1909. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
273 
GROWING RHUBARB. 
If Mr. Burbank or some other nat¬ 
uralist, should discover a fruit or veg¬ 
etable which would prove as valuable 
an addition to the home garden or mar¬ 
ket truckman as has the rhubarb plant 
surely the whole world would know it, 
and their fortune would be made. Rhu¬ 
barb is one of the hardiest and most 
easily produced vegetables on the mar¬ 
ket. It has a good sale at remunerative 
prices from Christmas until about May, 
when it becomes too plentiful in some 
markets. The Summer prices range 
75 cents to $1 per bushel, while earlier 
in the season two cents per stalk 
is a common price. An acre of 
rhubarb will yield approximately 4.000 
bushels in a year, but to obtain the 
highest prices of course it must be forced 
in a greenhouse or cellar. To do this 
the plants are lifted before the frost 
comes—about October 1—and placed in 
good earth, where they have a warm 
temperature but sunlight is not neces¬ 
sary. 
A bed may be started bv either sow¬ 
ing the seed or planting the roots. It 
takes a year longer to get started if 
the seed is sown, and the plants are set 
with roots. These arc set in the ground 
about two inches deep. The rows' are 
ty-five feet is sufficiently great a dis¬ 
tance even on rich soil. I do not favor 
the plan of planting peach trees as 
fillers in apple orchards. The trees 
grow so much more rapidly than the 
apples that, unless the apple trees be 
set quite a distance apart, they will 
soon crowd the apple trees to the ex¬ 
tent that they may work an injury. 
Then, too, peach trees are out of place 
among apple trees when the season for 
spraying with Bordeaux is at hand. 
The full strength mixture such as is 
desirable to use on the apples in the 
growing season will kill the foliage of 
the peach, and it is almost impossible 
to spray the apple trees without the 
spray being thrown or carried by the 
wind to the peach trees. With the 
possibility and advisability of planting 
Yellow Transparent trees 20 feet apart, 
it would hardly be wise to consider 
peaches in connection. An apple or¬ 
chard with peach fillers is always a 
rather ragged institution after a few 
years’ time. I believe that the corres¬ 
pondent would be better pleased with 
the orchards separate. The correspon¬ 
dent does not state whether he desires 
peaches for home or market. I take 
it for granted, as he does not reside 
in the commercial belt, that a general 
RHUBARB PATCH AT SAILORS’ SNUG HARBOR. 
four feet apart, and the plants are set 
three feet apart in the row. October 
or November is the best time for plant¬ 
ing, but it may also be done in early 
Spring. After planting and when the 
ground is frozen hard it is all covered 
about three or four inches deep with 
coarse stable manure. In the Spring 
the coarse manure is raked off and the 
finer part is forked or cultivated in 
between the rows. Very little cultiva¬ 
tion is then necessary except to keep 
the weeds down for a short time, when 
the large leaves practically cover the 
ground which keeps the weeds from 
growing. A bed started in October will 
yield a small crop the first year and a 
full crop the second. At the end of 
the second year the plants can be used 
for forcing, but they should only be 
used for this purpose once in three years. 
This can be done by using only a part 
of the bed each year. Rhubarb, or 
pie plant, as it is sometimes called is 
valuable as both a food and a medicine. 
When canned for Winter use it keeps 
perfectly and is always relished. 
C. S. GREENE. 
purpose selection is desired. I would 
name Greensboro, Carman, Champion, 
Llberta, and Gold Drop. The first : 
three are white fleshed, the latter two 
yellow. The first two are partial clings, 
the latter three free. They ripen in 
about the order in which they are nam¬ 
ed. Gold Drop is very similar to Lem¬ 
on Free, which is much liked for its 
excellence for canning. It has a better 
tree than Lemon Free—more vigorous 
in growth. f. h. ballou. 
PLANTING YELLOW TRANSPARENT. 
II. fl. lf\, Miamisburtj, O .—What dis¬ 
tance apart do you advise planting Vel- 
low Transparent apple trees? Could peach 
trees he planted in between to any ad¬ 
vantage? If so, what is the best early and 
the best late peach? I mean the peach 
that will produce the finest fruit with 
thinning and the best of care. 
Ans. —Yellow Transparent apple trees 
can be safely planted closer together 
than most of our standard sorts. The 
habit of growth dwarfish and upright. 
On moderately fertile soil I should 
plant them twenty feet apart. Twen- 
Plant Lice on Snowball. 
D. S. M.j Saranac, A'. Y .— I have a snow¬ 
ball shrub that is infested with lice every 
season just as the blossoms are about to 
open ; they collect on the underside of the 
leaves. The leaves curl up and soon the 
blossoms turn brown and dry up, the leaves 
also. Later it will leaf out again, but no 
blossoms; the lice are greenish gray and 
are very small, but in large numbers on 
every leaf. I have sprayed with different 
things. Last year I fumigated with sul¬ 
phur, but it did not help any. 
Ans. —The foliage of the snowball shrub 
is quite frequently infested with lice, 
which harm it so that it seldom blooms 
well. The best treatment we have ever 
found is thoroughly to spray the under 
surface of the leaves as soon as the lice 
are noticed with a solution of rose nico¬ 
tine; two teaspoonfuls to the quart of 
water. This is deadly poison to the 
lice and does not harm the foliage. 
Several applications are usually needed, 
as the lice apparently return when thq 
effect of the nicotine wears off. Rose 
nicotine may be had from most florists 
or dealers in horticultural supplies. 
The Stevens Late Champion is a nice- 
looking market berry, but if you plant it 
you will have trouble to sell the berries to 
a good Marshall customer, the quality is 
too poor. B G> 
Rossville, S. I., N. Y. 
How You, Yourself, can do Four Men’s Lifting 
with the Burr Automatic Safety Tackle Block 
You don’t know what you are missing—how much unnecessary work 
you are doing, and how much money you are losing—by not having 
one of these wonderfully convenient Automatic Safety Tackle Blocks 
on your farm. You can alone do nearly all the heavy lifting required 
about your place with our block—shifting wagon boxes, stretching wire 
fences, moving stones, logs, sick or injured animals, etc. 
The Burr is the only rope block made that is as adjustable as a chain 
block. It is the only rope block made without teeth wedges, springs, 
etc., to wear, tear and chew up good rope. 
Actually preserves rope, yet locks as unfailingly and rigidly on 
wet or greasy rope as on dry. Locks at an angle or upside down. 
So accurate in locking that load can be raised and lowered a 
hair’s breadth. 
The Burr Automatic Safety Tackle Block 
is made of best steel. Positively can’t wear it out. In fact, 
works better with age. 
You can pay for the Burr in extra hired help saved on one 
job. No farmer should be without it a minute. 
Prices range from 70 cents to $4.25. 
Let’s tell you how many uses and advantages over 
all other blocks. Write today for full information, 
sizes, capacities, etc. Don’t wait. Write now. 
Learn what it means to own one. Surely you can 
afford to pay from 70 cents to $4.25 for an article that 
saves many dollars a year, and an enormous amount 
of hard work. 
Just a postal now to— 
BURR MFG. CO., 136 Viaduct, Cleveland, O. 
*Die New Modern Litter Carrier 
is the greatest time and labor saver for barns and stables—carries the manure away from 
buildings and one man can do the work quicker 
than two can without it. Figure out the saving 
in dollars and cents this saving would mean to 
you in the course of one year—our carriers with 
ordinary care will last a lifetime. Once in¬ 
stalled in your buildings you would not be 
without it for many times the cost. 
<Ihe “NEW MODERN” 
as the name implies, is the most practical and 
up-to-date carrier on the market. It has 
double trolley and double chain hoist, easy to 
operate and nothing to get out of order. We 
also make a special carrier for carrying ensil¬ 
age from silo to stable. 
OUR “NEW MODERN ” 
SWING CATTLE STANCHIONS 
with individual mangers, W ATE RING 
BASINS, Etc., are superior to all others. 
If you want anything for a modern dairy bai n, 
write us. Illustrated circulars showing all fix¬ 
tures Free. Write us today. Address 
GLOR BROTHERS & WILLIS MFG. CO., Lock Box 19, Attica, New York 
OUden Lightens labor 
K 
W You can’t afford to over- 
f look the LOUDEN Hay Car¬ 
rier:—that is if you want a car¬ 
rier that will never break down; 
that you do not lend away for repairs 
every now and then. Years of hard 
usage by thousands of farmers have 
proven this to such an extent 
that they will not buy any 
hay tools, forks, slings, 
tracks without the 
name LOUDEN on 
them. Never 
any bind- 
luden 
„jH»y 
(Carrie 
ing on the track; the sim¬ 
plest lock that works per¬ 
fectly every time; patented 
swivel takes kinks out of rope. 
Why not buy a LOUDEN carrier that 
will be good for life. We are hay tool spec- 
ialists— Free catalogue of LOUDEN Lit¬ 
ter Carriers. Flexible Barn Door., 
Hangers and other labor sav-. 
ing hardware specialties,, 
will show you why. 
Free Book let, 
** Fitting up 
Barns.” 
IllllllIWUlliil 
II Hill U III 
' LOUDEN MACHINERY CO., 601 Broadway, Fairfield, Iowa* 
"A little bit 
the best 
Mower 
that ever 
went into 
the field” 
THE NEW 
WALTER A. WOOD 
MOWER 
THE ADMIRAL 
The Admiral is the latest Walter A. Wood Mower. In it is concen¬ 
trated our fifty-seven year experience. It possesses all the peculiar 
features of construction that have made Walter A. Wood Mowers world- 
famous. Its new features make it even more valuable to the farmer. 
The following statement of a prominent Illinois dealer indicates the 
popularity of the Admiral and suggests the wisdom of investigation. 
“The Admiral is just a little bit the best Mower that ever went 
into the field. Farmers come in every day telling what a wonderful 
machine it is. We would not buy anything else.” 
Don’t buy a mower until you have seen the Admiral and had it ex¬ 
plained to you by our dealer. If you don’t know his address write us. 
Get our new catalogue which fully describes and illustrates this New 
Mower, as well as the balance of the famous Walter A. Wood line. 
WALTER A. WOOD MOWING 
AND REAPING MACHINE CO. 
BOX 408 HOOSICK FALLS, N. Y. 
The World’s Oldest and Largest Independent Manufacturer of Harvesting Machines 
