288 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 20 
Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to In¬ 
sure 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 paper.] 
Feeding Peach Trees. 
S. D., Greene Co., N. 7.—Will you tell me 
how to fertilize my peach orchard to get 
the most money from this year's crop, 
without regard to the future of the trees? 
Soil is dry and gravelly and rather poor. 
Ans. —Nitrate of soda is the best whip 
to force the last bushel out of poor soil. 
Tenant farmers on the last year of their 
lease have been known to use nitrate 
alone and thus obtain a good crop, 
though they left the soil nearly exhaust¬ 
ed. You can use 300 pounds or more per 
acre of nitrate and force those trees to 
do their best, but if you use it alone you 
are likely to hurt them. 
Fighting the Plum Curculio. 
P. P. W., Chester Valley, Pa.—Have any of 
the readers of The R. N.-Y. had any ex¬ 
perience In destroying the Plum curculio 
with a solution of gas tar and water? I 
see it recommended. 
Ans. —The notion that the Plum cur¬ 
culio can be kept away by bad-smelling 
applications is an old one, and various 
substances have been tested, but with 
uniformly negative results. The amount 
of gas tar that one would care to apply 
on foliage and young fruits would not 
deter the curculios from stinging the 
fruits for half a day, we believe. The 
tar would act only as a repellant, for it 
would not be safe to apply enough to 
kill the beetles. We do not believe it 
would give results sufficient to pay for 
the application. m. v. s. 
Phosphate in Place of Plaster. 
S. D., Oak Hill, N. Y.—l find acid phos¬ 
phate much better than plaster to use in 
stables, so far as saving ammonia Is con¬ 
cerned, but is there not danger of injury 
to animals’ feet from the acid? 
Ans. —We know of several farmers 
who use acid phosphate in this way. It 
gives good satisfaction. When used be¬ 
hind the stock and in the manure in 
reasonable quantities no trouble is re¬ 
ported. There is a waste product in the 
manufacture of phosphorus that is used 
by some dairymen. It is a sulphate of 
lime containing a small amount of phos¬ 
phoric acid. This answers all the pur¬ 
poses for which plaster is used. It is a 
dirty brown in color and not so neat as 
the white plaster, but otherwise just as 
good. In some cases the raw ground 
phosphate rock or “floats” is used. 
Store for Heating Greenhouses. 
A. M. 4., Point Breeze, N. Y.—I am think¬ 
ing of building a small greenhouse for 
growing cucumbers and early vegetable 
plants. I would not care to start it up 
until about March 1. Would it be practi¬ 
cable to heat it with an ordinary coal 
heating stove by having the stove at one 
end and run the pipe across to the other 
end as low down as possible, having the 
beds for the plants on the ground? 1 
intend building a house about 10x25 feet. 
Ans. —It is entirely possible to heat 
a greenhouse of the above dimensions 
by means of a coal stove at one end, 
with piping carried through the length 
of the house at a sufficient incline to se¬ 
cure a fair draft, for the few weeks of 
cold weather following the beginning of 
March. The main requisite is to prevent 
injury from escaping gas; therefore the 
stove should be a good one, and the pipe 
joints close-fitting. The pipe should be 
carried three or four feet above the 
ridge after it emerges from the building, 
and have as few angles as possible. 
IVhat Blistered the Trees ? 
F. P. M., Buffalo Gap, Va.—I have an 
apple orchard of 425 trees, which I pur¬ 
chased from an Ohio nursery company: 200 
I set last Fall and 225 the Spring before. 
Out of that number I have lost 50 trees. 
The 60 trees which died had large black 
blisters on them which looked as though 
they were burned with Are, or as though 
they had been standing close to fire and 
been blistered: and In looking over them 
this Spring I find some more with blisters 
on them.. Will you tell me what is the 
matter with these trees, and a remedy? 
Ans. —What is the real cause of the 
blistered appearance I am unable to say 
positively, but it may be that the trees 
had been taken up for sale and lined out 
in nursery rows when they were left 
over unsold, which might have had such 
an effect, if they were rather carelessly 
replanted. Or, it may be that some 
scale insect is working on them. It 
would be well to send specimens to the 
State Experiment Station at Blacks- 
burgh, Va., which might enable the 
scientists there to determine the cause 
of the trouble. Good cultivation may be 
all that is necessary to do and that is 
needful in any case. h. e. van deman. 
Apples for Rhode Island. 
L. J. W., Summit, R. /.—Which are the best 
apples for market in Rhode Island? There 
are two distinct soils suitable for apple 
raising in Rhode Island; one is heavy 
black loam, underlaid with blue hardpan, 
on which apples do well if the land has a 
good slope. The other is a stony, gravelly 
formation with sandy subsoil, land which 
in any of the newer sections of the coun¬ 
try would not be considered worth culti¬ 
vating, and yet oak and chestnut make 
a rapid growth on it and make timber of 
the very hardest, toughest and best quality. 
Winter apples are likely to fall from the 
trees early on such land, but 1 think spray¬ 
ing will help that. How about planting 
Rome Beauty, York Imperial, Jonathan, 
Fameuse, Stayman, Wagener and Grimes? 
Red Astrachan pays me well. Will Yellow 
Transparent come earlier or pay better? 
Everybody around here says Baldwin, 
Baldwin, nothing but Baldwin, but I see 
other apples bringing better prices In the 
city. The question is, will it pay to raise 
apples of higher quality and spray and 
take the necessary care, or will it pay 
better to take the same care of Baldwins, 
and by raising a fancy quality, try to get 
fancy prices for them? 
Ans. —I would say that both plans sug¬ 
gested as to varieties to plant would be 
better to follow than either one to the 
exclusion of the other. Baldwin is a 
good apple for the region of Rhode isl¬ 
and, and will be popular for many years 
to come, and it will doubtless pay to 
plant it, thin the fruit when it over¬ 
bears, spray thoroughly and thus grow 
the very best of that variety. But there 
are apples of better quality that will 
grow and bear well in Rhode Island. All 
the late varieties mentioned are prob¬ 
ably of this character. Stayman and 
Jonathan are less likely than the others 
to attain proper development. Grimes 
and Rome Beauty would be my choice 
for an extensive trial; and especially 
Grimes, because of its extremely high 
quality and rich color. It will bear regu¬ 
larly and heavily enough. Among the 
early kinds Yellow Transparent is one 
of the most precocious. I have known 
it to bear a peck to the tree when only 
set three years. In this respect it is 
far ahead of Red Astrachan. The grav¬ 
elly soil is perhaps better than the 
tough clay for apples, but it is harder 
to cultivate, because of the stones it 
contains. h. e. van de.man. 
A List of Apples. 
W. M. S., Clintonville, Conn.—I intend to 
set out an orchard, this Spring, of about 
100 apple trees. I am situated about eight 
miles from salt water. How about the 
Stayman, Sutton and Esopus, (Spitzen- 
burg), here in southern Connecticut? Are 
you acquainted with the following apples; 
if so, which would you set out? McIntosh, 
Walter Pease, Fameuse, Wealthy, Wolf 
River, Walbridge, Sutton, Tompkins King, 
R. I. Greening, Pound Sweet, Roxbury 
Russet, Baldwin. 
Ans. —For market purposes the list 
given is much too long, and some of the 
varieties are, in my opinion, of indiffer¬ 
ent value. Stayman is not probably 
suitable so far north as anywhere in 
Connecticut. McIntosh is an apple of 
bright red color and quite good quality. 
WRITE FOR OUR 
We have just issued the best book ever published on 
Windmills. It is a 40-page book, with 125 pictures, 
written by the man who knows more than anyone else 
about Windmills. This man tells, in an interesting 
way, of the 5,000 experiments made in developing the 
wind wheel, and the results of them. He tells the vital 
facts that you should know before buying. You cannot 
buy a Windmill wisely before you read this book. 
Please write for it. 
THE HISTORY OF AERIMOTORS 
« 
« 
4 
4 
4 
$ 
4 
WINDMILL BOOKS 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
The writer of this book is the maker of Aermotors. He 
tells you how he started 12 years ago by spending a fortune 
in experiments. He tells how he eventually made a wind 
wheel that is perfect; a wheel that gets power from a 
zephyr; that works when all other wind wheels stand still. 
He tells how he developed the modern windmill. How he A 
invented the Aermotor features, now covered by 55 patents. V 
How he originated steel towers, and how he perfected A 
them. How he devised the labor-saving machinery that V 
makes Aermotors cheaply; that makes them cost less A 
than any other windmills worth having. V 
He tells how in 12 years he has dotted the earth with Aermo¬ 
tors. How he entered a field overcrowded with rich makers and 
captured over half the world’s trade by making a windmill with 
which no one could compete. It is an interesting tale, and honest. 
No man who reads it will buy any windmill but an Aermotor. And 
a man who buys without reading it is unfair to himself. A postal 
card will bring it. 
150 STYLES OF PUMPS 
We have also a book about Pumps. It tells about the best 
Pumps, and the cheapest Pumps, ever made by anybody. It tells 
how we have reduced the cost of Pumps to one-third the old prices. 
No other maker of Pumps can compete with us. 
It pictures and tells about 150 styles and sizes of Pumps. 
About Lift, Suction or Force Pumps, Three-way and Pitcher 
Pumps, Irrigation and Siphon Pumps, Stuffing Boxes and Work¬ 
ing lleads. It includes every kind and style of a Pump, for hand 
or windmill use. It tells, too, why the Aermotor Interchangeable 
Pumps are in every respect the most desirable. Please write for it. 
AERMOTOR 00 .^ 1206 TWELFTH ST., CHICAGO 
Write us for Windmill Book, Pump Book, or both. 
