10 ^ 3 : 4 : 
THE K.U RAL NtCW-VUKKKK 
Septeinoer 20, 
Hope Farm Notes 
Which is the better to use, all things 
considered, a common roller or a plank 
smoother or leveler ! Some say that land 
which has been rolled at the time of 
seeding will heave more and expose the 
roots of the seeding, thus killing a good 
many plants, Is this so? F. s. 
New York. 
It depends on the condition the soil 
is in, for good judgment is required in 
working a roller. Where the soil is too 
moist, especially with a clay soil, the 
roller will pack it down like a brick and 
make a crust. If this is followed by 
dry weather the plants have hard work 
to break through, and the soil loses mois¬ 
ture. Under such conditions 1 think the 
plank drag is the better tool. On lighter 
soil and especially with grass seed I think 
the roller is better, for it firms the soil 
around the seed and gives a far better 
and more level surface. I like to have 
both tools and use one or the other in 
the right place. The plank drag can be 
made at home. We have used a stone 
boat effectively. 
I have some currants and other dif¬ 
ferent kinds of berries which have put 
on a very good growth. Would it be 
proper to use some hen droppings around 
them and mulch them this YV inter to 
protect them? If this is not advisable 
what course should I follow? J. n. G. 
Massachusetts. 
I would not put the hen manure on 
now. If you can get coal ashes put about 
a peck around each good-sized currant 
bush—spreading it out about two inches 
thick. Then let them alone for Winter, , 
except for pruning. In the Spring scat¬ 
ter the hen manure around the bushes 
and spade ashes, manure and all into the 
ground. This advice is for a few bushes, 
not for field culture. The manure, put 
on now, would lose some of its value 
during the warm Fall weather, and might 
start the currants into growth when they 
should be dormant. As for the hen ma¬ 
nure, better keep it under cover, dry 
and well mixed with coal ashes or dust. 
Then in the Spring crush or grind it fine. 
Can I make my strawberry vines any 
better bv cutting off the runners? I do 
not want any new sets this year, so will 
it hurt the old plants? I. w. M. 
Schuyleryille, N. Y r . 
This theory of cutting off the runners 
is about as follows: The buds from 
which next year’s fruit crop will be made 
are produced during the late Summer and 
Fall, while the plant is also making run¬ 
ners. If this plant use up its vitality 
in making 50 or more runners, as it often 
will, the fruit buds will not be as nu¬ 
merous or as strong. A strawberry plant, 
like a man, can hardly serve two masters. 
If. however, the runners are cut off an 
they start, more of the plant’s strength 
will go to forming fruit buds, and next 
year’s crop ought to be larger and surer. 
That is the theory of it, and it works out 
with us on Marshall, which does not 
make many runners naturally. It is the 
nature of other varieties to make more 
runners, and they might not do so well if 
restrained. 
I notice on page 93(1, in reply to ,T. F. 
L., you say take up strawberries for late 
Summer planting with a lot of ground. 
I had to remove a two-year-old bed of 
Chesapeake on June 20 to 25, and I 
dug them out, shook off all soil, cleaned 
them of dead leaves and at once put 
in a pail of water, doing so until I had 
a couple of hundred plants ready. Then 
I planted with water in each hill, and 
to-day they are looking fine. I cut off 
all foliage except one leaf, and com¬ 
menced tillage with wlieel-hoe the next 
day after planting, and kept it up once 
or twice a week. I planted another lot 
just after a shower the last week in July 
in the same manner, and they are coming 
nicely, too. This method I think pre¬ 
vents the transferring of disease germs 
and insects. J. V. c. 
New York. 
I think it would depend somewhat upon 
the condition of the soil, and very much 
upon who does the transplanting. I 
know that a careful man can make plants 
grow by cutting back both top and root 
and putting the stub of the plant into 
the soil. I should cut not only the foliage 
back, but trim the root closely also—the 
same as when we plant a tree. There 
is less shock to the plant when we dig 
up a bunch of dirt with it and set the 
whole thing out. If leaving the work 
to ordinary hands I should tell them to 
take the dirt. There is, however, some 
danger of carrying white grubs or dis¬ 
ease germs along with the plant. 
Farm Notes. —That early Canada 
flint corn was ripe enough to cut by Sep¬ 
tember 3. We let it stand longer, but 
if frost had threatened it could have 
been cut by Labor Day and made sound 
grain. This variety or strain does not 
make a large stalk as compared with the 
dents. The stalk is slender and leaved 
out down close to the ground, so that 
our stock will eat it all without cutting. 
The ears carry eight rows of big solid 
yellow kernels. Mr. Davis, of Massa¬ 
chusetts, who has selected this strain for 
some years, grew 112 bushels of shelled 
corn on an acre. There can be no ques¬ 
tion about his figures. We have no such 
yield at Hope Farm, but for growing 
among young trees or on rough, hilly land 
I believe this variety is superior. I think 
it will give more food value on our land 
than any other grain we can grow, for 
it is purebred stock, as much so as cow 
or hog or hen, and it carries the value of 
pure blood along with it. I have a very 
good dent in one field for comparison. 
The stalks are much larger—too large 
for the young trees—but I am sure the 
Canada flint will outyield it by 40 per 
cent, of grain.I never knew 
the cover crops to grow as they do this 
Fall. We have had rain enough to wet 
the soil down through and the soft hu¬ 
mid weather certainly does start things. 
Grass has come back to the pasture and 
Crab-grass is in its glory. The straw¬ 
berries need more cultivating and hoe¬ 
ing. As a rule, rye requires a week or 
10 days to get above ground, but this 
year seed put in on Saturday was two 
inches high by the next Thursday. I 
never saw this grain shoot up so rapidly. 
The Crimson clover is also starting well. 
. . . It is bad weather for peaches 
for brown rot is spreading fast. As 
usual it is worse on the rough or fuzzy 
sorts. We shall lose a share of our crop 
and I hate to feed good peaches to B. 
Rot. Every year at peach time I feel 
disposed to say a good word for the 
Crosby peach. It is not much to look- 
at, and in a year like this has little 
value in the market. But for a canning 
peach it has no superior—good flavor and 
yellow as gold in the jar. Then the tree 
is hardy and will grow almost anywhere, 
and the fruit is rarely troubled by rot. 
Another thing which impresses, me at 
peach time is the fact that some varieties 
are bluffers, like some humans. We have 
one orchard of a dozen different varieties 
planted some years ago to see which sorts 
we wanted for commercial use. It is 
well enough to hear what the experts 
say, but if you want to be sure—find out 
for yourself. In this trial orchard Globe 
and Wheatland have made tremendous 
trees, and a visitor walking through the 
orchard in May might say these are the 
only kinds worth planting. It would be 
as foolish as picking out laying hens on 
their appearance in April. For these 
fine great trees turn up in August with 
perhaps a dozen peaches about as large 
as cannon balls and half of them never 
fully ripen. In nearby rows Elberta, 
Carman, Belle of Georgia and Salway 
form smaller, business-like trees which 
give yearly, five or more baskets of good 
peaches, while Globe and Wheatland are 
making firewood and foliage. They are 
bluffing drones with us—easy to detect. 
They may suit other sections, but one 
good Belle of Georgia is worth half a 
dozen Globes at Hope Farm. I am satis¬ 
fied that one can find great differences in 
individual trees of the same variety. In 
some cases this is made quite evident by 
merely walking through the orchard. In 
other cases a careful measurement of the 
yield would show that a fair proportion 
of our trees are “robbers”—just as test¬ 
ing and weighing the milk from the cows 
in a dairy herd will find some fine-looking 
animals that are as useless as our Globe 
trees. When we come to ask if this can 
be remedied by budding from our best 
trees we run into a hot argument where 
neither side can prove much of anything 
yet. I think it is worth studying out to 
the end. . . . Our potato crop is very 
poor, as is the case all through this sec¬ 
tion. I think our farmers generally have 
about the poorest crop on record. The 
total crop of the country is short and 
prices ought to run high, as the U. S. 
quarantine against diseased potatoes will 
keep out imports from Europe. 
H. W. C. 
“I heard that the first time Nubbs 
took out his new auto it turned turtle.” 
“Yes, and he was very much upset about 
it.”—Baltimore American . 
MONITOR Fertilizer DRILL 
Style D-l, with Interior or “Double Run” Feed 
Saves 
Seed 
and 
Fertilizer 
Improves 
Grade 
and 
Yield 
IT PAYS FOR ITSELF 
By the saving in amount of Seed and Fertilizer sown—By a bigger yield— By a 
better grade. 
SAVES SEED—With the famous Monitor 
Double Disc Furrow Opener, dropping in front 
of the bearing with downward turn of the disc, 
every grain of seed and particle of Fertilizer is 
placed at the proper depth. None is wasted— 
none too shallow—none too deep—none on the 
top of the ground—Every Seed Grows. 
INCREASES THE YEILD—The seed being 
deposited in two rows—in a clean furrow— 
properly covered — sprouts uniformly — comes 
up evenly — has ample room to stool — more 
normal plants to the acre—A Bigger Crop. 
IMPROVES THE GRADE—All theseed being 
at the same depth and spouting uniformly—it 
grows evenly and all matures at the same time— 
A Better Grade. 
SAVES FERTILIZER—With the best Fertil¬ 
izer Feed ever built and sowing any desired 
quantity, dropping it in the same spout as the 
grain—All the Fertilizer is Utilized. 
SOWS ANYTHING—from Alfalfa to Bearded Oats- 
without cracking or bunching. 
OPEN FURROW ATTACHMENT—Sows oats in an open furrow, any 
depth up to nine inches—prevents winter freezing. 
SPECIAL FEATURE—An agitator is furnished for successfully handling 
Bearded Oats—furnished as an extra. 
Built in all standard sizes. Also with single disc, shoe or hoe furrow opener. 
-in any desired amount, 
Ask any Flying Dutchman Dealer and Write for 
FREE Booklet. 
NEW YORK MOLINE PLOW CO. 
Dept. i 04 POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. 
MOLINE PLOW CO. 
Dept. 10 4 MOLINE, ILLINOIS 
Is endorsed by the leading agricul¬ 
tural experiment stations as the 
best and most economical 
source of Phosphorus. It ap¬ 
peals to the intelligent 
farmer who utilizes na- 
AS. ture’s abundant sup- 
ply of Nitrogen by 
growing legumes 
our 
irms in 
IcLean Co 
I., have in 10 
pars produced 
ops of an average 
alue of $149.86 per 
ere. Four adjoining 
irms to which two liberal 
pplication* of Rock Phos- 
hate have been made in the 
ime period produced crops of an 
verage value of $2 26.36 per acre, 
^rilc us for literature and prices. 
Mention «h»* pApet 
and keeping his 
soil alive 
with hu¬ 
mus. 
mime 
■X 
When you write advertisers mention The 
I t. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal." See guarantee editorial page. 
BEST 
ON EARTH 
Write us for Litmus Paper to test your soil for 
lime requirements. It is FREE. Our Lime Car¬ 
bonate guaranteed in every respect. Let us 
prove it to you. 
INTERNATIONAL AGR’L CORP. 
Caledonia Marl Branch 
812 MARINE BANK BLDG.. BUFFALO, N. Y. 
| 
LIGHT- STRONG-BIG CAPACITY 
It will soon pay for itself, Mr. Thresherman. It will serve you faithfully. 
Don’t invest in one of the bridge-breakers, the kind that cost so much to haul and 
: operate. Figure on a Gray and compare the big saving in first cost. You 11 get 
'the same capacity and durability in a lighter machine if you buy one of our 
THRESHERS 
73 years of experience stand back of them. We 
are known from coast to coast. Gray Thresh¬ 
ers are famous for durability, simplicity, accessi¬ 
bility, few parts, uniform threshing, low repair 
cost, easy transportation, great stiength, and low first cost. 
We make many sizes for the fanner’s private use or for con¬ 
tracting Threshermen. Send postal now for our brand new 
recently rewritten Catalog with new pictures. It’s free. 
W. GRAY’S SOINS. 14 South Street, Middletown Springs, Vermont^ 
Gray Threshers 
Gray Horse Powers 
Gray Saw Machines 
Gray Ensilage Cutters 
Gray Gasoline Engines 
A Price Easy 
Heal for 
Hilly Country— 
Simple—Few Parts 
— Medium Power 
