The 
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Lettuce amt Cucumbers in a Frame. Fig. 351 
A Lima Bean Crop Planted Between Strawberries. Fig. 532 
For C. 
Per C. 
Day 
Alcohol 
Day 
Alcohol 
1 
None 
8 
0.44 
o 
None 
0 
0.61 
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10 
0.90 
4 
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11 
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180 
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0.12 
13 
1.50 
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0.10 
14 
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Cover Crops for Winter Only 
This Spring I planted eight acres to apples with 
peaches in between, and between the trees corn has been 
planted. I should like your advice as to what cover 
crop to plant, and would much prefer such a one as 
could be harrowed in next Spring without the use of 
the plow, as the ground is full of small stones. How 
would cow peas do, and would they keep the ground 
from leaching in the Winter, even though they die in 
the T all ? I should like your advice on this subject. I 
want to keep the orchard under cultivation, but'if poe- 
sible would avoid the use of the plow in the Spring. 
Pennsylvania. -y. g. p, 
T HIS is a new proposition in cover cropping. 
Most of us who seed a crop in the corn want 
something that will make a heavy growth in the 
Spring. A quick growth at that time will add much 
organic matter to the soil, but will always dry out 
the soil and make it warmer. That is why many of 
us use rye as a part of a cover crop, since it makes 
a heavy Spring growth. Rye and vetch or rye and 
Crimson clover seeded together in the corn ought to 
give good results in your latitude. North of where 
you are the Crimson* clover would hardly pay. As 
a crop to make a growth during late Summer and 
die at the first heavy frost either cow* peas or Soy 
beaus would be appropriate. They 
would not. however, make a full growth 
when seeded at the last cultivation of 
the corn. That is too late for them to 
reach their full development. They 
would have but little over six weeks 
in which to grow, while they ought to 
have at least twice that length of time. 
A combination of oats and barley 
seeded with the cow peas at the last 
cultivation would give a heavy growth 
during the Fall. The cow peas would 
be killed at the first heavy frost, but 
the barley and oats would keep on 
growing until the ground froze solid. 
They would be killed during the Win¬ 
ter, and could be chopped under in 
the Spring by a disk or cutaway har¬ 
row. This is not the best use to make 
of a cover crop, but there are condi¬ 
tions wliei’e it is not desirable to have 
a heavy Spring growth. A variety of 
oats grown in the South and known as 
Winter or Turf oats ought to be quite 
satisfactory for this work. Iu the 
South these oats will live through the 
Winter, like Winter wheat or rye. In 
the North they make a heavy Fall 
growth, but mostly die out during the 
Winter. 
Tue Maryland Station finds that best hatches of 
eggs should not be held more than one week. Twelve 
days is about the limit. It is not necessary to turn the 
eggs daily. 
I expect to make cider this Fait Can I sell it when 
it is sweet; or. in other words, how old must it be before 
it is againsjt the law to sell it? w. a. w. 
New York. 
T HE law which lias beeu upheld by the Supreme 
Court clearly states that any liquor containing 
more thau half of one per cent of alcohol is to be 
known as intoxicating, and there is a strict prohi¬ 
bition of the manufacture of intoxicating liquor. 
No one seems to have worked out fully a rule gov¬ 
erning the production of cider. We have written 
to Washington and asked for a ruling which will 
cover the points raised by apple growers. As soon 
as this can bo obtained it will be printed, as an 
official statement. At present no one seems to he 
sure just what would happen in case ordinary cider 
is put on the market. Last year Dr. F. D. Crane 
made an interesting experiment to find out how 
rapidly ordinary cider develops alcohol. He took 
average specimens of cider and kept it in a cellar 
which ran from 40 to 50 degrees. Daily samples 
were taken and analyzed for alcohol. The table 
below shows the results. 
The perfectly sweet cider contains no alcohol 
whatever, and for three days there was 
nothing more than a trace of it. On 
the ninth day the cider passed the 
legal amount of one-half of one per 
cent and rapidly developed alcohol 
thereafter. The conditions under which 
this cider was made and handled were 
no doubt superior to the methods gen¬ 
erally employed, and it is safe to say 
that cider of the average quality would 
be close to the legal limit at the end 
of one week's exposure. If the fresh 
cider were taken right from the press, 
and put into bottles thoroughly sealed, 
it would slowly develop alcohol. Just 
how much would be developed aud how 
rapidly the change would he made no 
one seems to know yet. but the chances 
are that this bottle cider right from the 
press would after a time develop 
enough alcohol to class it as an intoxi- 
the change. There are several reasons for this 
change. First, the stem has been cut so but one 
fruit sets where wo ordinarily have two or three. 
Thus we expect the one to be larger, as it has the 
nourishment ordinarily given to two or three fruits. 
Next, the plants are given better care, sometimes 
unconsciously, for when we experiment we naturally 
keep weeds away and cultivate thoroughly, thus 
giving our experimental plant an added advantage. 
The plant probably takes up water at this period 
through the cut end of the stem, and as there is just 
as much water in skim-milk as in whole milk there 
is no reason why the same result could not be 
obtained. Stems take up water as shown iu a simple 
experiment we use in school. A tomato stem is cut 
and allowed to wilt. A jar is filled with water and 
the tomato stem placed in it. Then the stem is cut 
below* the surface of the water, aud it begins to 
revive immediately, showing water enters the stem 
rapidly. 
These vine crops are long-season vegetables, and 
should be started very early for best results. At 
first plenty of nitrogenous food, such as barnyard 
manure, should he furnished to insure a rapid 
growth. As the fruit begins to set this should be 
stopped, as too much nitrogen in the later stages 
causes vine growth instead of fruit development. 
When growing vegetables for show purposes we used 
to keep a barrel of manure water at baud and give 
the plants a liberal application twice weekly. In 
this way large fruits of excellent quality were pro¬ 
duced. The mixture was prepared by placing a two- 
bushel sack of well-rotted cow manure in a barrel 
of water and allowing it to remain two or three days 
before using. The same results can be obtained by 
dissolving nitrate of soda in water and soaking the 
ground around the plants. Care should he taken not 
to sprinkle the leaves, as the solution will burn. 
Applications should not be made in the dry state, 
as the roots are often burned, especially in dry 
weather. These are probably better methods of 
growing show specimens than ••skim-milk'’ mix¬ 
tures ofteu referred to iu stories about big squashes. 
T. H. TOWNSEND. 
The Fruit From Line Trees 
W E begin to have mauy questions 
about the ownership of a tree 
growing on or near the line between 
the farms or gardens. We have an¬ 
swered the question mauy times before, 
but doubtless this new crop is from 
new subscribers. The tree is a part of 
the real estate, and belongs to the 
owner of the land from whieh it starts. 
The fruit goes with the tree, as a part 
of it. Even where the branches grow 
over the line and shade auother man's 
property, the latter has no right “to the 
fruit which haugs over his land. On 
the other hand, the owner of the tree has no right 
to go on the adjoining land to pick the fruit. He is 
liable for trespass if he does this without permission. 
He may climb into the tree and reach over for the 
fruit, but he has no legal right to o ou the 
other land. If the owner of adjoining land can 
prove that the branches of the tree shade or 
otherwise injure his property, he may protect him¬ 
self by cutting off the limbs up to bis line, but he 
must not do it in such a way as to injure the tree 
seriously. Our advice in such a case is to notify the 
owner of the tree in writing that it is causing 
damage, and ask him to agree to trim it fairly. He 
will usually do it, and thus avoid a quarrel. We 
think a neighborhood quarrel is as much to be 
avoided as a contagious disease! 
catiug drink. Under our present laws 
a farmer would take considerable 
chances in putting this raw cider into 
bottles and holding it one mouth or 
more. The safe way to handle this 
product is to pasteurize the cider and 
bottle it while hot. Such cider will 
keep sweet indefinitely. As we know 
from observation, it will rarely, if ever, 
develop alcohol. We think there will 
be a large demand in the future for 
this pasteurized apple juice, and this 
method of handling the product seems 
to be the best outlook at present for 
the cider manufacturer. A practical 
machine at reasonable price has now 
beeu devised for treating the apple 
juice, and we think it likely that the 
future will see such a demand for this 
product that there will be a greater profit than ever 
in the handling of culls and small-sized fruit 
Raising Pumpkins on Milk 
Will you tell me whether I can make Hubbard 
squashes grow by feeding them milk? Will they do it 
u skim-milk V llow much will it take, when should I 
begin and.how long continue the operation? I want to 
try the milk on one to see the results. The fourth leaf 
is just coming along well now. A. M. P. 
Connecticut. 
B OTH squash and pumpkins are said to increase 
in size by feeding them milk. The method 
pursued is as follows: After a fruit is set the grow¬ 
ing eud is cut off and the end of the stem dipped in 
milk. The fruit certainly increases in size, according 
to experiments tried, but is coarse and unfit for food, 
and I doubt very much if the milk is the cause of 
the increase, as certain other factors are present. A 
squash oau be made to increase in size by using 
exactly the same method and substituting water, and 
as milk is S7 per cent water this if anything makes 
