1399 
Handling the Beautiful Snow 
A Big Maine Roller 
T he pictiue at Fig. 057 shows a big snow roller 
used in (..’entral Maine for breaking out the 
roads after a snowstorm. This big roller is seven 
feet in diameter, each section being five feet lung. 
It weighs three tons, and eight good horses are 
required to haul it through the snowdrifts. When 
!it does move, however, it takes and crushes down 
the snow in great .shape, and forms a smooth, hard 
bed for tlie sleigh runnej-s. It is said that these big 
rollers do a better job than the snow plows or the 
ox sleds which were used years ago. The town in 
which this roller is used has four other.s, although 
not quite as large. After every heavy snow these 
big rollers are promptly pirt into action, and they 
smasli and crusli their way through the drifts and 
are voted a great inqjrovement over the snow plows, 
which tear out the center of the drifts and throw 
the snow to the side. Some of our readers in 
Florida will be likely to shiver at the mere picture 
of this big plow, but up in Maine and along the 
latitude of upper New York the peo]de take these 
big drifts as a matter of course, and so long as they 
can get through them comfortably witli their sleighs 
they do not object seriously to the 
snow. The big rollers are a fixture 
in many of these Northern towns, and 
they are proving verj' satisfactory. 
Tractors Plow City Street Snowbanks 
('ountry road superintendents may 
be able to protit by the exper¬ 
ience of one Middle Western com¬ 
munity in keei)ing tlie roads clear of 
snow this Winter. Caterpillar trac¬ 
tors are used in Peoria. Ill., in clear¬ 
ing the streets of snow at a fraction 
of the expense incurred in horse and 
man power. Tlie work is accomp¬ 
lished quicker and more efficientl.v. 
The powerful creeping tractors are 
hitched to road graders, such as used 
in highway construction, and to a 
special V-shaped snow plow, the lat¬ 
ter being especially designed for 
handling snowdrifts in quick order. 
This implement also clears the gutter 
of snow, thus pei'initting the water to 
flow away without undue flood when 
a thaw comes. 
Last Winter, when the greatest 
blizzard in the history of the Middle 
West struck Peoria, the city street 
commissioners awoke one morning to 
find their fair town in several feet of 
snow. On every hand there was a 
shortage of fuel and food, and some¬ 
thing must be done quicker than 
usual to avert disaster. The manager 
of the caterpillar tractor company of¬ 
fered two of his 75-horsepower out¬ 
fits to do the work. The offer was 
accepted. These outfits in a short 
time had the main business section 
cleared, and by mid-afternoon Peoria 
was clean as a whistle, and traffic going on as usual. 
Several miles of streets and thousands of tons of 
snow had been moved in a reasonable fashion at a 
labor and fuel cost of less than $25. 
A fleet of motor trucks was stalled just outside 
the city limits. A caterpillar tractor and a string 
of wagons Avas dispatched to the scene. The loads 
Avere transferred to the Avagons, and not only these, 
but also the trucks hauled into the city by the trac¬ 
tor in one trip. The result Avas that the War 
Pepartment purchased sevei-al of these machines 
for use in Winter camp scenes. earle w. gage. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
of the stuff I fed them. xMl there was to it. it 
didn't pa.v, and as I am running m,v farm to make 
it pa.v. although I don’t alwa.A's succeed. I cut out 
Avintering coavs. It doesn't pa.v. And Avhat I have 
said about coavs, I believe applies e<iually Avell to 
sheep, goats and pigs. 
The land Avhich is suitable for fruit growing is 
assessed at so high a figure, the taxes and interest 
charge against it being $12 to $14 an acre, that it 
must be used for fruit groAA'ing. It cannot be used 
for pasture or raising fodder for Avintering stock. 
Some neighbors of oui’s have their farms so covertAd 
Avith orchards that they have to buy the ha.A' for 
their team.s. fifiiey could not consider buying feed 
for any extra stock through the Winter, Avitli the 
present market conditions. We found Avith our coavs 
that the middleman had us both coming and going. 
And another thing to cons'ider is the help. Most 
of our men AA’ork by the year, and there is plenty 
of work to do in the Winter Avith the Fall spra.A’ing. 
trimming trees and shipping apples. We don’t have 
lo hunt up work for them. Some years, when the 
Aveather is unusually bad, Ave have not been able to 
finish the tilmming before the Spring AAmrk begins. 
On our farms the fruit business la.sts all the year 
round and not only from seed-time to harvesf. 
The Caierpillar Tractor Hauling Snow Plow in Peoria, III. Fig. 656 
experiment or exact mea.surement or Aveighing. but 
it was evident to all that the dust Avas fully as 
effective in killing the worms as the liquid poison.'^. 
As foi- apple tree diseases, the dust held them in 
check, but not quite so effectively as the liquid. The 
experience Avas so satisfactory that AA'e shall continue 
to use .the dust for the Avorms. When it comes to 
fighting the scale, plant lice and some other pests. 
Ave .slmll dei)end on the liipud. We think there is 
iittle sense in claiming that this dust will destroy 
the scale. From the very nature of that insect and 
its manner of ])r()tecting 'itself it is evident that 
some penetrating and slow-spreading liquid must be 
used to coat the entire tree. We shall continue to 
use soluble oil or lime-sulphur put on with the liquid 
sprayer to keep the scale in check. If you have 
scale in .A^our orchard, or if you need to spray for 
plant lice, .a'ou cannot I’easonabl.v expect to keep 
the trees clean and uninjured by using dust alone. 
If your object merely is to kill the codling Avorins 
and keei> ordinary tree di.seases in check the dust 
alone will do it. 
The du.st is more expensive than the liquid. The 
I)ower machinery Avill cost nearly as much as a 
power si)rayer. We can put the dust on almost 
three times as fast as the liquid can be Avell applied. 
That Avas our chief reason for usini; 
the dust. The orchard is on a hill- 
.side. with a long haul for Avater. We 
can run down into the orchard Avith 
a half day's suj)i)ly of dust and stay 
there until the job is done. This is 
the chief ai'gument in our favor of 
dustin.i'. In all large orchards there 
are times when the Aveatlier and the 
Avind con.spire to delay .spraying, q'he 
buds mature rapidly, and in order to 
do effective Avork the poison must go 
on at once. In such cases the dust is 
iuA-aluable, for it can be used rapidly 
so that the poi.son is put just where 
it is needed. Thus the dust Avill not 
entirely <lisplace the liquid. It Avill 
take care of the worms and .save 
labor and time, but in any section 
Avhere the scale is found some Ihiuid 
spi'aying Avill be needed. 
“Winter Work” for the Fruit Grower 
F or several .vears it has been our practice to buy 
up cattle in the Fall, feed them on cornstalks, 
hay and a little grain, and sell them in the Spring. 
IloAvever, this is not a cattle country. The cows 
Avere brought in from a distance, Avere scrub coavs, 
Avhich their oAvners Avished to get rid of. and there 
Avas something the matter Avith most of them. We 
Avere sure to lose one or tAvo before Spring, thereby 
cutting doAvn the profit. We had no suitable buildings, 
only makeshifts. On a fruit farm one does not expect 
to find dairy buildings. Tl.en the market Avas limited. 
We t(>ok Avhat we could get for the coavs and calves 
in the Spring and decided at last that Ave Avere 
getting little besides some good healthy exercise. 
The value of the manure AA^as not equal to the value 
Snoiv Roller at Work in a Maine Town. Fig. 657 
Then fruit growing 'is a business by itself, and 
the hired man as Avell as the manager .specializes 
in it. Many men hire out on a fruit farm because 
they don’t Avant to milk coavs. 
But jjerhaps at the bottom of the whole matter is 
the psychological one of concentration. A successful 
fruit groAver must think about fruit. lie must talk, 
ai'gue and read about fruit. He must live in his 
orchards. He must Avork out neAV 'deas. He must 
be ready, alert at all times to grasp the significance 
of changes in his trees. To raise perfect fruit is his 
profession. He must devote to it his best energy, 
his best thought. The average man cannot mix up 
tAvo professions. While he is raising fruit he doesn’t 
want to bother raising pigs, or coavs or sheep. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. f. w. Cornwall. 
The Use of Dust In Spraying 
I would like your opinion on spraying apple trees. I 
noticed that you used the dry spray tins year, and I 
would like your advice in regard to it. I hav^e about 
MoO young trees and a few old ones. Last Spring I 
hired them sprayed at the rate of five cents a tree, 
which did not prove to be satisfactory. If you Avere 
going to buy the apparatus for spraying, which avouUI 
you prefer, the Avater poAver or the belloAvs for dry 
spraying? it is quite a ser>ous question Avith me hoAv 
to spray the trees properly. e. d. t. 
Essex County, N. Y. 
UR use of the dust is confined to one season’s 
work. We used it in fighting the codling Avorm 
and scab and similar diseases. We made no scientific 
o 
Growing the Sunflower Crop 
I .NOTE ,1. W. C.'s inquiry in regard 
to suiifloAvers as a commercial 
croj), and as I have groAvn them on a 
commercial scale perhaps my experi¬ 
ence Avill be of interest. 
1 spent a fcAv years in the south¬ 
eastern pai't of Mi.ssouri, about 100 
miles south of St. Louis, and planti'd 
eight acres one season (against the 
advice of The II. N.-Y.) and fouml 
it a very profitable crop. ’The soil 
Avas just good corn ground, Avlthout 
an.y special fertilization or prepara¬ 
tion. I planted about tAvo Aveeks later 
than corn. Avhich in this section Avas 
about the first of May. IIoAvever, 
here in the North, OAving to the short 
season. I would plant as early as the first corn 
planting in order to get better Aveather for curing 
the seed. 
I used a regular corn planter, drilling them 18 
inches in the roAV Avith tAvo or three seeds to the hill: 
then, as soon as they Avere up Avell, thinned to a sin¬ 
gle plant. I hand-hoed them once and otherAvise gave 
same culture as corn. They are very rapid groAvers. 
and recpiire a Avorld of moisture, and if it is a dry 
.season a dust mulch should be maintained Avith one- 
hor.se tools. This is very important, or the seed aa-III 
be light and chaffy. 
We left the heads on the stalks until pretty well 
cured, then Avent into the field Avith a large Avagon 
Avith high side-boards and three men. One man on 
the ground Avith a sharp knife Avould .sever the heads, 
leaving about a foot of the stalk for a hand hold. 
He Avould pitch them into the Avagon. and the men 
Avould strike them against the side of the bed a feAv 
times; the seed would readily shell out. The empty 
heads Avere then throAvii out. It required but a few 
hours to gather an acre 'in this Avay. We ran the 
seeds through a cleaning mill and sacked them. The 
local grain company paid us 4^4 cents per pound net. 
The yield per acre averaged something like 1.200 
pounds and gave a net profit of $28 per acre. While 
this was fair profit, had Ave not been afilicted Avith a 
severe drought Avhich caused so many seeds to be 
blank, Ave should have had a yield of 2.000 pounds 
or better. Another thing, our seed Avas badly mixed, 
'T 
