Vol. LXII. No. 2766 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 31, 1903. 
$1 PER YEAR, 
PLANTING FRUIT TREES AMONG STUMPS 
Are there any cases on record where fruit trees have 
been successfully planted on timber land where the trees 
have been merely cut off and the stumps and brush left? 
Maryland. r. 
I gave the matter of planting orchards In new 
ground much study some years since. The result was 
that we planted 34,000 trees and will set 20,000 more 
this Spring, among the stumps. We cut the trees down, 
saw up what will do for lumber and burn the rest on 
the ground. Then we plant the trees in rows very reg¬ 
ularly laid off, and hoe and bush them thoroughly, go¬ 
ing over the ground about four times a season. We 
are planting rough mountain land from 1,000 to 1,800 
feet above the sea level. We bush with blades and 
mattocks, and we are very anxious to learn what 
cheap chemical will kill a stump, and the best way 
and time to apply it, as the cost of work would be 
much reduced if we did not have to take off so many 
sprouts from the big stumps. As we kill out the 
growth we use a colter, putting the land into corn or 
peas, and will thus eventually give all the orchard 
cultivation with plow. I am satisfied that it is a 
positive advantage to leave the stumps; they carry 
the moisture deep into the ground, help the drainage 
and enrich the soil by decay. You may have noticed 
that a young tree planted by an old oak, hickory or 
chestnut stump is the best tree in the orchard I have. 
At the same time I believe that the more cultivation 
given to the new ground the better for the trees. Some 
people fear that the worms always found in decayed 
wood will attack the growing trees, but there is no 
danger from that source, as the worm which lives on 
decayed wood is of a different kind entirely from the 
worm which attacks growing trees. You might as 
well expect a dove to eat a hawk’s food. 
We have in Albemarle County some orchards now 
in fine bearing raised on above plan. I have been told 
of a peach orchard, the returns from which have in 
recent years run up to $25,000 per annum, which was 
grown among the stumps. I was talking last year to 
a man who has one of the largest orchards in the 
State, and who had spent a good deal of money in 
pulling up stumps and getting the land absolutely 
cleared, and he stated to me that if he had to do it 
over again he would leave the stumps, as he regarded 
their advantages as outweighing their disadvantages, 
and in addition the cost of the work was tremendous. 
He told me that it cost as much to fill up the hole as 
it did to pull the stump, which I had not thought of. 
Prest. Va. Hort. Society. samuel b. woods. 
HANDLING EXTRA-EARLY TOMATO PLANTS 
While many gardeners grow plants to sell, but few 
pay especial attention to growing them extra early. 
Their time is more devoted to growing vegetables 
under glass, and they have not the room in their hot¬ 
beds for other plants. For this reason this work 
must be left for some one else. There is usually a 
chance for some bright, industrious farmer’s boy near 
many of the towns or cities to make a success along 
this line, as well as earn money for himself. I have 
found that while some persons prefer to buy the small 
cheap plants there is always a class willing to pay an 
extra price for plants that have been carefully grown 
and will produce extra early, as well as an abundance 
of fine fruit. After once buying such plants they will 
continue, year after year, to call for them. In grow¬ 
ing the plants it will be necessary to cover the hotbeds 
with glass. Cloth coverings will not answer this pur¬ 
pose. The seed is sown about eight weeks before the 
plants are to be set in the open ground. After the 
plants have several leaves they are transplanted 
two inches apart into hotbeds that have previously 
been prepared. In two or three weeks part of these 
plants are again transplanted. They are carefully 
taken up, one at a time, and reset somewhat deeper 
than they were before and about four inches apart. 
Each time they are transplanted they are well watered 
and shaded. When the weather becomes warm it is 
best to put canvas over the plants instead of sash. 
The warm days the last of April may make the plants 
A BOX OF EARLY TOMATO PLANTS. Fig. 27. 
grow too rapidly. The aim is to produce stocky plants 
with a large root growth. 
About the first week in May there is usually a call, 
in this locality, for early tomato plants. Arrange¬ 
ments are made with one or two grocers in the near¬ 
est towns to handle the plants on commission. The 
plants are taken up with all the roots possible. The 
plant bed is thinned out by removing the largest from 
the different rows. The plants are placed in shallow 
boxes holding from two to three dozen, according to 
size of plants. After the box is full, it is filled with 
WINTER ROOTS ON AN EARLY-MULCHED PLANT. Fig. 28. 
soil pressed in around the tomato plants. These boxes 
are made during the Winter months from tomato 
cases by renailing the top and bottom and sawing the 
box into two halves, thus forming two shallow boxes. 
I usually have three grades or sizes of plants. The 
first size, as shown in Fig. 27, consists of good-sized 
stocky plants, grown from selected seed, and having 
been transplanted twice have a good root growth. 
These plants are sold at 25 and 30 cents per dozen. 
The second grade plants are much smaller, trans¬ 
planted but once, and are sold at 15 cents per dozen. 
The third size are taken up from the seed bed. They 
have not been transplanted and have but few roots. 
I have often put 15 dozen of these plants in the same 
sized box that was used for three dozen of the first 
size. These plants bring SVs cents per dozen. It is 
best always to have the different sized plants so as to 
suit anyone who may wish to buy. By having the 
smaller size the larger ones are shown to advantage, 
and more sales are made. elmeb g. tufts, 
Indiana. 
QUESTIONS ABOUT FRUITS. 
June-Budded Peach Trees- 
I wish to set 1,000 peach trees in the Spring in central 
Michigan, and thought of trying June buds. Would I be 
as likely to have as good an orchard in five years as I 
would if larger trees—314 to four feet, first class—were 
used? * H. P. G. 
North Lansing, Mich. 
There is considerable difference of opinion among 
peach growers in regard to the comparative merits of 
June-budded trees and the ordinary kind. At the same 
price the latter would surely be preferable; but they 
‘usually sell higher. The June-budded trees will make 
good orchard trees, but they will be about one year 
behind the others, if strong trees are planted in both 
cases. “Time is money,” and the crop one year ahead 
might make a difference in favor of the standard 
trees. Why not plant some of both? They are well 
worth their cost in either case, if good trees are ob¬ 
tained. H. e. V. D. 
Improving a Western Orchard. 
I write you for advice in regard to my apple orchard. 
The trees are 21 feet apart, set diagonally. They are 
Stayman and are six years set. I had them 21 by 30 feet 
at first, and filled in between with the same variety two 
years after. Can I have a paying orchard on this plan, or 
should I take out every other row? They have not borne 
much yet, and the fruit has been rather small and scabby. 
Should I wait another year before top-grafting, as I am 
now thinking of doing? Gravenstein, Wealthy and Bald¬ 
win do well here and bring fair prices. The soil is rather 
thin. I raised peas on it every year till 18 months ago. 
Woodlnvllle, Wash. j. r. 
All varieties of the Winesap family seem to be 
rather too small as I have seen them in and from the 
extreme Northwest, and I am not surprised that Stay- 
man should be so there. It seems to be rather too 
far north for them to attain their best development, 
although sometimes they are plenty large enough. If 
the temporary trees were at once grafted to Wagener 
or Jonathan they would probably pay better than if 
not grafted. Then, if the remaining Stayman trees 
did not pay as well as they should in about two years 
more I would either top-work them or dig them out. 
H. E. V. D. 
Budding and Grafting Questions. 
1. What are June-budded trees? Can I cut scions now, 
keep them dormant, and bud them in current growth 
next June? I mean apple, pear, peach and plum. 2. 
What is the proper age to top-bud apple, one or two 
years from bud or graft? I have some Ben Davis trees 
that I want to top-bud; they are now three years growth 
from the bud, about six feet high. 3. I wish to change 
some Red June plum trees (five years set)) to Burbank. 
How shall I do it? J. w. h. 
Payne’s Depot, Ky. 
1. June-budded trees are those that are only one 
year from the seed (and usually peach trees), that 
were budded in June or July, as soon as they were old 
enough to receive the buds, and the buds forced into 
immediate growth, making the top that year. The 
buds are generally cut from the current year’s growth. 
As soon as the budding is done the tops are cropped 
back severely to Induce the buds to start, and when 
they have grown out an inch or so the entire top is 
cut back. This is the plan I have found best, but 
others may have better methods. My experience with 
old bud sticks or scions held over by cold storage has 
