84 2 
UTILIZING A HENYARD. 
We have all heard advice to put the soil of hen- 
yards at work in some way. The usual advice is to 
divide the yard into small runs and use them for pas¬ 
ture. Oats, rape or clover may be grown in one run 
while the hens occupy another. Then the hens can 
be turned in to eat off the crop and the vacant run 
seeded as before. In this way it is possible to keep 
the yard well employed. In other cases after the hens 
have run in the yard for some time the upper part 
of the soil is plowed, hauled out and spread like ma¬ 
nure or fertilizer over the meadows or garden. This 
carries considerable fertility and sand or road dust can 
be carried back and spread in the yards. We have tried 
this plan with satisfaction. At Fig. 474 we show an¬ 
other way. This is the method of a Jewish farmer in 
Massachusetts. There are large yards—the house 
shown in the picture holding 400 hens. The hens run 
there until the time for setting out tomatoes or late 
cabbage. Then the hens are put in another pasture, the 
henvard is plowed and the plants started. The soil 
is rich after the hens have been there for nearly eight 
months and we can see what use these crops make of 
this fertility. When the crops are harvested the hens 
come back for the Winter. 
FRUIT FROM THE PACIFIC COAST. 
Fig. 473 shows a picture of my cousin as my kodak 
caught her just after her return from Cornell. After 
two years and graduation at Cornell, with her vaca¬ 
tion time taken up with traveling throughout the East, 
she returns to her native State declaring more em¬ 
phatically than ever that there is no place in the East, 
or between here and there, that can compare with 
Oregon, and no fruit as inviting in flavor, texture or 
looks as that of our own Willamette Valley. Here 
she is eating Royal Ann cherries from the tree stand¬ 
ing on the kitchen roof, just as 'she ate them from the 
eastern trees. Now, is not that a better and fairer 
way to judge the merits of the fruits of the East and 
West than to ship ours the entire length of the conti¬ 
nent and then compare them with eastern products 
direct from the trees? Fruits shipped long distances 
cannot compare with home-grown products. That is 
easily proven by taking almost any variety of fruit 
and packing it for transportation, but instead of ship¬ 
ping store away in some cool place or cold storage 
and leave for the same length of time that it would 
have taken it to reach an eastern destination. Then 
take your stored fruit and try it alongside of fresh 
fruit from the trees. The difference will readily be 
noticed by most anyone, and you would undoubtedly 
hear loyal Oregonians declare it to be California 
fruit. And yet this fruit has only been carefully 
stored, and not subject to the rough handling of 
transportation. Will not the contrast be more marked 
then after journeying from the Pacific to the Atlantic? 
In my opinion the best fruit for most sections (after 
transportation is taken into consideration) is that 
grown in that section, but until the East stops pro¬ 
ducing “cider apples,” packing in large and unhandy 
barrels, learns how to pack, and such States as “bash¬ 
ful” Vermont fill their, larders with venison, Oregon 
is going to ship her fruit products east and sell them 
at a higher price than locally grown. I have not said 
that eastern fruit is as good as Oregon fruit, for I 
still consider Oregon fruit superior to that of any 
other section simply on the authority of many Eastern 
and Western men who have tried fruits of different 
sections by picking them from the trees themselves. 
If you get the Burbank potato from the West and call 
that a fruit, don’t say that we claim anything for it. 
We grow it only to sell to our city cousins and Cali¬ 
fornia. We eat the Sir Walter Raleigh. 
Oregon. chas. h. hays. 
R. N.-Y.—But how are Eastern people to get these 
fresh Oregon fruits unless they all move to the Pa¬ 
cific coast? That would leave the Atlantic seaboard 
unprotected. _ 
THE STRAWBERRY FLEA-BEETLE. 
Tiiere is some pest in our old strawberry bed that has 
ruined it. 1 have not as yet discovered the insect that 
does the work. The bed is 13 rods long, consisting of 
five rows, and was as fine a lot of plants as one could 
wish for, in an old bed. 1 enclose two leaves, or rather 
what is left of them. Do you know what sort of “critter” 
does the mischief, and the remedy to destroy it? More 
than three-fourths of the plants are wholly ruined. We 
have a new bed just over the fence, and I fear for its 
safety. P. S. 
Exeter, Fa. 
Strawberry beds all over this country, from Can¬ 
ada to Mexico and the Atlantic to the Pacific, are 
periodically attacked here and there by a tiny, copper- 
colored or blue beetle with strong hind legs, called the 
Strawberry flea-beetle. It is this insect that caused 
the trouble referred to in the foregoing letter. Al¬ 
though it is small, being only a little more than one- 
eighth of an inch in length, yet because of its greatly 
enlarged and strong hind legs, it has unusual powers 
of jumping, quite outdoing the ordinary flea in its 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 25. 
feats of leaping. On this account it is called the flea- 
beetle. There are, at least. 23 other species of flea- 
beetles attacking different kinds of plants. The straw¬ 
berry leaves sent in the letter, and which I was able 
to photograph, show well the characterisiic work of 
this pest. The adult beetles and their grubs or larvae 
work on the leaves, although, very likely, the injury 
to the leaves in this case was done mainly, if nofe 
wholly, by the beetles. The beetles seem to have the 
WORK OF STRAWBERRY FLEA-BEETLE. Ftg. 471. 
habit of coming in great numbers, and sometimes, as 
a correspondent wrote in 1880, swoop down “in a 
cloud” and in a few hours destroy many plants. 
The pale yellow eggs are laid on the leaves and in a 
few days hatch into tiny larvJE or grubs, that feed 
upon the leaves for 10 days or two weeks, until they 
become full-grown. They then enter the soil, trans¬ 
form to pupae, and in a short time the adult flea- 
beetlcs appear. It would seem that in the middle of 
the Summer this whole life round can be gone through 
in a little over a month. 
It is important to know that this little flea-beetle 
feeds upon several different kinds of plants, for it 
may be that we are maintaining a nursery for the 
production of flea-beetles right by our strawberry 
beds. It seems to like the common evening primrose 
best of all, but feeds upon fireweed, laurel and on 
cultivated Fuchsias. If any of these plants are grow¬ 
ing in abundance near the strawberry bed they should 
be destroyed by plowing and planting some hoed crop, 
like corn or potatoes. Evening primroses, especially, 
should be destroyed if possible. The beetles may also 
be controlled by spraying the strawberry plants with 
arsenate of lead at the rate of three or four pounds 
to 50 gallons of w r ater. It would be advantageous to 
combine the arsenate of lead with Bordeaux Mixture, 
because this latter mixture is a fine repellant for the 
beetle and is also a good remedy for strawberry leaf- 
spot. The spraying should be done just as soon as 
the first beetles or signs of their work are seen. It is 
quite likely that the new bed of plants referred to in 
the letter will escape injury. The beetles are quite 
local in their work, and usually disappear altogether 
about the first of September. glen w. herrick. 
PLAN FOR A CORNCRIB. 
Your request for a plan for a corncrib to hold 1,200 
bushels of corn in the ear, and at the same time be 
water and rat-proof, is noted. Such a building must 
contain 3,000 cubic feet of space and support a weight 
^. W t* - * 
PLAN FOR A CORNCRIB. Fig. 472. 
of 42 tons. The desideratum in a corncrib is ventila¬ 
tion. A building to contain 3,000 cubic feet of space 
should be 12 feet wide, 24 feet long and 10 feet be¬ 
tween joists. The foundation should be pins of con¬ 
crete, and pyramidal, 1x2 feet on the top, five feet 
apart on the sides, three feet apart on ends. The 
center wall should be continuous, and may be of rough 
stone laid up roughly in mortar. Good foundations 
should be sought for. Stones with sharp angles 
weighing five to six pounds may be wsed in the pins; 
there should be an inch of matrix outside all stones. 
Put the forms together with screws and inch lumber 
planed. Lubricate the forms with soft soap before 
filling; loosen screws to remove. Sills should be 6 x G 
inches, joists 2x8 inches, 12 feet 8 inches; studding 
4x4 inch by 11 feet; plates and rafters 2x4 inch; 
plates should be doubled. Place the joists on top of 
sills and set studding well toed to sills, 18-inch on cen¬ 
ters, and thoroughly spike joists to studding. Sec Fig. 
472, A. The upper tic joists may be 1 x G inches, well 
nailed under plate to studding. All material thus far 
preferably hemlock. Pieces same width as joists 
should be nicely nailed on studding between joists on 
sill to prevent rats getting on sill from inside, Fig. 472 . 
The floor should be of 14 gauge perforated iron, or 
lay %-inch mesh wire on the joists and lay floor over 
this. T he perforated sheets would furnish ventila¬ 
tion. On inside of studding nail %-inch mesh wire 
cloth, 11 to 12 gauge, with light wire staples, from 
floor to plate all over the inside except at openings. 
Between the studding cut in strips all around and to 
the top, Vs x 5V-i inch, beveled -on edges to a miter. 
These strips should be set at an angle of 45 degrees 
and may be three inches apart. L T se window blinds 
for model. Cut gains % x 3 A inch in sfdes of stud¬ 
ding. See Fig. 472, B. Put strips in place and toe with 
sixpenny finish nails. Strips and studding should be 
surfaced, and may be set up in pairs and painted be¬ 
fore being nailed in place. It will be impossible to 
drive rain over these. Put a shelf high enough from 
the bottom so two widths of one-half inch mesh wire 
screen will reach it; put shelf all around at same 
angle as ventilator slats. Rats cannot climb over it. 
Put openings above shelf for shoveling in the corn. 
Doors may be placed on sides or ends; rat-proof by- 
using wire cloth or perforated sheets. 
If galvanized perforated sheets are used set stud¬ 
ding so that the edges of sheets will meet on center of 
studding and one in center. If perforated sheets are 
used outside of suitable kind no ventilator strips will 
be needed, as rain will run down on the inside of 
sheets. Galvanized nails and lead washers should be 
used. The space between roof boards and plate 
should be left open, big. C. Galvanized corrugated 
sheets, 14 gauge, nailed directly to rafters, will make 
a durable roof. Lengthwise in the center of the 
building from end to end a V-shaped ventilator one 
foot at bottom as high as the door will admit made 
of 2 x 4 inch with 1x1 inch one inch apart nailed on 
them as shown. Stay the top to upper joists. 
This building may be used for other grain by sim¬ 
ply lining with building paper as may be needed. 
'Phis is not an expensive structure, but will give the 
fullest protection. _ d. p. barry. 
PRIMER TALK ON SPRAYING. 
A neighbor has an orchard well loaded with fruit, and 
as 1 have charge of the fruit I am interested in it. We 
have a man here who is going around spraying maple 
trees, and also fruit trees when he can get a chance. 
He took this orchard to fix up, to scrape off the old hark 
and spray the trees, or rather the body of the trees' up 
to the limbs while the fruit is still on the trees. He 
came on to do the work, but 1 refused to let him spray 
them until the fruit is picked. Is there any use of 
spraying them this Fall? Is there any danger of getting 
it on the fruit ? a. a. 
Onondaga Co.. N .Y. 
Here is a case, like many others, where we are not 
told what the spraying is for. Trees are sprayed to 
destroy insects and to prevent or destroy diseases. 
There are two general classes of insects which 
work on trees. One class eats the leaves or twigs. 
In order to kill these we spray with some liquid 
poison—usually some form of arsenic. The ob¬ 
ject is to spray this liquid over the leaves so that the 
insect will get at the poison. The other class of in¬ 
sects will not be found eating the leaf, but they bore 
into the leaf or young bark with a tiny tube and suck- 
out the sap. Now, of course, as these suckers do not 
eat the leaf, poisons will not reach them. They must 
be killed by contact—that is, something that will kill 
them from the outside. The oils or lime and sulphur 
will do this if you can hit the insect with them. The 
Codling worm is one of the insects that eat the leaf 
and must be killed by poisons. The San Jose scale 
is a sucker, and we must use oil or lime and sulphur 
to reach it. The time to kill the Codling worm is in 
late May, or when the blossoms fall. The San Jose 
scale can be killed most effectively in Winter or early 
Spring. Trees are also often affected by diseases like 
blight or scab. The usual remedy for these is a spray¬ 
ing with Bordeaux Mixture. You will see from this 
that we cannot give definite advice about spray" 1 .? 
without knowing what this spraying is for Most 
likely the maple trees have been sprayed with sonic 
form of poison. It would do but little good to p" 
such a spray on the trees now. The reason for scrap 
ing the hark of apple trees is that this working o 
the rough covering destroys many insects which pass 
the Winter there. This is not the best time to do it-- 
there will be greater effect in late Winter, 
seems no reason why the orchard should be spra.\ e( 
now. 
