<5012 
Juno la. 
it in good condition to receive the plants. These 
trenches are filled with hot manure trampled down 
firmly to within four inches of the surface, and cov¬ 
ered with about eight or nine inches of soil. In grow¬ 
ing melons on a large scale, we cover the manure with 
the plow, putting in little posts to mark the centre 
of the trench, making a ridge or bed about eight feet 
wide (a foot broader than the hotbed frame), rak¬ 
ing this smoothly, leaving a slight rise on the middle 
of the ridge, and then putting on the hotbed frame 
and sash. In a day’s time the soil should be warm 
enough to receive the plants from the nursery hot¬ 
bed. They are watered freely, so that they may come 
THE CAVITY READY TO FILL. Fig. 225. 
easily from the pot. (I prefer the berry boxes, as 
they cost less and can be easily broken away from 
the roots.) One pot containing four stout plants is 
put to each sash. They are watered after planting 
and shaded with boards or matting for a few days, 
till the plants take root. Shallow cultivation is prac¬ 
ticed, for the roots extend near the surface as far as 
the vines above ground. 
“About the beginning of July, when the vines have 
filled up the frames and little melons appear the size 
of a cocoanut, the glass and frames should be re¬ 
moved, doing this gradually to harden up the plants. 
As soon as a good crop of fruit is formed, the end 
of the vines should be nipped off and all the growth 
sent into the melons. Some varieties, like the Hack¬ 
ensack, produce far too much vine and too few melons 
ander this system of growing. One of the strong 
points in favor of the Montreal muskmelon is its 
FILLING A RAD TOOTH. Fig. 22G. 
productiveness, as well as good quality. The melons 
should be turned every few days, care being taken 
not to injure the vine. Some growers, as soon as the 
melons are well netted, do purposely give the stem a 
twist to hasten ripening, spoiling the quality for the 
sake of having them earlier. When they are nearly 
full grown, pieces of wood or shingle should be put 
under each one to prevent rot and to keep the worms 
from them. 
“Sometimes good melons are grown by a somewhat 
simpler method. Holes are dug about one foot deep 
and 18 inches in diameter, and these are filled with 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
warm manure, which is well trampled down. Each 
hill is then covered with eight inches of soil, and is 
set with plants from the nursery hotbed. These hills 
are shaded for a few days with a box or something 
of the sort. Such melons ripen in September, but 
there is not the demand for then in the markets that 
there is during the sultry days of July.” 
REPAIRING AN INJURED TREE. 
Some of our readers who live in places where trees 
and stumps are to be classed under the head of nui¬ 
sances will be surprised at the pictures of the surgery 
shown on this page. To many people the value of a 
tree is measured by the amount of lumber or fuel 
that can be cut from it. There are others who regard 
a large tree as an old friend, and they will go to 
almost any expense to keep the tree alive and thrifty. 
This is especially true near the eastern towns and 
cities, where farms have been in certain families for 
several generations. Trees that were planted many 
years ago come down to the present owners like the 
deed to the farm. They carry memories which are 
among the most sacred things of life, and much 
would be lost out of the lives of the present owners 
were the old trees to be lost. 
There is so much of this feeling that an extensive 
trade has been developed by “tree experts” who make 
a business of saving the old treees. Our pictures 
show how II. L. Frost & Co. operated on an old pine 
tree in Massachusetts. This tree had begun to decay 
at the base, a large cavity having formed into the 
heart. As will be seen, the method of saving this 
tree was much like the work of a dentist in “filling” 
a decayed tooth. The object was to cut out all the 
dead wood, sterilize the interior so as to destroy any 
germs of decay, and then keep out the air by filling 
the cavity. We see part of the successive steps in 
this operation. With chisel and gouge the decayed 
wood was all cut away. The cavity was then ster-' 
ilized and afterwards filled with concrete and stones. 
In a smaller cavity concrete alone would have been 
used. The outer surface of this filling is left rough, 
while clear concrete is put next to the wood. A sur¬ 
face of cement was then laid and a strip of zinc large 
enough to cover the cavity was cut and fastened to 
the tree. Then this zinc covering was coated with 
coal tar, and will be painted to resemble the tree in 
color. You will notice at the base of the tree how 
the zinc is imbedded in the cement. This prevents 
entrance of water or insects. 
This tree stands at the junction of three avenues, 
and was a landmark, so that it had considerable local 
value. Many old apple trees which most of us would 
cut down for fuel are repaired in this way, the owners 
being willing to pay a large price to save the old 
veterans. Some of the work of pruning and repair¬ 
ing done by these tree experts is quite remarkable. 
There are few things that give a better idea of the 
great value which locality will give to common ob¬ 
jects. Back on a hill pasture this old pine tree would 
have little value aside from the fuel that might be 
cut out of it. Located where it is there are no doubt 
men who would pay $500 rather than have it go down. 
This local demand for trees and food and flowers and 
other things which under what one might call ordi¬ 
nary conditions would have small value is calling for 
new methods and new trades which are very profitable. 
STONE ROAD FIGURES FOR NEW JERSEY. 
I noticed some time ago a request for figures rela¬ 
tive to first cost of stone roads, also cost of mainte¬ 
nance, and if taxes would have to be increased to 
support them. I will send some figures taken from 
the report of the New Jersey State Highway Com¬ 
mission for 1907. I will take Mercer County, in 
which the State capital is located. This county has 
122 miles of stone roads, average width 14 feet, which 
cost an average of $7,630 per mile, the State paying 
one-third of this amount. Last year this county built 
nearly six miles at $8,030 per mile, also spent for 
repairing 114 miles a total of $44,601, or $396 per mile, 
including maintenance of tools. Crushed stone cost 
$1.32 per ton, freight added; most of this produced in 
the county. The entire amount of automobile license 
money is divided among the counties to apply on roa*l 
repairs; this county’s share was $5,987. Counting the 
cost of dirt road repairs in addition to raising such 
sums of money to build new roads and repairs on 
same, it is evident that a county must have a high 
valuation, or the tax rate must go higher. Stone 
roads wear faster than one would expect, especially 
when dry, as the dust blows away. An ideal and 
inexpensive road would be an eight-foot bed of stone 
and a dirt road by its side for use when dry; such a 
road would require 1,750 tons of stone, while a 14- 
foot road eight inches deep, when finished would 
require 3,062. f. h. b. 
Trenton, N. J. 
THE VALUE OF THE WEEDER. 
How and When to Use It. 
I am glad to see the inquiry relative to the use 
of the weeders, for it is a failing of mankind to 
lose interest in even good things after they have 
lost the charm of novelty, and such is, I think, the 
fate of the weeder at the present time. After being 
extravagantly praised, it is now being rather neg¬ 
lected, and yet in my opinion there is no tool on the 
farm that when properly used, is more truly a labor- 
saving one, and in these days of expensive, scarce 
and low-grade labor, we need to save all the labor 
CUTTING ZINC FOR A COVERING. Fig. 227. 
we can. 1 o get the value out of a weeder, however, 
we must be fully convinced of the truth of the old 
adage that “Prevention is better than cure,” for 
that is a weeder’s stronghold. If we wait until the 
weeds get high enough to need hoeing the weeder 
is of no value at all, but if every week or 10 days, 
perhaps even oftener, in showery weather, we say 
to ourselves there must be another crop of weed 
seeds sprouting in the corn or potato field, and run 
over it once with the weeder, stirring up the top soil 
and exposing the delicate, sprouting seeds to the hot 
sun and dry air, it will be as pleasing as it is sur¬ 
prising to discover how easy it is to keep the weeds 
down. It all comes down to this. Do it early and 
do it often. Perhaps the market gardener can afford 
to hoe his expensive crops by hand, but the man who 
grows the staples cannot, and if he will use the 
FINISHING WTH COAL TAR. Fig. 228. 
weeder and the modern cultivators lie will not need 
to, and he need not have weedy fields cither. One of 
the nice things about the weeder is the rapid way 
it gets over the ground. We have three, and if it 
rains to-night, we can start in the morning and get 
over 50 acres before night, and it looks good to me 
to see that fine dust mulch everywhere instead of a 
dry crust, with countless little weeds pushing for 
dear life. If you haven’t got a weeder, better get 
one, and if you have one use it early and use it 
often. h. w. FEATON. 
Rhode Island. 
