Vht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
899 
T HE picture, Fig. 36S. sliows a 45- 
horsepower caterpillar tractor pre¬ 
paring land for planting the famous 
Lima beans near Oxnard, Cal., by 
Hartveld Brothers on the Patterson 
Ranch, The tool is called here a clod 
masher, consisting of three 8-fi. sec¬ 
tions, 24 ft., each section made of two 
2xl2-in. and one 3xl2-in. timbers; the 
3x12-in. is on the back, with three rows 
of %-in. spikes. As extra weight we 
use about 400 lbs. of dirt, in sacks, to 
eacli section, using nine sacks over all. 
We cover about 40 acres in nine hours’ 
work; cost about 75 cents per acre. 
Previous to this operation the ground 
is chiseled to a depth of 3 to 10 in. 
Oxnard, Cal. p. h. 
Washing Vegetables for Market. Fig. 369 
Mammoth Apple Tree in 
North Carolina 
[A few weeks ago some one started a 
discussion of big apple trees—old veter¬ 
ans that have continued for years to bear 
fruit. Now comes the following report 
from North Carolina. The tree is shown 
at Fig. 370.] 
I AM inclosing a picture of a mam¬ 
moth apple tree which is growing in 
Surry County, North Carolina. The 
tree was a good sapling more than a 
hundred years ago. Tradition says it 
was used for hanging deer on to skin 
them a century ago. The tree has 
taken a second growth, and is bearing every year a 
bountiful harvest of good eatable apples. The fruit 
keeps well. A few years ago Messrs. W. II. and 
J. B. Horton purchased the tree with a small circle 
of ground around it, with the idea of propagating 
the fruit from grafts. The tree measures 13 y 2 ft. 
around. d. d. Dougherty. 
North Carolina. 
Fruiting Strawberries The Second Season 
What has been your experience in “keeping over” 
a strawberry bed for another season? I have just 
finished harvesting a fine crop of Big Joe and Chesa¬ 
peake, picking at the rate of 7,000 quarts per acre, 
from a 14-acre bed. These plants were set in 1920, 
hence this is my first crop, and bed is in good condi¬ 
A Mammoth Aggie Tree in North Carolina. Fig. 310 
the second year. We have carried such plants on 
to the third and fourth year, but that does not usu¬ 
ally pay. This is what we shall do this year with a 
good-sized patch of Marshall berries. As soon as 
fruiting is finished, cut off the tops with a sharp 
scythe or sickle, leaving about 3 in. above the crown. 
Either rake off the tops or burn them on the field. 
This can be done, after they are fully dry, by start¬ 
ing a fire at the windward side and letting it run 
over the patch. Of course this would not be safe if 
there are buildings near. This burning will destroy 
many insects, weed seeds and disease germs. Then 
take a small, one-horse plow with a sharp point and 
run along each side of the row. (We assume that 
these plants stand in matted rows.) This throws a 
tion; very few weeds, and plants look healthy; soil 
is good. I never keep a berry bed over one year; I 
find it is new beds that furnish such fine, big. lus¬ 
cious fruit as 1 have each year, and from which I 
am getting quite a reputation for raising such fine 
(big berries. It was my intention to plow this bed 
under at once, and put on a crop of late cabbage or 
beans, manure heavily this Fall and set out a new 
asparagus bed next Spring. I shall be a little “shy” 
on berries next Spring, and T am wondering if it will 
pay to keep this bed for 1922. My ground is limited 
here, and I need a new asparagus bed, hut I also 
need more berries. Berries will bring in quicker re¬ 
turns than “grass.” The “grass” is more reliable, 
though. The berries will pay better than the “grass,” 
though prices have ruled high this season on both. I 
can raise both here to perfection, and sell all I can 
raise right on place. It is quite a conundrum, and 
I hope you can help me decided what to do. a. l. v. 
O UIt experience is that where a'strawberry field 
is well set and in good health it may be re¬ 
newed so as to give about two-thirds of a full crop 
Pregaring Land for Lima Beans in California. Fig. 368 
furrow away from each side of the rove into the mid¬ 
dle. and leaves a narrow row of plants—say 10 in. 
wide. Then with cultivator and hoe smooth down 
the middles and clean out the weeds and surplus 
plants. This will level up the furrows. This is a 
good time to use fertilizer on the berries. We use 
this year chicken manure and phosphate, well 
worked in along the rows. The plants thus cut off 
will quickly start growing and throw out strong 
runners. If they are kept clean they will give a 
fair crop next year and more than pay for carrying 
over. 
Grain for Dairy Cows at Pasture 
My dairy consists of 15 Holstein cows, all coming 
in this month. I have no feed of any kind on hand 
except corn, but good pasture. I am told that I shall 
not be able to keep these cows up on their 
milk, unless I grain them this Summer. 
What kind of feed should I buy that will 
produce milk this Summer, and what will 
be necessary to do to hold them up until 
next Fall? c. w. n. 
Pine Plains, N. Y. • 
TT is not practical to produce milk 
i. during the Summer months without 
using a generous amount of grain to 
supplement even abundant pastures. 
Even though your cows might just be 
fresh and your pasture grass especially 
palatable, you would be greatly disap¬ 
pointed in results if you did not feed 
some grain during the entire Summer 
season. While it is true that grass in 
itself is a completely balanced ration, 
nevertheless dairy cows fed exclusively 
on grass will have relatively short lac¬ 
tation periods, and their flow of milk 
will be greatly restricted when Winter 
feeding conditions prevail. On the 
other hand, cows that freshen in the 
Spring that are fed grain throughout 
the entire Summer season are able to 
maintain their flesh and condition and 
come into Winter quarters yielding sat¬ 
isfactory amounts of milk. In your sec¬ 
tion the months of July and August are 
very warm, the flies are very trouble¬ 
some, and usually the pastures are dry 
and unpalatable. I would suggest that 
you buy compounded feed carrying 
from 17 to 20 per cent of protein and 
mix with this prepared feed an equal 
amount of cornmeal. Feed your indi¬ 
vidual cows in proportion to their pro¬ 
duction, allowing about 1 lb. of grain 
for each 3% or 4 lbs. of milk produced 
per day. Increase the amount of grain 
if the cows respond proportionately 
with an increased flow of milk. 
Holstein cows are good foragers, but 
they lose flesh rather easily when their 
daily ration is restricted to pasture 
grass. Gains in weight that are made 
by the cows during this season of the 
year enable them to produce milk more 
abundantly and more economically dur¬ 
ing the Winter months, and we are all 
agreed that it is the long lactation peri¬ 
od and the persistent milker that yields 
the most profitable returns. The rela¬ 
tively low price for June and July milk 
will naturally prompt the dairy farmer 
to feed less grain on grass. This is a 
short-sighted policy. Maintain the vigor 
and vitality and condition of your cows 
at all costs, for it is the exception rath¬ 
er than the rule to find dairy cows that 
can maintain their milking propensi¬ 
ties and their breeding propensities as 
well if their daily ration is confined to 
pasture grass. Likewise it is economy 
to give dry cows some grain during the 
Summer season. Particularly does this 
hold true with heavy or persistent 
milkers, or animals that milk off their flesh and 
go dry in thin condition. The Wisconsin Ex¬ 
periment Station has been making some very inter¬ 
esting studies along this same line. It has been 
suggested that a variety of feeds is quite as essen¬ 
tial during the Summer months as it is necessary 
during the Winter months, for the simple reason 
that certain mineral constituents, such as calcium 
for instance, cannot be assimilated by the animal 
system in the absence of some quality that green 
grass contributes. For this reason it is advisable 
to prevail upon the dairy cow to store up an abun¬ 
dance of calcium and other essential mineral ele¬ 
ments during the Summer months in order that she 
may utilize the excess during the Winter season. If 
Getting Bees Out of a Hole 
L ET me try to answer the query of A. M., on page 
831, concerning the bees in the telegraph pole. 
There is a very easy manner of getting them from 
the pole to the hive, provided the hole is not too 
high up from the ground. 
First, set the hive—having full sheets of founda¬ 
tion if possible—as close to the hole in the pole as 
possible, the closer the better. 
Second, put a bee escape over the hole and tack 
tin or building paper over the rest of the hole, so 
that the only exit is through the bee escape. 
Third, wait, sometimes several days, sometimes a 
couple of weeks. The returning field bees, finding 
their regular opening blocked, will gradually enter 
the hive and make themselves at home. It will be 
necessary to introduce a new queen into 
the hive, as the old queen wfill not leave 
the pole. Buy a queen from a first- 
rate apiary, which will send directions 
for introducing. 
Fourth, when you are satisfied that 
all the bees are out of the pole, take 
out the bee escape and burn sulphur 
in the hole to kill the old queen and 
what few guard bees remain. 
Fifth, "wait some more, and the bees 
will rob their old home and carry the 
honey stores into the hive. When this 
is done move the hive to a permanent 
position and nail up the hole in the 
pole. 
Ho it. A swarm or colony of bees, 
without the hive, is worth from $6 to 
$10. Hived, it is worth $15 to $20 or 
more. 
Now, please, Mr. Editor, give the bee¬ 
keepers a column now and then. Of 
course I am only a town lot farmer; 
have eight stands of bees only, but 
would surely appreciate help from your 
paper along this line, as well as along 
the chicken and garden and fruit lines. 
New Jersey. d. paul stuart. 
Preparing Land for Lima 
Beans 
