1011, 
THIS RURAL? NEW-YORKER 
©83 
HOW THEY KILL MOLES, 
“Is there any other way besides trapping to destroy 
moles that are troublesome in hotbeds and lawns?” 
Why, yes, there are two or three ways said to be suc¬ 
cessful. Only the other day, a neighbor was discuss¬ 
ing this very subject with me. His plan was to boil 
white arsenic for 20 to 25 minutes and then stir in a 
quantity of shelled corn, let it soak till water is all 
taken up, and it becomes quite soft. Take this soft 
corn and a round sharpened stick; make holes in the 
mole runs in numerous places, drop in a few kernels 
of corn, close up the hole, and proceed a little further. 
I said to this man: “How do you know whether you 
kill any moles or not?” His answer was: “I saw no 
more damage done as first evidence, and further than 
that, I plowed out several dead moles.” This ought 
to be sufficient evidence to prove that moles will eat 
poisoned corn, and yet we read that moles do not eat 
vegetables of any kind. I often smile when I see 
such statements; it reminds me of an incident that 
occurred here over 20 years ago. I was digging a 
basket of potatoes for house use when in turning out 
a hill out came a mole with his head nearly all into a 
large potato, the inside of which was half eaten out, 
and just done, too, because the potato was wet and 
evidence of the mole’s eating it on his mouth. I do 
not claim that the mole is a vegetarian, but fully be¬ 
lieve they eat more or less vegetable matter. 
Another way is said to be good; personally, I can¬ 
not verify this statement: Proceed as with the corn, 
but in each hole made pour in some bisulphide of 
carbon, close the hole quickly; do this at short dis¬ 
tances. Some men claim this is effective; personally, I 
question it. Another way to clear your premises of 
moles is, have a good fox or rat terrier dog; train 
them on moles and then let them have their way. 
They will kill more moles than you thought you had 
at the beginning. But you will have to regrade the 
lawn and fill up holes every half day, or the place will 
be a sight to behold. I have hinted at three ways to 
kill this pest, but my own way is traps. Use the coil 
spring trap with three teeth on each side; shove it 
down level with the ground, dig out a little earth 
from under the catch on end of pan so it can trip 
easy. If this trap is handled right it never misses a 
mole. I have two, one of them missed the first mole 
that passed under it, because I did not dig out from 
under the catch, and it could not trip. Since that 
time, eight or nine years ago, neither trap has ever 
missed a mole that passed under it. These traps leave 
no unsightly mark, can be set anywhere, and are sure 
when handled right. One of the main troubles with 
people trying to catch moles with this trap is, they 
set the trap on the mole’s feeding ground, rather than 
across his main run, where he goes to and fro. Al¬ 
ways set a mole trap on the main run, then if set right 
when it trips you have got him. e. c. hulsaut. 
New Jersey. 
MONEY IN OLD ORCHARDS. 
A fruit farmer here has a fruit farm in another county 
and from the two farms he sold last years’ crop of apples 
for $30,000, not a bad go for a young man on his third 
crop of fruit. But he is l’caping where another had sown. 
The orchards are around 40 years old, but because of in¬ 
different care never paid the former owners, but are 
responding gratefully to their better treatment of late. 
The 40 acres on this farm are a glory of blossoms at this 
writing. 
This is from a New York county. There are many 
other cases where shrewd men have bought old and 
neglected orchards at a low price and made them very 
profitable. In one case such a buyer is having over 
30,000 feet of tile put in the orchard. In Massachu¬ 
setts Prof. S. T. Maynard says:— 
With us wealthy men are buying up old orchards and 
renovating them with great success. I have estimated 
that there are now in this State old trees enough if 
properly cared for to supply our home markets, but by the 
present method of pruning, i.e., cutting off the lower 
branches and leaving long bare branches with “feather 
dusters" at the end, and cutting off every sprout that ap¬ 
pears, the trees are fast being reduced to a state of al¬ 
most worthlessness. In Michigan, companies are renting 
old orchards and caring for them with large profits. 
We have had many questions about the plan of 
“dishorning” old apple trees—that is, cutting off the 
large limbs and letting a new top grow out. Some of 
the stories told of the results from this practice are 
hard to believe, yet we know that some of them are 
true. Where the trunk is sound and the roots are in 
fair condition such trees may be cut back severely, 
sprayed and fed and either top-worked with standard 
varieties or left to form a new top of its own wood. 
This is a job for the expert—not a sure road to 
wealth for the “back to the land” man. 
The latest school proposition in New York is to fur¬ 
nish free glasses or spectacles to school children requiring 
the same. A bill at Albany provides $15,000 each year 
to buy these glasses! 
STARTING A TREE. 
The pictures shown at Figs. 242-243 are sent us by 
E. H. Kramer, Jr., of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kramer is 
trying to develop a first-class fruit orchard in which 
the trees shall not only be a large size and well de¬ 
veloped but shaped to suit him. His plan is to stuff 
SHAPING THE TREE’S HEAD. Fid. 242. 
the soil full of vegetable matter by growing a full 
succession of green crops and to use fertilizer freely. 
The Fig. 243 shows how trees that have made a poor 
growth are taken out to be replaced by better ones. 
The little tree being dug out is about the same age as 
the large tree shown by its side and also illustrated 
in tbe other picture. For some reason the little tree 
failed. Such trees can be dug out, put in a nursery 
row and coaxed and petted along until they start 
growing and make satisfactory size. Larger trees put 
in place of small ones will make a better looking or¬ 
chard and also one even in development. Fig. 242 
DIGGING OUT THE FEEBLE TREES. Fia.243. 
shows a plan for shaping the tree. What is wanted 
is a low open head top shaped much like an umbrella. 
This Baldwin was set in the Spring of 1910 and it was 
cut back at that time to the offsets which are shown 
on the limbs. It made a growth of three feet. In¬ 
stead of leaving perpendicular shoots which would 
have lived along, finally making the tree 40 or 50 feet 
high, the plan is to hold the top down and make it 
spread out, so that it will finally grow with a flat 
open top. The cutting is done to outside buds and 
the training is shown in the picture. By starting with 
good stock, forcing the growth and studying the de¬ 
velopment of the tree, a fine orchard can be de¬ 
veloped, yet opinion varies greatly regarding this mat¬ 
ter of heading. We have trees at Hope Farm headed 
down low with an open spreading top somewhat like 
the one shown in the picture. We thought they were 
very satisfactory, but on a recent visit Mr. Van Deman 
criticized them and much preferred a class of trees 
which had grown up higher with a central shoot or 
stem. His main objection to the open top was the 
claim that an ice or sleet storm would weigh down 
the branches and break them off. We have, however, 
peach trees headed in this way which when loaded 
with fruit bend down to the ground and seldom have 
split or broken. We think that the tree is capable of 
adapting itself to this condition and that when it 
grows in this open or spreading fashion the limbs have 
greater strength and can bear a heavier yield than the 
upright central headed tree. 
ORGANIZATION FOR AUSTRIAN FARMERS. 
I notice with pleasure your advocacy of the forma¬ 
tion of an agrarian party in America after the plan 
of the agriculturists of Germany. I hope you will 
also take note of the movement of the Austrian Gov¬ 
ernment favoring cooperative efforts in the transpor¬ 
tation and marketing of beef cattle. That government 
is not planning to remove its tariff on cattle and 
swine imported, but will apply the profits of the cus¬ 
toms dues on these food products to encourage the 
sale and export of live stock. The Austrian authori¬ 
ties are lending their influence and power to make 
cattle raising profitable for the cattlemen. They 
favor methods of cooperation among the live stock 
raisers which seek to do away with unnecessary 
middlemen. Central markets have been established 
in the largest cities and government agents assist in 
securing expeditious and economical forwarding of 
fat cattle to these great central markets. The results 
of this movement already include increased profits for 
the farmers and decreased prices for the consumers 
of the meats. Much of the progress made has been 
due to the effective federation of the agricultural co¬ 
operative associations of Austria. 
At a great poultry conference lately held in Dublin, 
Ireland, Sir Florace Plunkett dealt with the epoch- 
making character of the conference, and mentioned 
his long and keen interest in the poultry industry, 
for which he predicts a great future. He put his 
finger on the weak spot when he indicated the need 
for organization as the one pressing and present essen¬ 
tial to prosperity. He said: “Until farmers have 
been enabled to dispose of their produce advantag¬ 
eously you cannot interest them in improving their 
methods of production, nor have you the machinery 
through which the government agencies charged with 
this responsibility can do their best work.” Why can 
we not in free America have a federating of the 
farmers’ Granges, unions and other national and 
State agricultural societies to the extent, at least, 
that the organized farmers shall act together on the 
most important agricultural matters of the day? If 
the present officials of the National Grange persist in 
blocking the progress of this great farmers’ organiza¬ 
tion it is the duty of the great body of members in 
thousands of local Granges to speak out and instruct 
their State officers to elect progressive farmers to 
lead and direct the order in the interests of agricul¬ 
tural advancement. Let real cooperation control con¬ 
ditions. I believe further that every State college 
of agriculture should include in its schedule of studies 
the subjects of agricultural organization and coopera¬ 
tion, and the storage, transportation and marketing of 
farm products. a. a. brigham. 
South Dakota. 
In 1909 there was sold in this country $71,348,199 
worth of stone. Vermont turned off $6,324,366 worth, 
while the New England States sold $9,674,715 worth 
of granite alone. These facts are proclaimed as 
though of national importance, but this output of 
granite is but a small pebble compared with the farm 
crops grown in New England. Vermont is again the 
bashful State. The granite men may brag because 
they sent some $3,000,000 worth of her granite away, 
but her farmers produced last year $15,574,000 worth 
of hay, $19,696,000 worth of potatoes, $1,764,000 of 
oats, and $1,901,000 of corn. The New England 
States together" produced $78,556,000 worth of hay, 
or more than all the stone sold in the entire country. 
And the farmers keep on doing this year after year. 
Nobody thinks it worth while to mention it, while 
the production of stone or minerals is considered re¬ 
markable. 
