84 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
FEB 8 
not been produced upon my own farm. If 
forced to purchase in the market, I carefully 
examine it with a seed microscope for foul 
seeds. I have always been able to find 
seeds that have been perfectly clean, thus 
avoiding the trouble and labor of extra 
cleaning. I have never thought it neces¬ 
sary to test seeds for the reason that dur¬ 
ing more than 20 years of experience in 
sowing Medium Clover I have never had a 
failure. 
Andover, Ohio. 
FROM F. P. ROOT. 
The selection of pure and sound seed is 
of vital importance in the gi’owing of any 
crop and perhaps in no other crop is it of 
more importance than iu the case of clover. 
Impure seed is often iu the market and so 
is old and damaged seed that will not ger¬ 
minate. The experienced buyer can, by 
the use of a magnifying glass, detect both 
foul and damaged seed. I use no other 
test than my eyes in my investigation and 
I use no seed that does not come up to my 
standard of purity and vitality. No one 
need be deceived in judging of these quali¬ 
ties after a proper examination under a 
strong glass. Spread the sample thinly on 
white paper and apply the test. If any 
foul seeds are there they can be readily 
pointed out and if foreign seeds are found, 
one should reject the lot or pay only a re¬ 
duced price for it. Then again healthy, 
sound clover seed has a bright luster, 
which does not appear on old or damaged 
seed. I usually reject old seed under all 
circumstances, yet I do not think the ger¬ 
minating power is necessarily greatly in¬ 
jured in it if it has been kept in barrels 
perfectly dry and free from must; but it 
will not retain its proper luster. Clover 
seed is often damaged by being putin the 
mow or stack when wet, which causes it to 
heat and mould, or if hulled when damp 
and stored in large quantities it will fer¬ 
ment so as to lose its vitality. This condi¬ 
tion can be detected by the smell of must 
and by a dingy, dull and lusterless Color. 
Monroe County, N. Y. 
FROM EDWARD F. DIBBLE. 
We would prefer to raise our own clover 
seed, and did so years ago, but the clover 
midge plays such havoc with it at present 
that we consider it a good crop to let alone. 
Some few farmers in our section still con¬ 
tinue to grow a little, but not nearly enough 
to meet the local demand. We use 25 to 30 
bushels a year and, of course, are careful to 
procure good seed. About the only pre¬ 
caution any one can take to get “seed sure 
to grow and free from other seeds” is to 
purchase his seeds from reliable firms in 
Detroit or Toledo, who make a specialty of 
prime Michigan-grown seed, as it is always 
of full weight and comparatively free from 
foul stuff. Michigan as a State is freer 
from weeds than any other State in the 
Union where clover is grown to any extent. 
We have had a number of different weeds 
introduced into our farms by using grass 
and clover seeds, also among grain seeds 
that were grown at a distance. Indeed it 
is impossible to separate thoroughly the- 
seeds of noxious plants from those of clover 
or the cereals. We do not clean the seed 
after purchasing, as it is usually cleaned 
carefully on the farm before it leaves the 
hands of the producer. When it reaches 
the seed merchant if it is not up to the 
required standard it is run through the 
most improved fanning-mills and graders 
known to the trade, leaving it as nearly 
free from bad seeds as it is possible unless 
it were hand-picked. 
A very simple test may be made in the 
house these cold winter days by taking a 
box, 2xlX feet and two inches deep, filled 
with earth from the garden. It might be 
well in some cases to bake the earth thor¬ 
oughly, as the florists tell us a good baking 
will destroy any seeds, worms or bugs that 
might be in the soil. Plant 100 or 200 seeds 
just as they come from the sacks in rows, 
the same as one would plant lettuce seed 
for forcing. Set the box in an east or south 
window, water occasionally, and you will 
soon have a young clover field. A careful 
examination of the plants will reveal what 
percentage of the seed grew, and if there 
were any foul seeds in it you may be 
sure to find the young plants standing 
proudly up among their more useful clover 
neighbors. There is plenty of clover seed 
in the country this year and it is being 
offered at extremely low prices. Consid¬ 
erable seed was held over from last year, 
and this especially can be bought at a low 
figure. We cannot afford to buy anything 
but the prime article of new seed and that 
is quoted at only 83.50 per bushel to-day— 
January 24th—in the Toledo market. 
Livingston County, N. Y. 
SORGHUM FOR MILCH COWS. 
N. B. B., Meade, Kan.— Is it advisable 
to feed sorghum cane to milch cows? Some 
say doing so will dry them up. According 
to my experience, it has no bad effect on 
them. 
Ans.—T he R. N.-Y. has never fed sor¬ 
ghum to cows. Here are the views of per¬ 
sons who have done so : 
FROM J. E. MANS. 
There are some conditions to be consider¬ 
ed : 1. If the cows are fed on clover the 
flow of milk will decrease if they are chang¬ 
ed to sorghum cane. 2. If the cows are 
fed on prairie hay or grass the result will 
be the reverse if they are changed to cane. 
In feeding clover and prairie hay separately 
the difference is 20 per cent, in favor of the 
former. Sorghum is 15 per cent, better than 
prairie hay. I also find an increase of about 
five per cent, in the flow of milk on chang¬ 
ing the cows from corn-fodder to sorghum. 
Yidette, Kansas. 
FROM H. L. JONES. 
I have fed sorghum to all kinds of stock 
without noticing any ill ellects to any ; but 
I have never made a test of the results of 
feeding it to milch cows. I do not think, 
however, doing so would haveany tendency 
to dry cows off, unless turned while hungry 
to a quantity and they were forced to gorge 
themselves so as to injure digestion. 
Saliua, Kan. 
FROM JOHN ENFIELD. 
I have fed sorghum cane to milch 
cows and do so every year. The effects 
of the practice on the milking quali¬ 
ties of cows are just the same, so far 
as my observation goes, as those arising 
from feeding dry corn. Dry corn, if fed in 
quantity, tends to produce fat rather than 
a flow of milk, and the same is true of cane 
seed, and no more. In fact, I have never 
been able to see any difference in the feed¬ 
ing of the two. If cane seed were ground 
and fed as meal—which I have never done— 
I would expect the same results as from 
corn-meal. Corn meal alone, with dry hay, 
does not induce the greatest flow of milk. 
Mapleton, Kansas. 
FROM C. B. COLLINGWOOD 
Sorghum cane and corn-stalks have about 
the same chemical composition and about 
the same degree of digestibility. We are 
feeding silage made from sorghum to milch 
cows with no bad effects. The only differ¬ 
ence to be noticed between sorghum silage 
and corn silage is that the hard glaze on 
the former renders it rather less palatable 
to stock than the corn. In putting it into 
the silo the cane should be cut into one- 
half or three-fourths inch pieces. I have 
never known any harm to come from feed¬ 
ing sorghum to milch cows. 
Fayetteville, Ark. 
CUTTING “DOWN” GRAIN WITH A SELF- 
BINDER, ETC. 
IF. II. II., Fultenham, N. Y.—Will 
self-binders work in tangled rye or wheat ? 
What would be Mr. Terry’s advice about 
buying one ? 
ANSWERED BY T. B. TERRY. 
I have cut some very badly tangled and 
lodged wheat with my binder; but of 
course I could not do perfect work. Last 
season I cut a piece yielding 40 bushels per 
acre, that was badly down in places. I did 
not attempt to cut around the whole piece 
but took it an acre or two at a time, laying 
out the lands so that on one side the wheat 
would be standing and on the other down, 
so that I could cut under the “down” 
wheat, as I wertai-ound, thus doing a clean 
job without “carrying.” With a little man¬ 
agement of this kind I can generally get 
through almost anything in fair shape 
and without wasting grain. Crops of 35 to 
40 bushels per acre are good for the pocket; 
but I haven’t found them the nicest for 
fast harvesting. Were I intending to cut 
many acres of grain I should buy an eleva¬ 
tor binder. As it is, I do not ever cut more 
than 12 acres, and the little low-down 
Buckeye answers my purpose well, and 
goes through any gate or barn door. 
I hardly know what “advice about buying 
one” our friend wants. Perhaps he means 
whether he had better buy any kind of a 
binder at all. Well, circumstances differ. 
I could not think of doing without one on 
my little farm. Some would say I had 
better hire one. Suppose I hired one to 
come on Wednesday, and on Monday night 
it rained hard, which would put my potato 
ground just in the shape to need cultivating 
on Wednesday with the utmost speed of all 
hands. If we had to stop to set up that 
grain that day and the next I might, under 
certain circumstances, lose enough to half 
pay for a binder. If I owned a binder my 
wheat could stand a day or two without 
loss. On my farm, in order to do our best 
all around, we must have every tool we 
want to use right in our own tool-house, 
even to a grain-drill. Last fall by having 
my own drill, and hence not allowing a 
moment’s delay after the ground was ready, 
we just barely got our wheat in before a 
long wet spell that would have delayed us 
perhaps two weeks. I would not take the 
chances on that delay for the cost of the 
drill. Doing our work at just the right 
time is often an important matter. With 
a binder kept in a tight tool-house every 
hour when not in actual use, the wear and 
tear on a small farm is almost nothing. 
Friend H. knows his own circumstances 
best and he must think out for himself 
whether or not a binder will pay on his 
farm. 
SEEDING MUCK LAND TO GRASS. 
C. T. P., Cortland, N. Y. —I own a farm 
of 210 acres, 15 acres of which are the out let 
of what was called a beaver dam originally. 
Later on, about 40 years ago, it was used as 
a mill-dam. There were about 50 acres in 
this dam, of which I own the lower 15 acres. 
During the lagt 30 years, it has been dry, 
or, in other words, water did not cover the 
surface, the dam having been removed and 
the ground thoroughly ditched. The soil 
is a very, black muck, and is soil made 
mostly in nil probability from decayed vege¬ 
table matter. I think so from the fact that 
in ditching it, frem two and one-half feet, 
to sometimes nearer the surface, there are 
leaves and sticks in a partially decomposed 
state. The top soil seems to be pretty well 
rotted. I have plowed it and have raised 
many different kinds of crops on it, all of 
which do well, and more especially roots. 
In most parts the muck is from four to 10 
feet deep, and even deeper. There is no 
stone or sand in the soil. In draining the 
land, the wild or natural grass ceases to 
grow, and weeds of various sorts take its 
place. I want to make meadow land of it. 
What kind of grass will grow upon it and 
not die out ? 
I have seeded parts of it many times with 
Timothy seed and again with Red-Top seed. 
I have tried the large and small and Alsike 
Clovers, all of which lose their hold and die 
out after perhaps the first year. The 
ground is loose on top and light, but a few 
inches beneath the surface it is always 
moist. There seems to be virtue enough in 
the soil to grow anything providing it has 
been well rooted. What should be done? 
Should the seed be sown in fall or spring ? 
Ans. —The difficulty appears to be that 
the soil is too loose; if this be the case as 
the letter implies, it should be made more 
compact. Such land should not be plowed 
and it should be cultivated no deeper than 
is necessary to keep the young weeds down; 
then the ground should be kept compacted 
by the frequent use of the roller. Sow Red- 
Top, Timothy and Alsike Clover in the 
last part of August or the first days of 
September, harrow lightly and double roll 
with a heavy, weighted roller. The quan¬ 
tities of seed used should be liberal and 
Red-Top and Timothy should constitute 
about seven-eighths of the mixture. The 
relative proportions of the latter are not 
material. The following spring, as soon 
as conditions will permit, add a little 
more seeding and roll again. On such soil 
the roller is certainly the best implement 
that can be used in the after years to per¬ 
fect and improve the meadow. If lime is 
easily accessible, a dressing of from 10 to 
30 bushels per acre spread broadcast on 
the surface would be very beneficial. 
LEACHED ASHES ; NIGHT-SOIL. 
I. F., Hamilton, Canada.—I can get a 
large quantity of leached wood ashes.with¬ 
in two miles of my place at 82 per team load 
of abouF40 or 45 bushels. They are in a pit, 
where they have been accumulating for the 
past 20years from a soap factory. Would they 
be worth the money, and would they be a 
good application ou black, loamy ground, 
inclined to be a little heavy, on which I in¬ 
tend to raise an acre or so of celery ? How 
many loads to the acre would be necessarj' ? 
Would they be good on sandy loam, on 
which I intend raising early tomatoes ? and 
how many loads should be used on an acre ? 
I can also get night-soil delivered from the 
city at my place at eight cents per barrel of 
40 gallons. Would it be better than the 
ashes for the above crops, and how many 
barrels should be applied to an acre ? 
Ans. —One of the best things you can do 
is to send for the last bulletin of the Con¬ 
necticut Experiment Station, New Haven, 
Connecticut. That contains full informa¬ 
tion concerning the value of leached ashes. 
The R. N.-Y. has already given the impor¬ 
tant points of the bulletin. The 45 bushels 
will make nearly 2,500 pounds of ashes. 
This will contain nearly 1,400 pounds of car¬ 
bonate of lime, 25 pounds of potash, 75 
pounds of magnesia, and 40 pounds phos¬ 
phoric acid, worth, at the prices paid for 
these substances in chemical fertilizers, a 
little over 810. The chief effect of the leach¬ 
ed ashes will come from the lime which 
they contain, and this effect on the black 
loam will be mainly a mechanical one, 
making it less sticky and heavy. The 
leached ashes would also tend to correct 
“sourness,” sometimes met with in such 
soils. We should not put more than two 
loads per acre on the black soil, though 
more could be used on the loam. On some 
heavy soils the alkali contained in the ashes 
proves injurious. It would be a good plan 
to experiment with the field, putting heavy 
dressings of the ashes on portions of it, and 
carefully watching the results. The ashes 
will not prove a “ complete manure.” They 
contain no nitrogen, which will be needed 
by the crops you propose to grow. This 
may be in part supplied by the night-soil. 
It will be better therefore to use both the 
ashes and the night-soil. The best way to 
use the night-soil on the light land will be 
in the form of a compost, made by pouring 
it from the barrels over heaps of muck, 
woods earth, decayed leaves, etc., etc. 
Prepared in this way, you can hardly use 
too much of it. 
MUSHROOM CULTURE AGAIN. 
E. D. II., Miller's Corners, N. Y.— How 
can mushrooms be raised ? Is there any 
special wmrk on the subject ? 
Ans.—M ushrooms may be grown in 
stables, sheds, under green-house benches 
or in cellars, the latter being perhaps the 
best places, as they require a moderately 
moist air. The beds may be made on the 
floor, on shelves or in boxes, and are made 
of fresh horse manure mixed with one- 
fourth part of good, rich loam. After these 
are well mixed, press down firmly and 
leave about a week. At the end of this 
time, they should be turned over, and, if 
the beds are very hot, a little more loam 
should be added, and the beds be pressed 
down firmly again. If the manure before 
mixing is very dry, it should be moist¬ 
ened, but not made too wet. When 
the spawn is planted, the temperature of 
the beds should not exceed 80 degrees, 
about 70 degrees being best, and the tem¬ 
perature of the room from 50 to 60 degrees. 
The spawn may be procured of most seeds¬ 
men. Break it into pieces about the size of 
walnuts, insert in the bed about a foot 
apart each way, and after a week or 10 days 
cover with about two inches of loam or 
good garden soil sufficiently moist to be 
pressed down firmly. Do not allow the 
bed to become dry, but sprinkle it with 
water at a temperature of 80 degrees if 
necessary. 
The bed will require about two months 
to come into bearing. Gather the mush¬ 
rooms by pulling them off, leaving the 
stems on the beds. If the beds begin to 
fail, water with a liquid infusion of cow 
manure heated to SO degrees, and they will 
continue in bearing a long time. While 
experienced mushroom growers derive con¬ 
siderable profit from the business, we can¬ 
not too strongly impress the necessity for 
beginners in this as well as in many other 
special industries, experimenting in a small 
way at first. Do not let the stories of large 
profits realized by some specialist of long 
experience, which stories are sometimes 
added to by persons having supplies for 
sale, influence you to any greater invest¬ 
ments than you can afford to lose outright. 
This is a safe rule. Begin in a small way. 
We know of no special work on the sub¬ 
ject, but many of the seedsmen’s catalogues 
contain brief instructions. 
TRTING A CROP ROTATION. 
J. H. P., Bourbon, Ind. —I have a four- 
acre field that is so much worn out that it 
will not produce clover. The soil is sandy 
and red sorrel grows in patches over about 
one-third of the field. I am thinking of 
trying the five-year course recommended in 
the R. N.-Y., page 817, in the issue for De¬ 
cember 14, 1889, on a six-year plan. I in¬ 
tend using 1,500 pounds of a complete po¬ 
tato manure on each acre when planting, 
and no more at the last cultivation. I 
estimate that the crop on the four acres will 
cost me not less than $200, and perhaps 
more, and at the usual price for potatoes 
here at digging time (25 cents per bushel) I 
will have to get 200 bushels per acre or 800 
bushels on the field to pay my outlay in 
cash, leaving me no interest on the laud 
and no profit on the crop. If I can do that, 
