1903 
789 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Feeding the Ground. —With the soil 
as with live stock, I am pretty certain 
i.hat it is about as much in the feed as 
in the breed. We once had a shote two 
or three months old that chanced to get 
iuto the pen with the fattening hogs. 
Five or six more of the same litter that 
were running outside, while having 
fairly good care, by no means fared as 
sumptuously as the one inside. When 
he got into the pen he was no better 
than the others of his litter, but wheu 
the porkers were killed he was nearly 
double the size of his rhates. After kill¬ 
ing time, he was again left to run with 
the others, until they in their turn suc¬ 
cumbed to the inevitable. Other than 
his banqueting in the fattening pen, he 
fared precisely the same as did the oth¬ 
ers, yet when the lot was dressed the 
following Fall, he outweighed the heav¬ 
iest of the litter by more than 100 
pounds. On page 711 the Hope Farm 
man gives us their experience with the 
Prizetakers. Now if fed and cultivated 
to that end, they will grow small enough 
to suit almost any trade, but the illus¬ 
tration fully backs up his statement 
that they were thoroughly well fed. 
Thorough culture also was helpful, but 
the manure so well rotted and then ap¬ 
plied as top-dressing was in the best 
possible shape to assist the pl^ants in 
their early struggle. So, I believe that 
no amount of fertilizing and culture will 
repair the damage of a stunted growth 
at first. We have had some object les¬ 
sons along these lines the past season. 
Two pieces of naturally strong ground 
were planted to potatoes, but as I have 
since learned, no manure had been used 
in three or four years. Two pieces of 
ground that have had far better usage 
as to manure were also planted, and the 
yields of the latter were twice or three 
times those of the former, as I figure it, 
$") worth of manure at going prices here, 
wouVi have increased the yield of the 
former two pieces at least 100 bushels. 
Just as much seed and labor were ex¬ 
pended upon the starved as the well fed 
soil, with tlie result that the former was 
worked at a loss while work upon the 
latter was done at a profit. This Fall I 
am obliged to buy manure, but in future 
we hope to stop that leakage to a great 
extent with cover crops. Judging from 
appearances my ground will grow rye, 
clover, and I also hope cow peas as welj, 
and by those means and also increasing 
the live stock we hope to keep fertilizer 
biiis down to the minimum. 
Tisotting AGiUNST TiME.—This pretty 
nearly describes our condition for the 
whole season through. A late start in 
the Spring has kept business generally 
in an uproar all Summer, with the re¬ 
sult that some of the irons got burned 
before they could be pulled from the fire. 
By way of apology, however, the late 
start was entirely beyond our control, 
but that fact has in no way made the 
hurry and bustle any the less. Well,, 
Jack Frost has been very considerate,, 
and thanks to his tardiness everything 
in the line of crops save a i>art of the 
corn is now secure. There is stiH plenty 
of work suffering to be done, and sev- 
eial weeks of good weather would be 
none too much for us. There is hauling 
manure, plowing, work among the 
giapes and berries, and come to think of 
it, if our Summer would last all the year,, 
it would be none too much. Whatever 
of this can be done before Winter sets 
in will, be so much ahead for Spring.. 
Then, too, in looking out over the kitch¬ 
en garden, I see much necessary work, 
to be done there. There is much rub¬ 
bish, such as cucumber, melon vines and 
the like to be cleaned up and burned. 
We are inclined to hospitality, but not 
to the extent of leaving that kind of 
trash for the breeding ground of insects. 
We have often been told that such plfices 
afford good Winter quarters for the^ 
striped beetles and such like pests, and 
so we draw the line regarding hospital¬ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
ity when it comes to entertaining that 
kind of strangers, for in truth we have 
never found many angels hiding in such 
places. So we shall have to make a bon¬ 
fire ere long, and go into the renovating 
business in the garden. We hope also, 
in the absence of a sowed cover crop to 
substitute manure. The soil is pretty 
hard and heavy, and we incline to the 
belief that a heavy dressing of coarse 
litter left on top through the Winter, 
and turned down deep in Spring will 
be much better than leaving the ground 
unprotected. Then a shallower plowing 
in Spring with heavy top-dressing and 
thorough preparation ought to make a 
pretty good seed bed. This is the plan 
outlined for the kitchen garden, and we 
hope to see if it will help us out, for the 
garden ground is hard and no mistake. 
Some Extras. —In addition to all the 
above we are having to make some re¬ 
pairs on the sheds and stables. We do 
not like to shelter our tools under the 
blue Winter skies, and so more earthly 
shelter has to be provided. Then, too, 
a root cellar had to be provided; and 
for this we have tackled the side of a 
knoll that stands very convenient to one 
of the houses. As yet, we are not very 
far along with this, only a part of the 
excavation being done. We are pretty 
sure though that one end and the two 
sides can be mostly made in the hill so 
that only the roof and one end wiU have 
to be provided for. In this way we hope 
to make a convenient and safe store¬ 
house with comparatively little labor 
and almost no cash outlay. 
Michigan. J. e. morse. 
NURSERY QUESTIONS. 
IV. //. N., Horseneclc, TV. Va.—1. Will Kieffer 
pear seed come true, and does the tree 
make a good stock for standard pears? 
Should seed be. planted in Fall or Spring 
in nursery rows? 2. Give best method of 
sprouting peach seed. I would like to 
sprout them In hotbed in early Spring, and 
then transplant in nursery rows. Would 
they have to be burst before placing in 
hotbed, and can this be successfully done 
without injuring the kernel? I have tried 
them by planting in shallow trenches in 
Fall; also by placing them in sand; neither 
way has proved very successful. 3. Can you 
successfully June-bud the cherry, especially 
Early Richmond and Montmorency? T. 
How are buds kept through Winter? 
Ans. —1. The Kieffer or any other pear 
will not come true from seed, except 
that the type will be similar to the ori¬ 
ginal, and the seedlings will be good 
for stocks for other pears. The seed 
may be planted in the Fall or stratified 
in sand and kept over until Spring. 2. 
My own experience has been very sat¬ 
isfactory with both bedding down peach 
seeds until Spring and planting in nur¬ 
sery rows in the Fall. The only thing 
in favor of bedding down is the cer¬ 
tainty of planting only germinating 
seeds after they have so kept, and this 
is my favorite plan. If they are put in 
moist ground and about two inches 
deep, they will almost surely begin to 
open of their own account when the 
first warm days of Spring come on. 
Then is the time to take them up and 
plant them directly into the permanent 
nursery rows and not into a hotbed. 
The kernels are apt to be injured by 
■cracking, but not in all cases. I prefer 
to have nature do the cracking. 3. I 
have never tried June-budding the 
■cherry, but it would seem to me not 
very desirable in any case. If they are 
propagated in the ordinary way by Sum¬ 
mer budding it is good enough. 4. 
Scions for use in Spring-budding should 
be cut this Fall and put in damp saw- 
■dust, where they will keep very cool. 
If buried in the ground on the north 
side of a building or stone wall they 
will keep quite well, but in the saw¬ 
dust on top of the ice in an ice-house 
is much better. They should be taken 
out some days before the time to set 
the buds, and kept in a moist and warm 
place to allow the bark to peel. 
H. E. V. D 
THE EARLIANA AND SOME OTHER 
TOMATOES. 
When the Ehrllana first appeared in my 
annual experimental patch of tomatoes, 
embracing that season about 30 varieties, 
in its merits as an early sort it was a 
great surprise to me, for though Earliest 
of All was a few days earlier, yet in aver¬ 
aging merits as an early market tomato 
no one began to compare with it, and it 
certainly outranked in this respect every 
one of 84 varieties which had been under 
trial a couple of years before. I was so 
impressed with its great value to the mar¬ 
ket gardeners as an early sort that I had 
it engraved and catalogued it the next 
season with the highest endorsement. The 
year following it was again in my ex¬ 
perimental patch, on a different soil, a 
dark, strong and moist one, when to my 
chagrin it proved nearly a failure, while 
side by side two other varieties, the 
Nolte’s, and one sent out by my fellow 
seedsman Maule (the name of which has 
escaped me), both closely allied in gen¬ 
eral merits to the Earliana, gave great 
satisfaction. In my experimental tomato 
ground for the past season, where the soil 
conditions were a little different from 
those of the one previous, the result has 
been the same, the Nolte’s has decidedly 
surpassed the Earliana. The inference nat¬ 
urally drawn from these results would 
be that the former was more desirable 
than the latter, but a larger knowledge 
as to how these two varieties compare, 
obtained through others who have raised 
them under like conditions, proves that 
such an inference would have been erro¬ 
neous, for in their experience the Nolte’s 
was surpassed by the Earliana. Such 
being the facts, my advice would be to 
test the two side by side before selecting 
a standard early sort. 
As regards later varieties, I know none 
better for market purposes than the Stone, 
when size, shape, quality, yield and ship¬ 
ping qualities are considered. There is a 
new variety named the Dwarf Stone, 
which is declared to be every way equal 
to the original with the advantage of 
growing on dwarf, upright plants, similar 
to the Dwarf Champion, and a number of 
like sorts of recent introduction. I regret 
to be unable to discuss this variety from 
any personal test of its merits. The num¬ 
ber of varieties now before the public are 
more confusingly plentiful, most of which 
no doubt give satisfaction to growers 
where the conditions for successful growth, 
which appear sometimes to be almost 
whimsical, are satisfied. 
Marblehead. Mass. J. J. h. Gregory. 
SEND US 
A COW, 
Steer, Bull or Horse 
hide, Calf skin. Dog 
skin, or any other kind 
of hide or skin, and let 
us tan it with the hair 
on, soft, light, odorless 
and moth-proof, for robe, 
rug, coat or gloves. 
But first get our Catalogue, 
giving prices, and our shipping 
tags and instructions, so as to 
avoid mistakes. We also buy 
raw furs and ginseng. 
THE CROSBY FRISIAN FUR COMPANY, 
116 Mill Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
EXCEL GRINDING MILLS. 
The Mill that excels them all. Best 
for the farmer. Orlods 5 to 25 hnsheln 
per hour of ear corn or xrain of an.v 
kind, bone^ Rbell, etc., with from 1 to s 
horKO'POwer. Makes test feed and gntid 
meal. Furnished with or without 
crusher. We have larj?er mills for 
every purpofce. Write for Catalogue K. 
We pay the freight. 
Excel Manufacturing Co., 
116 Liberty Street, New York 
If you have not been able to get a 
HYDRAULIC PUMP DR RAM 
and are in need of one, we are just in¬ 
troducing our new standard Hydraulic 
Pumps, the simplest, best, cheapest, and 
most convenient in every way, and you 
can secure one at cost by writing the 
STANDARD HYDRAULIC PUMP CO., 
ROANOKE, VA. 
DONT 
GET WET! 
ASK YOUD DEALED FOD THE 
^LiCIVER 
MADE FAMOUS BY A DEPUTATION 
EXTENDING OVED MOPE THAN 
HALE A CENTUPY 
TOWE:R’6 garments and 
hats are made of the best " 
materials in black or yellow 
for all kinds of wet work. 
SATISFAaKDN IS GUARANTEED IF YOU STICK TO 
JHE SIGN.OP THE FISH, .a 
) A. J. TOWER CO. BOSTON, MASS..U. s: A. 
■ TOWER CANADIAN CO..Limit«d. TORONTO. CAH 
HONEST FKNCES THAT WILL WEAK AND 
GIVE MANY YEARS OF SATISFACTION. 
Send for the red book, free. 
CLEVELAND ANCHOR FENCE CO , Cleveland, O. 
FX33NrOZ3 
'FROST. 
[BEST* 
ICHEAPEST 
If you intend to sell wire fence, secure the agency for 
one that will give your customers better satisfaction, 
and will last three times as long as woven wire fabric. 
Write for terms to agents. 
THE FROST WIRE FENCE CO., Cleveland, O. 
Manufacturers Frost Fence, Colled Spring Wire and 
Steel Gates. 
1—1 
6E 
1 
EVERY YEAR WE TRY 
to Improve the quality, practicability and utility 
of Page Fence, and we believe we succeed. 
PAGE WOVE.N tVTKE FENCE CO., Adrian, Mich. 
UNION 
LOCK Poultry 
Fencing 
Haa been fully taa*. 
ad and found supa* 
rior to all olhara. 
Will fit uneven 
ground without 
cutting. 
Every Part Stretches Perfectly. 
Made of high ^rade galvanized steel wire. All 
horizontal lines are cables, making it stronger. 
HaLS fine mesh at bottom for small chicks. 
We also make extra heavy for gardens, lawns, 
etc. The largest poultry farms are using this fence- 
over 700 rods by Lakewood (N. J.) Farm Co. We pay 
freight and satisfy every one or no sale. Can ship from 
New York, Philadelphia or Pittsburg. 
Write for free catalog of Farm, Lawn and Poultry Fencing. 
CASE BROS.* Colchester, Conn. 
CALIFORNIA 
APPLE BOXES. 
One-third barrel, regulation size with 
Panel Ends. Samples and prices on 
application. 
South side Mfg. Co., Petersburg, Va. 
GASDLIHE ENGINES 
Three Horse Power, $tOO 
Five Horse Power, $150 
Saws wood; cuts feed. Does all 
kinds of farm work Huns spray 
pump Catalogue free. 
PALMER BROS., 
Cos Cob, Conn. 
Don’t 
Stop 
to make fast the rope. 
Use the 
BurrSelf-iocking 
Tackle Block 
for Butchering, Lifting 
Hay, Wagon Boxes. 
Stretching Wire, etc 
Does away with the 
labor of 2 or 3 men. 
Guaranteed not to cut 
the rope. Write for 
prices. Agents wanted 
THE BURR MFG. CO., 
Cleveland, Ohio. 
SAMSON 
Bridging Telephones 
Don’t Cost Much. 
Write for the Green 
Catalogue. 
THE NEW 
SPEED SPECIAL 
Lightning Arresters 
ARE THE ONLY 
Sure Profeetion. 
KEYSTONE ELECTRIC TELEPHONE CO., PITTSOURG, PA. 
