26 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February, 1910 



A Plan for Raising Poultry Among Fruits 



E. G. Cooper, Oakviile, Ontario 



A COMBINED system of poultry 

 and fruit raising may be outlined 

 as follows. Take ten acres of 

 good land. Sandy loam is most desir- 

 able. Run a division thirty feet wide 

 through centre. Divide each half into 

 five equal parts. (See the diagram). In 

 the space opposite each division build a 

 poultry house twenty feet wide and the 

 desired length for 200 poultry making a 



Plan for Ten-acre Fruit and Ponltr; Farm 



1, About one acre in each division, containing 

 apples, 40 feet apart each way, with plun:8. 

 pears, peaches and cherries half way between 

 the rows. Remove these fillers when apple 

 trees need the room, say, ten years after plant- 

 ing. 2, Black currants. 3. Red currants. 4. 

 Gooseberries. 5, Red raspberries. 6, Black rasp- 

 berries. 7, Driveway, ten feet wide. 8, Tempor- 

 ary gates that can be opened or taken down 

 when fowl are to run in divisions on that side. 

 9. Poultry houses. 



total house space for looo fowls. In 

 each division on one side of the central 

 space, plant small fruits, such as black 

 currants, red currants, gooseberries, red 

 raspberries and blackberries, and in the 

 division on the other side plant pears, 

 plums, peaches, cherries and ap- 

 ples. Do not plant strawberries, as this 

 system would not be beneficial for them. 

 The best breeds of fowl in my opinion 

 are Barred Plymouth Rock, Minorca, 

 Wyandotte, Orpington, Brown and 

 White Leghorn. 



Have the houses so constructed that 

 the fowls may be let out into each divis- 

 ion. Divide the divisions with wire net- 

 ting as high as is required. 



As soon as the soil can be worked in 

 spring, cultivate between the rows of 

 fruit and sow every morning the fowls' 

 morning meal which should be grain. 

 Good wheat is preferable to anything 

 else in this line. Let the fowls work for 

 their living by scratching and gathering 

 their food. Exercise is good for them, 

 and if the soil is fairly dry they will dust 

 them.selves. The noon meal should con- 

 sist of soft feed, such as bran mash, 

 scraps from dining table, and so on. A 

 little pepper is good. In the evening 

 feed the grain by sowing as in the morn- 

 ing. On the other side plow and culti- 



vate as soon as ground is dry and sow 

 to grass seed or any other green crop or 

 to grain. 



As soon as the small fruits start to 

 bloom shut off the runs into the small 

 fruit divisions and let the fowls run in 

 the divisions on the other side. When the 

 small fruit is all gathered, change the 

 runs to the divisions on the small fruit 

 side. Then sow buckwheat in the 

 spaces between the pears, apples, etc. 

 As soon as any grain appears, change 

 the runs again or let the fowls use both 

 sides. 



Plow the buckwheat under as a cover 

 crop before frost sets in for the benefit 

 of small trees. A few mangels can be 

 grown for winter use as they are very 

 beneficial as a regulation in winter time. 



The fowls running on the land be- 

 tween the trees and bushes will fertilize 

 them as well as destroy millions of in- 

 sects which would otherwise be destruc- 

 tive. The production of eggs can be 

 counted as a clean profit as the fowls 

 would pay for themselves in the benefit 

 the fruit would derive from them. 



Spraying the Vineyard 



In the course of an excellent address 

 on "Grape Growing in the Chautauqua 

 Grape Belt," Mr. D. K. Falvay, West- 

 field, N.Y., gave the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Association at its last conven- 

 tion the following information on vine- 

 yard pests and spraying: 



"All vineyards should be sprayed at 

 least twice for the 'root worm' and 

 several times if affected with rot. Pois- 

 oned Bordeaux is used for the fidia or 

 root worm, and also for the grape berry 

 moth, which produces wormy grapes. 

 The first application is made when the 

 grapes are just past full blossoming, and 

 the second application is made about ten 

 or twelve days later. The material costs 

 about $1.30 cents an acre for each ap- 

 plication if poison is used with the Bor- 

 deaux ; with Bordeaux only, about 70 

 cents an acre. With water handy and 

 a good walking team two men can .spray 

 fifteen acres in a day. From ten to 

 twelve acres a day is, however, a fair 

 average. 



"The benefits from spraying are many. 

 It will control the root worm, destroy the 

 grape berry moth, prevent mildew, check 

 black rot, prevent grapes shelling and 

 keep the vines healthy. Sprayed vine- 

 yards have a better growth of foliage, 

 which stays on the vines from one to 

 three weeks longer than on unsprayed 

 vines, thereby fully ripening the fruit 

 and the wood. 



"The 'thrip' or leaf hopper has dam- 

 aged thousands of acres. This insect 

 works on the under side of the leaf. It 

 sucks the juice after the leaves fall but 



remain red and unmarketable. The leaf 

 hopper can be controlled by spraying 

 the under side of the leaf with whale oil 

 soap, using from twelve to fifteen pounds 

 to 100 gallons of water. This should 

 be applied before the hopper gets wings. 

 Last season I killed seventy-five per cent, 

 of the hoppers by this treatment. 



"The most serious pest with us is the 

 root worm or fidia, which has ruined 

 thousands of trees in the grape belt. This 



Hand Power Barrel Sprayint Outfit 



Manufactured by Goulds Manufsicturing Co., Seneca 

 Falls, N. V. 



year it was not so much in evidence. As 

 a result of experiments by the state of 

 New York it was demonstrated that the 

 root worm can be controlled or at least 

 reduced in number below the danger line. 

 This work is performed by hoeing out 

 the pupae when in the turtle stage, and 

 by spraying just before the beetles feed 

 on the leaves. Vineyard work should be 

 done intelligently and at the proper time. 

 No business will run itself." 



The native black currant of Saskat- 

 chewan, though different in flavor from 

 the cultivated sorts, is fully as palatable, 

 and vields much better. 



Orchard men in the strictly dry belt 

 of British Columbia claim an advantage 

 over slightly wetter sections where sum- 

 mer rains are not heavy enough to soak 

 the ground yet necessitate much cultiva- 

 tion to preserve a dust-mulch to retain 

 the winter moisture or irrigation water. 

 Practical orchardists hold that after the 

 one, two or three (in the case of an open 

 soil and a bearing orchard) irrigations 

 necessary, a stir with harrows every ten 

 days or two weeks, keeps so perfect a 

 mulch that trees can bring large crops 

 to full size even in the dryest season. 



