1889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
725 
trench and covered with earth before plant 
ing the potatoes. C. F. h. 
Clarksville. 
Cut to 13 eyes. Plants killed by Flea- 
beetles. Dug August 28. Yield 11 pounds. 
Burnside. MRS. w. s. 
Potatoes cut to nine eyes. Planted d la 
Rural’s trench system. At the rate of 800 
pounds per acre of Chicago Celery Phos¬ 
phate used over and under the seed. On 
surface at the rate of 200 pounds wood 
ashes and a light dressing of compost 
(Continued on Page 729.) 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
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MEAT FOOD FOR POULTRY. 
What does the Rural New-Yorker find 
the most economical meat food for poul¬ 
try ? Where is it bought and what docs it 
cost? 
FROM HENRY HALES. 
I find the cheapest meat food for poultry 
is pork scraps in cake. I buy it at pork¬ 
packing houses in Paterson, N. J., at two 
cents per pound. I break it up and soak it in 
cold water till it is softened and then I 
mash it up in the soft food. I find poultry 
more eager for it by far than for the beef 
scraps broken fine and sold for three cents 
per pound. The next cheapest fresh meat 
feed is haslets when they can be procured 
from a slaughter-house or meat market in 
quantity. 
Ridgewood, N. J. 
FROM L. H. MORSE. 
I buy kidneys of our meat man for feed¬ 
ing poultry and like them as well as any¬ 
thing. 
Newark, N. Y. 
FROM P. H. JACOBS. 
The best meat food for poultry consists of 
the neck and coarser portions from the 
butcher, chopped, and fed three times a 
week, a pound to It! hens, or an ounce to 
each. The cheap portions of the meat will 
answer. It should be lean—no fat. Liver 
and lights are also excellent and cheap. I 
find but little benefit from the commercial 
ground meat, as its value is reduced by su¬ 
perheated steam and the enormous pressure 
to which it is subjected before grinding. The 
Hollis meat is cheap and good, but it 
must be used before the contents of the can 
are affected by exposure after it has been 
opened. Ground meat with ammoniacal 
odor will be rejected by fowls. I regard 
ground dried fish as better, though it is 
not always readily accepted. 
Hammonton, N. J. 
FROM A. F. WILLIAMS. 
The cheapest and best meat for poultry 
is fresh bone and scraps from the market. 
Grind these up with a bone-mill which costs 
only $5 to £7, and poultry will relish them 
and they will not hurt them. 
Bristol, Conn. 
FROM SAMUEL WILSON. 
The cheapest and best thing we can get 
in this line is meat and tallow scraps from 
the butchers’ shops. These come in large, 
pressed cakes about the size of large 
cheeses, and cost from one to cent per 
pound. 
Mec.hanicsville, Pa. 
FROM P. WILLIAMS. 
Ground beef scraps are the cheapest and 
I think the best meat for poultry. I buy 
them in Boston in large quantities and I 
think they are worth $3S or $40 per ton. 
The Bowker Fertilizer Company keep them 
in Boston, and Kirby & W. J. Stanton keep 
them in New York. Hot water should be 
poured over them and then they should be 
allowed to settle over-night. 
Taunton, Mass. 
FROM JAMES RANKIN. 
I consider finely-ground beef scraps the 
cheapest and best animal food for fowls. I 
use about 20 tons of it each season, paying 
from $32 to §35 per ton for it. 
South Easton, Mass. 
FROM KNAPP BROTHERS. 
We find that the best, cheapest und most 
wholesome meat for poultry for use in cold 
weather is the flesh of old cows that dairy¬ 
men are often willing to sell for from §5 to 
$8 or §10 each as winter is setting in. We 
have bought in this way two or three at a 
time oldish farrow cows that were hardly 
worth wintering. We dress them like beef, 
and hang the meat up where it will keep 
good fora long time and use it as required, 
chopped fine, either raw or cooked. 
Fabius, N. Y. 
FROM C. E. ROCKENSTYNE. 
I feed refuse from a slaughter-house near 
me. You can get beef scraps in New York: 
they are good. 
Albany, N. Y. 
FROM A. J. PERKINS. 
We use ground scraps made by C. A. Bart¬ 
lett, Worcester, Mass. We buy in large lots 
at two cents per pound. They will keep for 
months in hot weather. The fowls like 
them and they answer every purpose as a 
meat food. We have used them for several 
years with good results. 
Fulton County, N. Y. 
FROM E. H. UPSON. 
The cheapest meat food for poultry is 
milk, either sweet or sour. I prefer sour 
(thick) milk as the fowls seem to relish it 
better than sweet milk. No other meat 
food is needed. In the absence of milk any 
lean meat is good. Fat meat is injurious 
to poultry as it increases the susceptibility 
to disease unless fed in very small quanti¬ 
ties. Even then it does them no good. As 
we live on a farm and usually keep one or 
more cows, the milk we feed our fowls costs 
us practically nothing. I have come to the 
conclusion that too much meat is usually 
fed to fowls. I now have a pen of 10 hens 
that have been kept in a yard for one year 
without a taste of meat and only occasion¬ 
ally milk. They are in the very finest con¬ 
dition. 
Wilmot, Indiana. 
FROM ORSON WINANS. 
In my locality it is not difficult to get the 
offal from butchers’ shops for nothing. 
But as to the commercial meat foods pre¬ 
pared expressly for poultry, I am not pre¬ 
pared to say which is the cheapest, that is. 
which brand contains the best actual value 
for the money. For myself, I have had 
some experience with “chandlers’scraps” 
from the soap factory. I get mi ne at Cats- 
kill, N. Y. It comes in cakes, grindstone- 
shape, say 2 }4 to three feet in diameter, 
four to six inches thick. It consists of lean 
scraps, bits of bone, the tissue of fats, etc. 
boiled over a furnace and subjected to 
great pressure to extract the grease. It 
has to be broken up with an axe or heavy 
instrument, and it has to be either pow¬ 
dered fine, or soaked 12 hours before the 
birds can eat it; as the lumps are hard, I 
prefer soaking. Fowls either free or con¬ 
fined devour it with great relish after they 
learn its taste. If fed dry the hens should 
not be allowed to gorge themselves as it 
swells or puffs up very greatly by absorb¬ 
ing water or moisture. This article usually 
costs me at the factory about two cents 
per pound, and I consider it, all around, 
about the most satisfactory of anything I 
can secure. Many extensive poultrymen 
cook it with grain, vegetables, etc., daily, 
preferring to feed it that way, but the 
second cooking is merely a matter of con¬ 
venience for the fowls. 
Oak Hill. N. Y. 
CORN WORMS, ETC. 
A. H. S., Oswego, N. Y. —1. I send the 
Rural some specimens of insects I found 
in some of last year’s sweet corn I was 
shelling. Do they change into millers, and 
can the corn be fumigated so as to destroy 
them without injuring it for seed? 2. I 
also found and destroyed two white worms 
about an inch long and about the size of a 
large pin. They were almost semi-trans¬ 
parent and appeared jointed, or in sections 
scarcely an eighth of an inch long. I had 
found them twice before under the border 
of a carpet. What were they ? 
Ans.— 1. The specimens inclosed are 
corn-worms. They transform into moths in 
May ; also in July and August. They at¬ 
tack all kinds of grain when stored in bins. 
The insect in all its forms may be destroyed 
by subjecting the infested grain to a heat 
of 167 degrees F. for 12 hours, or to a some¬ 
what lower heat for a longer time. They 
may also be destroyed by subjecting the 
grain to the fumes of burning charcoal. 
The larvse will also perish if the thermom¬ 
eter falls to zero. 2. The last mentioned 
probably do not belong to the family of 
moths usually found under carpets, among 
clothing, furs, etc. We would suggest, if 
any more be found, and any trouble be ap¬ 
prehended from them, that specimens be sent 
to Dr. J. A. Lintner, State Entomologist, 
Albany, N. Y. 
DEHORNING CATTLE. 
A. M. J., Lakewood, N. J— How are 
cattle dehorned—how held ? 
ANS.—A full description of the method of 
dehorning was given on page 365 of the last 
volume of the R. N.-Y. A narrow stall 
with a stanchion at one end is best for hold¬ 
ing the animal. A strong halter or rope 
may be used to draw up the animal’s head 
and to hold it quiet. A very sharp, fine¬ 
toothed saw is used, and the horn is severed 
just at the base, leaving a trifle of skin on 
it. As soon as it is removed, a layer of ab¬ 
sorbent cotton is applied to the stump and 
pressed down to stop the flow of blood. In 
warm weather a coating of pine tar should 
be applied before the cotton. No inexperi¬ 
enced person should think of attempting 
this operation, as, unless properly per¬ 
formed, it is quite likely to prove danger¬ 
ous, if not fatal. The proper time for de¬ 
horning, if it must be done at all, is when 
the calf is from three to six weeks old. Ex¬ 
cept in the case of vicious animals, public 
sentiment seems to be opposed to the prac¬ 
tice; and even these ai-e not always sub¬ 
dued, as instances are on record where de¬ 
horned animals have inflicted serious injury 
upon individuals coming in their way. 
VALUE OF GYPSUM IN THE STABLE. 
F. W. II., Warren, Maine. —How much 
can a farmer afford to pay for gysum to be 
used in the stable, the price being based on 
the commercial value of the nitrogen saved 
by its use ? How much may be used for 
each cow or horse ? 
Ans.—G ypsum is always worth its cost 
for itself alone ; whatever nitrogen it may 
save from loss by combining with the am¬ 
monia which escapes from the manure is a 
clear gain. Another gain is made in the 
purification of the air of the stables by the 
absorption of the ammonia that would es¬ 
cape and make the air impure. In using it 
for the purification of stables, the use of as 
much as will whiten the floor is about 
right, but its good effect is not confined to 
this alone, for in the manure it will always 
be combining with ammonia. Hence it 
may be used liberally without fear of loss 
by so doing. 
KEEPING CARNATIONS AND ROSES OVER 
WINTER. 
C. M. C., Monmouth, Me. —How should 
carnations and tea roses be kept through 
the winter in this section ? 
Ans—L ift them and plant them in mod¬ 
erately shallow boxes and close together, 
but not close enough to press against each 
other, and winter them on a shelf in the 
cellar and near the window. Or put them 
singly in somewhat small pots. Keep them 
as cool as possible in winter, that is, say 
between 32 degrees and 40 degrees and avoid 
a high temperature or a low one. Venti¬ 
late freely when convenient, but avoid 
draughts, and never allow the soil to be¬ 
come very dry in winter. If the roses are 
strong and have been well ripened, they 
will not need so much light in winter, but 
can be kept well enough on the floor of the 
cellar. 
Miscellaneous. 
L. M. H., Roxbury, Va. —What is the 
nature of the process and machinery for 
manufacturing cedar oil ? 
Ans.—T he wholesale druggists here in¬ 
form us that most of their product comes 
from a secret process which requires expen¬ 
sive and complicated machinery. 
C. G., Ridgeville, III.— 1. How far apart 
should Palmetto Asparagus be set for field 
culture ? 2. Will it get past the first cut¬ 
ting ou rich soil without manure ? 
Ans.—A sparagus in the R. N.-Y.’s esti¬ 
mation is generally planted too close. We 
should choose four feet by IS inches for field 
culture. 2. Yes, but the stalks will be 
smaller. 
B. M. C., Old Point Comfort, Va. —1. 
What is the proper time for transplanting 
such trees beech and live oak ? 2. Which 
is the better time for sowing grass—fall or 
spring]? 
Ans. —1. For your climate transplant all 
deciduous trees now, evergreens in early 
spring. 2. It is now so late that we should 
prefer spring. 
A. S. B., Waynesboro, Pa. —What are 
the names of the apples specimens of which 
are inclosed ? 
ANS.—The specimens were submitted to 
Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, 
New York, who tell us that although the 
apples are not as fine specimens of their re¬ 
spective varieties as those grown by them¬ 
selves, still they think that No. 1 is a Fal 
Pippin ; Nos. 2 and 4 are Northern Spy, 
and Nos. 3 and 6 King (of Tompkins 
County.) No. 5 they do not recognize. 
V. A. T., Chili, N. Y.—l. What is the 
best early potato for 'field culture ? 2. Is 
the Early Essex good as regards yield and 
quality Where canit be obtained? 3. Is the 
Maine Rose a late potato and is it a good 
marketable variety ? 
ANS.—1. In one locality one kind suc¬ 
ceeds best; in another, another kind. The 
only good test is to try different varieties 
in a small way. 2. R. D. Hawley of Hart¬ 
ford, Conn. It yields well at the Rural 
Grounds and the quality is excellent. 3. 
The Maine Rose is the Early Rose raised in 
Maine. 
F. E. E., Sectonia, Ohio.— 1. I want to set 
out about an acre of strawberries. I can 
buy Bubach No. 5 plants right here for §5 
per 1,000, and at a New Jersey nursery for 
§3 per 1,000. At which place should I buy ? 
2. I wish to set out about 1,200 blackberry 
plants next spring. I want a fine-looking 
berry, of good quality and productive. I 
can get Agawam and Kittatinny for §10 per 
1,000 and Taylor for §5; which should I get ? 
Ans.— 1. If you know the home plants to 
be strong and good, buy them in preference. 
The difference in price is scarcely to be con¬ 
sidered. 2. We would advise you to try 
Kittatinny and Minnewaski. 
J. W. G., Elkhorn, Canada. —1. How 
can I obtain the seed of an especially early 
tomato spoken of by Mr. Falconer in a re¬ 
cent R. N.-Y. ? 2 Have soft-wood ashes 
(those from poplar) and bone ashes much 
fertilizing value? 
Ans.— 1. The tomato referred to is proba¬ 
bly the Ignotum; the seed will be offered 
by seedsmen in their forthcoming cata¬ 
logues. 2. Ashes from soft wood generally 
contain a larger percentage of potash. Ac¬ 
cording to Dr. Kedzie’s estimate, ashes 
from poplar wood are worth about §15 per 
ton for fertilizing purposes, although the 
value of any particular sample could be de¬ 
termined only by analysis. 
Discussion. 
CULTIVATE OR MULCH—WHICH ? 
P. H. R., Downieville. California.— 
Plants will grow whether we understand 
the method of their growth or not,” as 
Prof. Porter says, but the agriculture of 
the 19th century demands thinkers—such 
as we confidently hope the agricultural col¬ 
leges are turning out—hence radical 
changes in methods ought not to surprise 
those who have nearly worn out their lives 
in the vain effort to wear the world out by 
crippling aside at a time. “Plants will 
grow; ” but will they all grow alike; or 
will some delve deeply for sustenance while 
others draw life from very near the sur¬ 
face ? Study both ends of your plant. He 
who has not studied root-growth is iguor - 
ant of the fundamental knowledge neces¬ 
sary to the intelligent production of any 
plant, and if he is successful he is so by the 
favor of God or because kind Nature holds 
a bounteous store which the plants may 
appropriate despite much maltreatment. 
If we must follow the present generally 
adopted system of stirring the soil to pro¬ 
mote its productiveness, then it follows 
that we ought to inaugurate the closest 
system of study of the long-neglected end of 
the plant. But forces are active which 
will, probably, greatly change the require¬ 
ments of food production. New lands are 
being settled and utilized for the produc¬ 
tion of their quota of things which may be, 
for convenience, more susceptible of cultiva¬ 
tion than mulching; new knowledge is ob¬ 
tained by the public of facts which lead 
them to discover the non-necessity for 
much that has been considered indispens¬ 
able. Corn is produced solely for the fat 
there is in it. Is grease king ? It is not a 
necessity and its uustinted use is more 
condemnable than praiseworthy. Corn is 
the only important crop that cannot be 
more easily mulched than cultivated, and to 
plow up the roots of the plant to produce 
Pisrctlunv ou$ ^rtvcrtijsing. 
“Herbrand” Fifth. Wheel for Buggies. 
