062 
TH EC RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 1, 
QUESTIONS ABOUT SEPTIC TANKS. 
L. 8. A., Northville, N. Y.—On page 495 
there is an article relating to “Cesspools 
and Septic Tanks." Referring to that part 
of the article which treats of septic tanks 
I would make the following inquiries; 1 
note the septic tank illustrated shows a 
dead-air space; the inlet pipe is said to 
enter the tank about two feet below the 
surface level of its contents. How far 
above the bottom or below the top of the 
tank or box is the entrance of the inlet 
pijje? I am unable to determine without 
knowing how much of the space is referred 
to as dead-air space. Would it be advis¬ 
able to have a manhole over the smaller 
compartment? What are the dimensions 
of a filter bed suitable in size for the septic 
tank under consideration; that is fcow 
deep, wide and long? IIow many of the 
curved tile outlets from septic tank should 
be provided and of what diameter? Is 
there any danger of the openings in the 
curved tile outlet becoming clogged with 
the scum? Is the oflluent liquid discharged 
through the curved tile outlet automatically, 
or does it require attention? I note from 
illustration that the outlet to filter bed is 
some distance from the bottom of same. 
I low far from the bottom should it be? 
Should there be more than one outlet to 
filter bed? 
Ans.— The inlet pipe of the tank 
should be about two feet below the sur¬ 
face level of its contents, which level 
is, of course, determined by the height 
of the outlet pipes. The exact distance 
of the latter from the bottom of the 
tank is immaterial so long as they give 
it sufficient capacity for a day’s supply 
of sewage, which, for an ordinary 
family, may be placed at about 300 gal¬ 
lons. A filter bed for a tank of the 
above capacity should be at least three 
feet deep and eight feet square, and 
such a bed would probably need to 
have its surface raked off and renewed 
occasionally. There should be an out¬ 
let the bottom of this filter bed of 
sufficient capacity to permit it to com¬ 
pletely drain itself, and if properly built 
one would be sufficient. The effluent 
liquid is discharged from the small 
compartment of the receiving tank auto¬ 
matically, through as many outlets as 
are required to distribute it rather 
evenly over the surface of the filter 
bed, and this even distribution of the 
liquid may be facilitated by making 
each outlet pipe discharge into an open 
trough, with perforated bottom, extend¬ 
ing the length of the filter bed. A man¬ 
hole over the smaller compartment of 
the receiving tank is not needed, and 
the outlet pipes will not become clogged 
with scum if made several inches in di¬ 
ameter with the inner end carried well 
below the surface of the liquid in the 
tank._ B - D- 
GETTING RID OF WEEDS. 
Methods of weed destruction vary accord¬ 
ing to the character of the plant. Annuals 
must he destroyed before they form seeds 
und the best time is when they are young. 
Biennials should be cut off below the sur¬ 
face of the ground, while perennials, the 
most difficult class to destroy, should be 
smothered above ground and destroyed be¬ 
low by deep cultivation. An example of 
this is the horse nettle, Solanum Caro- 
linense, which has running underground 
roots three feet long or more. When cut 
the root produces buds that form new 
plants. Prof. Pammel advises rape to 
smother this out. The ground should be 
made rich and harrowed or cultivated fre¬ 
quently until seeded in May or June. If 
the rape is drilled two pounds of seed per 
acre is advised ; if broadcast three pounds. 
The rank growth of the rape is found ad¬ 
mirable for smothering out the horse. nettle. 
Corn or wheat crops, well hoed, will also 
be effective. 
Cocklebur.—This is a very serious trou¬ 
ble in many parts of the country. There 
is one peculiarity in its structure that adds 
to the difficulty of combating it. The bur 
has two seeds, which differ slightly in 
position, and in the structure of the seed 
coat. It has been found that one seed 
germinates one season and the other the 
next; thus a farmer cannot hope to de¬ 
stroy all in one season. Clean cultivation 
and" rotation of crops are the best means 
of subduing cocklebur. 
Chi-ckweed.—This is a great nuisance in 
the garden, and in grass lands. It chokes 
out smaller and weaker plants, including 
seedlings of all classes. It grows perpet¬ 
ually, and the common duckweed, Stellaria 
media, Powers all the year round except 
when there is frost, so it is perpetually 
seeding. Constant work ■with the hoe is 
the only way to subdue it; infested grass 
land should be broken up, and treated to 
a short rotation. Several of the chick- 
weeds are a great nuisance to greenhouse 
men. both outside in the garden, and under 
glass when brought inside in the compost. 
Shepherd’s Purse.—This is another weed 
that grows and seeds at all seasons, ex¬ 
cept when it is actually freezing. It will 
live and grow anywhere, and is extremely 
prolific, one plant being able to ripen 
50.000 seeds. It absorbs a great deal of 
soil moisture, and in pastures where Win¬ 
ter has caused a thin stand the vigorous 
\utumu-started plants will crowd out grass 
and clover. This weed occurs everywhere 
in Europe, Persia, Tndia, Japan, United 
States, Canada, Chili and South Africa. 
Constant cultivation and early Summer 
fallowing is recommended to subdue it. 
Field Bindweed or morning glory is a 
very serious trouble, as it is a deep-rooting 
perennial possessing extraordinary vitality 
in its fleshy rootstocks, and is very hard 
to eradicate. A short rotation including 
late-sown hoed crops is helpful; frequrt 
use of a broad-shared cultivator will kill 
out new growth and exhaust the vitality 
of. the roots. Applications of salt or lime 
are sometimes recommended, but experience 
does not appear to prove their usefulness 
in . any safe amounts. 
Orange ITawkweed or devil’s paint-brush 
Is an extremely noxious weed now spread¬ 
ing freely in the Eastern States. It spreads 
by means of runners, and also matures 
winged seeds, which fly to a considerable 
distance. It grows very vigorously, but the 
roots are near the surface, and in cropped 
land plowing down and surface cultivation 
will destroy it. It is worst in old meadows 
and pastures, which should be broken up 
and put under short rotation. In mountain 
pastures and rough uplands, Prof. L. R. 
Jones of Vermont advises broadcasting dry 
salt, so it will fall on the leaves of all 
the plants, at the rate of 18 pounds to the 
sqTiare rod (1% ton to the acre). 
Dodder.-—Practically every season we re¬ 
ceive specimens of clover or Alfalfa 
strangled in the twining stems of dodder, 
from some farmer who finds this unwel¬ 
come guest in a new seeding. Its stems are 
thread-like, bright orange in color, leafless, 
and spread from one clover plant to an- 
other.forming a dense mat. The small 
ninklsh-wlntc flowers grow in close stem¬ 
less masses. This is a most abominable 
parasite, extremely destructive to clover 
and Alfalfa, and attacking a number of 
other plants: it is often introduced in 
farm seeds. Every scrap must be cut and 
burned, and it is a good plan to sprinkle 
the patch where it has grown with kero¬ 
sene, and burn that over too. Do not let a 
scrap of dodder go to seed, and tear out 
every bit of it seen at once. 
Mustard or Charlock.—When this is 
abundant spraying with iron sulphate. 100 
pounds to a barrel of water, is very effi¬ 
cient. and western farmers are using this 
spray freely. Grasses are resistant to this 
spray, hence it can be used to advantage 
in grain fields and pastures. The iron 
sulphate may be used effectively as a spray 
against many other weeds, such as dande¬ 
lion. knotgrass.. purslane, yarrow, sorrel, 
ragweed, hedge'mustard, sour dock, smart- 
weed. pepper grass, sow thistle, lamb’s 
quarters, wild carrot, spurge, shepherd’s 
purse and pigweed. The spray is injurious 
to the clovers. In lawn spraying, one 
pound of iron sulphate to the gallon of 
water is advised by Prof. Pammel as effiea-i 
cious against chickweed and dandelion. 
CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL NEW YORK. 
The Spring has been very backward and 
wet. Some oats are still unsown, May 17, 
upon farms low-lying and of heavy soil. 
Most farmers are behind in the preparation 
of their corn ground. To offset this, even 
though old meadows suffered much last 
year, and clover seeding caught but sparse¬ 
ly upon the knolls, yet there is prospect for 
an abundant hay crop, especially to those 
farmers who have a field or two of Alfalfa. 
Old hay is very scarce, and nearly worth 
its weight in gold! There has been more 
thorough spraying here than ever before. 
Last year three power outfits in our com¬ 
munity, this year six, besides the addition 
of several up-to-date barrel rigs. Grain 
and hay farmers with small orchards are 
awaking to the possibilities of thorough 
cultivation, spraying and pruning of their 
trees. In many cases vacant places in 
these orchards are being filled by new 
trees. I believe soon we shall see orchards 
planted here with the same enthusiasm as 
was shown half a century ago. There is 
one big cloud upon the horizon of the 
orchardist—the San .Tosd scale. If this 
can be overcome as men in other parts of 
our State are winning out, we shall have 
better and more fruit. For to fight scale 
successfully, very careful pruning is needed; 
and I believe the more thrifty and vigorous 
the condition of the tree the more success¬ 
ful will be the control of the scale. When 
one has gone to the trouble of spraying 
thoroughly for scale in the unpleasant and 
cold days of early Spring, it is compara¬ 
tively an easy matter to apply his dilute 
lime-sulphur and lead arsenate to control 
the Codling moth and fungus troubles in 
the choicest days of the year. Greening 
trees have very few blossoms this year; 
while nearly every Baldwin tree is loaded 
with pink. In ' orchards cultivated and 
cover-cropped, most other varieties that bore 
last year show a sufficient number of blos¬ 
soms’ for a good crop, provided no unfore¬ 
seen conditions arise. 
We have a small block of Tolman Sweet 
that hitherto have borne heavily alternate 
years; last year being loaded. At pres¬ 
ent they show plenty of fruit buds for a 
full crop. It is the same with Roxbury 
Russet. Seckel pears very scarce, while 
Bartletts are blooming light, though a few 
well-cared for blocks show a sufficient num¬ 
ber of blossoms. The few peach trees in 
our vicinity have suffered severely from last 
Winter’s extreme cold. We have just had 
a long and heavy rain that may do some 
damage to pears, most of which are in full 
bloom, and to the earlier varieties of 
apples. I might add that a number of 
preparations are used for the control of 
the scale, the homemade lime-sulphur con¬ 
centrates. several brands of proprietary 
lime-sulphur, the homemade crude-oil emul¬ 
sion, and various prepared oil sprays We 
feel that without thorough coating of all 
the branches of the tree from at least Iwo 
directions, along with good pruning and 
lowering of the high heads, the best of 
scale-destroying preparations will '■show but 
trifling benefit. 
Spring pigs are rather high and scarce. 
Cows are out on pasture in many cases un¬ 
usually early, due to shortage of feed, 
though grass is not early in starting. The 
tools and stock as well as the groceries and 
luxuries the farmer purchases and the labor 
he hires, are more expensive than ever be¬ 
fore. On the other hand, grain, hay, stock, 
fruit, the produce a farmer sells from his 
land, are fetching prices, as a rule, much 
higher than for years past. The days of 
cheap farming are farther distant than ever 
before. Many farms in our vicinity, hither¬ 
to much neglected, show far better rare, 
buildings being repaired, fence rows cleared 
up, more careful tillage, greater productive¬ 
ness all along the lin», and with the ad¬ 
vance in prices, land values are slowly tut 
surely rising. j. u. s. 
Cayuga, N. Y 
Spray Mixture on the Ground. 
Would the regular mixture of lime-sulphur 
and arsenate of lead be a good thing 
to sprinkle the ground around fruit trees, 
and especially the peach tree, to kill all 
kinds of worms and grubs? Will it harm I 
the tree? E. s. M. 
Warren, O. 
There would be no particular benefit j 
from this. If you used enough of the spray | 
material to kill the insects you would no ; 
doubt injure the tree. 
Location for Strawberries. 
Which would be the better place to set 
out strawberry plants, on a side hill or 
on the level? What kind of soil do they 
need ? d. p. 
Dalcville, Pa. 
A steep side hill will wash in heavy rains 
and is often hard to cultivate. A dead 
level often holds too much water. We 
prefer a level field with slope enough to 
give fair surface drainage. The strafw- 
berry does best on a sandy loam, made 
rich with manure or fertilizer, and stuffed 
full with vegetable matter. 
Prize Plant Setters. 
I have just read on page 577 two articles 
on transplanting plants of all kinds, one by 
Ralph Hall, the other by Trucker, Jr., and 
will say I am surprised at both of them, 
as here in this part of Cayuga County and 
adjoining county of Cortland every farmer 
raises from one to five acres of Danish 
Ball Head cabbage, and usually pays 
per day for transplanting, and our best 
cabbage setter plants from three-fourths to 
one acre a day, with a boy to drop for 
every two planters. Plants are about 30 
to 33 inches apart each way, which makes 
them run about 5.000 to the acre. If Mr. 
Hall was here with Trucker, Jr., with his 
puncher about .Tune 20 to July 1, Mr. Hall 
could get $4 a day and Trucker, Jr., could 
easily get all the transplanting he wanted 
at $10 a day, and farmers would wish for 
.more like him, as it is almost impossible 
to get men for hand transplanting here in 
this section. J. s. c. 
Moravia, N. Y. 
Trimming Sweet Potato Plants. 
Will it injure sweet potato plants to 
trim them just before setting out? A 
neighbor says to do so will be at the ex¬ 
pense of fruitfulness. He advises doing so 
while plants are still in the hotbed. For 
fear of frost I do not set plants in field 
before May 20, by which time they are 
fully two feet long, and if planted in this 
condition would greatly interfere with cul¬ 
tivation. w. s. 
Kirkwood, Mo. 
I have frequently trimmed sweet potato 
plants just before setting in the field, and 
have never noticed any ill effect on pro¬ 
ductiveness. I shall certainly not set any 
plants with vines two feet long; they 
would not only interfere with cultivation, 
but would weaken the plant to a critical 
condition. The trimmed-off vines can be 
cut in lengths of eight to 10 inches and 
set same as plants. If set early these 
vine slips make good-sized potatoes, while 
late set ones are used largely for seed. 
G. H. L. 
It has been estimated there will be about 
1400 acres of onions sown in Canastota. 
Half of their last year’s crop sold during 
the Winter around $2 per bushel. Timothy 
hay in Syracuse market is bringing $30 per 
ton. Potatoes dropped to $1.35. All vege¬ 
tables arc very high. When all vegetables 
sell from three to five cents per pound it 
makes from $60 to $100 per ton: carrots 
in Utica three cents per pound, $1.50 per 
bushel. I have sold many carrots to the 
lumber camps to feed horses at 23 cents 
per 50 pounds. F. s. 
Canastota, N. Y. 
Poultry and Poison Spray. —On page 
458 is a question about spraying for Cod- j 
ling moth where chickens run in the or¬ 
chard. I have been spraying my orchard 
for the last 10 years with arsenic in some 
of its forms; even spray my henhouse with 
free arsenic and lime to keep down the 
vermin. I have from 50 to 100 chickens 
that are in the orchard all Summer long. 
I have never lost an animal of any descrip¬ 
tion that I thought was killed by arsenic 
poison. J. h. a. 
Lentils in the North. —Regarding | 
query on page 577, lentils are grown quite j 
extensively in West Central Germany in 
a climate so cool that grapes never ripen. 
A little maize or Indian corn (information 
as to variety not available), is grown there, 
but this also does not ripen, being fed in a 
green state. A sandy or gravelly soil that 
is not too rich is considered essential to 
successful lentil culture, as they lodge 
badly on good ground. a. g. m. 
Elyria, O. 
Chicks In Sprayed Orchards. —For the 
benefit of R. C. Lester, page 258. I would 
say that we have kept our young chickens 
for the past 11 years in our sod orchard, 
which we spray three or four times each 
season with arsenate of lead. We also 
tether our young Jersey calves in same or¬ 
chard. and both chickens and calves grow i 
splendidly. These trees are 75 to 100 years j 
old, and take a lot of spray to cover, and j 
we cover them thoroughly, as we aim to I 
grow prize fruit. Eleven years thorough ! 
work in this line qualifies me to say that ; 
there is no danger applied according ti 1 
standard formulas. eveiiett e. brown. 
Connecticut. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
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“square deal.’’ See guarantee editorial page. 
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16x30.. 159.39 
Other sizes in proportion. Ask for Catalog No. 14 
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