Fruit Growing 29 



most hardy cherries are the sour or pic cherries and the Early Rich- 

 mond is one of this group. 



Die-back of Apple Trees. 



What causes the death of the top shoots in apple trees? 



New wood is sometimes diseased by mildew, but die-back is 

 usually due to two different causes: One, the accumulation of water 

 in the soil during the excessive rains of mid-winter; second, the oc- 

 currence of low temperatures, including frosts, after the sap has risen. 

 Which of these causes operate in a certain case depends, of course, 

 upon whether the soil was heavy and inclined to retain standing 

 water too long, or whether there were such frosts at about the time 

 when the leaves should start. Sometimes, of course, both of these 

 conditions worked in the same place; sometimes one and sometimes 

 the other, but certainly both of them are capable of causing the 

 trouble. There seems to be no specific disease; it is rather a matter 

 of unfavorable conditions for growth. 



Storage of Apples. 



We desire to store two or three thousand boxes of apples for three 

 or four months and propose to do it in this way: Make an excavation 

 in dry earth, putting at the bottom of the excavation straw. Upon this 

 straw place the apples, then dry straw over the apples, and upon the top 

 of this two or three feet of dry earth. Will it be a good plan to pour 

 on water from time to time over the top of this to keep the apples and 

 all wet, or should the apples be kept dry? 



Putting down loose apples in a straw-lined pit would be very 

 expensive. It would invite decay by bruising the fruit, and the result 

 would probably be a worthless mixture of rotten fruit and straw. 

 The fruit should be stored in boxes or shallow trays to reduce pres- 

 sure and promote ventilation, and not in bins or large piles. Apples 

 will keep for a long time in good condition if the boxes are put in 

 piles in the shade, covered with straw, which should be slightly 

 moistened from time to time; but in that case there would not be 

 such an accumulation of moisture and there would be ventilation at 

 all times. Apples should be kept dry, but they will shrivel and be- 

 come unmarketable unless the air in which they are stored is kept 

 reasonably moist. This is generally accomplished by making apple 

 houses with double walls and roof to exclude heat and with an earth 

 or concrete floor which can be sprinkled from time to time with a 

 hose. 



Apple Root-grafts, 



/ have an old apple orchard and ivould like to have tivo or three 

 of the best varieties positively identified, so that I can order these kinds 

 from the nursery for next year's planting. 



Old California apple orchards have many varieties no longer 

 propagated largely. If you greatly desire to have a few trees of 



