©88 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 8, 
FARMERS* CLUB 
[ Every query must be accompanied by the 
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attention. Before asking a question, please see 
whether it is not answered in our advertising 
columns. Ask only a few questions at one time. 
Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
Harvesting Sweet Potatoes. 
W ILE you state how sweet potatoes 
should be handled after they are 
taken from the ground to insure 
their preservation for at least a reason¬ 
able time? Is September 10 too early to 
take them from the ground? F. R. J. 
Trenton, N. J. 
September 10 is not too early to dig 
sweet potatoes for storage, but they are 
usually dug later so that the yield will 
be larger. Most growers claim that 
sweets are a trifle more resistant to rots 
in storage when dug early, and while 
still immature, than are the fully ma¬ 
tured potatoes. In some sections cuttings 
are made of the ends of the vines in June 
and the small potatoes, called slip seed, 
grown from these vine cuttings or slips 
are very immature when dug but they in¬ 
variably keep better in storage than the 
mature potatoes. In order to have sweets 
keep over Winter they must be free from 
disease, dug before the ground freezes, 
handled carefully to avoid bruising and 
placed in a room where plenty of ventila¬ 
tion can be given. When first stored a 
temperature of 80 to 90 degrees F. should 
be maintained, and all possible ventilation 
given until the potatoes have gone 
through the sweating stage, after which 
the temperature can be reduced and held 
at 45 or 55 degrees F. F. R. J. will find 
that he can keep sweet potatoes a reason¬ 
able length of time in an ordinary living 
room, provided he keeps them at a high 
temperature and gives plenty of ventila¬ 
tion for a few days until they have gone 
through their sweat. After they are once 
stored sweets should not be disturbed 
any more than is absolutely necessary. 
TRUCKER, JR. 
Utilizing the Cull Apples. 
I LIVE here in Western Colorado in 
a mountain valley, elevation 6,200 
feet. Our principal product is fruit, es¬ 
pecially apples of high quality. The 
leading apple here is Jonathan, which 
ripens generally by October 10 and is 
of high color. But we have one draw¬ 
back; we have no way to dispose of our 
culls or inferior apples, and every year 
a great many go to waste in the valley. 
The only profit we get is from our fancy 
box apples, as shipping the culls east the 
freight is too high and there is too much 
of the same stuff east, and cheaper, so we 
cannot compete with them. Another 
drawback, labor is high, 25 cents an 
hour is the cheapest you can get any¬ 
body. There have been several sugges¬ 
tions made to dispose of these apples 
here, but none has been tried. We shall 
have more culls than usual this Fall, as 
we had a hailstorm here which put them 
in bad shape. Some say an evaporator 
would pay well, some say vinegar, and 
one apple man thought an apple butter 
factory would pay well. What suggestion 
could you give? I would like some way 
of disposing of this waste; it would 
lighten our expenses on our high grade 
fruit. H. J. W. 
Cedaredge, Colo. 
R. N.-Y.—We will turn that over to 
our readers for discussion. In New York 
State many would say “evaporated ap¬ 
ples” but they might not pay in Colorado. 
The Illustrations. 
T HE two pictures shown at Fig. 422 and 
423, page 987, give a wide contrast 
in methods and ideas of farming. On the 
Western plains far from the town, the 
farmer would be foolish to plant a crop 
of Italian peppers such as is shown at 
Fig. 423. In Southern New Jersey, 
however, this crop is frequently a very 
profitable one. The cultivation is much 
the same as that for tomatoes. The pep¬ 
per crop can be picked through a series 
of weeks. It does not have to be taken 
off like the tomato, just when it is ripe, 
and therefore the picking may be extended 
over quite a long period. Within recent 
years the demand for peppers has in¬ 
creased remarkably, and when well cul¬ 
tivated on the light soils of Southern New 
Jersey the crop often gives excellent re¬ 
turns. The fact is that farming has now 
come to be a business of specialties, and 
a man who expects to make his living 
from a piece of land must know what 
that land is best able to produce and 
adapt his crop to the soil and also to his 
markets. 
The other picture shows a scene on a 
hog farm in Western Iowa. The little 
girl has filled a pail with ear corn, and 
has gone out to offer some of these ears 
to the brood sow. This is a cunning pic¬ 
ture as it shows the child. We consider 
it dangerous to put children in such a 
position, unless there are grown-up peo¬ 
ple close by. The sow in the picture may 
be entirely gentle and good-natured, but 
if she is hungry and takes a notion to 
get hold of that ear corn in the pail, it 
would be an easy matter for her to 
knock down and trample over the child. 
We never like this idea of putting chil¬ 
dren on the back of a cow or a bull to 
ride, or having them go among other live 
stock carrying food in this manner. No 
one could trust a hungry brute, and with¬ 
out showing a vicious or ugly disposition 
they would be quite likely to knock the 
child down while hunting for the food. 
In the Gypsy Moth Country. 
I WONDER how many of the R. N.-Y. 
family have orchards infested with 
the Gypsy moth? We have been fighting 
them for several years, but have not been 
able to exterminate them entirely. We 
have nearly 100 trees, mostly Baldwin 
apples, and we let the hens and chickens 
range in the orchard. We have been 
on the peas or in the soil. Therefore the 
inoculated peas made better plants. In 
the last experiment the bacteria may 
have been in the soil. Then introduction 
through the commercial product was 
therefore not needed and there was no 
reason why these peas should do better 
than the others. This is just the thing 
we should keep in mind when figuring on 
these commercial bacteria. If the bac¬ 
teria are already in the soil we do not 
need to buy them. 
Fodder Corn. 
1 AM an amateur woman farmer, and 
have about one acre of meadow that 
has been used as a yard for cattle. 
Could it be plowed now and planted with 
any crop that would help feed young 
stock during the Winter? Of course it 
would need little fertilizing as 20 yearl¬ 
ings were on it most of the Fall and 
Spring, also during Winter were put 
there pleasant days. Is it too late to 
plant corn? If not tell me just how to 
treat it, as hay is scarce here this Sum¬ 
mer. M. s. 
New York. 
Our plan would be to plow that sod 
at once, fit it properly and sow fodder 
corn. This means making furrows about 
three feet apart and sowing ordinary field 
corn thickly—about two bushels per acre. 
Cover lightly and give good culture. The 
corn will not mature grain, but it will 
give a large quantity of fine tender stalks, 
which when cured will make a good sub¬ 
stitute for hay. 
MEANS EASY 
SILO 
FILL¬ 
ING 
When the time comes to do a certain piece of 
work you want to jump right in and pet it finished. 
| There s one satisfaction about a 
Deyo Portable Engine 
IT’S ALWAYS READY 
No time wasted tinkering the thing to make it go, 
, and then taking it to pieces trying to find out why 
| it doesn’t run rogularly. The “Deyo” runs like a 
clock—evenly, regularly, continuously. Just keep 
it supplied with gasoline and oil and it will do the 
biggest day’s work at the least cost. You can’t 
afford to farm without a Deyo Engine. Write for 
] our free booklets that prove it. 
DEYO - MACEY SALES COMPANY 
24 Washington St., Binoliamton. N. Y, 
Aleo Moneymaker Silo Fillers, Pumping Outfits, 
Pneumatic Water Systems, Feed Grinders, Saws, 
Pulleys, Belting, Shafting, etc. Write NOW for 
printed matter and information. 
H offman’s Seed Wheat 
10 Top Notch yielders — grown in Lancaster Wheat Belt— 
cleaned clean —graded closely, free of rye, smut, garlic, 
cheat, cockle—prices low 
Hoffman’s Wheat Catalogue Free — ash for it 
A. H. HOFFMAN, iSKCiS 
teaching the liens and growing stock to 
eat the Gypsy caterpillar and pupa, also 
the moth when we can catch it. All this 
month we are hunting for the caterpillar 
on the under part of limbs, under loose 
bank and in any cavity. We throw an 
old bag. fertilizer bag, over the crotch, or 
lower limb and trap them the same as 
burlaping. Every day or two we look 
under the bags and kill the caterpillar or 
pupa and the hens and chickens will fol¬ 
low me from tree to tree after them. 
The trees have never been scraped. I 
think it would be a benefit, but we never 
seem to have tim. to do a thorough good 
job. I took a scuffle-hoe aud put in a 
long handle and somewhat straightened 
it. I find it a very handy tool to kill the 
caterpillars and to scrape off the loose old 
bark. The caterpillars will hide under 
the loose bark and go into the pupa stage. 
This transformation is very rapid and to 
catch them before they become moths 
you have to be “Tommy on the job.” In 
the Winter we go over the trees and paint 
with creosote the Gypsy nest, but how¬ 
ever carefully we look, some will get 
missed. In our spraying we use six 
pounds arsenate of lead to 50 gallons 
water, hut still we have a good many 
left to fight. What with these and the 
Brown-tail moth, to say nothing of the 
germs and other fungus, that make war 
upon our fruit trees, it does seem as if 
about all a man’s time is taken up, if he 
really expects to get any fruit worth 
while. M. T. w. 
Massachusetts. 
Spring vs. Fall Seeding. 
Y reasons for Spring seeding are 
these: First, I am sure of a good 
catch by seeding grass with grain. 
Most of my land is clay and muck, 
and it is impossible to get seed 
in early enough for grass to get 
start enough so it will not heave out, 
as the land heaves badly in the Spring. 
Plowing has to be put off five seasons 
out of six until well into September, in 
order to have the soil moist enough. I 
have tried Fall seeding, but it is al¬ 
ways a total failure. M. B. 
Lewiston, Me. 
Recent Experiment Station Bulletins. 
4tT) AOILLARY White Diarrhoee,” in 
X) young chicks is discussed in a 
fourth report upon this subject from 
the Experiment Station at Storrs, 
Conn. In Bulletin 77 the carrier problem, 
a test for determining the presence of in¬ 
fection in grown fowls and the effect of 
sour milk feeding upon growth and mor¬ 
tality of young chicks are treated at 
length. 
“Constitutional Vigor in Poultry,” is 
the subject of Bulletin 345 from the Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture at Ithaca, N. Y. The 
results of their further study of this sub¬ 
ject confirm previous conclusions and 
show that selection of fowls for strong 
vitality increases the productive power of 
a flock. 
The detection of infection with white 
diarrhoea through examination of the eggs 
laid is discussed in Bulletin 148 from the 
Massachusetts Experiment Station at 
Amherst. Owing to the irregularity of 
the appearance of the germs of this dis¬ 
ease in eggs from infected fowls, the con¬ 
clusion is reached that it is not practica¬ 
ble to detect diseased hens in this way. 
“Beef Scrap and Cotton Seed Meal,” 
as sources of protein in the ration of 
growing chicks are compared in Bulletin 
156 from the R. I. State College at Kings¬ 
ton. It was found in a series of experi¬ 
ments that cotton-seed meal had no ap¬ 
parent deleterious effect when fed to 
chicks, and might be made to furnish part 
of the protein required. If the most 
rapid growth was desired, however, the 
beef scrap ration was found to be the 
most satisfactory. 
“The Composition of Corn,” at various 
stages of its growth, is given in Bulletin 
175 from Purdue Experiment Station at 
Lafayette, Ind. A handsome colored 
chart accompanying this bulletin shows 
the amount of plant food in one acre of 
corn at five different stages of its growth. 
“Experimental Work in Connection 
With Cranberries.” is reported in Bulle¬ 
tin 150 from the Experiment Station at 
Amherst, Mass. This bulletin will in¬ 
terest cranberry growers. 
“Classification of the Garden Varieties 
of the Sweet Pea,” will interest profes¬ 
sional growers and many amateurs. It is 
Bulletin 342 from the College of Agri¬ 
culture at Ithaca, N. Y. This bulletin 
states that there are now almost a thou¬ 
sand variety names of sweet peas. 
' M. B. D. 
“For the Land’s Sake, use Bowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those who till it.”— Adv. 
RED WAVE SEED WHEATi?, 1 , 6 *”- seed - stiff 
raw. Good yielder, 
I _ _. ->a yl_ 
Fly proof. C. R. MELLEN, R. 0. 5, Geneva, New York 
WHEAT Timothy Seed sold direct. Why not 
■uikfti sow onr Guaranteed Seeds? Increase 
your profits. Glick’s Seed Farms, Smoketowo, Pa. 
PYF-RfC L EANED-$l.a5 per bn. 
& Discount on large orders. 
HOMEll It. HOWE, • Wellsboro, Fa. 
Mammoth White Rye VushI" 
Catalogue free. W. N. SCARFF, New Carlisle, Ohio 
Alfalfa Soil 
FOR INOCULATION. SEND FOR CIRCULAR 
E. T. GILL, Haddoii Farms, Haddonfield, N. J. 
SWEETCLOVER SEEDifnlBSWit 
and circular how to 
grow it. seuton request. E. Barton, Box 29, Falmouth, Ky. 
SEED WHEAT 
Gypsy Wheat grown on Woodland 
Farm produced 41 bushels per acre, 
absolutely pure and clean. 
THE WING SEED COMPANY, 
Box 523 Mechanicsburg, O. 
Apple Barrels 
- Car lots or less. Prompt 
shipment. ROBKliT 
GILLIES, Medina, N.Y. 
"SUPERB” 
Everbearing 
Strawberries 
a success. Circular Free. 
WILLARD B. KILLE, Swedesboro.N.J. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS SALE 
August, September, October. Layer plants—well 
rooted. All leading varieties. Asparagus roots. 
Price list free. J. KEIFFORD HALL, Rhodo.daie, Md. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
POT-GROWN AND RUNNER 
For AUGUST anil FALL planting. Also Raspberry and 
Blackberry Plants. All Lending Varieties. Cata¬ 
logue Free. HARRY L. SQUIRES, Remsenburg. New York 
PI AIITQ- CElERY and CAULIFLOWER, 400 for SI.00 
TLHnid Postpaid. S2.00per 1,000. CABBBGE, SI.00 
per 1,000. List free. W. S. FORD S SON, Hartly, Delaware 
CABBAGE PLANTSiJ.te VT.ftS 
ready to plant out. DANISH BALL HEAD, FLAT DUTCH. ALL 
SEASON, ALL HEAD SAVOY, and others—II per 1,000; 
$8.50 for 10,000. CELERY PLANTS— all leading kinds, 
$1 per 1,000. CAULIFLOWER PLANTS— $2.50 per 1,000. 
J- C SCHMIDT - - Bristol, Pa. 
FRUIT TREES 
All Lending Varieties at Less Thau Half Agent*' 
Prices. Catalogue Free. Harry L. Squires, Remsenburg, N.Y. 
Inoculated Peas- 
L AST year I purchased some commer- i 
cial bacteria from a seedsman and 
inoculated peas before planting. 
Those inoculated produced at least a 
third more peas and of better quality 
than a row that was not inoculated. 
This year I purchased another kind from 
another seedsman, but was unable to see 
any benefit from it. Can you tell me any¬ 
thing about the different brands of inocu¬ 
lation? a. s. A. 
Alstead, N. H. 
While we think some brands of these 
inoculating bacteria are more reliable 
than others, the incident you relate would 
not be definite proof. All these “inocula- 
tors” can be expected to do is to add the 
bacteria needed to enable the plant to take 
nitrogen from the air. In the first case there 
may not have been any of these bacteria 
CABBAGE WORMS Dtetroyed by DmU 
i s with HAMMOND’S SLUG SHOT 
So used for 30 years. SOLD BY ALL SEED DEALERS. 
For pamphlets worth having write B. HAMMOND, I IshLlU-un-IIuJson, Now York/ 
Evergreen Trees and Shrubs 
i. e., Spruce, Pine, Hemlock, Juniper, etc., 
transplant well during August, September and 
October. If interested in any planting problem, writ# us. We 
carry in stock the largest collection of Evergreen or Deciduous 
1 rees, plants or shrubs, and can supply in quantity anything required 
for Forestry, Landscape aud Garden planting. 
The New England Nurseries Co. 
Dept. F. 2. Bedford, Mass. 
