C*/ic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1051 
The Value of Growing Fruits 
Experience With Currants 
Y OU asked for a basis for value of currant btishes. 
My father had fi’om 10 to 13 acres of currants in 
Onondaga Co., X. Y. About three acres are still 
bearing. One plot of Red Dutch bore well for 40 
years—^then plowed up 
take such small berries. 
.'O long, and now only 
will go on the market. 
there was 
becau.se market would not 
Victoria did well, but not 
Fay, Wilder or Perfection 
We always figured on at 
least two tons per acre, average about 2i/4 tons for 
40 years, though we once picked oYo tons from one 
acre. The price over a series of years was six cents 
per lb. After deducting cultivation, packages, 
spraying, picking and superintendence 
left an average for the whole time 
of about ^12.5 per acre. Deducting 
taxes and interest on land value left 
?100 per acre income from the 
bushes. This is interest at 5 per cent 
on .$2,000. As there are 1740 plants 
to the aci’e, set five feet each way, 
each plant Avas worth about .$1.3o. 
If you figure interest at higher rate, 
value is les.s. At present labor and 
material prices, with no increase in 
value of product, the value would 
figure still less. Of recent years the 
borer has destroyed much of the or¬ 
chards; in fact that pest.. impossible 
to meet with sprays;, has compelled 
us to plow up quite an acreage. That 
again lessens value, .toiix l. wells. 
R. N.-Y.—This matter of valuing liv¬ 
ing trees or vines has become a vital 
ciuestion. How much does an orchard, 
a vineyard or a berry plantation add 
to the value of land? In the case 
here given by Mr. Wells, liow much 
should the State pay, if, in order to 
protect the pine trees, this currant 
jilantation Avere destroyed? Something 
of this question has arisen in figur¬ 
ing for loans from the Federal Land 
Banks. Naturally, in fruit-groAving 
sections, there will be calls for money 
Avith which to plant new orchards, 
or for money on the security of bear¬ 
ing trees. Does the orchard add to 
the permanent Amlue of the land? We 
understand that in organizing for 
business the Federal Loan Board 
passed this resolution: 
RESOLVED, That it be declared as 
the policy of the Federal Loan Board 
that on orchard lands where the land.s 
have no substantial value except for 
orchard purposes, no loans shall be made; 
that where the lands have a basic agri¬ 
cultural • value, such A-alue shall be the 
basis for the loans, and orchards .slnill 
not be regarded as permanent iinnrove- 
ments, but shall be taken into considera¬ 
tion as enhancing the general A-alue of 
the lands and in determining its produc¬ 
tive value. 
We think the recent booming of 
“unit orchards” and big speculation in 
fruit farming are responsible for thi.s 
ruling. We should like to have a di.s- 
cussion of the matter by our readers. 
'I’hat is the most sensible AA’ay of im¬ 
pressing the Federal Land Board that 
orchard land is good basis for loans. 
or Winter, before snoAV, this could be gathered to 
good adA'antage. It Avill hardly i)a.A' to ship small 
individual lots, but if a communit.v can get together 
and ship one or more carloads there Avill be some¬ 
thing to it. All sorts of metals and refuse Avill sell 
at fair prices. The following figures are quoted at 
Buffalo. They A-ary someAA'hat for the different 
markets, but usually run about as here given. 
IleaA-y copiun- . 20c. per lb. 
Light copper . l.Sc. per lb. 
Heavy brass .i2c. per lb. 
Light brass . Sc. per lb. 
01(1 lead . 6c. per lb. 
Scrap zinc. oc. per lb. 
No. 1 pewter .20c. per lb. 
Mixed pewter ......10c. per lb. 
Old aluminum .27c. per lb. 
Prices for old rubber run from one to two cents i)er 
able 
to 
hold 
call 
“life” or 
.soil 
may 
be 
use 
of 
lime. 
Reaper Drawn by Tractor on a Pennsylvania Farm. Fig. 474. (See Page 1052) 
Potato Crop on a California Lawn. Fig. 475 
A Business in Scrap Metals 
During the Avar scrap iron will prob¬ 
ably be needed. On almost every farm 
there is an accumulation of iron' Avbich 
in the aggregate Avould reach thousands 
of tons. This scrap iron is collected by 
junk dealers, who usually buy as cheap 
as i)ossible. At the present time the 
price ruling here is $10 per ton, I have 
a suspicion that this is not a fair price, although I do 
not know. In case it is not a fair price, would it 
be possible for several farmers to get together and 
load a car of scrap iron and consign it to some 
in the city Avho AA-ould pay a fair price for 
material? If so, a high price Avould lead to 
gathering up 'of every piece of scrap iron on 
farms this coming Winter and turning it into 
fill channels. 
ing from last year’s work he has planted the corn, 
plowed it tAvo or three times, trien abandoned it till 
husking time. Last Fall the field had groAvn up a solid 
mass of so-called “horseweed” or “English ragweed,” 
jiimson, morning-glory and cockle-burs. I am trying to 
raise garden truck on it, and ft has proven a success for 
the quick groAvth crop such as peas, beans, etc., but 
a fe\y days’ dry AA-eather seems to haA-e a tendency to 
dry it out. The heavy rains of last .Tune seemed to 
run it together. The potato ground is so hard that the 
tubers cannot groiy. What must I do to put the 
ground in mechanical condition for another season? 
Would heavy manuring Avith stable manure do the 
c. Jr. II. 
Canton, IMo. 
U.sually Avlien .soil acts in that Ava.v avo may be 
sure of tAvo thing.s Avhicli trouble it. There is a 
lack of organic matter in the soil, and it has lost 
its life or character. To remedy the first trouble 
it is necessary to Avork large quantities of .stable 
manure into the ground, or to ploAV 
under .seA-eral thick cover crops. The 
manure or the cover crops AAdll de¬ 
cay in the soil, fill it Avith humu.s, 
and make it better 
moisture. What AA-e 
“character” in the 
brought back by the 
I’robably the lime has been largely 
Avorked out of this soil, and in a dry 
season folloAving a rain this soil acts 
like brick cla.v. It hardens up or 
bakes into a solid mass, and, of 
course, in that oondition 'it cannot 
hold moi.s'ture or give a proper 
-chance for the roots to .spread out. 
The lime Avill crumble up this .soil 
and change this bricklike character. 
Some j'ears ago a farmer Avanted to 
make a number of bricks on his 
farm. He had a good quality of cla.A-, 
put it in a i)it, and thoroughly pud¬ 
dled it by AA'orking Avith a horse and 
Avheel in the old-fa.shioned Avay. Tie 
had the clay in just the proper .shape 
for brick-making, Avhen a neighbor. Avho 
had a grude against him, Avent at 
night and threAV a quantity of lime 
into that clay. The bi-icks from the 
limed clay proved a failure, for Avhen 
baked they crumbled and AA-ould not 
hold together in a solid mass as the 
brick should. In much the sameAA'a.A' 
heai-y soils will frequently bake solid. 
They can be Avorked Avhile they are 
moist, but in hot. dry Aveather .you 
might as well try to Avork a solid 
rock. The application of lime to such 
soils thoroughly worked into the 
ground Avill change this condition, 
open up the soil and leave it open and 
friable. Our plan avouUI be to put 
on a good coat of horse manure and 
ploAv it under. Then use at the rate 
of one ton of burnt lime per acre, and 
rake or harroAV it thoroughly in. In 
this Avay 
that soil. 
you Avill greatly improve 
firm 
this 
the 
the 
iKse- 
n. 
There ought to be something in this proposition, 
if a number of farmers could get together, combine 
their .supplies of old metal and ship in carload lots. 
There is an active demand for metal of this .sort. 
At this time mixed .scrap iron is bringing $10 per 
net ton in Buffalo, and .$20 or 1c. a ])oun(l 
points near XeAv York. This consists of all kinds 
scrap iron, and includes all kinds of old agricul¬ 
tural implements. The freight on carload lots 
the mai-ket centers Avill run from $1.50 to ,$.3 
ton. In almost every community may be found 
large quantities of old metal. During the Pall 
at 
of 
to 
a 
A Massachusetts Potato Field Ruined by Plant Lice. Fig. 476 
IKUind for scrap rubber, up to per pound for 
rubber boots and .shoes, and 10c a pound for mixed 
inner tubes for automobile.s. Mixed rags are noAV 
quoted at about one cent a pound, Avhile rope 
brings from one and a half to three cents. The 
foundries and mills are hard at AVork and calling 
for ruAV material, and every bit of old junk or 
metal can be used at a fair price. The local ped¬ 
dler gathers up much of this material, but there 
is no good reason Avhy the farmers themselves 
should not deal direct and ship to the larger junk 
dealers. 
“ Loosening Up” a Soil 
1 have a small piece of grouiul sloping gently to 
the east, second bottom, a good deal of sand in it, very 
rich and priKluces early stuff in fine shape, but does 
not retain moisture enough for later truck. This 
piece of ground has been farmed for corn for 20 years, 
and the same man has farmed it 10 years past. .Tudg- 
Selecting Seed Be.ans 
The folloAving sensible advice is 
sent out by the Department of Agri¬ 
culture. 
The use of good seed properly rip- 
ened,_ plump, intact, and free from dis¬ 
ease is e.s.sential for securing large yields. 
It is crop insurance for growers to lay 
in their seed while there is still op¬ 
portunity to inspect the fields or they 
can pick from the cream of commercial 
stocks instead of having to take Avhat- 
ever may be available later. 
'Seed from carefully so'lected. clean 
pods grown in one’s oAvn seed plot, 
of course, are safest. Once the beans 
have been thrashed it is diffiault fio 
detect all Avhich have come from dis¬ 
eased pods. It is possible, moreoA-er, 
in the seed plot by planting the seed in hills and by 
spraying Avith Bordeaux mixture to protect the plants 
from anthracno.se, even at an expense not Avarranted 
in larger plantings. The grower should see that no 
one moves among the seed plants while they are Avet 
Avith rain or deAV, Avhen spores of the fungus causing 
anthracnose most readily are spread. 
After the seed is thrashed—and this is particularly 
important in the case of commercial seed—the grower 
should pick over his seed by hand tAvo or three times 
and throAV out all damaged or disea.sed beans and 
those not uniform in size and color. Even commer¬ 
cially hand-picked seed often contains many affected 
beans. While a feAv di.scolored beans are not objection¬ 
able for household use, every such .seed Avhen planted 
may sj^-ead disea.se to many neighboring plants. In 
jilanting a germination test 
only seed of high (piality ac- 
beans for 
made and 
purchasin 
should be 
cepted. 
Perbaiis 
this lino, 
the va riety 
for this plot Avas grown in Michigan in 1912. It 
Avas gi-oat stock in every Avay. We have been 
niy experience may add emphasis along 
We have a seed plot of about an acre: 
• is the Michigan pea beau. The seed 
