738 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 24 
hull on it is not seed, or if it is, it is not the seed 
to plant to make money from, or grow a maximum 
crop. I would like to ask Mr. G. how many 
of those people that buy from “showy pic¬ 
tures and forcible stories only” are growing 
maximum crops. I know farmers who do this 
ana are always lamenting over their bad luck, and 
say to the old “fogies” like myself, who pass a 
thousand hills of tomatoes to find one “that looks 
like a pile of bricks,” that fellow is lucky; better 
spell it with a p before it. Where do all our new and 
improved varieties of vegetables come from? Do they 
come from the brains of these men, who lie awake 
nights trying to conjure up something to sell the “old 
farmer”? Not by a long way. Some of our best va¬ 
rieties of tomatoes originated on the farms of just 
such men as M. G. mentions, for example, the Sparks 
Earliana. He says that variety is “far and away ahead 
of all the early varieties to-day.” To that I say 
amen. But my point is on saving the seed, so stick 
to your text. M. G. admits that that hill of toma¬ 
toes was early, was reasonably vigorous, the fruit 
nearly all ripened at same time. Now what on earth 
is there exasperating about that? As I see it, that 
lull of fruit had three of the essential qualifications 
necessary to be there before any practical man would 
attempt to save seed. Should M. G. wish to raise 
purebred poultry or cattle, or fancy horses, trotters 
for instance, would he begin by selecting the first 
pair he came across, or would he look around for 
such types of hen, cow or horse as good judgment dic¬ 
tated was necessary? Why, any sane man can an¬ 
swer that question. He would no more think of try¬ 
ing to raise trotting horses from his farm animaL 
than he would try to fly. 
Is it not just as important with vegetable breeding 
as with animals? Of course it is. That being the 
case, then why not do what these old fogies are doing 
and more; keep right at it from year to year, select¬ 
ing from what is nearest your ideal of whatever plant 
you are breeding, securing seed only from those plants 
that show constitutional vigor? By so doing you wid 
breed up to a higher standard, and so far away from 
the original in time, that you may have something 
to sell without lying awake nights trying to conjure 
it up, and when anyone buys it it will be worth 100 
cents to the dollar. I write this because I feel that 
if others interpret M. G. as I do, his article will do 
more harm than good. I say don’t buy seeds 
from glowing pictures and forceful stories. 
New Jersey. c. c. inTLSAirr. 
HQ]N TO HANDLE CURRANT CUHINOS. 
Is it too late in the season to cut off the new growth of 
currant bushes? If not, how much shall I cut them? Can 
they now be buried for cuttings? H. t. s. 
Jay, N. Y. 
Any time in the month of October will do to 
cut back the new wood of this year’s growth from the 
currant bushes. It is best to remove about two- 
Ihirds of this season’s wood. This is the best month 
to do this work, provided you wish to propagate from 
the cuttings; however, you can cut back any time 
from now until March 1. Make the cuttings four to 
nine inches in length, and insert them in well-en¬ 
riched soil straight down at once. It is best to plant 
them in double rows 10 inches apart. Have the cut¬ 
tings five inches apart in the rows and the doubie 
rows three feet apart, to allow cultivation by horse. 
Set deep enough so that the cuttings will be even with 
the grade surface of the ground; then cover over with 
two inches of horse manure and let it remain on the 
plants until cultivation begins in the Spring, then in¬ 
corporate it in the soil wdth cultivator and hoe. When 
tieated in this way the callusing process takes place 
during the Winter and often small roots are formed. 
These have a decided advantage over cuttings that 
are buried aw^ay in Winter and planted in the Spring. 
_ T. j. o, 
MORE ABOUT WOOLLY APHIS. 
The R. N.-Y. (page 660) contains a reply suggesting 
the easy simplicity of eradicating Woolly aphis by 
spraying or painting with whale-oil soap or kerosene and 
water. I should like further information. Does the 
Woolly aphis form worms that eat out patches of the 
inner bark among the branches of apple trees, leaving 
the outer bark to dry up and turn dark afterwards? 
Does this aphis form lice that collect about the roots 
of apple trees? If your expert answers yes to either of 
the foregoing, will he explain their transitions and 
habits at each season of the year, and how far his answer 
on page 660 conveys serviceable information? 1 think 
I.odeman or Bailey refers to their transition into lice 
about the roots, and 1 have myself found about Augu.st 
what seem like Woolly aphis under the outer bark. 
Boston, Mass. a. f. m. 
No, the Woolly aphis does not form worms that 
kill the outer bark on trees. There is a root form 
which works on the roots below ground, forming gall¬ 
like enlargements on the roots. The life history of 
the Woolly aphis is not yet fully understood. It is 
evidently quite complicated. It is believed that true 
sexed forms are developed in the Autumn, which lay 
Winter eggs in the bark, from which, in the Spring, 
there hatches a female aphid which originates a new 
colony in the branches. In warmer regions some of 
the lice survive the Winter and start the new colonies 
in the Spring. The root form survives the Winter as 
young lice or nymphs, and it seems probable that 
there is a regular upward migration in Spring and 
early Summer from the roots, the aerial colonies ap¬ 
pearing first near the crown and at a later period on 
the higher parts of the trees. At any time during the 
Summer and Fall there may be migrations to the 
roots and throughout the year the subterranean col¬ 
onies are maintained. The lice are spread by wingej 
forms developed in Autumn, also by wingless forms 
getting on to the feet of birds and large insects, and 
a very wide distribution is accomplished by the 
commerce in nursery stock. My answer on page 660 
refers only to the branch or aerial form of the Woolly 
aphis, and I know it is serviceable for this form from 
practical experience. For the root form, tobacco dust 
dug into the soil around the tree in liberal quantities 
has given good results. I would not accept nursery 
trees showing any of the nodules or enlargements in 
roots peculiar to the work of this pest. 
M. V. SLIXGERLAND. 
SMALL ROLLERS; TILLAGE AND 
EVAPORATION. 
Suppose a man had two rollers, each weighinj? l,00f) 
pounds, one live feet and the other three feet in diameter, 
would there be any difference in their crushing capacity, 
and if so, w-hy? Suppose you have two pans two feet 
square and six inches deep lilled with wet sand, apply¬ 
ing the same amount of heat, either above or below, 
stirring one three incH's deep, which would dry out 
the quicker? p. h. f. 
Rloomsburg, Pa. 
Three reasons may be given why a roller with a 
diameter of three feet would have a greater crush¬ 
ing capacity: (1) Owing to the smaller diameter, the 
roller would press on a smaller area of soil at any 
UNDER SILO IN AUSTRALIA. Fig. 276. See Page 750. 
given moment of time; (2) the roller would come in 
contact with the clods in a relatively more hori¬ 
zontal manner if smaller, and consequently would 
crush the clods more easily; (3) a small roller will 
pull harder, because such a roller in effect is going 
u]j a steeper grade. If the roller pulls harder, the 
resistance against the roller must be greater and con¬ 
sequently the crushing capacity greater. 
There can be no question but that the three inches 
of stirred sand will dry out more quickly than the 
three inches which are not stirred, because a larger 
area of moist sand is brought in contact with the 
air, and the moister particles of sand are being con¬ 
stantly brought to the surface. In all probabilities 
the pan of sand which is stirred three inches deep 
will dry out first, because the capillary power of the 
sand is very small. In case of the soil, however, we 
may have somewhat different conditions. The writer 
once placed two cans of soil six inches in diameter 
and one foot deep in the sunlight in a room and 
stirred the surface of one one inch deep and left the 
other unstirred. In this way he prevented the 
evaporation of moisture from the can one inch deep 
equal in amount to one-quarter of an inch of rain¬ 
fall during the week. In this case the inch of dry 
soil had acted as a mulch and decreased evaporation 
from the moist soil underneath, while in the un¬ 
stirred soil capillary action brought the moisture im¬ 
mediately to the surface. It can readily be seen, 
therefore, that whether evaporation from the surface 
of the soil is to be decreased by tillage will depend 
upon climatic conditions. If the rainfall is frequent, 
so as to keep the surface of the soil constantly moist, 
surface tillage may increase instead of decrease the 
evaporation, while during a period of drought surface 
tillage may decrease evaporation. The writer carried 
on experiments during two years to determine what 
would happen under ordinary conditions of rainfall, 
and his results indicated that during those seasons 
there was no material difference in soils which were 
stirred and others which were not stirred. It was 
found, however, that a mulch of cut straw was very 
much more effective in preventing evaporation than 
was surface tillage, and that the growing of plants 
upon the soil very greatly Increased the amount of 
moisture evaporated therefrom; consequently, that if 
a lack of tillage means a growth of weeds, a very ma¬ 
terial increase in the amount of evaporation of moist¬ 
ure from the soil will result. thos. f. huxt. 
A NOVEL POWER WINDMILL. 
1 send you a picture of a power windmill, see Fig 275, 
that was built to order for us in 1884 and did the 
pumping water for over 200 head of horses and cattle 
for 14 years; also was used for grinding feed, etc. 11 
was seven or eight horse power, 12 feet high and 12 
feet in diameter. It would run in a lighter wind than 
any other mill, and when wide open in a heavy wind 
would only make 36 revolutions to the minute. The 
outside of mill was solid, deflecting boards allowing 
the wind to enter only on one side. The inner wheel 
consisted of 12 2xl2-foot upright cups; these 
were held open in the wind by springs and was the 
most sensitive and complete governing device I ever 
saw on a mill. This mill in heavy use for 14 years 
cost us nothing for repairs, the only expense being 
for oil. The only objection that could be raised 
against this mill was the expense, the lumber in it 
costing over $100; but when I go through the country 
and see many of the larger modern power mills either 
wrecked or out of repair and compare my own ex¬ 
perience with a new 14-foot wheel, I believe our old 
power mill was not at all dear. Unfortunately we lost 
the old power mill in a fire which destroyed our barns 
in 1898. E. s. A. 
Scipio, N. Y. __ 
BRIEF FERTILIZER TALKS. 
Clover vs. “ Mixed Grasses." 
Wlierc hay is sold from the farm, no stock being kept, 
will clover yield as much revenue per acre, fertilized with 
rock and muriate, as can bo obtained when mixed grasse.s 
and clover ai-e sown, fertilized with nitrate, rock and 
muriate? Since we have been using bone, rock and mur¬ 
iate freely, clover has increased rapidly in our tields, and 
one in particular has at least one-half clover. Now the 
Witch gra.ss. Timothy and Red-top comprising the other 
half, need the nitrate, of course, but how shall we top- 
dress such a field? E. C. c. 
Sandy Creek, Me. 
This question must be settled by experience. It 
would do little good to theorize about it. We would 
like to have our readers discuss it. Near our own 
farm Timothy and Red-top hay will sell for about 
25 per cent more than clover, though the latter has 
a higher feeding value. You can hardly expect to 
keep up the clover field without plowing and re¬ 
seeding it at least once in three years. When well 
seeded down the Timothy and Red-top can be cut foi' 
five years or more, if well fertilized, and on a hay 
farm it is an advantage not to plow too much. With 
our prices for hay we would seed Timothy and Red- 
top, and use nitrogen. It is not considered good prac¬ 
tice to raise pure clover hay for sale unless you have 
a special trade for hay. If we had a field of half 
Timothy we should fertilize it as though there was no 
clover in it. 
Cow Peas Thai Catch Nitrogen. 
1 observed in plowing under a crop of cow peas a few 
days ago, that the peas growing in the dead furrows and 
very thin patches wliere there was not much plant food 
were much better supplied with nitrogen than those 
which grew' in richer soil. The tops were much smaller, 
but the nitrogen nodules were more abundant and much 
larger. Is this the experience of others who have grown 
COW' peas? If so, is it because where there it not much 
plant food in the soil they are more dependent on the 
atmosphere? c. c. c. 
Buckhannon, W. Va. 
What you state has been observed by many farmers. 
Scientific experiments seem to have proved that the 
cow-pea plant is not unlike the average human being 
in its willingness to work. Surround a boy wdth all 
he needs so that his desires are quickly gratified, 
