916 
‘Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER July 27, 1918 
character of farmers’ institutes and other 
meetings. Mr. Witter attended as many 
of these conferences as he was able to. 
As a result of these conferences it has 
been arranged to hold a series of county 
conferences throughout the .State during 
the months of .July and August. To these 
county conferences will be invited the 
chairmen of the farm bureau community 
committees, i)revious farnu'rs’ institute 
correspondents, repre.sentatives of the 
local Granges, Dairymen's League offi¬ 
cers. and others to attend and express 
their desires as to the number, character 
and distribution of farmers’ meetings in 
their counties. I’revious to those county 
conferences it is expected that local com¬ 
munity committees, who are usually 
elected by the farmers in their respective 
communities, will meet with the local 
farmers’ institute coi-respondents and 
representatives of Granges and others to 
discuss the needs and wishes of their par¬ 
ticular communities with reference to 
farmers’ institutes and other extension 
meetings. Thus it is hoped that every 
community in the State that desires to 
have a meeting may help to determine not 
only the time and place of this meeting, 
but the character of the meeting and in 
general the type of instructors. 
If any more democratic way can be de¬ 
vised of giving the people of the State an 
opi)ortunity to express their ojjinions and 
desires with reference to farmers’ meet¬ 
ings to be held by the colleges in their 
communities, we should be very glad to 
have suggestions. It has been the inten¬ 
tion and hope of the Extension Service 
that it might, by taking up the organiza¬ 
tion not only of farmers’ institutes but of 
all its extension meetings in this way. 
make them of the greatest possible ser¬ 
vice to the farmers of the State. 
I wish to correct a misapprehension 
which Mr. Lyon evidently has regarding 
regular farm bureau meetings. We have 
kept very accurate recoials of all meetings 
addressed by county agents, and the fol¬ 
lowing are the facts for the last calendar 
year: 
Average 
Total Attend- 
Total Attend- mice per 
Farm B u r e a u 
Meetings. 
ance. 
Meeting 
Com’ty meet’gs 
1.084 
55.450 
51 
Grange. 
314 
21.400 
08 
Dairymem’s L’ge.. 
Total, all meet- 
270 
10.255 
50 
ings, inc. misc. 
4,000 
225..5S2 
50 
Of Course, these are only the meetings 
addressed by the county agricultural 
iigents. but it may be assumed that the 
agents would be more likely to attend the 
larger meetings of the I.eague and Granges 
than the .smaller ones, so I presume 
that the average attendance at the League 
and the Grange meetings indicated by 
these figures is really larger than the 
actual average of all the meetings held 
by these two organizations. All the farm 
bureau meetings are included in the fig¬ 
ures, although the greater part of the 
meetings are community meetings. At 
least one meeting has been held in prac¬ 
tically every community in the State, 
however small. 
From these figures it appears that the 
statement that “it is difficult to get much 
of a farm bureau meeting unless it is 
coupled with something else’’ is not in ac¬ 
cordance with the facts. 
I shall look forward with much inter¬ 
est to the discussion of this m.atter in’ 
succeeding issues of The R. N.-Y. I hope 
also that a great many of onr rcaiders 
will take iiart in the county conferences 
during .July and Augmst. which are to de¬ 
termine the farmers’ institutes, as well as 
other extension meetings, for the coming 
year. Practicable suggestions which 
promise to improve the institute's or other 
mi'etings held by the college will not only 
be welcomed but incori’o’T.tcd in our 
plans. M. C. BURRITT. 
Spraying for Bean Weevil 
I have a small jiiece of field or .shell 
beans which are nearly ready to blossom. 
I am told that they were planted much 
too early, and are far more likely to be 
weeviled than if planted about the (‘ml of 
June. If this is the ca.se, can you tell mo 
whether spraying at blossoming will be 
effective, what is best to use, and 
strength? ii. ii. M. 
Vineland, N. J. 
The early jdantiug of these beans will 
not cause them_,to be more susceptible to 
weevil infection if the seed w'as free from 
this pest. The inquirer is not at all like¬ 
ly to be troubled from that quarter; the 
weevil trouble is negligible in this State. 
If the seed grew in a more Southern lati¬ 
tude there might be danger. II. II. M. 
does not say how early he planted these 
beans, but by their being now in blos¬ 
som I should judge about May 28 or 30. 
My seed plot of selected pea beans was 
planted May 28, and they are now be¬ 
ginning to blossom ; they are disease-free 
so far. The egg that produces weevil is 
laid in the bean when the pod is still green 
and soft; when the beans are dried and 
stored the weevil bug hatches and eats its 
way out. ii. E. c. 
Identifying Queen Cells 
I have some bees and wish to know the 
queen cells in the brood chamber before 
hatched out. as I do not want my Im'cs to 
swarm. I am a new beginner, and I am 
thinking I could save the young queens 
and sell them. i>. b. 
Bound Brook, X. J. 
Queen cells are easily recognized by 
their shape and size. They may usually 
be found hanging from the lower jiart of 
the brood frame and having very much 
the appearance of a small peanut at¬ 
tached at one end to the brood comb. 
There is nothing else like them, and they 
may be distinguished at a glance. Rais¬ 
ing queens from them for sale, however, is 
not so simple a matter as it might seem. 
Y"ou will need much more information 
than can be given here. The only ways to 
get it are through the instruction of some 
practic.al apiarist or by reading. There 
are many good books published for the be¬ 
ginner, and among them perhaps none bet¬ 
ter than “The A B C and X Y Z of Bee¬ 
keeping,” by the Roots, price .$2..“)0. It 
may be obtained from The R. X.-Y. of¬ 
fice. M. B. D. 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
Two lots of Bonny Rest tomato plants 
were set at the same time. One long row' 
running north and south was set two feet 
apart, and each plant given a stake six 
feet t.'ill. The plants have been trained 
to single stem. The other lot of plants 
W'ere set on the sunny side of this row', 
given more room and allow'ed to take their 
natural habit on the ground. The plants 
on the stakes averaged 12 fruits of the 
earliest setting. Tho.se on the ground had 
fewer of the early fruits. Those on the 
stakes rijiem'd 10 days earlier than those 
on the ground. I have tried all the toma¬ 
toes claimed to be extra early, and while 
some will be a few days earlier than 
Bonny Best I can get more tomatoes be¬ 
fore the first of .Tuly from Bonny Best 
than any other variety. Owing to the cool 
and dry weather in .Tune the tomatoes 
which shoiild naturally have ripened the 
loth or earlier .simply stood still, well 
gi-owu but not ripening, and I got the first 
.Tune 2oth. It certainly pays to train on 
stakes. 
One se('d dealer here says that he has 
sold^out of “Black Leaf 40” four times, 
owing to the uncommon attack of green 
aphi(les on the tomato fields. I have never 
know'll them to attack tomato plants in 
the field before, though I once saw' them 
very thick in a frame where a man was 
transplanting them from an infested hot¬ 
bed. A darkey farmer came to me: 
“Boss, there is a fly like a skeeter that is 
laying green eggs on the under side of the 
leaves in my tomato field. What can I 
do for him?” I explaiiu'd to him that the 
green eggs w’ere living insects and that 
the thing like a mosquito might be an 
ichneumon fly killing them. As the nico¬ 
tine sulphate, called “Black Leaf 40.” w'as 
on .sale in our city I sent him after it. I 
use Aphine, w'hich is the same thing un¬ 
der another name. It is rather odd that 
I liav(> sei'ii none of the aphides on my 
jdants, though the fields all round are in¬ 
fested w'ith them. 
While the early Irish pototo crop has 
not made any grower rich the season has 
not been as disastrous as I feared it would 
be. and the probability is that an unusu¬ 
ally large area will be jilanted in the late 
crop this month, and the sw'eet potato 
area is immense. In this section I In'- 
lieve that sweet potatoes are uniformly 
more jirofitable than Irish potatoes. They 
are not in com])etition w'ith a great 
Northern crop, and their commercial pro¬ 
fit does not extend north of Southern New' 
.Tersey. A^'ith the modern curing and 
storage houses they can be k(‘pt easily and 
])ut on the market all the year round. 
Our game law's are all right in regard 
to the i)rot(>ction of the birds, but w'c have 
here a close season for rabbits, and tl)ey 
are getting more and more a nuisanc(‘ and 
a _ pest. Aly garden has a rabbit-proof 
wire fence, except in the front, where there 
is -a privet hedge. This does not stoo the 
rabbits from the fields across the way. 
This morning I saw one making his break¬ 
fast off one of my cabbages. I w'ent into 
my office to get my Winchester and as I 
came out I saw another which had just 
completed topping a row' of young string 
beans. The row was but a few inches 
high and the tender terminal buds had 
been eaten from every plant. And it is 
unlawful to sboot them. But I would 
certainly shoot if I got the chance before 
they vanish, for one has the natural right 
to jirotect his property. 
The Golden (’ream sugar corn is a cross 
of the Golden Bantam on the (''ountry 
Gentleman. It is just now' coming in 
(.Tuly (5). about a week later than the 
(Tolden Bantam, but longer ears and just 
as good as the Bantam. In ajiother week 
the first planting of Stowell’s Evergreen 
W'ill be ready, and then we begin to get 
decent-sized ears for the table. 
AV. F. MASSEY, 
Outfit for Drag Saw 
On page 00(1 w'C printed a picture and 
note of a homemade device for using a 
drag saw for cutting stove w'ood. Several 
people haA'o asked for a fuller description, 
and Mr. .Tohn G. f’ottrell. of Washington 
('’o.. X. Y., who built the outfit, has sent 
us a little model .showing how it Avorks. 
Tlmre is a jiicture of it. Fig. 45.o. page 
01.5, Avhich Ave think AA'ill make the w'ork- 
ing jiarts clear. Mr. Cottrell says: 
The model is rather crude, but hope 
your artist Avill be able to get his illus¬ 
tration from it. I use an engine Avith a 
five-inch inilley, speed 450 to 500 revolu¬ 
tions per minute. Belt avIh'cI on suav is 
.30 inches in diameter. Avhich makes about 
80 revolutions per minute. Stroke of saw 
is 20 inches. SaAV AA'ould be better with 
24-inch sti'oke. but in that case speed 
Avould have to be sloAA'ed to about (iO rcA'o- 
lutions per minute. In building the out¬ 
fit care should be taken to fasten belt 
Avheel and crank tii-inl.v to the shaft, as 
the tendency is for them to work loose. 
.JOHN C. COTTRELL. 
The Starling 
In,your issue'of .Tune 20 II. (T. R. asks 
about the Xcw Jersey robber birds, the 
English starling. I have been informed 
on good authority that those birds eat the 
early food that our native birds had Avhen 
they come Xorth for the Summer. an(l 
Avhen they arrh'e in Xew .Jersey there is 
none for them. I have been in Bronx 
Park several afternoons and it is a com¬ 
mon occurrence to see a robin pull a worm 
from the ground, a staiding fly up, drive 
the robin away, and eat the worm. Will 
someone tell us Avhat good are the star¬ 
lings here, and Avbat were they brought 
here for? Someone seems to have the de¬ 
sire to drive our native birds out and re¬ 
place them Avith some imported junk, like 
buying a title for our daughters. I hope 
some time Ave Avill know Avhen w'e are aa'cII 
off. or let well enough alone Avhile it is 
doing good A\'ork. j. G. Ar. 
R. X.-Y.— AA’hoever tries to tell what 
the starling is good for has his job Avell 
cut out for him. 
Important Meeting of Potato Growers 
The first annual Summer field meeting 
of the Xew' .Jersey State Potato Associa¬ 
tion Avas held at ITolmdel. on the farm of 
’J’heron McCampb(‘ll, .July 13, and. de¬ 
spite the inclement Aveather, over 1.200 
interested Xew' .Tersej' potato groAvers 
Avere in attendance. The visitors were re¬ 
ceived and Avelcomed by the president of 
the Association, Earle Dilatush. of Rob- 
binsville, and the host, Theron McCamp- 
bell. of Ilolmdel. A decid(‘dly instructive 
and interesting address Avas given by G. 
Harold PoAvell, manager of the California 
Citrus Fruit GroAvers’ Association and 
now' of the Division of Perishable Foods 
of the T'^. S. Food Administration, on the 
Government’s Aims in Marketing. He 
lu'OA'('d conclusively the urgemt need of 
business coiiperation among formers for 
their oAvn gain as Avell as the good of the 
jiublic, and cited his OAvn association as a 
sterling example of Avhat may be accomp¬ 
lished by concerted action among groAvers 
of perishables. He made it very clear 
that the compulsory grading of potatoes 
sold by dealers came about entirely be- 
cau.se of transportation difficulties and 
said that there Avere not enough cars ob¬ 
tainable to move the good stocks and so 
the cartage of all waste stocks had to be 
climina((*d. At the close of his address 
he ansAvered clearly and concisely a num¬ 
ber of questions pertaining to this Gov- 
(‘rnment ruling that have been puzzling 
the ])otato groAA'c#. 
Air. Peebles. i)erishaT)le traffic agent of 
the T'. S. Railroad Administration, told 
the people some of the difficulties and 
I)roblems encountered by the transporta¬ 
tion department and just Avhat they could 
expect in regard to the handling of their 
jiotato cro]) this Fall.. He assured them 
an ample number of empty cars and said 
that all possilde energy Avould be expeiub'd 
in moA'ing them to theii- destination on 
time. 
IT. W. CollingAvood soon had his audi¬ 
ence in sniiling good humor, at the same 
time that he droA-e home to them the im- 
portanra? of eo(5jieration and its resultant 
gain. 
IT. D. Gore of the Bui'cau of Chemistry. 
Washington, gave a short talk on full 
jiotafo utilization. Alany farmers dis- 
playcHl much interest in his explanation 
of the jiroduction of potato flour and 
oth(‘r iiotato by-products, as they saw in 
these a possible profitable Avay of dispos¬ 
ing of culls and of stabilizing the market 
price of potatoes at the time of a large 
crop Avith poor transportation facilities. 
OAving to the unsettled Aveather condi¬ 
tions other interesting talks, as Avell as 
President Dilatush’s address, were elimi¬ 
nated from the program and the meeting 
was dismissed early. Alany of the potato 
grow'crs spent considerable time in a shed 
on the farm w'here a practical dcmon.sti'a' 
tion in potato grading AA'as held under 
the direction of the Bureau of Alarkets, 
while many Avere interested in inspecting 
the various trucks that Avere lined up on 
one of the spacious laAvns. Because of 
this helpful and instructiA'e meeting .a, 
goodly number of faimiers Avent home 
Avith a better idea of the Government’s at¬ 
titude tow'ard potato groAA'ers and a greater 
determination to co(5perate Avith the local 
de.aler in upholding the ruling on grad¬ 
ing. Public demonstrations against grad¬ 
ing seem to be dying out, and more groAV- 
ers ai'e shoAving a willingness to cooper¬ 
ate Avith the GoA'ernment and Avith the 
XcAA' .Jersey State Potato Association. 
The XeAv .Jersey State Potato Associ.a- 
tion Avas formed as the outcome of the 
desire of potato groAvers throughout the 
State to organize for the adA'ancement of 
the pot.ato industry. Some of us discussed 
this pi'oblem OA'cr a year ago. but no ac¬ 
tion Avas taken until last Winter. AA'ith 
the help of the Bureau of Alarkets and 
the State Department of Agriculture, the 
present organizafio]i Avas formed. Earle 
Dilatush of^ Robbinsville Avas elected 
president; W. B. Dur.A’ce, secretary, and 
M alter S. Minch of Bridgeton, treasurer. 
The executive committee is composed of 
the above officers and from each county 
that is sufficiently interested to send iii 
15 jiaid memberships of one dollar each 
to the as.sociation a representative potato 
grower. The day we organized Mon¬ 
mouth, Mercer, Burlington and Cumber¬ 
land counti(‘s named represent.itiA'e.s, 
Avhose (^^xpenses are paid by the associa¬ 
tion. Each of the four exchanges of the 
State, Mercer County Potato Gi'OAvers’ 
A.ssociation. Monmouth County Farmer.s’ 
Exchange, Burlington County Farmers’ 
Exchange and South Jer.sey Farmers’ Ex¬ 
change, Avere invited to send rejiresenta- 
tiv'cs, and all accepted, their expenses be- 
iag paid by their respectiA'O associations. 
AYe have these men on our executive com¬ 
mittee because Ave belicA'e a much better 
understanding Avill result betw'een these 
organizations and the remainder of the 
groAvers of the State if they are alloAved 
rejiresentation on our board. 
I believe this association Avill continue 
the polic.v of having one representatiA'e 
from each county on its executive com¬ 
mittee whose exiien.ses are paid by the 
association, but. because of the peculiarly 
localized problems of the groAver. I do 
not believe one representative can pro¬ 
perly represent the needs of each locality 
in his county. The Giant Potato As.s(i- 
ciation. the JlightstoAvn. AllentoAvn, 
Holmdel and Dayton branches of the 
State Association, all formed recently, 
have asked representation on the board 
As to the attitude of the State A.s.so- 
emtion toAvard gniding, from the begin- 
nijig the jxilicy of the iissociation has been 
to stand back of the Government author¬ 
ities in that Ave believe that the principle 
of grading i.s absolutely right. The pre¬ 
sent hiAvs may need modifying, luit Ave 
believe this can be.st be brought about by 
AA'orking with the Gov'ornment rather than 
against it. Nothing Avill plea.se those in 
authority at Washington more than to 
hiive a more complete understanding of 
the farmers’ real situation during these 
troublesome times. Gur State Association 
AA'ith an executiA'c committee composed of 
actual hard-Avorking potato groAvers can, 
if they consider our jumblems in a broad, 
earnest, unselfish manner, take these prob¬ 
lems to AVashington Avith the assurance 
of the Government’s heartj' cooperation. 
E.ARLE DILATUSH. 
Grain in Lancaster, Pa. 
.Tuly 2 Ave started harvesting Avheat; I 
believe the crop in general here Avill be 
the large.st ever cut. as far as the yield 
per acre is concerned; hai'A'esting is gen¬ 
eral all over the county, from tAVo to three 
Aveeks earlier than usual. T Avas itching 
to see hoAv my Alfalfa looked, as it Avas 
the first_ year that I liaA'c taken courage 
to soAv it alone in the Avheat; generally 
added half the quantity of Mf'dium Red 
clover, as a sort of anchor to AvindAvard, 
in case the Alfalfa should fail. It look.s 
Avonderfully good to me, rather a thicker 
stand than I care for, but healthy and 
strong, and holding its oavii Avell Avi'th the 
Timothy that Avas seeded Avith the Avheat, 
in size and thriftiness. Corn looks avcII 
here, in spite of the cool nights; I had an 
unusual experience Avith my corn this 
year. After all the talk about poor germi¬ 
nation, in my preliminary test of 3(! ears, 
I had a pen-centage of 07 per cent, as 
every ear sboAved strong germination but 
one. and that one shoAV('d four grains out 
of six ; hoAvever, to make sure, not think¬ 
ing a second test necessary, as I had de¬ 
termined to plant by hand anyAvay. and 
plant six grains o the hill. I Awnt ahead 
on that ba.sis, and uoav face the job of 
thinning nearly every hill, as I got an 
average of four to six plants in the hill. 
It goes to shoAv, ^ hoAV. after AA'orrying 
about my corn in vicAV of the general talk 
about i)oor s(*ed, “nearly all the things a 
man Avcirries about never happen.” At the 
.same time. I must confess that the stand 
of corn as a rule lu're, is not A'ery good, 
but it looks as if the stand is good enough 
to produce an average crop. L. ruppin. 
Lancaster Co., Pa. 
