654 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 3 
crop of oats or early millet, nitrate alone may answer; 
but for corn, which does its heaviest feeding late in 
the summer, some form of nitrogen must be used 
that will not easily dissolve and wash out. This is 
why the best corn fertilizers contain a portion of the 
nitrogen in the form of blood, fish, tankage, bone or 
cotton-seed meal. Before this form of nitrogen is 
available, it must be “ broken up.” or go through 
various changes. The same principle holds true in 
building a fire. There might be the same amount of 
heat in a barrel of kerosene, two cords of wood or a 
ton of coal. If you wanted a political bonfire, you 
would use the oil and some of the wood, because you 
want a great heat and blaze all at once. To heat 
your house, though, you would use a little wood for 
kindling, and a good deal of coal to continue the 
heat all through the night. The nitrate of soda is 
like the oil, while the coal is like the organic nitrogen. 
It will be cold comfort for members of a defeated 
political party to try to warm their fingers by the 
blaze of the torches that went out weeks beforehand. 
Such fingers will turn as yellow as the corn that tried 
to feed on nitrate that had all been washed out into 
the river. 
Western Methods of Corn Culture. 
Mr. Cottrell, the manager at Ellerslie, came from 
Kansas, where farmers have adopted some methods 
of corn culture that were necessary in their peculiar 
soil and condition; among others is the plan of 
“listing” corn. This really means planting it at the 
bottom of a deep furrow, and gradually filling in 
with earth as the plant grows—very much as some 
of our potato growers start their crops. The theory 
is that this successive covering of the young plant 
induces it to send out different sets or layers of feed¬ 
ing roots, thus giving it a deep root system which 
will enable it to withstand a drought. As drought is 
the terror of Hudson River farming, Mr. Cottrell has 
tried a modification of this “ listing”, on a small 
scale, with excellent results. The ground was 
furrowed late in the fall, and in the spring, corn 
was planted in the furrows. This was a piece of 
land naturally so cold and wet that crops are always 
late in starting. To judge from color and appearance 
this year, the crop on this land is, certainly, greener 
and heavier than that on nearby land treated in the 
ordinary way, viz., fall-plowed and spring-harrowed. 
The success of this experiment has induced Mr. 
Cottrell to try an experiment in preparing his level 
fields for next year’s corn crop. Instead of plowing 
as usual, the fields will be worked over with the 
Right Lap Cutaway, and well stirred up. They will 
then take a big plow with a double mold-board and 
run along each row, throwing the soil both ways and 
leaving a deep furrow. By thus running in each row, 
the corn roots will be torn out and the field will be 
left in steep ridges. In this situation, the frost will 
work all through the loose soil during winter, while 
the furrows will carry oif the surplus water. In the 
spring the ridges can be leveled by working across 
them with disk, or Cutaway and Acme harrows. On 
this heavy clay soil, the action of the frost will be of 
especial value. While this would not answer for hilly 
land, there are level stretches on the farm where it 
can be tried, and I think that it is well worth an ex¬ 
periment on heavy clay soils that are cold and wet in 
spring. 
I may say, in passing, that Mr. Cottrell has put in 
40 acres of grass after Mr. Clark’s “new method.” 
The only change from Mr. Clark’s rule is the fact that 
a thin seeding of wheat was used. This was done 
because the early cut wheat was needed for cow feed 
next spring. It will be cut off and used for a soiling 
crop, and then the grass will hold full sway. 
Guernsey Cattle Are Barn Cows. 
A picture of a typical Ellerslie Guernsey is shown 
at Fig. 203. This picture, drawn by Cecil Palmer, 
well illustrates the characteristic points of a good 
Guernsey. Such cows are large and built on more 
rugged lines than the average Jersey. We have often 
said that the Guernsey is a good “ barn cow.” She is 
not so nervous and highstrung as her cousin from 
Jersey. In the Ellerslie barn, one will often find 50 
cows lying down—patiently chewing their cuds. A 
stranger may walk around them, but they will not 
move. Under similar circumstances, most Jerseys 
would jump like deer. Mr. Cottrell says that, one 
day this summer, there were 800 visitors in the barn 
at one time. He supposed, of course, that the herd 
would shrink considerably in their yield ; but instead 
of that, they actually increased 50 pounds in the 
total mess. 
A look at the Ellerslie hay mows is a striking 
object lesson of the way the silo economizes space. 
Not half the storage room for hay is filled. There is 
no need of so much hay with 2,000 tons of ensilage in 
the silo. You can crowd a ton of ensilage into 50 
cubic feet of space, while a ton of hay requires 
nearly 500 feeL The need of the. tw<vst«ry eattle 
barn has been lost in the silo, and that means an im¬ 
mense saving in the cost of construction. Mr. Cottrell 
says that he would like to build a one-story cattle 
barn with a floor of concrete, and steam pipes so 
arranged that he could give the whole floor a 
thorough steaming every week or so. h. w. c. 
APPLE GROWING ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF WESTERN APPI.ES. 
One of our subscribers in the State of Washington asks the 
following question, which, we think, will be of considerable in¬ 
terest to many of our pomologists on the Pacific coast: “ What is 
the first, second and third choice of large, dark-red, late-keep¬ 
ing winter apples for a permanent oVchard in this part of the 
country ? ” Will you be kind enough to tell us what your choice 
in regard to winter apples would be ? Also, in what way do our 
standard varieties of apples differ in growth, color and bearing 
habit when taken from the East to the West ? 
Shape Somewhat Determined by Soil. 
Baldwin and Esopus Spitzenburg apples are the two 
best late-keeping, dark-red winter apples of which I 
know, for western Washington. It is difficult to in¬ 
crease the list to three. In some localities, on deep, 
rich upland, the Northern Spy would do well; on low¬ 
land, in western Washington, it is inclined to be a 
poor keeper. In eastern Washington, Baldwin is not 
a late keeper, but west, it is one of the very best. 
Our standard apples vary in shape from year to year. 
I have in mind a Gravenstein tree which, two years 
ago, bore a fine crop of apples of the ideal Gravenstein 
shape (perhaps a trifle elongated) ; last year, the fruit 
on the same tree was oblong, flattened and ribbed. 
This year, the same tree is again full of fruit. At this 
writing (September 3), the apples are roundish, slightly 
conical, and would approximate in shape an eastern- 
grown apple of the same variety. I believe that this 
variation will be found in all our apples- My opinion 
is that more depends on the soil and and season than 
on locality, in producing this change. The result of 
my observation, so far, would lead me to expect a 
greater divergence from the standard shape on very 
rich, moist soils than on drier soils of medium fer¬ 
tility. On soils of the latter class, I believe that the 
quality of the fruit grown in Washington would com¬ 
pare well with the best eastern-grown fruit. On the 
former class of soils, rich, wet river bottoms, etc., 
the quality is not so good. frank binns. 
Mason County, Wash. 
Fogs Make Light-Colored Fruit. 
The Baldwin is the best winter apple grown in 
western Washington ; my next choice is the Esopus 
Spitzenburg. Then Ben Davis. The Baldwin does 
better here than in Illinois ; it bears better, larger 
fruit, and keeps longer, is equal in flavor, but not so 
high in color. I can see very little difference between 
the Rhode Island Greening as grown here and in the 
East. The same can be said of the Pippin. The 
Puget Sound country is not the best location in the 
world for red apples to attain a rich brilliancy of 
color. But this difficulty can be overcome largely 
by careful pruning and training, and adding to 
the soil some deficient element. Our soil lacks 
lime, and also, iron can be added with good re¬ 
sults in aiding the color, and also solidifying the 
fruits. We do not enjoy the sun here so much as the 
eastern people, and this has some effect in lessening 
the high color of apples grown here. Eastern Wash¬ 
ing produces apples very similar to the Eastern States, 
and, I think, fully equal in flavor and general appear¬ 
ance. Trees shipped from the East are not so desir¬ 
able as home-grown trees, although there is no reason 
why a good, clean eastern tree should not do as well 
here as any other. East of the mountains, in Wash¬ 
ington, is a different climate from ours on Puget 
Sound, and, I think that it produces finer fruit in 
greater variety. They have more sunny weather, 
and none of the heavy fogs we get at this season of 
the year. s. w. baker. 
Washington. 
Potash and Phosphoric Acid Needed. 
Here on the western slope of the Coast Range, at 
present, my choice of winter apples would be, first, 
Rubicon; second, Baldwin ; third, Esopus Spitzen¬ 
burg ; but the indication is that those, probably, will 
be superseded by some new varieties on trial. The 
climate in Oregon and Washington is not detrimental 
to raising first-class apples, although the physical 
situation, the sheltered location, and the different 
soils in different parts in those States, seem to affect 
the color, shape, size, flavor and keeping quality of 
the fruit more than they do east of the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains. Apples grown in an alluvial soil, on a northern 
mountain slope, on a northern base of a mountain, on 
an extended level country, or exposed to the sea 
breeze and constant winds, are somewhat elongated, 
lacking color, which appears somewhat russety, and 
are also deficient in flavor compared with eastern ap¬ 
ples. Probably those raised under such circumstances, 
caused the prevailing opinion in the East that all 
Pacific coast apples lack perfection. I venture to say 
that Pacific coast apples grown in proper soil and in 
favorable physical situations, with which this coast is 
abundantly blessed, are perfect; they seem to me of 
larger size, and somewhat more juicy, on the average, 
than apples raised on the other side of the Rockies, 
and they can easily hold the candle to a comparison 
with them as far as the color and flavor are concerned. 
In some parts of western Oregon and Washington, 
the fruit growers, probably, w ill have to resort to 
supplying the soil with mineral substances for obtain¬ 
ing the best results in raising first-class apples of 
good keeping qualities. Although the mild winters 
here, generally, are detrimental to the late keeping 
of apples, I have seen different kinds in good condi¬ 
tion in the latter part of April. The trees growing 
thrifty, bearing very early, are inclined to overbear- 
ing, but do not attain, on an average, as large size as 
in the East. The branches, in some places, lack 
elasticity, and fail to regain the natural position after 
the fruit has been gathered, which is caused by in¬ 
sufficient mineral substances in the soil. 
Oregon. a. wirth. 
List of Desirable Varieties. 
I know little of the habits of apple growth in the 
eastern States, but learn from those who do know, 
that there is some difference, especially in the keep¬ 
ing qualities. In order to understand the situation, 
I must explain, that Oregon is divided by the Cascade 
Range of mountains, into eastern and western Oregon, 
the climatic conditions of which are vastly different. 
For instance, eastern Oregon climate goes to extremes: 
hot and dry summers, and very cold winters, while 
western Oregon, has a mild, humid climate, both sum¬ 
mer and winter, on account of the Japan current of 
the ocean. We seldom have snow. Under such condi¬ 
tions, fruits must be different in these two sections ; 
in fact, varieties which do well in eastern Oregon, do 
not do well in western Oregon, and vice versa. For 
instance, the Yellow Newtown Pippin which does ex¬ 
ceedingly well in eastern Oregon, does nothing with 
us. I hen, again, our market demands a redapple, 
and green apples do not sell well at all, though the 
Rhode Island Greening and Swaar do very well. 
As Horticultural Commissioner, I have given the 
growing of the best marketable varieties of fruits 
much thought, and have tabulated the following list 
for northern and western Oregon : Oldenburg, Graven- 
stein, Northern Spy, Spitzenburg, Baldwin and Ben 
Davis, or substitute Jonathan and King of Tompkins 
County. For eastern and southern Oregon : Graven¬ 
stein, Wealthy, Baldwin, King of Tompkins County, 
York Imperial, Yellow Newtown Pippin, Wagener 
and Ben Davis, or any four of them. All apples in 
western Oregon mature much earlier than the same 
varieties do east of the mountains, both eastern Oregon 
and eastern Washington, as well as with you on the 
Atlantic seaboard, and our apples do not keep very 
long unless put in cold storage. But eastern Oregon 
grown apples keep fully as long as those grown any¬ 
where, and are, perhaps, finer flavored than with us. 
Onr fruits are so juicy on account of our humid at¬ 
mosphere. HENRY E. DOSCH. 
Oregon. 
Climate, Atmosphere and Soil Conditions. 
Washington is a peculiar and wonderful State, and 
has a great variety of climate. Apples recommended 
for the warmer valleys of the Yakima, Walla Walla, 
Wenatchee, Columbia or Snake Rivers, would be 
almost useless for such localities as the Palouse Val¬ 
ley or the Big Bend country. And apples that are 
fairly successful west of the Cascades, are sometimes 
considered of no account on the east side. So, there 
is no list of three apples that would be adapted to 
every part of the State. The highest-colored, best¬ 
keeping apples grown in the State, are in orchards 
whose altitude is above 2,000 feet. But the most of 
our orchards are at a much lower altitude—000 to 1,200 
feet. 
The best late-keeping, winter apple is a yellow one 
—Yellow Newtown Pippin. This applies to any part 
of the State where it can be grown. The best three 
red winter apples in the warmer valleys of eastern 
Washington, are Rome Beauty, Esopus Spitzenburg, 
and Delaware Red Winter. The best red apple west 
of the Cascades, is Baldwin. In the higher altitudes, 
fall apples become winter apples, and the list would 
include King, Wealthy, and Wagener. In a country 
so preeminently adapted to apple growing as many 
parts of Washington truly are, three apples make too 
short a list to include the best. 
An Eastern pomologist set down in a Washington 
orchard, would be surprised at the magnificent de¬ 
velopment of foliage and wood in young trees. He 
would stand in open-mouthed wonder before a six or 
seven-year-old apple tree carrying 1,500 pounds of 
fruit, and every specimen large and perfect. The 
color and bloom on the fruit would t file and confuse 
his previous ideas of varieties anJ he would fail to 
recognize leading kinds. He would notice that trees 
carried their fruit on every pa.rt of th« tree— low 
