1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
37 
ing only one. By so doing, 1 always get a good stand 
of the mixture. Arrange so as to plow up two of the 
grass fields every two years, cut the corn for ensilage 
and dry fodder, and sow to wheat not later than No¬ 
vember 1, rising 150 pounds of high-grade fertilizer per 
acre, mixing the grass seed of the kinds mentioned 
above, according to what it is wanted for, with the 
fertilizer, and sow with the wheat. I would advise a 
rotation as follows: Four years grass, one year 
corn, two years wheat. The 15 acres of slaty land I 
would use as follows : Four acres apple trees, one 
acre peach trees, 10 acres in truck patches, such as 
garden for family, sweet and Irish potatoes, straw¬ 
berries, etc. I would build a small silo for the cows, 
and would raise about four good calves each year of a 
beef breed and keep them until three years old past, thus 
having four good 1,000 to 1,200-pound steers for market 
each year. I would raise enough chickens to insure 
eggs and young fowls enough to pay the store account. 
Lenoir City, Tenn. A. R. b. 
Borrow the Money and Use Cow Peas. 
Were I in T. R.’s place, I would start a dairy, if I 
were sure of 20 cents the year ’round for butter. I 
think that there is as much clear profit here in the South 
in butter at 20 cents as in the North or East at 25 
cents. I would run in debt to buy the cows, if neces¬ 
sary, as I would expect to make $50 a year, at least, 
clear profit on each cow. I would raise as much feed 
as possible, and keep as many cows as I could feed. 
Raise the calves on skim-milk, and either veal them 
when old enough, or sell to some stockman, and keep 
hogs enough to use the surplus skim-milk. I would 
feed out everything I raised, and in that way, keep up 
the fertility of the land, making my money out of 
butter, pork and calves. Whether I would use fertil¬ 
izers or not would depend on how good the land is. 
I think that it pays to use them when the increase in 
the crop the first year will pay for them, as they al¬ 
ways show for several years, even when a small quan¬ 
tity is applied, as is usually the case here. I am not 
acquainted with land such as he describes as slaty, 
but if it will raise cow peas, they will answer as well 
as clover, in the rotation of crops, and will, also, 
make as much cow feed. They will answer as well as 
corn to fatten hogs, and hogs prefer them to corn. 
Turn the hogs right into them, and the land will be 
benefited, and the hogs fattened at the same time. 
Crossville, Tenn. w. u. s. 
Put the $200 Into Milch Cows. 
I would advise T. R. to try the southern cow pea on 
his slaty land. There are two varieties, Clay and 
Whippoorwill. I prefer the latter, as it pi’oduces more 
seed. I would plant in drills two feet apart, and cul¬ 
tivate. When mature, gather seed enough for the fol¬ 
lowing year, and turn hogs in ; after the vines are 
dead, turn under and sow to wheat. The next year, 
after the wheat is harvested, break, and sow 1% bushel 
to the acre broadcast, and either cut for hay when 
the first pods form, or use for pasture until frost, and 
then turn under and again seed to wheat. In this 
way, I am sure that he can increase the yield, and 
also keep up fertility. After the second year in peas, 
I don’t think that he will have any trouble in getting 
a stand of clover if sown in February or the first of 
March, when the ground is frozen. With butter at 
20 cents per pound, I would advise him to feed Jerseys 
or grades in preference to beef cattle. Build a silo, 
by all means; fill it with corn ensilage. Cut some 
pea vines when the first pods appear, let them lie as 
cut, three or four days, then windrow and haul to the 
barn. With the above feeds balanced up with bran 
and ground corn and cob, he will have a ration fit for 
the dairy queens. Save the manure and return it to 
the fields and he will not have to buy fertilizers. If 
he be economical and thrifty, I see no reason why he 
should not invest $200 more in 8 or 10 choice milch 
cows, for, with proper feed and care, they will soon 
pay it back. Last, but not least, he should subscribe 
for a good agricultural paper. The R. N.-Y. is good 
enough for anybody, and tell him to back it up with 
Hoard’s Dairyman, and he will prosper. T. M. c. 
Franklin, Tenn. 
It Is a Golden Opportunity. 
If I had T. R.’s golden opportunities, that is could 
realize 12% cents per dozen for eggs, and 20 cents per 
pound for butter the year ’round, I would get into the 
dairy and poultry business at the earliest possible 
moment. No doubt, like myself, he has an unlimited 
range of wild grass and cane eight months in the year ; 
this should make a large yield of milk and butter at a 
nominal cost for the eight months. Then his ensilage 
should keep up the flow of milk and yield of butter the 
remaining four months of the year. I would purchase 
Jersey stock, or at any rate, grade Jerseys, and by all 
means, Leghorn hens. I would save all stable manure, 
and apply to the 15 acres of land until it would catch 
and hold a fine stand of clover. I would save the first 
crop two years for hay, and the second crop for seed, 
returning the clover haulm to thin places on the 15 
acres. Then seed to wheat. The 27 acres of red lime¬ 
stone I would rotate, two years clover, then corn or 
Irish potatoes, then wheat and back to clover. Possi¬ 
bly land plaster would assist in getting a catch of 
clover on the 15 acres of slaty land, as it does help 
here on red clay points. T. R. gets too little for his 
fat steers; they should now and, in my opinion, for 
years, net 4% cents per pound in New Orleans, La., St. 
Louis, Mo., or Chicago, Ill., if they are fat and not 
scrubs. If I had taste, talent and tact for stock and 
poultry raising, I would want no better opportunity 
than T. R. has, provided always that, for several years 
hence, he could realize “12% cents per dozen for eggs 
and 20 cents per pound for butter the year ’round,” 
remembering always, that a crop well grown is only 
half-way to market. I mean by this, that he should 
realize top prices for all his farm products, and if he 
has energy, intellect and tact, and produce attractive 
and sterling products, he can do this. The average 
price annually here for eggs is 6 cents per dozen, 
butter, 12% cents per potrnd (virtually below cost of 
production). Debt is a demon, but with T. R.’s open¬ 
ing, I would not fear it. n. w. d. 
Hickman, Ky. _ 
IHf MftMEftSt/LUB 
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Fowls with a Cold. 
M. E. C., Richardson, 111 .—What ails my hens? A few of my 
last Spring’s pullets have their eyes running. The matter looks 
frothy on their eyes. Their heads, also, seem swollen, but their 
health seems good otherwise, and they are lively and have good 
appetites. Will they go blind ? Others, mostly young roosters, 
have a running at the nostrils which dries on the bill. They seem 
well otherwise. The pullets are in a moderately warm roost, and 
the roosters are not in quite as good a place, although there is 
not much draught in either. Is it the roup ? What can I do for 
them ? 
Ans.—Y es, it’s probably the roup. The words, “ not 
much draught,” tell the story. Hens should not be in 
a draught. They will often roost in trees all Winter, 
and come out all right in Spring ; but let them roost 
near a knot-hole or a crack between the boards, and 
immediately their heads swell, and they suffer from a 
severe cold. Dampness, especially if combined with a 
draught, produces the same condition. The fowls 
should be kept in a dry place, free from draught. A 
severe case of roup might better be treated with a 
sharp hatchet. Most ordinary cases will recover, if 
kept warm and dry, and well fed. Many are doctored 
to death. Some breeders say that roup is in the blood, 
and won’t bother to doctor sick birds. The R. N.-Y. 
has published numerous remedies during the past year. 
Have the ration well balanced. An exclusive corn 
diet is conducive to roup. In The R. N.-Y. of Novem¬ 
ber 20, F. W. Proctor gave the following : 
A simple discharge from the nostrils should be the signal to 
consider the condition of the flock, looking first to such lack of 
care as has led to it. If better housing or feed be indicated, these 
should be supplied. Disinfect the drinking water. Then watch 
for any symptoms of swelling about the head, and smell the 
breath to detect any foul odor. If these appear, remove to secluded 
quarters, for such specimens are invalids, and demand an iuva- 
lid’s care. If a hen groans aloud with every breath, it is a simple 
swelling of the larynx, and yields speedily to confinement in a 
barrel overnight, with a few shavings in the bottom to which a 
few spoonfuls of spirits of turpentine have been added, the bar¬ 
rel being covered loosely over the top. If a swelled head and 
foul odor indicate that an advanced stage of roup has set in, these 
will yield to local treatment, syringing the nostrils with a mild 
solution of carbolic acid. Let the diet for a day or two be hot 
milk, or custard, flavored, not too strongly, with red pepper. 
Administer this with a spoon, if not readily eaten. 
Roup is precisely identical with catarrh in human beings, with 
this distinction, that the hen cannot free the passages of the head 
from the accumulations, which soon become an active poison to 
the blood. Assimilation is suspended, and presently digestion 
and all other bodily functions cease, and starvation succeeds to 
blood poisoning. The resemblance to consumption in the human 
race is very marked; and we may say the same of the causes 
leading to it. It is apparent that local cleansing and disinfection 
of the affected parts, combined with a rich and easily-digested 
diet, should constitute the rational cure of roup. 
Effect of Food on Feather Color. 
X. Y. Z., New York .—In breeding white fowls for exhibition, will 
feeding yellow corn have a tendency to cause “ brassy ” plumage 
in the male birds ? If so, will they whiten out again if fed some¬ 
thing in place of the corn ? What would be a proper feed to cause 
them to have white plumage ? 
Ans. —The opinion is held by many that the char¬ 
acter of the food affects the color of the plumage, and 
this is, possibly, true to a certain extent. In some 
European countries, where the breeding and exhibi¬ 
tion of cage birds are given much greater attention 
than here, I am informed that color feeding is often 
practiced ; but not much is expected to be accomplished 
in this line except by feeding unnatural and often 
decidedly injurious rations at moulting time. It is 
not probable that any reasonable proportion of grain 
has any noticeable effect. I have had some nearly pure 
white cockerels among White Leghorns and White 
Wyandottes that had been fed yellow corn liberally. 
These were very noticeable among the rest of the 
birds, which, of course, mostly showed the common 
brassy and yellow feathers. Birds intended to be kept 
pure white should not be allowed in the hot sunshine. 
They should be kept in heavily shaded yards, or under 
shelter at moulting time, and afterward having only 
the direct sunlight at early morning or late afternoon. 
The plumage of birds that have become brassy cannot 
be improved much by feeding. I think that much more 
can be accomplished, and more satisfactorily, by care¬ 
ful breeding and selection than by food. With the 
White Hamburgs or White Minorcas, less trouble 
should be found in retaining the pure white. It is 
difficult to retain the bright orange yellow shank and 
bright yellow skin, associated with the chalky-white 
plumage, and very few birds in a flock will be entirely 
satisfactory in color. w. p. wheeler. 
Fertilizers for Orange Trees. 
L. B. 0., Daytona, Fla .—What per cent of phosphoric acid, nitro¬ 
gen and potash is found in average specimens of cotton-seed 
meal, fine ground bone, and sulphate of potash in available form? 
What is the per cent of the above elements in a mixture consist¬ 
ing of 300 pounds cotton-seed meal, 200 pounds ground bone, and 
50 pounds sulphate of potash ? What sort of balance would 
the above be for young orange trees ? 
Ans.—A verage cotton-seed meal contains 6% per 
cent nitrogen, 1% potash and 1% phosphoric acid. 
The mixture you mention would analyze as follows: 
Pounds. 
Nitrogen. 
Potash. 
Phos. 
300 
Cotton-seed meal. 
... 19*4 
5*4 
4*/* 
2(A) 
Hone. 
50 
50 
Sulphate potash.. 
• M - 
25 
— 
Total. 
... 26*4 
3014 
54*4 
This gives to the ton 4.8 per cent nitrogen, 5% potash 
and nearly 10 phosphoric acid. For average soils, we 
consider this mixture an expensive one. There is too 
much nitrogen and too little potash. We consider it 
a mistake to use nothing but organic nitrogen in fer¬ 
tilizing orange tr-ees. Part of the nitrogen would 
better be in the form of nitrate of soda. 
Montreal Muskme/ons in Market. 
R. B., Montreal, Canada. —Last summer, large quantities of our 
Montreal muskmelons were shipped from here to the leading 
hotels in New York, and some were sent as far south as Philadel¬ 
phia. What was the cause of this demand ? Was the muskmelon 
crop a failure in the States ? Or is there a special demand for 
these melons ? 
Ans. —There was a partial failure of our muskmelon 
crop last summer, and this gave the opportunity for 
other localities than those which usually supply our 
markets, to send their products here. In an ordinary 
season, there wouldn’t be so much of a demand, and 
prices wouldn't be so satisfactory, though there is 
always a demand for melons of extra quality. The 
quality of New Jersey melons was very poor last year, 
and the supply short as well. 
The White-Cap Dent Corn. 
R. M., Ballardsville, Ky. —In your trials of corn, how does Clark’s 
Early Mastodon dent compare with the White-cap dent for yield 
and earliness ? I planted some of the latter last year; it matured 
in 90 days, and the yield was but one-third that of our common 
field corn. 
Ans. —We planted seeds of the White-cap dent May 
23. Some of the kernels began to glaze August 14. 
The ears were mature September 14. The plants 
averaged 10 feet high, bearing but one ear, and this 
about midway. The ears averaged from 10 to 11 
inches long, and from 10 to 16 rows to the ear. The 
kernels are from small to medium in size. Clark’s 
Early Mastodon we did not try. 
Winter Maple Syrup. 
J. S., Sherborn, Mass. —What is the process of making the maple 
syrup found on the market early in the Winter, long before the sap 
is used or collected? Is it made from the sugar ? 
Ans. —The maple syrup which is found upon the 
market early in the Winter may be made in any one of, 
at least, three ways. In the first place, it may be the 
genuine syrup held in cold storage up to that time. I 
am to-day using upon my own table, a syrup made in 
the spring of 1896, which has been kept in a cool cel¬ 
lar, and which is still a very good article. Second, it 
may be made by the melting and reboiling of sugar, 
or, third, and far too common, it may be glucose syrup 
masquerading as maple. j. l. hills. 
Vermont Experiment Station. 
How Carefully Should We Handle Dynamite ? 
C. E., Waterloo, N. H .— Will Mr. Garrahan tell us how he hauls 
stores and handles the sticks of dynamite to prevent fatal explo¬ 
sions ? I want to make an assault with dynamite on the rocks on 
our lands, but I am afraid of the stuff. 
Ans. —There is no occasion for this nervous fear so 
many persons entertain regarding dynamite. There 
is far more danger in the exploders, or caps, that you 
stick the fuse in, than there is in the dynamite. If 
handled reasonably careful, there is no danger in 
using it, say for instance, about as carefully as you 
would eggs, to keep them from breaking. m. a. 
