421 i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
handled by horse power, using a 10-tooth cultivator, 
which costs about $6 to $8. For the other half of gar¬ 
den cultivation a double wheel hoe is used. This tool 
costs around $5.25, and is an excellent implement. It 
is provided with right and left plows, plain teeth and 
a pair of six-inch hoes. An extra set of nine-inch 
hoes should be purchased for wide rows. The culti¬ 
vator is easily and quickly adjusted for special, or a 
wide range of work. The hoes are used almost ex¬ 
clusively. With these and going astride the rows, very 
close and fast work can be done, even when plants 
are just emerging from the soil. Weeds are cut oft" 
or destroyed. The secret of success in fighting weeds 
is never to let them see daylight. Practically the 
only hand work necessary under this management is 
one thinning, and later one or two hand weedings, 
which are short jobs. Persistent, timely cultivation 
will subdue purslane, mallows (cheese weed), chick 
weed and other famous garden weeds. Some people 
give the garden good early culture, but later surrender 
the garden entire to the weeds, and the next season 
wonder where all the weeds came from, perhaps im¬ 
agining they originated by spontaneous combustion, 
or the wind blew the seed from neighbor’s fields. The 
hand cultivator pays for itself several times over an¬ 
nually. Besides, the six o’clock crank may occasion¬ 
ally experiment with it after supper. Very little hand 
hoeing is done. 
FLOWERS.—One of the attractive features of a 
farm, garden or country life home is the floral dis¬ 
play. It is the best drawing card on the farm and it 
pays, too. It is not, as many may think, that it is 
necessarily confined to the rich. While there are 
many commendable factors in round, square and other 
forms of flower beds, banks, solid colors, color blend¬ 
ing, mixed colors, combinations of color and varieties, 
all of which have special adaptation and merit that 
appeal to the various tastes, still busy people demand 
simplicity and utility. The following flower bank em¬ 
brace the best of the above mentioned qualities, to¬ 
gether with ease and speed in laying out, planting and 
the culture of same. This pyramidal or half round 
flower bank consists usually of four parallel rows, 18 
inches apart, and about 170 feet long. The north and 
south outside rows, , form a bordering of the 
Verbena and annual Phlox, all colors, sown about 
May 15 and grow about six to 12 inches high. The 
two central rows of bank, taller than the edges, are 
General Jacqueminot Zinnia, a flaming red variety, 
growing from one to 2 l / 2 feet high. The Zinnia rows 
should be sown about 10 days earlier than the Verbena 
and Phlox. By placing the Zinnia in the center the 
pyramidal eefifct is obtained, which gives a perfect mass 
of bloom from ground to apex on either, and a thing 
of rare and striking beauty, from any point of view. 
It has caused passers-by to stop and “rubber.” The 
Zinnia is famous for holding its bloom and color for 
a long time. These three kinds of flowers are profuse 
and constant bloomers, from middle of July until hard 
Fall frosts arrive. This flower bank is not confined 
to the varieties mentioned, number of rows, nor length 
of row. The bank should occupy a commanding posi¬ 
tion. It is spectacular and produces bushels of bloom. 
Seeds should be saved from the most perfect plants, 
which produce freely the best and most double flow¬ 
ers. Valuable strains can be developed. A small stake 
driven in the ground by the side of the choice bloom¬ 
ers will mark such plants for seed selection. The 
rows of peas, whose season is soon over, being dis¬ 
carded in August, provide walks on either side of 
flower bank. e. T. martin. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
DECLINE IN MINT CULTURE. 
I have read of some farmers raising peppermint and 
spearmint on their swamp land, and would like to know 
if it is practical, as I have some waste swamp land. If it 
is practical, can you furnish me with full information as 
to sowing, caring for, harvesting and finding a market for 
same, also market price? j. m. 
Naughright, N. J. 
Peppermint was formerly extensively grown in this 
section, but at present I know of none being grown in 
the county, although there may possibly be a few fields 
in the eastern towns. The reason for the abandon¬ 
ment of the business is of course that it no longer 
pays. Peppermint oil formerly brought from $3 to $6 
per pound, and with yields of from 20 to 60 pounds 
per acre, there was good profit in it, so much so that 
other States or sections of them which were adapted 
to mint growing took it up, and consequently the 
price dropped below a profitable point. Many aban¬ 
doned mint entirely, while some held on for several 
years in hope that it would again become profitable, 
but at present the distilleries have all fallen to ruin, 
and most of the mint land is now devoted to onions, 
celery, lettuce, etc. The best crops of mint were grown 
on well-drained muck. The land was fitted as early in 
Spring as possible, rows marked about 30 inches apart 
and rather heavy. The roots were dug from yearling 
fields, picked or pulled apart, and shaken out so they 
could be dropped in the marks, and generally covered 
by drawing the dirt over them with the feet. When 
the mint came up it was cultivated with a horse culti¬ 
vator, hand hoed, and weeded as needed to keep it 
clean. When in full bloom it was cut with scythes, 
wilted and drawn to the distillery, where the oil was 
distilled from it at from 25 to 50 cents per pound. I 
remember one distiller telling me that the cost of in¬ 
stalling his still was about $600, but it would cost much 
A GROUP OF NATIVE ORCHIDS. Fig. 147. 
more now. I am also informed that the main reason 
for the decline in the oil business is that Japan raises 
large quantities and can sell so cheaply as to kill com¬ 
petition. I have no figures on the subject. I think 
the foregoing will also apply to spearmint, tansy, 
wormwood, pennyroyal and several other plants which 
were grown here more or less at the same time we 
were growing mint. j. a. crane. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. 
SOME MICHIGAN ORCHIDS. 
I am sending you herewith photograph of a fine 
clump of Showy lady-slipper, Cypripedium Reginas, 
Fig. 148, which is not yet extinct here, though much 
less common than formerly. Its lovely white blossoms 
delicately veined and tinted with a beautiful pink, and 
its magnificent foliage justify its name “queenly.” 
Occasionally we find a sport or albino of pure waxy 
white, not less beautiful than the regular type. Fig. 
147 shows cut flowers of Stemless lady-slipper, or 
Moccasin flower, C. acaule, hardly less lovely, and 
much more common here, also in same picture the 
Smaller Yellow lady-slipper, C.parviflorum, the smaller 
specimens of which are in size very like the first little 
thimble of a very young lady, and as lovely as tiny; 
withal of a delicate fragrance. The larger “slippers” 
in the side vases are the Larger Yellow, C. hirsutum, 
sometimes as large in flower as a medium hen’s egg, 
and worthy company for all the rest. We have also 
(somewhat rare) the White lady-slipper, C. candidum, 
which I have succeeded in locating, but have not yet 
seen in flower. All these and 20 odd more orchids 
CYPRIPEDIUM REGINJE. Fig. 148. 
occur (some very rare) and within a mile of my home. 
How many beautiful and interesting things right at 
home we overlook and fail to enjoy! 
Michigan. c. c. m’dermid. 
R. N.-Y.—These various Cypripediums or Venus’ 
slippers, to give an English version of their imposing 
name, are charming garden plants when proper con¬ 
ditions are given. English gardeners give a good deal 
of attention to our hardy orchids, and we often see 
them figured in foreign gardening papers. C. Reginae 
will be found described as C. spectabile, and C. hir¬ 
sutum as C. pubescens. Another quaint little flower 
is C. arietinum, the Ram’s-head lady-slipper. 
March 30, 
THOSE MASS. ASPARAGUS EXPERIMENTS. 
[Last Spring we printed several articles giving an out¬ 
line of the work done at Concord, Mass., by the Massachu¬ 
setts Asparagus Growers’ Association. The object of this 
association is to find varieties or species which will resist 
the rust disease. Last year we reported several asparagus 
crosses which promised great results. Many readers have 
asked what the past season developed. The secretary of 
the club has given us the following report.] 
The past season has been the most successful one 
because we have more resistant stock to work with. 
The crosses made by Prof. J. B. Norton, the plant 
breeding expert in charge, have given us great en¬ 
couragement. Prof. Norton has made thousands of 
selections and has planted them in the greenhouse at 
Washington, D. C. The Argenteuil stock has not 
worked out so well as was expected, and as it looks 
now the Reading Giant will have to carry the brunt 
of the later experiments. This variety has many quali¬ 
ties superior to any other, and when we become better 
acquainted with it and its habits of growth we will 
see what a valuable find we have. Large quantities 
of this seed have been planted during the past three 
years and all reports are very favorable. Outside of 
Prof. Norton’s latest crosses the Reading Giant is 
our best rust resisting stock. The shoots are large, 
handsome and tall, all good qualities in a market as¬ 
paragus. The bed of asparagus set April 29, 1911, 
when you were here has done very well, but owing to 
our extremely dry Summer has not grown as well as 
my asparagus usually does, or as I expected it would. 
The shoots made growth of three to four feet. 
This dry season has called attention to the need of 
irrigation in growing several of our best New Eng¬ 
land crops. It will pay well to experiment on the 
irrigation of asparagus. Perhaps the plant would re¬ 
sist the rust better if plenty of water was present, 
and surely the crop would be increased. During 1912 
extensive experiments will be made with Winter vetch 
to determine just how valuable this crop is for a 
cover crop for asparagus. Nearly three acres of vetch 
are growing for seed and by another year we should 
have something definite to report. Crimson clover in 
Massachusetts winter-kills badly and we are seeking a 
variety that will live better through the Winter. The 
foliage and root system of this crop are very valuable 
from a cover crop point of view even if the plants 
are winter-killed, because the ground is covered with 
a thick mat of the leaves and the soil is filled with 
nitrogen-bearing rootlets. c. w. prescott. 
Massachusetts. 
THAT CONNECTICUT POULTRY CONTEST. 
Years ago, when kings and emperors did not travel 
about as much as they do in these days, a certain 
Persian Shah ventured forth to some of the courts of 
Europe; and his naive and witty observations on man¬ 
ners and customs that were new and strange to him, 
often greatly amused his fellow rulers. On one oc¬ 
casion in England, where he was asked to attend the 
great Derby racing meet, he replied: “Why should I 
go? I already know that one horse can run faster 
than another.” Wouldn’t some such saying apply most 
neatly to the laying contests that are carried on, here 
and there, from time to time? What more can they 
teach us about the laying qualities of hens than that 
one hen produces more eggs than another? 
Mr. Cosgrove’s last report of the present laying 
contest in Connecticut is, nevertheless, very interest¬ 
ing. It shows that the pen of English Leghorns is 
still in the lead, but it also shows that other pens of 
Leghorns are far below some other breeds in egg pro¬ 
duction. More important still are the results of heavy 
feeding with the dry mash, to which Mr. Cosgrove 
calls attention. The Leghorns appear to stand this 
method pretty well, but other breeds are suffering 
from Winter molting, with a disastrous falling off in 
egg production. The bad effects of dry mash feeding 
when carried to excess are already well known to 
many poultry keepers. In this respect the present lay¬ 
ing contest is merely verifying facts that the Maine 
Experiment Station has widely published, but it will 
serve a useful purpose if it spreads more widely the 
knowledge that forcing fowls for egg production, by 
over feeding, often defeats its object, and if it im¬ 
presses on the minds of poultrymen that the much 
vaunted dry mash feeding may be injurious if it is used 
recklessly. WM. R. fisher. 
Pennsylvania. 
R. N.-Y.—The man behind the hen is a large factor 
in her success. Why not have a contest in which the 
hens are to be fed just as the owner suggests? In 
the present contest they are all fed alike, when all 
successful hen men know that no two business flocks 
are handled exactly alike. It is sound advice to “watch 
the hen and suit her whims,” but this would be* im¬ 
possible in such a contest. No sane man would put 
his cow into a contest unless he had something to say 
about her feeding. Imagine two prize fighters or 
dozen runners all compelled to eat the same kind of 
food in training, whether it agreed with them or not! 
