1913. 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
67 
SOUR SOIL; ROCKWEED. 
A. T., Pigeon Cove, Mass .—I have a strip 
of land I am using for garden purposes, 
about 12 by 100 feet, bordering on the 
seashore which does not give satisfactory 
results with good treatment. Between this 
strip and the sea is about 15 feet wide of 
stone dump the whole length, this is filled 
with wild cherry bushes or as we call them 
here choke cherries. Last Fall the town 
fire warden when getting moths informed 
me that land bordering on the cherry 
bushes was no good, sour, caused by thick 
growth of leaves. lie was troubled the 
same way only did not border on the 
shore. Can you give me any information 
about it and the remedy? I don’t like to 
clean the bushes out for they make a nice 
hedge in Summer, but collect many Brown- 
tail moths. You will understand by this 
that I am very handy to a good supply of 
green rockweed. How would you recom¬ 
mend to use it if at all? Y’ears ago in 
making clam bakes where green rockweed 
was used have noticed very rank grass; in 
that case it was partially burned. I 
generally use cow manure and commercial 
fertilizer. 
Ans. —Most likely this land is sour. 
Make the following simple test: Collect 
fair samples of this soil here and there 
and fill cups or glasses with it. Moisten 
it just enough so it will hold together 
firmly. Thrust a knife blade down into 
this soil and put into the hole a piece of 
blue litmus paper. You can buy this 
paper at most drug stores. It comes in 
little strips packed in bottles. This blue 
paper is very sensitive to acid. If the 
soil is sour the blue paper will turn to 
a more or less red color, after stay¬ 
ing in that soil for an hour or so. If 
it takes this red color you may know 
that the soil _ is too sour to do well. 
Another test is seen by the growth of 
table beets.. This crop is peculiar in the 
fact that it will show that the ground 
is sour by its feeble and light-colored 
growth. The remedy for this sourness 
is lime; a barrel of slaked lime scat¬ 
tered over that piece of ground and 
raked in will help it. Rockweed con¬ 
tains considerable potash. Most likely 
the good results on the grass were due 
to the lime and potash found in the 
ashes when the rockweed was burned. 
For a garden spot we should pile the 
rockweed and let it dry down and rot 
before using it on the garden. 
A GREAT CACTUS SCHEME. 
It was Tennyson who wrote: 
“New conditions make new duties. 
Time makes ancient things uncouth.” 
It is unfortunate that the great poet 
did not live long enough to try to put 
poetry into the spineless cactus prop¬ 
osition. Perhaps, however, he would 
not have tried it after reading the cir¬ 
cular which Llewellyn A. Morrison, of 
the Cactus Nursery and Model Farm 
Company, has issued. Mr. Morrison is 
trying to sell shares of stock in his 
company, and we take great pleasure 
in giving him a score of 99.5 as a man¬ 
ufacturer of guff. Can you beat the 
following: 
Because one has lost out in mining, oil 
and railroad stocks, is just why he should 
go into a land enterprise of this kind. We 
know that it is one great opportunity for 
very large profits. Give it your careful, 
and thoughtful attentiou. 
We do give this our “thoughtful at¬ 
tention,” and we conclude that the au¬ 
thor of this remarkable philosophy fig¬ 
ures that a sucker never loses the habit. 
Having “lost out” on one wildcat 
scheme the victim is sure to come back 
for the same sort of bait. It is a very 
delicate compliment to investors. 
The “unit orchard” men have played 
baseball with figures, but these cactus 
gentlemen put them out at first base. 
They want to sell you stock in the en¬ 
terprise of planting spineless cactus, and 
think of the following income: 
Each aero planted with 2,000 cactus 
leaves should carry at the end of the first 
year 30,000 leaves; or 150,000 leaves on 
the five acres. These can be cut, down to 
the roots, and should sell easily at 10 cents 
each, or $15,000.00. 
Vegetables can be raised on 15 acres to 
net .$1,000.00. 
Total estimated revenue for the first 
year, $16,000.00. 
And every year thereafter you have 
an income of $20,000 more. Or, if you 
don’t like that—what about this one? 
Another method is to leave the cactus 
uncut until the end of the second year, 
when there should be on the five acres at 
least 1.000,000 leaves. Cut and remove 
30.000 leaves to plant the other 15 acres; 
and 200.000 leaves for sale. These ought 
to sell for at least 10 cents each, or $20,- 
000 . 
If you ask what is to be done with 
these cactus leaves you are simply told 
that they are “the greatest cattle food 
known.” Now there may be a few in¬ 
sane people who would buy the stock 
on the strength of such guff and figures. 
We hope not, but you never can tell, 
for we have seen people take their life’s 
savings and throw the money at schemes 
that were just as foolish, but perhaps 
a little less high colored. These cactus 
men have just hit the limit—that’s all. 
There are^ hundreds of similar stock¬ 
selling jobs which are just as sure to 
fail. 
No, we understand that Mr. Burbank 
has nothing to do with this scheme. 
The only reference we find to him in 
all the literature is this: “These fig¬ 
ures are well under those given out by 
Mr. Burbank, who is the authority in 
the industry 
CLEARING CISTERN WATER. 
On page 1223 is a communication 
signed M. T. S., New Jersey. He asks 
why his cistern water, which has always 
been clear, without any odor, has now 
become yellow and has a disagreeable 
odor. It is evident that his cistern has 
become infested with one of the many va¬ 
rieties of algae, which material is a low 
form of vegetable life which may often 
be observed in shallow reservoirs, etc. 
Alga? continue their growth in a reservoir 
or cistern, and the color and odor are due 
to the products of decomposition of the 
growing mass. This material can be re¬ 
moved from water and prevented from 
growing again in the water by the use of 
sulphate of copper. This is advised by 
the Department of Agriculture, and I would 
advise M. T. S. to apply to the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant In¬ 
dustry, for Bulletin No. 76, entitled “Cop¬ 
per as an Algascide and Disinfectant in 
Water Supplies” and also to apply for 
Bulletin No. 64, Bureau of Plant Industry, 
U. S. Dept, of Agriculture, entitled “A 
Method of Destroying or Preventing the 
Growth of Algae and Certain Pathogenic 
Bacteria in Water Supplies.” He might also 
very profitably apply to the Bureau of 
Fisheries and get a pamphlet issued by 
them entitled “The Treatment of Fish Cul¬ 
tural Waters for the Removal of Algae.” 
The way to figure the proper amount of 
sulphate of copper to be used is to multi¬ 
ply the surface area of the water in feet 
by the depth which will give you the num- 
ber_ of cubic feet, multiply this figure by 
62.5, which will give you the number of 
pounds and divide this amount by 5,000,- 
000, which except in some particularly 
troublesome cases, will be about the right 
amount to use. It must be understood that 
it is almost impossible to give any general 
rule for the destruction of the algae, as 
some require very much less sulphate of 
copper than others to accomplish their 
complete destruction. 
In the Bulletin referred to above, the 
effect of sulphate of copper in small quan¬ 
tities ou man and other animals is studied 
showing that the effect is entirely negli¬ 
gible. In fact Bulletin No. 64 makes the 
following remarks: “Taking a dilution of 
one to one million, which in all cases 
would be sufficient to prevent the growth 
of a polluting algal form, it would be 
necessary to drink something over 20 quarts 
of water a day before an amount, which 
is universally recognized as harmless, 
would be introduced in the system, while 
more than 50 quarts would have to be 
consumed before it would have the slightest 
effect.” As a matter of fact the amount 
I have suggested above would call for five 
times the amount of water to be taken in 
safety._ John c. sparks. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal." See guarantee editorial page. 
DREADED TO EAT 
A Quaker Couple's Experience. 
How many persons dread to eat their 
meals, although actually hungry nearly 
all the time! 
Nature never intended this should be 
so, for we are given a thing called appe¬ 
tite that should guide us as to what the 
system needs at any time and can digest. 
But we get in a hurry, swallow our 
food very much as we shovel coal into 
the furnace, and our sense of appetite 
becomes unnatural and perverted. Then 
we eat the wrong kind of food or eat 
too much, and there you are—indigestion 
and its accompanying miseries. 
A Phila. lady said: 
“My husband and I have been sick and 
nervous for 15 or 20 years from drink¬ 
ing coffee—feverish, indigestion, totally 
unfit, a good part of the time, for work 
or pleasure. We actually dreaded to eat 
our meals. (Tea is just as injurious, 
because it contains caffeine, the same 
drug found in coffee.) 
“We tried doctors and patent medi¬ 
cines that counted up into hundreds of 
dollars, with little if any benefit. 
“Accidentally, a small package of 
Postum came into my hands. I made 
some according to directions, with 
surprising results. We both liked it and 
have not used any coffee since. 
“The dull feeling after meals has left 
us and we feel better every way. We 
are so well satisfied with Postum that 
we recommend it to our friends who 
have been made sick and nervous and 
miserable by coffee.” Name given upon 
request. Read the little book, “The Road 
to Wellville,” in pkgs. 
Postum now comes in concentrated, 
powder form, called Instant Postum. 
It is prepared by stirring a level tea¬ 
spoonful in a cup of hot water, adding 
sugar to taste, and enough cream to 
bring the color to golden brown. 
Instant Postum is convenient; there’s 
no waste; and the flavour is always uni¬ 
form. Sold by grocers—50-cup tin 30 
cts., 100-cup tin 50 cts. 
A 5-cup trial tin mailed for grocer’s 
name and 2-ceift stamp for postage. 
Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., Battle Creek, 
Mich. 
Wheat and Increase the Yield 
From Three to Eight Bushels per Acre 
Many farmers report increased yields of Winter 
Wheat from 4 to 8 bushels per acre by the use of 
the Superior Alfalfa and Grass Seed Drill. 
Not only did these farmers increase their yields of 
wheat AT NO COST WHATEVER, but THEY 
SAVED HALF THE CLOVER SEED and got 
better stands of clover than when broadcasting. 
The Superior Alfalfa and Grass Seed Drill puts all the seed In 
the ground at an even depth. Discs cultivate the wheat at 
the same time. The angle of the discs is so slight that the 
wheat is not injured. 
The Superior Force Feed Accurately Sows Crimson and Red 
Clover, \\ hite Glover, Alsike, Alfalfa, Clover and Timothy 
mixed, Timothy alone, Red Top Fancy, Blue Grass, Millet, Flax 
and all other Grasses in widest range of quantities. 
If you are going to sow Clover in your Winter Wheat, 
the Superior Alfalfa and Grass Seed Drill will show 
you a gain of about FOUR DOLLARS PER ACRE. 
This Drill is invaluable in rejuvenating old Alfalfa Fields, Pas¬ 
tures and Meadows. 
SEND F0R THE SUPERIOR ALFALFA DRILL FOLDER 
Go to your local dealer and ask to see the Superior Alfalfa and 
Grass Seed Drill. Sold under the strongest warranty. You run 
no risk in purchasing. 
THE AMERICAN SEEDING-MACHINE CO., Inc. 
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO 
_ 
QflVE 25 TO 50 PER CENT. ON HARNESS. Buy direct 
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BKOWN, WHITTEN & CO., Fine Bush, N.Y. 
STRONGEST FENCE MADE 
FROM FACTORY DIRECT TO FARM 
26-inch Hog Fence,_14c. M 
41-inch Farm Fence, 21c. ^ 
48-inch Poultry Fence„22i4c. 
80-rod spool Barb Wire, $1.55 
A Many styles and heights. Our large Free Catalog 
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POULTRY FENCE 
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Getournewfencebookbefore 
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DEERLESS 
GATES. 
The kind you can bank on, 
00 worry about animals getting 
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SELF RAISING 
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5 Mich. St. Adrian. Mich. 
Fence Buyers 
ANSWER 
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BOND STEEL POST COMPANY, 23 E. Maunee Street. ADRIAN, MICH. 
