688 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 8 
June, and a heavy crop of buckwheat in September. 
The season has been very favorable or this could not 
have been done, having- had several rains of over 1% 
inch each during the Summer. thos. h. Douglas. 
Illinois. 
San Jose Scale on Long Island. —At the Queens 
County Fair last week, I found that the San Jos6 scale 
had sp r ead to many orchards where not before seen. 
Heretofore, only one exhibitor has had it on fruit 
shown. This year, four exhibits were badly infested. 
On cal'ing their attention to it, the exhibitors were 
surprised. Yes, they had heard of it, but did not 
know it. It seems so small and innocent-looking, that 
they cannot realize that it is so formidable. There 
needs to be much missionary work on the Island, or 
fruit growing will get a great shock. All to whom 
the scale was shown promised to wage a war against 
it. I shall send to all of them literature on the 
pest, and hope that they will heed its cautions and 
do the work. N. iiallock. 
Precocious Florida Trees. —The article on Florida 
groves on page 622 may prove misleading to a great 
many of the readers of Tiie R. N.-Y. A tree taken 
from the nursery must be planted at least five years 
before it will produce profitable crops, or even pay 
the cost of fertilizing and working. I have no doubt 
that the orange and grape fruit mentioned bore fruit 
as soon as they did, but not a profitable crop. A num¬ 
ber of varieties of orange and grape fruit trees are 
noted for early bearing, and will even bloom and bear 
in the nursery ; but the crop will be proportioned to 
the size of the tree. It would be a great deal better 
to pick the blossoms off such small trees, as the early 
bearing is at the expense of the growth of the tree. 
Eustis, Fla. _ o. h. s. 
HOW SHALL WE WASH EGGS ? 
DOES SOAKING INJURE THEM ? 
It is stated by the New York Produce Review that eggs sent to 
this market are often injured by washing. It is said that, when 
a dirty egg is soaked in water sufficient to enable one to remove 
the dirt on it, “a substance which ordinarily fills pores in the 
lime, of which the shell is mostly composed, becomes dissolved, 
subjecting the inside of the egg to the destructive effect of the 
air.” This paper says that, in warm weather, wet eggs soon 
decay, and that some of the washed eggs received were almost 
worthless, while candled, dirty eggs were worth a good price 
Will you tell us what you think about this proposition ? Has it 
been your experience that -washing eggs or soaking them to re¬ 
move the dirt, renders them more liable to decay ? 
Washed Eggs Frailer. — I have not handled eggs 
for some time, but my experience was that the washed 
eggs have a f'ailer shell, and always struck me as 
though the shells were of a more porous nature. But 
I believe that the washing can be so done as to avoid 
this. A dealer would, probably, prefer the unwashed 
eggs, but the retail customer wants a clean, bright 
egg every time—no downy feathers attached or any 
fertilizer in the vicinity. k. nelson ehriiart. 
It Depends oil the Stain. —There is, on a newly- 
laid egg, a well-recognized “fresh bloom” (if I may 
use the term), that cannot be imitated or restored. So 
far as my experience teaches, I find that, when an egg 
is soiled, no amount of washing will entirely remove 
the coloring matter or stain. The objectionable mat¬ 
ter seems to enter the shell so as to be beyond the 
reach of a solvent. Whether such matter affects the 
contents of the shells so as to cause decomposition, I 
am not prepared to state ; but I doubt whether such 
is the case, as the stains from ordinary filth go in but 
slightly. A mark on an egg used for incubation made 
with black ink, however, penetrated to the contents, 
a fact which I discovered by examining the egg after 
boiling it. Pencil marks do no harm. No doubt much 
depends on the nature of the substance staining the 
eggs. P. H. JACOBS. 
Always Washes the Eggs.— The New York 
Produce Review may take its eggs dirty if it likes, 
but I shall continue to ship mine clean. I have been 
producing about •1,000 dozens a month for years, and 
every egg goes into a pan of lukewarm water as soon 
as it is gathered out of the nest. All dirt is easily 
removed after the eggs have been allowed to lie in the 
warm water a few minutes, and the heat imparted to 
the egg by the warm water causes it to dry quickly, 
and gives it that fresh appearance peculiar to a new- 
laid egg. If the water hurts their keeping quality, I 
have never heard of it. This testimony, probably, has 
little value, as my eggs get into consumers’ hands be¬ 
fore they have time to spoil. A few years ago, I filled 
a few glass fruit cans with eggs, and then filled the 
cans with sterilized water at a temperature of 155 de¬ 
grees, sealing immediately. Eggs thus treated in 
December were in perfect condition after four months. 
The most expert candler I could find in the city said 
that they would pass anywhere for new-laid eggs, and 
Dr. W. E. Douglas, of Middletown, to whom I sent 
some, had them poached for his dinner table, and says 
that no one at his table could tell them from best 
new-laid eggs. The shells were in perfect condition 
so far as we could see, and the air cells smaller, if any¬ 
thing, than in a new-laid egg. I also tried some in 
the same way during the Summer, but the water and 
eggs soon became tainted. From this I conclude that, 
although as stated in the New York Produce Review, 
“wet eggs soon decay in warm weather ”, the cause 
is found in the “ warm weather” and not in the “ wet 
eggs”. o. w. MAFKS. 
Keep Eggs Dry.—The New York Produce Review 
is right. Eggs certainly are injured by washing. 
They will not keep so well or hatch so well as un¬ 
washed eggs. At least such has been my experience. 
The best that can be done for a soiled egg is to wipe 
it with a dry cloth, and, if the matter is important, 
carefully rasp the thickest of the dirt off with coarse 
sand paper. If an egg is washed in either cold or 
warm water, it will be noticed at once that the 
“bloom” has disappeared, and a careful egg buyer 
would at once pronounce it a stale egg. If only the 
fourth part of an egg shell is unsoiled, that part will 
show that the egg is fresh, because the “ bloom” will 
be there. If you want eggs to keep well or hatch 
well, I would advise you to keep them out of water. 
Don’t even rub them with a damp cloth. Keep them 
dry. _ FRED GRUNDY. 
FARMING IN NEW ENGLAND. 
“ LET US LOOK UNTO THE HILLS.” 
Something Wrong. —We have just been interview¬ 
ing a man who has traveled extensively throughout 
New England, chiefly in Massachusetts, going from 
house to house among farmers. We asked him what 
he thought about the prospect for the small New Eng¬ 
land farmer. 
“ Something is fundamentally wrong with agricul¬ 
ture in this part of the country,” he says. “ Certain 
it is, that practically the only farmers who are suc¬ 
ceeding in a moderate degree, are those who are kill¬ 
ing themselves doing it.” 
“ What do you mean by that ? ” 
“ I mean that the successful men are generally 
those that are hustling from 12 to 17 hours a day, and 
who have the appearance of old men before they 
are 50.” 
“ What seems to be the chief reason for it ?” 
“ Almost every man I meet has some special reason 
of his own, but the fundamental trouble seems to be 
that the farmer, from his peculiar position, is unable, 
unlike the manufacturer or tradesman, to make the 
price of his product above the cost of production.” 
“ That seems strange talk from New England, 
where one supposed that the home markets in towns 
and cities gave farmers an advantage.” 
What Is the Matter? —“ Even here, farmers meet 
with fierce competition. In nine cases out of ten, 
when a farmer buys at a store, the question is asked, 
How much is it ? When he has anything to sell, this 
question is reversed, and the query he asks is, How 
much will you give ? This tells the whole story, and 
country people generally will understand it.” 
“ What other reason can you give ?” 
“ With us, another trouble is that farmers are pay^ 
ing a great deal more than a fair share of taxes. It 
is hard for the average farmer to see the difference 
between footing the bill for the village people’s water 
system, sewer, fire department and sidewalk, and set¬ 
tling the bill for another man’s groceries. Farm prop¬ 
erty in rural New England is, too often, heavily 
assessed to pay for improvements in the town or vil¬ 
lage, and the farmer does not receive compensating 
advantages.” 
“ Then, you say, that New England agriculture is 
at a low ebb ? ” 
“In one way, farming in New England is enjoying 
the greatest degree of success. I am certain that most 
of the farms in my town are producing more than 
double the crops of 20 years ago. The ship of agricul¬ 
ture is coaled for a long trip. She is making lots of 
steam, her hull is strong, and she is manned by a brave 
and intelligent crew, but in spite of this, she is sinking, 
from a dozen great and jagging leaks. What we need 
to-day is the man wdth the wit to find them, and the 
intelligent courage to stop them.” 
Farmers Who Succeed. —“But, do we not hear 
every now and then of special farmers who are making 
small fortunes on the farm ? ” 
“ Yes, we frequently hear truthful stories of men 
who, for one reason and another, are succeeding far 
beyond the success of their neighbors. For instance, 
several weeks ago, The R. N.-Y. had a report of the 
peacfi orchards of Mr. Hines. They are unusual, be¬ 
cause they afford the spectacle here in New England, 
of a man devoting all his energies to a single specialty.” 
“ Is that the secret of his success ?” 
“ Partly, but not wholly ; neither is it due to im¬ 
proved methods alone. In my opinion, the one word 
location is the keynote of it all. If he had not located 
as he has, on a hillside, the chances are that he would 
have failed as utterly as others have done, and the 
latter carefully set and carefully tended their peach 
trees. I know of another orchard located on the hills 
like that of Mr. Hines, but set in a tough grass sod, 
and never properly cultivated or fertilized ; yet it is 
bearing its fourth successful crop, and most of the 
trees are good for several years. These are not fancy 
peaches, to be sure, yet good ones, which bring fair 
prices in the local market. I think it likely that 
there are many better orchardists than the owner of 
this orchard, that would envy him this moderate 
success. My opinion is that there are hundreds of 
acres of hilltop pasture in Massachusetts, which often 
offer to their owners their only hope of salvation, in 
the peach business. ‘ Let us look unto the hills' ”. 
THE COMPOSITION OF AN EGG. 
CAN IT BE CHANGED BY FOOD ? 
There has been a good deal of controversy between 
the scientific men and the practical men, about the in¬ 
fluence of food on the quality of milk. Most practical 
men believe that they can produce a richer milk by 
feeding certain foods, like corn meal, than they can by 
feeding bran or oats. The scientific men deny this. 
They say that each cow in ordinary health will pro¬ 
duce a certain quality of milk, and that this quality 
cannot be largely changed by changing the food. The 
scientific men seem to have the best of it because they 
have analyzed and examined their milk carefully, 
and know just exactly how much butter fat it con¬ 
tains. 
Now a similar question comes up in regard to eggs. 
Some poultrymen claim that, when they feed large 
quantities of meat, their hens lay eggs richer in pro¬ 
tein or muscle-making materials than when corn or 
similar grains are fed. If this is true, a practical man 
might be able to obtain considerable profit from it. 
By producing eggs stronger in protein than others, he 
could certainly secure a first-class market and a great 
reputation for his product. In tracing the matter 
down, we find that the practical men have no actual 
proof for their assertion. Their claims are based 
chiefly on the taste of the egg, or what ought to he ac¬ 
cording to their reasoning. The scientific men have 
not given much attention to the subject, and the fol¬ 
lowing seems to be about all that has been learned 
concerning it : 
Prof. W. P. Wheeler, of Geneva, says that, by an¬ 
alysis, he finds but little difference in the amount of 
protein contained in different eggs. This difference 
seems to vary more with the breed than with the 
food. In one test, a lot of hens fed largely upon meat, 
laid eggs which averaged 12.79 per cent of protein ; 
another lot fed considerable corn, averaged 12.78. He 
believes, however, that considerable difference might 
be found, for the per cent of ash, which consisted 
largely of phosphoric acid, was about twice as great 
in the eggs of one lot as in those of the other. He 
says that the per cent of fat in the egg varied some¬ 
what, but this difference had little relation to breed 
or to the food. One egg had 9.1 per cent of fat, while 
another had 12.4. Other investigations are in hand at 
Geneva, which, when completed, may throw more 
light on this subject. Efforts will be made to see 
whether eggs from which the most vigorous chicks 
hatch contain more protein than others. 
Prof. Harry Snyder, of Minnesota, made a short 
trial a few years ago, and makes the following report 
concerning it: 
On same kind of food 
(meat scraps, corn, etc.) 
Lot 1. Lot 2. 
Per cent. Per cent. 
White— Dry matter. 9.70 9.60 
Total nitroRen (or dry matter). 14.02 13.97 
Yolk— Dry matter. 54.51 48.52 
Nitrogen (or dry matter). 4.99 4.88 
Nitrogenous Non-nitro- 
ration genous 
(meat scraps), ration. 
Lot 1. Lot 2. 
Per cent. Per cent. 
White— Dry matter. 7.95 9.78 
Total nitrogen (or dry matter) 14.23 13.71 
Yolk—D ry matter. 55.50 58.34 
Nitrogen (or dry matter). 4.90 4.80 
He says that, when fed on the same ration, there 
are differences to be observed. When fed on different 
rations, the differences are much greater, showing 
that, to a slight extent, the food does influence the 
general composition of the egg. It would seem, from 
the little we know about the subject, that the com¬ 
position of the egg might be varied by a change of 
food to a greater extent than the milk of the cow 
could be changed by varying the ration. 
A number of our readers who raise cauliflowers in a 
small way, want to know how the large growers on 
Long Island and elsewhere fight the green worms 
that are so destructive to this plant. Most of these 
growers report that they have no regular remedy, and 
do not atte mpt to fight the worm. They expect to 
lose a number of heads every year from this cause, 
and trust rather to strong plants and heavy fertil¬ 
izing to push the plants ahead. 
