1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
4i7 
Tne Rural Blush Potato. 
A. E. 11., Painesville, Ohio.—l saw in Hope 
Farm Notes last September references to 
the Rural Blush potato. I received some 
of the original seed, sent out by The R. 
N.-Y., but have lost it in the last year. 
Ans. —Samples of this potato were sent 
out by The R. N.-Y. years ago. Its fine 
quality attracted attention, but its curi¬ 
ous habit of growth proved objection¬ 
able to most farmers. It straggles in the 
hill so that the tubers on a single plant 
are sometimes 2 y 2 feet apart. This made 
it difficult to dig, and farmers gave up 
the variety. A variety like R. N.-Y. No. 
z, which forms its tubers in a bunch, is 
much easier to dig. The straggling 
habit of the Rural Blush is not entirely 
an objection. The separated tuners are 
less likely to rot. The variety is a 
strong grower and a fair yielder. The 
tubers are not handsome, as the eyes 
“•bulge.” Tne skin is hard and thick, 
and the tubers do not scab badly. We 
raise Rural Blush as a standard variety 
because of its high quality. We have 
found nothing to inarch it in this re¬ 
spect. 
Nitrate of Soda on Potatoes. 
It. G. W., Mexico, N. Y.—Will thcv Hope 
Farm man tell me how to apply nitrate of 
soda to early potatoes, to rush them for 
market? How large a handful or how 
many ounces to a hill, how near to the 
plant should it be put, and should it be 
scattered all around the hill? I used some 
nitrate of soda a few years ago on straw¬ 
berry plants and burnt them. 
Ans. —We have used the nitrate on 
drilled potatoes with good results. The 
plants had stopped growing in conse¬ 
quence of a drought on naturally dry 
soil. The nitrate was scattered at the 
rate of 25u to 300 pounds per acre along 
one side of the drill, aJbout six inches 
out. It should have been cultivated or 
hoed in, but other work prevented this, 
and it was left on the surface. We all 
know how a mixed fertilizer left on the 
surface in this way will remain there for 
weeks, even though mere be rain. The 
nitrate slowly disappeared about as salt 
or sugar passes into the earth when left 
exposed to the dew. We had no rain, but 
the plants which received the nitrate 
Showed more life in less than three days. 
They had begun to turn yellow, but now 
took on a darker green color, and began 
to grow. They kept growing, while the 
plants that had not been fertilized with 
the nitrate stood still. The crop was de¬ 
layed in ripening by the use of the ni¬ 
trate, but was increased in size by at 
least 30 per cent. If the plants seem to 
need it we shall use the same plan this 
year. For hills of ordinary s.ze, from 
one to IV 2 ounce of nitrate will make a 
good application, but it on the ground 
around the plant—'not nearer to the 
stem than eight inches, and work it out 
of sight with a hoe or rake. 
Sprouting Southern Potato Seed. 
We have several barrels of June Eating 
potatoes which were dug in Florida early 
in May. they are to be planted when the 
sprouts start for a seed crop. What can 
be done to hasten the sprouting? 
Ans. —The ground you are traversing 
I have never been over exactly, but I’ve 
been pretty nearly all around it. Wny 
this year’s potatoes grown in Florida 
should not sprout in New York State 
just the same as this year’s Kansas po¬ 
tatoes wiHl sprout in Kansas, I can’t see. 
1 believe they will, and will even do bet¬ 
ter than ours do. It took me a long 
time to learn that the most important 
thing with second-crop potatoes is pa¬ 
tience. I always planted too soon the 
second time. I shall not plant for sec¬ 
ond crop before July 25; I should sup¬ 
pose July 1 would be correspondingly 
early for you. You don’t say what va¬ 
riety, only that they are “early” pota¬ 
toes. If of the Early Rose type, or the 
Triumph, I feel sure your Florida stock 
will get right to work as soon as it is 
put in the ground. But if it should be 
Early Ohio type, you may find you have 
simply buried a good portion of your 
seed. I am told that in the South they 
"bed out” their seed for second crop, 
giving shallow covering, sunny exposure 
and plenty of water. I am told that 
when this trouble is taken the sprouts 
soon appear. Nothing goes in Kansas 
but Early Ohio; and I’ve quit wasting 
my strength in trying to make them give 
me a second crop. We get just as good 
seed by planting cold storage stock the 
latter part of July or first of August. 
Kansas. edwin taylor. 
Getting Ready for Rye. 
G. It. 8., Hartwick 8cm., N. Y.—l have 
eight acres of land plowed last Fall, 
would like to put it in rye this coming 
Fall. It is a yellow loam, rather poor soil. 
Would you keep it well dragged from now 
on, or would it be better to sow some crop 
and plow it in this Fall? If so, what would 
you sow? 
Ans. —If we had that field in northern 
New Jersey, we would sow cow peas 
about June 15. The crop could he 
plowed under in time for the rye, and 
would surely benefit it. We would not 
recommend the cow pea for your latitude 
without a careful trial first. Constant 
cultivation will put the land in good 
condition for the rye. You may sow 
turnip seed broadcast aJbout July 1. This 
will give a heavy crop, part of which 
can be picked and the rest plowed under. 
There is not much fertility in a crop of 
turnips, but they w.ll help fit me soil. 
We doubt whether it pays to sow any 
manuring crop, except cow peas, with¬ 
out lerti'lizing it in some way. Fodder 
promises to be short this year. You could 
plant fodder corn thickly in drills four 
feet apart, using a fair amount of fer¬ 
tilizer in the drill. Then use the culti¬ 
vator freely, cut and cure the fodder, 
ana sow rye. 
Pacts About Maple Syiup. 
W. 11. McN., Jocelyn, Quebec.— Will you or 
some of your readers inform me as to 
what is considered a good average quan¬ 
tity of maple syrup per 100 trees? It va¬ 
ries greatly in different seasons. Does the 
strength of the sap vary as to being 
farther north or south in the maple belt? 
Ans. —In northeastern Ohio, especially 
in Geauga County, we expect an annual 
yield of from 40 to 50 gallons of 11- 
pound syrup per 100 trees. Of course 
this amount varies somewhat with dif¬ 
ferent seasons, owing to the favorable¬ 
ness of the previous season for the 
growth of the tree and the consequent 
storing up of saccharine matter, and the 
weather conditions that may prevail 
during the sugar-making season. The 
maple belt, or zone, extends in a north¬ 
easterly and southwesterly direction 
from Quebec to middle Ohio, and at 
three points within this zone, viz., a 
small area near Quebec, a somewhat 
larger area in northern Vermont, and a 
medium-sized area in northeastern 
Ohio, the maple tree finds the conditions 
of soil, climate, and elevation the most 
favoralble for its perfect growth and de¬ 
velopment, and the production of sap 
richest in saccharine matter. Here in 
Ohio, either north or south, or in any 
direction from this area, the sap is not 
so sweet, and the flavor of the syrup and 
sugar is not so perfect as it is within it. 
A barrel of fresh sap, unaffected by 
weather conditions, will make a gallon 
Of Syrup. A. R. PHILLIPS. 
Ohio. 
Fertilizers for Strawberries. 
J. L. B., Starke, Fla.— I expect to plant 
nine acres in strawberries this Fall, and 
wish to have it in fine condition, and make 
a big crop of berries. I mix my own fer¬ 
tilizers. Would you advise the use of bone 
dust, acid phosphate or dissolved bone for 
the phosphoric acid? Have you ever ex¬ 
perimented to see which would give the 
largest yield of fruit, acid phosphate or 
dissolved bone? Some of my neighbors 
claim that cow-penned land will make a 
large bush, but will have a deficiency in 
fruit. Will an application of acid phos¬ 
phate and sulphate of potash remedy that 
defect? How much low-grade sulphate of 
potash (50 per cent) can be applied to an 
acre of berries with profit? This is sandy 
land, underlaid with clay at a depth of two 
feet. 
Ans. —We have never considered it 
profitable to dissolve bone with acid— 
except the shanks or heads. A very fine 
bone dust used with acid rock or dis¬ 
solved bone black gives phosphoric acid 
well suited to fruits. In this latitude a 
mixture of half acid phosphate and one- 
quarter each sulphate of potash and 
bone dust would make a good Summer 
or Fall application on good soil. About 
250 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre 
in addition may be used in early Spring. 
On soil that is heavily manured the 
plants are likely to run to vine, but 
potash and phosphoric acid used with 
the manure will produce fruit. We 
should say that 300 pounds per acre of 
sulphate of potash is the limit. 
Rape for Mitch Cows. 
J. B. J., Moravia, N. Y.— What is the value 
of rape as a crop to sow for the purpose of 
feeding milch cows, and its effect on the 
fiavor of the milk and butter? How would 
it do to sow it in among the corn after the 
last time of cultivating? Would it be a 
good forage crop in western New York? 
Ans. —Rape is not a good fodder for 
dairy cows. It will give the milk a 
“turnipy” taste. It is best suited for 
hogs or sheep. It can be seeded in the 
corn, and the sheep can be turned in to 
eat it, or the rape can be cut and carried 
to them. 
In a package invoiced as green seeds, 
value $12, consigned to a Chinese mer¬ 
chant in this city, the customs officials 
found over GO pounds of opium, worth 
about $700. The duty on this is $6 per 
pound. The shipment was seized. 
The San Francisco Chronicle states that 
the California fruit crop for this year will 
be the largest ever known in the State. 
Frost and drought did considerable dam¬ 
age, but a large acreage of new trees just 
beginning to bear has more than made up 
the loss. 
Hay and Silage.— The growing of corn 
and filling silos, with its attendant labor, 
machinery, etc., calls for more business 
ability, more genius and constructive 
ability, than the ordinary pasture and dry- 
food system, and while silage can be pro¬ 
duced cheaper than any other carbonaceous 
food, my observation has been that it often 
costs more than hay. H. e. cook. 
Buckwheat and Chickens.— On page 384 
of The R. N.-Y., H. W. R., of Caryville, 
Mass., says that he wishes to sow buck¬ 
wheat and cut it before it is ripe, and use 
it for a poultry food. 1 wish to say that 
if poultry have access to a field of nearly 
ripe or ripened buckwheat which is not 
well dried out after being thrashed, they 
will die from eating it. I know from my 
own experience in that line, and from the 
experience of others who have fed them 
such buckwheat. The buckwheat swells 
in the crop and remains there, and the 
fowl slowly pines away and starves to 
death, while the crop is full enough to 
burst. I lost a number that way last 
Fall, there being a field of buckwheat near 
the place the chickens were kept. e. m. 
Highland, N. Y. 
The Cyclone Dust Collector 
For Thrashing Ma¬ 
chines takes the dust 
out of the machine and 
blows it through a long 
canvas tube away from 
the machine and out of 
the barn. 
WM. 8 . MILLER, Meyersdale, Somerset Co., I’a. 
$7 MACHINE FOB $4 
The price of DUTTON’S 
MOWER KNIFE 
GRINDER UBed to be 
$7. We will make a 
drive on them for the 
month of June. Send 
$4 any time before July 
1, and we will ship you 
a grinder complete. It will grind a set of knives 
in 10 minutes, and do it better than the old way. 
No hot knives. This is a Special Offer, good 
only to July 1. 
7 he Cutaway Harrow Co., Higganum, Conn. 
Perfection Mower Knife Grinder. 
if nn<* 
The easiest, simplest 
and best thing ever 
Invented for grinding 
Mowing Machine 
Knives. Grinds every 
knife the same, and 
leaves them all on 
the same bevel. Will 
sharpen a set in 10 
minutes; fastens on 
to the Mowing Ma¬ 
chine wheel. To in¬ 
troduce them, will 
sell for a short time 
only, two at the pr'.ce 
Vnn (inn mm find tll6 Other. 
FUNGIROID. 
Add water, and 
It’s ready to spray 
or save labor and 
use it dry in our 
Champion Duster. 
Saves time, money and crops. Prevents blight, rot 
and mildew. Circular and Spraying Calendar free 
LEGGETT & BROTHER. 301 Pearl Street, New York 
PARAGRENE 
/ 
is better, cheaper and bulkier than PARIS GREEN 
and will not burn the foliage. Send for pamphlet. 
FRED. L. LAVANBURG. Box 1070-A, New York. 
Cyanide 
Guaranteed 98 to 99 per cent., lor generating 
Hydrocyanic Acid Gas 
the most effective fumigating material, to 
destroy scale insects on fruit trees and 
plants. The only positive eradicator of 
the dreaded San Jose Scale. Endorsed by 
all Agricultural Experiment Stations. “ A 
perfect practical remedy,” says Prof. W. G 
Johnson, State Etymologist of Maryland. 
manufactured by 
The Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Co., 
No. 100 William Street. New York. 
BOXAL KILLS 
For Three Troubles 
W/// a/so 
Increase Crop 
I’rofessor Wood, of the Maine Exp. Station, says of spraying in Aroostook 
County. Me.: “ On one farm, were Hfty-two acres of potatoes, bright and green 
(September 15), while unsprayed potatoes In the neighborhood had been dead two 
or three weeks. The yield will be nearly double that of unsprayed 
crops.” 
Use “ BOXAL ” and Save Your Potatoes. 
Send for f ree catalogue G C, containing spraying calendar and full particulars. 
BOWKER CHEMICAL COMPANY, 43 Chatham St.. Boston. 
WE SAVE YOU MONEY ON FERTILIZERS. 
Buy your fertilizers JHrect at Wholesale Priest, and get your money’s worth. 
SPECIAL OFFER TO CLUB PROMOTERS. 
Write for prices, samples and pamphlet. 
WALKER, STRATMAN 8b COMPANY, F*ittatmrgh, Pa. 
