1009. 
843 
KILLING WEEDS BY SPRAYING. 
In the Northwest wild mustard has become a fear¬ 
ful farm pest. “Yellow peril” is the appropriate name 
for it. Some farmers try to argue that it is not such 
a serious pest, but the great majority know better, and 
they fight it continuously. A new way of killing mus¬ 
tard has come into use—spraying with sulphate of iron. 
The experiment stations of both North and South 
Dakota have investigated and issued bulletins. 'It 
seems that a good many farmers spray to kill mustard 
about as regularly as they plow or cultivate. Prof. 
Olive tells of one farmer who spent $84 hand-pulling 
this weed two years ago, and twice that sitm last year, 
nly to find the pest increasing. In the Northwest 
farms are large, and it is not possible to hand-hoe or 
use cleaning crops as is done in the East. Thus kill¬ 
ing off the weeds at wholesale by spraying is an appro¬ 
priate method for large farming. A machine is used 
which throws a fine spray or mist in a swath about 25 
feet wide. The sprayers used in orchard work have 
not been found very satisfactory. A sack of sulphate 
of iron (100 pounds) is poured into 50 gallons of wa¬ 
ter. It will dissolve in three or four minutes of hard 
stirring. This is strained through cloth into the spray¬ 
ing tank. Best results are obtained when the grain 
and weeds are six to 10 inches high. Bear this in mind, 
and do not expect to do a complete job after the mus¬ 
tard is fully grown. The best time for spraying is on 
a bright, sunshiny day with a little wind. A rain 
shortly after spraying would about spoil the. work. 
The action of the sulphate of iron in killing the weeds 
is explained by Prof. Olive. When the spray dries 
quickly it deposits on the leaves thin flakes of the salt. 
This deposit draws water from the cells of the plant 
much as salt does when salt water is sprayed in like 
manner. What is known as “plasmolysis” and wilting 
of the leaves follows, and if this be kept up of course 
the plants die. Prof. Olive thinks that probably some 
of the chemical is absorbed by the plant, but the loss 
of water is the chief cause of death. At any rate, tlic 
weeds are killed in a wholesale way by this spraying 
when done so that the spray will dry off rapidly. With 
one of the machines used in South Dakota it is said 
that 40 to 50 acres can be sprayed in one day. You 
will understand that this spraying machine works right 
through the grain field, the liquid being put on all alike 
-grass, grain and weeds. The grain and grass are 
usually injured slightly, but soon recover. No time 
can be lost in spraying, as the season for killing weeds 
to best advantage lasts less than two weeks. 
The sprayers mentioned cost $200 to $250. The 
following estimate is made for the cost of spraying a 
300-acre farm in South Dakota: One-tenth cost of 
sprayer, $20; 18 days men’s labor, $18; six days teafn 
labor, $36; 300 pounds iron sulphate, $300; total, $374. 
It is estimated that the gain in yield from spraying 
small grain amounts to one-third at least. For spray¬ 
ing 100 acres of wheat the estimated cost was $141, 
with a gain of two to three bushels per acre as a re¬ 
sult of it. Most of the so-called weed-killers sprayed, 
on gravel walks have an arsenical base. We do not 
know whether sulphate of iron is thus used. It is 
not equally effective on all kinds of 
weeds but is well worthy of being tried. 
NEW ENGLAND FRUIT SHOW. 
For some years past we New Eng¬ 
landers have been gradually realizing 
that our apples were not wanted in the 
fancy market, and we began to look 
about us to find out the cause, which 
was not hard for those near the cities 
t" discover. A quiet, steady invasion 
ot our markets by the wonderful ap- 
P : s from the West, beautifully colored, 
splendidly packed, with each apple guar¬ 
anteed to be perfect, had very easily 
displaced our New England fruit which 
ne to these same markets, some good, 
a great deal fair, but mostly poor, and, 
worse than all, so poorly packed that a 
buy. r was lucky to get one-half a bushel 
<d good apples out of a barrel. 
I houghtful people in our section be¬ 
lieved that this condition of affairs 
should not go on, and as there were 
other problems as important to New 
England’s interest as orcharding, a con¬ 
ference of the Governors of New Eng- 
laud was called, to meet in Boston and consider the 
following topics: Orcharding, fisheries, forests and 
r oids. Accordingly, this conference was held and 
P red to be very successful, the general public tak- 
iug great interest in all of the subjects. Committees 
" <re a Ppointed to go more deeply into the subjects 
a il suggest practical means of improving conditions, 
cordingly, the committee appointed to look up the 
ucct of orcharding, which committee consisted of 
(| u' secretaries or commissioners of agriculture in the 
UI ul States, together with the entomologists, met 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
in Boston, and after a thorough discussion of the 
subject believed that a fruit show would arouse more 
interest in this subject than any other method of pro¬ 
cedure, for the show would not only excite competi¬ 
tion in fruit but would bring together a large body of 
fruit growers, farmers and horticulturists, who would 
discuss the various phases of fruit growing, market¬ 
ing and packing; accordingly, the show was decided 
upon. A meeting for organization was held in Bos¬ 
ton, together with the rural progress conference, and 
officers were elected, a president, vice-president, sec- 
1TCKING CHERRIES IX OREGON. Fig. 473. 
rctary, treasurer, and six State vice-presidents, these 
latter to have charge of the work in their several 
States and to keep the matter before the public. 
Progress in the undertaking has been steady and a 
very neat and attractive premium list is now almost 
ready for distribution. The interest' shown throughout 
the New England States already insures a varied list 
of exhibits from diverse sections. We wish to make 
the display a characteristic one. 
It is one of the hopes of the management that this 
agitation for better fruit in New England will not 
only result in the growing of better fruit, but that 
this fruit will be packed and marketed as well as that 
which we now receive from Oregon and the West. 
UTILIZING A ITENYARD AS A GARDEN. Fig. 474. 
The management also realizes that in order to ac¬ 
complish this, some means must be devised to use the 
poor fruit in the orchards, and to this end exhibits 
and methods of handling the No. 2 and poor fruit 
will be one of the features of the show. Then, too, a 
couple of expert apple packers will be on hand to 
give demonstrations in handling and packing apples 
in both barrels and boxes, so that all who come should 
have an opportunity to see this operation. 
As this show is to be a means for education and 
the advancement of fruit growing in New England, 
the. commercial side of the show itself will not be 
prominently brought forward, but in order to meet 
the necessary expenses, an entrance fee of 25 cents 
will be charged, while season tickets entitling the 
holder to membership in the organization and admis¬ 
sion to the show at all times will be sold for $2.50. 
The exhibition will be held in Horticultural ITall, 
Boston, Mass, (the headquarters of the Massachu¬ 
setts Horticultural Society), and the large halls will 
be taxed to their limit to accommodate the fruit which 
is expected. Not only will there be exhibits of fresh 
fruit, but one feature of the show will be the exhibits 
of fruit by-products, showing what other uses fruit 
can be put to in order to utilize the third and lower 
grades. In New England we are so near our mar¬ 
kets that we ship everything we have, good, bad and 
indifferent, so that the market is kept in an unsteady 
condition trying to dispose of a lot of poor fruit, 
when the same market could handle a great deal of 
good fruit did it not have the competition of the poor, 
so we hope to show our people how to dispose of the 
thirds and inferior grades, either through the home 
evaporator, cider press or canning factory, and ship 
only the best. Exhibits of improved machinery, spray¬ 
ing apparatus, etc., will be accommodated to the ca¬ 
pacity of the hall. It is hoped to have a series of lec¬ 
tures on subjects of special interest to fruit growers 
at least once a day, and the ladies’ orchestra of Bos¬ 
ton will furnish music. About $3,500 in cash prizes are 
offered, together with cups and merchandise to the 
value of $1,000, so that an attractive premium list is 
the result. Student packing and judging contests will 
be held, and students from the various agricultural 
colleges will compete in these, so that this feature of 
the show ought to be of great interest to the students 
of the colleges. The judges for the show are Mr. II. 
S. Wiley, of Cayuga, N. Y., and Mr. Wm. A. Taylor, 
of the Department of Agriculture, while it is hoped 
to secure one of the Boston apple buyers to judge 
boxes and barrels. 
In New England, we need some more progressive 
methods to apply to orcharding; we need capital and 
energy to develop our fruit lands. We have some of 
the best soil for apple growing in the country. Our 
markets are right at our doors, while the markets of 
the world are within easy reach, and it seems that in 
the face of all this, New England has neglected an 
opportunity which should be speedily recovered. If 
the New England fruit show awakens an interest in 
fruit growing and brings to New England greater 
prosperity, the management will feel that their labors 
have not been in vain nor their energy wasted. The 
show will certainly advertise New England. 
Officers of the organization are as follows: Presi¬ 
dent, J. Lewis Ellsworth, State House, Boston; vice- 
president, Wm. P. Rich, 300 Massachusetts Ave., Bos¬ 
ton; secretary, Wilfrid Wheeler, Concord, Mass.; 
treasurer, A. Warren Patch, Boston. State vice-presi¬ 
dents, C. F. Gold, West Cornwall, Conn.; R. M. 
Bowen, Providence, R. I.; G. Q. Perry, South Hero, 
Vt.; E. D. Sanderson, Durham, N. H.; E. F. Iflitch- 
ings, Waterville, Me.; F. C. Sears, Amherst, Mass. 
Our motto, “Prosperity in the rural dis¬ 
tricts means prosperity in the whole 
country.” w. W. 
CLINCHER FOR PARCELS POST. 
I think it’s about time for the masses 
of the people of this country to wake up 
to the necessity of a parcels post. In 
January last I had shipped to me from 
Greenwich, Conn., 10 quarts seed corn, 
costing there 50 cents. The express 
charges on this package to Palmetto, 
Fla., were $2, four times the original 
cost of the article. Now, if such trans¬ 
actions as this and similar ones will not 
make the average farmer “wake up and 
take notice,” then the lazy or hook worm 
is not indigenous to Southern soil, but 
is a common complaint lurking in every 
nook and cranny of this great country 
Of OUrs. JNO. W. JACKSON. 
Florida. 
R. N.-Y.—In Europe this package 
vould have gone for about 15 cents, in 
one package. In this country the corn 
would have to be put in five different 
packages, with total postage of $1.40. 
For over 20 years it has been “about time” for the 
American people to put an end to this outrage. There 
will be no end to it until the people can make their 
representatives in Congress realize that this parcels 
post and similar matters are of greater importance 
than the old worn-out issues upon which the poli¬ 
ticians have fed so long. However, it is hard for 
them to see the light so long as powerful interests 
occupy a larger place in their political economy thatj 
the peop'e who elect them to positions which they 
frequently misuse. 
