THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 22 
436 
Van Deman’s Fruit Notes. 
ALL SORTS OF QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
Wood Veneer Tree Protectors. 
E. A. P., Chatham, Pa.—Where can I pro¬ 
cure the wood veneer tree protectors re¬ 
ferred to In The R. N.-Y. for June 1? I 
have tried to find them at one or two large 
agricultural warehouses. 
Ans. —The manufacturers of berry 
boxes can easily make, if they do not 
keep in stock, the wood veneer for pro¬ 
tecting trees from rabbits and sunscald. 
Sheets 12 inches across and 18 inches 
lengthwise of the grain, and 1-16 inch 
thick, are about right. It wouid be a 
little safer to have them a little longer. 
The box manufacturers ought to adver¬ 
tise these sheets in lots of 1,000 each at 
cheap rates. 
Currants Dropping Fruit. 
G. 8. R., 8o. Hingham, Mass.—What Is 
wrong with my currants? I have the 
Wilder, Victoria and Red Cross, and they 
all drop their fruit as soon as it is formed. 
The bushes are very healthy and there are 
no worms or Insects of any kind. There 
have been no Injurious frosts. I am 13 years 
old and am much Interested in fruit cul¬ 
ture. 
Ans. —As there have been no insects, 
frosts or fungus diseases (apparently) 
to injure these currant bushes it is im¬ 
possible for me to give any reason for 
their failure to mature their fruit. It 
may be possible that some fungus af¬ 
fects the bloom or the young fruit, caus¬ 
ing it to drop. A spraying of Bordeaux 
Mixture just as the buds are bursting 
next Spring and another soon after the 
flowers have been in bloom would do no 
harm and might prevent the trouble. 
Dry Rot in Apples. 
V. T. J., Drownville, R. /.—What is the 
cause of dry rot in apples and the remedy 
if any? 
Ans. —Apple rots of all kinds are 
usually caused by the spores of fungus 
diseases germinating on the inside of 
the fruit and their "roots” or mycelium 
entering the skin and pulp and causing 
the death and decay of the cells, which 
we call rot. These rots are often quite 
soft, but sometimes they are rather dry. 
Spraying with Bordeaux Mixture usual¬ 
ly prevents the trouble to a very con¬ 
siderable extent. The work should be 
done quite late—when the apples are 
more than half grown, and the ammoni- 
acal solution of copper does not stick 
and discolor the fruit so much as the 
other mixture. The study of and reme¬ 
dial measures for these diseases on ripe 
or ripening fruit are as yet not well 
perfected. 
Various Questions. 
C. L. B., Trenton, Ala.—\. What is the best 
and earliest peach that will not rot before 
it gets ripe, or within 10 minutes after? 
2 What is the best very late grape? 3. Is 
Campbell Early as good as Moore Early 
grape? 4. Can you tell me how to prepare 
seed potatoes for the second crop? 
Ans. —1. Among the best of the very 
early peaches that is not especially sub¬ 
ject to rot is the Triumph. It is a yel¬ 
low peach of very fair size and quality, 
and seems to be good for either home or 
market purposes. Sneed is another va¬ 
riety that is considered by the southern 
growers to be very good. With all of 
the Hale type, such as Amsden and Alex¬ 
ander, one must usually be ready to eat 
them before the 10 minutes, as mention¬ 
ed, have expired. 2. A very good late 
grape is McPike, which is large and 
black, and although new gives promise 
of being valuable. Ives begins to color 
very early, but is not ripe until late. It 
does not hang on the bunch very well, 
which is its worst fault. Catawba is 
also very late, but it is so subject to rot 
that Bordeaux Mixture is a necessity in 
its culture. In quality it is rarely equal¬ 
ed. 3. Campbell Early is better in size 
of berry and cluster, and in quality than 
Moore Early. The vine is about all that 
can be desired, and on the whole it is 
one of the very best, if not the best of 
the very early grapes. 4. To prepare 
early potatoes for planting the second 
crop they should be laid in a shady 
place, as under a tree, as soon as dug. 
and allowed to remain there until well 
"greened,” which usually takes two 
weeks or more. They may then be cov¬ 
ered with old dampened sacks or mats, 
and allowed to sprout a little before 
planting. They will usually grow well 
without the latter treatment. 
THE CASH COST OF LIFE. 
Experience of American Farmers. 
We would like if possible to obtain re¬ 
liable statistics regarding the household 
expenses of average farm families. In 
order to do this, we wish to obtain the 
facts from a large number of country 
people with reference to the money they 
spend for such items as clothing, groceries 
and meat. Will you tell us just what 
your bills will average for a year? In 
other word.s, what was your grocery bill, 
your clothing bill and your meat bill for 
the past 12 months? 
The average expenses of ray family of 
four members for a year ara: Clothing, 
$240; groceries, $85; meat, $100. n. d. r. 
New Jersey. 
There are six in this family. Grocery 
bill, $60.00; clothing, $80; meat, $10; 
total, $150. w. H. 8. 
Connecticut. 
Our family averages from three to five 
persons; our whole expense per year 
from $250 to $325. This includes taxes. 
For groceries, $55; meat, $15 to $20; 
clothing, $50 to $75. c. D. a. 
As farmers we killed hogs for our 
meat. Our grocery bill would be $25 for 
about four months, and our clothing 
$15.50 for a family of two. We only kept 
account for four months. Through 
these four months we had some hired 
help also. R- h. 
Michigan. 
Family of eight persons, from Septem¬ 
ber 1, 1899, to September 1, 1900. Gro¬ 
ceries, $113.49; flour, $46.40; kerosene, 
$17.74; clothing, $127.78; meat, $70 paid 
to butcher, $80 slaughtered at home; 
total, $150; slaughtered at home, one 
two-year-old steer and three nine- 
months-old pigs, worth not less than the 
$80 marked. a. o. 
Rhode Island. 
There were four in our family during 
the year 1899, consisting of "the Mad¬ 
ame,” two children, Helen, 10 years old, 
and Mildred eight years old, and Grand¬ 
ma, 89 years old. Our household ex¬ 
penses, including groceries, postage 
stamps, wall paper, curtains, etc., were 
$53.49; "the Madame’s” clothing, etc., 
$10.42; Helen’s, $14.80; Mildred's, $8.66. 
Grandma was conflned to her room and 
bed all the time, so did not require any 
new clothing. The rest of our living was 
from the farm. We burn our own wood. 
Maine. e. h. c. 
I cannot give exact figures except on 
groceries, of which we have kept strict 
account. Being farm people we raise 
our own beef, pork and poultry. I can 
give the amount consumed, the price by 
the side, and the retail price in town. 
Our family consists of four grown peo¬ 
ple all of the time, hired man nine 
months, and in the busy season two ex¬ 
tra men two weeks. We will on an aver¬ 
age consume 600 pounds of beef and pork 
during the year, which at retail here 
would cost 10 cents per pound, and by 
the side six cents. Our grocery bill for 
the year is $77.40, and for clothing at 
$20 each, $80. Of course the last figures 
are estimated. a. c. f. 
Michigan. 
Our family is made up of my husband 
and myself, one little boy of our own, 
eight years old, and a little boy from 
the Home, aged 11 years; a girl of 16 
years from the Home, and a young man 
who works for us. We raise all our 
flour, most of our meat; only buy meat 
from market in the very hot weather. 
Our doctor’s bill is large this last year, 
on account of a very serious case of 
scarlet fever; usually we have none, or 
at least a very small one. We have a 
great deal of fruit, and in picking time 
board the help, and so our grocery bill 
is sometimes larger, sometimes smaller. 
Grocery bill for 12 months, $63.44; doc¬ 
tor, $65; meat, $12.28; clothing, $109.64. 
New York. f. w. c. 
I Dl ■ 11 TQ— Tomato, Cabbace, Sweet Potato, 
rLimiO Pepper and Celery. Price-list free- 
CALEB BOGGS & SON. Cbeswold. Del. 
The following are our expenses for the 
past 12 months as near as I can give it. 
Our family consists of five, my wife, my¬ 
self, two children and hired man: Meat, 
$8.40; groceries, $55.60; clothing, $41.16, 
not including hired man’s clothes; total, 
$105.16. This does not include anything 
that was raised on the farm, nor a doc¬ 
tor’s bill of $19.20. L. w. R. 
Pennsylvania. 
Cream Will Not Churn. 
100,000 
POTTED STRAWBERRY 
PLANTS; List free. 
T. C. KEVITT, Athenla, N. J. 
SUCCEED WHERE 
Largest Nursery. OTHERS FAIL. 
Fruit Book Free. Result of 76 years’ experience. 
STARK BROS.. Louisiana, Ko.; DansviUe, N.T. 
BUDS IN SEASON 
Peach, Apple, Pear and Plnm. Write for 
prices, giving quantity wanted. 
S. G., New Milford, Conn.—I have a Jersey 
cow three years old, a good milker, but I 
cannot make butter from her milk. The 
cream when churned looks like whipped 
cream, and when let stand for a while a 
quantity of very bitter whey settles at the 
bottom. The only way I can get butter 
is to churn, then let it stand, and draw 
olf whey and repeat until 1 get all the 
whey off, which is a very tedious job. 
What is the cause; how can I remedy it? 
Ans. —Probably you are not thorough¬ 
ly ripening the cream, that is, the whole 
mass is not ripened uniformly. Churn 
at least twice a week. Twenty-four 
hours before churning mix together 
thoroughly all the cream to be churned 
and keep at a temperature of 70 degrees 
or a little below, depending upon the 
time of year, until sufficient lactic acid 
has developed; that is until it is sour 
enough. If after this the churning con¬ 
tinues to be difficult use some one of the 
commercial starters, like Hansen’s or 
Douglas’s lactic ferment. Commercial 
starters are not very expensive, and full 
directions come with each package. 
J, A. F. 
Not Much Stuffing.—I appreciate The 
R. N.-Y. very much; I think it has the 
least stuffing In it of any agricultural paper 
that I have seen. Tell the Hope Farm man 
to put his house tank in the top of his 
stock tank, so the water will overflow from 
it into the stock tank. This will keep the 
water fresh and cool. ii. a. m’q. 
R. N.-Y.—You must remember that what 
seems mere stuffing to one man may be 
the real stuff to another. 
. HARRISON’S NURSERIES, Box 29, Berlin, Md. 
Headquarters 
for the October Purple Plum and 
Green Mountain Grape. The largest 
New England nursery. 500 acres. Strong 
stock of all fruits, ornamental trees and 
shrubs. Catalogue free. 
STEPHEN HOVT'S SOUS. New Canaan, Conn. 
Tiansplantefl Celery Plants^S"’ 
Frank Shearer & Son. Binghamton, N. V., 
for prices on stocky transplanted plants. 
PLANTS ONLY SI.00 per 1,000; 
one million ready July first. 100 
Strawberry Plants, In pots, for $l.no. 
8LAYMAKER & SON, Dover Del. 
CELERY PLANTS. 
Grown by the acre, on fine irrigated land. Extra 
large root development. Large stocky plants. 
Shipped safely to all pans of the United States and 
Canada. White Plume, Golden Self-Blanching and 
Giant Paschal. Price: 600,75c.; 1.000, *1.25 ; 6,000,15. 
WILSON BROS. & CO., Tecumseh, Mich. 
Celery and Cabbage Plants for Sale 
Leading varieties, carefully packed with moss in 
baskets, f. o. b. here. 250 plants at 60c.; 500 for 90c.; 
1,000 for *1.50. Special price on quantities over 6,000. 
Cash with order. Plants ready 15th to 20th of June. 
WOODLAND FARM, Canastota, Madison Co., N. Y 
CABBAGE PLANTS 
Leading varieties, 76c. per 1,000. Shipped safely any¬ 
where. A. B. KATKAMIBR, Macedon, N. Y. 
PADQJIRE Dl 
UADDAUC I LAR I wSummer, SnccesslOB, 
All Season, Surehead. Danish Ballheadand Fottler's 
*1 per 1,000; *4.50 per 5,000. B. J. HULL, Olyphant, Pa' 
The Moth Trap.—I have read the story 
of the moth catcher and also editorial and 
my faith in the trap as a destroyer of or¬ 
chard and farm pests is not shaken. I 
had eight of the traps in my garden and 
orchard, and caught 80 moths, eight sting¬ 
ing flies and a quantity of bugs in one 
night—the night of May 23, the only warm 
one we have had here this Spring. Give 
the moth catcher a chance and it will prove 
its ability to vanquish many, if not all, of 
the insect enemies of the fruit grower, and 
do not call it a humbug until it has been 
tried and proved to be one. g. z. g. 
Warsaw’, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—We do not object to the trap, 
but the way the maker garbles testimo¬ 
nials. How many of the “bugs” you 
caught w’ere useful to the farmer? 
CABBAGE PLANTS 
grown from Tillingbasts' fa¬ 
mous Puget Sound Seeds 
Wlnnigstadt, SuccesBion, Fot- 
tler’s, B'lat Dutch, *1 per 1,000 
*7.50 per 10,000. Address 
W. A. TILUNGHAST, 
La Plume, Pa. 
bu. Clover Seed & *6 to 17 per 
rlir 0916 bn.; 500 bu. Crimson Clover Seed 0 
16 per bn. I 1,000 bn. Cow Peas @ *1.26 to 11.76 per bn. 
J. B. HOLLAND, MiUord, Del. 
NEW CRIMSON CLOVER SEED 
My own growing. Ready July 1. Orders booked 
now. Sample and price sent for approval before 
shipment. Cow Peas. Soja Beans. Circular free. 
E. G. PACKARD, Seedsman, Dover, Del. 
f^RIMSON CLOVER 
■ ^ W special circular describing uses of Crimson 
V HEMBY a. DREEB, 714 Chastnut Si., Philadelphia, Pa. 
In sowing this valuable clover it la im¬ 
portant that American seed is used. We 
supply genuine Delaware seed only. Our 
special circular describing uses of Crimson 
4 
► 
The New York State Fair 
Premium List is now ready 
for distribution. Copies can 
be had on application to the 
Secretary, S. C. SHA VER, 
Albany, N. Y. . 
