HOKTICITLTURE. 258 



have Ijeen pears and lianly Amci-icaii iiliuuy. On the l)etter soils, five frci liard- 

 pan, pears are hkely to bear well 4 years out of 5, apples S years out of 5, and i)eaches 

 and nectarines 2 years out of 5. I'ersian mulberries will bear nearly every year, and 

 f^rapes yield fairly well 4 years out of 5. These ligures are based on orchards given 

 every attention as regards spraying, pruning, cultivation, etc. Pears are likely to 

 come nearest to being proiitable and are considered the safest fruit for the entire 

 district. The general conclusion is reached that the growing of fruit, except in 

 esi)ecially 'avored localities should l)e only a secondary resource in the region east 

 of the Salinas. Large plantings and costly experiments should be avoided, (drapes 

 may be grown with a little expense over a large area for the home tal)le and wine 

 use, l)ut not for high -class raisins. 



Tliinning- fruits, E. 1'. Saxdsten (MarylatuI /^ta. Bid. 8j, pp. .97-99). — The pur- 

 pose of this ])ulletin is to call the attention of the fruit growers of Maryland t(j the 

 value of thinning ore-hard fruits. According to the author peaches and plums should 

 be thinned after the "June drop," jieaches to not less than 5 in. apart, and plums to 

 from 2 to 3 in. apart. Apples and pears should be thinned when they have attained 

 the size of small crab apples. Pears should be thinned to about 4 or 5 in. apart, and 

 apples to the same distance as jieaches. The advantages of thinning are more regu- 

 lar crops, stronger and more shapely trees, less disease, and larger, better colored, 

 more uniformly ripened, and more salable fruit. Thinning, however, will not pay 

 unless i)nming, spraying, fertilizing, and cultivation have been properly attended to. 



Improving an orcliard, F. W. Card {Rhode Maud Sta. Bnl. 8.1, ]>p. 143-152, 

 ji(j^. <v). — This is a populai- account of an attempt made by the station to bring up one 

 of the worthless orchards in the vicinity of the station into a profitable bearing con- 

 dition, by means of proper cultivation, spraying, pruning, fertilizing, etc. As a result 

 of 3 years' work it has been quite definitely proven that neglected orchards can 

 ))e easily brought into good bearing conditions by the methods above mentioned. 

 The orchard under consideration ctrntains only 0.86 of an acre. In 1901 only part of 

 the trees were in bearing, yet al)ont $H0 worth of fruit was harvested. It is believed 

 that few parts of the farm offer better chances for profitable returns than the orchard, 

 when well managed. 



The value of improved, methods in the propagation of fruit trees, CI. T. 

 Powell {Froc. New Jersey State Horl. S<>e.,27 {1902), pp. 12.5-135, figs. 5').— The author 

 reports that he has successfully grown the King apple in New York l)y using the 

 Northern Spy as a foundation stock. In this work choice buds, taken from trees 

 that regularly produced an excellent quality of fruit, were used. No canker has 

 api:>eared on these trees during the past 10 years, the trees have shown unusual thrift 

 and vigor, and the fruit has been uniforndy fine. In propagating i)each trees selected 

 buds have J)een taken from mature trees. Buds thus set in stock not over 20 in. in 

 height and scarce half an inch in diameter have produced fruit within 13 months 

 from the time the trees were set, 50 to 139 peaches being obtained from each tree. 

 The Giant prune, one of the finest varieties grown in California, is being successfully 

 grown on Lombard stock in New York, where the thermometer sometimes goes 

 down to 25° below zero. 



Relative to the use of cover crops in orchards, the author states that there is a 

 limit beyond which it may not be safe to use clover. He believes that after 3 years 

 of crimson clover in an orchard, a crojj of rye or some other nonleguminous plant 

 should be sown. Too nuich nitrogen in the soil appears to make lighter colored fruit 

 and lessens the keeping qualities of the fruit. 



Renewal pruning, E. S. Goff {Amer. (Jard., 23 {1902), No. 3S5, pp. 302, .303).— 

 The author points out that as apple trees increase in age the size of the fruit tends to 

 l)ecome smaller. This he believes is due to the increased difficulty of sap circulation 

 in the fruit-bearing twigs. An instance is pointed out in wliich water sprouts on 

 part of an apple tree \vere allowed to develop in place of a large limb tliat had been 



