82 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 8 
front to keep eggs and young squabs from falling out. 
These may be hung about the walls of the house, pre¬ 
ferably not close enough for the occupants to stand 
on their home and fight with next door neighbors. 
When you get the house furnished begin right by 
getting good breeding stock. There are several large 
varieties suitable for squab raising, but my choice is 
the Homer, or Homer cross; on good common birds 
they do well. They are good-sized birds, good breed¬ 
ers and excellent feeders, which is important in mak¬ 
ing good squabs. It costs little if any more to produce 
fine large squabs, that will bring $3 to $4 per dozen, 
than small or dark birds, which will be slow sale at 
from $1.50 to $2 per dozen. Don’t get the mistaken 
notion that the breeders must have white or light- 
colored feathers in order to produce white meated 
squabs, for there are no birds that produce finer look¬ 
ing white squabs than blue checked or black Homers. 
I have usually succeeded in marketing fine large 
squabs that command a premium above the highest 
quotations by feeding as follows: Morning feed 
about 30 per cent of whole corn, cracked corn and 
wheat, and 10 per cent hemp seed. Noon feed whole 
corn, cracked corn and Canada field peas, equal parts, 
and the same at night. Many people keep feed before 
them all the time, but I prefer feeding them three 
times daily just about what they will clean up, and 
always feed on the ground outside the house. Care 
should be taken that all food is of good quality, as 
damaged grain will quickly cause trouble, even more 
so than with chickens, and no new grain should be 
fed until it is thoroughly dried out and well seasoned. 
They should have fresh water three times daily when 
fed, as they will drink much more directly after feed¬ 
ing than at any other time, and as they are firm be¬ 
lievers in cleanliness and bathe frequently both Sum¬ 
mer and Winter the water soon becomes unfit for 
drinking purposes. They must be well supplied with 
grit and oyster shell, and have salt in some form 
within reach at all times. We supply salt in the fol¬ 
lowing mixture: Ground mortar, or old plaster, 60 
per cent, ground charcoal 30 per cent, fine salt 10 per 
cent, all thoroughly mixed and kept in boxes pro¬ 
tected from rain, and within easy reach. They must 
have nesting material of some kind which may be 
either thrown on the ground in the fly or on the floor 
of the house, and may consist of coarse hay, straw or 
tobacco stems; the last is probably the best, especially 
in Summer, as there will be little danger from lice 
if they have a good supply of tobacco stems to nest 
with. Good stock well cared for under ordinary con¬ 
ditions will as a rule give you about $1 per pair above 
cost of feed each year, barring unforeseen drawbacks, 
and this is probably as good as anything that can oe 
done on the farm, amount of investment and labor 
expended being considered. J. e. stevenson. 
THE NATIONAL SEED TESTING LABORATORY 
HAYSEED DETECTIVES AT WASHINGTON. 
Difference Between Expensive and Cheap Seed. 
The* Seed Laboratory was established in 1894 by 
Gilbert H. Hicks. It would be idle to claim that farm¬ 
ers send seeds to test as often as we could wish. It 
is some trouble, and requires forethought. One can¬ 
not decide to sow clover Monday, drive to town for 
the seed on Saturday, and have a test made before 
sowing the seed. When seed is not bought until it 
is time to sow the buyer will have to plant without 
testing, and trust to luck that the seed is good and 
will give a stand. Of course the best farmers know 
pretty well when they buy seed whether or not it is 
fit to sow. The question is not so much thought of 
in the United States as it is abroad, where every 
cent’s worth of additional value counts, and seeds are 
bought on a strict analysis. The time nas not yet 
come when the American farmer is willing to go to 
some trouble for the sake of a slight difference in the 
value of seed. It is usually only when some glaring 
fraud has been brought to his attention that he lifts 
up his voice and condemns the seedsman. There are 
bad men in the seed trade, but it is both unfair and 
unwise to condemn a class because of the sins of some 
member of it. Most seedsmen who are in the busi¬ 
ness to stay are honorable men, whose interests are 
identical with those of the farmer, and who, nine 
times out of ten, would rather sell a high grade than 
a low grade of seed, even at a smaller profit. But the 
seedsman must keep different grades, because the 
public will have them. Many a farmer who would 
not hesitate to pay four or five times as much for a 
purebred heifer as for a grade will object to paying 
a few cents a bushel more for one grade of clover 
oi grass seed than for another. The honest seedsman 
will warn him against the low grade, but if the seeds¬ 
man does not keep it he will as like as not lose a cus¬ 
tomer, and this he can ill afford to do. 
Few people ever stop to think of the difference in 
value between the different grades of seed, and they 
are startled when they learn that the quality goes 
down much more rapidly than does the price. The 
Seed Laboratory prepared an exhibit for the Pan- 
American Exposition which consisted of different 
samples of seeds, bought in the open market, and 
divided to show the percentage of pure seed, spurious 
seeds, and chaff. Each lot was put into a glass tube, 
and each set of tubes was hung on a wall of the ex¬ 
hibit. In every case the first tube contained a sample 
of the seed as bought; the second the amount of chaff 
and dirt in a tubeful of the seed; in the third and 
fourth respectively the spurious seed and the pure 
seed, while the last tube showed the amount of 
usable seed in the sample. The exhibit showed at a 
glance the relative amount of usable seed in the dif¬ 
ferent grades, and the cost of each. In the table 
below I have collected the results of the tests of these 
samples, and it is instructive to note that the price 
actually paid for the usable seed is higher when the 
market price of the sample is lower. In the case of 
the Alfalfa the price was graded so as to be very near 
to the true value of the seed. This is also the case 
with the first two samples of Red-top. In all such 
cases the lower grade is as good for the money as the 
higher, except that the seeds, while they may germi¬ 
nate all right, are lighter, and will not make such vig¬ 
orous plants as the heavier seeds. The best Brome- 
grass sample happens to be the lowest priced. This 
seed was grown in Idaho, and the eastern farmer who 
wants to sow Brome-grass seed could better afford to 
buy it there and pay the freight, than to pay $20 per 
100 pounds to eastern dealers. Samples Nos. 2 and 3 
of Kentucky Blue-grass seed show that seed may be 
the same price but differ widely in real value, while 
IMPORTED SHROPSHIRE, SHERLOWE STAR. Fig. 34. 
sample No. 4 of the same set shows how really ex¬ 
pensive the so-called extra-clean seed may be. Low- 
priced seed is usually the most expensive. Of course 
it is possible for a dealer to ask too high a price for 
really good seed, but this is by no means as common 
as asking more for poor seed than it is worth. In the 
columns of figures No. 1 is the price per 100 pounds 
as bought in the open market; No. 2 is inert matter 
in full tube, per cent by weight; No. 3 per cent by 
weight of spurious seed in full tube; No. 4 per cent 
by weight of pure seed in full tube; No. 5 per cent of 
usable seed in sample; No. 6 actual cost of usable seed 
per 100 pounds: 
Kind of 
Seeds. No. 1. 
No. 2. 
No. 3. 
No. 4. 
No. 5. 
No. 6. 
Alfalfa ... 
.$9.00 
2.5 None. 
97.5 
85.31 
$12.33 
Alfalfa .., 
. 7.00 
14. 
6. 
SO. 
55.2 
12.73 
Red clover . 
.10.50 
1.2 
.3 
98.5 
96.53 
10.88 
Red clover 
.10A0 
6. 
3. 
91. 
78.91 
12.70 
Red clover 
. 9.25 
b. 
47. 
47. 
46.53 
19.81 
Red clover 
. 5.50 
39. 
21. 
40. 
24.4 
22.45 
Red-top .. 
. 9.50 
9. 
.5 
90.5 
72.4 
13.10 
Red-top .. 
. 6.00 
45. 
1.5 
53.5 
45.47 
13.19 
Red-top .. 
. 2.50 
74. 
3. 
23. 
14.37 
17.24 
Beardless 
brome grass.17.00 
7. 
4.5 
88.5 
78.97 
20.98 
Beardless 
brome grass.25.00 
34.5 
5. 
60.5 
31.05 
71.43 
Beardless 
brome grass.20.00 
38. 
13.5 
48.5 
37.93 
52.63 
Kentucky 
blue 
grass.. 8.00 
9.9 
.1 
90. 
77.4 
10.32 
Kentucky 
blue 
grass.. 7.00 
19.5 
.5 
80. 
60. 
11.66 
Kentucky 
blue 
grass.. 7.00 
18.5 
36. 
45.5 
36.40 
19.18 
Kentucky 
blue 
grass.. 4.00 
91. 
1 . 
8. 
4.4 
88.88 
Orchard grass 
. 9.00 
15.5 
3. 
81.5 
70.29 
12.81 
Orchard grass 
. 7.00 
37.5 
24. 
38.5 
30.60 
22.95 
Orchard grass 
. 5.00 
73.5 
10. 
16.5 
13.60 
38.46 
The testing work of the Laboratory is growing 
slowly, more rapidly from the seedsmen than from 
the farmers. Every year we receive samples from 
some seedsman from whom no samples had previous¬ 
ly been received. This is true, too, of the farmers, 
of course, and there are men who have sent samples 
to us regularly every year since the Laboratory was 
established. Others send samples once and are not 
heard from again. In some cases we are obliged to 
make reports showing that the man made a mistake 
in buying low-grade stuff. Many of these men never 
send again. We frequently test samples for secre¬ 
taries of farmers’ clubs to enable them to decide upon 
purchases, and we have done the same for seedsmen, 
wiring them so they could buy, or not, according to 
our report. There is no doubt that the work will 
grow. It is bound to do so because it is good and 
necessary work. It is not always practicable to test 
one’s seed, and many times the germination test, at 
least, can be as well conducted at home as to send 
away to have it done, but if one wish to guard 
against adulteration and the sowing of seeds of per¬ 
nicious weeds, or to buy to the best possible advan¬ 
tage, careful tests both for purity and germination 
should be made. When large quantities of seeds are 
to be purchased this course will be found well worth 
the while, and even when only a few pounds or bush¬ 
els are sown, a test in advance may prevent weary 
waiting and ultimate disappointment and loss. 
A. J. PIETERS. 
OIL ON CALIFORNIA ROADS. 
I passed most of my life in a town in New York 
State, living on a clay road, where good road-making 
material was so hard to get that we were obliged to 
use stone or go in the mud. Coming out here I found 
the road question a different problem, and presented 
to me in a new aspect. With no rain for eight or nine 
months in the year, and the sun shining most of the 
time, the roads get very dry, dusty and full of chuck 
holes. Sprinkling with water, where it can be ob¬ 
tained, is necessary to lay the dust and pack the soil, 
and keep the roads from getting full of holes. Large 
sections of the surrounding country have no water, 
and the roads become almost impassable during the 
Summer. The cost of the water, with the labor of 
putting it on, makes road making very expensive. 
It was a very fortunate occasion for this part of the 
State when oil in considerable quantities was discov¬ 
ered. In 1899, or a little before, our road officers 
made the first experiment with oil for laying the dust 
and making a better road. It was found, after several 
trials, that it was necessary to prepare a good smooth 
roadbed, and when possible slightly crowning, so that 
the water from heavy storms would run to the side 
of the road. The oil is applied to the road hot 
through a sprinkler made for that work, covering a 
strip about six feet wide in one passage. About 100 
barrels per mile for the first application, and about 
one-third of that amount for the second, in about 
three months’ time, are necessary. On narrow roads 
two strips, or 12 feet, and on wide roads three strips, 
or 18 feet, will be sufficient. Of course, a good body 
of oil put on makes a better roadbed, more like as¬ 
phalt pavement. After the oil is applied to the road 
it should be gone over with a rake or harrow thor¬ 
oughly to mix the oil with the soil and dust. On 
sandy soil, and on roads very much traveled more 
oil is needed than on hard roads little traveled. It is 
sometimes necessary, where the soil is quite soft, after 
applying the oil to go over the road with a machine 
that will rub along on the road, not gathering up any 
of the soil. This seems to smooth and pack the soil, 
or roadbed. Oiling the roads has been found to do 
better work here than sprinkling with water, and is 
much cheaper, laying the dust equally well and mak¬ 
ing a better roadway. The heavy oil is used, such 
as is pumped in this part of the State. Sensitive peo¬ 
ple will notice a little smell for a short time. No in¬ 
jury seems to result to horses’ feet nor to wagons, 
and none to clothing if ordinary care is used. When 
the oil is first put on it throws a little by fast driv¬ 
ing. Oiling the roads seems to give general satisfac¬ 
tion, and its use is increasing. 
The amount of oil to be used on any given surface, 
to obtain the best results, has not yet been deter¬ 
mined. Much depends upon the material of the road¬ 
bed and the amount of travel on the road. One hun¬ 
dred barrels will give to a strip 18 feet wide a fine 
coating for one mile. Some of our roadmakers would 
make it a little more, others a little less, and follow 
with another coat after two or three months. How¬ 
ever, they all agree that another application should 
be made when the road shows signs of wearing out 
by getting dusty and full of chuck holes. I have been 
driving over roads that have been oiled more than 
one year, and these roads still show some benefit 
from the oil. On these roads 1,000 barrels were used 
on 7 y 2 miles. Part of the oil was used in second ap¬ 
plication in about three months from the first. Cost 
of the oil here, when not hauled more than eight or 
ten miles by wagon, was not far from $1 per barrel. 
How do the roads stand heavy rain? They seem to 
wash out less where oil is applied. 
Pasadena, Cal. _ william Goodrich. 
A FINE SHROPSHIRE.—At Fig. 34 is shown the 
registered Shropshire, Sherlowe Star, who evident¬ 
ly is not afraid to look the camera squarely in the 
eye. This animal is one of the flock at Wawanund 
Farm, Lewiston, N. Y. Shropshires are excellent 
mutton sheep; the ewes are prolific and make good 
mothers; and the wool is long and glossy. Their 
value for crossing with the smaller and less hardy 
kinds is well known. 
