1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
67 
than those with long-er ones, but thej pulverise the 
soil far better, and I am certain that no other imple¬ 
ment can be so economically used for fining the soil as 
a well-shaped plow. [prof ] i. p. Roberts. 
Wants a Long Moldboard and Chain. 
I am in favor of a long moldboard for general work 
as being less liable to break the furrow when turning, 
but I place no dependence upon this point in turning 
under clover or any other green crop. To do this suc¬ 
cessfully, I use a rolling steel coulter, which, being 
thin and sharp, cuts its way through the clover and 
allows the plow to turn it under, avoiding all entan¬ 
gling alliances and the usual clogging under the plow 
beam. If the clover be very heavy, I would attach a 
chain, or block and chain, to the forward end of the 
plow beam. The weight of these should be sufficient 
to bend down anything which one desires to turn 
under, even standing corn. My experience is that 
corn hills and stalks will be collected by the jointer, 
and that better work can be done by using the chain 
and block, or a heavy chain alone, than by using the 
jointer. Walter f. taber. 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
Does Not Plow Stalk Ground. 
I want a long moldboard, as I prefer to have sod 
ground laid smooth. I have never used a jointer, or 
seen one used, but think it would clog in heavy corn 
stalks. We commonly sow oats in corn stalks when it 
is best to plant stalk ground. A stalk cutter, followed 
by plowing six to seven inches deep, is a good method 
of fitting the land. o. e. french. 
Iowa. 
The Sod Should Not be Turned Flat. 
I prefer to plow with a medium moldboard as to 
length and shape. I don’t think the furrow should be 
laid flat or upside down, but at an angle of 45 degrees. 
The moldboard should have sufiBcient curve to turn 
the top of the farrow over. The curved moldboard 
will raise the furrow higher than a long straight one 
will. Clover or ary kind of trash will rot sooner than 
if turned down flat, and it will become mixed with 
the soil better and quicker, the jointer will do the 
work if properly adjusted. Jointers are used here on 
all the different makes of plows, but on the sulky the 
rolling cutter is used the most as the weight holds the 
plow down so that the cutter will cut the stuff off. We 
often have to use the harrow to get our Mammoth 
clover under. We harrow it down the same way we 
intend to plow so that it lays from the plow; then the 
jointer will peel off about two inches of the top, and 
throw it down in the furrow to perfection. The long 
moldboard will not raise the s )il high enough, and 
turns it too flat. When a plow has no weed rod to 
pull the trash down, we use a chain to catch all that 
the jointer leaves standing. Corn stalks, the size we 
grow them here, cannot be turned under whole, so 
that the spring-tooth harrow or cultivator will not 
pull them up, but for crops that are not to be culti¬ 
vated I think they would be out of the way. 
Ohio. DARIUS BOSS. 
The Reasons for a Long Moldboard. 
I prefer a long moldboard for sod plowing, and for 
some years past I have used a swivel plow for this pur¬ 
pose, one that has a long steel moldboard which when 
used skillfully, turns smooth farrows, all lying the 
same way. The long moldboard will turn a furrow 
much better than a short one because the furrow slice 
is not broken by the sharp bend of the short plow, and 
it turns gently and lies evenly, thus lapping the slices 
closely and regularly. For a stubble it is different, as 
the short moldboard breaks up the slices of soil, and 
except in hard clay land will leave the surface almost 
as well broken and mellowed as if it were harrowed. 
I have tried the jointer in plowing sod, but do not 
approve of the deep burying of the sod under the 
deeper soil. My idea of a perfectly plowed sod is to 
have every furrow slice laid on edge sloping at an 
angle of 45 degrees or thereabouts, thus affording 
opportunities for the roots of the young crop to feed 
on the decaying plant food, right from the top down¬ 
wards. This I think is yery important, as if the sod 
be turned by a jointer under three or four inches of 
soil, and some of it perhaps not as fertile as the soil 
under it, the young plants are starved for want of 
food at the very time when they need it most. No 
doubt a jointer may be used on a stalk field to turn 
under the trash, but the moldboard should be a long 
one and the plowing must be deep enough to cover 
the trash completely if possible, for convenience in the 
following cultivation. The better way, however, is to 
use a covering drag chain attached to the plow, one 
end to the beam just forward of the standard, and the 
other end to a bar bolted to the beam just behind the 
clevis. This will draw under the trash and cover it 
better than a jointer can. But in spite of the cover¬ 
ing under of this trash, it will be brought up again 
unless the right kind of harrow be used, and one that 
drags the soil over the rubbish without tearing it up. 
A sloping tooth harrow, or one made on this principle 
will do this work much more effectively than the best 
work with a spike-tooth or spring-tooth harrow will. 
■ . STEWART. 
SEVERAL NEW QUINCES. 
The following letter from Mr. Burbank and the com¬ 
ments thereafter need no introduction : 
SANTA ROSA, Cal., November 23,1892. 
Editor Rural Niw-Yohkbr: 
The qnlceaB which were lent jon are two of many thousanOB of 
leedllmcB of Rea's Mammoth, raised In 1885. The Van Deman, a sample 
of which I send you by mall to-day, was from the seed of Pcrtupal, 
raised In 1886, and even In the seed-bed showed marks of superiority 
oyer its fellows by Its unusual vigor and the rich green of Its large, 
finely formed foliage. Among all the others of the same lot, some 
700 seedlings, none has proved of value except the one selected years 
ago In the seedllrg-bed. 1 can now almost Infallibly select the supe¬ 
rior ones from any lot of seedling plants or fruits by a sense possessed 
only by those who have had long practice. You have, no doubt, had 
reason to believe this In your own work. Many will doubt It. 
The Van Deman sent to-day Is a very poor specimen, being the last 
of the crop, and one which happened to be left over In my olHce, 
where It has been for nearly a month. 
Very truly yours. i.Uthir rdrbanic. 
N. B.—Quince California has been purchased, stock and complete 
control, by John Lewis Childs. Van Deman, purchased by Stark Bros., 
Louisiana, Mo. Both will be Introduced very soen. No. 80 Is still In 
■ly possession. L. v. 
REMARKS. 
The California and No. 80 quinces from Mr. Bur¬ 
bank, received November S No. 80 is of a deep 
orange color in every part. Most quinces show some 
green. This is a uniform pure orange yellow. It is 
nearly round, measuring in one circumference 13X 
inches around body, and 133^ the other, 4. e, around 
calyx and stem. The calyx basin is deep—over an 
inch—and the cavity wide, the flesh somewhat plaited 
or corrugated about the top which is about two inches 
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wide. The stem cavity is one-half inch deep and 
one-half inch wide making a regular cavity. The sur¬ 
face is undulating, though gently so. A beautiful 
fruit. Flesh lemon yellow. Not quite so tender as 
California, and not quite juicy. It is a better keeper. 
California is very different. About the stem 
“end” is a crown neck or circle of flesh a quarter of 
an inch high (a rim or ridge of flesh) the stem cavity 
being but one-quarter inch deep. The calyx basin is 
an inch deep and an inch wide, the flesh about being 
slightly irregular. The color is yellow and green like 
a lemon when half ripe. In latitude diameter H is 13 
inches and in longitude diameter 11 inches. Flesh 
yellow, juicy, more tender, finer grained than Rea’s 
or Orange. The quality is less “puckery.” It is 
nearly good enough to eat raw. 
On November 29 we received a specimen of the Van 
Deman quince from Mr. Burbank It differs from the 
others in shape mainly, being somewhat elliptical; that 
is, growing narrower toward both stem and calyx. In 
quality and texture of flesh we think the Van Deman 
a trifle inferior to either of the others. 
A FARMER’S BULLETIN BOARD. 
At Fig. 26 is shown a drawing of what might be 
called a farm bulletin. Farmers often have different 
articles to sell, and this would take the place of 
numerous shingles and boards nailed on their build¬ 
ings. The bulletin is made with changeable strips, 
one for each article, and when one is not wanted it 
may be taken out and put in a safe place. The bulletin 
board is made as follows, one-half-inch pine lumber 
being suitable : Take a board two feet eight inches 
long, and six inches wide ; round the corners on one 
end and bore a hole near the top to hang up by. For 
each side, use two strips two feet long and one and 
one-half inch wide, and ope two feet long and one 
inch wide, fastened together with the narrow strip in 
the middle so as to form a groove. Make as many 
strips one foot six inches long, and two inches wide as 
you will have articles to sell. Have one a little longer 
than the rest, and nail it in the bottom. Plane the 
others smooth on one side, and have them thin on the 
ends so that they will slide up and down in the rack 
easily. Paint the whole white, and when dry get 
some stencils and print the words on with black paint. 
Put the word bulletin on the top of the wide board ; 
put “For Sale” on one slide and put in the slides repre¬ 
senting whatever you have to sell, and the “For Sale” 
last. Hang the whole in a conspicuous place. 
I would recommend one on a large scale to place in 
country towns to be used by every one. e. b. 
Gallupville, N. Y. 
TO MEND A ONE-HORSE APPLE ORCHARD. 
WHAT TOOLS WILL DO THE .JOB ? 
On page 4 of this year’s R. N.-Y,, an Ohio corres¬ 
pondent asked for advice about “mending an orchard.” 
Briefly restated, his orchard is 30 years old and has 
never been fertilized. Some of the trees are missing. 
He has but one horse and must hire all two-horse 
work. lie asked others what to do and what tools to 
do it with. The following notes comprise the first of 
a series of notes that have been written in answer. 
Others will follow : 
The Horse Must Be A Good One ! 
There is no difficulty about having a good orchard 
on a hill, if the soil is good. Apple trees are not very 
exacting in regard to water. Destroying the sod, fol¬ 
lowed by cultivation and manuring, is right, and will 
be successful if the trees are healthy. As to working 
the ground with one horse, that is better than with 
two, but he should be strong. A Norman or Percheron 
gelding will do the work, and the Cutaway Harrow 
Company will supply a good one-horse swivel plow for 
it. I do not think much of girdling trees to make 
them fruitful. It is better to feed them well. For 
such old trees it is not best to prune heavily, in any 
one year. Cut out crossing branches which are abrad¬ 
ing each other and paint the wounds with a thick 
ochre paint, just as it comes in the can. I would let 
the mulch remain, and not attempt to grow any crop 
in so old an orchard. Bat if anything is planted, 
beans will be most likely to succeed. 
[dB.] T H. HOSKINS. 
Don’t Girdle the Orchard. 
In the main, E. T. is all right. If he treat his 
orchard as he contemplates doing, he could not, in 
my judgment, do better, except in his intending to 
girdle the trees that do not bloom eo as to force them 
to do so. I am somewhat surprised to read of an old 
neglected orchard that the trees have made so much 
growth as to require them to be checked by girdling 
in order to make them bear fruit. The opposite is 
usually the case. A neglected orchard makes but little 
growth of wood, but plenty of fruit buds, that usually 
produce but inferior fruit. Girdling will not help 
those trees, as by girdling their growth is checked. 
What they want is cultivation, ani plenty of fertilizers 
in some form. Girdling to some extent might do if 
the trees were making too much growth of wood, and 
no fruit buds. But this is likely not the case in this 
orchard. If it be the intention to sow rye again the 
following season, I would recommend the burning of 
the old straw. Then plow shallow and sow again 
with rye. But my 36 years’ experience would dictate 
to me to sow the second season with Red clover. Cut 
and feed the first cut, and let the aftergrowth remain 
as a mulch. N. ohmer. 
The Orchard Needs More Room. 
I think that where there is a lack of fertility, cul¬ 
tivation will help both by rendering the plant food in 
the soil available, and by lessening evaporation. Per¬ 
haps it is as well to sow rye in July or early in August, 
as the apples begin to weigh down the branches and thus 
render cultivation inadvisable. If he keep the ground 
well cultivated, I think he will find that there will be 
sufficient moisture in the soil at any time to cause the 
seed to germinate. I hardly think he will get very 
much growth of rye, though, under trees 30 years old 
set 30 feet apart. It seems that what an orchard most 
needs is the addition of fertility from some outside 
source either as stable manure or fertilizers. In regard 
to tools, any good one-horse plow ought to enable him 
to plow to the depth indicated, and for stirring the soil 
after it is plowed, an ordinary one-hone corn culti¬ 
vator does very satisfactory work. addison weed. 
Apples and Grass Can’t Both Be Good. 
The best tool I have used is the Rochester gang 
plow, manufactured by the Syracuse Chilled Plow Co. 
It consists of three plows set in a frame and gauged 
for orchard plowing not more than three inches deep. 
He should cultivate as shallow as possible and do good 
work ; and be sure to plow when the trees are in a dorr 
