70 
V>he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 20, 1917. 
The Mechanic in the Country 
A Back-to-the-Land Record 
1 'KKAMS AM) ItEAi.iTV.—It is 11 years 
siiire the mechanic piircliased a rocky, 
ntii-diiwn farm in I'lster ('o.. X. Y., with 
I lie r-xpectation of following tiie methods 
of (irant Ilitchings in developing an 
apple orchard. Of course we had the 
usual rosy diauims of being able fo make 
ii r-omfortable living within three or four 
years, without working ourselves to 
death ; also the independence that comes 
with being your own bos.s. Alas, the 
awakening came, a.s usual, but hope is 
still strong within us. YIk; impres.sion re¬ 
ceived fi-om reading Mr. Ilitchings’ early 
articles of a dozen years ago, describing 
the results he obtained in orcharding, led 
ns to believe that we could obtain crops 
that would pay commercially from or- 
cliai-ds live or six years old. of even such 
a tardy bearer as Northern Spy. Since 
then we have read experiment station ro- 
j)orts (tf one of his orchards, 10 or 12 
years old. that had never borne a crop. 
If w<‘ cftuld have read that 10 years ago 
it would luobably have saved us some hit- 
t<‘r disapi)ointments. 
Makixg a Staiit. —Four years ago 
this coming April w(> had ])aid off the 
mortgage on the faian, and started out 
with SOOO in our pocket to make a living 
at farming. The orchard was then .six 
A iK'ighbor agreed to seed it to rye and 
Timothy, and he is to take half the crop 
the first year, he to furnish the rye seed 
and labor and we the Timothy and fer¬ 
tilizer. The jilowing was i)aid for with 
some small chestnut trees from the wood 
lot. This lot has been seeded down to 
I’ye and buckwheat’ twice for green ma¬ 
nure. but the ci'ops were poor and did , 
not furni.sli much humus. Last Spring 
the rye was not plowed under on account 
of the wet season, and the finest crop of 
ragweed I have ever seen came U]) in the 
rye and was plowed under, and ought to 
furnish some potash for the next crop. 
I'ermaxext Ijiprovemext. —There is 
another lot of about two acres which is 
fjuite wet. Two years ago we decided the ; 
ea.siest way to drain it was to blast a ! 
ditch through a narrow ridge of i-ock that | 
sep.arated it from a lower level. We es- | 
timated tlie cost xvould be about but ! 
by the time it was finished it had cost 
over .$100. and it does not drain the lot 
as it should at that. There are many 
similar improvements which should be 
made but they all recpiire money, and lots 
of it. More and more it is borne in on us 
that it is much cheaper in the end to buy 
a i)lace that is in good shape, tluin a 
cheap place that has slowly to be built 
The Mechanic at His Farm 
and seven years old, and we thought we 
had iiiade our iilans very carefully. We 
did nut burn <uir bridges behind us, 
though, but obtained a six months’ leave 
of absence from the shop. It was the 
Avisest thing Ave did, as there Avas no rain 
that year from the early part of April 
until the middle of August, and then not 
enough to do any good. Consequently 
nothing Ave planted Avould groAv, and eA’on 
the apples shrivelled on the trees, or 
dro))iied off. We also had a visit from 
the 17-year locust that year. We did not 
even get the seed back that Ave planted, 
and in tlie Fall Avere glad to get back to 
the job in the city, minus the $(>00. We 
did not consider the money all lost, as a 
considerable portion of it Avas spent on 
tools, and permanent improvements. 
Since then aa’c have settled doAvn to a 
j)olicy of “Avatchful Avaiting” in the hope 
that our orchard of 1.500 trees Avill 
evf'ntually solve the problem of hoAV to 
get back to the land and stay there. 
Chchari) Care. —We are giving the 
orchard best care Ave can, using our OAvn 
labor Aveek ends, holidays and vacation, 
.also Avhat help Ave can hire. We cannot 
yet afl'oi’d to put a farmer on the place and 
keep him there. Avhich is really Avhat is 
needed, and day labor is hard to get just 
Avhen you ne<‘d it. AYe Iuia'c trie<l to keep 
the larger part of the orchard cultivated, 
but the ground is rough, hilly and a 
great part of it rocky, also a good deal of 
clay. No one has been Avilling to ploAV It 
up the second .season aifter he has had one 
season of it. 
AA'okkinc; For Hay. —We h.ave one lot 
of about five acres of rather moist clay 
loam Avhich ought to pro<luce good hay. 
For three years Ave Iuia’c been trying ti) 
get it seeded doAvn jiroperly, and it looks 
as though Ave had succeeded this season. 
up. P>ut Ihen. if we Avaited until Ave had 
means to buy an up-to-date farm, Ave 
might never have any. 
• The Draixage Problem.—T his drain¬ 
age proposition is one that shou’d be en¬ 
couraged in a practical Avay by the State, 
For Instance, it has struck me that many 
of the attempts of farmers to drain their 
land are futile, because of the lack of 
knoAvledge and experience in getting tht> 
proper grades and outlets. It is really an 
engineering job to lay out a conqu’ehen- 
sive plan for drainage, and farmers can¬ 
not be expected to be experienced civil I 
engineers, too. nor can they always ob¬ 
tain the services of a competent engineer 
at a reasonable cost. AA’hy cannot the 
State supply an engineer at a nominal 
cost, Avho Avill plan a drainage system, 
Avhen requested by a fanner? Then Avhen 
the farmer has his plan properly draAvn, 
and is ready to take up the actual Avork 
of drainage, have a practical overseer 
take charge of the Avork, the farmer sup- 
jdying the labor. Nearly OA-ery farm in 
the neighborhood needs drainage. But 
the AA’ork is expensive, and experiment¬ 
ing makes it more so, so that nearly all 
the farmers hesitate to undertake the job 
although they realize its benefits. 
Orchard Returx.s. —To go back to 
our OAvn story, Ave find that the orchard 
is beginning to pay at least part of its 
expenst's. AVe shipped to the NeAV York 
State Department of Foods and Alarkets 
40 barrels and live boxes of apples. They 
Avere sold at the auction at from .$2.2,5 to 
$2.40 a barrel and the boxes $1.25 each. 
AA"e also picked S5 quarts of .sour cherries 
(Continued on page 72) 
“For the Land’s Sake, use Eowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those Avho till it.”— Adv. 
i|i|ili|i|i|i|i|i|ilililili|t|i|i|il « 
EVERY FRUIT GROWER 
may have a copy of our new 
Catalog with 1917 prices. Read 
one of the strongest guaran¬ 
tees made in the nursery husi- 
ne.ss today. It has .sold some 
of the biggest fruit growers 
in the country. It Avill appeal 
to you. 
The Rowan Wholesale Nurseries, Inc. 
42 Main Street, Dansville, N. Y. 
Successors to Reilly Bros. Xurseries. 
>iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii|iiibriTiT 
No Chance for Weaklings = 
We sell only trees ■with strong, fibrous I 
roots. No tree Avith a poor start in life : 
will find its way into our customer’s : 
hands. Our men are taught to put the \ 
weaklings on the brush pile. If you ; 
Avant a reliable guide of fruits and or- ; 
nanientals send today for the 1917 ; 
catalogue. It’s FREE. \ 
Woodlawn Nurseries, Allen L. Wood, Prop. 
899 Carson Avenue. Rochester, N. Y. 
Q. 
BUY TREES DIRECT 
Save agents’ profits by 
sending for our free Trade 
List. No frills, full of won¬ 
derful bargains and 25 
Family Fruit Collections 
for large and small buyers. 
We pay all transportation charges 
Wm. P. RUPERT & SON, Box 20, Seneca, N. Y. 
This Year Plant the New 
Rochester Peach 
Begins to bear fruit after one yeai—heavily the 
second year. Tree so strong and hardy to produce 
heavy crop after a 16 -below zero freeze. 
Bears 10 Days Earlier Than Crawford 
or other yellow free-stone varieties and fruit is 
large and handsome. That’s why in Rochester 
market last summer, the Rochester Peach 
Sold for $1.00 a Basket with next 
best variety at 60 cents and others 
as Low as 15 cents 
Exceptionally prolific in quantity of fruit that’s 
juicy, sweet, and fine for canning. 
Write us today about Rochester Peach. Don’t 
plant a peach until you get complete story in our 
catalog which lists everything for orchard and 
garden. Send in your name and address today. 
L. W. HALL COMPANY, Inc. 
505 Cutler Bldg. - Rochester, N. Y. 
PLANT MtlT TREES 
REED’S 
GRAFTED, HARDY 
NORTHERN PECANS 
and ENGLISH WALNUTS 
Grafted on Black AValnut are Reliable 
Beautiful Shade Trees. Prolific Bearers 
24 Page Illustrated Special Nut Catalogue 
on request. Latest I nformation. Pioneers 
in Nut Growing. Endorsed by Leading 
Experiment Stations and Department of 
Agriculture- (Established 1891) 
VINCENNES NURSERIES, Drawer 299, Vincennes, Indiana, U.S.A. 
EVERGREENS 
m 38 Hardy Tested Varieties 
Best for windbreaks, hedges and lawn 
planting. Protect buildings, crops, stock, 
gardens and orchards. Hill’s Evergreens 
are Nursery grown and hardy every¬ 
where. From $1 to $10 perhundred. 
Hill’s Evergreen book and 60Great Bargain sheet sent 
free. Write today. World’s largest growers. Est.lSSS. 
D. HILL NURSERY CO., DUNDEE, ILLINOIS 
Box 2120 Evergreen Speciallats 
=liid; j 
Big drop in prices. Buy now from us. .Also 
millions of trees, shnths and plants. New tii ico 
list and catalog ready. 
TH6 WESTMINSTER NURSERT, Box 129, Westminsler, Md. 
GRAPE-VINES 
69 varieties. Also Small Fruits, Trees, etc. Best rooted 
stock. Gfouine, chea]). 2 Siiniplo vines mailed for 10c. Des- 
criplivecHtalotf free.LEWIS ROESCH.BoxL, Fredoiiia,N. Y. 
TREES 
APPLE 
PEACH 
PEAR 
fruit trees and plants of all kinds. Reliable, true to name 
stock at reasonable prices. Catalogue free; also booklet, 
•■How to Plant Trees,” it you ask for it and mention this 
paper. 
The Barnes Brothers Nursery Company 
Box 8 Yalesville, Conn. 
I 
PEACH 
■znn nnn.lOO lots. o-O ft. lie: t-.'i ft. Sc: 3-4 ft. 51 .^ 0 ; 300.000 apple llc; llj^c; 
JVUfUUU jjp.c; Thousands of pear.' plum, cherry, grapes, roses, 
shrubs etc. boxed free. The best stock we ever grew and we have been at it 24 years. 
Not 'old Storages, everything f KESIl Dl'G and you get the varieties you order, our 
___ tinarantee IToteetsYon. A trial order is all we ask. Money refuiuled if you are not 
perfectly satisfied. Order uonn*. piiy after you have reeelved “*'/}ft**© the jiHltfe. 
Catalog free to every budy. THO.MA8 K« SlIKKIilN, Si MAN, 11 Main St., I>aii»\lile. N.\. 
I 
Quality! Quality!! Quality!!! 
is the insistent demand of the present-day market. > Growing 
peaches is particular business but it yields big profits to the man 
who has learned to produce high grade fruit. Plant Harri¬ 
sons* (Mality Trees.^ They live—they grow—they bear big 
crops ra choicest fruit. Trees budded from hearing orchards. 
Our 1917 Fruit Guide describes all the leading varieties. 
Also apples, pears, plums, cherries and small fruits and orna¬ 
mentals. A reliable guide for the beginner and a valuable 
reference hook for the Veteran fruit grower. It’s free. Send 
today. “Largest growers of fruit trees in the world.** 
Send for free 1917 catalog. A rdiable guide. 
Box 14 
Berlin, Md. 
■I 
THE BIGGEST FRUIT PROFITS 
go to growers who have learned that quality 
counts more than price in buying fruit trees. 
\\ Don’t be misled by absurdly low 
prices. Isn’t it safer to deal witb an 
old-establisbed nursery, known for 
bonest dealings and bonest goods? 
Tbink about it, Mr. Grower. _ ,, 
Our Catalog W is ready. Sent free. 
ELLWANGER & BARRY ESTAEi-isHED-ia.o 
Mt. Hope Nurseries Rochester, N.Y. 
