The Baldwin Apple; Possible Substitutes 
Likes the Rome Beauty 
I N an orchard of mixed varieties I have two rows 
of Greenings, 23 years old. They have never 
given me more than one full crop, and the hard 
freeze four or five years ago hurt them so badly 
that one more crop will finish them. I do not be¬ 
lieve they have given six bushels each for all of 
them since they were set, In the same orchard 
Rome Beauty lias given me .$15 worth per tree, at 
15 years old. None of them was injured by the 
freeze, and I believe that the tree is the nearest to 
an ideal tree out of our collection of 50 varieties. 
The wood is so hard that I can tell with my eyes 
shut when t put my saw in a Rome. The limbs grow 
out straighter from the trunk, so they almost never 
split off. If they break it is generally a few inches 
from the body of the tree. With me it hears every 
year, a light crop one year and generally a heavy 
one the next. It will hang on the tree until we pick 
it. which here sometimes has been after election, 
with snow on the ground. It has all the good points 
of Ren Davis, and with me will greatly outyield it. 
and we consider it better for cooking than Baldwin, 
•hk KURAL NEW-YORKER 
and perhaps more, depending somewhat, upon the 
locality and local markets. I do not wish to go on 
record as stating that the Baldwin has no faults, 
but as a commercial proposition I do not know of 
a variety which can take its place at the present 
time. 
The past two or three years some people have had 
a poor set of fruit on their apple trees but in many 
eases it has been due to the weather rather than to 
the variety. This year our R. I. Greenings have 
less than 5 per cent of a crop, while they bloomed 
very heavily. On the other hand, the Baldwin, 
which bloomed lightly, has set a high percentage, 
showing that this year, at least, the Baldwin is going 
to give the larger crop. s. p. Hollister. 
Connecticut. 
McIntosh in Vermont 
Not yet has the time come to hid the Baldwin a 
lasting farewell. The climate is no more severe today 
than it has been for the 200 years in which the 
Baldwin flourished. The failure is due more to the 
treatment than to the tree itself. Too close plant¬ 
ing caused tall, spindly trees. We’ve all seen the 
articles illustrating how to dishorn. Some of us 
I 193 
when under ordinary conditions the McIntosh has 
gone punk. ernest fritze. 
Massachusetts. 
Shall He Top-work Baldwin? 
We have 330 Baldwin trees 10 and 11 years old. 
well developed, thrifty trees, that have borne scarcely 
any apples at all, while McIntosh and Wealthy have 
fruited for four years, and are well set this year. 
The quest ion is. should I top-work these Baldwin 
trees to some other variety? What would be the 
best commercial sort to change to. a red Winter 
variety like the Baldwin? carl w. clakk. 
Connecticut. 
R. N.-Y.—We should let these Baldwins alone for 
a few years longer. They have not had a full 
chance to prove themselves yet. 
Lime Screenings and Alfalfa 
OHN F. KRAMER of Ulster County. N. Y.. sent 
us the picture shown at Fig. 522. It illustrates 
the effect of using limestone screenings on Alfalfa. 
These cocks of hay show a fair average of the yield 
where the lime screenings were used and where 
and as good as Greening. We raise a 
good many Spies, hut my Spies had 
only given me half a bushel each when 
15 years old. If I were a young man 
going to set an orchard, and was forced 
to choose one variety, it would he 
Rome Beauty, as it bears soon as large 
enough, at four or five years, but it 
needs thinning, and as the trees get 
older twig pruning or pruning on the 
ends of the branches, as many times 
where they bear an apple they form a 
little crotch and send out two'branches. 
My soil is stony loam, I believe similar 
to Lyons soil. l. j. c. 
Central New York. 
Baldwin in Western New England 
■ Comparative Yields of Alfalfa Showing Effect of Lime Screenings. Fig. 522 
they were omitted. The hay was raked 
and cocked as usual at equal distances 
apart. The smaller cock weighed 55 
lbs. and the larger one 100 ibs. The 
treatment of the ground was exactly 
the same, except for the use of lime¬ 
stone. so that the increased yield must 
be attributed to the lime. All through 
Eastern New York may he found 
similar indications or proof of the need 
of lime. Most farmers seem to think 
that a very fine lime must be used in 
order to obtain results on this sour 
soil, but this experience and others 
much like it show that the coarser 
screenings will supply the need. There 
are many places where lime screenings 
or marble dust can be obtained for 
The people of this county are not 
satisfied with the Baldwin apple, but 
at the present time they know of no 
better variety, and no variety to fill 
its place. They are plantiug quite a 
good many early varieties. Duchess is 
satisfactory as an early variety, and 
Wealthy also does well. These are 
both practically perfectly hardy, as is 
also the McIntosh, which, however, 
during the last two years has failed 
to set a good crop. This variety has 
been looked to be planted largely in 
place of the Baldwin, hut it has not 
set a satisfactory crop for two years, 
and is so badly covered with scab that 
the careless grower cannot grow it. 
The Baldwin was badly hit in the 
freeze, and many of the trees are lack¬ 
ing in vigor. In spite of this, it is ou 
the whole giving pretty good crops of 
fairly good apples, and I believe that 
today the growers would be unanimous 
in saying that present planting should 
contain at least 50 per cent Baldwin. 
Some have high hopes that the Deli¬ 
cious will prove a satisfactory variety 
here. I should still say that the Baldwin apple is 
by all means the apple for the average grower in 
Franklin County, avoiding, however, low places. 
Massachusetts. j. h. putnam. 
Still Popular in Connecticut 
1 believe the Baldwin apple is one of the com¬ 
mercial varieties to continue to plant here in South¬ 
ern New England, especially Connecticut, for some 
time to come. D is true that there has been con¬ 
siderable criticism regarding this variety, but even 
so 1 do not know of a variety which can take its 
place. For the past three years T have been recom¬ 
mending McIntosh. Greening and Baldwin for com¬ 
mercial orchards, and where the grower wished to 
have all red apples l have suggested either the 
Delicious. Opalescent and in a few cases the Sutton. 
Some of our best growers are able to have some 
fruit every year by judicious pruning, cultivation 
and fertilization. 
The market pays more for a red apple, and so far 
there is no variety which can supersede the Bald¬ 
win. It makes a good growth, comes into hearing 
rather young, the apples are of good size, it can 
stand commercial handling, and the public call for 
it. If I were to plant a commercial orchard myself 
I should probably use at least 40 per eeut Baldwins, 
Mower Knife Attachment on Light Tractor. Fig. 523 
have also seen the rejuvenation process in which 
the ground was ripped up as deeply as possible by 
a tractor plow. What roots were not cur off were 
exposed to sun and frost, and often holes left in the 
ground for the iee to freeze in Winter. Why should 
not trees die under such conditions? The Baldwin 
can he raised as successfully today as ever. Culti¬ 
vate the land thoroughly before setting the trees 
(in 1-ft. strips if necessary). Plant Ben Davis or 
Tolman Sweet, train up with a central stem and a 
4-ft. trunk. Top-graft when eight or 10 years old 
with scions from the Baldwin tree that raises the 
best quality of apples in the neighborhood; keep 
the tree reasonably thin from the start to avoid 
cutting large limbs. The trees should he at least 
two rods apart. l>o not plant fillers. Our old trees 
have enough suckers to replace removed branches. 
Avoid spasmodic cultivation and butchering. Keep 
out borers and other insect pests. Use sufficient 
phosphorus and potash. Go shy on nitrogen. T.et 
the hoy graduate, fresh from the agricultural college, 
work off his surplus energy on sweet peas or Petu¬ 
nias for a while before starting any newfangled 
stunts, and some day the grandchildren will rise up 
and call you blessed. The McIntosh is in its season 
about the best dessert apple. The Baldwin is later, 
and i> a good cooker, and is also good for eating. 
very little money, and no investment 
I in fertilizer or manure could pay bet¬ 
ter. On hundreds of New York farms 
such use of lime would make all the 
difference between a profitable and un¬ 
profitable crop of Alfalfa. Fig. 523 
shows the operation of a mower knife 
attachment to a light tractor. The 
' lime is responsible for the heavy crop 
of grass, and the tractor power helps 
to take care of it. There are mauv 
acres in Eastern New York which need 
the title of L.L.D.—lime, legumes and 
drainage. Limestone will make the 
first two letters sure at least. 
Cold Light and Its Application 
The “Publisher s Desk - ' has been very 
interesting reading, very fair and hold. 
Hence iny que-riou as follows: The 
commercializing of cold light has come to 
my ears. My informant tells me an 
Italian named Tom Marrclli has per¬ 
fected this means of lighting, bulbs con¬ 
taining cold light being sold for $3. mil 
to last three years. Cau you give me de¬ 
tailed information concerning this? I do 
not want to buy stock, but would like to 
know all about the concern said to be 
nuimiacr living the above. D. L. G. 
New .1 ersoy. 
A * Ri >1* LSSuR at Princeton has discovered a 
xV form of phosphorus which develops a cold light 
much like that shown by the firefly and glow-worm. 
His material is obtained chiefly from a small shell¬ 
fish found off the coast of Japan. There has been 
produced in this way a faint light or glow which 
gives off little or no heat and continues to show for 
some time, thus far it is only a scientific experi¬ 
ment. and of no real value in practice. It will prob¬ 
ably lead to something practical in the future. For 
many years scientific meu have studied the-glow¬ 
worm’s power of illumination, which is perhaps the 
best example of “cold light." In earlier times, long 
before the use of candies or oil. it is thought that 
men used a form of lantern by scraping a horn down 
to a thin transparency and putting glow-worm- in¬ 
side of it. This was probably the original lantern 
or lamp and was. in its way, as much of a scientific 
discovery as is our modern electric light. Various 
inventors claim to have discovered the principle of 
a cold and permanent light which they are said t > 
employ in electric bulbs, which “burn for three 
years.’ It is not worth while to spend time <>r 
money over such things yet. In view of the Avonder- 
ful things that have been developed in lighting and 
heating no one cau say that "cold light" or its appli¬ 
cation to practical life are impossible. 
