900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 9, 
HOW FRUIT TREES ARE GROWN. 
Perhaps there are but very few fanners 
and orehardists who know how fruit trees 
are grown. The process is not a simple 
one by any means—in fact there are not 
many sections in the United States where 
the work can be done at all with any 
measure of success. The nurseryman must 
he born to his trade; he must know the 
thousand and one little details that con¬ 
stantly arise in the proper care of a tree 
from the time it comes to him a seedling 
from France until he has the tree securely 
packed and on its way to the planter. 
As far back as the eighties, it was 
found that Frenchmen could grow a better 
seedling, especially of pear, plum and 
cherry, than could be produced here. Since 
that time the trade with France has con¬ 
stantly increased, until now practically all 
the fruit tree seedlings, with the exception 
of apple and peach, are imported from that 
country. Rochester, Dansville and Geneva 
are the three principal nursery centers of 
the country. Very many small concerns 
are located in these places. They raise the 
trees and sell them at wholesale to the 
large firms and dealers who in turn dis¬ 
tribute them to the planter. The soil and 
climate of western New York produce ideal 
conditions for the growth of the young 
trees, but by far the larger share of credit 
must go to th ■ nurserymen themselves. They 
are mostly men Who have worked at the 
business all their lives. A boy does not 
have to be very big to find a job in the 
nursery, for little hands can often do the 
work better than their elders. The young 
man who is quick to learn and observing 
gradually acquires a wonderful fund of in¬ 
formation about the different varieties, how 
they look, what kind of growers they are, 
the ones that are in the greatest demand, 
and, if he has the right stuff in him, he. is 
soon running a little nursery of his own. 
These small independent proprietors put 
out the best trees, as the retail nurserymen 
well know, for they find it better to buy 
trees of them than to rely on their own 
hired help for first-class workmanship. 
The seedlings arrive from France about 
the middle of January. They are unpacked 
under the eye of State inspectors who are 
that way: not a speck of green for miles. 
At last with the beginning of Winter most 
of them moved out. They had sold their 
homes (or a great many had), and they 
had no place to go. They had spent their 
money on the strength of the promoters’ 
promises, and they had nothing to go on. 
One in a comfortable home in the East 
cannot imagine the inconveniences, discom¬ 
forts, privations and hardships the new 
settlers have to put up with in parts of the 
West. After awhile the people will wake 
up perhaps and forbid private parties from 
speculating in the people's inheritance—the 
public land. Tt should he opened up by the 
Government, and save all this misery. 
It is wonderful what it will produce 
here when the land has sufficient water; 
75 bushels of wheat. 80 bushels of oats. 400 
bushels of potatoes and six tons of Alfalfa 
per acre is not uncommon. Fruit does 
well, and nearly all kinds of vegetables 
yield abundantly. Altitude 5,000 feet, cli¬ 
mate is ideal, mountain scenery, water 40 
to 400 feet, pure and nearly as cold as ice. 
Rots of free range for stock. Crops this 
year are good. Thrashing started yester¬ 
day. Wages $2 per day and board. A few 
choice homesteads for those who have the 
staying qualities. No others need apply, 
as failure would be certain. 
Idaho. A. L. GILMORE. 
NATURAL GAS FOR HEATING ORCHARD 
In East Texas and North Louisiana 
where there are large plantings of peaches 
there are large fields of natural gas fully 
developed, the gas being sold at an extreme¬ 
ly low rate—11 cents per thousand, I 
believe. In the California oil districts like¬ 
ly the same condition obtains. This year 
the peach crop in East Texas was caught 
by frost, although lother parts of the 
State had some peaches. What orchards 
were heated produced peaches, but there 
are several peach orchards in Harri¬ 
son County. Texas, of over a thousand 
acres each, where the crop saved one year 
would have paid for the whole heating 
system; it has therefore occurred to me, 
and perhaps also to Mr. Sam H. James, 
who lives in that territory, that natural gas 
could be utilized for heating orchards at 
approximately the same expense for instal¬ 
lation as oil, and infinitely cheaper, I 
imagine, for maintenance ; it would also be 
more efficient in starting the lighting and 
maintaining an even heat with absolute 
surety, and with a minimum amount of 
trouble, requiring practically no attention 
after lighting. Have yon heard of this 
being tried in any pearh district similarly 
situated? The matter of heating with 
gas, whether it be a burner, or a burner 
playing under an iron plate to diffuse the 
heat, and the manner of control, would be 
merely a matter of detail, but subject to 
experimentation. Likely a suggestion would 
lead to its trial on a small scale. 
Texas. victor labadie. 
on the watch for plant diseases, and then 
put in cool frost-proof cellars. A little 
shop in connection with the cellar affords 
a place for trimming. The seedlings are 
cut back severely—not more than six 
inches of root and 30 inches of body is 
allowed. The planting is done early in the 
Spring in rows three and one-half feet 
apart and usually about eight inches apart 
in the row. In this way nearly 18,000 
seedlings are planted on an acre. Frequent 
cultivation is about all the attention they 
get until the early part of July when the 
budding season begins, extending from then 
on to September. 
Budding is the all-important work for the 
nurseryman. A good budder is in great 
demand; he inserts about 2,000 buds per 
day. The scions for the different varieties 
are usually cut from two-year-old trees in 
the nursery row. They must be just the 
year’s growth, and well ripened. The 
leaves are cut off leaving a stem one-fourth 
inch long. Under this stem is the eye 
which the budder must get to live in the 
natural seedling. He cuts so as to get 
about one-half inch of bark on both sides 
of the eye. He must be very careful not 
to cut too deep, for any wood in the bud 
except the least bit directly under the eye 
would prevent a union. The bud is inserted 
in the seedling three inches above the 
ground. It is tied up with a stout sea 
grass that comes from the Indian Ocean. 
In three weeks the tieing is cut off, and, 
if the job is successful, the bud is then 
firmly united to the seedling. The next 
Spring the top of the seedling is removed 
just above the bud. At the end of the first 
season with frequent hoeing and cultiva¬ 
tion the bud has grown to a height of about 
four feet. During the ensuing Winter it is 
trimmed up to a whip and cut off three 
feet from the ground. The second year 
the sprouts are all removed and the tree 
trained to a proper head. It is then ready 
for transplanting. Fall digging is done very 
extensively. A large digger pulled by 18 
horses is run under the trees. They are 
then delivered to the retail nurseryman who 
packs them in his cold storage plant to 
await the orders from his customers. 
M. K. 
R. N.-Y.—Personally we have not heard 
of such use of natural gas. If it has been 
used we have no doubt some of our readers 
know about it and will tell us. The sug¬ 
gestion ought to tried out. 
A BLAST FROM THE WEST. 
I don’t see much from Idaho, but we are 
forging ahead. The land boomers and 
“Carey Act” schemers have injured the 
State to a great extent. One project near 
here was to open up 100,000 acres of 
desert land. It was practically all sold 
at $30 and $40 per acre two and three 
years ago. Last year two or three hundred 
settlers moved in. cleared land, built bouses, 
hauled water, and waited for the rise of 
the Nile, but it didn’t rise. There they 
were, out on the desert in the sand and 
dust, some of them 15 miles from a drop 
of water. They put in the entire Summer 
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-^•Vf BRW® the TtBPLEX 
AJ.Tower Co.. B o sto n 
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I GSII 
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ef 
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Cooking 
A Big Saving in Fuel 
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k COMPANY 
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Hoofing Prices 
Never Before 
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\ THIRTY-FIFTH AND IRON STS., CHICAGO. 
