566 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 21, 
tities given will fill two large dripping pans, all that 
an ordinary range oven will bake at once: Cornmeal 
four heaping quarts, bran two quarts, powdered char¬ 
coal one cup, sifted beef scrap one cup, salcratus four 
heaping teaspoons, eight eggs (I use infertile ones test¬ 
ed out of the incubator). Mix with cold water to make 
a stiff mass, and bake it two or three hours. This cake 
is crumbly, is better a day or more old, and will keep 
a week in a dry cool place. 
I have used several kinds of brooders, and frankly 
say that I would not accept as a gift, if I had to use it, 
any brooder with a cloth hover. The kind I use, and 
prefer, is a very simple affair having two short pipes 
and a long one, radiating from a drum in the back part 
of the brooder. There is amp' floor space in front of 
the pipes, to which the chicks can retreat if too warm, 
and when cold they can line up under the pipes and get 
their backs warm without bunching, or crowding around 
a central heater. The lamp box is inclosed, but I have 
never had the least trouble with that since learning to 
leave the door open a little, propped with a stick or 
stone, especially in muggy weather, and the lamp must 
be kept clean and well trimmed. I believe there is very 
little danger of fire if these precautions are observed. 
To the uninitiated but interested woman, I would say 
that while raising chicks is undoubtedly a healthful, 
and may be made a profitable, occupation, taking care 
of 500 or 600 and doing one’s housework at the same 
time is not exactly work for an invalid. The business 
is confining; the many little details must be strictly and 
faithfully attended to; neglect is quickly and surely 
made manifest. In pleasant weather the work is com¬ 
paratively easy, but it isn’t fun to wake near midnight, 
hear the wind blowing a gale, know that your chicks 
must be getting chilly with so much ventilation, or vice 
versa; sally out with your lantern and make the rounds 
to adjust the brooders to suit the change in the weather. 
Neither does it make one hilarious to stoop in the wet 
grass and fill and trim lamps, with the rain pouring 
down the back of one’s neck. And cleaning brooders in 
the hot sun, especially after the chicks are well grown, 
is not a particularly delightful job. But all these things 
must be faithfully done, as a matter of course, as part 
of the trade, remembering that there is no occupation 
without its drawbacks; and that “keeping everlastingly 
at it” will ultimately bring success. dell s. petrie. 
Jefferson Co., N. Y. 
THE EFFECT OF LIME UPON SORREL. 
The remarks on page 486 on the use of old plastering, 
lime, etc., lead me to try you for an answer to queries 
which I have often put, but never got a reply. If a growth 
of sorrel or other plants containing acid is an indication of 
acidity in the soil, why is it that rhubarb and sugar beets 
will thrive in the same garden, and with the same fertilizer 
and treatment? Why will clover thrive where a crop of 
sorrel had been plowed under? If this soil has anything to 
do with the flavor of the plant or fruit produced, how is it 
that sweet apples are grown on scions set in the top of a 
tree producing sour fruit naturally? I once drew a load of 
plastering frpm where a building had been torn down, and 
spread it on sandy loam, intending to sow grain later in the 
season, but as it was on a back field and hoeing rushed, 
nothing further was done with it, and it produced the most 
rank growth of Red sorrel I ever saw ; it was two feet high, 
and some of it lodged down like new clover. I have never 
seen soil that would produce clover that would not give a 
good growth of sorrel if the clover was not thick enough to 
occupy the ground. That the point where the taste or flavor 
of a fruit or plant is decided is above ground is shown by the 
case of apples I have mentioned, and in the case of rhubarb 
and sorrel, in neither of which the roof has any acid flavor. 
Sassafras, which has such a spicy flavor in the bark of the 
roots, has nothing of the kind in the portions which grow 
above the surface. When a pile of swamp muck, which must 
be “sour” theoretically, has lain a year after digging out, 
strawberries will grow on it as well as in soil prepared on 
purpose. The berries are sour when green, just to support 
the argument of acidity, but when ripe they are as sweet 
as those grown on any limed soil. Can you help us out of 
this muddle? o. H. L. 
Manchester, N. H. 
Concerning the questions raised by O. H. L., I will 
say that I do not consider the question of whether or 
not certain plants contain ac ; d substances is any in¬ 
dication whatsoever of the soil condition in this par¬ 
ticular. Both rhubarb and the sugar beet are greatly 
helped by liming upon soil which is decidedly acid, 
though the heets are helped in a greater degree than 
the rhubarb. Rhubarb will make a splendid growth 
upon soil which is not acid. Common sorrel contains 
considerable quantities probably of both oxalate of lime 
and of potash. Under the natural conditions of de¬ 
composition in the soil, carbonate of lime and of pot¬ 
ash (strongly alkaline substances) would be likely 
to be formed from the oxalates. In fact, such changes 
have been demonstrated to take place by experiments 
in Germany, and we apparently obtained such results 
in our experimental pots in our Potato scab experi¬ 
ments. If this is the case, there is every reason why 
clover might thrive better after a crop of sorrel than 
before. Tf the soil has anything to do with the flavor 
of the plant or the fruit, it must be infinitesimal as 
compared with the climatic conditions, and I do not 
think that anybody is in position to assert anything 
very definite concerning it except under certain very 
specific conditions. Common sorrel, as your corre¬ 
spondent says, will not only grow upon old plaster, but 
it has been seen to grow fairly well in an old mortar 
; bed. Nevertheless its growth is not so vigorous as 
>; where lime is absent, unless the use of lime has ren- 
\ dered certain elements available which the sorrel par- 
| ticularly needs. In such a case it is conceivable that 
< the growth might be better after‘liming, than before. 
[ Sorrel can thrive well upon land well adapted to clover. 
A BUNCH OF JERSEY RED PIGS. Fig. 230. 
If your correspondent is not satisfied with these sug¬ 
gestions, it is my hope that he will state explicitly 
wherein he takes exception thereto, h. j. wheeler. 
A DISEASE KILLS “LIVE-FOREVER.” 
How can I get rid of live-forever? I have some In 
meadow and cannot kill it. G. w. 
Canastata, N. Y. 
The evidence seems to be conclusive that there is 
a fungus disease of live-forever that when introduced 
into fields infested with this plant will exterminate 
it. The writer has known personally of several fields 
where the live-forever formerly was abundant that 
now are practically or entirely free from it. One of 
these cases occurred near the university. About 1890 
Professor I. P. Roberts received from some source 
specimens of diseased live-forever plants. Some of 
these were taken to a farm several miles from Ithaca 
and transplanted among thrifty live-forever. This farm 
was practically overrun with the pest. Eight or nine 
years later the writer visited this farm with Professor 
Roberts and it was with difficulty that we could find 
any specimens of live-forever, either healthy or dis¬ 
eased. We did secure some that we supposed to be 
diseased and sent them to parties who were inquiring 
for them. At the end of 1 the first year one party re¬ 
ported that the experiment was a failure, that the 
introduced plants had died and that the other plants 
were still growing vigorously. At the end of the sec¬ 
ond year the report was different—that the diseased 
THE RURAL CARRIER’S ASSISTANT. Fig. 231. 
plants evidently had lived long enough to infect their 
neighbors, and that it was evident the disease wa3 
rapidly spreading through the fields. One difficulty in 
connection with this method of fighting live-forever 
is that one soon loses the supply of infected stock. 
One party who attempted to supply plants for a small 
consideration stated to the writer, that the greater the 
degree of success he secured on his own farm the 
quicker he wa„s run out of business. It would seem 
that it would be good policy for persons who have dis¬ 
eased plants available to advertise in the agricultural 
papers, so that the distribution of diseased stock may 
be secured while available. At present the writer 
does not know where to secure diseased plants. It 
seems that the character of the disease and the exact 
method of its transmission is not well understood. 
Whether introducing the diseased plants at one season 
of the year is as effective as at another is not known, 
or whether there is a particular time or method by 
which best results may be secured. So far as the 
writer's knowledge of the matter goes parties have 
simply secured specimens of diseased plants during 
the Summer and transplanted them among healthy 
plants and after a year or two the desired effect seems 
to be manifest. Whether or not it would be possible 
to bring around a prompter and more extensive effect 
by making cultures from the diseased plants and spray¬ 
ing or distributing by other means over wider areas 
has never been investigated so far as I know, but it is 
a field worthy of attention. G. l. stone. 
Cornell Experim ent Station. _ 
EFFECT OF THE KING DRAG ON ROADS. 
The first essential of proper earth road construction 
is the grading of the same; a flat road, or as you mostly 
see them, with shoulders higher than the center of the 
road, is not improved by the use of the King drag or 
any other drag. Produce a condition that will drain 
water from your roadbed in the shortest time possible, 
and you have solved a perplexing road problem. Two 
years ago I graded a section of road about I'/z mile; 
when complete it looked about like diagram: 
I made a drag, using two oak sticks 6x6 inches, 8 feet 
long, set them on edge about 16 inches apart, a strip of 
wagon-tire spiked to cutting edge; drag was bolted to¬ 
gether somewhat like the following diagram: 
I can hitch team to any link of chain, thus producing 
an angle of the drag most suitable. The best time 
to drag is after a rain, and in Winter when thawing 
in daytime and freezing at night. No, this road is not 
the equal of a macadamized road, but there is as much 
difference between it now and as it was formerly as 
there is between day and night. The freezing and 
thawing affects it like any other earth road; it, how¬ 
ever, dries off so much quicker that the bad condition 
does not last so long, and 1 believe in time if the work is 
kept up I shall have it in condition that the nightmore of 
going through mud hub deep six months of the year 
will be reduced very much. My north fence is the 
town line; I have often heard the remark made that 
now a man blindfolded could tell within a rod when 
he struck Liberty line. Many have named and are 
calling this section of road Bollinger Avenue. 
Ohio. _ J. H. BOLLINGER. 
BITS OF TALK. 
Value of Hen Manure. 
What is the commercial value of hen manure per barrel? 
West Virginia. t. s. g. 
It depends on the manure. Some experiments at the 
Maine Experiment Station with fresh droppings gave a 
value of 55 cents per 100 pounds of manure. An aver¬ 
age of many samples gave a value of 30 cents. An 
average barrel will weigh about 200 pounds. At auc¬ 
tions in our neighborhood a barrel of average hen ma¬ 
nure usually brings from 40 to 50 cents. 
Starting Alfalfa. 
I have a piece of level land on top of a hill. I wish to 
get Alfalfa seeded on it. I have quite a quantity of hen 
manure. I feed Alfalfa meal to hens. Would not this help 
in growing Alfalfa? w. h. o. 
Corning, N. Y. 
The scientific men say yes. It is claimed that where 
Alfalfa meal has been fed to stock and the manure 
used when seeding to Alfalfa a good stand has been 
obtained. We would make the manure as fine as pos¬ 
sible, and harrow it well in after broadcasting. 
Grinding Clover Hay. 
Our grain people have sent us samples of shredded Al¬ 
falfa, costing .$28 per ton. I wonder if it wouldn't pay to 
grind Red clover into coarse meal for pigs? They are 
fond of it. p. c. c. 
Yes, we feel sure of it. We know that the chaff 
and leaves of clover that fall on the barn floor when the 
hay is thrown down make first-rate pig feed. Mixed 
with meal or middlings into a thin slop they make pigs 
grow. In the West brood sows are often wintered on 
Alfalfa hay and roots. We feel sure that each year 
will see more clover and Alfalfa hay crushed or ground 
before feeding. The great trouble is to find a suitable 
mill for crushing the hay. 
