76 2 
THE) RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
June 14 
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.] 
Danger from Electric Wires. 
In treating of the danger of the high 
tension electric wires passing through 
orchards, in a recent issue of The R. 
N.-Y., you omitted to call attention to 
the fact that perhaps the greatest danger 
from such wires is in the possibility of a 
stream of water in the hands of a man 
striking the live wires, which would im¬ 
mediately destroy the life of the man 
manipulating the hose and nozzle. It is 
well known that a stream of water will 
convey electricity as though it were a 
mass of metal. Many lives have been 
lost during fires in cities where streams 
of water from fire engines have conveyed 
the electricity from live wires to the fire¬ 
men. C. A. GREEN. 
R. N.-Y.—We reported a case last year 
from California where a wire fence was 
so charged with electricity that a hen¬ 
house took fire. A woman threw a buc¬ 
ketful of water over it and was instantly 
killed. 
Alfalfa Soil for Inoculating. 
I wish to start a field of Alfalfa. I 
have a patch of Alfalfa, about one-half 
acre, sown in June, 1011: have a good 
stand where lime was used most freely. 
Will soil from this field be all right to 
use to inoculate the field I wish to seed? 
There is a good showing of nodules on 
roots of Alfalfa in one-half acre patch. 
Lakewood, Pa. I. w. G. 
Yes—the soil from this patch will be 
good for use on larger seedings. If the 
nodules are found on the roots you can 
use about GOO pounds of the soil per acre. 
Dig this soil at about six inches deep, sift 
it well and spread it evenly over the acre 
at seeding time. A cloudy day is best 
for the work, and it is better to harrow 
the soil in as soon as possible after 
spreading. 
Nitrate of Soda and Tomatoes. 
Regarding the use of nitrate of soda 
on tomatoes, I would like to know which 
is the best time to apply. The experi¬ 
ment station advised putting it on 15 
days after transplanting. What is the 
advantage of this? Y'ou advised putting 
it on when plants began to set. Do you 
think it would pay to put it on both 
times. D. s. M. 
Leesburg, N. J. 
We would not use the nitrate just 
after the plants are put out, but would 
wait until they had begun to grow nat¬ 
urally. The nitrate is too strong to use 
before the little plants are well rooted. 
Except that it means double work we 
would divide the nitrate into two doses. 
Use half of it after the plants have been 
set about a week. Put it about five inches 
out from the plant and hoe or cultivate 
in. Use the other half just as the first 
little tomatoes are forming. This is the 
most exhausting time of the plant’s life. 
If you use too much nitrate at this time 
you will delay ripening of fruit, for the 
plant will go to making vine and leaf, but 
a pinch of nitrate at this time will help. 
Orchard Plowing. 
I am on my engine 11 hours per day. 
I have to hire my plowing done. The 
man who does it never worked among 
young trees. I am in the same box. 
When I came home the other night he 
had a furrow turned up against a row 
of young trees. This is the third time 
this has been done. Before long the trees 
will be each on a little hill. I am a 
“greenhorn” at this work, but I told him 
I thought it would be better to plow away 
from the trees and then harrow, and the 
soil would work back into the furrow. 
How do you do it? F. p. b. 
Massachusetts. 
We alternate the plowing. One year 
the furrow is turned up against the row 
of trees with the dead furrow at tin 1 mid¬ 
dle of the alley. Then with a common 
hoe or grub-lioe we level the space right 
around the tree, as cultivation goes on. 
The next year the plow ridge is made at 
the center of the alley—plowing away 
from the tree rows, and levelling down 
as before. This keeps the surface in good 
form. It is better to keep a slight ridge 
along the rows, as this gives surface 
drainage away from the trees. Where 
the plowman is not used to this work we 
do not let him get up close to the trees. 
He will be sure to bark and bruise them. 
Better leave a wide strip along the row. 
The Soil Under a Barn. 
We are tearing down a barn on the 
rear of our lot, and wish to use the 
ground on which it stands in the gar¬ 
den. The building has stood there about 
75 years. I am told that the ground 
which has been covered by a building 
for a number of years is full of nitre 
and will not produce any crops; that is, 
that vegetation will not grow in it for 
years. If such is the fact could we 
treat it with any kind of fertilizer to 
neutralize the nitre, or would it be best 
to haul say a foot or so of the top dirt 
away and fill in with good soil? 
Sherman, N. Y. L. B. T. 
Such soil is always rich. The teach¬ 
ings from the barn manure accumulate 
and nitrification goes on. In China such 
soil and the soil of house floors is bought 
by dealers who teach it and obtain salt¬ 
peter. We have dug out such places 
and used the scrapings as fertilizer. It 
is not necessary to do this. Used for 
a garden just as it is this soil will drive 
vegetables or grain to a tremendous 
growth of leaf and stem, white root or 
seed would not develop well. That is 
because the soil contains too large a pro¬ 
portion of available nitrogen and thus 
stimulates the tops of plants. The 
proper method is to use potash and 
phosphoric acid to “balance” the nitro¬ 
gen. A mixture of three parts acid 
phosphate and one part muriate of potash 
will answer for this purpose. Use at 
the rate of 800 pounds of the mixture 
per acre and you will have a good chance 
for a garden. Do not use wood ashes, 
as the lime they contain would make 
even more of the nitrogen available. 
Fertilizers for Strawberries. 
I have a strawberry bed of one acre 
set this Spring. It was manured with 
barn manure and plowed in last Fall, 
and manured with hen manure just be¬ 
fore setting this Spring. I have a mar¬ 
ket for some very large berries. Can 
you tell me what chemicals to put onto 
it, and when to apply them? How would 
it be to put on about 800 pounds of 
acid phosphate and 250 pounds of sul¬ 
phate this Spring, and about 200 pounds 
of nitrate of soda about the time they 
are in blossom next year? They are 
Marshall berries. M. F. 
Massachusetts. 
We should consider that this manure 
gave enough nitrogen for the berries for 
this year. The usual proportion of acid 
phosphate to sulphate of potash is three 
to one. The amount you mention is 
right. We should use in late June or 
July, as the fruit buds are formed in 
late Summer. The nitrate of soda for 
next year should be put on early—say 
in late April. Do not wait until bloom 
appears, and do not depend on the 
nitrate alone for next year-—use at least 
half this year’s application of potash and 
phosphate in the late Summer of 1914. 
Fertilizing Rye. 
Can you tell me what would be the ob¬ 
jection to raising Winter rye so that its 
growth would be taller than you gener¬ 
ally see it, say, three to four feet? I 
wanted humus in a very light sandy soil, 
so gave it a heavy application of a 4-7-10 
fertilizer and the rye is now six to G Ya 
feet high and still growing. It has made 
a very heavy sod (about a foot deep), just 
what I wanted. One objection I can see 
is that it is apt to lodge, although it has 
not done so until lately, after heavy rains. 
Newtonville. Mass. e. a. r. 
Rye responds quickly to fertilizer, and 
particularly to nitrogen. The objection 
to such heavy rye is that it does not pack 
into the soil well. A poor plowman will 
make a miserable job of such rye. When 
a good plowman turns it all under, out of 
sight, there is danger of souring the 
ground or of drying it out. The large 
stalks of rye are full of sap and permit 
air to work into the soil. In warm 
weather this starts fermentation and will 
sour the land if continued too far. We 
have learned to use annual applications 
of lime when plowing under rye in this 
way. The open stalks of the rye if not 
well pad ed down will let in too much 
air, and the soil will dry out quickly, 
especially in case of a hot. dry wind. We 
should use lime and pack the soil well 
after plowing. Coarse rye is slow to de¬ 
cay, and for that reason is not the best 
“humus” crop, since humus is decayed 
organic matter. It often pays to cut the 
rye with a mower and let it begin to de¬ 
cay before plowing it under. 
Lives of centipedes remind us 
We would all ambition lose 
If we had to find tin* cash to 
Keep a centipede in shoes. 
—Allentown Democrat. 
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VEGETABLE PLANTS 
Celery, Tomato, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Sweet Po¬ 
tato, Pepper. Egg Plant, Rhubarb, Asparagus. 
Strawberry Plants, nil leading varieties, large or 
snialllots, by express or mail. CATALOGUE FREE. 
HARRY L. SQUIRES, Good Ground, N. Y. 
STRAWBERRIES 
One quart from each plant (my system). This is 
the record of some of my choice varieties. Send 
for catalogue. T. C. KKVITT, Athenm, N. J. 
Pohkawa DiluteBeets. Lettuce, Kohl-rabi, 
UdUDage ridlllh $1 per louo. Tomato, Sweet 
Potatoes. 81.50 per 1000. Cauliflower. Peppers. $2 per 
1000. Send for list. J. C. SCHMIDT, Bristol, Pa. 
C~l~—MILLIONS OF SWEET POTATO PLANTS AND 
ror oaie vegetable plants, Price list i 
MICHAEL N. BORGO, 
free, 
- Vineland, N. J. 
PEACH 
For Fall, 1913 
Wo will make special inducements for 
early orders with a deposit of 10«o. 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON & CO. 
Hightstown, N. J. 
CRIMSON CLOVER 
The great soil improver and valuable for early 
green food, grazing and hay crop- Special 
circular free, also sample and price of seed 
sent on request. 
Alfalfa 
High-grade American grown seed. Write for 
sample and price of seed, also a copy of our 
Alfalfa Leaflet, free. If in need of Farm Seeds 
of any kind, please write to us for prices. 
HENRY A. DREER 
-PHILADELPHIA, PA.- 
FRUIT BASKETS AND CRATES 
OF ULL KINDS 
Write for free Circular 
and Price-List. 
WEBSTER BASKET CO., 
Box 20. Webster, Monroe Co N..Y 
Thousands and Thousands 
of Tomato, Cabbage, Colery, Cauliflower and Sweet 
Potato plants for sale now. Sweet Potato, Jersey 
Yollow, $1.50 per 1000. Big Stem Jersey at *2 per 1000 
New Stone tomato plants. $1 per 1000. Special prices 
on largo lots. Send for our 1913 catalogue ami get 
our prices on all kinds of plants before you buy. 
ItOMANCK HEEl). PLANT AND TRUCK 
EARM, Caleb Hoggs & Son, Clieswold, Del. 
Sweet Potato Plants a Sd d Tomato! 
per 1000; and Cabbage Plants $1 per 1000. Send tor 
froo list. W. S. FORI) & SON Hartly, Delaware 
THE LEVIN PRIINER 
The best pruner. Cuts jd-inch dry 
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The Rural New-Yorker. New YcBk 
