1914. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
867 
Ruralisms 
Job’s Tears. 
I PURCHASED a packet of Job’s tears, 
and there were no directions as to 
planting and culture. Will you give 
care and culture of same? J. R. 
Oregon. 
Job’s tears, Coix Lacryma-Jobi, is an 
annual Asiatic grass quite closely related 
to Indian corn, and may be treated in 
the same way. It grows two to three 
feet high, and has a curious nodding in¬ 
florescence. It is ordinarily grown for 
ornament or curiosity, but some of the 
hill tribes of India use it for grain. The 
pearly grayish white beads are much used 
for necklaces and rosaries, and old-fash¬ 
ioned mothers believed these beads had 
great prophylactic value, enabling a child 
to cut teeth painlessly. 
THE ROSE-CHAFER POISONS CHICKENS. 
D URING the month of June, about the 
blossoming time of the grapevine 
and garden rose, a long-legged, sprawly 
beetle of a yellowish brown color, called 
the rose-chafer or “rose bug” suddenly 
makes its appearance, and begins to feed 
upon the blossoms and foliage of the 
Rose Chafer. 
grape, rose, apple, Spirma, daisy and 
Deutzia, and a large number of fruit 
trees and ornamental shrubs. The insect 
is particularly injurious in New York, 
New Jersey, Delaware and the New Eng¬ 
land States. Some years these beetles 
come in vast numbers, doing great dam¬ 
age to the vineyard, orchard and garden; 
during other years, while their numbers 
are not nearly as great, they are sure to 
be found so numerous that the farmer 
should learn to recognize them as a men¬ 
ace not only to his trees and shrubs but 
to his chickens. 
Three or four years ago a letter was 
sent to this Station by a New York State 
poultry raiser saying that they had lost 
over one hundred chickens and nearly as 
many ducklings by feeding on some in¬ 
sect. The insect turned out to be the 
rose-chafer, and the crops of the chickens 
were full of the beetles. As many as 
42 beetles were found in a single crop. 
Other poultry raisers sent chickens to the 
Station with rose-chafers filling their 
crops, and we learned to recognize in 
these insects what many poultrymen have 
found a serious menace, for the chickens 
are attracted to these sprawly, creeping 
things, and like the boys with their bags 
of peanuts, they eat on and on until they 
can eat no more. If the chicken is less 
than seven weeks old it is usually dead 
in from 10 to 24 hours after such a 
meal. If it is alive, however, after the 
24 hours are up the chicken gets well 
in a comparatively short time. Older 
chickens and old hens are seldom if ever 
killed by the insects. 
The chief reasons that have been ad¬ 
vanced as to how these insects cause the 
death of the chickens were as follows: 
“crop-bound,” but the chickens that are 
“crop-bound” sometimes live over two 
weeks; this did not seem to be a good 
reason. Others said that the sharp 
spines on the legs of the beetles punc¬ 
tured the crop and killed the chickens, 
but careful post-mortem examinations 
gave no proof of this. Some thought 
that the beetles had fed on leaves that 
had been sprayed with arsenicals. Bee¬ 
tles were collected away from any 
sprayed trees soon after they had emerged 
from the ground, for they pass their lar¬ 
val or “grub stage” in the ground feed¬ 
ing on the X’oots of grasses, and these 
beetles were crushed and the juices of 
the insects mixed with water fed to 
chickens with a medicine dropper, and it 
was found that a little less than two tea¬ 
spoonfuls of this extract would kill chick¬ 
en after chicken in from 10 to 24 hours. 
About GO chickens were killed to prove 
that rose-cliafters are poisonous, and 
that the amount of poison making a fatal 
dose depends on the weight of the chick¬ 
en. The heavier the chicken the more 
poison necessary to cause its death. 
There is a danger in the use of many 
flowering shrubs in the yards for shade, 
particularly the grapevines. The rose- 
chafers stay from four to six weeks, and 
it is best to keep the chickens away from 
any of the plants that are attractive to 
the rose-chafers during the time when 
they are about. When the beetles are 
very abundant, the method that is most 
efficient is hand picking into a can of 
kerosene. The rose-chafer is very slow 
to be affected by poisons, and may do 
great damage, particularly to the blos¬ 
som, leaves and vines of the grape, before 
it is killed by the arsenical spray, but 
within the last few years growers have 
found that they can successfully control 
these insects when they are not too num¬ 
erous by using five pounds of the arsen¬ 
ate of lead and 12 pounds of glucose to 
a barrel of water, geo. rr. lasison, jr. 
Connecticut Exp. Station. 
The Flavor of Muskmelons. 
I HAVE satisfied myself by experiments 
that if you plant muskmelons close 
to squash, cucumber or eggplant they 
do lose flavor. This is apropos to a let¬ 
ter I wrote to you last June. w. t. r. 
Ridgefield, Conn. 
Growing near eggplant has not com¬ 
monly been assigned as a cause for loss 
of quality in muskmelons, though melons 
have long been thought to hybridize when 
occasion offers, with squash, cucumber 
and other related plants, the seedlings 
from the crosses being naturally of poor 
edible quality. This idea is widespread, 
but appears erroneous, as there are no 
authentic instances of hybrids between 
muskmelons and other cucurbitaceous 
plants, though opportunities for cross 
pollination are endless in nature, and 
many attempts have been made by in¬ 
vestigators in various countries to pro¬ 
duce hybrids by artificial means. The 
writer has made many careful pollina¬ 
tions of muskmelon blooms with cucum¬ 
ber, squash and gourd pollen, using 
every precaution to exclude other pollen, 
both in the field and greenhouse, but nev¬ 
er secured hybrid fruits. It has been 
noticed that certain muskmelon types, 
such as the Casaba and related hard- 
rinded varieties, are apparently not cap¬ 
able of crossing with other forms, and 
as they have very largely perfect blooms 
containing both stigmas and pollen-bear¬ 
ing anthers they may be regarded as 
practically self-fertilizing. No matter 
how often the Casaba types are grown 
near ordinary muskmelons and other 
cucurbits they appear to preserve their 
identity. The writer has grown musk¬ 
melon selections inter-planted with cu¬ 
cumbers, squash, watermelon and some¬ 
times gourds for 15 consecutive seasons, 
and has had no falling off in quality, but 
instead marked improvement over the 
originals, though there have been some 
changes of appearance in fruit and vines, 
probably owing to repeated cross-pollin¬ 
ation between the varieties themselves. 
There are several well-understood 
causes for variation of quality in musk¬ 
melons even if we exclude contamination 
with the pollen of related vine fruits, 
chief of which probably is poor seeds. 
Even if saved from fruits of the highest 
flavor we cannot always be certain that 
the pollen was not from a vine bearing 
fruits of low quality, if such are growing 
nearby. Other causes are starvation, 
over-stimulation from nitrogenous ma¬ 
nures, injuries from storms, insects, over 
crowding, and very commonly in recent 
years, leaf destruction from the pre¬ 
valent Alternaria blight, which appears 
promptly to check sugar formation and 
render the melons, even of the best va¬ 
rieties, flat and insipid in quality. Thus 
any factor interfering with the normal 
development of the plant and fruit may 
cause loss of flavor aside from the in¬ 
herited influence of adverse pollen. 
Just how the companionship of the egg 
plant, which is a member of the widely 
diverse family of the Solauaceae, can af¬ 
fect the flavor of a muskmelon, is a mys¬ 
tery. Eggplants demand rich soil and 
high culture, and it may be that the 
crowding and over-fertilization of the 
nearby melon has much to do with the 
lack of quality. Give your muskmelons 
plenty of space, just enough fertilizer 
to give the vine a good start—about a 
shovelful of composted manure to the 
hill—maintain your “dust mulch” by fre¬ 
quent cultivation, spray for fungus dis¬ 
eases and keep free from insect and 
crowding vegetation and you will prob¬ 
ably have well flavored fruits regardless 
of nearby squashes and cucumbers, pro¬ 
vided your seeds were good to start with. 
V. 
Asters and Sweet Peas for the Flower Market. 
C AN you tell me how to pack sweet 
peas and asters to ship to Philadel¬ 
phia and New York City, also could 
you give us some idea of what price to 
expect during August and September for 
good stock? R. w. B. 
Schuyler Co., N. Y. 
Sweet peas for market are bunched, 12 
stalks in a bunch, and six bunches tied 
together in a bundle. Good clear colors 
are demanded. Asters are tied in bunch¬ 
es, about a dozen flowers, or flower stalks 
of the lesser ones, in a bunch. All cut flow¬ 
ers should stand with sterns in water, in 
a cold place, for some hours before ship¬ 
ping. These flowers are not ordinarily 
iced for shipment in Summer, though 
roses often require this precaution. The 
bunches are laid flat in boxes or baskets, 
paper lined, packed closely enough in 
regular ranks so that they will not shake 
about but not jammed so as to cause any 
bruising, tissue paper being laid over 
them, any “slack” over the stems of the 
last rows being taken up with wadded 
paper. Fine flowers that are being 
shipped long distances are often held in 
place by cleats over the stems. 
It is quite impossible to tell what the 
prices may be in August and September. 
No other line of trade is so uncertain as 
the flower business. Returns are likely 
to be better from Asters than sweet peas, 
as there is quite a steady demand for 
them, and the up-State Asters are usually 
very good. They will travel in better 
condition for long distances, too. June 
2 sweet peas, greenhouse grown, were 
quoted in New York at 10 to 25 cents 
per dozen bunches, Spencers 25 to 35 
cents per dozen bunches. No Asters were 
quoted at that time. Some extra choice 
peas went higher than these general quo¬ 
tations. 
A FRUIT-GROWERS’ OUTING. 
T HE New York State Fruit Growers’ 
Association is planning one of the 
most extensive and interesting Sum¬ 
mer meetings ever undertaken by an As¬ 
sociation of this kind. It is to be a 
combination of field meeting and pleasure 
trip. A special train is to leave Roches¬ 
ter at 1 p. m. on July 2Sth, stopping the 
first night at Saratoga Springs, there it 
would pick up a section from the Hudson 
Valley and the Eastern part of New 
Y r ork. The following day there will be 
a steamer trip the entire length of Lake 
George and a trip through Ausable 
Chasm, reaching Plattsburg for the night. 
The forenoon of T_ursday, July 30th, 
will be spent on Lake Champlain, with 
stops at Grand Isle and on the Vermont 
shore. In the afternoon there will be an 
automobile trip through this famous or¬ 
chard section of the Champlain Valley 
and in the evening a meeting of the As¬ 
sociation. That night sleepers will be 
taken, and in the morning the members 
will find themselves at the Thousand Isl¬ 
ands. Through the forenoon there will 
be a trip through the Islands and in the 
evening the company will return to 
Rochester. This promises to be a great un¬ 
dertaking. The trip is not limited to mem¬ 
bers of the Association, but their friends 
may also attend. The Secretary. E. C. 
Gillette of Penn Yan. N. Y., will upon 
application furnish full particulars of the 
trip—a statement of the expenses and all 
other details. We hope there will be a 
large attendance from the Eastern part 
of New York State as a strong discus¬ 
sion of the new apple law and the mar¬ 
keting problem in general will be a part 
of the program. 
Teacher : “Tommy, what are antipo¬ 
des?” Tommy: “I know; they are little 
black things in the creeks that turn into 
frogs.”—Birmingham Age-Herald. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Get All Your Potatoes 
The Farquhar Elevator Potato Digger 
does the work of a crew of men. It 
frees all the potatoes from the soil and 
puts them on top ready for sacking. If 
you raise potatoes for profit, it wilFpay 
you to send immediately for new illus¬ 
trated catalogs 
all about the differs 
Farquhar Diggers. 
A. B. FARQUHAR CO.. Ltd. 
Box 230. York, 
We also man¬ 
ufacture En¬ 
gines, Saw-mills 
Threshers, Drills 
and Cider Presses. 
! for potatoes—4 styles to choose from to suit your 
special conditions. We guarantee them to do the 
work we claim for them. AH growers know that itpays 
to use diggers even on five acres—they save much 
valuable time and save all of the crop in good condition. 
I 
IRON AGE diggers 
No. 155 
For 
Heaviest 
Conditions 
Wheels, 32 or 28 inch. Elevator, 22 or 
20 inches wide. Thorough separation 
without injury to the crop. Best two 
wheel fore truck. Right adjustment 
of plow, shifts in gear from the seat. 
Can be backed .turns short into next row. 
Ask your dealer about them and 
write us for descriptive booklet. 
BATEMAN 
M’F’G CO. 
Box 102D 
Grenloch, N. J. 
The New GREENWOOD LIME 
and FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTER 
TOP FEED-NO RUSTING-NO CLOGGING 
Accurate indicator for 100 to 3,500 lbs. per acre, 
whether material be wet, dry, sticky, lumpy, heavy 
or light. Write for booklet R to 
GREENWOOD MFG. CO.. Lawrence. Mass. 
The Acre-an-Hour Sifter 
beats every hand implement for killing Potato, 
Melon Buga,CabbageWorms, etc. Applies Plaster, 
Lime, etc., mixed with Paris Green or Arsenate of 
Lead. Regulates to cover big or little plants, also 
to apply any quantity of any kind of manufac 
tured dry insecticides. Will operate as fast as 
desired. Better,easier and faster than any$5, 
$10 or $15 9pray pump. Insist on your dealer, 
showing you this wonderful little implement 
Prepaid, 75c. Agents wanted. Circulars. 
ACRE-AN-HOUR SIFTER CO., 
Dept. B, Poughkeepsie, N. Y 
Hardwood Ashes 
Best Fertilizer in Use. 
GEORGE STEVENS. Peterborouflh, Ont. 
HAY CAPS 
Stack, wagon and implement covers: 
waterproof or plain canvas. Plant bed 
cloth, tents, etc. Circulars, samples. 
HENRY DERBY 
453 Y, St. Paul’s Ave„ Jersey City, N. J. 
THE GASOLINE ENGINE ON THE 
FARM. Its operation, repair and uses. 
This is the kind 
of a book every 
farmer will appre¬ 
ciate and every 
farm home ought 
to have. Includes 
selecting the most 
suitable engine for 
farm work, its 
most convenient 
and efficient in¬ 
stallation, with 
chapters on trou¬ 
bles, their reme¬ 
dies, and how to 
avoid them. The 
care and manage¬ 
ment of the farm 
tractor in plowing, 
harrowing, har¬ 
vesting and road 
grading are fully 
covered; also plain 
directions are 
given for handling the tractor on the road. 
530 pages. Nearly ISO engravings. 
This book will be sent to any address prepaid for 
TWO NEW YEARLY SUBSCRIPTIONS 
or Twenty Ten-week Trial Subscriptions 
or Four Yearly Renewal Subscriptions 
or One New Yearly Subscription and Two 
Renewal Subscriptions. 
The Rural New Yorker. 333 West 30th St.. N. T. 
BigTonnage! Big Profits? 
No delays, sure, certain operation. These are 3 
_ , _ „ one _ 
with the fast working Sandwich Motor Press 
•e yours 
_. Many 
owners make enough clear cash to pay for their out- 
SANDWICH 
SOLID STEEL 
HAY PRESSES 
fits the first year—$200 to $300 clean profit each 
month. One Sandwich owner writes he baled “32 tons in 8 hours with a 3-man crew.” Another how he 
averaged $18 to $22 per day after paying all expenses. These men can do this because they have the right 
press. 20 years experience built into it and special patented features found only on the Sandwich press 
—these are the reasons Sandwich owners make more money than others. The Sandwich way, the sure way 
SANDWICH Money Maker MOTOR PRESS £.T8 h S? P i<fh?t,fe 
magneto. Full engine power delivered to Press by heavy steel roller chain. No power lost, no belts to slip 
or to delay. Simple self-feeder and the big feed opening 
just swallows the hay. Friction clutch right on press. 
Free Book! The Way to Win 
Send a postal today for our free catalogue “ Tons Tell." 
It gives you reliable figures of the cost and profits of 
the hay baling; shows all the; Sandwich Hay Presses, 
both motor, belt and horse power. Also ask for our 
special terms so you can buy your press from the 
profits made the first year. Write Quick. Address 
Sandwich Mfg. Co.. llgOak Street, Sandwich, III. 
' Box 119 .Council Bluff*. I.. Box 119 Kanua City. Mo. 
Can Start 
or Stop 
Instantly 
Great on 
Windrows 
