11)12. 
THE RURAIt NEW-YORKER 
701 
CULTIVATION OF THE VINEYARD. 
A very common practice in vineyard 
cultivation after the Spring plowing is 
to harrow once and then in late July 
or early August gang-plow up to the 
hills. As a result of this practice the 
soil is lumpy in many vineyards or else 
baked down hard. In either case the 
ultimate result is the same, namely, the 
loss of much water, the lumpy soil 
favoring rapicl evaporation, while the 
baked soil allows the rapid running off 
of rain which on the hillsides may mean 
the washing out of vines. It is true that 
many vineyard soils are in such poor me¬ 
chanical condition at the present that 
regular cultivation is next to impossible, 
but by judicious green manuring this 
can be largely remedied. But poor 
cultivation is not confined to vineyards 
on this kind of soil, for many located 
on the gravel and gravelly-loams are 
poorly tilled. The too prevalent opinion 
is that the prime motive of all culti¬ 
vation is the killing of weeds. This 
I consider the least important. While 
good cultivation does kill weeds the 
making of the soil a better reservoir 
for water, and the holding of it by a 
dust mulch accomplishes far more than 
the killing of weeds. 
For maintaining this mulch I prefer 
the spring-tooth harrow for the gravel 
and gravelly loams, while for clay and 
clay loams the disk does excellent work. 
The frequency of cultivation will de¬ 
pend somewhat on the rainfall. We 
aim to go through our vineyards at least 
every two weeks, and after a hard rain, 
before the soil is crusted, as the crust 
forms many openings through which 
water is readily evaporated. This 
regular working we keep up till about 
the first of August. Many hundreds of 
dollars have been spent for manure 
and commercial fertilizers with the as¬ 
sumption that they would in whole or 
in part take the place of good culti¬ 
vation. Experience not only shows that 
fertilizers cannot supplant good cultiva¬ 
tion but also that only through good 
cultivation can the greatest good be 
obtained from them. The best vine¬ 
yards are without exception the best 
tdled. F. E. GLADWIN. 
Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SPRAYING. 
If man could control the weather he 
would undoubtedly arrange for clear, 
calm days all during the spraying sea¬ 
son. But as this is impossible, and 
presumably fortunately so, we must ar¬ 
range our spraying operations to suit 
the weather. Neither cold, rain nor 
wind are very desirable for spraying, 
yet with proper equipment it is possible 
to do effective work even if the 
weather conditions are not so favora¬ 
ble. Some fruit growers recommend 
spraying with lime sulphur at almost 
any temperature, even below freezing. 
However, I do not like to spray when 
the material freezes on the trees in¬ 
stead of drying. On a bright sunny 
morning it is all right to start spray¬ 
ing at a temperature considerably be¬ 
low the freezing point, provided the 
indications are for rising temperature 
during the day. 
Rain is another hindrance to effec¬ 
tive spraying though not so much so as 
some people suppose. Neither linye- 
sulphur nor Bordeaux-arsenate wash 
off easily, though a dashing shower im¬ 
mediately _ after spraying may cause 
some of it to wash off. Either spray 
dries in about half an hour, after which 
there seems to be no injury from 
moderate rains. One of the heaviest 
showers we had here last season fell 
shortly after we had sprayed an 
orchard with Bordeaux-arsenate. We 
had some slight misgivings, but did not 
spray it again, and the results were ex¬ 
cellent. I would rather spray just be¬ 
fore a rain than just afterwards, as the 
liquid does not appear to stick well 
when the trees are wet. This applies 
to all kinds of liquid spray. 
Windy weather may or may not be 
an actual hindrance to spraying, ac¬ 
cording as to how the operator takes 
advantage of it. If it is desired to 
finish a tree at one operation, then a 
calm day is much the better, for spray¬ 
ing against the wind always means con¬ 
siderable waste, and the work cannot 
be so thoroughly done. However, even 
on “calm” days there is generally a 
slight breeze stirring, and shifting oc¬ 
casionally too. This is enough to carry 
the spray in various directions, some¬ 
times just where it is desired, and some¬ 
times just the contrary. But if it is 
convenient to spray only one side of 
the trees at one operation and leave the 
opposite side till some other day when 
the wind is opposite, then a moderate 
wind is really desirable. The wind will 
carry the spray even to the inner side 
of the farthest limbs, while spraying 
with an opposite wind will spray the 
opposite side likewise. This is really 
the most thorough way of spraying a 
tree in the dormant stage. A moderate 
wind is also less variable in direction 
than a light breeze. In spraying for 
fruit this plan will also work all right, 
except of course that only the flowers 
(or fruit) and leaves are to be sprayed 
instead of the wood. david plank. 
P ennsylvania. 
RINGING APPLE TREES. 
. T. E. 8Flint Hill, Fa.—At West Vir¬ 
ginia apple exhibit at Keyser last Novem¬ 
ber I listened to. one who said he was from 
the apple section of New York, and stated 
that if anyone had apple trees which were 
old enough to bring fruit and did not, say 
five or six years old, if one would cut a 
one-fourth-iuch band all around the tree 
about one foot above ground any time dur¬ 
ing the first 10 days of June the sap up 
in free would remain and set buds for next 
year, and would not damage the tree at all. 
Is the above beneficial to tree or death, and 
if case be true state how wide the band 
should be and how high above the ground? 
A ns.' —Ringing apple trees is practiced 
somewhat in New York. The objects 
are to bring non-bearing trees, old 
enough to bear, into bearing, to increase 
the productiveness of the trees both 
through extra size and greater number 
of fruits, and to hasten the ripening of 
the apples. _ Ringing, as usually per¬ 
formed, consists of taking out a ring of 
bark from a quarter of an inch to an 
inch wide within a foot or thereabouts 
of the ground. The operation is per¬ 
formed in this latitude in June during 
the period when growth is greatest. The 
work can safely be done in this month 
whenever the bark peels readily from 
the trunk. It should be done with as 
little injury to the bared tissues of the 
tree trunk as possible. No harm seems 
to result in the drying out of the wound 
by wind or sun. Ringing prevents the 
downward flow of sap from the tree top 
to the root system and is, therefore, a 
more or less devitalizing process. It 
checks the growth of the tree but does 
undoubtedly tend to cause the develop¬ 
ment of fruit buds, and rightly per¬ 
formed probably increases the size and 
productiveness of the trees for at least 
one season. From what has been said, 
it can be seen that ringing should be 
practiced only in very exceptional cases. 
If apple trees have long past the bearing 
period without fruiting, the owner can 
well risk checking their growth some¬ 
what to bring them into bearing by ring¬ 
ing. u. P. H. 
conditions prevail after applying Bordeaux 
the foliage of the peach will be very 
severely injured iu about 10 days to two 
weeks. Concentrated lime-sulphur, even 
when used as dilute as one gallon to 125 
gallons of water, sometimes causes severe 
burning of peach foliage. The results of 
the present season should emphasize to 
peach growers the importance of spraying 
their trees thoroughly with a good liine- 
sulphur mixture every Spring before the 
buds open, regardless of whether they have 
any scale or not. If only a few leaves on 
a tree are affected, the damage will be 
slight, but if most of the leaves are af¬ 
fected, much of the fruit may be lost. 
M. A. BLAKE. 
N. J. Experiment Station. 
•TROUBLE FROM PEACH CURL. 
Can you give me any information as to 
the trouble with the enclosed peach leaves? 
I have about 14 trees that have been 
planted about three years. Last year they 
set a few fruit, all of which I removed 
after setting. They then made a very vig¬ 
orous growth, which I pruned back slightly 
during the month of August. This Spring 
I cut last year’s growth back about one- 
lialf. There was a wealth of blossoms on 
most of the trees, and a large quantity of 
the fruit has set. The growth has been 
very strong and vigorous, but within the 
last two weeks this leaf trouble has ap¬ 
peared, and every tree is affected, some 
only to a slight extent, and others very 
badly. The leaves appear distorted and 
deformed, and seem to be covered with 
blisters. I have searched carefully for 
aphis or other insects, but can find no trace 
of any, nor do the leaves seem to be eaten. 
Could you tell me what the trouble is and 
give me a remedy for same? I had done 
no spraying whatever until after the trouble 
was well developed. I then gave an appli¬ 
cation of Bordeaux and arsenate of lead. 
Glen Cove, N. Y. j. m. c. 
We have received many complaints in re¬ 
gard to peach leaf-curl, and others are 
coming in daily. Many people are experi¬ 
menting with various sprays and trying to 
check the disease after it has developed, 
and are using such materials as Bordeaux 
and concentrated lime-sulphur. Such at¬ 
tempts are likely to result in serious in¬ 
juries to the trees—in fact, even more 
severe than the leaf-curl would cause. The 
peach leaves which you enclosed are at¬ 
tacked by the peach leaf-curl. This is a 
fungus disease which is likely to develop 
in cold, wet weather in early Spring. The 
disease is quite general this season, owing 
to the wet and cool weather condition 
which have prevailed. The disease is one 
of the easiest to control by a good fungi¬ 
cide. A thorough spraying of the trees 
with a good lime-sulphur mixture before 
the buds open will entirely control the dis¬ 
ease. Some peach growers have failed, 
however, in controlling the disease with 
lime-sulphur—in all such cases there is 
some fault in the quallry of the mixture 
or in its application. A good Bordeaux 
mixture applied just before the buds open 
in the Spring is also very effective. After 
the leaf-curl has developed within the 
leaves, it is too late to apply any fungicide 
that will be of value in checking the dis¬ 
ease, as the fungus is already established 
within the leaves. If warm, bright weather 
prevails, the disease will be checked in its 
development. Many fruit growers who 
failed to spray with lime-sulphur for the 
scale are now attempting to save their 
foliage by using such spray mixtures as 
Bordeaux and concentrated lime-sulphur. 
Such mixtures are dangerous to use on 
Deach foliage. Unless very dry weather 
Soil Survey of Connecticut. 
The Connecticut Bornological Society, 
which has been working for a couple of 
years to secure a soil survey of the State, 
has this Winter succeeded in inducing the 
Bureau of Soils of the United States De¬ 
partment of Agriculture to assign Mr. H. 
J. Wilder to work in this State during the 
coming season. While the Society had orig¬ 
inally tried to get complete soil survey 
of each county of the State, it believes that 
Mr. Wilder’s work as now planned will be 
of infinitely more value to the orchardists 
of the State. Mr. Wilder's particular work 
is a study of the adaptation of the different 
varieties of apples to the different soil 
types. Anyone who is familiar with Mr. 
Wilder’s work during 1911 in Massachu¬ 
setts and for several years iu Pennsylvania 
will appreciate the importance of the re¬ 
sults which are sure to follow. Mr. Wil¬ 
der’s address before the Massachusetts 
Fruit Growers’ Association at its recent 
meeting indicates the kind of work which 
has thus far been almost entirely neglected 
in Eastern orcharding. Our growers have 
assumed to a large extent that they could 
grow any varieties they chose to plant and 
it is undoubtedly true that the Northeast¬ 
ern States have an advantage in the large 
number of varieties of apples which they 
can grow well. But with increased pro¬ 
duction and the more discriminating de¬ 
mands of the consumer, it is not only de¬ 
sirable but essential that we grow the 
highest quality fruit, and one of the most 
important requisites for this is a proper 
adaptation of varieties to soils. 
The officers of the Society have furnished 
Mr. Wilder with the names of many of the 
orchardists of the State, but our data are 
necessarily incomplete, and it is requested 
that all growers of both apples and peaches 
will communicate with Mr. Wilder, care of 
the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment 
Station, New Haven, giving their location, 
the best means of reaching them, and the 
area of their orchards. Mr. Wilder hopes 
to visit as many orchards as possible in 
the course of the season. lie expects to de- 
time to 'the State from now 
until December 1, and we ask on his behalf 
for the active cooperation of every fruit 
grower. ellicott d. curtis. 
Conn. Bornological Society. 
Cost of Cold Storage Apple Houses. 
We have had a number of questions as 
to the cost of building a store house for 
apples. The May issue of “Cold,” pub¬ 
lished at Watertown, N. Y„ contains these 
estimates : 
“Many figures have been given as repre¬ 
senting the cost of cold storage houses for 
apples, per barrel of capacity. These range 
from $2 per barrel for plants of 250,000 
cubic feet, or with a capacity of 25,000 
barrels as a minimum cost, up to as high 
as perhaps .$4 to .$5 per barrel in a plant 
with a capacity of 500 to 1,000 barrels. It 
niust be noted that there is nothing exact 
about these figures, as so much depends on 
cost of materials iu different localities and 
type of building, but any estimates or fig¬ 
ures are far better as a guide than none 
at all. We believe that it is possible to 
build a 250,000 cubic foot cold storage 
plant for apples for $50,000, but this cer¬ 
tainly would not be reinforced concrete nor 
would it be brick and heavy mill construc¬ 
tion, nor any type of slow burning con¬ 
struction. It would mean an economically 
built building of frame and on a favorable 
building site, but there are many localities 
where a plant of the capacity stated could 
not possibly be built on a basis of $2 per 
barrel capacity. In other words, local con¬ 
ditions and everything else must be favor¬ 
able in order to make it possible to build 
at this cost. It is probable that among 
the houses now actually in service there 
are few if any which have actually been I 
built at a cost of $2 per barrel of capacity. 
The larger ones have mostly cost from 
$2.50 to $8.50 per barrel, and some of the 
smaller ones from $3.50 to $5 per barrel.” 
Here’s a Money-Making 
Proposition for You 
\AT II ETHER you are a farm- 
* * er,farm hand or thresher- 
man, you can double your 
present income and make from 
$15 to $18 a day-with a 
Buckeye Traction Ditcher 
This machine with either 
steam or gasoline power, will dig 
from 100 to 150 rods of ditch a 
day, nine to eleven months 
during the year, in Spring, 
Summer, Fall or early Winter. 
Every farmer in your locality 
will want you to dig his ditches. 
Farmers want machine-made 
ditches, because they are of 
absolutely uniform depth and 
perfect to grade.« 
Two men can. operate the 
steam machine and one man 
the gasoline ditcher. 
We’ll tell you all about the ditcher 
and what others have made with a 
"BUCKEYE" if you will write for 
Catalogue No. 3. Do it to-day. 
THE BUCKEYE TRACTION DlfCHER CO. 
FINDLAY, OHIO 
MAKE YOUR OLD CAR LIKE NEW 
AT EXTREMELY LOW COST. EVERYTHING AT 
ONE-FOURTH TO ONE-THIRD OF ORIGINAL COST 
-NEW BODIES, Touring, Runabout, Racing, $75 to 1700■ 2 
worth from $400 to $600. 
MAGNETOS #22.50—Regularly $16 to $125. 
WINDSHIELDS (brass) $9.50—Were $40. 
ELECTRIC HORNS $7.50—Formerly $05. 
METAL TOOL BOXES $2.50—Were $10. 
road VIII.CANIZERS $2.50—Regular $3.50. 
NEW MOTORS, 16 horse power, $76. Regular price $260. 
20 II.-P. $125. Regular $400. 
TIRES—By assuming your own guarantee you can save 60 
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tee Rml still save 35 per cent to 46 per cent of list prices on the 
well known FRONTIER TIRE, a better shoe than which is not 
on the market. Note the prices : > 
38x8.$9.00 laiiaij.$15.75 I 34*4 $18.75 
80 x 3.19.00 I 30x4. 10.75 1.35x4 " 19 25 
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All other sizes proportionately low 
Send for our “Tire Prieo Wrecker n and save money. No 
matter what you may require In parts, or the automobile 
complete, write us ami save from 25 per cent to 76 per cent. 
TIMES SQUARE AUTOMOBILE CO. 
Largest dealers in the world In 
automobiles and job accessories 
?'mT™ RK .1710-1718 Broadway 
..1210-1212 Michigan Ave. 
KANSAS CITY . 1820 Graud Avenue 
AUTOS 
LOW-PRICED 
HIGH-GRADE 
Used cars rebuilt and guaranteed by manu¬ 
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A high-grade high-powered car for very little 
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Stoddard Motor Ca., 229 W. 57th St., New York 
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Study Your Wheat Before You Harvest It 
If the yield and quality are bad you must do better. If they are 
good it will pay you to make them better. A better fertilizer will 
do it* The usual wheat fertilizers do not contain enough 
POTASH 
Use <5 to 8 per cent. Potash, instead of i to 2, and balance 
the phosphoric acid of the bone or phosphate. 
Tel! Your Dealer about this Now before the fertilizer salesman 
arrives. Write us today for our free book,*' Fall Fertilizers.” 
We sell Potash Salts tn any amount from 1 bag ( 200 lbs.) up . 
Write for prtces, stating quantity needed. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS. Inc. 
NEW YORK-42 BROADWAY 
vdfont Jnock Block Whitney Bank Building Bank & Trust Building 
CHICAGO HEW ORLEANS SAVANNAH 
\ - .*?»"• 'C-sj ...... 
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