231 
1908. 
A MASSACHUSETTS BACKYARD GARDEN. 
Which Won a Prize. 
Part II. 
Having only a few fruit trees and wanting more 
varieties I wrote The R. N.-Y. asking them how to 
graft. They printed a whole page about it. I took 
the paper into the garden and set 28 scions, and lost 
only two. That is one thing I like about the “Old 
Reliable”; you can bank on what it says. It keeps 
up with the seasons. It does not tell you in January 
what you ought to have done last August. When I 
had nothing else to do I pulled stumps and dug out 
stones. The lawn- having got to growing nicely, I 
began on that . I put out a Hydrangea in front of 
the house. Tiiis had over 500 blossoms on it last 
Summer. I set out an English hawthorn, Japan maple 
and a line of shrubs, with woodbine and honeysuckle 
at tire front and back piazzas. A 13-bar wire fence 
covered with woodbine makes a nice hedge all around 
the place, except 60 feet in front of the house. I also 
put out an arbor vitae hedge just back of the house 
between it and the garden. A cherry tree on one 
side and a Van Houtte Spiraea, a snowball, Calycan- 
thus and a bed of Phlox finish the back of the lawn. 
By this time I had the brush cut on all the lots 
but the stumps came out slowly. I came more and 
more to realize that I was on-a side hill, for when I 
planted I had to dig a little ditch with my hoe on the 
upper side of each hill or row, or my plants would be 
washed out. So I- put in three.terraces, the longest 
100 feet long. I wanted some more raspberries and 
some blackberries, so I set out one dozen Eldorado 
blackberries, two dozen Shaffer, one dozen Gregg and 
one dozen Cumberland raspberries, on land that 
had never been cultivated, dodging the stumps. 
Those I pulled out later on. Although I have 12 
kinds of apples, five of pears, 11 of grapes, three of 
raspberries, three of currants, three of gooseberries, 
six of strawberries and two kinds of cherries, I often 
think (when I read about the Hope Farm man’s apple 
sauce, etc.), of the canned raspberry, and right here 
let me tell the housekeepers that one-half raspberry 
and one-half rhubarb makes one of the best kinds of 
sauce. Currant, strawberry and gooseberry jam and 
other good things that came out of my garden are 
packed in the cellar. 
All my berries are grown under the mulch system. 
Between the rows of strawberries in the Fall I put 
three inches of manure before the ground freezes. All 
the berry bushes have a mulch of three inches of 
manure at the same time. I his is not dug in, but 
lies there and keeps the ground aool. I raise Industry 
and other gooseberries without the least sign of 
mildew; put them in the sun and mulch heavily; my 
tun ant bushes the same. They have never been cul¬ 
tivated. I have some Victorias that have never borne 
less than eight quarts per bush for the last nine years. 
Mulch is a time-saver for the busy man. I believe in 
thorough pruning and spraying. This work I do 
myself. 
Xow we come to the vegetable garden as it was 
when it took the prize. When doctors do not agree, 
what shall the patient do? In the preparation of the 
soil one man says manure and plow in the Fall. An¬ 
other says sow rye in the Fall and plow under in 
the Spring. Another, plow in the Fall, but do not 
manure. You can take your choice. I cover the 
ground with manure and plow it under in the Fall. 
In the Spring I manure in the hill and drill with com¬ 
post mixed up the Pall before. All my vegetables 
are grown that way. I have a place where all my 
pea vines, bean vines, corn husks, beet tops, in fact 
everything that will rot, is placed. From Spring until 
Fall, in the lower part of the garden, where it is out 
of the way, I have a hole three feet deep that will 
hold two two-horse loads. In October I put a layer 
of the pea vines, etc., in this hole, and then a layer of 
manure, and alternate them until the hole is full, 
ibis makes the finest manure to grow vegetables that 
I ever used. I also use some coal ashes in this pile. 
1 do most of my cultivating with the single wheel 
hoc. I prefer it to the double wheel, as I can tip it 
in either direction. In cultivating strawberries with 
the three cultivator teeth I can tip it so that the 
tooth next the plants will not go too deep. Next to 
the wheel hoe (and I would not be without it) is a 
tool made by taking an old garden rake and cutting 
it off so that there will be only five teeth in the center; 
the handiest tool you ever saw for working among 
onions, beets, parsnips, and in the flower beds. Cut 
the handle off so that it will -be the right length. In 
the Winter I make a plan of the garden, aiming to 
make a rotation, so that the same crop will not be 
grown on the same ground two years in succession. 
1 am trying to make my land better by digging out 
the strawberry plants after they have borne two crops 
and sowing Crimson and Red clover, and plowing it 
in in the Spring, changing the bed every two years. I 
THE RURAt NEW -YORKER 
find the land is growing better all the time. I begin 
operations Washington’s Birthday by planting tomato 
and lettuce seed in the house. These are transplanted 
once in the house, and when it is warm enough for 
cold frame, the tomato plants are transplanted into 
strawberry boxes. When the tomato plants are set in 
the open ground the corners of the box are cut and 
the plant set out without disturbing the roots. The 
boxes are filled with roots and fruit ripens about two 
weeks earlier than usual. I start my onions, peppers, 
muskmelons, cucumbers, Lima beans, and last year my 
first early corn, in cold frames. 'I plant my corn and 
everything I can in drills so that I can work it with 
the wheel hoe. 
r l here are three terraces in the garden. The upper 
one had two rows of Gladiolus 40 feet long, a row 
of Salvia, two rows of Dahlias, and two rows of 
Kochia Scoparia massed next to the banking, each 40 
feet long. Then came a row of carrots, one row of 
Chinese Giant peppers, two rows of Mammoth Carmine 
Podded shell beans, a row of corn, a row of tomatoes, 
cucumbers and radishes. The middle terrace was 
covered with raspberry bushes. I set out muskmelon 
plants (grown in strawberry boxes in the cold frames) 
on the side and they did finely. The lower terrace 
had two rows of onions, one row of salsify, one row 
of parsnips, two rows of cabbage, five rows of peas, 
one row of Brussels sprouts, a row of Lima beans, a 
short row of peanuts, two rows of beets, a row of 
AN ELBERTA PEACH TREE. Pig. 104. 
cauliflower, a row of Lemon cucumbers, four rows 
of corn, 12 hills of Winter squash, a row of Swiss 
chard, a row of celery, and a row of Kentucky Won¬ 
der wax pole beans. If you have not tried them you 
have missed the best string bean that grows. If 
planted before May 30 it will give a great crop, and 
the last of August will blossom again and bear an¬ 
other crop. Pick them and put down, a layer of salt 
and a layer of beans, and the next Winter you will 
have something that will make you think of the 
“Good old Summer time.” These rows of vegetables 
were 30 to 40 feet long. I am often asked: “How 
do you get so much stuff out of your land?” I plant 
a row of peas every two weeks from April to August; 
the same of beans or corn. The land where my early 
peas grew had early corn and Winter squashes one 
after the other. Late corn followed the peas in an¬ 
other part of the garden. Celery did the same. 
You can plant dwarf peas, put radishes between the 
rows, after the radish plant lettuce, follow this with 
tomatoes, between the tomatoes plant turnips. There 
is no end to the combinations one can use. But you 
must not spare the manure. I often plant two rows 
of peas 30 inches apart, and when they are in blossom 
plant another row between; pick the first two rows 
from the outside. Altogether the land used for 
vegetables is 100 feet long and 33 feet wide. 
I test my land for acid every Spring; and if sour 
use air-slaked lime. I also use lime on my lawn, 
putting it on after the ground is frozen. I use more 
or less nitrate of soda on my vegetables. I believe 
in thorough cultivation, keeping a dust mulch all the 
time by the use of the wheel hoe. As to the kinds 
of vegetables, I try most of the new ones when they 
come out. For peas I plant several different kinds, 
but prefer Nott’s Excelsior because it is very pro¬ 
ductive and ripens its crop all at once, and I have the 
ground for something else. You see my amount of 
land is limited. I like the Hanson and Mignonette 
lettuce. The last is the sweetest I know. The Golden 
Bantam and Black Mexican corn, Surehead cabbage, 
Fordhook Famous and Lemon cucumber, Dry 
Weather cauliflower (this will grow in almost any 
dry spot), Danvers carrot, Prizetaker onion, Deli¬ 
cious, Golden Bronze and Strickler’s Summer squash, 
Earliana, Globe and Stone tomatoes, Chinese Giant 
and Magnum Dulce peppers, Lewis muskmelon, De¬ 
troit Dark red beet, Giant Perpetual Swiss chard, 
Abbott s Improved Hollow Crowned parsnip, Long 
Island Brussels sprouts, Mammon Sandwich Island 
salsify, White Plume, Giant Pascal and Fin de Siecle 
celery, and last but not least, Kentucky Wonder wax 
pole bean. f. P briggs. 
Massachusetts. 
MONEY IN POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS. 
As most readers know, the Postmaster-General 
urges Congress to authorize a trial of a parcels post 
and postal savings banks. The latter are to receive 
money on deposit and pay interest at two per cent. 
1 he money is to be deposited in National banks for 
investment and security. One of our readers in 
Michigan asked Congressman Darrah of that State 
how he stood on the postal bank question. The Con¬ 
gressman opposed it. He thinks it will hurt the State 
banks in Michigan, since the money must be put in 
National banks. These State banks lend money on 
mortgages, which the National banks are not permitted 
to do. Mr. Darrah thinks the money deposited in 
the postal banks would be taken from the State banks, 
so that farmers would have no chance to borrow 
money on their land. We wrote Postmaster-General 
Meyer about this, and his reply follows. The postal 
banks are intended to attract the money of those who 
would not otherwise deposit their cash. It is said 
that foreigners in the cities hold millions of dollars 
out of circulation because they are afraid of the banks. 
They have confidence in the Government and will put 
their money into the postal banks. That money 
through the National banks, will go into circulation. 
As a direct investment few would put money into the 
postal banks at two per cent when savings banks pay 
four per cent: 
“In reply to the statement made by Congressman 
Darrah, of Michigan, that the chief objection to postal 
savings banks would be that they would take cash 
out of many of the Michigan counties, so that it really 
could not be called an advantage, I beg leave to say 
that the depositors who are now doing business with 
State banks would not be liable to change their ac¬ 
counts, for the reason that with the State banks their 
money is subject to check, they obtain accommoda¬ 
tions in the way of loans on their own paper and that 
of their customers, or by having a deposit in the bank, 
obtain money upon mortgages, as has been suggested; 
while the depositor who comes to the postal savings 
banks will obtain no accommodations whatsoever be¬ 
yond having his money in an absolutely safe place, 
with the Government’s guarantee and the small return 
of two per cent interest. The money that we shall 
get will, in almost every instance, be new money, 
that is, money that has not been deposited heretofore 
in a savings bank or other banks, because the rates 
paid by sayings banks will be double those which the 
postal savings banks would pay. Consequently, the 
establishment of these banks would in no wise affect 
existing conditions in the Michigan counties or in 
those of other States except to bring additional 
money, that is, money which is not seeing the light of 
day, into the channels of trade. If we can do this 
we shall increase the resources of the community, as 
the money is to be placed in the National banks in 
the district where it has been brought to the post 
office. This feature is of importance, for the reason 
that it will not permit of any favoritism as to the 
locality in which the money shall be deposited. 
“Faithfully yours, • g. von l. meyer.” 
AN EXPERIENCE WITH INSURANCE. 
I read on page 929 about a man who had lost his policy 
in the Mutual Reserve Life Insurance Company. I have 
had some experience with, that company which I would 
like to relate. I was in the company for 12 years and 
then dropped out after paying in about $1,000. When I 
took out policy the agent assured me that the assessments 
could never be increased, and also that at the end of 10 
years if I was a member in good standing I would get a 
grand distribution of about one-half of the face of my 
policy, which was $2,000. So I made all payments 
promptly and at end of 10 years they made the grand dis¬ 
tribution of $1.12, and at the same time doubled my 
assessments, which then amounted to over $120 per year, 
and then began making calls of $13 and $18 every other 
month, which amounted in all to over $200 per year, and 
claimed that they could draw on me as long as any death 
claims remained unpaid. Another man had a policy just 
like mine in same company and when I was paying $15 
he was paying $5 (he being a younger man),'but when 
they made an extra assessment for some purpose as pay¬ 
ments of death claims, they assessed me $18 and him 80 
cents. I being older than he, they wanted to force me 
out. When lie is older they will force him out. They 
sent an agent here and settled some death claims for 20 
cents on the dollar. At the same time the president was 
drawing a salary of $39,000 per year. j. P . b. 
Girard, Penn. 
