TQG 
THE! RURAb NEW-YORKER 
June G, 
Hope Farm Notes 
F ARM NOTES.—We began spraying 
for Codling worm May 22. This is 
a little later than usual, yet we would 
willingly have waited a little longer, but 
there is so much of it to do and so many 
windy days that we began early. This 
year produces stronger arguments for the 
power sprayer. We could not begin to 
handle our proposition with hand-power 
pumps. The worm waits for no man. 
and the gasoline hired man beats any 
flesh and blood at the pump. It will be 
a race for us anyway to get the last of 
the poison on before the worms get at 
the apples. As usual we use three 
pounds of arsenate of lead and one gal¬ 
lon of lime-sulphur to 50 gallons of 
water. The lime-sulphur adds to the 
sticking power of the mixture and has 
some effect upon leaf diseases also. Some 
of our people complain that filling the 
tank is a nuisance. We have a little 
dam in a spring brook, thus making a 
small pool. The lower end of the tank 
filler is put in this pool and the engine 
pumps up the water well strained. We 
can fill the 250-gallon tank in less than 
10 minutes, and have the spray material 
ready meanwhile. 
The Marshall strawberries promise a 
great yield this year. I never saw this 
variety make more bloom. The soil is 
full of moisture and the mulch prevents 
% 
evaporation, so it looks like a sure thing 
for the crop. We have one five-year-old 
bed. It will give a fair yield this season, 
but is so foul with grass and weeds that 
it would not pay to clean it up. It is an 
eyesore and something of a disgrace to a 
strawberry grower, yet we shall pick 
some of our finest berries out of this 
sorrel-shaded field. As soon as picking is 
over that field will be plowed and plant¬ 
ed to celery. We have the seed started 
under straw. Thus far we have failed 
with the celery crop, but this year we 
try again under better conditions. 
The Redheads are trying their hand 
at raising a few baby chicks which came 
to us by express. These chicks are kept 
over night in a “tireless brooder” or 
ordinary wooden box. There is litter at 
the bottom, and an old coat is thrown 
over it at night. At first this was put 
beside the stove at night, but when the 
chicks began to jump out and run over 
the floor the chief cook objected. On 
sunny days the chicks arc put out on 
the grass in a wire-topped box with no 
bottom. Those little Leghorns are doing 
well with this rather crude treatment. 
The boys also have two Red hens pa¬ 
tiently sitting on 24 eggs, which came 
from a flock of cross-bred hens famous 
for their laying qualities. 
As June approaches the prospects for 
our fruit crop grow brighter and better. 
We are now sure that the peaches got 
past the cold weather. The trees are 
loaded with fruit, some of it already as 
large as Delaware grapes. Brown rot. 
“June drop” and half a dozen enemies 
are still ahead, but we expect to get by 
them with a fair crop. I understand 
that north of us the crop is light, and 
that some growers who often sell 1,000 
baskets or more will have to buy this 
season. I think there should be a good 
trade in crated peaches to ship into these 
northern sections where there is not 
enough trade to warrant carload ship¬ 
ments. Thus far I have not tried selling 
for distant shipment, as it is more satis¬ 
factory to pick the ripe peach and de¬ 
liver it at once. This season I want to 
try the experiment of picking some of 
the fruit while a little hard and shipping 
by express. It is worth trying at least 
to enlarge your trade territory. We are 
grouping most of our peach trees near 
the buildings. Over the hills, out of 
sight, many are stolen. The trees are 
headed so that inter-cropping may be 
practiced, and this pays with us. Be¬ 
tween the younger trees we have pota¬ 
toes, tomatoes or Lima beans. The bush 
Lima is a good crop for this purpose. 
We can plant three rows between two 
rows of peach trees, and by fertilizing 
well and giving good culture the trees 
are well tended and the beans give a 
good crop. Between the older trees we 
usually grow two rows of garden peas. 
This pays for the culture, and the pea 
vines are cut and piled around the trees 
shortly after July 4. Then the space be¬ 
tween the trees is seeded to rye, buck¬ 
wheat and clover. Later the trees bend 
down with their fruit, and the cover crop 
does not make much growth until Fall, 
when the rye and clover come on with a 
rush. 
The apple crop will be a good one. It 
is still a mystery to me why we have the 
second heavy bloom in succession on our 
old trees. It was never before known on 
this farm. At one end of this orchard 
Jack has fenced off space for a dog ken¬ 
nel, where he handles dogs. Several of 
these dogs have run about here, so that 
the ground is entirely bare. I notice 
that the trees near these bare spots are 
loaded to the tips, while those back in 
the sod, while showing some bloom, are 
by no means as well covered. What 
causes this unusual blooming I cannot 
say. The large Baldwins, which gave us 
such a crop last year, are behaving them¬ 
selves with great propriety, and accord¬ 
ing to the rules, for they have only a 
scattering bloom. The young trees in 
hill orchard have started a year earlier 
than I expected, and promise a great 
crop. The chances are that the apple 
crop throughout the country will bo a 
big one, and that prices will he low ex¬ 
cept for superior and well-packed fruit. 
This is one of the seasons when the fin¬ 
est work at spraying, handling and pack¬ 
ing will pay. for only fine specimens will 
bring high prices. 
We got our potatoes in rather late, but 
in good shape. The potato field this 
year is at the back of the farm—a “loaf¬ 
er field.” which a few years ago was in 
brush, White birch and cedars. These 
were grubbed out and the field was cut 
up with the disk plow. Then corn was 
planted, followed by a cover crop. Two 
years sign we planted apple trees. 20 
feet apart, the fillers to be cut out later. 
Last year flint corn was planted, with 
rye and Crimson clover for a cover crop. 
The clover killed out. but the rye grew 
well and the grass came in thick. On 
May IS we began plowing this field, with 
the rye about three feet high. A heavy 
chain tucked this rye under the furrow. 
First the plowman went around each 
row of trees, turning a furrow from each 
side to them. Then taking two alleys 
together, he went round and round. We 
found the grass sod very tough in some 
places, and this made us change our 
plans somewhat. After plowing the Cut¬ 
away came in, working first the way of 
the furrows and then across. This 
chopped up the soil without ripping out 
the green rye or grass. The Acme fol¬ 
lowed to cut up and smooth down the 
surface. If this field had been clean we 
should have used the planter and made 
a ridge up over the rows. Under the 
circumstances the reverse of this plan 
seemed best. So we scooped out furrows 
with the shovel plow, going in the direc¬ 
tion of the plowing without ripping out 
too much rye The seed and fertilizer 
were dropped by hand in these furrows 
and covered lightly with the plow. The 
object was to get this seed down into 
f'e green rye, then to cover lightly, and 
then put on the fertilizer. Within a few 
days the cultivators will start working 
more and more of the soil into these 
furrows, and ripping up the grass and 
weeds between the rows. Later will 
come the weeder, but we plan to work 
that ground several times before the po¬ 
tatoes come up and thus keep the weeds 
down. This will be called rather rough 
and crude culture, but it seemed the best 
thing to do under our circumstances. 
Several inquirers have written asking 
about the Southern potato crop. Is it 
as large as usual? These men have old 
potatoes on hand, and do not know 
whether to sell at once or take the risk 
of holding for a rise. As a rule such a 
speculation is a pure gamble. Unlike 
wheat or corn, potatoes cannot be stored 
indefinitely or shipped in all weathers. 
It is not therefore a true case of demand 
and supply, and no one is ever sure of 
the crop unsold. From what I can 
learn, the South has as large a crop as 
usual, and shipments which would inter¬ 
fere with the old potatoes will soon 
begin. In my own case I should sell out 
the old stock at once at fair prices. I 
can see nothing in the present market 
to justify holding. h. w. c. 
Study Your Wheat Before You Harvest It 
If the stand and quality are bad you must do bet¬ 
ter. If they are good it will pay you to make them 
better. A better fertilizer will do it. The usual 
wheat fertilizers do not contain enough available 
POTASH 
See, too, whether your wheat is lodging. Potash stiffens the 
straw. If there’s clover in the wheat, is the stand all you could 
wish? Many progressive farmers use Potash heavily on wheat 
followed by clover. 
Study Your Wheat at Thrashing Time 
If the ratio of grain to straw is too low, if the kernels are shrunken, your 
ground lacks Potash. Potash makes long heads well filled with plump, hardy 
grains. 
Use a fertilizer with 6 to 8 per cent, available Potash, instead of 1 to 2, and 
balance the phosphoric acid of the bone or phosphate. 
Tell your dealer now that you want such a fertilizer this fall. Write us today 
for our free book, “Fall Fertilizers.’* Ask us for 
prices on Potash Salts. We will sell you any amount 
from one 200-lb. bag up. 
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The Frederick County Lime and 
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The Old Reliable Spreader 
Does not sow the lime or fertilizer, 
but SPREADS it regularly, the 
proper way to apply these materials. 
WOODSBORO LIME SPREADER CO. 
Main Office - - Baltimore, Maryland 
Hardwood Ashes 
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The New GREENWOOD LIME 
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