1904 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
131 
FACTS ABOUT ALFALFA SEEDING. 
There is a general agreement that early sowing of 
Alfalfa is preferable. An objection, however, is often 
found upon weedy soils, because the weeds, being 
rapid growers, soon get the start of Alfalfa. I would 
rather prefer upon such lands to sow later, giving 
two or three weeks of careful shallow cultivation, 
permitting weed seed germination and destruction. 
Then sow 25 to 30 pounds of seed to the acre, prefer¬ 
ably without nurse crop. If a half bushel of barley 
is sown per acre with the Alfalfa no harm will re¬ 
sult, if it is cut off before heading or at the time 
heads appear. The seed bed should always be nicely 
prepared for any seed, but especially for the small 
seeds. Alfalfa seed should have as carefully prepared 
land as onions. It is small, and can only prosper on 
fine rich soil. The amount of seed does really seem 
unusual and unwarranted because if every seed could 
grow and make a plant, 12 to 15 pounds would cover 
the field, but not all will grow, and what is more, 
these plants should come up near together in order 
to cover the soil the first year, and then allow the 
weaker ones gradually to give way to the stronger, 
permitting the large stools which the plant will finally 
produce to have room. A most satisfactory feature 
of Alfalfa growing is its gradually increasing 
acreage and a slow but sure adaptability to varying 
kinds of soil. 
The value and necessity of soil inoculation has 
been definitely established, and many soils not pre¬ 
viously supposed to be adapted are proving their 
fruitfulness when Alfalfa bacteria are sown liberally 
with the seed, say 100 to 200 pounds of soil from an 
old-established Alfalfa field, to each acre of new seed¬ 
ing. Many farmers will this year for the first time 
use soil for inoculation upon which the wild Sweet 
clover has grown, the bacteria of which according to 
Prof. Hopkins are the same as upon Alfalfa. It is 
surprising how rapidly interest and knowledge is in¬ 
creasing among farmers concerning this plant, as evi¬ 
denced at the institutes this Winter. h. e. c. 
CARE OF A MISSOURI VINEYARD. 
Colman’s Rural World recently contained an article 
by E. W. Geer, which mentioned the profits from a very 
successful small vineyard. Some of our readers asked 
for further particulars, and so Mr. Geer sends us the 
following notes: 
In the outset a suitable site is of importance. Our 
vineyard is located on a southeastern slope, protected 
on north and west by timber, buildings and other 
fruit trees. On April 30 last a severe frost and freez¬ 
ing weather killed almost all other vineyards about 
here that were exposed to northwest winds, while ours 
bore an exceedingly heavy crop. We plant Concord 
and Worden in rows eight feet apart; vines 12 feet 
apart in the rows, rows running north and south. 
Holes 12 inches deep and wide enough to receive the 
roots without bending are all that is necessary. Prune 
the vine back to two buds, letting only one cane grow 
the first season This cane can either run on the 
ground or be tied up to a stake the first 
season, the stake preferable. Thorough 
cultivation both ways should be given 
the first year. Potatoes, beans or cow 
peas can be grown between the vines the 
first season. 
The young vine should go on a two- 
wire trellis the second year, and the 
wires should be stretched tight to pre¬ 
vent the vine sagging. A sagging vine 
is unsightly, in the way of cultivation 
and hoeing, bears fruit near the ground 
that is always gritty, does not ripen 
evenly, is more subject to black rot, and 
difficult to spray. The third year an¬ 
other wire should be added, making 
three wires. At this age, with proper 
care and cultivation (cultivation should 
always be thorough), the vines should 
yield 20 pounds each, worth here five 
cents per pound or $1 to the vine. Thor¬ 
ough spraying with Bordeaux is as essential to a good 
grape crop as cultivation. In order to do perfect work 
with the sprayer and for the grapes to set well and 
ripen evenly, the vines should by all means be spread 
properly on the trellis, and so fastened there that the 
wind cannot bunch them. First spraying should be 
given when the buds begin to swell; second spraying 
when bloom drops, and third spraying when grapes 
are the size of duekshot. Cultivation should be con¬ 
tinued until grapes commence to ripen. All weeds and 
grass should be kept from under the trellis as they 
collect dew and dampness, which is favorable to 
black rot. 
To market the grapes we use five and seven-pound 
grap ■ baskets, the five-pound selling for 20 cents, the 
se con-pound for 30 cents; loose in 10, 15 and 20-pound 
baskets at five cents per pound; 100-pound lots $5. 
We have a home market second to none anywhere. 
Our vineyard covers a little the rise of one-half acre-, 
is six years old, and has yielded the past four years 
$1,126 worth of grapes. While I make my vineyard 
very profitable I have all conditions in my favor; loca¬ 
tion, market, etc. I have omitted fertilizing, which is 
one important point. All leaf mold, rich earth, de¬ 
cayed wood, etc., that we haul from the forests and 
use as scratching material for the poultry goes into 
the vineyard when it becomes soiled; also the drop¬ 
pings of the fowls. e. w. GEEK. 
Farmington, Mo._ 
FRUIT NOTES BY VAN DEMAN. 
The Lincoln Pear. 
Do you know anything about the Lincoln pear as to 
the time of ripening, quality, foliage, blight, etc.? 
Wapakoneta, O. J. h. s. 
The Lincoln pear is medium to large in size; of 
ordinary pyramidal pear shape, and fair quality. It 
THE ROCKEY PEACH. Fig. 59. 
ripens in August and September. The tree is strong 
and the foliage healthy. It is claimed by its intro¬ 
ducers to be free from blight, but this may not prove 
to be true in all locations, although its original home 
is one of the worst for this disease, being at Lincoln, 
111. This ppar must not be confounded with Lincoln 
Coreless, which is a variety that is practically worth¬ 
less, because of its very poor quality. 
Commercial Apples for New York. 
I intend to plant a large apple orchard for commercial 
purposes. What would be the three best Winter varie¬ 
ties to plant for this part of the State, named in order 
of preference? a. s. 
Rural Grove, N. Y. 
The plan that seems to me the best is to set perma¬ 
nent trees 40 feet apart each way and fill in between, 
at least one way, with early bearing kinds to be cut 
out when the trees begin to crowd each other. For 
the permanent trees I would think Sutton, Baldwin 
and Northern Spy would be the three kinds best suit¬ 
ed to the locality of the inquirer. For fillers Wealthy, 
Oldenburg and Wagener would be good varieties. 
Ontario Apple; Dorset Pear. 
Having a few trees of Ontario apple and Dorset pear 
in my possession, I wish to know what are the character¬ 
istics of the trees, quality of fruit, time of ripening, and 
whether they are suited to this locality, western Ohio. 
Do they grow compact or spreading tops? If they make 
an upright growth T shall use them for roadside planting. 
Would the Canada Red be a Winter apple in this latitude? 
Troy, O. w. c. p. 
The Ontario apple is a cross between Northern Spy 
and Wagener, and is a very good Winter variety, es¬ 
pecially in Canada, where it originated, and is grown 
to some extent. The tree habit of this is upright but 
not so much so as that of the Northern Spy. The 
fruit is large, red striped, of good quality and will 
probably keep a little past mid-Winter when grown 
in central Ohio; but this must be learned by trial 
there. The State Experiment Station at Wooster may 
be able to give information on this point. As a road¬ 
side fruit tree it ought to be suitable. The Dorset 
pear is another Canadian variety of good qualities 
both of tree and fruit. It ripens in Autumn. The 
tree is upright and well shaped. It would make a 
good tree for the roadside. 
Crafting Walnuts. 
t have a strain of the English walnut that seems 
hardier than the imported, or those that come from Cali¬ 
fornia. I would like to top-graft some Black walnut 
trees with the variety this Spring. Will they be most 
likely to unite and grow if it is done early in the Spring, 
as soon as the weather is warm enough, or will it be 
best to keep the grafts dormant until the sap in the 
Black walnuts starts and they are almost ready to leaf 
out, and then graft? Can young Black walnuts be 
budded to the English walnut, and if so, at what time of 
year and in what manner? h. b. s. 
Rocky River, O. 
It is possible to graft the Persian walnut (incor¬ 
rectly called English) on the native American Black 
walnut, but it is by no means an easy matter to get 
the two to unite. It is quite doubtful if large trees 
can be grafted successfully until we learn more about 
the way to do it. The small seedlings can be grafted 
with fair success by cutting them off a few inches 
below the surface of the ground, setting a rather long 
scion by any of the methods of grafting, and after 
pressing a ball of mud about the union banking up 
with soil nearly to the top of the scion. This I saw 
done with great success in Oregon several years ago. 
Another way of grafting nut trees that is used with 
excellent results by E. W. Kirkpatrick, of Texas, is, 
to cut two long, sloping gashes in the stock jus£-d5e- 
low the ground and coming together at their lower 
points, so that a long, tapering chip or wedge is 
taken out, and into this cut insert the scion, after cut¬ 
ting its butt end to a wedge that will fit neatly into 
the cut. After the vital union takes place the top of 
the stock is cut off just above the scion, which then 
makes the new top. Budding the walnuts is a very 
difficult, and many think it an impossible thing to do. 
I have often tried it and rarely succeeded, either with 
Spring or Fall-set buds. Those of whose partial suc¬ 
cess I have heard did it after the buds were well 
developed in the latter part of the Summer, and by 
the “patch” method. A patch of bark is taken out of 
the stock about an inch square and one of exactly the 
same size from the bud-stick, with a bud attached, 
which is fitted into the bare place on the stock and 
securely fastened there with waxed cloth. In case of 
grafting or Spring-budding the scions should be cur 
when entirely dormant, and kept in cold storage un¬ 
til the stocks have started into growth, when they 
should be inserted. 
BUDDING FROM BEARING TREES. 
I note the recent discussion as to whether trees 
budded or grafted from selected bearing trees are pre¬ 
ferable to those budded from the nursery row. So far 
as making a better tree I doubt the as¬ 
sertion, as to quality of fruit in any va¬ 
riety. We certainly think, and have 
proved to our satisfaction, that to pro¬ 
pagate from a bearing tree that shows 
health and superior fruit over other 
trees of the same variety is an advan¬ 
tage to be gained in no other way. Our 
mode is to propagate from the bearing 
tree first and then from the nursery row 
from trees budded from the selected 
bearing tree. Our theory, from practical 
experience, is that from the nursery 
row, we get much healthier buds. A 
tree at one or two years old standing in 
nursery row, where it must have all the 
attention possible to make it grow and 
present the best of appearance, should 
be preferable to the tree standing in the 
orchard. My opinion is that the young¬ 
er the tree that we select our buds or 
grafts'from the better. In this we are renewing vigor 
from those that have not had their vigor exhausted by 
bearing fruit or otherwise. There is but one thing in 
favor of selecting from the bearing tree over the nur¬ 
sery row that I see as of importance, which is a good 
one. That is, it insures variety beyond a doubt, for 
the fruit on it shows beyond question what you are 
propagating. If it were not for this 1 would not favor 
selecting from the bearing tree at any time. But we 
must for self-protection as well as the protection of 
our customers go back to the fruiting tree, at times 
when we are convinced that we can improve the va¬ 
riety by so doing, or we think we can. 
Maryland. peters. 
R. N.-Y.—Any practice that will lessen the chance 
of error is worth considering. When a man pays for 
fruit trees of a certain variety, it is good business 
for the nurseryman to be sure that he gets them, 
AN IOWA FARM GARDEN. Fig. 60. 
