425 
4889 
f¥M RURAL H1W-Y0RKIR. 
slaked lime for 25 cents per barrel; would it 
pay to put it on corn in the bill after planting 
or after the first hoeing; or would it pay bet¬ 
ter as a top-dressing on fall-plowed land to be 
sown to wheat the following spring? 
Ans.— The R. N.-Y. opposes the use of lime 
as a fertilizer. It acts as a stimulant by has¬ 
tening the decomposition of plant food al¬ 
ready in the soil. It adds nothing to fertil¬ 
ity, unless the soil happens to be deficient in 
lime, which is improbable. Lime in connec¬ 
tion with manure may or may not be profit¬ 
able. We should not use lime alone unless we 
were willing to skin the soil. 
A DESIDEKATUM. 
D. D., Farmtngdale, III. —Is there any 
machine designed to scatter powdered sub¬ 
stances thinly and evenly over the ground or, 
in other words, to scatter flour poisoned with 
Paris-green or London-purple over a potato 
field. The Woodason bellows do it too 
slowly. What is needed is something like a 
broad-cast seeder. 
Ans. —The R N.-Y. has not learned of any¬ 
thing of the kind that has been at all success¬ 
ful. It does not seem probable that such a 
machine could be made to throw a dry mixt¬ 
ure accurately. The Field force-pump answers 
for liquid poisons. 
PIGEONS. 
J. D. O., Port Arthur, Ont., Can. —How 
should pigeons be fed and kept? Are there 
any works on the subject? 
Ans. —There are three good works on 
pigeons. One is a finely illustrated book with 
colored plates, called “ Fulton’s Illustrated 
Book of Pigeons” 50 colored plates, $8.00. 
Another is an English work also finely illus¬ 
trated, called ‘ ‘ Pigeons,” by Tegetmeier. The 
best practical cheap work is by Lewis Wright, 
“The Practical Pigeon Keeper,” price $1.50. 
The first and last works can be had of the Ferris 
Publishing Co., 481 Broadway, Albany, N. Y. 
Miscellaneous. 
J. L.. Factoryville, Pa. —Wm. A. Wood is 
located at Chattanooga, Tenn. 
S. F B., Pat chin, N. Y. —A “good patent 
calf-feeder” can be purchased of J. B. Small 
& Co , Boston, Mass. 
Several Subscribers. —We uuderstand that 
Cornish, Curtis & Green, of Fort Atkinson, 
Wis., supply an outfit for testing milk by the 
method devised by Prof. Short. 
P. E. V., Jerseyvi'.le, III. —Where can I get 
the Rural No. 2 potato? 
Ans.— From either Peter Heuderson & Co., 
andThorburn & Co.,of New York; T.C Daven¬ 
port, 124 Dock street, Philadelphia, Pa., or 
Frank Ford & Sons, Ravenna, O. 
SubscHber, Elva, Va. —Which is the most 
profitable willow to grow for sale, on moist 
river hats, liable to over-flow, ana wdere can 
cuttings be bought? 
Ans. —The Osier Willow i3 the one general¬ 
ly grown. We do not know where cuttings 
can be obtained; probably of any grower. 
This subject was discussed on page 364, of the 
last volume of the Rural. 
0. K. T., Lebanon, Conn .—Is the Japanese 
hybrid catalpa advertised by W. Atlee Burpee 
& Co., hardy enough to resist the winter cli¬ 
mate of this section? 
Ans. —We can not speak of this tree from 
experience, never having grown it. In what 
way it is superior to the Hardy Calalpa (C. 
speciosa) Mr. Burpee’s announcement does not 
record. The latter will endure your climate. 
O. S., Chautauqua, N. Y. —What are the 
relative values of boue-meal made; l, trom 
slaughter-house bones; 2, from Chicago 
steamed bones; 3, from horns and hoofs only? 
What would be needed to make each of 
these a perfect fertilizer for bearing grape¬ 
vines on a saudy-loam soil rather run down? 
Ans. — A loss of nitrogen attends the steam¬ 
ing of bones. Choose first, No. 3; second, No 
1; last. No. 2. Add two to three per cent, of 
nitrogen and five per cent, of potash. 
IP. C. M., Blackstone, Mass. —1. Will pop¬ 
corn “mix” with other varieties of corn? 2. 
Is Dunlap’s Marrow among the earliest and 
best of fall squashes? If not, which is the 
earliest? 
Ans. —1. Pop-corn will mix with any other 
variety that blooms at the same time. We 
have ears of poi>-coru containing both sweet 
and several colors of field corn. 2. White 
Busk and Yellow Bush are the earliest we 
know of. Dunlap’s Marrow the R. N.-Y. has 
never raised. 
F. H., Union Hill, III.— Are there tree forms 
of the gooseberry and currant, and if so, has 
a nursery in Lamars, Iowa, really got them 
for sale? 
Ans.—A ny of the more erect-growing [cur¬ 
rants or gooseberries may be grown into a 
miniature tree form. The suckers must be 
destroyed from time to time. The best way 
to secure the tree form is by using the Mis¬ 
souri currant as a stock. We have seen both 
currants and gooseberries grafted on stems 
of that species,six feet high. We do not know 
as to the nursery inquired about; but we nave 
seen a considerable number of complaints with 
regard to its dealings. 
W. H. A., Clyde, N. Y— My 32x36-foot 
wagon-house has an earth floor which is not 
altogether satisfactory, as the dirt will stick 
to the boots; what would be the cost of asphalt 
for a floor, and how should it be put down? 
Would the services of an expert be needed? 
Ans. —Asphalt for the purpose mentioned 
will no doubt give excellent satisfaction; but 
will probably cost 25 cents per square foot. 
The material necessary and full directions for 
applying it can be had of the Neuchatel As¬ 
phalt Co., Astor Place, New York City. We 
would not recommend any mixture of coal 
tar and gravel, as so fai as we know, poor re¬ 
sults have always been obtained with this 
material. We are of the opinion that a good 
road gravel thoroughly rammed in place 
would not be open to the objection raised by 
our correspondent. 
E. P. N.,“ Nichols, Conn. —1. I have some 
asparagus roots from seed sown in 1888. They 
are rather thick in the row; which would be 
the better plan—to set them out in the field 
next spring or let them remain in the seed¬ 
bed? 2. Is there any public library in New 
York city which contains the statute laws of 
the various States, particularly those of Kan¬ 
sas and New Jersev? 
Ans —1. Is the seed-bed to be the permanent 
bed? Then, by all means thin out. If the 
plants are to be transplanted to a permanent 
bed, then we should let them remain in the 
seed-bed until that time. 2. Probably the 
Astor Library contains the published laws of 
the various States; but old laws are constant¬ 
ly being changed or repealed and new ones 
are passed, so that it is very unlikely that a 
complete list of all the laws in the various 
States passed to date can be found anywhere 
in the country. Probably the most likely 
place to find such a work would be the Law 
Library, of the Equitable Life Assurance 
Society, 120 Broadway, New York. 
J. B L., Maysville, Ala.— 1. My eight-year- 
old blue plums bloom profusely every spring, 
but bear no fruit; why, and what should be 
done for them? 2. How late can parsnips, 
salsify and beets, be planted here? 
Ans. —1. There are well known instances of 
plums bearing imperfect blossoms, in which 
case fruit can not set unless the deficiency is 
made up by the contiguity of other trees. It 
is thought, also, that in some, the pollen does 
not mature when the stigmas are receptive. 
2. Much depends on local circumstances. If 
salsify is sown in spring, a hot, dry summer 
may arrest its growth, and a genial, moist fall 
may excite a vigorous second growth and cause 
many of the plants to bloom, which would 
greatly imp dr the quality of the roots. But 
as salsify needs a long season of growth to 
mature good roots, a sowing may be made in 
late spring, and the main sowing after the 
first soaking summer rain. Spring-sown par¬ 
snips are good for use in late summer and fall, 
but parsnips for winter should not be sown 
till after a soakiDg summer rain; indeed, if 
not sown till the first of August we may ex¬ 
pect good roots, as they can remain and grow 
in the ground till Christmas, or all winter. 
Sow long beets early in August; turnip beets, 
in August or the first of September. 
DISCUSSION. 
HIRED LABOR IN THE PIEDMONT BELT OF S. d 
J. C. S., Pendleton, S. C.—Our hired labor 
here is entirely different from any mentioned 
in the Rural. Nine-tenths of it comes from 
colored natives. Wages are $5 to $7 per 
mouth for boys, and $7 to $10 for men,[and 
all get 12 pounds of meat, one bag of corn- 
meal, one gallon of molasses and three pounds 
of salt for rations, which now amounts to 
about $2.25 in addition to the above wages. 
Our help is generally hired from our tenauts on 
our own or adjoining farms, and we are not 
bothered about boarding aud washing for 
hands, save board for one select hand who 
takes his meals in the kitchen instead of ra¬ 
tions, and does chores about the house aud 
barn morning, noon and night every day and 
Sundays, too, though all the regular monthly 
hands join in helping about the barn except 
on Sundays when our select hand “ Friday,’’ 
picks up one or two boys that are nearly al- 
ways passing or hanging around, to help a 
little just for the privilege of riding the 
“boss’s” horse to water or a chance morsel 
from his table. Our man “ Friday ” is gener¬ 
ally the best all-purpose hand ou the farm aud 
J 
holds the balance between the household and 
farm, and the cook (who is generallv colored) 
bas about as much control over “ Friday” as 
the “ boss ” bas, for “ Fridav ” thinks as much 
of his eating as he does of his wages. And 
when “ old miss'’—the mistress of the house— 
speaks to hitn.her word is law with him, for be 
will stop anything for her, to whom he looks 
continually for nick-na^ks, and who gives 
him now and then a cast-off garment that the 
“boss” used to wear. Our regular force of 
hands are hired for the year, and it some¬ 
times happens that we do more work during a 
dry winter than during a wet spring. Our 
climate admits of profitable farm work all 
winter except during exceptional spells 
of continued wet weather. We pay for 
our day labor 40 cents to 50 cents 
for ordinary field hands, and 65 cents to $1 for 
harvest hands, and the hands generally board 
themselves. Written contracts are seldom 
drawn up. The better plan and the only one 
to insure the farmer in his busiest season is to 
reserve part of the wages, and this is best for 
both, though some object, and give their rea¬ 
sons by saying that they might die before the 
year was out, and in that event they would 
be deprived of the benefit of part of their 
wages. They evidently believe in adminis¬ 
tering on their own estates. The drift of the 
hired young men is to marry (but few mar¬ 
ried men hire by the year) and to rent, or, as 
they call it, “ run a farm,” which with good 
management never fails to bring a mau better 
returns for his labor; but unfortunately for 
binPhe has but little knowledge of frugality 
aud with his increased income come tempta¬ 
tions to live more extravagantly,and,as a rule, 
when working for himself he has no more 
money to save than when he worked for 
wages,though a few men buy a few acres to call 
a home, but continue to rent land and travel 
long distances to work, which makes their home 
a source of inconvenience to them, whereas 
by the usual plan of renting they have just as 
good homes free of charge near their work. 
Cheap labor is too much on the order of the 
monkeys which were imported by a cotton 
planter to pick cotton, wbo after a time re¬ 
ported a success so far as getting the animals 
to pick cotton was concerned, but the finan¬ 
cial part was a failure as it took two men to 
make one monkey work. So it is with our 
poor class of laborers; they are not usually 
paid less for a day’s work, but they are not 
wanted, and are never employed when it can 
be avoided and they float around from place 
to place hunting work. 
Altogether, our colored labor is the best 
that we have tried, and when properly man¬ 
aged it is efficient for all common work on 
the farm; but is is generally lacking in 
intelligence on the stock, fruit and vegetable 
farms where it is necessary to pay higher 
wages to .more intelligent white labor, but 
this class of white labor does not stay with 
us long, as the men soon learn the value of 
their better judgment and management and 
leave us to rent laud, hire and utilize our 
cheap labor for themselves, and soon become 
land-owners or large farmers on rented land. 
To my mind there is not another section of 
our country where cheap lands and cheap 
efficient labor are to be found together, or 
wnere good management gets a better pre¬ 
mium or poor management is so general. 
Our colored laborers are good workers, but 
poor managers, and unless the farmer is with 
his hands all the while he cannot expect good, 
fore-handed work, and when I hear one abus¬ 
ing negro labor I am at once convinced that 
be does not know how to manage this labor, or 
is too lazy himself to go with his laborers; 
and when I see a white man past 25 years of 
age, who has been in this section long want¬ 
ing work on the farm for wages, I know at 
once that there is so nothing lacking in his 
make-up to make a first-class farmer, and if 
I were to hire him I certainly would not ex¬ 
pect to get a man with good judgment and 
management, for if he had such qualifications 
he would not at that age be in such circum¬ 
stances as to seek work at farm wages. 
WORDS OF CHEERING APPRECIATION. 
W. B., Dayton, Ohio.— Among the edi. 
torial items in the Rural of January 12, is 
the remark that “the subscribers of the R. N - 
Y. are, more and more, with each succeeding 
year, ot the more intelligent, progressive, 
alert, well-to-do class.” Well, for my part, 
1 cannot see how it could be otherwise. Any 
wide-awake farmer ot to-day, who is a 
Rural reader, must take an advanced posi¬ 
tion among his co-workers, as certainly as 
the sun shines. Under the Rural’s practical 
teaching, assisted by the most eminent 
corps of horticulturists, agriculturists, and 
writers in all other pursuits pertaining to 
agriculture, no other result could be ex¬ 
pected. There is not an agricultural college 
in the land capable of employing such relia¬ 
ble talent, nor is there any institution under 
State or Federal auspices able to inspire its 
pupils with the confidence every reader has 
in the Rural’s every-day, practical and 
wholesome lessons. No subjpct can be agitated 
with regard to which it cannot bring forth 
teachers whose experience has taught them 
the best wav to success, and the best means of 
avoiding that which is unprofitable. Partic¬ 
ularly do the special numbers contain the 
very essence of the practical ideas of many 
whose reputations have become national and to 
whom we are only too willing to look for 
instructions in some particular branch of farm 
work. Not only does the professor, hut also 
the every-dav worker, gladly assist in extend¬ 
in' 3 ' knowledge for the betterment of every one 
who wants to learn Here we are taught how to 
economize to get better results with less labor 
and expense, as well as to adopt and practice 
new ideas; while each is told howto experi¬ 
ment for his own purposes. There are, of 
course, some who know everything, and to 
whom an encyclopedia would be an incum¬ 
brance. These the Rural could not assist, 
and as a general thing they are the people m 
whose fields and fence corners the rankest 
weeds grow; who see no use in sheltering the 
plow or harvester, and who deride the tiling 
of land as a useless expense. Nature some¬ 
times does assist such, and they get along; yet 
how much more could they have prospered 
had they assisted nature a little. I have yet 
to hear of the failure of one who has taken up 
a certain branch of farm work, and pursued 
it intelligently and persistently; while I know 
of many failures where persons have tried to 
engage in and prosecute everv branch of farm 
work, such as running a dairy, gardening 
raising cattle, and practicing all sorts of farm¬ 
ing at once. In such cases one or more of the 
different interests will suffer, and eventually, 
in nine out of ten cases, the profits of all will 
disappear. Against such mistakes as these 
the Rural is continually cautioning its read¬ 
ers, and in this way it shows good hard sense, 
and an'evident intention to do nothing that 
might cause hardship ammig the agricultural 
community. It is this that is drawing 
thinking farmers and all others interested in 
out door pursues increasingly towards the 
’ aper, as each year shows more plainly the 
earnest desire of its Editor to benefit the pub¬ 
lic regardless of cost or favor. 
STEELE’S RED WINTER APPLE. 
T. T. Lyon, South Haven, Mich —In the 
Rural of February second, at page 71, reply - 
ing to L A. E. of Vermont, the fact is stated 
that the Ballwin apple and al«o the Red 
Canada are known by the above svnonym. 
The statement made by the inquirer, that the 
cions growing in Vermont were received by 
him from Michigan, renders it almost if not 
absolutely certain that they are genuine Red 
Canadas. I have never known or heard of a 
case in Michigan in which the name Steele’s 
Red Winter was aDplied to the Baldwin; and 
I very confidently express the opinion that 
even in New York wh a re the synonym had its 
origin, the name Baldwin is no longer aoplied 
to that fruit, save that when Western 
planters sending to New York State nur¬ 
series for trees of Red Canada, mistakenly 
call it Steele’s Red Winter, the orders are 
filled with Baldwins. 
A brief explanation of how this svnonym 
came to be applied to the Red Canada in 
Michigan, and from there found its way to 
manv other Western localities, seems proper 
in this connection Sixtv or 70 years since 
tramping grafters, from Ohio, grafted a tree 
in a large commercial orchard near Plymouth, 
Michigan, with cions of what purported to be 
Rhode Island Greening. On coming into 
bearing, the fruit proved to be an unknown 
brilliant red apple. It was placed in the cellar, 
aDd, during the ensuing winter, was shown 
to a visiting friend from Western New York, 
who identified it as Steele’s Red Winter. 
Coming from a region where the Baldwin 
was, at that time, known by this name, he 
evidently supposed the apples to be Baldwins. 
The fruit rapidly grew into popularity in the 
vicinity, under this name; and was widely 
distributed from this orchard, by grafting 
upon the numerous seedling orchards of that 
early day. In this manner both the fruit 
and cions were very widely distributed through 
this and adjacent States always as Steele’s 
Red Winter, under which name it acquired 
great popularity in the markets of Detroit, 
Chicago aud other Western cities. When, 
about 1847 to 50, the writer planted exteusive 
trial orchards at Plymouth, Michigan, he in¬ 
cluded this variety,and at. the same time plant¬ 
ed trees of the true Red Canada under that 
name. When the trees came into bearing the 
discovery was made that they were identical. 
Specimens were at that time sent to the late 
Charles Downing, who found them so superior 
to those he was accustomed to see, that he 
hesitated for a time to acknowledge their 
indentity Specimens of this variety of the 
previous year’s growth weie shown at the 
opening of the Centeuuial Exposition at Phil- 
