316 
<The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 14, 1920 
Buy the Best 
THE 
MAPES FAMOUS 
FERTILIZERS 
The Standard for 
Generations 
Basis Bone and Guano 
No Rock Used 
Availability without Acidity 
- • 
Choicest Forms of POTASH— 
Sulphates, Carbonates and 
Nitrates all free from objec¬ 
tionable materials. For 
Tobacco, Fruits, etc., where 
these forms are required. 
Foreign Muriate for General Farm Crops 
Ample Supplies of Potash 
In Our Brands This Year 
Manufactured as in the past 
with precisely the same care 
as to the choiceness and 
adaptability of the materials 
for the crops for which they 
are intended. 
Send direct to us or to our nearest 
Agent for pamphlet and prices 
THE MAPES FORMULA & 
PERUVIAN GUANO CO. 
143 Liberty Street, New York City, N. Y. 
Hartford Branch 
239 State Street 
Hartford, Conn. 
Horticultural Notes 
Garden Crops in New Jersey 
In the cut is shown an engraving 
taken from a photograph in the field of 
D. I*. Starn of Atlantic County, N. ,T. 
This represents a great load of celery, 
and is the second crop on four acres of 
land. This crop was planted in rows five 
feet apart, with the plants one foot in 
the row. This represents the second crop 
taken off that land in one season. On 
the four acres Mr. Starn sold 6,S70 
bunches of celery, which brought $1,- 
006.33. We wanted to find out what the 
first crop amounted to, and Mr. Starn 
has given us the following items regard¬ 
ing that earlier crop. 
Whenever we print true stories of this 
sort we are sometimes accused of telling 
large tales, and doing injury to garden¬ 
ing by giving these facts. We are satis¬ 
fied that the statement here given is cor¬ 
rect, and if we were to know, the entire 
cost of these crops in manure, labor, rent 
of land and other items, we should find 
that Mi*. Starns had to work for every 
dollar he got out of it, and in addition had 
to make use of a brand of skill and in¬ 
telligence which would have made him far 
more money had he employed it from the 
beginning in some other industry. 
On one acre there were grown 6.027 
bunches of beets, amounting to $184.15, 
and on the other three acres there were 
86 barrels of spinach, which were a poor 
crop, owing to the wet weather which 
flooded it. It amounted to $258.30. This 
crop was followed by lettuce oil the same 
three acres, of which we sold 150 bar¬ 
rels, amounting to $610.65. The beets 
and lettuce were grown in rows 2V£ feet 
manure to best advantage with fertilizer. 
Ridgeway, N. Y. o. c. 
If we had much farm stock we should 
throw this straw in the barnyard and let 
the cattle or sheep tread it down. We 
should also bed heavily and mix the straw 
with the manure, to be hauled out in the 
Spring. This would require much labor, 
which is hard to find now. In our own 
case, as we are situated, we should haul 
all or a large part of that straw right 
into the orchard and scatter it under the 
trees. Put it on thick, and do not at¬ 
tempt to plow or work the orchard this 
Spring. If it is the bearing year you can 
scatter acid phosphate or phosphate and 
nitrate of soda right on the straw. This 
plan of handling an orchard is quite com¬ 
monly followed in Ohio and has given 
great results. If the orchard is not in 
bearing perhaps you would not care to 
use the straw there, although that is what 
we should- do. The straw can be spread 
and plowed under like any coarse manure, 
and the addition of acid phosphate will 
make it very useful oivmost crops except 
potatoes. Where long straw is plowed 
under and covered it id rather hard to 
make good furrows for potato planting, 
as you rip up too much of the straw. For 
other crops it ranks much like manure. 
“Air-strong” Potatoes 
Can you tell me what causes potatoes 
to be “air-strong”? IIow can it be pre¬ 
vented? s. R. 
A very small amount of exposure to 
light starts a coloring in the skin of the 
potato which rapidly increases.to a very 
Load of Celery as Second Crop 
apart, and every other row was planted 
with celery, making the celery five feet 
apart in row. This was set before the 
beets and lettuce were all gathered, giv¬ 
ing the celery a chance to get a hold 
before the preceding crop was all gone, 
then giving plenty of room to till the 
celery. I keep a record of all my sales. 
One acre beets, first crop, 6,027 bunches, 
$184.15; three acres spinach, sown in 12- 
iuch rows, poor crop. 86 barrels, $258.30; 
same three aoretf-replnnted in lettuce, 2V&- 
foot rows, 150 barrels, $610.65* celery, 
as last crop, planted in every other row, 
6.879 bunches, amounting to $1,006.33. 
Total amount on all crops of four acres 
in a poor season, on account of excessive 
rains, $2,059,43. I), r. starn. 
Applying Fertilizer to Potatoes 
What is the best way to use fertilizer 
for potatoes? I work my potato ground 
deep with a single-shovel plow, and have 
a one-horse corn drill with fertilizer at¬ 
tachment with which I can drill fertilizer 
in rows either before or after plating po¬ 
tatoes. What quantity should be used? 
South Bend, Ind. h. k. r. 
Our own plan is to plow out the fur¬ 
rows deep and wide, and then drop the 
seed pieces in the bottom of the furrow. 
With a cultivator we work along the side 
throwing about an inch of soil over the 
seed pieces. The fertilizer is then scat¬ 
tered in a wide strip along the furrow— 
not in a narrow band just over the seed 
pieces, but over the entire furrow. After 
this we run the cultivator both ways and 
fill the furrow. The fertilizer should not 
be put directly in contact with the seed, 
and we have found it better to put the 
fertilizer above rather than under. 
What to Do with Straw 
IIow would you handle and make best 
use of straw on a farm where there is no 
manure for next Spring, but two large 
stacks of straw, one of wheat, two years 
old, one of rye from last Fall? IIow and 
when would you use it in a seven-year-old 
orchard that was planted last Fall, 'but 
no cover crop put in? Could it be used 
on land plowed and planted to potatoes, 
tomatoes, corn or peas next Spring? I 
would like to substitute this straw for 
dark color if the exposure continues. 
Along with this color there is developed a 
very strong flavor. Even with bags hung 
over windows it is very difficult to exclude 
the light so completely that no color and 
bad taste will develop. Total darkness, 
coupled with some, though not too much, 
ventilation is the ideal state of storage 
for the potato. Contrary to the usual 
belief, provided the tubers are free from 
rot germs when stored, it is not only 
practicable, but profitable, to store po¬ 
tatoes when air and eveu tubers are more 
or less damp. This greatly reduces the 
loss by shrinkage. Of course, if rot is 
present, the dampness will cause an epi¬ 
demic. For many years I have made a 
practice of often storing tubers which 
were quite damp without losing any from 
rot in cellar, aud with percentage of 
shrinkage so small that I am often dis¬ 
believed about it. DANIEL DEAN. 
Sheep vs. Cultivation in Orchards 
M ill an apple orchard do as well with 
sheep pastured as one which gets cultiva¬ 
tion? I have an orchard in sod which I 
ought to plow around this Spring, but if 
sheep will do the work as well as cultivat¬ 
ing I would rather not plow. This or¬ 
chard does not lack fertility, but the sod 
is getting very thick and dense. I. a. ii. 
Allentown, Pa. 
No, not always. Some orchards are 
“sod-bound"—that is, the grass has been 
there so long that the soil is sour and too 
tough to do well. In such fuses the sod 
should be plowed and broken up, even 
when it is to be reseeded. The sheep eat 
the grass and pack down the soil. Where 
the sod is not too tough and the sheep are 
fed some grain they will help the orchard, 
but the young trees must be protected 
with wire or the sheep will gnaw them. 
There is no way of comparing sheep feed¬ 
ing with cultivation in orchard manage¬ 
ment. The sheep save labor and make 
some wool and meat out of the gruss, but 
in most cases cultivation will give more 
aud better fruit. 
