802 
THE NEW-YORKER 
DECORATING THE CODLING MOTH. 
OR fully a week I had been trying to get at 
the job of spraying 40 Duchess apple trees. 
Being a business man in the city, and living 
on four acres just outside the city, I am not always 
able to get at my work on the four acres just at* 
the proper time, but things shaped themselves .so 
that Saturday (Decoration Day) found me with 
about 100 gallons of spray material prepared, two 
pounds arsenate of lead to 50 gallons of water. 
My spraying outfit consists of a small gasoline en¬ 
gine mounted on a tliree-wlieeled triangular frame, 
one of the angles of the frame supporting a small 
barrel holding about 25 gallons of solution, the suc¬ 
tion pipe and overflow or return pipe leading into 
this barrel, while the discharge pipe is about 25 
feet of good tubing. The little engine gives a pres¬ 
sure of about 140 pounds, the whole outfit being 
drawn from one point to another by myself, as the 
spraying proceeds. It makes good, lively work from 
the moment the engine starts, and I fancy if a man 
kept at it, say 10 hours a day, he would not need 
to be rocked to sleep at night; but for a city man, 
and on such a day as Saturday, after a gentle rain 
on the previous afternoon, with the sun shining 
warm and bright, with a very gentle wind from the 
northwest, I do not ask for any better fun than the 
job of thoroughly spraying these 43 trees in just 
two hours and 30 minutes, actual time, which in¬ 
cludes the time of drawing the outfit from tree to 
tree, or I should say from four trees to the next 
four trees, as I can nicely surround four trees with 
the spraying outfit located at a central point be¬ 
tween them. Will some of you old spray men tell 
me whether this is good time or not for one man on 
43 17-to-lS-year Duchess apple trees? The question 
came to my mind after I had finished the job. I 
do not know how much time such a job should 
take, but I do know the trees were well sprayed, 
and that I used over SO gallons of spray material, 
and that I did not loaf on the job after the little 
engine began snorting. j. b. b. 
FACTS ABOUT HARDY CATALPA. 
ANY parts of the Eastern States have been over¬ 
run by agents trying to sell trees of hardy 
Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) for farm planting. 
They can tell large stories about what this 
Catalpa tree will do on the river bottom lands of the 
Central West, and they try to apply this experience to 
the thinner and unsuitable lands of the Eastern States. 
Here are the facts about it: 
Because the hardy Catalpa is a specialized farm 
crop requiring good, heavy soil and a certain amount 
of care, it is not adapted for general farm planting. 
It is native to the rich bottom lauds along the Wa¬ 
bash and other rivers in the Middle West, where it 
often reaches large size. However, it must have 
good, rich, fairly well-drained soil and there are few 
if any farms in the Eastern States the owners of 
which are willing to devote good soil to the growing 
of trees. Foresters are opposed to the use of agri¬ 
cultural soils for forestry purposes. Every rod of 
land in the Eastern States which is suited to agri¬ 
culture should be in agricultural crops. There are, 
however, in nearly every farm in the East from one 
to 10 acres of land which is really noil-agricultural 
and which should be covered with trees. However, 
this non-agricultural laud as a rule is not fitted to 
the growing of hardy Catalpa, and anyone who 
plants the Catalpa upon poor ridge or hill or in 
swampy land may expect failure. 
The hardy Catalpa is a very rapid grower when 
planted in good soil and the wood is durable in con¬ 
tact with soil. It is really a post and pole tree only, 
and here in the East is not a tree which will pro¬ 
duce saw logs. If a land owner is willing to devote 
an acre of good land to the Catalpa, planting one- 
year seedlings about Gx6 feet each way and then 
cultivating the plantation two or three times during 
the first two seasons of growth, it will grow rapidly 
and produce fence posts in from eight to twelve 
years. However, the tree is not a straight grower 
and unless some attention is given to the pruning 
and care of the trees, they will show a tendency to 
the formation of a crooked trunk. Black or Yellow 
locust, which is a rapid grower and the wood of 
which is very durable, may be put in the same class 
as the hardy Catalpa. It is a good post tree, but 
it is so liable to be injured by a flat-headed boring 
insect that it is as a rule not a profitable tree to 
plant. 
Creosote is now being used so generally for the 
prevention of decay of ties, posts and farm tim¬ 
bers generally that it will be better to put rapid 
growing evergreens onto hill or ridge lands, and 
then apply a coat or two of creosote with a brush 
or boil the lower 40 inches of the posts produced 
from evergreens in a simple open tank for a few 
hours. While posts from rapid growing evergreens 
are not very strong, as a rule, strength is not re¬ 
quired in fence posts. There are a number of 
broad-leaved trees such as the White ash. basswood 
or linden, tulip or whitewood and the Red oak and 
others which are fairly rapid growing, and which 
are not liable to he injured by insects and the tim¬ 
ber from which is very valuable. The ash especially 
is going to be valuable, because it is taking the 
place of hickory in the manufacture of automobiles 
and other vehicles. hcgh p. baker, 
State College of Forestry. 
FERTILIZER AND GRASS EXPERIMENTS. 
U NDER the direction of the Jefferson County 
Farm Bureau several demonstrations have 
been made in the past two years with a home- 
mixed chemical fertilizer used as a top-dressing on 
old meadows. This year the practice has been wide¬ 
ly extended with most gratifying results so far. It 
is thought that in many instances the hay yield 
will be doubled, and these evidences were not 
wanting before the recent rains appeared. F. E. 
Two Different “Strains” of Timothy Grass. Some 
Yielded Twice As Much As Others. Fig. 371. 
Robertson, manager of the Farm Bureau, is highly 
pleased with the results achieved. 
Last year M. W. Casse gave the fertilizer a trial, 
using 200 pounds of nitrate of soda, 100 pounds of 
acid rock phosphate and 50 pounds of muriate of 
potash, sowing about 300 pounds on an acre of 
three-year-old meadow where the grass had nearly 
succumbed for want of plant food. This field of 
grass was cut last July in the presence of Mr. Rob¬ 
ertson and several farmers, and from weighings 
made from fertilized and unfertilized plots it was 
found that the fertilized plots more than doubled 
the yield. This year Mr. Casse has increased the 
area brought under the stimulus of the home-mixed 
fertilizer, and has not only sown the mixture on 
his meadows, but also on a field of grain. Others 
Showing The Difference Between Fertilized And 
Unfertilized Grass. Crop On Three 
Square Feet. Fig. 372. 
who have noted an increased yield from the use of 
the fertilizer include Joseph Allen, Frank Arnold, 
Charles Powell, Gilbert Shannon, Andrew Fults, 
George Cross, A. W. Danforth, and William Plato. 
a. h. p. 
FIELD STONES FOR BUILDING. 
N reply to C. W. B., on page 833, in regard to 
building from common field stone, will say that 
by getting the right kind of mason a very good, 
substantial and niee-appearing wall can be built. 
With these stones a much cheaper and certainly just 
as strong wall may be constructed as with concrete. 
Of course much depends on the size and shape of the 
stones and the man who is handling them. The 
wall supporting my barn contains about 70 cubic 
yards of stone and sand, and was laid up at a cost 
of about $90 for masons, mason tender and cement. 
Of course this does not include hauling of stone, 
cement or sand. I selected my stone and conse- 
•7uly ll, 
quently have a very substantial as well as beautiful 
wall. However, this stone all came off the farm. 1 
do not think it advisable to build a house or barn 
complete with stone for such a building is sure to 
be damp. With common selected field stone, such 
as found in Southern New York in large quantities, 
especially those that can be broken once or more, 
thereby getting a sharp and freshly broken surface, 
same to be laid “out,” a very beautiful house porch 
or outside fireplace chimney can he constructed, and 
at a less cost than wood, and surely more sub¬ 
stantial. However, the laying of stone is an art, 
but with a mason who understands such work a 
pleasing and attractive job may be had. Stones in 
this section (Tioga Co., N. Y.) are of a flat nature, 
and it is easy to get them and by selecting from 
these stones and breaking the larger ones as well as 
the chunky ones, thus getting fresh surface, a nice 
wall may be constructed. 
In selecting stone care should be taken to get 
as near uniform thickness as possible. Farther East 
and in Southern New England, stones are more 
rounded in form, and even with these a mason who 
understands handling them can do wonders with 
them. Waterbury, Conn., contains many fine half 
basements and porches and even half stories con¬ 
structed with these “round” stones. In that section 
the stones are about the shape of a foot-ball, only 
larger, and at first, to one in these parts it would 
seem impossible to make a wall of them, but seeing 
is believing and Waterbury certainly has many very 
beautiful porches and bungalows constructed from 
such stone. If one has his own team and plenty of 
stone at not too long a haul, a porch or any kind of 
a wall can be built cheaper than of concrete or any 
other material. f. j. iiicicey. 
New York. 
IS THE POULTRY BUSINESS DOOMED ? 
F ROM looking over your paper every week, I have 
gained the impression that you still encourage 
poultry raising, and I must say I am more than 
astonished, as I thought your paper was a paper 
that had a conscience. You certainly ought to know 
that, with the duty removed, the “heathen Chinee” will 
very shortly make poultry raising a very expensive 
pastime in this country. I am told that eggs are pur¬ 
chased in China at six cents a dozen, and are landed in 
this country at something like 10 cents a dozen, all 
charges paid. True, I know that a concern in Spokane, 
or was it Seattle, was obliged to send a large number 
of crates of China eggs to the city crematory, but 
still, that would hardly happen again, and so I cannot 
see what American poultry raisers can do but give 
up. Honestly, what is there to this Chinese egg scare? 
The papers here were full of it. and I am told that if 
China doesn’t ruin the business for us, Europe will. 
I have planned to spend about $1,000, more or less, in 
increasing my little plant this year, but if there is 
really any serious menace, I would naturally prefer to 
keep my money in the bank. Will you tell me what you 
know of the matter? a. e. b. 
Virginia. 
If you understand the poultry business and have 
the patience and courage to become a genuine hen 
man our advice is to stay in the business and de¬ 
velop your plant. If you do not know much about, 
it, and are frightened by ghosts and shadows, you 
will he better off to put your money in the bank and 
keep it there. 
There are people who profess to be frightened 
because the tariff has been removed from imported 
eggs. We do not share their fears. The Department 
of Agriculture reports that prices for farm eggs 
ruled a little higher this year than last. If you 
consider eggs as you would other farm products, the 
outlook never was better. Prices of meats have gone 
steadily up and we now know that the meat short¬ 
age is world-wide. The first and most available sub¬ 
stitutes for meat are poultry and eggs. These will 
be used more and more as supplies of beef and mut¬ 
ton fall. This has been true in every country where 
the meat supplies have run short, and the future is 
sure to see a greatly increased demand for the hen 
and her fruit. 
Eggs from China have for a considerable time 
been received in commercial quantities on the Pa¬ 
cific Coast, and some have got as far East as St. 
Louis. There is no probability that that the egg 
business in this country will be killed by supplies 
from either China or Europe. No doubt certain lo¬ 
calities most accessible to imports will be affected, 
but such things are constantly happening in indus¬ 
trial and agricultural life, both here and in other 
countries. Even though eggs may be cheap in for¬ 
eign countries, the risk of damage by long distance 
water shipment is great—not only breakage but 
destruction of the body of the egg by shaking in hard 
storms. When eggs reach a large market they have 
to he sold on the basis of appearance under the can¬ 
dle, and the average of damage through several 
years is likely to discourage importers. In any 
event the imported egg will not compete with the 
“fresh laid” or breakfast egg. 
