1914. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
©73 
Ruralisms 
Apple Trees Fail to Bear. 
C AN you tell me what I can do to make 
perfectly healthy apple trees bear? 
They are among others that bear 
year after year abundantly, but seem to 
refrain, although they are in excellent 
condition. o. w. I’. 
Massachusetts. 
Such trees can often be forced into 
bearing by girdling them in early Sum¬ 
mer. I fear it is too late this, year to do 
this to be effective for the next crop, and 
it might injure the trees if done now or 
later. By this I mean to peel out a ring 
of bark about two inches wide all around 
the trunk of each unproductive tree. But 
this should be done late in May or in 
June, so that there will be time to form 
fruit buds. It might do good and would 
do no harm now to cut right through the 
bark, but not peel any of it out. 
II. E. VAN DEJIAN. 
Mulch for Ginseng. 
1 WOULD like some information on 
what to use for making mulch for a 
ginseng bed. My experience is that 
it would require a more rich and sub¬ 
stantial mulch than for culture of most 
other plants. c. J. u. 
Pennsylvania. 
The best mulch that I have ever tried 
or heard of for ginseng beds is old saw¬ 
dust that has gone through the ferment¬ 
ing process. New sawdust has acids in 
it that will injure the ginseng. About 
two inches in depth is sufficient for keep¬ 
ing down most of the weeds and the 
ground moist. The soil should be made 
very rich in humus with old wood mold 
and coarse, rotted manure before plant¬ 
ing the roots. A heavy dose of bone meal 
and acid phosphate is very beneficial also. 
II. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Grafting Chestnuts. 
W ILL you give me some information 
regarding the grafting of chestnut 
trees? I can successfully graft 
and bud any kind of fruit tree, but fail 
on the chestnut. I have a piece of land 
that has had the timber cut off, and there 
are lots of chestnut stumps growing 
sprouts five to 10 feet high. Can those 
sprouts be successfully grafted with some 
of our large varieties, and how and when 
should this work be done? D. s. M. 
Pennsylvania. 
Chestnut, trees can be grafted very suc¬ 
cessfully if the proper way is followed, 
although it is not done so easily as with 
fruit trees. It has been done success¬ 
fully in the ordinary way and at the 
same season as ordinary grafting, but far 
better results have followed doing it after 
growth has started in late Spring time. 
The scions should be cut before there is 
the slightest chance of the buds starting 
to swell, and be stored where they will 
be cool and moist. When the trees to be 
grafted have begun to start the grafting 
should be begun. At first the regular 
cleft and tongue or splice methods should 
be followed. Later, when the bark will 
peel easily, the bark graft is the proper 
method to use. This is done by trimming 
the scion all from one side, making a 
long, slim point. The wood is not split, 
but the bark slit on the stub and the 
point of the scion introduced in top of 
this slit, then forced down under the bark 
the full length of the wedge or trimmed 
surface. The scion so set should be tied 
firmly in place with a cotton string or 
raffia and the wound waxed over com¬ 
pletely. It is a great benefit to the 
grafts to cover them wtih paper bags, by 
inverting one over each graft and tying 
a string over the lower part to hold it in 
place. This keeps the moisture from 
escaping while the union is taking place. 
After the growth is well started on the 
graft the paper bag should be removed or 
torn open at the top so the sprouts may 
have egress. 
By applying to the State Experiment 
Station officials at State College, or to 
the Department of Agriculture at Harris¬ 
burg, a publication can be obtained that 
gives information about chestnut culture 
and grafting. H. E. V. D. 
Tomatoes Not Setting Fruit. 
W ILL you explain the following? I 
am growing Ponderosa tomatoes; 
plants are 3% feet high and very 
strong, and for about, the last three weeks 
in bloom, but up to date there is no sign 
of any fruit setting on. The flowers, 
after blooming, seem to dry up and fall 
off, leaving the bare stem. Is there such 
a thing as male and female plants or 
flowers in tomatoes, as I can recognize 
only one kind of flowers on the bushes. 
The same happened last year with pole 
beans; plants grew up to be seven feet 
high, but failed to bloom. w. H. 
Long Island, N. Y. 
This question is rather difficult to an¬ 
swer, as the conditions of the soil and 
the weather they have been subjected to 
have not been stated. All tomatoes have 
bi-sexual blooms—that is, the blooms have 
both the male and female organs, and 
are almost invariably self-pollenizing. 
When the flower fails from any cause to 
develop stamens or pollen-bearing organs, 
fecundity fails to take place, and the 
flower withers and drops from the stems. 
This condition can be caused by one or 
more of several conditions the plant is 
subjected to, the most common of which 
is over-stimulation of the plant. If the 
soil is very rich in nitrogen the plant will 
be over-stimulated, resulting in a rank 
growth of vine and the setting of very 
little if any fruits until late in the sea¬ 
son, when it will have used up the over¬ 
supply of nitrogen. By this time the 
plant will have nearly reached its normal 
size and the food supply available will be 
a more evenly balanced ration, when the 
plant will, as as a rule, set an abundance 
of fruit. Contiuuous wet, cloudy or fog¬ 
gy weather will also prove detrimental to 
a greater or lesser extent, and sometimes 
prevent the pollenizing of the blooms en¬ 
tirely, which, of course, will prevent the 
setting of fruits; but this condition is 
remedied as soon as the weather clears, 
and is therefore only temporary. Too 
much shade will also be detrimental to 
the setting and development of fruits, 
but when the plants are situated where 
they have the benefit of the full light of 
the sun, and fail to set any fruit, it is 
pretty certain they are over-stimulated. 
Tomatoes do not require a strong soil, 
and will always do better in a rather poor 
soil than in a strong soil. 
Jarring the bloom with a small stick 
will sometimes prove helpful, provided 
there is a proper development of the 
blooms. The jarring of the blooms should 
be done between the hours of 10 and two 
o’clock. K. 
Grapes Fail to Bear. 
I BOUGHT six vines each from a repu¬ 
table firm in Fall of 1911, Worden, 
Green’s Early and Salem, said to be 
two years old. They were planted in 
November. In October. 1912, they were 
replanted and again showed nice shoots 
during the next Summer, 1919. These 
vines received no care during the Spring 
and Summer of 1913, but in the Fall 
were given a lot of rotted manure, placed 
over the roots. They look very fine and 
healthy, but only two vines show any 
evidence of bearing, a single bunch each. 
No insects, bugs, etc, have been at them. 
The ground has been cultivated regularly, 
the vinos have had good care, are placed 
in a sunny position, planted north to 
south and have the sunshine all day 
long. k. r. 
As a rule grapes do not bear much 
fruit until the third and in some locali¬ 
ties the fourth year after transplanting 
to vineyard. I am of the opinion that 
these 'ues would have fruited satisfactor¬ 
ily this year, if they had not been re¬ 
moved to another location in 1912, provid¬ 
ed the soil and climatic conditions were 
congenial to them and the vines not over 
stimulated by the application of too much 
nitrogenous manure. I think they will 
fruit satisfactorily next year. 
A large and thrifty growth of vine is 
no sure indication that any variety of 
grape will bear satisfactorily or that they 
will produce any fruit at all. Some va¬ 
rieties are very capricious, bearing fruit 
only in certain localities specially suited 
to their requirements, this is particularly 
true of nearly all the Rogers hybrids, of 
which the Salem is one. Out of 30 or more 
varieties originated by Mr. Rogers, near 
Salem, Mass., only three or four of them 
proved of any real commercial value, and 
the territory in which they will succeed 
is quite limited. Green’s Early, Brighton, 
Niagara and a number of others that are 
favorites in certain sections of the hill 
country in New York and Pennsylvania 
are utterly worthless in other sections of 
those States. In Western Pennsylvania, 
about 35 years ago, my father tested 
about all the varieties of grapes intro¬ 
duced up to that time, including all the 
Rogers hybrids. The only varieties that 
gave satisfactory crops were the Concord, 
Hartford, Ives, Martha, Isabella, and 
Blackhawk. The Brighton, and all the 
Rogers hybrids, were partial or total fail¬ 
ures at fruiting, the vines would make a 
very strong growth and most of the sorts 
would set more or less fruit (some failing 
to set fruit at all) but they were so sub¬ 
ject to mildew that we very seldom got 
enough ripe fruit to test them for flavor. 
The Worden, like its parent the Concord, 
succeeds well almost everywhere and in 
almost all kinds of soils, and when not 
over-supplied with nitrogen is a depend¬ 
able cropper. 
It might be well to withhold manures 
of all kinds from these vines for the next 
year, not applying any until the 
Fall of 1915—or Spring of 1916, 
as the strong growth the vines are 
making this season indicates they are 
well supplied with nitrogenous matter, 
perhaps with more than they should have. 
I think the Worden will prove suitable to 
your section and will bear a good crop 
next year, but Green’s Early and Salem 
are rather uncertain, if the soil and cli¬ 
matic conditions are not to their exact 
liking. If conditions should prove to | 
their liking they will reward you with | 
large crops of most delicious fruit. If 
your soil is naturally rich. I would ad¬ 
vise using manures very sparingly until 
the vines have reached some age. Coarse ! 
ground raw bone will give much better 
results, and can be applied in liberal 
quantities around the vines without dan¬ 
ger of stimulating them to make abnor¬ 
mal wood growth. It will require at 
least another year, and perhaps two, to 
test these vines out thoroughly, but next 
year should show partly nearly what 
you can expect of them. K. 
Through this part of the State adja¬ 
cent to the State's capital, the peach 
crop promises to be large. I never had 
better prospects for a fine crop. We 
are well on with thriving fruit, and the 
fruit is very fine for this date. We have 
our first ripe peaches now. An early 
variety never worth very much any¬ 
where, but its a peach for the folks that 
can’t wait very well till good peaches 
come in. Our first really good peach is 
Carman, which ripen in this section 
about the middle of August. The usual 
varieties follow in regular order, and end j 
up in September. We grow the largest, 
finest and best the world produces. 
Pennsylvania. E. c. b. 
Aunt Eliza came up the walk and said 
to her small nephew: “Good morning, 
Willie. Is your mother in?” “Sure 
she’s in.” replied Willie truculently. 
“D’yu s’pose I’d be workin’ in the gar¬ 
den on Saturday morning if she wasn’t?” 
—Ladies’ Home Journal. 
GROUND LIMESTONE 
FOR 
SOIL IMPROVEMENT 
ALFALFA SEASON ORDER 
NOW APPROACHING EARLY 
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DANBURY, CONN. 
PIONEER IN NEW ENGLAND 
WHERE ROCK 
PHOSPHATE PAID 
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secured % ton increase in Alfalfa.’’ 
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crop was increased 1 T. and 1 % bu. per 
acre by Daybreak Rock Phosphate.” 
ILLINOIS:—“At the rate of 800 pounds 
per acre I secured the first year an in¬ 
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MISSISSIPPI:—“Daybreak Rock Phos¬ 
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Daybreak Rock Phosphate is paying in 
37 States. It will pay you to write us 
for booklet and prices. 
FEDERAL CHEMICAL CO. 
GROUND ROCK DEPT. 
No. 30 W. Main St., Columbia, Tenn. 
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Testimonials and catalog free, showing pictures of har¬ 
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Accurate indicator for 100 to 3,500 lbs. per acre, 
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leal Bone and Potash' 
In some sections wheat growers refuse to use any other phos¬ 
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bone has been used, the more urgent becomes the need of 
POTASH 
Try 200 to 400 pounds per acre of a mixture of equal parts of bone and 
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See that your dealer carries Potash. If he does 
not, write us for prices, stating amount needed, 
and ask for our free book, “Fall Fertilizers.’* 
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NEW YORK—42 BROADWAY 
Ifev*' ■ 
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DOWN 
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F. Fertilizers 
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OFFICE AND WORKS. PORTLAND. CONN. 
