1910. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
FRUIT TREES IN CHICKEN YARDS. 
On page 674 I notice your comment on 
devoting fruit orchards to runs for chick¬ 
ens, and the statement that apple and pear 
trees do well with hens, but the peach 
tree cannot stand too much forcing with 
nitrogen. Old fruit growers about here 
tell us that any over-fertilization of this 
kind will be disastrous to pear trees, 
causing blight, and we are inclined to 
think this is so, for in a small orchard 
where we have allowed the hogs to run 
for three seasons, blight is sweeping 
through the pear trees like a prairie lire. 
We would like to hear of the experience 
of other farmers along these same lines. 
I may add that the opinion here seems 
to be that apple and peach trees will 
stand considerable fertilizing, but on pear 
trees manure and other fertilizers must 
be used most sparingly. c. s. i.. 
Charlotte, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—We have had trouble with 
Kieffer pears from this cause, but not so 
much with other varieties. We would 
like the experience of fruit growers. 
Apples and plums usually do well in 
chicken yards, but with us the peach can¬ 
not stand so much organic nitrogen. 
Moles in Lawn, 
F. It., New Jersey .—Can you give me a 
remedy for the extermination of moles in 
the lawn? I have read that castor oil 
bean plants would drive them away. I 
have them growing on my place, but the 
moles are the worst ever this season. My 
neighbor has tried a mole trap, also the 
beans, without any good result. If there is 
a remedy I should he glad to know it. 
Ans. —Persistent trapping is the only 
feasible way of getting rid of moles, and 
some experience is needed in order to 
use the trap to advantage. Two kinds 
of mole runs will be found, viz.: those 
near the surface that cause the annoy¬ 
ing ridges and humps; and permanent 
runs, usually several inches deep. The 
shallow temporary runs are made by the 
moles in foraging for insects, and the 
traps are ordinarily set there, as the 
deeper runs make no noticeable ridge 
and are harder to find. If the trap is 
properly set, pressing the trigger into 
the earth above the run so that any 
movement by the mole in working his 
way through will be enough to spring it, 
the animal is quite sure to be caught if 
he goes through that particular run 
again. If one of the deeper runs is 
found it will pay to set the trap there 
with great care. As a rule there are 
not nearly so many moles as might be 
thought from the amount of digging, as 
one mole is able to do a great amount of 
work. 
Destroying Briers. 
C. L. T., Harrisonburg, Ya .—I have a 10- 
acre field lined with running briers, and 
would like to have some one to tell me 
how to kill them. 
Ans. —The only way to get rid of such 
persistent weeds is absolutely to prevent 
their growing. That is the plan I have 
used to get rid of nut grass and other 
things that sprout from the roots. No 
plant can long survive if it is not al¬ 
lowed to make leaves above ground. 
Grubbing out the running briers will of 
course get rid of some, but the cut roots 
will sprout, and the number will in¬ 
crease. The best thing where the land is 
not to be plowed, is to keep the mower 
going over and mow them close to the 
ground as fast as they appear above it. 
Or if the land is to be put into hoed 
crops, grub out all that you can and burn 
them, and then during the cultivation of 
the crop absolutely prevent any from 
getting a start. I have here a similar 
problem in a green brier of the Smilax 
class that makes long underground 
rhizomes and sprouts from every cut 
piece. This is the first season I have 
tackled it, and I am simply following 
the above plan, for the land is in gar¬ 
den crops, aqd whenever I see a shoot I 
cut it off. If no green leaves are allowed 
above ground that underground part will 
inevitably die. For the ordinary run¬ 
ning briers in a pasture there is nothing 
better than a mower, persistently used, to 
get rid of them. w. F. massey. 
879 
A Viner on the Farm. 
S. (No Address). —I am growing peas for 
a canning factory. There is often consid¬ 
erable delay when we deliver the peas— 
often a dozen teams ahead of us. Would 
it pay us to have a viner on the farm, 
and thus keep the vines at home for feed 
or manure? 
Ans. —In my judgment it would, pro¬ 
vided the farmer has the right person to 
look after it and the factory gives its 
consent to allow the farmer to shell them 
himself and will use the peas thins 
shelled. I understand it is quite a job 
to deliver the peas quick enough after 
shelling to keep them sweet. I under¬ 
stand one viner will handle from 60 to 80 
acres of peas. They tell me these viners 
are not for sale, but are run on a royalty, 
paying the manufacturers of the viners 
so much per can for the use of the 
viner. I am told the vines run direct 
Into the silo makes fine silage, and well 
worth the labor of taking care of them 
in this way. w. w. ware. 
New York. 
Strawberries in the Skies. 
Some men take advantage of what 
others call misfortune and turn it to for¬ 
tune. Prof. E. T. Bennett, of Colorado 
tells us of the strawberry crop grown in 
Routt Co., that State: 
“I find one thing though in Routt 
County of great interest, that is the 
strawberry industry in the high altitudes. 
Steamboat Springs has an altitude of 
6700 feet; it is an intensely cold country 
in Winter, and has a heavy snowfall 
which stays late in Spring. The so- 
called Moffat road has recently crossed 
the range into that country, and since 
the advent of the railroad the farmers 
in the vicinity of Steamboat Springs have 
taken to the growing of strawberries. I 
found that about 200 acres have been 
planted in that district. The peculiarity 
of the proposition is simply that their 
season is so late that strawberries com¬ 
mence ripening about July 15 in seasons 
when the late Spring frosts do not catch 
them. The picking continues until Sep¬ 
tember first. You can readily see what 
the possibilities are in a case of this kind. 
This is not all of the story, however, for 
the quality of these high altitude berries 
is, at least seem to me to be, far better 
than those grown in lower altitudes. So 
you see Colorado has some possibilities 
outside of rubber plants and potatoes.” 
Customers “Have you any fly paper?” 
Clerk: “Yes sir. Will you have the 
Aeroplane Journal or the Aviator’s Ga¬ 
zette?”—Boston Transcript.” 
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