1914. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
666 
The Home Acre. 
Destroying Bindweed. 
Can you inform me liovv to clear my 
soil of a vine known here as the Vir¬ 
ginia creeper, or morning-glory, a small 
creeping vine which mats very thickly 
over and in the soil? I have read that a 
seeding of Alfalfa would destroy the 
morning-glory; I suppose the common 
morning-glory is meant. The seed of the 
plant I have called the Virginia creeper 
very much resemble an onion seed. There 
seem to be different varieties of the same 
plant, some with pink blossoms and some 
with white. T. M. 
Willard, N. Y. 
The weed referred to is bindweed or 
morning-glory ; Virginia creeper is a dif¬ 
ferent vine, and we have never seen 
cases where it became a troublesome 
weed. There are two objectionable morn¬ 
ing-glories common in the East, Convol¬ 
vulus sepium or hedge bindweed, flowers 
wholly white, or white striped pink, and 
field bindweed, C. arvensis, much small¬ 
er, with pink flowers. They have fleshy 
creeping rootstocks which bear numerous 
buds, and every bit of the root is likely 
to grow when broken up by the plow. 
This makes the bindweeds extremely dif¬ 
ficult to eradicate; they propagate far 
more freely in this way than from seed, 
which is often produced scantily. Short 
rotations will control bindweed, late- 
sown hoed crops or rape being useful. 
Frequent use of a broad-shared cultivator 
will exhaust the weed’s vitality. Pastur¬ 
ing with hogs is also advised. Seeding 
to Alfalfa is recommended as it tends to 
smother the bindweed, while the frequent 
cutting keeps down the top growth. The 
Alfalfa should be followed by a hoed 
crop, which will finish the destruction of 
the bindweed. 
Growth of Cherry Grafts. 
I grafted a cherry tree January 24, 
and it grew. There was a little tree be¬ 
sides the one I grafted in January, and 
I put a graft on it in March ; they both 
grew, but the January graft is five feet 
taller than the one I put in in March. 
Why is this? The first graft could not 
start till the sap started in the Spring, 
neither could the graft that was put in 
in March. G. n. it. 
Mechaniesburg, Pa. 
It may be that the tree that made the 
strongest growth from the grafts set was 
the most vigorous. It is never wise to 
graft a feeble tree or branch with the 
expectation of getting good results. But 
it may have been from some other cause, 
such as a better union between the stock 
and scion. No one can always tell “the 
wliys and wherefores” of things that oc¬ 
cur, but it is well to try to understand 
the reasons so as to have them for fu¬ 
ture guidance. Cherry trees should al¬ 
ways be grafted early, but January seems 
very early for Pennsylvania climate. 
Severe cold is almost sure to injure 
grafts that are set, and it must have been 
cold the date in January. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Strawberries for New York. 
What varieties of strawberries are 
most suitable for Onondaga County, N. 
Y.? We wish to set one acre to about 
four or five varieties for market pur¬ 
poses. F. S. 
Liverpool, N. Y. 
Ten years ago I would probably have 
been very ready to advise F. S. what 
varieties to set, and possibly would have 
strongly recommended certain varieties on 
the strength of their behavior for a few 
years under my conditions. The safest 
way is for each grower to test out varie¬ 
ties for himself, as many varieties are 
very variable under different conditions, 
even behaving very differently occasion¬ 
ally on adjoining farms and in different 
fields on the same farm. There are, 
however, a few varieties that seem to 
do well under a wide range of conditions, 
and it is safe for the beginner to stick 
to these until he has had time to test out 
others in a small way. 
Michel’s Early has proven oue of the 
best extra earlies with me, but like all 
extra earlies will not give as heavy a 
yield as the later varieties. Senator 
Dunlap seems at home under many dif¬ 
ferent conditions and closely follows 
Michel’s Early in season. If not allowed 
to grow too thickly it will give a good 
crop of handsome berries. Sample, Wm. 
Belt and Stevens Late do well over a 
wide range and produce a heavy crop of 
first class berries under good culture. 
All are strong growers and should be re¬ 
stricted. With the exception of Sample 
all have perfect blossoms. Sample has 
a pistillate blossom and must be set near 
staminate blossoming varieties to secure 
pollination. Sample is my very best ber¬ 
ry. Let F. S. set aside one row for test- , 
ing varieties and set a dozen or 25 of 
each variety. Then keep close tabs on 
this row at fruiting time and don't go 
wild over a variety from one season’s 
trial. The probability is another va¬ 
riety will beat it next year. Among 
others to try in this rov be sure to in¬ 
clude Brandywine, Bubach, Chesapeake, 
Columbia, Glen Mary, Prolific and Un¬ 
cle Jim. If any strawberries are grown 
near him F. S. can do no better than to 
get the experience of his neighbors with 
varieties. G. R. s. 
Small Greenhouse for Spring Use. 
I have just built greenhouse 11x30 
feet, ridge about six feet, front side two 
feet high, 10.3x0 sash on south side, 
north roof papered, north side four feet 
high. I wish to start melons mostly, 
and perhaps transfer a few tomatoes, 
etc., from hotbed. Morning sun strikes 
two feet of north wall (it is dug into 
south side of hill). Do you think it 
suitable? Can I put bench along north 
wall? N. E. B. 
Southold, L. I. 
If I understand it you wish to use 
your greenhouse for, or in place of, a 
cold frame. That will work all right, 
and it is done quite often, but I do not 
think it would be advisable to put a 
bench along the north wall unless the 
sun will strike the melon or tomato 
plants you put there for a good part of 
the day. After we fill our cold frames 
with tomatoes we then clean all plants 
out of the hothouse (small greenhouse) 
and spot tomatoes in it just as we do in 
the cold frames. We have no fire in it 
at this time. It should be remembered, 
however, that there is much more space 
to heat up in a greenhouse than in a 
cold frame, and in cold weather such as 
we are having this Spring one can han¬ 
dle plants to better advantage in cold 
frames. trucker, jr. 
Germs of Potato Scab. 
I notice the ability of scab germs to 
winter in the soil is in question, and 
will give a bit of experience. When you 
distributed the Carman No. 1. I came 
honestly i i possession cf eight scabby lit¬ 
tle tubers. They were cut fine and treat¬ 
ed best we knew how. Most of them 
were planted in the kitchen garden, but 
a few hills displaced so much of the 
mangel crop, the resulting crop was of 
course very scabby; the next year it was 
soaked in corrosive sublimate and plant¬ 
ed on the patch occupied by the mangels 
the previous year. That portion where 
potatoes grew both years was scabby, 
but the remainder of the crop was 
smooth. E. L. s. 
North Truro, Mass. 
This experience supports scientific re¬ 
sults. The scab disease is caused by a 
germ which can live over in the soil for 
I 
several years. We might use perfectly 
smooth s> d. or even soak thoroughly 
in the formalin solution, and yet have a 
scabby crop if these germs are already 
in the soil. The use of lime on such soil 
would stimulate the growth of those scab 
germs—while plowing under a green 
crop would have the opposite effect. It 
is not safe to follow potatoes with po¬ 
tatoes whenever the crop shows scab. We 
know of a farm where a five-year rota¬ 
tion is followed. Yet one field always 
grows a scabby crop even with four years 
in between. 
Onion Smut. 
The Wisconsin Experiment Station an¬ 
nounces that experiments with a solution 
of formalin in water have shown the val¬ 
ue of this remedy. 
“The solution which brought most suc¬ 
cess was made at the rate of two ounces 
of formalin per gallon of water and ap¬ 
plied at the rate of 145 gallons an acre, 
or about a gallon to every 300 feet of 
row. By means of an ordinary two-gal¬ 
lon oil can fastened by iron clamps on to 
the seeder and a soft lead pipe capable of 
being twisted in the proper direction, the 
solution can be quite easily applied. Smut 
is the most prevalent fungus disease 
attacking the onion. It is caused by a 
parasite living within the soil. As the 
land which is especially adapted to onion 
growing is somewhat limited, the same 
fields are too frequently planted to this 
crop year after year, with the result 
that the soil becomes charged with dis¬ 
ease organisms.” I 
Get the Personal Touch! 
Sixes or fours — the Mitchell- 
Lewis Motor Company makes both. Our idea 
is to suit the public taste. We are not trying to cram either 
down your throat. We want you to try them both, sit in the driver’s 
seat, get “the feel of the car,’’note carefully the action of the engine, 
the brakes and the steering apparatus. You can get the pulse of any 
car by doing the driving yourself. And you can t get it any other way . 
You ought to know your own 
car even if you hire a driver. You ought to 
know it before you buy it. That definite process of 
acquiring information will often save you a lot of money and worlds 
of trouble. It eliminates all element of risk. You buy with your eyes 
open , and you don’t buy through the eyes of somebody else who might 
happen to be prejudiced. We believe that anything which costs as 
much as an automobile ought to be bought that way— and no other way. 
We are asking prospective cus¬ 
tomers to buy Mitchells that way. We are 
asking them to drive the car themselves and get what 
is known as “the feel of the car.” It can’t be gotten by sitting in 
the tonneau or even alongside the driver. The only way to reach 
the pulse of a car is through the steering wheel. The matter of detail 
may be learned afterwards if the car behaves well enough to arouse 
your interest. We think the Mitchell car whether Six or Four is the 
buy of the year. Try it yourself and see how close we have come to the truth. 
Here is the Equipment for all the Mitchell Models Which 
Is Included in the List Prices: 
Electric self-starter and generator—electric lights—electric horn—electric mag¬ 
netic exploring lamp—mohair top and dust cover-Tungsten valves—Jiffy quick- 
action side curtains— quick-action two-piece rain vision wind-shield demountable 
rims with one extra speedometer- double extra tire carriers Bair bow holders 
—license plate bracket — pump, jack and complete set of first-class tools. 
Racine,'Wis.U.S. A. 
Eighty Years of Faithful Service to the American Public 
Do Better Disking and Raise Bigger Crops 
—You’ll Make More Money 
Regardless of how fertile or how poor the 
land, you can make more money, by doing 
better disking. You can grow bigger crops 
at proportionately less cost. 
disk harrows will make you more money—they are 
specially designed for Tutensive tillage. Many farmers 
not only grow bi ;ger crops at pro portionately less cost 
by using Cutaway (Clark) disk harrows, but they 
raise more per acre at less cost per acre. There is 
one for the biggest tractor or the smallest horse. Ask 
vour dealer to show you a Cutaway (Clark) disk 
harrow. If he doesn’t sell the Cutaway (Clark), 
write us. Don’t accept a substitute. We ship direct 
where we have no agent. Write today for free catalog, 
“ The Soil and Intensive Tillage.” 
THE CUTAWAY HARROW COMPANY 
Maker of the original CLARK disk harrows and plows 
839 MAIN ST., H1GGANUM, CONN. 
Made in 5 sizes, 
each in regular 
and extension 
heads. Disks 16. 
18 and 20-inch 
Made ip sizes small 
enough for one 
horse and large 
enough for the big¬ 
gest tractor 
