THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 17 
41 2 
STONE WINDMILL TANKS. 
Would a stone tank built for holding the water pumped by a wind¬ 
mill be durable: that Is, would the frost affect the cement and cause 
It to leak 7 I have seen Inquiry on the matter in our State paper by 
some one who had tried It last fall, and the cement cracked and came 
off. The Inquirer wished to know If It was likely to be a success If re¬ 
paired earlier In the season. The answer gave the experience of the 
writer, which seemed to favor the Idea, as that person had one the 
cement on which, after freezing and cracking off the first season, was 
repaired and had not frozen afterward. If they can be made satisfac¬ 
torily, how should one be made capable of holding from 30 to 35 barrels 
of water ? I can make the bottom of the tank one foot telow the top 
of the ground. What kind of water-lime Is best 7 I have heard there 
Is a kind that Is not affected by frost. “ Michigan. - ’ 
Ans. —If the tank is built of stones laid in cement, 
there should be no danger of injury from freezing un¬ 
less by the pressure of the ice induced by its expan¬ 
sion. This would certainly disturb the wall and cause 
it to leak. This freezing of the water may be pre¬ 
vented by casing in the tank, leaving a space that 
could be filled with sawdust or cut straw, to keep out 
the cold. But if the tank is made of concrete hard 
frost will cause it to scale off as far as the water may 
penetrate the side of the tank. If there was a mere 
coating of the cement this would certainly scale off 
and it is not desirable to build a tank that will be ex¬ 
posed to freezing in that way ; but no injury will be 
done unless the cement has absorbed some water. 
Painting the inside will make it water-proof and then 
freezing will do no harm. To make a satisfactory 
tank of stone proceed as follows : Select the best kind 
of stone, and build the wall with a mortar made of 
one part of water-lime—any kind in the market will 
do as well as another—and two or three parts of clean 
sharp sand; of the best kind three parts may be used 
to one of cement. As the wall is built, smooth the in¬ 
side and outside, taking care to leave no cracks but 
make every part quite solid. Don’t let the work freeze 
until it is quite dry and hard. Then give the inside a 
coat of the common iron paint and boiled linseed oil. 
Case in the cistern and leave a space of 10 or 12 inches 
to be filled with any loose material. A roof should 
be put over it. There is but one kind of water-lime, 
but it is found in several localities and these give a 
different name to the kind made there, that is all the 
difference there is. A round cistern seven feet in 
diameter and six feet deep will hold 35 barrels of 240 
gallons each. h. stewart. 
[Every query must be accompanied by tbe name and address of the 
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not answered In our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
DOUBLE CROPPING IN THE ORCHARD. 
DOES IT I’AV ? IF NOT, WHY NOT ? 
What Is your opinion about growing double crops In orchards— 
vegetables or grain among the trees 7 Does It pay ? Under what cir¬ 
cumstances should It be practiced 7 What crops are best for this sys¬ 
tem 7 Is It all right so long as one uses plenty of manure or fertilizers 7 
The best crop in a young orchard at the West is 
Japan buckwheat. We get good crops of grain and 
the shading of the soil with this crop is a special 
advantage to the trees. However rich the soil may be 
made, oats and other cereals take up too much mois¬ 
ture from the soil for the good of the trees, j l. budd. 
Plant Nothing But Fertilizers. 
Does it pay ? Bless your heart, NO, first, last and 
all the time. If you are after profit in the orchard, 
plant nothing there except an abundance of fertilizers, 
the most approved implements of culture and a horse 
or mule, thoroughly backed by brains and common 
sense. Of course, I realize that for the first two or 
three years many good cultivators do produce crops of 
vegetables and small fruits with good success in the 
orchards and keep the trees growing well; on the 
other hand, sowed grain or corn, raspberries and 
blackberries have worked tremendous destruction to 
the prospects of many a young orchard, and, on the 
whole, I think it is good advice to say, grow each crop 
by itself and give the young orchard a chance from 
the very start. j. h. hale. 
Give the Land to the Trees. 
We plant trees to grow fruit just as we plant corn 
to produce corn or wheat to get wheat. There is no 
more use in attempting to grow two or three crops off 
orchard lands, and at the same time get good healthy, 
profitable trees, than to try to grow corn and weeds 
on the same land. The crop in the orchard is nothing 
more than weeds and should never be allowed. As a 
necessary evil we do grow corn for the first two or 
three years in our orchards, never longer; and even 
this is allowable—not advisable ; it is an evil. Plant¬ 
ing crops in the orchards and keeping up the fertility 
with manures is only a theoretical problem. It should 
never be done. It might be done with the use of plenty 
of ashes and ground bone, but I have never seen it 
done with advantage. In fact, virgin wooded land is 
the best orchard land in this country, and it seems 
when one takes all the best elements out of the soil by 
growing crops in the orchard, the latter is sure to de¬ 
cay. Nothing seems to bring the land back to its 
natural adaptability for orchard purposes. After an 
experience of 30 years of orcharding in different 
States and in several different locations in Missouri 
for the last 25 years, I have reluctantly learnt through 
dear experience that the only way to grow a success¬ 
ful orchard is to clear timber land, plant, after thor¬ 
ough breaking, and never grow a crop of any kind on 
the land except the orchard, and keep up the fertility 
of the land by using ashes and lime and ground bene. 
Sec. Missouri State Hort. Society 8 a. Goodman. 
Widen the Strip Each Year. 
We are more and more inclined to favor shallow 
cultivation of all fruit orchards during the first 10 or 
15 years. The roots of fruit trees grow very near the 
surface to obtain the plant food that should be applied 
annually broadcast two to eight feet from the trunks, 
according to their size. While the trees are young, 
corn fodder, corn and root crops are the best to occupy 
the land between the rows, leaving a wider strip for 
the trees each year. In an orchard no crop should be 
grown that exhausts the soil of moisture. Grass and 
grain crops do this more than root crops and are 
generally allowed to grow much closer to the trees 
than the latter. Old orchards should be manured once 
in two or three years with at least 100 pounds of 
potash and 150 pounds of phosphoric acid with some 
ammonia, per acre. This is easily applied in the form 
of muriate or sulphate of potash, ground bone and fish 
scrap. Sow them separately when most convenient 
during winter or spring. edward hicks. 
Direct and Indirect Cultivation. 
Where the area of cultivatable land is limited, crop¬ 
ping the orchard while the trees are young is admis¬ 
sible, otherwise young orchards would not be likely to 
get the culture needed for their own good, as few 
people could afford to give it and await returns. Of 
the grains buckwheat is the least objectionable, as it 
is not considered very impoverishing to the soil. 
Corn is sometimes used as a first crop, but this and 
other grains should be given sufficient food for their 
own use so as not to draw from the supply needed by 
the trees. Vegetables are preferable to the cereals 
and liberal fertilizing should be the rule. Small 
fruits are often grown in orchards and many an 
orchard has been started in this connection and this 
course has been highly recommended; but liberal 
manuring should not be neglected and when the 
orchards get to bearing age they should have the 
whole ground. Strawberries seem to be more injur¬ 
ious to trees than other small fruits. Raspberries 
and currants seem to delight in the shade afforded, 
but the man who attempts to get two or three crops 
from land where the food is only adequate for one 
will make a dismal failure and he had better not 
attempt it. For a peach orchard of bearing age the 
best and only crop is peaches, and the value of these 
depends on liberal treatment, care and culture. For 
apple and pear orchards the best associated crops are 
undoubtedly grass (preferably clover), mutton and 
pork. The question of pay is variable and dependent 
on circumstances, with a tendency of the larger per¬ 
centage of profits in proportion to the labor performed 
falling between producer and consumer, e. williams. 
It Is All Right—Provided. 
I am satisfied from both experience and observation 
that the whole surface of the ground in an orchard 
should be given clean cultivation for at least eight or 
ten years after the trees are planted. I have never 
fount it detrimental to the latter to grow other crops 
of some kind between them for a few years, or until 
they get well into bearing, provided care is taken to 
avoid barking the trunks or bruising the roots, and 
enough fertilizers are applied to keep up the original 
fertility of the soil. In fact, I think it is better that 
some crop be grown between the rows, because, if no 
crop is produced, the cultivation is liable to be neg¬ 
lected. The crops grown should be such as will not 
require stirring the soil later than about August 10 on 
account of the danger of stimulating a late wood 
growth. I have found it profitable to grow sweet corn 
the first year, next melons, cucumbers and squashes, 
then set to strawberries, taking off two ci ops. Beans 
and peas also are good orchard crops. Wheat, oats, 
rye or Timothy should not be grown in the orchard, 
whether old or young. After the trees have got to 
bearing profitable crops, I should not advise double 
cropping, but the ground would not be allowed to 
grow up to rank weeds, and it is a good plan to rotate 
with buckwheat, peas and clover, moAing the buck¬ 
wheat and clover and letting them lie on the ground, 
and then turn in hogs an hour or two at a time to har¬ 
vest the peas. Raspberries or blackberries should 
never be planted in the orchard. They harbor vermin 
and, unless watched closely, are always in the way, 
and, besides, the trees afford shelter for birds that 
will take a large share of the fruit As a matter of 
course, manure or fertilizers must be judiciously ap¬ 
plied to insure abundant crops of well developed 
fruit. J. 8. HARRIS. 
The Ninety and Nine Poor Orchards. 
My reply would be yes, or no, according to circum¬ 
stances. Probably not one cultivator in 100 succeeds 
in keeping the fertility of his soil up to its pristine 
condition. Orchards—especially old ones—in such 
hands, would probably lose less rapidly if not cropped. 
If the orchard is in charge of a thorough cultivator 
and liberal fertilizer, it doubtless can be cropped with 
advantage to the trees; but always with double fertiliza¬ 
tion with hoed c ops; never with what are known as 
grain crops. In older orchards, after the roots of the 
trees have well occupied the soil; which will gener¬ 
ally be soon after full bearing; plowing and deep cul¬ 
tivation will have become not only unprofitable, so far 
as the cropping is concerned; but positively injurious 
to the trees, from the unavoidable mutilation of the 
roots. Thereafter, surface manuring, at most, merely 
scarifying the surface, at the same time, cutting all 
vegetation and leaving it to decay upon the surface, 
will doubtless prove the most effective method of 
maintaining the permanent health and vigor of the 
trees, t. t. lyon. 
Crops In a Russian Apple Orchard. 
My friend, R. J. Black, of Bremen, Oh : o, is, I believe, 
the champion of the quincunx arrangement, as alone 
enabling the nice orchardist to place each tree at an 
exact and identical distance from every other tree. 
My rule, with my later planted orchards, has been to 
set the trees in rows 35 feet apart, and 30 feet in the 
row. This is little space enough, even for our early 
bearing, slow growing iron-clads of Russian origin. 
My first orchards were set 15 x 30, with the calcula¬ 
tion, which is being carried out now, of removing each 
alternate tree. Later, finding that there are profit¬ 
able but short-lived varieties, like Yellow Transparent, 
which bear as early as a currant bush, and rarely live 
more than 12 or 15 years, these have been planted as 
intermediates to some extent. But my latest set or¬ 
chard of 1,000 trees, put out in 1889-90, is spaced 30 
feet in the rows, with rows 35 feet asunder. This, I 
think, is sufficient for the Russians, of which it is 
mostly made up. 
Now, as to various possible intercalated crops, for 
whatever purpose, perhaps the one most universally 
banned is a small-grain crop. This I tried once in an 
orchard five years set, sowing winter rye, mainly for 
the purpose of getting straw for nursery packing. 
The ground was rich; and the crop, both of straw and 
grain, was heavy, 51% bushels of grain to the acre. 
I do not think it checked the growth of the trees at 
all; but a strip five feet wide, on each side of every 
row, was cultivated, both fall and spring, to destroy 
all the rye plants within that distance. As soon as 
the rye crop was taken off, in July, the whole ground 
was manured and cultivated. This orchard—Scott’s 
Winter and Wealthy, in alternate rows—is now in full 
bearing; but the Wealthy rows are fast disappearing 
from profuse fruitage, this variety being, next to 
Yellow Transparent, the shortest-lived apple tree I 
know of. The Scott trees are in perfect condition, 
growing and bearing well. Since the rye crop was 
grown, I have planted the spaces between the rows 
in this orchard with Yellow-eye beans, getting very 
fair crops, which are put in stack before any of the 
fruit is gathered for market. This orchard is dressed 
each alternate year with stable manure. The bean 
straw is used about the trees for mulch. The beans 
grown rather more than pay for the cost and applica¬ 
tion of the manure and labor expended on this orchard. 
The ground is kept free from weeds, not only between 
the rows, but also between the trees ; and for some 
time, while the orchard was young, currants were 
grown with profit between the trees in the row. 
In the young orchard of 1,000 trees referred to 
above, currants and gooseberries are planted between 
the trees in the rows ; and peas, beans and potatoes 
are grown between the rows. In orchards so managed, 
as the trees come into pretty full bearing, my plan is 
to take out the berry bushes and seed in the rows to 
Kentucky Blue grass, or June grass, as it is called in 
New England. This is allowed to spread 'as fast as 
the trees extend their boughs, and mowed early in 
July. No stems come up after this mowing ; but a 
deep cushion of leafage—many of the leaves over two 
feet long—forms a soft bed for the windfalls to drop 
on. These can be taken away and fed to cows and 
pigs—keeping the codling worm in check, I think, 
considerably. Stable manure is applied each alternate 
year ; and first potatoes, and later beans are the 
crops grown between the rows. It is the purpose 
(and it is attained) that the trees shall make a 
growth of one or two feet of new wood each year 
