832 
T H E RURAL N E W-Y O R K E R. 
December 13 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to in¬ 
sure attention. 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.] 
IV/iy Cut the Grass ? 
•I. .4. IV., Amesbury, Mann .—I have been 
very much interested in the articles on 
mulching orchards. I have been thinking 
for more than a year of adopting a plan 
similar to that of Mr. Ditchings. Why cut 
the grass? Why not let it drop down year 
after year without cutting? After the 
mulch gets thick 1 should think it would 
be difficult to mow the grass. 
Ans.—T he reason for cutting grass in 
a young orchard is to get material to 
mulch the trees with until the roots get 
a firm hold of the soil. After that we 
cut to destroy weeds and to make it 
easier to gather the apples that fall. 
When the June grass becomes very thick 
we raise the cutting bar high enough so 
that the thick bottom does not clog the 
knives. grant g. hitchings. 
Exporting Peaches to Foreign Countries. 
IK. S., Texas.—A few years ago there 
was a statement in a New York paper to 
the effect that peaches brought from Cape 
Colony (South Africa) during Christmas 
week sold readily in the fancy New York 
stores at J1 apiece or J10 per dozen. Was 
that statement correct? There is but little 
doubt but what good sound peaches, prop¬ 
erly handled, can be made to reach the 
markets of Europe by means of refrigera¬ 
tion in perfect condition. How to pack so 
as to insure safety while in cold storage is 
the point. I had a curious experience with 
some Carman peaches a lew years ago. 
Some specimens of them were wanted for 
exhibition, about two weeks later than they 
ripened. I selected a number of average 
size, sound and well colored specimens, 
wrapped them In common newspaper, 
placed in a box and added among peaches 
a liberal amount of excelsior (pine shav¬ 
ings), in order to absorb any moisture that 
might generate while in the icehouse. 
When wanting them for shipment, the 
man with the key to the antechamber 
could not be found. Telling of my predica¬ 
ment to a friend, who claimed experience 
in such matters, he said not to bother as 
the peaches were bound to be rotten any¬ 
how, or certainly would be a few hours 
after being opened. Opening the package 
next day, they were found all sound, and 
three days later they were yet the same; 
but on tasting them I found that not one 
of them was fit to eat. They had some¬ 
how absorbed while in the cooler so much 
of that rosin flavor from the pine shavings 
as to make them worthless for eating. 
Doesn’t this teach a lesson? Carbonized 
straw or bran might prove a good packing 
material. How w r ere those packed that 
came from South Africa? 
Ans. —About a year ago a few peaches 
anti plums from South Africa were re¬ 
ceived in New York via Liverpool. The 
plums retailed at 25 cents each and the 
peaches a little more. Perhaps some 
brought as much as $1 each, though we 
did not hear of it. The plums that we 
•tried were Japan Kelsey, in condition 
and flavor comparing favorably with 
the California plums received in this 
market. They were wrapped in heavy 
tissue paper and packed in flat boxes 
about a foot square, holding one layer. 
We did not see any of the peaches and 
do not know the varieties. Fruit men 
told us that they were sound but tough 
and flavorless. We understand that 
these were merely wrapped in paper the 
same as the plums and put in storage in 
this way without any filling. We have 
been told that cork chips have been used 
satisfactorily in other shipments. The 
Malaga grapes come from Spain packed 
in cork chips. They keep the fruit in 
good condition and give no offensive 
odor, but are out of the reach of most 
fruit men in this country. 
NOTES ON CELERY CULTURE. 
I will add to the comments of J. E. 
Morse on page 753 that with good soil 
and plenty of manure it is a compara¬ 
tively easy task to grow good celery fit 
for use the latter part of September and 
all through October and November. I 
would not select White Plume for this 
purpose. Anybody can grow it without 
difficulty, and a few plants, fdr earliest 
use, i. e., during latter part of July and 
early August, may come handy. But in 
quality it cannot hold the candle to Gol- 
.den Self-Blanching, which requires a lit¬ 
tle more time to come to perfection, be¬ 
ing a slower growth, but of exquisite 
quality when properly grown and 
blanched. To grow the plants, I sow 
seed in fiats in the greenhouse early in 
March. It is scattered very thinly in 
shallow drills, drills being about an inch 
apart, then lightly covered, and kept 
watered and tended as required. In 
April I transfer them to nursery rows 
in open ground in the garden, taking up 
the plants in chunks (not singly) from 
•the flats, and pressing these in a V- 
shaped furrow, even with the surface of 
the ground. This I find a safer method 
than sowing seed directly in open 
ground, besides getting good plants a 
few weeks earlier. When the plants are 
ready to set out (early in June usually) 
I select a spot in the garden, the richer 
the better, in fact filled with manure, 
and set the plants in single row, six or 
seven inches apart. I now practice the 
single row plan altogether, obtaining 
better results than from double or treble 
rows, or from massing the plants as 
done in “the new celery culture.” Thor¬ 
ough cultivation is given for a time, but 
this is soon abandoned for the mulch, a 
heavy layer of good manure being 
placed over the ground on each side of 
the row for a distance of a foot at least, 
and well shoved up toward the row of 
plants. Thus the latter are induced to 
make a rather compact and upright 
growth. I do not handle nor tie them. 
Then when the time comes that I want 
celery for the table (if that is Septem¬ 
ber 20, say early in that month) I ad¬ 
just boards, selecting some a foot or so 
in width, and setting them up on edge, 
from each side, against the row, and 
pressing them well together so that only 
the top leaves stick out from between 
the upper edges of the boards. That is 
about all there is to it. And if you have 
as good success as I have with it you 
will have celery that easily brings 40 
cents per dozen plants sold to mer¬ 
chants or five cents per stalk in retail. 
Celery is a profitable crop at this rate. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. t. oreiner. 
HYPODERMICS FOR TREES. 
As a result of recent experiments in 
science, it is claimed that the days of the 
woolly aphis, the codling moth and other 
fruit pests are numbered. The new pro¬ 
cess of fighting orchard insects is unique. 
A hole or socket is bored into the trunk 
of the tree and in the opening Is deposited 
a compound to be taken up by the sap into 
the branches of the tree. It is claimed 
that not only are fruit and tree pests thus 
destroyed, but that the tree, by its absorp¬ 
tion of the injection, is made healthy and 
thriving. The compound injected into the 
tree consists of gunpowder, saltpeter, cop¬ 
peras and sulphur. Pulverized and mixed 
and applied according to a patented pro¬ 
cess, the ingredients are said to be readily 
absorbed by the tree. Thoroughly diseased 
apple and peach trees experimented upon 
were purged of their pests, and the quality 
of the fruit improved and the trees grew 
sturdy under the tonic effect of the in¬ 
secticide. 
The above clipping is from a sedate 
arid highly respectable metropolitan 
newspaper, and is a plausible revival of 
an ancient orchard “fake” by which 
many credulous fruit growers have been 
victimized from time to time. Recent 
developments in hypodermatic medica¬ 
tion by which soluble medicines are di¬ 
rectly introduced in the tissues and cir¬ 
culation of the patient with successful 
results, lend an air of probability to such 
statements as above quoted. There is 
no sap circulation in plants comparable 
with that of the blood in animals. The 
blood flows rapidly through definite 
channels, propelled by the heart, a pow¬ 
erful muscular organ, and forever, dur¬ 
ing life, bathes the various tissues, de¬ 
positing new living matter and remov¬ 
ing the worn and broken-down particles. 
If soluble chemicals are thrown under 
the skin or into the deeper tissues of 
animals they are rapidly diffused and 
taken up by the absorbent vessels and 
capillaries into the blood current, dis¬ 
tributed throughout the body and finally 
eliminated by the proper organs. There 
is practically no absorbent system in 
plants; nourishment in the form of dis¬ 
solved chemicals being taken from the 
moist soil by the root hairs and passed 
from cell to cell, each with closed walls, 
until elaborated by the leaves, then re¬ 
turned, passing again through innumer¬ 
able cells until deposited as new growth. 
There are no definite channels or vessels 
for the circulation of sap, and chemicals 
forcibly introduced into the tissues by 
boring holes or placing under the bark 
merely exert a local caustic influence, 
killing the cells nearest in contact. It 
has been proven by innumerable experi¬ 
ments that saltpeter, sulphur, copperas, 
and the whole list of proposed remedies 
lie unchanged in the cavity for an in¬ 
definite time, and fail to exert anything 
but a locally harmful effect. The root 
hairs or true absorbents exercise a se¬ 
lective action, taking from the soil or 
growing medium just what the plant 
needs, rejecting all other materials. 
Curing plant diseases by “hypodermic 
medication” in the light of our present 
knowledge of plant physiology seems an 
impossibility. 
LOSING FLESH. 
Are you losing flesh? If 
so, better consult your doctor 
at once. He will tell you the 
cause. We can provide the 
remedy, which is Scott’s 
Emulsion of cod-liver oil. 
A young woman in Batavia 
writes us she had lost twenty- 
five pounds in three months, 
and her lungs were seriously 
affected. She took three bot¬ 
tles of Scott’s Emulsion and 
gained fifteen pounds, and 
was able to resume her work. 
Send for Free Sample. 
SCOTT & BOWHH, Chemists, 409 1 earl St., N. Y. 
Farmers’ 
Telephones 
are not untried novelties. 
Thousands now use them 
dally. For this purpose there 
is no instrument better than 
Our Standard No. 2, 
which in shown in tliecut. This is 
no trust nor monopoly phone. No 
rents, no royalties. All your 
own. Simple, perfect in calling, 
sending and receiving. Equal to 
any phono made. We furnish 
switchboards and all access¬ 
ories. Does it interest 
you? Writo for our 
catalogue. Sent free. 
THE U. S. ELECTRIC MF(J. CO., 
8 (H) Elm St.. Butler, Pu. 
100 Varieties. Also Small Fruits, Trees, Ac. Host Root¬ 
ed stock. Uenuinc. cheap. 2 sample vines mailed tor 10 c. 
Descriptive price-list free. hKWTli UOKSCU, V reduals, N. 1. 
Clenwood Nurseries 
Most complete assortment of choice 
Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Vines. 
Send for Descriptive Illustrated Catalogue. 
THE WM. H. MOON CO., MORRI 8 VILLK, PA. 
BO miles from Now York; 3J miles from Philadelphia. 
Get the Best 
A Gonrt Spray Pump earns big ( 
profits and lasts tor years. 
TISE ECLIPSE \ 
is a good pump. Asprac-I 
tical fruit growers wo 
were using the com -1 
mon sprayers in our I 
own orchards—found | 
their defects and then invented 
The Eclipse. Its success 
practically forced us into man¬ 
ufacturing on a largo scale. 
You take no chances. Wehavo I 
done all the experimenting. 
Large fully illustrated 
Catalogue and Treatise 
on Spraying — FREE. 
MORRILL Jk MO R LEY. Renton Harbor. Mleh. 
Our lino of sprayer# ana appli¬ 
ances fits every man’s needs. 
Hand.Krvapsack.Buckot, 
Field, Barrel, and Power 
sprayers.twenty styles. Rest nozzles 
made, attachments, formulas, etc. 
Select the useful and reliable. Catalog free 
THE DEMING CO., Salem, Ohio. 
Western agents, 1 Union dr Ilubbell,Chicago,111. 
SAN JOSE SCALE. 
And other Insects can be Controlled by Using 
Good’s Caustic Potash Whale- 
Oil Soap No. 3. 
It also prevents Curl Leaf. Knc. '•rBed by Entomolo¬ 
gists. This Soap is a Fertilizer as well as Insecticide. 
bO-lb. Kegs, $2.Ml; 100-lb. Kegs, R50; Half-Barrel, 
270 Ids., iikic. per lb.; Barrel. 42£ Ids., 3'4c. Large 
quantities, Special Kates. Send for Circulars. 
JAMES GOOD, 930 N. Front St, Philadelphia, Pa. 
w 
IRE FENCE 
at Wholesale. A 64- 
stock lenco tMteper 
inch 
< 1 . 
Bond for price list and PKKE catalouue of Wire 
Fence and full line of Fence Supplies. 
W. H. MASON & CO., Box 67, Leesburg, Ohio. 
m 09000 FARMERS 
Now uee Duplex Machines, making Fence 
lionict-hlgh, Bull-Htronpr, Plfr and Chicken-tight at 
ACTUAL COST OF WIRE 
and save profit fence manufacturers extort. 
Why don’t you! Machlnoon Trial. Catalog free 
If Quality 
i and utility are considered, we will compete on 
price, mill Page Fc-nce will pretty surely win. 
I PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., A BRIAN, MICH. 
Potatoes—Bovee.IIa rvest, Cobbler, Carman,Empire 
* estate, Ohio, Rose. 85 kinds. C.W. Ford, Fisher, N.Y. 
You Will Find 
Our Fruit Trees, Vines, Shrubs, Roses, 
Palms, etc., perfectly healthy, well- 
grown and true to name. 
Send for Catalogue. 
P. J. BERCKMANS CO, (INC.), 
Fruitland Nurseries, 
Established 1856. AUGUSTA, GA. 
TREES! TREES! 
We have a specially fine assortment 
of Apple and Peach Trees. Also a 
full line of Nursery Stock of all kinds. 
Let us send you our catalogue of the 
largest Nursery in New England of 
known reliability for more than 50 years. 
STEPHEN HOYT’S SONS, 
New Canaan, Conn. 
A LUXURY. 
Those “Off Years,” when the Peach 
crop is a failure, what can he more of a 
luxury than a few bushels of the ARCTIC 
PEACHES ? Since its origin it has never 
failed of producing a full crop of nice 
large yellow peaches of the finest quality. 
Call’s Nurseries, Perry, O., have a fine 
stock of them on hand. Also a gcol 
stock of the Graves, the finest early peach 
grown. Write them for prices. 
DREER’S GARDEN CALENDAR for 1903. 
Plants, Bulbs, etc., Ready early in January and sent free to all who mention this paper. Con- 
tains 208 pages, 4 colored plates, and hundreds of illustrations. Have your name enrolled now 
fora copy. Address DREER, Philadelphia, Pa. 
It pays to raise asparagus. I huve large 
variety of specially line roots at low prices. 
Order now. Send for my FREE catalogue. 
Arthur J. Collins, Moorestown, N. J. 
TREES 
fnn- APPIjK ’ PEAR, PLUM and 
ipO JJd lvJvr and Fumigated. Al 1 kinds of trees and plants at low wholesale 
prices. Don’t buy until you get our catalogue, which Is free, or send list of wants for 
special price. Address RELIANCE NURSERY, Box 1, Geneva, New York. 
DCAPU TDSTCQ Fine, stocky, hardy, grown on the bank of Lake 
f LhUiI E KftEEoJ? Eriotwo miles from any peach orchards and free 
from borers and all other diseases. Largo stoclcof Pear, IPJuiii, Apple, 
Cherry, Site. Immense supply of small fruits. Headquarters for 
ORNAMENTAL Traes. Shrubs, Plants, Vines, Bulbs. 
40 Acres Hardy Hose 44 Greenhouses of Palms. Ficus, Ferns, 
Roses, Geraniums, Etc. Mail size postpaid. Direct deal saves money. 
Try us. Valuable Catalogue Free. 49th Year. 1000 Acres. 
THE ST0RRS & HARRISON GO., Painesville, Ohio. 
