1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
109 
Utilizing Old Stone Walls. 
-<*>- 
The average New England farm is greatly en¬ 
cumbered with stone walls, built in pioneer days 
when the clearing of the laud for plowing was a 
prime necessity. After the forests were cleared 
and the stumps had decayed, there was a super¬ 
abundance of surface stones always in the way 
of the plow, the scythe, and the rake. To 
economize labor, these were built into fences, 
and the fences were multiplied, according to the 
quantity of loose stone within a foot of the surface 
of the soil. The fences on many of these farms 
have cost more than the land, with all its build¬ 
ings, would sell for. It is not uncommon to find 
fields of a single acre, and on some farms a four- 
acre lot is the average of the tillable fields. These 
old walls lie now quite as much in the way of 
the improved implements of husbandry, as the 
surface stones of which they were made were in 
.the way of the plow and the scythe. The sav¬ 
ing of time and labor by the use of improved tools 
and machinery, which is now impractica¬ 
ble, would soon pay for the removal of 
these walls. They are doomed and must 
go, if the farmer studies economy. No 
thrifty man in this age can afford to keep 
them. There is no apology for fields of less 
than twenty acres to be used for meadow 
and tillage. With large clean fields, al¬ 
most all the work can be done by horse 
power. What shall be done with these 
old walls? We know of a thrifty farmer 
who heaped up his superflous stone in a 
huge pile of some thousand tons, topped 
it with a summer-house and planted trees 
around it. This could hardly be called 
utilizing the stone, and is not cited for 
imitation. In most cases the stone can 
be so used as to pay in part for the ex¬ 
pense of removal. Near growing villages, 
cities, and seaports, there is a demand 
for them for building cellar walls, for 
foundations, for pavements, for ballast 
for ships, and other purposes. But the 
home market must be the main reliance. Some¬ 
times there are much used farm roads and lanes 
dividing lots, where a macadamized road would be 
a great improvement. A great saving in cartage 
can be made by putting these private roads in the 
best condition. With stone foundations they 
would never need much repair, and they would 
pay interest every time a loaded cart passed over 
them. Then the walls along the highway, and the 
boundary lines of the farm being permanent, 
fences could be laid with deep foundations and 
made much broader, so as to swallow a great 
number of these old stone walls. They also can 
be utilized for the main drains or the arteries into 
which the side drains discharge in such soil as 
needs draining. The large proportion of our 
Northern farms have swales, swamps, and hard- 
pan soils, that can be made profitable only by 
draining. As a rule, tile is the cheapest, but 
where stones are in the way, and must be removed, 
they can be disposed of in the main drains to ad¬ 
vantage. As a last resort, a ditch, four or five feet } 
deep, can be dug along the side of the old wall, 
and the stone rolled into it and buried two feet 
beneath the surface. If the plow and shovel be 
used in digging the ditch, and in covering the 
stone, the expense can be afforded by most thrifty 
farmers. The old walls are a nuisance to be 
abated. C. 
Osage Orange Seed.— “J. H. M.,” Monroe Co., 
N. Y. It is customary to sprout the seed before 1 
sowing. The seeds are placed in a pail or other 
vessel, and scalding water is poured over them. The 
next day the water is poured off, and the pail cov¬ 
ered and kept in a warm place until the seeds 
sprout. The sprout should not be allowed to 
grow too long, for fear it may be broken in sowing. 
So soon as the merest point of the germ can be 
seen, the seed should be sown. If the seed-bed is 
to be worked by liand-hoeing, the rows may be a i 
foot apart, but if the land can be spared, make 
the rows of young osage plants far enough apart 
to allow the use of a cultivator. 
Quince Culture.—The Varieties Most 
Desirable. 
BY W. W. MEECH. 
• 
1.—The Apple-shaped Orange Quince. This 
variety is generally known as the “ Orange Quince.” 
The color of the bark and leaves is perceptibly 
lighter than in most others. The trunk and larger 
branches are more affected by unsightly excres¬ 
cences than other varieties. Its fruit is often 
broadened towards the stem. The color, when 
ripe, is a beautiful orange yellow. The flavor is 
good, but not as strong as in some others. With 
good culture, it grows large, fair, and smooth, often 
weighing nearly a pound. It is about the earliest 
variety. In the more Northern States it has long 
been the most popular variety. Further south, in 
OUTLINES OF FIVE VARIETIES OF QUINCES. 
latitude 38° to 40°, it ripens about the middle of 
September, when the weather is too warm for it to 
attain its greatest perfection, and much of the fruit 
soon decays.. I find many have inferior trees, 
which are variations from seeds. 
2. —The Pear-shaped Orange. This is a mors 
vigorous grower than the preceding, and comes 
into bearing much earlier. It yields more abun¬ 
dantly, and the fruit is as large, if not a little 
larger. I fill a half bushel with 40 quinces, which 
weigh nearly a pound each. My trees of this vari¬ 
ety often blossom the year after propagation, and 
I have had half a peck on three-year-old trees. The 
fruit ripens about three weeks after the Apple¬ 
shaped, often remaining on the trees through Oc¬ 
tober. It is of a golden yellow, and has a fragrance 
and flavor superior to the earlier sorts. In my ex¬ 
perience, here at Vineland, N. J., it stands first on 
the list. 
3. —The Angers. This tree is of very vigorous 
growth, with strong roots, and hence is valuable as a 
stock for dwarfing the pear. The fruit is like 
the “Apple-shaped,” with the ends a little de¬ 
pressed. It yields well, and keeps well, but the 
quality is somewhat inferior. 
4. —The Portugal. This is a vigorous grower, 
with leaves a little longer and wider, in propor¬ 
tion, than the Apple-shaped Orange. The stems 
are peculiarly marked by small, warty excrescences 
at the base of the leaf stalks. The oblong fruit 
is of the best quality, a lemon yellow, and when 
cooked, the flesh turns purple or crimson. 
5. —Rea’s Seedling, or Rea’s Mammoth. Raised 
by Joseph Rea, Greene County, N. Y. In quality 
and time of ripening, form and color, this is much 
like the Apple-shaped Orange, of which it is prob¬ 
ably a seedling. With high cultivation, it grows 
very large. A half-bushel basket of 36 quinces 
has been sold in New York City for $5. 
6 . —The Fontenay, or New Upright, is a French 
variety, which has received one of its names from 
it6 erect growth. It forms a small, compact head. 
It is less valuable than other sorts, and is not given 
in the catalogues. 
7.—The Champion. This variety was first fruited 
in 1865, by George Perry, of Georgetown, Connec¬ 
ticut. It is commended very highly. The points 
made in its favor are, that the tree is very vigorous, 
and comes early into bearing ; that the young fruit 
is protected from the curculio by its downy cover¬ 
ing ; that it is larger and smoother than the Orange 
or Rea’s Mammoth ; that it ripens later and keeps 
longer than any other quince. Specimens were 
shown at the January meeting of the Western New 
York Horticultural Society. This quince is de¬ 
scribed as “ obscure pyriform, between the shape of 
an apple and pear, with the stem inserted at the 
base of a usually prominent lip, and inclined ; the 
skin, a lively yellow, strongly russeted for a short 
distance round the stem ; calyx set in a remarkably 
deep and strongly corrugated basin.” 
Work Woman Can Do. 
If in driving about the country one 6ees a farm 
house, the yard of which shows neatness and 
taste, he is quite safe in giving the credit of this 
to the woman of the house. When a woman de¬ 
termines that the front yard shall be improved it is 
generally done. Having in vain asked the men- 
folks to undertake the job, she has only to begin 
to do the work herself, when the men will be 
shamed into helping, and the work goes on apace. 
This influence of woman is not confiued to the em¬ 
bellishment of private grounds, but in some places 
women have undertaken public improvements. In 
many villages are shaded streets and a neat public 
green, where they were not known before, thanks 
to the energy of a few enterprising women. The 
Village Improvement Association, one of the 
most recent of American Institutions, is largely, 
if not entirely due to the influence of wo¬ 
man. Here is a kind of work women can under¬ 
take without meetiug with adverse criticism. 
There are few villages east or west, north or south, 
in which there is not room for the work of an 
“Improvement Association.” Wherever the 
streets need shading and keeping in order ; wliere- 
ever the “green” in midsummer is often the 
“brown,” and that and the school-house yard are 
in a fair way to become a “ wild garden” of weeds, 
wherever front yards are shabby and fences show 
neglect, there is a village that needs such a society, 
and it should be started at once. In many places, 
these societies have been organized by ladies, and 
in all of which we have any knowledge, the consti¬ 
tution requires that a large share —often one-half 
of the “Executive Committee” shall be ladies. 
It only needs some one to make a beginning, in 
order to organize such an Association at once. An 
energetic woman, or better, two, can make a be¬ 
ginning this month. A long constitution with 
many sections, will rarely be read, and is not 
needed. All that is required is something to 
bring the members together. We suggest here 
one that is all sufficient: 
1. This shall be called the Rural Improvement 
Association, of the village of -. 
2. The object of this association is to improve 
the condition of our homes and their surroundings ; 
to improve our roads, streets, sidewalks and pub¬ 
lic grounds, in such a manner as to make an at¬ 
tractive and healthful place of residence. 
3. Its officers shall be a President, Vice Presi¬ 
dent, Secretary, who shall serve as Treasurer; 
these, with nine others, shall form an Execu¬ 
tive Committee of twelve, of whom at least 6ix 
shall be ladies. 
4. Each person, who pays one dollar annually, 
shall be a member. 
5. All meetings shall be called, all improvements 
made, and all expenses incurred, under the man¬ 
agement of the Executive Committee, five mem¬ 
bers of which shall constitute a quorum. 
There is enough constitution to begin with. 
Whatever else is needed may be voted at the meet¬ 
ings in the form of By-laws. 
Such associations, while they have done much in 
the way of improving the village in the material 
