382 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 6 
TWO FRUIT NOTES FROM GRUNDY. 
Consumptive Apple Treks.—A few days ago, an 
orcbardist who has several thousand trees planted, 
asked me whether I had noticed among my apple 
trees any that failed to grow well—seemed scrubby 
and stunted, even though planted in as good soil as 
the most thrifty. I had, and often wondered thereat. 
“ In my apple orchards,” said he, “ I find from 5 to 
15 trees of this kind in every thousand. The growth 
of a few trees in a thousand may be checked the first 
year or two by some accident, or discoverable cause, 
then they will start into growth, and do as well as 
any ; but the trees of which I am speaking, never do 
start into thrifty growth no matter what I feed them 
or do for them. When I find one, I dig it out and re¬ 
place it with a thrifty, young tree. If I leave them 
in the orchard, they will put forth leaves, and make 
a feeble growth for a few years and then die, and I 
have an ugly break in the row. My theory is that 
such trees are grown from scions cut from consump¬ 
tive trees, trees that have been starved and stunted 
all their lives, and have scarcely any vitality left in 
them. They grow fairly well in the nursery row, 
but when checked by transplanting, they never re¬ 
cover from the shock.” 
I thought hi3 theory a very good one—ingenious 
even though not correct. I have dug two such trees 
out of my orchard, and replaced them with others 
that made a fine, thrifty growth right from the start. 
A careful examination of those dug up. roots and all, 
disclosed no reason why they should not have grown 
well. The wood was very hard, the branches short 
and scraggy, and the roots seemed spindling and 
weak. That the soil contained fertility enough to 
induce and support a strong, healthy growth, was 
fully proved by the rapid growth and thrifty appear¬ 
ance of the trees set in their places. 
Another orcbardist, to whom I mentioned this mat¬ 
ter, accounted for the stunted growth on the theory 
that the sap of the trees was poisoned in some way, 
either when they were dug from the nursery row, or 
afterward. There may be something in this, but I 
cannot understand why these few trees should be 
thus injured when thousands of others, dug at the 
same time and handled in the same manner, are not 
hurt in the least, and grow right along when set out. 
I rather think that the orchardist first mentioned, is 
nearer correct. That the trees are grown from scions 
cut from consumptive trees, and cannot stand the 
shock of transplanting. 
Success with Plums. —My Burbank plums, four 
years planted, bore such a heavy crop last season that 
I didn’t expect any this year ; but they are loaded 
again, every branch of one tree having a solid double 
row the entire length. I have removed fully three- 
fourths of them, and really should take off more. 
Satsumas, same age, bore none last year, but are well 
supplied this. They are planted in a group with 
Wild Goose, DeSoto and others, and not cultivated. 
Several years ago, an old man who was passionately 
fond of, and very successful with plums, gave me a 
bit of advice that I never forgot. “ When you plant 
plum trees,” said he, “plant them in a group, not 
over 10 or 12 feet apart, and not less than half a dozen 
kinds together, and after they begin to bear, you will 
have plums every year that any one lias.” I profited 
by his advice, for this season I have plums on every 
tree, while I have seen several groups of a single 
variety, planted years before mine, that have not a 
plum on them. This old man declared, many a time, 
that he obtained his largest and sweetest plums from 
the branches that were “ mingled together.” “ Plant 
your trees near together, even if you have to feed 
them,” was his advice. 
CIVIL ENGINEERING FOR BOYS ON THE FARM. 
Part II. 
Tripod for Water Level. 
In Part I, a simple form of level was described, con¬ 
sisting of a bent tube to contain water, mounted on a 
plain staff to set up in the ground. If the tube be 
mounted on a tripod, it will stand firmer, and may 
readily be set up in places where the staff could not 
be stuck into the ground. A tripod such as is used 
with the photographer’s camera, is easily made and 
answers the purpose. One way of making it is as fol¬ 
lows : From a piece of hard-wood board that will not 
split easily, cut out a triangle about eight inches on a 
side, Fig. 123. Fasten a lug to each corner about two 
inches long and an inch thick. These should also be 
of hard wood, and each lug should have two iron 
pins set in it to receive and hold the legs of the tripod. 
Fig. 123 represents one of the lugs with the pins set 
in it. A piece of a 20penny wire nail is about the right 
thing for a pin. These lugs are fastened on the 
underside of the triangular piece of board, and 
together they make the tripod head. A represents 
the underside of the tripod head, and B is a side view 
of it. A hole is bored through the center of the tripod 
head to receive the spindle of the water tube. 
The tripod legs require three pieces of tough, 
springy, hard wood. They should be about IX inch 
square, and five feet long. One end should be tapered 
off to a point If the lower half of the leg be rounded, 
so as to slip a ferule on it, and drive it tight at about 
the middle, so much the better. If one have no 
ferule, the middle of the leg may be wound tightly 
with wire. Then with a saw split the upper half of 
TLUPOD FOR WATER LEVEL. Flo. 123. 
the leg down to the ferule, and bore holes through 
the upper part of the leg to slip on to the pins in the 
tripod head. Then spread the upper halves of the leg 
apart, and about half way up from the ferule, fasten 
a little block by a hinge on the inside of one branch 
of the leg for a spreader. This spreader should be 
about three inches long. It should spread the branches 
of the leg enough so that it is necessary to spring the 
LEGS FOR THE TRIPOD. Fig. 124. 
tops together before they will both slip on to the pins 
in the tripod head, and should hold them firmly 
against the lugs when in place. C, D and A, Fig. 124, 
show the tripod leg by itself, and F shows one leg 
attached to the tripod head. 
When all three of the legs are thus attached, the 
tripod is done and ready to receive the leveling tube. 
If one have a tin tube with a spindle as described in 
HOW THE LEVEL IS PUT TOGETHER. Fig. 125. 
Part I, the tripod may be smaller and lighter than 
the one described. When the tube is set on the tripod 
with the spindle fitting into the hole in the tripod 
head, the instrument is finished. If, however, one 
have a rubber tube attached to a piece of board, he 
will need something between the tube and the tripod 
for an attachment. This may be made of three little 
blocks of hard wood put together like a letter U, with 
a spike, wire nail or small bolt put down through the 
middle one by which to attach it to the tripod. See 
Fig. 124. The sides of the U should be just far enough 
apart to let the piece of board carrying the rubber 
tube, slip in between them, and be attached to them 
by a bolt through the middle, so that the ends of the 
tube may be raised or depressed at will, and be 
clamped in any position by tightening the nut on the 
bolt. G, Fig. 125, shows the tube attached to the 
U, and H and I show both of them attached to the 
tripod head and one leg of the tripod. The arm carry¬ 
ing the tube may be revolved horizontally to point in 
any direction, and if the connection with the tripod 
be made with the bolt, the nut may be turned up to 
clamp and hold the arm in any desired direction. 
That is all there is of the leveling instrument. It 
need not cost more than §3, though one have to hire 
a carpenter to make it. It will do any work that the 
most expensive engineers’ level will, except that, not 
having telescope sights, one cannot see so far or do 
so fine work with it. The engineers’ spirit level is a 
very delicate, sensitive instrument, and all its parts 
must be in perfect order and in true adjustment, or 
it will not do correct work. The instrument I have 
been describing does not depend, in the least, on the 
perfection of its workmanship, and so long as the 
water in the tube has free passage from end to end, 
one cannot get it out of adjustment, or make it tell a 
wrong story. It is absolutely correct and truthful 
every time. 
There are other cheap devices for taking levels ; one 
of them uses a plumb line with sights at right angles 
with the line. It may be made by fastening together 
three strips of board like a letter A, see Fig. 125. 
The plumb line is hung from the apex of the triangle, 
and the sights attached to the cross piece. To fix the 
sights in the right place, strike a circle with the 
plumb line, using as much of it as is necessary in 
order to mark exactly where the circle crosses the 
ends of the cross board. Stick pieces of needles into 
each end of the cross board for sights, being careful 
to put them exactly in the circle. Then make a mark 
on the cross board exactly half way between the 
sights. When the instrument is erect and the plumb 
line, hanging free, just covers the center mark, the 
sights will be level. By the assistance of other marks 
on the cross board, you will be able to set the sights 
at any desired slope. This form of a level is cheaper 
and easier made than with a water tube, but whether 
it be correct or not, depends entirely on the accuracy 
with which the sights and plumb line are adjusted to 
each other, while with the water tube, the line of 
sight adjusts itself and cannot be wrong. 
Michigan. frank hodgman. 
FARM NOTES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 
Crimson Clover Report. —This clover, sown last 
summer after strawberries, made a pretty fair growth 
for the very dry season, fully as good as the previous 
year ; but every plant was winter (or spring) killed. 
It was not lifted out, simply frozen to death. It did 
not seem to me that the weather was more severe 
than one year ago, and I thought that, perhaps, there 
might be something in the claim that some strains of 
seed produced hardier plants than others. In 1894, 
my seed was purchased from a grower in Delaware, 
who claimed extra hardiness for his brand of seed. 
It came through the winter pretty fairly, but was 
turned under for strawberries before making much 
growth in the spring. A neighbor who had some of 
the same seed, let a portion of his piece mature its 
crop, which was from 18 to 26 inches high, and a very 
thick growth. The sod was turned under, but 
enough of the seed grew to make, I believe, a pretty 
fair stand. But it came out this spring no better 
than mine, so another theory has “gone to smash.” 
Some Peach Items. —A peach orchard set two years 
ago, had potatoes planted in it, and they and the trees 
were given a liberal application of Stockbridge Potato 
manure. The trees made a very rank growth, but 
were badly frozen during the blizzard the following 
winter. Potatoes were planted again last year, but 
no fertilizer was applied to the trees. Although the 
mercury fell to 18 degrees below zero, the trees were 
not so badly injured as before, the injury being least 
where the soil is poorest. The varieties are Crosby, 
Mountain Rose, Stump, Oldmixon and Elberta. The 
last is as thrifty and hardy in wood as any I have and, 
as to fruit buds, all the blooms I have seen, were on 
a tree (seedling) that was buried in snow during the 
coldest weather. 
Working Wet Land.—I have a good (?) example of 
the effects of plowing when too wet. Three years 
ago, I commenced to prepare a piece for strawberries. 
It is naturally quite wet, but has been drained. As 
the weather was “catchy,” a small strip was manured 
and then plowed, being in excellent condition. The 
next day, two men were employed and ordered to 
manure a narrow strip and then to plow it, repeating 
the process in order that no manure should be left on 
