j900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER; 
FACTS ABOUT FORCED RHUBARB. 
What Can We Pay for Roots ? 
Iti March last The R, N.-Y. quoted forced rhubarb at 
about four to five cents per pound. The price asked by 
htirserymen here for roots two years old is $1 to $5 per 
100. i would like to ask Mr. Morse how much rhubarb 
ohe of the two or three-year-old clumps should yield? 
Then we can easily tell whether it will pay to buy the 
roots or grow them. Four cents per pound is all we can 
obtain here. F. c. c, 
Sandy Creek, Me. 
The vital questions involved in growing rhubarb, as 
With any cither crop, are the cost of production and 
the amount realized from the crop. These questions 
involve others, Which every grower must settle for 
himself; but lest some misapprehension arise, let me 
say that 1 have noWherfe advocated forcing the roots 
as they come from the nursery dr seedsmen. They 
would be too small, and would require transplanting 
and two or three years’ growth afterward, before they 
could be profitably forced. To those desiring to en¬ 
gage in the work, I have advised getting started by 
the shortest possible route; using whatever roots one 
has on hand, or can buy of his neighbors, buying 
from the nursery or seedsmen, growing from seed 
and propagating from the roots after forcing. The 
chances are that the two-year-old roots, as they come 
from the nurseries, would yield very little; better give 
them at least two years’ growth before forcing. How¬ 
ever, this need incur no loss, as light catch crops can 
be grown between the rows the first year, and the 
second Summer’s crop of rhubarb ought to pay the 
entire expense of buying the roots and cultivation to 
time of forcing. 
To say how many pounds a clump would yield 
would be very difficult, as so much depends upon the 
variety and vigor of the roots. All transactions here 
are based upon the dozen bunches, and prices early in 
April Were 45 to 50 cents per dozen, 
wholesale, A dozen bunches will vary 
in weight from five to seven pounds. 
Growers here pay as high as 510 per 
100, and haul the roots. This price is 
for roots ready for forcing, and not as 
they come from the nursery. They still 
continue growing and shipping to all 
the large eastern cities, notwithstanding 
transportation rates, especially by ex¬ 
press, are ruinously high. The methods 
of growing and their results have ttot 
been given with a view to over-urge or 
persuade anyone to engage in the busi¬ 
ness, but simply to point out a way 
wherein others are traveling with profit 
to themselves. The Same rule applies to 
this as to any other enterprise; each 
one must study his surroundings and be 
governed accordingly. 
A. D. A. Sweertwa/ter, Ill., writes: “I 
noticed that plants farthest from the 
stove produced many small spindling 
stalks. Was it from insufficient heat or 
the roots throwing up too many stalks? 
The roots were four or five years old.” Doubtless the 
heat was unevenly distributed. Thinning out is some¬ 
times advantageous if the roots throw out an un¬ 
usually large number of stalks. A liberal applica¬ 
tion of liquid cow manure would have been very 
beneficial. Keep the heat as low down as possible 
and evenly distributed. In placing the roots in the 
cellar he filled the spaces With earth, and asks 
whether leaving them open until the roots were 
thawed out would not have hastened the growth? 
The roots would thaw out more quickly with open 
spaces, and thus hasten the growth, but in large 
cellars the after filling would be very slow and la¬ 
borious, and the results might not pay for the extra 
labor. Try both ways next Fall, and note the re¬ 
sults. He further writes: “I intend to grow for mar¬ 
ket next Winter, and shall build a cellar large enough 
for 300 or 400 plants. I plaifted out 500 roots last 
Spring, but only about 400 grew, ana only about one- 
half of them got any size. In plowing the roots out 
next Fall, would it be better to leave the small plants 
undisturbed? As the large and small plants are pro¬ 
miscuously distributed in the rows, it will be very 
difficult to plow them out and leave the small ones 
undisturbed.” The better way will be to turn them 
out with the spade, and not use the plow at all. Many 
extensive growers use the spade almost entirely. 
j. E. MOUSE. 
SOMETHING AB0U1 WOOD PRESERVATIVES 
When a farmer has a siege of shingling his barn, 
renewing fence posts, or jacking up a building to put 
new sills under it, he is apt to wish for some effectual 
wood preservative. If seasoned locust timber could 
always be had for fence posts, one set would last a 
lifetime, as this wood seems proof against decay. A 
man told me that he removed a dooryard fence that 
had been in place 40 years. The posts were round 
sticks of the Yellow locust quite well known in the 
East, and there were no signs of decay. Besides this, 
they were second-hand posts when set, so it is possi¬ 
ble that they had been in the ground for 50 years or 
more. Locust, however, is comparatively scarce, and 
ordinary wood must be treated in Some way, or it 
will decay in a few years. From the experimenting 
done in this line some valuable preparation's have 
been obtained, but part of them are too expensive or 
difficult to use, and numerous frauds have been put 
on the market. Railroad and steamship compan.es 
are interested in uhis matter in the building of sta¬ 
tions and the preservation of ties and Wharfage, par¬ 
ticularly in the South, where wood rots very quickly, 
and is subject to insect attacks. Deadoil creosote dis¬ 
tilled from coal tar is effective, but to liquefy its 
principal preservative so that it can be forced into 
the wood cells, it must be applied at a temperature 
of 175 degrees Fahrenheit. To creosote any great 
amount of timber in this way, an expensive plant is 
required, to and from which the timber must be 
transported. It is dear that any substance of prac¬ 
tical Value for wood preservation on the farm must 
be sometning that can be applied to wood anywhere 
without heat or expensive machinery. Also it must 
go into the wood instead of forming a crust on the 
outside, thus locking up the water of any timber not 
thoroughly dry; and it must not weaken the fiber. 
Some preparations have been used on ties that made 
them so brittle that they Would break when unloaded 
from a car. About 30 years ago, R. Avenarius, a 
Prussian officer, experimented with two strong anti¬ 
septics, dead oil of coal tar and chlorine, with the 
idea of producing something that would preserve the 
vineyard stakes in the Rhine Valley. This compound 
is now known as Carbblineum Aven'arius. Engineers 
have found that by its use several years may be 
added to the life of railroad ties and wharfage in 
southern waters, where timber is quickly honey¬ 
combed by the teredo, an insect with a tremendous 
appetite for wood soaked in salt water, and farmers 
who have tried it on fence posts, the sills of buildings 
and other timber subject to decay, report favorably. 
Cabot’s shingle stain, another creosote preparation 
made in various colors, may be used with good effect 
on Shingles, the sides of buildings, etc. The oil pene¬ 
trates the pores of the wood, and the color is said 
to last well. Both of these compounds may be ap¬ 
plied cold with an ordinary paint brush. They are 
also Valuable as insecticides, a henhouse or stable 
painted with them being proof against lice or other 
vermin, and rats do not care to gnaw wood satu¬ 
rated with them. __ 
THE GREAT VALUE OF ALFALFA. 
Fig. 137 shows a section of the Alfalfa field on the 
farm of the New Jersey Experiment Station. This 
picture was taken on May 8, and the Alfalfa was then 
18 inches high. The picture shows something of the 
shape and character of the plant, and also the thick¬ 
ness of the seeding. Last year we told about this 
crop, and how it was established on a soil not nat¬ 
urally adapted to the plant. The soil is hard and 
heavy, though Alfalfa does its best in an open, loose 
soil, with a porous subsoil. Prof. Voorhees, however, 
believes that by careful culture and handling, the 
character of these heavy soils can be changed so as 
to adapt them for crops like potatoes or Alfalfa, 
which are exacting in their demands. The soil was 
tilled thoroughly until clean of weeds. Then in the 
Fail it was plowed and fertilized With potash and 
phospnoric acid. A good coating of lime was also 
added, then rye was sown, and in the Spring this 
was plowed under and the field was well subsoiled. 
The object of this subsoiling was to break up the soil 
as far down as possible, because Alfalfa is a deep- 
rooted crop, demanding an open place to work in. 
When the ground was thoroughly fitted, the seeding 
431 
was done about May 1. Prof. Voorhees says that 
people who advise 12 pounds of seed per acre make a 
mistake. This is not enough seed; at least 30 pounds 
should be used. The Alfalfa came up and so did the 
weeds, but the latter were clipped off frequently, so 
that they had no chance to smother out the Alfalfa 
plant's. With this care, the Alfalfa finally got in 
ahead, and staid ahead so that now there is little dan¬ 
ger that the weeds will smother it out. One fair 
cutting was obtained four months after seeding, and 
during the first Winter of its life, a coat of manure 
was applied. Last year the Alfalfa gave an immense 
yield, and was cut, we believe, four times. Prof. Voor¬ 
hees says that both the green fodder and hay are 
equal, if not superior, to any variety of clover, and 
he is going to increase hi-s seeding of this valuable 
plant. Many farmers have hesitated to sow Alfalfa, 
because they have understood that it requires a 
special soil in order to do well. Here is a case, how¬ 
ever, where a large crop has been obtained on soii 
naturally about as poorly adapted to the growth of 
Alfalfa as could be imagined. Certainly this is a 
coming crop for eastern farmers. With a few acres 
of Alfalfa on the farm, the stock fodder will be pro¬ 
vided without trouble, and the rest of the farm may 
be left to produce many crops like potatoes and fruit, 
or vegetables. _ 
FIGHTING THE CABBAGE MAGGOT. 
This pest, which is found feeding upon the roots 
of cabbage, radishes and turnips from early May to 
August, may readily be held in check by a careiul 
use of the following remedial measures. For rad¬ 
ishes and young cabbage plants in the seed bed an 
emulsion of crude carbolic acid will be found to be 
very effective in reducing the uamages caused by it. 
The treatment should oe commenced a few days after 
the plants are up, and repeated three or 
four times at intervals of a week or 10 
days. The following formula will be found 
satisfactory: One pound of hard soap 
dissolved in one gallon of boiling water, 
into wnich one pint of crude carbolic 
acid is poured, and the whole mass agi¬ 
tated into an emulsion. For use take 
one pound of this standard emulsion and 
dilute with 30 parts of water. It is best 
applied with a syringe or force pump 
near the base of the plants, although 
good results have been Obtained by sim¬ 
ply pouring the solution along the rows 
of plants. For cabbage after the plants 
are set in the field, the best method of 
combating this pest seems to be by 
means of tarred paper pads placed about 
the plants in such a way as to prevent 
the fly from laying its eggs on or near 
the stem of the plant. The best form 
for .hese cards is that of a hexagon, 
Wxth a cut extending from one angle to 
near the center, where a star-shaped cut 
is made, which enables the pad to ue 
closely fitted about the stem of the plant. In placing 
these cards in position, care should be taken to have 
them in close contact with the soil so that the flies 
cannot crawl beneath them. Care should also be taken 
to prevent the soil from covering tbe pads, as when 
this occurs, the eggs are often laid upon the top of the 
pads, and the young maggots are thus enabled to 
reach the stems of the plants. During the past three 
years, when these two remedies have been carefully 
used upon our crops, there has resulted a saving of 95 
per cent of our crop, while without their use it has 
been impossible to mature more than 25 per cent of 
the early and midseason crops of cabbage. 
Rhode Island Experiment Station, g. e. adams. 
Good Birds.— The other day, when hoeing, I saw a little 
bird of the sparrow tribe fly down and tackle three or 
four Potato bugs for his dinner, so there is news for you. 
We have had more birds of every kind here this Spring 
than ever before. w ‘ Jl MCC ' 
Andover, Mass. 
According to Pension Bureau estimates, the annual 
rate of mortality among veterans of the Civil War is 3V 2 
per cent. It is said that at this rate the last of these 
war heroes will survive until 1930, or 65 years after the 
end of the civil strife. There still remain more than 
925,000 survivors of the Union army in the Civil War. 
The last veteran of the War of 1812 died last year, aged 
99 years. 
A Turtle Farm.— By way of variety the newspapers 
have now discovered a turtle farm in Indiana, where 
small turtles are said to be grown for sale. They are 
sold to restaurant keepers and made into turtle soup. 
The United States Fish Commissioner writes us: "This 
Commission has no information regarding the so-called 
turtle farm in Indiana, but is of the opinion that the 
newspaper accounts are much exaggerated. The ‘turtle 
referred to is apparently one of the pond tortoises, prob¬ 
ably Chrysemys marginata. This reaches a length of 
six or eight inches, has no disagreeable qualities, and 
is no doubt edible. A related species is frequently ex¬ 
posed for sale in the southern markets, and is more 
highly esteemed than the yellow-bellied terrapin 
(Pseudemys scabra).” 
A NEW JERSEY ALFALFA FIELD ON MAY 8 Fig. 137. 
