■Che RURAL. NE:W*Y0RKER 
1329 
THE MAILBAG 
Preventing Growth of Horns 
I have lu'arcl that there is some prepar¬ 
ation which will i>reveut the growth of 
horni! on young cattle. Can you give me 
any information regarding it. where it 
can be procured, and at what period of 
growth it should be applied? E. o. 
The material generally used is caustic 
potash, which ought to be for sale at any 
good drug store. Clip or trim the hair 
away from the base of the hoim and hold 
the stick of caustic potash down against 
it. You should do this while the calf is a 
few days old. 
Destroying Weevils 
P.en Davis and Gano are much alike. 
We have them growing in the s.ame or¬ 
chard. and we can take selected specimens 
of Gano and mix them with Ben Davis 
so that no one but an expert could sepa¬ 
rate them. In “The Apples of New Y’ork” 
it is suggested that Gano is a seedling of 
Ben Davis. As to Black Ben Davis, some 
growers still believe that it is the same as 
Gano. We have the two varieties grow¬ 
ing side by side, and find a difference be¬ 
tween them, though selected specimens 
would be much alike. We have seen sev¬ 
eral distinct types of Ben Davis—some 
much better than others. There seems 
greater difference between them than be¬ 
tween the different strains of Twenty 
Ounce now recognized by distinct names. 
We think it would pay some expert to 
make a .study of the.se types, and attempt 
to .separate them by selective budding, as 
is being done with oranges in California. 
On page 10.^7 occurs a description of a 
method for destroying grain weevils Bill 
and I have read your description and have 
administered the remedy. We both sur¬ 
vive, but Bill isn't quite satisfied that we 
killed all the weevils. You see. our spe¬ 
cialty is bean weevils, and we have a the- 
• ory that the weevils are inside the beans 
first of all. and that they bore their way 
out. and that all the damage they do is 
done by the process of boring tbeir way 
out. Bill wants to know whether this 
lioison gas can penetrate the smooth, hard 
wall of the bean and get Mr. Weevil be¬ 
fore he comes out. As a matter of fact, 
we both have strong doubts that it can. 
Anyway. Bill and I don’t know much 
about weevil economics, and if some kind 
Buralite will enlighten u.s. Bill and I will 
do all we can to take the “evil” out of 
weevil. V. It. MCG. 
Massachusetts. 
Y'ou may assure Bill that the bisulphide 
of carbon will find out and kill every liv- 
When Deer Shed Horns 
I donT know that the enclosed letter to 
me from Dr. Ilornaday is of any interest 
to you, but I thought of it when I read 
your reply on page 1184 concerning the 
shedding of horns by red deer. Two of 
my neighbors referred a similar question 
to me. The one who denied the shedding 
based his opinion on the fact (as he stat¬ 
ed it) that for three year's he lived and 
worked where every day he passed a small 
park containing a deer. He declared that 
at no time during those three years did he 
see the deer without horns. I wrote to 
Dr. Ilornaday and quoted his statement. 
The letter below was his reply. It is 
possible that the correspondent that of¬ 
fered 10 to one that deer never shed their 
horns had had an experience similar to 
my neighbor. w. n. nuSE. 
Male deer in a normal condition all 
Coinmerciiil Vineyar Factory In Western A. Y. Fiy. 6S2 (See First Page) 
iiig weevil. Think over this. The weevil 
cannot live without air. Therefore there 
must be some opening for air to enter 
while he works inside the bean. The 
fumes of bisulphide are heavier than air 
and will displace it. Therefore a living 
weevil cannot escape it. It would be in¬ 
teresting to have Bill tell us how the wee¬ 
vils gjt inside the bean and seal them¬ 
selves in ! 
Feeding Steers in Western New York 
The editor of the Rochester Ifernld re¬ 
cently had another quip aimed at The R. 
N.-Y., in reference to farmers making 
money by feeding cattle in Indiana. I do 
not know anything about feedii g in Indi¬ 
ana, but I can testify as to feeding five 
steers last "Winter in Ontario Go.. N. Y. 
This bunch was purcha.sed in November 
and fed approximately six months. They 
were rather light cattle, weighing perhaps 
OriO each at time of purchase. They were 
not weighed, but we estimated co.st at 
about SV> cents per pound. They were 
kept thrifty and in good growing condition 
during the M^inter, and made a good gain, 
although not full fed. a^ we could not pftr- 
cha.se much corn at .$2 after the light farm 
crop was fed, Q'hey were sold about May 
1 at 10% cents per pound. Counting cost 
of hay consumed at price for which same 
sold in the barn, and cost of grain same, 
there was a net loss of $80 in fi*eding 
the.se cattle. No charge is made for straw 
or labor in caring for them twice per day 
through the period of six cold months. 
The only bright ray of sunshine in this 
deal is that the manure was left on the 
farm. 7’eU the Herald to purchase a farm, 
live it and pay off the mortgage, as we 
have, and it might get some conception of 
the farmer’s life and get in sympathy in¬ 
stead of “knocking.” f. a. seeley. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—-That sensible advice has been 
forwarded to the Rochester Herald. 
Ben Davis and Gano Apples 
I am trying to get a name for an apple; 
sent one to Geneva and they called it 
Gano, and sent another to Ithaca and 
they say undoubtedly it is Ben Davis. 
I have not had a reply from 'Washington, 
I). C., so don’t know what they will say, 
but are the Gano and the Ben Davis so 
so much alike that one is taken for the 
other? I also submitted one to an expert 
of this city, and he says Ben Davis. 
Rochester, N. Y. c. l. 
shed their horns once each year. I have 
never known an exception to this rule. 
When deer have, either by accident or 
design, been deprived of theii' sexual func¬ 
tions, they do not shed their horns. It 
may easily have happened that some of 
the deer seen by your acquaintance were 
in that condition. Under those circum¬ 
stances the antlers never lose their velvet, 
and never are shed and renewed. 
W. r. IlORNADAY. 
Dewberries on Fence 
Can dewberries be trained along a 
fence? If not. what is the best way to 
handle them? Would dewberries and 
blackberries take any harm heeled in over 
Winter? Z. T. 
lOlmhurst, N. Y. 
A wire fence will be an excellent place 
to train dewberries. A close board fence 
would hardly be desirable. Let three 
canes gi'ow from each plant. I’iuch and 
stop them at three feet. I’lant them four 
feet apart along the fence and tie the 
canes out fan shape and tie to the fence. 
But let the new canes lie flat on the 
ground in Winter, for if tied up to the 
fence in the Fall they may get killed in 
Winter. The canes, of course, are cut out 
after fruiting and new ones grown for 
the next season. If necessary, the plants 
can be heeled in during the Winter. 
W. P. MASSEY. 
8oy Beans and Breeding Stock.—■ 
Now that the Soy beans are go¬ 
ing into the barn, would it not be 
well to call attention to the danger of 
feeding them to cows or sheep far ad¬ 
vanced with young? In the "VVinter of 
we lost all but one calf. The 
calves were dropped at from four' to 
eight months, and usually alive when 
found, but all died. We had been warned 
in i-egard to sheep by the Delaware Ex¬ 
periment Station, but did not think of 
cows being susceptible in the same way, 
and were at a loss to account for our 
trouble until a bulletin came out from the 
same experiment station in regard to the 
matter. Then I learned that other farm¬ 
ers near me were having the same ex- 
pei'lonce. We fed well-cured bean hay 
once a day. corn silage night and morn¬ 
ing. with liberal grain ration composed 
partly of cottonseed meal. 
Delaware. a. e. rittenhouse. 
SAnsEimUsmts 
Expel 
Their Experience 
b worth real 
Money to YOlf I 
n 
r# - 
I vfe ”>■ '¥”■ I"' 
At fall r put ,« a're, ,o fi °t ^ 
I nianure. Thi, spring I p“ o„1or 5"* 
« ought to that wheat ju»t 
very good, and it wdl ^ve^ h^'l" ** 
not u««l the Spreader'll^? L'n, I ' ^^4 
W gotten over 15 bu,he], 
C. E HUPRICH, Ohio. 
V.. without the poun 
\ vtouU "°‘^r 
-—7 ^beat laat 
-spreader. to be w^ 
WILL HENSIL. Ohio. 
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about the New Idea Spread¬ 
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a 
Idea 
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A hW i 
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PresideoU 
BARIUM PHOSPHATE 
AN ALKALINE FERTILIZER 
16% Phosphoric Acid 7% Barium Sulphide 
Bariiim-rhosi)bate is a mixture of an alkaline salt of barium, 
which is soluble in water, and phosphate of lime. 
When Acid Phosphate is added to the soil, the inevitable reaction 
wliich takes places is to form immediately the neutral phosphate 
AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LIME IN 
YOUR SOIL 
Is it rot more logical, then, to add directly to the soil a neutral 
pb« si)hate as in Barium-l’hosphate, with an alkali which increases the 
aikalinity of the soil? 
Used in combination with manure or turned under with green 
crops. Barium-Phosphate alone will produce remarkable results and 
build up the fertility of your land. 
“PHOSPHORUS—THE MASTER KEY TO 
PERMANENT AGRICULTURE” 
is the title of a book we shall be glad to .send you describing Barium- 
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2 Rector Street, New York City 
ADDRESS INQUIRIES TO FERTILIZER DEPT. GRAFTON MASS. 
D 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you'll get a 
quick reply and a ‘‘square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
