The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
895 
General Farm Topics 
Soy Beans and Alsike Clover 
Your editorial on page S22 on the use 
of acid legumes, sueli as hoy beans and 
Alsike clover, is very interesting to me, 
and I wish you would give me a little 
more information about them, as to how 
much seed to the acre, etc. Is the Soy 
bean sown broadcast, or in drills, or 
how? I have been told that it is not safe 
to feed Alsike clover to horses, as there 
is an insect in it that goes up the nos¬ 
trils into the horses’ brains and makes 
them crazy, so that they will bang their 
heads into things until they either kill 
themselves or have to be killed. Is that 
so? AYhat I want most is to plow it. 
under for green manure. Does Alsike 
have to bo seeded each year, or will it 
live through the Winter, to plow under 
next Spring? Ts tie Soy beau good to 
plow under? f. a. s. 
There is no question about the value 
of Soy beans. They can 'be used as fod¬ 
der for stock, or they can be plowed 
under for green manure. We are grow¬ 
ing a good many this year, and we are 
drilling them 2*4 to 2 ft. apart, giving 
good cultivation, in order to clean up the 
land thoroughly. Handled in this way 
the Soy beans will grow 4 ft. or more in 
height, and they spread out considerably. 
This growth can be plowed under by put¬ 
ting a chain on the plow. In some cases 
the Soy beans are sown broadcast, and 
we have seen them seeded together with 
buckwheat. In such cases they do not 
grow as high, but they make a thick, 
heavy mat, which can bo plowed under 
if desired. We think that the best way 
to raise Soy beans is to put them in drills 
and give them fair cultivation. 
As for Alsike clover, we have fed it 
for several years, and have had no trouble 
with our horses during that time. We 
believe there is nothing whatever to the 
story you tell. With us Alsike makes a 
better hay than Red clover. The stems are 
finer, and we think it is fully equal to the 
Red in value. The Alsike is like Red in 
its habits of growth. It lives from year 
to year, the same as Red, and if it is out 
before the seed forms, it will go on year 
after year producing a fair crop. We 
use between two and three peeks of Soy 
beans in planting an acre. Right to 10 
lbs. of Alsike clover will make a thick 
seeding, as the seed is very small. 
Propagating Roses 
I would like some advice in regard to 
starting rose cuttings. I have some very 
choice roses which 1 wish 'to give to some 
friends. Is it best to use the new shoots? 
Is it best to get them started in old tin 
cans to be kept out in the open? 
Conneaut. O. mks. e. a.t. 
Roses may be propagated by layers, 
root cuttings, cuttings under glass, and 
cuttings of ripe wood in the open air. 
These are treated like currant cuttings; 
ripe wood is cut into 6-in. lengths in the 
Autumn, before severe frost, tied in bun¬ 
dles. and stored through the Winter by 
burying in sand. In Spring they are 
planted with one lmd above ground, in 
well-prepared soil. One gets a fair num¬ 
ber of strong plants from this method. 
Many roses can he rooted by taking ripe 
wood in July and setting in a sheltered 
place in the open ground, preferably with 
a glass jar inverted over each cutting 
during dry weather. The climbing roses 
root very easily in this way, but one gets 
a higher percentage of Hybrid Remon- 
tants and Hybrid Teas by carrying the 
ripe wood cuttings over to Spring. In 
greenhouses they are propagated from 
green wood from January to March, the 
cuttings being set in a sand bed with 
bottom heat. It is not practical to try to 
start green shoots in old tin cans in Sum¬ 
mer; any effort to start Summer cuttings 
without glass should be with ripe wood. 
Root cuttings may be made in the Fall, 
after growth ceases, but one must be sure 
that the rose is on its own root, and not 
on different stock. 
It is possible to make a few root cut¬ 
tings without digging the plant up. mere¬ 
ly drawing the soil away from the roots 
sufficiently to cut the required pieces, 
then carefully covering again. Pieces of 
root the size of a steel knitting needle may 
be used. Pack in layers in a pot or box 
with damp moss or saud. and store in a coot 
cellar where they may he examined occa¬ 
sionally. and kept from drying out. Buds 
form before Spring, hut should not be al¬ 
lowed to advance too rapidly, being con¬ 
trolled by moving the cuttings to a cooler 
place, in the Spring the root cuttings, 
iu sections about 2 in. long, arc sown in 
trenches 1 in. deep, covered, and given 
clean cultivation. I?y Fall they make 
nice well-rooted plants. 
Layering, which is done in early 
Spring, is a very easy method of propa¬ 
gating many hard-wooded plants. Bend 
down a shoot of well-ripened wood near 
the tip, cutting a little "heel” in the 
outer bark on the under side. Peg the 
branch down to the ground at this place, 
putting a clod of earth over it. Leave 
untouched until the following Spring, 
when there should he a nice bunch of 
roots. Sever the tip, with the roots, and 
set as a new plant. Such plants are vig¬ 
orous, and grow rapidly. ' 
Milk Thistle for Ivy Poisoning 
There is a very common weed which 
grows along the road in the poorest kind 
of soil which cures ivy poisoning. I have 
heard it called milk thistle and horse 
thistle. The name is misleading, as there 
are no thistle spines on it. It has a leaf 
very much like a dandelion, and grows 
from 2 to 5 ft. high. Nine times out of 
10 one application suffices. I have cured 
some of the worst, cases of ivy poisoning 
when everything else has failed. There 
is no trick about it. Take the leaves and 
rub them on good and hard, and let it 
dry on. and I do not think there will he 
any more trouble. I consider it a posi¬ 
tive cure. A. k. 
R. X. Y.—The field sow thistle. Son- 
ehus arvensis. is also called milk thistle, 
and is probably the plant referred to. 
AA’e had not heard of it before as a poison 
ivy remedy. 
Countrywide Produce Situation 
New ways of reducing unwise compe¬ 
tition AND INCREASING TIIE DEMAND 
This is a season of severe competition 
in miscellaneous farm produce. Many 
growers, disgusted with low prices of 
grain and live stock, have switched partly 
to dairying, poultry, fruits and vegetables. 
Supplies of such products increased, while 
home demand, even with improving busi¬ 
ness conditions, has not kept pace. There 
is no export demand for perishable crops. 
The fanners have no effective combines 
or strikes to hold down production or to 
boost the price. Competition is greatest 
in hard times because some of the sur¬ 
plus city workers are forced back to the 
old farm, where they cau be sure of food 
and shelter, at least. 
Conditions will improve when good 
times are fully restored. Just now prices 
are low—very low when compared with 
cost of production, which is still, in most 
sections, considerably above pre-war level. 
Indications are that those who stuck to 
corn, wheat, cotton, hog.s and the like 
will be better off, and many who switched 
from such statdes will switch back again 
next season, after this year’s experiment 
with low price.-- for crops they did not 
know how to raise nor how to sell, 
NEW WAYS OUT 
Meanwhile some of the older hands at 
the produce game are finding new ways 
out in the shape of lower costs or better 
selling. One of the big new helps comes 
through inspection and grading. Growers 
are just beginning to realize what these 
things mean in dollars and in peace of 
mind. Suppose a town where two truck 
farms supply about all local demands 
for vegetables and fruit. Prices arc dose 
to cost, because each raises more than he 
can sell without forcing it on the market. 
Then they decide for inspection and grad¬ 
ing. After sorting the grades so they will 
pass, there is some cull stuff left, but 
there is enough of standard grades to sup¬ 
ply all the market will take at decent 
prices. It* Farmer F» raises poorer stuff 
than Farmer A, be will have more left 
over, and must improve his methods or 
quit truck business. If he improves his 
methods, the supply of standard grades 
will be larger the next season, but mean¬ 
while the demand has gained also, be¬ 
cause consumers buy more, knowing they 
can depend on getting just what they ex¬ 
pect and pay for in produce marked, of¬ 
ficially graded and inspected No. 1 or 
No. 2. Thus keeping hack poor stuff, 
grading and inspection helps the situation 
by keeping poorest stuff out of the mar¬ 
ket and also demand is increased because 
of uniform, reliable quality. 
It is this sort of thing which has made 
prosperity for growers of AYestern box 
apples, California oranges and 'canta¬ 
loupes, Georgia peaches. Cape Cod cran¬ 
berries and the like. It works easiest 
when crop is adapted to only a few sec¬ 
tions or when long-distance freight 
charges help keep out the poor stuff, but 
helps some with all produce. Growers 
of cabbage, tomatoes, apples, onions in 
various leading shipping sections report 
benefits. 
The latest converts are the Northern 
Maine notato growers, who pretty nearly 
competed themselevs to death the past 
season. Next year they will grade most 
of the stock and put it up in 150-lb. bags, 
instead of shipping it mostly in bulk. 
Bagging is the best plan if the buyer 
knows just what is in the bags, as he 
will under grading and inspection at ship¬ 
ping points. 
Of course, the grading system, oven 
when generally enforced, does not actually 
bar out the poor stuff, but it has to sell 
on its merits and pay its own freight 
Moreover, many shipping associations and 
some of the States forbid shipment of 
culls because of their damage to market 
standing and reputation. 
To keep hack poor stuff is a far better 
way to cut down competition than to re¬ 
duce acreage by agreement. The demand 
for choice, reliable produce increases 
fast. 0 , jj. p. 
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