684 
OCT. ii 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
FARMERS’ CLUB—DISCUSSION. 
The Mildew and Rot and the 
Remedy. 
Thaddeus Smith, Pelee Island, Lake 
Erie.— Though the Catawba is the favorite 
grape upon the Lake Erie islands, it is more 
liable to disease than almost any other grape 
grown there. The excessive and continued 
rains of last June and early July produced 
mildew and rot which greatly injured the 
Catawbas, almost destroying the crop. The 
Niagaras and Concords and some other 
varieties were injured to some extent. The 
varieties in my vineyard that were exempt 
from rot were Isabella, Delaware, Early 
Victor, Empire State, Etta and Ives. Other 
varieties were injured more or less by mil¬ 
dew of the leaves; but did not rot enough 
to materially injure the crop. This has 
been a good season to test the effect of 
spraying with the sulphate of copper mix¬ 
tures. I commenced spraying my vineyard 
with Eau Celeste on June 23, just as the 
Catawbas were coming into bloom. Though 
I did not save my entire crop, it was greatly 
benefited. I left four long rows of Catawbas 
in the midst of the vineyard unsprayed, to 
test the matter, and a basket of fruit could 
not be gathered from these rows, while I 
have a third of a crop on the sprayed part. 
I am confident that I could have saved the 
crop if I had begun spraying earlier. Mr. 
Geo. M. High, of Middle Bass Island, Lake 
Erie, is the pioneer in introducing spraying 
in this section. He began spraying about 
two weeks earlier than I did, and has a 
perfect crop of Catawbas, and 100 other 
varieties uninjured. Some of his neighbors 
who followed his example also saved their 
crops, while those who did not spray have 
lost nearly all their Catawbas, and the 
other varieties were injured more or less. I 
used the vineyard and orchard spraying 
cart and pump made by the Nixon Nozzle 
Compauy, of Dayton, Ohio, which I find so 
well adapted to the purpose of spraying 
vineyards that I cannot see how it could 
be improved. 
Milk vs. Meat. 
Dr. G. G. Groff, Lewisburg, Pa.—S ome 
one takes exception to Mr. Terry’s cow be¬ 
cause she cannot supply his family with 
both milk and butter. I have two cows, 
the best I could buy in this section : my 
family numbers eight, and yet the cows 
will scarcely give us all the milk and cream 
we need. The children drink milk at 
every meal. We use it in cooking, and 
have come to consider it the one prime ne¬ 
cessity on our table. If the children desire 
it they are given a glass (or more if they 
wish) of milk. They are never sick. We 
have often been told that they are the 
healthiest looking children in town. In 
our experience we have found that milk 
and eggs serve every purpose that meat 
does, and duriDg all the warm season we 
use very little meat, having it on the table 
probably on an average not more than 
once a week. In my own case, the desire 
for meat scarcely exists, and I think the 
same is true of the other members of the 
family. Hence, the extravagance of keep¬ 
ing two cows for milk alone is not so great, 
when it Is remembered that the meat bill, 
often so heavy, is thereby almost entirely 
avoided. I remember, years ago, hearing 
one farmer ask another how it was that his 
calves grew so thriftily. The reply was; 
“ I give them fresh milk to drink, and 
often I break fresh eggs into it besides ” I 
thought when I had children this would bo 
a good plan to adopt with them. 
Hereford Blood Tens. 
L J. Blackwell, Mercer County, 
N. J.—We have an 18 month old heifer 
whose calf we have just sold weighing 250 
pounds live weight. The calf was dropped 
on July 1, when the heifer was 15 months 
old. The heifer remained with the cow 
until 14 weeks old and has been regularly 
fed since she was three weeks old, except 
last June. She is now giving milk, is in 
good condition, and would weigh probably 
701) pounds on foot. She is of mixed breed, 
having in her Hereford and Jersey, and, 
I believe, some Short horn blood. I do not 
know her exact pedigree as she was bought 
when about 10 days old. The calf sold has 
had the milk from another heifer for one 
month or longer, having practically two 
mothers. 
Joining Wood and Stone. 
J. M. Drew, Winona County, Minn.— 
On page 625 the question is asked: “ How 
can I join wood and stone so that a stone 
wall can be used for part of a silo ? ” John 
Gould says that the best plan is not to join 
them, but to let the wood go down to the 
bottom inside the stone wall and make an 
air space. This may be all right in some, 
possibly in the majority of cases; but I 
know that at least in one case a perfect 
joint was made between wood and stone. 
It was done by using patent matched lath¬ 
ing and extending the coat of cement with 
which the walls were covered up for several 
inches on the wood-work, and then thor¬ 
oughly painting the joint with hot tar. 
The patent lathing or “Byrkets,” (named 
from the inventor), may not be familiar to 
all of The Rural readers. It consists of 
narrow matched boards with dove tailed 
grooves sawed the whole length. I would 
not line a stone basement for a silo if I 
could have the lumber free; for in my silo 
the silage was just as good against the 
stone walls as against the wood. There 
was no waste, except where the frost got 
through the wall above ground. A little 
banking up with straw will obviate this 
next winter. A bottom of clay is all that is 
needed: for the silage at the bottom kept 
perfectly, that which was directly in con¬ 
tact with the clay could not be distin¬ 
guished from any sample taken from the 
middle of the silo. Our silo was built in 
the end of a bank barn. That end of the 
barn had been built after the main part, 
and no basement had been dug till the silo 
was built. At the end next the bank was a 
stone wall about five feet high which was too 
good to be torn down, and the masons said 
it would be impossible to support it and 
build another wall under it, so we did not 
disturb it. but dug down beside it, and, 
after putting in three posts made of rail¬ 
road iron with large, flat stones for founda¬ 
tions, we covered the surface of the bank, 
(which was of stiff, yellow clay), with a 
coat of good cement. This has answered 
the purpose of a wall perfectly. 
Farmers’ Alliance in New York 
State. 
“A Correspondent,” New York.— In 
issue of The Rural for September 13, 
“Seer” asked if we needed The Farmers’ 
Alliance in New York State. The Alliance 
has passed out of existence in this State. 
On February 22, 1890, the officers of the 
Alliance met the officers of the Farmers’ 
League, and the constitution of the latter 
organization was adopted. The Alliance is 
a secret body ; while the League, which is 
in harmony with the Grange and Alli¬ 
ance, is a non-secret, independent, non¬ 
partisan organization, formed for the 
farmers’ political welfare. If “ Seer ” will 
consult The R. N.-Y., page 635, he will find 
some more information about the League. 
I agree with “ Seer ” in the opinion that 
farmers are “ becoming aware that there is 
a screw loose somewhere,” and not only in 
their “ trade relations,” but also in their 
political dealings. There has come a time 
when the motto: “ Divided we fall, united 
we stand,” has proved a reality. I do ear¬ 
nestly plead that as the farmers are a 
down trodden class as a general thing, 
something should be done to restore to 
them that power which has been lost 
through a failure on their part to keep 
abreast of the times and to organize. I 
think that through the Grange, Alliance, 
League, etc., the farmer may yet become a 
leading factor in the land. 
Grapes on Line Fences. 
Dwight Herrick, Winnebago County, 
III.—By accident 1 overheard a conversa¬ 
tion between a well to-do farmer and bis 
wife upon the topic of fruit for home use. 
She wanted a small plot devoted to grapes, 
raspberries, strawberries, etc. Sbe volun¬ 
teered to do all the work, except the plow¬ 
ing, but he complained that he had not 
time to do even that, and finally alleged 
that he could not spare the ground. He 
said that on the plot she wanted for fruit 
he could raise potatoes enough to pay for 
all the berries she wanted 10 times over. 
Now, this set me thinking. Did he 
tell the truth ? Was he doing jus¬ 
tice to his family? In every farm of 40 
acres and over, there is enough waste land 
to raise 10 times the amount of fruit that 
an ordinary family can use. Why not set 
out grapes along the line fences ? There is 
a space of from two to six leet next to the 
fence that is of no earthly use. You say 
that it cannot be cultivated. Then mulch 
the ground so that no grass or weeds can 
grow there. Most fences are built of wire, 
and such a fence would support grape 
vines, or one could set out blackberries 
and raspberries and give them the same 
treatment. It would be some trouble at 
first to set them out, but, think of the en¬ 
joyment to be derived from them! On any 
farm enough fruit could be produced 
around the line fences to furnish the family 
and pay the taxes upon it. Can any of the 
readers of The Rural tell why this can¬ 
not be done ? 
Some Virginia Cattle. 
Geo P. Luck, Bedford County, Va.— 
I have seen in The Rural several articles 
abiut feeding cattle in the East. I fed in the 
spring of 1889 14 head and sold them on 
June 1, in Lynchburg at four cents per 
pound; the 14 head weighed 14,060 pounds. 
On February 28, 1890, I weighed 12 head 
separately, and the weight was 8,920 
pounds: they were in poor condition. I 
commenced feeding them on March 1. Two 
weeks afterwards I bought two more and 
added them to the lot. I started this lot to 
Lynchburg on May 27. After the first day’s 
drive I weighed four head on scales made 
by Jones of Binghamton. The four 
weighed on February 28, 660, 660, 835 and 
855 pounds, and on May 27, they weighed 
925, 955, 1,100 and 1,130 pounds. After a 
drive of 40 miles, the 12 head weighed in 
Lynchburg 11,885 pounds. The two I 
bought weighed in market 2,210 pounds ; 
weight of the 14 head. 14,095 pounds. They 
were sold at four cents per pound gross. 
They paid me a good profit. For feeding 
profitably a man must be a judge of cattle. 
Cold-Country Tree Agents. 
R. Brodie, Montreal, Canada.— I was 
deeply interested in those articles on the 
tree agency question from the nursery¬ 
man’s point of view and also in Dr. Hos¬ 
kins’s able criticism. In my opinion tree 
agents have done a great deal to discourage 
orchard-growing in our cold North by 
selling varieties not at all suited to our 
climate, to ignoraat farmers who are 
tempted to purchase by seeing the fine 
colored plates that the agents show. A 
number of years ago an agent came along 
representing the-Nurseries. I took his 
name and wrote to the proprietor asking 
him if Mr. S-was acting as his agent. 
He answered: “No.” But it seemed 
that he had sold an old nursery patch 
where the best of the trees had been sold, 
• to a couple of young men ; but they were 
not his agents. The last time I bought 
from an agent was about 10 years ago, 
when for 12 Wealthy Apple trees which I 
ordered, I got eight Talman’s Sweet and 
four Transcendents. I have found the 
same fault with nurserymen in substitut 
ing other varieties for the kinds ordered. 
When I order Wealthy, I do not want Tal. 
man’s Sweet in its place. So far I have ob¬ 
tained far more satisfaction by growing 
my own trees, or getting them in a section 
as cold as my own. 
Water-Melons and the Trust “So- 
Called!” 
A. W. Smith, Americus, Georgia.— It 
seems that Mr. Clay and The Rural are 
laboring under a mistake as to there having 
been a Water melon Trust that could be 
“busted.” There was a Water-melon Ex¬ 
change which never was in any sense a 
trust, nor was it intended for one. “ The 
Exchange ” was a necessity, brought about 
by the wonderful increase in the acreage 
and production of water-melons. So long 
as there were only a few growers there was 
little probability that any market would 
be glutted with the fruit; but when the 
crop increased to 2,000 car-loads, it was 
found that many failed to pay freight and 
charges. When the crop reached over 4,000 
car-loads, as it did in 1889, the loss from 
heavy shipments to the few principal cities 
“ glutting the markets,” was so great that 
not only was there nothing in the way of 
profit for the growers, but many received 
bills from the commission men for expenses 
incurred over and above the amount re¬ 
ceived from sales of the melons. Then it 
was that the melon exchange was organ¬ 
ized, the object being simply to ship all 
melons through it, and it was to decide to 
what points they should go, thereby insur¬ 
ing a better and wider distribution of the 
crop. To secure the shipment of the crop 
through the exchange, it guaranteed a cer¬ 
tain price per car for all shipped in June, 
and another price for all sent forward up 
to a fixed time in July. The crop was not 
oniy earlier than usual, a very large pro¬ 
portion being ready within the time fixed 
lor the highest price, but it was also much 
larger than before, reaching according to 
the best estimate about 8,000 car-loads. I 
know that while the exchange lost money, 
the majority of the growers in this section 
received more profit than ever before, and 
were more than satisfied with their exper¬ 
ience with the institution. Whilst the 
Atlanta exchange failed, the one at Macon, 
1 understand, held out through the season, 
and handled to good advantage all the 
melons sent to it. As I understand, a trust 
is a combination to control or even hold 
back a product to secure an advanced price, 
w hile these exchanges were organized sim¬ 
ply to equalize the distribution of the 
melon crop according to the reqirements of 
each city, thereby preventing positive loss 
to the growers, for in 99 cases out of 100 the 
grower was the shipper. To get some idea 
of what the Georgia water melons are, just 
consider that to supply the Northern de¬ 
mand the crop must be doubled each 
succeeding year, and that too though here¬ 
tofore the Northern public have rarely re¬ 
ceived anything except Kolb’s Gems, which 
have only the single recommendation of 
being “ good shippers.” I have not seen a 
native “ white ” eating a Kolb’s Gem in 
five or more years. I do not sell or ship 
melons, nor am I interested in the ex¬ 
change, except that I believe it is a good 
thing for growers, and no detriment to 
consumers. We pay here more for melons 
than is paid in Cincinnati or Chicago, but 
then we get “ melons as is melons.” 
More Light on Fertilizers. 
H. <6. Hall, Talbot County, Md.-I 
was much interested in the series of arti¬ 
cles on “Chemical Fertilizers and Stable 
Manures,” by W. F. Taber. On page 52S 
he says:—“ One hundred bushels of pota¬ 
toes and vines take of potash, 179 pounds ; 
phosphoric acid, 52 pounds; nitrogen, 22}^ 
pounds.” Not knowing to the contrary, I 
assume he is correct. His figures being re¬ 
duced, the proportion would be repre¬ 
sented very nearly by the following 
figures : Potash, 25 pounds: phosphoric 
acid, 7 pounds, and ammonia, 3 pounds. 
Mapes Potato Manure : Potash, 7 pounds ; 
phosphoric acid, 10 pounds, and ammonia, 
5 pounds. Now here is a great discrepancy. 
Mr. Taber says he has raised splendid 
crops of potatoes with Mapes’s manure 
alone. And here comes the muddle. We 
want to know where the potatoes got the 
large amount of potash which Mapes’s 
manure did not supply, etc. On the same 
page he further says :—“ Twenty-five bush¬ 
els of wheat and straw take of potash 36 
pounds; phosphoric acid, 27 pounds; nitro¬ 
gen, 52 pounds, phosphoric acid evidently 
playing the least important part. All the 
leading wheat fertilizers, I think, contain 
from two to three times as much phos¬ 
phoric acid as of any other element. Many 
farmers here are raising very good crops of 
wheat on land long in cultivation, with 
200 pounds of South Carolina rock and 10 
pounds of potash per acre. Where does 
the ammonia come from ? Why doesn’t 
Mr. Taber tell us approximately, at least, 
how much the plant gets “ on its own 
hook ” from the air, the rain, the dew, the 
droppings of birds, the dead and decaying 
worms and insects, the inherent elements 
of our average soils, etc.? We farmers are 
thankful for all the information The 
Rural can give us, only let terms that we 
can understand be employed, and let not 
too many “ missing links ” be left. 
ANSWERED BY W. F. TABER. 
In reply to the inquiries and criticisms of 
this subscriber, I would say that I quoted 
from the reports of Prof. W. W. Cooke and 
others, giving the amount of manurial 
elements,—potash, phosphoric acid, am¬ 
monia, etc.,—contained in potatoes, wheat, 
etc. I unfortunately wrote “take,” which 
implied that all was taken from the soil, 
whereas we know that much is taken from 
the atmosphere ; but how much I will not 
attempt to say, even “approximately,” as 
the preparation of the soil and climatic in¬ 
fluences determine to a great extent the 
outcome of the crop. The point I wished 
to emphasize in my remarks was this : “If 
such and such elements are needed to grow 
certain crops, where and how and in what 
form can we obtain them cheapest?” I 
also desired to lay stress on the fact that 
unless the soil was properly prepared for 
the plant, these manurial elements would 
not become available for its growth, and it 
would suffer and the fertilizer would be 
condemned, while, in reality, the loss all 
resulted from want of proper preparation 
of the soil. 
Does Wealth Indicate Dishonesty ? 
J. W. Hubbard, Middlesex County, 
CONN. —If I understand the remedy for the 
evils of the times, proposed by Mr. O. H. 
Smith, in his article “Educate the Masses,” 
printed in The R. N.-Y. of September 20, it 
is to make the possession of wealth a 
presumption of guilt, and to arrest all rich 
men and confine them in jail until they 
show (to whose satisfaction is not made 
clear) “from whom and how, they made 
their great wealth,” and that it was hon¬ 
estly acquired. If they fail to do this the 
authorities are to seize the “stolen 
plunder ” (that is, the property of the rich), 
and “invite the people to come in and 
prove ownership and take it away.” There 
is much more of a bimilar character, but 
