66o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
SepiemWr 28 
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.] 
The Lawver Apple, 
O. IF. O., Columbus, 0.—Tn j'our Issue of 
August 17 there was an item stating that 
the I/awver apple and the Delaware Red 
Winter were the same, and that the 
former was a shy bearer. 1 at once wrote 
to the persons who sold me 1,000 Dela¬ 
ware Red Winter trees and enclosed the 
clipping from your paper. I asked them 
whether they could furnish scions of the 
vStayman to top-graft my young trees as 
1 did not want the Lawver. Their reply 
was that the Lawver originated in Mis¬ 
souri. The Delaware Red was originated 
at Milford, Del., by W. P. Corsa, now of 
the Department of Agriculture, Washing¬ 
ton, D. C. I think this ought to be in¬ 
vestigated, as it will make people who 
have purchased the Delaware Red Winter 
anxious, and they may not wait to in¬ 
quire as 1 have, and at once top-graft 
the trees with something else. 
Ans. —The confusion which has arisen 
regarding the Lawver-Delaware Red 
Winter matter has been thoroughly in¬ 
vestigated long ago, and there is bvt 
one variety going under these names, 
and it is the Lawver, which originated 
in Missouri. There were a few trees of 
it found in the suburbs of New York 
City, and for a time it was thought to 
be distinct and new, but after it had 
been so renamed and distributed by Mr. 
Coi’sa, of Delaware, it was found to be 
only the Lawver. Unfortunately this 
apple does not bear well anywhere, so 
far as I have heard. It is a beautiful 
red apple that is of fair quality and 
keeps very late, and if the tree bore well 
it would be desirable. Stayman would 
probably be a very good variety to use 
it; top-grafting the Lawver trees, as it 
will do well in central Ohio. ii. e. v. d. 
Diseased Trees; Dwarf Pears. 
J. M. K., Oakland, Kan.—\. 1 have some 
apple trees, about eight years old; the 
bodies on the south side of the trees and 
part way up the south side of the trees 
and part way ^tp the south limbs are 
dead. The bark has peeled off and the 
wood is dry and hard as flint. What is 
the cause and remedy? My pear trees 
are in the same lix, and yet both apple 
and pear are loaded on the north side 
with fine fruit. 2. I lost about 100 cherry 
trees (yearlings set this Spring). The 
body of the trees all round, from the 
ground to eight or 10 inches up the tree, 
turned black, bark shriveled and adhered 
tight to the wood. The tops lingered a 
while and dried up. What is the cause? 
The roots and body below ground are 
green. If they should sprout out again 
below the dead line, would you advise 
leaving them stand? 3. What dwarf 
pears would you advise planting for 
near-by market, and how would you set 
them in orchard? Is the Lincoln pear 
better than the Kieffer? Would you set 
dwarf pears in every alternate row, or 
every alternate tree in each row, and 
what distance apart each way? 
Ans.—1. The apple trees mentioned 
are very probably affected by what is 
rommonly called sunscald, which is a 
trouble that is not clearly understood 
by either scientific investigators or prac¬ 
tical fruit growers. It is generally 
thought to be from the violent changes 
from warm to cold weather and the re¬ 
verse, especially in Winter. It may be 
from some germ that finds its way into 
the vital parts of the trunk. There are 
cases where it is quite surely the effects 
of Pear blight, as that disease works in 
both apple and pear trees. But the fact 
that only the south side of the tree 
trunks is usually affected points to the 
former cause as the one most largely 
to blame; for the sunshine acts direct¬ 
ly there. Wrapping the trees or tack¬ 
ing a board on the south side is some- 
limes a good preventive. 2. The cherry 
trees may have been damaged when 
they were bought, or the hot Summer 
may have hurt them. It has been very 
hot and dry in Kansas this past season, 
and such injury is not uncommon there, 
as I know by plenty of sad experience. 
'I hese damaged trees are worthless. If 
they should sprout above the places 
where they were budded they would be 
very weak, and if below they would be 
of some worthless variety, probably the 
Mahaleb stock. 3. Angouleme is about 
the best pear to use in setting dwarf 
trees, Louise Bonne also does very fair¬ 
ly, and so does Bartlett when it does not 
blight. They should be set about 12 feet 
apart each way. If part standard trees 
were set it would be well to alternate 
the trees in each row at this distance, 
arranging them so that when the dwarfs 
were gone the standards would be 24 
feet apart. ii. e. v. o. 
Disappointing Peach Trees. 
C. IF. P., Guilford Center, Yt.—l have a 
peach orchard consisting of 100 trees; Old- 
mixon. Early Rivers, Crosby, Waterloo, 
Early 'York and Mountain Rose. TMese 
trees are six years old, very thrifty, with 
heavy tops, and stand about 11 feet apart 
each way. This orchard has never borne 
more than one bushel of fruit in a season. 
The ground has been kept clean from 
weeds, and hard wood ashes used around 
each tree. The outside trees do not bear, 
which does away with the possibility of 
the trees being too near together. Is it 
possible that the orchard is worthless? If 
not, how can they be treated so as to be 
profitable? 
Ans. —In my opinion, which must be 
formed without having seen the orchard 
and with only a general knowledge of 
its climatic and other conditions, the 
fundamental trouble is that Vermont is 
not a peach growing State. There may 
be sections within its limits where 
peaches may be grown with some de¬ 
gree of success, but they are certainly 
very limited. The varieties are not 
more tender than most others, and the 
blame cannot be laid to an unwise se¬ 
lection. The distance apart is too close 
for ordinary peach culture, but as the 
trees are said to be thrifty, and peihaps 
healthy, they are not being starved in¬ 
to unproductiveness. It is probable that- 
ihe fruit buds are killed or seriously 
injured by the severity of the Winters, 
and this may be the principal immediate 
cause of the failure to bear fruit. If the 
trees bloom and set fruit abundantly 
then it is likely that it falls from some 
adverse condition of the climate. In my 
travels through New Hampshire I have 
rarely seen a peach tree, and it is not 
to be wondered at that those that are 
set do not prove profitable. If they d d 
well there would be more of them. 
II. E. V. D. 
Crows and their Food. 
Header, New Jersey .—We have observed 
a good deal of damage from wireworms. 
In some cases, especially in the damper 
soils, we find large quantities of these 
worms at work. They eat into the face 
of the potato, generally beginning at one 
end. not spreading all over the surface, 
but !ii)parently chewing away as though 
they meant to make a clean job of the 
whole thing. One day we were digging, 
but were unable to pick up the entire 
day’s work, so that a number of bushels 
were left on the surface of Ihe ground. 
This was on a back field over by the 
woods. The next morning, when the boys 
went there to pick up the potatoes, they 
found a big flock of crows at work, and 
the boys insist that every one of those 
l)otatoes had been turned over by the 
crows, who did not attemi>t to eat the 
tuber.«. Small stones were also turned 
over, and we conclude that these crows 
were after the worms. The other morn¬ 
ing we got up early and went up to look 
at the cabbage field. There was a flock 
of 50 to 75 crows perched on the fence, 
with some of them down in the cabbage 
field. They had evidently been at work 
there ever since sunrise, but we were 
able to find but one cabbage that had 
been eaten at all. We concluded that 
they were after the Cabbage worms, and 
after watching them for a while, we are 
sure that they disposed of a good many 
of them. 
Ans. —A few years ago the United 
States Department of Agriculture pub¬ 
lished an extensive report on the crow, 
and from this report I glean the follow¬ 
ing deductions regarding the insect food 
ot this much-abused bird. The insect 
food of crows is almost exclusively com¬ 
posed of terrestrial species, that is, such 
as are found on the surface of the 
ground, or hide during the day at the 
base of plants or under the various ob¬ 
jects lying on the surface (thus it would 
not be strange if the crows did turn over 
the potatoes left in the field); or such 
a.= live in the dung of domestic animals, 
in decaying vegetable and animal mat¬ 
ter, or underground. There is not the 
slightest indication that crows catch 
any insects while on the wing, and the 
indications are that the birds when sit¬ 
ting or resting on trees or shrubs do 
not pick up insects. The indications 
are that crows preferably frequent dry 
pasture lands, dry meadows, or very 
open woods, where cattle or horses are 
grazing; they may also frequent the 
margins of ponds or streams, and the 
presence of white grubs and wireworms 
in their stomachs show that they have 
followed the plow of the farmer. 
The crow’s insect food consists on y 
of large or medium-sized insects, with 
the exception of ants, which are fre¬ 
quently found in their stomachs. Crows 
appear to prefer insects with a hard 
covering, like the beetles, to the more 
soft-bodied ones, like caterpillars. A 
marked exception to this rule is the fre¬ 
quent occurrence of spiders in the 
stomach. It would seem that crows 
have a predilection for insects possess¬ 
ing a pungent or otherwise strong taste 
or odor, and as a peculiarity of very lit¬ 
tle importance, is the fact that insects 
of a bright, and more especially golden, 
color are apparently very attractive to 
crows and are eagerly picked up by 
them. Several hundred different kinds 
of insects have been found in the stom¬ 
achs of crows. These may be placed in 
the following general groups: Grass¬ 
hoppers, dung beetles, ground beetles. 
May beetles (but few larvae or white 
grubs occurred in the stomachs, how¬ 
ever), ground spiders, weevils, cut- 
v/orms (but not so many as one might 
expect), soldier or stink bugs, ants, 
click beetles (their larvae or wire- 
worms were found in only a few stom¬ 
achs), a few bees and wasps, and a few 
Hies and crickets. The absence of the 
useful ladybird beetles and of the leaf¬ 
feeding beetles, including the notorious 
Colorado Potato beetle, was a striking 
characteristic of the insect fauna of the 
crows’ stomachs examined. Some ob¬ 
servers report that crows feed on the 
Potato beetle, but others state that they 
could not tempt their appetites with this 
jjtst. Very few of the immense host of 
parasitic enemies of insect pests were 
found in the stomachs. The absence of 
all Cabbage worms, excepting a solitary 
specimen, deserves mention, says the ex¬ 
pert who examined the stomachs. 
Summarizing the writer states that 
among the principal insect food of the 
crow there are only two classes of emi¬ 
nently beneficial insects, namely, the 
ground beetles and the soldier bugs. All 
the rest belong to the injurious insects. 
The facts on the whole overwhelmingly 
speak in favor of the crow, and taken 
alone would be at variance with the 
prevalent opinion hitherto heid and yet 
held regarding the economic status of 
the crow as an insectivorous bird. Over 
per cent of the crow’s food for the 
year is made up of insects; in January 
only about three per cent of its food 
consists of insects, while in April, May 
and June it averages nearly 50 per cent. 
Thus the evidence seems to be against 
the probability of the crows having had 
many Cabbage worms for breakfast that 
morning. M. v. slingekeand. 
1 THINK Prof. Van Deman would better 
adopt Pinafore’s “hardly ever’’ in regard 
to borers in plums, for one of my seven 
plum trees was killed by borers. 
Ohio. E. s. I. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.’’ SeemirgiiaranteeSthpage. 
Artificial Arms and Legs. 
MARKS’ Improved Rubber Hands and Feet are 
Natural In Action, Noiseless in Motion, and the Most 
Durable In Construction. It is not unusual to sec 
a farmer working In the fields with an artificial leg, 
or an engineer, conductor, brakeman, carpenter, 
mason, miner, In fact, men of every vocation, wear¬ 
ing one or two artificial legs, of MARKS Patents, 
performlng'as much as men in possession of all their 
natural members, and experiencing little or no incon¬ 
venience. Over 2.5,1100 in use, scattered In all parts 
of the world. At the Paris Exposition they received 
the highest award. They are endorsed and purchased 
by the United States and foreign Governments. A 
Treatise containing 500 pages, with 800 illustrations, 
sent krke. also a formula for taking Measurements 
by which limbs can be made and sent to all parts of 
the world with fit guaranteed. Established 40 years 
A. .4. MAKKS, 701 Broadway, New York City 
f— No more of them. Sow 
. my hardy White Onion. 
Pound. $3; ounce, 25 cents; package, 10 cents. Send 
for testimonials. BKaULIKU, Woodhaven, N. V. 
STRONG POTTED STRAWBERRY 
PLANTS, early and late, sent safely 
anywhere postpaid for One Dollar. 
A. B. KATKAMIKR, Macedon, N. Y. 
'T'HIS FALL is the time to plant a KIEKFKR 
PEAR Orchard. Fine 2-year-old Kleller and 
Garber Pear Trees at $10 per 100. boxed. Also a full 
line of trees and plants. Send a list of your wants to 
W. C. BRYANT, Nurseryman, Dansvllle, N. Y. 
lJUM |||T|J n— Burpee’s Extra-Early Potatoes for 
Iff nil I CU Seed Growers having strictly first- 
class genuine stock will please name quantity and 
lowest cash price. Address 
WM. JOHNSON. Box 401. Doylestown, Pa. 
GRAPE VINES 
Cnrrauts, Gooseberries, Black¬ 
berries, Rn8pl>erries, Straw¬ 
berries. Price List FUEK. 
Scud 2o itamp for {Uustralod descriptive catalog. 
T. S. HUBBARD CO. Fredonia, N. Y. 
BULBS 25 cents BULBS 
we will send you. postpaid, the 25 bulbs named below: 
3 Koman Hyacinths, white, rose, blue. 
6 Mixed Talips, extra-fine mixture. 
3 Narcissas, all different. 
lO Crocus, mixed colors, mammoth bulbs&fiowers 
3 Freesias, large bulbs, white flowers. 
These are all good sound strong bulbs. Our Fall 
catalogue of Trees, Plants and Bulbs free with every 
order. Order now to secure this offer. Send us name 
and address of friends who may need trees, seeds, 
plants or bulbs with your order, and we will put lo 
some extras that will please you. 
T. C. FURNAS & CO., Sheridan, Ind. 
OUR FRUIT TREES 
Ornamental Trees, Vines and Plants 
i*e grown on the banks of the Hudson Riter, 
here with favorable climatic conditions, a pel ¬ 
let season, rich soil and thorough cultivation, 
e have matured the finest and most complete 
St of stock ever grown in the Hudson Valley, 
uality always our first aim ; personal inspection 
ivited. Fall planting gives best results. Our 
ummer and Autumn Catalogue free to all read- 
rs c f The R. N.-Y. Ask us for information you 
lay need on horticultural matters, and you will 
ave answer in next mail 
T. J. DWiEK & SON, 
range Co. Nurseries. Box 1. Cornwall. N. Y. 
T NTi.rc^rv. 
SUCCEED WHERE 
TiATT. 
Headquarters 
for the October Purple Plum and 
Green Mountain Grape. The largest 
New England nursery. 500 acres. Strong 
stock of all fruits, ornamental trees an:* 
shrubs. CaJtalogue free. 
STEPHEN HOYT’S SONS. New Canaan, Conn. 
Haul Your Cornstalks 
on our Low-Down, 
Broad-Tire, Wide-Plat¬ 
form, Handy Wagon, 
t with wheels that turn 
4 under the load. It is easy 
~ draft, easy to load, never 
breaks down or upsets. 
Best, handiest, strongest 
wagon for all farm pur¬ 
poses. The only low-down wagon adopted by 
U. S. Government for hauling war supplies. We 
want one live farmer as our agent in every county. 
Write for terms and descriptive circulars, free. 
FARMERS’ HANDY WAGON CO., Saginaw, Mich 
CARMAN. 
Earlierthan Elberta; skin tough 
a good shipper. Consult our bud¬ 
ded list of Peach Trees (over 
1,'300,(K)())«) varieties; Aaparagui^ 
Strawberry Plants, Plum and 
Apple Trees. Send for catalogue. 
lUllUlSU.VS XfltSEKlES, Berlla, Bd. 
FINE NURSERY STOCK 
Grown la the famous Delaware fruit land, iree from 
di.sease; true to name. Fruit Trees. 
Plants, A^aragns Koot^ Try <mr prices W 
two-year lOeflfer Pears. DOVER NURSEBlBlBt 
B. H. ATKINSON, Dover. Del. 
