114 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 3, 
may know it, when quarrying limestone or marble 
(which is pure lime, or calcium carbonate) that the 
work must be done by other means than blasting with 
any known explosive, if the stone is to be used for 
either building or monumental purposes. The simple 
facts are, when you shoot any limestone you kill it; 
from that moment it begins a rapid breaking down, 
and when further reduced to as fine a product as 1 
have outlined, “thoroughly” (mind you, I repeat thor¬ 
oughly) mixed with a soil in need of it, the soil and 
other acids will attack the larger pieces (if there be 
left in the soil any acidity not rendered basic or sweet 
by the 40 to 60 per cent of fine dust contained in this 
ground lime) and break it down into fine available 
lime at a rapid ratq, These and other forces beneath 
the surface of the soil under our feet drive the mills 
of the gods, that revolve day and night, never ceasing, 
never needing repair; in this case they grind at a 
rapid rate and without further cost. 0. P. N. fox. 
Tennessee. 
KEROSENE EMULSION AND FIRE. 
In a western paper I recently observed an article 
on the preparation of kerosene emulsion, accredited 
to Prof. S. Arthur Johnson, of the Fort Collins 
Experiment Station, in which the author, after ex¬ 
plaining the method of preparing the mixture, is 
quoted as saying: 
“If the oil does not emulsify rapidly, it may be 
necessary to put the mixture back on the stove and 
warm it more.” 
I do not know that the professor is correctly 
quoted; but it seems to me that no one should give 
such advice as the above. It must be borne in mind 
that the instructor is not talking to scientists and 
experts, but instead, to those who are neither scien¬ 
tific nor expert, and frequently not even intelligent. 
If gunpowder is to be kept in an open vessel in a 
room where there is a heated stove, our common 
sense tells us that the only safety lies in keeping the 
powder a long distance from the fire. The same 
thing is equally true regarding a can of kerosene. 
Now, in preparing the mixture, after having poured 
the boiling water and soap into the oil, if the churn¬ 
ing process fails to produce a perfect emulsion, and 
it is considered necessary to reheat the mixture by 
placing it on a stove that is in a house, then do it 
“by proxy.” Let some one else put the vessel “on 
the stove,” and be sure that he does it in his own 
house, and not in yours. 
A near-by neighbor tried the experiment of heating 
kerosene emulsion on his cookstove in the kitchen. 
The man succeeded in getting out of the room, and 
saved his whiskers. The balance of his personal 
property remained with the kerosene emulsion. There 
is now a new house standing on the spot where the 
kerosene was. This will remain as a monument to 
one man’s stupidity. In case it is ever thought neces¬ 
sary to reheat the mixture, by all means do it out¬ 
doors where it cannot set fire to a building. 
CLEM AULDON. 
WANTS A GOOD-SIZED TREE. 
In buying nursery stock, which would you prefer from 
choice, a well-grown yearling tree or much larger nursery- 
stock two or even three years old? 
There seems to be a number of wa 5 r s to view the 
matter of age and size of trees for planting, each 
one possessing certain advantages and disadvantages. 
There is a tendency at this time to prefer well-grown 
yearling apple trees, and, I believe, where good care 
in culture and shaping is exercised, that the yearlings 
are wisely chosen. In the first place, not all the 
trees in the yearling nursery rows will be of salable 
■size. The larger, thriftier ones are in some cases 
carefully dug, allowing the smaller ones to remain 
in the rows to grow another year or two. If there 
be anything in varying degrees of inherent vigor (I 
believe there is) of different strains of the same 
variety, the first digging of thrifty yearlings from 
the nursery rows will doubtless amount to “selec¬ 
tion” in the broad sense of the term, such as we 
exercise in making the initial selection of potatoes, 
for instance, by choosing the thriftier growing, higher 
yielding hills. The individual trees or plants may 
be more vigorous from the effect of environment or, 
again, they may show this characteristic as the re¬ 
sult of inherent superior strength, or of bud-varia¬ 
tion or mutation. At any rate we should like to 
know that, in planting yearlings, we are getting the 
cream of the nursery rows so far as vigor is con¬ 
cerned. As is often explained, yearling trees lend 
themselves readily to the formation of low-headed, 
symmetrical forms—this, of course, depending wholly 
upon the care bestowed by the grower, after planting. 
However, where planting and cultural conditions are 
not as favorable as should be, I should prefer well- 
grown two-year-old apple trees. Especially is this 
true where rodents are a factor to be considered. 
The larger,' sturdier stems of the older trees may at 
once be encircled with wire screen cylinders and 
will support them without staking and much addi¬ 
tional care that .-the yearling trees would require. 
I shall now make a statement with which I do not 
anticipate agreement by many who are interested 
either in tree growing or planting; but the statement 
conforms fully to the facts as brought out by the 
last most unfavorable of all seasons I have ever 
known for transplanting trees. I sent home and had 
planted by our man in charge about 500 apple trees, 
mostly yearlings. These yearlings have suffered very 
much from the extreme drought, many of them 
dying outright. Among the number I sent 50 heavy, 
three-year-old trees of a vigorous variety, to be 
planted for top-working next Spring. Under the 
same trying conditions these heavy trees have not 
only lived but made a very satisfactory growth, there 
being but one tree out of the 50 that failed. They 
will make good stocks for top-working in 1912. Had 
I known in advance what the results of the season 
would have shown, every tree would have been of 
the heavy grade, for I could have purchased them 
for about the same price as the yearlings. Moreover, 
they can be worked from scions from our own bear¬ 
ing trees of good varieties and low, uniform heads 
developed as readily as with yearlings. While I shall 
not insist upon my neighbors nor friends following 
this plan, I shall hereafter plant only two or three- 
year-old trees and top-work them myself to varieties 
that I know to be good and true. The advantage of 
this plan with such varieties as Grimes and Jonathan 
is very great, as the Grimes, on its own body, is so 
subject to crown disease or canker, while the Jona¬ 
than is rather inclined to a crooked, rambling growth, 
which, grafted on straight, vigorous stocks of rapid 
growing sorts as Ben Davis, Northwestern Greening, 
etc., will prevent in a measure. 
There is another advantage ia the older trees—my 
statement with regard to this may be called a theory, 
but is certainly well founded—that the younger trees 
do not seem to possess. Yearling trees are very apt 
to develop root-gall after planting, even though they 
come to the planter apparently free from the trouble. 
The tree that grows to the age of two or three years 
in the nursery row, without showing any infection 
by the disease, is more likely to remain free from the 
trouble than the baby tree which has not had suffi¬ 
cient time to demonstrate any well-marked resistance. 
This, I repeat, is theory; but, from a somewhat ex¬ 
tended study of disease resistance in plants of various 
kinds, I am fully prepared to defend the theory and 
to avail myself of the probable advantages of using 
the older stock. Under very discouraging drouth con¬ 
ditions we have lost practically an entire block of 215 
yearling trees planted last Spring. The few living 
ones were taken up last Fall and used to replant 
another block of same varieties, while the ground 
thus cleared will be replanted with three-year-old 
trees selected for cleanness from root gall and for 
general good vigor—such trees being rather gladly 
sold by the nursery because they have reached and 
are likely to pass the age limit for popular planting. 
These will be top-worked next Spring. 
Ohio. K. H. BALLOU. 
THE SEARCH FOR LAND AND HOMES. 
This county, situated in central Illinois, is no doubt 
fairly typical of the Central West. Every year many 
families leave to acquire land and homes in other sec¬ 
tions. There are no manufacturing establishments to 
speak of, and the price of land is too high, and there 
is not enough to go around. Land here that 10 years 
ago sold for $60 per acre now sells for two or three 
times this price. A young man going in debt for a 
farm must have great capacity for hard work, be a 
good manager, and then must be lucky in order to 
pay out. Some would leave out luck as a factor, but 
1 believe it is something to be reckoned with. Here 
in the West, for instance, it is no uncommon thing 
for a cyclone to come along and destroy one’s crops 
and buildings. Then last Fall hundreds of farmers in 
this county have lost from 50 to 200 or more hogs 
with the cholera. Then there came an early and un¬ 
expected freeze that took at least half of the apple 
crop, and many potatoes were frozen. A few such 
years as this would no doubt force the value of land 
down in price to something like what it was 10 years 
ago. The fact is, considering what farmers have to 
contend with, land at from $150 to $200 an acre is 
too high. 
In this search for cheaper land many have crossed 
the line and settled in the Far North, where the cli¬ 
mate is cold, the season short, and the range of prod¬ 
ucts limited. This move would not suit me. Some 
have gone where there are irrigation projects, or are 
trying dry farming. Others have taken up places in 
the Ozarks or in the so-called swamp lands of the 
South. The swamps of Arkansas and that section 
when well drained will no doubt make good land. 
They say that when this is done the country is going 
to be healthy. This may Be true, but suppose one went 
there and died with malaria, what good would it do 
him if the country was going to be healthy some time? 
On the whole, I think the South appeals to me more 
than any other section that offers cheap land. The 
section of the South that I have in mind is the States 
of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. I never thought 
much of Florida, for I always was afraid of rattle¬ 
snakes. But no doubt these States named also have 
great drawbacks to a person going there from the 
North. It seems that in most localities there the white 
people live in the towns and let the negroes do the 
farming. Thus, if a person bought a farm there and 
went on to it as he would want to, he would be likely 
to have mostly negroes for neighbors, and I suppose 
he would “lose caste” with the white people if he 
worked like farmers do here. Just how he would fit in 
with the Southern people in general would probably 
be more or less of a problem. There would be a dif¬ 
ference between them, and probably they would be 
more or less suspicious of each other. Then there is 
the matter of the hookworm. I read an article in 
McClure’s Magazine a year or two ago that rather 
scared me. If there are several million people in the 
South suffering from this disease, it surely is a very 
serious thing. Of course the land agents claim that 
this thing is greatly exaggerated, and that the hook¬ 
worm is confined mostly to certain localities. I would 
like to get the truth of this matter, and I wish readers 
of The R. N.-Y. residing in the South would briefly 
give their impressions as they see it. Also I would 
like them to take up the matter of one’s having to put 
up mostly with negroes for neighbors. I would also 
like to have those who have gone from the North to 
state which climate they like best. No doubt the 
Winters are pleasanter there, but how about the Sum¬ 
mers? 
There is also one other section that is claiming some 
of our people; I refer to the East. There is more 
snow there, but less mud. The Winters are cold, but 
not to such a degree as in Canada. The land, a good 
deal of it, is not level enough to suit a westerner, and 
there are rocks, and the necessity for the use of fer¬ 
tilizer. But there are good buildings, good markets, 
probably as good neighbors as can be found anywhere 
and one cannot get very far from a good town. So 
on the whole it seems to me that one might look far¬ 
ther and do worse, unless the matter of a milder cli¬ 
mate was of controlling importance with them. B. 
Menard Co., Ill. 
R. N.-Y.—We print the above in the hope of ob¬ 
taining really valuable information. We take it to be 
a fair statement of what our Illinois farmer wants to 
know, and we hope our readers will be equally fair 
and frank in giving the facts about their sections. 
As an experiment, we try this method of obtaining 
information. 
DEVELOPING A LOCAL MARKET. 
Last Fall we received the following letter from a 
man in Virginia: 
Will you give me the name of some apple grower from 
whom I can get two or three barrels of apples that will 
be the same from top to bottom? 1 think Virginia is the 
dumping ground for all the culls they can fool people to 
buy. As far as I have seen they are all ‘•filled.” 
That is one of the most remarkable cases where 
producer and consumer are “strangers yet.” Here is 
a Virginian who says his State is “the dumping 
ground for all the culls they can fool people to buy.” 
Less than 100 miles from him are grown some of the 
finest apples that ever grew on a tree! This is a 
good illustration of our present defective system of 
local distribution of fruit. The Virginia growers sell 
mostly at wholesale. Then apples are demanded in 
Europe, and it Is much easier for them to sell to a 
reliable buyer in the orchard than to attempt a 
retail trade. On the other hand, it is claimed that 
retail buyers are not willing to pay the prices for fine 
Albemarle Pippins, Winesaps or Yorks which these 
growers obtain in Europe. Up to this time the Vir¬ 
ginia growers may have been justified in ignoring the 
local retail trade. In the future they will be obliged 
to develop it for, without question, new markets will 
be demanded in order to dispose of the fruit. The 
hundreds of small towns scattered through the coun¬ 
try would handle thousands of barrels of apples if 
the trade could be developed. We think this de¬ 
velopment is one of the most important things con¬ 
nected with fruit growing. 
When considering drainage, remember that the water is 
to enter the drain between the joints of the tile and chiefly 
from the bottom. 
