1896 
433 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
[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.] 
SETTING STRAWBERRY PLANTS IN AUGUST. 
Is there any way in which I can set strawberry plants in August, 
so as to be sure of a fruit crop from them the following spring ? 
Massachusetts. subscriber. 
Can Do It with Potted Plants. 
It is evidently useless to set out an old strawberry 
plant as late as August, and expeet good results. We 
successfully set thousands of young plants as late as 
September 1, which give a full crop of large berries 
the next season. We increase the fruiting beds at 
midsummer every season. The young sets are dug on 
a cloudy day, with a mason’s trowel. Each plant, by 
this method, holds a ball of earth. We dig from 15 
to 25 plants at a time, place them in fiats, and draw 
them to the field where they are to be set. We also 
set acres of potted plants as late as September 10, 
with great success. A profitable crop can be obtained 
by using chemical fertilizers as we know beyond a 
question. We have depended almost entirely upon 
chemical manures alone for strawberries. 
New Jersey. T. c. kevitt. 
Must Have Fancy Prices to Make it Pay. 
No one can set a strawberry bed August 1, and 
make it pay, if he get only ordinary prices for the 
fruit. If fancy prices can be secured, or if the bed is 
set for a family supply, it is a different thing. I am 
not in favor of pot-grown plants ; they are expensive 
for the nurseryman to handle, the transportation is 
expensive, and the cost to the grower is generally 
more than the amount realized from them. I have 
taken young, fairly well rooted plants, from fruiting 
beds August 1, set them in rows 3x1 foot and got 
wonderful results. They were transplanted on cloudy 
days, and afterwards frequently hoed and treated 
with liquid manure and commercial fertilizers. All 
runners were clipped off as soon as they grew long 
enough. Were l buying plants of a nurseryman to 
set the first week in August, I would write to him at 
once, direct him to take the young runners as they 
begin to throw out roots, set them in beds closely 
together, and hold till I was ready to plant. Then, 
when ready to ship, the earth about the plants may 
be thoroughly soaked, and when taken up, plenty of 
earth clings to the roots ; when transplanted, the 
plants never stop growing. In packing these plants 
to ship, use baskets. Line each basket with oiled 
paper, put a layer of moss on the bottom and sides, 
and between each layer of plants, so the roots will 
touch it. On receipt of plants, the planter should 
thoroughly soak the plants before handling, so that 
the earth will not rattle off. Such plants, carefully 
handled and set in rows 1x3 feet, and given good cul¬ 
ture, may be made to pay if 10 cents per quart can 
be realized tor the fruit. l. .r. farmer. 
New York. 
How It May Be Done. 
I think that strawberries may be successfully and 
profitably planted in August, but success requires the 
following conditions : 1, strong, well-rooted layers or 
potted plants; 2, a moist time at planting ; 3, a very 
rich soil ; 4, thorough cultivation ; 5, plants costing 
not more than $5 per 1,000; and 6, planted not later 
than August 15. Many of these conditions, however, 
are rather difficult to provide ; for instance, strong, 
early plants. In a dry time, few runners are made 
until the last of July, or first of August. Potted 
plants cannot be bought for $5 per 1,000, but in case 
one has a spring-set plantation on the grounds, they 
may be grown so as not to cost more than the above 
figure. Plants should be set in rows or beds ten 
inches to one foot apart, with paths between, and no 
runners be allowed to grow, for, at this late date, the 
runners that do start, if allowed to root, will develop 
but few fruit stalks, and the parent plants will be 
weakened by the growth. I would mulch as heavily 
as can be safely done, and then simply make a hole 
through the mulch for each plant to come through in 
the spring. Early-rooted layers, if taken up care¬ 
fully with some soil about the roots, may be moved 
without checking their growth, if grown near the 
field or bed to be planted. When strawberries are 
grown in hills, and the runners are cut off, strong 
plants may be grown by putting the runners in 
frames, where, by careful attention as to watering 
and shade, they soon become rooted and make strong, 
healthy plants that may be transplanted at any time 
without much cheek, unless the land in which they 
are set, is very dry. I am fully convinced that the 
above is the most satisfactory way to grow plants for 
spring planting as well, and I am sure that more and 
better berries can be grown, and more profit be made 
when the plants are not nearer than 8 to 10 inches 
apart. The earlier the plants are set in the spring, 
the larger and better will be the crop, other things 
being equal. 8. T. mayxard. 
Massachusetts Agricultural College. 
Poor Success with Late Plantings. 
Subscriber asks a question that requires so many 
factors in its solution, that with all my experience, I 
can only give an answer coupled with many conditions, 
because I use only chemical fertilizers for the purpose. 
Subscriber can use potted plants for setting in August, 
and if there be sufficient rainfall, or he can irrigate, 
he may hope for a fairly good crop the following 
year. I have sometimes followed another plan with 
success. If a good rain come immediately after the 
picking season is over, and I have thrifty fruiting 
beds, 1 prepare the ground and plow furrows where T 
wish to set the rows. If this ground is alongside the 
fruiting beds, with a round-pointed shovel, I cut a 
shovelful of plants from the side of the fruiting bed, 
deposit them in the furrow, and fill in the earth 
around them, setting them about two feet apart. If 
not convenient to do this, I place them in a wagon, 
and drive where they are wanted. The strawberries 
I sent to the World’s Fair at Chicago, were grown 
upon rows set in this way. As a fact, I have never 
had success enough in late setting with potted plants 
or any other, except in this way I have described, to 
make it pay. Weather conditions, three times out of 
four, are unfavorable for late set plants. I expect to 
adopt this method in filling in rows where grubs de¬ 
stroyed the plants last season. waiter f. taber. 
Dutchess County, N. Y. 
How to Hurry the Crop. 
My experience has been that August or fall-set 
plants are not profitable under ordinary conditions. 
The plants are difficult to obtain. The ground is dry. 
The weather is hot and scorching. The plant is rest¬ 
ing, making but little growth until fall rains, and 
potted plants are expensive. Plants set as soon as 
the new runners are sufficiently rooted, say, Septem¬ 
ber 1, on ordinary soil and with ordinary care, will 
not yield enough to pay for the labor alone. If I 
wished to increase my beds for next season’s fruiting, 
I would select the richest spot I had, either sod or 
stubble ; a piece of meadow from which the hay has 
been cut in June, would do. It should be heavily 
manured with barn manure before plowing, and be 
plowed deep at once. It should be harrowed as thor¬ 
oughly and deeply as possible without tearing up the 
grass, as fast as plowed, and once or twice a week 
until plants are set. The object is to sprout and kill 
weed seeds, to fit the ground so that it will be easy to 
set the plants, and most of all, get the soil in that 
condition (particles of soil fine and compact) that it 
will absorb and retain moisture. The manure will 
not be reached and used by the plant until spring, 
and may be left out, and applied as a top dressing dur¬ 
ing winter in the form of well-rotted compost. 
I would mark out the plot both ways in rows three 
feet apart. Where the rows cross, I would apply 
commercial fertilizer at the rate of 1,000 pounds per 
acre, spreading it by hand on the surface in a circle a 
foot in diameter. This would be worked into the soil 
and thoroughly mixed by running a narrow toothed 
cultivator (which does not shove the soil into the 
center of the row, but leaves it level and where it 
finds it), both ways in the row. The plants should be 
of strong-growing varieties which are characteristic¬ 
ally prolific and hardy. I would use Bubach, Cres¬ 
cent, Michel’s Early, Parker Earle, Haverland and 
Sharpless where they do well. I would use potted 
plants and set them with great care, putting five in a 
hill. Set the first plant at the crossing of the rows, 
and one six inches from this, in four directions in the 
row. By this method, they may be cultivated both 
ways, and should make growth enough to cover the 
surface in the hill by winter. The runners, if any, 
should be cut off, and a great growth encouraged by 
frequent stirring of the soil among the plants. A 
solid, compact hill will shade the surface and tend to 
prevent heaving in winter. At any time during 
winter, an application of well-rotted manure, free 
from weed seeds, spread on or among the plants, will 
prove profitable for two reasons—increased quantity 
and size of fruit, and ability to withstand cold 
weather. A small forkful of clean straw, corn stalks, 
or swale hay should be spread over each hill while 
the ground is frozen, and left there until after fruit¬ 
ing. If the straw be too thick for the plants to push 
through in the spring, it can be loosened a trifle. No 
cultivation in spring is needed. c. e. chapman. 
New York. 
Grape-Vine Tomato-Gall; Poison Ivy. 
P. E. /?., Demurest, N. -/.—I. What is the cause, effect and 
remedy of insect ravages ou the Inclosed tip of Concord grape 
vine? Of a row 350 feet long, nine-year-old vines, almost every 
vine shows a few tips or leaves similar to that inclosed. 2. What 
is a sure and speedy cure for the effects of poison ivy other than 
sugar of lead or bromine, which really only seem to relieve, but 
do not at once check or cure the affliction, which usually runs 
its course regardless of such applications? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLING ERL AND. 
1. The stem, a leaf-stallc and one of the leaves of 
the grape vine tip sent, were deformed into, or bore 
curious, irregular juicy swellings known as galls. 
They were variable in shape and size, from round, 
cranberry-like swellings to irregular, bulbous pro¬ 
tuberances looking much like a bunch of small toma¬ 
toes. They varied from a yellowish-green to a rosy 
red color. Their color and shape have suggested the 
popular name of Grape-vine Tomato-gall for this 
peculiar affection. If these galls be cut open, the 
interior will be found to be soft, juicy and acid, and 
each gall contains several cells, in each of which will 
be found a small, orange-yellow worm. By some 
mysterious and, as yet, unknown process, these worms 
cause the tissues to grow into these peculiar shapes. 
Before the galls rot, the worms enter the ground 
where they change to pupaa, and finally emerge in 
the spring as pale-reddish, mosquito-like insects. 
This insect is known to science as Lasioptera vitis, 
the author of the grape-vine tomato-gall (Vitis 
tomatus). It is a very wonderful and mysterious 
fact that such minute insects are enabled to produce 
such curious changes in the growth of plant tissue. 
There are hundreds of different kinds of these tiny 
creatures, not half as large as mosquitoes, which 
cause these gall-like swellings, on different parts of 
plants, yet it is a curious fact that each kind of insect 
always makes a certain peculiar kind of gall, and 
usually, on the same part of the plant. There are 
three other curious galls sometimes seen on grape 
vines—one known as the trumpet grape-gall, consist¬ 
ing of elongated, conical galls on the leaves ; another 
forming a large mass of filbert-shaped galls taking 
the place of a bud, known as the grape-vine filbert- 
gall ; then there is a grape-vine apple-gall, a globular, 
greenish gall about an inch in diameter, attached to 
the stem of the vine. It is not often that any of the 
grape galls occur insufficient numbers to injure many 
vines. Thus it is usually only a short job to cut off the 
infested parts and burn them, as soon as they are 
seen. This is the most practicable method of con¬ 
trolling the insect which causes them. 
2. A friend who is very susceptible to poison oak or 
ivy, and who has suffered terribly from it, tells me 
that the best thing he has found is the tincture of 
grindelia. Dilute it with about three parts of water, 
and bathe the affected parts. It should be applied as 
soon as the irritation is felt, and before the character¬ 
istic pustules appear. Applied at this time, it will 
prevent the formation of the pustules, and soon check 
the irritation. But if not applied until the pustules 
appear, it will only prevent the formation of new 
pustules, and thus check the spreading of the affec¬ 
tion to other parts ; the pustules that are already 
formed, will simply take their course without spread¬ 
ing. The diluted tincture should be applied to the 
affected parts as often as two or three times every 
hour. 
Red Paint for Barns. 
F. V. A'., Govanstown, Md.—Uhe inquiry of H. C. G. as to red 
paint for a barn, recalls to my mind tbe strikingly handsome 
barns one sees in traveling through Pennsylvania, that seem to 
be invariably painted red, with white and green trimmings. I 
have often intended asking what sort of paint is used, whether 
bought ready-mixed or mixed at home. The shade generally 
used, seems to be what I would call Venetian red. 
A ns. —Oxide of iron paint is most generally used 
for barns. It may be bought dry, and mixed with raw 
linseed oil, using, say, a gill of good Japan drier to 
each gallon of mixed paint. But some oil on the dry 
paint, and let soak over night. Then mix quite thin 
for use. Never add the Japan drier until ready to 
use the paint. Paint, mixed a few days, is better than 
fresh mixed. Ready-mixed paint is likely to contain 
benzine, resin oil, petroleum, or some other bad adul¬ 
terant. Venetian red is carbonate of lime (over 60 
per cent), tinted with a strong oxide of iron (ferine 
oxide, over five per cent), contains also about 20 per 
cent of water (combined), and water—hygroscopic—a 
fraction. It will be seen, therefore, that Venetian 
red is simply whiting or plaster tinted a bright red, 
and is obviously not so good for outside painting as 
red oxide of iron itself, which is one of the most per¬ 
manent pigments in use. It takes about 10 per cent 
of oil to make into a stiff paste. Venetian red is 
brighter than red oxide, but must be regarded as too 
bright for a large surface. Red oxide (brown, more 
properly) is better, especially where a brighter shade 
is obtained. Tea green trim looks well with it, 
though pure ochre color looks brighter. White is not 
a good contrasting color. Drab, stone and such colors, 
go well with iron paint. A. A. k. 
