1020 
"Che RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 31, 1918 
plowing opens the soil surface to the 
early Fall rains, which are easily ab¬ 
sorbed, On unplowed land the growth 
of- weeds following a crop of grain, for 
instance, dissipates a large amount of the 
moisture that early plowing conserves, 
and this is very important in getting an 
early germination of the seed, insuring a 
good even crop growth. EAULE \V. GAGE. 
Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 
often sow turnip seed with their clover 
and get a line crop of turniiis when others 
fail. R. W. DE RAUN. 
Cauliflower, Spinach and Early Lettuce 
1. Is it now too late in season to start 
caulitlower for outdoor Fall crop in this 
section of New Jersey? I prefer to start 
my own plants if not too late, but other- 
w'i.se buy the plants. 2. When should 
spinach be i)lanled to get earlie.st possible 
next HT)ring. and how do you pi’otect it 
over Winter? .*». How is Big Boston let¬ 
tuce raised for early crop in the Spring? 
Can the seeds be sown in Fall and the 
plants protected so they keep over Win¬ 
ter : 
laiwrenccville, N. J. 
I. It requires about 
for the production of 
from seed. August 1 
advisable to set the 
the latitude of New 
v. A. J. 
six or eight weeks 
cauliflower plants 
is as late as it is 
plants in the field in 
York City. 
2. Savoy spinach seed sown before Sep¬ 
tember 1 in the latitude of New York 
City would be ready to cut that Fall. 
For wintering over the Thick L(‘.af va¬ 
riety ifi used because it does not shoot to 
seed so quickly the next Spring. It is 
usually planted about September 15. If 
it becomes too large in the Fall, it will 
be necessary to pick the d(‘ad leaves off 
it the following Spring, as it is cut for 
market, and if it is too small in the Fall 
it will not stand the Winter so well. The 
only protection worth while is to sprinkle 
a thin coat of straw, hay or strawy ma¬ 
nure over the spinach in the Fall. How¬ 
ever, the mulch must be so thin that it 
will be possible to see the si)inach through 
it. The mulch is to prevent freezing and 
thawing, and is not intended to keep the 
spina<di warm. 
2. l.ettuce seed may 
frames about November 
get the size r)f a half 
The sash must be lifted frequently to 
provide ample ventilation and to prevent 
the plants from starting growth and be¬ 
coming soft. Early the next Spring the 
hard plants may be set out extremely 
early. Sash for Winter protection is es¬ 
sential with the lettuce. ■ However, the 
plants will go to the field early enough so 
that the sash may ahso be used on the 
same cold-frames for the production of 
early ])lants, such as tomatoes. pepi)ers 
and eggplants. k. w. ue baun. 
be sown in cold 
1, so that plants 
dollar that Fall. 
Turnip Lice 
Will you tell me what to do to keep the 
lice, ants or whatever else it may be 
from eating .small turnips? The turnips 
made two leaves and then disappeared. 
New Providence, N. .1. C. E. 
Your turnip foliage is infested with the 
very destructive turnip lice. These in¬ 
sects cling to the under sides of the leaves 
and suck the juices from the plant. 
Stomach poisons, such as arsenate of 
lead, applied to the foliage would not be 
effective, because the insects do not eat 
the leaves, therefore they would not get 
the i)oison into the stomach. The most 
effective material to use is one that blis¬ 
ters or burns the lice to death when it 
strikes them. The most efficient spray 
solution in use is made of 00 gallons of 
soft water, one pint of tobacco extract 
containing 40 per cent of nicotine sul¬ 
phate. Three pounds of dissolved soap 
is added lo this mixture. 
The great task is to apply the solu¬ 
tion. with at least IHO pounds pressure, 
to the bodies of the insects. An extension 
rod on the hose is essential and the spray 
nozzle must be set at an angle so that the 
spray will strike up under the foliage and 
thoroughly wet the insects. For use in a 
home garden the spray is made up of 
two teaspoonfuls of tobacco extract in a 
gallon of water and three-fourths of an 
<aince of dissolved .so.ap. Other materials 
that are helpful if applied directly to the 
insects .are a strong .soap solution or 
strong tobacco dust. It is definitely known 
that if clover and turnii)s arc growing to¬ 
gether. the turnii)S are less likely to be 
destroyed with lice because the clover 
foliage helps to develo)) dami)ness around 
the turni]) foliage. Tliis fosters the de¬ 
velopment of a i)arasite which de.stroys 
the plant lice. Therefoi'c, good farmers 
Humus For a Southern Garden 
My garden needs humus. Stable ma¬ 
nure is very costly here, owing to so 
much demand for it for lawns. I have a 
plot of cow peas of about 12 square rods, 
very heavy growth, whicli I wish to mow 
wlieii at its best and pile up for a compost 
heap to be applied to the garden in 
Spring. Please tell me what I can put 
with it—commercial fertilizers—to make 
a well-balanced compost? I shall have a 
few bushels of cliicken m.auure and can 
get possibly one or two loads of stable 
manure. q li 
Asheville, N. C, 
"Why go to the expense and trouble of 
cutting the pea vines and i)utting'them 
in a comi)ost? "Why not plow or spade 
the Au'nes right into the ground and scat¬ 
ter lime or wood ashes to be harrowed or 
raked in? Then sow rye and Crimson 
clover a7id let this grow through the Fall 
to'be idowed under in the Spring. This 
will fill the soil Avith humus and fit it 
well for any crop if you Avill use at the 
I’.ate of otto pounds of acid phosj)hat(' jK'r 
aci-e. Fse the manure when you ploAV 
under the rye and clover. If you i)i-<>fer 
taking the time to make a compost, pile 
up the coAV pea vines and mix tne manure 
Avith them in the pile. Add the acid 
phosphate and keep the pile moist. 
Velvet beans will extend the Fall pasture 
period from 30 to 00 days, and are readily 
e.aten by cattle. Beans in the pod have 
given us just as good results as crushed 
beans, and. of course, are le.ss expensive. 
V('lvet beans haA’e sold for too much in 
this State in comparison with cottonseed 
meal, and the farmers are beginning to 
realize it. Velvet beans should bring 
just about half as much as cottonseed 
meal brings. I do not think there Avill 
be any veh-et beans for sal» in this State 
except in South Mississippi. On the cut¬ 
over lands in the southern part of the 
State a normal crop of velvet beans has 
been planted. e. r. floyd. 
Facts About Velvet Bean 
Last year AA’e tried to d('A'elop an in¬ 
terest in the Southern A’elv(‘t beans as a 
stock food. This bean groAvs AV('ll in the 
South, and has proved very valuable in 
the Gulf States, and Ave hoped to int<‘rest 
our readei's to bring a number of car¬ 
loads into the Noi'th for feeding i)uritoses. 
The Aveather proved unfavorable, and the 
heavy crop of beans did not matui'e iiroj)- 
erly, so that it Avas impossliih' to (d)tain 
the beans at a low figure. This year our 
readers are asking once more about these 
beaus, and tlie 'following letter from 
Prof. E. R. I.lo.vd of the Mississiiipi Ex¬ 
periment Station Avill ansAver their ques¬ 
tions. The groAvth of this bean in the 
South is remarkable, and Ave can readily 
understand Avhat happened when the 
corn crop bleAV down and the bean vines 
went to bat. We suav these beans groAv- 
ing in Florida some years ago, and the 
farmer told us that the year before the 
beans chased him out of the cornfield. 
VJien Ave saw that field three months 
later Ave could appreciate Avhat he meant. 
The vines had covered the ground with 
a perfect mat of green matter, and had 
actually run out of the field and climbed 
to the top of two pecan trees standing 
nearby. These trees Avere ea.sily 25 feet 
high.' This man told us that during the 
groAving season he never h>t the children 
enter the cornfield, as the vines grew so 
fast they Avould groAV around the chil¬ 
dren’s legs, throAV them down and drag 
them into the field before they could be 
rescued. This bean does make a tremen¬ 
dous groAvth, and Avhen the people of the 
Gulf iStates fully understand its i)ossi- 
bilities they Avill make great Ai.se of it, 
and by doing so add millions to the value 
of their farms. There are several so- 
called hundred-day varieties of this bean 
Avhich are recommended for the North. 
Our experience, hoAvever, is that the cow 
pea and Soy beau are much more valuable 
north of Tennessee, 
We did not get as good results as we 
expected from growing velvet beans in [ 
the central and northern parts of the i 
State last year. On account of the late 
Spring and killing fi-o.st Avhich occurred 
three AA’ceks earlier than kisual, only 
about 20 per cent of the bcuins matur<‘d. 
A great many farmers Avere discouraged 
and did not plant velvet beans this sea¬ 
son, because during last .Inly and August 
a part of the corn crop was blown down 
and the stalks tvere comjdetely covered 
by velvet beans, and in some iustanc<‘s as 
much as 30 per cent of the corn spoiled. 
Labor is so scarce and high priced that 
most of the farmers will not have the 
beans picked this year, but will have 
cattle to eat them in the Fall. 
In my opinion the velvet bean is one 
of the best crops that Ave have if properly 
utilized. I should not advocate fet*ding 
velvet beans to hogs, since Soy beans are 
much better for this purpose. We greAV 
Soy beans and velvet beans under exactly 
the same conditions, allowed hogs to har¬ 
vest both crops, and found that the hogs 
on the Roy beans gained twice as much 
as the hogs on the velvet beans. I think 
the Avisest Avay to handle velvet beans is 
to plant them in every other row of corn, 
and when the corn crop is harvexsted' turn 
cattle into the field to harvest the beaus. 
Fail Peas 
It is too late doav to reach many of 
your readers in time to plant peas for 
this Fall’s growth, but it will be inter¬ 
esting to some of them to knoAV hoAv it 
can be done. Years ago I failed to get 
any results from i>lantings in .Inly and 
August, as the plants mildeAved, but I 
noticed that Avhere some ripe peas of 
that year’s growth came up they Avere not 
affected. Ro I save the surplus from the 
Spring plantings and i)ut them in as soon 
as they are dry, with excellent results. 
The early frosts do not prevent their 
filling out nicely. a. c. worth. 
Ncav .lersey. 
The latter part of 
time to do this work. 
Cleaning the Potato Cellar 
The Fnited States Department of Agia- 
culture .says that a good many i)otato cel¬ 
lars or storehouses are polluted Avith po¬ 
tato disease, and they ought to be thor¬ 
oughly cleaned out and purifi(Ml before the 
new crop goes in. 
Rummer is the best 
All the trash and filth should be taken 
out. and the cellar thoroughly cleaned. 
It is a good plan to fumigate these cel¬ 
lars. The rule is to use for each l.OtK) 
cubic feet of space 10 ounces of formalin 
and five ounces <if potassium perman¬ 
ganate. l*ut the permanganate in a deep 
dish. i)our the formalin over it, and clo.se 
the cellar. If this is too expensiA'e. Bor¬ 
deaux mixture can Ix' used, made in the 
way so often d(‘scribed. Avith five pounds 
of lime, five j)ounds of sulphate of cop¬ 
per, and 50 gallons of Avater. This can 
be applied either Avith a hand sprayer, a 
broom or a brush, thoroughly soaking 
every i)art of the cellaix This cleaning 
and fumigating will pay. Fi-om present 
apj)earance tin' potato crop Avill be short, 
and prices aviH be high before Winter is 
over, and in a dirty, infected cellar 20 
I)(*r cent or more of the potatoes may be 
lost before Rprijig. 
Bees and Arsenic Spray 
The Indiana Experiment Rfation has 
been Avorking to shoAV the effect on bees 
when fruit trees are sprayed at. blossom¬ 
ing time to poi.son the eating insects. It 
Avas found that only five ten-millionths 
of a gram of arsenic Avas re<piired to kill 
the bees. If the small amount of poi.son 
u.sed in the spray is api)lied while the 
blossoms ai-e open, many bees Avill be 
killed. Analysis of bees killed by arsenic, 
and observations at si)raying time. shoAV 
that the spray on the blossom is fatal to 
the bees. We all knoAV that practical bee 
keepers and fruit growers disagree on 
this (|uestion,. but this work in Indiana 
seems to shoAv that the bees are killed 
Avhen the spray is applied Avhile the trees 
are in bloom. 
AcilAMKrilC ROOTS, HORSERADISH t 
ONION PLANTS. LETTUCE, TOMA; 
toes, egg plants, peppers and CAULIFLOWER PLANTS, 
bend for Price Ijist. J. C. Schmidt, Itrintol, Pa. 
SEED RYE FOR heavy pro- 
I uii uMLi. Grown on our farms 
n Pennsylvania from .selected Russian seed, 
SDmple and price on application—supply limited 
FAIKFIEL1> FARMS : TRAPl’K, PA. 
Mammoth White WINTER 
bag 15c. extra. 
P6r bu • 
PARKLANDS FARM. Franklin Park. N. j’. 
Standard Apple BARRELS 
Prompt shipment. Kobt. Gillies, Medina, N. F. 
Leather Scraps With Hen Manure 
1 
Will leather scraps ansAver the same 
pmqio.se as ground bone, to mi.x it Avith 
chicken manure? P. K. 
Old Bridge, N. J. 
The leal her scraps Avill not Lake the 
place of the ground bone in this case. 
They do not contain enough phosphoric 
acid to .siipjily Avhat the manure needs, 
and the leather is not available enough to 
he of much viiliie ,‘is a plant food. All 
such things are AA-orth saving and putting 
into the soil, hut .V(Ui cannot expect to 
get quick ri'sults from leather or similar 
things Avhich are not available. 
Wear and 
Tear on that boy 
of yours during 
the active years 
of childhood and 
youth necessitates 
a real buildingfood. 
Grape-Nuts 
supplies the 
essentials for* 
vigorous minds 
and bodies at 
any age. 
"There's a Reasori* 
GrowRegisteredSeed 
Of tho foliowinpT pedigrreed vai-ietics developed at 
tlie Michigan Agricultural College and InBpccted, 
Approved and Uegistered by tno iliohigau Crop 
Improvement Association. 
RED ROCK \VHEAT 
A pure, winter hardy, excellent milling, high yield¬ 
ing wheat. 
MICHIGAN WINTER BARLEY 
The best uorlhei n grown Winter barley. 
ROSEN RYE 
Tlie rye that has nearly douhlod Michigan’s acre 
yields and is giving exceptionally good results in 
many other states. Kemeinber, rve cross fertilizes, 
so get pure .seed from farmers who have produced 
it under inspection. 
For list of those haoivy it for sate irrite the Secre¬ 
tary of the Michiyaa Crop Improvement Association 
J. W. NICOLSON, East Lansing, Michigan 
DREER’S 
Potted Strawberries 
Planted now will produce a full crop 
nextyear. Our Midsummer Catalogue 
offers best varieties and gives direc¬ 
tions for growing. Also offers sea¬ 
sonable Seeds and Plants of all kinds. 
Alfalfa, Crimson Clover, Vetch 
Best grades. Write for Leaflets and 
price of Seed. 
HENRY A. DREER 
714-716 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Strawberry Plants For Sale 
Buyer plants for Aug., Sept, and Fall set'ing. Fifty varie¬ 
ties to .select from, including the fall-bearing. Send for 
catalog and pricelist. J. KEIFFORO MALL. R. No. 2. Rhodcsdale, Md. 
Pot-Grown and Runner 
Strawberry Plants 
For August and Fall i)Ianting. Will bear fruit next sum. 
mer. Alsu KASI'ltEUKY, It 1. A 0 K It E It It V, (KtOSMItKIlKY 
CCURANT, A S i-A K A il 1) S, dItAI'E Pl.A.AT.S, FlIVIT TltKEs’ 
HHUL'itS. Catalogue free. HAURT L. SQUIRES, Good Ground,N. f '. 
Dawson’s Golden Chafl Seed Wheat yieuifd 
41 Bush, per acre. 6 Hows. Barley that yielded 69“i Bush, 
per acre. W. R. ANDREWS, IBIB W. GinKciSt.. Syracuse, N.f. 
cepn WHFAT lOObnsh. Leaps Prolllic. Clean seed. 
ULLU iiiiLHi Pure .str.-iin. Write for prices. 
POPLAlt HILL FARM, Vi'anini-fortl, Coiiu. 
SEED RYE 
We have a limited supply of seed I'ye, GROWN BY 
US. (NOT FOR US) possessing HIGH MILLING 
gUALlTIli.S, VERY LARGE YIELDllSG 
STRONG LONG STRAW and in eveiy respect 
a SUI’ERIOR RVE. Orders will be booked in 
tlie order received at SS5.00 irer iSusliel. 
Hrookdale Farm, lircwster, Putnam Co , N. Y. 
RUSSUH PURUS R»E fSJ: 
I to 5 bu., $2.75 per bn. Over 5 bu., $2.50, IJagged. 
Sample for stamp. CLOVEROALE FARM, Cliarlotle, N. V. 
Seed Wheat 
Grow More Wheat per Acre! So’w the Right Variety! 
Hoffman’s Seed Wheat ”—8 kinds—hardy, prolific, reliable—yields well under 
trying weather conditions wherever sown. Is clean—free of cockle, garlic, 
chess, rye, smut. Write today for samples and free copy of “Hoffman’s Wheat Book”—read 
descriptions of varieties—get the facts on wheat culture. Mention this paper in your letter. 
A. H. HOFFMAN, Inc., LANDISVILLE, LANCASTER COUNTY, PA. 
