1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
623 
ALL SORTS. 
THE HAY STACKER.—Several weeks ago, we gave 
a picture of the derrick used by Mr. John M. Jamison, 
of Ohio, for stacking clover hay in the field. As it 
was not clear to some of our readers how some of this 
work was done, Mr. Jamison sends us another photo¬ 
graph from which we have had the picture at Fig. 
234 made. This shows how the derrick operates. The 
arm swings out and takes up the hay as it is raked up 
to the stack. Then by means of the stick at the bot¬ 
tom of the pole, the whole thing is swung around so 
that the horse raises it over the stack, where it can 
be dropped and spread by the stackers. This derrick 
saves a great amount of lifting and pulling, as it is 
not necessary to load the hay on wagons where this 
device is used. 
A WHOLESALE WEEDER.—In a recent R. N.-Y., 
I notice your remarks as to the inventor of the 
weeder, and in his interest, I send you the photo 
shown at Fig. 235, showing how we use these tools in 
the West. The wheat in this photo was four to six 
inches high, and had been twice gone over with the 
weeder after the wheat was up. The wheat on the 
same field is now four feet high, dark green, with fine 
heads, and as thick as we wish. It is beginning to 
turn yellow for harvest. We keep these two tools at 
work until the wheat is too high, and can easily go 
over 50 acres per day; it is light work on the horses. 
British Columbia. a. s. 
THE UMBRELLA APPLE PICKER.—There are 
several valid objections to this picker, and no one 
seems to be using it. In the first place, it comes In 
only one size, and is quite generally too small for the 
tree, so that a great part of the apples that are shaken 
into the inverted umbrella-shaped canvas fall on the 
outside. Then there is complaint that it takes two 
men to set it up, and that is not a good feature. No¬ 
body claims that it will fail to gather the apples that 
fall inside of it. That is all easy, but the serious 
difficulty is that the apples are too much bruised by 
falling against each other. Any other defect in the 
device could be remedied, but this one is fatal. I 
made inquiry as to the relative cost of picking by 
hand and by the machine. Could not we afford to 
throw away the bruised ones or sell them for evapo¬ 
rating or cider, and then come out ahead? The reply 
was that a great part of the bruises are not noticed at 
first, and that apples put up after going through this 
machine would keep very badly, with all possible care 
in assorting. Then the cost of hand picking is rather 
small. With a fair crop, it never runs above 15 
cents, including the barreling. A machine does not 
assist in barreling, and if the assorting is to be 
harder, it is not valuable to the business. I am con¬ 
vinced that some such device is needed in the orchard 
for all the apparent failure of the one in question. 
Suppose we try again. john chamberlain. 
ON A DELAWARE FRUIT FARM. 
I recently visited the fruit farm of Mr. Frank M. 
Soper, near Magnolia, Kent County, Del. Mr. Soper 
is a northern man, but has been in Delaware and on 
his present farm for 16 years. The farm contains 
106^ acres, all under cultivation. The soil is a light, 
sandy loam. The first thing which attracted my at¬ 
tention was the apple trees which line the highway 
on both sides, for the entire length of the farm. 
These trees have been set about 15 years, and are 
mostly of Stark, which thrives well here and gives a 
crop nearly every year. At the time of my visit, these 
trees were already drooping under an immense load 
of fruit, hardly half grown as yet, and a more perfect 
and smooth lot of apples I never saw. As grown on 
Mr. Soper’s land, the Stark ranks in apples about as 
the Kielfer does in pears, and might well be styled 
the business apple, being a remarkably healthy, 
strong grower of upright, spreading habit; fruit 
medium to large in size, excellent quality and a good 
keeper. 
Mr. Soper showed me his plum orchard of 1,000 
bearing trees, nearly all of American varieties. Mil¬ 
ton and Wild Goose bore heavy crops this season, but 
had all been shipped before my visit. Whittaker, 
Pool’s Pride, Newman and some other varieties were 
bending to the ground under the heavy ropes of fruit 
on every limb. One thousand bearing trees of Early 
Richmond cherry gave a fine crop this season, which 
solu for good prices. Five acres of asparagus, wnich 
also pays well, is one of the items. There are 1,500 
Kieffer pear trees, 500 of waich are in bearing and 
now loaded with fruit; 2,000 baskets (% bushel) 
would be a moderate estimate of this season’s crop 
on these 500 bearing Kieffers. Another item is about 
7,000 apple trees of best market varieties, ranging in 
age from young trees just set, up to full bearing 
trees, 15 years old. Most of the trees of bearing age 
are loaded with fine fruit this season. Wiliams 
Early Red, and Carolina Red June were ripe at the 
time of my visit, and of most attractive color, size and 
quality. A block of 500 peach trees, set three years, 
looked very thrifty, but are not bearing this season. 
Mr. Soper depends almost entirely on Crimson 
clover and cow peas to maintain the fertility of his 
land, also to supply his live stock with hay. A field 
of Essex rape, wherein were pasturing about 25 
thrifty hogs and several calves, attracted my atten¬ 
tion. Mr. Soper finds that hogs are profitable on his 
fruit farm, where they can be pastured a large part of 
the year. He arranges a succession of pasturage for 
these hogs, on different fields, using Canada peas, 
Crimson clover, Essex rape and cow peas. 
He has a few acres of berries, consisting of straw¬ 
berries, Lucretia dewberries and Miller Red raspber¬ 
ries. With the exception of picking fruit, all the 
work on this farm is done by Mr. Soper, his son, and 
a colored boy. Four horses are used. 
E. G. PACKARD. 
R. N.-Y.—Mr. Soper sent us a box of early apples, 
which were very fine in color and quality. 
THE CHEAPEST BARN YET. 
What the Pacific Ocean Throws Up. 
You desire to hear of a cheap barn. What would 
you think of a barn, wagonshed, workshop, root- 
house and feedroom, all for $3, the total cash outlay? 
The dimensions are as follows: Length and width, 
16x24 feet; height, 8 feet; %-pitch roof. The barn Is 
built on a gentle slope, and one end is 8 feet from 
the ground, while the other rests on solid ground. 
Underneath there is a root-house, 8x16 feet, and a 
workshop, 8x16. These dimensions do not include the 
A NEW SEEDLING PEACH. Fio. 230. 
wagonshed at the north end, which is 8x16; it is also 
on the same level as the barn proper, while under¬ 
neath that, there is an 8x8 feedroom. 
The entire outside of the barn is composed of 
“shakes,” which are made as follows: A straight¬ 
grained cedar log, as free from knots as possible, is 
found, which is then sawed into lengths, according 
to requirements, usually 4 feet long. These are split 
into sections, then by using a “froe,” they are split, 
or rather sliced, into thin boards about *4 inch thick; 
these are laid on the same as shingles. The roof Is 
composed of the same material, only they are shorter. 
The framework is made from small fir and cedar 
trees , about 3 or 4 inches thick. The plates and tie 
beams are small logs about 8 or 12 inches thick. The 
rafters are cedar rails, and the floor under the hay¬ 
mow is of 2-inch “shakes.” The floor of the horse 
stable is made from 2xl2-inch plank, saved from the 
seashore, and the partition between the stable and 
haymow, also between the roothouse and workshop, 
the floor of the wagonshed, doors, door frames, win¬ 
dow frames and the work benches are all made from 
driftwood picked up on the beach. The only cash out¬ 
lay was for nails, padlocks and hinges. All the ma¬ 
terial excepting the driftwood was found within a 
radius of less than 20 rods from the barn, and the 
driftwood was obtained inside of two miles along the 
seashore. It required two men one month to obtain 
and cut the material and build the barn, working 
bankers’ hours at that, too. 
This barn may not look so trim as a more expen¬ 
sive one, but for general utility and cheapness, cannot 
be excelled. The following is the bill of expenses: 
Nails .$1.50 
2 padlocks and hasps. 1.00 
2 pair hinges. 50 
Total .$3.00 
Not only do we manufacture barns and other build¬ 
ing out of “shakes” and driftwood, but fences, both 
picket and rail, cabbage crates, apple boxes, tomato 
boxes, etc. The Red cedar tree is to the western 
Washington farmer, as the bamboo is to the Chinese. 
This is a great lumber country and the seashore is 
strewn with logs, slabs, boxes, barrels, shingles, 
planks and wood in all forms and shapes. If we were 
to depend on shipwrecks for our supply of driftwood, 
we would grow gray-haired in waiting. 
King Co., Washington. j. r. mckail. 
HOW TO PRESERVE FENCE POSTS. 
Lime is Cheap and Effective. 
I have about 850 acres to fence, and as we have no 
White oak or cedar large enough for posts, I would like 
to know of some way of preserving other woods. The 
only woods available are Red and Black oak, Pin, Swamp 
or Water oak, gum and poplar. Is there any way of 
treating these posts cheaply to give them life under 
ground. The posts are to be used for wire, and we have 
sufficient large trees of any of the varieties named to 
split them from the log, and not use young, soft growth 
USE LIME.—The lime treatment is as good as any, 
and the cheapest. The only effect of an antiseptic for 
preserving timber is to remove the acids of the wood, 
and to fill the cells with an indestructible mineral 
deposit, thus preventing decay. After much practice 
with the various timber preservatives for use in such 
special cases, as in mines, and for bridges, I have not 
learned of any material better than common lime. 
It has been found so effective in this way, that ships 
are now in existence and seaworthy in every way, 
which are over a century old, and have been all that 
time carrying lime as their principal cargoes. Tim¬ 
ber has been found in ancient buildings, perfectly 
sound after centuries of burial in lime or cement 
mortar. From some experience, I am satisfied that 
the lime treatment, simple and cheap as it is, is 
equally effective as the various other treatments by* 
much more expensive materials. 
HOW TO USE IT.—My method has been to saturate 
the timber which has been put into bridges, cross 
ties on railroads, and in mines for posts, in hot lime 
in th/is way: A pit is dug large enough to hold a con¬ 
venient lot of posts set on end, fresh quicklime is laid 
in the bottom six inches deep. The timber is laid or 
set on end in this pit—for fence posts, this way is 
most convenient. The spaces between the posts are 
filled with the small broken lime, room being left for 
the lime to swell as it slakes, and when the pit is 
filled, water is thrown on to slake the lime into a 
paste, as if for mortar. The lime, in expanding, fills 
in tightly between the posts, and making a great 
heat, drives the moisture out of the timber, and sea¬ 
sons it. Water is added as the lime slakes, until it 
is a semi-liquid mass. Then as the lime and the 
heated timber cool, the vacuum created in the timber 
by the previous heating, is immediately filled by the 
lime water, and the cellulose, with all the acids which 
are neutralized in this way, becomes mineralized, and 
decay of the timber is prevented. There is nothing 
new in this, any more than there was in the advice 
given to the leper to “go wash and be clean.” But it 
is quite as effective a way as any of the more costly 
chemical methods of treating timber to increase its 
durability or prevent its decay. Of course, it is neces¬ 
sary to immerse the posts in the pit deep enough to 
treat them as far as, or something more than, the tim¬ 
ber will be set in the ground, and the timber should 
be stripped of the bark. H s 
Cleaning Chicago. —Chicago sanitarians are suggesting 
cleaning the streets of that town with old-fashioned soap 
and water. They think that, with tons of soap fat out at 
the stockyards, acres of alkali in Arizona, and all Lake 
Michigan to provide the water, such cleaning could be 
effected cheaply, the suds being applied from a big tank 
machine, and carried off by the sewers. 
We have had a number of inquiries about Bromus iner- 
mis or Awnless Brome grass. This grass is becoming 
very popular on the farms in the great Northwest. The 
general opinion in the East seems to be that the grass is 
not quite so good, all things considered, as Orchard 
grass, although in some sections it gives remarkable re¬ 
sults. Prom 30 to 35 pounds per acre are considered 
about the proper seeding. 
Starting Cuttings.—A friend in Michigan tried the old- 
fashioned plan of using half a potato for starting a cut¬ 
ting. Most old farmers are familiar with the propagating 
of currant scions by sticking the cutting in a potato and 
planting in damp earth. Our friend tried it with potato 
plants, and found it to work well. It mighi prove useful 
for propagating choice specimens of grapes, bush fruits, 
house plants or roses. Possibly vines of valuable va¬ 
rieties of potatoes will be started in this way in a cold 
frame. 
The Department of Agriculture is arranging for an at¬ 
tractive display of fruit at the Paris Exposition next 
year. It is intended that all the more important fruit¬ 
growing districts shall be represented, and the active co- 
bperatlon of growers and horticultural societies is asked. 
There will be representative exhibits of canned, preserved, 
and evaporated fruits, but a special effort will be made to 
maintain, throughout the entire exhibition, a display of 
fresh fruit suitable for export. 
