2r/ie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1053 
General Farm Topics 
Plant Lice on Potatoes 
The aphides, or ordinary plant lice, 
have this season done more damage to 
potatoes in many sections of the country 
than all other pests put together. In 
some places fanners had never heard of 
the lice doing any particular damage to 
potato tops, and they did not know what 
was the trouble with their vines until it 
was too late to save them. Ordinary 
poison spray solutions, no matter how 
applied, did no good, and the lice-kill- 
ing Black Leaf 40 and allied sprays were 
not effective when applied in the usual 
manner, as the lice live on the under 
side of the leaves. Many of the smaller 
growers tried to hit the lice with the 
spray by turning the potato tops with a 
wooden rake, firet to one side and then 
to the other, but in most cases this turn¬ 
ing did fully as much harm as the spray 
did good. 
The cut on page 1051, Fig. 470, shows 
what was a very promising eight-acre field 
of potatoes, owned by Charles E. Stiles, 
Hampshire Co., Mass., which the lice killed 
as thoroughly as an October black frost 
could have done, before the tops were half 
grown. Mr. Stiles is a first-class potato- 
grower, and rarely gets a yield of less 
than 200 to 800 bushels per acre. Last 
year the land where these potatoes were 
planted was heavy clover sod, which was 
plowed in the Fall, thoroughly fitted this 
Spring, and given an application of one 
ton of high-grade commercial fertilizer 
per acre. The vines were sprayed once 
with Bordeaux mixture, and twice with 
Black Leaf 40 for the lice. The first 
application of Bliwdc Leaf 40 was not 
strong enough, and probably the vines 
were injured by being turned in order to 
hit the under side of the leaves. The sec¬ 
ond application killed the lice, but the 
plants were so weakened by the lice and 
the turning that they died within a short 
time. Mr. Stiles states these potatoes 
represent an outlay of over $800 cash, 
besides his own time. 
Have the lice, like the bugs, come to 
stay, or are they merely one of the war 
enemies of vegetation? J. S. Regan of the 
entomological department of the IMassa- 
chusetts Agricultural College, who was 
ai)i)ointf>d by the State food conservation 
committee as insect control specialist for 
Western Ma.ssachusetts, states that farm¬ 
ers are liable to he troubled with those 
lice intermittently. In ordinary seasons 
they are controlled by parasitic enemies 
or fungus diseases, but farmers should 
always be ])repared to meet and promptly 
subdue them. He says there is nothing 
better for this purpose than Black Leaf 
40. applied with an angle disk nozzle, 
made especially for this purpose, and car¬ 
ried close to the ground, so that it will 
direct the spi*ay upwards and hit the 
under side of the leaves. iMr. Regan rec¬ 
ommends a formula of one and one-fourth 
teaspoouful of Black Leaf 40 and an 
ounce of dissolved ordinary soap, to a 
gallon of water. Whale or fish-oil soap 
used at the rate'of one pound to six gal¬ 
lons of water is nearly, if not quite as 
good. Either of these sprays, when ap¬ 
plied as above stated, with the angle disk 
nozzle, he reports to be from 98 to 90 
per cent, effective. 'He believes one 
spraying a season is sufficient under or¬ 
dinary circumstances. The cpllege is to 
issue a bulletin, by Mr. Regan, on the 
subject in the near future. 
W. E. EKOWN’. 
Asparagus Without Trenching 
Rage 941 in answering “Handling 
Seedling Aspai'agus,” K. states that as¬ 
paragus may be successfully grown with¬ 
out any trenching whatever. Will K. 
give his method of planting and handling? 
IVe contemplate setting out half an acre, 
but the old trench method, 18 to 24 
inches, is prohibitive. S. F. 
Martinsville, N. J. 
While asparagus can be grown with 
more or less success in almost any kind 
of good soil, a deep, rich, sandy loam is 
in all respects specially suited to this 
vegetable, and in this it is most success¬ 
ful. That this crop can be and is suc¬ 
cessfully grown without trenching the soil 
is amply proven by the enormous quan¬ 
tities that are shipped into market every 
year. In the early days of asparagus 
growing it was deemed absolutely neces¬ 
sary to trench the soil deeply for this 
crop. Some advocated that it should be 
broken up to a depth of at least two 
feet, and if it could be done to a depth 
of three feet or more all the better. This 
method of planting'was so expensive that 
the acreage devoted to the culture of the 
plant was very limited, and the small 
quantity that found its way to market 
always brought a high price. The dis¬ 
covery that it could be grown on or¬ 
dinarily prepared soil revolutionized the 
asparagus industry. Where it was grown 
in small patches under the old method 
of trucking, it is now grown by hun¬ 
dreds of acres under the new method, in 
all sections of the country where soils 
are adapted to its culture. 
Sandy loam .soils underlaid with a 
thin stratum of clay, sand or gravel, only 
require deep plowing; heavier soils with 
stiff subsoil should be broken up with the 
subsoil plow. The laud is thoroughly 
harrowed and furrows opened with the 
plow to a de]»th of four to six inches, and 
four to six feet apart. If the land was 
not manured or fertilized previous to 
plowing it may be done in the furrow, 
using ii liberal quantity of well-rotted 
manure or commercial fertilizer, or both. 
The plants may be set in the row 18 to 
24 inches apart. In the years to follow, 
if the plants are liberally fertilized and 
given good cultivation, there will be .a 
goodly reward for expen.se and labor de¬ 
voted to them. Without these essentials 
the plantation will not give satisfactory 
returns. Asparagus, like >all other crops, 
cannot do its best when neglected, but 
will respond liberally if treated liberally 
in the manurial applications and culti¬ 
vation. K, 
Nitrates in Southern Cave 
Since the war began imports of both 
potash and nitrate have fallen off and 
the U. 8. Geological Survey has made 
a constant search for deposits of these 
chemicals in this country. The potash 
has been found, but in most cases it is 
so situated that the cost of taking it 
out is very expensive. There are de¬ 
posits of nitrate here and there which 
are being examined. 
During the CMl War a large cave 
in one of the Southern States was found 
to contain large quantities of nitrate of 
pota.sh. It wa.s worked to some extent 
during the war, and the nitrate used for 
making gunpowder. It is said that this 
cave contains at least 1,000,000 tons of 
nitrous earth. As this contaims only about 
2%_ of nitrate it is doubtful if the de¬ 
posits will be of great practical value 
owing to the high cost of labor. In 
Chile, where the nitrate of soda is ob¬ 
tained, they have not found it pimfitable 
to work deposits which contain less than 
12%, and there too they have the ad¬ 
vantage of cheap Indian labor. During 
the Civil War, when it was necessary 
for the South to obtain these nitrates 
at home, the soil in these caves was 
woi’ked about as follows: 
It was thrown into large iron pots, 
water was added, and this was kept over 
wood fires to leach out the soluble nit¬ 
rates. Th^ liquor thus obtained was 
drawn from one pot to another, and 
used for leaching out fresh earth until 
it became highly concentrated. Then it 
was drawn off and cooled so that the 
nitrate crystallized. In this way con¬ 
siderable of the nitrates were obtained, 
but with the high labor of this day it 
is not likely that these caves will be 
largely worked. The statement has been 
made in some of the papers that the.se 
Southern deposits_ will relieve the entire 
situation. That is not so, however, as 
owing to the facts here given the nitrate 
thus obtained is too expensive to make 
the working pay. 
Pruning Columbian Raspberry 
On page 9.86 I note that P. D. P. hi 
trouble with the canes of Columbii 
raspberries dying back. I think his tro 
ble is that he does not “nip” the youi 
shoots or canes early enough. Tin 
should be nipped when they are not ov 
18 inches high; then the arms i 
branches which will start will becon 
matured or ripened, so that they w: 
not freeze or die back. I have raisi 
these berries for yeai-s, and have prun( 
the bushes as soon as the leaves fall 
the Fall, and have known the mercui 
to go to 18 degrees below zero aft 
pimning, and have iKver had any troub 
with the Columbian or any other varie 
dying back. The arms or branch 
should be pruned back, so as to be fro 
14 to 16 inches long from the main can 
E. Bloomfield, N. Y. c. A. w. 
^atlbiir 
Enjoy furnace comfort at lowest 
cost this winter. Get a Kalamazoo 
Pipeless Furnace and be able to 
burn any kind of fuel. Feed but 
one fire—heat your entire home. 
Write for Our New Catalog 
and learn what you can 
save in fuel bills this win¬ 
ter. See how easily this 
simple and powerful heating 
outfit can bein.stalled in your 
home. Read what owners say 
about it. Kalamazoo Pipe 
Furnace outfits where desired, 
heating plans FREE. 
Quick SIi:pment,No Waiting 
Our big stocks Insure immediate 
filling of your order. W 
freight and guarantee 
ery. Cash or easy payments. 
'VVrite today. 
Ask for Catalog No. 910 
Kalamazoo Stove Company, Mfrs. 
Il Kalamazoo, Mich. 
^We manufacture Stoves, Rancrcs, Gas 
Ranges, Furnaces. Kitchen Kabinets 
and ‘iables. 
A K&lanvazee 
Direct to "Vbtj" 
Simplex Soil Tester 
"Good Boy," they say, if ho puts $.'>00.00 in stock end takes Patented of 
out 3800.00. "Clover." But, if ho puts a few dollars in a course 
Simplex Testing Machine and saves thousands of dollars 
by knowing at all times the exact number of pounds of lime 
and ground limestone his soil contains and I’equires at a cost 
of ) 5 c per test nobody notices it. Why? Because there is no 
speculation to it. His cleverness is only Business Sense. 
Tlioustinds of fanners the world over are now saving thousands 
and thousands of dollars that heretofoio tliey have been 
throwing away. How? By using the Simplex Soli Testing 
Machine and looking right into their soil and ascertaining 
the amount of lime or ground limestone their soil contains 
and requires before planting. Just merely Good Sound Busl* 
ness that has knocked the spots off of Guessing. Guaranteod 
to be aceurato and satisfactory or your money back Order 
one today or write lor freo literaturs. 
SIMPLEX MANUFACTURING CO., Dept, XX263, Baltlmoro, Md. 
StonsO.Kj 
Sent on 
10 Days* 
Trial 
Insures crop success in wet 
land. Saves hillsides. DigsV- 
shaped ditch in any soil. Ad¬ 
justable to narrow or wldeout. 
Mostly steel. Reversible, 
Equals 100 men. Wrltefor 
free book, prices, terms and 
money-back guarantee. 
.SlniDlex Farm Ditcher Co., Inc. 
Box eg Owensboro, Ky. 
Steel Wheels 
will make yourold farm wagon, n AAV 
as good as new. Save money be- DvvA 
. cause they never need repairs, —^ 
^Write for our big free book tell- pHpP 
' ing all obout them and how they ■ 
pay. Empire Mlg. Co., Box796 Qiilnoy, lib 
New Kemp Climax Spreader 
Durable, kraetical. Light Draft, Low Down Spreader. 
You Get 40 Years' Experience In This Machine. 
Write for valuable article on "Saving and Application of Manure." 
THE N. J. KEMP CO., Batavia. N. Y. 
WITTEr 
Ksro-Oil” Engines 
Immediato Shipment—All Styles-* 
2 to 22 H-P,—No Waiting—Factory—Liff 
Output—Prices most favorable* Writo for my 
terms arid prices—Cash, Payments or No 
Money Down.-ED. H. WITTfe, Pros. 
WITTE ENGINE WORKS 
1892 Oakland Avo.g Kana*s City, Mo. 
1892 Empire Bldg., Pittsburg, Pa, 
T«tod ’ 
fof . P o 
'vhici, r ^ 
D Ditch 
Have you tried 
Blasting? 
Do you know that in the last year the farmers of 
the United States used more than jo, 000,000 pounds 
of explosives for removing stumps? 
That they are using greater quantities every year? 
That they do the work themselves? 
If you have done no stump blasting it must be 
because you do not know how easy it is to use 
Farm Powder 
The Safest Explosive 
The Original Farm Powder 
Our book, “Better Farming with Atlas Farm Powder,’* 
tells you all you need to know about all kinds of farm 
blasting. It shows how to prepare tlie charges. It tells 
how to load them under the stumps. It explains how to 
fire them. Anyone can use Atlas Farm Powder, klark 
the coupon, get the book. Then you will be ready to go out 
and blast stumps without trouble or risk. 
Dealers everywhere can get Atlas Farm Powder for you. 
Insist upon having Atlas, The Original Farm Powder. It 
is made especially so it will be safe. It does its work 
cheaper and better than ordinary explosives. 
ATLAS POWDER COMPANY 
General Offices: Wilmington, Del. 
Sales Offices: Birmingham, Boston. Houghton. JopDa, 
Knoxville, Kansas City. New Orleans. New York, \ 
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis. 1 
I 
