^ RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
783 
THE MAILBAG 
Soot for Fertilizer 
I have a quantity of wood soot from 
stove and chimney flues. What is its 
value, for the garden, as compared with 
wood ashes? Is there danger to plants 
if it is spread too close to them? 
Lancaster, O. N. j. w. 
The soot varies quite a little in an¬ 
alysis, but its chief value lies in its nitro¬ 
gen. A fair sample may contain about 2 
per cent of nitrogen, 2% per cent of pot¬ 
ash and a small amount of phosphorus, 
with 10 per cent of lime. Coal soot con¬ 
tains more nitrogen, but little if any pot¬ 
ash and phosphoric acid. Wood ashes 
contain no nitrogen, but are about one- 
third lime, with 5 per cent of potash. 
The soot and the ashes may be used to¬ 
gether and are not substitutes for each 
other. Many English gardeners think 
highly of soot, and often use it mixed or 
dissolved in water. They think it kills 
some insects, and it has a good effect in 
darkening some light-colored soils, so as 
to make them warmer. We should not 
put it within four inches of plants. 
Turpentine as Crow Repellent 
As it comes around to the time of year 
when we farmers are planting field and 
silage corn, if we are in localities where 
Mr. Crow lives we will be using every 
kind of device for his non-benefit, even 
from “white mule” to pine tar. Here is 
my way of hindering Mr. Crow. For 
each quart of corn take a tablespoon of 
just plain everyday turpentine and pour 
over the corn, then shake it up well and 
plant. Mr. Crow will pull up but one 
kernel. I have used this, and my friends 
have also, and never have had a failure. 
Pennsylvania. Charles sebring. 
Keeping Dahlia Roots 
Last Fall I wrote to The R. N.-Y. In 
regard to keeping Dahlia roots over Win¬ 
ter, in a pit, but fortunately a neighbor 
kindly offered me space in his cellar. As 
he did not expect to stay all Winter, it 
being a rented house, some way had to 
be found to have them in shape for 
quick removal if necessary. They were 
dug and dried several hours in the sun, 
the tops of course cut off. Barrels, the 
slightly open kind, in which bananas, 
etc., are shipped, were used; a layer of 
salt meadow hay, then a layer of roots, 
not touching each other; more hay ; then 
roots, until the barrel was full, the last 
layer of hay. Then a piece of fine wire 
screening was securely tacked over the 
top. On opening them this Spring the 
roots were as “plump” and fresh as when 
dug, and soon started to sprout. 
MRS. j. R. L. 
Crickets on Tomatoes and Strawberries 
The inquiry of M. R. B. in regard to 
crickets eating strawberries interested 
me, because I have had some experience 
with crickets. 
I set out 100 Red Rock tomato plants 
every year. I want to tell why I raise 
Red Rock tomatoes, and advise anyone 
who has not tried them to do so. They 
are a large, very smooth tomato, very 
solid, with but few seeds. They are red 
to the core and red to the end of the 
season, not getting brassy, as some va¬ 
rieties do late in the season. Just be¬ 
fore the plants begin to sag I put a heavy 
mulch on the ground. This answers a 
threefold purpose. It conserves the mois¬ 
ture ; keeps the weeds down and keeps 
the fruit clean. I find, too, that the to¬ 
matoes ripen more evenly than they 
would if lying on the ground. 
Last year I put the tomatoes on the 
same ground where they were the pre¬ 
vious season and used coarse weeds for a 
mulch. This made a great breeding place 
for the crickets, of which there must 
have been a big crop n the ground from 
the previous season. There were thou¬ 
sands of them. I have seen three large 
crickets in a big hole in a tomato. They 
destroyed at least two-thirds of the crop. 
I let my chickens out and herded them 
into the tomato patch. They ate tomatoes, 
but paid no attention to the crickets. I 
had a strawberry patch next to the to¬ 
matoes. About one-third of the straw¬ 
berries had holes eaten in them. This 
was not done by birds. Birds make a 
cone-shaped hole, -and these were wider 
than deep, and I am positive they were 
made by the crickets. If the strawberries 
had been large enough I am sure I would 
have found them making themselves at 
home there, as in the tomatoes. 
This year I am not going to mulch. If 
I were where I coull cut some saplings 
I would stake them, which is, I suppose, 
the best plan. But cut lumber is too ex¬ 
pensive. dr. j. b. butts. 
The inquisitive old lady was bending 
over the bed of a wounded soldier whose 
head was swathed with cotton and linen. 
Were you wounded in the head, my 
boy?” she asked. “No’m,” replied a faint 
voice. “I was shot in the foot and the 
bandage has slipped up.”—The American 
Legion Weekly. 
11 
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I 
n 
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