G/m?  RURAL  NEW-YORKER  1047 
ridges,  where  the  loose  soil  is  scraped  into  the  prospective  buyers  happy  when  they  lift  the  barrel 
ridge,  than  from  the  loose  soil  in  the  ridge  itself,  on  the  market  to  find  out  how  much  spinach  the 
after  the  potato  tops  have  made  considerable  growth,  barrel  contains.  Spinach  sown  about  August  22nd 
We  are  throwing  up  a  small,  narrow  ridge  and  keep-  will  never  holt  to  seed.  After  it  has  attained  full 
ing  the  middles  cultivated.  It  may  he  all  true  that  size  it  will  stand  there  and  wait  until  it  is  cut. 
the  use  of  the  potato  hiller  causes  loss  of  moisture.  Cold  weather  in  October  or  early  November  does 
and  when  carelessly  used  cuts  the  crop.  But  with  not  hurt  it.  however,  cutting  should  not  start  any 
the  shortage  of  farm  labor,  it  would  he  out  of  the  day  until  the  frost  is  out  of  it. 
question  for  many  farmers  to  grow  potatoes  to  any  STOIONO  FOR  WINTER. — Late  in  November  or 
extent  without  it,  as  -weeds  in  a  potato  patch  pump  just  before  the  ground  freezes  solid,  the  spinach 
water  as  badly  as  the  ridges.  I  have  been  an  advo-  may  he  cut,  when  it  is  dry  and  crisp.  In  this  eon- 
cate  of  nearly  level  culture  for  potatoes,  hut  there  dition  it  may  lie  placed  very  loosely  in  barrels  or 
are  times  when  we  have  to  go  against  the  theories  hampers  and  hauled  to  the  packing  house.  There 
and  face  facts  in  the  shape  of  unfavorable  weather  these  barrels  or  hampers  may  be  piled  in  heaps,  all 
conditions  to  handle  a  crop  as  we  would  like,  and  containers  lying  down.  The  building  should  then 
when  this  crop  happens  to  be  a  potato  field  and  be  closed  up  to  prevent  the  air  from  blowing  upon 
other  work  pressing,  the  relief  that  a  carefully  ban-  the  spinach.  The  spinach  will  keep  splendidly  in 
this  way  for  a  few  weeks,  provided  it 
was  thoroughly  dry  when  cut,  loosely 
packed  and  kept  from  the  air.  The 
storage  should  not  be  heated  because 
Farm,  Ottawa,  who  states  that  this  kelp  contains 
1.54G  per  cent,  of  potash,  or  31  pounds  in  a  ton  of 
the  fresh  material.  At  50  cents  per  pound  actual 
potash,  this  makes  fresh  kelp  worth  $15.50  per  ton. 
This  is  a  pretty  valuable  manure,  which  may  be 
obtained  freely  by  our  shore  farmers  for  the  labor 
of  carting.  In  the  dry  matter  of  kelp  there  is  13.20 
per  cent,  potash,  so  that  in  a  ton  of  this  dry  mat¬ 
ter  there  is  201  pounds,  worth  $132.  Kelp  also  con¬ 
tains  five  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  the  wet,  fresh  ma¬ 
terial,  worth  one  dollar  at  20  cents  a  pound. 
The  potash  in  kelp  is  readily  soluble;  the  potash 
in  seaweed  is  not  nearly  so  soluble.  Along  the 
North  Shore  here  most  of  the  farmers  have  their 
potatoes  in  kelp.  A  successful  potato-grower  here 
told  the  writer  this  Spring:  “I  find  kelp  twice  as 
good  for  potatoes  as  stable  manure.”  This  locality 
is  a  fine  section  for  potato-growing, 
and  the  abundance  of  this  highly  potas- 
sic  manure,  kelp,  is  no  doubt  the  why 
of  it,  though  the  soil  is  also  very  suit¬ 
able.  I  have  about  three-fourths  of 
our  potatoes  in  kelp  myself  this  year. 
.T.  A.  MACDONALD. 
Prince  Edward  Island. 
leaves.  During  December  the  spinach 
should  he  prepared  for  market  by  pick* 
MynaKttBn  ing  off  the  yellow  leaves  and  soaking 
it  in  water  until  it  freshens  up,  as 
good  as  if  just  cut.  This  process  of 
storing  is  quite  simple  for  one  who  has 
had  experience,  yet  it  is  unsatisfactory 
ferigSH  to  sit  here  and  try  to  describe  all  the 
details.  Therefore,  I  hope  that  the 
— - readers  of  Tins  K.  N.-Y.  will  try  it  on  a 
small  scale  at  first.  I  feel  sure  that  Fall 
spinach  would  prove  to  he  a  most 
profitable  crop.  Anyone  who  grows  it  and  holds 
part  of  it  by  storage,  as  outlined  above,  should  cer¬ 
tainly  get  fancy  prices  for  it,  especially  in  those 
small  town  markets  out  of  reach  of  the  Virginia 
shipments  in  early  Winter.  r.  w.  dk  raux. 
ers  of  covering  the  potatoes  again  just 
ns  they  are  coming  through,  or  soon 
after  they  are  up,  the  idea  being,  not 
to  avoid  late  frosts,  hut  to  save  labor 
fighting  bugs  by  delaying  a  little  long¬ 
er  their  ability  to  do  damage,  and  as 
some  growers  think,  to  get  a  stronger 
plant  by  the  operation.  Our  own  ex¬ 
perience  has  shown  Unit  it  not  only  did  not  make  a  died  light  potato  hiller  brings  to  the  situation  is 
stronger  plant,  but  side  by  side,  rows  that  were  wonderful.  I.  c.  b. 
re-covered,  and  those  not,  tlie  re-covered  rows  - - - 
sh0"'*a  *hc  <HIIf e"ce„  ™Vlui"ly,-1!,"  !!"'t  t?e  Spinach  for  Fall  and  Winter  Use 
growth  was  much  smaller.  It  is  a  difficult  matter  r 
to  convince  a  potato  grower  who  makes  a  practice  Part  II. 
of  this  method,  with  nothing  for  comparison,  that  GETTING  FOR  MARKET. — Cutting  for  market 
according  to  all  reason,  the  plan  is  a  mistake,  so  l'ar  should  begin  when  the  spinach  has  reached  a  large 
as  being  a  benefit  to  (Tie  plant,  for  as  long  as  the  enough  size  to  fill  up  the  barrels,  hampers  or  crates 
plant,  ire  covered  and  the  leaves  either  not  formed  effectively,  and  according  to  the  market  demand, 
or  those  that  do  form, 're-cove red  and  destroyed,  the  The  crop  is  harvested  by  running  a  wheel  hoe,  a 
plant  must  necessarily  he  under  a  handicap,  com-  scuffle  line  or  a  knife  along  the  row  about  one-half 
pared  with  those  getting  the  benefit  of  the  food  inch  below  the  crown  of  the  plant.  This  red  bit  of 
manufactured  in  the  leaves.  Further  than  this  the  the  root  adds  to  the  appearance  of  the  product  and 
re-covering  just  as  coming  through  prolongs  the  keeps  it  in  finer  condition.  Before  throwing  if  into 
time  the  young  shoots  must  draw  from  the  pieces  the  containers  all  dirt  should  be  shaken  off,  and  the 
©f  potato  planted.  yellow  leaves  on  the  under  side  of  the  plants  should 
The  statement  that  the  ridged-up  soil  is  warm-  be  picked  off.  Do  not  neglect  to  do  this  carefully. 
Co-operation  on  the  Farm.  Fig.  414 
The  College  Boy’s  View 
[In  this  discussion  of  education  and  what  it  stands 
lor  let  us  not  forget  to  give  the  student  a  chance.  Here 
is  one  with  ideas  of  his  own,] 
T  II A\  E  been  interested  in  your  recent  articles 
A  dealing  with  the  college  education  of  country  as 
well  as  city-bred  young  men.  I  am  a  country-bred 
boy,  and  can  see  the  truth  to  the  various  angles  of 
the  questions  brought  out,  as  I  have  been  iu  college 
three  years  and  will  graduate  In  another.  I  fear 
from  what  I  have  read  that  elderly  people  have  but 
little  faith  in  the  average  young  man  of 
today,  others  I  am  glad  to  say,  even 
though  in  the  minority,  are  evidently 
broader  minded,  or  have  more  confi¬ 
dence  in  us  who  are  taking,  or  intend 
Living  in  a  thickly  settled  country 
community  as  I  do,  I  had  the  evils  of 
while  others  are  very  poor,  even  where 
not  re-covered.  There  is  a  great  deal 
of  Rhizoctonia,  and  careful  treatment 
with  corrosive  sublimate  lias  given  us 
good  stands  this  year.  At  the  same 
time  other  fields  from  seed  not  treated 
are  just  as  good,  while  others  show  a 
large  proportion  of  missing  lulls.  To 
re-cover  fields  where  there  is  much 
Rhizoctonia  simply  smothers  entirely 
the  weakened  shoots  that  come  up 
after  the  disease  kills  the  first  sprouts, 
or  still  further  weakens  them.  Many 
of  these  do  come  on,  and  although  they  may  be 
much  behind  the  others  will  make  a  crop  of  some 
kind,  hut  a  re-covering  would  simply  put  most  of  the  shipment 
them  out  of  business  entirely,  making  a  still  more  PACK ING.- 
ragged  stand,  hard  will  we  pack 
It  is  all  very  well  to  talk  about  keeping  the  sur-  that  no  matter  how  heavy  we  pack 
face  of  the  soil  in  potato  fields  as  nearly  level  as  some  buyers  will  kick,  then  these  same  fellows 
possible,  throwing  up  slight  broad  ridges  by  throw-  may  take  our  packages  to  their  wholesale  store 
ing  soil  to  the  plants  each  time  in  cultivating,  but  and  repack  them  making  three  out  of  two  or  four 
when  it  comes  to  actual  practice  and  the  weather  is  out  of  three  and  resell  them.  Nevertheless,  we 
not  made  to  order,  and  weeds  got  started  when  soil  ought  to  puck  the  containers  pretty  solid,  but  have 
is  too  wet  to  cultivate  just  at  the  right  time,  ac-  everyone  alike  if  possible.  If  the  weather  is  cool 
cording  to  instructions,  the  labor  one  cau  save  with  a  little  water  may  he  poured  into  each  container  to 
a  light  potato  hiller,  carefully  handled,  makes  it  an  make  it  hold  up  in  transit.  T  know  of  a  farmer 
implement,  we  cannot  got  along  without,  nofwlth-  near  Newark  who  tacks  a  burlap  cover  over  every 
standing  the  fact  that  according  to  theory,  thq  use  barrel  after  it  is  packed  in  the  field.  Then  he  takes 
of  a  hiller  is  a  mistake  in  a  dry  season.  There  is  this  to  his  “market-house”  or  packing-house,  and 
no  doubt,  however,  that  the  loss  of  moisture  would  dips  the  entire  barrel  into  the  tank.  This  makes 
he  heavier  from  the  hard,  bare  soil  between  the  both  the  barrel  and  spinach  heavy,  and  makes  the 
"  — —  ^  — — —  - - — — -  with  nothing  under  them  to  help  them 
Field  of  Lima  Beans  in  New  Jersey.  Fig.  415  afloat". 
My  several  years  as  a  college  and 
and  remove  some  that  just  look  unhealthy,  for  these  fraternity  man  have  been  the  most  fruitful  of  my 
quickly  “go  yellow”  on  the  way  and  thus  damage  life.  I  have  had  my  best,  times.  I  have  learned  my 
lessons  from  experience  and  after  all  I  have  profited, 
A  vital  question  with  all  of  us  is  how  /and  without  asserting  too  much  confidence  on  my 
the  packages.  It  is  safe  to  say  part,  I  can  feel  that  I  am  a  better  man.  fit  for  big- 
the  barrels  ger  things.  I  have  seen  few  men,  and  vou  can  count 
Industrial  alcohol  is  being  made  in  the  Pliili 
and  will  soon  be  able  to  compete  with  gasoline, 
potatoes,  corn,  cull  potatoec  and  waste  molasses 
cheap  stock. 
