86 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
February 10 
Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the -writer to insure atten¬ 
tion. Before asking a question, please see 
whether it is not answered in our advertising 
columns. Ask only a few questions at one time. 
Put questions on a separate piece of paper ] 
Manure for Potatoes. 
J. L. M., Elton, Pa.—I moved on my farm 
too late to do Fall plowing, and my land 
is not in good condition. I would like to 
get the best results from the manure and 
fertilizer. Would I better spread the ma¬ 
nure this Winter, and plow under in the 
Spring, or will it be better to put it in the 
hills for potatoes? The soil is of a sandy 
nature. 
Ans. —We would always broadcast 
manure for potatoes. In growing early 
sweet corn on cold ground, It is some¬ 
times advisable to put a little horse 
manure in each hill. For other crops 
we would broadcast the manure. 
Powdered Phosphate of Lime. 
F. H. K., Ro8chlll, N. O.—I saw powdered 
phosphate of lime recommended as a top¬ 
dressing for strawberries, in connection 
with nitrate of soda. Give me your opinion 
in regard to such a fertilizer, and what is 
meant by powdered phosphate of lime? Is 
it slaked, or raw rock ground? 
Ans. —We do not know what is meant 
by “powdered phosphate of lime,” but 
we suppose the raw ground phosphate 
rock, or “floats,” is referred to. This is 
mentioned in articles by men who claim 
that the soda in nitrate of soda will 
take the place of potash in feeding 
plants. This is a mistake, and those 
who follow such advice on ordinary soil 
will surely oe disappointed. 
Rust on Celery. 
T). li. TT., TAmc Kiln. Pa.— What will prevent 
rust in celery? 
Ans. —The rough discoloration on cel¬ 
ery stalks, usually called rust, is a con¬ 
dition accompanying defective root ac¬ 
tion. Tt is worse in extremely dry sea¬ 
sons, and also when there has been an 
excessive amount of warm rain. The 
feeding rootlets are weakened in both 
extremes of weather and a number of 
rusty leaf stalks are quite certain to be 
found later. Tt is much less likely to 
occur in fresh soils than those in which 
celery has been grown for a number of 
seasons. We know of no special rem¬ 
edy except free and careful cultivation, 
which aerates the soil and keeps the 
roots in the best possible condition that 
climatic conditions admit. The true 
Celery rust, a bacterial disease of the 
leaves, caused by two or three closely 
related microbes, has not yet appeared 
in this country, though we have several 
forms of leaf blight. No reliable treat¬ 
ment has been developed as yet for these 
diseases. Good cultivation generally 
wins in the end. 
Learning the Conner's Trade. 
8. ft., Vlnemont, Pa.— I have thought of 
starting a canning factory. Where can T 
And out all about the canning business*’ 
Is there a paper or book printed about it? 
What would it cost to start a canning fac¬ 
tory in which I could can 100 bushels of 
apples a day, and is there a ready market 
for all kinds of canned fruit? 
There is no place where you can learn 
all about the canning business. There 
is no book written whibh tells all about 
it, and there is no man who would be 
willing, if he could, to tell you all about 
the business. The canning business is 
one of those trades, the secrets of which 
are somewhat closely guarded, and any 
man who has the practical information 
can usually secure a good salary in re¬ 
turn for his skill and management. Any 
man who contemplates starting a can¬ 
ning factory would do well to employ 
some skilled man, who has had a prac¬ 
tical experience with some successful 
canning establishment. It is poor econ¬ 
omy to depend entirely upon book in¬ 
formation when it comes to purchasing 
expensive apparatus and constructing 
buildings for a special industry. 
The best book on the subject of which 
we have any knowledge is entitled The 
Secrets of Canning, a Complete Exposi¬ 
tion of the Theory and Art of the Can¬ 
ning Industry, by Ernest F. Schwab, 
John Murphy & Co., Baltimore, publish¬ 
ers. We do not know whether this book 
is now in print. If it can be secured it 
will give the information desired as fully 
as it can be given in a book. l. a. c. 
Best Temperature for Greenhouse Water. 
O. 8., Factoryville, Pa .—In growing cab¬ 
bage and tomato plants In a greenhouse, 
at what temperature should the water be, 
used In watering them, to make them 
healthy and vigorous? 
Ans. —Recent experiments have shown 
that water of a rather low temperature 
is acceptable to most hardy and half- 
hardy plants (R. N. Y., page 22), but 
probably the safest way is to apply it 
to cabbage and tomato plants at about 
the same temperature as the air they 
are growing in. Pepper and egg plants, 
however, like considerable warmth at 
all stages of their growth, and if it is 
convenient to use water at 75 to 80 de¬ 
grees there may be some real advantage 
in doing so. 
List of Fruits for Tennessee. 
E., Johnson Citp, Trnn.— Will you state the 
best list of small fruits for a home grower 
—red and black raspberries, strawberries 
(early, medium, late). Currants, goose¬ 
berries, plums, peaches, dwarf pears and 
cherries? If planting but one each, apple 
and pear, what variety would you choose? 
My lot is 100x150 feet. What is the best 
variety of asparagus, and when is the best 
time to set out a bed? 
Ans. —The “best” varieties are so 
much a matter of locality and personal 
taste that exceptions can be taken to 
any list that can be made up. For the 
latitude of Tennessee the following vari¬ 
eties should prove satisfactory for home 
use: Strawberries: Michel’s Early, 
early, Wm. Belt, mid-season, and Gandy, 
late. Red raspberries: Cuthbert, Lou¬ 
don; black raspberries; Kansas, Souhe- 
gan; currants: Red Dutch, white grape; 
gooseberries: Houghton, Triumph; 
plums, Wild Goose, Abundance; cher¬ 
ries, Early Richmond, May Duke, Large 
Montmorency. Pears (dwarf): Angou- 
Ifme, Bartlett, Anjou. If restricted to 
one apple and pear, we should choose a 
Jonathan apple and an Angoul6me pear. 
The Palmetto seems to resist the 
dreaded Asparagus rust better than any 
other variety, and is equal to the best 
in other respects. Plant as early as the 
ground can be worked in Spring. 
Broadcasting Potash in Winter. 
E. A. TT., Windham, TT. 7.— I have about 20 
acres of corn stubble and Crimson clover, 
that I Intend for potatoes the coming sea¬ 
son. T can only spare about eight loads 
(Kemp large spreader) per acre, of sheep 
and well-rotted cattle manure, which I am 
about to spread. I had thought of drilling 
about 100 pounds per acre actual potash in 
form of sulphate. Would I better broad¬ 
cast this, or a part of it, now, with the 
manure, so that the clover will benefit by 
it, and would muriate be as desirable as the 
sulphate? 
Ans. —If the field is fairly level, so 
that there will not be a great wash over 
it, we should not hesitate to broadcast 
the potash at almost any time during the 
Winter. We have already done this 
very thing with two fields, applying dis¬ 
solved rock and potash While the manure 
is being spread. On a hillside where 
the ground is well covered with snow, we 
would not use the potash in this way, as 
a good share of it would be washed either 
out of the field or taken away from parts 
of It. You speak of "actual potash.” 
You must remember that to apply 100 
pounds of actual potash you will have 
to use 200 pounds of either muriate or 
sulphate, as these forms contain 50 per 
cent by weight of actual potash. Sul¬ 
phate of potash is supposed to give a 
better quality to such crops as potatoes, 
strawberries, beets and other crops con¬ 
taining large proportions of sugar or 
starch. The objection to the muriate is 
that it contains a large amount of salt, 
which has an injurious effect on starch 
production. Tt is thought, though, that 
where the muriate is applied in the Fall 
or Winter the salt is washed out of it, 
so that there is practically little injuri¬ 
ous effect. 
Lime or Wood Ashes. 
E. L. 8., North Truro, Mass.—It stone lime 
costs $1.40 per cask (barrel), and a good 
sample of wood ashes costs $11 per ton, 
both freight paid, will some one figure the 
relative cost of lime In ashes—deducting 
value of potash and phosphoric acid? 
Ans.—W e assume that the barrel of 
lime weighs 250 pounds, and that the 
lime is 95 per cent pure, or 238 pounds. 
The lime on this basis costs .18 of a cent 
per pound. Average wood ashes con¬ 
tain five per cent of potash, 1^ per cent 
of phosphoric acid, and about 36 per 
cent of lime. Giving these their trade 
values we have: 
100 pounds potash at 4%. $4.50 
30 pounds phosphoric acid at 5. 1.50 
720 pounds lime at .58. 4.17 
Total .$10.17 
Or you may figure another way, and 
say that the potash and phosphoric acid 
in the ashes are worth so that the 
720 pounds of lime cost $5, or .69 cent 
per pound. So far as actual plant food 
goes, 200 pounds of acid phosphate, 250 
of muriate of potash, and 800 pounds of 
quicklime will give you about the same 
amount of plant food that you will find 
in a ton of wood ashes. The price men¬ 
tioned for the lime is too high. It is an 
easier job to handle and spread the 
ashes than to use the lime. 
Reducing Carcasses on the Farm. 
E. A. II., Hinsdale, N. 7.— Can you give a 
practical way for a farmer to reduce the 
carcasses of horses and cattle to a fertil¬ 
izer, either in the shape of phosphate, or 
any other way? 
Ans. —In order to make the best use 
of such carcasses, one must have ma¬ 
chinery for crushing, grinding and dry¬ 
ing, which is not possible on the farm. 
In the fertilizer factories such car¬ 
casses are boiled to extract the grease. 
The settlings from this boiling are dried 
and ground as tankage. The lean meat is 
also dried and ground up fine. The bones 
are steamed under powerful pressure, and 
then crushed and ground. If the farmer 
have a large boiler he can cut up the 
carcass and boil the meat away from 
the bones. The meat, if sweet, is worth 
more for hog or chicken feed than for 
fertilizer. To prepare the bones proper¬ 
ly, you will need a steamer and a bone 
mill. The steamer is an iron tank, into 
which the steam :3 forced from a boiler. 
We do not advise a farmer to attempt to 
use sulphuric acid, or to pack the bones 
in ashes. If these fixtures cannot be ob¬ 
tained, it will probably pay best to cut 
up the carcass with an ax ana bury the 
pieces in the manure pile. The bones 
may be burned by mixing them with 
wood, although this will lose all the 
nitrogen. _ 
If you are a farmer or want to be one, 
send for the “Westebn Trail.” Published 
quarterly. Full of pointers as to settling 
in Kansas, Oklahoma and Indian Terri¬ 
tory. Handsomely embellished and con¬ 
cisely written. Mailed free. 
Address by postal card or letter. 
John Sebastlan, G.P.A., (Chicago.— Adm. 
Newton’s Heave, Cough, 
Distemper and Indiges¬ 
tion Cure, Wind, Throat 
and Stomach Troubles. 
Send for dealers and 
users’ letters. $1 per can. 
Express allowed. 
Newton Horse Remedy Co., (V.), Toledo, O. 
Eureka Harness OH is the best 
preservative of new leather 
and the beet renovator of old 
leather. It oils, softens, black¬ 
ens and protects. Use 
Eureka 
Harness 
on your best harness, your old har¬ 
ness, and your carriage top, and they 
will not only look better but wear 
longer. Sold everywhere in cans—aU 
Sizes from half pints to five gallons. 
Usd* by STANDARD OIL CO. 
_ .Before Buying a New 
Harness 
8end 5 cts. in stamps to pay postage on descriptive cab, 
alogue 100 styles of single and double oak-ta nnen 
Leather Harness to select from. Sold direct to the 
consumer at wholesale price. We can save you raoneJJ 
KING HARNESS COMPANY. Mfrs. 
212 Church St., Owego, N. Y. 
Largest manufacturers of 
Steel Wagon Wheels and 
Handy Truck Wagons in 
America. Guaranteed su¬ 
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WRITS us 
Meta I Wheel Go. 
HAVANA. ILLINOI8 i 
Farm Wagon Economy. 
The economy of this proposition is not all found 
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throughout—white hickory axles, steel wheels 
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any width of tire up to 8 inches. 
With an extra set of these wheels 
a farmer can interchange them 
with his regular wheels and have 
a high or low-down wagon at 
will. Write for catalogue of the 
full “Electric Line” to Electric 
Wheel Co., Box 88, Quincy, Ill. □ 
STEEL WHEELS and HANDY WAGONS 
of every stylo and price are made In our 
mammoth factory and sold direct to farmers. 
We supply all trucks used by U. S. Govt. 
Farmer’s Handy Waqon Co.. Sacinaw. Mich. 
YES, 
THE 
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ANU 
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Won a Silver Medal at the 
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For prices and other information address The 
“Maud S” Windmill and Bump Co,, Builders’ 
Exchange, 18 to 42 So. 7th St., Philadelphia, Pa.; 
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No. 3054 Buggy. Price |38.30 
with leather quarter top. 
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We Sell Vehicles 
AND HARNESS AT LESS THAN 
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