1496 
end, ami shake the limbs <>f the trees vigorously. 
All fruit tit for drying will fall easily. A second 
trip over the orchard always has to be made to get 
i he remainder of the crop. This second shaking 
takes place from four to 10 days after the first, 
depending upon the favorableness of the weather 
for ripening.' The shakers are followed by the pick¬ 
ing crew, which often consists of men. women and 
children of all ages and conditions of life. They pick 
directly from the ground into the "lug boxes." which 
resemble bushel crates. These "lugs” hold 50 lbs. 
of green prunes, and are so made that tin* cleats 
across the top of the ends serve as extra end pieces, 
which hold up the other “lugs” placed on top of 
them. The idea of this is to protect the fruit from 
I cing crushed. The pickers are paid eight cents a 
box. amounting to the ones who work rapidly to as 
much as $5 a day. The filled boxes are picked up 
and placed on a wagon and hauled to the drier. 
Every man having 10 or more acres of prunes usually 
has his own drier of the tunnel type. In traveling 
about the county the sight of so many driers reminds 
one, familiar with the sight, of Western New York 
in the apple and berry growing sections, where driers 
are so numerous. 
DRYING PRUNES.—When the prunes reach the 
drier, they are usually dumped, two or three bushels 
at a time, into a vat containing clean cold water, 
where all dirt is washed off. preparatory to drying. 
An endless conveyor, operated by gasoline power, 
raises them out of the water and carries them to a 
point where they fall onto the drying trays. One 
man operates this machine, stopping it only long 
enough to remove the full tray, and replacing it with 
an empty one. It is his business to keep the drier 
foreman and his assistant busy. Usually the drier 
foreman is stationed at one end and his assistant at 
the other end of the tunnel, removing the trays of 
dried fruit from the bottom, and pushing those trays 
nearest the top to the lower part of the tunnel, 
where they may finish drying, and then replacing 
them in the top section with trays of fresh fruit 
ready for drying. The drier on this particular farm 
has four drying tunnels. On the inside of each door 
of each tunnel there is a thermometer. In this way 
there is no guesswork as to the degree of heat of 
the drying tunnels. Generally the prunes remain in the 
drier heat from 20 to 30 hours, depending upon their 
condition, ripeness, the weather, and the efficiency 
of the drier. From the drying trays the dried fruit 
is then dumped onto a shallow, bin-like table and 
inspected for fruit which is not well dried. These 
specimens which are not dried sufficiently are called 
"plunkers.” and are returned to the tunnels for 
further drying. At this point one may find the wives 
of the Busenbark brothers working at the inspection 
table. As fast as the fruit is gone over and found 
in perfect condition, it is then worked down through 
holes in the base of the table to large receiving bins 
on the ground floor, where they are later sacked, 
after having undergone a slight sweating process. 
As soon as they are sacked, they are then taken to 
the packing plant, or the Oregon Growers’ Go-opera¬ 
tive Association warehouse, where they are processed 
and packed in boxes and packages up to 50 lbs. per 
package. To harvest a crop of such immensity re¬ 
quires the services of a large number of workers. 
East Summer there were about is listed on the pay¬ 
roll. besides the members of the family who helped. 
ALFALFA.—The name “Alfalfadale” was appro¬ 
priately applied. It is doubtful whether a finer field 
of Alfalfa could be found the country over than the 
writer saw on that ranch this Summer at the time 
the third cutting was being made. From the 24 
acres they cut a crop of approximately four tons to 
the acre for the season, consisting of three cuttings. 
At the time of the third cutting the Alfalfa stood 
fully waist high. Two tractors, six horses, and a 
truck furnish the motive power for carrying on the 
work of this ranch. 
THE GRAIN CROP.—Just as great success is 
achieved in the growing of fruit as is achieved with 
the raising of grain. Very few farmers can boast 
of being able to grow all their own cow feed. For 
the season just past they had 16 acres of corn, 16 
of oats, and something like 20 of wheat. Pasture is 
good throughout the year, except in August when 
the weather is extremely dry. 
THE FARM LIVE STOCK.—It has always been 
maintained that diversified farming, in most in¬ 
stances. is more profitable than specialized farming. 
That fact cannot be disputed when you take into 
consideration that this farm carries a herd of 40 
milk cows, grade Shorthorns, and from 20 to 30 head 
< f young stock. Like all up-to-date dairies, they use 
a milking machine and a separator. In addition to 
the dairy cows and the young stock, one can always 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
find from 20 to 30 shotes. These are used mainly 
for market purposes. However, not a resident of 
Douglas County can show finer hogs than this aged 
veteran. 
THE FARM HOMES.—The homes are all piped 
with water, are equipped with bathrooms, and are 
lighted with gas. What more could be asked for in 
a farm home? Conditions in this part of the State 
are not conducive to the need of furnaces or heating 
plants, due to the fact that it never gets cold enough 
for the ground to freeze. In fact, very few houses 
are plastered, but merely a covering of heavyweight 
cheesecloth is used on which to hang the paper. This 
cloth is tacked on in strips with heavy carpet tacks, 
to make it as smooth as possible, so that the paper 
will not bulge, as oftentimes happens. h. e. ii. 
Short Farm Stories 
The Value of Swamp Muck 
On page 1354. under the heading “Brevities,” you 
say : “Nature has tucked away tons of nitrogen in the 
murk, of that swamp." Will you explain what is meant 
in this instance? If I can take a horse and wagon into 
the swamp on my farm, and get tons of fertilizer, then 
it’s me for the swamp. w. c. c. 
Connecticut. 
Nature usually takes the swamps and low places 
for one of her deposit banks. For years these low 
places have received the drainage from the surround¬ 
ing hills. Available plant food has leached out of the 
soil down into them. These swamps usually have a 
hard clay subsoil down under the surface soil. This 
prevents direct drainage, so that this collected plant 
food remains. There is an annual growth of coarse 
grass, weeds and bushes. These decay and break 
down, and in course of time this forms the black 
soil or "muck” which is characteristic of the swamp. 
If this process could go on long enough there would 
be a small deposit of coal where the swamp now 
stands. This black soil or muck is usually quite 
sour. It varies in composition. In some cases it has 
about as much nitrogen as ordinary stable manure, 
and sometimes there is four times as much. As a 
rule it is so acid that the nitrogen contained in it 
will not be fully available until the muck has been 
fermented or sweetened. This will be done slowly 
on exposure to the air. and many farmers merely 
haul the muck out of the swamp and spread it over 
the ground like manure. On this exposure to the air 
it slowly crumbles and gives up its plant food. 
Others, who desire to have the muck made available 
at once, haul it out and make a compost heap by 
scattering lime over the muck and adding small 
quantities of manure. This starts a strong fermen¬ 
tation, and after a few weeks the muck becomes 
nearly as available as manure. In England a new 
plan is being tried. The muck is mixed with lime 
and then certain bacteria are put into it. These 
work it over and change it into plant food. While 
muck is quite rich in nitrogen, it is low in phos¬ 
phorus and potash. Wood ashes go well with it. or 
acid phosphate and potash. There is no question 
about the agricultural value of muck, but many 
farmers consider it too much work to haul it out. 
The Value of Tobacco Stems 
I can get tobacco stems pressed in bales for drawing 
away from store, where they are a waste from manu¬ 
facturing cigars. We would have to haul them about 
one mile. Would these be worth hauling to plow under, 
or could they be used to better advantage? Would they 
in any way injure garden crops or hay? Would they 
burn strawberries, or injure in any other way if used 
to mulch them? G. D. n. 
St. Albans, Vt. 
Such stems vary in value, but on the average a 
ton will be worth about four times as much as ordi¬ 
nary stable manure. We should regard a chance to 
get such stems the same as receiving a valuable 
legacy. Naturally all forms of manure or fertilizer 
are best when made as fine as possible. If the stems 
could be run through a fodder cutter they would be 
more useful. We have known cases where such 
stems were chopped fine and then used as an ab¬ 
sorbent in the gutters back of cattle. Then when 
mixed with the manure they made a wonderful fer¬ 
tilizer. They will not injure garden crops. The 
stems are rich in nitrogen and potash. They need 
phosphorus to make them a balanced fertilizer. This 
can be supplied in acid phosphate to good advantage. 
Our correspondence seems to show that there are 
more than usual of these stems to be supplied locally 
this year. 
Caring for the Old Folks 
Are there any elderly people, without near relatives, 
who do not want to leave their farm, but are not able 
•to carry it on themselves, and are dissatisfied with hired 
help, who would like to be cared for in their declining 
years? We are a family of father, mother and son of 
17. and if this old world was in normal condition could 
get along nicely. As things are. we would be glad to 
make some such proposition as this: Party of first 
part to furnish farm, stock, tools, etc., with seed, fer¬ 
tilizer, grain to feed stock, etc., furnish table besides 
December 31, 1911 
vhat farm produced : we to furnish the help to run the 
blare and take care of the old folks, trying to treat them 
as if they were our own parents. Place should produce 
enough to support us all. and then some. The place 
eventually to come to us when the old folks finish this 
world s journey. c . B . F . 
Vermont. 
"It takes all sorts of people to make a world.” and 
it is quite possible that such elderly people might be 
found. Me have never been able to locate them, 
however. Even if they were found, we should hesi¬ 
tate long before advising them to tie up with such 
an agreement. We have known several cases where 
something of the sort was attempted. They ended 
disastrously. Such an arrangement would be ideal 
if both sides to the bargain could be made honest 
and fair. All too frequently the parties who are to 
“care for the old folks” feel that they are to have 
the property finally, and they become quite arbitrary. 
We would advise the elderly people to retain their 
deed to the property and refuse to agree to turn it 
over to the other parties. If the latter have reason¬ 
able use of the place they will receive more than an 
equivalent for “caring for the old folks.” We have- 
seen too many sad cases resulting from signing such 
a contract. 
What Is Sulphate of Ammonia? 
I have been reading your interesting article on sul¬ 
phur. but have not found anything about sulphate of 
ammonia in these articles. I would like to know on 
what crops it is the most successful and at what amount 
to the acre. Does it require a phosphate with it? Also, 
what is phosphate rock? M. s. 
Binghamton, N. Y. 
Sulphate of ammonia contains, as plant food, sul¬ 
phur and ammonia. It is what is known as a forcing 
fertilizer. The ammonia promotes a quick growth 
of vine or leaf, but there is not equal development 
of fruit or seed unless phosphorus and potash are 
in good supply. Thus the sulphate of ammonia is 
most useful for forcing a quick growth on grass, 
grain or leafy vegetables, or in quickening the 
growth of fruit frees. We would not use over 150 
lbs. to the acre. One disadvantage about using sul¬ 
phate of ammonia alone is the fact that it is acid. 
This objection may be overcome by using lime freely. 
Fhosphate rock is a mineral or fossil substance con¬ 
taining phosphorus. The theory is that this rock 
represents the remains of great herds of animals 
which inhabited the earth years ago. As climate 
changed it seems evident that they gathered in great 
herds in valleys or protected places.-and died there. 
The phosphate rock is what remains of their bones, 
long since petrified and turned to a soft form of 
stone. This rock is ground or crushed to a line 
powder. It may be used as a fertilizer in this raw 
ground condition. To make it more available this 
ground or powdered rock is mixed with sulphuric 
acid. This "cuts” the rock, or changes it chemically, 
so that the phosphorus dissolves in vvatei*. In that 
form the rock is known as acid phosphate. 
Seedling Trees in Pasture 
How would you best care for apple trees that have 
sprung up iu the pasture and along the fences (good 
ground that will grow good crops of native grass)? 
The trees are from 2 to 4 in. in diameter, too large to 
transplant. Last Spring I commenced top-working 
them, about half enough (cleft-grafts) set in each tree 
for a permanent top. and this coming Spring intend to 
finish the top-working. The grafts have made what I 
would call a good growth, some nearly 4 ft. in length. 
How P'-'i-h should they be cut back another Spring? 
New York. w. it. c. 
If stock run in the pasture of course these young 
trees must be protected. We do this by driving three 
strong stakes around the tree, and making a few 
turns of barbed wire around them. This will keep 
the larger stock away. The chief, trouble we find 
with pasture trees is borers. They are usually bad 
in old sod. It pays to keep the soil for about 3 ft. 
around the trunk well cut up with a hoe or grubber. 
Dig the trees out in Spring and Fall. If you have 
wood ashes scatter 3 lbs. to 5 lbs. around each one. 
We know of a case where the owner spends two or 
three days in the pasture forking up clumps of 
manure and throwing them around such trees. It 
is considerable work to spray such trees, as they are 
not in rows, but scattered here and there. The fruit 
on such trees is usually fine and high-colored. We 
should cut about half the growth out next Spring. 
Try to avoid a high-headed tree in such pastures. 
Trim so as to make a wide and rather low head. 
That is better for windy places. 
We find some people still who insist upon banking 
around the house with horse manure, as a protection. 
Wet straw over building or tar paper would keep out 
the cold as well, and be very much neater. A strip of 
tar paper tacked around and held in place by a little 
dirt would keep out the wind and be far better than the 
manure. Under the windows and around the doors of 
the house where we live is no place for manure. Per¬ 
sonally. we think it just about as bad to cover the lawns 
around the house with manure every Winter. 
