157 
days, and if v.-o could know some of the 
thinfjs being done in homes all about us 
we should find our own burdens lighter. 
In one home a man and woman of middle 
age have sent their boy to the army. They 
urged him to enlist. He i.s “somewhere in 
France I” One night father came home 
to find mother ver.v serious and a little 
trembly in voice. 
“Oh." she said ; “I have been told that 
the Kaiser has offered a big reward to the 
German soldier who will capture and 
bring to him the first American prisonei'. 
Is that true?" 
“That is what I hear." said father. 
“Hut think of it I Suii|)Ose it should be 
Harry—what would you say?” 
Father had his feeling.s—as all men 
Imve, but he saw the part he should play. 
‘AVell, ma. T don’t know and perhaps I 
should not say it. but I know Harry’s pai*- 
ents—-especially his mothei’—and I think 
that any German soldier who gets our boy 
and drags him to the Kaiser for exhibition 
will earn all that Germany can give him 
and won’t have enough of himself left to 
enjoy it!’’ 
Mother saw father’s shoulders square 
ui) as he spoke. Her own father had been 
a soldier in the Civil "War. and she had 
a reputation for express'ing herself. Her 
boy was on trial. She had been all for 
peace, but as she went ‘^o the kitchen to 
bring in the supper her head was high 
:ind her eyes were bright and she said, 
over her shoulder: 
“Father. I think you ai’e right—I 
hoi>e so.’’ Ti. w. c. 
Backyard Garden Notes 
1. Would you recommend co.al ashes on 
loam soil that is rathei' hard? 2. Would 
you recommend cabbage, beet leaves and 
stalks and waste leaves as good fertilizer 
on potato patches? o. Would you con¬ 
sider a mixture of formaldehyde good for 
seed potatoes, and should these potatoes 
be placed in this mixture before or after 
cutting? I have done a little farming in 
the past year and exi)ect to do some this 
year. I have had very good success con¬ 
sidering my knowledge of the trade, secur¬ 
ing about bu. of potatoes out of 2^2 
bu. planted in a lot 00x120. T have been 
advised to out lime on the soil, which I 
have done, but I am uncertain about leav¬ 
ing the refuse of cabbage leaves, etc., and 
would like some information on this point. 
4. ’I'o jire.sierve eggs in water gl.ass, is it 
wise to put the eggs in solution as soon 
as laid, or hold them for a few days before 
storing them in the solution? n. T.. n. 
Allentown, Pa. 
1. This, we assume, i.s a backyjird gar¬ 
de:). The coal ashes contain little if any 
pliint food, but they often show good re¬ 
sults when worked into the .soil. This is 
due to a mechanical effect. They will 
bind open or sand.v soils together so as 
to increase its capacity for holding water, 
while they open or .separate the heavier 
soils so a.s to give better drainage and 
jiiring. The coal ashes al.so make a good 
ciiri-ier for plant food. Many people keep 
them under cover and i)our the liquid ma¬ 
nures over them. Then when they dry 
they may be spread and will carry the 
plant food taken from the llcpiids. 
2. It will be safe to leave the stalks and 
leaves on potato ground. We would not 
leave the potato stalks tliei'o as they 
might increase the amount of rot or blight. 
Each family of plants will luive diseases 
or insects peculiar to itself, and therefore 
it is not good practice to u.se the refuse 
on the ground where another crop of the 
siime i)lant.s is to be grown. They can, 
however, be u.sed when other and different 
crops follow. 
-A solution of one pint of formalde¬ 
hyde to 80 gallons of w:iter, or in that 
proportion, is used to kill the germs of 
sciib on seed potatoes. This solution is 
put in a barrel or tank and the seed pota¬ 
toes, after rinsing, are put into the solu¬ 
tion and left there about two hours. Then 
they are taken out and may be cut for 
planting. This treatment will kill the 
scab germs on the seed potatoes, but will 
not, of course, prevent scab if the germs 
are in. the .soil. It will pay to use this 
treatment. IVe would not use lime on 
potiito ground because it favors the growth 
of this scab disease. 
4. The eggs should be put into water 
gl-'ss as soon as possible after they are 
laid. The eggs will lose more anej more 
of their quality the longer they are kept. 
The water gbiss cannot improve their 
quality, it ciin only hold most of what they 
have. 
VAe RURAL NEW-YORKF. R 
Mushrooms 
An interesting article iijjpeared on page 
88 entitled “IMushi’ooms for Home Sup¬ 
plies.” in which the writer iicquaints us 
with his experience in growing mush¬ 
rooms in a lemon-curing tent located in 
a citrus packing house. I have had some 
valuable experience in growing mu.sh- 
rooms in a cellar, and am sure tluit many 
can profit by the mistakes which I have 
made. 
A bed was i)re[)iired in ii cool luit poor¬ 
ly ventilated celbii' under our <lwelling- 
house. The mushroom spawn was ijlanted 
in about 10 inches of old horse manure at 
one inch from the sui-face. the rate of 
I)lanting being two sqimre inches of .spawn 
to each square foot of surface in the bed. 
After a week I covere<l the bed with 
about an inch of i-ich sandy loam. After 
waiting patiently for a month I was 
greatly disappointed to find that the 
spawn had not started to grow. 'When 
removing some of the manure, it ap¬ 
peared to be heating; so I .soaked the 
bed with water. No mushrooms came up 
within several weeks, and when a few did 
come up they were quickly destroyed by 
small white maggots which appeared in 
great numbers. The bed had to be re¬ 
moved from the basement because of a 
very offensive odor. 
A neighbor who is quite succe.ssful in 
the art of mushroom growing said that 
my fit ill) re to get a good crop w.as due to 
the poor condition of the manure, and to 
the lack of good ventilation in the cellar. 
He uses fresh horse mjinure from stables 
where the horse have been bedded with 
.straw, and grows his mushrooms in a 
well-ventilated cellar. If one handles the 
proposition of growing mushrooms with 
the proper care he can reasonably expect 
to get good retuims for his time. 
Michigan. Paul c. .tamikson. 
Blight on Garden Beans 
Gan you dijignose the trouble with my 
war garden, so tlujt I ma.y apply the 
proper remedies this year? Some bu.sh 
Tiimas which I started early in pots de¬ 
veloped a blight about the middle of the 
Summer. The trouble slowly spread 
until it included the rest of the beans, 
tomatoes, egg plant and even the hardy 
string bean. I sprayed with Bordeaux 
.soon iifter the trouble started, and at 
later intervals, but to no effect. All of 
the leaves of the beans and tomatoes 
dropped, but a new growth of lesives ap- 
l)e!ii-ed on the Limas late.in the Summer 
!ind they were in blossom in October. 
When the trouble started, the plants 
seemed to dry up; the leaves appeared 
rusty, with splotches of rusty red under¬ 
neath. The disease did not affect in the 
lea.st th(‘ pepper plants or celery close by. 
Yonkei’s, N. Y. w. u. s. 
Yuor bush Lima bean vines were in all 
probability infected with one or more of 
the various foims of blight common to 
this pliint. Vei-y likely tin* infection Wiis 
carried on the seed. Bordeaux spray 
.should be effective against this di.sease 
but it must be aiiiilied as a preventive. It 
is quite worthless iis a cure. Fin-ther- 
inore, when planting the seed eliminate 
all those which are wrinkhul or have 
dark brown or reddish spots in the form 
of little abrasions about one-eighth of an 
inch in diameter. Such spots indicate 
the presence of di.sease in the seisl. Youi- 
trouble may have spread to the other 
beans, especially if you disturbed the in¬ 
fected vines, when they were wet with 
dew or rain. Do not think that the beau 
disea.st's spreaed to the tomatoes and the 
egg plants; these vegetable.s have distinct 
diseases of their own. 
Bordeaux mixture has long been recog¬ 
nized as the be.st preventive for blight 
of vegetables. Seed, free from disease 
infection, a properly fertilized soil, rota¬ 
tion, ample space for the development of 
each plant and planting at the right time 
are all Important factors for be.st success 
in the avoidance of plant diseases. 
R. w. n. 
Onk Summer morning Spink, while 
cycling down a very narrow lane, encoun¬ 
tered a largo flock of bleating sheep. For 
Ji space he wobbled successfully. Finally, 
however, he was obliged to dismount. A 
problem vexed his mind. “Look here.” 
he said, addressing the shepherd, “what on 
earth do you do, driving a flock of sheep 
along a narrow road like this, w’hen you 
meet another flock coming in the ofiposite 
direction?” ‘AVaal.” answered the man, 
“ye just drive straight on, both of ye. and 
the one that has the best dogs gets the 
most sheep I”—London Farm and Home. 
Niagara Dusters Save Labor, Time and 
Material and Insure Better Fruit 
they combine eflicieiicy with simplicity, durability and lightness of 
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Dust Apples, Peaches, Cherries, Plums, etc. 
1917 Developments in Material 
For APPIiES—A Niagara mixture has been developed which will con¬ 
trol fungus dkseases (apple scab) chewing imsects (loaf roller and cod¬ 
ling moth) sucking imsects (aphis and red hugs). 
For I’EACHES—Niagara Peach Mixtui’e lias been developed to control 
Brown Rot, ITacli Scab and Curculio without damage to the foliage, 
and late applications have been found to produce marked improvement 
ill color as well as keeping qualities. 
This is Important to You this Year 
Every user of Niagara Dusting Machines is assured a supply of Niagara 
Dust Mixture. We have purcha.sed enough raw material in adv.ance to 
supply you. 
Write for Free Book on Dusting 
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136 Main Street Middleport, N. Y. 
MODEL D-1 
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on his place now and says he is getting 
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let him show you how easy it is to use 
Atlas Powder and how quick it cleans up 
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How about your copy of“Better Farm¬ 
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«■ 
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■WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 
atlas powder CO., Wilmington. Del. 
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NamcL. 
-Address- 
EN 
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quick reply and a ”square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
