1888 
887 
thinks the latter part of Winter is best. In 
mild climates where there is no fear of heavy 
winter frosts, the cutting, he says, may be 
done at any time after the fall of the leaves; 
or in broad-leaved evergreens, as soon as the 
movement of the second sap has ceased 
Timber, however, lasts longer and seasons 
more readily, in his opinion, when cut in the 
season when vegetation is suspended, or in 
deciduous trees, when the loaves are off, and 
the growth of the year is ended. In cases 
where the wood is to be peeled, all timber, he 
says, should be cut in early Summer, for by 
being peeled it will be saved from the injur¬ 
ies likely to occur from the attacks of boring 
insects, aud it will also season more readily 
Coniferous wood will remain white aud the 
lumber will he ligher in weight. Prof. W. J. 
Beal,speaking of this subject in the Rural of 
March 15, 1884, while acknowledging the diffi¬ 
culties in the way of reaching the truth, 
thinks favorably of the practice in Russia, 
where the foresters cut down their trees just 
after the Spring growth is completed, and be¬ 
fore the bark has tightened too much for 
peeliog. They then strip off the bark, but 
allow the upper branches with their leaves to 
remain. These leaves will evaporate a large 
portion of the sap in the trunk of the tree be¬ 
fore they dry up, and the bark having been 
taken off, the trunk seasons rapidly, and the 
general Russian opinion is that it makes more 
valuable limber for any purpose than that 
which has been cut in the Winter. Poles should 
never he cut when the bark will peel, as their 
utility and value would be lessened. The first 
Napoleon ordered that timber for ship-building 
should be felled "in the wane of the moon 
between November 1 and March 15,” as it was 
thought to be more durable when cut at that 
time^but many of the opinions of the first 
Napoleon have little weight in these days. If 
the cutting is for fire wood, the time makes 
but little difference, provided the timber is at 
once split and piled where it can season rap¬ 
idly. 4. Of almost any breeder of poultry 
now. C. R. Cooper, Scbraalenbergb, N. J., 
and Geo. 8. Smith, of Haverhill, Mass., both 
have them. 5. Of the Vermont Farm Ma¬ 
chine Co., Bellows Falls, Vt., or of any of 
their agents. 
FRUIT QUERIES. 
J. J., Toronto, Ontario, Canada.—1. I once 
trimmed a large share of the leaves from a 
portion of my grapes; in about two weeks I 
found most of the grapes on the ground; what 
was the cause? 2. After the grapes are gath¬ 
ered in the Fall, I take away the soil down to 
the roots, and apply a large wheelbarrow load 
of cow manure to each vine, and cover with 
earth; on the first of May following l scatter 
the manure; is this plan right? 3. Should the 
mulching of fruit trees aud grape-vines put 
on for wiuter protection, be removed or left 
on in Spring? 4. After my grapes are half 
grown, I cut back all vines to witbiu four 
leaves of the cluster, and thereafter keep all 
laterals cut out, and keep the ground entirely 
clean; is this all a good plan? 5. Will spread¬ 
ing straw on the ground aud around the 
vines now, hasten their ripening? 6. How 
much earlier is the Lady than the Concord, 
and is it a good market grape? 7. in planting 
grapes this Fall,what kinds would you recom¬ 
mend? 8, In planting several thousand black 
raspberries, what kinds shall 1 use? 9. What 
caused the cracks iu the inclosed grapes? 10. 
1 cut the youug canes of my red raspberries 
back two feet or more, did it injure them? 
Ans.— 1. The grapes dropped because in 
cutting off the leaves you took away their 
feeders, and they starved to death. 2. No¬ 
thing could be worse. Fse very little manure 
on grapes, except bone dust and ashes. The 
cow manure contains too much nitrogeu, and 
induces too much wood growth. 8. We pre¬ 
fer cultivation to mulching for Summer ul- 
ways. If mulch is put on for winter protec¬ 
tion, it is much better to remove it. 4. If you 
had a pig, colt, or calf half grown, you would 
not think it best to cut its stomach out, would 
you? Yet it would be as sensible as to cut a 
large part of the leaves off after the grapes 
are half grown. The leaves are the stomach 
of the plant. 1 f you wish to practice summer 
pruuing, it should commence and be continued 
so that uo leaf oue fourth grown would need 
to be removed; but wo do not believe iu much 
summer pruning auy way. It may be a good 
plan now, to just nip off the extreme ends of 
the growing cones, so as to stop longer wood 
growth; but uo more should bo attempted. 
5. No; it will retard it by keeping the ground 
cool. Stop all cultivation and let the sun do 
its level best on the ground; it can’t get too 
hot. 6. Ten days perhaps. It is not a good 
market grape: it cracks too much. 7. Wor¬ 
den, Brighton, and Niagara. 8. Ohio. 11, They 
were crushed, in the mail bags. But what 
causes the cracking of grapes, uo oue just yet 
knows for certain. Perhaps in your case too 
much nitrogenous manure. 10. Yes; ittook the 
life right out of them. W hen you wish to head 
a plant of any kind, do it when it is only neces¬ 
sary to nip it with thumb aud finger, 
DESTROYING THE APPLE-TREE BORER. 
E. F. V., Wcarennlle, N. C. —1.1 have a fig 
bush planted at the south side of my house. It 
grows nicely during Summer, but is killed to 
the ground every Winter. It does not bear; 
what shall I do with it ? 2. What can I do to 
apple trees to destroy the borers’ eggs? 
Ans. —1 . Procure a large stone crock (six 
gallons or more) and drill numerous holes in 
the aides and bottom, at least 1% inch in 
diameter; plant the fig in this, using rich 
soil. In the Spring, plant the whole thing in 
a rich border, and on the approach of frest, 
in the Fall, remove the plant aud crock to 
some cellar or other spot free from frost, 
planting the roots and all in moist sand or 
loam. This is but little trouble, and will 
insure a crop of figs each year. 2. The borers 
can be kept out by coating the trunks, two or 
three times each Summer, with a wash of 
water-lime and skim-milk put on so thick as to 
coat the bark heavily. The eggs of the Round- 
headed, as well as those of the Flat-headed 
Borers, are deposited in June and July, those 
of the former, oue in a place, on the bark 
of the tree near its base; those of the latter 
on any part of a tree, usually under loose 
scales or within the cracks and crevices 
of the bark; sometimes singly, at other times 
several in a group. Shortly after the larvra 
have hatched out, they bore into the tree, and 
their presence there may be detected by dis¬ 
coloration of the bark, which sometime- has 
a flattened and dried appearance; and, later, 
by a slight exudation of sap, or hy their saw¬ 
dust-like castings which have been pushed out 
of the crevices of the bark and have fallen m 
little heaps or the ground. When such indi¬ 
cations appear, the parts should be cut into or 
scraped with a knife until the clean, white 
bark appears, when the pests should be 
destroyed: if the castings show they have 
burrowed far, they may be reached and killed 
with a stout wire. 
RUSSIAN APRICOTS. 
L. J., Marlott Park, hid —I wish to learn 
anything and everything about Russian apri¬ 
cots. 
ANSWERED BY PROF. J. L. BUDD. 
The Russian apricots, first sent out by the 
nurseries of West Nebraska, were grown, I 
think, from the pits,as they vary in fruit and 
in hardiness of tree. Some of those on onr 
grounds from this source, were killed back 
last Winter, and some of them came through 
the trial iu fair condition. They are not al¬ 
together humbugs, as selected varieties will 
give satisfaction where the German apricots 
fail, and ultimately we may get crosses com¬ 
bining the hardiness of tree of the best South 
Russian varieties with an approach to the 
quality of fruit of the best Gerrnau and French 
sorts. The apricots are not grown in Central 
Russia, but plums far better for any use are 
grown there in great quantity. 
CARE OF AN ORCHARD. 
A. FI. T., Aguebogue, L, /.—Last year I 
grafted fruit trees that had been planted only 
one year. I set my apples and pears in the 
same orehurd. I sowed rye iu the orchard 
and cut it early for soiling. Have 1 in any 
of these operations made a mistake? 
Ans. —Grafting trees oue year transplanted, 
if they are cared for so as to make a fair 
growth, is the proper course. We prefer 
planting apple and pear trees in separate 
orchards, though they will do well enough for 
many years when planted together. The 
growing of rye iu an orchard for soiliug pur¬ 
poses is all right, if the ground is only fed ac¬ 
cordingly, and the rye is eul before seeding 
and the land plowed as soon as the rye is taken 
off. 
SOWING ORCHARD GRASS. 
It. It, Bloomingburgh, N. Y ,— Will Or¬ 
chard Grass do well sowed with wheat or rye 
iu the Fall, and how much seed per acre? 
Ans.—I t will be much safer to sow it very 
early in the Spring, as soon as the snow is off. 
Sow not less tbau two bushels per acre; bet¬ 
ter three if used alone. 
---- 
Miscellaneous. 
<S. S. C., Bingham Center, Pa. —1. How are 
currants and gooseberries propagated from 
cuttings! 2. Can gooseberries be raised from 
seed, and if so, will they be of the same vari¬ 
ety? 8. lathe Mann Apple all that is claim¬ 
ed for it? 4. Will sod, fall plowed, be good for 
raspberries In the Spring? 5. I have a cow 
that after being in heat lost oue quarter of 
her udder aud teat; will it be all right after 
she calves? 
Ans.— 1. As soon as the leaves fall make the 
cuttings six or eight inches long of the pres¬ 
ent season’s growth, and plant to within an 
inch of the top in good, rich ground, packing 
quite firmly about the base. Keep cleanly 
cultivated next Summer, and nearly all will 
make good plants. 2. They can be; but not • 
one in a thousand would be like the parent. 
3. The Mann Apple is a little under the size 
of the Greening. It is a late beeper and in 
quality is about as good as Roxbury Russet. 
The tree is a slow grower, good bearer and 
quite hardy. 4. Yes, if plowed soon so as to 
become well rotted. 5. The cow’s udder was 
evidently injured, aud may or may uot come 
all right after calving, the outcome depending 
on the extent of the injury. 
Edgar, Sandusky, Ohio.—My parrot has 
been picking bis feathers ever since last Win¬ 
ter, sometimes his breast is all bare. He does 
not act as if sick, but talks the same as ever. 
He has been fed milk, crackers, corn, fruit; 
what can I do for him? 2 My mulberry tree 
is covered every year with blossoms, but they 
always drop off before fruit is formed—why? 
Ans. — L It may be that your bird is lousy. 
Examine him carefully, and if vermin are 
discovered apply Bubaeh until they disap¬ 
pear. Birds generally acquire this habit be¬ 
cause of an insufficient supply of animal food, 
such as fresh meat. It is more common with 
birds that are closely confined than with those 
having a wide range. Where the habit has 
become so well fixed as is the case with vour 
bird, we doubt if it can be entirely cured. 2. 
This undoubtedly results from a lack of fertil¬ 
ization by reason of defective male or 
female flowers; or it may be due to the entire 
absence of one or the other class, as they are 
produced separately; we could not tell with 
out seeing it when in bloom. 
R. H. E. K., Lancaster Co., Pa.— l. Is 
there any difference in the feeding value 
of red and white middlings? The red are from 
two to four dollars cheaper than the white. 
2. How long will a ton of middlings feed 100 
hogs? 8, Are the stems and refuse from a 
cigar factory of any value as a fertilizer? 
Ans.— 1. We do not know what is meant by 
red and white middlings—unless one is bran and 
the other middlingsproper. If tbisisthe case, 
then there is for hog feeding alone, all the dif¬ 
ference in value that you mention in price. 2. 
That is as easy to tell as how much pudding 
and milk will feed 100 boys. In a general 
way, hogs should at all times have enough 
feed to keep them growing finely, and, of 
course, the larger the hogs the more they will 
eat. 3. They are very valuable—worth hauling 
several miles at least. They are very rich 
both in potash and nitrogen. A ton of them 
contains 37 pounds of nitrogen, worth $6 66; 
52 pounds of potash, worth $2.60; and seven 
pounds of phosphoric acid, worth 42 cents, 
making the ton worth $9 68. Of course, you 
could not expect so large a return the first 
year; but you will still have a very valuable 
manure. 
J. O., Fremont, Minn.—l. I have five seed¬ 
ling grape-vines one year old, and still in the 
box where the seed was sown; when can I 
transplant them? 2. Can currant bushes be 
moved as soon as their leaves fall? 
Ans.— It will be better now to leave them 
until after they cease growing and drop their 
loaves this Fall, or early in the Spring. 2. 
Yes, being careful to keep them out of the 
ground no longer than necessary. 
W, H. S., Bryant, Ark. —1, Will it pay to 
draw saw dust two miles to use as manure? 2. 
Is it a good mulch for trees? 
Ans.— 1. No. 2. If hard-wood sawdust, it 
makes a good tree mulch; but there should be 
an occasional application of hard wood ashes 
over the surface to drive out all insects. 
O. C. B., Barry, III.—hoes the Marlboro 
Raspberry spread from root runners, like the 
blackberry ? 
Ans.— It spreads from shoots coming up 
from eyes or buds on the roots. If a root is 
broken or bruised, the eyes below throw up 
shoots which make plants. 
Lake Geneva, R'it—Is there any time dur¬ 
ing the life of the potato plant when the Col¬ 
orado Beetle is uot harmful? I am told that 
after the bloom is off, the pest can do the crop 
no injury. 
Ans. —The tubers all grow from nutriment 
first elaborated in the foliage, and they should 
continue to grow so long as there is a green 
leaf on the vines; therefore the destruction of 
the foliage at any time by the Colorado beet, 
les or other agency, is injurious to the full 
development of the tubers. 
F. N. S., Plymouth, Mass,—!. Will the 
Sugar Maple grow in a peat swamp? 2. How 
old must the trees be before they can be safe¬ 
ly tapped? 
Ans. —1, Sugar Maple will flourish only on 
hard land. 2. It all depends on the rapidity 
of their growth; they should not be tapped 
until they are at least eight to 10 inches in 
diameter. 
J. L. S„ Newark, N.C.C., Del.— 1. When is 
the best time to sow Orchard Grass. 2. Can 
it be sown in the Fall, aud can clover be also 
sown at that time? 
Ans.— 1. The best time is in the Spring, as 
early as possible. It is better if harrowed in 
with a smoothing harrow. 2. They could 
both be sown at once, with good results if nto 
followed by too hard a Winter; but there is 
considerable risk with both in fall sowing. 
IF. FT. | East New Market, Md .—I send two 
samples of bone dust marked A and B; which 
is the better? 
Ans. —We could only guess without an an¬ 
alysis of them, and this would cost some $20 
or more for each sample. They both look 
good; but if pure bone, we think B is worth 
the most per tOD. It looks of the best qual¬ 
ity, and is ground the finest. 
E. B. H., Henneker, N. Y., sends grass for 
name. 
Ans. —It is Velvet- Grass—Holcus lanatus. 
Tt is naturalized in some parts of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, and some Virginia farmers speak well 
of it; but generally it is considered an inferior 
grass. 
A.McG., Amboy, 111 .—From whom can I 
get Victoria pigs? 
Ans. —From Col. F. D. Curtis, Charlton, 
N. Y. 
DISCUSSION. 
J. J. C., Marietta, Ga. — On page 498 of 
the issue of July 25. J. B. B. calls summer- 
fallowiDg “an unprofitable old rut.” Now, at 
the age of 03 years, every one of which was 
spent on a farm, I must dissent from those 
who think it "an old rut,” or at least, a bad 
one. A lately plowed field, however well plow¬ 
ed (if plowed say two or three weeks before 
sowing wheat), can not be made so compact 
and will not contain so much moisture to pro¬ 
mote the growth of wheat os land summer- 
fallowed, and, all other things being equal, 
will not produce as good a crop. I have often 
seen, in Western New York, at seeding time, 
that in very dry weather, the seed would fail 
to sprout on much of late plowing, while the 
summer-fallows would never lack moisture. 
Now, as one good crop is better than two poor 
ones, I still think the “old rut” good in certain 
cases. Take, for instance, a lot of 20 acres, that 
has been cropped two or three years succes¬ 
sively and is somewhat foul and run down; 
plow it early and deep; roll and harrow; cul¬ 
tivate often; take all stumps and stones off; 
ditch it, if any ditches are needed: scrape up 
the barn-yard and pig pen odda and ends in 
all leisure time duriug tbe Summer; then 
drill to wheat and seed to clover, and at har¬ 
vest time the wheat is certain to be ahead of 
that on late plowing, which had an equal 
chance otherwise, and the wheat will ripen a 
few days earlier and be less inclined to rust, 
though both may be sown side by side. I treat- 
ed,in this way.last year, some Georgia land on 
top o f a clay ridge, that was too poor to produce 
a profitable crop of any sort, and got a yield 
of 39 bushels, 36 pounds of plump wheat per 
acre, and the straw was brighter thau that 
grown on any land not summer-fallowed, 
around here. This year the same ground is in 
cotton, and there is none better in this vicin¬ 
ity—I think it will make 600 pounds of lint 
per acre. I have, in all, 90 acres in cotton; 
the best half will make one full bale per acre; 
ten years ago it took three acres to make a 
bale. 
R. N.-Y.—Doesn’t it seem likely that the 
good tillage giveu; the clearing of the land 
from weeds; the removal of the stumps and 
stones, and the care in manuring, were the 
causes of the good crop, without any special 
help from the summer-fallowing? Moreover, 
the summer-fallowing here indicated, is very 
different from that usually meant by the term 
—a complete rest for the land. The discussion 
of the topic is in good hands, however, hence 
tbe Rural does not wish to take any part in 
it at present. 
Carles L. Webster & Co., 42 East 14th 
Street. New York.—In tbe Rural of August 
29, the answer to an inquiry about the prices 
of the Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, pub¬ 
lished by us. is uot correct. The prices are: 
cloth, per set of two volumes, $7; library, $9; 
half morocco, $li: full morocco, $18; tree 
calf, $25. 
R- N.-Y.—The error evidently arose from 
a misunderstanding: we inquired the prices 
of the full set, and in reply the prices of the 
first volume ouly were given, except for the 
set bound in tree calf. 
Oowjrtnac ations Rkckivkd for tub Wkrk Esdiso 
Saturday, Adui st .'J. lSSs. 
H. 8,— W, J B.—D. J. S., many thanks.—J. N.J.—P. 
B.— G. N.—>1. L. R.—E. H. Smart, diagram of ceme¬ 
tery not inclosed.—B. K. G., thanks.-,!. F G.—A. E. 
M -K. G. B.—V\ . 8. M.—J. I C.-K. D. B.—8 T. W.— 
G. II. M.-W. C -S. H. O.-O. R. H,—W. H J, J. H. 
H. -F. R. IV.—H. H.-J. L. R-II, E. A.-W. J. B.-A. 
B. A.—C. W. G.—P. E -M. B. P.-J. B. A.-J. tV. G.— 
F. G.—T. V. M -K. B H. -R. p. G.-J, P. B.-F. D. C. 
—F.S.-C. V. R.-W. H. K.-E. 8. G.-F.. S. B.-H. SI. 
E.-B. P. P.-G. E. M.-tV. W. C.—tV. V. & Co.-J. T. 
L.—T. C.—S. S. 3.. thanks.—F. K. B.—J, W. tv.—B. T. 
G. -tV. T. C.—O. S. C.—H. G T.-T. R. S.—G. C. B.—H. 
H. -J. P. H.—A. J O.-T. R W.—P. B. M.-J. J. H.— 
E. D B. E. £. R.—G. G., thanks.—J. A, W., many 
thanks.-J. SI. T. H.- N J. 8.—I. P. R.—R. tV. F —N. 
R.-G. C, C.-G. and R.-J. R. G.—T. L.—IV. P. 
