340 
THE RURAL NEW-YOKKEK 
March 8, 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[ Every Query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure 
attention. Before asking a Question, please see 
whether it is not answered in our advertising 
columns. Ask only a few questions at one time. 
Put questions on a separate piece of paper.! 
TREATING POTATOES FOR SCAB. 
G. L. II., Wolcott, N. Y .—Last year was 
my first experience raising potatoes. I put 
too much green manure on ground and it 
left my seed slightly scabby. Will you 
please tell me what formalin I can use, 
how long to soak them and whether to 
soak before or after cutting? I sprayed last 
year with Bordeaux mixture and have not 
found one rotten potato from my early 
seed. Is it really necessary to spray for 
early blight, or is it just as harmful as 
late blight? 
Ans. —Use formalin or formalde¬ 
hyde (the same thing), one pint to 
about 30 gallons of water. It will dis¬ 
solve at once. Soak before cutting the 
seed. We like to rinse off the potatoes 
with clean water first, as this leaves less 
mud in the solution, and you are more 
likely to do a good job. There are 
various methods of operating. Some 
growers make a tank and put the solu¬ 
tion into it. Then the potatoes are 
dumped in and left there about two 
hours; then shoveled out and dried. 
OtheTs put the solution in barrels. Keep 
the potatoes in sacks and put sacks and 
all down into the barrel of liquid. It 
remains two hours and is then lifted 
out and held above the barrel until the 
liquid runs back. Any plan will answer 
provided the seed is held in the solution 
for about two hours. This will kill 
most of the germs of scab on the seed. 
As a double precaution we dust powder¬ 
ed sulphur thickly over the seed when 
planting. Some growers claim that 
spraying is less effective for the early 
blight, but it is better to be sure and 
spray. 
Different Methods of Potato Culture. 
A. 8. A., Alstead, N. II .—“What ails the 
potnto crop?” by .7. Ii., interested me. Evi¬ 
dently potatoes are not grown outside of 
New England on the same kind of land 
as here. If I planted potatoes on land that 
had grown corn the year before, I should 
not expect much of a crop, and if I dressed 
the l?ind with stable manure I should ex¬ 
pect them to be scabby. My way would 
be to turn over sod land just before plant¬ 
ing time. If I had a piece that had not 
been turned for 20 years so much the bet¬ 
ter, work the land thoroughly, harrowing 
in one-half toil of 4-7-10 fertilizer and 
using another half ton when I dropped the 
seed in the drill. Then if kept cultivated 
and the bugs destroyed I should expect 200 
to 400 bushels to the acre. 
Ans. —This illustrates the fact that 
potato growing like other farming, is 
a matter of locality and condition. The 
wise farmer seems to be the man who 
can more readily adapt his methods to 
suit his farm. In New Jersey and most 
other places where there is a regular 
rotation potatoes follow corn. The ma¬ 
nure is put on sod and plowed under 
for corn and after this crop the soil is 
called “just right” for potatoes since 
the manure and sod have been thor¬ 
oughly decayed. In some places a clover 
sod with the second growth left uncut 
is coated with manure and plowed under 
for the potato crop. Outside of New 
England most growers would say that 
an old pasture or meadow would be just 
the place not to plant potatoes—it being 
too tough and full of white grubs. Yet 
A. S. A. and other New England farm¬ 
ers seem to prefer an old sod to a 
clean field. 
A Chapter on Cherries. 
F. IP. L., East Syracuse, N. Y .—I have 10 
acres of flat, sandy loam which I would 
like to set to cherries but am in doubt if 
they will do well. It is land where elms 
come in naturally, and about two acres 
have standing water for a short time in 
Spring, but this could easily be ditched 
to carry it off. On part of it the soil is 
quite sandy and poor, but if location is 
right I could supply fertilizer. Single 
trees one-half mile away on similar ground 
do well, but I am a little afraid to risk 
10 acres. Would mulch system be all right 
for cherries? What distance would you 
advise setting? Also what varieties? 
Ans. —From this description of the 
soil, and especially from the fact that 
within a half mile on similar ground 
cherries bear well, I believe it is all 
right for cherries. F. W. L. must, 
however, get rid of the water, as next 
to peaches the cherry suffers more from 
wet land than any other fruit I have 
ever grown. It will be an absolute 
waste of money to plant that part till it 
is well drained. Cherries can be grown 
in sod-mulch conditions, but not with 
the same results in size of fruit and 
vigor of tree as if cultivated. We start 
the cultivator as soon as the blossoms 
have fallen, and keep it up very thor¬ 
oughly till the fruit is so far advanced 
to maturity as to be liable to injury 
from continued cultivation. As soon as 
the fruit is picked we again cultivate 
and follow by a cover crop. I have 
planted Montmorency 14 and 16 feet 
apart each way, Morello 14, and Napo¬ 
leon and the strong growing sweet va¬ 
rieties 21 feet each way. The latter is 
right, and 14 feet for Morello is sufficient. 
I have lately returned to 14 feet for 
Montmorency, but expecting eventually 
to take out each alternate diagonal row, 
making them about 19 feet. For per¬ 
manent Montmorency orchard I think 
18 feet is sufficient, and 16 is very satis¬ 
factory. As to varieties, it depends on 
the market for which the orchard is 
planted. If for local Syracuse market, 
about five per cent, each of Black Tar¬ 
tarian, Gov. Wood, Marguerite anc 
Early Richmond; about 10 per cent, to 
Windsor and Abbesse, 15 to Napoleon 
and Morello, and 30 to Montmorency. 
If planting for a city market requiring 
a long distance shipment, I would plant 
about 10 per eent. each of Marguerite 
and Morello, and 20 each of Richmond, 
Windsor, Napoleon and Montmorency; 
if planting for the canners’ trade, and I 
could handle the picking of 10 acres of 
all one variety, I would plant 100 per 
cent, of Montmorency; if, however, I 
wanted to extend the picking season 
over four weeks instead of only two, I 
would plant, say, 25 per cent, each of 
Napoleon and Morello and the other 
half to Montmorency.. w. l. m. 
Chemicals for Apple Orchards. 
F. C. C., Brighton, Me .—On page 525 
Everybody’s Magazine for October, the 
statement is made that the Geneva Experi¬ 
ment Station has declared that the ap¬ 
plication of commercial fertilizers to fruit 
trees is absolutely useless. Will you pub¬ 
lish a resume of the bulletin? 
Ans. —This is a fair sample of the 
ridiculous statements often made by the 
magazines when they try to discuss 
farming and fruit growing. Prof. Hed¬ 
rick of the Geneva Experiment Station, 
after studying the effect of chemicals in 
tse station orenard, came to these con¬ 
clusions : 
Is it necessary to fertilize an apple 
orchard? This experiment indicates that 
in the average western New' York tilled 
apple orchard, if well drained, w'ell tilled 
and properly supplied with organic mat¬ 
ter from stable manure or cover crops, 
commercial fertilizer are little needed. The 
exceptions will probably be found on sandy 
and gravelly soils deficient in potash or 
the phosphates and subject to droughts; or 
on soils of such shallowness or of such 
mechanical texture as to limit the root- 
range of the apple-plant; or in soils so 
wet or so dry, or so devoid of humus, as 
to prevent proper biological activities in 
the soil. These exceptions mean for the 
most part that a soil in this region pos¬ 
sessing the unfavorable qualities named is 
unfitted for apple culture—at any rate 
there are still thousands of acres of’availa¬ 
ble fruit land in every part of the apple 
regions of New York that do not fall in 
with the exceptions. There are probably 
many apple orchards in New York that may 
be benefitted by an application of one of 
the chief elements of fertility. Some may 
require two of the elements. Few, indeed, 
should require a complete fertilizer. 
If it be true, as we surmise, from this 
and other experiments, that good apple 
lands in New York, of which there are an 
abundance, need little artificial fertilization 
If the trees are well cared for, it follows 
that it is folly to plant apples on lands 
coming under the exceptions noted ; for the 
cost of production is increased by the cost 
of fertilizers, and, of more importance, the 
fertilizers may often be wasted. In other 
words, it is doubtful if land too poor to 
ferow stpplos without fertilizers can be 
profitably converted into permanent good 
apple land, at least by the use of the 
mineral manures. 
Now we understand that these state¬ 
ments refer to conditions in Western 
New York, and not to soils or condi¬ 
tions elsewhere. We wrote to a large 
number of apple growers asking if their 
experience tallies with Prof. Hedrick’s 
Conclusions. A majority of Western 
New York growers agree with him or 
nearly so. A large majority of grow¬ 
ers farther East say without hesitation 
that chemicals alone or in connection 
with green manure crops pay well. 
There can be no question that some of 
the most successful apple growers in 
the country use chemical fertilizers free¬ 
ly. As for saying that land needing 
fertilizers would not become good per¬ 
manent apple land — the statement 
should be qualified. There may be na¬ 
turally poor land near a large city 
which could be made very profitable by 
growing Baldwin or other varieties 
which naturally prefer a light soil. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll got a quick reply aud a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
“Small Gardens for Small Folks/’ 
Messrs. W. Atlee Burpee & Co., the 
world-famous seedsmen of Philadelphia 
(with seed farms in Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, and California), have just intro¬ 
duced a “new departure” in the States 
which will be watched with some in¬ 
terest on this side. Hitherto the,low¬ 
est price for packets of seeds in the 
States has been 5 cents, which, though 
equalling 2j4d. in our coinage, repre¬ 
sents, considering the relative purchas¬ 
ing power of money, our “penny 
packets.” But in order to encourage 
children to take up the healthy hobby 
of gardening, the Burpee House, as an 
experiment, are this year issuing two- 
cent packets, and offer a list of 30 vari¬ 
eties of annual flowers and 30 choice 
vegetables at this price. That a firm 
of such standing, whose proved motto 
over 38 years is that they sell “the best 
seeds that grow” should embark on such 
an experiment has naturally created in¬ 
terest. In otder further to popularise 
the scheme Messrs. Burpee have issued 
a dainty pamphlet: “Small Gardens for 
Small Folks,” written specially for them 
by Edith Loring Fullerton, the author 
of “How to Make a Vegetable Garden” 
and “The Lure of the Land,” and 250,- 
000 copies of this brochure are to be 
circulated among the teachers, social 
workers, and scholars of the States. 
Brightly written, illustrated with actual 
photographs of children at work in a 
model garden, full of practical advice 
presented clearly and plainly, “Small 
Gardens for Small Folks” should serve 
a useful purpose, and should form an 
interesting supplement to an experiment 
which has much social and economic 
interest and value. In submitting their 
offer of seeds for the “Children’s Gar¬ 
dens” in “The Burpee Annual for 1913” 
—a wonderful catalogue which is known 
to garden-lovers all the world over— 
Mr. Burpee writes: “The risk we run 
in making this radical new departure is 
that naturally some adults,—‘Children 
of a larger growth,’—may be satisfied 
to buy the smaller packets at two cents 
instead of paying our regular price of 
five and ten cents for each variety. It 
is necessary to risk possible loss of 
trade, however, if we would really help 
the children,—many of whom are likely 
to remain customers of our children, 
when all are no longer children. We 
expect this new departure of seeds for 
the children’s gardens to pay an actual 
loss in cash, but should like to be mis¬ 
taken in our expectation! If the loss 
is not too great, however, we shall re¬ 
peat the same offer for 1914,—but natu¬ 
rally improved from this year’s experi¬ 
ence. We ask all friends of children,— 
parents and teachers,—to co-operate with 
us in trying to make this new departure 
a success. No business is truly suc¬ 
cessful unless the transactions are mu¬ 
tually profitable! We can afford to wait, 
however, for any profit on this special 
line, as the Burpee-Business is builded 
not only for the present, but with an 
outlook to the future. A business that 
has no vision of the future,—or the 
object of which is mere money-making, 
would not be worthy a life’s work.” 
Evidently Mr. Burpee believes that the 
way to success is to combine ideals with 
business, and to make an ideal of your 
business. It is certainly a worthy aim. 
—From The Southport Guardian, South- 
port, England, Wednesday, February 5, 
1913. Advertisement. 
Pur© Field Seeds 
Clover, Timothy, Alsii<e, Alfalfa and all kinds of 
Pnre Field Seeds direct from producer to con¬ 
sumer; free from noxious weeds. Ask for samples. 
A. C. HOYT «fc CO., - Fostoria, Ohio 
BEST SEED POTATOES 
A. G. ALDRIDGE, Fishers 
Catalogue of 
70 varieties free. 
Ontario Co., N. Y 
ONION SEED _ ~ Be - tstr,,iIls grow5 ' 
Send for prices. J. B. 
Quirk, North Madison, 0. 
WEEDLESS FIELD SEEDS 
Aro what we are trylnr harder than ever to furnluh our ciib- 
tomerB. FREE SAMPLES will »hnw that we come pretty near 
doinif it. In many varletio* wo DO IT. Wed, Mammoth, Alslke, 
Alfalfa, Timothy, Orchard Girrb, Sweet Clover aud all nthem. 
0. M. SCOTT 6 SON, 50 Main Street, MARYSVILLE, OHIO 
A RE you look- 
i n g for a 
novelty in flow¬ 
ers or vegetables? 
Or a new Rose 
which delighted you last summer? 
Or perennials which are not kept 
in stock by the average dealer? 
Nine times out of ten 
“You Can Get Them at DreerV* 
The Diamond .Jubilee Edition of Dreer’s 
Garden ltook describes and offers nearly 
five thousand species and varieties of 
Seeds, Plants and Bulbs which include 
really everything worth growing in this 
country. Many of the sorts are illus¬ 
trated. and practical cultural notes on 
flowers and vegetables make this book of 
greater value than any half dozen books 
on gardening. 
Mailed free to anyone mentioning this -publication 
DREER'S PEERLESS GIANT PANSIES. 
A mixture of the most exclusive giant sorts in 
a bewildering range of rich colorings. Sown 
out of doors by end of April, will bloom from 
July till snow flies. Special packets, contain¬ 
ing enough seed to produce over 100 plants. 
10 cents per packet. DREEIi’S GARDEN 
ROOK free with each order. 
H enryADreer, 14 CHESTKUT ST 
^PHILADELPHIA 
ALFALFA 
All Northern grown, guaranteed to be 90 percent 
pnre and free from dodder. Write for free sample 
on which we invite you to get Government tests. 
This seed should produce hay at $60 per acre] an¬ 
nually. Free Instructions on growing. 
GRAIN AND GRASS SEED 
Northern grown and of .strongest vitality. We 
handle export grade only and can furnish grass 
mixture suitable for any soils. 
Wing’s Mikado,Sable 
and Mongol are the 
heaviest known yleld- 
ers. Are all our own 
new varieties obtainable from ns only. Mikado 
haa record of 37 bu. por acre. Will grow on poor 
soil and greatly improve it. Write today for catalog. 
WING SEED CO., Box 323 Mechanicsburg, O. 
SOY BEANS 
Cprn rfiDM 6 Varieties. Heavy Yielders. 52.00 
dLLll GUAiN per bu. You want our White Cap 
Yellow Dent. Our stocks were grown by the win¬ 
ner of first prize at the recent Penn’a State 
and the South Carolina National Corn Shows. 
fDACCCC Clover at $11 per bu. Timothy—Ited 
ulifijotj Top—Orchard—Ky. Bine—Millets. 
Alfalfa. Vetches and 30 other grasses. White, 
Alsike, Mammoth, Crimson and Sweet Clovers. 
SEED 0ATS-SPRING RYE and BARLEY 
BUCKWHEAT-FIELD PEAS and BEANS 
rnw PF AC You should plant Northern Grown 
Lv »Y rc/ij Cow Peas of the earliest varieties. 
We have them in nice qualities at moderate 
prices. 
MAINE GROWN SEED POTATOES—CLEAN—SOUND 
Cobblers—Ea. Dliios Ea. Rose—Carmans—Mountains— 
Giants—Raleighs—State of Maines—Gold Coins. 
EVERYTHING FOR THE FARM-MODERATE PRICES 
Youwant our 32 pagecatalon. It is free. Askforit. 
A. H. HOFFMAN, LANOISVILLE, LANCASTER CO. PENN’A. 
DRAKE’S 
“Satisfactory Seeds” 
Planted by those who appreciate quality 
and very moderate prices. 
ONION SEED. Yellow Danvers, Largo Red 
Wethersfield, $1.00; Yellow Globe Dan vers,$1.25 per 
pound, postpaid. 
ONION SPITS. Choice Yellow, $2.50; Choieo 
lied, $2.50; Choice White, $2.75 per bnshel (32 lbs.) 
Write for Seed Catalog and Ereo trial pkts 
of New Bnkhuizcn Glory Cabbage and New 
Triumph Radish. 
J. AUG. DRAKE, Seedsman 
100 Main Street, Chester, New Jersey 
Choice Home Grown 
Field Seeds 
direct from the farmer to the 
user. All seeds best possible 
quality obtainable. We pay 
freight on all shipments. 
Write for samples and prices 
N. WERTHEIMER & SONS, 
Ligonier, Ind. 
NOW IS A GOOD TIME 
to make plans for the vegetable aud flower garden and have 
everything ready when the ground is suitable. The results from 
a well planned garden are always a surprise. Our 1913 Seed 
Annual has a most complete list of 
HIGHEST GRADE SEEDS 
thoroughly tested and of known vitality. We make special men¬ 
tion of the most popular varieties for a home garden or a market 
gardener. It also contains the latest novelties and a complete list 
of Poultry Supplies, Mandv Lee Incubators and sundries for 
tiie garden. We mail this Seed Annual free. 
FOTTLER, FISKE, RAWSON COMPANY 
12 and 13 Fanenil Hall Square, 
Boston, Maas. 
