1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
53 
Business. 
ROOTING OUT AN ORCHARD. 
This letter is sent by a subscriber in Delaware : “ What 
is the best way to remove apple trees ? I have from 1,000 
to 2,000 trees to remove. They are small, the largest being 
not more than one foot across the stump. Our usual 
method is to dig around the tree, cut the visible roots, at¬ 
tach a team and pull away, cutting the roots as fast as 
they make their appearance until all are cut and the tree 
is cut loose. This method is slow and expensive even in 
the case of peach trees, which can be much more easily re¬ 
moved than apple trees. We have a 10-horse power station¬ 
ary engine. Could that be used with any attachments ? ” 
There are, apparently, many people who want the same 
information. Who can add anything to the following 
replies ? • 
About as Good as Any. 
I doubt if any cheaper mechanical process than the one de¬ 
scribed would prove practicable; though, possibly, the long, 
stout lever and chain with a team or a horse could be used 
profitably, after the earth had been dug and the side roots 
cut, when the lever and team could be applied to twist the 
remaining roots loose. A cartridge of giant powder or 
dynamite, exploded beneath the roots, would doubtless do 
the work effectively and rapidly; but I am not prepared to 
give an opinion as to its comparative economy. 
Van Buren County, Mich. [pres 1 T. T. LYON. 
Western New Yorkers Puzzled. 
Our Delaware friend is not the only one puzzled to know 
how to remove old and useless apple trees that cumber val¬ 
uable land in every direction. Many trees have of late 
herein Western New York been removed simply by digging 
around them and cutting the roots, but we find this method 
laborious and expensive. Others partially do the work, 
merely cutting the main roots and leaving the tree to stand 
till a severe wind prevails, which usually completes the 
job at a much reduced expense. A neighboring townsman 
engaged in this work the past few days, has, instead of 
depending on the wind.to finish the work, adopted the fol¬ 
lowing method. A heavy rope of sufficient length, is se¬ 
cured to one of the main uppermost branches, and to the 
other end of it four horses are attached and their united 
strength has proved very effectual and expeditious. It has 
been suggested that cutting down the trees a short distance 
from the ground, and the use of a stump machine to pull 
out the stumps afterwards would be attended with very 
favorable results, especially where large numbers are to be 
removed. IRVING D. COOK. 
Genesee County, N. Y. 
The Way They Have in Vermont. 
The quickest way I know of for removing trees from the 
orchard is to cut them close to the ground; but when the 
land is to be cultivated the stumps also must be removed. 
I have tried the following method of doing this and it 
works well. When the trees are not too big, take a chain 
of sufficient length and strength to stand the strain, 
having a ring in one end and a hook in the other. Pass it 
around the tree and put the end with a hook through the 
ring and draw up tight. Now, take a timber (for a sweep 
or lever) that is stiff enough not to spring ; place one end 
of it by the side of the tree from which the hook has been 
put through the ring, and hook the chain around the 
timber. Hitch the team to the other end and drive away 
from the ring end of the chain, twisting the tree out. If a 
few of the branch roots are cut the work will be easier for 
the team. After one tree is out draw the lever to another. 
In removing live trees in the spring, the bark is quite apt 
to slip so that one should give the chain a turn or two 
more about the tree. If the trees are far enough apart in 
the rows to admit of a good, long lever, something has to 
come. w. H. HOLMES. 
Chittenden County, Vt. 
From a Jersey Orchard. 
I have never taken out many trees by the roots when 
the tops are first taken off. It is the custom here to sell 
the butts of the apple trees for making shuttles, etc. The 
buyer saws the trees down close to the roots and in a few 
years the latter rot away, and they are cut so low that 
they interfere but little with cultivating or harvesting the 
crops. There are several ways of taking out peach trees. 
I think the best is an arrangement similar to log wheels. 
The wheels are not much over two feet in diameter, with a 
heavy axletree, to which is attached a pole, like a tongue 
in a wagon. In lifting a tree the first operation is to back the 
wheels up to it and attach a chain to it. Of course, this 
must go under a root or else make a turn or two around 
the trunk of the tree. Then the chain Is fastened to the 
axle. The team being attached to the end of the pole, 
which now is upright, as the team starts, the pole comes 
down, the chain tightens and out comes the stump. Small 
trees can be taken out with a chain and lever combined. 
A very steady team should be employed, however, as the 
work would ruin a young pair of horses. The great stump 
extractor is the screw and lever combined.. I have never 
seen this machine at work, but I have seen oak stumps 
18 inches in diameter which had been taken out 
with it—acres of them, large and small. The machine is 
an ordinary screw on a heavy trestle with three legs, and 
mounted on low wheels. I do not know where it is manu¬ 
factured. If the inquirer’s engine is so situated that it 
can be connected with the tree in such a way that its full 
power can be used, it would pull out any tree less than a 
foot in diameter. I think it would be too much trouble 
to transport it or change the connection from tree to tree. 
The lever and chains are used by attaching the lever to 
the tree that is to be taken out. The longer the arm to 
which the team is attached, and the shorter the end to 
which the chain is attached, the greater the power, and 
this is perhaps as good a device as any for taking out small 
trees. The great obstacle is that the wrong trees often 
come up, which necessitates plenty of surplus chains. 
Mercer County, N. J. I. J. B. 
R. N.-Y.—The Hawkeye stump puller, made by James 
Milne & Son, Scotch Grove. Iowa, is an excellent machine. 
An Electric Lighthouse.— U S. Consul J. D. Connolly 
writes from Auckland, New Zealand, an account of a new 
lighthouse which is to be lighted by the wind. The wind? 
Yes, for the force of the wind can be changed into electricity 
and that can be converted into light. At the top of the 
lighthouse is a strong windmill which turns with the 
wind and generates electricity, which is stored below the 
windmill and used in the form of light for the lantern and 
of power to ring the fog bell when needed. It is said that 
the great Brush Electric Light Company are so confident 
of the success of this enterprise that they will give a bond 
for a given time to produce a 15,000 caadle-power light and 
the motor for tolling the bell without a break. Such a 
light could be seen for 30 miles and could bo operated so as 
to give flashes which would serve as signals in time of war. 
Now if this work can be done on a large scale, it ought to 
be done on one small enough to make it profitable for our 
large farmers. We are now in correspondence with 
makers of electrical machinery and hope to give fuller 
particulars later. 
New Celery Culture.— On page five we spoke of some 
remarkably fine celery sent us from Providence County, 
R. I. Mr. Niven, who grew it, sends us the following in¬ 
formation : 
“ The celery I sent was tied up with cotton twine. In 
some spots where the soil was not in the right condition 
for a rapid growth it sprawled over the ground. The 
plants are set on level ground as deep as they can be set to 
keep the small roots in the fresh, moist soil, but not so 
deep as to cover the crown or heart. One can readily see 
the importance of this way of growing celery ; for while 
by the usual mode of growing the crop only from $250 to 
$500 are obtained per acre, I realized this last season from 
a small patch of experiment ground at the rate of $7,000 
per acre. The celery a specimen of which I sent The 
Rural, I have sold, and realized for it at the rate of over 
$2,000 per acre. Over 43,000 plants to the acre sold for 
$1 25 per dozen bunches—two plants to a bunch. The 
Golden Self-blanching planted one foot apart one way, 
and seven inches the other, I am now selling for $1.75 per 
dozen bunches, with three plants in a bunch. This is at 
the rate of over $3,000 per acre. This was not tied up and 
very little weeding was required, for it covered the 
ground, giving the weeds no chance.” 
R. N.-Y‘—This method is not entirely “ new.” It has 
been described by Peter Henderson. It is not in general 
use, however. 
Raising Water for Irrigation.— The following note 
comes from Washington : “ I live on the banks of the 
Columbia River, and I can grow fruits and garden truck 
successfully; but I must have water for irrigation. At the 
most suitable place for obtaining motive power, the river 
is three feet deep at low water, with a smooth, bed-rock 
bottom. The side is a perpendicular wall for about 28 
feet ; then there is an eight to ten foot bench, and 
then a slope of 15 feet too steep to climb well. The water 
runs from four to eight miles per hour in accordance with 
the stage of the river. The difference Detween the extreme 
rise and fall is about 25 feet; the highest water is at the 
end of June. I want to raise water about 60 feet to irrigate 
about 40 acres. Who can tell the best wheel for the pur¬ 
pose, how to construct it, and which is the best pump or 
elevator? I have plenty of timber for piers or floats. The 
successful solution of this question will interest scores of 
settlers on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.” 
R. N.-Y.—Several years ago we gave a picture of a rude 
machine used in old times for pumping water from a river. 
Briefly stated, it was a large raft in the center of which 
was a large water wheel. The raft being fastened to the 
shore the current of the stream caused the water wheel to 
revolve, and the motion of the wheel was transmitted by 
suitable gearings to a pump which raised water through a 
pipe to the bluffs above. Some form of this contrivance 
will doubtless serve our friend. We shall be glad to hear 
from those who have used different wheels, pumps and 
pipes. 
Business in Old Coins.—A subscriber at Lansingburgh, 
N. Y , sends this note:—“I have a well-preserved half¬ 
penny, of date 1805. What is it worth, and where can I 
best dispose of it ?” D M. Torrey, corner Ann and Nas 
sau Streets, New York, buys old coins. He tells the 
R. N.-Y. that this halfpenny is worth two cents. While 
this is 400 per cent of its face value it would require a good 
many to bring a fortune. A penny dated 1804 is worth $4. 
The value of these old coins is regulated by coin hunters 
who are making collections, and they will sometimes offer 
a good price for a single coin to complete a set. Certain 
coins of one particular year are also sometimes very scarce, 
and therefore fetch extravagant prices while the coins for 
the same amount of the preceding or succeeding year may 
be plentiful, and therefore bring little if anything over their 
face value. The person who holds one of the latter kind 
is therefore like the fellow who nearly won the capital 
prize in the lottery—he held the very next number, but 
got nothing. 
Makers of Binding Twine —Several of our readers 
have asked for information regarding the makers of twine 
in this country. The president of the Cable Flax Mills, 
Schaghticoke, N. Y. ( sends us this information : “ Most of 
the binding twine is manufactured from manilla and 
sisal by rope makers, the National Cordage Company 
of New York being the largest producers. A considerable 
amount of the hemp binding twine is also manufactured 
by twine makers, and in this group we are included. The 
other concerns are: Bentley and Gerwig, New Brighton, 
Pa. ; the Middletown Twine Co , Middletown, Ohio; the 
John Bonres’ Sons Company, Cincinnati, Ohio ; the Ken¬ 
tucky River Mills, Frankfort, Ky., and also a mill at 
Georgetown, Ky , and two or three at Xenia, Ohio, and 
one or two of smaller proportions. Some jute binding 
twine is also manufactured by the Dolphin Manufacturing 
Co., Paterson, N. J.; the Planet Mills, Brooklyn, N.Y.; 
the Chelsea Jute Mills, Williamsburgh (Brooklyn), N. Y., 
and Travis Brothers, New York city. The flax crop in this 
vicinity, known as the ‘ North River Flax District.,’ was 
affected adversely by the extremely wet weather early in the 
season, and by a very severe drought which followed in 
midsummer, so that the crop has not been a profitable 
one.” 
Stringing Hops in California.— The Santa Rosa Re¬ 
publican gives the following account of a method employed 
by one of the largest hop growers in California. This 
method seems better suited to the “ glorious ” climate of 
California than to that of other sections. Big poles about 
20 feet long and as thick as the ordinary telegraph poles, 
are procured. They are set in the ground only on the 
sides of the hop-field, about 50 of them being used on an 
acre. A heavy wire is strung from post to post along the 
sides of the field, and from these wires, which are about 18 
feet from the ground, are strung lighter ones across the 
field. From these, wire strings go down to the hop stakes. 
The plant or vine travels up the string, and can keep on 
growing until it has grown seven or eight feet higher than 
it can by the old system. The new system is said to be a 
great improvement over the old, first, because it permits 
nearly twice as many plants to the acre to be grown ; 
second, because on account of the vine growing straight up 
the sun has a better chance at it and the crop is much better 
developed ; third, because the system lasts almost forever, 
or many times longer than the present one; and, lastly, 
because it is found that the hops raised by the farmers 
who use the new way turn off about double the yield 
realized by the old one. 
One cent will mail this paper to your friend 
in any part of the United States, Canada or 
Mexico, after you have read it and written 
your name on the corner. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
D. Landretii & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.—T he cat¬ 
alogues issued by this old firm are always conservative— 
reminding us in this respect of the great Paris house of 
Vilmorin. A new potato, “ Farmers’ Alliance,” is offered 
in small quantities at 60 cents per pound—see page 58. It 
will be found that the lists of garden and flower seeds 
have been made up with discriminating care as to the 
selection of the best standard varieties. A calendar of 
operations of every month of the year fills the earlier part 
of the catalogue, while an excellent feature is the “Notes 
on Cooking ” for all sorts of vegetables. 
The Catalogue of the Blizzard Horse Shoe is sent by 
S. W. Kent, Meriden, Conn. In old times when a man 
had a journey to make over the ice or snow he would wear 
a pair of “creepers”—pieces of iron or steel, with sharp 
points on the under side, fastened to the bottom of his 
shoe. These would give him a solid footing so that his 
foot could not slip on the ice. The Blizzard Horse Shoe is 
but a “creeper” for the horse. It can be easily and 
quickly fastened to the shoe, and will enable the horse to 
travel safely on the ice. 
W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.— This 
catalogue strikes The R. N.-Y. as being, all things consid¬ 
ered, the best that the firm has ever issued. It has colored 
covers and several colored page illustrations, all of which 
show that an effective attempt has been made to avoid ex¬ 
aggerations. The first cover page shows the Burpee Bush 
Lima, the last cover page Fordhook Farm, owned and cul¬ 
tivated by this enterprising firm. Among a long list of 
novelties, the Matchless Tomato may be named as one of 
real merit. It was found at the Rural Grounds to be in 
color about like the Trophy. The tomatoes average large, 
smooth, firm and free of rot, beginning to ripen early and 
continuing in free bearing until frost. The shape is ob¬ 
late, or somewhat flattened at the stem and flower por¬ 
tions, or “ends.” Burpee’s Chemin Is less meritorious. 
It does not seem well fixed. All are smooth, some angu¬ 
lar (not lobed) and partially hollow, like tomatoes of the 
Pear type. Burpee’s Extra Early Potato is set forth as 10 
days earlier than Early Rose, a week earlier than Early 
Ohio and nearly twice as productive. A single tuber, cut 
in four pieces, which were planted a foot apart in trenches 
of our rich garden soil, yielded 10 pounds—71 tubers in all, 
a few large and pronged. Of the 71 tubers 35 were of mar¬ 
ketable size, three decayed. The yield is at the rate of 605 
bushels per acre. The skin is of the color of Beauty of 
HebroD, shape variable, inclining to oblong, a trifle flat¬ 
tened. Eyes medium in number and prominence. The 
vines died with those of Early Rose. Eaten September 1, 
they were found to be of excellent quality. We would 
again call attention to the New Paris Pickling Cucumber, 
to say that, having eaten the pickles, they are essentially 
seedless and very tender, while in appearance, owing to 
their rough surface, they are distinct from any other kind. 
Burpee’s Quantity and Quality Peas we have already re¬ 
ported upon favorably. We must leave our readers to 
examine the many attractive parts of this exceedingly 
well made up catalogue. It leaves very little to be desired. 
