5o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 23 
would get good seedings with grain, but they did not 
average good at all. We now find that by fitting the 
ground very fine after grain is taken off, and sowing 
the latter part of August with a good grade of ferti¬ 
lizer, we can get good seeding. The Timothy and 
clover has an equal chance; there is no ripening 
grain to rob it in midsummer, and the following year 
we get a good crop. I always sow clover and Tim¬ 
othy separately, going over the field twice, as the 
clover Is so much heavier than Timothy. l. w. k. 
North Madison, Ohio. 
John M. Jamison's Plan. 
Although I have had no experience along this line, 
if occasion should arise to make such a trial I would 
proceed as follows: It would not do to risk the clover 
sowing without covering the seed in some way. If 
iliere is a good stand of the volunteer Timothy the 
soil could be well scarified with a harrow, and not 
destroy so much of the Timothy but that there would 
be plenty left. Hence, I would sow the clover seed 
when the soil is in condition to harrow, and follow 
the sowing immediately with the harrow. If the field 
can be given a light top-dressing of manure it will 
improve the chance of getting a stand of clover very 
much. If the soil is rich there is good promise that 
a stand may be had without the manure. The sowing 
should be done as early as possible, that the clover 
may get a start before dry weather sets in. After 
sowing, if the field could be grazed by light stock, 
such as sheep or swine (the former preferable, because 
they travel so much more than swine), the clover 
would be much more certain to catch if the tramping 
is not done when the soil is muddy. If the clover gets 
a start it will doubtless outrank the Timothy in 
growth the first year. joiin m. jamison. 
Ross Co., Ohio. 
H. E. Cook’s Opinion. 
I should expect very few clover seeds would grow. 
The inference would be that this soil was not very 
productive if the Timothy was so light that it was not 
worth harvesting. If the ground is now covered with 
fine grass, clover would not seed to any appreciable 
extent, even though fertility, readily available, was 
present. I should undertake to fertilize these plants 
already started and make the most of them. No mat¬ 
ter how muscular a horse may be, if smooth-shod he 
cannot make his strength effective upon slippery 
ground; neither can a clover seed make headway un¬ 
less the soil is congenial, first for germination, and 
after that for root growth. Tons of clover seed are 
annually wasted upon soils not congenial, coarse, 
lumpy, grassy, etc. The clover is a small seed and 
must, like ether small seeds, have a fine mellow soil, 
and then the soil must be inoculated in order to com¬ 
plete nature’s effort. This piece of land can now be 
effectually and satisfactorily treated with a top-dress¬ 
ing of stable manure, or if not in supply use a mix¬ 
ture of 200 pounds of nitrate of soda, 200 pounds mu¬ 
riate of potash, 200 pounds cotton-seed meal, 1,400 
pounds dissolved rock, applying from 300 to 500 
pounds per acre as soon as it can be spread in the 
Spring. I have not been able to observe the same 
value when applied upon the surface as when mixed 
with the soil, but in a case like this one must accept 
the proposition, which seems at the time being the 
most feasible. I have formulated a rich nitrogenous 
mixture because evidently this soil is deficient in this 
element, and again Timothy must have available ni¬ 
trogen near the surface for its growth. The expense 
of plowing and refitting such a field would pay the 
entire expense of fertilizing as here mentioned. 
IT. E. COOK. 
." TERMINAL-BUDDED ” PECANS. 
A New “ Industry " for Nurserymen. 
Probably no horticultural product is now being 
more exploited than the pecan. Within reasonable 
limits this is as it should be, for there can be no 
doubt that there is a fine future assured those who 
put out pecan orchards in favorable situations in the 
middle and lower South. The greater majority of 
those who have become enthusiastic regarding the 
future possibilities of the industry, however, have 
had but limited horticultural experience. The result 
is that the fruit tree agent with plenty of the neces¬ 
sary wind and a handful of excellent, pecan nuts finds 
a ready sale for even seedling trees at a price ranging 
from 50 cents to $1. One Georgia nurseryman even 
advertises seedling trees of “choice" varieties at $2 
and $3 each. When the trees are sold as seedlings it 
is generally explained that they are grown from large 
nuts like the samples shown, gathered from a tree 
standing in the forest by itself where there can be no 
transfer of pollen. Thus the seedling trees raised 
from these nuts will in time bear nuts like the parent 
tree, because the parent tree was self-fertilized. Thus 
like produces like. This explanation must be gener¬ 
ally satisfactory, for on the strength of it large num¬ 
bers of seedling pecan trees are sold throughout the 
South each year. 
But some buyers do not believe in seedling trees on 
general principles, and to satisfy this class of buyers, 
certain nurserymen have sent out seedling trees that 
had been cut back just above the ground. The cutting 
back results in a side bud and the formation of a de¬ 
cided crook so that it is almost impossible to 1 ell a 
tree which has been thus treated from one which has 
been budded or grafted. A large number of seedlings 
treated in this way have been sold during the past 10 
years. Now another treatment has been brought out. 
This is the so-called terminal budding. Two years 
ago the State Entomologist of Georgia, Prof. W. M. 
Scott, and the writer, had an interesting experience 
at Columbus, Ga., in dealing with a nursery agent 
A SIMPLE WATER SYSTEM. Fin. 22. 
who sold the “terminal” budded pecan trees. The 
pecan trees constituted a part of a large consignment 
of various fruit trees mostly to be delivered in east¬ 
ern Alabama. The shipment was suspected of being 
infested with San Jose scale, and was held up for ex¬ 
amination. Upon being found infested they were de¬ 
stroyed by burning, as provided for under the Georgia 
law governing such shipments. The pecan trees in 
this shipment had been sold at $1 each, and were 
guaranteed to be budded trees. A close examination, 
nowever, failed to show any evidence whatever of the 
trees having been either budded or grafted. The nur¬ 
sery agent explained this lack of evidence of budding, 
however, by stating that these trees were terminal 
budded, and that terminal budding consisted of rub¬ 
bing off the terminal bud of the young seedling and 
placing another bud of a known variety in its place. 
In this way the young tree grew perfectly straight, 
showing no signs of where the bud had been placed. 
As this process of terminal budding was something 
entirely new in my experience, I later referred the 
matter to several horticulturists with a view to as¬ 
certaining to what extent the merits (?) of the pro¬ 
cess were known. The following are some of the 
replies, part of them being received by the P. J. Berck- 
mans Company: 
You ask my opinion on the following method of bud¬ 
ding pecans: “The terminal bud of the seedling is cut 
out and the bud of a known variety is inserted where 
the terminal bud is removed.” I have never before 
heard of this method of budding, and it is hard to con¬ 
ceive how it can be done successfully as described above. 
The very nature of budding and the conditions necessary 
to doing it successfully would seem to preclude the pos¬ 
sibility of getting them to live when put in as above. 
The “annular” and “semi-annular” methods of bud¬ 
ding are the only ones with which I have succeeded, and 
only with these after years of experience. 
Georgia. j. b. wight. 
T do not believe it possible to bud pecans in the man¬ 
ner referred to. I think there must be a “wrinkle” in it 
somewhat similar to the annular budding that we hear 
of being done by ringing a bud on the stock and then 
allowing this bud to make the tree. I have never before 
heard of terminal budding and, as above stated, do not 
believe it possible. It would look to me as though the 
parties claiming to produce trees in this way were prac¬ 
ticing to see how far the uninitiated public was willing 
to be gulled. g. l. taber. 
Florida. 
Without knowing more definitely the manner of this 
process of budding, I hesitate somewhat to say whether 
it is possible or not to succeed with this method. I do not 
know what advantage this man claims over the method 
of ring budding or common grafting. I infer from what 
is stated that it must be the bud of the mature growth 
of the season. If so, it would be nothing more or loss 
than grafting. I can understand how that the bud on 
the end of a full branch could be taken out in a wedg° 
shape and another one from the named varieties inserted 
into this receptacle, as shown here. In this way I think 
A TERMINAL BUDDED PECAN. 
it would be possible for the bud to grow as in the ordi¬ 
nary way of grafting. There are many of these fakers 
traveling over the country claiming new processes which 
are not always to be relied upon. I think with the ex¬ 
perience you have had with the different methods of bud¬ 
ding and grafting you are fully qualified to judge whether 
this is a feasible method of propagation. 
United States Pomologist. o. r. brackett. 
Some time ago T saw in some newspaper that terminal 
budding of the walnut, by splitting the bud, had been 
practiced with success by some one, I know not who. I 
have never seen or heard otherwise of its success, 
and have some doubts of its being a success. The per¬ 
sons who purchased these terminal budded pecans can 
easily satisfy themselves by employing an expert who 
can, of course, see if the mechanical part of it has been 
performed as claimed. luther burbank. 
California. 
Terminal buds are made to fool people. You can make 
all the terminal buds yourself; all you need is a good 
sharp knife, no wood, no strings, wax, etc. Cut your 
seedlings just below the last buds and the new sprout 
growing out below is your terminal bud. This will give 
you terminal-budded trees, but all the same it won't 
change your seedling. It is only a sharp and easy trick 
to fool customers. chas. pabst. 
Mississippi. 
Your letter excited a good deal of curiosity in me, and 
I hope you will let me know more about it. The fraud 
and humbug, which I certainly think it must be, of 
course, is very easily detected. The variations of the 
pecan tree are so great in bark, leaf, color, etc., that 1 
do not think I could be fooled in it, in any stage. 
Texas. e. e. risien. 
From what is said above I do not wish to create 
the impression that nurserymen sell only xml ling 
trees. It was formerly thought that budding or graft¬ 
ing the pecan was a very difficult process. Now, how¬ 
ever. many nurserymen have made a specialty of such 
work. Budding is more successful than grafting, the 
“ring” or “annular” method being largely employed. 
One Georgia nurseryman writes me that he will bud 
20,000 pecans this Summer. This may not be a large 
number of trees by comparison with peaches and 
apples, but considering the relative difficulty of bud¬ 
ding the pecan I am inclined to think this nursery¬ 
man “will be busy” with his 20,000 trees. For myself, 
I fail to see why a seedling pecan should be expected 
to bear any better fruit than a seedling apple, peach 
or plum. At any rate, I would not care to plant out 
an orchard of seedlings and then have to wait 15 years 
in order to see what T had planted. It is such a short 
step from the cradle to the grave that I would prefer 
some one else to do the experimenting in this case 
But with the budded trees now being put on the mar¬ 
ket and so largely planted, we can hope for some 
good results in 10 or 15 years. 
Ithaca, N. Y. Howard evarts weed. 
ARGUMENTS FOR ORCHARD CULTIVATION 
The following statement was prepared by Prof. F. A. 
Waugh for the Lowell Journal: 
I am aware that there is a strong prejudice in many 
parts of Massachusetts against the cultivation of 
apple orchards. This is only a prejudice, however. I 
am sure, and will be overcome in time. I have never 
yet heard of a man having an orchard suitable for 
cultivation, who, having once fairly tried good culti¬ 
vation with modern orchard implements, has after¬ 
ward gone back to sow his orchard down to grass. On 
the other hand, I do know of men who have made the 
opposite change, namely, from the sod system to cul¬ 
tivation, and who have found it entirely satisfactory. 
I could show instances of this in some of the largest 
and best orchards in western Massachusetts and still 
more so in Vermont, where I have been longer ac¬ 
quainted. 
The arguments against cultivation are commonly 
four: (1) that plowing cannot be done in an orchard; 
(2) that it injures the trees; (3) that it is too expen¬ 
sive; (4) that it injures the quality of the fruit. These 
objections can be answered very briefly: 
1. The objection that it cannot be done is best an¬ 
swered by the fact that it is done—done constantly 
and on a large scale. It is harder to do in an old or¬ 
chard which has never been cultivated, and under 
such circumstances may not be advisable, but, even 
so, it can often be successfully and profitably ac¬ 
complished. I have myself once done this with an 
orchard of two acres of badly neglected trees between 
30 and 40 years old, and the results were entirely sat¬ 
isfactory. 
2. If an old uncultivated orchard is put under the 
plow the tree roots are considerably torn, and some 
damage may result. Orchards cultivated from the be¬ 
ginning are absolutely uninjured. The best proof of 
this lies in the fact (which, by the way, is a fact), 
that many of the very best orchards in every part of 
the country are under the plow annually. 
3. Cultivation is more expensive than doing noth¬ 
ing at all, but it pays better. 
4. There is some show of reason in the statement 
that cultivation has a bad effect on the fruit. The 
fruit is sometimes less highly colored and does not 
keep quite so well. On the other hand, it is larger, 
sorts better at the sorting table, and brings a larger 
return to the acre, because there is more of it. Final¬ 
ly, I ought to draw attention to the fact that in the 
largest, most famous and most successful apple 
regions of this continent—Nova Scotia, upper On¬ 
tario, western New York, Michigan and the great 
apple belt of the Central States—cultivation is gener¬ 
ally recommended and practiced. 
