8 70 
THE RURA1) NEW-YOftKER 
August IT, 
Late Culture of Potatoes. 
IF. M. V., Corning, N. Y .—I have been 
interested in reading The R. N.-Y. this 
season, and I see an article on page 814 
about cultivating corn. You say you try 
to work the corn just as long as you can 
do so, but I have not seen anything about 
cultivating potatoes. What, in your opin¬ 
ion. is the best to do? Is there any harm 
done by cultivating them after they are 
in blossom ? The soil in this section of the 
county is clay and in dry weather bakes 
quite badly. What, in your opinion, is the 
best way to use manure on such land? 
Would you advise plowing it in or putting 
it on and cultivating it in with grain? 
Ans. —We think it depends much on 
the season and condition of the soil. In 
a wet season or where the soil is well 
supplied with moisture we should keep 
cultivating as long as we could work 
through without injuring the vines. 
While many roots would be torn up and 
broken, others would form at once in 
the damp soil. In fact, such root prun- 
ning might help the plant form tubers 
rather than vine. Blooming time is the 
most important period with the potato 
crop, for then the tubers begin to form 
rapidly. In a very dry time it would be 
better practice to stop cultivating except 
with a very light tool. Only very shal¬ 
low culture should be given at such 
time, for otherwise the roots would be 
broken off, and in a dry, hot soil could 
not be replaced as they would be in 
damp soil. It is impossible to lay down 
any fixed rule for handling a soil, but 
our opinion is that it would be better 
on such land to plow the manure under. 
Top-Dressing and Green Manure. 
M. P. X., Nankin, O. —1. Is top-dressing 
an old meadow the best policy for the 
land? 2. Does a man profit by plowing 
down big clover, or is it better to work it 
into manure and put it on the land that 
way? 
Ans. —1. Each.ton of Timothy hay re¬ 
moves fertility equivalent to 160 pounds 
sodium nitrate, 50 of acid phosphate, 
and 50 of potassium sulphate from the 
soil, so that if we have a yield of one 
ton per acre we must use the above 
amounts per acre (each year) if we 
wish to keep up the yield and not de¬ 
plete the store of fertility in the soil. 
A dressing of this sort would give a 
yield of more than one ton per acre, 
and the soil would be called upon to 
make up the difference, and this is true 
in all cases unless the fertilizers ap¬ 
plied are excessively large in amount. 
Top-dressing with a fertilizer rich in 
nitrogen or with manure is better for 
the land so far as the loss of fertility 
is concerned, but it may not be as profit¬ 
able as a good system of rotation, and 
under a rotation the land will be in bet¬ 
ter mechanical condition and have more 
"life” as we say. If land is hilly and 
liable to wash, hoeing the land in per¬ 
manent meadow or pasture and top¬ 
dressing is the best plan for both land 
and owner, otherwise a short rotation is 
preferable. Where land does not wash 
easily, a rotation of corn, wheat and 
clover, the fertilizers apnlied to corn 
and wheat and the clover top-dressed 
with manure after the wheat is off the 
land, is hard to improve upon unless 
some special needs or special crops de¬ 
mand other treatment. 
2. It is more profitable to feed the 
clover crop than to turn it under unless 
the land is very poor. Pasturing with 
hogs or sheep is a good plan, especially 
if the hogs are being fattened for mar¬ 
ket. If in need of clover hay for feed 
cut for hay and return the manure to 
the field. A heavy growth of clover 
plowed under will greatly improve run¬ 
down soils, but if the growth is green 
when plowed it may sour the land, 
seriously necessitating the use of lime 
before clover will do well again. The 
labor factor and the needs of the own¬ 
er’s live stock must determine what is 
best to do in this case. w. e. d. 
Cover Crop for Poor Hillside. 
I have a three-acre plot on a hillside of 
poor land, and it has a heavy wash in hard 
rains. I tried putting in rye last Fall, but 
got a very thin cutting. The wild deer 
trampled down a good deal of it. Must 
we farmers submit to having the deer ruin 
our crops that a few sportsmen may have 
a little fun? 1 admire the pretty creatures, 
but I cannot afford to work hard to get my 
fields in good condition, buy seed and fer¬ 
tilizers. only to have it a loss on account of 
wild deer. But I intended to ask your ad¬ 
vice about the three acres. I want to get 
it to work to produce something and at the 
same time improve the land. I know lime 
would be of some help. It is too late for 
clover. Buckwheat might do. What would 
you do.? E. E. H. 
Fairfield Co., Conn. 
R. N.-Y.—Many of our New England 
readers say it is almost useless for them 
to sow cover crops, since the deer are sure 
to come and eat up what grows. Even with 
this the soil is improved. Did you ever dig 
into the soil in late Fall where a rye crop 
is growing? There is about as much root 
growth as top. The soil mentioned here 
needs lime. You can sow buckwheat and 
rye mixed. The former will be killed by 
frost and cover the ground—the rye wifi 
live over. 
FOOD INVESTIGATORS’ REPORT. 
The New York Committee on Markets, 
Prices and Costs, which has spent several 
months investigating market conditions in 
New York and other important sections of 
the State, has made an extended report 
through its chairman. lion. Wm. Church 
Osborn. Many public hearings were held 
and personal examinations made of prices, 
and methods of marketing. 
The committee found that the marketing 
agencies of Greater New York are covered 
by 13 classes of food distributors, ranging 
from the municipal wholesale markets, the 
wholesale markets conducted by railway 
and steamship lines and the farmers’ mar¬ 
kets, to the corner grocery and pushcart 
types through the intermediate grades of 
stores. Among these distributing agencies 
the committee concludes that the large re¬ 
tail unit or food department store buying 
direct, receiving direct, and selling direct 
is the best type in efficiency, minimum of 
waste, satisfactory distribution and re¬ 
wards for management and capital. To¬ 
wards the development of such stores re¬ 
tailers, wholesalers and private organiza¬ 
tions should move. To compensate for the 
neglect which the municipal interest of 
marketing has suffered in comparison with 
those of transportation, police, streets, 
docks, water and others the committee 
recommends that the charters of the va¬ 
rious cities of the State be amended so as 
to provide for a department of markets 
charged with the economic and sanitaiy 
supervision of food supplies used in the 
municipalities. The department of markets 
should publish accurate statements of mar¬ 
ket needs and prices, to be sent to pro¬ 
ducers of foods, so that they may be pro¬ 
tected from extortion and offered facilities 
for marketing. The primary or wholesale 
prices should be fixed by systematic auction 
in lots suitable for purchase by retailers. 
Such auctions should be conducted under 
the auspices of the city or of a public or¬ 
ganization. not for profit, so that this auc¬ 
tion in which all parties interested should 
have a voice would constitute, on primary 
prices, a producer's and consumers market, 
a system successfully practised in foreign 
metropolitan markets. The railroad and 
steamship lines entering the cities of the 
.State should be encouraged and required to 
provide adequate facilities for the prompt 
deliveries of foods for their sale by auc¬ 
tion on the premises, for temporary stor¬ 
age, both cold and general, to carry over 
one or two days supply and for the pub¬ 
lication of bulletins showing supplies to 
arrive. Adopting as a guiding principle the 
elimination of all that tends to unnecessary 
stoppage in transit, as multiplied transfers 
and delays must increase the ultimate cost 
to the consumer, the committee expresses 
itself adversely to the construction of pub¬ 
lic market structures and terminals that 
might impose heavy fixed charges on the 
community and be incapable of changing 
with altered conditions of population and 
habits. The history of New York City’s 
markets is given as ‘a warning example. It 
is pointed out that for the most part the 
buildings in the wholesale district where 
the transportation terminals are located on 
the extreme southwesterly edge of Manhat¬ 
tan are old, ill-built or ill-planned and none 
of them are located on railroad tracks or 
pier heads. If the matter were in the 
hands of a powerful commercial agency, the 
wholesale plant, for food handling in the 
city would, with two exceptions, be 
“scrapped.” 
The fundamental aim, in seeking reduc¬ 
tion of the cost of food, is to minimize the 
cost of distribution. The committee esti¬ 
mates that the annual food supply of the 
Greater New York costs at the transporta¬ 
tion terminals $350,000,000 or over, and 
that it costs in the consumers’ kitchen 
$500,000,000 or over. The testimony taken 
at the headings, the committee thinks, 
shows that this addition of about 45 per 
cent to the price is chiefly made by cost 
of handling and not by profits. The evi¬ 
dence showed that the smaller retailers are 
barely making wages. The suggested sub¬ 
stitution of large unit retail stores capable 
of supplying 25.000 to 50.000 people and 
each with eold and general storage facilities 
would bring about a system of food distri¬ 
bution at a cost of 15 per cent without 
delivery and 20 per cent with delivery, as 
against a cost of 25 per cent to 30 per cent 
for the present separate wholesale and re¬ 
tail systems without delivery and at a cost 
of 35 per cent to 40 per cent with delivery. 
Witnesses before the committee gave figures 
of operation from which it is inferred that 
the total eost of wholesaling, including 
profits, is probably About 10 per cent, and 
of retailing 33 per cent added in both cases 
to the first cost. Jf the plans adopted by 
most successful agencies for wholesale and 
retail distribution respectively should be 
followed in New York City at large, the : 
committee estimates that the reorganiza- j 
tion of the facilities and methods of doing 
business would result in a saving of $60;- 1 
000.000 per annum, or 12 per cent on the 
present retail prices. 
While seeking to minimize the inter¬ 
mediary costs of transportation, the com¬ 
mittee recognizes that a saving from im¬ 
proved facilities is only a part of the prob¬ 
lem, and that the real object should be to 
increase the supply and especially the 
nearby supply of food products. The in¬ 
quiry" brought out important information 
as to the marketing of milk, butter and 
eggs, and the effects of the cold storage 
system. From the sociological point of 
view many points of interest are to be 
found in the sections of the report relating 
to the side issues which have an important 
bearing on the main economic problem, 
since the habits of the people, their prefer¬ 
ence. customs and idiosyncrasies have all 
to be taken into account. The influence of 
the telephone and motor truck upon chang¬ 
ing the course of domestic marketing has 
been immense, and experience of store 
owners and consumers as related by them¬ 
selves in the testimony recorded by the 
committee throws much light on the sub¬ 
ject. Facts ai'e given about the extension 
of suburbs and its revival by use of motor 
trucks giving a longer range of haul to 
market. That large returns are still pos¬ 
sible is shown in the instances quoted, a 
Woodhaven farmer realizing this July in 
the Gansevoort Market a gross return of 
$45 on a load of radishes, lettuce and small 
cabbage, the cost of marketing being 26 2-3 
per cent; while a Staten Island farmer made 
$50 on a one-horse wagon of lettuce and 
beets, at a marketing expense of 17 per 
cent, and Buffalo farmers bringing in pro¬ 
duce within a radius of 25 miles net from 
$100 to $150 a load, after spending in the 
cost of handling 10 per cent for all charges. 
Hills of Sweet Corn and Limas. 
I am an old trucker but don’t know 
yet which is best, two stalks of corn or 
"three, or two or three Limas in a hill. I 
lean toward two. What do you think? 
Wellston, Mo. J. b. 
The number of plants allowed to remain 
to the hill depends in a great measure on 
the distance apart each way. I always 
plant pole Limas and the taller growing 
sweet corns four feet apart each way and 
leave three plants to the hill. If planted 
one foot closer each way then I would 
leave but two plants to the hill. k. 
Human Hair for Fertilizer. 
Could you tell me whether human hair 
has any fertilizing value, if so, how much? 
A barber in town throws large quantities of 
it on the dump. Would it be worth while to 
get this and put it on the land or around 
fruit trees? W. I. M. 
Framingham, Mass. 
Such hair will contain about nine per 
cent of nitrogen and but little if any pot¬ 
ash and phosphoric acid. The nitrogen is 
not available except when the hair is de¬ 
cayed or “cut” by same acid or caustic. 
The hair can be mixed with quicklime and 
put in a compost or mixed in the manure 
pile. Probably the most practical way to 
use it is to pile around the trees and throw 
soil over to keep it in place. 
Nitrate of Soda for Cabbage Maggot. 
I have always been troubled with maggot 
in the roots and stem of my cabbage plants, 
but this year I put one pound of nitrate 
of soda in 10 gallons of.water and watered 
the plants with that, and it looks to me as 
though it had helped some, as I have not 
lost so many plants as I used to. Could I 
use any tobacco dust in the water with the 
nitrate of soda, and if so, how much? 
Tower, Minn. j. f. 
A fair remedy for the cabbage maggot 
is to put a handful of lime around the base 
of the plant. That is as good a treatment 
as we know of. The nitrate dissolved in 
water helped not so much by destroying 
the maggots as by forcing the plants along. 
It is doubtful if the tobacco will do much 
good. 
Maple Borer. 
Something is at our maple trees. The 
bark is off and holes seem to be bored In 
the tree. What can I do? H. c. l . 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
The trouble with the maple trees is prob¬ 
ably due to the attacks of the maple borer. 
This is a beetle that lays its eggs upon the 
bark of the trees. These hatch and the 
larvae bore through the wood of the trunks 
and branches. They are one of the worst 
pests upon maple trees and the most diffi¬ 
cult to fight. In fact, all borers are ex¬ 
ceedingly difficult to control because they 
are inside of the wood out of the reach of 
any insecticide. It has been sometimes 
recommended that carbon bisulphide 
squirted into the holes of the borers, after 
which the entrance to the openings is 
plugged up with putty or clay, will kill a 
good many of the borers. I am rather skep¬ 
tical concerning this treatment, and do uot 
believe it would pay in general. Really the 
only method of combating borers of this 
kind in maple trees is to cut out the dead 
and dying branches and burn them. The 
worst infested trees themselves should be 
cut down and burned in May or June in or¬ 
der to stop the larvae from maturing and 
the beetles from breeding. This is about 
the only way we have of handling such 
pests. GLENN W. HERRICK. 
% 
“Much of our worry is useless.” 
“Yes; it is. I once bought some stock 
in a rubber grove and worried two 
Winters about frost before I ascertained 
that the trees hadn’t yet been planted.” 
•—Washington Herald. 
Look at the Base of the 
Engine You Buy 
Insist that the engine you buy has a Box 
Base. Do not be talked into believing that 
any base is good enough or strong enough. 
The base holds the engine together—makes 
the difference between an engine giving 
years of inexpensive, satisfactory service 
and one gone to pieces in a season or two. 
A Box Base is the only base constructed 
strong enough to hold an engine in perfect 
alignment, without which the best engine 
otherwise could not do good work. It is the 
only kind of a base used on the famous 
Jacobson 
Gasoline Engines 
Hopper-Cooled Type 
It braces the engine in every direction. It collects 
the waste oil, preventing dangerous oil-soaked 
floors. It is a safeguard against the otherwise 
ever-present danger of lire. Box Base engines meet 
the approval of the Fire Underwriters; save you 
increased insurance premiums. 
Box Base construction, too, is typical of engine 
superiority. Open frame bases are cheap to make 
and go into the cheapness of cheap engines. 
The Engine You Really Want 
Buy an engine once and be done with buying. Get 
one big enough for your present needs, yet with 
enough reserve power to let you grow. The 
Jacobson is also noted for reserved power — fully 
a third more than its rating—always ready for an 
extra heavy load. It runs with the lowest known 
fuel cost. It has the latest and best in gasoline 
engine building. You can turn the job over to the 
Jacobson and be confident it will be done. You do 
not have to be a mechanic to run it and it needs 
no tinkering. Is always ready for work. 
Let us at least send you some facts. Even if you 
do not buy a Jacobson, the help we give you will 
insure you getting your money’s worth when you 
do buy. This information is all ready to send you. 
Say you want it and it will come by return mail. 
Address 
JACOBSON MACHINE MFC. CO. 
Dept. D, Warren, Pa. 
---- ■ 
Let us place the Auto-Fedan on your farm and 
put it in operation. If it is not thoroughly satis¬ 
factory in every respect-if it will not bale hay 20 per 
cent cheaper than any other machine on the market— 
we will not ask you to buy. anil will refund you the 
freight and take charge of the machine. 
Write ns toUaufnr catalmj and prices. (37) 
Auto-Fedan Huy I’rcissCo.,Boi I , Albion, Mich. 
I 
0 K CHAMPION DIGGERS 
Get all the Potatoes 
out of the ground 
in perfect condi¬ 
tion. Our Two- 
Horse Elevator 
Digger saves 
time in your har¬ 
vesting, and saves money on your own crop 
We invite comparison with any others. 
Free Large Illustrated Catalogue 
giving particulars, prices, etc., of our full 
line of Planters, Sprayers, Diggers, etc., on 
request. Write today. 
CHAMPION POTATO MACHINERY CO. 
151 Chicago Ave., Hammond. Ind. 
LIGHTNING! DO YOU FEU IT? 
WOULD 
YOU BE 
SAFE? 
Then Rod your buildings with THOMPSON’S COPPER CABLE LIGHTNING RODS. Onr Rods 
are Endorsed by Farmer’s Mutual Insurance Companies everywhere. Good Reliable Agents wanted in 
every County. Protection Guaranteed. T. THOMPSON MEG. CO., Brighton, Iowa 
Over 1,000 Gallons of Water 
Pumped With 1 Pint of Gasoline 
That’s what you can secure with the Eclipse Pumper. This 
reliable little pumping- engine will pump from 200 to 4,000 
gallons of water per hour—depending on type and size of pump 
and lift—and do it on 1 pint of gasoline. 
Fairbanks-Morse Eclipse Pumper 
frees you from the labor of pumping by hand and makes you 
independent of wind or weather. The Eclipse Pumper can be 
attached to any windmill pump without special attachments. 
—plus the freight from factory, 
Beloit,Wis. — is all this abso- 
- lutely guaranteed pumping en¬ 
gine costs you; an engine that makes possible a 
modern waterworks system and all its conven¬ 
iences. Write for Descriptive Pamphlet No. MD 598 
Fairbanks, Morse & Co. 
Chicago New York Cleveland 
