1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
5i3 
How to Obtain Earliest Tomatoes. 
F. C. O., Bridgton, Me .—We annually grow 
tomato plants for market, starting the 
seed about March 7, transplanting into 
boxes 12x15 inches, and marketing them 
about May 20, after danger of frost is over. 
They make in these large boxes strong 
plants, and sell rapidly. I wish to get the 
fruit into market ahead of those who pur¬ 
chase our plants, and I would like to know, 
in order to accomplish this, what time we 
should put in the seed, and the proper 
treatment they should receive before being 
planted outside. We are trying the ex¬ 
periment this year of placing one plant in 
a flat, and keeping the flats in the green¬ 
house, but so far, the plants outside are 
setting fruit much more freely. The va¬ 
rieties inside are Aristocrat and Early 
Bird, and outside Stone, Potomac Beauty, 
Perfection, etc. 
ANSWERED BY M. GARRA1IAN. 
Among people who desire to excel in 
the earliness of the tomato crop, there 
seems to be a growing conviction that 
the age of the plant is an important 
factor; in other words, a plant must be 
about so old before it bears. I incline 
to think there may be something in it. 
Some varieties bear earlier than others. 
The Atlantic Prize will give ripe fruit 
long before the Stone, but one plant of 
the Stone will outyield two of the Prize. 
Much depends upon the kind of soil. I 
planted two pieces with tomatoes, one 
on sandy soil, facing the sun, the other 
on a dead level piece of cold clay. The 
planting was done the same day, from 
the same lot of plants; those planted on 
the sandy slope facing the sun ripened 
ten days before the others. Land may 
be so rich in nitrogen as to prevent 
early ripening—the plants just keep 
right on growing. 
The method in vogue by those who 
aim to “get in” with the first tomatoes, 
is to sow the seed quite early, in the 
greenhouse the middle of January, in 
this section, and transplant in flats later 
on. Keep them in a low temperature, 
even as low as 50 degrees at night oc¬ 
casionally. When growth has advanced 
sufficiently, they are planted in 6-inch 
pots, with some drainage in the bottom, 
and as soon as weather permits, placed 
in the frames out of doors, giving all the 
air they need during the day, and mat¬ 
ting well at night. When the time has 
come for planting in the field, good sub¬ 
stantial furrows are made, as for po¬ 
tatoes, and just enough manure, or fer¬ 
tilizer, given each plant to carry the 
crop to the ripening point, say 100 
pounds nitrate of soda, 400 of acid phos¬ 
phate and 200 of muriate of potash per 
acre. A moderately poor soil with this 
treatment will give an earlier crop than 
a stronger soil, or one more liberally 
supplied with nitrogen, the idea being to 
have the nitrogen about used up by the 
time the crop is ready to ripen. 
Preparing Greenhouse Soil. 
L. M. L., Baldwinsville, N. Y .—How is 
greenhouse soil prepared? 
Ans.—“G reenhouse soil” may mean 
any one of a dozen different combina¬ 
tions, according to the plants for which 
it is provided. The soil ordinarily used 
by florists in growing roses, carnations 
and many other ordinary greenhouse 
plants, has for its basis, sod loam, usual¬ 
ly taken from the surface of an old 
meadow. This is stacked up in alternate 
layers with stable manure, and left to 
rot together for one to two years, the 
pile being chopped down and turned 
over at intervals. If the soil is very 
heavy, a little sand is sometimes added; 
if very light, it may be stiffened with 
clay; but the original compost may be 
made in this manner in any case. It 
may finally be used sifted or unsifted, 
mixed with leaf mold, sharp sand, 
sphagnum moss, or lumps of charcoal or 
plaster, according to the different class 
of plants for which it is designed. 
The papers now tell the story of a Penn¬ 
sylvania man who started what he calls a 
ciow hatchery. He has about 100 crows, 
and expects to hatch their eggs in incuba¬ 
tors. His object is to furnish crow heads 
for a millinery firm in New York. At 15 
days old, the crows are killed, and the 
heads are cut off to adorn the hat of some 
gentle woman, who would probably jump 
six feet high at the sight of a mouse. 
Short Stories. 
What is Fame? —The daily papers of 
late have been printing a story of how 
Dr. W. H. Jordan, of the Geneva Ex¬ 
periment Station, saved the lives of a lit¬ 
ter of pigs! One would think, to read 
the story, that this was one of the most 
marvelous discoveries of agricultural 
science. Here is what Dr. Jordan him¬ 
self says: 
What Is fame? I have worked for 20 
years in my humble way, on the edge of 
some of the more scientific problems re¬ 
lated to agriculture, and so far have been 
unable to achieve anything like the noto¬ 
riety which has come from a supposed in¬ 
vention of a tin suckling trough for pigs. 
Yes, we did have left on our hands 10 little 
pigs with no mother. For humanitarian, as 
well as financial, reasons, we cast about 
for some way to feed them. The device is 
nothing more than a tank about six inches 
wide and two and one-half or three feet 
long, with tubes projecting from the sides 
at the bottom. To these tubes, we at¬ 
tached rubber nipples and after a little 
education, the pigs consented to this arti¬ 
ficial way of eating, and now they seem 
to be perfectly contented with the matter 
and manner of their bill of fare. I doubt 
whether there is anything new about it, for 
it is simply an extension of the coffee-pot 
method with which the farmers of past 
days have been perfectly familiar. 
The copy which you inclose is a striking 
example of newspaper enterprise and of 
the relative value of occurrences as seen 
from the newspaper man’s eyes. Neverthe¬ 
less, if motherless pigs are benefited there¬ 
by, I shall not complain. 
The modern newspaper is fearfully 
and wonderfully made. A lot of beard¬ 
less boys, who hardly know what real 
soil looks like, pick up such items as 
the above, and feed them to the public 
with a sauce of their own manufacture. 
Probably there are hundreds of our 
readers who can give similar instances 
of the stupidity of the average reporter. 
But are they stupid—or is this stuff 
really what the public call for? 
Horsej.ess Carriages. —Few country 
people realize how the craze for horse¬ 
less vehicles is growing. Thus far these 
automobiles are found mostly in the 
cities where the pavements are hard and 
smooth, and give a better chance for 
rapid traveling. The first horseless 
truck has appeared in New York. This 
truck weighs about 5,000 pounds, and is 
capable of carrying a load of three tons. 
It uses both gasoline and electricity as 
motive power. A small gasoline engine 
is hung at the rear enu, and this works 
a dynamo placed in the front. Good 
speed can be made with this truck, and 
it is said to work well, even when go¬ 
ing up hill. A man and his wife are 
soon to start from New York, expecting 
to travel across the country to San 
Francisco on a gasoline automobile, 
'ihey will take the ordinary country 
roads, and cover the entire distance 
without other motive power. If this 
trip be accomplished successfully, it will 
do a good deal to advertise the horse¬ 
less carriage, and will prove a great 
event in the history of this vehicle. 
Canadian Spraying Schools.— The 
Canadian government takes a great in¬ 
terest in agriculture. The Department 
of Agriculture is doing excellent work 
in extending the Canadian market 
abroad. Trial shipments of dairy prod¬ 
ucts are made, and poultry have been 
fattened on the Experiment Farms and 
sent over the sea, under government 
control. Public lessons in spraying are 
also given. Mr. W. M. Orr, of Fruit- 
land, is the superintendent of this work. 
He read an excellent paper at the last 
meeting of the Western New York Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, and told how the 
work was done. He goes out into a 
farmer’s orchard, gathers the people 
from ’round about, and gives a lecture 
on the principles of spraying. Then the 
poisons and fungicides are mixed be¬ 
fore the crowd, and applied to the trees. 
The whole thing makes a very effective 
school, and it might be followed to ad¬ 
vantage on this side of the line. Some 
of our experiment stations seem to feel 
that everybody knows how to spray. 
That is not correct, for comparatively 
few of the farmers in some sections ever 
saw a spraying pump, or have a clear 
idea of how spraying is done. 
“Mysterious Ways.” —The Sun tells 
the following story about Henry Clay. 
One Sunday morning, Clay meC an old 
negro preacher who was hunting funds 
for church building. The following con¬ 
versation occurred: 
“Well, Bob,” said the Senator, “what are 
you doing out so early Sunday morning?” 
“Sarvant, Marse Henry; sarvant. sah. 
You know de early bird ketches de worm.” 
"Oh, you are worm hunting, are you?” 
“Yes, Marse Henry. I wants to ax ef 
you won’t help me some ’bout my little 
church.” 
“No, indeed,” said the Senator, “I’ll not 
give you a cent. I gave you something not 
long ago to help you with that church.” 
“Yes, Marse Henry, dat’s so, sah; you 
did indeed, sah, an’ dat’s a treasure laid 
up for you in hebben, sah.” 
“Oh, it is, is it?” and Clay moved on. 
Turning suddenly he said: “Come here, 
Bob, come here.” Taking from his pocket 
a roll of bills he continued: “Here are $30 
I won at cards after sitting up all last 
night. Now, if you can reconcile the use 
of money gotten in that way to church 
purposes, take it along.” 
Old Bob bowed and pulled his cap. 
“Sarvant, Marse Henry; thankee, sah. 
God do move in a mysterious way His 
wonders to perform! Thankee, Marse 
Henry; thankee, sah!” 
Free Rural Delivery. —One point I 
have never seen made in the argument 
in favor of rural free delivery is that 
one would be almost certain to get his 
letters in due time. The fact of all mail 
being handled over every day would 
prevent the possibilty of, say my letter 
lying in some other person’s box for a 
day or two, or even a week. I once ex¬ 
pected a letter, in answer to a proposi¬ 
tion of mine to help a friend in a busy 
time. I went to the post office day after 
day for five days, but got no letter. The 
sixth day, it was forthcoming, had been 
there all the time, as the postmark 
showed. My friend didn’t get helped, 
and I lost $10 worth of work. The same 
thing happens yet about once a month, 
and I often have to hand back a paper 
or letter that is handed out to me in my 
mail, but is addressed plainly enough to 
some one else. I live nearly three miles 
from the post office, so you can guess 
how nice it is. t. g. 
New York. 
“Conditions of Labor.” —The Cali¬ 
fornia Fruit Grower prints some sample 
advertisements to show how the law of 
supply and demand affects the labor 
market on the Atlantic and Pacific 
coasts. Here, it says, are advertise¬ 
ments found in the large eastern papers: 
"Wanted, 30 pants makers. Apply - 
Street.” 
“Wanted, ten carpenters at - Street. 
Bring tools.” Nothing Is said as a rule in 
these or similar advertisements' of the 
amount of wages, or of any accompanying 
inducement to apply for the place. A 
chance to work is made known, and that 
is all, because under the conditions exist¬ 
ing there, it is enough. 
Then it copies the following advertise¬ 
ment from a local California paper in 
the fruit-growing districts: 
Women and girls who intend to work in 
fruit this season need go no further than 
-to find employment at wages as satis¬ 
factory as will be paid any place in the 
country. The-cannery has been care¬ 
fully arranged with a view of affording 
employees all the comforts possible during 
the hot days, besides being thoroughly 
equipped with all the latest improved ma¬ 
chinery and methods necessary to save 
extra labor, and make the work easy. The 
tables in the preparation rooms have been 
improved and so arranged that the women 
and girls can sit or stand at their work as 
they please, and the work will be so ar¬ 
ranged and classified as to avoid needless 
changing about. The large, well-venti¬ 
lated workrooms are provided with im¬ 
mense swinging fans, which are kept con¬ 
tinuously in motion, thereby keeping up a 
cool-air circulation throughout the build¬ 
ing, and in connection with the fresh well- 
water tanks, an improved ice plant supplies 
an abundance of cold, purified drinking 
water. The building will be supplied, also, 
with ample soft light furnished by the 
electric light plant, another improvement 
added this year. The management has pro¬ 
vided every convenience possible that will 
tend to make work as easy, pleasant and 
profitable as possible for its employees. 
Mi-. -, who wil have entire supervision 
of the factory, will see to it that the fore¬ 
men and forewomen shall treat the em¬ 
ployees under them with the same courtesy, 
kindness and respect as would be extended 
by them to visitors to their own fireside. 
The Fruit Grower thinks this proves 
that reliable labor is very abundant at 
the East, while very scarce in California. 
Come into New York, one of these hot 
days, and try to hire one of the loungers 
in the parks to go to the country for 
work, and you will find that one must 
offer even more than this California fruit 
ranch has offered to make him start! 
han 
diest 
sprayer 
in the 
world. Its 
small size, 
simplicity, 
effectiveness 
make it the fa¬ 
vorite for house 
plants, green¬ 
houses, flower gar¬ 
dens and poultry 
houses^ 
One filling enough 
for acre of plants. 
Made of heavy copper; 
15 Inches long. Wear for 
20 years. 
Regular price $2.00. First 
purchaser la each district gets 
reduced price $1.50 (express 
repaid). Also agency for full 
He of sprayers. Send for onenow. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO., 
9 Market St., Lockport, N.Y.,: 
Write for 
catalogue 
K 
A Dry Sprayer 
No Watsr or Plaster. 
Duiti Treo, Bush or Tins. 
Two rows of potatoes as 
fast as you walk, wide or 
narrow planting. Agents 
wanted. Catalogue and 
spray calendar free. 
LEGGETT & BROTHER, 
301 Pearl St., New York. 
POISON 
Is not used in my Killer of Cab¬ 
bage Worms. By mail, 25 and 50c. 
EDW. 8WARTS, Blockton, la. 
FumaCarbonBisulphide 
“The wheels of the gods grind slow but exceed¬ 
ing small.” So do weevil, but don’t let tbem grind 
your grain. It doesn't pay. iiCIIIIA JJ as others 
KILL THEM WITH rUmflj are doing. 
EDWARD R. TAYLOR, Cleveland, Ohio. 
85 
A RUINED 
GARDEN, 
flower bed, green house 
or lawn may be the result 
of a few hours operation 
of an active, energetic 
mole. The remedy Into 
catch them on first signs 
of appearance. 
Out-0-Sighf 
MOLE TRAP 
catches him every time. It’s 
guaranteed to do that. Can be 
set anywhere—under glass, in 
the hot bed, <£e. Sample trup 
_i ct8. by mail, or have your dealer 
order for you. It is not like others— 
It Is better. Descriptive matter 
on traps mailed free. 
ANIMAL TRAP CO. 
10 fleek St., Abingdon, II 
Me trup 
ealer 
rs j t ,i 
Jadoo Fibre and Jadoo Liquid 
Will give you Early Crops and Large Crops 
of Vegetables or Fruit. Send for Catalogues 
and be convinced of the merits of these 
new Fertilizers. 
THE AMERICAN JADOO CO., 
815 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 
^/VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVfr 
Profits of Farming 
GARDENING AND FRUIT CULTURE. 
depend upon Good Crops and they in 
turn upon Good Fertilizers. The 
uniformly best fertilizer for all Crops 
and all soils Is made by 
The Cleveland Dryer Co., Cleveland, O. 
Materials Supplied for “ Home Mixing." 
BUY YOUR FERTILIZERS DlRECTI 
Save Money! No Salesman’s Expenses: No Middleman’s Profit. Our entire product 
goes from Factory to Farm. Write for free samples and book. 
WALKER, STRATMAN A CO., Pittsburg, Pa. 
