1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
6 i 3 
Business. 
LOCATION IN THE FRUIT BUSINESS. 
Frosts Sing Very Low. 
The location of a piece of land for small fruits is the 
first and most important object that should be taken into 
consideration by the person intending to make small fruit 
culture a specialty. Unless the land is properly located 
and adapted to the raising of small fruits, all the labor 
and pains of the beginner will be thrown away, and the 
profits will never meet his expectations. The most im¬ 
portant things I would consider before purchasing a piece 
of land for fruit culture are: Location and soil; distance 
from market and shipping facilities; and the value of 
the land. 
The land for small fruits should be high, dry and well 
drained. The highest point in a section is always the 
least liable to spring frosts, and a difference of two de¬ 
grees of temperature often means a difference of hun¬ 
dreds of dollars to the fruit grower. Last spring 
demonstrated this very clearly in this section. At my own 
place we had three frosts with the thermometer ranging 
from 29 to 32 degrees, and still on 10 acres of grapes I shall 
have half a crop or more—at least two tons per acre. All 
are on high, dry, clay ground. Three miles south I visited 
a vineyard after the last frost, and the crop was a total 
loss, there being not more than one live bud to the vine. 
This vineyard is on a black, loamy clay and lies in a rather 
flat section of the country, but is well drained and dry. 
The difference between the two vineyards would be, at the 
lowest calculation, $100 per acre this year, or a gain of 
$1,000 on 10 acres in favor of my location. Other small 
vineyards within a mile and a half, but lying along the 
river, were totally destroyed, and the difference In the 
yields and returns of strawberries and raspberries was 
about the same. 
This vineyard I speak of is on 40 acres of land 3% miles 
from a good market town and good shipping point and was 
purchased especially for fruit for $2,800 five years ago. 
The same amount of land could have been purchased within 
one mile of the town on a good, high location for $4,000—a 
difference of $1,200. Last year although the vineyard was 
only three years old and there were only about half as 
many strawberries and raspberries as it would have 
borne this year, there was sold, clear of expenses $1,000 
worth. This year I do not think the owner will have $100 
clear when he would have had at least $1,500 if the fruits 
had not been killed by frost. Now, if the difference In lo¬ 
cation would have saved half a crop, it would have made a 
difference of $700 In favor of the $4,000 place in one year, 
with only four acres of grapes in bearing out of nine al¬ 
ready set out. The extra distance to market would amount 
to five miles on each trip, and at 200 trips per year would 
make a total of 1,000 miles for man and team, causing a 
loss of a good many days’ work per year. Then to the be¬ 
ginner I would say: Pick out a small piece of land near a 
good market rather than a larger piece farther away. 
Five acres well located and cared for will average more 
than three times as much as the same land in a poor loca¬ 
tion under the same care. “ wolverine.” 
Genesee Co., Mich. 
HERE’S BUSINESS FOR YOU I 
Pays 1 5 to 30 Per Cent. 
Does maple sugar making pay ? This question is so often 
asked that I’ll try to give an answer from my own experi¬ 
ence. 
Farmers are more regardless of what they are about than 
any other class. I love my profession, but am often asham¬ 
ed of my brethren. I have always worked on a farm since 
I was old enough, and have never missed making sugar for 
30 years. I have a bush of 12 acres, hung last season 910 
buckets and made 275 gallons of syrup—about half an 
average crop with me. My entire outfit cost $520 and the 
land at $40 per acre, would be worth $480, therefore, 
I have $1,000 invested. Good syrup finds a ready sale at $1 
a gallon. I can wholesale all I can make for that; hence I 
obtained $275 from my bush. Take from that sum $25 for 
packages ; an allowance of $40 for wear would keep every¬ 
thing as good as new; deduct $50 for work and $10 for 
wood, then $150 is left, or 15 per cent on my investment. 
When we realize that not one farmer in ten hereabouts 
should allow a cent for his wood land, for we have more 
cleared land in this country than we can work, the profit 
would be double. The work Is not pressing in the spring, 
so that the bush is nearly clear gain. Maple sweet is a 
luxury, and bounty, or no bounty its production cannot be 
overdone. 
My outfit is the most convenient I have ever seen. I use 
tin buckets painted outside and furnished with covers and 
Record spouts. I have a house 26 x 36 feet with 14-foot 
posts. One room, 14 x 26 feet, is ceiled tightly for the 
evaporator. It has a steam escape on top with doors 3x9 
feet on each side, which I open with a cord from the floor. 
Another room, 22 x 26 feet, has a floor overhead which 
affords plenty of store room. There are rolling doors on 
each side so that I can drive a team through. I gather 
sap in a galvanized iron tank with a strainer on top. I 
have a store tank lined with galvanized iron with a cover, 
on hinges. This stands in the storeroom and is kept closed 
except when it is being filled from the gathering tank. 
When I drive in with the gathering tank it stands above 
the store tank and the latter is above the evaporator, so my 
sap flows without handling into the latter. I keep the 
sap as clean as possible. Before it reaches the evaporator 
it passes through a linen strainer, which catches any dust 
which cannot be seen with the natural eye. My men put on 
clean frocks when they work in the evaporator room. A 
door opens to the woodshed near the furnace door; thus 
all dust and dirt are kept from the boiling sap. I use a 
4 x 16 foot Champion evaporator. It works faster and 
makes a better article than any machine ever introduced 
into the camp or bush. Its use supplies a clarifying 
process. Dirt cannot get through the siphons and pockets 
to the syrup draw-off, and the syrup retains that nice 
maple flavor so eagerly sought for. I can make syrup as 
white as clover honey on the evaporator ready for market. 
I test with a saccharimeter, and draw off when it tests 32. 
“ Cleanliness is next to godliness.” E. m. f. 
Harford Mills, N. Y. 
ELEVATOR FOR BAGGING GRAIN. 
Every farmer who cleans grain for market has, no 
doubt, wished for some plan to save the time and the 
back-bending labor of scooping it up into sacks. 
With this object in view, an ingenious farmer in this 
vicinity devised and constructed a machine which he pro¬ 
nounces a decided success. After several successive im¬ 
provements it is substantially as here described. It is 
shown in perspective at Fig. 221. The elevator shaft is 
six feet long, raised three feet above the floor at its upper 
end, and resting on a two-inch board at the lower. The 
sides of this elevator are eight inches apart, inside meas¬ 
ure, and should be about the same in depth. A roller 
2K inches in diameter is fixed at each end as shown in 
section at Fig. 222. The shaft of the lower, upon which 
the driving pulley is fastened, extends two feet beyond the 
body of the elevator, and rests at its outer end in a block 
mortised into the two inch foundation piece. (See Fig. 
221.) The pulley on th!s shaft should not be more than 2K 
inches in diameter. 
Within the elevator, extending from one roller to the 
other, Is a smooth floor, its upper surface on a line with 
the upper edge of the rollers, and each end hollowed be¬ 
neath that it may fit closely to the roller ; but it should 
not be made to touch. (See section, 222, A.) The lower 
board (B) of the elevator serves principally to strengthen 
the machine, and several openings may be cut into it to 
facilitate putting in the carrier. 
The latter is eight inches wide, made of heavy canvas, 
turned under an inch or more at each side and stitched 
along the edge. Slats three fourths of an inch thick and 
IK inch wide are riveted across this belt five or six inches 
apart, the rivets passing through the slat near each end, 
and through the double canvas at the edge of the belt. 
The slats should fit neatly but loosely within the shaft 
of the elevator, and care should be exercised to place them 
squarely across the belt with rivets in the center of the 
Fixtures of Grain Elevator. Fig. 222. 
slat; otherwise the machine will run hard. The lower 
side of the slats may be beveled, allowing the grain to 
fall from them more readily when discharged at the upper 
end. The joining of the belt Is made by overlapping the 
ends and tightly lacing together. 
At the higher end of the machine the legs are mortised 
into a piece two feet long to give greater stability, and 
near the top carry a sack holder formed of a bow and cross¬ 
piece, just far enough from the floor to hold a sack prop¬ 
erly. This end of the elevator is covered with a metal cap 
to prevent the grain from flying too far as it leaves the 
carrier. At the lower end another sheet of metal nearly 
touching the slats as they pass the roller, serves as a 
pocket to catch any grain that might accidentally fall back. 
To use this elevator, a grain spout is attached to the 
mill, as shown in Fig. 222. Strips of wood or metal are fast¬ 
ened upon the incline, bringing the grain together and dis¬ 
charging it through a short spout, narrow enough to enter 
the lower end of the elevator shaft. An inch board across 
the end of the elevator, fitting closely between the cleats 
(C C) on the front of the mill, keeps the machine in position 
while running. 
To run the machine, a belt passes over the pulley and the 
fan shaft of the mill, in case this shaft extends outside the 
mill far enough to permit doing so. If not, the blacksmith 
can make a crank like that shown in Fig. 221. You can then 
attach a 10-inch pulley, as in the engraving, with several 
screws through the crank into the block, holding it firmly 
in place, and the apparatus is complete. 
Some may think such a machine will run hard, but it 
does not if properly constructed and kept well oiled, and a 
trial will convince any farmer that it is just what he ought 
to have. s. p. shull, 
Montgomery County, Ohio. 
IMPLEMENT NOTES. 
The latest device for preventing a calf from sucking, 
abandons the calf entirely and puts a thick bag over the 
cow’s udder, fastened by straps over her back. 
Horse Powers.— The catalogue of A. W. Gray’s Sons, 
Middletown Springs, Vermont, contains a fine description 
of the horse powers, saw mills and thrashers made by that 
enterprising firm. The pages devoted to a discussion of 
the relative merits of sweep and tread powers are interest¬ 
ing to all who like to investigate the principles of me¬ 
chanics. 
Saving Cutter Knives —Last year we gave a descrip¬ 
tion of the ensilage harvester made by Mr. V. W. Clough. 
It is a low-down wagon rack with stout knives projecting 
at the side to slice off the corn. As the latter is sliced off 
two men pull it on the rack. Mr. Clough writes this to 
Hoard’s Dairyman: 
‘‘There is a large gain in using the harvester in connec¬ 
tion with the feed cutter knives. They will keep sharp all 
day if cut with the harvester. If corn is cut and thrown 
on the ground they will get very dull in half a day. The 
reason for this is that corn is clean from all dirt when cut 
with the harvester ; whereas when thrown in piles the 
butts come in contact with the ground and, being moist on 
the cut ends, take up lots of dirt, and when they come in 
contact with the knives the cutting edge is soon gone.” 
A “ Mosquito Trap.” —Some humorous genius has se¬ 
cured a patent on the device shown at Fig 223. A mosquito 
Is worse than a dog; one can drive off the dog but the mos¬ 
quito won’t go. So our Ingenious friend hopes, by means 
of his “ trap,” to capture the eternal good-will of mankind 
A Mosquito Trap. Fig. 223. 
—and a small fortune. It is a small glass case with small 
holes. These are large at the outside and so small inside 
that while the mosquito can easily crawl in it can not pos¬ 
sibly crawl outl This is the principle of the old-time 
turkey trap. A lamp with a reflector Is supposed to attract 
the mosquitoes and a piece of meat Inside the case serves as 
“ bait 1” 
The Shipman Engine. —The catalogue from the Shipman 
Engine Co., Boston, Mass., Is an Interesting pamphlet. 
The smaller sized Shipman engine just suits the farmer 
who wants a light power. This engine Is perfectly safe. 
It uses kerosene for fuel—there is no dirt, dust or ashes. 
It Is automatic. When once “ steam is up ” it runs and 
regulates itself, no engineer being required. In size these 
engines vary from one to eight horse power. They require 
very little space. Is not this the engine you want ? 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Dried Bananas. —Several banana growers in Queens¬ 
land, Australia, are developing a profitable business in 
dried bananas. Shipments have already been made to 
England and Germany with quite satisfactory results. 
The bananas are dried whole. They are about as soft as 
evaporated peaches and are packed in pound or 10-pound 
boxes. They are to be soaked in water or stewed, when 
they can be used for sauce, puddings or pies. It will 
probably take a long time to Interest the general pub¬ 
lic in this product. Most people know nothing of the 
banana except as a fruit to be eaten out of the hand. 
Really it is one of the cheapest and most nutritious foods. 
Bananas For Food. —Somebody who has a herd of 
cows in Costa Rica asks Prof. Henry, in the Breeder’s Ga¬ 
zette, about the feeding value of bananas. This is a queer 
thought to most Americans and yet we find that our 
cows will eat bananas and their “ skins ” with relish. We 
are told that land capable of producing half a ton of pota¬ 
toes will produce 20 tons of bananas and that land capable 
of producing wheat enough for one person will produce 
bananas enough to maintain 25 persons. Analysis shows 
that the banana is a nourishing food capable of fully sup¬ 
porting life. W have tried our cows and find that they 
are very fond of this fruit. It is a singular thing that 
most children will leave all other fruits for bananas and 
they rarely become tired of them. That a vast amount of 
food may be produced on an acre devoted to bananas, 
opens a world of possibilities for feeding, when cheaper 
and more direct transportation can be had for them. It 
is not at all impossible that the time may come when 
bananas may be used with profit as stock food, while it Is 
very probable that their consumption by human beings 
will largely increase. 
