266 
APR 20 
TUI RURAL 
YORKfR. 
I feed him mixed canary seed, apples and 
bread. What should be done for him? 
Ans. —1. The roots of the trees ramify in 
every direction and appropriate most of the 
soil’s moisture. 2. It is better to plant the 
geraniums in the soil of the beds. 3. Many of 
the hardier plants would keep w r ell under such 
conditions, such, for instance, as pelargo¬ 
niums, (geraniums), tender roses, aloes, 
rubber plant, oleander, etc, etc. 4. We 
should feed the bird for at least a month 
canary seed alone. 
DISCUSSION. 
A GENUINE LABOR-SAVING IMPLEMENT. 
S. B. H , Crawfordsville, Ind.— In the 
Harrow Special one of the questions was, 
“ Wbat harrow would be preferred if the far¬ 
mer was confined to the use of one harrow?” 
It was a new and unsupposable question to 
me. To confine oneself to one harrow on 
the farm in this day of advanced agriculture 
seems as unprogressive as it would be to per¬ 
sist in using the wooden tcothed barrow of 50 
years ago made out of a wooden crotch. 
Since the Harrow Special was published I have 
added Clark’s Cutaway to my stock of harrows 
with a seeder attachment, and have sowed 
my oats with it. From the method of pre¬ 
paring the ground aBd sowing oats 30 years 
ago to the present mode the advance is almost 
as great as from the cradle to the 
self-binder in harvesting wheat. I have 
helped to cut the corn-stalks with a hoe, 
thfn rake them together with a hand-rake, 
or a rudely constructed horse-rake, and burn 
them. To-day we are sowing in corn-stalks, 
just hs the cattle have left the field and are 
doing the work well. If a sulky plow should 
be putin the field, that would turn over a fur¬ 
row about three feet wide with a seeder and 
harrow attachment, by which the plowing, 
seeding, and covering would oe done at the 
same time, it would not do more in sowing 
oats than the Cutaway harrow is doing to¬ 
day with less power than is required 
now to turn a 10-inch furrow with the 
average sulky plow with three horses. 
While the individ ual farmer is greatly benefit¬ 
ed by such labor saving implements, the 
nation collectively has a still greater interest 
in them. During the past dozen years agri¬ 
culture has been greatly depressed in Eng¬ 
land, because the British farmer could not 
compete with the more cheaply grown grain 
of the American farmer, and the latter is now 
closely pursued by the ryot of India, and the 
farmers of South America and Australia. 
Wnile we have cheap lands and a vast ex¬ 
tent of them, Australia and South America 
and other parts of the world have lands just 
as cheap, and still greater in extent, and our 
geographical protection as against those dis¬ 
tant countries, in the markets of Europe, is 
very small. It does not amount to 10 cents 
on the wool ot a sneep, or to two dollars on 
the wheat of one acre of land. To have to 
sell our agricultural products at a small ad¬ 
vance on the cost of producing them has its 
inconveniences; but it is not such a calamity 
to the nation as to be driven from the 
markets of the world, because other nations 
can undersell us. We have been able to held 
our own against the seven-cents-a-day labor 
of India on account of labor-saving machin¬ 
ery, and our skill and aptitude in using it. It 
is with this larger view of promoting the gen¬ 
eral welfare that we should welcome the ad¬ 
vent of any and every labor-saving imple¬ 
ment. 
DEFENCE OF WYANDOTTES, 
G. W. F., Dunlap, Mo.—The Rural has 
done some very good work in the poultry in¬ 
terest. It has given some very good hints on 
breeds and given some hard blows to a few 
which were advertised as wonderful new va¬ 
rieties. I remember a year or two ago, tne 
remarks about as follows; “The Rural now 
reluctantly gives up the Wyandotte, after a 
thorough test, to try other breeds. Their one 
fault, if fault it may be, is that their eggs 
are rather small for the size of the fowl. ” I 
was breeding the Wyandotte at that time and 
like them even better now. I find that they 
lay eggs as large as those of the Laugsban, 
but not so large as those of a Brahma or Cochin; 
but what they lack in size is made up in num¬ 
ber. On a free range the Leghorns may ex¬ 
cel in the number of eggs; but in a close run, 
I have never seen any bird that could beat 
the Wyaedottes. They have only to be seen 
to be appreciated. They are medium in size, 
fine in form and plumage, good table fowls, 
having yellow legs and skin, and they are easi¬ 
ly reared, docile, fine mothers and sitters and 
are as near to being all-the-vear-round layers 
as can be found. They are becoming great fa¬ 
vorites wherever known, making broilers as 
early as any other variety. They are des¬ 
tined to fill the long felt want on the farm for 
t\ general-purpose fowl. They have low, coaj- 
I pact rose combs which never freeze. A hen 
with a frozen comb does not lay till the comb 
gets well, which takes a long time in winter. 
Score the Wyandotte two points ahead. 
KILLING MILDEW. 
J. N. L , Haw Patch, Ind.— Here is my 
way of killing mildew and aphid®, and my 
wife and I think we know something about 
roses as we have over 200 hardy ones. We 
keep mildew down and kill it with soap-suds. 
I use the soapy water after the girl has washed 
the clothes, and at other times one table¬ 
spoonful of soft soap to four gallons of water. 
Mildew is not bad with me; I never have any 
on grapes or gooseberries. I have used it two 
years on roses and so far I have not had a 
failure except upon two—Her Majesty and 
Puritan. I think they are the only really 
worthless roses that I have ever seen. 1 have 
had them both since their introduction and 
therefore know that they are failures. Of the 
emulsion l use to kill lice, one needs only a 
small quantity. It is more easily aud quickly 
made than any other, aud I imagine it hurts 
the foliage less. I know that it will kill the 
pests on roses, cabbages, plums, and cattle: 
Take eight eggs (whites and yelks) beaten 
thoroughly, then add a small pint of kerosene. 
Stir with a stick for a minute (or less) or un¬ 
til the stuff is well mixed: then add four gal¬ 
lons of water. Pump with a force-pump for 
a moment and it is ready to use. I am more 
interested in the Rural’s rose experiments 
than in all the others and am hoping that it 
will make a success ot the business, and when 
any of the new roses are put upon the market 
I shall be glad to buy them. 
TOMATOES. 
G. H. S.—In about twelve years’ exper¬ 
ience in growing tomatoes I have noticed sev¬ 
eral conditions in the growth of the fruit, 
which may suggest to the Rural editor the 
cause of his yellow tomatoes from artificial 
fertilizer. Not understanding chemistry, I 
am unable to offer any opinion, so 1 merely 
record facts. On poor sandy soil with com¬ 
plete fertilizer, having South Caroliua rock 
as a base, the fruit was similar to that grown 
by the Rural. On the same kind ot soil, 
with a small amount of farm pen-manure in 
the hill, the plants stood upright, produced 
continuously until frost medium-sized fruit 
of good color and very little acidity. In 
loam with, say, a peck of rotted manure per 
hill the plants fell over, but bore heavily, the 
fruit gradually diminishing in size till frost. 
Color good, quality ditto, both gradually 
deteriorating as the season passed. In heavy 
loam, heavily manured with poultry drop¬ 
pings, the plants were very luxuriant, the 
fruit set all at one time, and was gone in a 
short time. Color good, quality acid. I 
might say that lack'of vegetable matter in 
the soil causes yellowish-red tomatoes, but I 
do not know. 
LIKES GOOD CATTLE PICTURES. 
W. P. W., Monroe, Wis. —The Rural has 
a right to call particular attention to the fine 
animal pictures which grace the issue of 
March 23d—as well as the information given 
in the accompanying article. Indeed the 
Rural’s pictures of animals have nearly al¬ 
ways been very much better than any I have 
seen in similar publications. Some reproduc¬ 
tions from English periodicals,however, were 
too fine. Such animals as some of them rep¬ 
resented probably never existed. I inclose a 
sample. 
R. N.-Y. We should say that the artist who 
drew the picture inclosed in this letter took 
for his model a block used in a “Noah’s Ark” 
collection ] 
S. E. H., Greeley, Col.— Several acres 
of bottom land were overflowed by seepage 
water; as a consequence the kind of flag 
known as cat-tail occupied the land. After 
opening ditches to drain it,a portion of it was 
surrounded by a barbed-wire fence made to 
hold in swine. This fence was three feet high 
and had five wires. Into this inclosure the 
swine were turned during the summer. They 
uprooted the flags and ate the roots as readily 
as they would potatoes. They nearly cleaned 
the cat-tails off that ground. I fed them 
only about half rations while the roots lasted. 
They did not fatten but kept in a fair condi¬ 
tion, heing breeders. 
“The Concentrated Feed for Horses, 
Cattle, Sheep, Swine, Poultry, Etc."— 
Manufactured at Pearl Mills. For sale by the 
Concentrated Feed Co., 33 Wendell St,, Bov- 
tou, Mass, 
“There has been nothing invented for 
years,” says the manufacturer’s circular, 
“ which has proved such a blessing to all 
classes of domestic animals as the above feed.” 
The directions which accompany this feed, 
show that it is offered as a medicinal or con- 
dimental food. Thus we read, “For an ordi¬ 
nary working or driving horse feed one single 
handful of the feed with one-fourth less his 
usual allowance of grain at each feed, wet or 
dry. For worms, twice the quantity for five 
days.” For cows, “feed one half-pint or 
single bandtul of the feed wfith the usual 
amount ot grain, wet or dry. For garget, 
feed twice the quantity until it entirely disap¬ 
pears.” Still more startling is the announce¬ 
ment, “this disease,” hog cholera, “in its 
most malignant form yields readily to the 
free use of the Concentrated Feed.” Follow¬ 
ing the claims ot the seller and the directions 
for use are the usual number of testimonials 
from those who have used the feed with satis¬ 
faction. This material, or a similar one under 
the same name, has been sold more or less in 
the State since 1882, and in the report for 
1884, page 111, its merits were fully discussed. 
During the present year a sample was re¬ 
ceived from W. H. Hammond, Hampton, 
Conn., who says in regard to it: “ The cost 
price is six cents per pound and it is in 12-pound 
bags to be sold for §1.00 or eight cents per 
pound.” “The above price” (six cents per 
pound), “ is as given me at ton lots, or three 
tons for §300.” “ I have tried it and think it 
not up to the mark as advertised in their cir¬ 
cular.” The sample sent by Mr. Hammond 
was analyzed and reported to him and was 
also published in the weekly statement No. 
41, of September 15. The analysis made by 
th9 Connecticut Agricultural Experiment 
Station, from which we are quoting, is as fol- 
lows: 
Concentrated 
Wheat 
Feed. 
bran. 
Water.... 
11.39 
12.38 
Salt. 
13.20 
• • • • 
Other mineral matter.. 
4.11 
5.59 
Albuminoids. 
14.87 
15.30 
Fiber . 
4.48 
9.34 
Nitrogen-free extract.. 
47.42 
53.50 
Fat . 
4.42 
3.83 
100.00 
100.00 
This “ invention ” which has proved “ a 
blessing to all classes of domestic animals,” 
apparently consists of a mixture of wheat and 
corn with 13 per cent, of salt and perhaps a 
little of some more concentrated feed. Disre¬ 
garding the salt, an equal weight of wheat- 
bran would supply as much nutriment and 
would cost perhaps §20.50 per ton. The “in¬ 
vention ” costs §100 per ton in three-ton lots, 
or at the rate of §100 per ton in small quanti¬ 
ties. 
The Concentrated Egg-Producer.— 
made by the Concentrated Feed Co., No. 14 
Wendell St., Boston, Mass. A sample of this 
material furnished by Mr. Hammond, of 
Elliot, had the following composition: 
Water. 10.15 
Salt. 17.20 
Other mineral matters. 0.40 
Albuminoids. 14.19 
Fiber. 3.87 
Nitrogen-free extract. 44.94 
Fat..~.. 3.75 
100.00 
The mineral matter contains a quite insolu¬ 
ble oxide of iron. The Egg-Producer has a 
somewhat lower feeding value probably than 
the Concentrated Food for Cattle. It con¬ 
tains both corn and wheat and some more 
concentrated feed. Wheat-bran contains, 
pound for pound, as much nutriment. The 
cost of the Concentrated Egg-Producer is 50 
cents a pound or a dozen pounds for §4.00. 
This latter price is equivalent to §000 per ton. 
As food, neither the Concentrated Feed for 
Cattle nor the Egg-Producer is worth more 
than a small fraction (about one-fifth in the 
case of the Feed for Cattle and one-thirtieth 
in the case of the Egg-Producer) of what it 
costs. As condiments they are worthless. It 
has been abundantly proved thatcondimental 
foods have no advantage over others by rea¬ 
son of the condiments in them. 
As medicines, they may well be distrusted 
in view of the absurd claims made by the 
seller. 
Our respected London contemporary, Bell’s 
Messenger, of late date, has the following: 
Canadian Phosphates.— We may claim 
some credit for being the first to point out 
that the ominous cry of the manure manu¬ 
facturers as to the future supply of phosphates 
for manure ought to be mot by the develop¬ 
ment, by British capital, of the rich phos¬ 
phate lands which exist in the valleys which 
run down to the Ottawa river, in Quebec. 
Our views have received very emphatic con- 
flrwation i« three publication:; whjok bava 
reached this country during the past week. 
Our able contemporary, the Rural New- 
Yorker, in the number which reached this 
country on Tuesday morning, had a cartoon 
which is applicable to farming in any part of 
the world. A rough, unkempt fellow, who is 
labeled “ Bad Farming,” is engaged in the 
brutal pastime of murdering a beautiful fe¬ 
male—“Mother Earth.” Three stalwart 
young fellows with clubs are depicted as com¬ 
ing to the rescue of the beautiful damsel, and 
their clubs are respectively labeled “Phos¬ 
phoric Acid,” “Potash,” and “ Nitrogen.” It 
is a picture that embodies a great truth, it 
may be in slight caricature, but still, the 
truth. 
It is evident that the Americans are at last 
waking up to the fact that their farming is 
wasteful, exhaustive to the soil, and very 
much after the style of killing the goose that 
lays the golden egg. With this awakening 
will come a demand for those plant fcods to 
which we have drawn attention, which will 
very seriously affect the supplies to the man¬ 
ure manufacturers of this country. It is 
well that we should realize this and take steps 
to see that all available supplies are controlled 
by British capital for the benefit of the agri¬ 
culture of our own empire. The Geo’ogical 
Survey of the United States has just issued 
a report on the nature and origin of deposits 
of phosphate of lime, which shows clearly 
that the leading men of that country are 
alive to the question, and know that the fu 
ture supplies of that country must be largely 
drawn from the apatite beds in Canada. 
These—although at present but little develop¬ 
ed—are described as the richest aud best 
phosphatic resources in the world. The 
South Carolina phosphatic rock is placed 
second, but the story of the difficulty of min¬ 
ing is told in a manner that is unmistakable. 
Owing to the exhaustion of the guano depos¬ 
its in South America, the future supply of 
phosphates is a matter of doubt. We must 
have them if British agriculture is to be main¬ 
tained in its present perfection. To make 
any show at all in her agriculture, the United 
States also must soon be a big user of these 
manures. Uur nearest colony is our present 
hope, ana we trust that her lands will be de¬ 
veloped for the benefit of British agriculture 
and not for that of the United States—a 
country which is so keen a competitor with 
our own agriculturists. 
But it is well to know that the highest scien¬ 
tific authorities in the United States place the 
Canadian phosphate desposits in the place of 
honor as the richest and best in the world. 
-- 
BOILED DOWN AND SEASONED. 
Mr. Andrew Burnett, of Wellesley, Mass., 
as recorded by the New England Farmer, is a 
believer in hornless cattle. The head of his 
herd is a bull, half Holstein and half James¬ 
town (polled) all of whose calves are hornless. 
Tne bull has horns which were loose aud 
movable up to six months ago, when they 
hardened and became fixed. 
One of Mr. Burnett’s curiosities is a cow 
which is one-quarter deer and three-quarters 
Jersey. Her mottier was a cross between a 
Jersey cow and a buck deer. She is a very 
large milker, with remarkably gentle disposi¬ 
tion, but very timid and easily disturbed at 
the presence of strangers.. 
Mr. Burnett thinks that ho can keep silage 
even 10 years in his silos, and that by having 
enougn to keep over he may help out a dry 
season or be able (o average an extremely 
productive season with one that is less so. 
Mr. C. S. Cooper thinks woll of the Pata¬ 
gonians. He is an experienced poultry raiser. 
His eggs were received from the same source 
as were the Rural’s eggs. These, as our 
readeiB know, gave us a grand mixture. 
The R. N.-Y.'s Red-caps lay a fair-sized egg 
the shell of which is of a chalky w'hiteness. 
We don’t become reconciled to their top¬ 
heaviness . 
Prof. Beal says that a large spoon heap¬ 
ing full of pure Paris-green to 40 gallons of 
water is enough for use on apple trees. He 
reminds Farm Journal readers that unless 
applied at the right time, no good can follow. 
Apple pomace, says Dr. Johnson, of the 
Conn. A. E. S., is prized by those who have it 
as a food for cattle and horses. A sample 
analyzed which was free from straw and con¬ 
sisted wholly of the apple “ cheese ” from the 
cider press, contained about as much albumi¬ 
noids, 10 per cent, morejearbohydrates and 
four times as much fat (ether extract) as 
green fodder maize. It had a faint vinous 
smell and contained about a quarter of ouo 
per cent, of free acetio acid. Ensilaged like 
maize fodder, it wuuld by a valuable winter 
