■&he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
nil 
The Home Garden 
Building Small Greenhouse 
Have you any plans for building and 
l)iping a small greenhouse, 12x18 ft.? I 
wanted to use six sash to a side, .‘IxG, 
for roof, and have it hoarded up from the 
ground 4 or 4^ ft., three benches in it. 
I have a heating stove that I think 
could be used as it never gets colder than 
in degrees above zero. Almut how much 
do you think such a house would cost? 
Hubbard, Oregon. l. E. S. 
Sa.sh u.sed in this manner will make an 
inexpensive hou.se if the sash are already 
on hand. I do not think it would ho 
economical to purcha.se sash, especially 
for use in the construction of a green¬ 
house. Sash bars regularly used for 
greenhouse construction would make a 
better job and would possibly cost less. 
For a house 12 ft. wide 1 in. pipe posts 
should be plnced in center under the ridge 
and bars nailed at ridge. Several small 
narrow sash will have to be hinged to 
ridge for ventilation. A hou.se 12 ft. 
wide would allow only two beds or 
benches. Several articles have been 
printed in The R. N.-Y., giving in detail 
directions for growing A'egetables in such 
houses. If the temperature does not go 
/lower than I'i degrees above zero and 
you have a good stove, am sure it Avould 
be much cheaper to place stove in a pit 
several feet deep in the center of the 
house and heat with the stove direct. To 
l)ipe such a small hou.se for hot water 
would be very expensive, from $1tM) to 
$150 possibly. The stove should be en- 
tircl.v enclosed by a shield of sheet iron, 
extending eight to 10 inches from the bot¬ 
tom of the i)it to a foot or two above the 
top of the stove, and large enough to 
clear the stove at all points from 0 to 8 
inches. This shield will protect adjacent 
plants, and, what is more imimrtant, 
cause a circulation of the air, which will 
heat the house at either end. 
Rennsylvania. elmer .r. weaver. 
Trouble With Snowball; Strawberry for 
Home Use 
1. I have a large snowball bush that is 
very old. It has always loolwal w'ell and 
been covered with large flowers. This 
year the leaves seem to c\irl up and 
wither, and the blossoms did not come 
out, but dried up into brown balls. Can 
you suggest a treatment that will restore 
it to health? It is vei’y thick. Would 
pruning help it? 2. What is the be.st 
strawberry to set out for home use? I 
would like to have it sweet rather large 
if I could not have both. w. c. 
1. Unfavorable weather conditions will 
sometimes cause the trouble complained 
of, and it may be caused by lack of nour¬ 
ishment. I’runing and manuring would 
be beneficial and should be done. I’rune 
early next Spring and spade a liberal 
quantity of good manure into the soil 
around the bush for a distance e(iual to 
or greater than the spread of the top. 
2. This is a question hard to answer as 
all varieties of strawberries do not suc¬ 
ceed in all soils or sections. The Suc¬ 
cess and Marshall are both Ideal homo 
berries, but before you plant any kind 
you will do well to consult some good re¬ 
liable grower in your home section, and 
get his opinion on the matter. tc. 
Pruning Rambler Roses 
Referring to inquiry by W. W., page 
857, relative to Rambler roses, my expe¬ 
rience is that the old wood should all be 
cut down to the ground, each year, as 
soon as the bushes ar<“ out of bloom. 
This throws all of the growth into the 
new shoots already started, and insures 
a good bloom the following season. New 
canes .should be thinned and pruned in 
the Spring to form the desired shape. I 
have Dorothy I’erkins in three colors and 
find that a frame is necessary to sujiport 
the slender canes. A liberal amount of 
fertilizer seems necessary for all roses, 
and a 1-20 lime-sulphur spray may be 
used while the bushes are dormant. 
New Jersey. c. v. o. 
Squash and Pumpkins Rot 
What is the reason of {Summer crook- 
neck sciuash, Hubbard siiuash and Win¬ 
ter pumpkins routing? 'I’lie crooknecks 
begin to rot when four and five inches 
long, and the otliiT two variidies when 
about the size of a large walnut. I 
used some hog manure for the crooknecks 
and hen manure for the others. About 
half of the fruits rot, the rest thrive. 
Richfield Spa, N. Y. c. ii. F. 
The Summer crookneck squash will 
frequently rot in the blossom end, espe¬ 
cially the first ones that come on the 
vines. This indicates an unhealthy or 
crowded condition of the vine.s. Excesses 
of wet weather or of dry weather will 
caii.se the same condition. Any specimen 
which shows indications of a .soft or 
shriveled blossom should be removed 
from the vine at once. Hog manure 
could not be directly respon.siblc for this 
trouble unless you used it too generously 
and obtained an excessive vine growth. 
You ask why many of your pumpkins 
and .squash rot when about the size of a 
walnut and then you proceed to answer 
your own question very completely, 
riiicken manure is abundantly supiilied 
with the fertilizer ingredient called 
nitrogen and is very deficient in phos¬ 
phoric acid and is somewhat defich'iit in 
potash. Nitrogen produces foliage while 
the other two e.ssential plant foods 
jiroduce large firm fruits. Your chicken 
manure has probably caused the develop¬ 
ment of excessive vines which lack the 
ahil’ty to iiroduce a strong solid fruit. 
Uonsequenfly I lie watery fruits will turn 
black and moldy especially when shadi'd 
completely by the he/ivy foliage. ^I’o over¬ 
come this trouble on ricli ground, the 
hills should be at least five feet apart 
and the jdants should be thinned down 
to two in a hill. If poultry manure is 
to be u.sed, apiily it jud'ciou.sly iind mix 
with every 100 pounds of it at bust 20 
pounds of acid jihosphate or 10 pounds 
of bone meal, because e/ich of these ma¬ 
terials cont.ains a large percentage of 
phosphoric acid, which is so es.smitial for 
the formation of healthy fruits*. 
R. w. n. 
Onions Fail to Develop 
r have fme-(iuarter acre of oii'ons that 
now stand ns high as IS inches, and 
have a good color, but a great many of 
them ,seem not to be setting any bottoms. 
Ought I to roll th(^ tf)j)s down, and when 
should it be done? Some tell me it cau.ses 
them to rot after they have been gath¬ 
ered. Is this true? E. v. w. 
German Valley, N. .1. 
Onions usually develop large vigorous 
toi)S before they begin to ch'velop the bot¬ 
toms. This is especially true of the late 
varieties, such as the l)iinv(‘rs /ind South- 
port. Do not think of rolling down the 
toi)s at least iintil the bottoms have 
about developed, .and even tlnm it is 
hardly worth Avhile. The keeping <iuality 
of onions is fre/piently imiiaired by al¬ 
lowing the crop to remain unpullod after 
more than half of the tops have fallen 
over of their own accord. Pull them all 
and lay every four rows in one with the 
tops in the same direction so that topping 
may be done more quickly. After the 
onions are topped and well dri<al off, re¬ 
move them promptly to shelter where they 
may be spread out thin in a cool, dark, 
dry building. R. w. I), 
Blooming of Century Plant 
Will you tell me what kind of soil to 
u.se to i)roduco bloom from a century 
l)hint? I hiivo one that is 10 years old. 
It has dark green leaves edged with a 
l»ale yellow 2. Are lemons and or¬ 
anges natural fruit or do they re(iuire 
grafting, also grape fniit? u. R. 
The projau* soil for the century plant. 
Agave Americana, is a mixture of lojim 
and sand, with very little, if any, vege¬ 
table matter. Good drainage and firm 
plotting are e.sscntlul. A i)lant only 10 
years old is still in its early youth. The 
name of century jdant was given because 
it is popularly siijiimsed to bloom only 
at the age of a hundred years, and it is 
certainly very leisurely in prodeicing its 
tall spike of odd, waxy, greenish tubu¬ 
lar flowers, the total infloresence reach¬ 
ing a height of 20 to 20 feet. Rut there 
is no way of hurrying it, and the bh/s- 
soming of a ceuitury plant is an ev<*nt 
which can only be ho|)ed for and looked 
for patiently. 
2. liOmons. orangt's and giaipe fruit, a.s 
grown commercially, are all grafltul nr, 
rather, budded. The giape fruit, being 
very vigorous, is oftem used :is ii stock 
on which to graft otluu' citrus fruits. 
Now You Can Plow SVz Miles an 
Hour—Even Faster 
Such plowing speed used to be considered 
impracticable — even impossible. 
But the Cleveland Tractor has proved that 
it can not only plow at that rate— but plow in 
a Way that cannot be approached by horses. 
The Cleveland Tractor has proved that 
it can plow — and plow well—at 3% miles 
an hour. 
At the Fremont Tractor Demonstration, 
oner land that was literally muck,, it pulled 
two I4'inch bottoms running 8 inches deep 
at an average speed of 3miles an hour. 
The thousands who saw the performance 
E renounced it the finest job of tillage they 
ad ever seen. 
Small and light, and hauling two bottoms 
instead of three the Cleveland Tractor is re¬ 
markably easy to handle. It works with 
such speed that it does as much and in some 
cases more than 3-plow tractors — and more 
economically. At plowing the Cleveland 
Tractor actually does the work of three 
3-horse teams and three men. Its speed can 
be applied not only to plowing—but to any 
one of a wide variety of tasks—even to riding 
in to dinner or home when work is through. 
It crawls on its own tracks. It can go 
anywhere—through sand or mud, up hill or 
down dale—even over ditches and gullies. 
Because it has 600 square inches of con¬ 
tinuous traction surface it does not slip, mire 
or pack the soil. 
The Cleveland gives 12 h. p. at the draw¬ 
bar and 20 at the pulley—plenty of power 
to meet the requirements of any farm. 
It only costs $1183, yet it is constructed 
of the best materials. 
It is built by Rollin H. White, one of the 
country’s greatest motor truck engineers. All 
gears are identical with those used in the 
finest trucks and all arc protected by dirt- 
proof. dustproof cases. 
The Cleveland will enable you to plow 
when and where needed—without a moment’s 
loss of time. It will help you increase the yield 
of your acres as it is doing for many others. 
We are crowded with orders from all 
sections of the country. We advise ordering 
early if you want your Cleveland in time for 
early spring work. 
Get full information now. Use the coupon 
Cleveland Tractor Company 
CLEVELAND, OHIO 
Cleveland Tractor Company 
Dept. L Cleveland, Ohio 
Please send me full information about 
the Cleveland Tractor 
Name__ 
City_County. 
Slate_ 
With this Simplex Ditoher-Terraoer 
Works many sotl, clay or gumbo. Digs V-shaped 
ditch down to 1 ft. Practically all steel. Reversi¬ 
ble. Eaual to 100 men. Pays tor Itself In a day. 
Sent on 
10 Days' 
Trial 
Ditches, Terraces, 
Itullds Levees, 
Levels Dumps, Fills 
Uulllcs. Urades 
Roods, Dock Fills, 
Cleans out old 
ditches at tow cost. 
Simpler Farm-Ditcher 
Co,, Inc., Box 66 
Owensboro, ky. 
CORN INSURANCE 
beet and cheapest corn Ins or -1 
once yon con bay. that will save I 
every oar of your corn crop, is a I 
Marshall Iron Corn Crib. Built I 
of heavy dne galvanized iron. I 
Cost no more than old style I 
wooden cribs. Store corn in rat- I 
proof, iiroproof, wutthcr-proof I 
Get This Big FREE Folder 
Just send a postal with 
your name and address 
and we’ll mail you this big 
free catalog folder. Tolls how 
Marshalls cure corn better. A 
size to fit every farm. Write 
today for your copy. 
IRON CRIB AND BIN CO. 
Boa taa Woostsr. Ohio 
WHta for Booh 
Today 
FARM WAGONS 
High or low wheels—steel or wood —wide 
or narrow tires. Steel or wood wheels to fit any 
running gear. Wagon parts of all kinds. Write 
today for free catalog illustrated in colors. 
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO^ 48 Elm Streot, Quincy, IIL 
