Vol. LXII. No. 2804. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 24, 1903. 
J1 PER YEAR. 
m^T STOCK FOR THE ORCHARD? 
Sheep, Swine, Calves, Cows. 
What kind of stock should be kept in the orchard? 
I am presupposing that the owner of the orchard 
i.s fully persuaded in his own mind that he woiibl 
better put stock in his orchard at all. Not everyone 
should do this. But when the trees are mature and 
the size of the farm will furnish another place for the 
Slock to run in when they would need to be taken 
from the orchard, and will admit of their handling 
to fit for market, the plan is certainly to be com¬ 
mended. If good results are to be obtained, it must 
he understood that the main idea is the welfare of the 
orchard, and not the pasture or the stock. This will 
mean furnishing enough animals to eat more than 
that which grows in the orchard, including drop 
fruit; so that they must be furnished with some rich 
supplementary food that will in turn feed the trees. 
A man will have to be guided in his selection of ani¬ 
mals by his style of farming. I would never put in 
mature cattle, except in an old orchard, and that in 
the Fall or Winter, after the fruit is gathered and 
the ground dry or frozen, when damage is unlikely. 
If one has some other pasture for the 
latter part of the season, after the drop 
apples are of more value than for feed, 
and can winter them, sheep are excel¬ 
lent; they never gnaw the trees (al¬ 
though they will eat the ends of a good 
many lower branches); they are active 
and will eat every green apple that falls, 
from the very smallest to those large- 
enough to peel. I will guarantee that the 
larvae of any insect that passes through 
a sheep’s “internal functions” will never 
propagate the species. They lie under 
the shade of the trees on the highest 
ground (which is usually the poorest) 
and deposit their droppings, liqufd and 
solid, just where they are most needed. 
1 have often noticed the ground black 
with such droppings as far as the branches 
extend. 
Swine are nearly if not quite as good, 
where they can be successfully handled. 
I know of no place where the by-products 
of the dairy can be so economically util¬ 
ized as through the hog in the orchard, 
making pork, tree and fruit all in one 
operation. If they are properly fed, I 
find little damage from rooting. Except in the case of 
an unruly sow, I have not “rung” a hog for years. 
A stranger could scarce tell that there had been a 
hog in the orchard, by any signs of rooting, except 
in the early Fall, when they root a little, which I 
think is to get the larvae of insects. I have found 
few if any borers in the orchards where the hogs had 
range. If one has an old orchard that has lain long 
in sod, and which he wishes broken up, usually the 
safest and best way is to let the hogs plow it; here 
they will do a more thorough job than any horse 
plow, though not so good looking. Calves come nexi. 
and are mainly valuable for turning the manurial 
value of dairy by-products and protein feed given over 
to the trees. 
The question naturally arises: “Wliat do you 
keep?” and I answer “‘all three.” First sheep, from 
which we raise Winter lambs. These pay well, can bo 
attended to when we are not pressed with work and 
must employ a certain amount of labor. They do 
not have to be Summer pastured, thus giving us more 
stock than we can handle. Moreover, the grass grown in 
the shade and in an overstocked orchard is not con¬ 
ducive to profitable Summer lamb growing, but is all 
right for feeding ewes. We have had much trouble 
in getting our Shropshire ewes to lamb early enough, 
and th}9 year have purchased a Tunis ram. Later 
I will write and tell you my reasons for so doing, and 
what success we have had from the same. 
Second,hogs; we have plenty of skim-milk, as well as 
home-grown grain, and no money from the farm ex¬ 
cept from fruit gives as much profit as these orchard- 
fed swine, A number of breeding hogs, with their 
litters, either sold as pigs at six or eight weeks, or 
fed till they dress 100 or 150 pounds, are another 
profitable connecting link between the dairy and the 
orchard. A bushel of corn or rye fed to them will 
require less labor to market and usually brings more 
money than if sold direct for cash, and the trees get 
all the benefit of the manurial values of the same. 
Third, calves, of which we raise a dozen or so an¬ 
nually. They, too, take the skim-milk with a little 
grain, return fertility to the trees, while the orchard 
makes a convenient shady place for them. At the end 
of two years I have cows whose main value is of 
course for daii-y animals, but have during the first 
part of their lives at least been another link in the 
chain of dairy, fertility and fruit. Last, one orchard 
over 50 years old, is situated next the barnyard, and 
has a southern exposure. When the ground is hard 
or frozen, we allow the milk cows to run in there a 
few hours every pleasant day, which again carries 
and leaves in the orchard a goodly amount of fertility, 
both liquid and solid. In spite of close pasturing, it 
is astonishing how early in the Spring these or¬ 
chards will be covered with a rich mat of green, and 
what a wealth of herbage grows after the stock is 
taken out in the early Fall, showing how full the soil 
is of fertility. On about 20 acres of orchard this 
treatment has now continued 25 years. In this 
time I have never missed but one crop of apples, 
which was in 1885, when a frost (May 29) destroyed 
all vegetation. These trees have in this period borne 
crops annually averaging 2,500 bushels of barreled 
fruit, of excellent quality, high color and medium in 
size. I have not spent one cent for cultivation or fer¬ 
tilizers; the trees are healthy, and what can a man 
ask more, when the labor problem is becoming such 
an important factor in our farm economy? 
EDWARD VAX ALSTYNE. 
WATER ON DRY FODDER. 
I notice the question on page 721 about using water 
when cutting dry corn fodder into a silo. The fodder 
from 30 acres of corn is quite a lot of feed, and I 
think I should go slow in trying to dampen it enough 
to make silage of it. “How much water should I turn 
pn tp it? Of course I don’t want it too wet or too 
dry.” I hardly think he can get it too wet; that is 
unless he has running water and can turn on a deluge 
of it. I have not had a great amount of experience 
with shredded fodder, but last year I did some shred¬ 
ding; all were pleased with the fodder and it kept well. 
Last year my corn stood late and was frozen as well 
as very ripe, so I picked the corn off, and when I cut 
into the silo I wet it, as I thought, quite heavily; 
but as there was no corn to speak of, it did not pack 
as closely as it ought to, and in consequence my 
silage was a failure. 
Last year the question was asked regarding the 
quantity of shredded fodder it was possible to put 
in one mow, and whether to put salt or straw in the 
mow. In regard to the first, I shredded the stalks 
from 10 acres into a mow and on to a scaffold for one 
man; the fodder on the scaffold seemed to keep the 
best. What went into the mow molded to a larger 
extent, but the stock cleaned it all up. Corn fodder 
can be too dry to shred; that is, if very dry the leaves 
all crumble to dust. I did some shredding for a horse 
dealer; his stalks were dug out of the snow; and 
when he was using the last of them they were fit only 
for bedding, but he said they were worth all they 
cost for that. In regard to salting the 
fodder, all the persons who had their 
fodder shredded use quite a large amount 
of salt, but whether that improves the 
keeping of the fodder I cannot say, but 
presume the stock relished it better. 
I have filled, or rather have attempted 
to fill, several silos, but have found that, 
with one exception, none of the farmers 
have had corn enough to fill, as usual; 
two bought standing corn to help out 
their own crops. I have seen corn that 
looked fine, but which turned out very 
poor, there being many hills either miss¬ 
ing or only one stalk in the hill. I also 
had an accident, on September 24, about 
2 P. M., with about 10 minutes’ more run 
to finish the job. I discovered fire on the 
roof of the barn where I was at work. 
The wind being very strong ana the barn 
a high one, before we could get to the 
roof the fire had burned through the 
roof, and so it burned the barn with con¬ 
tents. The house being connected, went, 
too; also the new house of a son of the 
owner of the place; and the wind being 
strong, carried sparks to the buildings, 20 
rods away, of another farm, and all were consumed, 
with crops, including three acres of tobacco, there 
being a total loss of $15,000, partly insured. This is 
the first time my engine has been the cause of fire, 
but this one has given me a lesson to keep the stack 
screened.. j. n. ii. 
Easthampton, Mass. 
A TOMATO GROWER TALKS SEED. 
On page 673, among the answers to R. L. W., Scalp 
Level, Pa., I notice the last one signed M. Garrahan, 
Pennsylvania. I have read and reread that article sev¬ 
eral times, also discussed it with at least two other 
readers. Now if either of us is able to interpret 
M. Garrahan correctly, I think he is about in the same 
predicament that the Irishman was who jumped 
from the second-story window of a burning building 
and nearly killed himself. His Piend Mike bent over 
him after he landed and said: “Pat, are you kilt?” 
In Pat’s hurry to leave the building he got his coat 
on hindside before. He go up slowly and viewed him¬ 
self all over, looked up at Mike and said: “Mike, I’m 
not kilt, but fatally twisted.” I either don’t under¬ 
stand Mr. Garrahan’s meaning, or he is a good deal 
like Pat, fatally twisted, where he talks a’oout seed. 
I have been a grower of tomatoes for 25 years, and 
have learned during that time that everything with a 
SHEEP, SHADE AND FRESH AIR. Fig. 374. See Page 750. 
