856 
ZShe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
June  10.  1010. 
quite  finished  hilling  a  field  of  potatoes 
Saturday  night,  and  in  beginning  haying 
Monday  these  few  rows  were  left.  The 
yield  on  the  rows  left  was  200  bushels 
per  acre,  on  the  rest  of  the  nine  acres 
only  100,  making  a  loss  on  the  whole 
field  of  900  bushels.  Another  farmer 
anxiously  called  me  to  see  his  field  of 
potatoes,  which  were  dying  of  the  blight' 
(?).  The  weather  was  so  hot  and  dry 
that  blight  was  out  of  the  question. 
Further  inquiry  showed  that  his  sup¬ 
posed  blight  was  only  killing  the  rows 
just  as  far  as  lie  had  hilled  them  a  few 
days  before.  The  potato  grower  must  be 
a  keen  observer  of  his  crop  and  a  good 
judge  when  and  how,  to  perforin  every 
operation  of  tillage.  Success  depends  so 
much  on  doing  not  only  the  right  thing, 
hut  also  in  doing  it  at  exactly  the  right 
time.  When  the  crop  is  small  tillage 
almost  always  pays  up  to  the  time  the 
feeding  roots  begin  to  spread  out  through 
the  soil.  For  the  next  few  weeks  the 
very  best  of  judgment  is  needed  on  any 
day  whether  or  not  to  till.  Then  comes  a 
timo  when  touching  the  soil  will  make  a 
loss  in  four  times  out  of  five.  So  in  my 
own  practice  1  have  come  to  the  max¬ 
im:  “When  in  doubt  whether  or  not.  to 
spray  potatoes,  go  ahead.  When  in 
doubt  about  cultivating,  don’t.” 
DANIEL  DEAN. 
The  Pictures 
Homemade  Sprayer. — The  picture  at 
Fig.  329  shows  how  one  ingenious  youth 
rigged  up  a  spraying  machine  so  that  he 
might  put  Bordeaux  mixture  on  the  cel¬ 
ery.  There  was  not  much  cash.  but.  by 
rigging  up  an  old  cart,  with  a  pump  and 
nozzle  for  a  barrel  sprayer,  he  is  able  to 
do  the  work  reasonably  well.  The  faith¬ 
ful  horse  was  trained  on  the  cultivator 
to  walk  straight  between  the  rows,  and 
this  habit  clings  to  him  when  lie  is 
hitched  to  the  spray  cart.  It  is  not  ne¬ 
cessary  to  drive  him.  An  Occasional 
glance  over  the  shoulder  will  serve  to 
know  how  to  guide  him.  The  cart  spreads 
over  two  rows,  and  by  an  extension  at¬ 
tachment  three  rows  can  be  sprayed  at 
one  time.  The  horse  walks  slowly  along 
and  the  boy  does  the  pumping,  making 
a  quick  job  and  saving  a  great  deal  of 
hand  labor.  Ingenuity  is  often  a  fine 
substitute  for  cash. 
A  Dead  Woodchuck. — The  picture  at 
Fig.  227  shows  a  happy  farm  boy,  and 
this  scene  will  he  duplicated  on  thousands 
of  farms  this  Summer.  The  woodchuck 
becomes  a  nuisance  on  farms  when  he  is 
given  a  free  run  and  is  not  checked.  A 
single  pair  of  woodchucks  will  some¬ 
times  migrate  to  a  farm,  and  for  a  few 
years  cause  no  great  trouble.  As  the 
population  increases,  however,  holes  and 
mounds  appear  over  the.  best  mowing 
fields,  and  become  a  great  nuisance  to 
the  horses  and  mowers.  All  sorts  of 
schemes  are  proposed  for  getting  rid  of 
these  woodchucks,  but  the  favorite  boy’s 
remedy  is  shown  in  the  picture.  This 
hoy  has  a  steel  trap,  and  has  just  dis¬ 
patched  one  woodchuck.  He  is  now  get¬ 
ting  ready  for  another.  All  sorts  of 
schemes  are  proposed  for  cleaning  out 
this  post.  Probably  a  good  rifle  in  the 
hands  of  an  expert,  who  is  willing  to  get 
up  in  the  morning  early  and  watch  for 
Mr.  Woodchuck  at  breakfast,  is  the  sur¬ 
est  way  of  cleaning  out  the  animal. 
Poisoned  bait  is  sometimes  used,  and  bi¬ 
sulphide  of  carbon  can  he  driven  down 
into  the  hole,  but  the  rifle  properly  used 
will  do  the  business. 
Sedan  Gisask. — The  picture  at  Fig.  328 
shows  a  sample  of  Sudan  grass  grown 
last  year  at  the  Colorado  Experiment 
Station.  This  is  certainly  a  rank,  heavy 
growth,  and  when  the.  conditions  are 
right  this  plant  will  surely  give  a  heavy 
crop  of  forage.  We  have  had  many  re¬ 
ports,  most  of  them  favorable,  although  a 
good  many  are  evidently  colored  a  little 
by  the  thought  that  the  reporter  has  tried 
something  new.  Somehow  we  arc  usu¬ 
ally  inclined  to  think  that  because  a 
thing  is  new  it  must  be  superior.  The 
fact  is  that  while  Sudan  grass  does  make 
a  fine,  quick  growth,  when  the  conditions 
are  just,  right.  Japanese  millet,  corn  fod¬ 
der  or  sorghum,  one  year  with  another, 
will  give  just  as  much  forage  and  prove 
as  acceptable  as  a  fodder  plant.  The 
usual  result  of  testing  such  novelties  is 
that  the  new’  plant  finds  its  place  in  the 
localities  best  adapted  to  il,  and  there  re¬ 
mains  in  culture,  while  in  other  places  it 
becomes  evident  after  a  year  or  two,  that 
many  of  the  old  favorites  are  superior. 
Notes  from  a  Maryland  Garden 
Last  Fall  I  had  a  lot  of  seedling 
Dahlias  from  which  I  had  selected  those 
I  wished  to  keep,  and  therefore  left  the 
remainder  to  their  fate,  but  now  these 
plants  arc  up  smiling,  and  did  not  seem 
to  mind  the  Winter.  As  my  whole  gar¬ 
den  gets  a  heavy  manure  mulch  in  the 
Fall,  this  doubtless  had  something  to 
do  with  their  wintering.  Blit  I  have  ‘al¬ 
ways  found  that  the  Dahlias  keep  better 
here  buried  outside  than  put  in  a  collar. 
I  usually  make  a  shallow  pit  and  pack 
the  roots  in  closely,  and  cover  thickly 
with  old  papers,  and  then  mound  the  soil 
well  over  them.  Last  Fall  I  treated  the 
greater  part  of  my  (’annas  in  this  way 
and  they  came  out  in  the  Spring  in  much 
better  shape  than  those  in  the  cellar. 
In  our  light  soil  the  geraniums  that 
are  used  so  generally  for  bedding  in  the 
North  are  perfectly  worthless  for  this 
purpose,  and  I  grow  them  only  in  pots 
and  porch  boxes.  The  Begonia  Vernon 
beds  out  beautifully  and  blooms  freely 
all  Summer.  The  foliage  turns  a  rich 
reddish  bronze  in  the  sun,  though  green 
in  the  greenhouse.  Lust  Summer  I  saved 
a  lot  of  the  seed,  and  grew  my  stock  of 
plants  for  Spring  bedding  from  seed. 
There  were  a  few  white-flowering  plants 
of  the  same  species  in  the  bed.  and  there 
seems  to  be  some  natural  crossing,  for 
while  the  majority  are  the  true  Vernon 
I  have  a  number  of  plants  with  pink 
flowers,  and  leaves  that  only  turn  half 
bronze,  for  the  pure  white  variety  keeps 
green  foliage  in  Summer.  These  cross¬ 
bred  plants  turn  the  outer  part  of  the 
leaf  bronze  and  the  half  next  the  stem 
keeps  green. 
I  am  trying  some  tuberous  Begonias 
planted  in  a  cold  frame.  1  have  made  a 
frame  to  carry  the  sashes  about  three 
feet  above  the  frame,  and  will  slightly 
shade  the  glass.  Most  of  the  plants  will 
be  kept  in  the  shaded  greenhouse  to 
bloom,  in  pots,  but  having  a  quantity  of 
the  tubers  I  thought  to  try  them  out. 
Years  ago  1  had  the  old  hardy  tuberous 
Begonia  Evansiana,  but  it  seems  to  have 
disappeared  from  the  catalogues,  and  I 
would  like  to  get.  it  again.  I  once  had 
a  bed  planted  ill  early  tulips,  and  be¬ 
tween  these  the  tubers  of  this  hardy  Be¬ 
gonia.  This  was  in  a  section  where  we 
had  zero  weather  every  Winter,  but  these 
Begonias  never  suffered.  The  tulips 
bloomed  first,  and  by  llo*  time  they  were 
over,  tile  Begonias  began  to  start,  and 
Inter  the  bed  was  a  mass  of  pink  bloom 
and  the  foliage  was  broad  and  showy. 
This  Begonia  became  very  plentiful  in 
greenhouses,  for  it  makes  little  tubers  in 
the  axils  of  the  leaves  which  drop  about 
and  grow.  I  do  not  know  why  it  seems 
to  have  dropped  out,  for  it  is  a  very  use¬ 
ful  bedding  plant. 
I  have  a  hod  of  about  75  plants  of  the 
spotted-leaf  call  a.  These  plants  bloom 
nicely  every  Summer.  They  are  hardy 
here,  but  1  lift,  them  in  the  Fall  to  in¬ 
crease  them,  as  we  can  cut  them  to 
eyes  in  the-  Spring  just  like  Irish  pota¬ 
toes.  The  first  one  that  bloomed  this 
Spring  came  with  a  double  flower,  a  sort 
of  hose-in-ho.se,  two-ca]In  spathes  point¬ 
ing  in  opposite  directions.  I  have  had 
this  freak  at  times  with  the  Itiehardia 
Africans  in  the  greenhouse,  but  never 
before  on  the  Summer  calla. 
One  of  the  prettiest  ohjects  hero  is 
a  hedge  of  Spinea  Van  llouttei.  It  Is 
a  sight  worth  going  a  good  way  to  see 
when  in  bloom,  and  makes  a  far  prettier 
hedge  than  the  privet  so  much  used. 
When  the  bloom  fades  the  hedge  is  clow - 
ly  sheared,  and  puts  out  a  splendid 
growth  for  another  season’s  flowering. 
Nearby  is  a  plant  of  the  white  Weigcla, 
which  just  now,  after  the  Spinea  has  fad¬ 
ed,  is  making  a  splendid  show  of  bloom, 
and  a  red  one,  Eva  llathke,  is  just  un¬ 
folding  its  blood-red  flower.  One  of  the 
prettiest  shrubs  now  in  bloom  is  the 
old  Deutzia  gracilis.  For  a  small  shrub 
on  the  outer  border  of  the  shrubbery 
there  is  nothing  finer,  for  it  never  makes 
the  big  coarse  bush  that  Deutzia  crenata 
does. 
Along  a  woven  wire  fence  I  Have  a 
row  of  Meehan’s  Marvel  mallows,  which 
make  a  mass  taller  than  the  fence,  hut 
can  be  tied-  up  to  it  to  keep  them  from 
sprawling,  and  when  the  great  flowers 
open  they  make  a  wonderful  show  of 
red,  pink  and  white  flowers  larger  than 
saucers.  As  they  make  an  abundance 
of  seed,  and  vary  a  great  deal  from  seed 
it  is  an  interesting  plant  to  grow,  and 
they  make  a  fine  background  for  lower- 
growing  plants  like  King  Humbert 
Cannas. 
We  are  getting  our  usual  few  flowers 
on  the  early  peonies,  and  I  wish  that 
some  means  could  be  devised  that  would 
enable  us  to  get  the  bloom  I  have  seen 
and  had  northward.  The  late  ones  sel¬ 
dom  give  us  any  flowers,  for  the  buds 
simply  dry  up.  Getting  a  splendid 
growth  of  the  plants  it  would  seem  that 
we  should  get  some  flowers,  but  they  are 
always  scanty,  even  the  earlier  ones 
making  not.  over  half  a  dozen  blooms  to 
a  plant.  w.  f.  massey. 
Trees  Fail  to  Grow 
T  am  having  trouble  with  cherry  trees, 
in  getting  them  to  grow.  I  have  planted 
two-year-old  trees  from  the  nursery  in 
good  growing  condition,  in  April,  and 
they  started  to  grow  nicely,  but  in  a  few 
weeks  they  withered  and  died.  1  could 
not  see  any  reason  for  this,  as  they  were 
carefully  planted  and  growing  conditions 
looked  favorable.  Is  there  any  remedy 
for  this  trouble?  O.  C.  B. 
Jacob's  Greek,  Pa. 
If  it  were  possible  for  you  to  visit  the 
nursery,  select  your  trees  from  those 
standing  in  the  nursery  row,  and  protect 
them  from  exposure  to  sun  and  wind  un¬ 
til  they  were  transplanted  in  the  orchard; 
the  chances  of  their  growing  would  he 
much  more  sure.  Some  nurserymen  are 
very  careless  and  indifferent  about  ex¬ 
posing  the  roots  of  trees  to  sun  and  air 
after  digging.  Most,  of  the  large  con¬ 
cerns  make  a  practice  of  digging  large 
quantities  of  salable  trees  in  the  Fall, 
for  delivery  the  following  Spring.  These 
trees  arc  heeled  in  a  trench  or  are 
stored  away  in  a  cool  cellar  until  Spring, 
when  they  are  sold  and  delivered  to  their 
customers.  If  these  Fall-dug  trees  are 
allowed  to  remain  exposed  to  the  sun 
and  air  for  a  considerable  period,  as 
they  frequently  are,  the  fibrous  roots  and 
possibly  the  main  roots  will  suffer  much 
injury.  When  those  trees  are  taken  out 
in  the  following  Spring  they  are  prob¬ 
ably  exposed  to  sun  and  air  again,  be¬ 
fore  being  packed,  which  does  more  in¬ 
jury.  When  the  purchaser  receives  them 
they  are  subjected  in  almost  every  in¬ 
stance  to  a  third  exposure,  which  in 
many  eases  completed  the  job  of  de¬ 
struction.  While  the  roots  may  not  bo 
killed  outright  by  this  series  of  exposures 
to  sun  and  air,  theil*  vitality  has  been 
so  weakened  they  will  never  recover 
from  it.  The  tree  may  make  a  feeble 
effort  to  grow,  drawing  upon  the  stored 
moisture  in  the  body  and  roots,  but  when 
this  is  exhausted  the  few  leaves  it  has 
put  forth  wither  and  die,  the  tree  yield¬ 
ing  to  the  inevitable,  because  it  was  un¬ 
able  to  absorb  life-giving  elements 
through  ils  natural  feeding  and  drinking 
organs,  the  roots.  IC. 
“That’S  a  fine  machine  you’ve  got,  old 
man.  What  did  you  do  with  the  little 
car  you  had  last  year?”  “Oh,  I  swopped 
it  for  a  pint  of  gasoline.” — Chicago  Tri¬ 
bune. 
Ask  for  Cata¬ 
log  No.  274. 
Tho  spec  fu  I 
■Impp  UmiI.Ii  rut 
tin*  wi’OiJn  elotMi 
to  Hi u  hill  nnrl 
•  In  Dot  I'uvnr 
Un<  crop  vvUb 
oftttn.  40  yintra 
actual  fmrvl'ic . 
Ken  I  whue  I  fuoitiifK’Cl  if  dualretf. 
CLIP  YOUR  WEEDS 
with  a  COLT 
W  ood  Beam 
Cultivator 
BATAVIA  CLA  IMP  COMPANY.  215  Center  S>..  Batavia,  N.Y. 
CRIMSON  CLOVER 
The  great  soil  improver  and  valuable 
for  early  green  food,  grazing  and  hay 
crop.  Special  circular  free,  also  sample 
and  price  of  seed  sent  on  request. 
Alfalfa 
High-grade  American  grown  seed. 
Write  for  sample  and  price  of  seed,  also 
a  copy  of  our  Alfalfa  Leaflet,  free.  If 
in  need  of  Farm  Seeds  of  any  kind, 
please  write  to  us  for  prices. 
HENRY  A.  DREER 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania 
BINDER  TWINE 
THKO.  HURT  As  SONS 
;r  agents  wanted, 
our  samples  and  ju  ices. 
Melrose,  Ohio 
DAHLIAS: 
«  i  uuiCJI 
varieties.  Cactus,  decorative 
anil  show,  12  1or$1.  CANNAS: 
A  tine  collection  of  Bronze  a  ini  Green  Lea  ved,  lu  for 
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BY  EXPRESS  OR  MAIL  PREPAID  TO  NEW 
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F'nr  Aiifru.t  mill  Full  plmitlne.  Kntiinir  mill  Pot-eronu  plants 
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III  IIKY  Pl.t  M'S,  I  1(1  IT  TURKS,  o,tul"ttu.!/r*e. 
Harry  L.  Squires.  Renuetthorg,  N.Y. 
Plants,  Strawberries  and  Vegetables  t  £ e*e  «ned* 
xtrnwburrios.  including  Everbearing.  t;,.i  rny  cam- 
log  Head  why  1  soil  olioii’u  plants,  -unit  prepaid,  at 
hall  tlm  price  of  others.  C  E,  flllU,  Sewell,  N.  J 
Tomato,  Cabbage  and  Celery 
10.000.  Send  for  list.  WM.  RILEY,  Torresdale,  Phila.,  Pa. 
VEGETABLE  PLANTS  P0.T2T„°;  Pt.PPfR'  cauliflower. 
nutiHULElLAnid  cubhace  ano  egg  plants. 
Oabhagn,  $1  per  1,000;  10.000,  18, Mt.  UAtaloKue  free 
M  I C II A  K  L  In'  HOKUO  -  Vineland,  N.J. 
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mure,  fiend  for  our  price  list  of  all  kinds  of  plants. 
ROMANCE  SEED  ANO  PUN!  fARM,  Caleb  Bogiji  &  Son,  Cheswold.  Del. 
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Cabbage,  Beets,  Celery  Plants  ‘iVooo-  $1i8.r,o 
p«r  10,000.  Tomato  Haute— Id  50  per  1,000.  ’Sweet 
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SWEET  POTATO  PLANTS 
Early  Carolina,  Marly  Golden,  Up  Rivera.  Big  Stem 
Jersey,  Yellow  and  Rod  Jersey.  Nancy  Hall,  and 
Southern  Queen,  ft, 000 or  more,  $1.25  per  1,01)0.  1,000. 
¥1.50.  100.  postpaid  ,'!5e.  For  the  past  twenty  years  • 
have  made  a  specialty  of  selecting,  and  propagation 
«f  tint  Sweet,  Potato.  Can  guarantee  you  strong, 
healthy  plant*,  prompt  shipment,  and  good  order 
delivery.  Descriptive  lint  free.  H.  AUSTIN.  Felton,  Del. 
T^OP  DRESS  all  your 
*  Crops  with  Nitrate 
of  Soda  alone,  no  matter 
what  other  fertilizers  you 
may  have  used.  100 
pounds  to  the  acre  for 
seeded,  and  200  pounds 
to  the  acre  for  cultivated 
crops  will  do  the  work. 
The  increase  will  yield 
large  profits  over  the  cost. 
Write  on  post  card  for  OUT 
money  making  book a 
WILLIAM  S.  MYERS,  Director 
25  Madison  Avenue.  New  York 
3,000,000  Sweet  Potato  Plants  rs£fiu  ^/“y. 
(.Old  Skin,  Horner,  Southern  Qneun,  Vineland  lm' 
proved  at  FI  per  I, (Hill.  Orey  Orowder  <’nw  Pens, 
*1.111  porbuahel.  C.K.  l!rovvn,  Hridgevillo,  Del. 
Builds  Worn  Out  Soil,  lias 
higher  proton  conDuit  than  alfalfa. 
Wrlt/s  for  price n  uml  information. 
E.  Barton,  Box  29,  Falmouth,  Ky. 
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