350 
THE BUBAL HIW-VOBKIB. 
MAY 25 
they ought to be mixed in the proportion of one- 
fourth of beans to three-fourths of bran or 
corn. Fattening hogs should get all they will 
eat cooked; for store hogs they might be profit¬ 
ably mixed with bran or corn, half and half. 
4. They are worth more, pound for pound, 
than any of the grains. 
5. Bran or corn. 
6. Sheep and hogs. 
7. No. 
8. The vines or pods are worth as much as 
good hay, or more, for sheep and nearly as 
much as hay for store cattle. 
The subject is one that might be profitably 
discussed, as a good deal might be learned by 
experience in feeding the beans and vines. 
Beans are never used as feed except they are 
damaged by wet, or heating, or some similar 
mishap. But beans should always be screened 
.and hand-picked before they go to market, 
and the beans that are screened out and those 
that are picked out make feed. They are a 
stronger feed than corn or rye, being more 
nutritious than either; but they require more 
care in feeding, because if too many are given 
they invariably cause scorn's, and then they 
would be of little or no value; therefore they 
must be always given in moderate quantities, 
except when cooked and fed to hogs. Then 
they may be fed very liberally with the best 
of effect. 
Genesee County, N. Y. 
FROM F. A. HOGMIER. 
1. Sheep, hogs and chickens. 
2. I feed them whole to sheep and cook 
them whole for hogs and chickens. 
3. I start with a very small ration, say, five 
quarts to 50 fattening sheep, and gradually 
increase until they get nearly all they will eat. 
4. They are as good for feed as ordinary 
grains if they can be bought at the same 
price. Split and poor beans can be bought 
of dealers at a-half cent per pound. These 
are the only kinds we feed, as good beaus are 
worth too much money to be used as stock 
feed. 
5. They may be fed alone or mixed with 
anything else. 
6. Sheep. 
7. No—the beans are worth too much per 
pound in the market. 
g Yes—they are much better than hay and 
grain for sheep and cattle; but they must be 
fed very moderately at the start as they are 
very laxative. Beans may be ground and 
mixed with other grains at the choice of the 
feeder. The pods are very valuable for sheep 
which will leave the best of hay and eat the 
pods as though they were grain. My sheep 
have had nothing but pods all winter—not 
one pound of grain—and they are in much bet¬ 
ter condition than they were in the fall. 
The pods are fine feed for breeding ewes. 
When fed on them they always have plenty 
of milk. Beans are the most profitable crop we 
can raise. Feeders only use poor beans and 
splits from the pickers’ table. There are 
thousands of acres grown here in Western N. 
Y. The yield is from 15 to 30 bushels to the 
acre. 
is wingless and degraded and moves about 
only during the early part of its life. After 
attaining full growth it remains in one posi¬ 
tion, inserting its beak into the plant and 
pumping up sap. The female undergoes but 
very slight metamorphoses and the newly 
hatched young is comparatively long-legged 
and is perfectly active; with each successive 
molt its limbs become shorter, but it changes 
little in general appearance. Contrary to the 
usual rule in bark-lice, the male is also wing¬ 
less. For many years the latter sex was un¬ 
known. The best remedy is the application 
of a dilute kerosene soap emulsion made ac¬ 
cording to the Hubbard formula which has 
been often published in our columns. 
IMPROVING A LAWN, ETC. 
P. O. M., Galesburg, III.— 1. The stand of 
grass on my 6xl2-rod lawn is pretty good, 
though not so good as I want it to be. How 
can I improve it without digging up the 
ground, and what is the best time to do it? 
2. Ought hard maple trees planted three years 
ago, and now seven feet high, to be trimmed? 
Ans.— 1. We should use chemical fertilizers 
—bone, blood, ashes, kainit or muriate of 
potash. Suitable combinations of these are 
put up by all fertilizer firms. Sow at the 
rate of 300 pounds to the acre now. In June 
sow again at the same rate during wet 
weather. In August sow again. It would be 
very desirable to mix the fertilizer thoroughly, 
before spreading it, with at least an equal 
amount of soil. This would insure an even 
distribution and prevent scorching in places. 
2. No, not unless the branches interfere, or a 
lower, more stocky growth be desired. 
Miscellaneous. 
Livingston County. N. Y. 
FROM J. H. KENYON. 
I saw in the Rural a short time ago the 
statement that most sheep would eat 
beans whole, and then a ration for sheep of 100 
to 120 pounds was given. Isn’t this ration too 
great, or am I feeding my sheep too little? 
I have a flock of all ages that weigh from 120 
to 175 pounds each (actual weight, no guess¬ 
work). I feed them half a pound of corn 
daily with what straw they can pick over- 
mostly barley straw—and this is all they get 
until they lamb and they are fat and healthy. 
Some of the single lambs weigh as high as 12% 
pounds at birth, and twins 15 pounds, and the 
only trouble I have with their milk is in 
keeping their udders from becoming inflamed 
before the lambs get old enough to take the 
milk. During the past winter one ewe lost 
one side of her udder through neglect on my 
part after the lamb was one week old. In the 
last two years my lambs gained six pounds in 
seven days. I have not weighed any this 
spring, but they are as good as any I have 
had. About sheep eating beans—I had a few 
damaged ones which I mixed with the corn, 
and the only objection the sheep made was 
there was too much corn and too little beans. 
Onondaga County, N. Y. 
THE FLAT SCALE INSECT. 
J. A. W., Portland, N. Y.— What are the 
insects on the inclosed orange leaf? By care¬ 
ful washing and hand-picking I can keep them 
only partially under. 
Ans.— The insect is the common Flat Scale 
(Lecaninum hesperidum). Itis a very common 
greenhouse pest of the North,and further south 
lives out-of-doors on a variety of trees and 
plants. At Washington it is one of the com¬ 
monest greenhouse pests, and at the same time 
it infests the English ivy in great numbers out- 
of-doors. Like other scale insects, the female 
Ans. 1. We use a Syracuse cultivator. It 
has horizontal blades in front and a shallow 
hoe behind. A cultivator to work just as we 
want it for the shallow cultivation of corn 
and potatoes is yet to be made. 2. We pre¬ 
fer for the preparation of the land the Cuta¬ 
way harrow. This pulverizes the soil with¬ 
out packing it. 3. “Suckers” are much the 
same as other branches, except that they us¬ 
ually issue from the interior of the tree and 
are tardy in bearing. 
I. B., Blockville, N. F.—The stock of Idaho 
pears is controlled by J. H. Evans, Lewis¬ 
ton, Idaho. 
J. H. C., Jersey Shore, Pa.—The fish com¬ 
missioners for Illinois are, N. K. Fairbank, 
Pres’t, Chicago; Dr. S. P. Bartlett, Quincy; 
George Brenning, Centralia. 
J, H. C., West Rutland, Vermont— Is 
Breed’s Universal Weeder valuable for weed¬ 
ing small corn where there are some small 
stones? 
Ans.—W e have never used this tool, but 
those who have used it are quite enthusiastic 
in its praise. 
M. N. McN., Kirkwood, Ohio— When and 
how should grape-vines be girdled to induce 
the fruit to ripen early? 
Ans.— It is only necessary to tie a strong 
piece of twine tightly about the cane to be 
girdled below the grapes. Do it when the 
grapes are as large as peas. 
J. H., Kingston, 111.— Mr. Terry says: “Keep 
the cultivator in the potato field until the 
tops fall down.” A prominent seedsman and 
potato-grower in a friendly letter says: “ Stop 
cultivation when the buds for blossoms ap¬ 
pear.” What is the Rural’s opinion on the 
subject? 
Ans.— The R. N.-Y. says also “Keep the 
cultivator going until the tops fall down”— 
but cultivate shallow. 
W. T. McC., Blue Ridge Springs, Va.— 1. 
What is the best breed of chickens, good 
health, good layers, good sitters, careful 
mothers, early maturity, good size and quiet 
disposition being the factors in the choice. 
2. What is the most favorable season to pro¬ 
cure eggs for hatching from dealers? 
Ans.— 1. We should select either Wyan- 
dottes or Plymouth Rocks. You will have to 
try both breeds in a small way before you 
can tell which is tho better for your use. 2. 
You can start now. 
8, N., Romeo, Michigan. —What is the best 
band force pump for spraying fruit trees, and 
what chemicals are best adapted as insect de¬ 
stroyers on the apple and plum trees, small 
fruits, etc. ? 
Ans. 1. The Field force pump made by 
the Field Force Pump Company, Lockport, 
N. Y. Rumsey & Company, Seneca Falls, N. 
Y., make good spraying pumps. Paris-green 
or London-purple is generally used in about 
the proportion of one pound to 200 gallons of 
water for spraying apple, plum and other 
trees. For spraying currant and gooseberry 
bushes to kill the currant worm, white helle¬ 
bore is generally used, a table-spoonful to a 
pail of water. 
L. E. C., Bainbridge, Ohio. —1. What is 
the best implement for the leyel cultivation of 
potatoes planted according to the trench sys¬ 
tem ? 2. Is harrowing with an ordinary 
straight-toothed harrow recommended, or 
does doing so pack the earth about the pota¬ 
toes in the trenches ? 3. Do suckers from 
plum trees bear fruit without grafting or 
budding ? 
DISCUSSION. 
WATER IN AMATEUR GARDENING. 
“ Aani,” Staten Island, N. Y.—I have 
found an ordinary garden or street sprinkling 
hose exceedingly useful in fruit, flower and 
vegetable culture. I have sufficient hose to 
reach over two lots—three lengths. I bought 
it, second-hand, cheap. It has more than paid 
for itself as an insect or pest exterminator. I 
use at times a spraying nozzle, and at other 
times a single stream nozzle. When the bor¬ 
ers bothered my apple trees, I cut the bark, 
fastened the nozzle of the hose close to the 
hole, and let the water fly in there for an 
hour, taking care of itself. The borer never 
appeared after that wash-out. When the 
asparagus beetles get on the plants I start the 
hose up once a week, and give them the 
full and close benefit of the flying water. 
The spraying nozzle is held close to the in¬ 
fested parts of the plant. The f jrce of the 
water I always send in an upward direction 
from a position close to the ground. The 
stream or spray strikes all insects unawares. 
They usually depend on the shelter of the 
leaves for protection from heavy rain storms. 
The water from the hose, “ knocks them 
silly,” as the boys say. I find that the aspar¬ 
agus beetles are carried 10 to 20 feet from the 
plant, and there they lie very limp on the 
ground. Of course, the beetles are not all 
killed; but the young ones never get back, and 
so by using the hose once a week I give the 
plants needed water in dry times, and have 
healthy-looking bushes. I let the water fly 
full vent, as close to the plants as they can 
stand without danger of breaking. The green 
fly, red spider aDd rose bug also bother mo little 
after the hose has thumped them heartily. It 
keeps my rose-bushes clean and bright-look¬ 
ing. The tent caterpillars go the same way. 
I catch their colonies when very young, put 
the sputtering water Tra them, and soon the 
web is gone all but a tatter or two. The 
green currant worm, (not borer, but leaf- 
eater,) goes whizzing off the bushes under the 
same flying application. Low or dwarf peach 
trees, pear trees or plum trees are materially 
cleansed by an occasional “rapid-transit” 
ducking of their boughs. How the strawberry 
plants do thrive and grow under a thorough, 
persistent soaking from the spraying hose! 
The strawberry crops of none of my neighbors 
begin to compare with mine. 1 pick them four 
to a pint, seven inches around—both Sharp 
less and Downing. They have a heavy but 
friable soil, and row culture. The runners 
are nipped until August 15, and only enough 
young ones permitted to grow to replace 
superannuated veterans. The second best 
thing they get is commercial fertilizers, and 
the best of all is water, water, water! And 
then more water after that. 
I do not pay much for this water. I apply 
a patent rubber cap to the faucet, which 
keeps the water running with good force, and 
so I don’t pay $10 per year for water rent on 
a screw hose faucet. The attachment costs 
50 cents and can be bought in any rubber 
goods store. Raspberry bushes treated lib 
erally with water do not seem to yield so fa 
tally to the new form of blight that threatens 
this delightful fruit. 
i take good care of my hose and it has 
lasted three years already. Of course, farm 
ers don’t have public water-works to draw 
on ;but thousands of market gardeners do. The 
same is true of wealthy city merchants’ 
places in the rural or suburban districts. Just 
let them make nature’s great element, water, 
their ally in fighting plant and shrub insects, 
and the results will be pleasing and profitable. 
I forgot to say that the drenchings given 
the asparagus, while killing off all young 
beetles, cause a remarkable growth in stalks. 
The soaking is wonderfully good in dry, 
scorching August. 
A grape-growing neighbor of mine has a 
surprise for the horticultural world next year 
in tho form of a magnificent grape. The fruit 
is red and as big as a Shell-bark liickory-nut. 
There are few on a bunch,but the bunches are 
big. To eat it is to get grape jelly in a raw 
condition—nothing less. Beneath the skin 
there is a pulp that is thick,soft and sacchar 
me almost,in its delightful flavor. I would not 
toss up a cent between eating a bunch of 
these grapes and the most expensive hot-house 
pets. The vine is a trifle woody, but no more 
than Pocklingtou, but the grape—well, I’ll let 
the Rural speak of it next autumn, after 
judging of its merits by “sampling” a speci¬ 
men bunch. 
ONIONS FOR STOCK. 
T. D. Curtis, Chicago, III.—On page 
296, appear some comments by correspondents 
on the subject of feeding onions to stock, and 
the Rural calls for other facts about feeding 
onions. When I was waiting for the train, 
last winter, after attending the Wisconsin 
State Dairymen’s Convention, I fell into con¬ 
versation, at the depdt, with a man who said 
he was engaged in gardening, and in conjunc¬ 
tion with this ran a small dairy. He said that 
a few years since he had a considerable patch 
of onions that did not bottom well and were 
too small to market. When the other crops 
were harvested these were left and he turned 
his stock in, not thinking much of the onions. 
To his surprise, these were about the first 
thing they fell to eating. His milch cows 
among the rest indulged in a diet of onions. 
As was expected, the onions tainted the milk 
and the butter made from it. Marketing it 
was out of the question. So he suggested that 
each member of the family should begin the 
meal by eating onion. They did so and exper¬ 
ienced no annoyance from the flavor of the 
milk or butter. As time rolled on, he thought 
the onion flavor in the butter diminished, and 
he ventured to take one tub of butter to mar¬ 
ket. He said nothing about the onions, but 
requested that the butter be carefully tested. 
It was pronounced fino and all right. The 
next time he went to the village, the buyer 
inquired if he had any more of that fine- 
flavored butter to sell. A lady friend, who 
was very particular, had some of the same 
make of onion-flavored butter, and soon called 
for more. A year or so later, he had several 
hundred bushels of small onions that he could 
not sell. He gathered them and fed them to 
his cows heavily. He went on selling his 
butter to his village neighbors and all spoke 
of the fine flavor of the article. Since then 
he uses his unmarketable onions in this way. 
He seemed to think that an occasional taste 
of onions by the cows manifests itself in the 
flavor of the butter in a disagreeaole way; 
but that full and regular feeding only hightens 
the flavor without making it at all unpleas¬ 
ant. This is the first time I ever heard of 
feeding onions to cows. 
BLACKBERRIES AND SEED POTATOES. 
M. M., Medway, Mass.— The Erie and 
Minnewaski blackberries are not hardy in this 
climate. I have had the Erie through two 
winters and the Minnewaski one winter, and 
nearly every cane of each kind has been killed 
to the ground. Had I known the truth as to 
the hardiness of these two blackberries two 
years ago, it would have saved me $25, which 
I was induced to invest on the assurance of 
those who have the plants to sell. I begin to 
think the word of no nurseryman can be de¬ 
pended upon concerning stock which he has 
for sale. 
I see, m the Rural of May 4, some remarks 
about keeping potatoes in cold storage to pre¬ 
vent sprouting. I have a cellar about 12 feet 
deep under my barn. It remains very cool 
late in the spring, so that potatoes seldom 
sprout much in it until late in May. I find 
that in the spring some of my potatoes are 
black inside. Such tubers have little or no 
vitality. Is the bad condition of some of 
these potatoes caused by a lengthy subjection 
to too low a temperature ? The thought was 
first suggested to me on observing the differ¬ 
ence in condition, one year ago, of the two 
parts of a lot of Polaris potatoes, some of 
which were stored in my cellar and the others 
in a neighbor’s cellar. Many of those 
in my cellar were black inside, while those 
kept in the neighbor’s were all sound, though 
some had sprouted. 
FEEDING ONIONS TO STOCK. 
F. H., Wayne County, N. Y.—Mr. Whitte- 
more, who in a lato Rural wrote about 
“Onions for Stock,” cannot be very well post¬ 
ed on prices, if he never knew the price of 
onions to fall below 20 cents per bushel. In 
this county thousands of bushels of onions 
were buried or otherwise disposed of during 
the last winter and spring, there being abso¬ 
lutely no sale for them at any price. In the 
New York market large quantities were sold 
for 25 to 50 cents per barrel, less than enough 
to pay for freight, commission and packages. 
What Mr. W says may be true of Chautau¬ 
qua county, but it certainly is not trueof this 
county, or of any onion-growing district. 
In regard to “onions for stock,” I have had no 
experience in feeding, though I know that 
stock will eat them. They are considered 
healthful and nutritious as human food, and 
why they should not be the same for stock 
feed I do not know. Onions are very health¬ 
ful food for poultry, which soon grow very 
fond of them. They will prevent gapes in 
chickens, if fed chopped in the soft feed twice 
a day. They must, however, be discontinued 
