TV RURAL NEW.VORKER 
I )-j\ 
General Farm Topics 
A Mulch for Strawberries 
What is the proper time for mulching 
strawberries, and would chicken manure 
anolied dry be beneficial? Also, when 
in doubt about anything pertaining to ag- 
riculture may I write you and find out? 
Can I improve a small pasture by plant¬ 
ing kudzu roots or seed, whichever best, 
if it will grow iu this climate? c. H. M. 
('on necticut. 
We plan to put on the mulch as soon 
as the ground freezes hard. The object 
of this cover is not to prevent freezing, 
but to held the frost in the ground. 
Strawberry plants are not injured by 
freezing. The damage is done by quick 
changes in the weather, which cause the 
upper soil first to freeze and then thaw. 
The freezing lifts the plant a little and 
then leaves the roots each exposed. If 
this be kept up the plant will finally be 
lifted too far out. so that the roots are 
killed. Chicken manure is not a good 
mulch unless it is well filled with straw or 
litter. The plant must have air during 
the Winter or it will die. Chicken ma¬ 
nure, sawdust, forest leaves and similar 
substances will pack down over the plant 
and smother it. The best mulch is coarse 
and open, like cornstalks, straw or coarse 
manure. Chicken manure is a good fer¬ 
tilizer. but its value is increased by using 
acid phosphate with it. All we can do 
is to suggest a trial of kudzu. Plant the 
roots and watch it. We have not gone 
far enough with if yet to be sure. 
Dewberries from Root Cuttings 
The R. N.-Y. says, relative to dew¬ 
berries, that root cuttings make better 
plants than tips. I have been growing a 
great many dewberry plants, yet have 
always grown by the tip method. I am 
much interested in what you say about 
growing them from root cuttings, and 
wish information as to just how you pro¬ 
ceed to grow them in this way. v. R. A. 
Seaford, Del. 
It is just as simple to make root cut¬ 
tings of the dewberry as of the other 
blackberries and raspberries of the i'ed 
type. Make cuttings of the leading roots 
about 2 to 3 iu. long at this season. Boi’e 
holes in the bottom of a box large enough 
to hold the cuttings, with earth to cover 
them. Place some sphagnum over the 
holes and then a layer of soil and a layer 
of root cuttings, alternately, to fill the 
box. Bury the box on a high sandy knoll 
till March. Then about the middle of 
March, if the soil is in good working 
order, plant the root cuttings in shallow 
furrows wide enough apart for cultiva¬ 
tion. and about 0 in. in the rows. Cover 
and roll the soil close to them. They 
will make nice plants by the Fall. 
w. F. MASSEY. 
Lime on Sandy Soil 
I have heard many different tales about 
light sandy soil never needing any lime, 
on the ground that it is so leaehy the 
rains would wash it below cultivation be¬ 
fore it could have any effect on vegeta¬ 
tion. Can this be true?- T. h. ii. 
New York. 
We have seen light lands covered with 
sorrel, and as sour as any soil could be. 
Lime will help such soils in two ways. It 
will correct the acidity, and also help the 
mechanical condition. It. does this on 
much the same principle that lime makes 
mortar when mixed with sand. The lime 
binds the soil together, and makes it more 
compact, so that it will hold water. On 
a clay soil the lime will have exactly the 
opposite effect. The trouble with the 
heavy clay soil is that the soil particles 
are too fine, so that they pack closely 
together. The lime acts to bring these 
fine particles together, so that the soil be¬ 
comes more porous and gives better drain¬ 
age. 
Farm Bureau Meeting 
Part II. 
To a considerable extent the program 
of the convention fell down on the adver¬ 
tised headliners. Bernard Baruch. Sen¬ 
ator Capper and Senator Kenyon failed 
to appear. But a number of excellent 
speeches were had, and there was no feel¬ 
ing of scantiness concerning the program. 
Henrv Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture, 
on Wednesday morning gave an excellent 
address, touching rather briefly upon some 
of the economic problems of the day. and 
then going into detail as to certain Mans 
he has under way to make the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture more useful to the 
average farmer. The secretary feels that 
the department can be made to function 
very effectively iu a marketing way in 
co-operating with the various commodity 
marketing organizations. Me feels that 
the department is particularly well fitted, 
with some additions and changes, to 
handle the market information side of the 
service problem. 
The address that gave the visiting 
farmers the best idea of the economic 
problems before them and the solutions 
proposed was that of Representative Sid¬ 
ney Anderson of Minnesota. Mr. Ander¬ 
son. as chairman of the joint commission 
of agricultural inquiry in Congress, has 
conducted during the past four months 
a most searching inquiry into the causes 
of our present agricultural troubles and 
the possible remedies, and was in position 
to talk straight to the point. In the 
course of these investigations Mr. Ander¬ 
son’s commission has appointed more than 
200 committees and 3.000 voluntary co- 
operators to help secure the needed data. 
The commission has found out that while 
in 1913 the a verage farmer’s income, al¬ 
lowing five per cent on the investment, 
was $444; in 1919 it was $1,450; in 1920 
it was back to $465. When expressed iu 
terms of purchasing power, however, the 
averages stand $444 in 1913, $833 in 
1919. and only $219 in 1920. 
ilr. Anderson showed why it is that 
few farmers living at any distance from 
market can afford to purchase farming 
implements and supplies this year. He 
took the case of a farmer living at Spring- 
field. Ill., and another living at Oklahoma 
City, who desired to purchase four im¬ 
plements—a wagon, a gang plow, a corn 
binder, and a grain binder. “At Spring- 
field, Ill., these would have cost in 1913. 
$441 ; in 1920 they cost $847. and iu 1921. 
$700. At Oklahoma City they cost $484, 
$934. and $752 in the respective years. 
“Let us assume that in order to buy 
these implements the farmer had to sell 
his corn or wheat in Chicago and pay the 
freight, either directly or indirectly. The 
freight rate went up about 70 per cent. 
In addition, the number of bushels of corn 
which the farmer had to ship to Chicago 
in order to buy the.se implements in¬ 
creased from about 950 bushels to over 
2.000 bushels at Springfield, and over 
4,000 bushels at Oklahoma City. This 
was the result: On the total transaction 
at Oklahoma City the freight involved 
was in 1913 $130. but in 1921 it was 
$1,110. In other words, the total freight 
bill paid on the transaction in corn and 
implements was over 50 per cent more 
than the total cost of the implements.” 
Mr. Anderson stated that their investi¬ 
gations showed that in general the con¬ 
sumer’s dollar is divided as follows: 
About 37 cents to the producer, whether 
he be farmer or manufacturer; about 14 
cents in profits, and about 49 cents for 
distribution costs. The recommendations 
which Mr. Anderson’s commission expects 
to pass on to Congress will include prompt 
passage of a bill recognizing the right of 
the farmer to combine with other farmers 
to market his products; the passage of 
legislation to meet the farmers’ credit 
needs; the extension of the statistical di¬ 
visions of the Department of Agriculture; 
provision for agricultural attaches in for¬ 
eign countries; standardization of con¬ 
tainers. and any legislation that may be 
needed to bring agricultural prices into 
proper adjustment with the prices of 
other commodities. 
The various marketing committees told 
about, their marketing plans. The fruit 
marketing committee of 21 held its first 
meeting just preceding the convention, 
and elected .Tames Nichol of South Ilaven, 
Mich., chairman. In addition to the ex¬ 
ecutive eommitteee. six other committees 
were appointed to develop special features 
of the work. 
The report of Secretary C. O. Moser of 
the American Cotton Growers’ Exchange, 
was particularly interesting and sugges¬ 
tive. This organization in the short 
space of 18 months has signed up more 
than 100.000 members in Oklahoma, Ar¬ 
kansas, and Texas, on a five-year iron¬ 
clad contract to market all their cotton 
through a pool. This year they are 
handling $50,000,000 worth of cotton, 
and are showing large and very apparent 
advantages for their members. They ex¬ 
pect to cover the South in another year. 
Woman’s part in the Farm Bureau came 
in for extensive discussion. About 100 
women were present at the meeting. A 
difference of opinion developed between 
the women of the mid-Western States and 
those of New York and some of the other 
States where the women have had a sep¬ 
arate Home Bureau for some time. The 
question was as to whether the single 
membership should include the whole fam¬ 
ily and the women be given merely a part 
in the regular Farm Bureau .or 'whether 
two separate but co-ordinating bodies 
should exist. Extended discussion failed 
to bring a definite settlement of this ques¬ 
tion. and it was decided to put a secre¬ 
tary in charge of a woman’s department 
in the American Farm Bureau Federation 
and go ahead another year in the hopes 
that any differences in opinion may be 
composed by that time. 
On the whole, it may be said that the 
general feeling of the delegates was one 
of optimism and good cheer, despite the 
fact that financial conditions in many 
States are undoubtedly bad. The failure 
of many members to renew is also causing 
a great deal of concern, but most dele¬ 
gates are inclined to attribute this very 
largely to lack of ready money. 
For Farm Homes 
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home. 
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eliminate any possibility of the appearance 
of your roof being spoiled in this manner. 
2. The especially heavy back and surface 
coatings, of true Ruberoid quality, not only 
give this shingle longer life than the ordi¬ 
nary but also improve the looks of a roof 
due to the extra thickness of the shingle 
which results. 
3. Due to its patented form, the Ruberoid 
Strip-shingle offers you a wide and pleas¬ 
ing variation in design. Attractive varia¬ 
tions in line and color are readily obtained 
from this one type of shingle. A booklet 
showing these designs will be sent on 
request. 
Ruberoid Strip-shingles are, of course, highly deco¬ 
rative. The surfacing of crushed slate in a deep, 
rich red, or a cool, attractive green helps impart 
an air of distinction to any home. 
Ruberoid Strip-shingles reduce the cost of shin¬ 
gling because their application is so simple. They 
are self-spacing. No chalk lines are necessary. 
Only five nails for each strip. 
Ask the dealer from whom you buy lumber and 
building supplies about Ruberoid Strip-shingles. 
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