1912. 
'THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
861 
MORE ABOUT NURSERY SEEDLINGS. 
May I add a word in the form of a 
correction to the interesting article in 
The R. N.-Y. of July 20 on Summer 
budding in the Genesee Valley? The 
writer of that article makes the state¬ 
ment that “most of our natural fruit 
seedlings, with the exception of the ap¬ 
ple, are imported from France.” This 
statement is a little aside from the facts, 
and as it stands, is inaccurate. He un¬ 
doubtedly is aware that peach seedlings 
are grown entirely in this country, and 
that all our stocks used in propagating 
the cherry, the plum, and the pear, are 
imported from France and Holland. 
Probably about half the apple stocks 
used by American nurserymen are 
grown at home, the other half being 
imported from European producers. 
He says further that a transplanted 
peach seedling would grow too big to 
be budded to the best advantage, prob¬ 
ably meaning the same reason. While 
it is the common practice of nursery¬ 
men to plant pits in the nursery row in 
the Autumn or early Spring, where 
they are budded when they have reached 
suitable size, the succeeding Autumn, 
yet I know of some good nurserymen 
who make a practice of transplanting 
the peach seedlings at a very early 
stage in their growth, in order to have 
them uniformly spaced in the nursery 
row. This transplanting also favors a 
stocky growth, and well developed root 
system. This, in fact, is the method 
practiced by all European fruit stock 
growers. Even apple seedlings are shift¬ 
ed and handled from the seed bed to the 
nursery row, where they are grown very 
closely and cultivated entirely by hand. 
Whether we shall ever make a success 
of growing pear, cherry, and European 
plum seedlings, is a question. Up to the 
present time nurserymen do not seem 
to be able to overcome the fungus dis¬ 
eases in the form of leaf blights which 
attack the seedlings when grown under 
our conditions. Of course, considerable 
quantities of native plum seedlings are 
grown in the Southwest. Seedlings of 
Oriental pears and stocks produced 
from cuttings of Le Conte, a member of 
the Oriental pear group, are also grown 
to a considerable extent in the South¬ 
west. Marianna plum strikes very read¬ 
ily from cuttings, and this has been a 
somewhat favored stock in the Gulf 
States for a good many years. I im¬ 
agine, however, that its popularity is on 
the wane. john craig. 
Dynamite for Tree Planting. 
Seeing on page 7.76 what W. M. E. says 
on tree planting with dynamite, I want to 
say a few things too. I dynamited last 
Spring for trees when the ground was wet 
and soft. I found the blasts potted or 
made caverns in the soft earth. The dy¬ 
namiting should be done in the Fall or 
when the ground is dry. In that case the 
ground is cracked for a much wider area, 
not potted as when wet. The blast should 
be placed at a depth and so tamped that 
it will not blow out but crack well in every 
direction. After this Fall cracking tluf 
water of the Winter rains will sink into 
this reservoir and be ready for Spring and 
Summer growth. Thus treated you will find 
a time in Winter or early Spring when 
your ground will be dry enough to set well, 
and you will find the ground so loose and 
nice to plant in. j. b. ziegler. 
Tennessee. 
In answer to J. W. M. on shooting holes 
for fruit trees, it is used a great deal in 
this White Salmon district and we think it 
is the only thing to do with a heavy soil 
or hardpan. I have used it with good re¬ 
sults on heavy clay soil and find it is al¬ 
most as cheap as digging with a shovel, and 
much easier, besides giving a much better 
root bed for the trees. The same method 
is practiced extensively in the Ilood River 
section just across the Columbia. One-third 
of a stick of 20 per cent stumping powder 
placed in an auger hole 18 inches deep with 
enough dirt on top to keep it from blowing 
the dirt out much will do a good job in 
clay soil. For J. W. M.’s soil I would».use 
a little more powder and put it a few inches 
into the hardpan. Do not try to shoot the 
hole out clean, but loosen the dirt well, 
then open up with the shovel. 
Washington. w. w. ckowe. 
Alfalfa with Buckwheat. 
I seeded an acre to Alfalfa about three 
weeks ago, and used as a nurse crop buck¬ 
wheat. I limed the soil and inoculated 
the seed. I am afraid I made a mistake in 
sowing buckwheat with it, but I thought it 
would be good to keep back any "weeds and 
give shade to the tender roots of Alfalfa. 
However, both are looking fine now. Will 
the buckwheat smother out the Alfalfa, and 
what do you think of the plan of sowing 
buckwheat with it and why? c. L. K. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. 
Most of our reports indicate that buck¬ 
wheat is a bad “nurse” crop for Alfalfa. 
It grows so thick and so rapidly that the 
young Alfalfa has about the same chance 
that it does in rank Summer weeds. In a 
few cases the Alfalfa gets through—usually 
when the season is moist. In the majority 
of cases the buckwheat seems to be too 
much for the Alfalfa. 
Trouble with Seeding. 
On my farm in Greene County I have 
three fields which I have let run to pasture 
for the last five years. The land is slop¬ 
ing, well drained and quite rocky. I desire 
to till these fields and grow hay again. Dur¬ 
ing the past Spring I plowed a portion of 
one of the fields, and manured it well, but 
after sowing it with oats and grass seed 
I have not succeeded in raising a good crop 
as yet. Not having very much manure to 
fertilize the rest of the lots, would it bo 
advisable to plow up the entire ground this 
Fall and plant it with rye and grass seed, 
or with only grass seed, or plow this Fall, 
allowing the soil to mulch itself and plant 
grass and oats in the Spring? i. i. k. 
New York. 
We believe one reason why the oats and 
grass have failed is because lime is needed. 
Most of such soil is very sour. Lime will 
fit it for seeding. We should plow this 
Fall and seed to rye. If you plow and leave 
the bare furrows there will be some dam¬ 
age from washing. The rye will hold the 
land in better shape. We should cut the 
rye in Spring, work up the soil well and 
sow oats alone or grass seed with the oats. 
You can of course sow grass seed with the 
rye this Fall, but it is doubtful if the old 
sod would be destroyed enough to give a 
good seeding. ___________ 
Asparagus and Currants. 
1. I wish to learn more about an aspara¬ 
gus bed. My bed has so many slender stalks 
not marketable. I have used loads of straw 
manure on it in -the Fall. I am sure all 
my garden needs lime. When should I 
apply it to the asparagus and in what 
form? I would like to know what kind of 
asparagus produces the stout tips found in 
market. I fear this bed is not the right 
kind. 2. I would like to know what causes 
the peculiar crinkled and blistered look of 
my currant bushes. I can find no insect or 
worm on them and they are full of fruit, 
also how trim them and when? 
Eaton, N. Y. H. L. M. 
1. An asparagus bed is properly cared for 
should produce marketable sprouts in pay¬ 
ing quantities for 18 or 20 years. II. L. M. 
does not say what the variety is nor how 
long the bed has been established, and very 
little about method of cultivation. I am 
therefore unable to answer the question in¬ 
telligently. Perhaps it would be best to 
give instructions how to make and plant an 
asparagus bed. II. D. M. may then be able 
to determine what is the trouble with the 
bed complained of. Asparagus will do well 
on almost any kind of good soil, but a deep 
sandy loam best suits it and should be 
used in preference to the heavier soils when 
available. The ground should have not less 
than 40 loads of manure to the acre. Plow 
under as deeply as possible, pulverize and 
level the soil. If it be cultivated on a large 
scale perhaps the best method of planting 
is in rows three to four feet apart and the | 
plants one foot apart in the row. For mar¬ 
keting on a small scale or for home use, 
beds should be formed six feet wide with 
three rows,planted in each, one in the cen¬ 
ter and one on each side, 18 inches from 
the edge of the bed, plants 12 inches apart 
in the row. The walks between the beds 
should be 18 to 20 inches wide. Care 
should be taken in setting the plants to 
properly spread the roots, covering the 
crown of the plant 3-4 inches deep, in 10 
or 12 days after planting the ground should 
he raked over lightly to destroy the young 
weeds. The beds will not come into full 
bearing until the fourth year, although a 
partial crop may be cut the third year. In 
localities where the ground freezes deep a 
mulch of leaves or coarse manure is quite 
beneficial, as the crowns start earlier and 
with more vigor than if they had not the 
benefit of mulching. Well rotted manure 
seems to be the best fertilizer. This should 
be applied very early in the Spring or after 
crop is cut two or three inches deep and 
worked well into the soil. Fall manuring 
as a fertilizer is but very little benefit as 
the leachings are carried below the roots 
and are lost. Giant Argenteuil, Barr’s 
Mammoth and Conover's Colossal are con¬ 
sidered the best sorts, some preferring the 
one and some another. 
2. The condition of the currant leaves 
you describe is probably caused by an ex¬ 
cess of ammonia in the soil. I never noticed 
that it did any harm. Prune anv time when 
dormant, cutting out one or two of the 
old canes each year and allow new ones 
to grow in their place, thus a portion of 
the plant is renewed each year, which will 
prolong its life and also bear larger fruit, 
from one-thirdi to one-half of previous 
year’s growth should be cut back at each 
annual pruning_ k. 
Likes Lath and Plaster. — I see on 
page 778 R. J. B. wishes to know about the 
practicability of some of the so-called wall 
boards. Being an active builder, and hav¬ 
ing had a great deal of experience in this 
special line of work, I will endeavor to 
answer his query. There are several brands 
of the description he gives upon the mar¬ 
ket, some of them practical while others 
are not worth the time to tell about them. 
There are but one or two brands that I 
find are strictly waterproof, and that I 
could confidently recommend; all or 
nearly all of the prepared wall.boards ex¬ 
clusive of plaster board have a great ten¬ 
dency to warp or buckle in unless back- 
furred, which in these days of high cost of 
labor and material amounts to a sizeable 
sum. As to the desirability of these sub¬ 
stitutes for lath and plaster, it is every 
person to their liking. I have seen it used 
where it has given entire satisfaction. ■ I 
have one building now where they have de¬ 
cided to use it, but personally in my es¬ 
timation there is nothing that can compare 
with a good lath and plaster wall, provided 
the plaster is properly cured before it is 
placed upon the walls, and since the hard 
finish has come into common practice there 
is more cheating than ever. Good plaster 
should lie and cure in the mortar-bed for 
at least two weeks, and a little more would 
do no hurt. Last year I razed an old 
house that had been built nearly 100 years, 
and some of the plaster was still in per¬ 
fect condition and nearly as hard as some 
of our cement is to-day. Is not this con¬ 
clusive evidence in favor of lath and plaster 
if properly placed upon the walls? 
Connecticut. a. m. Raymond. 
R. N.-Y.—As usual in a discussion of this 
sort we want experience without prejudice 
or personal feeling. 
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