768 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 12 
THE STORY OF A "STUMP POWDER 
One of our readers saw an advertisement in an 
agricultural paper offering what is called the Acme 
Stump Compound for destroying stumps. He wrote 
for particulars, and after some delay, received a letter 
containing the following directions for destroying 
stumps: 
Directions for use of the 
ACME STUMP COMPOUND-EUROPEAN FORMULA. 
In the Autumn, bore in the center of the stump a vertical hole 
of 1 to 1J4 inch in diameter, and about 18 inches deep; put in 1 to 
1*4 ounce of Acme Compound, fill with water and then plug the 
hole tight. 
In the ensuing Spring, take out the plug, pour in about 10 
ounces of petroleum and ignite it. The stump will smoulder away 
without blazing, to the very extremities of the roots, leaving 
nothing but ashes. 
The letter also stated that this formula was fur¬ 
nished by “ the eminent chemist of a European agri¬ 
cultural college.” (Too bad he didn’t get an American 
chemist to furnish it!) The man said that it had not 
been tried in this country, but so great was his faith 
in it, that he would use it freely if necessary. This 
remarkable guarantee seemed to be all that he had to 
offer in that line. He offered to send a trial can of 
one pound on receipt of SI. We have had some little 
experience in trying to get rid of stumps, and we 
know that farmers are looking for some cheap and 
effective way of clearing stumpy land. In order to 
learn something more about the possibilities of this 
compound, we wrote some of our agricultural chem¬ 
ists asking them if any powder or compound would 
be likely to do what this man claims. The two fol¬ 
lowing replies are typical, and we advise our friends 
either to keep their dollar in their pockets, or send it 
in payment of a year’s subscription to Tiie R. N.-Y. 
for some one who has lost his money on some such 
“remedies” as this stump powder. 
Try It for Two Cents. —It might be possible to 
do something in that line. For example, if the wood 
could be thoroughly saturated by a nitrate, like 
sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate, and then dried, 
it would certainly tend to burn better. It seems 
doubtful, however, that one ounce would be sufficient 
to do this for a fair-sized stump. If this material be 
a nitrate, there may be some virtue in it. 
Cornell Ex. Station. geo. w. Cavanaugh. 
This is, probably, a revival of the old and exploded 
plan of putting an ounce of saltpeter—nitrate of 
potash or nitrate of soda—into a hole in the stump, al¬ 
lowing this to dissolve and fill the pores of the wood, 
setting the stump on fire by some means—petroleum 
in this case—and securing the smouldering combustion 
by aid of the nitrate. It amounted to little or nothing 
then, and will do about the same now. If any of your 
subscribers want to try it, let them buy an ounce of 
saltpeter (for two cents) and try it for themselves. It 
will amount to very little, but the farmer may save 
his money by not buying the “ powder invented by an 
eminent European chemist.” r. c. kedzie. 
Michigan Agricultural College. 
A PIG STORY. 
EFFECT OF FOOD AND CARE. 
The best illustration of the effect of food and care 
upon animals came under my notice during the past 
few days, at the farm of John Anderson, Seneca 
County, N. Y. The history of the case is as follows : 
Mr. Anderson has two breeding sows, both grade 
Chester Whites, which he bought as pigs from the 
Cornell Experiment Station. These sows were both 
bred to the same Chester White boar, and in April 
last, each had nine pigs, one litter coming April 20, 
and the other the day following. All were fed and 
cared for alike until they were six weeks old, when 
two were sold to neighbor B, who had his choice of 
the 18. A few days later, six more were sold, which 
were about the average of the lot. Mr. Anderson kept 
the remaining 10. The two pigs purchased by neigh¬ 
bor B were kept in a small yard and fed a very little 
corn, some corn and oats ground, middlings and bran 
until the last of July, when they were given distillery 
slops until the last of September. I have said they 
were fed these things, but the weights given below and 
their pictures show that they received far from enough 
food. 
The 10 kept by Mr. Anderson had the run of a cul¬ 
tivated orchard of three acres, and were fed house 
slops, corn and oats ground, and a little soaked corn, 
the aim being to keep them growing nicely. About 
September 10, Mr. Anderson began to feed more 
heavily, and gave them all the pumpkins and soaked 
corn they would eat, and a few apples. September 20, 
they were shut in a shed, and the same feed continued 
except the apples. 
Now for the interesting part of the story. On Sep¬ 
tember 28, Mr. Anderson bought of neighbor B the 
two pigs he had sold him about June 1. They were 
so poor and thin that it was thought of interest to 
compare them closely with two average pigs of the 10 
which Mr. Anderson had. kept and fed. Accordingly, 
on October 1 the two which had rusticated with 
neighbor B were weighed, and tipped the scales at 
128 pounds, one weighing 55 and the other 73 pounds. 
Their picture appears in Fig. 349. The two pigs 
chosen from Mr. A.’slot weighed 365 pounds, and their 
picture appears in Fig. 350. 
A more striking illustration of the effect of food 
and care could scarcely be found. These four pigs 
are of the same age and breeding, were raised to¬ 
gether until about six weeks old, at which time it 
would be presumed that the two in Fig. 349 were the 
best of the lot, because B had his choice. Then all 
this difference was the result of four months’ care and 
lack of care. B almost literally starved his pigs, and 
in the starving operation they became as wild as 
hawks—which can be seen from their appearance in 
the picture—and grew to be more like wild hog3 than 
one could imagine a pig doing in so short a time. 
Mr. Anderson fed and petted his pigs, and now they 
are fat, sleek, and will lie down for any one who will 
THESE PIGS LACKED FOOD. Flo. 349. 
only scratch their backs. The difference in weight 
between the lots of two each is 237 pounds, which 
was all gained by those in Fig. 350 in four months. 
Surely this and the satisfaction of having a good ani¬ 
mal, are pay enough for properly feeding and caring 
for one’s stock. l. a. 
THE SAN JOSE SCALE IN GEORGIA. 
W. N. Scott, the State Entomologist of Georgia, has 
issued a statement concerning the San Jos<5 scale in 
that State. He says that it exists in 24 counties, in¬ 
volving 134 separate premises, and that over 100,000 
trees have been dug up this year on account of the 
scale. Of the remedies suggested, he considers the 
kerosene treatment best. Pure kerosene is highly in¬ 
jurious to plants. It must be diluted with water. 
Water will not mix with it when they are poured to¬ 
gether, but a kerosene sprayer has been made which 
forces the water and kerosene through the nozzle, thus 
THESE PIGS HAD ENOUGH TO EAT. Fig. 350. 
thoroughly mixing them. He advocates the use of 
one part of oil to three parts of water, and would spray 
the trees as soon as the foliage is dead, or about No¬ 
vember 1, spraying until the trees are thoroughly wet. 
If a spot as large as a pin-head is left, dozens of the 
scales may be left untouched. This may be enough 
thoroughly to restock the tree. Stop spraying when 
the tree is drenched and before it drips. 
The annual pruning may be done at any time dur¬ 
ing the Winter, and all trash, such as leaves or birds’ 
nests, that may be attached to the bark or lodged in 
the forks of limbs, should be removed and burned. 
Such trash often affords protection for the scales. In 
the Spring, just before the buds begin to swell, spray 
again with the same mixture. In case of a large or¬ 
chard, begin early enough so as to finish all before 
the fruit buds are fairly open. Spray only on bright, 
dry days, as this will insure rapid evaporation of' the 
oil, and avoid injuring the trees. 
Mr. Scott says that this treatment, if properly pur¬ 
sued, will pretty well clean an orchard of this pest. 
Some of the scales, however, will most likely escape, 
and the grower may have to go at these trees again a 
year or two later. In fact, this fight against the scale 
is a continuous one. When it once gets on the prem¬ 
ises, it will stay there unless the whole orchard is dug 
up and destroyed. The kerosene and water treat¬ 
ment, however, will be likely to control it if rightly 
handled. 
It is a great advantage to have a sprayer that will 
mix the kerosene and water. This sprayer consists of 
a tank for holding water, and a smaller box or tank 
for holding kerosene. A small tube carries the kero¬ 
sene down to the opening from the water tank, and 
the pump pressure forces the water and oil together, 
so that it mixes, and when let out in the form of a 
spray, is carried in that form to the tree. 
A GARDEN YIELD OF POTATOES. 
As nearly as possible, I followed the method advised 
by The R. N.-Y. early last Spring for growing early 
potatoes. Selecting a plot in the garden measuring 
60x40 feet, I trenched it to the depth of six inches, 
making 12 rows. I scattered eight pounds of ground 
bone and four pounds of double sulphate of potash and 
magnesia in each row, covering the same with one 
inch of earth, upon which medium-sized tubers cut in 
halves, 60 halves one foot apart in each row, were 
dropped and covered about three inches deep. The 
planting was done April 23 to 27. Soil a light loam, 
sandy, but rather moist. Upward of three weeks 
elapsed before they made their appearance, the weather 
being cold and wet. The product varies little from 14 
bushels, being at the rate of 250 bushels per acre, 
nothing to brag of, to be sure, in comparison with re¬ 
ported yields of 500 or 600 bushels to the acre ; but it 
was so much better than I had succeeded in doing 
before that I felt quite elated. 
I have read in some nursery catalogue of one peck 
planted producing 18 bushels. That beats me all hol¬ 
low, for it required a full bushel of seed for my plant¬ 
ing. The varieties were one-half Rochester Rose, one- 
third White Star, one-sixth Carman No. 3. There was 
very little difference in the rate of yield, the Carman, 
perhaps, ranking first, the Rose second, and the White 
Star third. The tubers of the first two averaged 
larger, but fewer in the hill than the White Star. A 
goodly number weighed from 12 ounces to one pound 
each. The quality of all three varieties was excellent, 
that of the Rose being slightly the best. There was 
no indication whatever of rust, rot, scab or blight, the 
tops of many of them being quite green as late as 
September 10. henry h. boardman. 
Connecticut. 
CURL LEAF ON PEACH TREES. 
The recent inquiry of one of your correspondents 
about the efficacy of salt as a cure for curl leaf in 
peach trees, suggests one cause of misinformation, 
not infrequently attended with waste of money, in 
such matters. In this case, some peach grower hav¬ 
ing applied brine to trees suffering from curl leaf, and 
seeing them recover, deduced the theory that the 
brine “ cured ” them. Undoubtedly, the fact is that 
the brine had no effect on the curl, but that the trees 
would have recovered without any such attention. 
I have read much on this subject of curl leaf, and 
been informed by various writers that it is due to lack 
of cultivation, stinginess in fertilizing, fungous 
growths, etc. East Spring, one of my orchards (con¬ 
taining about 1,800 trees) then three years old, came 
into leaf beautifully, and gave promise of as large a 
crop of peaches as I would let it bear. We had a real 
freeze on May 9, followed by constant and continued 
cold and rainy weather until June. As a consequence, 
all these trees, so beautiful when they first leafed 
out, looked early in June as though a fire had 
scorched them; the leaves curled and yellow, and 
on many branches dropping off, while the fruit buds 
disappeared entirely. I had some advice about the 
necessity of spraying, but disregarded it. With the 
return of ordinarily dry and warm weather, the trees 
recovered, and even at this date the orchard is as 
beautifully green as any peach grower could desire. 
The trees have had careful cultivation and fertiliza¬ 
tion, and undoubtedly the whole cause of the trouble 
was the cold, wet weather. Had your correspondent 
treated such trees to brine, he would, probably, have 
proclaimed a wonderful “recovery”. The long-ob¬ 
served effect of weather on peach trees in California 
bears out my deduction. (See Wickson’s “California 
Fruits”) l. 
McAfee Valley, N. J. 
HANDLING SWEET-CORN FODDER. 
In Hope Farm Notes, October 29, you speak of diffi¬ 
culty in curing sweet-corn fodder. I have grown sweet 
corn for canning, and had large quantities of the 
fodder to use, both as ensilage and dried fodder. It 
is not difficult to cure, if managed rightly. I have a 
yard near the stable where I cure it. I cut it in a dry 
day, any time after the ears are gathered, haul it to 
the stacking yard, and stack at once. I begin the 
stack over the stacking pole, or horse, by setting up 
as much fodder as will make a shock about the size 
