744 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
thoroughly cultivated and richly fed, and that a per¬ 
fectly healthy tree shows no gummy fruit. 
6. That young peach trees give the finest, largest 
fruit ; maximum specimens, 131^ ounces. 
7. That Heder Wood and I^irker Earle are two of 
our very best strawberries as to yield and quality. 
8. That the Angouleme pear is of no value when 
less than about two inches in diameter, and that the 
rule is quite universal in pears that quality is propor¬ 
tionate to size. Possibly Clairgeau is an exception. 
9. That the people of cities economize in their fruit 
purchases, long before they cut down their meat bills. 
10. That the Country Gentleman sweet corn is not 
so sweet as its ante-type, the Ne I’lus Ultra. 
11. That Thk Rural Nkw-Yorkek shows no signs 
of “hard times.” J. t. r. 
NOTES ON AN OLD ORCHARD. 
J'RUNING, PLOWING AND PASTURING. 
Is not fall the best time to cut suckers or sprouts and dead limbs 
from an old orchard? Which is the better way, to cut out the 
suckers, or cut out the old limbs and leave the suckers, to say noth¬ 
ing about the dead trash? Would you advise pasturing an orchard, 
and maiuiring the trees heavily ? Do you think it is well to plow 
an old orchard ? There seems to be quite a difference of oijinion 
on this subject. How would salt do for a fei'tilizer ? ji. n. c. 
Farmer, N. Y. 
Keep the Surface Well Stirred. 
Suckers, sprouts and dead limbs may be removed 
from this time till spring ; we consider the present as 
good a time as any. The suckers, old limbs and dead 
wood should all be cut out ; the suckers should be re¬ 
moved so as to enable light to reach the interior of the 
tree. An orchard that is in a thrifty condition may be 
pastured and manured well, but, as a rule, orchards 
can only be kept in a vigorous and thrifty condition 
by cultivation of the soil. In old orchards, the sur¬ 
face must be kept stirred, and manure should be 
applied every year. We have never had any success 
with trees growing in sod. If the old orchards lack 
vigor, we would recommend plowing lightly, and 
manuring in order to restore the trees to a healthy 
condition. eliavanger & rarry. 
Do the Cutting Any Time Now. 
I think fall or very early spring, from March 1, to 
the middle of April, the best time to remove suckers 
and dead wood from old trees. If their removal be 
deferred until a later period, just so much nourish¬ 
ment, ivhich should have been directed toward growth 
and fruit development, has been lost. I prefer re¬ 
moving, principally, all young growth, in very old 
trees, and depend uiion those older portions of the 
trees, for profitable fruit bearing. When past this 
period, I remove at once and plant new trees. I am 
in favor of a light surface cultivation, if not plowed 
deep when first set, together with liberal manuring, at 
intervals at least, in preference to pasturing. I think 
it is well to plow an old orchard occasionally, so as to 
prevent too heavy sod. On the otheu* had, if an old or¬ 
chard can be so heavily stocked, and this stock be fed 
a ration above the pasture afforded so as to cause the 
sod to become partially rotted, and at the same time 
make a liberal manuring, the latter plan is unquestion¬ 
ably feasible, especially so in the case of swine. 
Niagara County, N. Y. c. n. w. 
Sensible Notes on Pruning. 
We w'ould advise waiting until early spring, and 
then thin out the sprouts,—that is, cut out the smaller 
ones, leaving a sufticient number of the larger ones to 
form, in part, new bearing wood on the old trees ; 
then cut out the old wood to some considerable ex¬ 
tent. In a case of this kind, judgment must be used 
to see what is past its bearing ability, and such as is 
not good bearing wood should be cut out, leaving the 
best suckers to form the bearing wood. We would 
also advise, where limbs of any considerable size are 
cut off, painting over the w’ood in the spring. We 
would not pasture unless the land be very much im¬ 
poverished. In our opinion, plowdng and cultivating 
will answer the purpose, but of course it can do no 
harm to put on a liberal dressing of manure, and per¬ 
haps the trees will make a better growth for it. We 
would plow the oi’chard, and if some of the old roots 
are cut off, it wall do no harm. At the same time, you 
have been cutting off more or less of the top, and 
where a root is cut off, it forms a new set of fibrous 
roots, w'hich will take the food from the soil, and 
nourish the trees better than the old, half dead roots 
will, although it will take two years to see the benefits 
derived from such treatment. However, you will find 
by the third year, the trees will be more vigorous, and 
in better shape to bear. We do not think that salt is 
a fertilizer at all. It has, however, a chemical effect, 
in some instances, upon the soil, which may be bene¬ 
ficial. SMITHS <t POWELL CO. 
Get Rid of the Suckers. 
Any time from now until the leaves put .out in 
spring, but suckers should never be allowed to grow ; 
they should be rubbed off before the wood hardens. 
This may be easily and quickly done by means of a 
heavy pair of gloves in the hands of an active man. 
Cut out the suckers, unless you wish to renew the or¬ 
chard. Pasture the orchard if it must be kept in sod. 
A heavy eoat of manure would be beneficial to most 
old orchards. Ry all means, plow the orchard, but not 
so deep as to cut the large roots. Keep the surface 
well stirred. Sow to rye in the fall, and plow down 
next May. Salt is not a fertilizer, but may help to 
convert the insoluble properties whieh are already in 
the soil into soluble plant food. It will destroy many 
insects. t. s. c. 
Holliday’s Cove, W. Va. 
Don’t Waste Time on Old Orchards. 
We trim at any time, not taking off too much at one 
time. Cut out the dead limbs and trash, thin the 
suckers, and shorten them back. We would advise 
manuring with rough manure, chip dirt, sawdust, 
wood ashes, etc. Plow shallow every two years in early 
spring, or, better, work thoroughly with a disk har¬ 
row, and sow to clover. Pasture with pigs or other 
light stock. When old and mossy, an orchard has 
generally outlived its usefulness, and its bearing must 
be spasmodic. Better plant a new one on a new piece 
of ground, and keep the old one only until the new 
can be depended on for fruit. Young trees cost but 
little ; replanting gives a chance to improve the varie¬ 
ties, and one has the full benefit of the land for culti¬ 
vation until the trees come into bearing. Then cut 
away the old orchard and you have a piece of new 
ground for other crops. J. A. mckee & co. 
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Two Apples Compared with Baldwin. 
F., Seneca County, N. Y. —Would The R. N.-Y. advise 
any one to set the Wealthy or Pewaukee apples for 
market in central Nev/ York ? Are they as good as or 
any better than the Baldwin ? 
Ans. —Both apples are very hardy. The quality of 
Pewaukee is not so good as that of Wealthy. The 
Wealthy succeeds in New Y’^ork well, while the Pe¬ 
waukee does not. ^V’e would plant the Wealthy in 
preference to Baldwin, but not the Pewaukee. 
• Fruits in Maine. 
C. F. S., Cashs Corner, Me. —1. What nursery has the 
Nodhead apple? 2. What three winter apples are 
the most profitable for this climate ? 3. What are 
three hardy sweet cherries for Maine ? 
Ans. —1. Nearly all large nurseries. Try Ellwanger 
& Barry. 2. Baldwin, if successful. Nejir a river 
bank, with high culture, Y^ellow Bellflower, North¬ 
ern Spy. 3. Very few, except in the extreme south¬ 
ern part. Black Heart, Coe’s Transparent and Uowner 
are as hardy as any of the Hearts. t. h. h. 
Cheap Ashes for Fruits. 
M. F., Medway, Ohio. —I have four acres of different 
varieties of berries, and 1,200 grape vines. I can gat 
nice ashes at a limekiln, mixed with a little fine lime, 
just what falls through the grate while burning. Will 
the lime that is in the ashes harm anything by spread¬ 
ing it between the rows, or wouldn’t it pay for such 
crops ? I can buy the ashes for 50 cents per big two- 
horse load. 
Ans —The average of a dozen analyses of different 
samples of limekiln ashes gave 23 pounds of potash, 
and 21 of phosphoric acid to the ton. At the regular 
trade valuation prices, this would make a ton worth 
over $2.25—not counting the lime. This lime will not 
injure the fruit in the least. In* fact the limekiln 
ashes contain only about 200 pounds more lime to the 
ton than those from hardwood burned in stoves. You 
are fortunate in obtaining the ashes so cheap. 
A Strange Freak in Grapes. 
D. E. A., Portland, N. Y .—I picked a bunch of grapes 
in my vineyard ; one-half of the berries was Concords 
and the other half was white. Some called them 
Niagaras, and others Marthas. The cluster was com¬ 
pact, and grapes of good size and sweet, with a good 
sized stem. Did The R. N.-Y. ever see anything like 
it? 
Ans. —No, we have never before heard of such, a 
freak. Bud sports are not uncommon ; but this is the 
first instance The R. N.-Y'. knows of, in which half of 
a bunch is black and the other half white. It seems 
to us remarkable, though scarcely more so than that 
the half of certain apples should be sweet, the other 
half sour. 
Keeping One Seed Potato. 
C. R., Eincrson, Mich. —How can I keep seed potatoes 
through the winter in small quantities, say, from one 
potato to a bushel? I know how to keep a large quan¬ 
tity, but am not sure that the same method would do 
for a small lot. 
Ans. —Our way would be to pack the potatoes in 
dry sand in a box or barrel that would hold at least 
five times as much sand as the potatoes to be pre¬ 
served. Keep this box in a ’tempei’ature as near 40 
degrees as possible, not lower than this. 
Does the R. N.-Y. No. 2 Rot Easily ? 
W. E. D., Cayutaville, N. Y. —The R. N.-Y’. No. 2 
potato, which 1 received a few years ago, was hollow 
with dry rot. I raised 15 nice potatoes besides one 
hill, which was dug by mistake by hired help, but 
they rotted so badly with me that I discarded them. 
Was it on account of poor seed ? 
Ans. —We cannot say. The genuine R. N.-Y. No. 2 
is a good keeper in so far as we have hitherto heard. 
You may not have the genuine. Place a tuber in a 
sunny room and let it sprout. The sprouts will be a 
dark purple if it is the true No. 2. 
Where Shall He Plant Potatoes ? 
.T. L. P., Ilollidayshury, Pa. —I have an apple orchard, 
which is now in clover. I was lately offered a pile of 
unleached wood ashes from chestnut and oak .slabs, 
which I had my tenant place on this field. I do not 
know how many pounds were in the pile, so I cannot 
say how much per acre was spread, but he tells me 
that he scattered them broadcast from the wagon 
with his shovel. The land is considered first-class (it 
being a sort of loam with clay subsoil), and is in good 
condition. I had intended to put part of it in pota¬ 
toes and part in corn next spring ; but I see that you 
are of the opinion that wood ashes cause scab on pota¬ 
toes, so I have concluded to put it all in corn, and put 
my potatoes where corn grew this year. Would Th» 
R. N.-Y. advise me to place my barnyard manure on 
the orchard, plow down with the ashes and clover, 
and put Mapes complete manure on the corn ground 
for potatoes ? Or would you advise using raw bone 
meal on the orchard with the ashes, and the barnyard 
manure on the corn ground for potatoes ? 
Ans. —In this case, we would put all the manure on 
the sod, plow it in and plant corn. The manure, with 
the ashes, ought to produce a fine corn crop, and the 
following season the soil will be in excellent condi¬ 
tion for potatoes. In any rotation in which grass, 
corn and potatoes are grown, we would plant the 
crops in this order, and use all, or nearly all, of the 
fertilizers on the potatoes—after corn. As to the 
effect of wood ashes on potatoes : our experience in 
many cases has been that scab was largely prevalent 
when wood ashes were used in the drill. We do not 
know why ashes should cause scab. The Rhode 
l.sland Experiment Station (Kingston, R. I.) has issued 
a very interesting bulletin on this subject. 
How to Grow a Large Yield of Potatoes. 
E. L. C., Hudson, South Dahnta .—I raised 350 bushels 
of potatoes this year. Next year I want to plant about 
10 acres. I have low, rich, black soil. I have the 
potatoes I raised from which to select seed, but would 
like to try some new kinds. What kinds would be 
best adapted to this part of the country, and where 
shall I get them ? I would be glad of any information 
in regard to potato raising in this part of the country. 
A great deal in The R. N.-Y is from Eastern farmers, 
but is applicable to this Western country. 
Ans. —Potato culture, in essential respects, is the 
same everywhere if we would get a heavy yield. Let 
us a.ssume that our friend’s soil is well drained and 
rich. He has only to prepare his land perfectly, to 
plant vii’ile seed pieces, at the right distance apart, 
and to give clean culture. To insure a perfect stand, 
is among the foremost considerations. See to it, then, 
that every piece has at least two strong eyes with all 
the flesh that can be economically given to each piece. 
Potatoes delight in a pulverulent soil, so that the 
roots may spread ad libitum ; so that the tubers may 
grow without hindrance. The soil must be well 
drained. Plant early —as early as may be without en¬ 
dangering the 3 ’^oung plants to killing frosts. Let the 
space given to each piece be regulated by the vigor of 
the variety planted. As a rule, early varieties may 
be planted closer together than late kinds. One need 
not ever look for a maximum yield, if the potatoes be 
planted too near one another. It is precisely the same 
with corn or any other similar crop. If the soil is 
mellow, plant not less than four inches deep. Keep 
the land absolutely free of weeds so long as the culti¬ 
vator may be run without harming the tops, the vital 
portions to which we must always look for heavy 
