104, 
WHY ARE OUTSIDE ROWS BEST ? 
T want to call your attention to one thing that has 
been overlooked in the outside rows of trees in the 
Auchter orchard. You and others say it is on account 
of the stone wall that trees are healthier there and 
have more fruit th?* - »rces farther in the orchard. It 
is a fact that the outside rows in our orchards, espe¬ 
cially on the east and south sides, bear from one-third 
to one-half more than other rows in the orchard. I 
called up Mr. Luther Collamer and asked him if the 
outside rows bore more apples than the other rows, 
lie said always. How much more? One-third or 
more. Mr. Collamer said he had a stone wall on one 
side of his orchard, and removed it several years 
ago, and the row had done just as well since the wall 
was removed as it had before. I called up another 
neighbor who has a fine orchard, and asked him the 
same question. He said yes, the outside rows had 
borne more fruit than the other rows till four years 
ago, when he cut out half the trees diagonally (ex¬ 
cepting the outside rows) and since that time he had 
not seen any difference. Another neighbor said the 
same. To go back to the Auchter orchard, you will 
remember the west half of the south row was no bet¬ 
ter than trees in the center of the orchard. If the 
stone wall was the cause of the trees looking better 
and bearing more fruit, why does the west half of 
this row look no better than the trees in the center 
of the orchard The east row of the Auchter orchard 
looked fine all the way across the orchard, but you 
will remember the ground here was planted to flowers 
and had received thorough cultivation, and the feeding 
roots of the apple trees had gone out into the field; 
who can tell how far? A friend said he was digging 
a hole to bury a large stone and came across quite a 
large apple tree root, and it came from a tree 60 feet 
away. My best two Spy trees, which had nearly one 
hundred dollars’ worth of apples the past year, and 
about the same amount two years ago, are trees which 
have had the two trees south of them removed many 
years ago, and it is 72 feet to the next row. These 
two trees have the room of four trees and have 
always borne far the most and finest apples of any 
trees in the orchard. Does not this teach us a lesson 
—that the roots of our apple trees crowd much more 
than the tops? If it is a fact that the outside rows 
of our orchards bear the most apples (and it is a fact 
here), and take the example of the two Spy trees 
mentioned, I think you will sec it is because the roots 
have unlimited feeding ground, and not because of 
the stone wall that the outside rows do the best. 
We do not have stone walls around our orchard here. 
New York. _ delos tenny. 
AN ACRE OF APPLES. 
On page 62 “An Optimistic Washington Man” says: 
“F. Walden picked 1.600 boxes of Mammoth Black Twig 
apples and sold them for $2,100 from one acre! Is it 
possible that such stories can be true?” 
Rev. F. Walden, horticultural editor of The Ranch, is 
well known on the Pacific Coast. What he says is 
accepted as fact at once. We wrote him about this 
and print his sensible reply. 
“The statement about the acre of Black Twigs is 
true. I inclose a clipping from The Ranch of Novern- 
oer 15, in which I published this statement: 
This year we can toll some marvelous stories about the 
yield of apples. From one-half acre of Winesap trees we 
picked 500 boxes of salable apples and sold them for 
$1,000. We had other Winesap trees on the ranch but 
they were younger and did not yield so many boxes to the 
acre, but all bore very well except two large trees near 
the house and they did not have a dozen apples on both 
of them. From less than three-quarters of a acre of Ar¬ 
kansas Black trees we picked 760 boxes of very fine apples 
and they brought us over $1,200. From one acre of Mam¬ 
moth Black Twigs (Arkansas) we packed 1.600 boxes of 
fine apples, and they brought us over $2,100. We had some 
top-worked Rome Beauty trees two years old Inst Spring on 
old stocks that yielded over two boxes of salable apples to 
the tree and they sold at $1.50 per box. In size they were the 
largest Rome Beauties I ever saw. Nearly all of them 
packed three and a half and some three tier. When I give 
what our apples brought us per acre it. must be borne in 
mind that the apple crop was very short in the United 
States and that the price was very high. I have never 
before sold apples at such prices as have prevailed this 
year and T do not expect such prices to prevail again very 
soon. Beware, therefore, of the land boomer who tries 
to make you believe that such returns can be realized each 
year. It is always unsafe to reason from the special to 
the general. Many a poor fellow will be taken in by the 
unscrupulous land boomer and will pay more for orchard 
land than it is worth. 
“Tlie trees have been set 12 years last Spring. They 
are very vigorous. There arc 80 acres to the acre. I 
kept tab on some of them, and I know that they packed 
20 boxes to the tree, and am confident that at least 
90 trees kept up to that average. They were sold at 
$1.35 per box for the 3 \/ 2 and four tiers, and $1.25 for 
the 4/ tiers. My judgment is. that they would run 
slightly over $2,100. You notice that T drop in a word 
of caution about using this high yield and the high 
prices of this year in computing an average yield and 
T'EE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
income. Last year on these same trees there was just 
about one-half of this year’s yield and we sold them at 
70 cents per box, or at nearly one-half less in price. 
The net last year would not be more than one-fourth 
of this year. I disapprove of the use of extra yields 
and extra prices in figuring the average income. The 
land boomers are doing that thing very often, and 
while telling the truth mislead the unsuspecting.” 
_ F. WALDEN. 
SOME OF THE NEWER FRUITS. 
Within the last few years there have been a few 
fruits of recent introduction that have proved after 
general trial to be worthy of much more extensive 
IT HAD ROOM TO DEVELOP. Fig. 83. 
culture than the great majority of new fruits. No¬ 
table among the new apples is Delicious. It is a seed¬ 
ling that came up by accident in Iowa, and has been 
tested in almost every part of this country where 
apples are grown, and, so far as I have seen or heard, 
nowhere with any serious disappointment. In some 
sections, especially in the Central and far Western 
States, it has become almost one of the leading or 
standard kinds for commercial purposes. The tree is 
satisfactory in both nursery and orchard. The fruit 
is of medium size; yellow almost covered with 
striped and suffused pale red, making a very delicately 
colored fruit; tender and juicy in flesh; the flavor is 
subacid, mild, rich and exceedingly pleasant. It also 
keeps well into the Winter in the Central and Northern 
States. There are few apples that equal the Delicious 
in high quality, and as it bears abundantly and ships 
well there is every reason why it should be planted 
much more than is now the case. 
Banana is another very good apple that has made 
a sensation in the market because of its very attractive 
AN OUTDOOR SITTING ROOM. Fig. 84. 
appearance, fine flavor and good shipping qualities. It 
was sent out about 15 years ago by a Michigan nur¬ 
sery, and has been quite well tested. The size is 
medium over most of the apple growing area, but in 
Oregon and Washington it attains large size; the 
shape is roundish, becoming conical in the extreme 
North and West; the color is light yellow with a very 
distinct blush which makes a most attractive appear¬ 
ance; the flavor is subacid and very good. There 
should be more of the Banana apple planted. 
One of the very new kinds and consequently one 
that has not had time to be so extensively tested as 
March 7, 
those just named is called King David. It originated 
in the famous apple region of Arkansas and so far as 
tested in other sections is proving well worthy of far 
more extensive trial. Its size is medium; the shape is 
roundish oblate and very symmetrical; the color is deep, 
suffused crimson over a yellowish ground, making one 
of the most vivid and beautiful of all apples; the 
flesh is firm and juicy; the flavor rich, aromatic sub¬ 
acid. The season is such as to make it one of the 
good keepers so far as tried. I think it fully equal 
or superior to Jonathan in both color and flavor and 
it may succeed where that old standard will not. 
Of the very early apples the Randolph is one that 
has made a most excellent record for market. It has 
been sent to Europe with good profit from Delaware, 
which is its original home. While this variety is not 
a really new one it has not been grown much outside 
of Delaware and to the apple growing public it is new. 
The tree is very prolific and of good vigor. The fruit 
is small to medium in size; has bright red stripes over 
a whitish ground; the flavor is subacid and tart 
enough to cook well. It would be well to try this 
little favorite in all the apple regions, for it is a de¬ 
cided success so far as tried. Trees can only be had 
of the nurseries of Delaware and Maryland, so far as 
I know. 
The Cornice pear has come to be one of the most 
profitable of all pears that was ever sent to market. 
It has long been listed but known only to a very lim¬ 
ited extent. I watched its behaviour in the orchard of 
Dr. Warder in Ohio over 40 years ago and tested the 
fruit, but, like others, I did not have opportunity to 
discover its great commercial value. Perhaps it may 
not be the same to the eastern that it is to the west¬ 
ern fruit growers, for it has only within recent years 
come to be one of the most valuable pears in Oregon 
and Washington. It may be said that in the Rogue 
River Valley of Oregon the Cornice has won its great 
notoriety. The fruit has been shipped from there to 
New York City for several years past, and netted over 
$4000 per car to the growers in some cases. There 
may be some peculiar fitness of the climate and soil of 
the north Pacific slope for this pear, but it would be 
well for pear growers in other regions to give it a 
trial. 1 he tree is certainly a good grower and very 
productive. The fruit is about the size and shape of 
Bartlett, and the color quite similar. The flavor is 
scarcely as good, but the season is more than a month 
later, and in this lies much of the commercial value of 
the Comice. h. e. van deman. 
A SWEET POTATO DUCK. 
The strangely formed sweet potato shown in Fig. 81 
was sent us from Middletown Farms, Newcastle Co., 
Del. The senders call attention to the fact that it has 
the appearance of a duck just turning to bite its neck, 
even showing an eye and the curve of the neck. 
GRAFTING PECAN AND HICKORY. 
I have just read your inquiry whether anyone has 
ever successfully grafted the hickory on the pecan, 
and will say I have two fine hickories grafted on pecan 
stocks. The pecans were large trees when the hickory 
buds were inserted in the tops. They were cut back 
for this purpose. One tree is half hickory and half 
pecan. The pecan side consists of two parts, a seedling 
and a Stuart. The hickory is a variety sent me by 
Miss Amanda Stone of Tallulah, La., which I have 
called the Stone hickory, in honor of the lady who sent 
it to me. One of the hickories is nine years from the 
bud, one It years. I had no trouble in getting these 
buds to grow. As it is a poor rule that does not work 
both ways I think there would be no difficulty in getting 
the pecan to grow on the hickory. We live in the 
Louisiana lowlands just a few miles from where Presi¬ 
dent Roosevelt had his late bear hunt, and while the 
pecan grows wild here in great profusion we have no 
wild hickory trees. sam h. james. 
Louisiana. 
T have several good-sized hickory saplings which I 
took the tops off and grafted, and also budded some of 
them; have made a good union and seem to be doing 
all right so far. I put on the hickory the’Stuart pecan; 
I think the pecan outgrows the hickory a little and 
would in future overtop the hickory. These buds and 
grafts are about seven years old, and began to bear a 
few pecans after buds and grafts were two years old. 
The pecan nuts growing on a hickory are hardly as 
large as when pecan is budded on the pecan, and my 
reason for this is that in August the 'sap in the hickory 
stops flowing freely or the bark will not peel off, and a 
same time bark on the pecan will peel off nicely. With 
thrifty young pecans, if not too much dry weather, the 
bark will peel off well through the month of Septem¬ 
ber. So you see through the months of August, Sep¬ 
tember and until frost the pecan nut is certainly grow¬ 
ing. The last days of August here are time to bud the 
