768 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 21 
public favor first passed upon by a competent and 
entirely disinterested jury such as a committee of the 
American Pomological Society, or the members of 
the Division of Pomology at Washington. 
H. E. VAN DEM AN. 
DIFFERENCES IN STABLE MANURE. 
Have you ever noticed any actual results in tbe field that really 
showed one lot of manure to be more effective than another ? For 
example, it is said that manure from cows fed heavily on bran 
or cotton-seed meal will show considerable advantage over ani¬ 
mals fed upon a wider ration. If you have discovered this, will 
you tell us what crops seem to show it most perceptibly, and 
whether you consider it due chiefly to the greater per cent of 
nitrogen in the stronger manure ? 
Horse vs. Cow Manure. 
I have noticed marked differences between the crops 
grown on land treated with horse manure and those 
grown on land treated with manure from the cow 
stable. Our horses are fed a rather wide ration, as 
they are obliged to do heavy, continuous work winter 
and summer. Our cows, when in the stable, are 
always fed a rather narrow l-ation. When the manure 
from these two classes of animals had been applied 
separately to ground upon which mangels were grown, 
the difference in results was very great. I think that 
the marked difference was due to two causes—first, 
the cow manure (and by this I mean solid and liquid 
excrements combined) contained more nitrogen in an 
available form than did the hoi*se manure. Mangels 
thrive best in a cool, moist soil; the horse manure 
tended to make the soil drier and warmer, while the 
cow manure had a tendency to make it cooler and 
more moist. 
In the case of using manure for increasing heat in 
the soil, as is purposed in cold frames, the horse ma¬ 
nure would be preferable to the cow manure, not be¬ 
cause it would necessarily be l'icher or poorer in nitx-o- 
genous compounds, but because of its value in gener¬ 
ating heat. Our experiments, during the last two 
years, with horse manure and cut straw bedding, and 
horse manure with shavings and sawdust bedding as 
against plots with no manure, show conclusively that 
the dryish hoi-se manure, as yet, has done no good 
whatever. This, without doubt, is due to the fact 
that it tended to make the ground dry and therefore 
did not decompose rapidly; hence the barley could not 
get as much moisture as it would have secured had 
the manure been left off. I. r. kobebts. 
Feeding for Manure. 
I remember a field of corn followed by oats which 
we once grew, in the preparation of which we tried 
some experiments. On this field, which was a three- 
year-old swai'd, we applied, in the fall and winter, 
about 15 loads of stable and yard manure per acre. 
We would manure a strip through the field with 
manure made from straw, corn stalks and corn for 
grain, and next one manured with that from the cow 
stable in which were fed ensilage, clover hay, 
wheat bran and cotton-seed and linseed meals ; 
these were alternated through the field. 
As to the result, as far as it could be seen, that 
field was a most instructive object lesson. The corn 
on the strips with the manure made from the more 
nitrogenous foods could be seen towei'ing one-third 
higher, and was of a very much darker green color 
than the others ; when harvested the grain yield was 
equally marked. The oats that followed the next 
year, showed fully as much difference as did the 
grass that followed. 
I remember once when visiting Prof. Roberts at 
Cornell, we were going by a field of wheat that lay 
where we could see over it pretty well; there were 
narrow streaks running here and there, that showed 
the wheat taller and of a much darker green. When 
asked to explain, the Professor said that was where 
the wagon had been driven with loads of manure 
made by the cows when fed largely on bran and cot- 
ton-seed meal, and that a little had shaken off as the 
wagon had gone along. 
I have noticed a diffei’enee, also, in potatoes ; but it 
has been most marked in the cereals and the Timothy 
following. It is, undoubtedly, due to the exti-a per¬ 
centage of nitrogen that such manures contain. 
There is no greater fallacy among farmers than the 
notion that anything that comes fi’om the barnyard 
(I hate that word), is manure. The putting of food 
through the stable or the animal, even, does not add 
an iota to its manurial value. It may make the plant 
food ingredients more available, but it adds nothing 
that it did not contain when fed ; in fact, it has some 
of this value taken out, the quantity depending upon 
the animals to which it was fed. All farmers ought 
to be fully aware of this fact. 
When our farmers come to x-ealize the importance 
of keeping up the fertility of their land, that the 
manure made by stock fed depends upon the manurial 
elements of the food fed, and that when judiciously 
fed, and the manure saved and propei’ly applied, we 
get the manurial value for our farms "practically for 
nothing, we shall see less and less of the rich feeding 
stuffs exported, thus robbing our farms; but all of 
them will be fed here at home, and the rich manures 
applied to our fields. It is a shame that we have 
allowed this wicked waste to extend so long. 
J. s. WOODWARD. 
FLOWERING SHRUBS FOR WINDOWS. 
Many country homes are without a greenhouse, and 
it is something of a task for their owners to keep up 
a succession of pretty flowers. Among hardy shrubs, 
many could be used for the purpose, which could be 
easily and cheaply procured and prepared. The proper 
plants are young, well-rooted ones, which have a good 
supply of shoots made the past season. Those which 
have but little such growth, are of no use, as flowers 
come from the past season’s wood. The kinds to select 
are the early-blooming ones, those which flower 
naturally in the first days of spring. Others may be 
thought of besides the following list: Japanese Judas, 
Cercis Japonica; Magnolia stellata ; Juneberry, 
amelanchier; Daphne Mezereum, pink ; Deutzia 
gracilis ; Golden Bell, Forsythea; Spirrna Van llouttei; 
Japanese snowball, Viburnum plicatum ; Cornelian 
cherry, Cornus Mas ; Flowering almond ; Exochorda 
grandiflora; Mock orange ; Tyrus arbutifolia; Weigela 
and Bush honeysuckle. To these might be added, 
for foliage effect, the California privet and Euonymus 
Japonicus in both green and golden form. If small 
plants of these can be taken up before winter sets in, 
it should be done, though it may be done at any time 
when the ground is not frozen, the earlier the better, 
as it gives a chance for the plants to become better 
settled in their pots before they are taken into heat. 
When brought in from the open ground, they 
should be potted at once and set in a cool cellar, there 
to remain for a few weeks. Then they may be intro¬ 
duced to a warmer place, a few at a time, to keep up 
a supply throughout the season. Much pleasure is to 
be derived from them at but very little expense. The 
Deutzia gracilis named is the one so much used by 
florists for forcing for the sake of its lovely sprays of 
white flowers. The Golden Bell is uncommonly pretty, 
as its golden yellow flowers appear on its naked 
stems. 
Besides the shrubs, there are many herbaceous 
plants which may be lifted from the open ground and 
utilized in the same way. It must be early flowering 
ones, such as flower in April or May. As a guide, I 
would mention columbines, assorted ; k Sea pink, 
Armeria; Astilbe Japonica ; Dicentra spectabilis, 
Pachysandra procumbens ; Phlox procumbens ; Moss 
pink ; primroses ; Tradescantias ; Tulipa sylvestris, 
the old yellow tulip, and the many hardy violets. 
Pennsylvania. Joseph meehan. 
WHA T THEY SAY. 
“Consumptive Cows.” —I am glad to see The R. 
N.-Y. publishing the articles on tuberculous cows, 
and describing the experiments on the herd at the 
New Jersey Station. Some of the crude, hasty, ill- 
advised methods that have been employed by some 
States must be stopped. Stock owners should not and 
will not submit to them, simply because they are un¬ 
necessary. I have had many years’ experience with 
tuberculosis in England and America, and hope soon 
to give to the public a statement regarding one of 
the lai'gest and most valuable herds of purebred cattle 
in this country, which was placed in my charge in 
1895. The owners were advised to resist every effort 
of the State Board to kill all tuberculous animals, to 
test the herd, sort out infected ones, quarantine all, 
retest, Pasteurize milk, and breed up a new herd. All 
this has been done as far as time would permit, and 
this at the expense of the owners. It is a great sav¬ 
ing to the State in which the herd is located, pi*e- 
serves to that State and this country an institution of 
considex’able value, and is calculated to demonstrate 
that much needless slaughter of highly-bred animals 
has occurred through the lumbering methods of some 
State officials. We have, of late, seen some pretty 
knotty stuff in certain party platforms, and 1 ‘ boards ” 
of so-called health. In the future, we need some 
choice, conservative, well-seasoned timber. 
EDWARD MOORE. 
When to Open the Silo! 
In a general way, the answer might be, “ whenever 
one needs the ensilage to feed.” I do not know that 
there is anything like common agreement in the 
time of opening silos. If the term may be used, there 
is a great deal of individuality about silos, and their 
behavior. That they are hot or cold at the time they 
are opened, makes no difference so far as I can see. 
Sometimes the ensilage, when the pit is opened, is 
quite cold, and another year it will be quite hot ; it 
is simply a matter of the condition of the ferment at 
that time. So far as the ensilage is concerned, the 
opening makes no difference with the contents three 
inches below the sui-face, as the air cannot affect that 
which is slightly below the immediate surface. I 
have no “ signs” indicating when the ensilage is ready 
to feed. When the usual amount of roughage about 
the farm is fed out in the late fall, I commence at 
once on the ensilage, uncover the whole pit, and feed 
from the entire surface. A year ago I commenced to 
feed ensilage November 30, and the year previous, 
nearly three weeks earlier. Some of my neigh¬ 
bors commence feeding the very day that they finish 
filling the pits, and I cannot see but they have as fine 
ensilage as do those who cover the ensilage, and let it 
sweat from three to six weeks. Some ensilage will re¬ 
main hot all winter, and some will take on hardly 
heat enough to make the mass settle as solidly as it 
should. The truth is I have never seen any ensilage so 
“young” or so “ old” but it could be fed with perfect 
safety, and satisfaction. 
The most perfect cover—next to none at all—1 have 
ever had on my silos is this year. After the corn was 
all in the pits, the litter about the machine was run 
up the carrier and scattered evenly over the. surface, 
well trodden down, and this repeated for three or 
four days, or until it had become quite moldy. Then 
we loosened it up, tread it down, working in a half 
bushel of oat screenings, distributed a barrel of water 
evenly over the ensilage and gave it one more tread¬ 
ing. The result is that the surface is covered with 
this decayed ensilage, and over it is a fine growth of 
oats, the roots of which have bound the cover into a 
regular fiber blanket. If covers are needed—which I 
still doubt—this one is far in the lead of any I have 
ever had in my 10 years of silo experience. 
Ohio. JOHN GOULD. 
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AILING ANIMALS. 
ANSWERS BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
Make the Cow “ Come to Her Milk.” 
]V. M. S., Taunton, Mass .—My cow dropped her first calf July 
10, 1895, and was two years old August 17, 1895. She gave nine 
quarts of milk and kept up her milk. After September 1, 1896, I 
milked but once a day to dry her off, and stopped milking Sep¬ 
tember 27. She was then giving more than one quart, and began 
to make bag. It increased to fair size, but with no fever or hard¬ 
ness. She dropped her calf October 7, and I kept the calf on her 
three days, then began to milk her, and was surprised to find 
that she gave but two quarts at a milking, and continues with 
but little increase. I feed good hay and grain, shorts, oats and 
corn, one peck per day. She is in good order, eats well and did 
well iu calving. What course shall I pursue? She is a fine- 
looking cow, half Jersey and half Holstein, one that I raised and 
would like to keep, but want more milk for the feed. 
Beyond regular milking, gentle handling and lib¬ 
eral feeding, there is very little you can do to bring 
the cow to her milk. Kneading the udder with the 
hands after each milking may stimulate a more active 
secretion. Scalding her grain for a time might, also, 
be beneficial. She will, undoubtedly, come to her 
milk in part, if not wholly, in two or three weeks ; 
but even if she do not, I would not condemn her 
this season if she has the points and breeding of a 
good cow. I have known of sevei’al instances where 
a cow, as a three-year-old, failed to come up to her 
two-year-old record, but after the third calf, fully 
made up for the deficiency the second year. 
Drugs to Induce Breeding. 
C. K. McD., De Funiak Springs, Fla.—Is there any known feed 
of any special kind that will cause young heifers to come iu heat? 
I have two very good heifers, rising three years old, that have 
never shown any signs of coming in heat; they are in good 
order, and not too fat. I have been recommended to feed a table¬ 
spoonful, once a week, in their feed, of copperas. Can you tell me 
anything about its virtues iu that line? I may mention that I 
have a bull running in the herd all the time. 
There is no known special feed or drug that will 
cause the heifers to come in heat. A course of nux 
vomica or of nux with sulphate of iron would, pi*ob- 
ably, be as effectual as anything. Give one-half to 
two-thirds teaspoonful of pulverized sulphate of iron 
and one teaspoonful of powdered nux vomica twice 
daily in the feed. After a week, increase the dose of 
the nux (but not of the iron, which should remain the 
same throughout) to two teaspoonfuls, and the third 
week to three teaspoonfuls. If twitching of the 
muscles should be observed during the second or 
third week, reduce the dose of the nux to one tea¬ 
spoonful again. After the three weeks’ course, stop 
the medicine for two or thi’ee weeks, and then repeat 
as before if desirable. The dose of one teaspoonful 
of the copperas—sulphate of iron—only once a week, 
would be too small to have any appreciable effect 
upon the animal. It should have been prescribed 
once daily. 
