1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
4oi 
which you live. In New York, it would he unlawful 
for a farmer to receive compensation for such services. 
In case of an emergency, any farmer could assist a 
neighbor or prescribe for his stock, but he could not 
charge or accept any fee for his services. A few 
other States have a similar law regulating veterinary 
practice. In many States, however, there is no law 
upon the subject. 
To Seed an Old Meadow. 
T. F. K., Carmel, N. Y. —I have a meadow that I plowed last 
fall. This spring, I harrowed and put in oats. After I cut the 
oats, I wish to plow it and seed it to grass. It is naturally a wet 
soil. What kind of fertilizers shall I put on it ? How much to the 
acre? I think that I shall seed with Timothy and clover. Would 
Red clover do to sow this fall ? Would air-slalted lime do to sow, 
or would you prefer nitrate of soda or muriate of potash ? I 
plowed the field because spots of moss were coming in all over it. 
The meadow had been plowed but once before in 50 years. 
ANSWERED BY PROF. I. P. ROBERTS. 
A fertilizer should contain a relatively high per 
cent of nitrogen and potash, say, eight to ten per 
cent of the former and as great a per cent of the lat¬ 
ter, and it also might contain a little phosphoric acid. 
This land should still be rich, and it would seem ad¬ 
visable to set free and utilize the plant food already 
in the soil by superior fitting of the land, rather than 
to insure a crop by expensive commercial fertilizers ; 
200 or 300 pounds per acre, evenly distributed, should 
suffice. 
Red clover will be likely to winterkill if sowed so 
late in the season. In any case, Alsike clover would 
better be used freely, and Red clover sparingly. The 
latter does not flourish where its roots penetrate sat¬ 
urated soils, while the former is admirably adapted 
to wet, low lands. The clover should be sown early 
the following spring, three parts of Alsike to one of 
Red. It would also be a good plan to sow in the fall, 
when the Timothy is sown, two or three pounds of 
Tall Meadow Fescue, if pure seed can be secured. 
Air-slaked lime is of comparatively little value, as 
it does not act energetically on the soil. It may, 
sometimes, though usually it does not, supply lime 
that is lacking, as nearly all soils have an abundance 
for the wants of the plants. Quick, not air-slaked, 
lime is applied to correct acidity, cause, certain chemi¬ 
cal changes to proceed rapidly, thereby setting free 
plant food, and to improve the physical condition of 
the land. Caustic lime tends to destroy mosses, sorrel, 
and other similar plants. Twenty bushels per acre 
or more may be used to advantage. If the mode of 
slaking and distributing lime on the land is not 
familiar, I would be pleased to give somewhat de¬ 
tailed instruction for liming land, and additional ex¬ 
planation as to its action upon the soil. Nitrate of 
soda and muriate of potash would be infinitely better 
than air-slaked lime. 
To Kill Willows and Woodchucks. 
.1. F. L., Rockford, 111. —1. Will chopping down willows in the 
heat of the summer, kill them ? If not, how can I kill them with¬ 
out grubbing ? 2. How can I best get rid of woodchucks ? 
Ans. —1. Chopping down willows in midsummer 
will not destroy them. A “ gray ” willow hedge was 
destroyed by the writer most effectually by cutting off 
quite close to the ground, the trees, four to six inches 
in diameter, standing one foot apart, in June, and 
treating them to a very liberal application of common 
salt. About a barrel of salt was used on 400 feet of 
hedge. Only one or two stumps made a feeble attempt 
to grow, and these were at the ends of the hedge 
where the salt was applied lightly in order to pre¬ 
vent it from injuring adjoining plants. It should not 
be a serious job to grub out these willows. By plow¬ 
ing and digging a very little on one side of the hedge, 
a few exposed roots on that side may be easily sev¬ 
ered ; then, with a span of horses or, better, a yoke 
of cattle, attach a chain to each tree and jerk it out. 
If the willows are large trees, and stand scattered, 
then a block and tackle must be used so that the 
power of the team may be multiplied four to eight 
times. Fasten the block to one tree and pull out its 
neighbor, and so on until the end, hooking on to some 
solid object to pull over the last tree ; but the former 
method may be entirely satisfactory and much 
cheaper, as salt can now be purchased at a slight cost. 
Do not be afraid to apply it liberally. The rains, in 
one or two years, will wash the salt out of the land, 
and it will again become productive. 2. Shoot and 
trap the woodchucks. Bisulphide of carbon may also 
be used in their burrows. 
Value of Fish and Kainit. 
J. S. R., Urbana, O.—l. What is the value of fish as a fertilizer 
when used alone or in mixed goods ? 2. How much actual potash 
is contained in a ton of kainit ? Of what is the rest composed ? 
Ans.—1. Dried and ground fish is frequently used 
to supply organic nitrogen and phosphoric acid. It 
contains no acid. The fish is first pressed to take out 
the oil, and the “ pomace” left after the pressing is 
ground up for fertilizer. As a source of organic 
nitrogen, ground fish ranks high. Dr. Jenkins, of the 
Connecticut Station, concludes from his careful ex¬ 
periments, that the nitrogen in cotton-seed meal is a 
little more available than that in fish. Where the fish 
is cooked before pressing, the nitrogen is not quite so 
available as where the raw fish is ground. A mixture 
of fish and potash, with a quantity of acid rock, will 
make a fine fertilizer for such crops as corn, grass or 
grain. 2. Kainit averages about 12% per cent of pot¬ 
ash. The rest of the weight is made up of salt, mag¬ 
nesia and substances not usually considered of value 
as fertilizers. 
A New Destructive Insect on Pecans. 
C. E. P., Ocean Springs, Miss. —I send some worms found on my 
pecan trees. The dark brown one spins a cocoon, works into 
the young buds as soon as the outer covering is thrown otf, and 
destroys the bud. Does it not belong to the Elater family ? It 
seems to have two broods, one now, and the other in July. Or do 
they change from the small cocoon around the buds to the partly 
grown leaves, and form another cocoon ? Or does the latter be¬ 
long to a later brood ? In the fall, the undersides of the leaves of 
some trees are fairly covered with their houses, but then I can 
kill them by spraying, as they feed on the leaves. What I want, 
is to get at them in the spring. Can it be done ? The second 
white worm, with a dark head, works Into the new growing 
shoots, and will destroy the fruit if it get too plentiful. How 
can I get at it, as it is working inside the young shoots going 
down ? Can you give me the history of both, as they may develop 
into a serious pest ? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGEBLAND. 
The material sent by C. E. P., consisted of several 
opening pecan buds webbed together; two kinds of 
small caterpillars, one light green in color with black 
head and neck, the other dark brown, with similar 
black head and neck ; and several pupaa inclosed in 
cocoons made by webbing the leaves together, as 
shown at a in Fig. 133. Judging from the appearance 
of the buds sent, the insects were doing very serious 
injury. The material was placed in some of my 
breeding cages at the insectary, and in a few days, 
there emerged from the pupae some pretty little gray 
moths with blackish markings; two of them are 
shown natural size at b in Fig. 133. As we had noth- 
A NEW INSECT ON PECANS. Fig. 133. 
ing like them in our University collection here, one 
was sent to an expert for its name. His reply was 
that he had labeled the same insect in his collection, 
Steganoptycha bolliana. His specimen came to him 
from Texas several years ago, but the name has never 
before been published ; so C. E. P.’s Pecan Bud worm 
proves to be new to science. The moth is, probably, 
the parent of the green worm. 
I failed to breed the brown caterpillar which seems 
to work very similarly to the Bud moth of our New 
York apple orchards. The early appearance of the 
moths, April 18, would indicate a second brood of the 
worms during the summer. Neither of the worms 
which I found in the material sent, has anything to 
do with the Elaters or snapping-beetles ; all were the 
caterpillars of small moths. 
Information about this new insect is so scanty, that 
no definite advice can now be given as to the best 
time and manner to fight it. C. E. P. thinks that he 
can control it later in the season, and if this be true, 
it ought very materially to lessen the numbers to ap¬ 
pear on the buds in the spring. It is an extremely 
difficult matter to poison worms working on the open¬ 
ing buds of trees, for as the leaves unfold so rapidly, 
new unpoisoned pastures are being constantly opened 
for them. I think, however, that two very thorough 
applications of Paris-green water, as strong as the 
trees will stand, while the buds are opening, would 
materially check these Pecan Bud worms. 
Red Paint for a Barn. 
H. C. G., Dundas, Ont. —I have a frame driving shed and cow 
stable which I wish to cover with a dark red paint. How shall I 
mix it? It must be cheap and easily applied by an ordinary 
workman. I have a quantity of machine oil ; could it be utilized 
in mixing paint ? 
Ans. —Tbe best “ dark red paint” in the world for 
such a purpose, is Prince’s mineral brown, formerly 
known as Prince’s metallic paint. Get it dry, and 
mix with raw linseed oil. Add drying Japan sufficient 
to dry the paint inside of 12 hours. A cheaper dark 
red, or brown paint is common oxide of iron paint, 
dry, and may be mixed with linseed oil. or, cheaper 
still, with coal oil and plenty of Japan driers. Dry 
iron paint, may, also, be mixed with buttermilk, or 
with skim-milk, and wear well. Use a broad—about 
four-inch—painter’s wall brush or good whitewash 
brush. To mix dry pigment for paint, always pour 
the oil or other fluid to be used, on top of it in the 
vessel, and let it soak gradually through the mass. 
Then add more fluid and stir. Dry iron paint will 
cost from 1% to 2 cents per pound by the barrel. 
Ground in oil, ready for mixing with oil, it costs 
about three to five cents per pound. “Mineral oil” is 
not a paint oil, as it finally evaporates and leaves the 
pigment to powder off, and it does not dry well. It 
is the base of nearly all “ substitutes for linseed oil” 
products. Unless the job is simply temporary, it will 
pay to buy linseed oil. One coat of paint made from 
iron oxide and linseed oil, will last many years, and 
hold its color well, better indeed than anytning else 
known. Mix it quite thin, but rub in well. A. A. k. 
The Erect Brome Grass. 
IT. B. T., Beverly, IK. Va .—I send a sample of grass which I 
would like named. I have never noticed auy in this locality be¬ 
fore. It is scattered on a piece of ground on which I sowed 
Virginia Gray winter oats last fall. It stands about two feet 
high now, and is a rank grower, stooling similar to rye. 
Ans. —The grass is Bromus erectus—Erect Brome 
grass. This is a European species which is becoming 
naturalized in some places, and is of more value for 
hay than many of the Brome grasses, because it is not 
so coarse. 
Winter Vetch for Green Manure. 
S. !>., Oak Hill, N. Y.— Is the sand or winter vet ch of any use to 
plow under for a fertilizer, and can it be used in a manner similar 
to Crimson clover? What amount of seed is needed? Clover 
kills here ; I have tried it on all soils, from light to heavy, sowing 
early in July in corn, but not a live plant is left this spring ! 
Ans. —As far as can be learned, winter vetch has 
not been successfully grown in the northern States. 
It seems to require mild winters with little snow. In 
some of the Gulf States, it has been successfully 
grown. Vetch may be grown after wheat or rye for 
plowing under in November, and would, probably, 
make a fair growth if sown in corn about July 20, at 
the rate of one-half bushel per acre. It will grow 
vigorously in the fall, and withstands frosts quite 
well. At the Cornell Experiment Station, it has been 
successfully used as a fall crop for orchards. 
c. 8. PHELPS. 
To Start an Asparagus Bed. 
F. I). F., Popejoy, Iowa .—I have a number of asparagus roots 
outside of the garden, of which I wish to make a permanent bed 
in the garden. How deep shall I set them ? How many shall I 
put in each place, and how should they be treated after setting 
this fall, to get a good yield ? 
Ans. —If one would have thrifty plants, which 
means, large, tender, spring shoots, he must give his 
plants a mellow bed and lots of food. It is well to 
plant the sets—one in a place—so that the tops shall 
be from four to six inches below the surface of the 
soil. One may incorporate as much or as little old 
manure with the soil as he likes. It is merely a matter 
of larger or smaller stalks. If the soil is mellow and 
rich enough to give a good yield of corn, surface 
manuring from year to year will be all that is needed. 
A dressing of complete fertilizer every spring (not in 
the fall as some recommend) will do good service to 
an asparagus bed. Salt is recommended by many ; 
but a series of experiments made by the writer some 
20 years ago, convinced him that it is of no service to 
the plants whatever, except that, in some soils, it may 
have a beneficial mechanical action. Place the sets 
not less than two by four feet, for the best results. 
Nothing is gained by fall setting—we prefer the 
spring. If set in the fall, we would mulch after the 
first hard freeze, with two or three inches of old 
manure. 
Coarse and Fine Bone. 
W. C. A., Torrington, Conn .—What is the value of ground bone 
as fertilizer, when not ground very fine? What can I afford to 
pay for grinding ? I have some bones, and can get them ground 
for $16 per ton. Will it pay, and for what crops ? 
Ans. —The chemists class ground bone in four grades 
—“ fine ” represents the pieces that will pass through 
a sieve with meshes smaller than 1-50 of an inch ; 
“fine medium” is smaller than 1-25 of an inch; 
“ medium ” is smaller than 1-12, and “ coarse ” larger 
than 1-12 of an inch. In estimating the value of the 
plant food in this bone, the following distinctions are 
made : 
VALUATION IN CENTS PEtt POUND. 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid. 
Fine. 16/, 5J4 
Fine medium. 15 4 y% 
Medium. 12 3 
Coarse. 7 , 2 
These figures show, in a general way, how the fer¬ 
tilizing value of the bone is increased by extra fine¬ 
ness. Coarse bone is not profitable as a fertilizer, 
because it is too slowly available. One trouble with 
most of the plans for “ reducing ” bones on the farm, 
is that, while they are crushed and softened, they are 
not left fine enough for the best results. The price 
named is too much for grinding the bones. 
