THE RURAL WEW-YORKER. 
a light crop. White Russian seems to do the 
best of any. Oats a light crop; the Welcome 
so far as tried, seems to yield well; but it 
smuts worse than other kinds. Potatoes half 
a crop on account of pool - season and rot. 
Dakota Red yielded most and rotted least. 
The White Elephant yielded about the same 
as the Late Rose, but rotted woi-se. The Ru¬ 
ral Corn did very well, nearly all ripened. I 
have not fairly tested the quality of the Car¬ 
ter’s Stratagem and Prince of Wales Pens; 
but think the latter a promising variety. 
w. T. M. 
Utah. 
Ashley, Uintah C'o., Dec. 14.— The John¬ 
son Grass came upiineiy and grew to the hight 
of five feet. We got a pint of seed, and if it 
stands the Winter we will sow the seed in the 
Spring. We got good returns from the Flag¬ 
eolet Beans, also from the peas. The tomatoes 
set well, but did not get ripe before the frost 
caught them. Most of the 50 varieties of coni 
were too late: but some got rii>e, and I expect 
to plant all next year. J. s. 
Wisconsin. 
Reeve, Langlade Co., Dec. 20.—The Rural 
Peas were splendid. I think the Prince of 
Wales the best. The Garden Treasures were 
fine; my wife and granddaughter obtained a 
great deal of pleasure from them. The corn 
is too large for this country. Some stalks were 
10 feet high when frost caught them. Some 
hail a few nubbins. B. F. L. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must lx> accompanied by the name 
and address of tho writer to Insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see If It is not answered fn 
our advertising columns. Ask only - a few questions at 
one lime.J __ 
PEA-FOWLS; PEKIN DUCKS; FRUITS FOR 
NEBRASKA. 
R. I. E., Worden , AW).—1. How often do 
pea-fowls hatch ? What are their habits' Are 
they easily raised? 3. Who has bronze turkeys 
for sale? 3. What sort of ducks arp the White 
Pekin aud whore did they originate? 4. What 
sort of tipples are best adapted to Northern 
Nebraska.' 5. Would pears and plums do well 
here? (5. What sort of plum is a blue and 
a white variety, the fruit of which grows in 
clusters along the limbs ' 
Ans.— 1. Pea-hens lay from 13 to 30 eggs 
and raise only one brood a year. In a domesti¬ 
cated state they agree well with all turkeys, 
but not always with other poultry. It is neces¬ 
sary to protect them from cold in ournort.hern 
Winters. Burley is the food commonly giveu 
to them, aud to this may be added millet, and 
other grains and leguminous vegetables. The 
females are apt to neglect their eggs and 
young, hence, in hatching, the services of a 
hen turkey are generally required. For young 
pea-fowls, the best, food consists of “ant-eggs,” 
barley-meal paste, mixed with sweet curd and 
hard-boiled eggs chopped fine. The young do 
not attain their full plumage until the third 
year. They are about as hard to raise as t ur¬ 
keys. to which they bear a strong resemblance 
in habits. 3. R. Vanderhoven, Rahway, N. J.f 
Jas. D. Casa, Beloit, Wis.; J. W. Janney, 
Waynesboro, Ohio.. 15. The Pekins are a 
Chinese breed of duck. They mature early, 
often laying when five months old. are white 
in color, with yellow hills and legs. They 
often attain a weight of ten pounds each. 
They will sometimes weigh five pounds when 
ten weeks old. They are easily kept, and re¬ 
quire no water except a trough or tub for 
bathing purposes. 4. Write to Prof. J. L. 
Budd for the Russian varieties which ho has. 
The Wealthy, Oldenburg and Tetofsky have 
been often recommended for that latitude, but 
last W inter destroyed nearly all. 5. The na¬ 
tive plums do best; in fact, there are no others 
that can be recommended for thut climate at. 
present. DeSoto, Forest, Garden, Kirke’sare 
the best of these. Archangel, Blood good uud 
Flemish Beauty are the only pears we would 
dare mention, and these we would not recom¬ 
mend. There are some of the Russian sorts 
that may do better, fi. The Damsons, both 
blue and yellow, grow as you mention. 
PRESERVING POSTS, ETC. 
J. D. F„ Salem, IF. 7’.—1. What can I apply 
to wood to render it more durable as fence 
posts, as the pine aud fir which we are corn- 
compelled to use will decay inubout two years? 
3. Can 1 make a good barbed wire fence with 
]x>sts 80 feet apart? Will the Mammoth Clover 
flourish on drier soils than the Medium Red? 
Anh.— 1. If the posts are cut and split, el¬ 
even peeled, and allowed to thoroughly season, 
much will be added to their durability. If, 
after they are seasoned, they are saturated 
with gas tar, their durability will be greatly 
increased. Where many are used, or where a 
neighborhood combines, it will pay to procure 
a vat or tank made of sheet iron, as large as 
desired aud deep enough to come up higher 
than the post would go in the ground; 
this tank should have a wide flange around the 
top, made on a slant upward, so that. the. tar 
will not ran over aud take fire. The tank is 
placed on an arch or temporary furnace, tho 
posts are stood in it. so as nearly to fill it; a few 
gallons of tar are added, and a slow fire is 
made. Enough tar should be used so that it 
will boil up and fill the tank and saturate the 
post for the whole length intended to go in the 
ground. 3. This distance will do well, except 
where it is desired to fence against hogs, in 
which case two strips, IK mid two inches, can 
be put between each pate of posts, and the 
st rands be Stapled to them. 3. The Mammoth 
Clover makes a stronger growth aud will do 
rather better on the drier soils, as its roots run 
somewhat deeper, 
COTTON-SEED MEAL. BONK DUST AND GUANO. 
.1. /<’., Gonzales, Tex. —What would be the 
comparative value of cotton-seed as against a 
compound of three parts of bone dust and one 
of guano? Our only available manures are 
Post. Oak ashes as gathered from the houses^ 
and the above. 
Ans. —One ton of cotton-seed would contain 
about 2*0 pounds of oil, which has very little 
manural value, being mostly carbon and hy¬ 
drogen. It also contains about 020 pounds of 
hulls, which arc composed mostly of vegetable 
filler, with about 40 pounds of ash,of which 20 
pounds are [xitash. and 00 pounds are phos¬ 
phoric acid. It also contains 800 pounds of 
meal, containing 50 pounds of nitrogen, 23 
pounds of phosphoric acid and 12 pounds of 
potash. The ton, then, contains 50 pounds of 
nitrogen, 113 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 
:$8 pounds of potash, anil is worth, at present 
prices, somewhat over #20. One ton of t.he 
mixture would contain 1,500 pounds of bone, 
with 375 pounds of phosphoric acid and 45 
pounds of nitrogen. The 500 pounds of guano 
would contain about 35 pounds of nitrogen, 75 
pounds of phosphoric acid and about 15 pounds 
of potash, so that a ton would contain 80 
pounds of nitrogen, 450 pounds of phosphoric 
acid, 15 pounds of potash, and lie worth #41. 
But the bone of the mixture would not be in a 
form to benefit the crop as quickly as the seed, 
and it would be deficient in potash. By com¬ 
paring tho n)>ove valuations with prices, a 
good idea of which to buy can be obtained. 
INSECT INJURING GRAPE-VINES. 
Subscriber (address mislaid) sends speci¬ 
mens of a viue in jured by an insect and asks 
what, it is. 
Ans. —The gum has exuded, much as it does 
from n cherry or peach tree that has been 
similarly injured, and rests as a large mass 
about the tunnel, concealing the perforation. 
In every ease the insect. 1ms disappeared, so we 
are unable to state what particular insect did 
the mischief. The tunnel is about the diame¬ 
ter of a common match, and extends at right 
angles to the surface, reaching to the pith, 
where it ends. The insect may be Sinoxylon 
basilare, Say,, a beetle which sometimes bores 
into grape-vines, as well as into apple and 
peach twigs. We do uot. think such small, 
short tunnels can be a very serious injury to 
the vines, though they might become so, if 
sufficiently numerous. In case it were practi¬ 
cal, the remedy would be to cut and burn the 
tw igs while the insect was at work; but we 
fear this will not be practicable. 
ABOUT PEA CULTURE. 
E. C. if., Wilmington, Yt .—1. What Is the 
best method of raising peas by the acre ? 2. 
Which are the best kinds? 3. Is it. necessary 
to sow some other grain with them to hold 
t hem up ? 
Ans. —1. Peas may be sown on grass sod 
turned down in the Fall or Spring and well 
fitted just before sowing, aud unless quite rich, 
it should have a liberal dressing of manure 
cultivated and harrowed into thy surface soil, 
or they may follow potatoes or corn the year 
before. Where chemical manures are used, 
phosphatic aud potash manures have tho 
greatest effect. They do best sown with a 
drill, aud from two-and-oue-half to four bush 
els per acre should be used, according to the 
kind and the richness of the soil. 3. The little 
Canadian Pea is much used for field culture 
so also is the Black-eyed Marrowfat, 3, Where 
the ground is smooth and rolled after sowing, 
there is no necessity of sow ing other grain to 
hold them up; but whore oats are sowu with 
them, and they are cut as soon as ripe and 
well cured, the fodder is worth as much as a 
crop of Timothy hay. Will our Canadian 
friends tell us how they raise [x»as? 
OTL-MKAL. 
M. IT. L., Salem, Mass. —1. Is there a differ 
once between cotton-seed meal aud the new 
process oil-meal the Rural so often mentions? 
2. If so, w T hich is the more desirable as a. food 
for milch cows? 
Ans. — 1. Yes, one is the residuum of the 
cotton-seed oil mills of the South, and contains 
a large per cent of free oil (often as much as 
17 per eent.); the other is the residuum of 
those mills making oil from flaxseed by a new 
process, in which instead of being extracted by 
pressure as in the old process, it is floated 
out with a solvent which is afterwards 
driven off by heat. This contains only about 
two to three per cent, of free oil. 2. We great¬ 
ly prefer the new-process for use where the 
milk is used for making butter, as so much oil 
as is contained in cotton-seed meal or even old- 
process oil meal is almost certain to give the 
butter a disagreeable, oily taste. Very many 
of the mills in the West now making linseed 
oil, use the new-process, so there should bo no 
t rouble in obtaining it. If you write to the 
Detroit Linseed Oil Works, they will tell you 
where it can lie hail and quote you prices. 
LIME. 
A. A. (address mislaid.)—!. Can the stone 
commonly used for hydraulic cement be so 
burned as to be used as quick lime for makiug 
mortar? 2. Can quick lime be used for any 
other purpose than for mason’s use? 
Ans.— 1. No, the stone from which hydraulic 
cement is made contains magnesia, oris what is 
called magnesia limestone, aud hardens quite 
rapidly when mixed. Ordinary quick lime is 
made from carbonate of lime. By bum ing, the 
carbonic acid is driven off, and by the addition 
of mnistu re it slakes or crumbles to dust. Mag¬ 
nesian limestone needs to l>o ground to reduce 
it to powder. 2. Yes, it is used for fertilizing 
aud various other purposes. 
Miscellaneous. 
J. R., Columbus , Ohio. —1. Where can I 
get good spring wheat for seed ? I wish to try 
it here on clay soil, as our winter wheat 
freezes out badly? 2. Will it do to plow in 
the Fall, just before freezing up, for oats and 
corn, the ground to be well pulverized in Spring 
by going over it three times with the Acme 
Harrow: 3. Is the little book ‘-Tillage is Ma¬ 
nure” published by Nash Bros, reliable? 4. 
Where can I get the best yielding oats and 
what is the price of the seed? 
Ans. —1. Of any large dealer in seeds. Prob¬ 
ably of Livington’s Sons at Columbus. Cer¬ 
tainly of Ferry & Co., Detroit, or of H. Sibley 
& Co., Chicago. We could not, advise as to 
the best kind for your locality, climate and 
soil. Tf they have not been raised in your 
neighborhoixl. t ry several in a small way. 2. 
Such fitting of the soil would be capital for oats; 
but we would always prefer spring plowing 
for com. 3. It. is a very good little lsx»k and 
will pay for a careful reading. Few of us 
understand the importance of thorough tillage 
both in fitting the soil before seeding and in 
tending the crop. We don’t quite believe 
that tillage can take the place of manure, 
though it will aid the soil to do its best for the 
fertility it contains. 4. Of the same parties 
that have the Spring wheat. The prices we 
could not give. The Welcome or White An 
trnlian is a good, heavy, early oat but not a 
large yielder. The American Triumph and 
White Russian are larger-growing and better 
yielders, but later. 
J. S. P., Brockporl , N. F,—1. Where can I 
get J. J. H. Gregory’s work on fertilizers? 
2. What other good works are there on the 
same subject? 
Ans. —l. Of Mr. Gregory, Marblehead, Mass, 
It is mentioned in his catalogue among a 
list of other works on agricultural matters. 
Harris's Talks on Manures, #1.75; Harlan's 
Farming with Green Manures, Johnson's How 
Crops Feed and How Crops Grow, #2 each, are 
good works on the subject. All can be got 
through the nearest lxx>k dealer or the Ameri 
can News Company, this city. 
//. C. R., Poteau , Ark. —My farm is on a 
river much giveu to overflow and with a rapid 
current; it is much damaged by washing; how 
can 1 protect the banks except by a levee, and 
that is expensive ? 
Ans. —With so rapid a current we doubt 
whether a levee would stand against the wash. 
We suggest the planting of a thick row of cot¬ 
ton wood or willows close along the bank; if 
if they once get root-bold nothing could move 
them. 
P. T. M. —What is the address of the Agri¬ 
cultural College, of Nebraska ? 
Ans. —Lincoln. Neb. 
E. K. T., Burlingame, Kans.— The specimen 
sent is a common intestinal tape-worm—Erhi- 
norgnehus gigas. 
,7. B. McO. —Dog powers for 
made by the Vermont Farm 
Bellows Falls, Vt. 
commends that the calf should be taken from 
the mother when only 12 hours old. All my 
experience contradicts his assertion that when 
the calf is taken from the mother when 12 
hours old it will learn to drink more readily 
than if allowed to remain with the mother un¬ 
til three days old. Since I was nine years of 
age, it has been ray work to wean the calves 
on l-ather a large stock farm, and I have wean¬ 
ed several hundreds. For the first few years I 
adopted his plan of teaching the calf to drink 
when 12 hours old ami had much trouble. I 
then became convinced that it was better to 
allow the calf to suck the mother until it was 
several days old, and since doing this I have 
not experienced one per cent, of the trouble in 
teaching the calf to drink, that I had before. 
D. P. H. says that if the calf be taught to drink 
when 12 hours old, there will be no sore teats 
and no bellowing by either cow or calf. As 
to the bellowing, his assertion is prirnafacie 
incorrect; anti if the matter is properly man¬ 
aged, the calf can be allowed to suck the mother 
for a week and yet there wall be no sore teats, 
and no more bellowing than if it is taken from 
the mother at 12 hours of age. My plan is this: 
As soon as the calf has filled its stomach, 
it is put in a stall or iuclosuro separated from 
that of the mother by a rail or board partition 
in which there are cracks. This allows the 
mother to see the calf and to nose and lick it 
when it comes up to the partition, and neither 
shows any uneasiness. Every six or eight 
hours the calf is turned in with the cow and al¬ 
lowed its till, when it is returned to its in¬ 
closure, and the mother's udder is drawn clear 
and the teats wiped dry. When this is done 
the teats do not become sore and the swelling 
of the udder is more rapidly reduced; for al¬ 
lowing her calf to stick puts the cow in a good 
humor and she will give down all her milk 
readily, permitting you to draw the udder 
cleaner than if the calf has not been allowed 
to suck. When the calf is four or five days old 
it has become strong and accustomed to 
its surroundings, aud if allowed to be¬ 
come quite thirsty it wiLl, in a great 
majority of eases, drink milk from a 
bucket without any hesitation and without 
your giving it your finger to suck. Never 
give the calf your finger if it can be avoided. 
If the calf refuses to drink, back it into a 
corner and while you hold it with your left 
hand, dip your right hand into the milk and 
insert the middle finger into the ealfs mouth. 
The calf will suck your finger, then lower your 
hand into the milk and the calf will suck it up 
by sucking your finger. As soon as it sucks 
nicely, withdraw your linger. This is rarely 
necessary when the calf is allowed to suck the 
cow until it is a week old, and nearly always 
necessary when the calf is only a day old. 
When the calf has learned to drink, separate 
it altogether from the cow. Instead of their 
bawling more, they will bawl less than if the 
calf is taken from the cow when only 13 hours 
old; for the mot tier's solicitude for the calf 
and the ealfs attachment to the cow weaken 
with time. Many a cow that is •'almost dis¬ 
tracted" if separated from the calf when it is 
only a day okl, will go off and apparently 
uever think of it if the calf is a week old; and 
the concern of tho calf diminishes as rapidly 
with time. 
BLACKBERRIES. 
A., Ocean County, New Jersey.—In a 
late Rural you give a very full list of 20 
sorts or more, I believe, with the opinions of 
many cultivators of them, from different 
parts of the country. This is highly useful in¬ 
formation to your readers, and after this they 
can more understandingly select such sorts as 
may prove best for each [articular soil and 
climate- l have tried various kinds for years 
past on a light, gravelly soil, but none prove 
nearly equal to the Kitraliuny, This is a vigor¬ 
ous grower with me. hardy and an abundant 
bearer of the largest sized berries, and tf allow¬ 
ed to perfectly ripen before being picked, they 
are sweet aud luscious. But in this stage they 
are a litt le too soft for shipping any distance, so 
that those buying them iu the market cannot 
judge as to their real goodness, for they have 
to be picked a few days before fully ripened, in 
order to bear transportation well. But this is 
the case with all sorts of berries, plums, 
peaches and most other kinds of fruits. 
churning are 
Machine Co., 
DISCUSSION. 
WEANING CALVES. 
J. M. S., Quincy, III.—Iu the Farmer's 
Club, page 859, D. H. P. , Auburn, N. Y., re- 
CoMnrNieA.no.vs Received for the Week Ending 
Saturday, January 2 . 1885 . 
W. H. L.—R. P. McA.-G. W.W.—C. E. L.-L. J. T.— 
G. C. W„ thanks. W. J. B.-J.T.. thanks.-W. D. S.— 
W. J. P.—J. B.^r. M. S.-C. w. G.-F. W. W.-H. H. C. 
C. F.. P.. many thanks.—J. F. B., thanks.—J. E. G.—P. 
H. S.—M. A. G.-W. W. T.-J. T.-W. B. N.—1. R. M.— 
N. l>.—S. J. S.—A. L. C.. thanks. -T. D. C,—T. B.-J. D. 
tl. E. A. S.—S. S. B. \V. S. P.—M. G.—I. M.-T. W.—A. 
.). C.-J. B.-A. C. M.-D. J. McM.-D. J. B.-M. A. E.— 
C.M.—C. B. H. T. n. S.—E. J. B.. too late. -Clare.— 
W. S.—T. B. T.—W. J. -A. M.-H. T. P. J. C. S.—G. C. 
C. K. MoM.-L. R.-W. P.-A. C, C.-L. C,—J. L. B.- 
W. C. W.-H. Z. R.-E. W. B.-J. J. T.-A. M. T.-G. 
W. H.—J. T. K.-W. A. .I.-C. B. H.—A. J. C.—G. C. W. 
-F. D. C.-W. L C.-F. W. W.—L. J. T.-J. M. S.-J. T.— 
J. T.-F. S.-W. J. B.-C. IV. G—B. F. J—W. W. T.-T. 
B.-F. G.-C. C—A. 0. G.-W. E. D.-L. H. R.—G. C. C.- 
S. F.-N. D.—P. H. S.-H. S.-W. F. H.— A. F.—W. O.— 
G. W. H 
