1911 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
945 
Ruralisms 
FURTHER ARBOR GRAPES. 
Your request for a further letter about 
grapevines for ornament is very com¬ 
plimentary to the subject. I have stated 
the names of the varieties which I con¬ 
sider best for the purpose. The letters 
sent to me are inquiries as to the places 
where these varieties can be obtained; 
most of them are grown at the Geneva 
Experiment Station, and cuttings are 
sent by request. Munson can supply 
those of his I mentioned, and some few 
nurserymen haven’t discarded all vari¬ 
eties which are edible. To have the 
best things care must be taken; garden 
culture is required for the varieties I 
mention. After a vine is well started a 
close, well-fertilized lawn may en¬ 
croach upon the vine and some fruit 
will be had, but a shuffle-hoe frequently 
used is the best treatment for the gar¬ 
den vineyard, and an Acme harrow for 
the large vineyard; no cutting of the 
feeding roots from deep cultivation. A 
vine usually does well on a piazza, for 
the roots feed underneath the floor in 
the cool, soft soil. The finest Cataw- 
bas I have eaten grew on one vine 
which certainly shaded over 50 feet of 
piazza; an equally fine Isabella made a 
screen for a two-story piazza about 20 
by 20 feet. I have a balcony on the 
second floor of my house on which I am 
fruiting Walter and Duchess, with mag¬ 
nificent bunches; on the third story bal¬ 
cony Lindleys are as good as they can 
be; on the fourth story balcony is the 
Monticola of which I wrote; this vine 
is over 30 feet from the ground. On a 
tree higher up than this is an Amber 
Queen full of beautiful bunches which 
the birds and bees will harvest, as I 
cannot get them. I might say here that 
the Amber Queen is not appreciated as 
it should be, a most refreshing grape. 
Several trees I have covered by one of 
Campbell's grapes, not disseminated, 
which he sent me for testing; he also 
sent me a white grape as being superior 
to Duchess; it certainly is a delightful 
dessert fruit, far too tender for com¬ 
mercial use; a pretty vine, however, and 
good as an arbor vine, except that the 
color of the bunches isn’t attractive. 
The varieties I wrote of in your Au¬ 
gust 12 number have beautiful bunches; 
as decorative as any flower could be are 
the bunches of the Poughkeepsie Red 
or Croton or Gazelle or Naomi; this 
last one has berries tinted like the 
opal. I have, but have not fruited, 
Munson’s Opal; it may have as pretty 
fruit as the Naomi, but the vine is not. 
I have a further pleasure in raising 
seedlings besides the Monticola; I have a 
seedling from HussmanxFern Munson, 
with almost purple leaves, deeply lobed 
and a rampant grower; grape much su¬ 
perior to Carman, but a self-sterile va¬ 
riety. These are only two that are at 
all worthy of many raised. I.am now 
saving seeds from Peabody, Walter, 
Golden Gem and Duchess. As these 
are hybrids, each one having an indi¬ 
vidual excellence, I am expecting to get 
some fine varieties from them, in which 
their peculiarities may be pleasantly in¬ 
tensified. I may add as a parent the 
Senasqua; its excellence is distinctive. 
There are sections of the country 
where even with best of care these 
varieties may not be grown, but Mun¬ 
son seems to have been able to get the 
gentler qualities impregnated in the 
hardiest vines, so that edible fruit may 
be grown from Texas to Winnipeg, and 
from Portland to Portland. Before, 
however, hope is abandoned of growing 
these superior varieties, try starting 
them with a small or dwarf fruit tree; a 
very delicate vine will grow amongst 
the limbs of a tree and perfect its fruit, 
its leaves unmildewed, its berries un¬ 
rotted. Such success I have had this way 
that I am thinking of setting out a small 
orchard of dwarf apples and pears (and 
perhaps cherries) and grow them, as a 
part consideration, for grape trellises. 
These vines I now have growing this 
way I trim severely so that they will 
not outgrow the trees (plum). This 
really seems to be nature’s way, and 
may bring results otherwise impossible. 
Long Island. elbert wakeman. 
WHY PRUNE ? 
On page 875, W. G. Brierley, in his 
good article, says: “The branches should 
be pruned back severely, though, as the 
intention is to stimulate wood growth 
to give strength to the tree.” I should 
like to ask Mr. Brierley if he really 
means, as he seems to say, that the 
cutting away of the healthy substance 
of a tree does increase the strength of 
the tree, and produce a bigger tree— 
other things being equal? 
If that is his belief I would be glad 
to know the proof for such a theory. 
I am something of a novice but have 
the impression that the books do lead 
us to believe what Mr. Brierley seems 
to say. Personally, I should look for 
bleeding of lambs and pigs to be sim¬ 
ilarly stimulative of “growth” and 
“strength”—growth of scabs in that case 
as of water sprouts in the tree. Until 
•I am shown I shall have difficulty in 
believing that trimming (unquestionably 
a blow to the tree) is as such beneficial 
—except for shape. On the other hand 
there is evidence already accumulating 
in the orchards of the heretics that 
seems to show that the way to get a 
tree big _ quickly and to bear quickly 
is .to let it grow—as we do the calves. I 
have been shown such trees that were 
ahead in both those respects to the trees 
under similar circumstances that had 
been liberally knifed—according to the 
books. However, I cannot at this writ¬ 
ing submit statistical or photographic 
comparison. 
I think we need proof that pruning 
has any function in young trees other 
than to control the shape, and I suspect 
that there is a good deal of room to 
spare the knife there on young trees. 
I was astonished at the striking resem¬ 
blance in shape between my virtually 
untrimmed York Imperials five years 
old and trees of same variety and age 
owned by an agricultural college man 
who practices essentially what Mr. 
Brierley teaches. j. russell smith. 
Virginia. 
Rooting Raspberry Tips. 
0. 8. U., West Winfield, N. Y.—Will you 
tell me the proper time to lay down berry 
bushes to have them root ready to replant 
next Spring? 
Ans.— The best time to lay down 
berry bushes is about the middle of 
August. It is not advisable to tip them 
too early in the season, but it should 
be done as soon as the tips ripen well 
and the canes appear to have made their 
full growth. The terminal eye appears 
in August, indicating that the season’s 
growth is about ended. Should the 
tips of the canes be covered too early, 
when they are tender, there is danger 
of them decaying in the ground and not 
forming roots. September, on the other 
hand, is pretty late for this kind of 
work, although if the weather remains 
favorable for late growth they some¬ 
times turn out well. Nurserymen usually 
do it in August, as they find by ex¬ 
perience that September frosts and 
general cold wet weather often do not 
allow the roots of these tips to deveop. 
The berry patch should be well culti¬ 
vated before laying down the canes. 
The tips should be nicely covered with 
earth, not too deep, but just enough so 
they are down well into the moisture. 
They may be cut from the canes late 
in the Fall or early in the Spring, and 
dug up for transplanting. 
Some varieties of red raspberries and 
blackberries send up fine suckers if the 
patch has been well cultivated. These 
make good plants for resetting in the 
Spring. Great care must be exercised in 
selecting these young shoots, especially 
in a small patch where there are several 
varieties, as mixtures are apt to occur. 
A good way to propagate nice blackberry 
plants is to dig around the vines in the 
Spring and cut off some small pieces of 
root. Then lay the roots along in a 
row and cover them with a few inches 
of earth. They will grow up into nice 
bushes in one season and make excellent 
transplants. m. k. 
T7T> I ? ! Y this real leather bill fold 
-T 1 rvJLl/ Vj for the Head of the Farm 
(Not for boys — they're all right and their turn 
will come later—but this is for the boss.) 
Thousands of farmers will buy gasoline engines this Fall and Winter. 
I want to get in direct and personal touch with every one of them, as 
I want them to know about the Olds Engine. 
If you .are going to buy an engine, or are thinking about it., you ought to know what an 
Olds Engine will do for you. I want to tell you about them— 
give you just the information you want —so if you will fill out the 
coupon below (or write me a letter) saying what size engine you 
want, whether portable or stationary, and when you expect to need 
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in any way, I will send you absolutely free * this genuine calfskin 
bill fold, stamped with your name in gold letters. 
It will hold fifteen bills easily. When folded it will go in 
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will last a lifetime. Has no advertisement on it. 
AI r\Q GASOLINE 
ULL/J ENGINES 
are known the world over and used by farmers everywhere. They are the most satis¬ 
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to be the judge. Ask any man who has an Olds Engine. He will tell you. 
IVe also make complete electric light and water systems especially for farms. 
IVrite for our prices on corn shelters, corn buskers, feed grinders and cream separators. 
If you are going to buy an engine, put a check mark (X) in the place showing the size and style 
engine you want, and when you expect to need it, and mail to me personally at once. Address me 
as below. 
BRANCHES 
1007 Farnam St. 
Omaha, Neb. 
2112 Central St. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
J. B. SEAGER, Gen. Mgr. 
Seager Engine Works 
908 Walnut St., Lansing, Mich. 
BRANCHES 
102 N. Los Angeles St. 
Los Angeles, Cal. 
65C Beverly St. 
Boston. Mass. 
To make quick deliveries, I also have a complete stock of engines and parts in warehouses at 
Houston, Tex. Atlanta, Ga. Decatur, 111, Lexington, Miss. Cairo, Ill. Minneapolis, Minn. Binghamton, N.Y. Philadelphia, Pa, 
NOTICE—If you prefer, write ’to my nearest branch, and if I am not there, 
my personal representative will attend to it. 
Cut or tear off here 
Seager Engine Works, Lansing, Mich. 
Send me full particulars about the following engine. It 
is understood that I do not obligate myself in any way by 
asking for this information. 
Style wanted : Portable Stationary 
Horse Power wanted: 1% 3 V/z 6 8 12 15 20 
Expect to need itj: .Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. JanT 
Name.. 
Town.. 
..R. F. D. 
County. 
908 
Sign atm* pUlulf, Just Iks way f*I vast M n bill fold. 
T 
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