1906. 
leading questions about apples. 
The Hitchings System Discussed. 
Do you think it advisable, considering the competition in 
fruit growing in other States, for the New York farmer to 
plant more apple orchards? If planting again, would you 
use the sod mulch system? Ilow would you prepare the 
land, the size of holes dug. and the way you would trim the 
roots and tops of the trees? What age of trees would you 
use. and how far apart each way? How would you fertilize 
the land when planting, and in subsequent years? What 
varieties for a 10-acre plot? Would you plant as you 
wanted them, or plant all one kind, and then top-graft? 
\\ hat system would you follow in trimming the trees during 
a succession of years? With good care, how soon could I 
look for paying crops? I have a hill field, fertile, but stony, 
which 1 am thinking of planting in the new manner, if it 
seems best. Would Mr. Hitchings state how he sprays his 
orchards, i. e., number of times, and kind of outfit used? 
Brockport, N. Y. l. c. s. 
Do not be alarmed over the competition 
oi other States in apple growing. There 
are certain varieties wanted by the trade 
of this whole country, and of Europe, 
that are at their best as grown in New 
York. This fact is known by the trade. 
We have the advantage of supplying a 
d mand already firmly established. Other 
sections must create a demand in order 
to compete with us. Our most serious 
fault at present as growers is in the mar¬ 
keting of our product. We- are not 
taxing advantage of our advantages. This 
will be remedied, steps being already 
taken toward this end. I am planning 
to plant more trees in the Spring, fol¬ 
lowing this same method, and improving 
upon it, as increased experience seems 
to warrant. My preference for a site 
is an established Blue-grass sod; if not 
available would establish one in the fol¬ 
lowing manner: Cultivate the soil thor¬ 
oughly, and seed with 15 pounds of Red 
clover and 10 pounds of Kentucky Blue 
prass per acre. The object of sowing 
clover is to improve soil and to furnish 
mulching material while Blue grass sod is 
becoming established. Later on, if at any 
time the Blue grass seems to lack vigor, 
I would cut up centers of rows with disk 
barrow and reseed with clover and Blue 
grass. The Blue grass in good soil fur¬ 
nishes a fine, thick aftermath, which is 
the condition so much desired in the sod 
method. When this aftermath is well es¬ 
tablished over entire surface it is self- 
s"stairing for years. In planting dig 
h !es about two feet wide and 1^2 foot 
deep; place some of the dark-colored 
soil in bottom of hole and stand the 
tree on this, first trimming off two-thirds 
of the growth of each limb, and cutting 
back roots to stubs from six to eight 
inches long, 
ing amount of dirt replaced, so tree when 
planted will stand one inch deeper than 
in nursery. Cover the roots with the 
remaining dark-colored soil, tread down 
firmly, and then place the sod already 
dug inverted in the hole, digging addi¬ 
tional sod to make a good cover over the 
roots. The sod furnishes at first a mulch 
to hold moisture immediately around the 
roots where needed; later as it decays it 
will furnish plant food to the feeding 
roots, at the point where they first start 
out. Finish filling the hole with the 
coarser dirt, mounding a little, and finish 
by mulching with coarse manure a dis¬ 
tance out of three feet from the tree, 
leaving out a space of six inches imme¬ 
diately from the tree unmulched. 
I should use two-year-old trees, plant¬ 
ing trees in rows 33 feet apart, 25 feet 
in rows. If necessary to fertilize I should 
use manure to help mulch. For this 
section I should use the following vari¬ 
eties : Northern Spy, Sutton Beauty, 
McIntosh, Hubbardston, Twenty Ounce, 
Wealthy and Oldenburg. My experience 
teaches me that any of these seven varie¬ 
ties are safe to tie to for profit. The 
1 wenty Ounce, Sutton and Hubbardston 
I would rather top-work on Spy; the 
other varieties mentioned do well enough without 
top-working. In top-working on Spy leave one-fourth 
of tree to Spy. The finest and best keeping Twenty 
Ounce I ever saw came from trees handled in this 
manner. The trees also were exceptionally vigorous. 
In trimming trees I, aim to have a row of limbs start¬ 
ing out about two feet from ground around the tree, 
then four upright limbs starting out in each direction, 
as shown in Fig. 62, page 148. This forms a good 
framework and is arrived at gradually, trimming very 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
little at a time so as not to force suckers to start out. 
In practice the number of uprights will vary from 
three to six, as limbs do not always start out as you 
want them to. We have succeeded in growing paying 
crops the sixth year from planting. 
In adopting this method the scheme from the start 
was how to produce a bushel of fancy apples at the 
least cost. By following this method one is enabled 
to do a market garden business at a profit in con¬ 
junction with the orchard, with the regular farm help 
force, without detriment to the orchard. In adopting 
this plan do not attempt to grow too many trees per 
acre on worn soil; cut down the number of trees per 
acre, so that the soil will produce enough to sustain 
them. In spraying the past year we used the follow¬ 
ing formula, spraying twice, once before blossoming 
and once after: Three pounds sulphate of copper, six 
pounds lime, two pounds arsenate of lead, one-quarter 
pound Paris-green to 50 gallons water. The spray did 
considerable damage, and I shall reduce the strength 
this year. We used the Niagara Gas Sprayer, and did 
a thorough job of spraying. grant g. hitchings. 
Some of our readers say they can set meat and fresh 
bone in abundance during (he Winter and they use it 
for poultry food. In Summer the supply falls off. Is 
there any practical way of keeping the meat over Into 
Summer so that it: will answer for poultry food? Here is 
a practical question for hen men. 
147 
OUR BENEVOLENT EXPRESS COMPANIES. 
Of Course They Oppose Parcels Post. 
The pepper plants story has set another man look¬ 
ing up his experiences with the express companies. 
On the twenty-eighth of January, 1905, I sent five 
boxes of oranges and grape fruit from Orlando, Fla., 
to Trumansburg, N. Y., for different parties, but all 
consigned to my son. These were billed by Southern 
Express, Orlando to Jacksonville, by freight Clyde 
Line steamship, Jacksonville to New York city; U. S. 
Express New York City to Trumansburg, and all 
charges paid, amounting to $5.80. On arrival there 
was a bill presented of $6.30, which had to be paid be¬ 
fore the oranges were delivered. The invoice was 
forwarded, and on presentation was sent in to head¬ 
quarters, money refunded and excuse offered that some 
one must have been careless. On Octo¬ 
ber 19, 1905, I sent my daughters, who 
are teaching in New York City, two one- 
half bushel baskets of fruit and paid the 
U. S. Express Co. 40 cents for same. On 
November 9, 1905, I sent one bushel box 
of apples to the above address, by the 
same company, and paid for same 45 
cents. When the box was delivered at 
their rooms in the city (which, I think, 
was done by the Knickerbocker Express) 
there was a bill presented of $1.15 which 
the daughter who was in at the time re¬ 
fused to pay on account of the price, and 
she told the agent she could buy them 
for that anywhere in the city. After some 
parleying the box was left, and the agent 
was to come back the next day. In the 
meantime, the other daughter had come 
home, and not knowing the condition of 
things opened the box, so they had to pay 
for it the next day, but did it under pro¬ 
test and immediately wrote home in re¬ 
gard to it. I procured a receipted invoice 
and forwarded it to them, and when pre¬ 
sented at the office the money was re¬ 
turned with some more apologies. When 
home for a visit recently the fact came 
out accidentally that they had paid 65 
cents for the two baskets sent them October 
19. I procured my express book and found 
it marked paid; have .not heard yet what 
they have done. They said they were go¬ 
ing to headquarters for an explanation. 
January 26, 1906, I received a box of 
oranges from Orlando, Fla., for which I 
had to pay charges of $3.25. I paid it un¬ 
der protest, as I almost knew the gentle¬ 
man who sent it did not do business that 
way. Since then I received a bill of lad¬ 
ing from the Southern Express Co., with 
these words: “For which the charges 
are made by said company from Orlando, 
Fla., to T. H. King, Trumansburg, N. Y., 
and marked paid $2.80.” This is one 
year’s experience, and I think anyone can 
draw some conclusions from these facts. 
The old adage “There’s a nigger in the 
fence somewhere” must in this case be a 
white man (in color), but where is he? 
I guess we ought to have Uncle Sam do 
some of this business for us. Notice one 
thing: That in every case the charges 
were higher at the delivery end of the 
line. I am satisfied that gift packages, 
and others, are paid for transporting at 
both ends. T. H. K. 
KEEPING FARM APPLES. 
A damp, cold, humid air is one of the 
essentials in keeping apples. Ventilation, 
provided it does not interfere with these 
conditions, is desirable, but continuous 
ventilation with a bare cement floor would 
necessitate a good wetting of floor and 
walls every 24 hours unless the floor was 
covered wih some absorbent material. We 
cannot manufacture cold, but we can ven¬ 
tilate when we have this condition freely, 
and when it is warm close all vents. Ce¬ 
ment floors are bad for keeping apples 
because capillarity is cut off. In its absence 
water should be supplied by artificial means, 
such as sprinkling or hose, and if the storage room 
has a few inches of sawdust on the floor to conserve 
the moisture, all the better. I have thought if Vermorel 
nozzles could be stationed at convenient points in the 
room and water under pressure turned on and kept 
going it would supply humidity very well. Extremes 
in temperature should be avoided. A glance at the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture Year Book for 1900, page 751, 
will show what advantages apples stored in barrels 
might have over bins and other methods. 
Maine. J. l. ware. 
SHOWING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE. Fig. 59. 
fitting tree to hole by varv- 
TFIE GLASS-COVERED HOUSE AS FINISHED. Fig. 60. 
INTERIOR OF THE GLASS-COVERED HOUSE. Fig. 61. 
