762 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 21, 
j l^tiralisms [ 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Peach Rot Rampant. —We have never 
before known so many peaches to succumb 
to brown or Monilia rot. It is always 
quite destructive to early varieties, but 
we usually count on getting the late kinds 
with but little loss. This season, however, 
about all varieties, except Carman, Elberta 
and Stump the World suffered alike. The 
weather may have favored these varieties 
a trifle at their ripening periods, but their 
comparative immunity seems rather to be 
accounted for by their superior resisting 
powers. Champion was severely affected, 
scarcely 20 per cent of our fruits coming 
through. Mountain Rose made a better 
showing. Late Crawford and Ford’s Late 
or Iron Mountain were badly hit. Greens¬ 
boro held out better than Triumph among 
the early kinds. The fruits on Admiral 
Dewey all rotted while hard. This highly 
praised early yellow peach has proved 
worthless here and will be discarded. Car¬ 
man comes nearer our idea of a rot-proof 
peach than any variety we have tried. 
Four annual crops of large and handsome 
fruits have been secured with only trifling 
loss from rot or other disease. As grown 
here it is a clingstone, of ordinary quality, 
but the showy fruits are always appreciat¬ 
ed, even in competition with Georgia 
Elbertas. 
Peach Trees Failing.— Hard Winters, 
scale and rot prove the undoing of many 
Jersey peach orchards. We can reason¬ 
ably control yellows, leaf-curl and borers, 
the former by selection of stocks and the 
others by direct curative methods, but 
cold, scale and the ever-present rot are 
far more difficult to combat. The last two 
Winters have severely injured many estab¬ 
lished orchards. Cut or broken limbs 
show blackened heart-wood even where 
fair growth is made and good fruits rip¬ 
ened. Such trees cannot be expected to 
live long unless the top is almost wholly 
renewed by hard pruning below any trace 
of injury. An outbreak of “gummosis,” 
the dreaded condition that follows severe 
checks or accompanies constitutional 
weakness, is likely to occur and weaken 
the tree beyond the rallying point. We 
have long believed that zero weather is 
the worst enemy of the peach grower, only 
to be circumvented by planting the har¬ 
diest varieties. San Jose scale is killing 
trees by the thousand, and so weakening 
others that frost will soon finish the work 
quite regardless of the oceans of spray 
solutions showered over our orchards 
during Fall, Winter and Spring. We live 
in hopes of a reliable and effective scale 
killer. It has not yet materialized, but we 
use the best means at hand with fair con¬ 
fidence that this pest will yet be con¬ 
quered. 
Rot One of the Worst Diseases.— 
Monilia rot is now recognized as one of 
the worst difficulties the eastern peach 
grower must contend with. All suggest¬ 
ed remedies except that of planting re¬ 
sistant varieties have turned out practical 
failures. Thinning fruits, while bene¬ 
ficial to tree and crop, does not materially 
lessen rot. The removal of fruits that 
crowd together certainly should reduce 
the chances of spore germination; yet if 
the weather is hot and humid and the va¬ 
riety susceptible rot appears just the same. 
Bordeaux Mixture was long believed a 
sovereign cure, if sprayed on early, late 
and often. It is a fair remedy for Grape 
rot, but peaches and plums are too sensi¬ 
tive in foliage to tolerate applications 
strong enough to control the trouble. 
Some partial successes have been reported, 
but most trials have resulted in practical 
or economical failure. Besides the loss 
of fruits much injury to twig, tree and 
bloom is often caused by the Monilia fun¬ 
gus where abundant. Its presence is 
shown by blighted blooms, foliage, twigs 
and even the death of considerable limbs, 
especially if previously weakened by frost 
planting the varieties of greatest loca 
promise. If frost or scale get the best 
of a tree, dig it out and plant a healthy 
new one. Count it good luck as well as 
careful management to get a crop or two. 
One ripe, luscious home fruit is worth a 
basket of the long-traveled, cold storage 
article where quality is a consideration. 
The buying public is being rapidly educat¬ 
ed to this point of view. Well-grown 
local fruits of this character are in con¬ 
stant demand, and take immediate prece¬ 
dence when offered. The era of boom 
peach orchards in distant locations, with 
accompanying heavy transportation and 
storage charges, will soon pass, and every- 
where buyers will demand the best possi¬ 
ble home-grown fruits. The difficulties at 
present confronting the northern peach 
grower are great, but can be surmounted 
by intelligence and skill. 
Fruit of Akebia Quinata.— Though 
Akebia quinata, from China and Japan, 
with its glossy five-fingered foliage and 
curious, fragrant purple-brown flowers in 
early Spring is one of the most familiar 
of exotic hardy climbers, few in this coun¬ 
try have seen its oddly-formed fruits. A 
good, newly-ripened specimen is shown in 
natural size in Fig. 325, page 759, from 
the nursery of Bridle & Latham, Nave- 
sink, N. J. Most of the Akebias in this 
country appear to have been propagated 
from infertile vines by cuttings or layers, 
and fruits are exceedingly rare, though 
the plants bloom freely, producing great 
clusters of staminate and pistillate flowers 
over their whole length. Why fruit is not 
borne is something of a mystery, as the 
two kinds of blossoms are found on the 
same plant. 1 he male or staminate blos¬ 
soms open last, but as hundreds of clusters 
are in bloom at the same time, and are 
freely visited by insects, there is always 
a good chance for self-pollination. We 
have many times transferred pollen to ap¬ 
parently receptive stigmas, but never suc¬ 
ceeded in getting any fruit to develop, and 
conclude that our plant is infertile to its 
own pollen. An Akebia vine in the Nave- 
sink nurseries, planted 28 years ago, has 
reached large proportions, ’ and has pro¬ 
duced tons of bloom, but never fruited 
until some seedling Akebias were plantec 
near, about six years ago. As soon as the 
newcomers reached blooming age fruits 
appeared on the old vine, and about hal:: 
of the young ones, showing that free cross¬ 
pollination has taken place. The fruits 
hang on long stems, and are very con¬ 
spicuous, turning purple with bluish'plum¬ 
like bloom, as they ripen. They split on 
one side as shown in the illustration, anc 
show a large number of black seeds em¬ 
bedded in a white, soft and edible pulp. 
I he flavor is rather mucilaginous and in¬ 
sipid, but we are assured the fruits are 
freely eaten in their native home. The 
Akebia is a most desirable climber, hardy, 
handsome and free from pests. Its blos¬ 
soms and glossy foliage alone have made 
it popular and the addition of its very 
showy and interesting fruits will render it 
far more desirable. Nurserymen shoulc 
grow part of their stocks from seed anc 
propagate, where possible, from vines 
known to fruit, instead of exclusively from 
the sterile ones. It seems likely that the 
near vicinity of other individuals may be 
needed to induce the setting of fruit, anc 
that it may be useless to expect fruits 
where the Akebia is planted alone. 
w. v. F. 
\v hen you write advertisers mention The 
I t. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
•'a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
or scale. Full strength Bordeaux, or the 
lime, sulphur and salt washes are undoubt¬ 
edly beneficial if sprayed on while the 
buds are still dormant. It is claimed that 
the rot of stone fruits is less severe where 
the trees are grown in sod or mulch than 
under frequent cultivation. It is bad 
enough anywhere. 
Plant More Trees. —>We cannot get 
along without home-grown plums and 
peaches. The immature product from 
Georgia and the attractive but insipid 
leather-jackets grown in California do 
not fill the void. From the writer’s stand¬ 
point the promising plan is to continue 
WINTER CLOTHING OFFER. 
FREE SAMPLE AND 
TRIAL PROPOSITION. 
If you would have any use for a 
heavy or medium weight all wool Suit, 
Overcoat or Ulster, then DON’T BUY 
ELSEWHERE at any price, under any 
circumstances, until you cut this ad¬ 
vertisement out and mail it to us. You 
will then receive by return mall free, 
postpaid, the Grandest Clothing Offer 
ever heard of. You will get FREE a 
big book of cloth samples of Men’s 
Clothing, FREE an extra quality cloth 
tape measure (yard measure), FREE a 
book of Latest Fashions, descriptions 
and illustrations of all kinds of cloth¬ 
ing for men. We will explain why we 
can sell at prices so much lower than 
were ever before known, a mere frac¬ 
tion of what others charge. We will 
explain our simple rules so you can 
take your own measure and how we 
guarantee a perfect fit. You will get 
our Free Trial Offer, our Pay After Re¬ 
ceived Proposition. With the free out¬ 
fit goes a special sample order blank 
for ordering, return envelopes, etc., 
— etc. You can get a whole Suit, an ex¬ 
tra pair of Pants and an Overcoat under our offer for 
about ONE-HALF what some Chicago tailors would 
charge for one a.ngle pair of pants. The offer you will 
get will astonish and please you. Prices on the best 
clothes made reduced to next to nothing compared with 
what you have been paying. DON'T BUY CLOTHES 
until you cut this aa. out and send to us, and see 
what you get by return mall, FREE, POSTPAID. 
Address. SEARS? ROEBUCK & CO., f L H L'. C N A 0 G |i: 
PISOS CURE FOR 
CURES WHERE ALL ELSE FAILS 
Best Cough Syrup. Tastes Good. 
Use in time. Sold by druggists. 
CONSUMPTION 
THE FAMOUS “HAY MAKERS” 
UBBARD 
“BLACK DIAMOND 
Before Seeding Down, consult us. 
TME ROGERS «Sl HUBBARD CO., 
Pertilizser Manufacturers, 
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT. 
Have your trees 
SAN JOSE SCALE ? 
PRATT’S “SCALECinF M SOLUBLE 
dbALEblUC PETROLEUM 
ean save them. 
Results the best. Price the least. 
We guarantee it. 
Write us for endorsements by experiment stations. 
B. Q. PRATT COMPANY, 
11 Broadway, New York. 
T-A-ilXrXXlJS 
IIH) CYPRESS—WHITE 
PINE—GALVANIZED 
STEEL 
CALDWELL 
Tanks are the best made 
Ask for illustrated cat¬ 
alogue and price listf 
al*o references. 
W. E. CALDWELL CO., 
Louisville, Ky» 
THE FIRST 
Hartman Stockade Woven 
Wire Fence 
Ever built was erected 17 years ago and is still in 
use as durable and strong ns when first put up. 
The Hartman is a perfectly woven wire fence that 
is strong enough to keep in the maddest bull and 
fine enough to keep out the chickens. It is made 
of the best quality galvanized steel wire and con¬ 
tains much more material than fences more cheap¬ 
ly constructed. That's why it lasts so long. If 
your dealer doesn't handle it, write for catalogue 
and prices. Address 
GLEN MFG. CO.. 110 Mill St.. Ellwood City, Pa. 
Also Mfrs. Hartman Steel Picket Fence, Hart¬ 
man Flexible Wire Mats and Glen Steel Mat- 
Union Lock Poultry Fence 
A Fence—Not a Netting. 
Send for our in¬ 
teresting booklet 
D, “A Short 
Story for Poultry 
Raisers.” 
Company, 
lljjasBft 
Union Fence 
114 Liberty Street, New York City. 
-Mills at New Haven, Conn.; DeKalb, Ill. ;Oakland,Cal. 
I f You Wan t to Handle a Fence 
igglgr/FROST. 
|SSggalBEST« 
That has the weight, strength, and wearing qualities 
to last thirty years, secure the agency for the FROST. 
Let the other fellow sell the flimsy fence. 
THE FROST WIRE FENCE CO., Cleveland, Ohio. 
r 
AMERICAN FENCE TALKS 
BY THE MAKERS 
The structure of the American 
Fence is perfect. It is built of big, 
solid, lateral wires, with the upright 
or stay wires hinged. This is the 
most perfect structure for a square 
mesh fence and is covered by patents 
which cannot be assailed. 
There are many fences on the 
market. Some tell of their wonder¬ 
fully hard wire; others speak of new 
forms of construction that make all 
other forms look ancient and worth¬ 
less. But through all this it remains 
a fact that more miles of American 
fence are in use than of all others 
combined, and will continue so. 
We do not sell direct—we sell through dealers all over the 
country. Only in this way are the buyers’ interests looked 
after. The dealer becomes your business friend and when 
you buy your fence of him he will see that you are 
treated right. 
American fence is for sale with the dealer in your 
town. You- can find it there, examine the dif- 
^ ferent styles and make a selection to suit your 
requirements. Or, write us direct and we 
will send you a catalogue and tell you 
where you can get the fence. 
The American Steel 
and Wire Go. 
CHICAGO DENVER 
NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO 
