644 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
SEPT 28 
‘ 'WHENCE COMES THE COLOR OF BUTTER ? ” 
O. K. L., Indianola, III.—“Whence 
conies the color of butter?”—page 558 of 
the Rural. Fowls fed on white com will 
produce an egg with a pale-yellow yelk; 
if fed on yellow com the yelks of their 
eggs, when boiled, have a deep orange tint. 
Again, I’ve taken fish from the head of 
the lake where the bottom is sandy, and 
such fish are of a light shade, while fish of 
the same species taken from the foot of the 
lake, where the bottom is of black mud, are 
very dark-colored. Some contend that the 
stomachs of animals are “ perfect strain¬ 
ers,” and that all coloring and foul mat¬ 
ters pass off in the voidings, and that the 
flesh or milk, fete., are pure. Not so. Chick¬ 
en meat, beef, and milk taste of garlic; 
milk of ragweed, etc., when the animals 
which produce them have fed on these sub¬ 
stances Some hog raisers feed refuse from 
starch factories, stinking ground corn, and 
bacon from hogs fed on such stuff will, when 
cooked, drive a black dog from home. If 
stench from feed is transmitted to milk and 
meat, why should not coloring material? 
I believe that milk and butter from cows 
drinking stagnant water are not healthful. 
CAUSTICALLY IN FAVOR OF BUTTER COLORS. 
F. H., Cranford, N. J.—W. P. W. on 
page 561, of the Rural is evidently trying 
to make a point against butter color, but 
only succeeds in displaying his own ignor¬ 
ance. He says there is no demand any¬ 
where for aunatto-colored butter and cheese, 
and that the demand is wholly confined to 
the producers and sellers. Did any one 
ever hear of the demand for an article orig¬ 
inating with the producer? According to 
all laws of trade, the demand must come 
from the consumers. The demand is for 
yellow butter; very few consumers will 
purchase any other; the dealer will not 
purchase what he cannot sell; the producer 
will produce what he can sell to the best 
advantage; he cannot sell white but¬ 
ter to advantage, hence he colors it. Farther 
than this, if he depend on the cow to color 
it, she will not do it uniformly with the 
varying feed of different seasons, and 
fancy butter must be of uniform color. 
Who is deceived? No one, and any one 
writing such bosh as does W. P. W. 
proclaims himself either a crank or an 
ignoramus. 
ALLITERATIVE ARTICLE BORN OF BRAINS. 
P. B. C., Catonsville, Md.— Cows cost 
considerable but declare dividends; if they 
eat enormously and are fed faithfully they 
will give great gains. Handle heavy horses 
and invest intelligently. Juvenile jump¬ 
ings and kickings kill with kindness. Land 
likes much manure, needs nitrogen and 
ofttimes oxygen. Pigs pay profitably; but, 
quite queerly, “runts” ruin results, but read 
the Rural and success is sure; for tried 
truths are told usefully and understanding- 
ly, and various vagaries which want wis¬ 
dom are explained excellently, yet it has 
yet to reach its zenith. 
AN ADVERTISEMENT CORRECTED. 
T. B. Terry, Hudson, O.—That is too 
bad for Hoover & Prout that you should 
say in their advertisement that “ I dug 100 
bushels last week.” It was 1,000 bushels, 
and we had only been feeling of the job at 
odd spells. When we got warmed up to 
business, my son and I and three pickers 
dug and put in the bam 400 bushels in one 
day. The next day my son was gone to 
school, but we got in 350 bushels, thanks 
to machinery, clean culture, our potato 
boxes, system, etc., etc., 
W. O. F., Greensburg, Indiana.— In a 
late Rural we are told: “There have been 
50 failures of wool dealers in the last six 
months. * * * The great depression in the 
w'ool business is uniformly attributed to the 
present high tariff on the raw staple and a 
combined effort is to be made, at the next 
session of Congress, for a great reduction, 
or the entire abolition of the import duties 
on wool. The National Association of Wool 
Manufacturers has called an extraordinary 
meeting of that body at Boston on Septem¬ 
ber 17, for the purpose of taking vigorous 
action in the matter. Isn’t it time for the 
wool-growers of the country also to take 
prompt and vigorous measures to counter¬ 
act a growing agitation which seriously 
threatens their interests?” 
There are 65,000,000 people in this coun¬ 
try and some 43,000,000 sheep. Probably 
100,000, all told, men, women and children 
are benefited by a tariff on wool; the other 
64,900,000 would be benefited by the entire 
abolition of the duties on both the raw T ma¬ 
terial and manufactured product. From 
this view of the matter is it not high time 
that the people generally—the farmers es¬ 
pecially—should take vigorous/action to 
have these duties repealed so as to give us 
free clothes and free wool? 
R. N.-Y. At the usual basis of five to a 
family, 100,000 men, women and children 
would represent 20,000 families, or farms. 
The census of 1880 shows that sheep were 
kept, in that year, in 2,460 counties in this 
country. If there were only 20,000 farms on 
which sheep were kept the average was not 
five to a county—a manifestly absurd state¬ 
ment, when we realize that there were in 
1880 4,008,907 farms in this country. 
H. G. L., Charlton, Mass.—As my eye 
catches the comment upon the Kieffer Pear 
on page 589, I am almost fierce with rage. 
Such attempts as have been made to push 
the little, insignificant, hide-bound thing to 
the front tend greatly to chagrin dupes. 
Yes, the tree grows well enough, but such 
fruit is not worthy of decent comparison 
with good sorts. 
E. B. T., Amenia, N. Y.—I use milk 
freely in mixing feed for chicks and value 
it highly. I never give it as drink, as I be- 
leive more than a little of it tobeinjuriou 
ECONOMY IN THE PURCHASE AND 
USE OF FERTILIZERS. 
To the consumers of commercial fertiliz¬ 
ers Prof. George H. Cook tells us, in a late 
bulletin, a knowledge of the sources of sup¬ 
ply, the cost and chemical composition of 
unmixed fertilizing materials is important 
from two standpoints: 1. Economy in buy¬ 
ing. 2. Rational use. 
Economy in Buying: Statistics secured 
by the New Jersey Station, and published 
in the annual report for 1888, showed that 
the average composition of mixed or com¬ 
plete fertilizers analyzed during that year 
was 2.77 per cent, nitrogen; 8.09 per cent, 
available phosphoric acid; 2.82 per cent, in¬ 
soluble phosphoric acid, and 4.29 per cent, 
potash, and that the average selling price 
was £34.83 per ton; in other words, the ni¬ 
trogen cost on an average 21 cents per 
pound; available phosphoric acid 10.2 
cents, insoluble phosphoric acid 3.8 cents, 
and potash 5.4 cents. The same amount 
and kind of plant-food could have heen 
bought that year at the factory, unmixed, 
and for cash, at an average price of £27.42 
per ton. The average charge for mixing , 
freighting and selling was therefore £7.41 
per ton. In Bulletin 98 of the Connecticut 
Experiment Station, containing the analy¬ 
sis and valuation of 11 samples of home- 
mixed fertilizers, it is shown “that at the 
regular cash ton prices of the trade, and 
including freight charges and cost of mix¬ 
ing, the average cost of home-mixed fertili¬ 
zers was, at the highest estimate, £35.79, 
and the average valuation £38.83 per ton; 
that in no case was the valuation less than 
the cost of chemicals mixed; and further, 
that from such raw materials as are in their 
markets, without the aid of millingmaehin- 
ery, mixtures can be and are annually made 
on the farm, which are uniform in quality, 
fine and dry, and equal in all respects to 
the best ready-made fertilizers.” This 
work of the Connecticut Station not only 
confirms the New Jersey Station’s results 
as to the saving effected by buying unmixed 
materials, but also shows that the raw ma¬ 
terials can be secured of such good mechani¬ 
cal condition as to render it entirely within 
the power of the farmer, with ordinary ap¬ 
pliances, to make an excellent fertilizer. 
Rational Use.—W hile it is a fact that 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash are in 
most cases the only chemical constituents 
necessary to add to any soil to prevent ulti¬ 
mate exhaustion by continual cropping, the 
knowledge of that fact becomes profitable 
largely in proportion as it is modified by 
the individual farmer so as to conform to 
his soil and his crops. 
It happens too frequently that the in¬ 
crease in crop from the use of complete 
manures is produced by one or two only of 
the elements present. When, as is often 
the case, nitrogen is either inactive or pro¬ 
duces an abnormal effect from the presence 
of insufficient quantities of phosphoric acid 
and potash, and immediate returns are un¬ 
satisfactory, future gains are also proble¬ 
matic, since nitrogen in readily available 
forms is easily movable in the soil, and 
eventually lost. Phosphoric acid and pot¬ 
ash, on the other hand, if inactive for im¬ 
mediate crops, are retained in the soil, and 
serve for future crops. 
statistics in regard to the composition 
and cost of complete manures in 1888 
showed that the average cost of the nitro¬ 
gen contained in them was just one-third 
of their total cost. In the use of fertilising 
materials, and especially of this most ex¬ 
pensive element, nitrogen, great care 
should he exercised; and the use of un¬ 
mixed materials, for studying the various 
soils and crops, is particularly advised. 
Prof. Riley’s Work in the Paris Ex¬ 
position. —The London (England) Post 
speaking of our department in the Paris 
Exposition says that in the section of ap¬ 
plied entomology, as might have been ex¬ 
pected, since it is Professor Riley’s special¬ 
ty, the exhibit as a whole far excels any¬ 
thing else of the kind in the exhibition. 
There is a large and varied display of ap¬ 
pliances for bee culture, and for the prepa¬ 
ration and marketing of honey. In no other 
country of the world are so many persons 
engaged in honey producing, and nowhere 
else is so much honey produced at so low a 
cost. The many forms of hives, of honey 
extractors, foundation comb presses, and 
other contrivances for facilitating the man¬ 
agement of bees and the marketing of their 
products, all show that our American 
cousins are foremost in the application of 
inventive genius to this branch of rural in¬ 
dustry. No less than 18 different patented 
forms of bee-hives are shown, besides a com¬ 
prehensive series of different honeys in the 
comb and in various sealed packages. One 
large case is devoted to these honeys, those 
from Lime Blossom, White Clover, Sage 
and Mangrove being particularly notice¬ 
able for their excellent quality. Wax ex- 
tractoi-s, bee smokers, various forms of hon¬ 
ey confectionery, and even honey wine and 
honey vinegar are all to be seen here. It is 
estimated that in the United States there is 
a total of 3,000,000 colonies of bees, annually 
yielding 120,000,000 pounds of honey. The 
value of this annual product, at an average 
price of 15 cents per pound, would be £3,600,- 
000 sterling. The estimated annual product 
ranges from £3,000,000 to £4,000,000 in value, 
and the annual production of wax is calcu¬ 
lated to be worth £200,000. 
WORTH NOTING. 
Livingston’s Golden Queen is the best 
yellow tomato as yet tried at the Rural 
Grounds. The tomatoes are large, gener¬ 
ally smooth, firm and of mild quality. 
They ripen thoroughly and evenly in mid¬ 
season. The vines are abundantly prolific. 
Horsford’s Prelude is in all ways, ex¬ 
cept one, a valuable variety. The one ob¬ 
jection is its size. The tomatoes ripen with 
the earliest. They are free from rot, round, 
bright-red in color and bear abundantly 
during the entire season. Those who value 
a very early tomato should try the Prelude. 
The Ignotum is about all that has been 
claimed for it—very large and firm. It is 
medium to ripen and bears a great quan¬ 
tity. It should be grown for two or three 
seasons longer from careful selections ere it 
be put on the market. 
Secretary E. Williams, of Montclair, 
N. J., has for years made a study of pears. 
In a late number of Garden and Forest he 
presents his views respecting a number of 
the later pears which, as the season of 
transplanting draws near, may serve to 
guide our readers. Belle Lucrative, he says, 
is a pear of medium size and excellent qual¬ 
ity when well-grown. It is an abundant 
bearer, and, if allowed to do so, will over¬ 
bear, to the detriment of the fruit, both in 
size and quality. The skin of the fruit is 
an unattractive green, and for this reason 
among better looking pears, it is apt to be 
passed without notice; but its buttery, juicy 
flesh amply compensates for any lack of 
goodlooks. Golden Beurrfe is of medium size, 
and in appearance directly opposite of the 
preceding, while approaching it in quality. 
This immediately follows the Bartlett. 
Louise Bonne has of late years develop¬ 
ed the fault of shedding its leaves so early 
that the fruit is never fully grown. 
Mr. Williams speaks of the Buff urn as 
a pear of medium size, fair quality and one 
of the most healthy, vigorous growers in the 
whole list, and an abundant bearer every 
other year. Sometimes the fruit is rather 
under-sized from over-bearing, a tendency 
in all pears, and some years, too, it is less 
juicy than in others. It is then excellent for 
cooking. With approaching ripeness it as¬ 
sumes a yellow and handsome appearance.. 
Bose is a long, slender-necked russet 
pear, of the highest excellence, sweet and 
rich. The tree is a poor, open grower while 
young, and the fruit is borne singly or in 
pairs generally, and very evenly distribut¬ 
ed. It is most satisfactory when top-graft¬ 
ed. This was Mr. Downing’s favorite pear, 
and his judgment on this point seems 
eminently sound. 
Sheldon, a round, russet pear of medium 
to large size, flesh granular, melting, sweet, 
juicy and aromatic, is a fruit of the highest 
excellence. The tree is a lusty grower and 
generally productive. It should be in the 
smallest collection... 
Urbaniste is another large pear, in 
quality equal to any named; skin, smooth, 
greenish-yellow; flesh, melting, buttery, 
rich and juicy. The tree is a fair grower, 
but is not popular among dealers and 
planters because, like the Tyson and some 
others, it is tardy in coming into fruit. The 
old adage about planting pears for one’s 
heirs, is not regarded with favor by tree- 
planters now-a-days; they are in a hurry, 
and would like the trees to commence bear¬ 
ing at once. When one has old trees of un¬ 
desirable kinds, a new head of Urbaniste 
could be grafted on and this excellent va¬ 
riety would soon come into fruit. 
Winter Nelis is a small russet pear of 
excellent quality when well grown, but the 
tree generally loses its foliage early before 
the pears mature, and, therefore, they 
seldom reach perfection. The tree is a 
slow, slender grower, and should be top- 
grafted on some more vigorous kind. 
Dana’s Hovey is among winter pears 
what the Seckel is among autumn varieties. 
The tree is a good, healthy grower, and 
produces fruit about the size of the Seckel, 
but better and more highly flavored. If it 
were only a little larger!. 
Lawrence is an American pear of great 
excellence. The tree is of moderate 
growth, very healthy and productive; the 
fruit of medium size, smooth, yellow at 
maturity when grown on young trees, but 
on old trees it is very apt to become cloudy 
or rusty. The skin is thick, flesh fine¬ 
grained, buttery, sweet and juicy, and it 
will keep till Christmas with ordinary care. 
The R. N.-Y. if it were again planting a 
pear orchard would select the following for 
home use in preference to any others of their 
season: Buffuin, Sheldon, Anjou, Seckel 
and Dana’s Hovey. 
Mr. Williams regards the Kieffer as a 
valuable substitute for the quince, and, as 
it will produce fruit far more abundant ly 
and cheaply, it is well worth planting for 1 
its excellence in taste and appearance when 
preserved . . . 
A. W. Cheever, of the New England 
Farmer, recalls several young men of his 
acquaintance who put their first money into 
horse flesh and pleasure carriages, but he 
does not recall any who have made a marked 
success in life who began in that way. The 
young man who makes himself indispens¬ 
able to his employer doesn’t have much 
time for riding over the country outside of 
service hours. The young man who com¬ 
plains that his work is monotonous or con¬ 
fining during the entire years of service is 
not the one to find himself in specially easy 
circumstances later in life. 
The Green Mountain is probably the 
earliest hardy white grape of excellent qual¬ 
ity known to-day. 
Prof. Budd, of Ames, Iowa, speaks of a 
Russian Almond that is as hardy as an 
ironclad apple/. 
Dii. Niles and Dr. Bolton of the South 
Carolina Experiment Station have been in¬ 
vestigating hog cholera without throwing 
any new light upon the subject. They re¬ 
mark that as in typhoid fever, and other dis¬ 
eases in man, all that should lie attempted is 
to assist the natural forces of the animal in 
overcoming the disease. Any drug admin¬ 
istered for any other purpose than this can 
do no good, and may do harm. The admin¬ 
istration of all sorts of drugs recommended 
is enough of itself to kill the animal in 
many cases, and the practice cannot be too 
severely condemned. Some cases where 
the animal is particularly vigorous, or 
where the disease is of a mild type, recover 
of themselves, and it is probable that reme¬ 
dies which have gained popularity have done 
so by having been tried upon such cases, 
where the recovery would take place with¬ 
out any treatment. There are so few cases 
of recovery in some outbreaks, and the dif¬ 
ficulties of treatment are so great that it is 
not advisable to try any remedies at all_ 
Prof. E. M. Shelton says, in a late bul¬ 
letin, that salt does not enter into the com¬ 
position of plants as a necessary element: 
that is, plants may be grown and brought 
to perfection in soil which contains none or 
only a very small proportion of this min¬ 
eral. If salt then is beneficial to a crop, it 
must be due to the fact that it acts upon 
the necessary elements .of plant-growth by 
