1176 
August 9. 1919 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
After the drought of June and early 
July we have been soaked daily for two 
weeks, till finally the 23d of July gave ns 
a sunny day, and for a time it promises 
to let up in the deluge. The chances are 
that we will soon be hoping for rain. 
Our rainfall is abundant .every year, if 
.we could only have it better distributed. 
Our Northern friends do not know crab 
grass as it grows here and southward. 
Let the garden alone for two weeks and 
the crab grass will overtop everything. I 
had a lot of early tomatoes outside the 
irrigated part of the garden, which were 
allowed to tumble on the ground, and it 
was difficult to hoe among them. The wet 
weather started such a growth of crab 
grass that we could hardly find the to¬ 
mato plants. T had an old man to go in 
and pull the grass and clean it out. We 
then found plenty of ripe tomatoes that 
could not be discovered before. 
The wet had one good effect. The Irish 
potatoes planted the middle of July grew 
to a perfect stand, and now it only takes 
regular shallow cultivation to retain the 
moisture and make the crop. We hill up 
early Irish potatoes, but the late ones we 
plant in a deep furrow, cover lightly at 
first and then cultivate to a level and 
never hill at all. The idea is to maintain 
a dust blanket to retain the moisture, for 
hilling in the "hot Summer weather will 
dry out and do more harm than good. 
The growers here are talking about their 
receipts from the cucumber crop, and as 
much as $1,000 an acre has been claimed 
as the gross sales at the railroad station. 
Cantaloupes are now going, and the price 
is very satisfactory to the growers. What 
the eanners will do for tomatoes is hard 
to say. for the crop is exceedingly short, 
and the general market is paying prices 
that the eanners cannot compete with. Tt 
does not seem that there are tomatoes 
enough in this county to keep half the 
canneries going through August and Sep¬ 
tember. 
In cantaloupes I have the Barrel Gem 
and the Pollock. They are both good and 
grown -from Colorado seed, for all our 
muskmelon growers here find that it is ad¬ 
vantageous to used seed from Colorado. 
The Burrell grows larger than other va¬ 
rieties of the Netted Gem class, nearly as 
large as the old Hackensack, and is made 
almost white in color by the netting that 
almost covers the skin. The Pollock is 
later and has green flesh tinted on the 
inner surface with salmon color. As to 
quality, there is little difference; both are 
excellent. The 4.1 crates that are just 
filled by that number of Pollocks Will not 
hold near as many of the Burrell, and the 
“Jumbos” sell better. Very fey,; are 
shipped, for the buyers at the railroad 
station are always ready with the cash, 
and most people prefer to sell to them. 
Plums have been rotting badly in the 
CONTENTS 
THE RUKAL NEW-YORKER, AUGUST, 9, 1919 
FARM TOPICS 
Good Growth of Alsike Clover. 1175 
Plowing Under Fall Rye. 1175 
Some Questions About Buckwheat. 1175 
The Grasshopper Plague. 1176 
A Co-operative Lime Company. 1178 
Co-operative Potato Seed Growing. 1178 
A Trip to Cornell and Geneva Experimental 
Farms . 1178 
Up-State Farm Notes. 1180 
A Superior Kind of Rye. 1181 
Wheat or Rye with Buckwheat. 1181 
Trouble with Clover Dodder. 1181 
Hope Farm Notes... 1184 
The Potash Situation. 1187 
A Tractor Demonstration. 1187 
Crops and Farm News. 1194 
LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY 
A Talk About Acid Milk.1173, 1174 
Silage for Beef; Quality of Corn. 1175 
The Ohio Wool Situation. 1175 
A Bunch of Milk Notes. 1187 
Preparing Hog Pasture. 1190 
Trouble with Persistent Milker. 1190 
Dairy Rations; Hen Pasture. 1190 
A Guernsey Bull Club. 1190 
Sheaf Rye and Wheat for Sows. 1190 
Coming Live Stock Sales. 1190 
Questions in Management. 1192 
Corn Suckers for Silage. 1192 
Figuring on Dairy Herd. 1192 
THE HENYARD 
Egg-laying Contest . 1197 
HORTICULTURE 
Beautifying the Home Surroundings—Part 
III. 1174 
Notes from a Maryland Garden. 1176 
Newtown in the Hudson Valley. 1177 
Cherries on Native Stock. 1177 
Increased Grape Juice Production. 1178 
Garden Notes from New England. 1182 
Summer Pruning of Grapevines. 1185 
Missouri Fruit Notes. 1185 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day. 1188 
An Outdoor Playhouse. 1188 
The Rural Patterns. 1188 
Garden Pleasures and Bird Neighbors. 1188. 1189 
Embroidery Designs . 1189 
Canning Peas . 1189 
Renovating Window Shades. 1189 
Oyster Crackers . 1189 
MISCELLANEOUS 
Events of the Week...'. 1180 
A Defense of the Robin.. 1182 
Countrywide Produce Situation. 1182 
Buffalo Markets . 1182 
Editorials . 1186 
Sale of Government Food. 1187 
Repairing Leaky Tank. 1196 
Piping Water to House. 1196 
Disused Well for Cistern. 1196 
Publisher’s Desk . 1198 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
wet weather, but now the rot seems to be 
cheeked somewhat and we can pick some 
perfect fruits. But there is one plant 
disease that beats me every year. This 
is the leaf blight in the tomato. This 
seems to be far worse on the plants 
trained to stakes than on those let take 
their natural shape. My plants were 
sprayed repeatedly with Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture. and yet today the leaves are dead 
two feet or more from the ground. 1 am 
now allowing suckers to grow from the 
base of the plants, and these so far have 
not developed the disease and may make 
some late fruits. The regular plantation 
of late tomatoes promises to be very late, 
for they were planted in the midst of the 
dry spell, and had a struggle to live 
merely, and the plants did not seem to 
grow a particle till the floods came. They 
now promise to come in by the middle of 
August or later, and we may have a gap 
in tomatoes. Cuttings from the early 
plants made 10 inches long and set two- 
thirds of the length in the ground will 
make tomatoes nearly as soon as the seed¬ 
ling plants at their present stage. When 
short of late plants, cuttings do very well. 
W. F. MASSEY. 
The Grasshopper Plague 
< )n page 1124 a formula for a bait for 
poisoning grasshoppers is given in which 
sawdust takes the place of the bran in the 
standard formula. This will be a mighty 
good thing if the sawdust will do the 
work, since it will not only cut the cost 
in two. but will eliminate all danger of 
poisoning birds or poultry. The grass¬ 
hopper may be placed in the same class 
with the tent caterpillar, the maple worm 
and dozens of other insect pests that ap¬ 
pear in immense numbers at irregular in¬ 
tervals. We have had four infestations 
within my recollection, and at least two 
others within the memories of many men 
now living. In every instance they were 
attacked by a parasite in the form of a 
little red louse which practically exter¬ 
minated them and then disappeared, itself, 
probably for lack of food. I expect that 
the parasite will return in the present in¬ 
stance. In this connection I know a man 
who laid the foundation of an independ¬ 
ent fortune by utilizing the grasshoppers. 
He simply located upon an abandoned 
farm that was thoroughly infested with 
the pests, and engaged in the poultry bus¬ 
iness. The chickens fed upon the insects, 
transformed them into eggs and broilers, 
and incidentally fertilized the land and 
exterminated the grasshoppers, while the 
man stood back and pocketed the pro¬ 
ceeds. Moral: If grasshoppers trouble 
you. raise chickens. c. o. ormsbee. 
Vermont. 
Tt. N.-T.—As we know, farmers in the 
Far West often make something of a bus¬ 
iness of catching great numbers of grass¬ 
hoppers and drying them for Winter feed¬ 
ing of poultry. 
Killing-out Blueberry Bushes 
Can you tell me how to kill out tdue- 
berry bushes? We have an orchard, and 
when we cannot plow the berries grow 
in great quantities, with the result that 
so many strangers go to pick berries they 
destroy everything. T>o blueberries grow 
in alkaline or acid soil? Will spraying 
with sulphate of iron destroy them? 
Wellesley Hills, Mass. a. k. c. 
Strange! Experiment stations, horti¬ 
culturists, orchardists, small fruit grow¬ 
ers and gardenens all over the country 
have been trying for years to grow blue¬ 
berries successfully, and have met with 
only indifferent success at the best, and 
now comes a man asking for a method of 
destroying the bushes. There are upwards 
of 30 different species of blueberries, and 
the bushes vary in height from 6 in. to 10 
or 12 ft, with a corresponding variation 
in size and root systems. Some grow 
only in swampy bogs, others thrive best 
in stony, barren land, and other varieties 
prefer dry, sandy soils. The swamp va¬ 
rieties will thrive only in soils so acid 
that scarcely any other economic plant 
will live, while the upland varieties are 
much less particular in this respect, and 
I am of the opinion that some of them 
prefer a slightly alkaline, or at least, a 
neutral soil. Obviously, with so great a 
variation in type, specific directions for 
destroying one variety might seem ridicu¬ 
lous if applied to another variety. In 
general, however, spraying with sulphate 
of iron, sulphate of copper, corrosive sub¬ 
limate, kerosene or other plant-destroying 
chemicals, will be effective, provided the 
operation is thoroughly and persistently 
carried out, with spraying solutions of 
sufficient strength, but not otherwise. If 
this method is to be adopted it will be 
best to cut the bushes close, to the ground 
and spray the new growth as soon as it 
appears, repeating the spraying as often 
as green growth is seen. Two or more 
seasons will be required and. even then, 
it is doubtful if the results will warrant 
the expense. A better method is to cut 
the bushes along in August, after the 
growth of the season has ended, but before 
the plants have become dormant, or before 
the leaves have fallen. Then pile the 
brush on the stumps, leave it there until 
growth has well started the following 
Spring, and then spray well with kerosene 
and burn. The ground should be imme¬ 
diately seeded to some economic grass, or 
undesirable weeds will come in. Usually 
the ashes will neutralize the acid in the 
soik sufficiently so that a good crop of 
clover may be grown and. in this case 
there will be no more trouble from the 
bu6hes. 
Another plan is (o pull the hushes by 
the roots, pile and burn them and plow 
and cultivate the land, pulling all bushes 
as they appear. The pulling may be 
greatly facilitated by having a large 
strong hook made, similar to a cant-hook. 
This is fastened under the roots, and. if 
the work is done in early Spring while 
the ground is soft, a good team will easily 
pull any bush. After plowing the land is 
heavily limed and seeded to any desired 
crop. On lands not suitable or desirable 
for cultivation the plan most favored by 
the Forestry Department is to plant pine 
trees at distances of approximately 6 ft. 
apart. This plan calls for a period of 
several years thoroughly to eradicate the 
bushes, but it requires but a small outlay 
and. eventually the pines will choke out 
the bushes and become a valuable asset to 
the farm. This is the only royal and in¬ 
expensive road to success. 
c. o. ormsbee. 
Income from Mushrooms 
The writer, an old man who was raised 
on a farm, has a notion to build mush¬ 
room houses and raise mushrooms for 
New York and Philadelphia markets. 
What amount of space in mushrooms 
should return enough revenue to net 
$2,000 per year? What would be the 
prospect of making a success of it if the 
party is careful, industrious and sober? 
I could build my own houses, of con¬ 
crete. wood or bricks. Would it pay 
better to raise flowers or truck under 
glass? J. G. 
I wish 1 knew how large a space would 
he needed to return $2,000 net each year 
from mushrooms. A guess at it would 
be equivalent to the broker’s guess when 
he would tell you that a certain stock 
was going to either rise or go down. A 
crop usually does not weigh more than 
one-half to three-fourths of one pound to 
a square foot, and quite frequently does 
not produce more than enough to pay 
expenses, and sometimes does not produce 
any mushrooms at all. The prices re¬ 
ceived vary greatly, but a fair average 
would possibly be 40 cents per pound, or 
say 20 cents per foot for a good crop, 
though occasionally a crop will do con¬ 
siderably better than this, where all con¬ 
ditions are just right and the crop is <>n 
when the market is high. The cost of a 
crop will be around five to seven cents 
per square foot: this is cost of materials 
only—manure, spawn and labor. The 
cost per square foot of bench surface in 
the building will depend entirely upon the 
type of construction. The regulation 
mushroom house is constructed at present 
with hollow tile walls, plastered on the 
outside, and preferably on the inside too. 
the width is immaterial, though 20 feet 
would be convenient, and the height from 
12 to 10 feet, which will allow four to 
five beds, one above the other. There is 
no sure way of making it a success, as 
you may have a fine crop one season, and 
conduct every operation exactly the same 
the following season and have a complete 
failure. There would be a much more 
secure source of income from either cut 
flowers or vegetables under glass. Vege¬ 
tables would be the most logical crop for 
a man who has no greenhouse experience 
at. all. though even to grow vegetables on 
a scale to try to net $2,000 per annum 
would be a risk without someone on the 
place with some experience, fine way 
to get acquainted with vegetable growing 
would be to try it outdoors with a tract 
of fertile land and a Skinner irrigating 
plant. Greenhouses, like all other build¬ 
ing operations, will cost about double at 
present what they did several years ago. 
E. J. w. 
Sulphate of Iron to Kill Weeds 
I have seen in some of the papers that 
half a pound of copperas to a gallon of 
water could be used on asparagus l>eds 
without injury to the asparagus, put on 
before and after cutting. What do you 
think of this? E. G. A. 
The copperas or sulphate of iron will 
kill some of the weeds in an asparagus 
bed, but we do not think it would prove 
any more effective that salt scattered 
along the rows. The salt will keep down 
the grass and most of the weeds, and will 
not have any serious effect upon the 
asparagus pi ante;. In fact, some growers 
believe that the salt has a beneficial ef¬ 
fect upon the asparagus; while the sul¬ 
phate of iron will help, we think the salt 
will be just as effective and cheaper. 
An old negro of Joplin complaining 
that he had lost his dog. his employer 
asked why he didn’t advertise for the 
animal in the newspapers. “Dat wouldn’t 
do any good,” returned the old man. 
“Why not?” asked his employer. -“Well, 
sah, dat dog kain’t read,” responded the 
o 1 negro.—Credit Lost. 
HAIRY VETCH 
AND RYE—the Greatest Hog and Sheep Pasture. 
Grows all winter. Ready for pasture April 1. Sow 
few acres and make money. This Giant Rye is fine 
for Vetch to climb on. Sow l l 4 bu. to acre for seed 
and 114 hu. for.pasture. Better sow in September. 
It's great stuff. Grows on any kind of ground when 
inoculated with our “ hugs.” Gathers $20 to $40 
worth of nitrogen to acre, it’s great as a cover crop. 
Use it once and yon will always want it. Hustle 
your order to us. It's ready to ship. Drill or broad¬ 
cast same as wheat. Price on mixture; as we sow it 
ami think it best, $4.25 bu. (60 pounds); 20 bn. or over 
at, $4. All f. o. b. here. Grain hags 65c, each. Old 
patched. 35 cts. I 
Our Inocnlator 
costs you $1 for [ 
acre size;sixfor 
$5: 5-acre pail, |__ 
$4. We put it up for Vetch, Alfalfa, Sweet Clover, 
and all other legumes. Tell us u hich kind you want. 
JACOli McQUEEN - Hal tic, Ohio 
ALFALFA 
AMERICAN NORTHERN GROWN 
For fifteen years our advice concerning the seeding 
and care of Alfalfa meadows, and our seed for sowing 
them, have been standard — the best that was to be 
had. The catalog tells how, and prices the seed, 
not Turkestan, “Dwarf Alfalfa,” which we refuse to 
handle, but the best of American grown seed, in¬ 
cluding usually Montana, Idaho, and the great 
“Dakota 30,” which rivals the Grimm itself. 
PRIMIA Al PAI PA Next to Hansen’s Siberian, 
U 111 mill HLlHLlft the greatest variety grown 
in America. We have the genuine; also limited 
amounts of the Siberian. 
Sample and prices on request. 
Wing Sefq Co., Box 323 IMechanicsburq, O, 
Th» House of Quality and Moderate Pricer. 
SEED WHEAT and RYE 
KEI) ROCK, The Greatei-t Wheat yet. Very 
hardy, strong, stiff straw, immense yielder. Makes 
most Hour and best bread. This wonderful new 
wheat has increased the yield on hundreds of 
Michigan farms 10 to 20 bushels an acre. 
ROSEN RYE, is revolutionizing the growing 
of rye. Outyields all other sorts 40 to 50%. A 
bonanza to the farmer with light soil. Write today 
for full information of these two great winners, 
and price list No. 26. 
A. H. FOSTER, Prop. 
MAPLEWOOD SEED FARMS Allegan, Mich. 
Member Michigan Crop Improvement Association. 
Certified Seed. 
16 % ACID PHOSPHATE 
STRAIGHT CAR LOADS 
Also Nitrate of Soda, Potash 
and 
Mixed Fertilizers 
Largest shippers in middle west 
Write us for prices 
EGBERT CHEMICAL CO., CANTON. OHIO. Dept. R 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
For August and Fall planting. Pot-grown nnd runner 
plants that will hear fruit next summer. Also RASP¬ 
BERRY, BLACKBERRY, GOOSEBERRY. CURRANT, 
GRAPE PLANTS, FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, 
SHRUBS, for fall planting. 
VEGETABLE PLANTS 
CABBAGE. CELERY. KALE, KOHL-RABI, PAR8LEY, 
LEEK. SAGE, ASRARAGUS, RHUBARB, ASTER, PANSY, 
SALVIA PLANTS. Catalogue free. 
HARRY L. SQUIRES - Good Ground, N. Y. 
Pot Grown & Layer 
PLANTS of the Howard 
strawberry, it has produced 
at the rate of 17,000 qts. pet- 
acre this season. ErnUtn Park 
Everbearing It asp berry 
three times as productive as 
8t. liegis. Send for Price List. 
C. S. PRATT - ATHOL, MASS. 
Cabbage and Celery Plants 
Golden Self-Bleaching White Plume, Winter Queen, 
Giant Pascal, 50c per 100; 300 for $1; 500, SI.50; 12 50 
per 1.001). Cabbage, $2 per 1,000. Celery, 5,000 for $10. 
Prepaid. List free. W. S. FORD A SON, Hartly, Delaware 
H 
ARRISONS* NURSER1E 
Fruit Tree® Budded from Bearing Orchorda. 
Peach, apple, pear, plum, cherry, quince, 
f rapc-Yinee, strawberry plants, raspberries, 
lackberrien, everirreenfl and ehade trees. 
Catalog free. box 14 Borlin, Md. 
S 
RUSSIAN PITKUS RYE Sow k unt?rg?ound* free^s! 
1 to 5 bu.. $2.25 per bn. Over 5 hu., J2.00, Ragged. 
Sample for stamp. CL0VERDALE FARM. Charlotte. N. T. 
Crimson Clover High Test s»»d 
11.70 Bush, ling in. LAYTON SLAYTON, Inc., ■••rittswn. Salaartra 
For Sale- Long Island SEED CORN 
J. CODDINGTON, . Glen Head, L. I. 
Apple BARRELS S 
ougnly seasoned material. KOHT. GII.I, 
Standard size. All 
Elm hoeps. Thor- 
' lEfi, N. T. 
Two Excellent Vegetable Books 
By R. L» Watts 
Vegetable Gardening , , , . . $1.75 
Vegetable Forcing.. 2.00 
Clearly written, practical, convenient for 
reference, covering outdoor and green¬ 
house vegetable work. For sale by 
The Rural New-Yorker 
333 W. 30th St., New York 
Seed Wheat 
Grow More Wheat per Acre! Sow 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. 
