1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
823 
PLATFORM FOR HAULING APPLES. 
We have been asked to tell how New York fruit growers 
haul barreled apples. 
For hauling barreled apples we use a flat rigging of 
three basswood planks 18 feet long, 10 inches wide, two 
inches thick. This will hold 22 barrels on end, in two 
rows. Side boards are 10 inches wide, one inch thick, 
and same length of plank. Light binding chains are 
wrapped around barrels at either end of load, and at¬ 
tached to wagon stakes. This is a handy rig, as the 
loading and unloading can be done from the side, and 
obviates rolling the barrels from one end of load to 
other. Two apple barrels will not go side by side on 
regular farm wagon unless the side boards project be¬ 
yond stakes two inches or more. This can be done by 
inserting temporary stakes in the rings attached to 
stakes of some makes of wagon, or if the stakes are hol¬ 
low have a blacksmith make a set of iron stakes with 
rings attached. These set in hollow stakes and side 
boards rest on projection; this brings side boards up to 
middle of barrels and end chains cannot drop down. 
We use the same rig for drawing apples or potatoes in 
crates, and it holds 60 two high. The wagon box has 
long since been discarded for the above purposes. And 
last and most important of all is the present-day spring 
farm wagon, which every farmer should have. With 
good roads and down grade we think nothing of trot¬ 
ting along with 22 barrels of apples 
or 60 bushels of potatoes, saving not 
only much time, but securing comfort 
for driver and load. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. w. a. bassett. 
The best apple rack depends on 
who owns it, for there are many 
kinds. We use 18 foot plank with 
side pieces 2x4 bolted to brackets, 
which are bolted to the bed piece, and 
a rope or chain at each end, and the 
rack will carry 20 barrels. When we 
have a crop, 3,000 to 5,000 barrels, 
we use two pieces 2x4 bolted to-’ 
gether at the ends with cross-pieces 
2x4, the right distance apart for 
barrels to ride on, and carry 10 bar¬ 
rels on top, lying down, making 30 
barrels to a load. Some racks have 
gates in side pieces; some have wide 
platform in the middle, and carry 
four barrels side by side; some use 
trucks and a wide platform over all 
the wheels and set from 30 to 36 (and 
higher) barrels on end. Fig. 350 
shows the apples as loaded on. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. clark allis. 
One of the most convenient plat¬ 
forms for hauling apples on a wagon 
is made as follows: Use two pieces 
2x6, ash or other stiff lumber, for 
bed pieces, 12 feet long, bolt at even 
distance apart crosswise; these bed 
pieces four sticks 3x4 inches, six 
feet long. Raise front end of rig- 
ing high enough to allow front wheels 
to turn under platform, and cover 
these cross pieces with one-inch 
boards or strips, leaving a space be¬ 
tween each so to make as light as 
possible. On this rigging you can 
carry all you can draw in boxes or 
barrels. It is low enough to load 
easily, and it costs but little to make it. A light iron 
railing may be fastened around edge of rigging or 
front and rear standards bolted on, and rope run 
around load to keep barrels in place. t. e. cross. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
The style of wagon platform that is most generally 
used in western New York for hauling apples is made 
of three planks forming a platform just wide enough 
for two barrels standing on end, side by side, and long 
enough for a load of 18 to 20 barrels, (see 1, Fig. 351). 
Stakes are provided on the side for a rail about half¬ 
way up on the barrels, or what is better, an iron about 
V 2 x 2 inches, bent in the form 2, same cut. A board 
1x4 inches rests on the bend, and is provided with a 
clip, 3, that will slide over the stake iron, so the rail 
can be easily lifted off, and the barrels unloaded from 
the side of the wagon, which is often very convenient. 
The plank should be stiff, and bolted together with three 
bed pieces 2x4 inches. This is a very convenient plat¬ 
form, as it can be used for drawing crates, and for many 
other purposes. Another very good rack for a hilly or 
rough country, and one that is in quite common use in 
many sections, is made by taking three poles or timbers 
and running them lengthwise of the wagon, equal dis¬ 
tances apart, and secured together by cross pieces. The 
middle pole should be raised four to six inches above 
the other two. The barrels are laid on the side end to 
end, lengthwise of the wagon, two abreast on the bot¬ 
tom, and another row on the top of these two, lapping 
one-half on each barrel. This is a very simple con¬ 
struction, and the spring of the poles makes it very nice 
for carrying the fruit. Wagon springs should always be 
used with either of the above forms. c. A. h. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
DELAWARE AS AN APPLE STATE. 
On several occasions I have met successful apple 
growers of Delaware, and seen some very fine fruit on 
exhibition at horticultural meetings, fairs, etc. Re¬ 
cently I visited a few orchards and saw the fruit on 
the trees being picked and marketed. I was prepared 
for surprises, but hardly for what I saw. I am putting 
it mildly when I say I think I have seen almost as 
many good apples as the next one, for I was at the Co¬ 
lumbian Exposition in charge of the Pomological Divi¬ 
sion during the entire period of the big fair. I had a 
good opportunity to view the large exhibits both at 
Buffalo and St. Louis, as well as being acquainted with 
many fruit men all over the United States. I saw 
finer apples in Kent County orchards of many varieties 
than I did at any of these expositions. I 11 fact almost 
as they ran in the basket or on the tree any specimens 
would have done for exhibition. A few men began 
only a few years ago to see what could be done with 
apples. Almost all our old orchards were of northern 
varieties, in most instances badly mixed, which ripened 
too soon to be kept or to find a market by the old 
methods. They have experimented with varieties, 
methods of culture, keeping, spraying, etc., until to-day 
the fruit growers of Delaware can grow apples as suc¬ 
cessfully as, or more so than they ever did the famous 
Delaware peach of forty years ago. In fact, I would 
rather take my chances with the apple for many reasons, 
chiefly because you have so much more time to market 
the fruit, the tree lasts longer and bears so abundantly 
when once it gets to bearing. The fruit bud is not so 
apt to get killed by late frosts; these and many other 
reasons might be advanced. Some of these apples are 
going direct from the orchards to European markets in 
competition with the best in the world. Others are go¬ 
ing into cold storage to be sold around Christmas or 
later, while the poor grades will be canned or used for 
other purposes at home. These growers owe their suc¬ 
cess to the selection of suitable varieties, to persistent 
and intelligent spraying; to the best methods of cultiva¬ 
tion ; to the use of manures and fertilizers, and last but 
not least, to the most careful methods of handling the 
crop and shipping to market. 
There are not so very many orchards yet, big ones I 
mean, in full bearing, but there arc enough to convince 
anyone that Delaware can grow not only apples of fine 
size, color, and appearance, but of the very best quality, 
not surpassed by those of any section of America. She 
is near enough to Philadelphia, New .York or Boston, so 
that the fruit can be handled for export without delay, 
or it can be stored. No prettier apple land can be 
found anywhere; fields of 100 acres as flat as a pan¬ 
cake and easily cultivated arc the rule, and when these 
arc compared with mountain orchards where it is al¬ 
most an impossible thing to handle a spraying machine 
with ease the advantage is with us. Intelligent work 
has done it; you can see many old neglected orchards 
near those grown by modern methods, and the con¬ 
trast is wonderful. The varieties that seem to grow to 
a more or less degree of perfection are Stayman, Nero, 
Paragon, Winesap, Stark, Lankford, York Imperial and 
Missouri Pippin. Many others do equally well. Nick- 
ajack, English Red Streak, Buncomb, Jonathan, and 
even the much despised but popular cotton-flavored Ben 
Davis grows good enough to make a Missouri man 
smack his lips over it. Many trees will pick 10 to 20 
baskets. One grower told me he marketed 3,500 bush¬ 
els of early apples, and he got fully half from 75 Red 
Astrachan trees, the remainder being from young trees 
not in full bearing. Williams Early is one of the fa¬ 
vorite early sorts, as are also Yellow 
Transparent and Fourth of July. 
Early sorts are marketed in half 
barrel or seven-eighths bushel ham¬ 
pers or baskets, shipped in refrig¬ 
erator cars and sold at the station. 
Late varieties are barreled or put 
into boxes (the finer grades) and 
either sold direct from the orchards 
or put into cold storage and sold 
whenever the market warrants it. 
I heard of one sale, the entire crop 
at $2.50 per barrel, the buyer taking 
all down to two inches in diameter. 
Another had sold a car at $3.25 per 
barrel on board cars. These men 
each got as high as $4 and $4.50 per 
barrel in the Philadelphia market 
last Winter. They believe in spray¬ 
ing, and try to keep the trees covered 
with Bordeaux. Scarlet clover and 
cow peas furnish a large part of the 
fertilizer. One grower will have 
2,000 barrels; another 1,000. 
CHAS. WRIGHT. 
WHAT ABOUT CEMENT 
POSTS? 
So far as actual experience with 
them in our locality, it cannot well 
be claimed that they have passed the 
“novelty” point as yet; however, we 
are inclined to think them all right, 
and sincerely hope they may fill the 
long-felt want. We are using a few 
of them; our fences were pretty 
much newly built of woven wire and 
the best cedar posts we could obtain 
in the market, just prior to the ad¬ 
vent of the cement post, so we have 
had but little occasion to use them so 
far. We do not make them; use the 
factory product. The line post as we 
get it weighs about 60 pounds, and seems all right. We 
are of the opinion that one might make end posts, as 
they are so heavy it is expensive to ship them very far, 
and they come very costly. Line posts cost about 35 
cents each, whereas the end posts and brace posts cost 
from about $3 each to $1.60, respectively; thus you will 
see that gateways are an expensive luxury when we 
use the cement post. The line posts have three two- 
strand wire cables of No. 5 wire extending lengthwise 
of the post, and the makers claim they give each post 
a pressure of 150 tons (hydraulic press) while in the 
mold. Short, highly annealed, therefore quite pliable, 
No. 9 wires extend from one side of the post about 
eight inches apart, an inch long, the ends in the post be¬ 
ing wrapped about one of the longitudinal cables, thus 
enabling the builder to fasten the corrugated strip to the 
side of the post for holding wire in place. A cemetery 
near here is fenced with a 50-inch woven wire fence 
(four-inch triangular mesh) and cement posts such as 1 
have here described, using the factory end and brace 
posts too, and same is braced with galvanized gas pipe 
braces. We have never seen a neater fence anywhere, 
and it looks very durable. The line posts being all of 
one size, true and straight, it is possible to do nice work 
in building. The cement post is set and tamped same as 
a wood post. These line posts cost about twice what 
good cedar does, but a wood post begins decaying the 
day it is set, hence repairs add to cost of maintenance. 
The value of a wire fence depends mainly on having 
it firmly anchored at the ends, then line posts need not 
(for most kinds of stock) be very near together; hence 
if we can get to making our end posts (possibly using 
a gas pipe core) the post cost for fences need not be 
excessive. Fred. j. frost. 
Wisconsin. 
NEW FRENCH PEAR “ROOSEVELT.” Fig. 352. See Ruralisms, Page 826. 
