64 



LIGHT FROM THE SOCIETIES. 



dead furrows as he can, and secures plenty of loose, deep- 

 stirred soil in which to plant on the ridge. Mr. Jacobs 

 said there was more profit in the Ben Davis than in any 

 other variety. Its poor quality seemed no obstacle to 

 its sale. People hardly ever called for a named variety. 

 He put in Ben Davis to sell, and, for eating, a few 

 Jonathans. Does it pay to thin apples ? E.C.Phillips 

 said, Yes, just as much as to thin peaches. In answer as 

 to the number of trees a man should plant, Mr. Jacobs 

 said it depended wholly upon the man and the situation. 

 Some men, with excellent locations, would mal<e a fail- 

 ure of apple-growing, while others, with less favorable 

 surroundings, reaped a fair amount of profit from their 

 culture. 



Small Fruits for Home Use. — If I were obliged to aban- 

 don either my vegetable-garden or my small fruits, the 

 garden would have to go. I have repeatedly had fruit 

 fresh from the vine and tree on my table every day and 

 almost every meal, all we wanted to eat, from the last of 

 May until the middle of October. Think of that, you who 

 occasionally smack your lips over a dish of stale berries 

 purchased at the grocery-store or of the professional 

 fruit-grower ! The idea of going away from our own 

 rural home to buy stale fruit, when we can have that 

 which is fine and fresh on our own plantation, and that 

 in great abundance, so easily, if we only will. Then 

 too, think of the berry and peach shortcake, pies, pud- 

 dings and many other delicious dishes that the ingenious 

 housewife can prepare, with which to give us a feast 

 and send us out to our work again, joyous and happy as 

 though we had been to a banquet. Yes, sir, your cab- 

 bage and turnips, summer squash and cucumbers, string- 

 beans and greens, beets and radishes, and even green 

 peas, as delicious as they are, all sink into insignificance, 

 both in value, importance and economy, when compared 

 with these. — A. P. Coddington, before the N. Y. Farmers' 

 Institute. 



Wind-breaks in Nebraska. — In planting groves never 

 use a single variety, but a judicious mixture. For the 

 north, plant the first row to box-elder, the second to ash, 

 and so on. The reason is, that the ash has very light 

 foliage, while the box-elder is dense. By planting these 

 two alternately the ground is completely shaded, which 

 prevents weeds from growing and moisture from evapo- 

 rating. In the south Platte country plant the mulberry, 

 noted for its dense shade, with catalpa, ash or honey- 

 locust. With walnut, plant osage-orange or black 

 cherry. For the southwest, plant mulberry with black- 

 locust, catalpa and ash. Plow deeply, pulverize thor- 

 oughly, and mark out four feet each way as for corn. 

 Plow a furrow, then take the bunch of plants in a pail 

 of water, and with a spade draw away the soil opposite 

 the cross mark. Have a boy carry the pail and set in 

 each tree, holding it while you draw a spadeful of earth 



over the roots and place your foot on them. As soon 

 as the row is set, fill the furrow with the plow. Have 

 the boy follow with a hoe, and straighten any trees that 

 are knocked down, and fill all spaces left by the plow. 

 In this way an active man and boy can set 5,000 trees 

 per day. After planting, the great secret of success is 

 good cultivation. Never let weeds grow, and keep the 

 soil loose. — Nebraska Horticultural Society. 



Crop-rotation and Spraying. — It is a law of plant-cul- 

 ture that the continuous growing of any one crop upon 

 a given area of soil tends to the concentration of the 

 enemies of that crop — whether of insects or fungi. "With 

 annual crops, like most of those of the garden and grain- 

 field, the remedy is more easily applied than in the 

 case of fruits. There is a strong inclination to grow 

 the crop for which the soil is naturally best fitted. 

 Thus the onion-grower desires to keep his best onion- 

 land continuously in onions, and the smut finally in- 

 creases and ruins his crop and future prospects. Sweet 

 potatoes can be grown to greatest profit only upon a 

 special soil, in limited areas; and constantcropping has 

 permitted the soil-rot to increase to such an extent that 

 the crop is often a failure. The same is true of clover 

 and other crops, but more particularly of those that are 

 susceptible to some root-disease. It therefore follows 

 that in the serious consideration of our subject, the im- 

 portance of a judicious management of crops should 

 never be overlooked, and a system of rotation adopted 

 that will bring the greatest health — other things re- 

 maining reasonable and satisfactory. This continuous 

 change of crop, united to full rations of available 

 plant-food and proper sanitation, will do much to 

 lighten the labors of the fungicidal applications, and 

 render all applications, when necessary, of the greatest 

 benefit. Let the spraying of crops with compounds of 

 copper, etc., come after the fair thing has been done 

 for that crop under the head of farm or garden manage- 

 ment. Here, as elsewhere, the ounce of prevention is 

 worth a pound of cure. Do not let me be misunder- 

 stood, for I am a full believer in the virtues of fungi- 

 cides. There are many places where they pay and pay 

 well, but they can not do everything. They may ward 

 off destructive diseases, as the copper-salts for the 

 black-rot of the grape, but they alone will by no means 

 bring a profitable crop. Everything else needs to be 

 done for the vines that will bring a full fruitage, and 

 then it will pay to save the crop from premature decay. 

 And finally, to carry my point one step further, when the 

 plants have been surrounded by the best sanitary condi- 

 tions, it is possible that the application of fungicides 

 may sometimes be omitted. However it will be a long 

 time before all these points are settled, and in the 

 meantime nothing is lost by turning them over in our 

 minds.— /'re/. Byroti D. Halsted, before the Ohio State 

 Horticultural Society. 



