1186 
ffe RURAL NEW.YORKER 
Garden Notes From New England 
Cloth-covered Sashes.- —I have had 
excellent success with the cloth-covered 
sashes used on my cold frames, and doubt 
if I shall buy any more glass, at least 
while present prices prevail. I expect to 
use the cold frames right through the 
Summer, for I find them the best places 
for growing certain vegetables, especially 
lettuce, even in midsummer. All kinds 
of lettuce, including the cos varieties, 
seem to thrive especially well in a frame, 
probably because the boards break the 
hot winds and also because it can be 
watered readily. 
Insect Pests. —It is to be hoped that 
with all the garden planting being done 
adequate measures will be taken to pro¬ 
tect the growing vegetables from insect 
} )ests. In the past there has been a big 
oss, because no matter how enthusiastic 
amateurs are in the Spring, they often 
lose their interest when they have to fight 
potato bugs, striped beetles and cut¬ 
worms. Cutworms are among the most 
aggravating of all garden pests, because 
of their nefarious habit of working at 
night. They don’t bother me much in 
the matter of started plants which I set 
out. because these plants are in paper 
pots and are planted pots and all, the 
sides serving as a protection until the 
paper rots away, by which time the plants 
are too old to suit the taste of the worms. 
Another plan which can be followed when 
buying plants is to wrap the stems in 
paper. Still another scheme, and one 
which can be used to advantage in a large 
garden, is to get together a number of 
old gunnysacks and place them over the 
plants where the cutworms have begun 
to work. The next morning many of the 
worms will be found on top of the ground 
under these sacks, and can readily be 
destroyed. This is similar to the com¬ 
mon practice of trapping the squash bugs, 
tend works equally well. 
Spraying and Dusting. —• When it 
comes to fighting potato bugs I person¬ 
ally prefer dry sprays. I can put on a 
combination or arsenate of lead and Bor¬ 
deaux mixture in powder form very read¬ 
ily with a dusting gun, and with less 
labor than when liquid sprays are used. 
If one doesn’t happen to have dusting 
gun. a cheesecloth bag will make a fair 
substitute. Where there is a large plant¬ 
ing of potatoes, an effective metfiod is to 
use a flour sack which you can carry in 
one hand while you beat it with a stick 
held in the other as you walk along the 
rows. In any event, the plan of using 
a watering can for spraying potatoes with 
Bordeaux mixture is to be discouraged. 
Poisons, and more especially fungicides 
of all kinds, should be applied in spray 
form, if liquids are used, and you can’t 
get much of a spray with a watering can. 
Many kinds of spray pumps are on the 
market, but I think none is better than 
the common knapsack spray, by means 
of which all the garden crops, as well as 
the berry bushes and the smaller trees, 
can be reached. After all, though, the 
plan of using dry sprays commends itself 
to every garden-maker who has but little 
time at his disposal. They can be used 
for every pest or plant disease which 
liquid sprays will reach, except aphides. 
The one effective way to deal with these 
pests is to use a material which closes 
the pores and smothers them to death. 
Kerosene emulsion will answer the pur¬ 
pose, but the most common rem.edy now 
is some form of nicotine. Truth to tell, 
though, on some occasions when plant 
lice have been very thick on potatoes, 
the kerosense emulsion has seemed to 
work rather better than the tobacco solu¬ 
tion. 
somest variety of all is Pallida Dalmatica. 
Another Iris which is not quite so well 
known, but which blooms only a little 
later and is remarkably handsome, is the 
Siberian Iris. I consider it one of the 
finest plants in my garden, and as it keeps 
on spreading it makes an increasingly 
beautiful display each Spring. These 
Irises are especially fine for cutting, and 
not at all hard to establish. 
Farmers’ Markets. —Most of the 
farmers’ markets which were started in 
various cities throughout New England 
during the war have been abandoned. A 
few, however, have made such a success 
that they seem to have become permanent. 
One of these is in Quincy, Mass., near my 
home. This year the city is putting up 
a long, covered shelter for the protection 
of the farmers. Men who grow fruit and 
vegetables commercially, yet in a com¬ 
paratively email way, find this market of 
great value, and can make more money 
through its agency than by hauling their 
stuff to Boston. 
Roadside Selling. —Apparently road¬ 
side selling as an individual matter is 
just as high in favor as ever, although 
various practices in some places, like buy¬ 
ing from city markets when the home 
crops have been exhausted, have aroused 
some criticism. In a number of instances 
farmers are finding that it doesn’t pay to 
have a member of the family constantly 
in charge of the stand, and so are putting 
up signs which must appeal to passing 
motorists, and may lead them to come to 
the door for the goods advertised. One 
of the most elaborate of these signs is on 
the road to the south shore below Iligham. 
A large frame has boon erected, and serves 
to hold narrow boards advertising the 
day’s offerings. These boards are easily 
slipped into grooves providod for them, 
all too often the use of poison is taken 
as a matter of course, no questions being 
asked. And even if the right remedy is 
employed some gardeners seem to think 
that it is a waste of money to buy a spray 
pump, and so put it on with a whisk 
broom. All this means the loss of time 
and labor, as well as that of crops. The 
best ammunition for fighting plant lice 
is a tobacco concoction, and the simplest 
way to obtain it is to buy a email bottle 
of nicotine solution from the seed store. 
However, if one needs to use a consider¬ 
able quantity, he can make a solution at 
home by buying a pound of tobacco dust 
at a seed store and boiling if for an hour 
in a gallon of water. The mixture should 
then be strained to remove dirt, and 
enough water added to make two gallons 
of spray for each pound of tobacco used. 
It helps to put in a little soap, so that the 
liquid will spread better and not run off 
the plants. 
E. I. FARRINGTON. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Dealings in 
alleged worthless oil stocks resulted June 
24 in the indictment by a Federal grand 
jury of four oil companies, eight broker¬ 
age firms and 51 individuals, the latter 
being either officers or salesmen of the 
indicted concerns. The indictment, handed 
up to Federal Judge Grubb, cover alleged 
fake deals which may involve millions of 
dollars. All the defendants are charged 
with using the mails to defraud. Several 
more were indicted here June 2S. 
Charging that the Industrial Workers 
of the World organization advocates acts 
of violation of the Kansas anti-syndical¬ 
ism law, an injunction suit was filed June 
24 in the district court at Eldorado, ask¬ 
ing that the I. W. W. be permanently en¬ 
joined in Kansas. A temporary writ was 
granted. The suit was filed by Attorney 
General Hopkins against the general offi- 
8 el liny Form Produce by the Roadside 
Saltpetre for Garbage Worms.—I 
recently came across what to me was a 
new plan for destroying cabbage worms. 
It was the use of saltpetre (potassium 
nitrate 1 at the rate of one teaspoonful co 
six quarts of warm water. A fine spray 
of this solution will kill all the worms, 
and is said to have a stimulating effect 
upon the plants themselves. Commercial 
market gardeners use arsenate of lead, 
as a matter of course, especially for young 
f dants, but many private gardeners dis- 
ike to use a virulent poison _ like_ this, 
considering it unsafe, although in point of 
fact there is little danger because the 
cabbage grows from the inside^ojjjt, and 
the poison is not retained. 
Perennial Plants. —There are three 
perennial plants which ought to have a 
place in every farmhouse flower garden. 
They are the peony, the Iris and the 
Phlox. Of course, the old-fashioned 
“piney” was pretty well established, in 
gardens everywhere, but farmers’ wives 
ought to be acquainted with some of the 
newer sorts, which are really much hand¬ 
somer. and by means of which it is pos¬ 
sible to prolong the flowering seaso \ 
greatly. Phlox is among the easiest pei 
ennials to grow, and keeps the garden 
full of flowers for a long time. One of 
the best varieties is Miss Lingard, which 
is one of the first to flower, as well as one 
of the handsomest. After all, though, the 
German Iris is the most tractable of the 
worth-while perennials. It will grow in 
hot, sunny places where few other plants 
will thrive, and multiplies so rapidly that 
a large stock can be accumulated by 
starting only a few plants. There isn’t any 
special reason for calling it the German 
Iris, and some growers are trying to sub¬ 
stitute Liberty Iris, but the Iris Society 
itself prefers to have the plant called 
simply fleur-de-lis. Probably the hand¬ 
and are changed as may be required. The 
sign is surmounted by a rooster weather- 
vane, which always attracts attention, 
and no doubt helps to bring trade. The 
one drawback to T-oadside selling is the 
fact that the largest number of customers 
often come on Sunday. This means that 
the Sabbath, instead of being a day of 
rest, is a day of greater activity than 
usual, and I am sure it doesn’t tend to 
the moral welfare of any family, and 
especially that in which there arc young 
children, to have Sunday devoted wholly 
to mercenary interests. 
Home Garden Berries. —Speaking of 
strawberries, I am glad to say that while 
the berries have been late, they are prov¬ 
ing of very good quality this season. 
Among the various kinds which I am 
trying out in my garden the new St. 
Martin is especially promising. The 
plants are exceedingly strong growing 
and carry the fruit well up off the ground. 
The berries themselves are remarkably 
large, sweet and well flavored. I haven’t 
had the plants long enough to know just 
how productive they are going to prove, 
but I think they will bear as well as any 
kind I have. 
The Rhode Island Box.—I n spite of 
the fact that the Legislature declined to 
make the eo-called Rhode Island box the 
legal box of the State, it is generally 
being adopted, and probably will soon 
drive out the over-sized Boston box. 
Many fruit growers will use it this year, 
and the Market Gardeners’ Association 
have voted in favor of it. 
Controlling Plant Lice. —It seems 
strange that many amateur gardeners and 
even farmers are ignorant as yet about 
the way to deal with these pests. Cor¬ 
respondents ask me if they can be killed 
with arsenate of lead or Paris green, and 
cere of the I. W. W. and Henry Bradley, 
of Eldorado, “general manager of the I. 
W. W. executive board in Kansas.” The 
petition charges members are distributed 
throughout the harvest and oil fields of 
Kansas, and that the purpose of the or¬ 
ganization is to “teach and spread the 
doctrines and theories of violence, crimi¬ 
nal syndicalism and sabotage.” 
Calling attention to the discovery of 
bubonic plague in Several American and 
Mexican Gulf ports and renewing his 
warning regarding the introduction of the 
plague from Mediterranean ports which 
are known to be infected, Surgeon Gen¬ 
eral Hugh S. Cumming June 25 urged 
communities throughout the country, and 
especially along the coast, to inaugurate 
rat extermination campaigns. 
Ten persons were killed and nine in¬ 
jured probably mortally when a truck 
carrying a load of picnickers was struck 
by a passenger train June 27 at Ilunting- 
burg. Ind. The truck, which was carry¬ 
ing 21 persons to an outing being held by 
the local lodge of the Woodmen of the 
World, stalled on the tracks and was 
struck by the train, which was traveling 
at a high rate of speed. 
One man was killed and nine others 
injured, three so seriously thau they may 
die, in a 30-minute riot of striking steve¬ 
dores and strikebreakers at Philadelphia 
June 27. The dead man was an innocent 
bystander. The riot started when 00 
strikebreakers were met by a mob of 200 
strikers who began to throw bricks. There 
were no police in the neighborhood. 
Cut off from escape, Mrs. James Car¬ 
lin and her six children met death in a 
fire at Elwood City, Pa., June 27. 
The proposed amendment to the .State 
Constitution giving to women the right 
July 10, 1920 
Senate. The vote was 10 to 15. 
John Bulna, 70 years old, a watchman, 
was burned to death June 29 when fire 
swept through the five-story loft, building 
at Blake Avenue and Osborn Street, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. The police suspect the 
blaze to have been of incendiary origin. 
Damage to the building was estimated at 
$ 00 , 000 . 
Nine, indictments charging eight per¬ 
sons with conspiracy in connection with 
the flights and lawbreakings of Grover 
Bergdoll and Erwin It. Bergdoll were 
.returned June 20 at Philadelphia by the 
special Federal Grand Jury called to in¬ 
vestigate the entire draft dodging record 
of the Bergdoll family. Four of the de¬ 
fendants are under $10,000 bail each for 
appearance before the September term of 
the United States District Court. The 
four others, including the slacker broth¬ 
ers. are fugitives from justice. Those in¬ 
dicted are Mrs. Emma C. Bergdoll 
mother of the slackers; Charles A. Braun’ 
brother of the slackers, who changed his 
name during the war; James E. Romig 
close personal friend of the Bergdolls; 
Albert S. Mitchell, an automobile acces¬ 
sories dealer; “Eugene Ike” Stocker, em¬ 
ployee. of the Bergdolls, who fled with 
Grover when he escaped from the Bergdoll 
castle on May 21; Harry Schuh. who is 
charged with being Erwin’s companion in 
flight, and the two slackers themselves. 
Arrest of three employees of the Bureau 
of War Risk Insurance on a charge of 
conspiracy to defraud former service men 
of compensation resulting from disability 
was announced at Washington June °j) 
by Secretary of the Treasury Houston. 
I he names of those arrested were not 
made public. The three employees were 
said to have advised service men on pre¬ 
sentation of their claims that they were 
entitled to only $200 or $300 compensa- 
tmn. and later to have agreed to obtain 
additional compensation on promise to' 
divide the increased amount 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The fifth 
annual Summer meeting of the New York- 
State Potato Association is to be held on 
Friday and Saturday, August 6 and 7, 
with the Cortland County Seed Growers’ 
Association as host. Friday will be given 
over to an automobile tour of inspection 
of many of the seed fields and demonstra- 
tion potato plots on the farms of growers 
about Cortland and Marathon. Experts 
and growers from New York. New .Ter- 
sey. Long Island, Vermont, Canada and 
elsewhere will be in attendance and may 
be heard both in the field and on the pro¬ 
gram. The Cortland Chamber of Com¬ 
merce, the Cortland County Farm and 
Home Bureau Associations, the Cortland 
County Seed Growers’ Association and 
the Acw York State Potato Association 
are all co-operating to make this the 
biggest potato field day ever held in New 
York. For details and copies of pro¬ 
gram inquire of the Secretary, New York 
State Potato Association, Ithaca. N. Y T . 
Two record prices were paid for ani¬ 
mals at. the auction sale in connection 
with the fifth annual convention and 
show of the Sheep and Goat Raisers’ As¬ 
sociation of Texas at San Angelo June 
M. Halbert of San Angelo paid 
$1. t ;>0 to William Rodel & Sons of Mon¬ 
mouth, Ore., for a two-year-old Angora 
buck goat. Mont Nclke of San Angelo 
paid $600 to W r . S. Hansen of Collinston, 
Utah, for a registered yearling Ram- 
bouillet ram. 
W esley Sheldon, a 14-year-old boy of 
Ashburnham, was announced June 25 as 
the winner of the Worcester County, 
Mass., Farm Bureau bread-making con¬ 
tact, in which scores of girls competed 
from every c-ity and town in the county. 
During a period of three months he made 
58 loaves in 10 bakings, performed 76 
hours of housework and used 4S hours in 
doing errands for his mother. 
Seager Wheeler, “wheat wizard of 
Canada.” has had conferred upon him the 
honorary degree of doctor of laws by 
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont. Mr. 
Wheeler has won five international cham¬ 
pionships with his wheat and many lesser 
honors, and holds the world’s record of 
wheat production with 82 bushels to the 
acre. Though his improved varieties of 
wheat have made millions of dollars for 
Canadian farmers, he has remained in 
moderate circumstances. Ilis farm near 
Rosthern, Sask., on the Canadian National 
Railway, consists of only 160 acres. 
The Vegetable Growers’ Association of 
America will hold its twelfth annual con¬ 
vention at Columbus, O., August 25 to 
28 inclusive. This organization is made 
up of some of the most progressive gar¬ 
deners in the United States and Canada. 
A good program has been arranged, which 
will include side trips and entertainment. 
There will also he a trade exhibit held in 
connection with the meeting. Both will 
be held in the Horticultural Building of 
the Ohio State University; headquarters 
will be at the Southern Hotel. Anyone 
wishing to reserve rooms in a private 
home should write Prof. L. M. Mont¬ 
gomery, Ohio State University, Columbus, 
0., and those wishing to receive a copy 
of the program should write Samuel W. 
Severance, secretary, Louisville, Ky., 
care of the Market Growers’ Journal. 
Those interested in making a trade ex¬ 
hibit should write C. W. Waid, East Lan¬ 
sing, Mich. 
“You must give up coffee and-” “I 
never drink coffee, doctor.” “And stop 
smoking.” “I don’t smoke.” “Humph! 
that’s bad. If you haven’t anything to 
give up I’m afraid I can’t do much for 
you.”—Boston Transcript. 
