27o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 18 
paid fertilizer bill, they regret their old-time, short¬ 
sighted folly, and wonder how they could have thrown 
so much good fertility away. Many of us will live 
to see farmers wonder why, for years, they let the 
waters of the brook run idly away ! Irrigation is the 
creation of a cheaper plant ration. 
LETTING AN ORCHARD ON SHARES. 
What Is a Fair Share ? 
We have an eight-acre orchard (as good as the average in this 
locality) that we would like to let to some neighbor on shares, he 
to do the necessary spraying and gather the apples when ripe. 
What share should he receive ? If let for a number of years, 
what share should he have, he to prune the trees and do all the 
work (no cultivating) ? c. E. B. 
Cambria, Mich. 
VARIOUS ANSWERS. 
During the year I was in Europe, and during the 
Columbian Exposition year, when I was engaged in 
Chicago, I leased my orchards, vineyard and asparagus 
field, the lessee to prune, spray and cultivate properly, 
as I directed. He kept accurate accounts of all sales, 
and we divided the income equally between us. We 
were both well satisfied. The lessee has al ways con¬ 
tended that I was very liberal with him. 
C. W. GARFIELD. 
The difficulty which at once presents itself in esti¬ 
mating what would be considered a fair share in a 
case like this, is the uncertainty of the apple crop. 
Oftentimes, as here in western New York, it is greatly 
reduced, if not an entire failure. At the same time, 
pruning should be properly performed each 
year, and the work of spraying, it is assumed, 
is to be carried on as occasion requires. So it is 
made evident that much depends on the outcome 
of the orchard, in forming even an approximate 
estimate. And there is to be considered the 
amount of time consumed in the work of pruning 
and spraying, which would vary to a large 
extent in different orchards. The cost of har¬ 
vesting could, ordinarily, be estimated at 10 
cents per barrel, being, I believe, about the 
price paid in this part of the State ; though, 
in case of a light crop, when the fruit is scattered 
through the tree, the expense would be greatly 
increased. Again, in the event of an unusually 
abundant crop, it would allow of the share 
being proportionately less, and at the same time 
be on a fairly paying basis. Accordingly, the 
fact presents itself that only in case of guaran¬ 
teed fairly average crops continuously from 
year to year, could anything like a proper cal¬ 
culation be made relative to what a just share 
for one year, or a term of years, would be ? Even 
then, as we consider the opposing influences connected 
with this crop of late, it would be a most difficult 
undertaking. So I give it up. irving d. cook. 
Orchards are rarely, if ever, rented in this manner ; 
hence there are few, if any, precedents upon which 
to base a conclusion. Moreover, neither the age of 
the orchard, nor the number of years of the proposed 
rental, is specified. Nothing is specified respecting 
the very essential matter of manuring, which must, 
unavoidably, essentially affect results. Aside from 
the foregoing particulars, the varieties which go to 
make up the orchard, may easily constitute all the 
difference between profitableness and unprofitable¬ 
ness, financial success and failure, to say nothing of 
accessibility to a good market. If, however, it be 
assumed that the orchard is to be suitably cultivated 
and judiciously fertilized, that the lessee is expected 
to treat it with three or four thorough sprayings each 
year, that it is made up of fairly profitable varieties ; 
and, farther, that the lease shall include a fair aver¬ 
age of its life, from planting to decadence, it would 
seem but reasonable to compare such lease, so far as 
rates are concerned, with that of lands leased, under 
similar conditions, for ordinary farming purposes; 
or, perhaps, from one-fourth to one-third of the crop 
when properly harvested. t. t. lyon. 
If the apples are hand-picked and put in barrels 
ready for market, or otherwise properly taken care 
of, one-third of the crop would be about right. If 
taken care of by a No. 1 man for a series of years, 
properly pruned, and the fruit marketed (no culti¬ 
vating to be done) one-half of the fruit would be 
about right, and one-half of the proceeds of the wind¬ 
falls. Much would depend upon whether the orchard 
was in meadow or in pasture, to be fed off by sheep 
or hogs. If the fruit in the orchard was much of it 
very choice in kind, the man who had it on shares, 
would have a good bargain. s. s. bailey. 
So many variable conditions have a bearing on the 
subject, that no general rule as to the share of pro¬ 
duct which the owner or operator should have, can 
apply to every case. The location as to facilities for 
marketing the fruit, the varieties of apples in the 
orchard, the size and style of the trees (as the labor 
of picking fruit from very_large trees is much greater 
than from trees of medium size and good form), also 
whether the orchard has, up to the present time, been 
properly cared for, and whether the orchard is in a 
good condition as to fertility or not, must all be con¬ 
sidered. If in all these respects, it is in good, fair 
condition, it might be about fair that each party 
should have half the proceeds. Then again, the in¬ 
quirer dees not state how the fruit is to be disposed 
of, whether marketed at the orchard, or how far be 
drawn to market; or whether each party shall market 
his part of the fruit, or the lessee market the whole ; 
whether part, little or much, of the fruit shall be 
evaporated by the lessee, or whether each party shall 
dispose of his own share in that or any other manner. 
Therefore, no specific answer can apply without 
taking all these points into consideration, which can 
only be done by those who are, or can become, famil¬ 
iar with the case in question. 
It is common for owners of farms throughout the 
country, to let them to tenants on some general plan 
of sharing, and the same rules generally govern 
whatever the quality, size and condition of the farm, 
or convenience to market, etc. As a result of such 
system, those who own the best farms, best conven¬ 
iences and locations, are able to secure the best ten¬ 
ants, and thus they are graded downward, so that the 
poorer the farm, the less favorable location, and less 
conveniences, the poorer the tenant is very sure to be. 
The owners of the poor farms with the poor tenants 
are very likely to remain poor, and generally they do 
not know why it is so. If C. E. B. has a good orchard, 
well located, he should be able to find a good man to 
take charge of it. And if both are men of good sense, 
they ought to judge nearer than any one at a distance 
can, what share each should have, and let the orchard 
be cultivated so that the shares may be increased. 
_ T. G. YEOMANS. 
SOME USEFUL HOMEMADE TOOLS. 
A farmer with any mechanical -genius, can make in 
winter and on rainy days, many tools at slight ex¬ 
pense. A friend made a potato planter from a worn- 
out grain drill cut down to six feet wide, so as to 
plant two rows at once, and return in the wheel mark, 
thus avoiding marking the ground. The teeth are all 
removed, a seat attached in front for the driver, and 
two behind on which boys sit to drop the seed through 
tubes which reach the ground just behind a small 
plow which opens a trench. Each plow is followed by 
two billers from an old cultivator arranged so as to 
cover the seed which is carried in the grain box. It 
does the work well and rapidly, and cost less than $5. 
I made a sprayer, see Fig. 85, which has been in 
use two years, and works as well as those costing 
from $60 to $75, at an expense of about $15, which was 
mostly for pump, hose and nozzle. An old mower 
furnished wheels, axles, seat, frame and tongue. A 
large sprocket-wheel and two small ones with a binder 
chain, were found in a neighbor’s pile of old iron. 
These furnished the power by fastening the large 
wheel to one of the drive wheels, one small one to a 
shaft which, with a crank at the other end works the 
pump handle, and the other one to an old gear from 
a binder, which runs an agitator in the barrel. The 
chain runs over all three wheels, which are placed in 
line. 
For potatoes, a hose leads from the pump to a half¬ 
inch gas pipe fastened to the rear of the frame, to 
which are attached three Vermorel nozzles three feet 
apart. Of if preferred, two hose may be used, one 
attached to a three-foot gas pipe, with nozzle attached 
at a right angle, so that the driver can hold it over a 
row at one side. Attach the other hose to the center 
of another three-foot piece of pipe bent in a half 
circle, to each end of which is attached a nozzle by a 
short piece of hose. Another man hangs this over his 
shoulders, takes a nozzle in each hand, and covers two 
rows with the spray. I consider the latter plan the 
better, for occasionally a hill will be out of line, or 
the tops bent over, and a stationary nozzle will fail 
to hit all with the spray and leave bugs enough to 
“seed” many adjoining hills. An acre can be sprayed 
in a little more than one-half hour. The machine is 
equally effective on grapes and currants. 
Another simple tool, which can be made in two 
hours, is a plank drag. Its manner of construction is 
known to nearly every one, but its value is known 
only by those who have used it. I consider it better 
than a roller for crushing lumps, and smoothing and 
leveling the surface. e. c. gillktt. 
FRUIT PRODUCTS OF VENEZUELA. 
Perhaps such of your readers as have a taste for 
horticulture, may be interested to hear of the fruit 
products of a region much nearer in miles and 
money to New York, than is California, and not 
much more distant in time, by the slow, but ex¬ 
cellent steamers sailiog every 10 days. The val¬ 
ley of Caracas has a climate of perpetual May— 
mean annual temperature 71 degrees, usual 
range in the cooler months, 55 to 75 degrees ; 
in the warmer, 60 to 80 degrees ; lowest record, 
48 degrees ; highest, 85 degrees. 
Of the fruits produced here, and abundant in 
the market and on the hotel table during our 
six weeks’ stay in January and Febiuary, the 
chief are these : Chirimoya, oval-shaped, average 
diameter about 4x5 inches ; skin like a green 
cucumber, filled with white, soft pulp, in which 
are imbedded a number of black seeds, as large 
as a kidney bean ; sweet, with a delicious, aro¬ 
matic, pineapple flavor. Rifion is much like 
chirimoya, but smaller and having a rather 
more delicate flavor. Sour Sop grows to dimen¬ 
sions of 6x10 inches, tart, excellent for stewing. 
Eachosa looks, cut or uncut, like a large musk- 
melon, except that the very thin skin (rather than 
rind) is smooth, and the spicy, edible seeds are about 
the size of grains of wheat. Pulp sweet without 
mushiness, and buttery, rather than watery. Mango 
is like a plum of orange size and color, large stone, 
sweet, juicy, a slight, not unpleasant, suggestion of 
turpentine in the flavor. Nispero is like a Japan 
persimmon, except its rusty coat; flavor and flesh 
between that and a Sheldon pear. Alligator pear, 
orange, lime, sweet lemon. 
All the foregoing, grow on trees, some of the trees 
very large, and get little or no cultivation. Bananas 
of finest quality grow almost wild, and the excellent 
pineapples are indigenous in Venezuela, as is also, 
I think, the Parchita, which is, Humboldt says, at its 
best here. The homegrown apples, quinces, peaches, 
nectarines, plums, watermelons and muskmelons in 
the market, are mostly of poor quality because utterly 
neglected. I think that there is not one grafted or 
budded tree in the country. In this equatorial region, 
Nature is so prodigal of spontaneous production that 
man grudgeseven a little labor to assist. 
Vines of the finest European grapes produce three 
crops a year, but they must be trimmed, and that is 
too much trouble. I do not hear that they are 
attacked by fungus or insects. Wild strawberries are 
in market, a different species from ours, about the 
size of our wild ones, but less acid. The breadfruit 
trees that I have noticed, have no fruit on them at 
present. I am told that the fruit is little used here, 
and I see none in the market. Some of the fruits 
ripen continuously in this valley through the year ; 
others, not now ripening here, are brought from a 
different altitude, where a higher or lower temperature 
hastens or retards. There is a great change in a short 
distance ; for example, La Guayra, six miles from 
here, 23 by the winding railroad, has an annual mean 
temperature of 84 degrees, 13 degrees higher than 
Caracas. It is 3,000 feet lower. 
But some of the fruits of the region are not in sea¬ 
son so as to be found in this market now. Prickly 
pear we have had at table, nut I get the names pome- 
rosa, icaco, perra, memon, mamac, tamarind, as fruits 
now ripening, which I have not seen. 
But this does not tell the whole story of the fruit 
capabilities of the elevated part of the equatorial belt 
of South America. Bates, inqhis''great work, The 
HOW THE WATER IS PUMPED FROM THE LAKE. Fig. 84. 
