034 
itself. The distribution of the fruit bearing surface 
concerns the first factor and yet may be considered 
separately in some features. All forms of pruning 
affect the life and vigor of a tree and yet a treat¬ 
ment that will result in the greatest possible vigor 
may not prove to he the most profitable practise 
from the purely commercial standpoint Every 
pruning operation should be considered first as to 
its effect n|x>n the tree itself and in the second 
place as to its commercial possibilities. Why all 
this general discussion of pruning before the matter 
of Summer pruning is presented? So that we may 
better understand what relation it lias to Winter 
pruning, which will lie discussed next week. 
M. A. BLAKE. 
The Selection of Bud-sticks in Budding. 
1 BEGIN by expressing a doubt as to whether 
many l'ruit growers will find it profitable to grow 
their own t rees. Tree growing is a specialized busi¬ 
ness requiring skill which only those in the busi¬ 
ness can attain, and care at every turn of the sea¬ 
son which fruit growers will hardly find time to 
give. Yet, there are many, who, to make certain 
that their fruits are true to name, will be glad 
to take poorer trees of their own growing in prefer¬ 
ence to buying “a pig in the poke” from nursery¬ 
men. To these, beginning with a few directions as 
to how budding is done, I may offer some advice on 
selecting hud sticks. 
Budding consists of inserting a hud of one tree 
underneath the bark of another. The hud. in the 
commonest method of budding, is inserted by mak¬ 
ing a T-shaped cut in the stock so that the bark 
may he lifted and the lmd inserted. The hud is cut. 
from below' upward with a drawing motion of the 
knife. Tinder the hud, the cut takes a little of the 
wood. Some budders remove this bit of wood; 
others do not. With the leaf stem as a handle, the 
hud is inserted into the T-shaped incision until its 
“heel” is flush with the transverse cut 
Waxing is not necessary but the hud must he 
securely tied. For this purpose raffia, strips of 
fibre from a palm, is universally used. It is cut 
in lengths of twenty inches and must be moistened 
to make it soft and pliable. The strand is brought 
firmly across the upper end of the bud to keep it 
from working out. Beginning then at the bottom of 
the slit the raffia is wound smoothly upward cov¬ 
ering everything but the “eye” of the bud, after 
which it is tied in a single square knot. The tie 
must hold the bud firmly in place. In from two to 
four weeks, depending on the growth of the stock, 
the raffia is cut to prevent girdling of the tree. 
The hud by this time should he “set” lmt should not 
have put forth growth, since it is desired that it 
lie dormant until the following Spring, when the 
stock is cut away just above the bud. The accom¬ 
panying illustration makes the whole process plain. 
Budding is used iu the propagation of trees and in 
top-working young trees set in the orchard. In 
either case the stock must be of small diameter. In 
propagating trees in the nursery, the stocks ought 
not to he more than one year old. In budding the 
tops of young trees for the purpose of changing the 
tree into a different variety, it is preferable to set 
the bud in wood of small diameter, not more than 
one or two years old. Budding can, of course, be 
done only when the hark will peel which is in the 
Spring and again in late Summer or early Autumn- 
Budding in the North is nearly always performed in 
Summer or Autumn. 
The cutting from which the buds are taken is 
known to budders as the “bud stick.” It consists 
of the young growth of the season in which the 
budding is done and is cut when ready for use, the 
leaves being trimmed so as to leave about a quarter 
of an inch of the stem as a handle to the bnd. 
After trimming, the sticks are wrapped in damp bur¬ 
lap and taken to the field for use; once dried, they are 
worthless. Not all of the growths are strong enough 
or good enough for budding and neither are all the 
buds on the stick suitable for budding. The bud- 
dor must, therefore, make a selection and if he is 
to have success lie must select carefully. It is in 
regard to this selection that I am asked to give ad¬ 
vice. 
Choice is easily made as regards buds on the 
stick. Only the plumpest and best buds should be 
cut from the bud-sticks unless the budder is hard- 
pressed for propagating material. This means, 
usually, that the buds at the top, less frequently at 
the bottom, must be discarded, since the plumpest 
and the host nourished buds are not found at the 
ends of Hie stick. It is not so easy to select sticks 
hut several rules may be laid down. Suckers or 
“water sprouts” should never he used since the buds 
on them are usually too weak to make a good 
growth. If it is desired that buds mature early or 
"THIS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
if it seems likely that they are not developing prop¬ 
erly, early maturity and better development may he 
secured by pinching off the ends of the growing 
shoots which are to make the hud sticks. A prime 
requisite is that the buds be token from a vigorous, 
healthy tree of the variety desired. For this reason 
nurserymen almost universally take buds from trees 
growing in the nursery. Fruit growers should take 
buds from the youngest trees in their orchards. In 
either case, choose the uppermost shoots where the 
leaves are largest and opportunity for growth is 
l>est. It is seldom that good buds can he found in 
the interior of the tree or on the lowest branches. 
This is a case in which “well begun is half done” 
for all subsequent treatment fails when small weak 
buds are used. 
A good deal is being said abont taking buds from 
trees of known good characters. Tlie writer finds 
but little to encourage him to believe that varieties 
can he improved by this kind of hud selection. 
Trees of any variety vary tremendously in orchards 
because of differences in soil, moisture, food, sun¬ 
light, the effects of insects and fungi and so on. All 
evidence seems to show that these variations are not 
transmitted in the slightest degree. Probably the 
stock has more to do with the variation of trees 
in an orchard than all other causes combined and 
the selection of stocks becomes, therefore, much more 
important than the selection of trees from which to 
take buds. Once in a while trees sport and buds 
from these sports come true, but such, variations 
can Ite told only by propagation for a generation or 
more. To pretend to he able to tell on the basis of 
inspection that a variation will come true is quack- 
Cutting Bud-Sticks. Fig. 354. 
ery pure and simple. From all evidence now at 
hand propagators of fruit trees may proceed on the 
assumption that a bud of any variety is most liter¬ 
ally “a chip of the old block.” n. p. iiedrick. 
Geneva, N. Y., Exp. Station. 
The Measure of Soil Fertility. 
T HE picture at Fig. 353 is taken from the An¬ 
nual Report of the Wisconsin Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. This is one of the strongest publications is¬ 
sued by any of these State institutions. It is al¬ 
ways full of interesting and valuable matter. The 
picture is used to illustrate an article by Dr. H. L. 
Russell, the Director. He makes the point that a 
soil must he judged in its fertility by the lowest 
amounts of its needed element, much like a chain. 
The strength of that chain is not determined by 
the big perfect links, but rather by the smaller ones 
which may be cracked or rusted through. When 
the strain comes the chain does not break at the 
July 31, 191.". 
strongest point, hut gives way at the weakest part, 
and it is just the same with a soil. 
Take the illustration of the tub here shown. The 
stave represented by phosphorus is shorter than the 
others, and of course that is where the water be¬ 
gins to flow over, as more and more of it is poured 
into the tub. It would be the same with the soil. 
If phosphorus or potash were lacking, the measure 
of the crop would T** determined by the failure of 
the soil to supply, this needed element. Perhaps a 
good illustration might he made by speaking of a 
innek soil. These soils of mucks or swamps are 
quite rich in nitrogen, hut generally very low in¬ 
deed in both phosphoric acid and potash. Plant 
seed in these soils, and the plants will grow up to 
the limit of their ability to obtain potash or phos¬ 
phoric acid. After they get to that point the extra 
supply of nitrogen will not drive them along further, 
hut they stop and will not make their full growth. 
Therefore, in handling such a soil if would not be 
economical to add a heavy dressing of stable ma¬ 
nure. because that in much the same way contains 
considerable nitrogen, but is lacking in phosphate 
and potash. The addition of 150 pounds to the am; 
of muriate of potash, or of a quantity of acid phos¬ 
phate would greatly increase the crop grown on the 
muck soil, because these things add what the soil 
needs, or you might say they increase the length of 
the short stave and thus make the tub hold more 
water. 
In this illustration lime is given as one of the 
staves. It might perhaps be a better illustration to 
have the hoops also marked lime, because in addi¬ 
tion to its plant food value, lime has a mechanical 
and chemical effect as well, and often its power to 
tighten up the soil so as to make it hold water to 
better advantage is the chief reason for its ap¬ 
plication. 
A Ninety Ton Silo for Ninety Dollars. 
Part II. 
EFORE the concrete is entirely hard these 
blocks are removed and after waiting for the 
concrete to finish setting the studding is set up, one 
in each of the holes so cast. Twelve foot studding 
is used, ol’ in fact any length that is convenient to 
get out, and have to be spliced. This is done by cut¬ 
ting them diagonally across making the length of 
the splice aboxit IS inches. Care is taken not to let 
any two splices come opposite each other as this 
might weaken the frame somewhat. The form of 
this splice as well as the method of alternating 
them and bracing the studding is shown in Fig. 355. 
After the first tier of studding is set up and braced 
the work of hoarding is begun. In bracing stay the 
studding to posts driven outside as the inside must 
lie kept clear for hoarding. See that all the stud¬ 
ding are perfectly plumb and begin hoarding. For 
convenience have the boards all of a width so that 
they will match on anywhere. Care must, be taken 
to break joints, not letting a number of hoards 
match on the same stud as this will weaken the silo 
wall and throw it out of round. For successful 
work this course must he started perfectly level. 
When the hoarding has been carried as high as con¬ 
venient put on the lath up to the same point. This 
may be put on spirally if desired and is perhaps 
put on a little faster in this way. Next build 
a staging inside by placing a short post in the mid¬ 
dle (a fence post is about right) and staging sup¬ 
ports radiating out from this like the spokes of a 
wheel to the silo walls. A second section is then 
carried up splicing the studding as necessary. The 
center pole of the staging must be made up of 
short sections so it can be taken down and got out 
of the silo easily when it comes time to plaster it, 
the plastering being begun at the top. 
This method is continued until the top is reached. 
When the desired height is reached cut the studding 
off even by means of a line carried from stud to 
stud with the level and put on an ordinary 8 or 12- 
sided plate. The roof is of the usual construction 
and will not he discussed here as it is the purpose 
of tins article to deal with the unusual features of 
this silo. It as well as the plate can be laid out 
full size on some mow or barn floor and the lengths 
and cuts of the different members found by direct 
measurement. 
The plastering is begun at the top, a 1 :2% mix¬ 
ture being used, and continued down the sides. It 
is put on about one-half inch in thickness. Before 
beginning the plastering the sides should he well 
wetted to prevent the tob rapid drying of the con¬ 
crete. In the silo from which the data for this ar¬ 
ticle was obtained this was done by means of an 
ordinary barrel sprayer and 50 feet of three-quarter 
inch hose. The same sprayer was used to keep the 
plaster damp after it was put on. As the work 
progressed cement and water mixed to a cream-like 
