THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1013 
RURALISMS 
Setting California Privet. 
When is the best time in the Fall to 
plant California privet? Should a hedge 
planted last Spring be pruned this Fall? 
Searsdale, N. Y. G. w. 
Privet may be transplanted any time 
in the Fall after the plants have com¬ 
pleted the season’s growth, but for the 
latitude of Searsdale, Spring planting 
would be advisable, as Fall-set plants 
might possibly be injured to some extent 
from hard freezing. I would advise 
Spring pruning for that section, particu¬ 
larly if the hedge is in an exposed sit¬ 
uation. Mulch with rough manure this 
Fall, which will not only assist in bring¬ 
ing the young hedge plants safely through 
the Winter, but will add much fertility to 
the soil, which the plants will utilize to 
good advantage next season. K. 
Girdling Trees. 
Do you think it will pay to girdle fruit 
trees to bring them into bearing? How 
is it done? I kill pin oaks by cutting out 
a girdle of bark. S. K. 
The girdling of apple and pear trees 
cannot be considered good orchard prac¬ 
tice. The standard varieties of these 
fruits should be brought into fruit pro¬ 
duction by proper cultivation, fertiliza¬ 
tion, pruning, and spraying. Girdling is 
an artificial practice that does not reach 
the cause of the trouble, and may cause 
great damage to the trees. Girdling is 
sometimes attempted by cutting through 
the bark with a knife, early in June, 
making several spirals of cuts about the 
trunk, but leaving the bark in place. 
Such practice is not in favor with com¬ 
mercial fruit growers, and cannot be re¬ 
commended unless one wishes to do a 
little experimenting. 
Pin oaks can be killed by removing 10 
or 12 inches of bark at this season, in a 
complete girdle about the trunk. They 
will be able to live for a time, but will 
eventually die. I do not know your ob¬ 
ject in killing oaks in this way, but if 
you wish to get rid of them it is best 
to cut them down and dispose of the 
wood. The slowly dying trees from gird¬ 
ling will offer a breeding place for bor¬ 
ers and other insects injurious to healthy 
trees. m. a. blake. 
White Grubs. 
Our garden this year is filled with large 
white grubs with brown heads, evidently 
come from the manure used as fertilizer. 
Are they harmful in any way? j. p. b. 
Gwinn, Mich. 
These grubs are the larvae of the well- 
known June-bug. The insect is a gen¬ 
eral feeder, and destroys the roots of 
many kinds of plants. As a rule, they 
kill the plants attacked by devouring the 
entire root system, then find their way to 
other plants and do likewise, and so on 
during the growing season. They are 
quite destructive to such plants as they 
attack that have a small root system. 
T'nless they are very plentiful they sel¬ 
dom cause much loss in the vegetable gar¬ 
den, particularly where many strong 
growing vegetables are grown. The ma¬ 
nure pile is the favorite depository, and 
hatching place for the eggs of this insect, 
and they are found in greater or lesser 
numbers in all rotted manure heaps, espe¬ 
cially in the early part of Summer, rc. 
Controlling Corn Ear-worm. 
Equal parts of powdered arsenate of 
lead and sulphur formed the mixture 
which last Summer controlled for us the 
corn ear-worm on a trial one-half acre 
plot of horse corn. This mixture was 
applied by means of a hand sifter (a per¬ 
forated can held in the hand) to the silks 
of each ear from their first appearance 
until they are developed, the idea being 
to allow no chance for the worm to enter 
the ear without coming in contact with 
the poison. Three applications were 
made, August 7, August 13, and August 
22. Two pounds of the mixture were re¬ 
quired per application. It took one man 
about four hours to give one application. 
In this field year before last the worms 
had attacked nearly every ear, but last 
year when husked only three ears were 
found that the ear-worm had touched, 
while adjacent corn was badly infested. 
The corn was fed to the hogs with no 
bad x’esults. We do not know whether 
sweet corn so treated could be safely 
sold and used. We figured that the cost 
for such treatment would be near .$7 per 
acre, and did not consider it profitable. 
However, for growing prize corn it 
might be very useful. l. k. wilkins. 
New Jersey Experiment Station. 
Club-root in Turnips. 
Will you explain these turnip roots? 
Pittsburgh, Pa. j. g. ii. 
The sample turnips show unmistaka¬ 
ble evidence of club-root. This disease 
is very destructive to cabbage, cauli¬ 
flower. turnips and practically all other 
cultivated members of the Brassica fam¬ 
ily. Plenty of lime in the soil seems to 
be the natural preventive and remedy 
for this disease. It is said that in the 
large market gardens on the shores of 
Long Island, where there are an abund¬ 
ance of oyster and clam shells in the soil, 
cabbage and its related crops have been 
grown on the same land for many years, 
and were never known to be attacked by 
club-root, while in the gardens a few miles 
inland, that contain no shells in the soil, 
it is impossible to grow two successive 
crops of cabbage on the same soil, with¬ 
out considerable loss from club-root. 
Lime in any form in sufficient quantity in 
the soil will destroy the eggs or newlv- 
hatched larvae of the insect, that is re¬ 
sponsible for the disease, and when it is 
not practicable to change the location of 
such crops as are subject to the disease, 
to fresh land from year to year, lime 
should be applied at the rate of 150 bush¬ 
els to the acre after plowing and harrow¬ 
ed in. and if pure bone meal or any com¬ 
mercial fertilizer is used, it should not be 
applied until planting time. Do not 
plant cabbage or any of its related crops 
on the same ground two years in suc¬ 
cession if it can be avoided; otherwise 
lime heavily, as directed above, which 
will heli> much in clearing the soil of this 
destructive disease. k. 
Vegetable Cellar. 
I wish to build a cement house, non- 
freezing, for vegetables and acetylene light 
plant; the exterior of blocks eight inches 
thick, the interior plain cement. How 
thick should be the walls and must there 
be an air chamber? Should this space be 
filled with sand or some other material or 
left open? The interior to be six feet 
wide, eight feet long and 6^4 feet high. 
Darke Co., O. a. p. 
Concrete vegetable cellars are usually 
built about half below and half above 
ground. The portion of the wall below 
the surface of the ground would best be 
built of solid concrete, while that above 
may be of blocks, as you suggest. As con¬ 
crete blocks are themselves hollow, air 
chambers are already provided and these 
should not be filled. Eight inches is am¬ 
ply thick for such a wall, but its thick¬ 
ness will depend upon the size of the 
blocks used. If additional air space for 
greater protection from freezing is de¬ 
sired, 2-inch by 4-inch studding might be 
set against the wall upon the inside and 
these lathed and plastered upon. Such 
air spaces, if filled at all, should be filled 
with light porous material, like straw or 
planer shavings, but it is probably better 
to leave them empty to form simple air 
chambers. M. B. D. 
The Kieffer Pear. 
Perhaps no fruit has been so abused as 
the Kieffer pear, unless it be the Ben 
Davis apple, and there are few that suf¬ 
fer from abuse as quickly as the Kieffer. 
The abuse begins about the time the trees 
commence to bear fruit. By unskillful 
treatment the fruit is rendered unfit for 
use, is condemned, and thenceforth the 
tree and fruit get nothing but neglect. In 
common with many of our fruits it was 
very much over advertised by the nur¬ 
serymen who introduced it and when it 
did not come up to our expectations many 
felt that they had been swindled and 
forthwith condemned the pear as much as 
they did the nurseryman whose glowing 
description led them to plant it. The 
same is true of most of the catalogue de¬ 
scriptions of fruits and vegetables. They 
only tell half the story and leave the 
buyer to learn the other half himself. 
With proper handling the Kieffer is 
well worth cultivating. To be satisfac¬ 
tory it must have good cultivation and be 
thinned so as to get good size and color, 
and then pick them carefully as soon as 
mature, which here in Northern Indiana 
is about the first of October. This is im¬ 
portant, for they lose in quality very rap¬ 
idly and soon begin to form grit, which 
increases until they are worthless if left 
on the tree as long as they will hang. 
Picked at the proper time and stored in a 
dark room they will ripen soft and smooth 
to the core, and with a beauty of coloring 
unexcelled by any pear. The quality, of 
course, does not compare favorably with 
the Seekel or Bartlett, but it is a sur¬ 
prise to those used to the Kieffers usually 
found at the grocery stores. Picked at 
this time the Kieffer will not keep in ordi¬ 
nary storage as well as if allowed to hang 
on the trees longer, but they can be suc¬ 
cessfully kept in cold storage. I placed 
this variety in storage at Indianapolis in 
the Fall, for the Indiana exhibit at the 
Exposition at St. Louis, where they 
were held from the first of October until 
the following April, when they were 
shipped and restored at St. Louis, 
and when taken out at the opening of the 
show in May they were 95 per cent, of 
them in marketable condition, and 05 
per cent, were good enough for show fruit. 
Indiana. h. ii. s. 
Transplanting Evergreens. 
In looking over some old numbers of 
The R. N.-Y. I saw an inquiry as to 
when to move evergreens, and the advice 
was to do it in the Spring. According to 
the State Forestry bulletins, and to a 
great deal of experience at our own Sum¬ 
mer place, August is the proper time to 
move all conifers. It is their dormant 
period between tree-growth and root- 
growth. g. M. A. 
Sandy Lake, Pa. 
Chicks and Potato Bugs. 
In regard to the chickens eating the 
bugs off potato plants, will say that mine 
have kept them down, especially the small 
ones which are hatching about the time 
the potatoes are beginning to blossom, so 
that I have not had to spray them for the 
bugs as yet a while. r. a. 
Michigan. 
In a recent issue of your paper the 
question is asked if ducks will eat pota¬ 
to bugs, and the writer stated he had 
never been able to make them do it. Mv 
experience has been that they will eat 
them if given the opportunity when 
they are hungry. I have given 
them to them sometimes when they 
have been filled with other food, and 
they did not eat them very well, but when 
they are hungry I have had no trouble to 
get them to eat all I gave them. I was 
led to try it by reading an article a few 
years ago in some farm journal of a man 
who cleared his potato field of bugs by 
turning his ducks into the field ; they ate 
the bugs but did not injure the vines. 
Massachusetts. c. h. b. 
When you write advertisers mention The R. 
N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.’’ See guarantee editorial page. 
Chattiam 
Grader and 
Cleaning and grading 
Fall Seed Wheat with’ 
a Chatham Mill never 
fails to increase the crop 
5 to 14 Bu. per Acre. 
If some of you gentlemen 
who grow fall wheat question 
that assertion, just drop me a line and I’ll over¬ 
whelm, you with facts —actual crop records made 
by actual farmert ; men who once “poo hooe(l“ cleaning 
and grading 1 Seed Wheat. 
You’ve got rye, vetch, timothy, alfalfa or Borne other 
grass seeds that need cleaning, too. The "Chatham” is 
just the thing for those jobs. 
Next winter, the Chatham can grade and clean all your 
Bpring seed—barley, corn, oata, 
clover, and all kinds of grasses. 
Just now my prices aro low 
and I give you a free trial .No 
money nsked till you are sat¬ 
isfied. Hand power or fras. 
Send postal for startling 
facts and records of bum¬ 
per wheat crops; and for 
froo book which tells 
how to clean, grade and 
separate any grain or 
grass seed. 
Manson Camobell Co* 
Dopt. 4 it 
Detroit, Mlcmgati 
Kansas City, Mo. 
POTATO 
DIGGER 
Gets all the potatoes. 
Result of 19 years’ Digger experience. 
A companion implement of the famous Eureka potato 
planter—made in same lactory. Large wheels and main 
gears supply ample power. Largely malleable and 
steel, avoiding frequent breakage and lost time. High 
clearance under truck arch and over shovel prevents 
vines and weeds from bunching and dragging—rods and 
kickers place vines in row at side. The Eureka duplex 
shaker provides most agitation—potatoes are delivered 
t clean. Rear extension elevator 
6 and 7 ft. t. r" furnished when desired. 
BizeB .W EUREKA MOWER CO. 
Box 1016, Utica, 
N. Y. 
Write for 
catalog 
.judge vomparea witn ciover nay. 
I would like to know what you consid¬ 
er first quality silage worth in compari¬ 
son with clover hay at .$20 per ton, to 
feed milch cow on both feeds at the dairy 
barn where cows are kept? e. j. 
Massachusetts. 
The fairest rule is to call the silage in 
the silo worth about 35 per cent, of the 
selling value of the bay in the mow. 
This would make your silage worth $7 
per ton. Some feeders call the silage 
worth more than this, but we consider 
this comparison a fair one. 
. standard springs of America since 1889. Make ' 
any wagon a spring wagon. Prevent damage to egg 
fruit*, etc., on road to markeL Soon save cost—produce bring* 
fnor *—wagon lasts longer—easier for driver—easier for horses. 
Made Like Finest Auto Springs 
Highest grade steel. Very resilient and durable. All sizer- 
fit any wagon up to 5 tons capacity. II not at dealer’s, write 
for circular showing how Harvey Springs save money. 
HARVEY SPRING CO., 716 17th St, Racine, Wis. 
GUARANTEED 
Thirty-Six Highest Awards 
To International Harvester Machines 
THE International Jury of Awards, at 
San Francisco Exposition, gave to the 
International Harvester exhibit thirty-six 
highest awards covering not only the Champion, 
Deering, McCormick, Milwaukee, Osborne, and 
Plano harvesting, haying and corn machines and binder 
twine, but also the newer lines—the oil engines and 
tractors, manure spreaders, tillage implements, farm 
wagons, corn planters, corn cultivators, feed grinders, 
and seeding machines. 
This is a world s record. Never before were so 
many highest awards given to any one exhibition of farm 
machines at any World’s Fair. 
In 1851 the first reaper was exhibited at the World’s 
Fair in London, and there received the Council Medal. 
Since 1851 it has been the Company’s policy to exhibit 
and demonstrate its machines wherever the opportunity 
was offered. 
Our exhibit at San Francisco in 1915 occupies 
26,721 square feet of space, by far the most com¬ 
plete exhibit of its kind ever made. The thirty-six highest 
awards given to this exhibit constitute a splendid mark 
of approval for the good judgment of the hundreds of 
thousands of farmers who believe International Flarvestef 
machines to be the best the world affords. 
International Harvester Company of America 
1 (Incorporated) 
CHICAGO USA 
Champion Deering McCormick Milwaukee Osborne Plano 
