736 
‘Jbe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 10, 1920 
| HOPE FARM NOTES j 
We had a little meeting at Hope Farm 
on Marcli 22 to demonstrate ‘‘bridge¬ 
grafting.” Mr. Stone, the County Agent, 
was there and about 30 men and women 
came to see how the work is done. We 
took them up into one of the back or¬ 
chards, where the mice have been very 
destructive, and there Mr. Stone worked 
over several trees, and we tried a hand 
at it. Now it is easy to tell on paper 
just how this work is done, and many 
pictures have been made showing how 
the scions appear in place; but I doubt 
if anyone can do a successful job without 
actual practice under the hands of a 
teacher. This job is the best illustration 
I know of to show the futility of trying 
to study farming or fruit-growing by the 
printed page alone. Someone must go 
ahead and do the w r ork right before your 
eyes in order to make it clear, and then 
you can only gain judgment and confi¬ 
dence through long practice. 
* $ * * * 
Most of the damage in our orchards 
was done by mice. The wild rabbits have 
mostly been killed off. A few tame rab¬ 
bits have ruined peach trees and shrub¬ 
bery, but mice have been our worst ene¬ 
mies. It is astonishing how high up on 
the trunk these little rascals can work. 
In many cases they have gnawed the roots 
bare and then climbed up two feet on the 
trunk, making a clean sweep of the bark. 
We do not try to save such trees—hap¬ 
pily they are mostly “fillers” which would 
not be permanent anyway. We may cut 
gome of them off. letting one good sprout 
come up, so that we can graft it later, 
but most of our work is put on the per¬ 
manent or standard trees—mostly McIn¬ 
tosh, which are finally to stand 40 feet 
apart. When we planted this orchard 
these McIntosh were put 40 feet apart) 
with Wealthy every 20 feet between them. 
This is the way the bridge-grafters worked 
on these trees. It will seem like a very 
simple, old story to many fruit grower's, 
yet I have had hundreds of letters from 
people who never saw it done—in fact, 
never heard' of it until this year. Life 
looks dark to them as they see the trees 
they have worked so hard to develop with 
the very life chewed out of them. 
$ * * * * 
We began the campaign by making a 
great ball of grafting wax. After supper 
we put 4 lbs. of rosin, 2 lbs. of beeswax 
and 1 lb. of tallow into a big kettle on 
the kitchen fire, and kept it there until 
it was all melted and well stirred up. 
Then, part at a time, it Avas poured* out 
into cold water, and then avo “pulled” it 
just as Ave do old-fashioned molasses 
candy until it became light colored and 
pliable. It AA*as a job to clean up the 
dishes, and some of us seemed to taste 
the rosin and talloAv for several meals, 
but the wax worked Avell. Then the 
knives were Avell sharpened. We took a 
package of small brads and a light ham¬ 
mer and were ready. The first “demon¬ 
stration” tree had about three inches of 
bark left above the roots and a girdle 
about it of perhaps five inches. The first 
thing Avas to take a sharp knife and lightly 
trim off the edges of the wood—both 
above and below—enough to expose the 
green bark. Then we cut scions, taking 
last year’s wood, Avliat Ave usually call 
“suckers.” That was appropriate, I 
thought, as these scions are supposed to 
suck up the sap from below the wound. 
These scions Avere cut by measure, so 
that one end would be about iavo inches 
beloAv the wound. Avhile the other AA’ould 
lap over about that distance above the 
gnaAved space. The ends Avere cut off at 
a bevel, so as to give a fiat surface to 
fit into the bark, and also permit the 
scion to curve out over the wound. A 
little spot in the bark beloAV the avouih! 
was cut or scraped out, so as to expose 
the cambnim layer or green inner bark. 
The plan was to make this cut in the 
bark an exact fit for the end of the scion, 
so that Avheu it was put in place the 
green bark or cambium layer of the sc-ion 
would exactly fit up against the similar 
bark on the trunk. It is- hard to describe 
this on paper, but the theory of it is to 
cut the trunk and scion so- that the 
green inner bark of one will exactly fit 
UP against that of the other. When this 
perfect fit was made a small brad was 
lightly driven through the end of the 
scion into the tree. This brad held the 
scion closely and firmly in place. A tack 
would have split the scion, but the round 
brad, if carefully handled, will not do so. 
Then the other end of the scion Avas 
brought up over the Avound and fitted into 
the tree trunk in the same way and 
fastened Avith another brad. Then we 
softened a piece of grafting wax by rub¬ 
bing it between the hands, first smearing 
the hands with grease, and pressed it out 
into a flat ribbon. This Avas pressed up 
(or down) under the scion and the ends 
brought up and pressed firmly around the 
wound, so as to exclude all air. From 
three to six of these scions were put in 
each tree. 
***** 
Of course, the theory of all this is that 
the sap rising from the roots or loAver 
tree Avill pass up through these scions into 
the top, and thus keep the tree alive. 
This passage of sap must be through the 
green inner bark or c-amium layer, and 
these scions are supposed to form a 
“bridge” across the space Avhere the mice 
have destroyed the natural passage. If 
we have fitted these scions in properly 
they will attach themselves to the tree 
trunk, like any other graft, and groAV 
larger Avith each year, so that finally 
they will form a solid layer of bark 
around the tree. I have been in orchards 
Avhere, years ago, trees Avere given up as 
ruined. Bridge-grafting saA T ed them, and 
after some years these grafts had groAvn 
so large that they united around the base 
of the tree. A fine illustration of this 
may be seen in the famous Knapp or¬ 
chard. near Syracuse. N. Y. Mr. Knapp 
started to grow Alfalfa in his orchards, 
lie took out tA\*o cuttings as hay and left 
another cutting on the ground as mulch. 
Under this treatment, and in naturally 
strong and moist soil, the trees made a 
remarkable growth, but the mice Avere 
literally “in clover,” and many of these 
fine trees Avere girdled. Mr. Knapp put 
in bridge grafts and then put on wire 
protectors. When I suav the orchard the 
original small scions had grown to be 
larger than my Avrist, and Avere beginning 
to groAV together. No use talking, an 
expert can save such trees, but it is hard 
for an amateur to do it right. After he 
has been doAvn on his knees in the mud 
or ice for an hour or so he tires of the 
job unless he has two important quali¬ 
ties; a stern determination and natural 
love of the apple in his pedigree. 
* * * * * 
TFe are hearing much about the Blade 
Jersey .(liant breed of poultry. Can you 
tell us anything about them? 
We have a pen of these birds, but can¬ 
not give full information yet. I bought 
them in order to compare Avith the Reds 
as a general purpose farmer’s breed. This 
“breed,” or strain seems to have origi¬ 
nated in Central NeAV Jersey. No one 
seems to knoAV what they came from origi¬ 
nally, but probably the old Black Java 
or the Black Langshan gave them their 
color and size. I have no doubt the 
blood of several other breeds has been 
mixed in. During the past feAV years 
several breeders have been Avorking to 
develop a standard size, color and shape 
for these birds, and they are succeeding. 
Personally, I think the Black Jerseys are 
being developed much as the R. I. Reds 
AA’ere “evolved,” and I think they will 
occupy a distinct place among useful 
breeds. 
***** 
The birds are coal black, Avith a beauti¬ 
ful “polish” or luster. They have a 
single comb and black legs, and are 
chunky and solidly built—more of the 
meat-producing type than of the supposed 
egg type. They are the largest or heavi¬ 
est birds I haA T e seen among farm poultry. 
Some of mine will Aveigh nearly as much 
as yearling Holland turkeys, and they 
are certainly “built for Avhite meat.” The 
black feathers are a disadvantage in sell¬ 
ing them dressed. They seem to be quite 
good-natured birds, though our rooster, 
“Black Beauty,” will attack a man (or a 
lion) if he thinks there is need of it! 
They lay a fair-sized, dark broAvn egg. 
They rank Avell Avith our Reds ase layers 
thus far. We like them, and think they 
have a place among farm poultry—chiefly 
on account of their size, foraging ability 
and hardiness. I think that on a farm 
where they could have free range and 
make use of the grain fields after harvest 
they Avould produce a great supply of 
cheap meat and a fair egg yield. It has 
been said that their eggs are inclined to 
be infertile. We have not tested that 
yet. 
***** 
Shall we believe all ice read about 
them? 
No—nor about anything else. What is 
reason and judgment for if not to sift out 
evidence? You will hear extravagant 
stories about everything. Whoever knew 
of any man telling the exact truth, with 
all its defects, about anything he had to 
sell? Of course, an honest man will put 
up the best story he can, Avhile the rogue 
and bluffer will multiply the truth by 10 
and then polish it. The truth is that 
these big, black birds are, as yet, an un¬ 
developed breed or strain. The bi'eeders 
art* to organize, Avork out a fair standard 
and try to produce it. We want the 
largest chicken of any breed-—well bred 
and with a big development of breast 
meat. We Avant the black, shiny color, 
line carriage and hardy, quiet disposition. 
Our breed will be a fair layer and eco¬ 
nomical forager or farm bird. That is 
enough for any breed. The Blacks are 
not super-hens or miracles.or “superior to 
anything that wears feathers.” It is, 
hoAvever, a good breed, and in due time 
Ave Avill improve it. I think they should 
be called Black Jerseys or Jersey Blacks, 
but the breeders generally insist upon 
using the Avord Giant, and the birds have 
a right to the title. h. w. c. 
Spreading Manure in Winter 
The article on page 008, “Pasture and 
Barn Notes,” by “Dairyman,” interested 
me. lie does not use his manure spreader 
in the \\ inter. I have covered several 
acres Avith manure this Winter, most of 
it on to]) of siioav. My land is level, no 
chance to wash. Chunks of frozen 
manure up to the size of a peck measure 
are scattered all over the meadow. Any¬ 
thing that Ave can put in the machine 
with a fork goes. Tell Dairyman to take 
off the rake or comb, and he can spread 
almost anything. If he can afford to j 
spread manure by hand, he is making a 
lot more money than I* am on a farm. 
Shelton, Conn. o. G. B. 
The Economy of H EXPo 
for killing Insects 
andpreventing Fungus 
HEXPO is a scientific combination of 
Bordeaux and Arsenate of Lead in a finely 
divided, fluffy, powder form. 
‘i 
Therefore it saves time and trouble either in 
bothering with home mixtures or using old fash¬ 
ioned, inconvenient pastes that require prelimin¬ 
ary crushing or rubbing into thinner paste. 
HEXPO is highly concentrated. It goes three times 
as far as pastes. You pay no freight on water. It is 
not necessary to add more poison. HEXPO is always 
ready to use, effective without harm to foliage. 
Being fine powder it can be blown on dry or used 
with water. When placed in water it mixes easily, stays 
suspended in water in the sprayer, and goes Ion evenly 
all over the crop. 
HEXPO will not harden or deteriorate. No danger 
of buying too much or wasting. There’s no sediment. 
HEXPO goes through the sprayer nozzle to do its work. 
Ask your dealer for HEXPO in 1, 5 and 
10-lb. cartons or in 25, 50, 100 or 200- # 
lb. drums, according to your needs. 
If your dealer is out of HEXPO 
write us for literature and prices. 
H. J. Smith & Co. 
Utica, N. Y. 
Manufacturers of: 
HEXPO t Dry Powder edBordo- Arsenate) 
Smith’s Arsenate of Lead (Dry Powder) 
Smith’s Arsenate of Calcium and Lead 
I Dry Powder) 
Smith’s Paris Green 
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