302 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 9 
exactly the same position. When changing from one 
teat to another do so gently. We have seen many 
cows disturbed by a sudden, rather violent change 
from one teat to another. Milk a full stream as long 
as possible, and do not strip, strip, as it is easy to 
make a stripper by improper milking. As soon as you 
have all that will come with the full hand stream, 
a few seconds’ work on each teat as in Fig. 128 will 
. complete the job. Remember that the last milk from 
the cow is much the richest, and often has 10 times 
as much fat as in the first few streams down. Study 
your cow while milking, and note the form of the best 
cows. It will make milking a much more interesting 
job. H. G. MANCHESTER. 
HANDLING OLD LAND IN RHODE ISLAND. 
I have just got through clearing five acres of land of 
stumps and rocks, and last Fall plowed it, but it was 
too late to do anything with it. It has an easterly slope, 
and a brook runs along the lower side, so the soil is from 
light to quite heavy next the brook. I intend to plant 
part to potatoes and the remainder to rye; will use a good 
application of stable manure. Some tell me that as the 
land has never beer planted, and seems sour, it needs 
lime. In what way is the lime used, quantity per acre, 
and best time of year to apply it? What would you ad¬ 
vise to use for fertilizer, and in what quantity? f. s. 
Providence, R I. 
F. S. should send a sample of his soil to the Rhode 
Island Agricultural Experiment Station to be tested 
for its acidity. If the soil is very acid, lime may help 
it, though it will show less benefit than would be the 
case if considerable applications of stable manure 
were not used, and it is possible to use enough stable 
manure so that no benefit will be noticeable from the 
lime the first year, particularly if crops are grown 
which are not extremely susceptible to acid condi¬ 
tions. Where it can be done advantageously, it is 
generally better to apply lime in the Autumn, but it 
may be applied in the Spring. Under all circum¬ 
stances it should be spread upon the furrows most 
evenly, and be very thoroughly harrowed into the soil 
at once. It should never lie upon the surface over 
night, nor during a storm. If lime is applied before 
the planting of potatoes the seed tubers should be 
treated with a corrosive sublimate solution or with 
formalin prior to planting, in order to prevent possible 
injury from Potato scab. It is bad practice to apply 
lime several times in succession in a rotation just be¬ 
fore the potato crop. In the rotation at this Station 
lime is applied immediately after the potato crop is 
removed. 
Where the entire dependence for the potato crop 
is placed upon chemical fertilizers, a good formula, 
per acre, is prepared as follows: Two hundred pounds 
of nitrate of soda; 260 pounds of high-grade dried 
blood, containing at least 12 per cent of nitrogen; 800 
to 900 pounds of acid phosphate, containing 14 per 
cent available phosphoric acid; 120 pounds of high- 
grade sulphate of potash; 120 pounds of muriate of 
potash. If one is particularly anxious to secure an 
especially high grade of potatoes, high-grade sulphate 
of potash may be used entirely to replace the muriate 
of potash, pound for pound. If stable manure is em¬ 
ployed in addition these amounts may be reduced one- 
half, or as it is thought desirable. Another potato 
formula is as follows, per acre: One hundred and fifty- 
five pounds nitrate of potash; 170 pounds dried blood 
(12 per cent of nitrogen); 66 pounds muriate of pot¬ 
ash; 71 pounds high-grade sulphate of potash; 700 
pounds acid phosphate (17 per cent available phos¬ 
phoric acid). II. J. WHEELER. 
R. I. Exp. Station. 
An Experience With Lime. 
Let me give a small experience with lime. In the 
Spring of 1901, I fitted two acres of land and seeded 
with oats, one acre to Alfalfa, the other acre to Red 
clover. All the seeds made a good start, but I soon 
saw that some material was very much lacking. The 
result was a short light growth of oats and both the 
Alfalfa and clover a total failure. Then I tested sev¬ 
eral samples of the soil with blue litmus paper and 
found the land needed lime. In 1902 I plowed and 
smoothed the surface, and spread with shovel 2V& 
tons of slaked lime on the two acres, and thoroughly 
harrowed and mixed it into the soil with a spring- 
tooth harrow; then sowed oats, Alfalfa and Red 
clover, with 200 pounds of fertilizer to each acre. The 
result was a great growth of stiff oat straw, with 60 
bushels of oats to the acre, and a splendid stand of 
Alfalfa and clover, but I could soon see that the Al¬ 
falfa, growing and being shaded by the oats, would 
be a failure, and when Spring of 1903 came it was so. 
But the clover made a splendid growth from the start, 
and this last season, 1903, I cut and matured two 
splendid crops of clover hay. On the Alfalfa ground 
I sowed 200 pounds of fertilizer, with buckwheat, that 
gave me 32 bushels, and sowed the acre to Winter 
rye, and intend in the Spring to plow that under and 
try potatoes the coming season. Giving up the Al¬ 
falfa? Yes, but I am now satisfied that it can be 
grown after a clean hoed crop, and grown alone. And 
I am also satisfied that the lime has put the land in 
splendid condition for several crops to come. 
Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. o. it. s. 
PEAR TREES KILLED IN HUDSON VALLEY. 
There is no question that there has been a large 
amount of damage done in the pear-growing districts 
PROPER POSITION IN MILKING. Fig. 125. 
of the Hudson Valley. I recognized that fact early, 
and reported same at the Poughkeepsie meeting of 
the Fruit Growers. I find the damage much the great¬ 
est with the Bartlett, although not confined to this 
variety. Quite a number of old bearing trees of this 
variety are killed outright, while many others are 
severely injured; in fact, I believe there is more or 
less injury to all trees of this particular variety. In 
the case of the Seckels it is different. I find practically 
no injury to the old bearing trees, but many young 
trees are killed to within a few inches of the ground. 
This applies more particularly to trees that have been 
THUMB AND FINGER MILKING. Fig. 127. 
planted within the last five years. Anjous have been 
badly injured, but very few trees killed. The Bose 
has come through in pretty good shape; no killing 
except a few young trees. I cannot speak for the 
Keiffer as I do not grow it. I find the damage largely 
confined to the lower grounds and heavier soils, al¬ 
though not wholly so. I do not think we should at¬ 
tribute all the damage to this past severe Winter, al¬ 
though it was a great contributing cause. Pear or¬ 
chards in this section last Summer had a hard time 
of it. Pear psylla was very abundant and almost 
uncontrollable; leaf spot was also very bad, and on 
the heavy retentive soils, owing to the constant and 
heavy rainfall, many trees for weeks at a time had 
their roots immersed in water. The results were that 
many trees went into Winter in an enfeebled condi¬ 
tion and were not prepared to stand a season of al¬ 
most Arctic severity, like the one that is past. I ex¬ 
amined some orchards in Ulster County about a 
month ago, and found about the same conditions there 
as with myself. I do not think we can definitely de¬ 
termine what the amount of injury is. Of course the 
killed trees are readily reckoned, but injured trees 
will require a growing season to show fully the effects 
of the injury. j. r. Cornell. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
Our fruit trees have been severely dealt with by 
the Winter. A great many pear trees are either dead 
or in a dying condition. Very few have escaped in¬ 
jury according to my observation, and such is the 
case also at Germantown and Tivoli; which are im¬ 
portant pear localities. It is surely a death blow to 
the pear industry until we can get reestablished by 
new plantings, which will take some years. The Pear 
psylla is supposed to have a large share in this whole¬ 
sale destruction. The trees were so much weakened 
last year that they did not have enough vitality to 
withstand the cold. I am afraid the older apple trees 
are seriously hurt. I have cut any number of bearing 
limbs from Baldwin and other varieties that have 
been killed during the Winter, and I have heard sev¬ 
eral similar statements. The trouble is we cannot 
tell at this time what the damage is from appearance. 
The outer bark looks all right, but when opened it 
is found to be turning red and souring. Quite a pro¬ 
portion of the apple trees planted last year have been 
killed this Winter. The prospects for a fruit crop— 
apple possibly excepted—look pretty slim for this 
year in this locality. w. s. t. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
I wish to ask if other fruit-growing sections besides 
Ulster County have lost their Bartlett and Seckel pear 
trees, both old and young, this past Winter. Trees 
were not badly affected with what we cal) honeydew. 
The Seckels looked very well all through the season, 
but at present look black and dry on the bodies. 
Kieffer do not seem as badly affected, some young 
trees are not looking well. This is a great drawback 
to pear growing in this section, as pear trees were 
looked on as hardy stock. I have read in The R. N.- 
Y. that peaches were killed, which is the case through 
this section. i. c. j. 
Ulster Co., N. Y. 
BENEFITS OF TILE DRAINAGE. 
The wonderful effects resulting from a system of 
tile drainage, as seen on many farms, should be an 
incentive to increasing interest in this work, and 
more especially in the case of those v'ho have as yet 
to learn the benefits derived therefrom. Even here 
in western New York, referred to by many as the 
“garden of the State,” thousands of acres that are 
not in proper condition are each year plowed and 
planted to crops, nor can they be expected to afford 
favorable results unless nature in some unusual man¬ 
ner renders assistance. The well-known excuse or 
objection to this system of work made by far too 
many is the expense to be incurred not only for the 
tile itself, but for the labor required additional to 
that of the regular farm labor. Thus it is the mis¬ 
taken idea prevails that skilled and high-priced labor 
is essential for the prosecution of this work, and un¬ 
necessarily deterring many otherwise ordinarily suc¬ 
cessful farmers from enjoying the pleasing and pro¬ 
fitable improvements possible as the result of such 
efforts. Let the ordinary farmer, I care not how' un¬ 
skilled he may be, assisted by the common farm 
laborer, select a portion of the farm most susceptible 
to injury, first locate a proper outlet for the proposed 
drain, following the natural watercourse through the 
depressions, the surface of the ground being moder¬ 
ately even and the grade distinguishable, not much 
skill is required to excavate a ditch 2 y 2 or three feet 
deep that will answer every purpose. The bottom of 
the ditch brought to a uniform even surface with 
proper grade is the main essential for success, and 
the tile as now manufactured require no mechanical 
skill to be properly laid. If difficulty is experienced 
in acquiring a perfect grade for successful working 
of the ditch, of course a level should then be used. 
One used by the writer, a homemade affair, tells con¬ 
stantly just what one is doing, answers every purpose, 
and has been in use several years. I may add also 
never trust the eye of anyone unless the grade is dis¬ 
tinctly visible. To expedite the work the ordinary 
farm plow will be found a valuable aid in loosening 
and turning out the first foot or more of earth, but 
the regular ditching plow I have found to be a great 
labor-saving implement that every farmer should 
own who contemplates ditching extensively. Filling 
the ditch can also be easily accomplished mainly by 
use of the plow; of course much depends on condi¬ 
tion of the soil for the easy consummation of this 
work, and during the Spring months there are often 
days unsuitable for regular farm work that could be 
w r ell improved in this manner. The foregoing applies 
especially to those about to commence this work— 
as time passes and one witnesses for the first time 
the benefits resulting from his own individual efforts 
there is no probability they will be relaxed until 
many of the unsightly and unprofitable portions of 
his farm are made to “bear and bring forth fruit in 
its season.” irving d. cook. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. 
