658 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 19 
DEFECTS OF THE GRRDUS PER. 
Some readers find fault with the Gradus pea. They 
say that ttiey plant ordinary samples of the seed in the 
usual way. and are well pleased with the pea w’hen it 
comes in bearinf?, but that they have not been able to 
pet over one-third of a full stand, and u.sually of weak 
pale vines. They w’ish to know w'hether this defect is 
constitutional or whether it is the result of obtaining 
poor seed. 
The Gradus is constitutionally weak; being a large 
wrinkled pea and usually sown early it is more liable 
to rot than other varieties which are less wrinkled. 
By comparing the price of Gradus ($12 per bushel) 
with Pride of the Market ($5 per bushel), and other 
varieties of the same appearance, you will readily see 
that a dishonest seedsman could easily mix a portion 
of dead stock, thus causing a poor stand. I have also 
found that manure used in the drill will often cause 
the vines to become yellow and die. 
Rensselaer Co., N. Y. .toun jeannin, jr. 
We have had trouble this year with the maturing, 
and even the growing, of the vines of this variety, 
and many others of the wrinkled types of the earlies, 
owing to no rain from April 16 until about June 10, 
this being the growing period of the peas. The Gra¬ 
dus. which should have been about four feet high, 
grew to about 18 inches maximum, although the pods 
were full size and filled. We have had no general 
complaint from our customers who procured this va¬ 
riety; on the contrary, nearly all who had them last 
year duplicated them this year, at same time stating 
that there was no pea as good as the Gradus. The 
growers in the North and Northwest claim that home¬ 
grown stock is much the best. We have noticed our¬ 
selves that there is very much lighter color in home¬ 
grown stock than in the imported. We can hardly 
say that our test would be a criterion, as our soil is 
very light, and we think that even adverse conditions 
would almost produce a crop, as we can cultivate, and 
do at all times during a dry period, which helps the 
crops very materially. At present time we have a 
magnificent showing in the late sugar peas, French 
Canner and Marrowfats. henry a. ekeer. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
I have never noted any defect in the crop of the 
Gradus pea caused by difference in size or immaturity 
of any portion of the seed. On my soil the Gradus has 
always been a bad cropper, and from the exceptionally 
high price at which the pea is held by seed growers, 
I am inclined to the belief that this is generally a 
characteristic. This pea is of such excellent quality, 
so early, of so large size both in pod and pea, and with 
its rich, dark-green color so attractive, its poor crop¬ 
ping quality is greatly to be regretted. This cropping 
defect is with me not only in the number of the pods, 
but in their not filling out well, a trait very common 
with peas of English origin. The Thos. Laxton, 
which I find to be in many respects as nearly like 
Gradus “as a twin brother” has in common these same 
defects, though a better cropper. On an acre which I 
planted for seed purposes I got the smallest quantity 
of seed I ever raised from any variety, though the 
crop had excellent advantages in the land, manure 
and cultivation. When Nott’s Excelsior pea was in¬ 
troduced I ventured the prophecy that as its merits 
became known it would take the place of American 
Wonder, and our figures of comparative sales are sus¬ 
taining it. It will be equally safe to venture another 
prophecy, viz., that if a variety of pea should be in¬ 
troduced producing the same characteristics of Gra¬ 
dus but a decidedly better cropper, it would ultimate¬ 
ly sweep from seed catalogues the entire present list 
of early wrinkled varieties. We thought from the 
statement of foreign catalogues that in the Thos. Lax- 
ton we had the pea, but though something of a gain, 
it has on the whole disappointed us. 
Marblehead, Mass. >t. j. h. Gregory. 
The foliage of the Gradus pea has always had more 
or less of the yellowish tint. This season the grow¬ 
ing weather with us was quite favorable, and the 
vines were a darker green and of stronger growth 
than usual, as well as bearing a more prolific crop 
of well-filled pods. Farther north, where the climatic 
conditions for growing peas are more favorable, and 
they are not hurried to premature development by 
Intense heat, this variety gives more satisfactory re¬ 
sults than it does with us, and it is more profitable to 
plant for market. Being a wrinkled seeded sort the 
^ed cannot be planted as early in the Spring as the 
smooth extra earlies, so that this variety misses the 
most favorable conditions for growth, but the quality 
of the pea is so fine that thare is a greatly increasing 
demand for the seed each season, which we think is a 
forcible indication of its fine quality and value. We 
do not think that the weak growth and pale coloring 
of the vines is attributable in any way to the seed, 
but comes largely fsom the conditions under which 
the crop is grown. T-here is a new variety, the Thos. 
Laxton, which greatly resembles the Gradus in growth 
and character, but it has uniformly rich green foliage 
and well-filled pods of the type we call “square 
ended.” That is, the pod is filled with peas to the 
extreme tip instead of having a sloping point at the 
end as in the Gradus. The Thos. Laxton with us is 
from three to five days later than the Gradus, and 
we consider it even finer in quality, as the pods are 
filled to the extreme end, and it is more productive 
than the Gradus. We think that when the seed be¬ 
comes sufficiently plentiful Thos. Laxton will very 
largely take the place of the Gradus, excepting where 
the conditions are exceptionally favorable for the lat¬ 
ter. The past two seasons have been so unfavorable 
in the districts where the seed peas are produced that 
the crops have not only been short and in many in¬ 
stances entire failures, but the seed crops, especially 
of the large-seeded sorts, have reached us in much 
poorer shape than usual, but from our own trials we 
do not think that this poor condition of the seed could 
be held responsible for the weak growth and light 
coloring you refer to, as our trials have always shown 
this character to a greater or less degree ever since 
we received the first samples of this variety from 
England. E. d. earlington. 
Doylestown, Pa. 
EXPERIENCE WITH RIPENING TOMRTOES 
RFTER FROST. 
On May 24, 1901, after setting out about five acres 
of tomatoes, there came a severe hailstorm that not 
only destroyed what plants were set in the field but 
all that were in the hotbeds, as they were not cov- 
TOMATO vine after frost. Fig. 248. 
ered. The next day I sent to -Columbus, O., for enough 
plants to set eight acres. The plants did not arrive 
until June 4, when they were set out. The plants 
were given good cultivation and they made a fine 
growth. The tomatoes were late in ripening and bui 
half a crop had been gathered and the vines were 
loaded with green tomatoes when on the night of 
September 25 there came a heavy frost. The frost 
was severe enough to kill the vines but not injure 
the green tomatoes that were protected by the heavy 
foliage. The next morning all the help that could 
be secured commenced to pick the green tomatoes. 
In Fig. 248 are shown the tomatoes on one vine after 
removing the frosted leaves; 40 green and partly ripe 
tomatoes on one vine. The tomatoes were put in 
bushel slat boxes, hauled to the farm cannery and 
the boxes piled up. After filling all the boxes on 
hand the tomatoes were poured about 18 inches deep 
upon the fioor of the storage room. Straw was placed 
in some cold frames and many bushels were left here 
to ripen. After finishing picking I found there were 
600 bushels of green and partly ripe tomatoes from 
the eight acres. The weather afterwards turned warm 
and there was no more frost for about three weeks. 
The question was, what to do with the tomatoes, how 
would they ripen the best? How to dispose of them 
if they did ripen? Having had no previous experi¬ 
ence in canning tomatoes that were ripened after be¬ 
ing picked I hesitated about canning them. As there 
seemed a prospect of canned tomatoes being high the 
following Winter I finally decided to make a cheap 
article out of them and run the risk of keeping them. 
At last th tomatoes began to ripen and they were 
sorted twif ; each week. I found that those in the cold 
frame and the ones on the second floor of the faptory 
over the boiler that furnished steam for the cooking 
ripened the best. But few rotted. Most of the toma¬ 
toes were solid when ripe and made a fair canned 
product. Some of the tomatoes were disposed of in 
the local market where they found a good sale at 80 
cents per bushel. The last lot ripened November 8. 
Having done so well with these I tried picking the 
green tomatoes last Fall, but it was an entire failure. 
The tomatoes were small and immature, and half of 
them rotted before getting ripe. The cost of sorting 
was twice what the few ripe tomatoes we did get was 
worth. There is usually a good market for tomatoes 
late in the Fall, and by planting late the green toma¬ 
toes will usually be sufficiently mature to ripen after 
being picked when the vines are killed. e. g. t. 
ARSENITE OF SODA FOR SPRAYING. 
I saw an article on page 493, from A. E. B., Bridge- 
water, Mass., upon the subject of spraying potatoes. I 
have used a four-row sprayer for the past six years and 
have had a varied experience with Paris-green. When 
I started spraying six years ago I used one-quarter pound 
of Paris-green to 50 gallons of water, which did the work 
quite satisfactorily, but now it takes from one to two 
pounds in the same quantity of water to kill the bugs, 
and I have come to the conclusion that it is not because 
the bugs have got used to it that it takes so much more 
to destroy them, but that the demand for Paris-green has 
become so great that the manufacturers and dealers have 
so adulterated it that we are obliged to use about four 
times as much and pay a third more for the adulterated 
stuff, and I think it time to call a halt. We must have 
something cheaper. Why cannot we use pure arsenic, 
which is worth only eight or 10 cents per pound? One 
pound should go as far as 10 pounds of Paris-green. T 
have seen something about arsenite of soda being used 
for spraying. What is arsenite of soda? Is it not arsenic 
adulterated with soda, which is worth about two cents 
per pound wholesale? How much pure arsenic should 
we use to 50 gallons of w-ater for spraying potatoes, and 
will it injure the vines also? Can it be used with Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture in spraying for the Codling moth? d. c. 
South End, Out. 
I am yet very sceptical about the notion that it 
takes more poison to kill a Potato beetle now than it 
did its grand-parents 15 or 20 years ago. And again, 
the chemists tell us, especially in those States like 
New York having a law relating to the amount of 
arsenic which Paris-green or similar poisons shall 
contain, that the Paris-green now sold is in nearly 
every case up to the standard, or it contains more 
than 50 per cent of arsenic. Therefore, I doubt if 
there has been much deterioration in Paris-green in 
recent years. Too often the trouble, or the cause of 
non-success, lies at the door of the one who makes the 
application. In these days of “hustle” and horse¬ 
power machines, many times the work is not done as 
well as it used to be with the sprinkling pot or knap¬ 
sack sprayer. 
White arsenic is the basis or killing principle in 
most of the poisonous insecticides. It slowly dis¬ 
solves in water, and the solution burns foliage se¬ 
verely; hence, white arsenic cannot be used alone in 
a spray. But there are two cheap substances with 
which anyone can easily combine white arsenic, and 
thus make a spray that is just as safe, many claim 
rnore effective, and much cheaper than Paris-green or 
similar poisons. Stock mixtures of these combina¬ 
tions can be made and kept on hand indefinitely. The 
arsenite of soda is made by boiling one pound of 
white arsenic and tWo pounds of sal soda (washing 
soda or crystals of carbonate of soda) in two gallons 
of water until the arsenic is all dissolved, forming a 
clear solution with no sediment. Use this with Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture or with about two pounds of lime to 
each 40 gallons of water. For ordinary spraying of 
fruit trees, etc., use one quart of the stock mixture 
in 40 gallons of the Bordeaux or the lime water; for 
Potato beetles use double the amount or two quarts 
of the poison. In figuring the amount of white ar¬ 
senic to use, consider one pound of it equal in poi¬ 
soning power to two pounds of Paris-green, as the lat¬ 
ter is usually only about one-half arsenic. The ar¬ 
senite of lime is made by boiling two pounds of un¬ 
slaked lime and one pound of white arsenic in two 
gallons of water for at least 30 minutes. It is said 
that a better mixture or combination results if the 
arsenic be dissolved in the water by long boiling, and 
then this solution be used to slake the lime. The re¬ 
sulting stock mixture will have a heavy sediment and 
thus need frequent stirring. Use the same amounts 
of this arsenite of lime in Bordeaux Mixture or lime 
water as given above for the arsenite of soda. 
Some of our largest and most successful orchardists 
are using these cheap substitutes for Paris-green, and 
they report excellent results. Keep the stock mix¬ 
tures in a jug or similar receptacle well labeled and 
kept out of reach of children or domestic animals. 
White arsenic is so cheap that it is rarely if ever 
adulterated, and the homemade stock mixtures are 
thus of uniform quality. It is always necessary to 
boil the arsenic with the lime or sal soda. One could 
not make a safe spray by simply mixing the ingi'e- 
dients in water without boiling. In spite of the fact 
that such cheap a«id effective poisons can thus be 
easily made at home, many people will not go to the 
trouble to make them, preferring to pay twice as 
much for the ready-to-use Paris-green, or they will 
invest in some new nostrum, like oxide of zinc or 
“Bug Death.” The careful experiments of the Maine 
Experiment Station show that from four to eight 
pounds of Paris-green (four applications) used per 
acre, the potato vines were kept a little freer from 
the “bugs” and just as many bushels of potatoes were 
obtained as when from 60 to 100 pounds of “Bug 
Death” were used (five applications) per acre. If one 
prefers to distribute so much more material, it is no¬ 
body’s business. There is always some one who 
wants to “kick” about something, no matter how 
cheap or effective it is in the hands of a thorough¬ 
going man. Right here is the chance for me to say 
frankly, that much of the reported ill-success from 
spraying is directly traceable to lack of thoroughness 
on the part of the man behind the gun. 
M. V. SEINGERLANE. 
