1903 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
HALE EXPERIMENTS WITH MULCHING. 
Interesting Work in a Peach Orchard. 
The Connecticut Pomological Society held a field 
meeting at the home of J. H. Hale, South Glaston¬ 
bury, Conn., on September 4. There was a large at¬ 
tendance, and the meeting was unusually interesting, 
because Mr. Hale had several new problems for fruit 
growers to study. With the exception of a small 
crop of Elberta there are few peaches on the farm 
this year, and the plum crop is also a failure. The 
fact that this is an off year, and the exceedingly wet 
season, induced Mr. Hale to try some experiments 
with mulching and cover crops which are likely to 
attract great attention. It will strike many as strange 
that Hale—the champion of intense cultivation— 
should attempt any sort of mulch as a substitute for 
horse leg and steel, but the fact that he has been will¬ 
ing to change his practice in part, for the sake of 
learning something, will make him all the more use¬ 
ful as a public teacher. Just what he has done should 
be made clear so that there can be no misunder¬ 
standing about it. 
Those who have seen Hale’s orchards in former 
years know that late Summer finds them clean, with 
every evidence that the soil had been thoroughly till¬ 
ed all through the Summer. Some growers were 
shocked this year to find these same orchards alive 
with weeds and Crab grass, with young clover at the 
bottom. Yet, so far as color and thrift go, most of 
the trees were all that a good grower would ask for. 
Half of one orchard had been well tilled through 
the early Summer and then left to grow up to grass 
and weeds with clover. Another block of the same 
orchard had not been tilled, but the growth of weeds 
and grass had been cut once and permitted to grow 
again. Practically the same amounts of fertilizer 
were used on each part. Hale calls this latter plan 
“mulching,” and in one 
sense it is, though it is 
easy to see that this plan 
is not what Mr. Hitchings 
advocates. There is great 
difference between a thick 
sod of some years’ stand¬ 
ing and a single season’s 
growth of weeds and 
grass. While with the thick 
sod the soil is full of hu¬ 
mus and thus yields a con¬ 
stant supply of plant food 
to the tree, the single sea¬ 
son’s growth of grass and 
weeds really exhausts the 
soil, and if anything robs 
the trees until it decays at 
the end of Summer. From 
my own exper ience I 
should expect the best re¬ 
turns from this mulching 
late in the season. If Sep¬ 
tember and October turn 
out to be dry and warm 1 
feel quite sure that the 
mulch of grass and weeds will mark those trees with 
Nature’s best green paint. As the trees stood on Sep¬ 
tember 4 I think those that were cultivated with the 
weeds and grass growing later were on the whole in 
better condition, with a darker color and a little more 
growth. Some of the “mulched” trees were quite as 
good as any of the cultivated, and I am confident that 
by October 1 there will be little to choose between 
them. Hale himself wisely refuses to express an opin¬ 
ion as to the outcome. He says wait and see! The 
true test is to come in the peach crop next year. No 
wise man will look at potato plants on June 1 and 
bet on the crop from their appearance. It is easy to 
see, however, that Hale is well satisfied with the 
color and vigor of all these trees, and he ought to 
know by this time when a tree is likely to bring forth 
good fruit! In justice to Mr. Hale it must be made 
clear that two things out of the ordinary induced him 
to try these new methods. It has been an unusually 
wet season, and there is no crop of peaches on the 
trees. The theory of cultivation is that it conserves 
moisture and holds it in the soil. This year there 
was too much moisture and, if anything, the grass 
and weeds relieved the trees by absorbing it. I be¬ 
lieve that a thick mulch on top of the ground will 
hold more moisture than the thorough cultivation, 
but Hale does not think so. As for the need of cul¬ 
ture while the trees are producing a crop, I am aware 
that most peach experts argue that for some reason 
this fruit is specially in need of an open, well-aired 
soil. That is why some of them argue that while the 
apple or pear which does well on heavy soil may thrive 
under a mulch, the peach which loves light open soil 
roust be cultivated. We shall learn the truth of that 
argument later. 
The most striking results which Hale has secured 
this year are due to a combination of plowing, mulch¬ 
ing and reseeding. Without knowledge of what Geo. 
T. Powell was doing Mr. Hale hit upon much the 
same practice that Mr. Powell described on page 546. 
Last Fall Crimson clover was seeded in the orchard; 
it ripened this year July 1-10. When ripe, every other 
alley in the orchard was plowed. Thus each row of 
trees was left with a plowed strip on one side of it 
and a strip of ripe clover on the other. Cultivators 
were run close to the trees and then spring-tooth har¬ 
rows were run crosswise so as to tear up the strips of 
clover and scatter the seed all over the plowed strips. 
The result was a perfect stand of clover in some 
places nearly six inches high already. The trees 
clearly showed the result of this treatment. I have 
rarely seen peach trees in early September with 
richer green color or more vigorous appearance. 
What caused this great vigor? Was it the plowing, 
the harrowing, the clover or the mulching? It is 
easy to see how this plan could be kept up year after 
year by plowing alternate strips each year so as to 
give the trees the benefit of alternate culture and 
mulch. The clover can be kept up year after year in 
this way without buying new seed. The spring-tooth 
harrow did the work so well that I could not tell from 
the appearance of the clover which side of the trees 
had been plowed. Hale says he questions the wisdom 
of trying this plan in a heavy bearing year, but the 
present results are so pronounced that he ought to 
try it on at least part of the orchard. 
The most interesting thing to me was the way Hale 
is planting a new orchard of apple and peach trees on 
a rough hillside. It was so close to the method I have 
followed and which I have called “Stringfellow,” that 
I had to rub my eyes to be sure that Hale was actual¬ 
ly planting trees in any such way. I will try to 
tell about this next week. If this experiment suc¬ 
ceeds it will mean much to the New England fruit 
growers, for it will show what can be done on the 
cheap, hillside land so abundant in Connecticut. Fruit 
growing on these abandoned hills may restore the 
profit in New England farming. h. w. c. 
ARE MORE SWEET APPLES NEEDED? 
We send by mail to-day (August 15) a box contain¬ 
ing three specimens of a Russian sweet apple (there 
is one Red Astrachan also, to take the sweet taste 
out of your mouth). The question is, is there a place 
in the apple list for this variety to fill? We have 
made no effort to introduce it, though we have had 
it in our orchard some time. Our Mr. W. P. Rupert 
(deceased), secured the buds of this Variety with IS 
or 20 other Russians. The first to come to the front 
was the Yellow Transparent, which he promptly in¬ 
troduced, and which soon became widely known. A 
number of other varieties from the lot have been 
more or less thoroughly introduced since. The graft 
on the original tree was so overshadowed by others 
higher up it never did much. It was very tardy in 
bearing; about four years ago we put in some other 
grafts, and they are now very heavily laden. These 
same grafts yielded some fruit last season. We have 
questioned if the demand for such a season and qual¬ 
ity of apple would be considerable. If not, then it 
would best drop by the wayside, for we nurserymen 
already have a heavy list of varieties, many having 
already been foisted upon us without sufficient excuse 
for their introduction, and we dislike to see that list 
extended. w. p. kupekt & son. 
Seneca, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—Specimens of the apple are shown at Fig. 
249. The color is excellent, and would attract atten¬ 
tion to the fruit in any market. It is a good sweet 
apple—above the average in quality. 
659 
AN EXPERIENCE WITH DRY BORDEAUX. 
How It Is Prepared and Applied. 
I have been searching the agricultural papers ear¬ 
nestly for the past three years for a formula for mak¬ 
ing a dry Bordeaux Mixture. Dr. Bird, acting chemist 
of the Missouri Agricultural College, has a formula 
for the dust spray that can be used in the dust spray¬ 
ing machines, which is the same chemical compound 
of copper that exists in a properly-made liquid Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture. Air-slaked lime is the carrier instead 
of water, as used in the liquid spray. One can find 
the slaked lime at any dealer’s, and it will cost much 
less than the lump, but if not one can buy the lump 
and expose it to the air till it is a dry powder; about 
75 per cent is amount given. This is sifted through 
a sieve made of screen wire, such as is used for fly 
screens. A common mason’s trowel is used for rub¬ 
bing through the lumps that do not sift readily. This 
is stock dust to be used in place of water, and should 
be kept in a dry place. Dissolve four pounds copper 
sulphate (mine cost 50 cents here at the drug store), 
in V-k gallons of water. Be sure to use an earthen or 
wooden vessel. I learned this after spoiling a strainer 
bucket. I pour the copper into the water, letting it 
remain over night; next morning I pour off the solu¬ 
tion Tn another vessel, and the copper that has not 
dissolved I break up into small lumps with a piece 
of an old broomstick, sawed square. Slake four pounds 
of lump lime by pouring 2% gallons of water over it. 
After cooling pour the two solutions together and 
empty into a sack to strain, but I cannot see why it 
is not just as well to pour this on to the 75 pounds 
slaked lime, which I had forgotten to say, must be in 
a box 2x4x1 foot for mixing. After hoeing this up 
thoroughly if it is too wet a little more lime must be 
added, so that it will be lumpy and not mushy. I use 
the mason’s trowel to chop edgewise, striking into the 
pile and drawing the 
trowel toward me. I let 
miri^e stand over night and 
next morning run through 
a half-inch mesh sieve by 
rubbing it through with 
the trowel. I then put in 
the attic to dry; then be¬ 
fore thoroughly dry I run 
through a wheat sieve 
such as used in the fan¬ 
ning mill. After drying 
another day or two I run 
through the sieve used for 
the air-slaked lime in the 
beginning. When thor¬ 
oughly dry the pile should 
have a bluish tinge and 
not be streaked with 
white. If one does not do 
a great deal of mixing 
with the hoe and chopping 
with the trowel it will not 
be properly mixed. The 
idea is that every particle 
of lime must dry some of 
the copper sulphate solution. Before putting in the 
spraying machine I run the powder through a flour 
sifter and the remaining lumps I rub up in a mortar 
such as druggists use, but the lumps can be broken 
up by rubbing them over a smooth board with the 
trowel. When using the machine I open the gate full 
width and the opening from the box must be looked 
after once in awhile in a day’s use; the fine particles of 
lime gather here and clog up the opening. This pow¬ 
der keeps indefinitely, and anyone can make up the 
year’s supply in the Winter, and by storing it in a 
dry place always have it ready. One pound of Paris- 
green added to every 20 pounds of the Bordeaux 
makes it an insecticide as well as a fungus destroyer. 
I have only used the powder a short time, yet I can 
see I stopped the blight on my celery and musk- 
melons. It is in every respect as effective as the 
liquid and so much easier to use. Of course, it is best 
to spray in the morning when the dew is on, as the 
wet leaves gather and hold more of the powder. 
Lebanon, 0. j. q. m. 
OHIO CROP CONDITIONS.—This is rather an off year 
for farmers in Ohio. Weather conditions have not been 
favorable to the development of the crops. Wheat in this 
section (south central) little more than a half crop; oats 
not grown to any great extent, but two-thirds crop. 
Corn is fair to good where planted early and well culti¬ 
vated, but a large part was planted late and has not yet 
shown promise of exceeding a half crop. Grass crops 
and pastures have been good, stock being in good shape 
for market, but prices very low for grass-fatted stock. 
Cattle, 34 to 41/2 cents; hogs, 5 to 5%; corn, 50 cents; 
wheat, 75; oats, 32; hay, J7 to ?10. Money plenty and 
farmers buying more land as opportunity suggests profits 
from the investments, interest being five per c^nt and 
taxes on cash about two per cent, whereas land is seldom 
taxed at a rate that is equivalent to one-half of its actual 
selling value. w. p. m. 
New Paris, O. 
A SWEET RUSSIAN APPLE—UNNAMED. Fig. 249. 
