1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORICER 
and with such a system, liming with small applica¬ 
tions at frequent intervals on soils where it is needed, 
it can be resorted to without fear of making “rich 
fathers and poor sons.” 
What ■' Plaster ” Does to Ammonia. 
T. S., Loveland, O.—l have read that land plaster -will fix ammo¬ 
nia and hold it in available form for plant growth. I have been 
using it with satisfactory results. Has land plaster any other 
beneficial effects ? Does it make potash available if such potash 
is contained in the soil in inert form ? Has air-slaked lime the 
same beneficial effects on vegetation as land plaster ? 
Ans. —“Land plaster” is the sulphate of lime, 
while what we call “ lime ” is a carbonate. In one 
case, the lime is combined with sulphur, while in the 
other, it is combined with carbon or carbonic acid. 
To illustrate ; ordinary cooking soda is a carbonate 
of soda combined with carbonic acid. Glauber’s salt, 
which many persons have taken as medicine, is sul¬ 
phate of soda, or soda combined with sulphur. We 
all know that these combinations of soda differ 
greatly in character, and in like manner, the sulphate 
and carbonate of lime differ greatly in their actions. 
Ammonia in urine and other manures is found chiefly 
in the form of a carbonate. In this form, it is easily 
volatilized and passes away as vapor. When plaster 
is put with it, a change takes place. The sulphur in 
the plaster unites with the ammonia, while the car¬ 
bonic acid of the ammonia unites with the lime and 
forms a carbonate. The sulphate of ammonia is a 
more stable form than the carbonate. Of course, 
you will see from this that air-slaked lime, which is 
a carbonate, will not hold the ammonia, for there is 
no sulphur in it. In fact, such lime will act to set 
the ammonia free rather than to secure it as the plas¬ 
ter does. Such lime should never be put in the ma¬ 
nure. The best thing to do with it is to harrow it 
into the soil, where its chief value is to “sweeten ” 
soils that are too sour, to break up heavy clay soils, 
or to bind together light sands. Plaster has a slight 
action in the soil to set free potash compounds, but 
its great value lies in its power to fix and hold the 
valuable ammonia in stables and manure piles. For 
this reason, we would always use it with the manure. 
Value of Tobacco Stems. 
J. E. B., Basking Ridge, N. J.— In The R. N.-Y., page 804, I see 
that tobacco steins may be purchased for $6 a ton. Where can 
they be procured at that price ? 
Ans. —These stems are bought of a local dealer. 
You cannot buy them in quantity for such a low 
price. The only way to secure them at such a figure is to 
make arrangements with some local dealer or manu¬ 
facturer to take his entire supply. As was said on 
page 804, as soon as competition begins, the price will 
rise. 
Treatment for Abortion. 
J. F. C., North Topeka, Kan.—I have a good Jersey cow which 
has aborted twice at the fifth month. Can I do anything to pre¬ 
vent it f 
Ans. —Allow the cow to run, at least, three months 
before being again served, and then use a different 
bull for service. In the meantime, inject the vagina 
twice a week with a solution of one part corrosive 
sublimate in 10,000 parts of water. The external 
organs, tail, and hips should be sponged off with a 
stronger solution of 1 part to 1,000. If the neck of the 
womb is open, throw the injection directly into the 
womb by using about four feet of half-inch rubber 
tubing, into one end of which a small funnel is fitted, 
the other end being inserted into the neck of the 
womb with the aid of the oiled hand. Even after the 
cow is pregnant, it would be well to continue the 
treatment, say once a week ; but the injection should 
be made only into the vagina. f. l. k. 
Making Carcasses Into Fertilizer. 
L. B. B., Waterport, N. Y .—Will you give me a formula for 
making fertilizer out of old horses ? Can I dissolve the bone and 
flesh together, or would I better boil it all together, then grind 
the bones ? Where can I get a bone mill that would make good 
meal ? Where can I market the hides to the best advantage ? 
Can the bone and flesh be used with ashes and lime in any way 
to soften the bone so that it could be used without a mill ? 
Ans. —In the note which follows, Mr. O. W. Mapes 
tells us what is done with dead horses in a local fac¬ 
tory. This is, probably, the simplest way to handle 
them. A stout tank in which the bones and meat can 
be well steamed will be needed if one expects to do 
fair work. You will need a mill of some sort to grind 
the steamed bones. Any of the manufacturers adver¬ 
tising mills in The R. N.-Y. will supply you. To 
make a complete fertilizer, we would mix 300 pounds 
muriate of potash with 1,700 poundseof the ground 
bone and meat. 
UTILIZING A DEAD HORSE. 
Middletown, N. Y., is situated in the great dairy 
district of Orange County. On the surrounding farms 
are kept thousands of cattle and horses. The usual 
mortality among these gives a large number of car¬ 
casses to be disposed of every year, and several fac¬ 
tories have been established to utilize these carcasses. 
That of Wm. B. McDowell is, probably, as well 
equipped as any in this section. Most people are 
anxious to get a dead animal away from their prem¬ 
ises as soon as possible. Mr. McDowell stands ready 
to remove them upon short notice. A postal card or 
telegram, which may be sent at his expense (not to 
exceed 25 cents), starts his truck for the scene of dis¬ 
aster at once, if it occur within a radius of 10 miles of 
his factory. 
On the day of my visit, I met the truck just start¬ 
ing out, and it returned within an hour with the car¬ 
cass of a horse. It is a low-down affair with a wind¬ 
lass at the forward end with which one man can 
easily move a dead animal. Arrived at the factory, 
it is deposited on a platform and forthwith dissected. 
The first step, of course, is to remove the hide, for 
which there is always a ready sale. Most of the 
horse hides are shipped to Europe. The carcass is 
then cut into large pieces and placed in a steam 
rendering tank. The pieces I saw would weigh from 
20 to 40 pounds each. In this tank, it is steamed for 
five or six hours under a pressure of about 50 pounds 
of steam. The grease is now drawn off from the top 
of the mass and barreled ready for shipment. This 
goes to soap factories. The remainder is then drawn 
off into a large open vat, where it is again skimmed 
for grease. From this vat, it goes into a huge press 
where all the water is pressed out as nearly as pos¬ 
sible. At this factory, the water thus pressed out is 
allowed to run away to the fields below the factory, 
Mr. McDowell not finding it profitable to evaporate 
so much moisture. There must be large quantities of 
nitrogen in this liquor, as nothing can grow in the 
land where it is discharged. From the press it goes 
next to the steam drier, which is something like the 
reverse of an ice cream freezer. It is surrounded by 
steam instead of ice, and a set of huge agitators keeps 
the mass in constant motion, crushing up the meat 
and the softer parts of the bones until it is per¬ 
fectly dry. 
From the dryer, it is run over screens which sepa¬ 
rate the coarser pieces of bone from the fine particles, 
which are mostly lean meat. This lean meat, by the 
way, is just what I have long wanted for laying hens. 
I shall surely give it a trial. The coarser particles of 
bone are then ground in a bone mill and mixed again 
with the meat, in which form it is sold to fertilizer 
factories as tankage. It is guaranteed to contain 5.06 
per cent of nitrogen and 17.57 per cent of phosphoric 
acid, of which 15 is available. He has had no an¬ 
alysis made of the fine meat which first comes through 
the screens as it leaves the drier, but it must be very 
rich in nitrogen, and, in my opinion, will make a bet¬ 
ter egg-producing food than dried blood. It can be 
bought much cheaper. 
They average from 10 to 12 carcasses a week at this 
factory, and in addition, all the bones and fat from 
the markets of the city of Middletown are collected 
semi-weekly, and go through the same process. A 
large green-bone cutter has just been put in, and he 
is now prepared to supply green cut bone for poultry 
food. 
A “ Balanced Ration” With Dry Hay. 
A. T. S., Woodford, Me. —What is the best ration of grain to 
feed with well-cured English hay (no rough fodder), to milch 
cows to make the most milk ? Bran is $14 per ton; corn meal, 
$15 per ton; cotton-seed meal, $23 per ton; linseed, $21 per ton; 
gluten, $18 per ton. Most of the rations I see reported in Tub R. 
N.-Y. make use of some kinds of fodder that I don’t have this 
winter, so I would like a ration made up of what I have. 
Ans. —In a ration of this kind, the important thing 
is to use grain foods that have a laxative effect on the 
system. One great value of ensilage is that it keeps 
the system open much like pasture grass. Dry hay is 
constipating, and for this reason, oil meal and bran 
are excellent to feed with it. While we would use 
cotton-seed meal with ensilage or when the cows are 
at pasture, we would not advise its use with dry hay 
unless the cows had plenty of roots or raw potatoes. 
In a general way, we would advise a mixture of three 
parts bran and two parts each linseed and gluten. 
This mixture, of course, is by weight and not by meas¬ 
ure. We would feed the cows from 15 to 20 pounds of 
hay and as much of the grain mixture as seemed to 
be profitable. One of the best parts of a “ balanced 
ration” is the large per cent of observation which the 
feeder puts in. Watch the cows and change the 
amount of the grain as the milk yield changes. 
York State Prune and Lincoln Pear. 
E. B., Nauvoo, III.— Can you give us detailed information re¬ 
garding the York State prune and the Lincoln Coreless pear ? 
Are they thrifty, hardy, and good bearers ? How does the size 
and quality of their fruit compare with others of their kind and 
season ? Are they profitable fruits to plant ? 
Ans. —The York State prune is something that I 
have heard of only in an indefinite way, but never 
seen. One of the best posted plum men in New York 
or anywhere else told me that he believed it to be “ a 
fake.” The Lincoln Coreless pear originated in Lin¬ 
coln County, Tenn. The old tree during its life of 
more than 60 years, was healthy and productive. The 
young trees are vigorous, and little subject to blight, 
but there has not been time since the introduction of 
the variety to prove their productivenes. The fruit 
833 
that I have tasted was poor in quality, but it was 
large, and seemed to keep well into the winter. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Sterile Flowers on Melons. 
Q. W. L., Waterloo, la. —Two years ago, a friend gave me a pie 
melon. I planted some of the seeds in May of both 1895 and 1896. 
The vines grew thriftily both years, but though I examined them 
carefully several times, I did not find any indication of a pistillate 
flower. 
Ans. —The staminate flowers in all sorts of cucur- 
bitaceaa are always in excess of the pistillate flowers, 
the proportion, however, varying from year to year. 
Peculiar conditions, of which we know nothing, may 
have induced our friend’s melons to bear only sterile 
flowers. 
Trimming a Five-Year-Old Peach Orchard. 
A. A. F., Somerville, N. J. —I have a small peach orchard, five 
years old; it has made a good growth this year, and is in a flour¬ 
ishing condition. How, and when shall I prune it ? Should I cut 
back the new growth, and how much ? I have owned the farm 
only one year, but the neighbors say that it has never been 
pruned. They advise me to cut off some of the lower brauches, 
and not touch the new wood at all. 
Ans. —To prune a five-year-old orchard which had 
never been trimmed or pruned in any way, there is 
but one method which is correct and will give satis¬ 
faction. This is not to cut back the young growth, 
but to trim the tree out and thin it, beginning in the 
center to do so. The best way is to take all the 
smaller twigs off, leaving the nicest and best looking 
branches which look as though they would fruit best. 
Do not cut off the bottom limbs, but leave the tree as 
equally balanced as possible, with as low a head as you 
can, and still leave it in good shape. Do not cut back 
the young growth unless it is an extra long growth, 
which runs off sidewise or interferes with other limbs 
or other trees. The main thing is to keep the tree nice 
shaped, not too high, not too thick in the middle, and 
thin all poor, light little twigs which could not hold 
up good fruit. We wish to get a tree that will hold 
its fruit, and that will have plenty of fruit on it, on 
those limbs which are better to bring it out, and 
would have a good show to get the sun and be well 
colored and flavored. Do not cut back the young 
growth, but cut out the old spurs and old limbs. 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON &, CO. 
Corn Fodder, Bran and Carrots. 
C. H. W., Charlotte, N. Y.— In what proportions should I feed 
fodder corn, wheat bran and carrots to obtain the best results in 
milk ? I wish to use all the carrots it will be safe and advan¬ 
tageous to feed. If a “ balanced ration ” cannot be got out of 
these, what would be the best addition to make ? 
Ans. —It will be better to add some food like cot- 
ton-seed meal or linseed meal to the list. Average 
specimens of these foods will analyze about as follows: 
POUNDS IN 100. 
Muscle-makers. Fat-formers. Pure fat. 
Fodder corn. 4.5 35 1.6 
Wheat bran. 15.4 54 4.0 
Carrots. 1.1 7.6 0.4 
The so-called “standard” ration for a cow weigh¬ 
ing 1,000 pounds, is a daily feed of materials contain¬ 
ing 2% pounds of muscle-makers, 12>£ pounds of fat- 
formers, and two-fifths of a pound of pure fat. If 
you could make the cow eat 50 pounds of dry corn 
fodder, she would secure this amount of food, but 
most of it would be indigestible, and in a week or 
so she would be so constipated that her usefulness as 
a milker would be about gone. It would take over 
200 pounds of carrots to provide this food, supposing 
that you could make her eat so much. Twenty 
pounds of bran would furnish it, but this would not 
give the cow enough bulky food, and it would also 
be too expensive. Each of these foods would be fed 
alone at a loss because, in order to get enough muscle- 
makers, you would be obliged to feed too much of the 
fat-formers and fat, and this would be wasted. The ob¬ 
jects of “ balancing” the ration are to mix the foods 
so that the proportions will be right, and to utilize 
the cheap carrots and fodder. A mixture of 20 pounds 
of corn fodder, 6 pounds of bran, and 15 pounds of 
carrots, will give fair results, especially if you can 
cut and steam the fodder. You will obtain better 
results, however, if you will feed 20 pounds of fodder, 
4 pounds of bran, 1}£ pound of cotton-seed meal or 
linseed meal, and 15 pounds of carrots. 
Rye Hay; Millet in Potatoes. 
J. F. O., Seybertsville, Pa. —We have takeu the fodder from five 
acres of corn land, and have sowed the land to rye. Would it be 
better to make hay of the rye by cutting before it matures, or let 
it stand for grain ? We shall be rather short of roughage. On 
page 740, I read about sowing millet at the last working of pota¬ 
toes. About what time would those potatoes have to be planted 
and worked the last time, and when could the crop of millet be 
cut ? It strikes me that it would be rather long to keep potatoes 
In the ground. 
Ans. —It will, probably, pay you best to cut the rye 
early and cure it for hay. You will find it poor stuff, 
however, and not very well relished by stock. Rye 
makes the poorest hay of any of the small grains. 
The experiment with millet in potatoes was tried in 
Kansas—see page 665. The weather and seasons are 
such in that country that the potatoes were planted 
early in April, with the last cultivation early in June, 
at which time the millet was sown. This plan might 
not work in Pennsylvania, though we have, in New 
Jersey, grown large crops of fodder corn between the 
rows of potatoes. 
