424 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 22 
SHADE IN THE COUNTRY. 
Truly are we inclined to value least those things 
that are most common to us, or most easy to obtain. 
City people long for the cool shade of the country in 
summer, and one would suppose that every country 
home would he surrounded with trees to serve as a pro¬ 
tection in summer and winter; but such is not the case. 
A large per cent of farm homes are poorly protected 
by shade trees, so far as my observation extends. 
Many houses have no large tree near them, many have 
only one, and comparatively few have an abundance. 
I think a growth of shrubbery and small varieties of 
trees, does not take the place of large shade trees, 
and is not advisable. It keeps air out and dampness 
in. Shrubbery should be in clumps, and not up close 
to the house. The shade should be furnished by large 
trees with branches well trimmed up the body. They 
should form huge umbrellas, permitting the air to 
pass freely about the buildings, and should not stand 
so close that sunlight cannot strike the ground at 
some time in the day, or so near the dwelling that 
they keep the roof shaded all the time. Some sun¬ 
light is a good thing. 
There should be enough shade to cool the atmos¬ 
phere in the house and on the lawn. Nothing is better 
than a half dozen or more great forest trees. Some 
varieties grow rapidly, and while they are not at their 
best for a generation, they soon do some good, and 
people should plant for the future. When there are 
no trees, a dozen should be planted where four large 
trees will be wanted, and then thinned out as growth 
requires it. Forest trees may often be saved by re¬ 
moving the top. in this way, I have saved several 
near the house. A maple has twice shown decided in¬ 
dications of death, and each time the top was re¬ 
moved. To-day it has a beautiful new growth of 
blanches in the top, and appears full of vitality. A 
beech was apparently gone, when a timely removal of 
the top revived it. 
Around a tenant house, I have three magnificent 
beeches that add more to the comfort of the family 
occupying the house than any improvements to the 
house I could make with $ 100 . “ I would rather have 
those trees than $50 worth of new furniture in the 
house/’ said the housekeeper in that home. Were I 
living there, three times $50 would not buy those 
trees. When shade is so cheaply obtained, the houses 
in the country that stand without several trees, old 
or young, near them, are not undeserving of criticism. 
ALYA AGEE. 
HORSESHOE FARM STRAWBERRY NOTES. 
It is very dry, and strawberries are suffering, espe¬ 
cially where they are not mulched. I would not 
try to grow them without a mulch. On a recent visit 
to the largest grower of strawberries near Ithaca, N. 
Y., I was surprised to find he never used any mulch. 
With me, 10 miles from the lake, a mulch often delays 
the blossoms until after a killing frost, prevents evap¬ 
oration of moisture, and not only br’ngsmy fruit into 
market clean, but also after others are done picking, so 
that 1 have less competition and better prices. Said 
the grower above referred to, “I do not want my ber¬ 
ries held back; I am getting 14 cents this week 
because—I am ahead of the hill fellows. Ber¬ 
ries that are mulched, are injured much more 
by frost than where the soil is uncovered. 
The earth does not give off heat when cov¬ 
ered. In a dry time, a light shower will do 
good by reaching the surface soil, but would 
not penetrate a heavy mulch.” 
It seems as though the question of mulch¬ 
ing is one to be decided by location. A bed 
of potted plants which were set last fall, 
was a magnificent sight. They were set 
about 12x24 inches, and were literally loaded 
with big berries. I never saw an equal num¬ 
ber of big berries on the same area, and am 
convinced that one can have berries the next 
season, even though he has neglected to set 
out a bed this spring. A trench was dug 
alongside of the old plants, and a row of 
small pots set in it, as thick as they could 
stand. When the runners started, one was placed on 
the rich soil in each pot. In August, after they were 
well rooted, they were set out and all runners kept off. 
King & Robinson, of Trumansburg. have about two 
acres of strawberries. The old bed had some of the 
largest, rankest vines I ever saw. “ We spread hog 
manure on there, and got little but foliage,” was Mr. 
King’s comment. The newer bed was so heavily 
mulched with wheat straw that one could not feel the 
ground as he walked over it. The masses of berries 
lying on the clean straw will have no grit on them, 
and are easily picked. 
I saw a fine two-inch pear tree “dead as a door 
nail.” “ 1 washed the trunk with kerosene oil. 1 do 
not think I used over a tablespoonful either,” was the 
explanation. Michel’s Early, Crescent, Bubach, Sharp¬ 
less, Parker Earle, Haverland and Warfield are the 
berries now grown in this locality. Many other kinds 
are being tried. c. e. c. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
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see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
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piece of paper.l 
Almond Nuts at the South. 
G. S., Mobile County, Ala .—Is the climate of the Gulf counties 
suitable for almond nuts? What soils are suitable for them? 
How early do they bear? What varieties are best? Are they 
salable, and at what prices? 
Ans. —The almond does not succeed in the Gulf 
States. The climate is too moist, and the late frosts 
almost invariably nip the flowers, which appear very 
THE BALDWIN APPLE MONUMENT. Fio. 134. See page 428. 
early. In the arid regions of western Texas, where 
irrigation can be practiced and all through such re¬ 
gions in New Mexico, Arizona and the interior regions 
of California, the almond does pretty well—in a few 
localities, very well. The varieties that are mostly 
planted are Princess, Terragona, Languedoc, I. X. L., 
Ne Plus Ultra and a few others. They bear in two 
years after transplanting from the nursery, the same 
as the peach. They like a sandy loam or a clay rich in 
lime. The nuts command a price in market of from 
10 to 20 cents per pound wholesale, according to size, 
brightness, etc. t. y. munson. 
About Painting Trees. 
E. J. B., Shenandoah, Iowa .—Will it injure fruit trees to paint 
the trunks with white lead and linseed oil? 
Ans. —We cannot answer the question positively. 
Those who have tried it, make different reports. An 
old friend near the Rural Farm on Long Island, has 
painted his apple trees a foot up from the soil and a 
little below, for many years, with linseed oil with 
some lead added. It gives a covering which either 
disguises the tree from the borer, oi she prefers not 
to deposit her eggs there. The paint has never in¬ 
jured the trees. 
Cotton-seed Meal for Onions. 
T. J. L., Elmo, Ark .—Is it advisable to sow cotton-seed meal on 
onions after they are four to six weeks old, and work it into the 
soil ? It may be purchased for $20 a ton. My land is very rich, 
and will yield 50 to 75 bushels of corn per acre any year. Nitrate 
of soda would cost five cents a pound here; besides, it is much 
trouble to get it. Will the meal be of any benefit without mixing 
with other fertilizers ? The cotton seed is worth only $4 a ton 
here. Is there any small machine to grind the seed and hulls at 
a small cost ? 
Ans. —We question whether such rich land needs 
much cotton-seed meal to produce an onion crop. We 
would expect better results from wood ashes or pot¬ 
ash salts. The cotton-seed meal is rich in nitrogen, 
and where this is needed, we would not buy nitrate 
of soda at the prices given. The best way to use the 
cotton-seed meal is to mix with each 1,000 pounds, 
700 pounds of dissolved roek and 300 of muriate of 
potash. This will make a fair onion fertilizer. It 
would be be. tter to use 200 pounds of nitrate of soda 
also, but, at the prices given, it would be too expen¬ 
sive. Who can tell us about a machine for grinding 
the seed V 
Advice About Crimson Clover. 
F. M.. Divine's Corners , N. Y. —I have about three acres of corn. 
Will it pay to sow one peck of Crimson clover seed per acre at the 
last cultivation, about July 15 ? Conceding that it will not live 
through the winter and spring here, would it benefit the land to 
let it grow up and die as a mulch ? 
Ans. —Yes, we do think it will pay, provided the 
land is rich enough to start the seed well, and it be 
fairly moist. Three seasons out of five, we believe 
the clover will survive your winters, but even if it 
would not, we feel sure that the fall growth will more 
than pay the cost of seed and seeding. A moderate 
pasturing up to the first of October, will help rather 
than hurt it. 
To Save Gladiolus Seeds. 
O. C., New Madison, O. —Can I save gladiolus seeds ? Should I 
leave all of the spike of bloom on, or remove part of it ? How can 
I prevent seed from different varieties or colors mixing, so that 
the young seedlings will be the same as the parent plant? Will 
it do to inclose them in paper sacks or netting? 
Ans. —It is best to break off the top of the bloom- 
spike, leaving six or eight flowers to perfect their seed 
pods. It is a considerable strain on the gladiolus 
plant to produce seeds. The new corm will usually 
be smaller than the one planted in the spring, and 
there are not likely to be many cormels or “ offsets.” 
The only way to secure self-fertilized seed from sepa¬ 
rate varieties, is to inclose the spike in a net, and pol- 
lenize the flowers as they open, during the middle of 
the day. This can readily be done with a small brush, 
or in a rough way by drawing the spike through the 
hand which will generally force a contact between 
stigma and anthers. Even with this care, the colors 
and varieties will scarcely come true, and there will 
be many wide variations. A large percentage of the 
best named varieties, do not seed at all, and many 
others are infertile with their own pollen, but respond 
readily to that of other varieties. Self-fertilization, 
without the aid of insects or other outside means, is 
not likely to occur in gladiolus, which explains the 
great diversity of color and form in seedlings, w. v. f. 
A Garden from Sod; Insects, 
A. J. K., Stevens Point, Wis. —1. I have about three acres of land 
under Timothy and clover. As the ground is quite high, I wish to 
make a garden out of it. I shall cut the grass about July 1. What 
can I do to make a passable vegetable garden out of it next year ? 
2. The Striped cucumber bug laid my cucumber patch waste. I 
have to-day re-planted it. What can I do to prevent a repetition 
of the destruction ? 3. I had a patch of the Early White Turnip- 
rooted radish, which, when they were of the size of a sparrow’s 
egg, were attacked by a lot of small, white worms which bored 
right through the radishes, and very few were fit to eat. What is 
a preventive ? 
Ans. —1. If we had that land here, our object would 
be to break up the sod and decay the organic matter 
in it as much as possible before next year’s garden. 
After cutting the hay, we would plow the sod and 
work it up fine with such tools as he disc or 
Cutaway and Acme harrows. Then set out 
such plants as cabbage and cauliflower, and 
sow turnips, and cultivate well. Our own 
plan would be to use at least 500 pounds 
per acre of a high-grade fertilizer. Late in 
the fall, we would plow again, turning the 
furrows up so that the frost will woikall 
through them. In the spring, plow care¬ 
fully again, and work up fine with other 
tillage tools ; and use stable manure or fer¬ 
tilizers as most convenient. In a general 
way, that is what we would do to turn a 
tough sod “ into a garden.” We are working 
on just such a field now, though we could not 
get it plowed last fall. 2. Keep the plants 
thoroughly covered with tobacco dust, re¬ 
peating the application when it is washed off 
by rains. Or cover with thin cloth like mos¬ 
quito netting, which may be left on until sev¬ 
eral leaves are formed. 3. The Radish maggot, closely 
allied to, if not identical with, the Cabbage maggot, is 
one of the most difficult insect pests to combat, and 
the seed should always be sown, so far as possible, on 
land remote from that previously occupied by any 
similar crop. All affected plants should be com¬ 
pletely destroyed by fire. Applications of insecti¬ 
cides seem to do little good, though sprinklings of 
tobacco dust may check their ravages somewhat, as 
may kerosene emulsion if the ground be saturated 
with it. A heavy application of coal ashes to the soil 
before sowing the seed sometimes has the effect 
desired. The land should be made very rich with 
commercial fertilizers, and the rapid growth will help 
the radishes to escape the attacks of the pests. Barn¬ 
yard manures should not be used for growing these 
and similar crops w r hich are subject to their attacks. 
HAPPINESS FOR “THE HOTHOUSE LAMB.” Fig. 135. See page 428. 
