1914. 
THE RURAL NEW-VOK.EEK 
'307 
Top-Working Small Trees. 
I have a number of trees of about 
2 V 2 to three inches in diameter, at a 
distance of 18 inches from the ground. 
The fruit is of poor quality and the 
limbs forming the frame of the top are 
very poorly formed, making weak trees, 
which are liable to split when the tree 
is older. Would it be advisable to saw 
off the top. making the stock a stub of 
18 inches and inserting grafts in this; 
or, to place grafts on stubs of main 
branches and to graft but few each year 
until the whole top was top-worked? 
These trees are thrifty and live or six 
years old. T. J. s. 
Ligonier, Iud. 
Wherever possible I would advise that 
the smaller limbs be top-worked a few 
at a time rather than the entire trunk 
of the tree. This will cause less shock 
to the tree, and will leave some leaf 
area to elaborate food and pump sap to 
the scions. If the scaffold limbs are so 
Tor-AVoRKixo Small Apple Trees. 
placed as to be a danger to the future 
of the tree, the main trunk should be 
worked at once. The above illustrates a 
combination of these methods. Dormant 
scions should be used, and the wounds 
thoroughly waxed for the best results. 
M. W. RICHARDS. 
A Sensible “Back-to-the-Lander.” 
One of the most interesting things 
connected with our work is the study of 
the letters from town and city people 
who meditate some future move to the 
country. Some of these back-to-the-land- 
ers are not very wise about their plans. 
They are enthusiastic, and somewhat 
carried away by the stories which are 
told them of the great possibilities on a 
farm. There are others, however, who 
go at their plan with a thorough in¬ 
vestigation, and they do not make their 
start until they know just what they are 
doing. Many of these people are small 
business men, who have been taught by 
their town experience to consider things 
carefully. The following letter is from a 
candy manufacturer in a New England 
State. This man hopes some day to go 
to the country and live upon a farm, but 
you can see from his letter that he is not 
going to plunge, but study the propo¬ 
sition as carefully as he would if lie were 
to sell out his present business and estab¬ 
lish himself in another line with which 
he was not at all familiar. We would 
commend this man’s view of the situation 
as one well worthy of imitation. 
As you will note, my line of business 
is quite remote from the line your paper 
takes up. Yet in spite of the fact that I 
take three trade papers, Tiie It. N.-Y r . 
seems to get read each week ahead of all 
the others, so while I may say I am a 
confectioner by trade, I am a farmer 
at heart, and I enjoy very much reading 
the things your paper takes up. It seems 
to me if I were a real farmer I could do 
without a plow rather than The It. N.- 
Y. However, I am in hopes some day to 
be back on the sod breathing God’s pure 
air and treading on something besides 
paving stones. I know something of 
farm life, being born and brought up on 
one, and yet I believe before a man 
should make a back-to-the-land move he 
wants to think carefully and choose wise¬ 
ly. Farming to-day is a big business 
proposition, and has to be conducted on 
business methods, as well as any other 
business enterprise, to make a success. 
The day is past when any fool could 
farm. o. S. M. 
Maine. 
Spraying and Bird Killing. 
[On page 554 was printed a statement 
from a bird-lover who objected to spray¬ 
ing poisons for killing fruit worms. She 
stated that in Western New York the 
slaughter of birds from this spraying was 
“something awful,” and that even cats 
were killed by eating the poisoned birds. 
We have put the question up to our prac¬ 
tical fruit growers.] 
I notice on page 554 the clipping from 
the “Fitchburg Sentinel” regarding 
spraying and birds. In this neighborhood 
nearly everyone sprays with lime and sul¬ 
phur and arsenate of lead. Our own or¬ 
chard is sprayed thoroughly each year, 
and I have yet to see the first bird that 
that has been killed or injured by such 
spraying. We also have two cats that 
roam our orchards every day hunting for 
mice, and a neighbor has seven cats, and 
I have yet to hear of the first one to be 
injured by eating poisoned birds. Every 
season we raise hundreds of chickens, 
and from the time they are hatched un¬ 
til Winter they run under these sprayed 
trees. A foot of our orchard is in sod, 
and we cut and feed to cows and horses 
the hay that grows under these trees. 
It is safe to guess that all such fool 
things that crop out from time to time 
in the magazines and dairy papers eman¬ 
ate from the brain of some bird crank 
who is blessed with more sentiment than 
real knowledge of the bird question. 
Vermont. a. a. halladay. 
On page 554 is an article relative to 
the slaughter of birds by the use of arsen¬ 
ical sprays. I accept your invitation to 
the readers from Niagara County to tell 
of their experience, and in justice to 
the farmers of the county the unjust im¬ 
pression such an article would create 
should be corrected. I have used arsen¬ 
ate of lead in spraying for several years, 
but I have never observed any ill nor 
disastrous effects upon the birds from 
its use. I am well acquainted with the 
spraying conditions through the county, 
and I feel confident that such a condition 
as the article cites is most unusual, and 
not, by any means, a general condition in 
the county. iioward allen hopicins. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
Unless conditions differ greatly here 
in Massachusetts, I should say that the 
letter in Park’s Magazine is greatly ex¬ 
aggerated. On my place in Mcdfield in 
1012 I found three birds dead from eat¬ 
ing insects poisoned by spraying. That 
year I had 89 nests on my place of 14 
different species of birds. The following 
year, 1918, I sprayed all fruit trees, but 
left the elms unsprayed. I found only 
one bird that I thought died from poison. 
Incidentally the elms were every bit as 
free from damage as the trees along the 
roads which were sprayed by the town. 
But I would not advise anyone to try the 
experiment of giving up spraying, unless 
he has the birds nesting on his place first. 
I made an effort to attract birds. Many 
birds that die undoubtedly go into thick 
weeds, and are never found, but I think 
the letter quoted is a good deal exag¬ 
gerated. DAVENPORT BROWN. 
Massachusetts. 
The article quoted seems to be very 
much exaggerated, and misleading. I 
have sprayed our apple orchards where 
we keep baby chickens, and have seen no 
ill effects. The chickens were not con¬ 
fined during the spraying, and ran about 
at will. Naturally they were frightened 
at the approach of the spray team with 
the large horses attached, and got into 
their coops until the sprayers had passed. 
I have never seen a dead chicken or a 
dead bird in this orchard, or any dead 
birds in the orchards where the chickens 
are not kept. The amount of arsenate 
of lead used is so small—three pounds to 
50 gallons of water—that there is really 
no danger to the birds, and the sun 
quickly dries up the moisture on the 
leaves. Such statements as the one 
quoted on page 554 appear every year 
as the season comes around, and are made 
up entirely from imagination in the first 
place, and then kept in storage until 
Spring is with us again, and something 
sensational is wanted, when the article 
is revamped and put on duty once more. 
It is then copied by our paper from an¬ 
other in order to fill the space, and goes 
in that manner from one end of the land 
to the other, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. Something sensational is what 
many papers desire. The plain facts and 
truth are not effective enough for numer¬ 
ous editors. . iiorace b. Parker. 
Massachusetts. 
I have over 300 plum trees, and some 
cherries and apples. Gooseberries and 
the like I spray every year at least six 
times in a season, and I have never found 
a dead bird either on or around my 
place. Under the trees I have Alfalfa 
growing, and in it run old and young 
chicks, and not one of them ever died, 
though the Alfalfa is white with spray. 
All kinds of birds nest and raise their 
young in my trees, red breasts, redbirds. 
bluebirds, mocking-birds and droves of 
sparrows. I use three pounds arsenate 
of lead to 50 gallons of lime-sulphur, with 
no bad results to any birds here. 
Ohio. C. JACKSON. 
Ditch 4 Rods in 1 Second 
IT’S EASY WITH 
$ RED CROSS + DYNAMITE 
One second nothing but the level marsh. Bang ! There’s your ditch. 
One man can do it alone. Quick, cheap and efficient. To learn 
how write for Free Farmer’s Handbook No. 30-7. 
We furnish inquirers with name of nearest professional 
blaster, whom they may hire, if they do not wish to do 
the blasting themselves. Experienced blasters not 
on our list should apply for listing. 
DUPONT POWDER CO. 
Wilmington, Del. Established 1802 
$5^« Buys a “Barker 
which will weed, mulch and culti¬ 
vate a strip six inches wide. $6.20 
buys the Standard size machine, 
number 8/4 D, express paid. 
Don't let the weeds take your garden 
when you can easily keep them down. 
The “Barker" does work that no other 
garden tool will do. It is the tool for cul¬ 
tivating strawberries, onions, onion sets, 
beans or other vegetables where quick, 
^ , thorough cultivation is an important 
factor in improving yield and 
Send fc, . "B.rker," 
“The Best Weed Killer 
Ever Used,” and have 
c it handy when you 
H need it; or if more in* 
W formation is needed, 
write us Today— Now 
The Barker Mf g. Co.,% i e d J itT 
Write 
Teday 
Weed the 
Onions Quick! 
Save % tirinf? hard labor. Save 
expense. One man does work of many. 
Get a 
Vrooman Onion Weeder 
Works soil better — pulverizes — leaves a 
dust mulch. 
Write ter Saves its 
Circular v cost 
Teday quickly. 
Brings better 
crops with much 
less expense. 
The Vrooman Co. 
Bei 40 
Bellevue, Ohio 
—FOR S P READING 
LIME, COMMERCIAL 
FERTILIZERS. ETC 
GUARANTEED. 
LIME SOWER 
jy PKICF^ I We ship lime front 100 Mills.) 
CALEDONIA CHEMICAL COMPANY CALEDONIA NEW YORK 
UsrHtunnH Achoc Best Fertilizer in Use. 
naiUYYUUU AblltJb GEORGE STEVENS. Peterborough, Ont. 
LIME 
FOR THE SOIL. “BEST ON EARTH” 
ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED 
Litmus Paper for Testing, FREE 
INTERNATIONAL AGR’L CORP. 
CALEDONIA MARL BRANCH 
812 MARINE BANK BLDG.. . . BUFFALO. N. Y. 
What One Farmer Says About 
The Light Draft Le Roy Sulky and Small Horses. 
Le Roy Plow Co., 
Le Roy, N. Y. Dec. 18, 1913. 
GentlemenWhen looking for a 
sulky plow I watched my neighbors 
a9 they had different kinds and I 
made up my mind the Le Roy was 
the kind for small horses and as I 
have used your walking plows and 
found them all right, I bought one 
and am well pleased with it. I 
broke up four acres that never was 
plowed before and it worked fine. 
Yours truly, William Redmore, 
Cameron Mills, N. Y. 
The Le Roy handles just as easily 
in small fields as large and will turn 
the same size furrow as any other 
with much less horse power. 
MANUFACTURED BY 
The Le Roy Plow Co. 
LeRoy. N. Y.. U. S. A. 
Every Farmer likes the LIGHT DRAFT LE ROY because it works so easily, 
does such good work in a large variety of soil, is easy on the horses, pays 
for itself so quickly and saves waking"7 miles to the acre. 
The Le Roy is guaranteed to do better work than any other reversible 
sulky plow made. Ask your dealer for a trial or write us. 
We are notin a Trust or Combine, but are a strong Independent Co. 
LE ROY PLOW CO., LE ROY, N. Y. 
