i8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 11 
best fruits would have brought $2 per bushel if that 
price had been ashed. This was considerable more 
than peaches brought. The plums were picked from 
the trees while still firm, and sorted before being sent 
to market. This is a paying operation, and if care¬ 
fully done, need not injure the fruit. It is surprising 
how much the appearance of the baskets may be im¬ 
proved by the rejection of a small percentage of in¬ 
ferior fruit. The culls always sell readily for jelly 
fruit. Fig. 8 shows a load of our native plumbs ready 
for market, and Fig. 9 the effect of thinning. 
What varieties are the best? This is a difficult 
question to answer regarding any species of fruit, 
and is unusually perplexing in the case of the native 
plum. The marked improvement accomplished in the 
last few years in the different species has resulted in 
the elimination of many of the older varieties from 
selected lists. The Wyant, Forest Garden and Quaker, 
however, still hold their own for size and quality. 
Hawlteye and Stoddard are large and attractive, but 
coarse and sour. 'Surprise, North Star and Brittle- 
wood are scarcely new varieties now, and all are ex¬ 
cellent. Beatty, Smith, Etta, Silas Wilson, Keith 
and Lottie are some of the newer varieties that have 
been placed on our lists of desirable sorts. 
Wisconsin Ex. Station. Frederic cranefield. 
COMPETITION IN WESTERN APPLES. 
Shall We Plant Fall Varieties ? 
Some of our eastern apple growers are beginning to be 
afraid of western competition. They say that large 
quantities of apples are being planted in the West, and 
that before many years our markets will be seriously 
invaded by this fruit. It appears that most of these 
western apples are the late Winter varieties. Eastern 
growers are talking of escaping this competition by 
planting more late Fall or early Winter varieties. In 
this way they think they can get rid of their fruit, or a 
large part of it before the western fruit comes in. Is 
this good advice, and do you favor the planting of late 
Fall and early Win’er apples in order to escape the west¬ 
ern competition? 
Eastern Apples are Best. 
It makes me laugh to think of eastern apple growers 
fearing western competition in Winter varieties, and 
so talk of growing Fall apples as a more profitable 
industry. There i's a moderate sale for Fall apples, 
but the great big worldwide demand is for Winter 
apples, and as on our eastern hilly and stony lands 
we can grow apples of so much higher quality than 
can be grown anywhere in the West, and the public 
is more and more appreciating high quality, the 
thing for eastern apple growers, who want to make 
profits in the future, is to grow moat largely of best 
Winter varieties, and then by thorough culture and 
good attention to every detail of the business grow 
as perfect and beautiful fruit as can be produced any¬ 
where on earth. The market is ready and waiting 
for them. I 'have never seen any more beautiful ap¬ 
ples anywhere in America than were exhibited at the 
last meeting of the Maine Pomological Society, and 
60 much better in quality than any I have even eaten 
from anywhere west of the Hudson River, that I am 
sure there will be a profitable market for them the 
world over, no matter how many large crops of in¬ 
ferior fruit may be grown in the West. j. h. hale. 
Suit Varieties to Localities. 
Plant apples; yes, plant apples; plant late Winter 
apples. Plant late Fall apples; why should we not 
plant the best? The western man will plant that with 
which he can make the most money, be ft late Winter 
or late Fall. Why should we not do the same? Are 
we to abandon the finest apple region 'in the State, 
for fear of opposition? There are no better apples 
grown than have been grown in the Hudson River 
counties, Rockland, Orange, Ulster, Sullivan, Renns- 
selaer, Columbia, Dutchess, etc., and they can be 
again. Those who can look back 50 or 60 years ago 
can see the fleet of barges from every landing in the 
Fall of the year, from the Highlands to Albany, loaded 
to their full capacity with as fine fruit as ever was 
sent to market. Who has not heard of the great New¬ 
town Pippin orchards of Esopus, with its output of 
20,000 to 25,000 barrels, mostly shipped (to London, 
selling for $20 to $25 a barrel? Those were times when 
the orchards of the river valley were in their prime; 
these orohards have now gone to decay, their places 
taken by vineyards and peaches in very many cases. 
Very few apple orchards have been set to take the 
places of the old ones until within a comparatively 
few years. Yet I believe that if the apple orchards 
had been renewed the orchard Ms would have been 
better off to-day. I believe those hills would grow 
as fine fruit as they ever did, but ’i,t would require 
more work than those olden times; we have more 
diseases and insects to contend against, but they may 
be conquered. The western man has his trials, and 
they will increase with the multiplying of his or¬ 
chards. Then he has more freight to pay, and higher 
wages, .to offset cheaper land. I would plant late 
Fall, early Winter and late Winter, as it sirfced my 
location best, with no reference to what my western 
friends were doing; they certainly will not consult us. 
N. HALLOCK. 
Great Chance for Eastern Growers. 
The question of over-production of apples has been 
raised for many years, yet the fact has never been 
realized with good fruit. The demand has kept stead¬ 
ily apace with the supply. Competition from the West 
is not to be feared if eastern apple growers will drop 
their shiftless and utterly slovenly ways in handling 
fruit. Unless the eastern growers do improve in their 
methods, our markets will be supplied by the West. 
California, Washington, Oregon, Kansas and Missouri 
are planting to an enormous extent. They are in our 
market to-day with handsome fruit put up in neat and 
attractive manner, realizing good profits. If the west¬ 
ern growers can ship thousands of miles and take 
profits, why should eastern growers, with the same 
markets at their doors, fear competition, when they 
can produce far better flavored fruit? The planting 
of late Fall and early Winter varieties is not a wise 
policy. There is a too limited demand for these, as 
our markets are carrying heavy supplies of Autumn 
fruits that will be used in the trade in their season, 
and the season for these is now lengthened by cold 
storage. The enormous orchards of the West do not 
necessarily mean over-production, for they do not 
give above average results. They are on too big a 
scale, and cannot receive the necessary care required. 
We were recently in thousands of acres of these great 
western orchards where trees had been planted by .the 
many thousands, yet had never been pruned nor cul¬ 
tivated since set. The San Jos6 scale was in some 
of them, and in a few yeans dead trees will follow to 
the extent of entire orchards, because the owners here 
have not dealt with insects, and they cannot cope with 
them on so great a scale. The great Judge Wellhouse 
orchards which have received above average care, have 
yielded an average of but 50 bushels of apples per acre 
for 22 years. If the eastern growers will plant five 
and 10-acre orchards, give those high culture and put 
up only choice fruit in small packages, they can suc¬ 
cessfully meet the competition of the world. Larger 
orchards must be attempted only where there its suf¬ 
ficient capital to give the same high culture. We are 
but in the infancy of the development of our foreign 
trade which will make enormous demands upon us 
for good fruit. Plant good standard varieties of Win¬ 
ter apples, give them good care, and they will pay 
one hundred cents on the dollar every time. 
GEO. T. POWELL. 
WINTER BARLEY VS. WHEAT. 
Replying to C. F. B., Auburn, N. Y., in The R. N.- 
Y. of December 14, I have given some study to the 
question. When we planted our corn last Spring we 
had a prospect for 35 bushels of wheat per acre, and 
in 10 days the Hessian fly had almost ruined it. At 
this time I selected an average stool of the wheat and 
made a careful examination of it. There were three 
stalks without fly which had good heads. There were 
three stalks that had had the Fall brood and were 
making but a short head, and on account of the dry 
weather the grain in all of this kind shriveled up. 
Eight stalks were just alive, with the Spring brood 
(from three to 14 to the stalk) and in 10 days more 
all of this had wilted down to the ground. At thrash¬ 
ing time we got but 13 bushels per acre, which did 
no more than pay expenses. 
As to Winter barley, we sowed our barley early in 
September on oat stubble that had been plowed and 
well worked down, but saw no effect of the fly, neither 
Fall nor Spring brood, and at thrashing time we had 
40 bushels of barley per acre. I consider it one of 
the best feeds for all stock that we can raise upon 
the farm. I sold my entire crop for seed except my 
own seed for 17 acres and four bushels kept to have 
pearled, for our own eating. We are very fond of it 
when cooked in a double cooker like rice, served with 
cream and a little sugar. Our farmers have sown 
Winter oats, barley and Timothy alone; anything to 
cut down the wheat acreage. Winter barley will not 
do well on wet land; our rolling limestone land suits 
it best. While on a trip through California last July 
and August I found that at least 75 per cent of the 
hay used in that State is Winter barley cut when in 
the milk and baled, for which town and city people 
pay from $7 to $12 dollars per ton. We could grow 
a good crop of corn after cutting our barley for hay, 
and ,thi)s would give the young clover plants a good 
chance, though when the barley is allowed to ripen 
it is still a better nurse crop than wheat, for it ripens 
from 10 to 12 days earlier than wheat, and has a 
heavy blade which protect the young clover from late 
frosts. When the grain is maturing this blade dries 
up and allows the sunshine to reach the young clover 
plants, and clover we must have, or quit farming. 
Clark Co., Ind. b. a. barnett. 
SELF-CLEANING RAIN-WATER CISTERN. 
Build cistern (Fig. 10) of size desired, with bottom 
six inches lower at one side than the other. Plan 
settling basin wide enough to be scraped out with a 
wide square shovel. Cement four-inch glazed tile be¬ 
tween basin and cistern for inlet. Over bricks laid 
at lowest side build outlet, or overflow, of four-inch 
tile with exit as high as desired—every joint water 
tight. Wire strainers of galvanized wire fit on mouth 
of inlet, and exit of overflow, preventing vermin and 
toads entering. To the iron pipe of pump connect 
two-inch steam rubber hose long enough to reach 
bottom. To the end of this lash the handle of a two- 
gallon jug, corked and sealed when empty. What¬ 
ever the depth of water, the pumped water is from 
the aerated layer six inches from surface. Whenever 
rainfall is in excess, the discharge is from the bot¬ 
tom, and carries off sediment. j. f. g. 
Asheville, N. C. 
NATURAL GAS 0 N TH E FARM. 
How a Kansas Farmer Uses It. 
Part III. 
If an eastern reader of The R. N.-Y. should happen 
.to travel over the Kansas Southern branch of the 
Santa Fe Railroad he would see large quantities of 
natural gas used by .the farmers and town people. 
Only a few years ago there were but a few farm¬ 
houses between Moran and Iola, 15 miles apart, and 
now they are connected with three railroads, and 
eight miles of the way is one continuous manufac¬ 
turing town, where thousands of workmen are em¬ 
ployed night and day, and this ‘is all owing to .the use 
of natural gals. Commencing ait the Neosho River, 
one mile west of Iola, and .traveling east on a dark 
night, one is at once under bright electric lights. The 
gas wells here have 320 pounds pressure per square 
inch, and the enormous smelters which are constantly 
operated only use a fraction of a pound pressure on 
a islingle well, yet all of them have several wells in 
reserve that are all connected. Just as soon as one 
gets through Langonville the lights of La Harpe ap¬ 
pear, and as soon as one passes the last brick plant 
east of La Harpe and mounts .the first ridge east of 
it, he is past the eight to 100 miles of continuous 
light and heat caused by natural gas, and for seven 
miles east .to .the next high ridge .that is 1,050 feet 
above sea level, and the highest land in eastern Kan¬ 
sas for 150 miles or more, to where Moran is lighted 
up with gas, is a great natural gas valley, well cov¬ 
ered with fertile farms where the farmers all use 
natural gas for iarm work. This great plain drains 
well, but the lowest place is hardly 20 feet below the 
top of the ridge, and as one continues along parallel 
with the three railroads his way is constantly lit up 
by the farmers’ lights. There is no dismal, gloomy 
farmhouse with the savage dog crouching under the 
hedge, but on the contrary, every window throws out 
a blaze of light, and the torches in the yard lights 
one on his way to the next house. 
My nearest neighbor’s torch, on the west, would 
light up the road till the end and side of my dwelling 
throw out a great glare of white light through 10 
windows from 12 incandescent lights; then the great 
torch in the yard will cast a shadow until the next 
farm light at the school house is reached, then past 
other neighoors till the street lights of the town are 
reached. Inside any of these farmhouses, on the 
darkest and coldest of nights, it is as light as day 
and as warm as Summer. Lights are never turned 
out, only in Summer, burning day and night, and the 
constant penetrating heat from one gas sltove makes 
more heat than several red-hot coal stoves. There 
are no frosted bed covers on getting up in a cold 
room; the same warm even temperature is maintained 
day and night. Flowers grow and bloom; there is no 
smoke, no sparks, no soot, no dirt from coal or wood; 
no feeding .the fires from one year's end to another; 
simply .the touch of a valve increases or puts out the 
fire as needed. Life is worth living here on a farm, 
with three new farm hands free of cost, viz., rural 
delivery, farmers’ telephone, natural gas and the 
creamery wagon daily. j, c. Norton, 
Allen Co., Kan. 
