1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
741 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
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see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
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piece of paper.] 
GRASS-GROWN ASPARAGUS PATCH. 
IIOW BEST TO DEAT, WITn IT. 
One of our readers near Macon, Ga., says that he has just taken 
charge of a farm in which the asparagus fields have run badly 
to grass. About 2,000 pounds of hay have been cut from it. The 
asparagus plants look strong and healthy, but the ground Is 
covered with a thick sod, and it will be difficult to reclaim it with 
out injury to the roots. What would you do in a case of this 
kind ? How may this man first begin to reclaim this field with 
least injury to the plants ? 
Plow Out and Fertilize. 
As soon as dry enough, burn the grass; this will 
leave the land so that it can be plowed. Throw the 
soil with a turning plow from the rows into the 
middles, going down to within two or three inches of 
the crowns. As soon as the crowns begin to show signs 
of sprouting, apply 600 to 800 pounds of high-grade 
vegetable or potato manure to the acre, scattering it 
well over the rows. Throw the soil back with a heavy 
turning plow. This will give a mellow bed for the 
plants to come through. The grass roots will be an 
advantage, holding moisture and making the soil 
light. After ridging, smooth off with a harrow. 
Virginia. j. c. evebett. 
A Note from Florida. 
I presume that the grass in asparagus is what we 
call Crab grass ; if so, it being an annual, it will die 
out before the winter is over. Toward spring, he can 
clean the ground much easier. If the rows are far 
enough apart, he can then use horse power between 
the rows, but if it is hard to locate the rows, he may 
have to wait until the asparagus begins to grow. He 
would better burn the ground over, thus leaving no 
rubbish or dry grass in the way, and as the asparagus 
starts early, it will help very much. Asparagus may 
do well there, but is of little account here in Orange 
County, Fla. I have tried to grow it twice, and have 
just plowed up the last, and set out pineapples. I 
am not decided whether our soil or lack of cold win¬ 
ter weather accounts for its failure. A. j. A 
Plow, Fertilize, Cultivate. 
If that asparagus field were mine, I would at once 
take a turning plow and, beginning in the middle be¬ 
tween the rows with the plow running as shallow as 
possible to make a good job of inverting the sod ; I 
would keep turning the sod until only a very narrow 
strip, say 10 inches wide, was left where the aspara¬ 
gus is growing. I would fill the last two furrows 
made in turning the sod with stable manure, and 
broadcast at least 50 two-horse loads to the acre of 
the same between the rows. Early in January, I 
would broadcast 1,000 pounds of cotton-seed meal 
and 1,000 pounds of cotton-hull ashes to the acre be¬ 
tween the rows, and at once begin a shallow cultiva¬ 
tion with the cultivator in the middle, and hand-hoe 
around the plants. With this treatment, that field 
ought to yield a paying crop next spring. 
Arkansas. william t. simpson. 
A Charleston Grower’s Method. 
Had the Georgia reader mentioned what kind of 
grass he had cut in his asparagus field, I could have 
given him a more definite answer to his query. Here 
in the South we have three grasses that require our 
attention, namely, Joint or Bermuda, Nut, and Crab 
grass. It could not have been Nut grass hay, as Nut 
grass makes no hay. He may have meant that he cut 
Joint or Bermuda hay, and if such be the case, I 
would advise giving up that field of asparagus, and 
trying to reclaim the land by sowing oats in the 
spring, following the oats with cow peas. If you 
once allow Bermuda grass to get into asparagus, there 
is no getting rid of it, because it grows below the 
asparagus, and to destroy the Bermuda means death 
to the asparagus. I will take it for granted that the 
asparagus plants are in a good healthy condition, and 
not yet reached their prime in life, and that the 
crowns are, at least, six inches below the surface 
when the land is level, and last, but not least, that 
the rows are not less than six feet apart (seven would 
be best) to allow earthing up as the plants grow 
larger and nearer the surface. I would first use an 
Acme harrow, crossing the rows until the surface 
seemed pliable, then again with the rows. Next 
would be the single mold-board plow. Open a furrow 
on each side and as close to the old asparagus stubble 
as possible, so that there would be a ridge left not 
wider than eight inches ; this should be cleaned out 
with the hoe, drawing the old stubble a little dis¬ 
tance from the crown of the plants. Spread the fer¬ 
tilizer in this trench and follow with the turning 
plow, cutting two small furrows covering tha fertil¬ 
izer. This should leave the tops of the beds free 
from any obstruction to the knives in cutting the 
asparagus. If the crowns of the plants are not too 
much exposed, they will not be injured by the ani¬ 
mals’ hoofs in plowing. I would next break out the 
middles, making the alleys as deep as possible. After 
the land has settled, I would examine the crowns to 
see whether there was soil enough on them to allow 
the asparagus to be cut eight inches below the sur¬ 
face ; if not soil enough, I would go through the 
alleys with the turning plow to soften the earth and 
draw it up with the hoe. But, if that asparagus has 
just one thing wrong with it, I would let it go ; there 
is no patching or doctoring it up once it is started 
wrong. E. B. LEGAItE. 
South Carolina. 
Plow Up if Bermuda Grass. 
Without knowing the kind of grass and the size of 
the plants, it is hard to advise. I presume that the 
plants are young, probably only one year planted, 
for in an old field, the plants, if vigorous, would have 
shaded out the grass quite effectively. If the grass 
is the ordinary Crab grass, or any of the annual 
species that spring up so abundantly in cultivated 
fields in the South, I would advise letting it alone till 
January or February, when the roots will have rotted, 
and it can be worked into the soil without much in¬ 
convenience. At the same time, he should fertilize 
heavily, at least a ton per acre of some complete fer¬ 
tilizer, and cultivate frequently until the plants shade 
the ground enough to keep down weeds and grass, 
which will, probably, be as early as May or June. If, 
unfortunately, the grass is Bermuda, I would advise 
plowing it under and planting again in some field 
free from this grass. f. s. earle. 
Alabama Experiment Station. 
A Problem in Hog Feeding. 
II. B. 1\, Beverly, W. Va .—What amount of feed Is required to 
put 50 Berkshire hogs in marketable condition, to dress from 200 
to 275 pounds each, the pigs to be farrowed in March, and to have 
no green feed except clover ? 
Ans.—T he average estimate from corn as fed to 
hogs on the farm, is that one bushel of corn will 
make 10 pounds of pork gross, On the basis of the 
larger weight of which H. B. T. speaks, it would re¬ 
quire 1,700 bushels of corn for 50 hogs. But he does 
not want all corn, and could never make them reach 
the desired weight on corn alone. He has too heavy 
weights in view, as the markets do not want a hog so 
heavy. He will find 175 to 200 pounds gross the most 
profitable weight, and in a lot of 50, he should put 
them on the market at 175 to 200 days old, or at a less 
age if he is an excellent feeder. 
Last February we had four sows that had 30 pigs 
less than a month old ; the sows ate 30 pounds of 
bran and middlings per day, equal parts by weight, 
costing 15 cents. The sows were eating at the same 
time, one peck of corn per day, worth five cents. 
This feed cost five cents each, or 20 cents for the lot 
per day. The 30 pigs would have to gain only five 
pounds per day at four cents to pay for the feed. 
This brings out forcibly one point, that a pig can be 
fed better through the dam than in any other way ; 
that pork is made as cheaply then as at any other 
time. We now have 42 straight Berkshire pigs, two 
litters just weaned, and three litters four or five 
weeks old. We feed them about one bushel—30 
pounds—of bran and middlings per day, and one 
bushel of corn per day, at a cost of 38 cents per day. 
Besides this, they have the run of the pasture and 
other parts of the farm. The dams that are still 
suckling are fed the same feed in such quantities that 
the pigs do not pull them down in flesh. The pigs 
are hustlers, and as healthy as can be. 
Twenty-four of the 30 pigs that we cared for in 
February were sold at eight months old averaging 
206 pounds. I do not suppose that they ate five 
bushels of corn each. Six of the top did not go as fat 
hogs. During the summer, they had pasture, mill 
feed and corn till rye was ready to hog, when the 
mill feed was dropped. They would have made much 
better gain had the mill feed been continued, as the 
weather was too dry for them to do their best on rye, 
clover and corn. We now have 30 April pigs that 
will average 160 pounds, that have the run of a 10- 
acre clover field, They are eating nearly four bushels 
of ear corn per day, of very poor quality. These 
would do better with a light feed of mill feed, say one- 
half pound each per day, but they are too far from 
the buildings to give it to them conveniently. I give 
this outline of feeding to show how we keep the ration 
balanced. With these foods, we keep almost con¬ 
stantly before the hogs a mixture of hardwood ashes 
and salt. When we have pumpkins, they are fed 
with the corn and other foods. 
To reach the heavier weights spoken of, H. B. T. 
will have the care of his hogs for about 10 months, 
and as clover is his only forage, he can count on it 
being abundant not more than seven months, includ¬ 
ing the time the sows are still suckling the pigs. I 
would feed the sows very little corn for the first 
month after farrowing, and even after that till the 
pigs are weaned, in limited quantities. For slop, use 
bran and middlings, equal parts by weight, mixed in 
a stiff batter. Let sows and pigs get water straight. 
When the pigs go on clover, I would continue the 
slop ration with a little corn, increasing the corn as 
they grow older. When within one month of market, 
I would give nearly all the corn they will eat clean at 
a feed. The clover will be a safeguard against mis¬ 
takes in feeding a properly balanced ration. The 
objection urged against this manner of feeding is the 
cost of mill feed. Since I have adopted this plan, 
there has been no loss from cholera. Men that de¬ 
pend wholly on corn as a grain ration and grass to 
balance it, are cleaned out with cholera every three 
or four years. H. B. T. will find it best to use all the 
grass possible, but in no case depend on the grass 
without grain in some form. If he can weigh once a 
month as the work goes on, he will learn when the 
food fails to give a profit. If he feed to 300 to 340 
pounds weight, he will find that the last 100 pounds 
have absorbed the profits made before that time, un¬ 
less a big jump in prices help him out. While it 
would be impossible for me to give the amount of 
food required, I have given an outline of the manner 
of feeding and the foods required to secure health 
and the most profitable growth. .john m. jamison. 
Butter Paper and Butter Boxes. 
J. II. B., Af'ton, Wyo .—Should a person wet the butter paper 
before putting on the butter ? If so, with what? Should butter 
boxes be wet ? If so, with what? 
Ans. —It is a good plan to wet the butter papers 
before patting the butter in them. Clean water is 
all that is needed to wet them. Butter boxes and 
all wooden packages are liable to give the character¬ 
istic wood flavor to the butter if it remain long enough 
in them. All such packages should be thoroughly 
soaked to remove this flavor as much as possible. 
The package should be thoroughly steamed, and then 
filled with hot water in which some salt has been dis¬ 
solved, and allowed to stand for 24 hours, at least. 
Then it should be scalded a second time, and after¬ 
ward cooled with cold water. l. a. 
Mulching a Strawberry Bed. 
W. J. S., Albion, N. J.—Would buckwheat hulls spread on the 
strawberry bed an Inch or more thick before freezing this fall, 
be beneficial or otherwise ? 
Ans. —The chief object of a mulch is to hold the 
frost in the ground—not to keep it out. It is the 
freezing and thawing in spring that injure the plants 
by lifting or pulling the roots, and leaving them ex¬ 
posed. Wait till the ground is frozen hard enough to 
bear up a wagon, and then cover with the buckwheat 
hulls, and leave the mulch until the plants grow 
through it in the spring. 
Are There Any Milking Machines ? 
R. K. S., Cornwall, Conn .—Is there a practical, simple machine 
for milking cows ? 
Ans. —No. There are several large machines used 
somewhat in the West, but they have not been gen¬ 
erally adopted. These machines mostly work on the 
principle of a suction pump. A cup fits over the teat, 
and the milk is sucked or pumped out through tubes 
which are worked by an air-pump. About 30 or 40 
cows are milked at one time. A Swedish machine 
works by means of rollers which play up and down on 
the cow’s teat, separating as they go up and squeez¬ 
ing together as they come down. These machines 
are for use in large herds where power can be 
supplied, and none of them is practical enough for 
general use. You will have to milk that cow by hand 
unless you turn her into beef, or let the calf milk her. 
Livingston's Banner and Sir Walter Raleigh Potatoes. 
C. II. B., Philo, 0.— The past season, I raised the Sir Walter 
Raleigh potato purchased of Peter Henderson & Co., also Liv¬ 
ingston’s Banner, from Livingston & Son. The potatoes and the 
vines are so nearly alike that one cannot tell them apart. Are 
they not the same ? 
Ans —Our first trial of Livingston’s Banner seems 
to have been during the summer of 1895. Our report 
from three pieces planted was : Yield 4>£ pounds, 17 
large, 6 small tubers. Skin buff-white, shape almost 
perfect, being that of the R. N.-Y. No. 2 ; few eyes. 
Yield at the rate of 363 bushels to the acre. Two sta¬ 
tions have reported the Banner as the same as R. 
N.-Y. No. 2. They are, certainly, closely alike. Our 
remembrance is, however, that the Banner tubers 
are occasionally netted. We cannot say just what 
the differences are between the Banner and Sir Walter 
Raleigh further than that the latter’s tubers are 
oftener netted, while the quality is, as grown at the 
Rural Grounds, simply perfect. Our note as to quality, 
the tubers eaten October 6, 1896, was “ white flesh, so 
mealy that one may make flour of it with his fork.” 
