1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
543 
quire much driving 1 , but some horses have been ill 
treated until they are difficult to manage and, of 
course, those unused to plowing will need some atten¬ 
tion. However, a large part of all this yelling at the 
team, jerking on the lines, etc., is needless. It is sur¬ 
prising how much a horse really knows, and how 
ready and willing he is to do just what is desired, if a 
little patience and care are used. Some men would 
be stubborn, too, if they were screamed at as the 
horses arc. w. w. H. 
Setting Sweet Potatoes. —I am interested in Hope 
Farm Notes, and wish to tell something about plant¬ 
ing sweet potatoes. There is too much labor in the 
way the U. F. folks planted them last Spring. I 
make my ridges about four feet from center to center, 
making them large and high, and leaving practically 
no soil between them. The land is plowed deeply 
twice, and well fined with the harrow some time be¬ 
fore planting begins. I make ridges with a one-horse 
plow, striking through firsts where the center of the 
ridge is to be ; then, in coming back, I plow this fur¬ 
row right back, always deep, throw a close back- 
furrow on this, and then plow a furrow on each side 
up on the ridge as close and high as possible. This 
makes a large ridge, mellow clear to the bottom. We 
make no holes or measurements, but simply take a 
handful of slips from the water in which they were 
placed on being drawn, grasp a slip in such a way 
that the crooked lower end will fit around the end of 
the index finger, and push it down into the 
mellow soil. On withdrawing the huger, 
enough fine soil will fall into the hole to 
cover the roots, and a hand follows with 
water pouring a pint dipperful to about six 
or eight plants. This washes the hole nearly 
full of mud, and sets it around the roots ad¬ 
mirably. We finish the job by raking a little 
dry earth around the plant. We set 5,000 
plants in this way last Spring, and it took 
just 21 slips to replant the patch. I have an 
A-shaped one-horse harrow, fortypenny nails 
for teeth (50 of them) with which I rake the 
top of the ridge before planting, and culti¬ 
vate the sides of the ridges afterwards. It 
■ is a good tool. !• «■ 
Lawrence County, Tenti. 
The Lady ok the .Ieksey. —The title.of 
one of Frank Stockton’s stories is, The Lady 
or the Tiger? The two friends shown in 
Fig. 253, reproduced from the Jersey Bulle¬ 
tin, certainly don’t show' anything suggestive 
of the spirit generally supposed to animate 
tigers. But we find it difficult to decide which 
we admire most, the gentle, fawn-like, bright¬ 
eyed Jersey, or the mistress who has so won 
the confidence of the timid animal, and be¬ 
tween whom such cordial relations exist. It 
is a pretty picture, and it is much more than 
that, for it speaks volumes of what may be 
accomplished by kindness in the care and 
handling of domestic animals. And who is 
better fitted to train these nervous, high- 
strung little beauties than woman ? The men 
will have to take a back seat. The picture is 
from a photograph of Mrs. W. F. Gilbert, of 
Texas, and her pet heifer. Texas is a great 
State in more ways than one, and with such 
combinations as this, will take no mean rank 
as a dairy State. 
Thrashers Mix Grain. —I have raised a white 
clialf wheat since 1882; it was originally abso¬ 
lutely pure, yet in 10 years, the traveling thrashers 
had mixed it so that I had to go into the standing 
grain and pick out heads to get it pure again. I have 
not raised any rye on the farm for 10 years until 
this year, but every year I have to go through my 
w heat and cut out rye donated me by the machine 
men. I once got a bad dose of rye after the machine 
had done four jobs between mine and the rye it 
brought me. Modern machines are more complicated 
than the old ones, and are more likely to carry rye or 
wheat among the screens or other internal arrange¬ 
ments, than the old ones were. Flail thrashing and 
the home fanning mill are the only ways to make 
sure that one does not mix varieties or carry rye to 
wheat or w'beat to rye. Our roller-mill men here will 
dock a man severely if he has much rye in his wheat, 
and a dock of five cents a bushel counts up when a 
man has a large crop. c. d. ly'on. 
Brown County, Ohio. 
Heading Off the Corn Worm.—L ast year, 1 noticed 
a suggestion to clip off the tips of the ears of early corn 
to prevent the ravages of the worms. The insect that 
lays the eggs that produce these worms does so very 
early in the life of the young ear, in the silk just at 
the tip of the husk. As soon as the corn germ is 
fertilized, which is surely aecomplished Avben the 
tassel of silk begins to turn dark, the clipping may 
bejdone. h. e. v. d. 
A TALK ABOUT GRASSES. 
THE VALUE OF SEED MIXTURES. 
Some Varieties Not Generally Used. 
[editorial correspondence. ] 
Part I. 
On June 13, I visited the grass farm of Peter Hender¬ 
son & Co. (the New York seedsmen), near Hackensack, 
N. J., and looked at the grasses they have growing 
there. This firm has been engaged in a long series of 
experiments in making up mixtures of grass seeds for 
hay and permanent pasture, and also for lawns. The 
underlying idea seems to be that these different 
grasses, having different root systems, will occupy 
the ground more fully if a number of different kinds 
are sown together. Also, that kinds differing in their 
season of maturity will give quicker results, as well 
as more permanent results, than will a seeding of one 
or two kinds. On the farm, are about 30 acres of these 
different grasses, some plots sown with single kinds 
only, to show the individual manner of growth, and 
others sown in mixture. A large number of plots 
consist of one-eighth acre each, some of them sown as 
far back as 1892, and now bearing heavy crops. 
The first piece we visited was one that was sown 
September 5, 1897, on thin, sandy soil. This part of 
the farm has had no fertilizer or manure during the 
time of its occupancy by the Messrs. Henderson. It 
has been enriched entirely with cow peas and Crimson 
“COQUETTE” AND HER MISTRESS. Fig. 253. 
clover, and was seeded with about three bushels per 
acre of Henderson’s Special Grass Mixture for Ilaj 7 
and Permanent Pasture for Light Soil. Mowing had 
begun in this plot, and it was so thick on the bottom 
that much difficulty was experienced in getting the 
mower through it. Some of the taller of the grasses 
were up to the shoulders of an ordinary man. It was 
estimated that this cutting would yield, at the very 
least, 2 % tonsperacre,of the very best of hay, superior 
to Timothy in feeding value. 
The soil was well prepared before sowing, and 
was simply rolled afterwards. The grasses that are 
prominent now, are the Italian (Lolium Italicum) and 
Euglish Rye (L. perenne), and these make up a larger 
part of the first cutting. These are very quick grow¬ 
ing and maturing grasses, and little of them will be 
seen after this year, others more permanent coming 
on to take their places. This mixture is said to con¬ 
tain about a dozen different kinds of grass, but none 
of their mixtures contains any Timothy, for, being 
nearly two weeks later, it does not mix w6ll with the 
earlier grasses. 
The earliness of the grasses as compared with Tim¬ 
othy is a desirable feature, as the haying season comes 
on at a time when there is little pressing work going 
on, coming on after the last plantings of corn and 
other late crops, and the hay is all in the barn before 
grain harvest. 
To the farmer who is prejudiced in favor of the old 
combination of clover and Timothy, this hay crop is 
well worthy of a study. Few of the old-time methods 
of seeding will give an amount of hay equal to this 
first cutting, and it is said that, after the hay is off, 
the grasses will start up again so quickly that fine 
pasturage will be afforded, or at least \ % ton per acre 
more hay may be cut in August or September. 
The one-eighth acre plots mentioned are on a dry 
and stony hillside, where one would expect to see very 
poor results in grass. Many of these were sown six 
yeai’s ago this coming Fall, and have had one dressing 
of commercial fertilizer and bone, clearly showing 
the permanent nature of these grasses, as a plot of 
Timothy sown at the same time ran out and was 
plowed up and reseeded a year ago. Two interesting 
plots growing side by side were sown with the same 
mixture, one with American-saved seed, the other 
with imported seed of the same grasses. At- the pres¬ 
ent time, the American mixtuie shows up much the 
better, and will easily cut now on this dry, stony 
soil, 2K to 3 tons of excellent fine hay per acre. The 
hay on all these plots is tine, none of it coarse and 
woody. 
The amount of seed recommended of these mixtures 
is three bushels per acre. A large number of plots 
have been sown with varying amounts of seed, and 
after extended trials, three bushels proves to give the 
best results of any quantity. In one plot it was 
noticed that the Permanent Meadow Mixture 
which was sown last year in x\pril, was cut 
late in July, again in September. Ryegrasses 
are now grown from this plot, and the Tall 
Oat grass and Orchard grass arc coming on. 
Medium and Alsike clovers are used to some 
extent in this mixture, the Alsike being con- 
sidei'ed specially valuable for low, moist situ¬ 
ations. _ F. II. v. 
THE DREADED ASPARAGUS RUST. 
LATEST NEWS ABOUT IT. 
What It Is. —During the past two years, 
asparagus growers in several sections of the 
country have been seriously troubled by a 
fungous disease commonly known as Aspai- 
agus rust. Until 1896, there were very few 
complaints of this trouble. During that year, 
there was an unusual outbreak of the rust, 
which at the time seemed to be limited to 
New England, Long Island, New Jersey and 
Delaware. All the fields that were badly 
infested in 1896 appear to have been worse 
in 1897. The disease now appears in the 
southern Atlantic States, but the interior 
and western part of the United States seems 
to be free from it. 
A great many inquiries concerning this dis¬ 
ease have been made by growers, who have 
addressed the botanists and mycologists of 
the experiment stations, and the matter is 
treated quite fully by Dr. Halsted in Bulletin 
No. 129 of the New Jersey Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. According to this bulletin, the general 
appearance of a field badly infested with rust 
is that of an extremely early maturing of 
the plant. Instead of the ordinary green 
color, there is a brown hue, as though the 
vitality were destroyed. The rusted plants, 
when examined closely, are found to have the 
skin of the stems lifted in little blisters, 
and within these ruptures of the skin the 
color is brown. This brown color is- due to 
multitudes of spores borne on the tips of tine threads, 
which form in clusters in certain points. The threads 
from which the spores are produced are very tiny, but 
grow through the substance of the stem, causing an 
enfeebled condition of the plant. These spores are 
carried by the wind to other plants, and in Autumn, 
a final form of spore appears, almost black in color. 
There is another form assumed by the fungus which 
may be found in early Spring. This is called the 
“cluster-cup stage”, so named because the fungus 
produces minute cups from the asparagus stems, mak¬ 
ing, usually, an oval spot easily seen without a mag¬ 
nifying glass. This stage of the fungus comes first in 
the series, and is met upon volunteer plants that may 
grow aloDg the roadside, or in a field where old aspar¬ 
agus plants have not been destroyed. “ This form of 
the rust last year,” says Dr. Halsted, “ was quite 
common in vineyards and orchards set upon old 
asparagus fields, where plants near the trees or trel¬ 
lises, out of reach of the cultivator, were allowed to 
grow.” We would infer from this that it is always 
unwise to allow the asparagus to propagate itself as 
a weed anywhere about the farm or garden. 
Wliat is Done For It. —Various trial plots of 
asparagus at the experiment stations were treated 
with different fertilizers, and sprayed with various 
fungicides, namely: Bordeaux Mixture, soda-Bor- 
deaux, hydrate, and potash-Bordeaux. It was the 
