694 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
crease in the use of fertilizers. Not so much is done 
in fatteninf^ cattle as formerly, hut dairying, especi¬ 
ally in co")perative creameries, is gaining. Our farm¬ 
ers have changecf their crops and methods .somewhat, 
yet you will notice that Lanca.ster County, Pa., still 
ranks as the first agricultural county in the United 
States.” 
Mr. Phigle has done much hy teaching and example 
to improve the agriculture of his .section and county. 
He is fully up with the times and hy carefully testing 
new methods, and posting himself on the changes 
that are constantly taking place in agriculture, he has 
been enabled to make his farming profitable in spite 
of the great depression in business of which so many 
farmers complain. 
His method of showing the possibilities of improved 
chestnut culture, is characteristic of the man. There 
is no mere theory about it—there is the grove of 
hearing trees on that steep hillside, where no other 
profitable crop will grow. There is the thing in actual 
operation. The public need not look at the little 
trees in the nui'sery row, and sjjeculate as to what 
they iruiy do when they grow larger—there is the 
practical forestry of the plan all worked out. Thk 
R. N.-'i'. always likes to take a conservative view of 
.such new enterprises, but after a carefiil examination 
of this chestnut grove, I must say that here is a very 
promising new industry that seems to a.ssure good 
crop returns for a very small outlay. Take such a 
State as V’^irginia, where there are thousands of acres 
of chestnut lands of little value as they now stand. 
Let them be treated as Mr. Engle has treated that 
steep hillside in Pennsylvania, and they will produce 
far more profit, acre for acre, than such crops as corn 
or cotton. There is certainly an excellent opening in 
this line for somebody, and .surely the readers of The 
R. N.-Y. cannot .say that they have not been notified. 
^Vhy not get ready for it ? I could not speak so posi¬ 
tively about Crimson clover for 1 did not know how 
far North that plant would thrive. It is pretty well 
known where a chestnut tree will grow ! n. w. c. 
A FOUR-LEGGED MOLE TRAP. 
The R. N.-Y. has on several occasions, enlightened 
its readers about ground moles, mole traps and the 
best methods of extex’minating moles. I will give 
some of my experience with moles this season. They 
were unusually numerous this summer ; it may be on 
account of the long spell of dry weather. My garden 
was corrugated with mole runs ; the strawberry beds 
ere burrowed fi*om one end to the other. I had 
some choice currant, gooseberry and grape cuttings 
planted, and they were completely raised out of the 
ground and a number of them died. The vegetables 
fared the same. I tried all known methods of exter¬ 
minating them with traps, poison, air holes in the 
runs, tramping down the runs, planting Castor oil 
beans, etc., and worked ince.ssantly with cultivator, 
hoe and rake to no purpose. 
Now 1 am in possession of a mole trap which I think 
The R. N.-Y. would be pleased to own. It’s nothing 
more nor less than a plain looking, black and tan cat 
with white breast and feet. She can beat C. L. New¬ 
man and his long handled shovel by long odds at dig¬ 
ging* out moles. I noticed her in the early part of last 
summer. She would follow me into the garden, smell 
the moles and go for them with a vengeance. 1 noticed 
her on several occasions afterwards playing with what 
1 sxipposed were ground mice, but on examining one of 
them one day, I discovered that it was a big fat mole. 
Then 1 played detective on her movements. She 
would go into the garden and sit over the highest 
place in a mole run, and when the ground moved, 
down went pussy’s fore paws in the soft earth and up 
came Mr. Mole as fast as if he was in a steel trap. 
She would then scamper into the yard and play with 
him before she dispatched him, and then take her 
position in the garden again. I believe she has com¬ 
pletely cleaned them out of the garden. I have not 
seen their tracks there in a long while. 
She is fully as good at catching rats and mice as 
moles, and I have never known her to kill a bird or 
chicken. The strangest part of it is that she was 
raised in the city. My daughter picked her up off the 
street one day last winter. She was almost dead with 
cold and hunger, and some dogs ha d been chasing her 
and had broken one of her legs. My daughter brought 
her home and doctored her up, and she became a very 
respectable looking cat. She brought her out here 
and said she might be of some use on the place, as she 
was a good mouser. She has certainly proved herself 
to be the most useful animal on the farm. If her off¬ 
spring take after her, we may be able to raise a useful 
breed of cats that may do some service for my friends 
and neighbors. 1 was under the impression some 
time ago that good cats were very scarce. 1 had to 
kill a large tom last year for his bad habits. He 
would climb ti*ees and rob birds’ nests and kill rob¬ 
ins. 1 encourage the robins in my orchard and 
garden and they seem to know it, for there are more 
of them here than in any other place of which 1 know. 
They pay ten times over for the few berries they eat, in 
killing insects, and their concerts of a summer morn¬ 
ing are equal to the renowned Gilmore in his best days. 
Melville, N. Y. _ j. e. 
“ DOWN IN THE WELL" 
HOW TO COOE FOOD THERp:. 
A Windlass and Cage. 
In a recent Rurae, R. J. D., Richmond, Ind., asks 
for a better method or device for putting articles of 
food into his well. I have used the contrivance shown 
at Fig. 182 for a nxxmber of years, with great satisfac¬ 
tion and safety. The diagram shows the box erected 
over the trap in the well floor. It is 43^ feet high by 
2]4 wide and 20 inches in depth, made of inch boards, 
with scantling two inches square in the corners to 
FOOD IN THE WELL. Fio. 182. 
strengthen it. The windlass is of pine six inches in 
diameter, with 5i-inch iron spindles in the end. One 
spindle has a ratchet, four inches in diameter, fastened 
on the crank end. The spindles are of round iron, 
squared and pointed at one end, and driven in the 
auger hole of slightly less size. The iron crank of 
the same size is of one piece, bent into shape and 
squared where it passes into the ratchet di.sk. 
Three feet above the water, is fastened into the wall 
of the well a locust sill 4x4, to which are fastened 
two No. 10 galvanized wires, at the proper distance 
apart. A cross-piece is fastened just under the wind¬ 
lass and a few inches from the center to let the rope 
pass freely. The wires pass through holes in this 
piece, and are drawn up very tightly, so as to keep the 
descending cage or box steady. The lower stick must 
be placed parallel with the top one. The cage has 
two screw-eyes on each side, 15 inches apart, through 
which the wires pass. The cage containing the articles 
may be let down and let rest on the cross-stick ; or, if 
the water should rise in the well, it may be held at 
any point by means of the ratchet and clamp. If there 
is a pump in the well, it may be placed to one side 
against the wall. The rope is fastened so as to be in 
the center when the box is up. With the above 
diagrams, any carpenter can easily erect one, and if 
he is at all bright, can do so without a diagram. 
Shippensburg, Pa. j. i c. 
A Track to Steady the Cage. 
We were once located where, in warm weather, the 
only reasonable temperature to preserve meats, milk, 
etc., nas down in a well having a stone pump stock in 
it. A groove made from a board and laths as shown 
at Fig. 183 was nailed to the pump stock. A slide was 
made to fit the groove and nailed to a board that 
served as one end-support of a tier of shelves. The 
shelves were made to suit the space in the well, and 
firmly fastened at the top to a board that completely 
covered the opening in the well covering or floor when 
the shelves were down in the well. A frame was 
placed over the well and a small block and tackle 
arrangement was used to raise and lower the shelves 
as desired. A windlass and ratchet wheel could be 
used in a similar arrangement. L. s. G. 
Waynesboro, Pa. 
What They Say! 
Why Not Irrigate? —Why cannot a farmer m the 
East irrigate a small part of his farm, where so many 
have small streams of running water ? Are the con¬ 
ditions of climate and soil such that it would not pay? 
He would never need to worry about his garden in a 
dry summer ; he would know just when he could make 
it rain. I have raised enough fodder on less than two 
acres of ground to feed my teams and one cow through 
the winter, and with a very small stream of water 
but a large amount of cultivating. Hay and all kinds 
of fodder are very high here this year. I raised this 
corn in a young olive orchard, planting five rows be¬ 
tween each two rows of trees, which are planted 20 
feet apart. I worked the corn, and at the .same time I 
was cultivating the orchard which I should have done 
had the corn not been planted. E. D. 8. 
Claremont, Cal. 
WiNTiiR Grown Cabbage. —I have had such uniform 
success in growing cabbage through the winter, that 
1 feel that my method may be of interest to many 
small growers whose crop is late on account of the 
drought in August. For several years past, I have 
taken all heads which were not fully matured by 
November 10, and planted them in a shallow trench 
running north and south in a well drained soil. And 
in every case, I have had fine, solid heads the next 
spring—March and April—which were even better 
than those which headed in the fall. I dig the trench 
after throwing out a furrow each way with the plow, 
and try to have it wide enough to lay two cabbages 
abreast, and about 10 inches deep. I loosen the soil 
in the bottom with the spading foi'k ; then, beginning 
at the north end, I put the first two cabbages in, after 
pressing the leaves together, with the roots to the 
south. I throw in a spadeful of top soil on the roots, 
press them dowm with my full weight, thereby effec¬ 
tually transplanting them. They should be taken up 
with the spading fork so as to get the roots unbroken. 
The next two heads rest between the roots and heads 
of the first two and so on down the trench. On top of 
these, I put several inches of fresh forest leaves, which 
are held in place by brush or a little earth thrown on 
them. The cabbages continue growing and heading 
and the result is always satisfactory. I grow the 
Savoys for my owm use, and they are incomparably 
the best. A. c. w. 
Cresskill, N. J. 
Two Dozen Gooseberry Bushes. —In the fall of 
1890, I purchased two dozen two-year-old gooseberry 
bushes, 12 Downing and 12 Houghton. I planted them 
in my garden, three feet apart in the row (which is 
too close). I mulched each one with about two scoop 
shovelfuls of horse manure. In the spring of ’91, the 
manure was worked in with a spade, they were plowed 
with a hand plow, and in the fall had more manure 
and some ashes piled around them. In the spring of 
’92 they were spaded among, which I think injured 
them, as it disturbed too many of the roots. They 
also had good cultivation with the hand plow and 
garden rake. 
We picked during the summer of ’92, from the 24 
bushes, enough fruit for 16 cans, and made more than 
40 pies besides. Last year, ’93, we canned 20 cans, 
made about as many pies as usual, and let some few 
ripen on the bush besides selling $7.50 worth to other 
parties. 1 believe we could have sold 50 bushels if we 
had had them to spare, or had grown that many. The 
price we got was 10 cents per quart. This year, ’94, 
we sold nearly $10 worth, canned for our own use 28 
cans, and used as many or more for pies than usual, 
as fruit was scarce. For the first we sold this year, 
we got 12X cents per quart, and toward the last only 
10 cents. 
The Houghtons were the best this year, the freeze 
in March having injured the Downings, as they are a 
few days earlier to bloom. The two dozen bushes 
occupy about 1-110th part of an acre. They have not 
been cultivated the last two years, but heavily 
mulched with manure, leaves and tobacco stems. I 
have never pruned them till this year, and then only 
the under branches that lay on the ground, so as to 
give me room to put more manure around them and 
give them more air and sunshine. I would rather 
pick the Houghton than the Downing, as the thorns 
on the Downing are longer, sharper, and more numer¬ 
ous. The quality of the Houghton, my wife thinks, 
is better than the Downing, but the Downing sells the 
best as they are larger. darke county boy. 
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