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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 10 
sufficiently to produce best results if planted in rows ; 
besides, the cultivation is simplified by hill culture, 
only the wheel-hoe being 1 used, by which an acre per 
day can be thoroughly cultivated by one man. I have 
picked 10,000 quarts from an acre in hills 15 inches 
apart each way, and an alley three feet wide for pick¬ 
ing one way of the patch every third row. Each 
plant has a good range for root development, and 
through that it collects moisture and nutrition over a 
wider space, insuring it better from the effects of 
drought. Such beds 6hould be mulched with salt hay 
or cut corn fodder, as a protection for clean fruit, to 
retain soil moisture and stop evaporation. Certain 
varieties are better adapted to hill culture than others, 
and such varieties as are most prolific in making 
plants are least adapted to hill culture ; those which 
are inclined to reproduce crowns instead of runners are 
the best. Parker Earle and Marshall are of this type, 
Bubach, also, with many others. The Gandy will 
not succeed in hills, being a shy bearer for me. An 
excess of plants is but as so many weeds to use up fer¬ 
tility and moisture, robbing the others which have 
matured their fruit buds, and are trying to produce 
fruit among these robbers. All plants, to produce, 
should be matured by September 1, in order to form 
their fruit buds in the fall, tiieo. f. d. baker. 
Cumberland County, N. J. 
Practice at the Geneva Experiment Station. 
Some varieties of strawberries succeed much better 
than others when grown in hills. The Parker Earle 
is a variety that is remarkably well adapted to hill 
culture in some localities. Our own practice is to 
grow berries in the half-matted row. It is easier to 
keep the plants in the half-matted row than in hills ; 
aside from this, there would not be much difference 
in the cost of cultivation. But this point is quite an 
item since, in the matted rows, the plants may be 
trimmed off with a plow, and a very little hand-work 
in thinning out the plants suffices to keep them in 
shape. When grown in hills, much more pains must 
be taken. A few years ago, the two systems of grow¬ 
ing strawberries were given a thorough test on the 
station grounds, when it was found “ that the matted 
rows yielded the greatest quantity of fruit in every 
instance. There is no doubt but the matted-row 
system of growing strawberries is the most profitable 
method of culture, especially so when the plants are 
not allowed to grow too thick in the row.” 
__ W. PADDOCK. 
A NOVELTY IN FRUIT ARBORS. 
I have a large grape arbor, say about 40 feet long, about 10 
feet high-and 14 feet wide. 1 am trying to train the grape vines so 
that they shall cover only the top of the arbor, for at the sides I 
would like (if practicable) to plant some fruit trees and train 
them (if I could) a la espalier. Would that be a good plan and 
practicable? If so, what trees would you recommend? I would 
like as large a variety as I could get, and have suitable spaces 
for about eight trees. My idea is to have my arbor something 
more than a conventional grape arbor. I would like to give as 
much variety in kinds of fruit and different seasons of ripening 
as possible. If successful, I believe that it would at once be 
beautiful, useful and novel. w. h. m. 
Canton, O. 
The plan is perfectly practicable. Any of the varie¬ 
ties of pears can be trained to a wall. I should plant 
standards. The success of the plan depends entirely 
on the skill and attention of the one who does the 
pruning. Planting a pear and grape five feet apart 
would give ample room for the roots of each. They 
should be highly enriched to give the best results. 
Massachusetts. t. r. watson. 
The idea of covering the overhead portion of a trellis 
with grape vines and the sides with other fruits, 
espalier fashion, is somewhat novel and not altogether 
impracticable; still there are some objections. W. 
H. M. does not state whether his arbor is to run 
north and south or east and west; if the latter, I 
should expect the trees espalier would thrive much 
better on the south side ; if the former, there would 
be but little choice ; neither could be expected to 
thrive as well as in a full southern exposure. 1 would 
recommend plum, peach and apricot trees, as they 
could easily be protected in winter, and if properly 
handled, an annual crop could be secured. 
Ohio. J. J. HARRISON. 
I have no doubt that this espalier could be made a 
success. True, it would take time and patience ; this, 
however, should be no drawback, as there is always 
pleasure in watching the progress of our experiments. 
In making the frame on which his trees are to be 
trained, he must be careful to leave space enough for 
the grape vine stems to expand, as they may live to a 
very great age, and espalier trees with proper treat¬ 
ment, can be kept comparatively young and bearing 
heavily for an indefinite time. A long letter would 
go but a short way in describing the different trees 
and their management, therefore I would advise him 
to purchase a copy of the Fruit Garden, by Patrick 
Barry, which will give him all the information he 
needs in the whole operation from start to finish, by 
one of the most practical and experienced horticul¬ 
turists this world ever produced. Robert Douglas. 
Illinois. 
W. H. M. can grow almost any fruit trees which he 
chooses along the side of his grape arbor, if he 
knows how to manage them. One will see in European 
gardens peaches, apricots, plums, pears and apples 
used in this fashion. For making the best espaliers, 
the trees should be specially grown for that purpose 
in the nursery; that is the trees should be trimmed 
up to whips with spurs all the way from the ground 
up, from any one of which side arms or branches may 
be taken out. If I were to grow espalier trees, I 
should get the trees from the nursery when they are 
a year old, and then I could take out the limbs at 
whatever points I desired. l. h. bailey. 
New York. 
This novel fruit arbor might work, if properly 
arranged and cared for. The arbor should run north 
and south that both sides might get sun during some 
part of the day. The arbor being 14 feet wide, a path 
three feet wide might be made through the middle, if 
a walk be desirable, thus leaving over five feet on 
each side for a border. This border should be well 
dug over and enriched every year. It would require 
four vines at each side to cover the top of the arbor, 
and the vines could be trained so as to cover the top 
nicely, but care would be necessary to keep the 
mildew and rot from the vines and grapes, as under 
this arbor more or less dampness might remain to cause 
rot About seven trees could be planted on a side. 
This would give eight grapes and 14 fruit trees. 
Dwarf apple, dwarf pear, plum and peach may be 
used and trained to the arbor as one would train grape 
vines. To plant and train to the arbor properly, 
requires more instruction, perhaps, than is proper to 
give in this answer. There are works upon this style 
of training fruit trees which might be consulted to 
advantage. Downing gives, in his fruit work, a chap¬ 
ter upon this style of training. To plant this arbor 
with the vines and fruit trees, and properly train 
and care for them, would require no small amount of 
time and skill, if properly done so as to make it attrac¬ 
tive and satisfactory. A border five feet wide on the 
outside of the arbor would be required the same as 
on the inside, thus making a border 10 feet wide on 
each side. With the number of trees and vines named 
above planted, an annual fertilizing would be neces¬ 
sary for best results. If properly planted and cared 
for, it would be very pretty as well as novel. 
Connecticut. kdwin hoyt. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. 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.l 
Abundance Plum Trees that Will Not Bear. 
C. G. B., Centerbrook, Conn.— In The R. N..Y. of March 20, C. H. 
L., of South Gardiner, Mass., asks about Abundance plum. I am 
in just his fix; trees planted five years are fine in every way ex¬ 
cept that they don’t bear. For four years, they have bloomed as 
white as a snow bank, and one-half bushel will hold all the fruit 
in that time on 30 trees, yet leave room for all there has been on 
50 more set four years ago. One of my neighbors has a tree, 
bought of the same firm; his bears every year, and had more on 
it the second year after setting than my 80 trees ever had on 
them. Three years ago, I took a graft of his tree and put it in a 
stock I had of the old Red English plum. The second year, it was 
loaded with large, fine fruit. Now comes the puzzle to me; tree 
and fruit are just like mine in everything but the bearing. May it 
not be that C. H. L , as well as myself, got trees that were grafted 
or budded from some seedling, as it was said when this plum 
came out that it came true from seed ? 
Ans. —It must be that your plum trees are not the 
true Abundance. Why not top-graft them all from 
those that you know have borne all right and are 
true ? It may be, as you suppose, that the buds that 
were used and from which your trees grew, were 
from some seedling that will not bear from imperfec¬ 
tion of its flowers or some other constitutional defect. 
In all such cases, where they have had other varieties 
blooming at the same time, and which may reasonably 
be supposed to furnish pollen m abundance, either 
re-grafting or digging out should be resorted to after 
other reasonable measures have failed. h. e. v. d. 
Fruit Trees Gnawed by Rabbits. 
J. M. S., Hotchkiss , Colo. —What is good for fruit trees that have 
been gnawed by Jack rabbits ? The trees are mostly apple, peach 
and pear. The bark has been stripped off, and I would like some 
remedy that will heal the wounds and prevent the trees dying. 
Ans. —Having had much experience with rabbit- 
gnawed fruit trees, and very costly experience, too, 
when I lived in Kansas, I can sympathize with J. M. 
S. in his trouble. If the trees are not gnawed below 
the bud or graft, and are quite small, cut them off at 
once as far down as the injury extends, and train up 
a sprout the coming summer. If set several years, 
but not yet in bearing, dig them up and plant new 
trees. If large bearing trees, it may be well to cover 
the wounds with grafting wax and bank up with 
earth to six inches above them. 1 have saved bearing 
trees that were gnawed all around in winter time by 
mice and rabbits, by what I call bridge grafting. 
This is done by fitting a section of a small, healthy 
branch cut from the tree into notches, one above and 
the other below the wound, and waxiDg at these 
points. Several such “ bridges ” can be fitted into a 
large tree, and they will soon make a solid patch of 
wood over the injured part of the trunk. Most of the 
small trees that I have had gnawed and allowed to 
stand after being waxed, and in some cases banked 
up with earth, made such poor trees from imperfect 
healing over, that I have become quite convinced that 
it generally pays to set new trees. h. e. y. d. 
Southern Peach Stocks ; Cherries. 
J. F. J., Quarles, Mo .— 1. Are peaches budded on Canada seed¬ 
lings hardier than those budded on southern stocks ? An agent 
for an Ohio nursery has sold a large lot of stock here, claiming 
that they will bear full crops every year. 2. What varieties of 
cherries do best ae dwarfs (on Mahaleb stocks) ? 
Ans —1. No, 1 do not believe any such thing. With 
the exception of the Southern Chinese type of peaches, 
such as the Peen-to and Honey, all our common peach 
seedlings from Georgia and Tennessee northward, are 
as hardy in Missouri, and in Canada, also, as those 
grown from Canada seeds. There are a very few 
varieties of a special class that have been introduced 
from Bokhara and northern Afghanistan that are prov¬ 
ing rather more hardy than the ordinary kinds 
grown in America. 2. Working varieties of the cherry 
on Mahaleb stock doesn’t dwarf them very much, and 
in some cases, none. The sour class does far better 
on this stock than the sweet, and is very commonly 
budded on it, chiefly because it does not throw up 
suckers, and the two kinds of wood make a good 
union. Dyehouse, Early Richmond, English Morello 
and Wragg are among the most suitable varieties for 
the Mahaleb stock. n. e. v. d. 
Preparing Land for Nursery Stock. 
B. C. B., Moscow Mills , Mo. —I have a piece of land which I wish 
to plant to nursery in 1898. It is clay soil, and produced 40 bushels 
of good corn per acre last year. Would you advise sowing to 
Red clover now ? Would I get better results by sowing to oats or 
peas, plowing them under and seeding to Crimson clover? 
Ans —I would sow to cow peas about corn-planting 
time, and plow the crop under about August 1. Then 
sow to Crimson clover and buckwheat mixed, and 
leave it all until the spring of 1898, when it should 
be plowed under as late as possible, yet be in time 
for the nursery crop. Red clover would not make 
nearly so much humus as the cow peas alone, and 
will not add as much nitrogen to the soil. Oats will 
add nothing in the way of fertility. When plowed 
under, there is only returned what they took from 
the soil. Cow peas are better than Canada or field 
peas for gathering nitrogen from the air. Crimson 
clover may not do well if the fall is dry, especially 
in that climate where the falls are likely to be 
dry ; but I would try it with buckwheat, and to¬ 
gether they ought to make a crop to be plowed under 
for humus. h. e. v. d. 
What Nut Trees for Ohio ? 
A. J. N., Bellaire, 0.— Wliat are the best nut-bearing trees to 
plant in this locality, of almonds, chestnuts, filberts or hazelnuts, 
and walnuts ? I am situated on the Ohio River, about 70 miles 
southwest of Pittsburg, Pa. 
Ans—I t is useless to try to grow any of the valu¬ 
able varieties of the almond in eastern Ohio, or any¬ 
where this side of extreme western Texas. The kinds 
that are hardy, so far as I have ever grown or observed 
them, are little better in flavor than peach kernels. 
There may yet be good kinds discovered or produced, 
that will be hardy enough in tree to endure the win¬ 
ters of the central States. Chestnuts that are hardy 
in tree and large and well-flavored in nut, are abund¬ 
ant. Paragon, Ridgeley, and a number more that are 
sold by the nurserymen of the country are well worth 
planting. Of the hazel family, there are many choice 
native varieties that it would be well to plant and 
test under cultivation. As yet, almost nothing has 
been done in this direction, because there are so 
many wild hazel bushes, and that the nuts are, usu¬ 
ally, quite small. The largest varieties of this class 
that I have seen were from A. C. Harvey, of Lafayette, 
Ind., C. W. Faust, of Canton, O., Peter Dailing, of 
Baring, Mo., and E. W. Dutton, of Livingstoneville, 
N. Y. If those who wish to experiment on this line 
would procure sprouts from the bushes that bore the 
nuts sent to me at Washington, years ago, by these 
men, or from other choice varieties that maybe known 
to others, it would be a step towards the culture and, 
possibly, the improvement of the most hardy of our 
native nuts. The European hazels, often called 
filberts, cobnuts, etc., have long been grown in a 
small way in North America, but not with very great 
success so far. Some of them are rather tender for 
the climate of a large part of this country (far less 
hardy than our own species), and would not always 
stand the winters of eastern Ohio. Other varieties 
might do so. There are fungous diseases which prey 
on them to a very serious degree in some sections, 
and the male and female flowers of some kinds do 
not bloom at the same time, thus preventing proper 
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