1910. 
'THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
391 
Ruralisms 
A CROP OF ONIONS. 
Successful commercial onion growing 
depends on good seed, rich soil, early 
sowing, proper preparation of the seed 
bed, and good clean cultivation. Use 
good seed; Eastern is best, although 
good seed is grown in the North Middle 
States. Find out from some grower near 
you what color of onions sells best in 
your market. Southport Red, Yellow 
and White Globe onions are very good, 
but not as early as Ohio Yellow Globe 
and Vaughan’s Apple-shaped Red Globe, 
which arc very good. Sow as early in 
the Spring as possible to work your 
ground well. A good crop often depends 
on getting them in early. Onions require 
very rich soil to make a large crop of 
say from 400 to 600 bushels per acre or 
more. You ask whether they require 
fresh manure as a top-dressing. I would 
RAISING ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS SEED. 
B., Heaver, Pa .—Can you tell me how to 
treat Asparagus plumosus nanus plants to 
get best results in the way of seed? I 
have a lot of plants, and, not knowing the 
value, have heretofore lot the seed go to 
waste. This year, however, I had about 
live thousand seeds, which I offered to a 
seed house, and received $2.50 per thousand 
for them. I have been told that I was 
paid too little for them. That may be. as 
I see that they retail for $1 per hundred. I 
can reasonably expect a crop of 10,000 this 
year, and want to know how best to grow 
them. 
Ans.—A sparagus plumosus for seed, 
is grown in the same manner as would 
be done with the plants were they grown 
for strings for decorative purposes, with 
the exception that the seed-bearing stock 
is usually allowed more sunshine than 
the plants grown for foliage only. The 
best method of growing this plant is to 
plant it out in a bed containing one foot 
or more of rich soil, with proper pro¬ 
vision for drainage in the bottom of the 
THE OLD STONE HOUSE AT HOPE FARM. Fig. 153. 
not use such manure as I understand it; 
that is, fresh and coarse and not rotted 
down. Unless such manure could be well 
plowed under so as to cover it well it 
would interfere with seeding' and culti¬ 
vation. If partly rotted so it will break 
up fine, I would plow under a heavy 
coat, plowing in narrow furrows so as 
to mix it better; then would work it 
with disk roller and harrow until it was 
fine on top and firm underneath. Onions 
require a rather solid bottom to bulb 
well. Fall plowing is best where prac¬ 
tical, and manure can be plowed under 
then., If you must Spring-plow use roller 
if dry enough so as to make it quite 
solid in the bottom. 
In addition to your manure it would 
probably pay you to apply some commer¬ 
cial fertilizer. How much will depend 
on how rich the soil is now. At any rate 
I would apply 100 pounds of nitrate of 
soda, 100 pounds of sulphate of potash, 
and 300 pounds of acid phosphate per 
acre. Double this amount would proba¬ 
bly pay better. Apply the potash and 
acid phosphate in the Spring at the last 
harrowing and the nitrate of soda just 
as the onions are breaking through the 
ground, sowing it broadcast as you 
would wheat, after crushing the lumps. 
Prepare your ground by taking off all 
trash such as sticks, stones, etc., as they 
will bother greatly in seeding and culti¬ 
vating. Sow seed with a garden drill, 
making rows 14 inches apart, and sow 
about four pounds of seed per acre. 
Start the wheel hoe as soon as rows can 
be seen, and keep it up until onions are 
too large. Hand weeding should com¬ 
mence as soon as plants are advanced 
enough and before weeds get large. 
There are hand weeders that are very 
good tools for this purpose. 
Minnesota. george tong. 
bed, the latter being arranged by means 
of a layer of stone, broken bricks, or 
cinders in the bottom of the bed. The 
bed in question should be in a green¬ 
house in which a night temperature of 
60 degrees is maintained, and after the 
plants are well established and growing 
freely they will take a good allowance 
of water and spraying freely in bright 
weather. When the seeds are ripe they 
are picked off and spread out in shallow 
boxes to cure, the boxes being kept in a 
warm and dry place for a period- of 
about a month, at the end of which time 
they will be in fit condition for either 
selling or sowing. A good place to put 
the boxes during the curing process is 
on a shelf in the greenhouse, being care¬ 
ful to avoid any drip from the roof. The 
wholesale price of asparagus seeds will 
very somewhat in accordance with the 
supply, but the price mentioned would 
probably be about a fair average, as the 
seed house would be likely to sell most 
of them at a thousand rate, which would 
be considerably less than $1 per hundred. 
w. H. TAPLIN. 
r r7 - ^ 
‘‘We waste too much. Yesterday you 
had beef; to-day you ought to make a 
nourishing soup from the bone.” “But 
it was canned beef.” “Well, boil the can.’’ 
—Louisville Courier-Journal. 
You can have the standard 
SAW MILL 
With your Favorite Feed! 
For 54 years there has been no question as to the 
standard saw mill. It is the Farquhar. Yet all are 
not agreed as to the best feed. So this year we giva 
you your choice of feeds—1. Reamy Variable Fric¬ 
tion Feed, Straight Belt Drive. 2. Farquhar Va¬ 
riable Friction Feed, Shaft Drive, No Belt. 3. Ajax 
Belt Feed. 
Lumber may never be higher than it is this year. 
Now is the time to reap lumber profits. Get a 
Farquhar mill. Easily moved from place to place. 
Easiest saw mill to sell if you ever want to sell it. 
Cheapest to operate and cheapest to buy. Shall 
we put your name on our list for a copy of our 
Big Saw Mill and Engine Book? Free while 
they last. Write 
*. B. FARQUHAR CO., box 203. York. P». 
The Overland’s 
Matchless Simplicity 
Texas this year takes 1,500 Overlands, 
Kansas takes 1,000. Iowa 1,000. Nebraska 
750. Three towns in Kansas—Wichita, Great 
Bend and Salina—each take 200 cars. 
The car is but two years old. In most of 
these sections it lias been known hut one 
year. Yet this year’s orders for Overlands 
call for $24,000,OCX) worth of cars. 
This unexampled success is largely due to 
simplicity. The operation is by pedal control 
—a method as simple as walking. Any novice 
can run it the first time he tries. And the 
car almost cares for itself. 
For $1,000 
The 25 horsepower Overland sells for $1,000. 
It has a 102-inch wheel base and a possible 
speed of 50 miles an hour. 
It is not undersized or under-powered, as 
are other low-priced cars. It meets any re¬ 
quirement. It has won a perfect score in a 
10,000-mile non-stop run, and lias made mar¬ 
velous records in hill climbing. 
This is the only REAL automobile ever 
sold for this price. 
A 40 horsepower Overland, with 112-inch 
wheel base, sells for $1,250. 
125 Cars Per Day 
The four Overland factories, employing 
4,000 men, turn out 125 Overlands daily. One 
Overland factory—formerly the great Pope- 
Toledo plant—turns out 80 of one model per 
day. That is why Overlands give more for 
the money than any other car in existence. 
That is why these cars outsell ail others. 
The man who sees an Overland wants no 
other car. 
These Two Books Free 
The new Overland catalog and “The Won¬ 
derful Overland Story” will both be mailed 
on request. These cars have become the sen¬ 
sation of motordom, and you should know 
the facts. Send us this coupon today for 
the books. 
D-3 
The Willys-Overland Co., Toledo, Ohio 
(Licensed under Selileu Patent.) 
Please send me the two books free. 
Send for tbis book 
before you btiy a buggy 
bu y tin y° u get the Big “1910” 
rrUf liS/// style Book of VEHICLES 
and HARNESS. 
Compare it with others. It is the biggest, 
mostcomplete, helpful vehicle and harness cat 
alog published. Contains 192 pages. 
345 Illustrations. Murray sells direct to the 
consumer. Sold on trial 
Guaranteed two (2) years. Safe delivery insured. 
You can’t afford to buy till you know the won¬ 
derful values we offer. Our catalog free to you. 
Write today. 
The Wilber H. Murray Mfg. Co. 326-332E 5th St., Cincinnati, 0. 
Save 
30 % 
FE 
/ 
SCABBY POTATOES? 
A THING OF THE PAST. 
Use Essex Potato Fertilizers. 
1 
\ % ^vay! 
Follow our directions and your bins will be filled 
with fine, smooth potatoes in the Fall. Fewer Y"™ 
weeds, bigger crops, more money in the bank. That’s 
what the “Essex” 
weather conditions. 
farmer will get under reasonable 
“Crop was the Largest ever Raised.” 
“ I have sold your fertilizers for about ten years and have never seen 
anything that has given better results. The crops grown this year on 
Complete for Potatoes. Roots and Vegetables was very satisfactory. 
The season was dry and the potato crop was expected to be a failure, 
but on the contrary, the crop was the largest ever raised. This 
I know to be the fact, because I went into the fields in harves* - 
time and know that it is true.” 
(Signed) ALBERT E. LOCK, North Hampton, N.H. 
Write for a list of Essex Fertilizers and you can select 
the ones best suited to your needs. Write today. 
ESSEX FERTILIZER COMPANY, 
North Market St., Boston, Mass 
Local Agents wanted where we are 
not now represented. 
