1911. 
THE RURAt NEW .YORKER 
1111 
A SEEDLESS PEAR. 
I send you a few specimens of a new coreless and 
seedless pear which originated here at my place. It 
is the only variety that bore any this season, there 
being a freeze here in the early part of last May 
A VIRGINIA CORELESS PEAR. Fig. 448. 
which killed all other sorts. The thermometer regis¬ 
tered 27°; however, this variety carried its fruit 
through. w. H. DUNIGAN. 
Tazewell Co., Va. 
R. N.-Y.—A section of this pear is pictured in 
Fig. 448, which shows its seedless character. We 
were much pleased with it; it was an attractive 
fruit of excellent flavor and rich, buttery texture. 
The specimen figured was fully ripe September 27. 
Mr. Dunigan’s experience would show it to be very 
hardy in bloom. _ 
THE MAINE DIRECT PRIMARY. 
I think it would amuse you if you could see the way 
the politicians are beginning to growl over our new pri¬ 
mary law already. All the stand-pat papers are throwing 
fits, and nobody seems to know where he is at. I notice 
that California did a few things last Tuesday also. Ap¬ 
parently they don’t take Taft's anti-recall advice very 
seriously. M. G. 
Maine. 
They will find where they “are at” when they have 
a primary election with some vital question at stake. 
The Maine law appears to be worth while. The New 
York primary law as it stands will be of little value. 
It is, however, a start, and will not he repealed but 
will be strengthened until we get what we need. The 
California voters want the power to “recall” all pub¬ 
lic servants who do not serve the people. The feel¬ 
ing throughout the West is that the great corpora¬ 
tions have used both law and judges for their own 
private ends. If they had not done .so there would 
have been little demand for any “recall.” The West¬ 
ern people feel that the great corporations have al¬ 
ready done more to discredit the courts by the use of 
money than the people can possibly do through the 
“recall.” The very people who are most frantic 
against “recall” are most responsible for the demand. 
APPLE TREES AND ROOTS. 
The pictures of young apple and peach trees in the 
issue of October 21 are very interesting, and without 
differing from the statements made in regard to these, 
I would like to add some ideas from my own experi¬ 
ence. In the first place if I were buying trees I would 
not take the two and three-year trees shown in Fig. 
407, because they have too much stem, and at that 
age I could not cut them back to where I would want 
to start the head. In fact I do not want a tree with 
the head started in the nursery, and hence would never 
plant any but yearling trees. 
Then, as to the roots. The tree No. 2 certainly has 
a better developed root system than No. 1, but the 
fact that it has fibres is of little or no moment, for 
no matter how carefully the tree is lifted, the small 
fibres and the root hairs will be dried up and lost, and 
the tree has to -make new ones, and it will make 
these more readily from smoothly pruned roots than 
from the old fibres even if they are not entirely dead. 
Then, too, the root system of the tree is what the tops 
make, for every variety of apple makes its own pecul¬ 
iar root system. You may work a number of varie¬ 
ties all on crab seedlings, and every one of them will 
develop the root system of the variety, for the leaves 
of the tree are the laboratory in which the material 
for growth is elaborated. Any experienced nursery¬ 
man knows how varieties of trees differ in this respect. 
You can easily pull up a yearling Albermarle Pippin 
with one hand, but you will have a job to do it with a 
yearling Roxbury Russet or Northern Spy. The slow 
root development is always associated with the slow 
growth of the variety and vice versa. In planting 
a tree I always prune the roots all around, cutting 
with a sharp knife a sloping cut on the under side, 
and when ready for planting the roots are not more 
than six inches long from the stem all around. Then 
I head back the yearling to 20 inches from the ground, 
cutting to a bud, and take that bud and three more 
below it as the foundation of the future head of the 
tree. In these days of spraying we must have low¬ 
headed trees, and not only for this but for gathering 
the fruit and safety from the wind, the low-headed 
tree is the best. Then when they get loaded with 
sleet or snow the ground will catch the limbs before 
they can be broken, as I have seen exemplified. Of 
course no one plants peach trees at any other age 
than one year from the bud, and I prefer these of 
moderate size grown in fairly fertile soil to overgrown 
ones in very rich land. The statement at foot of the 
illustration of the crooked peach tree may mislead 
some who will not see that it is a misprint of pear for 
poor, for of course no peach grows on a pear root. 
Maryland. _ w. F. massey. 
LIVE STOCK PICTURES. 
The red heifer shown at Fig. 449 certainly has no 
apparent reason for regret. Still, it is doubtful if 
she appreciates the fact that a good share of our 
readers would willingly change places with her. 
That is the way good family cows are made, how¬ 
ever, for good cattle respond to care and petting. 
The contrast between the treatment this animal re¬ 
WHO WOULD NOT BE A RED HEIFER? Fig. 449. 
ceives and the life of the scrub turned out to chase 
herself around a straw stack is striking. 
The boar shown at Fig. 450 is a Mule-foot, or 
one of the solid hoofed animals now being offered 
as a distinct breed. This one is owned by J. H.' 
Dunlop, the Ohio breeder. Many superior qualities 
are claimed for the Mule-foots. At first it was said 
they were immune to hog cholera, as the claim was 
that the disease may enter the system through the- 
feet. Breeders now seem to have wisely abandoned 
these claims. The hogs are good and the solid foot 
is an advantage under some conditions. We would 
not let that boy stand so close to any boar with an 
ear of corn. We have known hogs to reach up 
suddenly and knock children over, often doing seri¬ 
ous damage. Keep children away from bulls and boars. 
THE PUBLIC MARKET IN ILLINOIS. 
Decatur is the county seat of Macon County and 
is a live, progressive and rapidly growing manufac¬ 
turing city of about 30,000 population. Urged to 
action by the high cost of the necessaries of life, and 
encouraged by the efforts of the citizens of some 
other towns who were attracting attention in their 
efforts to reduce household expenses, there arose a 
clamor among the people a few weeks ago for a 
public market. Be it known that our wideawake 
and up to date county seat is under the commission 
form of government. The citizens want all the good 
things that are known to our present-day civilization, 
and the mayor and the commissioners were selected 
with the idea of getting men who would do every¬ 
thing within their power for the best interests of all 
the people. So when the demand was made for a 
public market, they immediately turned a listening 
ear, and at once got busy. They communicated with 
other cities of about the same size having public mar¬ 
kets and secured what information they could as to 
how they were managed and to what extent they 
benefited the people. Then they decided to try it. 
The public press was used in a discussion of the 
subject, and the opinions and suggestions of some 
of the writers were both interesting and amusing. 
Some thought a building should be erected at once, 
and one man said it couldn’t be done for less than 
$50,000. This was thought too much money to in¬ 
vest in an experiment, and that it was then too late 
in the season to accomplish much, anyhow. It had 
been a bad season for gardeners and farmers alike, 
and they didn’t think there would be much to bring 
in. It was argued, too, that farmers would not take 
the trouble to bring stuff in; that they had not ac¬ 
quired the peddling habit, and that they wouldn’t 
“take to it.” The mayor settled all this by saying 
that they would give it a trial for a while without 
going to the expense of putting up a building; that 
a certain street, or the side of a certain block, would 
be devoted to the use of those having anything to 
sell, and that the wagons could be backed up to 
the curb, and under the oversight of a “market man,” 
hired for the purpose, the farmers and gardeners 
could sell their produce on certain days and between 
certain hours, to be determined upon. It was finally 
decided to open up for business on Tuesday morning 
at six o’clock, and every day thereafter, except Sun¬ 
day, closing at 12 o’clock, noon. 
On the morning in question men and women with 
baskets on their arms began to assemble quite early 
and the “market man” was on hand to boss the job; 
but not a solitary wagon was on hand at six o’clock. 
Seven o’clock, then eight o’clock, came, and still no 
“producers” in sight. “Consumers” came and went, 
and there was disconsolation written on the faces of 
many. Others were hopeful, and argued that it was 
a new thing and the farmers couldn’t get in so early. 
Nine o’clock came and the crowd sent up a shout as 
a wagon pulled in and backed up to the curb. Then 
another, and another, and in a short time six wagons 
were in line, and the people were swarming up over 
the sides and asking what they had, and what they 
wanted for it. Most of them had apples and poultry, 
and in a few minutes they were swamped with busi¬ 
ness. It took but a short time to close out their 
loads, and all expressed themselves as well pleased, 
and promised to “come again.” The following morn¬ 
ing there were more wagons, and they got in earlier. 
The number increased every day, and last Saturday 
morning, less than two weeks after the market was 
opened, 60 wagons were backed up to the curb, and 
the most doubting mind had to confess that the thing 
looked very much like a great success. At the close 
of the first week the city officials decided on two 
things; that three market days per week were suffi¬ 
cient, and that a shed of some kind for the protec¬ 
tion of the wagons and the people was a necessity. 
They decided that Tuesdays, Thursdays and Satur¬ 
days should be the market days, and that the hours 
should be from 4 a. m. till 8 p. m. Men were em¬ 
ployed to commence work on a shed on Monday 
morning, extending along one side of the block, with 
a hood reaching out over the sidewalk for the pro¬ 
tection of the people. The work has been completed, 
and everything is now running smoothly. Farmers 
come with produce as far as 27 miles, though the ma¬ 
jority do not drive over six or eight miles. A great 
variety of salable stuff is taken, from apples and 
poultry to home-made sausage and pumpkin pies. 
There is a great demand for fresh meat; and the 
last few days large quantities of fresh pork have been 
offered. There is a great scramble for spareribs and 
backbones, and there is never enough to go around. 
Is it benefiting the fanners? They are getting, 
two cents per pound more for live poultry than 
they can get from dealers; they have disposed of 
A MULE-FOOT HOG. Fig. 450. 
several hundred bushels of apples that would have 
gone to waste; they are getting more for their pork; 
and there is being built up a trade directly with the 
consumer that will mean much to them in the future, 
when they are better able to supply it with what it 
demands than they are now. j. c. nicholls. 
Macon Co., 111. 
