T3Q 
1911. 
THE RYJ RAb NEW-YORKER 
Ruralisms 
ARCHING PRIVET HEDGES. 
G. G. H., New York .—Will you tell me 
how to arch a privet hedge at the top? It 
Is about 8 or 9 feet high and we wish it 
to meet at top in an arch. 
Ans.— The most practical way to se¬ 
cure an arched effect for a narrow open¬ 
ing or gateway through a privet hedge 
is to induce rapid growth of the plants 
near the opening by thoroughly culti¬ 
vating the soil for a width of six feet 
or more on both sides of the hedge, the 
application of a thick mulch of rich 
manure and copious supplies of water 
in case of dry weather. Do not trim 
this portion of the hedge until sufficient 
growth is made to meet over the open¬ 
ing, which should not require much 
time if the hedge at this place has al¬ 
ready attained a height of eight or nine 
feet. The arch is best formed over a 
frame of wood or iron, which may later 
be removed when the interlaced branches 
have set to the appropriate curve. The 
clipping afterwards may be of the usual 
character, but it will be necessary to 
maintain strong fertilization of this por¬ 
tion of the hedge for several years in 
order to thicken up the growth. v. 
Rubber from Milkweed. 
A. C. (No Address ).—The juice of our 
common milkweed is said to contain about 
five per cent, of caoutchouc. Why not get 
the botanical sharps at work to increase the 
yield by breeding, then grow rubber as an 
annual field-crop, using the waste stalks for 
paper-making or fertilizer V - 
Ans. —The latex or milky sap of our 
common milkweeds has not been dem¬ 
onstrated to contain caoutchouc or true 
elastic rubber in appreciable quantities, 
though numerous analyses have been 
made. The gum formed by evaporation 
of the “milk” that so freely exudes 
when any part of a growing plant is 
broken appears to possess no present 
commercial value. A tuberous-rooted 
Asclepiad or milkweed, from the des¬ 
erts of North Africa, contains eight to 
12 per cent, of very good rubber, but it 
appears to be of too slow growth to 
have cultural value. Other Asclepiads 
are known to contain rubber, but little 
practical use has yet been made of them. 
The caoutchouc of commerce is pro¬ 
duced by many plants, chief of which is 
the tree Hevea brasiliensis, a member 
of the Euphorbiacere, the source of the 
best Para rubber, and Castilloa elastica 
of Central America, belonging to the 
Moraceae or mulberry group. Most of 
the Old World rubber-producing plants 
are members of the genus Ficus, which 
includes the edible fig, or of the exten¬ 
sive Apocynaceae or dogbane family. 
Altogether there are at least 90 species 
of plants, ranging from low-growing 
herbs to gigantic forest trees, known to 
produce rubber in commercial quanti¬ 
ties, but our native milkweeds are not 
among the number. Practical rubber- 
producing plants are all essentially trop¬ 
ical in character with the possible ex¬ 
ception of the Guayale or North Mexi¬ 
can rubber plant, a composite desert¬ 
growing herb that has been much ex¬ 
ploited of late. From it is extracted a 
low-grade rubber, almost devoid of elas¬ 
ticity, but available for water-proofing 
fabrics and similar uses. At present it 
is simply collected in the wild state. 
The claims for profit in its culture have 
not yet been demonstrated. v. 
Paeonies Fail to Flower. 
A. 8., New Jersey .—Will you advise me 
about my paeonies? I transplanted them 
three years ago, and they have not bloomed 
since. Is it possible that they were too 
old? The year before I transplanted them 
they were full of blooms in June. 
Ans. —The blooming of paeonies is 
often interrupted by transplanting, espe¬ 
cially if the clumps have been divided 
into small bunches of roots. They ought, 
however, to be flowering after three 
years, unless conditions are unfavor¬ 
able. You do not say anything of their 
situation; they may be starved by poor 
soil, and thus unable to make flowers. 
Paeonies like a deep rich soil; they are 
gross feeders, and the ground should be 
well prepared by trenching, mixing in an 
abundance of well-rotted cow manure. 
When they are forming buds an occa¬ 
sional dose of liquid manure is a help. 
Give the plants a good top-dressing of 
well-rotted manure this Fall, forking it 
lightly into the ground in the Spring. 
It would be wise to give a dose or two 
of liquid manure during the next month, 
to encourage growth; use this when the 
the soil is moist, not dry. 
Barren Peach Trees. 
W. H. 8., Ambler, Pa. —What is the cause 
of a peach tree not bearing? Variety, Craw¬ 
ford Late; planted Spring of 1908; carefully 
fertilized annually with wood ashes, no 
manure; sprayed twice annually, pruned 
properly each year, no borers, ideal peach 
soil. It has made vigorous growth, but not 
beyond what it should, I think; this Spring 
—the third from planting—measuring about 
12 feet high and about nine feet in diam¬ 
eter (through bushiest part of center). 
There were a dozen peaches last year; this 
year few blossoms and not a single peach 
hanging at this writing. Tree has the un¬ 
deniable appearance of being in perfect form 
and health. What’s the trouble? Is Craw¬ 
ford Late a shy bearer? 
Ans.— The Crawford peaches, both 
the highest trees to be sprayed will 
general reputation of being fickle in 
their bearing. Some years and in some 
places they bear well and elsewhere and 
on certain years, for no apparent reason 
they will not. It is not strange to hear 
that the Crawford Late does not bear 
abundantly, and to the contrary, I have 
known trees of it to bear as well as 
could be desired, although that was 
rarely the case. The region in Penn¬ 
sylvania where the tree complained of 
stands is, evidently, not one that suits 
the fastidious taste of this variety. 
“Gravity Spraying;” Varieties For Virginia. 
B. E. 8., Old Chatham, N. Y.—1. How 
many feet height do you deem necessary to 
gravity spraying, and how many pounds 
pressure can be developed in proportion to 
the height? 2.—What six varieties for 
commercial purposes do you advise for this 
section (northern exposure) in apples, 
pears, peaches, plums and grapes? 3.— 
When do you consider the best month for 
Summer pruning apple trees? Would that 
operation interfere with the fruit by knock¬ 
ing it off? 
Ans.—1. Ten feet above the tops of 
the highest trees to be sprayed will 
give sufficient pressure to do effective 
work. However, the farther the source 
of supply is from the exit the less will 
be the pressure. But I am not civil 
engineer enough to say how many 
pounds pressure can be developed in 
proportion to the height of the fall. 
The size of the pipe has something to 
do with the pressure, for the friction 
differs accordingly. The smaller the 
pipe the greater the friction. Some one 
who is well informed on this subject 
should answer the question fully. 2. 
Six varieties each of apples, pears, etc., 
might be too many for commercial 
planting. Among the best apples for 
this purpose are Baldwins, Northern 
Spy, R. I. Greening, McIntosh, Hub- 
bardston and Oldenburg. Of pears, the 
Bartlett, Sheldon, Seckel and Lawrence 
are very good. Of the peaches Elberta, 
Mountain Rose, Carman and Salway 
are a good succession. Lombard, Ger¬ 
man Prune, Grand Duke and Monarch 
are good plums. Of grapes, the Con¬ 
cord, Worden, Campbell, Niagara, Dela¬ 
ware and Agawam are standards in the 
market. 3. June and July are the best 
months for Summer pruning of trees. 
The wounds heal over very quickly at 
that time of year. Some fruit will be 
knocked off, but it will not be serious. 
The crop would be diminished by cut¬ 
ting away branches at any time of year, 
but the pruning is necessary and there 
is nothing to regret if a little is lost. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
JAPAN PLUMS IN CALIFORNIA. 
Without wishing to take up much space I 
shall try to add a small installment to the 
history of the Japanese plum in this State, 
as I was somewhat connected with the 
propagation of this class of fruit when 
brought here about a generation ago. It 
Seems that several claim the distinction of 
being the importers of Japanese plums into 
California. This is probably true, as the 
different varieties were brought here at dif¬ 
ferent times. 
John Kelsey, a fruit-grower and brother 
of one of our pioneer nurserymen, both de¬ 
ceased these many years, is mentioned in 
Prof.Wickson’s “Fruits of California as the 
importer of the plum known as the Kelsey. 
Mr Kelsey was a neighbor, and my father, 
the late A. D. Pryal, who was also one of 
California’s pioneer nurserymen and or- 
chardists, early obtained, scions of this 
plum and grew it about almost as long as 
did anyone in the State. My recollection 
of its introduction is that Mr. Kelsey did 
not bring or cause the tree to be brought 
here, but it was introduced to this State by 
a friend who gave him a tree and in this 
way it had its commercial birth. It was 
boosted, as the real estate men would say, 
by a nurseryman named W. P. Hammond, 
who made well of it financially. 
The next Japanese plum to be well re¬ 
ceived was what is now known as the Lha- 
bot This plum was introduced by the late 
Anthony Chabot, founder of Oakland s 
water supply and donator of a magnificent 
10-inch telescope and equipment for tne 
public schools of the city mentioned. Mr. 
Chabot had a hillside place not far from 
our nursery, and often bad my father visit 
his orchards and plantation. Here this en¬ 
terprising capitalist had innumerable spe¬ 
cies of Japanese trees and flowers, includ¬ 
ing tea plants, persimmons, etc. His col¬ 
lection of Japanese plums was large—the 
largest, probably, ever brought to this 
Btate by a single importer, though, I be¬ 
lieve some of them were brought here by 
Berger & Co., then of San Francisco, but 
now of New York City. Almost from their 
introduction here my father began to propo- 
gate the several varieties. Finding one far 
superior to the rest, he named it in honor 
of Mr. Chabot, and it has been since known 
as the Chabot. I sent two notices of some 
of these plums, with photographs, to Vicks 
Magazine, in 1886, which were printed at 
pages 87 and 361-363. I believe it was 
some years before this that Mr. Luthei Bur 
bank sent my father an order from some of 
the Japanese plum trees he was listing; I 
am not sure if we had the Satsuma at that 
time, though 1 know it has been grown 
on our place a long time. 
At the beginning of Japanese plum-cul¬ 
ture in this State great results were anti¬ 
cipated, but the fruit has never become a 
very profitable one for market or canning 
purposes. Aside from the fact that Sat- 
suma is largely sought after by jelly-mak¬ 
ers, owing to its rich red juice, which is 
used for coloring many lines of jellies, few 
of the other varieties are thought much of. 
Some canners use them freely for a while, 
then drop them altogether. I have been 
informed by some canners that the fruit has 
a decidedly annoying way of fermenting and 
spoiling when canned; that it too often 
bursts the cans; again, some factory men 
get along with it quite satisfactorily. But 
the general public in this State seems to 
take very slowly to this fruit. Compara¬ 
tively few trees are planted here now. 
California. w. a. pryal. 
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