Vol. LXII. No. 2781. 
NEW YORK, MAY 16, 1903. 
•1 PER YEAR. 
THE MISSING LINK APPLE. 
Two Views Regarding a New Variety. 
At various fruit exhibitions during the past two 
years we have seen samples of the Missing Link 
apple. We found the specimens handsome, of medium 
size, and of fair flavor. The greatest argument made 
In favor of this variety is its remarkable keeping 
quality. The fact that it will keep in the ordinary 
cellar until early or Fall apples are ripe is the “link” 
missing in an endless chain of apples for every day in 
the year. Whenever a new variety is offered it must 
run the gauntlet of criticism, and strong must be its 
staying qualities to enable it to pass—for the evident 
desire is to kill it if possible. Our samples were re¬ 
ceived from B. M, Stone, of Stull, Pa. We let him 
present the favorable side of Missing Link. Of the 
samples pictured. Fig. 131, the one showing the cross 
section was grown in 1901 and has stood much hand¬ 
ling at exhibitions. It was not decayed when we cut 
it open. 
The Favorable Side. 
The Missing Link originated in Ohio 60 years ago, 
out was never really tested until about 1880. After 
the heavy crop of 1900, during the Fall we could 
hardly give our ap¬ 
ples away, but in the 
Spring those who 
had apples that 
would keep through 
sold them from $1 to 
?2.50 per bushel. 
This caused me to 
look for long-keep¬ 
ing apples, so I could 
get into the market 
in the Spring and 
get the good prices. 
In January, 1901, I 
found this apple, 
which appears to be 
just what we need 
for cellar storage. 
Samples have kept 
with me over two 
years in an ordinary 
cellar. It may be 
said that an apple 
of average quality 
will not compete in 
the market with the better varieties when held in cold 
storage. Few people can have storage apples. The 
city people can get a few at a time of the dealer, but 
the country people cannot get them. If they should 
get a barrel three-fourths of them would rot before 
being used up. I never was where I could get apples 
from cold storage. The ordinary farmers and people 
of small towns will have to be supplied with long- 
keeping apples through the Spring and fore part of 
Summer, if they have any at all. Most people I have 
talked with say that cold storage injures the flavor. 
As I look at it an apple with an average flavor and a 
long keeper will be much better. b. m. stonr. 
The Other Side. 
In reply to a pointed question as to the character 
and value of the apple called Missing Link I have this 
to say, after having seen and tested specimens of it 
at the exhibits of the Illinois Horticultural Society 
and elsewhere, for several years past. There are some 
■who think it is not a distinct seedling variety but an 
old one with a new name, but this I do not believe, 
from the evidences I have had presented to me in its 
native State of Illinois. In size and appearance there 
is nothing very attractive about this apple, for it is 
not large and is rather dull green with bronzy red 
stripes. The quality is from poor to medium, which 
is true of nearly all other very late keepers. The ef¬ 
forts of those who are pushing the sale of the trees 
of this variety remind me of a colloquy I heard in 1866 
between the eminent pomologist. Dr. John A. Warder, 
and a man who was trying to convince him of the 
excellence of a very inferior seedling apple that he 
had brought to a fair in Ohio. The doctor quietly 
and as kindly as possible met every point with seri¬ 
ous objections, stating that it was small, of poor 
color and inferior quality; when the man declared 
that although this might all be true “the apple would 
keep like a stone”; to which Dr. Warder quickly and 
forcibly remarked: “Yes, and it is about as good to 
eat.” 
Now, I do not say that the Missing Link is as poor 
as that, but there are other apples that keep as late, 
so far as 1 have been able to learn, and are larger, 
handsomer and of as good or better quality. Wil¬ 
low is one of this character and Clayton is not far 
behind it. I have known both of them to keep in com¬ 
mon cellar and pit storage until midsummer, espe¬ 
cially Willow, and be sold at fruit stands at Fourth 
of July celebrations. Mann and Lansingburg are 
other better apples. In my opinion, there would be 
m 
THE MISSING LINK APPLE—THE CROSS SECTION SHOWS FRUIT FROM THE CROP OF 1901. Fig. 131. 
no very important link left out of the apple chain if 
one missed planting the Missing Link. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
SUMMER PINCHING FOR PEACH TREES. 
To Make Them Fruit Low. 
We have the following question from a reader in Ne¬ 
braska: “The peach tree wants to grow up and up. I 
live in a windy country, and I want to keep the tree 
down. 1 cut back severely in the Spring. Then the tree 
makes a rank growth and makes the fruit buds develop 
near the top. I want the fruit buds down lower. Can 1 
make the fruit buds develop lower by Summer pinching? 
If so, at what stage of growth should I pinch?” 
I have had no experience in Summer pinching nor 
ever tried it. I prune in the Spring according to Mr. 
Morrill’s method. But I doubt whether Summer 
pinching will obtain the desired object. I would like 
to hear from those who have had experience. 
Kankakee Co., Ill. e. s. kriebel. 
I think that the correspondent may succeed in get¬ 
ting the fruit buds down on the tree by Summer 
pinching as he suggests. The pinching back should 
be done in June as the peach makes very rapid growth 
during May, and the growth should be checked when 
the tree reaches the desired height. For the western 
conditions and in windy sections low-heading is very 
desirable on peaches as well as on other fruit trees. 
I would advise heading the trees just as near the 
ground as pos.sible. In the peach I would cut the tree 
off at eighteen inches above the surface of the ground 
when planting, and then form the head from that 
point. In this way the fruit can be kept near the 
ground; there is not as much danger of it being blown 
off by the wind or the tree being broken; and, by 
using the extension harrow, the proper cultivation 
can be given. Fig. 132 shows a row of low-headed 
trees in the orchards of the Iowa Experiment Station. 
The low heading also prevents sunscalding on the 
trunks, which is a very important consideration in the 
Mississippi Valley. ii. c. price. 
Iowa Experiment Station. 
I very much doubt whether your Nebraska corre¬ 
spondent can succeed in keeping his peach trees down 
by Summer pinching. If done soon enough to stop 
the growth where he would like it to stop, it will 
merely tend to induce the production of side branches 
which may not mature sufficiently to withstand the 
Winter. A better plan will be to withhold all nitro¬ 
genous fertilizers, including leguminous cover crops, 
and to stop cultivation early in the season, not later 
than the middle of 
July, seeding with 
some cover crop like 
oats, barley or mil¬ 
let, which will check 
growth and not add 
nitrogen. While the 
rich soil of Nebraska 
will force a rampant 
growth in the early 
Summer under nor¬ 
mal conditions, in 
the average year the 
weather is so dry 
later in the season 
that growth is check¬ 
ed and wood thor¬ 
oughly ripened for 
Winter, particularly 
if c u 11 i V a t i on is 
stopped and a cover 
crop added. This is 
the plan adopted by 
the best Nebraska or- 
chardists, at least so 
far as the cultivation is concerned. As I call to mind 
young peach trees brought into bearing in Nebraska, 
I do not remember that the strong growth proved any 
serious objection. One of the methods adopted by the 
largest growers which assists in keeping the tree down 
is the low headin.g, which starts the branches close 
to the ground. fred w. card. 
Rhode Island Exp. Station. 
Peach trees in the North should be headed very low 
to start with, and then the new growth can be pinch¬ 
ed back at the height the party desires. Of course 
enough wood should be left for fruit buds. The 
pinching should be done whenever the new shoots 
reach the proper height desired. d. s. ij^ke. 
Page Co., Iowa. 
Experience in this cold, bleak and windy northwest 
country in growing peaches is to start the branches 
not over two feet from the ground, trim severely in 
June each Spring except when loaded with fruit, then 
practically none. No matter how high the branches 
grow’ the weight of a good crop of fruit will bring 
the limbs down, often lower than we enjoy, on the 
ground. When planted a sufficient distance apart the 
fruit buds are evenly distributed over the tree. If 
