788 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOV 3o 
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.( 
COMPOSITION OF LATE-GROWN GRASS. 
J. H. S., Spring Valley, N. Y .—This 
year there have been many complaints from 
dairymen about here to the effect that, 
while the pastures kept green unti fall, the 
quality of the late grass was very poor. 
Have any chemical analyses ever been made 
to show that there is any difference between 
the first growth of grass and that which 
comes later in the season? If there is a dif¬ 
ference dairymen should know it and sup¬ 
ply other needed foods. 
FROM PROF. E. F. LADD. 
I have made analyses of a few of our 
grasses from different cuttings, always at 
the same stage of growth—full bloom—and 
I have generally found each successive cut¬ 
ting more nitrogenous than the preceding 
one. I have found this true for four suc¬ 
cessive cuttings of Alfalfa and for two 
crops of mixed grasses. Second-crop clover 
is considered best suited, fed iu small quan¬ 
tities, for young calves and lambs as they 
come to the barn for winter. By analyses 
we find such wilted grass to have a larger 
per cent, of albuminoids than the first crop. 
The chemical composition of the dry mat¬ 
ter from the mixed grasses for the two cut¬ 
tings was as follows: 
FIRST CUTTING. SECOND CUTTING. 
Ash. 
7.55 
Albuminoids. 
9.25 
13.25 
Crude fiber. 
41.51 
39.40 
N itrogen-free extract. 
40.37 
36.12 
Fat. 
3.18 
3.(58 
In general, then, we may say that the 
second and subsequent crops of grass are 
more nitrogenous than the first. 
My opinion is that the poorquality of the 
late grass is due not so much to the chemi¬ 
cal composition of the dry matter as to the 
condition of the grass. The fall has been a 
wet and cloudy one and every cell of the 
grass has been fully distended with water 
and in addition considerable surface mois¬ 
ture has been present most of the time. An 
animal in order to secure the necessary 
amount of dry matter to sustain life and 
produce milk has been forced to consume a 
bulk beyond its capacity. Such an animal 
may be filled up, but is not fed—only stuffed. 
To illustrate ; in an experiment with corn, 
as a forage, cut at the period of tasseling 
this season, I found by analysis 91 per cent, 
of water and that it would be necessary for 
a 1,000-pound cow in full milk to eat 300 
pounds of this stuff per day in order to 
have the full amount, of dry matter called 
for by the German feeding standards. 
From the few experiments made I question 
whether the dry matter of grass grown un¬ 
der such conditions as have existed this 
fall, is as nutritious as that iu more favora¬ 
ble seasons, especially as regards the so- 
called nitrogen-free extract. The supposed 
poor quality of grass the present fall is 
probably due to the presence of an exces¬ 
sive amount of water in and on the grass, 
making it necessary for the cows to over¬ 
burden their stomachs with a mass of wet 
grass ill suited to their needs as butter pro¬ 
ducers. 
Geneva Experiment Station. 
FROM FROF. W. W. COOKE. 
So far as I know, we have never made any 
analysis at this station that would bear on 
that point. Reasoning from general prin¬ 
ciples of plant growth, the first grass of 
spring having a larger store of plant food 
at its command, should be better in quality 
than that which grows in the later part of 
the year. 
Vermont Experiment Station. 
FROM DIRECTOR G. H. WIIITCIIER. 
I cannot give any analyses further than 
to state that there is doubtless a decrease 
in the nitrogenous part of the food as com¬ 
pared with the non-nitrogenous. We are 
now making analyses that will indirectly 
bear upon this matter, but not so fully as 
if we had planned for it. We practice feed¬ 
ing largely of corn-meal in early summer as 
a supplementary food and as the season ad¬ 
vances we put in more of middlings and 
still later gluten or cotton seed meal. 
Pasture feed aione will not keep up the 
milk flow as New Hampshire pastures run, 
and hence as milk falls off, the wide awake 
dairyman adds grain and keeps up the 
product: the shiftless dairyman lets his 
cows “ work their passage” and contents 
himself with the thought that is too preva¬ 
lent, namely, that cows need a chance to 
cleanse their systems from the evils that 
follow grain feeding in winter and that this 
is best accomplished by withholding grain 
until they again come to the barn. The re¬ 
sult is dry cows at housing time, and no 
income during the months when prices are 
the highest. 
N. H. Experiment Station. 
CHEESE. 
II. C. B., Westernville, N. V.—A local 
paper contains a statement concerning a 
Mr. Ryan, who is said to be “ engaged in 
obtaining options for the purchase of cheese 
factories in various counties in the Central 
and Northern part of the State. He re¬ 
ports that he is getting along in an en¬ 
couraging manner. He expects that he 
will get options on about 50 factories in 
Oneida County. He wanted to have it 
understood that he was not representing 
any English syndicate. He was represent¬ 
ing for the present no one but himself. Of 
course, if all these cheese factories are pur¬ 
chased, it will require considerable money, 
and it is likely that a syndicate will furnish 
it. Whether the capital will be furnished 
by Englishmen or Americans Mr. Ryan 
says will not be determined until later on. 
The owner of the factory in each case 
agrees that if the option is accepted he will 
not engage in the manufacture of cheese 
elsewhere in that locality and that he will 
assist, the purchasers to make a success of 
the enterprise. The value placed upon the 
factories ranges from §500 to §5,000, accord¬ 
ing to their size and equipment.” 
How does the Rural New-Yorker 
think such a plan of bringing a number of 
factories under one management will affect 
the milk-producers’ interests? Would a 
backing of English capital tend to lower 
the price of cheese ? 
ANSWERED by prof. h. u. wing. 
So far as it has come under my observa¬ 
tion, those localities seem to be most, pros¬ 
perous where the cheese-making is done on 
the co-operative system: i. e. where the 
patrons themselves own and operate the 
factories. The plan of bringing a large 
number of factories under one management 
need not affect the interests of the milk- 
producers otherwise than favorably, as 
numerous instances of the successful man¬ 
agement of such combinations, notably the 
“ Marshfield ” and “ Cloverfield ” combina¬ 
tions in this State, testify. The main ad¬ 
vantage of this combination system lies in 
the strict superivsion of all the factories by 
some one interested in the output of the 
whole. This insures a better and more 
uniform product, which in turn brings 
an advance in price and a greater profit to 
the producer. I am not one of those who 
look with alarm upon the large amount of 
English capital that is now seeking an in¬ 
vestment in American manufactures of 
various sorts with a probable view to a 
monopoly of the output. It is only a very 
few years ago that John Bull attempted to 
“corner” the great American steer on the 
Western plains, and we all remember how 
soon the British lion tucked his tail between 
his legs. It seems to me that the result of 
the attempt to control American beer, flour, 
and cheese can be scarcely more successful. 
In my opinion, the one great thing that 
keeps down the price of New York State 
cheese is its miserably poor quality. It not 
only lowers the price, but it materially de¬ 
creases the consumption. It is with shaipe 
for my native State that I am compelled to 
say that it is next to impossible to buy at 
any price, in our local markets, a piece of 
cheese of even fair, not to say first quality. 
We have allowed the Canadians tocrowd us 
out of the English markets, and were it not 
for the 15 per cent, tariff, the retail grocers 
of Little Falls and Utica would in all prob¬ 
ability be selling Canadian cheese. Our 
makers have only to educate themselves a 
little more and give a little more labor and 
pains to their work to enable us to bid de¬ 
fiance to the cheese, the capital, and the 
competition of any other country. 
ABOUT MANURE. 
L. W. It., Benton Harbor, Mich.—I have 
a quantity of horse and cow manure which 
I propose to mix, and intend to use in the 
hill in melon culture next year. 1. Can I add 
chemical fertilizer which will increase the 
value of the manure more than the cost of 
the fertilizer ? If so, what kind— i. e. what 
elements should predominate, and how 
much shall I use to each two-horse load of 
manure ? 2. Is manure from animals bed¬ 
ded with sawdust and shavings of oak and 
elm worth as much as it would have been 
had the animals been bedded with straw ? 
If not, why not ? Has the acid contained 
in the wood a deteriorating effect ? 3. I 
bring most of the manure used on my farm 
from town ; this has never been re-handled, 
so that much of it is “ fire-fanged” and very 
light and fluffy. The fathers’ idea was 
that such manure had lost much of its 
value ; while a recent writer in the R. N.-Y. 
says it has lost practically nothing, except 
“ the water and a little ammonia; but a 
little of this makes a great smell.” What 
does the R. N. Y. say to this ? Does 
manure lose by heating ? What, and how 
much ? 
ANSWERED BY DR. PETER COLLIER. 
1. Stable manure is, in my opinion, as 
near what is termed a complete manure 
as we can get. I know of nothing which 
can be added to it which will enhance its 
value beyond the cost of the manure and 
the fertilizer added. 2. The average of the 
several kinds of straw, according to the tab¬ 
les of Professor Wolff, gives 5.(51 per cent, 
of ash, and of this ash there is an av¬ 
erage of 2(5.7 percent, of potash, and6.9 per 
cent, of phosphoric acid; while the average 
of many kinds of wood is 1.15 per cent, of 
ash, of which 15.5 per cent, is potash and 
8.1 per cent, is phosphoric acid. It will be 
seen therefore that straw contains a much 
larger amount of plant food than does saw¬ 
dust, but owing to the fact that sawdust is 
such an excellent absorbent for the more 
valuable liquid manure, its use in the sta¬ 
bles as beddiug is to be highly recommend¬ 
ed. Recent careful experiments at the sta¬ 
tion show the average market value of the 
phosphorus, potash and nitrogen in the 
solid dung of the cow, fed upon a mixed 
ration, to be nearly four cents per day, while 
the value of the liquid manure was over six 
cents a day and together they were over 70 
per cent, of the market value of the food 
fed. 3. I do not know what loss manure 
sustains by fire-fanging, but I do not be¬ 
lieve it to be very great. We hope to settle 
that question by careful experiments in the 
near future. A common but very mistak¬ 
en idea prevails that the offensive odors of 
the barn and yards are due to ammonia or 
its compounds. This is rarely if ever the 
case. 
PETROLEUM AS A WOOD PRESERVER. 
O. D., Carysville, Ohio. —1. Which is the 
best method of applying crude petroleum 
to fence posts in order to render them more 
durable ? I have contracted for a quantity 
of oil for the purpose of experimenting 
with it upon fence posts, and want to know 
what are the best means of applying it. 
Should the oil be heated or applied in a 
cold state ? 2. What kind of paper does 
the R. N.-Y. prefer that its correspondents 
should use for manuscript ? 
Ans.— 1. A painter of over 30 years’ expe¬ 
rience gives his views as follows: “It will 
not be beneficial or safe to heat petroleum 
oil. It has great penetrating powers with¬ 
out heating. As it is a light oil (with no 
body) it is not much of a wood preserver 
when the wood is continually exposed to 
the weather unless a film or an enamel 
after dipping or painting, is applied by 
painting the surface to make it impervious 
to air and water. I have just examined a 
neighbor’s fence posts that were first dipped 
in a trough containing petroleum, then the 
bottoms of the posts were dipped in gas-tar 
which forms the enamel. These posts (oak) 
had been set 15 years. They were sound 
and in a good state of preservation. Gas- 
tar sticks best to such surfaces as are first 
filled with petroleum or paint. Where there 
is no film or enamel petroleum does not 
preserve the wood. 2. Paper just one- 
fourth the size of this page is easily handled 
by editors and compositors. Most writers 
use sheets that are too large. Of course, 
you will write on one side only ! 
TESTING MILK AT CREAMERIES. 
Several Subscribers. —At the Wisconsin 
creameries is any system of testing milk 
used? What about the fairness of paying 
patrons on the basis of the amount of fat iu 
the milk ? 
Ans.—T his question lias been referred to 
some of the best Wisconsin creamery-men. 
Here are two answers. 
FROM J. M. ANDREWS. 
We have the Curtis oil test for milk; 
also Short’s method, both of which we use 
fortesting milk delivered by the patrons. 
I think Short’s method the more reliable 
for milk: but for creameries run on the 
gathered-cream system, the Curtis oil test is 
better, and most of the creameries operated 
by that system pay by the amount of fat in 
the cream. The only objection I have to 
it is that it is almost impossible to make a 
test of the product from 50 or 75 patrons 
without breaking several bottles. 
Fort Atkinson. 
FROM II. K. LOOMIS. 
The creameries in this State generally 
take the milk and run it through separa¬ 
tors and the milk is tested by Short’s 
method. A few creameries in the State 
gather cream and I think they generally 
use the oil test. There could be no objec¬ 
tion to a careful testing cf cream, and a 
system of payment based upon the amount 
of fat in it. 
Sheboygan Falls 
MUCK. 
J?. W. II.. Jasper, N. Y. —I have a large 
swamp of black muck ; I can run a stick 
down 10 feet and easily withdraw it again. 
Is this valuable for fertilizer ? If so, how 
can it best be used ? 
Ans.—P robably the muck is valuable but 
just how valuable it is can be determined 
only by an analysis. It may be said that 
what is commonly termed “ muck ” varies 
in fertilizing value almost as much as do 
different brands of fertilizers. Doubtless 
you can make arrangements to have the 
muck analyzed at the New York Experi¬ 
ment Station at Geneva, N. Y. It is safe to 
say that almost any light soil will be bene¬ 
fited by a dressing of muck. It may be 
hauled out of the swamp and spread over 
the surface like manure and plowed in. 
We have hauled many loads of muck to the 
barnyard and mixed it with the manure. 
It also makes a fine absorbent in the stable; 
while, made into a compost with night-soil, 
it makes fine manure. 
WARMING WATER FOR STOCK IN WINTER. 
O. W. S., Parish ville. N. Y.— Will it pay 
to warm water for milch cows in the win¬ 
ter where they have to go out-of-doors to 
drink ? 
Ans.—T his will depend on the cost of 
warming the water, and this cost will de¬ 
pend upon the amount of water needed, the 
price of the fuel, the facilities for securing 
water and the location of the tank or drink¬ 
ing place. Try an experiment with a few of 
your cows; give them warm water to drink 
and treat them in other respects just as 
the other cows are treated. You can then 
see what the warm water is worth. Ex¬ 
periments with the warm water give no 
satisfactory results. The Minnesota Sta¬ 
tion found little or no benefit from warm 
water, while the Wisconsin Station records 
a little profit from its use. The R. N.-Y. 
can give an opinion only, and that opinion is 
that for cows in warm, tight barns water 
directly from the bottom of the well is best 
at all seasons. 
A FRUIT LADDER, ETC. 
F. K. P., Delavan, Wis. —1. How long 
can a good, portable fruit ladder be made, 
and what is the best pattern ? 2. IIovv long 
can a good fruit-picker or tree-pruner be 
made and work well ? 3. Is there a good 
pocket pruning saw ? 
Ans.— 1. The best portable fruit ladder is 
the one made by splitting and spreading 
a light pole of spruce or cedar, not over 12 
feet long, driving an iron ring about one 
foot down from the small end and putting 
a bolt through the ring and pole. The pole 
should be split with a saw up to this ring, 
the divided parts spread open so as to be 18 
to 25 inches apart at the bottom, and the 
rungs put in at the proper distances for con¬ 
venience, say nine inches. 2. About 10 feet. 
3. No. 
Miscellaneous. 
W. II. It., Oakville, Canada ,—A. J. Cay- 
■wood & Sons, Marlboro, N. Y., sell the 
Minnewaski Blackberry. 
A. II. II., BaysviUc, Md .—We propose to 
treat the subject of hedges exhaustively 
within the next few weeks. 
J. V., Danville, III .—Is soot valuable as 
a fertilizer and insecticide ? 
Ans.—W e certainly regard soot as a very 
valuable fertilizer, and believe it would 
also be of great value as an insecticide. 
IF. I)., Burlington , A T . J.—Can I raise a 
crop of white potatoes on meadow land by 
mulching with hay or straw ? The meadow 
is too full of weeds to raise grass. 
Ans.—W e doubt if a profitable crop can 
