1006. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
281 
KILLING OUT BERMUDA GRASS . 
I can tell your correspondent how to 
get rid of Bermuda grass, for I cleaned 
out a 10-acre orange grove last season, 
and a wet Spring at that. Part of the 
grove was heavily seeded to it, and tall 
enough to cut for hay. First T plowed it 
one way, and then cross-plowed it, running 
as close to the orange trees as possible; 
then it was cultivated and raked with a 
horse rake into windrows, and carted off or 
burned, and more plowing, cultivating and 
raking. Under the orange trees it was 
hoed and dug out until after about a 
year’s time very little of it is left. Smother 
crops will weaken it, but will not kill it 
out. Of course in a dry time one can do 
most effective work. I have a farm in the 
North filled with Witch grass, which ap¬ 
pears to grow exactly*like Bermuda, and I 
have never heard of any effective way 
to get rid of it except by continual culti¬ 
vation to bring the rootstocks to the sur¬ 
face and dry them out. Of course with 
ordinary farm crops one can get along 
nicely with Witch grass, but with trees, 
small fruits, etc., it is necessary to get 
rid of it entirely if one is ever going to 
enjoy any peace of mind. My farm is 
also covered with milkweed, with which I 
expect to have a worse tussle than with 
Witch grass. It does not do the damage 
that Witch grass does, but the roots run so 
deep one cannot get at them, and the only 
way I know of is to keep hammering away 
at the tops. However, when I get North 
1 am going to try some experiments at 
the weed. f. Howard. 
Florida. __ 
ASHES FOR ORCHARDS. 
I think very favorably of hard wood 
ashes for orchard use as a dressing for 
the soil. It appears that we get results 
from their use altogether out of propor¬ 
tion to the amount of phosphoric acid and 
potash they contain, and that this must 
be credited to the effects of the lime they 
contain upon the soil contents. The 
chemist tells us that the lime, potash, etc., 
contained in wood ashes are in the best 
possible form for plant use. I would want 
more phosphoric acid than the ashes con¬ 
tain, and would prefer to add it in the 
shape of steamed bone rather than acid 
phosphate. We have used large quanti¬ 
ties of acid phosphate in the past, and 
still favor its use, but not in combination 
with either wood ashes or common lime. 
J. NORRIS BARNES. 
Composting Hen Manure. 
F. P. Y., Port Jervl8, N. Y. —An expert 
farmer used to buy lien manure from me, 
using black dirt or muck in alternate lay¬ 
ers. He had it rounded up like a haycock. 
After standing six months he would cut it 
down on side and it would crumble, being 
tine like sand. I noticed he had it located 
in a slight depression in the land. 
Ans.—W e have seen this plan used. It 
makes a good mixture if the muck is 
dried and sweetened. We have known 
cases where wood ashes or lime was 
mixed with the muck. This helped. Of 
course we are told not to put ashes with 
hen manure. 1 he lime in the ashes sets 
free ammonia in the hen manure, but 
when both are put with muck or soil this 
absorbs and holds the ammonia. 
The British Postal Service. 
.4. If. F., Philadelphia, Pa .—I read re¬ 
cently that last year Great Britain’s parcels 
post carried 4,000,000 packages at the profit 
of $12,000,000. The charge for a three- 
pound parcel by mail, with house-to-house 
collection and delivery, is 10 cents. In the 
1 nited States the postage on a three-pound 
parcel is 48 cents. The Britsh postal surplus 
last year was $22,000,000. The postal deficit 
'a the United States last year was $13,000,- 
IHI °- Such facts as these ought to educate 
rapidly. Keep sounding the battle cry. 
MT understand that these figures 
are substantially correct. Of course the 
Bntish system covers less ground, and 
country the two items which make most 
1,1 the losses are the franking privilege 
and free rural delivery as conducted now. 
[hue is great abuse of the Government 
franks, or a privilege enjoyed by public 
men of sending mail free. Enormous quan¬ 
tities of matter are sent in this way which 
have nothing to do with the public. If 
postage were paid as should be millions 
would be added to the revenues. Rural 
mail delivery would be self-supporting if 
we had a parcels post, because a large 
proportion of the packages would go or 
come from country people. The postage 
on these packages would more than pay 
the bills. 
Getting Ready for Grass Seeding. 
G. L. IF., East Woodstock, Conn .—I have a 
piece of land, recently bought for the pur¬ 
pose of increasing my Winter feed for farm 
stock. I expect it is somewhat run-down, 
although it grew rank corn the past season 
on fertilizer; stalks would average 12 feet. 
After harvest I harrowed in rye, which I in¬ 
tend to plow under. I wish to get the piece 
seeded to our natural grasses as soon as pos¬ 
sible. Can I do so after the rye with the 
use of bone, or would it be advisable to sow 
some other crop to plow under? I notice 
your communication to C. B. D. in a recent 
issue. Would cow peas or Soy beans answer 
in northwest Connecticut? I could use Red 
clover, oats or buckwheat. The Crimson 
clover winter-kills here. The soil is mellow 
black loam, naturally moist. 
Ans. —Mr. Clark, the famous grass man, 
sometimes recommends sowing a crop of 
oats in the Spring, cutting them early for 
hay and then fitting the ground thoroughly 
for grass seed. In your case we would 
plow under the rye, and a little after corn 
planting time sow at least five pecks of 
Wonderful cow peas broadcast per acre. 
Sow them on the rough furrows and cover 
them with a harrow. The best time for 
grass seeding is in late August or early 
September. Early in August we would 
either plow the cow peas under, using a 
rolling coulter on the plow, or mow the 
vines and let them rot on the ground and 
then plow or chop up the stubble with a 
Cutaway. Fit the ground as well as 
possible and sow the grass seed. We 
would not depend upon bone alone for a 
fertilizer, but would use three parts by 
weight of bone and one of muriate of 
potash either when seeding to grass or 
sowing the cow peas. You will probably 
obtain best results by using the fertilizer 
with the peas. 
A Box of Lettuce Every Day. 
P. B. C., Catonsville, Md .—T want to cut 
one box of lettuce every day and two on 
Sunday from May 1 to January 1. I have 
one sowing of May King up nicely, and an¬ 
other sowing made yesterday. At what date 
shall I switcli off to Summer varieties, and 
what are the best varieties to cut in July and 
August, (a smooth leaf preferred) ? Can 
I sow say along about August 13 in beds, and 
on approach of cold weather stake up boards 
around the bods, bank up on one side with 
earth and then cover with fodder, and so 
keep it well along into Winter? What vari¬ 
eties are best for such treatment? 
Ans. —This is a very difficult question 
to answer, as P. B. C. wishes an even, 
regular supply or stated quantity of 
lettuce each day throughout the season; 
while market gardeners usually aim to 
take off the entire crop, frame or house 
of lettuce in a few days’ time, and make 
another planting for a succeeding crop. To 
produce one box of lettuce each day 
would require different conditions, or a 
large number of frames or plantings, as 
you could hardly count on the lettuce re¬ 
maining in good condition for more than 
a week or 10 days except during the cold 
Winter weather, when it can be held in the 
beds for three to six weeks in good con¬ 
dition, depending on the circumstances 
under which it is grown. I should think 
the best plan to keep up such a supply of 
lettuce would be to make a sowing of a 
good heading variety about the middle 
of September, again on the first of Octo¬ 
ber and the 15th of October in the open 
ground using a liberal quantity or seed 
and sowing the seed quite thinly. When 
these plants are well started they should 
be thinned out or transplanted to stand 
a few inches apart in a raised bed on 
well-drained ground. The earlier plant¬ 
ing will probably produce good heads in 
the open ground, which would make a 
supply until cold weather sets in. Some 
of this planting should also be set in 
cold frames to furnish a supply during 
December and January, and additional 
plants in the open ground should be pro¬ 
tected by a mulch of an inch or more 
of soft hay or other light mulch after 
severe cold weather sets in. Plantings of 
the different size lettuce plants from these 
different sowings should be set in the 
cold frames in the Fall to come on in 
succession, and as fast as the lettuce is 
cut off for market, the beds should be 
worked over and replanted with the 
largest plants from the stock grown in 
the open ground and this reserve of an 
ample supply of stocky, well-grown young 
plants in an open ground seed bed or 
in cold frames will be the keynote of 
securing a constant supply of head lettuce 
as desired. That is, there must be an 
ample supply of well-started young plants 
at all times ready to set in the beds to 
grow on to a market stage. During the 
months of December and January the 
lettuce would make very little growth 
either in a cold frame or in a cool green¬ 
house, and to have a supply at this time 
the lettuce should be practically headed 
early in December and carried in this 
condition in a cool temperature for use 
as needed for an early Spring supply. 
The plants which have been protected 
under the mulch in the open ground can 
be used either in a cool greenhouse or 
cold frames, as they should live through 
the Winter under the light mulch and be 
ready to grow on quickly in the Spring. 
For late Spring or early Summer use, 
the plantings should be made a week or 
10 days apart, as the lettuce would run 
quickly to seed after the heads are fully 
developed. Frequent plantings would be 
necessary to keep up a continuous supply. 
For Fall, Winter and early Spring use, 
an early heading variety such as the May 
King would be the most desirable, while 
for a late Spring and Summer crop in the 
open ground, the first plantings could be 
of early, medium and late varieties, such 
as the May King, Nansen and Deacon. 
If the lettuce is to be sold where it is 
grown, the Iceberg or Hanson, which are 
crisp-headed lettuces, will be the most 
satisfactory for Summer use, but if this 
lettuce is to be shipped to any distance, 
the cabbage type, such as the Deacon, 
will be more satisfactory. As an all- 
around heading variety for open-ground 
work, the Deacon is probably the best 
and surest heading lettuce now in culti¬ 
vation. E. D. DARLINGTON. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal." See guarantee, page 18. 
If you understand Modern Methods and 
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