1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
661 
takes care of itself. Even in shifting 1 from a heavy 
machine to a lighter one, the engine is automatic 
and regulates itself, using the fuel accordingly. 
Its advantages over the steam engine are numerous. 
In the first place, one saves the expense of an engi¬ 
neer. It does not require more than one-third as 
much fuel; it is always ready to start; at any time, 
winter or summer, one can go into the barn and in a 
minute’s time, have the machinery running at full 
speed. It is started simply by filling a little charger 
with gasoline and turning the fly wheel around two 
or three times, and without even striking a match. 
With the oil cups well filled, it will run a half day 
without any attention whatever. One of the greatest 
advantages it has over the steam engine is that there 
is no danger of explosion from neglect or fire when 
it is set in the barn. In fact, one can cover it over 
with straw and there is no danger of its burning. All 
the water needed about the gas engine is a small 
tank or half barrel containing 15 or 20 gallons. This 
water is forced around the cylinder to keep it cool, 
so it will not burn the lubricator used on the piston. 
This water can be used over and over again, the only 
loss being from evaporation. I have used an engine 
over two years without being out a cent for repairs, 
and have not even had my battery recharged, w. w. s 
Ice in the Cellar. 
P. S., Orangeburg, N. Y. —I have an unused dry, stone-walled 
cellar, 15 x 18 feet, with a good building above used as a granary. 
I wish to use the cellar for keeping ice for a small family. Would 
a drain be necessary ? If so, would a sort of cesspool outside 
answer? I expect to use plenty of sawdust. Would ice, probably 
keep in such a place ? 
Ans.—A cellar is not a good place in which to keep 
ice, but it may be used if sufficient dry sawdust or 
other good non-conducting material be packed under 
and around over it, and the floor be sufficiently ab¬ 
sorbent to take up whatever moisture might drain 
away from the ice. An ice-house should be always 
placed on naturally well-drained ground, so that the 
little water escaping will not collect under the ice. 
But if drainage is necessary, a sufficient air trap 
must be used to prevent air from flowing in under the 
ice. This air-trap is made somewhat like a letter S 
laid on its side, and in such a manner, that a part of 
it is always filled with water. Exposure to the out¬ 
side air is best for an ice-house ; for the evaporation 
of whatever moisture may exist on the building, or 
over the covering of the body of ice, tends tc cool the 
whole, and so prevent melting of the ice. Thus, 
shade of any kind about an ice-house is undesirable. 
By carefully adapting the cellar to these require¬ 
ments, it may be made a safe place to keep the ice. 
But it will be necessary to use ample packing about 
the ice, and it should be considered that the buildiDg 
over it will be very likely to be damp. As a rule, an 
ice-house should stand alone, or at most, in a quite 
separate apartment on the same floor of the build¬ 
ing. h. s. 
When to Sell Bottled Milk. 
Subscriber, Elk County, Pa.— Wbat Is tbe best way to deliver 
milk around town—in bottles or cans? Should it be sold as 
soon as it is milked, or should I sell the morning’s milk in the 
evening, and the evening’s milk in the morning? lean hardly 
milk and get the milk wagon off in time the same morning, so if 
there is any other way, would the milk keep if I cool it with ice 
from morning until evening ? 
Ans. —Most people now prefer to buy milk in glass 
bottles, though many still prefer the old-fashioned 
tin-can system. You would better be prepared to give 
your customers their choice. The usual plan with 
bottled milk is to cool the night’s milk as soon as pos¬ 
sible, usually by running it over a cooler. It is then 
bottled at once, sealed, and put on ice or in ice water 
until morning. Most customers like to get the bottle 
showing the cream at the top, and night’s milk pre¬ 
pared in this way suits them well. The great object 
is to cool the milk as soon as possible after it is taken 
from the cow, and keep it cool until it is sold. A 
shallow tank in which bottles can stand with ice 
water nearly up to their tops will be good. 
Any Better Fungicide Than Bordeaux Mixture ? 
W. H. S., llocky Hill, N. J .— Can you recommend anything bet¬ 
ter than Bordeaux Mixture for the Plum rot ? 
Ans. —The fruit may be attacked at almost any 
stage of its growth, but the fungous disease known as 
Plum rot (discussed in detail in The B. N.-Y. for 
October 10, 1896) is most destructive about the time 
of ripening. The appearance of brown spots on the 
fruit is the first visible sign of the disease. The con¬ 
ditions are, sometimes, so favorable that it increases 
with astonishing rapidity, and a whole crop may 
“ rot ” in a few days. When the disease reaches the 
stage where it can be seen with the eye, it is usually 
too late to check it with a spray. Remedial work 
must be begun early in the season. For spraying at 
this time, there is nothing better than Bordeaux 
Mixture, and if the mixture did not stain the fruit, it 
would continue to be the best thing to use up to a 
few days before the fruit ripens. No better fungicide 
has yet been found for most fungous diseases. Ex¬ 
perimenters have greatly checked the Plum rot by 
faithful and thorough spraying with the Bordeaux 
soon after the fruit has set, and once or twice a few 
days later. But these early sprayings must then be 
followed with several applications of the clear, non¬ 
staining fungicide, ammoniacal carbonate of copper 
solution, using one ounce of the copper carbonate to 
12 gallons of water, beginning about two or three 
weeks after the first spraying with the Bordeaux, 
and repeating the application every week or ten days 
until the fruit is harvested. The disease is a very 
difficult one to contend with, and only thorough work 
will bring results. It will be still more difficult to 
control or check the disease with tbe spray, if the 
rotting fruits are not gathered and destroyed in the 
fall at picking time ; and the “ mummy ” fruits which 
carry the disease over winter should, also, not be 
allowed to remain on the trees until spring. 
M. Y. SLINGERLAND. 
What Peaches for Central Massachusetts 
C. V. G., Westboro, Mass .—Soaae writers on peach culture hold 
that a dry, sandv soil is best adapted to the peach. Will some of 
the readers of The R. N.-Y. stive their experience in the matter of 
location of a peach orchard ? Would it do to plant in a clayey 
loam, well elevated, and slopin'? gently to the northwest? What 
varieties are best suited to central Massachusetts ? 
Ans —The peach will succeed equally well on high 
land, in either sandy or clay soil under the proper 
treatment. Upon sandy soil, I would advise the use 
of some manure or fertilizer, just enough to produce 
a moderately fair growth ; but on heavy land, good 
cultivation will produce all the growth necessary up 
to fruiting. The northwest, west or southwest are 
the best slopes, but on high land, the peach will 
succeed on almost any slope. Ao even, moderate 
growth right through the season is the best preven¬ 
tive of disease and injury from cold. The corn crop 
is a good one to grow among peach trees, as the 
growth is checked by the maturing of the crop at 
about the right time. I would plant Mountain Rose, 
Oldmixon, Early and Late Crawford and, possibly, 
the Elberta in limited numbers. s. t. maynard. 
Massachusetts Agricultural College. 
When to Prune Peaches. 
G. W. 1)., Shelton, Conn .—Which month In the year la the beat 
to cut back peach trees? I have some, one, two, and three years 
old that have made a rapid growth, and I wish to cut them back 
this fall so as to have as little as possible exposed to wind and 
storm. Will any harm be done by so doing ? 
Ans. —We would prefer early spring, but know of 
no objection to pruning as soon as the leaves fall, 
wherever the peach is hardy. It should always be 
borne in mind that the fruit is borne only on wood of 
the preceding year, so that the tree should be pruned 
every year, or it soon becomes leggy. 
Tales of a Tree Agent. 
R L. L., Ten Mile Hill, S. C. —Why is it that grafted peach trees 
will not reproduce themselves from the seed, and that budded 
trees will? I was so informed by an agent for a nursery, and 
would like some one to explain the reason. 
Ans —It does not matter whether peach trees or 
any other kinds of trees may have been propagated 
by budding or grafting ; their seeds will not produce 
the same variety as the original. The method of 
propagation has nothing whatever to do in the mat¬ 
ter. Why a tree agent, or any one else, should hold 
a contrary opinion, or make such a statement as the 
above, can be attributed only to ignorance or some 
design to deceive. Peach trees are very difficult to 
graft, as I know by experience, and it is rarely at¬ 
tempted even as an experiment. Not one peach tree 
in a million now in our nurseries was grafted. If 
the statement of the tree agent was true, why would 
there be any need for budding peach trees ? The 
variation occurs in seedlings of all of our improved 
varieties of fruits, because they are race variations 
from the original type of the species. Unimproved 
varieties, that is, those that are like the wild type, 
will often produce seedlings that are altogether or 
nearly like the parent in tree, leaf and fruit. 
H. e. y. D. 
Is the Ridgely Chestnut Fertile ? 
T. J. S., Shaker Station, Conn .—I see that H. E. Vau Deman says 
that the Ridgely chestnut tree ought to be planted near potent 
varieties to produce fruit. I would like to know more about this 
point—the be t kinds to plant near Ridgely, how near, and under 
what circumstances do fruiting Ridgely trees bear ? I have sev¬ 
eral trees of this variety in my experiment chestnut plot. 
Ans —After having careful investigations made, it is 
impossible to tell whether the original Ridgely chest¬ 
nut tree is self-fertile or not; for it stands where there 
are, and always have been, trees of the wild chest¬ 
nut close enough to pollinate its flowers. It has borne 
freely and regularly. But there are young grafted 
trees of Ridgely that do not bear well. I have seen 
several large, thrifty trees in an orchard where no 
other chestnut trees were near, that bore plenty of 
burrs, but few nuts. I have - heard of other similar 
cases. The evidence is only circumstantial, but I 
fully believe that this variety is not capable of pol¬ 
linating its own flowers. The cases wherein Ridgely 
trees have borne well, so far as I know, have always 
been where other chestnut trees were near. There 
may be clear cases of self-pollination of the Ridgely, 
and I hope there are ; if so, let us hear of them. Just 
what kinds are suitable to furnish pollen at the right 
time is not yet fully known except, perhaps, by a few 
careful experimenters who, if such be the case, have 
not placed the facts on record. In a grove of several 
varieties of the chestnut, there would likely be some 
that would bloom at the right time and have potent 
pollen for the Ridgely. h. e. v. d. 
Ben Davis for Stock in Georgia. 
W. D. S., Gaddistoivn, Ga .—I have tested some of the new north¬ 
western Arkansas apples—Springdale, Mammoth Black Twig, 
etc.—and And them wonderfully prolific, of large size, aud long 
keepers. I can purchase Ben Davis and Northern Spy trees much 
cheaper, and wish to set a number more apple trees. What age 
and growth would be best for top-working Mammoth Black 
Twig and Springdale upon, all points considered, fora success¬ 
ful orchard ? Ben Davis is the strongest rooted tree we have 
here, and is free from blight. My object is to save money. 
Ans —Ben Davis is the variety I should use as a 
stock upon which to top-work the other varieties. 
Trees two years old are large enough, and one year 
old would, perhaps, be better ; for the grafting should 
not be done until the trees have stood a year. I would 
set the grafts about 2 to 2)4 feet from the ground. 
H. e. v. D. 
When to Cut Alders and Willows. 
11. L. T., Hamlet, N. Y. —When can Tag alders and Swamp wil- 
'ow8 be cut so that they will not sprout again? 
Ans —It will, probably, be impossible to find a time 
to cut Tag alders and Swamp willows and not have 
them start into growth again ; but these plants are 
subject to the same law as others, that, if cut during 
the period of most vigorous growth, they suffer the 
greatest shock, and will be most weakened. The 
month of August is the best time to do this work, 
and if followed up a few seasons, one is sure to win. 
The labor will, also, become less at each successive 
cutting. 
Nitrogen in Cotton-seed Meal. 
T., Cohoke, Vd. —What per cent of ammonia does cotton-seed 
meal contain ? Which is the best source of ammonia for wheat; 
the meal, or fish scrap containing about 19 per cent ? 
Ans. — An average sample of cotton-seed meal 
should contain 6)4 per cent of nitrogen, 1)4 of phos¬ 
phoric acid, and 1 % of potash. We regard cotton¬ 
seed meal as about the most available source of or¬ 
ganic nitrogen. Experiments indicate that it is 
somewhat more readily available than fish scrap. 
You do not quote prices at which these fertilizers 
can be bought, but in most parts of the South—par¬ 
ticularly in the interior—cotton-seed meal is, by far, 
the cheapest source of nitrogen. 
Why Maple Leaves Turn Red Early. 
C. 1). S., Stepney, Conn. —What causes the leaves on the north 
half of one of the Sugar maple trees standing in front of my 
residence, to turn red about the first of September, in a month or 
six weeks after, fall to the ground, and the remaining foliage 
keep green and thrifty until killed by the frost? It has acted this 
way for the past two or three years. Only one tree in the row is 
affected, and I should be'sorry to have it die. 
Ans —We have often noticed this peculiarity of the 
maples, and have, without knowing anything about it, 
ascribed it either to some injury that these branches 
have sustained from insects or other causes, or to a 
greater exposure to cold winds and frosts. We should 
be pleased to hear from those who have made a study 
of the peculiarity. 
The R. N - Y. Hybrid Wheats. 
W. H. 11, Wellington, 0.— Are there any of the Rural hybrid 
wheats that you believe to be ahead of all other kinds in hardi¬ 
ness and prolificacy ? If not, what variety would you recommend 
for trial on clay upland soil, not very strong ? 
Ans. —No. We have not received any reports which 
would justify us in placing any of the Rural hybrid 
wheats above the popular kinds of to-day. The Ohio 
Station places Velvet Chaff among its most satisfac¬ 
tory varieties, Valley as the best for the lower and 
stronger loams of the State, and Poole, Mealy, Red 
Fultz, Nigger, Deitz, and Rudy for the higher and 
especially clay lands. Jones’s Winter Fife succeeds 
admirably in New York. We cannot answer for Ohio. 
Landreth or Armstrong (they are the same) has given 
The R. N.-Y. the best yield. Of the cross-bred wheats 
which have originated at the Rural Grounds, the R. 
N.-Y. No 57 is very promising. 
Fertilizing Value of Cull Beans. 
II. M. W., Oak Grove, Mich.—I can get call beaus at from $4 to 
$5 per ton, and am thinking of using some for fertilizer. What 
is their value? If spread on the ground at the beginning of 
winter, would they be sufficiently decomposed by spring to be 
available ? 
Ans. —A ton of such beans contains about 90 pounds 
of nitrogen, 25 of potash and 20 of phosphoric acid. As 
compared with the plant food in cotton-seed meal, bone 
or tankage, a ton of bean meal is worth, at least, $15 as 
a fertilizer. The beans are worth, however, almost 
as much more for feeding animals. If crushed or 
ground and put in the soil early in spring, a ton of 
beans would be likely to give better fertilizing results 
than six tons of ordinary manure ; but this would be 
a wasteful practice, because you would lose the feeding 
value. If you could cook them and feed them to hogs 
with boiled potatoes or corn meal, you can make many 
pounds of pork and still save, at least, three-fourths of 
the manurial value of the beans in the manure. 
