698 
September 24, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Some Good Old Orchards. 
It is the exception; in fact, impossible to grow apples 
here of any marketable value on thin soils as you inter¬ 
pret them, i. e., thin soils underlaid by ledges. There 
are many old orchards of from 75 to 100 years growth 
here on stony land too stony to be cultivated, but not 
what I call thin soil. The soil is in a sense deep and 
naturally well drained; that is, a side hill, so sloping that 
water does not stand on it, or if in places water does 
stand no apple tree will grow or bear. Wet feet are as 
deadly in such a case as we know them to be to humans. 
A well-cultivated orchard here is as much better than 
the old style orchard of New England as it is in any 
section, say, Genesee Co., N. Y. But the hill town 
orchards bear a fruit of better keeping quality, bettcr 
flavor, if less showy than our valley orchards. Quality 
considered the higher towns discount the valley or Con¬ 
necticut River towns. Not perhaps at the county fair, 
where the eye alone judges, but the practical man of 
affairs when buying apples for his own use will buy the 
hill town apple, keeping better, eating better, cooking 
better than fruit grown on mellow soil. E. F. I. 
Hampden Co., Mass. 
Something About New Hampshire. 
Most of the apple trees near me on the hill farms are 
found in fence corners, being seedling trees top-worked. 
In the aggregate there are a great many thousand trees, 
but so scattered that only a professional apple buyer 
could form any reliable estimate. Generally speaking, 
barring the Merrimac Valle}', which is inclined to be 
sandy, and a rather flat White birch and Scrub pine 
district lying between Nashua and Rochester, the soil 
of the hill farms is heavy, often very cobbly and again 
with the earth’s “ribs” protruding. Many of the aban¬ 
doned farms were too rough and rocky to stand long 
against the competition of the West, and generally when 
a house burned it meant a few years of “hay skinning” 
and then brush and pasture. The quality of the apples 
on these cobbly hillsides is excellent, and there is room 
for commercial orchards after either the Woodward or 
Hitchings plans, both having limitations. Here and 
there a man has set out young trees, but the average 
New Hampshire farmer holds to the scion and grafting 
wax combination. If a man set out apples on soil under¬ 
laid by a ledge I should expect to see the trees eventually 
go over unless well protected from the winds. I should 
advise any person thinking of removing to New England 
to make an extended visit and be satisfied that the 
locality would be suitable for permanent residence. 
Most New Hampshire farms are set up more or less 
“edgewise,” and are a decided contrast to other sections 
of the country. There are many small fruit farms dove¬ 
tailed in here and there, which supply local markets, and 
yield more in cash than others 50 times larger, but these 
also require a careful study of the ground and the pres¬ 
ent local supply. J- o. 
Charlestown, N. H. 
Not So Many Rocks in Maine. 
The thin soils are not found on the rocky hills in this 
State, but upon the level tracts, near the streams, which 
are sandy and free from stones. These tracts are com¬ 
monly known in this section as “plain land.” Unlike this 
land, the rocky hills have a deep mellow loam, that when 
properly cultivated will produce heavily, and is especially 
suited to fruit culture, and it often seems that the trees 
thrive better upon the stoniest land. It is a mistaken 
idea that there are many acres of farm land in Maine 
too rocky for cultivation, and, as a rule, when rocks are 
found in abundance the soil is deep and strong. There 
are orchards on these hills in good bearing condition 
that are probably 50 years old, and in many cases much 
older. The writer picked some apples a year ago from 
a tree planted by his grandfather more than 75 years ago, 
and the tree was in good condition and bearing freely. 
At the price for which these New England farms can be 
purchased to-day a great opportunity is certainly offered 
to those who would like to engage in apple raising. Our 
farmers, though slowly, are turning their attention more 
in this direction than ever before, and are beginning to 
realize a handsome profit from trees set within the last 
few years, and New England farms are steadily advanc¬ 
ing in price. Probably more Maine farms have been 
bought and sold in the last two years than during the 
whole decade before that time. s. w. could. 
Maine. 
POTATO DI60INC IN WISCONSIN. 
Potatoes in this section arc dug almost entirely with 
a digger. Very little hand work done. A large number 
are raised, and potato digging means a very busy time in 
this section In picking up they all use gunny sacks. 
Some farmers scatter the sacks out along the row where 
most convenient for the pickers, and some require each 
picker to take a sack of sacks, about 20 in number, and 
when he gets his basket full he takes out one sack and 
throws the remainder ahead to where the next bushel 
will be. He empties his basket of one bushel, and when 
he gets his next bushel picked up he finds himself at 
his sacks again, and so on until his sack of sacks is 
empty. The teamsters who are hauling from the field 
are supposed to drop these sacks at the most convenient 
places for the pickers. Common gunny sacks that cost 
about five cents each will last for two to three years 
used in this way if taken care of when not in use. I do 
not think you could get one of the potato growers in 
this section to use crates if they were furnished for noth¬ 
ing. Besides, a teamster can haul far more in a day 
where potatoes are in bushel sacks than when in boxes. 
If the haul is not over 100 rods one man is expected to 
put into cellar 700 bushels. 
Potatoes are all screened as they go into the cellar. 
The average day’s work for common run of pickers is 
TWO WAYS OF SPENDING IDLE TIME. Fig. 308. 
Reproduced from the Commoner. 
100 bushels put in sacks. Plenty of good pickers will 
pick 150 bushels per day if they arc paid extra for it. 
Two pickers work together, and they all work on sta¬ 
tions, so that each man must do his share. Potatoes in 
this section commenced to blight in August, and later 
the rot started badly. All early ones are so bad that a 
bushel put in the cellar to use from will be one-third 
poor ones before they can be used up. Indications are 
that the rot will be much worse than last year, and that 
was bad enough. A few have dug and put in cellar, 
hoping to save them in that way, but they continue to 
rot just the same. I have used 13 pounds of blue vitriol 
to the acre in four applications, and my vines are green 
and look fine yet. but I can find some rot. Time will 
tell whether Bordeaux Mixture is good for potatoes 
or not. e. H. CURRIER. 
Wisconsin. _ 
EXPERIENCE WITH KEEPING ICE . 
Success With a Small House. 
Mr. Davis, on page 628, is right in saying that a small 
quantity of ice cannot be kept a year,in this latitude; 
but the pile of S. L. W., 9x9 and 12 feet high, if good 
solid ice, and properly packed, should certainly have 
THE ITALIAN TRINKET PEDDLER. Fig.309. 
furnished an abundant supply for any family a whole 
year. I am certain of this, because we have often kept 
a block of ice of that size for a year, and used it for 
cooling drinking water and the milk of 14 cows. Our 
icehouse, 12x12 and 12 feet high to plates, was built with 
hemlock weatherboards nailed on perpendicularly to the 
sills and plates. Studding 2x6 inch standing perpen¬ 
dicular were toe-nailed to the sills and plates, and inside 
of these pine boards were nailed on horizontally, and 
the space between these and the weatherboarding was 
filled with sawdust. This left a room about 11x11 feet 
for the ice, and the sawdust to surround it. Pine boards 
were used for lining, because pine will outlast hemlock 
in a damp place. The ice was packed one foot from 
the lining boards all the way around, forming a block 
about nine feet square. The space between the ice and 
the lining was filled with sawdust as fast as the block 
went up, which kept the cakes snug in their places, and 
tamping the sawdust could be done better than after 
the house was filled. Our block of ice was built nine or 
10 feet high, and one foot depth of sawdust put on top. 
One foot of sawdust on top is ample, but it must be 
constantly tramped to keep it solid as the ice is taken 
out or the air will get under it. In a few years the 
lining boards had rotted, and I took them out, battened 
the cracks of the weatherboards so the sawdust would 
not leak out, and for many years afterwards filled it 
without any lining, and could not see any difference in 
its efficiency in preserving the ice. 
When the house was built, to secure drainage, I placed 
a lot of hemlock brush on the ground inside the building, 
and then laid a loose flooring of boards, and on the 
boards six inches of sawdust, and on sawdust the ice 
was packed at the proper season. I had a good tight 
roof, and holes in the gables to let air circulate over 
the ice. This is necessary to prevent the sawdust from 
becoming too wet as the ice melts, and the slow drying 
of the sawdust creates coldness. As Mr. Davis says, the 
cakes of ice should be cut true and of the same size, and 
pains should be taken to place them closely together. If 
there is snow on the ground when the house is filled 
it should be pressed between crevices. In the absence 
of snow, pounded ice will answer. j. w. ingham. 
Pennsylvania. 
Ventilation; “ Yarding ” the Ice. 
I do not think the trouble with the icehouse described 
by S. L. W., page 628, is so much with the size of the 
house as with the lack of ventilation. Our house is but 
a trifle larger, but was constructed with two openings 
about one foot square in the gable ends. The ice all 
melted of course, and we have gradually added ventila¬ 
tion until now we have a cupola, a blind ventilator about 
30x36 on the north end, and leave the upper door on 
south end, 2x3 feet, open partially, holding it in place 
with a rod. The space between the outside and lining 
is eight inches, and is filled with sawdust, and the ice 
is left six to eight inches away from the lining, and that 
space filled with sawdust also. This we have found nec¬ 
essary. The hot air generated by the Summer sun must 
have an immediate outlet or the ice will melt rapidly. 
The ice was 12 inches thick when packed this last 
Winter, and when a new layer is opened it shows prac¬ 
tically no waste; but the opened layer before it is useci 
gets down to eight inches, and some cakes less than that. 
Ice will melt in a small house, but the ventilation will 
check it to a marked degree. He should use at least 
12 inches of sawdust for covering. 
A number of farmers in this vicinity “yard” their 
ice in preference to building icehouses. They figure the 
ground space they wish to use for the ice, and set posts 
or stakes about it, their height depending upon the num¬ 
ber of tiers of ice. Three feet outside of these posts 
others are set, and the space between the two sets of 
posts is filled with sawdust or shingle shavings, boards 
being nailed to the posts to hold this material in place. 
This leaves a square (surrounded by three feet of pack¬ 
ing) for the ice, which is covered heavily with the same 
material, though some use meadow hay over the shingle 
shavings. The waste from melting is estimated at 20 
per cent. The advantage is in the cheapness of the 
“yard” or stack, and the disadvantage seems to consist 
in the labor necessary to remove the two feet of covering 
material when one wishes to take out any ice, partic¬ 
ularly after heavy rains, when it is thoroughly soaked. 
After freezing it is also unpleasant to handle. Since we 
have given the present amount of ventilation to our ice¬ 
house we cannot use all of the ice, although we consume 
over 15 tons. f. c. c. 
Maine. 
“A BARREL OF APPLES.”—American Fruits 
prints some striking figures from C. C. Bell, of Mis¬ 
souri. Mr. Bell says he has been buying apples for 30 
years. He has taken the average price of the fruit paid 
for each year and obtained from merchants and others 
prices of wheat and other merchandise. The following 
figures give the result: 
PURCHASING POWER OF A BARREL OF APPLES. 
(3 bushels in a barrel.) 
is 
^ a cs 
U 
c *- 58 
M 
•w to 
a 
Sftn 
St’S 
to 
s4 
8“ 
o 
0 
j/CVH t£ 
*3 . .£ 
j _ 
< 
H 
a> a 
A 3 
“ a 
4) 3 
a S 
X 3 
c3 S 
c5 5 
£ cs 
t- ci 
C3 £-• 0 
X 
£g, 
O 
a a. 
£ 
O 
O 
U 
C 
jsK 
— <u 
gg.'g 
y. t'2 
1870 
39 
7y* 
114 
14% 
7 2-3 
5% 
319 
1875 
54 
7 >/. 
155 
18 
11 1-3 
oy, 
1880 
72 
6 1-3 
154 
16 
12 1-2 
91/2 
2S4 
1885 
65 
7 1-3 
172 
18 
13 
10 
264 
1890 
84 
12% 
250 
28 
23 
151/2 
122 
1895 
67 
12 
120 
24 
15 
81/2 
208 
1900 
73 
15 
168 
19 
17 
11 
164 
90 
1903 
120 
22 
286 
40 
23 
16 
He also says that the harvester 
apples in 1903 was a far better 
at cost 284 barrels in 1880. 
which cost 90 
machine than 
barrels 
the one 
