The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Conserving Moisture with a Stone Boat. Fig. 851. 
An A ttractive Spiraea Hedge. Fig. 852. See page 811. 
A Motor Truck May Rigging. Fig. 352. 
it is difficult. to pull it out, and at the same time the 
original dust mulch is not disturbed. By this method 
one may approximate the speed of the Florida man. 
Another advantage of this method is that the one 
with the spade may see that each plant has the roots 
properly spread and is set at the proper depth. This 
method is not original with me. hut I have used it 
very successfully in setting even bush fruits, sweet, 
potato plants, planting Trisli potatoes in out-of-the- 
way places, such as between strawberry plants or in 
bush fruits the first year. I sometimes set straw¬ 
berry plants 3 ft. apart in the row, planning, theoret¬ 
ically, to let one runner form a plant on each side of 
the original plant, forming a single row of plants 1 ft. 
apart. By planting a piece of potato between the 
Some Q:'''"Hons About Poultry 
Will you advise who is right in the question of start¬ 
ing in the poultry business, the following being the 
contention: A says there can be no profits expected 
until three years after starting. B says profits can be 
expected one year after, assuming, of course, everything 
goes all right. Do you think the Fall is a good time to 
start in the poultry business, and to buy day-old chicks, 
and what month’s hatch would you advise? What, 
would be the smallest acreage, having in mind to main¬ 
tain 1.000 layers? G.W.B. 
Orange, N. .T. 
I T all depends on what A calls “profit,” and how 
soon profit will commence depends on whether he 
starts with young chicks or hens. 
Profit may begin the first, day. If they lay eggs 
enough to pay the cost of feed, 0 per cent on cost of 
plant and fowls (I mean that one day’s 
part of the G per cent) and a reason¬ 
able amount of depreciation, the bal¬ 
ance left might be called profit. But if 
he had to hire a man to feed and water 
and care for t'.e birds, that cost would 
have to be deducted also. But if the 
hens laid eggs enough to more than pay 
all these expenses, then profit would 
he gin the very first day. 
Really, however, this would be only 
apparent profit, for there is the long 
molting period, during which the hens 
produce nothing, and the cost of feed 
and care during that time must be de¬ 
ducted from the apparent profit. So 
practically a year must elapse before 
the actual profit can be told. 
If a man takes care of the fowls 
himself he can call the surplus either 
his wages or his profit. The loss by 
death is another item of the cost; this 
will run from 5 to 10 per cent of the 
flock. 
Why A should contend that there can 
be no pi’ofit until three years after 
starting I cannot see. 
The next question, “Is the Fall a 
good time to start in the poultry busi¬ 
ness?” T would answer yes. But don’t 
start with < ,-old chicks at that time 
of year. If Leghorns are to be kept 
April-hatched chicks are about right; 
if any of the American breeds—R. I. 
Reds. Wyandott.es or Rocks—March- 
hatched chicks would be better. 
The next question, “What would be 
the smallest acreage, having in mind to 
maintain 1,000 layers?” hinges on the 
word “maintain.” Tf by that word is 
meant raise all the feed, then a large 
acreage would be necessary, but if only 
the housing, runs and perhaps the rais¬ 
ing of what green feed is needed, and 
young chicks to renew the flock, it 
could be done very well on 10 acres. 
On my village lot, 60x200 ft., I havo 
two poultry houses, each 20x20 ft., also 
a barn, 23 apple trees, four pear trees 
and eight peach trees. In one of those 
20-ft. square houses T put 100 White 
Leghorn hens, and kept them shut up 
in that house for a year. The hens 
were strong, healthy and happy, as 
shown by their good laying. Deducting 
the cost of their food only, the profit 
for the year was $205. 
It, would be possible for a skilled 
poultryman to keep 1,000 hens on this 
village lot in that way, but I would not 
advise any amateur to try it. 
GEORGE A. COSGROVE. 
Strawberry Planting Methods 
I NOTE what you say on page GS2, 
“Hope Farm Notes,” regarding your 
method of setting strawberry plants. I 
set them in the same way, except in 
compacting the soil about the plant. 
My method requires two persons to 
work to advantage. Any person who 
feels that his backbone is a little too stiff to do much 
bending can use the spade to open the place for the 
plant. I usually get a boy or girl to place the plants. 
While the plant is still held in place, the spade is 
withdrawn and again thrust into the ground several 
inches, at a distance of 3 or 4 in. from the plant, 
and with the handle inclined just a little way from 
the one holding the plant or toward the one holding 
the spade itself. The handle is then pushed over to 
an upright position, pressing the dirt firmly against 
the plant roots. The plant is set in so firmly that 
plants I get quite a crop of early potatoes for family 
use before the runners need the space badly. 
The matted row here in the South is a failure 
because of the weeds, which seem,to find the heat 
and moisture more to their liking than do the straw¬ 
berry plants. Mrs. Prickett reports that there seems 
to be no end yet in sight of berries which first began 
to ripen in March. Berries were selling Saturday 
at 35 cents per quart, and not first-class ones at that. 
I have not seen any really choice berries here so far. 
Georgia. J. n. prickett. 
875 
Stone Boat to Conserve Moisture 
F ARMERS sometimes wish to stir the soil of their 
cornfield during a dry season in order to con¬ 
serve moisture, and also to break up a crust which 
might be harboring a young growth of weeds. It is 
impossible to stir the soil with a corn cultivator 
when the corn is high, as it breaks down many stalks 
and furrows too deeply in the soil, destroying many 
roots. With the implement shown in the illustra¬ 
tion, Fig. 351, which really consists of a small stone 
boat, the crust may be effectively broken. 
Some farmers also use an old wheel from a mower 
which is drawn by a horse. Tilled in this manner 
a mulch is maintained which conserves 
moisture aq, 1 v destroys the young 
growth of weeds, and also aids in mak¬ 
ing a clean seed bed where wheat is to 
follow corn in the rotation. 
Wayne Co., O. c. M. baker. 
Corn Worms and Corn Smut 
Can ear worms in sweet corn be pre¬ 
vented? If so, what is used, and how 
and when should it be applied? R. G. D. 
New Mexico. 
T HE New Jersey Experiment Station 
conducted some experiments a few 
years ago in dusting a poison on the 
ears of sweet corn while the silks were 
forming. They had fair results in kill¬ 
ing the worm, but it was not a very 
practical process, as the dust must be 
applied with a small bellows or airgun 
in order to be effective. The following 
note is from a Jerseyman who has 
given the method a fair trial, and his 
conclusions seem to be reasonable. You 
can kill the worm in this way, but the 
expense in time and energy will gener¬ 
ally bo too much except where the corn 
sells at a very high price. 
T have tried dusting sweet corn with 
sulpho-ursenate of lead. 50 lbs. of sul¬ 
phur and 50 lbs. of lead mixed together, 
for the corn ear-worm. I can only say 
that we have had partial success, but be¬ 
lieve that where we dusted every two 
days over a period extending from the 
time the first silk showed until it began 
to brown that we had success worth 
while. I believe that we applied the sul¬ 
phur and arsenate of lead five times dur¬ 
ing this period. Where we only made 
one, two, or even three applications we 
wasted our material, as the result was 
not worth mentioning. 
I would also say that the only way that 
T could see it practical would be during 
the period that sweet corn brings quite a 
high price, as the work must be entirely 
done with a hand blower, and at the best 
is a very disagreeable job. w. w. obey. 
New Jersey. 
Another serious trouble is corn smut. 
This corn smut is a germ disease, and 
it is very difficult to prevent it. The 
germs are not found on the seed corn, 
as is the case with oat or wheat smut. 
We can largely prevent the growth of 
smut in oats by wetting the seed with 
a solution of one pint of formaldehyde 
in GO gallons of water. That will de¬ 
stroy the germs which are found on 
the seed, and give us practically a clean 
crop of oats. With the corn, particu¬ 
larly sweet corn, this plan would not 
answer, since the germs are not to be 
found on the seed. These germs winter 
over on the soil or in rubbish. When 
the stalks are fed to the stock the smut 
is found in the manure, and may be 
brought to the soil in that form. At 
about the time the ear is formed the 
germs of this disease float through the 
air, and when they light upon the grow¬ 
ing ear they fasten and grow. Every 
farmer is familiar with the big black 
and nasty-looking bunch which is 
formed around the ear by this disease. 
The only way to prevent the trouble is 
to plant on new ground each year. 
Many farmers grow sweet corn year after year on 
the same ground. Under such conditions the smut 
will increase from year to year, until finally it gets 
so bad that the field must be given up to other 
crops for a time. Usually after two years the 
smut germs are well worked out of the soil. These 
ears should be picked whenever they are found 
growing and carefully burned. That will help pre¬ 
vent the spread of the disease, but there is no cure 
for it except in a change of soil and the prompt 
destruction of all smutted cars. 
