5f2 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 15 
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.] 
When to Cut Back Fruits. 
J. It. 1>\, Scipio, N. Y.—I am trying to 
grow small fruits for home use, and don’t 
know just when is the proper time to cut 
back the new growth on berry bushes, or 
to what extent they should be cut back to 
produce the best results on next year’s 
crop. I would, also, like to know something 
about Summer pruning of grape vines. 
ANSWERED BY H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
There is no definite date at which it is 
best to head back the young canes of 
blackberries and raspberries; but the 
state of growth should determine the 
time to do the work. When the young 
growing canes are about three feet high, 
about three or four inches of the tip of 
each should be clipped off. It will be 
necessary to go over the rows several 
times, at intervals of about a week, for 
the canes will keep growing, and reach 
the proper height in about a month. 
The checking of the upward growth will 
cause numerous laterals, which are just 
what are needed. They should not be 
headed back until early the next Spring. 
Summer pruning grape vines is rarely 
beneficial. If.they were properly pruned 
previously, when in the dormant stage, 
they will need very little or no pruning 
until the next Fall, Winter or Spring. 
The plan that some viticulturists follow, 
of heading back grape shoots in the 
growing season, has been found by 
many of our best grape growers to be a 
detriment, if done severely, and of little 
service in any degree. One of the first 
things I learned to do on the big fruit 
farm where I spent several years learn¬ 
ing practical pomology, was how to head 
back the bearing shoots when about two 
joints beyond the last bunch of grape 
flowers, and then later, to pinch back 
the laterals, and if we had time, the 
sub-laterals likewise. But such work 
is now generally considered useless in 
a practical way. The old idea was to 
throw the growth into the clusters of 
fruit, and so it does to some extent. But 
there is often too much intervention 
with Nature’s process of development, 
and the grapes are not bettered by it. 
It is, also, costly to do it carefully and 
thoroughly, and this is an item worth 
considering, in commercial vineyarding; 
but the amateur may count it a pleasant 
pastime, as it really is to him, if not 
busy with other work. All that I would 
now advise to do in the way of Summer 
pruning grape vines, after over 30 years’ 
experience and observation, is to rub or 
break out needless shoots early in the 
growing season, especially those along 
the main stem of the vine, or near the 
ground, and where barren shoots come 
out near the bearing ones, and to head 
back a few of the very rampant 
branches, after more than half their 
growth is made. It should be done more 
as a matter of convenience than with an 
expectation of bettering the fruitage. 
The Pruning Book, by L. H. Bailey, is 
the best as well as the newest guide to 
correct pruning. Price $1.50, postpaid, 
of Tiie R. N.-Y. 
Cherries, Walnuts and Fertilizers. 
II. 8 ., Virginia.— 1. I want to plant 100 
sweet cherry trees this Fall. Which three 
kinds are best for market in the list named 
below: Mercer, Windsor, Plymouth Rock, 
Governor Wood, Bigarreau, Napoleon? 2. 
Can the English walnut be budded on our 
native hickory tree? If so, how and 
when? 3. Can this mixture of fertilizer be 
used to advantage on cabbage, straw¬ 
berries, clover, oats, and grass: one ton dis¬ 
solved S. C. rock, 14 per cent, % ton 
German kainit, mixed? Can this be used on 
strawberries now? If so, how much should 
I put on an acre? This is an old bed that 
I have just picked, and I want to let it 
stand another year. 
Ans. —1. If I lived in the Piedmont sec¬ 
tion of Virginia, and wished to plant 100 
cherry trees of the sweet varieties for 
market use, I would not choose more 
than two of the kinds named in H. S.’s 
list, and might not plant any of them. 
Mercer is a good one, although it is not 
so dark as best suits the market de¬ 
mands. It does not rot badly. Windsor 
is all right in color, being very dark 
red, and does not rot easily, but it is late 
in season. It is the early cherry that 
usually brings the best price, provided it 
is red or black. No yellow, blush or 
light-colored cherry is suitable for gen¬ 
eral market planting this side of the 
Rocky Mountains. In California, Ore¬ 
gon, etc., the Napoleon (called Royal 
Ann there), Centennial and other light- 
colored cherries are quite successful and 
popular, but the market wants a black 
or dark red cherry. The pale kinds 
show bruises very easily, and many of 
them are very subject to rot, which is a 
very serious trouble in the eastern 
States, but not in the Far West. Tar¬ 
tarian is the very best of the sweet 
cherries for market, except it may be 
some of the new ones that are not well 
tested as yet, like Bing, Hoskins, Ma¬ 
tilda and Vesta. It takes the lead in 
all sweet-cherry orchards. A sub-va¬ 
riety of it, which is thought by some to 
be an improvement on the standard type, 
was found on the premises of Charles 
A. Green, at Rochester, N. Y. By all 
means, plant the Tartarian. Black Eagle 
is another good one, but a little later 
than Tartarian. May Duke is e'arlier, 
and so are some of the other Dukes, but 
their flesh is soft, and they are very sub¬ 
ject to rot. Three good sweet cherries 
for market would be, Tartarian, Black 
Eagle and Windsor. The four new ones 
named should be planted for testing 
their value in the Piedmont section. 
2. The Persian (it should not be called 
English) walnut cannot be budded or 
grafted upon the hickory, or any other 
stock than its own seedlings, so far as I 
have ever known. 
3. Two parts of dissolved phosphate 
rock to one of kainit would make a very 
good mixture for strawberries, or almost 
any other fruit or vegetable crop. A 
slight addition of nitrogen in the form 
of cotton-seed meal or nitrate of soda 
would cause the plants to grow more 
vigorously, and for cabbage would be 
decidedly helpful. In case of such an 
addition, 500 pounds to the ton would be 
sufficient. Of the complete mixture, or 
of the first two elements only, 500 
pounds per acre would be as little as 
should be used on thin land, and 1,000 
pounds would be better. h. e. v. d. 
How Nature Girdles Fruit. 
II. J. II., Indiana.— In a fruit garden near 
here, a grape vine wound a tendril around 
a young shoot of a nearby thrifty apple 
tree in ’98. The vine trimmer did not in¬ 
jure the shoot, but now it shows a furrow 
with a swelling above it. On this shoot, 
outside of the tendril mark, are 18 apples, 
on the rest of the tree, not one. Why not 
twist short pieces of soft copper wire 
about other shoots? I’ll try it, this month. 
Ans. —This is on the same principle as 
girdling trees or branches to induce 
fruitfulness, and is only a chance case 
in which Nature did it herself. The 
stricture made by the grape tendril en¬ 
circling the apple branch, caused an ab¬ 
normal development of fruit buds last 
year, because of the obstructing of the 
downward flow of perfected sap. Tying 
a stout string or a wire, as is suggested, 
will have the same effect, and it will not 
seriously hurt the branch, provided it is 
removed in the Fall. Taking out a ring 
of bark will do the same, if it is done 
while the bark slips very freely, but 
may be rarely safe later than July 15 in 
Indiana. h. e. v. d. 
Various Fruit Notes. 
M. B., Farmington, Minn.— 1. How can I 
propagate currants, gooseberries and 
grapes? 2. Which are the three best va¬ 
rieties of strawberries—early, medium and 
late—for rich loam soil with yellow clay 
subsoil? 3. Is the Kniffin system of grape 
pruning the best for an amateur? 
Ans. —1. Currants and gooseberries 
are propagated by cuttings. These are 
made from the young wood in Fall or 
Winter, about 10 inches long. They are 
buried in the ground or packed in damp 
sawdust in a cellar until early Spring, 
when they are set in the open ground. 
About three inches of the top ends are 
left above the surface of the soil. 2. 
Michel is one of the best very early 
strawberries. William Belt is a good 
one of midseason, and Gandy is very 
late. There are others equally as good. 
3. The Kniffin system of training grape 
vines is very simple, and entirely suit¬ 
able for amateur or commercial culture. 
it. E. v. D. 
Why Yearling Grape Cuttings Bear. 
■I. G. G., Napoli, N. Y.—I have a lot of 
grape cuttings set last Spring, and they 
all have grapes on them; some have set 
two bunches. Why is it so? Were they 
set bottom upwards? 
Ans. —The reason grape cuttings some¬ 
times bear clusters of fruit the first year 
is because the buds from which the 
shoots came were so formed the pre¬ 
vious year, when they were attached to 
the parent vine, that they had the em¬ 
bryonic fruit in them. The subsequent 
development depends upon the favorable 
or unfavorable conditions which may 
control it. Usually, when such buds are 
taken off, as in the case of wood for 
cuttings or grafts, the supply of nourish¬ 
ment is so limited, for the time being, 
and the shock so great, that the bloom 
does not develop into fruit, and often 
does not open at all. Setting the cut¬ 
ting wrong end up would have no effect 
whatever upon the fruit buds, unless it 
killed them and the entire cutting. How¬ 
ever, I have had them live when so set. 
II. e. v. D. 
Where to Start the Silo. 
C. M. T., Dclavan, Wis .—If building a silo 
in connection with a basement stable, 
would it be better to start the silo on the 
ground floor, or stable floor? 
Ans. —It would be better to have the 
bottom of the silo on a level with the 
stable floor. It is always well to have 
the bottom of the silo level with the 
floor where the ensilage is to be fed. If, 
in the case mentioned, the bottom of the 
silo is placed level with the ground 
floor, it will necessitate unnecessary ex¬ 
pense in elevating the ensilage at the 
time of filling. But there are other con¬ 
ditions which enter into the case, about 
which we are not advised. If, in order 
to put the silo level with the basement, 
it becomes necessary to excavate the en¬ 
tire depth of the basement, and if the 
silo would be subjected to extra damp¬ 
ness from being in close contact with 
the sides of the excavation, then it 
would better be placed on the level of 
the ground floor. l. a. c. 
did so much as that. The power of 
water is calculated as equivalent to 
33,000 pounds falling one foot in a min¬ 
ute. Your stream may afford something 
over this, but deducting the weight of 
the wheel which is to be turned, and 
which may utilize one-half the theo¬ 
retical power of the stream, there will 
be very little left to apply to even the 
moving of the machinery, without any 
extra power for work. it. s. 
One-Horse Seeder Wanted. 
C. M. T., Delavan, Wi8. —Wanted, a machine 
attachable to a one-horse cultivator, which 
will sow or drill grain between rows of tall 
corn. If there is no such thing, what is 
the nearest approach to it? Where? How 
expensive? 
Ans. —I know of no machine which 
will fill the bill. If any manufacturer 
has such an implement for sale, he 
should let it be known in the advertis¬ 
ing columns of The R. N.-Y. At Cornell 
University, when it is desired to sow 
grain or clover in tall corn, a man is 
put on horseback, and he sows the grain 
broadcast from that position. A culti¬ 
vator then follows, and the work is com¬ 
pleted. This plan is fairly satisfactory, 
at least it is the best plan we have tried. 
L. A. C. 
C RIMSON 
LOVER 
aDd other Seeds for Summer Sowing Write for our 
Midsummer Catalogue. We send It Free. 
HENRY A. DREER, Philadelphia. 
'T'HOMAS Mc.KL.ROY, European Seed Commls- 
x mission Merchant. Mercantile Ex. Bldg. Harrison 
St., New York, offers Essex English Dwarf Kapa Seed 
and High-grade Crimson Clover Samples and prices 
on application. Dealers only. 
CRIMSON CLOVER uSKSSS.X*.“ 
headquarters for now home-grown acclimated seed 
and furnish at lowest prices. Also Turnip. Spinach 
and other seasonsbie seeds. TURNIP SEED of all 
the leading varieties. 50c. per pound, delivered at 
your post-office Remit with your order. 
H. L. HOLMES, Seedsman, Harrisburg, Pa. 
Celery Plants 
—EXTRA 8TRONG. The 
leading varieties. 12 per 
1,000 cash. Wm. Herzog, 
Morristown. N. J. 
For the best in the Nursery Line, both 
FRUITS and ORNAMENTALS 
Roses, Plants, Bulbs, Seeds, 
and at prices to euit the times, consult 
The Storrs & Harrison Co., 
Box 569 Painesville, Ohio. 
45th year. 44 greenhouses 1000 acres. 
Correspondence solicited. Catalogue free. 
P rime Stock Celery Plants, $1 per 1,000, 25c. per 
100, by mail. We guarantee satisfaction. 
SLAYMAKER & SON, Dover, Del. Circular Free 
■ I POTTED STRAWBERRY PLANTS — 
A I Northern grown, high-grade stock. All the best 
kinds. Lowest prices. List free. 
1». SPEER, Passaic, N.J. 
Size of a Water Wheel. 
II. G. P., Monterey, N. Y.—I am owner of 
a steam saw and grist mill. A large stream 
of water, sufficient to run my machinery if 
I could use it, flows by the mill. There is 
no chance for any dam. Could I use an 
undershot wheel? How large would the 
wheel have to be to develop 20 to 25-horse¬ 
power? The water fills a flume five feet 
wide, and two feet deep, with a fall of 
about two feet in 20. 
Ans. —The size of the wheel is of no 
account whatever, unless it can be fully 
supplied with water. The conditions of 
the problem proposed are sucu as to 
give no encouragement to your expecta¬ 
tions. By confining the water in a flume, 
you would have two feet fall, and about 
enough power to turn an undershot 
wheel with very little to spare for mov¬ 
ing any machinery. The weight of the 
wheel is, of course, to be taken into ac¬ 
count as a part of the work done by 
the water, and this would be practically 
all exhausted in moving the wheel, if it 
100 POTTED 
PARKER EARLE for *1. 
T. C, KEVITT, Athenia, N.J. 
FRUIT PACKAGES 0 ^ 
Also Beekeepers’ Supplies. 
Order now before the busy sea¬ 
son catches you. Catalogue and 
price-list free. Address 
BERLIN FRUIT BOX CO. 
Berlin Heights,Box B,ErieCo.,0 
Good Fruit 
always finds a ready market, but to bring top 
prices it must be put up in neat, attractive 
and substantial packages. We have every¬ 
thing in the basket line. All sizes of 
Baskets, 
Peach and Grape Crates. 
Buy direct from the manufacturers and 
save money. Write to-day for catalogue and 
new price list Special price in carload lots. 
A. H. MONTAGUE & SON, 
120 Warren Street. New York City. 
STRAWBERRIES 
POT 
CROWN 
containing correct descriptions of the best varieties with cultural 
ELLWANCER &■ BARRY, Mount Hope Nurseries, ROCHESTER, N 
We shall have our usual 
supply of fine plants ready 
about July lath. Catalogue 
directions mailed on request. 
Y. 5#th Year. 
r i Business Trees Best Trees 
L J R JGERS TREES are BU8INKSS TREES. Remember the name and the 
place to buy. THE ROGERS NURSERIES, Dangvllle, New York. 
n 
