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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 19, 
FERTILIZERS FOR THE STRAWBERRY. 
.4. 11. 8., Cortland, A 7 . Y .—In a recent 
issue I find among strawberry questions 
one about fertilizers. It seems to me that 
last year you named one more ingredient in 
the compound for fertilizing a strawberry 
bed; however, if the answer to question 
first is all right, my first inquiry is an¬ 
swered. Do you believe stable manure con¬ 
tains all necessary properties for straw¬ 
berry plants, or does it tend to the produc¬ 
tion of too much foliage, almost a fault 
with the Brandywine? Do you think fertil¬ 
izing the plants when first berries are well 
developed would help the later berries to 
larger size and less seediness? If so, would 
the formula given be all right? Is there 
danger of disturbing the plants to the in¬ 
jury of the fruit by cutting off runners 
while berries are setting? 
Ans.— The mixture suggested was 
one part nitrate of soda, three of fine 
bone and one muriate of potash. In 
former answers we have suggested two 
parts acid phosphate and one part bone 
in place of all bone. Stable manure 
alone will make fine leaf and stem, but 
with us does not give as large a crop 
of berries. The manure is rich in nitro¬ 
gen. Thi<s forces vine growth, but pot¬ 
ash and phosphoric acid are needed to 
produce the best berries. Our plan is 
lo mulch with stable manure and then 
use bone and potash in Summer. We 
would not use nitrate of soda where 
manure is used. Of course all know 
that fine berries are produced when 
nothing hut manure is used. When 
plant food must be bought it is econ¬ 
omy to use bone and potash with the 
manure, or in addition to it.. The 
Marshall is the finest flavored berry 
we have grown, but does not yield 
enough for a successful commercial 
berry. It is not likely that fertilizing 
while the berries are developing would 
do much good for that crop. A little 
nitrate of soda might force a larger 
growth. You must remember that the 
fruit buds of the strawberry, like those 
of peach and apple, are produced dur¬ 
ing the late Summer and Fall. They 
pass the Winter and develop the fol¬ 
lowing year if not winter-killed. There¬ 
fore the time to fertilize for fruit is in 
late Summer, when these buds are 
forming. This is particularly true of 
beds which are being fruited the second 
or third time. The only danger in cut¬ 
ting off runners while fruit is forming 
is in smashing the fruit or breaking the 
fruit spurs. 
Hidebound Tree. 
M. R., Michigan .—What is the trouble of 
apple trees known as hide hound? This dis¬ 
ease is frequently mentioned in talking 
about the trees, but is not wry well under¬ 
stood. 
Ans.— I do not believe there is any 
such trouble as “hide bound” in apple 
trees or any other kind. There are 
many cases of insufficient nourishment 
from many causes and slow growth or 
debility as the result. But if there is 
vigor in the tree there will be no 
trouble about the bark growing as fast 
as the wood expands inside of it. 
Nature balances the growth of wood 
and bark perfectly. A new layer of 
each is made annually. There might be 
cases where the old outside bark seem 
to hold the interior growth in check, 
but the force of cellular formation is 
too great to do so. The bark will 
i rack and expand to suit the demand. 
That is what makes rough and corru¬ 
gated bark. It is dead bark outside 
the living. Some may say that they 
have slit the old bark of trees and the 
new growth made a wide, fresh seam, 
and so it did. This I have often seen 
and done myself, but I do not think 
the slitting made the tree grow any 
faster than if it had not been done. It 
is quite probable that the slitting did 
cause the expansion to he more prom¬ 
inent at the places where the slits were 
made than elsewhere. But do whatever 
will cause vigorous growth of the en¬ 
tire tree and the bark will take care of 
itself. There will be no harm follow 
the slitting of bark except the possible 
chances of the germs of blight or 
canker getting into the tender tissues 
more easily than elsewhere. This might 
easily occur, and does so in some cases, 
as we see in accidental abrasions of 
the bark of pear and apple trees. 
H. E. VAN DEM AN. 
Government Crop Report. —The Winter 
wheat yield was about 455.149.000 bush¬ 
els, 14 bushels to the acre. The outlook 
for other crops August 1 was: Corn, G9.6 
per cent: Spring wheat. 59.8; oats, 65.7; 
barley, 00.2; buckwheat, 82.9; potatoes, 
tf.2.3; tobacco, 08; flax, 71 ; hay, 08.0; 
apples, 53.9. These are all below the 10- 
y-ar average with the exception of apples, 
which are nine-tenths of one per cent 
above, and 0.1 iter cent above last year. 
.Potatoes are 22.5, and corn 12.6 below 
the 10-year average. 
THE CONSUMER’S DOLLAR. 
(Under this heading we shall print facts 
showing what the producer receives out 
of the retail price at which his goods are 
sold. We welcome any actual figures or 
reports—no matter what they show.] 
21 Cents of the Dollar. 
The following is taken from ’the Wash¬ 
ington Times : 
"The letter from Consumer in The Times 
of .Inly 27, concerning the difference be¬ 
tween what the farmer gets for his products 
and what the consumer pays, is interesting, 
hut he states the case very mildly. I took 
a trip down the I’otomac. last week. At 
the landings along the lower part of the 
river I found the farmers selling tomatoes 
for 15 cents a basket, delivered on the 
wharf. Two days later, in the Washing¬ 
ton market, I asked the price of a similar 
basket, and it was offered me for 05 cents. 
There evidently is money in tomatoes, but 
it comes out of the pockets of the con¬ 
sumer and the farmer. Some plan ought to 
be perfected whereby, through co-operative 
associations or in some other manner, these 
two most vitally interested parties could 
ho brought together to their mutual advan¬ 
tage. R, S. Moore.” 
Potatoes at Topeka, Kansas. 
The following items appeared in the daily 
papers: 
"Topeka, July 10.—Topeka women are 
boycotting potatoes because of the high 
prices demanded by the commission men, 
and it is asserted that the consumption of 
spuds has fallen off to one-third the usual 
quantity. In place of potatoes the women 
are using beans and other vegetables. The 
result was that potatoes became a drug 
on the market and commission men hur¬ 
riedly shipped out their surplus supplies 
to save themselves from loss. As it was 
hundreds of bushels of potatoes spoiled dur¬ 
ing the hot weather.” 
We have learned to discount many of 
those newspaper stories so we sent to a 
reader in Topeka. Here is his report; 
"I know that potatoes were selling at 
.$3 a bushel for a week or two, and it is 
a fact that people quit eating them. 1 do 
think that it was a robbery on the part of 
our commission men. I was told that one 
of our commission men made $750 on three 
carloads in one week, but this is only 
hearsay. Potatoes now are selling for 35 
cents a peck, not very nice ones at that. 
What we need in this town is a public 
markethbuse where the producer could sell 
direct to the people, hut this the commis¬ 
sion men and growers will not stand for. 
The clipping speaks about women using 
beans and other vegetables in place of pota¬ 
toes. 1 don't know where they would get 
them. Beans arc about as scarce as pota¬ 
toes; that is, green beans. Tomatoes are 
now selling at 12 cents a pound. As to 
potatoes having spoiled during the hot 
weather, I have heard nothing about it. 
Commission men would keep that pretty 
quiet.” 
Nearly the Whole Dollar. 
We grow only apples and red currants, 
and we have for the apples a fancy family 
trade. We sell only A No. 3 fruit to our 
customers. We spray lime-sulphur with 
powdered arsenate of lead 1-40-2%. We 
practice thinning apples. We charged in 
Rail of 1910 according to my notebook for 
McMahon apples $2 per bushel, same price 
for Wealthy, and §1.80 for Alexander. In 
Fall, 1909, we received for Northwestern 
Greenings §1.75 per bushel and §1.25 for 
No. 2 Greenings. We had no Greenings 
in 1910. The red currants (Wilder) 
which we sold to the grocers in 1911 
brought §1.35 a case of 10 quarts. We 
bring our currants to two grocers who 
know us and our fruit, and pay us our 
price. The grocers charged this year from 
10 to 12 cents per quart of rod currants. 
We have a row of black Naples currants 
for which we charged the grocer §2 per case 
of 10 quarts, and the grocer sold these 
berries to certain of liis customers for §2.50 
per case. Some of the Scotch families pay 
fancy prices for black currants, but the 
trade is small and the good quality of the 
black currants is not known to most of 
the families. w. a. r. 
Milwaukee, Wis. 
Consumer’s Partly at Fault. 
Cost of living is largely due to the general 
extravagance and lack of system of the 
whole body of the people. My grocer does 
a nice business; he and his wife and son 
do nearly all the work, and I know they 
live economically, and it is all they can do 
to get another son, no spendthrift, through 
college. But we Americans must have cer¬ 
tain things in a certain way. We do not 
buy in quantity, and have one delivery pro¬ 
vide for many days; most of them buy only 
the day’s needs, a few cents of this and a 
few cents of that, which must be delivered, j 
and the cost of delivering may equal the 
first cost of the article. Then the gullibility 
of the public; they cannot buy farina or 
oatmeal or other cereals in hulk and know 
What they are paying. They must have 
advertised brands in cartons, sold at twice 
what they are intrinsically worth. Parcels 
post in some things would help distribute 
or divide these profits on some articles be¬ 
tween producer and consumer, hut not en¬ 
tirely, as the consumers are too careless 
and would not change their methods. 
C. L. M. 
Potatoes by Weight, Public Markets. 
“Chicago, August 4.—Potatoes, which 
have not been so high for years as they 
are now, will be sold by weight hereafter 
in Evanston, a fashionable suburb, instead 
of by measure. So many complaints of 
short measure by grocers came to City 
Sealer Twigg that he took the matter be¬ 
fore Justice Boyer, who entered an order 
that potatoes be weighed instead of meas¬ 
ured. 
The public markets at Des Moines, Iowa 
and South Bend. Ind., are very successful. 
Consumers deal direct with farmers and 
both save. This is the solution of the 
problem in many places. 
THESE WHEAT HEADS 
arc from an actual photograph. See how compactly the spikelets of grains 
—four abreast—are arranged. From 10 Acres and 69 T Vc 2 5 Perches of 
thisjwheat on our farm we secured a yield of 480 Bushels and 9 Pounds,. 
46 Bushels, and 10 Ounces Per Acre 
The Straw Weighed 40,230 Pounds 
Our business is growing wheat for seed. We have varieties that 
greatly outyield the common sorts. We grow upon a large 
ecale. Clean and grade with the best 
We are so confi¬ 
dent of the 
ity of the wheat 
we ship that we 
invite customers to return 
it and pay their money back with 
round-trip freight—if upon its arrival they find it 
other than first-class, (The customer to be the judge.) In 
this small space we can only hint of the help we can give to 
progressive wheat growers. 
OUR SEED WHEAT CATALOG FOR 1911 
now ready, is an authority on wheat varieties. It contains photographs— 
not drawings—of big crops we have grown. It points the way for.better 
things in wheat culture It is Free.' Ask for it in time. 
A. H. HOFFMAN, BAMFORD, LANCASTER CO., PA. 
LAND LIME 
AUGUST is the Time to Sow ALFALFA 
without a “Nurse Crop,” but ALFALFA 
WILL NOT THRIVE WITHOUT LIME. 
O UR LAND LIME is especially 
suited to the needs of ALFALFA 
as it contains the quickly soluble “quick 
lime” which will feed the plant this 
Fall, and the slowly acting calcium car¬ 
bonate, which will act next Spring. 
LAND LIME requires no slaking, does 
not burn the HUMUS in the soil, and 
can be spread with a drill. The Ex¬ 
periment Stations recommend applying 
about one ton of Lime per acre. Why 
not try raising a small patch this Fall ? 
Write for prices, circulars and samples. 
THE SOLVAY PROCESS CO. 
SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
Seed Wheat and Rye 
ST. LOUIS* PRIZE, RED WAVE and LEW’S 
PROLIFIC WHEAT 
NEW PITCUS RYE—A Very Superior New Variety 
Hairy Vetch. Alfalfa ami Grass Seeds of highest 
grade at right prices. Please ask for price list. 
JOSEPH HARRIS CO., 
COLD WATER 
NEW YORK 
SHYER LEAF CHOICE RED SEED WHEAT 
for sale, weighing Si poundR to.the bushel (limited 
quantity). Apply to CHAS. 0. SMITH, Fairground, N. Y. 
errn 11/111? A T GjP«y> Mediterranean, 
ijLLU WilLAl I* u dy, Flats and Main. Kye—All 
rc,-leaned imd graded. Sum pies 
and cataiogfree. W. N. SCARF, New Carlisle, Ohio. 
fippH Whao+ Read'sVerment. Nowvari. 
occu WW IlCai ety, sown Sept. 30. Aver- 
yield 56 bus. to acre. Big money in wheat. Write 
for circular. G. A. Read. Read's E*p. Farms, Charlotte.Vt. 
‘Wf Best Seed Wheats 
Come from Maplewood, acknowledged the leading 
Seed Wheat Kami of America. Not the cheapest, 
hut the very best, and most value for money asked. 
Y\ rite to-day for price list, samples and reports of 
customers who have tried our wheats. Also Short- 
ill'nm cuinnn ginr.*,, Jik’Fb- ? n< l WOOl-limttOn ShrOpS. 
MAPLEWOOD STOCK AND SEED FARMS, Allenan. Michigan. 
TIMOTHY SEED am ' !, l s ike, both new crop, 
L A? ' *“ U without a sin e le weed. 
Also alfalfa, vetch and crimson clover. 
O. M. Scott <fc Son, 100 Main St., Marysville, Ohio. 
GOOD SEED WHFAT -From t,le best wheat sec- 
UUUU OLLU VYnCrtl tion in 0 hi<>. Varieties 
that tiling results—35 to 48 bushels per acre. Red 
\\ ave, Gypsy, White Kul tv.. Improved Poole, Har¬ 
vest King, Rudy. Winter King and Red Wonder. 
iVT 1S.I °F Special Wheat Circular; it's free. 
MACE & MANSF1KI.I), Greenville, Ohio 
ALFALFA WANTED 
Write ait' 
can ship. 
•WILL BUY lO 
_OR 15 TONS 
quote price loaded, and say when you 
A. W. ELLIS, 10 High St.. Boston, Mass. 
APPi E TREES —-All kinds Trees and Plants 
... . , ^ Prices reasonable. Salcsmei 
Wanted. Mitchell s Nursery, Beverly, Ohio 
TREES! 
The 
By the Millions. A complete line 
at wholesale prices. Large supply 
of peach treos and Privet Hedging. 
Westminster Nursery, Westminster, Maryland 
APPLE BARRELS-!;^. 
or Hoops. ROBT. GILLIES, Medina, N. Y. 
150 Farms!>; 
on SALE CHEAP, in fertile 
Delaware Valley. New catalogue 
and map free. Horace <1. Keeper, Newtow n, Pa. 
We Want to Start a Few 
Good, Hustling Men in a 
Paying Business 
W E want to get in touch with a few 
good, hurtling men who want to earn 
from $15 to $20 a day from a small 
investment. 
Cutting Buckeye ditches is a good, 
Staple business that can be worked for nine 
or ten months of the year. Ditches cut with 
the Buckeye Traction Ditcher are from 
25% to 50% cheaper than the old method. 
The ditches are truer, cleaner cut and better. 
Farmers are demanding them. 
A Buckeye Traction Ditcher will 
cut bom 100 to 150 rods of ditch per day—- 
10 to 15 rods an hour—between two and 
three feet a minute. Figure the earnings 
for yourself at the average price paid for 
ditch digging in your locality. 
Are you one of the men who wants to 
make money ? 
Write to day for Catalog No. 3 
The Buckeye Traction Ditcher Co., 
Findlay, Ohio. 
MELILOTUS 
The choicest and one of the best soil restorer* known. 
We have a fine lot of seed that wo can retail at less 
than ordinary wholesale prices. Our seed is hulled, 
yellow blossom. GUARANTEED TO GROW. ThiB 
plant is also a splendid preparation for alfalfa. 
ALFALFA 
All northern grown, guaranteed to be 
99 per cent pure and free from dodder. 
Write for free sample. 
THE WING SEED COMPANY 
BOX 833 MECHANICSBURG, OHIO 
ALFALFA 
All Northern grown, guaranteed to be 99 percent 
pure and free from dodder. Write for free sampl* 
on which we invite you to get Government tests. 
This seed should produce hay at $60 per acre) an¬ 
nually. Free instructions on growing. 
GRAIN AMD GRASS SEED 
Northern grown and of .strongest vitality. We 
handle export grade only and can furnirh grass 
mixture suitable for any soils. Write for catalog. 
W?NG SEED CO., Box 323 MecSianicsburjj, 0. 
800 GALLONS 
OR 
1500 GALLONS? Dept.“N 
„ , and new 
it to any R. R. Station in the IT. S. r 
§16.00; 10-gal. cans, §0.75; 5-gal cans. 
A few years ago the N. V 
found that in orchard 
of “Scaiecide’ 
■. 1 . Experiment Station started out to prove that “Scaiecide” was too expensive, but they 
work 0 gals, of “Scaiecide” went as far as 17 gals, of Lime-Sulfur. This being the case, a barrel 
'. will bring by return mail, free, our book,“Modern Methods of Harvesting, Grading and Backing Apples,” 
>• booklet, Beal crude, the Tree-Saver.” If your dealer cannot supply you with “Scaiecide,” we will deliver 
ea *o Mississippi and north of the Ohio Rivers, on receipt of price. 50-gf 
is, VS.i.). Address, it. G. Pratt Company, 50 Church Street, New York City. 
al. bbls., §25.00 ; 30-gal. bbls.. 
