The  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
443 
Sprouted  Dahlia  Roots  ' 
Last  Fall  I  put  all  my  Dahlia  roots  in  ; 
the  cellar.  When  I  looked  at  them  re-  1 
cently  I  found  they  have  sprouts,  some 
of  them  2  ft.  long.  Can  you  tell  me 
what  to  do  with  them?  I  would  like  to 
save  them,  as  they  were  a  new  variety 
last  year.  J.  P. 
Oakville,  Conn. 
,T.  F.  can  save  his  tubers  by  simply 
cutting  off  these  sprouts  about  one-half 
inch  from  tuber.  They  will  again  send 
forth  new  sprouts,  but  he  must  get  them 
in  a  cool  place  or  the  sprouts  will  again 
get  such  a  growth,  and  will  have  to  be 
cut  oft'  again.  Each  cutting  will  weaken 
the  tuber  If  J.  F.  has  no  root  cellar,  he 
can  store  his  tubers  next  Winter  thus: 
Cut  stalks  off  after  frost  has  killed  them, 
leaving  them  in  the  ground  a  few  days 
longer  so  some  of  the  remaining  sap  will 
run  out.  Then  dig  them  carefully,  so  as 
not  to  break  the  necks,  turn  them  upside 
down  in  boxes,  and  cover  well  with  fine 
or  sifted  sand.  Put  in  coolest  part  of 
cellar  and  enclose  as  tightly  as  possible 
with  paper  and  cardboard  covering  to 
keep  out  all  heat  possible.  If  cellar  bot¬ 
tom  is  cement,  he  may  make  a  sand  foixn- 
dation  about  1  ft.  deep  where  he  can  add  j 
water  for  moisture  to  keep  tubers  from  | 
drying  out.  In  this  way  they  will  not 
sprout  at  all  until  about  April  15  or 
May  1,  depending  on  weather  conditions 
Without.  AVM.  Cl.  H HENKE. 
New  Jersey. 
Potash  from  the  Pacific 
Many  kinds  of  harvesters  have  been  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  pages  of  The  It.  N.-Y.,  but 
during  the  war  a  new  one  was  launched 
in  Southern  California.  'It  was  really 
launched,  for  it  harvested  kelp  from  the 
Pacific.  A  big  sea-going  scow  was  fitted 
with  a  platform  extending  below  the 
water,  and  at  the  edge  were  a  series  of 
mowing-machine  knives  which  cut  the 
kelp,  and  back  of  the  knives  an  apron  to  ; 
bring  the  kelp  on  deck,  where  it  went  j 
through  a  feed  cutter,  and  was  then  trans-  j 
ferred  to  another  scow  that  was  following 
the  harvester.  It  was  all  right  when  the 
Pacific  was  pacific ;  but  when  the  storms 
arose  it  was  not  so  pacific.  When  a  tug 
bad  received  a  load  it  headed  for  the 
wharf  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Company, 
where  the  potash  in  it  was  extracted  to 
help  win  the  war. 
But  it  was  a  long  job  to  extract  the 
potash.  It  first  went  to  what  were  called 
the  digestion  tanks,  150  of  them.  20  ft. 
in  diameter  and  15  ft.  high,  and  the 
smell  from  the  amount  of  seaweed  “di¬ 
gesting,”  or,  in  plain  English,  rotting, 
was  one  never  to  he  forgotten.  When 
a  tank  had  sufficiently  rotted  it  was 
pumped  into  an  iron  tank,  where  it  was 
boiled.  The  first  time  I  ever  smelled  the 
odor  of  boiled  decomposed  kelp  I  was 
two  miles  awav,  and  told  the  folks  when  I 
1 
I  got  home  that  I  had  nyi  across  a 
skunk’s  trail.  After  boiling  it  went  to 
another  set  of  tanks,  where  it  was  al¬ 
lowed  to  settle,  and  the  clear  liquor  was 
concentrated  by  further  boiling  and  evap¬ 
oration  until  it  was  ready  to  have  the  pot¬ 
ash  extracted. 
After  the  potash  was  extracted  by 
processes  mostly  invented  for  the  occa¬ 
sion.  the  remaining  liquor  was  called 
“mother  liquor,”  and  from  this  was  made 
acetone,  which  was  shipped  to  England 
and  used  in  the  making  of  high  explosives. 
The  kelp  grows  in  various  beds  off  the 
coast  of  California,  and  there  were  two 
or  three  other  firms  harvesting  the  kelp, 
and  at  first  it  was  feared  that  the  supply 
of  kelp  would  soon  be  exhausted.  But  it 
was  found  that  as  soon  as  it  was  cut  it 
started  to  grow  vigorously,  and  by  the 
time  the  last  of  the  beds  were  cut  over 
the  first  was  ready  again  for  the  har¬ 
vester.  After  the  war  the  low  price  of 
German  potash  made  the  business  un¬ 
profitable.  So  now  the  potash  crop  grows 
with  no  one  to  harvest  it. 
California.  p.  b.  ckosby. 
Pound  Sweeting  and  Pumpkin  Sweet 
I  note  in  The  It.  N.-Y".  that  pound 
Sweetings  are  called  Pumpkin  Sweets  in 
some  places.  They  are  very  distinct  va¬ 
rieties:  one,  Pound  Sweeting,  being  an 
early  Winter  apple,  green,  often  water- 
cored.  and  excellent  flavor;  other.  Au¬ 
tumn,  mostly  red  on  green  ground,  very 
coarse  grained,  a  great  favorite  with 
children,  very  showy,  poor  quality.  I 
raise  both  and  know  them.  n.  H.  it. 
Richfield  Spring,  N.  Y. 
Theseillustrations,  made  from 
actual  photograohs,  show  ap¬ 
ple  branches  sprayed  with  lime 
sulfur.  The  branch  on  the  left 
shows  the  result  of  the  ordi¬ 
nary  method— that  on  the  right 
the  perfect  spread  with  Kayso 
added. 
KAY50 
5PRAY  .SPREADER  S  ADHESIVE 
For  Tour  Dormant , 
Delayed-dorma  nt. 
Pink  and  CluUer-bud 
Sprays 
Without  Kayso 
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KAYSO  added  to  spray  mixtures  and  solutions  gives  a  complete,  un- 
»  broken,  durable  coat  of  insecticide  and  fungicide.  The  fruit  grower 
can  insure  against  heavy  crop  losses  by  using  Kayso  in  every  spray. 
Kayso  gives  efficiency  and  economy  in 
Dormant,  Delayed -dormant.  Pink  and 
Cluster-bud  sprays — applied  to  control 
such  pests  and  diseases  as  San  Jose 
Scale, Red  Spider,  Blister  Mites, Thrips, 
Psylla,  Aphids,  Red  Bug,  Twig  Borers, 
Leaf  Rollers,  Scab,  Brown  Rot,  Leaf 
Curl  and  Leaf  Spot. 
Kayso  causes  the  spray  to  adhere  per¬ 
sistently  to  bark,  buds,  leaves  and  fruit, 
thereby  giving  much  greater  protection 
than  can  be  obtained  from  ordinary 
spray,  which  washes  off  with  compara¬ 
tive  ease  during  rains. 
Kayso  added  to  the  spray  mixture  or 
solution  makes  the  spray  apply  easily 
and  cover  quickly — causes  the  spray  to 
set  instantly  and  dry  rapidly  without 
excessive  run-off  waste,  and  gives  in¬ 
creased  coverage  of  as  much  as  10  to 
25  percent. 
An  important  problem  of  the  spray- 
man  is  to  know  with  certainty  when 
a  tree  has  been  sprayed  enough.  After 
drying,  the  spots  of  poison  are  con¬ 
spicuous  but,  while  spraying,  the  drops 
are  difficult  to  see.  Thus  the  tree  often 
gets  a  second,  third  or  even  fourth  dash 
from  the  nozzle,  with  the  result  that 
the  drops  run  off  and  waste  on  the 
ground,  and  the  protection  is  im¬ 
paired  rather  than  increased.  Further¬ 
more,  much  run-off  is  bound  to  occur 
when  the  spray  is  made  to  carry  to  the 
central  and  distant  parts  of  the  tree. 
By  using  Kayso  every  drop  of  spray 
that  strikes  the  tree  flattens  into  a  film. 
The  surface  wets  immediately  and  is 
instantly  recognizable  to  the  sprayman. 
The  film  becomes  fixed  the  moment  it 
forms ;  it  does  not  drain  or  continue  to 
spread  or  get  thinner.  Further  spray¬ 
ing  adds  to  the  thickness  of  the  film 
and  gives  increased,  rather  than  de¬ 
creased,  protection  to  the  surface.  The 
setting  property  of  Kayso  prevents  loss 
of  any  insecticide  or  fungicide  material, 
or  reduces  it  to  the  minimum. 
California  Central  Creameries,  Inc. 
175  Franklin  Street  •  New  York 
With  Kayso 
SAN  FRANCISCO 
CHICAGO 
LOS  ANGELES 
Mail  this  coupon  today  to  New  York  Office  Dealers  Attention: 
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1  1  What  the  Experts  Say. 
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Name 
Fruit  growers,  truck  gar¬ 
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ists—  are  in  the  market 
for  Kayso.  Be  ready  to 
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and  is  used  throughout 
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|  Address 
Correspondence  invited. 
Ask  your  dealer,  or  send  coupon  to  New  York  ofti  ? 
Enclosed  please  find  40  cents.  Mall  me  sample  package 
KAYSO,  sufficient  for  200  gallons  of  spray. 
Name 
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Just  a  grip  of  your  thumb— as  easy  as 
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has  been  standard  spraying  equip¬ 
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home  owners.  Other  Auto-Spray 
outfits  for  every  spraying  purpose. 
Our  Spray  Calendar  prepared 
by  Cornell  Experts  should  Xiang 
in  your  work  room.  Tt  tells 
when  and  how  tospray.  It’s  free. 
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892  Maple  St. 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 
THK  best  and  most  durable  for  spraying  trees, 
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irftfS" f  r  rnn  TT 
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