1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
123 
AN EXPERIENCE WITH SKUNKS. 
I would like to ask you one question: Why do you 
say, "Don’t,” when anyone mentions skunk-breeding? 
I have had not a little experience with skunks, and 
think that in the hands of the right person skunk¬ 
breeding might be made very profitable. In the Fall 
of 1896 I caught a very black skunk, a female, in a 
weak-springed rat-trap. A little later I caught a 
male. I kept them in an old granary, and they be¬ 
came very tame. May 12, 1897, when walking through 
a little wood, I found a female skunk with consid¬ 
erable white on her. I took my boot lace, made a 
snare of it, and put it on a pole; after considerable 
maneuvering, I managed to slip it over the skunk’s 
head, and so caught her without frightening her 
much. When she found that I did not wish to hurt 
her she allowed me to carry her home. Two days 
later, when I went to look at her, I found five little 
skunks with her—they looked like young rats, and 
had broad white stripes down their backs. Two days 
later the first skunk I caught—the black one—which 
I had kept all Winter, had six little ones, four of 
them black like their mother, the other two had broad 
white stripes down their backs. The mother was very 
tame, and allowed me to take the little ones in my 
hands whenever I chose, provided I moved carefully 
and did not frighten her by quick movements. As 
four of these little skunks were black, like the female 
parent, and two white like the male, I think they 
might, in a few generations, be bred all black, which 
would add greatly to the value of their skins. Black 
skunks are somewhat rare. A weasel killed the 11 
little skunks when they were four weeks old, and the 
old ones escaped through a broken window when I 
\,as absent from home. 
A neighbor of mine caught a very young skunk; he 
kept it in the house cellar all Winter, and frequently 
carried it upstairs, where it would play about the 
house like a young kitten. There was no odor from it 
whatever. It died the next Summer, I think from 
being overfed during the Winter, for they are hiber¬ 
nating animals. If the scent glands could be removed 
from young skunks, and I think it quite possible, 
skunk breeding might be made very profitable. Dur¬ 
ing the time I had them I learned a great deal about 
the habits of skunks; they are gentle, easily kept, 
and certainly make novel pets. a. a. e. 
Quebec, Can. 
R. N-Y.-We are glad to obtain these facts. Not a 
week passes without bringing us several letters from 
people who wish to start skunk farms. We have fol¬ 
lowed up these so-called farms, only to find either a 
half-dozen skunks or a not very fragrant memory. 
The skunk does not seem to thrive when herded in 
large numbers. In several cases a contagious disease 
broke out, which just about ended the skunks. We 
have no doubt that a few skunks may be kept, as our 
friend relates, but disease and four-footed enemies 
will, in our opinion, prevent the success of any at¬ 
tempt to keep them on a large scale. 
LIFE OF THE BEAN WEEVIL. 
Under the head An Insect That Knows Beans, in 
your issue of January 20, M. V. Slingerland gives a 
very full account of the Bean weevil. I would like 
to inquire whether there is more than one variety of 
the insect known in this vicinity. Several years since 
I did some experimenting with the Bean weevil, and 
found that it would breed in dry beans if kept con¬ 
fined. My conclusion was questioned at the Massa¬ 
chusetts Experiment Station. It was there claimed 
that their experiments had never produced such re¬ 
sults, and that the weevil which I had experimented 
with was probably some variety of a grain weevil. 
But I was not satisfied. It was certain that my 
weevils multiplied in dry beans when kept confined, 
and equally certain that they did not multiply in 
dry beans unless they were confined. I inferred that 
beans planted late so no pods would form on them 
until the old beetles had ceased their work in Spring, 
might escape the weevil, and such I have found to be 
the case. I have had beans growing side by side in 
the garden, when the early planted would be badly 
infested, while the late were free from the weevil. 
Since then I have planted such beans as I intend for 
use dry, late in the season. I have to use an early 
ripening variety to insure maturity before frost. 
Yellow Eye I plant as late as June 15 to 25. I do 
not think I get so large a crop as an earlier planting 
would give, but the crop escapes the weevil. 
One would infer from reading Prof. Slingerland’s 
article that beans stored dry after harvesting are in 
danger of attack by weevil, but I have never known 
such trouble. If, however, the beans are kept in 
closed barrels or bags, so the beetles (if any are 
present) cannot escape when they emerge in Spring 
(or earlier if they are kept where it is warm), they 
will attack the dry beans and destroy them rapidly. 
I speak of the weevils with which I experimented. 
Prof. Slingerland may have a different variety. 
M. MORSE. 
R. N.-Y.—Prof. Slingerland makes the following 
comment:—M. M.’s experience with the Bean weevil 
is entirely in accordance with the known habits of 
the insect, and his experiments in planting beans late 
to escape the weevil are new to me. So far as I know 
this is the first feasible plan which has been sug¬ 
gested for circumventing the pest in the field. There is 
but one common Bean weevil in the northern United 
States, so that M. M.’s weevils were of the same kind 
as those discussed by the writer. It has not been 
known for many years that the Bean weevils did con¬ 
tinue to breed in stored seeds. I presume M. M. is 
right in his claim that they breed more freely in seeds 
kept confined in barrels, etc. M. M.’s letter is a valu¬ 
able contribution to our knowledge of this pest. 
A MONTANA ROOT-GRAFTED TREE. 
Mr. H. C. B. Colvill, of Missoula, Mont., sends us the 
photograph pictured at Fig. 40, and says that he 
would like to have pomologists say what they think 
of it. His process is given as follows: 
A seedling root was taken and a piece-root graft 
made in the ordinary way. It was taken up when 
one year old, and planted to the top bud. The roots 
at this time were trimmed to a stub by the String- 
fellow process. An ordinary post hole was dug, and 
the earth was tamped closely around the trunk with 
a heavy wooden tamp, as used for setting posts. The 
tree started its upward growth from the top bud, at 
the same time the trimmed seedling root started a 
A MONTANA ROOT-GRAFTED TREE. Flo. 40. 
Below a seedling root, from a to b, graft. Between b and C, orig¬ 
inal trunk of yearling, c and d, first year’s growth, 
above d, growth of second year. 
fresh growth downward, and every bud on the trunk 
of the yearling sent out a root, the strongest at the 
bottom. The original graft sent out no roots at any 
time. Two-year-olds planted in the same way died. 
About 24 trees planted oy the ordinary Stringfellow 
process made a very poor growth compared with trees 
planted in the ordinary way, and finally aied out last 
Winter. 
It is a difficult matter, in the severe climate of 
Montana, to obtain strong, well-rooted trees. Mr. 
Colvill hopes by means of this process to secure such 
trees. A writer in the Montana Fruit Grower has 
this to say about it: 
"Looking at the tree one notices the original seed¬ 
ling below. It has made a fair growth compared with 
yearlings of piece-root trees in the same soil. Just 
above the seedling is the original scion, on which no 
sign of a root is to be seen. Above the scion is the 
trunk of the original yearling tree, most of the root 
growth of the tree, the strongest at the bottom. It 
must be remembered that when the yearling was 
planted everything was trimmed until it resembled a 
stick, and all growth has been made since. Above 
the new root system, which is as long as the original 
yearling was high, say from two to five feet, is the 
new growth of top, at this date just two seasons old. 
Mr. Colvill did not succeed with two-year-olds. His 
ground is a cold loam, and no artificial irrigation was 
applied. The scion remained, as we should say, wood, 
while the part above was changing to the color we 
recognize as root, but even that looked entirely dif¬ 
ferent from the root growth springing from them. 
The question that occurs 10 us is, will the scion in 
time rot away, as in the two-year-olds in Mr. Colvill’s 
experiment, causing the death of the seedling root 
below? If so, would it affect the sound part above? 
Also, whether that large expanse of underground 
trunk, limited only by the size of the original year¬ 
ling, changes into genuine root without suffering at 
all in the change? Mr. Colvill may be able to 
answer some of these questions as he nas several 
more specimens under cultivation, and is so well 
satisfied that he will plant a '■mall orchard that way 
in the Spring. Taken as we see it, it looks promis¬ 
ing, enabling a tree planter to say exactly how much 
root surface there ought to be as hardy as the top, 
and the seedling root being hom one to three feet 
under ground, cuts a small figure. In fact, it might 
be placed six feet under ground as far as we know at 
present.” 
CORN HAY OR SHREDDED FODDER. 
Corn hay has gradually grown in favor for several 
years past in this part of the country. When shred¬ 
ders were first introduced, much of the corn was 
handled when it was wet, and when shredded in this 
condition, it invariably molded and spoiled. It was 
thought at first that corn could not be shredded and 
bulked away so as to keep nicely. But it was soon 
learned that if fodder were shredded when free from 
external moisture, it came out just as nicely as when 
it was put away. We have fed it the third Winter 
after it was shredded, and could see no difference in 
it from freshly shredded fodder after it had passed 
through the sweat. It will sweat and heat, no mat¬ 
ter how dry the fodder is when handled, but like 
clover hay, it does not mold or damage if free from 
rain or dew. 
I have now used corn hay for eight years, and would 
hardly know how to get along without it. I have 
never tried baling and shipping it to market, but it 
will bale nicely after it has passed through the 
sweat. The price which is offered for it is hardly 
sufficient to justify baling, hauling and shipping to 
city market, but with the corn hay on the farm we 
can sell all our Timothy hay, for the corn hay, along 
with clover, makes the very finest roughage we can 
provide for our stock. I have sold some in the local 
market without baling, but I prefer to feed it at home, 
and let the hay go to market. I do not think that 
shredded fodder will ever be put upon the market in 
very large quantities, or shipped very far, as the price 
will not justify it. There is too much waste in feed¬ 
ing it, I think, for city people to take very kindly to 
it. They can buy other bedding material cheaper 
than refuse corn hay. w. w. stevens. 
Indiana. 
PENNSYLVANIA BUCKWHEAT—Why do we see 
so little about the buckwheat crop? Is it that there 
is so little raised, or is it so little thought of that 
people say nothing about it? For my part, I think 
it one of my best-paying crops, as it is one of the best 
feeds for all kinds of stock. A team fed entirely on 
it, as grain feed, for a whole Winter, did fully as 
much work, and was in better condition the following 
Spring, than other teams fed corn and oats, all doing 
the same work. As pig feed I can find nothing its 
equal; especially is this true in regard to growing 
pigs, but for them the hull must be removed. Our 
dairymen here feed buckwheat to their cows, and 
think there is nothing better. Its feeding value is not 
the only good quality. It is the poor man’s friend, 
as he can raise a fair crop on very poor land, and a 
piece of wild land is fitted for other crops by its use. 
It is a very good crop in which to sow grass seed, 
giving a good catch nearly every time. I have raised 
buckwheat every year since I began farming, and find 
it a paying crop. This year I sowed 20 acres to buck¬ 
wheat; following I give a statement of results: 
13 days’ plowing at 53. $39.00 
4 days’ harrowing with disk harrow and three 
horses, at $3.50. 14.00 
4 days’ harrowing with team, at $3. 12.00 
19 bushels of seed at 40 cents. 7.60 
1 ton fertilizer. 17.00 
Hauling fertilizer . l.oo 
Drilling at 40 cents per acre. 8.00 
Harvesting 12 days at $1.50. 18.00 
Thrashing . 26.00 
Total 
Cr. 
400 bushels buckwheat at 45 cents 
Straw . 
$142.60 
$180.00 
10.00 
Total 
$190.00 
Balance in favor of field. $47.10 
You see I have good wages for all work and money 
over, and this off a field too poor to raise beans. 
Pennsylvania. J. c. byers. 
The Indiana Parmer says that one of the largest farm¬ 
ers In the country Is a woman In Newton County. Last 
year she raised 30,000 bushels of corn, has fattened 32 
Short-horn steers, has 50 Polled Angus cattle, and about 
300 hogs. 
