1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
489 
GRASS ROOT DIGGERS. 
A bulletin from the Department of 
Agriculture at Washington details some 
experiments in trying to kill out Johnson 
grass in the South. This grass has be¬ 
come a pest in some places, as it crowds 
into cultivated fields worse than Quack 
or Witch grass. It spreads underground, 
so that ordinary culture merely encour¬ 
ages its growth. The roots must be 
pulled up and destroyed before it can be 
killed. A disk or Cutaway harrow does 
good work at chopping off the roots, and 
a spring-tooth will uncover many of them, 
but in order to be effective a tool must 
reach down under and rip the roots out. 
Two grass-root diggers are mentioned in 
this bulletin—they are shown in the ac¬ 
companying diagram. The upper one is 
used by Geo. M. Clark, of Connecticut, in 
preparing sod land for reseeding to grass. 
With the best of plowing and harrowing 
some roots of old grass will be left in the 
soil. To destroy them Mr. Clark uses 
this tool like a one-horse cultivator. It 
works deep in the soil, gets under the 
roots, and snaps them off—often reach¬ 
ing the side of the field covered with 
broken and dragging roots. Mr. Clark 
says that he cannot fit an old meadow 
as it needs fitting without using a tool of 
this sort. It seems to be indispensable in 
destroying Johnson grass. 
SHALL WE SPRAY STRAWBERRIES? 
A prominent nurseryman and fruit grower 
says: “Double the strawberry crop by spray¬ 
ing with Bordeaux Mixture.” I sprayed a 
portion of my patch in an experimental way 
a few years ago, from one to four times. 
Spring before fruiting, with no beneficial re¬ 
sults whatever; in fact, the plot receiving the 
four applications was less productive than 
where no fungicide was used. The mixture 
was the 5-5-50 formula* and was preventive 
of Potato blight. Is it really practicable to 
prevent rust or leaf blight in strawberries by 
spraying? If it is necessary to spray the 
season before fruiting, as some say, and, as 
there is a constant increase in leaf and plant 
the entire season, which would necessitate 
frequent applications, would not the extra 
expense overbalance the extra returns, if any? 
Is there a successful strawberry grower who 
makes it a regular practice to spray his beds 
for fungus troubles? Would it not be wiser 
to select productive varieties that show the 
greatest immunity and propagate from those 
plants that are the best in resistant power? 
I submit the above, thinking it might be 
profitable for discussion among your subscrib¬ 
er strawberry experts. When a man make* 
the above statement, it is likely to cause a 
good many investments in “copper” where a 
little more information on the subject would 
prevent its leading to a sort of “frenzied 
finance.” j. e. k. 
New Jersey. 
I never have sprayed and I certainly 
hope not to be obliged to do so. I am 
growing largely of Wm. Belt, which rusts 
and blights badly with some, but very lit¬ 
tle with me. Gandy sometimes shows leaf 
spot, but not serious. I believe soil and 
climate conditions govern to such an ex¬ 
tent that our safest way is to grow such 
varieties as are most resistant to these 
fungus troubles, rather than resort to 
evils that we know not of. 
New York. Walter f. taber. 
My experience is very limited, and is of 
no value; but one spraying in a season, 
last year and this year, as there was no 
rust one year ago, and it is too early yet 
for conclusions this year. The safest way 
is to plant varieties that need no spray¬ 
ing, such as Haverland and Lovett. Sam¬ 
ple has been all right with me so far; I 
have fruited it twice. I think the best 
way to test it would be to select a variety 
extremely subject to blight, and spray 
thoroughly, leaving check rows. 
New York. c. a. parcell. 
On a trip through the principal straw¬ 
berry growing section of Delaware I 
heard of only one man who ever sprays 
his strawberries, and it was reported to 
me that he does it in a careless way and 
gets no results. Around Bridgeville, 
where there are hundreds of acres of 
strawberries, there is only this one man 
who sprays the plants. On Saturday, May 
27, there were 52 carloads of strawberries 
shipped from Bridgeville. On Monday, 
May 29, the day I was there, 35 carloads 
had been shipped by 3 P. M., and I pre¬ 
sume there were five to 10 or perhaps 
more carloads on the track, waiting to be 
sent out before night. c. P. close. 
Delaware. 
LOGS FOR CARRYING WATER. 
One of our readers in Pennsylvania asks 
us the following question about logs for car¬ 
rying water. Can you give us any informa¬ 
tion about it? “Would logs do as well as 
iron? What would be the lasting quality 
of chestnut, Ited oak, hemlock, beech or 
black cherry? Would either make the water 
taste?” 
Personally I have had no experience with 
logs for carrying water, but have known 
of their being satisfactorily used. In my 
opinion, if tney were laid deeply in the 
earth they would last as long as or longer 
than the steel pipe now on the market. I 
think that second-growth chestnut would 
outlast the other woods mentioned. To 
get satisfactory results the logs would 
need to be carefully bored and jointed at 
the ends. j. t. Campbell. 
Pennsylvania. 
In our community wood that would an¬ 
swer the purpose is so expensive and hard 
to obtain that iron pipes are more desira¬ 
ble. In regard to the lasting qualities of 
beechwood I am unable to say anything. 
Of the other woods named, chestnut 
would be the most durable. In a place 
where good wood can be easily obtained 
and a good mechanic secured to be sure 
the logs are properly bored the use of 
wood might be advisable. My experience 
has been, however, that it is a difficult 
matter to secure straight boring. If at 
any place the boring approaches close to 
the surface of the log a leak will soon 
occur there. Defects in our chestnut wood 
have also been caused by the devices of 
chestnut hunters in obtaining the nuts, 
thus rendering the wood less fit for such 
purposes. Good chestnut logs properly 
bored will last from 10 to 20 years, de¬ 
pending upon the thickness and the degree 
of perfection that may be obtained in the 
logs used. As to making the water taste, 
all wood pipes will to some extent flavor 
the water, and also color it slightly as 
long as the wood is new, but this will not 
be the case after the pipes are in use for 
a short time. The taste caused by iron 
pipes will be extremely slight, if any. I 
have tried simply to refer to a few of the 
conditions that need be taken into consid¬ 
eration by anyone who desires to make use 
of pipes of any kind. JOHN good. 
Pennsylvania. 
I do not know how much water your 
correspondent wishes to carry, or how far, 
and it would be a difficult matter, in any 
case, to advise on the subject. Pipes of 
galvanized iron are almost universally 
used, but there might be circumstances 
where logs could be profitably employed. 
An instance of this is known to me where 
a log flume carries water successfully, and 
has for many years from a mountain 
spring, run to a barn about one-fourth 
of a mile away. Chestnut was plentiful, 
and straight logs from eight to 10 inches 
in diameter and 12 feet long were select¬ 
ed. They were split in halves and a 
groove about three inches deep was cut in 
them with an adze, having a semi-circular 
blade. With this tool a 12-foot section of 
sluice pipe could be made as quickly as a 
fence rail. They were fitted together 
closely end to end, sometimes lying on the 
ground, and at places supported by rocks 
or timber to give them a uniform grade. 
The water was used in the barn for the 
stock. For some time in the Winter it 
would be put out of use by freezing, al¬ 
though no amount of freezing disturbs it, 
as is sometimes the case with pipes. 
Chestnut is the most suitable wood for the 
purpose, splitting easily and being very 
lasting. None of the other woods men¬ 
tioned, Red oak, hemlock, beech or Black 
cherry, would be suitable, as they are 
lacking in durable qualities, a most im¬ 
portant consideration under the circum¬ 
stances. The wood would not impart any 
taste to the water. grant davis. 
New Jersey._ 
MACHINE-PICKED RASPBERRIES. 
Are raspberries for evaporating harvested 
by machinery; A bulletin from the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture has a picture of a 
screen or frame against which the berries 
are knocked or batted. Is this device con¬ 
sidered practical by growers? 
I do not consider the raspberry harvester 
practical. It is not used in this vicinity. 
I believe one or two were tried in the west¬ 
ern part of the county. Raspberries do not 
ripen evenly enough to be all harvested at 
once. If batted off when too ripe some of 
the ripest ones are mashed, and if harvested 
when some are green the berry does not 
cleave from the core, and a piece of stem 
clings to the berry, and will not fan out 
when run through the fanning mill—as they 
must be after they are evaporated—to clean 
out the leaves that are batted off. Grow¬ 
ers pay 1 Yi and two cents per quart for 
picking, according to the scarcity of pickers 
and the necessity of growers for pickers. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. c. E. clark. 
Raspberries are gathered by means of the 
berry harvester to quite an extent in the 
portions of New York State where they are 
grown for evaporating purposes. The fruit 
Is allowed to remain longer on the bushes 
than when picked by hand; then is batted 
off Into trays. Leaves and stems come with 
it, and all are put through the drier to¬ 
gether. When cured, the fruit is run 
through a fanning-mill, separating as much 
of the refuse as possible. It is then hand¬ 
picked and goes to market in excellent con¬ 
dition. I think the cost is somewhat less 
than picking by hand, and it possesses the 
advantage of making the grower less depen¬ 
dent upon pickers, since one man can gather 
more fruit with the harvester than a picker 
can pick ; the handpicking of the dried fruit 
can be done more leisurely during the Win¬ 
ter. In “Bush Fruits,” at hand, this device 
is discussed on page 74. We pay two cents 
a quart for picking berries here. I think 
that is a very general price, though some 
growers vary it according to the berry and 
character of the picking. fred w. card. 
Rhode Island. 
A few years ago, when evaporated rasp¬ 
berries were so cheap many of the berry 
harvesters were used by the berry growers 
about here, for the situation demanded cheap 
harvesting or the abandonment of the berry 
business. At present prices there is a fail- 
margin of profit after paying 1 y a or two cents 
per quart for handpicking. The harvesters, 
however, are still used by some growers, and 
the cost of harvesting will average about one- 
half cent per quart. After batting, as the 
practice is called, the berries are run 
through a fanning-mill before evaporating, 
and much of the rubbish that unavoidably 
comes off with the berries, is blown out. 
After evaporating the berries must be hand¬ 
picked the same as beans are. This work is 
done by girls and women, who receive here. 
75 cents per day, the amount of this work 
that each individual can do in a day depend¬ 
ing on the amount of refuse matter the ber¬ 
ries contain, and will vary from 125 to 250 
pounds per day. J. o. wadsworth. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. 
“Mother, can we go to play with the 
other children?” “You may play with 
the little girls, Emily, but not with the 
boys; the little boys are too rough.” 
“Well, mother, if we find a nice smooth 
little boy, can we play with him?”—Life. 
Stuyvesant : “What struck you as the 
funniest things you experienced when you 
were at New York, Uncle Geehaw?” Un¬ 
cle Geehaw (of Greenport) : “Why, hav¬ 
in’ to climb five flights of stairs up into 
the air at One Hundred and Twenty-fifth 
Street to get to the Subway an’ go down 
three flights of stairs at One Hundred 
and Fifty-fifth Street to get to the ele¬ 
vated railroad!”—Harper’s Weekly. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
EARTH 
We have hundreds 
of letters from 
users of 
Kendall’s 
Spavin 
Cure 
who declare it to bo the "Beat remedy on earth" 
Tor Spavins, Ringbones, Splints, Curbs and all 
forms of lameness. Your experience will be the 
same if you try it. 
Price $ 1; 6 for $5. As a liniment for family use ithas 
no equal. Ask your druggist for Kendall's Spavin Cure, 
also "A Treatise on the Horse," the book free, or address 
jaR^B^JCENDALL^O^NOSBUR^^ALLS^T. 
MINERAL 
HEAVE 
REMEDY 
Only Sure Cure. 
Positive and Permanent. 
Absolutely Pure. 
$1 .00 Package cures any 
ordinary case. 
$3.00 Package cures any 
case or money refunded. 
Sent postpaid on receipt 
of price. Agents Want¬ 
ed. Liberal terms. 
Mineral Heave Remedy Co., 461 4th Ave., Pittsburg, Pa. 
YOUNG MEN WANTED —To learn the 
Veterinary Profession. Catalogue sent 
free. Address VETERINARY COLLEGE, 
Grand Rapids, Mich. L. L. Conkey. Prin. 
Veterinarians use 
Pratts Prepared Fever Powder. 
Made by Pratt Food Co., Phila. Over 30 years old. 
X AVI C MIITP Make old buggies run like new 
i MALL llUIO Sample sent on approval. 
Agtg. wanted. Hardware Co., Box F 43, Pontiac, Mich 
BINDER TWINE 
8 3 n Farmers Wanted as Agents. 
4> AUGUST POST, Moulton, Iowa. 
“FUNIA" 
kills Prairie Doga, 
’ Woodchucks,Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
“The wheels of the 
gods grind slow but 
exceedingly small.” 8o the weevil, but you can stop 
“•feS"' “Fuma Carbon Bisulphide ”£KSS 
EDWARD R. TAYLOR, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
READY-MADE WIRE FENCE 
All large, strong wires; 49-inch. 28c per rod; 
45-inch, 25 cents per rod; 36-inch, 20 cents per 
rod, in 10, 20 or 40-rod rolls. Orders .filled 
promptly; quality guaranteed. Circulars and 
samples free. 
CASE BROTHERS, Colchester, Conn. 
COOPER 
i SHEEP PIP 
STANDARD OF THE WORLD 
year*. Used on 250 millions annually. If local 
druggist cannot supply, send $1.75 for *2 (100 gal.) 
pkt, to Cyril Francklyn, 72Beaver St., N. Y 
pn 
k— ; 1 
l|ntl 
:r 
L- 
r— 
l! | 
'll 
Pi 
Hi 1 
J 
Hi 
1 
i 
u 
r 
H. 
»l 
■' III 
WEEDSPORT SILOS 
The three styles we build are mod- 
®l s °f up-to-date silo construction. 
The cut shows the "Weedsport 
Improved Silo.” with removable 
sliding, interchangeable doors, and 
Octagon Shingle Roof. 
A Silo 'will pay its cost in one 
year from saving in fodder and 
increase of milk, Special prices 
on orders for shipment July 1st. 
Write for Catalogue, stating size 
wanted. 
The ABRAM WALRATH CO. 
Box 83, 
WEEDSPORT, N. Y. 
P 
, THE FAMOUS 
GREEN MOUNTAIN«] 
Green Mountain 
Silage is like good 
money in bank, to be 
drawn out by the 
farmer to suit his own 
convenience in feed¬ 
ing his stock on the 
most luscious and nu¬ 
tritious of green pas¬ 
turage during the long 
winter season (or all 
the year round for 
that matter), at only 
about half the cost o( ordinary feed. 
Bad silage is as worthless as bad money. 
Gwen Mountain Silage with all its famed supenority can 
be bad only from a Green Mountain Silo. No other is to be 
compared with it. It stands alone and supreme as the very 
King of Silos. If you buy now you get the benefit of early 
order discount. Our new free illustrated booklet tells more 
about it. ^ Agents wanted in unoccupied territory. | 
A 'ole ’ V r are manufacturers and dealers in Machinery and Supplies 
lor Dairy and G'amery; also Casolcne Engines. Pleasure Boats, etc. 
STODDARD MFC. CO., Rutland, VL 
