1h*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Feeding  and  Fertilizing  Goldfish 
I  am  in  the  goldfish  business  and  I  want  to  produce 
water  fleas  to  feed  them.  Can  you  help  me  out? 
Bergen  Co.,  N.  J.  J.  M. 
ACCORDING  to  Dr.  Ilugli  CM.  Smith,  in  his  inter¬ 
esting  Avork  on  Japanese  goldfish,  the  goldfish 
breeders  of  Japan  have  perfected  a  method  for  pro¬ 
ducing  multitudes  of  minute  aquatic  organisms  by 
the  use  of  “Soy  lees”  and  “rice  bran.” 
By  the  term  Soy  lees  is  meant  the  —— — 
dregs  left  from  the  manufacture  of 
Soy  sauce,  a  distinctly  Oriental  dish. 
Since  this  sauce  is  not  made  in  the 
United  States  the  refuse  or  dregs  arc 
not  available  to  goldfish  breeders  in 
this  country.  Likewise  it  Avould  be  dif¬ 
ficult  if  not  impossible  to  secure  rice 
bran  for  the  purpose  of  fertilizing 
ponds.  However,  there  are  other  ma¬ 
terials  Avhich  are  readily  available  in 
this  country,  and  which  may  answer 
the  purpose  fully  as  well  as  those  used 
in  Japan.  Fertilizing  ponds  for  the 
production  of  natural  food  for  goldfish 
is  not  unlike  fertilizing  land  for  the 
purpose  of  increasing  the  production 
of  A-egetables.  The  same  fertilizers  are 
used  in  each  case,  and  in  about  the 
same  proportions. 
The  following  practice  seems  to  have 
been  the  most  successful  in  Germany, 
Avhere  much  investigational  work  has 
been  accomplished.  The  rearing  ponds 
are  drained  in  late  Fall  and  kept  dry 
all  Winter.  Lime,  more  especially 
quicklime,  is  spread  eA'enly  oa'oi*  the 
dry  bottom.  In  some  cases  this  is  har¬ 
rowed  into  the  soil.  Later,  in  early 
Spring,  well-rotted  barnyard  manure 
and  acid  phosphate  or  bonemeal  are 
spread  over  the  pond,  or  placed  in  lit¬ 
tle  heaps  and  covered  with  a  thin  layer 
of  soil.  The  water  is  then  turned  on 
and  about  a  month  later  the  goldfish 
breeders  are  turned  in.  This  usually 
results  in  the  production  of  countless 
numbers  of  minute  crustacean  animals. 
It  is  sometimes  desirable  to  give  a 
second  application  in  early  July,  but  in 
this  case  the  amount  of  fertilizers  must 
be  reduced  materially.  Manure  is 
mixed  AA'itli  bonemeal  and  placed  in 
loosely-Avoven  bags.  These  are  cast 
into  the  pond  in  various  places  along 
the  margin,  or  in  case  the  manure  does 
not  contain  straw,  it  may  be  mixed 
with  the  bonemeal  and  distributed  all 
along  the  shore  line,  thus  dispensing 
with  the  bags. 
It  is  Avell  to  keep  in  mind  that  in 
order  to  fertilize  a  pond  successfully, 
this  pond  must  have  tight,  impervious 
banks  and  bottom.  The  inflow  should 
be  just  about  large  enough  to  maintain 
the  Avater  level  without  appreciable 
outflow. 
In  a  leaky  pond,  or  one  having  a 
strong  outfloAV,  the  fertilizers  will  be 
leached  out  without  producing  the  de¬ 
sired  effect.  In  such  ponds  it  is  a 
Avaste  of  money  and  labor  to  attempt 
fertilization.  G.  c.  embody. 
trees  were  in  full  bloom  about  April  I  to  10,  Avith 
killing  frosts  continuing  throughout  the  season  of 
their  blooming.  Even  before  they  had  bloomed  a 
hard  freeze  killed  much  fruit  in  the  bud.  Apples 
blossomed  here  from  April  20  to  May  1,  with  fre¬ 
quent  freezes  and  frosts  until  May  IS,  Avlien  our  last 
frost  was  registered. 
The  story  is  related  of  an  apple  orchard  in  West 
895  „ 
rolling  or  hilly,  and  some  orchards  are  situated  on 
mountainsides. 
IIow  is  this  frost  enemy  to  be  OA’ercoine?  If  by  a 
miracle  we  could  cause  our  orchards  to  bloom  a 
month  later  our  crops  would  be  saved  and  the  busi¬ 
ness  become  stable.  The  blackberry,  which  is  abun¬ 
dant  here  in  the  wild  state,  never  fails  to  produce 
bumper  crops,  because  it  blooms  after  danger  of 
frost  is  past.  Is  it  not  a  problem  for 
the  plant  breeder  to  develop  strains 
that  will  bloom  later?  Could  not  some 
ingenious,  thoughtful  person,  devise  a 
means  for  holding  back  the  trees  in  the 
Spring,  so  they  Avill  put  out  later  and 
thus  escape  King  Frost? 
This  is  a  problem  which  no  doubt 
every  fruit  grower  has  to  contend  Avith 
in  every  part  of  the  country,  and  I 
Avould  be  glad  to  hear  what  has  been 
the  experience  of  other  R.  N.-Y.  read¬ 
ers  along  the  line  of  this  problem. 
Virginia.  r.  p.  aviiite. 
A  Small  Piece  of  Land 
I  saw  a  picture  on  page  794  of  a  back-  year  with  date  of  sowing  and  date  of 
yard  garden  in  Chicago.  It  is  very  good,  germination.  iiarvey  thorp. 
but  I  think  we  can  do  as  well  in  New  The  picture  shows  Iioav  closely  the 
York.  I  am  sending  you  a  picture  of  garden  is  planted,  and  the  statement  gives 
my  garden  taken  in  June,  1922  (30x65  dates  of  planting  and  germinating.  We 
ft.).  It  lies  at  the  back  of  some  houses  make  the  area  of  this  garden  1,950  feet, 
at  Woodside,  Long  Island.  I  live  in  the 
city  and  can  reach  the  garden  in  40  min¬ 
utes,  either  from  my  home  or  place  of 
business.  I  grow  enough  vegetables  (no 
flowers)  to  supply  us  all  the  year  round, 
besides  a  lot  I  give  to  my  friends.  I  am 
sending  you  a  list  of  Avhat  I  greAV  last  until  avc  try 
a  little  less  than  4 44  per  cent  of  an 
acre.  Now  can  any  of  our  commercial 
gardeners  grow  25  times  as  much  on 
one  full  acre  and  then  multiply  that  by 
five  or  10?  But  avc  never  know  what 
we  can  do  with  a  small  piece  of  land 
e.  V  cisyme. 
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Menace  of  Frost  in  Orcharding 
HOW  can  Ave  overcome  the  tremen¬ 
dous  damage  done  our  apple  and 
peach  orchards  by  late  Spring  frosts? 
Here  in  this  section  we  can  groAV  mag¬ 
nificent  trees,  surpassed  by  none,  but 
year  after  year  Ave  are  “cleaned  up” 
by  late  Spring  frosts.  The  early 
blooming  of  our  trees  and  the  late 
frosts  which  destroy  the  fruit  in  bloom 
are  the  greatest  problem  we  have  to  contend  with  in 
growing  apples  and  peaches.  Our  trees  set  a  beau¬ 
tiful  bloom  nearly  every  year,  but  only  occasionally 
do  they  “hit”  and  bear  a  full  crop.  It  is  true  that 
peaches  seldom  bear  a  crop  here  that  amounts  to 
anything,  while  apples  are  less  uncertain,  but  more 
often  a  pai'tial  failure  on  account  of  the  frosts,  ex¬ 
cept  in  favored  spots  bearing  the  characteristics  of 
the  thermal  zone.  This  frost  problem  overshadOAVs 
any  other  we  have,  including  insects,  matter  of  soil 
fertility,  spraying,  pruning;  in  short,  it  seems  to  be 
the  difference  between  success  and  failure  right 
here  in  our  immediate  section.  This  year  our  peach 
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5 : 
Feeding  Sulphur  to  Hens 
As  hens’  eggs  contain  a  large  amount 
of  sulphur,  is  it  not  a  good  thing  to  feed 
hens  some  sulphur  mixed  in  their  mash? 
Is  the  sulphur  that  is  used  for  preventing 
scab  on  potatoes  suitable  for  live  stock? 
Lottsville,  Pa.  j.  f.  q. 
WE  hat'e  many  questions  about 
this.  Some  of  our  people  ask 
Avhere  a  hen  can  possibly  obtain  the 
quantity  of  sulphur  evidently  found  in 
the  egg,  and  also  in  the  feathers.  Of 
course  there  is  no  AA’ay  for  the  hen  to 
obtain  sulphur  except  through  her 
food.  In  some  cases  hens  seem  to  pick 
up  quantities  of  sulphate  of  lime  or 
other  mineral  sulphates,  and  this  may 
help.  Most  poultry  authorities  seem 
to  agree  that  it  does  not  pay  to  feed 
increased  quantities  of  sulphur  mixed 
with  the  mash.  'Where  a  hen  has  a 
reasonable  range  of  food  she  probably 
secures  enough  of  this  substance,  espe¬ 
cially  when  she  has  access  to  green 
clover  or  to  chopped  clover  or  Alfalfa 
hay.  The  inoculated  sulphur  used  for 
treating  potatoes  would  not  answer  for 
feeding  stock.  It  contains  a  germ 
which,  Avhen  moistened,  produces  sul¬ 
phuric  acid,  and,  of  course,  this  would 
be  a  dangerous  thing  to  feed  to  hens. 
It  Avould  be  not  unlike  the  Avoman  who 
read  in  her  farm  paper  that  hens 
should  have  plenty  of  lime.  She  there¬ 
fore  proceeded  to  feed  cracked  lime¬ 
stone,  or  lime  that  had  never  been 
slaked.  Of  course  AAdien  the  poor  liens 
took  this  form  of  lime  into  their 
mouths  they  were  badly  scalded,  and 
some  of  them  seriously  injured,  and 
the  Avoman  found  fault  with  her  farm 
paper  because  it  advised  lime  for  poul¬ 
try.  It  AAould  seem  as  if  reasonable 
judgment  and  common  sense  are  needed 
even  in  such  operations  as  feeding 
lime  and  similar  minerals  to  live  stock. 
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Virginia,  situated  along  a  railroad  track.  Two  years 
ago  Avhen  the  frost  wiped  out  the  entire  apple  crop 
of  the  South,  this  orchard  Avas  saved  by  a  peculiar 
incident.  A  heavy  coal  train  became  stalled  on  the 
grade  passing  through  this  orchard.  This  occurred 
the  night  of  the  big  freeze  Avhen  the  orchards  were 
in  bloom  and  the  two  monster  locomotives  hauling 
this  train  stood  there  throughout  the  night.  The 
heat  radiated  from  these  giants  crept  up  the  hill 
through  the  orchard  and  saved  the  crop  that 
year. 
However,  the  topography  of  the  land  here  does  not 
lend  itself  to  orchard  heating,  the  land  being  very 
The  Destructive  Ground  Mole 
WE  never  had  so  many  questions 
about  moles  as  are  coming  this 
year.  There  seems  to  be  some  renewed 
activity  on  the  part  of  these  creatures. 
They  are  doing  great  damage  to  lawns, 
and  are  also  working  in  flower  beds. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  poison  the  moles. 
They  are  not  like  field  mice,  and  do 
not.  as  a  rule,  eat  much  vegetable  food. 
Usually  Avhen  they  are  found  gnawing 
off  the  roots  of  plants  it  is  because 
they  found  these  roots  in  their  way 
and  proceed  to  dig  through  them  in 
making  their  tunnels.  The  mole  lives 
chiefly  on  insects,  such  as  white  grubs  and  earth- 
Avorms.  Some  reports  are  made  to  us  of  fair  suc¬ 
cess  in  putting  pieces  of  poisoned  meat,  such  as 
liver,  in  the  mole’s  run,  but,  as  a  rule,  such  efforts 
are  not  successful.  There  are  some  reports  of  rea¬ 
sonable  success  in  using  bisulphide  of  carbon.  This 
chemical  is  poured  down  into  the  run  and  the  gas 
is  supposed  to  spread  through  it.  If  you  can  get 
reasonably  near  the  nest  or  home  of  the  mole,  this 
may  operate  fairly  well,  but  Ave  have  never  had 
much  success  except  with  the  use  of  mole  traps. 
These  traps  are  quite  common  and  are  sold  at  most 
of  the  hardware  stores.  They  work  on  the  princi- 
