188 
February 18, 
BACK TO THE FRUIT FARM. 
(Continued from page 197) 
free. The chances are that the whole 
bunch will not lay over $2 worth of 
eggs in the next three months. So in 
a small way it doesn’t pay the Hill- 
crest Fruit Farm man. I can imagine 
what the debit side of the ledger would 
have shown if I had gone into this 
more extensively. So my advice to 
the beginner is to keep away from the 
chicken business as you would a loaded 
gun. Put the same amount of - money 
into manure and small fruits and you 
will win out. 
Make Peaches Grow.— Our peach 
trees the past Summer made a wonder¬ 
ful growth and are. marvels of beauty 
and symmetry. They will average ten 
feet in height at three inches through 
the trunk, and only three years old. 
See Fig. 63. This wonderful growth 
has been accomplished by constant and 
thorough cultivation, plent yof manure- 
and wood ashes, and close personal at¬ 
tention to each tree. My knife is al¬ 
ways sharp, and when out looking my 
pets over it is ever ready to cut out 
an objectionable limb. I trim to an 
open round head and aim to get the 
main branches short and stock to bear 
up the load of fruit that is coming soon. 
This Spring I expect to spray with com¬ 
mercial lime sulphur to keep ahead of 
the scale. The pest is just beginning to 
get a start in my orchard, but I have no 
fears from it. Our Grimes Golden and 
Jonathan apple trees also did well last 
Summer, they having received the same 
treatment as the peach. 
Making Good. —We have been on this 
five-acre fruit farm almost three years 
now, and our prospects grow better 
each year. When you consider that 
there was nothing but a bare meadow 
when we purchased it you can realize 
what manure and work will do in three 
years. Up to date this farm has yielded 
us in cash returns nearly $600 from 
strawberries principally. This money 
has been applied on the mortgage, and 
we are slowly but surely getting on 
top. I look forward to the first day 
of April as does a school boy to the 
last day of school, for then I expect 
to quit the office for the Summer and 
enjoy myself among the fruits and flow¬ 
ers. This will be my first vacation in 
several years, and although I shall be 
at work marketing my berries and hoe¬ 
ing my crops, I shall feel as good as if 
I were off at the seashore whiling my 
time away. To the city man who is 
contemplating a move in this direction 
I wish to advise him to be extremely 
conservative. Do not believe anything 
you read or see advertised about the 
chicken business. Do not figure that if 
one man made a dollar a year per hen 
you can do the same with 1,200 hens. 
The chances are that you will lose one 
dollar a year per hen instead till you 
get wise to the situation. Consult your 
wife about your views and take her 
advice. A woman has a born instinct 
for the protection of the home which it 
is always well to heed. If she advises 
you to keep your job in the city, and is 
not willing to take chances with you on 
a new venture, you would better stick 
to your city job till you rust or wear 
out. Domestic peace and happiness, 
even in the city, is far more to be de¬ 
sired than the Elysian fields of our 
day dreams. s. h. burton. 
Indiana. 
A chauffeur who had just returned 
to the garage after taking the State’s 
examination to determine his fitness to 
be licensed was asked by a fellow worker 
what the questions were: “One of them 
was about meeting a skittish horse,” he 
replied. “They asked what I would do 
if I approached a horse which showed 
signs of being afraid of the car and its 
driver held up his hand to me.” “What’s 
the answer?” asked a bystander. “Oh, 
I had that all right,” the chauffeur re¬ 
plied. “I told ’em I’d stop the car, take 
it apart and hide the pieces in the grass.” 
—New York Sun. 
THE R.URA.L, NEW-YORKER 
NOTES ON THE HESSIAN FLY. 
The Hessian fly that lays its -eggs on 
the blades of the Fall wheat is a very 
small insect, but the damage that is 
wrought by it is of a great deal of sig¬ 
nificance. The eggs of the Hessian fly 
hatch in from four to six days after they 
are deposited on the blades of the young 
wheat, when the larva, a pale red maggot, 
begins to work Its way down the stalk 
head downwards until it comes to a joint 
where it rests until it comes to maturity, 
which is from six to eight weeks, and 
comes forth a fly the following Spring, the 
latter part of April, in May to again de¬ 
posit eggs on the fresh blades of new 
wheat, and the larva again undergoing a 
like transformation above described. Be¬ 
cause of the two broods raised in a season 
and the multitudes of individuals is the 
reason of its menace to the wheat fields 
of the country. 
The past season of 1910 was one of the 
best to study the Hessian fly we ever ex¬ 
perienced. With a full knowledge of the 
presence of the “fly in the country in 
this locality, perhaps three-fourths of the 
farmers hesitated about early sowing. Most 
of the Fall wheat was sown the last days 
of September. Some fields were sown as 
early as the 15th, and the later sowing 
was after the 1st of October. Now let us 
see what is the result of the different sow¬ 
ings. I have examined field after field 
of the different sowings and know whereof 
I speak. The early fields are nearly all 
eaten up by the Hessian fly. The fields 
sown the last of September are infested. 
The later* sowings (after the 1st of Octo¬ 
ber) are not infested at all to speak of. 
Why is it? Well, the farmer is after the 
wheat—and so is the fly—and if the 
farmer does not get busy the fly is pretty 
apt to get the wheat. 
I like to take an optimist's view of 
things, but if 1 were to make a prediction 
of the 1911 wheat crop over a large area 
that is infested with Hessian fly, I would 
say, first sowings, 50 per cent, loss; sec¬ 
ond or last of September sowing, 30 per 
cent, loss; last sowings, 25 per cent, loss 
on account of Spring brood of Hessian fly. 
Could this loss have been avoided? Yes. 
How so? Why, by later sowing; it is the 
early sowing that does the biggest damage 
to the country. It gives the Hessian fly 
a chance to deposit its eggs, and the larva 
to come to maturity before freezing 
weather, and thus be in ideal shape the 
following Spring to infest every other 
field, whether it was sown either early or 
late. The later sowing can avoid damage 
in the Fall, but has no defence in the 
Spring against “fly” from infested fields. 
The Fall of 1910, our first killing frost 
in this locality was October 22. To all 
appearances the middle of October every 
wheatfield in the country was affected very 
badly by “fly” and eggs could be found 
in any and all wheatfields that were up, 
but the frost of October 22 killed most of 
the larvae on the late fields, because the 
Larvae were not so fully developed as on 
the early sown wheat, and yet some of the 
larvae on last of September sowings 
worked down to the crown of the wheat 
plant and came to maturity in November 
in spite of the freezes of early November, 
which shows that the larvae is very hardy 
after it reaches a certain stage of growth. 
That the farmers over a wide area of 
country have the liossian fly to contend 
with there is no doubt. The immense 
damage that can be done to the wheat- 
fields by this insect has been clearly 
proven. The remedy that must be applied 
to exterminate it is not mysterious nor 
hard to understand. The Hessian fly’s 
life and very subsistence is dependent on 
the wheat plant, and the wheat plant only. 
It is never found on oat or rye plants, 
though they are growing in the midst of 
infested wheat plants, neither have we ever 
found a matured larva on any other grain 
or grass plant; it is purely a wheat de¬ 
stroying insect. Knowing this, our one 
possible chance is to sow late enough that 
the early freezes will destroy the larvae 
before they are advanced enough to ma¬ 
ture. True, it will shorten the season of 
Fall growth, but to me it seems the only 
resource to get back to where we have 
started from, for older farmers than I 
know that formerly, years ago, better 
wheat than we now raise was sown as 
early as September 10, but that was when 
the Hessian fly was not in the country; 
that the time might come again when we 
could again sow earlier does not seem im¬ 
probable. But before that time comes 
it will take united and decisive action to 
rid the fields of this pest thoroughly. 
Once done, it will mean hundreds of thou¬ 
sands, yes, millions of bushels of wheat to 
the country's credit by increased yields 
and surer crops. millard horton. 
Moving Large Trees. 
G. 8., Grand Rapid#, Mich. —1. 1 have 
some three-year-old apple trees I should like 
to move. Fan I do it without much danger 
to trees? 2. How close can Duchess and 
AVagener apples be planted? 3. What 
would be the proper proportion of each in 
mixing nitrate of soda, sulphate of potash 
and treated bone meal? 
Ans. —1. Yes, these trees can be easily 
moved. \Ye often transplant when 
seven or eight years old. Do the work 
early in Spring while buds are dormant 
Dig the tree, leaving a large ball of 
earth around the roots—as large as you 
can conveniently handle. Plant an inch 
or more deeper than the tree stood 
in its old position. If the soil is dry 
and inclined to fall from the roots 
throw in water to firm it. Pack the soil 
solidly around the roots in the new 
location. We should cut the top back 
at least one-third when transplanting, 
planning to leave a low, open top. 2. 
We consider 20 feet apart the limit for 
such varieties, though we have seen them 
do fairly well at 18 feet. 3. Use one 
part nitrate, one sulphate of potash and 
three of fine bone. 
Sawdust with Lime. 
I can get a lot of decayed sawdust. 
Would it pay me to lime the sawdust and 
apply to ground where I sow oats, and seed 
with clover and Timothy? Ilow long 1 
should the lime and sawdust lie before 
using ? s. 
New York. 
If the sawdust is well decayed ycu can 
spread it like manure and plow it under. 
Then sow the lime on the plowed ground 
and harrow in. i c would hardly pay for the 
extra handling to mix the lime and sawdust 
and then spread. 
BUSHELS MORE 
POTATOES 
PER ACRE 
WHERE PLANTED WITH 
WAGi 
(Improved Robbins) 
Potato Planter 
Average results obtained in a careful, 
thorough tost against a “picker” planter by 
Maine State Experimental Station, in 1910, 
Ask ns quick for the proof—we will send yon 
now bona fide copy of their report in Bulletin 
No. 188, which will bo ready 
about March 15th. Shows 
exact results. Also, compar¬ 
ison of level culture, high 
and moderate ridging. 
100 per cent, perfect 
planting is what you 
want—no doubles, no 
misses, no injury to 
seed. Address 
BATEMAN K’F’G CO. 
Box 102-P 
GRENLOCH. 
N. J. 
Yllan on rear sent makes 
corrections only. 
-'yv'jirV',' 
Lessen Your Labor 
/ by using the W 
self-operating—up-to-date * 
ASPINWALL 
Potato Planter No. 3 
Work accurate. Adjustment simple. Mechanical 
principles riyht. Durable —many in use from 10 to 
20 years without a cent expended for repairs. 
One person operates It. 
Protect your crop with ASPINWALL SPRAYER. 
Orchard and Broadcast attachments furnished 
when desired. 
Write for catalog, also our new booklet. “The 
Potato.” It contains information every farmer 
should have. 
Aspinwall Manufacturing Co. 
437 Sabin Street Jackson, Mich., U. S. A. 
World's oldest and largest makers of Potato Machinery 
SPRAY 
fruits and field crops ww 
with best effect — least ex¬ 
pense—less time, for big¬ 
gest profits. No other 
sprayers as good as 
Brown’s Hand and Power 
AUTO¬ 
SPRAYS 
40 styles, sizes and 
„ guide In our 
book, sent free for name on postal. 
Choose any auto-spray—It is guar¬ 
anteed to satisfy you completely. 
Used by the U. S. Government and 
State Experiment Stations 
und 300,000 others. Auto-Spray No. 1—ideal outfit 
for 5 acres of potatoes or 1 acre of trees. Auto- 
Spray No. 11 for larger operations. We Imve Gas¬ 
oline and Traction Power Auto-Spray« for larges t 
orchards and fields. Write now for valuable book. 
THE F. C. BROWN COMPANY 
2g J ay St., Rochester, N. Y. 
TO KILL. 
San Jose Scale 
usr 
Bergenport Brand Sublimed 
Flowers of Sulphur 
The best form of sulphur for Lime Sulphur Wash. 
Combines easily and quickly with lime. Write to 
BERGENPORT SULPHUR WORKS 
T. & S. C. White Co., lOO William Si.. N. V. 
f ™ 14 Sprayed with 
Bowker’s PyTOX 
brings more money 
because it is free from injury by worms, 
scab, etc. Over 300 testimonials in our 
new catalogue show the great value of this preparation on all kinds of fruits 
and vegetables. Pyrox serves two purposes ; it kills insects and prevents dis¬ 
ease and blemish. It adheres to the foliage even through heavy rains, saving 
labor and cost of re-spraying'. Perfectly safe. It is all ready to use by mixing 
with cold water. Every grower who seeks trait and vegetables free from 
blemish needs “Pyrox,” the “one best spray.” It 
Fills the barrel with the kind they used to put on Top” 
Send for new catalogue with photograph of sprayed and unsprayed fruit in 
original colors. Will convince the most skeptical. Say how many and what 
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for special prices. We ship from Boston, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. 
1> DW If FT U INSECTICIDE COMPANY, 
13 V/ ▼ ▼ IV AJ IV 43 CHATHAM STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 
