i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
•83 
think it was in the R. N.-Y. that a New 
York man who had been to one of our fairs 
(perhaps the Bay State) said that celery 
was kept better by the New-York way than 
by the Boston way, the New York way be¬ 
ing in trenches I suppose. Mr. W. Falconer 
in a recent issue of the R. N.-Y., says his 
celery has kept well. Will the Editor of 
the R. N.-Y. or Mr. Falconer explain more 
fully his way, or give the most economical 
and practical way to keep celery for winter 
sales ? Would a rough board roof improve 
the trench system for this section ? Celery 
would bea valuable crop, if it could be kept 
well. A short, large, solid stalk is what 
would sell about here. One other thing— 
celery has not blanched well. Golden 
Dwarf put in trenches last November is 
not well blanched even now. That earthed 
up was long blanching. 
2. Can the R. N.-Y. or some of its cor¬ 
respondents advise us as to which is the 
most reliable incubator? I have averaged 
1 or 11 chicks from 18 selected eggs. About 
what per cent, of such eggs would a good 
incubator be likely to hatch ? I do not 
mean what per cent, after all infertile eggs 
have been removed, and also those that do 
not show life at the beginning of the third 
week, but what per cent, of apparently 
good eggs put into the incubator. I have 
heard so much of the beautiful R. N.-Y. 
Grounds, and the great varieties of trees, 
shrubs and vines there, and the attractive 
and effective ways in which these have 
been used, that I have wanted very much 
to see them. 3. I wish farmers could be 
induced to plant more trees, shrubs and 
vines, too. TheR. N.-Y. often recommends 
one and another of these. Can it spare the 
time and space to give a list of hardy orna¬ 
mentals that it would recommend and 
tell us how to use them—that is as wind 
breaks or screens, as single specimens or 
groups ? What kinds should be grouped ? 
4. What shrubs or vines will do well in the 
shade—on the north side of buildings, for 
instance, and what would be best adapted 
to a sunny exposure ? 5. What deciduous 
and evergreen trees are best suited to this 
latitude ? 6. Would it be advisable to plant 
seed tor deciduous and evergreen trees ? 
Would much time be lost ? What seed 
would it be advisable to plant ? I am most 
interested in the horticultural part or the 
R. N.-Y., but consider it one of the very 
best farm papers, and would not be with¬ 
out it. 
Ans. —1. Many of our friend’s inquiries 
will be answered before spring. To answer 
them explicitly would fill several issues. 
We have grown about every kind of celery. 
During the past season few kinds have 
been free of rust and few have made good, 
strong plants. Years ago we received 
from Londou a parsley-leaved celery that 
was entirely free from rust, and made 
beautiful plants which blanched nicely. 
This is now advertised by some seedsmen 
(Peter Henderson & Company for one) as 
Bouquet Celery. Among a dozen kinds this 
was free from rust. Still the main stem 
grew too long and thick. The Golden 
varieties do not give satisfaction at the 
Rural Grounds. In favorable seasons Gold¬ 
en Heartwell has been our best variety. 
On the whole, we are at present inclined to 
favor the red or. rose sorts as being the 
most vigorous. Among them may be 
mentioned Covent Garden Red, Rose, Lou¬ 
don Red. The best method of storing celery 
we know of is this: Dig a pit about three 
feet wide, as long as desired and as deep as 
the plants. Take up the plants with soil 
adhering to the roots and place them in 
this as in ordinary trenches. Place over 
this pit a double-pitch roof. This is easily 
made in sections as has been illustrated in 
the R. N.-Y. The peak of the roof should 
be about 18 inches above the plants, giving 
a considerable air space. The sections are 
very readily removed during warm weather. 
In very cold weather the roof must be 
adequately covered. 
2. We do not know which is the best in¬ 
cubator. The R. N.-Y. has had little or no 
experience. The Monarch, made by James 
Rankin, South Easton, Mass., is probably 
as good as any. The Prairie State is also 
good. G. W. Pressey, Hammouton, N. J., 
makes a cheap machine. 
3. For wind-breaks we prefer the White 
Pine. Cut back or disbudded from year to 
year, they at length make compact and 
beautiful trees. Evergreens should never 
be grouped so that they will touch each 
other, except it may be for screens or hedges. 
For this purpose, the Common Hemlock, as 
it is called, will be the best for our friend’s 
climate. It is one of the very best of ever¬ 
greens where it thrives. For a beautiful, 
deciduous hedge, we should choose the 
Japan Quince in variety. 
4. Actinidia, Climbing Hydrangea, wis¬ 
taria, clematis, Hall’s Honeysuckle, 
Trumpet Vine, all do well in the shade. 
For a sunny exposure Hall’s Honeysuckle, 
Dutchman’s Pipe, clematis in variety, 
Akebia quinata, wistaria (Chinese and 
American), the variegated Ampelopsis or 
Yitis heterophylla. The Calico Bush 
(Kalmia latifolia), rhododendrons, azaleas, 
Hypericum kalmianum, Calycanthus, 
herberis, Japan Quince (Cydonia Japonica), 
privet, Mock Orange, many of the spiraeas, 
Symphoricarpus all do well or fairly well 
in the shade. 
5. Among evergreen trees we should se¬ 
lect from the following : White, Alcock’s, 
Hemlock, Oriental, Tiger tail (polita) and 
Blue Spruces. The Weeping, Big-leaved 
and Small-leaved Hemlocks should be in¬ 
cluded for small places, or, indeed, in any 
considerable collections. Then we should 
select the Japan Retinisporas, the golden 
variegated, pisifera and several dwarf 
forms, the Golden Arbor-vitm (preferably 
Douglas’s). Sciadopitys verticillata is one 
of the most striking and distinct of conifers 
and it will prove hardy in our friend’s cli¬ 
mate. As for deciduous trees, the list is so 
long that we must allude to it another 
time. 
6. Yes, for some deciduous trees and 
shrubs; no, for most of the evergreens. 
We shall endeavor to give a somewhat 
comprehensive article on this subject before 
spring. 
WET OR PRY MEAL FOR COWS. 
li. T. IF., Queens County, N. I".—How 
do dairymen feed meal, bran and other 
ground feed—wet or dry ? What reasons 
are given for either practice ? 
Ans.—T he following notes give the prac¬ 
tices of a few dairymen. We shall, doubt¬ 
less, hear from others. The R. N.-Y. feeds 
ground feed dry. Our cows are nervous, 
high-strung Jerseys, that “gobble” their 
food whenever they can get near it. They 
do not seem to be able to eat slowly, and 
the R. N.-Y. has never seen a first-class but¬ 
ter cow that could. It takes more time to 
eat the dry food, but we do not consider the 
cow’s time very valuable. We have not 
been able to see that wetting the feed in¬ 
duced the cows to give more milk. 
FROM A. L. CROSBY. 
I feed all meal dry. I can’t say that it is 
the best way to feed it, but I can see no 
good reason for wetting it, and the labor 
and bother of wetting and mixing, and the 
uncertainty of each cow getting her proper 
share, are reasons enough to prevent me 
from trying wet meal. Now there is a great 
deal said about the cow’s numerous stom¬ 
achs—how necessary it is to mix the meal 
with some bulky feed in order that it may 
be retained in the first stomach, and, after 
awhile, returned to the mouth, remasti¬ 
cated, again swallowed, and sentonits way 
to the other stomachs in regular order. I 
may be a loser by my practice, but my cows 
do remarkably well if they have their meal 
dry aud unmixed, if there is enough of it 
and it is of the right kind. Another point 
generally insisted on is that the cow must 
wet the feed with saliva to assist in its di¬ 
gestion ; here feeding dry meal would ap¬ 
pear to be the scientific way, as the wet feed 
would be swallowed much more quickly, 
and be less moistened with saliva than the 
dry. I don’t believe in the “ saliva ” theory 
at all, and it is enough to “salivate” a 
man to hear one preach about the necessity 
of the saliva as an aid to digestion, and then 
see him feed his cows on slop. I feed meal 
dry, unmixed with hay or fodder; it disap¬ 
pears quickly and I get returns promptly 
and profitably. 
Catonsville, Md. 
FROM H. S. WRIGHT. 
After making a test last fall with a cow 
that has always been a poor milker, my 
method w ould be as follows: For a feed 
once a day for each cow, cut or chop a half 
bushel of White Ovoid Beets, mix together 
four quarts of dry corn-meal and two 
quarts of dry bran, and add the mixture to 
the beets, stir them all together, and feed. 
That would be my “recipe ” for producing 
a good flow of milk. I made a farrow cow 
which had become nearly dry increase her 
yield of milk to three times the quantity 
given before I began feeding in this man¬ 
ner. When fed with beets or roots of any 
kind, bran or meal should be fed dry, as 
the juice from the roots together with the 
saliva will give all the wetting that is 
necessary. 
Little Utica, N. Y. 
FROM C. H. EVERETT. 
I used to feed ground feed scalded and 
prefer that way to feeding it dry, as it can 
be more easily digested and a cow so fed 
will give a larger quantity of milk than 
one fed dry meal; but for the last few 
years I have put the feed on potatoes, man¬ 
gel-wurzel or turnips and fed after milk¬ 
ing. 
Avoca, N. Y. 
FROM C. M. LUSK. 
I feed bran and meal dry. I have tried 
both ways (wet and dry). I could not see 
very much difference. What little there 
is, I think is in favor of wet. Last fall and 
the present winter, I had a large quantity 
of corn-stalks and sowed corn. I cut it all 
in a feed-cutter with a horse power and 
gave each cow a bushel basket full twice 
each day and put three quarts of wheat 
bran on it dry. The cows have eaten every¬ 
thing clean; my cows have never done 
better. After the corn-fodder was used, I 
cut and fed hay and bran in the same way 
with satisfactory results. The bran gets 
mixed through the other feed so that 
neither is eaten separately. 
Broome County, N. Y. 
FROM BERT KLOCK. 
I always feed meal dry. I generally feed 
ground corn and oats in the proportion of 
two bushels of oats to one of corn or there¬ 
abouts. I feed the meal in buckets or pails 
and the cows do not waste much. It is less 
trouble to feed it dry and I think the cows 
do about as well on it as on wet meal. 
St. Johnsville, N. Y. 
FROM LUTHER GATES. 
I feed ground feed dry. I have never 
noticed any better results from feeding it 
wet. It is more trouble to feed it wet, and 
the boxes are more likely to get sour. It is 
eaten slower when dry, which allows it to 
be more thoroughly mixed with saliva. 
Crawford County, Pa. 
FROM R. J. CASSELBERRY. 
To save labor I would feed meal dry to 
cows. To produce the same amount of 
butter with a little less feed, I would make 
a mess for them. I cut all my corn-fodder 
very short, less than a quarter inch; mix the 
wheat chaff with it, put the mixture into 
the manger, putting equal weights of corn 
chop and wheat bran directly upon it. 
During the spring mouths when the fodder 
becomes hard and dry I mess the cows, wet¬ 
ting their feed 12 hours before feeding it. 
Montgomery County, Pa. 
FROM GEORGE M. ORRIS. 
Iam feeding my grain on my silage, put¬ 
ting it on dry. I also feed it on cut corn- 
fodder, dry. I have tried moistening the 
fodder and mixing it in a large box, but as 
almost every cow wants grain in different 
quantities, it did not suit me. Fed dry, it 
is eaten up clean.well moistened with saliva, 
and is mixed up with coarser food. There 
is a good deal more in the quality and quan¬ 
tity than in the way in which the grain is 
fed. 
Meadville, Pa. 
SELECTING CLOVER SEED. 
Several Subscribers .—What tests do 
farmers usually make to insure a supply of 
pure clover seed that will be reasonably 
sure to germinate t 
Ans.—H ere are reports from some exper¬ 
ienced farmers: 
FROM D. C. LEWIS. 
I usually purchase my clover seed 
through my dealers, and they generally 
buy it in Philadelphia of some reputable 
seedsman. I do not clean it after purchas¬ 
ing. If it does not appear pure under the 
microscope I do not purchase it. I have no 
test of the purity of the seed except weight 
and its general appearance. 
Cranbury, New Jersey. 
FROM C. T. LEONARD. 
It has for many years been convenient 
for me to purchase clover seed from a 
neighbor or a near-by grower, when it has 
DEXTER-KERRY STEER. From the Mark Lane Express. See Page 89. Fig. 34. 
DEXTER-KERRY COW. From the Mark Lane Express. See Page 89. Fig. 35. 
