1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
249 
Conditions for Broom Corn. 
J. E. L., Neuj York.—What Is the proper 
time to sow broom corn, and how much 
seed does it reauire per acre? 
—The time for planting varies in 
different parts of the country, according 
to latitude, season and soil conditions. 
The only general rule that can be given 
is to wait until the ground is thoroughly 
warmed, so that the seed will germinate 
and grow at once. Otherwise it is liable 
to rot in the ground; also, the young 
plant is so weak that it will not amount 
to anything if made to fight its way the 
cold nights of Spring. In the Northern 
States it is the custom to plant any time 
from the middle of May to June 10. 
When put in with the planter, if the 
seed does not contain too much chaff 
and imperfect stuff, not far from two 
quarts per acre will be sufficient. Good 
land, like the deep soils of the West and 
the river bottoms in the Eastern States, 
and thorough cultivation are necessary. 
Sca/e Spraying Questions. 
G. E. TF., Goshen, Pa.—What will kill 
Oyster shell scale on rose bushes without 
hurting the plants? What proportion 
should crude petroleum and whale-oil soap 
(Good’s No. 3) be mixed for San Jos6 scale, 
and does the mixture hurt the foliage? 
Ans.—^W hale-oil soap, one pound to 
the gallon of water, will destroy Oys¬ 
ter-shell scale on any plant without 
seriously injuring the foliage, but it is 
best u§ed in the above strength when 
the bushes are in a dormant condition. 
A solution of two to six ounces to the 
gallon is safe to use at any time, and 
proves quite effective against soft-bodied 
insects, but will not always kill the hard 
scales. When spraying for San Josd 
scale about 25 per cent (one quart to the 
gallon) should be used to each gallon of 
whale-oil soap solution, made with one 
pound of soap to the gallon. This is 
quite certain death to every scale it 
touches, but is more or less injurious to 
the foliage. It is best applied before 
the buds start in the Spring. If the pro¬ 
portion of petroleum is reduced to 10 
per cent (about 12 ounces) to the gallon 
of soap solution less damage will be 
done to the foliage. 
Spraying, Blight, Bulbs. 
.1. a. (No Address). —1. In Hope Farm 
Notes you talk of spraying all trees as a 
preventive against scale. J. B. Smith, In 
an earlier issue, said only spray those 
trees on which the scale actually Is. Which 
is the right thing to do? 2. What insect 
is it that destroys the bloom on dwarf 
pears? When bloom is opening, a kind of 
gummy substance seems to infest it, giv¬ 
ing it a brownish appearance, not unlike 
tobacco liquid. What will prevent this? 
3. What Is the proper treatment to give 
the following bulbs after flowering: Nar¬ 
cissus, hyacinths, tulips, Freesias, Easter 
lilies? Are they all good for another year? 
Ans. —1. As all the oily sprays strong 
enough to kill the Pernicious scale are 
more or less dangerous to the trees, it 
seems best to use the stronger solutions 
or the crude oils only on the trees actu¬ 
ally infested, and a less severe applica¬ 
tion as a preventive. Whale-oil soap, 
two pounds to the gallon of water, an¬ 
swers very well for the latter, but its 
effects are not very permanent. 2. The 
affection of pear blooms described seems 
to indicate that the opening flowers had 
been visited by bees or insects carrying 
germs of the Pear-blight fungus. In 
that case more or less twig blight would 
follow. The only remedy would be to 
cut out and burn every blighted branch 
in the neighborhood before the blooms 
open in the Spring. Bees work on the 
sweet gummy exudate at the junction of 
a blighted branch with sound wood in 
the early Spring, and thus become in¬ 
fected. They spread the disease by visit¬ 
ing blooms on other trees. 3. The bulbs 
named should be permitted to grow on 
naturally after blooming until the foli¬ 
age turns yellow or begins to die down, 
and then allowed to dry up gradually. 
They may then be laid away in a cool, 
airy place until Pall, except the lily. 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.—.Adv. 
which may be planted in the garden, 
covering five or six inches deep. If found 
again some of the bulbs may bloom, but 
will be found much inferior to the first 
season. As a general rule it is best to 
throw them away after the first bloom. 
Tomatoes for a Cannery. 
TF. T., Whitesburg, Tenn .—What varieties 
of tomatoes are best for growing for can¬ 
nery? What is best fertilizer for toma¬ 
toes? Our soil is loamy chestnut land, clay 
subsoil, well drained, produces about 30 
to 40 bushels of corn to acre. Would H 
pay to buy the ingredients and mix our 
own fertilizer, and where can we buy the 
same cheapest? How many pounds would 
you recommend us to use per acre on 
above soil? Is nitrate of soda good for 
tomatoes? 
Ans. —Large, bright red tomatoes like 
Stone and Paragon are generally pre¬ 
ferred by canners, and are grown al¬ 
most to the exclusion of other types. 
There is some saving in buying 
chemicals separately and mixing them 
as used, but it is best to try this method 
in a cautious manner until experience 
is gained. At first it will be more satis¬ 
factory to buy complete mixed fertil¬ 
izers from the nearest reliable dealer. A 
high-grade vegetable fertilizer contain¬ 
ing three or four per cent of nitrogen, 
eight of potash and 10 of phosphoric 
acid, 1,000 pounds per acre, would not 
be too much for best results if applied 
broadcast. Nitrate of soda is of benefit 
in giving the plants a good start after 
they recover from setting. A small 
handful is sprinkled on the soil several 
inches from the stem, and hoed or cul¬ 
tivated in. Two applications may be 
made at intervals of three weeks or 
more, applying first to one side of the 
plant and then the other. If good stable 
manure can be had an application of 12 
to 20 tons per acre well worked in should 
insure a good crop. If less manure is 
used it may be placed in the hill before 
setting plants. 
Stone or THe Drains. 
•/. O. B., Millershvrg, 0 .—Can a stone drain 
be made to work successfully? The cir¬ 
cumstances are about as follows: The 
main would have to be five inches in diam¬ 
eter; laterals about three or four Inches. 
I have plenty of a species of flagstone on 
the place, which can be split and broken to 
almost a uniform size. I should have to 
pay at the rate of 80 cents per 100 feet for 
three-inch tile, larger tile in proportion, 
and would have to haul it seven miles 
Labor of building the drain Is not consid¬ 
ered. Would there have to be stone in 
the bottom? Would there be danger of 
crawfish working dirt up from below, as 
it would be Impossible to make it crawfish- 
tight? 
Ans.—A stone drain can be made to 
work successfully. We have construct¬ 
ed stone drains in Michigan, and they 
have for the past 10 or 12 years been do¬ 
ing satisfactory work. We have also 
had experience with drains laid with 
brick. While it is possible to make a 
successful drain by using stone, yet it 
is by no means certain that success will 
follow. Underdrainage should be looked 
upon as a permanent improvement, and 
when a drain is once laid it should for¬ 
ever after do satisfactory work. While 
perfection cannot be attained, no mat¬ 
ter what is used, yet the nearest we can 
come to it the better. The greatest item 
of expense in underdrainage of farm 
lands is in constructing and laying the 
drain, and it is far more expensive to 
make the drain large enough, so that 
stone can be used, than to open it for 
tile. We believe that tile should be used 
instead of stone. One of the hardest 
jobs we ever tackled was opening up a 
ditch where brick had been used in¬ 
stead of tile. The brick had become dis¬ 
placed, and it was necessary to take up 
about one-half mile of the drain before 
it could be put into working order. The 
expense of opening up this drain was as 
much as the tile would have cost origin¬ 
ally. If you can purchase three-inch tile 
for ?8 per 1,000 it will, in the end, pay 
you far better to do so than to use stone 
jn the drain. If, however, you desire 
to use the flat stones, they would better 
be laid in close to each other and placed 
upon edge. This will prevent the stones 
from being displaced by the pressure of 
the earth when the drain is filled. The 
water will percolate through the crev¬ 
ices between the stones, and where the 
amount of water to be removed is not 
great this plan will prove fairly success¬ 
ful. But it is not to be recommended in 
place of the tile drain. Do away as far 
as possible with the main drains, and 
use parallel laterals, tile being about 
three inches in diameter. The main 
drain is usually unnecessary, and acts 
only as a conduit and not as a drain. 
L. A. c. 
Potato Bug 
is getting to tried on 
h"e^ become pretty ^nearly 
»7oison-proof,” but Bowker s 
** 
“BOXAL* 
WILL KILL HIM 
and at the sanw Ume s,^\hus 
of vines and rot o^^ 
serving showing the truth 
many Kstim j insecticides 
ofthisinour cata og 
which also ^ots and plant 
of inJnrioPS ‘‘if® to ^ght them. 
diseases, and Ask for 
write .o.4.y. 
SPRAYING FRUIT TREES. 
The question of spraying fruit trees to prevent 
the depredations of Insect pests and fungous dis¬ 
eases is no longer an experiment but a necessity. 
Our readers will do well to write Wm. Stahl, 
Quincy, Ill , and get his catalogue describing 
2i styles of Spraying Outfits and full treatise 
on spraying the different fruit and vegetable 
crops, which contains much vaiuable informa¬ 
tion, and may be had for the asking. 
A Drj Sprajer 
No Water or Plaster. 
BUSTS TREE, BUSH 
OR VINE. 
Two rows ofpotatoes as 
fast as you walk,wide or 
narrow plantlng-Agenl s 
wanted. CataloKue and 
spray calendar free. 
Leggett & B other, 
301 Pearl St.. New Fork. 
SPRAY 
.iiftTEMPIRE-KINff 
H. 
WIEU) KNiU>5ACK 
and bugs, worms, blight, etc., 
willhavenoterrorsforyoii. Best construction, per- 
fectagltators.no scorched foliage. We make al 1 sizes 
and styles. Free Book on Spraying. Agents wanted. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO., 2Market St., Lockport, N. Y. 
ALL BRASS. 
*$17 outfit for $7.00, express paid. 
Wlllspraj a lo acre orchard per day. 100,000 in i 
Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. I 
catalogue free, Agts. make from $5 to $16 per ( 
Mew Improvementa, FreeTrial. Mention this pat 
J. E. GAYIiORD Successor to P. C. Lewis M 
Co., CATSKILL, N. Y. 
To produce the best results 
in fruit, vegetable or grain, the 
fertilizer used must contain 
enough Potash. For partic¬ 
ulars see our pamphlets. We 
send them free. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, 
93 Nassau St., New York. 
Tomatoes, 
Cucumbers and Cabbages 
should be forced nipidly during their 
early periods of growtli by a liberaluse of 
Nitrate of Sotfam 
When judiciously applied, these crops 
will be ready for market two weeks or 
more ahead of those not properly 
treated. The best results of JS'itrateof 
Soda aro obtained when used in combin¬ 
ation with phosphates and pota.sb salts. 
For particulars and for Ust of dealers 
address .folia A. Myers, 120 Jolm 
St., New York City. No expense to you. 
PARACRENE 
Is better, cheaper and bulkier than PARIS GREEN. 
“Have used Paragrene on my farm for potato 
bugs. It was perfectly satisfactory. L.H. BAILEY, 
F’rot. of Horticulture, Cornell University.” Write 
for sample. FRED. E. LA VAN BURG. New York 
with onr new patent 
Kerosene Sprayers^ 
^ ia simple indeed. Kerosene emulsioa 
made while pumping. 12 varieties 
sprayers, Bordeaux and Vermorel , 
Nozzles, the ‘MVorld’s Best.” 
THE DEMINQ CO., SALEM, 0. 
Western Agents, Hennion dc HubbelL 
Chicago. Catalogue and formulas free. 
Buy a Good 
Spray 
Pump 
—d o n ’ t experiment— 
costs money. We have done 
the experimenting—used the 
common spray pumps In our 
own orchards, noted their 
defects — then invented the 
ECLIPSE. You get the bene¬ 
fit of our experience free. 
Send at once for catalogue. 
MORRILL & MORLEY, Benton Harbor, Mich. 
TWENTY-SEVEN 
Strawberry Basket 
and Fruit Package 
manufacturers de¬ 
pend on us to sell 
their output. Now 
is the time for you 
to place your orders 
to save money. 
Fruit and Farm Baskets ourSpecialty 
Send for new 1901 Catalogue. Established 1884. 
COLES & COMPANY, 
109 & 111 Warren St., New York. 
FERTILIZERS —From Factory to Farm.l 
WE SELL YOU DIHCCTi NO AGENT’S PROFIT. NO SALESMAN'S EXPENSES. 
WRITE FOR POCKET MEMORANDUM BOOK, PRICES and SAMPLES. 
THE SCIENTIFIC FERTILIZER COMPANY, 
__ P. O. BOX 1017, PITTSBURG, PA. 
