.C lochnojcjofe! 
1910. 
H3>IHOY-V/3W JA3UH 3HT 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
8a6 . 
WORK OF A DITCHING MACHINE. 
Digging Among Stones and Swales. 
Several times in recent years yon have printed illus¬ 
trations of the type of ditching machines used on the 
University Farm. I presume some of your readers 
would like to know if this machine will work in stony 
digging, and others may wonder what it can do in a 
swale or springy spot where one can always find water 
below the surface. Fig. .367 shows how the machine 
cut a ditch through a nest of bowlders where we 
wanted an outlet to our drain a little out of the 
natural water course. Of course the machine did not 
carry the large stones out of the ditch in its digging 
buckets, but it d'd loosen them and push 
them up to the ground line where the 
men could pull them away by hand from 
in front of the digging wheel. In the 
same view you can see the smoke ,rising 
from the ditching machine beyond the 
knoll. Here there was trouble enough. 
Our drain was intended as an outlet for 
a pool of water which was collected from 
the hills and gravelly knolls surround¬ 
ing, but as it had a clay bottom the 
water remained stagnant in it until the 
Summer drought dried it out. We had 
planned to run a drain around the swale 
on each side, thus cutting off the under¬ 
ground flow of water into it. We knew 
that the machine could not be driven 
through the center of the swale, but ex¬ 
pected that the edges would be firm 
enough to hold it up. Fig. 366 shows 
what happened. The heavy drive wheels 
cut deeply into the oozy earth, and the 
front wheels, instead of guiding the 
machine out of the soft ground, slipped 
sidewise and farther into the swale. It 
was a tedious job to extricate the 
machine. 
In Great Britain a type of traction en¬ 
gine with broad traction webs in place 
of wheels has been successfully used on 
soft ground. I am told by the manufac¬ 
turers of these ditchers that the same de¬ 
vice is in use on their machines built 
purposely for ditching boggy lands. The 
type of machine shown in the picture is 
all right on our firm ground, but when 
we have a swale to drain hand labor 
must be used to make the ditches. We 
find that our problems in drainage in this 
glacial drift soil are somewhat diversi¬ 
fied and call for good judgment on the 
ground at time of ditching and frequent 
observations of the conditions during the 
wet months of the year. 
EDWARD R. MINNS. 
chance, establishing themselves as thriftily as healthy 
strawberry plants, and nearly as quickly. Persevere 
with it, as when well established it is worth all the 
effort to get it started right. It should, however, be 
planted where it is to remain for years. There are 
fields of Alfalfa in this State 25 and 30 years old, and 
still good for four to six tons of hay annually. 
CABBAGE PLANTING BY MACHINERY. 
The transplanter shown at Figure 365 is used mostly 
to set cabbage plants in this neighborhood; it is also 
used to set mangels and tomatoes for the cannery. 
It is operated by three men, one to drive the team and 
three to five acres a day can be set. In setting mangels, 
a very slow team must be used and the water allowed 
to run all the time, and the men put in the plants as 
fast as possible, which will be about a foot apart. In 
this way the ground is worked well until the plants are 
large enough to set; it is but little trouble to keep them 
clean and they do not have to be thinned by hand, 
which is slow work. In setting tomatoes but one man 
is required, and a large stone is placed on the empty 
seat to assist in packing the ground. d. s. norkis. 
A CABBAGE TRANSPLANTER IN OPERATION. Fig. 365. 
DITCHING MACHINE STALLED IN SOFT GROUND. Fig. 360 
LITTLE ALFALFA SERMONS. 
A Word From Utah. 
You do well to preach your little Al¬ 
falfa sermons. If people of the East 
but half sensed the value of this crop 
for all kinds of live stock and poultry, 
they would spend half the value of their 
farms, if necessary, to get it well estab¬ 
lished upon their farms. Throughout 
the West little trouble is experienced 
in making it grow, and it is the most 
important all round crop on the farm. 
Fed green or cured it is relished by all 
stock, and eaten without waste. Poul¬ 
try are inordinately fond of it in any 
form, and if they have access to a small 
patch will keep it eaten down to the 
ground all Summer. The father of the 
writer, who came here in 1849, has the 
distinction of being the first to plant 
Lucent or Alfalfa in Utah. I remember 
a patch of it planted in the early fifties, 
which was considered so precious that in 
the early Spring it was covered with 
trimmings from the orchard to protect 
it from the hens until it got a start. 
You have said very little of its value as a poultry 
food. It is fully as valuable in poultry economy as 
in the dairy. Planted where the hens can have access 
to it they will get all the green food they need so long 
as the ground is bare from Winter snow, and if they 
have access to the stockyard will gather up all the 
fallen leaves, which make a splendid egg-producing 
ration with grains, and supply lime for the shell as 
well. Alfalfa here in the West will stand more abuse 
and neglect than any other hay crop; will grow any¬ 
where, and is hard to kill out if given any sort of a 
chance. After long years of neglect June grass and 
dandelions will, however, choke it out. It takes so 
naturally to congenial soil that the stumps taken from 
a plowed-up Alfalfa field grow readily if given a 
STONES RIPPED OUT BY THE DITCHING MACHINE. Fig. 367 
AN “INSTITUTE OF TREE SURGERY.” 
My boy has become entangled with a concern call¬ 
ing itself “The Davey Institute of Tree 
Surgery.” He has had some correspond¬ 
ence with them and has also received 
some glowing literature from them 
which has completely captivated him. He 
is young, however, and has not shown 
himself as having great stability in the 
past. Being somewhat older and hav¬ 
ing read the “Publisher’s Desk” regu¬ 
lar!}', has made me doubtful of all such 
concerns, and though I cannot see any¬ 
thing wrong in what they say, still there 
may be things which I am unable to 
fathom. If you know anything about 
them you would do me a favor indeed if 
you would let me know. 
If no one has asked you about them in 
the past I ought to give you a few par¬ 
ticulars about them. First, then, it 
seems it was originally called the Davey 
School of Practical Forestry. It is also 
referred to as the Davey Tree Expert 
Company, Inc. They offer employment 
in the field to young men at $2 per day. 
This work lasts until December 1, when 
institute opens, and if you have made 
good in the field you will be called to 
the Institute of Tree Surgery, and hav¬ 
ing paid down $200 in hard cash they 
will provide you with board, room and 
tuition until May 1, when if you have 
made good in institute work your wages 
in the field will be raised to $3 per day, 
and if you show extia ability you may 
be promoted to foreman of a field gang, 
wages ranging from $3.50 to $5.50 per 
day. All graduates of the institute arc 
bound to them by contract for a period 
of three years. The Davey Institute of 
Tree Surgery promises wonderful things 
for the future. My boy has a position 
which though no great things just now 
will eventually be better if he will only 
have a little patience. I am glad to see 
that they throw cold water on young 
married men becoming tree surgeons 
and would prefer single men. If you 
have at any time investigated this con¬ 
cern I would be glad to have the opinion 
you came to. j. 
R. N.-Y.—We have had a number of 
questions about this concern. We 
scarcely know whether to call it a fake 
or not. The literature carries all the ear 
marks that we recognize in fake propo¬ 
sitions. It is full of extravagant state-^ 
ments and glowing prospects. On the 
other hand, the financial standing of the 
concern is reported good. The head of it 
is evidently an enthusiastic man who has 
great faith in his schemes—far more 
than we have. We do not understand 
that he is a scientist or skilled in for¬ 
estry. Lie is reported as being “very 
useful with his hands,” and that is prob¬ 
ably a good description of his ability to 
prune and handle trees. We think tree 
cobblers would suit the outfit better than 
tree surgeons. No doubt there is an 
opening for workmen who really know 
how to handle valuable trees so as to 
two to set the plants. A knife-like plow opens the 
furrow, into which a portion of water is dropped, us¬ 
ually one-half to one pint. At the same time the plant 
is inserted by one of the men and the packers follow¬ 
ing cover the roots and water, and press the ground 
firmly, the weight of the two men is on the packers 
which helps to pack the ground. The change of water 
and space are controlled by a set of sprockets running 
from seven to 48 inches. I have set with one man on 
behind, but it is hard for the man to set every plant, 
and it requires a very slow team; also I have set as 
high as 90 plants a minute with two good men and 
good smooth ground free from stone. Two persons 
are required to pull the plants in the bed, and if they 
are not handy to the machine a third will be required 
to carry the plants to the transplanters, in this way 
keep them in good health and restore them when they 
begin to decay. It is quite doubtful, however, if this 
“Institute” can carry out its great plans. If this young 
man will take our advice he will hang on to his present 
job and keep his $200 in cold cash on the ice of some 
good savings bank. This “Institute” talks too much 
and lets off too much wild-eyed ink to suit our ideas 
of a safe and sane investment. 
Freezing a quicksand for the purpose of sinking a 
colliery shaft was an unusual plan resorted to by Eng¬ 
lish engineers recently. A bed of quicksand 80 feet 
deep was encountered, and this was frozen by a brine 
circulated through metal pipes, making a solid wall 
around the shaft. Work was continued inside this 
circle of frozen wall. We may hear of this plan being 
used by well-diggers. 
