1059 
THE HAL NEW-YORKER 
RURALISMS 
Smooth Earliana Tomatoes. 
While the Earliana is usually some¬ 
what rough, it is more so than usual this 
year. Hence it is of especial interest 
when a field of smooth Earliana tomatoes 
is found. Such a field (5000 plants) has 
Mr. Fred Kilbourn of Middlesex County, 
N. J. Ilis crop would be a prizetaker 
on attractive, high quality tomatoes. 
Large and uniform in size, they are 
averaging only one basket of “seconds" 
to every 10 of “firsts", but their great 
commendable feature is their uniform 
smoothness, equal to if not surpassing the 
Bonny Best. Why are they smooth? 
The only answer is—selection. Mr. Kil¬ 
bourn has been trucking for 25 years, 
and has selected for early and high qual¬ 
ity Earlianas. lie has got them, and has 
had them for a number of years. 
A Heavy Crop. —Along with fancy to¬ 
matoes goes a heavy crop. Mr. Kehermer- 
horn, truck expert at the New Jersey 
Experimental Station, who has done con¬ 
siderable traveling over the State, pro¬ 
nounces it the best crop he has seen 
this season. The writer has only seen 
one crop that would approach it, and 
that was on Mr. Trucker Jr.’s farm 
(Gloucester County) in 1012. In short, 
Mr. Kilbourn is in for an easy average 
of one basket per plant, or 2,500 baskets 
per acre. After four weeks of picking there 
is still found (August 0) 70 to 00 mar¬ 
ketable tomatoes per plant. At the most 
it takes about 00 tomatoes, as they run, 
to fill a basket. This land is a sassafras 
loam. Until two years ago it was an 
abandoned field except for a wild sod or 
an occasional crop of poor corn. Poor 
ground? No. Analyses at the New Jer¬ 
sey Experiment Station show that it 
contains 15 per cent, nitrogen, .08 per 
cent, phosphoric acid, l.G potash and 7.0 
per cent, organic matter, showing that it 
is not poor, nor rich; but a medium good, 
strong soil. Is there not many a wild field 
like this in Middle and Northern New 
Jersey which is inherently good, and 
would prove itself very productive if 
limed, then encouraged with a little fer¬ 
tilizer? Mr. Kilbourn attributes this 
large crop to: 
1. Lime, one-half ton per acre applied 
Spring of 1914 to sweeten the soil and 
help break up the organic matter. 
2. Heavy application of complete fer¬ 
tilizer in 1014 for cauliflower, some being 
left in the soil for 1015. 
8. The fertilizer (G-7-7) applied this 
season in the furrow at GOO pounds per 
acre, and 200 pounds more per acre 
broadcast about three weeks after the 
plants were set. 
r> 
As for earliness it must be remembered 
that the season for this vicinity is about 
two weeks later than that of Southern 
New Jersey. Mr. Kilbourn usually 
starts picking around the first of July, 
this year not until the 10th, due to the 
late season. These dates compare quite 
favorably with Southern New Jersey. 
New Jersey. l. ic. wilkins. 
Selling Botanic Drugs. 
Is there a market for the various 
medicinal herbs, roots and barks found 
in our fields and woods? How should 
they be prepared and what will they 
bring? several readers. 
There are several hundred native plants 
supposed to have more or less value in 
medicine. Between two and three hun¬ 
dred have sufficient sale to give them 
commercial standing, among others our 
old friends burdock, catnip, boneset, dan¬ 
delion, five-finger, dock, fleabane, sorrel, 
and witch grass or quack. As these and 
other well known plants cost nothing but 
the labor of gathering, this might seem 
like a rapid way of making money, but 
the prices paid for most crude botanic 
drugs are so low (from two to 10 cents 
per pound) that there is not much in 
the business for those who have anything 
else to do. There is some possibility 
in it as a job for odd spells, and for 
children and others not able to do heavy 
work. The compensation aside from the 
money feature is the fun of hunting 
around in the fields and woods, picking 
and digging these various things—that 
is, in places where snakes are not too 
plentiful. 
There are a few general rules for gath¬ 
ering and preparing these products. 
Leaves are gathered when the plant is 
in flower, and only the healthy, green 
ones taken. Flowers are best as they 
begin to open, and before any are with¬ 
ered. Roots of perennials are dug late 
in Fall or in early Spring before growth 
begins, roots of biennials, in Fall of 
first year; and roots of annuals just be¬ 
fore the flowering period. Rhizomes 
(like quack) are treated like perennial 
roots. Barks are gathered in Winter or 
Spring, the latter being most convenient 
because of the bark peeling readily. 
All of these products are dried before 
selling, and every care should be used 
to preserve the natural appearance. The 
leaves and flowers are dried on racks in 
the shade. These are put under cover 
at night or in damp weather, as moisture 
discolors them and cuts the price. 
Roots must be washed carefully to get 
off adhering earth, but not scrubbed or 
scraped. Large ones, like burdock or 
yellow dock, may be split to hasten dry¬ 
ing. 
Where herbs are cut in large quanti¬ 
ties, as with a scythe, care is needed to 
prevent mixture. The botanic drug 
houses have men constantly at work 
sorting the various roots and herbs, dis¬ 
carding what is unfit, and putting uni¬ 
form quantities together. Part of this 
work could be done profitably by the 
gatherer, as these things are sold by 
sample from first hand, and the nearer 
they come to perfection the better the 
prices realized. Of course, samples sent 
to buyers should fairly represent the 
whole offering. 
Drug lists and trade papers give quo¬ 
tations on botanic drugs, but these are 
the prices charged retailers after the 
final preparations, which may include 
grinding or pressing into cakes, are 
made. It would not pay the gatherer to 
attempt the final finishing unless an 
expert with knowledge of trade require¬ 
ments. Prices paid at first hand are 
usually a matter of negotiation after 
samples are submitted. Of the common 
plants and flowers, the gatherer seldom 
gets more than two to five cents per 
pound, dried, and common roots, three 
to 10 cents per pound. There are excep¬ 
tions, like snakeroot, golden seal, gin¬ 
seng, etc. 
The Schmidt Cherry. 
The cherry that “C. I.” describes on . 
page 001 is undoubtedly the Schmidt. J 
At least the description tallies exactly 
with our own Schmidt, which we have 
fruited for several years. Windsor is an 
open-growing tree, and although the fruit 
is almost black when dead ripe, it is com¬ 
monly picked when it is red. They are 
entirely distinct. I agree with C. I. that 
the Schmidt is about the best all-around 
cherry, either for home or market. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. w. a. bassett. 
White Grubs in a Meadow. 
I have a six-acre plot in good Timothy, 
which we are about to cut. I have just 
discovered within the last two days that 
it was dying off. Upon examination I 
find the stubble is loose, and that the 
ground is just filled with white grubs 
which have destroyed the roots. What 
in your estimation would be the best 
treatment? My thought was this: To 
plow the field shortly and top-dress it 
with good coat of lime, sow to rye to 
plow under in Spring. Would it then be 
in condition for potatoes, or would you 
prefer corn? w. H. B. 
Se.vbertsville, Pa. 
It will take at least two years of thor¬ 
ough culture to clear out these white 
grubs. The chances are that they would 
ruin a potato crop next year. If you 
could put a drove of 20 to 25 smart 
young pigs into that field and plow the 
ground, or disk it roughly, a good share 
of the larger grubs would be dug out 
and eaten. There is nothing better for 
this work than a lively pig. Turkeys, 
ducks and other poultry are also good 
for this work. You can plow the sod 
after haying. If you have a flock of 
poultry let them follow the plow and 
pick up what they will. Then if possible 
put in a drove of pigs, feed them some 
corn and water and let them root until 
cold weather. If you cannot use the pigs 
sow buckwheat after plowing, let it grow 
until October and then cross-plow, leaving 
the furrows rough through the Winter. 
Wild birds and poultry will get some of 
the grubs and the frost will kill more. 
In a case of this sort it will be better 
to Fall-plow and leave the ground rough 
rather than use a cover crop. In the 
Spring we should disk or tear up this 
plowed land and plant corn in hulls, give 
good cultivation both ways and also hand 
hoeing. There is no easy way of killing 
the mature grubs out of the soil except 
by using the pigs or poultry, but the con¬ 
stant stirring of the soil will destroy the 
young grubs and clean the soil. The corn 
crop will be less likely to be damaged 
than the potato. 
New Plant Immigrants. 
Bulletin 107 of the Office of Foreign 
Seed and Plant Introduction, states that 
a collection of nuts and dried fruits has 
been presented to the Department by the 
Ameer of Afghanistan. As the Winters 
in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, are 
bleak, cold and dry, the fruits grown 
there should prove hardy in our Middle 
States. Among the most interesting of 
the collection are the excellent apricots, 
raisins. Elaeagnus fruits, and dried white 
mulberries. The latter form almost the 
exclusive food of hundreds of thousands 
of Afghans for many months of the year. 
This use of dried mulberries suggests a 
new tree food crop. Analyses of these 
dried mulrerries show their high food 
values. 
The same bulletin states that in 
Japan the edible bamboo (Phyllostachys 
mitis), is grown in large groves and the 
young shoots are marketed as asparagus 
is sold in America. The stems are dated 
in ink with the character for the year 
of their birth, and four years later they 
are cut for timber. Small groves of this 
species are now established ■ jr> Louisiana. 
Pears For The Hudson Valley.— 
Clapp, Bartlett, Seckel, and Bose are the 
best pears for this section, I think. Kief- 
fer and Sheldon and other varieties are 
more difficult to market to advantage. 
Sheldon is an alternate bearer, does not 
hang on well and sells at low prices. 
E. w. M. 
Destroying Moles. —I see in a recent 
paper that they still have the mole ques¬ 
tion going. I will tell you how I rid my 
lawn of them, after they had pestered 
me for years. I did it by drowning, 
wherever tlmv throw up their mound in 
making their nest- I dig carefully till 
I find the opening that goes down to nest, 
then I pour iii water. It will sometimes 
take three or four bucketfuls to fill it. 
It should be done when the mole has been 
working fresh ; it has got them every time 
for me ! a. c. l. 
Indiana. 
When you write advertisers mention 
The R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick 
reply and a "square deal." See guaran¬ 
tee editorial page. : : . : 
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m 
ENTRIES CLOSE 
Horse Show.September 1 
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Cattle. August 25 
Sheep.August 25 
Swine.August 25 
Poultry.August 25 
Conway’s Concert Band 
World-Renowned Aviator 
M- 
New York State Fair 
Agricultural and Industrial Exposition 
Syracuse, September 13-18, 1915 
Represents Greatest Interests of Empire State 
Dogs.September 1 
Farm Products .September 4 
Fruits.September 4 
Flowers.September 4 
Domestic.September 4 
Dairy.August 28 
Attractions Highest Class in the World 
Grand Circuit Races 
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Saturday’s Feature—Steeplechase over 3-mile course 
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