1912. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
113© 
THE VALUE OF COLD FRAMES. 
After three Winters’ test of hotbed 
sashes glazed with two layers of glass, 
and one Winter, the last one, especially 
severe, I feel that I am in a position to 
say something in regard to the value of 
the double-glazed sashes. Iu fact, I no 
longer use a hotbed at all, for I have 
found, even in the past Winter, that I can 
sow here seeds of tomatoes in a cold frame 
under the double-glazed sashes the middle 
of February and have them come right 
along and make strong plants as early as 
it is practicable to set them in the open 
ground. For lettuce growing in Winter 
there is nothing better than the double- 
glazed sash. They cost a good deal more 
than the single sashes, of course, but in 
the long run are cheaper, because they 
save the cost of straw mats and the labor 
of handling them, for in a well-banked 
frame no frost ever gets into the bed, 
even at a zero temperature outside. 
This fact opens up a wide range of use¬ 
fulness for the cold frame. Seed of the 
Big Boston lettuce sown in August will 
give plants for setting in the frames later, 
and in some seasons may head before there 
is need for the sashes, but generally here 
this crop will come in about Christmas, the 
sashes not being used, of course, till the 
nights get frosty. When the Christmas 
and New Year crop is cut out it is not 
advisable to replant the same frame in 
lettuce. But we can follow at once with 
extra fertilization with radishes and beets 
sown in rows six inches apart. The rad¬ 
ishes grow off rapidly and are pulled out 
before the beets need all the room, and 
early in March here the frame can be re¬ 
moved from the beets or the sashes re¬ 
moved to extra frames and the beets will 
be ready to pull in April, while the sashes 
will be used for spotting out the tomato 
plants, to get them strong for their final 
transplanting. 
The late Winter crop of lettuce is set 
from seed sown the middle of September. 
These plants are put into the frames in 
November, and when they are cut out in 
early Spring we set a hill of cucumbers 
from plants started in pots, under each 
sash, and protect them with the sash till 
the weather is settled and warm. The 
frames where the tomato plants are 
hardened off are set with eggplants, two 
to a sash, and the sashes kept over these 
too until the weather is warm enough to 
expose tender things. Another use and a 
very profitable one for the frames is in 
the growing of cauliflowers. The plants 
are grown from seed sown the middle of 
September, and in November they are set 
six to a sash, ana the space filled in with 
Tennis Ball lettuce. The lettuce is cut 
out during the Winter, and by the first 
of March the cauliflower plants are push¬ 
ing up to the glass. They are gradually 
hardened to the outer air and the sashes 
removed to other frames for either toma¬ 
toes, eggplants or cucumbers. I have made 
this use of frames a very profitable one. 
Thirty years ago I bought 1,000 sashes 
of the old single-glazed type, and used 
mats on them, and planted the whole in 
cauliflowers and lettuce. The cauliflower 
crop came off in April and May and paid 
for the sashes, or $2.50 per sash, and the 
lettuce was clear profit. 
For Winter flowers of many sorts the 
double-glazed sashes are very valuable. 
Homan hyacinth bulbs. Paper ‘White Nar¬ 
cissus and other of the Narcissus tribe can 
be planted in the frames in the Fall and 
brought into bloom in late Winter, and 
after the bloom is over the weather will 
admit of their being hardened off and ex¬ 
posed, and instead of losing the bulbs, as 
in the case of greenhouse forcing, they 
will mature finely while the sashes are 
used elsewhere. Here we can also bloom 
mignonette, candytuft and Phlox Drum- 
mondii in the frames under the double- 
glazed sashes. Tea roses propagated in the 
Fall and established in small pots can be 
plunged in the frames and wintered suc¬ 
cessfully. Violets, of course, do finely under 
the double-glazed sashes, and bloom finely 
through the Winter. In fact, there are 
numerous half-hardy things that will flour¬ 
ish under the double sashes. Then in Sum¬ 
mer I use the sashes for drying fruit, and 
they do this as effectively as a regular 
evaporator. w. F. massey. 
Maryland. 
HORTICULTURAL BRIEFS. 
Storing Caladium Roots. 
How can I keep Caladium bulbs over 
Winter? j. A . s . 
Ohio. 
W r e infer the plant meant is that com¬ 
monly called Caladium esculentum or ele¬ 
phant’s ear, its proper name being Colo- 
casia esculenta. This plant rests during 
Winter, and the roots may be stored in 
any dry place where the temperature does 
not reach the freezing point. Florists often 
put them under the greenhouse benches. 
They may be laid in trays and put in any 
frost-proof cellar, if it is dry. 
Aphides on Cabbage. 
1. Aphides are so destructive to cab 
bage here that one can scarcely raise this 
crop. The leaves that the insects are on 
curl up over them, and they are on the 
under side of the leaves, so I cannot 
reach them with spray. Would it be 
practicable to cover a small patch each 
day with sheeting coated with paralfin 
and fumigate with bi-sulphide of carbon? 
2. IIow long is required for cabbage plants 
to mature after setting in the field, when 
they have been wintered in cold frame? 
Hodeo, N. M. i. w. b. 
1. This insect is very hard indeed to 
exterminate, especially on low-growing 
plants. As they live on the juices of the 
plants it is impossible to poison them, 
and any remedy employed in their ex¬ 
termination must come in direct contact 
with them. They frequently attack the 
young _ cabbage plants in the seed bed, 
checking their growth and sometimes de¬ 
stroying the plants entirely'. Dry road 
dust, land plaster, soot, or some propri¬ 
etary compounds arc all good, and if plants 
are well dusted while the dew is on every 
two or three mornings for a week or 10 
days, the aphides will be pretty well ex¬ 
terminated. I have found it a good plan 
to dip the plants in a solution of fir-tree 
oil soap, one ounce of soap dissolved in 
one gallon of water, at time of setting 
in the field. This will destroy every in¬ 
sect on the plants, and if the soil is good, 
and it should be to grow good cabbage 
successfully, there is generally no further 
trouble from this insect. I do not think it 
practical to fumigate cabbage in the field ; 
the labor required, coupled with the ex¬ 
pense and uncertainty of success, would not 
justify the effort. 
2. Early varieties, 70-00 days, according 
to the condition of soil and weather, k. 
Rye Souring Soil. 
You say rye plowed under might make 
the ground sour. I would like you to ex¬ 
plain this, as I expect to plow under rye 
and Winter vetch next Spring, and plant 
to corn. j. a. s. 
Madisonville, O. 
The greatest danger is found when the 
rye is plowed under while very green and 
full of sap, and the furrows left loose. In 
warm weather the air works in and starts 
fermentation. This may be avoided by 
plowing early before the rye makes much 
growth, and while tiro soil is cold, or 
waiting until the rye is riper and has 
turned quite hard. Another way is to cut 
the rye with a mower and let - it wilt or 
partly dry on the ground and then plow 
under. _ The trouble mostly comes when j 
the soil is left open and loose after turn¬ 
ing the rye under. This trouble can be I 
avoided by packing the soil hard with a 
roller after plowing. 
Tree Protection. 
I have a lot of cherry and plum trees, 
planted last Spring, which I wrapped with ' 
paper to protect from sunscald. Should 
wrappings be removed now, or should they 
remain over Winter? I have some peach i 
trees which have made a large growth I 
of soft wood and am afraid it will not 
stand severe Winter well. What is best 
way to protect them, and when should 
protection be used? I thought of wrap¬ 
ping the tops with burlap. J. w. m’g. 
Ohio. 
I^eave the paper on the trees. It may 
help protect them from mice and rabbits. 
The burlap plan might work with a few 
trees, but would not be practical in a 
large orchard. Spraying the trees thor¬ 
oughly with a thick whitewash and keeping 
them white through the Winter would 
help. _ 
Fruit Varieties.— After struggling for 
years with the pear blight and low prices 
for pears I have decided to dig out the 
last of 1,600 pear trees. Had apples or 
grapes of suitable varieties been planted 
instead of these pears I would now be 
several thousand dollars in. To those con¬ 
templating planting fruit, let me urge cau¬ 
tion. Pay no attention to nursery cata¬ 
logues and but little to the advice of 
others. Plant only what you know that I 
your immediate locality will grow well and 
your market pay well for. After stumbling j 
around for years, making mistake after 
mistake, I am now concentrating on and 
staking everything upon only two varieties 
of grapes, Delaware and Niagara, and two 
varieties of apples, Stayman and Rome 
Beauty. franklin williams, jr. 
Fairfax Co., Va. 
A new servant on the farm— 
a new necessity and a new 
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farmer. It’s the greatest 
time, money and labor saving 
device that the invention of 
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Every third car a Ford—and every Ford 
user a Ford “ booster ”. New prices—run¬ 
about $525—touring car $600—delivery 
car $625—town car $800—with all equip¬ 
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and particulars direct from Ford Motor 
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Wl?¥ I drilling 
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FOR SEWING LEATHER 
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offered for 
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TILE DRAINED LAND iS MORE PRODUCTIVE 
Earliest and easiest worked. 
Carries off surplus water; 
.. , . admits air to the soil. In! 
A creases the value. Acres of Bwampy land reclaimed and made fertile 
J f t| f 1 Jackson s Round Drain Tile meets every requirement. We also make Sewer 
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VictorVictrola 
Victo r-Victro la IV, $ 15 Victor- Victrola V III, $40 
Victor-Victrola VI, $25 
Victor-Victrola X 
$75 
Victor-Victrola XIV 
Victor-Victrola XI 
Victor-Victrola IX, $50 
New Victor Records are on sale at all dealers on the 28th of each month 
/"HIS MASTERS VOICE”/ 
Victor-Victrola j 
Mahogany or 
XVI, $200 
quartered oak 
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Each year has witnessed important im¬ 
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for catalogs. 
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Berliner Gramophone Co., Montreal, Canadian Distributors 
The instrument by which the value 
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no other way to get the unequaled Victor tone. 
