302 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER; 
April 28 
pump should be furnished with from 10 to 20 feet 
of first-class hose, the length depending upon the 
size of trees. In addition to this, and in order that 
large, high trees may be thoroughly sprayed, an ex¬ 
tension rod is necessary. This may be of small gas- 
pipe, or what is better still, becafuse it is much 
lighter, a piece of bamboo in which is fitted a brass 
tube, and from eight feet to 12 feet in length. At 
the base of inis extension should be a stop-cock 
which can be operated by the hand. By this the 
stream may be cut off while passing from one tree 
to another, and it is also useful in cleaning out the 
nozzles. To the end of the extension rod the nozzles 
are placed. A nozzle which throws a very fine spray 
should be used. Although there are numberless noz¬ 
zles, there are none that will give the satisfaction 
that will the improved Vermorel. Excepting the 
pump itself, the nozzle is the next most important 
article in a spraying outfit, for without a good noz¬ 
zle thorough work is an impossibility. The major¬ 
ity of the pumps on the market to-day are worth¬ 
less. Never buy a pump because the agent produces 
evidence to show that it is “the cheapest pump on 
earth.” In the end it may turn out to be the dear¬ 
est. But uero are good pumps, and outfits com¬ 
paring favorably with the description given, and al¬ 
though they may appear a little expensive at first, 
they are the kind to purchase, for then one has a 
satisfactory article, and one that will last for years. 
By using a first-elass, up-to-date outfit, and with 
the exercising of more care in the preparation of 
solutions, and applying the same, better results would 
follow, and many who n*w condemn spraying would 
be loud in its praise. j. b. pettit. 
Ontario, Canada. 
R. N.-Y.—Paris-green is only soluble in water in 
a very slight degree, but by thorough agitation it 
can be suspended for a considerable time as indicated 
above. The copper sulphate is really dissolved, and 
can only be separated again from the water by crys- 
talization, but most of the lime and Paris-green is 
suspended or mixed, and must be continually agitated 
or they will settle to the bottom of the barrel. Many 
sprayers do not understand the distinction between 
dissolved and suspended poisons, and the terms are 
often used as though synonymous. As stated in a 
recent issue of The R. N.-Y., practically all of the 
arsenie in a spraying mixture should be insoluble, to 
avoid burning the foliage. White arsenic is slowly 
soluble in water, hence unsafe without combination. 
A CROP OF BIG PUMPKINS. 
Fig. 90 shows a portion of the pumpkin field grown 
by the D. Cummins Co., of Conneaut, Ohio. The man 
sitting on the pumpkin and clasping another shows 
by comparison how big these fellows have grown, and 
if anyone has time to cosnt the pumpkins shown in 
the picture he will certainly find a surprising number. 
Mr. Cummins writes that they plant the pumpkins 
from June 1 to June 15. They mark the land off in 
rows seven feet each way, and put four seeds in a 
kill. When the plants are large enough to be ouc of 
the way of the squash bugs, they thin to two plants In 
the hill, and again before they get too large—leaving 
only one plant. If it is thought best for any reason 
to have two plants to the hill they should be left 
eight or nine feet apart each way. Some farmers who 
have never grown pumpkins as a field crop may think 
this wide planting a waste of land, but they will prob¬ 
ably find that in the end it pays to give the hills 
ample room, and then to keep the ground between 
them cultivated as long as they can. The pumpkin 
is a gross feeder, and makes a quick, rapid growth, 
thus needing soluble fertilizer, and one rich in nitro¬ 
gen. Mr. Cummins says that they use all the green 
erops possible, and plow under quantities of Winter 
rye and Crimson clover. Barnyard manure is good 
when they have it, although those who raise large 
quantities of pumpkins cannot get enough of it. They 
have experimented somewhat with commercial fer¬ 
tilizers, and have used a mixture of tankage, dissolved 
rock and muriate of potash. The tankage, with the 
crop of Crimson clover, seems to supply about all the 
nitrogen that is needed, b»t if the vines do not seem 
as vigorous as they should, nitrate of soda will cer¬ 
tainly help them. The yield under such treatment has 
averaged 10 tons per acre, and in the best seasons will 
reach 15 tons or more. Mr. Cfimmins says he started 
jiears ago with the old yellow Connecticut field pump¬ 
kins, and each year has selected seeds from the finest 
specimens only. By this selection the stock has been 
greatly improved. The company grows from 600 to 
1,000 acres of pumpkins each year, most of which are 
used in the eanning factory. There are not many 
farmers who grow pumpkins as a field crop exclusive¬ 
ly. It usually comes as a second crop in the corn. 
Pumpkins produced in the corn do not reach as large 
size as those grown in the field alone. Yet the crop is 
a re tf useful one to all who have stock to feed. 
SECRETS OF A GOOD LAWN. 
We were talking the other day to a Jerseyman who 
has a lawn that is the envy of all his friends and 
neighbors. It is a magnificent plot of green, rarely 
turning brown, and often thrifty and vigorous when 
neighboring lawns are a sad sight. There is a cause 
for every effect, and we asked this man why his lawn 
was so fine. He said that there were two reasons for 
it. He thoroughly prepared the ground, working and 
raking it for two years before he put any seed into 
it. He said that his wife objected to this, because 
she wanted a lawn right away, but he meant to do a 
thorough job, and kill out the weeds and have the 
soil just right before starting it. When he got it in 
just the proper condition he put in the seed. The 
other reason, and perhaps the more important one, 
was the fact that he used good seed, and he knew 
just what he was using. 
“Where did you buy your seed, and what varieties 
did you get?” was our question. 
“I did not buy it at all. I never would buy grass 
seed for a lawn.” 
“Where did you get it, then?” 
“I picked it myself along the roads and byways 
right here in Bergen County. In my walks and ram¬ 
ifies through 'the fields I kept on the watch for strong, 
vigorous plants of Blue grass. At the season of seed¬ 
ing I always carried a bottle or basket and stripped 
these seeds off as I found them. The result was that 
I had nothing but pure Blue-grass seed from strong, 
thrifty plants. It was not a mixture of nobody-knows- 
what with old seed and young seed, dead and alive, all 
mixed together. When I got enough of this seed I 
sowed it on the lawn, and since then I have reaped 
what I sowed. ^ little White clover came in, but has 
since died out. I like a little Red-top mixed with the 
Blue grass, and I collected some of that also. But 
the lawn now is nearly a solid mat of pure Blue 
grass.” 
“But didn’t it cost you more to get this seed than it 
would to buy it?” 
“No, sir, not a bit of it. i will take $5 worth of 
time and collect more and better grass seed right here 
in Bergen County than I can ever buy for $5 in cash. 
Many a farmer might do the same thing, by training 
the children and getting them interested in collecting 
pure grass seed for him.” 
“But my impression is that there are many farmers 
who do not know a first-class sample of Blue grass 
when they see it.” 
“Then what in the world are those men trying to 
make a living on the farm for? Just think of it—a 
farmer who does not know the various grasses by 
heart and sight, and also the different weeds and the 
methods of killing them. It seems to me that a man 
who does not care to learn these things, which stand 
at the very foundation of his business, can hardly be 
expected to succeed on the farm.” 
Now this man is an old farmer’s boy. He now has a 
home in the country, and hopes some day to have a 
larger farm. Does he know what he is talking about? 
Is it true that a farmer ought to know these things, 
and is it possible for him to know them without 
serious trouble? 
SOME POINTS FOR THE PLOW. 
How to Make Cleaner Furrows. 
Hearing a noise in the field, I investigated, and 
found a tired team, an irritated man and a poor job 
of plowing done. “The plow will not stay in the 
ground, the team won’t keep off to land, and you will 
have to buy a new plow!” be declared. 
“Have you changed the draft?” I inquired. 
“No.” 
“Have you changed the lines?” 
“No.” 
"What have you done?” 
“Nothing but try to plow.” 
“Yes, you have,” I answered. “You have got mad, 
yelled, and yanked the team, instead of trying to find 
out what the matter was. You are trying to hold by 
muscle power instead of mind power.” 
“If you can hypnotize that blamed thing I wish 
you would, right now; I am tired out.” 
“Let me take bold; a man should know by the feel 
of the handles what the matter is.” I started the 
horses, and found that it did not run deep enough to 
hold a furrow. One would naturally raise the wheel, 
but it was clear up already. “Oh, the tugs are too 
short, and the front end of the plow is raised, so that 
the point glances up every time it strikes a stone or 
hard place.” After letting them out it buried itself, 
and would not quite turn the dirt over, leaving a 
ragged surface. It also had a tendency to fly up be¬ 
hind like a mule every time an obstruction was hit, 
and the man’s ribs were in danger. Most men would 
let down the wheel, but 'the plow should be placed on 
a floor and the wheel set at the same number of 
inches from the floor that you wish your furrow to be 
in depth, and left there, allowing for the sinking in 
of the wheel if the surface is soft. The clevis in front 
should be raised or lowered 'till there is a steady, 
slight pressure of the wheel on the sod. Lowering 
one hole will often take all of the “kies” out of both 
man and plow. 
It would seem as though a schoolboy would know 
enough to put the clevis to one side of the center, or 
if a swing beam, to loosen the nut in the rear, and 
push rear end of the beam to one side, so that the 
plow would cut a furrow just right for its capacity 
for turning, but I have known good farmers to plow 
whole fields, spending their strength in a steady fight 
all the time to keep the plow to land enough to hold 
the desired width, with the result that the furrows 
varied from too narrow—“set on edge”—'to great 
wide ones which lapped over and stuck up, ready to 
tear off the first dragging which gives the grass a 
chance. c. e. chapman. 
SEEDING CLOVER AFTER BEANS. 
Do Beans Exhaust the Soil. 
Are field beans a more exhausting crop to the land 
than corn? There seems to be a general complaint that 
is is very difficult to secure a catch of clover in wheat 
following beans. What are the facts of the case in the 
New York bean-growing districts? 
The Cornell Experiment Station has recently begun 
a study of the bean crop and its effect upon soil de¬ 
pletion. Inquiries recently addressed to a number of 
bean growers in New York State show that the opin¬ 
ion of practical men is divided as to whether beans 
draw heavily upon the soil, and whether there is 
more difficulty in getting a good catch of clover in 
wheat after beans than in wheat after other crops. 
Some report that beans are looked upon as an exhaus¬ 
tive crop, while others consider them as an excellent 
preparation for wheat and clover. It would seem that 
the inter-tillage given the bean crop should give it 
considerable advantage over oats or barley as an ante¬ 
cedent of wheat. 
NEW YORK ROTATIONS—The rotations followed 
in Now York are many and diverse. Below are given 
two that are quite extensively practiced. The four- 
year rotation may or may not include beans. The 
three-year rotation makes beans a prominent feature 
of the farming. The first is clover or Timothy, corn 
or potatoes; oats, barley or beans; wheat with seed¬ 
ing. The three-years’ rotation is clover; beans; wheat 
with seeding. A skillful farmer of Monroe County 
writes that he has practiced one or the other of these 
rotations for the past 20 years; that all the hay, 
straw, corn and oats were consumed on the farm, and 
the resulting manure carefully preserved and returned 
to the land. Commercial fertilizers have been used 
to some extent to supplement the home manures. 
Notwithstanding his best efforts to maintain the fer¬ 
tility of the soil, its producing powers seem to be fail¬ 
ing, as evidenced by the decreased yield of beans and 
wheat, and the increasing difficulty of securing a sat¬ 
isfactory stand of clover. As long as the clover suc¬ 
ceeds the productivity of 'the soil seems to be main¬ 
tained, but when a severe drought or an untimely 
freeze destroys the clover, a decline in the condition 
of the soil results, which is exceedingly difficult to 
recover, and each succeeding failure increases the 
liability to recurrence and the difficulty of recover¬ 
ing the loss sustained. It will be seen, then, that if 
one crop is specially favorable to precede the clover 
seeding, and another unfavorable, it is important that 
the facts be known, so that the farmer may arrange 
his rotation so as to avoid so far as possible the lia¬ 
bility to failure. 
Ash, 
lbs. 
Clover hay, two tons.251.0 
Wheat, 25 bushels grain, 1% 
ton straw .107.8 
Corn, 50 bushels grain, two 
tons stover .191.0 
Beans, 25 bu., % ton straw...129.0 
Oats, 40 bushels grain, one 
ton straw .133.3 
Barley, 30 bushels grain, % 
ton straw .114.8 
Nitro¬ 
gen, 
lbs. 
87.0 
Phos¬ 
phoric 
Acid, 
. lbs. 
22.4 
Pot¬ 
ash, 
lbs. 
75.6 
36.4 
33.0 
24.0 
45.0 
80.5 
27.6 
22.0 
66.4 
47.4 
38.8 
14.5 
32.7 
44.9 
16.3 
39.2 
WHAT ABOUT IT?—It will be observed in the 
above table that beans require decidedly larger 
amounts of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash than 
efther oats or barley, though not so much of the min¬ 
erals as corn. It might be supposed, therefore, that 
a crop of beans would leave the soil relatively depleted 
of readily available plant food. But beans belong to 
the leguminous crops, as does clover, and it has been 
assumed were able, like other legumes, to secure a 
considerable portion of their nitrogen from other 
sources than the soil, and, perhaps, like clover, ob¬ 
tain phosphoric acid and potash from sources not 
readily available to the cereals. Clover requires more 
nitrogen and potash than any of the other crops 
named in the table, yet clover is universally recog¬ 
nized as a renovating crop. Oats and wheat require 
very much less, yet both are recognized as depleting 
crops. In which list should beans be placed? This 
