Orchard Questions 
1. I have nine tive-y ear-old ;itrees. I noticed 
that quite a number of tlie leaves are drying up and 
turning black. What can 1 do for them? 1!. If spray 
is to be used, bow much should 1 get? Is nitrate 
of soda good to pul around them? If so. how should 
it be clone? 4. On one of them there is a dark scale, 
which I scraped off. then I whitewashed. Will that 
help it? fi. Are ants injurious to young cherry trees? 
If so, what is a good way to get rid of them? 
West Cheshire, Conn. Jf. -T. w. 
cannot sec the profit in it. Our own trees are planted 
among rocks and stones, of course the plowing and 
cultivating is made harder, hut we let the ground 
remain in sod part of the time, and think it pays to 
do so. floorge T. Powell tells the story of an orchard 
in Missouri which was covered with thin flat stones. 
It was proposed to pick them all h.v hand and cart 
them off. It would have been an endless and ex¬ 
pensive job. Mr. Powell advised sending in men 
with sledgehammers to smash these Hal stones and 
leave them on the ground. This was done, and the 
result was good. 
appear to he immune to this form of poison, but 
they say that the practical people are not able to 
give scientific proof to show that the hawks were 
killed by the mix vomica fed to the poultry. There 
the matter stands. The practical men insist they 
a re right, and keep on using the mix vomica, but 
the scientific men refuse to admit that the case has 
been demonstrated, and they do not seem particu¬ 
larly anxious to conduct any experiments which will 
settle the matter. 
In one case, which we have reported before, it 
was stated that one Southern man had been greatly 
troubled by negroes who stole his pigs. Accordingly, 
they took up several pigs and fed them doses of mix 
vomica for a week or two. Then they turned the 
pigs loose. A short time after one of the pigs was 
missing, and word promptly came that a colored 
man was suffering terribly from a ‘•misery of the 
stomach." They thought they proved conclusively 
that this “misery" came directly from the flesh of 
the pig that had been fed on mix vomica. The man 
- recovered, hut seemed to lose interest 
in pork for a considerable time. We 
repeat this statement because our 
readers are constantly asking us about 
it. We do not advise the use of mix 
vomica in the North, hut. merely give 
these facts as they have boon reported 
to us. 
EAVES which 
Nux Vomica, Chickens and Hawks 
T 11E old problem of feeding mix vomica to chickens 
lias come up once more. Every year this ques¬ 
tion is raised h,v our readers, and it seems to grow 
with age. Some one now writes ns that the JJtrrni j/ 
Digest has printed an article on the subject, from 
which our friend concludes that ir is safe to scatter 
two or three applications of spray shoul 
Spray at once, using one gallon lime- 
sulplnir solution. 2 lhs. arsenate of lead, 
one-half pint Black Loaf 40, mixing 
these materials in 50 gallons of water. 
For the nine live-year-old apple trees it 
will require about 10 gallons of spray 
material for one application, hence use 
a scant IYj pints of the lime-sulphur, 
or if dry lime-sulphur is more handy, 
use (t\'< ounces, six ounces of dry arsen¬ 
ate of lead and about two fluid ounces 
of Black Leaf 40. Spray a second 
time in about 10 days, but without the 
'Black Leaf 40. Two additional spray¬ 
ings can he given, one the latter part 
of June and the other the lirst week 
of July. 
3. Nitrate of soda is a good fertilizer 
to use in small quantities. Trees, of 
this age probably would not require 
over Yj lb., scattered over the surface 
of the ground about the tree early in 
May, if the soil is fairly fertile. If tbe 
trees are making a very vigorous 
growth it may not be necessary to 
apply any additional fertilizer. 
4. The scale which you scraped off 
may be either San Jose or oyster shell 
scale. The usual remedy for these is 
to apply a dormant spray of either 
lime-sulphur solution or one of the 
miscible oils, either in tbe late Fall or 
early Spring. Whitewashing tbe trunks 
of trees is not of enough benefit to 
warrant its practice. 
5. Ants are not injurious to healthy 
trees, but they are commonly found on 
trees affected with aphis or plant lice. 
The aphis can be controlled by thor¬ 
oughly spraying the foliage, being very 
careful to get the spray material on 
the insect. If only one small tree is 
affected, the tips of the branches can 
be swashed about in a pail of strong 
soapy water or Black Leaf 40. or a 
combination of both. This material is 
also used as a spray, s. p. Hollister. 
Connecticut 
It is not usual to have standard varieties of strawberries ripening right along with 
bloom on the same plants, although of course that is quite common with the “ever- 
bearers." In favorable seasons the standard varie.ies will sometimes act in this 
way. We have had several cases of this with the Marshall berry. 
R N.-Y.—But tlmt does not 
• must consider the crop to be grown on that 
field. If it is intended for a crop like corn or oats, 
if cannot possibly pay interest on tbe cost of stone 
picking. If. on the other band, it is to be put in 
onions, celery, strawberi ies or some similar crop, 
this clearing will pay a big profit. Tt would prob¬ 
ably pay for potatoes. We know men who have 
paid nearly $100 an acre to clear land for hay—and 
they claim it paid. We have known people to blast 
and dig rocks when fitting for orchard land, but we 
cover 
