1904 
237 
Grafting Grapevines. 
TT. G. D.. Mt. Gilead. 0.— How can I graft 
grapevines? I have a vine of an unde¬ 
sirable variety that I wish to change to 
some better kind. It is a four-year-old 
vine about three-fourths of an inch in di¬ 
ameter at the ground. The main thing 
that I am in doubt about is the time to 
do it, on .account of the “bleeding” of the 
stock when I cut it off in early Spring. . 
Should I wait till later? 
Ans.— One of the very important, 
points in grafting grapes is to do the 
work early. In no case should it he de¬ 
ferred until the stock will “bleed” when 
cut. It should be done as soon as the 
ground can be dug into alter thawing 
out in the Spring. The earth should be 
dug away and the stock laid bare to a 
depth of about six inches, where it 
should be cut off with a knife or saw. 
The common method of cleft-grafting 
will generally prove successful in good 
hands, but a combination of saddle¬ 
grafting and cutting propagation will be 
found to give better results. By this 
plan the top of the stump is trimmed to 
a long slender wedge, point upwards. 
The scion should be about a foot long 
and of good, strong wood. About the 
middle of it make a long, straight up¬ 
ward gash or slip, into which the wedged 
top cf the stock will fit. The butt of 
the scion is then pushed into the ground 
near the stock and the gash fitted over 
the wedge, saddle fashion, so that the 
cambium layers of the two coincide, as 
in any grafting. If the stock is much 
the larger, as is almost sure to be the 
case, the scion must be set on one side 
of the wedge. The advantage of the 
butt extending into the ground is, that 
it absorbs moisture and prevents loss of 
sap until vital union with the stock 
takes place. There is no need of waxing 
the graft, but a ball of soft clay should 
be pressed about it and the whole bank¬ 
ed up with earth nearly to the top bud 
of the scion. h. e. v. d. 
Mixed Seed of Rape. 
F. W. 8., Fnoshurg Falls , IT.—In 1902 I 
sowed some Dwarf Essex rape as an ex¬ 
periment, and it was very satisfactory; 
grew three or more feet high and remained 
green and tender until snow came. I was 
so much pleased with it that I sowed quite 
a patch last season for pig feed and it 
grew only 12 to 15 inches high, turned a 
reddish purple and became so tough and 
woody that the pigs did not relish it. Was 
the fault with the seed or the season? 
The seed was not from the same seedsman, 
and I believe I have seen a warning to 
the effect that seed was sold of poor 
quality or from a poor strain. The soil 
was about the same in each instance. The 
1902 crop was valuable; the 1903 next to 
worthless. What shall I do for 19(11? 
Axs.—I do not see how this can be at¬ 
tributed to anything but the seed. It 
seems to me that it is either a case of 
degenerate seed or of seed of the “Bird 
rape,” commonly cultivated in Europe 
for the production of oil. There is no 
doubt in my mind that rape seed is 
mixed as found in the markets. Last 
season we sowed half an acre of orchard 
with Dwarf Essex for a cover crop. The 
early catch was even and the growth for 
a couple of w'eeks fairly uniform, but 
soon there began to appear plants and 
patches quite “off” in color and size. 
These plants were smaller, less leafy and 
of a deeper purple than the typical 
Dwarf Essex. At the close of the season 
they w r ere not more than half the size of 
the type, and afforded very little cover 
to the soil. I attributed this variation 
to a mixing of seed. What the spurious 
variety w T as, I do not know. It is a fact, 
however, that the varieties of cultivated 
rape intercross, which would plausibly 
account for much variation. It would 
probably be impracticable to separate 
the varieties by seed characters. 
Ithaca, N. Y. joiix cbaig. 
Fitting Onion Ground.— In preparing 
for onions, why not use Clark’s smoothing 
harrow and leveler, alternating every time 
you use the disk harrow'? To mark, get 
a man-power wooden roller, raise on a ful¬ 
crum, anchor handle, mark with chalk 
distance apart for rows and at right angles, 
distance between plants; then nail on to 
roller half-inch rope; roll the ground and 
you have a mark exactly where each plant 
should be placed. H. a, m. 
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
92 StaLte Street 
Boston, Mass. 
900 BUSHELS POTATOES 
FROM THREE ACRES 
A. T. Griffin, Washington Co., Me., writes to the Editor 
of the Bangor Commercial , Bangor, Me., how to grow 
profitable crops of potatoes. He says: 
« Last fall I dug 900 bushels Green Mountain potatoes from three 
acres, planting with 1,400 pounds Bradley high-grade fertilizer to 
the acre without any other manure, and 800 bushels were good 
enough for any market, while 5° bushels of the remaining 100 will 
be all right for seed. I have heard it said that continuous using of 
fertilizer would run a good farm out. y 4 poor fertilizer might,but 
a good fertilizer will never run out a farm , but will fut it in a fine 
state of cultivation. 
“ Good fertilizer and good culture tells the whole story. Luck has 
no part in it. While I harvested 350 bushels this year to the 
acre, I do not consider that a large yield by any means, for there 
have been years in which I have taken from one acre of ground 
450 bushels of large potatoes.” 
WHY EXPERIMENT,WHEN BRADLEY’S FERTILIZERS 
PRODUCE CROPS LIKE THIS ? 
BRADLEY FERTILIZER WORKS 
American Agricultural Chemical Co. 
D||ma| II j j| Many new routes will go in this yean We 
nurdl mall want name and address of every man who 
sends i n a petition. DAY CDCC to first one sending 
"We will send a QUA raLL us full information. 
BOND STEEL POST CO., ADRIAN, MICH. 
■WANS’ AUGER 
For Post Holes, Wei Is, Prospecting for Minerals, etc. 
A man can do thrice the 
work with an “Iwan'* than 
with *nj other. Used by U. 8. Gor% 
Do You Keep Bees? 
'Highest award, World’s 1 
Fair, 1903. 4 to 10 inch *2.50; 
12 inch, *6.00. Sample at 
special price to introduce. Show to your hardware 
dealer or write for particulars. 
Iff AN BROS., DEPT. 4, STREATOR, U.T.. 
Something New 
A cast iron 
I Stone Boat Head; 
more durable than wood. Boat can be 
made by any farmerwithcommonstraight I 
plank and this head will outwear a dozen of 
the "id style. Costa less to make. Send for cata-' 
logue and prices of this and our complete line 
of farm tools. 
ROSS BROTHERS, Worcester, Mass. 
If so, why 
not make 
the Bees 
keep you ? 
The AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL tells HOW. 44th year; weekly; $1.00. Sample 
Copy Free. Experts make their Bees Pay. Read, and be an expert. It’s easy. 
Women succeed, too. “ Sisters ” dept, in Am. Bee Journal. “ Honey as a Health- 
Food ” 16-p. pamphlet for 2c stamp. Tells value of Honey In Cooking and as a 
Remedy. Address, George W. York & Co., 144 Erie St., Chicago, 111. 
Local agencies and complete repair stocks everywhere 
DEERING 
HARVESTERS 
International Harvester Co. of America, Chicago, TJ. S. A. 
