8oo 
November 26 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER.' 
HOGS OR SHEEP IN APPLE ORCHARDS. 
WILL THEY TAKE THE PLACE OF CULTIVATION ? 
Readers are familiar with the plan, suggested by 
Mr. J. S. Woodward, of keeping hogs or sheep in fruit 
orchards. Mr. Woodward's plan is to overstock the 
orchard, either with sheep or hogs, so that they will 
be sure to keep the grass thoroughly gnawed down, 
and to eat all the apples that may fall from the trees. 
He would also feed them a quantity of grain, so as to 
keep them in good condition. The advantages he 
claims from this practice are that the grass will be 
thoroughly eaten down, the wormy apples will all be 
destroyed, and the manure from the stock will be dis¬ 
tributed thoroughly over the orchard. He thinks that 
this will take the place of the ordinary plan of culti¬ 
vating and fertilizing the trees, and on many farms, 
he claims that it is the best way to handle an orchard. 
A number of our new subscribers have, evidently, 
been impressed by these articles, and they write 
to know whether this plan is really practical and 
valuable. We have asked for the opinions of other 
fruit growers as to whether this plan of pasturing 
the orchard is equal to the ordinary plan of cultivating 
and fertilizing. 
Objections to It.— Prof. W. B. Brooks, of Massa¬ 
chusetts, says that he does not pretend to be an ex¬ 
pert in fruit culture, but he does not think this plan 
entirely practical. lie does not think that the best 
of fruit can be grown by this system. Perhaps the 
most important thing in fruit growing is the supply 
of soil moisture. To conserve the moisture, the soil 
must be stocked with organic matter, and the surface 
kept loose or covered with a mulch. It would not be 
kept in this condition if heavily stocked with sheep 
or hogs. Again, in large orchards, the droppings of 
the sheep or hogs would not be distributed evenly. 
Certain parts would be overmanured, while other 
parts would receive little or none. It is desirable, 
also, to have a soft bed beneath the trees to receive 
the late windfalls. Shortly before gathering time, 
many apples are blown off by severe winds, and if 
these fall upon a soft bed, they will still be salable at 
a fair price; if they fall upon the hard surface left 
by sheep, or into the earth rooted up by hogs, they 
would be injured for selling. In case of old orchards of 
small size, which have been neglected, and where 
there are many large roots near the surface, such pas¬ 
ture may not be objectionable. In such orchards, the 
large roots prevent proper cultivation, and owing to 
the small size of the orchards, the animal droppings 
will be more evenly distributed. 
Wliat Prof. I. P. Roberts Says —Without doubt, 
the ideal method of caring for orchards while they 
are being raised and while they are fruiting as well, 
is to keep a mulch of loose, fine earth over the roots 
of the trees from the end of May until about August 
1. Too many orchards have been set too close, and 
some of them have been badly trimmed, hence the 
limbs interfere with tillage ; but these limbs are so 
large that it would not appear wise to remove them. 
In such cases, the next best method is to keep hogs, 
or better, sheep, in the apple orchard, overstock it, as 
Mr. Woodward recommends, and then feed liberally 
enough to maintain a rapid, healthy growth of the 
animals. The animals will eat most or all of the 
fallen apples, will keep the grass, what little there 
may be, so closely grazed that it will not form a hid¬ 
ing place for injurious insects, while at the same time, 
the soil of the orchard will be fertilized. The worst 
method is to seed down the orchard to Timothy when 
young, and mow it; or, perhaps, a practice not less 
disastrous is the thick mulching of the orchard with 
straw, in June. This works admirably for a time, 
but in the end, the roots grow near the surface, and 
the orchards, at least those with which I am familiar, 
fail to produce satisfactory crops after a time where 
this mulching has been practiced. If conditions do 
not seem to justify the adoption of the ideal method, 
then by all means practice the one recommended by 
Mr. J. S. Woodward. 
Mr. Geo. T. Powell’s Opinion.—I do not believe 
that the finest fruit can be produced except by high, 
clean culture. The production of pork and mutton 
is a business by itself, and to attempt to produce first- 
class apples, pears, peaches, or any fruit grown upon 
trees, and first-class meat on the same soil, is imprac¬ 
ticable, for much of the time the conditions that would 
be favorable for the one, would be entirely unfavor¬ 
able for the other. As I understand Mr. Woodward’s 
object in keeping sheep in orchards, it is, first, to have 
all wormy fruit eaten as it drops ; second, to keep the 
grass down by having it eaten off closely, thereby 
saving cultivation ; third, to have the manure evenly 
distributed. 
The only practical way to obtain fruit free from in¬ 
sect damage is by spraying. The best way to keep 
grass down in orchards, is not to let it grow at all, 
and cultivation is essential to give right mechanical 
Condition to the soil, to keep the feeding roots of trees 
down deeper, rather than close to the surface, where 
they will be, in untilled soil, and above all, tillage is 
of imperative necessity in dry seasons. In orchards 
that have hills, sheep will always go to the highest 
point at night, and instead of getting an even distri¬ 
bution of manure, by far the larger amount will be 
left in one portion of the orchard, and to the injury 
of the trees. We know this from experience. The 
cost of time and labor in feeding grain through an 
entire season of the growth of grass would, I should 
say, be equal to the cost of tillage. Phosphoric acid 
and potash are required in much larger proportion 
than nitrogen, while the nitrogen, through the use of 
Crimson clover, can be obtained after tillage is fin¬ 
ished at much less cost than through grain feeding. 
All varieties of fruit are not readily eaten, by hogs 
especially. When the Spitzenberg and Jonathan 
apples are in the same orchard with Baldwin, Russet, 
and Ben Davis, the former will be eaten closely, while 
the wormy droppings of the latter will not be touched. 
The fruit that is produced in the highly-cultivated 
orchards of the Pacific coast is steadily displacing 
much of our own in our eastern markets. We are suf¬ 
fering from too much shiftlessness in our orchard 
management. Mr. Woodward certainly can not be 
charged with being a lazy man, but his plan of pastur¬ 
ing orchards to save the labor of tillage is placing a 
premium on laziness, of which we have now too much 
in our fruit-growing interests. On a rough hillside, 
difficult of tillage, Mr. Woodward’s plan might be 
adopted to advantage, but I would not advise using 
such land for orchard purposes. 
SOUTHERN TREATMENT FOR PEAR BLIGHT 
FOB LECONTE AND KIEFFER FEAR TREES. 
When a pear orchard is badly blighted, the owner 
writes to everybody who claims to know anything on 
the subject, and every one will write him to prune, 
prune, prune, when really the truth is that the more 
he prunes, the worse will be the blight. When an 
orchard is badly blighted, the thing to do is to let 
it alone as completely as possible. Don’t prune a 
limb, don’t plow it, or do anything else to it that will 
stimulate the trees. The trees are certainly in bad 
shape for two years. Let them alone till the trees 
make but a small growth. Don’t cultivate the land. 
Then fertilize with phosphoric acid and potash (no 
nitrogen). Kainit and acid are good forms. Apply 
broadcast 500 pounds of each to the acre ; less will do 
good, more will do more good. Plow it in lightly, 
say three to four inches. This should be done in the 
Winter between December 1 and January 15. If done 
earlier, vegetation is too much in the way. If done 
later, there will be danger of causing the trees to 
bloom too early. 
In May, give the orchard another cultivation, most 
advantageously done with a Cutaway harrow, plowing 
about the same depth as before. The season follow¬ 
ing, give the same fertilizers and the same plow- 
ings. If the trees are rather vigorous, leave off the 
May plowing. 
When you have starved out the blight, and have 
got the trees to where they make but a small growth 
annually, which will be just before you commence the 
fertilizing and plowing described above, then is the 
time to prune, prune, prune. Don’t prune with a 
knife or shears, but with a saw. Saw off the worst 
blighted limbs, the straggling limbs, the chafing 
limbs, and the very tall limbs ; cut them half in two, 
reducing the tree nearly one-half. Apply kainit and 
acid annually, give the orchard two plowings, never 
plant ptas, beggar weeds, or turn under a heavy crop 
of any vegetable growth. Then count'blight a bless¬ 
ing, for you will have studied the requirements of 
pear trees, supplied their needs, and recognized them 
as perennials instead of annuals. B. w. stone. 
Georgia. __ 
Piping Milk From a Creamery. 
J. P. W., Kerrmoor , Pa .—Can skim-milk be successfully con¬ 
ducted underground 250 feet through one-inch galvanized pipe, 
by gravity? That is, would the pipe soon become coated, and 
finally closed ? I could follow the milk with steam and water. 
Ans. —Certainly milk can be run through 250 feet of 
inch pipe by gravity, if the milk is not allowed to get 
so cold that it will froth too much. The pipe can be 
kept clean by using house savogran, blowing it out 
with live steam, and rinsing with hot and cold water. 
What do you want to do with the milk ? If for feeding 
purposes, the galvanized iron pipe will be all right, 
and can be kept clean enough for that; but if you wish 
to make any article of food of the milk, use an inch 
lead pipe, and when you clean it out—which you must 
do as soon as the milk is through—wash with cold, 
then hot water, then use the savogran thoroughly, 
and then rinse with water, and blow through live 
steam. A lead pipe can be kept clean, but a rough 
iron pipe affords so many places for the lodgment of 
microbes and germs, that it is almost impossible to 
keep it free from ferment germs. 
The Farmers’ Club 
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piece of paper.] 
A BATCH OF FRUIT PROBLEMS. 
SOLVED BY H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Red Cross Currant from Cuttings.— Can the Red Cross cur¬ 
rant be grown from cuttings ? D. s. w. 
Glasgow, O. 
Yes, this variety of currant is propagated with fair 
success from cuttings. The cuttings should be made 
while.the bush is dormant, and of the last year’s 
growth. About 10 inches is a proper length. Bury 
them in bundles until early Spring, if made before 
that time, and plant nearly to their tops in good mel¬ 
low earth. Keep the soil well stirred all the season, 
beginning as early as it can be worked without 
injury. 
Some Apples for Kentucky. -1 have planted a number of 
Downing’s Winter Maiden Blush apple trees, which a nurseryman 
substituted for Grimes Golden. Is this a good Winter variety ? 
What is the habit of growth of the tree ? If this is not suitable 
here, I wish to graft the trees. Would Sutton Beauty answer this 
far South ? Is it as good as Jonathan ? What do you know of 
the Ciayton? G- a- w. 
Lyndon, Ky. 
The variety of apple which was once called Down¬ 
ing’s Winter Maiden Blush, is now called Greenville 
by the introducer and others, at my suggestion. 
While I do not think it is as good as Grimes Golden, 
it is a very fair apple of about the same season—early 
Winter in Kentucky. The tree is of a very good 
round-headed shape, and bears well. I would graft a 
part of them to Grimes Golden, as that variety is al¬ 
most without an equal in quality. Sutton Beauty is 
a very gcod apple in New York and elsewhere, that I 
have examined it, and I think it may do well in Ken¬ 
tucky ; but it would be unsafe to try more than a tree 
or two until after further trial there. It is not as 
good in quality as Jonathan, according to my taste. 
Clayton is a very late keeper, and is quite popular as 
a Winter apple in southern Indiana and some other 
sections. 
Peach Trees from the Pits.— Would you recommend planting 
an orchard with peach pits, to be budded when the proper time 
arrived, over the method of setting out budded stock from a 
nurseryman? What would be the advantage, if any ? What is 
the proper time for planting pits ? Would you recommend the 
Champion peach pits grown by me in an adjoining orchard, to 
pits from southern-grown fruit? How deep should they be 
planted ? When should they be budded ? What soil, location 
and exposure are best here in Massachusetts for Japan plums? 
Lawrence, Mass. F. E. b. 
No, I would not recommend beginning a peach 
orchard anywhere that I have ever been by planting 
the seeds where the trees are to stand. It is too 
much trouble to care for the little trees the first year, 
where other crops are almost of necessity grown as a 
matter of economy. There is a considerable degree 
of failures in almost all jobs of budding, and this 
might cause numerous gaps, which would need filling 
up from a nursery. Trees grown from pits so planted 
would be of the best possible vigor for the soil and 
climate in which they stood. Theoretically it may 
seem a good plan, but practically it would generally 
be unsatisfactory, unless the entire land, or nearly 
so, should be given up to the orchard from the start. 
Nursery-grown trees are so cheap that an ordinary 
orchardist can scarcely afford to grow his own. It 
would be much like a man who would have his clothes 
or shoes made at his own house. They might be good, 
but they would usually be costly. Any soil and loca¬ 
tion that is good for ordinary orchard trees is good 
for the Japan plums. They succeed almost anywhere, 
except in very dry or very wet soil in our common 
fruit-growing regions. 
Fruits for a Small Place.— I bought a place 85 x 176 feet, and 
put a house in the middle of it. It lies two miles from the city. 
1. IIow many apple or pear tre< s should I plant on the place, the 
house occupying 24x40 feet? The soil is a stiff loam. What 
kind of apple or pear trees would be best for such a soil ? J. K. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 
On a small village lot, there would be room for only 
a few apple and pear trees, after a proper proportion 
of the ground is occupied with a house and small front 
yard. Neither should all of the back yard be planted 
to these two fruits alone, in my opinion. There should 
be a few others, such as cherries, grapes and berries, 
unless there are some very good reasons for not having 
a general assortment of such fruits as will grow in 
the particular locality where the planting is to be 
done, and furnish a succession throughout the season 
for the comfort of the family. Apple trees require 30 
or more feet of space, hence about four or five would 
be sufficient, and there should be that number of 
varieties ripening in succession. I would suggest 
Summer Rose or Early Harvest for the first early 
