THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 10 
162 
of position Is very simple, but if not they should be 
kept in a warm sunny window. The soil should be 
stirred frequently with a pointed stick, after the 
plants come up, and when they have made one or 
two true leaves they can be transplanted to similar 
boxes of soil, placing them two or three inches apart 
each way, according to variety. As soon as the 
weather permits the flats may be transferred to 
protected places in the open and air, using a sash or 
frame if available, and finally planted out. When 
very fine seed, such as Gloxinias and Begonias, are 
sown they should be mixed with a small quantity of 
sand, to ensure even distribution, and thinly sprinkled 
on the surface of the soil, which should previously 
be thoroughly moistened. No soil covering is needed, 
but keep well shaded and covered until germination 
ensues. The after treatment is the same as for other 
seeds, except that plants of this class are not usually 
grown outside, but potted for the window garden. 
CARE OF PLANTS AND BULBS—When tender 
plants are received, the moss and packing about the 
roots should be removed, and crushed leaves or 
branches cut away, and the plants potted carefully in 
as small pots as the roots will conveniently go in. If 
a ball of earth surrounds the roots, the sodden por¬ 
tions should be carefully broken away, and the plant 
potted firmly, using fine sifted soil, working it well 
between the roots, and packing firmly with a thin 
stick. Water the pots well to settle the earth, and 
place in a rather shady place until growth starts, 
when it may be given full light. The advantages of 
using small pots are very great, as the roots begin 
to “run” before the soil becomes sod¬ 
den, which might not be the case if 
overpotted, and a shift to a larger size 
is easily made as soon as needed. Hardy 
plants should not be ordered until the 
ground is ready for their reception, but 
if they are received in a dormant con¬ 
dition before it is safe to plant outdoors, 
they can be heeled in in boxes of moist 
earth and kept in a cool cellar until the 
conditions are more favorable. 
Bulbs and tubers are generally easy 
to manage, as they can be held until the 
proper season for planting arrives. They 
keep best in a dry, rather cool place. 
Tubers of Gloxinias and Begonias may 
be planted at once in pots of fine rich 
soil, and watered very sparingly until 
growth starts, as they are liable to de¬ 
cay from surplus moisture while dor¬ 
mant. Trees and shrubs should be 
either planted at once or heeled in by 
carefully covering the roots and a por¬ 
tion of the trunks with earth, until the 
ground is ready for permanent planting. 
TREATING GRAIN FOR SMUT. 
A number of readers have asked for 
remedies for smut in oats and wheat. 
Let this article answer all. Smut is a 
disease which is communicated by 
spores or seeds. These spores start the 
disease in the plant, and if the condi¬ 
tions are right the disease will grow 
and master the plant. The “treatment” 
is to kill these spores before the seed is 
put in the ground, for if no spores are 
left on the grain, of course the disease cannot start 
and spread. There are two kinds of smut which at¬ 
tack wheat. The Loose smut can be destroyed by 
soaking the seed in hot water for five minutes. The 
seed is first soaked for four hours in cold water, and 
then stands in the wet sacks for four hours more. 
Then it is dipped into water- heated to 133 degrees 
Fahrenheit and held there five minutes—then spread 
NEW LARGE-LEAVED WATER CRESS. Fig. 51. See Page 164. 
out in a clean place to dry. Some of the seed will be 
ruined by the hot water, and it is safe to use one-half 
more seed than usual in order to offset the seed in¬ 
jured by the heat. The so-called Stinking smut of 
wheat has a Uifferent spore or seed. It is also killed 
by the hot water. The seed is first put in cold water 
and well stirred. The smut balls will rise to the sur¬ 
face, and are skimmed off. Then the seed is held for 
10 minutes in hot water—at 133 degrees Fahrenheit. 
The temperature must be just right, and tested with 
a thermometer. Another way is to dissolve two 
pounds of bluestone or sulphate of copper in 10 gal¬ 
lons of water, and soak the seed in it for 10 minutes 
after first soaking in cold water. Then let the sacks 
drain for 10 minutes and spread out, and dry with 
air-slaked lime—shoveling the mass over frequently. 
Another way is to sprinkle the seed with the blue- 
stone and water by pouring it out of a watering can. 
Stir the grain, so as to make it uniformly wet, and 
at the end of an hour shovel over and, if need be, dry 
with lime. 
Oats can be treated with hot water the same as 
wheat. The seed should stay for 10 minutes in water 
at 133 degrees. This hot water treatment is effective, 
but few farmers have the facilities for doing it just 
right. The water is likely to be too hot or too cold. 
An easier way is to use a solution of one pound of 
formalin to 50 gallons of water. The oats are put in a 
pile, and about one gallon of the solution used to each 
bushel of grain—sprinkled on with a watering pot. 
The wet oats stand for two hours, and are then spread 
out to dry. Another easier, though more expensive 
way is to use enough of the formalin and water so 
that the oats may be dipped in it and held there two 
hours. 
Fertilizer for Strawberries.— I was much interested 
in the article on first page of R. N.-Y., Feb. 24, Straw¬ 
berries Without Stable Manure, as I have produced al 
the rate of 10,000 quarts per acre, on small plots, without 
an ounce of manure, and used the fertilizer just as Mr. 
Davis did. p. h. Jacobs. 
An Indiana man is now making wool from refuse lime¬ 
stone. He does not expect, however, to became an im¬ 
mediate competitor of the American sheep, the limestone 
wool being used only for packing and insulating; the 
staple is not long enough for spinning. It is said to be 
unequaled as a packing for refrigerators. 
Kerosene Emulsion. —Kerosene is fatal to almost all 
kinds of insect life, and carelessly used, is almost as 
fatal to plants. It is one of the most valuable insecti¬ 
cides when carefully used. Peach trees less than three 
years old should not be Winter-treated with kerosene. 
Kerosene should not be allowed to run on the surface of 
the ground near the tree, as it will kill any root that it 
touches. The best time to treat a tree with undiluted 
kerosene is just before the buds begin to swell, or after 
the fruit has become well set. The trunks and large 
branches, however, may be treated at any time. Un¬ 
diluted kerosene need be applied only in rare cases of 
serious infestation by very resistent scales. Kerosene 
emulsion with soap—in effect a kerosene soft soap—is 
made as follows: Kerosene, two gallons; water, one gal¬ 
lon; hard soap, shaved fine, % pound. Dissolve the soap 
in boiling water, warm the kerosene, and pour the boil¬ 
ing suds into it. It should be churned violently, with a 
pump. The emulsion may be diluted with water to any 
desired extent, used to destroy plant lice, scale insects, etc. 
THE ROUGH RIDER STRAWBERRY. Fig. 53. See Page 177. 
UTILIZING A SCION. 
We sometimes get a very little wood of some rare 
fruit that we wish to propagate as rapidly as pos¬ 
sible, and we may not always know just how to do 
it. If the scions are of the apple, pear or quince it 
is easier to make a large amount of growth from 
them than of most other kinds, because they may 
be very readily propagated from dormant wood. If 
it is desired to make every bud grow into a tree or 
branch, it would be necessary to hold the scions back 
by putting them in cold storage. This can be done 
by burying the scions in the sawdust of an icehouse, 
where it is constantly damp and not far from the 
ice, and then Spring-budding them. This is the best 
way to do with scions of the peach and 
apricot, because they do not graft read¬ 
ily; and I believe it would be a good 
way to work the plum and cherry, al¬ 
though I have never tried it with them. 
Spring-budding is done in this way: 
Cut the scions early. In the Fall, be¬ 
fore any danger of injury from severe 
weather, would be the safest time, and 
keep them perfectly dormant until the 
bark peels readily on the stocks to be 
budded. Then insert the buds as in or¬ 
dinary Summer budding, being very 
careful to tie them closely down to the 
stocks. As soon as they are grown fast, 
cut away the part above the bud, and 
rub off all sprouts that start, except the 
one from each bud. 
The way to use the wood most eco¬ 
nomically in grafting is to try to insert 
single buds. If they are nearer each 
other than an, inch or a little more, this 
is not possible; for it will take that 
length of wood properly to trim the 
scion to a wedge suitable for setting in 
the stock. If the cleft or split style of 
graft is used a bud should be left just 
at the top of the outer edge of the 
wedge. If the tongue or splice method 
is followed the bud should be left at 
the top of the little scion; and the same 
is true if any of the bark or slip 
methods is used. The idea is to avoid 
cutting away any of the buds in pre¬ 
paring the scion for insertion. If one 
bud is left intact and the cambium layer 
below is well placed in contact with the 
cambium of the stock, and the wound secured by 
wax or bandage from evaporation, that is, artificially 
barked over again, that bud ought to make a good 
branch, with proper after treatment. If the wood is 
not too scarce I would allow two or more buds to 
each scion. h. e. van deman. 
Whale-Oil Soap. —Whale or fish-oil soap is one of the 
most effective remedies against the scale insects. It is 
less dangerous than kerosene, and the results almost as 
effective. Below is the recipe for a good soap: Concen¬ 
trated potash lye, 3% pounds; water, 7% gallons; fish-oil, 
one gallon. Dissolve the lye in boiling water, and add the 
fish oil. Continue to boil for two hours, and then allow 
it to cool. Any grade of fish oil will answer. Few of 
the so-called “whale-oil” soaps on the market are good 
for anything. Except on peach and plum trees, the soap 
used, or even two pounds in .one gallon of water, may 
be applied to trees in full leaf without causing serious 
injury. 
Killing Cockroaches.— In a bulletin from the National 
Entomological Department an Australian gives this ex¬ 
perience with cockroaches: “They were very troublesome 
some years ago. There are scarcely any complaints re¬ 
ceived now, though they are by no means extinct; and 
this, I think, is in consequence of the application of a 
very simple remedy which I have recommended in every 
case, viz., a mixture of plaster of Paris (one part) and 
flour (three to four parts) in a saucer, and nearby an¬ 
other flat plate with pure water, both supplied with sev¬ 
eral bridges to give easy access, and one or two thin 
boards floating on the water, touching the margin. The 
insects readily eat the mixture, become thirsty and drink, 
when the plaster sets and clogs the intestines. The in¬ 
sects disappear in a few weeks, the bodies no doubt 
eaten by the survivors.” 
MAMMOTH BLACK TWIG APPLE. Fig. 52. See Page 177. 
