172 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1913 



inches in diameter they prove to be rather 

 bitter in flavor, but they are always tender. 

 Flesh, bright red with light purple zones. 



Early Model is not as early as it name 

 would indicate, since it proved of about 

 the same season as Crimson Globe. Other- 

 wise it is a splendid sort with symmetrical 

 roots of dark red color that are models 

 of smoothness. It grows quickly past the 

 ideal 2-inch size and is good for a week to 

 ten days in the overgrown stage when the 

 flesh will suddenly become rather stringy 

 and tough. But while at its best, Early 

 Model is of fine quality and will prove a 

 good companion sort to Crimson Globe 

 from which it differs in having almost 

 purplish crimson flesh with little indication 

 of zones. 



Columbia is of distinct type, with globu- 

 lar or ovoid roots not met with among any 

 of the sorts described heretofore. I like 

 to call this the first of the late sorts. While 



it matures 25 per cent, of a crop within 

 two days after Crimson Globe and Early 

 Model, it lingers a long time before all roots 

 are of the best size. As the result I have 

 pulled roots of Columbia as late as the first 

 week in August and they were still of fair 

 quality. No doubt this cannot be done on 

 richer soils which would force the beets to 

 quicker maturity. But if you have clay 

 soil of rather indifferent fertility which 

 will retard fast growth, try Detroit Dark 

 Red for an early and Columbia for a late 

 crop beet. This pair will prove about 

 ideal. Flesh of Columbia is purplish 

 crimson with white zones, and the outside 

 skin is dark red. 



Edmonds' Early, of distinct top-shaped 

 type, proves anything but an early on 

 heavy clay soil. From seeds sown April 

 2 1 st, 25 per cent, of the roots averaged two 

 inches in size by July 2d or two days later 

 than Columbia. This I like to call the 



ideal main crop beet, since it is far superior 

 in quality to either Columbia or Black 

 Red Ball, described next. The skin is 

 dark red, flesh black-red with purple zones 

 and almost black when cooked. Of very 

 sweet flavor at all stages of development 

 and proves dependable until the last week 

 in July. 



Black Red Ball proved the latest of all 

 beets in my trial. The distinct charac- 

 teristic of this variety is its uniformly very 

 dark red foliage. The roots are of globular 

 or ovoid shape, dark red on the outside and 

 purplish black within. This color even 

 deepens when the roots are boiled, giving 

 them a most appetizing appearance. From 

 seeds sown the latter part of April, 25 per 

 cent, of the roots reached the 2-inch stage 

 by the fifth of July. For fully a month 

 after that, Black Red Ball provided hand- 

 some beets of excellent quality even after 

 they were long past their ideal size. 



The Planting of an Apple Tree — By George T. Powell, & 



BEGIN NOW AND PLANT SOME FRUIT TREES— THE CORRECT WAY OF HANDLING YOUNG STOCK FOR PERMANENT TREES 



WHEN a two-year old apple tree 

 is received from the nursery, 

 it looks like a small and some- 

 what insignificant affair, with 

 a few spindling branches that generally 

 appeal to a country boy as good stuff for 

 making whips. 



There will be roots, more or less, some long 

 and others short, with the fine, delicate 

 and very essential ones mostly stripped off 

 and dried from exposure, and to many 

 persons who receive such a tree there comes 

 a feeling somewhat of want of faith (even 

 though it fives) that it will ever amount to 

 anything. This is 

 where you should 

 pull yourself to- 

 gether and get to 

 work, not lamenting 

 and blaming the 

 nurseryman. A tree 

 that has endured a 

 pruning is usually a 

 sorry looking thing. 

 This same tree, 

 however, has within 

 its organization great 

 possibilities and its 

 fate lies in your 

 hands. 



After a careful ob- 

 servation has been 

 made of the tree 

 from its physical 

 standpoint, there 

 arises the problem of 

 what to do with it 

 and how to begin. 

 The tree must first 

 be pruned, whereby 

 it may again begin 

 to fulfill its function 



of growth after recovering from the shock 

 of removal from where it was growing. 

 Many of its roots have been reduced, by 

 being cut off in the process of digging in 

 the nursery, its growth for a time being 

 checked. 



In order that the tree may be aided in 

 making a new start the whip-like branches 

 need to be cut back, and all removed from 

 the main stem excepting about four, which 

 should be so left as to be separated from 

 three to four inches, thus securing for each 

 branch a firm and strong support from the 

 body of the tree. These branches are to 



This kind of low headed apple tree is easily cared for and fruit can be gathered mostly irom the ground 



make the future form of the tree, they are 

 to carry the weight of the fruit that is to 

 be abundantly set, and it is important that 

 they shall have the advantage of the entire 

 strength of the body from the point where 

 they are growing. This is essential to 

 support the heavy weight of apples that, 

 in the future, will tax the ability of the 

 tree to carry without breaking. 



Where branches are left opposite to 

 each other a crotch is formed, and later 

 when these branches are heavily laden with 

 fruit they will be pulled apart by the 

 weight of the fruit with the result of a 

 split. Possibly both 

 branches will break 

 down and a valuable 

 tree will be ruined, 

 long before its use- 

 fulness should end. 

 An accompanying 

 illustration (p. 172) 

 shows just what has 

 happened from de- 

 fective shaping. A 

 great branch has 

 gone down, its 

 strength being weak- 

 ened by another 

 branch left too close 

 to it, and so great 

 was the strain upon 

 the body of the tree 

 that the split ex- 

 tended to its centre, 

 which will,in time, re- 

 sult in the other half 

 being blown over in a 

 heavy storm, and a 

 most valuable tree 

 lost in the prime of 

 its productiveness. 



