422 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 26 
Sowing Clover Alone. 
G. T. T., Token, Wis. —I have bad 
some experience in sowing clover seed 
without a nurse crop. I sowed some 
last year, April 15, and it did remark¬ 
ably well; it yielded at the rate of two 
tons per acre, being cut July 17. I also 
sowed some on the adjoining land, but 
with a nurse crop, and that did very 
much poorer. I, for my part, would very 
highly recommend sowing- clover seed in 
the spring without a nurse crop. 
Soda for Catarrh. 
G. M. B , Kent, Ohio —The It. N.-Y. 
inquires whether the soda did the nose 
and throat any benefit in case of catarrh. 
It is a good cleanser and a great benefit 
in an acute attack of catarrh ; whether 
it is of any permanent benefit I can not 
say. Our family doctor supplied me 
with an atomizer, and I have sprayed 
my throat for about a year with a liquid 
called Glycoline, and am not cured yet. 
Catarrh bothers me only when I take 
cold. I do not like to use the soda in 
my throat, as I consider it bad for the 
stomach. 
Root Pruning; Crimson Clover. 
G. W., Blauvelt, N. Y.—Apple and 
pear trees put out last spring and severely 
pruned at the roots according to String- 
fellow method, described and illustrated 
in Txie R. N.-Y., have made very little 
growth. I have pulled out many in dis¬ 
gust, and find but few new roots. Crim¬ 
son clover was sown in turnips last July. 
There was a fine crop of turnips, and the 
clover was a mass when turned under 
for potatoes early in May. In two weedy 
corn fields, Crimson clover was sown at 
the last attempted cultivation, lived 
through the winter, and May 20, the 
second one plowed was about a foot 
high, in full bloom, and covered, proba¬ 
bly, three-fifths of the surface—that is, 
bare spaces where seed did not fall or 
plants did not live were hardly notice¬ 
able. I sowed a field to Crimson clover 
and oats for hay this spring. The clover 
is there, but grows slowly. 
Dried Fish or Cotton-Seed Meal. 
R. E. M., Columbus, N. C. —I am asked 
for my experience as to the relative 
values of ground fish, or fish scrap as we 
call it, and cotton-seed meal as sources 
of organic nitrogen in fertilizers. By 
analysis, we find that cotton-seed meal 
contains from eight to nine per cent of 
ammonia, 2% per cent of available phos¬ 
phoric acid, and nearly two per cent of 
potash. This cotton-seed meal costs us, 
at the oil mills, from $18 to $22 per ton, 
usually about $20. The analysis of fish 
scrap shows component parts of 10 per 
cent ammonia and three per cent avail¬ 
able phosphoric acid, and this fish scrap 
sells, at the sea coast, for from $24 to $27 
per ton. If we consider the two per cent 
of potash contained in the cotton-seed 
meal as an offset to the increased 
amount of ammonia in the fish scrap, it 
will be seen that, in intrinsic value, the 
scrap and the meal are on all fours; 
therefore, meal at $20 per ton is cheaper 
than fish scrap at $24. My experience 
has been, however, that the fish scrap is 
more rapidly available to the crop in 
early spring than is cotton-seed meal, and 
will push a crop to market sooner by 
several days, the quantities of each being 
equal in percentage of ammonia. I al¬ 
ways use nitrate of soda in combination 
with the other source of nitrogen, in 
sufiieient quantity to give seven per cent 
of ammonia, at least, for an early truck 
crop. But now, on the other hand, as 
the fish scrap is rapidly consumed by 
the crop, it becomes the sooner ex¬ 
hausted and if, by the time it is gone, 
the crop is not matured, the plants will 
suffer and the yield be diminished; 
therefore, for a crop which takes con¬ 
siderable time to mature, cotton-seed 
meal is to be preferred, as it is converted 
into plant food much more slowly than 
the fish scrap, and supplies nourishment 
extending over a longer period. 
I have tried fish scrap and cotton-seed 
meal in a fertilizer for corn, and the re¬ 
sult bore out my theory ; the corn which 
was supplied with the meal showed 
much the best results in both grain and 
fodder. The corn which was supplied 
with the fish scrap grew rapidly and 
promised well up to a certain point, and 
then it progressed no further, but sim¬ 
ply matured, while that which was fer¬ 
tilized with the cotton-seed meal kept 
on the increase for some time after¬ 
wards. This is, of course, merely an in¬ 
dividual experience and, no doubt, has 
been influenced by local conditions, 
character of soil, etc.; but my experi¬ 
ence has been uniformly the same during 
the four years I have been mixing my 
fertilizer at home. There is one draw¬ 
back with fish scrap, and that is that it 
is very often supplied very coarsely 
ground, and is, therefore, hard to mix 
and hard to distribute, while cotton-seed 
meal can always be had finely ground. 
Withstood Frost and Disk Harrow. 
It. II., Wavnksvilx.e, O —On Septem¬ 
ber 22, 1896, I sowed a peck of Crimson 
clover seed on one-half acre of ground 
with a northern exposure. The ground 
had been sown to Hungarian grass early 
in June, and was pastured until Septem¬ 
ber, when it was plowed and sowed to 
Crimson clover. It grew up very well 
through the winter, standing the change¬ 
able weather in November and Decem¬ 
ber well, and was about 1% inch high 
when zero weather came in January and 
killed it all as I thought. The plants 
looked dead and yellow. Early in April 
I had the ground disked over for oats 
and noticed that a part of the cloyer 
was not killed at all. The plants were 
showing up finely about two inches tall. 
Last week, 1 noticed red spots in the 
oats and on examining them, found 
Crimson clover in bloom and about a 
foot high. I was satisfied with my ex¬ 
periment and thought that Crimson 
clover could be grown here as it stood 
the winter and disk harrow so well. I 
am 51 miles northeast of Cincinnati. 
Quantity vs. Quality. 
E. T., Penza, 0.—When potatoes had 
to be grown without the aid of machin¬ 
ery, it was laboriouj work that but few 
were anxious to engage in, and the 
supply was nearly always below the de¬ 
mand. It was more profitable to grow 
such heavy croppers as the R. N.-Y. 
No. 2, than the lighter croppers of bet¬ 
ter quality that make up the Hebron, 
Rose and Snowflake classes. There was 
a demand that kept the average price for 
a series of years well up towards the dol¬ 
lar, and when the wool and wheat grow¬ 
ers were forced to seek a new money- 
crop, the potato gave the best promise 
of success. Every one knows what the 
result was, but opinions differ as to 
what the cause was. Some say that it 
was nothing but over-production, others 
that it was on account of the inability 
of the masses to buy. Both assertions 
may be true so far as they relate to the 
present condition, but there has been 
another important element that has con¬ 
tributed largely to the present state of 
affairs that growers are inclined to dis¬ 
regard, and that is the table qualities 
of the varieties that they grow. 
There is a large class of consumers 
who are, at all times, able to pay a fair 
price for good potatoes, were they sure 
that they would be good ; but they have 
been able to get nothing but wet, soggy 
varieties that had nothing but their ap¬ 
pearance to commend them, A few such 
doses have disgusted a great many 
potato eaters to such an extent that 
they have become weaned from potatoes 
almost entirely. Many families that 
would consume 10 to 20 bushels of Car¬ 
man No, 1, will use less than half as 
many R. N.-Y. No. 2 in the same length 
of time. A family will buy four or five 
barrels of potatoes in the fall ; if they 
are of poor quality, they will use only 
two or three ; the next season they will 
buy only two or three barrels and, if 
they are good and are used before 
spring, they buy then at the grocery 
store, where a dozen varieties are mixed 
together in one bin, and again they quit 
potatoes and eat something else. 
As a rule, the heavy croppers are poor 
in quality, but there is an occasional ex¬ 
ception to this rule, such as the Empire 
State, White Elephant and Carman No. 
1. The first two have been generally 
discarded on account of their poor keep¬ 
ing qualities, and the last is so fickle 
that I hardly know what to think of it 
Seedsmen are not to blame for the 
recent popularity of the heavy croppers, 
farmers wanted the variety that would 
turn off the greatest number of bushels 
per acre, regardless of quality, and then 
they would lie to get them sold. No 
amount of lying could sell the Victor, 
the Dakota Red or McCormick after 
their quality became known. It is just 
about impossible to sell the Ben Davis 
apple in our markets here, and if one 
has an apple that looks anything like it, 
he can’t sell it to dealers because, even 
if they know it is not Ben Davis, they 
say they can’t get their customers even 
to taste it. 
Some fruit growers are getting conso¬ 
lation out of the thought that they have 
made many new customers in the South, 
where they have shipped to towns that 
never had a car-load of apples before. 
If they sent Ben Davis and other equally 
poor kinds, their market has been 
killed. Fruit growers must look to the 
quality of their apples hereafter, for 
Ben Davis is no match for Big Banana. 
The supply of Ben Davis will always ex¬ 
ceed the demand, but it will take a 
bigger crop than the last two to over¬ 
supply the market were it furnished 
only with such varieties as Esopus Spit- 
zenberg. 
LEGGETT'S 
r r. 
Gun 
THE ORIGINAL DRY 
SPRAYER. 
Dusts tree, bush or vine. 
Two rows of potatoes as 
fast as you walk, wide or 
narrow planting. No plas¬ 
ter or water used. 
Extension tubes for 
orchard work with 
each. 
AGENTS WANTED. 
CATALOGUE FREE 
Leggett & Brother, 801 Pearl Street, N. Y, 
KILLS 
all kinds of insects. Goodell’s Gray Mineral 
Asli, a wonderful new product, is sore death to 
all plant destroying pests. It coos three times 
as far as Paris Green or London Purple, and 
acts in half the time. Can’t harm man or 
beast. To introduce it, will send free 6 lb. can 
to at least two farmers in each county. 
GRAY MINERALA§H 
6 Ibi. make 1 barrel of spray for field, or 2 bblt. for garden 
plant*. For sale by drought*, seedsmen and fertilizer 
agents. National Mining and Milling Co., Baltimore, Jld. 
-s EMPIRE 
“ KING 
PERHCT AGIT AT 0 A RS FIE No scor <§ng 
foliage. No leather or rubber valves. Twelve 
styles of Spray Pumps. Catalogue Fbbw. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO., 1* Market Bt.,Lotkport, N.Y.I 
THE 
PUMP 
THAT 
PUMPS 
_ Pumps 
Force, Tank. Lift, 
^ Spray, and all kinds of 
HayTools 
Catalogue free. 
F. E. MYERS &BR0., 
Aahland, Ohio. 
DWYER’S 
SUI1MK.R AND 
AUTUMN LIST 
of Pot-grown and layer Strawberry 
Plants, Celery and Vegetable Plants, 
Fruit Trees and all Nursery Stock 
will be mailed free to all who apply 
forit - T. J. DWYER, 
CORNWALL, N. Y. 
I * 9 essential for health and 
physical strength. When 
A nnotStfi Die k loo< * * s weak i thin and 
r impure the appetite fails. 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla is a wonderful medicine for 
creating an appetite. It purities and enriches 
the blood, tones the stomach, gives strength to 
the nerves and health to the whole system. It is 
just the medicine needed now. Remember 
HOOCI’S S paHHa 
Is the best—in fact the One True Blood Purifier. 
Sold by all druggists. Be sure to get Hood’s. 
HrwtH’c PMlc are tasteless, mild, effec 
* & F llid tive. All druggists. VKn 
25c. 
If Short 
of IIAY or FODDER, get our GRASS 
and CLOVER FOLDER, and our special 
prices on pure 
Southern German Millet 
State quantities wanted. 
Johnson A Stokes, 
217 & 219 Market St., Philadelphia. 
Delaware-Grown 
Now ready. 
BROWN SEED CO 
Wyoming, Del. 
Potted Strawberry Plants. 
100 Glen Mary for $1 50. 
T. C. KEVITT, ATEENIA, N. J. 
T HE Great French STRAWBERRY, Louis Gauthier. 
only large sort which bears on new runners Old 
plant fruits in June, making runners which irult lu 
September. A T.Golijsborough. W.Washington.D C. 
PFI FRY PI AltlTQ Produced by the oldest and 
ULLLIII I LnlllO most experienced linn in 
the business. Best plants. Lowest prices. Prompt 
delivery In good order. Following varieties: White 
Plume, Giant Pascal. Giant Golden Heart, Pink 
Plume and Golden Self-blanching. Addn ss for prices 
and other information, THE PRAIRIE SIDE 
CELERY CO., Drawer N, Tecumseh, Mich. 
CELERY 
PLANTS.—White Plume, 
Golden Self-blanching. 
Golden Heart and Giant Pascal. First-class stock 
at 12 per 1,0(10; $1 50 in 5,000 lots. 
T. W. HOWELL, Port Huron, Cayuga Co., N.Y. 
New Crop 1897 Crimson Clover. 
READY NOW. Simula for 2c stamp. My own 
growing. K. G PACKARD, Dover,Del. 
flRIMSON RLOVER 
Descriptive Circular on App'ication. 
HENRY A. DREER, Philadelphia,Pa 
CABBAGE PLANTS 
*1 per 1.000; *7.50 per 10,000. 
Dani-h anil Imported Holland. 
M. A. TUTTLE, Horne!isville, N. Y. 
Crimson Clover Seed. 
DERBY'S GROWS. Pedlgiee dates back to 1887. 
Crop of 1897 for Sale. Address 
SAM H. DERBY, Woodslde. Del. 
CrimQnn f Invpr Thomas McElroy. European Seed 
UllUloUII UIUVCI Co ,„ Merchant, Mercantile Ex¬ 
change Bldg., Harrison St., N. Y., continues the largest 
i mporter of high grade rel table stock of Crimson Clover 
seed in this country. Prices to dealers on application. 
Crimson Clover Seed. 
Order your supply of seed for July, August, September and October sowing, NOW, direct from a grower. 
Seed No. 1. Price low for quality of seed. Catalogue free. AUTHOR J. COLLINS, Moorestown, N. J. 
For Business Trees for Business Farmers 
—WRITE TO — 
Rogers, Dansville, N.Y. 
RARE TREES 
SHRUBS, FLOWERS AND FRUITS. 
Most complete General Collection In America. Three 
thousand varieties described in a 200-page(FHKK) Catalogue 
“The Leading New England Nursery.” JACOB W. MANNING, Reading, Mass. 
