. The inquiry after an 
effective remedy for the scaly bark louse was 
answered by Mr. Nicholsen. who recommends 
a solution of sal-soda—one pound to the gal¬ 
lon of water. If applied to the affected tree 
by means of a brush, the remedy will kill the 
bark louse. It is good for woolly aphis also. 
RESPONSIBILITY OF NURSERYMEN. 
How far should nurserymen be held respon¬ 
sible for the correctness of the stock sent out? 
Mr. Wilcox stated that nurserymen don’t 
know half the varieties they send out, nor can 
they be sure of what their stock really con¬ 
sists. They buy young trees and propagate 
from them without hardly ever fruiting them. 
The nurseryman should not be held responsi¬ 
ble if such stock does not prove true to name. 
Mr. J. B. Rogers said: “This is a question of 
law. Seedsmen were held responsible for the 
genuineness of their seeds, and are trying to 
protect themselves against oppressive respon- 
sibility by the disclaimer printed on each 
seed package. The law holds nurserymen re¬ 
sponsible, as it does seedsmen, and if they 
desire to protect themselves, they should use 
disclaimers as seedsmen do.’ 
FIGHTING INSECTS WITH FUNGI. 
The observation that many injurious in¬ 
sects are kept so effectively in check by 
diseases, has led to the idea of studying these 
diseases, and introducing them among insects 
in localities where the diseases have not yet 
appeared. This is ably advocated by Mr. 
Nicholson, who states that cabbage worms are 
not very destructive in Europe because a fatal 
fungus disease does not permit their rapid in¬ 
crease. All such fungi should be bred and 
spread among our healthy insect crops. 
GRAPES FOR GENERAL CULTURE. 
The following grapes have the indorsement 
of the society as the best for general culture, 
viz: Worden, Concord, Moore’s Early (black), 
Brighton (red), Niagara and Empire State 
(white). It might be interesting to know 
whether the members who vote for Concord 
have given the Worden and Moore’s Early a 
thorough trial. 
EXPERIMENT STATION AND SOCIETIES. 
Of the various lines of work that Secretary 
Williams thinks the Experiment Stations 
might do for the horticultural societies, one 
of the most needed and important is the analy¬ 
ses of all the kinds of fruits and vegetables. 
Ex-president Alex. W. Pearson, kept at home 
by sickness, sent a paper on the same topic. 
The discussions in our meetings, he says, some¬ 
times serve to make a dark subject still dark¬ 
er and more confused. He has listened to 
the discussions on peach yellows until he now 
knows less about the subject thau he thought 
he did years ago. The Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Stations should act as referees. The 
Department of Agriculture has practically 
settled the question of curing or preventing 
grape diseases, yet there is plenty of work 
ahead. Other remedies, or better and cheaper 
ones may yet be found, and many experiments 
are still needed. Mr. Williams mentioned the 
great diversity of the composition of soil as a 
serious drawback to the success of the work of 
testing small fruits at the stations. DeAnite 
conclusions can hardly be reached. 
CHEMISTRY AND AGRICULTURE. 
In the course of a most interesting lecture 
on the Relation of Chemistry to Agriculture 
Dr. P. T. Austin, of the experiment station, 
stated that the mineral substances of plant 
food, phosphoric acid and potash, are held in 
the soil, and a loss is not liable to occur. 
Nitrogen when applied in excess, however, 
may Alter through as through a sieve, and 
escape. Almost all fruit Aavors in general 
use are made by the chemist, and even the 
Anest of them, like pine apple, etc., owe their 
origin to old cheese and a cheap acid. There 
may be a difference of llavor between tw-o 
apples, but the chemist cannot tell this differ¬ 
ence, chemically, or how the Aavor gets there. 
Which substance shall we encourage? Which 
do away with? What is the relation of fertil¬ 
izers to composition of plant, root, Aavor? 
All these are open questions, and should be in¬ 
vestigated by the stations. If we have a sick 
tree, we generally try to cure it by giving 
some food to the roots. This may be like 
feeding a sick man with a big dinner, and 
making him still sicker. It is not impossible 
that a cure might be effected by inserting 
some medical agent through the bark directly 
into the sap circulation. Here is another 
Aeld for experiment. In conclusion Dr. 
Austin calls the attention of farmers and fruit 
growers to two substances which promise to 
rank high among destroyers of fungi and per¬ 
haps insects. Crude naphthaline, a waste pro¬ 
duct and formerly considered a nuisance, 
seems particularly adapted to kill the lower 
forms of life, bacteria and (not unlikely) in¬ 
sects. It is a harmless substance, insoluble in 
water so that it could do no possible injury if 
put into the soil occupied by roots of trees or 
plants, yet highly volatile. If placed under, 
or in the limbs of a tree, diseases and insects 
might be kept off by the atmosphere of naph¬ 
thaline which would constantly envelop the 
tree. It costs only about 12 cents per pound, 
and may be bought of the N. Y. Coal-tar Co. 
'lhe other substance is bisulphide of lime, 
which is produced in large quantities, and is 
a cheap and powerful deodorizer and anti¬ 
septic. It should be more largely used by 
farmers and fruit growers, as it has all the 
antiseptic properties of burning sulphur, and 
is more convenient and less risky to use. It 
might be tried as a fungicide for leaf diseases 
of plants, and perhaps as a preservative for 
silage, etc. 
UNPARDONABLE PRODIGALITY. 
Secretary Williams wished to protest against 
the prodigal practice of Americans in the 
exports of wheat and corn. The richness of 
our soil is sent to foreign lands, and our soils 
are left poorer in mineral elements from year 
to year. The wheat should be ground, thus 
giving more employment to American millers, 
and the Aour exported, and the bran, which 
contains the mineral elements of plant food, 
fed to stock, and eventually returned to the 
soil. Mr. Greiner said this would be very 
desirable; but it takes two to make a bargain, 
and if we desire to effect a sale, one will have 
to sell what the other party wants to buy. 
Prof. Geo. Cook, of the Experiment Station, 
puts the blame largely upon the American 
farmer himself, who does not appreciate bran, 
cotton-seed meal, etc. as he ought, and is not 
willing to pay the prices gladly paid by 
foreigners. Cotton-seed meal as a fertilizer 
is worth all it costs. The most economic 
method is to feed these materials to stock, get 
oO pier cent, of their substance in the growth 
of the animal, and 70 pier cent, in manure. 
OFFENSIVE LAWN FERTILIZERS. 
Mr. Williams and Prof. Cook united in pro¬ 
testing against the use of such bad-smelling 
and unsightly stable manures on lawns as 
could be noticed on the grounds around the 
State House where the meeting was held. 
Cotton-seed meal, bone dust and’other com. 
mercial fertilizers might be used with just as 
good results and without offense to eye or 
nose. 
NITROGEN FROM ATMOSPHERE. 
In complaining that Americans do not make 
proper use of many of the waste products of 
manufacture, Prof. Cook also mentioned the 
great loss of ammonia driven out of soft coal 
in the coke works of Pennsylvania. No prac¬ 
tical method of catching the escaping gas and 
utilizing it for manurial purposes has yet 
been found. It goes into the air, becomes 
carbonate of ammonia, and nobody knows 
whither it goes. Plants do not seem to get 
hold of it. The grass in that section does not 
grow any greener, the corn and wheat any 
thriftier. The soil there is pioor anyway, and 
the large quantities of escaping ammonia are 
not improving it. It seems quite certain that 
plants do not absorb an appreciable amount 
of nitrogen from the atmosphere. If am¬ 
monia is in the air. it has to pass through the 
soil Arst before plants can get it and they 
absorb it through the roots. Mr. Baker says 
that if he applies nitrate of soda to the soil, 
in expectancy of rain, and it does not rain 
within ten days he receives no good from it. 
The effect is lost. [This is a mistake.— Eds.] 
A GOOD POTATO CROP. 
Mr. D. Aug. *Vanderveer, of Monmouth 
county, who had planted one acre of Silver 
i Lake potatoes (of Peerless shape and general 
characteristics), makes the following report: 
Two eye seed-pieces were planted 16 inches 
apart in drills 2}£ feet apart. The fertilizer 
applied was special potato manure; 600 
pounds broadcast before planting, 400 pounds 
in the drills over the slightly covered seed, 
and 500 pounds around the hills at the second 
cultivation—1,500 pounds in all. The rows 
were slightly hilled after the last manure 
application. Blight struck the Aeld before 
the crop was fully matured. Yield, 135 bar¬ 
rels or 370 35-60 bushels. 
THE RURAL POTATO CONTEST. 
Treasurer Jones who was one of the wit¬ 
nesses at the digging of the famous potato 
crop on the Rural Experiment Grounds, tells 
of the wonderful sight presented by the quan¬ 
tities of “enormous tubers rolling out of the 
ground,’ and speaks with especial warmth of 
the No. 2 now being disseminated. Dr. Ward 
inquired about the Aea-beetle, as he is not 
satisAed with anything that has yet been 
brought out. Sec’y Williams says it shows 
preferences for certain varieties. In spite of 
all inquiries, however, not much new informa¬ 
tion was developed either concerning the Aea- 
beetle or the potato blight which was so very 
destructive in many parts of New Jersey last 
season, especially in Monmouth County. 
Experience withJGrape Diseases.— Mr. 
Williams reports having made 2J£ applica¬ 
tions of Bordeaux mixture. He has had bet¬ 
ter grapes than last year, or in a long time 
before. None were left untreated. Col. 
Pearson’s experiments in Vineland under the 
direction of the Department of Agriculture 
have conclusively shown that grape diseases 
are preventable by the proper use ot copper 
sulphate preparations. Mr. Williams had to 
use one of the older style hand force pumps, 
as he could not get a perfect sprayer. Mr 
Vanderveerhas experimented with eau celeste, 
making the Arst application June 1 st. but he 
could not see much difference. Mr. Williams 
recommends spraying or washing the vines 
with the Bordeaux mixture now and then 
again in the spring. The winter spores should 
be killed Arst. He has bagged Duchess 
before bloom, yet on some clusters every 
berry rotted. Some varieties when bagged 
before blooming formed perfect clusters; 
others did not, for want of proper fertiliza¬ 
tion. This depends largely on the vigor of 
vines etc. T grej NKB# 
AS A FARMER’S DAUGHTER SEES IT. 
Y brother and I have just attended the 
- farmers’ institute held at Cortland, on 
Dec. li and 18. The distance, weather and con¬ 
dition of the roads made it impossible for us 
to take in the whole of it, so I shall not try to 
give a full description of the proceedings, but 
I’ll tell you what I especially liked. First, 
Col F. D. Curtis, the instructor, who Ailed 
the place of Sec’y Woodward, proved very 
conclusively that New York is a dairy State 
and gave valuable instruction in regard to 
food rations for stock, for different purposes. 
He is a pleasant and genial teacher. Silo and 
silage were thoroughly discussed and their 
beneAts explained. The paper by A. Dev- 
ereaux, on Silage in the Dairy,” was very 
interesting and practical. Prof. Ladd, of the 
State Experiment Station at Geneva, by the 
use of his charts made very plain the value of 
different kinds of food, and the proper combi¬ 
nations for rations. His paper was a little 
too learned for one like me, not versed in 
scientiAc terms, but his explanation of his 
charts, and his answers to the questions asked 
were very clear. “The Homs in Relation to 
Milk and Butter,” by Dr. Law, of Cornell 
University, was also very learned. But I 
would like to have placed some of our 
friends who told about the docility of de. 
hoi ned and polled cattle, in the yard with a 
polled bull that we had on our farm a few 
years ago. I think one look at his monstrous 
head and wicked eyes, would have inclined 
them to edge near the fence. G. P. Squires, 
of Marathon, read an important paper on the 
“Breeding of Domestic Animals.” 
He dwelt on the folly of breeding from all 
kinds of stock with the expectation of getting 
all the good points and none of the poor ones; 
and on the folly of every farmer trying to raise 
a trotter. There was a short paper on “Potato 
Culture,” by Robert Purvis, of Cortland, but 
dairying seemed to be the principal theme, 
and potatoes were forced to take the back¬ 
ground. Perhaps their present low price had 
something to do with it. The institute was a 
success judged by the interest shown in the 
questions asked, and the number present in 
spite of storm. Mrs. Burnham, of East 
Homer, gave a very Aue rendering of one of 
Will Carleton’s poems at the close of the exer¬ 
cises. Now, just a little criticism on the 
friends who have so kindly given us instruc¬ 
tion. I do not think they give farmers full 
credit for the improvement they have made 
and are trying to make. They cannot realize 
the diAiculty and the obstacles farmers have 
to meet. The farmer with small means and 
old-fashioned tools aud unimproved stock 
already on his hands, Auds it hard and slow- 
work to make the changes he desires. But it 
is a pretty slack farmer in these parts that is 
not trying in one way or another to improve. 
Just let people give us credit for what we 
have doue aud we will gladly receive all the 
instruction they have for us. 
EMMA L. BUSS. 
I THE N. Y. STATE DAIRYMEN’S CON¬ 
VENTION. 
^ I Ml F. State Dairymen's Association met in 
OswegoonDec.il. After the appointment 
of committees, the work was commenced by a 
discussion of proper rations for fattening 
animals and in feeding for milk. A series of 
charts, which are to be exhibited at each of 
the institutes this winter, were hung up in 
the hall. The Arst of these shows the rela¬ 
tive amount of food elements in each of sever¬ 
al of the most common substances used in 
feeding. For example, one bar painted across 
the chart showed in red the relative amount 
of albuminoids in hay, or about 4-100 of its 
