282 
April 21 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
it was remedied the fruit kept much better. All de¬ 
caying or impure matter must be rigidly excluded. 
The Dartford chambers (open to inspection by any 
one interested) are models of cleanliness. Neverthe¬ 
less, some fruit placed in one before the smell of paint 
had quite disappeared, tasted unpleasant. w. a. s. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
" Adulterated Vinegar;” Testing Samples. 
I have 25 or 30 barrels of cider vinegar, made in the 
Fall of 1896, from Winter apples, which I am very desir¬ 
ous of selling at once, as 1 need the proceeds. I have 
written and sent word to the nearest vinegar tester, but 
he says that he cannot come now. He gives no definite 
time for coming. He asks for pint samples from each 
and every barrel. Twenty-five or 30 samples packed and 
shipped would cost me $3 or $4, besides being very un¬ 
satisfactory, as a barrel will test very differently at the 
top than at the bottom, and it would not be a test by 
which I could safely guarantee its actual strength. What 
can I do? Can I compel an immediate test, or must I 
submit to the slowness of time, and a law that will not 
let a farmer sell a pure farm product without the con¬ 
sent of some fellow with a political pull? j. g. c. 
Portland, N. Y. 
I have a barrel of vinegar made two years ago that is 
too weak to use, and I cannot make it stronger. What 
can I do for it? Will acetic acid added to it do? If so, 
how much is needed for 50 gallons. e. r. 
Ida Grove, Iowa. 
The New York State law prohibits the use of acetic 
acid as E. R. purposes using it. Cider vinegar means 
vinegar made exclusively from pure apple juice, and 
no person is permitted to manufacture, keep or offer 
for sale, any adulterated vinegar. We would not ad¬ 
vise the addition of the acetic acid to this vinegar, 
even for home use. 
J. G. C. might himself make the test with acetic 
acid with the Mott’s acetometer, with the test re¬ 
cently described in The R. N.-Y. The test for the 
solids contained in the vinegar is more difficult. 
The hydrometer used for this would not show all the 
solids, if the vinegar was comparatively new, and con¬ 
tained a large amount of alcohol. In this case, the 
only sure way to ascertain the solids would be to 
have the vinegar chemically analyzed. We think, on 
the whole, the 'best way would be to send the sam¬ 
ple of vinegar, as suggested. By shaking up each bar¬ 
rel thoroughly, a fair sample could be obtained, and 
a pint would be sufficient to make the test for both 
acids and solids. The results obtained in this way 
would be more satisfactory on the whole than to try 
to make the test at home. Probably this sampling 
would also be the cheaper in the end. You cannot 
compel an immediate test. The law is certainly de¬ 
fective in several respects. It must be seen, however, 
that with tne small appropriation available for test¬ 
ing and sampling, the Department cannot send its 
agents to every farm or to every locality. This cer¬ 
tainly makes in many cases a hardship for the farmer, 
but there is not money enough in the hands of the 
inspectors to pay the expenses of traveling every¬ 
where. An effort was made at the last session of the 
Legislature to change the law so that a farmer could 
certify that nis vinegar was made from pure apple 
juice, and ship it without testing, but for some reason 
this failed, and the only safe way now is to have the 
vinegar thoroughly tested before offering it for sale. 
The Cause of Potato Rot. 
A neighbor says that it is no use to raise potatoes, 
for they almost invariably rot at once. They grow well 
enough, of good size, but will not keep. Can you account 
for this and give the proper remedy? I do not know the 
conditions, but at least one year he used fertilizer and 
had an immense yield. He saved only two bushels. I 
am much interested, as I expect to plant quite a lot. 
Norfolk, Mass. e. a. g. 
Of course ft is impossible to give any definite an¬ 
swer 'to such a question. The rot in potatoes is really 
a form of disease, which starts from a tiny germ, and 
grows or spreads through the tuber. Before the pota¬ 
toes can rot this germ must be present. It may be in 
the soil or in the “seed” when it is planted, or, in rare 
cases, it may start in the vine and kill that first. Of 
course there are certain conditions of soil and mois¬ 
ture which make these germs grow faster than they 
would ordinarily do. A wet soil in damp, “muggy” 
weather, or a close, damp cellar, will increase and 
quicken the rot. There is less of it on open, well- 
drained soils. Flowers of sulphur dusted on the seed, 
or scattered in the hill or drill, will reduce the amount 
of rot, and often prevent it. 
Dipping Trees to Destroy San Jose Scale. 
How can the ordinary buyer of nursery stock best pro¬ 
tect himself against the scale? Do you endorse the plan 
of immersing all stock before planting in a trough of 
whale-oil soap solution? Is it not as effective as gas, 
and cheaper and more convenient? s. 
Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
No doubt the ordinary purchaser of general nursery 
stock could dip his trees in a solution of whale-oil 
soap, especially prepared for that purpose; but It 
would be impracticable on a large scale, where a man 
had many thousand trees to handle in this way. The 
soap would have to be dissolved in water at the rate 
ox 1% pound to two pounds per gallon, and then ap¬ 
plied while hot, to be effective for the destruction of 
the scale. It would also be a very disagreeable task 
to immerse bundles of trees in a trough containing 
whale-oil soap, as this material is not the most pleas¬ 
ant in the world to handle, as those of us who have 
had experience with it can attest. On the whole, I 
would not advise the dipping process for the destruc¬ 
tion of the scale, but if one had the least suspicion 
that there was scale present upon his trees, I certain¬ 
ly would dip them, and then plant them, provided 
A I.ETTUCE HOUSE. Fig. 86. 
they had not been fumigated. As far as expense is 
concerned, the gas treatment would be very much 
cheaper, and more convenient than the dipping pro¬ 
cess. Several thousand trees could be fumigated in a 
small room at an expense not to exceed 10 cents per 
1,000 trees, for all chemicals; on the other hand, if 
the trees were to be dipped in the whale-oil soap solu¬ 
tion, the cost of material would be very much greater, 
to say nothing of the disagreeableness of handling 
the trees afterward. At the same time, there is a very 
much greater opportunity of the scale escaping in the 
dip than with the gas, as those of us who have had 
experience with the soap, have found that it is not an 
easy matter to dip a bundle of trees, and be perfectly 
sure that every portion has been thoroughly saturated 
with the soap. At times bubbles form over some por¬ 
tion of the tree, thus keeping the soap from covering 
it. [PROF.] W. G. JOHNSON. 
Maryland Exp. Station. 
Building a Lettuce House. 
We wish to build a greenhouse about 18x130 feet for 
Winter production of lettuce and radish—more particular¬ 
ly the Grand Rapids and Black Seeded Simpson lettuce. 
We wish to build economically—yet substantially. Do 
commercial growers use bottom heat? How close should 
the pipes—two-inch—be to the bottom of the benches, 
which we will make 10 inches deep, putting about four 
inches of fresh horse manure in the bottom? We would 
appreciate a description of a commercial house this 
width for similar purpose, with arrangement of pipes, 
etc. Is three-quarter span—short span to south—a 
good style of house? j. h. c. 
Deadwood, South Dakota. 
While lettuce and radishes can be fairly well grown 
WHITE KAFFIR CORN. Fig. 87. 
with bottom heat, under glass, the best success is 
usually attained with solid benches on the ground, 
which may be made 12 to 18 inches deep, the sides 
being boarded up with two-inch hemlock, cypress or 
other durable kind of lumber, or a single course of 
bricks, if preferred. Nine or 10 inches is deep enough 
for this soil; the beds may be filled up to that point 
with cinders, coarse gravel, or brick-bats, to afford 
free drainage and discourage the inroads of moles, 
earthworms, etc. In this case the steam or water 
heating pipes must of necessity be carried about the 
walls of the house, above the plant levels. With a 
proper air temperature, ranging from 40 to 45 degrees 
at night, to 55 or 65 degrees in the shade, during the 
day, the soil will remain in a cool and moist condition, 
just suited to the needs of lettuce, for a considerable 
time with the minimum of attention. The addition of 
a layer of fresh manure, four inches or more deep, 
under the soil, would be of very doubtful advantage 
in the case of leittuce. Radishes find a somewhat 
higher soil temperature congenial, but quickly become 
drawn and weak if the average atmospheric tempera 
ture is raised much higher than the figures above 
given. 
A house 18x130 feet can be safely heated to the re¬ 
quired temperature with hot waiter circulation, by 
conveying the flow through a three-inch pipe near 
the top of the house to the rear end, then forking and 
dividing it into seven l^-inch returns, three on the 
south and four on the north wall, as shown in Fig. 86, 
or if steam is used, the respective diameters may be 
2V 2 and l\i inches for the flow and returns. The 
three-quarter-span house running east and west is 
by far the best plan. Whether the short span is best 
placed south or north is still a matter of opinion. 
Nine out of 10 houses are built with the long slope 
to the south. The only special advantage claimed for 
the other arrangement is that the houses are cooler 
in Summer. When raised benches are used, the dis¬ 
tance of the pipes from the benches is a matter of 
little importance. As a slope must be maintained, the 
pipes are much nearer the benches at one end of the 
house than the other in any case. 
Fig. 86 gives a fairly correct diagram of such a 
house, but the south wall might with advantage be 
made considerably lower, in order to reduce the 
shade on the front bench in midwinter. 
Brewery Hops for Fertilizer. 
At a brewery six miles away I can get brewery hops 
for 50 cents per two-horse load. Are they a good ferti¬ 
lizer for cabbage and corn? f. b. 
Haledon, N. J. 
According to a chemical analysis which we find of 
this kind of hops, one ton would contain 21.6 pounds 
of nitrogen, 6.4 pounds of phosphoric acid, and eight 
pounds of potash. Calculating each of these ingre¬ 
dients at the market price of 12 cents per pound for 
nitrogen, 4 y 2 cents for phosphoric acid, and 4% cents 
for potash, the fertilizing value of one ton is $3.12. 
From these figures it would seem profitable to pay 
50 cents per load for the brewery hops, and haul them 
six miles. They contain about twice as much nitro¬ 
gen as fresh horse manure, and have about the same 
waiter content, i. e., 75 per cent. Because of the goodly 
amount of nitrogen present they are a good fertilizer 
for corn and cabbage. 
WHAT ABOUT KAFFIR CORN? 
We have had a good many questions of late regard¬ 
ing Kaffir corn. Some eastern readers have read the 
concluding statements printed in certain seed cata¬ 
logues, and want to know whether it will pay to 
plant largely of the Kaffir. Many of them have never 
seen Kaffir corn, and have an idea that it is much 
like the ordinary varieties of maize. The Kaffir is 
really a sorghum which contains but little sugar. The 
plants grow erect, with thick, short-jointed stalks, 
with broad green leaves. In the West, the plants 
average 4 y 2 to 6V 2 feet high. Instead of forming on 
an ear, the seeds are produced on the heads, which 
stand erect, and average from 10 to 15 inches in 
length. Fig. 87, taken from a bulletin issued by the 
Kansas Agricultural College, shows a picture of the 
head, and gives an idea of the way the seeds are ar¬ 
ranged. The seeds are small, resembling somewhat 
a small-sized popcorn. They are eaten readily by 
all kinds of stock, and the stalks make excellent hay 
or forage. The little seeds are quite valuable for 
chicken feed. The heads may be thrown directly into 
the pens, and the fowls will pick them off without 
loss. They are also very useful for feeding to little 
chicks, when but a few days old. For these reasons 
a small patch of Kaffir corn may be found very use¬ 
ful for poultry growers. We intend to plant a fair 
patch of it this year, more in the way of an experi¬ 
ment. As for planting any large quantity of it with¬ 
out first making a careful experiment, we would cer¬ 
tainly advise against it. The Kaffir corn and, in fact, 
sorghums generally, are best adapted to dry regions 
where there is less than the ordinary quantity of rain. 
They are drought-resisting plants. On our heavier 
lands in the moilster portions of the East, the sor¬ 
ghums will not as a rule give as good satisfaction as 
the well-tested varieties of corn. For chicken feed, 
however, and as an interesting experiment, we advise 
a small patch of Kaffir. Our own seed was sent by a 
friend in Kansas, and is known as the White Kaffir. 
