764 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
pounds, and Crimson clover seven pounds. He sent 
these samples to the Michigan State Agricultural 
College for analysis, of which the following table 
shows the result: 
Green Weight Dry Weight 
Lbs. Lbs. 
per acre per acre 
1 sq. yd. Vetch weighed 12 lbs.58,080 8,073 
1 sq. yd. Mammoth clover, 11 lbs... .53,240 6,287 
3 st). yd. Medium clover, 10 lbs... .48,400 5,000 
1 sq. yd. Crimson clover, 7 lbs.... .33,880 1,440.68 
Dry weight Ash Nitrogen Phos. Potash 
phoric acid 
lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 
Vetch .‘....8,073 1,208.5 357.64 80.38 10S.18 
Mammoth clover.6,287 1,073.8 3 77.81 40.67 73.57 
Medium clover. .5,000 148.04 27.75 50.50 
Crimson clover. 3,446.68 265.77 31.6 5.21 15.33 
The Department of Agriculture at Washington 
states that a crop of vetch plowed under is worth $16 
to $45 of commercial fertilizer per acre. Of course it 
does not have the immediate effect of a fertilizer, but 
its fertilizing properties are felt for the entire season 
and much longer. It seems to me, all things con¬ 
sidered, there is nothing the fruit grower can better 
invest his money in than vetch, and I believe it will 
play a great part in rejuvenating our orchards and 
vineyards and bringing them into greater produc¬ 
tiveness. 
AN OHIO CURRANT PATCH. 
Fig. 321 shows Mr. Harvey Hill's currant and goose¬ 
berry patch of just one-third acre, which after the freeze 
that destroyed all the apples, most of the plums and 
some of the peaches on this fruit farm, produced 
$117.42 worth of fruit. Following is expense: Cul¬ 
tivating, $3; spraying, $1.85; pruning, $2,25; drayage, 
$6; baskets, $2; picking, $30.26; total, $45.36, which 
leaves a profit of $216.18 per acre. We use no ferti¬ 
lizers except oats which are sown sometimes in July 
and allowed to grow up and stand over Winter, this 
crop being cultivated into the soil in Spring. 
Darke Co., Ohio. o. v. metzcar. 
A BLACKSMITH AS FARMER. 
1 have* no doubt that you receive many letters asking 
advice In this line, but nevertheless here comes another 
ore. 1 am a blacksmith, 43 years old, and receive a sal- 
aiy of $25 per week, but I am getting very tired of the 
daily grind. J>o you think it would be advisable for me 
to try to buy a farm of 30 or 40 acres, where I could do 
some blacksmithing, poultry raising and general farming? 
I have had considerable experience in poultry and farm¬ 
ing in my younger days. My wife was raised on a farm, 
and I have a son 17 years old and a daughter 18, and 
they are all anxious to go on a farm, but here conies the 
rub. I have but $700 loose money. Would you think a 
man in my situation wise to try it on that amount? 
BLACKSMITH. 
You are right in saying that we have many letters 
asking advice about farming. A good share of them 
are from people who show at a glance that they could 
not make it go. We have hard work to convince them 
that their surroundings and experience unfit them for 
farm life. Your capital is small, but otherwise your 
conditions are good. There are many country locali¬ 
ties where a blacksmith could pick up a fair trade. 
If you understand repairs of farm machinery as well 
as horseshoeing you can find work in the season. A 
man with a good trade will stand a better chance in 
the country than a clerk or bookkeeper. You are also 
well situated in your family. Many of the failures 
and much of the trouble in trying to change from city 
to country are caused by inability of the women 
folks to be contented. The change is often hard for a 
woman, and the struggle becomes too much for them. 
If your wife and daughter realize what is before them 
and are ready to put up with work and some hard¬ 
ship until you can get fairly started you ought to 
make it go. You ought to be able to find some place 
where you can pay a few hundred dollars down and 
save a little something for working capital. 
THE OYSTER-SHELL BARK LOUSE. 
The article of Eugene Spalding, page 566, on prac¬ 
tical experience in fighting Oyster-shell louse, is good, 
and will in many cases work out just as Mr. Spalding 
says; yet as I know also from experience is not an in¬ 
fallible rule. I believe a few words should he said 
in defense of Dr. Felt and Prof. Parrott in the matter 
of recommending a spray of whale-oil soap solution 
when the young scale are hatching. As a matter of 
fact this is the recognized remedy where there is noth¬ 
ing hut Oyster-shell louse or Scurfy bark-louse to be 
sprayed for, and is vqry efficient if applied at the proper 
time. The proper time can only be determined by a 
man who is actually on the ground, and neither Prof. 
Parrott nor Dr. Felt nor anyone else could give defi¬ 
nite instructions except they were so located. 
Now, as to the lime-sulphur spray I am sure if an 
actual spraying were to he recommended, either of 
the above-named men would unhesitatingly say lime 
and sulphur. But the fact is lime-sulphur is not al¬ 
ways effective against Oyster-shell hark louse where 
only occasional sprayings are made. I think we have 
all had ample proof this season that one swallow does 
not make a Summer, and it can be as emphatically 
stated that the result of one spraying proves nothing. 
The facts about spraying can only be ascertained by 
careful experiment covering a number of years and it 
is a fact that every citizen of New York State can be 
proud of that neither the New York State Experiment 
Station nor our State entomologist ever allow any 
statement to go out unless it has been proven by experi¬ 
ment. 
I fully agree with Mr. Spalding that the Oyster-shell 
louse is held too lightly by some people and know 
it is a serious pest in some parts of the State, especially 
parts of Warren, Saratoga, Schenectady and Rensse¬ 
laer counties and I believe where this pest is had it 
is practically impossible to grow a young orchard, or 
maintain an old one satisfactorily without spraying. 
I believe to-day there is but one material to be consid¬ 
ered for this kind of spraying, and that is lime-sulplnir 
in some of its forms. In the first place, it does away 
with the first application of Bordeaux Mixture. Next, 
beside being the most effective of any mixture known 
for the particular thing to spray for in this case, it is 
also the best for blister mite, San Jose scale and Scurfy 
bark-louse, besides a possible benefit against aphis. So 
in this case we are not killing two, hut many birds witli 
one stone. As to the best kind to use, at this time the 
homemade concentrate looks best. It is easy to make, 
the cheapest form known, may he kept a long time, and 
used as a Summer spray. We boiled with live steam 
and made a mixture testing 36 degrees. While this 
is very high it is easy to make one testing 30 degrees. 
The trouble in recommending a spray for the public is 
that all are looking for something cheap and easy, and 
the fact is all sprays are expensive and troublesome 
to apply. Yet I believe all who start out to do some¬ 
thing will find it comparatively easy to overcome 
most of the difficulties of both, and get a good result, 
while I am positive that the man who sits down to 
await until some one has worked out something that 
can be applied without much trouble or expense is 
doomed to disappointment, and his orchard to the 
woodpile. wm. hotaling. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. 
TWO VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 
You captured a very valuable contribution to edu¬ 
cational literature when you arranged for the Hart¬ 
man letters, though it does pull some little tin gods 
down which are greatly venerated by a superficial 
class of people. I do hope you will print a few thou¬ 
sand in booklet form, as 1 should he glad to help dis- 
SPHERICAL BARN FOR NINKTY-TWO COWS. Fig. 320. 
tribute them. Mr. Hartman is showing why we are 
paying so much for seed which brings no crop of 
character or citizenship. w. G. N. 
Pennsylvania. 
The recent articles by D. L. Hartman are the sub¬ 
ject of my comments. The criticism of nine-tenths 
of all teachers is that they talk too much. I can 
imagine Mr. Hartman in the class room, tiresome, un¬ 
interesting and verbose. The few good points that he 
made were lost in words. Instead of enlarging upon 
the pith of what he had to say, he went off into space 
on things irrelevant or absurd. He said nothing about 
the study of English, nothing about developing the 
power of expression, and nothing about teaching 
pupils to reason for themselves. He did not tell that 
a good, liberal education may be obtained from well 
selected reading. He said nothing about the parents’ 
duty toward the child. No mention was made of edu¬ 
.3 uly 30, 
cation as a source of pleasure, and as a means of keep¬ 
ing a good healthy mind and the body pure. The 
farmer’s child grows up strong, healthy and full 
blooded. How do the young people spend their even¬ 
ings together? They have little to talk about, so they 
soon settle down to hours of “spooning.” On the 
farm the girls soon lose their bloom, and the eyes of 
the boys grow dull. In the city they seek “the Great 
White Way.” There are exceptions, of course. All of 
this and merre relates to the little country school. 
I have had considerable experience in teaching 
school, both boys and young men. I should like to 
write a short article on the subject. I am too nervous 
to write with tire force 1 should like to, hut I think 
that I could draw out a discussion from those better 
able to present the subject than I am. D. L. Hartman 
is purely negative, and a good deal of a fossil. The 
Hope Farm man is inconsistent and superficial on 
the subject of education. He tells of the sacrifices he 
made to go through college and how much his educa¬ 
tion has been to him, yet insists that for his children 
the elements for purely commercial purposes are all 
they need. He does not know that many things must 
he taught to develop the mind which are of little other 
value. s. L. s. 
New Jersey. 
R. N.-Y.—Our friend has certainly missed what* the 
Hope Farm man has frequently said abmit education. 
His children are encouraged to read history and poetry 
every day in cbnnection with the “elements for purely 
commercial purposes.” He never said these were all 
a child needs, and knows that hard lesson only too 
well. 
FLOWER GROWING PROBLEMS. 
1. IIow can I set up a homemade propagating plant at 
small cost? Would it do nearly as well as greenhouse 
benches for starting cuttings? 2. What are the quickest 
methods for starting such plants as carnations and Chry¬ 
santhemums from slips or cuttings? 3. IIow can I pack 
Asters and carnations so they will reach the market in 
g.md condition? Should I put more than one layer in a 
box? 4. About how much is the average price of the 
flowers mentioned at wholesale? Do commission florists 
handle Sweet Williams? e. a. k. 
Massachusetts. 
1. The simplest form of a propagating frame for 
home use may he made from a strong wooden box 
about 12 inches deep, the same in width, and long 
enough to reach across a window. This box should 
contain three or four inches of clean sand, either bar 
sand or pit sand, according to which may be had most 
conveniently, and the sand should be pressed down 
firmly and smoothly. A north window is a good loca¬ 
tion for the box, from the fact that the cuttings need 
light, without being exposed to sunshine. The tem¬ 
perature needed for carnation and Chrysanthemum 
cuttings is not less than 50 degrees, and not over 60, 
and if the cover of the box consists of two or three 
panes of 'glass, it is an easy matter to give the cut¬ 
tings a little ventilation at night, while keeping them 
close during the day. The best method of planting 
the cuttings in the box is to cut lines across the sand 
to a depth of one inch or more, according to the size 
of the cuttings, using an old knife for a marker, then 
plant the cuttings about an inch apart in the row, the 
rows being two inches apart. Then water them in 
thoroughly, so as to settle the sand around them, and 
afterward spray them lightly each day, in order to 
keep the foliage fresh, for a wilted cutting either re¬ 
fuses to root or else takes a long while about it. Un¬ 
der these conditions, and with proper attention to 
temperature and ventilation, carnations and Chrysan¬ 
themum cuttings should root in about three weeks. 
2. The best carnation cuttings are made from the 
young shoots that start from the joints of a blooming 
stem, and should he broken off when about three 
inches long. Always break off carnation cuttings in 
preference to cutting them off, as they do not root so 
readily when cut off. The best season to root carna¬ 
tions is between December 1 and March 3 5, while 
Cnrysanthemums may be put in between February and 
May. The Chrysanthemum cuttings should be made 
from the soft young shoots that come up from the 
root of an old plant, these having the lower leaves 
pulled off, and then being planted in the sand in the 
same manner suggested for the carnations. The cut¬ 
tings should be potted off into small pots as soon as 
they have roots half an inch in length, and for the first 
few days after potting will need spraying frequently 
and protection from sunshine, but as soon as they are 
established, these young plants should he given full 
light, and a temperature at night ot 50 degrees. 
3. Carnations and Asters are usually tied in bunches 
of 25 flowers for the market, and the bunches should 
be packed closely together in a single layer in the box, 
laying the flowers toward the ends of the box and 
stems to the middle, and if the flowers are to be 
shipped to a distance by express, a wooden cleat 
should be nailed across the box over the stems so that 
they may be kept in place when the gentle expressman 
drops the box down on end. 
4. The wholesale price of the flowers in question 
varies so much at different seasons and also for dif¬ 
ferent grades of flowers that it is difficult to give an 
average, the price having varied in New York during 
the past year between 50 cents and $15 per hundred 
flowers for carnations, the extreme price having been 
paid for small lots of new varieties, the flowers of 
which were of extra grade. Asters of fine quality 
sometimes realize $4 per hundred, but the great ma¬ 
jority are sold for a much lower price. Commission 
florists seldom handle oweet Williams, the demand 
being slight and irregular. w. h. 'tapi.in. 
