n14 
THK K’ U R AL NEW-YORKER 
May 15, 
A ONE-MAN MARKER. 
I have been reading several articles 
on setting orchards recently, most of 
which may be practical if a man has 
plenty of time and lots of help, as both 
are necessary in lining, sighting and 
staking. I send sketch of a marker I 
made about ten years ago. (See cut.) 
and which we are still using in all our 
orchard setting. With this marker all 
that is necessary is to mark ground 
both ways' by getting inside the frame 
at point marked X and drawing the 
marker acioss the field to a stake, the 
same as in marking corn ground. 
There are. no small stakes to bother 
with, and we have a distinct cross 
mark to dig our holes to and then set 
the trees where the cross lines inter¬ 
sect, which point can be determined at 
a glance, as you are setting the tree 
without any unnecessary sighting. One 
man. can easily mark 15 acres in a 
day (of peach ground) ready for the 
holes to be dug. This marker is also 
useful in marking gardens or any other 
ground where a horse marker is not 
practicable, but a word in regard to 
setting trees: by all means pack the 
dirt firmly under and around all roots 
with your hands, and your trees will 
stand a much better chance of living 
than if set carelessly. f. g. 
Union Pier, Mich. 
Keeping Manure Over Summer. 
E. /•;. Grand- Rapids, Mich .—Wbat 
about keeping manure from loss by heat¬ 
ing during the Summer? My place is 
small, only thirty acres, and practically 
covered with small fruits, so that after the 
crops are in in the Spring, the manure 
which is hauled from the city has to be 
piled up in a small space until some crop 
is harvested, or perhaps till Fall. By 
that time it is burned until it is dry and 
not much good. Could that difficulty be 
obviated by spreading on the piles as 
fast as unloaded from the wagon, some 
land plaster, or gypsum, as it is mined 
here, and can be bought for $5 per ton 
at the mine or bed? I have used it in 
the stable, but stopped it. as it made the 
floor so slippery and sticky when wet. 
Axs.—When a manure pile is built 
so that the water cannot leach down 
through it. there will be no loss ex¬ 
cept in the form of ammonia gas. 
When you throw fresh horse manure 
into a loose heap fermentation goes on 
fast. There is great heat. This drives 
off the water, and unless the pile is 
kept moist by rain or by pouring water 
over it. we have “firefang.” Most 
farmers who have dug into old manure 
piles know what this is. The manure 
is dried out, gray in color and looks 
as if it had been burned. In this rapid 
fermentation a good share of the am¬ 
monia takes the form of carbonate— 
the same as that in the bottle of am¬ 
monia water. It will rise out of the 
manure pile into the air just as the 
ammonia leaves the bottle if it has the 
chance. 
Tn order to stop it we should pre¬ 
vent this rapid fermentation and hold 
the ammonia after it forms. To pre¬ 
vent air from working through the 
pile, stamp the manure down as hard 
as' possible when unloading it. Of 
course the pile will he made where the 
water cannot drain away at the bottom. 
A solid floor of concrete is best. Tf 
you can get a water supply, soak the 
pile thoroughly as it is built up. If 
you can keep the pile moist and solid, 
there will be little loss of ammonia. 
One large pile is better than several 
small ones. Great quantities of stable 
manure are taken from New York and 
large cities in New Jersey every year. 
Much of it is piled near the railroad 
tracks through the Summer. We have 
seen such piles over 800 feet long and 
eight feet or more high. All through 
the Summer men are kept at work 
putting water through a hose on this 
manure. By keeping it soaked they 
prevent rapid fermentation and loss. 
In Winter, when this manure is 
shipped, we have seen chunks of ice 
weighing more than 100 pounds on the 
manure cars. We would keep this 
manure soaked. Not much of the am¬ 
monia will work out through the sides 
of the pile. It will come mostly from 
the top. You can tell when it is pass¬ 
ing off by the smell. Tn that case 
tramp it down hard and throw on 
water. It often pays after the pile is 
tramped and soaked to cover it all 
over with a layer of soil. This holds 
the moisture in the pile and will catch 
some of the ammonia. The land plaster 
will act to hold the ammonia in the 
pile if dusted through as you build the 
pile up. Kainit, one of the German 
potash salts, is better for this purpose. 
This adds potash to the manure, and 
the salt which it contains will help to 
delay fermentation. 
Fitting the Soil.— The picture on 
page 511 shows the contrast between 
two farm sections. The farmer’s wife, 
in South Jersey, is fitting her garden 
for planting small seeds. The soil has 
been plowed or spaded and harrowed— 
now she is finishing it with a steel rake. 
Compare this with the picture of a 
group of Egyptian farm hands. The 
soil has been rudely broken with A 
wooden plow. Now, instead of harrow¬ 
ing it as usually is done here these men 
are smashing* up the lumps with heavy 
hoes. We could put a coat of lime on 
these lumps, and then with an Acme 
smash them to powder, but in Egypt 
this work is done by hand in the slow¬ 
est and crudest way. The boss or driv¬ 
er stands with his stick to keep the lag¬ 
ging ones at work. It seems like going 
back a few centuries to see work done 
in this way. It could never be done, 
except in a country where labor is de¬ 
graded and cheap. 
Not only increase of quantity, but also im¬ 
provement in quality, is the result of applying 
Potash to 
POTATOES 
The use of about io per cent, of Potash 
in your commercial fertilizer produces sturdy 
vines and smooth, solid tubers that bring top 
prices in the market. 
POTASH IS PROFIT 
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12 to 20c. will insure a tree for one year. 
i 
SPRAY AS THE PETALS FALL 
or within ten days thereafter 
WITH BOWKER’S "PYROX” 
KILLS INSECTS—PREVENTS RUST AND BLIGHT 
PRODUCES BEAUTIFUL FRUIT—INCREASES SIZE 
A non-burning combination of non-burning Arsenate of Lead (Disparene) and non-burning 
Bordeaux Mixture (Bodo) that ‘‘sticks like paint ” to the foliage and WON’T WASH OFF 
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ALL READY TO USE BY ADDING WATER 
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10 “ “ “ 
25 “ “ “ 
100 “ “ “ 
50 gallons spray 
100 “ “ 
250 “ 
1000 » s “ 
$ 1.00 
1.75 
4.00 
13.50 
1 pound of Pyrox (12 to 20c.) is enough for 1 tree 1 year. Can you insure 
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