498 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 31 
cubic yard of excavation, a very cheap price for the 
value of the muck alone got out. This was left on 
the hank to drain, and the basement under the cow 
stable filled with it and made to absorb the drainage 
from above. The horses were littered with it, and a 
great many loads were composted in the field with air- 
slaked lime and manure purchased in the City of New 
York. It was in this way I made a blowing sand such 
as New Jersey is well supplied with in places, into 
fertile soil which produced over 100 bushels of corn 
per acre, wheat 35 bushels and roots over 1,000 bush¬ 
els. So the fish ponds did not cost anything. 
Each dividing bank had a gate to keep the ponds 
separate, with wire net of ha'.f-inch mesh in it to pre¬ 
vent the fish from mixing. A good stream of water 
was thus gathered, and the part of it below the ponds 
was sown with water cress, of which many baskets 
were sold for 70 cents each for a peck in Washington 
Market in New York City. There was no need to feed 
the fish, but I boiled the curd of the waste milk of 
my dairy, broke it up finely and fed the trout with it; 
this with the eggs of a few carp put in the pond and 
the abundant natural food, supplied 300 fish in each 
pond. This I found an excellent way, for the clean, 
sandy bottom of the ponds formed the best of spawn¬ 
ing ground without making a special bed for this 
purpose, or artificially hatching the eggs gathered. 
A good many of the eggs were collected, however, and 
some sold and others hatched in wooden troughs 
in a special place made above the highest pond. 
HKNRV STEWART. 
THE PAPER HORNET AND ITS NEST 
The picture of the nest of the Paper hornet 
shown at Fig. 206, is taken from the Popular 
Science Monthly. Probably most of our readers 
have observed these nests hanging from bushes 
or trees, but few have cut into them to show the 
marvellous make-up of these hanging homes. 
The picture well shows the interior arrangement 
of the cells or rooms. The grayish papery stuff 
used by the wasps in making their home, is a com¬ 
position of their own manufacture. In the case 
of the common wasp, it is said to be manufac¬ 
tured entirely by the female. She uses the 
fibers of old wood for the purpose. These fibers 
and splinters are gnawed and then kneaded until 
they become of about the cor sstency of ordinary 
paper pulp. Moisture is provided by a secretion 
from the salivary glands ; in fact this material 
is not unlike the paper balls which, in the old 
country school-house days, boys used to chew 
and throw across the room when the teacher was 
not looking. 
Some varieties of hornets build their homes in 
the hollows of trees and logs and, in some cases, 
they clean these hollows out beforehand in order 
to make these places fit for their purpose. These 
nests are said to be occupied only during the 
warm season. In favorable seasons, when the 
weather is warm and food plentiful, a single nest 
may send out 30,000 hornets during the season. 
At the approach of autumn, the males and workers 
die. The females creep into crevices under stones 
and trees, or hide among moss and hibernate until 
the following spring, when they leave their hiding 
place and set about founding new communities. 
In fact, the hornet or wasp is a very interesting 
creature, and if left alone, may be classed as 
a beneficial animal. It is true that, at certain 
seasons of the year, they do considerable damage to 
fruit and forest trees by gnawing off the bark. They 
also destroy a certain amount of fruit. On the other 
hand, they feed upon flies and other insects and, in 
some localities, very greatly diminish the numbers of 
these pests. When disturbed, they will fight savagely, 
and some varieties will sting with great severity ; in 
fact, the sting of the hornet is considerably more 
troublesome than that of the bee. 
CHEMICALS, CLOVER AND COWS. 
THE u LASTING” POWER OF FERTILIZERS. 
What the Cows Have Done. 
Part II. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
Those who have read the little pamphlet on Fer¬ 
tilizer Farming, will remember the account of the 
farm of George Hewlett, of Merrick, L. I. Five years 
ago, when that account was written, Mr. Hewlett was 
using 3,000 pounds of high-grade fertilizer per acre 
on potatoes. Potatoes were then bringing a fair price. 
Since then, they have lost much of their former value, 
and I have been curious to see whether Mr. Hewlett 
would continue this high manuring in the face of con¬ 
tinued low prices for his “ money crop.” A recent 
visit to the farm shows that there has been no change 
in this respect. The changes have been in the line 
of greater acreage and the tools needed to cover it. 
This year, there are 40 acres of potatoes, each acre 
of which received 3,000 pounds of the Mapes potato 
manure. Five years ago, the crop was planted by 
hand, in furrows ; now an Improved Robbins planter 
is used. Then the bugs were killed by hand work, 
now the Paris green and Bordeaux Mixture are 
applied with a Peppier sprayer, with which 30 acres 
are covered in a day. The rotation on this farm is 
much the same as that of Mr. Lewis, which was des¬ 
cribed last week. In the spring, the corn ground is 
plowed and worked up for potatoes. After plowing, 
one ton per acre of the fertilizer is scattered over the 
ground. This is done with shovels—throwing it from 
the wagon as one would broadcast fine manure. This 
is harrowed in and then 1,000 pounds per acre are put 
in the drill by the planter. This year’s fertilizing 
amounts to 120,000 pounds on the 40 acres. This seems 
like an enormous expense until we realize what will 
be grown before more fertilizer is used. After the 
potatoes are dug, wheat will be seeded with Timothy 
—and clover in the spring. Two years in grass will 
follow, and then the sod will be plowed for corn. 
Thus the 3,000 pounds of fertilizer will feed one crop 
of potatoes, one of wheat, two of grass and one of 
corn—five crops in all, or an average of 600 pounds 
per acre for each crop. 
Mr. Hewlett says that he has kept up this heavy 
fertilizing through these past hard and trying years, 
because he wants to keep his farm up to its full 
NEST OF THE PAPER HORNET. Fig. 206. 
capacity. In spite of low prices, the farm has paid 
with this treatment, and is now in better condition 
than ever before. To show how they believe in feed¬ 
ing the soil, I will say that a number of acres of 
woodland have just been plowed and broken up for 
corn. On this new land, they are using 900 pounds 
per acre of corn fertilizer. It is certainly the most 
remarkable instance of heavy soil feeding of which 
I have ever heard. Scientific men prove to their com¬ 
plete satisfaction that 800 or 1,000 pounds of fertil¬ 
izer per acre are all that can be used with profit on 
any crop. Practical men come and look at this soil, 
and insist that the fertilizer must all leach through 
it. These careful farmers, who know to a dollar 
what the farm costs and produces, listen to science 
and practice (elsewhere)—and go on using 3,000 pounds 
per acre ! Some of these questions of science and 
practice are hard to answer, but it is pretty safe to 
be guided by the conclusions of the business farmer 
who knows the difference between cost and selling 
price. 
Mr. Lewis’s farm in New Jersey is much stronger 
soil than the Long Island farm of Mr. Hewlett. By 
“ stronger,” we mean of better texture, darker color, 
and more retentive of moisture. There would not, 
probably, be much difference in the chemical analyses 
of the soils on these two farms. “ Strength ” of a 
soil depends largely on its texture and mechanical 
condition. Mr. Lewis is convinced that 1,000 pounds 
of high-grade fertilizer per acre are all that he can 
economically use on potatoes, but he wants to use 400 
more to the succeeding crop of wheat. He says that, 
if he were working Mr. Hewlett’s farm, he would 
divide up that 3,000 pounds per acre between potatoes, 
wheat and grass. In other words, he does not think 
the thin soil of the Long Island farm can hold that 
big dose of fertilizer. I judge that he believes his 
own farm has been made “ strong ” partly because 
he has been able to grow large crops of grass, and thus 
plow in a heavy sod with each round of the rotation. 
There is a general belief among many farmers that 
the great secret of success with fertilizers is to have 
a soil well stuffed with humus or vegetable matter. 
On the other hand, some of the most successful fer¬ 
tilizer farmers I have met are located on light, leachy 
soil in locations where grass does not grow naturally 
well. Mr. Hewlett, unlike Mr. Lewis, does not care 
to increase his stock of cattle. He is still satisfied to 
sell hay and corn stalks. He continues to use 3,000 
pounds of fertilizer on potatoes, because smaller 
quantities have not given him satisfactory results. 
He does not divide or break up this application, be¬ 
cause wheat, grass and corn are very satisfactory as 
it is, and it is less labor and expense to put all the 
fertilizer on at onetime. My criticism of both systems 
would be that no effort is made to cover the corn 
ground with Crimson clover during the winter. I am 
sure that such clover seeded at the last working of 
the corn, would certainly show itself in the succeed¬ 
ing crop of potatoes. n w c. 
PROF. J. L. BUDD. 
A distinguished western horticulturist. 
At Fig. 207. will be found an excellent likeness of 
Prof J L Budd, of the Iowa Agricultural College. Few 
living men have done more for the horticulture of 
the Western States than Prof. Budd, and we take 
great pleasure in showing our readers a good 
likeness of this useful citizen. Prof. Budd was 
born on July 5, 1835, at Peekskill, N. Y. He 
was educated in the common schools and in the 
Normal Institute of New York. In 1857, he con¬ 
cluded to go West, and took charge of the first 
academy for boys, which was located in Rock¬ 
ford, Ill. He taught there for some time, and 
finally his attention was attracted to horticulture. 
Prof. Budd says that he was first attracted to com¬ 
mercial fruit and flower culture by selling trees 
for Arthur Bryant, and by talks with Father 
Whitney, of Franklin Grove, and Dr. Kennieott, 
of the old Prairie Farmer. We may judge, there¬ 
fore, that Prof. Budd began his valuable services 
to horticulture as a “ tree agent”, and this fact 
should, certainly, prompt the American public 
to look with more charity upon this much-abused 
individual. 
Prof. Budd bought the farm which he still owns 
in Benton County, la., in 1860, and started the 
Benton County Nurseries. There he developed 
the largest experimental orchard in the north half 
of the State. In 1860, Prof. Budd was married to 
Sarah M. Breed, and two children have been 
born to them, both of whom are living. Allen 
J. Budd occupies the old homestead in Benton 
County, la., and Etta M. Budd is teacher of art at 
Indianola and Ames. 
Prof. Budd acted as secretary of the Iowa State 
Horticultural Society and of the Eastern Iowa So¬ 
ciety while on his farm, and after coming to 
the Agricultural College. He was elected Profes¬ 
sor of Horticulture and Forestry in 1876, and for 21 
years has continued in the harness In 1882, he took 
a leave of absence, and spent the summer studying 
the fruits of Europe and western Asia. In 1883, he 
began the work of distributing across the continent 
some of the most promising tree fruits, small fruits, 
shrubs, etc., of this country and Europe to amateurs 
for trial and report. Later this included hybrids and 
crosses of value. It would be impossible for any one 
to estimate the great service that Prof. Budd has 
rendered to American horticulture. In a quiet, unas¬ 
suming way, he has kept steadily at work ; close in 
touch with horticulturists on both sides of the 
water ; constantly increasing our knowledge of 
desirable varieties, and broadcasting reliable in¬ 
formation by encouraging experiment in every pos¬ 
sible way. 
The fruit growers of the prairie States owe Prof. 
Budd a special debt of gratitude, for there is where 
his chief work has been done. It was a formidable 
task to study out the special needs and requirements 
of the lands west of the Mississippi River, and Prof. 
Budd has been largely responsible for the develop¬ 
ment of orchard and garden in this favored section. 
One great feature of Prof. Budd’s writing is the fact 
of its great accuracy and care. His statements are 
seldom, if ever, questioned, and horticulturists gener¬ 
ally regard him, certainly, as our highest western 
authority. He possesses one of the most extended 
horticultural libraries to be found anywhere, includ¬ 
ing as it does, nearly all the books and posthumous 
papers of the lamented A. J. and Charles Downing. 
We feel certain that our readers will join with us 
in the hope that Prof. Budd may long be spared to 
continue his horticultural work, and we rejoice 
with him in the evidence of the fact that his labor 
for the past 30 years has been so abundantly cyoiyned 
with success. 
