1398 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
849 
both orchards, we would have obtained nearly 2,000 
barrels of fine fruit. Hogs not only keep all sod 
turned over, and the ground soft and mellow, but 
they eat all the affected fruit, and thus kill many in¬ 
jurious insects. They also bury all filth and foul 
matter, and continually fertilize the land. 
As we train our trees low so that we can pick most 
of the fruit while standing on the ground, I do not 
think that sheep would be of much benefit to us, as 
they would gnaw the lower branches, and the younger 
trees. I much prefer hogs, because they never let the 
orchard become sodbound, one cause which I think 
fills our markets with small and knotty fruit. 
Dutchess County, N. Y. richard p. Campbell. 
A TALK ABOUT GOOD ROADS. 
Let Farmers Build Them. —I noticed on page 
799, the note on road smashers. It is not necessary 
that we expend $3,000 per mile on roads for non-tax¬ 
payers or any one to destroy by hauling heavy loads 
on narrow-tired wagons. The State laws of Ohio pro¬ 
tect such roads against such impostors, and if any 
taxpayer stands by and sees the destruction of his 
road and does not enforce the law, he should stand the 
loss and not complain. Roads need not cost $3,000 
per mile. Here in Paulding County, we build roads that 
cost the taxpayer $850 in cash per mile, of crushed 
stone, nine feet wide and nine inches deep. This is 1,320 
cubic yards, at 65 cents per cubic yard, or $858. The 
hauling is done by the farmers and others who are 
interested in roadmaking, which is much more satis¬ 
factory than to bond the township, and pay six per 
cent interest to raise the extra $2,142, which he must 
pay if he leaves it to the contractor, while his team, 
perhaps, stands in the barn. 
What Bad Roads Mean. —The increase in the 
valuation of the land is the least reason why we 
should improve the roads. Pleasure and home com¬ 
forts depend upon our facilities for getting around. 
Churches and schools depend on them. Show me a 
district where the roads are all unimproved, and I 
will show you a district that is lacking in moral 
standard, and children are at a disadvantage to obtain 
even a common-school education. Churches must 
close their doors during the Winter, and when Sum¬ 
mer comes, all have lost interest in church-going. 
Why try to increase the products of the farm, and 
not increase our facilities for delivering them to mar¬ 
ket? It costs the farmer more to deliver his products 
to the railroad than it costs to ship it from there to 
the city. Who would take the contract to haul 100 
hogs four miles over a bad mud road after a big rain, 
for what it costs to ship them to the city ? I have 
seen, in this county, four horses attached to a wagon 
loaded with less than 1,500 pounds, and then it was a 
sin to have them out in such mud. Often we are 
compelled to walk and take with us our butter and 
eggs, while our horses are in the barn needing exer¬ 
cise, all because the road is too bad to take them out. 
It does increase the price of land, as land along a 
good pike will bring $10 to $15 per acre more than 
land situated a mile away from it, if there is no pros¬ 
pect of there ever being a pike near it. b. f. j. 
Mandale, O. _ 
The Farmers’ Club 
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WHERE TO PUT THE INCUBATOR THER¬ 
MOMETER. 
Which gives the most satisfactory results in using incubators, 
to place the thermometer with the bulb resting on one or more 
eggs, or simply to have the bulb on the same level as the eggs, 
but touching none of them ? I run three hot-air machines nearly 
all the time, except July and August; in two of them, I use ther¬ 
mometers which do not touch the eggs, in the other one, the bulb 
rests on two eggs. I seem to average better hatches in the 
former. The incubators are of the same make. a. s. 
Cornwall, N. Y. 
I use the thermometer in an incubator, with the 
bulb resting on a level with the eggs, rather than 
resting on the eggs, for the reason that, unless the 
eggs are tested out very carefully and often, it might 
rest on an egg with a dead chick in it, which would 
be misleading. D. A. mount. 
The bulb of the thermometer should always rest on 
and between two fertile eggs, with the top of the 
bulb on a level with the top of the average egg in the 
incubator. If the thermometer is lower between the 
eggs, the temperature will register lower, and vice 
versa. A fertile egg is higher in temperature after 
the germ starts than a dead or infertile egg, and for 
this reason, the eggs should be tested as soon as the 
difference can be distinguished ; and as soon as they 
are, the thermometer should be placed on fertile eggs, 
as I have said above. This method of using the ther¬ 
mometer is conceded by most experienced operators 
to be the correct one. I have used incubators where 
they were hung on a level with the eggs, and not 
touching them, but in no instance have I secured as 
good results as by this method. e. b. underbill. 
I have always kept the bulb of the thermometer on 
a live egg in the incubator. I think the temperature 
can be regulated better than when it is placed be¬ 
tween rows of eggs, especially if much air is being 
run through the machine. If the thermometer is 
placed between the eggs, the bulb should be on a 
level with the top of the eggs. Perhaps just as good 
results could be attained; I have never tried it. 
b. holmes. 
We always place the bulb on the egg, and after the 
animal heat begins, we are careful to place it on a 
live egg; then we know just the temperature of our 
eggs. Previous to the rise of animal heat, the glass 
on the same level with the egg would be all right; but 
after the seventeenth day, the glass on a live egg 
would run three or four degrees higher than another 
glass on the same level as, but not in contact with, 
the egg, but we cannot afford to guess in the matter. 
JAMES RANKIN. 
It is, probably, better to place the thermometer be¬ 
tween two fertile eggs, the bulb touching them. The 
reason is that, as the chicks grow in the eggs, the 
heat increases, hence the he~t of the incubator egg 
chamber may be lower than the real temperature of 
the eggs ; but this difficulty may be avoided by using 
two or three thermometers, and making comparisons. 
Something depends, also, upon the kind of incubator, 
the depth of the egg chamber, and the mode of heat¬ 
ing. It is difficult for a novice to distinguish a fer¬ 
tile egg at the first test (the third or fourth day), but 
as the temperature of the eggs in the early stages 
differs but little from that of the egg chamber, it is 
perfectly safe simply to place a thermometer any¬ 
where among the eggs until they can be tested, so as 
to select fertile eggs ; but the bulb should be on a level 
with the upper sides of the eggs. As more heat exists 
nearer the source whence it is obtained, in some inGU- 
bators, it is difficult to select the proper location at 
which to place a thermometer, and the real guide 
must, therefore, be observation. p. h. Jacobs. 
The Law of Private Telephone Lines. 
A. JJ., Milton, iV. Y .—What is the law or custom in this State in 
relation to running a private telephone line in the country along 
the public highway ? Does one have to get the consent of each 
property owner along the line, or can one get permission of some 
town officer or officers to erect it ? If so, who are the proper 
officers ? 
Ans.—Y ou may obtain a fair idea of the custom or 
plan of erecting private or neighborhood telephone 
lines in rural districts by reference to The R. N.-Y. of 
December 3. Private as well as corporate lines come 
under the provision of the principle of law known as 
“ eminent domain 
Section 100 , Article 8 , Chapter 40, Laws of 1892, pro¬ 
vides that seven or more persons may become a cor¬ 
poration for the purpose of constructing, owning, 
using and maintaining a line of telephones wholly 
within the country districts, by filing a certificate 
stating name of corporation, its general route and 
points to be connected ; the number of shares, term 
of existence, name and residence of at least seven 
directors, with the clerk of the county, as provided by 
Section 5, Chapter 687 of the General Corporation 
Laws of New York. 
If, however, this corporation is a moneyed corpora¬ 
tion, articles will be required for filing with the Secre¬ 
tary of State. 
Section 2 of chapter 687 provides for a cooperative 
corporation under the head of mixed corporations, 
and this would seem to me to be advisable for a farm¬ 
ers’ telephone company. 
Section 102, article 8 , chapter 40, general laws 1892, 
provides that such corporation may erect poles, con¬ 
struct and maintain the necessary fixtures for its 
lines, along and in the public highways within the 
limits of said county ; through and over any other 
land, subject to the right of the owners thereof to full 
compensation for the same. If an agreement as to 
compensation cannot be made with such owner or 
owners, such compensation shall be ascertained in the 
manner provided in the condemnation law. 
It appears, therefore, that a few neighbors may or¬ 
ganize themselves into a mixed or cooperative cor¬ 
poration, file articles with the clerk of the court, and 
proceed to erect poles in the public highway without 
obtaining permission from the abutting property 
owners along the proposed route. I would advise 
you to consult with the county clerk or county com¬ 
missioners or other officials having the responsibility 
of the public highways, before attempting the erec¬ 
tion of poles and fixtures. The law is silent concern¬ 
ing the right of private parties to erect and maintain 
telephone lines along the public highway. In order 
to afford police protection, it would be advisable to 
form a cooperative company as set out in section 2, 
chapter 687 of the general laws. R. d. f. 
Why Is the Land Sterile ? 
J. <?., Ohio .—A young man said the other day at an institute, 
“ My land is getting so hard that I can hardly work it. It gets 
worse every year.” “ Why don’t you plow under a big green 
crop of some kind, and loosen up the soil, and get it full of 
humus again? Soil full of decaying plant material never gets 
hard; its ferment sets free other plant matter inert in the soil, is 
warmer, holds moisture better, and so on. Getting plants into 
the soil is the way Nature made soils fertile!” “Yes, I know 
and if I plow under my clover and other crops for humus, how 
am I to feed the stock I now have ? ” The R. N.-Y. cannot an¬ 
swer him ! 
Ans. —Not unless we know more about the farm. 
Is there any idle land on it ? Any old pastures or 
weedy meadows that are not cultivated and do not 
pay for their taxes ? If we had such fields, we would 
start them next Spring with cow peas. Burn them 
over and break up as cheaply as possible. If reason¬ 
ably free from stones, we would use a disk or Cut¬ 
away for this work. Then sow about June 1 a bushel 
of Early Black cow peas per acre, and let them alone. 
With two crops of cow peas, these neglected old fields 
would, probably, produce about as much stock food 
as the fields he is now working, and he can then 
afford to give them a well-earned rest. Set the fields 
that are now loafing at work. This will take time, but 
it will not cost much cash. Two crops of cow peas 
will put new life into any soil. Most farms are too 
large. The idle land produces nothing, and is often 
sour. Lime and cow peas will give it character enough 
to stand up with the cultivated land. 
Wintering Nursery Stock in Cellars. 
S. K. M., Sheridan, Mich .—Will you give the whole process of 
wintering nursery stock in a cellar ? 
Ans. —There are many ways of doing it. Cellars for 
storing nursery stock for Winter are usually made one 
story, say four-foot posts, covering a suitable piece of 
ground for such purpose. By suitable, we mean 
ground that is dry, so that no water will stand in the 
ground. It is our custom to heel in the trees, in this 
covered ground, as thickly as we can stand them and 
have the soil work in among the roots. We always 
heel in, not in bunches, but with the roots spread so 
that the earth may readily work in among the roots. 
In many of the dirt cellars, the trees are tied in 
bunches and piled up, covering the roots in moss or 
shavings, or any damp material, so that no roots are 
exposed to the air. In this way, a dirt cellar may be 
packed to hold five or six times as many trees as when 
the trees are heeled in as we do it. We have never 
tried this plan from the fact that we never approved 
of the method ; yet trees may be kept all right when 
piled up as above stated. We have always found it a 
safe way to keep the trees, to heel in, and so have 
always followed this course. 
In moderate or thawy weather, we open the venti-, 
lators to change the air, and if the cellar gets too 
warm, leave them open on a cold night to cool the 
cellar down somewhat. The cellar should be kept 
cool, and if it freezes some, it does no harm where the 
trees are properly heeled in. A cellar 25 x 75 feet will 
hold from 12,600 to 15,000 peach trees when heeled in, 
and about the same of pear. Trees thus wintered 
should be set out early in Spring, as they will start 
earlier than those left out through the Winter. 
Connecticut. Stephen hoyt’s sons. 
Grass in a Fruit Garden. 
W. A. J., Chicago, 111 .—I have, in the rear of my home lot, an 
area of about 10,000 square feet on which I have an assortment 
of fruit trees, both large and small, for home use, the largest 
being pears and plums, dwarfs and standards. The soil 
is clay, covered with about a foot of black loam. In planting, 
the holes were made, in the case of the larger trees, about four 
feet in diameter and from two to three feet deep, the clay re¬ 
moved and a fibrous loam of decomposed sod substituted. The 
growth in every case has been extremely vigorous, and notwith¬ 
standing severe prunings, I have had trouble in keeping the stock 
in sufficient check. The smaller trees have fruited, and the 
pears should next year. I have plenty of water piped where 
wanted. I let the grass grow to within a space of about five feet 
around the trees, and leave a strip for cultivation two feet in 
width, for the bushes. I cut the grass in the intervening spaces 
with a lawn mower. I want to get around among the trees 
comfortably at all times. Am I doing wrong in permitting the 
grass to grow in the inclosure at all, while the present con¬ 
ditions are satisfactory ? 
Ans. —The fact that the trees are growing vigor¬ 
ously up to date is a sign that there has been no 
neglect or lack of fertility in the soil so far. It is pos¬ 
sible that there may have been too much nitrogen or 
other stimulus in the soil, as shown by the excessive 
growth. The pruning, if done in Winter, would not 
check the wood growth, but rather tend to increase 
it. However, it is quite safe to say that the grass sod 
will get in its work in due time. It surely will inter¬ 
fere with both the growth and fruitfulness of the trees 
in the end. Grass is a tree robber. It will help take 
up the fertility and moisture in the soil, and its pres¬ 
ence will prevent the cultivation that will be found 
necessary over the entire surface as the trees get 
larger. Very rarely should an orchard be seeded 
down to grass, some say never ; but that depends upon 
many conditions. Where the health and fruitfulness 
of the trees are the main objects, grass is not needed. 
An orchard should be an orchard and not a meadow 
or a pasture. The roots extend far beyond the limited 
space usually allotted to them by the imagination, 
when all of the surface is in grass except a strip or 
patch about the tree. Looking to the future good of 
the trees, I would say cultivate the whole surface be¬ 
tween the trees. h. e. v. d. 
