7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
was made of the Masters plant-setter. The plant- 
setter was carried in the right hand. A cup with 
seed corn was strapped around (lie operator’s waist. 
The corn was dropped with the left hand into the 
I la liter, and after a little practice the operator could 
plant as fast as he could walk, and actually planted 
the entire nine acres in one day. The soil was sandy 
and freshly harrowed, and after the plant-setter was 
jabbed into the ground and the jaws opened the soil 
was loose enough to fall back and cover the corn. 
There was a perfect stand, and over 500 bushels of 
corn were scoured from the field with no extra work 
whatever except planting, as the corn was cultivated 
right along with the asparagus. The only disad¬ 
vantage to the plan was that the corn interfered 
with spraying the asparagus, and the last brood of 
beetles were not controlled as they should have 
been. 
ANOTHER PLAN.— If there had been no Alfalfa 
in our sod a better way to have handled it would 
have been to strike backings 5 ft. apart right in the 
sod in the Fall or early Spring ami plow them out. 
using a middle-breaker in the dead furrow just be¬ 
fore planting. This would leave all the sod below 
the surface where the young asparagus roots could 
get at it. and no green sod would he rooted up by 
extra furrowing. In this case cultivating would 
have to he done by a one-horse Acute harrow, so as 
not to tear up the sod. as an ordinary harrow would 
do. Some of the best beds of asparagus in thi- 
county have been planted in old sod fields in this 
way. It is a lot more work than planting on raw 
ground, hut the results as seen in increased growth 
surely justify the additional efforts required. 
Ground that has a rye cover crop growing on it. and 
perhaps a heavy coat of manure on top of the rye. 
can be set in asparagus this Spring without any 
trouble from the green rye by following the method 
just outlined, on sandy soil almost any kind of a 
sod can be successfully set to asparagus with but 
a single plowing, except Alfalfa. Alfalfa will not 
work that way. because it continues to grow all 
Summer above the space where the first two furrows 
are thrown together. trucker. jr. 
Catalpa from R. N.-Y. Seed 
I SEND you a photograph (see Fig. 191) of a 
Catalpa growing on my place, about 35 ft. high 
and about a foot in diameter. This was grown from 
seed which, I understand, was sent out by The II. 
N.-Y. as a premium to your subscriber. George E. 
Perkins, Providence, R. I., some time in the eighties. 
Will you tell me just the year and under what name 
the seed was sent out. and the general results of 
the seed? Three of this lot came up. but only one 
lived, and that came into my possession 24 years 
ago. It has much larger leaves and flower clusters 
than Catalpa speciosa, much darker purple throats. 
Some leaves measure 12x13 in.: seed pods 10 to IS 
in. long by s±-in. in diameter. It blossoms much 
earlier than speciosa. This picture was taken June 
20. and you see the ground is strewn with flowers. 
The man who planted the seed in the early eighties 
was there to see it. when this was taken. Some say 
it is a new variety. It is a very shy seeder. Some 
years the seed will be sterile, as in 1920. I have 
some three-year-old seedlings. T hope you will tell 
me all about it w. b. olney. 
Bristol Co., Mass. 
R. N.-Y.—In the issue for March 25, 18S2. there 
is a notice of n free distribution of seeds of hardy 
Catalpa. C. speciosa—recommended as valuable as 
an ornamental and timber tree. This announcement 
states that these seeds were furnished by S. Brock 
(no address given). We are unable to find any 
further reference to this distribution or reports from 
readers about the trees. This one from Mr. Olney 
is the first we have seen. The distribution was 
made 40 years ago and has probably long been for¬ 
gotten except by some few who. like Mr. Olney, have 
succeeded in growing the trees. 
Farming Under Glass 
|This is a second article on farming under glass. 
The first article was on page 509.] 
CCCMBERS.—Some form of Improved White 
Spine is the variety usually grown. A variety 
which has rapidly grown in favor the last few years 
is called Belleville, after the name of a grower in 
Tewksbury, near Lowell, who originated it. This cu¬ 
cumber came from a cross of the English forcing 
variety. Telegraph, and Rawson’s Hothouse, a good 
strain of White Spine. White Spine has a tendency 
to become light colored in hot weather, while Belle¬ 
ville keeps its dark green lute. It takes time and 
effort to get an improved variety like this. Mr. 
Belleville has related that during the first year the 
cucumbers were bitter, but more White Spine blood 
was introduced, the new strain being crossed for 
three successive times. The result was a strain free 
from bitterness. This strain has been self-fertilized 
and selected for many generations, being alternately 
Catalpa speciosa from Ii. N.-Y. Seed. Fig. Ml 
grown out of doors in order to keep up the vitality, 
which is often found lacking in strains of forcing 
\ arieties. the seeds of which are grown under glass. 
SrCCKSSFFL GROWERS.—Several men around 
Boston have made a startling success of cucumbers. 
Adam Foster of Woburn is one of them. Sixteen or 
17 years ago Mr. Foster was a motorman at $12 a 
week. When lie had saved $000 lie borrowed $30u 
more, and built a greenimuse’ JOO ft. long, which lie 
planted to cucumbers. Within a short time lie was 
able to pay his loan and build another house. Now 
he lias a large establishment, and has shipped as 
high as $s,000 worth of cucumbers in eight weeks. 
'Alexander Porter, in the same town, has been 
equally successful, and is one of the biggest growers 
in New England. .T. K. Jensen of Watertown is a 
.4 Sliapelg American Him. Fig. Ml 
Dane who did not come to this country until 1900. 
Now he lias six modern greenhouses, each 40x200 ft., 
and all of them devoted to cucumbers. “How many 
cucumbers have you grown in one house?" 1 asked 
him in an off-hand way one day. "I don’t measure 
my crop by ‘cukes.’" was the reply, “but by dollars. 
In one season I have sold $2,000 worth from a single 
house.” It might he supposed that under the cir- 
£Uinstances many lettuce growers would turn to cu¬ 
cumbers. but there is serious difficulty in making 
such a shift. Cucumbers. lik(^ tomatoes, require a 
much higher temperature than lettuce. The latter 
will thrive at 35 to 40 degrees, but the temperature 
, 441 , 
for cucumbers should not be under GO. Of course 
this means a much bigger investment in coal. 
BEES AS POLLENIZERS.—There is one very im¬ 
portant factor in the production of cucumbers 
There must be plenty of honey bees in the houses. 
When the Industry was new the flowers were fertil¬ 
ized by means of a eamel’s-hair brush, but this was 
slow and tedious work. Then bees were introduced 
and solved the problem. Yet there are difficulties 
with the bees, too. It is not natural for them to 
work in an enclosed space, and they dwindle in 
numbers rapidly. I remember reading an anecdote 
which someone has applied to the situation. It 
seems that a spinster who had been notorious for 
her crabbed ill-temper passed away, and this in¬ 
scription was put upon her tombstone: 
“Here lies the body of Mary Ann; 
She went to the bosom of Abraham.” 
A local wag. being familiar with the reputation of 
the departed dame, surreptitiously added the follow¬ 
ing: 
“It’s very nice for Mary Ann, 
. But mighty hard on Abraham.” 
It's so with the bees. Their presence makes the 
cucumber crop a success, but it's hard on them. 
Hundreds are killed by flying against the glass, 
while others lose their way and do not get back to 
the hives. Moreover, they make little or no honey 
from the blossoms, and have to be fed. As a rule 
there is a hive of bees every 150 ft., and the hive 
preferably has an exit outside of the house, as well 
ns one inside. In warmer weather, when the ven¬ 
tilators are open, the bees often pass through them 
and establish a flight line back t.< the hives. As a 
rule the bees do most of their work in the forenoon, 
for which reason the hives should face the east so 
that the sun will shine into the entrance as early as 
possible. In some seasons it has been difficult to get 
enough bees to meet the requirements, and $25 and 
$50 a hive has been paid, although In former days 
$10 was considered a good price. Many growers con¬ 
tract with beekeepers for a required number of col¬ 
onies guaranteed free from foul brood. A few grow¬ 
ers. but only a few. handle their own bees. Tn some 
localities there are men who deal in bees, buying 
them from all over the country and selling them to 
the greenhouse men. 
TOMATOES.—Finally, there is the tomato crop. 
Tomato growers have done fairly well of late years, 
although they, too. now have to meet serious com¬ 
petition. In their case, it is the Ohio growers, who 
stud their surplus to Boston. There are something 
like 50 acres of glassed-in land around Ashtabula 
alone. Most of them are given over to tomatoes, 
which are shipped East by the carload. They are 
marketed in lG-Jb. baskets, have a high color, and 
make a good appearance. Tn spite of this competi¬ 
tion the local growers are thriving and there has 
been some increase in the number of houses planted. 
They do particularly well in the historic town of 
Concord, where there is a heavy, retentive soil, which 
trey like. The crop is grown in the Spring, seed be¬ 
ing sown in January. Concord specializes in another 
crop which pays its growers well: that is forced 
rhubarb. The forcing of rhubarb is. however, really 
an industry by itself, aiul worthy another article. 
Among rlie minor crops are radishes, licet greens, 
watercress and mint. One grower is said to have 
sold $3.0o0 worth of watercress last year. Presum¬ 
ably less mint is bandied than in the old days when 
mint juleps were a common beverage in every club, 
but I haven’t made any specific inquiries along that 
E. I. FARRINGTON. 
The Beautiful American Elm 
T HE picture of the American elm tree at Fig. 192 
was sent to us by W. E. Duckwall of Ohio. It 
shows the symmetrical development of this tree 
when grown in the open where it has full chance 
to spread. Mr. Duckwall says: 
"1 have watched this tree develop from a mere 
switch, about 40 years ago, till the present time, and 
it has never been trimmed or trained in any way, 
except, that our strong west winds have given it a 
slant to the eastward. It is now about 4(» ft. high 
and nearly 50 ft. wide in spread. I determined the 
height by measuring the image of the print and the 
distance of the camera from the tree: then, knowing 
the focal length of the lens at the distance. 100 ft. 
in this case, which is 6 in., the problem becomes a 
simple proportion. I was mindful of your apple 
trees, so I did not depend on the eves alone. I be¬ 
lieve that the American elm is the best all-around 
shade tree, native or foreign, and think it ought to 
be adopted as our national tree if this is ever done.” 
