THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
7i3 
difficult to keep it ftom settling', that it is very liable 
to injure both foliage and fruit. It is of great import¬ 
ance that an agitator be attached to the pump handle, 
so that whether Paris-green is used or not, the mix¬ 
ture will be kept of uniform strength. 
To summarize : Grape vines should be thoroughly 
sprayed the first time for cents per 100. The 
second time for five cents per 100, and the third time 
for six cents per 100 ; apple trees of full size for .'iO 
cents each. These estimates are for thoroughly good 
work. At every application, whether in vineyard or 
orchard, every leaf should be reached. The work 
could be hastily and imperfectly done for much less 
than I have estimated, but the application of fungi¬ 
cides should be thorough to be efficacious. 
Orange County, N. Y. w. i). barxs. 
There is an Opening for This Business. 
It is quite difficult to estimate the charges to be 
made for spraying, becaiise of the great variation in 
quality of materials used. Large apple trees would 
require much more material and a much longer time 
to cover them, than would much younger trees, or 
would pear, plum, cherry or quince trees. The best 
way to get at the cost would be to charge so miich 
per gallon for materials, such as the llordeaux and 
ammoniacal solutions, Paris-green and kerosene emul¬ 
sion, and charge so much per hour or day, for time 
and labor expended. 
For those having small orchards and vineyards, it 
would be miich better to have the work done by some 
one who makes spraying a business and who would 
have all of the facilities for doing the work. There 
is much spraying done that is of but little value, 
because of improper mixing of materials, lack of 
thoroughness in spraying, and want of promptness in 
beginning the work. There will be a field for those 
who will do the work of spraying the .same as is now 
done with grain thrashers. Experience will soon be 
gained and a just and equitable basis of charges be 
made for the work. The range of cost will vary from 
2 to 18 cents per tree, according to age and size, and 
per bushel of fruit, from one to eight cents, according 
to yield. ' 
When there is much spraying to be done on a place, 
it would be economy to have water pumped in a large 
tank, from which it could be drawn rapidly when 
wanted for use, thus .saving time and labor when it is 
most valuable. GKo. t. powkll. 
Columbia County, N. Y. 
HOW TO TREAT THE ASPARAGUS BED. 
I have 12 acres in aspara^is. It has been somewhat neglected 
since it was cut last spring, and between the rows there is con¬ 
siderable Crab grass. What is the best way of treating it after it 
has been burned off in December ? The rows are live and six feet 
apart. The asparagus has made a good growth this season, and 
has been paying well up to this year. 
Fenwick’s Island, S. C. r. p. j. 
Burn off the Grass First. 
As he has allowed the Crab grass to grow thickly in 
his asparagus plantation, he would as well burn it off, 
but in future abandon the practice of buiming the bed 
over. It is a bad and slovenly practice, and one which 
there should never be any need for, if the crop is kept 
clean. The only good the burning does is to destroy 
the seeds of asparagus and weeds, which would be 
troublesome if allowed to remain. Iktt the weeds can 
be managed by clean culture, and the seed-bearing 
plants of asparagus ought to be dug out, once for all, 
from every asparagus plantation, liut as to the best 
treatment after he has it cleaned off this fall, my ad¬ 
vice is to give it a dressing of about a ton of kainit 
per acre, then ridge the soil over the rows of aspara¬ 
gus. In January, give it a dressing of cotton-seed meal 
and acid phosphate, just as heavy as his pocket-book 
will stand ; mix 1,000 pounds of the latter to 600 of 
the former, and begin to cultivate at once and keep 
up shallow culture at every opportunity all through 
the season. w. F. massey. 
If Mr. A. Donald Lived in South Carolina. 
I take it that the grass spoken of is what we here 
call Quack grass ; if so, it may be got rid of by con¬ 
tinued harrowing during the time the asparagus is 
dormant. If the crowns of the plants are under ground 
deep enough to allow a light plowing, and deep har¬ 
rowing, as the gra.ss roots are brought up, rake 
them up and burn or take from the field. If plenty of 
salt can be applied, say, two tons per acre, and kept 
well stirred into the soil with the harrow, it will help 
to kill the grass. But don’t think for a moment that 
this grass can be got rid of in anything .short of five to 
ten years of the most thorough cultivation, and see to 
it that every root that comes to light is taken care of. 
I have been troubled some with Quack, and I take 
the roots out that I see when cutting grass in the 
spring, put them in my pocket or lay them on the cut 
asparagus, gather them when taking in the asparagus, 
and make sure that they are put out of the way. I 
find that it requires care and perseverance to keep it 
down. Yet I have killed it where it was bad by using 
fresh gas lime, 300 bushels or more to the acre ; this 
may be done if the asparagus plant is four to five 
inches under ground; that is, I have done so without 
any damage to the asparagus. A. doxai.d. 
Manure and Plow the Land. 
I would apply a heavy dressing of fine st'able ma¬ 
nure, and then plow the land, turning the furrows 
from each side of the rows, so that the first two fur¬ 
rows of each row would be thrown together upon the 
row, thus forming a ridge upon the row. Continue to 
plow until the centers between the rows are reached, 
thus leaving a middle furrow between the rows. ,Iust 
before the asparagus appears above the surface in the 
spring, work the ridges down by means of the harrow 
and cultivator until nearly level. A liberal applica¬ 
tion of fertilizer worked into the soil at this time, will 
be very beneficial. The Crab grass will undoubtedly 
take possession of the land again next season, as the 
soil is full of the seed, unless the land is kept thor¬ 
oughly cultivated during the season so as to prevent 
the growth of all weeds. m. ii. bkckwitii. 
Delaware Agricultural Ex. Station. 
Advice of a Large Grower. 
After frost, when the asparagus tops are killed, cut 
them off and burn them; then with a single plow 
throw a furrow from each side of the asparagus bed, 
chop off the old stubble on top of the bed with hoes, 
then sow the fertilizer on top of the bed, stir it in 
with a .scratch harrow, and bed on it with the plow. 
If the beds are not large enough, and the crowns are 
not sufficiently deep, haul the earth up well with hoes, 
as we do our Sea Island cotton when we lay it by. I 
would advise only throwing two furrows at first on 
the fertilizer, until the ground warms up and the 
asparagus begins to shoot ; then give it a big bed, and 
continue to renew the beds as they settle down or are 
beaten down by rain. 1 have about 50 acres and 1 use 
an asparagus plow for bedding, .joiix .M. .mitctikli.. 
South Carolina. 
Mr. E. H. Bancroft's Opinion. 
R. F. J. should burn off his asparagus bed as soon as 
the growth of Crab grass and asparagus tops is dead, 
and immediately dress with manure. Two weeks be¬ 
fore cutting for market, apply 250 pounds per acre of 
nitrate of soda. The bed is now ready for tillage. 
Plow off, i. e., back furrow to the middles clearing up 
the furrow over the row. Harrow and plow back and 
harrow again. If grass is to be cut green, and is rea¬ 
sonably deep, the bed is now ready for bu.sine.ss. If 
to be cut deep, for “white gra.s.s,” it will be neces.sary 
to plow again, raising a ridge over the row. The cul¬ 
tivator .should go through the middle occasionally dur¬ 
ing the cutting season. k. h. baxcuoft. 
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Skin Eruption on a Mare. 
W. II. W., North Bloomfield, N. Y .—What is the mat¬ 
ter with my mare ? She breaks out in little blotches 
all over, and is so nearly all the time. She is worse 
before she sheds her hair. She itches all the time, 
bites herself, and those blotches turn into scabs and 
come off, and the hair comes off with them. She was 
not so when I bought her. She looks well and feels 
well. She is six years old. These blotches will leave 
her once in a while and then return. 
Axs.—Give the mare three-fourths of an ounce of 
the best aloes, with an ounce of ginger, either in ball 
or as a drench, to open the bowels. If the bowels are 
not freely moved, repeat the dose in three days. A 
bran mash diet is desirable during this treatment. 
Then give two tablespOonfuls of the following pow¬ 
ders in the feed twice daily : sulphate of soda, one 
pound ; powdered gentian and powdered nux vomica, 
of each one-half pound ; mix. Thorough daily groom¬ 
ing will be very desirable. Daily exercise is also very 
beneficial. The diet should be light, the grain ration 
mostly oats and bran, with oilcake meal, and little 
or no corn. F. i.. k. 
Does Plaster No Longer Benefit Land ? 
E. H. B., Mt. RUja, N. Y .—A few years ago, a 
farmer in this section put land plaster on Kis corn 
just as it came out of the ground, but for some reason 
left part of the field unplastered. In a short time, 
the plastered corn showed a much greener color, and 
in August was so far in advance of the untreated, 
that the difference could be seen from the top of the 
mountain two miles away. I have ahso heard of re¬ 
markable effects of plaster applied to grass and oats. 
But now it is very seldom used in this section, and 
old fai'iners .say that it has lost its virtue, and they 
can no longer see any effects from its use. Is there 
really any chemical difference between the plaster of 
to-day and the old-fashioned article? How can a 
light application of idaster double a yield of corn or 
oats ? Is it simply a “ nitrogen trap,” or has it ferti¬ 
lizing qualities that are valuable ? I know it was 
formerly used with good results, but now there is 
vei*y little demand for it. Why is it ? 
Axs.—1 would s'.iy that gypsum or land plaster var¬ 
ies greatly in quality, even in the same quarry. None 
of it is really pure. 1 have known the stone in one 
end of a quarry to contain not more than half as much 
sulphate of lime, as that in the other end. No one has 
yet been able to explain how or why, under certain 
conditions, it increases the product from 20 to 50 per 
cent. It is useless for me to try to explain the won¬ 
derful action of gyp.sum, in certain localities, at cer¬ 
tain times. An application of gypsum does no good 
unless there is an abundance of water to dissolve it. 
It is not considered a “nitrogen trap.” Since it is 
likely to do clover more good than any other plant, and 
clover can get all the nitrogen it wants under ordin¬ 
ary circumstances, the conclusion would naturally be, 
that it did not assist the plant in getting nitrogen, hi 
the presence of water, it does prevent the escape of 
ammonia. There are some reasons for believing that 
it enables the plant to hold on to water in a dry time. 
It is a general belief that after gypsum has been used 
for some time, on any given piece of ground, its bene¬ 
ficial effects largely cease. This question of the action 
of gypsum has been investigated for a long time, and 
as yet, I have been unable to find any clear and accu¬ 
rate statement which would explain the marked effect 
on production, which appears to result without any 
adequate cause. In many parts of New York, the 
.system prevails of using the gyp.sum in the horse 
stables and on the manure, instead of applying it 
directly to the plants, as was formerly the practice. 
I. P. BOBEUTS. 
Grapes and Grape Grafting. 
I). IF. H., Parliwood, Fa. —1. I want to graft some of 
my grape vines the coming spring. Which is the best 
method ? Does grafting the grape generally prove 
successful? 2. Would the Agawam do to graft on the 
Bacchus and Ironclads? They have not proved of much 
value to me. I sold my grapes readily at four cents per 
pound whole.sale, put up in the regular grape ba.skets. 
3. 1 want to plant 50 plum ti*ees ; which kinds are best? 
Axs.—1. Gut the stock off near the soil, and cleft 
graft. Bind closely and carefully cover all with soil. 
2. Yes. 3. With our present information and experi 
ence, we would select Abundance, Satsuma and Bur¬ 
bank. It would appear that these varieties yield fine 
crops without making it neces.sary to resort to the 
jarring process to destroy the curculio. 
Salt for Wireworms In Potatoes. 
Subscriber, Gustav us, Ohio. —Will a dressing of com¬ 
mon salt prevent injury to potatoes by wireworms ? 
When should it be applied, and how much ? 
Axs.—T he R. N.-Y. has tried salt and kainit (which 
contains a large amount of salt), and could never see 
that it had the slightest effect on the worms. The 
only thing that ever proved effective with us was sul¬ 
phur used quite heavily with the fertilizers. 
Rabbits With Blood Poisoning. 
C. O. L., Serieaa Castle, N. Y. —What ails my boy’s 
rabbits? He had the tame white ones and had no 
trouble, but sold them and bought German hares. 
The young, when a few days old, seem to scour, hump 
up and die. They were fed the same as the others, in 
the winter kept in a box stall in the barn, and fed 
clover hay and oats principally with some cabbage, 
carrots, apples, etc. 
Axs.—The rabbits are probably dying of some form 
of rabbit septictemia, or a poisoned condition of the 
blood. The sick rabbits should be removed and .separ¬ 
ated from the healthy, as soon as discovered. The 
pens should be cleaned and wa.shed with a 10 per cent 
solution of commercial sulphuric acid. See that the 
rabbits have dry, comfortable quarters. Preventive 
measures will have to be relied upon, as medicinal 
treatment is very unsatisfactory. F. i.. K. 
Are Egg Shells Air-Tight? 
IF. 0. E., Canada. —I have been reading an item in 
The R. N.-Y. which credits egg shells with being 
practically air-tight. If that were so. a chicken could 
not live during the period of its incubation. More¬ 
over, I lately was furnished with evidence to the con¬ 
trary in this way : To get rid of lice, I had some wood 
oil freely used about the henhouse. It contained 
quite a percentage of creosote, and one result of its 
use was the flavoring of the eggs through their ab¬ 
sorption of the creosote vapor in the air. 
Axs.—As to the air for the chicken in the egg, our 
friend should read the excellent article on page 440 
(July 14). On the 20th and 21st days of incubation, 
the chick thrusts its beak into the small air chamber 
at the end of the egg, and begins to breathe the in¬ 
closed air. Not until then is pulmonary circulation 
started, and the chick at once begins to break through 
the shell. So that air is not needed for the chick be¬ 
fore that time. 
