1912. 
37- 
OLEASTERS IN TURKESTAN. 
Among our ornamental shrubs two 
varieties of Asiatic oleasters, Elseag- 
nus longipes and E. angustifolia, are 
slowly gaining in appreciation. E. 
longipes is very decorative when its 
long sprays are covered with fruit, 
which are somewhat suggestive of long¬ 
stemmed cranberries, though containing 
a small stone. These fruits make nice 
sauce or jelly, and are eagerly eaten 
by the birds. One of the collectors of 
the Bureau of Plant Introduction thus 
discusses the oleaster as growing in 
Chinese Turkestan: 
The oleaster is mostly seen as a tall 
shrub but in good situations grows even 
to a fair-sized tree. Taken all around it 
is perhaps the most useful tree in Chinese 
Turkestan. It supplies excellent hedges, 
almost impenetrable to man and beast when 
well kept. From the branches stuck in the 
ground in slanting and zigzag fashion, very 
good temporary fences can he made. As 
a wind-break it is unexcelled, keeping the 
drvin'' desert winds off from the cultivated 
lands of the oases. As a sand-binder it 
is of very great value, checking blowing 
and encroaching desert sands to a great 
extent, also where w'asliouts are experi¬ 
enced its masses of fibrous roots retain 
the soil a good deal. Its wood constitutes 
in many oases the chief fuel supply, and 
to furnish this firewood the trees are pol¬ 
larded every four to six years without 
suffering. The wood, when dry, possesses 
fine heating capacities and makes a good 
bed of live coals which last during the 
whole night when covered up with ashes. 
The fruits of the wild form are too astrin¬ 
gent to be of anv value to man, but some 
of the cultivated forms supply a sweet¬ 
meat to children. The dry cast-off leaves 
are a favorite food of sheep, goats, don¬ 
keys, and cattle. The flowers possess a 
remarkably sweet odor and seem to be 
rich in honey. Its highly ornamental 
qualities, combined with drought and al¬ 
kali resistant capacities, put it in the first 
order as a desirable garden and park 
shrub or tree in the more arid parts of 
the rural new-vorker 
BEURRE BOSC ON KIEFFER STOCK. 
I think J. C., page 1137, will be dis¬ 
appointed if he buds Beurre Bose on 
Kieffer stock. We tried that a few 
years ago and gave a picture in The 
R. N.-Y. of the young‘pear scion grow¬ 
ing on Kieffer stock. The final result 
proved to be a failure. At first the 
Bose grew finely, but in a year or two 
suddenly stopped and fell behind those 
budded on Sheldon stock. The trees 
never amounted to anything. We have 
tried Seckel on Kieffer also. This did 
better than Bose, although the trees 
made slow growth aiid are small trees 
now. The Kieffer is a different sort of 
pear, and does not unite congenially with 
our native varieties. The Sheldon va¬ 
riety is generally recommended by 
nurserymen for budding Bose onto. 
Interlaken. N. Y. w. A. b. 
Grow 
more 
Top-Working Apple Trees. 
J. C., Potomac, 111 .—I have four acres 
in apple orchard. The trees are 20 to 30 
years old and some of them are poor vari¬ 
eties. I wish to have them top-worked or 
grafted with better varieties of apples as 
soon as it is possible to do the work suc¬ 
cessfully. The trees are healthy with 
rather ‘large tops. Will these tops have 
to be cut out and wait for new growth 
before the grafting can be done? Among 
these are 15 Winesap trees that have never 
borne more than one bushel per tree per 
year. Shall I top-work these or girdle 
them? If they are to be girdled at what 
time of year must this be done? Shall I 
be likely to have any trouble in securing 
a man to do the grafting? No grafters 
here except the political kind. 
Ans. —In almost every orchard there 
are some apple trees that need to be 
top-grafted to better or more suitable 
varieties. It is almost useless to graft 
Dollars 
EL2EAGNUS ANGUSTIFOLIA IN TURKESTAN Fig. 15. 
the United States, its silvery-gray foliage over very old and feeble trees, for they 
resembles the olive very much while in c£m never ma k e much growth to produce 
Autumn the contrast between it and the . .. . . rr • , • _i ri. 
multitude of generally orange-red colored fruit, but if there is sufficient vigoi left 
small fruits, is gloriously beautiful. The to produce at least several good crops 
KfASS/’S’S it will pay very well to work them over, 
fully drooping habits when getting older; If the trees are really old and nave long 
some, however, assume quite rigid outlines. { )ranc hes and high tops the first step to 
ISiy. SX’.S’rS take is to eut them back very severely, 
size of an ordinary date; the color of the and always making slanting cuts, when 
berries is pure white on one tree while • ,i dormant sta^e leaving; only mere 
dark brown red on another and all shades 111 tlie ao ™™ leaving um, 
are found between. In the leaves even stumps of the former straggling tops, 
there is a considerable variation, as re- This will cause a growth of vigorous 
gards sizes, nuances of gray-green and the cnrnntc that mav he budded the 
relative quantity a tree may possess. The young sprouts that mav oe ouuck l u c 
roots are sometimes a mass of nodules, following August, or they can be graited 
and as the trees grow often quite luxuri- the next Spring. The buds or grafts 
antly even in pure sand, they seem to de- 1 A. , _ • 
rive nutrition from these tubercles and will grow rapidly on these vigorous 
perhaps even fertilize the soil to some young branches and soon begin to bear. 
extent. One notices, foi instance, 'that Anntlipr oreaf advantage is from 
crops even close up to a row of oleaster Another very great advantage is irom 
trees are not impoverished to any extent, the severe heading back, which changes 
For this reason the natives of Central Asia j] ie Jong and spindling old tops into 
seem to prefer this tree to any other sort & ,_ \ . ‘ r A „„ 
of windbreak. The plants are very well more condensed and shapely torm. 
able to grow even in pure sand, or in al- Trees at 20 years old, as those are that 
kaline soils, while they exist with veiy mnuired about should have well- 
little water although they de not grow arc ir ! q " irea auoui ’ sn . oum nd . ' * 
luxuriantly then. They cannot stand, how- shaped tops on now to graft into at 
ever, low, water-logged soils. The propa- once. But there is one serious mistake 
gation is easy. Cuttings from the size of , • ovnernllv make hv ^rafters 
a lead pencil up to poles six feet long 1 lat is very generally make grantrs 
and two or three inches thick, all strike that should be avoided. 1 Ins is the set- 
roots easily as long as the soil is moist ting of the grafts into the outer parts of 
the branches rather than near their 
junction with the main branches or 
trunk. The proper length for the stumps 
is about six inches, which gives ample 
room for regrafting a little lower in 
case of failure to grow the first time. 
It also renews all of the bearing surface 
of the tree and gives the winds less 
chance to break off the grafts than if 
they were set far out on the branches. 
No branch over 2^ inches in diameter 
should be cut and never square across 
but with a slope of 45 degrees or more 
and only one scion inserted in its upper 
edge. Such grafting will leave no ugly 
wounds to heal over as are often seen 
on square stumps. H. e. van deman. 
enough to give them a chance. In re¬ 
gions of the United States where the Sum¬ 
mers are very hot and dry and the Win¬ 
ters not too cold, where the soils are sandy 
or alkaline, but where Irrigation water is 
occasionally supplied, the oleaster deserves 
the highest consideration for the follow¬ 
ing purposes: as a hedge plant, as a fence 
material, as a windbreak, as a sandbinder, 
and as a characteristic ornamental tree 
around the house. 
The picture, Fig. 15, shows a row 
of very old oleasters planted along an 
irrigation canal, benefiting the grain 
fields in the vicinity by protecting them 
against the scorching desert winds; 
also preventing the irrigation canal 
from silting up by keeping its banks 
firm by means of their masses of roots. 
This nicture was taken near Guma, 
Chinese Turkestan. In addition to its 
value as an ornamental tree or shrub, “What's veal, Benny?” “Oh, it’s the 
especially in arid places, the Elaeagnus part of the cow we eat before she grows 
prossesses value as a fixer of nitrogen, up.”—Sacred Heart Review. 
on the Farm 
by making- each acre yield its utmost. The food pro¬ 
ducts of this country are not keeping- pace with the 
increasing: population, and the American people will 
soon have to buy of farmers in foreig-n countries, un¬ 
less the American farmers rise to their present great 
opportunity. 
The yield per acre of the average American farm 
is now much less than on foreign farms. The Ameri¬ 
can farmer can just as well increase his production, 
and also his profits, for it is chiefly a matter of fertil¬ 
ity; and the best part of it is that the more fertilizer 
used the easier it is to pay for it. The extra crops 
take care of that, only be sure to use the right ferti¬ 
lizer. 
Wherever you live, we can reach you with the right 
fertilizer, the right service, and the right price. 
Write today for copy of “Plant Food”, a practical 
hand book on fertility. No advertising in it; sent 
without cost. 
Agents wanted in unoccupied territory. Liberal 
terms and goods that sell. It pays to sell our fertiliz¬ 
ers as well as use them. Ask for agency proposition. 
The American Agricultural Chemical Co., 
Makers of brands with fifty years 
of quality and results behind them. 
129 Lewis Street, Buffalo, New York. 
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