682 
THE RURAIv NEW-YORKER 
restricted for them. If I had a theory and money, 
and wanted to experiment on mules, I would do so. 
If I wanted to make a farm pay dividends, of the two 
would surely breed draft horses in preference to 
mules. If I had the land and money to fence it prop¬ 
erly and wanted to make it pay for sure, would raise 
wool and mutton, if the farm was adapted to it. 
Vermont. c. a. chapman. 
Study the Business Yourself. 
I am not in a position to give facts, having no ac¬ 
counts at hand to compare, but my opinion would be, 
there would be but little difference in the cost of 
growing a 1500-pound horse or mule, and as but few 
mules attain a greater weight, the comparison would 
cease at that point. If the inquirer has a taste for 
the larger horses, he would make more money raising 
them, for as a rule a man does best at the task he has 
a taste for, if he has no training in either line. If 
your man has no experience along either line, or with 
professional horsemen, and no funds that he can afford 
to part with, he would better leave the business alone. 
You probably will receive replies from the fanciers 
of the different breeds, each extolling the merits of 
his pet breed and attempting to show all the demerits 
of all the others, but the man who can take any one 
of the different breeds according to his fancy, whether 
it be French, Belgian, Scotch or British, and turn 
out a good individual horse or mule, will get good 
money for him. But without the experience he would 
better put in a season visiting different establishments, 
watching their methods and the development of the 
different breeds under the differing conditions, the 
while studying the different live stock market reports, 
and at the end of the season he will be able to de¬ 
cide which class is best adapted to his soil and the 
conditions he can give them, also decide the time to 
market his product. geo. l. Gordon. 
Stand Up for the Mule. 
For the farmer who wants to go into the business 
for the profit, mules are much better, and a safer 
proposition. In the first place, mules can be raised at 
much less expense, and they will grow on less and 
coarser feeds than horses. Yon can put from 15 to 
50 young mules in a bunch and grow them up, and it 
is very seldom that one will get a scratch or bump 
on them, while if you will put any number of colts 
together and grow them up, at maturity one-half will 
not be sound. You can sell your mules at any age 
and find many buyers, from weanlings to aged ones, 
and they never have to be sold at auction. There 
are always plenty of buyers for them, and on the other 
hand horses have to be got ready, broken and fixed 
up for sale. You will find on the great horse and mule 
market, at St. Louis, Missouri, most of the horses 
are sold at auction, while all of the mules are sold 
privately. We would advise getting as heavy mares 
as possible and crossing them on a good Kentucky 
Mammoth jack. j. F. cook & co. 
Kentucky. 
MRS. HOUDAN, THE FROST-PROOF HEN. 
Since mentioning the Houdan breed of poultry early 
in the year, there has been a steady stream of corre¬ 
spondence about Mrs. Houdan. Few Americans ap¬ 
parently ever saw one of these birds. We were glad 
therefore to receive the following: 
I am enclosing a photograph of one of my Houdan hens. 
I have been very much interested in the articles in your 
paper on the “frost-proof hen.” I have been breeding 
them for a number of years, and like them very much. 
Thinking that some of your readers might be anxious to 
know just what a purebred Houdan looks like I am sending 
you the picture. E. s. 
Wigton, Ta. 
The picture of Mrs. Houdan is shown at Fig. 109. 
Look at the head closely and you will see the re¬ 
semblance to a bearded man wearing a high fur cap. 
If Mrs. Houdan should be sent to Congress you would 
find something like the following in the directory: 
The Houdans are of French origin, taking their name 
from the town of Houdan, which is situated in the center 
of the district where they were first largely raised. They 
were, and are to-day, largely kept by the French peasants 
and farmers as a market fowl, a producer of eggs and 
meat. From France they were introduced into England, 
and mainly through England into the United States, 
somewhere about 50 years ago. Several importations were 
also made direct from France, but these birds were of a 
slightly different type from those that were brought to 
this country by way of England. In shape they are 
square, and rather long-bodied; in color black, mottled 
with white. The new American Standard of Perfection 
gives their weights as cocks, 7% pounds; hens, 6 V 2 
pounds; cockerels, 6 % pounds; pullets, 5% pounds. We 
find cock birds that will go at times as high as 10 pounds, 
and hens to eight pounds. Their most distinguishing fea¬ 
ture to the eye is their large globular crest, and like the 
Dorking, they have an extra or fifth toe. 
Greece is growing cotton and will probably soon sup¬ 
ply its own demand. 
MANURE AND FERTILIZER NOTES. 
How Much Water in Slaked Lime ? 
We pay $4.20 per ton for gray lime, freshly water- 
slaked, still warm, and damp enough to scatter with little 
dust. I do not know analysis. About what should we pay 
for such lime unslaked? What does lime gain in weight 
by slaking? J. 
Let us get these figures by heart. A pure lime¬ 
stone contains 56 pounds of lime to the 100 . When 
burned there will be 56 pounds of ‘'lump” lime. When 
this lime takes up water it is “slaked.” . The 56 
pounds will make 74 pounds of dry slaked lime. It 
therefore takes up a little more than one-third its 
weight of water. Some samples will hold more water 
than is needed to do this slaking, but chemically the 
lime takes one-third its weight of water. 
Chemicals with Stable Manure. 
Can I use stable manure and commercial fertilizer suc¬ 
cessfully the same season ? g. m. 
Michigan. 
Certainly you can if you want to, but it might not 
pay to do so on all crops. Ordinary stable manure 
will contain in each ton about 10 pounds of nitrogen, 
six of phosphoric acid and 12 of potash. Most crops, 
and particularly vegetables and fruit, show a great 
demand for potash and phosphoric acid. A properly 
balanced fertilizer for these crops should have three 
. times as much or more of phosphoric acid as of nitro¬ 
gen and nearly as large a proportion of potash. Thus 
with stable manure it may pay well to use acid phos¬ 
phate and muriate of potash, since these chemicals do 
not contain nitrogen, but supply the other elements. 
What is Acid Phosphate ? 
On page 165, John Gould of Ohio has an article on 
raising Salvia. He speaks of using acid phosphate for 
fertilizer. 1 have made inquiries here for same, but am 
unable to purchase it or find some one who knows what 
it is, neither can I find it listed in the leading seed cata¬ 
logues. R. J. 
Stillwater, Minn. 
We are expected to explain this about three times 
a year for new readers. In various parts of the coun¬ 
try are deposits of “phosphate rocks.” It is supposed 
that those represent the petrified remains of animals 
belonging to an age now extinct. The theory is that 
they died in large numbers in certain sections—their 
bones changing to a form of soft rock which contains 
25 per cent or more of phosphoric acid. This rock is 
dug up and ground to a fine powder. In this raw 
condition it is called “floats,” and is quite largely 
used in this form. To make this phosphate soluble in 
water and thus “available” to plants the “floats” or 
powdered rock is mixed with sulphuric acid. This 
“cuts” or dissolves the rock and gives what is called 
“acid phosphate,” which is the most common form of 
using phosphoric acid in fertilizers. This is handled 
by most fertilizer dealers. 
A “Complete Liquid Fertilizer,’’ 
Will you give recipe for a complete liquid fertilizer to 
be used on poor land lacking in humus, where no manure 
is used in solid state or mulch, and nothing allowed to 
grow to make humus? The land is planted to ornamental 
shrubs and vines. • V R. b. 
Lake Bay, Wash. 
. Fresh liquid manure from different kinds of stock 
will show this analysis—pounds in one ton: 
Nitrogen. Phos. Acid. Potash. 
Horse .31 30 
Cow .12 10 
Sheep .40 46 
Hog . 9 17 
There is hardly enough phosphoric acid in any of 
the liquids to consider. It is true of all liquid manures 
that they contain most of the potash and the soluble 
nitrogen, but little if any phosphoric acid. To make 
an artificial liquid equal to that front the horse you 
could use nitrate of soda and muriate of potash in 
water. A ton of water means about 250 gallons, so 
that each gallon should contain about two ounces of 
nitrogen, since there are 496 ounces in a ton. Ordin¬ 
ary nitrate of soda contains 16 per cent of nitrogen, 
which means 2)4 ounces to each pound of nitrate, .so 
that 14 ounces of the nitrate to a gallon of water 
would be needed to give the nitrogen in a gallon of 
horse liquid. As for potash, 30 pounds or 4S0 ounces 
are found in the 250 gallons which make the ton. 
This means 1.9 ounce of potash in each gallon. Muri¬ 
ate of potash is 50 per cent potash—therefore you 
need to the gallon 3.8 ounces of muriate of potash. 
This would give you a liquid containing as much 
plant food as that from the horse, but it would not 
be safe to use it on ordinary plants. We should use 
three gallons 6 f water to one of the liquid, and even 
then it would not be a balanced fertilizer. It contains 
no phosphoric acid and not enough potash in propor¬ 
tion to the nitrogen. As a safe rule it would be 
wise to plan for at least three times as much phos¬ 
phoric acid as of nitrogen and nearly as much of 
potash. A good sample of acid phosphate will contain 
14 per cent of soluble phosphoric acid, the nitrate of 
soda contains 16 per cent nitrogen, and muriate of 
May 13, 
potash 50 per cent of potash. Thus a proportion of 
one pound of muriate, 3)4 of acid phosphate and one 
pound of muriate would give about the proportion of 
plant food here mentioned. We should use this com¬ 
bination of chemicals in four gallons of water, ex¬ 
perimenting with more or less water on various crops 
or plants until the right strength was found. Of 
course you will not use this liquid on the plants. Pour 
it on the soil a few inches away from the stem. 
Spreading or Piling Manure. 
Is manure better if I take it out of the stable and put 
it on land, or should I leave it on a pile to rot and then 
put it on land? H. a. g. 
Lehigh ton, Pa. 
This is an old question which no one seems to 
settle definitely, because it does not depend entirely 
on the quality of the manure. Time and labor enter 
into the figuring. There can be no doubt that com¬ 
posting or rotting manure in a pile may improve its 
quality. The manure becomes finer and the plant- 
food more available if the manure is properly hand¬ 
led in the pile. For gardening or wherever fine 
manure is needed, we would rather pile the manure 
and haul out when wanted. On the other hand, there 
is likely to be some loss from drainage or fermenta¬ 
tion when the manure is not properly handled. The 
great advantage in hauling direct from the stable is 
that the work is done before the rush of Spring comes 
on. You gain much time. The fresh manure is not 
in as good shape as when fermented in a pile, and 
may turn out coarse and chunky. Where it can be 
put on a sod or level ground there will not be much 
loss from this daily hauling. On a hillside we would 
not spread from day to day. We have seen cases 
where during rainstorms a sheet of water flowed over 
the field. In such case there would be considerable 
loss from spreading through the Winter. Piling the 
manure properly will improve its quality, but it may 
cost too much in time and labor to pay. 
Different Kinds of Lime, 
My farm is located in a limestone and Blue grass sec¬ 
tion, so I am interested in the question of burnt vs. 
ground limestone. Does burnt limestone give the same 
analysis as ground rock? Does the ground rock act to 
neutralize acidity of soil? What is its action as com¬ 
pared with burnt rock? I am using acetylene for lights. 
What is chemical analysis of well-slaked carbide? Should 
it be used either as a fertilizer or a spray? J. m. g. 
Bland, Va. 
Here is another question which must be answered 
over and over again. Limestone as taken from the 
ground contains lime and carbonic acid. A pure sam¬ 
ple would contain in 100 pounds 56 of lime and 44 
of carbonic acid. Thus in 100 pounds of such ground 
limestone you would have 56 pounds of lime. Burn 
this limestone in a kiln and you drive off all or 
most of the carbonic acid and leave pure lime. This 
would be lump, stone or “quick” lime. In 100 pounds 
of it there would be about 98 pounds of lime com¬ 
pared with 56 in the ground limestone. Let this 
“quick” or lump lime remain exposed to air or water 
and it will “slake”—that is, take up a quantity of 
water, until 100 pounds of the slaked lime will carry 
about 76 pounds of actual lime. Thus 100 pounds of 
good limestone gives you 56 pounds of lime, and 100 
pounds of slaked or burnt lime gives you 76 pounds. 
The ground limestone acts to neutralize acid, but 
much more slowly than the burnt lime. For equal 
results you should use twice as much of the limestone 
as of the burnt lime. The refuse from the acetylene 
plant is about the same in its effect as ground lime¬ 
stone, and should be used in the same way. 
CULTIVATION FOR THE SUGAR CANE. 
I notice many questions and answers regarding 
agricultural matters printed in your excellent journal, 
and ask your opinion as to the proper treatment of 
cane fields as to cultivation after the new shoots are 
up. The thermometer will stand at 82° in the shade 
and in the direct sun 110° Fah. For two months at a 
time there may be no rain, and each day from 10 until 
five the trade winds will blow. The usual practice 
after the cane is cut to the ground is to leave the 
leaves spread evenly and turn in the cattle to tramp it 
down and manure and in some cases to fork the 
ground, thereby getting some of the leaves underneath. 
At about the time the cane is cut the rainy season 
(May) comes and thoroughly wets down the mass, 
and the new shoots spring up from the roots which 
are left from year to year. Until the next Spring the 
field is not touched nor cultivated in any way, it 
being the opinion that to cultivate would dry the 
roots and lose the moisture claimed to be retained by 
the covering of leaves from the last crop. There is 
no attempt to provide for rows and spacing or culti¬ 
vation as is done in the North with corn growing, 
and being so impressed with radical difference in 
methods of cultivation I address your paper. 
Island of Jamaica. h. m. doubeeday. 
R. N.-Y.—We have had no experience in tropical 
cane growing, but submit the question to our readers. 
There are no doubt some among them who are com¬ 
petent to answer these questions. 
