1204 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[ Every qner.v must he accompanied by th9 
•name And address of the writer to insure 
attention. Before asking c. question, please see 
whether it is not answered In our advertising 
columns. Ask only a few questions at one time. 
Pat questions on a separate piece of paper. 1 
THE PERFECT POTATO. 
The potato shown at Fig. 524, page 
1263, is considered about ideal for size, 
shape and quality. It is the exact size 
of a tuber from the lot which won first 
prize in the Bowker contest. This prize 
was offered by the Bowker Fertilizer 
Co. for the ^purpose of arousing inter¬ 
est in the production of good potatoes. 
Anyone who has ever eaten a potato— 
and who has not done so?—knows how 
the tubers vary in quality, and how 
hard it is to obtain a really “mealy” 
and dry potato. The restaurant keepers 
say they like some soggy potatoes, since 
these hold their shape better when served 
as “French fried.” Lazy servant girls call 
for big potatoes because it is less work 
to peel them—but the great majority of 
us want potatoes with a “mealy” quality 
and a fine nutty flavor. We all rebel 
when we call for a Northern Spy apple 
and are handed a Ben Davis; we have 
greater cause to find fault when some 
damp, sog of a tuber is given us in 
place of a real potato. So the Bowker 
company offered prizes for the best crop 
of -quality potatoes. The crop was 
scored on an elaborate “scale of points,” 
which included the yield, the proportion 
of medium-sized tubers, the quality and 
the appearance of the tubers. 
The tuber we picture came from the 
winning crop grown bv L. A. Littlefield, 
of Penobscot Co., Me. One measured 
acre yielded 545.4 bushels. Of this 77 
per cent, were “table size.” That in¬ 
cludes all potatoes over four ounces and 
under 12 ounces. Under this ruling, for 
example, a three-ounce tuber and one 
of 13 ounces would be too small or too 
large for best table size. The one here 
shown weighs eight ounces and is the 
size we should select for our own use. 
These potatoes showed 16.37 per cent, 
of starch, the standard or average being 
12 per cent. It was considered “perfect” 
in “mealiness” and general cooking 
quality and scored 46 out of a total of 
50 points for “appearance.” On the 
whole, this is about a perfect specimen 
of an eating potato. 
The variety is Green Mountain—not 
considered as specially high in quality 
as usually grown. The soil was sandy 
loam, in sod last year, which gave about 
one ton of hay per acre. There were 
three applications of fertilizer—in all 
2,500 pounds. The rows were 32 inches 
apart and the seed pieces 10 inches 
apart in the rows. Probably this close 
planting kept down the size of the tubers 
somewhat, but the crop had no lack of 
plant food, was kept steadily growing 
from the start and was sprayed so that 
the vines lived through to maturity. • 
These potatoes are certainly “good qual¬ 
ity.” Some of the other lots were not 
so high in starch or as “mealy.” Later 
we want to compare the way they were 
grown to see if we can learn what cul¬ 
ture had to do with it. 
Lime Sulphur and Woolly Aphis. 
C. G., Napa, Cal .—I have read with great 
interest the article on page 10S9, entitled. 
“Sulphur as a Fertilizer,” by Elmer E. 
Fickett. Sulphur being bencficient to plant 
growth, would sulphur in combination with 
lime, or the so-called lime-sulphur solution, 
check the woolly aphis, or would sulphur 
in combination with lime be harmful to 
tree roots? I wish to get as much infor¬ 
mation on the woolly aphis subject as pos¬ 
sible, as they do uot winter-kill here, as 
we have very little frost in this part of 
California, and they are very persistent. 
At a recent farmers’ institute held here in 
Napa. Prof. Wickson spoke of kerosene 
emulsion as a remedy for woolly aphis, but 
he failed to state how much of it to use 
for trees of different ages, uor did lie say 
what time of year it is best to apply same. 
Account should also be taken that we here 
have no rain during Summer months and 
anything that tended to he soaked down 
to the tree roots would fail, because of no 
rain from May till October. I have used 
tobacco stems, “Black Leaf” and also wood 
ashes with very little results, except I think 
it stimulated the growth of the trees. Will 
wood ashes destroy the effects of the to¬ 
bacco when applied nearly the same time? 
Ans.— Extensive experiments have been 
made regarding the control of the woolly 
aphis on the apple by application of to¬ 
bacco stems, leaves and dust, common 
salt, kainit, whale-oil soap, kerosene 
emulsion, etc. So far as the writer is 
aware, no results from completed ’ex¬ 
periments in the use of lime-sulphur for 
the control of the woolly aphis are yet 
available. From the writer’s experience, 
however, in the use of this material for 
controlling other aphids we do not be¬ 
lieve it would be of much value. Lime- 
sulphur does not seem to be a contact 
insecticide for plant lice. We should 
not recommend it for controlling the 
woolly aphis. 
Out of all the substances tried, a 15- 
per-cent. solution of kerosene emulsion 
seems to have given the best results. 
In using this material the earth should 
first be removed from around the trunk 
of the infested tree in a circle from two 
to four feet in diameter, depending upon 
the size of the tree, and to the depth of 
two or three inches, or enough to par¬ 
tially expose the infested roots. The 
earth in this circle should then be soaked 
with a 15-per-cent, solution of kerosene 
emulsion, using three to five gallons per 
tree. In order to obtain the best re¬ 
sults the application should be -made 
when the soil is fairly dry. After the 
emulsion is applied the earth should be 
replaced evenly about the trunk of the 
tree. Surprising as it may seem, dor¬ 
mant trees are often seriously injured by 
the emulsion. It therefore becomes 
necessary to make the applications of 
the kerosene during the growing period 
of the tree, when the sap is in active 
circulation and the tree is in full leaf. 
GLENN W. HERRICK. 
THE NITROGEN IN FERTILIZERS. 
The Eastern experiment stations have 
adopted a new plan in printing analyses 
of fertilizers. Formerly in giving the 
amount of nitrogen found in the sample 
of a stated commercial brand, they made 
no distinction whatever. Part of it 
might have been soluble as nitrate and 
part as insoluble as leather, but it was 
all lumped together in the analysis. The 
nitrogen from nitrates might be worth 
18 cents a pound and the other worth 
nothing at all, yet no distinction was 
made. Then they began to divide the 
nitrogen into nitrates, “ammonia” and 
“organic” which was a long step in ad¬ 
vance, though even this did not show 
how much bogus or dead nitrogen the 
fertilizer contained. Now they go 
further, and divide the organic nitrogen 
into two classes. Part they call “active,” 
which represents the portion which will 
readily decay in the soil and give up 
its plant food. The balance is “in¬ 
active,” or that part of the organic 
which does not decay freely and which 
is not likely to feed the crop. This 
new classification ought to prove a help 
to those-who will study the matter out. 
No one wants to pay for plant food 
which will not feed his crops. There 
is no sense in paying at the rate of 18 
cents a pound for nitrogen in muck, 
leather or other insoluble stuff. This 
new arrangement will help cut out a 
lot of this material. For example here 
are figures taken directly from the last 
Rhode Island report: 
Water 
Active 
Inactive 
Soluble. Insoluble. 
Insoluble. 
Total. 
2.91 
0.90 
0.32 
4.13 
4.10 
2.78 
4.01 
1.66 
8.45 
7.31 
1.14 
1.22 
0.38 
2.74 
2.46 
2.31 
0.81 
0.30 
3.42 
3.30 
0.94 
1.39 
0.68 
3.01 
2.46 
2.S9 
1.22 
0.43 
4.54 
4.11 
1.21 
1.74 
1.12 
4.07 
3.30 
The first 
column 
shows “water solu- 
ble”—that 
is the 
proportion 
of the 
nitrogen which will dissolve 
in water 
and thus feed plants at once. 
The next 
column shows the 
“organic” 
nitrogen 
which will 
decay 
rapidly and become 
available—the last 
column the “dead” 
or -useless 
part. At the end the upper 
figure shows what the chemists found— 
the lower what the manufacturer 
guaranteed. You will see that in some 
of these cases if you take out the “dead” 
nitrogen the balance does not come up 
to the guarantee. It will pay farmers 
to study out this new system carefully. 
. Shelter for Manure. 
. .It. C. G., Unadilla, N. T .—Would it not be 
advisable to erect a building for the pur¬ 
pose of storing manure through the Win¬ 
ter? The common practice here is to draw 
it out in piles in the field, or else spread 
directly on the land, the latter procedure 
sometimes when the ground is covered with 
a foot or more of snow. I believe that if 
all the manure made on a farm could be 
stored through the Winter, and then ap¬ 
plied with a spreader when the frost has 
left the ground in the. Spring, and vege¬ 
tation begins to start, it would be of more 
real benefit. My plan is to construct a 
building of cement; that is, cement floor 
and sides, the side walls being built of 
cement up about four foot high and then 
finishing with lumber. This would make a 
space four feet deep that would be water¬ 
tight. I am a carpenter and cement 
worker, and for a building of this kind 
would have to buy only the cement and 
nails, as I have all other materials, and 
could, of course, do the work myself. Do 
you think the saving in fertilizing elements 
would justify the expense? 
Ans. —We think the expense would 
be quite justified. This plan is being- 
followed by many farmers who use 
not only a building for the manure but 
a pit for the liquids. The plan is to 
dig a pit or well and line with concrete. 
A tile drain runs into this pit from the 
stables. The stable floors are of con¬ 
crete with a drain or slope so that these 
liquids run away easily. The manure 
can be thrown into the pit with these 
liquids or piled above it, and the liquids 
pumped up at intervals and run into 
the solids. There are several forms 
of these pits but the principle is much 
the same—to keep the manure under 
cover and fairly moist so it will fer¬ 
ment slowly and thus break up and 
become more available. 
NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
Lcther Burbank Society. —I got the 
papers but did not bite. I would like to 
know what the “cause” is that they want 
a “truly representative body of men” for? 
Who is to get that $15,100 the first 100 life 
members pay in? What is it to be used 
for? Perhaps to replace the $10,000 appro¬ 
priation that the Carnegie corporation 
withdrew from Mr. Burbank. The way 
some people have got infected with Bur- 
bankitis is wonderful. I certainly do not 
think that what Mr. Burbank has done or 
written would be worth anywhere near 
$151 to me, and I have been considered 
something of a horticulturist. 
Fool Came Laws. —Here in Maryland It 
is allowed that rabbits can only be killed 
from November till .lanuary 1, and after 
that they are at perfect liberty to girdle 
your trees and eat your garden sass. They 
come in and eat holes in the cantaloupes 
in Summer, and it would not be proper to 
kill them. There is no earthly reason for 
a close season for rabbits except to give 
sports something to shoot. If there was 
no close season they would not be ex¬ 
terminated, for in North Carolina, where 
they can be shot at any time, they still in¬ 
crease, and are always in every place a 
nuisance. Then, while not a game law, 
the State protects buzzards at all seasons, 
and there is no greater carrier of hog 
cholera than the buzzard, and here they 
are so tagge that they will come into the 
chicken pens and rob the poultry of their 
feed. 
Dewberries. —In North Carolina the gen¬ 
eral practice is to train the dewberries to 
stakes, but the growers here have aban¬ 
doned all staking or trellising. The plants 
are pinched back and made bushy, and are 
in hills cultivated each way, and they find 
that training up is entirely needless. In 
the garden I had rather train them to a 
trellis made of chicken wire netting. 
Bloomless Rose. —I have a very unde¬ 
sirable specimen here. Tbree years ago 1 
bought a large specimen of Rosa rugosa 
and planted it along with a group of 
shrubbery. That rose has grown Immensely, 
and in the three years since it was planted 
has never made a flower. I shall now grub 
it out as a «i hi barer of the ground. I 
have grown many thousands of roses of all 
sorts, but never before bad a rose bush to 
thrive rankly and yet never make an effort 
to bloom. I have grown plants of the same 
species and had them bloom handsomely. 
This plant came probably from a blind 
wood cutting. w. f. massey. 
» Guernseys Preferred. 
The picture at Fig. 525 shows a couple 
of our Guernsey youngsters. Here are a 
few of the main facts why we prefer that 
breed in preference to all others : Economy 
in producing a high grade of milk of rich 
color; conforming of individuals to fine 
dairy type; a great demand for sale at 
good prices of all surplus stock. 
New York. Wilber begs. 
The price of potatoes in this market to 
the merchant is 70 cents; they are being 
retailed to the consumer from 90 cents to 
$1 a 'bushel. Hand-picked apples 75 cents 
a bushel, retailing at 25 cents per peck. 
Cabbage' three to five cents a head, accord¬ 
ing to size; turnips 40 to 50 cents per 
bushel; onions, wholesale, GO cents a 
bushel, retail from 20 to 25 cents per peck. 
As to dairy products, milk is being retailed 
at eight cents per quart; certified milk is 
bringing 30 cents per quart; butter 40 
cents per pound. l. m. 
Altoona, Pa. 
December 21, 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Roses, Plants, Seeds, 
Bulbs,Vines, 
Shrubs, etc., 
by mail, post¬ 
paid. Safe ar¬ 
rival and satis¬ 
faction guaran¬ 
teed. 09 years 
of fair dealing. 
Hundreds of 
carloads of 
Fruit and 
O r namental 
Trees. 1,200 
acres, 00 in hardy roses—none better grown. 47 
greenhouses of l’alms. Ferns, Begonias, Gera¬ 
niums. etc. Immense stock of Superb Cannas, 
the queen of bedding plants. Large assortment 
of hardy Perennial Plants, which last for years. 
168-Page Catalog FREE. Send for it Today. 
The Storrs & Harrison Co., Box54Painesvi1le, Ohio 
“BLACK’S QUALITY” 
FRUIT TREES 
NONE BETTER 
None Give Better Returns when They Fruit 
Buy Direct Front the Nursery 
and save agent’s discounts and middleman’s 
profits. When you buy our trees you get a 
Dollar’s Worth of Trees 
for every one hundred cents you remit to us. 
PEACH and APPLE TREES 
a specialty. _ CATA LOGUE FREE 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON & CO. 
HIGHTSTOWN. N. J. 
ruit Trees 
that thrive and pay 
In our extensive nurseries all the con 
ditions of soil, climate and expert 
care combine to produce hardy, disease- 
free fruit trees and plants that thrive 
and bear profitable crops. 
Our Catalog explains how we protect 
you against nursery carelessness and 
subsequent loss—how we give such care 
to every detail of budding, grading and 
packing that the highest grade stock is 
assured. We have a 30 j ears’ record for 
quality trees and honest dealing. Scores 
of the largest, most) successful growers 
(names on request) buy our trees year 
after year. A sk us to send you our free 
Catalog. It’s unusually complete, practical and filled 
with helpful information for fruit growers. 
BARNES BROS. NURSERY CO., Box 8, Yalesvilie, Conn. 
FUR LINED OVERCOATS 
Manufacturer’s Samples; Gentlemen’s black broadcloth 
Overcoats lined throughout, with Australian Mink; 
Jingo Persian Lamb Collars. Sizes 36 to 48, §30 each. 
These coats have never been worn. Similar garments 
not used as samples, retail at $75. Also few large 
size Fur Robes, plush lined, $15 each. All guaran¬ 
teed new. Sent by express with privilege of examin¬ 
ation liefore paying. Remit only express charges. 
K. ROBERTS, Room 24, 1GO Went 1 tilth Street, New York 
First-Class FRUIT TREES 
KOIl FALL PLANTING. Propagated from 
trees of known merit. True to name. No scale. 
SAMUEL FKASEll, Box C, Geneseo, N. V. 
700,000 Fresh Dug Trees 10c Each 
Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Peach and Quince. Genesee 
valley grown, direct from nursery to planter, at whole¬ 
sale prices. Write for free illustrated catalogue. 
L W. WELLS, WHOLESALE NURSERIES, ITreeacres Road, Dansvilla, N Y. 
Before Buying Berry Plants 
Set a copy ol Allen’s Big 1918 Catalog. 
THU Save You Money. Describes 
ALLEN’S Lorries, small Fruits, aspara¬ 
gus, privet, shrubs. Standard varieties, 
any quantity. Stock guaranteed vigor¬ 
ous and true to name. In business 28 
years. Write TODAY for Catalog. It’s 
FREE. W. F. ALLEN 
72 Market St. Salisbury, Md. 
STRAWBERRY SECRETS - ,';”*”: 
suits of the work of these last 10 years of the won¬ 
derful everbearing strawberry plants. Book com¬ 
plete, by mail, for $1.00. T. C. KEVITT, fltlienia, N. J 
known to the nursery world. Steady pay; 
cash weekly, exclusive territory, commission on mull 
orders. Big money made every day selling our exclusive 
specialty and all our other hardy fruit trees, vines, etc. 
Satisfaction and profit from every tree. All the year 
around profitable and pleasant work. We pay freight 
deliver, collect. You can be our 
lOunty managerif yon write today, 
us lully explain dur New idea. 
MISSOURI NURSERY CO., 
FREE TREES FOR 
TRAVELING EXPENSES 
LOUISIANA, MO. 
ON YOUR FARM OR COUNTRY ESTATE 
X .... . 
Alfalfa permanently enriches the soil in which it grows and yields a sure crop of the finest forage. 
You can grow it on your far in ! But you must meet your particular soil conditions—therefore, we will 
•without cost or obligation give you expert advice on the selection of seed—seed bed preparation— 
planting~-and care necessary to meet your requirements and secure a perfect stand with the aid of 
FARMOGERM INOCULATION 
Standard throughout the world 
Let us tell you of the method of growing Vetcli with your spring planting of Oats to increase the Oat crop and 
enrich the soil at the same time. Also how to secure the same results by gl owing Soy Beans or other legumes with 
your Corn. This is practical inform a t ion of value to every farmer. 
LAY OUT A PLAN OK GENERAL SOIL ENRICHMENT ANP FARM IMPROVEMENT FOR THE COMING 
YEAR—SEND US PARTICULARS AND LET US HELP YOU PLAN IT ECONOMICALLY AND EFFICIENTLY 
EARP-THOMAS FARMOGERM CO„ Bloomfield, N. J., U. S. A. 
Our New Book No. 54 ready January 1st. Sent free. 
