1909. 
QUESTIONS FOR THE NURSERYMAN. 
Grafting Grapevines. 
Can you give me instructions for grafting grapevines? 
I wish to change the character of some growing vines 
about my premises, some of them an inch or more in 
diameter at the ground. Let me know the best process 
for making the change. h. w. s. 
Carroll County, Maryland. 
The best way to graft these grapevines would be to 
cleft-graft*them: Remove the soil down to the roots 
saw off the vine as close to the roots as possible, leav¬ 
ing only enough of the stock to insert the grafts, then 
split the stock with a knife and insert two grafts in 
each stock that is one inch or more in diameter. 
Make grafts six inches long, leaving one eye or bud 
close to the top. On lower end that is to be inserted 
in split in the stock, make a cut on each side about 
one inch long. The outside of this wedge should be 
a little thicker than the inside, and the point of graft 
should be set in so as to make the inside bark of graft 
and stock cross each other. If the spring in the stock 
is not strong enough to hold the grafts firm, then tie 
with common wrapping twine, otherwise no tying is 
needed, and no wax used. Cover with earth and pack 
firm around the grafts. Do not disturb this mound 
around the grafts until the following Spring. 
E. S. BLACK. 
Propagating Rambler Roses. 
We have 20 Pink Rambler three-year roses in a nur¬ 
sery row, and would like to increase as much as pos¬ 
sible. What different ways and which way would be best 
to propagate? j. h. k. 
Illinois. 
The easiest way for J. H. K. to increase his Pink 
Ramblers would be from layers. Make the ground 
fine and mellow by digging it deep with a fork, and 
then bury the branches about six inches deep in this 
soil, leaving the ends of the branches out to grow and 
make top. When the branches are long enough they 
can be layered more than once, by leaving part un¬ 
covered, then covering again, and so on according to 
length of branch. Layering should be done in July 
for best results, and is now too late for this season. 
J. H. K. might make cuttings 10 inches long in March, 
tie in bundles of 50 and bury them in sand, bottoms 
up, tops down. As soon as settled weather comes 
about middle of April plant in good rich soil—loam 
or sandy soil preferred. Using a line and making a 
cut with spade deep enough to admit the cuttings, 
push the cuttings down into this cut bottom first, and 
leave one bud on top of cutting just at level of ground, 
firm the ground around the cuttings with the feet, the 
firmer the better. After cuttings are taken from 
plants they will make a strong growth, which can be 
layered the following July. Roses are easily propa¬ 
gated during August and early September. Take cut¬ 
tings six inches long, putting four inches in ground, 
and leave all leaves on above ground; then put the 
tops inside a fruit jar and push top of jar down in 
the ground around the cuttings and draw the earth 
around it, and firm it down so as to exclude the 
air. Leave the jar over the cuttings until the follow¬ 
ing July, when it can be removed. Several cuttings 
can be started at one time until a quart jar. Use jars 
that are not fit for preserving fruit, which almost 
every housewife has more or less of. 
E. S. BLACK. 
Best Stock for Cherries. 
Can you tell which is the better stock for sweet cher¬ 
ries, Mazzard or Mahaleb? We have a good cherry 
country. The natives (seedlings that came up along 
fence rows, etc.) make large, long-lived trees, but the 
fruit is mostly too small. Good sorts grafted on these 
native stocks make long-lived trees. I have had so 
much trouble with trees 1 bought from the nursery that 
I am inclined to think they were budded on the wrong 
stock. The bark bursts open and they soon die. Natives 
planted at the same time make larger trees and do not 
burst the bark, and are much hardier in every way. 
Catawissa, Pa. j. l. b. 
1 here is no question about the right kind of stock 
to work the Heart or sweet cherry on. The only 
question to the nurseryman is the cost of producing 
a salable tree. The Mazzard is the best, and should 
be the only stock to work the sweet cherry on, as it 
is a large growing tree itself, and is simply a hardy, 
vigorous variety with inferior fruit (some having 
black and others red fruit) of the sweet cherry. But 
when young it is subject to leaf blight, and often sheds 
its leaves in the very season of budding, or soon after 
the budding is done, which so weakens it that the 
A inter hurts it still more, and the percentage of 
!ive buds the following Spring is very small. The 
Tahaleb is a distinct species from Southern Europe, 
and while of a dwarf habit like our Morello, is a very 
luxuriant and healthy stock, growing late into the 
hall, giving the nurseryman a long season to bud. 
' he Mahaleb is the best stock for the Morello or 
sour cherry, but should not be used for the larger 
growing sweet cherry. The sour cherry worked on 
the Mahaleb will easily transplant and grow even 
when set late in the Spring, and nurserymen have few 
complaints from their customers about the loss of 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
sour cherries. The Hearts or sweet cherries should 
be set in the Fall, as they do not transplant easily on 
any stock, but if planted in the Fall the loss will be 
comparatively small. Growers as a rule do not dis¬ 
criminate about quality, but they do about price, and 
when they have to choose between a Mazzard root 
costing double the price of a Mahaleb root, they 
choose the lower-priced tree, and blame the nursery¬ 
man for their failures. 
The bursting of the bark of which the inquirer com¬ 
plains is not caused by the stock upon which it is 
worked, but the cherry has a thin outer bark which 
runs around the inner bark, and not lengthwise, as 
does the inner bark with the grain of the wood. This 
outer bark is very thin, but very tough, and when any 
extra pressure comes from the inside this outer bark 
gives way and the inside bark and wood which was 
protected by the outer bark will now crack open. This 
often happens from a hard and sudden freeze causing 
the wood suddenly to expand, or from the sudden 
start into growth after a severe check, and happens 
to the large Mazzard growing wild as well as to the 
cultivated varieties. The cherry requires a deep, rich 
and thoroughly drained soil to thrive and do its best 
in. If the inquirer deals with a reliable nurseryman 
and asks and pays for trees grown on Mazzard stocks 
he will get them. If the dealer does not have them 
he will inform his customer that he cannot furnish 
them. Always plant sweet cherries in the Fall and 
mound them up, leveling the ground again in the 
Spring, and keep them thoroughly cultivated or 
mulched for the first Summer. If ground is getting 
dry, wet them. _ e. s. black. 
TREES UNTRUE TO NAME. 
Your editorial on page 830 regarding the substi¬ 
tuting of fruit trees, reminds me of a case of the 
TWO GOOD FRIENDS. Fig. 503. 
kind in which I am the victim. Thirteen years ago 
I found it necessary to start a new orchard, and 
accordingly made out a list of the varieties I wanted, 
and sent it to a certain nursery which has the repu¬ 
tation of honest and fair dealing. In due time the 
trees came, all in good condition, the varieties all 
labeled according to the order. I planted the trees 
in good soil and they are now large size for their 
age. These trees have been rather slow in coming 
to bearing, but nearly all have now fruited, and 
you may imagine my disappointment and disgust 
when I tell you about one-third of the trees are of 
worthless sorts, not at all adapted to this locality. 
Remember, that when these trees came from the 
nursery, they were all labeled to fit the order. I 
wrote the proprietor of the nursery a year ago 
regarding the matter, wishing to ascertain what he 
thought as regards the damage in such a case. His 
answer was to the effect that it was a small matter 
to graft these with the varieties wanted. I consider 
the answer an insult added to my injury after pay¬ 
ing for, planting, cultivating, pruning and fighting 
insects for 12 years and to be compelled to cut down 
and graft in order to get what was ordered and 
planted 13 years previously, and wait six or eight 
years longer for the trees to come into bearing! 
Why, it is an outrage, and the loss and damage to 
a great extent is irreparable. This nurseryman has 
always been considered reliable, and I presume my 
damage can be attributed to carelessness and indif¬ 
ference. But these things should not exonerate the 
nurseryman from the severest censure and exposure. 
I am greatly pleased with the way The R. N.-Y. 
is managed. Your way of exposing fakes and 
grafters is worth all the paper costs. The long, 
dry stories that take up much space in most other 
farm papers are conspicuous for their absence, and 
their space occupied by some practical matter to 
003 
the farmer, instead of cartoons slurring the farmer 
and his occupation. Your idea of publishing stories 
in pamphlet form and giving them as premiums to 
subscribers is a good plan. g. w. powell. 
Ohio. 
R. N.-Y.—The man past the middle years of life 
knows what it means when fruiting reveals these 
bogus trees. No one else can quite realize the bitter 
disappointment. In common justice the nurseryman 
should have those trees top-worked at his own 
expense! _ 
THE DEER ABOVE THE MAN. 
We are asked to put the following question before 
our readers, and gladly do so: 
In regard to damages from browsing of young trees by 
deer, what in your opinion is a fair compensation to ask 
from State where the deer have browsed the tips of trees, 
apple and peach, during the past three months and up to 
present. Will you put this before your readers for dis¬ 
cussion? F. II. E. 
Malden, Mass. 
This question of damage by deer is a vital one in 
many parts of the country. We are now investigat¬ 
ing one case in New Jersey where a poor man has 
been actually driven from his home by deer. In 
this case the State authorities set the deer free in 
this man’s pasture and fed them there. Of course, 
they have come back year after year in increasing 
numbers and have ruined his crops and utterly dis¬ 
couraged him. He has been unable to build a high 
fence, and the State prohibits the use of a dog for 
driving the deer away. Of course, it would be a 
serious offense to shoot the deer creatures. They are 
protected for the benefit of “sportsmen.” The State 
authorities say that no provision has been made for 
paying any damages caused by deer or other “game” 
protected by the State. Other States in New Eng¬ 
land, at least, pay damages under certain conditions. 
We have several cases on hand in which we shall 
try to help figure these damages and collect them. 
Therefore we would like a fair statement of what 
ought to be charged in a case like the above. 
APPLE GROWING ON THE DELAWARE 
AND MARYLAND PENINSULA. 
Until recent years it was thought that the soil and 
climate of this section was not favorable to apple 
growing, consequently, while other localities were de¬ 
veloping this branch of horticulture, it was receiving 
scant attention on “the Peninsula.” It is true, nearly 
every farm had on it a small apple orchard, usually 
containing such varieties as June, Maiden’s Blush, 
Smith’s Cider, Carthouse, Winesap, etc. By the time 
the trees were large enough to prevent growing other 
crops among them, the orchard was used as a pig run, 
and, quite often, as a shelter for farm implements and 
machinery. The pruning was usually done by wind¬ 
storms and over-bearing, and the cultivation was given 
by energetic hog snouts. All else expected of the 
orchard was a supply of fruit for family use. Such 
conditions may have been due to the fact that, com¬ 
mercially, peaches had engaged the attention of the 
farmers to the exclusion of other fruits. The awaken¬ 
ing came some years ago, and a number of farmers, 
thoughtful, progressive men, who had faith, went into 
apple growing, and have conclusively proven that this 
great, staple fruit as nearly attains perfection here in 
flavor and appearance together, as in any part of our 
great country. 
As in other sections, some varieties do better than 
others, yet the list of those that have been proven 
profitable is sufficiently long to suit almost any grower. 
The following is a partial list: Early Rip'e, Yellow 
Transparent, Early Harvest, Fourth of July, Williams’ 
Early Red, Red Astrachan, Duchess of Oldenburg, 
Rome Beauty, Ben Davis, Smith Cider, Black Twig, 
Stark, York Imperial, Nero, Stayman’s Winesap. The 
greatest factor of success in apple growing in this 
section, as in all others, appears to be in the manage¬ 
ment. Proper pruning, thorough spraying, adequate 
cultivation, judicious fertilization, careful handling and 
uniformity in grading, are essential, as has been abun¬ 
dantly proven by the leading growers. With the ex¬ 
ception of a very limited area of low, stiff land the 
soil throughout the Peninsula is well suited to the 
apple, as is attested by the healthy, vigorous growth 
of the trees, and the climate is so admirable that the 
location of an orchard is merely a question of greatest 
convenience to the grower. That the apple is the 
greatest staple of all fruits, and, therefore, more cer¬ 
tain of returning a fair, average profit, is being recog¬ 
nized more and more, and is the most potent influence 
that is causing so many orchards to be set out each 
year. It is confidently predicted that within the next 
20 years the apple, and not the peach, will be king on 
this Peninsula. . wilmyr. 
Maryland. 
R. N.-Y.—The fruit interests of the Peninsula are 
constantly growing in importance. There is no doubt 
apples can be made an important factor, especially if 
boxed for a critical trade. 
