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The  Home  Acre 
Shipping  Early  Tomatoes  Intercropping  Peas  and  Mangels 
Tell  inp  the  best  way  to  ship  early 
tomatoes  to  market,  and  what  containers 
to  use  for  same.  Should  they  he  cov¬ 
ered.  and  with  what  ?  Is  a  commission 
house  the  place  to  ship  them?  Am  go¬ 
ing  to  try  to  raise  some  early  tomatoes 
this  Spring,  and  have  had  no  experience 
with  them  in  any  way,  only  raising  a 
few  for  our  own  use.  c.  p.  l, 
.Massachusetts. 
For  loeal  markets  there  is  nothing  to 
beat  the  ordinary  half  bushel  basket. 
Poston  market  prefers  the  bushel  box, 
while  much  of  the  tomato  crop  sold  in 
New  York  City  is  in  the  ordinary  "toma¬ 
to”  crate;  those  from  South  Jersey  held 
20  quarts  last.  year.  These  crates  are 
unsatisfactory,  especially  for  long  ship¬ 
ments,  or  for  reconsignment  by  the 
wholesale  receivers  to  the  small  markets 
at  a  distance. 
Probably  the  best  container  for  a  high- 
class  product  is  the  Georgia  carrier, 
which  contains  six  tills  nr  baskets  of  four 
quarts  oneh.  This  package  requires  more 
work  in  packing  and  a  more  careful  grad¬ 
ing  of  the  fruit  for  quality  and  evenness 
of  size  for  all  the  specimens  in  each 
crate.  All  of  the  tomatoes  are  packed  in 
these  carriers  that  come  from  the  South. 
Markets  for  early  products  should  he  pro¬ 
cured  north  of  the  grower.  Possibly  you 
could  develop  a  fine  trade  shipping  your 
tomatoes  to  the  hotels  in  the  White 
Mountains. 
If  you  are  a  beginner  at  this  work  I 
would  not  advise  you  to  begin  by  ship¬ 
ping  a  few  crates  to  the  commission 
houses,  because  your  consignments  will 
be  too  small  to  warrant  special  atten¬ 
tion  and  your  returns  would  in  all  prob¬ 
ability  be  small.  After  you  have  learned 
the  business  you  will  he  able  to  send 
larger  shipments  of  more  desirable  stuff. 
Titus  yonr  product  will  demand  the  at¬ 
tention  of  the  receiver,  and  lie  will  then 
be  able  to  make  you  more  satisfactory 
returns.  R.  w.  D. 
Climate  in  Virginia 
Can  you  inform  me  whether  the  climate 
of  Accomac  and  Northampton  counties, 
Virginia,  Eastern  Shore  Delaware,  Marv¬ 
in  ml,  and  New  Jersey  are  preferable  to 
Northern  Massachusetts,  and  would  the 
opportunities  he  the  same  there  in  the 
poultry  business  as  here,  to  one  who  has 
been  in  it  for  In  years  to  quite  an  extent? 
I  am  particularly  anxious  to  get  the  facts 
because  a  man  of  10,  a  good-sized  family 
and  only  $8,000  to  $l,00O,  cannot  afford 
tn  make  mistakes.  We  are  certainly  sick 
of  this  climate,  and  although  we  wish  t<> 
escape  the  extreme  Winter  weather  here 
v.c  do  not  wish  to  settle  where  the  hot 
spoils  of  Summer  would  he  worse  or  more 
depressing  than  we  get  now.  w.  n.  s. 
North  IHHerica.  Mass. 
As  I  was  horn  in  Accomac  Comity,  Ya., 
I  suppose  that  I  know  something  of  the 
clime,  and  now  live  hut  a  short  distance 
north  of  it.  Whether  one  section  of  the 
cocu try  is  more  favorable  than  another 
will  depend  on  the  man  and  what  he 
seeks.  The  climate  of  this  peninsula  at 
its  upper  end  is  not  markedly  different 
from  that  about  Philadelphia.  Rut  as  we 
come  southward  the  climate  gets  milder 
and  milder,  and  at  the  lower  end  at  Cape 
Charles,  Ya.,  there  is  the  local  climate 
that  is  found  around  the  mouth  of  the 
Chesapeake,  a  much  milder  Winter  than 
the  same  latitude  westward.  In  AcGomac 
and  Northampton  counties  in  Virginia  I 
have  never  seen  ice  thick  enough  for  a 
man  to  skate  on.  and  there  is  seldom 
in  noli  snow,  and  when  some  does  come  it 
usually  disappears  in  a  day  or  two.  Here 
with  the  ocean  on  one  side  and  the  broad 
bay  on  the  other  we  have  a  much  milder 
climate  than  the  same  latitude  west  of 
the  bay.  We  grow  tigs, ‘pomegranates  and 
other  things  that  do  not  stand  at  the 
northern  end.  I  suppose  that  poultry 
thrive  here  as  well  as  anywhere,  but  I  am 
not  a  chicken  man.  The  chief  interest 
here  and  in  the  two  counties  of  Virginia, 
is  in  the  growing  of  early  vegetables  for 
the  Northern  markets.  We  have  some 
hot  weather,  blit  no  hotter  than  in  the 
North,  if  as  hot;  never  hear  of  sun¬ 
strokes,  ami  in  the  hottest  weather  we  are 
sure  to  have  a  sea  breeze  in  the  evening. 
Rut  no  one  should  buy  laud  without  a 
personal  inspection  not  only  of  tlie  land 
itselt,  but  its  surroundings,  churches, 
schools  and  transportation  facilities. 
Maryland  w.  F.  MASSEY. 
Would  you  consider  it  advisable  to 
plant  mangel  beets  alongside  of  garden 
pens?  I  intend  to  put  in  one-fourth  acre 
of  garden  peas  to  pick  about  July  4.  My 
idea  is  to  plant  a  row  of  mangels  along 
side  the  peas  to  occupy  the  ground  when 
the  peas  are  removed.  II.  G.  c. 
Bristol  Co..  Mass. 
This  can  be  done  nicely  if  H.  O.  C.  is 
willing  to  go  to  some  inconvenience  in 
caring  for  the  crop.  The  dwarfer  the  va¬ 
riety  of  pea  selected  the  better  for  this 
purpose,  as  the  habit  of  pea  vines  to 
topple  about  would  seriously  interfere 
with  the  growth  of  any  crop  closely  along¬ 
side.  Rush  beaus  for  shell  or  snaps 
would  not  give  this  difficulty.  It  would 
be  better  to  plant  the  peas  somewhat  in 
advance  of  the  mangels,  and  when  they 
have  nearly  made  their  growth  of  vine 
finish  up  cultivation  and  immediately 
plant  mangels  equally  distant  from  peas 
on  either  side.  This  calls  for  hand  hoeing 
at  first,  and  when  peas  are  out  of  the  way 
the  cultivator  can  be  put  in  again. 
Market  gardeners  are  accustomed  to 
make  a  succession  of  crops,  generally 
cleaning  the  land  from  one  before  putting 
in  the  next.  I  have  found  it  economical 
of  time  to  make  a  growing  team  of  cer¬ 
tain  vegetables.  Last  Spring  I  planted 
spinach  when  the  ground  was  still  too 
cold  for  wrinkled  peas,  and  [  plant  none 
of  the  round  or  smooth  sorts.  Later  I 
put  peas  between  these  rows  of  spinach, 
spinach  being  well  out  of  the  way  before 
peas  were  ready  to  pick,  and  it  was  not 
too  late  to  set  strawberries  to  reproduce 
hearing  beds  for  tbe  following  season. 
This  plan  worked  well,  but  calls  for  hand 
labor  up  to  the  time  of  removing  pea 
vines,  and  is  better  adapted  for  small 
areas. 
My  favorite  system  of  intercropping 
calls  for  late-planted  sweet  corn  of  tbe 
early  varieties  among  dwarf  peas  and 
beans.  The  corn  is  planted  at  last  hoe¬ 
ing  of  the  first  crop.  I  have  successfully 
worked  strawberries  and  early  sweet  corn 
together,  neither  crop  waiting  upon  the 
other,  but  putting  in  both  as  soou  as  soa- 
siui  allows.  This  calls  for  corn  rows  five 
feet  apart,  but  this  distance  allows  of 
closer  hills,  giving  as  large  a  yield  of  ears 
as  at  lesser  distance  between  rows.  I 
would  advise  Golden  Bantam  for  this 
purpose.  Strawberries  are  set  midway 
between  corn  rows.  Au  ideal  plan  for 
strawberry  planting  is  to  take  previous 
year's  corn  field,  and  not  waiting  to  plow, 
setting  a  plant  where  each  hill  of  corn 
stubble  is  pulled-  The  corn  must  have 
been  given  clean  cultivation  and  not  billed 
Up.  F.  W.  PROCTOR. 
Massachusetts. 
Spraying  on  Small  Scale 
On  page  655  Mr.  Murray  has  given  a 
most  useful  article  upon  spraying.  As 
usually  given  by  the  stations  the  direc¬ 
tions  arc  of  use  to  those  who  are  exten¬ 
sively  engaged  in  the  work.  They  are 
yet  often  of  little  use  to  the  majority  of 
smaller  growers,  To  do  the  best  work 
may  require  a  barrel  or  a  power  pump, 
but  for  a  small  place  the  necessary  cap¬ 
ital  to  support  such  an  establishment  is 
too  great  to  be  profitable  while  I  have 
found  some  of  the  knapsack  styles  of 
pump  do  very  efficient  work.  For  a  field 
of  potatoes  several  acres  in  extent  I  am 
using  a  barrel  attached  to  a  cheap  two- 
v  bee  led  arrangement,  while  about  the 
house  and  garden  I  find  the  smaller  outfit 
far  more  satisfactory  in  every  way. 
”  H. 
Sparrows  and  Garden  Peas 
In  the  suburban  garden  sparrows  often 
ruin  a  pea  crop  by  eating  the  tops  off 
as  the  peas  sprout.  The  efficient  remedy 
is  to  use  a  single  line  of  No.  50  block 
cotton,  strung  each  side  of  row  on  little 
stakes  2%  or  three  feet  apart.  Stretch 
the  cotton  tight,  so  as  to  be  two  or  three 
inches  from  the  ground.  A  turn  can  be 
taken  around  each  stake  and  cotton  fast¬ 
ened  at  end  stake.  The  sparrows  in 
alighting  and  hopping  around  come  into 
<  oataet  with  cotton,  not  seeing  it,  and 
they  are  seared  away.  oEO.  WHITE. 
New  Jersey. 
Killing  Dodder. — Some  time  ago  I 
read  in  your  paper  that  you  advised 
burning  straw  to  kill  out  dodder.  I  can 
give  you  a  much  better  remedy  which  I 
got  from  the  Long  Island  Agronomist 
two  years  ago.  Take  two  ounces  of  sul¬ 
phate  of  iron  to  one  quart  of  water,  and 
spray  the  dodder ;  it  will  not  hurt  the 
clover,  but  surely  kill  the  dodder. 
Oregon.  a.  nieiians. 
Forty-one  Years  of  Telephone  Progress 
The  faint  musical  sound  of  a 
plucked  spring  was  electrically 
carried  from  one  room  to  an¬ 
other  and  recognized  on  June  2, 
1 875.  That  sound  was  the  birth- 
cry  of  the  telephone. 
The  original  instrument — the 
very  first  telephone  in  the 
world — is  shown  in  the  picture 
above. 
It  has  provided  a  system  of 
communication  adequate  to  pub¬ 
lic  needs  and  sufficiently  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  existing  conditions  to 
meet  all  private  demands  or 
national  emergencies. 
It  has  made  the  telephone  the 
most  economical  servant  of  the 
people  for  social  and  commer¬ 
cial  intercourse. 
From  this  now-historic  instru¬ 
ment  has  boen  developed  an  art 
of  profound  importance  in  the 
world’s  civilization. 
At  this  anniversary  time,  the 
Bell  System  looks  back  on  forty- 
one  years  of  scientific  achieve¬ 
ment  and  economic  progress, 
and  gives  this  account  of  its 
stewardship : 
It  has  organized  an  operating 
staff  loyal  to  public  interests  and 
ideals;  and  by  its  policy  of  serv¬ 
ice  it  has  won  the  appreciation 
and  good  will  of  the  people. 
With  these  things  in  mind, 
the  Bell  System  looks  forward 
with  confidence  to  a  future  of 
greater  opportunity  and  greater 
achievement. 
American  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company 
And  Associated  Companies 
One  Policy  One  System  Universal  Service 
HAY  CAPS 
Stack,  wagon  and  implement  covers: 
waterproof!  or  plain  canvas-  flank  bed 
cloth,  teuts,  etc.  Circulars,  samples. 
HENRY  DERBY 
453  Y,  St.  Paul’s  Ave.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 
*25 
per  100 
without  tie  ropes,  size 
about  3  1-2x3  1-2  ft. 
Special  8  oz.  duck  complete 
with  tie  ropesS26  perlUl).  Water 
and  mildew  proofed  $5  extra. 
Send  50c  for  sample.  Larger 
aizee  and  stack  and  machine 
covers  at  low  prices. 
Makers  of  Famous  Kant  Come  OH 
Cow  Blankets 
Fond  du  lac  Awning  S.  Tent  Co. 
Dept.  SO _ Fond  du  Lac,  WIs. 
makesclean,  com¬ 
pact  bales  of  any¬ 
thing  balable.  Built 
by  pioneers.  Highest 
award  at  four  expositions. 
40  Styles  and  Sizes 
for  every  need.  Biggest  re* 
suits  and  profits  for  users. 
Writ©  for  latest  Catalog1. 
COLLINS  PLOW  CO. 
?044  Hampshire  St.#  Quincy,  III 
HAVANA  FARM  TRUCKS 
ffe  can  furnish  these  Low-Down  Gears  with 
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are  a3  handy  for  farm  work  as  the  Auto 
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We  can  furnish  broad  tire  Steel  Wheels  to  fit  any 
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Havana  Metal  Wheel  Co.,  Box  17,  Havana,  Ill. 
1 
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$29.85  up. 
Start  easily,  run  smoothly  and  have  great 
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Write  for 
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JACOBSON 
MACHINE  MFG.  CO. 
Dept.  D,  Warren,  Pa.,  U.  S.  A. 
There’s  money  in  baling  hay— big  money  if  you  use  the  famous  fast  working  Sandwich  Hay 
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Pictures  and  describes  these  great  presses.  Write 
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CAN  start  or 
STOP  INSTANTU 
COUPLED  OP  2 
