558 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 5 
course, injures the crop. The sulphur seems to pre¬ 
vent this rotting and, probably, has some effect in 
preventing scab. We think it pays, therefore, to keep 
up the practice. Some farmers put the sulphur in 
the hopper of the potato planner, but we like it bet¬ 
ter to mix in the baskets.” 
SECOND-CROP SEED.—On the way out to the 
field, I noticed a quantity ol small-sized potatoes 
scattered on the ground in the shade of a large apple 
tree. “You put them there for hogs, I suppose?” 
was my question. 
“No,” said Mr. Atkinson; that is our second-crop 
seed. We are only waiting for a rain before plant¬ 
ing it. Last year, we planted this seed as soon as 
possible after digging. We raised a good crop, a good 
deal of it of large size. That seed this year has 
given us far better results than any seed we bought 
from the North and East. We take a second-size 
potato, and cut it through so as to halve the seed 
end. These pieces send up one strong stalk, and 
grow very rapidly if the ground is moist. Last year 
was a very favorable season, because the frost held 
off until October, and the second crop of potatoes fully 
matured. The ground is now too dry to plant these 
potatoes, but as soon as we have a rain, we shall 
plant them at once, and expect a fair crop from them. 
Possibly, in ordinary seasons, they would do as well, 
but this crop is becoming very popular through this 
section, and the demand for it is growing. We have 
planted it on the same ground from which we took 
the early crop, but it is better to take new ground 
for it.” 
POTATO DIGGERS.—Potato digging was in rapid 
progress on the farm, i had expected to see a Dow- 
den digger at work, but it was delayed in transit, and 
had not arrived at the station. The only digger at 
work was a potato plow with prongs at the side. 
This threw the potatoes out fairly well, but did not 
separate them from the vines. It was necessary to 
harrow, after the potatoes in sight had been picked 
up. This harrow brought up a dollar’s worth or 
more of potatoes to the acre. Mr. Atkinson had 
tried all the cheaper potato diggers, and says that 
he has found nothing equal to the plow with side 
prongs. Many diggers are made with a standard 
in the center, throwing the soil and vines both ways. 
These do not work well in south Jersey. The 
center standard is sure to clog, so that the potatoes 
will not be thrown out. The true principle is a 
share or scoop with no center standard, or a plow 
at one side to throw the soil in one direction. 
Mr. Atkinson does not want a digger which takes 
every other row. A digger to suit him must take 
one row after another, and leave the potatoes on top 
of the ground in a narrow row. The favorite digger 
through this section is the old-fashioned Pruyn. 
This scoops down under the tubers, runs them up 
over the revolving separator and drops them on top 
of the ground behind. This digger works to per¬ 
fection in south Jersey where the soil is light and the 
potatoes are planted about three inches deep. In other 
sections, however, the digger proved a failure, and 
it is said that hundreds of them are scattered through 
the country resting in fence corners or in other 
places where they are rapidly turning into old junk, 
'the company that manufactured them has gone out 
of business, and even the molds from which the 
castings were made have been destroyed. Mr. At¬ 
kinson has used up three of these diggers. There 
was one old veteran reposing among the weeds in 
the barnyard, covered with rust and supposed to be 
out of commission. In order to show how it oper¬ 
ated, Mr. Atkinson oiled it up, hitched on to it, and 
drove to the potato field. It was stiff and rusty, and 
the draft was very heavy, but it threw out the pota¬ 
toes, and left them properly on top of the ground. 
The south Jersey farmers still believe that the Pruyn 
is better suited to their peculiar conditions than any 
other, and they would like to hear from those who 
have the old machine laid aside in fair condition. 
PEACH BASKET PACKAGES.—The plan of op¬ 
eration on this farm is to start the digger ahead, 
throwing out perhaps eight or ten rows. Peach bas¬ 
kets are scattered along the rows at intervals, and 
the pickers follow. They make two sizes, the larger 
potatoes going as firsts, and the second larger by 
themselves. Usually, the very small potatoes are left 
on the ground, as there is no particular sale for them. 
Mr. Atkinson has about 10 Italians working in the 
potato field, and they pick up the third size. They 
are picking at two cents a basket, and it pays to have 
them make three sizes, as otherwise they would throw 
in too many small potatoes with the others. As the 
baskets are filled, a bunch of vines is thrown over the 
top to protect them from the sun. The wagon with a 
high rack is driven through the field, and the baskets 
are packed in it. 
They are driven directly tx> the station, where the 
barrelers stand on the platform, and fill their barrels 
directly from the baskets, taking out any very small 
tubers that may have gone in by mistake. The bar¬ 
rels are filled and heaped up, well shaken down, and 
the top covered with a piece of sacking with the upper 
hoop driven down over it. The station at Mullica Hill 
presents a lively appearance in potato-digging time; 
wagons are constantly arriving and departing, unload¬ 
ing their baskets of potatoes and carrying the empties 
back to the field. When prices are fair, the object is 
to rush the crop into market as rapidly as possible. 
In ordinary seasons, Mr. Atkinson would dig and 
ship his 37 acres inside of 10 days. This year, prices 
have not been satisfactory, and most growers and 
dealers expect somewhat better prices early in 
August; therefore, they are digging slowly and watch¬ 
ing the market for the best opportunity. When the 
price gives indications of going up, they will plunge 
in at once, and rush the potatoes into market to take 
advantage of it. These growers use the peach basket 
almost entirely, as this package suits them better 
than any other. They have tried the square crate 
often described by potato growers in other sections, 
but they rejected it in favor of the basket, as this is 
lighter and easier to handle. h. w. c. 
NEAT PACKAGE FOR GOOD PRODUCTS. 
Suit the Package to the Goods. 
It is one thing to raise good crops, and quite an¬ 
other thing to dispose of them to good advantage. 
Our scientific friends spend a great deal of time in tell¬ 
ing how to improve the soil, or how to secure new 
varieties. They might well devote more time to tell¬ 
ing how to pack, advertise and sell first-class products. 
Scattered over the country, you will find men who 
have studied this matter of handling fine products. 
Many of them have devised original schemes for hand¬ 
ling and selling, and have in this way secured a first- 
class market. Take celery, for example; this is a 
crop that depends largely for its success upon the way 
it is presented to the customer. If sent to market in 
dirty packages, soiled and poorly trimmed, few 
people will pay even a fair price for it. When packed 
neatly, well trimmed, so that it presents a crisp and 
neat appearance, there is always an eager demand for 
this vegetable. We have known farmers to bunch 
their celery roughly, and send it to market in old 
strawberry crates, stained with berry juice, and fre¬ 
quently full of dust. Of course, it never brings a fair 
price. Celery is a crop good enough to demand a 
special package for shipping. 
A neat crate for handling celery is shown at Fig. 
214. This is the way it is shipped by Mr. Fre Patton, 
of Jewett, Ohio. By growing first-class celery, and 
shipping it promptly in this neat package, Mr. Patton 
has secured a first-class trade. The crate is made 
large enough to hold two rows of celery, packed with 
the tops together in the center. The celery is first 
washed and hunched, then packed as shown in the 
picture in a lining of clean wnite paper. Mr. Patton’s 
advertisement, printed on white paper, is pasted on 
the under side of the top, so that it shows when the 
crate is opened in the market or store. When empty, 
the crate is closed and shipped back for another load 
of celery. Simple things like this often make the dif¬ 
ference between profit and loss. 
One of the great secrets of J. H. Hale's success with 
southern peaches is the care he has spent upon the 
package. He buys nothing but pure white baskets, re¬ 
jecting all soiled or dark-colored wood. He has a 
large red label, with just enough of it to attract at¬ 
tention, and after one season, customers look for this 
white package and red label as a guarantee of uniform 
quality. A neat, clean package—just enough differ¬ 
ence from the ordinary package to attract attention— 
Will, in the long run, always pay. It will be a mis¬ 
take, however, to pick out a package of this kind, and 
then fill it with ordinary goods. The man who does 
that will be worse off than he was before, because it 
will attract attention to poor goods, which ought to 
sneak into the market with as little parade as pos¬ 
sible. 
EARLY POTATOES IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN . 
Edw. F. Dibble, the potato seedsman of western 
New York, recently said that he liked to grow seed of 
early potatoes in northern Michigan. These western 
New York men generally claim that there is no coun- 
try on earth that can produce crops so well as their 
own territory. 
“Why, then, do you go so far away to grow early 
potatoes?” we asked. 
“We can grow as many bushels of wheat or other 
small grains or corn or late potatoes as any other sec¬ 
tion in the United States. Our crop of early potatoes, 
however, is not fully satisfactory. Where we can get 
an average yield of from 100 to 200 bushels of late 
potatoes per acre, on the same soil and with just as 
good tillage, we cannot hope for more than 50 to 75 
bushels of earlies.” 
“What reason do you give for this?” 
“My reason is that we plant early potatoes in May, 
and they set and mature in August, which is our 
driest month. We get plenty of tubers in the hill, but 
there is no size to them.” 
“How do late potatoes escape this dry month?” 
“We plant late potatoes in June, and they mature 
the last of September or in the month of October. We 
harvest them in October, and with us, September and 
October bring more rain than do any other two 
months in the year. These two rainy months with 
cool nights give us just the condition for the develop¬ 
ment of the tubers, and I think this explains why I 
have ceased to grow early potato seed in western New 
York.” 
“Why did you go to northern Michigan?” 
“We have there all the conditions to be found in 
Aroostook Co., Me., with the advantages of good rail¬ 
roads and fine shipping facilities. We also have 
plenty of rain during the growing season. The potato 
country is in three or four counties between Reed 
City and Petoskey. The land is variable in character, 
very dark sand to dark sandy loam. It is virgin soil, 
that is 10 or 20 years ago this whole country was cov¬ 
ered with a dense forest of pine or hardwood timber. 
The potatoes are grown by farmers who are settling 
this new land, so that practically all the early pota¬ 
toes are grown among the stumps on virgin soil. 
They are planted late, and the climate is moist 
through September and October, so that we get 
strong tubers of good size.” 
Peter M. Gideon writes that, for 10 years, he has had 
a succession of reverses, until now he is at the bottom, 
with 40 hens and a few little chickens, and not one-fourth 
of an apple crop. That is certainly a small capital for a 
man of his age. 
A pretty native shrub now in bloom is the Button- 
bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis. It bears close round 
heads of tiny white flowers whose projecting styles make 
them look like feathery pompons, the appearance being 
similar to the little Scabios. The Button-bush thrives in 
moist ground, and is quite attractive enough to find a 
place in the home grounds. 
Montana Tree Planting.— The very best natural soil 
in the mountain regions is always composed of rotten 
and decomposed granite. The hard subsoil in most of 
the valleys away from the mountains is gumbo or clay, 
does not get wet for ages, and is so hard and dry that the 
roots from trees cannot grow through it, which makes 
it necessary to dig a very wide, deep hole, or put in a 
blast to tear it up so that roots can spread out. I have 
lived in Montana 35 years, and have spent most of the 
time farming. T - c. b. 
Chinook, Mont. 
Killing Sorrel.— Last year, I asked you whether sor¬ 
rel could be checked by mowing when in full bloom, as 
is the case with garlic. You expressed doubt. I am now 
strongly of the belief, under further experience, that it 
can be eradicated if mowed at the proper time. Right 
here, however, comes the rub. When is the proper time? 
I found its first growth in bloom before the grass began 
to grow, and persistent new growths and blooms till the 
present. But the fact remains that the stalk of sorrel, 
cut in bloom dies, root and branch, precisely as does the 
stalk of garlic. R> A - 
Washington, D. C. 
