26 o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 17 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by tbe name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
Varieties of Cabbage ; Seed Per Acre. 
J. T., Penn Yan, N. Y.— 1. What is the best kind of cabbage for 
a late crop? How much seed is required to grow plants sufficient 
for one acre? 2. What is the best variety of onion ? How much 
seed is required per acre ? 3. Will salt kill mustard ? 
Ans. —1. The standard late kinds are Flat Dutch, 
Stone-Mason, Deep Head. Try also, some of the 
newer kinds, and the newer Danish cabbages. About 
one-fourth pound of seed will give sufficient plants 
for an acre. 2. The standard market varieties are 
Yellow Danvers and Red Wethersfield. About four 
pounds of seed are sown per acre. 3. Probably, if 
enough be used, but it would by no means be the 
most economical method. 
Alexander and “ Indian” Apples. 
E. C. G., Bullards, Mich.—I have 100 apple trees; I ordered 
Alexander, but the nursery substituted a variety known as 
Indian. Can you tell me anything of the value of this variety? 
Tbe trees are four years old and have made a fine growth. The 
year past, they blighted quite badly, though I had never noticed 
blight on them before. 
Ans. —There are, at least, two Indian apples in cul¬ 
tivation. One is frequently known as Indian Rare¬ 
ripe. It is of large size, of showy appearance and of 
“good” quality—a culinary variety. Another, known 
simply as Indian, is of medium size, moderate quality, 
ripens middle of September, an early bearer, and 
valuable, if at all, as a market fruit. It may well be 
doubted whether either of these, or even the Alex¬ 
ander, will be found profitable in the State of Michi¬ 
gan, excepting, possibly, the Alexander, when well 
grown and colored and put up in fancy packages. 
T. T. LYON. 
Caterpillars on Dwarf Apple Trees. 
S., Dover, N. If .— In picking caterpillars’ eggs from apple trees, 
I noticed that there were none on dwarf apples, although I got 
scores from the young standards mixed with them. I have never 
seen any nests on dwarfs. Is this the usual experience ? 
Ans. —This observation is entirely new to the ex¬ 
perts we have consulted. We can imagine no reason 
why the dwarfs should escape the scrutiny of the 
mother insect when she lays her eggs. 
What Lindens for Shade Trees ? 
E. E., Deckertown, N. J .— Which of the lindens make the most 
ornamental and best shade trees for large lawns ? Do you con¬ 
sider them more desirable for this purpose than the Sugar 
maple? 
Ans. —Among lindens, we would select the White¬ 
leaved European and Red Fern-leaved as being among 
the most suitable for lawns. If we could have but 
one class of trees, we would select from the maples 
rather than from the lindens. For example : Wier’s 
Cut-leaved Silver, Norway, Scarlet, Sugar and 
Schwedler’s. 
Blood for Hens ; Treatment for Trees. 
.T. G. M., New York. —1. Would blood fresh from the slaughter¬ 
house be good for hens instead of meat and bones ? I have been 
giving them sheeps’ heads chopped up and sheeps’ livers. I have 
baked the bones and pounded them, as I had no green-bone cutter. 
I think that I could get plenty of fresh blood. 2. Would you plow 
the ground between apple trees that are 30 to 35 years old and 
are rather too close together ? I have been cutting off the entire 
tops (to the stem) of many, where they were very crowded, so 
that they might grow again when, perhaps, something would 
happen to some of the trees near. All the others were very 
severely pruned last fall, and I have put about one quart of hen 
manure to each tree, the manure mixed with lime. The ground 
had been neglected for five or six years, also the trees. Is that 
enough ? 
Ans. —1. We have had no experience with fresh 
blood for hens, but would gladly use it if we could 
get it. Dried blood of good quality is first-class 
for hens. Our plan would be to mix the blood with 
the soft mash—about one-third by bulk of the blood. 
2. We would not want to plow that orchard deep, 
but would use some such tool as a Tornado, Cutaway 
or a spading harrow and tear up the sod to a depth of 
four or five inches. One quart of hen manure to a 
good-sized tree is like feeding a cracker to a hungry 
man ; it makes only a bite. Those trees could easily 
stand two pounds of muriate of potash and five pounds 
of bone for each one. You can prune a tree with the 
thumb nail if you take the buds while they are babies, 
but you must feed it with a shovel. 
Pine Tar on Apple Trees. 
J. O. A., Washington, Ind .— I have heard it said that pine tar 
applied to the bark of small apple trees from the ground up, 18 to 
24 inches, will prevent rabbits and mice from girdling the trees. 
Would the tar be likely to injure the trees ? 
Ans.—I do not know that any experiments have 
been recorded of the use of pine tar on young trees. 
I would be afraid that it might do them injury and 
would, therefore, advise that J. C. A. experiment 
with a tree or two first. In Prof. Bailey’s Horticul¬ 
turist’s Rule Book are to be found several recipes for 
washes to be used to keep rabbits from gnawing 
trees. As a precautionary measure, all brush heaps 
or rail piles in which the rabbits live should be 
removed. Blood smeared upon the trees is said to 
keep the rabbits away. Equal proportions of sulphur, 
soot and lime, made into a thick paint with cow 
manure and smeared upon the trees is also recom¬ 
mended. Lime, water and cow manure are used. 
Slake one peck of lime with soft water, add, when 
hot, one-half gallon crude carbolic acid, one-half 
gallon gas tar and four pounds sulphur; stir well, 
and thin to a good paint. We have used gas tar, 
ordinary tallow, white paint, or lime and linseed oil, 
without injurious effects upon young peach trees. 
Any of these would make a good rabbit wash. 
m. v. s. 
No Substitute for Crimson Clover. 
M. W. W., Westfield, Conn. —On my farm, the probabilities of 
Crimson clover coming through the winter all right are slight; it 
may do so, but the risk is so great that it is not worth while to 
make the trial as a dependence. It must be used as an annual, 
that is, put to some use the same season the seed is sown. Is 
there any legume that can be sown with corn at the last working, 
or with buckwheat, that will stand the winter and can be plowed 
under the next spring in season to plant corn for a silo ? Dairy 
products are falling in price, and we must figure to furnish cheap 
fodder. 
Ans. —There is no other legume that will just take 
the place of Crimson clover. Most of these legumes 
require hot weather for their best development. The 
Crimson does most of its growing in comparatively 
cool weather, and is often called “ cold-weather 
clover.” We would continue to sow the Crimson, even 
though every head be killed in the spring. Sow it as 
early as possible among the corn. Use potash abund¬ 
antly, and experiment with lime. Get the largest 
possible growth by fall. There is no other plant that 
will take the place of the Crimson as a cool-weather 
plant. 
Three-Horse Tongue. 
J. E., Whitewater, Canada. —On page 6, T. A. speaks of using a 
three-horse tongue on his wagon. I would like a description 
of it. Here we use three horses on almost all farm implements, 
and when we hitch to a wagon, one horse has to be left in the 
stable, when a great saving might be effected in drawing our 
grain to market by using the third horse. In backing the wagon, 
would two tongues not be necessary ? 
Ans—F ig. 115 shows a diagram of the wagon tongue. 
The offset or crook in the tongue must be made strong ; 
we used two pieces of iron three inches wide, one- 
half inch thick, one on the underside of the tongue 
and the other around the end of the short tongue and 
fastened to the side of the long tongue. We use a set 
of whiffletrees with the two-horse doubletree fastened 
on top of the three-horse doubletree, by which we 
are able to hitch closer to the wagon. J. F. wishes to 
know whether, in backing the wagon, two tongues 
would not be necessary. Not if two horses can back 
the load. By fastening the whiffletrees to the draw 
bolt in the short tongue, you get a direct draft the 
same as with a two-horse team and wagon. t. a. 
The Scurfy Bark Louse on Apple Trees. 
J. E. F., East Williston, L. I .— What is the matter with the in¬ 
closed twig? I have an orchard, two years old, of apple trees, 
planted 33 feet apart, alternated with peach trees. The soil is a 
sandy loam in rather poor condition from previous manner of 
cultivation. I spread quite heavily with well-rotted barnyard 
manure before planting the trees, then planted to potatoes, using 
about 500 pounds of fertilizer to the acre. Last spring, I broad¬ 
casted about 125 bushels of unleached Canada ashes to the acre, 
planted to peas that I fertilized lightly in the rows, sold the peas 
green, removed the vines, and sowed to Crimson clover about 
August 1. The clover is now looking well. I intend to plow 
under this clover in May, and plant to sweet corn for sale green 
or soiling, using fertilizers in the hill, sowing Crimson clover 
again in July or early in August. This orchard is making a very 
rapid growth. The peach trees were cut back last spring and 
now, one-half the previous year’s growth. Am I treating it prop¬ 
erly? The apple trees are principally Baldwin and Ben Davis; 
the Baldwin seems to be the only kind infested. 
Ans. —The white scales, scarcely one-eighth of an 
inch in length, closely adhering to the bark of the 
branch sent, are commonly known as the Scurfy 
Bark-lice. They resemble a small fish scale adhering 
to the bark. At this time, or in the winter, most of 
the scales, or rather, the insects that secreted them, 
are dead. But if J. E. F. will carefully lift some of 
the scales with a pin or knife, and examine the spot 
closely with a small microscope or pocket lens (an in¬ 
strument that every fruit grower ought to own), he 
will find many minute, purplish eggs, just beneath 
the white scales. The body of the mother insect, 
which secreted the scale, will be found all shriv¬ 
eled up at one end of the scale. She has fulfilled 
her destiny, and her scale affords a winter home for 
her progeny. 
In early spring, usually in May, the eggs hatch out 
minute, purplish lice which crawl from under the 
scales and scatter over the tree. When a suitable 
place is found, they insert their little beaks into the 
bark and there remain, sucking the juices of the tree. 
They do not move after once establishing themselves. 
The white scale soon begins to be secreted, and by 
midsummer, they render the insect quite conspicuous. 
Hundreds of them often occur on a small branch. All 
parts of the trunk and branches may be infested, and 
the thousands of little beaks pumping out the life¬ 
blood of the tree, may seriously weaken and cause 
the death of the affected portion. 
Although this is widely distributed and quite com¬ 
mon, it is not often reported as killing the trees it 
infests. In short, it is not considered a very serious 
insect pest. Of course, when very numerous, it must 
greatly weaken a tree, and should, therefore, be 
checked as soon as possible. Its scale-like covering 
under which the insect lives, renders it hard to reach 
with insecticides. Poisonous applications would, of 
course, have no effect, as the insect sucks and does 
not bite its food. I would advise brushing off, with a 
stiff wire brush, all the scales practicable in the fall 
or winter; and early in the spring, as soon as the 
young lice are seen crawling about the trees, spray 
thoroughly witAi kerosene emulsion diluted with from 
five to eight parts of water. The young lice will be¬ 
gin to appear in May, and for a few days, will be un¬ 
protected by scales ; they are thus easily reached by 
the spray, and the emulsion is death to every one it 
hits. Spray thoroughly and in time. Probably a 
good washing of the bark of the tree with whale-oil 
soap, one pound to a gallon or two of water, in the 
fall, winter or early spring would, also, kill the eggs 
under the scales. m. v. s. 
Potash Needed with Manure. 
G. B. P., Waterbury, Conn. —I am in tbe milk business, and feed 
liberally of cotton-seed meal and other grains, and I find that tbe 
mixed fertilizers contain too much nitrogen and lack potash. In 
1895, as an experiment, I used 678 pounds of muriate of potash 
and 1,500 pounds of cotton-seed meal on both corn and potatoes. 
The corn yielded 120 bushels of ears per acre, and the potatoes 
gave a large yield of large-sized tubers, but the quality was not 
No. 1. I also used some special-crop fertilizers on alternate rows, 
using double the amount in weight of fertilizer to that of cotton¬ 
seed meal and potash, as I was aware that the mixture was rich 
in potash. But as the 1895 potatoes did not give satisfaction in 
the retail market, I concluded to use sulphate and cotton-seed 
meal in 1896. But the season was not favorable, and with the use 
of rich nitrogenous fertilizer and also a liberal coat of barnyard 
manure rich in the same nitrogen, they made a very large 
growth of vine which, I think, made them more susceptible to 
blight, with which they were attacked very early. This stopped 
the growth of those fertilized with commercial fertilizers much 
earlier than those where cotton seed and potash were used; the 
latter kept green long enough to make a fair yield of good 
quality. This year, I purpose to use a mixture of 500 pounds of 
sulphate of potash, 500 of fine ground bone, and 1,000 of cotton¬ 
seed meal to the acre. I w'ould like to know about the analysis 
of the mixture, and whether ammoniated bone would be as good 
as, or better than, that untreated for both corn and potatoes, 
and whether muriate of potash would do better than sulphate for 
the corn, both high grade. For the past 10 years, I have used 
large quantities of about all brands of fertilizers on this market, 
and find that that they all lack in potash. If lean buy guaranteed 
goods, the mixing does not amount to much when we know what 
we are getting for our money. 
Ans. —Taking the average analyses of these sub¬ 
stances, your mixture will contain about the follow¬ 
ing plant food : 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid. Potash. 
500 pounds ground bone. 
17 
125 
500 pounds sulphate potash. 
250 
1,000 pounds cotton-seed meal. 
60 
15 
17 
Totals. 
77 
140 
267 
This gives 3% per cent nitrogen, 7 per cent phosphoric 
acid, and 13 per cent of potash. This is a high per 
cent of potash, but we would prefer too much to not 
enough. We would not use an “ ammoniated bone.” 
This term is often misleading. We have known a 
mixture of dissolved rock and fish tankage to be called 
by this name. Use raw bone as fine as you can get 
it, and add your ammonia in the form of cotton-seed 
meal. We would certainly use the muriate of potash 
on the corn. Last year, in growing sweet corn, we 
concluded that the sulphate gave us a little better 
quality, but for ordinary corn,’the muriate is as good 
and costs less per ton. 
"Concentrated Fertilizers” for Flowers. 
L. 0., Philadelphia, Pa. —A concentrated fertilizer has been 
offered in the past for use as a liquid manure for plants growing 
under glass. There now appears to be some difficulty in the way 
of securing it either direct from the agents or through seed 
stores. The analysis is as follows: 
Nitrogen.12 per cent. 
Water sol. phos. acid.13 per cent. 
Potash.21 per cent. 
What should such a formula cost ? Can you recommend some¬ 
thing that will answer the same purpose ? Quite a number of 
persons who gave it a trial claim that it was too expensive to 
make it profitable to use; whereas, others say that they want it 
regardless of its cost. In some cases where it was tried, it did 
great injury to the plants operated upon, even when it was used 
as directed by the selling agents. The more careful experimenters 
say that half strength as recommended is strong enough, and no 
harm is done; others say that a third strength is safer to use. In 
what form may phosphoric acid be obtained that is soluble in 
water ? It should be without sulphuric acid. Or, what can be 
applied to neutralize the latter acid ? 
Ans.—T he fertilizer referred to is, evidently, the 
“ Alberts manures ” which were introduced several 
