1914. 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKER 
37 
SCAB ON PEARS. 
I have about a dozen pear trees, Flem¬ 
ish Beauty, on my farm in Cattaraugus 
Co., N. Y., that bear well, but every year 
the fruit gets scabby and so hard that 
it cracks open, having three or four deep 
cracks in each, so it is worthless. Can 
you tell me a remedy to make these trees 
bear good pears? f. m. 
Kentucky. 
The trouble complained of is what is 
commonly termed scab. It affects the 
fruit of the apple and pear especially, and 
the Flemish Beauty is one of the most 
susceptible varieties known. But it is 
easy enough almost entirely to free the 
fruit from this disease by spraying with 
Bordeaux mixture or lime-sulphur, pro¬ 
vided that work is begun in time and 
done properly. No hit and miss spraying 
will do it, but intelligent and faithful 
work will make the pears on the trees 
that have yielded worthless fruit in the 
past, clean and bright. There is no need 
to grow scabby pears when the means are 
at hand to produce good ones. 
H. E. V. D. 
SULPHURIC ACID ON THE FARM. 
I understand the acid phosphate is 
made by treating the raw rock with sul¬ 
phuric acid pound for pound, and that 
the acid phosphate is more recommended 
for treating manure to preserve the nitro¬ 
gen. I can get the raw rock at $6 to .$7 
per ton. Is it possible or practical to 
get the acid and mix it myself? You 
had an article some time ago on sulphur 
as a fertilizer. I do not suppose mix¬ 
ing sulphur with raw rock would help 
any toward making the rock available, 
but wonder if there is any process I 
could (here on the farm) subject such a 
mixture to so that the rock would be 
made available. j. o. 
Pennsylvania. 
No, it will not pay you to use sulphuric 
acid on the farm. That is a process 
which should be left to manufacturers 
who have facilities for doing the work 
properly. Sulphuric acid is deadly stuff 
for a novice to handle. A single drop 
spattered into the eye may destroy the 
sight. Leave acid phosphate making to 
the manufacturers. The raw sulphur 
mixed with the ground phosphate rock 
would not help. 
OIL STOVE FOR A HOT BED. 
I have the following problem, which 
perhaps you can help me solve. I have a 
6x12 hotbed covered with double sash. 
The Pit is three feet deep. It is practic¬ 
ally impossible for me to get suitable 
manure to heat it in the Spring. What 
can I do? I have had in mind the fol¬ 
lowing: The pit is three feet deep. I 
would put in a bottom of sheet iron two 
feet from the bottom, and then use a 
one-burner wick oil stove to supply my 
heat from underneath. If I tried this 
wouldn’t I have to have air holes under¬ 
neath to supply fresh oxygen for the 
burner? This bed is on a slope, is banked 
in front, and it would easily be possible 
to make an opening in front to get at 
the burner. Or could I put the burner 
directly in the bed with the plants with¬ 
out trying to get underground heat? 
Wells, Me. h. s. ii. 
This is an idea in hotbed heating that I 
have never heard of being tried out, at 
least not for the purpose of raising plants 
from seed. My many years’ experience 
in the management of hotbeds, leads me 
to believe the plan would prove a failure 
and perhaps result in the destruction of 
the hotbed. I remember some years ago, 
I was carrying some geranium plants 
over Winter in the cold frame, depending 
upon mats and shutters to keep out 
frost. Sometime in January a severe 
cold snap set in, the mercury dropped 
to several degrees below zero. I knew 
the plants would surely be frozen, unless 
some additional protection was provided. 
The idea occurred to me to try a small 
oil stove which I happened to have at 
the time. Everything went along nicely 
during the day and up to midnight, when 
I presume from the oxygen being all con¬ 
sumed, the lamp began smoking. It soon 
filled with soot which took fire and, if 
the fire had not been discovered by a 
friend who resided nearby, there is no 
doubt that the cold frame and its con¬ 
tents would soon have been burned up. 
I fear you would meet with about the 
same results if you should attempt the 
heating of your hotbed with an oil stove. 
On the other hand, the plan would not he 
satisfactory (even if danger from fire 
could be eliminated) as not enough heat 
could be secured from a one-burner oil 
stove, placed either above or below the 
soil, to keep the temperature up to the 
required height. To be successful in the 
raising of plants from seed at that time 
of year requires bottom heat, and of much 
greater volume and intensity than could 
possibly be supplied by a small oil stove. 
If the stove was used above the seed 
bed, the air above would naturally be 
warmer to a certain extent, but the 
radiation would be too small in volume 
to affect the temperature of the soil to 
any appreciable extent. This is particu¬ 
larly true if the ground outside the frame 
is frozen, which it is apt to he at that 
time of year. 
The following plan of arrangement of 
seed bed and heating would meet your 
requirements in a very satisfactory man¬ 
ner : Cut five pieces of 2x4 spruce or 
chestnut long enough to reach across the 
frame, and 10 pieces 2x4 20 inches long 
on which to rest the cross pieces, to 
which they should be toe-nailed and 
braced across the corner with 1x4 inch 
stuff nailed securely to the knee near the 
bottom, and to the bench six inches from 
the center. This will provide five benches 
or trusses about five feet nine inches 
long and two feet high. Place these 
trusses in the frame at equal distance 
apart, placing a brick under each knee, 
to prevent it from sinking in the ground 
and to preserve it from rotting. Make 
the benches as near level as possible. 
Now nail a six-inch board to the benches 
on each side of the frame. This will 
hold them in place and is the only bot¬ 
tom board that will need nailing. Then 
nail a six-inch board edgeways all around 
the inside of the frame. This can be 
nailed to the posts that support the walls 
of the frame, and, if not close enough 
together, a block the same thickness as 
the posts can be placed between the 
walls of the frame and board for addi¬ 
tional support, where needed. 
You now have a space underneath the 
benches 20 inches in the clear, presuming 
the bottom of the pit is level, but this is 
not clearance enough ror safety. Take 
a spade and dig a trench 15 inches or so 
in width and two inches deep at the west 
end and 14 inches deep at the east end 
of the pit. and at equal distance from 
each side of the frame; this will give you 
a grade of one foot in 12. This trench 
is for the terra-cotta radiating pipe, 
which should be six or eight inches in 
diameter. At the west end the trench 
is extended far enough to allow a clear¬ 
ance of six inches between the vent pipe 
and the outside end of the frame, this 
pipe should be of terra-cotta and extend 
high enough in the air to give good 
draught. At the east end dig a pit four 
feet wide by five feet long, and deep 
enough to admit the installation of a 
cast iron heating s ve, of the common 
type and about IS inches in diameter. 
If one can be procured with the collar ox- 
pipe attachment on the side, the depth of 
the stove pit can be somewhat lessened. 
The stove should set deep enough so 
that the pipe collar will be on a level 
with the terra-cotta radiating pipe in¬ 
side the.pit. The sides of the stove pit 
should be walled with brick, or concret ■ 
for safety against fire. The roof of the 
stove pit should bo high enough to en¬ 
sure safety from fire. 
Now set your stove in place and attach 
one joint of galvanized iron pipe, with a 
damper, run it into the terra-cotta pipe, 
and close the joint tightly with good mor¬ 
tar, continuing the joining of the terra 
cotta pipe, carefully plastering the points, 
until the whole line is completed. The 
tile should rest on bricks laid flat, as a 
certain per cent of radiation will be lost, 
if this tile comes in contact with the 
ground. The wood at both ends of the 
frame must be cut away sufficiently to 
eliminate all danger of fire, which should 
be at least 18 inches on the stove end and 
12 inches at the opposite end, and as an 
extra precaution against fire a piece of 
old tin might be suspended under the 
seed bed, over the radiator pipe, especial¬ 
ly the first few feet nearest the stove. 
Now you can finish laying the bottom in 
your seed bed. If the boards are the full 
length of the frame they will not need 
any nailing, just slip tLem in place, and 
put the soil in to a depth of five inches. 
All that end of the frame, coming inside 
the stove pit should be cut out up to 
the seed bed, and a door fitted in. hung 
on hinges at the top, so it could be 
raised at any time to admit heat from the 
stove to enteih or to admit of going un¬ 
der the seed bed at any time to make 
repairs, if any should be necessary. 
K. 
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