1393 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
749 
two canes which are pruned down to two eyes every 
fall. This cane is not pinched back or summer 
pruned, and is designed to act as a safety valve, and 
for the renewal of the arm when it becomes enfeebled 
by age or accident. Along these arms at intervals of 
about one foot, there should be spurs which are first 
formed at the pruning time by cutting away all but 
one or two buds of the current year’s growth. From 
each of these spurs, one or, if the vine be a strong 
one, two fruiting canes are grown each subsequent 
year, and in November they are to be pruned back to 
one or two buds, or eyes. 
Where vines have not been properly trained from 
the start and have too many old canes, if one or two 
canes are found having young side branches, 10 or 12 
inches apart, these side branches may be pruned back 
to spurs and the remaining canes removed. If all the 
canes are destitute of bearing wood near the base, it 
is best to provide for their renewal by bending the 
ends downward and fastening them in that position, 
which will cause blind buds to break, and when good 
canes are produced remove the old wood. To remove 
all old canes without taking this course would cause 
the loss of one crop of fruit. 
Most excellent results are attained from training 
vines in fan shape, growing about four canes each 
year from near the base of the plant that will fiuit 
the following year and cutting them back in the fall 
to about four feet. After these have fruited, cut 
them away to just above the lowest side branch and 
that to a short spur. Daring the season of fruiting 
grow four other canes for the following year’s fruit¬ 
ing. If J. T. E.’s vines have a number, of canes of bar¬ 
ren wood, they may be treated by either of the above 
methods; or if they are otherwise all right, but have 
too many large canes, a portion of the latter may be 
removed at the fall pruning without any damage to 
the plant. j. s. Harris. 
When to Plow Clover. 
E. L. B., Sellersburg, Ind. —Is it more beneficial to 
the land to plow under closer in June, when ripe, but 
yet green, or let it lie on the surface until the last of 
September and plow under then ? Also, which process 
will bring the best wheat the following year, the 
wheat to be sown in the fall just after plowing ? 
Ans. —It is better to plow under the closer in June 
than to let it remain on the surface until September, 
and plow under the dead closer, for two reasons : First, 
if plowed early, time is given in which to prepare the 
land, and set free plant food by culture Time also is 
given for solidifying the soil, which is also of great 
benefit to winter wheat. But there is still a better 
way, I believe, and that is to cut the clover in June 
when in proper condition for hay. Feed the hay to 
animals through the winter, and spread the manure 
produced from such feeding on the surface of the 
land, and incorporate it with the surface soil, in order 
to furnish a “ starter” for the wheat. After the first 
year each field would have its dressing of farm ma¬ 
nures. The crop of clover roots and tops contains 
more plant food, especially nitrogen, than the wheat 
will want or can make use of, on ordinarily good land, 
if good culture is given; therefore it is not good econ¬ 
omy to plow under clover. The roots and stubble of 
clover form sufficient plant food for a good wheat 
crop, I may say a superior wheat crop if the land is 
fitted in a superior manner. The effect of plowing 
under weeds or any other vegetable matter, on arable 
soil is to lighten the soil and furnish the land with 
humus which is of prime importance. (See The R. 
N.-Y. for October 14, 1893.) 4 i. p. Roberts. 
What Makes the Tomato Decay ? 
J. H. T., Astoria, Long Island, N. Y. —For several 
years past, but more particularly during the past sea¬ 
son, my tomatoes have rotted badly on the under side, 
or blossom end, even before beginning to color. As 
the season advanced, the trouble largely disappeared, 
but the early fruit was a total loss. Can you give me 
any information concerning this troublesome disease, 
and the proper course of treatment to pursue to over¬ 
come or even check it ? 
Ans —For several years past the tomatoes in the 
truck fields of New Jersey and from Mr. T.’s report, 
on Long Island also, have been badly infested with 
decay. This is not all due to any one form of fungus. 
The most common one, perhaps, is that which causes 
a dark patch upon the blossom end of the fruit, caus¬ 
ing the fruit to sometimes color up prematurely, or 
else become decayed and fall away. This is due to a 
black mould (Macrosporium solani.) This destructive 
black mould may attack any portion of the fruit; but 
it is easier for it to effect an entrance at the blossom 
end. Often the young tomato cracks slowly at this 
place, and this gives an easier entrance to the germs. 
At that time, the remnants of the flower may assist 
in holding the spores, givirg them something to feed 
upon, while the germs pass within and injure the 
young tomato. Again, at this point on the fruit there is 
usually more adhering water than upon the other parts. 
There is another disease of the tomato which is 
easily distinguished from the black rot above men¬ 
tioned, and which is a genuine anthracnose. This may 
attack the tomato at any point, and, in fact tomatoes 
may be seen that have a score or more of little pits in 
the surface where the disease has obtained a foot¬ 
hold. This disease spreads rapidly and, when once 
within the soft tissue of the tomato, is quite apt to run 
its course in two or three days. It does not cause 
great discoloration of the tomato until in its last 
stage, when the shrunken place may become a dark 
color after which the whole fruit is worthless. 
There is a blight of the leaf that has been quite 
troublesome during the past season. This shows it¬ 
self more particularly upon the under surface, causing 
it to appear of a peculiar olive-green color, while the 
whole leaf, looked at from the upper side, has a pale 
appearance. This saps the vitality of the plant and, 
of course, reduces the product very materially. 
The three kinds of decay that have been mentioned 
above are namely : the black mould usually seen at 
the blossom end in its beginning; second, the anthrac¬ 
nose which appears first as little soft pits in the ma¬ 
turing fruit, and might well be called the ripe rot of the 
tomato, because appearing usually about the time the 
tomato begins to take on'its final color, and, third, 
the leaf blight or mould (Cladosporium.) 
Last year some studies were made of the decays of 
garden fruits, tomatoes among others, and it was then 
determined that the ripe rot of the tomato was com¬ 
mon to the pepper, grape and apple. Inoculations, 
for example, were made between the apple and the 
tomato. The ripe rot of the apple was made to grow 
successfully, even violently upon the tomato and in 
like manner the ripe rot of the tomato taken fresh 
from the field was made to flourish upon otherwise 
healthy apples, causing them to become decayed with 
the ripe rot. This would seem to establish the vital 
connection between the ripe rot of the tomato and 
that of the apple. This being the state of things it 
would indicate that decaying tomatoes might affect 
neighboring apples or vice versa. Peppers in like 
manner were inoculated with the ripe rot of the apple 
and caused to decay, thus establishing the connection 
between the ripe rot of the apple and one form of 
pepper decay. It is evident from this series of ex¬ 
periments that there may be a most intimate relation¬ 
ship existing between the decay of one fruit and that 
c f another. Peppers have been inoculated in the 
center of one side with the spores of the ripe rot of 
the apple, and a large dark spot was soon obtained. 
It becomes evident, therefore, in the treatment of 
these decays that we need to go further than the one 
kind of plant under consideration. In other words, it 
may be that in order to successfully counteract the 
ravages of the tomato decay of the anthracnose type, 
we must spray also plants like the pepper or the egg¬ 
plant, or even the apple and pear. These investiga¬ 
tions led to the general conclusion that we must 
spray very much more thoroughly and widely than 
has been the custom. Not that a fungicide that is 
good for one trouble is necessarily good for all; but 
there is a relationship between many of the decays of 
fruits which leads us to believe that the spraying of 
one crop may have a wholesome effect upon another. 
There is probably nothing better than the Bordeaux 
Mixture for the checking of these various forms of 
fungous diseases in the orchard and garden ; however, 
the ammoniacal solution of copper carbonate is a good 
second in this important work, byron d. halsted. 
Experiment Station, New Brunswick, N. J. 
More Information About Beans. 
J. W. C., Forest, Ohio. —1. What does a bean planter 
cost? 2 What distance apart in the row are beans 
planted? 3. What variety is best to plant? 4. Why 
are Red Kidneys quoted so much higher in market 
than other kinds ? 5. What kind of a cultivator is 
used? 6. Would a weeder do to cultivate them with ? 
Should they be cultivated when the dew is on or when 
the vines are wet ? 7. What does a bean harvester 
cost, and where can I get one? 8. Are they piled on 
the ground to dry, and how large should the bunches be? 
9. How ripe should they be before being harvested ? 
10. How much does a bean thrashing machine cost, 
and could I get one that could be run with a two- 
horse tread power ? Where could I get one ? 11. Does 
the bean weevil trouble bean growers in New York 
State ? 
Ans. —The following gives the consensus of answers 
sent by several bean growers : 1. A good bean planter 
costs $35, but many use a common 11-tooth grain drill 
which does good work—dropping from three teeth. 
2. The usual distance apart for drills is 28 inches and 
six inches to a foot in the rows. 3. Shofield’s Early 
White is a good variety. 4. Red Kidneys are fancy 
beans usually sent to special markets in South 
America. The demand is limited and they do not 
yield so well as the white beans. 5. Most growers use 
the common one and two-horse cultivators, and are 
careful not to hill up the beans. 6. Some growers use 
a weeder successfully, but it is not necessary except 
in very weedy fields. The beans should not be culti¬ 
vated when a heavy dew is on as this is liable to rust 
them 7. The bean cutter made by Miller & Co. costs 
$35. 8 Asa rule growers pile in small, high bunches. 
9. They are cut just before they begin to shell by 
handling or a little sooner. 10. A bean thrasher re¬ 
quires a 10-horse power to do good work. They will 
thrash from 300 to 500 bushels per day. Most of the 
steam thrashing works manufacture them. A good 
one is made by the Bid well Bean Thrasher Works, 
Medina, N. Y. 11. Some of our largest growers write 
that they never saw a bean weevil. We have often 
given the remedy for this pest. 
What Is Kalnlt ? 
T. W., New Canaan, Conn .—What is kainit ? I have 
looked through several of my books on agricultural 
fertilizers and books of chemistry, and have examined 
Worcester’s huge quarto dictionary, edition of 1890, 
and find no such word. In Tue R. N.-Y. of October 
14 I find the term careering through a long article, 
comparing it with the old well-known plaster or gyp¬ 
sum, but I fail to find therein anything defining the 
word, or the origin of the material, how it is pro¬ 
duced, or where it is to be had. 
Ans —In Stassfurt, Germany, there is a large de¬ 
posit or mine of potash, in connection with a deposit 
of rock salt. From this mine most of the potash used 
in fertilizers is taken and, of course, it is more or less 
mixed with salt and other impurities. Kaolin is the 
German for potash , and kainit is a name used to desig¬ 
nate a substance taken from near the salt in this 
mine that contains a nearly uniform quantity of pot¬ 
ash. Kainit contains about half its weig'it of com¬ 
mon salt and about one-eighth of potash. As to the 
name, it is as appropriate as “ biscuit ” is for a certain 
combination of flour, sugar, etc., baked in a certain 
way. 
Another Talk About Kainit. 
H. V. I., Harwlnton, Conn —As my cows stand in 
warm stables on a grating over a water-tight cement 
gutter, deep and wide enough to hold the droppings, 
both solid and liquid, for three weeks, I was obliged 
to look for some absorbent of ammonia, and could 
learn of none better than plaster. I was much inter¬ 
ested in reading Kainit in place of Plaster” on page 
682 of The R. N.-Y. But I would like to ask, what is 
the superphosphate there referred to ? Is it dissolved 
bone black, fine ground bone, Thomas slag or South 
Carolina rock ? Or all of these ? I had always heard 
that we must not use potash in hen manure, as it 
would liberate the ammonia. Does kainit act differ¬ 
ently from other forms of potash ? 
Ans. —The superphosphate referred to was the 
cheaper grades of dissolved rock. As explained there, 
superphosphates contain a large amount of sulphate 
of lime or plaster, so that their action is much the 
same as the pure plaster. By re-reading the article 
you will see that the preservative action of the kainit 
is not due entirely to the potash in it, but to the salt 
and chloride and sulphate of magnesia. You m : ght, 
as an experiment, try finely ground rock or “ floats” 
mixed with dry muck or sawdust as an absorbent. 
This would add phosphoric acid, but would not have 
the preservative effect of either the plaster, kainit or 
superphosphate 
Protection for Evergreens ? 
E A. T , Croton, O .—Last spring I set some small 
trees (three to six inches highj of Norway spruce, 
American White pine and Scotch pine. Will they need 
any protection this winter and from the hot sun next 
summer ? 
Ans.—W e think not. A little mulch over the roots 
to prevent the soil from heaving may be of service. 
Some Rotes on Potatoes. 
D. A. O., Norway Lake, Me. —1. Is it possible to ob¬ 
tain 300 bushels of potatoes per acre by using chemi¬ 
cal fertilizers. 2. How can we clean potatoes of dirt ? 
3. Do you still say not to stir the surface of the ground 
in dry weather, that is, don’t cultivate to conserve 
moisture ? 
Ans. — 1 Certainly it is possible, for hundreds of 
farmers have done it. The fertilizers alone are not 
the cause of the good yield. Selection of seed and care¬ 
ful culture are just as important as the fertilizers ; so 
is water. 2. One good way to clean dirt from potatoes 
is to run them over a sorter such as is shown at figure 
244. This will shake loose dirt from them. 3. No, 
and we never did say so. We have often explained 
how a light stirring of the surface soil delays evapora¬ 
tion and thus holds moisture for the roots of the plant 
to absorb. 
Hillside Leaching of Manure. 
E. A. if., Canoble Lake, N. H. —1. Is it advisable to 
haul manure directly from the barn during winter 
and spread it on the hillsides? 2. What is the per¬ 
centage of waste in fertilizing materials in so doing ? 
Ans.—1. No ; we should prefer to haul and pile it 
in the field to ferment and decay. Spread in the spring 
and harrow in. On level ground it is well enough to 
spread as fast as made, but on hillsides the loss by 
such practice would be considerable. Frof. Roberts, of 
Cornell, found that horse manure thrown in a loose 
pile and subjected to the leachings of a winter’s rains, 
lost nearly one-half its value. 
