278 
T1IH RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 31 , 
have been, a great growth of briers and shrubbery, in 
some cases two rods wide by tctual measure; some of 
the fields showed decided indications of the need of 
drainage by the outcropping of springs at the foot of 
the slopes; other fields, or sometimes portions of the 
same fields, revealed great bowlders, rearing their 
huge heads as though inviting conflict with any force 
sufficiently venturesome to intrude upon the domain, 
where for uncounted generations they had reigned 
supreme. Talk about pioneering! A man to face that 
combination had to have within his inmost being some¬ 
where a large measure of that spirit that has enabled 
men in all ages to grapple with and overcome the 
difficulties that confronted them. In company with a 
friend, a few days since, we reached a street corner 
where we expected to meet a car to take us home; 
we were there just time enough to see it going out of 
sight. “Well,” said my friend, philosophically, “there 
is one consolation about these experiences, you are 
always pretty certain to be on hand for the next one.” 
We found it so in grappling with those difficulties; 
looking out for one of them generally put us in better 
shape for the next, and, after all, as we look back along 
the pathway wc have trodden, is it not true that there 
is a sense in which the fact is revealed that hindrances 
may become helps? 
Heaven is not gained by a single bound 
We build the ladder by which we rise. 
IMPROVED CONDITIONS.—The tenant in pos¬ 
session of that farm told me that he usually harvested 
from 5 to 10 bushels of wheat, about a half a ton 
of hay—largely composed of Horse sorrel and running- 
vine blackberries—to the acre, and when he had a good 
season, something like 50 bushels of ears of corn. That 
farm has since been producing 300 to 400 bushels po¬ 
tatoes, rising of 40 bushels of wheat—even by our 
wasteful method of thrashing in the field—from the 
shock; it would take three or four such barns to hold 
the crops now; we are getting from two to four tons 
hay, and when we fail to get 150 bushels ears of corn 
we’re sure there must be something wrong. On that 
same farm, since the day that the first comprehensive 
survey was taken as outlined above, we have grown quite 
frequently 5,000 marketable heads of cabbage per acre, 
at $40 per l,000 y and 750 bushels of Globe onions more 
than once; 900 bushels of tomatoes, 400 bushels of 
onion sets at $2.50 per bushel, a nice patch of Alfalfa 
established. These and similar results speak in very 
eloquent terms of the possibilities of artificial fertili¬ 
zers. How these results were obtained, and some of 
the methods employed, will be the object of this series 
of articles. M. garrahan. 
Pennsylvania. 
RENOVATING OLD ORCHARDS . 
Attention has been called to the fact that the condi¬ 
tions of soil and climate in our Northeastern States 
are eminently suited to the growth of trees, both of 
forest and of orchard varieties. Not only do trees grow 
more readily in the North Atlantic States than they do 
in the drier climate farther west, but in many soils, 
especially in the rougher, hilly land, either forest or 
orchard trees will grow to the profit of the land owner 
where no other crop could be profitably raised. Ex¬ 
perience shows what may be done in New York or 
the New England States with apple orchards of ordi¬ 
nary quality and the common varieties, especially with 
old orchards which had been neglected until apparently 
worthless. 
Wm. C. Buell, of Holcomb, N. Y., has about 100 old 
apple trees, mainly Baldwins, with some Greenings. 
Previous to 1898 they bore poor fruit or none, in the off 
years not even yielding enough for the owner’s home 
use. In 1898 Mr. Buell began caring for his orchard, 
especially in cultivating it. The old orchard has been 
cultivated thoroughly ever since, and the yields, which 
are given below, have encouraged the owner to set out 
several acres of young trees: Yield in barrels, 1898, 
100; 1899, 290; 1900, 50; 1901, 160; 1902, 200; 1903, 
400; 1904, 250; total yield in seven years, 1,450 barrels; 
average yearly yield, 207 barrels. 
In 1902 Lewis Salisbury, of Phelps, N. Y., took an 
old orchard of 170 Baldwin and Greening trees which 
had not yielded over $50 a year revenue in 10 years. 
He began immediately to prune the trees and spray 
them, and to cultivate the land. It was necessary to 
trim them up considerably before a team could get 
through at all to plow. The land had not been plowed 
for 20 years, but was turned over and sown to clover, 
and each year since has been turned over and sown to 
either clover or rye, until 1905, when the clover was 
mowed and not raked up. It will be plowed again in 
1906. The trees have been kept well pruned all the 
time, and have been sprayed with Bordeaux Mixture 
containing one-quarter pound of white arsenic to the 
barrel of mixture. This preparation has been applied 
three times each season, once just before the buds open, 
again just after the petals drop, and a third time two 
weeks later. The result in yield and value of fruit from 
the 170 trees for the period since this care was com¬ 
menced is as follows: 1902, 583 barrels ; value, $1,000; 
1903, 800 barrels; value, $1,400; 1904, 800 barrels. The 
condition of the crop September 1 , 1905, promised 500 
barrels. This is the product for four years of an or¬ 
chard which was not paying over $50 a year before 
1902, when it was first cultivated and sprayed. 
T. L. Kinney, of South Hero, Vermont, on one of 
the islands of Lake Champlain, grows Northern Spies 
and Greenings. He plows his orchard every year late 
in the Spring. The work is done with a three-plow 
gang running two to three inches deep. The land is 
r ~~ . —} 
TEN-YEAR-OLD TREE (UNCULTIVATED). Fig. 113. 
then harrowed and early in July is sown to clover, oats, 
rye, peas or even refuse beans, which, of course, are 
not gathered for a crop, but are allowed to remain until 
plowed under the next season. From this point the 
freight on apples in carload lots is 25 cents to Boston, 
but in small lots it is 53 cents per barrel—over twice 
as much. On this account Mr. Kinney points out the 
value of co-operation among apple growers, by which 
cheaper freight rates may be obtained, and also by 
which a car may be loaded as expeditiously as possible 
in the severe cold weather of midwinter, when the ap¬ 
ples are in best demand. 
E. C. Dunklee, of West Brattleboro, Vermont, raises 
Baldwin apples on hill land. Some young trees set out 
about 10 years before are shown at P'igs. 113 and 114. 
The two trees are the same age, and all other conditions 
are equal except that Fig. 114 has been cultivated 
around, and Fig. 113 has not. The man shown in the 
two prints is the same, the owner of the trees Not 
only a difference in size is very noticeable, but the 
Quality of the growth is much better in the cultivated 
tree, as shown by its retaining its leaves in a green 
condition (date of photograph October 19, 1905), while 
the small tree had lost all its leaves two or three weeks 
earlier. 
R. L. Hememvay, of Bridport, Vermont, began five 
or six years ago to take care of between 2,500 and 
TEN-YEAR-OLD TREE (CULTIVATED). Fig. 114. 
3,000 old apple trees that had been neglected for about 
20 years. He applies six to eight pounds of half and 
half ground bone and muriate of potash to each tree 
every year, and some barn manure. The trees are 
sprayed three, or even four times each season with 
Bordeaux Mixture, and are kept well pruned. The 
land has been plowed up in part and seeded to clover, 
though it has been found inadvisable to plow in the lat¬ 
ter part of the season, owing to the clayey character of 
the soil, which when plowed late was conducive to 
winter-killing. All plowing now is done in the Spring, 
at a rather shallow depth, and clover seeded, the crop 
being allowed to lie on the ground for mulch. The 
result is that a formerly worthless orchard of 30 acres 
has been put in such a producing shape that it is paying 
on an average from $3,000 to $4,000 a year in fruit 
sales. The trees are Northern Spies, Greenings, Bald¬ 
wins and Tolman Sweets. 
Geo. H. Terrill, of Morrisville, Vermont, has set 
out 500 apple trees on a sheltered hillside, but high up 
where it would be a long haul to handle crops, and is 
concentrating his crops on the lower land near his 
buildings. The apple trees are just coming into bearing 
and already are so proving their value to the owner that 
he is setting out more trees, all on the high part of his 
farm. J. D. Eaton, of South Hampton, N. H., has 
100 Baldwin trees which are plowed every year, the 
land kept harrowed until July, and then when let alone 
a small variety of millet, of which the seed is in 
the ground, comes up and makes a cover for the rest 
of the season. In 1905, which was an “off year,” these 
100 trees yielded 200 barrels of fruit. Almost any ordi¬ 
nary orchard may be rendered productive on a scale 
similar to these instances if a moderate amount of 
care be used in pruning, tillage, and spraying. Anyone 
not familiar with the methods followed in this work 
may get detailed information on the question from his 
own State experiment station or from the office of the 
Pomologist in the U. S. Department of Agriculture at 
Washington. l. g. dodge. 
PLAN FOR A COW MANGER. 
On page 190 I notice description of a cow manger 
given by H. G. Manchester, and while I agree with 
him as to the two essentials of a cow manger; viz., 
“the ability to get what is placed before her without 
being robbed by her neighbors, and the ability to get it 
without too much exertion on her part,” I think I have 
a manger that more nearly meets those requirements 
than the one designed by him, and differs from his in 
these particulars: It is built directly on the floor and 
not on a platform raised six inches above it, and con¬ 
sists not only of a sloping front as in his device, but a 
front and both sides sloping toward the center of the 
manger at an angle of 45 degrees, thereby forming 
three sides of a hopper. The bottom of the manger, as 
well as the entire floor of the stable, is constructed of 
concrete, the only suitable material for a stable floor 
when built on the ground. The front and sides are 
made of one-inch hemlock, and are constructed as fol¬ 
lows : First build the devices marked A in the dia¬ 
gram which when completed will resemble the sides 
of a small chicken coop and are nailed together at 
right angles just as you would build a chicken coop, 
only that the front end is sawed on a bias to give the 
proper angle to the front of the manger. The sides of 
these devices are 15 inches long, and they are 25 inches 
wide at the top and 16 inches at the bottom. To do a 
nice job they should be mitered together at the top, 
and the bottom ends sawed on a miter, so that they 
will fit snugly to the floor. Each one of these devices 
will form the sides of two separate mangers. Place 
one midway between each stanchion and toe-nail to 
stanchion sill; then nail on the front boards and the 
manger is complete. The combined width of the boards 
for front of manger may be left to the judgment of 
the builder. Mine is 26 inches, which gives a vertical 
height of 18 inches and a width of manger at that 
point of 34 inches, while the bottom of the manger is 
about 16 inches square. One or more boards may be nailed 
to the front side to increase the height as desired. The 
stanchion sill must form the back of the manger, and 
should be as high as possible and not inconvenience the 
cow while lying down (at least eight inches) ; other¬ 
wise the fodder will get under the cow’s feet. The ad¬ 
vantages of this manger are that all food, whether it be 
potatoes, cut feed, or grain, is within easy reach of the 
cow, and not within reach of her neighbor, and she will 
never slip and fall upon her knees while reaching for 
her own or her neighbor’s food, as is very often the 
case with other styles of mangers. They can be readily 
cleaned with a shovel or swept out with a broom. The 
measurements I have given are for the rigid stanchion. 
If the swing stanchion is in use I would advise cut¬ 
ting the sides of the mangers 18 instead of 15 inches in 
length, so as to give increased vertical height, as a cow 
confined in a swing stanchion can reach considerably 
farther than one confined in a rigid one. I have used 
the manger for several years with entire satisfaction, 
and my faith in its merits caused me to attempt this 
crude description of it. C. n. P* 
