1911. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKES 
1173 
Money-Making 
Crops—instead 
of STUMPS 
T HERE is no profit in raising stumps— 
unless you raise them out of the ground 
altogether. It doesn’t pay to keep on paying 
taxes on stumpy land, year after year, with¬ 
out getting a single penny’s profit back 
from it. Thousands of farmers have realized 
this already and have pulled out the stumps 
with the Hercules All-Steel, Triple Power 
Stump Puller. It is guaranteed to pull up 
any green tree, stump or hedge you hitch it to—and we will replace any broken 
castings any time within three year9, whether the fault is yours or the machine’s. 
You can pull an acre of stumps a day in Jyour spare time and then pull stumps for 
your neighbors on contract jobs or rent the stump puller. 
Hercules Stump Puller 
All-Steel—Triple Power—30 Days 9 Free Trial 
3-Year Guarantee—Special Price Proposition Now 
Cutting Scions from Apple Trees- 
R. B. T.y Ednor, Md .—Will you tell me 
whether it injures apples trees to cut 
scions from them’ How much would it 
hurt bearing trees of 13 years to cut, say 
300 scions a year from them? 
Ans. —This is a practical question 
that cannot be determined by rule. It 
will not hurt any apple tree to cut seions 
from it, but if they are taken out of 
the head of the branches, that are de¬ 
veloping the new growth of the tree, it 
will just put them back so much. The 
tree will have to make that growth over 
again. On a large apple tree, 300 scions 
taken from branches where they are a 
little thick, would hardly be noticed, 
and in fact it might be beneficial. An 
experienced orchardist would pick limbs 
here and there on the tree where a 
little thinning out would be good, and 
cut the scions off them rather than cut 
from branches that he would like to de¬ 
velop as much as possible. Everybody 
understands, of course, that scions used 
for root-grafting are cut from last sea¬ 
son’s growth of wood, whether the tree 
is young or old. Anything else would 
not do. It is a hard matter to find 300 
desirable scions on some apple trees. 
Oftentimes the season’s growth is so 
poor that they could not be used at all. 
Nurserymen, as a general rule, cut 
their scions from the young two-year- 
old apple trees in their nurseries. The 
limbs that are not necessary to make a 
good head on the trees are taken for 
that purpose, and they make splendid 
material for making up grafts. There 
is considerable agitation going on 
against this practice, the claim being 
made that scions from bearing orchards 
are to be preferred, but there are ab¬ 
solutely no data at hand to support such 
a contention. Some nurserymen adver¬ 
tise their trees as budded from bearing 
orchards, and never do so. The trees 
in the finest orchards in the country 
were budded or grafted from young, 
thrifty scions taken from two-year-old 
trees in the nursery, and there have 
been no experiments made to determine 
the value of scions from bearing or¬ 
chards as compared to the ones cut 
from two-year-old stock. m. K. 
Keeping Sweet Potatoes. 
P. P., Oldtown, Md .—How can I keep 
sweet potatoes until next Spring for seed, 
so to raise plants from them ? With us 
they generally root along in Winter. 
Ans. —Down here in Wicomico Co., 
Md., we can keep sweet potatoes very 
well in heaps placed on a thick layer of 
pine leaves, putting about 25 bushels in 
a heap, and covering with pine leaves a 
foot thick. Then a rough board shelter 
is put over the heaps and they are let 
stand a while to dry off from the sweat 
they go through, and are then covered 
thickly with earth. The shelter is im¬ 
portant, as the dry earth keeps out cold 
better than wet. I have kept them here 
in this way till June. But I hardly 
think that they _ can be kept in Alle¬ 
gany Co., Md., in this way, for down 
here we never have any near zero 
weather, while you do always have it. 
Our large growers here are all pro¬ 
vided with curing houses for the pota¬ 
toes. These are furnished with heating 
furnace and flue, and after the potatoes 
are stored they run the temperature up 
to 90 degrees till the potatoes are dried 
off from the sweat. After that there 
is little need for fire heat in houses 
made with frost-proof walls, for the 
proper temperature then should not be 
above 50 degrees. You hardly grow 
sweet potatoes on a very large scale in 
Allegany County, and a family supply I 
would suppose could be kept very well 
with each potato wrapped in paper and 
packed in crates or baskets in a frost¬ 
proof cellar. In the old days of my 
childhood, when the cooking was done 
in a big fireplace in the kitchen in Vir¬ 
ginia, it was a common practice to dig a 
pit under and in front of the kitchen 
fireplace. A trap door was right in 
front of the fireplace, and in this pit the 
family supply of sweet potatoes was 
stored, and they kept till potatoes came 
again. There are some varieties of 
sweet potatoes that keep better than 
others. The Hayman, also known as 
Southern Queen, keeps more easily 
than any other. It is an early and very 
productive variety, but not of as fine 
quality as some others. I have kept 
Hayman safely piled in an ordinary 
cellar. But with any potato the great 
point is in the handling in digging. 
They should be dug in dry sunny 
weather and let lie along the rows to 
sun a while, and never thrown in heaps 
to bruise. Then gather them up in crates 
or baskets and handle them like eggs. 
Rough handling will make potatoes 
liable to rot, as every scratch will give 
the germs of decay a chance. I have 
my potatoes in a dry cellar in baskets 
and boxes. w. f. massey. 
Two Fertilizer Mixtures, 
F. L. R., Cambridge, O .—On page 890 
you advise a formula for chemical fertilizer 
of 100 pounds each of nitrate of soda, 
dried blood and sulphate of potash, and 
300 pounds of acid phosphate. Will you 
state the proportions of nitrogen, potash 
and phosphates which this makes avail¬ 
able? Also what advantage the sulphate 
of potash will give, in this mixture, over 
the muriate? What is your opinion as to 
mixture in the proportions of 100 pounds 
muriate of potash, 100 pounds raw hone 
meal, and 400 pounds of 2-10-2 ready-mixed 
fertilizer, to he used at the rate of GOO 
pounds per acre, in seeding down grass on 
high clay land, not strong, after plowing 
down a thin run-out meadow ? I estimate 
that this last-mentioned mixture should run 
about 2-11-9.' 
Ans. —This mixture was suggested 
for garden crops where plant food all 
available was wanted. We will suppose 
the dried blood to be a good sample 
with 12 per cent nitrogen and about 
three of phosphoric acid. Then we will 
have: 
Phos. Pot- 
Nitrogen acid ash 
100 lbs. nitrate of soda.. 16 
100 lbs. dried blood. 12 3 
100 lbs. sulphate of potash 50 
300 lbs. acid phosphate... 42 
Total . 28 45 50 
This means an analysis of a little less 
than five per cent nitrogen, 7/z phos¬ 
phoric acid and over eight of potash. 
The sulphate is superior because it gives 
a better quality to fruits and vegetables. 
Regarding the other mixture you 
would have in this: 
Phos. Pot- 
100 lbs. 
100 lbs. 
muriate potash 
bone meal ... 
Nitrogen 
acid 
25 
ash 
50 
400 lbs. 
2-10-2 fertilizer 
. 8 . 
40 
8 
Total 
... n% 
65 
58 
This means a little under two per cent 
nitrogen, about 11 phosphoric acid and 
nearly 10 potash. We call it a poor 
mixture for grass seeding, because 
there is but little nitrogen, and that not 
very available. The other mixture would 
be far better. The second formula 
would answer for clover or Alfalfa, but 
for grass you should have more avail¬ 
able nitrogen. 
Long or Short Belt. 
.7. J. Trovill, West Virginia, page 1117. 
asks the advantage, if any, between a 
short and long belt when running machin¬ 
ery, and which is better, a straight or 
twisted belt. The advantage of a long belt 
is that it will not slip nearly as easily as 
a short one. but care must he taken that 
it is not too long, as its weight will cause 
the boxings to heat. If too short it will 
have to be tight to keep from slipping, 
and if too tight the boxings will heat, so 
to make them work “just right” they must 
be just right. Experience is a good teach¬ 
er. The only advantage of a twisted belt 
is to turn the driven pulley in the right 
direction. i. w. b. 
Illinois. 
Answering the question of “long or short 
belts” on page 1117. a reasonably long 
belt is betfer than a short one, because 
short belts must be tighter, as there is 
little or no sag to them, when the load 
is applied, thereby causing more wear on 
the bearings. The bottom of the belt should 
do the pulling, as then, when the load is 
applied, the top will sag and will grip 
more of the pulley. When the pulleys differ 
much in diameter short belts are very ob¬ 
jectionable, the arc of contact being re¬ 
duced so much that a ruinous tension must 
be kept on the belt to get anything like 
the proper power. Sometimes a crossed 
belt is unavoidable, but it no doubt causes 
some wear, due to the rubbing, where 
crossed. Leather belts are better used with 
the hair side next to the pulley, giving a 
better grip, and are also more flexible and 
durable. Use endless belts whenever pos¬ 
sible, and avoid the jars on the bearings 
given by laced belts as the lacings go over 
the pulleys. . t. p. 
New Jersey. 
J. J. Trovill asks the advantage of long 
belts over short ones as applied to ma¬ 
chinery. It is a well-known fact that long 
belts have better traction or adhesion on 
the faces of pulleys than short belts. The 
reason is very evident, as one will notice 
that the longer the belt the more it will 
sag between the pulleys, which gives the 
belt greater circumferential grip on the 
pulleys, especially so where the lower or 
under side of the belt is used to drive the 
work, called the pulling side. Except in 
very extreme cases, for instance, where one 
pulley is directly over the other, where 
the belt would run in a perpendicular posi¬ 
tion : in that case there would be a limit to 
the length of the belt, as the longer the 
belt the greater is the chance for it to slip, 
which will be most noticeable on the lower 
pulley. In regard to twisted belts, that de¬ 
pends on the purpose for which they are 
crossed; a half turn in the belt is generally 
done to change the running direction of the 
driven pulley. If he means more than a 
half turn, it would not bo good policy to 
do so, the belt having greater chances of 
chafing or rubbing together, but the great¬ 
est evil to contend with would be the 
stretching of edges of the belts when 
twisted, causing it to lose a great percent¬ 
age of its traction power. h. p. l. 
Connecticut. 
That’s our selling plan in a nutshell. 
We want you to own a Hercules Stump 
Puller and we are making the proposition 
that will get your order if you have stumps 
in your fields. Mail a postal now for this 
’ Special Price Offer 
—a price that is astounding thousands of men who are 
writing in to us now for this very same offer. We have 
only 5,000 Hercules Stump Pullers to sell at this remark¬ 
able introductory price, so send the postal now. Let us 
Hercules Manufacturing 
tell you about the double safety ratchets that insure the 
safety of you and your team ; let us tell you about the 
careful machining and turning of each part of every 
Hercules. 
Write Postal Now 
Simply your name and address on a postal is all we 
want to send you our book and proposition. Study it 
over carefully ; then decide whether or not you are 
going to have stumps in your field—or whether you are 
going to pull them out now quickly with the Hercules. 
Address 
Co. 23017th SI., Centerville, lows 
T he Merchant’s First 
Is “Ball-Band” 
FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND DEALERS in all 
parts of the country sell “BALL-BAND” Rubber 
and Woolen Footwear. 
Some dealers handle other brands, too. But 
“BALL-BAND” is always FIRST quality. 
This of itself is a strong recommendation of 
“BALL-BAND” to you. 
But stronger yet is the fact that more than eight 
illion people wear “ B ALL-BAND," and wilt not 
be satisfied with anything else. 
Many of these millions have worn 
“BALL-BAND” for years. Multitudes are 
added to this host of buyers every year. 
One word explains the continued 
demand of the wearers for 
•‘Ball-Band” “BALL-BAND”—QUALITY. 
Arctic People don’t come 
back a second time 
for an article that disappoints 
them. Eight million people 
are not de 
ceived. 
year 
BBSS 
'Wi' 
mm, 
* ft 
1 
after 
w' year by 
goods that 
lack merit. 
All rubber foot¬ 
wear looks much the 
same to the purchaser. 
Only an expertcan tell the 
difference in quality. We 
could save one million dollars 
a year in the manufac¬ 
ture of ‘ 'BA LL-BA ND" 
by inferior compound and 
inferior workmanship. But 
such a saving would not build 
up and hold a patronage of 
eight million people. 
Look for the RED BALL sign 
when you go to buy rubber foot¬ 
wear. Many dealers display these 
signs in their windows or store fronts for the 
guidance of theconstantlyincreasingnumber 
who are asking about “BALL-BAND.” 
Whether you see the sign or not, you are 
ire to find the RED BALL trade-mark 
on all “BALL-BAND” goods. Insist on 
ng it. It is your protection. 
If by any chance your dealer can’t 
supply you, write us, mentioning his 
name, and we will see that you 
are fitted. 
‘Ball-Band” 
4-Buckle 
Arctic 
y/.m 
W;) 
—it 
Mishawaka Woolen Mfg. Co. 
MISHAWAKA, !ND. 
The House That Pays Millions for Quality’* 
‘‘Ball-Band” 
Coon Tail 
Knit Boot 
