1004. 
TII K RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
587 
MR. HITCHINGS GIVES ORCHARD ADVICE. 
As I am thinking of planting an apple orchard next 
Spring after the Ilitchings plan. I would like the opinion 
of Grant G. Ilitchings on some points. I wish to plant kinds 
which shall come to bearing as soon as possible; have 
thought of Oldenburg, Wealthy, Wagener and Ontario. I 
would like the opinion of Mr. Ilitchings on these kinds, 
or of others more desirable. What distance apart would 
he place the trees? Also, what kind of grass would he 
sow? I had thought of Alfalfa. Would that be suitable? 
I am thinking of setting Northern Spy, and top-grafting 
when out a year. Would that be advisame, or would he 
plant the kinds wanted at first? Are these kinds much 
affected by scab? How soon could I expect profitable 
returns? l. c. s. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. 
If planting an orchard to-day I would plant the rows 
of trees 30 feet apart and trees 25 feet apart in rows, 
using either Wealthy, Wagener, Oldenburg or Jonathan 
every other tree in the rows as a filler, my preference 
of varieties in the order named. For permanent trees 
in the rows I should use the following: Northern Spy, 
R. I. Greening, Sutton Beauty and Baldwin. If all 
grass that grows in the orchard is cut and left the 
orchard will pay a profit in five years; at the end of 20 
years all fillers should be removed, leaving the perma¬ 
nent trees none too far apart for best results. In grow¬ 
ing trees in sod it is necessary to store up humus in the 
soil. This acts like a sponge to hold moisture from one 
rain to another. This, with a fine aftermath, which 
shades the soil and prevents evaporation, is the com¬ 
bination to be worked for. The Kentucky Blue grass 
furnishes the best aftermath. Combined with this, to 
provide an abundance of vegetable matter at first, I 
should use Red clover with a little Timothy and orchard 
grass, and judging from what I have seen others do in 
removing the hay from the orchard I should mix some 
weed seed with the Timothy. This will help to remove 
the temptation of drawing the grass out of the orchard. 
I am of the opinion that Alfalfa draws too much out of 
the soil during the Fall, when trees are making fruit 
buds and ripening fruit. I would set the trees wanted 
instead of top-working. The Oldenburg and Wealthy 
are not subject to scab. grant g. hitchings. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
FARMING WITH A VIM. 
Iii the article, “Farming from Another View,” page 
523, O. J. B. informs us that he disagrees with C. F. C.’s 
article, page 475, with only one exception. Now the 
reader will by referring to said article find that it was 
composed principally of questions, cold facts and figures. 
The two latter do jar one’s conscience when they con- 
llict with his interests. Now, while O. J. B. tells us how 
pleasantly he is situated with trolley road so near, the 
use of horses and carriages, the macadam road, the 
daily paper, and last, but not least, works but 10 hours 
per day, and is only required to spend about two hours 
every third Sunday doing chores, he does not say how 
the farm pays. I recently questioned a manager of one 
of the largest and best equipped farms in Erie County 
as to whetlier his farm paid. He said: “Certainly it 
pays me, and as the boss can’t spend his present income 
lie needs no more.” Such managers and owners can 
adhere strictly to the 10-hour plan. But all are not so 
fortunate. Is there a farmer in New York or any other 
State who commenced as most of them did with com¬ 
paratively nothing and paid for his farm and did it by 
only working 10 hours per day? No! We never heard 
of one. And as a matter of fact and history, too, all 
our successful men, professional, business men and 
farmers owe their success to constant vigilance. When 
a young man who proves successful starts out in life, be 
it in the office, shop or on the farm, on sea or on land, 
success is his watchword. lie accepts his tasks with 
determination to excel. His employer sees in him a 
winner, one who has no fear of doing more than he is 
paid for. Their interests become mutual. The vim of 
the younger man inspires the employer to greater effort 
and they both succeed. They think no more of the num¬ 
ber of hours than does a general when going into battle. 
! agree that farmers need more vim and determination 
to put the farm on a paying basis. O. J. B. knows two 
or three farms that pay! Which is it, two or three; he 
knows two and the third is doubtful? How does he 
know that they pay? Very few farmers or farm man¬ 
agers know what a crop costs. There is a growing ten¬ 
dency among business and professional men of means 
to procure farms. With some it is a fad. with others, 
with perhaps less means, it is a business proposition. 
They try farming a few years; it does not pay; butter 
costs a dollar per pound and eggs as much per dozen. 
They try a different manager. The results are no bet¬ 
ter. They become disheartened, go back to the city and 
until they are fortunate enough to sell the farm it is 
rented for about one per cent of its value. This is the 
situation as it has with slight variations appeared to 
me during the past 25 years. Now the question is, do 
we want these people of wealth, to bring it, buy some ol 
our worn-out farms, help us build good roads and make 
other improvements, whicn will add beauty and value 
to our homes? Yes! We bid them welcome. And 
our farmers who contend that it is safer to work on an¬ 
other man’s farm and ride in a carriage owned by an¬ 
other man should see to it that the vim is not lacking. 
The shorter hours will come when you are interested in 
your work. c. F. c. 
Hamburg, N. Y._ 
ADVANTAGES OF THE EAST. 
On page 554 B., Illinois, asks for help in finding a 
desirable location in Maine or Delaware-Maryland 
peninsula. I think I am pretty well acquainted with the 
peninsula, and for the benefit of B. will state that the 
best location for general farming is Lewis, Del., and 
Ridgely, Md. For trucking Laurel, Del.; Bridgeville, 
Del.; Salisbury, Md. Grain, grass and stock, Middle- 
town, Del.; Massey, Md. Desirable land three miles 
from station from $25 upward an acre, according to 
improvements, etc. Good schools and neighbors. 
Delaware. j. t. w. 
Please say to B., Illinois, page 554, that he can buy 
land in Delaware as good as the crow flies over at a 
moderate price, where there are no mosquitoes and 
where good, hearty, faithful negroes will do his work 
while he sits on the fence or in the shade. When he 
visits Delaware, as he proposes, he can readily find a 
proof of this statement. This land is a good red clay 
loam, adapted to every plant that grows on good land 
in the temperate zone. It is within a day’s ride of one- 
third of the people ot all North America. 
WESLEY WEBB. 
Tell B., Illinois, page 554, there are plenty of good 
New England farms that are well suited to western 
push and energy that can be bought for less than the 
•AC. s.e. 
buildings cost. We bought a farm for considerably 
less than the buildings were insured for, and this only 
three miles from one of the most fashionable Summer 
resorts in New England. The land cost less than $10 
per acre, 280 acres in the farm, and on the farm there 
are at least 60 acres that can be plowed. It had run 
down from neglect, but has two fields of 35 acres that 
if near our Jjome we should consider worth at least $50 
per acre. There are many such farms from three to 10 
miles back that can be bought cheap. Much of the land 
is rough and considerably grown over with bushes, but 
all these places have possibilities for workers. Look out 
for the land shark, and do not buy them when covered 
with snow. Prof. Henry, cn Wisconsin, has recently 
been through our State and others near, and is going 
back to advise young men to come East, where they can 
start in dairying with so much less capital than in Wis¬ 
consin, where lands are held at four to ten times what 
they can be bought for in New England. h. g. m. 
CERTIFIED MILK. 
How the Work Was Originated. 
With reference to its origin in New York City we 
find that for many years the Walkcr-Gordon Laboratory 
Co. have been supplying a guaranteed milk, and this milk 
has been guaranteed by a Milk Commission consisting 
of prominent physicians who have appointed various ex¬ 
perts to look after the details of their work. At New¬ 
ark, N. J., there has been a dairy which has been pro¬ 
ducing “certified milk” under the supervision of a Milk 
Commission which was formed through the efforts ot 
Dr. Coid. Dr. H. D. Chapin has been studying the 
milk supply of New York City in connection with his 
studies on the home modifications of milk for infant 
feeding, which led up to his reading a paper before the 
Medical Society of the County of New York on “Plow 
the Milk Supply of New York City Can be Improved.” 
The milk dealers were all invited to attend this meeting; 
there were also present Major Henry E. Alvord, Chief 
of the Dairy Division of the United States Department 
of Agriculture, and Prof. LI. W. Conn, who spoke upon 
the dairy conditions and bacteriology, and the milkmen 
presented their side of the question. The result of this 
meeting was the formation ot a Milk Commission with 
Dr. H. D. Chapin as chairman, and the details of the 
investigation conducted bv this committee can be found 
in the Medical Record of October 19, 1901. The milk 
dealers were invited to meet with the Milk Commission 
and one after another they gave their names in as being 
willing to co-operate with the Milk Commission. They 
hesitated at first, and later found that the spirit was 
one of co-operation and not of coercion, and as long 
as this spirit is maintained there is no difficulty, but 
when either the dealer or the Milk Commission does not 
co-operate there is apt to be some friction. From the 
circular sent to dealers we find the following, and as 
found in Dr. Chapin’s book: 
The Commission appointed by the Medical Society of the 
County of New York to aid in improving tne milk supply of 
New York City invites the co-operation of the milk dealers 
and farmers in attaining that enu. The sale of pure milk 
is of advantage to those furnishing it, as well as to those 
who use it. The Commission has undertaken to assist both 
consumer and producer by fixing a standard of cleanliness 
and quality to which it can certify, and by giving informa¬ 
tion concerning the measures needful for obtaining that 
degree of purity. The most practicable standard for the 
estimation of cleanliness in the handling and care of milk 
is its relative freedom from bacteria. The Commission has 
tentatively fixed upon a maximum of 30,000 germs of all 
kind per cubic centimeter of milk, which must not be ex¬ 
ceeded to receive.the endorsement of the Commission. This 
standard must be attained solely by measures directed to¬ 
wards scrupulous cleanliness, proper cooling and prompt 
delivery. 
The milk certified by the Commission must contain not 
less than four per cent of butter fat, on the average, and 
have all other characteristics of pure, wholesome milk. 
In order that dealers who incur the expense and take (be 
precautions necessary to furnish a truly clean and whole¬ 
some milk may have some suitable means of bringing these 
facts before the public, the Commission offers them the 
right to use caps on their milk jars, stamped with the 
words, “Certified by the Commission of the Medical Society 
of the County of New York.’’ The dealers are given the 
right to use these certificates when their milk is obtained 
under the conditions required by the Commission and con¬ 
forms to its standards. 
The required'conditions will be given in subsequent 
issues. _'_ E. N. E. 
COOLING WATER BY COMPRESSED AIR. 
Would it be practicable to cool water in a tank by re¬ 
leasing compressed air at say 150 pounds pressure into it? 
If so, how cool could the water be made by it? j. n. t. 
No. Dartmouth, Mass. 
The expansion of compressed air always results in 
cooling, but the difficulty lies in devising an economical 
device for compressing and utilizing it afterwards. The 
specific heat of air is ,2375, hence it requires a rise in 
temperature of one degree in one pound, deriving its 
heat wholly from the water, to lower the temperature 
of .2375 pound of water one degree. When air expands, 
doing work only upon itself, its temperature falls one 
degree F. for each increase of one-four-hundred-and- 
ninety-first in its volume. When air is put under a 
pressure of 150 pounds per square inch its volume has 
been reduced, speaking in approximate round numbers, 
to one-tenth. It has, therefore, been placed under con¬ 
ditions which enable it to expand tenfold when released. 
But a tenfold increase in volume would be 4,910 times 
the increment stated above, and if this expansion could 
be allowed to take place so that it simply cooled itself, it 
would lower its own temperature through 4,910 de¬ 
grees F. 
The weight of air at mean pressure and at 62 degrees 
F. is eight pounds per 100 cubic feet, and 100 cubic feet, 
placed under a pressure of 150 pounds per square inch 
would have its volume reduced to 10 cubic feet; it 
could, therefore, be allowed to expand and increase its 
volume 4,910 times the increment which will cool itself 
one degree F. Its cooling effect, could it be imparted 
wholly to 100 pounds of water, would be capable of 
lowering the temperature of this amount of water 
93.29 degrees F., and of cooling 1,000 pounds of water 
through 9.3 degrees F. It has not been found prac¬ 
ticable, however, so far as the writer knows, to devise 
a suitable mechanism for compressing air, wasting the 
heat of compression and then economically utilizing the 
compressed air to produce refrigeration simply. 
F. H. KING. 
