1914. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
1439 
Grafting the Hickory. 
C AN you give any information on the 
propagation of the hickory? There 
is a hickory in this neighborhood 
that bears a nut much larger than any 
other in the vicinity. I have done a good 
deal of grafting apples, and have success¬ 
fully budded the peach, but have not 
been successful with the hickory. I 
would like to propagate a few trees from 
this desirable tree. L. H. P. 
Ludlow Center, Mass. 
This method of grafting the hickory is 
comparatively simple. Cut terminal 
twigs in February for scions. Keep them 
lying on a bed of dry leaves, and covered 
with the leaves, on the dirt floor of a 
cold cellar. For stocks, any variety of 
hickory will do, shagbark, shellbark, pig¬ 
nut, bull nut or pecan. Use stocks from 
two to six inches in diameter. When 
the leaves on the stocks are two or three 
inches long cut the stocks off squarely 
with a saw, breast high on any point 
desired. Then cut the scions with a 
long sloping cut on one side only. Insert 
the point of this one-sided wedge between 
the wood and bark of the stock, cut sur¬ 
face of scion toward center of stock, 
loosening the bark a little at the start if 
necessary with a knife, and push the 
scion down the length of its cut surface. 
Now cover all cut surfaces with graft¬ 
ing wax and tie a paper bag over the 
whole operation. Scions cut to two buds, 
one of which is the terminal bud, give 
good results. After 10 days a peep hole 
may be made in the bag and the scion 
watched. As it grows the bag may be 
torn open as neccessary. The young 
shoot should soon be tied to some support 
to prevent breaking off by accident. This 
method, here barely outlined, has given 
excellent results. war. c. deming. 
Sec’y Northern Nut Growers’ Assn. 
Sudan Grass. 
J 'UST now there is much talk about Su¬ 
dan grass—the new fodder crop. The 
lepartment of Agriculture recommends it 
highly for the Southwest, but is doubt¬ 
ful as to its value along the Atlantic 
coast. The grass appears to be some 
distant relative of Johnson grass or 
quack grass, but has no such propensity 
for spreading underground as these pests 
indulge. The Sudan grass is having a 
boom in Texas. We even hear stories of 
how the seeds of Sudan are accepted in 
some places for making change! Up 
through the rich soils of the Mississippi 
Valley at least as far north as Iowa the 
Sudan grass is certainly worth trying, 
for it makes a great crop of fodder on 
rich soils. We have been considering this 
grass for our own farm, where the object 
is to secure as much organic matter as 
possible for plowing under and raise the 
needed hay on a small area. Henry 
Field, the Iowa seedsman, has found this 
grass a heavy yielder, but he gives this 
warning: 
The trouble with Sudan is that it is 
so greedy that it will rob everything 
within reach. One man wrote in the 
other day asking if he could sow it in 
his orchard to use as a mulch around 
the trees. He had the old idea of grow¬ 
ing the mulch right on the ground where 
it was to be used. I told him not to do 
it. for the Sudan would undoubtedly rob 
his trees. It will live and thrive under 
remarkably hard conditions. In fact. 
I believe it will make a good crop any¬ 
where and under any conditions, but the 
quality that enables it to do this is its ab¬ 
solute selfishness and greediness. If there 
is a drop of water or a particle of fertil¬ 
ity in the soil within reaching distance, 
it gets it and keeps it. and the neighbors 
can take care of themselves. 
Our problem has been to find a crop 
which will give a fair amount of grain 
and fodder in the orchards without rob¬ 
bing the trees. We have found this in 
our flint corn with a cover crop seeded at 
the last cultivation. Evidently the Su¬ 
dan grass would do more harm than good 
on our thin hill soils. 
Feeding a Raccoon. 
W IIAT is the best food to feed coons 
and how often should they be fed? 
How long does it take a coon to 
mature? How often do they breed and 
at what age? How many young do they 
breed to a litter? F. m. f. 
New York. 
Raccoons will eat almost anything and 
it is best to give them quite a variety. 
Meat should form a rather small part of 
the food. All kinds of vegetables; beets, 
carrots, turnips, potatoes, green corn, 
etc., cut in small pieces and mixed with 
small amount* of meat, fish, clams, craw¬ 
fish, etc., would be right. Ordinary ta¬ 
ble scraps, if fresh, are all right. It 
is a good rule in feeding most animals 
to give what will be eaten up clean in 
about 15 to 20 minutes three times a 
day. 
Little is known of the breeding habits 
of the raccoon but it is probable that 
wild ones have the first litter when about 
a year old and in this region they prob¬ 
ably have only one litter of three to five 
or six in a year. We sometimes see very 
small coons in the Fall, and it may be 
that they occasionally breed twice in a 
season. Alfred c. weed. 
Wayne County, N. Y. 
Chances in Pennsylvania. 
T HE letter from a correspondent liv¬ 
ing in Schoharie County, New York, 
as to farm values applies to more 
than one locality in the East. Here in 
Montgomery Co., Pa., land with excel¬ 
lent farm buildings can be purchased on 
easy terms, and at figures that would 
not replace the buildings. The soil is 
good, and prices of farm products are 
high; everything that can be raised on 
the farm can be sold for cash to huck¬ 
sters who have stalls in various markets 
in Philadelphia, which city is not over 40 
miles from the extreme part of the coun¬ 
ty. The roads are good, taxes are low, 
and it is mainly inhabited by a most ex¬ 
cellent class of Pennsylvania Germans, 
who, while mainly using that language, 
speak English also. The farmhouses are 
usually built of stone or brick with 
slate roofs; when built of lumber in 
most instances have slate roofs and some¬ 
times the siding is the same material. 
The barns are what as known as Swiss, 
with a basement and overhang in the 
rear. Dairying and poultry raising are 
the. main means of support, although 
fruit and general farming engage the at¬ 
tention of a great many. The soil is 
ideal for peaches, apples and pears, the 
crops were on the bumper order this 
season. There are many creameries 
where the so-called Philadelphia print 
butter is made. Butterfat has not gone 
below 40 cents per pound this season. 
Milk shippers receive five cents gross, 
which is nearly 4 y 2 cents net. Eggs 
bring from 40 to 46 cents at the door. 
The farms range in size from 15 acres 
to 60, very rarely going over the last 
size. I am acquainted with men who 
have farms as small as three acres on 
which they are making good livings from 
poultry. I have traveled all over the 
United States, also in Europe and South 
America; we have had large farms in 
Ulster and Sullivan Counties, N. Y., but 
this is the country for a man with an 
inclination to work. Come and see us. 
Pennsylvania. h. c. w. 
Markets in Boston. 
T ODAY' I visited the produce markets 
of Boston, with a view to learning 
selling conditions on this end of the 
produce business. There are several so- 
called “markets,” Faneuil Hall Market, 
Clinton Market, Quincy Market, etc., 
where the commision merchant, offices and 
storerooms are situated close together; a 
large number, with a continual hustle and 
bustle and shifting of produce all about. 
Often the ground floor is the office and 
exhibition room, and the basement is the 
cold storeroom and packing room. Upon 
the sidewalk are the displays of fruit 
and all the sorts of produce. Prices are 
here talked and produce sold. Grocers’ 
teams are backed up to the sidewalk to 
take away produce; the grocers generally 
buy tomorrow's produce this afternoon. 
Some of the teams belong to the commis¬ 
sion merchants and are used to cater to 
the hotel trade. 
I noticed especially the manner of 
displaying the fruit. Boxes and bar¬ 
rels are opened for inspection in groups. 
One pile of boxed apples was especially 
attractive. The apples were large, fancy 
Maine, polished, neatly packed with pa¬ 
per between each layer and over the top. 
and upon the outside was a neat placard 
giving the shipper’s name, and the grade, 
kind and number of apples. A very neat 
affair, I thought, but I also observed 
that the boxes had been packed without 
the supposedly necessary bulge. The 
man in charge explained to me that a 
bulge tended to injure tender-skinned ap¬ 
ples, and that no bulge was needed to 
assure tight travelling. I wonder, is this 
true? 
I inquired of the commission man to 
whom I had been sending hennery eggs 
this past Summer whether there were 
good prospects in selling fancy eggs un¬ 
der a brand name, and whether the pub¬ 
lic desired especially an unwashed egg. 
To the first question he replied, “No. 
selling eggs under a brand name would 
give the grocer who sells them a chance 
to hurt the name of the brand by care¬ 
less and slow handling. When eggs are 
sold on merit as eggs, they will bring 
a fair price and, when in the hands of 
the grocer, cease to be a responsibility 
to the producer.” To the second ques¬ 
tion he replied that eggs were not sup¬ 
posed to be washed anyway, though they 
might be wiped with a damp rag. lie 
said that washed eggs would not keep at 
all well, and that there would probably 
be a demand for an unwashed egg. lie 
suggested the use of vinegar in wiping 
eggs, as it will remove dirt and leave the 
shell rough. philip m. marsh. 
Ask for 
this pen by 
name — Waterman’s 
Ideal. The genuine 
For the 
most satisfac¬ 
tory ink—ask for 
Waterman’s Ideal. 
f % E rtATf 
ROOFING 
$2.90 PerSq. 
Galvanized or Painted Roofing 
ft ( A J . f V. i rrk A . —. _ L_ftL - * ■ ft , , ^ 
Made of hit?h srrade open hearth metal. All galvan¬ 
ized Roofing and Siding have heavy coating of gal¬ 
vanize. Write to-day for free sample and mill price 
list No. 20*-. bend size of building, length of ridge 
length of rafters and we will furnish free complete 
. estimate of cost--without obligation on your part to 
buy—then make comparison and see tho big saving. 
Also makers of galvanized shingles for houses. 
30 Year Guaranteed Galvanized Roofing 
Made of selected best grade No. 24 gauge basic 
open hearth metal with an extra heavy tight Coat¬ 
ing of Galvanize and Pure Tin. Write today for 
price list No. 60. When you buy from us you buy 
from tho manufacture r. 
Established 1877 
THE SYKES METAL LATH & ROOFING CO. 
516 Walnut Street, Nile*, Ohio 
DIRECT 
PROM 
MILL*tMIIL PRICES 
ROOF PROTECTION 
Against Storms, Fire and Decay 
You can now buy this weather¬ 
proof, long-life roofing direct from 
us at factory prices and save money. 
It is all ready to put on. 
Kanneberg 
Metal Shingles 
'We Pay the Freight“ 
They are fire-resisting and proof 
against rain, snow, co'.d and heat. They 
need no repairs, because they do not rot, 
crack, rust, buckle, curl nor fall off. 
Every shingle guaranteed. Made of 
28-gauge steel, painted or galvanized, and 
come single, 8 to sheet or in clusters 2 ft. 
by any length from 5 ft. to 10 ft. 
Write for Big Catalog. It shows how 
little it costs to get roof protection. 
Send today and get ready for winter. 
KANNEBERG ROOFING & CEILING CO. 
Est. 1886 1425 Douglas St., Canton, Ohio 
GALVANIZED 
Wiite for Cat. "C” and price del. your station. 
GRIFFIN LUMBER CO., Box 99. Hudson Falls, New York 
MAPLE SYRUP MAKERS! 
With The GRIMM Evaporator 
you will make bet¬ 
ter syrup with less 
fuel and labor than 
with any other svb- 
tem. Will last life 
time. .Made in 33 
different sizes. 
Write for catalogue and state nnmber of trees you tap 
Grimm Manufacturing Co., 
619-621 Champlain Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 
~7leiv z/fclland ~ 
Stone Crusher 
The finest machine made for crushing all 
kinds of rock for road making or concrete 
work. Easiest running and most durable. 
Equipped with Pulverizer to grind rock fine for 
building and land purposes. A money maker 
for contractors or farmers having 4 to 12 
h. p. A chance to increase value of your 
own farm and establish a big money making 
business. Write today 
for catalog, facts as to 
value of raw lime¬ 
stone on land, and 
free trial offer. 
NEW HOLLAND 
MACHINE CO. 
Box 41, New Holland, Pa. 
on 
prevent damage to eggs, garden 
truck, fruits or live stock on road to 
market. Make any wagon a spring wagon. Soon 
save cost—produce brings bigger prices — wagon 
lasts longer—horses benefited. Thousands in use. 
“My wagon rides like auto” says one user. 
MADE LIKE FINEST AUTO SPRINGS 
Same principle—same care—same high-quality steel 
In Harvey Bolster Springs as in finest automobile 
springs. In resiliency, durability and appearance they 
cannot possibly be excelled. The Standard Springs 
of America since 1839. Get a pairatyour dea¬ 
lers. If not at dealer’s write us. Insist on Har- f 
vey's. 40sizes-fit any wagon-sustainany load j 
to 10.000 lbs. Catalog and fistful of proof free. F 
HARVtT SPRING CO., 716 17th Street, Racine, WIs. 
GUARANTEED 
When you write _flvertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick replj 
and a square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
