Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1009 
Ruralisms 
Culture of Lilac 
If lilac bushes are trimmed and taken 
care of about like fruit trees, will they 
branch out and have more flowers? Can 
they be put in hedges? Tell me how to 
care for and transplant them. s. c. Y. 
Elmira, N. Y. 
The common lilac grows naturally in 
bush form; heavy pruning is not called 
for, but it is an advantage to remove the 
flower cluster as soon as it is faded, not 
permitting the plant to form seeds. Any 
further trimming should be done imme¬ 
diately after bloom is past; pruning in 
Winter or Spring will destroy a large 
part of the flower buds. An open sunny 
situation, with a rich, rather moist soil, 
is desirable, but lilacs grow well in al¬ 
most any soil. A mulch of well-rotted 
manure, applied in the Fall, and worked 
lightly into the surface soil in Spring, is 
desirable. They may be transplanted in 
the Fall, or very early in Spring; as they 
come into growth very quickly in Spring, 
Fall planting is more convenient. Lilacs 
are often planted in hedge form with sat¬ 
isfactory results. 
Propagating Catalpa and 
Blue Spruce 
1. What stock is used to graft on for 
Catalpa Bungei? 2. Will Bechtel’s flow¬ 
ering crab grow on standard apple trees 
or on French crab seedlings? 3. Where 
can I secure the proper information on 
growing Colorado Blue spruce from seed? 
Arendtsville, Pa. c. w. M. 
1. Both Catalpa speciosa and Catalpa 
bignonioides are used as stocks for Ca¬ 
talpa Bungei. 
2. Bechtel’s flowering crab is common¬ 
ly worked on standard apple stocks or on 
French crab seedlings. 
3. We have published in these columns 
from time to time directions for growing 
Colorado blue spruce from seed. The 
State College of Forestry at Syracuse, N. 
Y. will give you full information. 
H. B. T. 
Chance for Late Vegetables 
Last Summer I bought this house of 'll 
rooms, and expected to board some of the 
better class of help from the mill near 
by ; bought extra furniture that I needed, 
and got into a little debt. I have 40 hens, 
but with eight boarders and no help of 
any kind, I did not attempt to do much 
with them, or to plant a garden of any 
kind. The mill has shut down. Here I 
am, no garden or any income now, and 
the last of June. I have a garden 75 ft. 
square, and not planted. Do you know 
of a crop I could put in that would bring 
in some money—string beans, corn, car¬ 
rots, etc.? I have all Summer now on 
my hands, with nothing to do, and no in¬ 
come, for the boarders had to leave. My 
two children of eight and 10, a girl and 
boy, can help. The village here is quite a 
size, and I could sell readily what I 
could raise, as it would be fresh and first- 
class stuff, such as they cannot buy from 
peddlers. I am near three villages and 
could sell quite a lot. mbs. c. h. 
Rhode Island. 
There are a number of late crops which 
pay well. In many localities where there 
are foreigners, yellow turnips pay well. 
We have made a fair profit on late string 
beans and spinach, and a small patch of 
cabbage of high quality will bring some 
money. Carrots will pay, but it is a little 
late for sweet corn. Probably the most 
profitable crop would be celery. If that 
can be well grown it will find a sure sale 
in most markets, probably bringing more 
per square rod than any other vegetable. 
Dormant Nut Tree Grafts 
On page 859 A. E. F. mentions the in¬ 
stance of apple tree grafts remaining dor¬ 
mant the season in which they were set 
and growing the next season. I do not 
recall that I have ever seen this with 
apple grafts, but I have known it to 
happen with nut-tree grafts. After all, 
this is not go strange. Grafting and bud¬ 
ding are both essentially the same thing, 
namely, getting a bud from one tree to 
grow on another. Only in grafting we 
use more of the wood with the bud or 
buds. Chip-budding is midway between 
ordinary budding and ordinary grafting, 
because in chip-budding considerable of 
the wood is set with the bud. Of course 
it is familiar that in ordinary budding 
the bud remains dormant until the next 
year. 
If a graft is set late in the season it 
may make union with the stock, but since 
the push of sap is then over there may 
not be enough of it to start the buds to 
growing until the push comes again the 
next Spring. w. c. deming. 
Why Grapes Fall Off 
When an otherwise healthily growing 
grapevine does not and cannot carry its 
load of grapes to maturity, and they are 
observed to become discolored and drop 
off from time to time until but few if 
any remain, it is self-evident the cause 
is that the soil lacks that particular ele¬ 
ment required by the vine to carry it9 
load of grapes to maturity, and the thing 
lacking is phosphorus. An effectual cure 
for this defect will be found in supplying 
what the vine needs, which can be accom¬ 
plished by digging several holes near the 
root system of such vines, and burying 
therein such scraps of meat, small dead 
animals or fowls, fish, bones, etc., as may 
be secured on the farm from time to time. 
The above experiment was tested by me 
40 years ago, and is effective of most sat¬ 
isfactory results at little or no expense. 
Florida. j. J. p. 
Cost of Greenhouses 
Will you give me a good estimate and 
proper dimensions for building a green¬ 
house 40x20-ft. foundation? Would be 
built on the farm, with steam heat from 
our own plant. j. c. 
Brentwood, N. Y. 
I can only give a possible estimate, 
based upon cost of email new greenhouses 
erected in our vicinity recently. I have 
not erected a house for a few years, and 
do not know cost of materials. It should 
be possible to erect a house for consider¬ 
ably less than the greenhouse building 
firms charge for the complete job, if you 
purchase the materials and erect with 
local mechanics. 
Two houses erected in our county last 
year, 49 ft. wide by 150 and 175 ft. long, 
cost $13,000 and $15,000, respectively. 
This was erected complete, with packing 
shed, small garage and boiler cellar. The 
concrete side walls were not included, be¬ 
ing erected by local labor; also all dig¬ 
ging and grading was done locally. 
A smaller house erected in a similar 
substantial manner would cost more per 
square foot of area, the side walls and 
ventilating machinery being the same as 
used in a wider house. The narrow house 
could be pipe frame, with 2%-in. or 2%- 
in. sash bars, which would lower con¬ 
struction cost. The above-mentioned esti¬ 
mates are for iron frame houses. Wood 
and pipe houses would cost possibly 25 
per cent less. E. J. w. 
Repelling Striped Beetle and 
Flea Beetle 
Burned shell (oyster) lime will cer¬ 
tainly keep the striped beetle and the 
black flea (hopping) beetle off cucum¬ 
bers and watermelons. We applied this 
while dew was on in early stages of 
growth without injury to plant. We do 
not have to use after plant roughs out. 
and do not know whether it would injure 
plant in later growth, but suppose not. 
I have tried tobacco dust, etc. These 
soon lost their repellent power. But this 
year I used burned shell lime, and it does 
the trick. Cheap, easily applied (with a 
drill or duster) and good for the land. 
If rain washes off, apply again. Applied 
before plants are up is a good way. Land 
plaster (gypsum) is second best. Every 
cucumber season has been a terror to me 
for 20 years. I consider this discovery 
such a real boon that I feel it my duty to 
pass it on. e. l. w. 
Portsmouth, Ya. 
Canning Mushrooms 
In answer to the lady who inquired 
how to can mushrooms gathered from the 
fields, would say that I have canned 
them very successfully. First lay them 
in water for a few minutes to soak, then 
wash in several waters and drain in a 
colander, put in stew kettle and let come 
slowly to a boil, until all are withered 
down. Do not add any water. Season 
with salt and pepper as for table use. 
Put in glass jars and then cook for at 
least 30 minutes in hot water (same as 
cold pack). It is not necessary to peel 
off the skin, as it cooks tender, and 
saves much time and waste, mbs. f. b. 
Your Boy Can 
Handle This 
T wo-W ay Plow 
Your boy can take a man’s place in the field with the John 
Deere-Syracuse Two-Way Plow. He will enjoy riding it 
and you will like the work it does. It is simple—easy to 
understand—nothing complicated or confusing. 
John Deere 
Syracuse Two-Way Plow 
Built in the East for the East 
is self-guiding. The driver’s hands 
are free to manage the team. Pres¬ 
sure of the foot on a lever angles 
the frame to the exact degree de¬ 
sired when plowing on hillside or 
in irregular fields. This enables 
you to maintain furrows of even 
width and relieves the team of 
side strain on the hills. 
Equipped with right- and left- 
hand bottoms—all the soil is 
thrown the same way. No dead 
furrows or back ridges. 
Extra wide bearing base pre¬ 
vents plow from tipping on the 
hills. 
Automatic shifting hitch main¬ 
tains the correct line of draft. 
Automatic horse lift raises bot¬ 
toms. Hand levers serve same 
purpose when operator is walk¬ 
ing—handy when obstructions are 
encountered. 
All steel and malleable frame 
gives lighter weight and greater 
strength. Riveted. 
Designed especially for plowing 
in stony, hilly land. Does excel¬ 
lent work on the level, being espec¬ 
ially valuable in irregular fields. 
The mechanism cannot get out 
of order. 
Let your boy try out this plow at your John Deere dealer’s. Write today to John 
Deere, Moline, Ill., and ask for FREE BOOKLET ET-437. It tells all about the 
Two-Way Sulky. 
THE TRADE MARK OF QUALITY MADE FAMOUS BY GOOD IMPLEMENTS 
MOLINE. ILL. 
S MALL under-grades—sound windfall* as well 
as select hand-picked apples—all can be made 
to pay you “Grade A” prices and big profit*. 
Follow this plan: Grade your apples carefully— 
sell the Grade-A fruit at top market price* and 
convert the remainder of the crop into sweet cider 
efnd cider products. Leading horticulturists advise 
it. The most successful apple growers are doing it. 
It’s the only way to get maximum profits from your 
apple crop. 
Big Profits in Custom Pressing 
Nearly every farmer has apples to press. Business is easy 
to get—big daily output—profits soon pay for press. 
Mount Gilead Presses were the first hydraulic cider presses 
built. Better presses for half a century. Write for booklet, 
“A Golden Harvest from Your Under-Grade Apples.” 
The Hydraulic Press Mfg. Co. 
137 Lincoln Ave. Mount Gilead, Ohio 
i/toanf Grfead 
HYDRAULIC CIDER PRESSES 
Our New Handy Binder 
Sides are heavy Book Board, Imita¬ 
tion Leather Back and Corners, 
Cloth Sides, Two Tongues Inside. 
Inside of Cover Neat Lining Paper, 
Stamped in Gold— “Rubal New- 
Yokkeu”— on outside. 
Will hold 52 issues, or more, 
Sent prepaid upon receipt of 
price, 65c. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th St. New York City 
Adventures in Silence 
By Herbert W. Collinjjwood 
T HIS is the first serious attempt to inter¬ 
pret the peculiar and adventurous life 
of the hard-of-hearing. 
Beautifully bound in cloth. 288 pages. 
Price $1.00 Postpaid. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th Street, New York City 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you'll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal." See guarantee editorial page.' 
