APRIL 5 
THE 
RAL NEW-YORKER. 
it without losing much flesh. As soon as the 
grass shoots in the warmer and moister parts 
of the pastures so that a moderate bite eau he 
had, it is better, it seems to me, to turn out the 
cows than lo keep them in the stables or yards. 
They smell the spring, and, wearied by long 
confinement, they are eager and restless until 
they feel the sod under their feet again. But, 
Of course, they must not be expected lo fill 
themselves from the scauty growth. Unless a 
good feed is given morning and evening (a part 
of which ought to be of grain), there will be in 
the milk of fresh cows a decline that it will be 
very difficult to recover. Besides this, there is 
the danger of the cows’ tilling their hungry 
bellies with the dead grass out of which all 
nutriment has been soaked by the winter’s rain 
and snow. A good many “accidents” happen 
from tills cause. 
The cows are shedding their coats at this 
season, aud it pays well to use card and brush 
upon their bides. Not only does it greatly add 
to their comfort, but it obviates much danger 
of contamination to the milk. Strainers «re 
good things, but it is not really necessary to let 
dirt fall into the milk so as to be sure that 
there will bo something to strain out. Iu fact, 
all of our beat dairymen are coming to the 
conclusion that the card and curry-comb 
rightly used upon cows, are a "payinginstitu¬ 
tion," and will actually add both to the yield 
and the selling value of the butter. 
But before turning out the cows, see that 
the pasture fence is sound and strong at all 
points. This is the time when cattle arc very 
restless. Also, I feel like strongly advisiug 
every cow-keeper to procure a number of 
large lumps of salt, and place them conve¬ 
niently about Die pasture upon cheap stands, 
w ith a root over Diem, so that all the cows may 
have free access to lick them at will. It is by 
far the best and handiest way of providing 
them with this uecessaiy substance, aud its 
being there adds both to tlxeir comfort aud 
contentment. 
-♦-*->- 
HISTORY OF A POOR FARM.-No. 7. 
Feeding for Milk. 
“ It has been said that feed lias no apparent 
influence upon the quality of milk ; that how¬ 
ever high we feed with rich loed, the milk will 
be no richer for it. Many prominent writers 
and lecturers upon dairy matters have indorsed 
this idea, but few dairymen or farmers will 
agree with such a statement. It is controvert¬ 
ed every day in practice. The. poor farmer 
who feeds straw and corn-stalks gets poor 
milk, and the farmer who feeds his cows w ith 
early-cut hay with all its nutriment preserved, 
along with corn meal, middlings, malt sprouts 
and oil meal, produces not only a larger quan¬ 
tity ol' milk, but more cream and butter.” 
“Everybody should know that,” remarked 
my old neighbor; “I have had no experience 
in feeding oil meal or malt sprouts, but I have 
with grains, buckwheat Inau aud corn meal, and 
I know buckwheat bran makes more milk, but 
the milk is very poor and the butter from it is 
very white. William would not feed buck¬ 
wheat bran if he had it for notbiug." 
“Let us hear what Fred has to say on this 
point. Fred has taken charge of my dairy aud 
is carrying on a series of experiments with va¬ 
rious sorts of food. Bring your dairy record 
for the month of .January, Fred." 
Fred took the record from the hook where 
it hangs in the utlice. And here let me give 
a hint to farmers about the usefulness of a 
small building conveniently situated, to be 
used as au office, i have such a one at a cen¬ 
tral point overlooking the barnyard and the 
orchard, with window's on three sides and a 
glazed door, so that from the table in the cen¬ 
ter one eau see every thing that comes and goes. 
Here are. kept a few standard books ; liles of a 
few leading papers ; a few simple medicines ; 
and such small things as are always required 
about a farm ; a sideboard with ueets ot draw¬ 
ers in front and furnished with scales aud 
weights, measures and milk-testing tubes ; and 
a few chairs to accommodate the friends and 
neighbors who drop iu to talk over matters in 
the way 1 am recording in these pages, iu 
which manner some pleasant and profitable 
evenings are spent. 
Fred read from Die record as follows: 
Week ending ,)an. 7. 97>5 lbs.; av. per day. 136 lbs 
“ •• 14.1,097. 156 “ 
“ “ 21.1,219 " “ " 174 “ 
“ “ 28.1,266 “ “ “ 181 “ 
TABLE. OF F001> AND YIELD OF MILK. 
Date. Cows. Food._ A v. milk. 
Jan. 7i 
10 
9 quarts >if ground com in tlie ear 
and outs. . 
136 lbs. 
“ h! 
10 
'.j<i Hurts of ground shelled corn aud 
rye . . . 
156 “ 
“ 21 
10 
6 HUs»vt8 of corn aud rye meal and 
;i iiuarto of malt sprouts steeped. 
174 “ 
“ 28 
10 
simile as above with l quart ol palm 
181 " 
uut meal added to tile sprouts... 
“ What is the next change to be ?” asked Mr. 
Martin. 
“ I have got to the end of my tether, at pres¬ 
ent,” I replied. “ I don’t know how r I can add 
■any more to the yield, or make richer milk, and 
I am content to stop for the present. I cauuot 
afford to spoil matters as they now are. But 
let us consider w T bat has been done, and if feed 
has no effect on the milk. 
“ Up to the end of December, 1878, the same 
ten cows were given, pretty regularly, 70 quarts 
or 154 pouuds a day- They wore fed uiue 
quarts of meal of corn iu the ear and rye or 
wheat middlings, with a peek of beets at noon. 
The licets were all used up in that month ; and 
the first week afterwards on nine quarts ol corn 
in the ear aud oats ground together, the milk 
fell off to 158 pounds a day—a loss of 18 pounds, 
or nearly nine quarts a day for that week. 
"When the feed was changed to shelled corn and. 
rye ground together, the milk came up lo 156 
pounds daily; when three quarts of malt 
sprouts, steeped twelve hours iu water to sat¬ 
urate them, were changed for the same quan¬ 
tity of meal, the milk was raised to 174 pounds 
daily; and with the addition of one quart, or 
two pounds, of palm-nut meal, the milk in¬ 
creased to 181 pounds daily; but a much larger 
proportionate increase in cream resulted. The 
whole gain w as equal to 45 pounds or 20 quarts 
of milk, worth $1.40 per day. The other feed 
was two bushels of out corn fodder and a little 
loose hay once a day.” 
“How do you account for it?’ asked my 
old neighbor. 
“ Well, it is plain that, uothiug eau come out 
of a cow that docs not first go Into her; that 
the milk is a product of the food, after the 
vital necessities of the animal are supplied, so 
that if the food happens to he richer iu nutri¬ 
tious qualities than is needed for supply of 
the vital functions, the rest will, in some ani¬ 
mals, he changed into milk and cream. Corn¬ 
cobs chiefly consist of indigestible woody fiber, 
and oats contain one-third of indigestible husk, 
so that •oru iu the ear and oats make poor 
feed. Shelled corn aud rye make a much 
more, nutritious food, malt sprouts are rich iu 
nutriment, and palm-nut meal contains from 
10 to 18 per •♦lit. of fat. Put iu tabular form 
these foods appear thus: 
-- 
CL 
Ob 
* 
u 
I ® . 
p u 
3 
CS 1 
£ 
cd 
(fl 
< 
fil 
j,S , 
« S 
| 
Corn-cob, par cent. 1 
14.3 
2.8 
J.4 ’ 
44.0 
37.8 
Oat cliaff. 
14.3 
18.0 
4,11 
29.7 
34.0 
14.4 
2.1 
in.n 
H 8.0 
5.6 
14.3 
2.0 
11.0 
69.2 
3.5 
Malt sprouts. 
8.0 
6.8 
23.0 
44.7 
17.5 
palm-nut meal . L ._. 
10.0 
2.6 
40.0 
| 46.0 
2.4 
“It is very evident that the last two sub¬ 
stances must bo vastly richer food than the 
first two: besides, the so-called fat-formers in 
the first two cousist nearly all of cellulose, 
which is the least nutritive of carbo-hyd rate*, 
while in malt sprouts aud palm-oil meal these 
exist largely iu the form of oil and fat which 
are the most valuable of these fat-forming 
elements.” 
“ Dr. Voeloker,” said Fred, “in a recent pa¬ 
per, men tiu ns a series of experiments by Mr. 
Struckinanu, a German, who found that two 
pouuds of oil-cake, given daily to dairy cows, 
increase botli the quantity aud the quality of 
the milk. He also mentions that the cows of 
the Cireu(tester Agricultural College, wheu 
brought in from grass and fed hay, roots and 
meal, increased the yield of butter from 31 per 
cent- of the milk to 4£. or nearly one-third.” 
“What is the use of bringing more evidence 
wheu the ea»* is proved ?” said Mr. Martin. 
“1 don’t think auy one who has kept cows 
and fed them for a living, will deny what you 
state, or <Wafr.it the facts you give from your 
milk resold. Tke better you feed, the better 
the cows will milk and the more aud the better 
the blitter will be. My daughter Mary, who is 
dairymaid at my house, can tell as soon as the 
feed is changed and when the cow is stinted of 
its meal.” 
“ There is somethiug in the cow,” said Wil¬ 
liam. “ You only waste good lood on a lanky, 
hmg-leigged, narrow-bodied, high-bellied, hard- 
skiuued cow, and there is where your plan 
won’t work.” 
“ Precisely,” I replied, “just as you might 
throw good manure on that hard-packed road 
aud Look in vain tor a crop equal to that from 
a well-plowed, mellow field. You would be 
disappointed iu either ease. There must be 
favorable conditions to work upou, else there 
will be no result. 
“There are two profits to be made iu feediug 
farm animals and iu the management of any 
farm, be it poor or rich ; both should be looked 
to. Milk carries off from the food, nitrogen 
and phosphoric acid chiefly, it is, therefore, 
a wise thing to use such food as is rich iu these 
two elements, and these are the principal con¬ 
stituents of the soil which are taken up by 
crops. In the table given, the ash of mult 
sprouts is stated as Of per cent or 180 pounds 
in a ton of 2,000 pouuds. This ash contains 42 
pounds of potash and 30 pounds of phosphoric 
acid; the nitrogen, already mentioned, amounts 
to 75 pounds, if all this went into the manure, 
it would be worth $20.85. But all that is not 
used in the increase of the milk, is left in the 
manure, so that at the least, the value is recov¬ 
ered oue way or the other, fu substituting 
three quarts or about 21 pouuds of sprouts, 
costiug 17J cents, for the 10 cows, iu place ol 
three quarts or five pouuds of corn aud rye 
meal each, costing 50 cents, a saving of 32-1 
cents iu cost, and a gain of nearly uiue quarts 
of milk worth 60 cents, are made each day i 
equal to 92J cents, or the wages of my best 
paid man, so that in feeding the sprouts, there 
is that gain iu addition to the value added to 
the manure, which may be figured as follows: 
In 100 pounds of nitrogen in Die food of a cow, 
63J pounds are fouthl in the manure, and iu 
100 of mineral matter 97 pouuds are recovered, 
so that from Die use of 2,000 pounds of sprouts, 
there would he found in the manure 471 pouuds 
of nitrogen, 40 pouuds of potash and 35 pounds 
of phosphoric acid, worth in money at market, 
prices of these materials, $11.90; $2 80 and 
$3.50 respectively, iu all, $18.20. Sprouts can 
be purchased for $12 per ton, so that the profit 
of using them is, perhaps, more than that from 
auy other purchased food whatever." 
“I have been told there is danger in feeding 
small sprouts to cows,” said Mr. Martin. “If 
they happen to be given dry, they will swell 
and pack in the stomach." 
“ There is danger in feediug anything reck¬ 
lessly,” I replied. “If a cow is permitted to 
help herself at the meal bin, she will suffer 
for it. and so if dry sprouts are given iu excess, 
there is certainly danger of mischief. I put a 
bushel of the dry sprouts in a 40-gallon barrel, 
and fill up the barrel with water; the sprouts 
will swell aud soak up the water, and a peek 
of the steeped sprouts is given to each cow 
every day. Wheu thus fed, there is no danger.’’ 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
How to Trent the Seeds of our Seed Distribution , 
Hundreds of oar readers have asked such 
questiousas the following : “ Why do you not 
give the Euglisb or familiar names oi your 
seeds ?” Will not you tell us how to treat 
the seeds which you are sendiug to your sub¬ 
scribers?” 
We have desired to comply with these many re¬ 
quests for several weeks past, but an unusually 
busy subscription season, tbe several seed dis¬ 
tributions themselves aud our special numbers 
have absolutely prevented our doing so. For 
all except our Southern friends, however, our 
reply must still prove timely, aud so we pro¬ 
ceed to give it iu as few words as possible. 
Defiance Wheat. In nine cases out of ten, 
we presume this wheat will disappoint, the 
planter. Our seed will be found somewhat 
shriveled—some of it unclean. But we have 
purchased the best that could be purchased. 
The yield of this wheat has, iu some ease -, 
proven immense—almost, if not quite, un¬ 
paralleled ; iu many other trials, it has proven 
nearly worthless. We do not doubt it will prove 
a valuable variety iu most parts where spring 
wheats thrive. It may do well in some sections 
where other spring wheats fail. Nevertheless, 
in the latter case, except as an experiment up¬ 
on a small scale, we should not try it. Iu order 
to obtain the best results we should advise 
drilling it in as thinly as possible and making 
the drills a foot or more apart so as to cultivate 
during its early growth. 
Pearl Millet, Plow and harrow and roll 
thoroughly, and plant two seeds every four 
feet either way. As soon as the plants are up, 
destroy one (where both appear ) in a way not 
to disturb the other. A good method is with 
a pair of coarse shears to cut the pluut off 
just beneath the surface. The ground should 
he rich and kept clean during its growth. The 
botanical name of Pearl Millet is Pcnicillaria 
spieata. It is known in certain parts of the 
South as “Cat-tail." The seed which we have 
sent out will, we should judge, plant half au 
acre, an ample area to enable our friends to 
experiment with it as they will. 
Beauty of Hebron. Suggestions as to 
planting this potato will uut he required. We 
wish those who have received it would test it 
beside Early Rose or any other excellent po¬ 
tato and report to us its comparative value. 
As we have no interest in it. or any other uew 
or aid plant, beyond wishing to popularize a 
better for a poorer variety, we shall publish 
the bad just as freely as the. good reports. 
The Yoorbis Watermelon should be planted 
and cultivated tbe same as auy other. 
Golden Rural and Acme. —These may now 
be sown iu hot-beds, cold-frames, in flower¬ 
pots iu sunny windows, or iu box-flats. Iu 
any ease, they should he transplanted two or 
three times before their final disposition iu the 
garden. This transplanting induces a stronger 
growth of fibrous roots and heavier stems. Do 
uut hasteu to plant them iu the gardeu. It is 
better to wait until the weather is warm and 
settled, and theu to thump them out of their 
pots into the prepared ground, with the balls ol 
earth intact. We suggest to all that they try 
trellises the same as if the tomato were a grape¬ 
vine, and tie them Up to it iu lieu of the usual 
stake-support which, by crowding the vines, 
retards the ripening process. 
The Bronze Rioinus beans may be planted 
in rich soil, where they are to grow, not, how¬ 
ever, until warm weather. This is a variety of 
the well-known Castor-oil plant—a cross be¬ 
tween Gibsonii and Saugnineus—bearing leaves 
of a metal-bronze hue. 
Hibiscus Moscueutos (Marsh Hibiscus), 
Callicarpa Americana (the French Mulberry), 
Hibiscus militaris (the Halberd Rose Mallow), 
Geranium sanguinemn (Blood Geranium), Yuc¬ 
ca fllamcntosa (Adam’s Needle-aud-thread), 
Villa heteruphylla (the variegated different- 
leaved Vine) and Rural Hybrid Aquilegia 
(Columbine), all of which are entirely hardy, 
may all he planted just, the same as a Balsam 
seed. Light, mellow soil should he selected, and 
the seeds covered according to their size. Several 
of the above-mentioned do not germinate in so 
short a time as Balsam Seed. We have known 
the Vitia, e. g., to require not less than three 
months. The Clmtci’s Hollyhocks may be 
similarly treated. Sown now they will not 
bloom until next year. They should receive, 
however, clean cultivation, and would be the 
stronger for a little light protection next winter, 
though quite hardy without. 
Weigel a, which is indeed the familiar name 
of this plant—Diervilla being the botauieal 
name—has seeds which can scarcely he seen 
with the unaided eye. For this reason the 
pods were crushed and no attempt made to 
separate the seed. Our friends will sow this 
powder the same as they would sow seeds of 
Portulaea. The young plants may be pricked 
out into two-inch pots when they have formed 
second leaves,.and_chaugfcd for larger pots as 
needed. Or they may be at once planted iu the 
open ground iu beds or where they are to re¬ 
main. A little shade aud moisture will alone 
be required. The seedlings grow vigorously 
and will bloom Die second year. Deutzia cre- 
nata fl. pi. (the double-flowering, crenate-leav- 
ed Deuiziaj may be treated in precisely the 
same way. 
Eryngium Leavenvvorthii (Leavenworth’s 
Eryugo) is au annual, the 6eeds of which 
sometimes germinate slowly. They should he 
started in a hot-bed now, as, planted iu the 
open a little later, they fail to develop their 
beautiful fall colors and singular flower heads. 
The above are all of the sorts first offered to 
our readers. At that time it was stated that 
some varieties would be discontinued and Olli¬ 
ers added as Die distribution, progressed. We 
have added Die following iu place of severul 
as the supply of them became exhausted: 
1’inos Edulis (the Edible Pine, referring to 
its sweet nuts). These seeds are as large as 
the seeds of peanuts and might,iu fact,be plant¬ 
ed Die same, it would be as well, however, 
to place these nuts in tliree-ineh pots about au 
inch deep and plunge iu the ground us soon as 
the rosette of needle-leaves appears. The sec¬ 
ond year they may be planted out permanent¬ 
ly; Amorpha fruticosa (Lead Plant, hardy), 
Ualycanthus lloridus (Sweet-Scented Shrub, 
hardy), Aristolochia Sipho (Dutchman’s Pipe, 
hardy), may all be treated Die tame as Yucca 
or Hibiscus. We have also, among our re¬ 
serve seeds, sent out a uew Lettuce, a new 
Japan Cockscomb (Celosia), the remarkable 
ornamental Beets described iu Die RURAL of 
last year, and several others, all of which are 
of such very simple cultivation us to ueed uo 
other reference from us. 
Hiuiple Method of Hlnrtiug Heeds. 
To those who have uot provided either hot¬ 
beds or cold-frames and who intend to plant 
our seeds either in sunny windows or iu the 
open ground, we offer the following effective 
uud excellent plan for forwarding them: Pro¬ 
vide pots from six to twelve inches in diame¬ 
ter—fill in with ample drainage and then with 
light, rich soil to within an inch of the rim. 
Plant the seeds and plunge these pots up to the 
rims iu the earth of the sunniest, warmest 
part of the garden. Cover them with bits ot 
glass and keep the soil always moist. As soon 
as the seeds break the earth,remove the glasses 
during the heat of the sun, replacing as soon 
as it loses its power iu the evening. This 
method is as good as auy cold-fnune and for 
small lots of seeds is, we think, to be preferred. 
The First Heed Distribution 
of 1879 is now about completed. Hundreds of 
letters have been received without names— 
without addresses—with illegible addresses. 
&c., &c. Of course,such of our friends will not 
receive the seeds. According to the best of our 
abilities we have liberally filled every applica¬ 
tion, and we are free to express our belief that 
the undertaking has been one of the most ex¬ 
tensive and costly ever attempted by auy simi¬ 
lar journal. According to our means aud 
ability so to do, we propose iu every way Dial 
presents itself to us,to continue our endeavors, 
to promote the iuteresls of agriculture aud 
horticulture—grateful to our friends that the) 
seem grateful to us, aud happy that we are at 
least striviug to aid iu a noble work. 
Aristolochia Hipho. 
In the way of hardy vines cultivated for their 
flowers chiefly, probably the Clematis stauds 
first. But for vines cultivated for their im¬ 
mense leaves, for their amplitude of foliage, as 
we may say, which utterly conceals whatever 
it is trained over, there is uo other more de¬ 
sirable than the Dutchman’s Pipe— Aristolochia 
Sipho. It is a strange thing that this vine tf 
