462 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 7 
up periodically, and it is quite often asserted that 
water-sprouts do not bear fruit. I saw a decrepit 
King apple tree in the orchard of F. D. Gardner, 
Barker, whose top was largely composed of water- 
sprouts, large and small, and they were laden with 
developing fruit. Mr. Gardner says that this is a 
common occurrence with the King. After seeing this 
tree I was on the lookout for water-sprouts, and saw 
several trees of different varieties on which there 
were water-sprouts loaded with young fruit. 
ADORNING THE HOME GROUNDS.—A notable 
exception to the usual method, or lack of method, of 
adorning country homes, is seen at the home of W. 
T. Mann, Barker. Mr. Mann has given up a generous 
area to his lawn, and has it tastefully planted with at 
least 200 varieties of trees and shrubs. The magni¬ 
tude of such a collection cannot readily be appre¬ 
ciated, but it is safe to say that its duplicate will be 
difficult to find in many a day’s journey. This expres¬ 
sion of a refined taste for the beautiful in horticul¬ 
ture is supplemented by a fine library, which con¬ 
tains many of the current books on horticulture and 
kindred subjects. While Mr. Mann is one of the suc¬ 
cessful fruit growers of Niagara County, he evidently 
believes that there is more in life than the mere ac¬ 
cumulation of dollars. The influence of such an ex¬ 
ample is sure to result in much good to the com¬ 
munity. 
KNOTTY FRUIT.—The question of knotty fruit 
was discussed in a recent issue of The R. N.-Y., but 
I do not remember that the bites of the insects known 
as case-bearers were given as a probable cause of 
knotty fruit. Several apple and pear orchards were 
visited that were badly infested with these curious in¬ 
sects, and many of the young fruits had from one to 
a half dozen small holes in them, where the case- 
bearers had been feeding. It was not difficult to find 
the insects at work on both apples and pears, and in 
some instances, two of the insects were attached to 
the fruit. The fruit will not recover from these in¬ 
juries, and where the insects are at all abundant I 
should expect to find a liberal amount of knotty fruit 
at gathering time. These pests have not been found 
difficult to control when properly-prepared spraying 
mixtures have been applied at the right time. 
A KEROSENE TRAGEDY.—One of the best culti¬ 
vators that we visited had an experience with kero¬ 
sene that he will not soon forget. The appearance of 
his orchards shows that he is up to date as regards 
cultivation, spraying, etc., but in an evil hour he read 
in some agricultural paper that kerosene and lime 
applied to the trunks of peach trees was just the thing 
to keep off borers. Accordingly, he mixed enough 
freshly-slaked lime with about three quarts of kero¬ 
sene to make a solution of the consistency of paint. 
Armed with a paint brush he proceeded to apply the 
mixture to a block of fine four-year-old peach trees. 
Unfortunately, there was enough to go over 200 of the 
trees. Now for the result: The treated trees can be 
distinguished from a distance by their yellow foliage; 
a number of them are in a dying condition, and the 
remainder are practically ruined. The owner places 
his loss at $1,000, but his estimate is certainly very 
conservative. Surely the agricultural press, in the 
hands of some people, is a wonderful institution. 
Geneva, N. Y. w. paddock. 
THE HOME OF THE MILLER CREAM MELON. 
A Big Market Garden in the Famous 
Chemung Valley. 
SPECIALIZED GARDEN INDUSTRIES.—It is 
often taken for granted that the largest and best- 
conducted market gardens are to be found near the 
greatest cities, as a sort of metropolitan adjunct, but a 
little reflection will show that the assumption is not 
altogether borne out. The famous trucking region 
about Norfolk, Va., and the celery farms of Kala¬ 
mazoo, Mich., and Horseheads, N. Y., as well as the 
melon districts of Colorado, Georgia and Florida, 
come to mind as specialized industries of this charac¬ 
ter, situated in localities favored by soil and climate 
for their leading products, without regard to the 
close vicinity of markets. Many of the smaller in¬ 
terior cities furnish a more reliable market for good 
home-grown produce than the big centers of popula¬ 
tion, which draw from vast distant territories and are 
often hopelessly glutted with shipments coming in 
much faster than they can be sold. The market gar¬ 
dens of the Miller Bros., Elmira, N. Y., have a great 
local reputation, extending far back in the past gene¬ 
ration. There are 400 acres in cultivation, nearly all 
within the city limits, about 150 acres being devoted 
to vegetables, 60 to tobacco, and the remainder in 
forage and rotation grain crops. Two or three crops 
are taken off the garden plots each season, most of 
the product being sold at once from their own retail 
wagons, though an occasional surplus is shipped to 
near-by manufacturing towns. The main crops are 
potatoes, cabbages, onions, melons, sweet corn, etc., 
but an extensive assortment of the minor vegetables 
and some small fruits are also grown. 
MAINTENANCE OF FERTILITY.—Although the 
natural fertility of the land, which is a deep clay 
loam, with occasional bands of gravel, has always 
been maintained since an ancestor of the present 
owners cleared off the immense pines early in the 
century, it is necessary to fertilize methodically and 
heavily in order to insure the high grade of products 
demanded by their critical customers, who have al¬ 
ways been accustomed to the best that can be grown, 
so a regular application of 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of the 
best complete chemical fertilizers procurable has been 
adopted, after innumerable trials of the comparative 
merits of the different chemicals and mixtures offered 
by the trade. John D. Miller, the father of the four 
“boys” comprising the present firm, ma&e up his 
mind 30 years ago that the local supply of stable 
manures would soon be inadequate to keep his lands 
up to the required pitcn of fertility, and commenced 
trial of the various commercial substitutes as they 
were brought forward. These tests are still continued, 
and some home mixing is carried on, but a reliable, 
high-grade, complete urand is the main dependence. 
The annual bill for chemical fertilizing material is 
now more than $1,200. 
HIGH FEEDING.—The soil now contains such a 
store of readily-available plant food that such pota¬ 
toes as the Rural New Yorkers, Carmans, etc., grow 
too coarse for market purposes. Early Rose, Hebron 
and Early Ohio, however, under this stimulating 
treatment, just fill the bill, producing good crops of 
large, handsome potatoes of most excellent quality. 
The potatoes were not as far advanced on June 5 as 
might be expected, but were just expanding their vig¬ 
orous dark green leaves. A. S. Miller, who has charge 
of the gardening operations, said: 
“We do not care to have these potatoes come on 
THE STAYMAN APPLE. Fig. 151. 
See Ruralisms, Page 466. 
very early, as their quality and appearance sell them 
on sight at any time. We plant in dedp furrows, drop- 
mg the pieces carefully by hand, and cover with a 
plow, throwing up a high ridge. The object is to get 
the roots down where the moisture is, as we have 
frequent droughts of late years, probably due to the 
destruction of the forests in the hills, and find that if 
we plant deeply we have a better chance to get a 
good crop. The ridging delays the upward growth 
until roots have freely formed. When the sprouts 
have about reached the average surface level, we put 
on the leveler and Acme harrow lengthwise of the 
rows, cutting down the ridges and filling the furrows 
nearly full. The cultivator is then run through every 
week as long as the growth of top allows, ending 
again with a slight ridging fully to cover any pota 
toes so near the surface as to be affected by the sun. 
Two slight furrows are thus left near the rows, which 
hold the rain and conduct it where it will do the most 
good. We are now able to grow potatoes from start 
to finish without using the hand hoe, as the growth 
spreads so quickly after the ridges are leveled that 
weeds get no start in the row itself, and the culti¬ 
vator takes care of the space between rows.” 
“How do you fertilize?” 
“About 1,200 pounds of the best grade potato fer¬ 
tilizer containing 10 per cent of potash, is broadcast 
with our fertilizer distributor, and harrowed in just 
before planting, nothing more seems to be needed, as 
there is considerable plant food left over from the 
previous year’s fertilization, which was essentially 
the same, though differing in some degree accord¬ 
ing to the crops raised.” 
“Have you ever computed the cost of potatoes 
grown in this manner?” 
“Yes. We find that the cost is about 20 cents per 
bushel, not counting the interest on land, which would 
be rather high, as we pay city taxes on it. We get an 
average price of about 60 cents per bushel, and ex¬ 
pect a yield of 300 to 350 bushels per acre, so you 
see the crop is not a losing one. w. v. f. 
DEEPLY-PLANTED APPLE ROOT GRAFTS. 
The illustration of a young apple tree, and com¬ 
ments thereon, on page 123 in The R. N.-Y., agree 
with various Statements made by me in these columns 
for years past. That the upper soil being warmer 
than that Which is from about six inches to a foot 
beneath the surface, it induces a stronger root growth 
on young trees or cuttings than that which is cooler, 
provided it is moist. The experiments with root 
grafts which I made in Kansas many years ago, and 
to Which I have occasionally referred, were exactly 
similar in principle and outcome to the case of this 
tree. The long or “whole-root” grafts that had rooted 
so long—about twelve inches—that a spade was re¬ 
quired to set them, sent out no roots in some cases, 
and only a few feeble ones in any of them below about 
the first six inches. In the course of a few years 
some of these lower parts died and rotted, as I know 
from having dug them up for the purpose of examina¬ 
tion. When the yearling tree in Montana was set it 
was very similar to the deeply-planted root grafts of 
my own making, and behaved in much the same way. 
The lower part, Which was then the only rooted part, 
was in too cold ground to make much growth, as the 
picture plainly shows. The part of the little tree in 
the upper soil, where is was warmed by the sun, de¬ 
veloped roots just as a cutting does. The reason the 
scion did not throw out roots the first year was, that 
it was only about five inches long, and did not ex¬ 
tend deep enough into the ground to induce it to do 
so. Where the piece-roots are short—about three 
inches—and the scions six or more inches long, as 
tney usually are proportioned by the nurserymen, it 
is a general thing for the scions to throw out roots 
just above where the union is made. 
The reason for the tree under discussion (which I 
judge from the picture to be a Ben Davis) throwing 
out roots at the buds, is that there was a larger 
amount of nutriment at those places than elsewhere. 
It is always so. Nature provides a store of starch at 
the base of the buds for their future use, and this i3 
easily directed to root development when the branch 
is put in the earth, provided the nature of the plant 
or tree is such as to form adventitious roots easily. 
It is a common practice in making “single-eye” grape 
cuttings to pare off the bark near the buds that the 
rootlets may the more easily come out. Wood more 
than one year old does not strike root easily; I think 
that is why older trees in the experiment died. Their 
own roots were too deep to grow, and the bodies did 
not strike root. It is my opinion that the original or 
lower root system of the young tree pictured will 
eventually die or remain practically dormant, and 
that the upper part will live and flourish, or, at least, 
that it would have done so, had the tree not been 
dug up. Ben Davis is one of the easiest varieties to 
make and depend upon its own roots. When any 
tree does this, it shows an inherent vitality that is 
very desirable. Such trees are usually hardy and 
vigorous, and they are better for being on their own 
roots than on those of a less stable kind. The fact 
that lower or old part of the root system may decay 
will not seriously affect the upper part, because the 
latter is healthy and independent of it. My trees have 
proven this to be true, for I planted many of them 
in my orchards when the lower parts of the roots 
were practically useless. I think we may learn a 
valuable and practical lesson from these experiments, 
and I have known some to have practiced upon it. 
That by using a short piece of root to keep the scion 
alive until it has had opportunity to make roots of 
its own, and planting it deeply, there may be pro¬ 
duced more hardy and vigorous trees than those 
grown upon roots of seedlings which are of uncertain 
if not positively tender and feeble constitution. This, 
of course, would necessarily depend upon the variety 
used being hardy and vigorous. h. e. v. d. 
A PROBLEM IN CULTIVATION. 
A correspondent says that he had a dry dust mulch 
two or more inches deep, upon which had fallen a 
rain, and that cultivation could not follow soon 
enougn to prevent the surface drying and forming a 
slight crust on the top, while beneath this crust there 
was about two inches of dry soil between it and that 
which was moist, and he asks whether cultivating in 
this condition would not result in the loss of more 
moisture than would be saved. The probabilities are 
that under the conditions stated the cultivation of 
such a soil would not materially lessen the rate of 
evaporation, and it might even increase it, by expos¬ 
ing more or less of the moist soil below the mulch to 
evaporation. The only condition which would indicate 
that cultivation should follow the formation of such 
a crust would be that the crust is too close and com¬ 
pact to permit of sufficient aeration of the soil, or 
else the dry soil beneath the crust is too thin to fur¬ 
nish sufficient protection against evaporation. 
