May 2020 - 18

NOTES FROM THE FARM
Sunday orchard drive doesn't end with best result
Apple trees on stilts. Rabbits liked
JERRY MILLS
Mills Apple Farm
jerry@millsapplefarm.com
Preserving the orchard's past. Last
year I thought it might be interesting to
preserve the apple varieties of our original
orchard, just as a record, and in case,
people were interested in what we grew
in those days. Many trees are still in good
shape but times have changed.
The easiest way to do that would be
to start a small planting on dwarfing
rootstock with scions from our
original trees.
All but one of the original varieties
was on three- and four-piece inter-stems.
These were popular 50 years ago, in spite
of some disadvantages. I had no desire to
preserve the root systems, only the fruit
they bore.
I ordered 500 modern roots and we are
now busy grafting scions collected earlier
in the winter.
There probably will not be more than
25 trees of any one variety and we will sell
their fruit in our store.
the dwarfing inter-stem pieces in the
four-piece trees. In some cases, they
removed the entire bark. Those trees
were sure to die so I spent several days
sitting in the mud in rain slicker pants
grafting bridges over the missing bark
at the base of the trees.
We ended up with a good number of
mature trees with the original inter-stem
pieces completely rotted out and gone.
Those trees that were lucky enough to
have three or four bridges still intact
continued to produce right along with
their neighbors.
Customers often asked what had
happened to those trees where they could
see clear through where the trunk was
supposed to be.
Trapped! One Sunday afternoon I was
driving around the orchard in Marilyn's
car looking at the trees. The soil was not
frozen, nor was it terribly soggy. Just a
little soggy, so if I stayed on solid grass
I was safe. However, there was a large
puddle on the road back to the shed. If I
barreled through it, the car was sure to
be covered with mud. Marilyn would not
be pleased. I elected to go around it and
of course the car got stuck. I was the only
person on the farm. Nothing to do but get
the track loader and retrieve it myself.
The pull out was successful but as I
moved forward to loosen the tow strap,
the loader lost partial hydraulic pressure.
It would go forward or backward but the
bucket would not move up or down. So
there I was, hooked to a car but could
not exit the cab because the bucker
frame was too high to open the cab door.
I was trapped.
In a real emergency, the loader has
two levers on the door that release the
glass and it falls away. I did not want to
do that. The alternative was to call for
help. The first son did not answer my
text. Neither did the other. Finally, after
for a 45-minute wait, I texted daughter
Sherry. No response. Called her. Same
thing. Finally, a son texted that he and
his brother were working a bingo game
for the fire department until at least
5 p.m. Hmm...
Sherry finally called. She was
cleaning her horse barn and did not
hear the phones but would rescue me.
Fifteen minutes later, she was able to
find two gallons of hydraulic oil and
poured it in the tractor. Three hours
had elapsed.
And I wonder why I never get
anything done. VGN
If your skid loader has a door on the cab,
and the bucket will not lower for any
reason, you are trapped. The easiest way
to evacuate is to turn the two red levers
clockwise. This releases the glass and
it falls away allowing escape. The back
window has a cord on the rim that does
the same thing. Photo: Jerry Mills
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CONTAINS
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60lbs Phosphorus/per ton
40lbs Potassium/per ton
Contact: Brian Geerlings
o. 616.642.3014
c. 616.902.2025
e. bgeerlings@herbrucks.com
www.herbrucks.com
18 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
Serving Growers' Needs Since 1954
8 Ashfi eld Road / Route 116
P.O. Box 540 Conway, MA 01341
www.oescoinc.com
CROPCARE
Call OESCO for a catalog
. . . or just stop by!
You will always be able to speak
with a friendly, knowledgeable
person who can help
800-634-5557
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http://www.herbrucks.com http://www.oescoinc.com http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com
May 2020

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