618 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
ORGANIZATION  NEEDED. — More  organization 
among  farmers  themselves  is  the  only  practical  way 
to  suppress  the  discrimination  which  is  exercised  hy 
local  dealers  against  Eastern  products,  and  insure 
the  Eastern  farmer  the  market  advantages  to  which 
lie  is  entitled.  The  creation  of  necessary  farmer- 
owned  marketing  facilities  to  function  in  placing 
our  products  directly  before  the  consumer  is  one  of 
the  greatest  needs  of  the  Eastern  farmer.  Each 
community  which  contains  a  consuming  center  of 
any  size  ought  to  be  served  by  at  least  one  farmer- 
owned  market  which  would  make  a  specialty  of 
handling  strictly  fresh  locally  produced  articles. 
Eggs,  butter.  Dairymen’s  League  products,  meat, 
fruit  and  many  of  the  other  locally  produced  articles 
should  be  extensively  handled  and  boosted  by  the 
local  agency.  Farmers  themselves  would  give  ex¬ 
tensive  patronage  to  their  own  markets,  and  the  de¬ 
pendable  freshness  of  the  goods  offered  would  be 
certain  to  stimulate  a  greatly  increased  demand  for 
locally  produced  farm  products. 
Montgomery  Co.,  N.  Y.  d.  boyd  devendobf. 
Increasing  Color  in  Fruit 
I  have  a  Baldwin  apple  orchard  on  the  bank  of  the 
Hudson  River,  on  light  loamy  soil,  that  I  am  growing 
under  the  mulch  system.  1  have  given  it  plenty  of  green 
horse  manure,  and  put  what  grass  was  cut  under  the 
trees,  and  have  given  it  a  liberal  application  of  acid 
phosphate  yearly.  The  trees  bear  abundantly ;  have 
gathered  as  much  as  12  barrels  to  the  tree,  but  fruit 
lacks  color.  Can  you  tell  me  what  to  apply  to  give 
them  better  color?  The  trees  are  about  25  years  old. 
New  York.  J-  R- 
HERE  is  really  nothing  that  can  be  profitably 
applied  to  produce  better  color.  Iron  and  potash 
have  long  been  held  to  give  good  color  to  fruit,  but 
there  is  no  good  evidence,  either  in  Europe  or  this 
eouiltry  to  prove  the  point.  "VVe  know  that  color  can 
bo  improved  by  cultural  practices.  An  oversupply  of 
nitrogen  induces  late  maturity  of  fruit  and  pro¬ 
motes  foliage  growth.  Both  of  these  factors  de¬ 
crease  color— the  one  by  producing  immature  fruit, 
and  the  other  .by  shading.  It  has  been  shown  that* if 
an  apple  is  enclosed  in  a  black  bag  it  will  produce 
no  color. 
•Another  practice  that  will  produce  higher  colored 
fruit  is  thinning.  In  several  places  about  the  coun¬ 
try  experiments  have  positively  shown  that  by  thin¬ 
ning,  higher  colored  fruit  is  obtained.  I  would  rec¬ 
ommend  if  your  trees  are  producing  heavily  that  you 
thin  the  fruit,  and  if  they  are  making  a  igood  growth 
of  say  10  or  12  inches  each  season,  that  you  do  not 
fertilize  for  a  year  or  two.  h.  b.  t. 
Poison  Sprays  on  Cabbage 
There  seems  to  be  a  difference  of  opinion  regarding 
possible  consequences  in  applying  poisons  to  the  leaves 
of  cabbage.  Some  say  that  the  leaves,  growing  from 
within  outward,  no  daiiger  attaches,  while  another  high 
authority  holds  such  application  to  be  dangerous.  That 
is  to  say,  dangerous  when  a  sticker  is  used  in  the  mix¬ 
ture.  I  have  found  it  very  trying  indeed  to  see  most 
of  the  mixture  run  off  the  leaves  after  repeated  and 
laborious  effort,  and  the  applications  were  needed  much 
more  frequently  because  of  the  failure  to  stick.  J.  ii. 
New  Jeresy. 
E  have  no  hesitancy  in  recommending  the 
spraying  of  cabbages  with  Paris  green,  ar¬ 
senate  of  calcium,  or  arsenate  of  lead,  from  within 
a  few  days  after  the  plants  are  set  in  the  field  until 
the  heads  are  well  formed,  and  even  later.  There 
are  sveral  reasons  for  the  assurance  that  there  is 
no  danger  from  poisoning  by  eating  cabbages  treated 
in  the  usual  way  with  poisons.  Poison  applied  to 
the  waxy  surfaces  of  the  leaves  of  cabbage  does  not 
stick  very  well  at  best,  and  in  two  or  three  weeks, 
or  even  earlier  in  case  of  frequent  rains,  every  trace 
of  it  disappears.  Again,  a  cabbage  is  really  a 
gigantic  bud  and,  like  other  leaf  buds,  grows  from 
within  outward.  The  outside  green  leaves  do  not 
close  over  the  head  or  become  a  real  part  of  it. 
Moreover,  these  outside  leaves,  which  catch  and  bear 
the  poison  are  always  stripped  off  when  preparing 
the  cabbage  for  market,  and  again  when  it  is  finally 
prepared  for  cooking.  Arsenicals  are  universally 
used  for  dusting  and  spraying  cabbages,  and  no  au¬ 
thentic  case  of  poisoning  is  known  to  the  writer  from 
eating  these  vegetables  which  have  been  treated 
with  poisons.  Finally,  careful  chemical  anaylsis 
has  been  made  of  cabbages  treated  with  Paris  green 
in  the  usual  way,  and  it  has  been  shown  that  one 
person  would  have  to  eat  at  one  meal  at  least  28 
such  cabbages  before  reaching  the  danger  point. 
Neither  would  we  have  any  hesitancy  in  using  a 
sticker,  such  as  soap  or  caseinate,  to  hold  the  poison 
more  firmly  on  the  leaves.  J.  II.  would,  however, 
find  it  probably  more  satisfactory  to  use  powdered 
arsenate  of  lead  and  dust  it  on  rather  early  in  the 
morning,  while  the  dew  is  on  the  leaves.  fl  he  poison 
should  be  diluted  with  air-slaked  lime  or  flour  at 
the  rate  of  1  lb.  of  the  former  to  10  of  the  latter. 
G.  w.  H. 
Do  Ice  Storms  Kill  Insects? 
I  noticed  some  recent  remarks  in  regard  to  San  Jose 
scale,  and  that  in  some  years  they  seemed  to  propagate 
more  than  in  other  years.  I  have  observed  and  made 
some  examinations,  and  have  concluded  that  after  there 
have  been  times  in  the  cold  seasons  of  the  year  when 
rain  fell  on  the  trees  and  froze  fast,  the  icy  coating  cut 
off  the  air  supply  of  the  scale  and  they  were  destroyed, 
but  where  there  was  a  wind  blowing,  cracks  would  be 
made  in  the  ice  and  some  of  the  scale  would  survive  the 
disaster  and  thereby  their  race  would  escape  total  de¬ 
struction.  Nature  keeps  a  balance  in  its  operation,  so 
that  certain  species  of  created  things  do  not  overcrowd 
and  destroy  everything.  A.  s. 
Ohio. 
HE  observations  of  A.  S.  on  the  effect  of  ice  on 
San  Jose  scale  are  interesting.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  is  very  difficult  to  determine  just  what  effect 
a  coating  of  ice  has  on  this  insect.  It  is  doubtful  if 
the  temperature  of  the  ice  would  kill  the  insects,  for 
they  certainly  can  withstand  temperatures  much 
lower  than  they  would  find  underneath  a  coating  of 
frozen  rain.  It  is  also  not  clear  that  the  scale  in¬ 
sects  would  be  killed  by  the  ice  cutting  off  the  air 
from  them,  for  the  ice  does  not  remain  long  enough. 
So  small  an  insect  as  the  San  Jose  scale  requires 
very  little  air.  and  such  insects  can  survive  for  days 
shut  up  tightly  in  a  small  vial.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  has  been  shown  that  part  of  the  effect  of  lime-sul¬ 
phur  in  destroying  the  San  Jose  scale  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  oxygen  is  cut  off  from  the  insect  when  the 
scale  is  thoroughly  covered  and  sealed  up  for  a 
long  period  by  the  solution. 
I  am  sometimes  inclined  to  think  that  severe  ice 
storms  often  loosen  the  scales  covering  the  insects, 
and  perhaps  cause  some  disturbance  in  this  way,  or 
in  some  way  that  we  do  not  well  understand,  and 
thus  bring  about  eventually  the  death  of  some  of 
them.  It  is  true  that  nature  does  tend  to  create  a 
balance  among  the  living  things  on  the  earth,  and 
no  one  species  of  living  thing  can  increase  indef¬ 
initely  and  hold  the  ascendancy  over  other  species 
very  long.  Just  what  forces  are  at  work  in  every 
case,  and  just  how  the  balance  is  brought  about,  we 
do  not  often  know.  G.  w.  h. 
Building  a  Hay  Barrack 
In  traveling  through  New  Jersey  we  often  see  an 
open  shed  called  a  “barrack”  for  storing  surplus  straw, 
cornstalks  and  other  crops.  Can  you  describe  how  this 
is  built?  That  is,  how  close  should  the  holes  in  the 
posts  be  to  support  the  roof  that  slides  up  and  down  on 
the  posts,  and  more  particularly  the  lever  that  is  used 
to  raise  the  roof,  something  on  the  principle  of  a  wagon 
jack,  so  one  man  can  raise  the  roof?  G.  w.  H. 
Jefferson,  N.  Y. 
IIE  old  barrack  is  nearly  a  thing  of  the  past. 
We  see  a  few  of  them  standing  yet,  mostly  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  State.  It  has  always  been 
a  wonder  to  me  why  they  have  not  been  used  more, 
as  they  are  very  easily  and  cheaply  constructed,  and 
they  soon  pay  for  the  cost  in  the  saving  of  hay  and 
grain.  This  especially  was  called  to  my  attention 
last  Fall  in  helping  a  neighbor  load  his  rye  straw 
from  stacks.  When  he  harvested  his  grain  he  em¬ 
ployed  a  man  to  stack  it  for  him,  but  it  was  so 
poorly  done  that  the  rains  had  wet  into  the  center 
of  the  stacks  half  way  from  the  top.  The  grain 
would  have  been  in  first-class  condition  if  it  had  a 
barrack  top  over  it. 
To  construct  a  barrack  20x20  the  following 
material  is  used :  Four  poles  28  ft.  long,  about  I 
fr.  in  diameter;  four  4x6  20-ft.  hemlock  or  spruce 
for  plates;  four  3x4’s  15  ft.  for  rafters.  Then  use 
2x3  for  lath  to  nail  top  board  on.  Any  old  boards 
can  be  used  for  top,  and  cover  them  with  two-ply 
rubberoid.  I  have  seen  some  barracks  with  a  floor 
and  board  cut  in  4-ft.  lengths  nailed  around  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  barrack.  If  the  bottom  is  not  inclosed  it 
makes  a  handy  place  to  keep  the  plows,  harrows  and 
other  implements  Avlien  not  filled  with  grain. 
The  2S-ft.  poles  should  have  1%-in.  holes  bored 
through  1  ft.  apart  each  quarter  side  of  pole,  so  the 
2%-ft.  iron  bar,  as  shown  in  cut,  can  be  put  in  front 
of  the  pole  as  well  as  the  side.  A  piece  of  1%-in. 
pipe  can  be  used  for  these  bars.  The  ends  of  the 
April  21,  1923 
4x6  plates  need  to  project  1  ft.  beyond  the  poles,  so 
that  when  the  piece  of  pipe  is  run  through  the  pole 
the  end  of  the  plate  will  rest  on  the  pin. 
To  raise  or  lower  the  barrack  one  corner  must  be 
raised  or  lowered  one  hole  at  a  time.  To  do  this 
have  an  iron  ring  in  the  top  of  each  pole  and  an 
iron  ring  on  the*  end  of  each  4x6  plate.  Then  take 
a  small  block  and  fall  and  attach  to  the  ring  in  top 
of  pole  and  ring  in  plate,  and  you  can  raise  the  end 
of  the  barrack  with  one  hand  while  you  slip  the  pin 
out  and  into  another  hole  with  the  other  hand. 
New  Jersey.  william  perkins. 
|Legumes  for  Hay  and  Fertility 
What  legume  would  be  most  advisable  to  plant  to 
restore  the  fertility  of  a  neglected  field,  that  would  fur¬ 
nish  me  with  fair  hay  the  first  season?  Also,  best 
method  to  grow  the  crop.  J.  P. 
New  Jersey. 
F  course  you  cannot  expect  to  take  poor  land, 
use  no  lime  or  fertilizer  and  cut  a  crop  of  fod¬ 
der,  and  at  the  same  time  improve  the  soil!  Nature 
and  the  soil  will  do  wonders  if  you  give  them  half  a 
chance,  but  there  are  limits  to  their  power.  If  you 
will  plow  and  fit  that  land  well,  and  use  a  ton  of 
limestone  to  the  acre,  and  also  use  fertilizer,  Ilubam 
clover  will  probably  make  a  fair  growth.  It  could 
be  cut  for  hay  when  about  3  ft.  high,  and  the  later 
growth  plowed  under  will  help  the  soil.  We  should 
not  seed  Sweet  clover  on  such  soil  unless  it  is  well 
limed  and  fed. 
You  can  plow  and  fit  the  land  and  seed  Soy  beans 
in  drills  2 y2  ft.  apart.  We  should  inoculate  the 
:-eed  and  use  say  500  lbs.  per  acre  of  some  good  fer¬ 
tilizer.  Give  good  cultivation,  and  when  you  go 
through  for  the  last  time  seed  a  mixture  of  rye  and 
Alsike  clover,  working  the  seed  in  with  the  culti¬ 
vator.  The  Soy  bean  vines  can  be  cut  and  cured  for 
hay,  and  the  rye  and  clover  will  grow  on  through 
the  Fall  and  Winter,  to  be  plowed  under  in  Spring. 
This  will  give  you  a  fair  crop  of  fodder  and  help 
improve  the  soil.  There  are  several  other  combina¬ 
tions  of  seed  or  crops  that  can  be  used  in  much  the 
same  way;  but  if  you  expect  to  raise  fodder  and  at 
the  same  time  improve  the  soil  you  will  be  obliged 
to  use  considerable  lime  and  fertilizer.  You  can 
improve  the  soil  by  plowing  the  entire  crop  under, 
and  this  will  not  require  so  much  added  plant  food, 
but  if  you  want  fodder  and  also  an  improvement  in 
the  soil  you  must  feed. 
Working  Over  an  Old  Pasture 
What  would  be  the  best  way  to  revive  an  old  pasture 
lot  without  plowing  and  reseeding?  A.  A.  B. 
Norwalk,  Conn. 
T  depends  somewhat  on  the  pasture  and  the  soil. 
Generally  the  old  pasture  has  become  sour,  so 
that  much  of  the  good  'grass  has  stopped  growing. 
Usually  the  element  of  plant  food  most  needed  is 
phosphorus.  As  a  rule  most  of  the  better  class  of 
pasture  soils  are  quite  well  supplied  with  potash. 
There  is  considerable  nitrogen  in  the  old  sod,  but  it 
is  sour  and  unavailable.  Many  times  a  light  appli¬ 
cation  of  nitrate  of  soda  will  quicken  up  the  grass. 
In  England  it  is  or  was  a  general  practice  to  save 
the  liquid  manures  in  cisterns  and  sprinkle  it  on  the 
pastures.  This  was  much  the.  §ame  as  using  nitrate 
of  soda — by  providing  soluble  nitrogen.  It  gives  a 
quick  growth  of  young  grass,  but  does  not  mean  per¬ 
manent  improvement.  Lime  of  some  sort  is  needed. 
Good  results  have  been  obtained  by  scattering  a  ton 
of  ground  limestone  to  the  acre  over  the  pasture 
grass,  and  then  using  about  400  lbs.  of  acid  phos¬ 
phate.  A  little  'grass  seed  will  help,  though  you 
cannot  expect  to  get  a  new  full  stand  without  break¬ 
ing  up  the  sod  and  reseeding.  It.  will  pay  to  scratch 
over  the  pasture  often,  using  the  lime  and  sulphate, 
with  a  sharp  spike-toothed  harrow.  The  most  neces¬ 
sary  thing  is  the  lime,  next  the  phosphate.  In  every 
old  pasture  there  are  seeds  and  small  plants  of  the 
good  grasses  lying  dormant  in  the  soil.  The  lime 
and  the  phosphate  make  conditions  which  are  more 
favorable  to  these  seeds  and  plants,  and  many  of 
them  will  start. 
The  State  College  of  Forestry  at  Syracuse  Univer¬ 
sity  is  sending  to  farmers  and  others  that  are  inter¬ 
ested  a  bulletin  in  which  the  products  of  woodlots  are 
listed.  This  list  not  only  covers  logs  and.  lumber  but 
fuel  and  poles  as  well.  The  reduced  amount  of  forest 
has  caused  a  more  careful  grading  of  wood  than 
formerly. 
The  cultivation  of  broom  corn  is  much  the  same  as 
for  ordinary  field  corn.  By  the  way,  a  dry,  old  cynic 
told  us  the  other  day  that  the  way  to  test  a  girl  li¬ 
ability  as  a  housekeeper  is  to  look  for  broom  corns  on 
her  hands. 
Oat  smut !  The  germs  of  the  disease  are  on  the  seed. 
Treatment !  Mix  one  pint  of  formaldehyde  with  one 
pint  of  water,  and  with  a  hand  sprayer  spray  this  liquid 
over  the  oats.  Then  mix  the  oats  into  a  pile  and  cover 
with  blankets  for  five  hours.  The  gas  kills  the  disease 
germs. 
