Tahe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
43 
Crops and Farm Notes 
Frostproof Cabbage Plants 
Would you let me know whether the 
so-called frost-proof cabbage plants are as 
good as the early greenhouse plants’' I 
saw an advertisement of South Carolina 
plants for $2.r)0 per 1,000. A. J. z. 
St. Mary’s, Pa. 
The so-called “fi-ost-proof" cabbage 
plants are grown by the millions, esiiecial- 
l.v in South Carolina, and are shipped 
North for early Spring planting. They 
are grown out of doors with no protection 
whatsoever. I'sually they are very hardy 
and vigorous, but .souk times they have a 
warm spell in the South which will cause 
them to make a (|uick start and a soft 
growth. These plants are packed in 
hampers for shipment. If theia; is no de¬ 
lay in tre^-^sportation the plants will ar¬ 
rive in good {'ondition. One unavoidable 
disadvantage to the plantin' is that the 
plants will not arrive just when tlu' 
weather is right and he is ready to put 
them out. 
CJreenhouse cabbage plants are (luite 
worthless for setting out ('arly in the 
Spring. Greenhouses are bound to be too 
hot for this cool-loving jilant. A very soft, 
watery growth will be ‘the result. Such 
jilants will either die from the sudden 
change when set out or else they will just 
stand still for :i week or so befoi'e starting 
growth. Plants started in hotbeds can be 
hardened off. because with thosi- tlm heat 
can be regulati'd. Plants stai'ted in a 
greenhouse may be transplanted to cold 
frames for a few weeks to gc't them into 
condition. The most .successful growers 
jirefer to grow their own plants at honu', 
because thej" can get them into better con¬ 
dition. they i)roduce an earlier crop, and 
they are less likely to bo infected with 
diseases. H. W. D. 
Land Plaster Combined with Wood Ashes 
What is till' matter with a mi.xture of 
200 lbs. of land jdastm* and 10 biislnds of 
goo<l hardwood ashes for growing pota¬ 
toes’' Forty years tigo it would raise 
more potatoes with a hiindfid in (he hill 
than fertilizer would, but not as much 
corn. n. .\. n. 
\'ermont. 
Of course such a mi.xture contains no 
nitrogen and v(‘ry little jdi()S|)horic ;icid. 
On str(mg soil or where a clov<'r sod was 
turned under, it might give a fair crop of 
potato<-s. ’We have not found wood ashes 
well suited to this ci'oi». as where scab is 
on the seed or in tin* soil the lime in the 
ashes will increase the sr-ab. good 
handful of chicken manure worked into 
the hill (not mixed with the ashes) would 
help this mixture. 
Killing the Comriion Mole 
.Vlthoiigh not ;i( ;i!l in sj-asoii, since the 
ground is fr<i'/.e;i in most ij.arts of the 
<'ountr\. ii littb' talk on moles and their 
habits will b<“ in tirdei'. Pui-ing the sea¬ 
son we have mort* reipn'sts for information 
iibont the mole than we have about most 
other animals. People wait until the 
ridges or tracks on their lawn begin to 
appear, and tben put tiii a fight against 
the mole to jirotect their prop('rty. There 
seems to be very little us'- in tryitig to 
j)oi.son these animals. We h;tv<‘ reports 
from those who say they ha\<‘ succeeded, 
but the hiibits of (he nude are such that 
poisfdis are rarely successful. Tin* mole 
is largely a carnivorous animal. He eats 
but a small (juantity of vegetabb' matter, 
his food being largely rarthworms, white 
grubs and other insects. A Governrmmt 
patnphlet recently issued states that in 
the stomach of one mole were* found the 
remains of 371 small white grubs; in an¬ 
other 10 cutworms, and in another 12 
earthworms. In captivity moles eat all 
kinds of flesh or fish. It is said that in 
one day they will consume a bulk of food 
equal to their own weight. In an experi¬ 
ment with over 20 captive moles, it ‘r; said 
that only one would touch field corn or 
tubers; a few would eat green sweet corn 
from the cob, but numbers of them starve 
to death when supplied with white* pota¬ 
toes and sweet potatoes. Thus it .st'ems 
useless to try to use poisons, uidess they 
are put on pieces of meat and left in the 
runway. The nio.st effective way of catch¬ 
ing them is to use a trait. At Fig. K! 
are shown three types of mole-traits. This 
picture is taken from a pamphlet entitled 
Gommon Mole.” by Then. TT. Schef¬ 
fer. and is Farmers’ Rulletin No. 588 
from the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington. As will be seen, these traps 
are arranged to spring when touched by 
a mole as he passes through his runway 
or passage. Two of them are designed to 
slice or pierce him. while the upper one 
is of the choker type. These traps ean 
easily be obtained from seedsmen or im¬ 
plement dealers, and those who want to 
The Common Mole. Fig. 15J 
know more about this little creature should 
write to the Department of Agriculture 
and obtain the immphlet mentioned above. 
California Aids French Horticulture 
California is doing its bit to help out 
France. It seems that live and a half mil¬ 
lion pounds of sei'd beans, and a million 
and a half of two-y<‘ar-old prune trees, 
will be sent from (’alifornia to France. 
These will be used to b lild up the fields 
Effective Types of Mole-traps. Fig. 16 ' 
juul orchards which were destroyed by the 
Germans in tlu'ir recent retreat. It seems 
that in IS.ot! the first prune trees in Cali¬ 
fornia w(‘re brought from France, so that 
there is something of a sentiment in this 
present plan of sending the trees back (il 
years later. Tlie production of beans 
from this S(>eding will prove of gn*at help 
to the l''rench in feeding their soldiers and 
civilians, and after the war these prune 
trees will help to bring back the former 
prof't from Fr<*nch (U'chards. 
The Rich Flavor 
Gra^c=Nuts 
is dUG to the blend*' 
indof malted barley 
with whole wheat flour 
Wheat alone docs not 
possess this rich flavor 
Ihe wonderfully easy 
digestion of QrapcNufe 
is also partly due to 
the barley for the 
barley contains a 
digestive which 
wheat lacks. 
'‘There’s a Reasorf 
^"T?rapc=Nuis 
I 
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Elm St. 
Di'tches 
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Potato 
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Box 356 
^ 182 Fifth Street 
San Francisco 
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