§09 
THE BUBAL WEW-Y0BK1B. 
fruits would be more certain and profitable 
than those from blueberries. Blueberries 
bring an average price hero fully 33% per 
cent, below that of raspberries and 25 per 
cent, below that of currants. I cannot think 
of any system of cultivation that would bring 
the yield per acre of blueberries up to that of 
currants, while the expense of propagation 
and cultivation would be much greater with 
the blueberry than with the currants. 
From what I know at present I would recom¬ 
mend their cultivation only to experimenters 
and amateurs as a source of pleasure not likely 
to prove one of profit. They should be 
planted quite shallow in sandy land six inches 
apart in rows three feet apart. Cultivation 
should be confined to the middle of the rows, 
never running nearer than eight to 10 inches. 
The plants should be mulched along the rows. 
They can be renewed by layers. The old 
wood should be removed every two or three 
years. The less they are disturbed about the 
roots the bettor they seem to thrive. I have 
never known them to respond to manure or 
cultivation like currants and gooseberries. 
They are liable to injury from frost or 
drought. The wood and buds for next year’s 
crop are formed this year, so that it takes two 
good seasons to insure a full crop. The blue¬ 
berry is a fruit we know so little about that 
there is room for experiment. A third or 
fourth generation of seedlings may get so far 
away from the Indian as to respond to the hoe, 
cultivator and fertilizers. In my opinion 
that is the direction in which we should look 
for success. 
Minneapolis, Minn. 
FROM SECRETARY J. S. HARRIS. 
I do not reside in the blueberry region and 
consequently know but little about blueberry 
growing; but I believe that, like many of our 
other native fruits, the blueberry will have 
to go through a process of cultivation by the 
growing of seedlings, or propagation by cut¬ 
ting, for a period, before its cultivation be¬ 
comes an assured success. 1. The plants as 
we get them from the woods, do not bear 
transplantation well. 2. I cannot say that the 
cultivated berries are materially improved in 
size or quality over those growing wild where 
the ground has been burned over once in two 
or three years to clear it of rubbish and renew 
the vines. 3. Cultivation increases the yield 
and facility of picking sufficiently to pay 
for the trouble, and the loss of an oc¬ 
casional Grop. 4. Too little is known of the 
effects of cultivation to determine the profit 
from blueberries as compared with that from 
other small fruits. There are barren places 
on many farms where it would pay well to 
introduce the bluoberry, even if no cultiva. 
tion were given it farther than an occasional 
burning off. 
La Crescent, Miun. 
FROM A. W. SIAS. 
The blueberry is perhaps the most impor¬ 
tant representative of the genus known as the 
Heathworts. I was born and reared near the 
beautiful grounds of Dr. Hoskins on the shore 
of Lake Memphremagog, Vermont. The 
shores of this and Lake Champlain abound in 
whortleberries. I have seen the time when a 
person could pick a 10-quart pailful in 30 
minutes on my father’s land. We had three 
varieties—the tallest bush was known as the 
huckleberry, and bore a dark-colored fruit. 
Then we had what we called the high and 
low-bush blueberry, the high-bush bearing 
much the larger fruit, and the most sought 
for. I never knew any one to undertake 
their cultivation in Vermont, but I have 
proved by actual experience that the bushes 
can be successfully transplanted and culti¬ 
vated in open ground. I found a pstch of 
about au acre of the low-bush blueberry about 
10 miles from this city several years ago, and 
planted a few bushes with the ripe fruit upon 
them. They lived and continued to bear 
fruit till my stupid hired man dug them up, 
supposing them to be weeds. I notice little, 
if any, difference in size, or flavor of fruit 
under cultivation. I am of the opinion that 
such improvements might be reached by 
planting the seeds of the largest and best ber¬ 
ries for a series of years. Doubtless blue¬ 
berry culture could be made remunerative in 
any Northern market where the wild fruit 
was not too abundant, and could be made as 
profitable as that of currants or gooseberries. 
Rochester, Minn. 
INSECT IN WHEAT:—NOT INJURIOUS. 
E. S., Pickrell, Neb ,—What are the small 
black beetles on the inclosed specimens of in¬ 
fested wheat? 
ANSWERED BY DR. J. A. LINTNER, NEW YORK 
STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
The insects are small (oue twelfth of an 
inch long) oval, shining black beetles, with 
small, almost hidden heads, and clubbed 
autenmu, The scientific name of the insect is 
Phalacrus politus (Linn.). From the occur¬ 
rence of the beetles, m large numbers, 
on heads of wheat browned and shriveled, it 
was but natural to accept it as a wheat pest, 
but an examination of it shows it to be entirely 
innocent of the injury with which it was as¬ 
sociated. The species belongs to the Coleop¬ 
terous tribe of Necrophaga, which embraces 
the most useful scavengers of the insect 
world, Hnless it be the family of Muscida—the 
flies. Their food is mainly dead animals (as 
in the Sexton-beetles), decaying vegetable 
matter, fungi, etc. Phalacrus and two other 
genera, constitute the family of Phalacridse 
containing 23 species of small, oval, con¬ 
vex, shining beetles, which, according to Drs. 
Le Conte and Horn, “are found on flowers 
and sometimes under bark.” They immedi¬ 
ately follow in systematic classification, the 
family of Scaphidiidae, embracing very simi¬ 
lar forms, which, according to the authors 
cited, live in fungi. Of the seven species of 
Phalacrus recorded, I find the food of only 
one given, viz., that of P. penicellatus (Say), 
of which it is noted: “It occurs in many 
parts of the United States in the seed-ves3els 
of such plants of wheat as are destroyed by 
the parasitic vegetable called smut.” 
The food-habits of P. politus are presumedly 
identical with those of the above. The exam¬ 
ples submitted to me for identification were 
taken from the two discolored and somewhat 
dwarfed wheat-heads received, while none 
were found upon another head inclosed, for 
contrast, as “uninjured”. Upon stripping 
the kernels of the injured heads, each one was 
of a marked brown color, and upon cutting 
open or crushing with a light pressure, one 
could see that the whole interior consisted of 
a mass of pulverulent dark brown fungoid 
matter, commonly known as “smut”. The 
extent to which this pernicious fungus had 
been fed upon by the beetles, was not evident 
from the limited material sent. None of the 
kernels showed openings eaten into them, but 
this would probably nave been unnecessary 
so long as their splitting open, as seen in sev¬ 
eral of the kernels, gave ready access to their 
contents. To the degree to which the smut is 
eaten by these beetles, they will prove of 
benefit to the farmer in preventing, through 
the destruction of its spores, the spread of the 
disease. 
FEEDING COLTS BY HAND WITH COW’S MILK: 
GOITRE IN A HORSE. 
R. R., Bridgeport, Mo. —1. The dam of 
a three-month-old colt was accidentally killed; 
how should cow’s milk be prepared to feed 
the foal? 2. A horse of mine has goitre. 
Neighbors say it is due to drinking our well 
water. My mules also show small goitres al¬ 
ready. How can the trouble be prevented 
and the goitres removed. 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. H. KILBORNE. 
I. The milk of the cow is richer in fats 
than that of the mare, while the mare’s milk 
is sweeter than that of the cow. For a 
young colt the milk of the cow may 
be simply sweetened; but after the colt is two 
or three months old substitute sweet skimmed 
milk, which may still be sweetened a little. 
In addition to the milk, the colt of three months 
should have grass and a ration of oil-meal, 
flax-seed, scalded oats or bran. One-balf pint 
of oil-meal or flax seed boiled with two quarts 
of bran or oats will make an excellent ration 
for the colt. This quantity will make the 
colt three feeds. Should the bowels become 
too loose, reduce the quantity of oil-meal. Cr 
if they become constipated, one or two table¬ 
spoonfuls of raw linseed oil may be added to 
his ration until relieved. It would be well to 
change the ration somewhat from week to 
week so as to give the colt a change. 2. In 
recent cases of this kind rub the goitre daily 
with compound tincture of iodine until the 
skin is slightly blistered, then use it less fre¬ 
quently. Give only rain-water for drinking- 
water. This will probably be all the treat¬ 
ment necessary in this case. In more chronic 
or advanced stages of goitro it is often desir¬ 
able to give one dram of iodide of potash 
nights and mornings on an empty stomach, 
in addition to painting the outside with iodine. 
In a large goitre a diluted solution of iodine 
is sometimes injected directly into the swell¬ 
ing. The continual use of rain-wqter ouly for 
drinking-water will prevent the goitre. 
THE EARLY HARVEST AND RED ASTRACHAN 
APPLES. 
J. S., Plainfield, Ind .—I have just had an 
argument with my sister about the Early 
Harvest Apple. She claims it to be a red, 
striped apple, while I claim it to be a bright 
yellow; which is right? Please describe the 
Red Astraehan Apple. 
Ans.— Downing thus describes the color of 
the Early Harvest; Skin very smooth, with 
a few faint white dots, bright straw-color 
when fully ripe. The Red Astraehan is 
pretty large, rather above the middle size and 
very smooth and fair, roundish, a little nar¬ 
rowed towards the eye. Tke skin is almost 
entirely covered with deep crimson, with 
sometimes a little greenish yellow in the 
shade, and occasionally a little russet near 
the stalk, and covered with a pale white 
bloom. Stalk rather short and deeply in¬ 
serted. Calyx partially closed, and set in 
a slight basin which is sometimes a 
little irregular. Flesh quite white, crisp, 
moderately juicy, with an agreeable, rich, 
acid flavor. Good to very good. Ripens from 
last of July to middle of August. 
FISTULOUS WITHERS. 
S. S. C., Bingham, Center, Pa.— My 
four-year-old mare is in good health except 
that she is troubled on the withers by large 
tumors which broke some time since, emitting 
yellow matter. This dried and peeled off in 
white scales. The matter no longer oozes out 
regularly; but is penetrating down on both 
sides. What should be the treatment? 
Ans. —This is a case of fistulous withers. 
The abscess or pipe on each side should be 
freely opened at the bottom to allow of the 
dramage of the pus; and this lower opening 
should be kept from closing by a tape tied in 
the wound as a seton. Carefully syringe out 
the wound night and morning with a stimula¬ 
ting wash—zinc chloride one-half dram, or 
carbolic acid one dram in a quart of water. 
Miscellaneous, 
Several Subscribers. —The nailless horseshoe 
recently illustrated in the Rural, is an Eng¬ 
lish invention not yet placed on the American 
market. 
A. B., Bergen Co.,N. J. —The potato planter 
spoken of is the Aspinwall, made by the As- 
pinwall Manufacturing Co., Three Rivers, 
Mich. Send to them for full particulars con¬ 
cerning it. 
J. J. T., Buffalo, N. Y. —Tile-ditching ma¬ 
chines are made by the Streator Engine 
Works, Streator, Ill ; the Kemp & Burpee 
Manufacturing Co., Syracuse, N. Y., and the 
Elevator Ditching Machine Co., Newark, 
Ohio. 
J. H. M., Addison, N. Y. —How much Paris- 
green should be mixed with 25 pounds of flour 
to be put on potato vines in order to kill the 
beetles ? I injured some of the vines of my 
early varieties by too strong an application. 
Ans. —One-eighth of pure Paris-green for 
the lowest ; one-quarter of a pound for the 
highest. Thoroughly intermingle. 
O. C. B., North Rochester, Moss.—Could I 
build a small silo in a corner of my house 
cellar for experimental purposes? Would 
the steam from it be detrimental to the people 
in the rooms above? Would it injure the 
timber or flooring overhead? VV ould the veg¬ 
etables stored in the cellar, be more exposed 
to frost than they usually are on account of 
the dampness due to the silo ? 
Ans. —We would not advise this experi¬ 
ment. There is an odor about a half-empty 
silo that is not agreeable to many people. It 
would also make the cellar too damp and 
would certainly not help the timbers and 
flooring. 
DISCUSSION. 
FALLACIOUS TESTS IN THE DAIRY. 
C. E. Little, Ocean County, N. J.—The 
article in the Rural of May 27th from G. W. 
D. which was graced with the suggestive 
caption. “As Long as a Piece of String,” is 
worthy of study, because of the clearness 
with which it demonstrates several facts of 
great value to the average dairyman. Not 
that the facts are new discoveries, but they 
are strongly developed by the table of com¬ 
parative products of his six grade Jersey 
heifers, only two years old, and tested during 
the second week’s milking. A little study of 
these test records, which are reproduced be¬ 
low, plainly demonstrates that no one can tell 
which is his best butter cow by the quart-cup 
test,—by measuring her milk. This is fact No. 
1; also that the percentage of cream is a de¬ 
lusive test: fact No. 2; also that the amount 
of the cream is a fallacious test: fact No. 3. 
These facts being demonstrated, then it fol¬ 
lows that no dairyman knows which are his 
best cows, if his judgment has been formed 
by such fallacious tests. And it is safe to say, 
that 19 out of 20 have no other evidence in the 
matter than that found in either the quantity 
of milk, or the quantity of the cream; while 
this test of G. W. D. shows that the quality 
of the cream is not only a very important 
factor, but the uncertain factor till the 
churn and the scales have developed it. 
Here is the test for one day, to which refer¬ 
ence is made; 
No. 1. No. 2. 
6 pounds of milk. 4 pounds of milkJ 
9 per cent, of cream. 15 per cent, of cream. 
9 ounces of cream. 8 ounces of cream. 
6 ounces of butter. 6 ounces of butter. 
No. 3. 
No. 4. 
6% pounds of milk. 
8 per cent, of cream 
10 ounces of cream. 
7 ounces of butter. 
10% pounds of milk, 
8 per cent, of cream. 
8 ounces of cream. 
7 ounces of butter. 
No. 5. No. 6. 
6% pounds of milk. 7 pounds of milk. 
16 per cent, of cream. 6 per cent, of cream. 
6 ounces of cream. b ounces of cream. 
5 ounces of butter. 4 ounces of butter. 
I have re-arranged the products in milk 
and cream, in the following order of merit:— 
QUANTITY OF 
QUANTITY OF 
PERCENTAGE 
MILK- 
CREAM. 
OF CREAM. 
No. 4 
10% lbs. 
Nos. 3 & 4 
7 oz. 
No. 5—16 
No. 6 
7 
CC 
No. 2—15 
No. 5 
6% 
CC 
Nos. 1 & 2 
6 oz. 
No. 1— 9 
No. 3 
6% 
u 
No. 3 4—8 
No. 1 
6 
cc 
No. 5 
5 oz. 
No. 6— 6 
No. 2 
4 
(I 
No. 6 
4 oz. 
By the aid of my pencil I find that to make 
one pound of butter it requires as follows: 
OP MILK. 
OF CREAM. 
No. 2, 10 6-10 lbs. 
U 
3. 14 8-10 
C< 
CC 
1, 16 
CC 
it 
5. 21 6-10 
CC 
cc 
4, 23 4-10 
«C 
(C 
6, 28 
l C 
No. 4, 18 27-100 oz. 
“ 5. 19 20 100 “ 
“ 2, 21 32-100 “ 
“ 3, 22 83-100 “ 
:: k b “ 
Evidently “ all cream is cream ” only in 
the same sense that all milk is milk. My ob¬ 
ject is to determine which of the six heifers is 
the most valuable animal. I find number 4, 
yielding 10% pounds of milk, the best for the 
milk-dealer. Numbers 3 and 4 excel in the 
quantity of cream, while number 5 takes the 
lead in the richness of her milk, as indicated by 
the highest percentage of cream. But for the 
butter product neither the heifer that gives 
the most milk, nor the one that gives the most 
cream, nor the one that gives the highest per¬ 
centage of cream, is the most valuable of 
these six young cattle. 
Number 3 producing seven ounces of but¬ 
ter, is the best of all for the butter dairy, al¬ 
though she stands in the fourth rank as a 
milk producer, and in the same rank for per¬ 
centage of cream. Number 4 shares the 
honor of first position as a butter-maker, with 
a slight discount. No. 3 produces a pound of 
butter from 14 8-10 pounds of milk; No. 4 
from 23 4-10 pounds, thus requiring 58 per 
cent, more labor in milking and handling to 
get the same amount of butter. 
It may be observed that the poorest milker 
of the six, though yielding but four pounds of 
milk, outranks the largest milker, giving 10% 
pounds, the difference of one ounce of but¬ 
ter daily, being more than offset by the fact 
that to produce 100 pounds of butter from No. 
2 requires the labor of milking, setting and 
handling only 1,060 pounds, while one must 
do this work for 2,340 pounds to get 100 
pounds from No. 4—a difference in labor 
amounting to 120 per cent. So that the 
heifer that seems to be inferior to all, as usu¬ 
ally judged, is proved by this test to be bet¬ 
ter than the one that by the same fallacious 
tests, stands at the head of the list. Indeed, 
I have a suspicion that the smallest milker is 
really the most profitable of all these heifers. 
I close by suggesting that the most pressing 
need of American dairymen is the invention 
or discovery of a method of testing a dairy, 
which shall be simple so that men of the field 
may use it, and fairly inexpensive, and also 
accurate. 
R. N.-Y.—The method devised by Mr. Par 
sons of the New Hampshire Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, is well worthy of trial. 
THESE WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. 
T. B. Terry, Summit County, Ohio.— On 
page 414 V. A. S., gives us the result of some 
experiments in growing wheat. At the close 
of his article he gives his conclusions as to how 
to grow the best winter wheat crop in 
Michigan:— 
Sow, about September 15, one bushel to the 
acre; drills about 16 inebes apart ; top-dress 
from the barn-yard; mulch with wheat straw, 
buckwheat straw, potato-vines, marsh-hay’, 
etc. Rake off the mulch with a sulky horse- 
rake, about April 1; cultivate till the wheat is 
10 inches high. With fair soil such treatment 
will bring from 30 to 40 bushels to the acre, 
as was proved in the experiment above given. 
If V. A. S., will put in, say, 10 acres of 
wheat a year for five years, aud treat it in the 
same way he concludes to be the best for 
growing a crop of winter wheat in his local¬ 
ly—if he will do this and actually grow “ 30 
to 40 bushels’per acre,” on “fair soil,” then I 
will have much more faith in his system than 
now. I do not doubt his entire honesty; but 
it will not do to draw positive conclusions 
from such a little experiment for a single sea - 
son. Men should be praised for carefully mak- 
