1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
sils once or twice a day, together with the time 
occupied in churning on the days when butter is 
made. To separate the milk of 30 cows and wash up 
afterwards, should take from 1 to 1% hour, varying 
with the capacity of the separator and the deftness 
of the operator. Probably it will, generally, be 
advisable to churn three or four times each week. 
For one man to separate, and make and print 50 
pounds of butter and clean up nicely at the end, 
would, probably, take about four hours. These fig¬ 
ures are from actual daily practice under ordinary 
conditions. It is needless to say that the churn and 
separator should both run at once. As a rule, it will 
be found best economy to have cream so cold as to 
occupy about an hour in churning. If the butter is 
packed in bulk instead of being wrapped in parch¬ 
ment paper, the time will be considerably reduced. 
In considering the question of labor, every self-re¬ 
specting man will understand that it is not drudgery 
to be inflicted upon the women of the household alone. 
The price that may, probably, be received for but¬ 
ter made in the private dairy is entirely problematical. 
If it must sell without reputation in the open market 
in competition with other good butter, we need not 
expect anything above highest quotations. A good 
deal of dairy butter is going into first-class grocery 
trade at three to five cents above the top of the 
regular maket Quite a bit goes directly to the con¬ 
sumer at five to 10cents above top quotations. These 
two classes are open to every one, and the grocery 
trade especially is not so very difficult to secure and 
may be satisfactory. The tales which pervade the 
newspapers of butter at 60 cents to $1, are true of a 
portion of the output of a few famous establish¬ 
ments; yet butter at these prices is a fad, and such 
trade must be secured purely by advertising and not 
by merit. 
The value of the by-products may be seriously 
lessened when taken from the public creamery. Milk 
from a big skim-miik tub, partly sour, and full of all 
bad ferments, is all right for feeding pigs, but it is 
not the thing for the delicate stomach of a little calf. 
The man who has his own pure, warm skim-milk not 
yet 15 minutes old for his calves, is ahead of the man 
who draws his supply from a tub with some of last 
week’s milk in for a starter, and perhaps half water, 
which has been run in to make it “ go ’round ” among 
the greedy patrons. The great remedy for that bane 
of calf-raising, the “scours,” is a moderate quantity 
of clean, warm milk, fed from a clean pail. 
This article is an effort to compare the two systems, 
and, in conclusion, let it be repeated that, for the 
average man, the public creamery will be the better 
system. jarfd van wagenkn jr. 
HORTICULTURE FOR THE CHILDREN. 
BUDDING FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 
I promised to tell The R. N.-Y. children how to bud 
the peach seedlings that they were advised to set out 
last spring. If they have been kept clean of weeds, 
and the ground loose, they must have grown well and 
now be in a thrifty condition. If we were to let them 
grow to be large trees, they would bear many differ¬ 
ent kinds of peaches, most of them small and of very 
poor quality. It would be so with little apple, pear, 
plum, orange or any other kind of trees. Budding is 
merely removing a single bud from a tree that bears 
fruit of a kind that we like to such a little tree, or to 
the branch of another large tree. It is a sort of trans¬ 
planting above ground. Every branch and every bud 
on a tree will make leaves, flowers and fruit just like 
those on the old tree and like each other in all im¬ 
portant points, with very rare exceptions. That is 
why we can depend on a single twig, or a single bud, 
to make what we desire. Therefore, we prepare little 
seedlings, set out in rows so as to give room to culti¬ 
vate them, and make good trees on their roots. 
There are “spring” budding, “June” budding 
and “ winter” budding, etc., but we are to talk about 
what is called “ fall ” budding, that is, setting the 
buds in late autumn or fall, so they will remain dor¬ 
mant in the stock until spring, just as they would be 
if allowed to remain on the parent tree. The usual 
time for this kind of budding in the greater part of 
North America, is from August 1 to October 1, The 
condition of the stocks and the buds for insertion 
govern the time of setting. 
The stocks should be as large as a lead pencil, but 
very large ones, those an inch in diameter near the 
ground, are neither necessary nor desirable. Very 
small ones will not make thrifty trees the next year, 
and very large ones are likely to cause too rank a 
growth of the bud, and break off. But the seedling 
must be vigorous and sappy enough for the bark to 
peel easily. During a very dry spell, the bark is 
liable to stick to the wood, which must not be the 
case. After a good shower, it often happens that the 
bark loosens, and budding can be done that was im¬ 
possible before. A few buckets of water about the 
roots will enable one to set a few choice buds that 
might be lost. 
The buds must be well developed on the twigs to 
be cut, or they will not “ take” well on the stock, or 
grow well afterwards. It requires considerable 
judgment to select such as are suitable. If you will 
cut from a peach tree a thrifty shoot of this year’s 
growth—from the end of a vigorous, bearing branch 
is my choice—and examine the buds at the base of 
each leaf, some will be found to be very round and 
plump ; these are fruit buds. Some will be narrow 
and sharp-pointed ; these are branch buds, and are 
the kind desired. Often there are two or three buds 
and as many leaves at one place. If so, one is sure to 
be a branch bud, and will grow into a tree if given a 
chance. If three, the central bud is a branch bud. I 
always prefer these double or triple buds for setting. 
HOW TO INSERT THE BUD. Flo. 219. 
Millions of buds that are cut and set by ignorant per¬ 
sons fail to make trees every year, because they are 
fruit buds. Sometimes, there is no bud at the base 
of the leaf, and, of course, no growth can come from 
such a blank. I throw away the butt and tip of every 
shoot. Cut bud sticks of any handy length, and trim 
531 
off every leaf just above the bud with a sharp knife 
and without delay, so no evaporation can weaken the 
vitality of the bark and buds. Tie in bundles and 
label each kind most carefully. Have a wet rag at 
hand and wrap all in it, safe from the drying air. If 
the buds are not to be set until the next day, or later 
pit in a cool, damp place, like a cellar, and they will 
keep firm and plump. This they must always be. 
Bads are packed in damp material and safely sent 
across oceans and continents. I have kept them for 
two weeks in my cellar. 
Before all is ready for setting the buds, the stocks 
should be trimmed and rubbed clear of branches and 
leaves for a distance of four to six inches from the 
ground, so there will be nothing in the way of the 
operator. It is well to do this some days beforehand, 
and have all ready. Any knife that is neither very 
large nor very small, the blade thin and of the best 
of steel, will do for budding. A good pocket-knife 
will do. Some think they must have a genuine bud¬ 
ding-knife, such as the books tell about, and I have 
used such often ; but it is no better than a small shoe- 
knife, or a kitchen knife such as is used for paring 
apples, etc. I have used very satisfactorily a small 
razor fixed in a short, solid handle. But, in any case, 
the blade must be of good stuff and hold an edge as 
sharp as a razor. I test my knife on the back of my 
hand, and when it will not shave, it will not do to cut 
and set buds. I want no bone or ivory blade to open 
the bark or anything of the kind. The knife and 
fingers can do it all. 
Some material must be provided for tying the buds 
to hold them firmly in place after they are set. About 
the handiest thing for any country boy or girl to use 
is the soft inner corn husks. Good, long, tough 
ones are best. They should be torn in strips half an 
inch wide and kept in a moist and pliant condition. 
Strips of old calico or domestic are good, and better 
than new stuff, for that would cut into the bark, in 
time. The nurserymen now use an imported fiber 
called raffia. 
All being ready, it is a short job to cut, set and tie 
a few buds in place. But whether few or many, the 
main thing is to do the work well and give them a 
good chance to grow fast. Remember all the time, 
that it is not how many you set, but how many grow. 
There are several styles of budding, but the easiest 
and quickest to perform is shield budding. A small 
shield of bark, with a little of the wood, is cut 
by holding the stick up side down and cutting to¬ 
wards you as shown in Fig. 217. First make a slit 
one inch long on the stock about two inches from the 
ground. I always make this cut from the bottom up¬ 
wards. Then make a cross cut at the top, as in Fig. 
218, beginning with the point of the knife, the blade 
slanting downwards a little at first, but turning the 
back outwards as the edge is roiled around the stock 
and the gash finished. This motion turns the corner 
of the balk down a little as at A, in Fig. 219, prepar¬ 
ing the way for the bud to enter. Next, cut a small 
shield of bark with a bud in its center and a very 
little of the wood beneath it, holding the stick upside 
down as in Fig. 217. Gently slip this down into the 
slit, with the corner of the thumb pushing against 
the stub of the leaf stalk. At B, in Fig. 219, this is 
shown as half done. The tying should be done by 
beginning opposite the lower part of the bud and 
covering every part of it to the top of the cut, except 
the bud itself, as at C, in Fig. 219. This is all there 
is of it, except to cut the bands about two weeks later 
and rebud any that fail. 
The children may try this simple operation on any 
tree or sprouts that they may choose, whether peach 
or any other fruit. They may experiment on rose 
bushes or maple sprouts and see what they can do, 
always using buds of the same species, but of any 
variety desired. Next spring, the stocks must all be 
cut off close to the buds that are alive and about 
ready to grow. h. e van deman. 
THE CHEAPEST FERTILIZER. 
HOME MIXING IN INDIANA. 
On most of the clay lands in the Ohio Valley, commer¬ 
cial fertilizers are now used extensively in the grow¬ 
ing of corn, wheat and potatoes. They are, also, used 
on tobacco in many places. With low prices ruling 
for most of the surplus crops produced by the farmer, 
comes a demand for a cheaper fertilizer, not a lower 
grade of goods, but lower prices for just such ferti¬ 
lizers as are best calculated to give increased yields of 
crops. Very many farmers say that they can’t afford 
to pay the prices asked for fertilizers by local dealers, 
and some, this season, are trying to get along with¬ 
out them. 
I am sure that the cheapest fertilizer can be ob¬ 
tained by purchasing just such materials as are 
necessary to make the fertilizer desired, and mixing 
them on the farm. Small farmers can avail them¬ 
selves of all the advantages of this home mixing by 
