1896 
6o9 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
a partial knowledge with prejudice, is much worse, 
as it deludes the public with a show of science, and 
produces a conviction which can only have an evil 
result. 
As the opponents of measures for the sanitation of 
our herds and dairy products, habitually prejudice 
the public mind by charging that veterinarians 
advocate tuberculin for selfish ends, it may not be 
out of place to say that I am not, at present, con¬ 
nected with the State board charged with dealing 
with tuberculosis. Although I served, for one year, 
on the Tuberculosis Commission, I did so without one 
cent of remuneration, and when the law creating 
that Commission expired by its own limitation, the 
Commission made a careful report, and I have not 
since discussed the subject except by special request, 
and then for a semi private rather than a public 
audience. In the report of the Commission, and in 
the bulletins previously published by the Cornell 
University Experiment Station, any one interested can 
read my views, which are given from the pathological 
and economical standpoint, and entirely irrespective 
of any animus shown by the opponents of the 
tuberculin test and of veterinary sanitary work. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
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see whether it is not answei’ed in our advertising columns. Ask 
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piece of paper.] 
Life History of the Apple Rust. 
A. B. 6'., Toms River , N. .7.—What is the trouble with the in¬ 
closed apple leaf ? What would prevent the trouble ? 
ANSWERED BY M. Y. SLINGEBLAND. 
The apple leaf bore, on the under side, many groups 
of minute cups with a fringed border, situated in a 
bright orange-yellow spot. When examined under a 
microscope, each little cup was found to be full of a 
fine, brown powder ; each minute particle of this 
powder was one of the spores or seeds of a curious 
fungous disease known as the Apple rust. Some¬ 
times, the fruit and branches are also attacked by 
this fungus ; infested fruits become misshapen, and 
are rendered worthless. The disease works on the 
apple tree during May, June and July. Curiously 
enough, however, the seeds or spores formed in the 
little fringed cups will not grow on any part of the 
apple tree, but will germinate only on the branches 
of cedar or juniper. Thus, in midsummer, the spores 
of the Apple rust are borne by the winds to cedar 
trees, and there they find congenial surroundings in 
the tissues of the branches. They cause the cedar 
branches to enlarge rapidly in an abnormal manner, 
resulting in the production of hard, rounded, apple¬ 
like bodies, commonly known as Cedar apples, vary¬ 
ing from one-half to 1% inch in diameter. These 
Cedar apples attain their full growth in April, and 
then push forth a number of yellow, jelly-like, horn¬ 
shaped processes, often an inch or two in length, 
rendering the apple a conspicuous object. On the 
ends of these curious processes, the spores or seeds 
are developed. These spores will grow, however, 
only on the leaves, fruit or branches of an apple tree, 
where they produce the Apple rust. 
It has been shown that the seeds of Cedar apples 
may be carried eight miles by the wind. Thus wher¬ 
ever cedars occur, the Apple rust may be expected to 
flourish, and, conversely, where there are no cedars 
within 10 miles or more, the apple will be free from 
the attacks of the fungus. Hence, it follows that 
Apple rust should be combated, first by removing all 
sources of infection—that is, all cedars or junipers 
should be destroyed so as not to allow the Cedar- 
apple stage of the fungus to develop. Where this is 
impracticable, the only thing that can be done is to 
spray the infested apple trees very thoroughly, liter¬ 
ally paint the trees, with Bordeaux Mixture early in 
the season, in May especially. Keep a good coating 
of the fungicide on the trees for, at least, a month 
and I believe that the fungus can be controlled. 
The Qumce rust is a similar fungus, and it has been 
shown that sprayed quince orchards have much less 
of the disease than unsprayed ones. The Apple Rust 
is rarely very serious, and I believe that it can be 
checked by liberal and judicious spraying with the 
Bordeaux Mixture in May and early June. 
The Harlequin Cabbage Bug. 
W. V-, Louisville, Ky. —I send some specimens of insects which 
are new to our county, and are very destructive to nearly mature 
cabbage plants. Where they touch the plant, the leaves wilt and 
dry up, causing considerable damage. What are they and what 
is a remedy ? 
A ns. —The insect proved to be the Harlequin Cab¬ 
bage bug or Calico-Back (Murgantia histrionica). It 
is a black bug with bright red and yellow markings ar¬ 
ranged as shown at / and g in Fig. 192. It was, origi¬ 
nally, an inhabitant of Mexico and Central America. 
In 1866, it was noticed in Texas, and has slowly con¬ 
tinued its northward march until it now ravages cab¬ 
bage and radish plants in southern Ohio and New 
Jersey. It is not likely to become a serious pest 
much further north. It is proving one of the most 
destructive and hardest to combat of any of the 
insects that attack cabbage. The winter is spent in 
the adult state, the bugs hibernating in sheltered 
places under boards and other rubbish in the neigh¬ 
borhood of cabbage fields. These old bugs are astir 
early in the spring, and attack any cruciferous or 
mustard-like weeds growing about, and the first brood 
of the bugs develops on these weeds, or perhaps, 
upon radishes that may be up at the time. The time 
when the eggs for the first brood are laid in the 
spring, depends upon the latitude, and character of 
the season. The eggs, shown natural size at c, and 
enlarged at cl and e, are usually deposited in two 
parallel rows of six or eight each. They are white 
and so peculiarly marked with black that they 
resemble miniature white barrels with black hoops. 
The eggs hatch in three or four days, and the young 
bugs grow rapidly, going through all their moults, and 
attaining the adult stage in about two weeks. The 
bugs sent by W. V. had laid several clusters of eggs on 
the sides of the box, all had hatched, and the young 
bugs had died before the box reached me, although I 
got it the sixth day after it was mailed ; this is a 
good illustration of how fast the insect breeds. Thus 
there may develop several generations of the bugs 
during the summer. The young bugs or nymphs are 
shown at a and b, Fig. 192. 
The insect seems to be a very difficult one to kill 
without injuring the plants. It gets its food from the 
inner tissues of the leaves by means of a long, slender 
beak which pierces the outer skin, and then acts as a 
pump to suck the juices up into the body. Insects 
that suck their food in this way, are entirely out of 
the reach of the arsenical poisons which can be applied 
only to the surface of the leaf. Possibly some of the 
younger bugs could be killed with kerosene emulsion, 
but the important point to be striven for is the 
destruction of the over-wintered adults in the spring ; 
there is no practicable method of getting at them in 
the winter. In the spring, they cluster largely upon 
mustard or radishes where they may be killed with 
pure kerosene oil, of course, killing the plants also. 
This plan of trapping the old bugs with mustard or 
radish crops in the spring, has been tried with excel¬ 
lent results in Mississippi. When the bugs once get 
at work on cabbages, the only practicable and success¬ 
ful method of fighting them is to handpick them in 
all stages and the egg clusters. It may be practicable, 
in some cases, to sweep the bugs off from the plants 
with an insect net. Thus only the most thorough 
and watchful efforts will succeed in preventing this 
serious cabbage pest from ruining a crop. m. y. s. 
Crimson Rambler Rose. 
E. W. W., Nashville, Term. —Where can I buy the Crimson Ram¬ 
bler rose t 
Ans. —Of the Storrs & Harrison Co., Painesville, O.; 
Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y.; Peter Hender¬ 
son & Co., New York, or of almost any of the nursery¬ 
men who deal in roses and advertise in our columns. i 
When to Plant Peach Trees. 
W. L. A., New York. —What is the best time to plant peach trees 
along the Hudson River—spring or fall ? I bought 200 last spring, 
but my ground was not in good condition, so I set them in a 
nursery row. They have made 'a prodigious growth this season. 
Ans. —The best time to set peach trees is early in 
the spring, when the ground is in good order, cutting 
them well back when set. The apple crop in our 
section is very good,oof-winter varieties. There are 
no peaches. Grapes are about two-thirds of a crop. 
J. F. WYGANT. 
A moderate-sized peach tree with one year’s growth 
from the bud, is the ideal tree for setting. The 
severe pruning of a large, two-year-old tree seems to 
check its growth, so that it will, generally, make but 
little progress the season it is set. W. L. A. should set 
his trees in the spring. Save all the roots possible, 
and prune close to the trunk all branches ; then cut 
the top down to about four feet. If care be taken to 
get the earth among the roots, and it be pressed 
firmly, the trees may do well. However, I would 
prefer to buy good one-year-old trees. This year’s 
grape crop varies in different neighborhoods. It will, 
generally, be of good quality, but a little below the 
average in quantity. The apple crop is large. Bald¬ 
win trees everywhere seem overloaded. More thin¬ 
ning should have been done for best results. Straw¬ 
berry fields are quite uneven, owing to the ravages of 
the White Grub. The plants that escaped are making 
a strong growth and sending out plenty of runners. 
On the whole, the outlook is good for a crop of straw¬ 
berries next season. w. D. barns. 
Timothy and Raspberries in Canada. 
H.J. W. T., Cheltenham, Ontario, Canada. —1. When should Tim¬ 
othy be sown alone, here in Ontario, aud how much seed per acre 
should be used to get the best possible results ? 2. When and 
how should fall planting of red raspberries be done ? 
Ans. —1. September 1 to 15 is the best time to sow 
Timothy, or at the same time that fall wheat should be 
sown. About 12 pounds to the acre are sufficient. 2. 
Red raspberries should be planted as soon as the 
frost ripens the new wood enough to enable one to 
strip off the leaves readily. Plant in rows eight feet 
apart, if the soil is rich. If rather poor, six feet will 
answer. Run a furrow where you wish the row, place 
the plants about two or three feet apart, and plant a 
little deeper than they were in the original plantation. 
The important points to insure success are, first, to be 
careful in digging the plants, to preserve a portion of 
the cross root to each plant; to keep the roots cov¬ 
ered while out of the ground, and to pack the soil 
very firmly around them when planting. After plant¬ 
ing, the land should be plowed up toward the rows, 
and a chance given for all surface water to run off 
quickly. Cut the canes back to within a foot of the 
ground. w. w. hilborn. 
Grass to Fill Gullies. 
M. //., Grayson County, W. Va. —We are troubled, in these moun¬ 
tains, with gullies and washed soil, in pasture which we do not 
wish to plow. What grass, however poor its quality, or even 
weed, would take hold and cover these ugly spots ? I have tried 
Japan clover, Bermuda grass, Red-top, etc., without success. We 
are nearly 3,000 feet above the sea in southern West Virginia. I 
am trying Crimson clover on your recommendation. 
Ans. —If Bermuda grass does not answer this pur¬ 
pose, we hardly know what to suggest. That would 
be our first choice. We would suggest that you try 
Johnson grass and Saghalin. 
An Easy Way to Catch Moles. 
T. A., Hartford, Conn .— Is there any easy and inexpensive 
method of capturing a mole ? 
Ans. —An easy method of killing moles has not 
yet been discovered. Numerous traps, more or less 
effective, have been devised, and The R. N.-Y. of 
April 6, 1895, described and illustrated the most of 
these. The Reddick trap, made by the Michigan 
Wire Shovel Co., Niles, Mich., seems to be the most 
effective of any we have ever tried. Some people 
watch the burrows, and when a disturbance of the 
earth shows the mole’s presence, throw him out with 
a spade. Dogs and cats are sometimes trained to hunt 
them. 
Poultry That Pick Feathers. 
L. G. N., Middleboro , Mass. —What can I do to stop hens from 
picking feathers off from the rest of the Hock ? I have a flock of 
young pullets which are just beginning to lay. I noticed one that 
was picked clean, from the top of her head down about one-fourth 
of her neck. 
Ans. —The young pullets have either contracted 
this habit from sheer idleness, or because something 
which they crave has been lacking in their food. It 
is safe to say that, if they had been allowed to range 
freely where they could secure grass and insects, they 
would not have contracted the habit. If yarded, pro¬ 
vide the scratching material, straw or chaff, and bury 
their grain in it to keep them busy scratching. A 
small quantity of raw or cooked meat fed daily should 
satisfy the craving which causes them to pick the 
young, just-started feathers which are juicy and 
nutritious. The habit once formed is not always easily 
broken up when the cause is removed, and some 
poultrymen are obliged to shave the sharp part of the 
hen’s bill so that she cannot grasp or hold the feather 
tightly. Poultry bits have been used for the same 
purpose. As with many other troubles, prevention is 
better than cure. samuel cushman. 
Cows That Chew Bones and Sticks. 
J. F. A., Farmington, N. Y .— All the spring, my cows chewed 
all the old sticks they could find and even pulled slivers off from 
the hemlock fence, and chewed them as they do bones sometimes. 
They have not done as well as usual, and are thin in flesh. They 
have had salt to go to when they wished, and had about the same 
fodder, winter and spring, that they usually have had. They have 
had lowland pasture most of the summer, but are in clover and 
Timothy now, and I see no difference. They have clean spring 
water from the same trough all the time. For fodder last winter, 
they bad corn stalks, clover and Red-top hay? What is the 
trouble ? 
Ans. —The quickest way to cure these cows, will be 
to feed fine bone meal. There is a lack of phosphates 
in the food, and the bone meal will supply it. Some 
of the fertilizer dealers are making a specially fine 
bone flour for cattle feeding. Mix the bone meal, 
half and half, with salt and feed a large handful each 
day. The craving will soon disappear. 
