1896 
237 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Read the articles printed on page 174. Similar treat¬ 
ment will suit your land. Do not subsoil such land. It 
will do more harm than good. 3. Mr. Edward Hicks, 
of Long Island, sends the following notes on pears : 
“ We know that the Anjou, Bose and Keiffer are the 
pears that do well on the north side of Long Island. 
The Vicar overbears, and is then nearly worthless ; 
good culture and a severe thinning of the fruit, would 
give fine, large, salable fruit. The Keiffer has been 
largely planted in good fruit sections on the north 
side, and where the orchard has had good culture and 
the fruit has been thinned out one-half or more, the 
crops have been very fine, and the prices realized 
very satisfactory. Dwarf pears have been failures, 
generally on the Island. Angoul£me and Louis Bonne 
are the most successful of the varieties on dwarf 
stock, and they are late ripening varieties. We know 
nothing of the new varieties mentioned.” 
Two Hardy Russian Peaches. 
II. II. G., Northville, Term. —Will you describe the two new 
peaches, Bokhara No. 3, and Yenshi Hardy ? Are they as hardy 
as Crosby, Hill’s Chili, Salway, or Mountain Rose ? 
Ans. —The Hill’s Chili does not endure our winters 
at Ames, la. The Crosby, Salway, and Mountain 
Rose have not been tried. Bokhara No. 3, and other 
varieties grown from pits received by us from North 
Bokhara, in Central Asia, have proved fully 30 per 
cent hardier than any varieties of the Persian strain. 
We grew the Yenshi from pits from Northwest China. 
It is not quite so hardy as the Bokhara varieties, but 
hardier in tree and fruit bud than Hill’s Chili. Bokhara 
No. 3 and Yenshi are freestone varieties, and in size, 
color, and quality, compare favorably with the best 
sorts grown in Tennessee and Georgia, .t. l. budd. 
Oats Better Than Spring Rye. 
D. M., South Meriden, Conn. —Will spring rye pay sown for grain 
or straw, almost as well as fall-sown rye ? My soil is in good 
condition for raising a good crop of oats. 
Ans. —So far as I am able to learn, spring rye is not 
so productive as that sown in the fall. We have been 
trying to get a sample of the so-called “ spring rye,” 
but have not, as yet, succeeded in doing so. Is it not 
probable that “ spring rye” is simply rye sown in the 
spring, and not a distinct variety ? The best results 
would likely be secured by sowing to oats, taking 
pains to fit the ground unusually well, and if a superior 
crop is desired, use some commercial fertilizer con¬ 
taining a high percent of potash and phosphoric acid, 
and little or no nitrogen. i. p. r. 
Best Varieties of Peas and Sweet Corn. 
C. II. P., Stockbridge, Mass .—What are the best six up-to-date va¬ 
rieties of dwarf and half-dwarf peas giving a complete succession 
for the home garden, where quality is desired above everything 
else ? What are the best six varieties of sweet corn up to date, 
giving a complete succession for the family garden ? I wish you 
could have some one who has tested all varieties of peas, give us 
a list of what was found to be the best. 
Ans. —There are few varieties of either peas or sweet 
corn that we have not tried. These trials began nearly 
20 years ago, and have since been kept up with the 
exception of last year. The tornado destroyed nearly 
all of our trials last summer. Our present choice of 
peas as to quality and succession, would be as follows, 
avoiding those kinds that grow over three feet high : 
Nott’s Excelsior, Exonian, Station, Abundance, Hero¬ 
ine. Juno, Stratagem Improved. Sweet corn : Extra 
Early Vermont, Melrose, Crosby, Concord, Zig-zag, 
Stowell’s Evergreen. We have mentioned these in the 
order of maturity. C. II. P. will make no mistake if 
he accept this list. 
Corn for Fodder; Grass for Hog Pasture. 
C. L. li., Grooms , N. Y. —How much corn shall I sow per acre 
for fodder to feed in July and August, with a grain drill, using 
all of the spouts ? What varieties of grass seeds, and how 
much per acre shall I sow in an orchard for a hog pasture ? 
Ans. —If sowed by haud, 16 quarts, if drilled, 12 
quarts per acre would suffice ; but the corn would 
much better be drilled by stopping up four-fifths of 
the tubes, thereby securing rows about 40 inches 
apart. Harrow just before the corn comes up, and 
two or three times afterward, or until the corn is four 
inches high. Cultivate shallow every 10 days until 
the corn is in milk, and you will secure much more 
potential milk than by sowing the corn. Bulletin IV 
of the Cornell Experiment Station, 1888 (out of print), 
gives the results of different modes of culture and 
time of cutting. 
Table I. Value per acre 
Dry matter, compared with 
Yield, lbs. lbs. per Timothy hay 
Plot. Mode of Culture, per acre. acre. at $12. 
Timothy hay. 3,000 2,595 $18.00 
1. Hills. 20,610 4,431.3 30.08 
2. Drills. 24,555 5,291.6 35.74 
3. Broadcast. 14,535 3,196. 19.72 
4. Broadcast, harrowed 17,065 3,488 21.64 
Table II. 
Date of Yield, lbs. Muscle- Fat- 
Period. cutting. per acre, makers, formers. Pure fat. 
1. July 24. 18,762 250.6 1,543.6 42. 
2. Aug. 8 . 24,578 368.4 3,328.9 81.99 
3. Sept. 3 . 27,674 585.8 6,166.7 199.1 
The latest investigations show that orchards do best 
when cultivated up to July, when they may be seeded 
to Crimson clover which should furnish some excel¬ 
lent pig pasture in September and October. The land 
should be re-plowed the following May, and culti¬ 
vated as in the previous year. If the orchard be seeded, 
sow four pounds Orchard grass, four quarts Timothy, 
two quarts Red and one quart Alsike clover per acre. 
Hay Crop to Follow Clover. 
II. W., Minaville , N. Y. —I have four acres seeded to clover, 
which I would like to mow about June 25, then plow, and sow with 
peas and oats to be cut and cured for hay. Would July 1 be too 
late to sow them to procure a fair growth ? Would Hungarian 
grass be better than peas and oats ? Would I be able to cut it in 
time to plow and sow the land to wheat by September 10? The 
soil is a strong, black slate, well drained. I would use some fer¬ 
tilizer. 
Ans. —All depends on the season and the amount of 
moisture present, especially at the time of sowing the 
oats or Hungarian grass. There is not quite time 
enough from July 1 to September 10 to secure a pay¬ 
ing crop, unless the land is in the best of tilth, rich 
and moist enough to germinate the seeds quickly, 
and maintain through August a continuous, rapid 
growth. Hungarian grass is more likely to succeed 
than oats. Try a little of both, treat a part of the 
field to a short summer fallow after it is mowed, and 
report results next year, noting the yield of wheat on 
the areas double-cropped and on that treated to a short 
fallow, and call attention to this article. Some years, 
intensified cropping is a success, others, it is not; in 
many places it was not last year. 
Attempt to Explain a Fertilizer Analysis. 
E., Tennessee. —I inclose a circular relative to fertilizers, giving 
prices and formulas of tbree different brands or grades. 1 don’t 
understand the various terms used in these formulas. What is 
the difference in value between “ insoluble or acid soluble,” 
“water soluble,” and “ citrate soluble ” phosphoric acid? Also 
between “ nitrogen ” and “ammonia by nitrogen determined”? 
Is not the percentage of potash in all these formulas too small 
for almost, if not all, crops ? Is not the price for formula No. 1 
very high ? 
Ans. —Here is analysis of fertilizer marked No. 1 : 
Per cent. 
Moisture at 212 degrees Fah. p<> to 14 
Insoluble or acid soluble phosphoric acid. 2 to 3 
Water soluble phosphoric add. 7'A to 9 
Ammonium phosphoric acid citrate soluble. 2*4 to 3 
Available phosphoric acid. 10 to 12 
Nitrogen . 2.06 to 2*4 
Ammonia, actual and potential, by nitrogen deter¬ 
mined . 254 to 3 
Potash K-iO soluble. 2 to 3 
The price charged is 333. The company offering it 
state that they “brought a man from Pennsylvania to 
examine the soil in this section, and give us a formula 
adapted to our east Tennessee lands ! ” If the above 
analysis and price form the result of this man’s jour¬ 
ney, he would much better have remained at home. 
The Tennessee Experiment Station would have done 
a much better job. Now to pick this analysis apart 
in detail : 
“ Moisture at 212 degrees Fah. ” ! That means that 
when heated to that temperature, 12 per cent of the 
weight was evaporated as water. There are three 
forms of phosphoric acid, as we have often stated. 
“ Insoluble or acid soluble,” means the portion that 
cannot be taken up by plants until it has been dis¬ 
solved by an acid. “Water soluble ” refers to the 
portion that dissolves in water, like salt or sugar. 
“ Citrate soluble ” means the portion of the phos¬ 
phoric acid that will not dissolve in pure water, but 
will in a weak solution of vinegar which has about 
the strength of the acid secreted by the roots of plants. 
We know that “ ammonia ” is nitrogen combined with 
another gas called hydrogen. “ Ammonia ” weighs 
more than nitrogen and, therefore, represents a 
greater per cent of the whole. Potash, we already 
understand ; there should be three times as much of 
it in this fertilizer. 
The value of such an analysis is expressed as fol¬ 
lows : 
200 pounds phosphoric aeifl at 5*4c.$11.00 
41 pounds nitrogen at 16c. 6.56 
40 pounds potash at 4*4c . 1.80 
Total.$19.36 
Thus, even after giving the fertilizer every advantage 
in the highest comparative prices for plant food, the 
actual value faHs far below the selling price. A mix¬ 
ture of cotton-seed meal and dissolved rock, with a 
little muriate of potash, will make a far better fer¬ 
tilizer at 60 per cent of the price of this one. 
Will Moldy Ensilage Keep ? 
E. L. B., Stanton town, 0 .—Will ensilage that is slightly damaged 
by a thin, white mold on portions all through the silo, spoil any 
more if left in the silo through thp summer? The walls of the 
silo are good and tight. The mold is, probably, due to slow tilling, 
or lack of moisture in the stalks when put in, or both. The coru 
was a common yellow variety, grown the same as for husking, 
and cut into the silo, corn and all, when ripe enough to shock. It 
was grown on high land, and the past season was a very dry one. 
Sweet coru stalks put into the silo in the same way after the ears 
had been removed, came out in good condition. 
Ans.—I t is self evident that the ensilage was too 
dry when put into the pit. If it had been treated to 
a liberal amount of water sprayed upon the material 
as it went up the carrier, the mold would not have 
appeared. Perhaps its growth can still be arrested by 
pouring cold water upon the ensilage, the colder the 
better, though it would hardly be safe to trust this 
ensilage which is already fully permeated with the 
micelium of the mold, to keep through the summer. 
It is well known that sweet corn and sweet corn 
stalks, cure much more slowly than the common 
varieties, and without doubt, in this case, the sweet 
corn stalks had much more moisture in them than the 
others. There is no particular objection to ensiloing 
corn when it is mature, if the right amount of moist¬ 
ure be added to it as it goes into the silo. i. p. robbbts. 
Some Points About Fertilizers. 
(t. R. R., Lowville, .V. Y. —1. What plant food is contained in 
kainit, and what is its value? 2. Is there any fertilizing value In 
insoluble phosphoric acid as contained in commercial fertilizers? 
3. One per cent nitrogen is equivalent to what per cent of 
ammonia ? 
Ans. —1. Strictly spreaking, the only actual plant 
food in kainit is the potash, which will average about 
250 pounds to the ton. This potash is valued at 4% 
cents a pound as compared with that in sulphate of 
potash—which is valued at 5^ cents. 2. There is no 
immediate value in the insoluble phosphoric acid in 
rock phosphates, though the chemists give it a value 
of two cents a pound, assuming that some of it will 
gradually become more available. This valuation is 
not fair to coarse bone which may not dissolve in the 
chemist’s acid, yet will become available when left 
for a while in the ground. 3. One per cent of nitro¬ 
gen is equal to 1.21 per cent of ammonia, and one per 
cent of ammonia equals .82 per cent of nitrogen. 
Making a 75-Acre Lawn. 
R. It. I’., Quebec, Canada. —Four years ago, I rented this farm 
from a French Canadian who has just sold it to a new club to 
play golf on. The club wishes me to stay on and get it put in 
order. The object is to have a tine sod that will not require fre¬ 
quent cutting. What kind of grass seed is best to sow on the 75 
acres of laud to be used for golf ? Should it be sown alone or with 
a crop of oats ? How much seed per acre ? What would be the 
best way to pull out scrubs along the fences, from one inch to 
four inches in ifiamcter ? 
Ans. —There is no question but Kentucky Blue 
grass and Red-top with a liberal admixture of White 
clover, are the grasses needed. All the -grasses repre¬ 
sented in the Red-top and Blue grass groups, such as 
Wood-meadow and Canada Blue grass, and the Rhode 
Island and Creeping Bent grasses, make a fine, close 
turf, and need but little cutting, as they flower only 
once in early summer. White clover, although 
always objectionable in lawns and dooryards, on 
account of the spotted effect caused by its numerous 
white flowers, is exceedingly useful in large areas, 
owing to the abundance of dark green foliage, and 
the binding action of its creeping stems on the sod. 
Grasses of the Red-top family may lack something in 
hardiness in Canada, but no trouble of this kind will 
be found with the Blue grasses. It will require from 
25 to 30 pounds of each of the fine grasses, and five to 
seven pounds White clover to seed each acre in any¬ 
thing like a satisfactory manner. This will cost at 
present prices about 38.50 per acre. Expensive as 
this appears for so large a tract as 75 acres, it is 
barely the minimum, and a much larger quantity of 
seed could be used to advantage. It would, of course, 
add much to the pleasant effect of such a pleasure 
ground, to include a pound per acre of sweet-scented 
vernal grass, for the sake of its agreeable odor when 
cut or bruised. 
As to the preparation, it should be as thorough as 
when making any lawn, as half-way measures will 
always prove disappointing and, in the end, doubly ex¬ 
pensive. It is best to enrich the soil with fine manure, 
as free from weed seeds as can be secured, or good 
commercial fertilizers at the rate of 600 to 800 pounds 
to the acre. Work the ground as fine as its condition 
will allow, sow the seed evenly, and roll well after 
harrowing it in with a very light steel harrow. The 
clover should be sown separately, as it does not mix 
well with the other seeds, owing to its weight. 
Better success may be expected when these grasses 
are planted alone than with oats or other “nurse 
crops.” 
I can suggest nothing better to get out the scrubs 
along the fences, than a couple of good grubbing 
hoes, in the hands of as many able laborers. Horses 
cau seldom be used to advantage in such confined 
places, and special tools for clearing scrub land have 
generally proved failures. Once out, the brush may 
easily be kept down by midsummer cuttings. It is a 
somewhat formidable undertaxing to reduce so ex¬ 
tensive a plot of ground to a park-like condition, and 
it should be well done, if done at all. w. van fleet. 
What Ailed the Pullets ? 
.1 . A. II ., Shawville, Conn. —Two of my pullets died very sud¬ 
denly, a short time ago. The first one ate at night, corn and oats, 
as well as ever, and in less than half an hour was dead. In about 
two days, the other one died one night; she was, apparently, 
well when she went to roost. She passed considerable of a liquid 
substance, about the color of sulphur. Two or three years ago, 
liens died here of a disease that was called cholera. 
Ans. —The trouble is, probably, due to overfeeding 
with grain, the hens dying from apoplexy. The ap¬ 
parent cholera is indigestion, due to the same cause. 
The fowls are, perhaps, too fat. Males should be 
separated from the hens. Cease all grain for a week, 
giving only one meal a day, of raw lean meat, one 
pound to 16 hens. Add a teaspoonful of tincture of 
nux vomica to one gallon of the drinking water. You 
should have stated the method of feeding. 
