492 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 22, 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to In¬ 
sure attention. Before asking a question, 
please see whether It Is not answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few 
questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper.] 
A QUESTION IN ROAD MAKING. 
I send you a diagram of road and the 
manner of scraping adopted by some of 
our town road commissioners. This repre¬ 
sents a road with sufficient crown to throw 
off the water, excepting in a few slight 
depressions. Now at the points indicated 
by A. A. the road machine operated by 
six horses cuts a furrow four to six inches 
in depth, leaving a shoulder to catch 
water and hold it if level, or to run out a 
gutter if upon descending ground. This 
is being done by commissioners in towns 
where money system is in force and sup¬ 
posedly under instructions from the State 
road inspector. Now, if this is good road 
making, then I am certainly a back num¬ 
ber. I believe I am as familiar with the 
roads within a radius of five to 10 miles 
of my home as almost anyone, the char¬ 
acter of the soils, etc., and therefore the 
different kinds of treatment necessary for 
good dirt roads. I could comment upon 
this work, but would rather leave it for 
others to do. Possibly my ideas are 
wrong. What do others think about it. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. A. reader. 
Automobile Engine for Farm Work. 
L. H. P. Orleann Four Corners, N. Y .— 
Would a 12 horse power automobile engine 
develop the same power when laboring on a 
wood saw or feed mill? Do you know of 
anyone having one, and If they are satisfied, 
and would machine last as long as a station¬ 
ary engine of some other kind? 
A ns. —The following note is sent us by 
Prof. F. H. King. We shall be much 
pleased to hear from any readers who 
have tried such engines: 
On general principles I should be in¬ 
clined to discourage attempts to use auto¬ 
mobile engines for general farm work. 
If a second hand automobile engine is for 
sale at any low figure the chances are that 
it is badly out of order. Then, too, it is 
a more complicated engine, designed for 
high speed, and for this reason requires 
more intelligence and care to keep it in 
good working condition. Then again, 
the setting of the engine up and connect¬ 
ing it with farm machinery of any kind 
would have to be a makeshift arrange¬ 
ment and is liable to be not very satisfac¬ 
tory even when fairly good mechanics are 
available to make the transformation. 
F. H. KING. 
Care of Pears in Kentucky. 
R. 8. Paducah, Ky .—I have bought a 
farm that has about 1,400 Kleffer and Garber 
pear trees on It. They are two years old, 
arc on rolling land and have made a fine 
growth. The ground has been cultivated 
In tobacco and peas the last two years, 
and am preparing to sow peas this year. 
Will you advise me as to future management? 
Are they desirable varieties? Shall I culti¬ 
vate or not? What can I spray with to 
prevent blight? 
Ans. —Although Kieffer and Garber 
pears are of poor quality they yield big 
crops, and there is sale for them at home 
and abroad at prices that are considered 
profitable to the growers. The fruit is 
used extensively by canners, and labeled 
and sold under the name of the old and 
superior Bartlett, with exceedingly rare 
exceptions. The orchard mentioned seems 
to be a good one for profit, and has been 
well treated so far. The plan of seeding 
the land to cow peas this year is right, 
for the tobacco crop has probably de¬ 
tracted much from the fertility of the land, 
and the peas will replace some of the ni¬ 
trogen. After the pea crop has been 
gathered it would be well to plow up and 
seed to rye about the first of September. 
This should be plowed under early next 
Spring. It is well to have a green cov¬ 
ering on the ground over Winter but there 
is harm to the trees in leaving it to grow 
more than about knee high, because of 
the evaporating influence on the soil. The 
crop that I should suggest to grow next 
year is early potatoes, and this again may 
be followed by some soiling crop. If 
Red clover would get well enough estab¬ 
lished before Winter to endure the alter¬ 
nate freezing and thawing it would be well 
to seed down the orchard to this crop. Rye 
sown with the clover would help to pro¬ 
tect it during the Winter, while the plants 
are small, but the rye would require early 
cutting to prevent injury to both the pear 
trees and the clover the following Spring. 
By 1908 the trees ought to begin to bear 
a little, and the clover should be mowed 
and left to rot on the ground. This would 
probably be good treatment for two years 
or more before plowing again. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Asparagus in Florida. 
R. II. W., Sanford, Fla .—If four-year-old 
asparagus plants are set In the Spring, can 
they by any method of forcing be made to 
yield a crop fit for market immediately after 
they begin to grow? From well established 
plants, what Is the duration of the cutting 
season? How early Is it desirable to put 
asparagus in the New York market to obtain 
top prices? What paper is published ex¬ 
clusively (if any) In the truck growers’ 
interest? 
Ans. —I know of no method by which 
asparagus can be forced for immediate 
cutting, without allowing the roots to be¬ 
come established. Asparagus crowns are 
in many respects like bulbs. It should 
have a certain length of time to make 
root growth before any demand is made 
on the product, otherwise immediate ex¬ 
haustion would be the result. While I 
have never seen it tried, I am of the opin¬ 
ion that it would be a difficult undertak¬ 
ing to move or set four-year-old crowns, 
for at that age they should be very 
large and almost at their best in point of 
yield. Two-year-old crowns set closely to¬ 
gether in the rows would perhaps give 
better returns a few years hence than the 
largo ones. The duration for cutting as¬ 
paragus is usually from six to eight 
weeks, after which the crowns should 
have a period of rest. It should be the 
object of asparagus growers to have it 
ready for the New York market as early 
as possible after January, beginning south 
of course as far as the trucking limits 
extend, gradually working north until the 
end of the asparagus season, which is 
usually about July 15. The methods of 
cultivation are practically the same in 
every locality, and the earliest “grass” 
usually sells for the highest price. I know 
of no publication devoted exclusively to 
the market gardening interest. 
T. M. WHITE. 
Questions About Tile Drainage. 
O. G. B., Shelton, Conn .—I have 2,000 feet 
of four, five and six-inch glazed and flanged 
tile piled In my back yard. I want to put 
two drains, each 1,000 feet In length, 
through a clay meadow that has about one 
foot fall to the 100 feet. We propose to 
dig three feet deep, and then lay the tile. 
On account of the clay, would 2 % be bet¬ 
ter? Would six or eight inches of small 
stones or cedar boughs help to prevent the 
stoppage of the joints with dirt? We ex¬ 
pect the water to find the joints. The clay 
is our bugbear. Will the water get through 
it into the tile? 
Ans. —The size of tile for this work is 
out of proportion to the length of the 
drains. I find 2^-inch tile for the first 
500 feet and t'hree-inch for the next 500 
to be plenty large with even a lighter 
grade than inquirer has. Of course, if 
he has water above the source of these 
drains that he wishes to run through them, 
then the large tile would be in order, but 
it is a common error of the inexperienced 
to use a larger tile than is needed. No, 
three feet of depth is better than V/ 2 if 
it does not cost too much for the last 
half foot; 2 l / 2 feet is a good average depth, 
but three gives a lower and wider water 
level, consequently fewer drains and deep¬ 
er feeding for plants. Gravel just coarse 
$25.00 
PER 
100 
HAY COCK COVERS 
SIZE 3J4x3%—#25.00 PER 100 
Stack covers at correspondingly low prices. 
Send fifty cents In stamps for sample cover. 
Fond du Lac Awning & Tent Co., 
Dept. 22, Fond du Lac, Wis. 
CALDWELL TANKS, 
Towers and Windmills are as con¬ 
venient, even necessary to the coun¬ 
try home as the telephone, or daily 
mail. They give the full benefit of 
city water service for house, grounds 
and stock at small first cost and no 
expense for repairs. Ask for Special 
Illustrated Water Works Catalogue. 
W. E. CALDWELL CO., Louisville, Ky. 
Tanks (oSSimuS 1 ) Tower8 
Wind Mills, Pumps, Gas Engines. 
FULL CROP 1908 FR0M 0UR mid summer 
for List. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS. Send 
Kevitt’s Plant Farm, Athenia. N. J. 
enough so it will not pass into the joints 
makes a better covering than stone or 
boughs and can be handled rapidly. I 
frequently use this in crossing quicksand 
to fence out the sand, which should be 
our chief concern, rather than letting the 
water in. Good tile with joints as tight 
as possible will let in the water. I have 
put in miles of drain tile with no other 
covering than the stiff clay that came out 
of the ditch, and never had one that water 
failed to get into, but the filling of drains 
with silt as the result of careless grading 
and laying is a common complaint, and 
I would feel that I had missed an oppor¬ 
tunity if I failed here to urge careful 
work in these two particulars. The kind 
of gravel mentioned for cover will help 
some in stiff clay to make the drains work 
more quickly, but the ordinary drain tile 
one foot in length are far better for drains 
than the flanged sewer pipe. Two-foot 
pipe has only half the receiving capacity 
of one-foot length, and the flange is not 
the protection to the joints that it seems 
to be, but rather tends to hide the joint in 
a way that prevents us from knowing 
whether we have made a good or bad 
joint. I think it a mistake to make boughs 
and hay a “mantle of charity” to “cover 
a multitude of sins” in poor joints. 
J. T. VAN SCHOONHOVEN. 
A Greenhouse in a Gulley. 
D. O. M., West Virginia .—I desire Infor¬ 
mation regarding building greenhouses. The 
place I have in view is on a southeast slope, 
with a strong spring at the top, water running 
down the ravine, which Is from 10 to 12 feet 
deep, sloping nicely to a level on either side, 
and about 30 feet wide at top. Will It do 
to build walls on side 18 or 20 inches high, 
using the slope for remainder of height? 
Water can left open or run through a tile. 
Which would be best? I wish to save build¬ 
ing walls. It seems this would be warmer 
than exposed walls. In this way I would 
have water pressure. 
Ans. —Had it been stated to what use 
the proposed greenhouse was to be put, 
it would have been easier to answer this 
query intelligently. If it were a matter 
of choice, I would prefer to build green¬ 
houses on level, or nearly level, ground, 
notwithstanding the additional expense 
of walls, instead of roofing over a ravine 
or gulley on a hillside. But as I under¬ 
stand this proposition, the first thing to 
do would be to pipe the water from the 
spring in order that it may be under en¬ 
tire control, and be used in the green¬ 
house under the natural pressure derived 
from its elevated source. It would then 
be possible to use this water supply with 
some degree of satisfaction. A green¬ 
house may be constructed in the manner 
suggested, though it would practically be 
a large pit, to use the common expression 
among greenhouse men, and would neces¬ 
sitate a good deal of grading to get the 
beds or benches in order for convenient 
use. These beds would have to be ar- 
REMEMBER WADSWORTH. 
The following members of the New 
York Senate voted against Governor 
Hughes in his efforts to remove the Su¬ 
perintendent of Insurance. They repre¬ 
sent agricultural counties, where farmers 
are in a majority. Every one of them 
merits defeat, and should be plowed un¬ 
der by the votes of farmers. Send them 
to the political graveyard at the first op¬ 
portunity : 
J0THAM P. ALLDS, . 
ALBERT T. FANCHER, 
S. P. FRANCHOT, . . 
S. PERCY HOOKER, . 
JOHN RAINES, . . . 
SANFORD W. SMITH, 
WM. J. TULLY, . . 
HORACE WHITE, . . 
BENJ. M. WILCOX, . 
JOSEPH ACKR0YD . 
FRANK M. BOYCE, . 
. . . Norwich, N. Y. 
. . Salamanca, N. Y. 
. Niagara Falls, N. Y. 
.... LeRoy, N. Y. 
. Canandaigua, N. Y. 
. . . Chatham, N. Y. 
. . . Corning, N. Y. 
. . . Syracuse, N. Y. 
. . . Auburn, N. Y. 
. . . . Utica, N. Y. 
. East Schodack, N. Y. 
That Hillside Vineyard. —In reply to 
the Inquiry made by your Canada subscriber, 
page 351, I see no way but to set the posts 
lengthwise of the hill. The principal diffi¬ 
culty I s'ee Is in bringing the rows quite 
close together, but with me this would be 
preferable to having the vines 7V& feet apart 
In the row, which is too close for free-grow¬ 
ing vines like most of those mentioned. I 
would train the vines on the Kniffen system. 
With me the growth of vine would fill the 
entire space when of full age, say four or 
five years. Better waste a little room than 
have them so close as to Induce rot by too 
thick growth of foliage. Walter f. taber. 
New York. 
Sulky Plows on Small Farms. —Re¬ 
garding the question on page 138, it de¬ 
pends upon conditions. I farm about 50 
acres In three fields; use a 16-inch sulky 
plow for all except close to fences, corners, 
etc., then single plow. Plow about 12 Inches 
deep (mostly sugar beets). Use four horses. 
I have a neighbor who farms about 20 acres, 
mostly to beans (Limas). He plows about 
six Inches deep, uses a disk plow (10-inch), 
and does good work with a two-horse team. 
I use a turning plow, but the disks seem to 
be all right here. Our land Is level and free 
from stone, etc. If your inquirer has hill¬ 
sides he can get a reversible disk. I have 
used them and they are O. K. o. b. e. 
ranged like a series of steps on each side 
of the ravine, and unless the beds were 
raised above the surface of the ground 
enough to provide drainage, there would 
likely be some trouble from the lower 
beds getting too wet, as the water from 
the upper beds drained down upon them. 
Such a structure would be easy to heat, 
owing to the fact that so much of its 
area would be below the ground level, 
but for the culture of either flowering 
plants or general greenhouse stock, a 
house built on level ground or else run¬ 
ning along a hillside with a southern or 
southeastern exposure, would be decided- 
lv preferable to the building of a house 
up and down the hill in order to enclose 
a ravine. w. H. taplin. 
CTKAWBEKRY PLANT8—None better grown. Buy 
direct from a specialist. Catalogue free. 
GEO. K. 8CHAUBEK, Box K, Ballston Lake. N. Y. 
F OR SALK— Crimson Clover Seed, #4.50 bushel. 
Red Clover Seed, #7.50 and #8.00 bushel 
Onion sets. #2.00 and #2.60 bushel, Cow Peas 
#2.75 to #3.25 bushel. Joseph E. Holland, Milford, Del. 
-Best seed for eale. Write 
forsamples, prices, and FREE 
directions “23” on growing. 
ALFALFA 
J, E. Wing & Bros,, Box 23, 
APPLE TREES 
3XTOTHI3XTG BUT APPLES 
ROGERS ON THK HILL, Dansville, N. Y. 
Farquhar 
yijnrCUIUP UlPUItlCDV Quality of material and manufacture 
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Every farmer knowB what breakdowns cost In damage and delay. Farquhar 
engines, boilers and separators are built with every possible improvement and 
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ment on our customers. FARQUHAR TIIUE8HEU8 are unexcelled In 
capacity, made in three styles, 20 to <0 Inch 
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all sections of the country. Aja. 
Threshing Engines are Btrong, 
durable and easy steamers, thor- ' 
oughly tested and guaranteed. 
Wme for 68 page catalogue of 
engine!, boiler*, lawmllls and 
threiheri. Tells all about the 
latest Improved machinery 
and how to save labor and J 
expense. Free on request. 
A. B. Farquhar Co., Ltd., 
York, I’a. 
