864 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 29 
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.] 
Van Deman’s Fruit Notes. 
ALT, SORTS OF QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
Haw to Head Apple Trees. 
A. G. W., Binghamton, N. 7.—How can I 
head young apple trees low? The main 
part of top starts skyward. I cut off one 
or two or three of these, and then at every 
cut there will be from two to four new 
sprouts still gt-owing skyward. The soil is 
river bottom loam and I now have some 
apple trees between 40 and 45 feet high, so 
high that I do not attempt to pick them, 
and I do not want my young trees to grow 
so high. Is it necessary to spray young 
trees before they come to bearing? 
Ans.—T he nature of some trees is 
such that they will grow tall no matter 
how much we endeavor to have them do 
otherwise. Summer pruning back will 
check them much more than that done 
in Winter or at any time when the 
leaves are off. Indeed, heavy Winter or 
Spring pruning has the effect to induce 
rather than to suppress rapid wood 
growth. Fruit-bearing will check wood 
growth to some extent. The richer the 
land the more rampant the growth, of 
course, and in the bottom lands men¬ 
tioned the need for wise treatment is 
unusually important. Putting tempor¬ 
ary braces between the main branches 
when the trees are young will help ma¬ 
terially in spreading them and causing 
a better form than a very upright grow¬ 
er would otherwise nave. Unless there 
is some disease on the leaves of young 
trees they will not especially need spray¬ 
ing, but it can do no harm, and may do 
considerable good; for there are few or¬ 
chards in the country which do nothavj 
some kind of rust or other fungus dis¬ 
eases or insects on their leaves. But 
nothing should be done at random. The 
orchardist should know what trouble is 
present and what kind of spray is the 
most suitable. This can be learned by 
consulting the officials of the several 
State experiment stations. 
Apples for Ohio. 
1. E. 8., Oberlin, O— I would like H. E. 
Van Deman to give his opinion, through 
The R. N.-Y., on the best apples for mar¬ 
ket outside of Baldwin, Greening and 
Tompkins King for this section. Give their 
qualities for bearing. I would like his 
opinion on Arkansas Black, Willow, Wine- 
sap, McIntosh and Lawver. 
Ans.—A rkansas Black is now well 
proven to be of very little value in any 
section where it has been tested, be¬ 
cause of its proneness to drop before 
maturity. The fruit is very deep red 
and attractive, but the flavor is not 
equal to that of its parent, the Winesap. 
I would not recommend it for planting 
anywhere. Willow is a very late keeper, 
is of good medium size; fairly well col¬ 
ored, being light, mixed red; and the 
flavor is subacid, but not more than fair 
in quality. The tree is a fairly good 
bearer and of good form and vigor, but 
is rather more liable - to blight than most 
varieties. The fruit has a bad habit of 
rotting on the tree. Although Willow is 
a favorite with some orchardists it is 
not generally so, and I doubt if it would 
be wise more than to test it in northern 
Ohio. It has probably been tested there 
already by some persons. Winesap is an 
old standard and does fairly well all over 
Ohio, but is better suited to the south¬ 
ern than to the northern part of that 
State. Stayman, which is a seedling of 
Winesap, is larger in fruit and as good 
otherwise, and the tree is decidedly bet¬ 
ter in form and vigor. I would prefer 
to plant it instead. McIntosh is of the 
Fameuse type and a very good variety 
for the Far North, but is not especially 
desirable for Ohio. Lawver is large; ex¬ 
ceedingly handsome in appearance, be¬ 
ing brilliant red; keeps very late and is 
of fair quality; but the tree fails to bear 
well in every section of the country, so 
far as I have seen and heard, w r hich 
makes it undesirable for market pur¬ 
poses and scarcely worthy of even a 
place in an experimental orchard. If I 
should wish to plant a commercial or¬ 
chard in northern Ohio my present 
knowledge would lead me to select the 
following varieties: York Imperial is 
about the best, for it is good in both tree 
and fruit, and is very popular in the 
market. It seems to be adapted to all 
sections except the extreme north, where 
it does not attain sufficient development. 
Rome Beauty, when top-worked on Ben 
Davis or Northern Spy, is another good 
one. Jonathan is scarcely surpassed in 
either beauty or quality, as it is bril¬ 
liant red and has a peculiarly spicy and 
agreeable subacid flavor. It is not so 
late a keeper as some, but it will keep 
until after midwinter when grown in the 
climate of northern Ohio. Grimes, al¬ 
though yellow and not a very late keep¬ 
er, is of such high quality and even me¬ 
dium size as to be especially suited to 
the fancy trade. It will keep about as late 
as Jonathan. Wagener would be very 
suitable for a filler, as it bears early and 
heavily. The tree is not thrifty enough 
to make a good permanent orchard tree, 
but if it is top-worked on some thrifty 
stock this fault will be overcome. The 
fruit is of good size, bright red and of 
excellent quality. It also keeps well. 
Long Scions fo- Top-Drafting. 
E. if., Albany, N. 7.—The question of H. 
E. Van Deman on page 814, “What is a 
fair price for grafting?” prompts me to 
give a little of my experience. I have at 
various times employed expert grafters to 
do work, and they charged five cents a 
graft. Of course, I had several hundred 
grafts put in; they furnished everything, it 
would not pay a man to go out of his way 
to graft a few limbs at that price, but 
hereafter I should prefer to furnish the 
scions. The several men who did my graft¬ 
ing at first, cut the scions into short pieces 
about three inches long; this, I think, is a 
great mistake, and it is upon this point i 
desire to get the opinion of Prof. Van De¬ 
man. About three years ago I hired a 
man by the day, paying $2 a day; I fur¬ 
nished the wax and scions, ladders, etc.; 
he the tools. 1 gave him scions from om- 
to two feet long, and had them put in as 
they ran; these grafts took admirably, 
grew strong from the start, and had some 
stamina, quite in contrast with the puny 
short things I had always seen used. When 
these long whips leafed out, they defied 
the tent caterpillar, while many of the 
short grafts would put out two or three 
leaves, and as these were eaten off the 
grafts died. In several instances one or 
two apples grew on the long grafts the 
season they were put in; and in one year 
the whips had grown to be fine branches, 
while in the same time a short graft is no 
better than a short lead pencil. I would, 
therefore, prefer to pay double for this sort 
of grafting, than to have the short things 
put in free. Has Prof. Van Deman tried 
this method, and how does he like it? 
Truly the price of grafting is one thing 
and the value received may bear no re¬ 
lation to it. 
Ans. —I am free to say that E. M. has 
the start of me. I have never tried long 
scions for top-grafting, but have in root¬ 
grafting. I found that good, healthy 
scions from one to three feet long made 
excellent trees, and grew as readily as 
any of those of the ordinary length, 
which is rarely over six inches. The 
new idea is worthy of putting on trial, 
and 1 will do so the first possible chance. 
Clearing Land; Transplanting Hemlock. 
thorough manner, and this cannot be 
done as it should be unless the land is 
well cleared. 2. The transplanting of 
any kind of trees, and especially ever- ( 
greens, from a forest to open ground is 
nearly always difficult, because of the 
changed conditions, even if the soil is 
similar. The hemlock is no exception. 1 
Such trees as are standing in the edge 
of the forest are most likely to live. 
Spring is the safest time to do the trans¬ 
planting. The utmost care should be 
taken to get as much of the roots as 
possible, and to remove all the earth 
that will hold to them. The rootlets are 
very easily injured by exposure to the 
drying influences of the air. The earth 
should be firmly tamped between and 
over all the roots in their new location 
and a mulch of leaf mold on top is an 
advantage. 
Apples for Maine. 
F. O. K., Washington Co., Me .—What apples 
are best adapted to this climate? I thought 
for Summer, Astrachan; and for Fall. 
Fameuse and Gravenstein. Can you name 
some good varieties for Winter market? J 
know that Yellow Bellflower does well here, 
but do not hear of the Baldwin, R. I. 
Greening or Roxbury Russet. Can you 
tell me whether they will do well in this 
climate? Will Bartlett pear do well here, 
and what kinds of peaches and grapes? 
Ans.— Astrachan is a very good Sum¬ 
mer apple in Maine, but there are other 
good kinds of the same season, Early 
Harvest and Summer Rose being two of 
them, which are better in quality and 
good in other ways. Primate, Benoni 
and Jefferis are a little later and fill up 
the season between the very early va¬ 
rieties and those ripening in the late 
Fall. Gravenstein is very good, and Fa¬ 
meuse is, too, but the latter is very bad¬ 
ly affected with scab wherever that dis¬ 
ease is prevalent. Shiawasse and McIn¬ 
tosh are seedlings of Fameuse, are less 
liable to this trouble, and are larger in 
size, better in quality and of the same 
season. The Baldwin and other Winter 
varieties mentioned are successfully 
grown in most sections of Maine and 
ought to do all right in the eastern part. 
The Bartlett and most other pears are 
suitable where such apples as have been 
mentioned succeed. Peaches are not 
suitable for the climatic conditions of 
Maine, although a very few of inferior 
grade are grown in the southern part. 
Grapes will grow and bear there, but 
they require more sun and a longer sea¬ 
son than is common there to bring the 
fruit to its best development. Delaware, 
Wincliell (Green Mountain), Worden 
and Campbell are among the most likely 
to prove suitable. 
Care of Ruby Queen Rose. 
S. F., Acton, Ind .—How shall I manage 
my Ruby Queen rose, received from you 
last Spring? I was very anxious to take 
premium, and used too much fertilizer and 
manure. It was very dry here till May, 
and I came very near losing the plant. It 
only made about two feet in growth with 
watering and much care. What would you 
advise me to do under the circumstances? 
Ans.— The Ruby Queen rose is a very 
hardy and vigorous grower, though it 
sometimes starts off slowly. Too much 
fertilizing and petting will hinder rather 
than help it. The best that can be done 
with your plant is to give it some slight 
protection to carry it through the Win¬ 
ter, as it has probably not yet developed 
a good root system, and to let it alone 
next year, except to see that the soil is 
well cultivated and that the plant does 
not suffer from extreme drought. It is 
more than possible that it may make a 
strong growth the coming Summer. 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth —Adv 
Choice Vegetables 
always bring high prices. 
To raise them success¬ 
fully, a fertilizer con¬ 
taining at least 8 % 
Potash should be used. 
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Reader, Troy, N. 7.—1. How shall I rid a 
piece of cleared land of small stumps, 
which are from one to four inches in diame¬ 
ter? They are mostly logwood. Land was 
cleared last Winter, and I wish to get it in 
shape for setting fruit trees as soon as 
practicable. 2. When and how shall 1 
transplant native hemlock trees which are 
from two to eight feet high? 
Ans. —1. Small stumps are compara¬ 
tively easy to pull out with some of the 
stump-pullers that are in use, and very 
small ones can be pulled out with a 
steady and strong team without the use 
of a machine. It is very wise to clear 
land of all obstructions before setting to 
fruit trees, unless the stumps are of such 
large size as to he very costly to remove. 
The same is true of stones. We need to 
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for stirring the ground in the most 
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