1002 
73 'he  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Liquid  Manure  as  a  Plant  Food 
The  economic  importance  of  liquid  ma¬ 
nure  or  “manure  water"’  as  a  plant  food 
has  not  as  yet.  been  fully  recognized  by 
many  of  our  florists,  gardeners,  and  far¬ 
mers.  It  often  exercises  specific  favorable 
effects  on  certain  plants  and  flowers 
which  could  not  be  obtained  in  any  other 
way,  and  as  an  item  of  economy  a  small 
quantity  of  manure  may  be  made  to  go 
very  much  further;  growers  of  flowers 
and  plants  not  owning  cattle  or  poultry 
will  readily  appreciate  this.  All  kinds  of 
quick  growing,  heavily-rooted  plants  that 
require  a  rich  soil  to  stimulate  rapid 
growth,  or  maintain  an  abundance  of  foli¬ 
age  may  be  greatly  benefited  by  the  ap¬ 
plication  of  liquid  manure,  and  it.  is  par¬ 
ticularly  beneficial  to  greenhouse  potted 
plants  that,  have  become  impoverished. 
The  different  kinds  of  manure  may  be 
used  in  its  preparation  :  occasionally  one 
kind  seems  to  be  more  suitable  for  a  cer¬ 
tain  plant  or  flower  than  another. 
Peonies,  geraniums,  boxwoods,  bay  trees, 
flowering  shrubs  and  plants  are  greatly 
benefited  by  its  use.  Cow  manure  is  to 
he  preferred  for  roses;  carnations  and 
other  greenhouse  plants,  do  well  with 
either  horse  or  cow  manure.  Ferns  do  not 
like  manure,  and  are  better  enriched  with 
good  leaf  mold  from  the  woods. 
The  opinions  of  florists  differ  as  to 
whether  best  results  are  obtained  by  using 
fresh  or  well-rotted  manure.  The  writer 
believes  that  it  makes  little  difference 
which  is  used  so  long  as  it  is  properly 
diluted  before  applying  it. 
Directions  For  Making:  There  are 
several  different  ways  of  preparing  it, 
and  one  must  be  governed  by  conditions 
prevailing;  for  the  florist  or  gardener  do¬ 
ing  a  small  business  the  following  plan 
would  probably  be  most  suitable :  Select 
a  wooden,  water-tight  barrel  which  will 
hold  45  or  50  gallons,  remove  the  head 
and  put  in  the  barrel  a  burlap  sack  con¬ 
taining  about  one  bushel  of  manure.  Fill 
the  barrel  with  water — rain  water  is  best 
— and  allow  the  manure  to  soak  for  several 
days.  The  manure  should  he  tied  secure¬ 
ly  in  the  bag.  Put  a  stick  across  the  top 
of  the  barrel  and  suspend  the  bag  from  it. 
Before  removing  the  hag  press  all  mois¬ 
ture  possible  from  it  while  tied  up.  The 
barrel  may  be  raised  from  the  ground 
about  one  foot  and  the  liquid  portion  be 
drawn  from  a  spigot  at  the  side  near  the 
bottom,  or  the  water  may  he  dipped  out 
from  the  top, 
English  gardeners  use  a  bucket  sus¬ 
pended  in  the  barrel,  its  sides  and  bot¬ 
tom  having  been  punched  full  of  holes 
about  the  size  of  a  pencil.  A  close-fitting 
lid  of  wood  or  tin  covers  it;  this  is  also 
punched  full  of  boles,  and  is  tied  down  so 
that  the  contents  will  not  escape  when 
the  bucket  is  submerged  The  bucket  or 
bag  should  be  moved  occasionally  to  cir¬ 
culate  the  liquid. 
For  farmers,  gardeners  or  florists  using 
this  manure  in  large  quantities,  a  sunken 
concrete  tank  could  be  made  at  some  con¬ 
venient  location.  A  cover  should  he  placed 
over  it,  as  considerable  odor  will  develop. 
The  manure  may  be  screened  off  in  one 
side  of  the  tank  with  a  wire  partition, 
and  the  solution  pumped  from  the  screeu- 
ed-off  portion  of  the  tank. 
Application  :  If  your  plants  are  in  a 
healthy  and  good  growing  condition  with 
good  root  action  a  watering  with  this  ma¬ 
nure  once  a  week  will  be  of  benefit ;  later 
once  in  two  weeks  will  be  sufficient.  Use 
approximately  half  a  gallon  to  a  good- 
sized  plant. 
It.  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that  the 
following  cautious  should  be  observed  to 
obtain  the  best  results: 
1.  The  ground  should  be  moist  when 
the  liquid  manure  is  used. 
2.  Never  apply  it  too  strong  as  the 
effect  will  be  detrimental  instead  of  bene¬ 
ficial.  It  is  a  safe  rule  to  dilute  it  to  the 
color  of  weak  tea  before  using  It  is  bet¬ 
ter  to  use  it  in  weaker  solutions  and  np- 
ply  more  frequently. 
3.  A  fertilizer  should  not  he  used 
with  a  dormant  plant ;  wait  until  the 
leaves  are  well  started  and  then  the 
plants  can  make  use  of  the  additional  food 
material. 
4.  It  should  not.  come  in  direct  con¬ 
tact  with  the  roots.  The  roots  should  be 
well  covered  with  earth  and  the  manure 
water  should  sink  down  through  it.  It. 
should  never  he  sprayed  upon  the  foliage 
of  the  plants. 
I f  the  above  conditions  are  observed 
liquid  manure  may  be  used  without  any 
fear  of  doing  the  plant  injury  which  is 
often  the  case  with  some  commercial  fer¬ 
tilizers.  After  the  manure  water  has  been 
used  the  more  solid  portion  may  be  re¬ 
moved  from  the  barrel  and  used  as  a  top- 
dressing  for  raspberries,  blackberries,  or 
shrubbery.  The  rains  will  carry  the 
more  soluble  part  into  the  soil  about 
their  roots.  w.  A.  BOYD. 
Maryland. 
Biennial  Bearing  in  Apples  and  Pears 
Has  it  been  determined  what  is  the 
cause  of  the  “bearing  year”  of  fruit 
trees?  Last  year  there  were  very  few 
►Seckel  pears  anywhere — this  year  there 
was  full  bloom.  There  was  not  even 
the  bloom  last  year.  it.  p.  b. 
We  cannot  tell  H.  P.  B.  the  cause  nor 
the  remedy  for  biennial  hearing.  This 
taking  every  other  year  off  is  a  common 
and  seemingly  unpreventable  drawback  to 
the  profitable  culture  of  the  varieties  born 
to  or  that  have  acquired  the  biennial 
bearing  habit.  One  may  figuratively  and 
literally  obey  the  Biblical  injunction  to 
“dig  about  arid  dung  the  trees,"  and  yet 
they  persist  in  fruiting  one  year  and  rest¬ 
ing  the  next. 
A  good  deal  of  attention  has  been 
given  to  this  defect  in  apples  and  pears 
by  both  orehardists  and  experimenters. 
Some  bold  that  the  alternating  years 
come  about  through  heavy  crops  which 
exhaust  the  tree's  energies  so  greatly 
that  a  light  crop  or  barrenness  follows. 
This,  however,  can  he  hut  partly  true. 
All  call  to  mind  two,  three  or  four  heavy 
crops  of  some  varieties,  after  which  the 
trees  settle  down  to  bearing  every  other 
year. 
Thinning  is  often  proposed  as  a  rem¬ 
edy  for  overbearing  but  it  proves  of  small 
value  in  most  cases  in  preventing  the  off- 
year.  Nor  does  pruning  seem  to  alter  the 
condition  greatly.  There  are  on  record 
several  experiments  in  which  blossoms 
have  been  stripped  from  the  treps  during 
the  bearing  year  to  cause  the  setting  of 
fruit  the  next  year.  The  trees  so  treat¬ 
ed  have  usually  borne  some  fruit  the  off- 
year,  but  the  treatment  has  seldom  given 
a  satisfactory  crop  in  t bo  year  of  little 
fruit.  Nor  is  biennial  bearing  a  matter 
of  food  supply.  Many  orchards  amply 
supplied  with  food  habitually  alternate 
their  crops.  Peculiarities  of  climate 
probably  have  something  to  do  with  this 
condition,  but  do  uot  wholly  account  for 
it. 
Eliminating  all  of  the  factors  men¬ 
tioned — admitting,  however,  that  all  have 
some  influence  on  the  bearing  habit — 
we  must  conclude  that  fruitfulness  al¬ 
ternating  with  barrenness  in  apples  and 
pears  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  species. 
Thorough  cultivation,  an  ample  supply 
of  food  at  all  times,  careful  attention  to 
pruning  and  training,  proper  control  of 
pests  and  systematic  thinning  are  all 
means  which  can  be  used  to  some  extent 
to  circumvent  nature  but  which  all  com¬ 
bined  may  fail  to  bring  good  crops  every 
year.  u.  p.  Hedrick, 
Geneva,  N.  Y.,  Exp.  Station 
Exterminating  Star  of  Bethlehem 
How  can  I  exterminate  the  pest  in 
the  lawn  called  ‘‘Star  of  Bethlehem?" 
The  ‘renter  that  was  on  the  farm  lust 
Winter  had  the  hogs  in  the  lawn;  it.  is 
all  rooted  up.  There  are  patches  of  the 
Star  of  Bethlehem  all  over  the  ground : 
it  has  white  bulbs,  is  a  very  persistent 
grower.  If  a  bulb  was  stepped  on  it 
would  press  it  in  the  ground  so  it  would 
grow.  How  can  I  destroy  it? 
Camden,  O.  H.  A.  M. 
This  is  rather  a  large  genus  of  bulbous 
plants,  native  of  Southern  Europe  and 
the  western  section  of  Asia.  A  number 
of  the  species  are  hardy  and  grow  and 
increase  so  freely  as  to  become  a  great 
nuisance;  this  is  particularly  true  of 
the  species  Ornithogalum  umbellatum, 
the  pretty  little  Star  of  Bethlehem  that 
has  become  naturalized  in  the  meadows 
and  lawns  in  many  sections  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  and  has  taken  complete  possession 
of  them.  On  account  of  the  nature  of 
the  plant,  there  has  been  no  way  of  erad¬ 
icating  if  discovered  (that  the  writer  is 
aware  of)  except  to  dig  it  out.  and  carry 
the  bulbs  off  the  land.  The  work,  how¬ 
ever,  must,  be  done  in  a  thorough  man¬ 
ner,  or  in  a  few  years  it  will  have  be¬ 
come  as  numerous  as  ever.  K. 
EVENTS  OF  THE  WEEK 
DOMESTIC. — July  6  a  young  man 
bathing  at  Spring  Lake.  N.  .T..  was  at¬ 
tacked  by  a  shark,  both  legs  being  bitten 
off.  He  died  10  minutes  after  being 
rescued.  A  week  before  a  young  man 
bathing  at  Beach  Haven.  N.  .L.  was 
attacked  in  the  same  way,  dying  from  his 
injuries.  At  Asbury  Turk.  July  7, 
motor  boats  laden  with  armed  men  put 
out  from  the  most  of  the  resorts  along 
the  Jersey  shore  to  protect  bathers 
at  bathing  beaches.  If  any  shark  is 
sighted  it  will  be  shot  at.  but  it  is 
thought  that  the  chugging  of  the  motors 
will  keep  them  far  from  the  sands. 
Some  places  along  the  bathing  beach  are 
being  inclosed  with  wire  netting  strong 
enough,  it  is  thought,  to  stop  the  largest 
shark.  The  bathers  have  been  greatly 
reduced  in  number. 
While  swimming  in  a  ereek  near 
Houghton,  N.  Y.,  July  6,  Carl  Hughes 
of  Aferiea.  <  slipped  from  the  embank¬ 
ment  into  quicksand  and  was  drowned 
before  bis  companions  could  offer  any 
assistance. 
Commissioner  of  Correction  Burdette 
G.  Lewis  of  New  York,  issued  an  order 
July  (1  to  wardens  of  prisons  under  him 
to  ask  for  volunteers  among  the  inmates 
for  a  regiment  to  serve  in  Mexico  if  there 
is  a  call.  This  is  the  first  time  a  regi¬ 
ment  of  prisoners  has  been  even  planned. 
A  law  prohibits  enlistment  of  convicts 
in  the  United  States  array.  In  case  of  a 
call  for  volunteers.  Commissioner  Lewis 
will  ask  the  War  Department  to  waive 
this  law  for  bis  regiment.  All  told  there 
are  about  3.500  inmates  in  the  five  peni¬ 
tentiaries  and  workhouses  under  his  jur¬ 
isdiction.  Many  of  the  keepers  have  had 
military  (raining,  and  would  drill  the 
volunteers. 
D.  A.  Kent,  formerly  a  professor  at 
the  State  Agricultural  College  at  Ames, 
Iowa,  and  two  of  bis  ranch  employees 
have  been  killed  in  Texas  by  Mexican 
raiders.  Two  years  ago  Prof.  Kent  went 
to  Donna,  Tex.,  where  he  owned  a  large 
ranch. 
July  5-6  a  hurricane  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  swept  over  parts  of  Louisiana, 
Alabama.  Mississippi  and  Florida.. 
Damage  in  Mobile  to  buildings  and  other 
property  was  estimated  at  about  .$50,000, 
and  merchants'  stocks  were  said  to  have 
been  injured  by  wind  and  water  about 
$50,000  additional.  The  negro  ward  of 
the  City  Hospital  was  torn  away,  but  the 
patients  were  removed  to  safety.  The 
Mobile  yacht  club  building  was  destroy¬ 
ed,  as  were  the  fences  and  portions  of 
the  bleachers  and  grandstand  of  the 
Southern  Association  Baseball  ('In’h.  The 
Louisville  and  Nashville  shops  were 
partially  Unroofed.  The  Baptist  church 
at  Waynesboro.  Miss,,  was  destroyed. 
According  to  Teports  reaching  Mobile  the 
following  vessels  were  lost  or  beached  in 
coming  into  the  bay  from  the  gulf : 
Schooner  A.  I..  Mangold,  crew  saved; 
schooner  Nora  Belle,  crew  missing:  Bay 
Backet  James  A.  Carney,  sunk  and  the 
packet  Apollo  slightly  damaged.  Near 
the  wreckage  of  the  Nora  Belle  was 
found  the  stem  of  a  schooner,  the  only 
identification  mark  being  the  words 
“Moss  Point."  The  Louisville  and 
Nashville  Railroad  bridge  across  Escam¬ 
bia  Bay,  near  Pensacola,  was  washed 
away.  The  bridge  is  about  three  miles 
long.  Train  service  to  Pensacola  from 
the  east  will  be  suspended  for  several 
weeks. 
The  Marine  and  Fisheries  Department 
of  Canada.  July  10,  presented  engraved 
watches  to  the  crow  of  the  United  States 
fishing  schooner  Josie  and  Phoebe,  which 
rescued  the  Canadian  waterlogged 
schooner  Harry  of  Cape  Sable  on  May 
23.  1015,  after  the  sailors  hod  been  72 
hours  without  food  or  water. 
July  10,  new  cases  of  infantile  paral¬ 
ysis  in  New  York  State  outside  of  the 
city  numbered  10.  nine  of  them  being 
being  children  sent  up-State  front 
Brooklyn.  Complaint  was  made  that 
children  from  infected  districts  were 
being  sent  up-State. 
The  United  States  Public  Health 
Service  has  promulgated  a  regulation 
which  require  thorough  cleaning  of  all 
interstate  passenger  coaches  leaving  New 
Ydrk.  Other  orders  also  will  be  issued 
intended  to  prevent  the  spread  of  in¬ 
fantile  paralysis.  An  appropriation  <4 
$100,000  to  aid  in  the  fight  was  asked 
in  a  resolution  introueed  in  the  House 
on  July  10  by  Representative  Griffith  of 
New  York, 
WASHINGTON.— The  Senate.  July 
10,  passed  the  resolution  turning  over 
to  the  municipal  authorities  in  New 
York  the  use  of  the  hospital  and  inspec¬ 
tion  facilities  of  Ellis  Island  to  check  the 
spread  of  infantile  paralysis. 
The  resolution  was  called  up  by  Sen- 
July  22,  191G. 
ntor  O’Gorman  and  was  unopposed.  The 
city  is  required  to  reimburse  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  for  any  loss  or  damage  to  the 
property  resulting  from  its  use  by  the 
city. 
The  Democratic  revenue  bill,  designed 
to  raise  approximately  $200,000,000  ad¬ 
ditional  revenue,  passed  the  House  July 
10  by  a  vote  of  240  to  140.  Democratic 
members  voted  solidly  for  the  bill,  and  39 
Republicans  and  1  independent  supported 
it.  The  minority  succeeded  in  amending 
the  bill  in  several  particulars,  but  no 
vital  change  was  made  in  any  section  ex¬ 
cept  that  relating  to  the  levy  of  special 
internal  revenue  taxes.  The  House 
struck  out  the  tax  on  bankers.  As  re¬ 
ported,  the  bill  carried  a  tax  on  bankers 
of  $1  per  thousand  of  capital,  surplus 
and  undivided  profits.  Several  changes 
were  made  in  the  tariff  commission  sec¬ 
tion.  The  salaries  of  the  commissioners 
were  redueed  from  $10,00(1  to  $7,500, 
and  the  prohibition  against  former  mem¬ 
bers  of  Congress  serving  on  the  commis¬ 
sion  was  eliminated.  During  the  debate 
Representative  Hill,  Connecticut,  sought 
to  increase  the  duties  on  dyestuffs.  Llis 
effort  failed,  but  be  asserted  that  the 
arrival  at  Baltimore  of  the  Deutschland 
with  a  cargo  of  dyes  indicated  the  deter¬ 
mination  of  Germany  to  retain  the  con¬ 
trol  of  the  dyestuffs  industry. 
The  decision  of  Judge  10.  S.  Thomas 
of  the  Federal  District  Court  of  Con¬ 
necticut,  handed  down  February  8, 
last,  that  the  interest  of  $30,000  depos¬ 
ited  in  the  Danbury  hank  by  ISO  de¬ 
fendants  in  the  famous  Danbury  halters’ 
boycott  case,  belongs  to  the  defendants, 
has  been  affirmed  with  modifications  by 
Judges  Coxc,  Rogers  and  Hand,  sitting 
in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals.  D.  E. 
Lowe  &  Co.,  who  obtained  a  judgment  <4 
$252,139  against,  the  batters,  contended 
in  a  suit  against  the  Danbury  bank  that 
they  were  entitled  to  all  interest  that 
has  accrued  since  the  attachments  were 
made  13  years  ago. 
The  State  of  New  Jersey  started  a 
proceeding  before  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  July  10  that  will  result 
in  an  investigation  of  the  entire  subject 
of  railroad  terminals,  lighterage  and 
freight  rates  of  the  harbor  in  and  around 
New  York.  The  proceeding  is  looked  on 
by  officials  of  the  commission  as  exceed¬ 
ingly  important,  as  it.  involves  practically 
the  entire  field  of  railroad  transportation 
in  New  York.  New  Jersey,  through  a  com¬ 
mittee  on  ways  and  means  appointed  by 
Gov.  Fielder,  and  Board  of  Navigation  of 
New  Jersey  and  organizations  of  Newark, 
Jersey  City,  Hoboken,  Woehuwken  and 
other  shore  cities,  charges  that  rates  and 
regulations  now  in  force  discriminate  in 
favor  (4  the  New  York  side.  The  Jersey 
side,  they  contend  is  being  charged  extra 
for  terminal  services  on  shipments  from 
the  West,  particularly  a  charge  of  $2  a 
car  for  reconsign incnt  service  from  the 
New  Jersey  terminals  to  any  point  in 
Now  York  harbor.  Free  storage  service 
granted  at  the  terminals  in  New  York 
but  denied  on  the  Jersey  side  is  also 
asked. 
FARM  AND  GARDEN— The  Pater¬ 
son,  N.  J„  Poultry  Association  will  hold 
its  annual  poultry  show  Nov.  21-25;  Dr. 
Gilbert  Johnston,  secy.- tram. 
The  executive  committee  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Live  Stock  Shippers’  Protective 
League  met,  July  6,  at  Chicago.  The  ob¬ 
ject  of  the  meeting  was  to  perfect  the  or¬ 
ganization  and  protect  the  interests  of 
Shippers  in  relation  to  railway  rates,  ser¬ 
vice  and  rules.  The  committee  endorsed 
the  Cummings  amendment  to  the  inter¬ 
state  commerce  law,  which  plans  io  re¬ 
lieve  shippers  from  declaring  valuation 
of  their  live  stock  and  to  prevent  rail¬ 
ways  from  limiting  their  liability  when 
stock  is  injured  or  destroyed.  The  rail¬ 
roads  have  placed  in  their  tariffs  a  $75 
liability  limit  on  cattle,  for  instance,  and 
in  ease  they  kill  purebred  cattle  worth 
double  that  they  don’t  have  to  pay  over 
$75  unless  they  get  a  two  per  cent  in¬ 
crease  in  freight  rate  for  every  50  per 
cent,  increase  in  valuation. 
The  Nassau  County,  N.  Y..  Farm  Bu¬ 
reau  will  hold  a  farmers’  picnic  at  i 
Fair  Grounds,  Mineolu,  N.  Y..  July  22. 
MEXICO. — Gen.  Callcs.  July  10,  ad¬ 
vised  heads  of  American  mining  com¬ 
panies  operating  in  Sonora  that  he  had 
received  a  telegram  from  Gen.  Obregon, 
Carranza’s  Minister  of  War,  saying  that 
all  danger  of  war  with  the  United  States 
had  passed.  Gen.  Obregon  ordered 
Gallos  to  expedite  the  return  of  all 
Americans  operating  mines  or  ranches  in 
his  territory  and  to  give  them  every 
guaranty  of  safety  for  themselves  and 
their  property. 
Ynqtii  Indians,  taking  advantage  of  the 
withdrawal  of  Mexican  troops  from  south¬ 
ern  Sonora,  are  reported  at  Mazatlau  to 
have  crossed  the  Yaqui  River  aud  in¬ 
vaded  the  lands  of  American  settlers  and 
the  Richardson  Construction  Company. 
They  are  said  to  have  devastated  all 
property  except  the  company’s  bead- 
quarters  at  Kspernnza,  where  a  Mexican 
garrison  is  maintained. 
J.  C.  Hays,  manager  of  the  ITearst 
ranch  at  Bnbieora,  July  10,  reported  that 
the  ranch  had  ’been  taken  over  by  the 
comma n der  of  the  Carranza  garrison  in 
the  district,  and  that  the  property  is  now 
being  operated  for  the  Carranza  Govern¬ 
ment  by  a  manager  installed  by  the  mili¬ 
tary  authorities.  Hays  left  Babieora  at 
the  time  the  American  forces  quit  Nanii- 
quipa  for  the  north,  bringing  110  horses 
as  far  as  Galonna,  to  save  them  from 
seizure  by  Carranza  troops,  who  were 
corning  to  occupy  the  territory  aband¬ 
oned  by  the  American  expedition. 
