298 
April 22 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
the fact that water pipes in the ground may continue 
to freeze after the weather has very materially mod¬ 
erated, and why, when thoroughly frozen, they may 
not thaw out until some time after the frost has dis¬ 
appeared in the upper layers of soil. In Winters when 
the ground has been quite thoroughly saturated with 
water before freezing, so that each cubic foot of soil 
contains from 20 to 30 or 40 pounds of water, and this 
is frozen to a depth of four feet, it requires a large 
amount of sunshine from above to melt this ice, and 
so to thaw out the ground, and the heat comes so 
slowly upward from below and at so low a temper¬ 
ature that a long time would be required to melt the 
ice if this were the only source of heat. To melt a 
pound of ice, requires 142 heat units, and each heat 
unit, if used in connection with steam to drive a pis¬ 
ton, is capable of lifting 772 pounds a foot high ; so 
that, to melt 80 to 160 pounds of ice in the ground, re¬ 
quires 142 times 80, or times 160 heat units to do this 
work. This being true, it is plain that the cold of 
Winter tends to hold a zone of soil below its level 
down to a lower temperature than would otherwise 
be possible. 
In the Summer, when the sun is hot, the warming 
of the soil is rapid at the surface, and this sets up a 
wave of heat which travels downward. At night, the 
cooling may be equally rapid, and this again sets up 
a cold wave which also travels downward, and in the 
surface four feet, there are diurnal changes of temper¬ 
ature large at the surface and diminishing until they 
become almost insensible at the latter depth. 
The warmest time in the 24 hours for the soil 18 
inches below the surface does not occur until about 
midnight, and the coldest time at the same depth is 
not reached until noon. Here we have the apparently 
contradictory fact of the ground getting colder 18 
inches below the surface, when the surface is growing 
warmer, and of growing warmer when the surface is 
growing colder. These daily changes in the soil 
temperature become less and less with the depth, un¬ 
til at four feet, they are only a fraction of a degree. 
At 18 inches, the rise and fall in Summer may be as 
much as two to five degrees, while at the surface, the 
difference in temperature between the highest and 
lowest reading of the thermometer may be as much as 
20 and even 40 degrees. [i*bof.] f. h. king. 
Wisconsin. __ 
Van Deman's Fruit Notes 
All Sorts of Questions Answered. 
Setting Nut Trees Among Fruit Trees. 
X would like your advice about setting fruit and chestnut trees 
together. Would you recommend planting the American chest¬ 
nut seedling trees where they are to grow to be grafted another 
year, or set them in a nursery row to be grafted before setting in 
the field? o p. r. 
Iowa. 
Under no circumstances should nut trees be planted 
among peach, pear and plum, or any other kinds of 
fruit trees. Plant each by itself. Such costly and 
valuable trees as the named varieties of the chestnut 
should be set in a well-chosen place, and given all 
possible care. They might about as well be burned 
as to set them between peach trees. Even apple trees 
are badly injured by peach trees planted between 
them ; I have had some bitter experience in that very 
thing myself. The peach is too gross a feeder to risk 
as a close neighbor to any other fruit tree. Neither 
would I interplant any of the other orchard fruits. 
Set the trees mentioned 18 feet apart both ways. This 
will do for the chestnut trees, too, for if they should 
ever get big enough to need more room, they can be 
^iven it by cutting out a part of the trees. Inasmuch 
as the American chestnut seedlings are already taken 
up, or supposed to be, I would set them where they 
are to stand permanently, and graft them there, in¬ 
stead of risking another removal from a nursery row. 
Grafting Chestnuts. 
What is your idea of grafting the Hathaway chestnut, which is 
a variety of our native species, on two-year-old transplanted 
seedlings now in the nursery rows ? Last year, I grafted some 
May 18, and also some Japan kinds. None of the natives grew, and 
about eight per cent of the Japs, which were killed last Winter. 
The native stocks are all healthy. 6. w. L. 
Iowa. 
My plan would be to graft the seedlings late this 
Spring right where they now stand, and next year 
transplant all that make grafted trees. This will 
insure having the kind of trees that are desired in the 
orchard. The great difficulty is to get a good stand of 
grafts ; if the attempt were made to do the grafting 
in the orchard, there would be a number of failures, 
consequently, a good many vacancies or seedlings. 
Moreover, there is more likelihood of the grafts grow¬ 
ing if the stocks are standing where they grew than 
after they are weakened by transplanting. The 
bark method of grafting is the very best of all that I 
have ever used or heard of being tried. There is 
much better success in digging a little below the sur¬ 
face of the ground, and setting the grafts there than 
at any place above it; and I have set them at all 
heights, from a few inches to 25 feet in the air. 
Underground, no wax will be required, but a plaster 
of clay over the wound will be all that is needed, and 
sometimes nothing more than the soil. This should 
always be packed about the stock and nearly to the 
top of the scion. A sloping cut on the stock, with the 
graft set at the upper side, will heal much better than 
if a square stump is made. 
Plums and Cherries on Their Own Roots. 
Twenty years asro, when beginning my nursery, I thought it 
would be a fine thing to sell plums and cherries on their own 
roots. Prof. Budd recommends planting them so, but I find my 
plums and cherries on their own roots sprout so badly that they 
are not fit for sale. Is there any way to keep them from sprout¬ 
ing ? Is it proper to sell such in general trade ? a. d. r. 
Iowa. 
There are no doubts in the minds of those who 
have tried growing the native American plums and 
the sour cherries that they flourish better so than 
on most stocks upon which they are budded. All are 
equally certain as to their proneness to sprout, and 
they do sprout terribly. I once planted a large lot of 
Richmond cherry and Wild Goose plums that were on 
their own roots, and they grew finely and bore abund¬ 
antly—much better than those budded on the most 
approved stocks known. But, Oh ! the sprouts ! The 
more the trees are cultivated, the more they sprout, 
because the breaking of the roots by the plow and 
cultivator forces up sprouts where they might other¬ 
wise not come. There is no way to prevent them from 
growing, so far as I know. Of course, they will be 
less numerous when the trees are allowed to go un¬ 
cultivated, but that would make them less valuable 
for fruit. It would be unfair to sell nursery trees of 
this character unless the customers were told just 
what they are getting, and the natural results. 
Hybridizing Oranges. 
Within the past few months, I have made a note of some articles 
that have appeared in different periodicals, of something that 
was being done by the United States Department of Agriculture, 
in hybridizing our common orange—Citrus aurantlum—with the 
Japan shrub, Citrus trifollata, and known here as the Trifoliate 
orange, that is so much used in that country as a stock upon 
which to graft the orange. These articles state that a Govern¬ 
ment expert has succeeded in getting several hundred trees that 
are hybrids of the Sweet orange, a native of the tropics, with this 
Japan shrub, which is a native of a temperate climate, and a 
deciduous tree, though of the same genus as the Citrus family of 
fruits. I am somewhat skeptical. These species are readily 
grafted together, but I don’t believe they can be crossed in the 
seed. These statements say we are to see great results from this 
hybridizing, one writer saying that he expects to see oranges 
grown as far north as Little Rock, Ark. J. m. 
Florida. < 
The various newspaper notices referred to by J. M. 
have, also, been read by me, and if I did not know 
something of the work of hybridizing the various 
species of the genus Citrus, which is being done by 
the Government officials referred to, and the men who 
are doing it, I would believe there is almost or en¬ 
tirely nothing of truth in some of the reports. There 
are several literary scrap-gatherers in and around 
Washington, who write by the yard upon various 
topics of which they are almost or entirely ignorant, 
except as they pick up some points from those who 
are informed, and add to them, largely from their 
imagination. I have had some rather sorry experi¬ 
ences myself in times past, by these gushing, penny- 
a-liners making bungling statements about certain 
facts mentioned to them rather than correct ones. 
Some of the reports concerning the work of the ex¬ 
perts of the United States Department of Agriculture 
may be somewhat exaggerated or misstated, but some 
very interesting and promising hybrids have been 
secured between the tender, sweet oranges and the 
hardy but bitter-fruited species; just what will come 
of them no one knows, but they may lead to some¬ 
thing very valuable. There are great variations in 
the different types of peaches, and why may there not 
be equally great ones among oranges ? We know that 
there are types of peaches from China that flourish in 
Florida but will not survive the Winters of Georgia, 
and that the peaches that endure the Winters of Iowa 
will not bear a peach in Florida; yet they are all 
peaches, and good ones, too. 
The variations and gradations of the Citrus fruits 
are so numerous and so closely allied, that it is impos¬ 
sible to tell whether certain trees bear oranges or 
lemons, and the same is true of others that resemble 
both lemons and limes, oranges and pomelos; yet 
they are neither. There is no class of fruits with 
which I am acquainted that is so capable of variation, 
within certain limits, as the Citrus genus, but it is 
not wise to make extravagant and speculative state¬ 
ments that may mislead the general public into plant¬ 
ing expensive novelties in this line. This has been 
done in the case of the Oonshiu orange of Japan, 
which is called Satsuma in Florida. It is one of the 
hardiest of all edible oranges, especially when budded 
upon Trifoliata stock. Some interested dealers have 
boomed it, and induced people to plant it in North 
Carolina and central Texas, which I opposed at the 
time. The result has been a complete failure north 
of Florida. Even there, it had been badly hurt by 
frost. As I personally know the officials who have 
charge of the work of crossing the Citrus fruits, their 
knowledge, skill, patience and strict integrity, I am 
sure they will not be likely to lead any one far astray. 
But beware of believing too much that is said of their 
work, that they do not authorize. 
The Truth About Plums. 
I have growing about 1,000 plum trees on Mississippi bottom 
land, in extreme southeastern Iowa. My main difficulty is rot. I 
can grow large crops of Wild Goose, Miner and Hawkeye, but I 
expect the market to be oversupplied with these in a few years, 
and want to know what I can grow to better advantage. Abun¬ 
dance gives one-third of a crop after rot takes toll. Burbank 
about all rotted. Lombard has few left after loss from rot, 
though it does nobly for me if it would not rot. I have 150 free¬ 
stone Damson trees four years old this Spring. They have not 
borne yet. I expect to plant more of them this Spring, and with 
my present information, think it will be the best and most valu¬ 
able plum for home and shipping; that is, best because not sub¬ 
ject to rot, not susceptible to curculio, and bears transportation 
well. Do you think I am right about it ? I planted Moore’s Arc¬ 
tic last Spring, thinking its characteristics similar to Damson. 
Am I right about that ? Do you think Red June is not as subject 
to rot, or materially less so than Abundance ? What good kind 
of plum can you suggest for me that is not susceptible to rot ? I 
have German Prune growing. I expect to plant Kieffer pear this 
Spring and a few Koonce. What about growing Kieffer pears 
on bottom land ? My land is not low or wet or mucky, but what 
we call black, sandy loam. a. l. f. 
Montrose, Iowa. 
Among the many good qualities of the Japan plums, 
there are some bad ones. Rot is, perhaps, their worst 
fault. It can he kept almost under perfect control by 
prompt and thorough treatment with Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture. This should begin early in the season, some 
think before the buds open, so as to kill the lurking 
germs of the disease on the bare trees. All mummied 
fruit on and under the trees should be carefully gath¬ 
ered and burned at once. It is one of the chief 
sources of infection. Full and explicit directions for 
preparing the mixture and applying it will gladly be 
given A. L. F. by the Iowa Agricultural College offi¬ 
cials, and the same is true in every State, with regard 
to others who may be similarly troubled. 
At the present time, the people who buy the fruit in 
the markets seem to prefer the bright red plums of 
the American types, rather than the purplish or yel¬ 
low Japan kinds. It is color that sells them, for they 
are not to be compared with the Japans in flavor after 
they are cooked. There are no plums that I have 
ever tested, stewed, canned or preserved, that are 
equal to them, except the Agen or French prune. 
Time will bring their good qualities before the pub¬ 
lic, although just now they are not generally appre¬ 
ciated. It is hardly likely that the markets will be 
oversupplied with really first-class plums of any kind. 
If any other Japan variety is planted than Burbank, 
Abundance and Red June, Wickson would be my 
choice, although it has the fault of blooming very 
early, and is, therefore, more liable to be caught by 
Spring frosts than some others. Red June is less sub¬ 
ject to rot than Abundance and several others, is very 
early, but is not of high quality. Nearly all of the 
Damsons are profitable, and the demand is nearly 
always greater than the supply. They do not rot 
much, and bear heavily. My advice is to plant them. 
Farleigh is one of the very best varieties of the Dam¬ 
son type. 
German Prune is a name that is used rather indis¬ 
criminately for various kinds of plums that closely 
resemble each other. There are some variations among 
them as to size, quality and some other points, and 
this accounts for some of the conflicting reports. In 
a number of places where the European plums do not 
usually succeed well, the German Prune, or one or 
more varieties that go under that name, bear abun¬ 
dantly, and are hurt but little by rot or the curculio. 
In Indiana and Illinois, where both these troubles are 
very bad, I have seen trees under this name loaded 
with perfect fruit, and I see no reason why the same 
might not occur in southern Iowa. Fellenberg is the 
name of one of the best varieties of this type of plums. 
The term German Prune is so indefinite that it should 
be dropped entirely as applied to any special variety, 
and applied simply to a type of the plum family. 
The soil of the Mississippi bottoms, if not wet, is 
good for the Kieffer pear, and the trees will and do 
grow there luxuriantly, in some cases almost if not 
entirely too much so, and are attacked by blight to 
some extent, notwithstanding that this variety is al¬ 
most proof against that malady. The smut fungus is 
always bad in such low places, and while it does not 
check the growth of the fruit, it gives it a very ugly 
appearance. This can be overcome by spraying with 
Bordeaux Mixture, or any of the sulphate-of-copper 
remedies. It will pay well to use it. 
The late Spring has held back the fruit blossom 
buds, thus reducing risk of injury from late frosts. 
