1910. 
5F£IES RURAL* NEW*YOKKh;k 
i^OO 
TOP-WORKING SEEDLING APPLE TREES. 
In the reports of the great New England fruit show 
I cannot find that anything has been said of what 
I call “our natural resources—partly developed.” I 
have reference to the thousands of wild appple trees 
in New England that simply await the hand of man 
to convert them into money-makers. I dare say that 
there are but few towns in New Hampshire that one 
cannot find innumerable natural apple trees, ranging 
from a few years to 30 and 40 years, sapping the 
ground, and in return only helping to fill the cider car 
or piecing out the pig ration. I know from observa¬ 
tion that each year new trees sprout up in many of 
our rocky fields, only to be cut down by the unobserv¬ 
ing or “don’t-care” mowers. These trees, if permit¬ 
ted to live, and at the proper time grafted and properly 
cared for afterward, would make long-lived and profit¬ 
able trees. This has been proved in numerous cases. 
Fig. 95 shows a tree 
grafted on my farm five 
years ago, from which I 
picked practically a 
barrel of No. 1 Bald¬ 
wins last year. 
E. w. J. HEARTY. 
Interested to know 
more about this tree we 
asked Mr. Hearty the 
following questions: 
“How large was stump 
of tree when grafted?” 
“Two and one-quarter 
inches to 2% inches in 
diameter.” 
“How long growing?” 
“I should say seven 
years.” 
“How grafted?” 
“Butt sawed off two 
feet ifrom the ground, 
two scions inserted, one 
scion removed the second 
year. When grafted the 
butt was limbless. It is 
a treat to watch the scion 
scramble to make a top 
to balance the roots.” 
“What about trim¬ 
ming?” 
“No trimming except 
to space the branches. It 
is surprising what sym¬ 
metrical tops these seed¬ 
ling trees make. They 
develop lateral branches, 
practically at right 
angles to the main 
branch, and one does not 
feel that a slight strain 
will result in a split at 
the crotch.” 
“How was this tree 
fertilized?” 
“My recollection is not 
clear as to how much fer¬ 
tilizer I used. The tree 
under discussion is in a 
field where I have plant¬ 
ed a young orchard and 
the seedling tree was 
probably treated similarly 
to the others, i. e., the 
year of planting two 
pounds bone meal and 
one pound muriate of 
potash. The sod was 
turned over out to where 
I believed the roots extended, and then heavily 
mulched with weedy hay that I considered unfit for 
my horses to eat. Each year I have added mulch, In 
addition the tree has had one application of horse 
manure. I will say that the land slopes on two sides 
of this-tree, but I think there is no added benefit be¬ 
cause of its location, for I have other trees doing 
equally well and not so situated.” 
Are not borers bad in these wild trees? A good 
many growers offer this objection to them.” 
A e have to fight them. We make it a practice to 
go over all our trees three times a year, June, August 
and the latter part of September. We never fail to 
find some. At one time we looked upon this task'as 
an arduous one, but system has reduced it to, may I 
s a\, a mere detail. We get them generally before 
much mischief has been done, and we invariably have 
our little pot of white lead to paint the scars. The 
“How thickly are these wild trees scattered?” 
“In my fields I have yearlings three to 10 feet apart, 
then again a tree comes to life 30 to 40 feet away 
from its nearest neighbor. I am planning to start a 
nursery next Spring, simply to make a temporary 
home for those that would have to suffer in the thin¬ 
ning proces. I believe these seedlings that I plan to 
transfer to the nursery will, if given proper attention 
and a chance to develop strong roots, make trees for 
permanent setting that no commercial nursery stock 
can equal.” 
“Have you ever tried mulching? Your conditions 
would seem very favorable for testing this system.” 
“I am-deeply interested in your articles under this 
heading, and it is my opinion that no hard and fast 
rules can be made to apply. In one field I planted 
six rows of trees, 40 feet apart. As far as I know 
each tree at planting received similar treatment. Be- 
CAULIFLOWER SEED GROWN UNDER GLASS 
Results Secured by the Department of Agriculture 
A few weeks ago a reader asked if it is possible to raise 
seed from cauliflower plants under glass. Prof. L. C. 
Corbett of the U. S. Department of Agriculture replied 
that such seed can certainly be developed. Now we are 
asked if it would have any special value if produced in 
this way! The answer follows, and the experiment will 
be interesting to cauliflower growers. 
In regard to the value of the seed of cauliflower 
grown from pot plants I will say that we have had 
most excellent results from this method. In fact, we 
are endeavoring to establish a special forcing strain 
of cauliflower by growing seed in this way. Two 
years work now indicates that we shall be exceedingly 
successful in this enterprise. The seed is of high 
vitality and a large quantity is obtained from a single 
plant. In fact, we were able to get from a single 
individual plant enough seed to plant two crops in a 
greenhouse 20 feet wide 
and 100 feet long. The 
progeny of the selec¬ 
tion which we have made 
is very quick maturing, 
very uniform in charac¬ 
ter and of exceedingly 
high quality. 
I am in position to say 
we are endeavoring to 
develop special forcing 
strains of tomatoes, let¬ 
tuce, cucumbers and 
melons, as well as cauli¬ 
flower. We hope to 
have seed of the lettuce 
to place in the hands 
of commercial growers 
next season, and possibly 
also sufficient seed of the 
cauliflower to enable 
them to make a slight 
test of it. Understand, 
we do not intend to 
make a distribution of 
this high-grade product 
in the ordinary sense of a 
distribution, but propose 
placing a sufficient quan¬ 
tity of it in the hands of 
selected growers to de¬ 
termine its commercial 
value. Our idea is to 
develop a system by 
which those who wish to 
produce a superior grade 
of forcing-house pro¬ 
ducts can secure from us 
stock seed which will 
enable them to start an 
industry of their own by 
growing their own seed 
after the manner of the 
procedure explained in 
answer to the query re¬ 
garding the handling of 
cauliflower. 
L. C. CORBETT. 
A BALDWIN TOP ON A WILD APPLE SEEDLING. Fig 
95. 
tween rows 1 and 2 I planted potatoes first year, beans 
second year. The trees were also mulched and re¬ 
ceived an application of bone meal and potash. First 
year rows 3 and 4 were simply mulched, and I applied 
bone meal and potash. Second year, corn and beans 
between. Trees also mulched. Rows 5 and G received 
no cultivation, but mulched and fertilized as were rows 
1, 2, 3, and 4. Rows 1 and 2 were half again as large 
as rows 3 and 4, and twice as large as 5 and 6. The 
above trees are in a field that was formerly tilled re¬ 
gularly. On the other hand, I have a block of trees on 
a hill far removed from the buildings and apparently 
but little tilled in bygone years, producing only thin 
June grass. The trees are vigorous and splendid speci¬ 
mens. I hese trees when first planted received hoe 
cultivation a distance of two feet from the trunk but 
we have depended almost entirely on grass mulch 
around the trees to conserve m isture. I am one of 
c n T ; . • • • “**• x <ouunu me trees to conserve m:isture. 1 am one ot 
I T 1 ’ are ^ USt as ' 1 & orous i’ 1 attacking seed- those unfortunate victims of nursery carelessness so 
f,mn'l S * edlmgs r that have been unca red for I have cannot tell you positively the variety of this block, 
i • 1C f 0I ?- S ° enormous size, but I don’t ever They were purchased five years ago for McIntosh Red, 
;° makln ? a vlgorous tree if the y will leave but thus far we have discovered Gideon, Wealthy 
and an apple that resembles the Winter Banana.” 
•j o - — — ~ 
me 25 per cent of unmolested bark.” 
EDUCATION.—I am 
writing this to thank you 
for the article, “The Al¬ 
bany Convention,” page 
135. It is unfortunate that 
the real farmers have no 
one to represent them but 
the professional farmers, 
and they are farming us 
farmers for all it is worth. 
Education and an in¬ 
creased production of 35-cent dollars is their cure-all. 
In this section we have the production this year in 
potatoes, which are now bringing 25 cents. A bumper 
crop does the farmer no good, but gladdens the heart 
of every leech between producer and consumer. The 
production of farm crops in this State could be 
doubled if it would only pay. I have raised three 
children, none at home. The only daughter married 
a railroad man, and he has an income in cash greater 
than mine from 200 acres. j. j. b. 
R. N.-Y—In the local stores near us potatoes sell 
at 40 cents a peck! “Education and an increased pro¬ 
duction of 35-cent dollars” comes pretty close to the 
entire story as now being related If anyone can 
demonstrate that farmers can be permanently helped 
on this theory alone, we are anxious to have the 
demonstration printed. We particularly invite Presi¬ 
dent Brown of the New York Central Railroad or 
the agricultural educators to tell us how increased 
production and more intelligent farming alone will 
make farming more profitable in the end. We claim 
that the cost of transportation, selling and handling 
farm produce must in some way be decreased. In 
other words, the producer must obtain a larger share 
of the consumer’s dollar. Why do not our educators 
see that the farmers need instruction along that line 
quite as much as they do about growing larger crops? 
