482 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 6, 1020 
At this time last year we could haul 
manure, spray, and were even considering 
a job of plowing in some old sod. This 
year there is a sandwich of ice and enow 
18 inches thick all over the country. One 
layer of thick ice spreads over the ground, 
then comes a thick belt of frozen snow, 
packed down hard, and then another layer 
of ice on top. The other day the weather 
report indicated “rain or snow,” and we 
were all hoping for rain. But it turned 
out to be snow, and now we have a new 
6mear of butter on the sandwich—about 
four inches of sticky, damp snow. The 
children have no fault to find. They ran 
out and gathered up great bowls of the 
flaky whiteness and made “snow ice 
cream.” As everyone probably knows, 
this is made out of clean snow with a 
little powdered sugar and milk and cream 
poured over it. It is certainly cold, and 
out in the country there arc few germs 
in snow! Our little folks are all eating 
it—except Rose. She has a light case 
of the measles and lies on her little bed 
listening to the others and imagining how 
good the snow ice cream must be. As 
for the grown-ups, with snow piled high 
all about us. the pipe from the spring 
frozen, no wind to work the windmill and 
the water tank empty—but say, if I keep 
on vou will think Hope Farm is losing 
part of its name, and that would be a 
self-inflicted slanderous blow ! 
There is great report of damage done 
by mice and rabbits this Winter. The 
deep snow drives this vermin to the trees. 
I have not been able to get to our back 
orchards for two months, and do not 
know what these l’ascals have been up 
to. I imagine we shall find a number of 
trees ruined. Probably the best “remedy” 
for rabbits is to cut off a number of twigs 
or limbs and leave them on the ground 
under the trees. The rabbits seem to 
prefer the younger and upper wood and 
will rarely touch the. tree trunk when 
they can get at the twigs. Many readers 
report young peach trees gnawed all 
around at the snow line—which means 
IS to 25 inches above ground. It is 
doubtful if such trees can ever be bridge 
grafted successfully. I should cut them 
back below the wound and try to start 
out a new bud. being careful to see that 
it did not come up from the root. Of 
course if there is a strip of bark left 
connecting the lower with the upper part 
of the trunk the tree may be saved by 
covering the wounds with lead and oil 
paint or grafting wax. In spite of all 
that is said about it, “bridge-grafting” 
or making a scion from the clean wood 
below the wound, up into the wood above 
it. is a job for the expert and not for 
the amateur. 
j«j jJ. ;«j «*• 
Every stroke or lick of work will count 
this year, and whatever seeds we put into 
the ground must have the best chance. I 
never knew the time when so many small 
farmers expected to seed oats and Canada 
peas. Many of them are short of fodder, 
and most of them have decided to culti¬ 
vate fewer acres. Thus, they will seed 
down some acres which in former years 
produced cultivated crops. That is what 
I shall do this year—giving most of our 
time to the orchards and. growing oats 
and peas, barley or millet instead of so 
much sweet corn and tomatoes. The oats 
and peas must haA e a fair showing—not 
only good soil and plenty of plant food, 
but* a clean bill of health and “spirit.” 
Many a crop of oats loses 30 per cent or 
more* of its value through oat smut. The 
plants may grow big enough up to the 
heading, and you think you are to have 
a master crop. Then you take some 
friend out to show them off, and he finds 
the heads turning black. He rubs his 
stick over the tops of the plants and 
something like a black smoke starts up. 
It is smut, and it will take at least one- 
third of your crop. Now in a season like 
this no man has any business to let smut 
or scab or blight steal any part of a crop 
if it can be prevented. The trusts and 
the middlemen may do that and “get away 
with it,” but we can stop this smut 
nuisance. 
sje * * * * 
We have done it effectively by “treat¬ 
ing” or doctoring the seed. The germs 
of this smut disease are on. the seed oats. 
The point is to put something on the seed 
wkiqji will kill the germs, yet not injure 
the seed. Of course this is a very old 
story to many of our readers, but the 
great majority still lose out to this smut. 
We use formalin with good success. . We 
may say that formalin is formic acid in 
solution. The seed oats may be spread 
out over the barn floor. Then we use 
one pint of the formalin to 60 gallons of 
water—or in that proportion—and 
sprinkle the liquid over the oats until 
they are quite moist. Then shovel them 
into a pile, cover with a blanket and let 
them lie three or four hours. The fumes 
or gas of the formalin work all through 
the oats and destroy, the smut germs. 
That is called the wet method. The dry 
method consists in spraying the formalin, 
just as you buy it, over the oats. One 
man shovels the oats over, while another, 
using a small sprayer with a fine nozzle, 
sprays on the chemical. Then the oats 
are shoveled into a heap and covered with 
the blanket for four hours. There is no 
use talking—this does kill most of the 
smut germs. I think the wet method 
safer, though it takes more time. It will 
pay to do this, just as it pays to take 
care of the baby’s eyes and ears or teeth 
and throat while it is small. The .grown¬ 
up oat plant or the grown-up child will 
have a far better chance in life. 
$ * s$e * $ 
But you talk about putting “ spirit ” 
into the crop. What do you mean by 
that? 
I mean that the Canada peas depend 
for at least part of their growth on the 
tiny bacteria which live or work on their 
roots. Unless these bacteria are present 
the peas cannot well make their best 
growth, unless it may be that the soil has 
been made so rich that there is no profit 
in the crop. I call it “spirit” because 
in a way a comparison may be made with 
the work of a human life. We often see 
men gifted with great natural powers and 
surrounded by great opportunities, yet 
they accomplish but little because they 
lack ambition or moral determination. 
Some day this “spirit” or power of vision 
comes to them and their life results are 
doubled—though no chemist can analyze 
or tell us just what this invisible power 
may be. It is simply something which 
gets down to the very roots of the man’s 
life and attracts forces which he could 
not use otherwise. 
But what has all that got to do with 
Canada peas? 
Perhaps my illustration is not. perfect, 
yet it seems to me that these tiny bac¬ 
teria. working on the roots of these pod¬ 
bearing plants, bring in their way the 
“spirit” of plant life somewhat as ambi¬ 
tion or moral power may bring greater 
results to mankind. I think we have all 
seen such plants as clover. Alfalfa, peas 
or beans making only a moderate growth, 
even when the soil is good or even rich. 
In most cases such crops do not need 
more plant food, but they do need these 
bacteria at their roots—or what they call 
the “spirit” of the crop. 
Do you really believe that? 
I do. I have seen enough of such work 
to feel sure of it. The big developments 
of soil culture and fertilizing in the future 
are to be along the line of bacterial ac¬ 
tion. There was a time when the man 
who offered to sell yeast in commercial 
yeast cakes would have been laughed at— 
if not imprisoned. For many years farm 
women knew how to take a small quantity 
of sour milk or buttermilk and put it into 
the new churning as a “starter.” When 
I was a boy we took the “mother” from 
one barrel of vinegar and put it into the 
cider to start up vinegar making. There 
were dozens of other ways of utilizing 
what I call the “spirit” of inanimate life 
by transferring some substance which we 
had come to recognize, from one thing to 
another. The scientists have gone deeper 
in their study than we ever could, so that 
we may now carry in a spoonful what 
we formerly needed a gallon for. You 
may carry a wagon load of soil cut out of 
an old Alfalfa field, scatter it over an 
acre and get better results from the seed¬ 
ing. The. chemist can give you the same 
breed of germs in a small bottle, and by 
putting them on the seed you add what 
I call “spirit” to the crop. I would 
therefore kill the smut on the oats and 
add “spirit” to the Canada peas. by 
“inoculating” the seed before planting. 
Conditions are such this year that we 
must make every plant work to its limit. 
Do you still use sulphur on potato seed 
pieces? 
We do, and we think it pay6. Our 
plan is to put a sack or paper on the 
floor—a peach basket on that—and cut 
the seed into the basket. Three or four 
times while cutting we scatter a handful 
of powdered sulphur over the cut pieces 
and shake it well down. The sulphur 
which sifts through the basket can be 
used again. This plan might not answer 
where there is a large acreage to cut for. 
I know some people who put the sulphur 
into the seed hopper of the potato 
planter. 
What good does it do? 
I think it helps check the spread of the 
scab disease. On another page you will 
find the usual remedies for scab. I also 
think the sulphur protects the seed piece, 
prevents its drying out too fast, and pre¬ 
serves it from rotting during wet weather. 
It also helps prevent the spread of scab 
germs in the soil. It also seems to me 
that the sulphur in some way is taken 
up by the plant—enough of it at least to 
help prevent blight and rot. I cannot 
prove this, but from observing some ex¬ 
periments with sulphur and land plaster 
that is what we conclude. 
Do the scientific men agree.with this? 
I do not think so. It is my conviction, 
however, that in the future we are to 
learn many new things about plant, dis¬ 
eases and bacterial life. Thus far. I 
think, most scientific men rather scoff at 
the idea that we may feed certain sub¬ 
stances to the plant or tree and so affect 
the sap that it may influence a disease 
like blight or rust or rot! It has been 
necessary to take that position in order 
to head off some of the “tree dopers” and 
fakers who play on the credulity of so 
many humans. I have no right to put 
my belief or conviction against the work 
of scientific investigators, but 1 think we 
shall find in the future that sulphur and 
some other substances will act like medi¬ 
cine to the plant. I also think we shall 
find use for lime, barium and other sub¬ 
stances not so much as plant food as in 
stimulating the bacterial life in the soil. 
The things which these younger people 
are to see in relation to soil culture and 
crop development are almost beyond 
imagination. 
What tool or implement is in your 
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