i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
877 
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.] 
GROWING CROPS AT FAIRS. 
On page 606 of this year’s volume The R. N.-Y. suggested 
that where fair associations have secured permanent 
grounds, exhibits of growing crops like potatoes, corn, veg¬ 
etables and fruits, would be very interesting. Fertilizer 
dealers and nurserymen, we thought, might take space on 
the grounds and give exhibits of fertilizers, varieties and 
methods of culture, pruning, etc. We also thought that 
such crops as potatoes and corn would enable fair mana¬ 
gers to arrange potato digging, corn cutting and other 
matches which would add considerable to the interest. 
The following notes have been received from the secretaries 
of some of our largest fair associations. We would like to 
have this matter well discussed. 
Much Good May Come Out Of It. 
I can only say that while lam heartily in sympathy with 
the idea of growing crops on our fair grounds, and can 
readily see in what lines very much good may come out of 
it, as we are at present situated I could not promise that 
we could undertake such work on our grounds, as they are 
occupied for other purposes a portion of the year. We have 
not room available for anything like a satisfactory 
layout. C. K. mason. 
Secretary, Hornellsville Farmers’ Club. 
It Would Cost Too Much. 
The idea has at least the charm of novelty and there is no 
doubt that object-lessons of this sort would be appreciated 
by many visitors and might come to have a prominent 
place among the educational features of a great agricul¬ 
tural fair. The practical difficulty in the way of intro¬ 
ducing many of these novelties is the expense involved. 
There is hardly an association with a permanent location 
that is not without spacious and convenient buildings and 
grounds in first-class order owing to lack of funds; or if it 
has these in part, it is laboring under a heavy load of in¬ 
debtedness, incurred to secure them, so that for some years 
to come most of the organizations must choose between the 
things most needed, and it would seem that wise manag¬ 
ers will find it necessary to go slow in what, in the very 
nature of things, would be a sort of experiment Btation. 
We are hardly prepared for anything of this kind at 
present; unless the agricultural societies could be made 
partakers of a share of the government grant for experi¬ 
ment stations. Possibly in some cases at least, a share of 
these funds could be used by those societies with quite as 
much benefit to the farmers in whose interests these ap¬ 
propriations are made as if they were used exclusively by 
the regular stations. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
Secretary Michigan State Fair. 
Would Not Interest Iowa Farmers. 
While we have 266 acres in our fair ground, the place is 
so situated that it would not be advisable to grow corn, 
potatoes, etc., for the purpose of exhibition. Part of it is 
natural forest which we use for a camping ground. The 
idea is a good one, but I doubt if the people who attend 
fairs in this Western country would take any interest in 
such an undertaking. As yet the use of fertilizers is a 
rarity here. j. r. shaffer 
Secretary Iowa State Fair. 
Good For Fertilizer Men. 
I rejoice that New York has decided to locate her fair 
grounds permanently in one place, and is improving them. 
I took great pleasure in escorting a committee of the New 
York State Board of Agriculture over our handsome 
grounds at Columbus, Ohio, and explained to them their 
advantages, and also pointed out the weaknesses of our ar¬ 
rangements and buildings. The Rural suggests a plan 
of cultivating growing crops upon the fair grounds. We 
have tried that experiment, sometimes with success and 
sometimes with chagrin. About the only feasible plan is 
to allot certain spots of ground to fertilizer concerns and 
allow them to raise what crops they may like. We find, 
however, that there is very little instruction in this, as the 
fertilizer men represent the ground as very poor or un¬ 
suited to the crop, and put as much fertilizer on a square 
rod as a farmer could afford on an acre. The lessons are 
not valuable and we shall not push this feature, but sim¬ 
ply permit the fertilizer companies to make such exhibits 
as they may like. L. n. bonham. 
Secretary Ohio State Board of Agriculture. 
The Buffalo Exhibition two years ago tried the experi¬ 
ment of growing crops by different methods and the use 
of different fertilizers and the matter fizzled. I don’t see 
how it could be made practicable. j. s. woodward. 
Secretary New York State Board of Agriculture. 
An Experiment Station Beats a Race Track. 
I think it would be an advantage if experiment plots 
were connected with our fair grounds. I cannot see how 
a small plot could be used to better advantage than by 
having it planted with different kinds of fruits such as 
grapes, berries, etc., to show the manner of their growth, 
etc., even if the fruit could not be ripe in time for the ex¬ 
hibition. Suitable varieties of grain, etc., should also be 
raised in the same way and for the same purpose. And 
how delightful it would be for the women folks if there 
were a horticultural department. The expenses would 
amount only to a mere bagatelle, while the plots would 
attract universal attention and stimulate competition 
between all varieties of manures and implements. Where 
space Is an objection, I think the center of the race ground 
could be utilized for this object. My individual opinion is 
that the entire course had better be utilized in this way. 
More especially should the space now taken up by the 
fakirs, who are constantly swarming at our fairs, be used 
tor this purpose. At the last Allentown fair these fellows 
created a row and a general fight ensued; after the mel6e 
one of the rascals boasted that he had cleared $500 out of 
one single crowd. I contend that the farmers should 
make strenuous efforts to eradicate this evil on the fair 
grounds. W. M. BENNINGER. 
Thought Starters Always Pay. 
I infer that the proposed plan of giving object-lessons 
by growing crops on fair grounds contemplates the use of 
the natural soil and the growth of crops by some intelli¬ 
gent agent of the fair associations. This can be done 
beyond question. Whether it will be feasible as a success¬ 
ful innovation is problematical. I have for a long time 
held the view that our fairs should be more educational, 
should teach principles, and not simply excite mere 
curiosity. Observation at museums organized for the 
purpose of instruction, has shown me that the great mass 
of visitors, indeed all with the exception of a handful so 
small as to be unworthy of mention, never use them for 
the purpose of study. Our fairs are degenerating into 
holiday occasions from which little instruction is cared 
for or obtained. The fair days are days of recreation—a 
sort of substitute for the “Harvest Home.” I have been 
an ultra friend of the fair that makes men think; but 
have been forced to observe with some concern that this 
is not the end that moves the mass of fair goers. I dare 
not say that The Rural's plan will prove acceptable from 
the standpoint of fair managers, who measure everything 
from the dollar point of view—witness the infamous lot¬ 
tery schemes indorsed by them. Viewed from a broader 
standpoint anything that leads or compels men to think 
pays; but whether those on whom rests the financial re¬ 
sponsibility of the management of our fairs, can be in¬ 
duced to view the matter from this point is not clear. 
Whether experiments of this sort can be successfully and 
honestly made is doubtful. The thing could be done only 
where ground of uniform character and reliable expert 
services could be secured. Where personal interests would 
be involved plots would be tampered with unless great 
precautions were taken. Yet after weighing all the diffi¬ 
culties, a foothold may here and there be secured. I 
believe that premiums might be given for certain compar¬ 
ative work to be taken to the grounds and exhibited. 
[PROF.] j. W. SANBORN. 
About Sorghum. 
P. B. C., Catonsville, Md. —Since Congress has allowed 
a bounty of two cents per pound for sorghum sugar of a 
certain standard of excellence made in lots of not less 
than 500 pounds each, I have taken an interest in the busi¬ 
ness, but want more information about it before embark¬ 
ing in It. Will The Rural furnish the needed information? 
ANSWERED BY HENRY STEWART. 
So far sorghum sugar has not been proved a prac¬ 
ticable success. Dr. Collier has been sanguine that sugar 
can be made from sorghum for one cent per pound, but this 
belief has not been realized. Moreover, the manufacture 
cannot be carried on without costly and elaborate machin¬ 
ery, and an expenditure of at least $100,000 in a factory. 
In a small way it is wholly impracticable for profit. But 
any farmer can make excollent syrup from the sorghum 
cane, which isquiteas profitable as the sugar would be and 
the simplest apparatus only is required. A set of rolls 
costing $15 or $20, worked by a horse and a sweep, is used 
to crush the cane; the juice is filtered through fine cut straw 
or coarse bagging, and boiled down into syrup in open, 
shallow iron pans set over a simple hearth of stone-work. 
The yield of syrup is about 12 gallons per ton of cane, 
and as 20 tons per acre is a moderate yield of cane, this 
gives about 240 gallons to the acre -* 300 gallons per acre 
are frequently made, the average selling price being 40 
cents per gallon. The cane is cut for crushing when the 
seed is nearly hard; the heads are topped when the seeds 
are in and the yield is about 25 bushels per acre of valuable 
grain for feeding, which pays all expenses. The leaves are 
then stripped and saved for fodder. The stalks are then 
cut near the ground and laid in even bundles, so that they 
can be loaded and carried to the mill. The juice is received 
in a tank from which it flows through the strainer in a 
spout to the boiling vat. It needs clearing with lime water 
which is mixed with it in proportion of one pint to a bar¬ 
rel of the juice. This causes the impurities to rise as scum 
which is removed by skimming. In view of the mere suc¬ 
cessful and easy manufacture of sugar from beets, it is 
hardly probable that sorghum will ever be used for making 
sugar in a large way, while in a small way it may be con¬ 
sidered wholly impracticable. The crop is grown precisely 
like corn; the quality of the cane depends upon good cul¬ 
ture and plenty of room for the stalks, so that sunlight is 
freely admitted to the plants. The crushed stalks are 
burned under the boiler, for being hard and dry, they are not 
available for feeding. 
Difference in Fertilizer Effects. 
A. W. S., Americus, Oa.—l prepared a potato fertilizer 
composed of: 40 per cent of actual potash, 400 pounds ; 
pure ground bone (raw), 270 pounds ; cotton-seed meal, 830 
pounds, which gave a fertilizer containing, potash, 11% 
per cent; phosphoric acid, 5% per cent; ammonia, 3% per 
cent. The result was a splendid growth of vines, of fine 
color and large size, with the largest yield of Irish potatoes, 
the finest as to size I ever grew. The next season I used 
a fertilizer composed of: cotton seed meal. 200 pounds ; 
cotton-seed hull ash, 200 pounds; Peter Cooper’s pure 
bone, 25 pounds. The mixture contained, according to 
analysis, (estimating the hull ash to contain 25 per cent of 
potash): ammonia, 4 per cent; phosphoric acid, 5% per 
cent; potash, 10> 8 ' per cent. In each case the fertilizer was 
used at the rate of 1,000 pounds to the acre in the bottom 
of trenches 12 inches deep, and mixed with fine soil, on 
which the potatoes were dropped. The second mixture 
produced pile green, small vines, and a yield which in size 
and quantity did not pay for the cultivation and digging, 
much less for the fertilizer and seed. The variation in 
analysis seems too slight to account for the difference in 
the crop, and I want to know the cause of the latter. 
ANSWERED BY PROF. F. H. STORER. 
It is nob easy to answer a question such as the fore¬ 
going unless one has actually seen the land and the 
“lay” of it, and had an eye to any term or season of 
drought or dryness which may have occurred. Moreover, 
A. W. S. has failed to mention what kind of a potash 
compound he put into his first mixture. The natural 
inference is that he miy have used some kind of a Ger¬ 
man potash salt for his first trial. Perhaps the explana¬ 
tion of the whole difficulty may turn upon this point— 
what would he say, for instance, to the suggestion that 
there may have been too large a proportion of cotton-hull 
ashes in the second formula ? It seems not improbable 
that so large a dressing as 470 pounds to the acre of a fer¬ 
tilizer so powerful as the ashes should have been incor¬ 
porated into a larger part of the whole soil of the acre 
than seems to have been the case. In compounding any 
mixture of fertilizers, the causticity or the “ neutrality ” 
of the several components needs always to be considered 
even more carefully than the percentages of potash, phos¬ 
phoric acid and nitrogen. 
"Alderney” Cattle. 
L. 3. M., Elmira, N. Y .—Are Alderney cattle Jerseys 
or Guernseys ? If not, what are they ? It seems to be a 
common name for Channel Island cattle. 
Ans —In the proper acceptation of the term Alderney cat¬ 
tle are cattle from the Island of Alderney, one of the Chan¬ 
nel Islands. The area of the entire group, comprising Jersey, 
Gaernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and Jethou, is 48,000 
acres; while that of Alderney is only 1,962 acres. It is now 
a dependency of Guernsey. The number of cattle raised 
on the Island has always been insignificant, and in appear¬ 
ance and other characteristics they have always closely 
resembled the Guernseys. Before the age of steam the 
chief trade of the Channel Islands with England was car¬ 
ried on by vessels that sailed between St. Malo, Brest and 
other ports on the French coast and England. On the 
voyage to London, Plymouth or Portsmouth these 
touched, in turn, at St. Hilier’s, Jersey, St. Peter Port, 
Guernsey, and St. Anne, Alderney, the latter being the last 
in their course. It was a common custom to say that they 
came from the last place where they touched, hence they 
were said to have arrived from Alderney, and the cattle 
they had on board were naturally called Alderney 
cattle, though in reality most of the stock came from 
Jersey, with a few from Guernsey and now and then a 
head or two from Alderney. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
3. S., Marlboro , Ohio. Two widely different squashes 
were exhibited at our recent fair under the name of But¬ 
man. One very closely resembled the Perfect Gem and 
came from Ylck ; the other was a long, spotted kind like 
the Hubbard and came from Gregory; which was the 
genuine Butman ? 
Ans.—W e cannot answer positively from the description. 
These varieties need never be mistaken. The Butman is 
pointed at each end—elliptical in shape so to speak. The 
Gem is small and flattened. The Butman in size and 
shape resembles the Hubbard, which is said to be one of 
its parents, the other being Yokohama. We should say 
that the variety from Gregory was probably the Butman. 
S. L. 3., Ilion, N. Y— Is there any way to rid the land 
of a large white grub, something like those found in 
rotten wood? It was very injurious to potatoes during 
the past season? 
Ans —No doubt the grub of the May Beetle is referred 
to. The R. N-Y. knows of no other way to keep it in 
check than by cultivation and fall plowing. They delight 
in sod ground, for which reason it is bad policy to set a 
strawberry bed on a turned-over sod, 
A. E. 3., Sarbford, Conn. —What will be a remedy for 
wire-worms in potatoes? 
Ans.— The R. N Y. was the first to try sulphur, so far 
as known. Tne result has been that when used in liberal 
quantity it repels wire-worms. 
O. D. S., Luray, Va .—What are the best raspberries 
for market ? 
Ans.—P robably the C uthbert will best serve you. Among 
blackcaps choose Gregg and Hilborn. For an earlier red, 
choose Hansel. It does not thrive in all places and should 
be tried in a small way at first. 
B. A. B., Trenton, Mo.— Practically The R. N.-Y. as 
yet does not know anything about the Abundance Plum. 
The one specimen in its trial grounds has not yet fruited. 
All that we have heard of the Abundance is in its favor. 
Still we should not plant it except in an experimental way 
at present. 
F.P.3, St. Sophia.—1. Wheie can I obtain the R. N.-Y 
No. 2 Potato, and what would be the cost per bushel ? 2. 
The land is poor and sandy. I have plenty of the best 
manure from the stock yards; what would be a liberal sup¬ 
ply per acre? 3 What is the better way to apply manure— 
to plow or harrow it in? 4. What is the .best potato planter 
and digger ? 
Ans. 1. The No. 2 will be offered by all leading seeds¬ 
men. The price will probably be not less than $2 to $2.50 a 
bushel without freight. 2 Forty tons. 3 Plow it in at once. 
4. The Aspinwall Planter, Aspinwall Manufacturing Co., 
Three Rivers, Michigan; the Hoover Digger, Hoover 
& Prout, Avery, Ohio; or the Pruyn, Pruyn Digger Co., 
Hoosick Falls, N. Y. 
