966 W* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Notes From New England 
Notes from New England 
The Cherry Cnor.—This lias been a 
remarkable year for cherries in New Eng¬ 
land. r I'<i be sure, the early crop of sweet 
cherries suffered badly from the exces¬ 
sive rains, which caused the fruit to 
crack. Commercial growers had their 
crops reduced to a considerable extent 
on this account, but backyard gardeners 
everywhere had cherries almost without 
limit. The professional fruit growers 
harvested a big crop of sour cherries 
which were not affected by the weather 
conditions. All things considered. sour 
cherries make a good crop to grow. The 
Self-supporting Ladder 
birds do not bother them much, and they 
are in great demand for canning. Prob¬ 
ably the best-known and perhaps the most 
successful cherry grower in New England 
is Ingraham I. Margeson of Westwood, 
M ass. Mr. Margeson grows many other 
fruits, particularly currants and pears, 
hut counts cherries as among the best of 
his crops. Having experimented with 
many kinds, he says that Montmorency 
and Windsor are among the most profit¬ 
able kinds, tie grows in large quantities 
a variety called Hay State, which much 
resembles Bing, but which, lie asserts, is 
entirely distinct. There seems to be no 
nurseryman, however, who sells this va¬ 
riety. 
Intensive Fruit Farming. — Mr. 
Margeson has the reputation of growing 
more fruit on a limited area than any 
other man in the East. For years other 
fruit growers have been prophesying that 
lie would come to grief if be did not 
change bis methods, but lie still goes on 
producing big crops each year, and grow¬ 
ing more fruit on an acre than tlie aver¬ 
age farmer grows on five. His career is 
particularly interesting because he was 
a city business man until lie began his 
experiment in rural life about 16 years 
ago. He began in a very intelligent way, 
however, for he kept his job in town until 
the land which he purchased had been 
put into good tillage and partly planted, 
lie started with only five acres, and has 
but seven at the present time. Yet be 
has made a good living from this small 
farm. When lie set out his orchard Mr. 
Margeson used oilers of dwarf apples or 
peaches, some of which still remain. Be¬ 
tween the trees there are long rows of 
currants and gooseberries, and for a time 
vegetables were planted ill wliat space 
remained. Now. however, the ground is 
almost completely covered. Children do 
most of the picking, while Hjo packing is 
done in a large electric-lighted tent. Ship¬ 
ment is made very early in the morning, 
some iff tin* fruit going to private cus¬ 
tomers. some to smaller dealers along the 
way to Boston, and the rest to the city 
itself. While Mr. Margeson has beep 
very successful in growing fruit in an 
unusually intensive way. lie has at the 
same time given h:s little farm the urnst 
constant attention, spraying, cultivating, 
fertilizing and irrigating steadily. lie 
believes thoroughly in frequent spraying. 
It is only because lie has handled the 
farm in a very intelligent way that he has 
escaped disaster. 
Growing Mint. It might have boon 
expected I hat prohibition would reduce 
the demand /or mint, mint juleps being 
less in fashion than formerly. It appears, 
however, that there is a steady call for 
mint, which is grown commercially as 
well as in the home garden. Hotels and 
restaurants make Use. of it for mint sauce, 
and many housekeepers use it. too. Of 
course, nobody grows mint in a large 
way. but some farmers and market gar¬ 
deners handle it. A few greenhouse men 
crop it under glass and bud it profitable, 
•is it forces readily. Mint is increased 
hy runners which make new plants. If 
you want to make a new bed. all you 
need to do is separate as many of the 
young growths, each with a piece of root 
attached, as you may need. They should 
be set about a foot apart. At first they 
enn be kept cultivated without difficulty, 
bur after a time the bed becomes badly 
matted by the growth of runners. If the 
weeds can be kept out reasonably well, a 
bed is good for two or three years. Sev¬ 
eral cuttings can be made during the 
Summer, and when Fall comes it is wise 
to give the bed a covering of well-rotted 
manure, especially if it is to be cropped 
for market. Occasionally there is severe 
loss if tlie Winter is cold with but little 
snow. Still, the plants increase so rap¬ 
idly that this loss is soon made lip. When 
mint is to be forced in greenhouses, the 
roots are usually cut into square clumps 
in the Fall and piled up like so many 
sods until they are needed. When taken 
inside they are placed on benches and 
kept we’l watered. The leaves are pre¬ 
pared for market by being made into 
small bunches, and the practice around 
Boston is to pack four dozen bunches to 
a box. If necessary, the plants that have 
been growing inside can be used for start¬ 
ing a new bed iii the open, but it is better 
to use field-grown plants. 
Ceubry Blight. — Growers of celery 
bad much trouble last year with late 
blight, so that they will be wise if they 
take precautions this season. The fun¬ 
gus which causes blight winters "ver in 
dead leaves, stalks, old manure and the 
soil itself. It is r,i be controlled hy spray¬ 
ing with Bordeaux mixture, which should 
be put on. of course, before the trouble 
appears, so that the fungus will be de¬ 
stroyed before its starts growth. It Is 
best to use as line a spray as possible, 
and to keep it up at intervals of 10 days 
or two weeks, until the plants are nearly 
mature. Fate blight on celery is bard to 
check once it gets started, so that spray¬ 
ing is in the nature of an insurance 
against it. 
Arranging Cut Flowers. —It is curi¬ 
ous how many women will bring a bunch 
of flowers into the house and squeeze 
them into a narrow-mouthed vase, without 
realizing_ that they have spoiled the 
beauty of the flowers. While we may not 
care to go as far as the .lapan-so, who 
are satisfied with one blossom, yet it is 
a fact that the most artistic bouquets 
are obtained by using only a few flowers, 
so arranged that their individual char¬ 
acteristics can be admired. 'There arc 
some flowers, like Bam bier roses and nas¬ 
turtiums. which look well when massed, 
but as a rule the best, effects are obtained 
by using only a few blooms. There is 
another objection to tilling a vase with 
blossoms. If the month is completely 
closed up by the stems, the flowers will 
last only a short while. They wvHl not 
keep well, either, if imy of the leaves are 
in the water, as they foul it quickly. It 
is always best to cut the flowers with a 
Sharp knife rather than with scissors, for 
scissors squeeze the stems so that they 
can take up less water. Flowers last 
best if an inch is cut from Hie stems each 
day, and if this can be don ■ under water, 
so mwell the better, as then no air can 
enter the stems. It isn’t necessary to have 
elaborate vases. In fact, flowers cut 
from a country garden often look best in 
some simple bolder, like an old-fashioned 
pitcher or a brass bowl. Some flowers, 
like nasturtiums, look particularly well 
in a small, inexpensive fish globe. As a 
matter of fact, these globes are much 
better for flowers than they are for fishes. 
Strange as it may seem, a bean pot which 
has beCtl used until it is nicely colored 
makes a delightful holder for the warmer- 
lined garden blooms. 
Fisting Sprays in the Garden.-- 
Dusting sprays are becoming increasingly 
popular in borne gardens, and. for that 
matter, in the farmer’s fields and in the 
orchard. Now various forms of dusting 
powders containing nicotine are being put 
out which are said to be very effective in 
dealing with plant lice. Dry Bordeaux 
is also being used, although I suspect it 
is not nearly as efficient as homemade 
Bordeaux in liquid form. Dm arsenate 
of lead is very effective in dealing with 
chewing insects of all kinds. The dusting 
poisons can be applied most readily with 
one of the guns or blower devices on the 
market, but if necessary can he sifted 
through a coarse cheesecloth. The aver¬ 
age gardener hasn’t the time nor tin* in¬ 
clination to bother with messy, wot 
sprays, and finds the dusting sprays so 
easy to use that he is likely to adopt 
them for most of his bug-killing opera¬ 
tions. even though they may he slightly 
more expensive than wet sprays. 
E. I. FARRINGTON. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC.—Farmers at Fddyville. 
la., are mining coal in the pocket mines 
on farms under tinned guards, according 
to a report received July 20. The move 
was decided upon after they had tried 
without success to obtain coal for their 
thrashing purposes. 
Properties of the Humble and Pierce 
Oil Companies and the Government fumi¬ 
gation plant at Laredo, Tex., were de¬ 
stroyed by lire July 19. with damage esti¬ 
mated at $600,000. 
The majority of cities in Missouri will 
be without running water, electricity, gas 
and street railway and telephone service 
unless the coal strike is ended by Octo¬ 
ber 1. B. It. Locke of Mexico, president 
of the Missouri Association of Public 
Utilities, asserted at St. Louis July 20. 
Thirteen large freight boats operated 
by a Buffalo steamship company will be 
taken off the Great Lakes shortly because 
of the shortage and high prices of fuel coal, 
Milwaukee shippers learned July 20. 
Alfred G. Oxley, president and man¬ 
ager of Sterling System Homes, Inc., of 
1 West Thirty-fourth street, was indicted 
in General Sessions, New York. July 20. 
for first degree grand larceny. Judge 
ManeitSO issued a bench warrant. Joab 
II. Ban ton, district attorney, said 60 nr 
more persons declared they paid Oxley 
25 per cent cash—a total of about $30,000 
—for “ready-cut" homes that were not 
delivered. Oxley, asked to explain, said 
office expenses prevented execution of his 
contracts for the present. He promised 
to make good later. One indictment 
charges the promoter with getting $4,100 
from Mrs. Marion Met’artcr of Rye. N. 
Y. A second alleges he obtained Sl.(HM) 
in Liberty bonds from John P. Simmons, 
chemistry professor at New York Univer¬ 
sity. 
Arthur Welsh. 2S. of 304 Magnolia 
avenue, Jersey City. N. J.. was asphyxi¬ 
ated by poisonous exhaust gases July 21 
when he fell asleep in bis garage, leaving 
the engine of bis car running. His body 
was found four hours later. The fuel 
was used up and the engine had stopped, 
but tlie garage was full of carbon monox¬ 
ide. 
WASHINGTON.—Pay men t of the 
American war claims against Germany 
out of the alien property seized by the 
Alien Property Custodian during the war 
is the purpose of a bill introduced July 20 
by Senator Underwood (Ala.). The bill 
provides for the creation of atr enemy 
property claims commission, to be ap¬ 
pointed by the President and confirmed bv 
the Senate. Senator Underwood ex¬ 
plained the aims of the bill, which pre¬ 
cipitated on animated debate on the 
League of Nations and the Versailles 
Treaty, in which several Senators, in¬ 
cluding Senators Borah (Idaho). Lodge 
t Mass. I. and Robinson (Ark.) took part. 
Tlie 1 nderwood proposal is in direct con¬ 
flict with the views of llo* Administration 
'•n the subject. President Harding lias 
indicated on numerous occasions liis oppo¬ 
sition to the confiscation of the property 
of German citizens to pay the war claims 
held against the German Government by 
citizens of this nation so long as there is 
reason to believe that the German Gov¬ 
ernment will pay. 
Liquor smuggling into the United 
States in violation of the Eighteenth 
Amendment and the Volstead law has 
become the subject of diplomatic corre¬ 
spondence between this country and 
Great Britain. 'There is in progress a 
August 5, 1922 
discussion relative to several phases of 
smuggling, and it is probable representa¬ 
tions made by the State Department to 
tin- British Foreign Office will result in 
ultimately making the United States more 
nearly bone dry than now. These repre¬ 
sentations were the outcome of sugges¬ 
tions and recommendations from various 
sources, including the prohibition agencies 
of the Treasury Department. Liquor 
smuggling from Great Britain direct, as 
well as from the Bahama Is’ands. has 
been for some time the subject of a study 
by the State Dpartment. As a result of 
its investigation and the reports made by 
the dry agencies, the department, it is in¬ 
dicated. lias put the matter tip to the 
British Government. 
FARM AND GARDEN. — Berries 
picked in the Puget Sound area, in the 
far Northwest, are served on breakfast 
tables in Chicago SO hours later as a 
result of the inauguration by the North¬ 
ern Pacific Railway of a special express 
refrigerator train operating on passenger 
schedules between the Pacific Northwest 
and Uhieago. Heretofore these fresh 
fruits have either been marketed in the 
immediate neighborhood where they were 
raised or they have been shipped iu s'ngle 
cars by express to Eastern markets, it 
was stated. Tn (lie last few years the 
development of the berry industry has 
been so rapid in the Northwest that ad¬ 
ditional markets had to be opened. To 
meet the emergency, the Northern Pacific 
this Spring arranged for special fruit 
trains, which are now operating daily. 
Refrigerator cars were designed to travel 
on the passenger schedules, Tno fruit 
specials are bringing strawberries, cher¬ 
ries. raspberries, blackberries and cran¬ 
berries from White Salmon, Yakima. 
Puyallup, and 'Walla Walla, Wash., val¬ 
leys. Ttaslion Island, Puget Sound and 
Lewiston. Idaho, These trains are iced 
five times between the Pacific Coast and 
Chicago, and make no other stops. 
King Victor Emmanuel received Elbert 
I’. Baldwin of Lakewood. N. J.. one of 
the directors of the American Forest As¬ 
sociation, at Borne, July 20. and expressed 
Italy's appreciation of the association's 
gift of 5.000.000 Douglas iir seeds. The 
King, himself a forestry expert, con¬ 
versed with Mr. Baldwin > for half an 
hour on the subject, saving that the 
planting of the American seeds would 
greatly extend (lie forest area in Italy. 
The estimated 1022 wheat harvest for 
all countries for which figures are avail¬ 
able shows a slight increase over produc¬ 
tion for the same countries in 1021. De¬ 
part meat of Agriculture statistics just 
issued show these countries’ crops of 
wheat will aggregate about 2.753.3*6.000 
bushels this year, compared with 2 . 72 - 1 ,- 
506.000 bushels last year, anrl with a five- 
year average ending with 1013 of 2.557.- 
577.000 bushels. Russia is not included 
in the estimates. Wheat acreage fur the 
countries for which statistics are avail¬ 
able is about 101.000.000 acres, which 
shows a general decrease compared with 
1921. 
Coming Farmers' Meetings 
August 5—Eastern meeting. New York 
State Horticultural Sovietv. New Paltz. 
N. Y. 
August S-10—Loug Island Potato Tour. 
August 0- -Summer meeting. New York 
Stale Horticultural Society. State Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture. Ithaca, N. Y. 
August 15-16—Society of American 
Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists, 
annual convention, Kansas City, Mo. 
An Artistic Floral Arrangement 
August 15-1S -Farmers’ and Home- 
makers’ Week. New Hampshire College, 
Durham, N. II 
September 7-fv—Northern Nut Growers’ 
Association, thirteenth annual conven¬ 
tion. Rochester. N. V. 
September 17-23 -Eastern States Ex¬ 
position. Springfield. Mass. 
November 15-17 American Homologi¬ 
cal Society, Council Bluffs, la. 
November 15-25 — National Grange, 
Wichita. Kan. 
Packing Tent on a Fruit Farm 
