e~2 
TTHTS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 17, 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[*1Svery query must he accompanied by the name 
and adurcss of tlie writer to insure attention. Be¬ 
fore asking a question, please see whether it is not 
answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper.] 
Fertilizer for Grass Seeding. 
Reader (.Yo Address ).—I would like a 
good formula for fertilizer, best for stock¬ 
ing down a piece of land that has not been 
plowed for 15 years, clay loam soil, damp 
but we’ll drained. It still cuts fairly good 
hay. What can we do to stop it from 
mossing over quickly after stocking down? 
A .vs.—If you mean to mix the chemi¬ 
cals the following will surely make 
grass grow: 400 pounds nitrate of 
soda, 400 muriate of potash, 400 fine 
bone, 800 acid phosphate. That is much 
like the mixture used by Geo. M. 
Clark, the Connecticut “grass man.” 
The “mossing” is an indication that 
the land is sour. Lime will correct 
that. You should use, if possible, one 
ton or more to the acre at seeding 
down. 
The Tariff on Grain. 
Is there a duty on wheat imported into 
the United States and if so how much per 
bushel ? n. 
Under the Dingley law the following 
rates of duty on imported grain are 
levied: Wheat, 25 cents per bushel; 
rye 10 cents; oats, 15 cents; corn, 15 
cents; buckwheat, 15; barley, 30. To 
show what a ridiculous figure this 
tariff cuts, here are the values of grain 
imports for the 11 months ending May: 
Barley, $1,404; corn, $186,147; oats, 
$2,544,711; oatmeal, $24,375; rye, $51; 
wheat, $35,361. The tariff on.corn is 
make $6.05. That amount of lime 
would cost us at our station about 
$1.75. We could therefore buy the plant 
food in a ton of these ashes for $7.80. 
The average price in Connecticut was 
about $11. The better class of Canada 
ashes, guaranteed to contain five per 
cent or more of potash, is usually a 
good fertilizer. The poorer grades are 
often partly leached or adulterated with 
coal ashes. The potash and lime in the 
ashes are responsible for the good ef¬ 
fects noticed in the clover. 
SHORT STORIES. 
Exterminating Plantain. 
How can I exteminate plantain? 
e. c. s. 
On large fields clean culture with some 
hoed crops will get rid of it. On lawns, 
digging under tbe x’oots with a sharp knife 
and pulling the plants out. 
Killing Cutworms. 
I heard that kainit is good for cutworms 
which cut polo Lima beans. How much 
kainit shall I use to the acre? s. b. 
New Jersey. 
■Do not try to kill cutworms with kaiuit 
or salt. You will not kill them in this 
way unless you use so much that you 
will injure the soil and hurt your crops. 
Poison the cutworms by tising the bran 
and molasses often mentioned in The It. 
N.-Y. 
Flies in a Stable. 
What is the best poison for putting in 
my stable to kill flies? b. h. 
Tcnafly, N. J. 
Read t lie article on page 621. You will 
notice the flies breed in manure. The 
best way to get rid of* them is to keep 
them away fron the manure. Haul it out 
frequently and put under ground, or pul 
it in a stall or room protected by fine wire 
screens. This is possible in a small stable. 
We have found sticky fly paper better than 
Thousands of 
people sleep 
better because 
our Lightning 
Rods are on 
the house. 
Wouldn’t 
you feel 
better if you 
knew your 
buildings 
were sale 
from the 
Lightning 
stroke? 
Look at the 
losses! 
Hardly a day 
but someone 
gets struck. 
Will it be you 
next? or will 
you ward off 
the danger? 
DODD & STRUTHER S 
LIGHTNING RODS! 
will protect you, your family and your property from damage 
by lightning. We know they will protect you, for they have 
been on the market long enough to prove it. 
The best rod on earth will not protect you unless it is 
properly erected, and you should select the man who 
erects the rods on your buildings with as much care as 
—you do the rod he puts up. 
S Prof. Dodd devotes his time to the 
scientific study of lightning, and instruct¬ 
ing our dealears and teaching them how 
to properly put up our rods. Our agent’s certificate is 
your best protection. 
We were the first Lightning Rod manufacturers to sell 
our rods through the dealers, so we had the first choice and 
picked out the best and most reliable dealers to handle our 
rods. We teach each and every one of them how to prop¬ 
erly erect the D. &S. Rods, and then guarantee the job when 
they finish it. Our guarantee is legal and fully backed by 
us. Not only that, but when you deal with our agent, we 
guarantee you a square deal. 
We mean what we say. We guarantee the job our agent 
does for you, and we guarantee that he will deal honestly 
and fairly with you. 
Remebor! Ours are the Standard Lightning Rods. 
Guaranteed absolutely with a Legally Binding Guarantee by 
a firm financially able to make good all it claims. 
For your protection we print our Trade-Mark on every 
spool of our rodstand furnish every agent with an agent’s 
certificate. 
There are countless imitations, but we believe there 
are none so good as the genuine Dodd & Struthers Rod, 
and we want to tell you the advantage of our rod and 
system of rodding before you make your purchase. Write 
and tell us how many buildings you have and the size of 
each one and wc will tell you how much it will cost to rod 
them with our Standard Rod. Lightning storms are fre¬ 
quent. Don’t take a chance. Write today. 
DODD & STRUTHERS, DES MOINES, IOWA 
Matters of Ughtnlng Rod* That Hoop Out tho Lightning. 
a mockery. In the 11 months ending 
May, 1908, the total imports were 
$14,016, and for 1907, $6,980. Yet some 
wise tariff Senators would have us 
think those grain tariffs “save the far¬ 
mers.” 
Shavings in Manure. 
T. O., Johnstown, Pa —It is commonly 
understood in these parts that the manure 
of horses bedded with shavings sours the 
ground it is used on. A man tells me 
lie read in some agricultural journal that 
such manure is more beneficial than straw 
manure. The reason given was that the 
ground receives more ammonia from the 
former, it being a much better absorber 
of stable liquids. Is there anything in this 
contention ? 
A vs.—Fresh planer shavings contain 
more or less of an acid which will 
sour the ground if freely used. After 
The shavings have been well soaked 
with the stable liquids, or fermented 
in the manure, .the effect of this acid 
is overcome. There will be no trouble 
except when the fresh shavings are 
used. There are many farms where 
shavings are the only bedding used. 
If lime could be used once in rotation 
on those farms there could be no dan¬ 
ger. The shavings make a better ab¬ 
sorbent than straw and will take up 
more of the liquids. 
Wood Ashes for Clover. 
.4. S., Columbia Co., N. Y .—Can The R. 
N.-Y. inform us as to what composes the 
so-called Canada hard wood ashes? Sev¬ 
eral farmers in our locality have boon very 
successful in securing excellent crops of 
< lover by their use on fields where clover 
lias not grown before in years. 
Axs.—These ashes are supposed to 
he the refuse from household fires, 
brush heaps and other places where 
wood is used for fuel. In Canada we 
are told that dealers go about picking 
up these ashes from house to house. 
The Connecticut Station analyzed 24 
samples of Canada ashes. They varied 
as follows: 
Highest. Lowest. Average. 
Potash . S. 15 3.12 4.62 
Phosphoric Acid. 2.88 1.16 1.48 
Lime . 33.04 20.40 26.47 
The price for these ashes ran all the 
way from $9 to $13.50. If we take the 
average of the 24 samples we have in 
one ton 92 pounds of potash, 29 pounds 
of phosphoric acid and 525 pounds of 
lime. We could buy the potash and 
the phosphoric acid for about five cents 
a pound in chemicals. That would 
poisons for catching flies. 
Mustard in Oats. 
What would you do with a piece of oats 
that is all gone into mustard? •Shall I 
cut it down and make hay out of it. or 
let it get ripe and harvest it? Would you 
lliink the seed would spread over the rest 
of the place? The oats got a start of 
(he mustard and now mustard got start 
of it. I think oats are going ahead of the 
mustard at present. M. t. 
Washington Co.. N. Y. 
We should cut the oats at once and 
make them into hay. No doubt some of 
the mustard has formed seed already, but 
this early cutting will save part of it. 
If you let the oats make grain you will 
surely seed your entire farm to mustard. 
Adulterated Alfalfa Seed. 
I enclose a specimen of what I bought 
for Alfalfa. I bought from a reputable 
seedsn an who strongly recommended his 
seed as something superior. Please give 
me the name of plant. I shall write a 
courteous letter to the seedsman. The 
amount of labor, stable manure and fer¬ 
tilizer I used is something appalling, now 
that not one plant of Alfalfa shows. 
Marion. Mass. E- B. H. 
The plant is Yellow or Hop clover. 
Trifolium agrarium—of no particular value* 
It is in no way a substitute for Alfalfa, 
and if this stuff was substituted for Alfalfa 
entirely you have been defrauded. 
Basic Slag and Kainit. 
How would equal parts of basic slag 
and kainit do for a fertilizer for general 
farm crops when no nitrogen is desired? 
e. c. s. 
It would depend on the crops. We would 
not use slag on potatoes on account of the 
lime in the slag. Wc would not depend on 
slag alone to furnish phosphoric acid for 
truck or garden crops. For fruit, grain 
or grass, especially whore it is worked into 
the soil, slag will give a good account of 
itself. Why use kainit ? It is one of tin- 
most costly forms of potash. You must 
handle 100 pounds of kainit to get 12 
pounds of potash, while 100 pounds of 
muriate will give 50 pounds of potash. 
Smut Disease of Grain. 
I have two large pieces of wheat which 
are coming very full of smut. What is the 
cause of this evil, and the most effective 
remedy for it? c. c. s. 
This grain smut is a germ disease. These 
germs are in the seed, and as the plant 
grows the germs develop and spread through 
it. finally producing the black smut so 
offensive in thrashing or handling grain. 
This disease cuts the yield of both straw 
and grain. The most effective remedy is 
to kill the germs in the seed. This is done, 
as we have often described, by soaking the 
seed grains in a solution of one pint of 
formalin to 16 gallons of water. This kills 
the smut germs without hurting tho seed. 
Wo have soaked grain in this way and har¬ 
vested a clean crop when grain from the 
same lot untreated gave off at the thrasher 
what looked like black smoke. The time 
to soak the seed is just before sowing. 
Nothing can he done for your crop now. 
The smut on corn cars is another matter. 
The germs of this disease are not usually 
in the seed, so that soaking will do little 
if any good. Break off and burn the smut¬ 
ted corn ears as fast as you find them. 
To kill potato bugs and to check 
blight, use Bowker’s Pyrox. Sticks 
like paint. Cost 50c. to $1 per acre. 
Mail orders to Bowker Insecticide Co., 
Boston.— Adv. 
Thomas Phosphate Powder 
[BASIC SLAG PHOSPHATE | 
The Only Phosphate Especially Suited 
For Use Upon Alfalfa --- Unequalled For 
Grass, Clovers, Pastures and Fruit Trees. 
A Ton of THOMAS PHOSPHATE 
POWDER Contains Approximately: 
340 to 380 lbs. of Phosphoric Acid 
700 
“ 1000 “ 
“ Lime 
100 
“ 120 “ 
“ Magnesia 
260 
“ 280 “ 
“ Iron 
140 
“ 180 “ 
“ Manganese 
From this you can readily see why it gives such remarkable results. 
Our Booklet, “ THOMAS PHOSPHATE POWDER AND ITS 
USES,” is sent free if you mention The Rural New-Yokker. 
THE COE-MORTIMER COMPANY, Special Importers 
24 Stone Street, New York City 
ALFALFA 
All Northern Grown ana 
guaranteed to be 99 per cent 
pure. Should produce hay 
at $40.00 per acre annually. Write for Free Sample 
and instructions on growing. 
GRAIN AND GRASS SEEDS 
Northern Grown and of strongest vitality. We invito you to 
get Government Tests on our samples. Send for Cat. No. 23 
THE J. E. WING & BROS. SEED CO. 
Box 223. Mechanicsburg-, Oliio 
For Best EXTENSION LADDER at f ^.^r cs 
JOHN J. POTTER, U Mill St., Binghamton, N. Y. 
1,000,000 PLANTS'£5!!! 
Surohead and Danisliball Cabbage, $1.0() per J.000: 
10.000 for $8.00. White Plume, (4. S. Blanching. 
Giant Pascal, Winter Queen and Perle Le Grand 
Gelery, $1.25 per 1.000: 10.000 for $10.00. Address 
CALEB BOGGS & SON. Cheswold, Del. 
pCI CD V-liKST VARIETIES. Full count of 
1 heavily rooted, stocky plants. 
H, A. TODD, Doylestown, Penna. 
CELERY 
1*1.ANTS, $1.2.1 per 1,000. (G. Self-Blanching, 
♦ I..Wi. 200 plants by mail for $1, Disc, on 
large lots. Slaymaker & Son, Dover, Del. 
DC A C-Fono.v reeleaned stock, 
$2.00 per bushel. 
E. BIGG« Jr., Burlington, New Jersey 
HA fill I SON’S NURSERIES. Berlin, Mil. 
1100 acres trees and plants. Catalog free. 
C hoice clover and grass seeds sold 
direct to the farmer. We have reduced our 
choice Hungarian and Millet seeds to the present 
market value. Write for samples and prices at 
once. N. WERTHEIM UR X- SONS, Ligonier, Ind. 
CflD CA! C—Crimson Clover Seed, $0.00 bushel 
rUn OMLCi Cow Peas, $1.75 to $2.00 bushel 
Cow-Horn Turnip Seed. 40c. pound. 
J. E. HOLLAND, Milford, Dela. 
ONE Quart of Strawberries inauTnno 
V Send for Catalogue and Prices. 
T. C. KEVITT, Athenia, N. J. 
C ABBAGE PLANTS—All Seasons, Premium, 
Flat Dutch, Surehead, Danish Ballhead. $1.00 
per 100(1. BASIL R. PERRY, Cool Spring, Del. 
THE LEWN PRVNER 
The best pruner. Cuts '4-inch dry 
branch. Quick, clean, easy cut. We 
will send it post paid for club of two 
new yearly subscriptions at SI each, 
or for club of 7 ten weeks trials at 10 
cents each. 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York 
CRIMSON CLOVER 
The great soil improver. Valuable 
also for early green food, grazing and 
hay crop. Special circular free; also 
sample and price of seed on request. 
HENRY A. DREER. 
714 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
