594 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 22 
the yard the cattle would have eaten it all. It is an 
erroneous idea that getting clover hay wet 'spoils it. 
Really it is injured less by wetting than Timothy. 
Pennsylvania._ -h i. 
KILLINO OUT WILD MUSTARD. 
How can I get rid of wild mustard? I have some fields, 
black muck, that are too thick tf) pull, and am afraid 1 
cannot get them .seeded. I cannot raise inter grain 
on the land, it is too low. f*- 
Alpine, N, Y. 
I have a piece of oats that is full of wild mustard, and 
also some in my cornfield, which was plowed last !■ all. 
I have pulled out all I saw when 1 hoed the e< rn. and 
now I notice there is more. Can you tell me how T can 
get rid of it, and also how it comes in the land? 1 think 
it came in the oats when I sowed the lot five years ago, 
and since then I have been cultivating the ground with 
potatoes and cabbage and i)ulling the mtistard out, but 
it is impossible to get it all out. u. s. 
High Falls, N. Y. 
Some Practical Experience With It. 
Wild mustard or charlock is one of the most per¬ 
sistent weeds ever introduced, and one of the hardest 
to eradicate. Fortunately it is not very hardy, and 
seldom survives a Winter. It much resembles com¬ 
mon mustard in appearance though growing noi 
nearly so tall, and coming into blossom much earlier 
in the season; coming into hloom early enough to 
ripen its seed with the oat or barley crop. While it 
will come up in time to ripen with Spring-sown grain 
'it will continue to germinate all Summer in hoed 
crops, and will bloom and ripen seed when no more 
than two to four inches tall. The seed is very full of 
oil and will, if below the depth of vegetation, remain 
in the ground dormant almost any length of time, and 
will grow the first time it is brought near enough to 
the surface to do so. For these reasons it is almost 
impossible, when once a field is fully seeded with it, 
to eradicate it. In 1885 I bought two bushels of Im¬ 
perial barley seed, which was badly infested, and al¬ 
though I do not believe a single plant has ever been 
allowed to go to seed on the land on which this was 
sown, an occasional plant now 'shows. Mr. Bell, near 
this place, who was so unfortunate as to buy a lot of 
oats which was very badly filled with this seed, has 
had a hard fight to clean his fields, but has not yet 
succeeded, though he has siient a good many dollars 
on it and has not raised a sown Spring crop since the 
oats were sown. Mr. Bell very wisely, as soon as he 
found what he had sown, jdowed down the oats, mus¬ 
tard and all, and has carefully watched the field ever 
since and not allowed a plant to ripen. The inquirers 
should watch the crops i)ut on the land, putting on 
no sown Spring crops, and pull or cultivate out every 
single plant. They can raise corn or potatoes on this 
land and then sow to rye if not suitable for wheat, 
and seed down with the rye. Unless the succeeding 
Winter should be very mild no mustard will live 
through to show in the rye, nor will it come up and 
show in the meadow or pasture so long as left un¬ 
plowed. It is said that a solution of copper sulphate 
(blue vitriol) sprayed on the field when the mustard 
is small Avill kill the mustard without injuring the 
oats or barley. Of the truth of this I have no prac¬ 
tical knowledge, but hope it may be true, for it would 
afford an easy way of riding the country of a very 
serious pest, and one that is spreading very rapidly, 
which when fully established very seriously reduces 
the yield of the economical crop. I have seen crops 
thrashed where the 'stream running from the separ¬ 
ator would he black with the seed. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. -i. s. woodwaud. 
Spraying With Blue Vitriol. 
Wild mustard is a great pest in many parts of New 
York. A method of destroying it has been in use in 
Great Britain and Germany for several years, and is 
being tried in numerous places in the United States at 
present. It consists in spraying the mustard plants 
with a solution of copper sulphate (blue vitriol). If 
the plants are young a two-per-cent solution, or about 
seven pounds of copper sulphate to 45 gallons of 
water, sprayed on one acre, will destroy them. If 
older a three-per-cent solution (10 pounds to 45 gal¬ 
lons), or four-per-cent (13 pounds to 45 gallons), may 
■.,e necessary. We have not yet found it necessary to 
use a solution stronger than three per cent. Some of 
our cultivated plants are destroyed or injured by the 
same treatment, so it is practical to apply it only 
when the mustard is growing in certain crops. Oats, 
corn and pea's are little if at all affected by the spray* 
thus enabling us easily to destroy the mustard grow¬ 
ing in these crops. Potatoes are very susceptible to 
injury, and mustard growing among them may not be 
destroyed by spraying. In regard to beans and beets 
our experiments are still incomplete. The indications 
are that with care the mustard may be destroyed in 
beets, but that beans are too susceptible to injury to 
permit it. However, we still hope to he able to kill 
young mustard in bean fields. We have not yet tried 
(he effect of the solution on buckwheat. It i's under¬ 
stood that all the cereal crops withstand the effect of 
the spray sufficiently w’ell to enable iis to destroy 
the mustard. Any apparatus that will distribute about 
45 gallons over an acre in a fine spray may be used. 
The ordinary barrel spray pump in a wagon with a 
short piece of hose and a rod four or five feet long 
will do in the absence of anything better. By swing¬ 
ing the ispray from side to side behind the wagon as it 
is driven over the field a strip 10 to 15 feet wide may 
be covered. The four or six-row potato sprayers are 
admirably adapted 4o this work, as they are easily 
arranged to cover the entire surface of the field. Only 
brass pump and fittings should be used for this work, 
as the copper sulphate is vei-y destructive to iron. We 
could give specific cases where success has attended 
THE MIRACLE PLUM. Fio. 224. 
efforts for the destruction of mustard this season, 
both where the work was undertaken for experi¬ 
mental purposes ui)on the suggestion of this Station 
and where farmers were putting the method into 
actual use upon their farms. This subject opens a 
wide field for experiment and observation. What 
weeds may be destroyed by this or other chemicals 
in solution? What strength of solution is necessary? 
What crop will resist the destructive influences of 
these chemicals, and what will not? In the main till¬ 
ed cro])s can be kept clean by good culture, but broad¬ 
cast crops like oats, peas or buckwheat can only be 
cleaned if once the mustard starts in them, by some 
such method as is described above. .i. l. h. 
Ithaca, N. Y. _ 
THE MIRACLE PLUM. 
On .luly 17 we I’eceived from Luther Burbank, of 
California, samples of his new Miracle plum. Fig. 
224 represents this unique i)lum in natural size. It 
was dark in color, with the heavy blue bloom charac¬ 
teristic of the Damson class. The flesh was yellow 
tinged with purple, sweet, rich and juicy; quality 
highest. The “stone” was represented by a single 
fragment or spicula near the stem end. the kernel 
otherwise lying embedded in the delicious pulp. The 
plum as a whole could be bitten or cut through in 
any direction without interference. The specimen was 
in perfect condition after its long journey from Cali¬ 
fornia. If the tree proves vigorous and productive 
under eastern conditions there is no doubt of the 
value of this Miracle among plums. Mr. Burbank 
gives the following facts concerning the history of 
the plum: 
“About 16 or 18 years ago I sent to a French nur¬ 
seryman for the “Prunier sans noyau,” a fruit which 
has been known as a curiosity for hundreds of years. 
This soon fruited with me, producing a fruit about 
the size of a small cherry, having a Damson color and 
flavor, with a stone partially covering the pit, and 
growing on an unjiroductive, rambling, thorny bush. 
- -•* 
... -" " 
VENTILATION FOR INCUBATOR HOUSE. Fig. 22iS.- 
This was carefully crossed with the French prune, 
and other plums, and after about 10 years I began to 
see the results in sweet and sour Damson-like fruits 
of all sizes. At last, about four years ago, in a lot of 
these hybrid seedlings, a strong, vigorous close-joint¬ 
ed tree with large leaves and very prominent buds 
was raised, which produced the fruit called Miracle, 
of much better flavor than even the best Damsons, of 
greatly improved form, size, color and quality, and 
the stone wholly eliminated. Like several other of 
these hybrid seedlings, this new and first really 
stoneless hybrid plum resembles, but even surpasses, 
its staminate parent, the French prune, in size, and 
resembles it in general form, and especially in its 
enormous productiveness, but having a much heavier 
blue bloom, thus more resembling some of the Ger¬ 
man and Hungarian prunes. While not containing 
sugar enough to be classed among the drying prunes 
for cooking it must supplant all the Damsons, as it 
is larger and more productive if possible than any of 
them, which are noted for their productiveness. Ex¬ 
periments are to be continued in this very interesting 
line, and among the thousands of hybrid seedlings of 
the last generation a large number show that they 
have still further valuable distinctive qualities. It 
has been a tedious and highly expensive matter to 
breed out the stone from the plum, and at the same 
time increase its size, quality and productiveness, as 
only a small proportion of the 'seedlings are stoneles.s. 
and most of them show the many undesirable quali¬ 
ties usually found in seedlings, so that to produce a 
stoneless fruit of good quality has been a monumen¬ 
tal task which very few would be willing to follow 
up. Probably not one person in a million realizes 
the fact that such a plum could hardly be produced 
for less than the cost of half a score of average New 
England farms, yet such are the facts.” 
HAIRY VETCH IN MAINE. 
1 am interested in the remarks concerning Hairy 
vetch in The R. N.-Y., page 536. I have used it with 
such excellent results as an orchard cover here in 
Maine, that I should be sorry to have fear of the vetch 
seeds acting as a preventive of its use for the purpose 
mentioned. If used as hay, as suggested by Prof. 
Smith, the danger of scattering seed might be a real 
one. But when used as a cover crop, and plowed un¬ 
der at the projier time in the Spring, it is a most valu¬ 
able adjunct to orchard culture, while danger of 
spreading is restricted to the careless scattering of 
seed by the wayside. Of several cover crops used in 
a comparative trial last season, the Hairy vetch was 
easily the best. The Spring vetch made rather a 
heavier growth in the Fall; hut was, of course, killed 
out during the Winter. The Winter or Hairy vetch, 
on the other hand, wintered admirably and formed a 
thick mat of foliage, which soon used the surplus 
moisture in the soil during the early Spring. 
_*_ W. M. MU.NSO.X. 
INCUBATOR HOUSE OF LOGS; HOT WATER. 
I intend to build an incubator house of sided logs eight 
inelies thick, witli walls six feet high and cracks well 
plastered. 1 thought SxlO would be large enough for two 
machines, one 2lK)-egg and one 12i)-egg capacity. How 
large should it be, and how should 1 ventilate it? I have 
thought of the following plan for carrying off the lanip 
fumes; have a lixture like tho.se use<l in railway rouiul- 
homses over the engine stalls, the wide end of the funnel 
about a foot in diameter, with a two or three-inch pipe 
leading throu.gh the roof. Will this have sufficient draft 
to carry off the lamp fumes? I had poor success with 
my 200-egg hot-water machine this Spring. The end iie.xl 
the lami) hatched well, but the rear end did very poorly; 
a great many chicks were dead in the sheiks. I did not 
(ind it convenient to change trays from one end of the 
machine to the other because 1 had to remove the eggs 
fi'om end of tray to make room for the thermometer, and 
the heat seemed to be even till near the end of the hatch 
'ITie lamp is a very i)oor one, the burner being nearly al¬ 
ways too hot, with a constant sputtering from too much 
ga.s. I intend to have a better lamp for my next hatch. 
1 tested a. log hou.se one hot day. 'Phere was 46 degrees 
difference between inside and outside temperature. It In'-- 
^been stated that all hot-water machines should be raksed 
a few inches at lamp end every two or three d.-v.s to 
force air out ot the tank. The tank in my machine is 
made ot galvanized iron, one pipe round the machine and 
cne in center, but it seems to me there can be rio room 
for air when the pipes are full. j. r. 
Washington. 
The 8x10 house w'oulcl do for the two incubators, 
provided the sides of the house are seven feet high 
and proper ventilation is furnished. A house 10x10 
or 10x12 would be better, and tlTe extra room coiild 
be used to good advantage for storeroom for brood¬ 
ers, etc., when not in use, or for another incubator 
later. We are afraid that your suggestion for a hood 
directly over lamps to carry off the fumes might cause 
a direct draft that w'ould affect the burning of the 
lamps. The best ventilator in this case, we think, 
would be a chute made absolutely tight about six 
inches square—that leads from near the floor up 
through the ceiling and through the roof, open at top 
and bottom, with a damper. An opening with shut¬ 
ter can be made in the chute just below the ceiling, 
to be used in very close hot weather. An intake 
about six inches square for fresh air should be made 
on the opposite end of the house and near the ceil¬ 
ing, with a protecting covering on the outside to pre¬ 
vent the wind from blowing in, as shown in Fig. 
225. Be sure to put in a ceiling. This will make the 
room much more even in temperature. Windows 
with shutters can be placed in gable ends to give 
circulation of air. This is an adaptation of the King 
system. We do not use hot-water machines. If air 
bubbles accumulate the machine should be so ad¬ 
justed as to obviate it. The hot-water incubator 
which we used years ago did not need to be readjust¬ 
ed when once filled and heated up properly. We would 
also suggest tilting the egg trays. Some of our hot¬ 
air machines do not distribute the heat properly and 
we have been obliged to raise or lower ends or sides 
of trays to even the temperature. The higher they 
are the warmer they will be. This has saved us many 
chickens. white a bice. 
