34 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 15 
lesson taught by five-cent cotton, plant less land to 
that staple, throw their poorest fields into pasture, 
and turn a part of their attention to live stock, their 
lands will so improve and their profits so increase that, 
in a few years, the condition of the country districts 
will be greatly changed for the better. 
Wheat for home consumption, and in some localities, 
for sale, is a safe first step towards diversification. 
Let the next step be marked by a largely increased 
production of pork and hay. Then let beef cattle 
engage the attention of the districts having the 
strongest soils, and the dairy cow utilize the scantier 
herbage of the hilly country. The surest road to 
prosperity is diversification of products, not only along 
the lines indicated, but also in other directions. 
Alabama Exp. Station. J. F. duggar. 
Wheat Growing in Louisiana. 
There has been a considerable increase in wheat 
culture in Virginia; the area sown is limited, not by the 
indisposition of the people to sow more wheat, but by 
the unfavorable drought extending late into the sea¬ 
son, and preventing many from sowing as large an 
acreage as was intended in the early part of the 
season. In Louisiana, practically no wheat is grown 
of any character. Before the war, a considerable 
quantity was grown in the northern portion of this 
State, and very largely throughout the upper districts 
of the southern States. It was then necessary, on 
account of the want of transportation, for the purpose 
of furnishing flour to these isolated inhabitants. 
Since the war and since the introduction of railroads 
throughout the country, and from the further fact 
that the soils of this country have been greatly de¬ 
pleted by the continuous growing of 
cotton, wheat is grown to a very 
limited extent throughout the South. 
As before remarked, on account of 
the depleted fertility of our upland 
soils adapted to wheat, and the ab¬ 
sence of a rust-proof variety of 
wheat, the growing of this crop has 
almost been discontinued. 
There are strong reasons why this 
cereal should not be grown in Louisi¬ 
ana, the first of which is that our 
climatic conditions render the grow¬ 
ing of it very uncertain, due to the 
susceptibility of all varieties to the 
attack of rust. Our North Louisiana 
Experiment Station has done every¬ 
thing it could to encourage the 
growth of wheat in the hill sections 
of this State, having imported and 
tested over 200 different varieties, 
and the results obtained were so un¬ 
satisfactory, that no recommenda¬ 
tion as to its growth was made to 
the farmers. Our Winters are so 
open that, frequently, small grains 
and grasses of all kinds can be sown 
tlmmghout the entire Winter. On 
account of these open Winters, varied 
occasionally by a northern blizzard 
of only a few days’ duration, the 
wheat becomes susceptible to the 
attacks of fungi very rapidly, and 
succumbs in nearly every instance to these attacks. 
We cannot grow successfully any kind of oats except 
the rust-proof varieties, and do not succeed very well 
with either rye or barley ; these, if grown at all suc¬ 
cessfully, must be from home-grown seed. 
Director Louisiana Exp. Station. wm. c. stubus. 
BISULPHIDE OF CARBON FOR PEACH BORERS 
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE EAST. 
Reports like the following have recently appeared 
in California papers : 
A wide trial is being made in the San Jose region, of bisulphide 
of carbon to kill Peach borers. Some apply the liquid to the base 
of the trees, and then cover it up quickly with loose soil. Others 
mix the bisulphide and sand and cover in a pint or more of this 
sand around the base of the tree. It is a sure shot for the worms, 
but whether it can be freely used without injury to the tree has 
not fully been demonstrated. 
Fortunately, we have just received a letter on this 
subject from a friend who has a peach orchard in 
the region where these experiments are being tried. 
We quote the following interesting note from this 
letter : 
Suddenly, a new practice has begun here, the killing of the 
Peach borers with the fumes of carbon bisulphide. About two 
iablespoonfuls are poured around the tree, an inch away. This 
s done when the ground is dry, so the fumes will percolate. The 
borers have been found dead after this dose. Although this 
method was originated only this fall, already the whole valley is 
either practicing it or about to do so. The farmers cannot get 
the bisulphide fast enough. Only a few wary ones hesitate, lest 
they shall kill or injure the trees. Rumors are afloat that some 
trees have been killed by the process; but the only case we hare 
been able to authenticate is that of a man who says that the pro¬ 
cess killed 903 trees on almond roots. He says that the bark, inner 
and outer, was as dry as a bone, so be supposes ths trees to be dead. 
But he lays it to the peculiar delicacy of the trees on almond 
roots, and he is going right ahead to put it on the rest of his 
orchard where the trees are on peach roots. The other orchardists 
have, of course, looked to their trees as well. They report the 
inner bark looking as alive as ever, so they suppose their trees 
are all right. We have 50 acres, over 5,000 trees, which, after 
seven years of care, are in fine bearing condition, fine condition, 
all but this worst of pests, which is in nearly every tree. A few 
trees, it has nearly girdled, others it has made only a start on. 
To dig them out twice a year is, besides its expense, only a par¬ 
tial remedy. But it would be heartrending to kill the whole 
orchard with the bisulphide fumes. Our chance for trying this 
apparently valuable remedy is brief. It must be done before 
our rains set in, as the fumes will percolate only through dry 
ground. 
Our advice to this friend was to go slowly, and try 
the liquid on only a few trees. Better wait tintil the 
possibilities and limits of the case have been definitely 
demonstrated by the State Experiment Station or by 
other careful observers. We feel quite confident that 
the enthusiast, who has already killed 900 of his trees, 
will find that it was not due to the fact that they 
happened to be on almond roots. 
In a bulletin we wrote a few years ago, in which 
was described a machine for injecting this bisulphide 
into the soil, we suggested that there was a possi¬ 
bility that it might enable us to reach the Peach borer 
and the Woolly aphis. Recently it has been demon¬ 
strated in Missouri that the latter insect can be killed 
with the liquid injected into the soil with this ma¬ 
chine. But it was. also, demonstrated at the same 
time that, if the liquid is injected too close, within a 
few inches of the tree, dead apple trees were the re¬ 
sult. It was found necessary to inject the liquid into 
the ground at least a foot, better a little farther, away 
from the base. There is no question that the success 
or failure of the liquid to kill insects in the soil de¬ 
pends very largely upon the nature of the soil, whether 
it be wet or dry, or sandy or heavier. 
We are not aware that any careful experiments have 
been recorded with the bisulphide against the Peach 
borer. The following experiments made at the Cor¬ 
nell Experiment Station in 1895, will thus be of espe¬ 
cial interest and value. On April 17, several small 
peach trees were selected which were so badly infested 
with the borer that there was a complete ring of the 
characteristic gum around the base of each. With a 
sharpened stick, four holes were made around one 
tree, beginning about four inches from the trunk, and 
extending in a slanting direction toward the roots for 
a distance of six to eight inches; seven teaspoonfuls of 
the liquid were poured into these four holes, and then 
the holes were quickly stopped. An hour later, we 
found three half-grown live borers in the tree, and 
several living angleworms in the soil near the tree. 
The soil all around the tree smelled very strongly of 
the fumes. Around another similar tree, we intro¬ 
duced six teaspoonfuls in the same manner, and three 
hours later, found five live borers in the tree ; the soil 
around the tree also smelled very strongly of the 
liquid. Around a third tree, we injected with the 
McGowen injector, four tablespoonfuls of the bisul¬ 
phide. The injector was forced into the ground as 
near the tree as practicable, and straight down. After 
24 hours, we found two living borers in the tree, and 
live angleworms in the soil. A slight smell of the 
fumes was still perceptible in the soil. These experi¬ 
ments satisfied us that the carbon bisulphide was not 
a practicable or effective method for killing Peach 
borers here in the East. 
But our eastern Peach borer is not the same insect 
which works in California peach orchards, and doubt¬ 
less, the same intensely dry condition of the soil is 
never attained here in the East. Thus there may 
be a chance that the liquid can be successfully used 
there. However, I believe that the chances arc against 
it, for the California Peach borer, although first 
cousin to the eastern species, goes deeper into the tree, 
often going quite deeply into the solid wood, hence 
would not ordinarily be as easily reached by the fumes 
as our eastern borer, which works entirely just be¬ 
neath the bark. This difference in habit renders it a 
much more difficult and expensive matter to dig out the 
borers in California than in the East. I sincerely 
hope that our California friends may succeed in get¬ 
ting the upper hand of this fearful pest, with the 
carbon bisulphide. But I would advise caution in its 
use, until it has been thoroughly and carefully tested. 
Our simple experiments are, of course, far from con¬ 
clusive, but they strongly indicate that eastern peach 
growers have little hopes of being able to cope with 
this pest with carbon bisulphide as cheaply and suc¬ 
cessfully as they can dig out the borers. 
_ M. V . SI.INGERLAND. 
DEEP vs. SHALLOW PLOWING. 
On the western plains, or that portion of them com¬ 
posed of what is known as the “ Loess ” formation of 
soil, it is a matter of seeming indifference what por¬ 
tion of the soil is turned upon the surface to form a 
seed-bed. Soil from many feet below the surface, in¬ 
cidentally brought up in digging cellars or wells, 
seems to furnish a congenial home for vegetation, be¬ 
fore it has gone through any process of decomposition 
after reaching the surface. But with our common soi 
conditions, such is not the case; 
usually, if we bring up soil from 
many inches below the surface, we 
have to wait several years before it 
will have sufficiently decomposed 
for plants to take kindly to it. It 
is due to this principle that we often 
get bad results from deep plowing. 
It is better, if we wish to decom¬ 
pose the deeper soil more rapidly, to 
do it by introducing more humus 
into it, and by underdraining where 
necessary, than by turning it upon 
the surface to weather, thereby 
necessitating the burial of that 
which is already decomposed and 
ready for plant use. 
Says Mr. Renney. of the Ontario 
Agricultural College, When you 
have developed a fine tilth upon the 
surface, keep it there where the 
young plants can get at it, and do 
not bury it way down out of their 
reach.” In his four-year system of 
rotation, Mr. Renney plows but once, 
and that is to tuim under the sod 
just deep enough to insure a good 
job of plowing. The tendency is 
for the food materials of the soil, as 
they are rendered soluble, to be car¬ 
ried downward by the percolating 
waters. If the plowing is deeply 
done," this fine tilth of soluble ma¬ 
terials is turned down where it has a less distance 
to pass before getting entirely beyond the reach of 
the young plant. 
A practical application comes to mind at this time, 
in which a certain farmer of Iowa, thinking to outdo 
his neighbors the coming year, employed an extra 
amount of horseflesh, and turned up his stubble fields 
to an unusual depth. Notwithstanding the fact that 
this was a rich prairie loam that would respond more 
readily than some to such treatment, he had, as a re¬ 
ward for his efforts, nothing but nubbins, while his 
neighbors had a product of normal development. 
Iowa. _ J. J. EDGERTON. 
PROFIT IN BELGIAN HARES. 
The Belgian hare, it is said, is a native of Belgium. 
Those we have in this country, however, were im¬ 
ported from England, after being bred for improve¬ 
ments in color, form, etc., to the English standard of 
excellence, to which the breeders of this country are 
now trying to breed. Some very fine specimens have 
been produced in this country. I have bred them five 
years, and find them great pets, besides being the 
most profitable of any stock I ever bred. 
I notice that, in some of the books on rabbits, it is 
said that they are born with eyes wide open, and all 
ready to run around. Instead, their eyes are not 
open for seven to nine days, and they have not a hair 
on them. Hair and color begin to show in a short 
time. The standard for weight, when matured, is 
eight pounds, but some grow to weigh nine to ten 
pounds. They have been known to weigh 12 or 13 
pounds, but my opinion is that the large specimens 
have other blood in them, as they are not of the proper 
