320 
< Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 2G, 1921 
Garden Notes From New England 
A Flat of Paper J’arfitions 
bo readily removed and (lie plants slipped 
out of the box without disturbing tin 1 
roots at all. Then they got no setback 
when placed in the open ground. Still, 
when it comes to tomato plants 1 prefer 
paper pots or dirt bands, because the lat¬ 
ter can be left around the ball of earth, 
and serves a useful purpose by keeping 
the cutworms away from the stems. For¬ 
merly all the paper pots were round, and 
probably that is the cheapest kind to use 
now, if they are to be made at home. But 
the square boxes now being used to a con¬ 
siderable extent have some advantages, 
chief of which is the fact that they can be 
set closely together in the flats, the-o 
being no waste of space. 
Machine to Set Onion Sets. —Going 
back to onions, it seems to me that ouion 
growers in New England will be inter¬ 
ested in a new machine for planting 
onion sets'which is being used in the Mid¬ 
dle West. Every onion grower knows 
what a tedious job it is to set out onions 
by hand, especially if pains are taken to 
have each bulb placed upright in the row. 
As a matter of fact, experiments have 
shown, if 1 am correctly informed, that 
nothing is gained by having the sets in 
any particular position. When checked 
plots have been grown (In' results have 
shown that just as good plants are made 
and just as good yields obtained it the 
sets are simply dropped evenly in the 
rows without regard to position, as when 
they are set straight up. If this is true, 
there is no reason why a planter should 
not give good results, and the one which 
is being used in the West saves much 
labor. One man at the planter can put 
in an acre of onions a day. with the 
rows 12 in. apart. Probably it would 
take 10 or 12 men to do this amount of 
work by hand. 
Lettuce Under Glass and Out.— 
It has been found that lime helps ma¬ 
terially in growing lettuce. Experiments 
a‘ the Rhode Island Station resulted in 
a decidedly increased crop when lime was 
used to neutralize the acid in the soil. 
It seems that lettuce on acid soils makes 
a slow growth, and requires a much 
longer time to reach marketable size. This 
means ,of course, that the lettuce is not 
as crisp and tender as it otherwise would 
be. Moreover, lettuce which grows slow¬ 
ly is likely to develop a bitter flavor. 
When the soil is well limed the plants not 
only grow more quickly, but have a far 
better color and usually become larger 
when mature. Lettuce growers around 
Boston who use greenhouses for produc¬ 
ing a Winter crop find themselves in 
rather a peculiar position. Great, quan¬ 
tities of lettuce have been shipped into 
Lettuce Under Glass 
Paper Pots and Dirt Bands. —While 
it is a simple enough matter to start 
seeds sown broadcast or in rows in flats 
or boxes in the kitchen, it is a decided 
help to use paper pots or some other de¬ 
vice of this kind. This is particularly 
true when the seedlings have to be 
thinned out and transplanted. Then the 
flats may be used at the beginning and 
the seedlings transferred to paper pots, 
or to specially constructed boxes which 
have metal or paper partitions dividing 
them into squares. I have found boxes of 
this kind very handy indeed. They arc 
made so that the board at one side can 
New England this Winter, not only from 
the South, but also from California, and 
the California lettuce has sold more read¬ 
ily at 15 cents a head than the Boston 
lettuce at 10 cents. Of course, compe¬ 
tition of this kind is a very serious im¬ 
pediment to the development of a green¬ 
house business, and it seems highly im¬ 
portant that something should be done to 
save the big investment which market 
gardeners have made in glass. It may be 
that a change in varieties is what is 
needed. The. California lettuce, as put 
on the market, consists of a head which, 
while small, is almost entirely white. Of 
course, all the outside leaves have been 
removed, and this white-hearted ball 
seems to make a stronger appeal to the 
eye of the average buyer than the green 
lettuce, although the latter may have 
larger heads, which is sent cat by the 
home growers. 
Corn for Canning. —Down in Maine 
the corn farmers are wondering what they 
are going to get for their product next 
year. Last year the packers made con¬ 
tracts of five cents per pound for cut 
corn delivered at the factory, and the 
local associations seem to think that they 
ought to get as much next Summer. M. 
I). Jones, farm demonstrator for the 
Maine University, has been keeping ac¬ 
curate records to show the cost of pro¬ 
ducing sweet corn in Maine. Reports 
from 1.31 farms scattered through eight 
or 10 counties showed an average produc¬ 
tion of 2.800 lbs. of cut corn per acre, 
and a not cost of $121.90 per acre. This 
was found to bring the cost per pound 
to more than five cents, and without 
doubt some of the farmers last year sold 
their corn at a loss. Mr. .Tones sums up 
the matter in this way: Either there are 
many men growing sweet corn who do 
not know how to grow it, or they arc 
using land not adapted to the crop. More 
growers should keep records to find out 
where their cost is excessive and to de¬ 
termine whether the crop is a profitable 
one under their conditions. 
Tractors on Small Farms. —Tractors 
have become so important even in New 
England that the Connecticut Agricul¬ 
tural College at Storrs has issued a bul¬ 
letin devoted entirely to their use. In 
reading over this bulletin one is impressed 
with tlu* fact that much more is involved 
in the purchase of a tractor than appears 
at first thought. The apparatus is a 
complex.machine, and if it is to warrant 
its cost it must be operated by somebody 
who understands it thoroughly, and can 
make minor repairs to save loss of time. 
Garden tractors are having a pretty thor¬ 
ough try-out, especially on market gar¬ 
dens, where the labor item is important. 
Reports as to their value differ greatly, 
depending largely upon the character of 
the land and the temperament of the op¬ 
erator. There is but little use, evidently, 
in trying to work one of these hand trac¬ 
tors on very rough land or on side hills. 
On the contrary, if the land is smooth 
and in good tilth, the machine-gives ex¬ 
cellent results in the hands of a man with 
a little mechanical skill. One. matter is 
important, although often overlooked. 
Crops should be planted with special ref¬ 
erence to the tractor if such a machine 
is to be used in cultivating them. In 
other words, the rows must be the right 
distance apart in order to make the ma¬ 
chine most available. Even florists are 
now using the smaller hand tractors, and 
find them serviceable, especially for grow¬ 
ing such field crops as carnations. Nur¬ 
serymen, on the other hand, have appar¬ 
ently not found them very satisfactory. 
E. I. FARRINGTON. 
Farm Electric Lighting System 
Would you give experience about some 
electric-lighting system, the life of the 
engine, the batteries and other parts? 
Some people say that their life is short, 
while others argue to the contrary. 
Clarence Center, N. Y. C. L. 
Farm electric plants; may be compared 
to automobiles. There are both poor ones, 
and good ones, expensive ones and cheap 
ones. The main parts of an electric plant 
are the generating equipment and the 
storage battery. The storage battery is 
(food Type of Paper Pot 
the weak part in most electric plants. 
There are two general types of storage 
battery ; the lead-plate battery using acid 
electrolyte, and the nickel-iron plate 
battery, which uses caustic soda or caus¬ 
tic potash electrolyte. The lead type 
battery i« the most efficient; that is, it 
gives back a larger part of the electricity 
which is put into it. Lead-plate batteries 
have the disadvantage of being compara¬ 
tively short-lived, while the nickel-iron 
batteries are almost indestructible. Sev¬ 
eral makes of lead batteries now have es¬ 
pecially constructed plates which greatly 
increase their life. 
With good care the .average electric 
plant, aside from the battery, should last 
as long as any other gasoline engine of 
the same size and type. The life of a 
lead-plate battery may be expected to be 
from four to six years, if properly cared 
for, according to the make of the battery. 
As previously stated, the nickel-iron type 
of battery should, outlast the engine. The 
writer has this type of battery, which 
was damaged by abuse in an electric 
truck. We cleaned it up, renewed the 
electrolyte, and put it to work for elec¬ 
tric lighting about three years ago. Since 
then we have put distilled water into it 
once ; will probably clean it up and put 
in more water again in the Spring. This 
electric plant runs on kerosene. The 
amount of kerosene required is about 
one-third the amount formerly used in 
common lamps to light the same house. 
Strange to say, the greatest benefits of 
electric lighting are not in the living 
rooms. There are many good types of 
light almost equal to the electric lights 
to brighten the fireside. But in the cel¬ 
lar. (he haymow, the stable, the yard and 
the poultry-houses, electric light is a ver¬ 
itable godsend. Nothing on the whole 
farm pays so big dividends as our lights 
in these places. When figuring the cost 
of electric lighting, consider the fire in¬ 
surance value in barns and house, the 
burglar insurance against chicken thieves, 
the time saved in doing chores, the work 
saved in changing lamps, and, if you are 
in the poultry business, the lighting of 
poultry-houses on dark mornings. Don't 
forget the places you can use electric mo¬ 
tors. In closing, let me add that uo 
small engine plant is as cheap as fiuying 
electricity from a power distributing 
system. w. B. t. 
Propagating the Grape 
Will you tell me how to start grapes 
from length of grapevine, and how old 
must the wood of the vine be? How long 
will it bo until it makes roots? A. s. 
Gan field, Ohio. 
Grapevines are usually grown from cut¬ 
tings that are taken from the growth of 
the season immediately preceding. These 
arc cut into pieces of from 8 to 12 in. in 
length. The canes are severed from the 
vine close to wood from which they arise. 
’Lhe lower cut of each cutting is made 
through or just below the bud, while the 
cut that determines the length of the 
cutting. 8 or 10 in., is made so that an 
inch or two of the wood projects above 
the upper bud. These are then tied in 
bundles with all the butt ends together 
and as nearly level as possible, and buried 
with the ends up in well-drained soil 
outside or in sand in a cool cellar. The 
upper ends should be covered with four 
or five inches of soil. 
If grape cuttings arc from good canes 
and well kept till planted, and if the 
season be favorable, about 10 per cent, 
of those planted should give roots that 
can be planted in the vineyard the follow¬ 
ing Spring. If the above conditions are 
not satisfied, two years will be required 
to secure good roots. f. e. gladwin. 
CONTENTS 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER,' FEB. 26, 1921 
FARM TOPICS 
More About the Fertilizer Problem. 312 
Steam Ditchers in New York. 312 
Potato Growing in Northern New York— 
Part 1. 313 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings. 318 
Using Phosphate with Manure.. <.319, 321 
On Leaving the Old Farm. 323 
Hope Farm Notes.328. 329 
The Watercress Problem. 329 
LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY 
New England Ayrshire Breeders. 318 
Coming Live Stock Sales. 318 
Advertising the Value of Milk. 331 
The New Ruling on Centralized Butter. 331 
Hogs "Going Down Behind”. 340 
Doses of Salts.;.... 340 
Millet for the Silo. 343 
Cost of Upkeep for Cows. 343 
Butter with Unpleasant Odor. 343 
Killing Lice on Cattle. 344 
Kerosene for Mange on Cats. 344 
THE HENYARD 
Hatching Egg Notes. 313 
Construction of Henhouse. 346 
HORTICULTURE 
Pruning the Grape. 314 
Vines for Porch. 315 
Improving the Homestead. jv • ■ • 315 
Cabbage, Cauliflower and Tomato Plant 
Growing . 321 
Notes from a Maryland Garden. 325 
Eastern Meeting New York Horticultural 
Society—Part 1. 327 
English and Japan Walnuts in Jersey. 329 
Care of an Old Apple Tree. 329 
New York Apples at Retail. 331 
WOMAN AND HOME 
Boys and Girls......332, 333 
The Pastoral Parson.334, 337 
The Home Dressmaker. 335 
Thoughts of a Plainer Farm Woman. 336 
Child Wanted for Adoption. 336 
Nature Notes . 336 
MISCELLANEOUS 
What Is Wrong with Our Rural Schools!.311, 312 
Lobster Traps in Colorado. 312 
A Primer of Economics—Part XIII. 316 
Events of the Week. 318 
Editorials .. 630 
Daylight Saving Will Be Repealed. 331 
Prof. Hedrick for Station Director. 331 
The American Mutual Seed Company. 331 
The Fight for Stronger Game Laws. 331 
A Swedish Name.337 
Expressive Language . 337 
The Annals of an Old Subscriber. 337 
"Thou Shalt Not Steal”. 337 
Cleaning Contaminated Spring. 342 
Dressing for Imitation Leather. 342 
Removing Taste from Grease. 342 
Elk in the Adirondacks. 342 
Making Wet Cells. 342 
What Ails the Cider?. 342 
Publisher’s Desk . 350 
