48o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 18 
on this farm ends April 1. The farm sales for the 
year ending: April 1, 1895, are as follows : 
. 130.26 
Miscellaneous sources. 
WliPfit, 
. 28.62 
. 779.03 
Hay. 
. 175.00 
Total.. 
.82,374.75 
Remember that this farm contains 100 acres—with 
90 acres only under cultivation. The sales for the 
last season (ending April 1, 1896), were a little heavier, 
as will be seen from this table : 
Potatoes.,035.43 
Wheat. 297.93 
Sundry sources. 40.32 
Corn... 215.83 
Cattle,calves and pork. 99.54 
Hay. 802.74 
Estimate, from cows and poultry..— 175.00 
Total.82,672.79 
“ Now, Mr. Lewis,” I said, “ you will remember 
that your sales for the year ending April 1, 1889, were 
$3,116.73, which was, on the whole, under the average 
at that time. Have you not cut down your fertilizers 
on account of the hard times ?” 
“ No, sir ; there was no falling off in the amount of 
fertilizers applied in 1895. Our total outlay for ferti¬ 
lizers in 1895, was $681.11, or an average of $6.81 for 
each acre on the farm. You will notice that the total 
gross income was $26.72 per acre.” 
“ Rut have you not used a lower grade fertilizer ?” 
“No, I use the same brand that I always have. 
This is no time to cut down on quality. If the high- 
grade goods are cheapest in good times, they are even 
more desirable in hard times. My reason for keeping 
up to the mark with fertilizers in these hard seasons, 
is that I .cannot afford to take any chances on poor 
crops. My wheat will run from 25 to 30 bushels per 
acre, and, even in this dry seasoD, I have grass that 
will cut 2 % tons per acre. If I had dropped off on 
fertilizers for the past two years, my grass would 
have been poor stuff. At present prices for hay, an 
acre of grass is one of the most profitable things on 
the farm. You might say that we might have saved 
by putting less fertilizer on the potatoes, and then 
applying more directly to the wheat and grass. All 
that I can say is that our plan of crowding it upon 
the potato crop has always given us the best general 
satisfaction.” 
“ But how did you manage to sell $1,000 worth of 
potatoes last year at those awful prices ? ” 
“I sold them as fast as they were dug, and took my 
chances. Prices seemed low then—30 and 40 cents 
per bushel—and many farmers laughed at me 
for selling. I knew, however, just about what 
potatoes cost me, and felt sure that any price above 
25 cents was profit. This is a time for small profits, 
and I took what I could get. Some of those who held 
potatoes for higher prices, are holding them yet! ” 
“ Do you use any home-grown potatoes for seed? ” 
“ No, it does not pay. I would rather sell them at 
30 cents a bushel, and pay 60 cents for northern- 
grown seed. The northern seed is superior, and we 
buy it every year regularly.” 
“Then you still believe in ‘Chemicals-and Clo¬ 
ver ’ ? ” 
“ Yes, indeed ; so long as potatoes can be made to 
average 40 cents a bushel, this rotation will pay. 
You have seen what we have sold during these hard 
years. I would like to know how our sales compare 
with those from other 100*acre farms conducted on 
different systems. After nearly 20 years’ experience 
with fertilizers, I will make this proposition. Take 
any soil you like, and let me select a brand of fertili¬ 
zer to suit it. You or any one else, take similar soil 
and use all the stable manure you want. I will use 
the same amount of money in fertilizers that you 
spend for manure, and in a five-year rotation, I am 
satisfied that I can clear more money ! ” 
“ But have you not thought of changes in your sys¬ 
tem that will add to its value ? ” 
“Yes, we have established a creamery in our 
town ”—but we will tell about that next week. 
_ n. w. c. 
FEEDING MILK TO POULTRY. 
From your experience In feeding skim-milk to poultry, would 
you prefer to feed it -sweet, mixed with dry food in the form of a 
mash, or solid, in the form of a curd ? There seems to be some 
difference of opinion in regard to this matter, some poultrymen 
claiming that they have obtained better results by allowing the 
milk to stand until it forms a thick curd, and feeding it in this 
form, rather than to mix it before it sours, with the mash. 
We Prefer a Curd. 
We always prefer to feed the milk in the shape of 
curd when the weather is warm. In winter, when it 
is difficult to thicken it, we use it in the mash. 
Massachusetts. j. raijkin. 
I have tried skim-milk in nearly every way, and 
have secured the best results when I let it form a 
curd ; the fowls seem to like it better and thrive better 
on it than when fed to them sweet. I like it sweet to 
mix the feed with, but this takes only a small quan¬ 
tity, and when fed in curd, one can feed all they will 
eat of it. It will physic them a little, but this can 
be overcome by giving them dry charcoal. They will 
eat large quantities of it, and it does them good, for 
it is a great cleanser. .james h. seely. 
New York. 
Reason for Feeding it Sweet. 
It would be preferable, in my opinion, to feed the 
skim-milk sweet. The milk sugar which constitutes 
one-half of the total solid matter in the skim-milk, 
would be retained in the curd only in insignificant 
quantities. Although only a portion of the sugar has 
been changed into acid at the time the sour milk is 
generally used, this could not be utilized without 
feeding too much of the sour milk. The sweet skim- 
milk can, apparently, be fed in almost unlimited 
quantities, except in winter weather. We have fed 
rations of which over 50, and sometimes 60 per cent 
was skim-milk, to fowls, with no unfavorable results. 
We have grown chicks to maturity with no drink 
other than sweet skim-milk. Of course, special at¬ 
tention was given to scalding the drinking fountains, 
and to cleanliness generally. If the desire is to have 
a “narrower” ration, I would prefer using dried 
blood or some other highly nitrogenous food, rather 
than waste part of the value of the skim-milk. If 
the milk could not be all fed sweet, I would prefer to 
feed only the curd. This I have often fed to good 
advantage, as many do when growing chicks on the 
farm. wm. p. wheeler. 
New York Experiment Station. 
I very much prefer feeding it as sweet as I can 
have it after the cream has been removed. I usually 
mix it with dry food, and feed it in the form of a 
mash, and I can always see a great difference in the 
number of eggs when I can have milk. 
New Jersey. d. a. mount. 
HOW TO PLANT CHESTNUT TREES. 
A reader in Connecticut has bought a number of new varieties 
of chestnuts—Paragon, Numbo and Ridgely; also Japan and Per¬ 
sian walnuts. He asks this question in regard to planting: 
“ Would it be advisable to plant the trees closer than it is intended 
to leave them, say, if they are to stand Anally 40 feet apart, why 
not plant them 20 feet aud then cut them out when they begin to 
crowd ? ” What would you advise if you were in this man’s place, 
starting out in the culture of nut trees? Is his plan of setting 
them nearer together, and then (Hitting them out as they crowd, 
the best under the circumstances ? 
H. M. Engle's Opinion. 
This plan of planting chestnut trees is just what 
we practice, and advise other inquirers. I am not 
prepared to advise on walnuts, since they may not 
produce sufficient to pay before thinning out will be¬ 
come necessary. As to Paragon chestnuts, if they 
succeed at all, they may be planted 20 feet apart each 
way, and by the time three-fourths require removal, 
they will have paid as well as if planted further apart. 
Where peaches succeed, I have advised planting three- 
fourths of them, which will be played out by the time 
they will crowd the chestnuts. 
Close Planting for Fruit Trees. 
I have found it profitable to plant twice as many 
apple and pear trees as were to stand permanently, 
and cut out half when they began to crowd. I would 
expect to get similar results from planting early- 
bearing nut trees in the same way. The only draw¬ 
back is that it hurts the feelings to be obliged to 
destroy so many fine trees. It then seems as though 
they ought to have been planted where they could 
remain. A. j. coe. 
H. E, Van Deman’s Advice. 
If suitable land be selected in Connecticut, there is 
no good reason why any one in that State may not 
make a success of chestnut culture, and also of some 
other nuts. He is on the right track when he plants 
Paragon, Numbo and Ridgely. Of the three, I think 
Paragon the best, because it has size, quality, pro¬ 
ductiveness, and all the good points of the others, 
and in addition, a peculiarity of ripening, the nuts all 
dropping out of the burr within a short period, which 
is a most important point. It enables one to gather 
nuts quickly and cheaply. Also, its pollen is potent 
upon its own stigmas, which is not entirely the case 
with Ridgely and some other kinds. It is best to mix 
them in the orchard. As to the distance apart to set 
the trees, I would confidently advise that they be 
planted thickly, and, when they crowd each other, 
cut out to not less than 40 or 50 feet. Let me say to 
any who may be going to graft over sprout lands of 
the wild chestnut, to follow the teachings of experi¬ 
enced persons in several States, which is, to graft 
several sprouts on each stump where they exist, and, 
where stumps or sprouts are as near as six or eight 
feet apart, graft them. They may be thinned out in 
case too many of the grafts grow. It is remarkable 
how quickly and heavily these grafts bear. Those 
that must come out after a few years will soon pay 
for the whole outlay. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
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piece of paper.] 
A LECTURE ON CUTWORMS. 
WHERE THEY COME FROM ; HOW TO KILL, THEM. 
F. P. JJ., Griffith, Ind. —What shall I do to prevent cutworms 
cutting off corn ? The ground is completely alive with them. 
fV. \V. G., Newburgh, N. F.—The gray worm is making havoc- 
with our gardens in this locality, cutting off our melons, cucum¬ 
bers, tomatoes, lettuce, beets, etc., about clean, just below the 
surface. I have used coal tar and tobacco stems soaked in water; 
also sulphur and airslaked lime dusted on them, without much 
effect. Are there any other remedies I can try ? 
W. M. A., East Toronto, Canada. —I would like the life history 
of the cutworm. Are there any means of destroying it when it is 
in the moth stage ? Where does the moth lay its eggs, and what 
kind of a moth is it ? The depredations of the cutworms are some¬ 
thing fearful this year. Do they have any enemies that prey upon 
them in the insect world ? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
Among the most destructive of our insect enemies, 
are the cutworms. Most gardeners and farmers are 
too familiar with these sleek, fat-looking caterpillars 
ranging from one to nearly two inches in length, and 
usually of some dull grayish or greenish color. All 
of these caterpillars have the peculiar habit of cut¬ 
ting off the plants upon which they feed, near the 
surface of the ground, thus destroying much more 
food than they can eat, or need ; they also feed 
only at night, usually lying concealed just beneath 
the surface of the soil near the plant during the day. 
They are not at all fastidious in their diet, but usual¬ 
ly prefer the succulent crops of the garden, especially 
corn, cabbages, etc. Some of them have acquired a 
great liking for tobacco and onions, while others 
climb fruit trees and feed upon the tender buds. 
Cutworms are the caterpillars of, or they develop 
into, the insects known as owlet-moths. Most of the 
moths or “ millers ” that fly into our houses at night, 
attracted by the lights, are owlet-moths. These par¬ 
ent moths mostly appear during June, July and 
August. One moth may lay from 200 to 1,000 eggs on 
the leaves of trees or bushes, or on the grasses. The 
young caterpillars, soon after hatching, make their 
way to their favorite food plants, where they usually 
get about half grown by fall, in which condition they 
hibernate without feeding. In the spring and early 
summer, they come forth hungry from their long 
winter’s fast, and their work of destruction begins 
upon the growing crops of the garden and field. 
There is, usually, but one brood of the caterpillars a 
year. 
These pests are destructive for only about a month 
during the cutworm stage, and, usually, noticeably so 
only after they attain about two-thirds of their 
growth. This short period of destructiveness is a very 
important consideration. There is no doubt that 
many of the so-called “ successful remedies ” for cut¬ 
worms were a “ success” because they were applied 
at about the time the worms were maturing and dis¬ 
appearing into the ground for pupation; the “ rem¬ 
edy ” was applied, and the cutworms disappeared, 
hence it was a success, and the fact that they may 
have disappeared in obedience to Nature’s laws is not 
taken into account. From what little we, therefore, 
know about the life-histories of the different cut¬ 
worms, the cutworm stage is their most vulnerable 
point. The trapping of the moth by means of trap- 
lanterns or baited traps, involves more labor and ex¬ 
pense than their doubtful results can repay ; besides, 
they may be a positive detriment by destroying cer¬ 
tain beneficial insects. 
Preventive measures against cutworms : Cabbages, 
tomatoes, and similar plants that are set out in gar¬ 
dens, and which are very liable to be cut off by the 
worms, may often be protected by simply wrapping a 
piece of smooth, stiff paper around the stem when the 
plant is set; we have seen the tinfoil from tobacco 
pails or packages used for this purpose with much 
success. Cylinders of tin put around such plants 
often serve as perfect protectors. Tt is doubtful if 
any bad smelling substances placed in the soil around 
the plants will keep away cutworms. They will also 
burrow in dry salt, lime, and ashes as readily as in 
the earth. 
Usually none of the preventive measures just dis¬ 
cussed, will afford complete protection from cut¬ 
worms, and destructive measures have to be resorted 
to. I do not believe that commercial fertilizers, gas- 
lime, salt, or any similar dressings applied at any 
time to the soil in practicable quantities, will have 
any destructive effect on cutworms. In some cases, 
they may stimulate the plants to such an extent, as 
