1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
623 
WHAT ABOUT APPLE PRICES? 
The R. N.-Y. will endeavor, this year, to give accurate 
reports of prices offered by produce buyers. Just now 
these buyers are beginning to figure on the apple crop. 
The first extended report comes from Orleans County, 
N. Y., as follows: 
One grower told me that he had sold his crop of 
apples, estimated at 2,500 barrels, mostly Baldwins, 
for a little more than $1 per barrel for the fruit. The 
sheriff of our county sold his crop, estimated at 2,000 
barrels, for $2,000; growers to pick and deliver to 
railroad. A New York apple buyer has bought about 
17,000 barrels in lots of from 1,000 to 5,000 barrels, at 
an estimate on part of seller of $1 per barrel for the 
fruit. One man told me that he had been offered $1.10 
per barrel for his fruit—Winter apples. A lot of 
Maiden Blush of about 100 barrels were sold at $2 
per barrel. Fall apples are selling from $1 to $2 per 
barrel; buyers very anxious to engage Twenty Ounce 
apples and Greenings. 
The Government report is like that of the apple 
dealers’ association, very much against the grower. 
Michigan, for example, quoted at 61 per cent of full 
crop. I have seen within a short time six persons 
living in Michigan and four or five who have spent 
from one to three weeks in that State; all say a fair 
to good crop, but quality very poor. A dealer, in 
years past a large purchaser of Missouri apples, tells 
me that his advices from that State indicate a high 
crop. A Missouri buyer, when asked last week why 
he came to western New York to buy apples, said that 
Missouri had only 25 per cent of a crop, and that not 
to exceed one-fourth of that would do to put in bar- 
. rels. Mr. Van Alstyne, of Kinderhook, was here re¬ 
cently. He thinks crop in Hudson Valley about one- 
half of full crop. He thinks the crop spotted except¬ 
ing the northwestern part of this State. It is very 
apparent that the towns of Albion, Gaines and Carl¬ 
ton, in this county, have a larger crop than ever be¬ 
fore. The town of Murray is about equal to 1896: 
the other towns having less. A part of Niagara 
County has a grand crop, and a part of the county 
pretty light. Reports from Genesee, Monroe, Wyo¬ 
ming, Yates, Erie and Wayne indicate a large crop in 
a part of each county, and a portion of each with sub¬ 
stantially nothing, while in 1896 every tree, whether 
in orchard or fence corner, was full of apples. Some 
orchards in this county will yield double, or more 
than double, what they ever did before. Some of the 
owners are frightened at the Government report, and 
are ready to sell for almost any fair price; they have 
so many that they can’t store. Never before did we 
hear of or know of so many buyers coming here to 
get apples. 
I have driven about 150 miles around this county on 
different roads; have listened to Traveling men and 
farmers discuss the apple situation, so I have given 
you the best I could. It is not a very pleasant thing 
to dispute the Government report, but if this report 
is correct, why are the buyers offering more for good 
Winter apples than they paid for the best of them 
four years ago? Then but very few sold for above 
70 cents per barrel, including barrel; hundreds of 
thousands of barrels sold for 50 to 65 cents, the apples 
bringing 20 to 40, and once in a while 45 cents per 
barrel, now bring $1 to $1.10. Isaac n. stebbins. 
A PRACTICAL MAN ON SPRAYING. 
I have just been reading L. A. Clinton’s article on 
spraying in The R. N.-Y., and it is somewhat amus¬ 
ing to a practical man to learn how our scientific 
friends make Bordeaux Mixture and apply it. I would 
venture to say if you should put 50 or 100 pounds of 
sulphate of copper in a cask of cold water you would 
find a good share of it in the crystal form at the end 
of a month. I should feel sorry indeed for the man 
who tries to dissolve his vitriol in cold water, while 
with boiling water it is a very easy matter to dissolve 
120 pounds of vitriol and have it in the supply cask 
in one hour. This is the usual quantity of stock solu¬ 
tion for 18 to 20 acres of potatoes. 
We usually keep two barrels of lime on hand, slake 
iy 2 bushel in each barrel, fresh hard stone lime, and 
stir well while slaking, so that it will be fine; poor 
slaked lime makes lots of trouble in spraying. Kept 
in the putty state it will not lose its strength during 
the season. Keep a stock on hand during the spray¬ 
ing season; it is good for the land if you have some 
left, and bear in mind to strain through coarse cloth 
all that goes into your sprayer. Of course you nave 
lots of water. A good windmill and 40-barrel steel 
tank for storage, also a good tank for your wagon to 
take to the potato field, will greatly facilitate mat¬ 
ters. We use the yellow prussiate of potash test, but 
always use an excess of lime, as lime gives durability 
to the application, and does not wash off so easily. 
Last, but not least, have the best power sprayer 
that is made, and learn to operate it and keep it in 
repair, and you will have no trouble to spray an acre 
of potatoes in 15 minutes, when the apparatus is filled 
up and ready to start. Success in this, as in other 
difficult operations, depends upon preparation, the 
know-how, and attention to the little things. We 
spray our potatoes two to four times during the 
growing season each year with Bordeaux Mixture, and 
T am amply satisfied with results. They grow better 
by its use when there is no blight (rot blight), and 
when there is rot or blight our potatoes are sound 
and healthy. Of course we spray them well; do not 
TREE INJURED BY SHEEP. Fig. 225. 
Tooth marks are parallel with grain of wood. 
try to put on Bordeaux Mixture with an atomizer, 
which reminds me of eating broth with a fork. 
Ontario County, N. Y. . c. w. bubnett. 
THE NURSERYMAN’S RESPONSIBILITY. 
What Should He Do for Mistakes ? 
Most people who have bought trees of nurserymen 
have been disappointed by receiving stock not true to 
name. Again and again does this question come up. We 
print the following correspondence, as it seems to be a 
typical case: 
About five or six years ago, wishing to set out a 
sweet-apple tree, I looked over the catalogues, and 
thinking one described in -’s catalogue, called 
Jacobs Sweet, was what I wanted, I sent for a tree, 
together with a small order for other stock. I re¬ 
ceived a nice shapely tree, and wishing to get fruit as 
soon as possible, I cut a few scions and commenced 
to top-graft a bearing tree. In the next two years I 
TREE INJURED BY SHEEP. Fig. 226. 
Tooth marks are across the grain of the wood. 
changed the whole top to the kind I bought. The 
last of August, 1898, the tree I set and the scions I 
first took from it bore their first fruit. Color a green¬ 
ish white; shape much like a Porter, only more point¬ 
ed, and so sour and bitter as to be unfit to eat either 
raw or cooked. I have lost several years on the tree 
I bought, which I top-grafted last Spring, and through 
faith in this nursery company have a good-sized tree 
grafted to the same worthless fruit, and it will require 
at least four years to change it to a variety of value. 
Now what redress have I for this loss, which any fair- 
minded nurseryman would estimate not less than 
$10? Looking in the catalogue, I read: “We sell our 
stock and warrant it true to name, with the express 
understanding and agreement that should any not 
prove true to name, we will refund the money paid for 
such, or replace the stock with others that are true 
to name, but are not liable for damages other than 
herein named.” Now had I sent for another tree 
(which might not be true to name), the express 
charges would be three times the price of the tree. I 
also bought a few peach trees, which bore in 1898. 
Five trees labeled Foster bore a late long white peach, 
and those labeled Early and Late Crawford seemed 
identical, ripening together. Now I don't think the 
nurseryman would personally intentionally serve me 
thus, but there is a screw loose somewhere, and I am 
the one who gets left. I had great faith in the com¬ 
pany, and though my purchases have been small, I 
have influenced others to buy, which I now regret. 
e. d. o. 
What the Nurseryman Says 
We sent this letter to the nurseryman who filled the 
order. Here is his reply: 
I do not know how nurserymen can escape occasion¬ 
ally getting letters similar to the one you send us. 
The nurseryman is not living who grows all that he 
sells. We were short of Jacobs Sweet at the time 
stated by your correspondent, and bought of a large 
nurseryman in Ohio, whom we supposed to be re¬ 
liable, but who has since turned out to be utterly un¬ 
reliable m regard to varieties. There is a chance for 
seedling peach trees occasionally to get in among 
budded varieties where the bud fails, or is mown off, 
and a strong shoot is sent up from the seedling. Our 
guarantee is to replace such trees as do not prove to 
be as represented. It is my opinion that every exist¬ 
ing nurseryman in this country who has done con¬ 
siderable business has received occasional letters like 
the enclosed. Mistakes will occur sometimes by pack¬ 
ers, who may pull a tree from the front of the stake 
instead of from the back of the stake, thus getting 
the wrong variety. We take great pains to have our 
trees true to name. I am confident that nurserymen 
who do a mail order business take greater pains in 
this respect than nurserymen who run agents. We 
have had experience with the latter class, and know 
that they often mislabel trees knowingly and inten¬ 
tionally. 
It pains me to learn of such dissatisfied patrons, 
and I do not see how it is possible for nurserymen to 
avoid such matters entirely. No one can make affi¬ 
davit that a certain box of trees is true to name. He 
may swear that he has taken every precaution to 
make them true, and that is about all he can do. The 
most careful nurseryman is liable to send out some 
trees that are not what they are represented to be, al¬ 
though the man may be perfectly honest. Mistakes 
may occur in the cutting of scions for budding or 
grafting, or stakes in the nursery or in the packing 
ground may be misplaced, or the packer may take a 
plant, or tree, from the wrong trench. Then all nur¬ 
serymen have to buy many items, and cannot be sure 
that they are rightly served. 
EXPERIENCE WITH GIRDLED TREES. 
Seeing an article by J. C. H., of Grass Lake, Mich., 
in regard to girdling apple trees to make them bear, 
and injuring said tree, I will give my experience. 
Twelve years ago last June I girdled a tree for a 
friend, telling him it would either make it bear or 
kill it. He said he did not care which, for the tree 
was no good as it was. So I cut a complete circle 
about four inches below the limbs, taking out about 
three-eighths of an inch of bark. The tree bore 
the next year, and for the next succeeding nine years ; 
since then I have not heard from it. 
About the same time I took the bark all off a tree 
from the limbs down to the ground. A new bark 
formed in a few days, and the tree would have done 
well, but accidentally I threw some sand against one 
side of the body, and in trying to get it off injured the 
new bark, so it never healed over. The rest of the 
tree healed over and lived until broken off by the 
wind. We have always girdled the trees in June, and 
have practiced it ever since with more or less good 
results, but never with any bad luck excepting stop¬ 
ping the growth of wood, which is our object. Last 
year I girdled 50 crab apples, which are planted by 
the roadside eight feet outside of the fence, which is 
a grape arbor. This year we have 250 bushels of 
choice apples from those trees girdled. This year 1 
have girdled 10 acres of orchard of 400 trees, all of 
which are looking well. k. n. t. 
Franklin, Mich._ 
Carriage Tires.— We do not advise putting a heavy 
steel tire on wheels. In former times iron tire was mostly 
used, as steel was too expensive, and consequently that 
had to be made thicker and heavier, so they would not 
bend. As steel to-day does not cost any more than iron, 
it is generally used on wheels, and a heavy tire is not 
required: */i-}nch steel tire will give the same service 
as %-inch iron. u. s. buggy & cart co. 
