1377 
Best Early and Late Potatoes for 
Maryland 
Will you advise me what is the most 
prolific and best all-around early potato 
to grow? I have decided to grow no 
more Irish Cobbler. With me they have 
been very poor yielders for years and I 
am inclined to believe they have run out. 
I have planted them for over 20 years, 
and they do not yield half as much as 
they did years ago. Also, what is con¬ 
sidered the best late potato? J. ii. G. 
Ruxton, Md. 
From Florida to Maine the Irish Cob¬ 
bler is recognized as the leading early 
potato. Any variety of white potatoes 
must have suitable soil conditions for its 
best development. The Irish Cobbler 
does not have a very extensive root sys¬ 
tem and it produces its crop very quickly, 
therefore it requires the most favorable 
conditions. The plant food in the soil 
must l>e easily and quickly available. 
There is a great difference in the yielding 
ability of seed potatoes. For instance: 
A New Jersey grower selected 200 mod¬ 
erately large Irish Cobbler potatoes of 
uniform size and appearance. Each potato 
was numbered and quartered longitud¬ 
inally and the pieces were planted in four 
adjacent hills. Conditions were very 
similar. The production from each seed 
potato varied from 2^4 pounds to IS 
pounds. Perhaps it is very true that your 
strain of Irish Cobbler potatoes has run 
out. Seed .selection at digging time from 
heavy yielding hills should be very bene¬ 
ficial. 
Furthermore, potatoes that are planted 
very early in the Spring usually yield 
much better than they would if planted 
later. However, south of Philadelphia 
early-planted potatoes become dead ripe 
in midsummer and then they lie in the 
hot soil for a couple of months before 
they are dug. Such potatoes are not pro¬ 
ductive when iiscd for seed purposes. The 
most productive seed potatoes are green 
and full of vigor when dug. This explains 
why Southern-grown seed potatoes have 
been considered to be more productive 
than “home-grown” seed. The growers, 
especially in Delaware, Maryland, New 
Jersey and Virginia, are learning to over¬ 
come this feature by planting, about 
August first, seed that was grown and 
selected the following season. The Irish 
Cobbler has such an excellent reputation 
for heavy early production that it would 
be folly to recommend any other variety 
to replace it. This last season, however, 
the Irish Cobbler showed a sensitiveness 
to a lack of potash and the vines died 
early. 
The .standard late variety is Green 
Mountain. The variety used is not half 
so essential as the strain of seed used and 
the conditions under which it is to be 
grown. K. w. DE B. 
Planting Nuts in Fall 
written by C. II. C., pag« 
1 - 00 , he gives a method of caring for and 
planting nuts. As I have had considerahl< 
experience in this line, I wish to take ex¬ 
ception to his advice of drying the nuts 
and keeping them till Spring, and then 
planting them 12 inches deep. He w'ould 
surely need durable stakes to mark where 
they were planted, for I doubt if any of 
them would ever come up. Nature’s way 
is very shallow planting. I have seen 
nuts on top of the ground sprouted, with 
the tiny tap-root already taking hold ol 
the soil, and a covering of leaves is about 
all they have in the woods. The writer 
can show over 400 Black walnut seedlings 
from about that number of nuts, planted 
as follows in the Fall: Nute gathered and 
planted as soon as possible with the hulls 
on. laid on the ground, and given one 
stamp with the heel, barely covering the 
nut with soil. Walnuts planted in the 
Fall will be a year ahead of those planted 
in the ,Spring; this is my experience, as 
It seems necessary for them to freeze to 
open the sheiks. Owing to the thick shell 
of the walnut they dry out slowly, and 
will undoubtedly grow after being kept 
several months; even after being hulled 
they can be safely planted before the 
ground freezes up for the Winter, and be 
a year ahead of those planted in the 
Spring. G. c. s. 
New Jersey. 
Bacterial Inoculation 
Would you advise inoculating corn, po¬ 
tatoes and flower seeds with bacterial cul¬ 
tures ? E. M. 
Missouri. 
No. Corn and potatoes will not re¬ 
spond to inoculation. We must under¬ 
stand what that is. Certain plants which 
carry or develop their seeds in pods are 
known as legumes. These are beans, peas, 
clovers. Alfalfa, vetch and some others. 
It is a characteristic of these pod-bearing 
plants that they are able to take nitrogen 
from the air. This nitrogen is taken by 
certain bacteria, or tiny forms of life, 
which live on the roots of these plants. 
The warts or “nodules” which you often 
find on the roots of clover or beans, are 
the places where these bacteria live and 
work. When these bacteria are on hand 
the plant will gain in nitrogen. When 
they are not present there w’ill be no such 
gain. Now, “inoculation” means adding 
or introducing the.se bacteria—putting 
them on the seed or into the soil so that 
they will multiply and do their work. 
We may do this in two ways. One way is 
to take soil from a field w'here we know 
these bacteria are found, and work it into 
the soil of the new' field. Tha,. may be 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
compared with the plan of taking a pint 
or so of buttermilk from one churning and 
putting it into the cream for another 
churning. Or a chemist may take these 
bacteria from the plant and propagate 
them in liks laboratory. They can be put 
into sealed bottles so they will keep alive 
until they can be put on the seed and 
planted in the u-sual way. This plan is 
not unlike that of sending out yeast cakes 
for bread making. The chemist does 
much the same when he prepares a “cul¬ 
ture” to be used in preparing cream for 
churning. At any rate, the introduction 
of these bacteria, either into the soil or 
upon the seed, ie what we call inoculation. 
It is of value only to those legumes or 
pod-bearing plants. You would get no 
results from corn or oats or potatoes be¬ 
cause these bacteria cannot live and grow 
except on the roots of these legumes. 
THE MAILBAG 
The Helpful Skunk 
I know of no animal that is death to 
so many insects as the skunk. One day 
last Spring a hawk which was flying 
across my farm dropped a young skunk 
which it had caught. I picked up the 
little fellow, which was almost dead, and 
took it to the barn. I fed him and he 
got over his injuries, and became an at¬ 
tractive pet, following me about the fann 
like a young kitten, and desti-oying every 
W'orm and insect that chanced to be in 
sight, and with his little black eyes he 
woijld see many that I could not. I have 
also known him to dig four inches in the 
dirt for a worm or a bug that had been 
covered up, or had hidden himself for the 
MToter. He was especially fond of cater¬ 
pillars. which he would dig from the 
ground in the orchard, and all I would 
have to do wdien I wanted him was to call 
.Tep, and he would come on the run. 
Therefore I claim the skunk as a valuable 
animal about the farm. Has anyone else 
a good word for the skunk? 
New Jersey. fredrick megill. 
Spraying the Henhouse 
You might suggest using the concen¬ 
trated lirne-sulphur mixture as the very 
best spray for ridding poultry houses of 
lice and mites. Apply with high power 
orchard spray pump through windows and 
door, forcing it in every crevice. Use 
long spray pole from outside. 
New York. l. c. Arnold. 
Destroying Weevils in Beans 
Not long ago I noticed an inquiry in 
The R. N.-Y. concerning the treating of 
shelled beans with carbon bisulphide. I 
wish to give my experience along these 
lines. After the beans are shelled I pro¬ 
ceed as follows : I procure a tin can with 
a tight-fitting cover; a milk can will 
answer. In my case I use an old dis¬ 
carded milk can which has a food tight- 
fitting lid. Into this can I place a shal¬ 
low saucer containing about two ounces 
of the liquid carbon bisulphide, which I 
lay over with a piece of «trong woven 
mosquito netting, so that the beans do not 
fall directly into the liquid poison. Then 
I pour in the Shelled beans, and put on 
the lid, and leave in an outhouse for 30 
to 48 hours. During this time the liquid 
carbon bisulphide evaporates, and the 
poison gas permeates the whole contents 
of can, killing all bean weevils. Then I 
pour the shelled beans into clean con¬ 
tainers, that’s all. 
Last year, when I treated my red kid¬ 
ney beans, I overlooked a small cartonful 
of beans, which I didn’t discover until 
late in Winter. When I removed the 
cover I found the contents filled with 
weevils. There were thousands of them, 
the contents alive with them, whereas the 
beans which I had treated (with very 
slight cost) were entirely free from any 
sign of weevil. Charles rotii. 
New .Jersey. 
R. N.-Y.—A very good statement. We 
prefer to put the bisulphide on top of the 
beans, as the gas is heavier than air and 
sinks down. 
A Market for Horse Meat 
Would you tell me where to dispose of 
old horses, to bring the most money? I 
have heard that they are used for food, 
but there seems to be no call for them 
here. We have two and know of several 
others. They would make good hen meat 
scrap anyway. w. ii. K. 
North Pitcher, N. Y. 
There are frequent reports about using 
horse meat for human food, but we are 
unable to find any regular business in it. 
It is very doubtful if old horses could be 
sold to advantage for meat. Careful in¬ 
spection is made and there are, api>ar- 
ently, plenty of horses near the city suit¬ 
able for this trade. There ought to be a 
chance to sell this meat to chicken men. 
We have had some inquiries from men 
who keep large poultry flocks or dog 
kennels, asking where they could buy such 
meat. Very likely a small advertisement 
would bring trade in this line. We should 
skin the horses and sell the hides and then 
offer the meat shipped by express. We 
have heard of cases where the hoi’se meat 
is put in large cans, cooked the same as 
beef or pork, for human consumption. 
This canned meat is bought by dog 
breeders and poultry men. There might 
be some profit in handling the meat in 
this way, but there seems little chance 
to sell it for human consumption. 
HUbER 
n ^ ht ^ joiir 
The Boys May Not be Back This Year 
B ut just the same you can produce your biggest and most 
profitable crop. Your wife or your 14-year old son, on 
the seat of the Huber Light Four can do the work of 4 
men and 12 horses—^four days’ work in one. You can get eight 
or ten days* work in one day by driving night and day. 
Take advantage to the utmost of favorable weather for 
ploughing, seeding, harvesting. Ground well prepared—at just 
the right time—will add greatly to your crop. 
“Our 14-year old boy and the Huber Light Four tractor 
ploughed 140 acres this season, doing as much work as could 
be done by 12 horses and 4 men at ploughing and harvesting,” 
writes H. J. Newcomer, Bryan, Ohio. 
“My wife ran the tractor to load 60 loads of hay and 70 
loads of oats,” writes George Blacksledge, Conduit, Ohio. 
The Huber is economical. “The cost for fuel and oil has not 
been over half the cost of feed for horses doing the same work,” 
writes R. L. Dickison of Chillicothe, Ills. 
It “stands up” under most unfavorable soil conditions. “I am 
using the tractor cutting rice in fields which are partially cov¬ 
ered with water. It will work in softer ground than even horses 
and mules,” says E. W. McCuskey of DeWitt, Ark. 
It not only furnishes economical power for the feed grinder 
and buzz saw and kindred work but it drives 
the clover huller, the small grain thresher, 
the corn busker, the ensilage cutter or the 
hay baler. 
Write for the name of the dealer nearest you and 
for *'Doing the Impossible", a booklet that tolls 
you how to raise big crops with less labor. 
THE HUBER MANUFACTURING CO. 
<24 Center Street MARION, OHIO 
Established over 40 years 
Weight 5,000 pounds; 
pulls three 14" bot¬ 
tom plows; 12 h. p, 
delivered to the draw¬ 
bar; 25 h. p. at the 
belt; Waukesha, four- 
cylinder_ motor; Per- 
fex Radiator; Hyatt 
Roller Bearings; 
burns gasoline, kero¬ 
sene or distillate; cen¬ 
ter draft; two speeds, 
2^ and 4 miles 
per hour. 
Carry it to the 
Cold Workshop 
Make the cold shivery workshop, 
warm as toast with a Perfection Oil 
Heater. Put in one gallon of Socony 
oil, touch a match and enjoy gener¬ 
ous, inexpensive warmth for 8 hours. 
Use it in the house, and have real 
comfort. Easy to clean, fill and 
light. 
STANDARD OIL CO. OF NEW YORK 
PERFECTION 
OIL HEATERS 
