1914 . 
Weedy Land for Potatoes. 
I have an acre of ground, formerly 
producing good crops, but now covered 
with plantain and sorrel, which 1 am 
thinking of putting into potatoes this 
Spring. Is it advisable to do so and if so, 
what would be the best preparation of 
the ground for them? If not, what other 
crop would you suggest which could be 
kept under cultivation? E. s. 
Honesdale, I*a. 
It is doubtful if this piece of land 
will produce a successful potato crop. We 
should prefer to plant corn in hills the 
first year, and give thorough cultivation, 
so as to kill out as much of this foul 
growth as possible. We should plow 
early, and then if possible use a disk 
harrow to chop up the sod thoroughly. 
Then mark both ways and plant corn, 
using about 300 pounds of a corn fertili¬ 
zer in the hill. Give the most careful 
cultivation, and hand hoeing, and at the 
last cultivation sow rye and Crimson 
clover in the corn. Another year by 
carrying out this plan the ground will 
be in much better shape for potato cul¬ 
ture. 
Cover Crop in Corn. 
I wish to sow something between the 
corn at last cultivation which will make 
a rank growth to turn under in the Pall 
for green manure, and then seed to Tim¬ 
othy and Red clover. I had thought of 
cow peas and Cow-horn turnips. Would 
Dwarf Essex rape be of value? Would 
such crops have a tendency to lessen the 
corn crop? What could I sow on rye 
stubble to turn under in September and 
then seed down to grass? M. IX. 
Simsbury, Conn. 
For such a crop as you require, you 
should sow in the corn at the last culti¬ 
vation, three pecks of either cow peas 
or field beans, and in addition, one pound 
of Cow-horn turnip seed, and two pounds 
of Essex rape. All these crops will make 
a fair growth in the shape of corn. This 
can be plowed under in late September or 
early October, ready for grass seeding. 
You should use a dressing of lime when 
sowing the grass seed. The field beans 
will not give you as rank a growth of 
vine as the cow peas, but they are a 
surer crop. In a dry season, this cover 
crop will interfere somewhat with the 
corn, by taking moisture which belongs 
to the corn crop. With plenty of rain¬ 
fall there will be moisture enough for 
both crops. For the rye stubble you 
should plow under after harvest and seed 
to each acre, six pecks of buckwheat and 
12 pounds of Crimson clover. This will 
make a fair growth before late Septem¬ 
ber, and add considerably more than the 
cost of seed and labor to the soil. 
Earthworms in Well. 
Do you think earth or angle-worms 
would contaminate the water in a well 
if, as in time of a drought, the worms 
fell into the water? If so, what would 
you recommend to prevent such an oc¬ 
currence? I have sprinkled the earth in 
the carriage road with salted water to 
destroy weeds, and it has brought the 
worms to the surface in myriads. There 
are chemicals used on lawn and golf links 
that produce like results and kill the 
worms. Would these dead worms be 
dangerous in the water or to to poultry? 
There must be conditions of the earth 
favorable or vice versa to these worms, 
as you will probably have noticed when 
digging bait for fishing, when you could 
get a cupful of worms without changing 
your position, and then again, you might 
dig over an acre and not get a worm. 
Litchfield, Conn. F. 
While not an authority on earthworms, 
I can see no reason for considering their 
presence in wells deleterious unless they 
occur in such numbers as to cause ap¬ 
preciable pollution of the water through 
decay of their bodies. The food of earth¬ 
worms is vegetable matter mixed with a 
certain amount of earth, which they 
swallow while burrowing their way 
through the soil. It is their habit to 
come to the surface at night to feed and 
discharge their excreta, but the flooding 
of their burrows with water will cause 
them to emerge at any time, and if this 
water has been charged with substances 
poisonous to them, they would -naturally 
die at the surface. It would not seem 
probable that they would absorb enough 
of this poisonous material to render them 
injurious to chickens in the small num¬ 
bers which would be eaten. The upper 
two or three feet of well curbing could 
easily be rendered imprevious to earth- 
warms by digging a narrow trench about 
it and filling that trench with cement 
grout, or by plastering the inner surface 
with the same material. m. b. d. 
THE RURAI* NEW-YORKER 
Scraping Bark Off Fruit Trees. 
When is the best time to scrape the 
old bark off apple and pear trees? The 
trees are old but have borne fruit this 
last year, only it was small and knotty. 
Robbinsville, N. J. 
You can scrape the bark now or any¬ 
time before Spring. Scraping off and 
burning of this rough coating will destroy 
many eggs of insects which are buried 
under these rough scales. A good wash 
with a lime-sulphur mixture after scrap¬ 
ing will help. 
Cement Wall. 
I wish to build a barn 30x35 feet, wish 
to put a cement wall about three feet 
deep and 10 inches wide. I low much 
cement and gravel will it take to build 
this, and what proportion of cement? 
Wairen, O. w. E. s. 
A foundation wall of the dimensions 
you give would contain 317^ cubic feet, 
and if built of cement, sand, and gravel, 
in the proportions of one part cement to 
2V 2 parts of sand and five parts of gravel, 
it would require 15 y 2 barrels of cement, 
5y 2 cubic yards of sand, and 11 cubic 
yards of gravel. An ordinary team load 
of sand or gravel contains \y 2 cubic 
yards. The gravel from some banks con¬ 
tains sufficient sand to make the natural 
mixture as it comes from the bank suit¬ 
able for use in walls. Small rough stones 
bedded in the wall as the concrete is put 
into place in the forms save concrete. Do 
not let such stones rest against the 
forms where they will be exposed to view 
when the forms are removed, m. b. d. 
Cement Slab. 
Will you give directions for making 
a slab composed of cement, sand and 
marble dust? We have these things, and 
want to make a slab for the kitchen sink. 
Torrington, Conn. c. E. B. 
For such a slab make a wooden frame, 
or form, of the desired size and as high as 
the slab is to be thick. Place this upon 
a smooth surface where it can remain 
until the concrete has thoroughly set, and 
within it place a second form of the size 
of the space that the iron sink is to oc¬ 
cupy. Fill the space between these two 
forms to about half its depth with a 
concrete mixture composed of one part 
cement to two parts of clean, sharp, sand. 
Upon this layer of concrete place the re¬ 
inforcing wire mesh. This may be the 
heavy half-inch mesh wire netting, such 
as is used to protect cellar windows. 
Having covered the surface with this 
wire netting, continue the filling of the 
form with a mixture of Kean cement and 
marble dust, about half and half. If it 
is desired that the exposed edges of the 
slab shall have the marble finish, plaster 
the inside surface of the form with the 
marble-cement mixture before putting the 
sand-cement foundation in place. Make 
both mixtures of about the consistency 
of heavy mortar. The surface of the 
slab may be troweled smooth, and later, 
may be polished if desired. Wet the 
wooden forms thoroughly before filling. 
Make the slab under cover where neither 
wind nor sun can strike it so that it will 
set slowly. If to be supported upon 
brackets, you will probably want the 
slab about two inches thick ; if it is to be 
thicker than this, fill the form to within 
about one inch of the top with the foun¬ 
dation mixture of cement and sand, and 
it might be well to embed more than one 
layer of reinforcing mesh. M. B. D. 
“Mbs. Brown has the kleptomania.” 
“Indeed; what is she taking for it?” 
“Anything that looks good to her.”—New 
York Times. 
mi 
Size 
Smooth 
Tread 
Price* 
Safety 
Tread 
Price* 
Size 
Smooth 
Tread 
Prices 
Safety 
Tread 
Price* 
30x3 
30x314 
32x31a 
33x4 
34x4 
$11.70 
15.75 
16.75 
23.55 
24.35 
$12.65 
17.00 
18.10 
25.25 
26.05 
34x414 
£5x4/4 
36x416 
37x5 
38x514 
$33.00 
34.00 
35.00 
41.95 
54.00 
$35.00 
36.05 
37.10 
44.45 
57.30 
Goodrich Unit Mold¬ 
ing was the original 
Safety First tire idea 
The quality of Goodrich Tires today is 
the standard by which all high grade 
tires must be judged. This is because 
they represent the perfection of tire- 
making and tire-knowledge — which 
gives Goodrich Tires their leadership. 
❖ 
Every layer of the finest fabric, the 
livest, best rubber—the whole tire— 
tread, side strips, bead and all—be¬ 
comes one piece in Goodrich Unit 
Molding—the original Safety First idea 
in tire building. 
* ♦> 
All this backs up the Goodrich Safety Tread 
—the group of bars and the crosstie that 
form the Safety First symbol for the motorist. 
Goodrich 
Treacl Tires 
Best in the Long Run 
Here are the lowered prices on Goodrich 
Safety Treads that make them the best qual¬ 
ity tire values motorists ever received. Your 
dealer can supply you: 
Free—Send for booklet, “Rules of the Road” 
and other valuable information. Address 
Service Dept. 16, 
The B. F. Goodrich Co. 
Factories: Branches in All 
Akron, Ohio Principal Cities 
There is nothing in Goodrich Advertising 
that isn’t in Goodrich Goods 
■ it, 
/lull 
•'ill 
/^A ftas**' 
Buckeye 
CULTIVATORS 
Will do the work right. They are easy on both man and team. 
They have the materials in them that insure years of hard work. 
The Buckeye Line is complete. You will find in it the Cultivator 
suited to your particular needs—a Cultivator that is sold under 
such a broad and liberal warranty that you run no risk in buying. 
Send for the new Buckeye Cultivator Catalogue, read it and then 
go to your local dealer and insist on seeing a Buckeye Cultivator. 
“The Buckeye—a Wise Buy.” 
Vs 
The American Seeding Machine Cn i ncorporated 
5pringfie:lo, Ohio. U -S -A . 
Famous for accurate 
feed, correct covering, 
light draft, light weight 
and durability. 
These features made 
Van Brunt famous 
Wheels always stand true* 
Hopper trussed—don’t sag. 
Adjustable gate force teed. 
Bearings extend under 
frame. 
Adjustable spring pressure. 
Every seed at bottom ol 
furrow. 
Ik? 
Every grain grower should investigate the new and improved 
features of Van Brunt drills. The adjustable gate force feed, 
the successful fertilizer feed, the non-cliokeable disc openers, 
the trussed hoppers, the light weight, the light draft,—all of 
these features combine to make the Van Brunt famous wher¬ 
ever introduced. Don’t seed another crop with a poor drill. 
Book Free 
Every grain grower 
should have our new 
drill book. The im¬ 
proved features of Van 
Brunt drills make them 
most desirable. Write 
and ask for package 
No. VB 33 
JOHN DEERE 
MOLINE, ILLINOIS 
