66 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 30 
* . 
BUSINESS IN A MAINE APPLE ORCHARD. 
Two years ago last Spring I left Boston for good 
and bought a 1,500 apple tree farm here in the hub of 
the apple region of New England. Most of the trees 
are 20 years old, have been fearfully neglected, and 
up to last year the maximum crop has been 600 bar¬ 
rels. Since I came on the farm there has been “some¬ 
thing doing,” and my crop last year was 1,460 barrels 
of salable apples, No. 1 and No. 2. Almost 1,200 cf 
these were Baldwins. Only about two-thirds of my 
trees were bearing last year, owing to the May freeze, 
so I naturally conclude that had all the trees borne I 
would have had about 2,000 barrels. I engaged my 
new barrels early in the Summer at 30 and 35 cents 
and sold my apples for $1.60 right through, buyers do¬ 
ing the packing. They have been in the business 15 
years and said that with one exception it was the fin¬ 
est and cleanest lot they had ever seen. h. o. b. 
R. N.-Y.—Cases of this sort can be mentioned when 
energetic men have gone to old farms in Maine and 
made them very profitable with such crops as apples, 
hay or potatoes. One would think that the State of 
Maine would like to encourage this sort of immigra¬ 
tion, yet apparently the authorities are more desirous 
of attracting hunters or “sportsmen.” They intend to 
build a log cabin at St. Louis as a representative State 
building. It is too bad that Maine is cursed with 
such “friends.” _ 
A YOUNG APPLE ORCHARD IN MAINE. 
I have a small orchard of four-year-old apple trees; 
do not have time to plant a hoed crop in it. Do you advise 
sowing it to cow peas? Would they do well in this local¬ 
ity? If so, what variety would you advise, where is the 
nearest place I can get seed, and how much seed to the 
acre? I have some wood ashes to sow. What chemical 
should I use with them that would benefit the trees the 
most? t. o. K. 
Cooper, Me. 
Cow peas cannot be recommended for your locality. 
The treatment I should suggest would be to plow the 
orchard in May or early in June, harrow at least three 
or four times in June and July, and sow Winter rye 
at the time of the last harrowing—about the first of 
August. Repeat the operation next year, being care¬ 
ful to plow before the rye gets too high. If you can¬ 
not grow a hoed crop do not grow any. In the ab¬ 
sence of cultivation, mulching is the next best treat¬ 
ment. Use at least six inches of coarse horse manure 
or meadow hay or three or four inches of old sawdust 
over an area 15 feet in diameter about the tree. As 
the trees grow larger the mulched areas must be in¬ 
creased in size. Don’t forget to feed the tree liberally 
whether mulching or cultivation is practiced. The 
ashes which you have are good, and I should add a lit¬ 
tle acid rock phosphate. About a pound of nitrate of 
soda scattered over the area mentioned around each 
tree will give immediate and satisfactory results. 
W. M. MUNSON. 
HARD BUTTER IN WINTER. 
For the last 10 years we have had difficulty in Winter 
with our butter. Our first cow was three-fourths Jer¬ 
sey and the one we now have is a calf from her, sired 
by a purebred Jersey bull, now seven years old. Every 
Fall or Winter, when weather gets cold, our butter be¬ 
comes hard, as hard as a rock almost. I am feeding 
the best of clover and Timothy hay and millet, fresh and 
nice, and also a little over half a pailful of sugar 
beets a day. I do not use ground feed of any kind. Two 
years ago I bought equal parts of oats, barley, ground 
corn and bran; fed her a 12-quart pailful in mash each 
day, but butter was as hard as ever. We are feeding 
beets every Winter. Before this we used white carrots. 
Can it be the roots that cause it? f. p. 
Neenah, Wis. 
r would suggest a change of ration, including either 
linseed meal, gluten or dried distillers’ grains, because 
these feeds have a tendency to soften the butter. This 
Jersey cow will, during the Winter, with low tempera¬ 
ture, give a comparatively hard butter and so we must 
feed and care for her and the product to soften it. The 
coarse feeds that one may have upon the farm may 
always be used, I care not what they are, and fairly 
good results may be obtained. Of course straw or late- 
cut Timothy will make expensive milk when com¬ 
pared with clover hay and silage, but a ration of Tim¬ 
othy and straw to the extent of 12 to 15 pounds a day 
when balanced with linseed meal, gluten or some other 
easily digested feed, will surprise a man. I would be¬ 
gin with the following ration: Clover and mixed hay 
10 pounds, millet, what she will eat up clean; linseed 
meal, two pounds; gluten feed, two pounds; bran or 
middlings, two pounds, cornmeal, two pounds, beets, 
one-fourth bushel. This ration may be too large; if 
so, feed what the cow will easily digest, do not over¬ 
feed. Supply a variety and a balanced ration to suit 
the demands of the cow. Handle the cream so that 
it will ripen properly. Much butter is ruined when 
made from a single cow, because churning and ripen¬ 
ing are delayed. _ h. e. c. 
THAT “NOVEL POWER” WINDMILL 
In response to the many inquiries for a working 
plan of the power windmill which I described briefly 
in the issue of October 24, 1903, page 738, I enclose a 
plan which I hope will give a clear idea of the prin¬ 
ciple and working parts of this mill. The mill (see 
Fig. 28) should be built on the center of the building 
and as near where power is required as possible. For 
a 12xl2-foot wheel giving about eight horse-power 
would require 6x6-inch corner posts, 4x4-inch braces, 
2xl0-inch plates, 2x4-inch rafters; either a flat or 
four-sided roof. In the cut the part marked A (Fig. 
29) shows the floor and ceiling plan. The floor is a 
little above the barn roof and leaves an open circle 
in center 12 feet wide; it also shows a raised circle 
made of one-inch lumber on which the deflecting 
boards are set. These boards are 12 inches wide, and 
are set 10 inches apart, cleated on both sides, top and 
bottom. C shows the top and bottom plan of the 
wheel proper, except there are no springs or shut-off 
chains at the top. The wheel is built out from two 
cast-iron spiders keyed fast fo the shaft at top and 
bottom; six spokes of oak 2x3 inches* a circle one foot 
wide made of two thicknesses of one-inch lumber on 
which are set the cups. Six three-eighths-inch iron 
braces run from the top spider to near the outer cir¬ 
cle on the lower spokes, and stiffen the wheel. There 
are also seven pieces of half-inch pipe between upper 
and lower circles, with three-eighth-inch iron rods in¬ 
side, holding circles proper distance apart. E in the 
cut shows the ends of the cups made of one-inch stuff 
about two feet the longest way, and on the three- 
sided part are fastened three pieces of half-inch wood 
to complete the cup. These cups are set on end on an 
iron pivot which is in an iron socket top and bottom. 
The plan shows a part of the wheel in gear and a 
part out of the wind. B shows a four-spoke loose 
wheel resting on a collar, and just clears the lower 
wheel. The outer circle is of three-eighths by two-inch 
iron with holes bored for the Iron rods that hold each 
cup in place. The two springs connect this wheel and 
the lower wheel, and hold the cups open in the wind. 
The plan also shows the chains passing from the loose 
wheel over two pulleys on each side down through 
the roof and fastening to a loose sleeve on the shaft, 
from which a lever opens and shuts the wheel. A 
plan of this sleeve and lever is given. The iron ring, 
which is ir. halves marked X, works in the groove 
marked X, Fig. 30. One end of the lever is fastened 
in roof, the other has a rope reaching the floor below. 
The shaft should be 1% inch for this size wheel, and 
rests in an iron shoe which should be kept filled with 
oil. Boxes on the main shaft are placed above and 
below the wheel, and at proper distances below. 
Power is obtained by bevel gears and a horizontal 
shaft in any direction and any reasonable length. This 
mill can be built any width oi- height by observing 
proper proportions as to deflecting boards and cups. 
Cayuga Co., N. Y. e. s. akin. 
ALL SORTS. 
TWIN CALVES.—I have two twin calves that will be 
two years old next June; they are heifers, red in color, 
black nose and black around the eyes, black tongue 
and a black tail. They are part Short-horn and Jersey, 
and you cannot tell one from another; both look alike 
in color and size. s. i. h. 
Louisville, O. 
DRYING CORN.—I see you ask on page 24 for experi¬ 
ence of drying out corn in crib. Last Fail I had about 
1,000 bushels of ears. When I cribbed it I put one-bushel 
slatted crates in the crib end to end, so that the air 
could go through. I never have found anything that 
would dry corn any better. c. s. k. 
Baldwinsville, N. Y. 
GREASE THE GRINDSTONE.—If you have a grind¬ 
stone that has a soft place or a crack that wears down 
faster than the rest of the stone use a little oil or soft 
grease on that place; it will grind like an oilstone. The 
tool will ride over the oil and does not seem to wear so 
fast. After using oil a few times the place gets satu¬ 
rated and will not need any for a while. You will soon 
see how it acts. g. g. m. 
Washington Co., Va. 
TOMATOES AND SQUASH BUGS.-Tomato plants 
will not keep the bugs off squash vines. We had a row 
planted with tomatoes on each side, and never had so 
many bugs to contend with. We feel we have found a 
remedy for the Squash bugs, at least, it was very ef¬ 
fectual the past season, and gave us a fine crop of 
squashes. We put a teaspoonful of Paris-green to a 
quart of air-slaked lime and dust on the vines. We used 
it liberally whenever we saw the bugs starting on the 
vines. s. d. k. 
Ohio. 
"BLACK TEETH” IN PIGS.-Mr. Mapes, on page 30, 
asks for a cure for his pigs, which he says have fits. If 
he will examine his pigs I think he will find small sharp 
teeth, between the front teeth and grinders, which some 
call black teeth. When I see a pig come up to the 
trough and commence to eat, squeal, fly back and leave 
the trough and not care to eat any more, I know it is 
those teeth. If he finds any let him take a cold chisel 
and hammer and knock them out. Examine every pig, 
clean them all out, and I do not think his pigs will have 
any more fits. p. r>. h. 
Billings, N. Y. 
PLANK FLOORS FOR HORSHS.-In The R. N.-Y., 
page 31, B. asks: “Are cement floors good for horses? 
Is it best to put plank in the stalls over the cement?” 
To both of these questions my answer is yes. Both my 
horse and cow stables have cement floors, and where 
both horses and cows stand it is planked. I find when 
the cement floors are wet they become slippery and it 
is difficult for horses, especially, to get up when the 
cement is wet, as they seem unable to get a foothold. 
If B. wishes to avoid lame horses let him plank his 
stalls and move his horses about on the cement floor with 
gentleness and caution. d. w. i. 
Connecticut. 
CONSULT THE COW'S TASTE.-I have had no per¬ 
sonal experience feeding silage, but several years' 
personal care of a Winter dairy has taught me some¬ 
thing about the tastes of a dairy cow. It is no trick to 
take a table and formulate a balanced ration for a milk 
ing cow, but it does take some experience and observa¬ 
tion to make a palatable one. Often the largest ration 
will produce the least milk. I have noticed that this 
need for a palatable ration was more pronounced in the 
latter part of the Winter than earlier. It is then that 
one needs to watch for indigestion and constipation, and 
to feed so as to avoid it or correct it. Since the great 
value in silage is derived from its palatability and good 
effect upon the bowels I would reason that its benefit 
would be greater in late Winter. Assuming the silage 
was limited as it generally is this Winter, and keeping 
nicely, I should reserve to use during the early Spring, 
so as to avoid much shrinkage with fresh cows just be¬ 
fore they go to pasture. Many cows that freshen in 
March will be by May so shrunken in lactation that 
they are only half their possible value. Such a result 
is very largely avoidable, and those having silage ought 
to find it easier than feeders having none. 
Ithaca, N. Y. R. J. B. 
