Oic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
9)7 
The Home Garden 
Saving Seed Peas ; Canning Without Sugar 
1. I have early peas in every way de¬ 
sirable for saving for seed. Please ad¬ 
vise best method of handling them for 
this purpose. 2. Is it possible to can 
peaches and other fruit without sugar? 
Plainfield, N. J. n. ii. 
1. I have always made a practice of 
gathering peas intended for seed. When 
the pods begin to wilt, this is a sign of 
maturity and the life germ is then as 
strong as it will ever be. The pods when 
gathered should be spread thinly on lat¬ 
tice trays or a dry floor under cover, 
where a good air current can pass over 
them. In .such a situation they v.'ill dry 
sufficiently in a short time to admit of 
them being put in coarse bags or any¬ 
where in bulk that they can be kept dry. 
Peas are very subject to attack by weevil. 
If seed is allowed to remain in the pod 
until a market can be found for them 
they are seldom attacked by the weevil. 
I have kept them in the pods for two 
years in perfect condition. When the 
seed is shelled the weevil is almost cer¬ 
tain to get into it. Tire only remedy 
then is bisulphide of carbon, and unless 
the seed are thus treated the weevil will 
do much damage. 
2. It is possible to can many kinds of 
fruit without sugar. The Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C., has is¬ 
sued a circular on this subject, which you 
can secure on application. K. 
Care or Barked Trees 
Is it possible to save White oak trees 
that have been girdled by a careless work¬ 
man? Sap wood has not been injured, 
only the bark removed for a space four 
inches wide around the tree. 
Malden, IMo. F. o. n. 
If these trees had been immediately 
wrapped with strips of muslin and 
heavily painted, there would have been 
no question about their living and the 
wound wotild probably be entirely bealed 
in two or three years. They have stood .so 
long now that it is doubtful if anything 
will be of much benefit to them. How¬ 
ever, you might still try the inuvslin and 
paint protection. Take long strips of 
muslin about four inches wide, commenc¬ 
ing some distance below the wound and 
wrapping it round and round upward 
overlapping the edges shingle fa.shion. 
When a point an inch or two above the 
wound is reached fasten the end of the 
strip to the tree with small tacks. Now 
paint it heavilj' with white lead and lin¬ 
seed oil mixed. This will make the 
wound airtight and w'aterproof. the cloth 
wrapping taking the place of bark. When 
this treatment is applied immediately 
after a wound is made, the sap flow seems 
to go on undisturl>ed and in most cases a 
new bark w’ill form over the injured sur¬ 
face the first year, particularly if the 
wounding occurs early in the season. 
Cauliflower and Tomato Seed 
Could you tell me how to raise my 
own cauliflower sei'd, also how to pre¬ 
pare and clean my own tomato seed? 
II. V. 
Alpine, N. Y. 
So far as the writer is informed the 
production of cauliflower seed is not a 
success in this country, our climate be¬ 
ing too hot and dry for this cold-blooded 
plant at the time when the greatest drain 
upon its vitality is in progress. Those 
best informed on the question of seed 
raising are unanimous in saying that al¬ 
most all kinds of seeds can be pi.rchased 
more cheaply than the gardener can pro¬ 
duce them, and those bought are almost 
invariably of better quality than those 
l)roduced at home. This is more espe¬ 
cially true in regard to the sorts that are 
difficult to grow, such as cauliflower, etc. 
There are, of course, some kinds of seeds 
that can very well be home-grown, such 
as tomato, muskmelon, beans, sweet corn, 
squash, etc. Care in selection as to type, 
best specimens of uniform size and proper 
curing, being the principal es.sentials in¬ 
volved. 
For home use this saving of tomato seed 
involves but a small amount of labor and 
care. The earliest fruits should be se¬ 
lected for seed, selecting them with care, 
taking none for seed that is not of good 
form, and all should be as near of a size 
and type as possible. As they are gath¬ 
ered they may be laid on a shelf in a 
shady place, and allowed to remain until 
they become quite soft, when the pulp 
and seed should be scpieezed out of the 
rind into a pail of water. Now agitate 
the water with the hands or by other 
means until the seeds are free from the 
pulp. Let them stand a while until they 
settle, when the water is to be carefully 
drained of!’ as closely as possible without 
losing too many seeds. Repeat the pro¬ 
cess two or three times, then pour them 
into a wooden box to drain. They must 
be watched and kept stirred as they are 
drying, or they will dry in haid lumps 
and many will stick to the wood so tightly 
it will be impossible to get them loose. 
After the seeds have become thoroughly 
dry, put in cloth bag and hang in a dry 
place. K. 
Solanum Jasminoides ; Japanese Snowball 
1. Is the vine Solanum .Tasminoides 
hardy enough to stand the Winters in 
Central New York? 2. Does the .lapan- 
e.se snowball have good foliage? Here 
the common snowball has leaf-curl, 
which spoils the bush. E. i.. p. 
Layetteville, N. Y. 
1. Solanum jasminoides, sometimes 
called the potato vine, would not stand 
the Winter in Central New York. It is 
a half-hardy greenhouse climbing shrub, 
a n.ative of South America, which does 
well in parts of the South, but is only 
suited to greenhouse conditions in the 
North. 
2. The .Tapancse snowball. Viburnum 
tomentosum, also called V. plicatuni, has 
handsome foliage of firm texture, which 
assumes a bronzy shade in Fall; it is 
much superior to the foliage of the com¬ 
mon snowball. Indeed, we think the .Jap¬ 
anese variety superior in every way, for 
it blooms profusely, the flowers being 
handsomely displayed along the branches, 
and the general habit is attractive when 
the shrub is out of flower. It appears 
highly resistant to both di.scase and in¬ 
sect attacks. 
Protecting Seed Corn from Cross- 
Pollination 
I have a few hills of sweet corn which 
I have planted for seed, and in order to 
avoid any possibility of mixing, at time of 
tasseling, with other and commoner va¬ 
rieties planted near, desire to protect 
them over the blossoming period. I have 
read somewhere that this is accomj)lished 
by use of gauze or shaking the pollen at 
the right time. Will you describe the 
operation? k. c. p. 
Devon, Conn. 
To get the seed of this corn pure you 
will have to resort to hand pollination 
and protect the ears with gauze. The 
tassels bear the pollen, and will have to 
be gathered just before the pollen is ripe 
and placed in the green house or some 
other place under glass until the pollen 
is ripened, when it is to be shaken on the 
silk and immediately covered with gauze. 
Hybridists use this method of crossing 
and after protection when breeding new 
varieties, usually, but a few ears are used 
for the purpose, and the work in conse 
quence of this limited number treated is 
easily taken care of, but when it comes to 
doing a large quantity for the sake of 
keeping a variety pure it is extremly 
doubtful if it can be dope, or whether the 
results will justify the labor and expense 
involved. K. 
Fertilizer to Produce Firm Berries 
What can I put on the land to in- 
ci'case the'number of blossoms on straw¬ 
berry idanls? All plant nurseries advise 
the use of stable manure for strawberries 
and yet the use «)f it makes berries soft. 
I have been thinking that if I could got 
more blossoms to come there would be 
more berries, consequently they wmuld be 
firmer. J. it. K. 
Washington. 
The use of idiosphorus in some form 
would help. Of the three most impor¬ 
tant food elements for plants, nitrogen 
promotes growth. Potash helps in the 
production of starch, and as you say will 
harden the fruit and give it higher color. 
Phosphorus is the element most impor¬ 
tant in the production of .seed and flower; 
500 lbs. of either acid phosphate or fine 
ground bone, in connection with the 
stable manure, will give you better re¬ 
sults with bloom and fruit. Remember, 
however, that the production of bloom is 
largely a matter of variety. Some varie¬ 
ties bloom and fruit far more freely than 
others. It is their nature to do so. You 
cannot by any kind of feeding induce a 
shy bearer to give as large a crop and 
bloom as freely as a variety which is 
naturally i)roIific. but the use of a bal¬ 
anced fertilizer containing nitrogen, phos¬ 
phorus and potash in ample ((uantities, 
will iinjirove the cropping habit of any 
variety. 
Cutting Off Fruiting Limb 
Is it harmful to a fruit tree to saw a 
large limb from it while the fruit is ripe 
upon it? M. c. A. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
There must be some special reason for 
cuting a large limb which carries good 
fruit. It can be done by cutting on a 
slant so as to let water drain <iuiekly off 
and iiainting the stub with a paint made 
of white lead .and oil, or covering with 
grafting wax. 
Strawberries on Limed Soil 
I have a piece of ground in beets which 
I limed heavily. Would you plant straw¬ 
berries on it next year? i,. v. 
New Jersey. 
We should not plant strav.’berries on 
this patch without plowing in some heavy 
green crop which would act to sour the 
land to some extent after the beets are 
taken off. or even before they are pulled. 
We should sow rye and Alsike clover, 
and get as large a crop as possible to 
plow or spade under in the Spring. This 
green crop will add some acid to the 
ground, and partly overcome the effect 
of the lime, so that the strawberries may 
be planted. There is some difference of 
opinion regarding the effect of lime upon 
berries. The coarse ground limestone 
does not have as injurious effect as 
the burned lime, and we hear from grow- 
ei’s who say that they use ground lime¬ 
stone quite freely the year before setting 
out the i)Iants. This limestone is used 
in connection with clover which is 
plowed under just before strawberry 
planting. By using a green crop as here 
suggested it would be safe to plant the 
strawberries. 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
A Peculiar Season. —^The first tom.i- 
toes were gathered this Summer July 
7th, more than two weeks later than 
usual. They are Farliana and Bonny 
Best. Usually the Farliana comes in a 
number of days ahead, but this Summer 
we gathered the first tomatoes from both 
these varietie.s at same time. With me 
the Bonny Best has always been such 
a close second, and so much better thiin 
Farliana that one is almost inclined to 
drop Farliana entirely. Another pecu¬ 
liarity of the season is the absence of 
the Colorado beetle. Last Summer it was 
a constant fight to save not only the po¬ 
tatoes but tomatoes and eggplants. In 
fact some of our growers for the canner- 
i('s had their entire sowing of tomatoes 
eaten in the bed before they got an inch 
high. This year the eggplants are flour¬ 
ishing in the favorable weather in a won¬ 
derful manner and not a hole in the 
leaves nor a beetle crawling around. 
Irish potatoes are turning out wonder¬ 
fully well. The constant succession of 
I’ains has made the growing conditions 
ideal for potatoes, and no very hot 
weather has also been of benefit to this 
crop. 
The Benefit of ITumur. —,Tust across 
the road from my garden is a sandy 
ridge which has been for years held for 
the sale of building lots. It has been 
covered with a dense sod of Blue gi’.ass, 
which has not been pastured nor cut, but 
year after year has matured and died 
down. This Spring these lots coveidng 
quite an area, have been jiut in cultiva¬ 
tion, and the benefit of tluit accumula¬ 
tion of humus-making material is very 
evident for there is a mass of corn there 
which would do credit to the best prairie 
land of Illinois. And yet our farnu'rs 
fail to understand the benefit of a good 
sod. and spend money enough in fertiliz¬ 
ers to get their land permanently fertile 
through the humus making crops. iVnd 
yet the heavy applications they give the 
truck crops would have a better effect if 
the soil was filled with this moisture- 
retaining organic decay. 'Sweet potatoes 
are growing wonderful vines in the 
abounding moisture but unless there is a 
I)roperly balanced ration in the ground 
this may not indicate a heavy crop. 
Swei't potatoes do rather better in a 
moderate dry season than in a wet one. 
A Bio Fritit Chop. - J’he householders 
who fail to put up in the cans and bot¬ 
tles a good supply of fruit this Summer 
will miss one of the best chances prob¬ 
ably, for there is a wonderful crop of 
fruit of all kind.s, especially peaches. 
The KielTer pear trees are loaded, and 
even the Kiefi'er i.s not bad in the cans 
if well matured before canning. In fact 
many a Ciin with ,a handsome lithograi)h 
label calling for Bartletts, is filled with 
Kieffers. Along the roads in Delaware 
and to some extent in Maryland the 
Kieffer is planted us a roadside tree. No 
one will evci* steal a green Kieffer and 
the farmer gets a large amount of fruit 
with little loss of space. 
Future Po.ssihiijties. —A corres¬ 
pondent asks mo to give my opinion as to 
the prospect of profit in planting early 
Irish potatoes largely next Spring, and 
whether I think an acre of cucumbers 
will pay then. I am not given to divin¬ 
ation, and would hardly attempt to pre¬ 
dict the prospect next Winter, certainly 
not now. One thing T have long since 
learned, and this is that the man who 
wishes to make a success in trucking, 
must be a trucker all the way througli, 
and devote all the skill, and energy he 
possesses to the wmrk and stick to it 
through good and bad seasons knowing 
that some crops that are profitable in 
one season are not always so. And then 
it is always best for the prospective 
trucker to locate in a .section where 
everyone is engaged in this work, and 
where there are cooperative agencies for 
marketing the crops. An isolated culti¬ 
vator is at the mercy of the railroads and 
the commission merchants, and usually 
when they get through with him his 
cent dollar looks like 30 cents. 
tv. F. MASSEY. 
