1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
841 
TOP-WORKING NEWTOWN PIPPIN APPLES 
The writer has a large number of Newtown Pippin trees 
to top-work. Experience shows a particular difficulty in 
grafting trees of this variety. After the graft has started 
and grown for one season, it, and the stub which holds 
it, die together. Can any of your correspondents suggest 
a remedy? I have thought of wrapping the stub with news¬ 
paper to keep off the sun and the bark beetles. An orchard, 
15 years old, has alternating rows of Newtown Pippin and 
Winesap. The Winesaps are fine, vigorous trees, while the 
Pippins are not more than half as large. The rows are 
.30 feet apart. Is it probable that these Pippins top-worked 
to some vigorous grower such as York, Imperial or Bonurn, 
would develop into good trees? If not, would it pay to dig 
them out and set young trees? a. a. b. 
Waynesville, N. C. 
In top-working the Newtown Pippin the same diffi¬ 
culty exists as with the Kieffer pear. If too much of 
the top is cut off at one time there is a disturbance of 
the natural flow of sap, the union is not made perfect 
and both the grafts and the tree will die. I f the trees 
are of much size only one-third of the top should be 
grafted in one year, taking three years to change the top, 
whether the trees are three years old or ten. This 
always leaves sufficient foliage to cause a normal flow 
of sap. The first grafts 
set will be large enough 
during this time to meet 
the sap requirements 
when the last branches 
are taken off. We have 
had entire success in top¬ 
working Kieffer trees in 
this manner with other 
varieties, and after 15 
years the union is per¬ 
fect, and the trees give 
promise of living for a 
century. In the same 
manner we have grafted 
Newtown Pippin trees 
with equal success, top¬ 
working them with As- 
trachan, Fall Strawberry, 
Fall Pippin and Bald¬ 
win, and all have done 
equally well. In the 
South conditions are 
quite different. Shade 
there is even more nec¬ 
essary, and possibly even 
a longer time should be 
taken to change the tops 
of Newtown trees. The 
presence of bark beetles 
would indicate that the 
trees may not be in an 
•entirely healthy condi¬ 
tion. Examination should 
be made to decide this. 
In the 15-year-old or¬ 
chard mentioned the 
Newtown Pippin trees 
would not be as large as 
Winesaps, for the trees 
,-as a variety are very 
slow in growth, with a 
.somewhat delicate foli¬ 
age, which requires 
much care to protect it. 
We are just now top¬ 
working a large number 
of Northern Spy and 
Greening trees with 
Newtown buds set in 
September last. The 
buds were carefully se¬ 
lected from the strongest 
trees, also top-worked 
several years ago. Where Newtown grafts have been 
set in other stronger growing trees the union has been 
good, and at the present time we are gathering some 
very beautiful fruit from these grafts. In the North 
the Newtown, more than other varieties, requires high 
fertilizing, clean culture and the most thorough spraying 
that the best possible foliage may be obtained, for 
therein lies the chief weakness of this most desirable 
variety. george t. powell. 
PROTECTING TREES FROM MICE. 
How do you keep mice and rabbits away from young 
trees in Winter? 
This Winter on the raw ground we shall mound the 
trees with the exception of two rows of trees around 
each block. On these we shall use the wooden tree- 
protectors. On all small trees in sod or near there we 
shall use wire about 15 inches in height, and after each 
heavy snowstorm will stamp the snow firmly around 
the tree where it is of any depth. albert wood. 
For the past 15 years it has been my practice to paint 
young fruit trees, whether in grass or in cultivated 
ground with lime wash and Paris-green just before snow 
covers the ground. I find that freshly-made whitewash 
put on rather thin will adhere to the trees all Winter. 
A large tablespoonful of Paris-green is used for each 
two quarts of whitewash. I slake what lime will be 
used during each half day. Last season I used the 
new process lime and arsenate of lead with good results, 
but think the Paris-green better than the latter. I do 
not remember having lost a single tree that was well 
painted with the lime and Paris-green. Some seasons, 
when a good deal of wet weather follows the painting, 
the wash has come off so badly that I have whitewashed 
a second time. In a few instances where the snow has 
drifted badly some of the lower branches above where 
whitewashed have been injured by mice, but the trunks 
remained uninjured. I have tried Portland cement and 
whitewash mixed with one-tenth linseed oil, but they 
have not been as satisfactory as the above. In this sec¬ 
tion wc are only troubled by field mice, rabbits seldom 
doing any harm. s. t. maynard. 
Massachusetts. 
A mound of earth about the base of a tree appears 
to be complete protection against attacks by mice. I 
have never known a tree protected in this way to be 
injured by mice. At the Wisconsin Experiment Station 
this was the only protection provided. I have a seedling 
plum orchard in my back yard consisting of 13 trees; 
12 of these were banked with earth last November; none 
of these was injured, while the thirteenth and unpro¬ 
tected tree was girdled. As I am a trifle “skittish” 
when in company with the number 13 I felt somewhat 
relieved. A small conical mound, extending six to eight 
inches up the trunk, is sufficient. The work is do-ne 
just before heavy freezing, as it will then remain intact 
until Spring. I have had no experience with other 
methods of protection. f. cranefield. 
Three years ago we wrapped our trees with wire 
cloth, same as used for scree-n doors, cut into lengths 
of about 18 inches, width of from eight to 12 inches, de¬ 
pending on size of trees. These have proved effective. 
In placing around trees roll the cloth instead of bending 
or creasing it, as this bending breaks the paint, causing 
wire to rust out sooner. Tie the band with white twine 
and throw about two inches of soil up against the bot¬ 
tom of band to keep mice from working under. A 
coarser mesh galvanized wire cloth would be much more 
durable, costing about four cents per tree. To destroy 
the mice take Disparene, add 10 times its bulk of water; 
mix cornmeal and wheat bran equal parts, and add to 
the poisoned water. Mix thoroughly in all meal the 
water will take up. Apply one tablespoonful near each 
tree. To avoid poisoning the wrong a-nimal place meal 
in old tin can such as tomatoes are put up in. This is 
sure and safe. grant g. hitchings. 
I have had very few trees damaged by either of these 
pests. It is my practice, however, when setting a valua¬ 
ble tree to protect it for at least from three to four 
years after setting, as follows: There grows here on 
the uplands a kind of grass called “broom sedge,” which 
is a-n ideal material for the purpose. It grows about 
three to four feet high, with a very hard, woody stalk 
with many fine long blades, and is very durable. Take 
enough of this grass to cover the body of the tree at 
least one-half inch deep, placing the butts of the grass 
well down on the crown of the tree, and binding it in 
three places with willow twigs of about one-eighth inch 
in diameter, and mound up slightly. If the work is well 
done it will last from three to five years, and will pro¬ 
tect the tree not only against mice and rabbits, but ex¬ 
tremes of temperature; also against the ends of single¬ 
trees. It also prevents 
the insect depositing the 
eggs that produce borers. 
This covering is left on 
the tree until it weathers 
away. I have never no¬ 
ticed any bad results 
from this method. 
J. W. TRINKLE. 
Indiana. 
A ROBBER “COVER 
CROP.’’ 
Orchardists are dis¬ 
cussing the effect of 
cover crops upon water 
evaporation in orchards. 
Here is an experience of 
this Summer which goes 
to show that the cover 
crop is a water robber in 
drought. At corn plant¬ 
ing we had one four-acre 
field with a diagonal end 
making some dozen short 
rows, the last one run¬ 
ning down to nearly 
nothing. These short 
rows had been planted, 
but I told Mike that we 
would not bother to cul¬ 
tivate them, so we sowed 
oats over the surface just 
before the first cultiva¬ 
tion, which occurred as 
the young shoots of corn 
were breaking ground. 
This gore was cultivated 
back and forth without 
regard to corn rows suf¬ 
ficient to work the oats 
into the soil. However, 
this lack of consideration 
did not seem to bother 
the corn any, and it came 
up and grew just as well 
as in the long rows 
where we were careful 
to follow the marking. 
The above observation is 
for the benefit of ner¬ 
vous persons who shy at 
a weeder or smoothing 
harrow. We were using a spring-tooth cultivator that 
digs like a tom-cat. Until about three feet high the un¬ 
cultivated corn in the oat-sown, short rows grew as 
rapidly as, if not more so, than the cultivated corn along¬ 
side. The oats grew well also. In fact, the combination 
crop was acting so favorably at the beginning of the 
long-day period last June that I had begun to elaborate 
a plan for sowing a whole field with corn and oats 
to fill the silo; in this manner eliminating all cultivation 
of the corn crop. 
When the drought was on about two weeks the corn 
had reached the stage where it was pumping water 
powerfully. We were giving a weekly cultivation or 
oftener, and there was a fine soil mulch over the field. 
At this time the oat-sown corn began to wilt, while the 
oats grew on unchecked. By the first of July this corn 
had practically given up the struggle, and stood limp, 
while the cultivated corn alongside showed no indica¬ 
tion of drought and grew on to the end of the season, 
reaching 15 Yz and 16 feet as a maximum height. The 
oats were mowed for green feed at a suitable time, the 
corn not cutting much of a figure. There is no doubt 
in this case that the oats stole the moisture from the 
corn and the same thing would happen in the orchard 
in kind if not in degree. e. c. birge. 
ROSE FRAU KARL DRUSCHKI, NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 368. See Ruralisms, Page 848. 
