56o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 3 
Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure atten¬ 
tion. Before asking a question, please see 
whether it is not answered in our advertising 
columns. Ask only a few questions at one time. 
Put questions on a separate piece of paper ] 
Plaster and Paris-Green. 
11. M. 11., St. Catharines, Ont. —If you would 
use land plaster in applying Paris-green 
on potatoes, the potatoes would stand dry 
weather better, and, I think, would not be 
so liable to blight of leaf. Try a small lot; 
take a flat tin dish, punch the bottom full 
of holes, fasten a broom handle across the 
top, and shake gently as you walk along¬ 
side of the row. No patent. 
Ans. —We have tried both plaster and 
flour, and prefer the flour for several 
reasons. It sticks to the vines better 
than plaster, and the poison is less 
likely to be washed off by the rains. 
The plan you mention is in quite com¬ 
mon use, but is a slow and tedious pro¬ 
cess as compared with the use of the 
Paris-green gun. 
Mixing of Corn. 
U. S. 11., Freeport, 111. —I have a field of 
sweet corn beside a field of yellow corn. 
I do not wish the sweet corn to mix. Can 
I prevent it by detasseling the field corn? 
How many rows could be detasseled with¬ 
out decreasing the yield of the field corn? 
Ans. —Yes, the sweet and field corn 
will surely mix if they bloom at the 
sonic time; otherwise surely not. De¬ 
tasseling would not prevent, though it 
would lessen, the chances of mixing just 
to the extent and in just the proportion 
that the tassels were removed. We 
would not care to remove the tassels of 
more than every other plant. This would 
be better than removing the tassels of 
every other row, because it would bet¬ 
ter insure pollination. 
Grass for Name. 
A. M., Fairfax Co., IV/.—1 inclose a sample 
of grass, the name of which is unknown to 
me, or its origin on my farm. It is greedily 
eaten by stock, and is earlier than any 
other grass we have, very hardy, with¬ 
stands drought and wet, grows equally as 
well in shade as in sun, under hedges or 
orchards, and is not particular as to quality 
of soil. What is its name and forage value? 
Ans.— The grass is Dactylis glomerata 
—Orchard grass, Cocksfoot grass. It is 
valuable both for grazing and as hay, 
many preferring it to Timothy. Owing 
to its tendency to form tussocks, it 
should not be planted alone. Red clover 
is usually sown with it, in the propor¬ 
tion of one peck of ctover to six of 
Orchard grass seed for seeding an acre. 
It, however, must be cut early, for when 
old, cattle and herses refuse to eat it un¬ 
less starved. 
Buying Potash and Phosphoric Acid. 
11. C., Norristown, Pa. —I wish to use some 
fertilizer to supply phosphoric acid and 
potash. Which would be better, tankage 
or dissolved S. C. rock, muriate or sul¬ 
phate of potash? 
Ans. —The cheapest source of phos¬ 
phoric acid is dissolved phosphate rock. 
Tankage is chiefly valuable for its nitro¬ 
gen, and it contains but a small quan¬ 
tity of phosphoric acid. The dissolved 
rock has nothing of value but phos¬ 
phoric acid, and is the cheapest source 
of that element. As to muriate or sul¬ 
phate of potash, the muriate is con¬ 
siderably cheaper. For some crops like 
beets, sweet corn and certain fruits, as 
well as potatoes, the sulphate is said to 
give better results, but for ordinary farm 
crops, the muriate is just as good, and is 
considerably cheaper. 
Fodder Crops for Northern New York. 
O. 11. 11., Northern N. Y.— My corn was 
sown too late, and makes slow progress. 1 
wish to have feed during the Winter, for 
feeding and fattening pigs. What do you 
advise me to do? How can Crimson clover 
be kept green during Winter? 
Ans. —It is now too late to plant corn 
in northern New York with the expecta¬ 
tion of getting any grain for hogs. Prob¬ 
ably the best that can be done is to 
grow some crop which can be used for 
late Fall pasturage. The Wisconsin Ex¬ 
periment Station has made extensive ex¬ 
periments with the feeding of rape, and 
it is claimed to be valuable for feeding 
hogs as a Summer or Fall pasture. In 
Wisconsin Experiment Station Bulletin 
No. 58, are the following statements con¬ 
cerning the value of rape for hogs; 
“The two trials that have been made 
at our Station indicate that this crop is 
likely to prove as valuable for feeding 
swine as for feeding sheep. There is 
less risk in feeding it to swine, as they 
do not bloat on it, or scour if fed prop¬ 
erly. It gives every promise of proving 
an excellent crop for pasturing brood 
sows and young pigs. It is very evi¬ 
dent that, for late Summer or early Fall 
pasturing, it is especially valuable.” 
This crop will not provide any grain 
for Winter feeding, and there is no crop 
with which we are familiar that will 
produce grain if sown at this late date. 
If rape be grown, from three to five 
pounds of seed per acre should be used, 
and drilled in rows three feet apart. It 
can be sown the first or August, and will 
be ready for feeding the first of October. 
Crimson clover cannot be kept green 
during a northern New York Winter. 
If it could be covered over with a mulch 
of straw, it might be protected some¬ 
what. !«• A - c * 
Strawberry Plants. 
a. q. /., Tingley, la — I was much interest¬ 
ed in the article on The Home of the Straw¬ 
berry, but under the heading, Setting 
Plants, you did not mention anything 
about it, and that is just what I want to 
know. Are the plants taken up out of the 
field as it is done in the Spring from large 
plants, and the soil all shaken out? Or 
are they pot-grown plants? 
Ans. —If you had read the first article 
on The Home of the Strawberry, in the 
issue of June 24, page 464, you would 
have discovered something about the 
manner of setting. The plants are layer 
plants; potted plants are not used. They 
are taken up and handled much the 
same as ordinary layer plants in the 
Spring, but they are not permitted to be 
dried out by wind or sun. The setting 
is mostly done with a trowel, the trowel 
being thrust in, pressed over to one side, 
the plant taken with the other hand, 
the roots spread out quickly, dropped in 
place, and the trowel removed, and the 
soil pressed firmly about the roots. A 
boy drops the plants for the setter, and 
an active man who is accustomed to the 
work, will set the plants nearly as fast 
as the boy can drop. Nearly all the 
growers here put the rows closer to¬ 
gether than most strawberry growers— 
about 30 inches. Many of them set 
double rows, the plants not over six, 
eight or ten inches apart. These plants 
are expected to stool out so that they 
will nearly cover the ground before 
Winter, but no runners are pormitted to 
grow. Setting is done preferably late in 
July or early in August, that is, if the 
weather is suitable. 
First Experience with Cow Peas. 
F. N. II., Monticello, Ind .—A few years ago, 
I planted a piece of ground to corn, and in 
July, planted between the rows to Crim¬ 
son clover; it did well until March follow¬ 
ing, when it was winterkilled, (being sec¬ 
ond trial). Finding that the clover would 
not do well here, 1 thought 1 would try the 
Whippoorwill cow pea. This piece of 
ground is a light sandy soil, some clay, and 
was planted the last week in May. The 
cow peas are doing finely, and being want¬ 
ed as a fertilizer, I want to know when is 
the best time to plow under, Spring or Fall 
(to be followed by corn). In The R. N.-Y. 
of September 24, 1898, I find the following 
as the best time for plowing under: “The 
best advice we can possibly give, for a 
sandy or light soil, is to have the vines die 
down, and cover the ground during Winter, 
then plow under in Spring, unless the 
ground is wanted for wheat or rye,” etc. 
(Page 654, Prof. S. A. Beach, N. Y. Expt. 
Station). I would like to have your opinion, 
as I find that some people think Spring is 
best, some Fall. 
Ans.—T he best treatment for cow-pea 
vines is to let them die on the ground, 
and plow them under in the Spring. We 
have tried plowing them under in the 
Fall, but have obtained the best results 
when the crop remained on top of the 
ground through the Fall and Winter, 
and was worked under in the Spring. 
The vines plow under better after being 
thoroughly decayed, and seem to be 
more available as plant food after rot¬ 
ting on top of the ground. Opinions 
seem to vary regarding this matter, but 
our own experience has been all in favor 
of Spring plowing. The vines lose con¬ 
siderably in bulk by exposure to the 
weather during the Winter. In the 
Spring, they seem to have fairly dwin¬ 
dled away, and a farmer using them for 
the first time would be likely to conclude 
that they were nearly worthless, for they 
do not make much showing on top of 
the ground. When plowed and worked 
under, however, and the ground planted 
to corn or similar crops, the result is 
quite striking, and there is, probably, 
no other plant that will make such a 
change for the better in a single season 
on poor soil. 
Cow Peas for Strawberries. 
E. It., Ablngton, Mass .—If one wished to set 
out a strawberry bed next Spring, would 
it be a sensible thing to do to plow up the 
greensward now, plant cow peas, and plow 
them under late in the Fall? If so, when 
is the latest this Summer that the cow 
peas could be planted with profit? 
Ans. —This is a good plan, although it 
is rather late in the season for your 
country to expect to do much with cow 
peas. If you could have plowed the sod 
a month earlier, worked it down with a 
harrow, and then drilled in cow peas in 
drills about 30 inches apart, you would 
have had a good preparation for a 
strawberry bed. It is better to drill the 
cow peas in this way, because then you 
will be able to cultivate them. The cul¬ 
tivation will serve two purposes. It will 
give a better growth of the cow peas, 
and also destroy many of the white 
grubs which are so destructive to small 
fruit plants when planted on sod. You 
cannot expect to obtain a full growth of 
cow peas now, for it is too late to permit 
them to reach their fullest size. They 
will die down at the first frost, but will 
make a fair growth if they are well cul¬ 
tivated. We would not plow them un¬ 
der this Fall, but would let them die on 
the ground, and plow them under in the 
Spring. 
A Blister Beetle. 
.1. I. 11., New York .—Will you name the in¬ 
closed insect? We find it and its mates in 
our garden, in the outskirts of Brooklyn, 
where they are eating the leaves of Swiss 
chard. Yesterday, after coming in from 
the garden, my wife found one of them on 
her neck. Soon after her neck began to 
burn, and by night, it felt as though the 
skin had been chafed or burned. She 
anointed it with vaseline, and this morn¬ 
ing there appears on her neck a cluster, 
more than an inch long, of large blisters. 
The skin looked exactly as though it had 
been scalded. 
Ans. —The insect which caused the 
blisters on the neck of J. I. H.’s wife 
proves to be one of the Blister beetles 
known as Epicauta cinerea, and the va¬ 
riety of this species known as Margin- 
ata. We discussed Blister beetles at 
some length in The R. N.-Y. for 1895, 
page 569. These Blister oeetles are curi¬ 
ous insects, and are so called because 
they have been used for making blister- 
plasters. The dry and pulverized bodies 
of the beetles are made into a paste 
which, when applied to the skin, pro¬ 
duces a blister. The species most com¬ 
monly used for this purpose occurs in 
Europe, and is the well-known Spanish 
fly of druggists. Our American species 
also have the same blistering property, 
but no one seems to have yet attempted 
their use as a commercial article. These 
facts regarding the blistering properties 
of these insects will explain the blister¬ 
ing of Mrs. H.’s neck, especially if the 
insect was crushed on the skin. 
These beetles are commonly known as 
the old-fashioned Potato bugs, because 
they were the Potato bug here in the 
East before the advent of the well- 
known Colorado Potato beetle. We fre¬ 
quently hear of isolated attacks of them 
on potatoes nowadays. They also some¬ 
times appear in swarms upon other 
plants. The women often complain of 
their ravages upon Aster and other blos¬ 
soms. Thus, while the beetles are very 
destructive insects, in their younger 
stages as grubs they are beneficial in¬ 
sects, because the sole food of the grubs 
is grasshoppers’ eggs. 
On a small scale, and I am not sure 
but on any scale, the surest and most 
practicable plan of combating these 
Blister beetles is to hand-pick by knock¬ 
ing them off into pans of kerosene. 
Paris-green, 1 pound to 100 gallons of 
water, is the best insecticide that can be 
used against them; as they die quite 
slowly from eating this, they may do 
considerable damage before death takes 
them off. Usually the beetles come all 
at once, work quickly, and disappear in 
a few days, so that remedial measures 
should be promptly resorted to. 
M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
Pedigree Strawberries 
Recommended to all strawberry growers by Rttrai, 
New-Yorkkk March 11. ’99, and praised by It July 17, 
'97 and July 16. '98. We offe-JOK, CARRIE 81 EVERS, 
STELLA and RKBA In pot-grown plants at 25c each, 
$2 per do/... $5 per 100; and ROBBIE and NETTIE, the 
best late strawberries yet introduced, at 25c. each, 12 
per doz . $6 oer 100. Plants to be all pot-grown and to 
be delivered after July 1st. Orderquick; stock limited 
JOS. H. BLACK , SON & CO., Hightstown, N. J 
ft I inCTHNE Strawberry Plants 
ULNUw I UllC Strong potted p 1 an ts. after 
Aug. 1. II per dor.., by express. Circular, with reports 
from many States, free. F.F. Merceron.Cataw.ssa, Pa. 
A I Northern grown. 
List free. 
A f til I crop next season. 
P. SPEER. Passaic, N. J 
Potted Strawberry 
Plants. 60c V 100. List fret 
T. C. Kevitt, Alhcnla. N. J 
NEW 
(Trade-marked.) 
MURI1Y PL DM and 
DIAMOND PEACU. 
AND FINEST 
FRUITS 
NEW PEACHES. 
(Copyrighted.) 
Dean’s Red, Dan Boone. 
Deaconess & St. Clair. 
THE ALBAUGH NURSERY AND ORCHARD CO., 
Pdoneton, Ohio. 
bu^isCRIMSON cloyfr 
All Tested Seed. Write for Samples and Prices. 
H. W. DOUGHTKN, Moorestown, N. J. 
BDlMCnW PI flVCQ-Natures Fertilizer and 
UmlYlOUIl ULUYLn ideal hay crop. We are 
headquarters for new home-grown acclimated seed, 
and furnish at lowest prices. A iso Turnip. 8pinach 
and other seasonsble seeds. TURNIP SEED ol all 
the leading varieties. 60c. per pound, delivered at 
your post-ottice Remit with your order. 
H. L. HOLMES, Seedsman, Darrisburg, Pa. 
THOMAS McELROY, European Seed Commls- 
mission Merchant, Mercantile Ex. Bldg. Harrison 
St., New York, offers Essex English Dwarf Rape Seed 
and High-grade Crimson Ctover Samples and prices 
on application. Dealers only. 
Mammoth White Winter Seed Rye, 
noted for Its productiveness both in grain and straw, 
awarded first prizes at several New York State and 
American Institute Fairs, also llrst at the Tennessee 
Centennial, and at the Missouri. Vermont and Massa¬ 
chusetts State Fairs. Price, $1 per bushel. Write for 
illustration of rye Held. E. L. Clarkson. Tivoli, N.Y. 
S eed Wheat—Best varieties—Dawson's Golden 
Chaff, $1.40 per bu. Gold Co n and Harvest King. 
$1.10. Bags free. W. D. HOWE, Cortland. N. Y. 
Rudy Seed Wheat.— 1,200 bushels, 
guaranteed pure. $1.25 per bus h e). 
JOHN HKKK 8I1KNK, Lancaster, Pa. 
IMPROVED SEED WHEAT 
Choice New Sorts grown along; the 
Lake Shore. The finest farming 
section in the country. 
Change Your Seed and Better Your Crops. 
SIEGEL,seel 1 :,'UERIE, PA. 
Mention this paper. Send for descriptive circular. 
Pot-Grown Strawberry Plants. 
Set out now will bear a large crop of choice fruit next season. We 
have all the tried and valuable varieties. Also, a full line of trees 
and other nursery stock for fall planting. Summer and Autumn 
Catalogue Is now ready. Write to-day. 
T. J. DWYER & SON, Box 1, Cornwall, N.Y. 
THIS STOUKS Ac HA It K ISON CO., FAINISSVILLIi, OHIO, 
Leading American Nurserymen, offer one of the most complete assortment* of 
FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, SHRUBS, ROSES, BULBS, etc 
... .....1 .. .1 Van 
45 Yearn. 
m 
44 Greenhouse®. lOOO Acres. 
CorreMpoiitleiice Solicited. Cutalotf Fr 
POT 
CROWN 
STRAWBERRIES 
We shall have our usual 
supply of fine plants ready 
_ _ ___ about July loth. Catalogue 
containing correct descriptions of the best varieties with cultural directions mailed on request. 
ELLWANCER <fc BARRY, Mount Hope Nurseries, ROCHESTERjJJLY. S#th tour. 
