385 
i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
have far fewer failures than is generally the case, either 
among market gardeners or other cultivators of the soil. 
Taking all things into consideration, the prospects of first- 
class crops during the season, except that they will be 
rather late, were never better at this period of the year than 
at present. smith. 
Green Bay. Wis.__ 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address 
of the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question, please 
see if it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate piece 
of paper.] 
Plans of an Octagon House. 
Several Subscribers .—Will the R. N.-Y. please publish 
plans of octagon houses in which some of its readers live ? 
Is the cost of an octagon house greater than of an ordinary 
four-sided house ? 
Ans. —The R. N.-Y. is surprised to see how many of its 
friends are living in such houses. Out of a number of 
plans sent us, we have selected for illustration the two 
shown in the following illustrations. The one shown at 
Figs. 125, 126 and 127 is owned by Mr. J. Wm. Merrill, who 
lives miles from Portland, Maine. The picture was 
taken in winter when a foot of snow lay on the ground. 
Mr. Merrill writes as follo'ws : “ The cost of an octagon 
house is somewhat more than that of a square house on 
account of there being more corners to make. The con¬ 
veniences in our house we are well satisfied with. There 
is only one side of the room that abuts on the outside of 
the house and one window to a room, consequently the 
rooms are much warmer in winter.” The smaller pictures, 
Figs. 126 and 127, show the arrangement and the dimensions 
of the rooms. 
The other pictures, Figs. 128 and 129, show the interior 
arrangement of a house built by Mr. J. S. Teall, of 
Lysander, N. Y., who sends the following note with the 
plans. “ The octagon part is two stories high, but the 
wing is only one story. As to the comparative cost of 
building an octagon and an ordinary house, I cannot say ; 
but I should not think the former would cost any more 
than the latter, if both are of the same size. Alterations 
have been made in this house several times since it was 
built, and now it is not right. I cannot say that I like the 
plan; it looks well on the outside and is quite pleasant, 
but the front rooms are bad. If I were going to build I 
could get up a plan that would suit me much better.” 
Care of an Orchard. 
A. H. H., Rayville, Md .—About April 1 I sent an 
ordtr to a New Jersey nurseryman for 500 peach trees. 
They did not come until about the middle of May. As 
soon as I received them I unpacked them and cut them 
back about one-third. They were one-year old trees, three 
to four feet high, just straight stems with no side limbs, 
and were full of green leaves when I got them; but as I 
thought they would not do well without being cut back, 
I cut them all back as stated. 1. Did I make a mistake in 
cutting them back ? I was looking at them to-day, and 
they seenj to be putting out new shoots. 2. What are the 
best fertilizers for a peach and apple orchard ? My trees 
are planted 40 by 40 feet apart, and my peaches 20 by 20 
feet. What is the best method of applying the fertilizers ? 
My ground is hilly, and during very heavy rains it washes 
very badly. My friends tell me to broadcast the fertilizer 
and plow it with a furrow plow; would that be the best 
plan ? I have been plowing first and then drilling in on 
the furrows, but I am afraid a great deal of fertilizer is 
lost. How can I best cultivate such an orchard, and what 
crops should I grow in it, and how many years should I 
continue the cultivation, and what are the best imple¬ 
ments to use in cultivating an orchard ? Is the new 
Clark’s Reversible Cutaway harrow a good tool, and 
would it do to use it year after year without any plowing 
in putting in crops ? Would it tear up the ground enough 
to fit it for such crops as sweet corn, beans and potatoes 
between the rows of trees, and would it work on a hillside 
satisfactorily ? 
Ans.— 1. In our opinion you did the right thing. Leaves 
must have a constant supply of moisture from some 
source. When newly transplanted, the roots of trees do 
not at once connect, so to speak, with the soil, and the re- 
sultis that the leaves droop and die. In transplanting, the 
roots are always injured more or less, and the stems should 
be cut back in proportion. 2. We should use muriate of 
potash and raw bone flour. If unleached wood ashes are 
cheap in your locality, we would use them in preference to 
the muriate. After sowing the fertilizer broadcast, use a 
Cutaway rather than plow it under. A Cutaway harrow 
is the best implement known to us for cultivating such an 
orchard. We should raise hoed crops alone—those best 
adapted to your soil and needs. This, however, would 
necessitate plowing the land. A Cutaway will not go deep 
enough. 
New Fertilizer Law. 
Several Subscribers .—Will the R. N.-Y. print the new 
law recently passed in New York State to regulate the 
sale and analysis of fertilizers ? 
Ans. —Below we give the chief features of the bill. One 
excellent feature is that the State and not the farmers 
pays the expense of analyzing and inspecting fertilizers. 
New Jersey has always refused to impose a tax on the trade 
or on the farmers. Maine rescinded the tax claim two 
years ago. 
“ All commercial fertilizers which shall be offered for sale, 
to be used in this State, shall be accompanied by an an¬ 
alysis stating the percentages contained therein of nitrogen 
or its equivalent of ammonia, of soluble and available 
phosphoric'acid, the available phosphoric acid either to be 
soluble in water or in a neutral solution of citrate of am¬ 
monia as determined by the methods agreed upon by the 
American Society of Agricultural Chemists, and of potash 
soluble in distilled water. A legible statement of the an¬ 
alysis of the goods shall be printed on, or attached to each 
package of fertilizers offered for sale for use in the State ; 
and where fertilizers are sold in bulk, to be used in this 
State, an analysis shall accompany the same, with an 
affidavit that it is a true representation of the contents of 
the article or articles. 
Manufacturers residing in this State, and agents or sell¬ 
ers of fertilizers made by persons residing outside the 
limits of this State, shall, between the first and twentieth 
days of July, in each year, furnish to the Director of the 
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at 
Geneva a list of the commercial fertilizers they manufac¬ 
ture or offer for sale for use in this State, with the names 
or brands by which they are known on the market, and the 
several percentages of nitrogen or its equivalent of am¬ 
monia, of phosphoric acid soluble and available, and of 
potash, either single or combined, contained in said fertil- 
izer. as called for in section one of this act. Whenever any 
fertilizer, or fertilizing ingredients, are shipped or sold in 
bulk, for use by farmers in this State, a statement must 
be sent to the Director of the New York State Agricultural 
Experiment Station, at Geneva, giving the name of the 
goods so shipped, and accompanied with an affidavit from 
the seller, giving the analysis of such percentage guaran¬ 
teed. 
Whenever a correct chemical analysis of any'fertilizer 
offered for sale in this State shall show a deficiency of not 
more than one-third of one per cent, of nitrogen or its 
equivalent of ammonia, or one-half of one per cent, of 
soluble or available phosphoric acid, and one-half of one 
per cent, of potash, soluble in distilled water, such state¬ 
ments shall not be deemed false within the meaning of 
this act. This act shall apply to all articles of fertilizers 
offered or exposed for sale for use in the State of New 
York, the selling price of which is $10 per ton or higher, 
and of which they are part or parcel, and of any element 
into which they enter as fertilizing material, among which 
may be enumerated nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, 
dissolved bone black and bone black undissolved, any 
phosphate rock, treated or untreated with sulphuric or 
other acids, ashes from whatever source obtained, potash 
salts of all kinds, fish scrap, dried or undried, also all com¬ 
binations of phosphoric acid, nitrogren or potash, from 
whatever source obtained, as well as all and every article 
that is or may be combined for fertilizing purposes. 
All manufacturers or dealers exposing or offering for 
sale in this State fertilizers containing roasted leather or 
any other form of inert nitrogenous matter, shall, in 
legible print, state the fact on the packages in which the 
fertilizers are offered or exposed for sale. 
Every person, firm or corporation violating any of the 
provisions of this act shall, upon conviction thereof, for 
the first offense be punished by a fine of not less than $50, 
or more than $200, and for the second offense by double 
the amount in the discretion of the court; such fines to be 
paid to the officer whose duty it is to enforce the provisions 
of this act, to be used by him for that purpose, and to be 
accounted for to the comptroller. 
The |Director of the New York State Agricultural Ex¬ 
periment Station, at Geneva, is charged with the enforce¬ 
ment of the provisions of this act, and shall prosecute in 
the name of the people, for violations thereof; and for 
that purpose he may employ agents, counsel, chemists and 
experts, and the Court of Special Sessions shall have con¬ 
current jurisdiction to hear and determine charges for 
violating the provisions of this act committed in their 
respective counties, subject to the power of removal pro¬ 
vided in chapter one of title six, of the code of criminal 
procedure. 
And the said Director of the New York State Agricul¬ 
tural Experiment Station at Geneva, or his duly author¬ 
ized ageDts, shall have full access, egress and ingress to 
all places of business, factories, buildings, cars, vessels, or 
other places where any manufactured fertilizer is sold, 
offered for sale or manufactured. Such Director shall also 
have power to open any package, barrel, or other thing 
containing manufactured fertilizer, and may take there¬ 
from sufficient samples; and whenever any such fertilizer 
is so taken for samples, it may be divided into different 
portions, and one or more portions sealed in such a way 
that it cannot be opened without upon examination giving 
Ground Plan Octagon House. Fig. 128. 
evidence of having been opened to the person sealing the 
same and delivered to the person from whom said sample 
is taken, or any other person that may be agreed upon, by 
the said Director or his agent who takes the same and 
the person from whom it is taken, which portion so de¬ 
livered may, upon the consent of the parties, be delivered 
to a chemist for the purpose of being analyzed other than 
by the chemist employed by said Director. 
The sum of $20,000, or so much thereof as may be neces¬ 
sary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the 
treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be used by said 
Director of the New York State Agricultural Experiment 
Station at Geneva, as shall be authorized by the board of 
control thereof, in enforcing the provisions of this act. 
Said sum shall be paid to said Director by the treasurer 
upon the warrant of the comptroller, upon vouchers to be 
approved by the comptroller, in such sums and at such 
Second Floor Octagon House; Fig. 129. 
times as said Director may require, who shall file a state¬ 
ment for what purposes he desires the same. 
Agents, representatives or sellers of manufactured ferti¬ 
lizers, or fertilizing material made or owned by parties 
outside of this State, and offered for sale for use in this 
State, shall conform to the provisions of this act, and shall 
be subject to its penalties, and in all particulars shall take 
the place of their non-resident principals.” 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
P. B. B., Cedar Springs, Canada .—How should nitrate 
of soda be applied to peach trees and grape vines—liquid or 
dry ? The soil is gravelly, and every rain runs through it; 
but it is well adapted to fruit culture. 
Ans — Dry by all means. Rains will dissolve it at once. 
Sow it broadcast as you would sow wheat or rye. We 
should not use about tbe trees and vines more than at the 
rate of 200 pounds to the acre. 
A.L., Oswego, N. Y .—The plants of which specimens 
were sent us, is Trifolium Agrarium—Yellow Hop Clover. 
It is of no value. 
