"Uhe RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
853 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
Potato Prospects. —Notwithstanding 
the immense area planted to early pota¬ 
toes the report comes from the hlastern 
Shore counties of Virginia that the crop is 
turning out much smaller than usual per 
acre, except with those who planted the 
late Fall crop home-grown seed. The dis¬ 
eases carried by the Northern seed are a 
drawback to them. There seems to be an 
increasing tendency to the black-stem dis¬ 
ease, which shortens the crop. Then there 
is a great difference in the vigor of the 
plants at the start. The seed potatoes 
from the North are dug earlier of neces¬ 
sity, and they are almost certain to get to 
sprouting in the cellars. The sprouts are 
rubbed off, but they have not only weak¬ 
ened tlie tuber, but have done away with 
the terminal bud from the eye. Then 
when these potatoes grow they come up 
with several stems instead of the strong 
shoot of the terminal bud. The home¬ 
grown seed, dug in November or Decem¬ 
ber, is kept a shorter time, and when they 
grow it is with the strong terminal bud. 
They are later in getting above ground, 
but soon catch up, and in all my expe¬ 
rience and in the experiments of the past 
four years in North Carolina these pota¬ 
toes have always made a heavier crop 
than the Northern seed, and free from 
the black shank. 
Mixed Seed Stock. —I get a great 
many complaints from farmers in the 
South who planted what they bought for 
Irish Cobbler potatoes, and find that they 
have a great many very late potatoes, 
and they v/ant me to tell them the rea¬ 
son. The fact is that I do not believe 
there is a really pure stock of the Irish 
Cobbler potato in the United States. I 
have not seen a pure lot for several 
years. They are badly mixed with a 
white potato that is inclined to grow 
more kidney-shaped than the true Coh- 
bler, and is a later potato. One sees the 
difference in the bloom, for in the same 
field will be found some with a profusion 
of white flowers and others with scanty 
looking purple ones. 
Delayed Crops. —The early potato 
crop in this section is larger in area 
than usual and is very promising, though 
very few have been dug for market up 
to this time (.Tune 21st). Our garden 
corn, like all other early crops, is later 
than usual. My first planted corn is 
now just showing the tassels, and it will 
be into July before we get the ears for 
the table. The eavly and second early 
peas were favored by the cool weather, 
and the constant rains. Now with dry 
and hot weather the Champion of Eng¬ 
land peas are making a short crop. To¬ 
matoes too are behind. East Summer I 
picked the first ripe one .Tune 12th. Now 
we have plenty of well-grown green 
ones; it will probably be near or quite 
July before we get any ripe. And the 
curious thing is that Earlianas and 
lionny Best of exactly the same age, 
side by side, the Bonny Best tomatoes are 
larger than the Earlianas and look as 
though they may come in ahead of the 
Earlianas. 
St. Regis Raspberry. —After occu¬ 
pying ground for four years with the St. 
Regis raspberry I shall grub it out as 
not worth the space it takes in the gar¬ 
den. Not that it is not a fairly good red 
raspberry, but it docs not make crop 
enough, and as compared with the Cuth- 
bert, is not worth growing. I have 
waited to get a really fine growth on the 
plants, and this has been rank enough, 
but the fruit is too scanty, and I shall 
gruh them all out and plant something 
that will give me fruit even if I have to 
depend on the blackcaps entirely. 
Plant Stimulants. —I have used a 
mixture of fine bone flour and nitrate 
of soda to hurry things on this late sea¬ 
son. There has been a splendid effect, 
nearly all as yet of course from the ni¬ 
trate of soda, for the bone flour was used 
as a diluent to enable me to spread it 
lightly and more evenly. Its greatest 
effect seems to be with the cabbages and 
tomatoes and the outdoor lettuce. 
Comments. —A friend here who had a 
crop of five acres in lettuce struck a won¬ 
derfully favorable season, cool weather 
and plenty of I’ain, and the crop has been 
a great success. The cantaloupe fields 
and the cucumbers are feeling the influ¬ 
ence of the heat, and while the crop of 
melons wiU be later than usual it prom¬ 
ises to lie large. The only danger is 
that being so late, we may get caught as 
we did with the strawberry crop, com¬ 
ing in along with South .Jersey, If the 
.Terserymen come in on us there will be 
little profit in the cantaloupes and cu¬ 
cumbers. After the bottom dropped out 
of the strawberry market a few of our 
canners took strawberries, and have pre¬ 
served them, and will bottle them for 
sale. But it looks as though we will have 
plenty to eat. I notice that the Wash¬ 
ington authorities are urging us to eat 
moi’e corn bread to save wheat for 
Europe. Why not educate the Europeans 
to eat corn bread? We eat it of course, 
but we want some wheat bread, too, and 
the Europeans could as well share in the 
eating of corn bread and make the wheat 
go further, w. f. massey. 
THE MAILBAG 
Egg Breakage 
My experience with egg cases almost 
convinces me that they should be one-half 
inch deeper. If my experience is worth 
anything many eggs get broken by set¬ 
ting crates on top of one another, 10 or 
more crate.s. The inside of the case being 
a little too full this weight crushes them. 
As soon as I had discovered this the 
breakage reduced fully 75 per cent. 
Richfield, Pa. c. M. L. 
Keeping Fresh Malt 
If malt is salted well and stamped 
down it will keep, no matter how high 
the temperature. You may put a few 
handfuls of salt in a barrel without a 
head, then a layer of malt, stamped 
down, then keep up until barrel is 'full, 
putting salt on top of barrel. This re¬ 
quires a little extra work, which pays 
well. MRS. c. G. a. 
Pennsylvania, 
Home-raised Tobacco 
I neither smoke, chew nor snuff, but 
always rai.se my own tobacco. It is as 
easy to raise as corn, and should be cured 
in the shade. For lousy cows or calves 
it is sure and quick. I make a strong tea 
by soaking the dried leaves in hot water, 
and rub the animal thoroughly with a 
sponge, or use the leaves. If properly 
done it will destroy all living mites, but 
the eggs will hatch in r week or so, and 
the liquid should be applied again. 
S. W. B. 
Destroying Rats by Steam 
On page 5711 saw an item on rat.s— 
which is all off. Rats are altogether too 
.smart to eat any stuff that is not good 
for their health and comfort. The subma- 
Tine instinct of the rat wants to be met 
by submarine warfare. Connect the blow 
off valve of a portable steam boiler with 
the rat hole, get up about 10 pounds of 
steam and then let the valve open. 
Kansas. barton kibby. 
Clearing “Grown-up” Land 
I have recently bought a piece of land 
that formerly was cultivated and is good 
land,, but grown to hardback during the 
last 20 years, and used as a pasture. 
There is nothing but hardback, and I 
want to know the best and cheapest way 
to clear it off. It might burn in the Fall 
or Spring, but I want to have it plowed 
this Summer and Fall, and sow rye. 
There are about 10 acres of it, more or 
less den.se growth. f. g. b. 
Massachusetts, 
R. N.-Y.—This is a question for gen¬ 
eral discussion as there are various 
methods suited to the conditions. If you 
have cleaned up such land will you tell 
us how you did it? 
Cheap Limestone 
Your article on limestone a few weeks 
ago was to the point. We have here sev¬ 
eral ledges or layers of limestone, two of 
these ledges were tested at Columbus, 
Ohio, and if I remember right one ledge 
tested 98 per cent, lime; another 78 per 
cent. lime. These two ledges lie close to¬ 
gether, and can be quarried nicely. A 
few years ago the blast furnaces used 
them, but they found stone in the hill 
tops of Pennsylvania that contained 
more iron and less lime, so they use the 
Pennsylvania stone. This stone can be 
placed on board of cars for about $1.10 
per ton, 2,240 lbs. j. a. G. 
Belmont Co., Ohio. 
Mary’s mother found her busily en¬ 
gaged in cutting up potatoes in her home 
in Aroostook County, Maine. “Why, 
Mary,” said the astonished mother, 
“what are you doing that for?” Paus¬ 
ing a moment in her task, Mary looked 
up and replied; “I heard the man over 
at the store say that there was money 
in potatoes this year, mamma, and I 
was just looking for somt.”—Woman’s 
Journal. 
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