1912. 
'THE; RURAL NEW-YORKER 
433 
Staking Up Tomato Plants. 
J. E. 8., Stevensville, Md .—Will stakes 
driven to each tomato plant and plants tied 
to them be any advantage, and will they 
yield better crops? Is nitrate of potash 
all right to give them as a dressing, and 
how do you put it on? 
Ans.—I n garden culture I always use 
a six-foot stake for tomatoes and train 
them to single stem. I plant in rows 
three feet apart and two feet apart in 
the rows. It requires a good deal of con¬ 
stant attention to pinching out the side 
shoots that will persist in showing and 
the tying up on a large scale will also 
involve a good deal of time and labor. 
Planted in this way I can get more to¬ 
matoes for a certain area than in any 
other way. One great advantage is that 
you can keep the grass down. Last 
Summer I had a few that I did not 
stake, and planted farther apart and let 
them tumble unpruned on the ground. 
They did well till the Fall rains came, 
and then the whole plot became a wilder¬ 
ness of crab grass waist high, and that 
was the end of tomatoes. . On the stakes 
you can keep the grass down, but where 
the plants are all over the ground you 
cannot. Now whether in growing to¬ 
matoes for the canners on a large scale 
it will pay to use the extra labor and 
expense of staking is a matter for each 
individual to determine for himself. You 
can certainly get better tomatoes and 
more per acre planted in this way, but I 
doubt that it would pay for the extra 
labor and cost on a large scale. I use 
the plan in my garden as a matter of 
neatness and economy of space. But I 
saw many fields last Fall where there 
was a bigger crop of hay than tomatoes 
after the rainy season began. You 
might try the stakes on part of your 
planting and you can then determine 
whether it pays enough more to warrant 
the cost. If the plants seem unthrifty 
and are not making strong enough 
growth, a dressing of nitrate of soda 
will help. Use it just as we do on can¬ 
taloupes, by scattering a very small 
handful around each hill, but not touch¬ 
ing the stems. w. f. massey. 
THE TALE OF AN EXPRESS PACKAGE. 
On February 16 a package of nursery 
stock weighing 33 pounds was sent by 
American Express from London, Eng¬ 
land, to New York. It arrived Febru¬ 
ary 27. The American Express Co., 
notified me. I went to the main office 
in New York, and was told that noth¬ 
ing could be done then, as they did 
not know what the charges and duty 
were, but would send word by mail 
that night. Not hearing anything in 
two days I called again and was told 
that it had been delivered. Of course, 
this was a mistake, so they “looked it 
up” and found that nothing had been 
done about it. Payment of charges 
before delivery is demanded in cases 
involving customs duty, so I paid the 
bill of $3.64 charges and duty, and they 
promised to attend to it at once. Four 
days later I made another trip to their 
main office to see whether they were 
dead or had merely gone to sleep on 
the job. Once more they “looked it 
up,” and assured me that it was being 
got out that day and would arrive the 
next. Two days later I went to the 
office again and said that as they 
seemed unable to get the package the 
best plan was to give me all the papers, 
so that I could hire a customs broker 
to get the package out and hire a truck¬ 
man to haul it to me. Once more they 
“looked it up,” and after considerable 
telephoning told me that it had been 
sent to the Eighth Division, but that 
they would send a man right tip after 
it. The package arrived the next day, 
11 days after arrival at New York. 
Thus the American Express Company 
in delivering a little package about two 
miles in New York took as long as was 
required to bring it across the ocean, 
3,000 miles. Taking out Sunday, and 
allowing only eight hours for a working 
day, 72 hours were required to carry 
33 pounds about two miles, a speed 
rate of 146 feet eight inches per hour. 
Evidently the snail and tortoise have 
lost their record for slowness. 
Two days after this express package 
left London a smaller one was sent me 
by parcel post. The ocean trip took 
the same time. The parcel went through 
the customs and was delivered by the 
port office eight days before I got the 
express package. In neither case was 
there any question or complication as 
to valuation or customs duty. w. w. H. 
Hay From Oats and Peas. 
E. E. 8., Buffalo , IV. Y.—When sowing 
oats and Canada field peas for hay, what 
amounts of each should be used per acre? 
When should they be cut, and how cured? 
When should vetch and rye be cut for hay? 
Ans. —This is one of the questions 
which must be answered a dozen times 
every Spring. Farmers vary in the 
amount of seed they use. Our own plan 
is to broadcast five pecks of Canada 
field peas to the acre on top of the 
ground and plow them under or use a 
disk harrow. Then three bushels of 
oats are broadcast and harrowed in or 
drilled. We plan to cut this crop when 
the oats are soft and filled with “milk,” 
but good judgment only can decide 
when the crop is just right. The oats 
and peas are cured much the same as 
clover hay—better in the swath or cock. 
We should cut the rye and vetch when 
the rye comes in bloom. Do not wait 
for the grain to head out, for rye straw 
is tough and hard. 
A Discussion of Grasses. 
I would like to see a discussion of mea¬ 
dow grasses, the varieties best adapted to 
permanent meadow where lands are washy. 
Among them I think Orchard grass is good ; 
Herd’s grass or Red-top is more used in 
this locality, but neither make the best of 
hay. Of the two I think the Orchard grass 
the best. In the seed catalogue Dallas 
grass or Paspalum dilatatum is spoken of 
and recommended for the South. I would 
like to know if it is a satisfactory grass. 
Grass seeding is expensive and unless suc¬ 
cessful rather discouraging. In the dis¬ 
tant future perhaps Alfalfa will solve all 
these troubles. On page 304 E. D. B. de¬ 
scribes a grass which he thinks may be 
Johnson grass. I do not think it is; the 
roots of Johnson grass are large, yellow, 
not wiry, but jointed ; each joint will pro¬ 
duce a shoot. I have seen it seven feet tall 
in Texas. I do not think it spreads badly 
from the roots like quack or Bermuda 
grasses, but from the seeds. I did not sup¬ 
pose it was hardy in the Northern States; 
only for the fact that quack grass is so 
well known I would think that was what 
troubled E. D. B., or possibly Bermuda, 
though that grass would hardly get as high 
as he said unless the ground was very 
good. H. b. 
Virginia. 
Treatment for Alfalfa. 
Must Alfalfa be sown or cared for dif¬ 
ferently from clover seed to insure a gooc 
catch and yield? Is it good for soil? n. 
Little Valley, N. Y. 
Yes. Clover is quite hardy as a younp 
plant, while Alfalfa is much more tendei 
and hard to start. When mature, however 
the Alfalfa will stand for more than tin 
clover, either in drought or cold. Thus, 
while clover seed may be put in the snow 
or on frozen ground, the Alfalfa demand* 
better care, and it is better to wait until 
Sp 11 ls warm. Weeds will damage the 
Alfalfa more than the clover. Alfalfa i? 
certainly “good for soil.” It is better than 
clover because there is more of it, and it 
holds the ground longer. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
r --—-> 
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This material is Bishopric Wall 
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hpiiii a kills Prairie Dogs, 
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FUMA 
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11 Will the roofing stay 
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Inoculated Alfalfa Soil 
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--- J 
ASH 
The corn crop fooled lots of farmers 
last year. 
Many fields looked good but fell down 
on the yield. This was owing to a lack 
of available Potash, for Potash is primarily 
a producer of grain. 
Your com must have enough quickly available 
Potash to produce well-filled ears as well as stalks. 
A corn fertilizer should contain at least 8% Potash— 
better 10%—no matter in what form the fertilizer Is 
used. Kainit, 70 to lOO lbs. per acre, drilled tn with 
the seed, will keep away cutworms and root lice. 
If your dealer can’t furnish brands rich enough in Potash 
and won’t carry Potash Salts so you can supplement your 
stable manure or strengthen the brands he does carry, write 
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We will sell direct in any amount from a 
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Continental Bldg., Baltimore 
Monadnock Block, Chicago 
Whitney Central Bank Building, New Orleana 
