THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
893 
Garden and Farm Notes 
Chickens and Potato Beetles. 
Is it not generally understood that 
chickens will not eat potato bugs? I have 
three-fourths of an acre in potatoes, and 
they are now in full bloom and I have 
never seen a bug on them. I have 500 
White Leghorn chicks running in the po¬ 
tatoes and I think they must keep them 
clear of bugs, and they also keep out the 
grass. w. G. it. 
Reidsville, N. C. 
Personally we have never known hens 
to eat the potato beetles. There have 
been a number of reports from readers to 
the effect that ducks and geese will eat 
these insects. We have also been told 
that toads devour them. We have tried 
the experiment of penning a healthy toad 
into a small box with a large number of 
bugs, but have not been able to get this 
prisoner to eat his dinner, although he 
must have been hungry. The same is true 
of our own ducks, as we have not been 
able to induce them to eat the beetles. It 
is said that quail will sometimes eat these 
insects. At several times we have kept 
large flocks of poultry running in the po¬ 
tato field, but have never noticed that 
they have eaten the beetles. We think, 
however, that they will sometimes pick 
off and eat the yellow egg clusters on the 
underside of the leaf and it may be that 
in this way they keep down the crop of 
beetles. If any of our readers have had 
experience and can give cases where poul¬ 
try have eaten the beetles we should be 
glad to hear from them 
Rotting Meadow Hay for Manure. 
I have quite a large stock of low mea¬ 
dow hay which I use for bedding, but as 
it is almost time to cut again I want to 
turn it into manure for my two, two-acre 
asparagus beds. I suggested to my man 
to plow a deep furrow between the rows, 
put in the bog hay and cover it from 
each side with a one-horse plow. Near 
the stack I have a muck hole. I low 
would it do to make a layer of hay and 
a layer of muck and a layer of lime, then 
more hay, muck and lime until it is 
used up? Then if I keep it wet will it 
rot quickly? E. F. ir. 
New York. 
The plan of burying this dry hay in 
furrows as you suggest will not be satis¬ 
factory. In the light sandy soil the hay 
will not rot readily under such condi¬ 
tions, and left in this way it will absorb 
moisture which ought to go to the as¬ 
paragus. The warm air working down 
through the soil would take this moisture 
away, so that in the end the soil would 
he worse off than it was before you put 
the hay into it. This would work on 
about the same principle as plowing un¬ 
der a heavy crop of mature rye, as some 
farmers do, and leaving it loose in the 
soil. A much better way would be to 
follow the plan you suggest of rotting 
down this coarse hay in the swamp 
muck. Use a fair quantity of slaked 
lime when piling in the hay and see that 
the entire pile is kept constantly covered 
by the muck. This will prevent the loss 
of too much ammonia, and if the pile 
is kept moist as it should be, it will de¬ 
cay freely and make a good dressing for 
the asparagus. 
Cement for Posts. 
How is cement mixed to make cement 
post ? We have reinforced wire for the 
post. Which is the better, gravel or 
sand? g. j. 
Saugerties, N. Y. 
The following directions for making 
fence posts are given by one of the large 
manufacturers of cement: Use one part 
of cement, two parts clean, coarse, sand 
and four parts of broken stone or gravel. 
Fill the bottom of the form with con¬ 
crete to the depth of one inch, upon this 
immediately place two pieces of ^4-inch 
round iron rods, or No. 6 wire, one inch 
in from each side, and running the full 
length of the posts; then quickly fill the 
form to within one inch of the top with 
concrete, tamping it slightly to drive out 
any air bubbles, and place two more 
wires as before. Complete the filling of 
the form, spading the faces of the post 
next to the form boards to leave a smooth 
surface, and lightly troweling the top 
surface. The end boards and those be¬ 
tween the posts must not be removed 
until the concrete is hard and the posts 
should not be handled for at least ten 
days. They should be left three or four 
weeks, at least, before using, and, during 
this time, should be kept damp by sprink¬ 
ling. These directions are given for the 
use of a multiple wooden form, but 
would doubtless apply to the one which 
you have equally well. m. b. d. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC. — Eight persons are 
known to have been killed and from 12 to 
14 were injured, in a head-on collision be¬ 
tween the Blue Mountain special and a 
local train on the Western Maryland 
Railroad, near Gettysburg, Pa., .Tune 24. 
The trains, which were going at high 
speed, met on a bridge spanning a deep 
ravine between Ilighfield and Thurmont. 
A misunderstanding of orders is believed 
to have been the cause. 
Charged with conspiracy to incite a re¬ 
bellion against a friendly country. Gen¬ 
eral Victoriano Huerta, ex-President of 
Mexico, and General Pascual Orozco were 
taken from a train at Newman. New 
Mexico, June 27, by Federal officials and 
placed in the charge of army officers from 
Fort Bliss. Both were later released. 
Huerta under a $15,000 bond and Orozco 
under bail of $7,500. General Huerta’s 
arrest was made near Newman, New 
Mexico, 20 miles east of El Paso, as the 
train crossed the Texas border at that 
point. It was made on information that 
General Huerta was going to start a new 
revolution, which, it is claimed, lias been 
fomenting on the border for a month. The 
State Department was informed that 
more than 20.000 foreigners, including 
many Americans, were penned up in the 
capital as Zapatistas and Carranzistas 
fight for possession. Not only are the 
Americans in peril from bullets and shells, 
but also from famine and disease. The 
city is paralyzed, banks and stores closed. 
Charging the larceny of public records 
and books and destroying records to in¬ 
volve others, the Grand Jury at Nash¬ 
ville, Tenn., .Tune 20. returned indict¬ 
ments against Finance Commissioner 
Lyle Andrews, Comptroller Miles Burns 
and J. B. West, assistant city treasurer. 
West is speeding toward Australia, but 
Andrews and Burns gave bond to answer 
in the Criminal Court. 
The Connecticut Aero Company has re¬ 
ceived orders under contract from the 
l nited States Government for three big 
dirigible balloons of the Zeppelin type. 
A slide in the Culebra cut has filled in 
the canal at that point to such an extent 
as to make impossible the passage of the 
steamship Kroonland, which left San 
Francisco on June 10 for New York. 
Ships drawing 23 feet were able to pass 
through June 28 and it is expected that 
the channel would be cleared in two days. 
There was an earthouake June 28 at Epi¬ 
centre, on Panama Bay. No damage was 
caused. 
Robert S. Davis, who said he was a 
former pupil in the Bible class of John 
D. Rockefeller, Jr., and a graduate of 
Easton College, was arraigned June 29 
before Magistrate Nash in the Adams 
street court, Brooklyn, on a charge of en¬ 
gaging in a mail business without having 
filed a certificate with the county clerk. 
He was held in $300 bail for the Court of 
Special Sessions. The charge grew out of 
an advertisement which Davis inserted in 
a morning newspaper for stenographers 
and typists at a salary of $0 to $7, invit¬ 
ing applicants to call at his home. Ilis 
conversation and actions caused suspicion 
on the part of girls who answered the ad¬ 
vertisement 
Announcement was made June 29 at 
the Department of Commerce that under 
an international agreement of the mari¬ 
time nations at a convention in London 
in 1914 the United States is maintaining 
a patrol of the Grand Banks near the 
transatlantic steamship lanes for the de¬ 
tection of icebergs and ice floes and for 
warning vessel! of such dangers. The 
coast guard cutters Seneca and Miami 
are assigned to this work. The former 
vessel carries four scientific men to make 
special investigations connected with or 
growing out of the patrol. 
David Essaeson, head of the Kalos 
Manufacturing Company of New York 
and Boston, Avas senten *ed by Judge Gor¬ 
don Russell in the United States District 
Court at Now York June 29 to one year 
in Atlanta penitentiary and fined $200 
for defrauding men and women of mod¬ 
erate means who Avishod to increase their 
income by making the Kalos photographic 
medallions at home. Essaeson is said to 
have made more than $500,000 through 
his scheme of giving applicants lessons in 
the art of medallion making and selling 
them outfits at fancy prices on the un¬ 
derstanding that the Kalos company 
would yay 50 cents for every medallion 
that they made successfully. According 
to the evidence brought out at the trial it 
was almost impossible to satisfy the 
Kalos company in this respect, for very 
few of the applicants ever sold their pro¬ 
ducts to the company. The mails were 
used freely in the operation of the scheme, 
which brought it Avithiu the jurisdiction 
of the Federal courts. 
The third annual poultry convention, 
Massachusetts Agricultural College ex¬ 
tension service, will be held at Amherst, 
Mass.. July 21-23, under the auspices of 
the Massachusetts Poultry Association, 
Inc., co-operating with the Massachu¬ 
setts State Board of Agriculture, Charles 
L. Wilder, President, Lancaster, Mass., 
presiding. 
— 1 * " -■ 1 
When you write advertisers mention The R. 
N.-Y. and you’ll got a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings. 
Fourth annual Summer School, under 
auspices of Washington State College, 
Puyallup, Wash., June 21-July 30. 
International Viticulture Congress, 
Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francis¬ 
co. July 12-13. 
National Fertilizer Association, annual 
convention. Hot Springs, Ya.. July 13-14. 
National Negro Farmers’ Congress, 
San Francisco, July 14-17. 
I bird annual poultry convention Mas¬ 
sachusetts’ Agricultural College, Amherst, 
Mass., July 21-23. 
Ginners’ Association of the Cotton 
Belt, Atlanta, Ga„ July 23-24. 
California State Fruit Growers’ Con¬ 
vention, Leland Stanford University, July 
20-. >0. 
West Coast Potato Association, Palo 
Alto, Cal., July 30. 
. * alifornia State Bee Keepers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, San Francisco, Aug. 5-7. 
Society for the Promotion of Agricul¬ 
tural Science. Berkeley, Cal., Aug. 9-10. 
Highland Horse anil Colt SIioav, High¬ 
land, Md., August 14. 
American Rose Society, San Francisco 
Aug. 17-19. 
Society of American Florists, San 
1 ranclsco. Aug. 17-20. 
American Gladiolus Society, Annual 
shoAV, Newport, It. I., August 18, 19 
1915. 
. Warren County Farmers’ Picnic, Bel- 
videre, N. .T„ August 18. 
American Bornological Society, Berke¬ 
ley. Cal.. Aug. 23-25. 
Cambridge Valley Fair, Cambridge, N 
Y.. Aug. 23-27. 
New York State Fair. Syracuse. N. Y. 
September 13-18. 
Genesee County Fair, Batavia, N. Y., 
September 21-25. 
Trenton Inter-State Fair, Trenton, N. 
J.. Sept. 27-Oct. 2. 
Farmers’ National Congress, annual 
meeting, Omaha, Neb., September 28-Oc- 
tober 1. 
International Dry Farming Congress. 
Deuver, Colo., Oct. 4-7. 
Chrysanthemum Society of America, 
annual show, Cleveland, Ohio, November 
10-14, 1915. Special show, San Francis¬ 
co, Cal. 
Berks Corn Contest, Reading, Pa., 
Dec, 2-4. 
reading Pigeon and Poultry Associa¬ 
tion. annual show, Dec. 6-11. 
Annual Corn and Grain Show, Tracy, 
Minn., January 3-8, 1916. 
A certain teacher who is fond of put¬ 
ting his class through natural history 
examinations, is often surprised by 
their mental agility. He recently asked 
them to tell him. “What animal is sat¬ 
isfied with the least nourishment?” 
“The moth,” one of them shouted con¬ 
fidently. “It eats nothing but holes.”— 
Lippineott’s. 
Waterproofed 
Standard Sprays 
Paris Green Arsenate of Lead 
Guaranteed Waterproof 
Costs no more waterproofed; and 
goes farther. One spraying usually 
sufficient for an entire season. Not 
washed off by rain. 
Made according to U. S. Govern¬ 
ment formulas regulating the produc¬ 
tion of insecticides and fungicides. 
As already supplied to agricultural 
departments and experimental sta¬ 
tions, to which inquirers may refer. 
Furnished in Dry Powdered Form 
or in Water Paste. 
Inquire of Your Dealer 
International Color & Chemical Co. 
Detroit, Michigan 
K CHAMPION DIGGERS 
[11 _ _ 
4 Different Sizes and Types 
Our machines are designed 
and built to meet 
all conditions under 
which they may be 
worked. They em- 
- body every point of 
construction which insures freedom from 
breakdowns, costly waits and expensive repair 
bills. Saves time in harvesting and saves 
money on your crop of potatoes. 
PBCP Make inquiry. Write today for our 
THEE DESCRIPTIVE literature, etc. 
giving particulars of the O. K. Champion Line 
CHAMPION POTATO MACHINERY COMPANY 
151 Chicago Avenue , Hammond, Indiana 
r You tret it without argument under^. 
our guarantee if rusting out occurs in ai> 
AMERICAN INCOT IRON ROOF 
Rust-resisting Pure Iron-Not Steel 
Our Bond protects you. Lifetime 
jservico. low cost. 
toda II far Free Raoflny Catalan. 
| no ii I ho make Corn Cribn, Stork Tanks, Wiro 
Fonco#. Crlb&Tnnk, or Fon«e Catalog Free. 
The American Iron Roofing Co. 
Station 1G MIDDIJKTOWN, OHIO 
amepi can~ 
Because demand far exceeds supply, man craftily splits each cowhide 
into several sheets. But—there can be only one sheet of grain leather. 
I he rest are merely “splits”—coated and grained to look like the 
genuine article, and sold as “genuine leather,” but they do not wear 
like hand or machine buffed leather. Right here enters 
The Ideal 
Upholstery 
Material 
Guaranteed 
Superior to 
Coated Splits 
REG. U. S 
Fabrikoid looks and feels like the best 
leather. It is water, dust and grease 
proof—guaranteed for one year against 
cracking or peeling. And back of this 
guarantee is the century old Du Pont 
reputation for integrity of purpose, 
superiority of product and financial 
responsibility. 
Motor Quality Fabrikoid is upholstering 
a third of 1915 autos. Two years’ use 
PAT. OFF. 
on one quarter million cars has proved 
its merits. 
Craftsman Quality Fabrikoid for furni¬ 
ture upholstery and home-made furnish¬ 
ings is beautiful and wears better than 
most leathers. Sold by the yard by leading upholstery 
dealers and department stores in all popular colors, 
grains and finishes. 
Fabrikoid Rayntite is an automobile top material 
guaranteed not to leak for one year. Made in single 
or double texture. 
Write for free samples and booklet 
DU PONT FABRIKOID COMPANY, Wilmington, Del. 
Canadian Factory and Sales Office, Toronto 
“One,” says Nature 
“Three,” says Cunning 
