1893 
i43 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
I have had perhaps more than an average experience 
with old apple orchards, and in gathering and packing 
the products. I am setting new trees every year on 
land that is worth not less than $150 per acre, natural 
grass land, that with ordinary fertilizing and culture 
easily yields 100 bushels of corn, and holds out in grass 
for several years. 
I prefer not over 40 trees to the acre, so that there 
are 33 feet between the rows. This, when the trees 
get large, is none too much space to allow for the con¬ 
venient handling of the ladders in picking the apples. 
This width also lets in the sunlight, and gives ample 
space in which to cultivate and spray without driving 
directly under the branches. I estimate the annual 
growth of a healthy tree to be, at least, 40 inches to 
each limb, and in many to be twice that, during the 
first five years. At this time the top will have a 
diameter of four to seven feet after deducting for 
cutting back and pruning. The crops grown among 
these trees have to pay all interest on the investment 
and for the fertilizer used. The orchard has cost me 
for 400 trees and the setting, together with spraying, 
washing and pruning, not over $400 at the end of the 
fifth year. This is a very liberal estimate, for I have 
made no allowance for any profit from the cultivated 
crops, which would be nearly as good as those grown 
in the open field. At this time the trees will be 
coming into bearing and 
would ordinarily bear 
from a few specimens 
to a barrel of fruit 
the sixth year. The 
tenth year the orchard, 
if thoroughly cared for, 
should average two 
barrels of marketable 
product to the tree. At 
the average price of the 
past few years these 
would net $1 per barrel, 
or $800 for the products 
of the 400 trees. The 
average yield should 
increase rather than 
diminish from 1,000 
barrels for the next 20 
years of the life of the 
trees. The crops that 
can be raised in an 
orchard will be of great 
help in paying for care, 
fertilizers and interest. 
The whole secret is feed 
and prune. When we 
raise two crops we must 
fertilize for two, and 
when this is done, pay¬ 
ing crops can be pro¬ 
duced under apple trees, 
and yearly crops of 
apples can be obtained ; 
but it takes feed and brains to get a net income of 
$1,000 yearly from 10 acres. j. r. s. 
Concord, N. H. 
Not a “Model" Hen Dairy. 
Everything went “contrary,” k la Mrs. Gummidge, 
last fall, and the new hen-house though much talked 
about and figured over, failed to materialize. I was a 
little slow about shutting the hens up at nights in the 
fall because I thought the hen-house would be built so 
very soon. But really cold weather came and I knew 
that something must be done. The old hen-house 
was in two sections and there were about 360 square 
feet of floor in all. The rooms were about seven feet 
high. I did not dare to confine 170 fowls in that 
space so they were shut up at night and liberated 
during the day. Of course they would ramble all over 
the barn-yard, and one day when it was colder than it 
seemed the combs of the Leghorns were nipped and 
there were no more eggs. The weather became so 
severe that I did not dare let the birds out even at 
midday. They had a great variety of food with plenty 
of milk and meat, but still the cold continued and the 
eggs were conspicuous by their absence. The third 
week of this close imprisonment there were a few 
eggs, but one hen sneezed a little. By the time the 
weather had moderated, several hens were sneezing 
and visions of roup and kindred diseases haunted me. 
But the thermometer went above 32 degrees and my 
steamed hens were let into the outer air. I expected 
they would catch cold after being in such warm quar¬ 
ters and the sneezing was rather more marked for a 
day or two, but I gave them Cayenne in their soft 
food, and condition powders in their drinking water, 
and they are as healthy and happy a family of hens 
after a week of liberty as one often sees. There are 
eggs too, and if the bright, rosy combs of my brownies 
are any indication there will be plenty more soon. 
The fowls are shut in every night, but the doors are 
open as soon as they get their soft feed in the morning 
and they pick up contentment and health as well as 
much sustenance from their out-of-door rambles. 
“ Leghorns and snow banks” do not quarrel seriously 
so long as the bed-room is warm and the temperature 
does not hover around zero when they visit the snow 
bank. Some say that a hen will not eat snow when 
she has plenty of water, but mine certainly do. I saw 
one picking at a little ball of snow which had clung 
to a pail, right at the side of the drinking fountain, 
which was well filled with water. But it is not an 
uncommon thing for theory and practice to be at 
loggerheads. s. a. little. 
Seneca County, N. Y. 
That Tufted or Crested Turkey. 
Referring to the picture of the tufted turkey in Tiie 
R. N -Y. for January 7, I would say that when visit¬ 
ing Marysville, Cal., two years ago, last month, I saw 
a flock of about 10 turkeys, all with small to large 
crests of feathers. They were quite long, slender, 
directly on top of their heads, somewhat like those 
seen on Polish fowls, especially those of the males, 
and not set so far back on the heads as that in the 
picture. It gave them a very odd appearance indeed. 
I thought at the time that with such a flock for a 
starter it would be very easy to secure a crested breed. 
They seemed to be regular “ full-bred” mongrel tar- 
keys; or, as many of our fanciers now-a-days would 
say, “ thoroughbred mongrels,” inclining to the white 
Holland breed. I know nothing about them except 
what was observed when passing along the road. 
The strangest specimen of poultry I have ever seen 
was from a road in Marshall County, Illinois, many 
years ago. I saw in a barnyard a very queer-looking, 
light, stately, blue and white colored fowl, about the 
size of a medium-sized turkey hen, and with much of 
the carriage and shape of one, with quite a prominent 
crest, but with a short head and bill. It so interested 
me that I stopped to inquire about it, but found no 
one at home except a little girl, who said it was “ half 
Guinea hen and half chicken.” Having mentioned 
the fact to an intelligent neighbor, who lived only a 
short distance from the farm where the curious bird 
had been seen, he said that there was no doubt that 
it was a hybrid between the Guinea fowl and the 
common chicken. I often see common domestic ducks 
with tufts likQ this turkey, also with crests. 
California. d. b. weir. 
BULL-POWER FOR A SEPARATOR. 
The picture shown at Fig. 68, is taken from the ex¬ 
cellent report of the Wisconsin Experiment Station. 
It shows a yearling Jersey bull in a tread power run¬ 
ning a small-sized cream separator. There seems no 
good reason why a bull should not work his passage. 
You will remember that Mr. Birge’s big Holstein bull 
cuts all the ensilage and fodder used on that dairy 
farm. The work does not injure his value as a sire, 
while he saves the cost of a small engine. An idle bull 
is a luxury none but the wealthy can enjoy. 
One cent will carry this paper to your friend in 
any part of North America after you have written 
your name on the corner to show whom it is from. 
[Every query muBt be accompanied by the name and address of the 
writer to Insure attention. Before asking a question please see If It Is 
not answered In our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
How to Irrigate a Celery Field. 
A.. E. S., Huntingdon, Ind .—I wish to irrigate my 
truck patch for celery. Its northern boundary is a 
large drainage ditch which goes dry in June or July. 
I purpose to lay tiles one rod apart, 15 inches below 
the surface, nearly level in this ditch which I shall dam 
before water leaves to a height sufficient to back the 
water in the tiles. To insure a supply of water I 
purpose piping a strong well whose water level is 
above that of the ends of the tiles into them. Is my 
plan feasible ? What is a better or cheaper one ? 
Will my water supply be sufficient without surface 
irrigation ? 
Ans. —Only active water should be used for irriga¬ 
tion. Dead water would make the land simply un¬ 
drained and an underground swamp. Celery needs 
moist ground, but not wet, that is, the water must be 
in motion. The cost of 
sinking the pipes sug¬ 
gested would take away 
all the profit, and as 
the celery could not be 
grown every year on the 
same land, the cost 
would not be repaid in 
the majority of years. 
A better plan would be 
to lay out small furrows 
with a hand plow be¬ 
tween the rows, and lay 
the pipes from the well 
along the top of the plot, 
having openings to let 
the water into these 
furrows, so many each 
day. A good plan would 
be to have a wooden 
tight trough as a reser¬ 
voir, at the head of the 
plot, to receive the 
water, and distribute it 
from this into the fur¬ 
rows by holes in the 
trough stopped by pegs, 
which may betaken out 
to let the water flow. 
This would be a cheap 
method and most eco¬ 
nomical in the use of 
the water, not requir¬ 
ing a fourth as much as 
the underground pipes mentioned. Underground 
irrigation is very wasteful of water, as it sinks in the 
ground unless it is distributed between the rows of 
plants quite near the surface. It is done by laying 
common drain tiles exactly as for draining, but only 
so much below the surface as not to be disturbed by 
the plow, the water escaping out of the crevices, pre¬ 
cisely as it escapes in, through them, in drains. And 
the rows of pipes for irrigation in this way must be 
quite close together, at least one pipe for two rows ; 
or the nearest ones get the water and the distant ones 
get none, or the near ones get too much. h. s. 
Ewes Too Heavily Fed. 
C. P. N., Wayland, N. Y .—I have 80 ewes limbing 
now. Last year they lambed about the same time, and 
I lost 22 out of 90 when from three to five weeks old. 
The feed was ground barley and unground oats, equal 
parts. I fed the ewes all they would eat, and the 
lambs would eat what was left in the troughs—mostly 
barley. I always have a tub with salt in the stable. 
My stable was too close and warm, and around the 
watering trough the manure would get wet and steam. 
My sheep had no ticks and were fat and nice. Can I 
get linseed-oil meal nearer home than Detroit, Mich. ? 
Ans. —Sheep are quite as greedy as pigs, and should 
not be permitted to eat all the grain food they will. 
One pound at the most is sufficient allowance of grain 
food, and it should be only coarsely ground, as finely- 
ground grain is apt to impact in the stomach and cause 
indigestion, which will be hurtful to the lambs by the 
result on the milk. The same applies to salt, which 
must be given in moderation, and half an ounce for 
each ewe weekly, is quite enough. More than this 
would doubtless affect the milk, and excess of salt pro¬ 
duces inflammation of the stomach, and this, as every 
trouble coming on the ewes, hurts the lambs. The stable 
should not be too warm, as this is more hurtful to sheep 
kept under ordinary circumstances than too much cold, 
which the sheep withstand better than too much 
Separating Cream by Jersey Bull Power. Fig. 68. 
