65o 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Oct.  8 
A  Hudson  River  Apple  Orchard. 
CHEMICALS  TO  GIVE  APPLES  COLOR. 
Having1  received  an  invitation  a  few  days  since  from 
Mr.  W.  H.  Hart  of  Duchess  County,  N.  Y.,  to  visit  his 
orchard,  I  did  so  with  my  son.  I  was  not  altogether 
unprepared  for  the  sight  afforded,  as  I  had  visited  the 
place  last  September  when  there  were  5,000  barrels 
of  fruit  still  upon  the  trees.  To  those  who  can  ap¬ 
preciate  good  fruit,  and  who  know  the  labor,  care  and 
anxiety  involved  in  the  growth  of  the  trees  and  the 
production  of  such  fruit,  the  sight  here  presented  be¬ 
comes  an  object  lesson,  and  an  incentive  to  renewed 
effort.  Mr.  Hart’s  Greenings  were  mostly  picked  and 
stored,  and  he  has  storage  capacity  in  his  cooling 
rooms  for  8,000  to  10,000  barrels.  The  crop  of  this 
variety  was  not  as  large  as  last  year’s.  The  Bald¬ 
wins,  Ben  Davis,  Spys,  Peck’s  Pleasant,  Jonathan, 
Russets  and  some  others  were  still  on  the  trees.  The 
Baldwin  trees  were  so  heavily  loaded  that  many  are 
badly  broken.  Some  idea  of  their  abundance  can  be 
gathered  from  the  fact  that  many  trees  carry  eight 
to  ten  barrels  of  apples  apiece.  They  have  been 
planted  only  about  25  years,  and  the  ends  of  the  limbs 
lie  on  the  ground  so  that  half  the  crop  can  be  picked 
on  foot.  In  many  places  the  apples  hang  in  ropes.  I 
counted  17  in  the  space  of  2  feet  and  15  in  1  foot;  but  the 
most  beautiful  sight  was  presented  by  some  young 
Ben  Davis  trees  not  over  10  feet  in  height  with  trunks 
six  inches  in  diameter,  which  were  literally  covered 
with  bright  red  fruit — three  barrels  to  the  tree. 
Rivaling  these  in  beauty  and  surpassing  them  in  the 
character  of  the  fruit  were  the  trees  loaded  with 
Northern  Spy.  While  the  Spy  is  generally  a  shy 
bearer,  here  were  trees  with  trunks  not  over  six 
inches  in  diameter  loaded  with  large  and  highly  col¬ 
ored  fruit. 
One  would  naturally  assume  that  this  orchard  is 
upon  a  rich  and  fertile  soil :  such  is  far  from  being 
the  case.  The  land  would  not  grow  corn  enough  to 
pay  for  the  labor.  It  is  mostly  a  rough,  broken,  poor 
hillside  not  worth  $25  per  acre  for  farming  purposes, 
but  the  fruit  far  surpasses  that  grown  upon  the  flat, 
fertile  land  below.  Why  does  such  fruit  grow  upon 
such  barren  land  ?  Because  the  trees  are  liberally  fed 
not  only  one  year,  but  during  successive  years.  Why 
don’t  orchards  bear  every  year  ?  Because  they  are 
not  fed  every  year  like  corn  or  potatoes,  and  this 
should  be  done  if  one  expects  to  raise  a  paying  crop. 
Mr.  Hart  has  fed  his  orchards  liberally  with  muriate 
of  potash,  ground  bone  and  stable  manure,  and  not 
only  does  he  apply  fertilizers,  but  he  also  plows  and 
cultivates  the  land  solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  trees, 
instead  of  robbing  them  by  trying  to  grow  some  other 
crop  among  them.  He  attributes  the  high  coloring 
and  firm  texture  of  his  fruit  to  the  use  of  potash  and 
bone,  believing  that  farm  manures  tend  to  produce 
growth  of  wood,  loose  texture  and  inferior  color  in 
the  fruit. 
Between  the  main  apple  orchard  and  the  peach  or¬ 
chard,  which  has  only  a  light  crop  this  year,  and 
which  occupies  the  highest  slope  of  the  farm,  lies  a 
field  of  13  acres,  which  is  about  80  rods  in  length  and 
more  nearly  level  than  the  other  portions.  This  was 
an  old  pasture  field,  not  having  been  plowed  in  40 
years.  It  has  a  clay  soil  with  a  black  mold  in  low 
places.  It  has  been  underdrained,  and  was  set  with 
apple  trees  about  three  years  since  and  last  year  pro¬ 
duced  a  crop  of  fodder  corn.  Early  in  April  a  portion 
of  the  field  which  is  quite  strong,  was  plowed  and  the 
remainder  was  prepared  with  the  cultivator  and  har¬ 
row  and  the  whole  seeded  to  clover  without  grain  or 
fertilizer.  At  the  present  time  it  presents  a  most 
beautiful  appearance,  having  a  fine  and  even  growth. 
Here  is  an  object  lesson  for  those  who  seed  with  grain 
and  fail  to  get  a  good  catch.  Would  it  not  be  well  to 
pay  more  attention  to  seeding  our  land  to  grass  and 
less  to  grain  raising  ?  Walter  f.  taber. 
R.  N.-Y. — It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Hart 
wrote  us  recently  about  his  use  of  Prickly  Comfrey 
for  soiling. 
A  Hew  Pear,  “  Seneca.” 
The  Rural  is  in  receipt  of  a  specimen  new  pear, 
from  Wm.  Parry,  of  Parry,  N.  J.,  which  he  calls  the 
Seneca.  The  following  are  notes  made  of  it  when 
perfectly  ripe,  September  13. 
Seneca  Pear :  Large,  obovate  pyriform.  Stem 
nearly  two  inches  long,  rather  stout,  flattened  at  the 
junction,  where  the  union  is  made  with  a  curious 
fleshy  ridge.  Calyx  open,  basin  rather  large  and  un¬ 
even.  Color  light  yellow,  marked  with  bright  green 
mottlings  and  black  dots.  Bright  blush  on  sunny 
side.  Flesh  white,  fine-grained,  very  vinous  and 
sprightly,  melting  and  delicious.  Very  good  to  best 
in  quality,  sufficiently  so  fo  make  it  desirable  for 
for  either  home  or  market. 
An  excellent  photographic  picture  of  this  pear  is 
shown  at  Fig.  259. 
A  Western  Farmer’s  Outing. 
PART  IV. 
I  thought  farmers  were  rather  scarce  on  the  streets 
of  Duluth,  but  when  I  boarded  the  steamer  and  dis¬ 
covered  that  not  one  of  the  60  odd  passengers  was  a 
tiller  of  the  soil,  I  felt  like  a  straj'  sheep.  There  were 
merchants,  real  estate  dealers,  salesmen,  bookkeepers, 
bankers,  lumber  dealers,  architects  and  gentlemen  of 
leisure,  but  not  one  farmer.  The  steward  of  the 
steamer  informed  me  that  very  few  real  farmers 
traveled  that  route.  Possibly  they  prefer  land  to  water 
and  cut  across  the  country  on  flying  express  trains.  I 
think  that  is  where  they  make  a  mistake.  A  few  days 
on  a  steamer  on  the  great  lakes  during  the  sultry  days 
of  August,  would  do  any  of  them  lots  of  good.  They 
would  get  clear  away  from  the  dust  and  turmoil  of  the 
land,  and  sniff  the  bracing  zephyrs  that  roll  the  cool 
waters  into  silver-tipped  billows,  and  they  would  be¬ 
come  as  spry  as  kittens  and  hungry  enough  to  eat  half 
a  dozen  spring  chickens  each  or  a  quarter  of  a  beef  at 
every  meal. 
The  fare  is  usually  very  good,  and  I  noticed  that 
even  the  slab-sided  dyspeptic  and  the  dainty,  spec¬ 
tacled  maiden  preferred  the  substantials,  such  as  beef, 
chicken,  mutton,  pork,  potatoes  and  bread,  to  the 
delicacies  like  angels’  food,  pie,  ice  cream,  puffs  and 
puddings.  When  the  lake  is  fairly  smooth  the  com¬ 
missary  department  truly  suffers  violence,  but  when 
the  waters  dance  high  and  the  vessel  rolls  and  pitches, 
The  Seneca  Pear.  Fig.  259. 
then  the  cooks  and  waiters  lay  off,  while  the  passen¬ 
gers  stick  to  their  state-rooms  and  sigh  audibly. 
About  the  great  copper  and  iron  mines  in  Michigan 
a  farmer  can  find  much  to  interest  him,  and  by  spend¬ 
ing  two  or  three  days  among  them  he  can  learn  more 
about  the  great  industries  carried  on  there  than  he 
ever  dreamed  of.  Here  the  steamer  exchanges  tons  of 
flour  and  feed  for  tons  of  copper  and  iron,  and  we  see 
what  becomes  of  a  portion  of  our  great  surplus. 
Next  we  stop  at  a  wharf  on  a  sandy  point  and  take 
on  several  great  cars  of  the  lake  white  fish  that  we 
buy  salted  down  in  kegs  and  pails.  Here  also  we  re¬ 
ceive  hundreds  of  crates  of  the  famous  blueberries 
which  we  afterwards  eat  in  pies,  tarts  and  “  pre¬ 
serves,”  at  the  hotels  and  restaurants.  I  notice  that 
the  stevedores  here  don't  understand  handling  the 
crates  so  well  as  the  darkeys  on  the  Mississippi  River 
steamers  do.  There  two  men  stand  by  the  stack  of 
crates  and  quickly  lift  them  on  to  the  shoulders  of 
others  who  carry  them  aboard  where  two  more  take 
them  off  and  set  them  gently  down.  Here  each  man 
grabs  a  crate,  heaves  it  on  to  his  own  shoulder,  then 
carries  it  aboard  and  sets  it  down  with  quite  a  bump, 
though  the  mate  keeps  admonishing  him  to  “  Handle 
thim  aisy,  now  !  ” 
From  the  blueberry  crop  the  dusky  Indian  squaw 
gets  five  cents  for  herself  and  whisky  and  tobacco  dol¬ 
lars  for  her  noble  lord  and  master.  She  does  the 
picking,  and  he  does  the  selling  and  absorbing  of  the 
proceeds,  much  after  the  manner  of  many  a  brawny 
agriculturist  who  markets  the  egg  and  chickens  his 
wife  so  patiently  raises  and  gathers.  One  is  quite  as 
noble  as  t’other. 
At  the  Island  of  Mackinac  we  find  the  vacationists 
in  their  purity  and  glory.  Every  summer  hundreds  of 
them  steer  straight  for  Mackinac,  and,  while  they  race 
and  climb  about  the  island  seeking  pleasure,  their 
landlord  quietly  and  smilingly  builds  up  his  little  bill 
for  their  after  consideration.  In  the  hot  days  of  sum¬ 
mer  it  is  a  good  place  to  go  for  a  cool,  refreshing 
breeze — and  a  bill. 
As  we  approach  the  great  city  of  the  World’s  Fair, 
the  smoke  from  its  myriad  mills  and  factories  comes 
up  the  lake  like  a  dense  fog.  The  captain  stands  be¬ 
side  the  pilot,  and  they  gaze  and  speculate  for  an  hour 
or  more,  while  the  steamer  steadily  plows  straight 
ahead.  Suddenly  a  great,  white  structure  looms  up 
through  the  smoke,  the  captain  says,  “all  right!” 
the  steamer  changes  its  course  a  little,  and  in  a  short 
time  we  are  stirring  up  the  turbid  mixture  that  flows 
out  of  the  Chicago  River,  gliding  past  great  ware¬ 
houses  and  outward-bound  vessels,  and  finally  grind 
up  against  our  wharf.  Then  the  good-natured  fellows 
bid  the  captain  and  steward  a  hurried  goodbye,  and 
all  rush  ashore  as  if  afraid  they  wouldn’t  get  there. 
On  all  of  the  trains  and  steamers  I  have  traveled  on, 
and  all  the  hotels  I  have  stopped  at  I  have  been  nicely 
and  politely  treated  by  both  officers  and  employees.  I 
have  seen  travelers  who  were  able  to  buy  me  out  50 
times  over,  treated  unseemly  and  answered  curtly, 
but  the  fault  was  all  their  own.  They  acted  as  if 
they  thought  they  owned  the  boat,  train  or  hotel  and 
were  given  to  understand  they  did  not. 
If  one  is  ignorant  of  rules  or  methods  of  procedure 
he  should  not  hesitate  to  say  so,  and  he  will  be  quietly 
and  courteously  directed.  During  my  trip  I  asked 
probably  200  persons  for  information  of  different  kinds 
and  received  a  civil  and  respectful  reply  from  every 
one.  Whenever  the  party  was  unable  to  give  the  in¬ 
formation  asked  for  he  generally  suggested  where  it 
might  be  obtained.  The  great  secret  of  securing 
respectful  answers  to  questions  consists  in  making 
them  plain  and  to  the  point. 
With  one  exception,  all  the  lines  I  traveled  over 
allow  the  tourist  stop-overs — within  the  limit  of  his 
ticket — at  any  point  on  the  route,  and  give  him  every 
opportunity  to  see  and  investigate  things  anywhere. 
The  one  exception  is  the  Wabash  Railroad.  If  the 
tourist  gets  off  his  train  on  that  road  he  must  pay  his 
fare  over  again  or  walk.  F.  grundy. 
A  Discussion  of  Fertilizers. 
Part  VIII. 
What  to  Buy. — That  was  a  striking  statement  on 
page  542  of  The  Rural  of  August  20,  taken  from  the 
New  Jersey  Experiment  Station  Bulletin  88.  It  was, 
in  brief,  that  if  the  farmers  of  the  State  would  buy 
chemicals  and  mix  them  instead  of  buying  ready- 
mixed  fertilizers,  they  would  save  the  nice  little  sum 
of  $336,000.  If  that  is  true  or  approximately  so  of  the 
State  of  New  Jersey,  how  much  could  all  the  farmers 
in  the  United  States  save  by  mixing  their  fertilizers  ? 
Is  not  the  present  method  of  buying  fertilizers  one  of 
the  greatest  wastes  of  American  agriculture  ?  Well, 
reader,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  your  share  of 
this  waste  ? 
No  farmer  need  hesitate  about  buying  and  mixing 
“  chemicals  ”  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  the  work, 
or  the  great  amount  of  knowledge  necessary.  The 
only  real  difficulty  in  the  whole  matter  is  to  find  out 
what  the  soil  needs,  and  the  way,  the  only  way  to  find 
this  out  is  to  experiment  with  unmixed  chemicals. 
This  is  one  of  the  great  advantages  of  home  mixing. 
One  needs  to  buy  but  three  forms  of  plant  food — 
nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid  and  potash.  By  applying 
these  singly  and  in  different  combinations,  he  can 
learn  year  by  year  something  of  the  needs  of  his  soil. 
By  studying  tables  of  crop  analyses  where  the 
amounts  of  the  three  forms  of  plant  food  contained  in 
each  farm  crop  are  given,  he  will  learn  what  his  crops 
call  for.  He  is  to  feed  the  soil  in  order  to  feed  the 
crop.  Before  he  learns  what  his  soil  lacks,  it  will  be 
best  to  use  some  of  the  formulae  given  by  the  experi¬ 
ment  stations.  The  amounts  given  are  for  one  acre. 
Hatch  Station  (Mass.)  Bulletin  No.  14  gives  the  fol¬ 
lowing  for  corn.  1.  Muriate  of  potash,  175  pounds  ; 
dissolved  bone  black,  175  pounds ;  nitrate  of  soda,  100 
pounds.  2.  Muriate  of  potash,  175  pounds ;  plain 
superphosphate,  150  pounds;  bone  meal,  100  pounds; 
dried  blood,  175  pounds.  3.  Wood  ashes,  1,500  pounds; 
bone  meal,  100  pounds;  nitrate  of  soda,  100  pounds. 
4.  Wood  ashes,  1,500  pounds ;  dry  ground  fish,  400 
pounds.  5.  Muriate  of  potash,  175  pounds  ;  dry  ground 
fish,  400  pounds.  “  The  ashes,  bone  meal  or  fish 
should  be  applied  very  early  in  spring  or  late  in  win¬ 
ter.  Apply  all  these  fertilizers  broadcast  and  harrow 
in.  Do  not  mix  a  long  time  before  using,  especially 
important  in  case  of  Nos.  3  and  4.” 
I  cannot  use  fertilizers  broadcast  with  the  best  re¬ 
sults  on  my  soil.  Theoretically  the  doctrine  is  good, 
but  I  have  lost  many  dollars  by  following  the  beau¬ 
tiful  theory.  My  soil  is  mostly  heavy,  what  we  call 
