January 22, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



39 



thrown off, and the trench was then deeply spaded. After 

 planting his trees he had the surface soil thrown back, and, in 

 spite of the dry weather, ninety-five per cent, lived, and he 

 believes that he would not have saved one-quarter of them if 

 he had planted without such careful preparation. 



Mr. Calvin Cooper, in speaking of fertilizers, urged farmers 

 to secure their own nitrogen with the help of leguminous 

 plants, in doing which they will be able to get some potash 

 besides. Another member claimed that on the cyanite grass- 

 lands about West Chester commercial fertilizers gave no ap- 

 preciable returns, while on the lighter soils farther south he 

 had a farm on which he used four hundred pounds of com- 

 plete fertilizers to the acre, and nothing else. He had continued 

 this practice for ten years, sold everything off his land and yet 

 his crops were increasing. Mr. Van Deman thought we did 

 not sufficiently consider the fertilizing value of tillage, since 

 this practice liberated the plant-food in the soil. He thought 

 that millions of dollars were wasted every year in the purchase 

 of commercial fertilizers. It was best for farmers to buy a 

 high grade of muriate of potash, as it contains the least foreign 

 matter, and either bone or dissolved South Carolina rock for 

 phosphoric acid and then try to get nitrogen by trapping it 

 from the air and soil water with leguminous plants. When we 

 can catch nitrogen so readily we ought not to buy such an 

 expensive material for orchard purposes. Some soils have 

 enough potash, but it does not leach out if more is applied. 

 An excess of nitrogenous plant-food makes a leafy, succulent 

 growth, and some Peach growers in Delaware, who have 

 plowed under heavy crops of Crimson Clover, have found that 

 there was enough nitrogen in this green manure to hurt their 

 trees. It is their practice now to cut the Clover and turn 

 under the roots, which contain all the nitrates necessary. 

 Potash and phosphoric acid are the two elements most needed 

 in orchards. In a subsequent paper, Mr. Van Deman said that 

 potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen were of no use unless 

 they were dissolved, and they could not be dissolved without 

 water. Sap is plant-food dissolved in water ; then nature 

 mulches with leaves and the like to hold the water. As fruit 

 growers cannot follow nature's way they should mulch by till- 

 age. Plant deep, make a basin to hold water in and cultivate 

 to keep it there. In speaking of irrigation, he said that a one- 

 inch pipe with six-feet head ought to irrigate an acre. Mr. 

 H. M. Engle, of Marietta, said that an inch pipe with eighty 

 pounds head had supplied a quarter of an acre and they paid 

 eighteen cents for a hundred gallons of water. Some of his 

 crops paid for this expenditure, and others did not. 



The pruning of orchards was the subject of an address by 

 Mr. Calvin Cooper, who stated that he had set out an orchard 

 thirty-four years ago, forcing its growth while young, and now 

 his trees are overgrown and declining when they should be in 

 their prime. Fourteen years ago he set out another orchard 

 on comparatively poor ground, used no fertilizers and pruned 

 the trees freely. He starts the tree with three branches and a 

 leader and allows branches above, but leaves an open top. 

 The best sprayer he could find three years ago would not 

 reach the top of these large trees. Two years ago he cut off 

 from ten to fourteen feet from the top of each and thinned 

 them out, and now he gets good fruit. He uses an Excelsior 

 sprayer, making three applications of Bordeaux mixture and 

 Paris green and occasionally some clear copper sulphate 

 before the buds swell, if the scab was bad the year before. 

 Varieties that do not grow upright he prunes so that the last 

 bud is on the lower side of the limb, while those which tend 

 to spread have the last bud on the upper side, When pruning 

 is done in winter the bark is bruised less than at other seasons, 

 and it will not hurt the tree if the wood is slightly frozen, but 

 it is better to prune at some time when the tree is en- 

 tirely dormant. Mr. Gabriel Heieter, of Lancaster, pushes his 

 trees as hard as he can all the time, then puts in a crop to check 

 growth and throw them into bearing, and afterward feeds 

 again. He thought that Apples must bear a crop every year 

 if they are to be profitable. This means strong feeding and the 

 control of insects and fungi, so that the leaves will be kept on 

 the tree to make apples mature later and thus keep better. 

 The finest fruit grows on young trees or on the young wood 

 of old trees. On a rich soil a young tree will bear two or three 

 crops in succession, and then, as the fruit-buds begin to 

 crowd, it will bear only on alternate years. An annual bearer 

 has its fruit-spurs separate. The top should always be kept 

 young by going about the tree with long pruning-shears and 

 taking out old spurs. A vigorous tree will be less liable to 

 danger from frost than weaker ones. 



The last afternoon was devoted to the subject of orchard 

 planting, in which Professor Bailey made the principal address 

 and answered many questions. In his opinion the hope of old 



orchards is to plant new ones. His advice was to make the 

 land rich and deep to hold moisture, although he thought that 

 subsoiling would be of only temporary value. We never have 

 rain enough in a summer to grow crops, and hence the need 

 of tile draining, subsoiling and the use of deep-rooted plants 

 to break into the subsoil as much as possible. The ground 

 should be plowed in the fall, or some other device should be 

 used for catching the winter rain. Clayey lands after hoed 

 crops often run together and puddle if they are fall-plowed. 

 For fertilizers Clover was advised for nitrogen, and two hun- 

 dred to four hundred pounds of high-grade sulphate of potash 

 and about the same of bone should be used every two or three 

 years. Four-fifths of the orchards planted never amount to 

 anything from lack of care, and this makes the field a more 

 profitable one for those who give proper attention to selecting 

 varieties and growing them properly. In his own orchard he 

 is taking pains to work his trees over with scions from indi- 

 vidual trees that are known to be doing well, and he will spray 

 at least twice, once just before and again just after blossoming 

 time. 



The Minnesota Forestry Association. 



'"THE annual meeting of this vigorous organization was held 

 * in Minneapolis last week, and, among other important 

 matters discussed, was a proposition submitted by J. M. Cross, 

 Esq., to the purpose that the state shall receive donations of 

 stump-lands from lumbermen on the condition that they and 

 their heirs shall receive one-third of the proceeds for one hun- 

 dred years, after which they will revert to the state. One-third 

 of the proceeds is to go to the state for the care of the land, and 

 the remaining one-third to whatever institutions the donor 

 may indicate. This proposition received much approval, and 

 was submitted to a committee for action. The value of these 

 stump-lands was a subject of much discussion. Most of them 

 in the state are burned over and the seeds and seedlings 

 destroyed. They should be taken in hand at once after they 

 are cut. 



Prairie forestry was another subject which commanded 

 much attention. The failure of the Cottonwood for general 

 planting was noticed, and the Ash and Bur Oak were spoken 

 of most favorably, and after them the Hackberry. 



The instruction in forestry at the University was shown to be 

 more considerable than was generally supposed, since, under 

 other names, it covered most of the branches of the subjects 

 which are studied in Europe. Prairie forestry now receives 

 the most attention, and the students have the actual care of a 

 plantation of twenty acres. The care of natural forests has not 

 received much attention, since, as yet, there has been no 

 demand for skilled foresters. Experiments in caring for 

 natural woodlands were strongly recommended, so as to 

 secure data from which a policy could be formed. It was said 

 that estimates could be made from observation in the woods 

 we already have which would furnish facts or principles which 

 could be used in constructing a system for the preservation of 

 forests, and especially for their protection against fire. 



Attention was called by D. R. McGinnis, of the St. Paul Com- 

 mercial Club, to the fact that the water-supply of interior conti- 

 nental regions is diminishing the world over, and that the 

 people of Minnesota had reason to use intelligence in pre- 

 venting such droughts as threatened the interior of this con- 

 tinent. 



A summary of the year's work seemed to show a substan- 

 tial gain, especially in the improved management of the state 

 lands and the establishment of a system of protection against 

 fire. Other good work is under way, with a promise of favora- 

 ble results. 



Recent Publications. 



Down the Lane and Back. By Uncle Matt. T. Nelson & 

 Sons, London and New York. 



This little book is a talk with children about a few of the 

 weeds and wild flowers which one would naturally find 

 along a country roadside in England. The illustrations 

 are admirable, and the text is so instructive that we think 

 it is a mistake that some one has not modified it so that 

 it will suit an American wayside as well as an English one. 

 This is the first book of a series, each devoted to a ramble, 

 and their character can be seen from such taking titles as 

 Through the Copse, A Stroll in the Marsh, Across the 

 Common and Around a Corn-field. After all, many of the 

 flowers described have made themselves as much at home 



