366 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 1, 1010 
“As Good 
as an 
Irrigating Plant” 
“If I had to do without most of my farm tools,” 
writes Geo. E. Koplin, Winter Haven, Fla., “I 
would hang on to the “Acme” Pulverizing Harrow to the 
last, as I deem it the most serviceable tool that I own. It is 
as good as an irrigating plant in dry weather.” An 
“Acme” Pulverizing Harrow 
is the ideal tillage tool for the orchard. “The Coulters Do 
the Work.” They overturn the weeds and leave a protective mulch. 
By using an extension model, you can work right under the branches 
and close up to the trunks. “Acme” Pulverizing Harrows are in 
constant use at leading nurseries and by successful orchardists. 
The Hun has wantonly destroyed the orchards of France and Bel¬ 
gium. American orchards must produce more to make up the ioss. 
An “Acme” will help you do your share. 
Ask your dealer to show you “Acme” 
Harrows—any size from 1-horse to 4-horsc. 
He should have a stock on hand. But you 
need our latest catalog, which tells how to 
make perfect seed hods. Send for it to¬ 
day; also ask for special circular on the 
"Acme” Disc Harrow. 
Duane H. Nash Inc. 
141 Elm Street 
Millington, N. J. 
An Investment of $12.00 
Saves $180.00 Per Year 
Up until last year many growers used three lines of hose and three oper¬ 
ators on their sprayers. These men spray about 30 days each year and 
by investing $12.00 for one 
Hardie Orchard Gun 
they SAVED the labor of two men or 
$180.00. Their spraying was done BET¬ 
TER and the gun will last for YEARS. 
SOME investment! 
Hardie Sprayer and Hardie Orchard Gun 
hsve revolutionized spraying—our cata¬ 
log tells the whole story. A postal card 
brings it. Send today. 
The Hardie Manufacturing Co. 
Hudson, Mich. (11) 
Branches — Kan»a» City Mo., Hagerstown, Md. 
Shipping 
Pay Nothing 
Until 60 Days 
Now is the time you need a good, reliable sprayer forfruit trees, 
vines shrubbery; forwhite-washingbams,chicken hotiBes.hogsheds, 
etc Here’s a sprayer that will do the work thoroughly and quickly 
and pay for itself in increased profits. Prove it at our riBk. Just send 
couDon-no money-and we will ship sprayer promptly. Use it 30 
davs free If you then decide to keep it. make first small payment 
in 60 days', balance in five equal 60-day payments, giving you a 
Full Year to Pay 
Majestic Cny^i/OK 
All-Purpose **Jrvl 
This hand sprayer is just what you want if you haven’t enough 
work to keep a power sprayer busy. Working parts made of brass. 
Specially constructed pump with high grade 4-ply rubber tubing. 
Automatic shut-off nozzle with non-clog spring cap. Light conveni¬ 
ent. Easily taken apart for cleaning. Contents kept continually and 
thoroughly mixed. Sprays to the last drop. B _ 
rnrr Book of Farm Necessities 
r if I* t* Shows wonderfulbafgains in cream separators,drills, 
R cultivators, saw frames, circular saws, feed cookers, 
“cu"at“,brooders, paints, roofing, etc. Write postal for free copy. 
^ coupon today for this sprayer and full year 
btlvLI to pay if you like it. Just the coupon. No money. 
^— THE HARTMAN COMPANY -- 
ScndSpray^N^OTMA 5 ..)- IfWsfLto® IwMh«.in60days; 
balance i^Tve W day payments of $1.16 each until price of S6.9Gi is paid. 
Otherwise 1 will returnit m30days and you puy transportation both ways. 
Name. 
Address. 
Cover Crops 
Undoubtedly one of the most vital prob¬ 
lems which today confronts the fruit 
grower, as well as those engaged in most 
other lines of agriculture, is how to main¬ 
tain, practically and economically, the fer¬ 
tility and proper physical condition of his 
soil. This has always been a serious 
question, but seems to, be getting more so, 
and promises to become more acute, with 
all except the dairy farmer. In the past 
people did not specialize so closely, which 
meant more stock kept on general and 
fruit farms. Then, too, there had always 
to be a certain number of work animals. 
Those, though producing only a small 
amount of manure, gave a feeling to many 
that they must got along and make the 
best of it. Added to this tlie lucky ones 
could always buy more or less from sta¬ 
bles, running all the way from the man 
who kept a driving horse to the business 
mau who kept from 10 to 20 head, and 
which in the aggregate meant a tremen¬ 
dous amount. 
Now all this has been changed, or rap¬ 
idly is changing. Animals of all kinds 
are becoming less numerous- on fruit, and 
truck farms at least, until I can point 
out to you a fruit farm of over 200 acres 
where a team of mules are the only live 
stock of any kind or description on it, and 
another of about equal area where two 
horses constitute the complement, while 
livery and private stables in many towns 
and villages are almost unknown. All 
this, I think, points clearly to the fact 
the time is not coming, it is here, when 
many people have to find something, if not 
to fill the place, at least to use in place 
of manure. Chemicals can never answer 
fully for this purpose, because, as I said 
at the outset, for best results the soil 
has to have a character only organic mat¬ 
ter of some kind can give. 
This just naturally brings one to the 
point of finding some practicable method 
of adding the needed organic matter, 
which in most cases will mean growing a 
crop purposely to plow into the soil, and 
simply brings up the old subject of cover 
crops, about which so much has been said 
and written that <*ne wonders what more 
can be said. I think, however, so far as 
meeting the noil requirement is concerned, 
we can safely say it makes little differ¬ 
ence what we use; the value will be in 
almost exact ratio to volume. 
In considering its bearing upon the 
crops that follow, however, nitrogen is 
the element which determines quite large¬ 
ly the amount of growth most plants 
make, and in turn is produced in much 
greater quantities in the decay of some 
plants than others. Besides this is the 
ability of some to convert the nitrogen 
from an unavailable to an available form. 
Some plants in that case might bo much 
more desirable to use than others, pro¬ 
vided there were no other drawbacks. 
However, the most important point, when 
recommendations for cover crops are 
made, seems t<» he most often overlooked, 
which is. sufficient volume must always 
lie produced ; otherwise it is not an eco¬ 
nomical proposition. This in itself makes 
it almost impossible or at least imprac¬ 
tical, to make many specific recommenda¬ 
tions as to what crop is best to use for 
cover crop purposes. There are so many 
things which enter in. and which must be 
considered ; it narrows down, as most farm 
practices do, to a matter of judgment, 
which can only be given by the wisest 
when all conditions are known. 
For example, there is little comparison 
to be made between a good crop of Bed 
clover and one of rye. so where one had 
the time and condition to produce a good 
crop of clover it would he poor judgment 
to grow rye. On the other hand, where 
rye could he depended on to make a good 
crop, and clover generally failed, it is 
just as foolish to depend on clover. Then, 
too, we generally have this problem: 
Where people are most anxious to use 
cover crops, the land is in a condition so 
poor many of the more valuable crops 
cannot be grown. Here in our section of 
the Hudson Valley clover, vetch, and 
some other of the best plants cannot be 
grown worth mentioning until the land 
has been brought up with something else. 
For the benefit of those who may have 
conditions somewhat like my own. I will 
describe two methods that with me were 
successful. I started on light sandy soil 
as poor as I could ever wish on anyone. 
Wanting to start my orchard as soon as 
possible, and at the same time being in a 
position where I must get something from 
I the land to feed the stock, I tried this, 
and it worked: I plowed the land and 
fitted it in Spring, and set it to pears, 
planting King Philip corn between the 
trees. Soon as corn was fit. I out and 
drew it off the land, plowed up to trees, 
fitted tin* land, sowed two bushels rye 
and 200 lbs. acid phosphate per acre. In 
the Spring, when rye was 24 inches high, 
I turned it under and planted corn as be¬ 
fore. This was continued for seven 
years. The seventh year it turned out 66 
bushels shelled corn per acre. I am now 
| using the land between the trees for grow- 
i ing berries, and if I did not misunder¬ 
stand him, Prof. Chandler said last Sum- 
i mer they carried as heavy a crop of red 
berries as he had over seen grow. 
In other orchards the same method has 
been followed until trees got so large corn 
did not pay for labor, when corn was cut 
out. However, when land was brought up 
I where it would seem to warrant, ’/etch 
was sown with the rye. In another or¬ 
chard of which I had charge, where the 
need of what could be grown between 
trees was not so great, buckwheat was 
sown in Spring. When in full bloom, rye 
and vetch were sown in the buckwheat 
and the whole disked in with a double cut¬ 
away. This was followed for three years, 
and was in every way satisfactory. This 
worked satisfactorily for me; whether it 
would for the other man may depend on 
how near his condition paralleled mine. 
The point, however, 1 would like to make 
is this: The crying need of our up-land 
everywhere is organic matter. Except 
with the men who are keeping consider¬ 
able stock, and are able to practice short 
rotation of crops, this need is becoming- 
harder to meet. The man who will suc¬ 
ceed to the greatest extent with his land 
will be he who can most nearly meet the 
land’s requirements. That means everyone 
must study his own conditions, and use 
those things which meet his needs, as in 
most cases the man. and not what he 
grows for cover crops, will be the deter¬ 
mining factor. WM. HOTALING. 
Columbia Uo., N. Y. 
Building a Small Greenhouse 
(Continued from page 364) 
tion in which the stove stands is in use 
only in cold weather, the other section 
being idle until later. 
Useful Structure. —I use this house 
for raising plants from seed 1 , mostly, and 
usually get it in operation early in Feb¬ 
ruary.' All the seeds are sown in fiats 
and placed in the heafled section. 1 he 
young plants are transplanted to other 
flats as they become large enough, and are 
carried along in the heated section until 
that half of the house is filled. By that 
time the weather has become mild enough 
to admit the door dividing-the house being 
thrown open, and the hardier plants 
moved into the western half of the house. 
By the time both sections become full, 
the weather has become still milder by 
reason of the advancing season: and the 
hardier plants can then be removed to 
the cold frames, and so on until house 
and frames are filled to capacity with 
plants in various stages of growth, by 
which time the season has advanced far 
enough to admit the planting of early 
cabbage, lettuce and some kinds of hardy 
annual flowering plants to the open 
ground. 
Glass Capacity. —This house and two 
cold frames of about the same capacity 
have enabled me to grow 15.000 to 20 000 
vegetable and flowering plants mostly 
from seed in the Spring season. Thous¬ 
ands of these are used in my own plant¬ 
ings, and mosb of the remainder are sold 
at a fair price More than enough cash 
has been realized every Spring (since 
building the house) from the sales of the 
surplus plants to cover the original cost 
of building material and equipment. Tlrs 
little house has not only been very con¬ 
venient and satisfactory in every way, 
hut 1 has been quite profitable as well. 
While it may not be possible for every¬ 
one to get as good returns from such an 
outfit, yet anyone who understands the 
principles of plant growing and green¬ 
house management, can more than make 
it pay its way in almost any locality 
where there Is demand for vegetable and 
flowering plants, or for the matured pro¬ 
ducts. After experiencing this conveni¬ 
ence and satisfaction of operating a green¬ 
house for seed sowing and tho rearing of 
young plants, for a single season, no one 
will ever again want to depend upon hot¬ 
beds and cold frames alone to carry him 
through the reason of early Spring plant 
raising. 
Cost of Construction.— 1 have not at 
hand all the bills for the material used 
but have all the items and their cost 
pretty well fixed in my mind, and the 
quantity and cost of the various items and 
their costs as follows: 
I.umber for walls and benches, etc., 
550 feet .$17.85 
Cypress sash bars (450 lineal ft at 
$1.50 per 1 *K) lin. ft.) . <4. < 5 
Plates and rafters 2x3 dressed spruce 4.50 
Ridge-pole 2x4 dressed spruce (40 
lin. ft.) . 105 
8 boxes 10x12 d< tible strength glass 20 00 
8 sash 3x6 ft. (second hand) . 16 OO 
Putty and zinc glazing points. 1.00 
Nails . 1 00 
Paint . 3.00 
2 locks and 2 pairs of T hinges... 1 00 
Matched lumber for 2 doors. 1.50 
30 posts for support of walls and 
benches . 900 
One 13-in. cannon style cast stove. 7.00 
1 galvanized roof flange or pipe 
connection . .75 
4M> joints galvan. 6-iu. pipe and 
canopy ... 1.75 
2 bags Portland cement. 1.30 
2 rolls two-ply tar paper. 1.30 
14 bundle plastering lath.40 
Total .$95.15 
Allowing approximately 5 per cent of 
total cost for waste, would bring the 
gross cost to about an even hundred dol¬ 
lars. All kinds of materials that would 
necessarily go into the construction of 
such a house are very much higher in 
price at the present time, so much so, 
that the cost would now be at least 40 
per cent greater. K. 
