7o8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 30 
HORTICULTURE FOR THE CHILDREN. 
ABOUT NUTS AND NUTTING TIME. 
PABT I. 
The most delightful of my childish recollections 
are about the joyful days, or pieces of days, we spent 
in the woods stirring the leaves in eagerness to find 
the nuts that had hulled out in falling, and gathering 
and hulling the others. I can hear the rustle of those 
leaves yet, and shall cherish the memory of those 
gladsome times when I may not be able to leave my 
chair for old age, or upon my dying bed Oh ! the 
enchanting grandeur of the wooded hills, all aglow 
with yellow, pink and crimson, with purple and 
brown in all their endless variations ; how they charm 
us ! Who would exchange the delights of the country 
for those of the town or city ? Not I, and I hope not 
you, boys and girls. 
Now that the autumn is really here, and the nuts 
are falling, it is time to be scouring the woods. We 
must know in time where the best nut trees are, to 
whom they belong, and if possible, get the consent 
of the owners to gather the nuts. Perhaps there are 
plenty of nut trees or bushes on the home farm ; if 
so, offer to share the picking with some less fortunate 
boys or girls. Get up little nutting parties, and entice 
the fathers and mothers to go along, and have picnic 
dinners in the woods. They will be children again 
for awhile, mayhap. We older folks are nothing but 
big children, in one sense At least, I enjoy such 
rustic pleasures as much now as when a boy of 10, 
although I cannot so easily climb the tall hickories as 
1 used to do, and make the nuts rattle down like hail. 
I wonder how many children can 
name all the kinds of nuts that grow 
in North America ! I’m going to let 
you study up for a week or two and 
write down the names, both common 
and scientific, as far as you can, and 
then compare noteB with the follow¬ 
ing articles, and see how near you are 
right. Perhaps it might be interesting 
to have your school teachers have 
a sort of field day—a nutting day once 
in a while, and mix work and play ; 
and see how much can be learned from 
the study of nature. I’il venture that 
there are very few school teachers, 
even among the college graduates, 
who can give the common names of all 
the native and cultivated nuts grow¬ 
ing in this country. Suppose all of 
you ask your teachers to arrange for 
a friendly contest,as to who can cor¬ 
rectly name the most of our American 
nuts, and come the nearest to telling 
where they grow. Essays read at 
school on one or more of the nuts, 
including their geographical distribu¬ 
tion, uses, value, varieties, etc., might 
be helpful in many ways. And, I want 
to ask the children to hunt out the 
biggest or the best nuts of all kinds 
that you can find, and send specimens 
to The R. N.-Y., and we will look them 
over and, may be, illustrate some of 
the choicest. This may lead to the 
introduction of some new and very valuable varie¬ 
ties. It tabes the children and the squirrels to 
find the best nuts, A little later, we will talk about 
and briefly describe all the principal species of nuts 
that are growing wild or cultivated in this country. 
But I. want you first to see how much you can learn 
without such help. 
Although the chestnut is a familiar tree to many 
people, old and young, yet it is new to some and 
pleasing to all. A view of one which stands near 
New Britain, Conn., taken when in bloom, is shown 
at Fig. 298, as a mere prelude to the subject It is 
easy.for those who have gathered chestnuts under 
such broad, spreading trees to imagine the wealth of 
nuts that it could produce. h e van deman. 
STRAWBERRIES UNDER GLASS. 
GETTING READY FOR THE WINTER SEASON. 
Last winter, The R. N.-Y. described a strawberry 
grower’s greenhouses at picking time, when the mid¬ 
winter crop was at its best. All summer, the houses 
have been open and vacant, until prepared in Sep¬ 
tember for the first planting. The soil—a depth of 
about five inches upon the benches—is from a com¬ 
post heap where sods and manure have been stacked 
together, just as florists prepare it for roses or carna¬ 
tions ; it is well pulverized when put into the benches, 
but no other fertilizer is added. The young plants 
are grown in the field, treated as for ordinary fall 
planting. 
The first planting is done in September, these 
plants being intended to produce the earliest crop. 
Heat is not given to these houses, however, until 
November. The plants are six to eight inches apart. 
Plants for the second crop are planted in the houses 
in the middle of October, these plants having been 
touched by frost. At the time when the first plant¬ 
ing is made in the greenhouse, young plants are, also, 
put into cold frames. These are lifted carefully, and 
put quite close together, then covered with hay, but 
left without sashes. If covered with sashes, the 
plants would be hastened into bloom, and as these 
frame plants are intended for a second planting in 
the houses, this would be very undesirable. 
When the first crop of fruit (from the September 
planting) is over, the plants are rooted out, and fresh 
ones, from the frames, are substituted. Before this 
transplanting, the covering of hay is removed, and 
sashes put on, for the purpose of thawing out the 
ground sufficiently for safe transplanting. The plants 
set in October, which produce the second crop of 
fruit, are treated like the first, being removed as soon 
as the crop is past, their place being filled by plants 
from the frame. 
The greatest enemy from which the strawberry 
plants suffer when under glass is Red spider, and this 
is likely to appear, in spite of all precautions. Hard 
syringing directed to the under side of the leaves is 
the only remedy or preventive, and this must be at¬ 
tended to daily. Fog or continued dull weather is 
justly dreaded by the strawberry grower, as under 
such circumstances, the fruit does not set, and mildew 
appears. Artificial heat cannot offset the absence of 
sun ; m addition to this, extra hard firing is an invita¬ 
tion to Red spider under these unfavorable conditions. 
No mulch is used on the benches, but frequent 
stirring of the surface is resorted to ; this prevents 
the growth of green mold, a condition favorable to 
mildew. As described in The R. N.-Y. last winter, 
the clusters of fruit are held up from the soil by a 
little crotched stick, this work being constantly at¬ 
tended to from the time the fruit begins to set. Gath¬ 
ering the first crop usually begins near the middle 
of December; last year, the first berries were mar¬ 
keted December 18. The production at this time is 
small, and so is the demand ; a large crop could not 
bo sold profitably at this season. The fruit is very 
handsome and high-flavored, the early southern ber¬ 
ries being quite unable to compete with it in quality. 
The firm at Hackensack, N. J., which has grown this 
fruit successfully for so many years, does not force 
any strawberries in pots, considering that this 
process involves too much trouble to pay commer¬ 
cially. They d o not grow any crop under glass except 
strawberries, as the second planting prevents the 
houses from being vacant during the forcing season. 
E T R. 
Bordeaux Mixture for Black Knot. —Two years 
ago, I found two good sized specimens of knot on my 
Japan plum trees, where it was impossible to cut the 
limb without destroying the tree. With a draw shave, 
I cut out all the knot I could, making a wound two 
inches wide and six inches long. With some settlings 
of Bordeaux Mixture, about as thick as paint, I cov¬ 
ered the wound, and have seen no Black knot since. 
This is very simple, and seems to be effective, 
c. E, qLAR^. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. 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 paner.1 
A Skimming Station for a Creamery. 
W. H. 0., Clyde , iV. J".—In establishing a skimming station to 
supply a cooperative creamery, what is the usual way of paying 
for the apparatus? What is the best power? How does this 
compare with cream gathering? 
Ans. —The usual plan in building and equipping a 
skimming station for a cooperative creamery is for 
the patrons of the skimming station to subscribe a 
sufficient amount of 'Stock to the cooperative cream¬ 
ery company to put up a skimming station plant and 
equip it, this stock being all in the same company, 
and the skimming station, as well as the main cream¬ 
ery, being owned by one company. The expenses of 
the main plant and skimming station are deducted 
alike from all of the patrons. Some creameries keep 
the expenses of the skimming station separate and 
deduct this from the payment to the patrons, also the 
cost of churning and marketing the butter from the 
main creamery. Other creameries charge the patrons 
of the skimming stations the same price for making 
as they do those of the main creamery. In addition 
to this they charge the patrons of the skimming 
station with the cost of hauling the cream from the 
skimming station to the main creamery. 
The most satisfactory power for operating a skim¬ 
ming station for 100 cows would, probably, be a one- 
horse tread power, which could be used to drive a 
small separator having a capacity of 
about 700 pounds of milk per hour. 
Or if the farmers wish to get through 
with the separation sooner, a larger 
separator could be used and a small 
engine. Some creameries, that operate 
their skimming stations with the least 
expense, send a man every day to run 
the skimming station. He uses the 
horse that he drives out with on the 
power to separate the cream, then 
carries the cream back with him to 
the main creamery. In this manner, 
one man with a horse will operate 
the skimming station and haul the 
cream back to the creamery. Skim¬ 
ming stations having a capacity of 
150 to 200 cows should use a steam 
boiler for furnishing power to operate 
the separator. This steam power 
would also heat the milk before it is 
run through the separator. 
The most popular plan, however, 
for reaching patrons who are a con¬ 
siderable distance from the main 
creamery is what is known as the 
cream-gathering plan, each patron 
purchasing a small or dairy size sep¬ 
arator and separating the milk in 
his machine; then a cream gatherer 
takes the cream from all the different 
patrons and hauls it to the creamery. 
This plan has the advantage of leav¬ 
ing skim-milk on the farm sweet, 
warm and fresh and ready for feeding ; also saves 
the cost of transportation to the skimming station 
and back, the actual expense being only the haul¬ 
ing of the cream from the farmer’s to the main 
creamery for churning. Quite a number of creameries 
in Vermont are being operated by receiving the 
cream separated on the farm by the use of hand sepa¬ 
rators, a small portion of their product being from 
the separator in the main creamery. This plan is 
growing and becoming very popular. 
Keeping Hunters Off the Farm. 
E. L. M., Curlisville, Mass .—What is the best way to keep hunt¬ 
ers from a man’s farm ? What is the law to protect a farmer? 
Ans —A law, passed in 1884, reads as follows : “ An 
act to protect game, and to protect private lands from 
trespass. Be it enacted, etc., as follows : Section 1. 
Whenever the owner of any land shall conspicuously 
post on the same, notices that shooting or trapping is 
prohibited thereon, it shall be unlawful for any per¬ 
son to enter upon such land for the purpose of shoot¬ 
ing or trapping, without permission of the owner 
thereof. Section 2. Game artificially propagated and 
maintained upon lands, posted as above, shall be the 
exclusive property of the person propagating and 
maintaining the same, but such person shall not sell 
such game for food at seasons when its capture is 
prohibited by law. Section 3. Whoever offends 
against any of the provisions of this act shall be 
punished by fine not exceeding $ 10. Approved June 
2, 1884.” 
At the Connecticut Board of Agriculture meetings, 
I have heard considerable complaint that such a law 
is ineffective because it is not easy to identify tres- 
A CHESTNUT TREE IN A ROCKY CONNECTICUT PASTURE. Fig. 298. 
