282 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
APRIL 11 
PRUNING SAW AND BRUSH BOAT. 
What is just the best season for the general trimming of 
orchards seems to be a question on the answer to which 
all are not agreed, as perhaps all have not the same 
objects in view in doing the work; but probably a ma¬ 
jority have decided that the least injury is done to the 
trees when trimmed while they are in a dormant condi¬ 
tion, especially if the larger cuts are protected by some 
kind of water-proof paint, which should be invariably ap¬ 
plied. Many, especially among farmers, find that the 
most convenient time to prune is during favorable weather 
in winter or spring when other work Is not demanding 
their attention. Much of this orchard work has already 
been done and more will shortly be undertaken; perhaps 
the mention of some of the methods and devices which I 
have found very serviceable and the use of which I have 
not seen elsewhere, may prove of benefit to others. 
While neither the shears nor saw alone will answer all 
purposes, yet for general use in bearing trees, the latter is 
the more serviceable. For this purpose I use a saw about 
22 inches long (see Fig. 97) and one inch wide, ground back 
with about five or six teeth to the inch, filed to cut one 
way and set in a frame made of three quarter inch oval 
iron, four or five inches wide at the base and tapering to 
about two inches at the point, with a nut at the base of 
the frame by which to tighten the saw, and also a socket 
at the middle of the base by which I can attach it to a 
light, stiff pole (one of basswood is best). This is about 
l^-inch thick at the socket and two inches at the base and 
from six to ten feet long. The saw should be set in the 
frame so as to draw in cutting. With this tool any ordi¬ 
nary tree of 25 years’ growth can be trimmed from the 
ground in less than half the time needed with any other 
device and much better, as from the ground one can see 
the limbs that should be cut more readily than from in¬ 
side the tree and the work can also be done without injury 
to the tree from standing on the limbs with boots with 
nails, etc., bruising the bark. 
Now, for removing the accumulations of brush, which 
in large orchards is a tedious job, I constructed a boat 
made of two ordinary mud-boat planks, placed with the 
rear ends about eight feet apart and the front ends about 
four feet; the latter are fastened together by a two-inch 
plank a foot or eighteen inches wide and of the proper 
length, bolted to the curved portion; and there are three 
beams of four by four scantling, one at the rear, one at the 
front, and one at the center, and raised to clear the ground 
about six or eight inches. Upon these I nail a covering of 
inch boards, and with a hook clevis bolted to the center of 
the plank at the front end, by which the vehicle is to be 
drawn, the boat is completed. In loading the brush, com¬ 
mence at the rear end. It can project considerably if a 
little pains are taken to bind it with that in front, the load 
being kept somewhat in the shape of the boat. I find the 
easiest way to dispose of the brush is to burn it as drawn ; 
and I experience no difficulty in burning green brush if 
a good fire is started at first with any old rubbish or dry 
material. I unload compactly on the fire. 
To do this, before commencing the load, we place on one 
side of the boat a stiff pole or rail, with a chain attached 
in the center and load on this, and when the load is drawn 
to the fire, to the other end of this chain is attached 
another sufficiently long to pass over the load and the fire, 
then the team is uncoupled from the boat and hitched to 
the end of the chain, and the team goes ahead, and with 
proper judgment the load is placed directly on the burning 
pile better than it could be done by hand, and in a very 
short time and in the best possible condition for burning. 
On such a boat can be placed all any team should draw, 
and more than would be placed on a wagon, and, the de¬ 
vice being low, the load is out of the way of standing 
trees, and can be much more conveniently put on and 
taken off. The accompanying cuts (Fig. 97-8) may help to 
give a better idea of the saw and boat. There Is no patent 
on either, and both are easily made. C. E. cook. 
Genesee County, N. Y. 
A COMBINED MARKER AND FURROWER. 
Among the improved farm implements in use by a pro¬ 
gressive young farmer of this vicinity is a combined 
marker and furrower of his own design, which he claims 
to be better adapted to his use than anything he had tried 
before. This implement is shown at Figs 99 and 100. The 
runners are cut from three-inch material, three and one- 
half feet long, and ten inches wide. These are placed at 
the proper distance apart and firmly held in position by 
cross-pieces in front and behind, each end being notched 
into the runner and fastened down with two coach screws 
four inches long and three-eighths of an Inch in diameter. 
Over these cross-pieces, and in the center between the run¬ 
ners another piece is bolted and allowed to extend six 
inches forward and a foot or more backward. A “ V- 
shaped ” piece of iron fastened upon this receives one end 
of the gauge, which is firmly braced by a three-eighths- 
inch iron rod connecting with a ring bolt at the forward 
extremity of the center-piece, thus admitting of motion 
from side to side only in a perpendicular plane. This does 
away with all cords attached to the harness, and variation 
from unequal pulling of the team is avoided. 
Into the center-piece and rear cross-piece stout legs of 
some elastic timber are inserted which support a seat at a 
proper height. The front corners of this seat are rounded 
and the center of the front end cut slightly hollow. It is 
placed just far enough forward to allow this hollow part 
to rest solidly against the gauge when in a perpendicular 
position, as in the engraving, holding it securely while 
turning or in driving to and from the field. To prevent 
wear a piece of strap iron is tacked across the front end of 
the seat, and another on the gauge where it strikes the 
seat. The elasticity of the legs allows the gauge to pass 
the slight swell on either side. The driver can operate this 
without leaving his place, as would be necessary with 
other forms, and when raised both hands are free to use 
the lines. 
Of course, the distance from the center of the machine 
to the center of the gauge marker must be exactly twice 
that between the centers of the runners. The gauge 
marker is made comparatively light, 14 or 15 inches high, 
and but 9 or 10 inches long, the object of making itso high 
being to carry the pole above the runner. This is rather a 
A Pruning Saw. Fig. 97. 
disadvantage, for it is much more liable to break by catch¬ 
ing on stones and roots than if it were lower and shaped 
differently (Fig. 100, A). 
Another improvement of doubtful general utility, but 
especially suited to his case, was made by my neighbor, 
whose farm is rather hilly. He found that his marker 
would slide down hill despite every effort to keep it on 
the proper line, and to remedy this he made his runners of 
two lX-inch pieces bolted together, with a piece of a 
cross cut saw blade at the bottom of each, extending 
nearly the entire length of the runner and two inches 
below it, as shown in Fig. 100 (B). It proved a success with 
him, but turning is rendered much more difficult, and 
where not absolutely necessary it is thought best to omit 
this feature. 
To make a furrower of this machine, cut out a deep but 
very narrow mortise in each runner (See dotted lines in 
A Brush Boat. Fig. 98. 
Fig. 100, B ). These are made to receive the forward ends of 
wrought-iron beams, carrying a large cultivator shovel a 
short distance behind each runner. Handles are attached 
to these beams, and when turning or driving to and fro, 
the beams are thrown forward until they rest against the 
front edge of the mortise, in a nearly upright position. 
The beams should be placed as low as possible, that they 
may not interfere with the gauge while in use. A two- 
inch hole cut through just below the mortise allows the 
escape of any dirt that may fall into it. While just this 
form of implement may not be needed on many farms, 
there are good points about it which may be made of 
practical use by nearly every farmer. s. P. shull. 
EXIGENCIES OF CORN CULTURE. 
A plant that may be made to yield 1,000 or 1,200-fold the 
quantity of seed in grain, and that will pay all expenses 
with the stalks and leaves, must certainly be held worthy 
of the very best methods of cultivation. Of course, these 
methods will depend upon the character of the plant, and 
I think the following characteristics of it will be univer¬ 
sally accepted : It is of rapid growth ; its height and its 
broad leaves call for a firm foothold ; its roots spread far 
and wide and mostly near the surface ; it requires a large 
total amount of heat; it is a greedy feeder; its large pro¬ 
duction of seed calls for a continuous supply of readily 
available food; a maximum yield depends upon its strictly 
monoecious character, and its tenderness and liability to be 
injured by early frosts call for an early maturity. Conse¬ 
quently the culture must be in every respect such as will 
aid In the full development of all these special character¬ 
istics. What then is the best system of culture ? 
It is reasonable to assume that the soil should be thor- 
Sectlon of Marker. Fig. 1OO. 
oughly well prepared by deep plowing and perfect pulveri¬ 
zation, and also be well supplied with the most available 
plant food, lasting through the season, and especially 
ready at call for any special exigencies of the plant; that 
the eeed should be selected of the most productive va¬ 
rieties, and suited to the climate of the locality ; that the 
cultivation of the soil should be frequent and thorough, 
and superficial; that the plants should have ample room 
and space, both to enjoy the heat of the sun and expose 
the roots to it, and that every stalk should bear at least 
one ear, and, if possible, two perfect ears, and more if may 
be. These assumptions are fully corroborated by practice 
and experience, and yet they are opposed to the belief, or 
at least the practice, of a majority of corn growers. Shal¬ 
low plowing and deep cultivation have many advocates, 
and even root pruning has been recommended as favor¬ 
able to the best growth of the crop. 
It is now 14 years since I began to study the habits of 
this plant and settle upon a system of culture that would be 
best adapted to its character and needs, and the system I 
soon adopted had for its special points deep plowing and 
thorough harrowing, followed immediately by planting; 
weekly cultivation from the planting up to the latest time 
possible to go through the rows (my best yield, 125>£ bush¬ 
els of grain per acre in the field, was when a hand culti¬ 
vator was used up to the time the grain was fully set), and 
repeated applications of soluble fertilizer, special corn 
manure at stated intervals up to the time when the silks 
were faded and the grain was filling. This last, I believe, 
was a device that was originated and first described by me 
more than 10 years ago, and which seems to me to have 
more significance from the results of an experiment made 
at the Cornell Experiment Station as follows. The point 
of this experiment was the removal of the tassels from al¬ 
ternate rows in the field to determine the effect upon the 
yield of grain. The results are summed up as follows : 
COMI’ARATIVE YIELD. 
Tassels l«*ft on. Tassels removed. 
Number of good ears. 109 151 
“ poor ears.100 1«1 
“ abortive ears. . 100 S? 
Weight of good corn.TO 155 
*• poor corn.1(10 144 
“ stalks. 100 96 • 
The tassels were removed as soon as seen and before any 
pollen was formed, and the immediate result was a visible 
increase in the silks on female and productive flowers. 
The results show unquestionably that the growth and per¬ 
fect development of the tassels or male flowers, with the 
production of pollen, calls for a very large expenditure of 
vigor of the plant and that the sexual function is exhaus¬ 
tive, which is a commonly known fact in physiology both 
animal and vegetable. Now it would appear that the pre¬ 
vention of this exhaustive function, the production of 
pollen, increased the yield of grain 50 per cent; and it be¬ 
comes a question whether or not the same result may not 
be secured by an easier method. It was precisely this 
thought that led me to adopt the practice of consecutive 
feeding of the plant with the most available food, for the 
purpose of supporting it under this exhaustive exigency. 
And it seems to me that the supply of the fertilizer at this 
special period would enable the plants to make the maxi¬ 
mum growth without the more laborious work of remov¬ 
ing the tassels from the alternate rows In one case the 
exhaustive function of reproduction is avoided, by emas¬ 
culation, in the other it is supported by a larger allowance 
of food, and as all the plants are benefited by the fertilizer, 
the increased product would be doubled and 100 per cent 
more grain would be produced instead of 50 per cent, and 
the labor much less. My plan has been to apply 390 pounds 
per acre of the fertilizer at the planting, 100 per acre 
when the plants are waist-high, 100 more when the tassels 
begin to appear and 100 more when the silks are drying. 
The fertilizer is spread along the rows ahead of the culti¬ 
vator or immediately after it, and 10 to 12 acres can ba 
easily covered in a day. The Cornell report submits the 
probability that the removal of the tassels may not be 
found profitable. While I think the results considered 
from a rational point of view are wholly favorable, yet I 
am sure the simple plan of consecutive fertilization admits 
of no doubt, the fresh soluble food reaching the roots 
within a few hours, and being at once taken into the plants, 
refreshes and strengthens them immediately. In some cases 
I have sown rye at the last working of the corn along with 
grass seed, and as the cultivation was shallow I have had a 
good following crop which had the benefit of whatever of 
the fertilizer remained in the soil. H. stewart. 
Macon Co., N. C. 
PLANT MORE PEAR TREES. 
The disappearance of pear blight from a large part of 
the country renders pear culture of special importance. 
For general orchard growing the pear is even preferable to 
the apple. As I see it through most of New York State it 
is returning more sure crops for the culture it gets than 
any other large fruit of its family. While our farmers' 
are cutting down their apple orchards, and neglecting 
their plums and cherries, it is desirable that some fruit 
should be found for very general planting for home use as 
well as profit. I believe the pear comes the nearest to 
being a perfect fruit for this purpose. If planted with low 
crown and headed in, it comes into bearing in three 
years from planting. In fact, a standard will bear, when 
treated in this manner, quite as early as a dwarf. After 
30 years’ cultivation of the pear in New York State and in 
Michigan, I can say that it has proved more than twice as 
profitable as the apple, notwithstanding the temporary, 
but serious, losses from blight. If the people who are 
planting apple orchards would select pears, and grow 
them in quantity for shipment, they would reap good 
profits. The apple has four serious enemies ; while, apart 
from blight, the pear has none. The average farmer has 
not time or skill to deal with the apple’s enemies. If he 
will occasionally give the pear a washing with strong suds, 
cut out all suckers, and fork about the roots, keeping up 
a supply of manure mulch, he will have nothing farther 
to do. The curculio seldom does the fruit serious harm, 
the coddling moth does not attack It, the tent caterpillar 
lets it alone, and borers are rarely found in its wood. 
For a list best adapted for market, as well as home use, 
I should select, first, Clapp’s Favorite, a grand-looking 
pear of fine quality, but not the best for a distant market, 
