69o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 12 
years of service were ended. Her calves would be 
born and her milk produced right in that comfortable 
stall or room. At the time some practical eow keep¬ 
ers were inclined to laugh at such an idea, but It is 
now coming to be understood that a cow does not 
need as much exercise as a prize fighter in order to 
fill her pail. 
Milk, Butter, Value of Cost of 
Breeds. lbs. lbs. butter, feed. Profit. 
Holstein .30849.8 1151.61 287.85 123.55 164.84 
Short-horns .20747.9 1043.99 260.99 123.66 137.33 
French-Canadian .20025.7 907.86 227.07 87.90 139.07 
Guernseys .22213.4 1169.51 292.37 106.30 187.07 
Ayrshires .26370.1 1124.53 281.13 107.06 174.07 
Polled Jersevs .16479.6 884.44 221.11 84.04 137.07 
Jerseys .21736.4 1136.87 253.95 104.42 179.63 
Dutch Belted .19628.0 771.94 192.98 100.45 92.63 
Red Polls .23403.6 1070.91 267.72 106.18 161.64 
Brown Swiss .25163.6 1049.16 262.29 114.11 148.18 
H. W. C. 
FRWT VARIETIES FOR PENNSYLVANIA. 
I contemplate buying 16 or 20 acres of land near here, 
that is within five or six miles. I would like to set it 
out to such apples, plums, peaches, pears and quinces, 
of good quality, growth and bearing, as will in eight or 
10 years furnish a net Income of $400 or $500 per annum 
in ordinary seasons. I should expect to rent It free to 
a man in return for its care the first few years. Will 
you advise as to the suitability of the following selec¬ 
tions? 1. Would the following be a good selection of 
apples, one-third to be Summer and Pall and the re¬ 
maining Winter sorts: Starr, Red Harvest, Melon, De¬ 
licious, Missouri, Grimes, Stayman, Commerce? 2. Can 
you tell me whether the following kinds of apples are 
good growers, bearers and generally'desirable and re¬ 
liable: Champion, Senator, Black Ben Davis? 3. Are 
there more desirable apples of the same season? 4. Is 
the Florence crab a good one? 5. Would the following 
varieties and succession of cherries be a good one? If 
not, what changes would you suggest? Richmond, 
Montmorency, English Morello. 6. Would the follow¬ 
ing pears be likely to do well in the vicinity named 
below: Koonce, Boussock, Fame, Garber, King Karl. 
Krull? 7. Would the following plums be likely to do 
well: American Eagle, Red June, Lombard, Gold, Wick- 
son? 8. Are the Van Deman and Missouri quinces good? 
Easton, Pa. reader. 
It is not unreasonable to expect an annual nrt in¬ 
come of $500 from 20 acres set to orchards of good 
fruits. In renting land set with young trees to ten¬ 
ants it Is almost certain that they will not properly 
care for the trees unless there is a very carefully 
planned contract made to cover this point, and con¬ 
stant supervision to see to its enforcement. The ten¬ 
ant usually looks out for his part of the profits, which 
is the growing crop, and the growth and protection 
oi the trees is a secondary matter with him. The 
owner should have such provision made as will se¬ 
cure the trees the first and chief attention, no matter 
what emergency may arise. During the rush of Sum¬ 
mer work there are likely to be times when some¬ 
thing may have to be neglected, and it should not be 
the trees. 
1. Replying to the question of varieties of apples 
suitable to plant in Pennsylvania, and particularly 
those mentioned, it may be said that one-third of the 
number of Summer and Fall kinds seems to me far 
too great a proportion for a commercial apple or¬ 
chard. Early apples rarely pay so well as the Win¬ 
ter kinds. Starr is a fairly good but only a second 
early apple. It is quite large, greenish yellow, and 
of fair quality. Red Harvest I have never heard of 
under that name, but Red Astrachan may be meant, 
which is an early kind of fairly good quality and 
popular in market. Melon is a very good Fall apple. 
Delicious is too new to say much about, for it has not 
been tested except in a very few places. Missouri is 
an excellent kind for the regions where Winesap suc¬ 
ceeds, which is mainly in the Central and Western 
States, and it may be all right in Pennsylvania. It is 
a very early bearer, keeps well, is bright red, and of 
fair quality. Grimes is one of the very best in quality 
of all apples, is rich yellow, of fair size, keeps only 
until late Fall or early Winter, and bears well. For 
family use or fancy market it is excellent. Stayman 
is a new variety that is superior to Winesap in size 
and in habit of tree, but otherwise almost identical 
witn that old standard. It is worthy of trial in Penn¬ 
sylvania. Commerce is a new kind that is but little 
known; York Imperial is an apple that I would surely 
plant there. 2. All these varieties have other names 
which have been approved by the pomological au¬ 
thorities instead, but they have not yet been suffi¬ 
ciently tested to warrant any definite decision as to 
their value generally, exceirt the last one named, 
which is thought by most fruit men to be the same 
as Gano. It is about the same as Ben Davis, except 
that it is a deeper and more suffused red color. The 
other two have been fruited but little outside of the 
region in Arkansas where they originated. I would 
not think it wise to plant them more than experi¬ 
mentally until they are better known. 3. Yes, there 
are certainly other apples that are far safer to plant 
in Pennsylvania, and perhaps they are far better in 
several respects. York Imperial is one, as has already 
been said, and so is Stayman. Jonathan is another 
which I would prefer. Rome Beauty is also very de¬ 
sirable. 4. Florence is a good crab apple, ripening 
about mid-season. 
5. Yes, they would be very good, because Rich¬ 
mond is very early and a dependable bearer, Mont¬ 
morency is a little later, and English Morello quite 
late. All are good sour cherries. Of the sweet cherry 
class the Tartarian, Napoleon and Windsor would be 
among the best. 6. Yes, so far as I know them I 
think the pears named would be good. Koonce and 
Krull are both rather new, but Boussock is an old 
and well-tested Fall pear of high quality. Garber is 
another rather new kind that is much like Keiffer in 
tree and fruit, but earlier in ripening by over a 
month. It is not high in fiavor, but is a sure bearer. 
Fame and King Karl I do not know. 
7. Yes, all of the plums mentioned will succeed in 
Pennsylvania. American Eagle is one of our native 
A WESTCHESTER CO. (N. Y.} CORNFIELD. FlO. 312. 
kinds, and is very hardy and productive. Red June 
is of the Japan type and very early, but not high in 
quality. Gold is a new hybrid of Burbank’s origin, 
having both American and Japan parentage. It is a 
fairly good plum, but nothing extra, being only of 
fair fiavor and very watery, but is handsome yellow¬ 
ish-red when fully ripe. Its size is medium and al¬ 
most round in shape. Wickson is also of Japan type, 
and is rather large, heart-shaped, handsome red and 
of good quality. Lombard is an old standard of the 
European type, that rarely fails to bear, 8. The Van 
Deman quince is one of Burbank’s new creations that 
has been tested but little, and, I fear, it is not going 
to prove so early and valuable as the Orange, which 
is our old standard. Missouri is a good variety, but 
not superior to the Orange, as I have seen them both. 
H. E, VAN DEMAN. 
ROOT-PRUNED TREES IN MEXICO. 
On page 482 of Tile R. N,-Y. Mr. Stringfellow takes 
exception to my statement that the success of root 
pruning is “merely a question of latitude,’’ and says: 
“It is simply a question of moisture, not latitude.’’ 
SOME BACKYARD PRODUCTS. Fi6. 313. Sec Page 693. 
As proof, he gives the failure of his 3,000 trees, due to 
drought, and the success of the trees at Hope Farm 
and other places in the North. That, however, doesn’t 
disprove my statement, but only proves that moisture 
is absolutely necessary for the success of root-pruned 
trees. It further proves that this is a weak point in 
the system of root pruning. Mr. Stringfellow closes 
his article by saying: “So don’t be discouraged if 
root-pruned trees do not do as well the first year as 
you think they ought to.’’ Here he admits, that un¬ 
der certain conditions (and such conditions are not 
unusual in the North), the root-pruned tree may not 
do well the first year. Such being the case, what is 
to insure the tree against winterkilling, should a se¬ 
vere Winter follow? Certainly the addition of water 
will not, and therefore Mr. Stringfellow’s statement 
that the success of root pruning is “simply a question 
of moisture’’ is too narrow. 
Anyone who has ever traveled from the North to 
the tropics cannot have failed to notice how much 
more readily and abundantly vegetation grows the 
farther South one gets. This is not due to an increase 
in moisture (although that may also be a factor), but 
to climatic conditions better suited to luxuriant 
growth, leaving out of consideration, of course, places 
which, on account of high altitude, etc., cannot have 
climatic conditions normal to the latitude wherein 
they lie. Bearing these facts in mind, it is not diffi¬ 
cult to see why a root-pruned tree, robbed, as it is, 
of a large part of its vitality, will grow better in a 
locality with favorable climatic conditions, than in 
one subject to conditions inimical to the growth of 
the tree. I therefore think that I am entirely justi¬ 
fied in saying that the success of root pruning is 
“merely a question of latitude.’’ Certain it is that 
that statement is much more comprehensive than Mr. 
Stringfellow’s. 
To show to what extent root-pruned trees are set 
out here in the tropics, I will give a few figures con¬ 
cerning the work done on one of the plantations. The 
object of this plantation is to plant 500,000 coffee 
trees and about 150,000 rubber trees. The coffee trees 
are being put in at the rate of 150,000 a year, and In 
order to accomplish this, the manager bought up all 
the old coffee nurseries he possibly could. The trees 
in these nurseries varied in age from two to five 
years, and when prepared for transportation were 
pulled up and cut off so as to leave about six inches 
each of trunk and root. When these stubs arrived at 
the plantation an additional two inches was cut off 
from either end, leaving about four inches of trunk 
and four inches of tap root free from fibers. These 
stubs were then planted in holes driven by a pointed 
stick. Not only did the stubs grow well, but they 
made trees superior to those grown from unpruned 
nursery stock, because they branched low, a very im¬ 
portant feature in a coffee tree. Rubber trees, though 
much more delicate and unable to stand much trans¬ 
portation, were successfully planted in the same way. 
Now when apple trees in Canada can be set out in 
a manner similar to this, even though the rainfall be 
supplemented by rational irrigation, then will I be 
ready to accept Mr. Stringfellow’s statement that the 
success of root-pruned trees is “simply a question of 
moisture.’’ I do not mean to say that root-pruned 
trees cannot be planted in the North, but I do say 
that such a system is more hazardous in the North 
than is the old system. n. l. trott. 
Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. 
WORK OF THE 17-YEAR LOCUSTS. 
Several weeks ago a writer in Virginia inquired 
about protecting a young peach orchard from the 
Cicada, or Seventeen-year locusts. I have seen these 
locusts on the wing five times on the same farm. In 
1846 I planted an apple orchard. As the locusts ap¬ 
peared that year they began to deposit their eggs in 
the trees. I cut a lot of green rye straw, and set it up 
around the trees, and held it in place by tying with 
twine. Two trees were set in an old orchard, and left 
unprotected with straw. It was several years before 
they recovered from the damage done by the locusts. 
From my observations I learn that peach trees and 
all other trees that exude gum are not much harmed 
by the locusts. The peach grows so rapidly that the 
young locusts are in danger of being shut in by the 
gum, and new growth of wood. The young locusts 
emerge from the twigs of the trees in about six weeks. 
I have seen them as they came forth from trees; they 
are very small. It is now four years since their last 
visit here; they are not yet large enough to be seen 
without close examination. In about seven or eight 
years their body will be as large as a grain of wheat. 
With us they come from the ground the first week in 
June, or about the time the lightning bugs appear 
on the wing. I have examined them when dead; 
while some of them are filled with a substance re¬ 
sembling dry ashes others are hollow with no inter¬ 
nal substance. The English sparrows destroy them 
in vast numbers. A correspondent of another farm 
paper, living in Athens Co., 0., observed an orchard 
that had some woodland near it. The locusts made 
frequent efforts to fiy from the woods to the orchard; 
the sparrows met them half way, and took them on 
the wing. The observer said he did not see a single 
one reach the orchard. s. b. 
Crescent, 0. 
I doubt whether the rye straw would afford any pro¬ 
tection to young trees from the deposition of their 
eggs by Seventeen-year locusts, but the notion re¬ 
garding the exudation of gum from peach trees is a 
sensible one. It has also been recorded several times 
that the Ehiglish sparrow eats the locusts. On the 
whole this correspondent’s observations are interest¬ 
ing and valuable. u. v. sLiNGBaiAND. 
