1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
785 
SHORT BITS OF TALK. 
Is wheat which sprouts In the damp 
shock or stack injured for feeding? 
Not to any great extent if it did not 
heat too much. It has lost some of its 
starch and soluble protein, but can safe¬ 
ly be fed to poultry or hogs. 
* * * 
Is the Black smut on corn injurious 
The Use of Whale-Oil Soap. In certain sections of New York State 
One of our readers In Pennsylvania it grows almost to perfection, and where 
wants to know the best time at which to this is found to be the case the plants 
apply a wash of whale-oil soap to apple should be grown as an adjunct to the 
trees He says he has been scraping and tureg and other forage crops of the 
applying whale-oil soap with a stiff brush * 
in Spring and Summer, but he thinks an- farm. It grows best upon a loam or a 
other application is needed. sandy loam soil, but if care is taken in 
Ans. —I do not grow apples; my ex- the preparation of the seed bed it may 
perience with whale-oil soap has been be made to thrive on a clay or a clay 
on pear trees almost exclusively, and loam. In our northern climate Spring 
in October or November, just after they seeding is preferable. In the South Fall to cattle? 
have lost their foliage, I use two pounds seeding seems to give better results. A No. They are not likely to eat enough 
soap to a gallon of water. I have for prime requisite for success is thorough of it to do themselves damage, 
years been able to keep the scale in preparation of the seed bed. Should the * * * 
check. I do not think any wash will soil upon which it is to be grown be a What is the special fertilizer mixture 
entirely destroy it; so many scales get clay or a clay loam Fall plowing should for cau iifl 0 wers used by Long Island 
under the bark and other places that be practiced. Leave barrowing until farmers who buy as a club? 
they are not touched with the spray and Spring, and then when the soil has be Many farmers use a mixture analyz- 
escape. k. s. emory. come sufficiently dry piepare the seed j n g ag j 0 jj owg . Five per cent nitrogen 
Maryland. bed as thoroughly as it would be pre- f rom fine-ground dry fish; eight per cent 
Bone for a Peach Fertilizer. pared for a garden. phosphoric acid, acid phosphate; five 
a. B„ New York.— Would superphosphate About 20 pounds of seed are sufficient per cent potash, muriate of potash. The 
or ground bone be best to mix with nitrate for an acre. If sown broadcast it should farmers ask bids of manufacturers on 
of soda and muriate of potash for peach fi e lightly covered with soil, and a this formula, agreeing to purchase 300 
fertilizer? I could buy two tons _of phos- weeder is an im pi em ent which will ad- tons or more, and purchase of the low- 
phate at 14 per cent for one ton of ground ... . . ,, __. . 
bone. Which would you advise me to use, mirably seive in covering e . est reliable bidder. 
and explain to me the difference of these Many become discouraged because at * * • 
two fertilizer materials? first the weeds grow much faster than 
Ans. —An average sample of ground the Alfalfa. This is nearly always the 
bone will contain in one ton 500 pounds case during the first season. Before the 
of phosphoric acid and 60 pounds of ni- weeds go to seed they should be cut with 
trogen. The two tons of acid phosphate the mowing machine. If the growth be 
will give you 560 pounds of phosphoric 
acid. The advantage is in favor of the 
bone, for the 60 pounds of nitrogen are 
worth far more than the 60 pounds of 
phosphoric acid. Besides you will have 
less weight and bulk to handle in the 
bone. The bone will mix better with 
the nitrate and muriate, for it is dry, 
while the acid phosphate is apt to 
“cake” when mixed with nitrate and put 
in damp places. Some growers like to 
use both bone and acid rock in the mix¬ 
ture, but in this case we would use only 
bone. 
How to Grow Seedling Potatoes. 
G. G. W., Williamstown, Mass.— We have 
about a pint of potato-balls gathered from 
several of the best varieties of early and 
late potatoes. I wish to try my hand at 
raising some new kinds from them. Will 
you give full directions for managing the 
same, including preparation of seed for 
planting, time of planting, etc.? 
Ans. —Turn the pulp out of the balls, 
or true potato fruits, crush it and ma¬ 
cerate in warm water until the seeds 
can be washed out cleanly. In March 
sow in boxes or pots under glass or in 
the house, like tomato seeds, except that 
they need less covering. When the sec¬ 
ond or third pairs of leaves show, 
transplant in shallow boxes three inches 
deep of light, rich soil, placing the seed¬ 
lings about three inches apart each way, 
and keep them in the sunlight as much 
as possible after they have become es¬ 
tablished, to prevent them from becom¬ 
ing drawn. When danger of frost is 
over they may be planted out in the 
garden or field, setting them a foot or 
What are the relative fertilizing 
values of wheat straw and the chaff 
from clover seed? 
We have no analysis of the chaff, but 
would be willing to pay twice as much 
for the clover chaff. 
Which fertilizing element is supposed 
to affect the color of fruit? 
Potash. Iron also gives high color. 
In location where the soil is red from 
the presence of iron oxide fruit is al¬ 
ways fine and high-colored. 
ALFALFA PLANT AND ROOT. Fig. 303. 
Cutting Brush. —That bush scythe 
with a blade four or five inches wide 
will do very well for a lazy man or one 
who wishes to cover a whole lot of 
ground in a little time, but the bushes 
might about as well stand as to have a 
sharp stub left from six inches to a foot 
long, as is often the case. These old 
dry stubs wound the feet of animals, 
tear rubber boots, and, of course, the 
hedge continually grows longer when 
cut by the same sort of man year after 
year, until whoever tackles the job as a 
reformer has a hard time of it. Take an 
old grass scythe with a heavy back, and 
cut it off, leaving about 15 inches at¬ 
tached to the snath. With this bushes 
may be cut so close to the ground as to 
be scarcely noticeable. Some who are 
very particular use a corn cutter, getting 
down on their knees. Of course this is 
slow and hard work. A still more thor¬ 
ough way is to dig the bushes out. In 
cases of thick choke or hazel scrub 
brush hedges, a steady team with chain 
and some sort of grappling hook will do 
rieties may be obtained. 
falfa. Where it will grow well it has its 
place on the farm. But a small area 
should be devoted to it at first, and if 
it is found to succeed the area may oe 
increased. It should not be depended 
ALFALFA AS A FORAGE CROP. 
One of the newer American forage 
crops is Alfalfa. As this plant is receiv¬ 
ing considerable attention from the agri- upon as the main source of supply for 
cultural press, some facts concerning its Summer soiling but it will serve admir- 
cultivation and habits should be known, ably as an adjunct to pastures. It can 
Farmers should not be misled concern- be cut from three to five times during 
ing the statements regarding the value the Summer, and furnishes a large 
of the plant. It will succeed in one amount of material rich in protein. On 
place and on one soil, while upon an farms where Alfalfa has not been given 
adjacent farm it may prove an entire a trial it should be, and where it has 
failure. It seems especially adapted to failed it should be given another trial, 
the arid or semi-arid regions of the Each farmer must prove for himself the 
West, where the soil has great depth, capabilities of his soil and the plants 
but it has no place where the hardpan which will prosper upon it. 
or the rock comes near to the surface. I.. A. clinton. 
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and Don’t Know it. 
How To Find Out. 
Fill a bottle or common glass with your 
water and let it stand twenty-four hours; a 
sediment or set¬ 
tling indicates an 
unhealthy condi¬ 
tion of the kid¬ 
neys; if it stains 
your linen it is 
evidence of kid¬ 
ney trouble; too 
frequent desire to 
pass it or pain in 
the back is also 
convincing proof that the kidneys and blad¬ 
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What to Do. 
There is comfort in the knowledge so 
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If you need a medicine you should have the 
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You may have a sample bottle of this 
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Address Dr. Kilmer & Home of Swamp-Roo*. 
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listen to this and think before 
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USED 
not too heavy they will not injure the effective work. In fields where one can 
Alfalfa; if allowed to fall down and act mow close to the fences without being 
more apart in 'rows two or three feet as a mulch. But if too rank they will bothered with old stone walls, the 
apart. Give the same culture and treat- smother the Alfalfa, and should be re- bushes can be so well subdued that in 
ment in all respects as ordinary potato moved. Alfalfa never shows at its best a few years the whole thing can be cut 
plants grown from tubers. When the during the first season. It must have at haying time, and go into the hay 
tops die in the Fall it will be found that time to send its roots deeply into the without any loss. 
they have produced tubers on the roots soil, and when once well established it 
varying in size from a pea to a market will hold its own against weeds and the California Fruit Grower has been 
notatn according to varietv and treat- droughts. Fig. 303 illustrates the man- figuring up the amount of time consumed 
potato, according to variety ana treat ,, , , v, „ in writing the “Dear Sir and “Yours very 
ment. The tubers from each hill or ner of root growth, and shows why truly » Q f business correspondence. In one 
plant should be kept separate and grown deep soil is necessary. 1 he plant shown year The total annual letter mail of the 
in the usual manner next year, when ^ been growing for one year upon a world is estimated at 8,000.000,000 pieces. 
some idea of the value of the new va- ^avelly loam soil. We do not recom- 
mend all farmers to go to growing Al- ln & s In these, one typewriter woum nave 
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to work 300 days per year for 6,700 years; 
and at $10 per week, the cost of writing 
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have to say, and then sign it and stop. 
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