786 
Spriii}; this solectod sood should ho sowji in a “mii*- 
sory I'ow'’ alonj' one side of the j^ardeii. where the 
wedling idants can grow under favorable conditions 
withotit being distnrhed for one or two years. Tlie 
seed should be sown thinly in rows IS to 24 inches 
apart, and many more seeds should he sown than 
plants are neede<l, as 00% of the seedlings should 
he discarded eventually. When the plants come up, 
they should be thiniuHl out to stand live or six inches 
apart in the row. While the seedlings are growing 
in the nursery row the most important step is taken 
toward securing the highest type of plant for setting in 
the permanent plantation. It has been found thatcer- 
tiiiji characteristics of the seedling plants are closely 
correlated with other factors in the hearing jdants, 
so that we can eliminate the undesirable plants in 
the seedling .stage by means of these indicators. 
These seedlings, which have somewhat crooked 
stems, with the leaf-scai’s very prominent and close 
together and with side-branches near the ground, are 
the plants which will produce crooked, spindly or 
stringy .sprouts if placed in the permanejit jdanta- 
tion. Many large vigorous plants will also have 
twisted or flattened stems, and should be discarded. 
As o))i)osed to this type, an amateur can easily re¬ 
cognize seedling ])lants with tall sti-aight smooth 
cylindrical stems, no branches on the lower i>ortion 
of the stalk, and with the leaf-scars inconspicuous 
and far apart. This tyi)e resembles smooth needles, 
with no leaves within two inches of the ground. It 
is this type which we desire to plant in the garden, 
and which will give us fine crops of unusually large, 
regular, smooth tender shoots. The bad type of 
plant should be “rogued out” and desti'oyed, as soon 
as its character becomes evident, leaving more space 
for the development of the good plants. 
TRANSPLANTING.—The first year in the nur.sery 
low should produce plants large enough for trans¬ 
planting, but if the growth is slight, due to unfavoi*- 
able conditions, the plants may be left to grow an¬ 
other year in the nursery row before setting in the 
permanent plantation. When the crowns are ready 
for transplanting, they are easily dug out with a 
spading foi’k, and should be set in deeply furrowed 
rows four feet apart, with the crowns 30 inches apart 
in the row, and about four inches below the .surface. 
The crowns should be covered lightly at first, and the 
furrow should be gradually filled in by cultivation 
during the first season. Early Spring is the best 
time to set asparagus crowns, but these may be dug 
U]) from the nursery row the preceding Fall, if so 
<lesired, and held over Winter in a cool, moist cellar. 
NEW METHODS OP CUI.TITRE.—A new im¬ 
proved method of growing asparagus plants has been 
worked out which is far superior for the i)urpose of 
the amateur grower, and which should also he pro¬ 
fitable for the commercial growers of asparagus. 
3'he seeds are sown in flats under glass about the 
middle of February, using a sandy compost for the 
seedbed medium. The seed should germinate well 
and grow off rapidly under such favoi-able condi¬ 
tions, and as soon as the seedlings are one to two 
inches high, they should be transi)lanted to two-inch 
pots, using a richer potting soil. Those plants which 
are not discarded may be shifted again before the 
l»lants are set in the open, using a three or four-inch 
jiot. In this way i)lants are given a very early and 
favorable start, as cotnpared to those started directly 
in the open, and which are tender during their early 
growth, so that they may be scarcely establi.shed be- 
foi-e Pall. The plants started indoors should be set 
in temporary rows in the open after the weather has 
become quite warm, and should produce very large 
fine crowns ready to go in the permanent i»lantatiou 
the next Spring. j. T. rosa, jk, 
Missouri. 
A Business in Sweet Cider 
AM expecting to put in a cidei- outfit to work up 
our own cider apples. I use an apple grader 
that sizes the apples for boxing and barreling, and 
in some varieties like the Baldwins, when the trees 
are very full, there are a good many hand-picked 
ajiples entirely free from worms or other blemishes 
that run too small for packing and have to be sold 
eithei’ as cider or for seconds. The seconds are 
largely sold at the ])acking house, and will sell bet¬ 
ter with these small apples out, and if sold for cider 
they do not usually bring over 25 or 30 cents per 
hundred. I have thought I could put in a small 
.sanitary cider outfit that would take care of this 
class of fruit at a profit. I am only 10 miles from 
I.ansmg and 25 from .Tackson, Mich., easily accessi¬ 
ble with motor truck. A bu.shel of these apples 
should make three gallons of fancy elder, and, put 
into new, clean barrels. Avould sell. I think, readily, 
for 30 cents per gallon in these cities, to be sold out 
tShe RURAi. NEW-YORKER 
by the glass and gallon while entirely sweet. I 
think I could also sell a large qxiantity at the pack¬ 
ing house by the gallon. By thorough spraying, 
etc., to produce good fruit, and honest i)acking and 
methods in disposing of it, I have built up a fine 
business, and my aj^ples and orchard are well known. 
During the h^all hundreds of autos drive to the or¬ 
chard to see the fruit on the trees. These people 
would see the apixles we were using in making our 
cider, and it would help advertise the entire bu.si- 
ness. At one time every farmer in this vicinity had 
an orchard, hut the San .lose scale has killed nearly 
all of them, and they have been cut down, and now 
these same farmers are depending upon the com¬ 
mercial orchards for the apples they put in their 
cellar.s. They u.se the seconds largely, and by mak¬ 
ing them good they bring a good price, and it also 
enables ine to put up a stiictly fancy grade to ship. 
Po,«sihly some of your Down East suhscribei*s could 
give' us some pointers. I would like to see some 
articles in The R. N.-Y. on cider and vinegar mak¬ 
ing. c. H. w, 
Daton Rapids, Mich. 
R. N.-Y.—A number of our readers are engaged in 
a busiue.ss much like the one suggested. No doubt 
they Aviil give us some of the detaiks. You must con¬ 
sider the effect of i)rohihition laws. Michigan has 
gone “dry,” and this will affect the cider bu.siness one 
Avay or the other. It will either increase the demand 
for a “soft drink” or arouse opposition to the sale of 
any pos.sible intoxicant. Sweet cider or apple juice 
is a good and healthful drink, Avhile “hard” cider is 
wor.se than beer. In New York the law holds that 
hard cider—which has really begun to ferment—is 
to be classed as intoxicating liquox’. Under prohib¬ 
itory laws there is no doubt that the cider business 
i 
will be closely supervised. Aside from these pos- 
.sibilities the plan here suggested is practical and 
ought to make a good side line for the business. In 
our own case xve found a great demand for cider, 
but we gave up making it on account of objectionable 
features connected with'.selling it. 
Sod in Orchards; Lime 
A man in Connecticut has a new. planting of young 
apples and peaches on a lot where he is obliged to run 
field corn for green fodder this year, between the tree.s. 
He plans to seed to grass and clover. Laud will nee'd 
lime to give good clover. He claims as orchard 
acre) is foj- home use he can keep it in sod, if trees 
are properly trimmed, sprayed and given five pounds 
acid phosphate yearly. I have said peaches for maxi¬ 
mum results need clean culture (no sod); apples all 
right in sod if not cut for hay, but allowed to lie as a 
mulch. He must lime to get the clover for hay (he 
wants to cut for hay in 1919 but not afterward), as he 
is i)repariug other land for 1920 hay. He claims he 
should not lime, as it Avill hurt his trees, especially the 
peaches, as no fruit will be borne for three years at 
least. I claimed his liming for 1919 clover will not hurt 
his trees. Who is right ? j. s. R. 
LL we can give you i.s our own experience and 
Avhat we have learned through observation with 
regard to growing trees in sod. We have never been 
able to get the best results from peaches except 
through thorough culture. On a few soils it seems 
t(' he pos.sible to gi-ow fair crops for a time by cut¬ 
ting the gra.ss and piling it around the trees, or add¬ 
ing manure or other forms of mulch, with an abun¬ 
dance of fertilizer. As a general proposition, how¬ 
ever, it must be said that the peach needs clean cul¬ 
ture, and, with rare exceptions, peach ti-ees grown 
in a sod Avill not be fully profitable. 
As for apples, Ave find this largely a matter of soil, 
and to some extent a matter of variety. To groAv 
apples successfully in sod, you mu.st have natural 
grass laud. That means laud that is Avell drained 
and at the same time naturally moist, and a fair 
proportion of clay in its make-up. On oui' oAvn farm 
we have one field on the east side of a hill, Avhere a 
block of apple trees groAving in sod has proved very 
profitable. This field is naturally moist. It lies be- 
loAv seA'eral underground springs. The Avater Avorks 
doAvn through it, but the slojxe is such that drainage 
is good. Grass groAvs on this soil naturally and Avell, 
and Avhen this is cut and piled around the trees, they 
produce annual crops of good quality, and Avith 
profit. In order to make sod culture pay, you must 
be prepared to put the equivalent of a good-.sized 
hay cock around every tree each year. 
Less than a quarter of a mile from this field, and 
on the same farm, is a place Avhere sod culture has 
not been successful. Here the land is lighter and 
thinner; that is, the underlying rock comes closer 
to the surface. It is not natural grass land, al¬ 
though In a moist sea.son it produces a fair crop. 
In a dry season, and e.specially through July and 
August, this field Avill bake hard if left in sod. and 
the trees Avill suffer even though the grass is cut 
and piled around them, and extra manure or trash 
added. When this land is ploAved and given thor¬ 
.Txtne 15, lOlS 
ough culture, uj) to the 1st of Augxist, it does much 
better, and thus Ave conclude that there is no rule 
I’egarding the proper culture of an orchard to be laid 
dOAvn for all soils. AVe think, too. there is a differ¬ 
ence in varieties, as is certainly indicated on our 
OAvn farm. With us such varieties as Northern Spy. 
Ibildwin and McTnto.sh seem peculiarly adapted to 
sod culture. Avhen it is i)roperIy Avorked out. A'ari- 
eties like AA'ealthy or Sutton or Wine.sap do not Avith 
us thrive as Avell in sod as either Baldwin or Mc- 
Hilosh. They seem to thrive better under culture. 
The method of planting may have something to do 
AAith this. Our experience is that when Hees ai*e 
closely ])runed. both top and root, and planted in 
rather small holes, they are likely to make a deeper 
root system, and form Avhat corresponds to tap roots, 
Avhich Ave think gives them a better Avater system 
underground. There Avill be no use in setting out 
a young orchard in clover or grass, expecting to take 
all the groAvth aAvay for hay. The trees cannot stand 
it. and Avill suffer. 
As for the use of lime, our experience is that 
peach trees are inclined to respond to it. We do not 
think they are injuied by the lime—in fact, we have 
u.sed light api)lica(i()ns of lime each year in our 
peach orchard and considered it profitable prac¬ 
tice. The apple trees seem to prefer a slightly 
acid .soil, and lime for the apple trees alone is rarely 
necessary, although in some soils tliere is not aAmil- 
able lime enough to make solid Avood growth, for we 
must remember that all wood contains a large pro¬ 
portion of lime in its ash. and must haA’e an abun¬ 
dance of that material. The general rea.son for us¬ 
ing lime in an apple orchard is that it brings in the 
grass and clover to Ixetter advantage, either as a 
cover crop, or as a permanent growth. Alost soils 
are badly lacking in organic matter, and in order to 
supply this AA-e must plow under cover crops or sod 
as fre<iuently as iiossible. AA'e cannot obtain such 
crops to the best advantage unles.s Ave use .some lime, 
and Ave do not see that in the case mentioned this 
lime could have any injurious effect upon these trees. 
Frost Damage in the Hudson Valley 
.AS'r AA'inter during Ihe last of December and the 
first part of January Ave had a prolonged penod 
of inten.se cold. For more than a Aveek the mercury 
was never above z(‘ro at any part of the daj'; and a 
fcAv days it registered as low as 24 and 20 beloAv. 
High Avinds ]irevailed during the ‘most of this 
period. It froze in cellars Avhex*e it had neA^er done 
so hefoi-e, and at the present time Ave are seeing 
many disastx'ous results of that record-bx*eakixxg cold 
snap. T.arge ai)ple trees Avei’e frozen, xuany I’eport- 
ing that the.v heard thexn cx-ack like rifle or pistol 
shots. Out of 000 or SOO bearing trees I lost but 
about half a dozen, but out of 1.200 one to five year 
old ti'ces, I lost over 300. fidie pear trees seemed to 
be able to resist the intense cold bettex’, as very feAv 
show any AA'inter injury. 
Many of my neighboi’s Avei’e moi-e unfortunate 
than I in the matter of injux\v to older trxH's, but no 
•one I’epoxds anything like my per cent of loss amoxig 
younger slock. In a great xneasui’e I can accoxxxit 
for this in this Avay: Alany of my trees which Avex’e 
lost Avere Spy Avhich had been budded ixi Augxxst. 
In order to make that Avork successful had received 
intensive cultivation during Spring and eax'ly Sum- 
xner .-ind consequently Avere abnoi-mally full of sap. 
But here are soxne things I cannot explaiix. Every 
peach tree I have came through all right, and the 
pecans shoAV less injui-y than shagbarks and English 
Avalnuts. 
Idle BaldAvin, Avhich constitutes from a sixth to 
a third of our orchards gt^ierally, failed to bloom; 
but xnost other varieties blooxued profusely, so that 
Ave anticipated having considex’ably more than a fxxll 
average apple crop, and Avhile thei;e Avas no “blossom 
stox-m” to affect pollination, yet there has beeix no 
“set,” and at present I Avould not estixxiate our pro.s- 
pects at over 40 per cent. One groAver with avIxoxu I 
di.scussed the xiiatter ascribes it to lack of honey 
bees, Avhich also paid heavy toll to the AA’inter, bxxt 
I am inclined to believe the vitality of the buds Avas 
injured by the cold, just as the gernx of the corn 
Ava.s. 
The neAV clock is not popular in this section. Last 
year Ave very materially increased our acreage, but 
this year Ave have had to employ tractors and hix*e 
extra help in order to attain axi avex-age, and as Ave 
can hardily a.scribe that state of things to the cold 
AA’intei", Ave feel that the neAv clock is to be blamed. 
A xiumber say that they cannot and Avill not stand 
for it Avhen it coxnes to harvest tixne. I’ersonally, I 
very much enjoy the daylight period one gains after 
supi>er—but that does not buy shoes for the baby or 
pi'oduce food for our Allies! iiaxxvey losee. 
Dutchess Co., Ncav York. 
