276 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



and let it pass through one of the side walls and up to the outside of the evap- 

 orator to the height of eight feet. Beneath the trays and above the furnace 

 suspend by wires a strip of sheet iron, three feet wide and ten feet long. Bend 

 this in a semi-circle so that the edges of the sides will be two feet apart. Place 

 this sheet iron as near to the trays and as far as possible above the furnace, with 

 its convex side downward. It will then direct the currents of hot air into the 

 air chambers on either side of the evaporator. From thence the heated currents 

 pass underneath and over the trays to the opening in the centre of the trays ; 

 from thence upward and out through the ventilator at the top of evaporator. — 

 S. A. LiTiMER, before Missouri Hor. Soc. 



FARMERS AS FRUIT-GROWERS. 



A farmer on one hundred and forty acres of land asks me what fruits he can 

 raise and not have them interfere seriously with farm work. He has two small 

 boys whom he wishes to interest and keep contentedly on the farm if possible, 

 and he further asks whether he couldn't make fruit growing pay as a sort of 

 annex to his farming. As to the latter part of the inquiry I would answ^er 

 decidedly no, if the farming is done as it might and should be. I know a 

 number of farmers with farms of half that size who are wholly occupied in 

 managing and working them in regular farm crops. I have a neighbor with less 

 than 100 acres who paid 25 cents each for grubbing up a ten acre orchard 

 of apple and pear trees just coming into bearing, that he might devote the 

 ground to a rotation of crops. The neighbors all considered him crazy but the 

 outcome has proved that the land has been more profitable in farm crops than 

 in orchard. The last season six acres of this land produced 800 bushels of 

 potatoes, worth $1.18 per bushel. This man is an enthusiast in farming and 

 not in fruit growing, and more successful in some of his farming than the 

 majority. When he was grubbing his orchard it seemed to me that it would 

 have been wiser to have grubbed two rows and left two rows alternately, and 

 this would have left long strips capable of unimpeded cultivation, while it gave 

 an extra chance to the remaining trees. There are^many orchards where such a 

 course would give new life to the trees left and possibly result in no diminution 

 of the crop. 



Either farming or fruit growing will fully occupy the energies and brain of 

 any cultivator of the soil, and it is better to push business in the way of 

 increased yield and reduced expense than to add another pursuit requiring a 

 different outfit of tools and a different line of experience. There are some fruits 

 that succeed tolerably well in drained, rich ground without much cultivation, 

 especially if they are where fowls run, and of these no farmer ought to fail to 

 have enough to supply his family. These, in the order of ease of growth and 

 minimum of care, are cherries, grapes, blackberries, pears, summer and fall 

 apples, quinces and currants. — Vick's Magazine. 



