1202 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
September  22,  1923 
Crops  and  Farm  Notes 
Vermont  Fruit  Growers  Meet 
The  annual  orchard  meeting  of  the 
Vermont  State  Horticultural  Society  was 
held  at  “The  Orchards,”  Bennington,  Vt., 
on  September  6,  1923.  “The  Orchards 
constitute  the  largest  privately  owned  or¬ 
chard  in  this  country.  In  this  planting 
there  are  50, 000  apple  trees  and  approxi¬ 
mately  15,000  other  fruit  trees,  includ¬ 
ing  pear,  plum,  quince  and  cherry,  lbe 
area  occupies  over  3,600  acres  of  lan 
at  the  base  of  Mt.  Anthony,  and  extends 
over  a  large  part  of  Carpenter  Hill.  9  he 
plantings  in  this  orchard  were  be ] 
1911,  and  have  been  in  continuance  ever 
since.  The  apple  varieties  are  largely 
McIntosh,  Wagener,  Grimes,  Stark  ana 
Northwestern  Greenings.  Some  of  tie 
rows  in  these  areas  are  almost  a  mile 
^Although  perhaps  not  the  tog  at¬ 
tended  meeting,  it  was  in  8°me  re speeds 
the  most  extraordinary  meeting  ever  he 
T,v  the  society.  Men  of  large  ideas,  who 
have  extensive  areas  and  large  influence 
were  there  to  lend  their  interest,  support 
and  influence  The  University  of  Ver¬ 
mont  and  State  Agricultural  College  was 
well  represented  by  the  professor  of  hoi  - 
ticulture,  M.  B.  Cummings.  Others  there 
included  Dean  J.  L.  Hill s  of  the  Collcg 
of  Agriculture;  Dr.  H.  C.  Tinkham,  Dean 
of  the  College  of  Medicine;  Director 
Thomas  Bradlee  of  the  Extension  Ser¬ 
vice  and  men  prominent  in  business  and 
in  fruit  farming  from  various  sections 
of  the  State,  which  included  many  from 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  and  New 
Y  'Mr.  Everett  gave  the  address  of  wel¬ 
come.  and  Lieut. -Governor  F .  S.  Billings 
of  Woodstock  represented  the  State  ot 
Vermont.  Other  speakers  were  H.  A. 
Albyn,  superintendent  of  “The  Orchards, 
who  spoke  about  exhibition  work;  l  rot. 
G.  G.  Groat  of  the  University  of  Ver¬ 
mont  "ave  ideas  on  marketing;  C.  L. 
Withered,  vice  president  of  Vermont  and 
chairman  of  the  Vermont  Exhibition  ,n 
New  York  next  November,  spoke  about 
the  show;  A.  R.  Rogers,  representing  the 
Eastern  States  Exposition  Committee, 
talked  of  the  forthcoming  and  unique 
things  that  are  to  be  done  not  only  to 
advertise  the  apple  but  to  educate  the 
people  in  newer  and  better  ways  concern¬ 
ing  the  apple  industry.  He  also  stressed 
the  searcitv  of  New  England  apples  in 
New  England  markets  drawn  from  his 
own  observation  and  experience  of  being 
unable  in  many  cases  to  get  New  England 
apples.  He  called  attention  to  the  o()0.- 
000  school  children  in  New  York  who 
would  attend  the  show;  told  about  the 
hundreds  of  them  who  had  never  seen  an 
apple,  and  many  more  who  had  never 
eaten  but  one;  also  of  the  school  chil¬ 
dren’s  contest  for  the  best  essay  on  ap¬ 
ples  and  how  this  would  advertise  the 
apple  in  every  home  of  this  great  horde 
of  school  children.  He  said  that  tins 
great  exposition  was  bound  greatly  to  in¬ 
crease  the  demand  for  apples,  and  like¬ 
wise  stimulate  greater  production.  . 
II.  Crockett  of  the  State  Publicity  De¬ 
partment  of  the  University  of  Vermont 
gave  an  interesting  talk  on  publicity 
work,  the  need  for  it  and  the  benefits  ac¬ 
cruing  from  it  to  all  Vermonters. 
The  general  theme  of  the  day  seemed  to 
be  Vermont  opportunities  and.  how  to 
take  advantage  of  them.  This  is  an  age 
of  advertising,  an  age  of  publicity,  and 
vast  sums  are  bein^  spent  and  much  ot 
it  profitably  in  acquainting  the  public 
with  all  sorts  of  enterprises.  The  State 
of  Vermont  for  many  years  has  been 
spending  a  very  moderate  appropriation 
for  publicity  purposes.  Whether  we  make 
a  success  or  failure  of  apple  growing  de¬ 
pends  largely  upon  ourselves.  If  we  go 
into  this  business  we  must  adopt  the 
scientific  methods  which  have  been  found 
profitable  elsewhere.  We  must  not  only 
fertilize,  cultivate  and  spray,  but  we 
must  pick  an  1  pack  and  organize  and 
market  in  the  very  best  ways.  M.  B.  c. 
had  been  poorly  supplied  with  early  po¬ 
tatoes,  and  with  supplies  well  cleaned  up. 
The  average  price  at  Eastern  shipping 
points  the  first  week  in  September  was 
about  $2  per  100  lbs.,  and  about  $2.75 
in  city  markets. 
FOOD  BARGAINS  NOT  WANTED 
Potatoes  of  the  1922  crop  are  reported 
still  in  cold  storage  in  a  few  localities,  be¬ 
cause  nobody  would  take  them  for  stor¬ 
age  charges  at  any  price.  Yet  there  were 
occasional  sales  of  this  old  stock  as  late 
as  August.  They  were  still  in  fairly  good 
condition,  and  perfectly  fit  for  use,  but 
such  is  fashion  or  habit  that  few  city 
consumers  will  eat  old  potatoes  in  Sum¬ 
mer,  if  they  know  it.  Any  farmer  has 
learned  new  items  about  human  nature  if 
he  has  ever  tried  to  peddle  out  old  stock 
of  any  kind  after  the  new  crop  had  been 
tasted  by  his  customers.  Even  the  poor¬ 
est  trade  prefers  tasty  new  Southern  stock 
at  double  the  price  of  sound,  old  Green 
Mountain  potatoes,  and  if  offered  cold 
storage  potatoes,  it  impresses  them,  but 
they  will  not  buy.  Not  a  quart  of  Ben 
Davis  from  storage  will  sell  in  a  load 
against  the  wormy  railroady,  new  Sum¬ 
mer  apples. 
For  that  matter,  a  peddler  soon  finds 
there  is  scarcely  such  a  class  as  poor 
trade,  although  he  finds  plenty  who  ask 
credit,  but  any  considerable  quantity  of 
undersized,  oversized,  specked,  bruised, 
poorly  colored,  ungraded  or  mixed  stock 
and  Winesaps  sell  a  little  lower  than 
Pippins. 
Some  sales  of  best  standard  kinds  at 
Middle  Western  shipping  points  range 
about  $3.50.  The  Ben  Davis  seems  to 
sell  hard  this  season  in  the  South  and 
West,  even  at  the  offered  price  of  $2.50 
per  bbl.  Some  are  exporting  Bens  to  get 
rid  of  them,  which  looks  like  one  way  of 
killing  the  foreign  market,  unless  the 
buyers  over  there  put  them  in  storage. 
The  Virginia  apple  region  has  a  fair 
crop  this  year,  the  first  good  yield  for  sev¬ 
eral  years.  A  ride  down  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  or  through  the  Piedmont  section  or 
foothills  section,  from  Manassas  to  Dan¬ 
ville,  shows  unevenness  of  production,  but 
numerous  orchard  stretching  far  back  up 
the  slopes  are  well  loaded.  Many  of  them 
will  be  picked  in  September  and  are  the 
first  hand-picked  Winter  apples  in  the 
great  city  markets. 
Spring  frosts  are  the  curse  of  the  Vir¬ 
ginia  apple  region.  Even  planting  the 
trees  on  the  hills  does  not  always  avoid 
late  frost.  Some  of  the  land  is  steeper 
than  the  old  style  shingle  roofs.  Growers 
do  not  cultivate  the  steepest  slopes  be¬ 
cause  the  soil  would  wash  away  in  the 
heavy  i-ains  of  the  Southern  Winter  and 
•Spring.  The  space  about  the  trees  is 
grubbed  or  mulched.  The  difficulties  of 
spraying  and  harvesting  can  be  imagined. 
Most  of  the  larger  orchai’ds  are  on  land 
of  more  moderate  slope,  and  there  are 
many  good  crops  in  oi*chards  planted  on 
level  land.  The  apple  towns  are  full  of 
buyers,  the  crop  being  desirable  because 
of  its  clean  anil  attractive  condition  this 
year  and  its  suitability  for  the  early  ex¬ 
port  mai*ket.  About  four-fifths  of  the 
The  Cochegan  Rock,  in  New  London  Co.,  Conn. 
Nova  Scotia  Apples 
Our  crop  is  the  fifth  large  uniform  crop. 
Gravensteins  and  early  apples  are  light. 
We  hope  to  do  better  than  last  year  when 
many  fanners  only  got  $1.25  to  $1.50 
per  bushel. 
For  two  years  now  we  have  used  much 
nitrate  of  soda  in  Nova  Scotia  orchards 
and  we  never  had  more  satisfactory 
foliage  and  never  such  poor  keeping  ap¬ 
ples.  Is  this  partly  the  peculiar  weather 
of  the  last  couple  years? 
Nova  Scotia.  buciianan  fruit  co. 
Countrywide  Produce  Situation 
rOTATO  MARKETS  SLUMP  ;  OLD  POTATOES 
IN  STORAGE  ;  BUYING  FOR  THE  EYE  ; 
ANXIETY  IN  THE  COTTON  BELT. 
Potato  supplies  have  just  about  caught 
up  with  the  demand.  Oarlot  shipments 
are  coming  at  about  the  avei’age  yearly 
rate.  In  other  words,  thei-e  is  no  longer 
a  shortage,  and  the  first  week  in  Septem¬ 
ber  witnessed  a  sharp  decline,  averaging 
about  50c  per  100  lbs  the  country  over. 
Prices  are  still  considerably  higher  than 
a  year  ago,  and  are  likely  to  stay  higher 
if  early  reports  of  crop  shortage  prove 
correct.  The  Northern  crop  had  a  favor¬ 
able  start,  enterin'!  nnon  a  market  which 
is  practically  unsalable  even  at  bargain 
prices.  It  is  about  the  same  with  a  new 
or  unusual  variety,  like  white  beets  or 
yellow  tomatoes,  for  instance.  People 
buy  from  habit  and  the  eye.  For  that, 
matter,  few  farmers  know  a  bargain  when 
they  see  it,  in  city  goods.  Salesmen, 
whether  in  city  or  country,  soon  learn  to 
offer  customers  what  they  want,  and  not 
something  that  needs  argument  before 
it  c<an  be  sold. 
SOUTH  MAKING  NEW  PLANS 
Cotton  is  sure  to  continue  high-priced 
and  likewise  cotton  cloth.  The  condition 
of  the  crop  ran  down  gi-eatly  during  Au¬ 
gust,  and  the  indicated  yield  is  only  a  mil¬ 
lion  bales  ahead  of  the  extremely  short 
crop  of  last  season.  Only  Vii’ginia  and 
North  Carolina  in  the  cotton  belt  are 
still  comparatively  free  of  weevil  and 
farmers  in  these  States  did  not  go  in  for 
cotton  neai-ly  as  extensively  as  might  have 
been  expected,  in  view  of  the  evident  op- 
poi-tunity  they  have  before  the  pest  gets 
there.  Geoi-gia  is  particularly  liard  hit. 
Georgia  people  feel  that  something  must 
be  done. 
They  are  trying  to  induce  Western 
farmers  to  pick  up  the  farm  bargains  in 
the  South  and  raise  corn  and  hogs  instead 
of  cotton.  Quite  likely  now  is  the  time 
to  buy  Southern  farms.  Experts  say  the 
weevil  can  be  fought,  and  good  ci'ops  of 
cotton  raised  on  the  right  kind  of  farms. 
Other  farms  that  never  were  very  good 
for  cotton  may  be  forced  out  of  business 
because  of  the  cost  of  fighting  the  insect 
in  fields  where  the  crop  would  be  short 
anyway.  Meanwhile  Southern  farmers 
are  discovering  that  with  the  assistance 
of  the  comparatively  cheap  and  abundant 
labor  in  the  South  they  can  raise  various 
other  crops  more  cheaply  than  it  can  be 
done  on  the  extremely  high  priced  lands 
of  some  other  regions. 
Buying  of  Winter  apples  started  in 
Virginia  and  in  parts  of  the  Middle  West 
the  last  of  August  and  is  now  fairly  ac¬ 
tive.  The  price  average  is  about  the 
same  for  both  sections,  although  Western 
city  markets  have  been  lower  than  East¬ 
ern  for  early  apples. 
The  range  for  standard  Winter  kinds  at 
shipping  points  seems  to  be  around  $3.50 
per  bbl.  for  standard  packs,  like  A  or 
No.  1.  2 y*  in.  Sales  of  Virginia  York 
Imperials,  a  variety  which  compares  quite 
closely  with  the  Northern  Baldwin  in 
market  standing,  range  from  $3  to  $3.75 
per  bbl.  Some  of  these  have  been  ship¬ 
ped  for  early  export  trade,  also  the  Vir¬ 
ginia  Pippin,  which  is  popular  in  British 
markets.  These  have  sold  around  $5, 
apples  look  good  enough  for  first  grade 
except  in  orchards  not  well  cared  foi\ 
The  Piedmont  apple  region  of  Virginia 
was  the  home  of  many  early  notables — 
Presidents  Jefferson,  Madison,  Patrick 
Henry  and  some  bf  the  Washingtons. 
Thomas  Jefferson  called  his  home  Monte- 
cello.  It  was  located  on  a  hilltop,  miles 
away  from  the  nearest  town,  ,a  brick  and 
wood  mansion,  imposing  and  queer  and  a 
mixture  in  style,  as  were  many  of  the 
ideas  of  the  time.  Here  in  the  lonely 
house  on  the  hill  the  “Sage  of  Montic-el- 
lo”  thought  out  the  Constitution  and  the 
rights  of  man  to  life,  liberty,  equality  and 
happiness,  while  a  little  way  down  the 
slope  lived  his  slaves  in  a  row  of  box-like 
barracks  backed  against  the  hillside  and 
with  padlocks  on  the  doors.  It  may  be 
our  own  ideas  will  seem  as  mixed  in.  the 
clear  light  of  a  hundred  years  from  now. 
A  PARK-LIKE  REGION 
It  is  a  beautiful  country  almost  every¬ 
where.  Green,  rolling  fields,  with  few 
trees,  and  in  the  distance  the  blue  moun¬ 
tains  or  the  sea,  like  a  natural  park. 
Swift  brown  rivers,  but  no  lakes.  Corn 
fields  half  mile  square  and  the  crop  doing 
well.  New-looking  silos  by  the  hundred. 
A  few  fine  dairy  herds,  and  quite  a  lot  of 
miscellaneous  live  stock.  “A  great  counti-y 
for  apples,  corn  and  Lima  beans,”  said  a 
farmer  who  had  moved  from  the  North 
some  years  ago,  “but  what  they  call  a  cab¬ 
bage  hei’e  makes  me  homesick.” 
Farm  land  used  to  be  cheap  in  the 
South,  but  the  prices  attached  now  look 
about  the  same  as  in  the  North.  The 
white  people  are  mostly  of  old  British 
stock ;  the  schools  and  roads  are  often 
poor,  but  improving  rapidly.  Some  of 
the  new  State  highways  are  as  good  as 
can  be  found,  but  many  of  the  back  roads 
are  a  nightmare  in  wet  weather  and  must 
be  at  times  as  bad  as  a  snow  blockade  in 
the  North.  Such  drawbacks  are  being  re¬ 
moved  while  the  natural  advantages  re¬ 
main.  With  the  mild  climate  and  all,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  any  region  offers 
greater  attractions  for  country  life. 
Some  apple  quotations  have  been  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  Northwest.  The  price  for 
standard  kinds  like  Winesap  at  State  of 
Washington  shipping  points  is  $1 50  to 
$3.60  per  box,  and  the  more  fancy  kinds 
sell  at  $2  or  more,  and  some  less  desir¬ 
able  grades  and  kinds  down  to  $1.20. 
These  prices  are  not  far  from  those  for 
similar  grades  and  varieties  in  the  South¬ 
eastern  States.  Eaidy  red  Fall  apples  are 
seling  in  Michigan  at  $1  to  $1.15  per  bu., 
a  price  which  compares  fairly  well  with 
the  quotations  for  late  varieties  in  the 
Southeastern  States.  G.  B.  F. 
Wool  Notes 
The  market  tone  is  firmei’,  owing  par¬ 
tially  to  the  higher  prices  at  the  current 
London  sales.  The  new  crop  in  Aus¬ 
tralia  is  reported  short  because  of  drought 
in  some  of  the  sheep  sections.  Stored 
food  has  saved  many  sheep,  so  that  the 
mortality  in  the  flocks  is  not  nearly  so 
heavy  as  in  the  drought  of  1900-1901 
when  nearly  20,000,000  sheep  were  lost. 
But  the  difficulty  in  getting  water  which 
in  some  cases  has  had  to  be  hauled  many 
miles  has  led  to  disposing  of  a  large  num¬ 
ber  for  whatever  they  would  bring  as 
meat.  Recent  business  in  Boston  is  re¬ 
ported  at :  New  York  and  Michigan,  un¬ 
washed  delaine,  52  to  53c;  half  blood,  51 
to  55c.  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  half 
blood,  combing,  55c ;  three-eighths  blood, 
53  to  54c.  New  England,  half  blood,  52 
to  53c;  three-eighths  blood,  50  to  51c. 
Texas,  fine  scoured.  $1.20  to  $1.25.  Oi*e- 
gon,  No.  1  staple,  $1.31  to  $1.32. 
Gapes  in  Turkeys;  Blackhead 
What  medicine  is  good  for  turkeys  that 
have  the  gapes?  Describe  how  turkeys 
act  when  they  have  cholera  and  black¬ 
head,  and  what  treatment  to  give  them 
for  these  diseases?  My  turkeys  are  about 
six  weeks  old  and  I  feed  them  cracked 
corn,  curdled  milk,  and  a  little  wheat, 
and  at  intervals  I  allow  them  to  run 
around  in  the  field.  However,  I  keep 
them  penned  up  evei*y  morning  until  the 
grass  is  dry.  c.  w.  S. 
Pennsylvania. 
The  gape  worms  may  be  removed  in  the 
same  manner  adopted  with  chicks  suffer¬ 
ing  from  the  same  trouble.  Lay  two 
long  horse  hairs  side  by  side,  tie  a  knot 
near  one  end,  clip  the  short  ends  near 
the  knot  and  pass  this  gently  down  the 
windpipe  of  the  gaping  bird,  turning  and 
withdrawing  it  to  loosen  any  worms  that 
have  fastened  themselves  to  the  lining 
membrane  of  the  poult.  The  tip  of  a 
hen’s  feather  moistened  in  turpentine  is 
used  in  the  same  way,  and  wire  loops 
'for  the  purpose  are  sold  by  instrument 
houses. 
Blackhead,  with  diarrhoea,  miscalled 
cholera,  shows  itself  first  by  weakness  in 
the  affected  poult.  The  bird  will  drop 
behind  its  fellows,  walk,  or  trot,  with  a 
peculiar  gait,  and  have  trouble  in  keep¬ 
ing  with  the  flock.  More  or  less  diar¬ 
rhoea  will  be  present,  though  this  may 
not  be  noticed  while  the  flock  is  on  l-ange. 
The  poult  loses  flesh,  though  this,  too, 
may  not  be  evident  without  picking  it 
up.  After  death,  it  will  be  found  to  have 
“gone  light.”  A  dark  discoloration  of 
the  head  may  also  show,  this  symptom 
having  given  the  disease  its  name.  These 
symptoms  increase  in  severity  until  the 
affected  poults  are  found  dead. 
The  latest  preventive  treatment  to  give 
promise  of  efficacy  is  to  administer 
powdered  ipecac  to  the  flock  in  a  moist 
mash,  giving  a  teaspoonful  to  each  20’ 
bii’ds  twice  weekly.  For  those  that  are 
already  affected,  the  tincture  of  this 
drug  may  be  given  in  a  little  water,  10 
drops  three  time  daily  for  three  days, 
then  twice  daily  for  three  days  more  and 
finally  once  daily  for  three  days.  This 
procedure  to  be  repeated  after  a  week  or 
ten  days.  Preventive  measures  give 
more  hope  than  attempts  at  cure,  but 
none  have  yet  attained  to  a  position  of 
certainty.  m.  b.  d. 
A  Famous  Bowlder 
Some  of  our  Western  folks,  who  rarely 
if  ever  see  a  good-sized  stone,  will  be  in¬ 
terested  in  the  picture  of  the  Cochegan 
Rock  shown  above.  This  is  said  to  be 
the  largest  bowlder  in  the  world ;  located 
in  the  town  of  Montville,  New  London 
Co.,  Conn.  It  is  estimated  to  weigh 
about  6,000  tons,  with  70,000  cu.  ft. — 6 
ft.  high.  The  name  is  said  to  be  taken 
from  a  Mohegan  Indian  wbo  lived  in  the 
cavity  underneath  the  rock  for  some 
years.  It  is  said  that  this  cavity  is  large 
enough  to  shelter  eight  head  of  cattle. 
Two  Frenchmen  who  had  decided  to 
settle  a  quarrel  on  the  field  of  honor  be¬ 
took  themselve  with  their  seconds  to  a 
quiet  country  spot,  where  they  would  be 
free  from  reporters,  photogi-aphei*s,  and 
spectators,  and  where  the  only  witnesses 
would  be  some  cows  peaceably  gi’azing  in 
the  fields.  While  the  necessai'y  prelim¬ 
inaries  were  being  carried  out,  the  farme.r 
on  whose  land  they  were  rushed  up. 
“Excuse  me,  gentlement,”  he  said  ;  “but 
is  it  a  sword  or  pistol  duel?”  “Sword. 
But  what  diffei'enee  can  that  make  to 
you?”  “Well,  you  see,  if  it  was  with 
pistols,  I’d  want  to  take  the  cows  in 
first.” — Melbourne  Australasian. 
