350 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 10. 
of running condition about four times as often as a 
power dust machine, and then it is much harder to fix 
with inexperienced farm labor such as is usually em¬ 
ployed in doing the work. I consider that one of the 
most important points in favor of the dust spray is 
that we can go over our trees while they are in full 
bloom and while dropping the bloom and cover them 
thoroughly with lime-sulphur and Paris green without 
the least injury to the embryo fruit. Furthermore, I 
have never noticed in my orchards that any bees or 
other useful insects were ever killed by the dust, 
while there is always more or less danger with the 
liquid if applied while trees are in bloom. 
COST—THE MAKING.—After having made the 
first two and most important sprayings with the dust 
according to the formula, which is now considered 
the most practical and efficient, two or three additional 
applications, say 10 days or two weeks apart, will be 
sufficient to insure freedom from fungi and insects 
in ordinary seasons. But as it is so comparatively 
easy to go over the orchards with the dust process, 
additional applications, if weather conditions make it 
necessary, can be made at a small cost, and then there 
is never any danger of injuring the foliage or rusting 
the fruit. The power dust machines I use cost around 
$150 without the truck. The whole outfit is light and 
convenient to get around with among the trees in al¬ 
most any kind of weather. I use two horses, but one 
will do on level ground. It takes two men to operate 
the machine, and they can go over 40 to 50 acres in a 
day, according to the lay of the land. In addition I 
also use several hand dust sprayers, which I buy in 
Springfield, Mo., at $30 each, and they will cover 10 
to 12 acres per day; they are handy on steep hillsides. 
For the coming season I shall make my dust mix¬ 
ture in following proportions: For 100 pounds I will 
use 60 pounds hydrated lime, 35 pounds flowers of 
sulphur and five pounds Paris green. I shall not use 
the powdered sulphate of copper unless signs of blotch 
or bitter rot should develop, in which case I will add 
five pounds to the 100 pounds of mixture. In order to 
get the best results from the dust mixture I advise 
regrinding the flowers of sulphur so as to make it 
as fine or almost as fine as the hydrated lime. A re¬ 
grinder or little mill for this purpose can be bought 
for about $25 or $30 at a factory in Pennsylvania. I 
shall buy one for my use and prepare all my mixture 
during the Winter. The mixture improves with age, 
but must be kept perfectly dry. 
WHEN APPLIED.—Now a word about the best 
time for applying the dust. I think early in the morn¬ 
ing or late in the evening, when there is some damp¬ 
ness on the foliage, is the ideal time, but any time 
during the day, when the atmosphere is not too dry 
or the wind too high, will do, for the dust will stick 
to the fruit and foliage under almost any conditions 
and adhere for a long time. In conclusion let me say, 
as I said on a former occasion, 1 am no dust crank, 
and have no desire to persuade any grower, especially 
one who has a small orchard, with plenty of water 
convenient, and is “stuck” on the liquid process, to 
abandon it. I favor the dust because it is practical, 
economical and efficient in going over a large orchard. 
I am opposed to hauling over the ground in all kinds 
of weather enormous quantities of water, which has 
no value as a fungicide or insecticide, but simply acts 
as a conveyor of the ingredients which are of value. 
In the dust one has the same ingredients as in the 
liquid, and with all due respect to the men who may 
differ with me, I am of the opinion, from what ex¬ 
perience I have had, that if applied at the right time 
and in the proper manner, it will insure equally as 
good results as the liquid, with far less expense and 
worry. louis erb. 
Wright Co., Mo. 
SELLING SILAGE FROM THE SILO. 
Your inquiry as to the cash value of silage seems to 
interest many. I submit report of our own experience 
hoping it may be of use. Three years ago our barns 
together with all our horses and cattle were burned. 
All that remained was a concrete block silo, which 
with its contents stood uninjured. For two seasons 
we have sold silage to neighbors for $3.50 and $4 per 
ton at the silo. Each year we could have sold more 
than we had and several of the farmers who bought 
now have silos of their own. 
As to profits, one might figure out a reasonable profit 
at this price, but as the last three years have been 
years of unusually high prices for hay, one could not 
reasonably expect as high returns with cheaper hay or 
fodder. The objections to the sale of silage, such as 
the necessity for frequent delivery and the high mois¬ 
ture content, have been well stated in The R. N.-Y. 
so I need not enlarge on them. A. M. koon. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—This would seem to be an argument for 
the cement or stone silo. You see we usually find 
what our readers ask for in actual experience. 
A YOUNG CATTLE BUYER. 
At Fig 123 is a photograph of one of the most 
energetic and promising cattle buyers in the great 
State of Missouri, or for that matter in any other 
State. The picture shows him at the age of five 
years; he is seven now and buying calves. His father, 
who is a cattle man, has taught him that there are 
calves too valuable to be sold for veal, especially the 
heifer calves. The name of this boy is Dan Tombs, 
and he lives in Bowling Green, Missouri. He is the 
son of Mr. and Mrs. Perry Tombs. Young Dan has 
a bank account at the Farmers’ Bank of Bowling 
Green, and he is checking against this account in buy¬ 
ing calves, several of which he has already purchased, 
and is going to buy more. He has the cattle-raising 
instinct, inherited from his paternal parent, and the 
father and mother at his early age are encouraging 
him to take to the farm. 
It is told of an Iowa young man, who has become 
one of the best known Angus cattle breeders in the 
Middle West, that his mother gave him his first en¬ 
couragement, although she was not a farmer’s daugh¬ 
ter. In fact she was a factory hand in a New York City 
factory. AnTowa farmer saw her, fell in love with 
her and married her. The father, however, who knew 
how to buy hides, had no ideas beyond the common 
herd. The mother believpd in improving the herds 
with good blood, and when her son was not much 
A YOUNG CATTLE BUYER. Fio. 133. 
older than the boy whose face we see in the picture, 
the mother instilled improvement ideas in his mind. 
He was graduated at the Iowa Agricultural College, 
and to-day owns in his own name one of the finest 
herds of black cattle in the world, the product of his 
own intelligent work. Dan Tombs, of Bowling Green, 
is buying calves, drawing his own checks, and making 
tracks in the same direction. j. l. graff. 
Illinois. 
DOES IT PAY TO MIX VARIETIES IN 
PLANTING AN ORCHARD? 
Part III. 
THE OREGON EXPERIMENTS.—Prof. C. T. 
Lewis and C. C. Vincent, of the Horticultural De¬ 
partment of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, have done some excellent work in the line of 
cross-pollinating the orchard fruits. The pollen pro¬ 
ducing powers of 87 varieties of apples were worked 
out and of this number 59 were found to be more or 
less self-fertile and from these were selected pollen- 
izers for 29 varieties that are more or less infertile. 
There were not in some cases the same facts as re¬ 
gards fertility and sterility in some of the varieties 
that appeared in the results o? experiments in the 
Eastern orchards. For instance, the Baldwin appeared 
to be self-fertile. The conditions in Oregon may be so 
different that a change is wrought in the reproductive 
organs. But a large part of the same varieties were 
found to be either self-fertile or self-sterile in the two 
regions. And it has been proved that the Yellow 
Newtown and Esopus Spitzenburg, which are two of 
the most important varieties for the Western regions, 
both need outside pollen to cause proper development 
of their fruit. Fortunately, however, some of the 
other most valuable commercial varieties are good pol- 
lenizers for them, notably the Jonathan, Grimes, Artley, 
Baldwin and Arkansas Black. But the pollen of 
Spitzenburg is not very effective on the Newtown nor 
that of the Newtown on the Spitzenburg. This latter 
is rather unfortunate for it is sometimes desirable to 
plant these two varieties in the same orchard. It was 
also found that even the self-fertile varieties were ma¬ 
terially benefited by the crossing of their flowers with 
the pollen of others. The apples were larger, better 
formed and contained more and plumper seeds, show¬ 
ing the invigorating effects of the foreign pollen. 
Very careful experiments were made by the Oregon 
Station in determining the effect of wind as an agent 
in distributing pollen. Glass plates were covered with 
vaseline and placed at different heights and distances 
from the trees when in bloom and afterwards exam¬ 
ined with the microscope for pollen grains. Very few 
were found outside the limits of the branches. One 
apple tree seven years old that bore 1500 blooms had 
every petal and stamen removed before the pollen 
began to escape. Watch was kept during the whole 
time that the stigmas were in a receptive condition, 
in daytime, which lasted about 10 days, and only 
eight bees visited the tree, because there were no 
petals to attract them. Only five apples were set, or 
one in 300. More than twice that number of honey 
bees visited a tree 20 feet distant in 30 minutes that 
had perfect flowers and bore abundantly. 
CONCLUSIONS.—To sum up all the evidence that 
is available there are some conclusions that we may 
feel safe in considering as facts and act upon them 
accordingly: 
1. Much of the unfruitfulness of orchards is di¬ 
rectly chargeable to lack of proper cross-pollination. 
2. Mixed planting of varieties will afford the great¬ 
est possible opportunities for fruitfulness. Even self- 
fertile kinds are benefited by it in increased size and 
color of fruit. 
3. The pollen of almost any variety will be potent 
upon the pistils of any other variety although not 
upon those of its own. 
4. Winds cannot be depended upon to carry pollen 
from tree to tree. Insects and especially honey bees 
are the main agents of cross-pollination. Fruit grow¬ 
ers should keep bees, regardless of their value as 
honey producers. 
5. The blooming period of orchard fruits, for each 
species, lasts from 10 to 14 days. No spraying should 
be done on any tree when in bloom, because of dan¬ 
ger to bees and of in jurying the reproductive organs. 
6. The distance apart from trees for purposes of 
cross-pollination should not exceed that of blocks five 
or six rows in width. The benefits will be reciprocal 
between the varieties. 
7. Bearing orchards may be improved by grafting 
into their tops with other varieties. They should be 
of diverse color to prevent mixing the fruit at gather¬ 
ing time. 
8. It is imperative that the varieties next each other 
bloom at the same time to effect cross-pollination. 
9. The Oriental and European pears will cross- 
pollinate if they bloom together. The Oriental, Euro¬ 
pean and American plums will do the same. 
10. Cross-pollination does not transmit the color or 
any other characteristic of one variety to another. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
FRUIT TREES IN POULTRY YARDS. 
I note answer on page 230 to inquiry relative to plant¬ 
ing fruit trees in poultry runs in whicli it is advised not 
to plant any kind of fruit trees in poultry yards because 
of liability of scale. I have two plum trees, one inside 
of poultry run, other outside, both same age and supposed 
to be same kind, seven years from nursery. One in yard 
has had a heavy crop for past three years, although last 
year was first that they fully matured; the other years 
they have all fallen off before ripening. They are a medium 
size purple plum, of fair quality. The tree outside poultry 
run has had possibly a dozen blossoms each Spring, but 
has never set any fruit: these trees are about 50 feet from 
each other. Naturally I presumed that being in a poultry 
run was reason for the one bearing so heavily, and I had 
thought of getting some more trees to plant in my poul¬ 
try yards this Spring, preferably peaches, but if they are 
liable to be a failure as F. A. S. says, of course I do not 
care to take the risks, as I have sufficient shade as they 
are. Is there no way of successfully growing fruit trees 
in poultry runs, or at least having the trees do fairly 
well with a small crop of fruit? J. e. w. 
New York. 
We doubt if the poultry run is entirely responsible 
for the difference in fruiting. Our experience is that 
plums are best for a poultry yard. The hens frequent 
the ground around some trees or roost on them. This 
extra feeding is too much for peach trees. They make 
a great wood growth, the branches break and the fruit 
is soft and light colored. Also such overfed peach 
trees often burst their bark and make masses of gum 
at the wounds. Apples do quite well, but it is hard to 
spray trees in such yards, and they are often neglected. 
We would not plant them there, yet now and then we 
see good ones in such places. 
