January  22,  1916. 
Land  upon  which  nursery  stock  is  grown  must  be 
of  (he  very  best,  in  good  tilth,  well  drained  and  well 
supplied  with  plant  food.  As  a  rule,  however,  nurs¬ 
erymen  in  this  region  seem  unable  to  get  results 
worth  while  from  either  commercial  fertilizers  or 
from  lime.  On  poorer  land  than  that  selected  for 
nursery  work  in  this  region  the  results  might  be 
different.  It  should  be  said,  too,  that  land  here¬ 
abouts  is  pretty  well  supplied  with  lime. 
All  growers  of  nursery  stock  about  here  agree  that 
leguminous  cover  crops  plowed  under  and  heavy 
dressings  of  stable  manure  help  amazingly.  Some, 
though  they  are  but  few',  use  and  claim  to  get  good 
results  from  heavy  applications  of  nitrate  of  soda. 
Others  say  that  Its  use  is  not  profitable.  But  when 
it  comes  to  lime,  almost  to  a  man  nurserymen  about 
Geneva  say  that  they  can  see  no  beneficial  results 
from  its  use. 
One  can  see  at  once,  however,  that  lime  would 
have  value  if  the  soil  were  lime-shy  in  inducing  a 
heavy  growth  of  any  leguminous  crop  to  be  plowed 
under  in  preparing  land  for  nursery  stock.  I  am 
very  doubtful  from  several  experiments  with  or¬ 
chard  plants  with  which  I  have  had  experience 
and  from  a  number  of  others  of  which  I  have 
knowledge,  as  to  whether  lime  is  often  beneficial  to 
fruits.  There  is  positive  evidence  that  lime  is 
actually  harmful  to  some  small  fruits. 
Looking  broadly  at  the  food  requirements  of 
plants,  it  seems  to  me  that  wre  must  conclude  that 
clover,  Alfalfa  and  many  other  legumes  will  not 
thrive  in  lime-shy  soils.  On  the  other  hand,  plants 
like  the  Rhododendron,  huckleberry  and  nearly  all 
of  the  species  of  the  family  to  which  these  two  be¬ 
long,  pretty  generally  refuse  to  grow  in  soils  where 
much  lime  is  present.  May  it  not  be  that  there  are 
all  gradations  between  these  two  extremes? 
Our  northern  fruits  belong  to  a  botanical  family 
very  close  to  tho  one  in  which  are  placed  the  plants 
just  named  that  do  not  want  lime.  The  behavior 
of  most  of  our  tree  and  bush  fruits,  the  strawberry 
as  well,  indicates  pretty  plainly  that  they,  like  the 
plants  in  the  Rhododendron  family,  do  not  want 
lime,  though  probably  all  of  them  are  more  or  less 
tolerant  of  it.  If  they  are  not  hurt  by  it.  it  is  ap¬ 
parent  that  lime  may  be  valuable  indirectly  in  or¬ 
chards  and  nurseries  in  growing  cover  crops. 
Geneva  (N.  Y. )  Exp.  Station.  v.  p.  iiedrick. 
Horticulturist. 
IShe  R  U  R  AL  N  EW-YO  R  K  E  R 
very  little  benefit.  It  is  generally  understood  that 
the  apple  does  better  in  a  slightly  acid  soil.  Con¬ 
siderable  quantities  of  lime  are  needed  to  produce  a 
heavy  growth  of  wood,  but  as  a  rule  the  apple  is 
i  ot  benefited  by  heavy  liming.  As  to  nursery  stock, 
the  two  following  letters  from  Prof.  Hedrick  and 
Prof.  Wheeler  give  the  best  information  we  can  ob¬ 
tain  at  this  time  regarding  the  subject: 
Lime  and  Nursery  Trees 
Regarding  pines  and  spruces,  and  the  same  is 
probably  true  of  the  hemlock,  one  must  be  very 
cautious  in  the  use  of  lime.  In  Rhode  Island,  where 
I  used  slaked  lime  with  Norway  spruce,  it  did  not 
grow  as  well  as  where  lime  was  omitted,  even  on  a 
very  acid  soil.  At  the  Connecticut  Experiment 
Station  the  use  of  lime  on  pine  nursery  stock  was 
injurious.  Nevertheless,  it  has  been  recorded  in 
one-third  the  way  down  into  the  barrel.  The  meas¬ 
liest..  scabby,  wormy,  rotten,  miserable  little  stuff 
you  ever  saw.  Some , of  them  make  the  samples  sent 
you  look  quite  like  No.  1  fruit.  Honestly  they  are 
not  good  drying  apples,  and  would  only  he  fit  for 
cider  or  chops.  What  any  man  can  think  he  is 
gaining  by  packing  such  fruit  is  a  mystery  to  me; 
1  care  not  whether  it  is  the  grower  or  the  storage 
man.  they  are  forever  spoiling  their  business.  That 
shipment  has  hurt  Western  New  York  State  apples 
more  than  the  Fruit  Growers  in  their  two  conven¬ 
tions  this  month  can  do  good.  They  must  go  on  the 
theory  that  they  never  expect  to  sell  a  customer  the 
second  time.  However  over  against  that  I  want  to 
set  the  example  of  another  grower.  In  101-4  they 
brought  us  a  bushel  of  Fall  Pippins,  and  T  never 
saw  such  apples;  every  one  was  as  perfect  as  ever 
grown,  and  last  Fall  they  brought  us  and  several 
of  our  neighbors  more  of  them,  and  they  were  the 
same.  Last  evening  we  had  one  of  those  Pippins, 
and  it  was  as  firm  and  solid  as  the  day  picked,  and 
we  have  not  had  one  decayed  apple  in  the  bushel. 
Now  what  is  the  result?  This  man  will  get  larger 
orders  for  Fall  Pippins  another  year  and  also  get 
our  order  for  Spy  and  King.  They  sent  some  to  a 
friend  in  Pennsylvania  and  lie  writes  us  the  apples 
were  just  as  good  as  could  be.  That  kind  of  de¬ 
livery  means  more  and  larger  orders,  while  the 
other  treatment  means  abuse  and  hard  feelings 
and  no  more  orders.” 
The  Trotting  Bull 
NOT  long  since  a  photographer  in  New  York 
State  sent  us  the  photograph  from  which  the 
engraving  at  Fig.  20  was  made,  lie  called  this  “The 
Trotting  Bull  of  Sterling"  and  said  that  this  bull 
was  a  very  useful  member  of  the  farm  force.  He 
claimed  that  the  hull  hustled  the  cows  up  from  the 
pasture  in  the  morning,  and  after  they  were  milked 
made  quick  time  to  the  cheese  factory.  That  looked 
as  if  you  might  call  this  hull  a  sort  of  assistant 
dairy  manager,  and  we  wrote.  Mr.  Hiram  Smith,  the 
owner,  for  particulars  about  it.  He  sent  us  this 
note  to  show  just  what  that,  hull  does.  We  have  a 
number  of  other  eases  where  the  bulls  have  been 
trained  to  travel  in  harness.  Some  of  them  go  on 
the  plow  and  do  mighty  work  there.  Others,  like 
this  one.  really  show  some  speed  on  the  road,  and 
are  useful  for  doing  road  work  when  the  horses  are 
all  busy.  Personally  we  never  believed  in  trusting 
a  bull.  They  are  usually  treacherous,  and  you  can¬ 
not  tell  what  they  are  going  to  do.  It.  is  well  enough 
to  handle  them  in  this  way  when  they  are  under 
full  control,  hut.  some  of  these  plans  of  handling  a 
hull  without  a  nose  ring,  or  letting  the  children 
ride  on  his  hack,  seem  to  us  very  much  like  playing 
with  fate.  This  trotting  hull,  however,  seems  to 
earn  his  keep,  and  to  he  a  useful  member  of  society. 
“Aside  from  using  him  for  a  herd  bull  he  is  broken 
to  drive  just  the  same  as  a  horse,  alul  will  do  any¬ 
thing  that  a  horse  will  do.  In  the  Spring,  when 
work  is  rushing  on  the  farm,  T  send  the  hired  man 
to  the  field  with  three-horse  team  and  I  take  the 
bull  to  draw  the  milk  to  cheese  factory,  which  is 
two  miles  away.  I  have  made  the  trip  there  and 
hack,  helped  empty  the  milk  and  got  the  whey  in 
one  hour.  When  T  get  home  I  liitcli  him  to  a  one- 
horse  wagon  and  draw  the  post  and  fencing  and 
build  fence  or  anything  there  is  to  be  done  that  one 
would  do  on  the  farm  with  one  horse.” 
HIRAM  SMITH. 
A  Robber  of  Reputation.  Fig.  30 
France  that  lime  lias  been  used  with  certain  kinds 
of  pine  advantageously.  However.  I  presume  that 
the  amount  must  have  been  very  much  more  in 
Connecticut,  or  that  the  soil  in  France  must  have 
been  very  much  more  acid.  It  is  of  course  barely 
possible  that  the  French  soil  was  so  deficient  in 
lime  that  there  was  not  enough  to  supply  the  min¬ 
imum  amount  which  the  pine  required. 
I  did  not  find  that  I  lie  White  birch  was  benefited 
by  liming;  the  Rock  maple  shows  benefit  to  a  slight 
extent,  if  I  recall  the  circumstances  correctly;  the 
American  linden  was  very  greatly  helped;  the  same 
is  probably  true  of  other  kinds  of  linden  trees. 
As  concerns  the  peach,  I  did  not  find  that  any 
considerable  amount  of  lime  was  beneficial;  in 
fact,  I  should  hesitate  to  use  large  quantities.  I 
suspect  that  lime  would  be  a  little  more  beneficial 
to  the  apple  than  to  the  peach,  but  I  think  that 
Painting  a  Cement  Cistern 
I  noticed,  on  page  1377,  a  question  and  answer  en¬ 
titled  “Softening  Hard  Water”  in  a  cement  cistern 
built  of  Portland  cement  and  sand.  The  substance  of 
the  answer  was.  keep  drawing  out  the  water  to  be  re¬ 
placed  with  fresh  water  until  the  quality  of  the  water 
is  improved.  I  doubt  the  practicability  of  tills  remedy, 
as  I  know  of  cisterns  built  of  sand  and  cement  or  water 
lime  in  which  tho  water  has  remained  hard,  although 
the  above  remedy  had  been  tried  many  times.  I  have 
had  some  experience  with  cisterns  built  of  sand  and 
cement  or  water  lime,  and  thought  my  experience  might 
be  of  some  benefit.  T  now  have  a  cistern  made  of  sand 
and  Cement  in  my  house  treated  in  the  following  man¬ 
ner  and  have  soft  water  therefrom.  The  treatment  is 
as  follows:  When  cistern  made  of  water  lime  or  cement 
and  sand  is  completed,  put  an  oil  heater  in  and  dry  it 
out  well,  first  covering  the  cistern  with  boards,  except 
a  small  opening,  so  the  heat  will  stay  in  and  dry  the 
cistern.  When  dried  out  well  apply  a  coat  of  raw  or 
boiled  linseed  oil.  dry  in  well,  then  apply  two  coats  of 
white  lead  and  oil,  drying  in  well  after  each  coat  of 
paint.  This  treatment  will  be  all  right  for  a  cistern 
which  has  been  used  provided  it  is  cleaned  properly  and 
well  dried  before  applying  oil  and  paint  as  above 
directed.  C.  G.  P. 
New  York. 
I  HAVE  never  seen  a  lead  paint  used  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  mentioned,  but  it  is  probable  that  it  would  be 
an  aid  in  keeping  the  water  soft  as  C.  O.  P.  suggests, 
Anything  that  will  seal  the  pores  of  the  concrete 
tends  to  prevent  this  hardening  of  the  water.  For 
this  reason  a  dense,  well  puddled  and  smoothly  fin¬ 
ished  wall  is  desirable.  The  government  lias  made 
some  experiments  along  this  line,  and  finds  that  a 
small  amount  of  the  heavier  petroleum  oils  mixed 
with  the  concrete  and  with  the  cement  grout  used  in 
finishing  gives  a  waterproof  wall.  Bulletin  No.  40, 
“Oil-mixed  Portland  Cement  Concrete,”  explains  this 
quite  fully. 
There  is  a  serious  objection  to  the  use  of  lead  for 
this  purpose,  and  that  is  the  danger  of  lead  poison¬ 
ing  should  the  water  he  used  for  drinking  or  cook¬ 
ing  purposes,  as  is  sometimes  the  case.  Water,  es¬ 
pecially  soft  water,  is  an  almost  universal  solvent. 
Its  action  in  this  direction  is  shown  by  its  becom¬ 
ing  hard  in  the  concrete  cistern.  If  lead  were  used 
on  the  side  walls  there  is  a  chance  that  enough 
might  be  dissolved  to  prove  injurious.  I  would  much 
rather  trust  to  some  of  the  patent  compounds  that 
are  put  on  the  market  for  the  same  purpose.  An¬ 
other  objection  to  the  method  mentioned  is  the  dry¬ 
ing  out  of  the  newly-made  cistern  with  an  oil  heater. 
Concrete  should  dry  slowly.  Note  the  care  with 
which  newly  laid  walks  are  shaded  and  sprinkled 
to  prevent  too  rapid  drying.  bobert  h.  smith. 
Lime  and  Nursery  Stock 
I  have  been  asked  to  inquire  whether  it  is  advisable 
to  use  lime  for  fruit  trees  and  nursery  stock  and  if 
it  is  advisable,  to  what  extent  should  it  be  applied? 
Winchester.  Tenn.  c.  c.  f. 
THE  general  opinion  is  that  lime  will  be  of  great¬ 
er  value  to  the  peach  than  to  the  apple,  but 
there  seems  to  "he  very  little  experience  with  the 
use  of  lime  in  growing  nursery  stock.  We  have 
some  reports  from  growers  who  think  that  an  ap¬ 
plication  of  lime  has  helped  bearing  peach  trees, 
and  most  growers  agree  that  the  use  of  lime  when 
a  cover  crop  is  to  he  plowed  under,  is  desirable. 
Dr.  E.  H .  Jenkins  of  Connecticut  states  that  in 
their  experimental  orchard  lime  applied  continu¬ 
ously  for  four  or  five  years  in  large  quantities  has 
injured  the  trees. 
Dr.  .T.  P.  Stewart  of  the  Pennsylvania  College 
says  they  have  derived  no  benefit  from  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  lime  to  peaches,  and  the  same  was  true 
of  apples.  He  states,  however,  that  the  lime  had  a 
good  effect  upon  the  clover  and  other  cover  crops 
grown  between  the  trees,  lie  also  thinks  that  the 
lime  has  been  beneficial  in  overcoming  an  injurious 
effect  which  was  discovered  in  the  soil.  When  it 
comes  to  the  direct  application  of  lime  to  the  peach 
orchard  most  growers  seem  to  agree  that  there  is 
Rose  Comb  R.  I.  Red  Hen.  Fig.  31.  Record,  257  Eggs 
at  Storr's  Egg-laying  Contest.  See  page  140 
both  will  grow  well  and  perhaps  better  if  the 
amount  is  very  limited.  The  quince,  however,  is 
helped  decidedly  by  lime,  and  cherries  of  all  kinds 
and  plums  seem  to  he  benefited  by  lime.  I  pre¬ 
sume  that  beeches  of  all  kinds  will  be  helped  by 
lime,  whereas  chestnuts  may  be  injured.  Lime 
should  not  be  used  for  Rhododendron.  Azalea,  or  for 
other  members  of  the  Ericaceae  family. 
H.  J.  WHEELER. 
No  Lime  Used  Here 
I  have  gone  into  this  matter  with  both  nursery¬ 
men  and  fruitgrowers  a  good  deal  in  the  past  in 
connection  with  a  number  of  fertilizer  experiments 
that  we  are  carrying  on  in  the  State.  To  verify  the 
conclusions  I  have  come  to,  I  have  called  up  a  num¬ 
ber  of  the  leading  nurserymen  about  Geneva,  and 
asked  for  their  experience.  Briefly,  I  may  sum¬ 
marize  as  follows: 
Nurserymen  in  Western  New  York  seem  unable 
to  obtain  beneficial  results  from  the  use  of  lime. 
0 
