1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



213 



The Old Way. The New Way. 



BAG HOLDER AND TONNEL COMBINED. 



INVENTED AND PATENTED BY E. C. FAIRCIIILD, SUNDERLAND, MASS. 



Steady, friend "Old Way," or you will spill 

 the "precious grain," although the more diffi- 

 cult task, that of picking the bag from the 

 floor with the full half-bushel in your hands has 

 been accomplished. Who, that has ever put 

 much grain into bags, does not sympathize 

 with you? And who does not congratulate 

 "New Way" on his erect position and the am- 

 ple tunnel, which, though not well represented 

 in the cut, is three inches wider than the larg- 

 est diameter of the half-bushel. See, too, 

 how nicely the bag is held by four little sharp 

 steel hooks on the outside of the tunnel; 

 how the tunnel can be raised or lowered to 

 suit bags of different length, by means of an 

 iron plate with three or more "lugs," on the 

 standard ; and how the whole can be placed 

 on platform scales for weighing, &c. This 

 plate and lugs may also be attached to any up 

 right in the granary, or to a wagon for field use 



Soils for Pear Trees. — Mr. L. C. Kings- 

 ley, of North Auburn, Me., inquires about 

 soils best suited to pear trees, and whether 



standards growing one rod apart may have 

 dwarfs planted between them. He states that 

 he digs the hole for his trees three feet deep, 

 and inquires whether these should be filled 

 with compost. We reply : The soil in which 

 pears generally thrive best, is a well drained 

 clay loam ; but many kinds will thrive in a 

 sandy soil, if well cared for. Dwarfs may be 

 set between trees one rod apart, if the soil 

 and culture are good, but we should prefer to 

 set standards twelve feet apart, with nothing 

 between them. We think a depth of three 

 feet is unnecessary, and involves too much' la- 

 bor. Half that depth is generally sufficient. 

 Two thirds of this depth may be filled with 

 compost, if it is well rotted. Raw manure 

 should not be put in contact with the roots of ' 

 a pear or apple tree. Turfs and sods do well 

 to fill up the hole with. They soon become a 

 good mould. 



We prefer the spring for setting trees, and 

 they should be set as soon after being taken 

 up as possible. Trees transported long dis- 

 tances are very uncertain. 



