1516 
rD*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
December  15,  1923 
can’t 
You 
afford  to 
have  wet  feet 
]\J0  MATTER  whether  one 
snow  storm  follows  an¬ 
other  or  whether  the  roads 
are  ankle  deep  in  slush  and 
mud,  just  slip  on  a  pair  of  Top 
Notch  Sno  Shus  and  you  can 
laugh  at  the  weather. 
There  is  no  need  to  make 
your  feet  look  clumsy  jjust  to 
keep  them  dry.  Sno  Shus  are 
all-rubber  gaiters  with  the 
trim  fit  of  Jersey  Cloth.  TOP 
NOTCH  Rubber  Footwear  is 
built  for  good  looks  as  well 
as  for  foot  protection  and 
long  wear. 
It  is  easy  to  be  sure  you  are 
getting  the  genuine  TOP 
NOTCH  brand.  Just  a  glance 
at  the  soles  will  tell  you 
whether  the  TOP  NOTCH 
Cross  is  there.  This  is  your 
guarantee  of  rubber  footwear 
mileage.  Every  pair  of  Top 
Notch  Rubbers  is  made  by 
hand  just  as  carefully  as  fine 
custom  made  shoes. 
There  is  a  Top  Notch  dealer  in 
your  neighborhood.  It  will  pay  you 
to  patronize  him  when  you  pur¬ 
chase  rubber  footwear  of  any  kind 
because  while  it  costs  no  more 
than  the  ordinary  kind,  it  will 
give  greater  service. 
BEACON  FALLS  RUBBER  SHOE  COMPANY 
Makers  of  Top  Notch  Rubber  Footwear 
New  England  Notes 
t  amous  Elm  Trees. — There  is  some¬ 
thing  about  a  noble  tree  which  makes  a 
direct  appeal  to  almost  every  heart. 
When  the  historic  old  Washington  elm 
in  Cambridge  crashed  to  earth  a  few 
weeks  ago,  the  news  was  given  a  front 
page  position  in  all  the  Newspapers, 
competing  with  the  latest  murder  and 
more  notorious  divorce  case.  "  As  an 
echo  of  this  event  there  has  come  an 
evidence  of  interest  in  large  and  ancient 
trees  from  all  parts  of  New  England.  The 
Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society  has 
obtained  widespread  co-operation  in  mak¬ 
ing  a  survey  of  New  England’s  trees, 
with  very  interesting  results.  As  might 
be  expected,  elms  lead  in  point  of  num¬ 
bers.  The  elm  tree  as  found  in  New  Eng¬ 
land  can  hardly  be  surpassed  for  beauty, 
and  has  proved  itself  remarkably  endur¬ 
ing.  It  has  been  learned  incidentally 
that  another  Washington  elm  exists.  This 
tree  is  in  Palmer,  Mass.,  not  far  from 
Springfield,  and  according  to  tradition 
sheltered  the  Colonial  General  when  he 
made  an  address  to  his  troops.  Another 
famous  elm  stands  in  Ilingham,  along¬ 
side  the  main  road  to  the  Cape,  where  it 
is  admired  by  thousands  of  automobile 
tourists  every  year.  This  tree  is  very 
old,  having  been  transplanted  by  Stephen 
Cushing  in  1729.  Under  the  shelter  of 
neighbors  of  mine  have  been  growing  Jer¬ 
sey  Black  Giants  for  the  first  time.  They 
have  been  greatly  pleased  with  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  chickens,  and  the  rapid 
growth  which  they  have  made,  but  are 
finding  that  they  are  slower  to  begin  lay¬ 
ing  than  the  White  Plymouth  Rocks 
which  are  most  commonly  used  in  East¬ 
ern  Massachusetts.  Moreover,  they  have 
been  disappointed  in  the  flavor  of  the 
meat.  The  birds  that  have  been  dressed 
have  shown  a  great  abundance  of  flesh, 
but  it  seems  to  lack  the  flavor  and  sweet¬ 
ness  found  in  both  the  White  and  Barred 
Rocks. 
The  European  Corn  Borer. — It  is  re¬ 
ported  that  the  European  corn  borer  has 
not  been  as  destructive  the  past  season  as 
for  several  previous  years.  The  dry 
weather  has  been  against  it,  and  in  ad¬ 
dition  a  parasite  has  appeared  which  has 
done  much  to  eradicate  the  pest.  It  is 
too  much  to  hope,  however,  that  a  com¬ 
bination  of  weather  conditions  and  para¬ 
sites  will  come  every  season.  And  even 
with  the  improved  situation  a  tremend¬ 
ous  amount  of  damage  has  been  wrought. 
There  is  no  reason  for  shutting  down  on 
the  precautionary  measures  which  the 
authorities  have  demanded.  Millions  of 
pests  are  still  alive  in  corn  stubble, 
weeds  and  flower  stalks.  Unless  all  this 
its  branches  Rev.  John  Brown,  of  Co- 
hasset,  delivered  an  eloquent  sermon  at 
the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  One 
of  the  handsomest  elms  in  New  England 
is  to  be  found,  according  to  the  Massa¬ 
chusetts  Horticultural  Society’s  census, 
at  Yarmouth,  Me.  This  tree  is  more  than 
24  ft.  in  circumference  at  its  base.  It 
is  125  years  old,  and  has  a  spread  of  100 
ft.  It  is  said  that  this  tree  grew  from 
a  stick  which  a  man  used  for  a  whip, 
and  which  he  stuck  up  in  the  mud  while 
he  stopped  to  water  his  horse. 
„  Other  Veterans. — Probably  the  most 
historic  tree  in  Massachusetts,  now  that 
the  Washington  elm  is  gone,  is  the  Avery 
oak  at  Dedham.  This  tree  is  older  than 
the  settlement  which  began  almost  under 
its  shadow  in  the  year  1635.  Seventy 
dollars  was  offered  for  it  to  be  used  in 
building  the  frigate  Constitution,  but  the 
offer  was  rejected  by  its  owner.  In  1878 
the  town  of  Dedham  established  a  com¬ 
mon  seal.  Upon  it  is  inscribed  a  repre¬ 
sentation  of  this  ancient  oak,  whch  was 
selected  as  a  symbol  of  age  and  strength. 
The  Society’s  census  has  revealed  the 
fact  that  in  the  list  of  very  old  trees 
are  several  fruit  trees.  Perhaps  the  best 
known  is  a  pear  tree  in  the  garden  of 
Capt.  C.  H.  Allen  in  Salem,  Mass.  This 
tree,  which  bore  fruit  the  past  Summer, 
was  brought  over  from  England  in  1639, 
according  to  what  seem  to  be  authentic 
reports.  Unfortunately,  the  tree,  while 
still  in  fruiting  condition,  needs  imme¬ 
diate  attention  if  it  is  to  be  saved.  There 
is  a  pear  tree  in  Danvers,  however,  which 
is  believed  to  be  several  years  older.  It 
is  known  as  the  Gov.  Endicott  pear  tree, 
and  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  William  C. 
Endicott,  one  of  the  Society’s  trustees. 
Poultry  Matters.  —  New  England 
poultry  farmers  will  never  put  their  busi¬ 
ness  on  a  practical  business  basis  until 
they  are  able  to  keep  up  a  continuous 
supply  of  eggs  through  the  Fall  and  early 
Winter.  This  must  be  done,  of  course 
by  earlier  hatching  and  careful  feeding 
during  the  Fall  months,  so  that  they  will 
be  in  good  physical  condition  when  cold 
weather  comes.  There  are  many  farmers 
who  stick  to  the  old  theory  that  pullets 
are  in  danger  of  putting  on  an  over¬ 
abundance  of  flesh  s 6  that  they  will  not 
lay  well.  It  has  been  proven,  however, 
that  pullets  lay  best  when  they  are  fat. 
and  they  must  be  fed  a  liberal  amount  of 
scratch  grain  just  before  they  are  due  to 
lay.  After  laying  commences,  a  greater 
proportion  of  mash  may  be  used,  until 
the  hens  are  getting  as  much  mash  as 
they  are  scratch  grain.  It  is  scratch 
grain,  though,  that  is  needed  to  make 
them  start  laying.  It  seems  to  be  a  pret¬ 
ty  well  established  fact  that  more  scratch 
grain  is  needed  when  hens  are  being 
forced  under  the  lights  than  is  otherwise 
the  case.  Good  poultrymen  scatter  this 
grain  in  the  litter  the  night  before  so 
that  the  birds  find  it  when  they  get  off 
the  roosts  as  the  lights  go  on.  Some 
material  is  cut  down  and  burned  and  the 
ground  plowed,  another  horde  of  borers 
will  appear  next  Spring. 
Protecting  the  Garden. — In  a  cli¬ 
mate  like  that  of  New  England,  a  certain 
amount  of  protection  must  be  given  to 
most  tender  garden  flowers  and  shrubs, 
including  roses,  if  they  are  to  be  carried 
through  the  Winter  months.  Much  labor 
would  be  saved  if  there  were  a  sufficient 
number  of  plants  so  hardy  that  no  cover¬ 
ing  would  be  needed,  but  if  only  that  kind 
were  grown,  the  beauty  of  the  garden 
would  be  greatly  restricted.  Unfortunate¬ 
ly  many  garden-makers  make  the  mistake 
of  applying  too  much  protection,  in  the 
belief  that  they  must  keep  the  frost  out 
ot  the  ground.  The  real  purpose  of 
covering  plants  is  to  keep  the  ground 
frozen.  _  It  is  when  the  alternate  process 
of  freezing  and  thawing  goes  on  that  the 
plants  are  damaged,  for  then  they  are 
heaved  out  of  the  ground  and  exposed  to 
the  drying  winds.  The  actual  time  to 
put  on  a  covering,  therefore,  comes  very 
late  in  the  season.  Even  then  this  cover¬ 
ing  should  not  be  heavy  enough  to  abso¬ 
lutely  exclude  the  air.  Anything  which 
mats  down  and  forms  an  impervious 
blanket  does  more  harm  than  good. 
Straw,  large  leaves,  and  even  pine 
needles  may  be  used.  There  is  nothing 
better,  however,  than  pine  boughs,  which 
can  be  spread  over  the  beds  or  fastened 
loosely  around  tall  shrubs.  After  all,  the 
shrubs  and  especially  the  broad-leafed 
evergreens  like  Rhododendrons,  suffer 
more  as  a  result  of  being  forced  into 
growth  very  early  in  the  Spring,  for  they 
are  usually  caught  by  a  hard  freeze  later. 
Any  kind  of  protection  which  excludes 
the  _  sun’s  rays  and  retards  the  growth 
until  the  danger  period  is  over  is  satisfac¬ 
tory.  Probably  the  best  way  to  protect 
a  rose  bed  is  to  set  up  boards  around  it, 
filling  in  with  leaves.  This  involves  con¬ 
siderable  labor,  and  in  the  average  gar¬ 
den  there  is  no  better  method  than  to 
heap  up  the  earth  to  the  depth  of  a  foot 
around  the  plants.  They  may  freeze 
back  to  the  top  of  this  mound,  but  prob¬ 
ably  they  will  need  to  be  cut  back  that 
far,  in  any  event.  e.  i.  Farrington. 
The  old  gentleman  was  lost  in  a  Lon¬ 
don  fog,  so  thick  that  he  could  scarcely 
see  his  hand  before  his  face.  He  became 
seriously  alarmed  when  he  found  himself 
in  a  slimy  alley.  Then  he  heard  foot¬ 
steps  approaching.  “Where  am  I  going?” 
he.  asked  anxiously.  A  voice  replied 
weirdly  from  the  darkness :  “Into  the 
river.  I’ve  just  come  out.” — Everybody’s 
Magazine. 
“Did  any  of  your  family  ever  make  a 
brilliant  marriage?”  “Only  my  wife.” 
— Boston  Evening  Transcript. 
