Cfce  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
771 
BROWN  FENCE 
BARGAIN  BOOK 
AND  SAMPLE 
The  Home  Acre 
Notes  from  a  Maryland  Garden 
Four  cross-bred  plums  from  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  propagating  grounds  in  Cali¬ 
fornia.  two  of  each  cross,  were  planted 
some  time  ago.  One  of  each  cross  is 
growing  well,  while  the  other  two,  while 
still  with  green  stems,  have  not  started, 
and  may  not  do  so,  though  I  am  still 
hopiug  to  save  all. 
April  15th  I  set  out  a  large  tomato 
plant  as  a  Sort  of  advance  guard  to  test 
its  ability  to  survive.  We  bad  contin¬ 
uous  cool  and  rainy  weather  through  the 
latter  half  of  April,  but  no  frost,  and  to¬ 
day.  May  3,  that  plant  has  set  two  clus¬ 
ters  of  green  tomatoes.  I  have  always 
noted  that  the  earlier  wo  get  tomato 
plants  out  and  live,  the  earlier  the  fruit¬ 
ing.  Had  I  ventured  to  sot  a  lot  of 
plants  at  the  same  time  this  one  went 
out  I  would  have  probably  bad  more 
plants  in  fruit,  for  tbe  plants  in  the 
frames  have  been  getting  very  strong, 
and  have  had  the  glass  off  them  most  of 
the  time  except  in  cool  nights.  Now  I 
have  the  stakes  set  and  will  gn  ahead 
with  the  planting,  for  May  lias  come  in 
with  some  warm  weather.  Itut  as  there 
is  always  risk  of  a  change  to  cold  till 
after  the  middle  of  May,  I  keep  a  good 
reserve  in  the  frames  where  they  can  be 
protected  if  necessary.  T  set  the  stakes 
two  feet  apart  in  rows  three  feet  apart. 
A  plant  is  set  to  each  stake  and  trained 
to  a  single  stem  and  the  suckers  kept 
pinched  out.  This  method  has  two  ad¬ 
vantages.  One  is  that  I  get  ripe  fruit 
a  little  earlier,  and  the  other  is  that  I 
can  keep  the  grass  out.  Where  the 
plants  are  allowed  to  tumble  on  the 
ground  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep  them 
clean  of  the  crab  grass  after  they  cover 
the  ground.  This  Summer  I  shall  plant 
a  lot  with  more  room  right  alongside 
those  on  the  stakes,  in  order  to  test  the 
difference  in  the  trained  ones  and  these 
that  will  he  left  to  their  natural  growth, 
i  believe  that  wo  get  more  tomatoes  from 
the  untrained  plants. 
Our  farmers  are  planting  largely  of 
tomatoes  for  the  canners  as  usual,  but 
not  so  many  are  contracting  the  crop, 
for  the  best  price  the  canners  are  offering 
is  $f>  a  ton,  and  many  think  that  they 
can  get  more  by  taking  tbe  chances.  But 
even  at  $0  there  are  some  who  can  make 
something,  while  as  in  other  crops  there 
are  many  who  make  small  yields,  and 
cannot  make  anything  at  that  price.  The 
farmer  who  makes  ten  to  fifteen  tons  an 
acre  can  afford  to  soil  on  contract  better 
than  the  man  who  makes  three  or  four 
tons.  “There  is  more  in  the  man  than 
in  the  land.” 
While  May  starts  with  beautiful 
weather,  crops  are  still  hack  ward.  Early 
peas,  which  should  now  be  podding,  are 
just  starting  to  bloom.  The  early  corn 
that  got  so  yellow  in  the  April  showers 
has  put  on  a  better  color  but  is  still 
small. 
The  first  planting  of  the  Biaek  Valen¬ 
tine  beans  got  up  just  in  time  to  catch 
the  increased  warmth,  and  they  are  look¬ 
ing  well.  But  I  stand  ready  to  turn  a 
furrow  over  them  if  the  weather  man 
predicts  frost. 
A  neighbor  who  planted  four  bushels 
of  the  Fordhook  Bush  Lima  beans  in 
April  has  been  very  uneasy  about  them 
in  the  cool  wot  weather,  but  they  are 
coining  all  right.  Mine  were  not  planted 
till  May  1st.  At  same  time  I  put  in 
Burpee’s  Green  Pod  Stringless  beans  to 
follow  the  Biaek  Valentine  and  give  us 
better  beans.  I  use  the  Biaek  Valen¬ 
tine  as  the  first  because  it  stands  more 
cold  than  any  string  beau  I  know  of.  I 
have  also  planted  some  Celestial  wax 
beans.  These  I  have  found  to  continue 
producing  pods  longer  than  any  other 
bean,  and  are  generally  free  from  rust 
and  anthracnose. 
In  the  flower  bed  the  Darwin  tulips 
are  now  the  show,  with  their  tall  stems 
so  different  from  the  early  tulips.  This 
makes  them  more  useful  for  cutting. 
Gannas  and  Dahlias  have  been  lifted  from 
their  Winter  beds  outdoors,  where  they 
have  wiutered  better  than  in  a  cellar, 
and  are  now  planted  for  the  Summer.  I 
have  just  finished  putting  up  a  woven 
wire  fence  with  steel  posts  set  in  con¬ 
crete,  and  on  this  fence  I  am  running  the 
Champion  of  England  peas  and  the 
climbing  varieties  of  the  Limas,  and  will 
not  only  have  a  fine  trellis  for  them,  but 
save  a  great  deal  of  room  in  the  garden. 
Green  onions  are  on  the  table  and  rhu¬ 
barb  is  in  its  full  glory.  w.  f.  massey. 
Bees  Jor  a  Beginner 
I  have  been  thinking  of  raising  bees. 
What  would  be  the  best  kind  of  bees  to 
get?  From  what  flowers  do  the  bees  get 
the  most  honey?  What  conditions  would 
determine  the  number  of  bees  for  a  be¬ 
ginner  to  keep?  K.  H.  s. 
Sandusky,  N.  Y. 
The  Italian  has  come  to  be  considered 
the  business  bee,  and  in  up-to-date 
apiaries  has  superseded  the  native  or 
black  bee.  If  not  convenient  to  start 
with  Italians,  however,  colonies  of  black 
bees  may  be  readily  Italianized  by  the 
introduction  of  Italian  queens.  White 
clover  and  buckwheat  furnish  the  bulk  of 
the  honey  in  this  State,  though  basswood, 
raspberry,  gohlcnrod,  Alfalfa  and  numer¬ 
ous  other  plants  contribute  to  the  sea¬ 
son's  crop.  The  amouut  of  time  that  he 
can  devote  to  their  care  and  the  bee  pas¬ 
turage  available  should  largely  determine 
the  number  of  colonies  that  one  should 
undertake  to  keep.  As  in  most  new  pro¬ 
jects  the  amateur  will  do  well  to  go 
slowly  until  experience  has  demonstrated 
his  qualifications  for  the  work  and  the 
suitability  of  his  surroundings.  at.  c.  o. 
THE  PULLMAN  five  passenger 
cannot  be  compared  with  any 
other  car  in  the  market.  It  is 
different  in  many  ways.  It  has  the 
fine  lines  style  and  comfort  of  the 
higher  priced  cars  and  the  econom¬ 
ical  advantage  of  a  low  price. 
The  Pullman  is  the  largest  and  room¬ 
iest  car  sold  at  the  price — 114-inch 
wheel  base.  Rides  easy  over  the 
roughest  roads — 50-inch  full  canti¬ 
lever  rear  springs.  A  good  hill  climber 
and  a  powerful  puller— 32  H.  P.  motor. 
Two,  Three  and  Five  Passenger  Models 
SPECIFICATIONS: — 114-inch  wheel  base  :  32  H.  P. 
four-cylinder  motor ;  Batavia  non-skid  tires  on  all 
four  wheels:  cantilever  rear  springs;  complete 
electric  starting  and  lighting  equipment;  Dixie  high- 
tension  magneto:  honeycomb  radiator;  full  floating 
rear  axle.  C-H  Magnetic  Gear  Shift.  $125  extra. 
PULLMAN  MOTOR  CAR  CO 
Dept.  16  YORK,  PA. 
M  rite  for 
Booklet 
My  Garden  Peas 
My  little  garden  is  only  P.O  feet  long 
by  25  feet  wide,  partly  shaded  by  build¬ 
ings.  but  at  that  it  furnishes  a  continual 
supply  from  early  Spring  until  Christmas. 
In  fact  while  digging  over  the  soil  for 
the  five  rows  of  pens  which  are  each  12 
feet  long  and  2*4  feet  apart.  I  dug  out 
eight  fine  large  parsnips,  which  I  sup¬ 
posed  had  been  all  used  up. 
In  each  of  the  five  rows  of  pens  there 
is  a  different  variety  arranged  so  that  one 
will  mature  after  the  other.  They  are 
Alaska,  Mott’s  Excelsior,  Gradus.  Thus. 
Buxton  and  Telephone.  All  are  of  ex¬ 
ceptionally  good  quality  unless  perhaps 
it  is  the  Alaska.  However,  I  felt  com 
polled  to  plant  it  because  it  is  a  wonder¬ 
fully  early  variety,  and  I  must  beat  my 
neighbors  this  year  because  they  picked 
earlier  than  we  did  last  year,  and  we 
are  determined  to  pick  first  this  year.  To 
make  sure  of  being  the  first  to  pick  I  had 
a  plan  new  to  me  at  least.  T  placed  a 
handful  of  the  Alaska  pea  seed  in  some 
nice  warm  soil  in  the  kitchen  window. 
After  about  a  week  every  seed  had  nicely 
sprouted,  and  had  grown  more  than  they 
would  have  grown  in  three  weeks  out  in 
the  cold  soil  of  the  garden.  Then  the 
tiny  seedlings  were  sot  thickly  in  one  of 
the  rows.  Now  they  are  two  inches  high, 
and  my  neighbor  cannot  understand  how 
it  is,  and  will  never  know  unless  he  reads 
Tiie  R.  N.-Y. 
Between  each  of  the  rows  of  peas 
there  is  a  different  kind  of  vegetable 
planted.  One  contains  three  rows  of  rad¬ 
ishes  each  six  inches  apart;  two  arc  the 
quick  growing  white  tipped  red  and  the 
row  in  between  them  is  the  larger  grow¬ 
ing  White  Straxlnirg.  A  bed  of  spinach 
about  a  foot  wide  is  planted  between  the 
next  two  rows,  lettuce  plants  iu  the  next 
and  a  quart  of  onion  sets  in  the  next; 
these  will  be  pulled  in  May  for  table  use. 
The  inter-crops  will  be  out  iu  May. 
The  peas  will  be  brushed  and  after  the 
crop  is  off  in  June  the  pea  vines,  which 
are  a  legume  and  rich  in  nitrogen,  will 
be  dug  into  the  soil.  The  soil  will  then 
be  in  excellent  condition  for  the  planting 
of  beets,  celery,  cauliflower,  cabbage,  late 
tomatoes  or  late  sweet  corn. 
Another  row  of  the  late  maturing  va¬ 
riety  (Telephone  1  was  planted  about 
April  20th.  Thus,  we  will  have  a  con¬ 
tinual  supply  of  garden  peas  for  over  a 
month,  quick  maturing  inter-crops  atul 
the  soil  in  excellent  condition  for  suc¬ 
ceeding  Crops.  R.  W.  DE  BA  UN. 
New  Jersey. 
Turns  Your 
Stone  to  Gold 
Save  From 
$150.  to  $2.50 
yper  Ton _ J 
v  ^  ^  aarcr  inn  protit  maker. 
Ohe  Jeffreul  jmePuiveP 
Give*  von  it _  . 
Givci  you  finest  rround  limestone  Out  make,  sour  land  »weet 
and  productive  better  than  burnr  time.  Portable — guaran- 
*  jn  £8t“  3  — madc  in  to  suit  engine*  from  3  I 
^  t°  ii.  n.  p.  Crushes  rock  for  road  and  concrete  work.  A 
.Tree  Trial  I  Learn  about  our  (r  a!  otter  that  A 
enables  you  to  try  tbe  machine  i 
tight  on  your  own  rartu. 
^T'The  Jeffrey  mfg,  Co. /<■£ 
285  tsr  Ave  .  Columbus,  o 
1917  Fertilizer  Uncertainties 
•can  be  offset  by  green  manures.  Sow  cover  crops 
between  the  rows  at  last  cultivation  of  corn,  cotton, 
etc.,  and  plow  under  next  Spring,  They  grow  and 
work  in  winter,  protect  soil  and  increase  yield  of 
the  next  crop. 
sows  clover,  alfalfa, turnip,  rape,  rye,  buckwheat,  etc. .  between  all  rowed 
seed.  Pays  for  itself  in  seed  saved.  Makes  dust  mulch.  Kills  weeds.  I 
you.  We  make  quick  deliveries.  Send  for  catalog  giving  particulars. 
Cat*  fertilizer  Dills  In  two 
Adds  bum  as  to  joii 
crops  and  covers 
lept  in  stock  near 
EUREKA  MOWER  CO„  Box  1200.  Utica.  N.  Y 
lY  COCK  COVERS 
/'/  \\  .  i'ss*  Special  8  oz.  duck  complete 
with  tie  ropes  S3>  per  100.  Water 
V'jtfil  111  i  and  UliMcw  proofed  $&  extra. 
i  Hi TJF  TAB  Send  Bl)o  for  sample.  Larger 
HUM  I  IflsfifM  sizes  and  stack  and  machine 
MUu  ll'ij  j  (4A'  JdJ-1  covers  at  low  prices. 
*  Ail  Makers  ol  Famous  Kant  Como  Oil 
dS*>  per  1UU  Cow  Blankets 
without  tie  ropes,  size  Pond  du  Lac  Awning  A  Tent  Co. 
about  3  1-3x3  1-2  ft. 
Fond  du  Lac,  IrVis, 
Those  disks  are 
of  cutlery  steel 
forged  sharp. 
They  cut  deep 
and  they  last. 
r— never  mind  them.  Start  you  tillage  later,  too,  ^ 
and  avoid  early  freezes.  Select  a  tractor  harrow  that  1 
will  save  going  over  twice.  Get  a  Double  Action  whose 
rieid  main  frame  forces  tlierear  disks  to  cut  all  the  land 
left  i iy  l he  fore  d  isks.  Y ou  save  power,  time  aud  labor  by 
.using  the  genuine  ft  , 
Double-Action 
IBM,  Engino  Disk  Harrow 
Mwf\  D’s  the  machine  of  perfect  balance  uC 
TTt  )  and  dependability.  I' hen-  are  over  — 
too  styles  and  sizes  of  Ct  taway  (Claus' 
tools — several  for  your  very  needs.  _ ■ 
If  not  at  your  dealer’s,  write  us. 
LThe  Cutaway  Harrow 
396  Main  Street  lliggauum,  Conn.  A 
Has  dust- 
proof, 
hardwood, 
oil -soaked 
bearings. 
