514 
April 7, 1917. 
perity, and they are likely to get it. 
When any industry can show such fig¬ 
ures as these and demonstrate them to 
the satisfaction of intelligent people, it 
will be very difficult if not impossible to 
hold them down. This kind of figuring 
must be the basis for every effort to en¬ 
large the 3.5-cent dollar, for the first 
thing to do is to make it so clear that 
there is a 35-cent dollar that no one can 
deny it. 
RURAL NEW 
thrown out, even after they are uniting 
wuth the tree. 
The natural enemies of the field mice 
are hawks, owls, crows, skunks, weasels 
and snakes, all of which should be pro¬ 
tected, as they help to keep an even bal¬ 
ance in nature and prevent scourges by 
one kind. Free use of poison, at once, 
placed w'here birds cannot get it, will be 
helpful in reducing the numbers of mice 
early in the season. 
GEORGE T. POWELL. 
.YORKER 
Damage to Fruit Trees from Mice 
In the Hudson River district there has 
been an epidemic and scourge of mice that 
has resulted in great damage to orchard 
trees during the past Winter. While rep¬ 
resentatives from the Department of Ag¬ 
riculture at Washington were at “Or¬ 
chard Farm,” in July last—to obtain in¬ 
formation in relation to the depredations 
of jack rabbits in Oolumbia and Dutchess 
counties, and the history of their intro¬ 
duction into the Hudson River Valley, 
and also the extent to which a certain 
blight caused by Winter freezing, was af¬ 
fecting Gravensteiu apple trees—one of 
the reijresentatives, from the Bureau of 
Biological Survey, discovered a few’ pine 
mice in the orchards, and pointed out the 
fact that they w’ere a dangerous si>ecies, 
(hat at times had done great damage lo 
wheat and other crops in Nevada and 
other Western States, destroying them 
over large areas. 
In December, after the ground was 
fi-ozen, fearing the mice might do injury 
to the trees, we soaked wheat and corn in 
strychnine sulphate, and put about many 
trees, and in the burrows in the ground, 
w’here they could be discovered. In .Tan- 
uary my superintendent, in making daily 
inspection of the orchards, after a snow¬ 
fall of over a foot, reported to me in Cal¬ 
ifornia that the mice wei’e out by many 
thousands, eating the bark from the trees. 
Men w’ore promptly put to work removing 
the snow from the trees, when it w’as dis¬ 
covered that the soil w’as honeycombed 
by the mice, which W’ere working upon 
the roots as well >08 upon the bark of the 
trees. The men were obliged to break 
through frozen soil and paint the roots 
and the bodies of the trees with undiluted 
lime and sulphur with ar.senate of lead 
added. This has been effective in pre¬ 
venting the mice from, eating the bark, 
but with frequent snows and rains it has 
been nece.ssary to repeat the painting 
about three times during three months. 
V'c have dissolved one ounce of strych¬ 
nine sulphate in two gallons of hot w’ater, 
which will moisten 00 pounds of crushed 
Avheat. This is put into the burrows 
made by the mice where they may be 
found. It was also placed about the 
tree.s. That this has been effective was 
shown by many dead mice seen about the 
trees. The extent of damage cannot be 
determined until the snow is gone, and 
the frost is out, when examination of the 
trees may be fully made. 
The Department of Agriculture has re¬ 
ported an outbreak of field mice in Ne¬ 
vada, Utah, and Northern California in 
1907-8, which resulted in the total de¬ 
struction of wheat fields, also Alfalfa, po¬ 
tatoes and root crops. They killed many 
poplar as ahso orchard trees, leaving in 
their path a loss of ,$250,000 in a single 
sea.son. Another species, quite general, is 
the short-tailed field mice, ea.sily known 
by their chunky bodies, short legs and 
tails, also .short ears and small eyes. Field 
mice multiply rapidly. They have from 
two to six litters a year, with an aver¬ 
age of six, and from eight to tw’elve young 
frequently. Danger to seed corn at time 
of planting may be anticipated in sec¬ 
tions where they are present in great 
numbers. It will be wise to wash all seed 
corn with a solution of a teaspoonful of 
coal tar dissolved in pint of hot water 
and stirred in a peck of corn. The corn 
should be tried before u.sed in a planter. 
The strong odor ivill protect the corn 
from the mice. 
The owners of orchards will have to de¬ 
termine how far they may save trees by 
bridge-grafting. Where the trees are en¬ 
tirely girdled, and the roots have not been 
eaten, four grafts, inserted in the bark or 
roots below, and in the bark above, with 
grafting wax to hold the graft in place, 
may save some trees. The ends of the 
grafts above should be held firmly by 
tying with soft cord, as they are easily 
Alfalfa With Clover Seed 
I see The R. N.-Y. advi.ses the addi¬ 
tion of a little Alfalfa seed to the clo¬ 
ver in .Spring seeding, a pound or a lit¬ 
tle more to the acre. Let me go you one 
better, and say put in five pounds per 
acre. I will tell the method of seeding 
which I have practiced for quite a num¬ 
ber of years with very satisfactory re¬ 
sults; it may suit the purpose of others. 
I make a mixture of the seed in this 
proportion: Four quarts Medium clover, 
four quarts Alfalfa, two quarts Alsike, 
one pound Red-top, two quarts Timothy. 
This is for the Spring seeding on Win¬ 
ter wheat, w’here Timothy had been sown 
in the Fall with the wheat. In the case 
of Spring seeding alone one might want 
more Timothy added. This is the pro¬ 
portion, but there is a little more than 
enough for an acre, I try to get on about 
nine quarts where the Timothy was sown 
in the Fall; otherwise it will take the 
whole amount per acre. I go on 
the theory that certain plants are bet¬ 
ter suited to soil conditions in parts of a 
field, than are others, and that W’ith a 
variety of seeds, they will automatically 
adapt themselve.s, and there will be no 
bare or unthrifty spots. This theory 
I have found works out well in practice, 
and I get a better balanced quality of hay 
than from just clover and Timothy. Here 
are the arguments in favor of this plan: 
An even, heavy sod is assured; more, 
and better hay than from ordinary seed¬ 
ing ; the field may be kept as meadow’ 
longer w’ithout exhausting its fertility, 
and second cuttings may be had each sea¬ 
son. A heavy stand of clover and grass 
di.scourages W’eed growth, and w’here wild 
carrot abounds, as it does here in Cen¬ 
tral New York, and the fields have to 
be cut over after harvest to keep the 
pest down, one'.s. efforts are repaid by 
a fine aftermath of Alfalfa and in fav¬ 
orable .seasons two extra cuttings may 
sometimes be secured. n. E. p. 
Cayuga Co., N. Y. 
Dreer^s 
Aristocrat 
Sugar Corn 
A. delicious extra early 
variety which was for 
many years controlied 
by a prominent gar¬ 
dener who furnishes 
truck to the aristocrats 
of Newport, R. I. Ears of 
large size with broad 
grains that allow of easy 
scoring with a knife 
when eaten off the cob. 
Liberal Packet 
lO cents 
DREER^S 
GARDEN BOOK 
for 1917 
makes gardening easy 
for amateurs. Hun¬ 
dreds of cultural notes 
by experts. 288 pages, 
colored plates and duo- 
tone plates. Lists practi¬ 
cally everything worth 
growing in Vegetables, 
Flowers and Plants. 
:opy sent free if you 
iion this publication. 
HENRYADREERllf2??g!^ 
FRUIT-CROWERS' GREATEST LABOR-SAVING DEVICE* 
TOWERS AND SPRAY POLES HAVE 
GONE FOREVER 
‘‘FRIEND” 
^SYS^ SPRAY 
GUN 
DOES THE 
WORK 
WORKS EASY 
A iimpl^turn of the 
wrist sprays close or far 
SAVES LABOR 
One nozzle man to a Sprayer 
SAVES TIME 
Moved Quickly. Taken anywhere 
No catching or clogging 
SAVES MONEY 
Costs less than old style equipmenL Works 
on any Sprayer 
Writ* To-day, N*m* UtU Pspar. Acenta W*nl*d 
FRIEND” MFG. CO. 
GASPORT, N. Y. 
WORLD’S GREATEST SPRAYER WORKS 
,»Just Out I The very 
book that you, Mr. 
Amateur, have been 
GARDEN GUIDE 
looking for all these years. Absolutely nothing in print to 
compare with its fund of diverse iniormation. With its aid 
you can easily reduce H. C. L. Men of experience tell how 
to plan, plant, and maintain the home grounds, suburban 
garden or city lot; how to grow good vegetables and fruit; 
how to raise beautiful flowers; how to take care of lawns, 
porch plants, window boxes, etc. It gives the How, tlie When 
and the Where—from the purchase of the proper tools to 
reaping the harvest, 1001 points covered. It is of value to 
every man or woman interested in gardening, regardless of 
the amount of land at their disposal. The Garden Guide is a 
twelve months' gardening paper—and some over. Copiously 
and instructively illustrated. 256 pages; cover in four colors. 
Prospeaus free. Paper 50c. Cloth 75c. Agents wanted. 
A. T. De U Mare Co. Inc. 446 W. 37th St. New York, N. Y. 
Quack Grass 
This weed is a perennial and the trou¬ 
ble with it is likewise always with ii.s. 
It is especially trying in cultivated land, 
because one of its first demands is that 
it shall be buried at rather frequent 
times. There are two localities where 
it is always found, along the roadsides, 
where the rains wash dirt over it, and in 
the bottom of small sags where the run¬ 
off of rain will wash dirt over it. In 
oultvated land this requirement is met 
by being turned over frequently. 
In Mr. Adams’ case, page 188, there 
is nothing said of the character of the 
surface, whether level, rolling, hilly or 
gullied nor of the amount of wash that 
may come from other fields. If the laud 
is fairly level and not subject to being 
covered with wash from other fields it 
■would probably reduce the vigor of the 
quack very much to seed down for a 
few years. Then planting to some suit¬ 
able hoed crop might put it out. Al¬ 
most auy grass might he used in seed¬ 
ing down, for the quack would occupy 
most of the land in auy case. With us, 
corn planted in cheek-rows and well tend¬ 
ed will mo.stly down the quack. It re- 
qiiiries cultivation early and often to do 
this, but last Summer we pretty nearly 
cleaned up a patch where the quack was 
so bad it was almost imposisible to strike 
the planter into the ground. A. c. w. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. 
Get Low Prices 
on Berry Boxes 
and 
Baskets 
Write foroup 
■"reetJataloB! Shows you how you 
can save money by buying direct 
from the largest Berry Box arui 
Basket Factory in the Country, 
New Albany Box & Basket Co.. Box 111 New Albany.IniL 
FRUIT PACKAGES ^c:la/o7 
Best quality. All styles. Any quantity. 
C. N. ROBINSON * BRO., Dept.> M Baltimore, Md. 
450,000 
200 varieties. Also Grapes, Small Fruits, etc. Best rooted 
stock. Genuine, cheap. 2 sample currants mailed for 10c. 
Catalog free. LEWIS R0E8CH, Box L, Fredonia, N. Y. 
illKlnrlQ nf PriiifTropo for sale very reasonable. 
All (Vinos OrrrUITireeS ALEX. HECGAN.Waterford.N.J. 
New Peach-Wilma 
A Seedling of Elberta, with Elberta foliage. Elbei'- 
ta fruit and Elberta productiveness. Extends 
the Elberta season ten d.ays. 
W. B. CoiiE, Nurseryman, Painesville, O. 
TOMATO SEED-NewStone >n<iGreaterBaltimore 
Pound postage paid, $1.50. Booking orders for Sweet 
Potato and other Vegetable plants. Send for de¬ 
scriptive list. H. AUSTIN, Felton, Delaware 
■M^oney^s Fruit Trees 
and Ornamentals — 
^ For Garden. Lawn and Orchard, firown in the largest 
nurseries in New York—sruaranteed hrst class. Sold direct to 
i at wholesale prices. Will increase the value and beauty 
?our place. Send for big free catalog today. Get better 
ck for much less than from agents. Folder **How to Care 
Trees and Shrubs.** Free with catalog. 
MALONEY BROS. & WELLS CO 
The colored par,son was discoursing on 
Daniel in the lion’s den. At the con¬ 
clusion of his sermon he roared: “JJow, 
kin enny ob you sinners tell me why de 
lion didn’t eat Dan’ul?” Nobody an¬ 
swered. “Wal. Ah’ll tell yer, yer orn¬ 
ery bunch o’ onbelievers,” he yelled, 
“’twas ’cos the most o’ him waz back¬ 
bone, an’ th’ rest wuz grit.”—Credit 
Lost. 
HARDY PERENNIAL 
PUNTS 
20 for $1.25 
Prepaid East of Miss. River. $1.50 
West $5.00 per 100 E., $5.50 IV; 
Anchasa, Delphinium, Agrostemma, 
Gaillardia, Hibiscus, Dianthus, Digi¬ 
talis, Salvia, Campanulas, and over 
25 additional varieties of merit. 5, 
10, or more varieties each shipment, 
our selection. Heavy field grown stock. 
Variegated Vinca Plants 
From toil ZH* pot tize 
2}4c. each, $2.00 per 100 Prepaid 
$2.50 lEcsf of Mississippi River 
Cash wKh order, please 
aillER J. WEAVER, RANKS, PA. 
/ Worlds Wonder 
STRAWBERRY 
We believe the Worlds 
Wonder Slrawberry to be the 
largest strawberry ever grown. 
It is not only big, but the most 
productive berry that _we have 
grown. Plant growth is healthy, 
_ strong and vigorous, quality in ev¬ 
ery way IS the best—for home use or Fancy market it 
has no equal. We want to introduce it to a thousand 
homes this spring. Horticulturist Dept. Wash.—says 
largest berry yet seen—season late. Special Price, 50 
plants, $1.25. 100 plants, $2. 300 plants, $6. Sent prepaid. 
BIG BARGAIN CATALOG —FREE 
Prosrressive and Superb, everbearinir plants $1.00 per 100, 
$6.00 per 1000, brimful of Bargains for the market aardener. 
E.W. TOWNSEND. R.R.25, SAUSBURY.Md. 
Strawberry Plants 
Ten of the best varieties selected out of a hundred. 
Ten varieties that are good enough for any one. 
Early, Medium and Late. Send for our 1917 price 
list of strawberry and other plants. Romance Seed 
& XHant Farm, CALEB BOGGS & CO.,Cheswold,Delaware 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
Millions of Healthy, true-to-name plants at.whole- 
als prices, including the ever-bearing kinds. We 
guarantee to plea.<<e you or refund your money. De¬ 
scriptive catalog Free. E. W. JOHNSON S IRO., Salisliury, Md. 
STRAWBERRY PUNTS 
Blackbei ry plants, Asparagus roots and Sweet Potato 
seed. Catalogue free. M. IN. BOKGO, Vineland, N. J, 
100 strawb\*rry PLANTS,$1?°?S 
V. C. RAZORSalt Lick. . Ky. 
STRAWBERRY 
Progressive oi-; Superb 
WHOLESALE PRICES 
To the planter of Strawberry and Raspberry plants. 
Other kinds at low prices. Catalogue free. 
fxo 
OtI 
llL. 
C. WESTON & CO., 
BRIDGIVIAN^IWICH 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
S L E 
60 varittUs to caUct from, including the Fall-bearing Aaparagua 
roots. Itaspberrjr an ‘ “ * - — 
Catalog. Dept. 2. 
- - - ----jg 1 _ 
roots, Itaspberrjr and Dewberry plants, etc. Send to'r Free 
J. KEIFfORO hall* RhodesdalOf Md. 
CAMPBELL’S EARLY STRAWBERRY 
The Best First Early Variety, A new one and a 
money maker. Circular Free. 
■WILLARD B. KILliE . Swedesboro, N. J. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
and Price list Free. V. R. ALLEN, Box 159, Seaford, Del. 
^TRAWRPRRY plants —Best Everbearing. Also 
w I IIH fI.Ui.nil I standard June fruiting varieties. 
VFfiFTARI FQ ALL kinds. Get my price bn plants 
■ "UI«lMUa.ti> Bent by parcel post, prepaid, and 
special price on large orders. 0. E. FIELU, 6cW.ll, K. 1. 
Strawberry Plants plants. ■ Moderate pHcea 
Catalogue free II. II. BENNINU, II. 6. Clyde, N-Tf. 
STRiWBEItRy PUNTS 
Catalogue Free Basil Ferry, Georoetown. Delaware 
FRESH DUG 
PROGRESSIVE 
StrawberryPlants 
Hsosick Ftllc, N.Y 
100 St. Regis Everbearing RASPBERRY PLANTS 
by Parcel Post. $1. PAUL L. HEGGAN, Waterford, N. J. 
qirawhRrrv A**" vegetable plants. All leading va- 
uii anuoi IJ pieties in their season,including the Pro¬ 
gressive Fall Bearing Send for Cat. 0««ld RaowiY. Harlly, Oil. 
STRAWBERRY Plants, $1.50 per thimeand. Catalog free 
h. G. TINGLE 
Box 90, Plttirille, Md 
S UPERB EVERBEARING STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
100, $1.60, postpaid; 1,000, $10. E. S. R08INS(HI,Meyville, N.T. 
NUT TREES 
Start right with my hardy 
Pennsylvania grown grafted 
trees and avoid dicappoint- 
tnent. Handsome catalogue 
free. 
J. F. JONES 
THE NUT TREE SPECIALIST 
Box R, Lancaster, Pa. 
APPLE 
PEACH 
PEAR 
When you write advertisers mention 
The Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get 
a quick reply and a “square deal. ” See 
guarantee editorial page. 
Fniit trees and plants of all kindst. Reliable, true to name 
stock at reasonable pnees. Catalogue free; also booklet, 
“How to Plant Trees,” if you ask for it and mention this 
paper. 
The Barnes Brothers Nursery Company 
Bob 8 Yalesville, Conn. 
Won all first prizes Berks County Exhibits 1916. Big 
yield per acre. Small shank, easy to husk, well-filled 
tips and butts, thoroughly ripened. Write for prices. 
BELLE ALTO—GOLDEN DENT Belle Alto Farms,Wernersville, Pa., M.H. McCanum,Mgr. 
SEED CORN 
