520 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 8, 
FARMER? CLUB 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to in¬ 
sure attention. Before asking a question, 
please see whether it is not answered in 
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questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper. 1 
NOTES ON ASPARAGUS. 
The asparagus crop here this season 
with us fell off 20 per cent. In some 
places it is dying out, caused partly by 
rust. The rust is pretty bad every sea¬ 
son except the extremely dry ones. We 
have not found any safe way of fighting 
the disease. In this locality they are plant¬ 
ing new fields every season and think it 
will pay as well as any other crops we 
raise. Fertilizers most largely used here 
are stable and barnyard manures. Care 
of fields is to cultivate as much as possible 
to keep free from weeds, which is a hard 
job, and a good many weeds get the best 
of us and go to seed. asa shepard. 
Iowa. 
Rust has not seriously troubled me, 
whether because of my treatment or good 
luck I cannot say. My field, one and one- 
half acres, is mostly Moore’s Cross-bred, 
or now called Giant. I have some of the 
Donald’s Elmira, but I can see very little 
difference. It all makes a good growth 
when well fed and cultivated. I set the 
roots about six to seven inches deep, and 
do not cut until the third season after 
setting. I like to use a good supply of 
stable manure when setting, and find I 
have to apply considerable in after years 
to keep the soil supplied with humus, as 
I cannot or have not been able to practice 
green manuring with asparagus, but I 
rely mostly upon chemical fertilizers to 
feed the crop. I used this season nearly 
1,500 pounds of a high-grade potato fer¬ 
tilizer per acre sown over the rows in 
early Spring, and well worked in with a 
Cutaway harrow. Just as the “grass” be¬ 
gins to show I bed up the rows to make 
it better cutting, and enable the weeder 
to do better work in keeping down the 
weeds in cutting time. I usually cut un¬ 
til about June 20, and cut clean all the 
time to keep beetles from breeding. As 
soon as done cutting, I mean to clean out 
the bed thoroughly, giving it a harrowing 
and good scratching with the weeder, 
after sowing about 300 pounds per acre 
of nitrate of soda. I have tried to keep 
weeds from going to seed on the bed, and 
I mean to remove the seed stalks before 
the berries fall. My field this season has 
yielded nearlv its usual crop, but growth 
has been hindered some by cold and 
drought. Asparagus with me has 'been 
my surest profitable crop, and the only 
reason I have not planted more extensive¬ 
ly is want of suitable soil. Price this 
season has been very high, and my finan¬ 
cial returns are best I ever had. 
Massachusetts. m. morse. 
The market price last year was con¬ 
siderably lower than it had been for two 
or three former years; the yield was con¬ 
siderably better than it had been for two 
or three former years; the rust was not 
as bad year before last as it has been, 
which accounted for the increase in yield 
last year. The rust was worse last year 
than year before, but some of the patches 
that almost escaped the rust last year are 
not cutting as well this as they did last 
year. The cool weather probably had 
something to do with it, but I doubt if 
that is the entire cause. As to recom¬ 
mending larger planting, I do not care to 
do so. It is a lottery any way. like most 
of other farming. There appears to be 
a distinction in asparagus as to varieties, 
but no one claimed variety will produce 
the same asparagus, even if the seed was 
gathered from the identical plant; the 
cause I do not know. I think the only 
way to improve asparagus is to select 
from selected and developed well-grown 
plants from year to year. While grow¬ 
ing the plants for market purposes I 
saved my own seeds by careful selection 
from the best spears in the best patches 
about the country, yet all the plants did 
not produce the same size when cutting. 
Some were very fine and some were 
smaller. grower. 
Monmouth Co., N. J. 
HARDY ONIONS. 
The Welsh onion, or ciboule, as the 
French call it, Allium fistulosum, is very 
fine to use green in the Spring for bunch¬ 
ing like the Egyptian tree onion, and can 
stand as much frost or more; growing 
from black seeds it is much cheaper. I 
have wondered why they are not culti¬ 
vated in this country. I have had it for 
about five years; the leading seedsmen 
do not catalogue it. There is very little 
demand for it at present, and “'1 he New 
Onion Culture” does not mention it at all. 
The seeds can be sown from early in the 
Spring till about September in this lati¬ 
tude. There are two varieties, the white 
and yellow. They can be sown in rows 
about one inch apart or closer in rows one 
foot apart or more. The seeds sown in 
the Spring are good to use in Summer 
and Fall. This kind of onion does best 
in sandy ground enriched with well-rotted 
manure. When you have it once in the 
garden it will last a lifetime. Chopped 
fine it is good in salads, also in omelette; 
very good for poultry, etc. Why not try 
some this year? The seed ripens in June 
and July, and can be sown in Summer and 
Fall. The seeds are good for two years 
and more if kept the way it is grown. 
Hardy onions can be sown as late as 
September in this locality, but a good 
many are disappointed; sometimes the 
seeds will not germinate, or the seedlings 
damp off, and the maggots eat them. Mr. 
Greiner complains that the seeds did not 
come up well last Summer, and says the 
Welsh onion germinates much better. 
This is true, and the maggots do not eat 
them either. They are just as good and 
come two weeks before the hardy onion. 
I believe that any onion can be hardy. 
Frizetaker, Queen, Barletta and many 
others will be hardy if they are grown in 
this climate. The seeds grown in Califor¬ 
nia, Italy and south of France are not 
hardy. There is nothing new about hardy 
onions; my grandfather had them 75 
years ago. Almost anyone can raise seed 
of them. When bunching them in the 
Spring choose the finest and earliest; 
when you have enough plant them in rows 
six inches apart, and rows at least two 
feet from each other. Clean them from 
weeds; they will keep without other care 
till next Spring. Don’t plant them where 
water is stagnant, because they cannot 
stand that. It would be good to cover 
them with straw or salt hay; snow is the 
best covering. About March 15 they can 
be uncovered. What is required after 
that is to keep out the weeds. When 
they commence to throw the flowering 
stem cover the bulbs with soil at least six 
inches, so the wind will not blow them 
down. They can be tied to a stick. They 
get ripe in July, when the seed is black 
and the stem yellow. They can be cut 
down and put on canvas for a few days in 
the sun to dry. They must be put inside 
at night; the dew and rain might spoil 
them. Do not dig the old roots; cut out 
the stem close to the ground and let them 
remain for four or five years; after that 
they need to be renewed, because they 
would run out. 
Care of the Seeds. —It is very import¬ 
ant to use only well-ripened seeds. It is 
very easy to know by the weight and the 
color, and the organs inside, when they 
are well filled when cut in two in the mid¬ 
dle. This is not only true for onions, but 
for all kinds of seeds. The onions that 
are in the market are generally weak and 
are only good for one year. It is better 
to keep them in their natural clothes; 
when you need them you can thrash them 
and sow them right away. To be sure 
when they are good put them in water; 
the bad ones come on top and the good 
stay in the bottom. henri beaulieu. 
Long Island. 
Cow Peas in Northern New Jersey. 
M. M., Englewood , X. J .—How late can I 
sow cow peas for a profit as a soil im¬ 
prover, and how much per acre should be 
sown ? 
Ans. —We have sown cow peas as late 
as the middle of July, and obtained a fair 
growth of vine. Of course you cannot 
get seed with this late planting. We use 
three pecks of seed to the acre when 
drilling or five pecks sown broadcast. 
Pasture for Milch Cow. 
J. G., Buffalo, X. Y .—What is the best 
kind of seed to sow for pasture for a milch 
cow, and how much should I sow to the 
acre ? 
Ans. —For permanent pasture we should 
sow about four quarts each White and 
Red clover and six quarts each Timothy 
and Red-top. If the land was moist we 
would drop the Timothy and use Orchard 
grass instead. This is rather a heavy 
seeding to some men’s mind, but we think 
it pays to use plenty of seed. 
Feeding Potatoes to Pigs. 
New potatoes being cheap, will it pay 
to cook them for pigs? What is the fatten¬ 
ing rate of a bushel of potatoes to a bushel 
of corn. u. i>. b. - 
Berkley, Va. 
Here is a fair comparison of potatoes 
with corn: 
Pounds in One Ton. 
Protein. Fat formers. Fat. 
Corn . 170 1,200 05 
Potatoes . 42 440 4 
The actual feeding value of the pota¬ 
toes is a little more than one-fourth that 
of the corn. The potatoes must be cooked 
before they are fed. At present prices it 
will pay to feed potatoes. We would like 
to add wheat bran or meat of some kind 
to them. 
Cornus Sanguinea. 
8. M. B., Trummsburg, X. Y .—Will you 
tell a reader the good and poor qualities of 
Cornus sanguinea ? I have ordered one 
for a bleak and conspicuous place five feet 
south of the house, but on reflection thought 
it best to ask for knowledge of it before 
setting it out. We are half way between 
Ithaca and Watkins. 
Ans. — Cornus sanguinea is a very 
hardy and attractive shrub, the bright red 
branches being especially beautiful ' in 
Winter, when bare of foliage. It is 
healthy, exceedingly hardy, and there are 
no objections to it that we are aware of, 
except that it is straggling in growth, and 
is likely to send up suckers some distance 
away from the parent plant, but is very 
easily kept in control. It seldom grows 
very high, the tallest sprouts reaching 
four or five feet. The clusters of white 
flowers are very pretty in May. This plant 
is often called Red Osier dogwood. 
Rose Beetles on Grapes. 
G. II. G., Chicago, 111 .—For several years 
I lost about all my grapes on my Summer 
home farm in Van Buren Co., Mich., by 
the long, black Rose bugs. They would light 
upon and cover the vines when the tiny 
clusters were just out of the blossom, and 
in two or three days strip the whole patch. 
What can I do to save my grapes? 
Ans. —The Rose bug or beetle is a very 
destructive pest to young grapes and also 
to many flowering plants. It is very diffi¬ 
cult to control. Hand picking or jarring 
into a vessel of water containing a little 
kerosene in the early morning when they 
are more or less dormant is about the 
most reliable way to save the grapes. An¬ 
other promising treatment is to syringe 
them forcibly, with water heated to 120 de¬ 
grees. It must not be hotter than this, 
as it would injure the grapes, and it can¬ 
not be much cooler, or it will not disturb 
the beetles. The problem is to get the 
water on the beetles at just about the tem¬ 
perature mentioned, 120 degrees. The 
treatment is more effective if one ounce 
of hellebore is stirred in each gallon of 
the hot water just before syringing. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
‘a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
BORDEAUX MIXTURE 
used now will increase your yield of Potatoes SOp.c. 
STEDEM’S CONCENTRATED BORDEAUX 
saves you trouble and expense Add water, and it is 
ready for spraying. 
1 gallon mixed with 49 gallons of water, costs only 75e. 
One barrel, making 2,500 gallons, costs only $25.00 
(See article on use of Bordeaux Mixture in Rurai, 
New-Yorker, page 470, June 17.) Order from Seeds¬ 
men or direct from STEDEM & SONS, 
1806 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia* Pa. 
APPLE BARRELS AND BOXES i PRICES 
Prompt shipments. R. GILLIES, Medina. N. Y. 
c 
RIMSON CLOVEI 
n 
Nature’s Fertiliser and Ideal 'Hay 
Crop. New circular describing its H 
merits and why every Farmer and 
Trucker should plant it, mailed FREE. Write for 
prices, also new wheat circular. 
HOLMES SEED COMPANY, Harrisburg, Pa. 
r? A I I?— Crimson Clover Seed, 
■ V/ rw O M k, EL $4.50 per bushel; Cow 
Peas, $1.75 bushel. J. E. HOLLAND, Milford, Del. 
DCAI1V NOW 250 bushels 1905 crop CRIMSON 
(lL/UH llUfl, CLOVER SEEDS, Delaware 
grown. No weeds. E. G. PACKARD. Dover, Del. 
CELERY 
and Cabbage Plants. Very 
_ ___ strong. The plants have an 
average of four square inches of space each over the 
whole field. $1,1,000; $4.50, 5,000; 70c. 500. CELERY- 
Giant Pascal, Winter Queen, Golden Self Blanching, 
White Plume. CABBAGE-Danish Ballhead, Flat 
Dutch, Surehead. F.W. ROCHELLE, Chester, N. J. 
CELERY AND CABBAGE PLANTS, 
SLAYMAKER & SON, Dover, Delaware. 
VEGETABLE PLANTS 
FIVE MILLIONS CELERY ! White Plume, 
Giant Pascal, and ether varieties, 1,000, $1.00; 10,000 
$8.50; transplanted, 1,000, $2. Cabbage and Tomatoes, 
same prices. LUDVIG MOSBAEK, Onarga, Ill. 
CELERY and CABBAGE PLANTS 
FOR SALE — Leading varieties, carefully packed 
with moss in baskets, t. o. b. here. Write for prices. 
Cash with order. Plants ready about June 15. 
WOODLAND FARM, Canastota, Madison Co., N.Y. 
next June, if planted this Summer. 
DREER’S 
Mid-Summer Catalogue 
offers a choice line of these; also Celery, 
Cabbage, Cauliflower and other season¬ 
able plants. Write for copy, FREE. 
HENRY A. DREER, 714 Chestnut SUPbila., Pa. 
TREES 
SHRUBS 
ROSES 
The largest and most com¬ 
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including all desirable nov¬ 
elties. Illustrated descrip¬ 
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Medal—Paris, Pan-American, 
St. Louis. 102 prizes New York 
State Fair, 1904. 
ELLWANGER & BARRY 
Mount Hope ^Nurserle** 
Drawer 1044— I, Rochester, N.Y. 
Established lSJfi. 
K FRUIT BOOK 
shows in NATURAL COLORS and 
accurately describes 216 varieties of 
’ fruit. Send for our liberal terms of distri- 
’bution to planters.—Stark_Bro’s, Louisiana, Mo. 
POT GROWN STRAWBERRY PLANTS^LK 
will fruit next season. Send for list. Order now. 
BARNES BROS. NURSEB-Y, Box 8, Yalesville, Ct. 
Potted StraAVberry Plants 
List Free. T. C. KEVITT, Athenia, New Jersey. 
DWYER S POT-GROWN STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
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Prndl 1PP a Full Crnn in IMOR Some of the finest berry patches in America owe success to 
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