7bt RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1705 
THE MAILBAG 
We have many questions about mulch¬ 
ing strawberries. Several people ask 
whether sawdust or forest leaves make 
good mulch. They do not. They will 
pack down too closely around the plants, 
and very likely smother them. The 
strawberry plant does not die down dur¬ 
ing the Winter, as many other plants do. 
and it must have air in order to carry it 
safely through the cold season. Saw¬ 
dust makes such a matted cover that the 
air cannot reach into the plants. For 
th:‘ reason we should not use it. Forest 
leaves are nearly as bad. The best 
niulch is some coarse material, like straw 
or coarse manure, cornstalks, or a heavy 
grass like millet or Sudan. Such a mulch 
prevents the heave and thaw of frozen 
ground, and at the same time permits the 
air to reach the plants. 
Many people ask about using salt 
around quince trees. There seems to be 
an old belief that this salt will destroy 
borers in quince, and also cure several 
plant diseases. The best reports that 
we can get show that there is little if 
any virtue in this treatment. The bene¬ 
fits ascribed to salt can generally be 
traced to other things. We doubt if 
putting the salt around the quince trees 
would ever pay for the salt. 
Up through Central New York on the 
hills are many excellent seedling apple 
trees. They are strong and vigorous, 
and in some cases these trees have been 
top-worked to standard varieties. That 
section is too cold (away from the lakes) 
to make the planting of ordinary varie¬ 
ties safe, but such varieties as McIn¬ 
tosh and other hardy sorts do well 
there. At the recent Farmers’ Week 
meeting at Morrisville School there 
was an exhibit of beautiful McIntosh 
grown in Madison County. For color 
and size these apples would take high 
rank. It would seem as if the production 
of this high-class fruit on the hills would 
pay as a side line to dairying on many 
farms. An experiment is being tried in 
shipping apples. A man from North 
Dakota came into this region hunting for 
Holstein heifers. He tasted the tine ap¬ 
ples grown in that section, and wrote 
home about them. The result was an or¬ 
der for a carload of this fruit to be shipped 
to a town in North Dakota. They will 
come in bulk by freight, and if they 
reach their destination in reasonable 
shape it is likely that a business can be 
started along this line. The bulk ship¬ 
ment, as a rule, is not very satisfactory 
when sent to the larger markeets. It 
may be, however, that shipments to the 
Northwest handled in that way may 
prove satisfactory. 
Hill System vs. Matted Row for Straw¬ 
berries 
In this district we grow strawberries 
on the hill system exclusively, owing to 
drought, which this year caused almost 
a crop failure; also, the weeding of the 
matted row is almost impossible except 
by hand. Here with the hill system the 
highest yield per acre has been eight 
tons (price this year 20c per lb. in the 
pail for jam), aud the average, four 
tons per acre. The varieties for this 
section are Magoon and Paxton. We 
believe that in the matted row every 
plant does not get a chance, and they 
do not produce owing to overcrowding. 
In the hill system two Belgians near 
here took 40 tons off five acres in 1919. 
Victoria, B. C. E. oldfiemi. 
Ivy Poisoning 
As a nature student I get iuto all sorts 
of out-of-doors conditions in the fields 
and forests, and I frequently come in con¬ 
tact with poison ivy, poison sumac, and 
poison ash. I suffer many attacks. Sev¬ 
eral years ago I read about a remedy that 
was to be a specific. In the evening, be¬ 
fore retiring, wash the affected parts with 
real hot water and plenty of soap. Dry 
thoroughly and then rub over all of the 
poisoned parts a generous dose of aristol 
powder. In my case one night effects a 
cure. Formerly it required about two 
weeks to get rid of the pestiferous itch. 
This remedy is so effective and so simple 
that I am glad to pass it along. 
Valley View, Pa. E. m. h. 
Corn Harvester with Gasoline Power 
Owing to the rank growth of weeds 
and grass in the corn this year, it has 
been very difficult to handle the crop 
with a corn harvester. When the horses 
were fresh and could keep up a good 
gait, the machine worked fairly well, but 
after they had worked an hour or two. 
and slowed down, the weeds and grass 
would clog, causing considerable incon¬ 
venience. We have seen potato pickers 
equipped with a small gasoline engine. 
Have any of the readers had experience 
in equipping a corn harvester in this 
manner? If so, how large an engine was 
used? it. H. s. 
Massachusetts. 
These questions must be answered, if 
at all. by experience. Can any of our 
readers tell? 
P>oy Scout (on nigbt guard): “Halt! 
V ho comes bore?” “Officer of the day.” 
“Advance, officer of the day. aud explain 
what you are doing out at night.”—The 
lasing Sun. 
RHODES DOUBLE CUT 
PRUNING SHEAR 
‘Patented 
RHODES MFG. < 
295 S. DIVISION AVE., GRAND RAPIDS. MICH 
•THE only 
A pruner 
made that cuts 
from both sides of 
the limb and does not 
bruise the bark. Made in 
all styles and sizes. All 
shears delivered free 
to your door. 
Write for 
circular and 
prices. * 
DO DITCHING THIS FALL 
winter rains smothering the soil. Put 
shape for early spring work. Get yonr 
ditcmni 
LOl cutty tug wwia. yvut 
ig and terracing done now with 
,. Farm Ditcher 
Terracer 
an d Grader 
Works !n any boil Malcea *• V' .h.pril ditch 
OT olemnj ditchea down 4 ft. deep. AH atect. 
Re.er.lbl*. Acju.tahle. Writ* for Pr-e Hoot 
OWENSBORO DITCHER S GRADER CO., loc. 
Bn 334, Oatanshora, Rj. 
10 Days Free Trial 
Buy at this “Sign of 
the Letz" anil get 
dependable grinder 
service. Displayed by 
leading dealers 
everywhere 
20 out of everylOO 
Rationed without cost 
V AST herds of cattle and other farm ani¬ 
mals are being regularly fed a balanced 
ration of ground feed. As a result they are 
fattened several weeks earlier. And out of every 
100 animals 20 are being fed without cost. 
■# 
This huge economy is due to the greater di¬ 
gestibility of ground feed as compared to whole 
grain. Not only that, ground feed is entirely 
digested, neither going through the animals 
whole nor yet being scattered and lost before 
it gets into them. According to Government 
authority experts, 4 bushels of ground grain 
does the work of 5 bushels of unground. 
Cut down your feed costs — increase your 
Stock profits by feeding ground feed. And grind 
your own feed. But do your grinding the mod¬ 
ern, cheap, quick and easy way — with a Letz. 
Letz Feed Mills are supreme for this reason: 
with Letz Patented Self-Sharpening Steel Grind¬ 
ing plates, thousands of keen-cutting, scissor-like 
edges do the work in a jiffy. They cut, grind 
and pulverize in one operation. No other plates 
are sc efficient — none are so fine cutting, light 
running, or have such capacity and durability. 
Letz Grinding Plates are self-sharpening—are 
guaranteed to outlast 3 sets of ordinary plates. 
Hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Letz 
owners attest to Letz supremacy. Investigate 
these wonderful modern feed grinders at once. 
There is a Letz Mill for every grinding re¬ 
quirement and every farm. Every mill is backed 
by 30 years’ experience and is guaranteed both 
by us and the local dealer. 
Free. Two valuable books. One, our catalog. 
The other, a book on “Scientific Feeding.” Write 
for them at once. 
LETZ MANUFACTURING COMPANY - 310 EAST ROAD - CROWN POINT, INDIANA 
America's Leading Feed Mill 
Wholesale Distributing Houses in 46 States insure prompt service thru Letz dealers everywhere 
Complete warehouse stocks carried at the following nearby points : 
PORTLAND, ME. UTICA, N. Y. NEW YORK CITY, N. Y. YORK, PA. MT. JOY, PA. NEW WATERFORD. O. 
