386 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 1 
long as the growth of vines permits. To prolong the 
bearing season care must be exercised in picking, not 
to injure the vines, and the fruits should be gathered 
just as rapidly as the size required for the various 
grades will admit. The chief insect enemy is the 
striped beetle, and the best preventives are strong 
vigorous plants, and soil conditions and culture that 
will promote the most rapid possible growth of the 
vines. The principal remedies are air-slaked lime, 
sifted coal ashes, land plaster, equal parts wood 
ashes and road dust, freely applied in the morning 
when the plants are wet with dew. Cayenne pepper 
is also an excellent remedy; but too costly perhaps 
for general use. '1 obacco dust is a good fertilizer as 
well as insecticide, and may be used to advantage on 
all vines, except watermelon, to which it is injurious, 
and will destroy the vines if used in large quantities. 
Spraying with Bordeaux Mixture is a preventive of 
disease, and saltpeter and water, an ounce to the gal¬ 
lon, if applied to the hills, will be found a wonderful 
invigorator to the plants. 
BUSH BEANS.—A plentiful supply of the bush 
beans for family use may be easily grown as second 
crop, without interference to other vegetables. The 
varieties are numerous, and by judicious selections as 
to time of maturing may be safely planted from May 
10 up to within 50 days of frost. Planted as they may 
be between other crops which are maturing in ad¬ 
vance of them, a constant supply of snap and shell 
beans may be had from July 1 to late Fall. 
BLACKBERRY RUST.—Personal experience, if 
successful, may sometimes be worthy of note, even 
though not following the trend of scientific theory. 
Two years ago I discovered several plants of black¬ 
berries which were badly affected with rust. The 
plants were immediately dug up and burned, but later 
on, when the fruit was more than half grown, the 
disease appeared worse than ever, and began to spread 
rapidly. All diseased plants were dug and burned, 
and the remainder of the bushes were thoroughly 
sprayed with Bordeaux Mixture, full strength, as pre¬ 
pared for Potato beetles. The mixture was the usual 
formula of 4-6-50 with insecticide of the following for¬ 
mula: White arsenic, one-half pound; sal soda, one 
pound; boiling water, one gallon, mixed and boiled 30 
minutes. This mixture was used in the proportion of 
pint to 50 gallons of the Bordeaux. The bushes 
were thoroughly drenched, and matured a fine crop 
of berries, as also last year, with no further traces of 
the rust. The same mixture was twice applied to 
peach trees which were badly affected with curl leaf, 
the first application being made on May 30, and the 
second, one month later. The disease entirely disap¬ 
peared, and the trees have since borne two crops of 
peaches without any further appearance of the dis¬ 
ease. Doubtless these may not have been thorough 
tests, or in any way conclusive, but at all events the 
experiment is worth a trial. j. e. morse. 
Michigan. _ 
VARIATIONS IN SPRAYING SUBSTANCES. 
It is a matter of common knowledge that London 
purple will remain in suspension longer than will 
Paris-green, and that solutions which contain the for¬ 
mer require comparatively little agitation. This valu¬ 
able property of the London purple is largely due to 
the fact that its particles are smaller than those of 
Paris-green. Again, the London purple, as a finely 
divided substance, can be spread over a greater sur¬ 
face, and from this standpoint is a more effective 
poison. Some time ago it occurred to me that some 
samples or brands of Paris-green, or different samples 
of any spraying material to be held in suspension, 
might have smaller particles than others, in which 
case, of course, the particular lot with the smallest 
particles would be moSst valuable for spraying pur¬ 
poses. An examination was made of several brands 
of Paris-green. The results indicate that the value of 
this poison, at least, is affected by its state of division. 
Pure Paris-green examined under the microscope is 
found to be composed«of small green spheres which 
are uniform In sise in any one sample. But In dif¬ 
ferent samples the sixes of the spheres vary csnslder- 
ably. In live lots examined the average diameter was 
found to be .0165 mllltoeter (one-thousandth part of 
a meter); taken by lots the minimum average was, 
.0111 millimeter; the maximum, .0218 millimeter. 
When placed in water In tall glass graduates it could 
be seen that there was a perceptible difference in the 
length of time a given quantity of the different lots 
would remain in suspension. 
Soil physicists, who work with sedimentary soils, 
say that "the theoretical rate of settling of small par¬ 
ticles of spherical form in water would be, with the 
conditions the same, directly as the radii of the par¬ 
ticles.’* That is, that particles twice the diameter of 
other particles, will settle twice as fast. This law, I 
think, will apply to Paris-green, and if so, in the eases 
mentioned above, means that one of the samples ex¬ 
amined will remain in suspension nearly twice as 
long as will another of them. Surely this is a matter 
of importance to the users of Paris-green. Manufac¬ 
turers, I am told, can control the fineness of division 
of the arsenites in manufacturing, and can make a 
good article in this respect as easily as a poor one. 
Let the demand be, then, for the small-particled pro¬ 
duct. To some extent one can judge of the state of 
division of Paris-green by its color; that having the 
smallest particles, while of a distinct green, is paler. 
Experiments may show that the fineness of division 
may be controlled, somewhat, in the preparation of 
Bordeaux Mixture and of the now quite commonly 
used homemade arsenite of lime. u. n. iieuiuck. 
Michigan Ag’l. College. 
HOe MANURE AND CABBAGE. 
As to the use of hog manure for cabbage, our ex¬ 
perience has been that it will not do. With us it 
always caused rot and club-foot, on soils that have 
been used for cabbage or other garden truck. The 
only way we ever used hog manure lor cabbage with 
good rc.jult was on an old heavy sod. The manure 
was spread early in the Fall, so that it froze and 
thawed until Spring. Just before turning the sod over 
in the Spring we gave the field a liberal coat of lime. 
Not to our knowledge had the field ever before been 
planted to cabbage or other vegetables. The lime, of 
course, kills club-foot, but with us the price of lime is 
too high at present for general use on farm crops. 
We were always bothered with club-foot in the hot¬ 
bed, growing very early cabbage, even where the soil 
v/as changed every year, but since we have used lime 
we have had no trouble in growing two or three crops 
of plants in the same soil. The soil is usually handled 
over in the Fall by throwing it out of the beds, and 
CHECK-ROW CORN PLANTER AT WORK. Eie. 1.57. 
the lime sprinkled on as it is thrown out. It is left 
in this way until the beds are made in early Spring. 
Chemung Co., N. Y. a. g. miller. 
GOOD BAIT FOR SUCKERS. 
Not long ago a reader in Maine wrote asking advice 
about investing money. He had received a letter from 
a man in New York which read as follows (omitting 
one name of the stock): 
Through the sudden death of a large holder of National 
- stock, I have a chance to secure privately a 
large block of the stock (50,000 shares) at $2 per share. 
The people who now own the stock must have quick 
cash. They are firm believers in the great value of 
National - stock, but stern necessity compels 
them to sacrifice it—they must sell. I cannot at present 
buy all of this stock, and so will notify a few persons of 
this rare chance to secure some of it at this great sacri¬ 
fice of price. There is no other stock for sale under |10 
per share, as you will notice by enclosed printed matter. 
You will do well to buy all of this $2 stock that you can 
pay for—it Is certain to go higher than $10. The price of 
National - stock is $10 per share at the company’s 
office, and, as the people who offer the stock to me at 
$2 do not wish to interfere in any way with the com¬ 
pany’s offer of stock at $10, you will please consider this 
letter strictly confidential. There will soon be an active 
market established for the stock. You can order through 
me, and I will buy the stock for you without any charge 
for commission, because I want to have this cheap stock 
taken out of the market quickly. 
Our friend was Impressed by this plausible letter, 
and evidemtly felt Inclined to invest some of Ills say¬ 
ings In this stock. Before doing so he was careful to 
Investigate. This letter was really a type-written cir¬ 
cular printed so well that most people would be de¬ 
ceived by it. Not even the name ef our friend was 
written In. That stamped it as shaky from the start, 
for who would send "strictly confidential" advice to 
strangers on a printed page? The same thing was 
probably mailed to 10,000 names secured at random 
in the hope that a few would bite at the bait. The 
man who sent the circulars probably hires desk room 
in seme office. He may have the skeleton of a com¬ 
pany, but the shares he offers are not listed on the 
New York Stock Exchange and are not handled by 
brokers. Here in this great city are thousands of 
men hunting for bargains. If shares could be bought 
at f2 and quickly sold at flO, every one of them would 
be seld here in 24 hours. The fact that it is neces¬ 
sary to appeal to strangers is good evidence that men 
who are here, capable of estimating such things, do 
not consider this stock worth buying. In that case 
what folly it would be to send money to an entire 
stranger. It is easy to say this and yet certain coun¬ 
try people are doing this again and again. Somehow 
the idea of becoming a “stockholder” in some bogus 
or crippled concern appeals to them, and they cannot 
resist the temptation. Money is taken out of the bank 
or from the hands of good old friends and sent to the 
rogues and financial wolves who only sharpen their 
teeth on the hard-earned and sweat-stained dollars 
of country people. The above letter is only a sample 
of many. Strange, is it not, that men wili be caught 
by such an old bait? Sad, is it not, that the money 
which would bring so much pleasure and comfort to 
wife, children and home should be fed to sharks? 
FREE TREE DISTRIBUTION 
It is quite gratifying to learn that our Department 
of Agriculture purposes to furnish gratis trees for 
planting. This promises to be a great advance upon 
seed distribution as practiced. I am wondering wheth¬ 
er the Government will furnish these trees without 
labels, as is done with the seeds this season, being 
simply designated as of a “select variety.” It would 
look as though farmers were to be regarded as un¬ 
skilled subordinates, unfit to be entrusted with the 
names of things. The seeds went promptly into the 
stove, and a postal card dropped to my representative 
protesting against such foolishness. So far as my 
knowledge goes these free seeds have never been help¬ 
ful to the planter, have brought no useful knowledge 
back to headquarters following their use, and have 
had only a future campaign significance. Better use 
the money in supplying such things as the farmers 
really need, new acquisitions from foreign parts, and 
thoroughly advertise among farmers that such are to 
be had for the asking. The past Winter I applied to 
the Department of Agriculture for basswood trees or 
seeds, to learn that such were not forthcoming. The 
Government will have a large contract on its hands 
if it meets the demand for trees which I anticipate 
will come. Are these trees to be “reported upon after 
trial,” as with the seeds? It is apparent that they 
must be regarded as a direct gift to the recipient. And 
in giving, why not give the most useful gifts, say fruit 
trees? A private gift to individuals from the Govern¬ 
ment is wrong in principle unless it is apparent how 
the community is to be directly benefited. The peo¬ 
ple’s money must settle the bills, and hence it would 
seem proper to give trees for street and park plant¬ 
ing, but not strictly so for private control, except un¬ 
der the plea of novelties tested. The basswood trees 
I applied for were intended for planting along streets, 
subject to State control, and especially calculated to 
furnish bee food as well as shade. I am pleased that 
Uncle Sam now sees his way clear to give me these 
trees. f. w. proctor. 
RURAL TELEPHONE LINES.—To get such a line 
started you must have some one interested enough to 
get subscriptions from those living along the pro¬ 
posed route, or near it, suflicient to build it, those be¬ 
ing most benefited taking two or more shares. Get¬ 
ting started has been the greatest trouble here. Shares 
are $10 each, which entitles holder to attach telephone 
to line and free use of same. Each village has a cen¬ 
tral, with from three to 15 lines coming in from sur¬ 
rounding towns and country, each line giving free use 
of its own for the same privilege over the other lines. 
Centrals are supported by assessments on shares, and 
small sums charged outsiders for use of line. They 
charge them here 10 to 15 cents per message. In 
building the line shares are paid for in cash, work or 
poles. The cost here has been from $35 to $40 per 
mile. We can talk in almost every village within 20 
or 25 miles and most of the business men have tele¬ 
phones. The bridging telephones have given better 
satisfaction here than the series. They say the me¬ 
tallic circuit gives the best results, but cost is double 
for wires. r. b. b. 
Broome Co., N. T. 
CHERRY CULTURE.—The best sweet cherries I 
have seen south ef central New York are along the 
fences, where the cultivator has not disturbed themi 
In northern Delaware there are several famoiu sweet 
cherries in the fence rows and comers, but nearly all 
of the orchards that I have seen In which modern cul¬ 
tivation methods are attempted have been failures. 
In central and eastern New York the sweet cherry has 
to be kept on medium thin land. My father has a 
young orchard that is booming on land that would 
be considered poor for farming purposes, but the 
trees respond there to tillage. The sour cherries will 
probably do best under high culture. While they grow 
well along the fences, they need more moisture than 
the sweet varieties, and pay well under the best 
treatment. The dark kinds are the money makers; 
Black Tartarian, Black Eagle, Windsor and Dikeman 
are the leading sorts at home. There is big money in 
Windsor, and if Dikeman turns out as we expect It, 
there ought to be more in it. Sometimes the sweet 
cherry needs lime and dies for want of it. Some 
kinds need it more than others. Tartarian, I believe, 
is one ef them. [Prof.] o. haobold powbix. 
Delaware. 
