234 
APR 6 
What slope is most desirable for grapes, 
peaches and pears? 
Ans.— 1. Seedlings do often come quite 
true. But they cannot at all be depended on 
so to do. 2. A slope sufficient to insure 
thorough drainage—nothing more. 
G. A. S., Hubbardston, Mich .—1. I have a 
Bartlett pear that sprouts from the roots six 
feet from the trunk; how can this be pre¬ 
vented ? 2. Do pear trees need trimming the 
same as apple trees ? 
Ans. —The R. N.-Y. is of the opinion that 
the sprouting of the roots is due to one of two 
causes, viz: either the mam stem (trunkl is 
injured in some way so as to molest the sap, 
or the soil is too poor. 2. Yes, essentially 
the same. 
A. A. C., Christiana, Del .—I wish to effect 
an early and rapid growth of feed for 
cows, as I have not much pasturing; could 
millet or Hungarian be sown this early or are 
there other grasses that could be utilized more 
successfully ? The ground is in elegant con¬ 
dition and I am very extravagant in the use 
of barn-yard dressing and fertilizers ? 
Ans. —Yes, it could, but millets require a 
deal of heat to make a good crop. We should 
choose oats or rye. 
J. W. C., Halifax, Pa .—1. I have a number 
of young cherry trees that grew from the 
seed. Should I transplant and then graft 
them or graft first? 2. Would they be of any 
value for fruit if they were not grafted at the 
proper time? 
Ans.—T he R. N.-Y. would transplant first 
and the year after graft. 2. Probably not. 
The cbauce of obtaining a cherry superior to 
existing kinds from the seed is remote. Still 
all improvements must come in that way. 
Graft the cherry very early. It is time now. 
N. R. T., (No address). I have been draw¬ 
ing out all winter the manure from nine cows 
and two horses on a piece of June-grass green¬ 
sward that was plowed last November and 
which was intended for potatoes. Unless the 
manure is buried quite deep, it will, I fear, 
cause the potatoes to be scabby; is there a har¬ 
row that will bury it deep enough. Should I 
apply superphosphate in addition to the 
manure? 
Ans. —We do not know of any harrow that 
would bury it. The Acme would come the 
nearest to it. We should use, in addition to 
the manure, a liberal quant ity of high-grade 
potato fertilizer. 
A. A. G., Janvier, N. J .—I have a quantity 
of plum and apple stocks to graft this spring 
and I wish to know how to manage the cions. 
1. Would it be best to take them off now and 
bury them in the ground or leave them until 
grafting time on the trees ? Our cellar is too 
warm for keeping them. 2. Can I move the 
stocks before grafting ? I wish to graft the 
Wild Goose on the wild plum stock. 3. Is 
the Fay’s Prolific currant all that George S. 
Josselyn claims for it? 
Ans. —Yes; cut the cions when not frozen 
and bury them. 2. R. N.-Y. would graft 
them where they are. 3. Yes, it is as repre¬ 
sented. 
G. W. S., Parishville, N. Y. —1. What is the 
best grass to sow with Timothy and Alsike on 
low land where wild grass is inclined to run 
out Timothy in a few years ? 2. How much 
of each should be sown per acre ? 3. In plant¬ 
ing the Rural Thoroughbred Flint corn fox- 
fodder, how far apart should the hills be, and 
how many kernels should there be in a hill ? 
on it now; will a vigorous harrowing be suf¬ 
ficient to catch the seed, followed by a heavy 
rolling ? Ought I to work around my shade 
and nut-bearing trees, and will it benefit them 
fo spade in stable manure at this time ? 
Which is the more productive potato—Bur¬ 
bank or Beauty of Hebron ? 
Ans. —If you would have a fine lawn, the 
soil must be suitably prepared by plowing, 
manuring, harrowing and leveling. If 
the soil is moderately rich, you may, as 
you suggest, han-ow it thoroughly aud the 
seed will no doubt sprout after the surface is 
rolled. The costly lawn mixtux*es contain 
just two kinds of seeds which are of tne first 
value, viz., Blue grass and Red-top. Either 
of these (or both) will give you as fine a lawn 
as the costliest “ mixtures.” Red-top will 
cover the soil as soon as Timothy. Blue grass 
is later in starting. 2. Burbank. 
W. F. S., Taylor's, Md. —I am milking 
sevex-al good cows and although they are well 
fed and properly cared for, their flow of milk 
is unaccountably diminishing. Immediately 
after the milk has been brought to the house, 
it is put on the stove and brought to a “ boil.” 
Some of my neighbors say the decrease in the 
milk production is due to the heating, and 
that if this is continued, the flow will (ease 
altogether. What does the Rural say of the 
matter? 
Ans. —How the heating of the milk can 
affect the flow of it from the cows is a rather 
mysterious problem. We cannot see any con¬ 
nection between the two. It can be the con¬ 
dition of the cows alone that can account for 
the failure of the milk and this may be due to 
sevei-al causes. The cows may not nave the 
right kind of food; or they may not be 
propuTy milked. A bad milker may totally 
dry up a cow in a few weeks, and we suspect 
this may be the most pronable cause, aud 
some close investigation should be made into 
the case. If the feeding and the mithod of 
milking were described, there would be some 
ground to base an opinion upon the matter. 
J. B. W., Charlton , Mass. —Last fall I 
went into the forest and raked off the top 
leaves and then scraped up the top of the 
ground filling a barrel with the stuff, and put 
it in my cellar. I also put in there some fine 
sand. This spring I shall go to the pasture 
where cattle are kept and gather some of 
their droppings, which have been out during 
the fall and winter and are, of course, some¬ 
what soaked out. I want to mix those three 
kinds together and use the mixture in small 
boxes in which 1 intend to plant flower seeds 
to get eax-ly plants. I shall put the boxes in 
cold-frames under glass. How much of each 
kind should I use in mixing and would the 
same kind of mixture be good for pots for 
plants ? 
Ans. —The R. N.-Y. would not advise that 
the cow droppings be used. They will make 
the soil spongy, while their decomposition 
will be very slow. Only decomposed ma¬ 
nures should be used for the purpose indi¬ 
cated. The forest soil is excellent. Ten 
parts of it to one part of sand would be about 
right. Rich soil from under fences or from 
the garden might well be added. This mix¬ 
ture would serve for pets as well. 
W. J. H., Shelby, O. —How can I kill cut¬ 
worms, wire-worms aud red ants that are so 
troublesome to young gi-owing corn ? Is 
there any fertiliztr or other substance ihat 
can be applied to keep them off ? 
Ans. —1. We know nothing better than 
Red-top. 2. Half a-bushel if sown alone of 
Timothy; two bushels of Red-top; eight 
pounds of Alsike. These may be modei-ated 
in quantity when sown together, as desix-ed. 
3. For fodder the hills should be about three 
by two feet. One plant to the hill will be 
enough. 
“ Truth-Seeker," Mount Pleasant, N. Y. —1. 
What is the quality of the Carlough apple ? 
2. How about the Delaware Red Winter ap¬ 
ple ? Some pronounce it identical with the 
Lawver. 3. In what does the Monroe Seedling 
differ from Sibley’s Monroe County Prize or 
the White Seedling introduced by Sibley two 
years ago ? 4. Is the Cx-andall currant in any 
way superior to the Missouri Black or Fra¬ 
grant currant ? 
Ans. —We do not know. It is valued chiefly 
as being a long keeper. It is a sweet apple. 
2. It is thought to be the Lawver. 3. We 
were supposing them to be the same. 4. The 
R N.-Y. has ordered a plant and will report 
in due time. Meanwhile we must depend 
upon others’ reports. 
S. H., Overton, Md .—Will you please ad¬ 
vise me what seed I should use for my lawn 
without buying the expensive mixtures ad¬ 
vertised in catalogues, which are beyond my 
means. There is a.fair stand.of White clover 
RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS AT ROTH- 
AMSTED (ENGLAND) ON THE 
GROWTH OF POTATOES FOR 
TWELVE YEARS IN SUC¬ 
CESSION ON THE 
SAM HI LAND. 
Dr. J. H. Gilbert, Dr. Lawes's associate,in a 
lecture before the Royal Agricultux-al College, 
speaks at considerable length upon the above 
subject. It is reported in the Agricultui-al 
Students’ Gazette, a copy of which has been 
forwarded to us by Dr. Lawes. 
His special object is to show the general re¬ 
quirements of the crop, both actually and as 
compared with other crops, and the actual 
and comparative characters aud composition 
of the px-oduct obtained. He draws his illus¬ 
trations mainly from the results of field ex¬ 
periments on the growth or the potato by dif¬ 
ferent manures, for a number of years in suc¬ 
cession on the same land, at Rothamsted, and 
from those of collateral investigations into 
the composition of the produce, made in the 
Rothamsted Laboratory. 
The first table (we cannot present it) shows 
that, without manure, with common ammo¬ 
nium salts alone, and with nitrate of soda 
alone, the average produce of tubers was less 
over each succeeding period of four years. On 
the other hand,with the superphospates alone, 
with the mixed mineral manure alone,with the 
ammonium salts and mixed mineral manure 
together, and with the nitrate of soda and the 
mixed mineral manure together, there was 
more produce over the second four years than 
over the first; but there was a marked reduc¬ 
tion over the third four years. It is evident, 
therefore, that the falling off over the second 
four years in the other cases was not to be 
accounted for by less favorable seasons only. 
The conclusion is rather that by the con¬ 
tinuous growth of the crop without manure, 
or by nitrogenous manure alone,the available 
supplies of the necessary mineral constituents 
within the soil, became relatively deficient. 
The average produce over twelve years 
without any manure, is not quite two tons per 
acre; and there was a considerable decline 
from period to period under this exhausting 
treatment Nevertheless, this low yield with¬ 
out manure, for twelve years in succession on 
the same land, is about as much as the average 
produce under ordinary cultivation in the 
United States, and nearly two thirds as much 
as in some important European countries. 
By superphosphate of lime alone the produce 
is raised from an average of scarcely two, to 
nearly 3% tons; and by a mixed mineral 
manure, containing, besides superphosphate 
of lime, salts of potash, soda, and magnesia, 
to just over 3% tons, that is, to very little 
more than by the superphospba'ealone. It is 
evident, therefore, that up to this amount of 
production, the character of the exhaustion 
induced by the growth of the crop on this 
land, which was, agriculturally speaking, in 
a somewhat exhausted condition, was much 
more that of available phosphoric acid thau 
of potash, or the other bases. It is remark¬ 
able that there is much less [increase of pro¬ 
duce of potatoes by nitrogenous manures 
alone than by mineral manures alone. 
Thus, by ammonium salts alone there is an 
average produce of scarcely two tons six cwts., 
or only about six cwts. more than without 
manure; and with nitrate of soda alone there 
is an average of only two tons 12% cwts. per 
acre. The better result by nitrate of soda than 
by ammonium salts is doubtless due to the 
nitrogenous supply being more immediately 
available, and more rapidly distributed within 
the soil, and so inducing a more extended 
development of feeding root. 
These negative results by the nitrogenous 
manures alone, confirm the conclusion that 
by the continuous growth of the crop on this 
laud it was the available supply of mineral 
constituents within the root-range of the 
plants, more than that of nitrogen, that be¬ 
came deficient. 
The last two lines of the table show, that 
with the mixed mineral manure and ammo¬ 
nium salts together, there was an average of 
about six tons 11% cwts., and with the mixed 
mineral manure and the same amount of 
nitrogen as nitrate of soda, an average of six 
tons 13 cwts.; that is, nearly twice as much 
as with the mineral manure alone, and much 
more than twice as much as with the nitro¬ 
genous manure alone. 
* * * The fact is, that it is only the com¬ 
paratively small proportion of the nitrogen 
of farm-yard manure which is due to the 
liquid dejections oft the animals, that is in a 
readilv and rapidly available condition; 
whilst that due to more or less digested mat¬ 
ter passing in the fceces, is more slowly avail¬ 
able, and that in the litter remains a very 
long time inactive. Hence, the addition of 
nitrogen as nitrate of soda to the farm-yard 
manure bad a very marked effect. 
* * * The summary shows that the pro- 
poition of diseased tubers was the greater, 
the greater the amount of nitrogen supplied, 
the greater the luxuriance. * * * 
Upon the whole, it is obvious that, in the 
case of this somewhat agriculturally exhausted 
arable land, mineral manures alone had more 
effect than nitrogenous manures alone; but 
that, mineral constituents being adequately 
supplied, the further addition of nitrogenous 
manures was essential to obtain anything like 
full crops. * * * 
It is of interest to observe that the amount 
of disease was not enhanced by the continuous 
growth of the crop on the same l»nd, as is 
frequently assumed to be the cas9. * * * 
But little is definitely known of the special 
function of individual mineral constituents in 
vegetation. It is, however, pretty clearly es¬ 
tablished that the presence of potash is essen¬ 
tial for the formation of the chief non-nitro- 
genous matters—starch and sugar. The pub¬ 
lished results of experiments at Rothamsted 
have shown that the proportion of potash in 
the ash of wheat was the greater, the better 
matured the grain—that is the larger propor¬ 
tion of starch it contained; and here in the 
potato we find a greatly increased amount of 
potash in the heaviest crops, that is to say, in 
those in which the largest amounts of starch 
have been formed. 
The accumulation of phosphoric acid, on 
the other hand, is more directly connected 
with the assimilation of nitrogen, and the 
formation of the nitrogenous compound. * ** 
It will be remembered that the quantity of 
farm yard manure annually applied per acre 
was*estimated to contain about 200 pounds of 
nitrogen, besides a very large amount of min¬ 
eral constituents. Yet, in no case was the 
increased yield of solid substance in the crop 
so great as was obtained by an artificial mix¬ 
ture of mineral and nitrogenous manure, sup¬ 
plying only 86 pounds of nitrogen, but in a 
more readily available condition. Nor was 
tne increased assimilation of any one of the 
individual constituents, so great under the 
influence of the farm-yard manure, as when 
they were applied in the rapidly available 
condition, as in the artifical mixtures. 
In the case of other crops it has been found 
that only a small portion of the nitrogen of 
farm-yard manure was taken up in the year 
of the application. But these results seem to 
indicate that the potato is able to avail itself 
of a less proportion of the nitrogen of the 
manure than any other farm crop. Yet, in 
ordinary practice, farm-yard manure is not 
only largely relied upon for potatoes, but is 
often applied in larger quantity for them than 
for any other crop. It is probable that, in¬ 
dependently of its liberal supply of all neces¬ 
sary constituents, its beneficial effects are in a 
considerable degree due to its influence on the 
mechanical condition of the soil, rendering it 
more porous and easily permeable to the sur¬ 
face roots, upon the development of which the 
success of the crop so much depends. Then, 
agaiu, something may be due to an increased 
temperature of the surface soil engendered by 
the decomposition of so large an amount of 
organic matter within it; whilst the carbou- 
ic acid evolved in the decomposition will, with 
the aid of moisture, serve to render the min¬ 
eral resources of the soil more soluble. 
In countries where the potato is largely 
grown for the manufacture of starch or po¬ 
tato spirit, the specific gravity serves as an 
important indication of quality. The higher 
the specific gravity, the greater, as a rule, is 
the proportion of dry matter, and the greater 
the proportion of starch. Indeed, tabhs are 
constiucted for the calculations of the per¬ 
centage of dry matter, and of starch, from 
the specific gravity of the tubers. * * * 
The general conclusion to which these calcu. 
lations as to the distribution of the various 
constituents of potato tubers leads is—that 
from 80 to 85 per cent., or even more, of the 
total nitrogen of the tubers may be in the 
juice, and that about the same proportion of 
the total mineral mattter also may be in the 
juice. Further, that about the same propor. 
tion—80 to 85 per cent —of the total potash, 
and about two-thirds of the total phosphoric 
acid, are in the juice. Aud when it is borne 
in mind that two-thirds, or more, of the 
nitrogen existing as albuminoids, is in the 
juice, it is obvious that if the mode of cooking 
the potato is such as to exclude the consti 
tuents of the juice from the final food pro¬ 
duct, there is considerable waste of nutritive 
matter; and that, indeed, the proportion of 
albuminoid matter in the food is exceedingly 
small. When potatoes are used as a mere 
adjunct to an otherwise liberal diet, the 
general practice is to cut off the rind, and to 
put the peeled potatoes into cold water, by 
which a large proportion of the soluble 
albuminoid matters must be washed out, be¬ 
fore the temperature of the water becom s 
sufficiently high to coagulate and fix them. 
A very large proportion of the potash mint 
also be washed out under such circumstances. 
When, however, potatoes constitute an im¬ 
portant item in the diet, as in the rural dis¬ 
tricts of Ireland, for example, it is usual to 
boil them in their skins—or, as is said, in their 
jackets. Under such circumstances, certainly 
a much larger proportion of the albuminoid 
matter will reach the stomachs of the con¬ 
sumers; and doubtless much more of the 
potash and phosphoric acid also. Sail, it is 
obvious that a potato diet must be very de¬ 
ficient in the proportion of nutritive nitro¬ 
genous compounds. 
* * * The produce of dry substance of 
tubers was, without manure,1,353 pounds per 
acre; with purely mineral manure 2,384 
pounds; and with the mixture of the mineral 
and nitrogenous manures (“complete”) more 
thau 4,000 pounds per acre. 
Potatoes are reckoned to contain on an 
average more than 21 per cent, of starch. 
The produce of starch per acre is 1,120 
pounds without manure, and 1,988 or nearly 
2,000 pounds.with purely mineral manure— 
