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AMERICAN FORI'.S'I'RY 



3. Remove and burn the cedar apples from the cedar 

 trees. This will prevent the ftmgus from spreading to the 

 apple trees and hawthorns in the summer time. 



4. Prune the shrubs that bloom in the fall, but not 

 the ones that bloom in the carh- spring. Examples of 

 the former are hydrangeas and Rose of Sharon. Examples 

 of the latter are Forsythias and spirasas. 



QUESTION 

 Q. I liave a ranch in southern Kansas at the headwaters of 

 the Medicine River, about two-thirds of the way across the 

 state going west from the Missouri River. Tlie cUmate is a 

 typical continental climate, hot in summer and often quite cold 

 in winter. There is generally a fair rainfall in spring and early 

 summer, but from the middle of July till March there is 

 generally comparatively little rain. Some of the land is irrigated, 

 but most of it is not. Much of the land is broken, affording hill 

 slopes with any desired exposure. There are canyons full of 

 trees with walls fifty feet high. I desire to plant nut trees of 

 all the kinds that I can hope to grow under conditions there 

 and want necessary information as to where and how to secure 

 the best seedlings and transplants, how many it would be desirable 

 to plant of each species, and how and when this should be done. 

 V E. D. R., New Haven, Connecticut. 



A. We would suggest as the only practicable nut trees for 

 planting in your locality black walnut, butternut, Japan chestnut 

 and hickory. Young trees, either seedlings or transplants, may be 

 had from nurseries in the prairie states, such as the D. Hill 

 Company, Dundee, Illinois, or Storrs & Harrison, Painesville, 

 Ohio. Planting is best done in the early spring, digging holes 

 three feet wide and sufficiently deep to well contain the roots, 

 using dynamite to break up troublesome rocks or hard-pan. Fill 

 in with top soil, using no fertilizers, and leave a depression up 

 the slopes to catch the rainfall. Keep circles three feet or more 

 wide about each tree well cultivated for a year or more and 

 protect from rabbits and vermin with wire or veneer tree guards. I 

 would suggest planting about equal numbers of each species, 

 setting the walnuts and hickories thirty feet apart and the chest- 

 nuts and butternuts twenty feet apart each way. You will note 

 veneer tree guards advertised by the Burlington Basket Com- 

 pany in the December issue of American Forestry. 



Q. We have some pear trees about 20 years old, dying 

 from what we thought to be pear blight, the trunks are dying. 

 It's new to me, and I have not seen anything just like it. Is 

 there another pear blight attacking in this way? I have been 

 used to see branches dying back, which can readily be checked, 

 but when the trunk itself gets diseased, it is a different proposi- 

 tion. Can you tell us what to do? 



A. I am sorry to hear the condition of your trees, but 

 last summer has been a very unfavorable season for pear injury 

 such as you describe. It has been quite general in New York 

 and Connecticut, affecting the trunks of the trees as well as 

 the branches. Cutting out the affected parts is the best remedy 

 we can suggest. Would also suggest that you call upon your 

 State .-Xgricultural I'.-xperiment Station to send a representative to 

 examine the trees and advise you. This should be done next 

 spring. 



Q. Lawn bowling requires a green about 125 feet square, 

 or larger. It seems a rather difficult matter to get it perfectly 

 level and with the right kind of grass so as to make it perfectly 

 level and true for lawn bowling, such as the greens they have in 

 Canada, some of which are most beautiful and as level as a 

 billiard table. If you have made any investigation of this subject 

 and can give us any information, it will be fully appreciated. 

 Will it be necessary to cover up for the winter a new lawn 

 planted this fall, and what is the best way to protect it during 

 the winter? 



5. Spray for cottony maple scale. One ma\- expect 

 this insect particularly on soft maples. 



6. Prepare for planting. Order plants, have soil and 

 manure in readiness and see that the tools are in good 

 condilion. In case of street tree planting also cut the 

 holes in the sidewalk and prepare the stakes, guards, 

 gratings and hose. 



S AND ANSWERS 



A. I am sorry to say that I have not been able to get any 

 very definite recommendations, even from the experts here, with 

 reference to overcoming the difficulties encountered in the prepa- 

 ration of your green for lawn bowling. I can say, in a general 

 way, however, that the ground should be thoroughly prepared 

 early ne.xt spring. Plow deep, put into the ground some well- 

 rotted manure or some humus, and harrow. Then seed with a 

 combination of red top, Kentucky blue, Rhode Island bent, and 

 a little white clover— the first three in equal proportions. Then 

 roll and do nothing further for winter protection. Under 

 separate cover I am sending you a special bulletin relative to 

 the cultivation of lawns. 



Q. I should like to know which nut trees grow best in the 

 vicinity of Sullivan County, New York. 



Mrs. P. J. S., New York City. 



A. You should have success with the cultivation of the 

 following nut trees in the vicinity of Sullivan County, New York : 

 English walnut, black w^ilnut, pecan hickory (both shagbark and 

 mockernut), butternut, and American beech. 



Q. I own a summer home of about 26 acres, near Briarcliff 

 Manor, N. Y. Having lost all my chestnut trees, I find that 

 my hickory trees are now rapidly being destroyed by the 

 borer. Last year I cut down and removed two fine trees, 

 riddled with holes, and now I am losing another. What can I 

 do to protect those still left? C. F.. S., Nezv York City. 



.\. I am sorry to know that you are losing your trees, 

 and want to suggest the following three things as your best 

 method of protecting the remainder. Mark all the hopelessly 

 infested trees in the fall, before the leaves drop, and remove and 

 burn these trees before the following May. This is the most 

 effective and dependable method of all. It is difficult to tell 

 an infested tree at this season of the year, but if you are sure 

 of any, remove and burn them before May of 1917. Remove and 

 burn the branches infested with these insects. Such infestation 

 will become apparent and the branches will show themselves as 

 dead or dying some time in September or early October. You 

 might try spraying the more valuable trees with a special formula 

 put up by the Interstate Chemical Company, Bayview Avenue, 

 Jersey City, N. J. This should be done in early July. Would 

 recommend you to a special article on the hickory borer, in 

 American Forestry for July, 1915. 



Q. What is the best time to trim box hedges and how often 

 should they be cut? B. R., Plain field, New Jersey. 



A. Box hedges can best be trimmed in early May when the 

 growth first starts. Hedges should be sheared lightly. This work 

 could also be repeated in August, but the early spring is the 

 best time. 



Q. I would like to get some advice on the transplanting of 

 three arbor-vit;e trees which I must remove, as they are directly 

 in line of where I am going to move a house; these trees are 

 35 to 50 years old, about 12 inches in diameter at the base and 

 30 to 40 feet high. Is it possible to move trees this size and this 

 specie with any certainty of their living? I also have a large 

 white birch about 30 feet high and about 15 inches in diameter, 

 a maple about a foot in diameter, and an Italian chestnut about 



