1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
449 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Tobacco Dust. —Bulletin No. 64, 
Texas Experiment Station, Insect Pests 
Attacking Truck Crops, is a valuable 
work. In this bulletin tobacco dust, 
both as an insecticide and fertilizer, re¬ 
ceives unqualified praise, and while fully 
agreeing with most that is said, my ex¬ 
perience is, that it is not a “cure-all.” 
At present it is practically a waste pro¬ 
duct of tobacco factories, and the nom¬ 
inal cost at which it may be obtained 
entitles it to a far more extensive use 
as a fertilizer alone. Its unqualified use 
as an insecticide must be taken with a 
grain of salt, as both worms and bugs 
of some species will live and thrive in 
it. While an extensive use of it on rose 
bushes, sweet peas, squash, cucumbers, 
pumpkin and muskmelon vines has 
given gratifying results, I almost ruined 
watermelon vines with its use; at least 
i was able to assign no other cause for 
the failure. I was using it unstintedly 
on all other varieties of vines, and rea¬ 
soned that a like use would be helpful 
to the watermelons. The vines were va¬ 
rieties which were being tested, and 
they were treated the same as the oth¬ 
ers, being liberally dusted with tobacco, 
with the result that instead of pushing 
ahead, they began to go backward, and 
continued to do so until the dust was re¬ 
moved and tne vines were drenched. 
This may not be conclusive, but it wean¬ 
ed me from the use of it applied di¬ 
rectly to the vines. I still use it on all 
other vines, and work it into the soil 
both before and after planting. 
Selling Fbom the Wagon. —Rn page 
399 F. W. Proctor gives some facts 
which should be studied. Several years’ 
operations within two miles of the prin¬ 
cipal retail market of our city convinced 
me that the man who went there in 
competition with 200 to 500 other gar¬ 
deners every morning was spending 
valuable time foolishly. A city ordin¬ 
ance here exacts an annual license fee 
of $25 for the privilege of selling from 
house to house. This, however, applies 
only to the man who buys and sells; the 
producer having the unrestricted right 
to sell whatever he produces, wherever 
and whenever he chooses. The point is 
that the peddler pays his license, keeps 
his horse or team and wagon, often hir¬ 
ing an assistant, and buys of the gar¬ 
deners right at the market, and still 
sells to support himself and family with 
all other expenses. Where do his pro¬ 
fits come from? Manifestly they come 
directly from the gardener who goes to 
the market and sells him his goods. It 
is doubtless all right for the huckster 
to make his living, and the city is a 
highway robber to hold him up for the 
license, but personally I prefer to sell 
my own goods and save his profits. If 
I grow or produce the goods I think 1 
am entitled to the whole price. The 
secret of the huckster’s success is in 
waiting until the almost inevitable glut 
of the closing hour comes, when the 
gardener is at his mercy, and must sell 
for any price he can get, or carry his 
products home. The open markets are 
a necessity, and of course many must 
sell there, but the entire conditions 
would be changed and both the producer 
and the consumer would be better 
served, by every producer avoiding so 
far as possible the general market, and 
seeking the private trade. In the ma¬ 
jority of cases the gardeners have only 
themselves to blame for the beggarly 
prices which they realize. A fair and 
buy where people are willing to sell at 
a loss. Many go away in a reflective 
mood, but others pay the price. 
Vacant Puactcs. —In looking over my 
own garden I find many places that can 
be very advantageously filled. Between 
the pea rows there is plenty of room for 
lettuce plants, and the stringless or wax 
beans; in fact, many things can be 
planted and find plenty of room until 
the peas mature. These in turn may be 
replaced with celery, cauliflower, late 
cabbage, and many other things that 
will grow on unmolested until the catch 
crops shall have matured, and thus the 
ground may be kept usefully employed 
as long as there is safety in planting. 
It must be borne in mind, however, that 
the system of catch-cropping can be 
seriously overdone in the majority of 
gardens, and until the very best soil 
conditions are attained, it is fully as 
liable to result in loss as profit. To 
make anything like a success in the 
work many things have to be consid¬ 
ered. If unfortunately our soil is lack¬ 
ing in needful fertility, and is already 
struggling under the burden of one crop, 
it is unwise to add on a still heavier 
load. It is better to give the one crop 
the best possible culture, with what fer¬ 
tility can be added and make the best 
of present circumstances, resolving that 
the future shall witness better condi¬ 
tions. Then, too, the mistake of plant¬ 
ing vegetables that will not have time 
to mature must be avoided. I have made 
this mistake myself, and know some¬ 
thing of the cost 
Advertising.— In floral and vegetable 
gardening, as in every other business, 
it pays to advertise. But few hints, and 
those of a general character only, can be 
given, as each one must study his own 
peculiar conditions when deciding meth¬ 
ods. You will make no mistake in dis¬ 
playing a neat card in your window an¬ 
nouncing your business; have the card 
of good size, the letters large and plain. 
Silver letters on a black background are 
especially attractive. Keep a small ad¬ 
vertisement or card running in the news 
columns of your local paper. If in the 
suburbs of a country town or village it 
may be convenient to have orders left at 
some grocery or other store. Last of all, 
try to give entire satisfaction to your 
patrons, a satisfied customer is always 
your best advertisement, j. e. morse. 
Michigan. 
Famous Strawberries at Hilton, N. J. 
Will you give the correct report of 
prices that the Hilton, N. J., strawber¬ 
ries bring this season? I am receiving 
many letters daily from every State in 
the Union, also Canada, asking about 
the Hilton strawberry plants, and the 
price that the strawberries bring in the 
New York market. Judging by the let¬ 
ters received, almost every strawberry 
grower in the United States and Canada 
is anxious to hear from Hilton and its 
strawberry crop. I have answered many 
by saying for prices see The R. N.-Y. 
One commission firm has for many years 
sold not only all of my strawberries, but 
also the principal part of all the good 
strawberries grown in Hilton. The 
prices that they have returned to us for 
the past six days (June 16) have been 
for largest and best 25 to 30 cents per 
quart; for culls from 14 to 16 cents per 
quart. There are only two or three firms 
in New York that are trusted to sell the 
Hilton strawberries on commission; all 
others come out here and pay cash be¬ 
fore berries are shipped. These have 
paid this week from 15 to 18 cents per 
quart for all that the grower picks that 
day, large and small. The growers at 
Hilton have been sending in during the 
past week from 15,000 to 20,000 quarts 
per night. The largest pickings will be 
reached this week, and season will last 
until the Fourth of July, as we have 
now had plenty of rain to carry the 
whole crop through. It is one of the 
largest crops of strawberries ever grown 
in Hilton. The prices of the Hilton 
strawberries have never been correctly 
reported in any of the papers, as I can 
prove by the statements that are re¬ 
turned to us each day and week. There 
are about 30 acres of strawberries in 
Hilton, and we expect to pick on this 
area at least 200,000 quarts this season. 
Hilton, N. J. HENRY JEROEAMAN. 
SHIPPING EGGS BY EXPRESS. 
In my 25 years of poultry business I 
never had any trouble with the express 
companies of any kind whatsoever. I 
think express rates on live stock too high, 
but my opinion on this subject has never 
caused me any trouble. J. frbd watson. 
Nashua, N. II. 
I have shipped a great many eggs for 
hatching purposes only, and have never 
had a single complaint on account of 
breakage on shipments out or In. I have 
always contended that If breeders would 
use proper care In packing, the breakage 
would be reduced to a minimum. 
Perry, Iowa. i. r. moore. 
I have had no serious complaints of eggs 
being broken In transit. Wei pack our 
eggs in baskets and chaff, and each egg 
Is wrapped separately In paper. We have 
had no trouble with the express com¬ 
panies. We replace all eggs that are 
broken free of charge. a. a. rieff. * 
Mankato, Minn. 
We have generally been very lucky In 
our shipment of eggs, breakages being 
quite rare, consequently we have never 
found it necessary to call upon the ex¬ 
press companies to make good losses. 
Last year we had one sitting of eggs go 
astray, and the carrying express company 
paid us the value thereof, a few weeks 
after the presentation of our claim. 
Tuckerton, N. J. egg harbor farm. 
I have shipped many eggs the past 
eight years, but have not had any serious 
trouble with breakage. Sometimes I hear 
one or two eggs have been broken, but 
have had trouble in shipping birds, having 
several times been short one, two and 
three birds out of coops while In transport 
in charge of the express companies, and 
have never been able to get a settlement 
for loss, as they have too many loop holes 
in which they get out of paying for the 
loss. E. w. BRUNK. 
Delava n, WIs. 
I know that all express companies take 
eggs at owners’ risk. I went to the of¬ 
fice and asked what they would do with 
my shipment if smashed. They asked 
how I would pack. I took one of the 
Eyrie boxes. They told me they would 
make good all of those packages. I only 
had two eggs broken all season. Most 
all eggs are broken in loading and un¬ 
loading. Mark "eggs” all over package 
and call local agents’ attention to your 
business. Then watch how they handle 
a few, and report any carelessness. 
Lincoln, Neb. E. E. smith. 
We have considerable trouble with eggs 
for hatching shipped in crates and 
baskets. We do nott have any broken 
when boxes are used, but have discarded 
boxes on account of the jar the eggs are 
subjected to when roughly handled. We 
regard baskets as the better, but very 
frequently have complaints about eggs 
being broken, no matter how careful we 
are In packing them. We have seen em¬ 
ployees pitching baskets and boxes from 
the wagons to the cars, and you can 
judge what the result must surely be. 
As to compensation for this loss, we have 
never made any effort to get any, as we 
regarded the effort as a useless waste of 
energy. a. w. rudy & son. 
Hagerstown, Md. 
Irrigation Farming, by Lucius M. Wil¬ 
cox. Orange Judd Co., New York; $2. The 
revised and enlarged edition of this stand¬ 
ard work contains 494 pages, with 104 illus¬ 
trations snowing methods and appliances 
for handling arid or semi-arid lands, and 
also for Irrigation on a small scale. This 
book will be of value to many farmers in 
the East, who might save crops or Increase 
yields by an intelligent use of the water 
supply at hand. 
Fish for Hogs.—I have made several In¬ 
quiries among the many fish dealers here 
who have fish offal to dispose of every 
day in the year, and so far have not found 
that anyone has experimented with this or 
with whole fish to ascertain what the 
result of feeding fish to hogs would be. 
This offal goes Into the regular swill of 
the city, and is fed to hogs In quantities 
just as It happens to reach them. One of 
my informants says that It will impart a 
fishy taste If continuously fed just pre¬ 
vious to day of slaughtering. j. h. r. 
Portland, Me. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
"a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
Lumber 
AT 
Extremely 
Low Prices 
We purchased the Pan-Ameri¬ 
can Exposition at Buffalo, and 
have 33,000,000 feet of fine sea¬ 
soned lumber to offer. It consists 
of joists, timbers, flooring, sheath¬ 
ing, patent lath, and, in fact, 
anything and everything in the 
lumber line. 
If YOU ARE ABOUT TO BUILD 
Send Us Your Lumber Bill 
FOR OUR ESTIMATE. 
We issue a catalogue. Address 
as follows : 
Chicago House Wrecking Co., 
Pan-American Exposition, Dept. 63, 
BUFFALO, N. Y. 
THE HIRED MAN 
cun do more work on a farm fenced with PAGE. 
Don’t have to repair fence, or chase stock. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., A OKI AN, M1CII. 
Berry, Peach and Grape Crates, etc. 
Write for new 1902 Catalogue. 
COLES & COMPANY 
109 1 11 Warren Street, New York. 
Established 1884. 
PARACRENE 
Is better, cheaper and tmlklerthan PARIS GREEN. 
“ Have used Parugrene on my farm for potato 
bugs. It was perfectly satisfactory .’’—L. H. HAILEY, 
Prof, of Horticulture, Cornell University. Write for 
sample. FKED. L. LA VAN BUKO, New York. 
square agreement among them to get a 
living price, or carry their products 
home, would effectually stop the im¬ 
positions practiced, both by the huck¬ 
sters and private buyers. The con¬ 
sumers are wonderfully sharp-eared to 
hear of a market glut, and know it al¬ 
most as soon as the market men them¬ 
selves, and In less time than one would 
think will be flocking right to the door 
to buy—at starvation prices. It Is of 
course their privilege to buy as cheaply 
as possible, but I always tell them to 
“Boxal” Kills Potato Bugs 
AND PREVENTS ROT, RUST AND BLIGHT. Add water and it is ready for use. it also increases 
| the crop because it keeps the vines growing 3 to 4 weeks longer; and by preventing rot it increases the market value of i 
the potatoes. Ex-Sec. Sessions, Mass. Board of Agriculture says, “It killed the bugs; I had a fine crop-uo blight or 
although both prevailed in my vicinity.” Enough to spray one acre $ 1.00 Five times as much for # 4 . 25 . J 
BOWKER INSECTICIDE CO., 43 Chatham St., Boston, Mass. 
