1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
465 
necessary to make their nests for them, simply provide 
a place and give them hay or straw, and they make 
their own nests. It is not necessary to feed the young, 
as the old birds do that. The pigeons are fed cracked 
corn, wheat, peas and stale bread. One of the most 
important points about successful squab raising is to 
know when to kill them. Mr. Crangle says that this 
is just when the old birds try to crowd them out of 
the nest; so they must be closely watched to hit upon 
the right time. If left long after this, they cease to 
be squabs and become pigeons, for which there is little 
demand. 
Belgian Hares. —Tiik R. N.-Y. has had so much 
about these animals lately, that it does not seem neces¬ 
sary to say much more. The methods here, however, 
differ in some respects from those given by some other 
writers. There are accommodations for 10 breeding 
does, and these quarters might seem rather limited to 
one not acquainted with the habits of the animals. 
There is a board floor, perhaps 10 x 16 feet, inclosed by 
wire netting. Along one side of this, is a row of 10 
hutches, each having an opening into the common 
run. The does all run together in one family. Mr. 
Crangle says there is no trouble with them, thus ar¬ 
ranged, so long as they are all acquainted. It might 
not do to introduce a strange animal into a colony 
like this. A small inclosure at one side with a couple 
of hutches accommodates two bucks, and these are all 
that are necessary for the number of does kept. They 
are fed on clover, cabbages, grass, hay and oats, largely, 
although they will eat almost anything green. They 
must have a supply of pure water, and everything be 
kept thoroughly clean. They are very prolific, and 
the young grow very rapidly. The demand for them 
for breeders is good. 
Wild Fowl. —The rough, broken character of some 
of this poultry farm, combined with the small lakes, 
makes it an ideal place for the keeping of wild geese 
and ducks, of which there are quite a number. These 
are kept in almost a natural state, being retained in¬ 
side the inclosure by clipping one wing. One pair of 
wild geese I saw in a yard with three goslings which 
had been caught and put in there after the hatching 
was completed. Mr. Crangle says that they almost 
invariably hatch every egg. This goose had laid four 
eggs, but one of them was double-yolked, hence failed 
to hatch. The wild geese and ducks are from birds 
that were captured in their wild state. The wild ducks 
are Mallards, Blacks, and Decoys. These are all kept 
in just as nearly natural conditions as possible, hence 
are strong and healthy. There is a good demand for 
this class of stock, usually exceeding the available 
supply. The Decoy ducks are cross-bred, and are 
used by duck hunters. They are produced by cross¬ 
ing a Black drake on a Mallard duck. These birds are 
also unexcelled as table fowls. f. h. v. 
The Farmers’ Club 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
ihe writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. ABk 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
Peach Leaf-Curt and Pear Blister-Mite. 
T. J. 8., Shaker Station, Conn. —I send a sample of leaves from 
affected peach trees. Some trees look as though they were 
blighted. 
F. !>., Glenco Mills, N. Y. —I inclose some peach leaves. What is 
the matter with them? I have 1,000 trees set in the Spring of 1895. 
They have always looked healthy until the present time. Now 
they look all right except the leaves, which are turning yellow, 
and curl. 1 grow strawberries between the trees. My pear trees 
are affected on the trunks; part of the bark dies, possibly two or 
three inches wide and two feet long, or it may be a spot as large 
as a teacup will be affected, generally on the south side. The 
variety is Bose. I dug out one large tree with the trunk entirely 
dead; it was set in 1890. I think the blight did it. 
A. B., Ridgeville, W. Va.—l send leaves cut from our Keiffer 
pear and Mt. Hose j>each trees. Will you tell us the trouble, and 
advise treatment? The trees are one year from the nursery. The 
ground was cropped with corn last season, and has clean culti¬ 
vation this. Peaches are more or less affected on 20 acres, but I 
find it only on the Kieffer pears. 
./. A. B., Cumberland, Mil. —I inclose leaves from some three-year- 
old pear trees which look diseased. What is wrong with them, 
and what shall I do to stop the disease from spreading ? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. 8LINGKRLAND. 
In each case, the peach leaves sent were badly dis¬ 
torted, wrinkled or curled out of their normal shape. 
See Fig. 209. This distortion of peach leaves has come 
to be commonly known as the Peach leaf-curl. This 
disease is unusually prevalent this year in most of the 
peach-growing regions of the United States. The 
disease is known to be caused by a fungus, but the life 
history of this fungus has not yet been fully worked 
out. It has been thought that the mycelium or roots 
of the fungus lived through the Winter upon the buds 
and twigs, for when buds are taken from diseased 
trees, and inserted in nursery stock, the resulting 
shoots generally show the disease, although there 
was no apparent infection when the budding was per¬ 
formed. However, recent experiments at the Cornell 
Experiment Station indicate that the Winter may be 
passed in a different stage or place. 
The “ curled” leaves usually all drop from the trees 
in June, and another crop of leaves, showing no trace 
of the disease, appear. Thus by Fall, a tree which 
had every leaf curled in the Spring, may appear as 
healthy as an uninfested tree. Usually, the loss of 
the foliage seriously interferes with the development 
of the fruit. The tree must have its breathing organs 
—the leaves—to develop a crop of fruit. Oftentimes, 
a vigorous tree will withstand a moderate attack of 
the disease and carry through its fruit all right. The 
disease has a decided preference for some varieties, 
particularly those with large, soft, and dark-colored 
leaves. It is, also, influenced greatly by the season. 
But few careful and definite experiments have been 
made in the treatment of this peach curl. Such ex¬ 
periments were begun at the Cornell Station early 
last Spring, and will be continued until definite re¬ 
sults are reached. The season has been very auspic¬ 
ious for such experiments, and some striking results 
have already been attained. Several young trees, 
which were badly diseased last year, were sprayed with 
several different fungicides last Spring, beginning be¬ 
fore the buds began to open at all. A second applica¬ 
tion was made just after the blossoms had been fer¬ 
tilized, but before they had fallen, and a third spray¬ 
ing was made a week or so later. Some of the trees 
will be sprayed at brief intervals during the season. 
Most of the curled leaves have now fallen. When 
the disease was at its worst stage, there was a strik¬ 
ing difference between some sprayed and unsprayed 
LEAF-CUKL OF THE PEACH. Flo. 209. 
trees. It was found that, in every case, the trees 
which were the freest from the disease had been 
sprayed with Bordeaux Mixture just as the buds began 
to swell early in the Spring. The indications were 
that this early application only had had a very decided 
effect in checking the disease. The later sprayings 
seemed to have little effect on the disease this year, 
but it is quite possible that they may decidedly check 
it for next year. These results are in line with all of 
the other recorded results in treating this disease. 
All agree that an early application of Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture, or a dilute copper sulphate, when the buds begin 
to swell, or even a little before, checks the disease for 
that season more than any later applications. Our 
experiments indicate that the disease can be checked 
in a large degree for the season by a single applica¬ 
tion of Bordeaux Mixture just about the time the 
buds begin to swell in the Spring. Later sprayings 
apparently have little effect on it for that season. It 
remains to be demonstrated, however, whether such 
later sprayings will not check it for the next season. 
The pear leaves sent by A. B. and J. A. B. were 
badly infested by a little foe known as the Pear 
blister-mite. The attack begins on the pear leaves 
before they are fully expanded in the Spring, in the 
form of small, red, blister-like spots. About June 
1, the spots gradually change to a green color hardly 
distinguishable from the rest of the leaf. In about a 
week or ten days, the spots change to a dark-brown 
color. The spots present a thick, corky appearance, 
and the disease spreads to the new leaves as they 
come out during the season. No variety of pears seems 
to be exempt from attack by this mite, but it attacks 
only the pear. The diseased spots are termed galls or 
“ blisters.” If they be carefully examined with a 
hand glass, one can discern near the center of each, 
on the lower side of the leaf, a minute, round hole. 
This hole leads into the “ blister ” within the sub¬ 
stance of the leaf wherein reside the creatures that 
cause the disease. These mites are exceedingly small, 
being practically invisible to the naked eye. Dozens 
of them often live in a single “ blister.” 
The destruction wrought by this mite thus far has 
not been very serious. Where it is exceedingly 
abundant, the infested leaves often fall from the tree 
sooner than the others, thus depriving that portion of 
the tree of its breathing organs. The mites live 
within the galls, feeding upon the plant cells, until 
the drying of the leaves in the Fall. They then mi¬ 
grate from the galls to the Winter buds at or near the 
ends of the twigs, where they soon work their way 
beneath the outer bud scales, and here hibernate. As 
soon as growth begins in the spring, these mites begin 
to form their galls on the leaves in the opening bud. 
Some careful experiments we made several years 
ago demonstrated that the only practicable method of 
combating this mite while it is in its galls or blisters 
on the leaves, is to gather and burn the infested 
leaves. Where but a few leaves on a tree are badly 
infested, this is the simplest and cheapest method to 
employ against the pest. As most of the mites Win¬ 
ter in the buds at or near the tips of the branches, the 
burning of the prunings would destroy many of them. 
Our experiments further demonstrated that the Fear 
blister-mite can be nearly exterminated in a badly in¬ 
fested orchard by a single spraying of the trees in 
Winter with kerosene emulsion diluted with from five 
to seven parts of water. It is probable that whale- 
oil soap, one pound to four or five gallons of water, 
would be equally as effective as the emulsion. 
Unfermented Wine. 
//. C. 8 ., Ula, Mich. —How can I make unfermented grape wine? 
Ans. —Unfermented wine is being made quite largely 
in the grape region of New York. The usual practice 
is to heat the grape juice to the sterilizing point, and 
then to seal it while hot, just as we do canned fruit. 
The bottles should be kept lying on their sides, in a 
dark place. It is asserted that some unscrupulous 
makers have used salicylic acid, instead of steriliza¬ 
tion, to prevent fermentation ; but the pure “ unfer¬ 
mented wine” contains no preservative. The salicylic 
acid would be regarded in the eyes of the law as an 
adulterant. 
When to Bud Cherries. 
J. N., Centralia, N. Y. When is the best time, and what the best 
method, for budding cherries ? Will cherries do on two-year-old 
plum stock ? 
Ans. —The time to bud cherries is about the last of 
July or first of August, in the central States. The 
condition of the stocks and buds should be a guide in 
the budding of the cherry or any other kind of tree. 
The buds to be inserted should be well developed, or 
they will not succeed. It is often the case that the 
buds are well developed only about half way up the 
young shoots, when the stocks are near enough ma¬ 
ture to receive them. The best stock for the sour 
kinds of the cherry is the Mahaleb, which is a Frencli 
species of wild cherry, that is usually imported at one 
year from the seed. The Mazzard is the best stock for 
the sweet cherries. Plum stocks are not suitable for 
budding to cherries of any kind. Ordinary shield 
budding is the popular method used. H. k. y. d. 
Irrigation by Gasoline Power. 
L. A. F., Fast Randolph, Vt. —In an article on irrigation, you say 
that a 2J4-horse-power gasoline engine can be run at an expense 
of 23 cents per day. What was the price of gasoline per gallon, 
and will the engine do as much as two horses in a tread power ? 
ANSWERED BY GEO. A. MITCHELL. 
When I estimated the cost of running my 2hJ-hor.se- 
power gasoline engine at 23 cents for 10 hours, gaso¬ 
line cost me 10 cents per gallon. I now buy it cheaper. 
1 have never had experience with a two-horse tread 
power, so can not compare my engine to one. Last 
year, I pumped 60 gallons of water per minute to a 
height of 20 feet, with a single-acting force pump, and 
did not use near all my power. I am now chang¬ 
ing my piping with a view to putting in a centrifugal 
or link-belt pump. My engine is capable of raising 
200 gallons of water per minute, 20 feet high, with 
the right pump and piping. If the existing weather 
continue, there will be ample need of irrigation this 
Summer. We have had no rain in Vineland for two 
weeks, and irrigation will pay well now on strawber¬ 
ries, early cabbage, cantaloupes, early potatoes, and 
many other crops. Even in a season that is classed as 
wet, there will be times when water can be very 
profitably applied to many crops. Last season would 
be classed by most farmers here as a wet season, yet 
two successful Vineland farmers have told me that 
the sweet potato crop could have been doubled by one 
or two timely irrigations during September. Sweet 
potatoes can stand about as much drought as any¬ 
thing except cow peas. A number of articles have 
been written lately stating that windmills are better 
than gasoline engines for irrigation. Three people 
near here have tried to irrigate with windmills, and 
can’t irrigate one acre successfully, because, when they 
want the most water, the wind blows least. With a 
2 % -horse-power gasoline engine and the right kind of 
a pump, I can raise enough water 20 feet high to irri¬ 
gate more than 20 acres. 
