TH ED RURAb NEW-YORKER 
181 
1909. 
SELF-SUPPORTING FRUIT TREES. 
A friend in British Columbia tells 
us of the method of holding up the 
branches of fruit trees, which is pic¬ 
tured at Fig. 66. 
“I am goins to tell you of a con¬ 
trivance I noticed in an older orchard 
some miles from here. For support¬ 
ing the branches the orchardist had 
taken lateral shoots opposite each other 
or. adjoining branches and twisted them 
round each other about a foot or foot 
and a half from root of branch. In 
time the twisted side shoots grew into 
one piece, and if the branch ever breaks 
off it will be a break beyond the splice 
and not a split from where it joins 
the tree. This may be an old device, 
but I had never heard of or seen it 
before, and it is worth telling.” 
e. tv. MUTCH. 
FRUIT TREES' NOT BEARING. 
You ask me to state from my ex¬ 
perience why fruit trees do not bear. 
It is safe to say that where trees are 
old enough, yet fail to produce a fair 
crop of fruit, there is a reason for it. 
It may be one thing, or it may be an¬ 
other; some condition unfavorable to 
the tree. For instance, on page 84, 
C. G. B. inquires about the cause of his 
plums dying and his cherries not bear¬ 
ing. Eight or nine years ago the 
weather was very warm in March, 
which started the sap in such varieties 
of plums as the Abundance. In April 
it was very cold, thus freezing the sap 
that had started to flow and bursting 
the sap channels, the same as the freez¬ 
ing of water in a lead pipe will burst 
the pipe. We lost 50 large Abundance 
plum trees in this manner, and three 
or four years ago about the same num¬ 
ber of Burbank plum trees in the same 
way. C. G. B. does not state the varie¬ 
ties of his plums, nor does he state 
the kind of soil on which they were 
set. Cherries will not prove satisfac¬ 
tory if planted on low wet land, or on 
land not well drained. The land may 
be too rich and deficient in potash. If 
these cherry trees are on well-drained, 
dry land I would try spreading on one- 
half bushel of good unleached hard¬ 
wood ashes to each tree. If the land 
is very rich, dig around the trees two 
or three- feet from the tree and with a 
sharp spade or ax cut off nearly all of 
the roots. This will check the growth 
of wood and bring a crop of fruit. 
We have large orchards of Richmond 
and Morello cherries, and they bear 
heavy crops every year. We have 
practically no wormy cherries or no 
rot. Birds? Yes, we have birds, and 
some seasons they take our entire crop. 
Some of the causes of trees not pro¬ 
ducing fruit following a heavy bloom 
are long-continued rains during the 
blossoming period or very cold weather, 
during the same period, thus preventing 
the bees from working. Very dry, hot 
weather before the fruit ripens will 
cause it to drop. A lack of potash in 
the soil will also cause the same trou¬ 
ble. 'fhe blossoms of some fruit trees, 
especially pears, are not self-fertilizing, 
and should not be planted alone. I 
believe that all fruits are benefited by 
cross-pollenization. If I had trees that 
blossomed and failed to produce fruit 
I would try wood ashes (or muriate 
of potash) thorough spraying or root 
pruning. a. a. halladay. 
Vermont. 
Why Did Clover Fail ? 
L. C. L., Orleans, Vt .—I need a little 
lielp on a fertilizer problem. The Sum¬ 
mer of 190G I had a piece of old pasture 
broken up for corn. The land was badly 
run out, producing but little feed and that 
little inferior. I applied 50 bushels per 
acre of hardwood ashes from local bobbin 
mill, 200 pounds superphosphate of lime 
and 200 pounds of high-grade corn fer¬ 
tilizer, ready mixed. July 1 we applied by 
hand broadcast 150 pounds per acre of 
dried blood, 15 per cent. This gave us an 
excellent yield of well-eared forage. We 
sowed grass and clover seed in the corn 
about July 8, and during Fall and Winter 
gave young grass plants a light dressing of 
manure from well-fed milch cows, hay, sil¬ 
age and cotton-seed meal forming the ra¬ 
tion. Now for the problem : I thought the 
ashes would be excellent for clover, and 
accordingly sowed about twice the amount 
of clover seed I usually do, and correspond¬ 
ingly less of Timothy and Red-top In both 
the years since, however, we have found 
but very little clover, but both years have 
got by far the best yield of Timothy and 
Red-top we have had on the whole farm. 
Was- the lime responsible for this heavy 
yield, or the nitrogen in the dried bloodV 
I top-dress nearly all the grass laud every 
year with manure, so can hardly lay the re¬ 
sult in this case to that. 
Ans. —The 50 bushels of wood ashes 
made about one ton. You therefore 
used about 650 pounds of lime per acre. 
If this soil was like most old pastures 
it was quite sour, and four or five times 
as much lime would be needed to 
“sweeten” it. You did not use lime 
enough to fit such soil for clover. We 
do not know how much nitrogen there 
was in that corn fertilizer, but proba¬ 
bly not over five pounds in the applica¬ 
tion you made. The dried blood and 
the manure furnished nitrogen which 
forced the grass. We imagine the Red- 
top was better than the Timothy. The 
Red-top with us does best on a sour 
soil, while Timothy is in need of lime, 
though to a less extent than clover. 
We think the light dressing of lime in 
the wood ashes was enough to help 
the Timothy, but not enough for the 
clover. We have known such cases 
where Red clover failed, while Alsike 
clover made a fair growth. In other 
cases, even where lime and all other 
soil conditions were favorable, the Red 
clover continued to fail. It was finally 
found that the bacteria which work on 
the clover roots were either absent or 
too feeble. Inoculation by bringing soil 
from another clover field or using the 
prepared “cultures” gave the clover a 
new start. On such soils at least one 
ton of lime is needed. 
Wiien you write advertisers mention Thh 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee page It!. 
FROM GROWER TO PLANTER 
Ellwanger 
& Barry^s 
7RELS 
Shrubs, Roses 
Evergreens 
and 
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Are Famous 
The World Over 
Best stock at reasonable prices. No 
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unequalled. Beautiful illustrated cata¬ 
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MOUNT HOPE NURSERIES 
Established 1840 Box K , Rochester, N. Y. 
The Best Seeds You Have Ever Bought 
At The Same Prices You Have Always Paid 
JOHNSON’S GARDEN AND FARM MANUAL FOR 1909 
By HERBERT W. JOHNSON, of the Late Firm of Johnson 6 Stokes 
G IVES you the benefit of 36 years’ experience in testing and 
proving the best. Sent free to Seed Buyers who write for 
it. Johnson's Jack Rose is the earliest good tomato in existence. If 
you send three 2 c stamps with your inquiry we will send with the 
Manual a packet of this valuable new tomato, which alone costs 15 c, 
JOHNSON SEED COMPANY, 217 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Burpee’s 
“Silent Salesman” of The World’s 
Largest Mail-Order Business in 
will be mailed Free to all who 
appreciate Quality in Seeds. 
A book of 174 pages. It tells the plain truth about the Best Seeds that can be 
grown,—as proved at our famous FORDHOOK FARMS,—the most complete trial 
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carefully written descriptions, it is A SAFE GUIDE to success in the garden 
and should be consulted by everyone who plants seeds. Kindly name this paper 
and address 
W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Burpee Building, Philadelphia. 
at ONE-HALF-i 
City Seedsmen Prices! 
^Let us send you our catalog of seeds—It’s 
I different. It tells you facts, and why we can save you money, and give you a guaranteed 
I SQUARE DEAL. Just drop a postal today and see the difference in buying your seeds in 
I country or city. 
FORREST SEED CO., Box 34, Cortland, N.Y. 
S Stokes’C* 
eedS 
Write Today Ijor a Free Copy of This 
Superbly Illustrated Catalogue of 
“The Seeds For Crops.” 
It tells all about “Stokes’ Standards” and 
my unique system of selling them, shows photo¬ 
graphs of actual specimens grown from 
them, and it gives complete directions so that 
you, too, can get results equally good. 
Special Offer of Three Packets for 10c. 
Send me 10(5, in stamps or coin—arid mention 
this magazine— and I will send yon the Cata¬ 
logue and three 10 <* packets of seed—one each 
of my “Bonny Best” Early Tomatoes, "Stokes' 
Standard” Sweet Peas and “Stokes’ Standard” 
Single Poppy (the famous Luther Burbank 
strain.) Each is unequalled in its class. Men¬ 
tion The Rukal New-Yorker when writing. 
STOKES’ SEED STORE. 
Dept. L, 219 Market St,, Philadelphia, Pa 
ALFALFA SEED 
CHOICE MOUNTAIN GROWN 
the seed that produces big crops, worth double 
of imported seed; $18.00 per 100 lbs. Vogeler's 
Wonder Oats, 117 bus. per acre, 3 cents lb. 
V0GELER SEED COMPANY, 
Salt Lake City, Utah. 
CHOICE CLOVER 
alsike, Timothy, ami all kinds of Hold 
seeds. We buy and sell direct, homo 
grown seeds, free from obnoxious weeds. Write for samples. 
A. C. HOYT & CO., 306 North Main Street, Fostorla, 0. 
All Northern Grown and 
guaranteed to be 99 per cent 
pure. Should produce hay 
at $40.00 per acre annually. Write for Free Sample 
and Instructions on growing. 
ALFALFA 
at $40.00 per acre annut 
and Instructions on gro 
GRAIN AND GRASS SEEDS 
Northern Grown and of strongest vitality. Wo invito you to 
got Government Tests on our sampUs. Send for Cat. No. 23 
THE J. E. WING & BROS. SEED CO. 
Box 223, Meclianicsburg, Ohio 
Potatoes— Choice Seed 
We have raised a very fine lot of potatoes 
(over 3000 bu.) on our own farm, under the best 
possible conditions to produce seed free from 
disease and of the highest quality. We offer some 
very fine new varieties as well as the best of the 
older kinds. Ask for catalogue and wholesale 
price list of seeds. 
JOSEPH HARRIS CO., Coldwafer, N. Y. 
FARM SEEDS. 
We are Recleaners and Dealers in Red, 
Alsike, Alfalfa, Crimson and Whit© Clovers; 
also Timothy, Barley, Seed Oats and Corn and 
a full line of Farm and Garden Seeds. Write 
for price list and catalogue mailed free. 
The Henry Philipps Seed and Implement Co. 
1(5-117 St. Clair St., Toledo, Ohio. 
IF YOU WANT THE BEST FIELD SEEDS, 
for hay, forage, ami soil improvement, write today 
for my new wholesale list, and buy direct. It’s free. 
ENSILAGE SEED CORN, GRASS 
and CLOVER SKEI)S are my leaders. 
PACKARD, Field Seeds Specialist, Dover, Delaware. 
Send for our 1909 SEEDS, BULBS & PLANTS 
Catalogue of Dahlias a Specialty 
MILLS 6 CO., - Mamaroneck, N. Y. 
FDR QAI C— Medium Clover Seed, $5..70 to $7.50 
lUn OHLL bu.; Crimson Clover Seed, $3.50 to 
$4.50 bu.; Onion Sets, $2.50 bu.: Cow Peas, $1.75 bu. 
JOSEPH E. HOLLAND, Milford, Delaware. 
by DO YOU KNOW 
i VICK QUALITY SEEDS? 
Vick’s Garden and Floral Guide) 
tells how to grow Vick Quality Flowers,Fruits (| 
and Vegetables. Valuable information lor the 
grower or farmer. Free on request. 
430 main sr JA MES VICKS SONS ffocHEsrrt?.N.r.\ 
SEED CORN, Drought resisting, yields 70 to 108 
bushels per acre. Circular free. $1.50 shelled, $ 2.00 
in ear. Eerudale Stock Earm,Cedarville,0. 
OMIOM 
LIVINGSTON’S 
True Globe Shaped Onions 
are the most perfect strains in ex¬ 
istence. Yellow, white and red. Round, solid, clear bril¬ 
liant colors. Small necks and bottoms, heavy croppers. 
We Are Extensive Growers 
of choicest seed from hand selected bulbs. It will pay you 
to write today for our free pamphlet “ Best Onions.'* 
FREE ^ ur 130-page Seed Annual, lavishly illus- 
J trated. it offers everything that is best in 
seeds, plants, shrubs, trees, strawberries, etc. 
THE LIVINGSTON SEED CO. f 
Famous for Tomatoes. 
L^357 High Street, - Columbus, Ohio. 
Our 
ISeed Book 
Is Free 
Contains the best of 
the old and many new 
varieties that every farmer 
needs. Yon should have a copy of this 
book as it has been the means of turning 
many a failure into success. 
GREGORY’S SEEDS 
are raised with the greatest care, from 
superior land-selected stock, and are 
sold under three warrants covering all 
seed risks. They are sure growers. 
J. J. H. GREGORY 8 SON. Marblehead. Mass, 
Free Corn Book 
and Samples Iowa 
Seed Corn 
I want you to see my seed corn 
book—it’s free, and I throw in 
samples of seed corn besides. 
I have been growing seed corn 
for over 20 years, and I proba¬ 
bly sell more seed corn than 
any man in the world. 
I have learned some 
things about corn, and 
this I have boiled down 
In my seed corn book. 
You can get my 20 years 
experience in 20 minutes, and 
get It a whole lot easier than I 
got It. If you want seed corn 
Ear or Shelled 
write for my corn book and sam¬ 
ples before you buy. It will be 
worth your while. 
I don’t know it all, but I know 
a few things, and when you 6 ee 
the samples you will say I know 
good corn. 
We sell all seed corn on ap¬ 
proval and subject to your own 
test. We sell it ear or shelled. 
We test it, grade it, and guar¬ 
antee It. 
HENRY FIELD SEED CO. 
Box 26 , Shenandoah, Iowa. 
P.S. Ihaven’tgotany 
!ISk 300 bu. per acre corn. 
