Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-01
apart in the rows. with the rows a
foot and a half to two feet apart.

apart in the rows. with the rows a
foot and half to two feet apart.
AS the sweet potatoes. by this time,
have been given their final cultivation.
try the plan of coiling the vines as
closely as possible around their own
stems. Simply lift the runners from
the ground and coil them around. using
the central stalk as the axis, and max
ing as compact a coil as possible. This
seems to protect the roots and tubers
and to keep the soil cool and moist. 1t
is an old negro plan. followed by col
ored gardeners in many parts of the
country. and whatever the philosophy
OF the plan, it appears to help mate
rally in the production Of fine, we'll
matured. mealy sweets.
No matter if il is a little extra work
and trouble, do not fail to prepare the
ground from which early crops have
been removed and SOW crimson clover
on every available spot No single
green crop is so valuable as green ma
nure as crimson clover, and If it can
be sown where cowpeas have been
turned under il becomes doubly vaiua-
bic. Green manures will do more in n
couple OF years to restore fertility to
the SOIL than anything else, and the
fertility thus restored is practically
permanent, as it is largely humus
simple and usually effica cious treat
ment for the pear and apple blight
which has been unusually prevalent
TINS year is spray or painting with a
chloride of mercury The plan usually
Followed is TO cut away all branches
on which the blight has developed, cut
tln2 back two or three inches to sound
wood Also remove from the trunks or
tne large limbs all the canker spots,
which are the areas in which the blight
passes the winter. Then paint or spray
!he wounds and excised spots with the
olcniorlde solution. made in the pro-
portion OF one or two tablets to a pint
OF wafer In cutting away diseased
areas be careful to wash the pruning
khife or other tools frequently in the
mercury solution, to obviate transfer
ring the blight from diseased places to
SOUND areas not hitherto infected.
Again the necessity for thorough wa
terlng, if plants of any kind are to be
watered at all, is called to the attention
OF readers. A scanty, shallow water
ing In which only the top half-inch of
than good 1t causes the plants to
throw root growth up toward the
surface, and a few scorching hot DAYS
SIMPLY cook these roots, weakening and
shortly destroying the plant To be
beneficial, watering has to be thorough
The grouid must be soaked to the depth
of at least tGree or four inches BY
this is meant that the top three or four
inches of earth must be made muddy
and wet; then the water seeps down to
the deep root systems of the plant.
where 1t does good, because it is within
reach of the roots that feed and sus-
tain the plant growth. The midsumm er
failure of many otherwise beautiful and
well planned gardens may usually be
traced to skinny watering, the owner
Iii pnCr fo~ i
date surface of the soil is moistened
the watering has been sufficient.
Frequent spraying of melons of all
kinds, as well as cucumbers. is neces-
sary If the vines are to remain produc.
tive for any length of time. A treat
ment that is often effective in com
batting green aphis. or melon lice" or
cantaloupe vines is extremely simple
consisting merely of busting the plants
under as well as upper surfaces of the
leaves, with dry, powdery earth; road
dust is frequently used. For the striped
cucumber beetles that attack canta
loupes as we'll, thorough busting of thu
plants with good insect powder such
as is used on poultry frequently work.
well, a single application often sufficine
to rid the plants of the pests.
Persons who failed last spring to spray
pear and apple trees both before and after
the fruits had set are now reaping the
reward of their failure. Early pears are
| found to be bad at the cores, worny, full
| of decaycd spots and knotty, and the same
! is true of the earliest apples. 1t is ali
very well to say that our GRANDPA theirs
| grew fine fruit without going to all the
| trouble of spraying, but the fact must be
/ borne in mind that pests of all kinds
have increased in numbers as well as in
variety since that day. Our grandfathers
never even heard Of San Jose scale, peal
| blight, peach yellows, plum curculio ant
all the multitude of drawbacks with which
Careful and scientific pruning of the trees
and equally careful spraying, are tn,
weapons with which the fruit grower O
today must battle all the diseases tt
which his trees are subject. Three spray
ings year will not be too much. On
should be given just as the blossoms are
opening, but before they have fully
opened. The second should be after the
fruits have set while the third-this one
| whale oil soap emulsion-late in the
fall, after the leaves have dropped. The
final spraying, with the whale oil soap, is
for protection against the San Jose scale
with which the east is rapidly filling up
and this time the trees should be sprayed
so literally that not an inch of the sur
| face OF trunk and limbs escapes its dose
of the bad-smelling mixture.
| Windfalls of all kinds from the orchard
| may pc easily converted INTO pflIne
vinegar. either for use in the household
or for sale. Apples, pears. peaches Oh
plums, or mixture Of any of these, may
| be reduced to pulp, mixed with water an6
permitted to ferment. After fermentation
| has proceeded to the acetic stage the
| liquid is TO be drained Off strained and
set aside to develop greater acidity- Such
vinegar increases in strength with age
and if properly strained or filtered be-
comes within a year as strong cider vine
| gar as can be bought. no matter what
price is paid. AS it may be made as
well from fruit that otherwise would have
been wasted as from sound, salable fruit
it is very inexpensive basis for pickles
etc, as we'll as for use on the table
In getting the early potatoes ready for
market, do not wash the tubers, although
all the surplus soil should, of course, be
removed from them Buyers, it seems
do not care for potatoes that have been
carefully scrubbed, for the simple reason
that they have learned that INSCRIPTIONS
dealers have found a way, by washing
old potatoes in very dilute acid water,
of making them look like new. Besides
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