1912. 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
1«0 
POLLENIZER FOR ANJOU PEAR. 
E. S., East .Lenox, Mass. — In a recent 
issue in answer to F. H. F. it is said the 
Anjou pear is largely self-sterile, and that it 
needed other varieties set near it to produce 
good results. What varieties are needed to 
be planted near for this purpose? 
Ans. —So far as I know the records 
of experiments made do not positively 
prove which varieties are the more po¬ 
tent in their pollinating influence on the 
good specimen of piece-root 
GRAFT. Fig. 58. 
female organs of the Anjou pear. It 
has been learned that where trees of 
this variety have been near those of the 
Bartlett, Seckel, Clapp and others that 
arc commonly planted they have borne 
well. Therefore, it would be wise to 
plant near by or graft into the Anjou 
trees one or more of these varieties. 
It should be clearly understood that the 
Anjou or any other variety that is self- 
sterile one year or in one place may not 
be so under other conditions, for the 
pollen is variable in its abundance and 
virility. Certain unfavorable conditions 
may make .it seem less developed than 
is its normal condition, or, on the other 
hand, certain favorable conditions may 
make it more virile than is its normal 
habit. For instance, very severe Winter 
weather may so lower the vitality of the 
embryonic floral organs that they may 
lose a considerable part of their po¬ 
tency. Excessive rains or cold weather 
at blooming, time may have the same 
effect. And these conditions may keep 
bees from flying about seeking honey 
and incidentally cross-pollinating the 
flowers of many fruits. To make sure 
of cross-pollination it is always well to 
plant strips instead of large blocks of 
fruits and if possible to do it with defi¬ 
nite knowledge of their affinities. In 
due time we will know from experi¬ 
ments which these affinities are. Now 
we only know a few of them. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Pure Food Guarantees. 
What does “Guaranteed under the Pure 
Food and Drugs act of 1905. Serial No.." 
etc., mean? How is this serial number ob¬ 
tained. B. G. 
Wellsville, N. Y. 
This means that the product so labeled 
is made and sold in accordance with the 
National pure food law. The serial number 
is obtained from the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, Washington, I>. c'.. on presentation of 
proper evidence that the product is a law¬ 
ful one. 
Potatoes on Clover Sod. 
Fan I raise a fair crop of potatoes on a 
clover and Timothy lot (clover was about 
six to nine inches high and Timothy very 
thick), by an application of potash and 
phosphoric acid alone? Will the clover 1 plow 
in furnish enough nitrogen? Lot was limed 
heavily two years ago before sowing oats 
and‘grass seed. f. k. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
Yes, you ought to be able to raise a fair 
crop on such soil. The clover, when it de¬ 
cays. will furnish nitrogen. For earlv pota¬ 
toes we should use a little nitrate or sul¬ 
phate of ammonia to provide available nitro¬ 
gen. but the later crop ought to get what 
it needs from . the clover. 
Green Asparagus. 
I grow green asparagus because there 
is a steady and increasing demand for 
large, choice green “grass,” and because 
it sells for a higher price than white 
asparagus. In growing green asparagus 
I differ from other growers in this vicin¬ 
ity, who almost exclusively grow white 
asparagus, claiming they cut more 
bunches per acre. In some cases this is 
probably true: however, the higher price 
paid for green asparagus more than 
makes up for difference in yield. The 
labor cost is less and the net returns are 
greater. Asparagus is used by nearly 
every family, being the earliest of all 
garden vegetables, coming when the ap¬ 
petite craves something. Green aspara¬ 
gus is very tender and tasty and when 
once tried customers will have no other. 
How often I have been told how de¬ 
licious it is, compared with the tough, 
woody substance they had been accus¬ 
tomed to eating, and how much more 
economical it is, even though the cost is 
greater, because it is all edible, while 
only the tips of the white asparagus are 
tender. 
It will he seen from this that it strikes 
the palate right, and will he demanded, 
and that it pays to grow what the con¬ 
sumer wants. By good and thorough 
cultivation throughout the whole season, 
and by heavy fertilizing, I grow large, 
choice “grass,” and have very few culls. 
Because of this I miss the competition 
of the smaller grass. 
At first I tried marketing it in town to 
vegetable dealers and greengrocers. I 
They were willing to pay me only about 
what they gave for choice white grass, j 
so I started marketing it out of my own 
wagon to the consumer; in this way I 
created a demand for it; soon the re¬ 
tailers were after it and were willing to 
pay a higher price, and since that time 
I have sold it in that way, only retain¬ 
ing enough to supply my private cus¬ 
tomers. It is better to have a steady 
wholesale trade at home, for in this way 
you eliminate commission and transpor¬ 
tation charges. It is impracticable to 
sell it all to the consumer, because of 
the abundance of the crop and the time 
it would take at that busy season. One 
of the difficulties incidental to growing 
green asparagus is the asparagus beetle, 
which devours the tips and renders it 
unsalable. I have overcome this by 
keeping a flock of guinea fowl. They are 
very fond of the asparagus beetle and 
get most of their living in that way 
during the open season. g. g. t. 
New Jersey. 
Cow Peas and Soy Beans in Wisconsin. 
I would like to ask the readers of The 
I t. N.-Y. if it is possible to raise cow peas 
DIBBLE’S SEED PDTATOES 
Make Money for Many Market Growers 
J. A. Shuey, New Cumberland, Pa., 
writes; “The yield is almost double that 
from home grown seeds.” 
G. H, Whitesell, Laneville, W. Va„ 
says': “Potatoes bought from you yielded 
about twice as much as my own seed 
planted in the same field.” 
S. A. Glover, Lycoming Co., Pa., states; 
"Potatoes I received from you last spring 
yielded about 200 bushels per acre. My 
home grown seed about 50.” 
Willis E. Bacon, Middletown, Conn., 
testifies as follows : “Potatoes grown from 
our own seed did not produce over one-half 
the crop that your Northern grown seed 
did.” 
Maryland adds this‘letter; “The yield 
from your seed potatoes alongside my own 
home grown seed was three times as 
good.”—H. B. Noll, Ellicott City, Md. 
An unfailing law of nature is “Like produces like.’’ Run out, blighted, 
half grown potatoes give unprofitable crops. DIBBLE’S SEED 
POTATOES, the entire 31 varieties listed in our catalog, are Northern 
grown, thousands of bushels of them raised on virgin soil, each kind 
pfanted on soil adapted to its best development, grown especially for Seed 
purposes, and every tuber, to the best of our knowledge and belief, saved 
from fields free from blight or disease. The moral of the above is—. 
Plant Dibble’s Seed Potatoes and Double Your Crops 
Dibble’s Seed Catalog, the leading American Farm Seed Book, 
describing our mammoth stock of Seed Potatoes, Corn, Oats, Barley, Al¬ 
falfa, Clover and Grass Seeds, with two little hooks written by Mr. Dibble 
that should be in every farmer’s library, entitled “Dirble on tiie Potato” 
and “Dibble on Alfalfa,” are absolutely FREE. Ask for them now. 
EDWARD F. DIBBLE, Seedgrower, Box B, Honeoye Falls, N. V. 
1,600 ACRES IN OUR OWN SEED FARMS 
The Name Burpee 
is known the world over as syn¬ 
onymous with The Best Seeds 
That Grow ! Are You willing to 
. „ , . .., , „ _ pay a fair price for selected seeds 
ot the choicest vegetables and most beautiful flowers ? If so, it may prove of mutual interest if you 
write to-day (a postal card will do) for The 1912 Burpee Annual. This is a bright new book of 
178 pages that is intensely interesting to every one who gardens either for pleasure or profit. Shall 
we mail you a copy? If so, what ... . ___ 
is your address? Our address is, W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Philadelphia 
SEEDS 
THAT 
PRODUCE 
BIG CROPS 
When buying your Vegetable and Flower Seeds consider quality before 
cheapness. Our 1912 illustrated Seed Annual describes the best Vegetable 
and Flower Seeds of tested value—write for one to-day. 
116S. PEARL STREET, 
FREDERICK W. EBERLE 
- SEEDSMAN - 
ALBANY, N. Y. 
ONB HAL 
City Seedsmen Prices! 
or Soy beans here at Wausau, Wis., at 
45 latitude. I have a sandy gravelly soil 
for potatoes, but rather poor and run out. 
Red clover seed is prohibitive in price and 
I would substitute the cow peas or Soy 
beans in its place if they will grow and 
mature here. Are the grains salable or 
eatable by humans, or is it only feed for 
cattle? When would be the right time to 
sow thorn here, and what variety or kind? 
IIow are they planted and taken care of 
from start to finish? We generally get our 
last Spring frost about 20th of May, and 
the first Fall frost about 15th of Septem¬ 
ber ; that is about the rule. Where could 
one get acclimated seed? I should like to 
hear only from persons who live so far 
north with similar soils as ours; otherwise 
the information would be misleading and 
lead to making mistakes, and we cannot 
afford to make mistakes. Seed houses al¬ 
ready talk about raising the price of the 
peas or beans, expecting a good demand for 
them on account of the price of clover seed. 
Could I sow turnip, beets or mangel seed 
in the potato rows after potatoes are 
planted? Could I dig them with potatoes 
in September with the digger; that is, 
would that he the time to dig them for 
animal feeding, and would thov keep or 
would they spoil? IIow could they be 
stored in a pit? s. e. m. 
Wausau, Wis. 
R. N.-Y.—We shall have to turn these 
ciuestions over to our Wisconsin readers as 
this is largely a question of latitude. Who 
can tell? The cow peas are excellent as 
human food, hut Soy beans are pretty 
rank and strong. You could not seed tur¬ 
nips among the potatoes. The latter must 
be cultivated and of course this would rin 
out the turnips. It is not like seeding in 
the standing corn, for the potato vines 
hug and shade the ground, while the coru 
permits some growth. 
[ 
Let us send you our catalog of seeds—It’s different. 
: i n, V T hy we can save you money, and give you a guaranteed 
hUUAKh, DUAL. Just drop a postal today and see the difference in buying your 
seeds in country or city. FOHKESX SEED CO., Box 3«, Cortland. N. Y. 
FERRY’S' 
SEEDS! 
1 Good gardeners 
Jare those who 
raise good flow¬ 
ers and vegetables. Good 
flowers and vegetables come 
from good seeds. We pro¬ 
duce good seeds—the infer¬ 
ence is obvious. For sale 
everywhere. 
1912 SEED ANNUAL 
Free on Request 
D. M. FERRY & CO. 
Detroit. Mich. 
STOKES’ SEEDS 
SEED CORN 
1 
DON’T get orders from every catalog )j| 
1 send out, but I do get enough to show 
the majority of farmers find something 
of interest in it. That’s why I think you’d 
be glad to get a copy. Why not send 
me your name and address ? 
Mention The Rural New Yorker. 
\ " 
'iDept. L, 
WALTER P. STOKES 
Seedsman 
Philadelph 
'll 
Wing’s Improved White Cap y TiidtS 
other 120-day corn you can put beside it. 
Improved on our farms by ear - row- 
test plots for 15 years. Three acres have 
yielded 147 bu. per acre. 
Wing’s 100-Day White and Clarage 
are splendid early varieties. 
r jg’s 120-Day Yeilow.Funk’s Yellow 
Dent, and Reid’s Yellow Dent— The 
three heaviest yielding yellow varieties 
in Ohio. All our varieties acclimated and admirably 
adapted to any part of the corn belt. All our corn 
bred by ear row test plots. Write today for catalog, 
free information how to grow Alfalfa. 
WING SEED C0.,Bx 4S3Mechanicsburg,0. 
For Reliable Seeds 
Bought direct from the farming community, and 
sold direct to the fanner:—Medium and Mammoth 
Clover. Alsike, Alfalfa. White and Crimson Clover. 
Timothy. Rape. Bed Top, Blue Grass, Orchard 
Grass. Barley, Rye, Spring Wheat, all kinds ot 
Seed Corn and Peas. Freight prepaid your Kail- 
road Station. Write for samples and prices. 
N. Wertheimer & Sons, Ligonier, Ind. 
WEEDLESS FIELD S E|ED 
is what we are trying to furnish our customers- 
FREE samples will convince you that wo come 
pretty near doing it. Red, Mammoth, Alsike. 
Alfalfa. Timothy, vetch, Rape, etc. Write today. 
O. M. SCOTT &SON, 10 Main St., Marysville, O. 
