1899 
BULLETINS BOILED DOWN. 
Bulletin 41, of the Iowa Station (Ames), gives 
the reports made by Prof. J L. Budd on new or¬ 
chard fruits and shrubs tested in various parts 
of Iowa and other States. Those who are in¬ 
terested in the behavior of these new fruits will 
certainly be glad to examine this bulletin. 
The United States Department of Agriculture 
has issued Farmers’ Bulletin No. 90, which deals 
with the manufacture of sorghum syrup. The 
fearful adulteration of syrups has led thousands 
of farmers to attempt to make their own sweets 
at home, and the homemade article is usually 
far superior to the adulterated stuff upon the 
market This bulletin fully exp’ains how to make 
the syrup, and it is a very useful pamphlet for 
farmers who are interested in this matter. 
Most of the stations issue what are known as 
spray calendars. These give, in tabular form, 
the facts about treating varicus seeds to prevent 
disease, also, when, how, and with what to spray 
various crops. The Ohio Station (Wooster) has 
just issued such a calendar, as Bulletin 102. This 
states how to make Bordeaux Mixture, and howto 
use formalin, corrosive eublimate, kerosene emul¬ 
sion, and other insecticides. One of these bul¬ 
letins pasted up in the barn, will be more useful 
than some hired men. 
Foreign Seeds a>d Plants —The United States 
Department of Agricu ture (Division of Botany) 
has issued Inventory No. 1 of the foreign seeds 
ard plants imported by the section of seed and 
plant introduction. This includes a number of 
fruits and vegetables from Russia. Nothing is 
yet known as to their value and desirability for 
the United States. Many of these introductions 
are of botanical value rather than of agricul¬ 
tural interest. It has been considered that many 
of the melons grown in Asiatic Russia might 
prove of distinct value in the United States, and 
tests of these seeds will be particularly interest¬ 
ing. Among trees and shrubs enumerated in 
this catalogue, many are already to be found in 
our gardens and nursery lists. Tnese importa¬ 
tions are made chiefly for the use of experiment 
stations and persons having special knowledge 
in the cultivation of particular crops. Such dis¬ 
tribution is entirely distinct from that of the 
Congressional seed distribution. 
Fertility in Cow Peas —A number of readers 
have asked about the manurial value of a crop 
of cow peas. Bulletin 55, of the Louisiana Sta¬ 
tion (Baton Rouge), gives analyses of cow peas, 
Velvet beans and Spanish peanuts, three legum¬ 
inous crops quite frequently grown in the South. 
The figures show that the crop of cow peas 
gave, in the vines and pods on one acre, 108J4 
pounds of nitrogen, 25)6 pounds of phosphoric 
acid, nearly 123 pounds of potash and 90!4 
pounds of lime. The amount of plant food in 
the roots of the cow pea was, also, estimated 
and gave considerably more plant food than the 
roots of either Velvet beans or peanuts. While 
the Velvet bean succeeds well in the South, espe¬ 
cially in Florida, it is not likely that it will make 
a great success at the North. These figures 
show that the cow pea ought to be good enough 
for most farmers as a manurial plant for poor 
toil. One hundred and eight pounds of nitrogen 
are more than one would obtain in 11 tons of 
average stable m inure. We have found that a 
fair growth of cow peas can be made after early 
potatoes or the earliest sweet corn, and they are 
a surer nitrogen crop than any of the clovers. 
Asparagus Rcbt —Bulletin 61 of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Experiment Station ( imherst), is de¬ 
voted to the consideration of Asparagus rust. 
This disease was first noted in America in 1S80, 
when it appeared on Ihe Pacific coast, and it was 
not until 1896 that it was first mentioned in the 
eastern States. Since then it appears to have 
become firmly established in a number of as¬ 
paragus-growing localities in New England, Long 
Island, New Jersey, Delaware, and as far south 
as South Carolina. The severe outbreak of rust 
is due to the weakened condition of the plants 
caused by excessive drought in 1895 and If 96, fol¬ 
lowed by excessive rain in 1897. The disease, 
wnich is caused by a parasitic fungus, is most 
injurious on dry, sandy soils, with little capacity 
for holding moisture. It appears in three forms, 
in Spring, Summer and Fall, the red Summer 
form being most destructive. Burning the af¬ 
fected tops in Summer is injurious, and no benefit 
is seen from burning in the Fall. Spraying is 
useless The best means of controlling tne rust 
is through careful cultivation, inducing vigorous 
plants. During drought, plants in very dry soil 
should, if possible, receive irrigation. 
New York Sugar Beets.— In Bulletin 166, from 
the Cornell Station (Ithaca, N. Y.), there is an 
excellent study of the sugar-oeet problem from 
tur^e different points of view. Mr. Stone, who 
has observed the growth of the crop in various 
P*rts of New York State, thinks that sugar-beet 
growing may more properly be classed as gar¬ 
dening rather than farming. The question is, 
Will New York State farmers develop the patience 
and skill which the gardener must possess, in 
order to produce a profitab e crop ? He does not 
think it wise to attempt to grow beets on hilly 
land. He would, also, avoid stony land. As a 
rule, the heavier grades of soil gave better re¬ 
turns in 1898 than the lighter ones. He says that 
the great mistake farmers made was in a failure 
to prepare the land properly. This, perhaps, was 
the greatest drawback throughout the season. 
Some interesting facts are given as to the best 
crop to precede a crop of sugar beets. From the 
figures given, it appears that, where beets fol¬ 
lowed cabbage, the best results were obtained 
with clover sod following. An explanation for 
THE RURAL 
this is that manure is usually applied freely to 
the cabbage crop, and the land is left more fer¬ 
tile than with most other crops Cabbage ground 
is always thoroughly tilled late in the season. 
Then again, the farmer who understands how to 
grow cabbage, is usually a thorough and skill¬ 
ful farmer, who knows how to handle the ground. 
The general advice has been not to grow beets 
on sod ground. Experience, however, seems to 
show that sod, both clover and grass makes de¬ 
sirable beet land in New York State. Where the 
crop followed buckwheat, generally poor re¬ 
sults were obtained. This is explained from the 
fact that, as a rule, buckwheat is never sown on 
the best lands, and that where beets followed 
the buckwheat, they are generally on the poor¬ 
est lands of the farm The bulletin contains an 
immense amount of valuable information, which 
ought to be useful to beet growers. 
Growing Forest Tree Seedlings.— Bulletin 5, 
new series, of the Virginia Experiment Station 
(Blacksburg), states that it is a sirnp’e matter 
for an intelligent farmer to grow forest tree 
seedlings, either for decorative planting, or for 
windbreaks and forest belts. Such seeds as Sil¬ 
ver maple should be gathered and sown at once. 
They can be sown in the same manner as peas, 
and will grow as readily. All late-ripening 
species should be sown in Autumn, or stratified 
and planted in the Spring. With walnuts, a 
simple plan is to plant the nuts where the trees 
are to stand. Chestnuts are not so certain, be¬ 
cause of injury from the chestnut weevils; but 
this may be entirely avoided by gathering the 
chestnuts as soon as mature, and fumigating 
with bisulphide of carbon, using about one-half 
gill of liquid to the bushel. Simply pour it over 
the nuts, and cover the box or barrel. All forest 
tree seedlings should be grown inmel’owloam, 
and transplanted into nursery rows at the end of 
NEW-YORKER. 
the first or second years. Slow-growing plants 
like the oak should stand two years in seedling 
beds, while more rapid growers should be trans¬ 
planted when one year old. 
Experiments with Potatoes —Bulletin 63, of 
the New Hampshire Station (Durham), is the 
third report upon potato experiments. At the 
Experiment Station, Sir Walter Raleigh bore 
out the claims made for it, that it is more uni¬ 
form than the R. N -Y. No. 2. and yields practi¬ 
cally no small tubers. It made small, heavy 
vines, and continued to grow late, giving a very 
fair yield. A potato regarded as a favorite in 
New Hampshire is described by the Station 
authorities as Red American Wonder. It Is also 
known simply as American Wonder. It is a heavy 
yielder, main crop, of good size and fine appear¬ 
ance, the crop being practically all salable. It 
seems to be the most popular potato grown in 
many sections of New Hampshire. These ex¬ 
periments confirm the opinion that planting the 
seed or bud end generally gives a greater yield 
than planting the stem or butt end. Exposing 
unsprouted tubers in a warm place before plant 
iDg hastens growth. If this Is continued until 
the sprouts form (which are rubbed off), the 
yield may be considerably reduced. The gross 
yield of salable potatoes increased with the size 
of the seed pieces from one eye to the whole potato. 
The large seed potatoes afford an earlier crop, 
and are less liable to result in a deficient stand 
or entire failure in an unfavorable year. It is 
better to place in a hill one large piece than sev¬ 
eral small ones of the same aggregate weight. 
Thirsty Blackberries.— An experiment In 
Irrigation at the New Jersey Experiment Station 
shows some singular things in relation to fruit 
varieties. For example, the Early Harvest 
blackberry Is better able to produce a crop dur¬ 
ing a dry time than most other varieties. With 
395 
other blackberries, the difference between plants 
that were left un watered was very great. But 
the Early Harvest showed less appreciation of 
water than any of the others. To a less extent- 
this was, also, true of varieties of red raspber 
ries. Some cf them produced a fair crop, while 
others were fairly dried up by the heat. We no- 
a * e< u ^ 8 same thine la9t year with blackberries. 
At the time of fruiting, the ground was very dry, 
yet the Early Harvest yielded a fair crop, while 
Snyder by its side simply dried up on the vines. 
It would be interesting to know how the Early 
Harvest is able to carry its fruit successfully 
through drought. Do its roots run deeper 7 Has it 
a stronger and more vigorous root system ? What 
is it that enables it to go thirsty, and still per¬ 
form its work ? 
Flavor in Butter —The Iowa Experiment Sta¬ 
tion (Ames) in Bulletin No. 40. gives the result of 
some experiments with cultivating flavor and 
aroma in butter. It is now pretty well urder- 
stood that butter flavor is really the result of fer¬ 
mentation or ripening, and that this flavor may 
be good or bad. as we use suitable or unsuitable 
bacteria to start the fermentation. An illus'.ra- 
tion of this is given in this bulletin. Certain bac¬ 
teria are found on hay, and the dirt from hay 
and straw is said to be a common source of con¬ 
tamination of milk in t^eordinary barn. Some of 
th°se bacteria were secured aod used to ripen 
butter, aod the ordinary skim-milk starter was 
usfd by way of contrast. Both lots of butter 
we-e made from Pasteurized cream, the only 
difference being in the bacteria that were used 
for ripening. The butter made from the Four- 
milk starter scored 39 on fl tvor out of a possible 
45, while that ripened with the hay bacillus 
scored only 31, and sold at 14 cents a pound, 
while the other sample brought 20 The judge 
who sampled the butter, without knowing how it 
was made, said that t' e sample ripened with the 
hay bacillus was old and, evidently, an imitation 
or process butter |rr< 
This is a good illustration of the necessity of 
using the proper kind of starter in making but¬ 
ter. It also shows the absolute necessity of 
keeping the cream pure aDd neutral before any 
starter is added. It is, evidently, an advantage 
to Pasteurize cream, because the Pasteurizing 
destroys the germs, and the right kind of-starter 
may then be added to it. 
TWO GOOD ARTICLES FOR 
YOUNG MEN 
The Profession of the Press 
Education by it and for it 
By MURAT HALSTEAD 
How MICHAEL CUDAHY 
The Great Western Packing King 
Made His First $1000 
MURAT HALSTEAD 
ROBERT BARR 
In his “ 1 ravels and Troubles in the Orient” 
(second paper), tells how an intrepid American 
missionary postponed his execution day after day 
by a novel Arabian Nights’ entertainment. 
In this week’s issue of 
5 Cent. 
Date of Saturday, May 20 
Ask Your Newsman to Deliver it Regularly. 5 Cents 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 
