B-/6e RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1091 
Fruit Growers at N, Y. Experiment Station 
PAIiT II. 
I)I!( II.MM) ('OVEK CllOl’S.—Tli(> mixture 
of Canada pea.s and Iniekwheat was 
found to be very .satisfactory, the only 
l) 0 .ssible objection beiiiK that the exceed¬ 
ingly rank growth, averaging nearly 2V{* 
veet in the latter part of September, in” 
terfered rather seriously with the gather¬ 
ing <if the fruit. This was found par¬ 
ticularly objectionable on wet days. Tlu' 
plot planted to this crop had been pre¬ 
viously planted to Crimson clover, which 
had failed. The ])lot of blue peas and 
buckwheat, while not standing .so thick 
upon the ground, made fully as good a 
growth. It is suspected, however, that 
it is .st»nu'what more difiicult to get a 
.stand with the blue peas than Avith the 
Canada jieas. Tin* mixture of cow 
peas and buckwheat looked unite 
widl. chiefly, however, from the appeai'- 
ance given by the buckwheat, since it is 
stated tliat this formed the jirincipal part 
of the cover crop. The cow penis killed 
much earlier in the Fall than either the 
blue peas or Canada jieas. The mixture 
of Winter A’etch and Winter rye Avas, in 
many resjiects, very satisfactory. A good 
stand Avas .se'cured. 'I'liis makes an ex¬ 
cellent cover crop becau.se it forms a 
perfect mat of vegetation over the ground 
and does not groAV tall enough to interfere 
Avith the gathering of fruit Avhich ripens 
as late as Winter ajiph's. SAveet cloA'er 
did not do Avell under the shade of the 
trees, the orchard being an old one and 
the ground considerably shaded. Mam¬ 
moth clover Avas tpiite satisfactory, al¬ 
though the substance furnished Avas not 
as great as in the case of most of the pre¬ 
ceding mixtures. Sainfoin makes a short 
Springy groAvth Avho.se value is probably 
quite similar to that of Mammoth clover. 
DvAarf Fs.sex rape made the rankest 
growth of all. being about 2 % feet, Avith 
the broad leaves lying close together. As 
in a previous case this Avas found dis¬ 
advantageous in gathering the fruit. It 
was also found that field mice Avere in¬ 
clined to harbor in this abundant A’egeta- 
tion. and incidentally to injure the trees, 
fif all the coA'cr crops it Avas decided that 
the mixture of Wintei- A-etcli and Winter 
rye Avas probably the best, all things con¬ 
sidered. for bearing orchards; hoAvever. 
the Mammoth clovi'r ga\e almost as good 
results. Crimson clover, although not 
used in this expiu-iment. has been tried at 
the station many tinu's. For this neigh¬ 
borhood it is decidedly unsatisfactory, as 
it is difiicult to secure a stand, and the 
clover does not do Avell on diuise clay 
soils and often Avinter-kills. 
Exi>ei{imi:nt.s ix Tiii.xning Futiit.— 
At the close of the expeilment the con¬ 
clusions Aveu’e as follows: No exact rule 
for thinning apples can be given, the re¬ 
quirements A'arying Avith age, size and 
sea.son._ In general, after all Avormy and 
othenA'ise inferior specimens Avere re¬ 
moved and not more than one fruit from 
each cluster Avas left, additional fruit 
should be removed if the apples are h'ss 
than six inches ajiai't. Early thinning 
gave best results and the Avriter adA'ises 
that the Avork be done Avithin three or 
four Aveeks after the fruits set, even if 
the .Iiine drop is not yet completed. No 
method of raking or jarring the tree is 
recommended. One of the most A'aluabh' 
things about thinning is that the inferior 
specimens are removed, and this discrim¬ 
ination can only be done by hand. Wher¬ 
ever the trees are Avell filled with fruit, 
thinning imjiroved the color and size and 
consequent market value. The thinned 
fruit graded higher in all resiiects than 
that Avhich Avas unthinned. There Avas no 
material change in either the amount or 
regularity of fruit jiroduction. In this 
respect the i'esults were rather surprising, 
as it Avas anticipated that prcAmnting the 
tree from overbearing Avould increase the 
yield on the ofi’ years. It is stated that 
the cost of thinning mature trees Avhich 
Avere Avell ]oade<l should not exceed 50 
cents per tree and iirobably Avould average 
less than that. The general conclusion 
Avas that it AA’ould pay to thin aiiples 
where there is a large croii set and the 
chance for small fruit Aa'ry great. Othei’- 
Avise it would not pay except in those in¬ 
stances Avhere fruit is 7-Mnoved to prevent 
the breaking of the tree. 
IVi.vTEH Ix.nnn- ok Fiu it '^riuoKs.—The 
giiiAver is Avarned not to < ut out trees at 
once, as many times those trees Avill groAV 
and even bear fruit, although they appear 
to be A’ei'y seriously injured in the Spring. 
Many trees Avere pruned in Auirious man¬ 
ners in the Spring to see if this Avould 
have any effect on the quantity of fruit 
borne. It Avas found that in the case of 
young peach trees a severe pruning, even 
to the cutting back of large limbs, Avas 
ajiiiarently advantageous. The same 
treatment of old trees Avas a failure, and 
it was further found that the presence of 
a cro)> of fruit seemed to retard the nat¬ 
ural healing of the injured trees. It is 
advised Avhen trees have been injured to 
prune them at least lightly in all cases. 
Expeuime.xts With Dw^kf Thef.s.— 
After a lO-year test in three orchards, 
under Avidcly varying climatic and soil 
conditions, the station cannot recommend 
dAvarf apple trees for the professional 
growi'r. 'I'hey come into bearing but 
little, if any, earlier than standard trees 
of the same varieties, and the amount of 
fruit so produced is too small to make 
the difference in bearing age of the tAvo 
cl.asses of trees of commercial A'alue. 
Though 10 years is too short a time to 
t(‘st productiveness thoroughly, there are 
no indications that a larger number of 
(Iwaif trees on an acre will yield more 
fruit than the jiroiau- number of .standard 
trees. In these experiments, also, the 
fruit on the dwarf trees was not nor did 
it appear as though it would ever be. 
larger, handsomei- or betti'r flavored than 
that on full-sizi'd trees of the same kinds. 
The small size of the trees on dwailing 
stocks m.akes it possible to grow mori* 
trees, and. conseiiuently, more Auirietii’s. 
if desired, on a given area, and the 
dwarfed trees aro more ornamental than 
standards. 
('tn-Tiv.VTiox OK TUK Okcii.mu).—(’ ulti- 
vation should be started eaid.v in thi> 
Sjiring to saA'e the Winter's accumulation 
of moisture and to Avarm up the soil so 
that the plants can quickly start growth, 
(hiltivate at intm-vals of two Aveeks until 
midsummer and then stop, as the trees 
ha\'e by this time completi'd groAvth and 
the Avood must mature for Winter. Sod- 
mulch orchards are not recommemh'd for 
Ncav York excejit on hilly lands. '^I'lie 
land should be turned deeply Avith a ploAV 
early in the Spring, or on heavy .soils in 
late Fall. Aftei-Avard the cultivation 
.should be shalloAV but deep enough to 
break the crust and kill the Aveeds. The 
implements should be adaiited to the soil 
and to the Avork, and may be any of the 
various clod-crushers, harrows, cutaAvays 
or Aveetlers that do the AVork Avell in the 
jiarticular piece of .soil. Tools Avith high 
handles or high wheels are to be avoided. 
Harnesses Avithout projection.s, and short 
singletrees should ahvays be u.sed. 
Feutii.izeus fou the Orchard.— If the 
land is aa'cII drained. Avell tilled and Avell j 
supplied Avith organic matter, commercial 
fertilizers are needed little in most NeAV j 
York orchards. The exceptions are found 
in sandy and gravelly soils too Avet or 
too diy. No doubt there are many or¬ 
chards that might be benefited by an ap- 
jdication of one of the chief elements of 
fertility; some may require a completi' 
fertilizer. It may be assunual that, if 
trees are vigorous, bearing AA-ell and make 
a fair amount of noAV AVood each .season, 
they need no additional idant food. If j 
the trees are not,in the healthful condi- , 
tion de.scribed, the logical thing to do is ; 
to look to the drainage, tillage and health 
of the trees first and to the more exjien- 
sive and le.ss certain fertilization aft(>r- 
AA'urd. Even as a last resort, fertilizei-s 
ought not to be used for trees unless the 
oAvner has positiAa* evidence that his soil 
is lacking in some of the elements of 
plant food. Av. H. J. 
Farms in Southern New York 
Every hill farmer in Tioga County, as 
Avell as myself, Avill thank you for luib- 
lishing the article.s on hill farms in South¬ 
ern NeAV York. I have often Avished that 
the men looking for farms, especially 
those of limited capital, could knoAv of 
these farms. Most of them are really de¬ 
sirable farms. They are not unoccupied 
because they are valueless, or far removed 
from markets, but for real good rea¬ 
sons. The oAvners of some of them ore 
too old to Avork the farms; some are 
oAvned by children avIio have fallen lieir 
to them but do not care to live on them, 
jireferring to live in the village or city; 
some are unoccui)ied because of scarcity 
of help. Good tenants are hard to obtain. 
Men Avho a fcAV years ago Avere Avorking 
farms on shares are uoav OAvning some of 
these farms, and doing Avell. Old 
jieople noAV OAvning and living on some of 
these farms Avould be only too glad to 
stay if they could get suitable ludii, but j 
they can’t get help, and are forced to sell. | 
.\I1 of our land needs lime, and Avhere it ; 
is being used the largest and finest kind 
of crops are being raised. NoAvly seeded 
fields that have been limed groAV as good 
and as large clover as can be found any- 
Avhere. I saAV Alsike clover on one of 
these farms last Summer that was over 
four feet long and yielded three tons to 
the acre. Any good farmer knoAvs that 
Avhere you can raise clover you can raise 
most anything. lied clover does just as 
Avell as Alsike, and no finer Timothy can 
be found anyAvhere. This is, and ahvays 
has been, a dairy country, especially 
around OAvego, the county-.seat, and the 
land is Avell adapted for dairying. I don’t 
believe there is a place an.vAvhere Avhere 
a man Avith limited capital could do better 
than right here. And uoav is the time to 
buy. These farm.s Avill not much longer 
be begging for buyers. The great demand 
for farm products Avill cause an exodus 
back to farms, and an increase in valua¬ 
tion of farms. Good crops of an.v kind 
can be groAvn on these farms with jiroper 
treatment—50 bushels of oats, 200 bu.sh- 
els of potatoes, 25 to 40 bushels of buck- 
Avheat. I have seen cornstalks 14 feet 
long groAvn on this land, and all other 
croi) do Avell. f4ome of the farms are 
ofl'ered for amazingly Ioav jirices. less than 
building cost, or could be replaced. I 
knoAV of one place of 20 acres, Avith house 
that could not be built noAV for less than 
$2,000, that was sold for .$7(K). I knoAV 
of a farm of 85 acres of good level land, 
Avith good buildings, riglit by church, 
school, creamery, store and post oflice, 
that can be bought for .$2,500. Avith all 
stock, crops, and up-to-date farming im¬ 
plements. The man OAvning it is too old 
to farm it. and he cannot get any help. 
’fioga Co., N. Y. geo.av. dele. 
“The Rummer boarders say they don’t 
get enough to eat.” remarked Mrs. Corn- 
tossel. “That doesn’t bother me.” re¬ 
joined her husband. “But if you see any 
signs of discontent among the farm hands 
let me knoAV right off.”—M'ashiugton 
Star. 
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