December, 1912 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



207 



not only learned but accomplished much. I had 

 been constantly on the ground while the planting 

 was progressing — had seen for myself that every 

 tree was cleared of worms — had held them up 

 while the water and the earth and ashes had been 

 thrown in and gently packed about the roots — 

 and had given so much attention in other ways, 

 as to feel sure that no part of the whole operation 

 had been neglected; and hence I had a clear right 

 to regard it as my own job. 

 The cost of planting this orchard was as follows: 



804 trees at 7 cents S56.28 



Planting them, 2 cents 16. oS 



Ploughing and harrowing 20.00 



400 bushels of ashes 48.00 



Manure 200.00 



$34036 



I have unfairly saddled on the orchard the whole 

 of $200 for manure, because it went to nourish 

 other crops which the same ground produced. 

 But let that go — the land was quite poor, needed 

 all it got, and I had no faith in farming without 

 manure. Had my purse been heavy enough, the 

 quantity should have been trebled. 



As I am writing for the benefit of others, who, 

 I hope, are not yet tired of peaches, let me add 

 that this fruit will not succeed on ground where 

 a previous orchard has been recently grown; 

 neither can one be sure of getting healthy trees 

 from any nurseryman who grows his on land from 

 which he had recently produced a similar crop. 

 The seed must be from healthy trees, and the buds 

 from others equally free from disease. The peach, 

 unless carefully watched and attended, is a short- 

 lived tree. But it returns a generous income to a 

 careful and generous grower. 



Old Trees Cleaned Up 



TEN well-grown, bearing trees, which I found in 

 the garden, were harboring 190 worms among 

 them when I undertook the work of extermination. 

 I bared the collar and roots of each tree as far 

 as I could track a worm, and cut him out. I then 

 scrubbed the whole exposed part with soap-suds 

 and a regular scrubbing-brush; after which I let 

 them remain exposed for a week. If any worms had 

 been overlooked, the chips thrown out by their 

 operations would be plainly visible on the clean 

 surface at the week's end. Having tracked and cut 

 out them also, I felt sure the enemy was extermina- 

 ted and covered up the roots, by first using the swab 

 of common tar, applying it all around the collar, 

 and some distance up. 



These garden-trees were terribly scarified by 

 the worms. But the cleaning out I gave them was 

 effectual. The soap-suds purged the injured parts 

 of the unhealthy virus deposited by the worms, 

 leaving them so nice and clean that the new bark 

 began immediately to close over the cavities, and 

 soon covered them entirely. I thus saved ten valu- 

 able bearing trees. Then I shortened in the long, 

 straggling branches, for the peach will certainly 

 grow sprawling out on every side, 

 forming long branches which break 

 down under the weight of a full 

 crop at their extremities, unless 

 the pruning knife is freely used 

 every season. All this was the 

 work of less than a day, and 

 shows that if peach orchards per- 

 ish after bearing only two or three 

 crops, it may be attributed solely 

 to mere neglect and laziness on 

 the pait of their owners. They 

 plant trees, refuse to take care of 

 them, and then complain if they 

 die early. The world would soon 

 be without pork, if all the pigs 

 were as much neglected. These 

 10 trees have never failed to 

 produce me generous crops of 

 luscious fruit. I cannot think of 

 any investment which has paid 

 me better for the slight labor ann- 

 ually required to keep them in 

 good condition. 



I have tried with entire success 

 two other methods of protecting 

 peach trees from the ravages of 



the worm. I have found gas-tar equally effectual 

 with the common tar, and much more easily ob- 

 tained. But care must be taken not to cover a height 

 of more than 4 to 6 inches of the butt of the tree. 

 If the whole stem from root to bianch be covered, 

 the tree will surely die. Another method is to in- 

 close the butt in a jacket of pasteboard, or even 

 thick hardware paper, keeping it in place with a 

 string, and lowering it an inch or two below the 

 ground, so as to prevent the fly having access to the 

 soft part of the bark. These jackets will last 2 or 

 3 years, as they should be taken off at the approach 

 of winter, to prevent them from becoming a harbor 

 for insects. But they are an infallible preventive. 

 I have recently procured a supply of the thick 

 tarred felt which is used for making paper roofs, 

 to be cut up and turned into jackets. This material 

 will last for years, being water-proof, while the 

 odor of the gas-tar in which it has been steeped is 

 peculiarly offensive to the whole tribe of insects. 



{To be continued) 



The Crop That Grows in Winter 



CERTAIN crops go "out of style," sometimes 

 for generations, and then suddenly every- 

 body is surprised that their merits have been for- 

 gotten so long. This is the position that rye is 

 in just now, particularly on the small farm, but 

 there is no reason for it. Although the early 

 settlers in a country frequently use it to rob the 

 land of its fertility, regardless of the future, rye is 

 a soil builder and helper if it is properly employed. 

 It possesses characteristics which are rare and ex- 

 cellent and that are of the utmost value to the man 

 who is working his land to make it pay dividends. 



Firstly, it is a winter crop, occupying lands that 

 would otherwise be idle, and growing apace while 

 other plants are dormant. Sown in the pleasant 

 weather of September, or in fact at any time up to 

 Christmas (though the earlier the better), its roots 

 invest the soil to such an extent that washing is 

 prevented, and a large amount of humus is left 

 in the soil. Early sowing has the advantage of 

 giving a long season for growth and requiring less 

 seed. Where five pecks of seed is required late in 

 the season, three will do if it is sown in September. 



As the crop develops, the first dividend should 

 be taken from it all the warm days of autumn, by 

 pasturing on it the sheep and cows. This also 

 keeps it from heading out, and forces it to spread, 

 or tiller, which means the multiplication of seed- 

 bearing stalks. The later growth, when there is 

 no longer fear of heading, will remain on the ground 

 to catch the first snows and hold them as a mulch. 



The sheep may be pastured on the field for a 

 time in spring, after the soil is dry enough not to 

 "punch" and spoil the roots. But there is danger 

 if the stock is left on it too late in the spring. To 

 make the best hay it should be cut before the heads 

 are too far advanced. 



Following a May harvest, two other cuttings are 



Plant vegetables between the rows ot peach trees and thereby make the orchard 

 answer two purposes 



possible, or the crop may be plowed in, both of 

 which methods add to the soil instead of robbing it. 

 If soil improvement be the sole aim, sow all un- 

 occupied ground to rye and realize that it is smother- 

 ing the weeds, mellowing the worst soils, preventing 

 the escape of nitrogen which has proved to be 

 common where no crop is present. Then profiting 

 by the winter growth, turn it all in as soon as a 

 lusty stand shows wind-swept undulations in spring. 

 This fills the soil with so much vegetable matter 

 that it will withstand the worst drouth and pro- 

 duce a bumper crop of some salable product, which 

 does not deplete the farm. The fertilizing value of 

 such a process equals the application of many tons 

 of the best stable manure and is much less costly. 



One of the cleverest methods for improving past- 

 ures, is to turn them over when they become dry 

 and barren in the heat of late summer, sow the 

 land to rye, feed this into the autumn, and, resist- 

 ing the temptation to damage the land by removing 

 a crop, plow it in May, seeding to a variety of the 

 best English grasses. To mow this the first season 

 will be better than to turn in stock so early in the 

 formation of the new sod that it will be injured. 

 This will prevent the loss of a season, and will 

 greatly multiply the productive and drouth- 

 resisting capacity of that land. 



Connecticut. Hollister Sage. 



Handling the Refuse 



AFTER each garden crop is gathered in the fall 

 there is a quantity of refuse, such as pea and 

 bean vines, roots, squash, melon and pumpkin 

 vines, ungathered remains of vegetables, etc. 

 Burning such waste material should be done only 

 when'plant diseases have badly infested it. It should 

 be turned into the soil as soon as possible in the fall. 



Use a plow, or in a large garden where a disc or 

 cutaway harrow will work, this vegetable may be 

 cut into the soil and wheat or rye planted over 

 it during moist weather. The lateness of the 

 season limits the gardener to only a few soiling 

 crops. Rye is really about the best at this late 

 season, as it grows quickly, is hardy and makes 

 quite a growth before it is turned under in the 

 spring. Of course, it has not the nitrogen-yielding 

 qualities of the clovers, but the bean and pea vines 

 will make up for this. 



In my own garden last year every vestige of 

 vegetables left after the products were gathered 

 was turned into the soil — cabbage stumps, corn 

 stumps, vines, leaves from the fruit trees and bushes, 

 and clippings from the hedges. I used less pre- 

 pared fertilizer than usual, yet my garden was 

 more successful than usual, enduring a spell of 

 dry weather which, in other seasons under other 

 methods, would have proved disastrous. I attri- 

 bute it to the action of the humus in the soil, with 

 the mulch of loose soil maintained by constant 

 cultivation. 



New Jersey. M. Roberts C.onover. 



A Little Farmer 

 Speaks 



To the Editors: 



Let me say I am delighted with 

 the new department, "The Little 

 Farm." I hope this will be a 

 great success and soon expand to 

 six or eight pages. There are 

 many professional men, like my- 

 self, who have a few acres in town, 

 who love flowers, the small green- 

 house, and who raise vegetables, 

 small fruits, keep a cow or two, a 

 calf, a pig, and other inhabitants 

 of a small farm, who must be 

 pleased with just such a paper as 

 The Garden Magazine now is. 



Could I get time, I think I could 

 put a few experiences of my own 

 on paper, which might miss the 

 waste basket and prove worth 

 while for your new department. 



Ohio. A. G. 



(By all means, do so — we want 

 personal experiences.-77/e Editors) . 



