774 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKSR 
July 13, 
poisoned by eating the grass this year, and there is a 
case pending against the town on account of a valu¬ 
able cow poisoned this Spring by the public spraying. 
The symptoms are unmistakable, stupor and paralysis. 
Those men who are forever spraying, having eyes that 
see not, or they could not fail to discover that many 
birds are killed every year by eating the dying worms, 
that hosts of bees and honey-suckers, valuable in fer¬ 
tilizing the flowers, are killed also. There are none 
so blind as those who do not wish to see. The public 
officials who do the spraying have always insisted that 
there was not the slightest danger, but the placards 
they put on the trees this year warn owners not to 
feed animals in that place. Draw your own conclusion. 
ASPARAGUS.—One man asks, “Why should any¬ 
one put salt on asparagus?” Asparagus is a native of 
salt marshes, said to grow wild on the shores of the 
Baltic Sea, and farmers used to think it essential, as 
many do at the present time, but do not consider it a 
fertilizer. For a cover crop, in Concord, Mass., where 
asparagus is grown by the acre, great quantities of 
Winter squashes are grown between the rows, which 
are about five feet apart. b. 
Massachusetts. 
WINTER RYE NURSING ALFALFA. 
Alfalfa when sprouting and getting a start is one 
of the tenderest forage plants we have. This start¬ 
ing without being destroyed by grasses and weeds 
has been the greatest drawback the farmer has to 
contend with in growing it. Nurse crops, such as 
are commonly used, have serious drawbacks that are 
against the farmer desiring to use them. They arc 
without intrinsic value when grown in this way as 
they do not yield a profit, and carry with them the 
possibility of destroying the Alfalfa. The experience 
of a friend with Winter rye used in starting clover 
in the Spring strengthened the belief in its use. In 
this instance the rye and clover were sown at the 
same time; the rye came up very quickly, and in a 
short time the clover also came on. Had oats or 
barley been sown they would soon have been far 
ahead of the clover. The same has also been true 
regarding a seeding of Alfalfa.' In either case the 
clover or Alfalfa could not have made a great growth 
shaded by these nurse crops. The experience with 
the rye showed that it would not outdistance the 
clover. If this was true why would it not help the 
Alfalfa to crowd out the weeds and grasses? To 
test this matter this Spring, six and one-half acres 
of Alfalfa was sown with three pecks of rye at the 
same time, per acre. The rye was selected last Fall 
with care to secure seed of strong germinating power. 
That sown last Fall sprouted very well, but this 
Spring not so well, doubtless on account of cold 
wet weather. The sowing was done May 3 and 4. A 
fine stand of Alfalfa was secured, also a fair stand 
of rye. Now, June 27, a great deal of the rye is 
heavily rusted, causing a great coat of rust on 
one’s shoes when walking through it. A good deal 
of the rye is not over six inches high. At this time 
the Alfalfa is in the lead, and it is expected that 
in two weeks’ time the rye will be all dead. 
The seeding was done with a disk drill with the 
Alfalfa seed falling in front of the disk. This left 
the tracks of the disks with little Alfalfa in them, 
but a thick coat of seed between. This the moist 
earth soon started, coating this part of the soil 
thickly; then the rye came on and covered the space 
in the disk track. By, this plan the Alfalfa and rye 
in a minor way grew alone; that is directly each 
covering the soil allotted to it, not a mixture of the 
two. The young Alfalfa prevented weeds just where 
it grew, and with the aid of the rye prevented weeds 
in the line of the rye. The only common grasses that 
escape will not injure the Alfalfa. The annual weeds 
that escape smothering by the Alfalfa and rye will 
be destroyed when the first Alfalfa hay crop is cut. 
If the rye all dies it will not do any injury to the 
Alfalfa, nor will it be in the way of cutting the hay, 
and more, the farmer will not in the least be incon¬ 
venienced by having to harvest it at a stated time 
to save the Alfalfa. Then if the land is good there 
is a great certainty of securing at least one good 
crop of hay during the season. If this plan, as it 
promises, works out without disappointment, it will 
in a measure revolutionize the use of most methods 
in starting Alfalfa, -making the seeding much less 
costly and giving the young Alfalfa a longer time 
to strengthen for the rigors of the coming Winter. 
The wonderful thing about the growing of Alfalfa 
and rye together lies in the even growth they make. 
There is no lodging of the rye to the injury of the 
Alfalfa, and if the rye perishes before the Alfalfa 
is ready to cut it will act as a mulch to the Alfalfa. 
This is the outgrowth of the experiment this season, 
or what is believed cannot result any other way by 
prospects at this date, June 27. I believe that any¬ 
where Winter rye will start soon in the Spring, as it 
will here, it will be a safe proposition for the would- 
be Alfalfa grower to give the plan a trial. 
Ross Co., O. JOHN M. JAMISON. 
ANALYSES OF FEED AND FERTILIZER. 
Your article of June 8, “Farmers as Cooperative 
Buyers,” reminds me of a subject which I have long 
had in mind, namely, the charges by the various States 
for making analyses of feed stuffs. Here in Ohio if 
a farmer wants to send a sample to the State Depart¬ 
ment he must pay $10. In Pennsylvania the charge 
is $1. In some States there is no charge, but in a 
large number of States the charges or requirements 
are prohibitive. 
In Germany the charge for a protein and fat de¬ 
termination is M5, or about $1.20. There are any 
number of good chemists in Germany, and they are 
licensed by the State. I inclose a mark which is 
used on each report of analysis, see below. Farm and 
Home, of London, England, has an arrangement so 
that its subscribers may obtain an analysis of feed, 
fertilizer, manure, soil and various other things. A 
complete analysis of feed stuffs is 10 shillings or 
about $2.40. 
To get back to Ohio, the 1910 report of the Secre¬ 
tary of Agriculture shows on page 7 820 samples 
collected, 336 analyses reported. On page 63 paid 
for inspectors $2,674.89. Divide by 820 gives $3.26 per 
each sample collected. Paid for analyses $2,112.00. 
Divided by 336, gives $6.28 per each analysis reported. 
Prof. Weber draws a salary as Professor of Agri¬ 
cultural Chemistry in the Ohio State University. It 
seems to me that $2,112.00 paid to a good chemist to 
devote his entire time to feedstuff's would bring more 
benefit to the feed buyers of Ohio than the present 
system, which gives but one analysis of each brand, 
that is, if said brand is located by an inspector. If 
farmers could send $1 and get protein and fat de¬ 
termination and that $1 was added to the chemist’s 
salary it would be worth while for a good man to get 
the job and would do the farmers and the feed busi¬ 
ness some good. As at present conducted the feed¬ 
stuff's inspection in Ohio is a farce. One analysis 
each year of each feed is nothing to go by. Of the 
total received for license fees less than one-half was 
paid out for inspection and analyses. 
Ohio. J. W. GREENFIELD. 
VINEYARD NOTES. 
Although the present season has been exceedingly 
backward for the best development of the vine, never¬ 
theless its enemies have made their presence felt. At 
the present writing reports are made daily of the 
injury from the leaf-hopper. The brood responsible 
for this trouble hibernated as adults in weeds, rub- 
THE STEWART STRAINER. FlG. 308. 
bish, etc., adjoining vineyards. They were not ob¬ 
served by growers until they had migrated from their 
early food plants to the grape. Present indications 
point to much damage before the season closes, as 
they are very numerous and widely distributed. Thus 
far no method of spraying has been discovered for 
the control of the hibernating adults, but cultural 
practices will lessen the number of such, viz. the 
keeping of headlands free from weeds, grass and 
rubbish. The young that hatch and inhabit the 
under surface of the leaves may, however, be ef¬ 
fectually controlled by spraying. The time for this 
is when the maximum number of young are out, and 
before they develop the protective wing covers. This 
pest feeds by inserting its beak into the tissues of the 
leaf, and hence must be killed by the contact method. 
Tobacco extract diluted with water will kill practi¬ 
cally all it hits. The dilution recommended is one 
part of black-leaf tobacco extract to 100 or 150 parts 
of water. If the Geneva attachment, designed for 
fastening to the ordinary vineyard sprayer be not 
used, it is necessary to run one or two leads of hose 
from the sprayer fitted with T extension rods so that 
the spray may strike the under sides of the leaves. 
If the acreage to be covered be considerable it will 
be more economical and more agreeable for the 
operator to use the leaf-hopper sprayer attachment. 
Nozzles with fairly large openings should be used 
so that a driving spray and plenty of it may be dis¬ 
charged. Failure has resulted from this one condi¬ 
tion alone. If desired Bordeaux may be combined 
with the tobacco at this spraying, and the directing 
of the spray on the under side of the leaves will coat 
the fruit clusters, which is most desirable. Good 
pressure is another requisite for obtaining good re¬ 
sults in the control of this insect. 
The injury from this pest is not confined alone to the 
sap lost by its feeding, but many leaf cells are killed, 
the leaf dies along small areas, and these may later 
coalesce so that the leaf’s activity is impaired, and 
if severe winds occur the leaves are torn to shreds. 
Badly infected vineyards make but little wood 
growth, and this usually goes into Winter poorly 
matured. The fruit does not color properly, and in 
the case of black grapes, remains red, while the 
sugar content is below the percentage for the variety. 
Many reports are current of vines having died 
during the past Winter or else have started to leaf 
and have then died. Examination shows that this 
condition is more common in low wet areas, or in 
spots of the other extreme of dry knolls. In some 
instances the injury can be traced to freezing alone, 
as the weaker rooted sorts, as Niagara, Delaware, 
etc., are worse affected than the stronger rooted kinds. 
An examination of the roots of some, however, re¬ 
veals the fact that they have been badly injured 
by the larva of the Rootworm beetle in previous 
years, this condition combined with Winter injury 
having finally caused their death. This is interesting 
from the fact that no serious infection of the beetle 
has occurred in these vineyards for the past three 
or four years. 
. Continued cold and rains have affected seriously 
the prospects of what was apparently to be a fair 
grape crop, and further, the outlook for sufficient 
and good wood for putting up next year is decidedly 
discouraging. In most mature vineyards the foliage 
is spindling and of poor color, though vineyards on 
the heavier soils show better color than those on 
gravel. The frequent rains early, combined with the 
trampling necessary to drive posts, tighten wires, etc., 
have resulted in puddling the soil so that many vine¬ 
yards are in poor tilth, it working up hard and lumpy. 
In such, frequent rains are necessary to maintain 
the requisite amount of moisture. F. E. gladwin. 
USING A KNAPSACK PUMP. 
The compressed air knapsack spray pump, now in 
general use, is a practical and convenient article on 
any farm. Where only a few small trees or plants 
are grown it is just the thing. Trees up to 10 or 12 
feet in height can be sprayed with such a pump, but 
the operation is no joke on trees of that height, and 
few persons would care to do much of it. Also, it 
is hard on the tank to keep up the necessary pres¬ 
sure for spraying 12-foot trees. But large patches 
of potatoes, shrubbery, vegetables and small fruit 
plants and stalks, grape-vines, etc., as well as small 
trees may be easily and quickly sprayed with a good 
knapsack spray pump. They are also useful for 
spraying chicken houses and stables with disinfectants. 
The best and strongest of them are none too good, 
and nothing short of a brass tank should be con¬ 
sidered in purchasing such an outfit. The pump I 
use has two feet of hose and two two-foot lengths 
of brass pipe. I always use one length of pipe even 
when spraying potatoes. The longer extension is 
for the taller trees. All parts of the pump and nozzle 
should be fairly understood, as this will save much 
time and trouble. Even the absence of a washer 
may cause clogging or leaking. I make my own 
leather washers, as the rubber washers furnished 
with the pump are almost worthless. The tank 
usually holds four gallons, and is made about three- 
fourths full of liquid, the remainder of the space 
being reserved for compressed air. After closing 
the tank the same should be well shaken before 
pumping in the air and also just before subsequent 
pumpings. This is particularly necessary in spray¬ 
ing Bordeaux mixture. “Full” directions accompany 
each sprayer, but the above remarks are extra, and 
are not usually found in the average directions. 
Pennsylvania. david plank. 
