020 
THE RURAL NKW-YORKER 
October 23. 
COOKING LIME AND SULPHUR. 
Many seem to think that it requires 
an expensive steam plant to prepare or 
boil lime and sulphur quickly and eco¬ 
nomically. But I have found a much 
better way and withal very much less 
expensive in the plant and more desira¬ 
ble in the operation. All the commercial 
preparations that are -on the market, if 
of required strength contain more or 
less crystals, and these not only detract 
from the desirable qualities, but make 
great trouble with clogging of nozzles. 
The homemade will also crystallize more 
or less if allowed to become cold, and 
when once crystallized, it is almost im¬ 
possible to get these broken up again 
and into solution. But so long as the 
solution is kept hot it will not crystal¬ 
lize. With a steam cooker one can get 
no heat into the barrels or casks used 
for cooking at a temperature below 
steam generation (212°). Now suppose 
just as the charge is ready to go into 
the spraying tank a rain comes on for 
a couple of days’ duration, as often hap¬ 
pens. The only way to keep it hot is to 
keep up steam in the boiler, which is 
not only troublesome but expensive. I 
have put in a plant that works to a 
charm. It consists of two 100 gallon 
kettles set in a concrete foundation. It 
is seven feet wide, 10 feet long and 
about as high as top of spraying tank. 
The walls are two and a half feet thick 
made of concrete and stone. It has a 
cast iron front with two doors. The 
upper or fuel door is 12 inches high and 
18 inches long, so as to take in a large 
chunk or knot. The lower, or ash door, 
is same length but only eight inches 
high. It *has cast iron grates 30 inches 
long and fireplace is 24 inches wide. 
These grates enable us to use coal or 
wood. The kettles are set, one directly 
over the fire and the other directly be- 
liiixl on line with the chimney, so that 
same fire does for the two kettles, thus 
saving fuel. It takes but little fuel to 
cook the mixture, and while cooking the 
walls become heated so that in case of 
night or rain coming on, by simply shut¬ 
ting both doors and putting on the cov¬ 
ers to the kettles we can keep the con¬ 
tents hot as long as we please by simply 
occasionally putting v in a chunk. In fact 
after a day’s cooking, with the covers 
on, kettles and doors closed, the solu¬ 
tion will keep so warm for two or three 
days as not to form any crystals. When 
desirable to transfer from kettles to 
tank we have dippers holding from three 
to five gallons, with long heavy handles, 
and by standing on top of the arch it is 
a very easy and quick operation. We use 
two kettles for the sake of economy of 
fuel, though the plant will work just as 
well with one. I have had patterns 
made for front-doors and grates, and 
will be glad to aid anyone wishing, by 
having casting made here for them. 
There is not a doubt but it will pay, 
and pay well to spray with lime and sul¬ 
phur even though no scale has ever 
been near. It is death to fungus, curl 
leaf of peaches and numerous other 
troubles of the orchards. 
j. s. WOODWARD. 
Asparagus in Young Peach Orchard. 
F. 1i., Medford, L. I .—I planted aspara¬ 
gus in rows, between peach trees (one 
acre). The peach trees are 15 feet apart 
and two rows of asparagus are set between 
them, so that each row of asparagus is 
five feet distant from the trees. The as¬ 
paragus is now two years old (same as 
trees), but the branches of the trees ex¬ 
tend over the “grass.” It is therefore 
quite difficult to cultivate with a horse 
cultivator. I would gladly cultivate by 
hand if I knew the trees would not be 
loo near the asparagus, and my labor, etc., 
be lost. Would you advise me what to 
do? Should I kill the asparagus, or would 
heavy manuring (I have plenty of hen 
manure) keep the two crops in good 
Shape? 
Ans. —To enlighten the inquirer on 
the questions he asks, is simply and 
quickly done. He has one crop too 
many on the same ground. Further than 
that, he has too much of both. First, 
my judgment leads me to say, that if 
inquirer's soil is good peach ground, 
15 feet apart is too close for best re¬ 
sults for peaches alone, without any 
intercropping with such long-lived plants 
as the asparagus. Again, if the soil is 
ideal peach soil, it is not ideal asparagus 
soil. In this asparagus section, we do 
not plant asparagus closer than feet 
between the rows, and no other crop oc¬ 
cupying the same ground. A well estab¬ 
lished asparagus bed, from four years 
of age on, set as described, will occupy 
every inch of soil with its extensive 
root system, to a depth of three feet or 
more, and, at the same time utilize as 
much manure and fertilizer as most 
farmers can afford to apply. Again, 
when inquirer’s peach trees become of 
a bearing age, they will so shade the 
ground, that the sun cannot warm the 
soil sufficiently to stimulate a quick and 
rapid growth. This will cause the 
shoots that do appear to be weak and 
spindling. From another viewpoint, 
where two crops of roots, like the peach 
and the asparagus, are occupying the 
same soil, and a period of dry weather 
comes, something must suffer, and in 
this case, it will be the survival of the 
fittest. My judgment is, that neither 
crop will be more than one-half what it 
would be, if planted separately. There 
are still other reasons, why the peach 
and asparagus should not be planted 
together on the same ground. The as¬ 
paragus plant is one that requires very 
high feeding. Inquirer asks, “Would 
heavy manuring with hen manure, keep 
both crops in shape.” If a sufficient 
amount of hen manure was applied, 
fully to meet the demands of the aspar¬ 
agus only, and the weather conditions 
were ideal, as to heat and moisture, the 
peach trees would confiscate enough of 
the available plant food to be an abso¬ 
lute detriment to the trees, and at the 
same time rob the asparagus of needed 
fertility. In view of the facts as stated 
above, if I were in inquirer’s place I 
would destroy one crop or the other; 
which one is for him to judge. 
C. C. HUI.SART. 
Killing Dodder in Alfalfa. 
F. JV. 11., Farmiw/ton, F. M .—I notice 
in Tub It. N.-Y. much information about 
Alfalfa. Is there a practical way for de¬ 
stroying dodder in an Alfalfa patch with¬ 
out plowing and cultivating? Alfalfa is 
a very important crop here, and unfortu¬ 
nately some fields are becoming badly in¬ 
fested with dodder. If there were some- 
tiling to treat it with as they are treat¬ 
ing charlock in grain fields It might be 
better and cheaper than plowing. 
Ans. —We do not know of any spray¬ 
ing experiments with sulphate of iron 
to kill dodder. We doubt the value of 
the plan. In the East the plan is to 
mow off the spots where the dodder 
grows and burn the dried crop. In some 
cases kerosene is added to make a hot¬ 
ter fire. 
PRODUCTS. PRICES AND TRADE. 
Tomatoes. —Prices are now picking up 
a little, but they have beeu unprofltably 
low during the last six weeks. Large 
quantities have sold here at 20 cents per 
bushel. 
Potatoes. —The market is decidedly 
weak owing to heavy receipts of medium 
and low grades, stock that is not con¬ 
sidered desirable to store. Very low 
prices—down to 30 cents per bushel in 
New York—have been noted for some 
Maine potatoes. The crop for the whole 
country is considered about 10 per cent, 
better than last year. 
Heavy Custom Receipts. —For the nine 
months ending September 30, duties col¬ 
lected at the port of New York amounted 
to $ 108 , 120 , 210 , the largest in the history 
of the port. Tart of this rush w r as due to 
the efforts of importers to get in large 
stocks of goods that would be discrimi¬ 
nated against by the new tariff. The ap¬ 
praisers’ warehouses here arc swamped 
with goods, and there are many com¬ 
plaints of delay. 
..Hops Higher. —Nothing like the pres¬ 
ent advance has been noted for a long 
time. Lessened acreage in some of the 
producing sections and a generally poor 
yield are I he causes. In England the area 
in hops is said to be (i,000 acres less than 
last year. New Y'ork State markets are 
on considerably higher basis than the Pa¬ 
cific Coat and large sales at upwards 
of 35 cents are reported. About three- 
fifths of the New York State crop is re¬ 
ported to he sold already. The German 
new crop is quoted at 70 to 75 cents. 
When a manufacturer gets used to hand¬ 
ling a certain grade of hops, his processes 
are made up on this basis and he does 
not like to change. Many brewers pre¬ 
fer New' York State hops and are willing 
to pay a substantial premium for them. 
Fewer Commission Sales.— Twenty-five 
years ago a large proportion of the farm 
products sold in the New York market 
were shipped here to commission men. 
There were a dozen or more concerns that 
were considered standard in this business, 
and when a man sent goods to them he 
expected fair and square treatment and 
usually got it. Some of these merchants 
were at that time direct buyers of apples, 
potaioes and some other things in large 
producing sections. Then this method of 
getting goods was the exception; now’ it 
Is the rule, a large share of the com¬ 
mission men having their agents in the 
fruit and trucking sections ready to pay 
for these products on delivery at the local 
railroad station. Two things that brought, 
this change about were sharp speculative 
competition on the part of the dealers, and 
the coming of sw'arras of swindlers into 
the commission business. A farmer who 
had been bitten by one of these rascals was 
in a state of mind to welcome a cash 
buyer, even though the price offered was 
not equal to the flowery, but unfruitful 
promises of the slippery commission man. 
The writer’s opinion, based on observation 
in ihe New Y’ork market, is that the pro¬ 
ducer will on the average net more for 
goods consigned to the right sort of com¬ 
mission house than where sold direct to 
the dealer. The latter method is based 
on speculation, and the buyer is quite sure 
to get goods as a basis of a little more 
profit than the usual commission charge 
to pay the interest on investment and in¬ 
sure himself against a falling market. Of 
course it is much safer to sell than to 
consign goods on an uncertainty as to the 
treatment you will receive, but, as has 
been said before, we consider a competent 
commission man one of tlie best assets a 
farmer can have w. w. h. 
FOOD FOR A YEAR 
Meat.300 lbs. 
Milk.240 qts. 
Butter.100 lbs. 
Eggs. 27 doz. 
Vegetables.500 lbs. 
This represents a fair ration 
for a man for a year. 
But some people eat and eat 
and grow thinner. This means 
a defective digestion and unsuit¬ 
able food. A large size bottle of 
Scott’s Emulsion 
equals in nourishing properties 
ten pounds of meat. Your Phy¬ 
sician can tell you how it does it. 
FOR SALE BY ALL DBUGGI8TS 
Send 10c., name of papor and this ad. for our 
beautiful Savings Bank and Ohild'a Sketch-Hook. 
Each bank containa a Good Luck Penny. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, 409 Pearl St. New York 
Simplified Society.—A writer in the 
New York Evening Post says: 
“If W’o relied upon the village tailor or 
shoemaker, ns of old, this generation would 
go poorly clad, and barefoot. And yet for 
some of the principal items of existence we 
are getting to he nearly as badly off, and it 
is becoming Intolerable.” 
Don’t he ioo sure of that. There would 
he more tailors and shoemakers to do the 
work and fewer tramps. 'Pile great army 
of the out-of-work has been recruited largely 
from those put out of a job by the great 
factories. 
w H AT 
U INVENT 
ONE CLIENT MADE $85,000 LAST YEAR. 
Our free books tell WHAT TO INVENT and 
HOW TO OBTAIN A PATENT. Write for 
them. Send sketch for free opinion as to patent¬ 
ability. We advertise your patent for sale tree. 
WOODWARD Ac CHANDLER, Reg Att vs. 
1252 “F” Street. Washington, I). C. 
SAVE HALF THE LABOR 
in sawing wood. You can 
do this and at the same 
time, cut more wood in a 
given time than in any 
other way by using I 
THE IRELAND 
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Table is mounted on grooved 
rolls,moves easily—cut of saw is 
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style machines. Mnstbe seen to l«> appreciated. 
Send for vricea and full information. 
Ireland Machine S Foundry Co.,14 State St..Norwich.N. Y. 
TH ZBEST XIGHT 
Absolutely safe. Makes and burns its own 
gas. Brilliant BOO candle power light, 
i-.Cants no shadow. Costs * cents rwr 
week. No smoke, grease, nor odor. Over 
200 styles. Every lamp warranted. Agents 
wanted. Write for catalog. 
THE BEST LIGHT CO. 
401 E. 5th St., Canton, O. 
The Grand Prize 
(Highest Award) 
IS AWARDED TO THE 
United States Separator 
at the 
v Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition 
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 
The scale for judging was agreed upon by all separator 
companies entered. 
The only Grand Prize or highest award on cream sepa¬ 
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other separators. 
Ask us, direct, for information and Catalogue No. 159. 
The VERMONT FARM MACHINE CO. 
BELLOWS FALLS, VT. 
