1022 
plowed without putting a chain on the plow. The re¬ 
sult was that perhaps 25 per cent of the clover was 
left in sight and not plowed under. This grew on 
and matured its seed fully. Then the orchard was 
harrowed crosswise of the plowing. This broke down 
and leveled the furrows and scattered the ripened 
seed all over the orchard. 
This harrowing was kept up for three or four 
weeks during the Summer and then stopped. The 
seed scattered about by the harrow sprouted and 
gave a new seeding, which grew up and produced 
another crop, which the following year was handled 
in the same way. By plowing the field north and 
south one year and east and west the other the sur¬ 
face was kept level, and under this system the land 
produced crop after crop of Crimson clover, reseed¬ 
ing #self, filling the land with organic matter, and 
adding considerable nitrogen with the least pos¬ 
sible outlay for labor and seed. This plan could be 
followed south of Philadelphia with some success. 
North of that point the Crimson clover is not reli¬ 
able, but is quite frequently thrown out of the 
ground and killed during March. Some system of 
this sort could probably be carried on with rye and 
vetch after the crop was once started. 
Many of our readers will be interested to know 
that a good many farmers use Timothy as a cover 
crop. It is quite frequently seeded in potatoes, corn 
or other crops after the last cultivation. It makes a 
quick growth, and when plowed under in the Spring 
before it goes to seed will not add to the weed 
troubles of the field. There are a good many short 
cute and tricks about this cover crop which a farmer 
can learn through observation and a little experi¬ 
ment. 
Estimating Cost of Farm Buildings 
T HE season is near at hand when farm folks will 
be considering whether or not they can afford 
to build that new building, so much needed. With 
the following information, anyone can estimate to 
quite a degree of accuracy the cost of any simple 
building. Cost of material varies in different local¬ 
ities, and more or less of the labor may be supplied 
by the farmer and his help. The basis of costs is 
given in each case, so that by simply checking 
through and substituting other figures, accurate unit 
costs per square foot may be easily arrived at to suit 
each particular case: 
FOUNDATION WALLS.—Brick foundation walls 
will cost, per square foot: 
For 4-in. thick wall. $0.32 
8-in. thick wall.64 
12-in. thick wall.96 
These costs are based on : 
LOOO brick .$30.00 
1% bbls lime at $3.60. 4.05 
% yard sand at $3. 1.88 
5 1-3 hours mason at $10 per day. 6.66 
5% hours helper at $5 per day. 3.44 
Total cost to lay 1,000 brick.$46.03 
Total cost to lay one brick.046 
There are 7 bricks in 1 sq. ft. of 4-in. thick wall. 
There are 14 bricks in 1 sq. ft. of 8-in. thick wall. 
There are 21 bricks in 1 sq. ft. of 12-in. thick wall. 
A 12xl2-in. brick pier contains IS bricks per foot of 
height, and at the above prices would cost $1.56 per foot, 
allowing one-half hour time per foot for mason and 
helper. 
A concrete block foundation wall usually costs 
about two-thirds as much as a brick one, and the cost 
of a wall constructed of terra cotta tile is about the 
game as concrete blocks if cement plastered on the 
outside. If not cemented it might be a little cheaper, 
depending on how far each has to be carted from 
source of supply. 
OUTSIDE FRAME WALLS.—Sheathed, papered 
and clapboarded. using 2x4-in. studding, 16-in. centers. 
2x4-in. studding requires 72 ft. B.M. at $45. $3.24 
116 sq. ft. sheathing at $40 per 1.000 . 4.64 
135 sq. ft. clapboard at $60 per 1,000 . 8.10 
2-5 roll of paper at $2 per roll. 1.80 
Nails.60 
Carpenter labor, 7 hours at $7 per day. 6.13 
Total cost for 100 sq. ft.$24.51 
Total cost for 1 sq. ft. .25 
FLOORS (100 sq. ft.) — 
2xS-in. floor beams, set 16 to 18-in. centers, re¬ 
quire 125 ft. B.M. (board measure) at $45..... $5.65 
125 sq. ft. flooring at $80 per 1,000 ft. 10.00 
Nails. 15 
Carpenter labor, 7 hours at $7 per day. 6.13 
Total cost per 100 sq. ft.$21.93 
Total cost per 1 eq. ft.22 
SHINGLE ROOF.—(100 sq. ft.), using 2x6-in, raft¬ 
ers, 16-in. centers, Spruce shingle lath, 1x2 in., and red 
cedar shingles, laid 4% in. to the weather: 
2x6-in. rafters, 110 ft. B. M., at $45. $4.95 
270 lin. ft. Ix2-in. lath at $13. 3.51 
900 shingles at $S.50 per 1,000. 7.65 
Nails.75 
Carpenter labor, 7% hours at $7 per day. 6.56 
Total cost per 100 sq. ft.$23.42 
Total cost per 1 sq. ft.23% 
Doors, windows and hardware may be priced locally. 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
CONCRETE FLOOR.—One bag of cement in a 
mixture of one part cement, three parts sand and 
five of stone or slag, will lay about 60 sq. ft. of 
floor 2 in. thick. 
A box ft in. high, 11 in. wide and 20% in- long 
will hold one bag of cement. 
Contractors hereabouts figure 20 to 25 cents per 
square foot for above floor, laid and finished. 
G. A. D. 
Uniform Crop of Fruit 
I have a farm of 100 acres. 50 of which are in apple 
orchards (old trees in good condition). I have natur¬ 
ally followed the recognized methods of proper pruning, 
spraying and fertilization, etc., and still am unable to 
govern with any degree of certainty the volume of the 
crop from year to year. Do you know of any practical 
and demonstrated plan that can be followed that will 
insure a reasonably uniform crop from year to year, of 
course the conditions of the weather excepted? 
For several years I have used nitrate of soda with 
fairly good results as far as new growth is concerned. 
My orchards have a heavy grass cover which has been 
left on the ground from year to year for the past 12 
years. The condition of the foliage and the wood is 
Sea Moss Spread on the Ground to Dry. It is Turned 
with Brooms. Fig. 420. (See next page) 
Wheeling Atoay the Dry Moss. Fig. 421 
good, and still the question of preserving a reasonable 
uniformity of crop seems to be beyond my control. It 
is the practical side of the question that I am anxious 
to solve. F. G. D. 
Pennsylvania. 
E are asked how to secure annual uniform 
crops of apples from 50 acres of old apple 
trees in good condition, the owner stating “I have 
naturally foliowed the recognized methods of proper 
pruning, spraying, fertilization, etc.,” and further 
states, “Of course the conditions of the weather ex¬ 
cepted.” There is not a progressive apple grower in 
America who is not seeking for the solution of the 
above proposition. Every fruit grower wants to 
have annual crops of fruit, and how to get them is the 
never-ending problem. 
WEATHER CONDITIONS.—F. G. D. takes into 
consideration that the weather plays an important 
part in fruit production, but I do not think it would 
be amiss to simply mention here a few of the out¬ 
standing places where the grower is absolutely at 
the mercy of the weather. The effect of fertilizers 
depends to a large extent upon the weather; if a 
dry spell follows the application of fertilizer to a 
sod mulch orchard, the trees do not benefit by the 
application until rain falls. A late Spring frost may 
kill the fruit buds or blossoms. Cold, windy or wet 
weather at blooming time would hinder the work of 
insects in pollination of the flowers. Wet weather 
during spraying time may prevent the grower from 
applying the spray when it should be put on, con¬ 
sequently his trees may be seriously diseased. Be¬ 
cause weather does play such an important part in 
the scheme of things, no one can give directions for 
July 26, 1924 
the care and handling of an orchard and guarantee 
a crop of fruit each season. 
IMPROVING METHODS. — Although F. G. D. 
states that he follows the proper methods of orchard 
management, still there may be instances where his 
methods could be be improved, or that a change of 
method would secure better results. It takes years 
of experience to be able to determine just the ma¬ 
terials and amounts of fertilizers to use for each 
tree. Experience has demonstrated that an orchard 
is made up of individual trees, and that each tree, 
for maximum results, must be treated individually. 
The kinds and amounts of fertilizer to apply must 
he learned by observation, the growth of the tree and 
the crop produced indicate whether the right treat¬ 
ment is being followed. Often the amount and char¬ 
acter of the ground cover gives an indication of the 
fertilizers which may be necessary to apply. As a 
usual thing, in sod mulch orchards, if the grass o’- 
ground covering does not make vigorous growth, the 
trees nearby are probably not growing to their max¬ 
imum. All this leads up to the question, how can a 
grower determine when his trees are making the 
maximum growth for fruit production? It has been 
demonstrated that apple trees which make an early 
annual twig growth of from 8 to 32 in. are more lia¬ 
ble to be annual producers than are trees which 
make a fair growth one season and followed the 
next season by a heavy crop of fruit and little or in 
new growth. 
ORCHARD PRACTICE.—The orchard practice 
must be such as will induce an early vigorous twig 
growth, thus giving time for the tree to develop and 
ripen fruit buds. Fertilizers should be applied early 
in the Spring to force the tree into early growth. 
If the nitrate of soda which F. G. D. is using does 
not produce the conditions mentioned above, then a 
change of materials may be advisable. There may 
be parts of the orchard which need a complete fer¬ 
tilizer. During dry seasons the orchard may need 
to be mowed very early to prevent loss of moisture 
and consequent injury to the tree growth. My advice 
to F. G. D. is, watch your trees and fertilize accord¬ 
ing to their growth, striving to get an early vigorous 
growth, which will mature by Fall. Spray and 
prune judiciously, to keep the trees healthy. Thin 
the fruit to prevent over-bearing. Mow the orchard 
early in the season, cutting the grass twice if neces¬ 
sary to prevent excessive loss of moisture. 
S. P. HOLLISTER. 
Grafting Cherries and Grapes on Wild 
Stock; Rust on Raspberry 
3. Is it possible to graft cultivated cherries on to wild 
cherry trees? If so, what is the best time to do it? I 
tried a dozen when the trees were budded out, but they 
did not live. I made a dig in the end of the limb with 
a hand ax, placed the graft in it, and covered it with 
para wax. Was this wrong? 2. Is there a disease that 
makes the leaves of the raspberry plants rusty? I 
found this on the leaves that came out on some of the 
old canes. The new plants are bright and green. 3. In 
clearing up some wild land a large stump of an old 
grapevine was uncovered. It is about 8 in. thick. We 
would like to have cultivated grapevines, and wondered 
if we could use this old vine to advantage. Could an¬ 
other vine be grafted to it? H. W. A. 
East Moriches, N. Y. 
3. It is possible to graft the cultivated cherries on 
to the wild cherries. Perhaps whether your method 
of grafting was right or wrong has been answered 
by the behavior of the grafts. Ordinarily consider¬ 
able care must be exercised in top-working cherries. 
In California, where much top-working of cherries 
is done, the common method of cleft-grafting is em¬ 
ployed. Another very successful way is bark-graft¬ 
ing, in which the stubs are prepared as for cleft- 
grafting, excepting that no split or cleft is made. 
Instead, a slit is made in the bark, and the scion, 
which has been flattened on one side, is slipped into 
the slit, just as a bud is placed in the familiar pro¬ 
cess of budding. A small brad or tack holds the 
scion in place, and it is then wound with raffia or 
string, and the whole waxed over. One of the main 
points in the grafting of the cherry is to keep the 
bark from drying and curling back away from the 
scion. The use of both string and wax may seem 
excessive, yet it is good in practice. Grafting should 
be done in the Spring just before growth starts. It 
may be done later if the grafting wood is kept abso¬ 
lutely dormant by proper storage. 
2. Orange rust is quite common on both black¬ 
berry and black raspberry. There is no means of 
control known today except by removal and destruc¬ 
tion of infected plants. 
3. Very likely it is possible to graft the grapevine 
that you mention, but we doubt the value of trying 
to use it. H. B. T. 
