1472 
lime and place of such sale, shall he published once 
each week, for two consecutive weeks, in a news¬ 
paper published in the town or city where such sale 
i- to be held, and such sale shall be held not less 
than 15 days from the first publication; if there be 
no newspaper published in such town such notice 
shall be posted at least 10 days before such sale in 
not less than six conspicuous places therein.” 
In this case it would be best to give notice to the 
son and to the person from whom the horse was 
purchased. 
You did not state whether the vendor took back a 
chattel mortgage on the horse; if he did not, and 
there are no mortgages on file in your town clerk’s 
office, the father might get a bill of sale from his 
son, and then he could kill the horse or dispose of 
it if he saw fit, without any liability to the original 
vendor. n, x> 
Short Farm Stories 
Use of Phosphates on Wheat 
\\ ill an application of acid phosphate to my Winter 
wheat early next Spring tend to keep it from lodging? 
11 so. how much per acre should I put on? For several 
years I have been keeping to the following rotation: 
(1) garden, (2) rye, (3) corn, (4) Winter wheat. The 
wheat is harvested with hens and chickens, and natur¬ 
ally more or less of it is trampled down. In order to 
supply green food, and also improve the soil, I have oeen 
seeding Hairy vetch with the wheat when drilled in 
among the corn. That tends to pull down the wheat 
also, making the waste of grain through lodging and 
sprouting considerable. From what I have read at vari¬ 
ous times, I believe that the addition of phosphate to 
my soil will bring about a marked improvement. What 
I need to know now is the best method of application 
and the amount per acre. e. m. g. 
Hartford, Conn. 
SUALLY grain “lodges” or falls down before 
harvest because the stems make a quick or 
“rank” growth, and thus lack strength. You rarely 
find wheat “lodging” on poor ground, or where phos¬ 
phate is used. It is usually a trouble of rich soil or 
too much nitrogen. Of course, where vetch is grown 
with the wheat the vines of vetch will often twine 
about the wheat and pull it down. No form of fer¬ 
tilizing could overcome that trouble, but the use of 
acid phosphate or finely ground lime in early Spring 
will help. The phosphorus in the phosphate will 
strengthen the wheat plants and give them a better 
chance to stand up. We have known salt to give 
osmething of the same result—probably by prevent¬ 
ing too rapid use of nitrogen by the crop. The use of 
300 lbs. or more of acid phosphate per acre will help 
to hold the wheat plants up and also increase the 
- Y ields 
A Strange Skunk 
T thought you would like to know of a curiosity that I 
aught last week in the shape of a skunk. Instead of 
being like the ordinary fur. this is very short and silky, 
and mouse color, like a Maltese cat. but finer. Half the 
length of the tail is short fur and the other coarse, like 
the regular skunk. If you have heard of such a thing 
as a cross-bred I should like to know, as no one around 
here has ever seen or heard of such a thing. Is the hide 
of any value? A. G. c. 
Romulus, N. Y. 
The animal mentioned is probably what is known 
as a “partial albino.” That is, instead of having 
enough pigment in the hairs to give it the usual 
shiny black color, there is only a little. The hair 
itself is white, but looks black because it is filled 
with the black pigment. If there is only a little of 
the black, the combination with the white produces 
the "blue” color of a Maltese cat or a Rlue Andalu¬ 
sian fowl. Partial albinism works in two ways. It 
may produce a spotted effect of pure white and the 
usual color, or it may simply tone down the color of 
the whole animal. The explanation of the color and 
the short hair in this case is probably that there was 
something lacking in the animal’s make-up. This 
lack caused the color to he pale and also stopped the 
growth of the long guard hairs. If the animal was 
skinned with the feet on it may have some value to a 
museum. If not. it is worth only what the dealer 
thinks he can get out of it. Alfred c. weed. 
Tobacco Stems and Phosphate 
Can you give me information on the constituents of 
oyster shell? Does mixing tobacco stems and oyster 
shell ground fine make a good fertilizer? Is lime in any 
form injurious to plant food, as in tobacco stems, acid 
phosphate, etc.? P. H. s. 
Oyster shells contain lime and a small amount of 
phosphoric acid. When ground fine they are about 
equal in value to ground limestone. Tobacco stems 
vary in composition: a fair sample should contain 
1iy 2 per cent nitrogen, nearly 6 per cent of potash, 
and a small amount of phosphoric acid. Little if 
anything would be gained by mixing the stems with 
ground oyster shells. Better spread the shells alone 
and harrow in. and use the stems with acid phos¬ 
phate in the hill or drill. If possible, have the stems 
cut up in a fodder cutter as fine as possible, and mix 
1.600 lbs. of the fine stems with 400 lbs. of acid phos¬ 
phate. That will make a far better combination 
than the stems and shells. 
•D* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
How to Handle a Threatening Neighbor 
A man bought the farm next to ours about two years 
ago, and for the last year, for no apparent reason, has 
been abusing my parents, calling them all sorts of vile 
names. About six months ago I came home and heard 
him, and went out to the road and told him to stop and 
go home. lie struck at me. and I knocked him down. The 
next day he had me arrested and brought to trial, but 
I obtained a verdict of not guilty. Since then he has 
been abusing my folks worse than ever, even threatening 
to kill my father. They tell me here that I must have 
proof outside of my family, but I get no chance for that. 
Must I let this go on, or is there some way I can stop 
it? There are times when I think he is crazy and 
liable to carry out his threats. c. H. 
New York. 
You should have done a better job in your last 
combat with this man. If you had hit him hard 
enough it is not likely that he would come back 
looking for more. There are cases when one can 
obtain a peace warrant and place the “threatening 
person” under bonds to keep the peace. Your local 
justice of the peace will understand all of the con¬ 
ditions, and it would be better for you to be advised 
•by him as to what course you should pursue, n. t. 
A Bee Tree and Robbers 
In The R. N.-Y’. of December 3 I notice vou tell a 
man how to get honey from a bee tree. Why do you do 
a thing like that? Why not tell him if he wants some 
honey to buy it; not rob the bees of what they have 
worked so hard for all Summer, to provide themselves 
with food for the Winter, and for the baby bees in the 
Spring? Of course, if he takes the bees’ honey, the bees 
will either starve or freeze to death. Do you think 
Uuham Clover in Nric Hampshire. Fig. 639 
that is right? I thought The R. N.-\ r . was always on 
the side of right. I think you have made a mistake this 
time. If the man had told you he wanted some sugar, 
would you have told him how to steal a little from 
some store? What is the matter with the man’s buy¬ 
ing his honey, as well as his sugar? Robbing the 
poor little bees! He ought to be ashamed. 
A BEE LOVER. 
We do not know who sent this, and we do not, 
as a rule, notice unsigned communications. We 
cannot understand why people should expect recog¬ 
nition when they refuse to sign communications. A 
part of our business is to obtain information for 
our people. Several readers have asked us defin¬ 
itely how to get the honey from a bee tree. We 
thought it more our duty to try to answer their 
question than to lecture them on the morality of the 
case. 
Keep Wood Ashes Out of Manure 
I would like to find out the best way to use hardwood 
ashes. I have not got an ash house in which to keep 
them. I have about one bushel a day. I*take them and 
spread them in the gutter behind cows, and let them 
mix with the manure, which I draw out and spread 
daily. Do I get the results in that way that I would 
in some other? w. J. R. 
New York. 
The best way to use wood ashes is to keep them 
in some dry place and use them separately. They 
do not mix well with other chemicals. Any temporary 
shed where the ashes could be kept in boxes or bar¬ 
rels would answer. It is a mistake to mix them with 
the manure in the gutters. The lime in the ashes 
will surely set free some of the ammonia. The loss 
will not be so great when you haul the manure out 
each day. but there will certainly be some loss from 
such handling. We use such ashes around fruit 
trees, throwing it on the ground at any time during 
the year. The ashes are also very good for such 
ciops as corn and cabbage—a good handful in the 
December 24, 1921 
hill. While it may mean some extra expense and 
labor to handle the ashes separately, it will pay to 
do so—as compared with your present method. 
Ashes from a Mill 
Will you give me information regarding a pile of 
ashes which has been thrown out from a heading mill 
for several years? The ashes are from, birch, ash and 
basswood timber, also elm, which was stove timber. 
IIow valuable would you consider it to be per ton if 
spread on our soil? We have a half mile haul, and I 
operate a farm for the man who owns the mill, and 
advised him to haul the ashes on his soil, as they would 
only cost the hauling. ^ Our soil is clay silt loam, and 
nearly all new land. We plan on a considerable amount 
of potatoes next season. j. c. H. 
Wisconsin. 
No one can tell exactly what the ashes are worth 
without making an analysis. When ashes are left 
exposed in this way they leach more or less. The 
water soaks through them, and carries away part of 
the potash. If there is a large quantity of them it 
will pay to have a fair sample analyzed. Then you 
will know just what you are doing. As a guess, we 
should think such ashes ought to contain 60 lbs. of 
potash, 30 lbs. of phosphoric acid and 500 lbs. of 
lime to the ton. It is well worth hauling. We would 
gladly pay for it to use on fruit. The ashes will pay 
on any farm crop, except potatoes. The lime which 
they contain will be likely to increase the potato 
scab. Their best place will be on the grass or clover, 
on corn or on fruit. 
A Nebraska Woman’s “ Bill of Rights ” 
“Even so the tongue is a little member and boast- 
eth great things. Behold how great a matter a little 
fire kindleth.” 
N OT long ago we read in the daily papers a long 
article telling what great things the farm 
women of Nebraska had accomplished. It was said 
they had organized a great association and declared 
for “A Bill of Rights.” As part of this no farmer 
was to be permitted to purchase a tractor, a reaper 
or other needed machinery until the women had 
water fixtures and other conveniences in the house! 
It did look as though the Nebraska farm woman had 
come to her own and most of the rest of the family 
rights. Of course we cannot stand still and let farm 
women in the West enjoy all these good things alone. 
The women on the Atlantic slope are just as deserv¬ 
ing; and so we promptly investigated to learn 
whether this famous “Bill of Rights” is an asset or 
really a bill. And here seems to be the answer: 
One poor lone little Home Demonstration Agent sug¬ 
gested in one of her county meetings (a mixed meeting; 
it was where both men and women were present) that 
if a farm could afford a tractor it ought to afford a 
power washer for the home side of the house. She car¬ 
ried the comparison a little further by suggesting that 
if they could afford a binder they ought to afford a 
bathtub, and for some other good-sized piece of ma¬ 
chinery there ought to be running water in the house. 
Apparently this comparison, or talk, has received the 
attention of county and daily papers until it has finally 
reached you. The incident as I have given it to you is 
the full extent of any organized movement within the 
State of Nebraska for a “Woman’s Bill of Rights.” 
Nebraska. j. f. Lawrence. 
This is about the way these farm reports run 
through the papers. Some little incident, like the 
one here reported, gets into the brain of some space 
writer and there it multiplies faster than any bac¬ 
teria that ever went along the road. This mild sug¬ 
gestion about household fixtures grows into a “Bill 
of Rights” over night. The papers would ignore 
many a timely and sensible bit of news, but this in¬ 
flated brain drop is spread broadcast. The women 
ought to have the household conveniences, but they 
will never be helped along the way by such stuff as 
this “Bill of Rights.” 
Growing Bush Lima Beans for Market 
OIL AND PLANTING.—For several years I have 
been growing bush Lima beans for market, grad¬ 
ually increasing from a few rows to 1*4 acres this 
year. The financial returns are generally satisfac¬ 
tory. but not, as a crop, a very ready seller here in 
our market, therefore not a large acreage should be 
produced. I grow Fordhook hush Limas, on a sandy 
loam which has been used for garden crops and 
Limas alternately for several years. The soil is 
handled as carefully as possible to maintain humus, 
and for the Lima bean crop this year I applied a 
commercial fertilizer analyzing 4-8-4 at the rate of 
600 lbs. per acre. This was about the first of June. 
A small part of the crop was planted by hand in 
drills 38 in. apart, seeds dropped 8 in. apart, and the 
rest drilled in carefully with an old Eureka corn 
planter, adjusted to drop seed as nearly as possible 
at the same rate, and at a depth of about 1 in. The 
aim is to get the seed sown in well-prepared, moist, 
warm soil, between showers, as the germination is 
not so sure during rainy weather. 
CULTIVATION.—The young plants are cultivated 
