1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
299 
NEW YORK STATE FRUIT PROSPECTS. 
Early Outlook is Favorable. 
The New York State Fruit Growers’ Association has 
begun active work. Branch societies have been formed 
in several counties. Wayne County fruit growers met 
last week at Newark and organized successfully. Ni¬ 
agara, Oswego, Orleans, Ontario and other counties are 
moving. One object of the Society is to gather reliable 
statistics. We give herewith the first report of the new 
parent Society. The following brief statements are 
typical. In general the reports are favorable. Peaches 
do not promise a heavy crop. Apples are well budded, 
but indications are that Insects will be numerous and 
deadly. Small fruits are fair in some sections—poor in 
others. The Hudson River Valley reports a poor outlook 
for strawberries. Bush fruits have suffered from drought 
and disease. The Winter has, on the whole, been favor¬ 
able to fruit, yet it is altogether too early to make 
definite statements. On April 1 about all salable 
apples were out of farmers’ hands, with probably 40,000 
barrels left in cold storage in Orleans and Niagara coun¬ 
ties. The interest in spraying is grrowing. Next week 
we shall give a report on this part of the business. Re¬ 
ports from the country at large show that fruit buds gen¬ 
erally look well, especially in the large orchard States. 
As a rule, small fruits, especially strawberries, are not 
promising. 
The first of the northern Florida strawberries reached 
New York, April 11. It will be at least two weeks before 
any of the Charleston crop come in, the usual time being 
May 1. Ten days or two weeks after this the line of 
ripening will strike the North Carolina fields, where it 
is said that the drought of last season injured the stand 
of plants. 
Speaking of the work Wayne County is doing, L. T. 
Yeomens, president of the Fruit Growers, says: 
"I am proud of old Wayne; she has nearly BO mem¬ 
bers of the New York State Fruit Growers’ Associa¬ 
tion, and more to come. Wayne County had an old 
Fruit Growers’ Association, dead for past year or two. 
We revived that as a starting point.” 
I have examined buds on peach and pear trees, and 
have found them all in good condition, and the prospects 
are for a good crop of blossoms at least. a. c. p. 
Oswego Co. 
Fruit is coming through in fair shape. Our old peach 
trees broke badly in Winter by ice; fruit in general dam¬ 
aged from the same cause. k. f. f. 
Ontario Co. 
Peaches, plums, and in fact all small fruits have win¬ 
tered well, and the prospect is good for a fine crop. From 
present indications there will be a fair blossom of apples 
and all trees in fine condition. s. w. w. 
Monroe Co. 
Small fruits came through the Winter in fine condition; 
trees of all kinds are looking well. As far as I have 
noticed most of the apple trees bid fair to give a moderate 
bloom. A. D. c. 
Wayne Co. 
Small fruit has wintered in this district of Seneca very 
well; the lowest temperature at my place was three de¬ 
grees above zero. Fruit trees appear to be all right. In 
my orchard the trees are mostly Baldwins and Greenings. 
Seneca Co. J. w. s. 
The small fruit seems to have come through the Winter 
well, but does not seem to be as full of fruit buds as 
last year; in fact, all trees are not as full of fruit buds 
as last season, except those that did not bear. b. a. c. 
Niagara Co. 
The May frosts we fear for our grapes. By covering, 
the most tender varieties winter well. Plums bore a 
heavy crop last year, but show some buds now, most of 
which came through the Winter all right. Apples are 
going to bloom somewhat; pears also. d. w. 
Onondaga Co. 
Small fruit came through the Winter well, with the 
promise of a fair blossoming. Pears, peaches, plums and 
cherries will blossom for a medium crop of fruit. The 
prospect for apples is not as good; the promise for a 
Baldwin crop is very small in this part of the county. 
Monroe Co. c. s. w. 
Small fruit has wintered in good condition, and the 
outlook was never better for trees, especially where 
sprayed; and about 25 per cent of the fruit growers spray, 
which embodies about 50 per cent of the trees, and about 
25 per cent of the trees, we think, are sprayed success¬ 
fully. j. o. w. 
Albany Co. 
Small fruit came through the Winter well. The tem¬ 
perature went but few degrees below zero at any time 
during the Winter, and the climatic conditions have been 
such that fruit buds at the beginning of April showed no 
development, which fact Insures them to a large extent 
against the danger of a late frost. a. h. mcm. 
Wayne Co. 
Strawberries will be a light crop. Blackberries are 
badly winterkilled, or by drought last Summer. Rasp¬ 
berry prospects good; currants, average crop. A great 
deal of cane blight last season. Peaches, young trees, 
look well, old trees are in bad shape from dry season last 
year; sour cherries seem to be all right; pear buds look 
well. J. A. H. 
Ulster Co. 
Small fruits have gone through the Winter in good 
shape and show a fair average of blossom buds. The 
Greening apples show prospect of full amount of blossom 
buds, while the Baldwin shows a light one, also Spy and 
Roxbury Russet. Taking it all in all present indications 
go to show a fair average all-around fruit crop, what¬ 
ever may happen later on. c. w. o. 
Niagara Co. 
Strawberries, where not mulched with straw, are not in 
good condition. The plants, owing to the extreme drought 
of last Summer and Fall, rooted very shallow, and where 
not covered have heaved out badly. Owing to scarcity 
of straw most beds were left uncovered. Raspberries, 
red and black, are all right, and promise a good crop. 
Peaches and plums have not been injured by cold, but 
it is doubtful whether there is vitality enough in the 
buds to set fruit, owing to the long-continued drought, 
although freedom from fungus trouble last year may 
help them out. o. H. 
Onondaga Co. 
There is not a very large show of fruit buds on the 
apple trees; peaches are full of them and all trees came 
through the Winter in fine condition. Pears are not 
grown to any extent here. All of the berries made small 
growth last Summer, and the heavy snow broke the 
canes down considerably. Raspberries blighted badly 
last Summer, many shoots of some varieties dying. 
Peaches are probably the only fruit in this section that 
can make a full crop. j. q. u. 
Ontario Co. 
Fruits are apparently in satisfactory condition. On a 
few low fields not well drained strawberries suffered 
from freezing nights, but there is little of that kind of 
land hereabouts. Raspberries of all sorts have wintered 
finely. The fruit tree buds are 100 per cent good, so far 
as my investigation goes, with slight exceptions in apri¬ 
cots. Best of all, I find no eggs of the, tent-caterpillar, 
but occasionally a cluster of shells from which the eggs 
appear to have been taken. j. t. k. 
Onondaga Co. 
We have had an ideal Winter for the fruit business, 
with no low temperature to kill even so much as a bud 
on the peach trees. Strawberries that were set early 
last Spring, .and well cared for and mulched last Fall, 
give promise of a good crop; otherwise not, for we had a 
severe drought last Summer. Where other small fruits 
were not allowed to overdo last year the outlook for a 
crop is first class. Where apples and pears were well 
cared for with cultivation and spraying, and not allowed 
to overbear, they seem well loaded with fruit buds. 
Oswego Co. c. B. c. 
Orchards are in good condition. Greenings are very 
full; Spy, King and some other varieties are well budded. 
Baldwins overbore last season, and many of the trees 
have no fruit buds. I think the above will apply to this 
section, except perhaps some King and Spy which bore 
heavily last season will fall. Our peach trees, consisting 
of Elberta, Crosby and Wager, are well budded. Crosby 
and Wager were very full last season. As nearly all 
peach orchards about here were either cropped or re¬ 
ceived no cultivation last season, and were overloaded, 
I do not think many of them will bear. Plums and pears 
are well budded. c. R. w. 
Ontario Co. 
POSTAL CARDS. 
Certain farmers in California grow what is called the 
pie melon for stock food. It is said to be a cross be¬ 
tween watermelon and citron with a vine much like the 
former. Cows and hogs are both very fond of it. 
A READER wishes to know whether it will do to sow 
Alfalfa on wheat or rye the same as is the custom with 
Red clover. No, Alfalfa does mot wish to play second 
fiddle to any crop, and must be seeded on fresh ground, 
which it thoroughly monopolizes. 
It Is safer to buy wood ashes or hen manure by weight 
than by the barrel. First-class, unleached wood ashes 
are worth $8 or $9 per ton, and average hen manure $6 
or $7, varying according to the way it has been kept and 
the amount of feathers and dirt contained in it. 
It often happens that on light soils the best fertilizers 
will not produce a good crop in a dry season. This may 
not be the fault of the fertilizer, but because of lack of 
humus in the soil. This vegetable matter holds water 
like a sponge, giving it out to the roots of the plants 
as needed. 
No, we would not advise anyone to plant a field of 
artichokes unless he wishes it to remain in artichokes 
all the rest of his life. This plant will take a rod for 
every inch given, and hold on with a death grip. The 
best place for artichokes is a hog yard. They make fair 
hog food, and, if the hogs are not rung, they will enjoy 
rooting out the tubers. 
Ammonia and nitrogen are not identical, as some fer¬ 
tilizer makers attempt to make farmers believe. Nitro¬ 
gen is a single element, while ammonia is a mixture of 
hydrogen and nitrogen. Every pound of ammonia con¬ 
tains about one-fifth hydrogen, which has no value as a 
fertilizer. Also, sulphate of potash contains only half 
its weight of actual potash, the remainder being a worth¬ 
less form of sulphur. 
No, Crimson clover should not be sown in Spring. It 
is a cool-weather crop. The heat of Summer will make 
it head out and go to seed when only three or four inches 
high. Any time after July 1 it may be sown safely with 
a fair chance for success. Then it will make its growth 
in the cool weather of Fall. It is a good plan to sow 
it in the cornfield at the last cultivation. It will thus 
furnish a cover crop for the field during the Winter. 
About the only plant food in coal ashes is a small 
quantity of lime. The prehistoric plants which by their 
decay through thousands of years have formed the beds 
of coal we are now mining, apparently contained but 
little potash or phosphoric acid, and what there was 
leached out as the coal was formed. The chief value of 
coal ashes is in their mechanical action. When mixed 
with some light sandy soils they help them to retain 
water. Also, they are useful as a mulch for currant 
bushes or pear trees. They pack down close to the 
ground, and help retain moisture in time of drought. 
A FERTILIZER foT long-growing crops should contain 
plant food in a variety of forms so far as solubility is 
concerned, so that It may become gradually available 
during the season. Otherwise in justice to the crop 
several applications would be necessary. Nitrate of soda 
is the most soluble form of nitrogen, and becomes im¬ 
mediately available to the young plant, no matter how 
cold or backward the season. By the time this is ex¬ 
hausted, the sulphate of ammonia has become soluble, 
feeding the plant through May and early June. Next 
come the organic forms, such as blood, tankage and 
ootton-seed meal, which require heat and chemical 
changes in the soil before becoming suitable plant food, 
and, in the case of potatoes or com, take care of the 
plant until the tubers or grain are formed. 
Events of the MEeek. 
DOMESTIC.—A terrific windstorm swept over Charles¬ 
ton, S. C., April 2, doing much property damage. 
In northern Kansas, two feet of snow fell April 2; many 
cattle died on the ranges, and a food and fuel famine 
followed.April 3, there was a heavy snowfall 
in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. 
April 6, a trolley car broke through a bridge at Syracuse, 
N. Y., precipitating 40 persons into the bed of the Oswego 
Canal, 30 feet below. The canal was dry; 30 persons in¬ 
jured.A fire at Lisbon Falls, Me., April 6, de¬ 
stroyed 28 buildings in the business section of the town; 
loss, $250,000.Boer representatives at New Or¬ 
leans have brought injunction proceedings against the 
shipment of mules to the British army in South Africa. 
. . . . April 7, sparks from a locomotive set fire to a 
great grain elevator on the river front at St. Louis, Mo. 
The building was destroyed, together with 800,000 bushels 
of grain. The loss is estimated at $650,000. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The President has signed the 
commission of Frederick Funston as Brigadier General 
of the United States Army.Philander C. Knox. 
of Pittsburg, Pa., has been appointed Attorney General, 
to fill the office left vacant by the resignation of Mr. 
Griggs.The Cuban constitutional convention 
has rejected the relations insisted upon by the United 
States, and it will now be necessary to continue the mili¬ 
tary occupation. 
PHILIPPINES.—Instructions have been cabled by Sec¬ 
retary of the Navy Long to Rear Admiral Remey, Com- 
mander-ln-Chlef of the Asiatic station, authorizing him 
to enlist 500 natives of the Philippines for service on board 
the former Spanish gunboats and other small vessels 
which are to be maintained exclusively in the Philippines. 
Rear Admiral Crowninshleld, Chief of the Bureau of 
Navigation, says that, besides resulting in the Govern¬ 
ment obtaining efficient service, the employment of na¬ 
tives will spread respect for the American flag and 
create a strong feeling of loyalty. Reports received from 
Rear Admiral Remey have shown that Americans, es¬ 
pecially those serving in the fire rooms, become quickly 
debilitated, and it is necessary to send them to the United 
States or Japan to recuperate. It is believed that the 
health of the Filipinos will not suffer, because they are 
acclimated, and if they do become ill it will be an easy 
matter for them to recover in the Philippines. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Delaware State Board of 
Agriculture has decided to send Prof. Wesley Webb, the 
Board’s specialist on diseases of fruit trees, to the Pan- 
American Exposition, at Buffalo, to find out what sort 
of an exhibition of agricultural and horticultural products 
Delaware should make. 
A trust or combine has been formed by fruit package 
makers, which takes in practically all of the large manu¬ 
facturers. 
At Albany, March 29, Senator Ambler Introduced a bill 
providing that all transportation companies within New 
York State receiving or carrying nursery stock from any 
point without the State to any point within the State, 
shall Immediately on receiving such consignments, notify 
the Commissioner of Agriculture of the fact that such 
consignment Is in their possession, giving the name of 
the consignor and consignee and the point of destination. 
The French government has conferred the decoration 
of the Order of Merite Agricole upon the following of¬ 
ficials of the Department of Agriculture for services per¬ 
formed at the Paris Exposition: H. E. Alvord, chief of 
the dairy division; G. B. Brackett, pomologist; W. A. 
Taylor, assistant pomologist; M. A. Carleton, cereallst; 
John I. Schulte, one of the associate editors of the Ex¬ 
periment Station Record. The decoration has also been 
conferred upon James L. Farmer, assistant director of 
agriculture for the Paris Exposition. 
John S. Harris, well known among Minnesota horticul¬ 
turists as a practical worker and occasional contributor 
to horticultural literature, died at La Crescent, Minn., 
March 24, aged 75. Mr. Harris was bom at Seville, O., 
but went West in 1851, after serving in the Mexican War. 
He was a pioneer fruit grower and nurseryman, and one 
of the founders of the Minnesota State Horticultural 
Society. 
Chicago capital has become Interested in Irrigation of 
land in Idaho and surveying is in progress near Boise for 
a large irrigation ditch. 
The horse abattoir at Linnton, Ore., which was shut 
down last Pall, has started up again. About 800 cayuse 
ponies have been sent in from the ranges, and it is prob¬ 
able that 10,000 will be slaughtered this year. It Is esti¬ 
mated that there are more than 500,000 cayuse ponies 
ranging over the country tributary to this market. Stock- 
men are anxious that these horses should be driven away 
to preserve the ranges for cattle and sheep. 
The twenty-sixth annual convention of the American 
Association of Nurserymen will be held at Niagara Falls, 
N. Y., June 12-14. 
Two oleo bills are now before committee In the Pennsyl¬ 
vania Legislature. One, known as the Senate bill, passed 
that body with but one dissenting vote; the other is the 
one that the State Department of Agriculture wants. 
The Grangers, Pure Butter Protective Association and 
majority of farmers want the former bill. A hearing 
will be given the oleo people and the pure butter makers 
this week. The new Road law was reported out of com¬ 
mittee this week. 
Dr. John A. Myers, head of the Nitrate of Soda Pro¬ 
paganda, died in California recently, after a short ill¬ 
ness. He was at one time director of the West Vir¬ 
ginia Experiment Station, and was a prominent figure 
among agricultural chemists. 
Hens sometimes eat their feathers through mere idle¬ 
ness, when they are confined in small quarters where 
they have no chance to scratch. Another reason is lack 
of meat or animal food in their ration. The remedies are 
plenty of exercise and some animal food in their diet. 
Scatter the grain into the litter so that they will have 
to scratch for it. Some wash the feathers of the neck 
and breast with an offensive liquid like alum water, 
tobacco tea or quassia. 
