188 
Grange faces its greatest field of usefulness as a 
strong, local, community institution, binding together 
the people who live in the open country and helping 
them to preserve the sanity and the common sense 
of the nation. <j 
The above is Mr. Lowell’s outline of what he wants 
the Grange to be' and indicates the directions in 
which his leadership will be exerted. He recognizes 
that this is a large program, but relies upon the 
present and growing strength of the organization, 
coupled with public expectancy and the widespread 
confidence of the people, and aided by the hearty 
spirit of co-operation from the press of the United 
States, to accomplish through the support of an 
intensely loyal and far-reaching membership these 
very timely ends. 
Forgery in the N. Y. Apple Packing Law 
T HE apples pictured in Fig. 9, page 39, and the 
accompanying comment impels me to say a few 
words in explanation of how a lot of this fraudulent 
pack comes about here in Western New York. It 
will not make the Newark, N. .1., purchaser’s barrel 
of apples any better, but it will at least suggest to 
him that the grower is not always at fault. 
In the first place, the apple grading law has re¬ 
sulted in scaring most farmers out of trying to pack 
“A grade” fruit. Instead, they sell it to the local 
dealers with everything in the barrel but the cider 
apples, and marked “Ungraded.” The dealer then 
runs them over his grader, faces and banks them 
well, and otherwise leaves the contents as near tree 
run as honesty or expediency (usually the latter) 
will permit. He then marks them “New York 
Standard A Grade” and lets them go. He takes his 
chance on prosecution, as the profits would much 
outweigh the fine, even if he were convicted. I know 
a concern which operated here a year ago which 
packed all its fruit “A grade” over the name of an 
obscure bookkeeper, whom we have since concluded 
was passing under an assumed name. They put 
practically everything in the barrels, and when 
agents of the Division of Agriculture came here 
looking for him along in the Winter he was nowhere 
to be found. 
The farmers, when delivering their apples, are 
usually required by the buyer to mark their name 
and address on the barrel, and I know of numerous 
instances where buyers have merely added the “New 
York Standard A Grade” over the grower’s name and 
let them go—tree run as they were—without chang¬ 
ing the contents at all. That is a crime which I call 
a close relative to forgery. 
Growers are for the most part alive to the situa¬ 
tion, but individually there is nothing they can do, 
for the dealer can pay them almost as much for tree- 
run fruit as they can get after they have gone to the 
expense of packing them “A grade,” which by the 
way is relatively high on a single crop. The only 
remedy that I can see is the co-operative packing 
house. Ten such packing houses have been organized 
in Niagara County so far, and more are coming. In 
this manner apples are honestly packed at compara¬ 
tively. small cost. The plan is still in its small begin¬ 
nings, but I believe it is the only way that New York 
apples can meet competition of other sections. 
Niagara Co., N. Y r . c. m. c. 
A Crop of Big Pumpkins 
A T Fig. 43 will be found a pumpkin picture worth 
looking at. Mr. C. H. Ross of Long Island, N. 
Y., who raised the pumpkins, tells how he did the 
job: 
“About Sept. 1 I cast manure on sod ground for 
the next Spring for my potato crop. I plow that 
under, and after doing so I take a strip about six 
feet wide and 12 rods long and give it a heavy 
coating of manure on top of the plowed ground. 
This strip I use for my pumpkin crop. It remains 
thus all Winter. In the Spring I plow it all again, 
and through the center of this strip of manure I 
plow, with a one-horse plow, a deep furrow, going 
over it several times to make it deep and wide. I 
then put fine scrapings from the cowyard in this 
furrow, about a barrel of hen manure and half a 
bushel of best potato fertilizer. I fill in thi: fur¬ 
row with a plow to cover up the manure. 
“That remains until the latter pai’t of May, when 
I put in two seeds about eight feet apart, and as 
soon as the vines begin to grow I turn them away 
from the potatoes into the hay field. They should 
never be planted near a squash or small pumpkin, 
as they will not grow so large. When the pump¬ 
kins attain a size of about a foot in diameter I dig 
a small hole, not too near the roots, and pour in 
Th* RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
liquid manure about two or three times during the 
Summer. They should be kept well cultivated dur¬ 
ing the beginning of their growth. 
“Now you farmers, ‘go to it,’ as I expect this 
A Crop of Big Pumpkins. Fig. 
Fall to have one at the State Fair, and, of course, 
shall expect a great deal of competition.” 
’ Limestone and Grass Land 
I WAS much interested in reading the article on 
page 5, “Ground Limestone on Grass Land.” Is 
there any real reason why ground limestone should 
not give results on sod or meadow land? The road¬ 
side is the answer. Here in Pennsylvania there are 
many miles of township roads, at least in the coun¬ 
ties where I drive—Lancaster, Lebanon and Dauphin 
counties are surfaced with limestone, and there is 
i... 
Two Types of Snowshoes. Fig. 44 
always a good growth of grass, clover, Alfalfa or 
►Sweet clover along the roadside, even though there 
are none of these growing in the vicinity on farm 
lands, and I have always attributed it to the lime¬ 
stone road dust (ground limestone) blown by the 
winds or washed by the rains to the roadside. It 
it gives results there, why should it not give results 
when applied to meadows or pasturage? I cannot 
January 31, 1920 
see how anyone can get up an argument over that 
question. It is like betting on a sure thing. 
Pennsylvania. p. t. barnes. ■ 
R. N.-Y.—Prof. W. F. Massey gives an even more 
striking illustration. In his part of Maryland many 
of the roads are surfaced with oyster shells. These 
are slowly crushed by passing wheels and the dust 
blown out over the light soil brings in plants which 
could not thrive properly without considerable lime. 
Fire Protection Against Frost 
I am desirous of some information as to the advisa¬ 
bility of preparing an outfit to prevent frost from injur¬ 
ing the fruit crop. I have been in the fruit business 
more or less successfully for years, but know nothing 
about smudging to prevent frost, and having a good 
prospect for fruit again, I feel willing to spend some 
money to purchase oil and other necessities if it would 
hold the frost back at the vital moment. The orchards 
are somewhat protected from the north by maple trees 
along the road ; that is also some protection, being a 
ridge road with the land sloping quite fast to south. 
My fruit was entirely destroyed by frost five years ago, 
and I have come to realize that the cost of thermostats, 
oil, etc., is nothing if a crop can be saved. N. D. 
Middleport, N Y. 
AM afraid N. D. will find that very little can be 
done in this part of America in protecting orchards 
against frost by artificial heat. The writer made a 
study of the relation of weather to the setting of 
fruit some years ago and published his findings in 
Bulletin 299 from the Geneva Station. Studies ex¬ 
tending over a considerable number of years showed 
that fruits are not often injured in New York (the 
Peach excepted) in blossoming time by frost. Much 
more frequently the injury comes from cold weather 
or cold and rainy weather. 
On the Pacific slope it is quite feasible to protect 
orchards against frost, because early frosts are not 
usually accompanied by prolonged cold, wet weather 
as they are very apt to be in New York. In this 
State it might be possible to protect against the 
frost that comes once in five or 10 years, but it would 
not be profitable to keep on hand equipment for frost- 
fighting for the occasional year in which frosts in¬ 
jure fruit in New York. 
If N. I). desires to protect himself against frost 
he must keep in daily touch will the nearest Weather 
Bureau’s oliice. He ought also to be provided with 
several simple instruments for determining the dew¬ 
point, the temperature and the motion of the air, 
so that he may use his best judgment as to whether 
piotection will be necessary or not. Even so, he 
will often expend his energy and material for noth¬ 
ing, a slight change in the weather obviating the 
necessity of heating the orchard. On the other hand, 
his instruments may lead him to believe that there 
will be no frost when a slight change will bring it 
unexpectedly. 
Of the several methods used in protecting orchards 
against frost, two commend themselves to the fruit¬ 
growers in this region, namely, warming the air 
and protection by a dense cloud of smoke. Small 
fires placed at proper intervals in orchards have been 
found capable of raising the temperature of the 
orchard several degrees. Wire baskets several feet 
above ground holding coal or wood are the most ef¬ 
fective, though torches, oil pots and other such de¬ 
vices are used on the Pacific slope advantageously. 
From 20 to 40 fires per acre are required. 
Smudging is cheaper, but is much less effective, 
chiefly because the smoke is too often carried out 
of the orchard by winds. Tree primings, straw, lit¬ 
ter of all kinds, tar and crude oil have been used 
in smudging. When litter is used the burning ma¬ 
terial must be moistened as it burns to produce the 
dense, steamy smoke which is to act as a screen to 
prevent the loss of heat by radiation. The heat 
of the fire reduces the temperature somewhat, and 
the smoke may also, screen the plants from the sun 
in the early morning. This method of frost-fighting 
has been used successfully in vineyards in New York. 
In conclusion, it must be said that fighting frost 
is still an uncertain procedure in New York. The 
several patented smokers and smudgers and the sev¬ 
eral compositions for burning seem to the writer 
to be quite too expensive for use in our orchards. 
1 am of the opinion that the fruit-grower must 
depend upon a carefully selected location to secure 
immunity from frost, rather than in fighting it 
after having planted. u. i\ hedrick. 
R. N.-Y.—Several years ago we printed a number 
ot articles on frost fighting on the Pacific coast and 
in the Rocky Mountain apple-growing sections. There 
were also reports of fairly successful results in sec¬ 
tions oi Missouri and Ohio. At that time the cost 
ot tJiis work, where oil pots and similar devices were 
used, ranged from $25 to $C0 per acre. 
Now, then, what shall we call the man who uses 
dust instead ot liquid spray in the orchard? Is ue a 
duster or a dusterer? 
