4889 
407 
ANSWERED BY J. S. HARRIS. 
The opinion generally prevailing is that a 
sandy or light sandy loam soil is essential for 
successful melon culture. I have found the 
melon a plant not at all particular as to soil if 
it be not too wet and heavy. P. G. B. may 
prepare his soil for good melon crops by first 
giving it under drainage unless the sub-soil is 
open and porous; next by plowing deep and 
fine, and if the surface is a dead level, he 
should leave it in ridges eight or ten feet wide 
The application of wood ashes—one bushel to 
a square rod—thoroughly harrowed in, or 
double the quantity plowed in, has a tendency 
to keep the soil mellow, and is a good fertili¬ 
zer. If manures are required, that made 
from the horse-stable is the best for such a 
soil. The application of sand does notusually 
show any immediate benefit. Probably a 
good load of sharp sand to the rod for four or 
five years, if thoroughly incorporated with 
the soil, would in the end prove advantageous; 
but if all were applied at once it would prove 
injurious. Varieties: musk-melons, Emerald 
Gem, Surprise, Early Hackensack; water¬ 
melons, Kolb’s Gem and Gipsy. Mountain 
Sprout and Black Spanish are also good varie¬ 
ties. ''Home-grown seed does not seem to be 
as sure as that grown South and East. 
ABSORBENTS OF LIQUID MANURE. 
E. A. P., Chatham, Pa. —What is the best 
absorbent to use in a barnyard for preserving 
the liquid manure? 
Ans. —The “best” absorbent for liquid 
manures is the one calculated to add most to 
the value of the manure, and would evidently 
be one containing a fair amount of phosphoric 
acid. Urine is weak in phosphoric acid, that 
is to say, the amount of phosphoric acid in 
urine does not bear a fair ratio to the 
amount of nitrogen or potash. For example, 
a standard fertilizer contains six per cent, of 
ammonia, seven per cent, of phosphoric acid 
and six per cent, of potash. The urine con¬ 
tains such a small percentage of phosphoric 
acid that it cannot possibly be called a “com¬ 
plete” or standard manure. For use in the 
gutters behind cattle or horses, sawdust with 
which a quantity of “floats” or bone meal has 
been mixed, has been frequently praised. 
The “floats” alone have but little retentive 
power—they would be of but little value as an 
absorbent. An acid phosphate would be 
better than the “floats.” Many farmers mako 
a practice of wheeling the horse manure back 
of the cows every day. This is considered an 
economical practice. Stalks and straw cut 
iuto inch lengths make an excellent absorbent. 
These absorbents are best suited for use in the 
stable where most of the urine should be 
saved. For the barn-yard, muck, dry earth, 
sods, straw, leaves, etc., etc., will save much 
of the liquid. 
ABOUT POTATO CULTURE. 
J. I. B. Jr., Riverdale, N. Y. —I am think¬ 
ing of trying the Rural Trench System of 
raising potatoes. 1. Of the Burbank, White 
Elephant and Late Beauty of Hebron, which 
would be the best; that is, the most profitable 
to raise? 2. What are the merits and demerits 
of each? 3. Have your experiments demon¬ 
strated how the seed of these varieties should 
be cut to the best advantage? 4. Where can 
seed be obtained? 5. How can trenches, 
etc., be satisfactorily made in a field of plowed 
sod? 
Ans. —1. The White Elephant and Late 
Beauty of Hebron are essentially the same. 
A.t any rate, the R. N.-Y. can see no dif¬ 
ference. The quality is better than that of 
Burbank. 2. Burbank is a good yielder. 
The shape of the White Elephant might be 
better. 3. Take medium-sized potatoes, cut 
off the seed-end and cut the rest so as to give 
two or three strong eyes to each piece and as 
much flesh to each as possible. 4. See cata¬ 
logue notices. 5. The sod should have been 
turned last fall. Then a shovel plow would 
answer to form the trenches next spring. 
SMALL FRUIT QUERTES. 
F. S. W., Des Moines, Iowa. —1. Wbatdoes 
the Rural think of the Worden and Moore’s 
Early grapes as compared with the Concord 
in hardiness, earliness and quality. 2. Is 
the Niagara hardy enougn for our climate 
and how is it as to quality and productive¬ 
ness? 8. Are grape vines and strawberry 
plants raised in nurseries in Northern Ohio and 
New York as good for planting here as home¬ 
grown sorts? 
Ans. —1. In our soil the Worden is neither 
better nor earlier than the Concord, while 
the bunches do not average so large. Moore’s 
Early is as good as the Concord—10 days 
earlier. The berries are larger, the bunch 
smaller. It is fully as hardy. 2. We do not 
think the Niagara as hardy as the Concord, 
and we doubt if it will stand your climate. 
It is very productive. In quality it is no bet. 
ter than the Concord and is more foxy. 
3. Yes, ip our opinion, 
TOP-DRESSING FOR PASTURES; THE HORSE- 
NETTLE. 
E. A. P., Chatham, Pa. —1. What fertilizer 
would be advisable as a spring top-dressing 
for pastures that were eaten off close last 
fall? 2. What is the best way to get rid of 
the horse-nettle? 
Ans. 1. Unlenched ashes and raw-bone flour. 
2. This pernicious weed (Solanum Carolinense) 
is a native of the South, but is extending 
North. The root is perennial, the stem from 
one to two feet high; the flower bluish-white, 
berries a quarter-inch in diameter. It should 
be fought by continuous cultivation until the 
last plant is killed. 
COLD-STORAGE HOUSES. 
E. H. C., Highlands, N. J .—Where can I 
get information concerning cold-storage 
houses? Is it possible to kesp strawberries 
and like fruits, green corn or other vegetables 
in a natural state for Christmas in a cold- 
storage house? 
Ans —R. J. Dean & Co., of this city con¬ 
duct several large cold-storage houses. A 
visit to their establishments would be worth 
more to the observing man than a volume of 
information. There are other houses along 
the Hudson River that might be examined 
with profit. The plan of supplying fruits and 
vegetables at Christmas is certainly well 
worth testing. 
PARSNIP-FLAVORED CELERY. 
M. T. W., Sandy Hill, N. Y .—Last season I 
had some celery that was so strongly flavored 
by a parsnip taste that it was nauseating and 
worthless. Parsnipslwere growing near it; is 
it possible they “ mixed.” As they are of 
different genera, I can’t understand how one 
can cross-fertilize the other. 
Ans. That the celery should be parsnip- 
flavored is wholly inexplicable to the R. N -Y. 
Miscellaneous, 
J. E. R. P., Hornellsville, N. Y .—The barley 
sent for name is the Nepaul variety. 
W. Medina , N. Y— What is the quality of 
the Queen of the Valley potato? 
Ans. —We consider the quality, as the 
variety is grown in most places, inferior. 
T. W. L ., Buckingham Co., T r a.—We 
published a special number of the Rural de¬ 
voted exclusively to ensilage last year. In 
this number the plan of packing whole corn 
stalks in the silo was described. 
J. C., Hartfield, N. Y .—What shall I do for 
lice on cattle? 
Ans. —Pyrethrum dusted into the hair will 
kill the lice; so will the use of tobacco water, 
lard aud snuff, or thymo-cresol. 
O. K. H., Plainfield, N. J. —Please name 
the best three plums for market in this sec¬ 
tion. 
Ans. —Select from the following: Duane’s 
Purple, Imperial Gage, Jefferson,McLaughlin, 
Washington. 
H. A. D., Taylorville, Rl. —If a young mul 
berry tree is set out next spring—in April— 
would it be advisable to mulch it with straw? 
Ans. —Should the season be dr/, the mulch 
will be of service; otherwise not in the R. N.¬ 
Y.’s opinion. 
O. W. S., Parisville, N. Y .—What is the 
address of some Guernsey cattle breeder in 
this part of the State? 
Ans.— E. N. Howell, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; 
J. L. Hope, “ Ellerslie,” Rhinocliff, N. Y.; S. 
B. Faber Willets, Roslyn, L. I., N. Y. 
F. \V. J., Pontiac, Mich .—Where can I get 
the Thomas smoothing harrow? Who sells 
the R. N.-Y No. 2 potato? 
Ans. —1. The Herendeen Manufacturing 
Co., Geneva, N. Y. make the Thomas harrow 
2. Thorburn & Co., 15 John St., N.Y. will sell 
any quantity of the Rural No. 2 potato as 
long as their stock holds out. 
S. II. S., South Livermore, Me. —Near here 
there formerly grew some Black-Heart cherry 
trees, from -which there are now some sprouts 
or young trees growing quite thriftily; but 
they never bear. Why? 
Ans. —The young trees are seedlings prob¬ 
ably, aud may be very late in beariug. 
H. D , Greenwich, Conn. —1. Is the Kitta- 
tinuy Blackberry hardy in this locality 2. 
Is it a good bearer aud a good market berry ? 
Ans. —1. A perfectly hardy blackberry for 
your climate is yet to be found. The Kitta. 
tinny often winter-kills here aud further south. 
2. Yes, a fine bearer of excellent berries and 
a good market variety. 
G. K. II., Penfield, N. Y .—My land is lime¬ 
stone loam, and most of the stones are fast, 
and manytools that will work well on clear 
land I cannot use at all. Does the Rural know 
of any cultivators that answer the following 
description?—A cultivator on wheels, with 
teeth supplied with springs, like the hoes on 
what is known as a “spring-hoe” drill, so 
that when a tooth strikes an obstruction it may 
draw back to a horizontal position without 
anything breaking, and when the obstruction 
is passed, it will at once spring back to its 
former position. The teeth should be arrang¬ 
ed so that ODe or two of the center ones may 
be removed for cultivating drilled crops two 
rows at a time. 
Ans —A cultivator made by Hench & 
Dromgold, of York, Pa., will fill the bill. 
DISCUSSION. 
THE HELP QUESTION. 
F. D., Trenton, N. J.—A late Rural is 
devoted iD part to the labor or “ help” ques¬ 
tion. It is one that will be always with us. 
Before all the fortunes that have been made 
and under all that may yet be secured, is 
work. Among the questions sent out in the 
annual circular by the executive committee 
of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture, 
are these: 
1. Wha f are the wages paid adult farm 
hands per month, with board* 
2. What without board? 
3. Do farmers generally board their help? 
4 Are there more single than married men 
employed on farms? 
5. Are farm laborers native or foreign— 
». e., which class is in the majority? 
The replies state that the average pay per 
month, with board, including bed, light, etc., 
is §12 to §18; without board but usually with 
a tenant house, garden, and sometimes a 
quart of milk a day or the keep of a cow and 
other items. $22 to $25. Farmers generally 
board their help, however. There are far 
more single than married men employed as 
farm hands, and this seems to stand in the 
way of help boarding themselves, tenant 
house or no tenant house. I agree in general 
with Mrs. I. D. C—’s statement on page 57. 
As a remedy tor the large amount of Inex¬ 
perienced, inefficient, ignorant, careless, slip¬ 
shod, stock-abusing and employer-and-wife- 
provoking help, we must—or we had better 
at least—give a higher price for a good, re¬ 
liable, decent man, who is sufficiently compe¬ 
tent to set himself to work occasionally with 
out orders for every step. Only in this way 
will we grade up farm help, and show the 
large class who expect good wages on the 
farm without a knowledge of first principles 
even, that it will pay them to learn their 
trade thoroughly, so as to know how to as¬ 
sume responsibility, before they expect a 
journeyman’s or skilled workman’s wages. 
On this point Mr. March is right; so also is 
Mr. Cook’s second paragraph on page 52. 1 
am somewhat surprised, too, to find in answer 
to question 6 , put by the New Jersey Board 
of Agriculture, that farm laborers are quite 
generally native; but one county, possibly 
two, in this State say that foreigners are in 
the majority. 
JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT. 
A. J. Cook, Ingham Co , Mich. —I wish to 
add my voice "to the praise of this excellent 
grain. 1 had to pay $3 for seed, which I did 
with some reluctance; but 1 am very glad 
that I did so. 1. The yield was extraordin¬ 
ary—far beyond my highest hopes—and that 
notwithstanding the fact that it was sown, in 
part on a very hard, poor soil. 2. The ker¬ 
nels are very large. I never saw such large 
grain before, though l have raised the com¬ 
mon and Silver-hull kinds for some years. 3. 
I sowed one-half early in June, and the re¬ 
mainder a month later, and the early sown 
was as good as the other. This, of course, 
might not always be so. The season was 
cool and dry. 4. The grain weighs 45 
pounds to the measured bushel. 5. The mil¬ 
ler tells me he never ground buckwheat that 
turned out so much flour and so little waste. 
I should expect this from the size of the 
berry. 6. We are now eating buck-wheat- 
cakes from this grain, and we all agree that 
there is no discount on the Japanese variety 
for griddle-cakes. 7. I noticed that the 
bees worked on the blossoms all day; though 
not so numerously perhaps in the after¬ 
noon as in the forenoon: but to a considerable 
extent. It is the common opinion among bee¬ 
keepers that bees never gather from common 
buckwheat in the afternoon. We know that 
all plants that bees work on are made more 
productive if the bees visit the flowers freelv. 
It may be that this very fact is one factor in 
the greater productiveness of this valuable 
variety. I am so pleased with it that I shall 
raise three times as much another year. 
short-horns vs. draft horses. 
G. H. C., Talmage, Kan.—I have read 
several articles [lately,! in. the [Rural about 
raising draft horses. The writers figure out 
quite a handsome profit—a good deal more 
than I think experience warrants. Farmers 
here have been breeding grade draft horses 
for some ypars, and the oldest are ready to 
sell out; but it shakes a man’s faith in the 
business to be offered from $100 to $125 for 
the best, considering the service fee, the risk 
of accident from barbed-wire fences and the 
fact that about one-ha If the colts never get 
laree enough for this trade, and a horse must 
be five years old or more and be thoroughly 
broken. I think most farmers will make 
more money by keeping good Short-horn 
cows, making good butter and the best of 
beef. 
ANGEL OF MIDNIGHT AND “ POND” CORN. 
E. S. L., Holmen, Wis.—I planted a field 
with these two sorts on the same day, and, 
this fall, husked 140 average hills of each. I 
dried the corn near a stove as dry as could 
be. The yields of both kinds were shelled and 
weighed at the same time, and the result was 
that the Pond corn out-yielded the Midnight 
14^ pounds of shelled corn. But the cobs of 
the Midnight corn are lighter, in proportion 
to the grain, than those of the Pond. Both 
kinds are liked here, where replanting in 
spring is often done two or three times ere 
a fair stand is secured. Oddly enough, I 
grow my own seed and never need to replant. 
TAXES ON MORTGAGES. 
P. C. L.. Elkland. Pa. —I wi«h to commend 
the article Taxes on Mortgages in the Rural 
of January 12, page 24. It is as true as gospel 
and should convince all who read it. The tax 
on mortgages in Pennsylvania is only three 
mills; but it increases the farmers’ interest 
from three mills to one per cent. Mortgages 
and notes have been in use for years in which 
the borrower agrees to pay the tax on the 
loan, with the interest. 
A Beginner, Tioga Co., Pa.— In a recent 
“ Discussion ” a writer speaks of using a one- 
horse plow in root-pruning corn to hasten its 
maturity. I should hesitate much before 
practicing this system because my brother by 
so doing lost a valuable crop of Stowell’s 
Evergreen. It was just silking when he went 
through it, and it stopped maturing ears, and 
stopped growing in hight. The stalks in¬ 
creased in size so that some of them were im¬ 
mense. Perhaps he doctored it too soon. 
The theory may be good: the practice failed. 
Why? 
R. N.-Y.—Both theory and practice are bad 
in our opinion. There may be instances, 
possibly, when the plants have made an im¬ 
mense growth of leaves and stalks, when root- 
pruning (as it is called) would induce a larger 
vield of grain. This might occur in excessive¬ 
ly wet seasons. As a rule, we approve of 
shallow cultivation, assuming that the corn- 
plant needs all its roots during every stage of 
its growth, but more especially when the 
grain begins to form. 
A. L. Crosby, Catonsville, Md.— I think 
the Rural is perfectly right in what it said 
about ensilage corn. Corn for the silo should 
be, as the Rural says, short-jointed and not 
very tall. The tall stalks don’t carry the 
most or widest blades by any means. I mean 
to try the Rural Thoroughbred Flint corn 
this season and see if it is not just the thing 
for ensilage. If it matures too early for 
Southern latitudes, it can be planted later 
and then the cultivation of the silo corn and 
of the corn for shelling will not come at the 
same time. The B and W. corn may give a 
heavy yield; but the weight is in the stalks 
more than in the blades. It is harder work to 
handle such heavy green stuff, and it won’t pay 
to do so unless it is “ rich ” in proportion to 
its weight—and I don’t believe it is. 
E. P. N., Nichols. Conn.—I notice in 
several late Rurals that the parrot insists 
that farming “don’t pay,” and in looking 
over the figures in regard to New Jersey, I 
think the parrot correct, as according with 
the table given of value of the crops, less the 
cost of fertilizer as $28,049,087 less eight per 
cent, interest on capital invested §11,034 829. 
Supposing it requires one man to work a 
$2,000 capital, his wages would be only $122.00 
a year. There are many farmers in this section 
who if they could get eight per cent, on what 
their farms have cost and §1.00 per day for 
their wages, would make more money in a 
year than they now do with their farms. I 
think that to disprove the 'parrot’s saying a 
different array of figures will be needed. 
H. B., Wakeman, Ohio —On page 53 of 
the Rural, I note what is said about devot¬ 
ing a special number to discussing the combi¬ 
nation wire picket fence and I would say that 
not half the farms in the United States, except 
perhaps in the newer settled portions, would 
sell for the money that has been laid out in 
fences on them. I'believe that no other ques¬ 
tion of farm economy is of more vital impor¬ 
tance thau.that.of fences. 
