•P* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1333 
Composting Leaves with Lime 
On page 1210 you say lime and leaves 
make a good compost. Will you tell me 
what kind of lime, whether ground lime¬ 
stone or hydrated, and in what quanti¬ 
ties? I have a small pit, 3 ft. deep by 
6x12 ft. If I put in 6 in. of leaves and 
tamp them, and then sprinkle lime and 
another layer of leaves, and so on. how 
much lime between each layer? E. L. b. 
Crosswicks, N. .T. 
We are surprised at the interest taken 
in this matter. Dozens of our readers 
apparently propose to make the leaves 
into a compost. There is considerable 
, plant food in ordinary forest leaves. They 
also contain an acid, which should be 
neutralized before they are fit for fer¬ 
tilizer. Air-slaked lime is good to use 
with the leaves. Our plan would be to 
fill this pit about 9 in. or a foot deep 
with leaves, thoroughly packed down. If 
the leaves are dry, pour on enough water 
to make them damp, and pack them down 
hard. Then scatter on enough lime thor¬ 
oughly to whiten the surface. Seven or 
8 lbs. ought to be enough for one appli¬ 
cation. Then put on more leaves and 
pack down in the same way, with more 
lime to follow. If possible to obtain it. 
throw in with each layer a small quantity 
of chicken manure or fine stable manure, 
and if it can be done conveniently, pour 
in the waste from the house. Keep the 
pit well stamped down and build up the 
compost layer by layer, as here described. 
If it is possible to do so. work the com¬ 
post over once or twice during the Win¬ 
ter, using a manure fork so as to thor¬ 
oughly mix the compost. If this is well 
done you will have in the Spring a quan¬ 
tity of compost nearly or quite equal to 
•ordinary manure. It seems easy to do 
this, but you will find that raking up and 
gathering the leaves is a good deal of a 
job. They are so light and bulky that it 
is rather difficult to handle them rapidly. 
If they are to be raked up for burning, 
as is usually the case, you will find it far 
more economical to handle them in your 
pit rather than to make a bonfire of them. 
Cleaning a Musty Barrel 
Some time ago you published a recipe 
for cleaning musty or dirty barrels, even 
making oil barrels fit for cider use. Be¬ 
fore I copied' it someone borrowed the 
paper. I have not found it and cannot 
recall the formula. c. N. W. 
Englishtown, N. J. 
The most practical method is to scrub 
the barrel inside with a hot solution of 
lye. Dissolve the lye in boiling water and 
pour it into the barrel. Then scrub thor¬ 
oughly with a stiff brush or old broom. 
Rinse well, and then if possible have the 
barrel put over a jet of live steam and let 
this steam play into it for at least an 
hour. This, of course, means a case 
where one head of the barrel can be 
taken out and replaced after cleaning. If 
the head cannot be removed, hot lye can 
be put in the bunghole and well shaken 
or rolled about. Then steam through the 
bunghole. We doubt if oil or tar barrels 
can be made fit in this way. 
Moving Large Grapevines 
I have about 30 grapevines on the west 
side of my house, and wish to move them 
over to the east side, where the big vine¬ 
yard is located. Would you tell me what 
would be the proper method and when 
the proper time of year to move them? 
They aTe Concord and still have grapes 
on vines. E. A. L. 
Ferguson, Mo. 
It does not seem practical to move ma¬ 
ture grapevines, as new plants can be so 
cheaply purchased, and success is much 
more certain than is possible through 
moving bearing vines. If the variety be 
especially valued, cuttings may be taken 
this Fall and planted out in the garden 
next Spring. From these plants will be 
available the following season. The 
writer has moved vines not over five 
years planted that required three seasons 
to recover. 
When so large vines are to be moved 
it can best te done in late Fall after the 
soil has frozen to some depth. The plants 
are then dug with a ball of earth sur¬ 
rounding the roots and placed in holes 
large and deep enough to receive the ball 
without disturbing the roots contained 
therein. After the vine has been thus 
placed, the soil should be thoroughly com¬ 
pacted so that the space between the edge 
of the hole and the rim of the ball is 
made continuous. In the Spring the top 
growth should be severely cut back, leav¬ 
ing as a maximum not over six buds for 
shoot development. If clusters of grapes 
show from these they should be cut off 
and no fruit allowed to develop. F. E. g. 
Your Money Back—Read 
The Guarantee Behind 
One of the apple orchards which justify the 
faith we have in Scalecide as expressed by our 
Guarantee printed below. Start this year to 
make your orchard better—use Scalecide, 
\A/E GUARANTEE that, if you 
will divide an orchard, your worst 
or best, in two parts equal in general 
condition, and for three years spray 
one part with SCALECIDE according 
to our directions and the other part 
with lime sulfur, giving the same sum- 
mer treatment to both parts, the part 
sprayed with SCALECIDE will be bet¬ 
ter than the part sprayed with lime- 
sulfur—in the judgment of three dis¬ 
interested fruit growers—or we will 
refund the money you have paid for 
the Scalecide. 
Y OUK-Money-Back” Guarantee is based 
upon 17 years of experience. Take the 
8-year-old orchard shown at the left as an 
example. These trees were dipped in Scale¬ 
cide, root and branch, before planting and 
have been sprayed annually with Scalecide 
ever since. And there are innumerable other 
instances where year-after-year spraying with 
Scalecide has helped to put orchards in the 
same excellent condition. Scalecide controls 
scale, fire blight canker, pear psylla and 
aphis—and it does more; it has an invigorat¬ 
ing effect upon trees and foliage, insuring 
plumper fruit spurs and a better chance for 
fruit the following year. Spray with Scalecide! 
Scalecide Makes More Vigorous Trees 
According to the U. S. census report, 47% of the 
apple trees living in 1910 are now dead. During 
this same period we have not lost 2% in old or young 
trees, altho in 1910 one-quarter of a 3000-tree orchard 
which we took over was dying and today we have 
21,000 apple trees from one to forty years old. Why 
has our loss been so small ? Largely because we dip 
young trees in Scalecide before planting—apple trees, 
root and branch; peach trees, tops only—and then 
faithfully spray with Scalecide. Read our Guarantee. 
Write today for prices. Address Dep’t 16. 
B. G. PRATT COMPANY 
50 Church Street New York City 
W THE COMPLETE DORMANT SPRAY / 
Save the Fruit 
Why are the home orchards dying? Because they are not sprayed 
—there is no other answer. Unless you spray, you are going to lose 
your trees. A Hardie Sprayer will save them and earn big profits 
from them. There is a Hardie right in size, price, and capacity, no 
matter how large or how small your orchard. 
Write for catalogue of the complete Hardie line 
HARDIE MANUFACTURING CO., Hudson, Mich. 
Branche> at: Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, Calif., Kansas City, Mo. 
Hagerstown, Md., Brockport, N. Y., Petrolia, Ont- 
HEAT STOCK FOOD 
It Pays Big! 
Your stock will thrive on 
warm food. They’ll give 
more and better milk ; Hogs 
have larger frames and more 
solid meat; Hens lay better. 
Have lots of hot water for 
scalding; boil spraying mix; 
render lard; boil sorghum or 
sap; heat water for stock; 
for washday; preserve fruit. 
Farmers* Favorite Feed Cooker 
Burns chunks, long sticks, cobs—anything. Guaran¬ 
teed. Write for prices. 
CHAMPION MILK COOLER CO. 
Dept. 201 Cortland, N. Y. 
Succeesor to Lewis Manufacturing: Co. 
CRo 
Less Wood 
Buy Less Coal 
Is your wood lot nearly chopped off, or is it 
costing you too much to cut and draw the wood ? 
Isn’t your time worth more put on other work ? 
Why cut more wood or burn more coal than is 
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in Winter.” 
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IEW-IDEA 
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Made doubly interesting by the little figures of 
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or Canada on receipt of 
Agent* Wanted. 
DAVID WHITE, Depl 114,419 E Water Si., Mdwiukee, Wi». 
njiv vviiiv 
$ 1.25 
Send for 
Catalog 
FARM WAGONS 
High or low wheels— 
steel or wood—wide 
or narrow tires. 
Wagon parts of all 
kinds. wheels to fit 
, any running gear. 
Catalog illustrated in colors free. 
Electric Wheel Co.. 48 Eta S(..Quincy,UL 
B , MAKIi A DOM,Alt AN II01!It. SELL MEN1IET8 
agents a patent patch for instantly mending leaks 
© in all utensils. Sample package free. 
COLLETTE MEG. CO.. Dept. 108, Amsterdam, N.Y. 
F 
When you write advertisers mention 
The Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get 
a quick reply and a “square deal. ” See 
guarantee editorial page. : : 
] 
