The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1432 
a unit, should be planted the usual distance apart 
and separated by stakes or by a double space before 
the next unit is planted. Two inspections should be 
made during the season, one at blossoming time and 
one just prior to harvesting, to eliminate varietal 
mixtures or undesirable types. Especial attention 
should he given to the elimination of plants affected 
with mosaic or leaf roll, since these diseases will 
reduce the yield 50 per cent or more, and their pres¬ 
ence cannot be detected in the tuber after it is dug. 
CONTINUED CARE.—The care given the rest 
of the field should be used on these units at harvest¬ 
ing time. Each unit, consisting of four plants, should 
be carefully weighed and inspected for disease. Ten 
of the high-yielding, clean tubers from each unit 
should then be put. in separate labeled containers and 
stored for planting the following year. In the sec¬ 
ond year the method of cutting is the same, with the 
exception that there will be 40 hills to each unit 
instead of the original four. The system of inspec¬ 
tion of the field and after digging should again be 
followed, and those that are most productive and 
nearest the desired type saved for planting the third 
year. There will now be a large quantity of seed 
that is free from disease and of high productiveness 
available for use in the commercial crop. After 
these potatoes are carefully “rogued” each year, the 
freedom from disease and their high productiveness 
may be maintained without further tuber unit work, 
but if the grower has the opportunity for further 
selection by units, it will be found profitable. More¬ 
over. after the grower has carefully followed this 
work for two years he learns so much regarding the 
variation and productiveness of seed strains and 
types that he is more than willing to continue the 
work until the maximum results are obtained. The 
illustrations, Figs. 448, 440, 450 and 451, on preceding 
page, show the wonderfully varying results secured 
from individual tubers, and bring forcibly to our 
attention the hidden characteristics 
which made one family of potatoes far 
more desirable and worthy of propa¬ 
gation than another. When we recall 
that these increased yields are secured 
by a close study of the individual tuber, 
we realize that there is an active force 
of nature which may be brought to bear 
upon the crop without additional ex¬ 
pense in the way of fertilizer, cultural 
methods or other operations attending 
potato production. w. b. duryee. 
A Rectangular Water Tank 
I wish to build a rectangular water- 
tank of boards. How can I make 
watertight? E. A. w. 
Newark, N. J. 
NLESS the tank is to be a very 
small one no attempt should be 
made to construct it of boards; pine or cypress 
planks, approximately two inches in thickness, is the 
lightest material that should be used. In general 
it might be said that a rectangular tank is one of 
the most unsatisfactory shapes. Its only virtues'are 
the ease of building and the opportunity presented 
of making it fit in a given space, as where placed 
within a building the space available is usually rec¬ 
tangular in shape. 
Water, by reason of its -weight—about 62% pounds 
per cubic* foot, or 8]/ 3 pounds per gallon—exerts a 
considerable pressure, which in a rectangular tank 
tends to cause distortion and consequent leaking. 
There is a tendency for the sides to spring outward 
in the form of a circle, necessitating the use of a 
substantial framework fitted with rods to hold the 
tank in shape, and to prevent leaking. The bottom 
of the tank is affected in the same way, and it must 
be remembered, when placing a tank to see that the 
bottom has good support, otherwise leaking is almost 
sure to follow. The foundation must be strong 
enough to carry the great weight of the water. 
While construction would vary with the size and 
shape of the tank the cut, Fig. 452, shows a method 
of building that is suitable for a tank 8%x4x4 feet 
inside measurements. Such a tank will bold approx¬ 
imately 1,000 gallons. The sides and bottom are 
grooved at the ends to receive the ends of the tank 
as indicated, the meeting surfaces as well as all 
other seams being thickly smeared with roofing 
cement, white lead or similar material before as¬ 
sembling. 
In the cut A A represents straps of iron about 
%xl% to 2 inches in cross section. One-half inch 
rods, as BB, are passed through holes drilled in 
these iron straps, and are used to pull and hold the 
tank together. Pieces of wood, as shown at CC, can 
be used for this purpose if desired, but the iron strap 
is not, so cumbersome and requires no washers. The 
vertical iron rods puss through an iron plate at the 
top and a sill-piece of wood at the bottom. I his is 
necessary to ^ give the bottom support and stiffness, 
and the heads of the rods should he countersunk in 
this to permit the tank to sit. flat, upon its support. 
To prevent the sides from bulging outward under 
the water pressure stiffening pieces, as at CC, with 
%-inch rods running through as shown are used, 
tying the two sides together. The rod at the bot¬ 
tom of these pieces can either be put across just 
below the bottom, just above the bottom, or can pass 
directly through it from side to side. The last men¬ 
tioned method is perhaps the best. The hole for the 
rod can easily be moved with an ordinary bit by 
first placing the planks in the position that they are 
to occupy, and squaring the line across them where 
the rod is to go. Then by squaring down from this 
line across (be edges of each plank, and after cen¬ 
tering. boring in from each edge until the holes 
meet, a straight hole through the entire width of the 
bottom is assured, and it will not require the use of 
a long bit. It is scarcely necessary to add that all 
edges in both the bottom and sides should be care¬ 
fully trued up and treated with roofing cement or 
white lead before assembling. Iu a similar manner 
rods may be put down through the ends, as at DD, 
to hold these joints tight. 
To make a really first-class job the tank should 
be lined with galvanized iron. If it is desired to do 
■this it can be accomplished by tacking the sheets in 
position with edges overlapping, with three-penny 
nails, placing a nail from every 2 to 2% inches along 
the joint After being nailed in place the seams and 
nail heads are soldered over, making a watertight 
and rustproof joiut. Where this scheme is used it. is 
better to have no rods passing through the interior 
of the tank, consequently the stiffening pieces should 
be extended above the top of the tank, and the tie 
rods reach across the tank just above the upper 
edge. It should at least be above the upper water 
level. Where a galvanized lining is used it is per¬ 
missible to use a much cheaper grade of material in 
the wood shell, as all that is required is strength, 
making it unnecessary, also, to use the care in con¬ 
struction required were the wood shell to be made 
watertight. 
Many small galvanized tanks are on the market 
which, because of their corrugated or folded con¬ 
struction. have the necessary rigidity without the 
heavy wood jacket, and they are usually more sat¬ 
isfactory than a tank of wood, as their shape is a 
help ia preventing injury from freezing. If but a 
small tank is desired it. would be well to investigate 
these before constructing one. kobert h. smith. 
The Federal Trade Commission and 
Seedsmen 
EFERKNCE was recently made to the A. A. 
Berry Seed Company, and an order issued by 
the Federal Trade Commission against them. A 
copy of this order has been received, and it would 
make interesting reading for our people, as well as 
for some of the seedsmen. It seems that a complaint 
was made to the Trade Commission about this Berry 
Seed Company. In such cases the commission files 
the charges and the parties complained about are 
expected to make answer. Both complaint and 
answer, with all evidence submitted, are put on file 
and gone thoroughly over by the commission. In 
this case it was charged that Berry & Company were 
not truthful in their advertising or in the description 
of their seeds, and that the seeds they sold did not 
come up to the description printed about them. The 
seed company was represented by lawyers, and 
apparently had every chance to defend itself. As 
the result of this the Federal Trade Commission 
issues a long document covering 20 points in which 
they show that the Berry Company did not live up 
to its promise in its sale and distribution of seeds. 
It seems that the Berry Company claimed in its 
catalogue, and in other documents, that its seed was 
September 11, 1920 
of high germinating power; that it was in large part 
grown by themselves in superior ground, and that 
it was free from weed seed. The commission shows 
that such statements were false and misleading. The 
Berry Seed Company secured a large proportion of 
its grass seed from other seed companies, and did 
not grow all or even a large part of it themselves. 
Fair samples of their seeds were submitted to the 
experiment stations in seven different. States. The 
per cent of vitality was found to be very low. and 
the seeds were badly mixed with those of noxious 
weeds. In one case only .30 per cent of the seed 
would germinate, with over 13 per cent of weed 
seed, and from 23 to 33 per cent of seeds not called 
for in the sample. The Federal Commission shows 
definitely that the Berry Company have been selling 
a poor quality of seed, badly adulterated with weed 
seed, and not at all up to tlieir guarantee. 
Another point made by the commission is the fact 
that this company did some of its business through 
the Standard Seed Company. They advertised that 
this was entirely distinct from the Berry Seed Com¬ 
pany, evidently intending in that way to lead the 
public to believe that the two concerns are entirely 
separate. The commission shows that the two com¬ 
panies are practically the same, and that the name 
of the Standard Seed Company was evidently used 
to deceive the public. It is a strong and searching 
indictment against the Berry Seed Company, and 
the result is an order to cease or desist. That means 
that the Berry Seed Company must, within 60 days, 
stop its practice of issuing false or misleading state¬ 
ments regarding the seeds. Tt must stop publishing 
or circulating under its own name or under the name 
of the Standard Seed Company any advertising mat¬ 
ter containing false or misleading statements. These 
statements include the freedom of their stock from 
weed seeds, false statements regarding the germinat¬ 
ing quantities, false statements regarding the soured 
of the seed or the quality and make-up 
of its seed mixtures. If it sells seeds 
hereafter under the name of the 
Standard Seed Company it must make 
the fact clear that this concern and 
the A. A. Berry Company are one and 
the same. The report is the clearest 
and strongest statement of the sort we 
have ever seen, and it ought to be a 
great help in sifting out the fakes and 
frauds who undertake to promise one 
thing and then send another. 
How to Kill Sprouts 
Will you tell me the date on which to 
sucker small stumps? My father claimed 
that there were three or four days in the 
year on which if they were cut they would 
never grow again. A. B. n. 
Pennsylvania. 
HE accepted theory is that the best time to kill 
off these suckers is in the latter part of August 
or the early part of September. It will depend some¬ 
what upon the season. Probably a wet season would 
delay the work somewhat. We know farmers who 
say that this work should be done at some definite 
time, depending on the condition of the moon, but 
we have never found that the moon had any direct 
influence upon the stumps or the suckers. The 
theory is that there comes a time at the end of the 
Summer when the growth of these suckers stops. 
The roots are then exhausted and cannot continue 
growth until they are renewed. Nature therefore 
stops the growth of the sucker, and the last of the 
season, before the ground freezes, is spent, in Hie 
storing up of plant nutriment in the i*oots so as to 
carry them safely through the Winter and to start 
new growth in the Spring. Now if these sprouts or 
suckers can be knocked off or chopped away at this 
time the roots will try to repair the damage by 
sending out another small growth before the frost. 
The result will be that the root has no chance to 
recover from its season’s work and store up a new 
supply of nourishment to carry it safely through the 
season. Weakened in this way, the root is far more 
likely to be killed during the Winter than if the 
sprouts were left on. If the sprouts are cut oft in 
the Spring very little damage would be done by the 
roots, as they would simply make another growth 
through the Summer. The best time to attack them, 
therefore, is right now, and it Is probably better to 
knock the sprouts off with the back of an ax ratlici 
than to chop them off with the edge. As stated, we 
do not believe there is any brief period, whether in 
the moon or out of it, that this work can be done to 
special advantage. As soon as the growth stops is 
the proper time to kill off these stumps. 
With wheat costing what it does to grow and selling 
at present price, no one can afford to risk sowing 
smutted seed. We gave the remedy on page 1349. 
Plan Fur Rectangular Panic. Fig. J/52 
