766 
TShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
one-half or two-thirds of market quotations. Wool 
is a maiketable commodity and wanted at the quo- 
tation.s, and it should bring within five cents a 
pound of them anywhere in the East. I realize 
that where there is no established industry the man 
with a few fleeces must ask the junkman or hide 
buyer to take it off his hands, unless he looks for 
a place to put it nearer headquarters. He can .go 
to his banker and have him find a reliable commis¬ 
sion man, or have the bank ship it as their own. 
Rankers want to bring all the money they can into 
their circle and they also like to be consulted, same 
as we do. A good many farmers act as if they did 
not know the functions and utility of bankex's, but 
see the next paragraph and consult the banker also. 
CO-OPERATION.—You can unite with other.s. 
The Otsego County, N. Y., sheepmen have done that 
to a good advantage, and last year the Delaware 
County growers got together and called themselves a 
“Sheep Growers’ Association.” Much help comes 
from a union of intere.st and the little knowledge 
one member contributes is passed to all. A union 
like that can have a sheep institute, with leaders 
on subjects and a free pitch-ih after each. These 
unions pool their wool and get the rigat figure for 
it, and the Delaware slogan i.s, “More sheep for 
Delaware hills.” They are fixed so they will suc¬ 
ceed both in growing and selling, and it will be a 
recreation for those old dairymen. 
Ohio. W. W. BEYNOT.DS. 
Plans for a Commercial Evaporator 
A ROUGH .sketch »f a model commei’cial evapor¬ 
ator is here shown. Fig. .*102. In the evapor¬ 
ating process the apple starts from the bin marked 
(A), from which the fruit is i-elea.sed into a water 
tank made of wood or concrete, three feet wide, 10 
feet long and about three feet deep. In the tank is 
a small paddle wheel which is driven from the con¬ 
veyor shaft, which carries the ajxples up to the 
second floor. This wheel marked (B) causes the 
water to circulate toward the conveyor, into which 
they are gradually taken up and passed to the 
grader marked (C). While passing over this gi’ader 
the small api»les are separated and fall back to a 
bin marked (D) where they stay until desired as 
chop stock or dispatched to the cider mill. 
The good apjxles go into a conveyor marked (E) 
and are delivered to the hoppers marked (F). 
These hoppers hold about twenty bushels. When 
the hopixer is filled the small sliding door at the 
ba.se mai'ked (G) is closed by an opei’ative who also 
watches the jia.ssing apples and picks out the bad 
ones as they pass along on the conveyor. When the 
hoppers are filled the attendant may resume woi-k 
at the trimming table or elsewhere. 
The apples roll down a spout to the conveyor, jiass- 
ing on to the parers. The peelings and cores go 
onto a special conveyor. Any apples that require 
trimming are remov(*d by the trimmer , orter and 
placed on the trimmers’ table, after which they are 
trimmed and dropped back on the conveyor. This 
requires about one-half the help for trimming and 
makes better and cleaner stock. 
'J'he apples are then convej’^ed to the bleacher 
marked (H) and from there they drop into the 
slicer hopper marked (I) and are fed, one at a 
time, to the slicer .sweeps and knivc.s and after slic¬ 
ing they fall onto a short conveyor which carries 
them to the long conveyor marked (J). This con¬ 
veyor is so arranged that you may fill any one of 
seven kilns or any number desired without touch¬ 
ing the slices until they arc on the kiln floor, so that 
the man who has charge of this j art of the work 
can be doing other w’ork while the; kiln is filling. 
Such would be the plan foi- an up-to-the-minute 
plant. If the ai.tor: itic feeder is used the apple is 
fed from the hopper to a device which rights the 
apple and places it in the right position on the fork, 
then it is pared and cored. It is not necessary, 
however, to use all of the.se up-to-date ideas to 
make this plan a success. The water tank, for in¬ 
stance, can be dispensed with. A man can shovel 
the apples directly into the conveyor if de.sh’ed, but 
the water washes the fruit, separates the rotten 
ones, as they will not float but will sink in the 
water. This saves a man’s time. 
If you will study the plan, which was evolved by 
C. C. Goons, of Rochester, you will notice that there 
is room for the help and machinery, as the feeders 
and parers are on both sides of the conveyors. This 
makes the paring table about one-half the usual 
length. The ehop])er is placed over the waste con¬ 
veyor. This allows the apples to roll down to the 
chopper and from there to the kiln. The bin for 
culls is over the good apple bin outside the building. 
The grader is placed conveniently in an out-of-the- 
way place. The kiln.g are somewhat different in 
design, there being no pipes used as the concrete 
wall marked (K), Fig. ,’102 does away with them. 
This arrangement helps to produce cleaner and bet¬ 
ter drying condition.s and gives greater capacity. 
The lower wall comes within two feet of the furnace 
and has four holes, each two feet by three feet at 
the bottom. 
There should be a piece of sheet steel over the 
furnace so that it can be lowered or raised to regu¬ 
late the circulation of air. The building can be 
built very cheaply, as it is shaped so that it will take 
considerably less lumber or concrete to build than 
under the old plan. You can also increase or de¬ 
crease the system very easily without changing the 
plan in any way. 
The apple evaporating plant, as equipped in this 
way, approximates the ideal system in processing 
the fruit,' Tlie public is demanding improved meth¬ 
ods of production and the evaporated apjile must 
FuttT ruoom Fluh 
Arrangement of First Floor, Fig. 303 
stand or fall in the general crusade. Much of the 
low estate of the “dried” apple of the past has come 
about through the method of its manufacture. In 
the ordinary way the apples are taken to the evap¬ 
orator and go through no sanitary process such as 
washing. Every apple is handled by the trimmer, 
who picks up the apple whether it needs to be 
trimmed or not, and usually she trims it anyway. 
Perhaps the trimmer leaves the bench for a few 
minutes and comes back and continues to trim ap¬ 
ples without washing her hands; and if she does 
StCOt^O Fcoc/f Pt0f4 
Second Floor Plan. Fig. 304 
wash them it is often in an old pail or washpan 
that they all wash in. There is no manufacturer 
of food who does not lay great .stress on the sanitary 
way he puts up his product and usually a large ex¬ 
penditure is made for machinery and the system to 
make his product the cleanest you can"buy. 
Happily for the evaporated apple industry, the 
signs are alive that progress is being made toward a 
better, cleaner product. By setting up a plant after 
the model described in this article the manufacturer, 
besides putting up a clean, white-looking product. 
.Tune 9, 1917. 
can advertise to the world that the evapoi-ated ap¬ 
ple from his plant is not handled by human hands 
from the time it is pared until it is in the consum¬ 
er’s hands. a. ii. pulver. 
New York. 
A Lawn Potato Patch 
I am going to plant a lawn that has not been planted 
for 25 years. I thought I would plow and harrow, and 
do the .same as you outline in a potato patch item in 
Hope F.arm Note.s. The lawn is lf!0x50; some witch 
grass in it. I thought by not furrowing I could keep sod 
under, and it would be easier to take care of. What do 
you say? I am almost 00, but want to do my “bit,” like 
my only son, who is a sergeant in Co. A, Sixth Ohio. 
Massachusetts, p. p, r. 
A S a rule old lawns, or land which has been in sod 
for a good while, ivill not make the best potato 
soil. While it is full of organic matter, and what you 
would call fresh land, it is likely to contain white 
grubs, wireworms and other insects which injure the 
potatoes. It is, of course, very hard to keep clean, as 
the grass is sure to come back and make a struggle 
to occupy the land. The be.st way we have found for 
handling such .soil is to plow so as to turn the furrows 
completely over, and leave the grass flat on the under 
side. Then we would fit the top of the soil, which 
represents the under side of the .sod, without ripping 
it up. Instead of making furrows we would u.se a 
spade or hand potato planter to drop the seed down 
into the ground so that it would lie right in the sod. 
Cover it without stirring the .sod up. We .should use 
sulphur freely on the potato seed. This will help to 
prevent .scab, and we think it has .some effect in driv¬ 
ing away the insects. Cultivation should be shallow 
so as to prevent ripping up the sod if iK>ssible. A 
scuflle-hoe. which .slices or shaves off the wee<ls rather 
than digging them up, will be best for this kind of 
culture. During the hot, moist days of .Summer 
there will be a constant struggle to keep such land 
clean, but if this can be done there ought to be a 
good crop of potatoes on this kind of land, though 
they are likely to be gnawed and injured by the 
grubs. Generally it is better to plant a crop like 
corn, when turning over this kind of soil. With such 
a crop lime can be used, and this will act to break 
up the .sod more rapidly and thus make it available. 
Gf course, the lime .‘ihould not be u.sed with tlie 
potato crop. 
Cost of Milk Production in New Jersey 
W HILE we are reading Prof. Minkler’s articles 
on the dairy bu.siness, the following figures 
will be good for reference. They are taken from 
the New .Ter.sey Farm Demonstration Exchange, and 
show the cost of producing milk in Sinsfiex Co., N. 
.T. This is one of the best dairy counties in the 
Ignited States. It is an old settled region, inhabited 
by intelligent farmers who have well-bred cow.s. 
Cost of Milk Provluction per Cow and per Quart in 
Sussex County, N. .1., for 1014, Compared with that 
for May, 14, 1017, in 100 Herds having .‘1860 Cows. 
Items 1014 1017 
Concentrates . .$08.66 .$60.50 
Roughage (hay, silage, stover) . 01 ..50 07.84 
Pa.sture . 8.00 8.00 
Man labor . 27.00 40.,54 
Horse labor . .0..05 5.00 
Dairy equipment . .45 .50 
Housing, cost, interest, depreciation 
and insurance . 8.10 8.10 
Taxes per cow . .75 .75 
Interest per cow. 4.10 6.50 
Depi’eciation, less value of calf. 0.56 0.56 
Miscellaneous . 1.55 1.55 
Tot..l cost per cow. $127.17 $182.05 
Value of manure for 8 months not 
in pasture . 10.00 10.00 
.\verage annual cost of keeping a 
cow . $117.17 .$172.05 
Cost of milk per quart for cows giv¬ 
ing 3019 quarts per year. 0.80c 5.53<' 
Cost of Feeds (per ton I and of I^abor, and Value of 
Cows upon which above Figures are based: 
1014 1017 
Ilay . $15.00 $18.00 
Stover . 10.00 12.(M) 
Ensilage . .5.(K) 6.00 
Concentrates . 30.00 55.00 
Labor per man per month, board and 
room . 37.00 .55.00 
Value per cow . 82.(K) 130.0<J 
Interest charged at 5 per cent. 
Thus we .see that the cost of milk production lias 
increased nearly one-half, while the price received 
for the milk has not increased in any such propor¬ 
tion. Northern .Tersey, in which Su.ssex Co. is lo¬ 
cated, is specially adapted to dairying, and is prob¬ 
ably better for this branch of farming than any 
other. In South .Ter.sey the lo.ss on dairy cows is 
even greater than these figures indicate, but in the 
Southern part of the State the manure is woidh more 
for use on truck or fruit crops. The.se figures show 
why many dairy farmers are abandoning the bu.si¬ 
ness and selling their cows. You wmuld do the .same 
in your business if you found upon investigation 
what these figures show. 
