1912. 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
797 
PREPARING FOR STRAWBERRIES. 
11. 1L, New Ilaven, Ind .—What is the 
best course to follow to prepare ground for 
strawberries? Ground is in corn now and 
I wish to sow something with the last cul¬ 
tivation ; would prefer clover if it will give 
me as good preparation for berries as any¬ 
thing else. 
Ans.— There are three main things 
about strawberry soil. It should be 
stuffed full of vegetable matter. You 
can hardly plow under too much. The 
soil should be as free as possible from 
white grubs. Sometimes when corn is 
planted on an old meadow or pasture 
sod ten years or more are required to 
kill out the grubs by cultivation or hoe¬ 
ing. A clover sod in a regular rotation 
is not so bad. Usually corn is a good 
crop to precede the berries. It is better 
not to use lime in preparing strawberry 
ground. For a cover crop we should 
sow a mixture of Red and Alsike clover 
with a thin seeding of rye. If the field 
is not too near the house add to this 
one pound of Cow-horn turnip seed per 
acre. These turnips will increase the 
crop to be plowed under, but as they 
decay they will be very offensive in 
in Winter. Plow the crop under in time 
for setting and roll or pack the soil 
down hard. 
Transplanting Roses; Seedling Fruits. 
A. S. (No Address). —1. Will you tell me 
whether large rose bushes can be trans¬ 
planted in the Fall, or the best time to 
transplant them and the proper way to do 
it? 2. Do peach and plum trees started 
in the garden from the pits of good fruit 
need to be grafted in order to procure 
good fruit of value? 
Ans.— The roses that bloom only once 
a year, and also the Remontants or so- 
called Perpetuals may be planted in the 
Fall, after the first severe frost. This 
friends will meet about the star per¬ 
former in nursery “guff.” In a contest 
to prove that black is white we are in¬ 
clined to back Whiting again the world. 
He certainly is a “plum,” and if after 
what has been said, any reader of The 
R. N.-Y. patronizes this gentleman he 
is certainly a “peach.” 
Value of Wood Ashes. 
What crops other than grass are wood 
ashes a benefit to? By hauling wood ashes 
eight miles I can get them for 50 cents a 
load, but much of the pile of ashes has 
been exposed to weather for a year. Do 
they lose their value by being exposed? 
New Haven, Ind. h. h. 
The w r ood ashes are good for all garden 
crops except potatoes, and all fruits ex¬ 
cept strawberries and some bush fruits. 
Corn and small grains are helped by ashes. 
The ashes will lose some potash by leach¬ 
ing when exposed so that water runs 
through them—but 50 cents a load is a great 
bargain. 
Setting Sweet Potato Plants in So. Alabama. 
I have been reading with interest what 
“Trucker, Jr.,” and those other Jerseymen 
say of their method of setting sweet potato 
plants, and thought that some of your read¬ 
ers might like to hear how it is done down 
here in the Gulf Coast country of southern 
Alabama, hence this article. I turn my land 
eight to 10 inches deep with a two-horse 
turning plow in January or earlier if feas¬ 
ible, following this several times with the 
harrow between then and bedding-up time 
in April. For this latter work I hitch two 
mules to a sled-marker made with three 
runners and 6V*> feet wide, thus making 
the rows a fraction over three feet apart, 
and when ground is marked out, follow 
with fertilizer distributor, placing the fer¬ 
tilizer in the marks, bedding over this with 
one-horse plow, throwing two furrows for 
each row. When that is finished the 
tongue is removed from the marker, a short 
chain attached to each outside runner, and 
a mule hitched to each chain, arranging the 
lines so that each animal can walk in a 
water furrow with one furrow between 
them. The marker will then straddle two 
rows with a furrow for each runner. This 
FIELD OF TRIUMPH SWEET POTATOES IN SO. ALABAMA. Fig. 327. 
gives a chance for early growth in the 
Spring, the soil being well settled by 
the Winter rains. In a heavy soil, re¬ 
tentive of moisture, we should defer the 
planting until Spring. The more deli¬ 
cate Teas, Bourbons and Bengals should 
always be planted in the Spring, in this 
latitude. Whenever the work is done, 
see that the ground is well worked and 
thoroughly drained. If the soil is light 
and sandy, leaf mould and stable ma¬ 
nure will benefit its texture; if a heavy 
clay, burnt earth or coal ashes will im¬ 
prove it. If poorly drained dig a large 
hole, and put stones or broken bricks 
in the bottom. Lift the plants with as 
little root damage as possible, and work 
the soil in carefully, without depressions 
where water may lodge to form ice in 
the Winter. 
2. Peach and plum seedlings are a 
lottery; you may get good fruit or you 
may get something comparatively worth¬ 
less. For this reason budding with 
varieties of known excellence must be 
done, to insure the quality of the fruit. 
An Old Nursery Friend. 
Mr. Whiting, whom you have given 
publicity at different times, has made his 
appearance in our fruit district. He 
travels in an auto and is apparently tak¬ 
ing many orders for Improved Japan 
plum trees. The only name among 
these which is possibly worthy is Shiro, 
which he calls a red plum. He carries 
a package of small pits and a bundle of 
colored photographs to explain these 
marvels of horticulture. His smooth 
talk makes the buyers think his charge 
of 83 J /5 cents per tree, freight and duty 
paid, a modest sum for such valuable 
trees. This gentleman claims to be from 
Boston and the East, and is somewhat 
particular who he calls upon. Readers 
can better appreciate your paper when 
invited to be victimized in such a deal. 
St. Catharines, Ontario. h. s. 
R- N.-Y.—So Whiting has left this 
country for the time. Our Canadian 
Is a rapid way to level the beds and make 
them smooth and ready for the plants. At 
present we are waiting for a much-needed 
rain, and when a good one comes we are in 
readiness to finish planting, which would 
have been done sometime ago had it not 
been for the very dry weather. 
And now we come to where “Trucker, 
Jr.” and his neighbors should “take off 
their hats,” for we have them beaten to a 
frazzle, when it comes to setting the draws 
or cuttings. No tongs for us—the only 
“tool” we use is a wooden punch, merely 
a stick about 1% inch wide and one-fourth 
inch thick at the punching end, slightly 
concave and rounded out smoothly to pre¬ 
vent bruising, or breaking the plants in 
two. The plants being dropped with the 
root end at the center of the' bed, the 
punch is placed near that end, a quick 
shove into the soil up to the leaves of plant 
and a pat given to press the earth against 
them, and the deed is done. I will not at¬ 
tempt to say how many plants can be set 
in any given time in this way. Let the 
“experts” figure that out. However, when 
the soil conditions are right, I have put 
them in as fast as two 13-year-old boys 
could drop them, I following between the 
rows and “punching” each alternately. It 
may be that this plan, might not be suc¬ 
cessful in New Jersey, but it is very much 
so here, all setting being done as described 
in this vicinity and as far as I know, in 
general through the South, and if sufficient 
moisture be present, it is very seldom that 
even a single plant fails to live. The sweet 
potato is so admirably adapted to this 
soil and climate that the crop is a main 
dependence of the natives, and will succeed 
under the most trying conditions, having 
been known to yield 1100 bushels per acre. 
1 he picture shows how the dense growth 
covers the ground by midsummer. 
Baldwin Co., Ala. g. h. f . 
Tip-Rust of Gladioli. 
,, ^ kat causes the brown or dead ends on 
the foliage of some of my Gladioli, and 
what is the remedy? t H T 
Philadelphia, Pa\ 
1 . kno . w L no reme dy for tip-rust in 
Gladioli. I he foliage of this plant is quite 
susceptible to atmospheric conditions, and 
the rust m believed to result from some- 
tmng of this kind. A clearly defined cause 
is factory smoke or gases. We are tokl 
that smoke from a pottery, passing over 
a Gladiolus bed is extremely destructive 
because of the chlorine liberated in the 
glazing process, and we should also fear 
the effect of heavy sort coal smoke from 
an adjacent railroad. In a location ex¬ 
posed to such conditions we cannot at the 
present time suggest preventive treatment. 
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one. The only cart 
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axle, ladder attachment ami 
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MAKE YOUR OLD CAR LIKE NEW 
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NEW BODIES, Touring, Runabout, Racing, $75 to $200j 2 
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MAGNETOS $22.50— Regularly $75 to $125. 
WINDSHIELDS (brass) $9.50—Were $ 10 . 
ELECTRIC HORNS $7.50— Formerly $35. 
METAL TOOL BOXES $2.50—Were $ 10 . 
ROAD VULCANIZKRS $2.50— Regular $3.50. 
NEW MOTORS, 15 horse-power, $95. Regular price $250. 
20 H.-P. $125. Regular $100. 
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28 x 2.$9.00 
80 x a. io.oo 
«Ox3k,.13.75 
32 x 3k>.15.00 
34 x 8?A 
30 x 4 ~ 
32 x 4,, 
33 x 4 .. 
.$15.75 
. 10.75 
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. 18.25 
94 x 4.$18.75 
35x4 . 19.25 
34 x 4V». 24.00 
35x4** . 25.00 
All other sizes proportionately low 
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