68 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 29 
A MEETING OF STRAWBERRY MEN. 
WHAT OSWEGO GROWERS TALK ABOUT. 
Part II. 
Experiments With Fertilizers on Strawberries. 
Mr. G. A. Davis, of Mexico, tested fertilizers for the 
Cornell Station. Six plots of Haverlands were used. 
On the first, 300 pounds nitrate of soda, 300 muriate of 
potash, and 300 dissolved bone were used. The plot 
yielded at the rate of 7,382 quarts to the acre. No 
other fertilizer was used, and the bed was covered 
with straw for a mulch. On plot No. 2, the same 
amount of material was used except nitrate of soda, 
and the yield was G.828 quarts to the acre. On the 
third plot, 300 pounds nitrate of soda and 300 dissolved 
bone gave a yield of 6,156 quarts to the acre. On plot 
No. 4, a like amount of muriate and nitrate of soda 
was used, and the yield was about like No. 3. On 
the fifth plot, 500 pounds nitrate of soda, 300 muriate 
of potash, and 300 of dissolved bone gave a yield of 
7,059 quarts to the acre. The sixth plot, with 200 
pounds nitrate of soda, 500 pounds muriate of potash, 
and 300 pounds of dissolved bone, yielded at the rate 
of 8,708 quarts to the acre. All of these plots were 
on low ground. The experiment proved that the use 
of nitrate of soda gave a large growth of plants, and 
berries not so hard, or so good flavor, as where potash 
was used. The berries sold equally well, bringing 
from 7 to 12 cents per quart net. 
A. D. Dutton, of Dempster, had 10 plots. The first 
four were on sod land. The other six were on old 
ground. Plot No. 1, variety Beder Wood, fertilized 
with nitrate of soda, gave a yield of 4,884 quarts to the 
acre. Plot No. 2, variety Greenville, fertilized with 
sulphate of potash, gave a yield of 3,795 quarts to the 
acre. Plot No. 3, variety Beder Wood, fertilized with 
sulphate of ammonia, yielded 4,521 quarts to the acre. 
Plot No. 4, variety Bubach, fertilized with dissolved 
bone, yielded 5,401 quarts to the acre. All these four 
plots were fertilized at the rate of 500 pounds to the 
acre. Plot No. 5, variety Greenville, fertilized with 
350 pounds muriate of potash to the acre, yielded 
4,884 quarts to the acre. Plot No. 6, same variety, 
fertilized with 350 pounds sulphate of potash, yielded 
at the rate of 4,488 quarts to the acre. Plot No. 7. 
variety Atlantic, fertilized with 700 pounds muriate to 
the acre, yielded at the rate of 5,588 quarts. Plot No. 
8, same variety, fertilized with 700 pounds sulphate of 
potash, gave a yield of 3,729 quarts to the acre. Plot 
No. 9, fertilized with 350 pounds of dissolved bone, 
variety Bubach, gave a yield of 13,597 quarts to the 
acre. Plot No. 10, variety Bubach, fertilized with 700 
pounds dissolved bone, gave a yield of 20,066 quarts to 
the acre (a phenomenal yield). Beder Wood, on old 
ground without fertilizer, produced at the rate of 
5,049 quarts to the acre. On sod, without fertilizer, 
Bubach yielded 5,874 quarts to the acre, Childs at the 
rate of 3,069 quarts. 
Old Times in the Strawberry Business. 
L. B. Babcock began with a small bed of Wilson 
and Jucunda, in 1861, picked the berries in pails and 
market baskets, received $8.60 for the berries from 
this small bed, and was so well pleased that he set an 
acre in 1863. He contracted these at 12% cents per 
quart to 50 or 60 families of Fulton, and received $750 
for the acre. He set three acres in 1864, and sold in 
Fulton, Phoenix, Oswego and Syracuse. About this 
time, competition came in. Mr. Adams was growing 
berries in Oswego, and while we thought him a nuis¬ 
ance at first, he ultimately proved a blessing. This 
was when he secured the means of shipment to New 
York. As soon as the train was put on for New York, 
we began shipping, and have grown beri’ies and 
shipped there ever since. Our first berries sent there 
netted us for Wilson and Crescent 16 to 18 cents, and 
Sharpless and other fancy varieties brought from 25 
to 35 cents per quart. He was the first man to plate 
berries ; he tried it on a sample crate, and as soon as 
it arrived, the commission man wrote us to plate all 
our berries after that. Others had to do it to hold 
their prices. We fill baskets very full, and fix them 
all off nicely on top. He finds that it pays to this 
day. He grows Parker Earle, Beder Wood, Bubach, 
Brandywine, Wm. Belt, Atlantic, Jessie, Marshall, 
Eleanor, Crescent, Sharpless and Burt. 
Jeremiah Haggerty, an old express agent, spoke of 
the packages in use 30 years ago : “ There were sev¬ 
eral sizes and shapes, most of them of domestic manu¬ 
facture, the lumber in them from one to 1% inch in 
thickness. They were made like the tool chests which 
they used on the railroads many years ago. handles 
nailed along the sides, and extending at the ends so 
as to allow two men to handle them conveniently. 
They contained from 120 to 160 quarts. The berry 
boxes at that time held two quarts, and were made of 
wood from one-fourth to three-eighths inch in thick¬ 
ness. Taking the weight of the crates, boxes and ber¬ 
ries they contained, together, it was something not 
well calculated to increase the good nature of the 
most amiable express messenger, particularly when he 
had to move those “youthful mountains” alone. One 
day in the height of the season, my car was pretty 
well loaded, the day was very hot, I worked hard 
piling them up in the car, and after starting, I had to 
move them all over again to check them with the way 
bills. As the train reached Seneca River, I put my 
head out of the door for a breath of fresh air, and as 
I gazed at the fast-flowing waters, a bright idea, as I 
thought, flashed through my mind. I took a glance 
at the cause of my discomfort and remarked in a con¬ 
soling manner, ‘ On your return, you will take a 
swim.’ And I made good my resolution. As fast as 
they came to me empty, I piled them in the car door, 
and with a gentle push, sent them sailing on their way 
to Lake Ontario. A few years ago, I saw several of 
them at Port Ontario and Mexico Bay, being used for 
chicken coops.” _ 
TREE PROTECTORS IN ILLINOIS. 
In a recent R. N.-YL, a Western man discusses the 
various methods of protection against rabbits, and 
comes to about the same conclusion that I came to 
several years ago, whicli was that the wire-screen 
plan is the best of all. But I am not a little sur¬ 
prised that, in the land of Jack rabbits, he recom¬ 
mends so short a protector. Here the rabbits would 
thank one for giving them a 16-inch footrest so that 
they might tear the bark more effectively. Then what 
about the time when the snow covers the ground a 
foot in depth ? Usually, protectors made of veneering 
have dimensions of 22x10 inches, and these are too 
short when the snow comes, even here where “John¬ 
nies” are unknown. Orchardists have different ideas 
in regard to the proper length for the stem of a tree, 
and of course, this varies with the kind of fruit, and 
the variety ; but where the stem will allow, I think 
that a protector should be 2% feet long. Then, if the 
bottom be buried in the ground a couple of inches to 
exclude mice and borers, one may feel that his young 
trees are as reasonably safe as any tree protector can 
make them, for three years. 11 is possible, also, that, 
in addition to the above benefits, the partial shade 
given by the wire will operate as a preventive against 
the so-called sunscald, and the consequent ravages of 
the Flat-headed borer. 
Veneer protectors are cheaper at the start, but by 
the time one has tied or wired them to the trees each 
Fall, and taken off and stored away each Spring for 
three years, he begins to realize that the plan is 
rather costly after all. It is better than corn stalks 
or lath, better than any of the washes, but not so 
good as the wire screen in the long run. But some 
say, “ Leave the veneer through Summer and Winter, 
as you do the wire screen.” This makes a harbor for 
insects, especially the Woolly aphis, and sometimes a 
home for mice. I will not mention the fact that one 
tree in twenty is the abode of a thriving colony of 
vicious Wood wasps, which drive the contemplative 
mood from the inspector, and substitute one of un¬ 
mannerly frenzy, because this does not, perhaps, affect 
the health of the tree. It is likely, however, that the 
exclusion of light and moving air does, although, per¬ 
haps, it is not yet proved. Another drawback is that 
the veneer warps and splits under the action of sun 
and rain, so that many trees, after all, are not shielded 
from the borer, that, like the poor, is always with us, 
or from the mice, which swarm in on us occasionally. 
Here a word in regard to mice : There is always 
danger from field mice here, whenever trash of any 
kind covers the ground, and this is especially true 
when the orchard is seeded to clover. Yet it is not 
good for the ground to be entirely bare, so this leaves 
an open question as to the best method of winter man¬ 
agement. Mice may girdle trees of six or more inches 
in diameter, so the orchard is liable to be damaged by 
them after protectors are laid by. I know it is said, 
“ Mound about trees to prevent damage by mice ” ; yet 
I have seen wet spells in the Winter when the mice 
were driven from their holes, only to seek refuge in 
these raised and comparatively dry mounds. On the 
whole, I cannot see that mounding is of any advantage. 
Now a point relative to putting on protectors, if the 
veneering kind are to be used. Do not make a cylin¬ 
der, but rather a cone, when it is wrapped around 
the tree, then the wires will not drop to the ground 
upon the shrinking of the wood, which is always green 
and wet, so that it may be pliable. Two small wires 
are needed for each protector, the upper one within 
an inch of the top, and the lower about the middle. 
These will drop to about the proper position by mid¬ 
summer. The wire should be small, about like that 
used for tying up grape vines, and may be cut into 
foot lengths (which is about right, but varies with 
the size of the tree), with tinners’ shears, or perhaps, 
still better, with a cold chisel. In case the trees are 
too small to hold a protector, as in a nursery row, 
stakes, may be driven at intervals, a larger wire 
strung along them, and the upper wire on the pro¬ 
tector fastened to it. benj. buckman. 
Sangamon County, Ill. 
MORE ABOUT THE USE OF DYNAMITE. 
How to Handle it. —On page 21, Mr. Garrahan 
writes about using dynamite to blow" out a hickory 
stump. T fear that many people that would undertake 
to use dynamite in the way he describes, might 
get injured, not knowing the nature of the explosive. 
The bore or hole should be large enough to take the 
cartridge of dynamite without breaking it up, though 
if only a part of a cartridge is needed, it should be 
broken square off and not pulled in pieces. The per¬ 
centage of 40 to 90 per cent means the per cent of nitro¬ 
glycerin contained in the cartridge, the dynamite, 
so-called, being made up of fusil earth or some absorb¬ 
ent that has been saturated with a certain amount of 
nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin congeals at a tempera¬ 
ture of 48 F., and will not explode while frozen. The 
only proper way to thaw frozen dynamite cartridges 
or nitroglycerin is to put them in a vessel, say a tin 
pail, and then put the pail in a larger vessel that has 
been nearly filled with hot water. I have used many 
tons of nitroglycerin and dynamite on railroad con¬ 
struction, and never had a man in jured with it. The 
best tamping for any explosive is dry sand, using a 
sharp stick to tamp it with. c. n. m. 
Fitchburg, Mass. 
Some Plain Directions. — I have used dynamite to 
break landings, half a box at a time, in driving logs, 
and blowing out stumps and rocks, and have driven 
the cartridges into a hole with a crowbar without an 
accident; but it was not a wise thing to do. I have 
learned by years of use, to keep the caps and dynamite 
separate, and be careful how I handle the caps. Don’t 
warm dynamite by a stove ; it might spoil the funeral. 
Use on a warm day, above 40 degrees. Don’t tie the 
fuse to the dynamite ; it is awkward and liable to 
come loose. Chit the fuse square, slip on the cap, press 
it tight at the neck, and put on the cartridge. Insert 
a knife blade in the cartridge about an inch from the 
end, and again about the middle, push the fuse and 
cap through and part way through again, and draw 
tight. If rocks are not too deep in the ground, with 
a crowbar 1 % inch in diameter, make a hole as far 
under the lower side as possible ; unless the rock 
weighs more than two tons, one cartridge is enough. 
With an old broom handle, shove the cartridge into 
the hole, tamp in some dirt, the wetter the better, cut 
off the fuse four or five inches from the ground, and 
split it, turn down the end, and apply the match. 
There is not much danger, as everything goes up, and 
if one watch, he can easily dodge the pieces as they 
fall. With a small, dry stone in the hand, held close 
to the end of the fuse, one can ignite the fuse in¬ 
stantly, and then can light four or five at once. If 
the rocks are thick or deep, it is cheaper and better to 
drill a hole in the center, and then one should use 
powder always. 
As to stumps, if they are old and below medium 
size, one cartridge and often one-lialf of one, is suffi¬ 
cient. If larger, two or three are needed. In that 
case, open the extra ones and run them down, and 
then shove in the one containing the cap and fuse. 
Always be sure to get the dynamite under the center 
of resistance. If the stump is very large or green, so 
one has to use from four to eight cartridges, he should 
make the hole down under the center, and then ex¬ 
plode a piece of dynamite about an inch long in the 
bottom of the hole ; this will make a pocket large 
enough to hold all the charge. The amount can be 
told only by practice, but ought always to be sufficient 
to make a good job. There is no danger if one is care¬ 
ful, and no matter how far aw'ay, one should look out 
for falling stones. The best tamping stick is a broom 
handle, the best material, wet soil. If by any chance, 
a charge fail to go off, keep away till sure that it is 
out, then put in a lighter one close by the other one ; 
they will both go at once. Never try to dig out one 
that goes out; it won’t pay. j. w. N. 
Shawmut, Pa. 
Value of Bran and Shorts. 
W. E. E., Anatone, Wash. —Which will make the most blitter, a 
pound of bran or a pound of shorts, both from wheat, and fed 
with wheat hay ? The hay was cut when the wheat kernel was 
about two-thirds grown, a part of it full grown. I can get bran 
for $10 per ton, shorts for $13, and half bran and half shorts for 
$11. Which will be the best for buttermaking? 
Ans.—A fair statement of the values of bran and 
shorts may be obtained from this comparison : 
POUNDS IN ONE TON. 
Muscle-makers. Fat-fonners. Pure Fat) 
Bran. 308 1,058 80 c=d 
Shorts. 298 1,136 90 =i 
The shorts contain 10 pounds more fat and 78 pounds 
more of the fat-formers, but the bran contains 10 
pounds more of the valuable muscle-makers. Our ex¬ 
perience indicates that shorts have a constipating 
effect, while bran is a laxative. In actual feeding 
value, the shorts are not worth $2 per ton more than 
the bran, and we would not feed them alone with the 
wheat hay. The mixture of half bran and half shorts 
at $11 is the best for the money. 
