544 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
•July 20 
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 ] 
Soi/s and Fruits in Alabama. 
,J. F. Z., Milwaukee, Wis. —1. Is a soil largely 
composed of decomposed slate and humus, 
adapted to fruit and grape growing in cen¬ 
tral Alabama? 2. Will the varieties that 
do well at College Station, Texas, do as 
well in central Alabama, on high, rolling 
land? 3. What varieties are principally 
grown at Cullman; Fruithurst and vicinity? 
Ans. —1. Slaty or shaly soils are 
quite good for grapes and most other 
fruits, if well mixed with humus and 
if occasionally applications are made of 
manures that contain potash, phosphor¬ 
ic acid and nitrogen. Some of the best 
peach orchards and vineyards that I 
have seen along the Ohio River were 
on such lands. 2. It is quite probable 
that most of the fruits that do well at 
College Station, Texas, will succeed in 
central Alabama; but the soil is much 
richer in Texas than most of the 
higher lands of Alabama. 3. Almost 
any of the standard fruits are grown 
about Fruithurst. The Elberta peach, 
Burbank and Abundance plums, Con¬ 
cord, Niagara and Ives grapes all do 
well there. H. e. v. i>. 
How to Keep Apples. 
H. F. J., Ashland, Ala .—What is tlie best 
method of keeping apples through the 
Winter? Should they be kept tight in a 
cellar, or should they have ventilation? 
An 8 .—There are conflicting opinions 
among good authorities as to the best 
way to keep apples. Some think they 
need ventilation while others want 
them as tightly inclosed as possible. 
The most recent experiments seem to 
confirm the latter opinion as the cor¬ 
rect one. There are certain conditions 
which we know to be conducive to the 
preservation of fruits of almost every 
kind. These are low and equable tem¬ 
peratures. None but perfectly sound 
fruit should ever be stored, and that 
which was not fully ripe when gather¬ 
ed and put away. The cooler it can be 
kept, so that it is not quite to the freez¬ 
ing point, the better. But there should 
not be changes from cool to warm, for 
they induce ripening and then rot; 
the germs tnat cause rot flourish in 
a warm temperature but are held in 
check where it is cold. Moisture also 
induces them to develop. If the air is 
both cold and dry, the fruit will keep 
very much better than when warm and 
moist. But dry air, especially when it 
is allowed to circulate freely, will cause 
the fruit to shrivel and become tough 
and less valuable. The cooler the air 
the moister it may be. In some very 
cool fruit cellars, there are springs or 
running streams of water, that are con¬ 
sidered beneficial rather than other¬ 
wise, because of the air being kept moist 
by them. If the cellars were not kept 
cool all the time, the moisture would be 
injurious. One point in keeping apples 
has been quite thoroughly worked out 
by practical men, whom I have heard 
discussing the matter of heading up the 
barrels before storing for the Winter. 
Their evidence is almost always in fa¬ 
vor of the tight heading of the bar¬ 
rels immediately upon gathering the ap¬ 
ples, or very soon after. When the ap¬ 
ples were in good sound condition and 
kept cool there was very little rot, and 
they were plumper and fresher than 
those not headed up. n. e. v. d. 
Cold and San Jose Scale. 
L. ]}. If., Coaicsvillc, Fa.—I have been in¬ 
formed that a temperature of eight degrees 
below zero is fatal to San Jos§ scale. Is 
this the case, or is any low temperature 
fatal? 
Ans. —Just how low a temperature the 
San Jose scale will stand has not yet 
been determined. It will, doubtless, de¬ 
pend much upon the locality. I pre¬ 
sume that a temperature of 8 degrees 
below zero would prove fatal to a ma¬ 
jority of the scales in southern latitudes, 
and possibly, some would be killed here 
in the North. However, the thermom¬ 
eter registered as low as lfi degrees be¬ 
low zero here at Ithaca last February, 
yet a goodly number of the scales came 
through all right. Furthermore, the 
scale has been breeding successfully in 
southern Canada for several years, 
where the temperature must go still 
lower than this. Doubtless, the sus¬ 
ceptibility of the scales to cold will de¬ 
pend much upon how well they are pro¬ 
tected in the crevices of the bark. It 
is not so much the extreme coldness of 
the weather which kills insects, as it 
is the sudden changes or extremes of 
temperature. m. v. st.tnoehi.and. 
The Prunus Simoni Plum. 
(1. L. J., Gaston, Ind .—Will you give the 
history of the Primus Simoni plum, date of 
introduction and by whom originated? 
What are color and quality of fruit, time 
of ripening and hardiness? What, if any¬ 
thing, does Downing' say of it? 
Ans. —It was planted in the Rural 
Grounds about 15 years ago, October, 
1884. After trial, it was destroyed be¬ 
cause of the inferior quality of the fruit. 
The plums average two inches in dia¬ 
meter, with a medium suture and flat¬ 
tened at both ends like a crab apple. 
The color is a dull dark red with lighter 
shades here and there. The peach-pit 
flavor is objectionable to most people. 
It ripens in September. It was not 
known to Downing. The pit is corru¬ 
gated like that of the peach. It is a 
native of Northwest China, introduced 
to France by Simon Louis, of Metz, 
through his brother-in-law, Eugene 
Simon. Prof. Budd wrote to us under 
date of Oct. 10, 188(5, that he thought 
that Prunus Simoni in tree, flower and 
fruit comes nearer to the almond and 
peach than to the plum family. We are 
wondering why crosses with it and the 
native and Japan plums have not been 
made. Perhaps they have. A portrait 
of the plum, full and half section view, 
and of the little corrugated pit appeared 
in The R. N.-Y. of Oct. 16, 1886. 
Green Crops for Georgia Orchards. 
/*., Menlo, (la .—Would you advise I lie sow¬ 
ing of Crimson clover in a young apple 
orchard? Would it be advisable to sow in 
this section before September? Would it 
injure the trees to let it mature enough in 
Spring to make a light crop of hay? Would 
the conditions be the same in a young 
peach orchard? 
Ans. —I would not as 99 years in 100 
there would be moisture enough to cause 
seed to germinate, and they would 
then be Irilieu by aim. TTle same as to 
the peach orchard, though it, if two or 
three years old, would furnish more 
shade and more clover would live. 
Planted when September rains set in, he 
would, by May. have a fine crop to cut 
if he wished, though I turned mine un¬ 
der. If I were the grower, I would 
plant cow peas now, and turn them in 
early in October, sowing Crimson clover 
at that time, and plow under the Crim¬ 
son clover in May. a. w. smith. 
Americus. 
RESULTS FROM PEAS AND CI.OVEH. 
We have grown Crimson clover for 
several years past, in part of our or¬ 
chards, and find that there is a vast im¬ 
provement in the soil from year to year. 
The trees make a very vigorous growth, 
also. Our plan is to sow the clover seed 
as early in September as the weather 
permits, and in April, we harvest the 
crop of hay. Land which produced 
about 1,200 pounds of hay per acre four 
years ago, has gradually given an in¬ 
creased yield this year, from 2,000 to 
2,500 pounds of hay being harvested. 
During May, the land is again sown to 
cow peas, and the crop harvested dur¬ 
ing August or early in September. We 
thus secure two crops of most nutri¬ 
tious hay from the same land, the pea 
hay ranging from one to two tons per 
acre, according to the condition of the 
weather during Summer. Where we 
allowed the Crimson clover to be plowed 
under when matured, no perceptible dif¬ 
ference could be seen in the following 
year's crop. We, therefore, utilize all 
the clover for hay. We are so well 
pleased with the results of our experi¬ 
ments with Crimson clover in or¬ 
chards, as to sow a very large area of 
ground next September, so soon as the 
cow pea hay crop is harvested. . It is, 
however, advisable when seeding poor 
land, to fertilize lightly with either 
stable manure, six to eight loads per 
acre, or 500 pounds of some reliable 
commercial fertilizer; this gives the 
clover a good start, and manuring may 
be lessened the following year; but we 
find that 500 pounds of bone meal per 
acre pay well, both in yield of hay and 
in the healthy growth of trees. Sow¬ 
ing clover seed later than the middle 
of November seldom gives good results 
here. r. j. berckmans. 
Augusta. 
Condensing Boiler Steam. 
L. F. II., Tinlcrn, Out .—Some time ago, I 
saw an Illustration of a water still in The 
K. N.-Y. I have a boiler for running a cream 
separator morning and night, and I would 
like to know whether it would be practi¬ 
cable to utilize the steam left in the boiler 
after separating, for distilling, and if so, 
how? 
Ans. —There is, in nearly every cream¬ 
ery, what is called a “tempering coil” 
and vat. The purpose of it is to bring 
the cream to the proper temperature be¬ 
fore churning. Such a coil and vat, if 
not already possessed by L. E. II., can 
be procured from D. H. Burrell & Co., 
Little Falls, N. Y. It will be found a 
most useful piece of apparatus in the 
creamery, and when not used for tem¬ 
pering cream, the vat can be filled with 
cold water, and the steam may be passed 
through the coils, thus condensing it. 
Glass condensers are manufactured for 
distilling purposes, and may be pur¬ 
chased from Eimer and Amend, New 
York. A distilling apparatus may be se¬ 
cured by having a coil of block tin 
made, then this coil may be immersed in 
a barrel or box of cold water, so ar¬ 
ranged that there shall be a constant 
outflow and inflow of cold water, thus 
condensing the steam as it passes 
through the coil. l. a. c. 
The only tempering device we sell for 
use in cream vats consists of a V-shaped 
trough, which is let down into the vat, 
and in which crushed ice can be placed. 
We formerly sold quantities of these 
vats for raising cream by the setting 
system, but nowadays we sell very few. 
The general practice in creameries, with 
regard to the tempering of cream, is to 
have a vat fitted for the circulation of 
-cold water, or where the water supply is 
not cold enough to have an ice-box at 
the end or at the sides of the vat. By 
this means, the temperature is regu¬ 
lated. There is a cream ripening system 
on the market known as the Boyd Sys¬ 
tem, which employs a coil of piping in 
the vats. This, however, is used only 
to a limited extent. With reference to 
condensing steam in these coils, the 
amount of heat required is so small that 
it would condense a small amount of 
steam. In all of our vats, we have a 
coil of pipe under the vat in the water 
space, and steam is used in these. It 
takes but a small amount to regulate 
the temperature, o. H. burrell * co. 
Peach Baskets. 
Sizes, 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 10 , 12 , 14 and ibqts. 
Peach Covers. 
Wood, Burlap and Cotton. 
Grape Baskets. 
Sizes, 3 * 4 , 5 , 8 , 10 and 15 lbs. 
Berry Baskets. 
Quarts, Shorts, Pints,Thirds, 
etc. 
BERRY, PEACH AND GRAPE CRATES. 
Crate stock and box shooks in all sizes, direct 
from the manufacturers. Special prices to deal¬ 
ers and carload buyers. Write tor catalogue. 
A. H. MONTAGUE & SON, 
Manufacturers and Agents, 
isto Warren St., New York City. 
OUR FOLDING CRATE 
may be shipped iD bundles of six as fourth-class 
freight. The six take space of one ordinary crate. 
They are strong, durable and cheap. Write for cir¬ 
cular and prices. 
GEO. H OWENS, Mfr., Addison, N. V. 
For the best in the Nursery Line, both 
FRUITS and ORNAMENTALS 
Roses, Plants, Bulbs, Seeds, 
and at prices to suit the times, consult 
The Storrs & Harrison Co., 
Box 569 Painesville, Ohio. 
45th year. 44 greenhouses lfkIO acres. 
Correspondence solicited. Catalogue free. 
C RIMSON 
LOVER 
and other Seeds for Summer Sowing Write for our 
Midsummer Catalogue. We send it Free. 
HENRY A. DREER, Philadelphia. 
.““.CRIMSON CLOVER 
All Tested Seed. Write for Samples and Prices. 
H. W. DOUGHTKN. Moorestown, N.J. 
CRIMSON CLOVERtEHSS' wY.™ 
headquarters for new home-grown acclimated seed 
and furnish at lowest prices. Also Turnip. Spinach 
and other se&sonsble seeds. TIJKNIP SEED ot all 
the leading varieties. 50c. per p- und. delivered at 
your post-office Remit with your order. 
II. L. HOLMES, Seedsman, llarrlbburg, Pa. 
T'UOMAS McELROY, European SeedCommis- 
x mission Merchant. Mercantile Ex. Bldg.. Harrison 
St., New York, offers Essex English Dwarf Rape Seed 
and High-g^ade Crimson C over Samples and prices 
on app.ication. Dealers only. 
Mammoth White Winter Seed Rye, 
noted for its productiveness both in grain and straw, 
awarded first prizes at several New York State and 
Amer can Institute Fairs, also first at the Tennessee 
Centennial, and at the Missouri. Vermont and Massa¬ 
chusetts Stale Fairs Price. $1 per bushel. Write for 
illustration of rye field. E.L Ci-arkson. Tivoli, N.Y. 
CnnH \A/hoato _ci,culilr compares yields 15 to 
OuCU lillCulo 60 bushels. 17 varieties. 
8 . J. SMITH’S POTATO FARM. Manchester, N.Y. 
ftl AflQTfSNF Strawberry Plants 
UIbHUwIUIIL Strong potted plants after 
Aug. 1,11 per doz., by express. Circular, with reporis 
from many States, tree. K. F. Mei ceron.Cataw ssa. Pa. 
Al 
POTTED STRAWBERRY PLANTS.— 
75 Gardner, 12 Sample for $1. List free. 
1’. SPEER, Passaic, N. J. 
Potted Strawberry T. C. Kevitt, Athenia, N.J 
POT 
STRAWBERRIES 
We shall have our uhubI 
supply of fine plants ready 
about July 15th. Catalogue 
directions mailed on request. 
FLLWANCER &. BARRY, Mount Hope Nurseries, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 5JMIi Year. 
CROWN 
( containing correct descriptions of the best varieties with cultural 
Pot-Grown Strawberry Plants. 
Set out now will bear a large crop of choice fruit next season. We 
have all the tried and valuable varieties. Also, a full lino of trees 
and other nursery stock for fail planting. Summer and Autumn 
Catalogue is now ready. Write to-day. 
T. J. DWYER & SON, Box I, Cornwall, N.Y. 
Improved for 1899. 
The most practical digger on the market. Always does 
good work no matter what the condition of the soil. You 
don’t know what a good digger can do until you have tried 
it. It is easy work for two horses to dig five acres in ten 
hours. We want you to try it before buying. Write for 
free catalogue and prices. 
THE STANDARD HARROW CO., 10 Hickory St., Utica, N.Y. 
The Standard Potato Harvester. 
