1912. 
THE KTJRAb NEW-YORKER 
927 
ALFALFA QUESTIONS. 
B. II. K., Bland-on, Pa .—I wish to sow 
five acres to Alfalfa this Fall. The field 
is a wheat stubble. My plan is to disk 
thoroughly and inocualte with “nitragin,” 
and would lime same, but cannot get "lime 
close at present time. If I could not get 
this land ready, would September 1 be too 
late to get a good stand before Winter, 
and get a crop of hay next Summer? I 
could sow by the 20th of August, but 
could not give the field as thorough cul¬ 
tivation nor lime it. If I would sow by 
September 1, I could lime field and give 
more thorough cultivation. Which would 
you advise me to do? Could I broadcast 
the lime during the Winter after Alfalfa 
has started and get as good results? If 
broadcasting lime during the Winter would 
bring as good results as sowing before seed 
is planted, I would rather do that. 
Ans. —The first, or even the tenth, 
of September is not too late to sow 
Alfalfa in the latitude of Blandon, Pa. 
If the soil needs lime (which can be 
easily ascertained by the litmus paper 
test) apply it at once, as it should be 
thoroughly incorporated with the soil 
some time before the seed is sown, and 
then work the land with various tools 
until you have a fine and compact seed* 
bed four or five inches deep, with the 
surface especially fine. Leave the field 
for at least 10 days, so that all the weed 
seeds near the surface can germinate. 
Then apply broadcast, phosphoric acid 
in the form of slag, if that is obtaina¬ 
ble, at least 300 pounds per acre, or 
as a substitute 400 pounds of acid phos¬ 
phate; harrow the land thoroughly, but 
only one inch deep, to kill the weeds 
already started and not bring up to the 
surface any other weed seeds. Sow 
good Alfalfa seed at the rate of 25 to 
30 pounds per acre, half of it in each 
direction, drag it in with a smoothing 
harrow, or other light drag, and if 
dry enough, roll it. If the land is well 
drained there will be little danger of 
Winter-killing. In case a severe Winter 
or Spring should destroy the seeding, 
then fit the land again in the same way, 
as soon as it is dry enough to work 
perfectly and sow the seed, omitting the 
fertilizer. h. z. c. 
Fighting the White Grub. 
C. D. 8., JVeictown, Conn .—In one of my 
meadows is a large brown spot which I 
supposed was due to the dry weather, but 
to-day I accidentally discovered the ground 
just under the sod was full of white grubs 
1% inch long with a brownish head. They 
had eaten the grass roots off just about 
an inch under the sod, and you can roll 
the sod up like a blanket. The meadow 
was seeded five years ago, mowed July 1, 
yielding over two tons to the acre. There 
are from 10 to 20 of these grubs to the 
square foot and unless they are killed will 
probably infest the entire meadow. Can 
you tell me what to do to kill these grubs? 
A neighbor suggested sowing salt on the 
land, another to plow this Fall and crop it 
. for two or more years. Wouldn’t the grubs 
feed on corn roots as well as grass roots? 
Ans. —It is doubtful if the grubs are 
limited to this brown spot. They are 
doubtless scattered through the field. 
We have little faith that salt will kill 
them. If you used enough to hurt the 
insects you would injure the soil for 
cropping. If you had a drove of active 
shotes you could soon get rid of the 
grubs. Put a portable fence around the 
spot and drive the pigs inside. They 
will do the rest. They will root over 
every inch of that soil to a depth of 
18 inches or more, and get every grub. 
We have known them to dig down over 
two feet in their hunt for grubs. They 
leave the soil in remarkable shape for 
any crop. The “pig remedy” is the best 
one we know of. Plowing, with oc¬ 
casional working with disk or spring- 
tooth, is good, but to make it most ef¬ 
fective you should have a flock of hens 
or turkeys to follow the plow, and also 
encourage the crows and blackbirds. 
These grubs will certainly attack the 
corn. We do not know of any practi¬ 
cal remedy except the pig method and 
thorough cultivation. 
Transplanting Bush Fruits. 
C. P. L., Spencer, Mass .—Will you tell 
me bow to transplant raspberries, currants 
and gooseberry bushes? We have a few of 
each which we would like to transplant 
and make as many of them as possible. 
Ans. —These all require much the 
same soil and general care. They will 
fail or at best only partially succeed 
on dry, sandy soils, and will do well 
on moist, sandy or clayey loams. They 
may be planted in Fall or Spring with 
equal success. The location chosen 
should be one where snow does not 
accumulate to a great depth, for it will 
break down the branches during alter¬ 
nate thaws and freezes, doing much 
damage to the bushes. Pruning should 
be done in Fall or early Spring, remov¬ 
ing weak branches and cutting back those 
making a vigorous growth, until bushes 
are three years old, when two to three 
of the old canes should be removed 
entirely each year. This will encourage 
new growth to start from the crown, 
this renewing a portion of the bush 
each year, which will result in larger 
and finer fruit and prolong the life of 
the bush. In outdoor propagation of 
currants and gooseberries, make cut¬ 
tings six to eight inches long from 
previous year’s growth. This should be 
done on a mild day in late Winter; 
tie in bundles of 50 and place in damp 
sand or rotten sawdust in a box and 
place in cool cellar until Spring. They 
should be put in the ground as early 
as possible in the Spring, when soil is 
ready. Take a garden spade and cut 
a slit or narrow trench in the soil by 
pushing it down parallel with line 
previously stretched where row is 
wanted; put the cuttings in three to 
four inches apart, leaving one or two 
buds above the ground; when row is 
filled press the earth firmly to them on 
each side with the feet, and smooth 
over with rake to keep ground from 
baking. When young plants appear 
they must be kept free from weeds and 
frequently cultivated. They may be 
planted in permanent places at two 
years of age, in rows 4x6 feet. k. 
Bean Harvesters. 
H. E. IF., Smith’s Basin, N. Y .—I would 
like information from some of the bean 
growers as to the use of bean harvesters, 
i. e., the best makes, and under what con¬ 
ditions they work most favorably. In this 
part of the State beans are not raised ex¬ 
tensively. There is but one harvester in 
this locality to my knowledge; this one does 
not give very satisfactory results. Our 
soil is dry and clay loam. 
Ans. —Here in Western New York 
beans comprise a large proportion of 
nearly every farm crop; all being har¬ 
vested by machinery. Were it not so, 
it would seem impossible to secure the 
immense crop grown at the present 
time (when the scarcity and high price 
of labor is considered). Consequently 
these machines find a place on nearly 
every farm and can be purchased from 
almost everyone dealing in agricultural 
implements. These are a two-wheeled 
machine, drawn by two horses, and are 
so constructed as to pull (or harvest) 
two rows at once, the same being drawn 
together in the same operation and left 
in a single row, subsequently with an¬ 
other such row to be forked together 
and left in bunches convenient for 
handling when properly cured for hous¬ 
ing. We find these machines give gen¬ 
eral satisfaction, are simple in construc¬ 
tion. durable and easily managed. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. irving d. cook. 
Raspberries and Blackberries in Orchard. 
I would like advice about planting rasp¬ 
berries and blackberries as an intercrop 
in a young apple orchard. Will it be too 
difficult to eradicate them, later, when the 
trees need all the room? a. n. s. 
North Stoughton, Mass. 
The blackberries will be hardest to get 
rid of, but you can do it by thorough cul¬ 
tivation and some hand digging. We do 
not feel like advising bush fruits among 
peach trees. It seems to add to the danger 
from crown-gall. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
RIGHT HOME 
Doctor Recommends Postum from PersonalTest. 
No one is better able to realize the in¬ 
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coffee—on the heart, than the doctor. 
Tea is just as harmful as coffee because 
it, too, contains the drug caffeine. 
When the doctor himself has been re¬ 
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using Postum, he can refer with full 
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A Mo. physician prescribes Postum for 
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my heart has got all right, and I ascribe 
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“I am prescribing it now in cases of 
sickness, especially when coffee does not 
agree, or affects the heart, nerves or 
stomach. 
“When made right it has a much better 
flavour than coffee, and is a vital sus- 
tainer of the system. I shall continue to 
recommend it to our people, and I have 
my own case to refer to.” Name given 
by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich. 
Read the little book, “The Road to 
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1 -A**, 
Not a Leak in 13 Years 
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at Iowa City, 13 years ago, and roofed it with 
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INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CORPORATION 
for the soil only. Our Agri¬ 
cultural Lime can be applied 
at the time of seeding and 
will not burn anything. Will 
drill, broadcast or scatter. 
We guarantee immediate 
shipment, analysis, mechani¬ 
cal condition, fineness, quick 
results and no burning. 
Litmus paper free. Write us. 
•CALEDONIA MARL BRANCH, Caledonia, N. Y. 
Your Fields 
Permanently 
Use Hubbard’s “Bone Base” Fer¬ 
tilizer for Seeding Down and Fruit 
(formerly called “Grass and Grain 
Fertilizer”) and you won’t have to 
plow your grass fields every few 
vears. 
Bridgeton, Me., June 17,1912 
The Rogers & Hubbard Co., Middletown, Conn. 
Dear Sirs:—I commenced using your goods six years ago, following the Clark Method 
on two acres. The land is a high, dry knoll, very poor grass land, and would usually run 
out in two years when using manure, but the grass on that field using your Famous Hay 
Makers has been a wonder to everybody. I think that the two acres lias cut ten tons of 
dry hay in one crop, and one of my neighbors said yesterday s> It is the best this year it 
has ever been.” Last year I cut it July 6th and, after raking, it looked like a solid mass 
of hay all over the ground. 
This field was laid down with 500 lbs. of Hubbard’s “Bone Base” Fertilizer for Seed¬ 
ing Down and Fruit (formerly “ Grass and Grain ”) to the acre and ever since 500 lbs. of 
Hubbard’s “Bone Base ” Fertilizer for Oats and Top-Dressing has been used per acre 
each year. Yours truly, C, L. HILTON 
Our Almanac and “Soil Fertility” sent free to any address 
THE ROGERS & HUBBARD CO. 
MIDDLETOWN, CONN. 
Seed Down 
Trade Mark Reg. U. S. Pat. Office 
