1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
655 
down, at the top, and in the center, and that there are 
no off seasons with our apples. What brings about 
this changed condition ? Climate, atmosphere and 
soil conditions, and cultivation. Without cultivation, 
we can grow nothing, so I may say that the changed 
conditions in Eastern fruit brought West, are brought 
about by cultivation. john a. balmkr. 
Horticulturist Washington Agricultural College. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
How We Killed the Grasshoppers. 
“ We never had a finer crop of cabbages,” said Mr. 
H., when he came in from surveying the upper farm. 
1 had time to think that I was glad something prom¬ 
ised well this hard year, when he added, “ but there 
are 15 or 20 grasshoppers on every head.” It is the 
habit of these pests to work on the edges of fields, 
and eat everything clean as far as they go. All 
through the season, a poison of Paris-green and bran 
had been spread around the edges of the crops— 
Alfalfa, potatoes and cabbage—and the hoppers had 
not damaged things very heavily. But now we had 
cut our Alfalfa, the neighbors had cut theirs, and 
reaped their grain, and that was why our cabbages 
were covered with grasshoppers. They had been 
obliged to seek new pastures, and unless something 
were done at once, the crop would be a total loss. 
The cabbages, standing as thick as they could grow, 
covered 10 acres. It took patience and perseverance—- 
a true Westerner would say, sand —to fight those in¬ 
sects, that, probably, numbered millions. We learned 
that grasshoppers were very fond of the oil of anise. 
A mixture was made consisting 'of 10 quarts of bran, 
two large spoonfuls of Paris-green (enough to make it 
look green), one-half pint of molasses or sugar, and 
enough oil of anise to give it a pleasant smell. This 
was scattered up and down the long rows, and did 
its work so thoroughly that the dead insects were seen 
all over the ground, and were found in raking hay 
half a mile from the cabbages. 
We have never found any poisoned birds, and doubt 
whether the mixture attracts the birds. Had it been 
poisoned grain, the case might have been different. 
Now that the hoppers are vanquished, the worms 
have appeared. In the fall of 1893 and 1894, the blue 
crow — a bird new to this section—came among us in 
flocks, harvested the cabbage worms in good style, 
and spent the winter very sociably in town. In 
1895, they failed to appear, much to the regret of 
bird lovers, who hoped that they would be regular 
visitors. s* k. h. 
J. S. Woodward On Tub Silos. 
I -have taken considerable pains to see some of the 
silos put up by the American Seed Company. They 
put up a very good silo of the kind, but $72 for a stave 
silo 12 feet in diameter and 20 feet high, is an exor¬ 
bitant price. I have been figuring a little, and to 
build such a silo, takes less than 1,700 feet of Norway 
pine, which can be bought almost anywhere for from 
$14 to $20 per M worked, say, $16 on an average, which 
would make the lumber cost $27.20. The company 
put on five hoops of five-eighth-inch round iron, 
which would take 160 pounds of iron ; this at 2% 
cents per pound, the retail price, is $4 ; 20 five-eighth- 
inch nuts weigh six pounds and are worth, at retail, 
50 cents. The making of the hoops and lugs is worth 
$2 more. Two men would set this up and coat it with 
coal tar in two days, which, at $3 per day for the two, 
would be $6 The cost of the tar is $1, making the 
whole cost $40.30, which leaves a pretty big profit. 
The grooves in the staves do not amount to a “ conti¬ 
nental”. In answer to the question, “ Are tub silos 
really useful, and would you advise a farmer to put 
one up ?” I believe they are useful, and would advise 
putting one up if the farmer can do no better. But I 
have watched them carefully—I have never had one 
myself—and I am convinced that, all things consid¬ 
ered, it is better to spend a little more money and 
build a silo more substantial and enduring than any 
tub silo. The fact is that a tub silo is always shrink¬ 
ing and swelling. When it is emptied in spring, the 
air soon dries it out, the staves shrink, and I have 
seen those in which one could stick his fingers 
through the cracks. Unless the hoops are tightened 
and the staves brought together, the pieces of cut 
corn will fall into the cracks, and when the staves 
swell up, the lumber is dented and each year it gets 
open more and more. If the hoops are drawn up and 
the silo made tight and filled with corn, the moisture 
causes the lumber to swell, and unless carefully 
watched and the hoops slackened off, they are almost 
sure to burst. 
Another trouble with the stave or “tub” silo, is that 
when made, the bottom is cemented to the staves, and 
when they shrink, there will be cracks between the 
staves near the bottom. As the lower ends are held 
by cement, it is impossible to close the staves tight at 
the bottom. I am not particularly taken with round 
silos J they look pretty, and in theory, are all right. 
but, if built as they should be, to stay, they cost much 
more for the same contents, and practically, are no 
better than a square silo with a few inches of each 
corner filled with a piece sawed diagonally. Any silo 
is better than no silo, but a good, substantial, well- 
made silo is a great deal better than, and, in the end, 
cheaper than a makeshift. 
Two Ends of an Irrigating Pipe. 
On page 510, Mr. S. S. Staley, of Ohio, told us about 
his irrigation plant. You will remember that he 
pumped water out of a pond which has a surface of 
about two acres. The pumping was done with a 10 - 
horse power gasoline engine, and a 1 %-inch centrif¬ 
ugal pump. The water was forced through 400 feet 
of two-inch pipe directly upon the strawberry field. 
Mr. Staley said that, after working three days and 
one night, he lowered the pond about four inches, 
and thoroughly soaked only a little over an acre of 
THE POXD-END OF AN IRRIGATION OUTFIT. Fig. 204. 
the field. We are able to give, this week, at Pigs. 204 
and 205 pictures showing both ends of this irrigation 
system. At Pig. 204, we see the pond which is, 
evidently, like many a large “ pond hole ” to be found 
on many a farm. The water is drawn through the 
pipe as shown, and is forced up to the field and dis¬ 
charged as shown at Pig. 205. This is a simple form 
of irrigation that might be employed in many places. 
As Prof. Phelps tells us this week, such a stream of 
water run over some of the dried old pastures in New 
England, would mean many an extra pound of milk 
or butter without the addition of a single pound of 
fertilizer. 
PACKING AND HANDLING GRAPES. 
THE VALUE OF COLD STORAGE HOUSES. 
The R. N.-Y. of September 5, asked for discussion 
and comment on packing and packing-houses for 
fruit. The article referred to, made special mention 
THE PIPE-END OF IRRIGATION. Fig. 205. 
of grape packing, care and storage. The average 
grape grower is not in a position to hold over his 
crop for better prices, and if he did, it would hardly 
pay him for the time and labor expended in the care 
and storage ; fully two-thirds of the grape crop in the 
Lake Belt is in the hands of the consumer within 
three weeks after picking. The profits in grape cul¬ 
ture have been so small during the past few years, 
that growers are becoming discouraged. The matter 
of a packing house of special design and convenience 
is of small moment and interest to them under the 
present method of shipping and selling their crop, as 
they can utilize almost any building, barn or shed 
for the short time (about six weeks), they are harvest¬ 
ing. Some growers have been known to pack in the 
vineyards directly after picking, and haul directly to 
the cars for shipment. 
Grapes handled properly, are not packed and cov¬ 
ered until 12 hours after picking j this will give them 
time to cool or sweat, as it is termed, and the stems 
to wilt, thus permitting closer packing. The most 
serious questions before the grape grower are, To 
whom shall I sell my grapes ? or, In what manner 
shall they be handled to net me the largest profit ? 
Shall we haul them to glutted markets and receive six 
cents for them, per basket? (This was frequently 
the case this year). Or, shall we place them in the 
hands of an association which charges us one cent per 
basket, to sell or consign at their pleasure ? Or shall 
we sell to or place them with some commission house ? 
The latter method appears to me to be the safest of 
the three. One cannot sell grapes at a profit in a 
glutted market, and the average returns for the sea¬ 
son are very uncertain from an association with 
unscrupulous business managers. Commissionmen 
will pay the grower cash for his crop, provided the 
grower can assure them a certain amount of protection 
from an overstocked or glutted market, also as to the 
quality and grade of the fruit packed. Some practic¬ 
able plan should be devised for the combination of 
commissionmen in certain towns and cities and grow¬ 
ers in certain districts, and arrangements made to 
place only No. 1 fruit on the market. Such a com¬ 
bination of several districts could easily control the 
market, and secure good prices with their guarantee 
to sell only No. 1 grapes. 
There is not a vineyard but has No. 2 grades of 
grapes, and how many growers mark them as such ? 
The bunch of grapes not full and with straggling 
berries, or with green berries, is, certainly, not 
graded No. 1 fruit; neither are the grapes spattered 
with mud by the rains, a No. 1 fruit. The growers 
cannot afford to continue the practice of shipping No. 
2 as No. 1 , and the association ia, in a measure, 
responsible for it. Their system of inspection is not 
thorough enough. The opening of a basket or two 
at one end on a load, certainly is not a thorough 
inspection, and does not protect the association and 
careful packer against careless, indifferent or un¬ 
scrupulous packers with whom he is asked to pool or 
ship his fruit. 
There are various uses for a No. 2 grade of grapes 
without placing them upon the market as No. 1 , or as 
No. 2 to compete with the No. 1 fruit. The average 
grape buyer is acquainted with this system of inspec¬ 
tion, and knows that the fruit he examines at the 
door of a car containing the fruit of a dozen or more 
growers, is no reliable sample of what the car con¬ 
tains, and that he can expect to find both No. 1 and 
No. 2 grapes in a car graded No. 1 ; and on this 
knowledge, he bases his offer to purchase. A large 
packing house with two or more cars’ packing capac¬ 
ity, built and used jointly by growers, would enable 
buyers to inspect the fruit as it comes from vineyards, 
and as it was packed. They would pay more for a car 
inspected in this manner, than under the present 
method. Grapes should be handled as little as possible 
before reaching the consumer. This object should be 
kept in view when building packing houses. 
A floor space of 3,000 square feet is necessary 
properly to pack and ship one car a day. This will 
require from 50 to 60 hands (according to the manage¬ 
ment, and convenience of the packing house to the 
vineyards and depot), including pickers, packers, nail¬ 
ers, teamsters and car-loaders, 10 hours a day. The 
average crop shipped in baskets should be shipped at 
the rate of one car a day for every 100 acres. 
Another matter for the consideration of every 
grower shipping in packages, is, shall he buy his 
baskets of the manufacturers, who can raise the price 
at their pleasure, as they have this year, from $18 per 
1,000 to $25 per 1,000, or shall he make them himself 
individually or jointly, during the winter months, or 
other convenient times when not engaged with some 
more profitable labor ? The basket manufacturers 
have to work all winter, spring and summer to supply 
the demand of a full crop. They are compelled to 
make up a stock worth thousands of dollars for six 
months or more before selling their stock. The 
manufacturer, in order to make a profit upon his 
investment, must add the interest for this time to the 
cost of the baskets. The problem to be solved by the 
grower, is, Which is the cheaper, to buy of the manu¬ 
facturers in the winter or spring, or to purchase the 
stock cut to dimensions, and make the baskets him¬ 
self ? 
The future of profitable grape culture is very uncer¬ 
tain. Unless some radical changes are made to cor¬ 
rect the existing conditions, practices and system of 
management mentioned above, a full crop next year 
will, in all probability, compel many growers to pull 
up their vines and plant even wheat at 50 cents a 
bushel. It is only through a full understanding of 
the details of all questions arising, that we are enabled 
to discuss a subject intelligently. If The R. N.-Y. 
will open its columns for the discussion of these ques¬ 
tions, it will, in all probability, be the means of 
aiding a large class of people in arriving at some 
plans of action for the betterment of their industry. 
Ghie< W. A. 
