1912. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
S93 
Ruralisms 
Birds Destroying Grapes. 
E. V. II., Cleelum, N. C .—Last year the 
birds of the warbler family destroyed a 
large part of my grape crop. They were 
evidently migrating, and came in immense 
swarms. They do not stay here in Sum¬ 
mer, and do us no good like the other 
birds that eat grapes, cherries, etc. These 
warblers are tiny birds mainly. They do 
not eat the grapes but prick tiny holes into 
them and later the bees suck the ferment¬ 
ing juices, demoralizing the honey-bees, 
making drunkards and loafers of the'work¬ 
ers, as well as destroying the ripe grapes 
by wholesale. Shooting them does no good ; 
if is like shooting flies with a shot-gun. 
They will not scare off like other birds. 
Bagging the grapes is impracticable hero in 
our circumstances. The birds that I shot 
and examined answered the description of 
the Cape May warbler, but there were a 
number of similar birds. Please tell me 
the most effective remedy and the easiest 
and best way of poisoning them. Also tell 
me why arsenite of lead or arsenate of 
lead will not poison chickens. A neighbor 
fed corn coated till it was white with it 
and watched a rooster eat a lot of it and 
it never made him sick. 
Ans. —The Eastern wood warblers 
number quite 60 species of dainty little 
birds, but with scarcely an exception 
they are insectivorous, frequenting 
thickets and forests and feeding on the 
minute forms of insect life found in 
those localities. As a rule they are re¬ 
tiring in their habits, and generally 
escape observation except to the trained 
ornithologist, but during the vernal and 
autumnal migrations they invade door- 
yards and orchards and may often be 
credited with mischief they do not oc¬ 
casion. They must do a world of good 
in controlling destructive forest insects, 
and with the exception of the Tennessee 
watbler, a rather uncommon species in 
the Eastern Atlantic States, have never 
been accused of puncturing ripening 
clay saucers are not easily broken, and 
have sufficient weight to resist consider¬ 
able wind, so a few can be placed on the 
trellis posts where they are readily ac¬ 
cessible to the birds. This method of 
anticipating the thirst of the birds is 
said to have been employed with good 
results. One necessary precaution is to 
empty and refill the vessels at least 
once a week to avoid breeding mos¬ 
quitoes. 
Arsenate of lead is a poison and any 
considerable amount actually consumed 
will sicken or kill poultry or other ani¬ 
mals. It is slowly soluble, however, 
and the effects of a moderate quantity 
may be slow in showing. Probably the 
rooster did not get enough to do him 
noticeable harm, and the arsenate may 
not have been of good quality. Lead 
and arsenic are both poisons, and the 
combination certainly is not innocuous 
if genuine. Arsenical spraying solu¬ 
tions make a great show, but the actual 
amount of poison distributed on grass, 
forage or feed may not be great enough 
to harm warm-blooded animals though 
entirely efficient for insects. v. 
CULTURE OF MUSHROOMS. 
L. II., Bristow, Va .— I would like some 
information about growing mushrooms. Wo 
have a little cellar 10x15 feet, the floor 
of which is damp all the time, also when 
we have a hard rain the water comes in 
from the branch, but we could extend it 
back farther under the rest of the house. 
The wall that separates the cellar from 
the other part is only two feet high. We 
could easily extend the cellar back farther, 
even with that wall, but we would not be 
able to stand erect. The water would not 
come up over the offset. I have a little 
boy 13 years old; could we do the work? 
Would Washington. D. C., be a good mar¬ 
ket? 
Ans. —This cellar does not sound de¬ 
sirable to us. While a moist atmosphere 
is demanded by mushrooms, anyone 
ACORNS OF VALLEY OAK—NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 382. 
fruits. It may be that the Cape May 
warbler has acquired this habit, but if 
so the fact has not hitherto been re¬ 
corded. Small birds are very thirsty 
little organisms, and require frequent 
drinks of water. If this is not in sight 
it is conceivable they may puncture ripe, 
juicy fruits to get at the moisture, even 
if they do not care to eat the pulp. The 
orioles, both the gorgeous orange and 
black Baltimore oriole and the smaller 
and more soberly-clad russet-colored 
Orchard oriole, are much given to this 
trick. They will repeatedly stab a ripe 
plum, peach, pear or grape cluster, 
hanging on the tree or vine, and sip the 
issuing nectar rather than search for 
a pool or stream on the ground. Orioles 
in their sober yellow and olive Autumn 
plumage commonly accompany warblers 
in their southward migration, and may 
teach the latter this annoying habit, but 
the chances are largely that the orioles 
are the actual culprits. 
There appears to be no practical way 
to poison these interesting little birds 
even if killing were permissible, which 
assuredly it is not, as the good they do 
must far outweigh any possible harm. 
Orioles and warblers so constantly de¬ 
vour living insects and appear so satis¬ 
fied with this diet that probably no 
poisoned bait could be devised that 
would appear sufficiently attractive to 
them. Shooting or scaring the birds 
away and bagging the grapes being out 
of the question, there would remain 
only the expensive foreign method of 
netting the vines or of providing the 
visiting birds with abundance of water 
to slake their thirst and thus lessen the 
temptation to puncture fruits. This can 
conveniently be done by filling shallow 
receptacles such as old sardine tins, or 
better still clay flower-pot saucers, 
especially the four or five-inch sizes, 
with water and freely distributing them 
about the vineyard or orchard. The 
who has tried to grow them where they 
are exposed to drip soon realizes that 
they resent too much moisture, while 
the possibility of flooding in a hard rain 
is very detrimental. In a place where 
the beds dry out too much any water¬ 
ing after they are spawned must be at¬ 
tended to with the greatest possible 
care; most growers would rather take 
the risk of running the beds too dry 
than too wet. The wet contracted 
space suggested by the inquirer gives 
us an unfavorable impression, both for 
preparing the beds and for growing the 
mushrooms. The process of mushroom¬ 
growing is as follows: Collect fresh 
horse manure, keeping it under cover 
and turning every other day for a week, 
or until danger of burning is over. Mix 
with it one-third its bulk of fine loam. 
Make into flat beds about one foot deep, 
pounding it down hard as each layer is 
leveled out. The bed would heat up to 
about 100 degrees after made; wait un¬ 
til it drops to 90 degrees, then spawn. 
Break the spawn into small pieces, and 
insert pieces two or three inches deep in 
the manure, about five inches apart. A 
week or 10 days later cover the bed 
smoothly with two inches of fine, sifted 
loam. After the loam is applied a cov¬ 
ering of straw is often given to keep 
the beds from drying out. If made very 
compact the beds will not dry out bad¬ 
ly; if they do water must be very care¬ 
fully applied to dry spots at a temper¬ 
ature of about 80 degrees. The cellar 
should range in temperature from 50 
degrees to 60 degrees. Mushrooms 
should be gathered from six to eight 
weeks later, but sometimes it may be 
four months before the crop appears. It 
will be seen that the preparation of the 
beds is not light work; anyone can 
gather mushrooms—if they will grow. 
We do not know how well Washington 
is supplied, but it should be a good 
market for any high-class product. 
ASPARAGUS IN A GARDEN. 
E. IT., Trumansburg. N. Y .—Please tell 
me how to care for asparagus roots—a new 
bed set out in May, 1911. 
Ans. —The plantings or b ds should 
be hoed or cultivated as often as neces¬ 
sary to keep down weeds. The plants 
will produce seed the second year. 
When the stalks commence to die in the 
Fall they should be mowed down and 
when dry burned on the field or re¬ 
moved, as the seeds grow readily and 
will cause much future trouble. The 
seedlings should be treated as weeds 
and removed as they appear. Do not 
apply manure when the plants are in a 
dormant state in the Fall and Winter, 
but just before the growth starts in 
Spring a heavy coat of well-rotted ma¬ 
nure should be applied and turned under, 
care being taken not to injure the 
crowns. A five or six-pronged manure 
fork is best; on account of its curved 
prongs and small points there is little 
danger to the crowns. Salt applied in 
liberal quantities is considered benefi¬ 
cial; it will keep the weeds in subjec¬ 
tion and help hold moisture in the soil, 
and is perhaps a fertilizer to a limited 
extent; at any rate it does no harm 
and I like to use it, as it makes the 
cultivation much easier by keeping down 
the weeds. Asparagus should not be cut 
until the third year, then sparingly. 
The fourth year after planting, a full 
crop may be harvested. In cold sections 
of the country where the ground freezes 
deeply it is a good plan to mulch the 
ground with coarse strawy manure or 
leaves, but is not necessary. The secret 
of success lies in heavy applications of 
well-rotted manure and clean cultiva- 
When you write advertisers mention The 
U. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
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WELL PEOPLE TOO 
Wise Doctor Gives Postum to Convalescents. 
A wise doctor tries to-give nature its 
best chance by saving the little strength 
of the already exhausted patient, and 
building up wasted energy with simple 
but powerful nourishment. 
‘‘Five years ago,” writes a doctor, “I 
commenced to use Postum in my own 
family instead of coffee.” (It’s a well- 
known fact that tea is just as injurious 
as coffee because it contains caffeine , 
the same drug found in coffee.) "I was 
so well pleased with the results that I 
had two grocers place it in stock, guar¬ 
anteeing its sale. 
“I then commenced to recommend it 
to my patients in place of coffee, as a 
nutritious beverage. The consequence 
is. every store in town is now selling it, 
as it has become a household necessity 
in many homes. 
“I m sure I prescribe Postum as often 
as any one remedy in the Materia 
Medica—in almost every case of indi¬ 
gestion and nervousness I treat, and 
with the best results. 
. “When I once introduce it into a fam¬ 
ily, it is quite sure to remain. I shall 
continue to use it and prescribe it in 
families where I practice. 
In convalescence from pneumonia, 
typhoid fever and other cases I give it 
as a liquid, easily absorbed diet. You 
may use my letter as a reference any 
way you see fit.” Name given by Pos¬ 
tum Co.. Battle Creek. Mich. 
Read “The Road to Wellville” in 
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Ever read the above letter? A new one 
appears from time to time. They are genu¬ 
ine, true, and full of human interest. 
When you write advertisers mention Tub 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
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Bon 102 D, Grenloch, N, J. 
Auto-Fedan 
Hay Press 
Let us place the Auto-Fedan on your farm and 
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Moline, Illinois 
