1908. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
196 
pecan on the pecan; to work them on the hickory I 
cut off buds and grafts, keep in cold place until sap 
rises in Spring in the hickory, then top-work them. 
Georgia. J. c. hutchins. 
There is no doubt about this matter, for I have seen 
a number of cases of it, and have succeeded with it 
myself. The most notable case that I saw was on the 
bank of the Atchafalaya near where it enters into the 
Gulf of Mexico, which is not far below Morgan City, 
Louisiana. There were at least 40 wild trees of 
Hicoria aquatica, the bitter species that is native in the 
lower Mississippi Valley, that had been grafted with 
pecan scions a few feet above the ground many years 
ago. They were growing well and bearing nuts when I 
saw them in the Fall of 1904. It is not strange that 
THE ROBERTS PEAR. Fig. 85. 
the pecan will grow upon the ordinary hickories, for it 
is a species of the same genus, and all of them have 
wood of quite similar cellular structure. However, 
hickory grafting is a very difficult operation, and re¬ 
quires far more skill than with ordinary trees. The 
same is true of all nut trees. The scions should lie held 
in a dormant condition until the stocks to be grafted 
begin to start into growth, and if they arc small the 
work should be done about six inches below the 
ground, with long scions banked with earth nearly to 
their top buds. Nor should it be thought that pecans 
will succeed and pay wherever other hickories grow, for 
the good varieties are usually rather tender and require 
a long, warm season to mature their nuts. The vari¬ 
ous species of the hickories, including the pecan, oc¬ 
casionally cross in a state of nature, and there arc 
hybrids as a result, some of which we call hickans. 
H. E. VAN IlEMAN. 
THE DIFFERENCE IN CABBAGE SEED. 
Some weeks ago you printed a statement from one 
of your readers that he would pay $10 per pound for 
Prizetaker onion seed, guaranteed -to be pure, and 
comments upon it by several seedsmen. It is not 
only important to have pure seed, but a good strain. 
I set three acres of Danish Ball-head cabbage last 
year. I bought Danish seed from each of seven 
large seed firms (five of whom answered your inquiry 
about onion seed) and set plants from each lot of 
seed. Each firm claims to have as good or the best 
Danish seed. An inexperienced person might think 
that one strain would produce as many tons per acre 
as another. As will be seen by the figures below, one 
lot of seed produced heads averaging only 4.44 pounds 
each, while another lot gave heads averaging 6.46 
pounds each. I raised the seven lots of plants on the 
same piece of ground, and set out three rows from 
each lot across the middle of the three-acre field. 
I he land on which they were set was the same in 
every particular. The same amount of fertilizer was 
used on each of the seven plots, and all were culti¬ 
vated alike. 'The cabbage from each was cut the same 
day and each lot was weighed separately, 'flic aver¬ 
age weights of the heads were as follows: On plot 
No. I, 5.88 pounds per head; on plot No. 2, 5.46 
pounds; on plot No. 3, 5.48 pounds; on plot No. 4, 
5.38 pounds; on plot No. 5, 6.46 pounds, on plot No. 
6, 5 pounds, on plot No. 7, 4.44 pounds. It will be 
seen that the average weight of the heads on plots 
No. 2, 3 and 4 was almost the same. Plot No. I was 
about to per cent better. Plot No. 5 was 20 per cent 
better than the average, and the heads were very com¬ 
pact and uniform. Plot No. 6 was 10 per cent poorer 
than the average, and plot No. 7 was 20 per cent 
poorer than the average. Tf seed No. 7 had been 
given to me I could have paid not only $10 per pound, 
but $136 per pound for seed No. 5, and made (he same 
per acre. Or if by using seed No. 7 the crop had just 
paid for itself, by us ! ng seed No. 5 40 per cent profit 
would have been made on the crop. T was through 
the cabbage district of central New York last Spring, 
and learned that large numbers of growers use seed 
6. F. W. ROCHELLE. 
Morris Co., N. J. 
CROWN GALL ON PEACH AND APPLE. 
I was very glad to read what was said on page 24 
under head of “Ruralisms” with regard to the crown- 
gall and hairy root, and wish that you might give it 
still more prominence. There arc some sections of the 
country in which hardly a bill of peach or apple are 
received that does not have some of it on. My atten¬ 
tion was first called to it about 10 years ago, when 
examining some weakly trees in a lot that were set 
about six years previous. I found them badly infested 
with the root gall. I wrote to Cornell University ask¬ 
ing for advice in regard to them, and they recom¬ 
mended the use of tobacco, so 1 went to a cigar store 
and got a lot of tobacco stems, and with an old broadax 
chopped and mashed them up quite fine; then dug away 
the dirt from about the trees—about 75 in all—and 
sprinkled two or three handfuls around each one and 
covered them up again. Once since then when the 
dirt was taken away searching for borers, they were 
given another application. T think this has nearly 
used it up, although one of the trees died last Sum¬ 
mer, and I found it badly infested. Since the above 
experience T use a handful of tobacco stems around 
most of the apple trees I set as a prevention. This is 
not all the experience I have had with “root gall.” 
Five years ago last Spring I purchased 75 apple trees, 
with a lot of peach trees, and found one-third of them 
with root-gall on. I heeled them in and wrote the 
nurseryman. In reply he said it was probably the re¬ 
sult of bruising the roots in cultivating, and would 
not amount to anything. I then sent three samples of 
them to the Geneva Experiment Statoon, and three to 
Cornell University, and received replies to the effect 
that they would not want to set them in an orchard. 
These replies I sent to the nurseryman, and by return 
mail was advised to leave the trees where they were 
and lie would look the matter up. Later came a letter 
saying that the trees sent me were taken immediately 
from a carload he had purchased to fill out orders, and 
that he would replace them the following Spring with 
nice trees, which he did. 
Three years ago I went into a large storage cellar 
to select some peach trees. I found at least 10 per cent 
of them with root-gall; I did not purchase. Last 
STARTING THE SWEET POTATO BED. Fig. 80. 
Spring I sent for 30 Baldwin apple trees to set on a 
corner of waste land and try the mulch plan of cul¬ 
tivation ; they came in good time, but five or six of 
them were infested. I wrote the nurseryman, but he 
was away from home; when he returned he wrote he 
was just home from a nurseryman’s convention and 
that there was a talk there on the root-gall by a 
professor from the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington who said there were a number of kinds of 
root-gall, but only one or two of these that were in 
any way injurious; and that he did not have any of 
that kind in his nurseries. I had already thrown out 
the worst trees and set the rest with a handful of 
tobacco stems about each one. I had also paid for 
them, which I would not do again until I have exam¬ 
ined them. For a few trees I would as soon set them 
with San Jose on as with the root-gall. T. H. king. 
New York: 
R. N.-Y.—An expert fruit tree inspector tells us that 
while crown-gall on the peach is dangerous it rarely 
causes serious damage on the apple. We would like to 
have the experience of growers concerning this. 
Dibble’s Farm Seeds 
£?. r t p “ rit £». v l? or and production unequalled by those from any other source. 
years to Its pres- 
.000 acres of the 
4.000 bushels and 
possible prices. 
, h \ v ® attr!icleti Internationa 1 attention owing to the fact that in a 3 years’ test of 
>u,i 1,000 vailoties in Massachusetts, one of our potatoes was the best in point of yield 'mother wis 
’.roof “'These new 8t pot U»pother the best long white variety and still another that was blight- 
ioor. 1 hese new varieties should be tested by every potato grower in this country and to that end 
saving large stocks on hand, we have made a special low price to introduce them ’ 
in addition to our new varieties of merit, we have our warehouses full of the standard sorts '40 In 
all, grown in the North and saved from fields free from blight and disease. h0Hs ' lu 
We are Headquarters for Seed Potatoes and our Prices are Right 
been^favorod “n^our secUotfand'olItfr 11 '' ° nU farmer ln twenty havin * cora tha ‘ will grow. We have 
miiuiloa i X i!. ..‘.VJA ^ . l 5arllest Dent corn grown, germination 95-98#. 
SO-lKIv, and ^ ® 1 1 uov lA> BEAMING, Earliest and best large Dent for Silo or crop, germination 
culutlium L, Yon canq I sm > ’ l | ! . lr ear|it ', s "' largest growing end most productive Flint corn in 
*tlo„ at a cost of u * ll ..n " i a ’ H 1 " or ° au(1 c T" w £ en >*>»* can get Tested .. of high germin¬ 
al a cost or not to exceed CJ cents per acre. Free Samples. Test them yourself. 
no s**p?oducUv? 2i V . 1 DtI 2? duoed ’»' «s four years ago. Is the earliest and 
utely free from dl11 i " 1 ! 1 Eastern States. These Oats grow a tall still straw, abso- 
I'roductlve yielding \\ i 111 ^ii. ■-v''i, H ' a< S - 11 thin-hulled. heavy grain, and are enormously 
as the most reliable O-it m^ < w Y t 75 t0 • I' 01 ' acre. We recommend the Twentieth Century 
weighing it-l to •« ll.s i.er hn^rnoHi 1 unfavorable though It was. we raised over (i.IKKi bushels 
ices while they last 1 V» h ™ k i Janus,which we oiler direct to our customers at Farmers’ 
lave you tried them vet ' bushels of I wentleth Century Oats in the past four years. 
Our “at Hog vin, han.i«fm,?Vt* a i Bk U8 f . or samples, full particulars, prices, etc., at once, 
fl 1 led w I the ea K r ’ Ml uatnitlons an 00 , ve ^ s ’ showing our new potatoes and oats, in colors, and 
and Grass Heeds Tho hLt L 1 a d t 8Cr ptl ? ns . of our Hoo<1 Potatoes, Corn, Oats, Clover, Alfalfa 
to have one. Send for It Nomg 11 and we want every farmer 
EDWARD F. DIBBLE, Seedgrower, Honeoye Falls, New York. Box A. 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON & CO., 
OFFERS 
PEACH TREES 
75 Varieties:—Prices that are reasonable. 
The first cost is but very little when you get what you want. 
TESTIMONIAL FROM ILLINOIS:—“All the good and true orchards in this 
section came from your nurseries.” 
Paragon Chestnuts 
I 1 or timber eciual to the American Sweet. The best for nuts ever yet grown. 
Do not pay fancy prices for grafted trees when you can get Seedling trees that come 
almost identical with tin* parent every t ime, and these seedlings live longer and are 
far hardier than the grafted stock which, when transplanted. Is usually a failure. 
Strawberry Plants 
Thirty-five varieties, from earliest to latest. Nicest that we ever saw, and we 
have so many that it would be hard to estimate them—but a million would not 
come near expressing it. 
Apples, Pears, Quinces, and all sorts of fruit trees and plants. 
Nut Trees and Asparagus, Fancy Evergreens,Hardy Shrubs and Roses, 
CALIFORNIA PRIVET. Shad0 Hedfirlng - 
TREES and I’LANTS by MAIL POSTPAID will save you express costs. 
Send for our Catalogue, (it is free); it will tell you the rest. 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON <& CO, 
HIGHTSTOWN, N. J. 
