1903 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
499 
NOTES ABOUT SOME INSECTS. 
Did Ants injure the Corn? 
I have three acres of sod laid down four years ago; 
it was seeded in oats and fertilized broadcast, but it 
caught grass seed badly. I then fenced it off and kept 
it for cattle for four years. There were from six to eight 
head of cattle in it nightly from Spring till late in Fall. 
I thought I could get a good crop of corn. I put a few 
loads of manure in poor spots; put corn in with drill 
and all the phosphate I could in the two hoes that 
planted the corn. The land is sandstone soil. I pick 
all the large stones so I can use the drill. The corn 
came up all right, for I went over it with a hoe and 
covered all grain on top of ground, but a week after it 
came up it commenced to turn yellow, and end of blades 
looked as if burned. Weather was dry and warm, and 
there are hundreds of small ants under every little 
.stone that is turned over, and around the hills of corn. 
Do you think these ants the cause of the corn decaying, 
or is the ground sour? I noticed in plowing that a good 
many spots had red or brown moss. I like to raise 
good crops and put ground in good shape, but am no 
scientific farmer. I was born and raised in Ireland, and 
do not want to follow any other calling at 65 years old. 
Dagus Mines, Pa. m. k. 
I think the ants had nothing to do directly with 
the yellowing of the corn. It is possible that the 
trouble may be caused by the Corn-root plant-louse, 
but this usually does serious injury only in the West. 
If the roots are affected with these lice it would ex¬ 
plain the presence of ants, for this plant-louse is en¬ 
tirely dependent upon ants. The ants take care of the 
lice during the Winter, and carry them to corn roots 
in the Spring. I would advise sending some of the 
affected corn and some of the soil to the Pennsyl¬ 
vania Experiment Station at State College, Pa. The 
Station could, doubtless, give some definite informa¬ 
tion if they had such material. 
M. V. SLLNGEKLANX). 
Where Potato Beetles Come From. 
I notice that my potato plants, as soon as they poke 
their leaves above ground, are almost Instantly Inspected 
by Potato bugs. It seems to me rather quick work, 
unless these pests are mind readers, and knew that 
where I had potatoes last year I was going to have 
them in the same place this season. Or might it be due 
to my generosity last year in allowing any bugs to 
escape, and those that did remained with me all Winter 
in the depths of the earth, waiting for Spring to come 
again? w. a. jack. 
Nova Scotia. 
It is nothing unusual for Potato beetles to be on 
hand just as soon as the first leaves appear above 
ground. The old beetles, or “hardshells,” as they are 
often called, hibernate probably in the soil, and in 
other sheltered places, and by Spring they get very 
hungry, so that they are on the watch for the first 
potato leaves that appear. Sometimes the beetles 
come from quite long distances to a potato patch on 
new ground where one would not expect them to ap¬ 
pear at all, but it usually turns out that one’s neigh- 
^bor grew a good crop of them the season before, so 
that there were many old and hungry beetles to ap¬ 
pear in the Spring. The beetles fiy for considerable 
distances, and early in the Spring one often meets 
them far from potato fields. I think the case is not 
at all unusual. 
2kl. V. SLING^KRJ.ANX). 
THE PROBLEM OF LIQUID MANURES. 
How can 1 utilize the drainage from a city stable of 
20 well-fed work horses, to the benefit of my half-acre 
garden in which I cultivate a variety of vegetables, in¬ 
cluding celery, salsify, etc.; also strawberries, grapes 
and other small fruits for family use—no potatoes? The 
drainage is now received into a brick reservoir, connected 
from near the top with the city sewer. What is its fer¬ 
tilizing value ton for ton compared with the stable ma¬ 
nure? N. 
\V. Newton. Mass. 
No one seems yet to have devised a perfect plan for 
utilizing such liquids to the best advantage. The 
liquid manure from horses contains from three to five 
times as much nitrogen and potash as the solids. It 
’•8 especially valuable for forcing vegetables, as the 
nitrogen it contains is as soluble as that in nitrate of 
soda. To Illustrate how strong such liquid is we may 
state that a 40-gallon barrel of it weighing about 330 
pounds will contain five pounds each of nitrogen and 
potash. In order to obtain a liquid of this strength 
we should have to dissolve in a barrel of water 10 
pounds muriate of potash and 30 pounds of nitrate of 
soda! A liquid of this strength unless used with 
great care would “scald” and injure most garden 
crops. It may be pumped out of the pits into barrels 
or Into a cart and poured on the ground between the 
rows, or pumped into some absorbent like straw, saw¬ 
dust or muck, or even coal ashes, which can be used 
like ordinary manure. It ought to be diluted with at 
least an equal bulk of water before using on grass or 
Srain. As a rule we doubt whether it pays to attempt 
to use the liquid alone. Where it is possible to do so, 
we would pump it out of the cistern upon the solids 
or some absorbent and apply it in bulk. In the case 
of this garden it may answer for such crops as celery 
or cabbage to pour the clear liquids on the ground be¬ 
tween the rpwf— hot nearer than a foot from the 
plant, but our own experience with it shows that it is 
better to let it soak into some absorbent before ap¬ 
plying. Another thing about such manure is shown 
by the following table: 
Liquid horse manure. 
Nitro¬ 
gen. 
.31 
Pho& 
acid. 
Pot¬ 
ash. 
30 
Solid horse manure. 
7 
7 
Fruit fertilizer .. 
1.50 
210 
Potato fertilizer . 
160 
140 
The “fruit” and “potato” fertilizers are mixtures of 
chemicals which long experience has shown to give 
good results on these crops. A special vegetable ma¬ 
nure contains a large per cent of nitrogen, but the 
liquid manure alone would not prove satisfactory to 
the fruits. It contains practically no phosphoric acid 
and its continued use would give a heavy growth of 
leaf and wood but little fruit. We cannot make up 
A PROFITABLE SOW. Fig. 186. Sek Page 510. 
for the lack of potash and phosphoric acid by giving 
extra nitrogen. The three elements must be applied 
in the proportions needed by crops if we want to be 
economical. This table will show why stable manure 
should be used with chemicals which contain potash 
and phosphoric acid. 
ANOTHER BICYCLE GRINDSTONE. 
I have been grinding scythes and other tools for 
years and years. For many years I stood on one foot 
and turned the grindstone with the other, often until 
I ached in every muscle. Then I queried: Why do I 
labor and ache thus? Setting my brain to work the 
grindstone frame shown in Fig. 187 was evolved, and 
.now I sit down and can grind away joyfully and 
easily half a day or more. Another difficulty I met 
with was the failure of the grindstone to “take hold” 
of some tools, which necessitated a long grind. I fin¬ 
ally discovered that by putting a little sand on the 
stone every minute or so and dripping only enough 
water on it to keep it damp I could bring the edge of 
any tool to a satisfactory thinness in a very short 
time. I put the finishing touch on without sand and 
with plenty of water running on the stone. If I had 
invented this frame and discovered the value of the 
sand application 25 years ago they would have saved 
me weeks of labor and aches. There are what are 
called bicycle grindstones on the market, but one can 
hang the old stone In this sort of a frame and it will 
work all right. The frame Is all wood. Mine is BO 
inches long, 30 high and nine wide. T is the treadle, 
a strip of wood 1x2 inches square. One end is at¬ 
tached to a back leg with a half-inch bolt, and the 
other slides up and down in the slot formed by a 
piece of lath, having a small block under each end, 
nailed to a front leg. S is a strip of wood to keep 
water from flying on operator’s legs. Piece of No. 8 
or No. 9 wire connects treadle with crank. Lower end 
is bent loosely around treadle, so that it may be 
moved forward or back to suit operator. The frame 
is a simple affair and easily made, and will prove as 
satisfactory as the putting of a little sand on the stone 
to make it grind faster. Both represent the sort of 
brain work that la very useful about a place. 
ilUaoia. frkd. obundy. 
TOPSY-TURVYISM IN FRUIT GROWING. 
I have read a good deal about the Stringfellow 
method of fruit-tree planting in your paper, but have 
looked in vain for an explanation of the principle or 
principles of the system. To me it seems like the most 
pernicious of fads, as it is the converse of the prac¬ 
tice of the best growers in this country. Here we 
subsoil the land for fruit, in order to make a deep 
and friable tilth, to aerate the subsoil, and thus to 
keep out drought, while allowing the utmost opportu¬ 
nity for the growth of fibrous rootlets. Then we pre¬ 
serve as many of the roots of young trees as possible 
in transplanting, carefully spread out those roots, and 
cover them with friable soil. Afterwards we keep the 
soil well cultivated, and do not sow grass on it until 
the trees are mature, if at all. It is true that apple 
trees are often planted in pasture, but even then the 
best practice is to keep a space cultivated around each 
tree till it Is well matured. What possible advantage 
can there be in cutting off all the fibrous roots of a 
tree when transplanting it, and thus depriving it of 
feeders till It has made new ones? Here we preserve 
all the roots we can (pruning bruised ends), and cut 
back the upper growth one-half, or two-thirds to bal¬ 
ance the loss of roots in raising the tree, and to make 
up for the check to the vitality and activity of the 
roots. No wonder that Mr. Stringfellow has to cut 
his trees back to bare stems to make up for stub¬ 
rooting them, and then putting them in the ground 
under the most unfavorable of possible conditions for 
promoting root growth. 
It appears that Mr. Stringfellow endeavors to en¬ 
courage the growth of tap roots, which Is what we in 
this country strive to avoid. With us trees that have 
borne well often cease to do so when their roots have 
penetrated into a cold, compact and wet clay soil. 
Then they make wood and bear very little fruit. Mr. 
Stringfellow makes a cold, compact and wet subsoil 
artificially to start with. I cannot help thinking that 
any success attained by planting on the Stringfellow 
method has been attained in spite of and not because 
of it. AN ENGLISH FRUIT GROWER. 
Hailsham, Sussex, England. 
If “English Fruit Grower” has failed to see the 
principles of the “New Horticulture” as demonstrated 
by the experience of M. Crawford and others, lately 
given in The R. N.-Y., I would suggest that he buy a 
copy of the book and experiment before condemning 
the system as a “pernicious fad.” The “New Horti- 
iculture” is not founded on theory or reasoning, but 
on facts. It is a fact that a tree seed starts its life 
with no root at all, and a piece-root graft with only 
a few inches, and yet both make the very best of 
trees. Why should a top and root-pruned tree fail to 
do equally well? It is also a fact that all natural 
forest growth, and all chance fruit-tree seedlings stand 
on firm, unbroken ground. Will “English Fruit 
Grower” deny that they are longer-lived, more healthy 
and the fruit trees more uniformly productive than 
those planted with long roots and cultivated? That 
planting on plowed ground and cultivating will stimu¬ 
late growth is a fact, and the “New Horticulture” 
recommends that method where it is desired and the 
soil suitable, and also the growing of cultivated crops 
in the orchard until the trees begin to bear. After 
that, experience shows that the surface roots should 
be let alone and that sod, mowed several times, leav¬ 
ing clippings where they fall, will give the best re¬ 
sults in health, productiveness and economy. Having 
seen several large pear orchards destroyed by fire, I 
would not risk Mr. Hitchings’s treatment of a single 
early mowing; besides, the evaporation of moisture 
from tall grass and the absorption of available plant 
food by it, are both at the expense of the crop when 
most needed, which must suffer in a drought. Plant¬ 
ing in small holes on sod ground and cultivating or 
mulching around the trees is advisable only on rough 
ground, or where the owner does not desire to grow 
crops. The trees will grow off less rapidly but be 
just as good in the end. As to pruning, it stimulates 
a movement of the sap when the tree is at rest, so 
should always be done, if at all, in the growing sea¬ 
son, but beyond shaping the tree the first or second 
year, the less the better. On bearing trees it forces 
out long shoots with a too close development of fruit 
buds, causing the trees to overbear and necessitating 
thinning and further pruning. On unpruned trees the 
fruit buds are distributed more evenly and thinly. 
H. M. STRINGFELI.OW. 
BROODERLESS CHICKS.—Mr. Fuller tells me that 
they are getting some valuable experience while try¬ 
ing to raise their incubator-hatched chicks without 
brooders. They would do differently in several re¬ 
spects If repeating the experiment. Among others he 
mentions that a hot brick suspended in the corner of 
the box along with the feather duster on a chilly 
night at bedtime is an improvement. He also thinks 
that a good coal stove in the room would be better 
than their wood stove. The wood fire goes out be¬ 
fore morning, and just at the time when they need 
artificial heat the worst it is apt to be missing, caus¬ 
ing huddling and chilling of the chicks. This is one 
of the reasons why I prefer a kerosene lamp to the 
hot-water pipe brooder system. Even a coal fire can 
hardly be left all night without attention, without 
the fire getting low before morning, just when the 
most heat Is needed. With a good kerosene lamp 
there is no variation of heat even if left fo” m'^re 
than 12 hours. p. w. m. 
