The RURAL N E W - Y O R: K E R 
1271 
The Cortland Apple 
B ECAUSE some have felt. 1 gave the Cortland 
apple something of a setback in a short de¬ 
scription recently published in Tiie It. N.-Y., and 
also because my observations the present season are 
more complete than any previous, I am glad to give 
a little fuller account of this, *to my mind, most 
excellent and promising variety. 
In order to explain somewhat my previous com¬ 
ment I would like to say, also, the principal question 
put to me at that time was whether to my mind 
Cortland would replace HaldeOin. 
The Cortland, as I believe to be rather generally 
known, is a seedling of known parentage (a cross 
of McIntosh and Ben Davis) produced at the New 
York Experiment Station. It more nearly combines 
the good qualities of both, and at the same time 
eliminating the weaknesses of both than had even 
been hoped for by those responsible for that variety. 
In fact, the Cortland has been so promising to those 
of us who have known it best, from the beginning 
that it was decided nearly a year ago by Prof. Hed¬ 
rick and tiie board of directors of the New York 
Svate Fruit Testing Association to withhold pub¬ 
licity, as there was no possibility of supplying the 
demand for trees and stock, and it was said that 
already Cortland trees were being offered by some 
to whom no stock could he traced. 
In tree the Cortland would pass for McIntosh 
until it begins to bear, being fully as vigorous and 
hardy, with the same abundant healthy foliage. 
When .beginning to bear the tree shows its first and 
only Ben Davis characteristic, i. e., hearing some of 
its fruit at terminal buds, which later leaves an 
Now comes a new one—no, it can hardly be called 
new, but it is a new way of putting an old propo¬ 
sition. Here it is: 
I wonhl like to have the views of your subscribers as 
to how they would proceed and just what they would 
do under the following circumstances: 
“Supposing they were 52 years of age, vigorous and 
Some Tractor and Farm Experience 
iIA\ E been using a 10-20 gasoline tractor for the 
past eight years and it has done a lot of heavy 
work for us, but it has been very expensive to run. 
Our farm consists of 375 acres of rather heavy soil. 
A Back-to-the-Lander Comes to 
Judgment 
W E have had all sorts of questions from all 
sorts of people. Most of them have been 
answered more or less helpfully by our readers. 
Usually when,we print such questions we find some 
one on our list who lias just the needed experience. 
The Abyssinian Squash. Fig. -jjfi 
healthy, well set-up with a rugged constitution and us 
active as a great many men years younger. That they 
lmd spent ad the years of their life in large cities, in 
positions of responsibility wherein manufacturing was 
the leading one. in most of which large numbers of 
employees were engaged; that they were fairly proficient 
with fools of any sort; that their family was now self- 
supporting: rhut they had accumulated $25,000; that 
they always had a hankering for rural life, but know¬ 
ing nothing of the practical side of it, lacked confidence 
sufficient to take the step. If they had an income from 
their investments of. say $100 per month, and if they 
did not desire to add to this income through farming, 
merely to raise sufficient vegetables, eggs, etc., for the 
need of his wife and himself, with the least amount of 
effort so that he could have some leisure. Just how 
would they go about it? IIow many acres would they 
secure? How would they plant these acres? Would 
they hire a worker to do the rough work, leaving the , 
lighter work for (lie owner, or would they do it all them- 
selves? What tools would they purchase for a small 
operation of this nature? j. n. w. 
This sort of baek-to-the-landing seems just about 
ideal. It. is almost too good to be true. Yet the 
questions are asked in good faith, and we print them 
just as they are presented. Remember that J. it. W. 
does not care to hear from real estate agents or 
people who have farms for sale. It will do little 
good for such to write him. If any one can give 
sound advice from experience along the lines of 
these questions we want to hear from them. What 
chance has a vigorous old boy of 52 to take a front 
seat at baek-to-the-landing? 
enlargement from winch two new growths arise. 
The only tree trouble shown so far here in Cortland 
was a little twig blight, which was very bad this 
year on Crooning, Fall Pippin, Wealthy. Yellow 
Transparent. Opalescent and some other varieties. 
Aside from hearing some fruit at the terminal 
buds, as before mentioned, the fruit, bud formation 
is typical of McIntosh, both as to their setting along 
tiie two-year wood and tlioir size, color and general 
appearance. The fruit is as large as or larger than 
McIntosh as groan here in the Hudson Valley, 
which is also as large as or larger than Baldwin. 
The shape is more conical than McIntosh, hut not 
so long as Ben Davis, with a deep cavity and long 
stem. The color is a mixture of that of McIntosh 
and Ben Davis, showing the bright red nearly all 
over of Ben Davis, while practically all show the 
vermilion splashing all over also, as does Ben Davis, 
while they are at the same time more or less over¬ 
laid with the deep purplish red of McIntosh. Then 
there is often a show of pure white or delicate pink 
not characteristic of either parent, hut sometimes 
seen in other members of the “Snow Group.'’ 
The flesh is as white and tender when ripe as any 
variety grown. The quality, while pronounced by 
many as hard to differentiate from McIntosh, is just 
as often called better. With ns it hung as well as 
any variety on tiie place, not excepting Ben Davis. 
It being picked here October 3. while our McIntosh 
were started •September 2, when in my judgment it 
would stand at least 50 per cent more handling than 
McIntosh picked in any condition and when the drop 
was practically nothing as compared with the usual 
heavy drop of McIntosh, I believe we would be war¬ 
ranted in calling it. at least 20 if not 30 days later 
than the McIntosh, rather than 10, as has most often 
been claimed. In fact, at present it promises to 
wait until we can handle it. the lack of which qual¬ 
ity has *heen the most serious drawback to its illus¬ 
trious pa rout (McIntosh) and the possession of 
We leave heard of all sorts of contests over hens and 
their performances—the largest egg, the most pre¬ 
cocious pullet, tiie rooster that crows loudest, and 
so on. Now we are to have the veteran lien. Miss 
Elizabeth Mead of Kentucky, who sends the picture, 
says that this Hamburg hen is 17 years old—"still 
living, but very feeble now.” Such a veteran may 
well be feeble. Her age would correspond with about 
SO in a human. Our people will no doubt be glad to 
see the old veteran, but very likely tHeir attention 
will be*attracted to Miss Mead. 
some gravel and much clay loam that gets very hard 
during a dry spell. 
We have a farm foreman who has great strength, 
works hard and accomplishes very little. Last Spring 
I purchased a second tractor, one that burns kero¬ 
sene. but someone told our foreman that gas was 
just about as cheap and more powerful; personally 
I paid but little attention to it until I received our 
quarterly report July 1, when I found that it was 
costing us something like $18.50 a week for gas 
alone. I had told our foreman to use kerosene, but 
he did not. Here we were with a tractor that two 
or three of the best engineers in America had 
worked upon for over three years in perfecting it as 
a kerosene burner, and this man did not think it 
would work. 
Earl.\ in July lie was taken sick and has been very 
low at times, but is now, happily, on tiie way to 
recovery. This has compelled me to be at the farm 
personally for the past two months, it being located 
in Albany County, about 14 miles from tiie city. I 
have plowed 30 acres for rye and I used kerosene; 
I was six days plowing and disking the 30 acres. 
Some say they can plow 10 or more acres per day. 
I cannot, and I was in the field every day at 7 
o'clock, took half hour for dinner, quit at 5:30. then 
spent a half hour, or more, in putting in oil. filling 
grease cups and having everything ready to start in 
the morning. I always disked what I plowed in 
the forenoon immediately after dinner, and what I 
plowed in the afternoon the first thing in the morn¬ 
ing. If I did not our soil w. uld bake into lumps 
which are very expensive to break up in order to 
prepare a seed bed. The following six days were 
devoted to plowing another field of 14 acres, and 
disking. Now as to tiie cost: 
SIX PAYS OX GASOLINE 
s 4 gals, gasoline at 25c per gal.$21.00 
t> gals. oil at 53c per gal. o G5 
which has helped keep in cultivation in places 
where it ought not have«been grown its sometimes 
maligned and generally criticized parent Ben Davis. 
Whether a variety in all respects so superior as 
Cortland seems at this time, yet so radically differ¬ 
ent. can replace Baldwin, is yet a question in my 
mind. The apple growers of the East are a liard- 
bended. short-sighted group, taken asa whole, and I 
am one of them. At first thought it might seem as 
though a variety having all the good qualities of 
Cortland, nvith no drawbacks in sight, would cause 
growers to flock to it, yel it must-be admitted that 
quantity production, rather than a quality product, 
lias so far been the goal of most Eastern growers, 
and I anight add the largest single factor in their 
undoing. 1 can readily believe the determining 
factor with many will still he whether with a 
minimum of effort they can put a greater volume 
iu any condition on the market. This in compari¬ 
son. Cortland vs. Baldwin, has not yet been decided. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. william itotaling. 
R. N.-Y.—Fig. 548 shows a typical Cortland ap¬ 
ple. The flavor was excellent, the texture crisp. 
d. Typical Specimen of the Cortland Apple. Fig. oJ/S 
Total .$23.05 
SIX DAYS ON KEROSENE 
00 gals, kerosene at 10c. $0 qo 
7 gais. oil at 53c. . 3. 71 
Total.$12.71 
1 he saving for a week by using kerosene was 
$10.04. That is not all; kerosene gave me more 
Power. I could feel it by the way the tractor 
worked. I spoke of it to an expert on heat engines, 
and he told me. "That is not strange. Kerosene has 
more power, more heat units, per gallon, than gaso¬ 
line, provided you can heat hot enough to utilize 
it. To »be sure, we made a test, plowing in heavy 
clay, and the kerosene developed 1.06 more horse¬ 
power than when we used gasoline. 
One of our barn men—we are milking OS cows— 
said: “I have used four different makes of trac¬ 
tors. and they all developed «more power under 
kerosene.” One thing 1 found, however, after the 
engine is well warmed, turn off the needle in the 
carburetor about one-half turn. You will save 
kerosene and have much more power; if it is open 
too far it will choke. G. s. b. 
