174 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 5 
ed with hemlock boards which are covered with 
tarred paper, which is again covered with siding. 
The glazing can be done on permanent sash bars or 
movable sash. In the former case no rafters will be 
needed, as the sash bars form the rafters, which are 
nailed to a ridge pole at apex of roof. The furnace 
should be constructed of brick lined with fire brick, 
having a fine grate 12x24 inches surface; the greater 
the rise of the flue from the grate to the chimney the 
better draft will be obtained. For a house of the 
above dimensions a two-foot rise is 
enough. That part of house which con¬ 
tains fire pit can be covered with a shin¬ 
gle roof, and affords a comfortable room 
for sowing seed, potting, transplanting, 
etc. The house having 243 square feet 
of bench room is equal to 14 3x6 hotbed 
sash. The cost of coal for this house for 
three months (February, March and 
April) is about $8, two tons pea coal at 
$4 per ton, while the cost of manure for 
same area of hotbeds at $1 per ton might 
be a trifle less. In many sections where 
manure is high there is a decided ad¬ 
vantage in favor of the greenhouse. We 
have always grown better tomato plants 
in a greenhouse than in a hotbed. The 
same can be said of lettuce and cabbage, 
if a cold frame is used to harden off the 
plants as the season advances. We find 
that by handling our plants in flats we 
can control conditions more convenient¬ 
ly than in hotbeds; that is, we can pro¬ 
duce better plants, can rid the same of 
insects, avoid the danger of burning or 
drawing our plants, and aside of first 
cost it is cheaper, joiin jeannin, jk. 
hydrogen, a poisonous gas, and unites with the lime 
forming a coating of carbonate of lime upon the tree. 
The gas is generated slowly and probably is held by 
the carbonate of lime coating, and also fills the cavi¬ 
ties under the shells or armor of the scale insects, 
thus suffocating them. It is quite probable that the 
mixture kills some of the insects by its caustic or 
corrosive action, but this effect would probably take 
place very soon after the application. But the action 
of the lime and sulphur mixture is very gradual and 
than where oils were used; no injury to the trees re¬ 
sulted. However, the caustic is certainly worth ex¬ 
perimenting with rather extensively. There is a de¬ 
mand, however, for an inexpensive substance that 
will prove destructive to the scales, and that can be 
used without boiling. Sulphide of potash and lime 
meets the second and third of these requirements, but 
is too expensive for orchard use. It is a very con¬ 
venient way to make the mixture for use on small 
trees or shrubs in the garden or city back yard—and 
these regions are filled with scale in 
many towns and cities. It may be pre¬ 
pared as follows: Sulphide of potash 
(liver of sulphur), one pound; fresh 
lime, one pound; water, two gallons 
(one pailful). Dissolve the sulphide in 
water in a pail and slake the lime in an¬ 
other, and when all is in liquid form 
put both together with a proper quan¬ 
tity of water and a first-rate lime and 
sulphur mixture is the result. In our 
experiments last year this mixture 
proved very effective in destroying the 
scale insects. But I am hopeful that we 
shall soon be able to recommend some¬ 
thing that will be just as satisfactory as 
the sulphide of potash and lime mixture 
that can be made without boiling, which 
will not be too expensive for orchard 
treatment. There is one thing, however, 
that should be remembered. The lime 
and sulphur mixtures are of consider¬ 
able value as fungicides, and in this re¬ 
spect will probably not be equaled by 
anything like caustic soda. 
W. E. BRITTON. 
Conn. State Entomologist. 
STONE BOAT FOR SPRAYING. Fig. 73. 
SPRA YING FOR SAN JOSE SCALE 
The destruction of the San Jos§ scale 
insect is one of the leading problems in 
our orchards to-day. At present the 
lime, sulphur and salt mixture, or some 
modification of it, is probably the best 
spraying material that we can use. It 
is no more efficacious than the oils, but 
much safer and fully as inexpensive. In 
the experimental work with this mixture 
throughout the country during the past 
year, it has been shown that: (1) Salt 
has little or no value, either in making 
the mixture more adhesive or in render¬ 
ing it more destructive to the scale. (2) 
The presence of a great excess of lime 
is not desirable, as it injures the stick¬ 
ing qualities of the mixture and clogs 
the strainers and nozzles. In our Con¬ 
necticut experiments, plain but heavy 
whitewash disappeared from the trees in 
a short time and left many living scales. 
Equal parts of lime and sulphur may be 
used with good results. (3) Fall or ear¬ 
ly Winter spraying may prove just as 
satisfactory as the Spring treatment, but 
the mixture is more liable to wash from 
the trees than when protected by the. 
leaves. (4) The length of time of boil¬ 
ing may be considerably reduced, espe¬ 
cially if the sulphur be made into the 
form of a paste and added before slaking 
the lime. By doing this the heat of the 
lime is utilized and from 30 to 40 min¬ 
utes of boiling will bring the sulphur 
nearly all into solution. 
In some recent work in Connecticut 
the following quantities were used: 
Fresh lime, 14 pounds; flowers of sul¬ 
phur, 14 pounds; water, 40 gallons. The 
sulphur was added in paste form and 
slaked with the lime and the barrel one- 
third filled with water. This mixture 
was then boiled for 30 minutes, then 
transferred to the spraying barrel, di¬ 
luted and applied. The spraying was 
done the second week in December last, 
and the trees now appear as white as 
when first treated. It is still too early 
to speak with certainty regarding the 
effect of the spray in killing the scales^ 
but preliminary examinations indicate 
favorable results. All lime and sulphur mixtures 
(with or without salt) seem to have a gradual instead 
of an instantaneous insecticidal action, and it bears 
out the theory that our chemist gives regarding the 
chemical changes in the mixture. He says that in boil¬ 
ing several of the numerous sulphides of lime (mono¬ 
sulphide, polysulphide, etc.), are formed, and these 
are put upon the tree, if we spray while mixture is 
fresh. The carbonic acid of the air acting upon the 
mixture that covers the tree sets free sulphuretted 
HOW LIME-SPRAYED PEACH TREES LOOK. Fig. 74. 
the mortality of the scale insects is much greater four 
months after the application than it is at the end of 
four weeks if it has not been washed off by storms. 
Just now there is much talk about spraying trees 
with a solution of caustic soda. It might be well here 
to call attention to the fact that this substance in the 
form of Babbitt’s “potash or lye” was used in a small 
way in our experiments three years ago (Spring of 
1901), when it was tested in comparison with the oils. 
A larger peicentage of the scales came through alive 
found in the 
in the rows. 
10 
in. 
10 in..62626 
12 in..52272 
15 in..41817 
18 in..34848 
20 in.. 31363 
2 ft..26136 
2i/o ft..20008 
3 ft..17424 
3i/ 2 ft..14935 
4 ft..13068 
R. N.-Y.—A full account of some ex¬ 
periments with lime and sulphur in 
Connecticut is given in Bulletin No. 144 
of the Connecticut Station at New 
Haven. We regard this as one of the 
best spraying bulletins yet issued. Of 
the pictures shown here Fig. 72 shows 
the spraying outfit in operation in the 
Barnes Bros, orchard. Fig. 73 shows 
stone drag and spraying pump used in 
the Barnes orchard. Fig. 74 a view in 
a small peach orchard at Southington, 
Conn. Two rows of trees have been 
sprayed, while the unsprayed trees may 
be seen at the left. 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN—Without 
argument, let us all concede the neces¬ 
sity upon every farm of a thoroughly 
well-kept garden. The amount of space 
required depends largely upon size of 
family and their habits of living, wheth¬ 
er largely vegetarian or otherwise. It 
is safe to say that the farm families 
with the help usually employed will 
easily average five or upwards, and a 
good half acre is not too large. It is 
often a good thing even with that space 
to treat it as the Irishman did his acre 
of potatoes, plow on both sides of it. 
There is little danger of too much, as 
the surplus can nearly always be sold 
at fully as good profits as any of the 
farm products. The amount that can be 
grown is very largely a matter of man¬ 
agement, as the possibilities are almost 
limitless, especially if run at high pres¬ 
sure. As a guide to what may be grown 
upon an acre at first planting, the ac¬ 
companying chart will perhaps be help¬ 
ful. Careful successions will add much, 
in some cases nearly double the amount. 
This gives the number of plants that 
can be grown on an acre from 10 inches 
to four feet apart. Take the figures in 
the left column as the distance apart in 
the rows, and the figures in the upper 
line as the distance between rows. In 
the left column, take the desired dis¬ 
tance between plants and the number of 
plants required for the acre will be 
column directly below the distance apait 
12 
in. 
15 18 20 
in. in. in. 
2 2Vs 
ft. ft. 
3 
ft. 
ft. 
4 
ft. 
43560 
34S48 27878 
29040 23232 19360 
26136 20908 17424 15681 
21780 17424 14520 13068 10890 
16424 13939 11616 10454 8712 6969 
14520 11616 9680 8711 7260 5808 
12446 9953 8197 7467 6223 4976 
10890 8712 7260 6534 5445 4356 
(Continued on •page 177.) 
4840 
4148 3565 
3630 3111 2722. 
