902 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Protecting Young Plants. — The 
other day I ran across an excellent, de¬ 
vice for protecting melons, encumbers and 
equashes from the striped beetle and the 
flea beetle. Two sections of barrel hoop 
had been tacked together at the top and 
fastened to a complete hoop at the bot¬ 
tom. afterwards being covered with cloth 
fly screening. The protectors looked very 
much like the cages which used to be set 
over pies in the pantry to keep the flies 
away. Something of this kind is a great, 
help in the home garden, being much more 
successful than any dust or spray which 
may be used on the plants. It get's them 
safely past the stage where they might 
be destroyed in a single night’s work of 
the pests. If there are too many plants 
to be covered, the plan of pouring a strong 
decoction of tobacco water or nicotine 
around' the stems is to be recommended. 
It is very effective, destroying the larvse 
under the ground. Pee Fig. 367, page 898. 
The Roadside Market. —What is the 
future of the roadside market in New 
England? The answer lies largely with 
the farmers themselves. The novelty of 
buying at wayside stands has worn off. 
Moreover, there is so much competition 
that buyers can take their pick. If the 
business is put on a substantial basis it 
should continue to grow and offer an ad¬ 
mirable outlet to producers. Unfortu¬ 
nately many abuses have crept in. I 
suppose this is inevitable where so many 
people are concerned. Many farmers are 
very short-sighted. They have gone on 
the principle of getting all they could 
while the getting was good. The result 
has been that automobile owners have 
bought once or twice at the same stand 
and then, disgusted at their treatment, 
have refused to patronize any stands at 
all. All too often quality has been over¬ 
looked, and sometimes sheer dishonesty 
practiced, as in facing barrels or boxes 
with perfect fruit, vdiile culls have been 
placed underneath. 
Flower Selling. —In some sections 
the business has been overdone. In others 
it is just being developed. I know of at. 
least one instance where a florist has 
established a stand at the side of the road 
for selling flowers. He finds a ready 
market for Gladioli, pansies and the like. 
I am sure that many a farmer could add 
not a little to his sales by growing these 
flowers, also Dahlias, roses and the so- 
called old-fashioned blooms, like Del¬ 
phiniums, Zinnias and marigolds. City 
people seem to have a fondness for flow¬ 
ers of this class, and will gladly pay rea¬ 
sonable prices for them, although not as 
much, of course, as would be expected for 
hothouse roses and carnations. 
A Market Bulletin.— Farmers who 
are interested in the possibilities of way- 
side selling would do well to write for a 
bulletin called “Boadside Markets,” just 
issued by the Massachusetts Agricultural 
College at. Amherst. One paragraph in 
this bulletin is well worth quoting: 
“For the ordinary farmer it is much 
better not to spend money in a fancy 
stand. These expensive equipments have 
been of doubtful value even in these last 
few years of free public spending. The 
appeal to economy should be the strongest 
appeal these next few years. Farmers 
who wish to develop a trade would do 
best to restrict their equipment to a clean 
table, a tent for shelter, a reliable set of 
scales and measures, and plenty of paper 
bags and other cheap containers. These 
containers are very important for the 
convenience of the customers, and no mis¬ 
take will be made if they are clearly 
labeled so as to direct the purchaser to 
return for more. It is essential to induce 
the customer to come back for more. 
Those who have been really successful in 
this State in building up profitable busi¬ 
nesses in the direct sale of farm products 
have done it through the best of all kinds 
of advertising—satisfied customers who 
come back for more and bring their 
friends with them. They do not over¬ 
charge. They share the profits with the 
customers who are helping to save ex¬ 
penses. Later the known excellence of 
their product warrants a price not deter¬ 
mined by the ordinary commercial ar¬ 
ticles.” 
Drops Suffer from Drought.— Mar¬ 
ket gardeners and amateur growers alike 
have had their crops curtailed by a long 
period of dry weather. It has been an 
unfortunate season in several ways. 
Strawberry growers in many sections had 
their early crops ruined by frost, and 
have had the later yield greatly reduced 
by the dry weather. The result has 
been, of course, very high prices for 
strawberries. The very general use of the 
overhead watering system has enabled 
most of the market gardeners to keep 
their crops growing fairly well. Small 
systems of this kind are now available 
for use in the backyard garden. They 
cost but little, comparatively, and do 
excellent work where running water is 
iwailable. Although the average small 
gardener does not realize the fact, he can 
do much to save time and labor by mulch¬ 
ing many of his crops. While it might 
not pay to buy straw for the purpose, it 
often is possible to get a considerable 
amount of grass beside the road or around 
the outside of the garden.. This grass 
makes a good mulch. I like to use it 
around my sweet peas. Dahlias, Gladioli, 
and if I can get enough of it, in my rasp¬ 
berry patch. My potatoes, as usual, are 
growing through a straw blanket, and 
compare well, in appearance at least, 
with those of my neighbors, although they 
have never been hoed and were planted 
only an inch deep. This is one of the 
best short cuts I have ever come across 
in my garden operations. 
Fighting the Garden Pests. —Ama¬ 
teur gardeners everywhere are beginning 
to realize, apparently, that they can get 
good results by the use of dry sprays and 
avoid a lot of unpleasant work. To tell 
the truth, many gardeners will let the 
bugs get their crops rather than mix up 
messy wet sprays. With a pump or blow- 
gun filled with dry powder, dusting can 
be done at a moment’s notice and without 
soiling one’s clothing. Moreover, there is 
no necessity for cleaning out the pump 
afterwards. I think there is no doubt of 
the fact that dry arsenate of lead is just 
as effective as any wet sprays in combat¬ 
ing all kinds of chewing insects. I sus¬ 
pect that dry Bordeaux is not quite so ef¬ 
fective as the freshly prepared wet mix¬ 
ture. Yet it serves fairly well in a small 
garden if applied early. I understand 
that a much stronger article is being put 
out this season, and one which probably 
will prove more effective than past mix¬ 
tures. 
Tobacco Dust. —Finely ground tobacco 
dust is also a good insecticide, although I 
don’t dare rely upon it when plant lice 
come in hordes, as they sometimes do, at¬ 
tacking almost everything in the garden. 
Then it seems necessary to use either a 
nicotine sulphate preparation or kerosene 
emulsion. One grower recommends put¬ 
ting on these wet sprays with a swab 
theater was crowded with men, women 
and children. 
Nearly 6,000 persons suffered as a re¬ 
sult of Ihe flood at Pueblo. Col., according 
to an official statement issued by the Bed 
Cross June 23. That number includes 
dead, injured, homeless, and persons who 
lost property. Among the number were 
800 foreigners. Up to .Tune 20, the state¬ 
ment said. 1.702 families registered as 
needing assistance. In addition, 3S3 
homeless men applied for aid. According 
to the Bed Cross, GOO houses were de¬ 
stroyed. 
•Tune 25 Samuel Gompers was re-elect¬ 
ed president of the American Federation 
of Labor by a large majority, his oppon¬ 
ent being President Lewis of the Mine 
Workers’ Union. 
The charred bodies of 11 persons be¬ 
lieved to have been murdered were found 
.Tune 20 in the smoking ruins of a farm¬ 
house six miles north of Mayfield, Ivy. 
Every member of two families had per¬ 
ished. Nearly every body was burned be¬ 
yond recognition. Screams of women and 
gunshots were heard by neighbors at mid¬ 
night when the fire broke out. This in¬ 
formation, coupled with the impossibility 
of 11 persons being trapped in one room 
with windows and doors open, convinced 
officers that foul play had been used, but. 
the tragedy is still a mystery. 
The business and residential sections of 
Hampton Beach, N. II., a Summer resort, 
were virtually destroyed by fire that start¬ 
ed in the Strand Hotel June 2G. causing 
damage of from $300,000 to $500,000. No 
one was injured. Defective wiring is 
blamed. The fire burned six hotels, from 
34 to 40 cottages, a theater, a garage, sev¬ 
eral stores and the post office. Help was 
summoned from five nearby towns. Most 
of the hotel guests saved their personal 
belongings. 
William P. Egan, formerly a clerk in 
A Simple Type of Wayside Stand 
made of grass rather than with a pump. 
He dips this swab into the solution and 
rubs it over the leaves. It takes more 
time,, but is likely, I think, to be very 
positive in its results. Tobacco dust is a 
fine thing to use in fighting the striped 
beetle, especially if it is worked into the 
soil around the stems as well as dusted on 
the foliage of cabbages, melons and such 
plants. If these pests are very plentiful, 
it -would pay to make up a nicotine solu¬ 
tion, however, and pour it around the 
steins. This kills the grubs in the soil 
before they reach the surface. 
Cabbage Worms. —Commercial grow¬ 
ers do not hesitate to use arsenate of lead 
to control the cabbage worm, but I find 
that many private gardeners do not like 
to put a virulent poison like this on cab¬ 
bages. There really is no danger, espe¬ 
cially when cabbages are young, as they 
grow from the inside out. Still, the av¬ 
erage amateur also keeps chickens and 
feeds them the surplus cabbage leaves. Of 
course arsenate of lead should not be used 
under such circumstances. Probably 
white hellebore is the second best remedy. 
It works well if fresh, but if stale is use¬ 
less. You can make it go farther and 
stick better by mixing it with a little 
flour, or if you like you can dissolve it, 
using an ounce to three gallons of water. 
One gardener says he protects his plants 
by taking the leaf of a tomato plant and 
crushing it in his hand, after which he 
lays it into the cabbage head. 
E. I. FARRINGTON. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC.—Two Penobscot Indians 
paddled their 17-ft. birch bark canoe into 
the harbor at Plymouth, Mass., June 23, 
after a 300-mile trip down the coast from 
Bangor, Me. The men, J. P. Banee and 
Newell B. Tlioma, left on June G. They 
said their best day’s stage was 50 miles. 
Both men took up quarters at the camp 
of Passamaquoddy Indians, who are at 
Plymouth as a feature of the Pilgrim ter¬ 
centenary celebration. 
Seven persons were killed and many 
seriously injured in the collapse of the 
Grand Theater in Barnesboro. Pa., June 
23. The building gave way in the early 
part of the evening, at a time when the 
the legal department of the Prohibition 
Bureau, was arrested at Washington, D. 
C., June 28, on a charge of bribery. Egan 
was arrested by agents of the intelligence 
division of the Internal Bevenue Bureau, 
who were understood to have been work¬ 
ing on the case for a month or more. 
Officials denied that Egan’s arrest was 
connected with the discovery of an alleged 
fraud in the issuance of permits, for 
which several employes were suspended 
several months ago. 
New York State and the counties where 
road work is being done are saving $500 a 
day as the result of the increased use of 
convicts in highway construction and 
maintenance. At present 250 prisoners 
are building roads, and their number will 
be increased to 350 after July 1. The 
convictslare used principally on town and 
county highways, for which the State 
pays half and the localities half. Prison¬ 
ers have been used in highway work for 
about three years, but never before have 
more than 100 been employed at one time. 
The State pays for the maintenance of 
the prisoners, while the localities provide 
their tools and the camps in which they 
are housed. There are from 10 to 30 men 
at each camp, and each camp is in charge 
of a prison guard and has a convict bar¬ 
ber and cook. The prisoners are eager to 
be assigned to road building, and for the 
most part make excellent workers because 
of their desire to remain at the road build¬ 
ing camps and not be sent back to cells. 
Martin & Martin, a 100-year-old firm 
selling saddlery, leather goods and fancy 
articles at 618 Fifth Ave., New York 
City, and also in Philadelphia and Lon¬ 
don, and Herbert P. Martin, their secre¬ 
tary and treasurer, were indicted July 2S 
by the Federal Grand Jury. They are 
charged with defrauding the Government 
by withholding luxury taxes on articles 
sold. Mr. Martin appeared before Judge 
Knox in the United States District Court 
and pleaded not guilty for himself and his 
firm. He gave $2,000 bail. According to 
Mr. Hayward and Assistant United 
States Attorney Maxwell S. Mattuck, the 
firm was in the habit of making out two 
sales slips for an article on which a lux¬ 
ury tax is imposed. One properly listed 
the article sold, the other named some 
other article on which there is no tax. 
For the second time within 24 hours 
July 0, 1921 
the State nouse at Trenton, N. ,T., was 
struck by lightning June 28. A bolt found 
a GO-ft chimney and shot down into an 
engine room. Lightning the previous day 
entered an elevator shaft and was carried 
down to the Capitol’s basement to an ele¬ 
vator motor. A fire resulted which was 
extinguished with difficulty. The motor 
was destroyed. 
A jury before Federal Judge Garvin in 
Brooklyn took five minutes .Tune 28 to 
convict Domenico Conti of 135 Madison 
8-t., Brooklyn, of smuggling cocaine and 
heroin, and Judge Garvin immediately 
sentenced the man to five years in Atlanta 
prison. It was alleged that Conti had 
trunks with false bottoms which he 
brought into the country recently on the 
Presidente Wilson. Besides drugs, these 
were said to contain jewelrv and birds of 
paradise, all valued at $57,000. Conti will 
be brought back from prison next Fall to 
face other smuggling indictments. 
WASHINGTON. — Complete agree¬ 
ment was reached June 23 by Senate and 
House, conferees on the naval appropria¬ 
tion bill. The measure as agreed on will 
carry approximately $417,000,000. The 
conferees accepted the Senate amend¬ 
ment to create a new bureau of aero¬ 
nautics in the Navy Department, and also 
retained Senate provisions for acquisi¬ 
tion of a thousand-acre tract near Camp 
Kearney. Cal., for an aviation base, but 
cut the Senate $800,000 figure for the 
Sand Point aviation site to .8500.000. 
They also cut the Senate $1,000,000 item 
for the new naval hospital at San Diego 
to $500,000. The Senate amendment of 
$1,499,000 for a submarine and destroyer 
base at Guam was stricken from the bill, 
as was a Senate amendment of $50,000 to 
complete the New London submarine 
base. The measure as agreed to carries 
the Borah amendment requesting and au¬ 
thorizing the President to enter into nego¬ 
tiations for a disarmament conference at 
which the United States, Great Britain 
and Japan would be represented. Senate 
conferees were forced to yield on the Mc¬ 
Lean amendment to enable the building of 
submarines and one transport not now 
under construction and the amendment 
was stricken out. The completed bill pro¬ 
vides for a personnel of 106,000 men as 
compared with 120.000 men provided by 
the Senate and 100.000 by the House. 
Following out the administration’s an¬ 
nounced policy of economy, the War De¬ 
partment since March 4 has cancelled 349 
leases, saving the government $31,531 
monthly in rentals, Secretary W r eeks an¬ 
nounced .Tune 28. The policy of reducing 
expenses would be continued, he said, 
adding that the department now was pre¬ 
paring for the abandonment of the chem¬ 
ical warfare plant at Lakehurst, N. .T. 
The equipment will be removed to the 
Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, and the 
10.000 acres of land sold. It was also an¬ 
nounced that bids soon would be asked on 
many Government plants suitable for 
manufacturing purposes. The total rental 
March 4 was $1,500,000. Mr. "Weeks said. 
One of the biggest items of saving was 
the removal of the headquarters of the 
Second Army Corps area at Boston from 
rented quarters to the army base. The 
amount saved was $50,000 annually. 
To remove all misapprehension about 
the purpose of the United States in with¬ 
drawing its control from the Dominican 
Republic, Secretary of State Hughes 
Juno. 28 instructed the legation at Santo 
Domingo to issue a statement of the in¬ 
tention of this government with reference 
to the republic. In making public the 
statement Secretary Hughes pointed out 
that the terms of the proclamation were 
most favorable to the Dominican people, 
and that it was the object of this govern¬ 
ment to take a most liberal position with 
reference to the future of the republic. 
Two important announcements of fur¬ 
ther plans for the defense of Oahu, the 
island on which Honolulu is situated, 
were made recently by army headquarters 
there. One calls for the formation of a 
railway artillery battalion, as reported 
briefly by wireless, and the other contem¬ 
plates the establishment of a new fort to 
command the entrance to Pearl Harbor, 
the navy’s great base six miles from 
Honolulu. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The third 
annual convention of the American Farm 
Bureau Federation will be held in At¬ 
lanta, Ga., November 22 to 25, inclusive. 
Dr. Livingston Ferrand, chairman of 
the Central Committee of the American 
Red Cross, formerly professor of anthro¬ 
pology at Columbia, and at one time pres¬ 
ident of the University of Colorado, has 
been elected president of Cornell Univer¬ 
sity, and has accepted the office. Dr. Fer¬ 
rand succeeds Dr. Jacob Gould Schurman. 
who resigned a year ago after 28 years in 
the presidency and whose appointment as 
Minister to China was confirmed early in 
June. 
The United States must prepare to 
grow its own timber as the present supply 
becomes exhausted or go without lumber, 
Gifford Pinehot, Chief Forester for Penn¬ 
sylvania and formerly Chief Forester for 
the United States, said June 28 in an ad¬ 
dress before the forestry policy committee 
of the United States Chamber of Com¬ 
merce, meeting in the offices of the Mer¬ 
chants’ Association in the Woolworth 
Building, New York City. Mr. Pinehot 
is opposed to the Snell bill now pending 
in Congress, which has to do with con¬ 
servation. on the grounds that it is not 
sufficiently drastic. He wants conserva¬ 
tion made compulsory and not left to co¬ 
operation between State and Federal gov¬ 
ernments. 
