SI -4 
THE 1-iUK.A.L, N E W-YOI-4 KE Hi 
five pounds upon the bit, more when driving. Do 
not canter more than 10 or 20 rods at first, then 
back to the walk. Never tolerate the trot under 
saddle. Never tolerate the canter in harness. The 
word for canter and the word for trot, as well as 
the motions, should he different. I think B. D. 
knows all this already, but few others do. 
Now about the stirrups. If you want a horse for 
your own use do not start out with short stirrup 
straps. Do not go after the English up and down 
daylight seat. Have the stirrups long enough so 
that the ball of your feet can just hold them com¬ 
fortably. Let your feet rest in the stirrups and sit 
squarely down and back in the saddle. Let the wife 
handle and make love to the horse all she wants to, 
but do not let her ride until the animal is thor¬ 
oughly broken. Then if your wife will use the same 
saddle you use and ride as you ride she will find 
horseback riding a pleasure. The plain western 
style, or old cavalry style of riding is the only 
practical style to my notion. I rode night and day 
for years, have broken many horses to ride, and I 
think the most useful horse is the one broken and 
ridden as I have suggested; not only that the horse 
used this way looks better (to my notion) under 
saddle and lasts longer. w. 
C T-o 3 i 
HARDINESS OF PEACHES. 
I When people say that one variety of peach is “hard¬ 
ier” than another, just what do they mean?] 
There are two kinds of hardiness in peaches— 
hardiness of bud and hardiness of wood. Fruit¬ 
growers often confuse the two. The peaches hardi¬ 
est in wood are the small-growing varieties with 
compact heads, descendants of ancestors from North¬ 
ern China, while the free-growing sorts with large 
heads and succulent wood, descendants of ances¬ 
tors from Southern China, are tenderest in wood. 
In the first group are Hill Chili, Crosby, Gold Drop, 
Barnard. Triumph, Wager and Fitzgerald; among 
those most tender in wood are the two Crawfords, 
Chair Choice and Reeves Favorite. 
The varieties most hardy in bud are those that 
have the thickest bud coverings and the most pub¬ 
escence. Here again, the North China group of 
peaches are hardier in bud than those from South 
China, the varieties most hardy in bud being Cros¬ 
by, Hill Chili. Triumph, Gold Drop and Stevens 
Rareripe, while the five most tender in bud are the 
two Crawfords, Chair Choice, Reeves Favorite and 
Elberta. A few years ago I sent several hundred 
circular letters to peach growers in Michigan and 
New York asking for information on this subject. 
The lists given above are made out from the an¬ 
swers I received. The consensus of opinion among 
the men to whom I wrote was that the peach must 
have a warm, well-drained soil to secure the great¬ 
est possible hardiness inherent to the species. 
Either extreme of moisture—excessive wetness or 
excessive dryness — gives favorable conditions 
for winter-killing. All were agreed that young 
Irees suffer most from Winter freezes. So, too, 
there was a general agreement that peaches are 
more likely to suffer from cold if unthrifty than if 
thrifty. Most of these growers with whom I eor- 
iespomled had found cover crops of material assist¬ 
ance in protecting the roots of the peach from cold 
and in causing the trees to ripen thoroughly. Near¬ 
ly all growers prefer low-headed trees, claiming 
that both buds and branches are more often in¬ 
jured in high-headed trees. The testimony given 
was for most part unfavorable to wind-breaks. 
Geneva Exp. Station. 
PUNCHER AND TONGS. 
Two years ago for the benefit of the readers of 
The R. N.-1 t . I described a tool, or rather a combin¬ 
ation of two tools, used by truckers in South Jer¬ 
sey for setting sweet potato, cabbage, tomato, straw¬ 
berry and other plants. In writing of these tools, 
which we call the puncher and tongs, I stated that 
a man with boy to drop plants could set 14,000 to 
20,000 plants a day. Immediately a host of read¬ 
ers came right up claiming that the statement was 
untrue, hut in the discussion that followed on rapid 
planting, I think most readers were convinced of 
its truthfulness. Because of this discussion, how¬ 
ever, I fear many overlooked the description of the 
tools themselves. At any rate I have received many 
requests through The R. N.-Y. during the last two 
years, for directions on making and using the punch¬ 
er and tongs; and many too have asked me to have 
them made for them. That I cannot do, and at the 
outset I wish to have it understood that I can¬ 
not go into the manufacturing business. These 
tools are not, so far as I am aware, for sale by any 
seedsman or dealers in agricultural implements. 
The ones I use were for the most part, made by 
myself, and I have no extra sets for sale. They 
are quite easy to make, anyone can make his own, 
and when once made will last a lifetime. 
Practically all kinds of plants can he set success¬ 
fully. Last year we set about 90,000 sweet pota¬ 
toes, 25,000 strawberries, 8,000 cabbage and 4,000 
tomato plants with these tools. The sweets were 
set on light sandy soil, and the cabbage, strawber¬ 
ries and tomatoes on heavier soil. The greatest 
speed can be made with sweet potato plants on 
light soil. Plants cannot be set so rapidly on heavy 
sticky soil, but even so the puncher and tongs is 
far ahead of a trowel for doing the work. 
I do not know exactly how the puncher and tongs 
came into existence, but in this section hundreds of 
acres of sweet potatoes are grown annually, and as 
near as I can learn these tools have been slowly 
evolved by the growers themselves; who in order 
to increase their plantings found it absolutely 
necessary to have something that would make plant¬ 
ing less laborious than if trowel were used, and at 
the same time be more rapid. They certainly have 
succeeded, or at any rate they think they have, for 
to-day practically all of the millions of sweet po¬ 
tatoes grown in this vicinity are set with the punch¬ 
er and tongs. 
The puncher and tongs can he made as follows: 
Take a piece of white pine 3% to four feet long. 
2% inches wide, 1)4 inch thick, and dress down for 
puncher as shown in the illustration, Fig. 212 
For 25 or 50 cents a blacksmith will put on a steel 
point, or rather a steel covering for the wooden 
point, and also an iron strap to hold the handle in 
place. A cloth band for the arm is run through 
a slot in the top; for this an old suspender answers 
nicely. The tongs are simply two strips, each 3% 
feet long, one inch wide and one-lmlf inch thick, 
made to taper at the point and nailed to a 5x1 %xl 
inch block, which keeps them open at the points and 
gives some spring. Be careful to have the two 
Strips come together squarely and tightly at the 
points. The length of both puncher and tongs 
should vary in accordance with the height of the 
operator. It will be quite easy for an inexperienced 
person to make both puncher and tongs, but his 
first attempt at using them will not he so easy. At 
first they seem very awkward and clumsy, and it 
is quite difficult to get a plant set at all. However, 
to do first good work and later rapid work requires 
much patience and practice, but after once getting 
the knack it is quite easy. 
All operators do not handle these tools the same 
way, some prefer one, some another. The following 
is the way I like best myself. When setting plants 
walk with the row on your right. Have the right 
arm through the snug-fitting strap at the top of the 
puncher with the hand grasping the Handle. Take 
the tongs in the left hand. First grasp tue plant 
at the very end of the root, between the points of 
the tongs; insert the point of the puncher where the 
plant is to stand, and turn it part way around with- 
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BLOCK S"X /l^zX /" 
- STRIP / "W/DE AND 
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TONGS 
PUNCHER 
PUNCHER AND TONGS. 
Fig. 212. 
out withdrawing it; then with the tongs push the 
plant down beside the point of the puncher in the 
opening made by turning it, withdrawing the punch¬ 
er as tongs are inserted. When the plant is in as 
deep as desired, release pressure on the tongs and 
remove them, striking immediately after with the 
puncher a short distance from the plant to pack the 
soil about the roots. In practice these movements 
follow each other in quick succession, an i on clear 
ground plant setting goes almost like clockwork. 
A beginner will find catching the plant in the 
tongs the most difficult part of the operation, and em¬ 
phasis should he laid on the necessity for doing it 
correctly. In practicing he should be careful always to 
pick up the plant by the end of the root, and have it 
between the two points of the tongs clear down to 
their very end. If a plan' is grasped half way up 
the stem it will he doubled up when set and have 
both tops and roots in the air, and if caught an inch 
or so above the two points of the tongs it will he 
hard to get the plant set as deeply or as accurate¬ 
ly as desired. Hence the necessity for having the 
tongs come together squarely at the points. 
As stated at the beginning of this article, a man 
with a boy to drop plants can set 14,000 to 20,000 
plants in a dav of 10 hours in the sandy soils, and he 
Ap il 4, 
will not feel near as much like stretching himseu 
across the ridges to get the “kinks” out of his back 
when night comes as does the man who sets plants 
all day with a trowel. trucker, jr. 
SPECIAL NEED OF PHOSPHORIC ACID. 
As I have little stable manure, I am obliged to use 
liberal quantities of complete mixed goods, but have 
not been satisfied with the results. I have found that 
my soil seems to be especially dificient in phosphorus, 
and an additional amount of acid phosphate seemed 
to show greater results than any other single ingre¬ 
dient. But as my soil is also lacking in humus and all 
the other ingredients, and as I expect to spend my life 
on this farm, it occurred to me that perhaps I would 
get better permanent results from the use of bone meal. 
Last year I tried the raw bone meal, and the crop 
seemed to indicate more immediate results than I had 
been led to expect. Now, the question is, should I 
use both acid phosphate and bone meal in addition to 
other suitable elements, or perhaps in addition to a 
“complete” mixture, or would it be better, as I am 
situated, to use the bone alone as a source of phos¬ 
phorus, and for such an amount of nitrogen as may be¬ 
come available the first season? In either case, would 
you suggest the amount of bone which I could profitably 
use, bearing in mind that I am not so anxious to make 
a large profit the first year or two, as I am to grow a 
large crop and at the same time be getting the land 
into condition to produce paying crops later on. Is 
there any danger of injuring the soil by the use of 
too much of the raw bone meal? Any suggestions will 
be gratefully received. s. s. c. 
Hardwick, Vt. 
We assume that you have tried lime and have 
learned that the trouble is not a lack of that ele¬ 
ment. Your soil may be sour or it may be too hard 
and compact for good culture. Active lime would 
partly remedy this, and to some extent make up for 
the lack of humus. We assume that you will in¬ 
crease the humus supply by plowing under cover 
crops. From choice in such a case we should use 
two-thirds of the phosphoric acid in the form of 
bone meal. About one-third in the form of acid 
phosphate will give available phosphoric acid for 
the immediate use of the crops. The remainder in 
the form of bone will become gradually available in 
the soil and prove a continuous source of supply, 
more reliable, we think, than an equal quantity of 
acid phosphate which has become “reverted” in the 
soil. We should plan to use clover, Soy beans or 
vetch as far as possible for cover crops as these 
supply nitrogen and will give vegetable matter 
which quickly changes to humus. Then use reason¬ 
able quantities of the complete fertilizer, and in 
addition for each acre 500 pounds of a mixture— 
one-third acid phosphate and two-thirds ground 
bone. Raw bone meal of good quantity will not in¬ 
jure your soil. 
U. P. HEDRICK. 
