8i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 3 
or just about what it cost me. In other words, my 
wheat has paid me good wages and a little over.” 
“Is there anything better than wheat in your 
country ? ” 
“ Just at present, the rage is for cattle, and for the 
past two years, they have paid well, and will continue 
to do so as long as high prices are maintained. Cattle 
raising is most profitable where the land is cheap and 
the grass of good quality. Those who make most out 
of the business are making it on the land they don’t 
own, and for which they pay little or nothing. A 
person of fair ability and capital can often do better 
in a new and poor country, than in one that is rich, 
by accommodating himself to the conditions and re¬ 
sources surrounding him.” 
EXPORT OF PLANT FOOD. 
TUB BALANCE IS AGAINST US. 
Sapping the Land. —The extracts from the ad¬ 
dress of Sir William Crookes that were published in 
Tiie R. N.-Y. several weeks ago, in which he predicted 
that, within 30 years, the United States would be 
driven to import wheat, have set readers to thinking, 
at last. At the present time, the United States fur¬ 
nishes about one-third of the total export of wheat, 
and if we should fall out of the foreign markets, it 
might be a serious matter for countries that are now 
great importers of wheat. But would it be an alarm¬ 
ing condition for us? Most of us look eagerly for 
the balance sheet to be struck at the end of the year, 
to see how much our exports exceed our imports ; if 
the balance is large in our favor, we are well pleased. 
But we do not stop to take into account at what tax 
upon the fertility of our land those same exports and 
imports have been produced, and how long they may 
be produced without reducing the productiveness of 
our soils. 
How Much Goes. —I have calculated the amount 
of plant food contained in some of our most important 
exports and imports, that will show what drafts are 
made upon the plant food of the respective countries 
by them. In these calculations, I have taken the 
latest American analyses, and figured the nitrogen at 
14 cents per pound, the phosphoric acid at 4% cents, 
and the potash at five cents. These are the latest 
figures given by the Geneva Experiment Station as 
the wholesale price at which they may be purchased 
in New York City, and are the figures on which values 
of fertilizers are calculated in New York State this 
year. The plant food in our exports of cereals and 
imports of sugar and wool for the year 1897, are 
calculated. 
EXPORTS. 
Article. Amount. 
Wheat. 79,562,020 bus. 
Flour. 14,569,347 lbs. 
Corn.176,916,365 bus. 
Corn meal. 475,263 lbs. 
Oats. 35,096,736 bus. 
Oatmeal. 47,310,251 lbs. 
Value of 
Value, plant food. 
$59,920,178 I ,,>o ~<>i> 
55,914,347 T" 6,433 ’' 36 
^’ooliom I" $30,590,488 
$8,(56,207 I a. 
1,071,340 f® 4 ’ 183 ’ 648 
Rye. 8,560,271 bus. 
Rye flour. 2,556 lbs. 
Barley. 20,030,301 bus. 
Buckwheat. 1,677,102 bus. 
* 3 - 66 ^ [$1,491,025 
$/,646,384 I oo- ojo 
678,959 j-**>«».34d 
Total value of cereals exported.$192,651,499 
Total value of plant food contained In these cereals. 65,469,386 
In addition to this, there was exported $5,205,720 
worth of bread, biscuit and other preparations used 
as breadstuff, for which I have no data for calculating 
the plant food they contained. 
IMPORTS. 
Article. Amount. Value. 
Sui?ar.4,918,905,733 lbs. $99,066,181 
Wool. 350,852,026 lbs. 53,243,191 
Total value of imports of sugar and wool. 
Total value of plant food contained. 
Value of 
plant food. 
$7,859,085 
....$152,309,372 
.... 7,859,085 
In other words, we exported cereals to the value of 
$192,463,386 which contained nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid and potash to the value of $65,469,386 at current 
prices. We imported sugar and wool to the value of 
$152,309,372 which contained nitrogen only, and that 
in a form to be practically valueless, to the value of 
$7,859,085. 
What It Means. —To be sure, these values do not 
represent what these articles would be worth to ap¬ 
ply to our lands as fertilizers, but they do represent 
what it would cost to replace on our lands in available 
forms the plant food which they have taken out. It 
seems to me that these figures show clearly enough 
what should be done. This strain cannot go on for¬ 
ever on our virgin lands. This mining and exporting 
in a bulky form of our plant food will soon tell on the 
fertility of our lands. On the other hand, we buy in 
a concentrated form, products that contain scarcely 
any plant food. Our wheat sells in Europe for about 
1% cent per pound, our corn for about one cent, while 
we buy sugar at about four cents and wool at 15 to 20 
cents ; it costs no more to carry a pound of wool than 
a pound of corn. 
The fact is especially significant that, in almost 
5 ,000,000,000 pounds of sugar that we import, there is 
not one penny’s worth of plant food, and that in ex¬ 
change for this we give our wheat and flour that con¬ 
tain $26,000,000 worth of plant food. It would seem 
that this alone would be a very strong argument for 
the United States to produce her own sugar. Let the 
export of cereals decrease if we can increase our pro¬ 
duction of wheat and wool, and even if we should be 
driven to import, it would be better to import wheat 
and flour rather than sugar and wool. Let the for¬ 
eign wheat markets be controlled by other nations, 
and let us at least produce enough sugar and wool for 
our own consumption, and keep our plant food at 
home. homer c. trice. 
FACTS ABOUT COTTON-SEED MEAL 
A SIMPLE TEST FOR QUALITY. 
Cotton-seed meal, when of good quality, is finely 
ground and is of a bright yellow color. Pure meal 
is one of the best and cheapest of concentrated feeds, 
when used under proper conditions. By “proper 
conditions,” we mean in connection with some laxa¬ 
tive food like ensilage, roots, or pasture grass. Some 
THE WHEAT HEADER AT WORK. Fig. 369. 
samples of cotton-seed meal are adulterated. They 
are unsatisfactory as food, and often injure the ani¬ 
mal. This adulteration is caused by grinding the 
hulls with the meal, that is, the hard, outer covering 
or shell of the seed is not removed before grinding. 
When ground with the hull, this is known as unde¬ 
corticated meal. Decorticated meal means the pure 
seed ground without the hull. To show what a differ¬ 
ence the removal of this hull makes, we quote the 
following analysis made by Prof. Voorhees, of the 
New Jersey Station : 
Carbo- 
Albuminoids. Fat. Fiber, hydrates. 
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 
Decorticated. 42.38 13.22 5.28 26.06 
Undecorticated. 26.50 5 72 17.28 36 66 
Cotton-seed meal is chiefly valuable for its contents 
of albuminoids and fats. The decorticated meal con¬ 
tains over 60 per cent more albuminoids, and more 
than double the amount of fat contained in the unde¬ 
corticated meal, while the latter contains three times 
as much crude fiber, the least valuable of all the food 
compounds, as the former. The presence of the hulls, 
aside from their low feeding value, has often been 
found injurious, especially in the feeding of dairy 
THE GOOSE AS A GRAZER. Flo. 370. 
cows, though recent experiments have shown that 
hulls may be fed without injury under proper condi¬ 
tions. It is, therefore, a difficult matter to estimate, 
with any degree of accuracy, the actual difference in 
the feeding value of the two classes of meal. On a 
commercial basis, however, assuming the same value 
for the different classes of compounds in the two 
meals, the decorticated or good quality meal would be 
worth about $13 per ton more than the other. 
Very often cotton-seed meal is used for fertilizing. 
When slightly damaged and unfit for feeding, it 
makes one of the cheapest sources of nitrogen Here, 
again, the undecorticated meal is worth considerably 
less than the pure seed, as the following analysis will 
show : 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid. Potash. 
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 
Decorticated meal. 6.78 3.12 1.77 
Undecorticated meal. 4.24 1.76 1.23 
Assuming that the fertilizing ingredients are of equal 
value, the undecorticated meal is worth $10 per ton 
less than the other. The color of the meal is a fair 
guide as to feeding value, for the bright yellow meal 
is usually free from hulls. Its color, however, may 
not prove a true guide, as to the fertilizing value for 
damaged meal; though free from hulls, it is frequent¬ 
ly dark in color. 
Prof. Voorhees has advised the following simple 
test for determining whether the hulls have been left 
in the seed or not. Before buying for fertilizing pur¬ 
poses, we would advise readers to test the meal as 
suggested : Place a half ounce of the meal in an or¬ 
dinary water tumbler, fill the tumbler two-thirds full 
of water, stir, and let the material settle. If the 
meal contains pieces of the hulls, they will settle first 
and cover the bottom of the tumbler with a black 
residue; if the meal is of good quality, few if any 
black specks of hull will be noticed on the bottom. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Uncle Sam’s “ Backyard.” —In your items on page 
756, concerning the Indian troubles in Minnesota and 
the negro troubles in the South, I find these words : 
“Talk about our place among the nations of the 
earth, extending territory, and other high-sounding 
terms! We’d better clean up our own backyards 
first!” I confess that there is evil in Minnesota, and 
admit the shortcomings of the South. Still, in view 
of the fact that these so-called “ backyards” are feed¬ 
ing and clothing a good share of the world, wouldn't 
it be a wise thing for Uncle Samuel to cast his sover¬ 
eign eye in the direction of New York City, notice the 
disgusting rottenness of her politics, and apply the 
garden rake to the frontyard first ? j. n. c. 
R. N.-Y.—Yes, we do think so. In speaking of 
“backyards”, we did not have in mind any particular 
section of the country. We merely referred to the 
common practice of trying to keep one’s own mis¬ 
takes and shortcomings out of sight while reaching 
out to take on newer and greater responsibilities. 
“ Dooryard ” would be a better term, and New York 
City needs cleaning with the rest of the country. 
New Paper Money. —It is quite remarkable how 
many schemes are suggested for increasing the amount 
of currency in circulation. In some farm sections, 
farmers have adopted the check system of paying 
bills. They keep very little cash at home, but carry 
a bank account and draw checks against it. The 
number of private checks sent about the country in 
this way in ordinary business is remarkable. Thous¬ 
ands of farmers, however, never made out a check in 
their lives, the bulk of their property being tied up 
in land or other things more or less negotiable. Such 
farmers frequently find it difficult to send money by 
mail. One plan proposed to help them is for the Gov¬ 
ernment to issue so-called postal checks for any 
amount, which are to be sold at all post offices. These 
checks duly signed and approved are to pass from 
hand to hand as currency. If any holder of them 
wishes to obtain other currency, he may sign them 
and obtain their face value at money-order post of¬ 
fices. It is thought that most of them would pass 
from hand to hand for some time before being signed 
and redeemed. This simple plan of increasing the 
amount of paper money in circulation finds favor 
with a good many people who favor the issuing of at 
least $50,000,000 of this kind of paper. It is said that 
a bill will be introduced into the next Congress seek¬ 
ing to bring about something of this sort. 
The Goose as a Grazer. —The Rhode Island Ex¬ 
periment Station devotes over 200 pages of its tenth 
annual report to a study of goose breeding. It is not 
generally known that the goose is largely grown in 
Rhode Island, forming a source of much profit to 
breeders. Among other things, the Station people 
have found that the goose may be cheaply pastured 
on such crops as sorghum, rape, oats and peas or rye, 
thus obtaining most of its food at little expense. The 
picture, shown at Fig. 370, is taken from this report, 
and indicates how nature has provided the goose with 
the proper tools for grazing. This picture of the bill 
of a goose, shows the rough covering of the point of 
the toDgue, and the tooth-like edges of the upper and 
lower part of the mouth. This fits the bird for biting 
off and chewing green food of all kinds. 
It is often a surprise even to country people to learn 
that various animals on the farm are fitted specially 
by nature for eating grass, which is, after all, the 
basis of all flesh. We have satisfied ourselves the 
past Summer that even the hen can make 90 per cent 
of her living out of a good field of Crimson clover. 
Many of us have never stopped to realize that the hog 
is as much a grazing animal as the sheep or cow. 
Thus it is that we are often surprised when traveling 
through the West, to see hogs in the pastures eating 
the grass, and making their entire living from it. The 
goose business in Rhode Island seems to be prosper¬ 
ous, and it will, probably, be increased when growers 
understand fully that the goose is just as well fitted 
