256 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 11 
Dealers in gardening tools all advertise it, even unto 
the present day. Fifty cents ! The same objections 
ap ply to this as to the fork handle. 
Some time about the middle of the Nineteenth 
Century, a descendant of the man who made the 50- 
cent dibber, a man who was somewhat more of a 
theorist than a gardener, planned a tool like the one 
at 4. The fork handle was changed for the spade 
handle. No more sore hands, no more air spaces, for 
a young son of this man one day lost his dibber in the 
tall weeds back of the barn, and was set to make 
another. His knife was dull, and to simplify opera¬ 
tions, he flattened the shank instead of making it 
round. This was the greatest advance up to that time. 
The opening in the ground made by this tool, was 
such as to allow the roots to be spread out in a fan 
shape, and the soil to be pressed firmly about them. 
There are no records to prove it, but this must have 
been the same boy who conceived the idea of pouring 
water into the hole in dry weather, before the plant 
is set, instead of watering the surface inch after it 
was set. Mulching the wet surface about the plant 
with dry earth, came much later. Neither the fingers 
nor the palm suffered when this tool was used, but, 
alas ! for the wrist. In using it, the wrist joint needs 
to be flexible and enduring to withstand the strain. 
The next and most important move in the evolution 
of the dibber, was the construction, by a professor in 
horticulture, of the one shown at 5. After using it 
for several seasons, I do not hesitate to recommend it 
to the readers of The R. N.-Y. as the most perfect tool 
of its kind yet devised. The hard-wood turned handle 
is 234 inches in diameter, and exactly fits the hand. 
The blade is of steel, seven inches long, 1% inch wide 
at the top, tapering to one-half inch, and should be 
made sufficiently heavy so that it will not spring, 
even in hard ground. It is not patented, and can be 
made by a blacksmith for 50 cents. 
Wisconsin Ex. Station. Frederic cranefield. 
SPRAYING TO PREVENT APPLE AND PEAR 
SCAB. 
BORDEAUX MIXTURE EFFECTS A CURE. 
An effort to see whether the scab on apple or pear 
trees could not be controlled, was made here the past 
season. Two sprayings in recent years with Bordeaux 
Mixture, each year after the blossoms fell, had failed 
to give the desired effect. So bad had the scab be¬ 
come, that in 1893, not an'apple was marketed from 
one variety, the Strawberry, though the trees were 
loaded with fruit. At my request, the Delaware Ex¬ 
periment Station took charge of the work. Three 
varieties of apples and one of pears were sprayed. 
The experiment was successful in every respect, and 
results greater and in more directions than we had 
any reason to expect, were attained. As the results 
were obtained in a year decidedly favorable for 
fungous growths, they are still more emphatic. 
I shall give only the results from spraying the 
Strawberry apple trees, as we were more desirous of 
controlling the scab on that variety, and the work on 
them was most satisfactory, though the experiment 
was successful throughout. Seven trees, alike as to 
size, general appearance, etc., were sprayed. Num¬ 
bers 1, 2 and 3 were sprayed five times ; numbers 4 and 
5, four times ; and numbers 6 and 7 once. Numbers 
6 and 7 were intended as check trees, and should not 
have been sprayed even once, but were because of the 
carelessness of the men doing the work. I say care¬ 
lessness, as I painted a broad, brown band as a warn¬ 
ing around each tree not intended to be sprayed. 
The first spraying was made when the fruit buds 
had swelled nearly to opening, the second just as the 
blossoms were ready to open wide the petals, but 
before they were attracting any bees ; the third when 
the fruit was the size of peas ; the fourth and fifth at 
sucessive intervals of two and three weeks. The fruit 
was picked for market beginning July 22 and ending 
August 12. It was counted and weighed after classi¬ 
fication as No. 1, without scab ; No. 2, a little scab ; 
No. 3, badly scabbed. 
Tree No. 1 had 9,095 first class, 2,000 second class, 130 third class, 
weighing- 795 pounds, 166L4' pounds, and 8% pounds respectively. 
Tree No. 2 had 6,370 first class, 1,950 second class, 187 third class, 
weighing 651% pounds, 178% pounds, 10% pounds respectively. 
Tree No. 3 had 4,155 first class, 928 second class, 110 third class, 
weighing 443% pounds, 96% pounds, 6% pounds respectively. 
Tree No. 4 had 3,905 first class, 1,600 second class, 367 third class, 
weighing 346% pounds, 125 pounds, 22% pounds respectively. 
Tree No. 5 had 3,418first class, 2,475 second class, 365 third class, 
weighing 559 pounds, 210 pounds, 23*4 poundsu-espectively. 
Tree No. 6 had 1,275 first class, 3,010 second class, 1,016 third 
class, weighing 12454 pounds, 27054 pounds, 59% pounds, respec¬ 
tively. 
Tree No. 7 had 1,830 firstclass, 1,685 second class, 437 third class, 
weighing 212% pounds, 177% pounds, 31% pounds respectively. 
The Bordeaux Mixture was made by dissolving 48 
pounds of sulphate of copper in 50 gallons of water, 
slaking one bushel of stone lime, and using enough 
water to make 200 gallons. The mixture was all 
passed through a fine wire screen. The fine screen 
was reinforced below with one-fourth inch screen. 
I use the wire screen, because one trial years ago, of 
the authorized use of sacking for a screen, gave so 
much trouble, on account of lint, which clogged the 
nozzles. The first spraying was with simple Bordeaux 
Mixture. In the other sprayings, one-fourth pound 
of Paris-green to 50 gallons of mixture, was used to 
kill the Codling moth maggot. 
Many varieties of fruit trees are badly injured by 
leaf blight, all our experiment trees particularly 
so. The unsprayed trees lost their foliage and 
fruit late in the summer, while the sprayed trees 
retained their foliage and fruit until late in the 
autumn. To-day the sprayed trees show more and 
better developed fruit buds, and, in general ap¬ 
pearance, are every way better, so much so as to 
attract the attention of a boy who was passing 
through the orchard. I shall watch the sprayed trees 
with interest this year, and now predict a crop of 
fruit from those trees, as they bore only a crop of 
fruit, and not a crop of leaf blight and scab. 
Delaware. s. h. derby. 
WHAT SAY? 
Silo for Small Herd.—I would like to know 
whether or not a silo will pay where only six or eight 
cows are kept for high-class butter making. What is 
the best plan for such a small affair ? e. w. v. 
Overlook, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—Yes, we think some facts in reply to this 
question will be valuable. 
Without a Plow !—I wish, this spring, to seed 
down with clover and grass, ground that, last spring, 
failed to make a catch, and grew nothing but rag 
weed, vines, etc. Also ground that grew corn, kept 
clean and free from weeds. I have fine manure to 
work in, or top-dress with. Is is practicable or possi¬ 
ble to prepare the ground properly with either of the 
following tools, without plowing: spading harrow, 
Acme, disc, or Cutaway harrow ? My soil is very 
light and mellow when once the sod has been broken. 
Which of these tools shall I buy for this work, if any ? 
M. J. F. 
R. N.-Y.—With Cutaway or Acme you ought to 
be able to make a fair seed bed on such land. 
How Can We Can ?—It will be a great boon to the 
health and wellbeing of my family, also to the les¬ 
sening of our store bill, if I can learn some practical 
way of canning asparagus, peas, string beans and 
corn. We have an overabundance of all of the above 
in the growing season, and have tried various recipes 
in reputable cook books without success. I appreciate 
the fact that the canning of these articles, as done 
in a business way, is a science not generally under¬ 
stood. Yet, among all the intelligent subscribers 
to The R. N.-Y., it seems as though some one 
could put us on the right road. We have excellent 
results with strawberries, peaches, pears and toma¬ 
toes, and believe that, if proper instruction is given, 
we can carry it out. The last named articles are, in 
a large measure, luxuries, whereas the first named 
are solid foods, any one of which will make a mid¬ 
winter meal enjoyable and inexpensive. f. h. p. 
Melrose, Mass. 
R. N.-Y.—Here is a good chance for some wise per¬ 
son to shed a little wisdom. 
GOOD ROADS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 
Some time ago, I saw a picture in The R. N.-Y. of 
a road in North Carolina, and I thought I would try 
to tell the readers something of our roads. As a 
general rule, we have good roads, but they are natur¬ 
ally so. The usual method of working is to call on 
the people to work out their tax. A few counties are 
progressive enough to collect taxes and hire labor for 
the work. We have two classes of roads, depending 
upon the soil: The sandy road, which is smooth and 
dry, but sand beds are formed in places, which make 
hard pulling. Then the red clay makes an almost 
impassable road, when wet, but when dry becomes 
nearly as smooth as glass. 
It is easier to construct good, permanent roads here 
than in the New England States. This is how our 
road supervisor does the work. As he is the authority 
on the subject, his method will show the best plan 
for us : He makes what he calls a Macadam-teiford, a 
combination of the two general systems. First, a 
survey is made and a profile drawn. This is studied 
carefully to get familiar with the natural drainage. 
In grading, the angle of repose is aimed at. That is, 
a fall of one inch in thirty, at which a wagon will 
stand. The first thing put down is four to six inches 
of gravel or sand ; this is followed by rocks 12 to 14 
inches thick ; these are set upon edge and close 
together. The projections on the upper side are 
knocked off and allowed to fall into the crevices. 
The steam roller is then run over the rock. After 
this, a sprinkle of sand sufficient to fill the crevices is 
put on followed by crushed stone—first, stone which 
will not pass through a two-inch hole. Then they roll 
again, and put on three inches of crushed stone which 
will pass through a two-inch hole, and top-dress with 
stone which will pass through a one-inch hole, or 
finer, and roll again. There will be some dust re¬ 
maining, but the first rain will carry this into the 
crevices, thus cementing the work. The first layer of 
sand prevents the oozing up of clay, which would 
loosen the rocks, and also affords drainage. 
The plan for boggy places is first to build corduroy 
with pine poles, then put on a layer of sand, and the 
rock road as above. A road built 30 to 35 feet wide, 
with convict labor, cost $1,100 per mile, the convicts 
costing 21 cents per day. With hired labor, at 50 
cents per day, a mile would cost $2,350. It is not 
necessary to build a road wider than 16 feet in the 
country. Our road supervisor says that better work 
is done by convict labor than by hired labor. The 
tools required for the work are a road machine, 
wheel-barrows, scrapers, picks and shovels. Rock 
costs $3 per car-load of 40 tons. a. h. p. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure 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.] 
Fertilizing and Pruning the Apple Trees. 
A., Petersham, Mass. —I have 20 good apple trees in a meadow 
near the wails ; on many of them, the branches are so low that I 
cannot plow, and I do not ■wish to plow the piece anyway. The 
trees are large and thrifty, about 25 years old, but have been 
neglected as to pruning and feeding. What shall I do to make 
them do their best ? 
Ans. —As to feeding, we would broadcast muriate 
of potash and bone, all that you deem necessary con¬ 
sidering the fertility of the land, from 300 to 1,000 
pounds or more to the acre, using about three times 
as much bone as potash. As to pruning, we may only 
suggest that all branches which interfere should be 
cut out as close as possible to the main stock. 
Some Facts About Fertilizers. 
II. 8., Pattenburg, A 7 . J. —I have some land that I expect to set 
to strawberries in April; it grew potatoes last season. It has 
been manured for two years past. Should I sow wood ashes on 
the ground before setting the berries, with fine ground pure bone, 
or would muriate of potash be better than ashes ? Would a mix¬ 
ture containing 1,600 pounds of fine pure bone, and 400 pounds of 
muriate of potash be best to put on strawberries in bearing ? 
Would this mixture be of less value if it had been mixed last 
year ? Is phosphate of any less value if kept from last year ? 
Ans. —Our opinion is that the bone and muriate will 
give you better results than ashes and bone. We would 
prefer three parts bone to one of muriate, or 1,200 
pounds of bone instead of 1,600. If fertilizers are kept 
away from moisture, they will not lose their strength. 
Sometimes they “ cake ” when stored in damp places, 
and must be crushed or fined before they will spread 
easily ; but this “ caking ” does not always mean that 
they have lost plant food. 
Sulphur for Potato Scab. 
J. W.,Tilden,Ind.—'WX\u,\, is the process of using sulphur on 
seed potatoes to prevent scab ? 
Ans. —You will find this matter well described in 
Bulletin 112 of the New Jersey Experiment Station 
(New Brunswick). In a series of experiments, flowers 
of sulphur scattered along the drill or mixed with the 
seed, proved more effective in preventing scab than 
even the corrosive sublimate solution. The R. N.-Y. 
proved the value of sulphur for this purpose on the 
Rural Grounds years ago. In The R. N.-Y.’s experi¬ 
ments, the sulphur was scattered through the drills 
above the seed pieces. For large plantings, Prof. Hal- 
sted says that the sulphur may be mixed with the 
seed pieces in the hopper of the planter. 
Waste as a Fertilizer. 
M. L. B., Sparkill, N. Y.— What is the value of a waste sold as 
fertilizer at a factory near me for $9.75 per ton ? Is it worth the 
price asked, and on what soil or crops could it be best used ? It 
is guaranteed to contain 81 to 82 per cent carbonate of lime, 9 to 
10 per cent bone phosphate of lime, and one-fourth to two per 
cent of ammonia. 
Ans. —The only guaranteed plant food in that fer¬ 
tilizer is one-fourth of one per cent of ammonia, and 
4)4 per cent of phosphoric acid. “ Bone phosphate” 
is a name given by fertilizer men to the combination 
of lime and phosphoric acid found in bone. In round 
figures, half this combination is phosphoric acid. 
You then have 90 pounds of phosphoric acid and five 
pounds of ammonia guaranteed. This has a value of 
less than $5. Possibly the lime may be needed on 
your soil, but on general principles, we would not 
advise you to buy a fertilizer showing such a wide 
range in its per cent of ammonia. 
