1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
767 
A NEW JERSEY NURSERY. 
Scale, Strawberries and Peaches. 
The Village Nurseries at Hightstown, N. J., con¬ 
ducted by Jos. H. Black, Son & Co., have been rather 
lucky in the matter of San Josd scale. Although 
testing freely all obtainable novelties, this dreaded 
pest has never been detected on their grounds, during 
the frequent inspections that have been made by the 
State Entomologist. The Messrs. Black are convinced 
that such complete immunity cannot last indefinitely 
without special precaution, and are now completing a 
very suitable house for fumigating with hydrocyanic 
gas, all trees or woody plants that enter or leave the 
nurseries. To reduce still further the danger of in¬ 
fection they are making very determined efforts to 
propagate everything they catalogue. For a number 
of years past the growing of apple and pear trees has 
been declining in New Jersey and southern nurseries, 
it being more economical to buy stock trees of the 
Pome fruits from western New York and other well- 
known nursery districts, where the soil and climatic 
conditions are favorable to rapid growth. This is an 
instance where unforeseen factors tend to check the 
natural concentration of a given industry. 
Elias Black, one of the senior members of the firm, 
started in nearly a dozen years ago to breed a su¬ 
perior late strawberry. He made many crosses with 
the best varieties then in vogue, raising 1,000 seed¬ 
lings annually, but was rather disgusted at the little 
improvement effected. Find¬ 
ing that the summary produc¬ 
tion of superior varieties of 
long-cultivated plants was 
not always an easy matter, he 
mapped out a plan of breed¬ 
ing, giving prominence to all 
important points, such as 
vigor, productiveness, size, 
quality, season, etc., and be¬ 
gan over again, choosing the 
parents each succeeding gen¬ 
eration for a definite purpose, 
as do expert stock-breeders. 
Out of countless numbers of' 
discarded seedlings, six or 
eight have been selected final¬ 
ly as approaching the stand¬ 
ard originally fixed. The R. 
N.-Y. has tested some of these 
fine berries, and published 
many favorable notes about 
them during the last two sea¬ 
sons. We could only note the 
pronounced health and vigor 
in an October inspection of 
the beds at Hightstown. 
A number of new peaches 
from Florida, seedling varie¬ 
ties of the Peen-to and other 
Oriental kinds, are being test¬ 
ed at the Village Nurseries. 
They are planted in a test 
orchard among a selection of 
northern peaches, and receive 
the same treatment, which is 
average care, without any 
Winter protection. The Chi¬ 
nese trees came through the 
Winter uninjured, and bore 
fully as well as their accli¬ 
mated companions. They are not regarded as useful 
acquisitions in that locality, either in quality or size 
of fruits. Yy . v. F 
SHALL WE TAP THE MAPLES? 
Why Not Give Them a Rest? 
In parts of the country the Forest tent-caterpiller has 
done great injury to the Sugar maples. In some cases 
the leaves were thoroughly stripped. It is feared by 
some farmers that such trees have been weakened so 
much that they should not be tapped next year. What 
about it? 
A MATTER OF DOUBT.—It is written that if the 
maple trees have had a hard struggle for life during, 
the past Summer it would be in their favor not to tap 
them. I cannot say where the greater gain might 
come. A single tap only takes a fraction of the sap 
from a tree, and the owner may be in need of the 
income from his orchard more than the increased 
vigor of his trees. I do not think that the tapping 
will bring ruin, and possibly it will not bring much 
sugar next Spring. byron d. halsteil 
New Jersey Exp. Station. 
RESULTS UNCERTAIN.—I do not think that it 
would be wise to issue general advice to farmers not 
to tap their sugar trees next Spring. I believe that 
in many cases tapping might result in some injury to 
the tree on account of the vitality having been weak¬ 
ened by the work of the worms during the past year, 
but probably there are many cases where tapping 
would not do any harm whatever. If the Winter buds 
are full and healthy, I think that the tapping next 
year would not be injurious to the tree. The question 
of the advisability of tapping the trees should, in 
my judgment, be decided on examination of the in¬ 
dividual specimens. henry s. graves. 
Div. of Forestry, Washington, D. C. 
THE VERMONT SITUATION.—It will be safe, at 
least, not to draw upon the vitality of trees that have 
been seriously injured, through loss of their foliage, 
by tapping next Spring. This has been the course 
taken by a large proportion of the sugar makers of 
this State, and it seems sensible. With us the pres¬ 
ent indications are that we are practically over our 
trouble from this pest. From all sections of the 
State from which we have reports we are informed 
that there has been practically no moths hatching 
this Fall. Wherever examined, it has. been found 
that a parasite has destroyed all life in the cocoons. 
If there are no moths to lay the eggs for next sea¬ 
son’s crop we shall certainly be free from trouble 
with this pest next season. 
If allowed freedom from the further work of this 
worm a large proportion of the maples will revive, 
though in places where they have been denuded for 
the past four years, a good many will die. Where 
only one or two years’ work of the worm has been 
suffered, the per cent of loss is not likely to be very 
large. The work of this worm in Vermont has been 
FOLIAGE OF THE TRIFOLIATE ORANGE. Fig. 285. See First Page. 
very serious, and we have feared that our maple- 
sugar industry was to be ruined. Probably about 25 
per cent of the sugar orchards of the State have suf ¬ 
fered more or less from this cause within the past 
four years, and the probability of being near the end 
of our trouble is very gratifying. v. i. spear. 
Mgr. Vermont Maple Sugar Market. 
WHY NOT TAP?—If the trees were so seriously de¬ 
foliated by worms last Spring as to threaten their 
lives, they ought not to be tapped—and for two good 
reasons. First, the sugar is the reserve food of the 
tree, and such a tree needs all its reserve food for 
its own growth next Spring. Second, the quality of 
the sap will probably be so poor in these weakened 
trees as to make it of little profit to tap them. In 
case the injury by the worms has not been so serious, 
however, I should consider tapping advisable, since 
prices promise well for sugar next Spring. Regard¬ 
ing the danger from worms next year, there seems 
to be much difference in opinion. Perhaps one man's 
judgment is as good as another. The opinion of our 
Vermont Experiment Station entomologist is that 
most of the worms in cocoons in this vicinity were so 
badly infested with parasites this year that it is prob¬ 
able the ravages of the insects will be much less next 
year than they were last season. l. r. jones. 
Vermont Exp. Station. 
AMERICAN TEA AND COFFEE. 
Annexation and Culture Bringing New Crops. 
For the first time in history, the United States is 
producing tea and coffee. The coffee, of course, comes 
in with the recent annexations of Porto Rico and the 
Hawaiian Islands, and the anomaly of our War De¬ 
partment buying imported coffee in the North, to 
carry out to the soldiers in Cuba and Porto Rico, has 
been maintained for some time. The newspapers re¬ 
port, however, that recent attempts to buy Porto 
Rican coffee for army use have failed on account of 
the high price demanded by the planters. 
The American tea crop, which reached nearly 1,500 
pounds last season, is grown entirely on the estate of 
Dr. Charles N. Shepard, near Summerville, S. C., and 
is said to be of the highest quality. This is accounted 
for, in part, by the fact that all imported teas suffer 
some deterioration from long sea voyages, but chiefly 
from the high cultivation Dr. Shepard gives his plan¬ 
tations, and the great care exercised in picking and 
cuiing the leaves, the tea plant, which is closely 
related to the well-known ornamental Camellia, has 
been grown in a limited extent in the South for nearly 
a century, and the National Department of Agricul- 
tuie began the annual distribution of the more hardy 
varieties nearly 40 years ago to favorable localities, 
but later abandoned the idea of promoting the estab¬ 
lishment of commercial tea-growing in this country, 
though advocating its culture for domestic use. The 
reasons given, after trials ex¬ 
tending over 20 years, were 
the insufficient rainfall, which 
is little over 50 inches annual¬ 
ly in the Southern States, as 
against 80 to 120 inches in the 
tea-growing countries of Asia, 
and the immensely greater 
cost of labor, as compared 
with the Asiatic standard. 
The temperature also may be 
expected to drop 15 to 20 de¬ 
grees below the freezing point 
during Winter in all the hilly 
districts north of Florida. Tea 
plants will endure zero weath¬ 
er when established, but the 
best production is obtained 
from plants not subjected to 
• frost. 
Dr. Shepard commenced ex¬ 
tensive experiments on his 
Pinehurst estate several years 
ago, and now has a number of 
thriving gardens established 
on various sites, all being in 
the highest state of cultiva¬ 
tion. The deficient rainfall is 
compensated for by deep 
plowing, drainage and sub¬ 
soiling, together with a care¬ 
ful system of surface culture. 
The injury by cold is avoided 
by growing seedlings of the 
more hardy Chinese and In¬ 
dian varieties, such as have 
been cultivated for ages in 
the more elevated districts. 
The great difficulty still re¬ 
mains in the labor question, 
as it costs fully eight times 
as much to pick the young leaves required for a pound 
of tea in South Carolina as in Asia, and it is difficult 
to secure at all times a sufficient force of pickers 
promptly to gather the intermittent crops of leaves 
when in the best condition. Dr. Shepard has endeav¬ 
ored, and with much success, to overcome this diffi¬ 
culty by establishing a free school providing good 
tuition in the primary branches, and employing the 
pupils, when needed, in the light work of picking the 
delicate young leaves under careful supervision The 
Doctor is now putting on the market a tea superior to 
any found in the trade, and thinks this high standard 
of quality absolutely essential to -the profitable pro¬ 
duction of a tea crop under present conditions 
An English paper states that experiments there have 
proved that separated milk, with the addition of two or 
three tablespoonfuls of cod liver oil per gallon, is a good 
food for growing calves. 
Farm, Field and Fireside, speaking of people who s 
through two hours of religious service every Sunda 
while their horses are checked up and hitched in the sui 
expresses the hope that the Lord will be more mercif. 
to them than they are to their poor suffering animals. 
Hoard’s Dairyman states that a man recently brougt 
50 cows from Australia to Manila. The freight cost hii 
more than the actual value of the cows in Australia bi 
the venture proved a success, as he now has a deman 
for more milk than he can supply at 25 cents per quart. 
United States hospital there pays him a milk bill of $2,0i 
gold per month. 
i- ilthy lucre is an appropriate name for money i 
the shape of some of the dirty old bills that remain 1 
circulation until ready to drop to pieces. The Nation; 
Provisioner tells of a New York woman with such 
dread of disease germs that she orders her servants l 
wash and iron all the paper money received in chang 
from stores. 
