1933. 
fc>33 
THR RURAL NEW-YORKER 
IMPROVEMENT BY BUD VARIATION. 
I liave just finished reading “The 
Drone Tree,” on page 417. In it, I find 
this statement: “Mr. Shamel’s work 
in California is along the line of finding- 
out two things. Do these differences 
between drone and productive trees hold 
good in most orchards, and if so, is it 
possible to breed up a larger proportion 
of productive trees by using buds only 
from trees of high test?” Would it 
not be better to wait until Mr. Sliamel 
has proved his proposition before giv¬ 
ing his work such wide publicity. There 
is, as yet, according to the article, no 
positive proof that trees can be im¬ 
proved through bud selection, and the 
theory, scientists tell us, stands upon a 
very lame leg or no leg at all. This 
is a matter of very great importance to 
fruit-growers and nurserymen alike, 
but improvement through bud selection 
lends itself to so many dishonest prac¬ 
tices in tree growing and in advertising 
that it is almost criminal to outstrip the 
evidence in advocating the use of pedi¬ 
greed trees. Some of the advertising- 
matter that is now being published to. 
sell such trees would not, I am sure, 
be printed in The R. N.-Y. or any other 
respectable paper. 
Cannot the advocacy of improvement 
through bud selection be delayed until 
there is positive proof? Mr. Shamel, 
no doubt, is doing most excellent work 
in California. This Station has several 
experiments to demonstrate whether or 
not trees can be improved through 
bud selection, and I know of several 
other stations that are working toward 
the same end. The present practices in 
propagating fruit trees are justified by 
the precedent of centuries, and we 
ought not to demand a reform that will 
revolutionize them without real, precise 
evidence—something more than a state¬ 
ment of what is being done and of what 
is expected will happen as the accounts 
of Mr. Shamel’s work so far seem to 
be. I am enclosing a circular which 
discusses the subject. The whole mat¬ 
ter is of so much importance that I 
should like you to read the circular and 
if you find it worth while review the 
evidence, or permit me to do so, against 
the improvement of fruits through bud 
selection. I am sure that you do not 
want to advocate in The R. N.-Y. what 
may prove to be but a fad, and what is 
being used and will be much more used 
as a fraud. ^ w. p. hedrick. 
Geneva (N. Y.) Experiment Station. 
R. N.-Y.—Our account of Mr. Shamel’s 
work will refer chiefly to the proof that 
many drone trees do exist in Citrus 
orchards. Without discussing the ques¬ 
tion of tree breeding now we think tfie 
“drone tree” proposition well worth sift¬ 
ing out. We shall be glad to have Prof. 
Hedrick present the evidence to show 
that improvement of fruit through bud 
variation is not practical. Let it be 
clearly understood, however, that in the 
articles on Mr. Shamcl’s work we refer 
to Citrus fruits entirely, while Prof. 
Hedrick is, we understand, experiment¬ 
ing with apple and pear. 
Arguments Against the Theory. 
The R. N.-Y. is always a welcome 
visitor to the farmer, but it strikes me 
your issue of March 22 is particularly 
instructive and entertaining. “The 
Drone Tree” article is of especial in¬ 
terest to fruit tree growers, and we 
have all realized how greatly the aver¬ 
age yield of our orange groves are re¬ 
duced by the drones. The commercial 
t itrus fruit trees of California are all 
budded, and many of them were grown 
in Florida. The conditions here are 
quite different, as at least 75 per cent, 
of the bearing Citrus fruit trees are 
seedlings, grown from the seed of the 
native ^sweet orange. As Mr. Chase 
states, “Nurserymen have been engaged 
m propagating trees,” and are still en¬ 
gaged in the same business. The seed 
from which the trees are grown are 
taken from the cull oranges of the 
packing houses, and are used for stock 
tor budding, as well as growing. Un- 
j . such conditions it would make se¬ 
dition as to bearing quality and vigor 
of parent tree impossible. Sweet seed- 
bngs, sour seedlings, lemon seedlings 
and I'rifoliata are used for budding in 
"iida, and are usually valued by the 
actual orange grower in the order 
named. 1 have two young groves of 
■ ’"lit 500 trees each, one budded on 
stock grown from the seed of the 
t'torida sour orange and purchased from 
one ot our best nurserymen; the other 
grown from the seeds selected from 
sweet oranges from the most prolific 
.uu vigorous tree in the farm, a tree 
f}‘ l - Produces 35 boxes of marketable 
ui annually. These young seedlings 
now eight years old from date of seed 
planting, beginning to bear, are a uni¬ 
form size and beauty, and indicate no 
drones and few non-paying producers, 
and have every indication of becoming 
exceptionally heavy bearers. The 
budded trees are not uniform in size, 
showing five per cent, of drones, and 
40 per cent, of poor and uncertain 
bearers. We find a great many drones 
in our peach orchards also. 
Should the present Democratic admin¬ 
istration remove the duty on Citrus 
fruits, which is 72 cents a box, it will 
practically wipe out the Citrus fruit in¬ 
dustry in the United States, until the 
Citrus fruit growers can meet condi¬ 
tions by reducing transportation charges, 
which seems improbable, and reducing 
labor charges, which is impossible. The 
fixed charges which the Florida Citrus 
fruit grower has to meet to deliver his 
fruit to the New York market are $1.50 
a .b° x - The grower in Spain can deliver 
his fruit in the New York market for 
90 cents a box if the duty is removed. 
Under the present tariff of 72 cents a 
box it costs the foreign grower $1.62 a 
box. The entire difference of 60 cents 
a box is in the transportation and labor 
charges. Prof. Shamel is certainly cor¬ 
rect, and no doubt careful breeding will 
improve the bearing qualities of our 
fruit trees, and very much decrease the 
percentage of drones. 
W. L. VAN DUZER. 
Orange Co., Fla. 
Trouble With Old Orchard. 
A. L., Jamestown, A r . y.—Can you tell 
me what ails my apple trees? I bought 
this place two years ago, and it has an 
old orchard. When I came st me of the 
larger trees were about half dead. Last 
year I cut out all dead branches and now 
again I find large limbs entirely dead. The 
bark seems to shrivel up and look dry on 
the outside but upon being removed it is 
very slimy and have discovered some very 
small yellowish worms apparently about 
three-eighths of an inch long that are very 
much alive at this writing, with the snow 
a foot deep around the trees. I also find 
something which I take to be eggs of an 
orange color and slightly oval. Both worms 
and eggs are under the slimy bark. I can 
see nothing where the bark has already 
dried. Can you tell me what the trouble is 
and how 1 shall proceed to check it from 
spreading to all trees? 
Ans. —From the description of the con¬ 
dition of the trees and the insects in them 
it would appear that they are in feeble 
condition and affected by the fruit bark- 
beetle. This insect works almost en¬ 
tirely on such trees as are not vigorous, 
for those that are growing rapidly and 
are healthy are able to resist its at¬ 
tacks. It may be that these old apple 
trees are so feeble and so infested with 
the insects that it would be wise to 
cut them down and burn them to rid 
the place of the pest, which will con¬ 
tinue as long as there are feeble trees 
for them to live and propagate in. Of 
course, there are insects that work only 
in dead wood and those noticed may be 
such. It would be the sure way to get 
information by sending specimens to 
the experiment station at Geneva or 
Ithaca, where there are expert ento¬ 
mologists who will identify' them and 
report. h. e. van deman. 
Corn Smut; Ashes for Borers. 
A. F. IT., Few Bedford, Mass. —1. What 
is smut in corn and its treatment? 2. For 
the past two years I have been using sifted 
coal ashes around my fruit trees, three 
shovelfuls banked up around the trunk. 1 
began this practice more to get rid of an 
ash heap than anything else, but my farmer 
claims it keeps the borers out. Do you 
think there is anything in this? At any 
rate no borers have made their appearance 
yet. 
Ans. —1. Corn smut, familiar where- 
ever corn is grown, consists of black 
powdery masses most conspicuous on 
the ear or tassel but occurring on other 
parts of the plant. Unlike many other 
forms of smut, the disease is not con¬ 
veyed by the grain, so seed treatment 
is useless. Infection is produced by the 
spores falling on some tender part of 
the plant, such as the silks, or the 
sheaths of the leaves. It has been 
found that corn smut can be much re¬ 
duced by spraying with Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture, but this would not pay, and the 
only practical plan is to go through the 
field several times during the season, 
cutting out and burning all the smut 
found. This will reduce the trouble 
greatly but smutty fields adjoining will 
continue the trouble, as the spores are 
carried by wind or other agencies. The 
spores live and even increase in manure, 
so smutty stalks should never be put on 
the manure pile, but the silo appears to 
destroy the spores. 
2. Our experience is that piling coal 
ashes around the base of trees does 
help somewhat. It compels the insect 
to lay her eggs higher up on the stem, 
where woodpeckers have a better chance 
to get at the borer. 
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