334 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAY 48 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
HBKSI 8. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1889. 
Don’t mistake the work of the Flea- 
beetle for potato blight. 
The women as well as the men readers 
of the R. N.-Y. are treated to a sym¬ 
posium this week. Miss Taplin discusses 
the important question of “Domestic 
Finance.” 
Hellebore is, for the currant worm, a 
safer and quicker insecticide than arse¬ 
nic for the potato beetle. Look to the 
currant and gooseberry bushes now. The 
worms—not over ha'f an inch long, or 
less—appear on the under leaves first. 
Then is the time to use the hellebore. 
The R. N. Y. puts a heaping table spoon¬ 
ful of hellebore in a little hot water (a to¬ 
mato can is handy lor the purpose) and 
when thoroughly mixed into a paste 
pours it into a pailful of water. This is 
sprayed upon the bushes through a cy¬ 
clone nozzle,holding the nozzle under the 
bushes and sending the spray up through 
the bushes. Two applications will suf¬ 
fice. 
If by some miracle, the power to talk 
and state their grievances could be given 
to plants, the scene we have pictured on 
our first page would be enacted on thous¬ 
ands of farms in this country. Do you 
doubt it? For years the grasses have 
been playing the killing game of “giv¬ 
ing something for nothing.” They have 
done their part cheerfully, providing food 
for the animals, and furnishing hay for 
cash. And they have never received even 
thanks for their service. The farm ma¬ 
nure has been put on the other crops. 
What the other crops failed to take has 
been left for them to get as best they can. 
No wonder they make a strike for a fair 
share of the manure. There is no crop 
on the farm that deserves fairer treat¬ 
ment than the grass crop. It is the basis 
of good agriculture. Clover is the 
spokesman of the group. We hope his 
appeal will be heard. Has he just cause 
to complain about the treatment he re¬ 
ceives on your farm? 
•‘One cannot make good clover hay and 
ignore this fact, and still very many try to. 
The time to draw in is during the hottest 
part of the day." —T. B. Terry, page 329. 
On the morning of May 7, the Flea- 
beetle was found on the potato vines of 
our “Contest Plot,” in greater numbers 
than we have ever noticed them before, 
there or anywhere else. Many of the 
vines were barely breaking through, 
while a few had made a growth of six 
inches. It was hoped that they would 
prove less troublesome this season than 
they were last, since, in so far as we can 
learn, a season of abundance is usually 
followed by several seasons of compara¬ 
tive scarcity. Perhaps the very mild 
winter may account for this departure 
from precedents. The R. N.-Y. has 
made diligent inquiry as to some effective 
means of exterminating these little, but 
terrible pests, without success. We 
know no better to-day how to fight them 
than we did last year, when we helplessly 
saw our vines dying from their depreda¬ 
tions. At present we are trying tobacco 
soap dissolved in water and sprayed upon 
the vines. We shall also try tobacco \ 
stem infusions and whale-oil soap. 
Nearly everything we could think of was 
tried last year without the least effect in 
so far as could be seen. 
MIXED GRASSES FOR PASTURE. 
T HE other day we spent the best part 
of an hour in watching a horse and 
cow eat grass in a pasture. This obser¬ 
vation was not taken from the top of a 
fence, but the observer got as close to the 
animal’s mouth as he could. If the reader 
will take the pains to do as much he will 
learn a thing or two. Animals know 
what they want. Watch them graze. 
They do not eat all sorts of grasses. They 
pick out what they want, delicately and 
decidedly. They like young grass best. 
They do not care so much for the rank, 
heavy growth that spriBgs up where ex¬ 
tra manure is applied to the surface. In 
the spring they like to eat a few dande¬ 
lions and other weeds that some human 
beings take in patent medicines. Our 
horse likes to graze in one place until the 
grass is cropped close, and then to leave 
it for a few days until a new, tender 
growth is made. He also likes to feed on 
the high ground one day and on a lower 
place the next. We find different species 
of grasses on these different parts of the 
pasture. The R. N.-Y. concludes from 
these observations that the farmers who 
advocate the seeding of pastures with a 
mixture of a dozen or more kinds of grass 
seeds are exceedingly wise. The great 
variety of grasses will surely please the 
animals, and as the grasses mature at dif¬ 
ferent times, there will be a longer supply 
of the tender, succulent growth that is so 
much preferred. 
FIGHTERS FOR FERTILITY. 
A BOUT a year ago—page 479 of last 
year’s volume—the R. N.-Y. gave a 
record of some experiments that had been 
started at the Michigan Agricultural Col¬ 
lege. This record was entitled “Lessons 
from an Old Pasture” and it will well re¬ 
pay a second reading, because it points 
out a fact regarding the fertility of mead¬ 
ows, that is most important. On the 
poorest soil of an old pasture, 24 species 
of plants—all worthless for pasture ex 
cept four—were found. On the best soil 
but 11 species were found, and one—June 
f rass—had almost excluded all the others. 
he better the soil, the stronger the good 
grasses grew, and the more the worthless 
plants were crowded out. On a poor 
soil no plant makes a perfect develop¬ 
ment. Any seed that falls has a chance 
to live and that is about all it can do. 
Make the ground stronger, apply fertili¬ 
zers and the whole thing is changed. Be¬ 
fore, the plants drag through a stunted, 
blighted existence. There is nothing in 
the soil worth fighting for. After, the 
plants break out of their sluggishness and 
fight with each other for the fertility. 
The few stronger capture the greater 
proportion of the plant food, grow up 
strong and vigorous, and crowd out many 
of their competitors And the stronger 
plants will generally be found the most 
desirable ones— in the case of the old pas¬ 
ture under experiment the June grass 
fought away the worthless plants. Na¬ 
ture does not make mistakes. If man 
would study her ways and understand 
her unchangeable conditions he might 
turn her into a willing servant. 
PERFUMED HAY. 
I N his first printed argument in favor 
of the ensilage system, M. Goff art 
said that he had frequently noticed in 
haying fields evidence of what he consid¬ 
ered must be a great waste, ne noticed 
that whenever hay was curing, the air was 
full of a delicate perfume which had evi¬ 
dently escaped from the grass into the 
air. This seemed to M. Goffart like a 
waste of the mcst valuable part of the 
grass and one of his strongest arguments 
was to the effect that by means of the silo 
the farmer could cure his grass without 
drying and thus prevent the waste of 
whatever passes away to yield up this 
agreeable odor. M. Goffart seemed to 
think that the green grass was like a pile 
of manure. He had noticed the escape 
of ammonia from a manure pile, and rea¬ 
soned that because this escape was detri¬ 
mental to the manure “the breath of the 
new-mown hay ” must be equally detri¬ 
mental to the grass. We do not believe 
there is much in this objection to drying 
grass. Certainly no chemist has yet been 
able to measure the nutritive value of 
this perfume, and it is generally agreed 
that the agreeable odor is mainly due to 
certain volatile oils that may be ranked 
with honey as regards their nutritive 
values. In fact, it may be said that hay¬ 
making has an advantage over ensiloing, 
since no silage, however “sweet” can 
compare in fragrance with the best hay. 
But these oils have their value. They 
render hay more fragrant, more palatable 
and hence more agreeable to farm ani¬ 
mals. Who has not noticed how eagerly 
cattle prefer the sweet, fragrant hay, a 
mow of which smells like a huge Lea- 
chest, to the dull, odorless stuff that 
some farmers put up? There is a certain 
time for cutting grass and a certain 
way of curing it that preserve the largest 
amount of its perfume. And those who 
can retain the most of this perfume can be 
said to have most nearly mastered the 
science of hay-making. 
u The best method by which to improve 
meadows is improved general farmin g. Feed¬ 
ing clover and grain.and saving rich manure 
in a water-tight gutter with plenty of suita¬ 
ble absorbents , will do much to insure suc¬ 
cess. A soil made fine and free from weeds 
by thorough and careful tillage is essential 
to the best results."— C. S. Rice, page 327. 
-♦ ««- » -■ 
CHEMISTRY ON THE FARM. 
T HE gradual introduction of Professor 
Short’s new method of determining 
the amount of fat in milk goes to show 
dairymen that there is nothing in chem¬ 
istry for them to be afraid of. By carry¬ 
ing out the simple rules that govern the 
method, farmers are enabled to conduct 
a chemical analysis which, 200 years ago, 
would have been considered little less 
than marvelous. The R. N.-Y. believes 
that the farmer who uses Short’s method 
of testing milk will not be satisfied until 
he learns how to analyze the food that is 
given his cows. In other woids, he will 
not be satisfied with simply knowing 
what the product contains, but will want 
to know what the food used to make that 
product contains. And he can do it. 
We believe that the rules for determining 
the quality of hay and grain can be made 
as simple as are those governing the milk 
test. Are such analyses needed ? Are 
not the published tables, so easily obtain¬ 
ed from the Experiment Stations, suffi¬ 
cient ? Just examine these tables and see 
how different samples of hay vary in 
composition. We are given the average. 
The R. N.-Y. finds that, in the Connec¬ 
ticut Station tables—and these are con¬ 
sidered the best American authority— 
wherever 10 or more samples of hay were 
analyzed, the difference between the min¬ 
imum and maximum amounts of dry 
matter, protein or carbohydrates, was 
very great. For instance, a good many 
analyses of clover hay were made with 
the following result—the figures indicat¬ 
ing the per cent, of the various sub¬ 
stances. 
Carbo- 
Poorest.. 
Dry Matter. 
Protein. 
8.9 
Fat. 
1.5 
hydrates. 
35. 
Best. 
.... 98.9 
20.8 
4.8 
49. 
Average. 
12.55 
2.44 
40.55 
It is very probable that these wide dif¬ 
ferences in value are due mainly to differ¬ 
ent methods of curing and handling. If 
a farmer proposes to make use of the re¬ 
sults of chemical analysis in his feeding, 
what can he do but take the average an¬ 
alysis which may be from 10 to 50 per 
cent, out of the way. 
The R. N.-Y. respectfully submits, 1. 
that any farmer who pretends to follow 
these tables in feeding his stock would 
make money by knowing whether his hay 
was above or below the average in value. 
2. The rules governing the analysis of 
feeding stuffs can be so simplified that any 
man who can conduct Short’s milk test, 
can learn to analyze hay and grain. If 
we are not right, will our agricultural 
chemists please tell us why not? 
CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS AND 
GRASS. 
I T will be noticed that a number of our 
correspondents speak of using chem¬ 
icals in the work of restoring meadow 
fertility. Most of these persons live at 
the East, yet it will be noticed that a 
Western man asks, on page 330, for in¬ 
formation which none but Eastern 
farmers can give him. Western farmers, 
as a rule, do not like to consider the pos¬ 
sibility of being obliged to use chemicals. 
Stable manure and clovtr should measure 
the fertility of Western farms, and as 
clover depends more or less upon manure, 
it is safe to say that the quantity of man¬ 
ure made and saved on the farm, should 
determine the fertility of that farm. 
This used to be the rule at the East, but 
industrial development has changed that. 
It simply does not pay farmers to make 
the amount of manure they made years 
ago The West supplies us with meat 
cheaper than we can raise it. The forces 
ef production and transportation have so 
arranged themselves that we find it 
cheaper to buy a portion of our manure 
in the form of fertilizers. In sections of 
this country where the dressed beef com¬ 
panies must look for their supplies of fat 
cattle, there will probably never be any 
need for chemical fertilizers. Wherever 
the dressed meat handlers supplant local 
butchers, one of two things must follow: 
the dairy interests must be largely in¬ 
creased or faimers will be obliged to use 
more chemical fertilizers. 
We give, on another page, the views of 
some Eastern farmers who use fertilizers 
with special reference to their effect upon 
the grass crop. They are all good farmers 
and speak from experience. We may say, 
in this connection, that it is our plan to 
work the R. N.-Y. New Jersey farm into 
grass as soon as practicable. We are not 
able to do this all at once; we shall not 
be able to proceed any faster than the 
farmer in ordinary circumstances could 
do. Most of the farm, when wrought 
it, was in rough pasture fields, grown up 
to brush and weeds, or in worn-out, 
grassy corn fields that had been farmed 
“on shares.” It is our plan to plow 
each year a few acres and apply all the 
stable manure we can secure, raising corn 
and giving careful cultivation. The next 
year potatoes will be grown with at least 
1,500 pounds of a high-grade potato ma¬ 
nure. In the fall the potato ground will 
be seeded to rye and Timothy, with 
clover to follow in the spring. When all 
the area that we wish in grass is seeded, 
we shall apply manure to the grass. Un¬ 
til that time we shall use a “complete” 
grass manure. Whenever the yield falls 
below the standard, the grass will be 
plowed and the land given the regular 
rotation of corn and potatoes. 
“ Dairying, sheep-breeding and hog-rais¬ 
ing all pay a living profit if conducted in a 
business like manner. All the above-men¬ 
tioned branches of farming consume the pro¬ 
ducts of the farmland return to it nearly all 
the plant food. This gives an increase of in¬ 
come, because the productive powers of the 
farm increase from the method, thus mak¬ 
ing the keeping of more stock practicable." 
—Charles Chapman, page 329. 
BREVITIES. 
Oats and peas seem to be popular as stock 
food. 
Heads of rye were “out of the boot” on 
May 2. 
Prof. Roberts, page 328, speaks a good 
word for bay crops. 
Why do most of our Eastern readers prefer 
to seed down to grass after potatoes? 
We have so much about hay that the horse 
picture, promised last week, has been crowded 
out. 
Timothy and clover! A great deal of our 
agricultural wealth seems to rest on these two 
gr asses. 
How many have tried the plan of seeding 
to grass in the corn field as advocated by Mr. 
Paine on page 335? 
The plan proposed by KM T., on page 332, 
certainly turns straw into cash, but it takes 
the life out of the soil nevertheless. 
Increasing the productiveness of our mea¬ 
dows. This topic is discussed by all our con¬ 
tributors. It is a timely topic. Read what is 
said in this number. 
The use of mowing machines has lessened 
the number of men who can do good work 
with a scythe. This means more woeds on 
the roads and in fence corners. 
Green grass forms a “perfect ration”—not 
all grass, but the best grasses. The best hay 
needs an addition of grain to give the best re¬ 
sults. Poor hay will barely sustain life. 
Oscar Clute, of California, who has been 
teacher, editor, and minister, is to succeed 
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, Edwin 
Will.tts. as President of the Michigan Agri¬ 
cultural College. He is 48 and an old gradu¬ 
ate of the institution. 
The Wisconsin Station urges farmers to 
use more clover in the silo. Many find it 
difficult to cure clover hay and get it just 
right. There is no difficulty about making it 
into good silage. It does not need to be chop¬ 
ped before gorng into the silo. 
Mr. Terry tells how ho cures clover hay. 
His horses keep in good condition on such 
hay, without grain. There is a good deal in 
the curing of such hay. Some farmers would 
take the same clover and cure it so that horses 
would nearly starve to death on it. Are we 
not right in this? 
It has thus far been the most delightful 
spring of which we have any remembrance. 
And it is just such delightful springs that, in 
the quiet valley where the R. N.-Y. does its 
experiment work, coax out the grape-vine 
shoots and blossoms to be killed by rarely 
missed frosts in middle May. 
The great American Meat Company, which, 
it was generally supposed, had collapsed on 
the resignation of Flagler as President, and 
Mess as Secretary, a few weeks ago, has been 
reorganized. Ex-Senator Warner Miller, of 
New York, has become President, and ex- 
Congressmau Belden, of Syracuse, his princi¬ 
pal associate. Flagler and Moss, of the Cot¬ 
ton-Seed-Oil Trust are still among the direc¬ 
tors. The terms of the new organization are 
substantially the same as those of the old. 
It may be well to remember the remedy 
for the clover midge that was proposed by 
Mr. Warren, a R. N.-Y. subscriber, of Medi¬ 
na County,Ohio. Mr. Warren runs the mow¬ 
er through the field about the middle of May, 
leaving the product on the ground as a mulch 
and fertilizer. After this there develops a 
vigorous crop of blossoms. This comes be¬ 
tween two broods of the midge and thus es¬ 
capes attack. Another plan is to cut the hay 
crop 10 days earlier than usual. This early- 
cut clover can be used in the silo. 
