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Farm and Garden Topics i 
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T he joiix baer tomato.—l. j. 
D., Maryland, says ‘‘I found the 
Jolm Baer tomato, which you scored so 
last year, to be a very tine smooth and 
productive tomato, and intend to grow it 
again this year.” I have never said that 
the John Baer tomato is not a tine toma¬ 
to. What I did say was that the claim 
of extra earliness did not prove true with 
me. It is a very good tomato, and so 
is Chalk's Jewell, and I cannot tell the 
two apart. Bonny Best is similar, and 
shows a relation to Chalk’s Jewell, but 
is earlier, and may have been bred from 
a special selection from Chalk's Jewell. 
I shall try John Baer again this season 
right alongside of Chalk’s Jewell and 
i st is grazing stock for the western feed¬ 
ers to fatten in Winter. There the po¬ 
tatoes could be grown well. 
Muskmelons. —Our market growers 
here use Burrell’s Eden Gem more than 
any other, but for home garden planting 
1 prefer the Knight for a green-fleshed 
melon and Tail's Ideal for a salmon- 
fleshed one. These are both larger than 
the Rocky Ford type and are of extra 
fine quality. Our market growers get 
seed from Colorado every year. 
Vegetables I Have Found Good.— 
1 always try a few promising novelties, 
and now and then one of these sticks and 
becomes standard. Among these the 
Black Valentine bean has about super- 
TOMATOES STAKED TO FENCE. 
Bonny Best, and hope for a better season 
than last one. 
Bourns lx Reach Treks. —“Please 
tell me bow to prevent borers in peach 
fives,” asks a correspondent. Many plans 
have been devised to prevent the moths 
laying their eggs. I have seen the lower 
part of tin* trunks smeared with gas tar, 
a dangerous practice I think. I have 
seen a wash of cement used, and white 
lead painted a foot or more up the trunks. 
Those may to some extent check the lay¬ 
ing of the eggs, but the fact is that noth¬ 
ing has been devised that will entirely 
prevent borers. The only sure thing is 
to watch the trees, and as soon as any 
; inn is seen at the base of the tree, go 
for the borer with a knife and cut out 
and follow his track till you get him. 
This done every Spring and Fall will 
keep the borers down better than any ar- 
tifieial preventive. 
Swiss Chard. —If you want a good 
Summer substitute for spinach sow a 
row of chard early in Spring. This is 
a variety of beet which makes a great 
leaf growth, almost as large as rhubarb 
at times. The leaves are pulled off just 
as rhubarb leaves are pulled. The blade 
of the leaf makes the best substitute for 
spinach, while the long leaf stalks can 
be cooked like asparagus and make a 
very nice dish. There are a number of 
varieties, and I have tried them all, but 
the one called Lucullus is far the best. 
I plant the seed moderately thick and use 
the . thinnings as greens, leaving the 
plants standing about six inches apart. I 
find that a single row 30 feet long gives 
its an abundance all Summer through. 
Seed Potatoes In Southern Moun¬ 
tains. —Quite an interest has developed 
in Western Maryland in the growing of 
seed potatoes for fhe warmer sections 
east. It is found that the climatic condi¬ 
tions on the high plateau nearly 3,000 
feet above the sea are very nearly iden¬ 
tical with those in the potato growing 
section of Maine, and the Western Mary¬ 
land seed has proved to give better re¬ 
sults than the Maine seed. The same in¬ 
terest should be developed on the whole 
Appalachian plateau, for climate is more 
a matter of elevation than of latitude. 
In Northwestern North Carolina, where 
the farms on the plateau lie 3,500 to 
-1.000 feet above the sea level, the forest 
growth shows the similarity of the cli¬ 
mate to the northern coast, for the forest 
growth is White pine, hemlock and bal¬ 
sam fir. and what little corn is grown is 
of a peculiarly early kind known locally 
as Watauga corn, while the main inter- 
seded the old Red Valentine, being earlier 
and more hardy. Burpee’s Model Beet 1 
prefer for home use to the Egyptian, but 
1 still use some of the old Bassano be¬ 
cause of its good quality, and do no'; 
mind the light color, though the market- 
men object to its big tops. Copenhagen 
Market Cabbage is a good succession to 
the Early Wakefield, and for late cab¬ 
bage I still stick to a good strain of the 
I,ate Flat Dutch. I do not use the self- 
blauching celery, for I have found that 
the old Boston Market is best for our 
method of growing in beds and of far 
better quality than any self-blanching 
sort. Extra early sweet corn is of little 
use down here, and I plant the Norfolk 
Market for earliest, though not a sugar 
corn, and then plant Country Gentleman 
and Stowell's Evergreen in succession till 
July. Of Lima beans I plant the Small 
Lima, as being more productive here, and 
then the Fordhook Bush bean, which 
makes large beans and good crops. Of 
cucumbers the Davis Perfect suits me 
well, though our market growers stick to 
strains of White Spine. Black Beauty 
eggplant is earlier and more productive 
than the older sorts, and I use it en¬ 
tirely. Cnrentan leek comes in very nice¬ 
ly in Winter as a substitute for green 
onions. I sow them in a border and 
transplant in July to open furrows and 
earth up as they grow. May King is 
the earliest lettuce I have grown and 
Hanson stands the heat well. For frames 
in Winter I use the Big Boston, but it 
runs to seed very quickly in Spring. I 
plant sets of the Norfolk Queen onion in 
September for early green onions, and at 
same time plant sets of the Yellow Po¬ 
tato onion for early ripe onions. The 
I’rizetaker and Giant Gibraltar are sown 
in February in a frame and transplanted 
later to make large onions. Of sweet 
peppers I use* Neapolitan and Giant 
Chinese, and take care not to plant them 
near hot ones, for I have found that the 
hot ones will affect the sweet ones even 
the same season. Of okra the Perkins 
Long-pod Green and the Kleekle.v White- 
pod are both grown, the green one being 
earlier. Our market growers still stick to 
the Irish Cobbler potato, which is now 
badly mixed, and I find the Beauty a 
better potato of the same type. 
Maryland. w. F. MASSEY. 
The old negress begged the Governor 
for clemency for her “ole man” who was 
in the penitentiary for stealing a hog. 
“Why, auntie, lie’s worthless, why not 
let him stay in?” “Yes. suh. I knoze it, 
but Guv’ner, we’se outer bacon again.”— 
Columbia Jester. 
Chicopee 
Reversible 
Sulky Plow 
The Chicopee Sulky Plow is built on 
correct principles. Has less complica¬ 
tion of parts. Is without side-draft and 
handles easier than any plow of its class 
and does perfect work. Now made with 
Lifting Springs. 
iiiiil 
Twin Corn Planters of Merit 
The Original Eclipse' 
Kirin of the Cornfield 
Chicopee 
2-Lever Disc 
Harrow xms 
A FAST 
WORKER 
‘The 
Eclipse 
Weeder 
ORDER 
ONE 
THIS 
SEASON 
Stevens Fertilizer Sower 
Has only force feed i|-».r. 
which will sow success- ' r | ■' 
fully all kinds of com- f 
mcrcial fertilizers in / WJvlSuKSB 
large or small quanti- | ngfMBK&J3 
tics. No springs or I 'y- 5 -- 
gears in box. I 
Is low down and easy HJEy 
to fill. HKf 
Wheels with 4-incli <^* 
tires for soft ground. , 
A’oic Furnished ’with 
Open or Closed Hop¬ 
per , and ’with Solid 
or Combined Pole. 
■HE 
FREE 
CATALOG 
Belcher & Taylor Agricultural Tool Company 
Box 75, Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts 
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tv 
Make Your Farm 
PAY 
W ITH a good prospect of high prices 
for farm products in sympathy with 
the advance now taking place in 
wheat and grains, the coming year should 
be a good one to crowd production, and 
make your farm pay. 
You Can Do It With 
Bradley’s Fertilizers 
They have been for over fifty years the 
standard by whieh othe’~ fertilizers are 
judged. They have always brought good 
crops and improved the soil. They are 
“crop producers and cost reducers. ” Old 
friends will continue to use them. We in¬ 
vite new ones to investigate their merits. 
Send for descriptive booklet. 
The American Agricultural Chemical Co., 
92 State Street, Boston 2 Rector Street, New York 
Buffalo, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Etc. 
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