4386 
545 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
absurd to expect the strawberry plants t° 
give a line crop and large berries, as they are 
crowded as closely to their neighbors as spears 
of Timothy in the meadow. Mr. Gilbert 
assured tne that he was making his small farm 
pay exceedingly well, and that he was doing 
much better than he could do by seeking em¬ 
ployment with others. 
We next visited the farm of Mr. E. G. 
Smith, who also grows the Ohio Raspberry 
almost exclusively, considering it the most en¬ 
during and productive. His plantation shows 
the effect of high cultivation, and was among 
the finest that 1 have seen, He permits his 
strawberries to bear the second season, after 
which he plows them under, preferring not to 
plant strawberries successively on the same 
grouud, for the reason that they are more 
liable to injury by insects, aud that they ex¬ 
haust certain properties in the soil that can¬ 
not be easily replaced. After a few years they 
may be planted agaiu in the same place suc¬ 
cessfully. Mr. Smith was putting up an 
American Evaporator, there being a great de¬ 
mand for evaporators during the raspberry 
season, all the small growers iu the vicinity 
disposing of their blackcaps by evaporation. 
We next drove out, in a round about way, 
to Palmyra, and the numerous fruit farms iu 
that vicinity. The land here is more hilly, 
aud more gravelly and stony, evidently quite 
early soil. We next drove over the hills to 
the farm of Joseph Gilbert, a young tnau who 
gives thorough culture aud secures fine crops. 
Here also the Ohio was the favorite among 
the blackcap raspberries, and the Crescent, 
Wilson and Downing among the strawberries. 
I did not see any one growing grapes, it being 
too far from the lakes to be profitable. I 
could not help noticing, in visiting these differ¬ 
ent farms, that the men who had an acre or 
less of strawberries, usually reaped the largest 
rewards us compared with the extent of their 
efforts. This is owing to the fact that they 
can select the choicest ground, make it ex¬ 
ceedingly rich, and give it the best, culture 
and protection; whereas large cultivators are 
compelled to take average land, usually fer¬ 
tilizing it sparingly, and cultivating it ns they 
may be able in view of their other engage¬ 
ments, and the result is uot as satisfactory. 
Aside from this, the n an with the small piece 
of ground generally does his own pickiug, and 
all he gets is for his own pocket. 
I have noticed,every where I have traveled, 
that while it is exceedingly dillicult to get an 
individual started iu fruit-growing alone by 
himself, where fruit-growing is not common, 
it is invariably the cose that after one person 
does begin fruit growing, others very soon 
follow, after they learn how profitable it has 
proved. This condition of things sometimes 
leads to a surplus of fruits in some localities; 
but this is not so serious a drawback as one 
might imagine. As L have intimated, the 
fruit can be sold in competition at moderate 
prices. The community soon learn to eat 
more fruits aud a larger amount is consumed 
annually than at the beginning. 
Fruit growers about New York City often 
sell their strawberries for 25 cent9 per quart. 
A large fruit grower recently said to me 
that it cost him 0% cents per quart to grow 
his strawberries, pick them and place them in 
the markets. Now fruit-growers iu this 
section of the country would uot think they 
were doing very poorly if they could contract 
their cutiro crop for cents in advance. 
This shows the result of competition in lessen¬ 
ing the cost of production. 
A NOTE FROM MR. PURDY. 
I am perfectly astonished at your statement 
as to the old Imperial and Crimson Beauty 
being the same. They are as distinct on my 
grounds as ore the Turner and Franconia. 
The Crimson Beauty is a bright crimson, per¬ 
fect in shape, while the Imperial is dark 
crimson aud very imperfect. 
Remarks.—W e beg to suy to Mr. Purdy 
that we have not stated that they are the 
same; but we do say that plants sent to us by 
Mr. K. J . ilolutau, of Leavenworth, Kausus, 
as Imperial, are the same as those sent to us 
by Mr. A. M. l’urdy as Crimson Beauty, 
This is all we know or pretend to know about 
the matter.—E ds. 
^ontological 
THE PATRON’S FAVORITE APPLE. 
This is a slightly irregular, conical apple; 
of medium size, tapering to the calyx end, as 
shown in Fig. 377. Stem three-fourths of an 
inch long.sleuder, sligbily curved, and inserted 
in a small, regular cavity, about three-eighths 
of an inch deep, which is completely covered 
with a slight coat of russet. Calyx small, 
tipen aud in a very shallow basiu. Color, a 
beautiful greenish, waxy yellow, moderately 
covered with fuiut yellow dots; on the sunny 
side more or less covered with an uneven 
shading of faint carmine red, running to 
very deep red in places, splashed with brighter 
streaks. A cross-section is shown at Fig. 378, 
Core rather large, quite open; seeds very 
small. Flesh creamy-white, teuder, juicy, 
mild, sub acid, pleasant but not high-flavored. 
Skin a little tough. Its season is from Octo¬ 
ber to January. This is a very handsome 
apple and will be a very taking one in the 
market. 
It originated on the farm of Sherman Kim¬ 
berly. Goshen, Litchfield County,Connecticut, 
on whose ground the original tree still stands. 
Mr. K. states that the tree was nearly ruined 
by borers before he discovered the merits of 
the fruit. He then multiplied it by grafting. 
The grafted trees are now bearing good and 
satisfactory crops. Tree, a thrifty grower 
aud good bearer. 
TOP-GRAFTING THE APPLE. 
PROFESSOR J. L. BODD. 
At our horticultural meetings of the West¬ 
ern States, since the first gathering of the old 
Northwestern Association, the question of 
relative hardiness, longevity and bearing of 
perfect fruit of root-grafted trees and of trees 
top worked on hardy stocks, has been dis¬ 
cussed pro and con. 
The unparalleled severity of the past three 
Winters, coupled with the fact that we have 
now thousands of orchards where root-grafted 
and top worked trees of the same variety 
have been tested, makes this a specially favor¬ 
able time for forming correct conclusions. 
During the past two weeks the writer has 
been studying this aud other questions of im¬ 
portance to our future success iu orchat ding, | 
on the grounds of our most experienced fruit 
growers in the northern half of Iowa and 
Illiuois, and in Central ami Southern Wiscon¬ 
sin. The conclusions reached may be briefly 
formulated as follows: 
1. In sections where very hHrdy varieties, 
such as St. Lawrence, Wolf River, Fameuse, 
Gros Pomier, Plumb’s Cider aud Walbridge, 
have been killed or crippled by stem injury, 
they are sound aud beariug fruit wheu top- 
worked on Duchess or Whitney’s No. fill. 
fi. In sections where less hardy sorts than 
the above have been growu, such as Utter’s 
Red, Willow, Pewaukee and Grimes’s Golden, 
we now find root grafted trees dead or dying, 
while the same sorts on hardy stocks are per¬ 
fect. 
3. Iu still more favorable sections we find 
the same difference in the present condition 
of tree with Jonathan, Dominie, Ben Davis, 
etc., when root or top-grafted. Iu all these 
cases the additional hardiness seems to depend 
on the more perfect ripening of the cell wood 
of the cambium layer of the stock, and, to 
some extent, on the more perfect maturity 
of the wood of the graft on early-maturing 
stocks. But the fact must not be overlooked, 
that we must not expect too much gain in 
hardiness from any possible selection of stock. 
In all cases the varieties named under sections 
2. and 3., have failed when top-worked in 
parts where Plumb’s Cider and Walbridge 
frequently fail in the stems where root-grafted. 
As a Northern member expresses it, “Top¬ 
working may increase hardiness 20 per cent.; 
but to grow the Jonathan north it must have 
its ability to endure low temperuture in¬ 
creased 100 percent.” 
The observations of the present year coin¬ 
cide with those of previous test seasons, but 
are more satisfactory and convincing, as we 
now have a greater number of orchards, where 
experiments iu top-working have been carried 
on, than in 1882-8, or any other test year of 
our horticultural history. A few of our North¬ 
ern nurserymen have commenced top-working 
Duchess and Whitney stocks in nursery. Mr. 
Cotta, of Lanark, Ill., finds that such trees 
can lie grown with profit at double the usual 
price of root-grafts. The slight original cost 
of trees should not lessen the setting of family 
orchards, while those wishing to start com¬ 
mercial orchards can secure at. the nurseries, 
or grow for their own use, the hardy stocks 
and top-work them the next Spring after set¬ 
ting them in the orchard. At the “Far 
North,” where even the Wealthy has failed 
the past Winter, and the Duchess has been 
severely injured, the extended culture of the 
apple may be safely undertaken by top-work¬ 
ing the latter sorts, aud a baker’s dozen of the 
I best sorts of Central Russia on the Hibernal 
or Anis. I will merely add, at this time, that 
success in apple growing in Central aud East¬ 
ern Russia depends largely on the universal 
practice of top-working on the wild apple in¬ 
digenous to all purls of the great East Plain. 
Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa. 
- *-*-• -— 
THE PLUM WEEVIL BLEMISH. 
W. L. DKVEREAUX. 
* 
A very conspicuous and, in many orchards, 
the most numerous aud damaging blemishes 
are caused by the plum curculio or weevil 
(Conotrachelus uen uphar). 
I have counted on a single apple 48 blemishes 
caused by as many punctures, every thrust 
producing a flaw. Very nearly all kuotty, 
ill-shaped apples not bearing signs of the 
fungus, are caused by this insect. It is by far 
the most common cause of blemishes iu the 
pear, as seen in the abundance of knotty, 
irregular-shaped specimens. These malfor¬ 
mations consist chiefly of scattered depres¬ 
sions, often as deep and broad at the outer 
circumference as the stem cavity of an apple; 
at the lowest point in the center of the depres¬ 
sion is seen the faint scar of the puncture 
(see Fig. 382, a). Angoulfinie suffers more, per- 
Fig. 882, 
haps, than any other; the pest affects, how¬ 
ever, all late fall varieties. The Kieffer is 
much subject to it, and one of the first pub¬ 
lished cuts of this pear represented one of 
these weevil-induced depressions. In earlier 
varieties the puncture of the weevil does not 
always give rise to malformation of the fruit. 
All gnarls and distortions in qninces are 
caused by the same insect, as is seen by the 
peculiarly shaped scar at the initial point of 
the depression. The quince curculio, or 
weevil, a different snout beetle, does attack 
the quince, but it is comparatively rare, and 
very few blemishes arise from its attacks. 
The fruit of the Japan Quince presents the 
most pronounced distortion of any, although 
such a tough, hard, and never-ripening fruit. 
The crescent-shaped slit in front of the 
puncture in which the egg has been deposited, 
has been made by the beak of the beetle, aud 
though this is slender and cylindrical iu shape, 
it makes a crescent gouge by beiDg carried 
pack aud forth iu the cut, by the swaying of 
the head from side to side; the crooked form 
of the beak is suited to cut underneath, thus 
forming a lip. under which the egg can al¬ 
ways be found. The egg is oblong- oval, white, 
translucent, and can be readily seen with the 
naked eye. 
Tbe weevil begins its war on the fruit very 
soon after it is out of the blossom, and con¬ 
tinues until July. The injury to the fruit 
caused by the larvae from the eggs during the 
first month, usually destroys the fruit, causing 
It to drop off; later attacks are more likely to 
cause blemishes and distortions than the fall¬ 
ing off of the fruit. 
The pest sometimes attacks the apple also; 
bat it is only in the early stage of this fruit 
that the larvaa can exist and attaiu any con¬ 
siderable growth. The larvie. as soon as 
hatched, bore straight to the core, and the 
young apple soon shrivels aDd falls, or, as 
sometimes happens, remains on the tree until 
dried as hard as wood. After the apple has 
attained more size (late in June), especially in 
the case of winter fruit, the newly hatched 
larvae cannot resist the growth of the fruit, 
the tlesh of which quickly crowds in on their 
borrows, causing them to perish before 
reaching the core. The tracing of the bur¬ 
row is very often seen iu the matured fruit, 
and its course can be followed by the green, 
knotty streak extending from the surface 
scar, or blemish, through the pulp towards 
the core. Frequently a gummy exudation 
appears at the external orifice of the borrow. 
Whether this is from the remains of the dead 
larva and larval excretion, J have no clear 
proof. It is very certain, however, that no 
guui Is produced at punctures where no eggs 
were laid, but it is possible that accurate ob¬ 
servation will show that the gummy matter 
may bo formed where the larval has uot 
died, as it does in the plum; still the gum 
cannot be considered of like nature with eer- 
asine so closely associated with pruneaceous, 
but entirely absent from pomaceous fruits. 
In most cases in advanced fruit the larva 
does not enter the tiesli of the apple more than 
a quarter of an inch. It does not appear to 
attempt to reach the core of an apple of con¬ 
siderable size, but remains in a shallow pit. 
If the fruit is an early oue, like the Harvest 
Apple and Tyson Fear, it succeeds in living 
by inducing a permature ripening of the ad¬ 
jacent pulp. If a variety ripening in the 
Fail or Winter, the larva does uot succeed in 
causing any injury to the surrounding tissues, 
and hence, owing to the unfavorable condi¬ 
tions, it dies. From this last circumstance 
comes another distinct blemish—the thin skin 
over the empty pit soon dries up, and though 
previously the puncture had partially healed 
over except a slight pin-hole, the skin now 
becomes discolored, aud indurated, and if 
the cavity beneath is large, the hardened 
skin above the pin hole decays and shrinks up, 
leaving an irregular opening, or, more often, 
a very even, circular hole, bordered with black 
and pink-colored peel (Fig. 382 b).) 
Another common blemish is a true cicatrice, 
or entirely healed russety scar. This form 
Patron’s Favorite. Half Section. Fig. 378. 
