RURAL NEW-YORKER 
193 
Lettuce Culture in Wayne Co. 
(C'oiidiuied from page 191) 
when in one's system is quite likely to 
become a “lixed hobby” and there is the 
tendency to use the land too much to 
this one crop. It is a fascinating ven¬ 
ture, and the second chance of hitting a 
high market in the .same season or of 
recuperating from a bad one has its ap¬ 
pealing force. In this section the kin¬ 
dred crops for lettuce soil are celery, 
onions, beans, carrots, potatoes and to 
some extent spinach. 
Of course, profitable production of 
lettuce presupposes proper soil conditions 
and regulated drainage. The muck soil 
of Wayne County, especially Northern 
Wayne, is founded on decomposition.s of 
maple, ash and elm. Very little cedar or 
other under-value lands are here by nat¬ 
ural deposit. In many instances it has 
been a herculean task to conquer the 
timberland and effect its drainage, but 
the .shoulder has been laid to the job, 
and now there are many thrifty muck 
Land farmers hereabouts who owe their 
prosperity to the development of the.se 
virgin soils. A. n. r. 
Method of Evaporating Peaches 
I would like to find out the most mod¬ 
ern method and machinery for evapor¬ 
ating peaches. A. K. T. 
New York. 
There is but little e.ssential difference 
in the method of evaporating peaches 
from that of apples. As stone fruits, 
both peaches and apricots ordinarily are 
pitted before drying. If it is desired to 
peel the fruit a good method to follow 
is to dip the peaches in hot lye. This 
will always loosen the .skin without dam- 
nge to the flesh. The apple peeling and 
coring machinery would not be suited to 
handling the peach. Apricots are dried 
with their skins on. After the fruit is 
cut and pitted it is laid in trays, outside 
of halves down, and sent to the bleacher 
if the sulphur process is to be used. 
From the bleacher the fruit is sent to 
the drier after the fashion of evapor¬ 
ating apples. A peach outfit for can¬ 
neries could easily be used in the evap¬ 
orating process. This machinery takers 
the fruit and removes the skin by aid of 
hot water and brushes; another machine 
halves the fruit and removes the pit, one 
operator only being required to place the 
l)eaches in position at each machine. 
l.ast Winter the subject of evapox’at- 
ing apples was entered into in detail, 
and for much of the requirements of dry¬ 
ing peaches the practice followed in han¬ 
dling apples would suffice. It may be 
said in passing that now and for a few 
years preceding the opening of the Furo- 
pean war, American production, i)rinci- 
pally from California, has been of such 
volume and flavor as almost to cut off 
importations, even in times of peace. 
In addition, the increase in export.^ fol¬ 
lows closely with increased production. 
A. H. r. 
Damp Cellar Wall 
Last Spring I built a new cellar. The 
floor has a 'ayer of concrete, then tar paper 
and concrete on top. The walls are con¬ 
crete seven inches thick, with two coats 
of waterproofing on the outside, then tar 
paper against the wall, filled in with sand. 
I j)Ut one coat of waterproofing on the in« 
side As soon as we have a cold snap with 
warm weather following the wall sweats 
and is very damp. One wall I have 
boarded up tight, but this is quite expen¬ 
sive. On another side I have put corru¬ 
gated board boxes one inch from the wall, 
but in a warm time they show dampness. 
I can get all of the boxes I want free. 
Do you think if I should out three layers 
of them, eacn one airtight and one inch 
apart they would be all right? Would 
the boards be better? D. v. H. 
I’econic, N. Y. 
The sweating of walls, if not due to 
moisture i)enetrating from the outside, is 
due to condensation of moisture from the 
air within, and is to be remedied by bet¬ 
ter ventilation. Wai-m air will hold water 
in susi)ension when cold air will deposit 
it. Cold walls chill the layer of air next 
to them and cause it to deposit its burden 
of moisture in the form of sweat or frost. 
Hoards are warmer than concrete, or, 
strictly speaking, poorer conductors of 
hert, they therefore do not chill the air so 
I'eadily or so quickly cause it to deposit 
its moisture. For this reason boards do 
not sweat so readily as concrete walls. 
With either, however, condensation may 
be prevented by securing a change of 
moisture-laden air for the driw air of 
the outside atmo.sphere. This means bet¬ 
ter ventilation and from your description 
of your trouble is, I judge, what you need. 
M. n. i). 
Available Phosphoric Acid 
Our readers will remember the long dis¬ 
cussion regarding the use of raw ground 
phosphate rock as a fertilizer. There has 
been much debate as to whether a farmer 
should use this raw phosphate or pay 
more for the acid phosphate. In Illinois 
and other Western States, many farmers 
have reported good results from using raw 
phosphate in a rotation of chiefly grain 
and grass. These rotations include plow¬ 
ing under hay crops of grass and clover 
and such farms are usually of strong soil 
well filled with organic matter. 
^lost of the soils on the Atlantic slope 
are of a different nature and a different 
cla.ss of crops are grown. There are more 
vegetables and fruit and, as a rule, the 
soil contains considerably less humus or 
organic matter. This makes necessary a 
change in fertilizing which, somehow, 
many Western farmers seem unable to 
understand. It makes a great difference 
whether one is growing potatoes, vege¬ 
tables, sweet corn and fruit on a rather 
thin soil or whether the rotation com- 
l)rises grain, clover and live stock on 
“fat” land. We have advised our readers 
to use acid phosphate as we believe the 
available phosphorus is what their crops 
need. Now comes a statement from the 
Ohio Experiment Station right in line 
with this advice: 
Acid phosphate in field tests conducted 
for nearly 20 years by the Ohio Experi¬ 
ment Station has proved to be not only a 
more effective but also a cheaper carrier 
of phosphorus than raw phosphate rock 
for crops under conditions which render 
freight charges a relatively large part of 
the cost of the fertilizei\ These tests 
have included experiments with these two 
fertilizing materials by themselves, and in 
connection with other fertilizers, with lime 
and with barnyard manui'e. 
Acid phosphate is made by treating niw 
phosi)hate rock, or floats, with an equal 
weight of sulphuric acid. The process re¬ 
duces the percentage of phosphorus but 
increases its solubility. The acid phos¬ 
phate therefore co.sts more and freight on 
it is higher also. Still, the tests at the 
Experiment Station show that, while raw 
phosphate may be used with profit on land 
deficient in available phosphorus, acid 
phosphate has produced increases in crop 
yields more than sufficient to meet the 
larger cost. 
Personally, we have great hopes that, 
before long, the plan of mixing sulphur 
and raw phosphate in the manure pile 
will give us a home acid factory which 
will enable us to make much of our super¬ 
phosphate. This plan is now being tried 
out at several experiment stations, and 
we hope it will prove practical. 
“Maria, you’ll never be able to drive 
that nail with a flatiron. For heaven’s 
.sakes, use your head,” admonished Mr. 
Stubins. And then he wondered why 
she would not speak to’him the rest of 
the day.—Puck. 
Preparing for Red-skin Potatoes 
T have a 10-acre piece of land which 
just yielded a fair crop of corn, which 
I de.sire to plant to potatoes (Red Skins 
planted about July 1). Crimson clover 
was planted in the corn but made a very 
poor stand on account of dry weather. ^ 
This piece needs humua badly. I wish 1 
to plant something to plow under, as I I 
cannot afford to manure it. Which of | 
the following plans would be the bet¬ 
ter? Land is a sandy loam. 1. Seed to 
rye and plow under when it makes a 
fair growth; 2. Sow Dwarf Essex rai)e 
as early in Spring as possible and plow 
under; 8. Sow Canada peas and oats, 
and plow under? G. r. b. 
Camden, N. J. 
We con.sider the growing of rye about 
as cheap a means of getting humus in 
the soil as we have. If rye has not been 
planted then the next best plan would 
probably be the growing of oats and peas. 
We try to get our Red Skin potatoes in 
the ground as soon after July 1st as 
possible. If a crop of rye or oats is to 
be plowed under this should be done at 
least three weeks before planting, so as 
to permit the soil to settle and be in bet¬ 
ter shape to hold moisture. In this sec¬ 
tion Red Skins are planted in old straw¬ 
berry beds. Immediately after picking 
stops the bed is plowed, the groxind will 
then be harrowed once or twice before 
potatoes are planted. Some use no fer¬ 
tilizer and secure good crops, but on most 
soils the use of a little fertilizer proves 
more profitable. trucker, jr. 
apes Standard 
Maintained 
In Field and State Experiment Stations 
The Mapes Manures for 1916 and 1917 were made, 
and are being made precisely as in the past, under 
pledge to supply the Phosphoric Acid from Animal 
Bone and Guano, made available without acidity, no 
Rock or Acid Phosphates used. While they do not con¬ 
tain as much Potash as formerly, they do hold enough 
to greatly aid the present crop to more perfect growth 
and development and thus insure the balance of its 
necessary Potash being taken from latent soil supplies. 
We give below all the station analyses which we have 
received of our prominent brands for 1916. 
1916 ANALYSES 
MAPES POTATO 
STATION 
AMMONIA 
PHOS. 
AVAILARLF. 
Ann 
TOT.\L 
POTASH 
New York . 
9.32 
10.58 
1.12 
Connecticut . 
8..38 
10.66 
1.06 
Pennsylvania . 
9.30 
10.28 
1.18 
New Jersey . 
8.20 
10.29 
1.32 
Massachusetts . 
8.81 
9.82 
.97 
Massachusetts . 
8.96 
10.20 
1.18 
Guarantee . 
8 . 
8 . 
1 . 
GENERAL SPECIAL 
Connecticut ... 
6.37 
9.21 
1.35 
New York .... 
. 7.64 
7.97 
9.67 
1.45 
Pennsylvania . 
. 7.32 
7.89 
9.09 
1.77 
New jersey ... 
. 8.17 
5.48 
8.72 
1.85 
Massachusetts 
. 8.28 
7.06 
8.88 
1.47 
Massachusetts , 
. 8.10 
7.09 
9.34 
1.20 
Guarantee ..., 
6 . 
8 . 
1 . 
TOBACCO STARTER, 
IMPROVED 
Connecticut . 
. 5.62 
6.41 
8.87 
1.16 
Connecticut . 
. 5.64 
6.11 
9.58 
1.07 
Penn.sylvania . 
. 5.61 
6.52 
9.20 
1.50 
New York . 
6.15 
9.21 
1.23 
New York . 
6.57 
9.39 
1.14 
Massachusetts . 
. 5.54 
8.18 
9.67 
1.26 
Guarantee . 
. 5. 
6 . 
8 . 
1 . 
CORN MANURE 
Connecticut .. 
. 3.35 
8.28 
11.58 
.85 
Pennsylvania . 
. 3.26 
10.37 
11.97 
1.50 
New York 
. 3.07 
9.24 
11.40 
1.00 
New Jersey .. 
7.59 
11.35 
1.08 
Massachusetts 
. 3.28 
9.71 
11.74 
1.16 
Guarantee .... 
8 . 
10 . 
1 . 
TOP DRESSER, FULL 
STRENGTH 
Connecticut 
12.22 
Pennsylvania . 11.90 
New Jersey . 11.82 
Massachusetts . 12.62 
Guarantee . 12. 
6.38 
7.27 
.S.ll 
8.28 
5. 
8.84 
8.20 
8.60 
8.88 
8 . 
1.84 
1.55 
1.52 
1.35 
1 . 
TOBACCO MANURE 
TOTAL 
AMMONIA 
PHOSPHORIC ACID 
POTASH 
Connecticut ... 
. 9.48 
9.94 
1.20 
Connecticut .... 
. 10.07 
8.99 
1.44 
Pennsylvania .. 
. 10.08 
8.85 
1.59 
Massachusetts . 
. 10.99 
8.65 
1.57 
Guarantee . 
. 10. 
• 8. 
1. 
We are 
equally proud of the 
results in the 
field. 
They have been most excellent, fully substantiating our 
theory as to the advisability of supplying at least limited 
Potash to aid the crop to make a start, and so enable it 
to avail itself to the utmost of the latent supplies of 
Potash in the soil. 
Order early and so avoid all possible delay. 
The Mapes Formula and Peruvian Guano Co. 
Central Building, 143 Liberty Street, New York 
Branch—239 State Street, Hartford, Conn. 
