The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-10-16

correspondents
says lhat he saw an article in a paper
where some cabbage grower recon-
hlehds a mixture of lime. salt and
ashes for cabbaees. Wants TO know
my opinion Of this. Many wears 400
the salt boilers OF South and west Nir-
Sinia got up this mixture which they
called the "Holston MIXTURE" as a
means OF getting rid of the ashes and
refuse salt from their works The
iiihe and ashes, OF course. did good
and that was all there was of value in
the mixture. But farmers got the i, ga
that there must be some salt and 81
the mixture became famous. The
great manurial needs Of the cabbage
crop are for nitrogen and the phOs-
phorlc acid. This mixture gives neith-
er except the small percentage of
phosphoric acid in the ashes. and the
! 1act that III a soil abounding in vege-
table matter the lime will promote nj
trlhcatIon OF the Transformation of or
ganic matter into nitrates. With the
| salt left out the mixture is not bad.
but it will not take the place Of nitro
@enous and phosphate manures for
the cabbage. The lime and ashes dust
| ed oVer~the plants Will be fine for de-
stroying the green cabbage worms in
| summer care being taken to renew it
when washed off by rains
! \ friend in eastern North Carolina
wants to know which is the best
! beardless variety of wheat and how to
| treat it with blue stone to prevent
! smut. My advice is not to use any
| beardless wheat. You are not in the
! best wheat climate and are apt to have
hard rains at times when wheat IS in
bloom. and the bald headed wheat will
/ IL -
varieties. The best bald wheat is the
futZ. and the best wheat for your sec
ton is the t'ulcaster. TO prevent smut
soak the wheat in a saturated solution
! of blue stone, sUlphate of copper for
/ half an hour. Or soak it iii plain
| water heated to 135 degrees and not
over.
please tell me if the Colorado po-
| tato beetle. Blister beetle and the Har-
! lequin bug are the perfect insects? DO
they lay eggs? Is it the beetle that
does the damage? DO they go in the
ground to pupate. AID if 50, in what
form do they come forth? This let
ter we'll illustrates the general ignor-
ance in regard to insect life. for the
writer is an unusually intelligent man
The Colorado potato beetle IS, OF
course. the perfect insect. They can
and laying patches Of orange colored
eggs on the under sides of the potato
leaves From these eggs the larvae
are hatched. and they at once go tc
| feeding voraciously, and grow fast
When full grown they go into the
ground and become pupae, during
| which time they are quiet and finally
they come forth in their perfect beetle
form to Law eggs again. making two
or more broods in a season. 1he i'lls
fer beetles do the same thing with the
exception that it is the perfect beetie
in their case that does the damage
Their eggs hatch III the ground ans
their grubS not only do no harh' o'l'
are really beneficial as they feed on
the eggs Of grasshoppers ana so or
minish these pests we never po'>o
the blister beetles. for if you take
coda,. brush YOU can drive the whol
swarm ont like a flock OF sheep. The
Haleouin bug is a different customer
He * commonly called Ierrapln bug
ond his larvae are not the ones that &c
the damage. but the perfect insect. Ht
re+e ON the edge Of the cabbaSt
leaves and inserts his proboscis ah'
srcks the life out Of it IN shoE1 ofoei
If is no use to try TO poison MN ~.
bo does not eat the outside OF the leai
\ very strong application OF kefoSeh'
erouIsion will sometimes XIII the'i
and ny powder is sometimes ehec'iN>
Pint the best way IS to SOW some iiiua
.,l ,a+vaen the cabbage rows an'
l,an tho insects come they are more
fond Of mustard than OF capoages
nu' ,ben they have gotten ON the
mustard sprinkle them with pure heI
,a,o and at once SOW some more
o,5,.s ',s+ord around the cabbage plot.