754 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 12, 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
No Injunction Against Cucumber 
Blight. —Court injunctions have been 
issued, at the request 01 aggrieved liti¬ 
gants, forbidding so many forms of activ¬ 
ity that it comes almost as an agreeable 
surprise that a Carolina judge should re¬ 
fuse permanently to enjoin an enterpris¬ 
ing grower from planting his. green¬ 
houses with a Winter crop of cucumbers 
on the allegation of outside growers that 
in this way the fatal disease of blight 
was carried through the cold weather and 
disseminated when the ventilators were 
opened in Spring. The testimony showed 
that the grower produced about 700 
bushels of cucumbers each Winter under 
glass; that he had little trouble with the 
disease, using all practical means, such 
as cleanliness, fumigation and spraying to 
keep his establishment in good sanitary 
condition, and that plants from outside, 
showing symptoms of blight, even re¬ 
covered when taken inside. The plain¬ 
tiffs, however, declared that infection of 
their extensive outside fields always 
started at points nearest the defendant’s 
glasshouses, causing them great annual 
loss, and prayed for a permanent injunc¬ 
tion against the growing of the Winter 
crop of cucumbers. The judge did not 
find the case sufficiently clear to grant 
their request, as by doing so, he would 
practically ruin the defendant’s business. 
The decision appears to be based on 
sound common sense as well as good 
law. Melon and cucumber blights are 
among the most intractable diseases 
truckers have to contend with. If they 
can be avoided by growing these crops 
under glass there certainly should be no 
obstacles placed in the way. 
Vagaries of Melon Blight. —Despite 
its gloomy beginning this has proved a 
fairly good pickle and melon year. The 
seasons have remained relatively two to 
four weeks late. It was so cold in May 
that seeds could scarcely germinate. 
There was constant replanting, and the 
stands that were finally secured were gen¬ 
erally unpromising, hut after-conditions 
were so favorable that the vines general¬ 
ly made fine growth. Insects were not 
unduly troublesome at any time, and a 
touch of midsummer drought, while not 
sufficiently prolonged to check the vines, 
greatly favored the setting of full crops, 
so that blight only remained to reckon 
with. Spraying of melons was more 
thoroughly done than ever before in this 
vicinity. Many growers kept their plants 
coated with Bordeaux Mixture from the 
moment they began to run, spurred to 
it by past successes in controlling the dis¬ 
ease ; some made a few applications, and 
others ignored all preventive means, let¬ 
ting their plantings take the chances of 
infection. The results, with few excep¬ 
tions, were about the same. The blight, 
due here in normal years near the end of 
August, did not show up until well into 
September. The first pickings on sprayed 
and unsprayed fields alike were of ex¬ 
cellent quality, and were heartily wel¬ 
comed in the markets, but the significant 
brown spots soon began to appear on the 
foliage, starting usually at the point of 
most defective air drainage, and swept 
like a scourge over the whole planting. 
The appearance of blight is quickly sig¬ 
nalized by a glut of fine-looking but in¬ 
sipid melons in market, and prices this 
year soon fell below the cost of picking, 
so that great quantities were left to rot 
in the fields. Without good foliage there 
is no acceptable quality, and the blight 
strikes the plants a solar-plexus blow by 
scorching the leaves as by fire, and leav¬ 
ing the melons to wither or premature¬ 
ly ripen on the bare stems. Probably 
those who sprayed well got more good 
fruit, on the average, than those who 
did nothing to check the plague, but the 
margin of profit in the operation does 
not seem encouraging. No attempt is 
locally made to fight Cucumber blight, as 
this crop does not depend on the maturity 
of the fruit, which are out of the way 
before the disease usually appears. 
Comes from the South. —From best 
information it appears Cucumber and 
Melon blight, if indeed they are not one 
and the same disease, are endemic (con¬ 
tinually present) in the South, existing 
thorugh the Winter in Florida, below the 
frost line, and progress northward each 
year, arriving in the melon districts suc¬ 
cessively just as the crops are about to 
ripen and the vines are least able to resist 
infection. Vines grown under glass, pro¬ 
tected from night dews and sudden 
changes of temperature, rarely show 
traces of the disease, keeping green and 
healthy until the last fruit has ripened. 
That we have a helpful remedy in Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture appears to have been 
demonstrated, but its commercial utility 
is very much open to doubt. This year’s 
experience at least does not tend to con¬ 
firm wavering doubts. 
No Blight-proof Melon. —There is 
much talk of blight-proof muskinelon 
varieties, and some are annually sent out 
with that claim, but it is safe to say that 
even a reasonably blight-resistant melon 
has not yet materialized. The quest is 
not by any means hopeless, as individual 
plants vary to some extent in their power 
to resist infection, so that careful selec¬ 
tion may eventually isolate a good vari¬ 
ety that can be depended on to a greater 
extent than those we now have. The 
Colorado Experiment Station claims to 
be making headway in this direction, and 
keen private growers are on the lookout 
for resistant individuals. 
Plant the Early Kinds. —As blight 
has heretofore only appeared in late 
Summer, it appears good policy to plant 
only the earliest maturing varieties that 
succeed locally and to get them started 
at the earlist possible date. The melon 
is too delicious a fruit to be neglected, 
and anything that favors its perfect de¬ 
velopment should be taken in considera¬ 
tion. The most successful plantings this 
year appear to be those made in rather 
high, well-drained situations, and where 
there was an abundance of dcomposing 
vegetable matter in the soil, such as is 
provided by plowing under a thick clover 
sod. 
Every time your roof leaks, 
your pocket-book leaks, too. 
Gen-as-co Ready Roofing 
stops leaks once for all. 
Doesn’t warp or rot. Shingles do. Doesn’t pit 
or rust. Tin does. Doesn’t dry-out and pulverize. 
Coal-tar does. 
Gen-as'-co has the resisting, lasting life of Trini¬ 
dad Lake Asphalt, and protects your house or barn 
from years of weather. 
First cost is last cost—the most economical roof 
you can buy. 
Ask any progressive dealer. Write for Book 10 and samples. 
THE BARBER ASPHALT PAVING COMPANY 
Largest producers of asphalt in the world 
PHILADELPHIA 
New York San Francisco Chicago 
A Good Forcing Melon. —The wide 
prevalence of blight in melon growing 
districts has made the production of first 
quality fruits outside so precarious that 
attention is turning, in some northern 
localities, to their Summer culture under 
glass. Trials show that most varieties 
of muskmelon may be successfully grown 
in roomy greenhouses, but not at a cost 
that will allow them to compete with the 
outside product even of such distant lo¬ 
calities as Arizona and California. Blight 
does not affect well-cared-for melons 
under glass, but the Wilt disease, due 
to infected soil or manure, must carefully 
be guarded against or it will kill the 
plants just before maturity of the fruits 
as certainly as the former pest. A fungus 
grows into the stem just where it 
emerges from the soil, and plugs it so 
effectually that sap cannot be carried, 
causing the vines to wilt and die almost 
as if they had been severed. The remedy 
is to use only clean soil and manure and 
thoroughly to disinfect all benches, pots 
or utensils that come in contact with the 
roots. As to varieties, it appears clear 
that the European kinds that have been 
developed especially for this purpose are 
best. Not that they are of better quality 
than American field sorts, as is often 
claimed, but the fruits >are generally 
larger, they set with little pollen, the foli¬ 
age is large and healthy and the vines 
conveniently short-jointed or “stocky.” 
Many kinds have been tested in the Rural 
Grounds glasshouse during the last four 
Summers. Several have merit, but we 
like best the variety catalogued as Royal 
Favorite, shown much reduced in size, in 
Fig. 369, in page 751. It belongs to the 
so-called white-fleshed section, the thick, 
meaty but crystalline flesh being very 
light green in color. It is sparingly 
netted and does not look to be as good 
as it really is. There is a pleasant per¬ 
fume and the flavor is sweet, and high, 
quite comparable with the best “Rocky 
Fords,” while the size far exceeds that 
of the average of these latter favorites, 
usually exceeding six inches in diameter. 
Grown two vines in a 14-inch pot, we 
have never been able to get more than 
two good melons to each vine, but 
foreign growers claim to secure four to 
six fruits to the vine. We scarcely think 
these melons could profitably be grown at 
a less cost than 25 cents each for labor 
and materials, exclusive of the interest 
on value of greenhouse equipment. Good 
melons of guaranteed quality sell readily 
at good prices, but to be profitable they 
must be produced at low cost. 
w. v. F. 
Reheading Apple Trees.— In reheading 
apple trees take limbs not over l 1 /. inches; 
saw off so that plane of cut tips sharply to 
earth, and cut with saw or split horizontally. 
IVlien one joint has to come out saw hack 
diagonally from base of permanent scion about 
two inches up the branch, holding the saw 
perpendicular to the ground as near as possi¬ 
ble. This prevents a lot of rotten joints. 
Berwick, Nova Scotia. j. b. 
THE DEYO 
POWER SPRAYER 
Mounted complete with mechanical agita¬ 
tor. Better than ever. New air-cooled engine. 
Other new features, all important to the man 
who sprays. Write for new catalog 19—just out. 
R. H. DEYO 6 CO., Binghamton, N. Y. 
Monarch 
Hydraulic 
Cider Press 
Great strength and ca¬ 
pacity; all sizes; also 
gasolina engines, 
steam engines, 
saw mills, thresh¬ 
ers. Catalog free, 
■onarch Machinery Co., Room 161.39 Cortlandt St., Nat York. 
A copy of FARMERS GUIDE 
most useful book of Records, Reci¬ 
pes, and General Information 
mailed upon request to every 
Farmer and Stock Grower. Write to-day. 
THE 0. S. KELLY CO., 157 Lime St. Springfield, OMo. 
DESTROY 
SAN JOSE 
SCALE 
before it destroys! your trees. The 
one absolutely sure way to eradicate 
this pest entirely is by using SALI- 
1VIINK — the best, safest, cheapest, 
concentrated spray on the market. 
The original 
TRADE 
SALIMINE 
MARK 
is the result of ten years “At It” and 
know How.” It is a Lime, Salt, Sul¬ 
phur, and Caustic Potash solution. 
Recognized by all experimental sta¬ 
tions as the best insecticide for thor¬ 
oughly eradicating scale. One gallon 
mixed witli cold water makes 20 gal¬ 
lons of the standard solution. Write 
to-day for free circular witli prices. 
Monmouth Chemical Works, 
Dept. A. SHREWSBURY, N. J. 
GET THE BEST 
A Good Spray Pump earns big 
profits and lasts for years. 
THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
(practical fruit growers 
we were using common 
sprayers in our own orchards 
-—found their defects and 
invented the Eclipse. Its 
success forced us to manu- 
, - $ facturing on a large scale. 
W"—You take no chances. We 
have done all the experi¬ 
menting. Large fully illustrated Catalog and 
Treatise on spraying FREE. 
MORRILL & MORLEY. Benton Harbor. Mich. 
/^SAN JOSE SCALE-s. 
KILLER 
KIL-O-SCALE is the most reliable remedy 
for Scale. Ready for use by simply mixing 
with water. We also sell Spraying Outfits. 
Write for catalogue. 
HENRY A. DREER. - - Philadelphia, Pa. 
f Save Your Trees ^ 
Kill San dose Scale and other destructive l 
parasites witli a spraying solution of 
Good’s c Tha,“ Soap No. 3 
Sure death to insects. No sulphur, salt, mineral 
oils, or any substance harmful to plant life. En¬ 
dorsed by U.S. Dept.of Agriculture. Pocket Manual 
of cause, treatment and cure of tree diseases, free. 
Write today. JAMES GOOD, 
^•iginaj^laken^Lj^^jh-ont^jL^^hiladelghif^ 
For BEST and CHEAPEST 
Wood Preservatives 
Address C. S. MoKINNKY, Manager, 
CAKItOLINKUM WOOO-PKKSlGKV ING CO., 
GO Wall Street, New York. 
H r WATER SYSTEMS" 
It 1b easy ami Inexpensive If you have a 
brook, spring or poml on your place. Let 
Power Specialty Company 
Fit you out with a simple, 
automatic, guaranteed Rife 
Hydraulic Ram or a Foster 
High Duty Ram. Water raised 
toauy height. No trouble, no repairs. 
Free Catalogue gives valuable sugges¬ 
tions. Address 
fOWEN SPECIALTY COMPANY, 111 Broadway, Now York City 
(dwell Tanks and Towers 
enormously strong and dur- 
providing abundant water 
every use of household and 
for all time. Hundreds of 
progressive farmers iiave them, 
many in your locality. Ask for 
them and illustrated catalogue. 
W. E. CALDWELL CO., Louisville, Ky. 
/Steel, Wood\ 
Towers 
Tanks 
Wind Mills, 2’uinps, Gas Engines* 
>0(1 \ 
. Galvanized J 
66 
FUKIA 
kills Prairie Dogs, 
’ WoodcMucks,Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
“ The wheels of the 
gods grind slow but 
exceedingly small.” So the weevil, but you can stop 
“Fuma Carbon Bisulphide"." SX2 
EDWAIU) K. TAYLOIt, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
yS SPRAY THIS FAll WITHnS 
,5CALECIDEj 
^DON’T WAIT TILL SPRING^! 
Sure Death to San Jose Scale 
It’s cheap and 
“SCALECIDE” 
effective. Easy to uset Non-corrosive and non-clogging, 
contains more oil and lass water than any other commercial 
spray. We can prove it. 50-gallon barrel at your station, if east of the Missis¬ 
sippi and north of the Ohio River, for $25 cash. Smaller packages if you wish. 
Write now for Special Booklet N It’s free. 
B, G. PRATT COMPANY. Mfg. Chemists, 11 llroadway, New York City. 
\0/tDCR\ 
A 
,8AKRU\ 
