420 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 26 
MAKING THE ORANGE GROVES OVER. 
HOW MANY SPROUTS ARE USED ; COTTON-SEED MEAD. 
After the great freeze Id Florida, the iDjured orange trees were 
sawed back to the ground, new sprouts coining up from the 
stumps. We understand that some growers cultivate a single 
sprout from each stump, while others let several sprouts grow 
and bring them together to form one dwarf or low-down tree. 
What is your view of this matter ? Which method do you prefer ? 
Will you also tell us what you think of cotton-seed meal as a fer¬ 
tilizer for orange trees ? 
We bud three, five or ten shoots, and do not try to 
bring them together, hut have several trunks. Later, 
we may take out part We do not believe that they 
will make a good trunk the way you mention. We 
don’t know everything yet about frozen-out trees. 
Cotton-seed meal will do for young groves, hut I do 
not believe that, alone, is suitable for bearing trees ; 
there must be potash and bone. L. h. g. 
Merritt, Fla. 
.Bring the Sprouts Together. 
I am leaving four or five sprouts from the old 
orange tree roots, for the reason that one sprout com¬ 
ing up beside the old dead stump is more than likely 
to get broken or blown off from the old root, while 
if several are left around the stump and joined over 
it to grow together, they brace each other. I think 
it a mistaken idea that it would dwarf the tree, as 
each sprout is supported by a different set of roots 
which would be continually sprouting or die back, 
and I am confident that, if they are trimmed up after 
they are well started and grown together, they will 
grow as tall a tree as though grown from one sprout. 
I consider cotton-seed meal a good fertilizer to force 
along young trees, but would hardly use it year after 
year, as it is certainly a one-sided fertilizer contain¬ 
ing a great excess of nitrogen, and is likely to make 
wood at the expense of fruit, and fruit that does not 
ship well. I have used on my grove of bearing trees, 
with excellent results, bone meal and sulphate of 
potash They make fruit that will carry well, and 
seem to leave a lasting impression upon the land. 
Stark, Fla. j. m. r. 
Bud AH the Best Sprouts. 
In rebudding our grove, our practice has been to 
bud all the best sprouts, sometimes as many as six or 
eight on a tree, pinch the ends of the buds as soon as 
they get 18 inches long, so as to make them branch 
low. Each of these buds makes as much growth as 
any single one would, and the quicker we can get the 
most leaves on our trees, the better for the health of 
the roots. A single stem would look better just now, 
perhaps, but in two years, we expect our branches to 
touch the ground all around, covering the stems from 
sight as well as sun and frost. In sprouting off the 
stump to keep down to one bud, one would be con¬ 
tinually shocking the tree in its very weakest point; 
this in my opinion, must seriously injure the tree. 
Instead of removing many sprouts even now (when 
we have six or eight buds to a tree), we inarch them 
into the buds and so save that growth and at the same 
time brace our buds. I do not consider cotton-seed 
meal very good for orange trees. Small applications 
at a time would do pretty well for growth, but would 
never produce the high-grade fruit that brings the 
profit. A dollar is just now as big as a barn door to 
most of us struggling orange growers, and we can get 
the meal at $16 a ton. It analyzes about six per cent 
ammonia, one per cent potash and two per cent phos¬ 
phoric acid, so you can see it is cheap ; but in the end, 
I doubt whether it is best to use much of it. 
Boardman, Fla. F. G. s. 
“The Survival of the Fittest.” 
In this section, when the trees were young (that is 
under five or six years old), most of them were grown 
to one stalk and this stalk budded. The trees thus 
treated are now nicely shaped and as symmetrical as 
they were before the freeze. With old trees, 10 to 25 
or 30 years old, the case is different. Most growers 
have left sprouts growing all around the trunks, and 
are budding from five to fifteen or more of these 
sprouts, intending to let these grow as they will, and 
expecting the strongest to crowd the weaker out in 
time and make a tree with two to four or five forks 
from the ground up. I have seen or heard of very 
few who are bringing the sprouts together to form 
one trunk, and do not think that many are doing this. 
My opinion is that the method of leaving sprouts all 
around the trunk is the best plan. On the large trees, 
where only one or two sprouts have been left, they 
have, in a great many cases, been blown down by the 
wind, as they have made a union only on one side of 
the trunk. 
I do not think that cotton-seed meal alone is good 
for orange trees. It will stimulate and make a rank 
growth, but the wood does not seem to harden up 
well, and the trees treated to cotton-seed meal alone 
seem to be susceptible to the disease known as die- 
back. The same result follows from the use of blood 
and bone and other highly ammoniated fertilizers. 
Where potash and phosphoric acid are used in con¬ 
nection with the meal, however, no ill effects are 
seen. The trouble is, of course, in the badly bal¬ 
anced fertilizing elements in cotton-seed meal and 
blood and bone (which has very little bone in it), they 
having a great excess of nitrogen. Our soil is 
especially deficient in potash. Men who have mixed 
their fertilizers and made a complete fertilizer with 
cotton-seed meal as a source of nitrogen, have no 
more trouble with disease and insects than farmers 
who use the ready-made complete fertilizers. The only 
trouble is the excess of nitrogen and deficiency of the 
other fertilizing elements. o. h. s. 
Eustis, Fla. _ 
The Farmers’ Club. 
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see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. ABk 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
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The Grape-Vine Flea-Beetle. 
F. M., Smitheburg, Md. —I send with this some beetles that are 
eating grape buds; what are they and what is the best way to 
destroy them ? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
The grape bud-eaters prove to be the common Grape¬ 
vine flea-beetle, sometimes called by grape growers, 
the “ steely beetle ”. It is a small, shining, dark blue 
beetle, about one-third as large as the common potato 
beetle. It comes from its hibernating place early in 
the spring, just as the grape buds are swelling, and 
when numerous, will eat out and kill all the buds on 
inauy vines. Although the vines usually put out a 
second growth later in the season, the fruit does not 
mature, so that the destruction of the bur’s by the 
beetles early in the spring means the loss of the crop 
for that year. It is a rather local insect, and is often 
very destructive in certain localities. A few years 
ago, every bud upon some grape vines near the In¬ 
sectary, and in a neighbor’s yard, was eaten out by 
these beetles before we discovered what was the 
trouble. It was then too late to save these buds, but 
the next season we were on hand with our spraying 
outfit loaded with Paris-green (one pound to 150 gal¬ 
lons of water), and with two or three applications, at 
intervals of a few days, we kept the swelling buds 
thoroughly coated with the poisonous mixture; 
although the beetles appeared in destructive num¬ 
bers, they were killed and the crop saved. We had 
no further trouble with the beetles upon these vines 
for two or three years and had become careless in con¬ 
sequence, so that this year we were not upon the 
watch and the insect got the start of us again, so that 
now nearly all of the buds have been killed again 
this spring. We demonstrated, to our own satisfac¬ 
tion at least, that this insect can be successfully com¬ 
bated by thorough work with a Paris-green spray 
upon the buds early in the season. 
When the leaves begin to come out, the beetles lay 
their eggs upon the under sides in clusters, and from 
these eggs are hatched the young brown grubs which 
may be found feeding in groups upon the leaves later 
in the season. Whenever large numbers of these 
small brown grubs are seen feeding upon the leaves, 
if one would spray those parts of the vine with a 
Paris-green spray, the insects could be easily killed 
and their development into the blue beetles which 
would go into hibernation and come forth next spring 
to feed upon the buds, would thus be prevented. Be 
on the watch early in the season and keep the buds 
coated with Paris-green spray and this insect can be 
successfully checked. 
Lice On Plum and Apple Trees. 
E. S. K., Kankakee County, III.—A green-colored louse is getting 
on some of my plum and apple trees. The lice gather in large 
flocks on the under sides of the leaves, then the leaves curl up 
and inclose them and cover them from the spray. What are they, 
and what is best to combat them ? I see, on page 324, that M. V. 
S. recommends white-lead paint as a covering for wounds on 
trees. I tried it last winter on trees that had been gnawed by 
rabbits—pear and plum trees the size of a man’s finger up to the 
size of a man’s wrist. The paint acted like caustic on those 
wounds, and around the wounds as far as the paint was applied, 
and killed all but two pear trees, which were gnawed very little. 
Had I covered all of these trees with grafting wax, I don’t doubt 
that all (except a few which were completely girdled), could have 
been saved. White-lead paint may be all right on cuts made by 
pruning large trees, but I would much rather apply wax if I 
had it. 
Ans — The green lice on the apple trees are the com¬ 
mon Apple aphides which always appear in greater or 
less numbers every year upon the buds and young 
growth of apple trees. The lice upon the plum trees 
are, doubtless, a distinct species. Both of these 
insects can be easily killed by sprayiDg the infested 
trees early in the season before the leaves get badly 
curled. Either kerosene emulsion (diluted with nine 
or ten parts of water), or whale-oil soap (one pound 
in six or eight gallons of water), if thoroughly applied, 
will prove effectual. As these are sucking insects, 
none of the poisonous insecticides will prove effec¬ 
tive. The insects must be hit with the spray to be 
killed. If the spray be thrown with a very strong 
force pump, it can be made to reach most of the lice, 
even though the leaves be badly curled. Usually 
their insect enemies soon diminish their numbers so 
that it is not often that one finds it necessary to spray 
for these plant lice upon fruit trees. This year seems 
to be an exceptional year, as we are daily receiving 
inquiries and specimens of these lice upoD all sorts of 
fruit trees. I am very glad to get E S K.’s experi¬ 
ence with white paint for wounds upon trees. We 
have used the paint upon young peach trees in our 
experiments against the peach borer, and no injury 
seems to have resulted to the trees during the two 
years that we have made applications. There is no 
doubt that grafting wax would be a better and safer 
thing to apply. m. v. s. 
Plum Curculio and Its Eggs. 
J. A. 0., Courtney , Pa .—I was very much interested in the Life 
History of the Plum Curculio, in The R. N.-Y. of May 29. I find a 
great many plums on my Bradshaw trees with the curculio mark, 
but I caonot find a single egg, either with the naked eye or with 
a glass We have had a very cool spring, a great many cloudy 
days and frequent light frosts. I have thought perhaps the eggs 
have been destroyed by this cold weather. I would like to hear 
from M. V. S. on this point Also, will the plums above described 
likely rot from effect of these wounds ? 
Ans —I cannot understand why J. A. G. is unable 
to find the eggs of the Plum curculio, when he finds 
the crescents. It may be that he has mistaken for the 
crescents the small holes which the curculios often 
eat into the sides of the fruit early in the season. Of 
course, it sometimes happens that the insects lay 
infertile eggs. As the egg is laid before the crescent 
is cut, if J. A. G. finds the crescent, the egg should 
be there. If often happens that, where the plum-rot 
fungus is very serious, the crescents cut by the 
curculio do form a more favorable starting point for 
the fungus to work, so that in some cases the stung 
fruits do rot sooner. m. v. s. 
Protection for Fig Bushes. 
B. B., Fort Smith, Ark .—1. Can I protect my fig bushes in any 
way to keep them from dying down in winter? 2. What do you 
consider the best strawberry, gooseberry, and currant, quality 
alone considered ? 
Ans —1. No, not with certainty. The best way is 
to take them up in the fall, place them in tubs or 
boxes or pots, and keep them in a frost-proof cellar. 
2. Among strawberries, our choice would be, making 
quality the first consideration, Ladies’ Pine. Jucunda, 
Timbrell and Charles Downing. The first two are not 
productive. The Downing is the best gooseberry we 
know of, except the Dougal No. 2, which has not been 
introduced. The old Red and White Dutch are the 
best flavored currants. 
Fire-Drying Seed Corn. 
Reader, La Crosse, IDs.—Will The R. N.-Y. ask some of its read¬ 
ers to tell us what sort of a building is needed for fire-drying 
seed corn ? 
I have grown seed corn on a large scale for over 
30 years, but never have cured by artificial heat. I 
have large, high, roomy, airy buildings with doors 
and windows on all sides, and a good many of them. 
I spread on slat floors, one above the other about two 
feet apart. The ears are not placed, but spread as 
one would naturally empty from a basket. Corn put 
in this way will dry out in good shape, if the build¬ 
ing be kept open when pleasant. 
Connecticut. albertus n clabk 
My kilns are 20 feet square outside measure, of 
brick with slat floors 14 feet from the ground floor. 
Slats one inch square placed one inch apart on strong 
2x12 joists. The corn is put on from two to four feet 
thick, regardless of order as regards position of ears. 
Temporary props are set under a joist running trans¬ 
versely when necessary to support the weight. I use 
stoves of heavy castings taking cord-length wood, 
with 12 inch pipe dividing in a T and running- thence 
each way around the kiln about three feet from the 
wall, gradually rising, connecting again in one and 
entering the chimney. I keep a very moderate heat 
four or five days, or until all moisture is evaporated, 
shown by testing the cob at the heaviest part of the 
ear. If at any time subsequently, damp weather pre¬ 
vail for any considerable period, I take the precaution 
again to light the fires, for I deem it essential that 
the seed corn should be to a degree free from an ex¬ 
cess of moisture in the sudden changes from mild to 
severe winter weather. These kilns are furnished 
with huge revolving “cowls”, providing ample ventila¬ 
tion. A much cheaper building would, undoubtedly, 
possess all the requisites. The difference in produc¬ 
tiveness between properly fire-dried and ordinarily 
kept seed corn is not at all well understood or appre¬ 
ciated ; it required a somewhat costly experience to 
teach me the lesson. Falling short on occasion of 
properly cured seed, recourse was had to a supply 
not so treated, and every kernel, so to speak, grew 
and the stand was perfect, with only the hasty noon¬ 
ing of the pushing farmer between the plantings. 
Still the latter failed to attain the height of stalk— 
the difference plainly observable from the highway 
at a distance of 30 rods, and badly “ short” when put 
to the test of husking. A neighbor, planting a part 
