CEMENT 
General  Farm  Topics 
The  “  Packer”  Sweet  Potato  Plant  Setter  stir  again.  This  dries  out  the  corn  and 
Here  is  a  device  which  deserves  more  In,*s  it  bi  good  condition  for  dropping  as 
publicity  than  it  has  been  given.  With  Of  course,  corn  tarred  in  this  way 
a  good  boy  to  drop  sprouts  a  man  using  not  drop  well  from  a  machine  plaut- 
this  can  set  out  15,000  to  20.000  plants  er-  Iu  our  own  case  every  year  but  one 
in  a  day.  Records  of  22,000  to  25,000  coni  treated  in  this  way  has  made  a  good 
have  been  made.  A  new  machine?  Not  stand.  The  crows  usually  pull  up  a  few 
at  all.  It  was  invented  about  30  years  hills  after  the  corn  is  up,  but  they  do  not 
ago,  and  it  has  been  used  ever  since  in  like  the  taste  of  the  tar  and  soon  leave  it 
our  section  of  Gloucester  County,  X.  .T.,  alone.  One  year,  however,  for  some  rea- 
wliere  in  honor  of  the  inventor  it  is  called  son  they  pulled  the  corn  badly  iu  spite  of 
the  ‘‘Packer’  machine.  It  is  one  of  the  the  tar,  but  as  a  rule  this  treatment  has 
j  worked  well.  We  have  had  a  number  of 
=j  ^  reports  from  people  wdio  have  tried  the 
commercial  product  known  as  Pyrox  with 
\  C~-~r-  \  /\  very  good  results,  but  the  tar  has  always 
i  served  our  purpose.  In  case  the  crows 
z  \  \  were  particularly  bad,  even  with  the 
I  \  \  tarred  corn,  we  should  try  poisoniug  a 
\  few  of  them.  This  is  done  by  soaking  the 
111  *  /  seed  iu  a  solution  of  strychnine  in  water, 
\  \  and  scattering  some  of  the  poisoned  seed 
\  \  along  through  the  field.  This  will  usually 
\  \  kill  a  number  of  the  crows,  and  if  you  can 
\  \  get  them  it  is  a  good  plan  to  bang  the 
\  (1  1  dead  crows  Tip  by  the  leg  to  a  post  where 
\  I  j  they  will  swing  in  the  air  and  be  seen  by 
t  their  friends.  We  know  other  cases 
where  farmers  set  a  steel  trap  on  the  edge 
:(  of  the  field  properly  baited,  and  succeeded 
I  in  catching  one  or  two  crows  therein. 
, ,  Jr  V  vj  \  These  live  crows  were  fastened  by  the  leg 
^  to  a  string,  the  other  end  being  tied  to  the 
top  of  a  high  pole.  These  captured  crows 
fluttered  iu  the  air  and  by  their  cries 
frightened  the  rest  of  the  crows  away, 
and  if  a  few  live  crows  can  be  caught  iu 
this  way  they  will  prove  very  effective 
chasers. 
The  Packer  Plant  Setter.  Fig.  261 
Planning  an  Orchard 
I  have  10  acres  of  land  in  Lewiston, 
X.  Y.,  and  arn  going  to  plant  50  peach 
trees,  10  pears.  00  cherries.  10  apples,  50 
currants,  100  red  raspberries.  Can  I 
plant  apple  trees  with  the  peaches  and 
pears,  or  should  I  have  to  make  separate 
orchards  for  the  pear  and  apple  trees,  as 
they  have  to  be  different  distances  apart? 
Would  you  give  me  a  plan  of  it? 
Niagara  Falls,  X.  Y.  c.  a. 
As  the  dimensions  are  not  given  it  is 
rather  hard  to  tell  just  what  shape  of 
planting  would  best  fit  the  land,  but  the 
following  will  probably  not  be  far  out. 
At  one  end  plant  the  apple  trees  in  two 
rows  40  feet  apart  and  20  feet  from  the 
boundary  of  the  piece  to  be  planted.  This 
brings  the  last  tree  00  feet  from  one 
boundary  and  ISO  feet  from  the  other. 
Next  plaut  the  pears  in  one  row 
30  feet  from  the  apples  and  20  feet  apart. 
This  brings  the  last  tree  00  feet,  from  one 
boundary  and  200  feet  from  the  other. 
Next  plant  the  cherries  in  nine  rows 
20  feet  apart  each  way.  This  brings  the 
last  tree  270  feet  from  one  boundary 
and  200  feet  from  the  other.  Finish 
with  the  pouches  iu  five  rows  20  feet 
apart  each  way,  making  the  whole  block 
370  feet  long  and  200  feet  wide. 
Currants  and  Cuthbert  raspberries 
should  nut  be  planted  nearer  than  5*4 
feet  between  rows.  The  currants  can  be 
as  near  as  four  feet  in  the  rows  and  the 
raspberries  three  feet  iu  the  rows.  Pur¬ 
ple  (Columbian)  and  black  raspberries 
should  be  nearly  seven  feet  between  rows, 
practically  the  same  as  blackberries. 
Berries  and  currants  can  well  be  planted 
between  the  apple  or  pear  trees,  but 
should  never  be  put  among  cherries  or 
peaches.  If  it  is  planned  to  extend  the 
planting  of  currants  and  berries  it  would 
be  well  in  this  ease  to  make  the  rows  six 
feet  eight  inches  apart  aud  put  the  plants 
four  feet  apart  in  the  rows.  This  will 
give  six  rows  to  the  40-foot  space  be¬ 
tween  (lie  apple  trees  and  50  plants  in  a 
row.  or  nine  rows  from  the  fence,  includ¬ 
ing  the  second  row  of  apple  trees.  This 
would  accommodate  150  currants  and  300 
raspberries,  or  100  each  of  red  and  black 
raspberries  and  100  blackberries.  If  a 
block  of  several  acres  entirely  separate 
from  any  other  planting  were  to  be  set  to 
cherries  it  might  be  better  to  plant  24 
feet  apart  so  that  the  trees  would  not  be- 
giu  to  crowd  so  soon,  but  in  a  small  mixed 
planting  it  would  not  be  wise  to  break 
up  the  regularity  of  the  arrangements. 
ALFRED  C.  WEED. 
many  localized  implements  which  farm¬ 
ers  use  with  silent  satisfaction,  hence  it 
has  not  received  widespread  attention. 
At  present,  it  is  being  sold  at  .$1.50  re¬ 
tail  by  the  son  of  the  inventor. 
The  method  of  using  the  Packer  ma¬ 
chine  is  very  simple.  The  plants  are  laid 
all  one  way  with  the  tips  of  the  roots  toe¬ 
ing  the  middle  of  the  mark  on  the  ridge. 
This  means  a  back-bending  job  for  the 
dropper;  I  can  swear  to  that  from  many 
a  hard  day’s  work  at  it  years  ago.  The 
setter  has  the  easy  end  of  it — no  back 
bending  l’or  him.  Ilis  speed  will  usu¬ 
ally  depend  upon  the  speed  of  the  dropper. 
With  two  motions  he  sets  the  plant.  In 
the  first  the  paddle  is  placed  on  the  end 
of  the  root  of  the  plant,  and  with  a  quick 
motion  pushed  into  the  ground  with  han¬ 
dle  A.  In  the  second  motion  the  stamper 
or  packer  is  shoved  down  with  handle  B 
as  the  paddle  is  raised.  This  packs  the 
dirt  around  the  roots,  and  at  the  same 
time  leaves  a  cup-shaped  place  for  water¬ 
ing. 
As  to  the  question  whether  it  is  any 
better  than  paddle  and  tongs,  never  hav¬ 
ing  used  them.  I  can  only  .say  that  in  our 
vicinity  millions  of  plants  are  set  every 
year  with  the  Packer  machine  with  ap¬ 
parently  as  good  results  as  those  set  else¬ 
where  with  paddle  and  tongs.  Yet,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  this  is  strictly 
a  sweet  potato  machine,  and  is  not  adapt¬ 
ed  to  setting  strawberry,  cabbage,  and 
other  plants  as  is  the  paddle  and  tougs. 
However,  paddle  and  tongs  require  a  na¬ 
tive  skill  for  best  results,  while  an  effi¬ 
cient  handling  of  the  Packer  machine  can 
be  quickly  acquired.  This  year  difficulty 
is  being  experienced  in  securing  skilled 
labor.  To  get  the  sweet  potatoes  set  out 
at  a  reasonable  cost  is  worrying  us  all. — ■ 
but  those  using  the  Packer  machine  are 
disturbed  less,  perhaps,  than  those  who  do 
not  use  it.  r,.  K.  wilkixs. 
F or  All  Your 
HEAVY  Work 
V OU  have  scores  of  things  daily  to  be  hoisted,  low- 
ered  or  hauled,  such  as  unloading  hay  or  grain, 
hauling  timbers,  elevating  ice,  driving  fence  posts, 
loading  or  unloading  coal,  fertilizer,  machinery, 
fruit,  etc.  Let  us  heip  you  save  money,  work  and 
two-thirds  of  your  time  with  an 
Ireland  Geared  Hoist 
Operates  safely  and  easily.  Special  pulley  for 
your  engine.  Guaranteed  every  way.  Write 
for  hoist  circulars — also  about 
our  draw  saws,  wood  saws,  saw 
mills  and  shingle  mills. 
Ireland  Machine  &  Foundry  Co.  J 
.  22  State  St.,  Norwich.  N.  Y.  J 
M  liuw  in  Bars  S20  to  4-C?  ~>c. 
your  new  ri*.  Address 
H.  C.  PHELPS.  Pro*. 
THE  OHIO  CARRIAGE  MFC.  CO. 
Station  225  Columbus,  Ohic 
Seed  Cover  Crops  Between  Rows 
^When  corn  is  “laid  by,”  that’s  the  time  to 
sow  cover  crops  between  the  rows.  The 
Sows  clover,  alfalfa,  turnip,  rape,  timothy,  rye. 
wheat,  oats,  buckwheat,  etc.,  between  all  rowed 
crops.  Covers  seed  to  right  depth.  Adjusts  for  quantity.  No  wind  interference, 
level, covered  with  dust  mulch  and  weeds  are  killed.  Also  an  ideal  cullivalor 
garden.  Works  close  to  small  plants.  Strong  and  lightweight.  In  stock  ncaryo 
catalog.  EUREKA  MOWED  m  Rat  loort  mi*.  V  v 
17  Flat  Teeth  Cover  Seed 
*nd  Level  Ground 
Two  disking s  in 
one  with  a  double¬ 
action  harrow! 
Over! 
Disk  Harrows 
and  Plows 
Seed  Corn  and  Crows 
Can  you  toll  me  any  thing  to  stop  crows 
from  pulling  up  corn  after  it  has  come 
through  the  ground?  We  have  used  ar¬ 
senate  of  lead,  and  crow  oil  for  stopping 
them  from  pulling  tip  the  corn,  but  ns 
soon  as  it  comes  through  the  ground  they 
would  pull  it  up  just  the  same.  Do  you 
know  of  any  way  of  getting  rid  of  crows? 
Massachusetts.  F.  N. 
We  have  always  had  very  good  results 
from  the  use  of  tar  on  the  seed  corn.  We 
take  the  ordinary  pine  tar,  warm  the  corn 
a  little,  pour  iu  the  tar  aud  stir  it  thor¬ 
oughly  with  a  heavy  spoon  until  the  corn 
is  thoroughly  coated  with  the  tar.  Then 
we  add  a  quantity  of  dry  wood  ashes  aud 
Maker  of  the  original  CLARK  C\ 
disk  harrou-s  and  plows 
“What  is  the  s 
greatest  activity?” 
scope.” — Baltimore 
>pe  of  a  submarine’s 
‘I  guess  it’s  the  peri- 
Americau. 
&  -V  3 
/ma. 
BAWV'1 
