12 
‘Ih* RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
January 1, 1921 
Garden and Farm Notes 
How I Grew Those Squashes 
Evidently The R. N.-Y. is read, for the 
number of letters coming to my desk re¬ 
garding the growing of 140 lbs. of Hub¬ 
bard squash from one seed, as shown on 
page 1728, bears positive testimony to 
the fact. Answering these inquirers 
broadly, 1 should «ay 1 attempted to give 
the vine a chance to do its best, some¬ 
thing we do not do when we crowd the 
ground. I am forced to believe that the 
cry with crops, if they could speak, would 
be for more room, 
Specifically, I want to spread 12 cords 
of good barn manure per acre in the Fall, 
as soon as I take off the crops, and then 
plow deep enough to disturb the subsoil. 
If weeds or grass show before free/.ing. 
I would harrow. Then as early as jsts- 
sible in the Spring spread four to six 
cords more dressing, and cross-plow if 
possible; if not. work the land thoroughly 
with the disk harrow. I want to chop 
that dressing all into and through the 
soil to the depth of the furrow, and use 
very little, if any. in the hill. My rule 
with squash hills has been 8 ft. apart; 
hereafter it will be 12 ft. I have thinned 
to four plants; in th/'future one strong, 
rugged plant will suffice. This insures 
room, branches and more fruit than I 
can gather in any other way. As the 
vine grows I loosen the soil at the axil 
of every leaf and press the vine down into 
it, but not to bury. When the vine 
reaches 12 ft. 1 nip the end and bury it. 
Two branches only are allowed, and these 
are treated in the same manner. In this 
way I very largely increase the root-feed¬ 
ing surface, and it tells in number and 
size of product. Of course, the weeds are 
kept down and the ground cultivated as 
long as I can get through without injury 
to the vines. Here is ample room for 
growing early crops between the hills, to 
be removed in good season so as not to 
obstruct the vines. 
My rule is to save my own seed, not 
from the first, or largest, squash on the 
vine, but from the last well-developed 
one. I do the same with beans and corn, 
and find days for growth reduced, yield 
fully maintained and quality improved. 
This may not be in harmony with ac¬ 
cepted theories, but somehow it is easier 
to listen to a plan than to follow any 
beaten track. Not every sidestep brings 
satisfaction, but experience born of the 
venture soon proves the value of original 
methods. One further step is absolutely 
necessary, and that is protection from 
insect pests and diseases. My rule is to 
dust carefully as early as the third leaf, 
before the striped bug appears, using my 
own mixture, composed of lime, sulphur 
and tobacco dust, all reground and care¬ 
fully mixed to insure best fungicidal as 
well as insecticidal effect. This dusting 
is repeated every 10 <fBys, and I am sat¬ 
isfied that the increased vigor and re¬ 
sistant power of stalk and leaf resulting 
from the use of this non-arsenieal dust 
adds materially to size and quality of 
product. Careful tests made prove that 
the increased yield more than compensates 
for all cost of the dust. I am convinced 
that if we who grow crops want to touch 
nature at her best we must wake to a 
realization of the potential life and power 
of the soil when given best opportunity. 
The Good Book tells of “some forty, some 
sixty and some one hundred-fold,” but to¬ 
day we are up in the thousands, and there 
is no limit to him who enters into 
growing consciousness of that power 
greater than ourselves manifesting itself 
in increased production. When growers 
come to realize and recognize the over¬ 
mastering mystery of life manifest in 
Kced. bulb, tuber, grain, fruit and human 
life, there will flow in - a richness and a 
fullness not possible outside. What 
mystic power is wrapped in soil and seed, 
what undying fire is behind both chang¬ 
ing. transforming, multiplying just in 
proportion as we, the servants of this 
greater force, are obedient to the un¬ 
written law? You grow the squash and 
alongside the garlic, onion, cabbage, rad¬ 
ish. wheat or bean, each taking from the 
same soil and fertilizing material, each 
obedient to its own peculiar law. each 
tiny seed and controlling size, color, flavor, 
shape and reproductive power. It is the 
mystery of all this which, once accented, 
will lead a man into reverent attitude 
and strengthen purpose to give each seed 
and plant room and care demanded for 
its best development. G. ar. twitch eel. 
Maine. 
Bees in a City Back Yard 
It is unusual to find a city bee yard 
situated in the middle of a city block, 
carried on successfully in harmony with 
the neighbors. Bees are a nuisance in 
the city unless one knows how to handle 
them. The principal thing in keeping 
bees in the city is, first, to prevent spot¬ 
ting your neighbors’ clothes. If bees are 
confined in their hives one to four months, 
as it often happens in the Winter, when 
a nice day comes, thermometer registers 
55 to 70, they come out for a fiv. light 
on the neighbors’ clothes and sometimes 
spot them badly. This makes bad feel¬ 
ings. I prevent this in two ways. 
I have a bee cellar, partitioned off 
from the main house cellar on the north 
side, with an outside cellar door in front 
of the bees. In half an hour I can put 
20 colonies in. make the cellar dark, and 
all is well fop this time. It sometimes 
happens under certain conditions that 
where a hive is located in a sunny posi¬ 
tion. bees will fly out if not protected. I 
prevent this if there is snow by shoveling 
snow around the hive or covering the 
hive, entrance and all. with an old carpet, 
and keep it soaked with cold water. 
Bees must have a Spring fly and clean¬ 
ing out. I select Saturday or Sunday if 
possible, when the thermometer is (50 or 
70 degrees. I go to my neighbors and 
notify them this is bees’ day for a fly. 
“Please don’t hang out any clothes until 
the bees stop flying.” After they have 
had their cleaning fight there is no more 
trouble until the next Spring. 
The second condition, do the bees sting 
your neighbors? I have had In years on 
this stand in Brooklyn, surrounded by 
neighbors and children. 1 have not one 
report of a sting. Breeding and proper 
handling are the secret of this condition. 
I sometimes find a black sheep or a cross 
colony; the queen of that colony is the 
mother of the whole. About 70,000 in a 
normal colony. I kill that (|*ieen on sight 
and supply them with another queen. In 
this way I keep bees that are gentle and 
docile. 
If you look at the picture you will 
notice that I am surrounded by neighbors, 
and they are my friends. On my right 
and on my left are my wife and daughter 
holding a* frame of bees. You will also 
notice on top of the building in the rear 
a young lady holding a frame of bees. 
This is the first time she has ever been 
near them. She was afraid, of course, 
but delighted with the experience, with 
no stings. I have a great many visitors, 
my neighbors and their friends, and 
others who are interested in bees. I take 
great pains and pleasure in showing the 
interior of the hives, the queen, drones 
and workers, and the different stages of 
growth from the egg to hatching of the 
bee. No veil, gloves or protection to 
visitors—and no stings. This is city bee¬ 
keeping. WESLEY DIBBLE. 
Notes and Comment 
Seeding an Old Pasture. —E. A. W. 
asks, on page 1810, about the practica¬ 
bility of seeding an old pasture that has 
grown up to wild grasses and weeds, sim¬ 
ply by sowing seeds of the" more desira¬ 
ble grasses upon the sod. without plow¬ 
ing or harrowing. The scheme is prac¬ 
tical, but he should have sown his seed 
as early as last October. However, by 
sowing it immediately, or as early in the 
Spring as the snow is off. he may be able 
to secure a stand that will hold its own 
against the wild grasses. Timothy, Red- 
top and Blue joint grass should be sown, 
and, on the wet land, the Red-top should 
largely predominate. On the dry upland 
the Blue joint-grass should be given the 
preference. A pretty heavy seeding should 
be given, and it will be well to sow ex¬ 
perimental patches of clover. If it suc¬ 
ceeds. well and good. Sow the entire field 
the next year, but if it fails, give the pas¬ 
ture a good application of lime and then 
try the clover. But he also wishes to re¬ 
forest a portion of the field while pastur¬ 
ing it. The one factor in this problem 
which will have more influence than all 
the others combined is the extent to which 
the field is pastured. The next factor in 
importance is the variety of tree planted. 
If lightly pastured and then’planted to 
pines, which are distasteful, the cattle 
will not trouble them. Tf heavily pas¬ 
tured and planted to soft maples or 
birches the cattle will eat every tree. 
Rotation. —On page 1821 there is a 
picture of “Grandma” Rose holding a 
basket of potatoes, and the statement that 
she has grown potatoes continuously on 
the same plot of ground for 43 years. 
Now. rotation of crops is the one subject 
of which we know less than of any other 
subject connected with farming, and a 
full discussion of it in the columns of The 
R. N.-Y. would be a desirable feature. 
Rome crops, like squashes, beets and 
onions, can be grown continuously upon 
anv soil for many years, provided the fer¬ 
tility is kept up, and it almost seems as 
though they thrive better and better with 
each succeeding crop, while other crops, 
and more especially potatoes, will prac¬ 
tically “run out” and become failures if 
grown but two or three years without a 
rotation. Yet I have in mind a garden in 
which potatoes, peas, beans and sweet 
corn have been grown in the same places 
and with almost mathematical precision 
for .10 consecutive years, and with no de¬ 
terioration. Upon the virgin prairies of 
Iowa and Minnesota we found that we 
could not grow two crops of flax upon the 
same soil without the intervention of 
some other crop, nor could wheat follow 
flax without a deterioration. Yet a crop 
of flax preceding one of corn seemed as 
good as a coating of manure, while one of 
potatoes acted as a stimulant to one of 
wheat. Rotation is an interesting, im¬ 
portant and little-understood problem. 
Brice of Labor and Supplies. —On 
page 1822 Geo. L. Gordon gives us a long 
communication in which he complains of 
ihe inequality between the prices of farm 
labor and that of the things that the farm 
laborer is obliged to buy, and then aggres¬ 
sively asks when the laborer could buy 
so little with the price of his labor as in 
1020. Now I just want to say that there 
never has been and never will be a per¬ 
fect balance along these lines. There-is 
always an oscillation back and forth, and 
sometimes the pendulum swings upon one 
side and sometimes upon the other, and 
this condition will always exist. I have 
studied this problem and have written 
much relative to it. In 1874 I worked 
.seven months upon a farm for 823 a 
month. In 1873 I could get. but $20 a 
month for six months. In 1870 wages 
dropped to 810 for six months, and the 
following year I was considered lucky to 
get a year’s job at $125. Another young 
man as big and as ca]»al)le as 1. was able 
to command but .$100 for the same period. 
Now. as to expenses at that time. Board 
and washing were included in my wages 
and I was not particularly interested in 
l lie price of foods, so wo will not discuss 
that feature. But in 1877 I paid >$25 for 
a suit of clothes, 820 for an overcoat, $2 
for a hat. 83 for a cap, $0 for a pair of 
cowhide boots, 87 for a pair of calfskin 
boots, $3 for a pair of overshoes, $5 for a 
pair of rubber boots, 83 for two pairs of 
flannel shirts. $4 for two pairs of under¬ 
garments, $2 for two cotton shirts, _.$3 
for two pairs of overalls, 84 for two fine 
shirts, $3 for stockings, $7 for sundries 
such as collars, handkerchiefs, neckties, 
etc., $8 for amusements and entertain¬ 
ments. and 838 for dentist work, making 
a total of .$20 more than I was able to 
earn, and that just for myself alone. But 
how about the man who had a family to 
support? He simply had to get along 
without the things that we call absolute 
necessities. I knew a man in those days 
who walked three miles and back and 
chopped wood at. the rate of 50c a cord to 
support his wife and two children, but 
when the pendulum began to swing the 
other way he bought a home of his own, 
educated his children and is now in com¬ 
fortable circumstances. 
An Outdoor Toilet v —O n page 1822 
M. B. D. gives the plan for an outdoor 
toilet to be used on farms and in villages 
where the water system is not sufficient 
to allow for flushing. The plan, as de¬ 
scribed, is perfect except for the omission 
of one important factor. He has pro¬ 
vided for a very inadequate method of 
cleaning it. In many towns and vil¬ 
lages there are men who make a business 
of going from house to house or from 
farm to farm, cleaning such toilets. But 
it is not a desirable job. and the average 
hired man will turn up his nose at it. In 
fact, I have known many a hired man to 
give up his work and seek a job else¬ 
where rather than to tackle one of this 
nature. The toilet should be built pre¬ 
cisely as described, except that the floor 
should be raised some 3 or 4 ft. from the 
ground, with steps leading up into it, 
and the boards forming the back should 
extend no lower than the floor. A plank 
box should be made, and mounted upon 
runners. The back of the box should 
consist of a drop door, hinged above and 
tightly fastened below with wooden but¬ 
tons or by any' other means. The box 
should be of such size that it will just fit 
in the opening, and should be crowded 
The City liee Farmer anil Ilia Friends 
into the opening and under the floor as 
far as may be necessary. A layer of 5 or 
6 in. of dry earth or other good absorbent 
should be spread upon the bottom of the 
box. and, whenever the toilet is used, a 
sufficient quantity of earth should be 
dropped into the box to cover all deposits 
and absorb all moisture. Then, in order 
to clean the toilet, all that is necessary is 
to attach a team to the box, draw it to 
the field, raise the drop door and draw 
the contents out with a hoe. 
Lime-sulphur Barrels for Cider.-— 
On page 1827 I*. A. Y. asks if it will 
answer to use lime-sulphur barrels for 
cider. Only last week I bought a glass of 
cider from a farmer who had interpreted 
the law to suit himself and was selling 
cider upon the city market. I noticed 
that the container was a lime-sulphur 
barrel, and I asked him how he had 
cleaned it. lie told me that, as soon as 
the barrel was empty he had placed it 
near 'the pump, filled it with water, 
drawn it off, refilled and drawn it off half 
a dozen times. Then he. half filled it and 
allowed it to stand for a week, drawn it 
off and refilled it. and this operation had 
been repeated once every week or 10 days 
until the water gave no indication either 
by taste or odor of what its former con¬ 
tents were. I have only this man’s word 
for it, but the cider certainly was free 
from all objectionable flavor. A great 
many years ago T was connected with a 
large cider manufacturing plant, and we 
bought a motley collection of barrels from 
anywhere that we could get them. Most 
of them were old kerosene barrels, but 
some had held tar, some turpentine, oth¬ 
ers oils of various kinds, and still others 
had held salt pork, molasses, whisky, vin¬ 
egar and cider. Many of the latter were 
musty. The cider, vinegar, whisky and 
molasses barrels, if not musty were used 
without cleaning. If musty, hay was 
burned in them. Animal oil barrels were 
filled with hot lye and allowed to stand 
for a week or more. Kerosene and tur¬ 
pentine barrels were burned out, simply 
by dropping a lighted match into the bung 
hole. Tar barrels were heated until the 
tar was melted and often two or three 
gallons of tar were recovered. Then the 
heads were removed, the interiors were 
filled with hay. the covers loosely placed 
in position and the hay was lighted. This 
operation was repeated, if necessary, until 
the whole interor was well charred. Then 
the head was replaced, a few pounds of 
lime were put in through the bung hole, 
a few gallons of water were added and the 
bung driven in. Often the pressure of 
the steam and gases generated would 
drive the bung out, but that did not mat¬ 
ter. When the water became cooled it 
was drawn off and the barrel well rinsed 
to remove the lime. No complaint was 
ever heard. c. o. ormsbee. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. JAN. 1, 1921 
FARM TOPICS 
Growing' Nitrogen for Companion Crop....3, 4 
“The Man Back Home”. 4 
Onr Immense Agricultural Imports. 4 
Let Us Smile If We Can. 4 
Kudzu in Northern Florida. 5 
Echoes from the Federation Convention. 17 
The Consumer’s Cabbage Dollar. 17 
Burning Coal in the West. 17 
Sweet Clover and Lime. 23 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings. 28 
What About Those Abandoned Farms?.28 
LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY 
A Chance for the Tame Rabbit. 4 
Cows and Forestry Not Good Partners. 5 
A Sheep Farmer on Game Laws. 5 
Dairymen’s League Election. 17 
Icehouse for Dairy. 20 
Feeding Freshening Heifer and Horse. 20 
Ill-flavored Butter . 20 
Ration for Brood Sows. 20 
Tainted Milk . 20 
Butchering Goat . 20 
Coming Live Stock Sales. 20 
Pennsylvania Dairy Notes. 22 
Tompkins County. N. Y., Pools Wool. 22 
Apples for Stock. 23 
Preparing Meat Scrap at Home. 23 
Best Wood for Smoking Meats. 24 
Dried and Corned Beef. 24 
How to Handle Pork. 24 
Let Us Have Truthful Clothing. 28 
THE HENYARD 
Feeding Laying Hens and Pullets. 
Cost of Feed... 
Refuse for Meat Scrap. 
HORTICULTURE 
The Case of Dusting vs. Spraying. 
How Do You Explain This?. 
A Fine Straw’berry Bed. 
New Jersey Horticultural Society. 
Winter Storage of Tuberose. 
Birds and Fruit. 
Heating Small Greenhouse. 
Propagating Conifers from Seed. 
Nuts in Wet Land.. 
Notes from a Maryland Garden. 
Those Who Steal Greenery. 
The “Great American Coffee Bean”. 
Removing Mulch Around Apple Trees. 
WOMAN AND HOME 
29 
29 
29 
5 
5 
5 
C 
6 
G 
7 
7 
7 
10 
10 
11 
11 
Canning Pork Products—Part II. 13 
From Day to Day.... ■ 18 
New Year’s Cake, Fruit Cake and Sour Milk 
Cake . 18 
Embroidery Designs ..••.••• 
Decorating a Combined Kitchen and Dining¬ 
room . 
The Rural Patterns. 19 
Another India Relish: Candy Fondant. 19 
Dutch Rulish or Roeletjes. 19 
Apple Dumplings; Carrot Marmalade. 19 
MISCELLANEOUS 
A Primer of Economics—Part IV. 8 
A Simple Snow Plow. 11 
An Emergency Tariff. 17 
Retail Prices for Coal. 17 
The Man With the Boots. 23 
The Labor Question.28 
