■*r, o 
THK R.XJ RAL NEW-YORKER 
May 23, 
Ruralisms 
A Hairy-rooted Ai’Pi.e Tree. —There 
appears to be some disposition among 
authorities to minimize the seriousness 
of hairy-root or crown-gall in apple 
trees, while admitting that it is a grave 
menace to peach and plum. They say 
apples frequently outgrow the trouble, 
making good and quite permanent fruit¬ 
ing trees. Our experience docs not tend 
toward this comforting view. No tree 
that we have planted in which symp¬ 
toms of either disease—assuming they 
arc not identical—could be detected has 
so far given hopes of recovery. We 
have received diseased trees from 
widely separated localities, and have set 
a few of them on account of the scar¬ 
city of the varieties. All are noticeably 
unthrifty as compared with sound trees 
planted at the same time, and subject 
to exactly the same conditions. The tree 
in Fig. 199, page 4!il, was sent us in the 
Spring of 1899 as a desirable new va¬ 
riety worthy of careful trial. It was a 
well-grown two-year-old with a good 
root system, but a small gall was no¬ 
ticed on the crown near the junction of 
one of the main roots. As it was a 
scarce novelty the gall was cut away 
and copjKT sulphate rubbed over the 
wound before planting. It grew fairly 
well for two years, and then came to a 
practical standstill, making only a few 
inches of new wood each season. An 
examination of the collar, about the 
fourth year after planting, showed a 
new gall-like enlargement as large as 
Ihc fist, and a dense mat of dark fibrous 
roots just under the surface of the soil, 
'flic tree was, however, allowed to re¬ 
main, receiving precisely similar care as 
a score of other apple trees planted at 
the same time in the same plot. This 
included clean cultivation for three years 
in well-fertilized hoed crops, such as 
potatoes and strawberries, followed by 
seedings of Crimson and White clover, 
after which sod was allowed to form. 
Dressings of bone, muriate of potash 
and hen manure have been given almost 
every year, and the grass has been fre¬ 
quently mowed, all of it being allowed 
to remain as a mulch. The other trees 
have grown from 12 to 18 feet high, and 
will measure from four to six inches 
through the trunk. Most of them have 
borne a few fruits, 'flic illustrated tree, 
when pulled out this Spring, was barely 
seven feet to the topmost twig, and 
would not quite caliper two inches in 
diameter a foot above the collar. I lie 
dense mat of hairy roots is well shown, 
but the gall, which apparently has not 
enlarged for several years, is concealed 
by the root mass. Scions from this tree 
grafted last year in healthy stocks made 
vigorous growths if 20 inches or more, 
showing that the lack of vigor in the 
top was entirely due to the diseased root 
system. 'This tree may in time have 
regained its health, but quite similar ex¬ 
perience with other diseased individuals 
has shown us chances of recovery arc 
too remote to be worth waiting for. 
Crown-gall in the peach and plum is 
quick and deadly in its action, and Ihc 
associated hairy root trouble of the 
apple, though slower, does not seem to 
be much less destructive. Tt appears to 
be lost labor to plant trees in which 
either disease may be detected. 
Hard Times and the Seed Trade.— 
'flic current financial depression that 
limits many forms of business activity 
is far from having a bad effect on the 
seed and plant trades. Apparently deal¬ 
ers never were busier than at present. 
Old-time seedsmen say that the panics 
of 1872 and 1893 were beneficial rather 
than injurious to their business, but that 
the present activity is the greatest in 
their recollection. One explanation is 
that people with normally fair incomes, 
finding their resources considerably les¬ 
sened, turn their attention to gardening 
and home improvement rather than to 
their accustomed more expensive pleas¬ 
ures, and have become more than usual 
liberal purchasers of seeds and plants. 
Costly trip$, vacations and other luxu¬ 
ries are given up, and the home acre 
looked after as never before. Another 
and more far-reaching factor is the turn¬ 
ing out of thousands of city laborers 
from their usual high-priced employ¬ 
ment, making a considerable proportion 
available as farm helpers. The prospect 
of more plentiful farm labor has created 
an almost unprecedented demand for 
seeds, corn being most eagerly sought 
for. The acreage in com and staple 
crops is likely to be larger than for 
years. The multitudes of idle men with 
homes in the suburbs who do not care 
to abandon the cities have also no in¬ 
considerable influence on the seed trade. 
Many of them with garden space about 
their homes are now planting, as a mat¬ 
ter of economy, when in flush times 
they might not be inclined to bother 
with such trifling employment. The 
trend of native population is now rather 
from than toward the congested por¬ 
tions of cities, and this beneficial move¬ 
ment may be expected to continue, as 
more rapid and convenient methods of 
transportation are developed. Even the 
ignorant city dweller—and there is no 
denser blockhead on earth as regards 
matters out of the range of his ordinary 
experience—is becoming convinced of 
the attractions of light, pure air, space 
and the opportunities for health, recrea¬ 
tion and cleanliness that go with free 
access to the greyn and fertile earth. 
Farmers as Employers. — Broadly 
speaking, there is no more willing and 
reasonable employer than the farmer. 
If lie has the reputation of exacting 
much work for low wages, it is because 
the necessities of his calling—the large 
and constant expenses, Ihc great drains 
in the way of disproportionate taxation, 
and the small margin of average profit 
on his operations—have in the past al¬ 
lowed him little alternative. The mod¬ 
ern farmer is of all employers least anx¬ 
ious to exploit the needs of his helpers. 
He wishes to give fair return for satis¬ 
factory service rather than to enrich 
himself at the expense of others. Agri¬ 
culture is of all occupations the most 
complicated and difficult. The truly suc¬ 
cessful farmer is only so because of 
superior energy, intelligence and the 
shrewdness that combines habitual econ¬ 
omy with sufficient daring to undertake 
well-considered ventures. The employ¬ 
ment of labor in the face of the tricky 
markets in which the farmer must dis¬ 
pose of his products, and the unfair 
prices he is compelled to pay for the 
bulk of his supplies and transportation, 
is such a venture. He is willing and 
anxious to make it whenever circum¬ 
stances appear to warrant. It is likely 
that the season of 1908 will far exceed 
that of former years in farm develop¬ 
ment in the more congested Eastern 
States. Idle land will be put in crop 
and farm improvements, long held up 
on account of the cost and scarcity of 
labor, will be undertaken. At the same 
time farm employees worthy of the 
name will probably gain more consider¬ 
ation and receive better compensation 
for their actual hours of labor than be¬ 
fore. Substantial progress is likely to 
be made in the way of placing farm 
labor on a more businesslike footing 
than before. w. v. f. 
Asparagus on Hillside. 
IT. (1. M., OomUlut, N. Y. — I have a hill¬ 
side facing the Houth and I am contcmplat- 
lng planting this to nsparagus. The noli 
1 h a Hhitle and gravel, hut loose. Will you 
ndvlRo an to the bent method of planting 
Hueh a bill, and If it would he best to 
terrace it ? 
Ans. —The inquirer leaves out the im¬ 
portant part of what one should know 
in order to answer his question intelli¬ 
gently, namely how steep his hillside is. 
He says his soil is loose; so much the 
worse so far as washing is concerned. 
Assuming that inquirer’s grade is not 
too steep, but would readily admit of 
cultivation up and down it, then I would 
proceed as follows: His soil is shale 
and gravel, that precludes the growing 
of white or blanched grass. To grow 
blanched grass and have it prime or 
fancy we must have a soil free from 
stones. I would prepare this piece of 
ground in the ordinary manner for other 
crops, mark my rows out up and down 
the slope, so that each, row would have 
its own amount of water to care for 
when heavy rains fall. Some farmers 
advocate running rows in opposite di¬ 
rection, making a miniature dam of each 
row, claiming it gives less opportunity 
for washing. The man who practices 
that method is sooner or latter sure to 
come to grief. The time will come, and 
many times too soon, and too often, 
when one or more of these row dams 
will break away under its pressure, 
striking its first neighbor, and so on. 
This kind of washing is, in my judg¬ 
ment, far worse than having each row 
to carry its own amount of rainfall. I 
Avould be very particular to keep the 
soil loose by frequent cultivation, thus 
enabling it to absorb water faster and 
more of it. Frequent cultivation also 
increases the amount, size and appear¬ 
ance of the stalks. Late in the season, 
after cutting had ceased and tops fully 
grown, sow the space between each row 
with some crop to plow under the fol¬ 
lowing Spring. My first choice for this 
crop would be Crimson clover; where 
that will not winter well use either rye, 
wheat or Winter oats. This answers a 
twofold purpose. First, it will keep 
soil from washing during that period of 
the year when rainfall is greatest ; sec¬ 
ond, it furnishes a green manurial crop 
to plow under, saving soluble plant 
food that would otherwise he washed 
down below the zone of the feeding 
roots, or to the foot of the grade. It 
also adds needed humus to most soils. 
I would not plant asparagus on a side 
bill so steep it needed to he terraced. 
The crop is one that has to lie planted 
deep, and the grower must guard against 
undue washing, or the crowns will be¬ 
come so bare the plantation will he 
ruined. c. c. hulsart. 
COPY 
OR 
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