«4 
January 2S, 
THE RURAL KEW-YORKER 
A CROP FOR MULCH MATERIAL. 
B. R., Meahoppcn, Pa .—What crop would 
you suggest to grow entirely for mulch 
to be used on strawberries? Would Canada 
field peas and oats give more material 
than millet, or would millet and Canada 
field peas make a good combination? Would 
Kaffir corn grow well in this section of 
country, and could two crops be grown in 
one season? 
Ans.— All things considered, Japan¬ 
ese millet is about as good a “mulch 
crop” as you can grow on a small farm. 
This millet will make a heavy growth 
in good land, and can be put in after 
early potatoes or peas, or even early 
sweet corn or in an old strawberry 
field. We would not sow Canada peas 
with the millet. In order to get a full 
growth of millet you must seed it too 
early for the peas to do well. The best 
mulching crop we ever had was cow- 
pea vines, but they do not make growth 
enough to supply the mulch. Kaffir 
corn will grow well, but ordinary corn 
will give you more feed. 
COMMISSIONER PEARSON’S REPORT. 
The eighteenth annual report of the New 
York State Department of Agriculture was 
given out January 16. The report of the 
finance bureau shows a total expenditure 
through the Department of Agriculture of 
$704,352.61. Of this amount $252,231.78 
was distributed to county and town fair 
societies as partial reimbursement for pre¬ 
miums paid for the encouragement of agri¬ 
cultural production. $94,317.10 was paid 
in indemnities for animals taken by the 
State on account of bovine tuberculosis. 
$27,324.80 was paid as indemnities for 
horses killed suffering with the disease of 
glanders. $51,439.01 was spent through the 
Bureau of Horticulture and Nursery Inspec¬ 
tion. It is pointed out that the work of the 
Department yields also a considerable rev¬ 
enue to the State, aggregating last year 
in excess of $100,000. 
One thousand seven hundred and twenty- 
five cases for violation of the agricultural 
law have been referred to the Attorney- 
General. EHve hundred and nineteen were 
relative to oleomargarine. The Department 
is making strenuous efforts to prevent the 
sale of this article as butter in violation 
of the statute. Four hundred and fifty- 
one cases related to adulterated milk and 
cream; most of these represented samples 
containing less than the State standard of 
fat due to the addition ol' water or skim¬ 
ming. Two hundred and sixty-one cases re¬ 
lated to pure food violations; 162 cases to 
illegal traffic in bob veal, breaking of quar¬ 
antines and other violations of law relat¬ 
ing to animals and animal diseases. One 
hundred and forty-one cases related to vine¬ 
gar, 75 to commercial fertilizers, 25 to 
cattle feeding stuffs and 33 to turpentine. 
The remaining 58 were for violations of the 
law relative to illegal shipments of nursery 
stock, small size apple barrels, unclean milk 
cans, unsanitary conditions of places where 
food products are handled, false branding 
of cheese, adulterated linseed oil and San 
Jose scale. , .. 
The Bureau of Foods showed much activ¬ 
ity in enforcing the law against misbranded 
or adulterated food. The Bureau of Dairy 
Products reports that 343 persons have been 
licensed to act as agents in milk gather¬ 
ing stations, 1,179 inspections of sanitary 
conditions at dairy establishments has been 
made and in 546 places improvements were 
found to be necessary. Many hundreds of 
dairy farms have been inspected for sani¬ 
tary conditions and improvements directed 
where necessary. Special attention has been 
given to the condition of milk cans re¬ 
turned from cities to country districts, the 
law now requiring that these cans shall be 
clean before being returned and providing 
a severe penalty for the introduction of 
filth of any kind into these receptacles. At¬ 
tention is called to the fact that it is a 
violation of the Agricultural Law for any 
person to return a milk bottle in unclean 
condition to a milk dealer. 
The Bureau of Fertilizers and Feeding 
Stuffs returns an income to the State 
greatly in excess of the cost of its main¬ 
tenance. Every brand of fertilizer and feed¬ 
ing stuff sold within the State must be li¬ 
censed after the payment of a fee. The total 
amount turned into the State treasury for 
fees during the past year was $28,615. 
Agents of the Department have collected 637 
samples of feeding stuffs and 837 samples 
of fertilizer, all of which were referred to 
the State Experiment Station at Geneva for 
analysis. Considerable attention has been 
given to the quality of turpentine and lin¬ 
seed oil, more than 800 samples having 
been collected and about 60 of these found 
to be in violation of law. 
Bovine tuberculosis has been found in 
herds in practically every county in the 
State. Owing to the increased efforts of 
the State in eradicating this disease, bet¬ 
ter methods are being introduced on many 
dairy farms in the line of more sanitary 
quarters and greater care in the selection 
and purchase of animals. Fourteen thous¬ 
and one hundred and eighty-one cattle have 
been tuberculin tested by the Department, on 
requests of owners because of suspecting 
the presence of the disease. Three thous¬ 
and and twenty-nine or 21 per cent, have 
reacted. Of this number only 1,240 were 
found to have the disease in generalized 
form. One hundred and four were free 
from tuberculosis lesions. During the year 
forty-five quarantines were laid against the 
disease of rabies in 21 different counties. 
It is believed that much progress has been 
made against this disease. Other diseases 
receiving attention of the Department in¬ 
clude glanders, anthrax, swine plague, hog 
cholera, mange, black leg and tuberculosis 
In swine. The Department is exercising 
strict measures over animals entering the 
State for breeding and dairy purposes. The 
attention of the Legislature is called to 
the shipment of bob veal calves from this 
State to other States. Frequently these 
shipments include calves a few days old 
which cannot be shipped to points in our 
own State for food purposes and which 
are entirely too young to ship for the pur¬ 
pose of being raised. Much complaint 
comes to the Department from citizens 
throughout the State because of this traf¬ 
fic, which has no commendable features and 
many that are condemnatory. In connec¬ 
tion with the prevention of rabies, and for 
the protection of the sheep industry as 
well, attention is called to the necessity 
of State-wide supervision of dogs. . Stray 
dogs, especially, which would be disposed 
of if a reasonable tax or license fee were 
imposed, are believed to carry rabies from 
one district to another and there is abund¬ 
ant evidence to show the heavy losses 
caused to flocks of sheep in many parts of 
the State. The matter of a State meat 
inspection service is referred to. At the 
present time there is no State meat inspec¬ 
tion law in New York and it is well known 
that conditions at some abbattoirs are such 
as to need surveillance. The value of the 
Federal meat inspection service, which it is 
estimated costs the people of the State of 
New York $300,000 per year, is in large 
part lost to the people of the State be¬ 
cause this is not supplemented by a State 
meat inspection service. 
It is reported that 256 farms, adver¬ 
tised through the publications of the De¬ 
partment, have been sold during the past 
year; the combined value amounting to 
more than $1,000,000. Over 10,000 letters 
of inquiry from persons in western States 
and some from Europe concerning possi¬ 
bilities of New York State farms have 
been received and answered during the 
year. The Department has record of at 
least 200 families who are expecting to 
move into this State this Spring, options 
already having been taken on 74 farms. 
Forty-nine hundred and forty-four farm la¬ 
borers have been provided to farmers of 
this State during the past year. These 
persons represented 26 different national¬ 
ities, the largest number, 1,745, being Irish, 
and 1,406 German. 
Five hundred and seventy-two nurseries 
have been inspected and all stock examined, 
including 116,640,977 trees and plants of 
different kinds. Seventeen thousand and 
eighty-one trees have been destroyed on ac¬ 
count of being infested with San Jose scale 
which, if distributed to parts of the State 
now free from this pest, would have caused 
untold damage. More than twelve million 
seedlings recently imported have been ex¬ 
amined and 3,726 nests of Brown-tail 
moths as well as some nests of Gipsy moths 
have been found. These dangerous pests 
are destroyed with the utmost care. Thus 
far although they have appeared at more 
than a score of different places in our 
State, agents of the Department have in 
every instance completely eradicated these 
insects. The importance of this work may 
be estimated when it is stated that in 
Massachusetts last year more than $1,000,- 
000 was spent by Federal, State and muni¬ 
cipal governments for the purpose of keep¬ 
ing under control these pests which un¬ 
fortunately have gained a foothold there. 
Send for our Book of 
Trees — Tells How to 
Plant for Fruit 
and Shade 
Every person who expects 
to plant trees this Spring—a 
dozen or a thousand—should 
first send for Green’s 1911 
Complete Catalogue. It lists 
everything desirable In fruit 
and shade trees as well as small 
fruit; tells you how we sell direct 
_ to you from our nursery and 
quotes lowest “at-the-nursery” prices. By our money- 
saving, quality-giving plan, you pay no commissions but 
buy direct from one of the largest nurseries in the United 
States, and you get nurserymen’s lowest prices. 
Agent's Prices Cut in Two 
GREENS TREES 
Direct to You 
We grow, bud, and graft quality trees from bearing orchards of 
our own—all hardy, northern grown and true to name. Every tree 
is triple inspected and guaranteed free from pests and scale. 
Green's Nurseries are located in one of the greatest fruit centers 
in the United States—Northern New York—yet we are 6 to 12 miles 
distant from other nurseries—no chance for contagious disease. 
Our catalogue is our only salesman, and has been for over SO 
years, but our square-dealing policy makes our oustomers loyal to 
us and brings them back year after year with new orders, if you 
have never bought trees under Green's Nursery plan, investigate 
by sending at once for the 1911 catalogue, and we will also send you 
free our remarkable hook "Thirty Years with Fruits and Flowers. * 
Capital, $100,000. 
GREEN'S NURSERY CO., Box 22. Rochester, N. Y. 
OATS 
Tells the best Strawberries, Rasp¬ 
berries, Blackberries, Dewberries, 
Gooseberries, Currants, etc., and Just 
how to grow them, Knight's plants 
have a national reputation for superior 
quality and high vigor. Send 
for free copy of our catalogue. 
David Knight 
& Son. 
Box 56 Sawyer, Mich. 
1st Prize $100—2nd Prize $25 
3rd Prize $10 —4th Prize $5 
5 th Prize $5 —and Five More 
Prizes of $1.00 each in Field’s Great 
National Free-For-All Garden Contest 
A NATIONAL CONTEST—open to all—to get better gar¬ 
dens! That’s my plan and I am sure you know what it 
means. And right at the start, let me tell you that there 
are no conditions whatever, to this contest, You don’t 
have to buy seeds from me unless you want to—don't have to sell 
anything or do any work for me at all. Just raise a bumper gar¬ 
den crop—then write me a letter about it. Tell me what 
methods you used, how you laid out the garden, how you 
treated the soil, etc. And send along a few photographs. 
This contest is 
For Men, Women, Boys and Girls 
everywhere. Everybody stands an equal chance of winning. 
—--Fine writing or college grammar doesn’thelp—it’s facts about 
good gardens that I want. It makes no difference where you live or whether your 
garden is small or large. All you’ve got to do is to raise a bumper crop—then 
write me all about it. If the judges decide your letter is best—you get $100.00. 
If it is second best you get $25.00 and so on. Winner is paid at the rate of 
50c a Word for a 200-Word Letter 
if the letter contains 200 words. That’s worth while isn’t it? You can’t lose in 
this contest even if you don'twin one of the prizes. It costs nothing to enter 
—and you gain by getting a better garden. If you win—and you stand an ex¬ 
cellent chance—so much the better, What I want is that everybody have a 
good garden and then to write me. Don’t send any money but mail me the 
coupon now so I can tell you all the details about this contest in my special 
folder. I want you to read about the great book of Garden Experiences I’m 
going to publish give away to my customers, and I want you to know how 
to get one without expense. I also want to mail you my big 1911 seed catalog. 
Don’t Wait! Enter Now! Mail The Coupon 
or a postal quick. All I want is your name and address so I can send you the 
facts and my book. You’ll find my catalog a guide to the best seeds grown— 
contains everything you want in the seed line. I've built up one of the biggest 
seed houses in America, by giving highest quality and biggest value. But this 
contest is open to all—and you can win whether you buy seeds from me or not. 
Address me personally, Henry Field, President 
Henry Field Seed Company, Box. 26 Shenandoah, Iowa 
I 
Henry Field, President 
HENRY FIELD SEED CO , Box. 26 Shenandoah. Iowa, 
Dear Mr. Field: Please send me your Special Garden Contest Folder and your 
1911 Catalog Free. 
Name. 
m 
I 
NEW SEEL)OATS. Big money 
in right kind of oats. Here's 
your chance. Imported Canadian 
seed oats, raised on Galloway 
Brothers' big farm in Canada. 
New, clean land. Regenerated 
Swedish Select went 116 bushels 
to acre; Early New Market 110 bushels to acre. Farmers who 
bought this seed from us last year raised as high as 75 to 100 
bushels in this country, and found out their old seed was inbred 
and run out. Change your seed. Try some of this new seed. 
Send for free sample, or 10 cents for large packet. Will also send 
our free booklet, entitled “Big Money in Oats and How to Grow 
Them.'' Galloway Bros.-Bowman Company 
662 Galloway Station Waterloo, Iowa 
200 Bushels of Strawberries 
From a Single 
One of our patrons made this record -with 
plants bought of us. J ust ask a commission 
man what this quantity of fruit would have 
brought the grower any year lately, and 
you'll see that there's money in berries . 
Knigbt*s Free Book 
on Small Fruit 
ARE A VERY PROFITABLE CROP 
Last season, Cherries sold for eight cents a pound by the 
ton. Fine trees can be purchased now at very reasonable 
prices. Catalogue and full information furnished on request. 
ELLWANGER & BARRY 
MOUNT HOPE NURSERIES 
‘ ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
Why Harris’Seeds 
are Surest and Best 
Seed that grows —that gets right down to business and 
makes good plants—is the only kind you can afford —and 
it’s the kind you get when you order from us. Every strain of 
our seed has a pedigree—has made a record for years. 
Nearly all of it is grown on our own farms; we give it a 
careful germination test, to prove just 1 how much of it is 
good. When we've found that out, we print it on a 
special label appearing on each package, so that 
You can always tell how much 
ol our_-r?\ seed will come up 
Think of what that means ! You 
, VA.V-'" §\ can ,e " " ben you plant it. whether 
OQDSEEDS 
PRICES BELOW ALL OTHERS 
|| I give a lot of new sorts for 
trial with every order I fill. 
| A Grand Big Catalog CDCC 
Illustrated with over » nEb 
^ 700 engravings of vegetables 
and flowers. Send yours and 
_'your neighbors’ addresses.- 
R. H. SHUMWAY, Rockford, Illinois 
to"' 
ut»- 
vy h*" 
t<" 
■ c *°co\i*='' r 
tfor" 01 ' & 
fan"- ~ • 
to sow thick or light; you can get 
just tlie stand you want without 
resowing, without wasting any 
seed, and, most important of all, 
without wasting any time. 
Our free Catalogue contains 
valuable information about Gar¬ 
den, Field and Flower Seeds. 
Write for it NOW. 
JOSEPH HARRIS CO. 
Moroton Farm, Box 31 
COLDWATER, N. Y. 
THAT YIELD. Our Sensation Oats 
breaks ull records. Nothing like it. 
_ _ _ Also SEED CORN. Samples and cat¬ 
alog free. THEO. BURT & SONS, MELROSE, OHIO, 
OATS 
B 
EST SEED POTATOES I0 <£$«£,• 
A. G. ALDRIDGE, Fisher’s, Ontario County, N. Y. 
Most Everyone Has a Hobby. 
Ours is propagating new varieties of strawberries. 
After a thorough test and proved to he all-around 
best of all, you hear us say something—otherwise 
we bury them. Our catalogue for 1911 is brimful 
of new ones, and conspicuously absent of varieties 
that have been but cannot come hack. Early, Mid- 
Season and Late. We were the introducers of the 
famous “Stevens’ Late Champion,’’ a Irnok on 
strawberry culture, with every catalogue all free 
for the asking. 
J.T. GARRISON & SONS, BridgktoX, N. J. 
Pedigree Seed Potatoes 
Clyde, white, excellent quality, high yielding 
strain, bred true to type. 100 bush, per acre on my 
farm. Price, $o.50 per bbl. sack, 145 lbs. net. 
W. L. HANNAH, Brunswick, Me. 
rr 
| 144 
French Bean Coffee 
(SOJA HISPIDA) 
A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR COFFEE 
A wholesome drink! The healthiest 
ever; you can grow it in your own gar¬ 
den on a small patch 10 feet by 10, pro¬ 
ducing 60 lbs. or more. Ripens in Wis¬ 
consin in 90 days. Used in great quan¬ 
tities in France, Germany and all over 
Europe. 
Send 16 cents in stamps and we will 
mall you a package giving full culture 
directions, as also our Mammoth seed 
catalog free; or send 81 cents and get, 
in addition to above, 10,000 kernels un¬ 
surpassable vegetable and flower seeds- 
enough for bushels of luscious.different 
vegetables and brilliant flowers. 
JOHN A. SALZER SEED COMPANY 
144 South ath S*. La Croase, Wi« 
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