850 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
KAY 28 
FROM WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Blackberries grow so much and sucker so 
persistently that 1 don't mulch them, but for 
their own good and for tidiness’ sake I keep 
them clean from suckers and weeds, and the 
ground about them well stirred. But behind 
some old fence or wall where the ground is 
good and somewhat moist and shady, no mat¬ 
ter how dirty it may be with weeds, I get 
better blackberries than I do from my care¬ 
fully cultivated open plantation. 
Currants and gooseberries. —In fall I 
unfasten the surface of the ground lightly 
among them and then mulch it with half- 
rotted manure. This is not done as a protec¬ 
tion against frost, but in order to have so much 
work done so as to lessen the labor in spring. 
And in spring, for two reasons—protection 
against drought and also to keep the fruit 
clean from grit—I mulch the patch with salt 
hay or sedge grass, and let the mulching stay 
there till fall, when it will have rotted a good 
deal. 
Raspberries. —I also mulch about these 
with manure, and sometimes with salt hay, 
but their inveterate tendency to sucker 
renders mulching with hay or sedge not so 
desirable as with common barn manure. Re¬ 
planting every third or fourth year into deeply- 
worked, rich soil is of very great assistance in 
rendering the plants vigorous enough to with¬ 
stand a dry spell with impunity. 
Strawberries —I grow them on the an¬ 
nual and biennial systems, and set out my 
new plantations about the end of July or first 
of August, and always on subsoiled, very rich 
land. In the event of droughty weather after 
planting I keep the young plants alive by wa¬ 
tering, and in the event of very dry weather 
in May I do not hesitate to give a heavy soak¬ 
ing of water to the patch, but never water af¬ 
ter the fruits are swollen or are on the eve of 
ripening. The bearing plantations are well 
mulched with short manure and sedge, or sea- 
thatch over it, but the young plantations are 
assisted by means of cultivating the ground 
about them quite frequently. 
I never have had practical experience with 
systematic irrigation, nor have I used chemi¬ 
cals, salt or like aids against summer droughts. 
I have always depended upon deeply worked 
and well enriched soil to begin with, rigid 
cleanliness of the ground, and mulching, or 
frequent cultivation of the surface of the soil 
while the crops are growing. Of the benefits 
afforded by mulching against drought I have 
no doubt. In the case of trees and shrubs 
which I mulch heavily, the moisture-preserv¬ 
ing power of the mulching is veiy apparent; 
indeed, vastly more so than in the case of 
small fruits, where I can mulch only lightly. 
But even all of them—rich earth, subsoiling, 
clean ground, mulching or surface stirring— 
cannot successfully combat a prolonged, se¬ 
vere summer’s drought. 
FROM T. T LYON. 
Front soon after the drought of last season 
became severe, I was absent from home till 
nearly the close of the growing season, and, 
for that reason, nothing was done beyond my 
customary practice of keeping the soil well 
stirred by cultivation, and making sure that 
weeds were not allowed to stand and absorb 
the moisture of the soil. I never resort to 
mulch in such case, unless upon soil already 
well pulverized. I have not found it desira¬ 
ble as a substitute for cultivation, either as a 
remedy for drought or otherwise. I have not 
used chemicals, and doubt their beneficial ef¬ 
fect, save perhaps in the case of deliquescent 
substances, which, like salt, may be expected, 
if diffused upon or near the surface, to absorb 
and retain in the soil moisture which might 
otherwise escape into the atmosphere. I have 
never employed artificial irrigation, and am 
persuaded that it can be employed profitably 
only where land can be flowed from a supply 
upon a sufficient elevation, although, doubt¬ 
less, cases exist where small areas may be ir¬ 
rigated by means of water or wind power. As 
an almost invariable rule, however, I distrust 
the profitableness of any device for irrigation 
with water that must be elevated artificially. 
Of the desirability and profitableness of ir¬ 
rigation, even in the regions along the sea- 
coast and eastward of the Mississippi, where 
natural irrigation is practicable, and especially 
in the growing of horticultural products, to 
me there appears to, be scarcely room for 
doubt. 
Van Buren Co., Mich. 
LESSONS OF THE DROUGHT. 
of June made a fair yield. One field in my 
neighborhood planted about June 20th made 
40 bushels of shelled corn to the acre; an¬ 
other, planted on high prairie about April 
20th, made 30 bushels to the acre. Much of 
our tame meadow, both Timothy and clover, 
succumbed to the drought, and all, or nearly 
all, the grass seed sown by us last year was a 
failure. It was a dilemma that brought rye 
to the front, both for pasture and hay. Rye 
is an inexpensive crop to raise, particularly 
if sown among corn, or harrowed in after po¬ 
tatoes; it is ready to cut or pasture before any 
grass, and beats all grasses in tons per acre; 
and if cut while the grain is yet in the milk, 
it makes excellent hay. Horses eat it readily, 
and do well on it. As soon as my rye hay was 
off the ground last summer, I ridged up the 
stubble, without previous plowing, for sweet 
potatoes. A noble crop resulted, with very 
little expense for cultivation. 
Another lesson that some of our farmers 
think they have learned is that even in a dry 
season shallow planting for potatoes is better 
than deep; and that hilling up in potato-cul¬ 
ture can be easily overdone. 
one partial failure, give it up to embark in 
some untried venture, thereby saving myself 
the outlay of “going into” a new enterprise 
outside of my equipment and knowledge. If 
the crops I had been raising were suited to my 
soil, and to my facilities for getting to market 
and to the other conditions of the situation, I 
trust I should have the steadfastness to stick 
to them. In cultivating the accustomed crops 
I should merely buckle my belt up another hole 
or so, and do my work with a little more than 
the usual thoroughness and care. Further¬ 
more, I should rest in this confidence, that if 
the yield was lowered by a general disaster, 
like drought, the price would be, with a great 
majority of products at least, corresponding¬ 
ly raised. edwin taylor. 
Wyandotte Co., Kan. 
BojJtfilfigiCffl. 
PEACH YELLOWS AGAIN. 
It is interesting to fruit growers in Western 
Michigan to learn that scientific investiga- 
FIRE-PROOF COTTAGE. Fig. 178. 
The dry summer was a hot one, and a try¬ 
ing time for farm teams. It plainly showed 
the superiority of the mule as a plow-beast, in 
hot weather, his melting-point being much 
higher than that of the horse. I think I may 
safely say also that the dry summer taught a 
pretty severe lesson to those adventurous pio¬ 
neers who risked their all in a first crop on 
prairie sod in Western Kansas or Nebraska. 
It cannot be too much insisted upon that, 
while cultivated crops do frequently “hit” in 
the western third of Kansas, there is a good deal 
of chance about it, and that it is hazardous 
for a poor man to lean heavily on a “sod” crop 
in any locality where the rainfall is deficient. 
If I knew that this year would be as dry as 
last, how would I try to handle my stock and 
crops? 
I keep no stock (outside of work horses) ex¬ 
cepting swine, which, in my case, are raised 
as an adjunct of my potato-farming to make 
“What lessons has last season’s drought 
taught the farmers in this section?” I should 
say that among the most important of those 
lessons would be the superiority of corn plant¬ 
ed at the ends of the season—either early or 
late—over that planted between the two ex¬ 
tremes. Although the corn crop in this coun¬ 
ty was the poorest ever raised, many pieces 
not having been worth gathering, the fields 
that were planted in April or the latter part 
Plan of Second Floor* 
Fig. 179. 
a market for the small, or otherwise unsala¬ 
ble tubers. Last fall I shipped my fat hogs 
with those of a neighbor who had fed very 
lightly. His hogs were about half fat: mine 
were “big fat/’ To my surprise he got nearly 
as much per pound as I did. I should not feed 
for big fat again in a lean year. As for the 
crops (I raise no crops but potatoes) I should 
plant early and shallow (three to four inches) 
and would be rather conservative in taking 
hold of “novelties” in varieties or machines, 
or investing largely in those annual startling 
theories of cultivation that go the rounds of 
the press. 
What crops would I raise, and how would 
I cultivate them? 
If my accustomed line of farming had been 
approved by previous experience, I should 
keep right on with it and not, on account of 
effect. As Mr. Hale is not located in a peach¬ 
growing region, it may be advisable to doctor 
sick trees in his vicinity;'but with our exper¬ 
ience with the genuine old Jersey yellows, we 
do not care to establish a peach yellows infirm¬ 
ary in the midst of our beautiful orchards. 
Our experience with yellows has revealed 
many facts regarding the disease, which may 
be utilized by governmental scientists in their 
investigations. That peach yellows is con¬ 
tagious, no one who has seen the insidious 
disease spread from orchard to orchard, from 
township to township, and county to county 
can doubt. 
We have proved that the sap of au infected 
tree inserted in the branch of a healthy one, 
will convey the disease immediately; also that 
yellows will develop in a young tree grown 
from a diseased peach pit; but pits from fruit 
in advanced stages of yellows will not grow. 
We have found yellows equally destructive 
upon poor light soils and rich virgiu lands, 
which are full of potash and of every iugred- 
ent recommended by Eastern yellows doctors 
as being sure cures 1 
Scientific Professors and miscropists have 
made exhaustive examinations of diseased 
trees; and, while finding bacteria in their sap, 
have not been able to determine whether 
bacteria are the cause or effect of peach yel¬ 
lows. By the removal of all diseased stock, 
we are again growing healthy trees and fruit, 
and notwithstanding the blizzard, and extreme 
cold West, East, and South, peach buds are 
all right in Western Michigan, and prospects 
were never better for a full crop of peaches 
and other fruits. w. a. b. 
Benton Harbor, Mich. 
tions regarding the cause and possible cure of 
peach yellows are to be made in Delaware, 
by experts from the Agricultural Depart¬ 
ment at Washington, and by the experimental 
department of the Delaware Agricultural Col¬ 
lege. We who have seen the effects of yellows, 
in the destruction of hundreds of thousands 
of beautiful peach trees, know something of 
the effects and contagious character of this 
dread disease. We have tried doctoring with 
all of the “sure cures” recommended by mo¬ 
dern yellows quacks, without the least effect. 
We know that yellows is not caused by climatic 
conditions, or lack of all, or any particular 
ingredient in the soil, which is necessary to the 
full developement of the tree, and the perfec¬ 
tion of the fruit. We know also that yellows 
is alarmingly contagious and that it has repeat- 
Plan ofPlrat Floor* 
Fig. 180. 
edly spread over wide areas of country, devast¬ 
ating thousands of acres of the best peach 
orchards, and ruining hundreds of growers. 
But such sad results have taught us lessons 
which it may be well for other growers to 
heed. We know that by the immediate 
destruction of each and every tree upon the 
developement of the first symptoms of yellows, 
the disease is, and can be prevented, and 
peaches successfully grown in localities once 
badly infected. 
In the Rural of March 10th, Mr. J. H. Hale, 
of Glastonbury, Conn., is quoted as saying 
that “he cures what he believes to be yellows 
with applications of potash, with nitrogen 
sometimes added.” Further he says that “a 
tree affected with yellows is sick, and should 
receive treatment. ” We have tried Mr. Hale’s 
specific and all other yellows cures without 
FIRE-PROOF COTTAGE. 
In a little book called “Homes for To-Day” 
are plans for the house which we have thought 
worthy of being re-engraved. They are shown 
at Figs. 178—180. 
Isolated country buildings of wood, when 
once a-fire, are usually totally consumed, and 
ordinarily may as well be abandoned at once, 
unless extinguishing apparatus and water are 
close at hand, which is seldom the case. As 
at present constructed, wooden dwelling 
houses are veritable tinder-boxes, the space 
between the studs forming admirable flues, 
through which there is a strong draught to 
carry the fire to all parts of the building iiian 
incredibly short time. Even in large cities 
and towns, where there is every facility for 
controlling the flames, a wooden building is 
seldom saved; and often others in the im¬ 
mediate vicinity are sacrificed to the destruct¬ 
ive ..element. 'X As a consequence, insurance 
rates are much higher upon such structures 
than upon the more fire-proof brick, stone and 
iron buildings; and often an owner prefers to 
insure his own buildings rather than pay the 
premiums demanded by the insurance com¬ 
panies. 
This little cottage is presented as a type 
and an illustration of what precautions may 
be taken to render wooden dwellings more 
secure against fire, and it is the author’s belief 
that the time is near at hand when the frame 
house will be as nearly fire-proof as any other 
structure, for it may be seriously doubted if 
there has ever been constructed an absolutely 
fire proof building. 
Stone is very readily disintegrated by the 
action of fire, and often crumbles, cracks and 
sunders from the heat of fire at a considerable 
distance; and while it is very properly used 
for foundations, should only be used above 
ground for ornamental purposes, and that 
where it does not bear weight of importance. 
Steel, iron and wood are the most reliable 
materials for piers, posts, girders, beams etc., 
but should always be encased in fire-proof 
material, which is found in hollow or porous 
burned clay or terra-cotta. This material may 
be formed in every desirable shape, from sheets 
one inch in thickness to heavy blocks several 
feet in dimension, and is thus adapted to all 
purposes for fire-proofing. Next to asbestos, 
porous terra-cotta is probably the best non¬ 
conductor of heat and cold available for 
building purposes, and is as good a non-con¬ 
ductor of sound as of heat and cold. 
Referring to the illustrations, the extreme 
length of the cottage shown is 20 feet; width, 
25 feet; hight of first and second stories, 8 ieet 
6 inches; depth of cellar, 0 feet 0 inches, ilie 
ground floor contains 050 square feet. 
POTATOES. 
A. B. ALLEN. 
The increased attention that the Rural has 
recently been giving to the improved cultiva 
