34 
THE RURAL N E W-YORKER 
carried on jointly with tilling the soil. Fruit-grow¬ 
ing and gardening in connection with poultry makes 
a strong team. Chickens and the growing crops 
should occupy the land at the same time, with 
mutual benefit; but this calls for experience and 
good judgment. Don’t be afraid that so many will 
go into poultry at once as to swamp the market. 
The increasing demand will take care of all the 
poultry and eggs that can be grown. The trite say¬ 
ing, “Plenty of room at the top,” applies here. If 
you are wise and have something better than your 
neighbor, and especially if you cultivate the faculty 
of making the trade believe it, you can command 
the cream of the trade whatever the competition. 
Massachusetts. . feed. w. proctor. 
STORING WATER IN A WELL. 
“Umpire,” page 1342, has had his problem solved, 
but the man with the well still has his. The ex¬ 
perts have told him what not to do. I shall en¬ 
deavor to tell him what I should do under the cir¬ 
cumstances. We all know that the digging of a 
well is somewhat expensive, and if this man with 
the well could hit on some inexpensive scheme that 
would enable him to store his rain-water in the 
same old well he would be pleased. Were this prob¬ 
lem mine I should put about eight or 10 inches of 
coarse, clean gravel in the bottom of the well. In 
this gravel, about a foot from the side of the well, 
so as not to interfere with the pump, I should stand 
upright a piece of 114-inch iron pipe 22 inches long. 
I should cover the gravel with seven inches of ce¬ 
ment. This would allow for three inches of pipe to 
stick into the gravel and two inches to extend 
above the cement bottom. Before putting down the 
cement it might be a good scheme to cover the 
gravel with old sacks, to prevent the cement from 
running down; at. any rate, I should mix the ce¬ 
ment somewhat stiff. Threads would have been cut 
on the upper end of the pipe before putting in and 
a vertical check valve screwed on. Be sure you 
do not get the valve on upside down. 
This valve would open automatically when the 
water level was higher 011 the outside of the well, 
and close when the water was higher in the well. 
Water could flow in from the bottom, but could not 
flow out. If the well were filled from the surface 
during a dry time, or at any time, the valve would 
remain closed until the water in the well had been 
drawn down to a point below the water level on 
the outside, when the valve would open to allow 
the water to flow in from the bottom. a. j. 11 . 
Schoharie, X. Y. 
RESULTS FROM SUBSOILING. 
Can you give me any information about the use of a 
subsoil plow? What kind of soil is benefited by its 
use, and what kind of soil does not need it? Of the 
different kinds of subsoil plows, which is considered 
the best? Also, does the benefit derived from subsoil¬ 
ing justify the expense? c. T. 
Moravia, N. Y. 
There is very little literature dealing with the 
subject of subsoiling. This means that experiments 
and the experience of farmers have not been such 
as to encourage the following of the question. The 
Nebraska Station, in Bulletin 54, gives the results 
of several years’ experimentation, and indicates 
one type of soil that seems to be benefited, and 
one that seems to he harmed by subsoiling. The 
bulletin is summarized in the Experiment Station 
Record as follows: 
“The results obtained at the Station on a loam 
containing alkali and underlaid by a compact sub¬ 
soil showed that the subsoiling increased the yield 
in most cases, but when the season was very wet, 
Spring subsoiling failed to show any benefit. Sub¬ 
soiling in Nebraska, where the subsoil was loose 
and porous, reduced the yield by about one-half. 
The results of subsoiling obtained by farmers 
throughout the State are reported. On clay sub¬ 
soil £0 per cent, of the trials were favorable to the 
subsoiling, but on a loam subsoil only 23 per cent.” 
Four experiments by the Royal Swedish Agri¬ 
cultural Academy with vetches and oats, oats, and 
oats end barley, showed a gain in value of crop 
varying from $1.75 to $5.30 per acre. Most of the 
tests, however, are like those reported by tlie Idaho 
Station—“Tests of the effect of subsoiling on soil 
moisture gave inconclusive results.” 
There was much more discussion regarding the 
advantages of subsoiling 20 or 30 years ago than 
there is at the present time. Theoretically it would 
seem that certain soils should be much improved by 
being subsoiled, but in practice the benefit fails to 
become apparent. Not only do the crops imme¬ 
diately following fail to show much improvement, 
but it seems that the subsoils so treated very quick¬ 
ly settle back to their former compactness. The 
expense of subsoiling is very considerable, and it is 
doubtful if sufficient increase of yields may be 
expected to warrant it. Probably the same expense 
used in drainage will give better results. Possibly 
subsoiling immediately after draining will make 
the drainage more quickly and fully effective. Most 
implement makers put. out a subsoil plow that is 
intended to follow the ordinary plow and stir tlie 
subsoil five to 10 inches deeper without bringing tlie 
subsoil to the surface. These plows are often found 
on well-equipped farms, but they are more used for 
loosening carrots and other deep-rooted plants for 
harvesting and for loosening the soil in ditch dig¬ 
ging. than for regular subsoiling. j. 1 .. stone. 
Cornell Exp. Station. 
R. N.-Y.—We often receive statements from farm¬ 
ers who have tried subsoiling—usually with ap¬ 
parent gain. Tlie best results are found on stiff 
clays where tlie subsoil is very hard and stiff. We 
understand that “subsoiling” means breaking up 
the lower soil without bringing it up or over. 
“TRAPPING^ YANKEES.” 
Two or three years ago we spent the Winter in 
Texas. A great amount of land is laid off in that 
State in plots of various sizes, marked at the corners 
with conspicuous white stakes. We were riding out 
of Houston on the train one day, and had been pass¬ 
ing for miles through unoccupied, plotted land. My 
wife turned to a man sitting near us and asked the 
reason for so many stakes set in squares. “They are 
traps to catch Yankees in,” was the answer. 
And the Yankees are caught by tlie thousand every 
year. There is good land in Texas, and it is a good 
State to live in, and some of the land is priced at 
what it is worth. But those “little-lander” proposi¬ 
tions are sometimes put forward by land companies 
that make their money by exaggeration and misrep¬ 
resentation. No one should buy one of those ‘traps” 
without seeing it. and reading its performance, or 
that of similar land nearby, in the past tense. The 
agents speak mainly in the future tense, singing 
their song of what their traps “will do.” Let tlie 
prospective purchaser break away from the agent 
and his cappers, and ask the neighbors there what 
they have raised and what have been their yields in 
past years. However, all I ask of a land-buyer is 
that lie shall not buy what he lias not seen. 
An item in the paper tlie other day gave the win¬ 
nings of a set of Florida land-pirates at over a mil¬ 
lion dollars out of a tract of swamp. There is good 
land in Florida and, no doubt, good “buys” there; 
but land bought “unsiglit. unseen,” as boys in my 
time sometimes traded jack-knives, is always a bad 
“buy.” This Winter I am in California. I have no 
word to say against it, or its developed or unde¬ 
veloped land. But I would like to caution the un¬ 
wary against the “Yankee traps” that are set widely 
and are cunningly baited. Coming up the coast road 
tlie other day, I noticed in a couple of instances 
where tlie tide-lands were staked out. In a diagram 
or blue-print those plots would show the same as 
tillable land. Let tlie Yankees beware! Land that 
they have been upon may prove to be less valuable 
than they suppose; but land which they know noth¬ 
ing about except what appears on paper might easily 
turn out to be a “trap.” edwin taylor. 
A CONCRETE MANURE PIT. 
I read with interest the questions about a manure 
pit by It. V. B., and answers by Chas. B. Wing, on 
page 124(5. Would it not be practicable to build a 
small cement pit directly at end of gutter and outside 
of barn, and let the liquid manure run directly into 
pit, and pitch or shovel the solids into same pit? This 
for a small farmer who keeps three or four horses in 
one stable and three to six cows in another stable, 
who does not think it would pay to put in a carrier 
system, but does think it would pay to take the very 
best of care of what manure there is. I have thought 
of building a concrete pit at end of each stable, to 
store manure iu and build a roof over each one, as I 
thought it would be too wet if left open. Why would 
not this be satisfactory if plenty of absorbents were 
used when there was too much liquid to handle, or 
water used on horse manure if it was too dry? I 
want two small manure pits, but I want to know liow 
to build them right. A. B. H. 
Buchanan, Mich. 
In my barn things are arranged so that there is 
not a great deal of liquid manure not absorbed. 
There is some, but only quite a moderate amount. 
I feed enough shredded stover throughout the year 
so that frequently the manure is decidedly dry, and 
no liquid whatever, and at the most there will be 
only, probably, 50 pounds a day of liquid that is 
not absorbed. Where this was not the case, how¬ 
ever, I think it would be practical enough to take 
care of it, as your correspondent suggests. In fact 
I think, in a way, that your correspondent has a 
mighty good idea. The piles of manure thrown 
through a little stable door, frequently right under 
the eaves, and also frequently on a hillside, which 
is tlie method used by nine-tenths of the farmers 
in many places over tlie country, is not only slov¬ 
enly in appearance but decidedly wasteful, and it 
would not only be very much neater but more 
profitable as well, for even small farmers who only 
January 10, 
had two or three cows and as many horses, to take, 
care of the manure as your correspondent suggests. 
I buy most of tlie manure that is produced in 
our village, and am a little more interested in the 
subject on that account also. One firm that I buy 
from has two horses kept in the barn the year 
around, well-cared for, and they have a concrete 
box for the horse manure. This box is about 10 
feet square and five feet deep. These two horses, 
with liberal bedding, fill it, I think, about once a 
month, and we haul it with two small loads or one 
very large load. This pit is a little of a joke, be¬ 
cause it lias no bottom to it. but horse manure is 
so dry that there is los»s leaching than with some 
other forms. I mention this pit only in order to 
give A. R. H. a little idea of what he would need 
in taking care of his horses, and I might say that 
if he has trouble with liquid iu his cow pit, a few 
wheelbarrow loads of the horse manure makes an 
excellent absorbent. - , 
The only thing that I find about the use of con¬ 
crete around manure is, that it is necessary to have 
the concrete of good quality, and preferably coated 
with whitewash before using, the acids in the ma¬ 
nure attacking the lime in the concrete, gravel, 
sand, etc., and will sometimes destroy tlie work in 
a few years’ time. I bad this happen on some 
underground cement work which was fairly soaked 
with liquids from manure, and in two years’ time 
the cement was decidedly rotten. ciias. b. wing. 
Ohio. 
APPLE CULTURE IN WISCONSIN. 
Will yon advise me what commercial varieties of 
apples are like the Ben Davis in their preference for 
heavy clay lands, which varieties prefer medium soil, 
and which light? Would the land have any effect on 
the scion if the scion happens to prefer different soil 
from the stock? The stock will he Hibernal. I expect 
to plant Wealthy, McIntosh, McMahon, and possibly 
King or Hibernal stock, and wish to know if 30x30 
feet square is all right; also if there is any real ad¬ 
vantage in planting by hexagonal method. Give a full 
discussion on the relation advantages for a young man 
of limited means going into the orchard business as to 
the best method of starting. Is it best to buy one in 
first-class condition or to buy one in fair condition, or 
is it best to plant one? Will it pay to plant one-year- 
old whips and the following season bud to selected 
buds, or is there nothing in the idea of selecting buds 
from heavy-bearing trees? Or, would you recommend 
planting first-class nursery stock in preference? 
If Early Richmond and Montmorency cherries are 
given good attention from the start, how long may they 
be expected to live; same for plums? H. M. s. 
Racine, Wis. 
It is taken fox 1 granted that the intention is to 
plant or buy an orchard in Wisconsin. There are 
sections of that State, and also in Minnesota, where 
apples of the hardier varieties are grown success¬ 
fully, and of the varieties mentioned, the Wealthy 
and McMahon are of this character. The North¬ 
western Greening, Yellow Transparent, Oldenburg 
(Duchess), Pewaukee and a number more are equal¬ 
ly hardy, but tlie McIntosh is not quite as hardy, 
although it has endured severe Winters in many 
cases. Tompkins King is not a hardy variety, and 
should not be planted in Wisconsin. I do not be- 
lieve-that there are any varieties of the apple that 
flourish better in light or sandy than in clay land, 
but all kinds do best in loose clay or shal.v loam 
that is well drained. I am not able to give lists 
of varieties that are especially suited to particular 
grades of soil that are called “light, medium and 
heavy.” Any good soil for corn or any ordinary 
farm crop is usually suitable for apple orchards, 
provided tlie location is right. The hardiness of 
the stock has an influence on the ability of the tree 
to endure the climate, and tlie Virginia crab is 
used for this purpose as well as the Hibernal. 
Regarding the comparative advantages of start¬ 
ing iu the orchard business by planting or buying 
an oi'chard already planted, there are many tilings 
to consider. “A young man with limited means” 
can usually make a good orchard cheaper than he 
can buy one; but lie might find a chance to buy 
one very low that had been well planned and for 
some reason had to be sold. But one in first-class 
condition would rarely be offered for sale at a bar¬ 
gain, and one that had been neglected, and yet not 
beyond quick recovery, might be very wisely bought 
and brought back into good condition at small ex- ' 
pense. 11 ere is where expert judgment of the best 
kind would be needed, and one just starting into 
the orchard business is not likely to have it. If 
such a thing is attempted the best advice possible 
should be secured and then followed. 
Planting one-year-old apple trees and budding 
them the next year with buds taken from bearing 
ti-ees would be no better than planting good nursery 
trees of tne same varieties from any really re¬ 
liable nursery and would cost more. Early Rich¬ 
mond and Montmorency cherry trees ought to live 
and bear well, if well cared for, until they are 30 
years old; and the same is true of plum trees. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
