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NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 30, 1895 
$1.(X) PER YEAR, 
A YANKEE FRUIT FARM. 
CONDENSED HORTICULTURE IN NEW ENGLAND. 
Possibilities of a Vermont Hillside. 
The picture on this page gives a view of the small 
farm of A. A. Halladay, near Bellows Falls, Vt. 
There are but six acres on the place, yet this is space 
enough to yield a fair income. Three years ago, there 
was not a building on the place except the old ice 
house under the trees—this will soon be taken down. 
All the other buildings are new. You will notice 
that henhouse, barn and sheds are connected so that 
all are really under one roof. That is the way they 
do it in New England, to avoid going outdoors in bad 
weather. Three years ago, there was not a fruit tree 
on the place. Now there are 200 plums, 75 pears, 75 
peaches, 150 cherries, 350 currant bushes, and quinces, 
apricots, grapes, apples and small fruits. The main 
crops sold are tomatoes and fruits. When the trees 
grow too large 
to grow crops 
between them, 
the design is to 
stock the entire 
place with 
poultry. 
A t present, 
the entire stock 
of the place 
consists of one 
cow, one horse, 
and a few pigs. 
The manure is 
carefully saved 
and kept under 
cover, and more 
or less horse 
manure is 
brought from 
town, and 
worked over by 
the pigs. So 
carefully'is the 
manure housed 
and saved, that 
it is w o r t di 
more than 
many' a huge 
pile on larger 
farms that is 
left standing in 
the rain. To 
help out the 
manure, wood 
ashes, nitrate 
of soda and 
complete fer¬ 
tilizer are used. 
M r. Halladay 
says that this season’s crop of tomato seed, straw¬ 
berries and raspberries, will net $1,200 above ex¬ 
penses—that amount representing the labor and 
profits of himself andjtwo boys. He says : 
“ My raspberries brought 20 cents a basket all 
through the season, and my strawberries 18 and 20 
cents, while other growers about here were having 
hard work to get 10 and 12 cents for berries that were 
just as good as they grew on the vines. The difference 
was in putting them on the market, and between 
baskets -scant even full, just as they came from the 
pickers,-and baskets heaping full and all carefully 
assorted, every berry guaranteed a good one or money 
refunded.” 
Speaking of varieties he says: “ The Abundance 
plum’^has'^fruited for two years, and I have not seen 
a single tip that has been injured by cold. I also 
have a-hardy seedling-peach, which comes true from 
the pits, and will stand anj- weather that the plum 
will. It is a large, yellow free-stone.” 
The picture shows how beautifully this farm is 
located. It is certainly worth something to live amid 
such suri’oundings. The house stands on a terrace 
about 100 feet above the Connecticut River. The hills 
across the river are in New Hampshire. A railroad 
runs between the river and the house. There are 
views for miles up and down the beautiful Connecticut 
Valley. Is it any wonder that the New Englander 
clings to his home under such circumstances ? 
Speaking of his little place, with true Yankee 
pride, Mr. If. says: 
“ I am doing no more on my little place than can 
be done anywhere in New England by any man who 
is willing to work. I do not believe in the large New 
England farms. There is more cash, less hard work 
and worry, and more real enjoyment on a small, 
well-managed farm in New England than anywhere 
else in the country. We have better markets, and 
receive better prices for our products, than can be 
obtained anywhere else. I have never had the West¬ 
ern or Southern fever. I believe that any man who 
can not get a living here, could not get one any where, 
and that farming is the best business in the world, 
else three-fourths of the farmers would starve to 
death from their own shiftlessness.” 
The lessons to be drawn from this experience are, 
that where one is located near a manufacturing town, 
small fruits and poultry on a well-kept little place 
give more satisfactory returns than ordinary crops 
on a larger farm. Of course, this is not a general 
rule, for some men are not fitted for small farm¬ 
ing. In any event, considerable capital is needed 
in order to start right. That is a point not al¬ 
ways considered by those who figure on the profits 
of a small place. 
GROWING LETTUCE UNDER GLASS. 
HOW TO RUILD A CHEAP HOUSE. 
Some Practical Hints for Beginners. 
I wish to build a cheap house in which to grow let¬ 
tuce ; I have been growing it for three years on raised 
benches. Can walks be dug out and good lettuce 
grown on solid beds ? Must the soil on a solid bed be 
changed every year ? What about sub-irrigation on 
solid beds ? What width of greenhouse is most con¬ 
venient for growing lettuce ? How should I run hot- 
water pipes through a greenhouse with the walk dug 
out, and solid beds ? H. c. s. 
Northumberland County, Pa. 
The walls of a house of the kind desired may be 
made most cheaply by the use of posts and matched 
boards. Set the posts about four or five feet apart, 
and at least three feet deep to prevent heaving, and 
to insure against displacement by lateral pressure of 
the roof. It is 
also well to 
place a flat 
stone in the 
bottom of each 
hole before 
setting the 
posts. In the 
climate of 
Pennsylvania, 
I would favor 
a layer of 
rough boards 
outside of the 
posts, then two 
layers of tarred 
paper, outside 
of whichshould 
be a layer 
of matched 
boards of the 
best quality. 
In more severe 
climates, tarred 
paper and 
matched board¬ 
ing, both inside 
and outside 
of the posts, 
would be pref- 
erable — the 
dead-air space 
thus formed 
serving as a 
most effectual 
non - conductor 
of heat. Of 
course in the 
latter case — 
that of a hol¬ 
low wall—it is essential that the posts be of uni¬ 
form size. 
Along the top of the posts should be placed a two- 
inch strip equal in width to the thickness of the 
posts, and above this the plate. The plate should 
project beyond the strip on which it rests for about 
two inches on each side, and should be grooved on 
the under side to receive the tongue of the matched 
boards of the wall. It should also have another 
groove nearer the edge to prevent the backing up of 
water into the joint formed with the boards. When 
completed, then, the plate will project one inch beyond 
the wall, both inside and out. Fig. 251 illustrates this. 
In building the wall, as in all other parts of the 
greenhouse, use paint very freely, especially in the 
joints. Sash bars, IK by 2K inches, will be found 
heavy enough, and I would suggest glass, 16 by 24 
inches. The supports in the way of purlines, wfiicti 
A LITTLE FRUIT FARM IN THE UPPER CONNECTICUT VALLEY. Fig. 250. 
