932 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 28, 1924 
that only need think of his hat and um¬ 
brella. Don’t forget the know-how con¬ 
nected with soils, fertilizers, pastures, 
forage and its curing, vegetables, seeds, 
grains, weeds, woodlot, and a further in¬ 
ventory unlimited that a farmer must un¬ 
derstand or he will break up. I repeat 
that he knows more than anybody else. 
He must. 
Prior to 24 the writer was a hand at 
nearly double wages, $18 and board, and 
he could have been a lawyer, doctor, 
banker or bricklayer in five years. We 
read that a contractor under a penalty 
was to have a building in Shenandoah, 
Va., at a set time, and the bricklayers 
soaked him for $5 an hour, or $40 a day. 
A farmer carries more skill than all that 
class. He handles 20 times the number 
of tools several times more quickly, and 
just as dexterously. Is the farmer, with 
his family’s help, his investment, risk and 
expenses worth the regular $1.50 an 
hour? He is worth more than any of 
them for the knowledge he has, taking 
no account of his farm or its expense, 
and everything is unbalanced, or he 
would get it. He gets far too little, or the 
other gets too much. 
We talk to farmers in the press and on 
platforms, always feeling that the audi¬ 
ence knows more worth while than any 
class on the earth, and knowing they 
should have the highest pay. Just think 
of the men who grow the most essential 
of humanity's needs at the mercy of 
everybody. After showing the extent of 
the knowledge of the farming class, it is 
next in order to say they are deficient in 
one particular—the quality possessed by 
the bricklayer and all others—the means 
to get profit. Did any reader ever see a 
wage-earner hustling long hours, his wife 
and children helping to lower the wages 
or lengthen the hours for themselves? 
Food producers are the only people in 
the world who are guilty of the folly of 
over-production, and none but they ever 
take any price the buyer or employer 
pleases to hand them. The wage-earner 
has a remarkably good plan to get more 
than he is worth per hour and shorten the 
hours so he will be in demand. He knows 
how to do it himself, and is opposed to 
child labor and immigration. Besides, 
he has a member in the President’s Cab¬ 
inet who looks after his interests, not by 
flooding the land with men to increase 
labor, as agriculture does production. We 
insist that farmers should be the best 
paid of any class in city or country, and 
they should be able to pay intelligent 
hands- higher wages than any other wage- 
earner gets, and they can when they do 
it themselves. The avocation will be a 
tail-ender and get worse than at present 
until they do it. w. w. Reynolds. 
Ohio. < »• 
Growing Geraniums from Seed 
On page 782 B. M. L., Canaseraga, N. 
Y., asks about growing geraniums (Zonal 
pelargoniums) from seed. As I have 
some healthy plants which I am growing, 
perhaps my experience ttiay be of benefit 
to the questioner. 
Tiie first question to consider in grow¬ 
ing any plant from seed is the quality of 
the seed sown. Poor seed will not grow 
good plants; therefore we bought our 
seeds from an old reliable seed house. 
They arrived on March 21, and were 
sown in rows in a well-prepared seed flat 
on March 24. The directions said they 
would germinate in about two weeks, 
but on the eighth day I found several 
poking their heads above the dirt. At 
(he end of the third week they had two 
true leaves and were ready for trans¬ 
planting. On April 15 they were set 
about 2 in. apart each way in another 
flat. Every, plant lived, and there are 
now 30 sturdy little plants with four and 
five true leaves, which were transplanted 
into individual pots on May 28. I used 
214 -in. pots for the first planting, and 
will change to larger ones as they need it. 
If they have no setback we shall expect 
them to blossom in the early Autumn, 
and they will make fine blossoming plants 
for next Winter. Although I have grown 
geraniums for years, this is my first at¬ 
tempt at growing them from seed, and I 
am well pleased with my success. 
In answer to when and where the seeds 
should be sown, I would say in a seed flat 
at any time of year when the sower has 
time to take care of the plants. I often 
hear it said that no plant will stand as 
much neglect and live as the geranium, 
and it is true, but they will respond to 
good care as readily as a child. The ger¬ 
anium will grow and blossom in poor 
soil, but their growth will be slow and 
the blossoms will exhaust the plant, caus¬ 
ing it to drop its leaves. Too rich a dirt 
will cause a strong growth of foliage with 
few blossoms. I am using soil taken 
from a place where a pile of barnyard 
manure was left to rot. The dirt of the 
seed flat should not be as rich as for the 
growing plant, and should be loose enough 
in texture to take up water x-eadily. Sift 
it through a coarse sieve; we are using 
one that the masons used to sift sand. 
The sifting will take out all stones and 
larger worms, and also pulverize the dirt. 
Flace in a warm oven for an hour, or 
until the dirt is heated through, to kill all 
worms and seeds of weeds. Allow to cool 
before using. In making the seed flat, 
use the coarse dirt for the bottom, and 
water thoroughly before putting on the 
finer dirt; then water again before sow¬ 
ing the seed. The pelargonium seed xs 
long and narrow, and needs to be covered 
with Vi in. of fine soil, pressed down 
closely over it. By thoroughly watering 
the under soil, less water is needed to De 
applied from the top, and thei*efore less 
danger of disturbing the seeds. Not hav¬ 
ing a glass large enough to cover the flat, 
I used wax paper, fastening it to the 
edge of the box with thumb tacks, which 
are easily removed. The flat was placed 
in a south window, back of the other 
plants, so it did not get the direct sun¬ 
light. The wax paper was not disturbed 
for the first two days; after that it was 
lifted for a while every day and taken otf 
entiiely when germination had take.i 
place. My seedlings will be grown in 
pots on the south porch, where they will 
get plenty of sunlight, and the moisture 
can be regulated and their growth trained 
much better than when set in the ground. 
As the geranium sends out its buds 
from the terminal of the branch, it is 
necessary to have as many branches as 
possible, in order to have many blossoms 
on the plant at the same time. Therefore 
the pinching back process should be,fin 
early to create a bushy growth. A well- 
developed plant will have a small root 
compared with the bushy top. Care 
should be taken not to over-pot; that is, 
the pot should not be too large for the 
root. 
The question of watering is a very im¬ 
portant one. Most directions say leave 
the plants to dry out and then water co¬ 
piously ; that is all right for a mature 
plant whose pot is set in a jardiniere. 
In order to supply the needed moistuie 
for the growing plant it is necessary to 
water often and regularly. After break¬ 
fast, before beginning the day’s work, I 
look over my plants, giving them water, 
removing all dead leaves, and pinching 
back where needed. When out of doors 
the plant will absorb moisture from the 
atmosphere, and the watering should be 
regulated accordingly ; but in the dry at¬ 
mosphere of our furnace-heated house 
sometimes it is necessary to water them 
at night as well as in the morning. When 
the nights become cool in the Fall my 
seedlings will be placed in the sunny 
south window of the living room. If left 
out through the cool nights, the change 
to the warm room will cause them to 
drop their leaves and check their growth. 
The geranium loves the sunlight, but 
will do well without it, if set close to the 
glass in a warm room. I have seen ger¬ 
aniums blossoming in a north window 
where they received no sunlight during 
the Winter months. My brother has a 
large plant, filling an east window under 
a porch, where it gets the sun for only a 
short time in the early morning, and has 
blossomed almost continuously for three 
years. The oldest plant I have known 
was nine years old, and then was caught 
by an early frost in the Fall. The ger¬ 
anium has a large variety of colorings, 
ranging from pure white to deepest red, 
and is an interesting study. 
ROSE VAN BUSKIRK, 
Experience With Dormant Grafts 
In regard to A. E. F.’s dormant cleft- 
grafts, page 859, would say that there 
just happened to be a perfect balance in 
the root and top systems of that particu¬ 
lar tree. He could have easily broken 
it up, and started growth in the scions 
the first year, had he pruned the stock a 
little more rigorously. I have never had 
just exactly this experience myself, and 
am inclined to believe it is very rare. I 
bought 100 Spy trees once, which, when 
they were seven or eight years old, began 
to produce Borne Beauty apples. As the 
bud-moth had been very prevalent for a 
couple of seasons, I decided not to graft 
them, as it would necessitate the extra 
trouble of “bagging” them; so I set in 
buds of the desired variety. Those trees 
are now just 20 years old, and most, if 
not all, of those buds still remain in a 
dormant condition. None of them ever 
started, as the root system had all it 
could do to nourish the well-developed 
top. But I have no doubt that I could 
start vigorous growth even now, in those 
dormant buds, by cutting away more or 
less of the top. 
I have several times had sliagbark 
hickories or sliagbark pecan hybrids re¬ 
main dormant for a year after planting; 
and one straight sliagbark (Casper), 
never started growth until the third year. 
But an apple tree has so much better 
root system than a nut tree, it can with¬ 
stand all manner of shocks better; and 
for that reason I imagine A. E. F.’s ex¬ 
perience to be comparatively rare. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. harvey losee. 
I was intei’ested in the experience of 
A. E. F., who writes of cleft-grafts re¬ 
maining dormant. A year ago I grafted 
a wild apple tx*ee to Northern Spy. I no¬ 
tice that three scions which so far as I 
can see made no growth last year, are 
now starting out like new grafts. These 
grafts are on two different limbs, each 
about 2% in. in diameter. Two of these 
grafts were not inserted as regular cleft- 
grafts, but the scions were merely pushed 
down between the bark and wood. 
Last year the mice girdled a young 
apple tree and made too high and com¬ 
plete job of it for bridge-grafting. I cut 
this tree below the girdle, almost level 
with the ground, and inserted a cleft- 
graft. This was successful and is on the 
way to make another tree. c. S. judge. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. 
As to note on grafts lying dormant for 
a season, some buds of Cortland apples 
put in seedlings in the nursery in Au¬ 
gust, 1922, stayed dormant all of 1923, 
and started up and seem to be growing 
well this Spring. I have not noticed it 
before. Samuel fraser. 
CONTENTS 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, JUNE 28, 1924 
FARM TOPICS 
Connecticut Boy in Czechoslovakia.,929, 930 
New Form of Vermin Poison. 930 
"Lakeweed” as Fertilizer.. 930 
Another View of That Farm Sale..... 931 
The Farmer’s Hire .931, 932 
Black Mustard a Troublesome Weed. 935 
Birds and Thistledown. 935 
Hope Farm Notes.. 936 
LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY 
The Summer Sheep and Her Care..,. 931 
The Milk Situation. 939 
Milk Pool Price for May. 939 
Dairying in the Northwest. 939 
Tuberculosis of Swine. 944 
Fly-bitten Ears ... 944 
A Discussion of Rations. 946 
Feeding Jersey Herd. 946 
THE HENYARD 
A Successful Turkey Plant. 948 
Death of Chicks. 948 
Connecticut Egg-laying Contest. 948 
HORTICULTURE 
European Filberts; Propagating Euonymus.. 933 
Rust on Hollyhocks. 933 
Galls on Maple Leaves; Spraying Ornamentals 935 
WOMAN AND HOME 
The Delicious Health-giving Spinach.935 
Talks with a Trained Nurse... 937 
Mushrooms; a Substitute for Meat. 937 
Boys and Girls.940, 941, 946 
The Pastoral Parson. .. . ... 942 
The Home Ice Cream Business. 942 
Cat-tails for Chair Bottoms.... 942 
The Home Dressmaker.943 
Modern Methods of Canning Meat. 943 
Maple Icing . 943 
The Farm Woman and Her Money. 950 
Now That Eggs Are Plentiful..,. 950 
A Farm Woman’s Notes. 936 
MISCELLANEOUS 
The Northern Migration of Negroes. 930 
Care of Turtle Doves. 935 
Taking Care of Goldfish. 935 
A Tame Woodchuck. 935 
An Owl Decoy for Hawks. 935 
Birds and Suet. 935 
Editorials . 939 
The School Tax and New York City. 939 
Business Slowing Up; Effect on Farmers.... 939 
Countrywide Produce Situation . 946 
Publisher’s Desk . 950 
The Greatest Bargain 
Without Exception 
Men’s khaki cloth shirts, of finest quality and 
workmanship, $3.49 for THREE. We want 
you to order them, and when receiving:, show 
them to your friends. These shirts retail at $2.00 each. We of¬ 
fer them to you at the amazingly low price of $3.49 for THREE. 
They are made of strong khaki cloth, GOVERNMENT STANDARD 
stamped on every shirt, which guarantees its quality; perfectly 
tailored, cut extra full, summer weight, soft turn down collar, 
two extra strong large button down pockets. An ideal shirt for 
work or semi-dress. 
SEND NO MONEY 
rder your shirts from this bargain offer and save yourself 85c. 
on every shirt. Pay postman $3.49 plus postage on arrival 
of shirts. Money back if not satisfied. State size when ordering. 
INTERNATIONAL COMM. HOUSE 
Dept. B 286 433 Broadway New York, N. Y. 
Raphael Asbestos 
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will not run in the Hottest of Weather regardless 
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Money back if not Entirely Satisfied. 
Raphael Asbestos Root Coating Corp. 
Dept. AA 799 Broadway New York City 
CABBAGE PLANTS 
Fine Field Grown 
Cabbage and Collard 
Plants for late set¬ 
ting. Special prices for two weeks, 500, SI.OO; 1,000, 
SI.75; mailed prepaid. Expressed Sl.00 thousand; 
10,000 37.50 Cash. Good Order delivery absolutely 
guaranteed. J. P, COUNCIL!. COMPANY, Franklin, Va. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
Pot-grown plants of HOWARD 17, SAMPLE, SUCCESS and 
DUNLAP, *4 per 100; PROGRESSIVE EVERBEARING, *5 
per 100. Ready for August planting. Order early 
as supply at this price is limited. 
GEO. D. AIKEN Box M Putney, Vermont 
Established in 1880. 
True 
Send for 1924 Catalog 
O UR new 1924 catalog tells how 60,000 
of our trees have a certified, true-to- 
name Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ 
Association seal fastened through a limb 
to stay there until the tree bears tnie-to- 
name fruit as guaranteed. 
Packed by Experts 
Our 44 years of nursery experience has 
taught us the proper method of handling 
and packing young trees so 
they reach you in proper 
condition. 
Orders filled and shipped 
same day as received by us 
or at any time yon desire. 
Write today for your copy of 
the I92i Fall Fruit Book 
Kelly Bros. Nurseries 
1160 Main St., Danjville, N. Y. 
EARP-THOMAS 
Plant Foods and Fertilizers 
SEED INOCULANTS 
Lime and Soil Testers 
Rat Virus to destroy rats and mice 
Write for Valuable Booklet 
EARP-THOMAS FARMOGERM CO. 
260 Washington St., Bloomfield, N. J. 
Tbe 
QUALITY 
BASKET 
Berlin Quart 
That secures highest prices 
for your fruit. Write for 
catalog showing our complete 
line, and secure your baskets 
and crates at FACTORY 
PRICES. 
THE BERLIN FRUIT BOX CO. 
Berlin Height*, Ohio 
Vegetable, Flower and Berry Plants 
Celery, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Pepper, 
Egg Plant, Tomato, Sweet Potato, Kale plants; Holly¬ 
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Marigold, Chinese Pink, Mourning Bride, Portulaca, 
and other annual and perennial flower plants ; pot- 
grown Strawberry plants for August and fall planting ; 
i Tinner Strawberry plants, Raspberry, Blackberry, 
Gooseberi-y, Currant, Grape plants for September 
planting. Catalogue free. 
HARRY L SQUIRES, Hampton Bay*, N. Y. 
DI AIUTC sent by express 
r LMIl I O OR PARCEL POST 
Per 100 600 1,000 6,000 
CABBAGE. SO 30 SO BO $1.25 $ 5 00 
CAULIFLOWER S PEPPER... .65 1 75 3 25 15 00 
TOMATO AND B SPROUTS... .40 1 00 1 50 6 25 
SWEET POTATO.60 1.75 3 00 13 75 
CELERY.50 1 50 2 50 10.00 
Catalog Free. C. E. FIELD, Sewell, N. J. 
MILLIONS Vegetable Plants, 
for late crop ; standard varieties; name 
choice; 300— 75e; 500—$1.25; 1,000—$2; postpaid. $1.25 per 
1,000. by express. Ruby King Peppers, 100—50.-; 1,000— 
$2.50 prepaid. Sat. good order delivery guaranteed. Old 
reliable growers. MAPLE GROVE PLANT FARMS. Franklin, Virginia 
XT* O R JS» A L E 
Two Million Tomato Plants ®.*1.50 per 1.000 
Two Million Celery Plants @. 3.00 per 1,000 
Two Million Cabbage Plants®.... 1.50 per 1,000 
All plants from selected stock seed. 
CALl'IB HOGGS «fc SONS 
Seed and Plant Farm Cheswold, Delaware 
Millions of Cabbage celeuy^ib".."^ 
-2 — from June 20tl>, 
$2.50 per M ; $1.75 per 500. .Special prices on large 
orders. Early Snowball Cauliflower plants, $3.50 per 
M straight. All kinds of plants, shrubs, trees, orna¬ 
mentals, etc. Wells M. Dodds, North Rose, N. Y. 
Cabbage and Tomato Plants 
500 for $1.25 ; $2.25 per 1,000, P. Paid. Aster, Scar¬ 
let Sage, 25c per dozen. DAVID RODWAY, Kartly. Delaware 
COW 3F»E AS For Sale 
Peas, *3.65 bu. SIMPSON BROTHERS, Milford, Delaware 
9 flflfl flllfl CABBAGE PLANTS. Leading varieties. 
4,UUU,UUU Early and late. Prepaid, 100—45e ; 500 
—$1,25; 1,000—$2.25. Express, 5,000—$7.50. Satisfaction 
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Five Solid Acres Early Glory, Copenhagen Market 
and Danish Cabbage Plants. Ready from June 15 to July 
15. *1.50 per 1,000. C. J. STAFFORD, Cortland, New York 
70 
Blooming Gladiolus, $1 . No two alike. Dahlias. 
Cannas. Circular. A. S1IEILM.4N, Chicopee Falls, Mass* 
New Fairbanks Portable Plattorm Scales 6 “^: 
ity, $«G Just what you need. JOHN T. EAGAN, Lebanon, NX 
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binder™? 
Easy 
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Iv 
WATER WHEN YOU NEED IT 
The only real water insurance is an engine that will pump plenty of water whenever 
you need. it. During hot, dry spells the 
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unu teas Exclusive Engine Manufacturers 
tolisV* o Established 1840 
the beat 64 R °W© Street, Madison, Wls. 
