1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
355 
BULLETINS BOILED DOWN. 
The Minnesota Experiment Station (St. An¬ 
thony Park) issues bulletin No. 61, which is a 
thick volume of nearly 300 pages, describing and 
picturing the butterflies and moths injurious to 
our fruit-producing plants. This is a complete 
and interesting volume, valuable because it 
brings into one pamphlet much information 
that is usually scattered through a number of 
volumes. 
The Rhode Island Station (Kingston) is issu¬ 
ing, among other bulletins, a series on the 
Utilization of Waste Products and Was'e 
Places. Bulletin 50 is part first of this 
series, and deals with the nitrogen prob" 
lem, discussing the need of increasing the sup¬ 
plies of nitrogen, both for feeding plants and 
animals, in waste places, chiefly along the sea- 
coast. Bulletin 51 goes on with the problem in 
describing the clam and the cultivation of tidal 
mud flits. To farmers living in the interior, 
these bulletins will be chiefly interesting as valu¬ 
able studies on an important question. To those 
livlrg on or near the seacoast they will be of 
great practical value as indicating how wealth 
mav be dug out of the most unpromising places. 
Green Corn Under Glass.— Bulletin 60 of the 
New Hampshire Experiment Station (Durham) 
details experiments in the growing of 8*eetcorn 
under glass. Forcing of sweet corn is practi¬ 
cally unknown, yet, as shown by these experi¬ 
ments, it is a crop easily handled under such 
conditions. The corn was grown in a vegetable 
house; the conditions required are practically 
the same as for forcing tomatoes, melons, etc.— 
a night temperature of not less than 60 degrees, 
and 10 degrees or more higher during the day. 
To be remunerative, the crop should be on the 
market before July, at which time the southern 
product begins to arrive. The corn is started in 
pots, repotted once, and then moved into the 
bed. Suckers should be pruned out. The corn 
Bhould be planted in rows 18 inchee apart and 
nine inches apart in the ro w. The only pests to 
contend with are rats and mice ; both persist in 
digging out the seed, and the rats attack the ma¬ 
ture corn. Any varieties successfully grown in 
the garden appear to do well under glass. 
Persimmons. — The University of Tennessee 
(Knoxville) issues a very interesting bulletin on 
the subject of persimmons. The Japan persim¬ 
mon has received a good deal of attention of late 
years, and it will be found, on studying these 
fruits, that a good many people are also in¬ 
terested in the American persimmon. This is a 
widely distributed native fruit throughout the 
southern and western States. It thrives best in 
a warm climate, but we have met with several 
large trees on the Jersey coast, within 30 miles 
of New York City, the fruit varying in quality cn 
different trees. There are a good many improved 
varieties, the bulletin describing 11 named Ameri¬ 
can varieties. They vary in sir.*, and In sweet¬ 
ness and flavor. Tne tree requires a light, well- 
drained soil, and while it does not demand a 
large supply of nitrogenous matter, a liberal al¬ 
lowance of phosphoric acid and potash is essen¬ 
tial to produce the best results. Those engaged 
in commercial persimmon culture, will find it 
just as important to use commercial fertilizers 
as in the production of any other fruit. 
Quoting from a bulletin issued by the Indiana 
Experiment Station, it is stated that the fruits 
of early-ripening varieties have sold for from 
16 to $8 per bushel in large cities. One Indiana 
man reports that the persimmon pays him 
better than any other fruit. The trees bear an¬ 
nual crops, which find ready market in Chicago 
and Indianapolis, at $1 to $1.50 per 12-pint case, 
shipped by express. As high as $2 have been re' 
ceived for special cases. 15 to 25 gallons are an 
average yield per annum of a well-grown tree. 
The Japan persimmon or Kaki, has been varied 
greatly by cultivation. Persimmon seed does 
not fully reproduce the characteristics of its 
parent, hence seedlings vary greatly. Tne Kaki 
is largely cultivated in Florida, Texas and Cali¬ 
fornia, the largest orchard known in this country 
being in Texas, the plantation containing 2,000 
trees. In propagating, the seeds are used only 
to create new varieties, owing to their variation. 
In perpetuating any one variety, buddin g is some¬ 
times employed, but this method is not so suc¬ 
cessful as grafting, cleft and splice grafting 
being most satisfactory. As to the food value of 
tne persimmon, it is richer in sugar by more 
than six per cent, than apples, cherries, straw¬ 
berries or oranges. It is, also, far richer In fats 
and carbohydrates; for example, an average of 
seven analyses of apples, gives 16.73 per cent of 
fats and carbohydrates, whereas an average of 
eight analyses of persimmons, gives them 29.95 
per cent. Tne wild persimmon contains more 
sugar than the cultivated fruit, and nearly 13 
per cent more dry matter, but the cultivated 
fruit is richer in protein. The sugar of the per¬ 
simmon is what is known as glucose, not cane 
sugar. 
Fertilizer Reports from the Connecticut Ex¬ 
periment Station.— These are always exceed¬ 
ingly interesting. The Connecticut people under¬ 
stand the fertilizer problem pretty well, and the 
Station has always taken the lead in discussing 
fertilizer problems. We are told this year that 
cotton seed meal gives the cheapest form of 
quickly-available organic nitrogen. The average 
cost of cotton-seed meal in Connecticut has been 
$21 50 per ton, and the per cent of nitrogen has 
averaged 7.44, making an average cost of 11*4 
cents per pound. The nitrogen in dried blood has 
coBt considerably more, and the same is true of 
Castor pomace, which is preferred by many 
tobacco grower*. We have heard orange grower- 
in Florida say that the Castor pomace gives a 
better qualily to fruit than cotton-seed meal. 
It is remarkable how Connecticut farmers are 
scouring the earth after fertilizing material. 
Immense quantities of cotton-seed meal and cot¬ 
ton-hull ashes are used, chiefly by tobacco grow¬ 
ers. Cotton hulls at the South are burned for 
fuel in the oil factory, and the ashes, which con¬ 
tain from 20 to 30 per cent of potash, are sent 
north to be used as a fertilizer. In 47 of the sam¬ 
ples of these ashes analyzed in Connecticut, the 
average per cent of potash was 23.3. Another 
new fertilizing substance is corn-cob ashes from 
Kansas. These corn-cob ashes contain over 21 
percent of soluble potash, and over three per 
cent of available phosphoric acid. These corn¬ 
cob ashes are said to be procurable in large 
quantities in Kansas and neighboring States, 
and a profitable business might be worked up in 
collecting them. Several fertilizer dealers are 
importing ground sheep manure from the W -st, 
and mixing it with chemicals to form a higb- 
grade fertilizer. Castor pomace is the ground 
cake of Castor beans, from which the Castor 
oil has been pressed. The pomace is quite 
poisonous to animals, but the nitrogen con¬ 
tained in it is quickly available to plants. Street 
sweepings taken from the asphalt pavements in 
Hirtford, were found to contain over two thirds 
of sand and soil, and 14 per cent of water, with 
hardly nitrogen and phosphoric acid enough to 
pay for handling. Another substance sampled 
by the Station is ground weed seed left from the 
cleaning of grain. This contains 2.75 per cent of 
nitrogen, 1.16 of phosphoric acid and 87 of one 
per cent of potash. 
It appears that the prices charged for wood 
ashes in Connecticut have been steadily declin¬ 
ing. Last year, the average cost of ashes con¬ 
taining 5!4 per cent of potash was $9.82 per ton. 
A ton cf unleached wood ashes, calculated from 
the average nine samples, contains 732 pounds of 
lime, 111 pounds of potash, and 30 pounds of phos¬ 
phoric acid. The Station allows five cents per 
pound each for the potash and phosphoric acid, 
which makes the limecost 38cents for 100pounds. 
Dr. Jenkins says that the lime in the ashes is 
often their most valuable ingredient for agricul¬ 
tural purposes. Two samples of lime-kiln ashes 
contained from 31 to 40 per cent of lime, and an 
average of slightly over one per cent of potash, 
which made the lime cost 48 cents per 100 pounds. 
Bulletin 54 of the W-;st Virginia Station (Mor¬ 
gantown) is entitled Nursery Hints, and Prof. L. 
C. Corbett gives some very practical and simple 
directions for the propagation and culture of 
nursery stock. A good mmy of our station 
people seem tc have an idea that the farmer ought 
to know the common, simple practices of nur¬ 
serymen. This bulletin gives just the informa¬ 
tion that the beginner or the unstudied man 
ought to have. It tells us just what a graft, a 
sc on, and a cutting are supposed to be, and just 
how they ought to be manipulated for getting 
tne most out of them. This may be called a nur¬ 
sery primer, and the work is well done, for any¬ 
body can understand what the author is talking 
about. 
Prof. C. S. Plumb, of Lafayette, Ind., sends us 
a pamphlet containing an address on the Cheviot 
sheep, delivered before the annual meeting of 
the National Cheviot Sheep Society. This breed 
of sheep originated in Scotland, and seems to 
have qualities which are well adapted to many 
sections of our country. It is a combination mut¬ 
ton and wool sheep, and thrives best on uplands. 
The ideal Cheviot is a hustler, earning his living 
and making himself comfortible under very try¬ 
ing circumstances. 
Canine Distemper.— This is the title of a bul¬ 
letin issued by the Virginia Experiment Station 
(Blacksburg). It gives a history of the disease, 
its cause, symptoms and treatment. The obj°ct 
of the treatment is to try to destroy the con¬ 
tagious agent, thus removing the cause, to re¬ 
lieve the unpleasant symptoms as much as pos¬ 
sible, to relieve the catarrh of the various organs, 
and to sustain the strength of the patient. Calo¬ 
mel, carbolic acid, and a five-per-cent solution 
of compound tincture of benzoin are used. De¬ 
tailed treatments are given for the ocular com¬ 
plications, the lesions localized in the digestive 
apparatus, the nervous symptoms and the fever. 
Tue Vermont Experiment Station (Burlington) 
sends out a circular on the so-called new method 
of raising cream. As we have often stated, this 
method consists in adding to the milk an equal 
or a greater bulk of water, and letting the mix¬ 
ture stand for two hours or more. It is then 
skimmed by drawing off the skim-milk at the 
bottom. No matter what extravagant claims 
are made by the agents, this process is less 
efficient than the centrifugal separator, and no 
better than the old-fashioned shallow pan. It is, 
no doubt, easier and simpler than some of the 
old-time methods of cream raising, but it can¬ 
not compare with a good centrifugal separator. 
Tns Department of Agriculture has issued 
Bulletin 16, which is a pamphlet discussing the 
grazing problems in the Southwest. On the dry 
plains of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, less 
than 30 years ago, 4,COO,000 buffaloes, and count¬ 
less wild horses roamed unrestricted. It is now 
given up to stock feeding, but even on this wild 
plain, stockmen are finding it necessary to use 
cultivated plants, and even ensilage to help out 
the natural pastures. This pamphlet describes, 
in an interesting way, what is being done to im¬ 
prove these ranches. 
4C 
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen ’ 
A story by STEPHEN CRANE 
In which the Managing Editor of the New York 
Eclipse starts off his war correspondent, “Little 
Nell,” with the cablegram: 
“ Take Tug. Go Find Cercera's Fleet” 
Little Nell sets out on the Johnson, “a harbor 
tug with no architectural intention of parading 
the high seas,” wondering how, if he finds the 
cruisers, he is going “ to lose them again.” 
His remarkable experiences on the Johnson and 
at Santiago, where “ he takes his mackintosh and 
invades Cuba,” are told in this week’s number of 
THE SATURDAY 
EVENING POST 
Founded D 1 1^28 by Benj.Franklin 
(OR PHILADELPHIA) 
Dated May 6 
THE NAVY AS A CAREER 
By Robley D. Evans, Captain U. S. Navy—otherwise known 
as “ Fighting Bob” Evans. A full-page article for young men. 
American Kings and Their Kingdoms 
FREDERICK WEYERHAEUSER 
“The Pine King 
By H . B. CURRY 
The wealthiest and the greatest of the world’s Lumbermen. 
His story is an incentive to young men. See this week’s Post. 
To be had of All Newsmen at 5 Cents the Copy 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 
