1907. 
767 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NEW ENGLAND HILL-TOP ORCHARDS. SELECTING AND CURING SEED CORN. 
New Value to Old Pastures. 
Part III. 
Those .apple trees growing in Hale’s peach orchard 
would cure me of any desire to plant the two kinds 
together. 1 he peaches have headed low, and having 
been cut back have made a wide, branching top, crowd¬ 
ing into the apple trees on every side. As a result, the 
apple trees are tall and leggy, heading too high and 
making, for the most part, a high straggling top, since 
they must mount high above the peach trees in order 
to make headway. They make me think of an enter¬ 
prising man crowded into a corner where he can't get 
elbow room. I am glad I left my apple trees 32 feet 
apart, though I was tempted to crowd peaches between 
them. It is true that these trees can be cut back later 
and reheaded, but they will never make an orchard 
that Hale will be proud to leave to his boys. From my 
limited experience I would rather plant dwarf apples 
as fillers and plant peaches alone. Hale’s excuse is 
that he wants the peach trees to pay expenses while 
the apples are coming into bearing. They are not 
paying this year, as there is hardly a peach on 100.000 
trees. It will be no easy job to spray these apple trees 
with Paris-green or Bordeaux Mixture with the peach 
trees crowding them. While most of the fruit growers 
in Connecticut seem to be planting apple and peach 
together, I think they recognize the fact that it is not 
the best way to start an apple orchard. Such practice 
is based on the desire to make the land give early re¬ 
turns, but I think there will be a change when growers 
have a better chance to see what a heritage of poor 
shape this leaves the tree. While peach orchards on 
these hills rnay be considered makeshifts, apple or¬ 
chards are permanent, and we ought to know, from 
cur fight with the scale, how important it is to have 
the right shape to a tree. 
One of the most interesting things on the farm was 
Mr. Hale’s work with cover crops. I have told how the 
work of clearing and fitting the land gives enough cul¬ 
ture to grow the tree to bearing age. After that it is 
necessary to feed the tree and the crop. Hale has bought 
fertilizers by the thousands of tons, and he has a good 
idea of the amount of nitrogen which cow peas and 
Crimson clover are saving him. 1 here was one large 
field where peach trees afflicted with yellows had been 
pulled out. The ground was seeded to rye last Fall, 
and after the rye was cut a combination of cow peas, 
Crimson clover and Cow-horn turnips was seeded. The 
cow pea seed was put under with a disk and the other 
seed harrowed in. During a dry time it pays to put 
cow peas in deep, for then they sprout easier. The 
clover and turnips lay four weeks in the soil without 
sprouting, there being no rain until late August. When 
they did start they jumped, and by Sep¬ 
tember 17 the mass stood nearly knee high. 
Pulling up a few cow pea vines we found 
the roots covered with great nodules—a 
surer guarantee of nitrogen than any 
analysis ever printed on a fertilizer bag! 
All through the orchards was a green mass 
of Crimson clover and Cow-horn turnips, 
having made an enormous growth since the 
tardy rain. One who is not familiar with 
these crops cannot understand the great 
benefit they are to this soil. The clover 
and peas accumulate nitrogen, while the 
turnips dig up the ground and make phos¬ 
phoric acid available. The Wonderful cow 
pea seems well adapted for manurial crops 
in the North. Hale uses it after strawber¬ 
ries cr after rye. It grows until frost, and 
then if Crimson clover has been seeded 
with it, the dead pea vines give a form of 
protection to the clover and help carry 
them through Winter. It is not good econ¬ 
omy to grew a variety of cow peas which 
make seed at the North. Better buy the 
seed and get all the vine growth possible. 
Crimson clover kills out in Connecticut 
about once in three years, as with us in 
New Jersey, the killing being usually done 
in March, when the clover lifts with the 
trost and is dried out by the wind. I 
wish every farmer in Connecticut could see 
these cover crops at Hale’s place with the 
faith which makes us believe that this 
growth is worth 10 loads of manure to the 
acre. To my mind, it is a wonderful thing that these 
old hills should be able to grow a tree to bearing age 
without fertilizer, and then produce these cover crops 
to help grow the fruit. H w c 
ex £ ep t R ?J] S v (Jeniton). Our home packers 
^ ork > Michigan and Arkansas for fruit. 
haIf a crop. Potatoes less than half a crop. Corn 
drnwf ’ c T rac in * 4 , 2 , cents t0 45 cents. Wheat is being 
a rilled under favorable conditions. k a 
Auburn, Neb. 
It is obvious that what suits one section of the coun¬ 
try, or one man’s requirements, or one variety of corn, 
may not suit another. In my own practice I have se¬ 
lected from the stalk and from the shock, and I will 
say that seed corn selected from the shock and well 
cured before cold weather will equal stalk-selected seed 
in every particular, excepting that a large ear may be 
due to a thin stand of corn rather than to the ability 
of its parent stalk. Tn elaborate articles on corn breed¬ 
ing we are told that we must do this and must not do 
that, till it appears that the authors were making dis- 
WOLF HUNTER AND HIS DOG. Fig. 381. 
tinctions without differences. At any rate, I believe 
that fine-drawn theories are much less valuable to the 
farmer than practical methods of making the seed corn 
more dependable. 
I select good-sized, uniform ears from stalks that' 
suit me, and when these ears are dried thoroughly they 
are stored in a dry place, protected from changes of the 
weather. Before shelling to plant, the corn is picked 
over for uniformity, and a large part of the tips and 
part of the butts is discarded, for we want uniform 
grains for good results in mechanical planting. We 
must have good, even stands of corn in the field, for 
after all. this is the most important matter. 
be tested before shelling. Testing seed corn is not a 
difficult matter, and the various ways of testing have 
been described so often that I shall not do so here. 
A large number of ears, some seasons, heat and mold 
slightly during hot weather at the time of ripening, and 
as this is not easily detected, one should be careful 
when selecting, as such ears are worthless for seed. 
1 he kind of stalk that suits me and those 1 select my 
seed from are strong and sturdy, not easily broken or 
blown down, and have the ear neither too high nor too 
low. The shape of the ear is less important than the 
amount of grain it carries, so I select ears having lets 
of deep grains, pretty well crowded together on the 
cob, and as to the tips or butts, I care little. As to 
whether a score card will help one in the selection of 
ears, I cannot say. very little, if at all, I think. I 
have purposely said nothing about corn breeding, as the 
subject is much too big for a short article, and more¬ 
over, most farmers need not concern themselves about 
it so long as they get a good stand and large yield. 
If we get, as a result of our work, well cured, vigo r - 
ous seed corn, uniform in size of grain, then we should 
be careful when planting, to see that the planter is ca¬ 
pable of doing its part properly. I heartily wish that 
every corn grower will select his seed this Fall and 
dry it well before cold weather, and from experience I 
know that all who do will be pleased with the results 
when the corn is up next May. At the left in Fig. 378 
are shown five vigorous stalks with the ears at about 
the proper height, while on the right are shown three 
long-jointed, top-heavy stalks that are liable to be 
broken off or blown down. Fig. 377 shows a good way 
to hang up seed corn to dry, but instead of a pole, a 
tight wire may be used, and of course it should be 
under cover. Fig. 379 shows some ears selected for 
amount of grain and uniformity of kernels rather than 
for mere appearance. w _ E D 
A SEPTEMBER PAN-AMERICAN STRAWBERRY PLANT. 
REDUCED. Fig. 382. See Ruralisms, Page 770. 
If gathered early, seed corn may be dried sufficiently 
before cold weather by hanging it in a dry, airy shed, 
but generally it is best to fire-dry it. A smoke house 
or a Summer kitchen will answer the purpose. It 
should be remembered that the temperature should go 
but little above 100 degrees F., and that the seed corn 
should be protected from rats and mice while drying, 
as well as when stored. If there is the least doubt as 
to the germinating ability of the seed corn it should 
HOW A FARMER PAINTS A BUGGY. 
I offer a reply to Max’s inquiry how to paint a 
buggy (page 700), although I am no professional car¬ 
riage painter; however, I keep our own wagons painted, 
and occasionally one for a neighbor or friend, so will 
willingly tell how I do it. If the buggy is not too bad 
give it a good sandpapering with No. 2 sandpaper, but 
if the old paint is cracked and coming off, it should 
all be removed. Take a blow torch and an old knife, 
burn and scrape off all'the old paint. This is not a 
terribly hard job after you once get used to it. Now 
sandpaper and clean off and you are ready for your 
priming coat. Bear in mind you must have a good 
foundation for a good job. For a primer use white 
lead brought down as near your final color as you can. 
In this case use lamp black ground in oil. Thin with 
one-half good japan, the other half linseed oil. Apply 
this, and when thoroughly dry take the 
sandpaper you have already used and go 
over it lightly that it may be nice and 
smooth for your color; probably one coat 
of lead will be enough. Use your judg¬ 
ment as to this. For color use quick dry¬ 
ing or japan paints (the lead, not ready 
mixed with varnish in it) ; thin with tur¬ 
pentine only. Apply your color, whatever 
it may be. A black body and a dark green 
gear striped with century red looks very 
neat; better than all black in my estima¬ 
tion, but this is a matter of taste. Two 
coats of color will be enough; rub down 
with curled hair or moss, that it may be as 
smooth as possible for the varnish. This 
dusted you are ready for the varnish. I 
varnish one coat before striping," as the 
stripe is much easier to wipe off on var¬ 
nish, for all but the professionals will make 
some mis-draws with the striping brush. 
Use only a new brush for varnish; don’t 
try to clean up an old one. If you do you 
will be sorry, as your job will be full of 
specks, and they will magnify a hundred 
times in varnish and look as big as baseballs. 
When the varnish is thoroughly dry you 
are ready for striping. Get a small long¬ 
haired striping brush, find a piece of glass, 
take a little of the japan lead, form paint 
on to it, also a little cup of turpentine. 
Dip brush into this, then wipe through 
the paint and brush out on the glass, 
until you have it just right to lay 
on well; then go ahead with the stripe. Go right along 
with it, don’t stop. You no doubt will have to do some 
wiping, as I said before, all but the professionals do, 
but with a little practice you will soon, get accustomed 
to it. This done, lay on one more coat of varnish, 
when you have a job that will wear and stand out with 
the best of them. I get the $1.25 per quart grade of 
varnish; don’t use a cheap grade and spoil the job. 
Massachusetts. - A s 
MUCH 
