Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-02-14

should the plants be set?
Glen Ridge. MRS. I. l..
Privet is an excellent hedge shrub.
and the California variety is easily
grown and hardy. If a quieN-grow-
ing hedge is wanted the plants should
be set about one foot and a half
apart. If there is no special hurry
about the completion Of the hedge a
more beautiful hedge will result in
time if the plants are more widely
separated
Egg Eating by Hens.
How can prevent my hens from
eating eggs? L. M.
Newark.
During the winter months. when
hens are confined to a small house
and are not kept busv there is a pos
'sibility of their forming the habit of
egg eating. TO avoid this, it is wise
to place the nests a foot or so Off the
floor, just high enough SO that the
hen when walking about will not no
tice the eggs. Should they once form
the habit it will be found hard to
stop them. Some recommend darken-
ing the nests, while very good results
have been obtained by throwing a
china egg in the litter several times
a day for a few minutes They will
peck It a time or two and then give
it up. There are one or two prepara7
lions sold that are guaranteed to cure
this habit. but, as they are new or
the market, little is known as to their
value.
Information About Alfalfa.
How can 1 get alfalfa started and
what kind of ground does it need Is
it necessary to inoculate the ground
with soil containing bacteria? Which
is the best way to get incubation OF
the soil? T. j. M.
Chatham.
To obtain stand of alfalfa 1T is
first necessary to have deep, rich
soil with the water table at least two
feet below the surface practj cally
free from weed seeds and fin OF
available plant food either from
manures or fertilizers, made sweet
by the use of lime. which ALSO is a
necessary food for the alfalfa, and
the soil must contain alfalfa bacteria
In most soils 1t is necessary to sup
ply both lime and the bacteria. A
crop of corn after the land is. broken
heavily fertilized and tn oroughly
titled, Is a good beginning. This fol-
lowed by oats and peas, ,sowed In
early spring, as suggested i'll previous
answers, then the alfalfa sowed in
early AUGUST Is d SOOl lttU itiBA LII
oculation is but one factor in estab-
fishing O. stand of alfalfa, but it is a
very important one, and unless one
is certain that his soil Isl so inocu-
lated it is very unwise to do all Other
things necessary and fail to inoculate
The Surest most practical way to Sc
cure incubation is to get the soil from
an alfalfa field free fron1 weeds and
as near home as possible. The field
may be inoculated with the soil where
the sweet clover (melilctus abb L.
has grown. but the great objection to
this is the fact that such soils are
usually full of noxiousi weed seeds,
and after one has spent good deal
of time to rid his land of such, seeds
it seems unwise to resow them. The
various prepared cultures are giving
better satisfaction than formerly, but
where soil is obtainah'le this is more
desirable.
Good Variety OFF Lettuce.
What is good variety of early
head lettuce, and how should it be
raised? J. b. r.
Tennis Ball is go,pd and many
others which come later and are
somewhat larger, are of equally good
quality. To raise early lettuce one
of two methods may be used: Sow
the seed in the fall in the open ground
and winter the plantrt under a litter
of straw, transplating them in the
open field twelve inches apart for
work entirely by hand, or twenty-five
inches apart for work by horse; or
SOW early in a hotbeci, transplant to
cold frames two or three inches apart
to properly harden the plants, and
then set as early as the ground can
hn er;x
excellent results, providing plenty of
fertilizing is available
Fertilizing Fruit Trees.
In fertiIizing a fruit tree Is barn
yard manure, commercial fertilizer or
cover crops the best? H. r. G.
Somerville.
marked results on the trees than any
thing else; next to that, cover crop.
The value of commercial fertilizers
should be determined Dry experiment
in the individual orchard. In many
cases no direct results have been OBJ
tanned by the use of such fertilizers
other than nitrate of soda on large
trees. This is particularly true where
the soil is full of organic matter.
Trees root more deeply than most
plants. and a comparatively small
amount is taken out of the soil in
the fruit. They often have very bar
rem years when plant food is stored
up. and with their large leaf surface
obtain, as do all plants. a goodly
amount of their food from the air.
Beans for the Garden.
Give the best method of growing
beans for garden use and name some
good varieties. What is the best time
to sow? T. J. H.
Montclair.
Plant on good soil, hills about six
inches apart in rows twenty-eight
inches apart. The Black Wad, Refu-
gees, Red Valentines and Early Six
Weeks are all good varieties. Tl'ev
18th of June.
Starting Geranium Cuttings.
Will you kindly advise when it
should be the proper time to start
cuttings from geraniums for setting
out in the spring. Also kindly advise
when such seeds as summer Towering
cosmos, petunia, scarlet sage etc,
should be planted in trays for out
door planting. NJ. A. c.
f Newark
The present month, February, is a
svefy favorable time for roofing cut
tings from geraniums to produce
plants to set out in the spring. In
the commercial geranium growing
greenhouses at this time thousands
OF geraniums cuttings are being taken
from the older stock plants and placed
in the propagating benches.
Cosmos, petunia, scarlet sage and
some other seeds of plants of SIM
liar nature may be planted this
month, February, in flats on seed
trays and placed in the greenhouse
or conservatory or before a sunny
window of the dwelling house. and