744 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 9 
pumps and pipes and valves. In winter, there was 
the constant danger of freezing, and always there 
was need of a man to give his entire attention to the 
steam power. 
Next we used a small gasoline engine. After it 
was put in position and set running, there was no 
further attention given it except to oil and keep the 
tank supplied with gasoline. It is very wonderful how 
little fuel it uses to perform a tremendous amount of 
work. There is no “firing up” or waiting for steam, 
when you are ready to begin work, so is the engine ; 
and when you are ready to quit, it is only a matter of 
turning off the electric spark and the thing is done 
and the engine needs no further attention until you 
need it again. You do not worry about steam pres¬ 
sures or leaky boilers ; there is no pressure except in 
the cylinder at the moment of doing the work, and 
you save the expense of buying and maintaining a 
boiler. 
In my neighborhood, four large gasoline engines are 
used by farmers, ranging from 4 to 10-horse power. 
Three of them run corn husking machines. Not one 
of them is used by a skilled engineer, yet I do not 
hear of any trouble with them. The tlirashermen 
have all been using steam engines, but so far as I 
have talked with them, they would prefer to have the 
gasoline engines. I honestly believe that for all small 
powers and portable engines, the steam is doomed. 
The new motor with its greater economy of first cost 
and cheaper operation, will gradually and surely sup¬ 
plant it. 
Even the flour mills here are putting in the new 
engines. The only advantage of steam is in the con¬ 
trollability of pressure and consequent variability of 
. speed. The gas engines, I think, run at a uniform 
speed at all times. j. e. w. 
Ohio. 
Another Fruit Farm Barn.—F ig. 236 shows the 
plan of a barn which is nearly the same as one we 
have now in use on a fruit farm of over 50 acres. The 
few changes I have made in the plan of the basement, 
are to suit cattle instead of sheep. The original plan 
of the basement was for sheep. We 
have not yet inclosed the fruit cellar, 
but we very much felt the need of it - 
during the extreme heat of September. C<?tUci ov 
I would not recommend anything smaller . 5r 
than this for a fruit farm of 26 acres. ptcUmo i 
The tendency is nearly always to have 
too little rather than too much room. 
Plenty of space for housing machinery 
on a fruit farm is a good investment. I vv 
There are two things that I wish to I- 
emphasize in this plan of a barn; one that 
the packing room be on the east or north 
end ; and the other that there be a cool, 
dark cellar for fruit under it. The posts of this barn 
are 16 feet with gable roof. I think that I would 
prefer 14-foot posts and a hip roof. A number of 
little things would suggest themselves to a builder 
that are not mentioned. 
The basement is 32x60 feet, and nine feet high. 
North and east to the end of the cellar, the sides are 
of stone nine feet high. The rest of the east side has 
a stone wall six feet high, and graded to the top for a 
driveway along the packing house door. The ground 
floor is double-boarded all over. There is no partition 
between the large room and the driveway. The con¬ 
tract price for the work above the cellar, was $500, 
for the cellar $150, and for extras $50. t. h. kino. 
Tompkins County, N. Y. 
Results of Millionaire Farming.— A correspond¬ 
ent, under Discussion, said that the farming opera¬ 
tions of Mr. Vanderbilt in North Carolina had made 
it impossible for the farmers for 20 miles around to 
sell their produce. Probably an account of exactly 
what is being done at Biltmore in this line will be of 
interest. 
To form the Biltmore estate, some 25 farms were 
purchased and put together. On land in cultivation, 
about one-tliird the area was retained as suitable in 
location or character for farming, the rest being de¬ 
voted to landscape gardeningor forestry, giving work 
to many laborers, thus making them consumers, and 
not producers, of farm products. Taking this into 
consideration, and also what a total of some 600 arti¬ 
sans and workmen, with their families, must have 
already consumed during the last five years, it is easy 
to see that the sales of the neighboring farmers must 
have increased. 
The area now under farming control is about 1,700 
acres, and this will not be materially increased, more 
attention being given to perfection of methods and 
products than size and quantity. This is divided into 
seven separate departments—the Dairy, Sheep, Ferry, 
French Broad, Market Garden, Plateau and Poultry 
Farms. The underdrainage of the alluvial bottoms 
will very soon be completed, when close to a million 
drain tiles will have been laid. The truck farm is a 
small one—16 acres—but ample forcing houses and a 
complete system of underdrainage and surface irriga¬ 
tion will make it produce well. The dairy, averaging 
70 head of registered and grade Jerseys in milk, is 
gradually being culled of all the grades and Jerseys 
not up to the standard. The breeding of South 
Downs, Berkshires, and poultry has been going on for 
the last five years, but chiefly for home consumption. 
With the continued purchases in these lines of the 
best individuals which can be found, the farms will 
soon be in a position to supply breeding stock which 
will sell on its merits. G. f. w. 
LUB 
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see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.l 
COVERING GRAPE VINES I WHY DO IT? 
An old vineyardist says that laying down grape vines during 
the winter, will cause them to ripen their fruit from one to two 
weeks earlier the succeeding season. Is this true in your experi¬ 
ence? If so, how do you account for it? Is there any difference 
between the different varieties in this respect ? 
There’s an “If ” in It. 
This is a matter of conditions, mainly governed by 
climate; ordinarily, there is seldom more than a week’s 
difference. In a rigid climate, where the vines are 
left uncovered and are injured, there may be two 
weeks’ difference in the ripening. It is accounted for 
by the better protection of the fruit buds, and earlier 
and more vigorous growth. In a warmer climate, lay¬ 
ing down will cause little difference in the period of 
ripening. Of course, tender varieties of our V. vini- 
fera hybrids are more affected by cold and exposure 
than native vines, and are likely to be more injured, 
Has Never Noticed Such an Effect. 
I have had no experience in laying down and cover¬ 
ing grape vines to protect them from the cold of win¬ 
ter, that would lead me to believe that it had any 
effect upon the time of ripening of the fruit. In no way 
could I account for such a result, because the growth 
and vigor of the vine is dependent upon climatic influ¬ 
ences and the fertility of the soil. While it is true 
that those kinds which have an admixture of foreign 
blood are benefited by the protection given, I have 
never found that our hardy kinds like Concord, Wor¬ 
den, Moore’s Early, etc., were injured by the cold; on 
the contrary, I have injured many a vine by bending 
it down to cover it. I have sometimes merely fas¬ 
tened the vine with pegs, but usually cover with 
earth after pegging down. As one or two weeks 
gained in time of ripening, means a great deal to the 
grape grower, I think some of us ought to have found 
out the secret long ago. Walter f. taber. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
Oeilecl ovev head. 
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BARN FOR A 50-ACRE FRUIT FARM. Fig. 236. 
this causing them to mature their fruit later. Prof. 
Munson classes Delaware as a foreign hybrid ; we 
have no hardier vines than Delaware. But he thinks 
that the foreign element is of European, and not Per¬ 
sian origin, where De Candolle places V. vinifera. 
Jefferson County, N. Y. n. s. marvin. 
What Geo. W. Campbell Says. 
I have been accustomed to lay down grape vines for 
winter protection, constantly, for the past 40 years. 
Although I have found the practice beneficial and 
profitable, I am obliged to say that I have never no¬ 
ticed that it induced earlier ripening ; and can hardly 
believe that this would be an invariable result, as 
claimed by the old vineyardist. The climate of this 
portion of central Ohio, about Delaware, is extremely 
variable, the lowest winter temperature varying all the 
way from zero to 32 degrees below, usually averaging 
from 12 to 25 degrees below. The consequence has 
been, that without more or less protection, the buds 
of grape vines not entirely hardy, have been frequently 
so much injured that no fruit was produced the fol¬ 
lowing season. Even the hardiest varieties of the 
Concord and Clinton classes, after exposure to the 
lowest temperatures, would produce little or nothing. 
For this reason, I have long advocated for this and 
similar localities, the practice of autumn pruning, after 
the leaves have fallen, and laying down the vines, 
with some protection of the bearing wood, for the 
winter. Usually a light covering of earth is sufficient; 
and except for quite tender varieties, simply laying 
the canes upon the ground has given protection, and 
good ci*ops, when the same kinds left upon the trellis 
have been seriously injured, and gave but little fruit. 
It is quite probable that, under some conditions, where 
some vines of the same variety are protected during 
the winter, and others not, the protected vines would 
start earlier in spring, grow better, bear more, and 
ripen in advance of those left entirely exposed. For 
all localities subject to very low temperature in win¬ 
ter, I would advise protection, as partially tender 
varieties are saved from injury, and the hardy ones 
certainly bear better and grow more vigorously than 
those under full exposure. geo. w. Campbell. 
Delaware County, O. 
GEO. W. CAMPBELL. 
Walnut Culture at the South. 
E. T. W., Wilmington, N. C .—I have about three and a half 
acres of land for which I have no use now ; it has grown up to 
pines. How will it do to plant it to our native walnuts, say, 15 x 
15 feet, making about 196 trees to the acre ? What would be the 
best time to plant ? How should they be planted ? What kind of 
manure is best to use ? What age nuts are best ? Should they be 
planted with the outside hulls on them or not ? 
Ans. —Clear the pines away and get the land in 
good order. Do not burn the pines on the land, as 
the ashes will be worth less than the vegetable 
matter you will destroy in the burning. Keep the 
walnuts in the outer cover till ready to plant, for if 
they are allowed to become dry, they will not grow 
well. Check out the land eight feet each way, and 
at each intersection, plant two or three nuts to insure 
a stand. The planting should be done this fall as soon 
as you can get the land ready. Cultivate the first 
season as you would corn, and take out the surplus 
trees in the fall so as to leave one at each place. 
These surplus trees will be of use to replace where 
there has been a failure. At the end of the second 
year, you will have a lot of trees that 
will be of salable size and you may 
dispose of all so as to leave the trees 
bru.U- standing 16 feet each way. In the course 
(sellar of time ’ J ou wil1 find that this is too 
i(, * i to close ; but by that time the trees will 
—- have attained a size that will give them 
some value as timber, and another thin¬ 
ning as before may be made, leaving 
r Wb'tVr them 32 feet apart. Acid phosphate 
,^, oori - and potash will make a good dressing 
for the trees while small, but it will 
hardly pay to manure them at all. 
They should be well cultivated till 
July each year, and then the ground sown to peas, 
on which hogs could be pastured in the fall when 
mature, provided they have nose jewels to prevent 
their rooting. The soil treated in this way will 
soon get fertile enough. w. f. massey. 
Is This the Wealthy Apple ? 
C. W. K., East Taunton, Mass.—I would like to know about the 
American Blush apple, also the Wealthy. Is the latter a winter 
apple ? It is said to be, but the fruit is ripe and gone here by the 
middle of September. We first began using it for cooking about 
August 1, or following Red Astracban. When ripe, the fruit is a 
very deep red. It is a heavy bearer, and of excellent quality for 
cooking. I think it is not the Wealthy, but don’t know what it is. 
Ans. —I have no doubt that C. W. K. has the true 
Wealthy. It is not a winter apple, even so far north 
as this, except by special care, amounting, practi¬ 
cally to cold storage. I do not know anything about 
the American Blush apple. t. ii. hoskins. 
A Talk About Apples. 
L. E. 0., Chambersburg, Pa. —1. What can you say in favor of 
the Dominie apple ? Is it more profitable than the York Im¬ 
perial ? 2. What kinds are best to plant for late shipping apples? 
Ans. —1. In quality, the Dominie is sub-acid, of excel¬ 
lent flavor, though not of the best. It is a trifle above 
the medium size, of a roundish-oblate shape. The 
ground color is whitish yellow, with narrow but dis¬ 
tinct stripes of red. The tree is vigorous and produc¬ 
tive. The fruit keeps through winter. The York 
Imperial is of large size, roundish oval and ribbed— 
red in color. It is aromatic and of very good quality, 
though not quite so good as the Dominie ; it will suc¬ 
ceed better in most parts of Pennsylvania. 2. Bald¬ 
win, Smith’s Cider, Smokehouse and Winesap are 
the best winter apples that we know of that thrive 
in Pennsylvania. 
The Crop of Ruta-bagas. 
H. W., New Jersey .—Are Ruta-baga turnips a good or poor crop 
all over the country ? 
Ans. —Ruta-bagas are one of the crops upon which 
no statistics are usually published. From all that 
we can learn, however, we would say that the crop is 
probably an average one. In the drought-stricken 
regions they are very poor, and in some others an ex¬ 
cellent crop, averaging well, as we have said. There 
is an ample supply in this market, and the price low. 
