366 
THE BUBAL flEW-VORKEII. JUNE * 
worth the same prices in hard-wood ashes, 
hen manure and stable manure. These arti¬ 
cles are, of course, very variable in compo¬ 
sition and it is out of the question to give a 
definite answer without knowing the analysis 
of the sample in question. A ton of hen ma¬ 
nure of good quality should contain about 33 
pounds of nitrogen, 31 pounds of phosphoric 
acid and 17 pounds of potash; these together 
would be worth $8.38 at the prices given 
above. Knowing the weight per bushel of 
the hen manure our inquirer can very easily 
tell what he should pay for it. In the same 
way a ton of fresh farm yard manure, like¬ 
wise of good quality, would contain about 
nine pounds of nitrogen, four pounds of phos¬ 
phoric acid and 10X pounds of potash, worth, 
all together, $2.24. Good Canada hard-wood 
ashes should contain per ton 200 pounds of 
potash and 130 pounds of phosphoric acid, 
worth together $17.19. Of course, if the 
ashes have been leached or the manure has 
been “ fire-tanged” or exposed to the weather, 
the value will be materially decreased, but 
how much it would take a chemical analysis 
to determine. 
J tect them against frost. The crop was earlier 
than if they had been planted in the spring. 
The past winter has been so mild that we 
might have planted our potatoes in trenches 
last fall without a mulch. 
“white house” paint. 
J. J. A., Montgomery County, Ky. —The 
following is the recipe for a paint or white¬ 
wash similar to that on one end of the White 
House at Washington: Take one-half bushel 
of good unslaked lime; slake it with boiling 
water (cover during the process to keep in 
the steam) strain the liquid through a sieve 
and add to it a peck of salt dissolved in warm 
water, three pounds of ground rice boiled to a 
thin paste. Stir in, boiling hot, one-half 
pound of Spanish whiting, one pound of white 
glue, and five gallons of hot water. Let the 
mixture stand a few days covered from dust, 
and apply hot with a white-wash brush. If a 
different color be desired, Spanish brown, 
yellow ocher or other colors may be added. 
Do not add green. This makes a cheap,dura¬ 
ble paint for all kinds of out-door woodwork, 
brick or stone. 
WEIGHTS of clusters of grapes. 
F J. P. K., Wakefield, Kan. —What was the 
v eight of the largest bunch of grapes ever 
raised in America, England or any other 
country? 
ANSWERED BT GEORGE W. CAMPBELL. 
I am not able to answer these questions very 
satisfactorily, and can only give reports from 
sources which are probably reliable. If 
J. P. K. wishes to know the weight of native 
grapes grown in America, including hybrid 
varieties of American production, I would 
say that with ordinary good culture, they are 
not often grown over a pound to the cluster; 
from one half to three fourths of a pound be¬ 
ing a good average of the larger varieties, 
while the smaller ones would average less. 
Concords, Niagaras, Pocklington, Duchess, 
Downing, and Triumph, have been grown as 
heavy as one and one-fourth, to one and a- 
half pound; and the Highland grape, one of 
Mr. Ricketts’s hybrids is reported as having 
been grown to weigh two pounds and two 
ounces. In England a bunch of the Black 
Hamburgh is reported to have been grown by 
special culture, for exhibition, and shown at 
the London Horticultural Society’s exhibit, 
weighing eight pounds and six ounces. The 
Syrian or Palestine grape, which is believed 
to be the variety mentioned in the Book of 
Numbers as having been found by the Israel¬ 
ites near the brook Eshcol, and which was 
borne upon a staff by two men, is reported to 
have borne clusters in England weighing 
19^ pounds; and in its native country as 
high as 25 pounds. So far as known to the 
writer, this is the largest grape-story on record. 
ABOUT PARROTS. 
Subscriber, (No Address.) —Where can I 
obtain a talking parrot and what is the usual 
price for one? 
Ans. —Parrots are imported from Mexico 
and the West Indies. The Mexican parrots 
are considered the best. They are imported 
chiefly during May, while the Cuban parrots 
are not brought here until later in the season. 
The young Mexican parrots are worth from 
$12 to $15 each, while Cuban parrots may be 
obtained as low as $5 each. Talking parrots 
have no fixed value. The price depends upon 
the extent and character of their education. 
A really good talker, free from bad habits 
such as stealing, swearing and the like, 
would be cheaper at $50 than the average 
parrot at $15. Judging from our own exper¬ 
ience, we should hesitate about bringing the 
average parrot into the family unless it spoke 
in its native Spanish or some other foreign 
language. It is apt to get up unpleasant sur¬ 
prises both by its tricks and its language. 
The best way is to buy a young Mexican 
parrot and educate it yourself. Louis Riche, 
24 North William St., N. Y., or the Asso¬ 
ciated Fanciers, Philadelphia, Pa., will send 
you birds which will be all they aro repre¬ 
sented to be. 
FALL PLANTED POTATOES. 
W. O. F., Oreensburg, Ind. —In the spring 
of 1888 I bought a barrel of “ high-bred seed 
potatoes which I planted with very satisfac¬ 
tory results. Intending to follow the plan of 
raising a second crop, on leaving home on the 
latter part of July, I left directions for plant¬ 
ing some of the first crop. My man prepared 
the ground well and trenched according to 
the Rural’s plan and planted the potatoes 
immediately after digging them. Very few 
sprouted last fall,but this spring they are com¬ 
ing up splendidly, hardly one being missing. 
If they had been matured by exposure to the 
air for a few days, would they have grown 
right off? 
Ans —Yes, no doubt they would. The 
R. N.-Y. has planted 'potatoes in the fall and 
covered them),with a sufficientjnulchJ,'to])pro- 
Mlscelianeons. 
P. O., Oswego Falls, N. Y. —How can I get 
rid of wood-chucks? 
Ans. —Wood-chucks may be readily shot 
with a long-range rifle, or trapped with 
strong-springed steel traps. Dogs may also 
be trained to hunt them. We know of no 
wholesale method of extermination. 
E. F. D., Lima, N. Y. —How much potash 
available as plant food is there in one ton of 
hard-wood ashes? 
Ans. —Unleached hard-wood ashes should 
contain five to six per cent, of potash, which 
would give about 100 pounds in one ton of 
ashes. Many will not contain one-half this 
amount, however. 
N. G. P., Malone, N. Y. —It is not necessary 
to fill your silo to the very top in order to 
preserve the silage. Half-filled silos have 
been known to succeed when the covering 
was perfect. The proportion of failures 
where whole stalks are used seems to be 
greater than when the stalks are cut. It is 
not necessary that the barn should be special¬ 
ly warm in order to save the silage. A tight, 
well-made, wooden silo will preserve the 
silage in any ordinary barn. 
J. H. McC.,Wrightsville, Pa. —Whatarethe 
fertilizing value and composition of flue ashes 
taken from the boilers of a blast furnace? 
Ans. —We do not know of any analysis of 
flue ashes, but we do not see how they can 
have any considerable fertilizing value. 
They would be likely to consist chiefly of fine 
coal ashes and soot. The latter might contain 
a trace of nitrates,but probably the chiei bene¬ 
fit derived from its use comes from some favor¬ 
able action upon the physical conditions of the 
soil, making it possibly more retentive of 
moisture. 
DISCUSSION. 
CITY AND COUNTRY. 
Franklin Dye, Trenton, N. J.—Life, as 
it relates to those who obtain employment on 
farms in contrast with that of those who se¬ 
cure positions in town, to which attention is 
called by Fred Grundy on page 311, is worthy 
of still further illustration. 
Single men who on the farm receive $12 to 
$15 per month and board,would not command 
more than $10 pep week in town. This would 
give them $40 per month. Deduct the cost of 
board and washing and only $13 per month 
are left. But we must include in this calcu¬ 
lation the numerous temptations to expend 
money that exist in the city and which do 
not exist in the country; and unless a city 
man sets his face like a flint against these, he 
will not be able to resist the inroads they make 
upon his earnings, and the temptations to 
moral ruin are correspondingly greater in the 
city. Moreover, the class of farm bands who 
have families are able to command $25 to $30 
per month, with a house, a garden and other 
things that a deserving hand frequently re¬ 
ceives from a liberal employer; now, how 
many of this class would command over $25 
per week in town or $100 per month ? From 
this each man must deduct $10 per 
month tor house rent, board for himself,wife, 
and, say,three children, at $3 a week, making 
$15 a week, which, with the rent equals $75 
per month. Subtract this from $100 and $25 
per month are left, and the same temptations 
to spend money unnecessarily exist with him 
and family as in the case of the single man. 
[Not one man of the kind in 100 could get 
$100 or $75 a month in the city. Eds.] 
Then again, we must take into account two 
other factors which are apt to do away at 
any time with all the savings the city worker 
may have made for years from his larger 
wages—namely strikes among working-men, 
and compulsory idleness consequent on the 
failure of his employer. 
This state of things never occurs on the 
farm. Farming always goes on whether for 
little or much in the way of profits. A iiving 
at least is always assured. 
The tendency among farmers, country¬ 
working men, and farmers’ sons and daugh¬ 
ters, has been for some time town-ward. In 
justice to those who, though still in the 
country, are looking hopefully forward to the 
time when they, too, can secure positions in 
town, a word of caution should be spoken. 
An old adage says “ All is not gold that glit¬ 
ters.” To those who must work labor is as 
honorable in the country as in the city. Ex¬ 
ternals do not make the man; nor do they en¬ 
noble labor. A man’s character and worth 
should not be estimated by the clothes he 
wears, nor by the business he follows, if it is 
a legitimate one, whether in country or town. 
The farmer’s son is just as honorable and is as 
honorably employed when taking a load of 
hay to town and carting a load of manure 
home to enrich the farm, as he would be if 
standing behind the merchant’s counter 
measuring dry-goods, and the prospect of set¬ 
ting up in business for himself is as 100 to one 
in favor of the worker on the farm, at the 
present low-price of farms, compared with 
the chances before the clerk. A man adver¬ 
tised a few days ago for a place as clerk in a 
dry-goods store, in a town of 60,000 inhabi¬ 
tants. His “ad” was answered, and the 
largest firm in that city offered him $3.50 per 
week, and he had a wife to keep also. The 
prospect is not encouraging at this time for 
green-hands in any city work. There are un¬ 
mistakable signs of a change. Those farmers, 
with their sons and daughters, who stick to 
the farm now. and keep on improving their 
soil and their methods, will reap the first and 
largest harvests when better prices for farm 
produce come. A word also concerning the 
girls: Why is it considered more respectable 
on the part of our country girls—and city 
girls, too, for that matter—to work as clerks 
on a pittance of a salary, rather than to do 
general house-work in respectable families, 
in town or in country? Positions are not 
numerous enough for the applicants in the 
former; while in the latter there is a large 
and growing demand, and the supply is not 
at all adequate to meet it. 
VALUE OF DROPPINGS. 
P. H. Jacobs, Hammonton, N. J.—Poul¬ 
try droppings applied to the soil may prove 
to be no better than so much dry dirt. They 
are used every season by gardeners who ex¬ 
pect great results, and who are disappointed. 
Now, poultry droppings, like night-soil, are 
not nearly so valuable as they are estimated, 
and it is a mistake to suppose them equal to 
guano,or even nearly as good. It is well known 
that night-soil is produced from all kinds 
of food, meat included, the urine being also 
added, yet it fails to reach a high value when 
analyzed, a matter which has surprised many. 
Poultry droppings may be placed alongside of 
night-soil. They are rich in fertilizing ele¬ 
ments, but what becomes of the elements wnen 
the droppings are applied to the soil ? I have 
spread droppings three inches thick on a plot 
of ground, only to find that the crop on an ad¬ 
joining plot, on which only one quart of 
guano had been applied so largely exceeded 
that on the hen-manured plot as to make 
a marked contrast. I had not kept the 
droppings properly. The adoption of the fre¬ 
quent recommendation that droppings be kept 
dry (I am guilty myself of having given this 
advice) has resulted in loss. I know of no ab¬ 
sorbent material that will prevent loss of the 
ammonia, (plaster not excepted) if the drop¬ 
pings are kept dry. V hen you rake up a lot 
of fresh, moist droppings, and mix them 
with earth, in a short time the whole mass is 
dry, with lumps as hard as stones, and not a 
trace of ammonia can be detected. When the 
moisture left it carried away the ammonia, 
leaving only that portion which may have as¬ 
sisted in forming a salt, but which is very lit¬ 
tle. When plaster is used there is a series of 
changes, and not a direct formation of sul¬ 
phate of ammonia, as many suppose; carbon¬ 
ate of ammonia and carbonate of lime are 
some of the results, the formation of which 
I will not explain here, but the ammonia 
finally takes flight. 
Some time ago I explained to the readers of 
the R. N.-Y. how the droppings should be 
kept, but as some of them may not have pre¬ 
served that issue I will repeat it here and also 
for the benefit of new readers. Instead of 
keeping the droppings dry, keep them wet, 
and in so doing you can render them more 
available as plant food. Have a place for 
them, such’as a covered box, or small out¬ 
building. On t h e floor of this throw a foot or 
more of earth. Clean out the poultry house 
two or three times a week, so as to prevent 
the loss of moisture already in the droppings, 
and place the latter on the dirt. Over them 
throw two inches of earth, then more drop¬ 
pings, and continue alternately until the re¬ 
ceptacle is full. You may, if you can do so, 
add night soil, urine, or anything else. Now 
simply keep the mass damp, (not too wet) 
with soap-suds saved on wash days. Never 
let the mass become dry. The soap suds will 
cause a chemical change, the fat acids fixing 
the ammonia, (or assisting to do so) and when 
the time comes to use the manure the ammo- 
niacal odor will convince you that the elements 
are there. The moisture prevents loss of vol¬ 
atile matter, and there will be no lumps to 
grind and the wlmle will be in a soluble con¬ 
dition ready for plant food. 
Perhaps some one may suppose that 1 am 
trying to upset another theory, but the above 
is the result of a fair comparison of the wet 
and the dry. The former recommendation 
“ keep the droppings dry,” was simply founded 
on a theory, after all, and it requires not even 
an experiment to disprove its correctness, as it 
is well known that a dry process does not pre¬ 
vent loss of ammonia, and that moisture 
favors the formation of chemical salts. Al¬ 
low the stable manure to dry as hard as the 
lumps in the droppings of poultry, try it on 
crops, and the loss of valuable plant feeding 
material can be almost measured by the'com¬ 
parison. 
how to prevent “butter not coming.” 
J. H. A., Randolph,Cattaraugus Coun¬ 
ty, N. Y.— I noticed in a late Rural some 
inquiry as to “butter not coming.” I have 
seen much in regard to this trouble, but ex¬ 
perience has taught me that a high tem¬ 
perature will obviate it. I have raised the 
temperature of the cream as high as 80 de¬ 
grees and even 85 degrees; but there must 
be no guess-work; let the thermom¬ 
eter he the guide. When the butter 
shows signs of coming, ccol the cream back 
to 60 or 62 degrees. I have never lost a churn¬ 
ing owing to the butter coming soft or to any 
injury to the grain. It has always been as 
solid and firm in texture as though the high 
temperature had not been resorted to. I 
have a Moseley creamer and churn, and use 
hot and cold water direct to make the 
changes. 
I churn every second day, ripen my cream 
in a large can, do not stir it any except by 
turning in with the rest the mess from each 
milking, keep it closely covered in a tempera¬ 
ture sufficiently warm to make it slightly 
acid—about 62 degrees. My butter is sold to 
private families at good living prices. 
feeding onions to stock. 
H. B. S., Rockport, Ohio.— Several years 
ago I raised a crop of onions and the price 
was so low in the fall that it was thought best 
to store them until spring. But instead of 
the price advancing toward spring, it went 
down until it was far below the cost of rais¬ 
ing the crop. There was a flock of 25 year¬ 
ling lambs on the farm, and the experiment 
of teaching them to eat onions was tried. 
While the ground was yet frozen, and snow 
covered it the feeding commenced. At first 
the lambs did not seem to care for the onions 
and would walk away fi om them, but soon 
they got so fond of them that the 25 would 
eat a bushel a day. It was thought at the 
time of the experiment that the feeding value 
of onions was about the same as that of car¬ 
rots or parsnips. Thousands of bushels of 
onions have been thrown away this spring, 
the price being so low that they were not 
carried to market where they would have 
brought only 10, 15 or 20 cents per bushel. 
THE EFFECT OF LATITUDE ON THE EARLINESS 
OF CORN. 
J. J. H. G., Marblehead, Mass.— There 
should be no question about this at this late 
day. It is fully recognized and acted upon 
by those who have large business interests at 
stake, the great canning factories of the 
country. One of the largest of these informs 
me that it has for years had the same variety 
of corn raised by three growers whose farms 
are about 200 miles apart, in a north and 
south direction, with the object of having 
this seed corn mature in the same order when 
raised for canning in the neighborhood of 
their factory; and the result has been at¬ 
tained, that raised farthest north maturing 
first and the other two lots following in the 
order of their latitude. 
E. A. F., Hancock, Vermont.— About five 
years ago, about the latter part of May 
Flea-beetles beset my garden, and cabbages, 
turnips and beets all fared alike, they were all 
being destroyed. I dusted them with ashes 
and lime, but to no purpose. I mixed a strong 
dose of ashes and Faris-green and with it 
dusted the ground around the vegetables that 
had been eaten. The beetles soon left. They 
didn’t.like the_dust. 
