Vol. LXVII. No. 3041 
NEW YORK, MAY 9, 1908. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
FARMERS’ INSTITUTES ON WHEELS. 
A Fruit Train in Washington. 
Of recent years railroad men are beginning to 
realize that better farming means more traffic- They 
have therefore inaugurated demonstration trains in 
various parts of the country, for the sole purpose of 
instructing farmers in modern methods of conduct¬ 
ing their work. Such have been the general farm¬ 
ing trains of Georgia, the corn specials of Nebraska 
and Iowa, or the wheat special of Washington. It 
remained for the Spokane and Inland Railroad to 
broach a new type of demonstration car, a fruit train. 
The rolling prairies of the Palouse country of east- 
many people would be reached who woidd otherwise 
miss the ordinary institute. The speakers selected 
were practical men who have already gained recog¬ 
nition among the fruit growers. Prof. \V. S. Thorn- 
ber, horticulturist, Prof. A. L- Melander, entomologist, 
and Prof. R. K. Beattie, botanist, all from the Wash¬ 
ington State Experiment Station, gave short, crisp 
talks on the care and management of orchards. These 
men were assisted by C. L. Smith, a professional lec¬ 
turer at farmers’ institutes, and John S. Hughes, an 
expert on fruit canneries. For three days this train 
was in the closest touch with Palouse farmers. Prac¬ 
tical talks and demonstrations on how to do things 
were given at 19 stops, and over two thousand farmers 
farmer himself to handle the different types of 
nozzles at pressures ranging from 30 pounds to 250 
pounds. Nothing could convince the grower more 
readily of the need of modern methods in the treat¬ 
ment of orchards than to have explained in this prac¬ 
tical manner the differences between antiquated and 
up-to-date spraying. This train was a venture. It 
invaded a region practically given over to wheat. 
But it was successful in every way- The audiences 
were pleased, and showed that their interest in fruit 
growing was already aroused. The speakers were 
pleased, for they were able to reach more people and 
a different class of people than by the longer sessions 
of the regular institute. That the railroad officials 
A PACIFIC COAST “FRUIT TRAIN.” 
WESTERN FARMERS AND “HORTICULTURE ON WHEELS.” Fig. 176. 
ern Washington and western Idaho have soil of 
great fertility. Like all new country this region is 
given over to general farming, and extensive fields 
arc grown to wheat. Here and there are special 
farms producing Winter apples. The fruit farms are 
eminently successful, and have demonstrated that the 
Palouse country is vastly more important for the 
pi oduction of fruit than to remain as the over-sized 
general farms now prevalent. 
Knowing that the general farmer needs instruction 
m the growing and handling of fruit, the manage¬ 
ment of the Inland Electric Railroad considered it 
business policy to arrange for a special fruit train. 
^ here have been numerous farmers’ institutes in the 
legions covered by their lines, but the institute is 
held at some central place, and very little practical 
demonstration is done at the meetings. With a fruit 
• lain sessions could be held at every station, and 
availed themselves of the opportunity to broaden their 
views. Necessarily the stops were brief, but as the 
train pulled in, in each case prompt to the minute, 
there was an audience assembled eager to learn. 
I hese men were pleased. They had practical things 
shown to them. There was no theory in the talks. 
In 10 minutes they were told exactly what to do and 
when and how to do it. 
I lie demonstrations were given from the rear plat¬ 
form of the observation car that was the trailer of the 
train. This part of the car was fitted with displays 
of insect pests, photographs of run-down or¬ 
chards that had been reclaimed by the Station 
men, charts, and blackboards- An important fea¬ 
ture was a large orchard spray pump, of the high 
pressure type necessary for Codling moth spraying. 
I his was equipped with the recent inventions 
brought out to simplify spraying, and enabled the 
were pleased is apparent from their promise to con¬ 
tinue similar demonstrations in the future, and while 
theirs is the selfish hope of increasing traffic by better 
farming, let us hope that the ideas sown by the 
fruit train will result in better fruit and more fruit, 
even beyond the expectations of a railroad man. 
A. L. M. 
NOTES ON PLANTING CORN. 
As the time draws nearer for plowing and planting 
it occurs to me that a few words about the prepara¬ 
tion of the soil, and the securing of good stands of 
corn by mechanical means, would not he amiss. If 
we have a sod field to break we should plow it as 
early as possible, so as to secure a good mechanical 
condition of the soil. By plowing early we get the 
benefits of the late freezes. Spring rains, sun and 
winds, which settle and rot the soil and save us much 
