Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
783 
F IELD SPRAYERS, Orchard 
Sprayers, Garden Sprayers— 
“Sprayers of Every Size for 
Every Crop” —made by farmer- 
manufacturers who operate large 
farms, orchards and market gar¬ 
dens. For whatever purpose you 
need a sprayer, there’s an Iron 
Age, proved right on the Iron Age 
Farms. A few of the many kinds 
are shown here. 
Iron Age Field Sprayers include four 
and six-row traction (axle-driven) spray¬ 
ers, and ten-row engine-driven sprayers. 
Equipped with orchard attachments, these 
outfits are also adapted to orchard and vine¬ 
yard spraying, making it unnecessary for many 
farmers to buy more than one machine for orch¬ 
ard and field spraying, intercrop spraying, etc. 
The Orchard and Garden Sprayers are made in 
all sizes from large 150-gallon four-wheel power 
machines down to barrel and bucket sizes. 
Iron Age Sprayers excel because of the 
superiority of the new Iron Age Duplex and 
Triplex Pumps. These pumps always deliver the 
spray at tremendous pressure. They are built on 
the stuffing-box and plunger principle instead of 
with bored cylinders, doing away with plunger 
leathers that rot and wear out. They have 
bronze ball valves that never corrode. The 
pumps are always outside —easily accessible. 
Write today for free sprayer booklets 
Bateman M*f*g Company 
Makers of good implements since 1836 
Box 965 Grenloch, N. J. 
Canadian Factory: 
The Bateman-Wilkinson Co., Ltd. 
96 Symington Ave., Toronto, Can. 
Destroying Locust Stumps 
I have some land on which were locust 
trees from six to eight inches in diameter. 
I wish to get rid of the stumps. Is there 
not an effective way to do this by boring a 
hole in the stump and tilling ji with some 
powerful chemical that would oat the 
stumps to a crumbling mass?? I do not 
care to blast them, as it may be dangerous, 
and have no stump puller. P. n. 
The killing of locust trees and the sat¬ 
isfactory removal of the stumps appears 
to he a problem confronting many farmers. 
During the past few years there have been 
a number of contributions to The It. X.-Y. 
along these lines. An ax, a good stum p 
puller, or some dynamite, combined with 
a certain amount of skill and considerable 
patience, seem to be the principal things 
necessary. The writer knows of no acid 
or other chemical which could be applied 
to the stump, with the effect described— 
of reducing it to a crumbling mass. Fur¬ 
thermore, it is doubtful if the owner would 
care to apply such a remedy to more than 
one stump. The soil would probably be 
made uufit for the growth of other plant 
life for some time to come. 
It is possible that the stump could be 
burned off to the surface of the ground 
by building a fire over it and maintaining 
the fire for a time long enough to con¬ 
sume the stump. This would not take 
care of the roots unless they were dug 
out and exposed t<> the air. Fire must 
have a certain amount of free oxygen, 
such as it gets from the air. in order to 
burn. Locust wood is naturally very dur¬ 
able when used in contact with the soil. 
The fact that it is a great favorite as a 
fence post is it case in point. For that 
reason it is hopeless to think, of waiting 
until the stump decays. If one does not 
care to use dynamite, the most satisfac¬ 
tory way of removing it would seem to be 
by the use of one of the stump-pullers, of 
which there are several ou the market. 
o. h. e. 
The Microphylla Rose 
, Can you give me any information re¬ 
garding the Microphylla rose? I think it 
must be a Southern rose, at least grown 
in Virginia, and my .impression is that it 
is a yellow variety. Could it be grown in 
Connecticut? a. e. f. 
South Windsor, Conn. 
Rosa microphylla or small-leaved rose, 
now called R. Roxburghii, is a native of 
China, and was introduced to England in 
182B. This type of rose lias numerous 
small leaflets; it is not hardy in the 
North. One variety of it. called Alba 
Odorata, seems to be crossed with the Tea 
rose; it is extremely fragrant, and has 
creamy or pure white flowers. This is 
considered a valuable rose south of V ash- 
iugton. but we should not recommend it 
for Connecticut. There is a _ cross of 
Microphylla with Rugosa that is said to 
he an excellent rose for hedges, but as a 
rule forms of Microphylla are little es¬ 
teemed now. If we were selecting a very 
fragrant yellow rose lor your locality we 
should choose Mine. Ravary. nankeen yel¬ 
low, becoming lighter as it expands; a 
verv double flower of surpassing sweet¬ 
ness. Mrs. Aaron Ward is another good 
yellow Hybrid Tea. 
Unthrifty Fern 
I have a fern, now about a year old, 
which does not grow, neither does it die. 
It just seems to stand that way, with uo 
new shoots coining up. Last Fall I sepa¬ 
rated the roots aud threw the old ones 
away; still it does no hotter. What can 
be done for it? mbs. it. o. 
We are not told what sort <>f Fern this 
is ; it may be one of the smaller varieties, 
classed in the trade as table ferns, or it 
may be the large Boston fern. The small 
ferns used for the table, I’teris, < inyohium, 
Cyrtomium, etc., often stand still and die 
a lingering death because they are kept 
too far from the light. When they are 
kept on the table iu a dining-room they 
are sure to suffer, unless removed from 
time to time for a vacation in the window. 
Many people think, because ferns do not 
demand constant sunlight, that they prefer 
semi-darkness. This is a mistake; they 
require light, and will not make healthy 
growth without it. Poor drainage and 
over-watering are often responsible for 
an unthrifty condition. The reference to 
dead roots when the fern was repotted 
show that the root system was not in good 
condition, and this is often caused by set¬ 
ting the pot in a glazed jardiniere in 
which stagnant water is allowed to stand. 
Suitable soil for fern consists of fibrous 
loam, peat, leaf mold and sand, with a 
dash of broken charcoal and good drainage 
material at the bottom. The soil should 
he firm, and it is a good plan to ram it 
down tlie sides of the pot with a stick. 
Live your plant light and remove condi¬ 
tions that tend to a sodden soil. As soon 
as danger of frost is over put it outside in 
a sheltered place, preferably with .the pot 
plunged in the soil to keep it cool and 
prevent drying out. Water as needed, and 
Unless the fern is too far gone it. should 
make growth during Summer, and be in 
good condition when brought inside in 
early Fall. 
Protecting Tender Hydrangea 
Will you advise how to cave for 
a Hydrangea during the Winter, which 
has become too large to carry to the cellar? 
I have it in half a pork barrel. Could it 
he kept out of doors and tied up, or plant¬ 
ed in the lawn? It is not the hardy Hy¬ 
drangea. K. K. 
The tender Hydrangea hortensis can be 
carried through the Winter outdoors in 
New Jersey if given protection. We 
would plant it out, as it may not endure 
the dry hard freezing of the roots in the 
barrel during a severe Winter. In Fall, 
after the leaves have fallen and the wood 
is well ripened, work some dry hay or 
leaves through the branches, and then 
wrap in burlap, which may be sewn in 
place with a packing needle, and scatter a 
mulch of strawy manure or litter over the 
roots. Some fine specimens of this Hy¬ 
drangea in our vicinity endured the Win¬ 
ter of 1917-11118 without any injury treat¬ 
ed in this way. Another method is to bend 
the branches down to the ground, peg 
down with crotc-hed sticks, and then lay 
sods over them. This is very satisfactory 
and looks better than the burlap wrap¬ 
pings, as one merely has a mound of sods, 
which is not at all unsightly. The same 
method is very satisfactory with tender 
roses. 
Experience with Girdled Trees 
I have two small young orchards that I 
have given a lot of care. From one of ~>0 
trees we have just removed most of the 
peach and plum fillers. There is not a 
dead tree or limb, and it did not have a 
piece of bark off; all perfect low heads, 
Baldwin. Greening and McIntosh. The 
other had two Spy trees killed during the 
cold Winter. I have a large amount of 
surplus straw, and last Summer I directed 
the man to spread a lot of this straw un¬ 
der the trees, but uot put any against the 
body. He piled it right against the body, 
and later I spread it around quickly, in¬ 
tending to clean a space by the trees in 
the Fall. The trees had been banked 
until the last few years, when I thought 
them too large to girdle. Sickness iu the 
family, and so much to attend to, caused 
the trees to be forgotten, and 26 were 
girdled; some apparently girdled by rats, 
judging by the large holes under the straw 
and the way they have eaten down into 
the roots. The trees run from the size of 
a stovepipe to over a foot in diameter, 
and I supposed they were ruined, but 
wrote to the college at Ithaca and asked 
if trees of that size could be saved, and 
how. After some delay I got a card stat¬ 
ing my question had been turned over to 
some other department. About a week 
later I got another card saying I would 
get a circular soon concerning my trees, 
and that is all I ever did get. Then I 
wrote to Geneva, asking them what they 
thought about it, and received a small cir¬ 
cular (No. 17), and a letter from Prof. 
Hedrick saying he thought it perfectly 
feasible to save the trees. I had bridge- 
grafted years ago like described in circu¬ 
lar. but had my doubts about saving suck 
large trees. I have been at the job and 
find it a slow one, especially where they 
are guawed down into the roots. I am 
banking most of these trees with dirt; 
don’t know whether this, will hurt the 
grafts or not, but thought it better for the 
girdled body. M. F. 
Waterford, N. Y. ' 
RURALISMS 
