1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
the worst crops to precede onions. The reason is that 
they are exhausting 1 crops, particularly so far as pot¬ 
ash is concerned. If it is desired to follow with onions, 
potash in large quantities must be applied. Unleached 
asLes are good. J. J. H. Gregory recommends very 
highly the special onion fertilizers made by the Mapes 
and Bowker companies, although it is probable that 
additional potash would be needed if the crop were to 
follow turnips or cabbages. Onions thrive on a variety 
of manures or fertilizers if they are abundantly pro¬ 
vided. Barnyard and hog manures, night soil, fish, 
etc., are all good if thoroughly composted. As to the 
best crops to precede onions, carrots stand first, pota¬ 
toes and corn second. Whatever the crop, it is of the 
utmost importance that the soil should have been 
thoroughly cultivated, and be free from weed seeds, 
else the labor of weeding will be interminable. 
Bone and Potash for Fruit. 
S. J., Quakcrtvwn, N. J— 1. My 20-year-old apple 
orchard is partly on a loose, stony soil, and partly on 
yellow clay loam. Originally 500 apples and 1,000 
peach trees were set out at the same time, but the latter 
are all gone. The apple trees still bear heavy crops, 
but the fruit is not very large and generally nearly 
a quarter of it goes into the “ rough ” heap. Will 
bone dust on a clover sod turned under increase the 
size of the fruit? The orchard hasn’t been manured 
since it was planted. 2. I have a peach orchard four 
years old last spring, on ground which formerly bore 
peach trees, but which was cleared of them and farmed 
three years before the present orchard was set out. 
The trees have made a good growth but some of them 
are affected with the yellows, probably owing to lack 
of manure; will bone dust help them? 3. Where can 
I get Prickly comfrey seed or plants? 
Ans. —1. Yes, the clover and bone will increase the 
size of the fruit, but unless you know that the soil is 
rich in potash, we would advise a spread of unleached 
ashes or muriate of potash with the bone. 2. We 
would advise that you use bone and potash liberally. 
3. It does not seed freely if at all in this climate. For 
roots send to A. M. Shepherd, Minneapolis, Minn. 
Cleaning a Closed Water Pipe. 
W. E.s Everett, Pa. —Can water be drawn out of a 
half-inch pipe 100 feet long with a pump or by inspira¬ 
tion if the other end is closed ? I have a pipe 200 feet 
long that is closed somewhere towards the middle; if 
I could draw the water from the pipe and force hot 
water in and thus draw out and force in, I could open 
it. Can it be done ? If not, why not ? 
Ans. —The obstacle in the pipe could be more easily 
forced out than drawn out, as a much greater pressure 
could be exerted by a force pump than by a suction 
pump. If you are within reach of a plumber, who as 
a matter of business keeps a special kind of force 
pump for this purpose, it would be cheaper to employ 
him than to procure the appliances yourself. Every 
pipe thus used should be guarded against this danger 
by covering the inlet by wire gauze or a piece of per¬ 
forated tin pipe, of such a size as will permit a full 
flow of the water. It may be best to use the force 
pump at the outlet of the pipe, as the obstacle will 
doubtless be more easily forced back than forward. 
Sometimes leaves or small, soft matter may gather in 
a pipe and stop the flow, but these may be forced out 
by such very little pressure as that of 10 or 12 feet of 
water applied by means of a length of pipe fixed and 
held vertically to one end of the pipe. It maybe that 
this can be done most conveniently in the present case. 
More Profitable Crops Wanted. 
J. M. C., Maurtcetovm, N. J. —For 25 years I have 
raised sweet potatoes, water-melons and nutmegs for 
my money crops. Sweet potatoes, for three years past, 
have run me in debt, though just now I see they are 
bringing good prices. The melon market was fair last 
year, until the cholera scare developed, after which the 
market was gone, many car-loads selling for account 
of freight. In view of the possibility that cholera will 
again make its appearance, I am almost afraid to plant 
melons this year. Can The Rural suggest any other 
crop to be raised on my soil, which is light ? I see by 
the paper’s market reports that Red Kidney beans 
bring a fair price ; how many bushels per acre could 
we produce, and are they, like corn, a hard crop on 
the ground ? 
Ans. —Red Kidney beans find but a limited sale. The 
demand for them is light—chiefly for export to South 
America. A comparatively small increase in the crop 
grown would glut the market so as to make them 
almost unsalable. One year with another, Irish pota¬ 
toes pay fairly well. So do Lima beans, which maybe 
the crop for you. It is thought by many gardeners 
that the cholera scare will hurt the sale of the melon 
crop, and probably many will raise less than formerly. 
This will help those who have good crops for sale, 
especially, of course, should the disease not appear. 
This matter of changing crops is an important one, 
and we would like to have suggestions from our friends 
as to the best changes. 
Tools In a Vegetable Factory. 
K. J. M., Stoughton, Mass .—What are and where can 
I get the Southport set of tools mentioned in the arti¬ 
cle, “ A Long Island Vegetable Factory,” in last year’s 
Rural, on page 506 ? Can one man cultivate thor¬ 
oughly three acres of orchard and small fruits with 
those tools and without a horse, as stated in the article ? 
Ans. —The Southport set of tools are manufactured 
by C. 0. Jelliff & Co., Southport, Conn. Messrs. Hal- 
lock & Son use the Sherwood Union hoe No. 3 of the 
straddle class, the one-blade single-wheel hoe, and the 
double onion seed drill. These tools are adapted for 
cultivating onions and carrots only, and for this pur¬ 
pose are unexcelled. It would not pay to cultivate 
three acres of orchard and small fruits by hand power, 
as it would not cost half as much, valuing a man’s 
time at$l per day, to hire a horse and do it with a 
Planet Jr. one-horse cultivator, and it would then be 
done in a more thorough manner. chas. L. young. 
Celery and Onions, Premium Seeds. 
C. M. C., Nunda, N. Y. —1. Will celery seed carried 
over from last year grow ? 2. How about onion seed ? 
I want to sow an acre to onions. Which will be the 
best for market? What is the best onion book ? 3. 
What about the premium seeds to be sent out by The 
R. N.-Y. 
Ans. —1. Yes, if it was new seed and all right last 
year, but we would prefer new seed. Test some of it 
now ; that is the best way to learn. 2. Yes, but it 
would be well to test it also, as well as all seeds one 
intends to plant. Doing so will often save much dis¬ 
appointment and loss. The Yellow Globe Danvers is 
one of the best market varieties. Seed should be pur¬ 
chased of reliable parties, however, as of all the dis¬ 
appointing, unprofitable seeds, cheap, poor, onion seed 
is the worst. Get Gregory’s'Onion Culture, a pamphlet 
worth its weight in gold to the beginner in onion cul¬ 
ture ; 30 cents from this office. 3. It will be necessary 
for those subscribers wishing the vi nes and seeds 
offered to send the postage for them as advertised, but 
they are requested not to do so until notice is given 
that they are ready for mailing, which will be in due 
time. They are not sent except to those applicants 
who comply with the specific instructions, but are to be 
sent to all such. All friends who want them and apply 
properly, shall have them. 
Seed Potatoes in Cold Storage. 
E A. J., Guy, Mo .—I want to keep 40 or 50 bushels 
of potatoes in cold storage for seed purposes till June 
1; what is the best and cheapest way to do so ? 
Ans. —So far as we are able to learn, the keeping of 
potatoes in cold storage is a very unsatisfactory opera¬ 
tion. A temperature as low as 40 degrees F. is likely 
to spoil them for seed purposes. Some potato growers 
cover the potatoes in pits, while the earth is frozen, 
with a heavy coating of straw to retard the thawing 
in spring. Others think it more profitable to buy seed 
from a more Northern locality. We shall have an 
article on cold storage soon, when this subject will be 
touched upon. 
Anthracnose Killed the Grapes. 
T. S. B., New Point, Mo .—I had a few rows of 10- 
year-old Concord grape vines in my garden, which 
bore well for eight years. Year before last as usual 
they were very full, but just before ripening v the 
leaves commenced dying and the fruit shriveled and 
fell off. Not a single bunch ripened its fruit, and last 
spring when I began trimming I found the vines all 
dead to the ground. What was the cause ? 
Ans. —Anthracnose seems to us to be the trouble and 
spraying with the Bordeaux Mixture the remedy. 
Packing for an Ice-House. 
N. J., Cuba, Missouri. —1. I have just finished filling 
my ice-house. The ice is well protected on sides and 
bottom and the drainage is all right, but, being short 
of sawdust, I have substituted straw at the top, 
covering it about two feet deep, well packed down and 
made as nearly air-tight as possible. Will the straw 
be sufficient protection, or had I better get a load or 
two of sawdust and put it on top of the straw ? 
2. What is the correct pronunciation of the word 
Bubach ? 
Ans. —1. We should get the sawdust for the ice¬ 
house were it ours. 2. Bu-back. 
Peaches Among Raspberries. 
C. L. B., Hebron, Maine .—I have one acre of Cuthbert 
raspberries set four feet apart each way. I would like 
to set the land out to peaches by taking out every 
fourth hill in every fourth row ; what kind of fertil¬ 
izer had I better use and how much ? Would the 
peaches do well with the raspberries among them for 
three or four years ? What kinds had I better plant ? 
I raised some very fine Oldmixons and Early Canadas. 
85 
I think the Mountain Rose and Elberta will also do 
well here ; can f make a better list ? 
Ans —The peaches will not be materially harmed by 
the raspberries. The raspberries will thrive among 
them; but neither will do as well planted so that the 
roots will intermingle as if growing alone. For fer¬ 
tilizing use raw bone flour and muriate of potash in 
the proportion of about four parts, by weight, of the 
bone to one of potash. You may use 500 to 1,200 or 
even 1,500 pounds to the acre. We prefer not to ad¬ 
vise as to varieties of peaches. 
A Tarred Stick on Jack Frost. 
F. J. W., Bartlett, Tenn. — The R. N.-Y. spoke of cases 
where frost had been prevented from killing buds and 
blossoms of fruits, etc., by making heavy smoke. I 
have tried smoke on strawberries and find I can have 
them two to four days earlier ; but I have great trouble 
in making a heavy one. I build a fire and use saw¬ 
dust, but at times it does not give enottgh smoke. 
Can The Rural or any of its readers give any informa¬ 
tion in making smoke with coal tar, as l have heard 
that it is used by a great many in protecting their 
orchards. 
Ans. —Readers who have had experience are re¬ 
quested to reply. We have read of Florida orange 
growers who mix the tar with sawdust and press it 
into bricks which are burned in pans in different parts 
of the field. Little heaps of straw with the tar poured 
over them might answer. A California man has in¬ 
vented a system of pipes and burners for burning 
petroleum in different parts of his orange grove. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
New Strawberries. —C. D. L., Lowell, Mass.—New 
varieties are offered for sale as follows : Brandywine 
from Edward T. Ingram, Marshalton, Pa.; Wentzell 
from F. R. Wentzell, Monroeville, Salem County, N. J.; 
Clark’s Early from W. F. Allen Jr., Salisbury, Md. 
Blue Grass ; Cement. —V. T., Moundville, Mo.—In 
your section we should sow Blue grass seed as early in 
the fall as may be favored by the rainfall. The 
proportion of sand to be mixed with cement depends 
upon the latter. If fresh Rosendale, two parts of sand 
to one of cement are the safest. If Portland, from 
three to four. 
Best Fertilizer. —G. P. H., Wells, Me.—In a fertilizer 
for potatoes we should want not less than four per 
cent of nitrogen, half as nitrate of soda and half as 
ammonium salts ; not less than eight per cent of phos¬ 
phoric acid—6ix per cent in the form of fine bone flour 
and two per cent in the form of a sxiperpho^phate— 
eight percent of potash—sulphate preferred. 
Fertilizer Valuation. —J. H. G., Taylorsville, Ga.—In 
a fertilizer with this analysis, two per cent ammonia, 
eight per cent phosphoric acid and one per cent 
potash, the ammonia per ton of fertilizer would be 
worth $7 ; the phosphoric acid, if soluble, would be 
worth $11 ; the potash $1.10 if sulphate, and 90 cents if 
muriate. It is a complete fertilizer, but it would 
need more potash for most crops, and also more 
nitrogen. 
Keeping Onions: The Acme Harrow. —J. A. Ring- 
gold, Ga.—Onions may be kept from growing after 
they are gathered by being thoroughly dried, and kept 
in a dry, cool place. Yes, they will yield from 600 to 
900 bushels per acre, under extra culture and on rich 
soil, but the usual yield is much less. Under the new 
methodof onion culture a much larger yield isclaimed. 
The Acme harrow is regarded as an excellent tool ex¬ 
cept upon stony or rooty ground. As a clod crusher 
and leveler it is unexcelled. 
Anything Lost Ileix? —E. A. S., New Milford, Pa.— 
To your questions, which follow, we answer No—noth¬ 
ing is lost and the manure will not encourage the 
work of grubs. “ I plow in August or September land 
on which to set strawberry plants the next spring. 
After plowing I spread cow manure broadcast. The 
ground is harrowed at intervals during the fall. 
About May 1 it is cross-plowed and harrowed. Then 
ashes are sown broadcast and harrowed in lightly. 1. 
Do I lose part of the fertilizing elements by applying 
ashes so soon after the manure ? 2. Am I liable to be 
troubled with white grubs from having applied the 
cow manure ?” 
A Celery House. —J. H. L., Waldsboro, Me.—As to 
you building a “celery house that will store about 5,000 
dozens of celery, which is to be held until late in the 
winter, the house being warmed by artificial heat,” 
we say: Don’t build it, unless you build a sort of out¬ 
door cellar, partly underground. You don’t want any 
artificial heat. Better put the celery in narrow 
trenches out-of-doors, as closely packed as possible, 
and cover with two wide boards nailed together V- 
shaped, over which straw, earth, coarse manure, etc., 
may be spread as necessary to keep out the frost. If 
put in a cellar, the celery should be trenched in the 
same way, in narrow trenches. Most house cellars 
are too warm for to keep it perfectly. 
