182 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
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Greatest opportunity ever offered 
to millions of buyers throughout 
the country who want to econo¬ 
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offered on more than 125,000 dif¬ 
ferent items of carefully se¬ 
lected merchandise — all 
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offered at a saving of * * 
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Everything Your Family Needs 
—in the home—workshop, or on the farm, can be purchased 
from us at an immense saving. In clothing, apparel, dress 
goods, underwear, millinery, shoes, furs, coats, boys’ clothing 
and many other lines we show advanced styles at no greater cost than you 
would pay for inferior qualities on last season’s fabrics. Everything 
we show has been carefully selected and cannot fail to appeal to careful 
buyers, both as to quality and price. We insist on giving every customer 
satisfaction. We, therefore, guarantee every purchase to come up to your 
fullest expectations no matter where you live or what you buy from 
THE CHARLES WILLIAM STORES. 
We Pay Delivery Charges on Thousands of Items 
In every possible case we give our customers the benefit of prepaid delivery, 
insuring rapid service. Write for “YOUR BARGAIN BOOK ” C-000 today 
and have the advantage of buying direct from New York without paying 
middlemen a big profit on the things you need 
Don’t Feed the Soil 
Feed the Plant 
In the top eight inches of average soil there 
is enough plant food in the form of nitrogen to 
last for 90 years, in phosphoric acid for 500 
years and in potash for 1000 years. 
And yet that very spot may prove barren. 
Plants have to take up their food in solution, in 
the “sap of the soil.” All this food may be 
locked up so tightly by nature that the plants 
can’t get at it fast enough for the commercial 
farmer, and he has to put in the same food in 
the soluble form of fertilizer. 
Just so, a fertilizer may, by analysis, have all 
the necestary elements and yet not give the 
plant full value because these elements are not 
ready soluble. 
Put into your ground a fertilizer that will feed not 
your already overstocked soil but your hungry crops with 
food which is available and easily absorbed. 
Bowker’s Fertilizers 
have chemically correct elements—there is a brand to fit 
every need. More than that, these chemicals are blended 
and mixed so that they are rendered water-soluble and 
go into your ground in the most available form. Most 
crops do most of their feeding in 60 days. 
Write for our illustrated catalogue, based on forty 
years of experience. In writing, state what your crops are. 
RnWIfFl? FERTILIZER COMPANY 
YY Jtm Lil\ 43 Chatham Street, Boston, Mass. 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply 
and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
EARLY PICKLES AND PEACHES. 
1. I live in Southern Now Jersey, 
where early pickles pay well if one can 
get them early enough. Part of my land 
lies to the south, and is a sandy loam 
now in Crimson clover. I have another 
piece, nearly level, protected on the north 
by woods. Which would you advise me 
to use? The soil is practically the same. 
Would you advise planting on soil not 
under cover crop? When should it be 
plowed? Would planting early peas be 
advisable, for instance four feet apart east 
and west, and afterward plant in the 
pickles, using peas as protection? Which 
would be the best fertilizer, horse manure 
or chicken droppings? The soil has not 
had any lime used on it for at least 
10 years, although it grows a good crop 
of Crimson clover. Would you advise 
me to use any? I would like to know the 
best yielding varieties for early planting. 
2. I am intending to plant 500 or 1,000 
peach trees; what varieties would be the 
best to plant, and about how many of 
each? It would be necessary to ship 
them to Philadelphia or New York mar¬ 
ket. I would like the best for those mar¬ 
kets. M. A. S. 
Newfield, N. J. 
1. I would advise the use of the land 
with the southern exposure for early cu¬ 
cumbers. as it no doubt is a warmer and 
earlier soil than the other plot, and by 
reason of the nitrogen deposited in it 
by the clover, and the organic matter 
made available for plant food by the de¬ 
caying tops and roots, will be a great 
benefit to the cucumbers. The land should 
be plowed eight or 10 inches deep two or 
three weeks before planting time. Air- 
slaked lime applied broadcast at the rate 
of one-half or three-fourths of a ton to 
the acre, immediately after plowing, 
would no doubt prove very beneficial. 
< )u most soil devoted to the production 
of cucumbers, it is necessary to use ma¬ 
nure of some kind, either broadcast or 
in the hill. Well-rotted barnyard ma¬ 
nure or a good compost is considered the 
best, and if the supply is limited it can 
be made to go much further and give 
good results by using it in the hill. When 
it is so used, about two good shovelfuls 
to the hill should be applied and well 
mixed with the soil, and covered three 
or four inches deep. A compost of barn¬ 
yard manure, hen manure, night soil, and 
barnyard scrapings mixed together with 
an (Mju.al bulk of good soil, will be found 
most excellent for use in the hills. This 
compost should be made tip in the Fall 
and chopped and turned over two or 
three times during the Winter, but if 
through neglect or other causes it is not 
done, it may be made up early in the 
Spring, and, by cutting it down with a 
spade and thoroughly working it over 
a couple of times, it may be got into 
fairly good condition by the time it is 
needed. 
I would not advise planting peas be¬ 
tween the rows, as they will interfere to 
some extent with the timely and proper 
cultivation of the cucumbers, which 
should be done regularly every 10 days 
or so. until the spreading vines make it 
impossible to go through them without 
injury. The crop can be forwarded a 
week or 10 days, by either of the fol¬ 
lowing methods: About the first week 
in May or earlier if weather conditions 
seem to warrant it, cut from an old pas¬ 
ture sods 12x12 inches and three inches 
thick; place these in a cold frame close 
together, grass side downward. With a 
spade cut each sod into nine squares or 
pieces, on each 1x1 inch piece plant three 
or four seeds and cover the whole oue- 
lmlf inch deep with some good sifted 
loam. Sprinkle well with a fine rose 
watering pot, after which put the sashes 
on and keep closed until the plants be¬ 
gin to show through the ground, which 
will be in three to five days. As soon as 
plants are up they must he supplied with 
air to prevent damage by over heating 
and damping off. The amount of air 
given at any given time must be governed 
entirely by the outside temperature. The 
temperature under the glass should not 
be much above To degrees at any time. 
The plants will have made three or four 
rough or true leaves in 20 to 25 days, 
when the small pieces of sods on which 
the plants are growing are to be lifted 
and transferred to the hills in the field, 
which should be prepared in advance for 
their reception. The plants will recuper¬ 
ate more quickly if the work is done in 
the afternoon. 
The other method which is much pre¬ 
ferred by some on account of its requir¬ 
ing less labor, is to plant the seed in the 
field in the usual way 10 or 12 days 
February 7,' 
abend cf the usual time, using cheese 
cloth supported on wire arches as a 
means of excluding the cold and hasten¬ 
ing the germination of the seed and af¬ 
fording protection to the young plants 
from the cold and insects for three weeks 
or so after they are up. For the arches 
use No. 10 galvanized wire, cut into 
tliree-foot lengths. Bend them in the 
shape of croquet arches, using two 
crossed over the center of each bill, push¬ 
ing the ends of the arches about three 
inches into the ground, place a piece of 
cheese cloth over the arches large enough 
to lap over a couple of inches on the 
ground, put loose soil on the overlapping 
edges to hold it in place. If necessary 
this covering may be left over the hills 
until the plants reach the top of the 
arches. The following varieties are 
among the best for market: Arlington 
White Spine, Improved White Spine, 
Davis Perfect, and Cool and Crisp, all 
of which are about of equal value. 
2. For an orchard of 1,000 peach trees 
the following list of varieties and num¬ 
ber of each is recommended: 100 May¬ 
flower. 200 Carman, 200 Elberta, 200 
Mountain Rose, 200 Stump the World, 
100 Wonderful. All the above are good 
market sorts, and shv.unt succeed well 
iu southern New Jersey. K. 
Will It Rain Again Soon ? 
“We’ll have some more rain soon. It 
cleared off in the night.” 
“What’s that got to do about it?’ 
“It has a lot to do about it. Didn’t 
you ever notice that it always storms 
again very soon, usually within IS hours, 
when it clears off in the night?” 
“No, and I can’t see any reason why 
it should.” 
“Well, you notice and you’ll see that 
it does.” 
“All right. I’ll keep a record long 
enough to find out if there is any dif¬ 
ference.” 
That conversation took place October 
22. 1013, when a rainfall had ceased and 
clear sky appeared in the night. I set 
down the date and the fact, and have 
kept a record for two months and a half. 
I was admonished by my friend to record 
every instance of precipitation, however 
small, and I learned that with the up¬ 
holders of the theory iu question there 
was no distinction between a storm and 
a shower that really was an aftermath 
of the same storm. This was not strictly 
scientific, but I didn’t object. It was as 
fair one way as the other. 
The first three rainfalls cleared at 
night and were followed by more rain 
in just two days in each instance. These 
were followed by two that cleared in 
the daytime. These were followed by 
more rain after five and four days re¬ 
spectively. If I had stopped then my 
neighbor’s theory would have been sus¬ 
tained. The tables turned, however, and 
the days began to forge ahead. At the 
end of a month they were about even. 
In six weeks the days were ahead. Inter¬ 
vals of 13 and eight days after night 
clearings put the nights back almost to 
the distance flag, and after two months 
and a half, with records of 20 instances 
of precipitation, 12 of which cleared at 
night and eight in the daytime, I found 
the following result. The average time 
that elapsed after a night clearing was 
four days and a fraction; the average 
time after a day clearing was four days 
and a larger fraction. This does not 
necessarily prove that it will rain or 
snow again sooner after a clearing off in 
the daytime. It is, however, an indica¬ 
tion that the time of clearing has noth¬ 
ing to do with the matter. 
w. ir. HUSK. 
Orchard Grass for Hay. 
I have been off the farm 15 years, no 
plowing done on it all that time. The 
meadows now grow a short wiry grass 
which the farmers call wild or Buffalo 
grass. I intend plowing up 20 acres this 
Spring, planting oats and seeding to 
Orchard grass, as it has a good root and 
stands the frost well. Does this Or¬ 
chard grass make good salable hay? 
Covington, Ky. v. u. u. 
We would not advise you to sow Or¬ 
chard grass in this field, if you expect 
to sell hay. The Orchard grass grows 
in bunchy shape and makes a light hay. 
which while of good quality, does not sell 
well in the ordinary market. The best 
commercial hay is a mixture of Timothy 
and Kedtop, or with Red clover added, 
and our advice would be to follow the 
usual plan and sow Redtop and Timothy. 
