NEW YORK, JUNE 21, 1902 
*1 PER YEAR 
NEW PLUMS FRUITED LAST YEAR . 
EXPERIENCE WITH BURBANK'S VARIETIES. 
Their Behavior During a Rainy Season. 
Doubtless there are readers of The R. N.-Y. who 
would like to hear from those who have fruited some 
of the newer varieties recently produced by Mr. Bur¬ 
bank. T offer these notes and descriptions of varieties 
—but the reader should bear in mind that we have 
had Climax and Chaleo in bearing only one and Apple 
and America but two seasons. The rainy season of 
last year, in which these notes were made, however, 
was a severe test of their ability to resist rot. Abund¬ 
ance seems to us to stand at the head of the list of 
well-tested varieties in this respect—Kerr, Willard 
and several others of the very early sorts that are of 
little or no value on account of poor qual¬ 
ity or small size, resist the rot fungus 
very well. Of those under observation 
next to Abundance in the order named— 
Apple, Normand, Chabot, Red June, Ship¬ 
per (Burbank’s), Satsuma, Hale, Burbank 
and Wickson, which we place at the foot 
of the class; we lost no specimens of Cli¬ 
max and Chaleo last Summer under very 
severe tests, allowing some of them to 
hang on the trees until they were dead 
ripe, ready to drop with the least touch. 
Apple.—This certainly heads the list as 
the best in quality of all the Japan plums 
we have tested. The fruit grows to the 
size of the Burbank under the same con¬ 
ditions of culture, thinning, etc. When 
fully ripe both skin and flesh are of a 
deep reddish-purple color, flesh firm, yer 
so fine grained that it is melting when 
fully ripe—rich, high-flavored, sweet or 
subacid. When not too ripe, but just 
right for canning or drying, the stone 
(which is small) can easily be removed 
when cut in two. We tried a few in our 
evaporator; they are fine for drying. The 
trees are fine, strong, healthy growers, 
having very much the appearance and 
shape of the Burbank. They often begin 
to bear at two or three years from the 
bud; several of our two-year-old trees 
carried full crops to maturity last Sum¬ 
mer, ripening about with the Burbank, 
and it keeps a month or more in good 
condition. Very few rotted even on trees 
that were overloaded. Very few could be 
said to be of the shape of an apple. The 
Chaleo, Normand and Hale were all more 
apple-shaped than the Apple plum. 
Climax was fruited on several two-year 
top-budded trees, and several smaller 
two-year-old trees in the nursery rows 
produced a few specimens. For very 
large size and beauty, combined with very early rip¬ 
ening. this has no equal; in fact, it seems to be all 
that could be desired for its season of ripening, which 
is between Red June and Abundance. The fruits 
ripened in succession for about 10 days; they are 
handsome in form as well as color, which is a bright 
red with many yellow dots, large and small, with some 
yellow ground showing through the red on the shady 
side, turning to a deep red all over when fully ripe. 
Skin firm, flesh yellow, firm but tender, juicy and 
fragrant, flavor sweet and delicious. The trees are 
very vigorous, upright growers; bearing so early 
seems to indicate that it is a very productive variety. 
Chaleo.—Our trees of this are the most vigorous 
and handsome growers of any in our collection; the 
fruit, too, is handsome, and as good as it looks. It 
did not, however, take the form of a tomato, and 
“almost as stemless as a peach,” as Mr. Burbank de¬ 
scribes it, but was much the shape of an apple with a 
stem about half an inch long; color dark red, skin 
medium thick, flesh yellow, firm and meaty, nearly 
free from the small stone; flavor very sweet and 
agreeable. One of the best high quality plums in the 
whole list. It ripens soon after, not before Burbank, 
as the catalogues all have it. 
America is described by Mr. Burbank as “a cross 
between a native and a Japan plum, the trees hav¬ 
ing the general appearance of the native plums, and 
no doubt will prove hardy throughout the United 
States.” The trees are very rapid, upright growers, 
with very healthy, glossy leaves; should prove to be 
a very reliable bearer every year, even when others 
fail from winterkilled buds or from Spring frosts. In 
early bearing it excels, having the past two seasons 
drying plum. The stone is small for so large a plum; 
its late ripening is also worth considering, coming in 
with Satsuma when Burbank and Wickson are out of 
the market. W T e kept about two quarts each of Sat¬ 
suma and Shipper in an ordinary cellar to test their 
keeping qualities. The last of them were eaten on 
November 16, two months from the time picked. 
Rockland Co., N. Y. levi bell. 
TIIE CLIMAX STRAWBERRY. Fig. 168. See Page 431 
produced plums on two-year-old trees, both in the 
orchard and in the nursery rows. The fruit is me¬ 
dium to large, color a bright yellow with pink blush 
turning to a glossy coral red when fully ripe; flesh 
yellow, moderately firm, very juicy and fine flavored, 
stone small, cling; ripens about two weeks before the 
Burbank. 
Shipper is also one of Mr. Burbank’s productions. 
He describes it as “remarkable for its firm flesh and 
superior shipping qualities. Fruit oval, light red with 
a white bloom; firm and sweet, yet juicy. The tree 
is a sturdy, handsome, upright but moderate grower, 
and requires very little attention. The fruit can bo 
handled like apples, and will keep a long time.” In 
my opinion his description hardly does this plum jus¬ 
tice, although it is true as far as it goes. We would 
add that the fruit is as large as the Burbank and it is 
a perfect freestone, making with its firm flesh a fine 
FARMING IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY. 
The Disk as a Sod Cutter. 
Part VI. 
GRAIN AND FLAX.—Eighty acres of oats were 
seeded the last week in May on land that had been 
too wet to work up to that time. Part of it was 
plowed last Fall and intended for wheat, 
but it was decided this Spring to seed the 
entire piece to oats, as wheat does not do 
well on Spring plowing. That which was 
plowed last Fall was harrowed about two 
weeks before seeding with the wood-frame 
harrow, but before we could finish plow¬ 
ing the piece, wild oats came up very 
thickly on that which was hall-plowed 
This Fall-plowed land was disked a week 
before seeding, and the wild oats were 
taken out in a thorough manner by it. 
We find the disk a very valuable tool on 
the farm, especially for working hard 
spots, cutting up sod and in harrowing 
ground where the weeds are so large that 
a common harrow would not take them 
out, and still it would not pay to plow the 
land. Four times the amount of work can 
be done with it as with a gang plow, and 
it is therefore much cheaper to run. The 
oats were seeded at. the rate of two bush¬ 
els to the acre; a part of the field, near 
the buildings, was seeded with Timothy, 
Blue grass and Bromus, the grass seed 
being mixed and drilled with the oats. 
Only about 10 acres of flax are being 
grown this year, just enough to get seed 
for next year. One hundred and forty 
acres were grown last year, but it was so 
dirty with foul seed that the entire crop 
was sold. Flax is a plant for which the 
conditions have to be just right to grow a 
crop. The most essential thing is that it 
must come up as even as possible, and 
very soon after being sown. Last year 
three separate crops, in point of advance¬ 
ment, were to be seen in some parts of 
the field. The piece tuat we are seeding 
this year had potatoes on it last year, 
and being too wet to seed early to wheat, 
• we saved it for flax. The ground was not 
plowed before seeding, but was disked 
twice and then harrowed smooth. This put it in fine 
condition, and a light rain after seeding will be like¬ 
ly to insure a good stand. It was seeded at the rate 
of 20 quarts to the acre. 
The condition of wheat has improved greatly the 
past two weeks. Dry cool weather has thickened it 
very much; it was all very thin when it first came up. 
Some low spots were drowned out after seeding, but 
on the whole the outlook is very favorable. The early 
sown wheat was seeded five pecks to the acre and it 
is much thicker than that sown later at the rate of 
six pecks to the acre, in a dry Spring five pecks is 
sufficient, as the wheat stools enough to make a good 
stand, but in as wet a Spring as we have had this 
year six pecks to the acre would probably produce a 
better crop. The grass seed that was sowm early with 
wheat is up very thick in the wheat rows, and it has 
the appearance of being a good catch. We have tried 
