t>42 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
SEPT 28 
at six cents per pound for the product. The 
price of starch varies so that no certain 
price can be given. A mill in Vermont 
which works up 1,000 bushels per week, cost 
$3,000. A large amount of water is re¬ 
quired in the manufacture, and this also 
furnishes the cheapest power. Five to 10- 
horse power is required. Small potatoes 
can be utilized if they are ripe, although 
large ones are said to give starch of better 
quality. 
ABOUT HOLLYHOCKS. 
C. F. E., Easton, Md. —1. When is the 
proper time to divide hollyhocks? The 
plants are two years old and I wish to se¬ 
cure the same varieties next year. 2. Can 
the same hollyhock plants be made to bloom 
year after year by dividing the roots, or is 
there a serious loss of vigor after the second 
season ? 
Ans.— 1. As soon as they are done bloom¬ 
ing in summer, also when growth begins in 
early spring. 2. The propagation of holly¬ 
hocks by division is a clumsy and often un¬ 
satisfactory method. By far the healthiest 
stock is obtained from seed. In order to 
perpetuate precisely the same varieties they 
are increased from cuttings of the flower 
stalks in summer or from cuttings of start¬ 
ing clumps in early spring. To obtain the 
summer cuttings, take some of the smaller 
or lateral flower spikes when they are about 
half-grown, and cut them up into one-eye 
pieces about an inch long, cut off the leaf, 
shorten the leaf-stalk and insert the cut¬ 
tings in small pots or boxes filled with 
sandy earth and keep close and shaded fora 
week or two till the eye starts to grow and 
roots push out, then treat as young plants. 
Spring cuttings or rather “ slips ” are start¬ 
ed in much the same wav. 
GLUTEN MEAL. 
O. C. C., Mannville, li. I— I inclose a 
sample of what is called “gluten meal”— 
selling price 12 cents per bushel. What is 
it? How and from what is it made, and 
what is its feeding value? 
Axs.—“ Gluten meal ” is the refuse from 
the corn used in starch and glucose facto¬ 
ries, and is a nutritious and healthful feed¬ 
ing substance. Only a portion of the starch 
is taken from the corn, the hull and germs 
being left with a part of the starch tj^the < 
kernel. The hull contains all the in^of 
grain, and the germ, or chit, contains most f 
of the nitrogen. The Connecticut Experi- ^ 
ment Station’s analysis gives it a value of 
$1.17 per 100 pounds, considering the best 
corn to be worth $1.10, and wheat-bran 
$1.04; but it must not be fed to excess, and 
care should be taken to prevent it from 
souring. Some have considered it objec¬ 
tionable for feeding milch cows. 
THE PEACH OH ELM-BARK BEETLE. 
E. W. F.. New Albany , Ind. —Inclosed 
find samples of insects that are working on 
some of our peach trees, in this section. 
They bore small holes in the trunk and 
limbs, and when numerous enough they 
kill the tree. One nurseryman’s young 
stock has been attacked. What is the 
name of insect and how can we get rid of it? 
Axs.—This is the Peach or Elm-bark 
Beetle—Pliloeotribus liminaries, Harris. 
The pests bore into elm and peach trees, 
forming tunnels or burrows about the size 
of small knit ting needles. The beetles come 
from these in August and September, and 
are dark brown in color, cylindrical and 
one-tenth of an inch long. They are rarely 
numerous enough to do harm. Washing 
the trees with soft soap in August would 
tend to drive them off. 
THE PEAR-LEAF MINER. 
T. 11. S., Ohio .— Inclosed I send the leaves 
of a pear tree which have black specks up¬ 
on them, and after a while the leaves fall 
off. Can anything be done to prevent this? 
ANS.—The leaves sent are injured by a 
small insect which eats away the 
soft portion of the leaf, leaving the firm 
skin, or epidermis, as a tough, colorless 
layer. These insects are not considered a 
serious pest to the pear, and probably noth¬ 
ing need be done to destroy them. If, how¬ 
ever, they are numerous it may be well to 
try some one of the several insecticides. 
have behaved best this season: Lombard, 
Orleans, Smith’s, Victoria, Reine Claude 
de Bavay, Coe’s Golden Drop, Prince Engle- 
bert. Grapes are, for the most part, a fail¬ 
ure, except on very highly favored sites, 
and under the protection of trees. Late- 
blooming varieties escaped in part, where 
the earlier succumbed. Vines containing 
foreign blood have suffered from mildew 
more than in drier and warmer seasons. 
R. T. 
Melrose, Rensselaer County, September 
16.—Crops in this county have been better 
than for many years, with the exception of 
potatoes, which are not more than half of 
an average. They are bringing 50 cents 
per bushel. Hay brings 65 cents per 100 
pounds; rye 50 cents per bushel, and oats 
about 35 cents per bushel. My Rural No. 
2 Potato weighed two ounces, and four 
pieces were planted May 1st in as many 
hills in a trench, 15 inches apart in good 
garden soil. There was a great growth of 
vines, one stalk measuring two inches in 
circumference. There were no blossoms, 
nor were there signs of any. The tubers 
were dug August 25, and the result was 17 
potatoes weighing 4pounds all of market¬ 
able size, the largest weighing 13 ounces; 
two others weighed 12 ounces apiece. They 
are very fine. All who see them call them 
beauties. A. H. s. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure atten¬ 
tion. Before asking a question, please see if it 
is not answered in our advertising columns. 
Ask only a few questions at one time. Put 
questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
ADULTERATION OF FOOD STUFFS. 
Several Subscribers .—Are the ordinary 
stock foods—bran, meal, “feed,” etc., etc.— 
as sold by millers or feed dealers adul¬ 
terated to any extent? Are efforts being 
made at our experiment stations to detect 
such adulterations? 
Axs.—These questions have been referred 
to the following directors of experiment 
stations: 
FROM DR. PETEK COLLIER. 
Our attention lias been called to the fact 
that wheat bran is often adulterated with 
less expensive food products, and one in¬ 
stance has come directly under our obser¬ 
vation. In the early part of the present 
year a ton lot of wheat bran was ordered 
for station use, and on examination it was 
found to be one-third or more buckwheat 
bran. Ground oats sometimes have a por¬ 
tion of the meal removed and the feeding 
value of such oats is much lessened. There 
are tricks in most trades, but whether this 
is a common practice among millers and 
feed dealers or not, I do not know. 
Geneva Experiment Station. N. Y. 
FROM DR. H. P. ARMSBV ' 
I have made no special investigations as 
to the adulteration of cattle foods, but have 
seen no reason to suspect that, as ordinari¬ 
ly sold, they are adulterated to any materi¬ 
al extent. 
Pennsylvania Station. 
FROM DR. E. II. JENKINS. 
Our investigations have not shown any 
real adulteration of bran, meal, etc. We 
have sometimes found fragments of seeds 
in bran, resulting, probably, from the 
grinding of refuse wheat with the bran. 
Such adulteration can usually be detected 
by one who has some knowledge of the ap 
pearance of seeds. 
Connecticut Station. 
FROM PROF. W. W. COOK. 
So far as we know from our examinations 
and analyses, no adulterated foods have 
been put on the market in this vicinity. 
I do not think we have analyzed any cattle 
food that did not run fully up to the aver¬ 
age composition of its kind, and in nine- 
tenths of the cases they ran over. 
Vermont Station. 
FROM DR. G. H. COOK. 
In regard to the adulteration of cattle 
food, the station laboratory has had more 
than 100 samples of the different kinds of 
cattle foods for sale in the several counties 
of the State. These have all been ex¬ 
amined, and none has been found which 
appeared to have been adulterated for 
fraudulent purposes. 
New Jersey Station. 
FROM PROF. G. H. WHITCHER. 
I do not think the grain we buy is in any 
way adulterated. Corn-meal of course is 
ground from Western corn in our local 
mills; bran comes up in its analyses to 
what would be expected from average 
analyses as published by Armsby, Jenkins, 
and others; middlings, cotton-seed and 
gluten meal are also usually all that we 
have reason to expect. Of course, we may 
occasionally get goods that are damp; but 
so far we are satisfied that no systematic 
adulteration is practiced. I know of no way 
of guarding against such adulteration ex¬ 
cept by having analyses made of samples 
of grain and feed and in such cases we can¬ 
not be sure of the materials used; we can 
only tell the amount of nutrients per 1(X) 
pounds, and by comparing this with a ta¬ 
ble of the average composition of similar 
grains and feed, a very good idea may be 
formed of the probable purity of the ana¬ 
lyzed feed. 
New Hampshire Experiment Station. 
FROM DR. C. A. GOESSMAN. 
The various articles of cattle feed—as 
brans, meal, oil-cakes (cotton and linseed), 
gluten meal, starch feed, dried brewers’ 
grains, etc.—which have come under my no¬ 
tice here, I have found, on the whole, of a 
fair character. The examination of these 
and others of a similar individual 
character, by means of a careful chemi¬ 
cal analysis and of a careful microscopical 
observation promises a fairly reliable basis 
for our conclusions regarding their genuine 
character, for it offers a desirable chance of 
comparing our results in both directions 
with those obtained in case of a sample of 
undisputed origin or source. The uncer¬ 
tainty of the correctness of our decisions 
increases more or less with the number of 
different materials used in the compound¬ 
ing of the particular cattle feed under con¬ 
sideration. It is for this reason that I have 
advised on various previous occasions to 
discourage the manufacture of com¬ 
pound feed-stuffs for the general market. 
The highest feeding effect of our home- 
raised fodder crops can only be secured by 
supplementing each with reference to its 
part icular composition for the special object 
in view. The safest and most economical 
course to attain that end consists in select¬ 
ing from among our commercial concen¬ 
trated fodders articles of a well-known indi¬ 
vidual character one or more best adapted 
to answer our purpose. To make a judi¬ 
cious selection requires not only a fair 
knowledge of the chemical composition of 
the different fodder articles at our disposal, 
but also a fair information concerning the 
approximate rate of digestibility of the 
several essential food constituents con¬ 
tained in each of them. Most of our com¬ 
mercial concentrated individual feed-stuffs 
have been carefully studied in both direc¬ 
tions, and reliable facts are in reach of 
every farmer. Nothing of that kind can be 
claimed in regard to the majority of com¬ 
pound feed-stuffs sold in our markets. The 
best interests of progressive agriculture re¬ 
quire the adoption of an intelligent course 
of observation in stock feeding. 
Massachusetts Station. 
ELECTRICITY ON OUR STREET RAILROADS. 
C. 11. C., Plymouth County, Mass .—I 
send the R. N.-Y. this clipping from a local 
paper. Is there anything in this idea? To 
what extent is electricity taking the place 
of horses on street railways? 
“President Whitney, of the West End 
Railroad of Boston, declares that before 
long he will have 4,(XX) horses for sale— 
stock no longer needed upon his street 
lines, being ousted by electricity as a motor. 
The public has heard a good deal, first and 
last, about the damage to horses caused by 
the introduction of electric railways; but it 
seems to me that this wholesale crowding 
out, so to speak, of horse flesh from the 
highways is more significant than all fright¬ 
ening or demoralizing that has taken place. 
Here, after all, is the real horse difficulty, 
as connected with the innovation of elec¬ 
tric roads. Horse buyers and sellers, far¬ 
riers and blacksmiths, veterinary surgeons, 
harness makers, hostlers and towboys, hay 
and grain dealers, and without doubt many 
other artificers and tradesmen, may have 
considerable to say under this view of the 
case, while the Anarchists and Socialistic 
brethren, not to mention the extreme 
“ labor ” elements, will see in it only a new 
cropping out of oppression, and denounce 
the whole thing as another substitution of 
mechanical for human employment to the 
detriment of the last named.” 
Ans.—T he R. N.-Y. believes that the de¬ 
velopment of the different forms of electric 
motors will have a remarkable effect on 
American horse breeding. The single Bos¬ 
ton company mentioned in this note owns 
217 miles of track, and runs 1,584 cars, so 
that the estimate of 4,OCX) horses is not far 
wrong. These cars hereafter will all be run 
by electricity. The street-car horse is of 
small value for farming or general team¬ 
ing. The reason of this is that he does not 
know how to “back.” Few people have 
any idea of the importance of our street 
railways. In July 1880 there were in 26 
cities alone, 180 street railways, using 18,645 
cars and 80,154 horses and mules. These 
railroads carried 1,434,057,505 passengers 
during the year. These are the figures for 
the 26 cit ies in the United States which have 
over 100,000 inhabitants. The smaller cities 
and towns with their more simple systems 
erf street railroads will add at least 20 per 
cent, to this total. Four years ago there were 
but 1% miles of street railway on which 
electric motors were used. July first of this 
year there were 575 miles and to this may 
now be added the 217 miles of the West End 
Company. The fact is that the devel¬ 
opment of electricity as a motive power 
within the past two years, has been abso¬ 
lutely without a parallel in the history of 
the world. Electric cars pass the K. N.-Y. 
office every hour, running on the same 
tracks as cars drawn by horses. The cars 
move silently and steadily at a touch. 
They can be stopped almost instantly. It 
is only a question of time when 90 per cent, 
of the horses now used on street railways 
can be dispensed with. What is to follow? 
How many men are required to care for 
100,000 mules and horses? How much 
grain and hay do they consume every year? 
Every year the street railways need 30,000 
new horses. Cut off this demand and what 
difference will be made in the horse mar¬ 
kets? These are questions that concern 
farmers. On the other hand, what com¬ 
pensating advantages will come with the 
substitution of electricity ? The question is 
a great one—full of thoughtful suggestion. 
There is one thing that may be said about 
the street-car horse—he is generally a “mis¬ 
fit,” a failure at the task he was specially 
bred for. He is too light for a dray or too 
slow for a sulky or too shabby for a car¬ 
riage, and in the majority of cases his unfit¬ 
ness is due to a mistaken idea in breeding— 
the belief that a scrub can produce a 
first-ratp animal. The destruction of the 
market for such animals may result in the 
abandonment of such breeding. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS. 
J. B. II.. Shoshone. Idaho .—Please give 
me instructions t hrough your columns as to 
the culture of strawberries; which sets 
should be transplanted and how cared for 
in the winter season, etc. 
Ans.—S trawberries will succeed on al¬ 
most any fertile, well-drained land, except¬ 
ing muck. The land should have been in 
hoed crops for at least one year previous, 
and should be free from weeds, and in good 
condition. The deeper it can be dug or 
plowed, the better. For garden culture, 
the rows should be about two feet apart; 
for field culture, about four. The plants 
should be set from one to two feet apart in 
the row depending upon the variety and 
the season of planting; the later the plants 
are set, the closer they should be. They 
may be set any time of the year when new 
plants can be obtained. Only young, vig¬ 
orous plants should lie set, preferably from 
a new bed which has not been exhausted 
by bearing fruit. The bed should be kept 
thoroughly clean, and when the ground be¬ 
comes frozen, should be well covered with 
straw, coarse, strawy manure, or other 
mulch, which may be removed in the 
spring, or worked down around the plants. 
Plants set soon may be permitted to bear 
some fruit next year, but those set in 
spring should have the blossoms removed 
to secure best results in fruit. 
STARCH FROM POTATOES. 
T. W. P., Barron, Win .—Will you or 
some of your New York correspondents 
kindly give me some information in regard 
to the manufacture of starch from potatoes? 
The price ordinarily paid for potatoes, cost, 
of manufacture, price received for finished 
product, market for same, etc? 
Ans.—S tarch is made from potatoes in 
large quantities in Vermont, New Hamp¬ 
shire and Maine. The profits of the busi¬ 
ness depend upon the quality of the pota¬ 
toes, which must be rich in starch. 'Tu¬ 
bers grown in a northern locality, and 
which cook dry and mealy, contain the 
largest amount of starch, and are the 
best for the purpose. The “price ordi¬ 
narily paid” would probably be the ruling 
market price, but at 25 cents per bushel fox- 
potatoes, the business affords a fair profit 
Miscellaneous. 
J. L. II., Spring City, Tenn. —What 
early variety of potato would be likely to 
succeed in this latitude? 
Ans.— We would ask our friend to exam¬ 
ine the Potato Special of the R. N.-Y. which 
will be published before the new year. 
T. II 11., Perry, N. Y .—Please tell where 
in New York city a reliable commercial 
