1516  TShe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
General  Farm  Topics 
Storing  Cabbage  Under  Piazza 
Is  it  feasible  to  keep  cabbages  under¬ 
neath  our  piazza  during  the  Winter 
without  any  protection  except  that 
furnished  by  the  floor  of  the  piazza? 
We  sometimes  have  times  in  the  Winter 
when  the  temperature  reaches  10  degrees 
below  zero. 
C. 
B.  1>. 
Greenwood,  Mass. 
The  past  two  years  we 
have 
stored 
cabbages  for  stock  feeding 
in  s 
i  large 
heap  under  a  shed  open  at  one  end. 
They  were  used  by  January  1,  but  even 
then  there  was  considerable  damage  by 
repeated  freezing  and  thaw.  Cabbages 
are  worth  taking  care  of  this  year.  If 
there  is  room  to  work  Under  your  piazza, 
you  can  quickly  dig  a  pit  as  for  hotbeds, 
two  feet  deep,  and  pack  the  cabbages 
stems  up,  tapering  tile  head  as  it  rises 
above  the  surface  and  covering '  with 
earth  from  the  pit  and  a  couple  of  feet 
of  leaves  or  swale  hay,  which  will  come 
bandy  for  bedding  later.  It  seems  not 
so  much  the  freezing  that  injures  them  as 
quick  and  repeated  ibawing  out.  A 
bandy  plan  is  to  dump  them  into  an 
old  hotbed  pit  and  cover  lightly  with 
waste  leaves  from  the  cabbages  and  a  few 
boards  until  weather  threatens  zero  or 
lower,  after  which  they  are  stored  in  the 
cellar;  in  barrels  if  it  is  a  dry  cellar, 
as  where  a  section  is  partitioned  off 
from  a  heater,  but  on  racks  if  it  is  a 
cool,  moist  cellar. 
Fruit  and  Root  Cellar 
Is  it  feasible  to  make  a  success  of  a 
combination  fruit  and  mot  cellar?  I 
am  told  it  is  not  advisable  to  combine  the 
two.  We  have  a  big  roomy  basement 
underneath  the  garage,  and  propose  mak¬ 
ing  a  fruit  and  root  storage  place  of  it. 
The  cost  is  no  object.  The  fruit  is  for 
home  consumption  only,  and  all  the  roots 
required  will  not  cut  much  figure — 
enough  for  eight  head  of  cattle  and  four 
horses.  We  would  like  to  provide  for 
1000  heads  of  celery.  The  latter  might 
have  a  tendency  to  spoil  the  flavor  of 
the  apples,  but  on  Ihc  other  band  there 
will  be  no  lack  of  ventilation. 
Grand  Rapids.  Mich.  w.  B. 
There  is  no  absolute  reason  why  a 
combination  fruit  and  root  cellar  can¬ 
not  be  successfully  managed,  provided  a 
few  important  points  are  carefully  con¬ 
sidered.  Both  roots  and  fruit  require 
a  cool  temperature,  darkness,  moisture 
and  ventilation  but  not  wetness  nor  foul 
air.  The  only  danger,  as  you  well  real¬ 
ize,  is  that  the  aroma  or  smell  of  the 
one  might  spoil  the  flavor  of  the  other. 
This  might  be  the  ease  if  turnips  or  cab¬ 
bage  were  stored  in  such  a  cellar  in 
large  quantities,  but  most  of  the  root 
crops  such  as  carrots,  beets,  potatoes  and 
parsnips  do  not  impart  disagreeable  fla¬ 
vors  to  fruits  and  besides  that  they  are 
best  stored  in  bins  covered  over  with  old 
bags  or  with  a  layer  of  soil  to  keep  them 
in  most  excellent  condition. 
The  thousand  celery  stalks  will  have 
no  influence  upon  the  other  things  stored 
iu  the  cellar.  If  a  small  quantity  of 
turnips  are  to  be  kept  in  the  fruit  cel¬ 
lar,  place  them  in  tight  barrels  and  cover 
over  with  old  burlap  or  anything  else 
available.  A  few  heads  of  cabbage  may 
be  wrapped  in  newspapers  or  may  be 
turned  upside  down  and  covered  with 
sand.  By  having  partitions  to  divide 
that  part  of  the  cellar  holding  fruit  from 
the  root  part  disagreeable  results  would 
be  further  avoided,  but  partitions  are 
usually  inconveniences.  By  considering 
just  the  few  essentials  enumerated,  roots 
and  fruits  should  be  kept  successfully  in 
the  same  storage.  n.  D.  b. 
identifying  Scions 
1  root-gattod  100  or  more  a.  ..3c  and 
pear  trees ;  they  have  been  neglected  till 
they  are  six  or  eight  feet  high.  The 
question  is:  IIow  can  I  tell  which  is 
grown  from  the  scion  and  which  from  the 
root?  Of  course,  where  the  pears  have 
thorns  I  can  tell,  but.  bow  else  can  I  tell, 
especially  on  the  apples?  j.  L.  M. 
Mansfield,  Mass. 
To  an  experienced  man.  one  who  is 
familiar  with  the  different  varieties  of 
pears  and  apples,  this  is  a  simple  mat¬ 
ter.  lie  can  tell  at  a  glance  if  the  tree  is 
true  or  not.  The  color  of  bark,  type  and 
color  of  leaf  and  habit  of  growth  are  an 
unfailing  guide  to  the  practical  nursery¬ 
man.  But  to  the  inexperienced  these 
signs  do  not  mean  much.  When  the  trees 
are  young  and  small  it  is  usually  quite 
easily  ascertained  which  is  the  graft  and 
which  is  not  by  removing  the  soil  from 
around  the  base  of  the  tree,  and  examin¬ 
ing  il  for  the  union  of  graft  and  root, 
which  is  quite  easily  seen  in  young  trees. 
If  the  sprout,  has  started  below  the  scion 
then,  of  course,  it  is  from  the  root  and 
should  be  budded  or  crown-grafted  to  tile 
same  variety  originally  planted  in  the 
Vow.  But  when  they  attain  some  age. 
and  size  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  identify 
the  graft  by  this  means.  About  the  only 
guide  yr>”  "3w  have  to  go  by  is  to  pick 
out  one  or  more  that  you  are  absolutely 
sure  is  the  graft,  and  endeavor  to  identify 
the  remainder  by  comparison,  of  color  of 
bark,  leaf  and  habit  of  growth.  Those 
you  are  not  sure  of  should  be  worked  over 
by  budding  or  crown-grafting.  K, 
Dry-curing  Hams  and  Shoulders 
I  would  like  to  butcher  two  pigs  for 
ham  and  bacon ;  have  no  smoke-house, 
but  would  like  to  build  one  of  brick  or 
eenuyut.  Would  you  give  a  beginner 
some  idea  as  to  how  to  handle  the  pork 
before  going  into  the  smoke-house,  also 
bow  to  build  a  smoke-house  large  enough 
to  smoke  two  good-sized  pigs?  What 
wood  should  be  used  to  make  the  smudge? 
Ougers-on-llitdson,  N.  Y.  A,  a.  C. 
This  recipe  has  been  in  use  for  half  a 
century  or  longer,  and  is  one  of  the  best. 
To  each  20  pounds  of  fresh  meat,  make  a 
mixture  of  one-fourth  pound  of  brown 
sugar,  and  a  dessertspoouful  of  pow¬ 
dered  saltpetre.  Rub  this  well  by  band 
into  the  meat;  then  with  coarse  salt  cov¬ 
er  the  bottom  of  a  perfectly  clean  bar¬ 
rel  say  to  the  depth  of  a  half  inch,  put  in 
hams  or  shoulders,  skin  side  down,  and 
cover  with  a  half  inch  of  salt,  and  so  on 
until  the  barrel  is  full,  or  until  the  sup¬ 
ply  has  all  been  salted.  The  side  meat 
or  bacon  is  to  be  put  iu  last,  but  only 
requires  about  half  as  much  salt  to  cure 
it  as  the  bums  and  shoulders,  and  should 
remain  in  the  salt  only  about  half  as 
long  as  the  shoulders  and  hams.  The 
meat  should  be  placed  where  it  is  cool, 
but  not  cold  enough  to  freeze,  and  the 
shoulders  and  hams  should  remain  in  the 
salt  about,  four  weeks,  when  they  should 
be  taken  out,  washed  and  wiped  dry. 
Get  some  whole  pepper  and  grind  it 
yourself,  and  pepper  thoroughly,  es¬ 
pecially  about  the  hock  and  bone.  Let 
them  lie  for  two  or  three  days,  then 
smoke  for  six  or  eight  weeks.  When  I 
say  smoke  for  six  or  eight  weeks,  that 
does  not  mean  that  the  smoke  must  be 
kept  going  continuously  during  that  pei'- 
iod,  but  that  a  fresh  smudge  should  be 
started  every  morning  during  that  time, 
and  be  -allowed  to  burn  out  sometime 
during  the  day.  Green  hickory  wood  is 
the  best  material  for  smoking  meat. 
Sasafras  probably  comes  next.  Clean 
corncobs  are  good  also.  If  none  of  these 
materials  can  be  procured,  beech,  sugar 
maple  or  sweet  birch  will  answer.  After 
the  fire  has  been  well  started  it  must  be 
smothere’d  down  with  ashes  or  clean 
earth  so  as  to  create  a  dense  smoke. 
K. 
Quantity  of  Peach  Seed  to  the  Acre 
Could  you  furnish  any  data  or  any 
general  estimate  as  to  how  many  .Tune- 
budded  peach  trees  could  be  grown  per 
acre?  How  far  apart  in  the  row  should 
seed  be  planted?  Should  they  be  six 
inches  ‘or  one  foot  apart?  I  mean  to 
sow  seed  on  good  soil.  j.  f.  n. 
In  the  Northern  States,  peach  trees 
are  usually  grown  in  nursery  rows  at  five 
to  six  inches  apart,  but  in  the  South  where 
the  growing  season  is  favorable  to  a  more 
rapid  growth,  I  found  it  necessary  to 
crowd  them  a  little  closer  together  in 
the  row,  as  they  grow  too  big  when 
given  the  distance  apart  in  the  row  they 
are  usually  given  iu  the  North.  In  the 
Spring  of  1800  the.  writer  set  out  a 
block  of  1000  peach  sprouts  on  creek 
bottom  land  in  DieksouCo..  Tenn. ;  these 
were  budded  the  following  August. 
These  sprouts  were  set  in  rows  four  feet 
apart  and  on  an  average  of  six  inches 
apart  in  the  row.  They  were  cut  down 
the  following  Spring  and  given  the  usual 
care  in  the  way  of  sprouting  and  culti¬ 
vation  during  the  forepart  of  Summer. 
These  trees  made  a  tremendous  growth. 
Many  of  them  were  10  to  12  feet  high 
in  the  Fall,  and  two  inches  in  diameter 
at  the  collar.  That  Fall  another  block 
of  about  10,000  trees  was  started,  the 
seeds  being  planted  in  rows  42  inches 
apart  and  three  to  four  inches  apart  in 
the  row.  The  seed  germinated  well  the 
folio .vi^g  Spring,  giving  almost  100  per 
cent,  of  a  stand.  The  young  trees  were 
December  9,  1916. 
budded  the  following  August,  the  buds 
being  given  the  usual  care  the  following 
season.  They  made  fine  trees,  very  few 
of  them  growing  over  five  feet  high,  and 
running  from  three-fourths  of  an  inch  to 
one  inch  in  diameter  at  the  collar.  June- 
budded  trees  of  course  would  not  grow 
so  large  that  season,  and  could  be  plant¬ 
ed  in  rows  40  inches  apart  and  three  to 
four  inches  apart  iu  the  row.  At  40 
inches  between  the  rows,  and  four  inches 
between  the  plants  an  acre  would  hold 
approximately  .10,000  trees.  Just  how 
many  seeds  by  measure  would  be  re¬ 
quired  I  cannot  tell,  but  this  can  very 
easily  be  ascertained  by  taking  a  gal¬ 
lon  or  peek  measure  of  seed  and  count¬ 
ing  the  number  it  ooutaius,  and  dividing 
•  he  number  of  trees  an  acre  will  hold 
by  the  number  of  seeds  in  a  peek,  which 
will  give  the  number  of  peeks  required, 
and  being  multiplied  by  four  will  give 
the  number  of  bushels  of  seed  required  to 
plant  an  acre.  k. 
The  McIntosh  Apple 
The  description  G.  R.  S.  gives  of  the 
McIntosh  apple,  on  page  1007,  is  good  ; 
it  is  the  best  dessert  apple  now  grown  in 
the  State.  The  only  fault  it  has  is  that 
it  is  subject  to  scab.  Mine  last  year 
were  free  from  scab.  This  year  being  a 
bad  time  for  scab  and  fungus  they  com¬ 
menced  to  scab  about  picking  time.  I 
picked  and  put  them  on  the  market;  the 
A  grade  sold  for  $4  per  barrel,  B  for  .$3. 
If  I  could  have  held  them  30  days  I  would 
have  realized  another  dollar  on  each 
barrel. 
The  tree  being  a  vigorous  grower  and 
an  annual  bearer,  will  produce  as  many 
apples  as  the  Ben  Davis,  and  one  barrel 
of  McIntosh  will  net  more  money  than 
two  barrels  of  Ben.  I  have  40  bearing 
trees,  top-worked  on  four-year-old  Spys. 
They  have  done  well,  but  not  equal  to  the 
Ulster  County  man  ;  be  must  be  “some 
orchardist.”  j.  a.  g. 
The  Question  of  “  Fillers” 
In  reply  to  C.  L.  Y.,  on  page  1422,  I 
would  use  more  than  one  variety  for 
fillers.  I  use  these,  Yellow  Transparent, 
Duchess  and  Wealthy,  which  gives  me 
several  weeks’  more  time  to  market  them. 
The  Transparent  is  the  first  to  ripen,  then 
the  Duchess,  and  then  the  Wealthy.  They 
are  all  good  sellers  here,  and  as  I  am  only 
three  miles  from  ceuter  of  the  city  of 
Waterbary.  I  find  it  better  to  extend  the 
season  as  long  as  possible.  I  sold  my  first 
Yellow  Trausparents  this  year  the  sec¬ 
ond  day  of  August,  and  two  weeks  later 
on  young  trees  they  were  very  fine.  They 
will  last  until  the  Duchess  is  wc-11  ma¬ 
tured.  The  trees  are  close  growing,  and 
have  to  be  severely  cut  out  in  the  center 
to  give  the  sun  a  chance  to  get  in.  They 
make  good-sized  trees,  but  of  course  can 
be  cut  out,  when  their  room  is  needed  for 
the  standards.  I  set  in  about  the  propor¬ 
tion  of  three  Transparent,  five  Duchess 
and  seven  Wealthy.  That  works  out 
about  right,  with  me,  and  I  have  never 
had  too  many  of  any  kind.  Of  course 
the  Wealthy  is  the  finest  of  the  three, 
and  lasts  the  longest.  I  had  two  splendid 
large  Wealthy  apples  this  year  on  a  tree 
that  was  set  last  year,  1015.  They  will 
give  good  returns  for  liberal  fertilizing. 
Waterbury,  Conn.  z.  c.  b. 
“  Fillers”  for  Apple  Orchards 
Your  correspondent  in  Otsego  Co.,  N. 
Y..  page  1422,  asks  about  different  varie¬ 
ties  of  apples  for  fillers.  You  correctly 
say  that  Wealthy  is  the  standard  filler, 
but  it  seems  that  some  of  our  best  varie¬ 
ties  for  this  sort  of  use  have  been  entirely 
overlooked  in  your  discussion.  We  use 
McIntosh  as  a  standard  rather  than  as  a 
filler,  and  we  do  not  recommend  Graven- 
stein,  Twenty  Ounce  or  Alexander  for  any 
purpose  whatever.  Oldenburg  does  make 
a  pretty  good  filler  and  the  fruit  sells 
well.  Wagoner  is  another  variety  which 
io  one  of  the  very  best  fillers.  Yellow 
Transparent  is  about  as  good  as  Duchess. 
It  comes  even  earlier  into  bearing.  An¬ 
other  newer  variety  which  promises  to  be 
well  worth  using  as  a  filler  is  Winter 
Banana.  The  main  considerations  in  the 
selection  of  a  filler  are  early  bearing  and 
marketability.  It  is  important  to  grow  a 
variety  whiesh  sells  well.  This  is  where 
Wealthy  takes  its  big  lead.  It  seems  to 
us  that  Wageuer  is  the  second  best  from 
all  standpoints.  f.  a.  wattgh. 
A  Great  and  Lasting  Christmas  Present 
T  TTT  HAT  can  answer  this  description  better  than  a 
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