1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
335 
strawberries, but undesirable for raspberries. The 
general opinion seems to be among farmers that black¬ 
caps do best on light soil with an open subsoil. The 
growth of these roots would seem to indicate the wis¬ 
dom of this opinion. A study of this root system 
seems to show that broadcasting fertilizer, and shallow, 
frequent cultivation will give best results with the 
raspberry. It will be a new thought to many of our 
readers that we must go into the soil in order to learn 
how to cultivate and fertilize intelligently. Yet we 
see how plants differ in their root systems, and when 
we understand that it is through the roots that the 
plant must take up most of its nourishment, we can 
see the importance of knowing what is going on below 
ground. 
Beef-Making in the Fak West.— The picture on 
our first page shows a group or “ bunch ” of steei s as 
fattened at the Oklahoma Experiment Station (Still¬ 
water). These steers were fattened chiefly on Ivaftir 
corn—fodder and meal. A remarkable thing about the 
experiment is that it shows how stock-growing may 
be carried on at a profit, even on the dry and uninvit¬ 
ing deserts of western Kansas. It was considered for 
years that fat beef of first quality could be made only 
in rich corn-growing countries. The best corn-grow¬ 
ing countries are moist and humid. In parts of the 
West, the dry, hot winds will scorch and blast the 
corn almost in a single day, so that the crop is ruined. 
In the •‘boom” days of western Kansas, it was the 
custom to take eastern buyers into the country in 
May and .June, when the very prairies were rich and 
green ! The immigrants soon found to their sorrow 
that farming with corn and wheat meant sure and 
certain ruin. Many were starved out; others let the 
thin, wild grasses come back, and gave the land up to 
pasture. Others still have learned that Alfalfa and 
Kaffir corn will live and produce a crop in spite of 
drought and hot winds. These two plants are doing 
wonders for “ The Great American Desert”. Together 
they provide a balanced ration equal to that given by 
lied clover and corn in other States. With these two 
crops and the cheap land and mild weather of his 
section, the farmer of the dry regions finds a new in¬ 
dustry. He went West to grow corn and wheat, and 
after failing at this, finds that Alfalfa and Kaffir corn 
will do more for him than the other crops ever could. 
Estimating the Silo. 
The silo is the be^t friend the farmer’s stock has, 
and the country is fairly awake on the subject. I 
have been so often asked the capacity of a tub silo of 
given dimensions that in self defense, I had to seek a 
short cut to the results obtained by geometrical cal¬ 
culations involving decimal and vulgar fractions. No 
two consecutive fillings are likely to weigh exactly 
the same, so the best we can do is to find an approxi¬ 
mate average. This can be accomplished readily by 
the majority of our American farmers by following 
the following rules: 
Having determined the height and diameter of the 
silo, if one desires to ascertain its capacity, all that is 
necessary is to multiply the height by the diameter, 
the product by one-fourth the diameter, and then 
divide the total product by 1(5. For example, if the 
height be 20 feet and the diameter 12 feet, our prob¬ 
lem can be resolved into the following figures : 20 x 12 
x3-^-16=45. In other words, a silo of the above 
dimensions will have an average capacity of 45 tons, 
the answer always designating the number of tons. 
Sometimes a farmer knows how many tons of ensil¬ 
age are necessary for his amount of stock, and he may 
also know how high he is able to build his silo, and 
then the question arises, What diameter will suffice ? 
In such a case, multiply the number of tons by (54, and 
divide by the height ; the quotient will be the square 
of the diameter. Extract the square root for the 
diameter. For example, if we want to store 120 tons 
of ensilage, and are able to build our silo 30 feet high, 
what must be the diameter? We can i-educe our 
figures to the following : 120 x 64-^30=256. the square 
of the diameter. Extracting the square root we get 
1(5. In other words, a tub silo 30 feet high to store 
120 tons of ensilage must have a diameter of 16 feet. 
Sometimes circumstances limit a man to a given 
diameter, and the question then is, how high must the 
silo be built to have a given capacity ? Multiply the 
capacity in tons wanted by (54, and divide by the square 
of the diameter. In case we wanted to store 88 tens 
and were limited to a diameter of 16 feet, we would 
figure for the height as follows: 88x64-1-16x16=22 
feet, the required height of our silo. That is, a silo 
16 feet in diameter and 22 feet high has a capacity of 
88 tons of ensilage. 
In like manner, the capacity of a silo of any dimen¬ 
sions, or the dimensions of any silo for any desired 
quantity of ensilage, may be readily determined ap¬ 
proximately. I say approximately, for the reason 
that no two tons of ensilage are likely to occupy ex¬ 
actly the same amount of space ; but the results ob¬ 
tained in the easy manner indicated above will come 
about as near the average as the most intricate hair¬ 
splitting calculations that can be made. 
To ascertain the capacity of a tub silo, the “ scien¬ 
tific ” mathematician usually multiplies the diameter 
by 3.1416 to ascertain the circumference. This he 
multiplies by one-half the radius to find the square 
feet of the base. These are multiplied by the height 
to determine the number of cubic feet the silo con- 
TOP-WORKED APPLE TREE. Fio. 145. 
tains. As an average cubic foot of ensilage weighs 
about 40 pounds, he multiplies the cubic feet by 40 
and then divides the total number of pounds by 2,000 
to find the capacity in tons. For the benefit of mathe¬ 
maticians, 1 desire to say that my seemingly empiric 
figures are merely the figures of scientific scholars 
“boiled down” to suit practical farmers. A little 
familiarity with the concise rules I have laid down 
A BAD BODY GRAFT. Fig. 146. 
makes it possible, even mentally, to find any desired 
data about any tub silo of practicable dimensions, on 
short notice. J. c. senger. 
Virginia. 
APPLE GROWING IN DELAWARE. 
PECULIAR CONDITIONS IN TIIE DIAMOND STATE. 
Delaware is not an apple-growing State ; it is gen¬ 
erally considered by orcliardists that the apple is not 
A DELAWARE SPRAYING OUTFIT. Fig. 147. 
adapted to the climatic conditions of the State, and 
that it would be unwise to develop the apple business. 
Past experience with this fruit has been unsuccessful, 
but it is suggested that this was the result of mistaken 
management and undesirable varieties. 
The bearing orchards in Delaware are largely com¬ 
posed of northern varieties, such as Baldwin, Roxbury 
Russet, and R. I. Greening. Northern Winter apples, 
however, ripen in the Fall in Delaware ; they rot, 
drop to the ground, and are poor shippers: there is 
no demand for the old Winter kinds in early Fall. It 
is, however, clearly fallacious to assert that the apple 
is not adapted to Delaware, since similar climatic con¬ 
ditions prevail in portions of the apple regions of 
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and Ar¬ 
kansas. In Bulletin No. 38, of the Delaware Experi¬ 
ment Station, from which Figs. 145, 146, and 147 are 
reproduced, G. H. Powell discusses this question very 
fully. Mixed planting in the orchard is discouraged, 
not only because no two varieties of trees grow alike, 
but also because disease may be transmitted from one 
to the other. It is suggested that early-bearing tem¬ 
porary trees be put between the permanent trees ; 
one Delaware grower gives, as his selection. Stayman 
and York Imperial, interplanted with Missouri Pippin 
and Wealthy. Locally-grown trees, or those from 
similar climatic influences, should always be set. 
Deep tillage should be given for the first few years 
after setting. 
Double working, or grafting a permanent variety 
upon a stock of a single variety, is advised by Mr. 
Powell. The system consists in top-working the per¬ 
manent variety on a vigorous, upright-growing stock, 
after it is established in the orchard. In Delaware, Ben 
Davis is a desirable stock for Winter, and Red Astra- 
chan for earlier kinds. Gravenstein, King and Twenty 
Ounce are longer lived when worked in this way, and 
the same is true of all weak-bodied kinds. In setting 
out the young orchard, it is advised to start the tops 
of the trees 3% to 4 feet from the ground, leaving six 
or seven main arms on which to form the top. The 
second summer after planting, buds of the permanent 
variety are inserted into three or four of these arms, 
near the base. Any branch in which the bud does 
not set, should be top-grafted the following Spring. 
The unbudded branches are allowed to grow until the 
next season, when the new scions have become estab¬ 
lished ; they are then removed, or any further graft- 
ting done, if it is necessary to balance the top 
properly. Fig. 145 shows a tree six years set and four 
years top-worked. When the top was four years old, 
this tree bore nearly three pecks of apples. 
It is a mistake in lop-working young trees, to insert 
the scion in the trunk, by a whip or cleft graft. A 
better-formed head is obtained by working- it on Ihc 
arms of the tree ; in addition to this, the wound from 
the grafting operation heals more slowly in a body- 
union. Fig. 146 shows the disadvantages of this ; one 
of the scions has been broken out, leaving an open 
wound, which is liable to lead to a decayed trunk. 
Fig. 147 shows a spraying outfit used in Delaware, 
which, however, is not entirely satisfactory. Its dis¬ 
advantages are narrow tires, small tank, inability to 
turn short, and the four uprights to support the plat¬ 
form. The essentials for economy in time and labor, 
and for efficiency in orchard spraying, says S. H. 
Derby, are, 1, an elevated platform at least 12 feet 
from the ground, so that the spraying is largely down 
hill ; 2, two center uprights to support the platform, 
instead of four corner uprights, in order to allow the 
branches to sweep in under the platform, without 
breaking them or tearing off the fruit spurs; 3, a low 
center of gravity, brought about by setting the bot¬ 
tom of the wagon directly on the axles ; 4, a form of 
extension or goose-neck reach to allow the front 
wheels to turn short; 5, wheels with at least four- 
inch tires, and of ordinary height; (5, a tank to hold 
200 gallons. 
Among varieties of apples which seem to give prom¬ 
ise for Delaware, the following list is given in the bul¬ 
letin from which we quote : 
Summer—Yellow Transparent, Astraehan, Fourth 
of July, Nyack Pippin, Gravenstein, Fanny, Jefferis. 
Fall—Maryland Maiden’s Blush, Grimes Golden Pip¬ 
pin, Rome Beauty, Lily of Kent, Lankford, Jonathan. 
Winter—York Imperial, Stark, Paragon, Winesap, 
Arkansas or Mammoth Black Twig, Stayman’s Wine- 
sap, Jackson, Missouri Pippin. 
NEW LIFE FOR OLD TREES. 
LET THE BARK BE MADE OVER. 
A large proportion of farms in the older States have 
old orchards that have outlived their time of 
bearing perfect fruit. Some of the most valuable 
varieties have so degenerated as scarcely to be recog¬ 
nized. Can these orchards be made to bear choice 
fruit again ? To comprehend what must be done to 
restore the fruitage of an old tree, the natural opera¬ 
tions involved in its growth and sustenance must be 
considered. A much larger amount of water is re¬ 
quired to sustain growth of the tree and fruit than 
is generally supposed. Roots serve the double pur¬ 
pose of holding the tree upright and gathering water 
from the ground for its support. The water or sap, 
either by a vis-a-tergo—a force from behind—or by cap¬ 
illary attraction, is carried or forced up from the roots 
through the body and limbs to leaves, blossoms, and 
fruit. Each year, a new grain of wood is formed 
