8o4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NATIONAL NUT CROWERS’MEETING 
There was held at Audubon Park, New 
Orleans. La., October 28-30, the second an¬ 
nual meeting of the National Nut Growers’ 
Association. The pecan was the one nut 
discussed above ail others at this meeting, 
as it is now attracting more attention than 
any other as a cultivate.d nut in the East- 
ei-n States, and the place of meeting was 
in the region where it reaches its highest 
development. The attendance was good, 
the entire pecan-growing region being well 
represented, from Texas to Florida, and 
a few members from the Northern States, 
who are interested in the culture of this 
nut in the South. 
There was a fine showing of specimen 
pecans, which represented the leading va¬ 
rieties, and some newly-named kinds, and, 
besides, many seedlings of more or less 
value. There were some excellent .samples 
of the Paragon chestnut and some of the 
Hush chinquapin from Pennsylvania, which 
is a hybrid between the common chinquapin 
and the chestnut. One of the most inter¬ 
esting talks during the meeting was by S. 
II. James, of Mound, La., in which he told 
of his start in nut culture about 30 years 
ago. He went to a nursery in Georgia for 
$5 worth of nut trees and thought he would 
get a general assortment, possibly includ¬ 
ing cocoanuts and Brazil nuts, but he only 
got walnut, chestnut, pecan and almond 
trees. They all died in the course of a few 
years except the pecan trees, which flour¬ 
ished amazingly, like the wild trees of the 
same species about his place, but only one 
of these bore nuts of better size and 
quality than the native trees. It had rather 
small but very thin shelled and plump- 
meated nuts, and is yet standing near the 
house, where it was first planted. It bore 
three barrels of nuts when 25 years old 
and has rarely fallen much below that 
amount since. He became interested when 
this tree proved that there were better 
nuts than the wild ones, and went on from 
one step to another until now he has 100 
acres in pecan trees, most of which are 
budded or grafted, and of the choicest va¬ 
rieties known. He advocated the planting 
of these if possible, and if not, then the 
choicest seedlings. 
H. S. Watson, of Bloomington, Ill., dis¬ 
cussed “The outlook for commercial pecan 
growing,” and made it quite plain 
there is a great future for the 
It is just in its infancy. There is no nut 
so easily grown in Amei’ica, and it is grown 
in no other country. The market is prac-: 
tically unlimited, and the choice vaiie- 
ties of the highest quality. H. E. Van 
Deman, of Washington, D. C., made a plea 
for the planting of budded or grafted trees 
instead of seedlings, because the latter 
are of very uncertain character and can¬ 
not be depended on to come true from seed. 
The trees cost more but are worth more. 
The time to wait is too long, and the trees 
too long lived to warrant depending on 
the chances of getting good nuts from 
seed. A committee on nomenclatux’e and 
standards reported a set of rules for nam¬ 
ing the varieties and one for judging the 
nuts by an accurate scale of points. 'The 
matter of the fruitfulness and other im¬ 
portant points of the tree were deemed of 
even more importance than the size and 
flavor of the nuts. Following this report 
was a lively discussion of the merits of 
varieties of the pecan, in which the Stuart, 
Van Deman, Russell, Pabst, Frotscher, 
Schley, Young, Moneymaker, Halbert and 
a very few others were mentioned as ^he 
best of those so far tested sufficiently to 
be depended upon. The one called Colum¬ 
bian, Rome tmd several other narnes 
severely condemned because of its 
bearing, poor filling and bad quality, 
next meeting will be held at the St. Louis 
Exposition the last week in October, DO . 
H. B. V. D. 
tensely cultivated; nothing but bone, pot¬ 
ash and nitrate of soda has been used from 
the start for fertilizer, at a total cost not 
exceeding $2.50 in the 14 years, or less than 
$2.25 per ton of hay gathered. The seeding 
was 14 quarts of Timothy and 14 quarts of 
recleaned Red-top per acre.” 
that 
business. 
Building a Small Silo. 
J. V., WortMngion, 0.—Can you give me 
some directions for building a small silo? 
I have eight cows and only seven acre.s. 
Of course, I have to rent pasturing which 
takes off the profit. Could a silo be built 
by excavating a short distance, walling up 
with brick and cementing it, or would you 
use hogsheads? 
Ans.—Y ou could excavate to any de¬ 
sired depth and plaster the walls with 
Portland cement one part and coaree 
clean sand three parts. If the soil is 
stiff and firm the mixture will adhere 
without using stone or brick, just as 
you would plaster a cistern. The depth 
will of course depend upon your desire 
to lift the silage. A superstructure of 
w^ood can be built above this pit to any 
height. Personally I do not like to go 
more than five or six feet below the 
surface, much preferring to raise the 
corn when filling. The modern blower 
elevator will elevate any usual height 
up to 30 or 40 feet without difficulty. 
Many forms are built four, six and eight 
sides, and round. I am still of the opin¬ 
ion that of all the w'ood silos the round 
stave i)S the raost satisfactory. Very 
many are on the market or you can get 
out the material yourself, whichever 
will be the least expenisive. I should 
prefer steel wire rope for hoops, and 
to hang the doors on the outside, in 
every respect like a refrigerator door. 
Paint this inside and outside wdth Car- 
bolineum and it will be very serviceable. 
For eight cows you woiOl require 25 
feet in depth and 10 feet in diameter 
You would not easily fill above 20 feet 
of settled silage; this would hold 30 
tons 40 pounds a day per cow for six 
months. If you wish to feed longer 
build proiiortionately lar.ger. If you 
would build more permanently, use con¬ 
crete for the entire istructure. This ma¬ 
terial is bound to be the great building 
material of the future, and the scon 
we recognize it and act accordingly the 
sooner will we have buildings not only 
pro-of against decay, but also against 
fire. B. E. c. 
4,000,000 PEACH TREES 
TENNESSEE WHOLESALE NURSERIES, 
WINCHESTER, TENN. 
Exclusive Growers of Peach Trees 
June Buds a Specialty. 
No agents travel, but sell direct to planters at whole¬ 
sale prices. Absolutely free from oiseases and true 
to name. Write us for catalogue and prices before 
placing orders elsewhere. Largest Peach nursery in 
the world. Address 
J, C. HALE, Prop., AVlnchester, Tenu. 
TREES SUCCEED WHERE 
LarJesTNursery. OTHERS FAIL 
rges- - ^ 
'Fruit Bo(^ Free. Result of 78 years experience 
^STARK BROS, Louisiana, Mo.; Dansviile, N. Y.; Et. 
OlAn The great'‘moneymaker” In 
EAuELSIUn STRAWBERRIES. 
The carliestl>erry grown and The Best Early Market Berry* 
Its siii>erior carrying qualities and beautiful red color make 
It ver? popular In all the blgmarkeU. 1 have milUons of plants ofthli and 
W. F. ALLEN. Salisbury. Md. 
100,000 Apple, 200,000 Peach, 
30M. SOUR CHERRY. Low Prices. Catalogue. 
WOOD VIEW NURSERIES, B. 2, Mt. Holly Springs,Pa 
November 21 
NORTHERN GROWN TREES. 
Best climate. Best soil. Best for the Fruit 
Grower. Best for Agent and Dealer. Best Cata¬ 
logue, Best Prices. My treatment and trees make 
permanent customers. Once tried, always wanted. 
Catalogue free. Instructive, Interesting. 
MARTIN WAHL, Rochester, N Y 
buds 1 
mous I 
■ot.infF 
THE TREE OF LIFE 
is one budded upon a branched root seedling, puds 
taken from bearing trees, grown upon tlic famous 
Michigan fruit land, dug by our root protecting 
tree digger and handled lu our mammoth storage 
cellars. Small fruits and everything in nursery 
and greenhouse lines true to name at wholesale 
prices. ISTWe guarantee safe delivery. 
Catalogue FREE. Write to day. 
CENTRAL MICHIGAN NURSERY, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
Mtcliigan’sMammothjS'urserief 
TREES AND SHRUBS 
IN GREAT VARIETY. 
WELL GROWN, HEALTHY AND TRUE 
TO NAME. Many New and Rare Plants. 
Largest Stock in the South. 
Illustrated Catalogue Free. 
P. J. BERCKMANS CO. (INC.) 
Fruitland Nurseries, Augu-sta, Ga. 
Established in 1856. Over 460 acres in Nurseries. 
ETA I I Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocus, Narcissus, Lilies, &c. 
■ wiX n ouB Nbw Bulb Catalogue is sent free. It tells 
a Ml about the best bulbs, also seasonable seeds 
r'l.AiM I I IMtSI and plants, including our celebrated grass mix- 
HENRY a. DREER, Philadelphia, Pa. 
MONTMORENCY 
CHERRY TREES, two-year-old. bred from Geo. T. Powell’s 
Orchards. Send for i)rice8 of these and otlu-r business trees. 
ROGERS ON THE HILL, Dansviile, N. Y. 
STARK GRAPE NURSERIES are in the heart of the famous Chautauqua 
Grajie Belt, wliich produces the finest vines grown in the U. S. We have 
an immense stock of all leading sorts; quality perfect; prices low as those of 
any reputable grower. Send us vourorders—one vine or a car load. A com- 
. D U/A 9 Q PORTLAND, N.Y. 
Drv\J o Louisiana, Mo. 
GRAPE 
\/ f ]\T plete line of fruit trees, small c T A D 
Y E 1 N * fruits, etc. Price List free O 1 /A IV 
TREES 
AQ nPQ inn apple, pear, cherry, and peach, healthy,true to name and 
pO run lUUi Fumigated. All kinds of trees and plants at low wholesale prices. 
Don’t buy until you get our catalogue, which Is free, or send list of wants for special 
price. Address RELIANCE NURSERY, Box 10, Geneva, New York. 
etc., have been the standard of excellence for half a 
century. The best always cheapest. Have hundreds 
of carloads of 
Fruits and Ornamentals. 
40 acres of Hardy Roses Including 46,000 of the 
famous Crimson Rambler. 44 greenhouses of Palms, 
Fiens Ferns,Roses, etc. ^rrespondence solicited. Catalogue free. 6Uthyear. 1000 acres. 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., Painesville,0. 
w’as 
shy 
The 
CLARK GRASS CROP. 
As our readers are interested in the 
methods of grass. culture advocated by 
Geo. M. Clark, of Connecticut, we give the 
substance of his report for 1903. He has in 
all 14% acres in grass. Here are his figures 
dated November 7: 
3 % acres . 2,100 lbs. 600 lbs. per acre 
2 % “ .18,900 
7 4 “ .38,690 
First crop, 1903. was... 
Second crop, 1903, was, 
Third crop, 1903, was... 
6,871 
7,732 
5,338 
.110.72!! Ihs. 
. 66,211 ‘ 
. 1,750 
Total, first, second and third _ 
crops ...178 ,dJU 
Average, 12,218 pounds, which was t 
average of 951 pounds per acre more than 
1902 crop, which was 164,794 pounds; aver¬ 
age per acre, 11,268 pounds. 
Mr. Clark says that the 3% acres which 
did so poorly were not well cultivated be 
fore seeding, and this, he thinks, accounts 
for the small second crop. Mr. Clark adds 
the following: 
“The total crop from .seven-eighths of an 
acre in 14 years, first and second crop, one 
seeding. 114 tons. 428 pounds. The surface 
of this field to start with had little if any 
vegetable matter upon it; nothing but 
clay, gravel hardpan. First, it was in- 
Five Special Numbers Sent Free to New Subscribers for 1904. 
The Y ouths Companion 
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Tlie offer made by the publishers to New Subscribers for 1904 is very attractive, 
for it includes as a gift the Five Special Numbers shown above, and the other 
remaining issues of 1903, The contents of the new volume for 1904 will include 
SHORT STORIES of Character, Adven¬ 
ture and Humor by the best writers. 
SHORT NOTES on Current Events, 
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SERIAL STORIES of absorbing interest, 
each a book in itself. 
SPECIAL ARTICLES by Men and 
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TIMELY EDITORIAL ARTICLES on im¬ 
portant Public and Domestic Questions. 
Health in the Household, Children’s Page, Ete., Etc. 
250 
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NBW SUBSCRIPTION OFFER. 
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send it at once with name and address and $1.75 will receive; 
All the issues of The Companion for the remaining weeks of 1903. 
The Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Double Numbers. 
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And The Companion for the fifty-two weeks of 1904, — over two 
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