342 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Rurallsms 
MOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Fifiii-Oii, Soap. —Much Ls now being 
v/ritten about this odoriferous com¬ 
pound. While it has been known and 
used by professional gardeners for gen¬ 
erations, it is only within the past few 
years tnat it has assumed first import¬ 
ance as a practical insecticide for the 
ordinary trucker and fruit grower. Un¬ 
der the name of whale-oil soap, various 
preparations of gi-eater oi- less eflicacy 
have long been offeretl by dealei-s at a 
comparatively high price. Possibly ac¬ 
tual whale oil was used in making the 
early soaps, but those now offered are 
composed of ordinary fish oil, pressed 
from the mossbunkers and menhaden, 
so plentifully taken along our coasts, 
combined with an alkali. When soda is 
used the result is a tough, leathery soap 
often difficult to dissolve and keep in 
solution. It handles well, however, and 
is the kind mostly kept in stock by deal¬ 
ers in horticultural supplies. When pot¬ 
ash is employed as a base a jelly-like 
“soft soap’’ is formed, retaining about 
2o per cent of water in combination. The 
potash fish-oil soap is quickly and com¬ 
pletely soluble in hot water, and does 
not separate on standing, though solu¬ 
tions weaker than one or two pounds to 
the gallon may decompose in warm wea¬ 
ther if kept too long. We have tried 
both kinds, and find the potash soap far 
more effective and pleasanter to use. It 
appears to be more searching in its ef¬ 
fects on vegetable and animal life than 
the soda preparation, and the propor¬ 
tions recommended for use on green¬ 
house and tender plants—two ounces or 
more to the gallon of water—are quite 
too strong for best results. We find 
one-half ounce to the gallon sufficient 
for green fly or aphis, one ounce for 
Mealy bugs and soft-bodied insects, and 
two ounces for most glasshouse scales, 
dissolving the given quantities in all 
cases in a gallon of water. Used in 
these strengths very little damage to 
tender young plants is caused. When 
stales or stubborn pests affect palms 
and other hard-leaved plants solutions 
as strong as eight ounces to the gallon 
may safely be used. For use outside the 
soap strengths should be at least dou¬ 
bled for the same class of pests. We 
strike a tough customer, however, in the 
Pernicious or San Jose scale. He is 
sealed so tightly in his scaly shelter 
when dormant that a two-pound-to-the- 
gallon solution is needed to overcome 
him. A solution of this strength is quite 
thick when cold, and must be used warm 
or it will not go through a spray nozzle. 
It may be safely applied to all dormant 
deciduous trees or shrubs, and is fairly 
effective, but experience shows that it 
seldom kills all the scales, even when 
very thoroughly applied, but greatly re¬ 
tards their spread. Crude petroleum 
must take precedence of all soap solu¬ 
tions as regards efficiency in killing re¬ 
sistant scales and other insects, but it 
often injuriously affects young trees, 
and sometimes kills them outright. Its 
use is necessarily limited to dormant 
trees in Winter and early Spring; as 
Summer applications pure or in the form 
of emulsions have often injured the fo¬ 
liage considerabiy. Fish-oil soap, up to 
four ounces to the gallon, may be spray¬ 
ed all over the trees whenever the lai vee 
of the scale is obsei ved during the grow¬ 
ing season, but all stronger solutions 
should first be tried on a single limb of 
the trees needing ti-eatment. Any in¬ 
jury to the foliage will be apparent in a 
few days, and the solution weakened ac- 
coidingly by the addition of more water. 
The claim is made that potash fish-oil 
soap, as now made, is a good fertilizer 
for many plants on account of the con¬ 
tained potash, which, we have been in¬ 
formed, amounts to a very substantial 
percentage of the product, and the pres¬ 
ence of some nitrogen due to organic im¬ 
purities in the cheap grades of oil used 
for the purpose. This is quite conceiv¬ 
able, and our own experiments show 
that weak, solutions applied to the soil 
al)OUt tender plants rather stimulate 
than retard their growth. The most im¬ 
portant use for fish-oil soap, apart from 
its employment in fighting Pernicious 
scale, is as an effective application for 
the very destructive new Pea louse. 
Hundreds of barrels of this soap were 
used last year in New Jersey alone, gen¬ 
erally with profitable results. The best 
potash fish-oil soap we have yet tried is 
made by James Goo(i, Philadelphia, Pa. 
The price for the pure soap ranges from 
four to five cents a pound, according to 
quantity purchased. A combination is 
also made with tobacco extract, which 
is especially useful for aphides, but the 
cost is somewhat greater. The com¬ 
pound Sprayall soap, made by Leggett 
Bro., New York, is also very efficient 
and safe to use. It appears to have an¬ 
tiseptic as well as insecticidal properties 
and its aromatic odor renders it less dis¬ 
agreeable to handle than some others. 
A foreign soap preparation called Black 
Insecticide soap is strongly recommend¬ 
ed by the highest European authorities 
and is now offered in our markets. We 
have not yet tried it. 
The Bakhekton Daisy. —A new plant 
of great interest and prospective decora¬ 
tive value has been recently brought 
from the Transvaal. It is a somewhat 
tender perennial, requiring good Winter 
protection, and produces great numbers 
of very large daisy-like flowers, on long 
stems. The color is almost pure bright 
red, a very rare shade in the family of 
Composite, to which it belongs. The 
botanical name is Gerbera Jamesoni, 
luit Barberton daisy has been proposed 
for popular use, as it is found near that 
South African town. Some plants grow¬ 
ing in the Riverton, N. J., nursery of 
Henry A. Dreer were very handsome 
last Fall, and it has since been success¬ 
fully bloomed under glass in Winter, li 
is a handsome and striking flower, and 
the cultivation appears not difficult. 
The A(i<:i{F;ssi ve Stau of Betui.e- 
IIKM.— The hardy little Star of Bethle¬ 
hem, Oruithogalum umbellatum, has be¬ 
come firmly naturalized in moist and 
shady places near the Rural Grounds, 
and even creeps into the fields and ousts 
the early grasses. One woodland glade 
is so entirely carpeted with its vigorous 
foliage at this season that it appears a 
perfect sea of green, in pleasant contrast 
to the fields, which are still quite brown 
at this writing. So thickly have the 
bulbs developed in the course of years 
that thousands are forced to the surface 
every Spring for lack of room. The 
pretty white star-shaped flowers follow 
in May after the foliage, now so vigor¬ 
ous and erect, has begun to decay. 
Where the clumps have grown so thick 
as to starve the bulbs there is not much 
l)loom, but younger colonies flower with 
great freedom. The hardy Star of Beth¬ 
lehem is a native of Europe, and was 
early introduced in American gardens 
It can frequently be found about old 
places, but is seldom planted now, as it 
is too aggressive for the flower border 
when conditions suit it. It is occasion¬ 
ally offered in bulb catalogues, and care 
should be taken to distinguish it from 
the large Winter-blooming species, 0 
Arabicum, which is a pleasing plant for 
window decoration, and is often forced 
by florists for cut flowers. w. v. f. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R- N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— ^dv. 
_ tRAOc 
SDURINJ 
mark 
WHY USE lEAD 
»ntl oil lu yoiir jialntlng when you can (f-t a more sat¬ 
isfactory paint at about one-third 
the cost. Its name la 
INOURINE. 
It Is ailapted to both inside and outside use. It is 
made In brilliant white and colors. Outside paint 
is weatherproof and fireproof. It will not rub, scale, 
crack or blister. It is a dry powder and is prepared for 
use by slmi.ly mialnK with ccld water. Anybody can 
apply It without experience or eijiert knowleilge. Best 
paint on earth for houses, barns, dairy buildlnpi, poul¬ 
try houses, pi ket fences, etc. Write at once for color 
cardB,sain|ilea,cIrculsr8 and testimonials.Oet acquainted 
with It before you begin your spring painting. Ask 
your neamest dealer for “Indur.ne.*’ If he does not 
keeplt, write us direct and we will tee you supplied. 
CiseInCompany of America, Boi 17,Bel.lowsFalls,Vt. 
TOBACCO DUST 
l/ll I C WOOLY APHIS, HEV LICE 
AND ALLQaRDEN PESTS. 
H. A. STOOTHOFF. Tobacco Dust 
116 Wait St.. N.v.c Hobbyist 
SRRAY 
with Legf^eti’s Caustic Pota.sli 
Whale-Oil Soap Coiiipouiid. 
(paste form). 
An Improvenient over Whale-oil Soap. Is made 
ready for use by adding cold water. Stronger than 
ordinary Whaie-oil Soap. 400-ib. barrels, per 
lb.; 40-ib. buckets. 5(!jc ; 7-lb. cans. 6)ifo. Supplied by- 
dealers or by EKGGETT & BEO.. 801 Pearl St., N. V. 
A POTATO BOO 
is most useful when he Is dead. Kill him with 
“BOXAE,” and prevent blight by the same 
same operation. 81 buys 10 pounds. 
Catalogue No. 24 free. 
BOWKER CHEMICAL CO., Boston. 
BERRY BASKETS. 
Wire-stapled Berry Baskets 
are the best lu the market, 
being uniform In size and un¬ 
equaled in strength. 
PRICE, »13 FOR 6 M. 
Special Price on Car Eots. 
Write for Descriptive Catalog. 
WEBSTER BASKET CO., 
Monroe Co. fLock Box 48). WKB8TKK, N. Y. 
Cyanide 
Guaranteed 98 to qq per cent., for generating 
Hydrocyanic Acid Gas 
the most effective fumigating material, to 
destroy scale insects on fruit trees and 
plants. The only positive eradicator of 
the dreaded San Jose Scale. Endorsed by 
all Agricultural Experiment Stations. “ A 
jyerfect practical remedy,” says Prof. W. G. 
Johnson, State Etymologist of Maryland. 
MANUFACTURED BV 
The Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Co., 
No. 100 William Street, New York. 
A NEW INSECTICIDE 
First Introdiiction to America of 
Black Soluble 
Insecticide Soap. 
Awarded Grand Prize at Parla Exposition, and 
winner of Gold Medals at International Exposlttons 
of Rome. Recommended as efHcaclons by largest 
European Nurserymen and Growers. Including 
Messrs. Vllmorin, Andrieux. Royal Gardens Monza, 
and others. All pests of outdoor or indoor plant life! 
incluolng San Job6 scale, succumb to the effects of 
tnis remedy. Fruit Growers and Horticulturists send 
for pamphlets, prices and other Information. 
V. CASSAZA & BRO., 
190-192 Prince Street, NEW YORK CITY. 
‘praying 
if you have 
the right 
pump 
Without 
Truck. 
Qur No. 805 Omtlt 
Is as good a pump 
as ever was .sold, and 
y o u w i n be sur¬ 
prised when 
you learn the 
price. We sell 
Pump, Barrel, 
5 feet of 
Hose.Gra- 
duated 
Nozzle, 
which 
throws 
a spray as 
fine as 
ml.st, Ex¬ 
tension 
Pipe for 
high trees 
and with Urst 
order from 
_ every town, lU 
,, , lbs. of Paris- 
Tree. Write for lOO-page Catalog, free, telling 
all about it. and how and when to spray. Also other 
valuable Information. 
ROSS BROS., Front Street, Worcester, Mass. 
XBuniiupFolistgl^ 
) is worse than the disease. If yon i 
spiuy trees and plants with the 
EMPIRE KIMO 
. ...Barra! Spraymr... 
L there can be no scoreblng. I'be Automatle ] 
[ Agltmtorsnd sbmib keeps siraioer free .' 
f lirnss Tshrs; indestructible. Rook on ' 
f .Spraying with terms to agents Free. ‘ 
friEX.» bOItOB PUMP CO.,( 
' 8 Market Kt., I/Ockport, N. T. 
THE LIGHTNING COM¬ 
PRESSED AIR SPRAYER. 
Patented 1900. 
Holds four gallons. Pump 
iH a little air with the 
pump which la attached to 
the reservoir. No more 
labor required. Will kill all 
kinds of Insects. Will spray 
two rows of potatoes at one 
time and as fast as the 
operator can walk. Big 
money for Agents. 
D. B. SMITH & CO., 
Dtlca, N. y., U. 8 A. 
THE “HARDIE” 
Spray Pumps 
are the most powerful, easiest 
worked, most modern, simplest 
in construction and moderate In 
price. DON’T BUY A PUMP 
until you have sent for our cata- 
togne “C” and treatise on dis¬ 
eases of fruits, etc., sent FREE. 
Uardie Spray Pump Mfg. Co., 
B6 Lamed St. W., Detroit, Mich. 
Buy a Good 
Spray 
Pump 
—don’t exiierlment— 
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. 
I HE Boiken Apim.e. —Having recently 
heard several inquiries about the Boiken 
apple, I am moved to ten through your 
columns what little 1 know of it. Three 
years ago, upon the advice of fa. D. Wil¬ 
lard, of Geneva, N. Y., I grafted a large 
number of trees, 20 years old, to the 
Sutton Beauty and Boiken. Last Fall 
they bore some fruit for the first time. 
On one tree of Boiken there were more 
than two bushels of fruit; every apple 
perfect, although the tree was not 
sprayed. They are large, beautiful as 
wax. Color light yellow, with a crimson 
cheek. They are a little tart for dessert 
purposes, but for cooking, I believe that 
they are unexcelled. Although they are 
of good quality, yet I am confident that 
their handsome appearance will always 
find for them a ready sale. j. c. j. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. 
$5.00 Compressed Air Sprayer for $3.75 
mosIX^raKide^'Vw^^^o^^cUonlsmadl^oraU^^ 
coiqfer.^^Wm Urnowfe**? ‘’O'’ galvanized steel, $5.00 for 
___ l*lAR*riN WAHI, ■Roch egter N. V. 
[0|her People’s Profits 
at. when they began to apray Iht right u>av — 
PEPPLER KND^cllMiw SIX-ROW SPRAYERS, 
a for you. Read how they epray SO acres a day, 
have increaaed 26 to 60 per cent, when they be 
^ ^ith the right sprayer, the P"~“‘ — - ‘ 
They will do ae much... -- ou acroa a uar 
. how they save the poiaon, increase crops one-half, pay for them- 
, . UUIBUXla mCl __ 
BelTeain oneaeMon. Ustalogneoontainii apray calendar'formnia'i’etc! ‘SeVtfrei! 
THOM pworn o'* Furiowera. 
THOMAS PEPPLER, Box 00, HICHT STOWN. N.J. 
..... • • • * I , I *f 
I" J r ■' I I s « * « 
I ^ ^ .> 
A Perfect Sprayer. 
The “SCHANCK” 8-row will epruy auy 
, kind of liquid poison. 
It has no small nozzles to stop up. 
I I will not spray on horse or driver. 
I I ^ no pumps, pipes, blowers nor cog-wheels, 
^ more work better and with less trouble than any other 
sprayer. Price, 955. Send for circular. 
JOHN R. SHANCLE, NIfr., Hlghtstown, N. J. 
