644 
THE RURAT. NEW-YORKER 
September 21 
Jarmers Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to In¬ 
sure 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.] 
Treatment of Old Pear Trees. 
P. O. 8., Morton, Pa.—I have about a dozen 
old pear trees between 50 and 75 feet high, 
which have been growing wild for years 
by the looks of them. This year they bore 
no fruit. They are, I think, Catharine and 
Seckel. Are they of any use? Could they 
be pruned so as to bear within a year or 
two? If so, describe treatment for same. 
Ans.—I t would be impossible to give 
positive advice regarding the proper 
thing to do with these old pear trees 
without seeing them, but if they are in 
healthy condition it is quite probable 
that they would be valuable when graft¬ 
ed. I have set grafts on pear trees fully 
40 feet from the ground that nourished 
and bore fruit abundantly in after years. 
I tnink, however, that it is a mistake in 
believing that any of these trees are 
Seckel, for this is one of the best varie¬ 
ties known, and would certainly bear 
abundantly under anything like proper 
treatment. It would be unwise to hag¬ 
gle the trees by severe pruning and this 
sort of treatment would not be likely to 
make them bear, but rather to make 
them produce a lot of new wood that 
would only bear after growing two or 
three years. If the trees bear worthless 
fruit the grafting would cause them to 
bear good fruit. The proper thing to do, 
in my opinion, would be to get some 
person who has a good knowledge of 
pruning and grafting to look at the 
trees and then decide what to do with 
them. H. E. V. D. 
How Raisins Are Dried. 
H. II. G., Nelson, N. 7.—Describe the pro¬ 
cess of raisin making. What varieties of 
foreign grapes are used for that purpo.se? 
What varieties of our native grapes would 
be best for raisins? 
Ans. —There are a number of varieties 
of the foreign class of grapes which are 
used for making raisins. Among them 
is the Muscat of Alexandria, which is 
the principal one used. It is a large 
green, or yellowish green grape, and 
the bunches sometimes weigh as much 
as two or three pounds before they are 
cured. Being of a light color before they 
are dried they make quite a light-col¬ 
ored raisin. The Sultana is a variety of 
the same color and makes even a light¬ 
er-colored raisin, but the berry is small¬ 
er and without seeds. There are a num¬ 
ber of other varieties which I might 
mention which are used for raisins, but 
these are the leading kinds. All of them 
must necessarily be meaty in character 
and not simply skin, juice and seeds, as 
nearly all the grapes are that are grown 
in the Eastern States. None of this lat¬ 
ter class will make raisins, as there is 
not enough flesh about them, and it 
would be useless for anyone to under¬ 
take to dry them. They are rarely 
grown in California or any of the other 
States beyond the continental divide, 
because there they can grow the richer 
and more valuable varieties such as 
have been described. In making raisins 
the grapes are picked upon trays In the 
vineyard, and in many cases are left 
right there to go through the first stage 
of drying. Sometimes they are taken to 
a special drying ground, and t-ie trays 
there spread out to the influences of the 
sun and air. In either case they are 
partially dried by turning them over 
from time to time and are finally taken 
to a curing house which is built for this 
special purpose, where they are brought 
to the proper state of dryness and then 
packed. Quite recently there has sprung 
up an extensive business in seeded rais¬ 
ins. By this method all seeds and stems 
are removed, and only the valuable part 
i«i packed and transported to the mar¬ 
ket. This Is a great saving, because by 
the old way there were many thousands 
of tons of seeds and stems sent to mar¬ 
ket, which were not only useless to the 
consumer, but very troublesome as well. 
H. E. V. n. 
Small Fruits in Connecticut. 
II. G. M., Neto Haven Go., Gonn.—I. Some 
nurserymen are offering stock of rasp¬ 
berries and blackberries, In fact almost 
all nursery stock, for Fall planting. Is It 
advisable to plant raspberries and black¬ 
berries In the Fall, especially blackcaps? 
I have had some difficulty In getting rasp¬ 
berries to succeed with Spring planting. 
Would Fall he the better time? What 
protection Is necessary for stock set m the 
Fall? 2. Will you give a list of profitable 
varieties of blackberries, those In use by 
commercial growers? 3. What Is the best 
way to treat a blackberry plantation on 
a light, gravelly soil, to grow paying crops 
of fruit? 4. What Is the best mulch to use 
on spinach during the Winter? 6. Do you 
recommend mulching the strawberry bed 
with coarse stable manure In the Fall? 
Will It not be likely to seed the ground 
with too many weeds? 6. Are the Improved 
dewberries profitable commercially In 
New England? What Is the best method 
of culture? 
Ans. —1. In Connecticut it will do very 
well to plant raspberries and blackber¬ 
ries in the Fall, but I would advise to 
mulch them so they will not oe heaved 
out by the Winter freezing. So treated, 
they ought to do very well over a large 
part of the Eastern States. 2. Among 
the most popular blackberries are Erie, 
Minnewaska, Agawam and Snyder. The 
latter is small, compared with the oth¬ 
ers, hut very hardy and productive. 3. 
It would be necessary to manure light 
sandy or gravelly land very highly in 
order to get the best results from black¬ 
berry bushes. Plenty of coarse manure 
of almost any kind will add humus and 
fertility as well to the soil. Mulching 
with the same kind of material from 
year to year among the plants In the 
rows will be a great benefit; for this 
will help to retain the moisture in the 
soil and maintain the fertility. 4. A 
very light covering of marsh hay will 
bo as good a mulch as can he used for 
spinach during the Winter. I have used 
pine needles for this purpose, hut they 
cannot be as easily obtained in Connec¬ 
ticut as marsh hay. 6. Coarse stable 
manure makes a good mulch for straw¬ 
berries, provided the forage from which 
it Is made is not full of weed seeds. 
That made from wheat or oat straw or 
corn fodder is likely to be quite clear. 
When Timothy hay is fed there are 
likely to be many weed seeds, and the 
grass seed is also troublesome when it 
grows. 6. Lucretla Is about the only 
variety of the dewberry that is gener¬ 
ally acceptable to the commercial 
growers. It is large when properly 
grown, and comes in before the true 
blackberries begin to ripen. Mayes 
(sometimes called Austin) is another 
large and well-flavored variety, but it 
is too soft for general use. Both these 
varieties or any others should be lightly 
covered with coarse litter during the 
Winter, and tied to a trellis of some kind 
during the rest of the year. WIndom is 
also a fairly good variety, n. e. v. p. 
Peaches in the Cold North. 
17. G. G., Victoria, It. G. —You have told lots 
about peach growing In The R. N.-Y. of 
late. There Is one point yet that I would 
like to know on which you did not touch 
so far as I noticed. Is It too cold for the 
peach to do well where the night tempera¬ 
ture falls to 45 degrees during the growing 
season? What temperatures are considered 
most suitable to the peach? 
Ans. —As long as the temperature 
keeps above freezing the minimum may 
be disregarded. I do not think it is a 
matter of minimum temperature during 
growing season which settles such ques¬ 
tions as this. It is rather a question of 
total Rummer temperature. If the total 
amount of heat received during the 
growing season is sufficient to ripen the 
peaches, and is fairly well distributed, 
an occasional low temperature will not 
spoil the result. Txioked at this way, It 
is equally impossible and unnecessary 
to determine what are the optimum tem¬ 
peratures for the peach. It is not so 
much a question of whether the ther¬ 
mometer occasionally goes too high or 
too low as it Is whether the days are 
warm enough month after month. It is 
a study of climate in all its factors, and 
extending over a long period. It takes 
experience in a given locality to tell 
whether it is a good peach section or 
not. Meteorological observations are 
very doubtful guides. The foregoing 
statements answer the question, I be¬ 
lieve; but I would like to add the more 
practical information which seems to be 
what your correspondent wishes. In all 
probability peaches of the hardier va¬ 
rieties can be grown at his place. We 
grow a good many peaches in Vermont; 
and our Winter temperatures sometimes 
go as low as 30 degrees below zero. 
(Here’s where a minimum temperature 
observation really comes in.) Peaches 
can be grown farther north than most 
persons suppose; but they are suitable 
only for the family garden, where they 
can have special attention, and where 
the grower does not expect to sell the 
fi-ult at a profit. f. a. watjgh. 
Vermont Exp. Station. 
How to Move Large Trees. 
.1. G. D., Sodas, N. 7.-1 have a pine tree 
about six Inches in diameter which I wish 
to transplant. Will you tell me the best 
way I can move the tree? 
Ans. —A tree six inches in diameter 
should not be too large to move, but 
much depends on the species. An ever¬ 
green of that size would need to be 
handled more carefully than a deciduous 
tree. Probably the best plan would be 
to wait until the ground is thoroughly 
frozen. Then cut a trench around the 
tree, not less than three feet from the 
trunk, and preferably four. Dig down 
through the frozen soil and undermine 
the cake of earth, which should not 
weigh much more than a ton for a tree 
of that size. It can then be skidded up 
on a strong sled and moved to the place 
selected for planting. The excavation 
to receive it ought to be a little larger, 
and, possibly, a few Inches deeper; hut 
the tree when set should on no account 
stand much deeper than it grew. The 
tree should he severely headed hack, 
taking away at least one-third of the 
rop, and should be well supported with 
guy ropes or wires, using old rubber 
hose around the tree, to prevent sway¬ 
ing in the wind until well established. 
If it Is not feasible to wait until the 
ground is frozen, the tree may be moved 
a.s soon as the leaves have fallen, or 
any time in the Spring before the new 
growth starts. In that case, start dig¬ 
ging four or live feet away from the 
trunk. As fast as the larger roots are 
exposed follow them up a foot or so 
further, cut them off cleanly, and at 
once envelop in wet bagging or burlap 
Undermine the tree and pull it over to 
one side, protecting the roots with wet 
cloths. In this manner the tree may he 
handled and then loaded on a wagon or 
strong sled, and taken to the hole pre¬ 
pared to receive It. In planting it out, 
work the soil very firmly around the 
roots, hammer it well, and fill the main 
part of the cavity with rich surface soil. 
It should be stayed with wires the same 
as a tree set when the ground is frozen, 
and also headed hack. The after treat¬ 
ment consists in keeping the soil moist 
and as well cultivated as a flower bed 
during the first growing season or two. 
A good plan is to keep the soil loose 
and well cultivated until about July, 
and then mulch heavily with old hay or 
straw after a rain. After the second 
season there is little danger of losing 
the tree. Pine trees may be safely 
moved as late as May and seldom need 
much pruning. 
Clover for Seed. 
G. /., Rochester, N. 7.—We have 10 acres of 
clover which we do not need for hay or 
pasture, and which is a fine crop. Our pian 
is to cut it for seed and put the straw after 
thrashing into the barnyard. Some of our 
good friends claim that it will be more 
value to the land to let it fall down on the 
ground this Fall, and plow it under in the 
Spring for potatoes than the clover seed 
will be worth. We can’t see why it should 
be worth so much more to lie on the land 
this Winter than it will be put into the 
yard and drawn out on the same land this 
Winter or Spring, We do not Intend to 
pasture the land In the Spring, but let the 
clover get as big as possible before plowing. 
Will not plow it until about June 1. 
Ans. —Our iilan would be to cut the 
clover for seed and let sheep and other 
stock pick over the straw or haulms, 
and then use it for bedding or in the ma¬ 
nure. We think that would pay better 
than to let the whole crop rot down. 
What is the “Center of Population"? 
Several Readers. —We read of a certain 
point in the country known as the center 
of population. What does that mean? 
Ans. —It may be called the center of 
gravity of all the population of this 
country. Suppose there are 79,000,000 
people in the United States, scattered 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. If we 
assume that each person has the same 
weight, and the whole country were a 
level plane, there would be some point 
where the whole thing would balance 
exactly. This point is now in southern 
Indiana, about six miles southeast of 
Columbus, in Bartholomew County. 
There is really no practical significance 
to this center of population, except that 
it indicates its change or transfer. 
BEFORE BUYINQ Sl'vISom. 
A NE W HARNESS aioguo giv- 
ln7 full <le- 
Kcnptlon and prices of all kinds of single and 
double liarness and save i)er cent. 
King Harness Co. 510 Church St., Owego.N.Y. 
A| AlfCD QCen—Oholce, clean Crimson or 
MkUWCIl vCbU Scarlet of mvown mixing, 
$4perbu.; sacks free. J.C. KELIS, Mlllsboro, Del. 
Uf lUTPA —Burpee's Extra-Farly Potatoes for 
fWAIIIxU Seed Growers having strictly tlrbt- 
class genuine stock will please name quantity and 
lowest cash i)rl':e. Address 
WM. .JOHNSON, Box 401. Doylestown, Pa. 
PEACH 
BASKETS 
Bl/.es?, 4, (), 8, 10,12 and 
lU quarts. 
Peach Covers 
Square and Tlound Wood, 
Burlap and Cotton. 
Ga. Peach Carriers 
with six Ba.sket8. 
Grape Baskets 
Sizes 6, 8 and 10 pounds. 
Berry, Peach and 
Grape Crates 
Crate Stock and Box 
Shooks In all sizes, direct 
from the manufacturers. 
Special Prices to Dealers 
and Carload Buyers. 
Write for Catalogue. 
COLES & CO., 
109 & 111 Warren St., 
NEW YOBK CITY. 
The Kobison Basket Co., Palnesvllle, O. the largest 
manufacturers In the U. 8. of grape, peach and Irult 
packages. Write us for samples an.l prices. 
SAN JOSE SCALE. 
And other Insects can be Controlled by Using 
Good’s Caustic Potash Whale- 
Oil Tobacco Soap No. 6. 
Kegs, ftOlbs. ea., 5Hc lb. H Bbl., abont276 lbs., 4o. lb 
Kegs, 100 lbs. ea., 5o. lb. Bbls., about 426 lbs.,3J4o.lb 
Kegs.lTOlbs. ea.,4)4c. lb. 
barge quantities Special Kates. Send for Circulars. 
JAMES GOOD, 937 N. Front St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
i THE BEST FERTILIZERS I 
i 
I 
I 
FOR SEEDING DOWN TO 
CRASS OR CRAIN 
ARE MADE BY 
THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL CO. 
BOSTON-NEW YORK - CLEVELAN D. 
sure and write us before ordering any fertilizers. 
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