20 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 13 
Van Deman’s Fruit Notes. 
ALL SOBT8 OF QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
Gravenstein, Gloria Mundi and Missouri Apples 
I have recently come into possession of 
an apple orchard set two years. The va¬ 
rieties are Gravenstein and Gloria Mundi. 
I wish to know whether these are desir¬ 
able kinds, or should I top-graft to others, 
and if so, to what varieties? Are they as 
early bearers, productive and salable as 
Oldenburg? If I graft at all, I wish to 
graft to some kind which will come into 
bearing as soon as possible, and bear regu¬ 
larly—with best of care, of course. Please 
describe the variety named Missouri, and 
state if It would be adapted to this State. 
Canandaigua, N. Y. f. r. 
Gravenstein is an excellent apple in 
quality and appearance, and bears well, 
but it is a Fall variety, and must be 
sold on the September market for imme¬ 
diate consumption. If there is a good 
trade for such an apple it would be wise 
to leave that part of the orchard as it is. 
Fall apples sometimes sell very well, but 
late keepers usually pay much better. 
Gloria Mundi is a very large but very 
poorly flavored Fall apple, that is a 
fraud and a delusion to whoever buys 
it, and the grower will have a hard time 
to sell the second, if not the first lot, 
to any dealer or consumer. The trees 
would be top-grafted in short order if 
they were mine. While it is true that 
Oldenburg is an early bearer, and sells 
well, it must be sold in haste, for, like 
all early Fall or late Summer apples, it 
scon decays after ripening. It is an 
earlier bearer than either Gravenstein 
or Gloria Mundi, but not nearly so good 
in quality as the former, not so large, 
and not more handsome. 
Missouri is an apple of medium size, 
beautifully striped with brilliant red, 
and of fair quality. It would keep all 
Winter if grown in New York, and is 
one of the earliest and most abundant 
bearers. It is grown by the million in 
the orchards of the Central West, espec¬ 
ially in Missouri and Kansas, but there 
have been but few trials of it in the 
East. In Delaware it has attracted some 
favorable attention, where a few trees 
were set as an experiment, but I do not 
know of any place in New York where 
it has been grown. My belief is, that it 
would be a very desirable apple there as 
a filler, or to use for top-grafting on old 
trees, and if I lived there I would try it. 
My old friend Wellhouse, of Kansas, the 
“Apple King of America,” has repeated¬ 
ly told me that for the first 15 years of 
the life of an orchard Missouri is the 
most profitable variety he knows, but 
that after that time Ben Davis is the 
leader. This would not be true of Ben 
Davis in New York, but it might be of 
Missouri. 
Fertilizers for Fruit Trees. 
nures of any kind will add to their keep¬ 
ing qualities is yet to be worked out. 
Potash and phosphoric acid are known 
to add both high color and rich quality 
to fruits, when they are applied to the 
soil about the trees upon which they 
grow; and that nitrogen increases the 
size to the detriment of the color and 
quality, in some degree. This is espec¬ 
ially true of peaches and oranges, ac¬ 
cording to many practical tests that 
have been made. It seems to be that 
the conclusion is reached that high 
color and good quality in a given va¬ 
riety are co-existent. Where one is the 
other is also, and where one is not the 
other is not found. Not that there are 
not very highly-colored varieties that 
are poor in flavor; but that, for instance, 
a highly-colored Elberta peach or Wine- 
sap apple is richer-flavored than one 
that is not well colored. I learned when 
a boy getting apples in my father’s cel¬ 
lar, to pick for the handsomest apple 
in a barrel of one kind u I wanted the 
best one to eat. Lime undoubtedly has 
a beneficial effect upon the soil of most 
apple orchards, and indirectly upon the 
fruit as well; and, for that matter, upon 
all other fruits. It probably assists in 
the disintegration of certain minera 
compounds in the soil which contain 
phosphoric acid and potash, which with¬ 
out some such aid would remain largely 
unavailable. Liming an orchard nearly 
always pays, and I think, for the above 
reason. Whether or not it adds to thj 
late keeping of apples I do noi know. 
2. There is no danger of hurting ap¬ 
ple or other trees by putting dry bones 
in the ground under or about them. 
They decay very slowly, and give up 
their phosphoric acid and lime grad¬ 
ually through a long series of years. 
3. A list of apples for home use in 
Michigan, arranged in order of ripen¬ 
ing, would be about as follows, if I 
should wish to plant there for myself: 
Summer Rose, Early Harvest, Primate, 
Fanny, Early Joe, Lowell, Jefferis, 
Gravenstein, Grimes, Jonathan, Swaar, 
Rhode Island Greening and York Im¬ 
perial. Only about two trees each of 
the first six or seven kinds should be 
planted, and most of the later varieties. 
44 The Prudent Mart Setteth 
His House in Order/' 
Your human tenement should be given 
even more careful attention than the 
house you live in. Set it in order by 
thoroughly renovating your whole system 
through blood made pure by taking 
Hood's Sarsaparilla. Then every organ 
will act promptly and regularly. 
Never Disappoint 
1. Have experiments ever been conducted 
to determine the individual effects of large 
applications of either phosphate, potash, 
nitrogen or lime on the quality or keeping 
qualities of apples or other fruits? In this 
vicinity sandy soil will produce higher-col¬ 
ored, higher-flavored apples than can be 
produced on clay ground, but they ripen 
early, and will not keep. Liming the soil 
is supposed to affect the keeping qualities 
favorably. 2. Can apple trees be hurt by 
too heavy an application of dry bones, or 
by having too n^.ny bones buried in the pit 
in which the trees are to be planted? 3. 
What varieties of apples, adapted to this cli¬ 
mate, do you consider the best and highest 
flavored, and most suitable for home use? 
Midland, Mich. H. h. d. 
1. There have been no series of ex¬ 
periments made, so far as I know, to de¬ 
termine the effect of any single kind of 
fertilizer or combination of two or more 
upon the flavor or keeping qualities of 
apples. It is possible that the Experi¬ 
ment Station at Geneva, N. Y., is now 
engaged in, or contemplates such tests. 
It has been accidentally determined, 
however, by some few individual experi¬ 
ments, that applications of highly ni¬ 
trogenous manures protract the season 
of growth of apple and other fruit trees 
and plants, and retard the ripening of 
their fruit. While no special attempt 
has been made, to my knowledge, to 
learn whether or not apples from trees 
so treated will keep longer in Winter, I 
am inclined to believe that they will do 
so. A Winter apple is an immature 
apple when gathered, and the longer the 
ripening can be deferred the better 
keeper will it be. It is quite well known 
by some of our best fruit growers that 
light sandy lands are not nearly so 
good for producing long-keeping apples 
as clay lands, but to what extent ma- 
For the land’s sake — use Bowker’s 
Fertilizer.— Adv. 
ESTABLISHED 1802 
Our 1900 Catalogue is now ready, 
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(Late of (S John Street) 
36 CORTLANDT STREET. NEW YORK 
JUST OUT. 
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They make a specialty of dealing direct 
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A makes Bauquo demand of the witches, 
“ If you can look into the SEEDS OF 
TIME, 
And say which grain will grow, and 
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Speak then to me, who neither beg 
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Get the best. For the “ Leading Ameri¬ 
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PHILADELPHIA. 
A Good Sign • 
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PLANT 
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i 
i 
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Seeds! Seeds! 
76th Annual Priced Catalogue of 
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BRIDGEMAN’S SEED WAREHOUSE, 
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Well began is half done. 8 ow well 
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J. H. (.UKfiORY A SON, H.rblrh»d,Ma«. 
PLANTS, 
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liip PPI I direct to planters reliable Trees at 
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The BEST FRUIT 
Echo Strawberry. 
Loudon and 
Columbian Raspberry 
Erie and Rathbun 
Blackberry. 
Pearl Gooseberry. 
Pomona and 
Red Cross Currants. 
is the only kind worth growing. 
1 handle nothing that I cannot 
guarantee. All my plants are 
hardy, fresh dug, and war¬ 
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ALLEN L. WOOD, Wholesale Grower, Rochester, N. Y, 
WANTED 
Every person who Intends setting a 
Strawberry plant during the year 
1900 to 
Sand name and ad¬ 
dress for my now Straw¬ 
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which is now ready. It is full of good 
things in the Strawberry line and 
My Prlcea Ara Right. 
No agents. I deal directly with 
growers. 
W. F. ALLEN, 
Box 44 Salisbury, Md. 
mm 
sssbkski 
N 
O crop can 
grow with= 
out Potash. 
Every blade of 
Grass, every grain 
of Corn, all Fruits 
and Vegetables 
must have it. If 
enough is supplied 
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if too little, the growth will be 
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Send for our books telling all about composition of 
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GERMAN KALI WORKS, 93 Nassau St., New York. 
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JAMES VICK’S SONS, 
Rochester, N.Y. 
Salzer’i Rape 
(Tires Rich, 
f ree* _ . 
°od, yff' 
at 
26c. 
ft 
to 
FARM 
SEEDS 
Speltz— 
What Ir it 1 
Catalog 
tells. 
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X Seedsman, Box 42. FHtetd, Mich. 
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your t Chestnut Trees 
A few grafts put in your seedling chestnut tree will make it pay big I name price and kinds in catalogue 
Free. Full line nursery stock. ARTHUR J. COLLINS, Moorestown, Burlington Co., N. J. 
The Fruits to Plant 
for profitable results are named in our 1900 
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gives accurate descriptions of varieties and 
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THE STORRS A HARRISON CO., Box 789 , Palnesville, Ohio. 
