188 
T^he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 9, 1918 
DIBBLES 
SEEDFABMS 
Headquarters 
jri>v 
Farm Seeds 
Over 100,000 bushels instock 
D. B. BRAND ALFALFA, 
CLOVER and GRASS SEEDS 
The highest grade obtainable. 
SEED OATS. TJeavy weight and 
J wentieth Century: 
heavy, bright, thorougliiy rccleaned, 
enormously productive. 
r’fkDM Best three Flint va- 
SEED CORN, 
Dents for crop or the Silo. Average 
germination, all stock tested so far above 
iM) per cent, several lots 98 per cent. 
i>rk'TaxrkiP'« I’est fifteen varieties. 
ru 1A I U1C,». 
, from barrels to car loads. 
_ • 
Practical Handling of Swamp Muck 
How to Get It Out Cheaply 
EVERYBAg'i 
Jtas.iT4QL 
showijjx 
yimnf 
vtcl 
quantity 
.•\lso full stocks of Spring Wheat, R.arley, I'ield 
and Soy Ueans. Canada l-'ield J’eas, Buck¬ 
wheat, Millet, Vetch, Bape, etc. 
Dibble’s Farm Seed Catalog, highest 
class, most complete Farm Seed Book 
published arid special Price List FREE. 
Address, EDWARD F. DIBBLE Seedgrower 
Box B HONEOYE FALLS, N. Y. 
Prices right as we sell "From our Farms to yours" 
Have a Successful Garden 
HARRIS SEEDS are used by the best market gar¬ 
deners because by careful selection and breeding we 
have wonderfully improved some varieties. Pri¬ 
vate gardens can obtain better results because all 
varieties are tested and the percentage that will 
germinate is marked on the label so you can tell 
just how many will grow before you sow them. 
Harris is the Seedman who tells you the result of^ 
his tests. Send for 
Harris Seeds 
Label on every Lo:t 
Tells how many 
will 
urow 
our FREE Catalog of 
Vegetable, Field and 
Flower Seeds — Find 
out about the Harris 
system and buy these 
su perior seeds direct from 
our farms at wholesale prices. 
JOSEPH HARRIS CO. 
23. COLDWATER, N. Y. 
According to our tests 
98 percent 
of this seed germinates 
1 nn ever-bearing plants $1 .25 
1 vU STRAWBERRY (postpaid) 1 
Progressive or Superb, (ruar.mteetl to fruit this 
year—and to reach .vou OK. Also hig'JOth century 
Ralalntr Proa fully describing our millions of small 
UdiaiUg rioc fj-uit plants and how to grow them. 
Get the hook atonce. Make “Townsend's way your 
way.” " IF IT’S STRAWBERRY PLANTS, WE BOT ’EM.” 
E. W. Townsend, R. R. 25, Salisbury, Md. 
information on Strawberry Cal tore, 
easily understood—61 yearn of practical 
experience growing for market. Catalog 
describing the kinds to grow, and the 
only wonderful Fall Everbearing, 40 
varieties, newestand beat. Write today, 
J. T. GARRISON fle SONS 
Box A-2, Woodntown, N. J. 
Mr. Quick, of Ohio 
bought $6 worth of Knight’s 
Strawberry plants and sold 
his crop of fruit for SKW. You 
can equal that record with 
Knight’s Berry Plants 
Send today for new catatoguo 
of all kinds of berries. 
David Knight & Son 
Box so Sawyer, Mich. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
Grown in the largest strawberry center in tlie country 
I'Yesh dug direct from nursery to you. All lending 
varieties including Iho EVEI5BEARERS. .7. II. Marlin of 
Virginia liouglit 5,000 of our strawberry' jiliints in 1015 
and in 1916 (jioked 154—.SS-qt. crates of tine I)en-ies. 
YOU CAN DO AS'WEED. General a.ssortment of other 
sm.'ill fruit plants, Asi)arag>is roots, etc. Produce some¬ 
thing, help increase our country’s food supply. Write 
for free Catalog, wliieh gives prices, describea eacli 
variety, tells liow to plant. 
BUNTING’S NURSERIES, Box 1. SELBYVILLE, DEL. 
(( 
Strawberry PlantsThatGrow” 
■'PROGRESSIVE,” BestP.'il 1-bearer; .also.Standard.Tune 
sorts, including our now Seedling," COLLINS.” Rasp- 
berrv. Blackberry, amlGrnite Plants in Assortment- 
CATALOG FREE. C. E. WHITTEN'S NURSERIES, Box 11. Bridgmtn, Mich. 
Strawberry Plants 
S.OOO.QOO of them at *2,50 per 1,000 . 0. G. Hamilton 
of Mass, says "your Plants are much better than we 
usually get for three times the money.” Catalog 
free. Write today. C. S. Perdue, Box 20, Sliowell, Md. 
Quality Strawberry Plants 
Our free catalogue describing the best new and 
standard varieties at reasonable prices is ready for 
mailing. Send for one at once and save money. 
W. S. TODD, GRKKNWOOD, DELAWARE 
WHOLESALE PRICES 
ON STRAWBERRY PLANTS. .Many other varieties and 
garden loots at re.asonablo prices. Catalogue FREE. 
AViitetoday toA.K WESTON 8 COMPANY,Bridainan,Mich. 
earlier than you ever had before. 
It's up to you to make your 
\ It s up to you to make your 
\\WAR GARDEN 
a booming success this coming 
season. Don’t be satisfied with 
a garden like the other fellow — 
beat him to if. Have a garden 
that you’ll be proud oi. No 
matter how backward the 
Spring, it’s easy with 
THE BALL SEED & PLANT FORCER 
Send for my Beautiful BOOK FREE. It’s chuck 
full of latest developments in modern gardening. It 
gives you gardening information found in no other publi¬ 
cation. It tells you how you can have a garden with 
flowers in full bloom and vegetables for your table a month 
earlier than you ever had before. Just drop me a post 
card and I’ll send you your copy by return mail. 
THE BALL MFG. CO., Dept. K, Glenside, Pa, 
This Spray Outfit Only 
QtvoxxrKrx Plante MONEY MAKING VARIETIES 
strawberry l lants reasonable prices 
('at.'ilogue Free. Ba.sii, Peury.Georgktown, Dei.. 
Cornell’s Dept, of Plant Breeding 
WELCOME SEED OATS. Pure, recleaiied seed $1.75 per 
l)u. ill 2.5 bu. lots. H.K. Cranrlall, Wila\vana,l’a. 
niir U/or Rorrlon ""c grand success if you fol- 
I UUI nal udlUcll low tlie expert i)lantiiig directions 
niid tbo two practical garden diagrams in this onr brand 
new booklet. Send 10c for it to the De La Mark Co., 44 
W. 37tli St., New York. Catalog “Countryside Books” free. 
IF you want books on farming of 
any kind write us and we 
will quote you prices 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West Thirtieth Street, New York 
The No. 1 U-R-E-K-A Spray Outfit (fives you 6 
to 8 ifallons of liquid per minute at a pressure of 175 lbs. It comes 
complete with 100 Kullon tank, 60 ft. of hose, 4 nozzles, 2-3 HP 
Heavi Diiti Gasoline Engine with battery iirnition. It is the most 
remarkabio value ever placed on the market. It (fives you a regular 
mist and not a stream. It penetrates to all parts of the tree, special 
attachments can be had for sprayinfir potatoes. Catalog free for 
the askinsr. Buy now when you can get deliveries, shipments are 
slow, place your order to-day. 
R. CONSOLIDATED GAS ENGINE CO., 202 Fulton Streets New York City 
AU^ALFA 
AMTRICAN NORTHERN GROWN 
For fifteen years our advice concerning the seedinil 
and care of Alfalfa meadows, and our seed for sowing 
them, have been standard — the best that was to be 
had. The catalog tells how, and prices the seed, 
not Turkestan, “Dwarf Alfalfa,” which we refuse to 
handle, but the best of American grown seed, in¬ 
cluding usually Montana, Idaho, and the great 
“Dakota 30,” which rivals the Grimm itself. 
PniLIIA Al PAI FA Hansen’s Siberian, 
UlUnini HLritLrfl the greatest variety grown 
in America. We have the genuine; also limited 
amounts of the Siberian. 
CLOVER and GRASSES 
No matter how critical you are we can please you. 
WING’S GARDEN and FLOWER SEEDS 
Are grown for the most critical trade. Write for freS 
catalog. Lists many new and rare specialties. 
WiNO Seed Co., Box ess Mechanicsburq, O. 
The House of Quality and Moderate Prices. 
Market Gardener’s Paper 
If you grow vegetables, send 25 cents for 3 months’ trial 
subscription and find out wliat you liave been mi.^,s- 
iiig. Do it today. Satisfaction guaranteed or money b:ick. 
MARKET GROWERS JOURNAL, 603 Inter-Southern Bldg., Louisville.Ky. 
M np Road’s Groon Mountain. Wonderful now 
I variet.v. Viel(lal30 bus. to aeu'e At)solutely 
rustproof. New Catalog FREE. G. A. Read, Charlotte, Vt. 
Alfalfa SPECIAL Few days only. Best,$l2Rii. 12 ll)s. per 
Alldl lu acre, Hard seed bed best A. Bloomingdale. Schenectady, M.T 
UlkUnU/nnJar SffO BEAMS Early and big ci'oppers. Order 
nniTcITOnuGr now. «E0. K. HOWDISH, E.iieranre, .\. Y. 
Atlock Farms Strain Asparagus Seed and Roofs 
$5 per lb.; S7.50 per M.; .'i.OOO, $5 per M. Idmitetl 
supply. A. F. Kandolph, Hound Tlrook, N. J. 
PriiifTroao STRAWBERRY ANO BLACKBERRY PLANTS. 
rruiT I rees sweet potato seeb ano vegetable plants. 
Catalogue free. Michael Dorgo, Vineland, N. .1. 
Simplify tiif, AA ork. —On page 4 of 
Tiiu 11. N.-A'. roforoncp is inado to the 
|ti.s(‘ of “Alnck as a Fertilizor,’’ and method 
'of hiindling it. A.s it does not agree with 
tny own exi»erience in tictual iiracti(*e. I 
tlionght a few suggestions might not he 
amiss. Of course, conditions vary so 
mticli iu different localities, it is not safe, 
alwtiys, to say just what another man 
can or cannot do with this or that, as the 
use of the word imiiossible truly Ivas its 
limitations. However, speaking from my 
own jyersonal expenence. under our own 
conditions, the theory that muck can he 
Imndled here in the manner described 
would get several jolts. Muck that we 
dug early in the AA'inter and placed in 
piles, exjiecting if to dry out and be more 
easily handled Ititer, did dry out, to .some 
extent, .of course, but even with as mod¬ 
erate a AA’inter a.s we had last year, it 
froze in so deej), even in a large pile (and 
the higher the pile, the more it was ex¬ 
posed. and the deeper it froze in), that 
handling and hauling from the jiiles was 
too oxjionsive to consider at all and had 
to he iibiindoned. Tender such conditions 
a very much larger proportion of manure 
than would be necessary to furnish the 
germs of decay, which the muck lacks, 
would hiive to he tidded to lu-oducc fer¬ 
mentation, ii.si tlie wet muck would not 
only wet, the mtinure hut in it large pile 
the weight would pack the manure .so 
I tightly while wot ttiid cold, together with 
the freezing in deep of the outside of the 
pile, would exclude the air. which is nece.s- 
sary to fermentation, thus camiing the 
manure, jireventing fermentation, and ex¬ 
actly the ojiposite result would be ob¬ 
tained. without, as refei-red to, Itirger pro¬ 
portion of manure than iiecessai'y were 
iuhh’d. 
AA’iiy Considkr Fkr.mkntatiox?— AA’hy 
try to r"'f vlmt is not iit till necessary? 
I unders'an.l from I’rof. Fippiu. of (’or- 
nell. that n.c lottd of maiiui'c to 10 lotids 
of muck, is jilaced in layers in pile, so the 
water draining out of the muck down 
through the layers of manure ctirries with 
it the gi’rms of decay from tlie manui’e 
to lower liiyers of muck. Tlic nei'cs.sity 
of using lime or imirl with the muck 
would dc))end mucli on conditions and the 
crop for which it m. t (•. he used. Many 
swiimji.s. even in ti secti.'i; like this im- 
mediiite vicanity, natura'’v deficient in 
lime, *are nnderh'.id witlt. mail, and the 
water coming in fi'om sprlng.s behtw the 
layer of marl hcljis to nmke it unneces¬ 
sary to add lime in any form. 
l’oT.\TOK,s Likk It. —'rhen. too. the po¬ 
tato thrives in a slightly ticid soil, and I 
would like to be tilde to apply more muck 
per iicre over our entire ftirm than would 
suit a potato. That truly would be im¬ 
possible in our case, for we have ajiplied 
it fresh from the swam]), without adding 
either lime or manure, to land that was 
already jiretty good, as well .tis to land 
that was quite poor, tiiid as heavy as 40 
to 50 big two-horse load.s ]ier acre in some 
place.s. The thicker it wtis, the better 
Iiotiitoes seemed to like it. They might 
liave liked a little manure with it, or a 
little lime, or iicrhap.s some more iiotash 
and ])liosi)horic acid, but lacking these 
extras, they went alicad and did business 
with what they had. like some jicople have 
to do. If one has to wtiit to Imve every¬ 
thing just right before he starts to do 
ttiiything. waits for favorable weather 
and an easy way t>f Imndling the muck, 
or time to handle it in the manner de¬ 
scribed on page 4. the imick is likely to 
stay in the swam]) ti long while jind the 
next generation may wake uj) and get the 
good of it. Many it farm on these hills 
lias been rohtiod and .skinned in other 
wtiys*. 1 lit the vast deposits of muck tire 
waitu lV)i‘ the men who htive the grit to 
take liol’ of it. tiiid the h'ss scientific 
mctliods of hitndliiig and htirricrs jilaccd 
in the way of getting good from these 
stores of fertility, and the more encour¬ 
agement that can be given to working 
them, the bettor. 
Thk L.miok Prohi.km.— The i)lan of 
l)iling the muck and mixing with manure 
and lime, ;is rocommeiidod. is theoretic¬ 
ally correct, but when one tries to ctirry 
it out on a large .scale, the labor liroblem 
has to be considered, and the tiinount so 
Imndled and applied would necessarily be 
much smaller, which is its weak point. 
Xo one can haul out muck, under our con¬ 
ditions. drive on pile and dump from 
bottom of wagon, unless pile is very long, 
very narrow, and very shallow, for both 
team and wagon would be in full dei)th. 
’I’o make ti large jiile of muck from it 
wiigon would necessitate building an ele- 
viitcd driveway, or unloading each load 
h.v hiind. A more jiractical way would he 
to use a carrier from swamp to pile on 
dry land, from which it could be hauled 
when it thawed out. Kven dumping from 
tlie bottom of wagon to small piles iu 
c(dd weather makes more bother cleaning 
it off the wagon, to wliich it freezes 
qiiickl.v; also the dump boards soon be¬ 
come difficult to hitndle, and at such times 
it is quite as satisfiiccory to take off sides 
and pull. j)u.shi and scrape the load off at 
the sides in small piles as needed. The 
stime jipplies to the use of bob-.sleighs. 
with wliich we can make much better 
progress than with wheels, and in either 
case can handle the material to much 
hotter advttntage when the surface of the 
swamp is frozen hard enough to hold up 
team and load. It. is not onl.v much cti.sier 
to load when we can haul on runners, hut 
the runners do not cut through as easily 
its wheels and larger and heavier loads 
can he hauled. 
From Swamp to Fikld.—AA' e got out 
over .‘too two-horse loads the jiast AA'iiiter, 
and applied it direct from swamp to field. 
Iltid w'' undertaken to pile it, mix with 
manure and lime, turn the j)ile, reload 
and spread, we would have been able to 
handle hut a small part of it. and could 
not have applied it in time for this yeai’’s 
cro]). The loads were dumiied in .small 
jiiles, as it makes heavy, nast.v spreading 
while wet, and the surface comes off in 
frozen chunks, .so that leaving exposed to 
wi’jitlier for a time lessen.si labor of spread¬ 
ing and one can also do a better job. 
AVhere these small jiiles froze solid be¬ 
fore we got them siircad, they thawed out 
very slowly, just exactly the oiijmsite from 
what we expected, as we figun'd the black 
muck would absorb the heat and thaw 
quickl.v. 
AIt’ck TiiAtvs Sr.owr.Y.—The theory 
did not work that time, for the outside 
dried out as it thawed, leaving a good in¬ 
sulation, and .some of these were still 
frozen iu bottom when it came time to 
plow the hind. To have undertaken to 
siii-ead from pile during rush of Spring 
work, or before Spring work started, when 
land was too wet and soft to got on with 
team, woiild have been imjiossihle in our 
ciise. Tlie iirac'ical time to aiijily muck 
under our conditions is when surface of 
swamp as well its fields are frozen. AA^* 
jire now hauling muck direct from swam]) 
to jiotato jiiid corn land, dumiiing it in 
small piles Imndy to spread from, level¬ 
ing off the top of piles a. little where 
necc.ssary and adding a little manure to 
the surface, hoping to get some benefit 
from Spring rains wa.shing down through 
the manure to the muck below before too 
liite to plow and plant. 
AIt’CIv varik.s a groat 
short distance. AA’e do 
stime immediate rc’sultS' 
muck direct from swamp 
(luautities of manure, but it is there to 
sttiy for some time. Strawberries show 
where it is years after it was ai>i)licd. In 
some cases, witli very old or very tine 
bliick muck, or under some conditions of 
weather ttnd soil, one mtiy not .see much 
result the first yetir. AA’^itb. one lot of 
muck we applied to potatoes no one would 
easily Imve noticed the difference iu 
growth of tops where it was and wtts not 
used, hut iit digging time the suriirise 
came, tind then a blind nmn could “see” 
the difference, simiily by feeling the differ¬ 
ence in the tubers- and the size of tlie 
crop. Small (juantitie.s of muck :ii)])licd 
around tomatoes iimde a very noticetihle 
diffenmee in growth. 
AA'ortii (xKTTIXG Out.—I f you have 
a 10 to .‘10-inch depo.sit of muck tliat is 
get-at-able, don’t think bectuise it is not 
10 to 50 feet dee]) it is not worth work¬ 
ing. If you have no manure and no lime, 
but have the muck and the time, go to it. 
dig it, try it, haul it. ai)])ly it. Don't 
waste time figuring out some easy way 
(Continued on page 104) 
deal even iu a 
not exjiect tlie 
from iiiipl.viug 
tis from equal 
