528 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 4 
Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure atten¬ 
tion. Before asking a question, please see 
whether it is not answered in our advertising 
columns. Ask only a few questions at one time. 
Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
Cherries and Pears. 
8. ./., Quakcrtoum, N. J.—l wish to plant 
a number of sweet cherry trees for market. 
I have Black Tartarian, Napoleon, Wind¬ 
sor and Dyckman. Would it be well to 
plant the above varieties? Where can I 
get the Worden Seckel pear, and is it all 
claimed for it? 
Ans.—T he varieties named are among 
the best of the sweet cherries, and it 
would he well to use the same, at least 
in part, tin future plantings. Napoleon, 
which is a light-colored cherry, is the 
only one I would feel doubtful about. It 
is good in every way, except that, like 
all light-colored varieties, it is not so 
well received on the market as the red 
or black kinds. Some of the most profit¬ 
able of our cherries are the Montmoren¬ 
cy, Bb.ilippe and English Morello, but 
they are all sour, and may not be suited 
to the use intended, h. e. van deman. 
Marianna and Other Plums. 
G. TV. II., Waterford, N. J.—l have an or¬ 
chard of about 400 Marianna plum trees 
four or five years old. They probably will 
not be profitable. Would peaches succeed 
well budded In the tops of these trees? 
What variety of native plum do you con¬ 
sider the most profitable? 
Ans. —It would be useless to try to 
change these trees into peach trees by 
either grafting or budding. If any of 
the grafts would grow the union would 
be so poor that the tops would soon 
blow off. But they may be grafted with 
some of the valuable plums. The Japan 
kinds do very well on the Marianna, 
either grafted or budded. The trees 
might be top-grafted early next Spring, 
and on those stumps when the grafts 
fail to grow a sprout or two should be 
left and budded in the proper season 
that year. By ibis means almost a per¬ 
fect stand ought to be secured the nrst 
year. Among the best of our native 
plums are Milton, Whitaker, Wooten, 
Quaker and Wyant. They might do 
fairly well on the Marianna stocks. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Budded, Whole-Root or Piece-Root Grafts. 
IV. TF„ Burlington, Iowa.— Are budded and 
■whole-root apple trees preferable to piece- 
root grafts? 
Ans. —There is a division of opinion 
among our best fruit growers and relia¬ 
ble nurserymen on this point. Budded 
trees made by setting buds on seedlings 
that have never been removed from 
where the seeds were planted have 
Whole roots. Those budded on trans¬ 
planted seedlings and those made by 
root-grafting cannot possibly have all 
the roots that naturally grew upon 
them, but they may be practically 
“whole-root” trees. The first five or six 
inches of the upper part of a good apple 
seedling makes as good a tree, and in 
■my experience, a better one than if the 
whole of the root as it was taken up 
had been used. I have been told by 
some of the nurserymen who make great 
claims for “whole-root” trees that they 
use the upper five or :six inches only for 
the production of the stock they sell un¬ 
der tae above name. Such trees I be¬ 
lieve to be somewhat better than those 
grown from small pieces of roots graft¬ 
ed on to scions; but there are those who 
claim that a short piece of root will 
make as good a root system as a large 
piece, and I have no reason to doubt 
either their candor or their judgment, 
for some of them are among our best 
orchardists who grow their own trees 
for setting in their large commercial or¬ 
chards. If they thought larger pieces of 
roots were better they would use them, 
for the difference in cost is trifling. The 
main point is to have a tree with ,t 
good root system, whether it be made by 
budding or by grafting on long or short 
roots. There are good and poor ones of 
all these styles. My preference is for 
trees grown from four to six-inch upper 
cuts of one-year-old apple seedlings. 
IT. E. V. D. 
Twig Blight and Aphis. 
C. L. P., Boulder, Col.—1 see an item in 
your issue of June 30 regarding blight in 
apple trees; also one about Woolly aphis 
and Root aphis. Is the latter the cause of 
the twig blight? A neighbor of mine claims 
it is. If so, is there any cure for it? 
Ans. —Woolly aphis is not the cause of 
Apple twig-blight, nor of any other dis¬ 
ease except the gradual failing of the 
trees as the roots become weakly from 
the effects of the insects upon them. 
There seems to be no sure way to de¬ 
stroy this troublesome pest; but tobacco 
dust will seriously interrupt them, and 
in some cases destroy them. The roots 
should he laid bare, by taking off the 
top soil down to where they are, the dust 
spread over them abundantly, and the 
earth replaced. This will be worth all 
it costs because of the fertility it con¬ 
tains, to say nothing of the effects upon 
the Woolly aphis. There is no cure for 
the twig blight beyond the cutting away 
of all diseased branches, and it is almost 
impossible to know how far below the 
dead and outwardly affected parts the 
disease germs really extend. But if 
this plan was thoroughly carried out for 
a few yeans in all the orchards there 
would soon be little or no source of 
infection. h. e. van deman. 
Heeling in Apple Trees. 
J. F. M., Kelton, Utah.— In a cold location, 
would you consider it good practice to pro¬ 
cure apple trees in the Fall for Spring 
planting? In the location in which I pro¬ 
pose planting next Spring, the thermometer 
sometimes drops to 30 degrees below zero; 
frequently very little snow, and mice 
plentiful. If I heel the trees in by care¬ 
fully covering them all over, tops as well 
as roots, with mellow earth, would they 
not be in good condition for planting in 
the Spring, provided they were received in 
good condition? Would there be any dan¬ 
ger of covering them too deeply? 
Ans. —It would surely be much wiser 
to get the trees in the Fall and bury 
them as proposed than to plant them at 
once, for the Winter would surely in¬ 
jure if not kill them, where the tem¬ 
perature gets so low as 30 degrees below 
zero, and especially in so dry a climate 
as Utah. 1 would cover the tops as well 
as roots, and, as there are said to be 
plenty of mice there, I would poison 
some corn or wheat and scatter it 
through the soil next the trees when 1 
heeled them in. This will kill any mice 
that might otherwise gnaw the trees. 
But the greatest care should be exercised 
that no fowls or pigs be poisoned by 
the grain, erener during the Winter or 
afterwards. The heeling-in place should 
be where they do not go at any time of 
year. I have repeatedly got trees in the 
Fall and treated them so in Kansas, and 
never found any injury from burying 
root and branch, but on the contrary, 
much protection from the severity of the 
Winters, which were generally dry and 
sometimes quite cold. I would suggest 
that the roots and tops both be trimmed 
before the trees are buried, just as tuey 
should be the coming Spring for plant¬ 
ing. This will give the roots a chance 
to callus where they are cut, and tiny 
rootlets may be started before planting 
time. I do not think there is danger of 
covering too deeply; but there must be 
no delay about uncovering and planting 
when the Spring has really come, else 
there may be injury. 
IT. E. VAN DEMAN. 
When to Water Lawns and Gardens. 
When is the best time of the day for 
watering plants or flowers? By general 
consent most people seem to apply water 
in late afternoon or evening. 
Ans. —Where it can as well be done 
late in the afternoon, and toward even¬ 
ing, this is the better time to do the 
watering. If the watering is done in the 
hot part of the day and the water gets 
upon the plants, it is liable to produce 
scald in many of the plants having deli¬ 
cate tissues. It is liable also to cool off 
the ground, and in this way lower the 
root pressure to such an extent that 
sometimes plants may be made to wilt 
badly when the water is being applied to 
them in consequence of the lowering of 
the root pressure, which forces the 
water into the tissues above. It is also 
true that when the water is applied late 
in the afternoon the rate of surface 
evaporation is materially less during the 
next 12 hours, and this gives a larger 
opportunity of a higher per cent of the 
water to find its way deeper into the 
ground, where it is less liable to be lost 
by immediate evaporation. If advan¬ 
tage, however, is taken of cloudy days, 
then water may be applied as well in the 
morning or forenoon as toward evening. 
The fundamental point to be kept in 
mind is that water should be applied so 
as not to produce scalding and at the 
time when the smallest rate of evapora¬ 
tion will follow the application of the 
water. If large volumes of water are 
being used in the watering of lawns or 
parks, as should be the case where the 
watering is done to the best advantage, 
then the water may be applied at any 
convenient time. Again, if one is water¬ 
ing gardens, leading the water in fur¬ 
rows, so that it is running slowly 
through them and soaking gradually 
into the ground, there is no reason other 
than the slightly greater loss of evapo¬ 
ration against applying the water at any 
convenient time. In this case, of course, 
the water would not come in contact 
with me plants. f. h. king. 
What About Brome Grass ? 
G. H. S., Preston, O —What about Brome 
grass (Bromus inermis)? Is It desirable to 
plant it? Will it do as represented? Can 
it be got rid of when once in the soil, and 
does it pay for hay? Is it better for graz¬ 
ing than the Blue grass? Wheat a failure; 
clover failed; oats good; too much rain to 
harvest. Corn promises to be fine; no fruit 
worth mentioning. 
Ans. —This grass came to us from 
Russia, and seems best adapted to the 
soil and climate of the Northwest. In 
the Dakotas and parts of Nebraska it 
does well, and appears to be more valu¬ 
able than Timothy and other cultivated 
grasses. The experiment stations at 
Lincoln, Neb., and Brookings, N. D., tell 
the truth about this grass, but in the 
humid climate of the States east of the 
Mississippi River we do not believe it 
will be found superior to the cultivated 
grasses. 
Wheat Hay for Sale. 
Reader (No Address)— The following state¬ 
ment is said to have been made before a 
Georgia agricultural society. What does 
The R. N.-Y.. think of it? “Wheat hay 
makes an excellent food ration for work¬ 
ing animals. On good land two tons of 
this hay can be harvested per acre, and 
it should be cut when the grain is in the 
milky stage. When cut and baled this 
forage will sell for $12 per ton, giving a 
gross income of $24 per acre, much more 
than can oe realized from an acre of wheat 
when ripe and the grain and straw sold 
separately. Wheat is a sure crop, which 
cannot be said of oats, so that the wheat 
acreage can be profitably increased by re¬ 
ducing the oat acreage.” 
Ans. —Grain hay, cut and cured just 
right, is excellent fodder. We have sev¬ 
eral tons of oat hay now on hand. We 
have no doubt many farmers would be 
better off to cut both oats and wheat 
when green enough to make hay, rather 
than to mature the grain. This would 
be for home feeding. There is, at pres¬ 
ent, no market for grain hay, and the 
cash value of $24 per acre could not be 
obtained. 
THIS IS A 
BEAN HARVESTER. 
You ought 
to know all 
about it. 
Introduc¬ 
tory Prices. 
Write Us. 
THE FARMERS HANDY WAGON CO., 
Agents Wanted. SAGINAW, MICH- 
iM* 1 
«l 
fi/Ml ; 
umr DREER’S 
Pot-Grown 
it Strawberry Plants 
y planted this Summer will produce a full 
crop of berries next June. Our Mid- 
k Summer catalogue, just, out and mailed 
free, offers plants of the best and new- 
...i est varieties. The “ G^nd.s^on«^ ,, 
finest berry known. Early, large, 
and delicious llavor. Price,76cts. 
per dozen; $5.01) per hundred . A ‘ 
HENRY A. PREER, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
Strawberry Plants. for Sale. 
(POT-GROWN.) 
Also runners after September 1. Send for cir¬ 
cular. Nursery Stock in large quantities. 
Catalogue free. 
THE ELIZABETH NURSERY COMPANY, 
KLIZABETH, N. J. 
Beautiful Strawberries in 1901 
We can furnish you with 
pot-grown Strawberry Plants 
that will bear a full crop of 
fruit next year. Celery and 
Cabbage 1‘lants. Full line of 
Fruit and Ornamental Stock. 
Write at once for our Summer 
and Autumn catalogue. It 
explains all. Fruit packages 
of all kinds for sale at low 
prices. T. J. DWYER & SON, 
Orange County Nurseries, Box 1, Cornwall, N. Y. 
bestby test—74YEARS. We f) A V CASH 
WANT MORE Salesmen Y /\ I WtEKIV 
Stark Nursery, Louisiana, flo; bansville, LY. 
Plants 
Tomato, Celery, Cabbage, Pepper, 
etc. CHEAP IN LARGE LOTS. 
J. S. LINTH1CUM, Wood ward ville. Md 
AAA CELERY PLANTS. Strong 
3 V/Ui vUU field grown; six varieties. 
$1 perl,000. 7 Extra strong selected. $1 50 per 1,000 cash, 
WM. 8. HERZOG, Morris Plains, N. J. 
c 
RIMSON CLOVEn 
Do not be deceived In buying 
cheap foreign seed. ■ m. 
We are Headquarters for pure Delaware Seed. 
New crop. Write for prices. 
II. L. HOLMES, Seedsman, Harrisburg, Pa. 
4^1 ft| Ot |*L| A We are Headquarters tor 
E | TOP EM M Seed & Plants. 
I Valuable book about it, telling how togrow thousaudaof 
dollars worth, what used for and who Is growing it. Sent f or 1 Oe 
AMERICAN GINSENG GARDENS, ROSE HILL, New York. 
M ammoth White WinterSeed ltye, noted for its 
productiveness both in grain and straw, award¬ 
ed first prizes at several N. Y. State and American 
Institute Fairs. Also first at the Tenn. Centennial, 
Mo., Vt. and Mass. State Fairs. Send for illustration. 
Price, *1 per bu. E. L. CLARKSON, Tivoli, N. V. 
Harvest King Seed Wheat. 
Heavy-yielding; red. smooth chaff. Yielded 40 bush¬ 
els per acre with me this season. Write for descrip¬ 
tion and prices. 
A. H. HOFFMAN, Lamlisville, Pa. 
200,000 Peach 
HEADQUARTERS FOR 
YORK IMPERIAL and KIEFFER. 
One tree to a carload. 
Business trees at business prices. (They are bear¬ 
ers.) Inducements to Peach buyers. Let us 
quote you on your want list. 
WOODV1EW NC KSFRIES, Box 100, Uriah, Pa. 
R POSSIBILITIES 
fully realized by those who plant our 
Standard Kiefer Pears. 
Our stock is renowned lor vigor and rapid 
growth and absolute freedom from disease, etc, 
This pear is enormously productive, large size, 
line navor and handsome appearance. A good 
seller. Trees are free from blight; ripens late. 
Our stock is the best the growers’ art can produce. 
IIAUKIHON’SHUKSKIUES. Box 29 Berlin, Md. 
Choicest Fruit and Ornamental Trees. 
Shrubs, Plants, Bulbs, Seeds. 40 Acres Hardy Roses. 44 Greenhouses 
of Palms, Everblooming Roses, Ficus, Ferns, Etc. Correspondence 
solicited. Catalogue Free. 47 Years. 1000 Acres. 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., Painesville, O. 
For $2, I will send by express or freight, i Alpha, i Parry’s 
Giant, i Early Reliance and i Paragon chestnut tree grafted, 
worth $3.25. Full line of Nursery Stock Certificate. 
ARTHUR J. COLLINS, Moorestown, Burlington County, N. J. 
