74 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 22, 
SHORT STORIES. 
Early Lambs. 
What book can I get that treats on the 
raising of so-called hothouse lambs, and 
what breed is used? c. N. f. 
The book by Joe Wing, “Sheep Farming 
in America,” is good—rprice, $1. Probably 
the Dorset or Tunis breeds are best for this 
purpose. 
Value of Tanbark Ash. 
Can you tell me about how much. lime, 
potash and phosphoric acid there is in the 
ashes obtained by burning spent tan bark? 
Morris, Pa. i. h. w. 
An average sample of such ashes will 
contain 3(5 pounds potash, 27 of phosphoric 
acid and 630 pounds of lime. This is about 
one-third of the potash in average un¬ 
leached wood ashes. 
Price of Buckwheat. 
In a recent issue I notice a statement 
to the effect that you are paying .25 cents 
for seven pounds of buckwheat flour, and 
wish to know just what part of that 25 
cents the man who raises the grain gets. I 
think I can speak with some authority on 
that point. I live in the “buckwheat sec¬ 
tion of my State. We get 60 cents per 
bushel for the grain, or 2% cents per pound 
for the flour, as the grain is very light. 
This Fall' it makes about 22 pounds to 
the bushel. f. F. r> 
Locust Grove, Ta. 
Starving the Farm. 
I have read in Tub R. N.-Y. the advice 
to leave these “abandoned” farms alone, 
for they had starved one man and they 
would starve another. Don’t you know that 
some men would starve rather than work 
to live? I’ve owned three farms and al¬ 
ways made money. My experience is, you 
starve the land and the land will starve 
you. c. N. F. 
You have the right idea. It’s the man 
rather than the land. Some men starve 
the farm, and if they do—they go with it. 
Big Cows. 
It is reported that four of the largest 
cows in England were recently sent to India. 
The order for these cows, as given, specified 
that they should stand five feet four inches 
at the shoulder and measure 14 feet from 
the tip of the nose to the end of the bony 
part of the tail. It has been stated that 
the agents have taken 16 months to find 
these cows, and, while inquiries in Italy 
and Switzerland were unsuccessful, they 
were finally secured in the Midlands and 
Yorkshire. They, are all Short-horns. They 
were giants. We are not told what they 
were to be used for. 
June Drop of Peaches. 
While doubtless fhe curculio was respon¬ 
sible for the dropping of the peaches of A. 
L. V.. page 1062, there is also no doubt 
that the usual June drop that peach grow¬ 
ers annually expect is due to imperfect 
fertilization of the bloom, and is worse 
where the trees are grown in blocks all of 
one sort than where different varieties ad¬ 
join each other, and there is more cross¬ 
ing and invigoration of the bloom. Plums 
are worse than peaches in this respect, and 
should always be mixed in the rows for 
better fertilization. More loss than we im¬ 
agine is often caused by the repugnance of 
plants to fertilize their own flowers. 
W. F. MASSEY. 
Questions About Geese. 
We have several acres of low marshy 
land, and are thinking of raising geese on 
it. It abounds with small frogs and in¬ 
sects of all kinds. Would geese be apt 
fo die from gorging themselves on such 
diet? Would you recommend Gray African 
W* 
Paw Paw, Mich. 
There is no danger of geese eating too 
much when allowed free range in the swamp 
you mention. You must expect to lose a 
gosling occasionally from any one of nu¬ 
merous causes. The Gray African geese 
are not very prolific breeders, and it is my 
opinion that you would do much better 
with the Embden or Toulouse geese. 
C. S. G. 
Preparing for Clover. 
I have some clay soil land that I wish 
to put in Red clover. This land has been 
in Timothy and wild grass sod for 20 years. 
The grass was cut some years and others 
■was not; last year was cut and produced 
less than half ton per acre. It was plowed 
about six inches deep last October. After 
it is thoroughly disked and harrowed in 
Spring, will it pay to use nitrate of soda 
When sowing seed (I shall not use any cover 
crop for clover), or would you use something 
else, or better, use no fertilizer? w. k. 
Bayfield, Wis. 
We do not think it will pay to use nitrate 
Of soda alone. Clover is one of the crops 
which we expect to find most or all of its 
own nitrogen, and nitrate of soda does not 
furnish any plant food except nitrogen. 
We think that soil needs phosphoric acid 
first and next potash. Here in the East 
we should use lime on such soil. It would 
have been broadcast after plowing and har¬ 
rowed in. At any time convenient after the 
snow goes we should broadcast at least 300 
pounds acid phosphate and 75 pounds mu¬ 
riate of potash per acre, and seed to clover 
later. This would be the treatment for 
New Jersey or Pennsylvania, where clover 
hay brings a good price. With price for 
hay in Wisconsin it might not pay to use 
the chemicals, but they will help the clover. 
Cyanide Fumigation. 
The Hartford Courant recently told how 
a city florist lost 10,000 carnations by fumi¬ 
gating with cyanide of potassium : “The 
poison is»used for fumigating purposes, and 
to kill bugs among the flowers, and on Sat¬ 
urday night a skilled workman who is ac¬ 
customed to the task weighed out what he 
supposed was the proper amount and set 
the fumigating process a-going. On Sunday 
morning it was discovered that the dose had 
been too heavy and the plants were ruined. 
They hung their heads as disconsolately as 
if they had taken the poison with their 
own hands. Four to six blossoms were 
expected from each carnation plant, and the 
tragedy is inopportune at the Christmas sea¬ 
son. The loss is estimated at $3,000.”| We 
are often asked how to prepare this gas. 
In replying we always urge caution. It is 
a most dangerous method of killing insects, 
through very effective. 
PENNSYLVANIA PEACHES AND JAPAN 
PLUMS. 
Snyder County, Pa., lies along the Sus¬ 
quehanna River, and part of the Blue Ridge 
passes through this county, making hill¬ 
side orchard sites prevailing. March finds 
us pruning, and as I read Tiie R. N.-Y.. 
I was much interested in an article in 
December 25 issue. “Pruning a Peach Tree.” 
The beginner will be safer to follow the 
advice of Samuel II. Derby; in fact, 1 pre¬ 
fer to trim trees as individual trees, leav¬ 
ing a main shoot half the tree’s height, 
and then use the umbrella system, with 
its many diverging branches thereafter. As 
to spraying, I say spray or surrender. Spray 
thoroughly, prune closely, cultivate in¬ 
tensively and pack honestly, and the money 
is yours. For spraying material I use solu¬ 
ble oils, one to 20 strength. Spray as soon 
as leaves turn yellow with a knapsack 
sprayer, and again after pruning time 
is over. Begin on a newly set out peach 
tree as soon as new growth is made, and 
never let the spray pump run dry. Quar¬ 
antine your orchard until the inspector can 
give you a clean bill of health. We find. 
In selecting varieties for profit. North* China 
blood pays best. Begin with Yellow Swan : 
ripe here July 25 ; follow it with Mayflower 
July 30; Greensboro and Carman, August 1 
to 10, and ending out with Stinson’s Octo¬ 
ber, one can be kept selling peaches four 
months of the year. We find the Crawford 
type short-lived and non-resistant to dis¬ 
ease and change of soil, while such vari¬ 
eties as Carman, Elberta, Belle of Georgia 
and others endure change of soil and dis¬ 
ease better, and fruit better than the 
Crawford type. 
Japan plums require about the same feed¬ 
ing, pruning, spraying and cultivation as 
the peach; market here for 10 cents a 
quart, sometimes getting 15 cents. Abund¬ 
ance, Burbank, Red June, Chabot and- Nor- 
mand prove the most profitable, although 
October Purple is a fine late plum. Keep 
organic matter in the soil, such as manure 
or clover, and use a peck of stone lime to 
each tree, broken in lumps not larger than 
a man’s fifft. Scatter around the tree, and 
in larger trees use one-half bushel. I have 
put some up against the trunks of trees in 
little mounds; it helps to prevent borers 
and gives no injury with us. Put this 
lime-around in early Spring and work into 
the soil and use bone and potash scattered 
about under each tree from one quart to a 
peck. Grub-hoe into the soil and the tree 
will respond with a crop of fine fruit. It 
is of prime importance to the fruit grower 
to become acquainted with his land, with 
his trees and with his fruits, and last, but 
not least, be businesslike in packing and 
selling. Many fruit growers succeed in all 
else and fall down in business work, viz. : 
commercial management. F. l. h. 
Port Treverton, Pa. 
Campbell’s Earlv Grape Disappointing. 
L. F., Cincinnati, Ohio .—What ails my 
Campbell’s Early grapevines? Planted 
about six years ago, they never did act just 
right. Some died off; I replanted vacant 
places with other varieties which are quite 
thrifty. I dug up a number of the Camp¬ 
bells, and found more than half of the 
roots dead on same. 
Ans. — L. F.’s experience with Camp¬ 
bell’s Early grape is only similar to that 
of many planters in onr State. In fact I 
have yet to hear of or see a single vine 
of this variety that is either making a 
vigorous growth or fruiting satisfactor¬ 
ily. I planted several vines at our coun¬ 
try home, subsequent to its introduction, 
but they merely lived. The growth was 
puny and they did not bear any fruit 
worth mentioning. They did little bet¬ 
ter at our experiment station. The vari¬ 
ety seems inherently weak in growth of 
vine. I cannot understand why, if this 
sort succeeded so well prior to its in¬ 
troduction, it fell down so completely 
upon dissemination. The only fine Camp¬ 
bell’s Early grapes I have seen were 
shown at our State fair some years ago; 
these were produced from a graft set 
upon a vigorous growing variety—Con¬ 
cord if I remember correctly. The clus¬ 
ters were large and perfect, and the 
berries of good size and beautiful in ap¬ 
pearance. F. H. BALLOU. 
Ohio Experiment Station. 
Scraping and Whitewashing Trees. 
J. E. D., Hamburg, N. J. —1. Do you con¬ 
sider it profitable and beneficial to scrape 
apple trees, to help diminish the apple 
pests? 2. What are the eggs that are ap¬ 
parently glued to the tree bark, about one- 
eighth inch long, grayish in color, or black, 
tails yellow? 3. I want to put whitewash 
on those scraped trees, and would like to 
know what to add to the whitewash to give 
best results. 
Ans. —1. Scraping ofT the rough bark 
will kill many insects in their Winter 
form. We think it pays. 2. Our guess 
is that you have struck the Oyster-shell 
bark-louse, and that what you call the 
“eggs” are scales of this insect. It is 
quite common, but not particularly dan¬ 
gerous unless very thick on the tree. 
3. For “whitewash” on these trees you 
can hardly do better than use a dilute 
form of lime and sulphur wash so often 
described in The R. N.-Y: 
Asparagus On Overflowed Land. 
W. F. M., Florence, Ala. —I am growing 
asparagus on a gray upland soil with fair 
success. I have some very fine alluvial 
sandy loam in river bottom, which is over¬ 
flowed every two or three years during 
either February or March. The water 
flows gently over the land, leaving deposit 
of sediment two to live inches deep. Water 
covers land three to six feet deep, and 
remains from one to two weeks. Overflow 
occurs before asparagus begins to grow. 
Can I grow asparagus on this land? Would 
the water injure the root? Can you tell i 
me where there is a plantation of asparagus 
growing under the above described condi- j 
tions? I would like to see it. 
Ans. — Asparagus would certainly 
grow on this land, but whether it would 
make a commercial success is another 
matter, since earliness is an important 
item in the production of this crop for 
northern shipment. The wild asparagus 
grows all along the shores of the Chesa¬ 
peake Bay and its tributaries along high 
water mark, and is daily soaked by the 
salt tide. In fact the only thing I ever 
found to kill asparagus is heating the 
roots in transportation. I once lost $300 
worth from too tight packing in hogs¬ 
heads. and I know a plant that thrived 
year after year on top of an old brick 
chimney till the house was finally torn 
down. I do not know of a plantation of 
asparagus growing under the conditions 
you name, and if I wanted to make a 
success of the crop I would prefer to 
plant it in high and warm soil. 
w. F. MASSEY. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee page 16. 
Stokes’ StandardSEFDS 
It’s “garden seed wis¬ 
dom” to make your 
plans early—and you’ll 
find my new 1910 cata¬ 
logue a big help not 
only in getting the right 
start, but in getting the 
best results. 
Stokes’ Seed Catalogue is one of 
the handsomest, most helpful and 
most complete catalogues ever pub¬ 
lished. It tells how to get the most 
out of your garden; how to make sure 
of getting the choicest varieties of vege¬ 
tables and flowers—the kind that are best 
for your table and that command the I 
highest prices in the market; and it shows ! 
by actual photographs what the seed has j 
produced—what you can raise yourself. 
Write me today) mentioning the Rural Nkw-Yorkkr, 
and I will send you my catalogue free. 
WALTER P. STOKES 
“ Stokes’ Standard ” Seeds 
Dept. L, 219 Market St., Philadelphia 
Use Harris Seeds 
Why ? Because we raise them ourselves and 
they go direct from our farm to yours, and 
you only pay one profit. We are, therefore, 
able to sell the best seeds grown at lower prices 
than city seedsmen charge for inferior seeds. 
Another Reason. All our seeds are tested 
for vitality, and the per cent, that germinate 
is marked on each package, so the purchaser 
can tell just how thick to sow. This is an ad¬ 
vantage no other seedsman gives you, 
Harris Seeds always gives good results. There 
is no guesswork about it. 
We raise Vegetable Seeds (special selected 
strains for particular gardeners), improved 
varieties of Oats, Corn, Potatoes, etc. 
Don’t buy seeds until you have seen our 
catalogue and wholesale price list—both free. 
Just mail us a card with your address on it. 
JOS. HARRIS CO., 
Moreton Farm, Coldwater, N. Y. 
FERRY’S' 
SEEDS 
To grow the fin¬ 
est flowers and 
most luscious 
vegetables, plant the best 
seeds. Ferry’s Seeds are best 
becausethey never fail in yield 
or quality. The best garden¬ 
ers and farmers everywhere 
know Ferry’s seeds to bo the 
highest standard of quality 
yet attained. For sale 
everywhere. 
[FERRY’S 1910 Seed Annual 
Free on request 
D. M. FERRY & CO., 
DETROIT, MICH. 
ALFALFA 
guaranteed to be 99 per cent 
pure. Should produce hay 
at $ 40.00 per acre annually. Write for Free Sam¬ 
ple and instructions on growing. 
GRAIN AND GRASS SEED 
Northern Grown and of strongest vitality. We invite you to 
get Government Tests on our samples. ’They will interest you 
Cf|Y RTAIIQ S’ fpvt. tests show that 
pU I DL.H11O the grain analyzes richer than 
linseed meal and the hay nearly as nutritious as 
Alfalfa; will grow on poor soil—and improve it. 
Well worth a fair trial. Write for Catalog No. 23 
WING SEED CO., Box 383 MECHANICSBURG, OHIO 
Conrl Patalno-IIO —Send us your name and ad- 
oeeu Odiaiuguc. dress, and we will mail free 
our 1910 catalogue of seed potatoes, seed corn, 
seed oats, alfalfa seed, in fact, everything in seeds. 
MACE & MANSFIELD, Greenville, Ohio. 
DIBBLE’S FARM SEEDS 
are in a class by themselves, you cannot buy better Farm Seeds, no matter bow much 
you pay. We sell you the very highest grade of Seed Potatoes, Seed Corn, Seed Oats, 
Alfalfa, Clover, Timothy, etc., at prices so low that every Farmer can afford to buy of 
us. How can we do this ? 
1 st.—We live in the heart of the best farming section of the Empire State, right in the 
country, and grow a large part of the Seeds we sell, on our own 1200 acre Seed Farms. 
2 nd.—We have our own Warehouses, 300 feet in length built by ourselves especially 
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switch and therefore do not have to pay any high priced city rents. 
3rd.—Every member of our firm is a practical farmer, over twenty years in the 
business. Seeds are tested by us in field culture. We do the experimenting, you 
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IVe know our northern grown Alfalfa, Clover and Timothy are the best that money 
can buy; as we grow hundreds of tons on our own farms. 
Our Seed Potatoes are splendid stock and all of our fields were absolutely free from 
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Best Tha t Money Will Buy 
Our prices are right. 50 cents buys enough of our Best Seed Corn to plant an acre. 
Oats in quantites are only 75 cents per bushel while for $8.00—$10.00, we can give you Seed 
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have yielded right here in Western New York on full acres from 300—600bushels per acre. 
Our 1910 Catalog, the handsomest Farm Seed Book of the year is yours for the ask¬ 
ing. Ask for it now. Address 
EDWARD F. DIBBLE, Seedgrower, Box B, Honeoye Falls, N. Y. 
