Patent  Applied  for. 
1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
1 57 
Chemicals  and  Celery.— II. 
HOW  I  GREW  S3. 000  WORTH  ON  ONE  ACRE. 
Preparing  the  Ground  for  the  Plants. 
The  ground  should  be  well  enriched.  A  crop  of 
celery  cannot  be  injured  by  too  much  manure,  provided 
it  gets  plenty  of  water  also.  Plow  the  manure  under, 
then  scattey  about  1,500  pounds  of  celery  fertilizer  per 
acre,  harrow  and  rake  the  ground  level.  If  the  soil  is 
a  light  loam,  roll  it  with  a  heavy  roller.  For  a  small 
patch  a  board  will  do  to  press  it  down  firmly.  Raking 
the  ground  smooth  saves  much  labor.  If  the  ground 
is  level  and  well  pulverized,  you  can  run  the  knives  of 
the  wheel  hoe  very  near  the  plants,  and  save  much 
hand  weeding,  and  the  hoe  can  be  ran  much  faster. 
For  all  kinds  of  vegetables — beets,  carrots,  onions, 
etc. — a  thorough  raking,  which  pulverizes  and  levels 
the  ground,  not  only  saves  labor,  but  also  increases 
the  product.  A  wheel  hoe  cannot  be  advantageously 
used  if  the  ground  is  lumpy,  stony  or  uneven.  In  the 
farming  of  the  future  the  wheel  hoe  is  destined  to 
become  a  very  important  implement.  Through  im¬ 
proved  methods  of  farming,  it  is  going  to  supersede 
the  cultivator  in  the  cultivation  of  corn,  potatoes, 
cabbage,  etc. 
Mark  out  the  ground  in  rows  seven  inches  apart,  and 
with  a  dibble  or  trowel  set  out  the  plants — from  three 
to  six  inches  high — seven  inches  apart  straight  in  the 
rows.  If  they  are  half  an  inch  from  a  straight  line, 
either  to  the  right  or  left,  they  are  in  danger  of  being 
cut  off  by  the  knives  of  the  wheel  hoe.  Press  the 
ground  firmly  about  the  roots.  If  the  weather  is  warm 
and  dry,  water  well  after  they  have  been  set  out. 
Give  the  ground  a  good  soaking.  Keep  them  from 
wilting.  When  weeds  begin  to  appear,  run  the  wheel 
hoe  through  the  rows.  The  knives  are  too  long  for 
rows  seven  inches  apart ;  cut  them  off  about  five  inches 
from  the  center  of  the  hoe.  There  will  then  be  two 
inches  between  the  end  of  the  knives  and  the  next 
row.  After  you  have  gone  through  one  way,  let  it 
stand  a  day  or  two  before  going  through  the  other 
way.  After  four  to  six  days,  go  through  again.  Use 
the  wheel  hoe  frequently  and  you  will  be  agreeably 
surprised  at  the  large  amount  of  hand  weeding  that  is 
avoided.  When  the  plants  are  about  half  grown, 
scatter,  broadcast,  about  1,200  pounds  of  fertilizer  to 
the  acre.  Do  not  do  this  when  the  foliage  is  wet.  I 
have  never  discovered  any  injury  from  using  the 
Stockbridge  fertilizer,  even  on  tender  plants,  when 
the  foliage  was  dry. 
The  plants  are  now  so  large  that  the  hoe  cannot  be 
run  through  them.  They  cover  the  ground,  prevent¬ 
ing  the  weeds  from  growing  except  a  few  that  got  the 
start  of  the  celery.  Now,  as  you  look  over  the  field, 
you  can  readily  realize  that  the  crop  is  very  large — 
126,000  plants  on  an  acre.  The  soil  is  full  of  working 
roots  that  require  a  large  amount  of  food  and  it  must 
be  given  in  a  liquid  form,  hence  the  necessity  of  giving 
the  plants  plenty  of  water.  Vegetables  drink;  animals 
eat;  hence  the  great  importance  of  giving  the  celery 
an  abundance  of  water.  The  more  fertilizer  used,  the 
larger  the  growth  and  the  more  water  required  to 
make  the  food  in  the  fertilizer  available.  There  are 
100,000  good  plants  upon  an  acre,  allowing  26,000  for 
small  plants  and  “misses.”  At  two  cents  per  plant 
the  price  would  amount  to  $2,000  per  acre.  At  half  a 
cent  per  plant  it  would  be  $500.  Robert  niyen. 
Top-Dressing  Winter  Wheat  in  the 
Spring, 
In  Western  New  York,  where  the  larger  portion  of 
the  wheat  of  the  State  is  grown,  probably  four-fifths 
of  the  farmers  sow  artificial  fertilizers  on  their  wheat 
in  the  fall,  at  the  time  of  sowing  the  seed.  The  names 
of  the  fertilizers  are  many,  but  they  are  composed  es¬ 
sentially  of  the  same  things.  Some  are  a  little  better 
than  the  others,  or  rather  some  are  not  quite  so  good 
as  the  others.  The  basis  of  them  all  is  dissolved  phos¬ 
phate  with  a  little  nitrogen  and  potash  added.  The 
nitrogen  averages  perhaps  one  per  cent,  and  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  fertilizer  sown  or  drilled  in  with  the  wheat  in 
the  fall  is  from  100  to  200  pounds  per  acre.  This  would 
give  from  one  to  two  pounds  of  nitrogen  per  acre, 
or  about  as  much  as  is  contained  in  from  40  to  80 
pounds  of  clover  hay  ! 
Small  as  is  this  dressing  of  nitrogen,  it  possibly 
gives  the  wheat  a  better  start  and  makes  a  better 
show  in  the  fall.  Otherwise  we  can  hardly  account 
for  the  fact  that  thousands  of  observing  farmers  con¬ 
tinue  to  use  it  when  they  can  buy  a  plain  superphos¬ 
phate  precisely  as  good  as  the  other  in  every  respect, 
at  a  much  lower  price.  We  greatly  need  some  care¬ 
fully  made  experiments  on  this  point.  We  also  want 
some  experiments  on  top-dressing  wheat  in  the  spring. 
For  instance,  take  a  field  of  wheat  that  has  been  phos- 
phated  in  the  fall  and  sow  on  a  part  of  it  100  to  150  pounds 
of  nitrate  of  soda  per  acre  broadcast  as  soon  as  the 
frost  is  out  of  the  ground,  or  about  the  time  we  usually 
sow  clover  seed  on  the  wheat.  In  Europe  this  is  a 
common  practice  ;  with  us  it  is  almost  unknown.  Sir 
John  B.  Lawes  nearly  always  top-dresses  his  wheat 
with  nitrate  alone  in  the  spring  at  the  rate  of  about 
150  pounds  per  acre.  In  a  recent  letter  to  the  London 
Times  he  mentions  the  fact  that  last  year,  1891,  one 
acre,  measured  but  of  a  field  on  his  farm,  not  under 
experiment,  gave  a  product  of  61%  bushels.  And 
yet  we  have  been  told  that  the  yield  of  wheat  last 
year  in  England  was  a  comparative  failure.  Our  own 
average  yield  of  about  13  bushels  per  acre  looks  small 
by  the  side  of  English  figures.  It  is  worth  while 
to  try  the  effect  of  a  little  nitrogen  as  a  top-dressing, 
especially  on  land  where  phosphates  were  used  last 
fall  and  for  some  years  past. 
Mr.  II.  F.  Scott,  of  Virginia,  wrote  to  Prof.  W.  F. 
Massey,  asking  him  about  the  affect  of  nitrate  of  soda 
as  a  top-dressing  on  wheat.  Mr.  Scott  sends  me  Prof. 
Massey’s  reply  as  follows  : 
“  I  haver  made  several  experiments  with  nitrate  of 
soda.  The  first  was  on  wheat  in  Albemarle  County, 
Va.  I  used  200  pounds  per  acre  on  a  part  of  a  field 
which  had  been  fertilized  with  400  pounds  of  acid  phos¬ 
phate  in  the  fall.  The  result  was  nine  bushels  per 
acre  more  than  on  the  rest  of  the  field  and  a  stand  of 
clover,  while  none  of  any  account  stood  on  the  rest  of 
the  field.” 
Of  course,  200  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda,  furnishing 
32  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  the  most  available  condition, 
is  capable  of  producing  a  far  larger  increase  than  was 
actually  obtained.  Possibly  100  pounds  per  acre  would 
have  done  nearly  as  much  good. 
If  any  of  our  readers  try  the  nitrate  this  spring 
they  should  select  the  cleanest  land.  If  the  wheat  is 
full  of  young  weed  plants  and  has  to  contend  with 
them  for  the  coveted  nitrate,  the  weeds  will  prove 
the  better  fighters  and  carry  off  a  large  share  of  the 
nitrate  and  with  it  other  plant  food  also.  It  is  not  so 
on  grass  land.  Our  grasses  are  better  fighters  than  the 
weeds  and  if  they  have  plenty  of  nitrate  and  other 
food  they  will  crowd  out  the  weeds.  Joseph  Harris. 
Shaffer’s  Raspberry. 
'  THE  POOR  MAN’S  BERRY. 
As  a  grower  and  in  many  other  valuable  features, 
here  in  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  this  raspberry  far  ex¬ 
ceeds  all  others,  not  excepting  the  Cuthbert,  which 
before  the  Shaffer,  was  the  strongest  grower  of  all  our 
raspberries.  The  canes  of  the  Shaffer  make  at  the 
base  a  growth  quite  as  large  as  a  thrifty  three-year- 
old  apple  tree,  and  it  has  more  lateral  branches  than 
any  raspberry  I  have  yet  seen.  Many  of  these  side 
branches  are  quite  as  large  as  the  leading  canes  of  the 
Turner,  Brandywine  and  other  varieties.  It  is  as 
hardy  as  any.  In  fact  it  might  be  called  the  hardiest 
of  all  the  raspberries,  as  I  have  never  known  it  to  be 
harmed  in  the  slightest  degree  in  winter. 
It  is  fully  one  half  more  productive  than  either  the 
Marlboro  or  Cuthbert  under  any  condition  of  soil  or 
climate,  and  the  fruit  will  average  one-third  more  in 
size  than  these  varieties,  which  gives  it  the  lead  as  the 
largest  raspberry  shown.  With  the  tendency  of  the 
canes  to  form  a  bushy  plant  and  with  proper  pruning, 
it  can  be  fruited  without  the  aid  of  stake  or  wires,  and 
will  hold  its  fruit  quite  as  free  from  the  ground  as  the 
currant.  The  fruit  is  not  very  pleasing  to  the  eye, 
being  of  a  dull,  unattractive,  purple  color,  and  it  is  not 
firm  enough  to  arrive  in  good  condition  at  any  distant 
market.  The  flavor  is  subacid  and  to  my  taste  is  or¬ 
dinarily  fair;  while  many  good  judges,  after  eating  the 
fruit  on  my  grounds,  pronounced  it  good. 
Its  chief  value  is  its  lateness,  as  it  begins  to  ripen  a 
few  days  later  than  the  Cuthbert,  which,  until  it  came, 
was  our  latest  raspberry,  and  this  season  it  lasted  ten 
days  later,  not  in  the  way  of  a  few  berries  now  and 
then,  for  it  gave  good  heavy  pickings  for  this  number 
of  days  after  the  Cuthbert  had  finished  bearing.  It  is 
a  good  berry  for  those  who  always  wait  for  the  last 
moment,  or  until  raspberries  get  cheaper  before  they 
“do  any  up.”  As  a  berry  for  preserving,  it  has  no  su¬ 
perior,  if,  indeed,  it  has  an  equal,  as  it  makes  a  fine- 
flavored  preserve.  It  is  easy  to  cultivate  and  will 
thrive  and  give  astonishingly  good  results  under  very 
adverse  circumstances  where  many  other  varieties 
could  scarcely  exist.  I  have  named  its  inferior  and  its 
superior  qualities  and  think  it  has  enough  of  the  latter 
to  be  called  “  the  poor  man’s  berry.”  t.  j.  dwyer. 
Business  Bits. 
The  Giant  Fence  Is  the  heading  of  a  circular  sent  by  T.  J.  Andre, 
Wauseon,  Ohio.  It  describes  a  strong  and  durable  fence  made  with 
the  Giant  Automatic  Wire  Stretcher,  which  Is  said  to  work  like  a 
charm. 
The  Bartholomew  Company  has  recently  Issued  a  neat  catalogue 
devoted  to  descriptions  of  Its  “  Short  Turn”  spring  wagons.  This 
feature  peculiar  to  these  wagons,  Is  an  ingenious  one,  enabling  the 
wagon  to  be  turned  In  a  very  narrow  space. 
Information  Wanted  Regarding  Cultivators.—.!.  K.  B., 
Gainesville,  N.  Y.— 1.  Is  there  any  two-horse  riding  cultivator  that 
will  do  as  much  and  as  good  work  with  two  horses  and  one  man  In  the 
cultivation  of  potatoes  as  two  one-horse  cultivators  can  do  with  two 
horses  and  two  men?  If  there  are  any  cultivators  of  the  kind,  which 
Is  the  best  and  where  can  It  be  obtained  and  what  Is  the  cost? 
R.  N.-Y.— Let  us  hear  from  some  of  our  potato  growers. 
Decidedly  one  of  the  best  things  we  have  seen  In  the  way  of  bottles 
for  the  trade  In  bottled  milk  and  cream,  Is  the  “Common  Sense”  Jar  or 
bottle,  sold  by  the  Thatcher  Company,  of  Potsdam,  N.  Y.,  and  adver¬ 
tised  elsewhere  In  this  Issue.  It  Is  a  simple  jar,  with  a  shoulder  In  Its 
neck,  on  which  a  flat  stopper  of  wood  pulp  Is  forced  down.  The  stopper 
fits  so  snugly  as  to  render  the  jar  air-tight,  and  as  It  Is  never  used  a 
second  time.  It  needs  no  cleaning.  There  are  no  clamps  or  other  trouble¬ 
some  appendages  to  be  kept  clean  and  in  order,  and  the  jar  Itself  can 
be  thoroughly  cleaned  much  more  easily  than  any  other  we  have  seen. 
Farmers’  Institute  Bulletin.— It  Is  a  fine  thing  to  be  able  to  go 
to  a  live  farmer’s  Institute  and  hear  and  see  the  men  who  have  made  a 
success  of  agriculture.  The  next  best  thing  is  to  sit  comfortably  at  homo 
and  read  what  was  said.  About  the  only  way  to  do  this  Is  to  send  for 
a  copy  of  the  Wisconsin  Farmers’  Institute,  a  volume  of  250  large 
pages.  It  contains  a  complete  stenographic  report  of  an  Institute 
In  Wisconsin.  The  Wisconsin  institutes  are  the  best  In  the  country, 
and  this  one  brought  out  hundreds  of  facts  that  are  of  Interest  and 
value  to  farmers.  Send  to  W.  L.  Morrison,  Madison,  Wisconsin,  for  a 
copy  of  it. 
Reducing  the  Cost.— On  page  79  a  Connecticut  correspondent  says 
that  what  farmers  In  that  Yankee  State  want  Is  Information  that  will 
enable  them  to  make  $10  with  no  more  labor  than  they  now 
expend  to  get  $5.  Yes,  that  is  Just  what  we  all  want.  The  manu¬ 
facturers  are  turning  out  more  and  more  product  with  the  same  or 
less  labor,  and  the  farmer  who  Is  a  manufacturer  of  food  products, 
must  do  the  same  or  “get  left,”  and  here  Is  where  the  small  farmer  Is 
at  a  disadvantage— he  cannot  use  the  same  appliances  as  the  large 
farmer;  but  even  he  can  improve.  I  am  sure  I  raise  corn  and  potatoes 
with  half  the  hand  labor  needed  before  I  learned  to  kill  weeds  by  re¬ 
peated  harrowlngs.  JOHN  rushy. 
A  Crystal  Creamer.— During  the  past  year  we  had  many  Inquiries 
for  a  glass  can  creamer.  We  are  now  able  to  state  that  this  device  Is 
made  by  the  Crystal  Creamery  Company,  of  Lansing,  Mich.,  which  con¬ 
cern  has  taken  up  the  good-will  of  the  Inventor.  This  creamer  con¬ 
sists  of  a  set  of  glass  cans  of  five  or  ten  gallons’  capacity,  with  an  outlet 
at  the  lower  end  to  let  off  the  milk  and  cream  and  for  rinsing  and  wash¬ 
ing.  It  Is  not  necessary  to  move  or  handle  the  cans.  One  with  fairly 
cold  water,  but  no  Ice,  will  be  pleased  with  this  creamer.  The  glass 
creamers  enable  the  dairyman  to  know  just  how  much  cream  ho  has 
and  also  to  see  if  his  cans  are  clean.  All  sizes  are  made. 
A  circular  has  been  issued  from  the  Treasury  Department  stating 
that  advantage  has  been  taken  of  the  clause  In  the  tariff  admitting 
free  of  duty  pure-bred  animals,  to  establish  registers  for  the  sole  pur¬ 
pose  of  making  cross-bred  and  mongrel  animals  eligible  for  free  entry. 
Hereafter 
No  animal  which  Is  brought  Into  the  United  States  from  foreign 
countries  for  breeding  purposes  shall  be  admitted  free  of  duty  unless 
the  Importer  furnish  a  certificate  which  shall  contain  a  pedigree  In  the 
form  hereafter  given,  showing  that  all  the  ancestors  have  been 
recorded  In  a  book  of  record  established  for  that  breed  for  five  genera¬ 
tions  on  the  side  of  the  sire  and  four  on  the  side  of  the  dam,  together 
with  the  affidavit  of  the  owner,  agent  or  importer  that  such  animal  Is 
the  Identical  animal  described  In  said  certificate  of  record  and  pedigree. 
We  have  been  expecting  some  such  measure  for  months  past,  and  it 
will  not  be  apt  to  take  leading  stock  raisers  by  surprise. 
THE 
ONLY 
Right  Package 
For  Butter. 
Parchment-Lined  Paper  Pails  for  3, 5  and  10  lbs. 
Also,  boxes  for  1  lb.  to  2  lbs.  Prints. 
LIGHT,  STRONG,  CLEAN ,  CHEAP. 
Consumer  gets  Butter  in  ORIGINAL  PACK¬ 
AGE.  Most  profitable  and  satisfactory  way  of 
marketing  good  goods.  FULL  PARTICULARS 
FREE. 
DETROIT  PAPER  PACKAGE 
DETROIT,  MICH. 
CO. 
GREATTBIAL  of  CENTRIFUGAL  MACHINES 
At  Cottenburg,  Sweden,  August,  1891. 
The  EXTRACTOR-SEPARATOR, 
King's  Gup  and  First  Prize  of  Honor. 
This  is  the  GREATEST  CONTEST  in  nil  Europe, 
and  leaves  the  EXTRACTOR-SEPARATOR  as  the 
VICTOR  over  All  Competitors. 
It  is  the  ONLY  RUTTER  EXTRACTOR.  Itisthe 
Best  Cream  Separator,  and  has  a  capacity  of  2,000  to 
3,000  pounds  per  hour.  We  guarantee  this  machine  in 
every  respect  -material,  workmanship  and  separation  of  the  cream— equal  to  ani 
1  Illustrated  Circulars. 
CO.,  Bellows  Falls,  Vt., 
Manufacturers  of  Creamery,  Cheese  and  Dairy  Supplies. 
VERMONT  FARM  MACHINE 
