The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1462 
lambs to the shambles by the million. They went 
from the Western ranges as well as from the farms. 
The sudden drop m prices in 1921 then brought 
liquidation, because the oanks forced stock on the 
market which should have been kept for breeding; 
consequently there Is the worst shortage-of breeding 
ewes ever known. Land) and mutton prices must 
be high, because beef and pork have little otl'ect on 
them, and there need be no fear of New Zealand for 
some*years. as the tariff takes care of that. A hand 
of owes will raise some of this nigh-priced lamb, 
and with the wool will bring more than the cost, if 
handled properly. Ten Delaine ewes'will not eat as 
much as a 1.000-lb. steer. Tlie wool, at present 
prices, will bring about $5 a head and the lamb $S 
to $10. Can .you beat it by milking a cow twice a 
day, rain or shine, Sundays and holidays, and mak¬ 
ing a slave of yourself?" 
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS.—I am in¬ 
tensely interested in balanced production, home 
markets and condensed packages. 1 want money 
from our place and all other places. Our financial 
salvation depends on these. Also the comfort and 
well-being of the whole public, because there are 
serious times ahead £dr’it unless the farmers thrive. 
We positively will not pay wages like the Govern¬ 
ment and public utilities, because it would be lost 
Anyone can sec it getting worse yearly, I write on 
sheep because it is my line. They will help the case 
considerably, but sugar should he produced where- 
ever it will give the content in beets, and we must 
hunt other things. Flax will grow anywhere, but 
especially near our north borders. It will make a 
complete turnover -to change from the surplus 
corn, wheat, hay and potatoes, but we have got to 
do it. There have been too many sales bills begin¬ 
ning: "Having decided to quit farming.” 
Ohio. \V. W. REYNOLDS. 
Making An Ice Boat 
A MONG the hard questions from readers is how 
to make an ice boat. Our Southern friends 
will have little use for such -information, but during 
a cold Winter at the North there is often great sport 
at ice racing. The ice boat shown at Fig. 651 is a 
fair type of the craft made at Kelley Island, located 
on Lake Erie. In a good wind such a boat will 
make 75 miles an hom\ and will run right away 
from an automobile. As the? sweep over the ice 
with the wind singing like a harp through the rig¬ 
ging, and the biting cold stinging against the face, 
the sailor has about the supreme joy of motion. In 
some parts of the North ice boat races are popular 
—they make hue sport. As we see from the picture, 
the ice boat is really a light wood frame shod with 
runners of steel and with a long reach at each side 
to prevent tipping Over. The sails are rigged and 
managed much the same as those on a water boat. 
While many Northern people go South during the 
Winter to avoid the sting of the frost, there are 
Southern people who come North in the Winter in 
order to get the stimulant of cold air. They would 
surely get it in an ice boat. 
Dr. W. T. Sullivan, who sent the picture, says 
that making an ic« boat is a job for a good car¬ 
penter if not a spec-~. builder. “To sail right a boat 
needs to be true and strong, for they get up terrific- 
speed. It should be built of 2-in. oak us to frame. 
The boat is almost the shape of the old A harrows, 
but runs with the broad end forward. A runner is 
under each corner in front, with a heavy east base 
and oak upper swung on between two strong blocks 
by a bolt through them and oak part of runner, so 
that the same can move up and down in a limited 
wgy, but not move laterally. The rudder runner is 
of same material swung on a pivot under rear point 
of boat, connected with a lever above with which to 
guide boat. The long center pole is strong and true, 
to which sail is attached at bottom. This pole of 
course has a free -aid at back of boat and swings 
freely from its fastenings on mainmast in front. 
The small jib sail, as shown in picture, is also fast 
in the front end of this center pole. Put up your sails, 
floor your boat, and you are ready to go. A boat 
builder here says that the Scientific American has 
described a boat of different type, as be says that 
we have a different type from that used ou the 
Hudson/’ 
Farm Partnerships; “The Law of Thirds” 
E VERY year at this time we receive many ques¬ 
tions about forming farm partnerships, where 
one man is to furnish the farm and the other man 
is to do the work. What is a fair division of in¬ 
come? Of course there is no general ruling which 
can be made to apply to all cases, as circumstances 
vary greatly, and the matter of personality must be 
considered. What we call ‘‘the law of thirds" can 
be taken as a basis for most of these agreements. 
This law is based on the theory that such a propo¬ 
sition may be divided into three equal parts or 
shares. One represents real estate, which would 
include the land, the buildings, and other fixed prop¬ 
erty. Another third is represented by personal 
property. This includes capital, money paid for fer¬ 
tilizers. feed, and similar expenses, live stock and 
tin- other items usually classed as personal property. 
The remaining third would represent labor, Under 
tliis arrangement the owner of the land would pay 
taxes and repairs as part of his third. While such 
a division would not always be equal, as an average, 
in a large number of eases, it proves to be nearly so. 
Near enough to make this a fair basis for figuring. 
Under such an agreement between two men. the 
owner would put up the real estate and attend to 
taxes and repairs. The party contributing the per¬ 
sonal property would be entitled to another third. 
The tenant, or shareholder, would be expected to 
provide the labor eeded to run the place. That 
would entitle him to oue-tliird of the income and a 
place to live. That is, a house, or rent, -and a reason- 
A Lalce*Erie Ice Boat. Fig. Go I 
able shaye of food produced on the farm. The re¬ 
maining third of the income would he divided be¬ 
tween the two parties in proportion as they put up 
the personal property. If the owner of the property 
put it all up, paid all the bills in cash, and supplied 
the capital, he would be entitled to two-thirds of 
the income. 
Under this plan, the way to obtain an even share, 
or a fifty-fifty division, would be for each party to 
put up one-half of the personal property. That is. 
one-half of the live stock and tools, and assume re¬ 
sponsibilities for one-half of the cash expenses. In 
case one party put up a portion of his personal prop¬ 
erty and the other party a portion, a fair estimate 
is made of the value of each share, and the third 
which would naturally come to personal property is 
divided in that proportion. In a live stock proposi¬ 
tion of this sort, ihe increase in live stock is divided 
between the two parties in proportion as they draw 
from the income. Fairly figured out, and with due 
regard for personality, this law of thirds can be 
applied to almost any proposition of this sort. 
Shall we Fertilize the Sod Orchard? 
P RUNING.—In 1920 A. E. Johnson of Litchfield 
Go., Conn., was a typical New England farmer 
who was producing some apples as one of his cash 
crops. In 1922 he produced one of the best apple 
crops in Litchfield County. Mr. Johnson’s apple 
orchard consists of 400 to 500 trees of varying ages 
and varieties. In the Fall of 3920 Mr. Johnson be¬ 
came interested in giving his trees better care in 
the way of pruning, fertilization and spraying. In¬ 
stead of plunging all over to begin with, he decided 
to start with a block of 48 trees about 2.’! years old 
and located near the house and beside the road lead¬ 
ing to the village of Bethlehem. These 4.s trees, 
planted 30 ft. apart each way. and therefore cover¬ 
ing practically an acre of land, were carefully 
pruned during the Winter of 1920-21. This pruning 
consisted of (1) removing all dead wood, and (2) 
thinning out the branches where they were thick 
and interlocking. This thinning was done in so far 
as was practicable by making a relatively large 
number of small cuts, rather than a small number 
of large cuts. That is, where two rather large 
branches tended to cross each other, the small 
branches which were actually crossing were re¬ 
moved, iustead of one of the large branches. Most 
of the small bearing branches along the main scaf- 
December 16, 1922 
fold limbs were allowed to remain. In other words, 
the trees received a light thinning of the entire top, 
made by removing small branches here and there 
where they were too thick for light to penetrate 
through the top. 
FERTILIZING.—In the Spring of 1921, two or 
three weeks before blossoming time. Mr. Johnson 
applied 8 lbs. of nitrate of soda per tree. This was 
applied by hand in a circle about the tree, extending 
several feet beyond the tips of the branches. Dur¬ 
ing the season of 1921 the grass was mowed twice, 
first about June 15 and again early in September, 
and allowed to remain where it fell as a mulch for 
the trees. The trees were poorly budded for 1921, 
and they were also caught while in bloom by the 
frosts which were almost universal over Eastern 
United States during that year. As a result only 60 
bushels of apples were harvested from the 4s trees 
in the Fall of 1921. These sold for a total of $40.50. 
All labor, fertilizer, spray materials, etc., were 
Charged against the orchard, and these totaled 
$30.43. leaving a net profit of $10.07 per acre for an 
off year. The trees, however, in the fertilized block 
made more than twice as much growth ns those not 
fertilized, and the foliage was much heavier and of 
darker green color. Strong fruit buds were formed 
for 1922. 
RESULTS OF TIIE WORK.—During the season 
of 1922 Mr. Johnson followed about the same meth¬ 
ods as in 1921. but extended the treatment to cover 
the entire orchard, with the exception of 24 trees, in 
three rows, located next to the block receiving the 
treatment in 1921. These 24 trees were left as a 
check plot, so that a definite measure of results 
from the treated plot could be obtained. The prun¬ 
ing for 1922 consisted of a light thinning over the 
entire tops of the trees, removing only small 
branches where too thick, and in cutting out the 
water sprouts except where au occasional one was 
needed to fill a hole in the fruiting surface of the 
tree. Only 5 lbs. of nitrate of soda was used, in¬ 
stead of the 8 lbs. applied the previous year. The 
trees blossomed well in May, received five sprays 
d'” 'ug the season, and 568 bushels of apples were 
Harvested from the 48 trees in the Fall of 1922. 
These 568 bushels consisted of 452 bushels of No. 1. 
67 bushels of No. 2. and 49 bushels of culls, and they 
were sold at the farm for a total of $384.31. The 
total expenses for the year—pruning, fertilizing, 
spraying, mowing grass, harvesting, etc.—amounted 
to $94.64. This leaves Mr. Johnson a net income of 
$2,89.67 from the one acre of orchard on which the 
figures were kept. The cheek plot of 24 trees (one- 
half acre), which received no fertilization and from 
which the grass was removed as hay. pi -duced 72 
bushel* of apples in the Fall of 1922, 36 bushels of 
these being sold as No. 1 and 36 bushels being sold 
as culls. These 72 bushels were sold for a total of 
$37.80. When figured on the acre basis, the sales 
from the check plot would be represented by $75.60 
as compared with $384.31 from the treated plot. In 
other words, equal acreage considered, the money 
received from the apples on the treated plot was five 
times as much as that received from the check plot. 
The fertilizer and mulch increased the returns by 
over 400 per cent. Mr. Johnson needed only one 
year to convince himself that it paid to fertilize his 
orchard. With the exception of the 24 trees in the 
cheek plot, all of his trees during last September 
showed that healthy green color which is character¬ 
istic of well-fed trees. No credit has been allowed 
for the increased value of the orchard, but many 
who have visited it and who have compared the 
check plot with the plot which has received the two- 
year treatment, say that the treated plot has doubled 
in value during the past two years. There is cer¬ 
tainly already a very notable difference in the size 
of the trees. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS.—In improving his or¬ 
chard Mr. Johnson has followed the instructions 
given him by the Extension Service of the Con¬ 
necticut Agricultural College and the Litchfield 
County Farm Bureau. In September. 1922. other 
fruit growers in the vicinity of Bethlehem were in¬ 
vited to inspect his orchard. About 30 people at¬ 
tended this meeting, most of them coming in cars 
from some distance. These growers were much im : 
pressed by the great improvement in the growth and 
vigor of the Wees and bv the large crop of good 
quality fruit. Many of them signified their intention 
of going home and doing likewise. It should he re¬ 
membered that Mr. Johnson’s orchard is growing in 
sod. Orchards growing in sod almost invariably re¬ 
spond to nitrate fertilization. Orchards which are 
well tilled and in which the owner is plowing under 
cover crops annually may or may not respond to fer¬ 
tilization, depending upon the local soil conditions. 
W. H. DARROW. 
