? 914 . 
THIS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
69 
ORCHARDING IN WEST VIRGINIA. 
What does Mr. Van Deman think of 
West Virginia west of the Allegheny 
mountains, as a fruit section? I have a 
tract of land on the Valley River, seven 
miles from Fairmont, that I would like 
to set in fruit if I were reasonably cer¬ 
tain of its being a commercial success. 
The land is .‘100 feet above the river and 
is surrounded on the east, north and west 
by the river. Fruit growing in this vi¬ 
cinity is given no attention, but where 
there are trees they bear fairly well. 
What varieties other than Grimes and 
York (Imperial) would be suitable? 
Fairmont, W. Va. L. A. c. 
Not long ago I was passing through 
West Virginia on my way from Chicago 
to Washington, D. C., and noticed the 
fact that there were almost no orchards 
planted from the Ohio River to the crest 
of the Alleglmnies. The land is good 
enough and the climate also for fruit 
trees, as the few that had been set gave 
evidence. And this is a region where 
there are good markets for fruit at the 
mines and manufacturing towns. It 
would seem to me that there is a good 
field there for tree planting, and there 
are some very successful orchards there 
now, especially in the southwestern part 
of West Virginia and many more east of 
the mountains, in the valley of the Po¬ 
tomac and its tributaries. But there 
need be no fear in planting in the west¬ 
ern regions if the land is fertile and well 
drained. Much of the valley land is 
good for apples, especially also the slopes 
and table lands. Peaches and cherries 
are also well suited to these higher 
places. I should think the location 
mentioned as being 300 feet above the 
river would be excellent for growing 
almost any kind of fruit suitable to that 
climate. 
As to varieties of the apple there are 
many good ones besides Grimes and York 
Imperial that succeed in many parts of 
West Virginia. The Staymau is one of 
the best, and its parent the Winesap, as 
weir. Rome Beauty, Delicious, Black 
Ben and Jonathan are all good kinds 
for that region. Yellow Transparent, 
Wealthy and Oldenburg should be used 
as fillers, the permanent trees being of 
the varieties formerly named, mainly, and 
set 50 feet apart, the fillers standing in 
the space between, making the complete 
orchard 25x25 feet apart. Staymau, 
Grimes and Winesap make very good 
fillers also ,and will not need to be dug 
out for about 20 years. Do not use 
peach trees as fillers, because they injure 
apple trees by their rampant growth. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
SUNFLOWER CROWING IN MARYLAND. 
As there seems to be a desire for 
records of experience in the growing and 
feeding of sunflower seeds for poultry, 
perhaps the results of an experiment 
made last Summer by the writer may be 
of interest to some of your readers. We 
have a gravelly hillside with westerly 
slope, shaded from the morning sun by 
buildings. This hillside is set to apple 
and dwarf pear trees, and enclosed as a 
chicken run. We wished to grow some 
kind of crop between the tree rows as 
an excuse for cultivation, but the land 
is too poor for potatoes, and the hens 
would eat up most other crops. The 
plump, meaty look of some sunflower 
seeds bought for chicken feed suggested 
the planting of sunflowers. 
The land was treated to a fair coat of 
stable manure before plowing, and to 
sulphate of potash at the rate of 200 
pounds per acre in the row at time of 
first cultivation. Plowing was difficult, 
as the ground was baked so hard that it 
was almost- impossible to keep the plow 
in the furrow. However, by the use of 
cultivator and harrow, aided by a timely 
shower, we obtained a fairly smooth, 
though shallow bed. The planting was 
done with a hand seeder in rows three 
feet apart, hills 18 inches, about five 
seeds to hill, covered 1V> inches deep, the 
planting covering a strip 00 feet by 150 
feet. The plants came up well and were 
thinned after first cultivation to two 
plants in each hill. Attempts to reseed 
and reset vacant hills failed. 
About GO hens had the run of the 
yard, but they did very little harm either 
to the seeds or to the growing plants. 
Our only loss was from rabbits, which 
burrowed under the fence and ate the 
tops off a few plants. The crop was 
cultivated with horse three times and 
hand-hoed •nee. After the plants were 
three feet high they shaded the ground 
sufficiently to keep down the weeds. 
When the heads grew heavy with ma¬ 
turing seeds and bent near the ground, 
the hens were shut out of the field for 
a few weeks until the crop was gathered. 
As the seeds ripened and became loose the 
English sparrows took heavy toll, especi¬ 
ally of the smaller seeds. To save the 
crop from the sparrows and clear the 
field for the hens the harvesting was 
done as soon as the seeds could be beaten 
out easily with a stick. The heads were 
cut from the stalks and placed to dry 
on a warm south slope covered with sod. 
In spite of favorable weather, however, 
they gathered moisture from the ground, 
so that the pulp surrounding the seeds 
soon became soft, making it difficult to 
separate the seeds. About 10 per cent, 
of the crop was lost in this way. The 
shelling was done by holding the heads 
over a basket and beating with a square 
stick about 18 inches long and three- 
fourths-inch diameter. The seeds, amount¬ 
ing to 21 J /^ bushels, were spread on attic 
floor for a few weeks, and stirred from 
time to time until thoroughly dry, then 
placed in bags ready for use as needed. 
We have had no loss from insects, but 
a neighbor, three miles away, lost his 
entire crop by some kind of weevil that 
ate the kernel out of nearly every seed. 
Our gratification at getting any returns 
at all under the circumstances from this 
bit of land is tempered by the thought 
that we might have done much better. 
The plants were altogether too crowded, 
as shown by the fact that while the 
heads near the border were 10 to 16 
inches across, those toward the center 
were hardly half as large. E. c. O. 
King, Md. 
TOMATOES IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 
I wish to follow my lettuce with to¬ 
matoes, ' and will in making the lettuce 
have applied 1 % tons per acre of : 
G % :10 and 200 pounds of nitrate of 
soda. I can get these tomatoes set out by 
March 15, which is early enough in our 
latitude. Would you advise as to fertil¬ 
izer best adapted to side-dress these to¬ 
matoes under above conditions, and 
probably the best tomato for shipment, 
while the market was right and for can¬ 
ning- afterward? I have been troubled 
with decay in blossom end just as to¬ 
mato was turning. Will you give cure 
and probable preventive? This occurs 
whether stable manure is used or not. 
Danfuskie Island, S. C. A. h. s. 
The following is almost a perfect ma¬ 
nure for this crop and you will no doubt 
find it will meet your every expectation 
in requirement: Phosphoric acid, 8 per 
cent.; equivalent to ammonia, 2 per 
cent.; soluble potash, 2 per cent. This 
compound is largely used by farmers who 
supply canners with tomatoes. It has 
made good in every instance. The ques¬ 
tion as to which is the best variety to 
grow for market and canning, is a mat¬ 
ter of opinion among gardeners, and this 
opinion is as varied as the locations in 
which the tomato is grown. I have tried 
about every variety introduced in the last 
30 years, but have found none that ever 
gave me better results than the old Para¬ 
gon. It is early and handsome, of good 
size, perfectly smooth and regular, very 
solid and a good keeper; the color is of 
a bright glossy crimson. This variety 
some years ago was considered the 
standard of perfection, and was perhaps 
more extensively grown for market and 
canning purposes than any other variety. 
Many of the seedsmen have for some rea¬ 
son discarded it, and substituted other 
sorts, many of which never have been 
as good all-around tomatoes as the old 
Paragon. It is good and makes good 
where some of the later introductions 
are at a discount. The Stone, a later 
introduction, is considered by many 
gardners to be the best general purpose 
tomato on the market to-day. In my 
experience with it I found it a very shy 
cropper and the plants short-lived, under 
ordinary conditions such as the average 
grower must provide for this crop. 
The rot spoken of is due to adverse 
climatic conditions, and will occur when 
these conditions are present, regardless 
of the kind of soil they are grown in or 
the kind of manures used. There is no 
remedy for it, as the fungus starts 
growth within the fruit, and for that 
reason any applied remedy will prove 
unavailing. Pick off . all affected fruits 
as soon as discovered and destroy them, 
K. 
Direct from the Grower 
to Your Orchard 
at Wholesale Prices 
We have grown thousands of splendid quality Fruit 
Trees, Small Fruits and Ornamental Stock, here in our 
nurseries at Dansville, right in the heart of the nursery- 
growing district, and offer them to fruit growers at very 
low prices. 
All our splendid fruit trees are 
> GUARANTEED STURDY AND TRUE TO NAME 
and free from disease of any kind. Kelly Fruit Trees are the result of 27 years ot careful 
nursery experience. Each one of the Kelly Brothers has a department, so from seedling 
to freight car we know the history of every tree; know that our varieties are true to 
name; know that we send you the varieties you order; know that the trees you get will 
be satisfactory in every way. 
It means something to a fruit grower to know that Kelly Trees are 
Grown, Dug, Packed and Shipped under the 
personal supervision of the Kelly Bros. 
You can order from our catalog just as if you came to Dansville in person. We would 
be glad to have you visit us and look over our stock—hut if you can’t come, order from 
our catalog and you will have just as good treatment, for 
EVERY ORDER RECEIVES PERSONAL ATTENTION 
M e have put our nursery business on a scientific basis. We have every up-to-date 
tool and modern office and shipping equipment. We have lowered the cost of producing 
nursery stock, and as our catalog is our only salesman we give our customers the advant¬ 
age of low prices on quality stock delivered promptly from our nursery. 
WRITE FOR OUR CATALOG TODAY 
Look it over carefully—compare our prices with prevailing prices, and note the great 
SAVING to you by buying direct from us. Remember, Kelly Trees have been Quality 
Trees for 27 years. 
KELLY BROS. WHOLESALE NURSERIES, 122 Main St., Dansville, N. Y. 
YOU'LL NEVER REGRET PLANTING KELLY TREES 
DCEC AT LOUISIANA,M0. 
KEXdsiNC£ 1Q1 r 
Grand New Year Book 
1816 
1014 just printed; shows fruits in actual colors and size. Full of valuable 
orchard information. Tells what, when and how to plant. Alai led Free. 
STARK DELICIOUS Production in Two Centuries 
(Trade Mark) 
is fully described—its glorious record of twenty years in the American orchard is accu¬ 
rately given. No one with room for a single tree can afford to be without this marvelous 
fruit. Of exquisite flavor—large, brilliant, waxy red. The book is free. Write for it. 
Stark Bros. Nurseries and Orchards Co., Box 123 , Louisiana, Mo. 
KINGS 
FRUIT TRFF RIILI FTIN t,lls you the wlio,e stor y of the 
1 hum I I1CC DULLL I 111 nursery business in Western New 
York. It’s a gold mine of information about buying, planting and 
growing trees. Pleaso let us show you. Write for free copy now 
KING BROS. NURSERIES, Dansville, N. Y. Est. 1878 
APPLE Trees. 2-yr.. S to 7 It. % S120.00 per l.OOO. 
60 Years of Faithful Service 
to Satisfied Customers Is Our Record 
and We Guarantee Satisfaction 
We offer the best of everything as Nurserymen, Florists and 
Seedsmen and at moderate prices. 
Have for sale, hundreds of carloads of Fruit and Ornamental 
Trees, Shrubs, Hardy Roses, Vines, Bulbs, Seeds, etc. 
Give us a trial. Write today for general catalog No. 2, 192 
pages, or for No. 1, if a more detailed description of Fruit and 
Ornamental Trees is wanted. 1,200 acres, 46 greenhouses. 
( 80 ) 
THE ST0RRS & HARRISON CO., Box 3oi ; PainesviIle,0hio 
