THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
775 
skillful amateur grower, who traveled in Europe, 
writes me that their berries are not only larger than 
ours, but very much better. Last January, I mailed 
some Timhrell plants to an experienced grower in 
England, and they friaited all right, hut the quality 
was not up to the standard. Here it is mie of our 
best, hilt not tlw best, I expect to fruit some 20 of the 
best French, Herman and English varieties next year, 
and hope to find some prizes among them. I have 
rarely seen finer berries than a few of the Noble that 
I raised last June. 
In growing strawberries in hills, there are two 
things to be avoided : letting the runners grow too 
long without being cut, and letting the plants come 
to a standstill for want of frequent cultivation. In 
order to get the full benefit of cutting the runners, it 
must be done as soon as they appear. After they 
have drawn upon the parent plant for a week or two, 
they have done about all the harm they can. If cul¬ 
tivation is not frequent enough to keep a loose surface, 
the foliage is likely to suffer. Even a heavy mulch 
will not take the place of stirring the soil. One of 
the most successful growers of my acquaintance, sets 
his plants in rows both ways, and keeps the wheel hoe 
riinning. He often raises three bushels to the square 
rod, and two-thirds as many from plants set in the 
summer. 
Increasing Strawberries Rapidly. —How few of 
us know what can be done by good culture ! And 
yet, what is better worth knowing ? A grower in 
Massachusetts bought one plant of the Marshall in the 
spring of 1893, when that variety was worth $10 per 
dozen. In a year from that time, he sold 300, and had 
some left for his own planting. A friend near Dayton, 
Ohio, .set out one plant of the Staples from which he 
raised 900 the .same year. The next sea.son he picked 
134 quarts of berries, but I cannot tell how many of 
the plants were left to bear. In the spring of 1893, I 
received 12 plants of the Hrandy wine for trial. Each 
one was taken up with about a pint of earth, and tied 
in a piece of cloth. These bore fine berries within 10 
weeks of planting, after which they made runners 
enough to set a row 400 feet long in August. Still 
later, they made nearly 1,000 plants, which were set 
out this spring. All this in a very dry season, with 
simply good, common culture. Any careful grower 
might easily take a dozen plants in the spring and 
plant them eight feet apart in a row 100 feet long, and 
have a solid bed three feet wide in the fall. This 
would require some fussing, and that is good for most 
of us. 
Planting Sunburned I’otatoes. —In May of last 
year, I put a bushel of American Wonder potatoes in 
one of the 3x4 feet flats in which we dry bulbs, four 
inches deep, with a lath bottom, and put it in a sunny 
place till July 1. By that time, they were green and 
covered with large green buds not easily broken oft’. 
They were then planted and well cared for. Although 
the season was dry, they yielded at the rate of about 
300 bushels per acre, nearly all of good size. My next 
neighbor, seeing my success, planted his on July 11 
this year, and raised his finest potatoes from that 
planting. 
WHAT SAY? 
Butter or Beef ?—At the last meeting of our farm¬ 
ers’ club, the discussion of butter vs. beef production 
for profit consumed nearly all the time without any 
conclusions being reached. It was finally agreed to sub¬ 
mit the question to The R. N.-Y. for settlement. Sup- 
po.se that we start with two calves, four months old, one 
for butter, the other for beef. At the end of four 
years, both animals are sold to the butcher. Which 
animal has produced the greater profit ? g. w. b. 
Charleston, Ind. 
R. N.-Y.—We give it up. We think that it depends 
more on the man, than on the calf. If any of our 
readers have figures to present, we hope they will take 
a hand in the discussion. 
WHAT THEY SAY! 
The Lawyer Apple, is, I think, identical with an 
apple sent out from Delaware as Delaware Red Winter. 
While I would not advise any one to plant it in New 
Jersey, I must say that it is a fine looking apple, and 
would no doubt sell well. It is so long coming into 
bearing, that it is unprofitable. We have the two 
apples, and I can see no difference in tree, blossom or 
fruit, and neither tree is productive as yet. i. j. b. 
Titusville, N. J. 
Gathering Leaves. —W. P., of Portchester, N. Y., 
touches an important farm operation which is often 
neglected from lack of proper methods and appliances. 
We gathered 12 two-horse loads of leaves last fall, have 
already gathered 11 this fall, and have several loads 
more accessible in the woods. As they are somewhat 
damp, probably a load will weigh 1,750 pounds. The 
horses estimate it at that when they draw it. Our 
wagon box is feet by 3 feet two inches by 45 inches 
deep. A flaring top is awkward in the woods driving 
among trees. The objection to W. P.’s sheet for 
gathering leaves is the difficulty of raising it over the 
side-boards, as a leaf rigging is necessarily high, six 
or seven feet from the ground. To walk up a plank 
with each sheetful, is hard work, for a good many arm¬ 
fuls are necessary to make a load. I am speaking from 
experience with a similar contrivance. 
Some time ago we fell in with a straw fork which 
works well. It has five wooden tines resembling 
cradle fingers, each two feet long. The spread at the 
points is 20 inches, and at the heel nine inches. A 
cast-iron head with five sockets for the fingers, is the 
base of the tool. The handle, about as long as an 
ordinary hay fork handle, is larger than a rake stale, 
and smaller than a fork handle. The hang of the fork 
is excellent. With this tool, a man standing on the 
ground can easily fork leaves over the high side¬ 
boards into a cart or wagon. The fork will carry 
OREGON crab. ' OREGON CRAB x GRAVENSTEIN. 
Fig. 204. Fig. 205. 
from one-third to one-half as many leaves as W. P.’s 
sheet. With his cart and our fork, I think one would 
have a good outfit to gather bedding. e. c. birge. 
Connecticut. 
4 HARD ROAD IN SAND. 
How can a hard road be made from one that Is all sand, when 
there Is but very little loam to be had ? m. t. 
Southold, L. I. 
No mention is made of any kind of material what¬ 
ever, as being available. It is, therefore, inferred that 
a permanent road-bed is desired, for which purpose 
I would recommend a macadam road-bed, 10 or 12 feet 
wide and six, eight or ten inches thick, according to 
the probable traffic over the road. A sandy bottom 
makes the best foundation for a telford or macadam 
road. Wet sand becomes hard, an illustration of 
which is to be seen upon the sea shore. Wet clay 
becomes a sticky mass, and will ooze up between 
stone or brick. Hence, for a sandy road, grade and 
OREGON CRAB x GRAVENSTEIN. Fio. 206. 
(See page 779.) 
prepare the road bed. After the proper excavation is 
made for the stone construction, should the bed be a 
mass of loose sand for several inches, a plank should 
be set on edge on each side of the space excavated. 
If water be handy, sprinkle the bottom and, if possi¬ 
ble, roll it, then apply the stone for the bottom course 
all the way across the road-bed from plank to plank. 
Thoroughly roll, then put on the .second course, roll 
again, then put on the finishing courses and continue 
the rolling until the road is compact and solid. A little 
clay or loam or a slight coating of stone dust as a 
binder on the bottom course, migh be used to advan¬ 
tage before applying the second course. Having thor¬ 
oughly rolled the completed stone work, remove the 
plank and fill in the space with three or four-inch 
stone and ram or roll them solid. Bank up the sides 
with earth, using loam or clay. If this is not available, 
after sloping the sides to conform to the arch of the 
stone work, clean out the ditches on each side, spread 
the turf, grass and mud on top of the sand banking 
the stone, and roll it firm. If there is not sufficient of 
this material to make the basis for a sward, .sow rye 
or Crimson clover, and such grass seed as may be best 
suited to the locality and encourage a growth that 
will prevent washing, and also make a foundation for 
the support of vehicles when passing each other, as 
well as make a firm shoulder to hold the stone road¬ 
bed in position. A road of this character, if not over 
90 miles from the quarries, should be built six inches 
deep (which will answer on many cross-country roads) 
for about 45 cents per square yard. Of course, this 
depends to some extent on the distance from the rail¬ 
road depot or boat landings edward burrough. 
New Jer.sey Com’r of ihiblic Roads. 
BEST FOOD FOR CELERY. 
I would like to get the opinion of celery growers as to which will 
produce the best results—manure or fertilizers. What kind of 
manure or fertilizer ? My ground is a deep, damp swamp, almost 
entirely vegetable mold, with irrigation at hand if need be. 
Shelby County, O. w. b. t. 
Shots at the Bull's-Eye. 
Celery growing cannot be easily overdone by proper 
fertilizing. We use both, well composted stable ma¬ 
nure, and commercial fertilizer, the latter being com¬ 
posed largely of pota.sh and ammonia. We consider 
phosphoric acid not of so much importance as the 
other two elements. In a soil such as that of W. B. 
T., we would consider a proper commercial fertilizer 
sufficient without stable manure. With the best fer¬ 
tilizers, a sufficiency of moisture is all important to 
insure a good crop. ii. m. engle & son. 
With a sufficiency of moisture, and undoubtedly 
all the vegetable matter needed, this becomes one of 
the easiest questions to answer I have ever been asked. 
I would apply 100 bushels of hard-wood ashes if ob¬ 
tainable ; if not, 500 pounds of muriate of potash per 
acre. With an application of some reliable fertilizer 
containing, ammonia, eight per cent; phosphoric acid, 
10 per cent; potash, five per cent, two tons per acre, and 
the crop properly cared for from start to finish, there 
will be no trouble as to the outcome. With the Mapes 
Vegetable Manure, I have answered this question in 
the field more than once. I have thought that it paid 
me better to apply the fertilizer beside the rows after 
the plants were established. M. gabrahan. 
Penn.sylvania. 
There is no better feed for the growth of good 
quality celery on muck land, than stable manure. 
Plow deep in the fall. During the winter months, apply 
liberally yard manure—horse or sheep is best. After 
harrowing well in spring, make deep furrows with 
the shovel plow. If you have hen manure or well com¬ 
posted yard manure, put some of this in the bottoms 
of furrows and cover with soil before setting the 
plants. If none of the above manures is to be had, 
make a light mark, and use fertilizers quite freely. 
Use plenty of pota.sh on all muck soils. If the muck 
has been cropped for many years, I would sow part of 
it each year to clover. A. donald. 
Chemung County, N. Y. 
/Is Grown On a Large Scale. 
I have had the most satisfactory results from chem¬ 
ical fertilizers applied at the time of transplanting. 
Stable manure plowed in at this time, will almost in¬ 
variably cause the crop to rust, and my practice is to 
set celery on land which has been treated several 
months before with either stable manure or green 
manuring in order to have a sufficient supply of humus 
in the soil. Then, by applying 1,200 pounds to the 
acre of a complete high-grade fertilizer, a very .satis¬ 
factory clean growth can be secured, other things 
being equal. Here we use what stable manure we 
make on the plantation, of course, and we depend 
largely on cow peas as nitrogen gatherers and for 
humus ; but our crops are all made with chemicals. 
With the vast areas in the truck crops common here— 
70, 80 or 100 acres in one crop such as cabbage or snap 
beams—it would be impo.ssible to cover the ground 
with stable manure, and we get better and cleaner re¬ 
sults with fewer plant diseases and insect pests, under 
this system than one would with barnyard manure. 
We supplement the chemicals with marl, swamp muck, 
woods earth, etc., and a regular sowing of cow peas 
after the crop is off in the early summer. The pea 
vines cover the ground in a dense mass and may either 
be plowed under green at th.e end of the fall or 
allowed to dry and then be turned under in the early 
winter. There are competent advocates for both 
plans. 
To answer W. B. T.’s inquiry specifically, I would 
consider it absurd, as well as injurious, for him to use 
stable manure on “ deep, damp swamp ” ground which 
has humus in plenty and to spare. I would prepare 
