189 ! 
3o7 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
Sweet Butter. —I saw this sign in one commission 
house. It meant unsalted butter. I asked the mer¬ 
chant if there was much sale for it. He said, “ No, 
some people like it, and I can generally get a little 
higher price from them than for salted butter; but 
the demand is not large, and no great quantity could 
be sold at any price, as most people don’t like it at all. 
I prefer salted butter that has a good flavor to it for 
my own use ”, That tells the whole story. No use in 
trying to make and sell that kind of butter, or any 
other special product unless there is a demand for it. 
It’s easier to supply an existing demand than to try to 
create a new one ! Of course, it’s a good idea to educate 
customers along certain lines. 
X X X 
Wiiat Packages for Fruits? —A Georgia plum 
grower, rather new to the business, inquires what 
packages he shall use to ship his fruit, where he can 
get them, and to whom he can ship. These are old, 
old, often-asked and often-answered questions, but in 
hopes to get something new, I submitted them to a 
number of wholesale handlers and jobbers. The an¬ 
swers were almost unanimous. As to packages, the 
invariable reply was, “ Tell him to visit his neighbors 
who are shipping, and see the 8-till carriers they use, 
then get the same, only be sure to fill them full, and 
the bottom baskets as full as those on top ”. I asked 
whether it would be any advantage to wrap each plum 
in paper. “ No, they are too plentiful, and prices are 
too low to make it possible; the growers simply 
couldn't afford to do it. But filling the baskets better 
will make more difference in sales and prices.” The 
question as to where the packages could be procured 
was answered by the suggestion often made in these 
columns, that in every fruit-growing region there are 
manufacturers who supply just the packages needed. 
The demand brings the supply. In general, then, 
these new beginners are pretty safe in following the 
lead of the older and successful growers, as to pack¬ 
ages, markets, etc. In most of these localities, the 
growers would do better to combine, and thus secure 
better shipping advantages, and give each other 
the help, information and strength possible through 
cooperation. The advantages of cooperation among 
fruit growers are well shown in the results accom¬ 
plished by the fruit growers at Hammonton, N. J., 
which were described in The R. N.-Y. last Summer. 
X X X 
Evaporated Raspberries. —We have received a 
letter on this subject from a reader in that hotbed of 
raspberry growers, Wayne County, N. Y. It states 
that thousands of acres in that and adjoining coun¬ 
ties have been set to these berries for evaporating 
purposes. Prices have been going lower continually, 
though hopes have been entertained that better prices 
would return. But they are now so low as to be 
below the cost of production. Growers have been 
told that the larger part of the evaporated berries 
have been used in mining districts in place of butter, 
and that now the miners are using jelly in place of 
the berries. The inquirer wishes to be informed of 
the real facts of the case, and to know what the pres¬ 
ent situation and future outlook are. Realizing that 
this is a matter of vital importance to thousands of 
berry growers, and perhaps the same conditions might 
apply to other thousands of growers of other fruits, I 
made careful inquiries on the subject. I found that 
the market for evaporated raspberries is practically 
flat; there is almost no sale for them at any price. 
Some of the causes contributing to this condition are 
general, affecting all classes of dried fruits. Supplies 
of green fruits, preferable, of course, as a general 
thing, to dried fruits, are larger, and are to be had 
throughout a longer period each year, practically now 
during the whole year. California and the South are 
now filling the markets of all our great cities and 
most of the smaller towns during nearly every month 
of the year. Then great quantities of bananas are 
sold and consumed every day of the year, and the 
larger part of these fresh fruits are sold at much 
lower prices. Again, the canning of fruits has been 
brought to a high state of perfection, and the cheap¬ 
ness with which this work is now done, brings the 
price within the reach of the masses, many of whom 
prefer these to dried fruits. The manufacture of jel¬ 
lies has, also, become an enormous business. Were 
these all made from the fruits they profess to be, it 
would not be so bad; but it is common report that 
many of them are made of g’ucose and various com¬ 
binations, and the prices at which they are sold make 
them formidable competitors, not only of evaporated, 
but of fresh fruits as well. These causes all tend to 
depress the dried fruit industry. The causes assigned 
for the low prices of evaporated raspberries, especially, 
are, in addition to the above, overproduction, the cut¬ 
ting off of some markets, Cuba among others, and 
combinations among dealers in raspberries in the en¬ 
deavor to raise or maintain prices ; the last has caused 
buyers to turn their attention to other fruits, and as 
there is a wide range in kinds, and a large and con¬ 
tinuous supply, it has not been difficult to get substi¬ 
tutes. This, in brief, is the situation as gleaned from 
various sources. There are some stocks of raspber¬ 
ries in this city for which no reasonable offer can be 
obtained, and much as it is to be regretted, the out¬ 
look certainly is not at all encouraging. f. ir. v. 
AMERICAN EXPORTS OF PLANT FOOD. 
HOW WE ARK SENDING OUR SOIL ABROAD. 
There is one side of our foreign trade in agricultural 
products that is not usually considered, viz., the loss 
or gain in plant food. A dairy farmer selling only 
butter and pork, and buying bran and cotton-seed 
meal, knows that his farm is increasing in fertility, 
because the butter takes but little plant food away. 
A farmer selling hay and grain, and buying little if 
any fertilizer, must know that his farm is being 
drained of its fertility. How is it with the United 
States as a nation ? The following tables will show 
how much plant food was sent abroad in 1897, in a 
few leading articles of export, and how much was 
brought back : 
POUNDS OF PLANT FOOD IN EXPORTS. 
Nitrogen. Potash. Phos. acid. 
Barley. 27,808,082 5,008,18-4 8,-112,726 
Corn and meal.175,043,018 40,009,830 00,014,754 
Oats and oatmeal. .. 26,210,274 7,804,882 10,480,499 
Rye. 4,725,289 1,350,082 2,100,110 
Wheat.111,658,820 23,808,000 42,953,490 
Flour. 65,079,441 14,278,154 17,133,784 
Apples (fresh Adr’d) 590,977 909,350 45,407 
Hay. 1,738,755 1,911,398 332,953 
Heat. 5,733,900 . 14,309,902 
Blitter. 37,614 15,538 15,538 
Cheese. 2,002,123 50,942 305,667 
Cottonseed. 730,516 310,722 332,075 
Live animals. 15,595,224 1,039,371 15,595,224 
Potatoes. 117,905 255,794 66,718 
Total.440,138,198 97,503,159 152,165,513 
POUNDS OF PLANT FOOD IMPORTED. 
Nitrogen. Potash. Phos. acul. 
Barley. 1,008,301 356,100 569,760 
Corn. 6,380 1,402 2,208 
Oats and oatmeal.. 62,049 18,675 24,699 
Wheat. 2,172,286 552,276 819,209 
Flour. 9,746 2,381 2,613 
Potash salts. 2,563,683 60,088,857 . 
Nitrate of soda. 26,665,920 . . 
Hay and straw. 2,646,852 3,909,660 506,844 
Potatoes. 47,266 95,944 16,724 
Total. 34,302,483 65,024,295 1,942,047 
These figures do not include the immense quantities 
of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid exported last 
year in the 3,103,754,940 pounds of cotton that left our 
shores. We imported 350,852,02(5 pounds of wool, which 
contained 17,945,008 pounds of nitrogen, 18,646,802 
pounds of potash and 24,559 pounds of phosphoric 
acid, which is not directly available as plant food. 
This will give us an idea of the vast quantities of 
plant food that have been sent out of America since 
the war. We have only one side of the case to pre¬ 
sent this week. The value of the butter exported 
was $4,493,364, and of the cheese, $4,636,063, yet see 
how much more plant food was sent in the cheese— 
over 60 times as much nitrogen. Our total exports of 
wheat were worth $59,920,178; of flour, $55,914,347; 
of corn, $54,087,152, and of meat, $84,476,298. A single 
pound of butter contains but one-fiftieth of an ounce 
of nitrogen, yet it requires 118 tons of nitrate of soda, 
or over 3,500 tons of average barnyard manure to 
make good the loss in our total exports of butter. 
Every live steer weighing 1,000 pounds that was 
carried abroad, took with him 26J<j pounds of nitrogen. 
1.7 pound of potash, and 18.6 pounds of phosphoric 
acid. The grain and hay which he represented, if 
sent instead of the steer, would have taken, at least 
five times as much nitrogen, 20 times as much potash, 
and eight times as much phosphoric acid. These figures 
show the importance, from a fertilizing standpoint, of 
sending our food products abroad in a manufactured 
form. When we send meat and flour in the place of 
whole grain and hay, we save a large proportion of 
the plant food for use on our own farms. The waste 
and refuse of our grain food should be kept at home 
as far as possible. 
Perhaps the greatest fertility drain on any single 
section is that which the cotton crop gives to the 
southern States. The cotton exports in 1897 carried 
away from this country 15,518,770 pounds of nitrogen, 
40,348,802 pounds of potash, and 49,660,094 pounds of 
phosphoric acid, while but few of the imports contain¬ 
ing plant food went back to make up for the loss. It 
will be seen that corn is the most exhausting crop 
that we send abroad, with wheat next. We give away 
more pounds of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid 
in a dollar’s worth of corn than in any other product 
that leaves our shores. With these figures for a basis, 
we hope to refer later to some interesting things con¬ 
nected with our exports of plant food. 
THE SIZE OF POTATO SEED. 
We have had some little discussion this year about 
the proper size for cutting potato seed. Potatoes are 
worth twice as much as they were last year, and there 
is a general tendency to cut much finer. In talking 
this matter over,-two questions have been asked : 
1. Does a potato sprout draw any nourishment from 
the soil until after a, leaf is unfolded t 
2. How does a very small eye furnish enough food, to 
grow a stalk to the surface? 
These are questions that hundreds of farmers have 
asked themselves. We don’t care to guess at them 
when there are men who devote their lives to study¬ 
ing such things. Dr. B. D. Halsted, of New Jersey, 
has this to say about it: 
Roots and Green Leaves. 
It is written that there are two things necessary for the estab¬ 
lishment of a plant in the soil, so that it will do its own work; 
namely, the development of a root system, and the production 
above ground of a leaf and stem system. It is impossible to de¬ 
termine the exact point where a potato plant that has come from 
a seed potato planted in the soil begins the work of elaborating 
its own nourishment; but it, speaking generally, is after the root 
has begun to absorb soil water, and the green portion of stem 
and leaf or leaves above ground is changing the crude sap into 
elaborated material, fu short, it can be safely said that a potato 
sprout is feeding, so to say, upon the soil as soon as there is 
greenness of the stem and leaves. 
Your second question is, perhaps, answered in the above. By 
the term “ eye ”, it is understood that you mean not only the bud, 
but the surrounding portion of the tuber that has been planted 
with the eye or bud. This surrounding portion is made up very 
largely of starch, and this starch is used in the production of the 
stalk or stem, which elongates and brings the leaves that It will 
bear into the air and sunshine. If the eye is planted without the 
surrounding food substance, it will not grow to any great extent, 
therefore not produce a stalk of any great length. 
It seems to me that the whole matter will be clear if you bear 
in mind that the potato is a structure very richly endowed with 
elaborated food substance, from which stems and other parts of 
the potato plant may be produced, and that a stem of a foot or 
more in length will not contain as much dry matter as the 
piece of potato from which it has derived its substance. These 
long, slender shoots that grow out from potatoes in a dark room, 
or one that is lighted by a single window, are very watery, and 
when the dry substance is obtained, there is little surprise that 
so long a stalk could come from so small a potato. 
l’rof. H. L. Bollcy, of North Dakota, who gave the 
public the idea of soaking seed to prevent scab, says : 
The Sprout Mostly Water. 
Physiological information is such that I think we are safe in 
saying that very little actual food material is constructed from 
inorganic materials taken from the soil before the leaves are 
exposed to the light upon the young plant. It must be remem¬ 
bered that the food material in the potato tuber is very con¬ 
densed, so that a very small piece of the tuber attached to the 
eye will furnish much substance for actual growth, when supplied 
with soil moisture and proper conditions. Roots do penetrate 
the soil before the plants come up, and certainly take up large 
quantities of water and mineral foods. As water constitutes a 
large portion of the bulk of the potato sprout, this may account 
for a good deal of question. I do not believe that there is any 
information which will allow us to say that the potato sprout 
actually increases in dry weight previous to the action of light 
upon the leaves. However, as it is a special case, I would not 
care to write for publication without some experimental evi¬ 
dence. It is possible that there may be some metabolism of 
inorganic matter before the action of light; not much, however, 
from a practical standpoint. Some inorganic salts, certainly, 
will be taken up by the roots. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Ik you want pigs, you will find a nice strain offered by Mr. L. F. 
Doolittle, Ouaquaga, N. Y. 
If a cow’s turnipy breath is in evidence in the milk pail, it can 
all be removed by the use of the Perfection milk cooler and aer¬ 
ator, manufactured by L. R. Lewis, Cortland, N. Y. This little 
machine will add largely to the keepiugTjualities of milk. 
Tub practice of dipping sheep after shearing is becoming quite 
general. There is no doubt about the benefits. For information 
about it, send- name and address to Willm. Cooper & Nephews 
Galveston, Tex. Their little book gives the necessary informa¬ 
tion about dipping, as well as their claims for the value of then- 
particular dip which, by the way, is a good and safe one. 
The Eclipse corn planter, formerly made by a firm in New 
Hampshire, is now owned and manufactured by the Belcher & 
Taylor Agricultural Tool Co., Chicopee Falls, Mass. This imple¬ 
ment plants a variety of crops, and distributes the fertilizer 
at the same time. It plants in hills, drills and checks, opens the 
furrows, drops seed and fertilizers, and covers ail at once. It is 
a very excellent little implement at a reasonable price. The 
manufacturers will be glad to give all information about it. 
Few things for which the farmer spends money pay such sure 
and large profits as good machinery. In this connection, the 
latest catalogue of Heneh & Dromgold, York, Pa., is full of time¬ 
saving and money-saving suggestions. It contains descriptions 
of the latest improved farm tools, harrows, cultivators, planters, 
drills, etc. This house is, probably, the largest manufacturer of 
harrows in the country, if indeed not in the world. The best way 
to know what is latest and best in the harrow line and, indeed, in 
other lines of farm machinery, is to send for the catalogue. 
The Aspinwall Mfg. Co., Jackson, Mich., make a potato planter 
that comes very close to possessing brains made of steel. One 
man drives—the machine does the rest, opening the furrow, 
dropping the fertilizer, putting down the seed, and covering it 
and marking out the next row. All you have to do is to keep 
the seed-hopper and the fertilizer-box filled. The machine can, 
also, be arranged to drop corn, beans and ensilage corn accu¬ 
rately and well. No one can tell, without trying it, how handy 
such a machine will prove on a farm of average size. It magnifies 
hand power, and transfers the strain from human to horse back 
The Aspinwall Company send some fine pamphlets free. 
Farmers realize more and more the necessity of thoroughly 
fitting the soil before planting the seed. At first thought, it may 
seem absurd to speak of cultivating the crop before it is planted, 
yet this is what modern farmers are doing. All crops require a 
firm, level seed-bed. We must tear and shake up the soil in ordt r 
to let the air and sunshine into it: but last of all, the upper sui - 
face must be crushed and firmed if we expect the seed to start 
well. No other tool does this last work so well as the Acme har¬ 
row. It crushes, levels and smooths down the surface, leaving it 
in excellent shape for the seed. We are using it on all ground 
for the last touch before seeding, and find it invaluable. Send 
to Duane H. Nash, Millington, N. J., for pamphlets and circulars. 
