1911. 
719 
RETURNS FROM A SOD APPLE ORCHARD. 
On April 11, 1908, Mr. Herbert Allis, of Orleans Co., 
N. Y., made a statement about an apple orchard which ho 
had leased. There were 400 apple trees—303 about 35 
years set—the balance 50 to 60 years. The place had 
been rented for cash varying from $66 to $150 per year. 
The young orchard was plowed in 1S95. Since then the 
land has not been worked, and no manure or fertilizer 
was applied. A few sheep were kept. When Mr. Allis 
took this orchard the trees had not been pruned in years. 
He gave it a good cutting—trimming about 35 cords of 
wood out of the brush. The trees were sprayed, but no 
plowing or cultivating was done. Mr. Allis now sends 
us a report of this orchard to date. Let us emphasize 
what he says, that this is no story of what a back-to-tlie- 
lander may be expected to do with any piece of land. 
It will be remembered that I have a long lease on 
this orchard, and the first year was 1907; also that 
the orchard had not been manured or phosphated at 
all for many years, and spraying had been carried on 
on the plan of spraying only the trees that showed 
signs of bearing that year. It will be remembered 
that trimming had been neglected, the first of any 
amount being 1907, when the orchard had a thinning 
out. Nearly all of the young 300 trees can be picked 
with 18 and 20-foot ladders, while some of them can 
be picked with 12-foot ladders. There are about 100 
old trees that require longer ladders. Following are 
the returns. I am sorry I cannot give the expenses 
of the orchard; nevertheless you can see the returns 
of an orchard that has been in sod 12 or 15 years, 
maybe longer, without manure or phosphate, except 
a few trees for experimenting on: 
1907. —I sold the apples, tree run, for $3 picker’s 
barrel. I furnished the barrels. I had 1,400 barrels 
picked apples, 15,660 pounds of drops at $1 per 100 
pounds, 4,300 pounds at 40 cents, 5,320 pounds at 25 
cents, total for crop, $4,387.10. 
1908. —The fruit was very wormy on account of 
not spraying properly. I sold tree run 
$1.15 picker’s barrel, without barrel; 
had 855 barrels picked fruit, 30,295 
pounds drops at 27 cents per 100 
pounds; total for crop, $1,065.05, with¬ 
out expense of barrels. 
1909. —This was the year that the lice 
did so much damage throughout this 
section. I sold early at $3 a barrel put 
up, but apples took a drop and the 
buyer backed out. Afterwards I sold 
at $2.67 a barrel put up, including bar¬ 
rel; had 176 barrels picked fruit, 18,030 
pounds drops at 50 cents; total for crop, 
$570.65. 
1910. —I sold barreled stock at $3 a 
barrel put up, including barrel; also 
part of drops at $1.75 a barrel; had 
716 barrels at $3, 63 barrels drops at 
$1.75, 9,215 pounds drops at 40 cents; 
total for crop, $2,306.46. 
It will be seen that this orchard has 
produced $8,329.26 in four years, or 
on the average of $2,082.31 a year, or 
$5.20 per tree a year. Does that look 
as I ought plow and feed the poor “starved orchard?” 
I say “starved” because a man who tills his orchard 
thinks a man who does not cultivate is starving his 
trees. I would like to say right here I don’t believe 
every orchard would prove as well in sod as culti¬ 
vated, but I do believe that if lots of the orchards 
that are cultivated to-day were in sod they would 
produce more clean profits. I think also that would 
prove true on the contrary if lots of the sod or¬ 
chards were cultivated they would return more. The 
timt has come when a man can’t be governed by his 
neighbor’s practice. If your orchard is producing 
returns to satisfy you keep the good work on; if 
not get the ideals of several fruit growers, stick to 
the one that strikes you the best; don’t be blown 
around by your neighbor’s wind. 
I have come to the conclusion that manure has no 
effect on my orchard. That’s funny, you say. Yes, 
it is to the man who pays large fertilizer and man¬ 
ure bills without experimenting. This orchard is 
about eight rows of trees wide and quite long. The 
first row we left as a check row; second row was 
covered with horse manure; third, hog manure; 
fourth, sheep; all applied during* Winter, one large 
load to four trees; the rest of rows were left as check 
rows. I might add the manure was applied during 
Winter of 1907. I haven’t been able to see any dif¬ 
ference in growth of trees or amount of apples pro¬ 
duced on the different rows. I don’t mean to say 
that manure won’t help some trees, but I do say 
I don’t believe manure will help all trees. Test it out, 
leave a few checks, then study them. In writing this 
I merely present a problem for everyone to study in 
his own orchard. Herbert aluS. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. 
THI? RURAb NEW-YORKER 
PROBLEMS IN TILE DRAINAGE. 
Advice for a Virginia Plantation. 
I am interested in draining the low grounds of a large 
plantation, and would be glad to have any information in 
the way of experience on work of this nature. If the til¬ 
ing is placed properly is there danger that it will be filled 
with silt? Which are the better, ordinary tile or concrete 
(cement) tile? j. b. w. 
South Boston, Va. 
There need be no fear of silt filling a well-made 
tile drain; in fact a properly constructed tile drain is 
4 
* 
WORKING FORCE ON A MARYLAND FARM. Fig. 260. 
one of the most permanent improvements a farm can 
have. There are, however, certain rules to be ob¬ 
served, any one of which if neglected would under 
some conditions spell failure. Laying out drains and 
adjusting their grades in a way to economize digging 
and utilize all of the available fall in rather level 
fields is an art to be acquired only by much study and 
careful practice, and after this is accomplished much 
depends on the grades where only light grades are 
available. I have a man who has been with me for a 
number of seasons who commands $2.50 per day and 
expenses for doing this work, and he is one of the 
cheapest men I ever employed, if quality and quantity 
of work is considered. We use the target method for 
NO ROOM FOR TREE DOCTORS HERE. Fig. 262. 
correlating the grade line, which I think is more 
practical in long, quickly made field ditches than the 
gauge and line so much used in sewers, where more 
men are worked close together in one ditch, but which¬ 
ever method is adopted, see to it that no depressions 
are made below grade line, or high places left above 
it; a “’twill do” grader will destroy the efficiency of 
drains that have light grades if he is not watched. 
The tile must be carefully laid and blinded with a 
soil that does not slush when wet, and run in with 
the water. Of course the engineer must exercise his 
judgment in this regard, and to anyone seeking infor¬ 
mation about this farm practice with a view of en¬ 
gineering his own work, I would say there is no one 
factor of more importance than the kind of soil used 
in the first six inches of tile covering. If muck or 
quicksand is at grade line it is sometimes necessary 
to lay the tile on boards. Avoid submerged outlets 
and cover them with a floodgate made by riveting a 
piece of galvanized iron to a bar hung in two eye 
bolts set in concrete. I have had no experience with 
tile made of cement, but know that vitrified clay is 
all right. Don’t use soft under-burned clay; I have 
known them to go down and throw a drain out of 
commission inside of five years from laying, and they 
were four feet below the surface. There is a feeling 
with many that cement tile have not been sufficiently 
proven, but my opinion is that good lasting tile can be 
made of this material, whose nature is to strengthen 
with age, though some soil acids are said to act on it 
deleteriously. j. f. van schoonhoven. 
CHANGING ALFALFA FOR CORN. 
Conditions on an Ohio Farm. 
On page 622 The R. N.-Y. makes a comment on a 
letter under this caption. I want to make a correc¬ 
tion, and tell readers how things actually are here. 
Here corn is sold at this season of the year at 68 
pounds per bushel ear corn, this equalling 56 pounds 
shelled corn for one bushel. So I had as written 96 
bushels per acre in the exchange. Then The R. N.-Y. 
is wrong in supposing that I sold the Alfalfa to pur¬ 
chase the corn. After the Alfalfa was 
harvested and in the mow 1 knew that 
the corn grown on the farm would 
not be sufficient to even up with the 
Alfalfa in feeding out, so I bought 
some 800 bushels, the year before 100 
bushels; besides the corn 20 acres of 
fodder in the shock for roughness, and 
it has been after this style for many 
years. At least for 20 years there has 
always been much more bought than 
sold. The plant food bought has always 
been more than that sold off. This 
year I sold more hay than ever before 
at one time, with one exception. That 
time I sold Timothy, as I never have 
any use for this kind of hay if I have 
sufficient Alfalfa. The fodder was ex¬ 
ceptionally fine, so that it did not take 
es much Alfalfa as usual, and thus gave 
me a surplus of Alfalfa, which I put on 
the market, as I did not want to put new 
hay on top of it in the mow. For fear 
Alfalfa would not meet my wants I fed 
Timothy hay to my horses last Winter, 
which would not have been done had I known that 
there would be a surplus of Alfalfa. In feeding Al¬ 
falfa and fodder to my horse stock I find that I have 
little need for corn. In the solution of corn, rye and 
clover and Timothy there is sometimes a crop of 
mixed hay that is sold because I cannot feed it with 
profit to the stock kept on the farm. As the farm is 
managed I have never worried on account of the 
plant food sold off the farm, because more is hauled 
on than off. Lambs will eat prime fodder but not 
Timothy hay. The premises on which the comment 
was based would have been all right in about 99 cases 
out of a hundred, but not applicable to this farm. 
Ross Co., O. JOHN M. JAMISON. 
We find many farmers who complain because they 
cannot get more of the consumer’s dollar. This com¬ 
plaint is justified. One trouble is that the volume of 
complaint is not loud enough. There are some, how¬ 
ever, who might get more of the dollar if they would 
go out after it. You will find it sometimes in the 
most unpromising places. For instance, read this from 
one of our Western readers: 
I live in a mining camp 5,600 feet above sea level, and 
now at this writing (April 8) there is 2(4 feet of snow 
on the ground, but I have a garden and orchard down in 
the river canyon and I have no trouble to dispose of my 
surplus produce. I have to pack everything up the hill, 
14 miles, on pack animals; yet last year I had no trouble 
in selling my berries at $1 per gallon, peaches five cents 
per pound, and all potatoes at four cents per pound. 
See what that means! High up in the air above 
this man’s farm is a great market, overlooked by most 
others. The chances are that within a few miles of 
your farm a good market can be found for what you 
can produce. Try it. Put up a blackboard on the 
road and chalk up what you have to sell. Keep at it 
and before you know it trade will be coming your 
way. Dozens of farmers have proved this by trying it. 
WFIEN THE COW WEARS OVERALLS. Fig. 261. 
(See Page 728.) 
