1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
69 
had he obtained his milk from either of these roads. 
When the Inter-State Commerce Commission of 
that day began their crusade on behalf of the farmer, 
my cinch was gone. Erie and Harlem put their rate 
to 30 cents, within five cents per can of my freight 
rate. I interviewed my man at once. The subject 
matter of the conference was the propriety of a 
division between us of the changed condition rates, 
in a re-adjustment of prices. 
“ Not by a long shot!” was his emphatic reply. 
“Them farmers have been kicking until they have 
got the rates off 15 cents, but do you suppose that 
they are going to get any of it ? Not much ! They 
will get just the same price—no more—and will be 
lucky if they get that, and the 15 cents reduction in 
freights the dealers will jam down in their own pock¬ 
ets. If you will take 3 14 cents for your milk, and pay 
your own freight as heretofore, all right. If you 
don’t want to do this, good morning. I shall buy 
from the Harlem or Erie people hereafter.” 
Of course, I had to “knuckle,” and thereafter ob¬ 
tained 2% cents net, instead of three cents as formerly. 
Here was a direct evidence of the value of the agita¬ 
tion by the farmers. 
I saw a Harlem milk farmer not long after, and in¬ 
quired how the new rates were affecting him. 
“ Affecting us ? We are not getting a cent more than 
we were, and I hear now that, as freight rates have 
been put down for us, the milk dealers are talking of 
paying us less for our milk.” I believe that it was a 
fact that a little later on, the farmers wei’e obliged to 
take less, all on account of the good work they had 
started in diminishing freight rates. 
Had the custom and practice been for farmers to 
pay their own freights, the lessened rate of 15 cents 
per can would undoubtedly have been to their benefit; 
but so loug as the dealer handled the freights ex¬ 
clusively, he could readily manipulate the changes to 
suit himself. That the shipper should pay his own 
freights in milk as in other goods, is apparent enough 
in the determination of Western farmers to keep rates 
low. Let the rates go up, and the Western producer 
at once feels it. He has to pay more to get his goods 
to seaboard and, of course, receives a net lower price 
at home. Hut let rates go down, and at once he 
obtains a better price for his produce. This is well 
enough known all over the West, in fact everywhere 
apparently, excepting among those who conduct the 
milk-producing business about New York. A. x. x. 
RHUBARB FOR THE FARM. 
Farmers are frequently condemned by town and 
village residents, including editors, because they do 
not have good vegetable gardens. These people do 
not see the difficulties which the farmer has to over¬ 
come. A man who has seen the precious days of seed 
time slip by with his men and teams idle because of 
bad weather, can be pardoned if he dislikes to break 
into a good day to “make garden.” Neither can a 
man who strains every muscle to make the best pos¬ 
sible use of good weather to crowd on his work in the 
field, be expected to turn to garden making as a recre¬ 
ation for his evening hours. 
There are some vegetables, however, whose cultural 
requisites are such that the farmer can meet them 
easily and without interfering with the regular work 
of the farm. One of these is rhubarb. A plant or 
two is usually found about the farm house, but in such 
a condition as to be of little use, its product being 
very different from the rich and tender stems which, 
in many forms, might add to the variety on the farmer’s 
table. The plant is a hearty feeder, and needs a deep, 
rich soil. The spring crop is really made the previous 
autumn, and it is then that it needs care, and, with 
the exception of the fii’st year, it needs no atten¬ 
tion that the women cannot easily give at any other 
season. 
To have good rhubarb, one should provide a place 
not less than five feet in diameter for each plant, 
where water will not stand in the spring, and which 
will not be shaded or sapped by neighboring trees. 
This should be made as mellow and rich as thorough 
spading and manure can make it, to the depth of, at 
least, 18 inches, and 30 would be better, an abundance 
of manure being well mixed with the soil to the very 
bottom of the bed. Set the plant, and protect it from 
weeds until it has gained size and strength enough to 
protect itself. Break out any flowering stems that 
may appear as soon as they can be seen, and do not be 
tempted into using any of the leaves the first year. 
On the first of August, give a dressing, at least four 
inches deep, of well-rotted manure. Spade it in well, 
and soak the bed with water—a half barrelful to a 
plant will not be too much. As soon as the ground 
will do to work, spade it over again, and the cultiva¬ 
tion is finished. 
The next year the plant will furnish an abundance 
of leaves. These should be snapped off by a sharp 
pull outward and downwards, so as to separate them 
at the base without disturbing the bud. Cutting in¬ 
stead of pulling is undesirable, as it leads to great 
loss of sap and consequent weakening of the plant. 
The leaves may be taken freely, only taking care to 
leave as many as six healthy, vigorous ones on the 
plant, and not to continue the pulling later than 
August 1, so that the plant may have a chance to gain 
strength to make the next season’s crop. At the close 
of the season of use, give a heavy dressing of manure, 
spade in, soak with water, and respade. Treated in 
this way, a plant will continue productive for five to 
eight years, after which it should be replaced by a 
fresh one. 
There are several varieties of rhubarb, varying 
somewhat in character. The Linmeus is very thin- 
skinned, and of fine color and flavor. The St. Martins 
is a new English sort having a distinct and spicy 
flavor. The Victoria has very large, broad leaf stalks, 
and is very productive, but not thin-skinned or par¬ 
ticularly well flavored. will w. tracy. 
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Churning the Whole Milk. 
IT. L. F., Oreburn, Colo. —If I churn the whole milk from 10 or 
more cows, would I obtain as good results as I would by using a 
separator ? 
Ans. —The question may be answered briefly, that 
in all probability, less butter would be obtained from 
churning the whole milk. The amount of fat left in 
the buttermilk depends in general upon the richness 
of the cream and the temperature at which it is 
churned. The richer the cream in fat, and the lower 
the temperature, the more complete the churning. 
Milk having a good deal less fat m it than even thin 
cream, is, of course, churned with more difficulty, 
and less completely. If skim-milk and buttermilk 
both contained the same percentage of fat, it would 
make no difference so far as loss of fat is concerned, 
whether the cream or whole milk were churned. It 
is on'y with the greatest skill and under the best con¬ 
ditions, that the percentage of fat in buttermilk falls 
any where near as low as the percentage of fat in 
separator skim-milk. For this reason, then, it is 
usually a profitable practice to separate the skim- 
milk from the cream before churning, h. h. wing. 
Grafting German Prune on Plums. 
C. A. G., Lyons , N. Y.—I have 150 plum trees, five years old, but 
plums are so cheap that they hardly pay for picking. I intend to 
graft them to German prunes. Will they grow and do well on 
plums ? I intend to plant 100 more trees next spring. Which is 
the more profitable, the German prune or the Japan plums? 
Ans.—C. A. G. does not say whether his 150 trees 
are of American or European type ; this would make 
much difference as to grafting German Prune on 
them. If American, I would advise him not to do it; 
but if European, the grafts will unite well. As to 
the 100 trees which he expects to set next spring, I 
would set 40 Burbank, 40 Abundance, 10 Satsuma and 
10 Kerr or Georgeson (all are good yellow kinds). 
I think that the Japanese kinds deserve planting quite 
largely. h. e. y. i>. 
When Pears Will Bear. 
1). H. G., Greenfield, Ind .— In how many years after planting 
will each of the following varieties of pears begin to bear : 
Bartlett, Clapp’s Favorite, Anjou, Lawrence, Lincoln Coreless 
and Koonce ? 
Ans. —If dwarf varieties, three years. If standards, 
five to six years except Lincoln and Koonce. We 
cannot answer definitely as to these. 
Can We Starve the White Grubs ? 
D. II., Rochelle. III.— Can the larva of the May beetle be killed 
(starved to death) by turning under a meadow and thoroughly 
cultivating through the spring and summer, not growing any 
crop ? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
So far as we know, there has been recorded but one 
series of definite experiments to test the practicability 
of “ starving out ” White Grubs. In 1891, Prof. Per¬ 
kins, of the Vermont Experiment Station, carried on 
a series of such experiments, all giving practically the 
same results. He found that, in no case, were White 
Grubs starved that he confined for weeks, and in some 
cases for months, in sand much more free from 
organic matter than the soil in any field used for 
growing crops. White Grubs of all ages were used in 
the tests, and the result convinced him that “it is 
quite useless to attempt any serious injury to the 
grubs by letting land lie fallow, or that there is any 
feasible way of starving them.” Thus we very much 
doubt whether D. II. would materially lessen, by 
starvation, the number in his field by the method he 
indicates ; at least, the benefit would be very small 
compared with the loss of the land for a season. 
Meadow lands infested with White Grubs, snould 
be plowed and thoroughly cultivated in the fall, then 
planted to some crop that requires thorough cultiva¬ 
tion the next season. The fall cultivation will destroy 
many of the insects which are then in a very tender 
stage in little earthen cells in the ground ; and the 
thorough and frequent cultivation of the following 
crop will soon discourage the grubs. Even though 
the land be not plowed until spring, I would advise 
growing some cultivatable crop on it. You can pro¬ 
tect some of the plants from their ravages, and thus 
not lose the use of the land entirely. A short rota¬ 
tion of crops, never letting meadow lands lie more 
than two years in succession, is the best discourager 
of White Grubs of which I know. 
Wood Ashes and Leather Scraps. 
II. </., South Sandisfield, Mass. —Are wood ashes of black bircli 
from the wintergreen mill, at 15 cents per bushel, a cheap source 
of potash if to be drawn five miles? What use can I make oi 
apple pomace to be had at, probably, 25 cents a load? Of what 
value are leather scraps to be drawn four miles? How shall I 
treat them ? 
Ans. —If we had the weight of a bushel of these 
ashes, we could tell better, as we could get an idea of 
the amount of water they contain. If they are dry 
and have been kept under cover, that is a fair price 
for them. Apple pomace has but little fertilizing 
value. We would use it on grass or grain, scattering 
it like manure from the wagon. Don’t haul any 
leather scraps four miles. They will be of little or 
no value as plant food in your generation. There is 
no satisfactory home treatment you can give them. 
Potash With Manure and Fish. 
F.II.L., Northampton, Mass. —What is a sufficient amount of 
potash in the form of salts to use on an acre of corn fertilized 
with barnyard manure, or with pure dried flsh ? 
Ans. —Briefly stated, our advice would be to use 
muriate of potash and add 30 pounds to each ton of 
average manure, and 500 to each ton of pure dried 
fish. We would also add 25 pounds of bone to each 
ton of manure, and would not use dried fish and 
potash alone on potatoes, unless the fish can be 
bought very cheap. 
How to Prevent Bursting Cabbages. 
D. P., Waseca, Minn. —How cau cabbages be prevented from 
bursting? Mine grew very large last summer, and fully one-half 
burst before they were ripe. 
Ans. —Bursting of the heads will often follow a 
sudden stimulation of the plants after a period of 
relatively slow growth ; e. g., stirring the soil while 
the heads are forming, after a period of neglect; or a 
heavy rain after a long drought. One preventive is 
to give frequent but shallow cultivation, and keep the 
plants growing as uniformly as possible. If the heads 
are completely formed before the close of the growing 
season, partially pulling the roots from the ground 
will check the growth. This may be done rapidly 
and easily by means of a potato hook, pulling the 
cabbages over to one side, thus loosening the roots on 
one side. 
Grapes in Cold Storage. 
II. 1)., Tryon, N. G.— How are grapes kept in cold storage ? Are 
the grapes put in baskets before putting them in the cold storage 
room ? Are they thoroughly ripe when picked for this purpose ? 
What temperature must be maintained to insure their keeping? 
How long can Niagara grapes be kept in cold storage? Is it 
necessary to have air circulation in the storage room ? 
Ans. —Any good building in which the temperature 
can be held even at about 35 degrees, with ventilation 
as may be required, this to be determined by noting 
how the fruit is keeping, will be found available for 
grapes. No positive rules can be laid down. A cool¬ 
ing room in which the fruit can be first cooled, is a 
necessity ; if placed directly in cold storage, the tem¬ 
perature will be found to be raised rapidly by placing 
a quantity of warm fruit in the room. As even a tem¬ 
perature as possible, is much the best. Grapes should 
not be packed in baskets for shipping before being 
stored. They should be ripe, as grapes do not mature 
after picking. Niagara or any other variety, can be 
held only for a limited time, some varieties longer 
than others. g. c. snow. 
Horse-radish for Market. 
W. A. IT., Cayuga County, N. Y .— Will you tell about the prep¬ 
aration of horse-radish roots for market ? How small roots are 
used? How are they packed for shipment? Cau it be raised 
successfully on muck that will grow good celery? What is an 
average yield per acre ? 
Ans. —The roots are washed clean and packed in 
barrels. No small or very prongy roots should be put 
in ; three-quarters of a pound is a good weight. 
Around New York, the market gardeners always 
grow it as a second crop, and use the small rootlets 
for planting. It should grow well on the land men¬ 
tioned. Market gardeners in this vicinity on rich 
land, grow as much as 10,000 pounds per acre, but this 
is much beyond the average. The horse-radish mar¬ 
ket has been much overdone during recent years, 
though the roots are now selling at a good price. 
