THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
199 
1909. 
DAMAGE FROM CEMENT DUST. 
I am working about 20 acres of truck 
jon my 40, also about 300 hotbed sashes 
in Spring, being on .the place 25 years 
and getting along well. Last Spring a 
newly-built cement factory one and one- 
half mile from my place, started up to 
work. At same time cement dust be¬ 
gan flying freely over our place, making 
our “greenstuff” look rather gray some¬ 
times as wind comes from the direction 
of the factory, but rain and wind take 
it mostly off again. I cannot record any 
loss to amount to much so far, but 
for the glasswork it is a deadly blow, 
and may put me out of business with 
the hotbeds, glass being blinded in a 
short time, and the growing of plants 
retarded. Cleaning every week takes 
up too much time. By the end of 
Spring glass is so badly coated with 
cement as to make it useless. I have 
been asking the firm for some compen¬ 
sation in this matter, say $25. The firm 
'threatens to take itfieir plant down, 
rather than pay damages. I am the 
only gardener near them who can put 
up any reasonable claim. I would like 
to hear if any of your many readers 
have a similar case under observation. 
Who can tell if such loss by a cement 
plant has ever been adjusted? Is dust 
flying for over a mile a permanent ad¬ 
dition to every cement plant which can¬ 
not be avoided ? I am over 60, and 
so far have had difficulties settled peace¬ 
fully outside the court, but .in this mat¬ 
ter if I don’t get any redress I feel like 
throwing off my coat and fighting. 
Michigan. R. S. 
R. N.-Y.—We have had several inquir¬ 
ies much like the above. The greatest 
damage seems to come from the cement 
settling on the glass. This damage is evi¬ 
dent and easy to prove. It should be settled 
for. In very dry seasons the dust in¬ 
jures the appearance of such crops as 
lettuce or cabbages. Somes cases of 
claimed damages due to the fumes from 
chemical factories have come into court 
but we have no record of such a case 
about cement dust. Will gardeners who 
live near such factories please give 
their experience? 
CORN TO KILL QUACK GRASS. 
In perusing some old numbers of The 
R. N.-Y. I noticed a variable discussion 
about subduing quack grass, and ap¬ 
parently the opinion or experience of 
some of your readers is that, in order 
to redeem a field of quack, one season’s 
labor and crop must be lost. I would 
like to submit our method of growing 
flint corn on a quack grass sod, which 
is followed here every year with good 
results. 
If manure is available do not be afraid 
to put it on during the Winter or 
before plowing, which time is about 
May 20 with us. By leaving it as 
late as possible a good green growth 
is secured and there is generally a 
fair amount of clover mixed in. Plow 
about six inches deep and turn every¬ 
thing well under, then follow im¬ 
mediately with a disk and cut both 
ways, after which use drag harrows 
or any other implement suitable to 
make a good seed bed. We plant in 
check rows 40 inches apart, and. use a 
hand planter, which should drop three 
to five grains in a hill. Follow the 
planter with a small amount of high- 
grade fertilizer square on top of each 
hill. This I consider a very important 
factor, as it gives .the corn a winning 
lead at the critical time of its life. 
Just before the corn appears through 
the ground go over it once or twice 
again with the drag harrow, which will 
kill weeds; also leave in good condi¬ 
tion for the cultivators. 
At this juncture we face the hardest 
part of the whole operation, which is 
the manner of cultivation, for experi¬ 
ence and much care is necessary. We 
use a one-horse cultivator, and it should 
■have new teeth, and next to the corn 
row one of one-half width enables us 
to get very close; also turn it slightly 
so that it does not cover the corn. 
Start the cultivator as soon as corn is 
large enough, not later than 10 days 
from planting; go twice in a row and 
a man will do from 2 p 2 to acres 
per day. When over the field, at once 
go the other way; this time you can 
cut deeper, as the corn will be larger. 
The third time is when the execution 
should be done, for previous to this 
the corn has been too small and the 
field too much like a woven mat for 
a cultivator to do effective work, and 
from this time on more shallow work 
would be advisable. Do not forget that 
your cornfield calls for much work at 
the right time, while small neglect can 
easily mean failure. We, as a rule, go 
four or five times alternately twice in 
a row, and if the season is normal and 
the work well done, we are sure of a 
fair to good crop from 70 to 120 bushels 
per acre, no matter how much quack 
we had for company; besides, the field 
if Fall-plowed four or five inches deep, 
will be free from quack for almost any 
succeeding crop. I know that our west¬ 
ern friend will take exception to this 
way of producing corn because we 
have wasted so much labor on so little 
ground, but I am equally sure that his 
methods would fail under like condi¬ 
tions; besides, we pay a big price for 
grain. I think the East should grow 
more corn. h. s. 
St. Catharine’s, Ont. 
Salt as a Fertilizer. 
II. K., North Tonawanda, N. Y .—Can 
anyone give me the reason for broadcasting 
salt over the ground? I have seen this 
done, and would like to know what benefit 
is derived by it, also how much to be ap¬ 
plied to the acre. 
Ans. —Large quantities of salt will 
ruin vegetation and poison the ground. 
It is said that when the Romans con¬ 
quered a fertile province which they 
wanted to destroy they scattered salt 
over the cultivated fields. On aspar¬ 
agus beds salt is often used to destroy 
the weeds. Asparagus was originally a 
salt marsh plant, and is not affected 
by an amount of salt which will kill 
grass. The salt has some power to 
set free silica in the soil. This ele¬ 
ment helps to stiffen the straw of grain 
or grass so that it stands up better. 
When grain or grass “lodges” or falls 
down in a mat before it is ripe the 
trouble usually is that it grows too fast 
so that the stems are soft and feeble. 
Too much soluble nitrogen will cause 
this. The salt acts to retard nitrifica¬ 
tion, which means the formation of 
soluble nitrogen. Thus, when the salt 
is used, the soluble nitrogen is formed 
slowly, the plants do not grow so rap¬ 
idly, and make a stronger stem. These 
are the chief reasons for using salt. 
About 300 pounds per acre on wheat 
are used. The practice is not as com¬ 
mon as it was 20 years ago. The salt 
is sometimes advocated for killing in¬ 
sects, but if you were to use enough of 
it to do anv erood in this way you 
would hurt the soil for producing crops. 
Failure of Potatoes. 
W. II. K., Rpckportj At ass .—I have a 
garden which would be called sandy and I 
can raise beans, peas, corn and in fact al¬ 
most all vegetables except potatoes. They 
will grow well and make fine tops, but 
there will be no potatoes on them. I have 
tried all the kinds that will grow here. 
Some tell me to use wood ashes and others 
say potash. I have used cow and horse 
manure and some seaweed from the beach 
very freely, and get good results with 
everything else except strawberries, which 
run to tops. 
Ans. —The indications are that this 
soil is rich in nitrogen, b*it lacking in 
potash and to some extent in phosphoric 
acid. Nitrogen is the element which 
promotes rapid growth. Sandy soils 
are naturally lacking in available potash, 
and the manure you have used is strong 
in nitrogen. You should use both potash 
and phosphoric acid. Two parts by 
weight of acid phosphate and one part 
sulphate of potash at the rate of 600 
pounds per acre will help. 
Paint Talks No. 3—Interior Painting 
You have seen painted walls, ceilings and woodwork peel and scale. 
That’s a sign that something is wrong, either with paint or painter, or 
both. Good White Lead and Linseed Oil, properly 
applied, will neither scale nor peel. Any paint 
will peel if applied over a damp surface. And 
paint loaded up with hard, unyielding substances 
(put in to save the expense of pure White Lead) 
will check, or crack and scale, no matter how 
carefully they are applied. 
There is much wider latitude in the mixing of paint for 
interior work than for outside work. Turpentine may be used 
freely instead of linseed oil, giving the beautiful dull or “fiat” 
effects. This treatment would be ruinous out in the weather. 
A great range of delicate tints are suitable inside also. These 
cannot be secured at their best except 
with the finest White Lead—tbe Dutch 
Boy Painter kind. It costs no more to have 
this guaranty of purity of your paint ma¬ 
terial. Insist on having White Lead with 
the Dutch Boy Painter on the side of the 
keg. At your paint dealer’s. 
Read about our House-owners’ Painting Outfit 
NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY 
An office in each of the following cilice; 
Buffalo Cincinnati Chicago Cleveland 
Philadelphia [John T. Lewis it Bros. Company 
Pittsburgh [National Lead & Oil Company! 
New York 
St. Louis 
Boston 
Painting Outfit 
Free 
We have prepared a 
little package of things 
bearing on the subject 
of painting which we 
call House-owuers' 
Painting Outfit No.8- 
It includes: 
1 —Book of color 
schemes (state 
whether you wish 
interior or exte¬ 
rior schemes. 
2 — Specifications 
for all kinds of 
painting. 
3—Instrument 
for detecting 
adulteration in 
paint material, 
with directions 
for using it. 
Free on request to 
any reader who asks for 
House-owners’ Paint¬ 
ing Outfit No.8. 
SIZES 
8 to 16 Discs. 
DISCS 
16 to 20 in. 
Diameter. 
The Thompson Cut- 
Out Disc Harrow. 
shown herewith,has proved itself a most satisfactory 
implement on hundreds of farms. On light soils it does 
the work of both plow and harrow. No sharp points 
to break off—is durable and strong in every 
way. It thoroughly cuts and pulverizes the 
ground, leaving it in the best condition for 
planting. Try it this year and you will have 
bigger crops than ever before. 
We also make the Out-Throw and Throw-In 
Disc Harrow, Vineyard and Orchard Harrows, 
Spring Tooth Harrows, Harnesses, Cultiva¬ 
tors, Plows, Land Rollers, Low-Down Wagons, 
Hob Sleds, etc. For full information regard¬ 
ing our line of farm tools, write 
EVANS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LOCK BOX 7, Hammond, New York 
Planet 
How to get bigger crops 
Get a Planet Jr. Saves two-thirds your time, pre¬ 
pares the ground better, and with less seed, gives 
greater results. No other farm and garden im¬ 
plements do the work so well or last so long. 
No. 25 Planet Jr. Combined Hill and Drill Seeder, 
Double Wheel-Hoe Cultivator and Plow opens the furrow, 
sows the seed accurately in drills or hills, covers, rolls, and marks out 
next row in one operation. It also has perfect plowing, hoeing, and 
cultivating attachments. „ , , 
Planet Jr. 12-tooth Harrow Cultivator and Pulverizer 
is a wonderful tool for berry-growers and market-gardeners. Works deep 
or shallow, without throwing earth on the plants, and pulverizes the soil 
thoroughly. Invaluable wherever fine close work is needed. 
Write to-day for our new free 56-page catalogue Ot 1)0) i lan- 
et Jrs.—45 kinds—a tool for every gardener s need. 
S. L. Allen & Co., Box 1107-V, Philadelphia, Pn. 
.CLARK’S DOUBLE ACTION "CUTAWAY” HARROW 
CLARKS 
Cutaway 
tools 
WITH EXTENSION HEAD is needed oil every farm. It will 
increase your crops 25 to 50 per cent. This machine will cut from 
28 to 30 acres, or will double-cut 15 acres in a day, It is drawn by two 
medium horses. It will move 15,000 tons of earth one foot in a day. and 
can he set to move the earth but little, or at so great an angle as to move all 
the earth one foot. Runs true in line of draft and keeps the surface true. 
All other disk harrows have to run in j n» BIG 
ha,flap - 
^ W TheJointed Pole takes all 
the weight off the horses’ 
necks, and keeps their heels 
away from the disks, 
sizes and styles of Disk 
. machine fully warranted. 
Entire satisfaction guaranteed. • 
Send to-day ior 1'ltKl'. booklet with full particulars. 
CUTAWAY HARROW COMPANY, 839 
We make 120 
Harrows. Every 
DOUBLE 
ACTION 
Harrow 
Main St., HIGGANUM, CONN. 
