1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
641 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Slugs. —Among the garden pests the 
slug seems to have received very little 
attention, yet it is one of the most de¬ 
structive of garden foes. At the same 
time its work is hard to detect, as it 
is a night marauder, and thus is apt to 
escape our notice. What is the slug? 
Of its life history I have very little 
knowledge, except to know of its rascal¬ 
ity. To casual notice it differs very lit¬ 
tle from the snail, except that it has no 
shell. Its hiding place is under old 
hoards, stones, bricks or any rubbish 
that affords shelter during the day. At 
night they crawl out and devour what¬ 
ever garden relishes chance to come in 
their way. This season is the first that 
they have made any serious trouble for 
me, and it took some little time and a 
good deal of loss to discover the real 
cause. All through the Summer I had 
observed them under almost every kind 
of rubbish that happened to accumulate, 
but paid little attention to them until 
the late turnips were sown. The only 
available ground for late turnips was 
two small plots along a board fence and 
lumber pile. There was also a board 
walk extending along one side of either 
plot. The soil was all that could be de¬ 
sired and I was counting not a little on 
a supply for Winter, but in spite of sow¬ 
ing and resowing the turnips failed to 
show up. Not a turnip would grow any¬ 
where along the edges of the plots, 
while farther out in the middle ground, 
they were growing finely. It was very 
perplexing to sow two or three times 
over and still get no results. Mrs. 
Morse suggested that it might be the 
slugs. I generally find it pays to follow 
up any suggestions she may make, 
pretty faithfully; so as soon as dark¬ 
ness came on, the lantern was lighted 
and I started to investigate. Sure 
enough soon I saw them coming in 
droves from under the lumber pile, fence 
and walk, making for the young tur¬ 
nips as fast as their slimy bodies could 
crawl. 
The Remedy. —Taking some air- 
slaked lime I dropped a small pinch on 
one of them and it was marvelous to 
see him wiggle and twist to get away 
from it. I experimented in various 
ways, anointing some of them and en¬ 
closing others in a circle of the lime. 
They would crawl from side to side, but 
never attempt to crawl over or through 
the lime. In less than 10 minutes those 
upon which the lime had been sprinkled 
were entirely dead. Following up this 
knowledge I sowed a thick row of the 
lime entirely around both plots. The 
slugs would crawl up near the dead 
line, but never offer to approach too 
close. I sowed lime broadcast over the 
patches to catch those that had reported 
for duty, and since tnat the turnips are 
growing finely clear to the edge of the 
plots. This story is rather lengthy, but 
the description of their ravages, togeth¬ 
er with the remedy, may help others to 
detect and successfully head off a here¬ 
tofore unsuspected enemy. Another 
remedy is to place boards here and 
there, wherever their presence is sus¬ 
pected and gather and destroy them. A 
neighbor informs me they are highly es¬ 
teemed as a table delicacy in his native 
country. That may be true, but I hard¬ 
ly think an American citizen would care 
to verify the statement, or raise them 
to sell, along with other products from 
his garden. The lesson is, to keep all 
rubbish carefully gathered up and not 
allow it to accumulate. This will also 
apply to the tomato, squash and cucum¬ 
ber vines, as also all clippings from the 
bush fruits. Destroy them all, as their 
absence is far preferable to their com¬ 
pany. 
Cutting Back Tomato Vines. —There 
has always been much discussion as to 
cutting back the vines to hasten matur¬ 
ity in tomatoes. I have often resorted 
to the practice, but am not fully con¬ 
vinced. This year I am cutting back 
Borne hills and leaving others to find 
what is the difference, if any at all. Al¬ 
ternate hills of the same varieties are 
cut back, and it ought to be a fair test 
The tomatoes certainly need some en¬ 
couragement this season, as with the 
cold wet weather we have had all Sum¬ 
mer, some nights nearly down to frost 
temperature, there is at no time a mar¬ 
ket supply. One can go on the market 
and buy a bushel of Bartlett pears or 
fine yellow peaches for the same, or 
even less money than he will pay for a 
bushel of good tomatoes. The vines up¬ 
on which I am experimenting were late 
planted, and are of very rank growth. 
I believe that vigorous cutting back will 
be beneficial and the results may be 
beneficial to myself as well as others. 
Nitrate of Soda. —It makes the cab¬ 
bages jump, and they seem now to be 
getting the start of the worms, but I 
have had to use tobacco dust unstint¬ 
edly (on the cabbages). I applied the 
nitrate at the rate of two ounces to the 
gallon of water. It made the cabbages 
laugh and grow fat, but was too strong 
for the Lima and wax beans, scorching 
their leaves somewhat. An ounce to a 
gallon of water is a safe quantity for 
beans, and will do all sorts of good, but 
I would hardly dare apply it stronger. 
The wax beans planted in August are 
now (September 5) setting their pods, 
and will, I hope, pull through ahead of 
frost. They were checked somewhat by 
the overdose of the nitrate of soda, but 
are doing nicely now, as also the Limas. 
Used cautiously the soda is an ideal ser¬ 
vant, but used to excess it is a hard 
master. 
Paris-GreeN for Cabbage Worms.— 
A neighbor who has brought his cab¬ 
bages through from early to late with¬ 
out any damage from the worms, de¬ 
pends entirely upon Paris-green and 
flour. He uses about half the strength 
required for potatoes, say a teaspoonful 
to a quart of flour. This is used when¬ 
ever the worms bother, regardless of 
the age or size of the cabbage. I would 
not take the risk, but he applies it when 
the heads are nearly or quite full grown/ 
I should not care to use it after the 
heads were half grown, but would rath¬ 
er depend upon ashes and salt or some 
of the non-poisonous insecticides. 
Plant a Tree. —The late Governor 
Bagley, of Michigan, once issued a 
proclamation to the people of his State, 
requesting that on a certain day in April 
every citizen should plant a tree. This 
was nearly 25 years ago, and I now re¬ 
call that some of the leading newspaper 
editorials treated the matter as a joke, 
that the Governor of a great State 
should think so trivial a matter as 
planting a tree required the official 
sanction of the State’s Chief Executive. 
Perhaps the good Governor builded bet¬ 
ter than he knew, certainly far better 
than the editors dreamed of—for to-day 
there is many a spot grown beautiful 
through that proclamation. The writer, 
in company witn a friend, went to the 
woods that day and dug up a tree and 
planted it. Through some mishap the 
tree that I selected died, but the one 
planted by my friend grew to be a beau¬ 
tiful tree, and now adds much to the 
beauty of his home. We planted the 
trees side by side, and while misfortune 
befell mine, I still am glad that I made 
the effort. We dug and planted them 
jointly and I still retain my interest in 
the living tree. Now I want to issue a 
proclamation to our boy and girl read¬ 
ers, and ask that some day this Fall 
each plants a nice tree or shrub. Plant 
as many as you like—the more the bet¬ 
ter—but plant one at least. It may be a 
nice fruit, nut or shade tree; but what¬ 
ever it may be, once planted, you will 
have an added pleasure and interest in 
all Nature and your green things a- 
growing will be living links in the chain 
which shall bind you to her. I cannot 
tell the exact day to plant, for it must 
be after Jack Frost has stripped the 
trees of their leaves. But let it be as 
soon after that as possible. We, too, 
the wife and little girls, will plant one, 
and let us see how many will be plant¬ 
ed. Maybe in after years they will ex¬ 
tend a welcome greeting to the taller 
grown boys and girls back to the old 
farmhouse from which they have wan¬ 
dered long. Let us each plant a tree. 
Michigan. j. e. morse. 
GEO. E. SCOTT-A WHOLE-SOULED 
FARMER. 
Many of our readers will need no in¬ 
troduction to the man pictured at Fig. 
257. Some of them have also shared the 
fine old-fashioned hospitality which 
greets one in this Ohio home.. Maple 
Valley Farm nestles among the hills 
that sweep back from the Ohio River, 
an ideal situation for an ideal farm 
home. In connection with the picture 
we print a portion of the essay Mr. 
Scott wrote on “Why I Take The Rural 
New-Yorker.” We regret that Mrs. 
Scott does not appear in the picture. 
“Twenty years ago we took The R. 
N.-Y., when it sent the Dutchman’s pipe 
you see in the photo of a homely man 
reading a handsome farm journal, and 
a 40-foot Laurel-leaf willow at the foot 
of our lawn, both dedicated to the gen¬ 
erosity of The R. N.-Y. It is clean, 
bright, full of merit, and presents the 
appearance more of a magazine than a 
paper. Its illustrations are high-grade, 
perfect in detail. Its ‘ads’ are honest 
and reliable, giving fair dealing to all. 
Its correspondents are men of genius, 
who stand at the front in modern agri¬ 
culture and in practical and scientific 
work. Every department which the 
farm and home demands is fully repre¬ 
sented in its columns.” 
Pencillaria or Pearl Millet. 
C. E. B., Pennine, Term.—I enclose a head 
(in full bloom) and a few leaves of “Pen¬ 
cillaria.” The season has been very dry 
here since July 1. It was planted a single 
seed in a place in rows, and cultivated like 
corn. Some of the stalks are seven and 
eight feet high. Some of the stools have 
10 to 15 stalks to a single root, with an 
abundance of fine cane-like leaves. The 
largest stalks are about three-quarters 
of an inch in diameter. Some of the heads 
are 10 to 17 inches long. The leaves and 
stalk have very much the appearance of 
cane. I enclose also a few of the seeds I 
bought. What is its proper name? 
Ans. —The plant is Pearl millet, Pen- 
nisetum typhoideum, formerly named 
Penicillaria spicata. It is a rank grass 
from Egypt, making an,immense growth 
when given good culture. It was test¬ 
ed on the Rural Grounds many years 
ago, and is often referred to in horti¬ 
cultural publications. The forage pro¬ 
duced by Pearl millet is nutritious, but 
difficult to cure, and experimenters soon 
abandon its culture, though at first 
much pleased with it. It is a poor sub¬ 
stitute for our thoroughly acclimated 
Indian corn for forage purposes. 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— Adv. 
v 
-- 
;r 5 
BUILDING 
/ ECONOMY. 
.u If you are not one of the 
f / 100,000 farmers who use 
our roofings, you’d be 
Sjjl surprised to find how easi¬ 
ly, how cheaply and how 
permanently you can roof and side 
any farm building—from a chicken 
coop to a barn—with 
Ne-Pon-Set 
{Don't forget the name) 
the original red-rope roofing. It 
costa little, but laata long. Any one can apply it. Rooflngklt free 
with every roll. Don’t take an imitation and don’t—please don’t 
confuse Neponaet with cheap tarred papers. Send for a free 
sample and ace for yoursolf. 
F. VV. BIRD & SOX, 
Kimt Walpole, Via**, anil Chicago, IlllnoU. 
We aleo make Paroid Ready Roofing for more permanent bldg*. 
GOMBAULT’S 
CAUSTIC BALSAM 
A safe, speedy and 
positive cure for 
Curb, Splint, Sweeny, Capped Hock, 
Strained Tendons, Founder, Wind Puffs, 
and all lameness from Spavin, Ringbone 
and other bony tumors. Cures all skin 
diseases or Parasites, Thrush, Diphtheria. 
Removes all Bunches from Horses or 
Cattle. 
As a HUMAN REMEDY for Rhen- 
imitiam, Sprains, Sore Throat, etc.. It 
Is Invaluable. 
Every bottle of Caustic Balnan sold is 
Warranted to give satisfaction . Price $1.50 
per bottle. Sold by druggists, or sent by ex¬ 
press, charges paid, with full directions for its 
use. Send for descriptive circulars, testimo¬ 
nials, etc. Address 
THE LAWRENCE-WILLIAMS COMPANY, Cleveland, Ohio. 
Seed Wheat 
It always pays to plant tho best. Don’t sow old 
worn outsorts when you can obtain new and 
improved varieties which will yield 45 to 
60 BUSHELS PER ACRE. 
Write for our new Winter Seed Wheat Catalogue 
with full descriptions and history of our New 
MalakoS wheat, the grandest new variety ever 
before introduced. Requires less seed per acre, 
stools better and gives a larger yield than any 
other. Price KH2.00 per bushel. 
“TURKISH RED.” . . . fl.Superbu. \ Bugs 
“WILLIAMS AMltEli,”#1.50 per bu. / Free 
“RED RUSSIAN,”. . . . *1.OO per bu. }■ In 
“BULGARIAN.”.#1.00 per bn. ( nil 
“MAMMOTH WINTER RYE.” Tft ets per bn. ) case* 
Ash for Prices on Closer and Timothy 
Address J. It. HATKKIN Sc SON, Shenandoah, Iowa. 
W HEATS tested20to38bu.; W.Chaff, 
Jones, McKinley, Bald, Demoorat, 
Reliable, Rudy, Tuscan,Arcadian, Gold 
Coin, Mealy, Fultz, Red Wonder, Daw¬ 
son. Description; save dollars experi¬ 
menting. Prices reasonable. All wheats 
well cleaned. Write at once. SMITH’S 
Wheat Farm, Box A, Manchester’ N.Y. 
Mammoth White Rye 
The most productive of all. Average yield 30 
bushels and one ton straw per acre, worth $30. Price, 
$1 per bu. GEO. A. BONNELL, Waterloo, N.Y. 
01 nVED CEEn- Cholci3 ’ clean Crimson or 
ULU VCn OCCII Scarlet of my own raising. 
$3.50 bu.; sacks free. J. C. ELLIS, Mlllsboro, Del. 
Crimson Clover Seed.—New crop now 
ready. R. S. JOHNSTON, Box 4, Stockley, Del. 
o-FOR A-o 
Sweet Cider Apple 
PLANT THE HONEY. 
It produces the most and best. Seventy-five other 
varieties of apples and a complete line of stock. 
Catalogue- Free. 
C. D. WENCER, Dayton, Va. 
SAN JOSE SCALE. 
And other Insects can be Controlled by Using 
Good’s Caustic Potash Whale- 
Oil Soap No. 3. 
It also prevents Curl Leaf. Endorsed by Entomolo* 
gl 3 . This Soap is a Fertilizer as well as Insecticide. 
50-lb. Kegs,$2.50; 100-lb. Kegs, $4.50; Half-Barrel, 
270 ibs., 8 Hc. per lb.; Barrel, 425 lbs., 8 ^ 0 . Large 
quantities. Special Rates. Send for Circulars. 
JAMES GOOD, 039 N. Front St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Ball Band tst Boots 
Keep in the Warmth—Keep out the Wet. 
The BALL BAND trade mark on wool and robber boots is a 
guarantee of superior quality. They give more comfort and longer 
service than any other make. The BALL BAND is the 
only ALL-KNIT wool boot and the rubbers are made from 
the highest grade rubber—not the product of a trust. Insist 
on getting the BALL BAND goods and you are 
sure of the best. Get them from you dealer 
MISHAWAKA WOOLEN MFG. CO., Mishawaka, Ind. 
Montana Buffalo Robes 
Buffalo and Astrakhan Coats 
GUARANTEED THE BEST ON EARTH 
Our Diamond Guarantee on every Robe. Take 
no other. If your dealer does not handle 
them write us for illustrated booklet giving 
full information and prices. 
Western Robe Co. 
1622 Orleans St. DETROIT, MICH. 
