Vegetable Notes 
Fruit Notes from South Jersey 
E to the freeze* we are unable to say 
Cultivation of the Elderberry 
A P.oT’T 15 years ago I thought f 
would see if elderberries could 
not be improved, so as to make a valu¬ 
able fruit of them, knowing there was 
a great demand for the wild berries. 
I commenced cultivating them, and 
finally had one stem that shelled 1.300 
berries, or nearly one pint Since then 
1 have kept on improving them until I 
had 5.100 berries on one stem. or 114 
quarts; 29V 2 ounces. In 1013, when I 
had 4..100 on one stem, people thought 
that I had reached the limit, but 1914 
gave me 5.109 berries on one stem. 
While improving the size of the berry 
and size of stem. I have also improved 
the flavor; the strong, hitter taste of 
the wild berry is almost entirely lack¬ 
ing in the cultivated berry; they haye 
more the flavor of the huckleberry. Fig. 
140 shows one of the stems 
A few bushes in the corner of the 
yard will give a family all the berries 
they would want. Some of my bushes 
yield as high as 30 quarts. As a money 
making proposition, for those who 
would raise them commercially, they 
are without doubt the best thing out, 
for the demand for the fruit is unlimit¬ 
ed. It takes 0S0 plants 
per acre; the 
EBB? { first year there can be some low-grow- 
| ing crop raised with them. The second 
j year you get. under ordinary cultiva¬ 
tion, at least four quarts of berries per 
bush. 2.720 quarts per acre, at 10 
cents per quart. The third year they 
Maaaa M will yield from one to two quarts more 
per bush. From now on you would get 
a full crop, that will average six to 
- eight quarts per bush, or nearly 5,000 
quarts per acre. 
An advantage is that they require no 
cultivation after the first year; a little 
coarse mulch around the roots is all the care they 
need. Another thing in their favor is that they will 
grow on ground too wet for any other crop. 
New York. william w. adams. 
R. N.-Y.—Mr. Adams says his improvements were 
worked out by selection and improved cultivation. 
There has not been any attempt at direct breeding 
or hybridizing. Seeds or cuttings were taken from 
superior plants. Did anyone ever see a white elder- 
rolieve this condition. Nearly all of us make full 
preparations for planting, cultivating and hauling 
our crop to market, but are nearly always a little 
short on pickers and packers. Once the crop is 
allowed to get two days ahead -of pickers it is prac¬ 
tically impossible to cateli up and get 'back to good 
quality tomatoes that season. I believe it would 
benefit ns all if each would reduce liis acreage 50 per 
cent or more, and be prepared to handle the reduced 
acreage just when it should be handled. In 1920 we 
had about nine acres of F.arliana tomatoes, and 
must have plowed under at least 5,000 baskets of the 
later fruits, largely due to the fact that they got 
ahead of us in ripening. Last year we planted less 
than half as many as the year before. They were 
picked and packed when they were ready, and we 
made far more profit out of the half acreage than 
wc did the year before on the larger lot. thus making 
a decided saving in labor and land. 
Eggplants, when they grow properly, are as profit¬ 
able. perhaps, as any truck crop grown, but it is 
quite difficult to get them to grow properly. Most 
growers know that it is essential that a thrifty, 
steady growth, he made from the very start. The 
eggplant cannot stand being stunted or held back. 
Stunted plants become woody, and either die in the 
Treating Potatoes and Grain 
I heard of treating potatoes and grain before planting 
to keep the blight away. Could you give me information 
about this, and how much to use? I do not know the 
name of the stuff. F. F. 
Brockwayville, Pa. 
P iTATOBS are often “treated’’ before planting 
to prevent, the scab disease. This will have but 
little effect upon'blight, for the germs of that disease 
strike into the vine after it gets above ground. The 
scab is a germ or skin disease. The germs which 
spread it may bo on the seed potato or in the soil. 
Lime, manure or an alkaline soil are favorable to 
the development of this scab. 
“Treatment” consists in soaking the seed tubers 
