1900. 
337 
NEW-YORKER 
TRAINING UP TOMATOES, 
As Spring approaches the experience 
of a somewhat battered amateur gar¬ 
dener may be useful to those similarly 
situated. What follows has no refer¬ 
ence to “trucking” for the market. Its 
benefit, real or supposed, is only offered 
in aid of the family table and as a 
means of pleasure and exercise for the 
“old man.” At present I will explore 
the mysteries of nature no further than 
involved within the process of raising 
successfully and assimilating with dis¬ 
cretion the tomato. At the outset let 
me assert that ever since I paid 25 
cents for about 25 seeds of Hender¬ 
son’s 400, T have depended entirely upon 
the Ponderosa for family use. For 
that purpose it is so superior T raise it 
each year and propose to continue. Its 
great size, its fine flavor, and, above all, 
its remarkable solidity and sparsencss 
of seeds makes it ideal for domestic 
purposes. All my neighbors and all of 
like experience will readily agree herein. 
Like all tomatoes, it should he started in 
hotbed or house about March 1, and care 
taken to secure stocky, hardy plants. 
While the season is long enough to raise 
from seed planted out of doors, much 
ripe tomatoes, many weighing one 
pound each and often approaching two 
pounds or more. l. b. crookek. 
Illinois. 
Mixed Grass for Seeding and Pasture. 
F. 't Union, N. Y .—This Spring I wish 
to seed (with oats) two acres of ground to 
some grass or combination of grasses, which 
will yield a greater weight of hay than 
Timothy, or Timothy and Red-top, and 
also make a more permanent sod. f want 
tills hay to feed to horses on the farm, not 
for sale. The field is principally river 
bottom land, sand loam. The land does not 
flood, but was made by floods. What grass 
or combination of grasses would you recom¬ 
mend ? 
Ans. —It will be found that the 
make-up of any old meadow after sev¬ 
eral years depends not so much upon 
the varieties of grass that were orig¬ 
inally sown, as upon the kinds to which 
the land was well adapted. For ex¬ 
ample, there are some very valuable 
natural grass lands where iti old pas¬ 
tures Kentucky Blue will be found to 
be the dominant grass. On the other 
hand, many lands never give much 
Blue grass, even when it is sown. I 
suppose there are no two other grasses 
of as wide general adaptability as Tim- 
THE EFFECT Ob' AN ICE STORM IN VIRGINIA. Fir,. 138. 
time is gained by the above prelim¬ 
inaries. Everything advising fertiliz¬ 
ing or cultivation in any good garden is 
as judicious for tomatoes as anything 
else—the more the better. It goes with¬ 
out saying that all tomatoes in the 
home garden should be staked up and 
pruned. How to do this it is my pres¬ 
ent purpose to state, based upon many 
years of actual experience. 
Boards, strips, wire and single stakes 
are inconvenient and inadequate subter¬ 
fuges. My plan is here hurled at an 
unsuspecting public as feasible, easy, 
cheap and exactly adapted to the habit 
of the plant. At any time when your¬ 
self or neighbors arc trimming trees 
—an operation very common hereabouts 
—select from the limbs as follows: 
Among the forks from one to two 
inches in diameter, cut about one foot 
below the fork, above which trims the 
limbs two, three or four, as the case 
may be, about four feet. When the 
plants are about six inches high, hav¬ 
ing sharpened the lower end of the 
forks, set them firmly by the plant, 
close and within an inch or two. As the 
plants grow fit them from time to time 
to the various limbs above, which they 
will do easily and naturally. Be care¬ 
ful to keep well tied up, for they lop 
easily and suffer from the wind. About 
three main shoots is the ideal number. 
They may be spread and tied any and 
every way, keeping ii-i view sunshine 
and air. This is the best way T have 
found. Now sit up and take notice. 
Prune constantly; cut away all laterals 
■—more than one-half the growth. About 
August 15 clip the tops as surplusage. 
I regard one-half bushel to each vine 
a very moderate yield— I mean sound, 
othy and Red-top. It must be said, 
however, that Red-top is a grass com¬ 
monly associated with sour or water¬ 
logged soils and that is distinctively of 
rather low palatability for cattle. Of 
course, we all want the clovers, but 
with the exception of the little creep¬ 
ing White clover these are biennial or 
two-year plants and, hence, do not 
persist long in old meadows. Under 
favorable soil conditions, White clover 
may become very prominent in per¬ 
manent pastures. Alsike is much more 
tolerant of moist soils than Red clover 
and should never be omitted on soils 
of that character. Red clover will 
hardly pay for the seed on poorly 
drained, soils. In our farm practice 
we always sow Timothy, Medium clover, 
Mammoth clover, Alsike, Red-top, 
and. sometimes, Blue grass. Occasion¬ 
ally Orchard grass is added, hut its 
habit of early maturity and its tufted 
or tussock growth makes it objection¬ 
able in meadows. Still, it will remain 
almost indefinitely with us. After a 
pasture has been in use five years (we 
don’t like to let a meadow lie as long 
as that) we generally find that the sur¬ 
viving grass is mainly Timothy, with 
some Red-top, White clover and some 
of our native, grasses which are not 
easy for anyone except an expert to 
name. 1 he botany of our grasses is 
very difficult. My own feeling is that 
we do well to stick to the old stand¬ 
bys ami not spend too much money on 
high-priced permanent pasture mixtures 
of unknown composition. 
JARED VAN WAGENEN, JR. 
A Virginia Ice Storm. —Last week 
we showed a picture of the effect of 
the recent ice storm in New York State. 
Fig. 138 shows another scene—this time 
in Virginia (Chesterfield Co.). The 
limbs of the trees are coated heavily 
with ice, and many of them gave way 
under the strain. 
MAKE HAY 
WHILE THE 
SUN SHINES 
You can make every mo¬ 
ment count by using these 
WALTER A. 
“Huuy-up” Machines 
WALTER A. WOOD STEEL TEDDER 
I hey do th e work Quicker an( j better t h an you can do it by hand. 
1 he Walter A Wood Tedder is an ideal combination of strength 
and simplicity. All steel construction. Vibration absorbed by springs 
which also save the machine from strain. Easily adjusted. It adds 
to the value of your hay by preventing sun bleach. When you see it 
you will say it is “the best constructed tedder on the market.” Our 
rake is of all steel construction. Its sure acting dumping device is 
put. in operation by a touch on the foot lever. Wheels have renewable 
3-piccc hubs. Oil-tempered, crucible steel, coil spring teeth. Rakes 
clean and hay does not get 
tangled in wheels. Examine 
these machines at our deal¬ 
er’s. If you don’t know his 
address write us. Read our 
illustrated catalog. 
Walter A. Wood Mowing 
and Reaping Machine Go. 
BOX 808 
HOOSICK FALLS, N. V. 
THE LEADING INDEPENDENT CONCERN 
WALTER A. WOOD SELF-DUMP RAKE 
SIZES 
8 to 16 Discs 
DISCS 
16 to 20 in. 
Diameter. 
The Thompson Cut- 
Out Disc Harrow. 
wn herewith,has proved itself a most, satisfactory 
dement on hundreds of farms. ()n light, soils it does 
work of both plow and harrow. No sharp points 
to break off is durable and strong in every 
way. ft 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 over before. 
We also make the Out-Throw and Throw-In 
Disc. Harrow, Vi neyanluml Orchard Harrows, 
Spring Tooth Harrows, Harnesses, Cultiva¬ 
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EVANS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LOCK BOX 7, Hammond, New York 
No. K-10 
Price $1.25 
Less Work- 
Dainty Dishes 
No woman realizes how much work she 
could save, ’and the tempting variety of 
dishes she could offer at the table, until she 
possesses a Keen Kutter Food Chopper. 
Just a few turns of the handle instead of the 
tiresome chop, chop at the chopping bowl. 
Meat, fish, vegetables, fruits are chopped 
uniformly, coarse or fine as you wish. The 
KEEN 
mm 
Meat and Food Chopper 
is attached to the table or detached in a second 
—works so easily a child would enjoy using it 
—wears a lifetime—more easily cleaned than a 
chopping bowl. 
Sold under the famous Keen Kutter name and 
trademark, which always and everywhere guar¬ 
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the Keen Kutter Food Chopper by name. 
If not at your dealer’s, write us. 
SIMMONS HARDWARE COMPANY (Inc.) St. Lonis and New York, U. S. A. 
One Gallon of Wafer Per Horse Power 
Is all that is required to properly cool ™ 
The Abenaque 
Gas or Gasoline Engine 
Note those Cooling Tanks. Write for catalog O. 
ABENAQUE MACHINE WORKS, Wostminstor Station, Varmont 
FERTILIZERS 
Made By THE ROGERS & HUBBARD CO.. 
MIDDLlSTOWlSr, COJXTJNT. 
SEND FOR 1909 ALMANAC TELLING ALL ABOUT THEM. 
SENT FREE TO ANY ADDRESS. 
