1086 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 18, 
CEDAR RUST. 
I saw on page 1029 some remarks 
about cedar rust on apples. In the case 
mentioned the apples are undoubtedly 
affected by the ripe rot, an affection to 
which the Smith Cider is one of the 
most susceptible varieties. This disease 
is undoubtedly caused by the hot humid 
weather of the Summer, and spreads 
very fast when the heat gets up toward 
the nineties with a large amount of hu¬ 
midity in the air, which always occurs 
with a southerly wind. This disease has 
been in this vicinity for a number of 
years, and every Smith Cider apple tree 
in this section is affected, while Baldwin, 
Long Island Russet, Nero, and Cooper’s 
Market will be perfectly clean. I have 
never seen any early apple affected. I 
know only one remedy. Plant early 
apples or those that are not affected by 
this great scourge of the Smith Cider. 
The cedar rust is a disease of the tree, 
and with my years of experience with 
this disease, which has destroyed sev¬ 
eral acres of Nero apples for us, I 
never saw the fruit affected. There is 
not a doubt but this disease is propa¬ 
gated on the cedar tree by what is called 
the cedar ball. This propagation always 
occurs with damp or rainy weather, 
winds always southwest to southeast, 
temperature above 70 degrees, and when 
sun is shining brightly. I have seen the 
spores on trees of a good many species, 
on growing grass, or old dead wood, and 
in an hour’s time with change of the 
wind from southwest to northwest the 
spores dry up. This makes it safe to 
plant the orchard of any variety, of ap¬ 
ples anywhere southwest or southeast 
of the cedar trees. Our orchard of Nero 
trees, after we had one of these periods 
of weather used to look as though a fire 
had passed over, and the leaves would 
fall off by September 1. 1 tried grafting 
a limb of the Nero apple on a tree in 
no way afflicted by cedar rust, but it 
never carried the disease. Most varieties 
of apples are immune to the cedar rust, 
and Smith Cider is one of the varieties 
that with us was never affected. It is 
one most affected by ripe rot. 
Mercer Co., N. J. i. j. blackwell. 
R. N.-Y.—Cases have been reported 
where the disease attacked the fruit as 
well as the trees. 
SOME CORN POSSIBILITIES. 
The well authenticated yield of 133 
bushels of shelled corn per acre by a 
Connecticut man is one of them. The 
average yield of Uncle Sam’s dominion 
is but a small fraction of this, and of 
the corn belt about one-third of it. Many 
Illinois and Iowa raisers would hoot at 
the idea of a New England man attempt¬ 
ing to grow good crops of corn, and 
think he should be in the poultry or 
squab business. The day of scorn for 
the eastern men or the hill farmers is 
past if they are wideawake men. It is 
the history of all lands that when pro¬ 
duction gets so low it is unprofitable, 
the operators awaken to the cause, rem¬ 
edy the trouble and many farms have 
doubled their productiveness. The own¬ 
ers are not yet satisfied, but are like 
Oliver Twist, and all the eastern farms 
are not abandoned. The possibilities 
have not been found, but the interest of 
numerous aspirants will lead them to 
keep trying, and the result will be high 
yields. It is not necessary that they find 
them, since the pleasure of trying and 
the hope of success are greater incen¬ 
tives that any positive knowledge would 
be. The writer’s possibility, on hill land, 
is a little above 80 bushels per acre, 
about twice the average of the corn be.lt 
but it is not enough by a long way. Ttie 
soil must be better tilled, its condition 
needs more thought, it must be made 
more fertile, chemicals must be looked 
after more carefully, and seed most 
suitable must be chosen. 
In regard to the latter, many plant any 
o’d kind of seed, others have one kind 
and stick to it. Some raise two barren 
stalks and one smutty one out of ten. 
Another uses a kind highly advertised, 
or one which yielded well on a different 
class of soil than his own. One of our 
plans is to make the best we can get to 
compete with each other, to choose good 
yielders, plant shock rows across the 
field, hold fast that which is good and 
reach for something better. Six shock 
rows, 80 rods long, this year gave from 
71 bushels to 83 bushels per acre; and 
what a loss it would have been on our 
20 acres if the lowest, a good yielder 
elsewhere, had been used exclusively. 
The object is to find the one which 
will give the largest number of bushels 
of shelled corn on our land. The ques¬ 
tions of whether it looks pretty, or the 
rows on the cob are straight, or will it 
pass muster at a corn show, are not 
taken into account, except as they con¬ 
tribute to make the measurement, and it 
is just as interesting to learn what not 
to use as to find the good ones. No one 
can know what is most suitable to his 
soil and climate by planting but one 
variety, since he may be losing plenty of 
money. Again, when one experiments 
along this line he is likely to follow in 
every other, and study the whole scheme 
of corn production. There are volumes 
of talk and writing on corn breeding, on 
the selection of seed, on its germinating 
power, on its protein and other contents, 
and on many other corn themes, which 
are useful, but the busy, practical farm¬ 
er's plain duty is to choose good seed 
from hopeful varieties and learn which 
will yield him the largest number of 
bushels of shelled corn. It will be one 
valuable aid to help him towards his 
possibility. slocum. 
Ohio. 
“ ASKING ” THE SWAMP LAND. 
You asked the farmers who read The 
R. N.-Y. to tell me how to drain my 25 
acres of swamp land; on page 985 some¬ 
one tells me to “ask the land!.'’ That is 
just what I have done. I find that there 
is not one man in 10,000 who has any idea 
of how to drain swamp land, but I have 
put my thinker to work, and here is the 
result. It occurred to me that on a place 
I formerly owned, there was a fine spring of 
water, located about two rods from the 
house, and in cleaning out the spring, I 
discovered a pipe line, that had! been put 
down to convey water from the spring to 
a pasture about 15 rods away. This pipe 
line was made of pine logs, six inches 
through, and had been bored out, and one 
end dressed down to fit in the end of each 
length of 12 feet. This line of piping was 
laid in the natural drain of water from the 
spring one foot below surface. In trailing 
this pipe line, 1 found it ran out of the 
spring lot to the pasture lot beyond and 
could see traces of where there had been a 
tub, or trough, for the cattle to get water. 
I found upon inquiry of a neighbor, 87 
years old, who lived and died upon the 
farm he was born upon, that the old gentle¬ 
man who owned my place formerly put in 
the pine log pipe line and it had been in at 
least 150 years, and that pine logs or 
poplar logs will not rot under muck and 
water and will last hundreds of years if 
not exposed to sun and' air. I went ovei 
the 25 acres of swamp and muck land I 
have, where I could do so and not get 
mired, asking the land how I conld get it 
out. of the mire. The muck land says: 
“Do you see the old stamps sticking up 
now and then, over these 25 acres?” I 
said yes, “Well, you see the roots under 
the muck and sand are hard. Get into 
the woods over alongside and cut out 5,000 
running feet of straight and tall poplar 
trees, six to eight itaebes through. Cut the 
logs of about 12 feet in length, take them 
to the sawmill, have them sawed in half, 
have same logs sawed in inch boards and 
have the sawyer split these inch board's into 
two-inch strips to be cut up into 12-inch 
pieces to be used in nailing the two split 
logs together so there will lie 0. 8 or 10 
inches space for the water to pass through 
from one length to the other. 24 strips for 
each side, that will make 12 feet of tiling 
that will last 500 years under muck and 
water and will always drain your land. 
Dig a 15-inch ditch on lowest grade to 
brook or fall; put in a layer of straw, hay 
or pine boughs on the bottom of the ditch 
and on the sides of log tiling and on the 
top as put in the drain. Thi l s will prevent 
the muck ooze from filling up the tiling, 
and will last as long as the wood.” 
In digging post holes to set a line fence 
op this muck land. I found a tine quality 
of peat that shows meadow and wild hay, 
and other vegetable matter that must have 
been under muck and water hundreds of 
years. My conclusion is, after consulting 
the land, that the best, cheapest, least 
labor and quickest put in to get results, is 
the tile log drain for muck or swamp land. 
The muck thrown out of ditch can be put 
back on top of drain and will in time, settle 
to a practically level land. Muck land 
drained is a bonanza on any farm, for any 
kind of crop. 
Massachusetts. w. v. Howard. 
Every Up-To-Date Farmer 
Should Read Our Cement Book 
We Mail It Free 
If you are going to build or repair anything about your home or 
farm this year or next, you need our free book “Concrete Construction 
About the Home and on the Farm.” It will suggest hundreds of ways 
to use concrete—the best and most economical of building materials. 
Every progressive farmer should know about concrete; howto mix 
and place it properly and how to construct small buildings at the low¬ 
est cost. Our book gives full particulars and explains how to go 
about the work. There are 168 pages and over 150 illustrations, dia¬ 
grams and plans. 
ATLAS!*,Concrete 
Don’t take chances on the failure of your work by using poor 
cement. You can’t make good concrete out of cheap cement. 
ATLAS is the brand of -which the United States Government pur¬ 
chased 4,500,000 barrels for the Panama Canal. The daily capacity 
of the ATLAS plants is over 50,000 barrels, the largest output 
in the world, yet every bag and barrel of ATLAS Cement is abso¬ 
lutely uniform in color, fineness and strength. There is only one 
quality of ATLAS manufactured — the best that can be made and the 
same for everybody. 
Ask your dealer for an ATLAS Farm Calendar 
for 1910. If he cannot supply you, write to 
The ATLAS Portland CEMENT Co. 
Dept. 22, 30 Broad Street New York 
BINE 
“Will reduce inflamed, strained, 
swollen Tendons, Ligaments, 
Muscles or Bruises, Cure the 
Lameness and Stop pain from a 
8 j)liut,8ide JSone or Done Spavin 
No blister, no hair gone. Horse can be 
used. Horse Book 2 D free, $2.00 a 
bottle at dealers or delivered. 
ABSOBBINE,JB.,formankind,$L I 
Reducos Strained Torn Ligaments,En- I 
larged glands, veins or muscles—heall 
ulcero—allays pain. Book Free. 
W. F. YOUNG, P. D. F., 88 Temple St., Springfield, Mass, 
Let Me Start You in Business ! 
I will furnish the capital and the advertising. I want 
one sincere, earnest man in every town and township. 
Farmers, Mechanics, Builders. Small business men, uny- 
one anxious to improve his condition. Address 
“COMMERCIAL DEMOCRACY,” Dept. D.35, Elyria. Ohio 
AC.FNTS 2«»% PROFIT, 
v A KJ Handy, Automatic' 
HAME FASTENER 
Do away with old haine strap. 
Horse owners and teamsters 
wild about them. Fasten 
instantly with gloves on. Outwear the harness. Money back if 
not satisfactory. Write today for confidential terms to agents. 
F. Thomas Mfg. Co., 8«5 Wayne St., Hay ton, Ohio 
Don’t Waste an Hour On Your 
California Trip 
Rest and relaxation begin when you board the 
Los Angeles Limited 
via 
Union Pacific 
and Salt Lake Route 
“The Safe Road to Travel” 
Electric block signals—dustless roadbed—dining 
car meals and service “Best in the World.” 
New steel passenger equipment. 
Our illustrated California booklets give detailed 
information as to train and trip. Call 6n or address 
J. B. DeFRIEST, G. E. Agt., 287 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 
