154 
■Ghe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 2, IDIS 
N. Y. State Fruit Growers’ Association 
Recent Meeting at Rochester 
Tart II. 
I’rof. Chandler, of Cornell University, 
in pruning, advised the system now most 
commonly recommended, of very little 
jumning. The branches of the young trees 
are not i»ei'mitt(>d to come out so near 
each o'her that thei e will be injurious 
crowding; otln-rwise, tbe tree is ))ermit- 
led to shape itself. Unquestionably, by 
this system mor<> fruit will be secured 
(luring the eaily lif(' (pf the tree. As to 
\vh(‘ther or not this would be true 
throughout the life of the tree we have 
no infpprmation whatever. Of cours<‘. 
more jiruning during the early life of the 
tree will be laMpiired to st‘cure tbe open 
head than t(p s(‘ctir(! this form. ,Vs to 
which of tlu'se shapes would lx* most 
]»rofitable in the lotig run, there is no 
informatiipii. It slupuld be borne in mind 
that in niipst cas(‘s more pruning is dom* 
in ati attcni|tt t(j .secure the shap(! wanted 
tluin is necessitry. Jturing the first three 
or four years of the life of the tri'e all 
the pruning would be to remove all but 
the four (pr live liranc.hes that are want¬ 
ed. Such juuning as this would se(*ni de- 
sirabh* for any system. It is more ])rob- 
able that with many trees one of the 
branches will naturally be largei* than the 
others, so if the shaping of the secondary 
branches such as one would want for an 
oiien head is lopt begun lx>f((re tin* trees 
are si'veral yc'ars in the orchard, the linal 
success may lx* just as marked and the 
trees will not be dwarfed so much. It 
i.s seldom, if ev(>r, lu'cessary to prune the 
secondary branclu's of the ycaing trees in 
this climate to secure stoekines.s, though 
.such pruning seems to be necessary in 
dryer, hotter si'ctions. I am inclined to 
be of the ojdnion that the partially ojien 
head tree .secuicd by as little pruning a.s 
tributed throughout the sec*ondary 
branches below. Such pruning has re¬ 
sulted in spreading the tops even of such 
difficult varieties to prune as Sheldon. 
I’rof. U. P. Hedrick, of the New York 
State Experiment Station, on “The Fruit 
Growers’ Attitude to New Fruits,” said: 
No fruit-growmr can test even a small 
part of the 2,000 and more varieties. It 
is the duty of the States through their 
experinlent stations to keej) on probation 
promising new fruits so that fruit 
growers need only try the best of the new 
introductions on his own trial grounds. 
Yet, the fruit grower must understand 
the limitations of a test at an experiment 
station. He must remember that a sort 
that succeeds in one place fails in an¬ 
other. A description of a variety made 
on the Station grounds may not lit the 
fruit in all i)articulars as it grows a 
few miles away. A station, then, <*annot 
select vari(‘ties to suit soils and climates 
in other parts of a State. Varieties 
must, finally, be tested for every locality, 
f(pr every commercial demand and, more 
or less, iiy every fruit-gnow’er. 
'W’i'hat i)urj)ose, then, do the tests of 
fruits by a station serve? Fir.st, by test¬ 
ing many vaideties side by side it can be 
made certain whether each is distinct; 
sec(pnd. the relative time of blooming, 
leafing, rip('ning and of plant maturity 
can be told ; third, precocity or tardiness 
in coming in Ix-aring may be ascertained ; 
fppui-th. susc(‘i»tibility to insect and fun¬ 
gus i)ests may be measured; fifth, the 
station can ascertain for what purpo.se 
varieties are best adapted, whether for 
dessert. culinary purposes, canning, 
evaporating, local market or genei-al mar¬ 
ket ; sixth, varieti<‘S may be described so 
that they may be identified by those men¬ 
tally e()uii)ped to interpret descriptions; 
seventh, it can be told that a variety 
succec'ds, in comparison with standard 
.sorts, on the soil, under the climate and 
with the exi>osure given it on the station 
grounds and that it enjoys the particular 
treatment given. Every one of these re¬ 
sults of variety testing is of permanent 
value to fruit-grower.s. 
Man.v fruit growers believe that varie¬ 
ties change for bett('r or worse, and for 
this rea.son station test.s are inadeciuate. 
They hold, on the one hand, that a 
variety may be adai)ted to a condition 
to which it was not at first suited; on 
the other hand, that under some condi¬ 
tions varieties slowly but surely degen¬ 
erate. The weight of scientific authority 
is against the notions that varieties pro¬ 
pagated by cuttings, grafts, buds or other 
such parts either improve or degenerate. 
Science very generally accepts the be¬ 
lief that “in vegetable production, hered¬ 
ity is complete. Fruit growers, we be¬ 
lieve. may expect a variety to bf'have just 
as did the plant of origin. The descrip¬ 
tions or varieties made by experiment 
stations today will fit for all time. Sta¬ 
tions ought also to test old varieties that 
are little known. In one way and 
another many old varieties have been 
temporarify lost; they pass from culti¬ 
vation or remain for years or forever in 
the limbo of nui-serymen’s catalogues and 
hurtici’.ltui’al reports. Some of these all 
but lost varieties when resurrected and 
given a second period of prob<ation prove 
most worthy. Again, the defectives and 
unmanageable of a generation ago may, 
under modern methods, prove tractable 
and profitable. i\Iany of these old sorts 
never tried, or not well tried, or one- 
tiim^ unmanageables after a more careful 
test or with a better show are found to 
have much merit. 
After all tlmf has been said in favor 
of new vaideties, I must close with a 
mild caution against planting them too 
frei'ly. The tf'iidency on the jiart of 
many comnu'rcial growers is to plant at 
once largely of tlie sorts recommended 
as promising. I’raise of a new variety 
sometimes invests it with a value_ that 
d(x's not belong to it. The demand in the 
market now is for common and well- 
known fruits, and no matter what the 
merit of a new fruit may be, it is often 
difficult to market ■ it advantageously. 
Uonsumers want common commodities 
and not rarities. Keeping in mind, of 
course, that the differi'iit varieties have 
difl'erent values in accordance wdth the 
use to which they are jnit, it is safe to 
generalize and say that the standard 
sorts of all fruits hav(“ the highest value 
A new variety must be looked upon 
as a s|x>culation, an experiment. A com¬ 
mercial fruit grower should let new 
varieties stand the test of time, demon¬ 
strate th(‘ir value, become “standards” 
before jilanting them extensively. What¬ 
ever the fruit, it is a truism to which 
there are but few exci'iitions. that 
standard varieties should form the basis 
of the commercial plantation. Here, 
commonness is no reproach. A few 
plants of a few new varieties will do no 
harm. It is good business and the duty, 
as we have tried to show, of every pro¬ 
gressive fruit-grower to try some new 
sorts. w. H. J. 
Crystallized Maple Syrup 
I have a can of maple syrup just re¬ 
ceived that is not syrup or .sugar—it is 
both. What can I do with it to reduce 
it to syrup and keep it so? .J. H. J. 
Pennsylvania. 
Maple sugar is made by evaporating 
maple sap until the boiling point reaches 
219 degrees at sea level, making an allow¬ 
ance of one degree for every 500 feet of 
elevation. Brought to this temperature, 
a gallon will weigh exactly 11 pounds, 
and, if properly .sealed, will keep in this 
condition indefinitely. If evaporation is 
carried a little beyond this point, or if al¬ 
lowance is not made for elevation, crys¬ 
tals of pure rock candy •wdll form, during 
storage, on the bottom and sides of the 
can, while a portion of the remaining 
syrup will become “inverted” sugar, a 
product closely resembling glucose. If 
the crystals of rock candy are removed, 
and the remaining syrup reln-atcd to re¬ 
move a jiussible musty flavor, the jiroduct 
will be true maiile honey. If the evap¬ 
oration is <*ontinued until a temperature 
of 224 degrees is r(>ach(*d. the syrup will 
.S(*parate during storage, thus forming the 
inaiile molasses of our grandmothers, and 
a wet brown sugar, which, when its mois¬ 
ture has been removed by draining, formg 
what is known as drained maple sugai*. 
If the boiling jioint reaches 220 degrees, 
and is not carried much higher, and the 
product stored in a warm place, the pro¬ 
duct may become transformed into a 
thick, dense, adhesive wax. The sub¬ 
scriber does not state in which condition 
his syrup now is; nevertheless, when it 
lias once \indergone a transformation, it 
is just as impossible to return it to its 
former condition as it is to transform a 
loaf of bread to its original form of flour. 
The nearest approach will be to add water 
and melt and reboil, meantime adding 
w-ater until the syrup is of the required 
density. c. 0 . o. 
possible with tin* idea that when the tice 
is 2.J to .2(1 years old a renewal pruning 
well distrilmted throughout the tree both 
in the lower and upper branches will be 
practiced, would be best for the iterina- 
nent trees in the orchard. I am A'ery 
strongly of the o))inion, however, that al¬ 
most no lu'uning whatever would be liest 
for filler trees. 
As to other fruits than the apiih*. the 
pruning is soim what more simple. All 
of the.se fruits are jdanted rather close, 
and. with the (‘xci'jition of the cherry, 
which seems to need little pruning, all 
should ha\’e renewal pruning. B.v the 
time they have n'aehed maximum bearing 
they will in all cas(*s hav(* occupii'd the 
sjiace available. Further growth can be 
only ujiward. and it would .seem unad- 
vi.sable to havi* the bearing surface higher 
than necessary. I’runing in thi.s case 
would serve not* only to keep more healthy 
fruiting wood, but to keep the bearing 
surface lower, so oi'chard operations 
could bo done more cheaply. Ilem'wal 
pruning for jieaches is uniformly in-ac- 
tici'tl. This may be done by cliiiping back 
tin* One-year-old twigs a part of their 
length, but it is much better done by 
shorfening the main and secondary 
branches, the cutting on any one branch 
not necessarily being done every year. 
This re(iuire.s much less work in pruning; 
it also tends to keep the tree more open 
and with good growth better distributed 
along the branches. With plums the same 
s.vstem is best, except that less pruning 
will be iiecessary. 
('oncerning pears, we have, of course, 
no information eitln*!* from experiments or 
from exiierience of growers that is uni¬ 
form and extensive enough to be at all 
conclusive. However, there is even more 
reason to exiiect gO(xl results from the 
opendiead systt-m such as was discussed 
for the apide than with the apple. It is 
perhaiis more imiiortant to have a re¬ 
newal of si'urs with the jiear than Avith 
apples, but it is of still greater impor¬ 
tance to have a uniform twig growth in 
the ix*ar. Its natural habit is to make 
too vigorous growth in the top, such 
growth being very susceptibb* to blight. 
The greatest resistance to blight comes 
when the new Avood ripens Avell, very 
clo.se up behind the growing points so 
there is neA'er a jieriod A\’hen there are 
long, soft, .succulent portion on the twigs. 
This system Avould render pruning pos¬ 
sible not only in the top but on the sec- 
ondarv branches throughout the length 
of these main branches. Avhich Avould tend 
to give a more uniform distribution oi 
growth throughout the tree. There does 
not seem to be any justification for the 
system of lopping off the top. The re¬ 
sult of this is to encourage Avater sprouts 
in the top, and instead of giving a more 
spreading head it tends rather to ^en¬ 
courage more upright groAvth. With 
some varieties of pears, it may be neces¬ 
sary to prune rather seA’crely in order to 
get* better -size in the fruit. This in¬ 
creased size could be better secured AVith 
such well distributed pruning as one could 
give trees of this form. MTiatever system 
is followed in pruning pears, the upright, 
vigorous groAvth in the top should be cut 
back to outgroAving side branches so that 
the formation of water sprouts is reduced 
to the minimum and the growth is dif 
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