1909. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1026 
DYNAMITE FOR FRUIT LANDS. 
Newspapers report cases in Arkansas 
where charges of dynamite are used to 
blow holes in the soil for tree planting. It 
is said that such work is needed to get 
down through the “hardpan.” What are 
the facts? 
Ans.— The use of dynamite in tree 
planting is by no means common here. 
I have heard of two or three instances 
in which prior to planting, holes were 
blasted out by means of dynamite. This 
has not been so much on account of the 
impenetrable character of the sub-soil as 
to loosen up the soil to a greater depth, 
with the hope that, it would improve the 
drainage under the tree, while to some 
extent favoring deeper running of the 
root system. This practice has been 
taken up by a few planters upon their 
own initiative—the station not being re¬ 
sponsible for any recommendations 
along this line. However, there are 
cases where I have no doubt the prac¬ 
tice would be well worth while. The 
soil requiring dynamite to break up the 
hardpan or to improve drainage as a 
rule would be but poorly suited to or¬ 
chard purposes. Finally we have an 
abundance of land here of a character 
unsurpassed for orchard purposes, es¬ 
pecially the cultivation of apples, with¬ 
out the necessity of resorting to dyna¬ 
mite. ERNEST WALKER. 
Arkansas Experiment Station. 
LIME AND SULPHUR. 
J. W. G., Trumanaburg . N. Y .—On page 
926 J. S. Woodward has an article on 
“Cooking Lime and Sulphur.” In it he 
does not state the proportion of each used. 
I would like to ask him for his formula for 
making the lime-sulphur mixture. 
Ans.—T he proper proportion of lime 
and sulphur for San Jose scale is an 
unsettled point, but is not a very serious 
one, and something depends upon the 
lime. Fifteen pounds of sulphur and 
20 pounds of lime is about the proper 
proportion and quantity for 50 gallons 
of water, and it should be boiled until 
it is about a brick-red color. It is not 
necessary to have the full amount of 
water while being boiled, 20 or 25 gal¬ 
lons are ample for boiling and the re¬ 
mainder can be added in spraying tank. 
It is advisable to strain the whole when 
putting into tank, and it is a good 
plan to add half of the needed water 
through the strainer, as it helps to wash 
the other through. For curl-leaf of 
peaches five pounds sulphur to 15 pounds 
lime for 50 gallons of water is ample 
and the same for spraying sour cherries 
is sufficient; in fact I think is better 
than more. I am also asked what the 
castings for furnace front and grates 
cost. The patterns I had made are quite 
heavy, as I like to have everything sub¬ 
stantial. The front for fireplace is two 
feet two inches wide, two feet eight 
inches high; has two doors. The upper 
door is 18 inches wide and 12 high, so 
as to take a large chunk. The lower or 
ash door is 18 inches long, but only 
eight inches high. 
. The grates are 30 inches long, made 
in sections and I use five in width, 
which makes a fireplace '24 inches wide. 
The whole front and grates weigh less 
than 300 pounds and cost at foundry 
$10. A two-barrel kettle here costs $8.50, 
a three-barrel $14, a four-barrel $16. 
They are each heavy, substantial and 
better than the very light cheap kettles 
on general market. The covers for ket¬ 
tles can be made of wood, though I pre¬ 
fer those made of galvanized iron, which 
any tin or sheet-iron worker can make. 
In making the arch I made two concrete 
piers four feet away on one side of the 
same height as top of arch (four feet) 
and then made a concrete platform from 
these to and connecting with -the arch. 
This is to stand upon while dipping mix¬ 
ture from kettles into the spray tank. 
This platform is six inches thick, which 
is ample, as it is reinforced each way 
with some old pipe which* I had on hand. 
This whole apparatus as will be seen, 
with two 96-gallon kettles, cost us less 
than $45, including labor, and will last 
as long as the kettles, and even these 
can be renewed when the lime and sul¬ 
phur eat them up, which it will in time. 
j. s. woodward. 
WHAT ABOUT THIS ORCHARD? 
R. M. C.j Erie, Pa .—We liavo in Chau¬ 
tauqua County, N. Y.. an apple orchard 
now about 30 years old which has been 
bearing in a half-hearted sort of a way 
for several years now. The soil is heavy 
clay, and there is no question that it needs 
drainage and a fertilizer. We are plan¬ 
ning to. drniii it by tiling two feet nine 
inches deep- between each row.- The rows 
are about 30 feet apart. After this opera¬ 
tion we want to give it the proper kind 
of fertilizing and then wish to put it into 
sod and use it as one of our sheep:: pas¬ 
tures. Will you advise us what fertilizer 
you would suggest and what sort/ of a 
grass or clover mixture you would suggest 
for the sod? The soil needs hhmus. The 
trees show very little growth from year 
to year; and tlje apples; while of excellent 
flavor, are . small. W-heiv;the orchard was 
originally planted we’ are., informed that 
for several years it was in grass.; and the 
grass,-was cut for hay and taken .off and 
no fertilizer supplied. 
I a-m glad there is one man in Chau¬ 
tauqua County who has faith in an ap¬ 
ple orchard, and has a better use far 
one than to cut it down for firewood. 
Apples can be made very profitable if 
the right kind of man has charge of the 
orchard. To accomplish that more force 
of character is required than in raising 
a crop of buckwheat. Not only the right 
thing must be done, but it must be done 
at the right time and in the right way. 
Apple trees 30 feet apart are close for 
most varieties. I am* glad R. M. C. 
proposes to do a thorough job of ditch¬ 
ing. It is very important on such soil 
as he describes, and I hope his money 
will hold out until he comp'etes his 
plans. It is a mistake to do ditching in 
a half-hearted way. I know, for I have 
made this mistake. In using fertilizer 
forget what is good for fruit but rather 
consider what will give the best and 
largest amount of humus in a cover 
crop. I am a humus crank, and* the mis¬ 
takes that I have made in stocking the 
soil with it would make a long chapter. 
Give small doses often rather than large 
doses seldom. The latter decays im¬ 
perfectly and sours the soil. A soil such 
as R. M. C. describes will, when reeking 
with humus, get more benefit from a 
pint of fertilizer than from a bushel of 
it if the soil is without humus, and more 
good from a quart of water than from 
a barrel on soil without humus. Under¬ 
stand that I am now speaking in hyper¬ 
bole. 
A specialist may give you a formula 
for a fertilizer good for fruit, which 
will, not amount to a row of pins if the 
soil is deficient in humus, or is in need 
of ditching. With soil saturated with 
humus the particular formula is not so 
important. With such soil Hitchings 
method, the earth mulch method and 
the Stringfellow method of planting will 
all succeed. Plants will almost grow 
if standing on their heads. (Another 
figure; of speech). Soil rich in humus 
is as-resourceful as John D. Rockefeller. 
With me the use of <the soil for a sheep 
pasture would be an incident and in no 
sense a copartner witht the apple trees, 
and not at- all until the soil was fat with 
humus. When that time came I would 
overstock with -sheep and buy grain or 
bran to make up the deficiency of food. 
That would keep -the pasture grass short 
and reduces to a minimum the loss of 
water by transpiration. Do not overlook 
the necessity of spraying, which must 
be done at the drop of the hat, and not 
wait until you are through visiting or 
have been fishing. Spraying is as inex¬ 
orable as time and- tide. 
UNCLE JOHN. 
After I had the tile laid I would use 
the disk harrow, cutting up the sod thor¬ 
oughly both ways.; next would use the 
spring-tooth harrow until it was in good 
condition, then would sow broadcast 
about 18 quarts of Timothy and clover 
per acre, after which I would use smooth¬ 
ing harrow and then roller. In regard 
to fertilizer, I should use some good 
high-grade grass fertilizer at the rate of 
from 300 to 500 pounds per acre, ap¬ 
plied before the last time over with 
spring-tooth harrow. I think that when 
the grass gets started so the sheep can 
be kept in the orchard your reader will 
see an improvement in the quality of 
the fruit from year to year, as it is my 
opinion that sheep are the best stock 
that can be kept in the orchard. 
E. E. COREY. 
Cannot 
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to Any 
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Pat’d 
June 15, 
1909 
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