272 
iie<ir ueighbors have advised me not to grow Cinmson 
clover, claiming it will ruin the land so nothing will 
grow well afterward. However, I sowed some with rye. 
Virgin soil in Ohio was I’ich. would grow anything, 
while here it is poor, must be built up. w. T, c. 
AVorcester Co., Aid. 
F I »R rapid improvement of soil I would at first 
use a three-year rotation, and use cow peas. 
Soy beans and Crimson clover as the legume crops, 
since with these you can build up the soil more rap¬ 
idly than with Red clover or any other biennial 
crop/ The idea that Ciumson clover ruins the land 
is nonsense. There is much moi’e land being ruined 
for lack of it than Avith it. Of course, it is not 
going to do as much good as it would if it is cut for 
hay and nothing returns to the land. It is a com¬ 
mon practice hde t' :v.t it for hay, and I have yet 
to see the first sample good hay made here fi-om 
it, for they commonly let it lie and bleach in the 
sun till dry, and then I’ake it Avhen it is very poor 
hay. It reminds me of a man down in Alabama who 
wrote me that Avhat I had urged on coav peas was 
all Avrong, for he had groAvn coav peas on a piece of 
land 12 years in succession, and it got so poor that it 
Avould make nothing at all. You can take cloA'er or 
peas or any other crop continuously from the laud 
and the land Avill groAV poorer. The legumes are of 
value as AYinter cover and as a means for main¬ 
taining and increa.sing the humus in the soil, as Avell 
as fiuni.shing nitrogen. This can be done by turn¬ 
ing them under or by curing and feeding and return¬ 
ing me manure to the land Avhich made the hay. 
I AA'ould sugge.st a rotation, ('orn Avith coaa' peas 
.sown at last cultivation, corn cut and shocked and 
peas disked doAvn and disked and harrowed till sur¬ 
face is fine, and then drilled in with TOO to 400 
lbs. of acid phosphate. Harly cow peas sown at 
Avheat harvest, breaking the stubble Avell. Cut peas 
for hay in late August., and disk the stubble Avell. 
(let in perfect order and drill Avheat again, AA'ith 
the same acid phos'jdiate. Break stubble and again 
prepare the . d and in August soav 15 pounds an 
acre of Crimson cloA’er seed. During the AVinter 
get out on tills jw/er all the manure made, and as 
fast as.made, and turn all under for corn when 
cloA’er is in bloom. T2ie” jteat the rotation till 
you make manure enough to cover the corn land an-' 
mially, and at each second round of the rotatioTi 
before tdanting corn aiiply 1,000 lbs. of slaked lime 
an acre. That is, lime every field once in six,years. 
Hacli time the Summer legume is soAvn alternate 
AA'ith COAA' ])eas and Soy beans, or soaa' eipial parts 
of each mixed. T'se 150 lbs. of acid on peas or Soy 
beans; better 40 lbs. on Avheat. Better prepare 
Avheat land Avith disk or cutaAvay. After getting 
clover on the land I Avould use no fertilizer for 
corn. At first in present condition use 200 lbs. of 
fertilizer, 3 per cent ammonia and 8 per cent phos^ 
phoric acid: corn four feet by 18 inches. Alanure 
clover for corn. Hail damaged the pollen last Sum¬ 
mer and made poor setting of ears. Breed yoiir OAvn 
seed corn and do not listen to talk about cloA’ei* 
luirting land. Bater you can make a four-jear 
rotation. w- i''- masset. 
Which Are the Fruit Buds? 
Hoav can- anybody tell Avhether his trees have fruit 
buds? Hoav can you tell fruit buds from leaf buds? 
Eltingville, X. Y. G. I. 
T he experienced eye very readily distinguishes 
the bloom buds from the leaf buds of fruit trees. 
I'ig. 119 shoAvs at left branch of an apple tree, , 
AA'hich has tAA'o large buds and a number of smaller 
ones. The most hasty observation .shoAVS that the 
tAvo large buds are borne upon short branches or 
spurs, and that they are thick and rounded, Avith 
blunt points. These are the buds AA'hich are to bear 
floAvers and perhaps fruit the coming season. It 
Avill also be observed that beloAv, betAveen and above 
the tAvo floAver-bearing buds, are a number of smaller 
buds. The largest of these are less than half the 
size of the floAvering buds, Avhile the smaller ones 
are only about one-sixth the size of the floAA'ering 
buds. These are the leaf-bearing buds. Those be- 
tAveen and belOAv the floAver-bearing buds are much 
larger than those on the upper half of the tAvig, and 
are borne on very short spurs. These short spurs 
are of tAvo to three year,s’ groAvth, and Avill probably 
make fruiting spurs the next groAving sea.son. Those 
on the upper half of the tAvig Avere formed last year. 
They are small and lie close to the tAvig. Some of 
these buds Avill probably develop into fruit-bearing 
spurs in three to four years, Avhile others Avill prob¬ 
ably deA'elop branches, and some may never groAv. 
At right. Fig. 119, is a branch taken from the Kieffer 
peaiA The tree from AA’hich it AA’as taken is old, and 
has been bearing heaA'y crops for years. Of late 
years, hoAveA’er, it has borne heaATly only on alter¬ 
nate years, last year being its off year. It Avill be 
observed that it is thickly set Avith fruiting spurs. 
The fioAvering buds of the pear are thick, like the 
JTAc RURAL N E W-YO R K E R 
apple, but are quite sharp pointed. The leaf buds, 
much smaller*, are sharp pointed and .stand out from 
the brr.nch or sour at considei’able of an angle. The 
fioAA'ering bud.'; are ahvays borne on short .spurs, and 
'UA'n'riably at the terminal, and usually but one to 
each spur, though occasionally a spur Avill be found 
•itn more than one. Most of the spurs have one or 
me O' developed leaf buds a little belOAv and opposite 
the fioAver-bearing bud. 
I’each buds are formed on the previous year’s 
groAvth of AA'ood, and are easily distinguished from 
the leaf buds. Upon examination of a tAvig it Avill l)e 
obsei’ved (if it is Avell set with blossom buds) that 
the buds on the tAvig are mostly sets of tAvos and 
threes. The left bud is quite small, sharp pointed, 
and is situated in the center of the tAvig. When 
there is but one bud it is invariably a leaf bud, but 
Avhen they are in sets of tAvo and three, the blos¬ 
som bud is at the side of the leaf bud Avhen in .sets of 
tAVO, and at each .side of .the leaf bud Avhen in sets of 
three. Upon examination it Avill be observed that 
small or leaf buds lie very clo.se to the tAvig and 
point toAvard the end, Avhile the blossom buds stand 
out prominently, at more or less of an angle from the 
leaf bud tAvig. The blossom bud is thick and about 
the size and sha])e of a plump grain of Avheat, Avhich 
makes them very easily distinguishable from the 
small leaf bud. The peach tree may go into the 
Leaf and Fruit Buds on Apple and Pear. Fig. 119. 
Winter AA'ith an abundance of bloom buds, but that 
is no' guarantee that it Avill bear a crop, or even 
bloom the folloAving year, as it frequently happens 
that every fruit bud Avill be Avinter-killed and drop 
off in the Spring. 
The plum and cherry are more difficult to dis¬ 
tinguish Avhieh are the leaf buds and Avhich are the 
blossom buds. The character of the buds is to be 
determined more by their position than by their 
form. The fruit is borne on spurs of varying ages 
and lengths. Tim old, long spurs, if they have ter¬ 
minal buds at all, Avill produce only leaves, but the 
short side spurs Avill produce blooms, Avhile the 
young, .short spurs Avill often produce botli leaA'es 
and bloom on their terminals, and in small clusters 
cf three or more. The .Tapanese plums differ some- 
Avhat from our native and European sorts in that 
they make .short .spurs or clusters of buds at short 
intervals on the young branches, each cluster of buds 
invariably having a leaf bud or tAvo in the center of 
the cluster. By examination of the dormant buds on 
the trees, noting their shape and Avhere situated, and 
Avatching their development after gi-nAATh in Spring 
begins, anyone may soon become expert enough to 
distinguish at sight the bloom buds on most of our 
orchard fruit ti-ees. 
February 23, 1918 
at a high price before he can buy Avheat fiour. One 
of our readers in Ohio sends the folloAving extract 
from a grocery advertisement: 
In line Avith President Wibson’s proclamation and the 
rules prescribed by the U. 8. Food Administration, be¬ 
ginning with yesterday we have introduced the neAV 
Victory War Loaf, containing a 5 per cent substitute 
for Avheat flour, at both stores, and hereafter will have 
on sale only this bread, together Avith entire wheat and 
graham vai-ieties which come under the same ruling. 
IVe Avill also sell Avheat flour only when the purchaser 
buys an equal amount of some other cereal. 
For those desiring wheat substitutes to use in their 
home baking we offer : 
Rice Flour—5 lbs. 50c. 
Tapioca Flour—5 lbs. GOc. 
Potato Fleur—5 lbs. 80c. 
Cornmeal—5 lbs. 30e. 
Rye Flour—5 lbs. 33c. 
Entire Wheat Flour—5 lbs. 45c. 
Graham Flour—5 lbs. 33c. 
Entire Avheat flour at nine cents a pound means 
.$5.40 a bushel for Avheat if it is the entire AA’heat. 
Some people have bought hand mills and are grind¬ 
ing corn and AA’heat at home. We make, in this AA’ay. 
a very good coarse meal Avhich, Avhen fully cooked, 
makes a delicious “cereal.” The food administrator 
of Nebraska has ruled on this home-gi*ound flour .-is 
follows: A good ruling for all the States. 
There are a number of people Avho have ifTirchased 
hand grist mills, as advised by the food commission, and 
by this means grind their oavii substitutes. If they 
AA'ish to buy Avhite flour, if they will prove to their gro¬ 
cer by a signed statement, that they have as many 
pounds of the substitute at home, and it is ground ready 
for use. and that they will use the substitute, pound for 
pound, the grocer must be thoroughly satisfied, however, 
and report the case to the food commi.ssioner, he Avill , 
investigate and if the statement is found O. K. he Avill 
issue authority for the party to get the flour. 
Maple Sugar and Food Conservation 
Will you inform me Avhether the sugar law applies to 
maple sugar? As I understand it, merchants dare not 
charge over 10 cents a pound for granulated sugar. I 
have sugar trees and make maple sugar and syrup. 
Must I sell it for 10 cents a pound, the same as Avhite 
sugar? If this laAv applies, I .shall not make any. for I 
cannot make maple .sugar for that price. H. E. s. 
Clymer, N. Y. 
L .VST NoA’cmber I Avrote to Mr. HoOAmr in the name 
of the Vei'mont Maple Sugar Makers’ As.so- 
ciation, and asked him the very same que.stion. His 
reply Avas that the restrictions placed on sugar did 
not include maple products, and that no restrictions 
Avould be placed upon maple sugar unle.ss unexpected 
conditions should ai'ise. In spite of its many blun¬ 
ders, the i)olicy of the Food Administration is to in¬ 
crease production, and it realizes noAv that produc¬ 
tion cannot be increased by limiting the price beloAV 
a reasonable profit on the cost of production. ^laple 
sugar cannot be produced the coming season at a 
labor cost, alone, of 10 cents a pound, and maple 
sugar, coming, as it doe.s, under the class of luxuries, 
instead of necessities, the administration takes the 
stand that people Avho can afford to use it can also 
afford tc nay Avell for it. Therefore, no action tend¬ 
ing to regulate the price will be taken, and the price 
should run high. Doubtless the demand Avill be .some¬ 
what lessened, but the supply Avill also be lessened 
more than enough to compensate. The largest maple 
sugar making establishments in the Avorld are locaD 
ed on South Water St., Chicago, and these e.stabT 
lishments Avill not be in operation during the coming 
year for the rea.son that the proprietors cannot get 
the cane sugar Avith Avhich to make their product. 
The I’nited States produces, annually, an average 
of less than 50,000,000 pounds of sugar that is made 
from the maple tree. Thus the consumption is lim¬ 
ited to less than half a pound for each of its inhab¬ 
itants. The people consume a yearly average of 
more than ;100.000.000 pounds of so-called maple 
sugar. The extra quantity is composed of cane 
sugar, either flavored Avith various extracts, or mixed 
with small quantities of maple sugar. With the fac¬ 
tories making these products closed, it cannot be 
otherAvise than that the demand for maple sugar 
Avll be greater than ever before, and my advice to all 
people haA'ing maple trees is to make all the maple 
sugar that they can possibly make, and to hold it for 
:i fair price. ormsbee. 
K. 
The Price of Entire Wheat Flour 
W E find great dissatisfaction over the cost of 
Avhole Avheat flour or Avheat meal, and the 
rule compelling the buyer to buy Avheat substitutes 
Legal Toll for Millers 
S EVERAL readers iln Pennsylvania have asked If 
there is any legal regulation of the toll Avhich 
millers in that State may take out of a farmer’s 
grist. Mr. H. V. White, chairman of the directors of 
the Pennsylvania Millers’ State Association, says: 
So far as I know, there is no legal amount of toll 
for millers to take. The old custom for grinding Avheat 
on the bnhrs and chopping the farmers’ grist was to 
to take one-tenth. This is still true for chopping. 
When the roller process system went into effect it Avas 
no longer possible to take the farmer’s grist of wheat, 
mill it and give him his identical flour in return. The 
installation of this new process also necessitated a 
large investment and made it necessary to require a 
larger toll. The custom in this section is to give 40 
lbs. of flour, or 35 lbs. flour and 12 lbs. bran for a 
bushel of Avheat. 
