1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
623 
a windmill has pumped a pressure up to 135 pounds. 
Our ordinary working pressure is 70 to 80 pounds. 
Thts is a better pressure than half of our city water 
systems in the West can carry. The advantages of 
this system are, first, you can store up the working 
power of a windmill; you secure a strong pressure, 
you purify the water by forcing air into it, and you 
secure a water system that costs but little money to 
operate.” 
“ This looks nice on paper, but has it ever really 
been carried out ? ” 
“We have systems that have been in use for two 
years. We have three plants where the same pump 
is used for both soft and well water. We have the 
system in use working in tanks of 2,500 and 5,000 gal¬ 
lons capacity. Speaking of economy, I will say that 
my own house is heated with hot water, lighted with 
acetylene gas, with the Pneumatic Water System for 
house, barn and lawn, and also to supply water to the 
neighbors. We get these modern conveniences at a 
net cost of $50 per year, for oil, coal and carbide.” 
“ But does not this complicated system need frequent 
repairing ? ” 
“ What is there to wear out except the stuffing in 
the stuffing box, and the plunger leathers ? All cylind¬ 
ers are brass, and you can see at once 
the light expense for repairs.” 
“ We had an idea that your device was 
used to store the windmill’s power in the 
tank, so that you could then use it for 
turning machinery when the windmill 
was idle.” 
“ We do not attempt anything of the 
sort. It would be possible to make such 
a device, yet it would be a very expensive 
affair. A gas engine would be much 
cheaper. What we do is to force the air 
in with the water, giving it power enough 
to throw the water out whenever needed. 
We really make the water lift itself to 
any point where we want it. A 850 wind¬ 
mill will do the work when attached to 
one of these pumps, and do it well.” 
Cost of JLight, Heat and Water.— 
“ You say that you heat and light and 
water your house at a cost of 850 a year ; 
how is that done ? ” 
“ I have a hot-air furnace with about 
700 feet of radiation. This heats about 
18,000 cubic feet of air. We use the 
Pocahontas coal, which is the same that 
Uncle Sam uses on his warships. This is 
practically smokeless, and in my opinion, 
has more heat units to the ton than hard 
coal. This costs me 83.50 a ton, or 835 
for the Winter. By covering the pipes 
in the cellar with asbestos covering, I 
believe I can save from three to four 
tons per season.” 
“ But how about lighting the house ?” 
“I have an acetylene gas machine in 
my home, and make my own gas. This 
gives a pure, white light, which is very 
satisfactory. We began to use the ma¬ 
chine about the middle of December. Up 
to the middle of May, we used 150 pounds 
of carbide, which cost 81.50 per 100, or an 
average of 81.35 per month, which would 
make 816.25 per year. To run my water 
system, it costs me only about 50 cents 
per year for oil for the windmill, or a 
total of 851.50 per year for heat, light 
and water.” 
“ But what did the original plant cost?” 
“ The gas machine, the boiler and the water system 
complete, cost 8800. I do not believe that the service 
rendered to me in heat, light and water, can possibly 
be excelled. As an investment in any locality where 
property is salable, these improvements would greatly 
add to the selling price of property.” 
“But isn’t it a great bother to take care of these 
things ?” 
“ I go to the basement twice each day to shovel coal 
into the furnace, and every other day carry out the 
ashes. Once in three weeks I empty the carbide pails 
and renew the carbide in the same. This will not re¬ 
quire more than five minutes. Once in every two 
weeks I have a man to oil the windmill. We have 
linoleum in our dining-room, kitchen and the two 
rooms that are used as an office. The rest of the 
house floor is covered with rugs, and we have less 
dust in our house at present than ever before.” 
R. N.-Y.—We believe there are great possibilities in 
this system. The advantages are pretty clearly set 
forth. Wind is considered the cheapest power known, 
but it is so erratic. If the power can be captured and 
stored up as seems possible by this plan, a great ad¬ 
vance will have been made. While the first cost is 
considerable, there seems likely to be little expense 
in keeping it running afterward. 
THE ORIGINAL SHELDON PEAR TREE. 
Early in the present century, in 1808 to be exact, 
Roger Sheldon, the ancestor of the Sheldon family in 
Huron, N. Y., migrated thither from Connecticut with 
his wife and children. On the way, they stopped over 
night with some friends in eastern New York, and 
were regaled with some very fine pears of good size. 
The wife of the pioneer saved some of the seeds from 
these pears, to be planted at their new home. The 
result was a lot of seedling pear trees, of which 8 or 
10 produced fruit much like the original. Some of 
these trees were given to neighbors, and to-day four 
or five of the original trees are standing in this town¬ 
ship, about four miles from Lake Ontario. This part 
of the country is as fine a farming region as can be 
found anywhere in the State, and is also noted as a 
fruit-growing country. 
Fig. 290 represents the original tree on the old Shel¬ 
don farm, now owned by E. W. Sours. It is of prodigious 
size and in a perfect state of preservation. It is 35 
feet high and the branches spread 20 feet. The trunk 
is five feet in circumference. The fruit borne on this 
tree is degenerating somewhat, both in size and in 
quality. Mr. Henry Sours, who once owned this tree, 
told me that, in the year 1867, he was paid 818 and 816 
THE ORIGINAL SHELDON PEAR TREE. Fig. 290. 
per barrel respectively for firsts and seconds of the 
pears raised on it. The crop brought 8118. One year 
he received 824 per barrel for the fruit from the same 
tree, but the yield was not so large as in 1867. 
Rose, N. Y. _ J. A. R. 
REGRAFTING OLD APPLE TREES. 
WUAT NEW VARIETIES TO USE ? 
Here are some questions just at hand from one of 
our readers in western New York : 
I am thinking of grafting over an unproductive orchard, and 
have in mind the following varieties: Maiden’s Blush, Longfield, 
Sutton Beauty, Fameuse, Hubbardston, and Jonathan. Is this as 
good a selection, for profit, as I could choose ? Will you mention 
any varieties more desirable than the ones I have named ? I wish 
to get the best bearers, if possible. I also prefer to graft to red 
apples, but do not know the color of those which I have named. 
This question of grafting old trees to newer varieties 
of apples, comes up every year, and we would like to 
have your views concerning the apples named. Which 
of these apples would you use for grafting, and what 
others would you suggest in addition to them ? 
Not Many Fameuse. 
I would advise not to bud many Fameuse. The 
Longfield I know nothing about. I would put in for 
Fall fruit some ;Gravenstein, and for the main crop, 
would depend on Baldwin, Greening and Hubbards¬ 
ton. Jonathan is a fine fruit, but there is some ques¬ 
tion whether it can be grown successfully in western 
New York. t. u. wilson. 
Ontario County, N. Y. 
Cheaper Than Growing Young Trees. 
For years, my plan has been where I had good 
healthy trees of non-productive varieties of apples, to 
graft them over into something of value, believing it 
to be far cheaper than to attempt to grow up young 
trees on which I might have to wait 10 or 12 years for 
a profitable crop. My plan is to cut out a few of the 
upright healthy limbs, and graft over one season, and 
not attempt to cut the whole top off at once. The 
shock is too great upon the tree, which is frequently 
killed by such an operation. If the tree is quite large, 
I frequently take about three Springs to graft it over 
in full. 
I would select varieties that I feel are adapted to 
the region where the work is to be done. The Maiden's 
Blush, Longfield, Sutton Beauty, Hubbardston and 
Jonathan all do well here. The Longfield is put down 
in the catalogues as a Winter apple. It was thus in¬ 
troduced into this country, but this is not true. It is 
a Fall apple of great excellence, very productive, and 
with a foliage impervious to the action 
of all diseases or insect life. Now this 
is as I have found it upon my ground. 
This condition makes it a model variety 
in some respects. It is inclined to over¬ 
bear, but if you could see the apples upon 
my trees as they have been thinned, I 
am sure that you would think it a grand 
apple to raise for the market, it being an 
annual bearer, beautiful to look at, ex¬ 
cellent in quality and selling always at 
such high prices when such an apple is 
in demand in New York or Philadelphia 
market. The Fameuse, I would object 
to as being very susceptible to the influ¬ 
ence of the scab. I know of no apple 
more so. Indeed, we have discarded it 
for this very reason, notwithstanding 
the quality of the apple is so good. 
Eliminating this variety, and speaking 
from my own standpoint at Geneva, 1 
would say that you could hardly select 
a better list for the purpose that you 
name. 
The Maiden’s Blush, as is indicated by 
the name, is pretty likely to be a nice red 
or blush upon one side, and yellowish on 
the other. This is true of the Longfield, 
while the Sutton Beauty, Hubbardston 
and Jonathan are all of fine color. I do 
not know that I could add to or take 
from these varieties. You well know my 
opinion of the Sutton Beauty, which is 
growing in value annually wherever it 
has been introduced. The Jonathan is a 
little bit inclined to scab, hence, unless 
you have evidence that it is well adapted 
to your section, I would not put in largely 
of that variety. s. d. willabd. 
Ontario County, N. Y. 
Consider the Soil and the Leaves. 
In proposing to change an old orchard, 
four very important considerations pre¬ 
sent themselves—the soil, the market, 
the location and the stock to be grafted 
on. If I had an old orchard that I wanted 
to work over, and the soil was sandy or 
a light loam or not too dry a gravel, and 
I was near good shipping facilities or a market, I would 
put in a goodly proportion of Oldenburg. If the soil 
was rather heavy and rich, I would use a large propor¬ 
tion of Maiden’s Blush. These for late Summer and Fall 
marketing. For Winter, I would use Sutton’s Beauty 
and Hubbardston. If I had a strong loam quite rich, 
and I was willing to fight to wear the crown, I would 
graft largely to genuine Esopus Spitzenberg ; by con¬ 
stant and persistent spraying and the free use of 
manure, large and annual crops of this variety may be 
grown. No other apple is so popular or will sell so 
readily for so much money as this queen of all apples. 
I would not include in any list for western New 
York the Fameuse; while it is of good quality and 
may be grown by proper spraying, this is not its 
abiding place, and the man who grows it will find it 
nowhere when competing with the same variety grown 
in Canada and Maine. Neither am I in favor of the 
Longfield. It is not handsome or good enough. 
Jonathan, where it does well, is a profitable apple, 
but it takes full 32 quarts of them to make a bushel, 
and with me they are not as good bearers as the 
others named; but when grown in fine condition, 
they sell for a good price. Duchess is a handsome 
apple with sufficient streaks to pass for a red apple ; 
it is an enormous cropper, in fact where grafted on 
