Tfx RURAL NEW-YORKER 
(557 
Eradicating Nettle 
We are troubled with bull-nettle. It 
seems to be hopeless to kill this weed by 
digging as the roots are very persistent, 
and the plant also spreads by seed. It 
occurs to me that perhaps it might be 
killed by some kind of spray. What fruits 
or plants or animals would it be neces¬ 
sary to avoid if resort was made to 
spraying? C. K. C. 
It is almost a general rule that ma¬ 
terials that will kill one plant will kill 
another. There are exceptions, of course, 
such as is found in the case of asparagus, 
which is quite tolerant to common salt. 
Lawn grass is not so easily injured by 
iron sulphate as are dandelions, yet even 
here there is an element of chance and 
most folks prefer to dig the dandelions 
from their lawns rather than to risk in¬ 
jury. The common weed killers such as 
sulphuric acid, carbolic acid, arsenate of 
soda, iron sulphate, are dangerous in 
proximity with any plant. 
If a systematic attempt is made to 
eradicate a weed, it can be eradicated. 
In the first place, if the tops are cut 
frequently enough the plants will not 
only be unable to go to seed but the roots 
will be so weakened by lack of food that 
they will be nowhere near so bothersome. 
It has been found successful to touch the 
cut surface with carbolic or sulphuric 
acid, the acid penetrating for some lit¬ 
tle distance below the cut and destroying 
the plant as far as it goes. H. B. T. 
Apple Tree Has Not 
Bloomed in 30 Years 
I have an apple tree that was bought 
from a nursery 30 or 35 years ago, and so 
far as I can tell it has never had a single 
blossom on it. It is a big, thrifty tree. 
What can I do to make it bear? 
Huntstown, Pa. j. N. H. 
It is not common to find a tree that 
never blossoms even slightly, yet it is en¬ 
tirely possible that a tree might react 
that way. You are familiar with the 
sickly or injured tree which blooms pro¬ 
fusely for a year or two and then dies. 
This condition is due to the higher pro¬ 
portion of carbohydrate materials built 
up in the leaves of the tree as compared 
with a reduced supply of nitrate ma¬ 
terials because of injury to roots or trunk 
or branches. On the other hand, a tree 
may be in just the opposite condition, 
wherein it is so liberally supplied with 
nitrates from the soil that the tree is 
“over-vegetative” and so produces no 
blossoms. The remedy is to reduce the 
supply of materials from the roots, the 
simplest of which is “ringing,” in which a 
strip of bark is removed completely 
around the trunk or around the limbs. It 
must be understood at once that this 
practice is only to be used as a last re¬ 
sort, because it is not performed without 
at least some degree of hazard, and it 
should never be employed year after year 
on the same tree. 
Itinging is accomplished by removing a 
strip of bark of the desired width from 
the member that is to be treated. A strip 
two or three inches wide is plenty wide 
enough, and often merely running the 
knife around the trunk or limb without 
removing any bark is sufficient to throw 
a tree into bearing. You might try the 
method on one limb and see the effect be¬ 
fore treating the entire tree in this way. 
There is another angle to the matter, 
however. A variety of sub-species of ap¬ 
ple is not uncommon, which is known as 
“bloomless.” It is not strictly “bloom¬ 
less,” yet to the average observer it ap¬ 
pears without flow'ers because the flowers 
have no showy petals. Bees and insects 
not being attracted by show of flower or 
by the possible supply of nectar, do not 
effect cross-fertilization, and so fruit is 
seldom brought to maturity. In Europe 
children take blossoms from other trees 
and toss them into the “bloomless” tree. 
Perhaps they do not know why they do it, 
but they are helping the tree to set fruit. 
II. B. TUKEY. 
Pollination of Peaches 
On the west side of my peach orchard 
I planted a number of Greensboro trees. 
They bloom full every year, but ripen 
very few peaches, and those only on trees 
nearest the old orchard. They are evi¬ 
dently not being pollenized. F. W. 
A few years ago nobody would have 
thought of improper or incomplete fer¬ 
tilization of peach blossoms. Quite re¬ 
cently the New Jersev Experiment Sta¬ 
tion has shown that there are some re¬ 
lationships between peaches, such as 
F. TV. suggests. It has been shown, for 
example, that J. II. Hale peach requires 
cross-pollination for good fruit produc¬ 
tion. Apparently there are other va¬ 
rieties that are benefitted by cross¬ 
pollination but it will take time to tell 
the entire story. Under our conditions 
Greensboro seems to be self-fruitful, but 
it may be otherwise in other localities 
for all we know. The only safe thing to 
do is always to plant several varieties 
of the same class of fruit. H. b. tocey. 
To Tiring oAbout 
qA Happy Tear 
W ELL, here’s the close of another year. It 
hasn’t been the best kind of a year, but 
neither has it been the worst. And the out¬ 
look for the future is the best the farmers 
have seen for several years. 
In the meantime, all your farm machines have 
another season’s work to their credit. It’s time 
to check them all over, now, while you remem¬ 
ber just what they can do. Which machines are 
worn out ? Which ones are losing you money ? 
Which methods are behind the times? 
Important changes have come to pass in 
ten years’ time as every man knows. Good 
farming has had to change along with the rest, 
to a faster, more efficient, more economical 
pace—and that has been largely a matter of 
change in farm machines. Farm machines to¬ 
day must save more valuable time and take the 
place of more expensive human labor. Many 
of the old, small-capacity tools, made for a time 
when labor was cheap, are wasting profit. 
Sometimes they eat up the cost of new equip¬ 
ment in a single season. The time for slow 
work is past. Now is the day of 10-ft. binders, 
2- and 3-furrow plows, 2-row cultivators, me¬ 
chanical power and motor haulage. You can’t 
beat down the price of labor but you can make 
that labor do two or three days’ work in one! 
To make money your farm must handle the 
most productive work in least time, with least 
labor. Increase your crop yield per acre. Cut 
down your labor costs. Diversify. Plow more 
furrows as you go along, cultivate more rows, 
cut wider swaths. Plant every hill full—the 
missed hills in a field have a big effect on the 
yield. Save extra pounds of butter fat by effi¬ 
cient cream separation. Spread manure by 
the load instead of by the forkful. Let tractor 
and engine power help you. 
Never was there a better time for the use of 
good judgment, combined with practical vis¬ 
ion. Put the right pieces of modern equip¬ 
ment on your farm, handle them well, and you 
can’t avoid a profitable year. 
The law of supply and demand is swinging 
back to the sunny side of farming. Let’s be 
ready for 1925 and ready with equipment to 
fit these new times. Nature helps him who 
helps himself—and the McCormick-Deering 
dealer is ready to show you the very latest in 
time- and labor-saving, yield-increasing farm 
equipment. 
International Harvester Company 
606 So. Michigan Ave. 
Chicago, Ill. 
THE McCORMICK-DEERING LINE 
OF FARM OPERATING 
EQUIPMENT 
Grain Binders 
Rice Binders 
Tractor Binders 
Push Binders 
Corn Binders 
Headers 
Reapers 
Harvester-Threshers 
Threshers 
Mowers 
Hay Rakes 
Hay Tedders 
Side Rakes and 
Tedders 
Hay Loaders 
Sweep Rakes 
Hay Stackers 
Baling Presses 
Corn Planters 
Corn Drills 
Cotton Planters 
Listers 
Cultivators 
Grain Drills 
Broadcast Seeders 
Alfalfa and Grass 
Drills 
Lime Sowers 
Beet Tools 
Tractor Plows 
Riding Plows 
Walking Plows 
Disk Harrows 
Spring-Tooth Harrows 
Peg-Tooth Harrows 
Rotary Hoes 
Dunham Culti- 
Packers 
Orchard Tools 
Ensilage Cutters 
Corn Pickers 
Huskers and 
Shredders 
Huskers and Silo 
Fillers 
Corn Shelters 
Engines 
Tractors 
Motor Trucks 
Farm Wagons 
Cream Separators 
Manure Spreaders 
Feed Grinders 
Stone Burr Mills 
Potato Planters 
Potato Diggers 
Stalk Cutters 
Cane Mills 
Binder Twine 
SOLD BY 15,000 McCORMICK-DEERING DEALERS IN THE UNITED STATES 
USE MORE NITROGEN 
Farmers never use too 
much. Few of them use 
enough. Most of them use 
too little. 
IT PAYS TO USE 
NITRATE OF SODA 
100 to 300 pounds per acre 
early in the spring, because it supplies immediately available nitrogen at the time 
it is most needed for best and quickest growth. 
Nitrogen starvation is a far more common cause of poor crops than most farmers 
realize. 
If your local dealer cannot supply you with the Nitrate you require or if 
you desire specific advice about its use. write our nearest office. For our 
information please add the number 2036. 
Chilean Nitrate of Soda —educational bureau 
Dr. William S. Myers, Director 
Hurt Building. Atlanta, Ga. 55 East State Street, Columbus. Ohio 
701 Cotton Exchange Bldg., Memphis, Tenn. Hibernia Bank Bldg., New Orleans, La. 
25 Madison Avenue, New York 
This is the key 
SODA/" -* 
The GRIMM Maple Sugar Making Utensils 
You nr akti money on your No. 1 syrup. Why not use Grimm 
Utensila and make more of the No. 1 and more money ? We have 
in stock for immediate shipment. Buckets. Covers, Spouts.Tanks, 
etc,, and can shio an Evaporator and Arch within a week after 
receiving order. If you need Utensils please write us for cata¬ 
logue K" stating number of trees you tap. 
G. H. GRIMM COMPANY - RUTLAND, VERMONT 
We Have Fifty USED EVAPORATORS 
taken in exchange for our famous Vermont. Many 
nearly new. Bargains. Write to nearest office. 
VERMONT EVAPORATOR COMPANY 
Rutland, Vermont St. Regia Falla, N.F. 
MBrnAUtUAKULIN 1 KAL I OK 
and Power Lawnmower 
A Practical, Proven Power Cultivator for 
Gardeners. Suburbanites. Truckers, 
Florists, Nurserymen, Fruit Growers. 
American Farm Machine Co. 
254$ Uni.Av.S.E.,Minneapolis, Minn. 
Catalog 
Fr«* 
CVtnrlH ing printed ! Business or Social. Stationery, cards 
■-circulars,etc. Samples free. FRANKLIN PRESS, B-22,Milfsrd.N. H. 
Commercial Poultry Raising 
by Roberts. 
An all-around book; $3 postpaid, by 
Rural New-Yorker, 333 W. 30th St., New York 
When you write advertisers mention The Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get a quick reply and a “square 
. deal.” See guarantee on editorial page. 
