1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
837 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to Insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.1 
Winter Apples for Ohio. 
8. A., Stark County, 0.— What kind of apples shall I plant here ? 
The Baldwin and Grimes Golden come very near being fall apples 
in this locality. I would like to try Jonathan, Hubbardston, 
Sutton Beauty and Wolf River. Hy soil is rather heavy clay. I 
wish to plant for winter only, as the fall market is overdone 
already. 
Ans. —As winter apples are desired and, probably, 
only such as are good for market, the Wolf River is 
not at all suitable, because it is a late fall variety in 
Ohio. Hubbardston and Jonathan are not late keep¬ 
ers, but they will keep until midwinter when grown 
in Northern Ohio, and are of the highest quality. 
Sutton is a later keeper, and is, also, of good quality. 
The three last will do quite well for market in the 
section indicated. But it is my opinion that York 
Imperial should, also, be planted, and in consider¬ 
able proportion h. e. v. d. 
Sutton Beauty and York Imperial Apples. 
E. II. V., Milton, N. Y. —Last year Mr. Van Deman recom¬ 
mended planting York Imperial and Sutton Beauty almost ex¬ 
clusively in New York. lias he changed his mind ? From the 
exhibits I have seen, I should say that Sutton Beauty is the most 
salable. Is the York Imperial of better quality? Which is the 
longer keeper ? What are the best two market varieties of Japan 
plums ? 
Ans. —Yes, I now think that York Imperial and 
Sutton Beauty are two of the very best apples for 
New York. They are not very different in quality, 
the Sutton Beauty, perhaps, being a little the better 
flavored. York Imperial is decidedly \he larger. As 
to their comparative keeping qualities, there has 
never been a series of tests made with fruit grown at 
the same place in New York, but it is begun at the 
Geneva Experiment Station. Burbank and Red June 
are, perhaps, the best two Japan plums for market, 
as they are both red; this color seems to suit the 
public eye better than any other. h. e. v. d. 
About Various Raspberries. 
A. P. .7., Brandon, Vt. —1. What is the difference between Lou¬ 
don and Marlboro raspberries ? Is there enough difference in the 
looks of cane or taste of berry to distinguish them readily ? A 
neighbor bought of a Rochester nurseryman both kinds, and 
thinks that he was short of the Loudon and sent Marlboro. 2. 
Which is the earlier raspberry, Thompson or Turner ? Which 
suckers the more? 
Ans. —1. There is a great deal of difference. The 
Marlboro is one of the earliest of red raspberries—the 
Loudon one of the latest. This difference will enable 
any one to distinguish them readily. 2. They are 
both early berries, the Thompson, perhaps, being the 
earlier. We should say that the Turner suckers more 
than the Thompson. 
Starting at Glass Gardening. 
J. McC., Havana, 111. —I have been trucking and gardening for 
some time, in a town of 3,000 or 4,000, but on account of competi¬ 
tion, and the long-looked-for prosperity, and the many useful 
hints in your most valuable paper, I feel that I need to take the 
third degree. I wish to begin in a cheap way, using 20 or 25 
sashes. I ask your advice on how and what to raise, or the best 
author on raising early vegetables under glass or by artificial 
heat. 
Ans. —If J. McC. had written more in detail, it 
would have been easier for a stranger to be helpful; 
for instance, the principal occupation of those 3,000 
or 4,000 people, whether Havana, Ill., is a manufac¬ 
turing or mining village, or its residents composed 
largely of retired farmers. In this answer will largely 
hinge the secret of success or failure of the business 
enterprise. The cost of fuel is another potent factor 
in the problem concerning which no mention is made. 
If I were going to make a hotbed for the purpose of 
forcing vegetables in winter, I wouldn’t make it. 
The sashes are indispensable along toward spring for 
cold frames in which to harden off plants of cabbage, 
tomatoes, etc., and the same sash could be used for 
a variety of purposes through the winter. A few 
flowering plants of a hardy nature could be helped 
along under them ; a choice strain of pansies, for in¬ 
stance, rightly managed. Each sash would carry over 
10 dozen plants that ought to bring $4, at least, and 
the sash be used after March 1 to harden off the vege¬ 
table plants that J. McC. grows after the lettuce crops 
in the little greenhouse that he is going to build. Not 
with sash. Oh, no 1 that’s too expensive I Buy a few 
sash bars, say 1 % xl%, at about SI.50 per 100 feet 
lineal; file up the old saw, get a copy of Greiner’s 
How to Make the Garden Pay, then go to work and 
make it pay. J. McC. will find that, in that little 
greenhouse, a few verbena plants and a whole lot of 
things can be grown that will sell a heap better than 
cabbage, and his wife and children yvill get so inter¬ 
ested that he will have an awful time to keep them 
out. In our section, we think that lettuce pays as 
well as anything we can grow in the vegetable line 
in winter, getting two crops off in time for plants for 
spring sales. Twenty-five years ago, I had to face 
the same problem, with this difference : I had a 
larger market, and coal for SI per ton. I read Hender¬ 
son’s Gardening for Profit, and built a little house, with 
brick flue about 12 feet back from the furnace, the 
rest of the way of unglazed terra cotta pipe. It’s 
pretty late now, though, to do a great deal this win¬ 
ter, but J. McC. can do it, and I believe he will. Let 
him talk it over with his wife. m. gabrahan. 
Peaches and Plums in Connecticut. 
W. E. G ., Hartford, Conn .—I have a piece of land sloping to the 
west for three fourths mile, which slopes three feet to the hun¬ 
dred. The soil is a sandy loam about 30 inches deep that will 
grow good tobacco, corn and potatoes with a reasonable amount 
of manure, and is underlaid with a red-gravel hardpan. On the 
upper end of this land, I would like to set about 100 plum and 
200 peach trees, for market purposes. 1. What varieties would It 
be best to plant ? 2. What distance apart? 3. Wnat fertilizer, if 
any, the first season ? 4. What crop,-if any, would best be grown 
between the trees ? 5. Is the location good ? 6 . What is the best 
crop to sow in Juneor July to keep down the weeds if other crops 
be not planted ? 
Ans —1. For peaches : Mt. Rose, Crawford’s Early, 
Stump the World, Oldmixon, Crawford’s Late, Globe, 
Wheatland, and Keyport or Lovett’s White. If so 
many varieties are not wanted, drop the last three. 
For plums, I would say, Abundance, Burbank, Sat- 
suma for Japan, and for English varieties, Shipper’s 
Pride, Bradshaw and Gueii. 2 . Sixteen feet each way, 
and in straight lines. 3. Any fertilizer with a guar¬ 
anteed analysis of four to five per cent of ammonia, 
eight to ten per cent of phosphoric acid, and eight to 
ten per cent of potash, or 400 pounds of nitrate of 
soda, 800 pounds of bone black, and 800 pounds of 
muriate of potash, making one ton. Mix well together, 
and use 1,000 pounds per acre. 4. Potatoes would be as 
good as any of the farm crops. 5. The location is good. 
6 . It is better to have a cultivated crop, but if a crop is 
to be sown, buckwheat is good, and I would say the 
best. For peach and plum orchards, I would advise 
annual fertilizing, using home-mixed fertilizers from 
the above formulas. Crop for three years, then give the 
ground entirely to the orchard trees. Cultivate with 
harrow or cultivator often enough to keep the ground 
mellow and free from weeds. The crop will pay well 
for the work thus expended. e. hoyt. 
What Crops Take From the Soil. 
0. G., Oakfleld, N. Y .—What amount of nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid and potash is contained in 100 pounds each of wheat, oats, 
barley, beans, potatoes, corn, beets, etc. ? I wish to learn the 
amount of plant food removed from an acre of land by ordinary 
crops. 
Ans —Average analyses, not including the straw, 
are as follows: 
Pounds in 100. 
Nitrogen. Phos. Acid. Potash. 
Oats...,. 2.06 .82 .62 
Barley. 1.51 .79 .48 
Wheat. 2.36 .89 .61 
Beans. 3.29 .95 1.51 
Potatoes. .32 .12 .46 
Corn........... 1.82 .70 .40 
In this estimate, of course, it is understood that the 
vines and straw of these crops are left in the ground. 
Wrong Idea of a Silo; Build a Tub. 
A. H., Vanessa, Ont.—l am thinking of putting a square silo 
9x13 feet into a corner of my basement, under the barn, next 
summer, the bottom of it on a level with my cow stable. I shall 
erect a cribbing of timbers, 6 x 6 inches, 20 inches from center to 
center near the bottom, widening the space as I go higher. It 
will be 22 feet deep. Inside of this, I will put on matched pine 
lumber, tongued and grooved 1 % inch; inside of this, nail on 
common strip lathing, the same as for plastering, then cross the 
laths, finishing up with a good coat of plaster made one part 
Portland cement, two parts good sand. I. Will it be a success ? 
2. Will it prevent the lumber and timber from rotting away by 
keeping them drier, consequently more durable? 3. Is the capa¬ 
city enough for eight cows, eight months ? 4. Would it be a good 
plan to sink it three feet in the ground ? 
Ans. —I will first answer the questions directly. 
1 . No, probably not. 2 . No. 3. Yes. 4. No. These 
direct answers without the reasons therefor, will not 
prove satisfactory. To build a silo as you suggest, 
making it with slanting sides will, in the first place, 
not prove a success. The side walls should be ver¬ 
tical to insure proper settling of the ensilage. The 
use of cement and plaster in a silo was one of the 
original ideas, but it has almost entirely gone out of 
practice. It was found that, in a short time, the 
plaster will begin to crumble off, and the conditions 
are far worse than if no plaster was used. There 
seems to be some action of the acid upon the plaster 
or cement which causes breaking down. Keep all 
cement and plaster away from the side walls of a silo. 
The expense of building as you suggest will be fully 
double what the expense should be. It is a poor 
practice to dig a well so that the bottom of the silo 
will be below the level of the floor where the ensilage 
is to be fed. It is far cheaper to elevate the material 
by means of a carrier at the time of cutting, than to 
elevate it in a basket at the time of feeding. The 
capacity of a silo the dimensions of which you give 
would be sufficient for the demand. Eight cows fed 
40 pounds of ensilage per day for eight months 
would require about 76,800 pounds of ensilage. A 
silo 9x13x22 feet would have a capacity of about 103,- 
000 pounds. 
From your description, it seems that the far better 
plan would be for you to construct in the basement a 
tub silo. You can build this tub silo complete for 
about what it will cost to put the layer of matched 
lumber on the square silo. A tub silo 11 feet in 
diameter and 22 feet high will have a capacity of 
82,746 pounds of ensilage. This is but slightly in 
excess of the amount that will be required by the 
cows. The tub silo can be constructed by the ordin¬ 
ary help of the farm, no high-priced carpenters or 
masons being required. The only question about the 
tub silo being practicable in your case is, that your 
basement may not be large enough for a silo 11 feet 
in diameter. If it is, by all means construct such a 
Silo. L. A CLINTON. 
A Fertilizer for a Light Soil. 
E. L., Kinderhook, N. Y.—l have a farm which is mostly a 
gravelly soil with clay subsoil; it has been run badly, and 
I wish to build it up. I used a fertilizer on the rye and grass, 
which cost $23 per ton; the analysis is as follows: Phosphoric acid> 
8 to 10 per cent; nitrogen, 1 J 4 to 2 ; equal to ammonia, 2 to 2 %; 
potash (K 2 0.), 2 to 3; equal to sulphate of potash, 4 to 5. One of 
our best farmers tells me that he is using muriate of potash and 
ground bone (100 pounds potash, 200 pounds bone). Is this a 
good mixture for a gravelly soil ? I can get air-slaked lime for 
five cents per bushel. Would that make a suitable filler? I 
notice in your reply to F. S. B. on page 725, you say, “ Let the 
farmer sow cow peas and $5 worth of potash and phosphoric 
acid, etc.”, but you don’t say what proportion to use. 
Ans.—T iia usual plan is to use three parts of fine- 
grouud bone to oue part of muriate of potash, and on 
most soils, we think that this would be a more econ¬ 
omical mixture than the one you mention for rye and 
grass. For cow peas, you can use five parts by weight 
of dissolved rock to one part muriate of potash. Five 
dollars’ worth of this mixture per acre would give you 
a good crop of cow peas. While the cow peas will 
make a fair growth without nitrogen, 100 pounds per 
acre of nitrate of soda added to the mixture of rock 
a ad muriate will give a larger crop. The air-slaked 
lime should not be used as a filler. 
“ Water Glass ’’ on a Cistern Wall. 
0. I). C., Granby, Conn —I have been told that a newly-plastered 
cistern can be washed over with “ water glass,” or silicate of 
soda, thus preventing the taste and color of cement in the water 
when the cistern is first made. Gan it be used in that way, and 
if so, what is its cost, and how much would be necessary for a 
cistern holding 75 barrels ? 
Ans. —This compaund is used to harden stone and 
make it more resistant to the weather. It would, 
doubtless, have the same effect on the walls of a cis¬ 
tern, but it is rather a costly method of doing what 
will naturally occur in time, when the water will have 
dissolved from the cement all it can, and the walls of 
the cistern have become fully hardened. Cement 
gradually increases in hardness, and becomes quite 
insoluble in the water after a few weeks ; but if it is 
desired to have the cistern fully waterproof in the 
easiest and quickest manner, this may be secured in 
the simplest way by painting the inside with the com¬ 
mon red oxide of iron and boiled linseed oil. Two 
coats should be given, as the first is largely absorbed 
by the cement. This is tasteless and odorless. A 
good washing of the inside of the cistern after the 
paint ha9 hardened will render the surface perfectly 
free from taint. h. s. 
Harnessing a Stream for Farm Uses. 
G. G. W., Williarnstown, Mass .—I have a brook on my farm 
which I wish to harness up to saw stove wood, turn a grindstone, 
and for any other uses to which it could be put—if properly fitted 
up. The brook is near my house, with a stream of water that 
would fill a two-foot trunk flume during high water, fall and 
winter. It is a mountain stream, having a good swift current. 
Will you give me some advice as to water wheel, fall necessary, 
etc. ? 
Ans. —If you can depend on the stream to furnish 
in dry weather, a volume of water one foot deep and 
two feet wide, being half what it furnishes in wet 
weather, and you can get a fall of six feet, for a cost 
of about $ 200 , you can develop a power that will do 
the work required. You should have a wheel five feet 
in diameter and four feet wide. The easiest way to 
take elevations to see whether you have sufficient fall 
is to make a rod 1 x 2 inches and 10 feet long, and 
screw a hand level on its edge. Work the rod hori¬ 
zontally, bringing it exactly level each time a measure¬ 
ment is made, and measure the rise at each 10 feet; 
add the heights until the desired elevation is reached. 
To find whether you have a sufficient volume of 
water, out of a 12 inch plank sufficiently long, saw a 
piece six inches wide and four feet long; then place 
the plank in the stream with the opening up, and in 
such a way that no water can escape save through the 
opening. When the flow is normal, measure the depth 
of the water, multiply this amount by the width, both 
in inches, and divide the product by 144 square inches, 
and the result will be the volume required. From 
two to three-horse power will do your work, but it 
will not pay you to try to build your plant without 
competent help ; better hire an experienced work¬ 
man, and it will be cheaper in the end, for he wiU 
build a good outfit for you, which you cannot do un¬ 
less you are experienced yourself. To calculate the 
horse power of your stream, multiply together in feet 
the width, depth, velocity of water per minute, the 
height of the fall, ana the weight of a cubic foot of 
water (62pounds) and divide the product by 33,000. 
To find the velocity of water, measure 100 feet or any 
convenient distance along the bank of the stream, 
place a small piece of wood on the water at the upper 
point, and let it fljat, without interruption, to the 
lower point, timing it carefully. If it take one 
minute to make the journey, your stream is making 
100 feet per minute, and so on. j. a. h. 
