The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
221 
N. Y. State Horticultural Society 
Part II. 
“None of the experiments having to do 
with bud selection is finished, but we have 
gone far enough well-nigh to satisfy 
ourselves that through seeds and seeds 
only can the plant breeder find means 
for improving fruits. Yet we are open- 
minded in this matter and will welcome 
most warmly any critical evidence that 
may be produced to show that bud selec¬ 
tion can be used in improving plants. It 
may be interesting to note that incidental 
to these experiments the Station has dis¬ 
tributed six new strawberries and six 
raspberries, which are making their way 
in the small fruit industry of New York ; 
a dozen new varieties of apples; six 
grapes have been named and distributed : 
and we are propagating about 150 more 
of the most desirable grape seedlings, 
some of which have been distributed and 
all of which we hope to have grape grow¬ 
ers test within the next few years. All 
told, we have grown about 20,000 seedling 
fruits under breedings numbers, about 
12,000 of which we have fruited. At 
least 10,000 fell by the wayside before 
even given a number. Probably there 
are six or eight thousand more now in 
the nurseries. 
“There are now several hundred prom¬ 
ising seedlings of various fruits selected 
out of as many thousand, to be distri¬ 
buted generally in the State for further 
testing. It is interesting to note that 
not one of these is a purebred seedling. 
The progeny of selfed plants in our work, 
so far as the value of the offspring for 
commercial purposes is concerned, are 
almost worthless. Purebred plants are 
so lacking in vigor that one may almost 
make the sweeping generalization that 
they are worthless in the improvement 
of varieties. Quite contrary to the old 
notion of such seedlings, we find that 
they very generally resemble the parent 
closely enough so that even a tyro can 
tell from whence they came. There are 
but few cases in which they revert to the 
wild prototype. 
"It would require a long volume to set 
forth the factors that govern the choice 
of parents in cross-breeding; yet all are 
set forth in every cross we make on our 
grounds. Two general ends are in mind 
with most of the fruits; first, we cross 
this or that species of a variety to help 
establish some principle. Second, we 
combine the characters of species or var¬ 
ieties in the hope of getting an offspring 
with the good characters of the two par¬ 
ents minus the poor characters. In either 
ease the range of speculation quickens 
th<> charm of the. work. We never can 
tell just what we shall get. 
“The last of the projects to be men¬ 
tioned, and possibly the one to which we 
have given most time and attention is 
the improvement of varieties by bud 
selection. It is held that the variations 
found in the varieties of fruit can be 
reproducing! by taking buds from plants 
possessing the variations. Nurserymen 
put this theory in practice and offer 
plants with a “pedigree” to show that 
they come from good ancestry. We have 
gone at this problem in several ways. We 
have studied the histories of apples, 
grapes, plums, peaches and cherries, as 
set forth in the fruit books we have pub¬ 
lished or are publishing to find out how 
many sorts have come into existence 
through bud mutations, and to see if they 
have been the least improved by contin¬ 
uous selection throughout their existence 
or to see if any have degenerated. A few 
sorts have originated as bud sports or 
mutations—possibly one out id' a thou¬ 
sand—but we have found no evidence to 
show that any fruit has been changed in 
the least by continuous bud selection.” 
Prof. W. 11. Chandler, pomologist at 
Cornell University, spoke on “The Win¬ 
ter Injury of Fruit Trees.” The most 
important condition influencing the re¬ 
sistance of the wood to low temperature 
is maturity, or ripeness. The acquiring 
of maturity depends much upon the foli¬ 
age. This wan strikingly brought out in 
many ways by the severe freeze of the past 
Winter. In every case that came to no¬ 
tice. where the leaves had been removed 
during any part of the previous Summer, 
the wood was killed. The tendency of 
young peach trees is to show complete 
recovery if they are not killed outright, 
so their future cure is simple enough. In 
case of old trees that have been badly in¬ 
jured, three or four pounds of nitrate of 
soda in the case of a mature tree very 
greatly hastens recovery It would seem 
probable that the same treatment during 
the following Spring would give good 
results, though of course if the soil is very 
fertile such results might not follow. The 
pruning to be given a tree the first sea¬ 
son after a severe Winter, is of impor¬ 
tance. Dishorning the tree, that is, prun¬ 
ing it back to stubs four or five feet long 
or shorter, has often been recommended. 
Trees have so often been killed by this 
process, however, that it certainly is not a 
wise process. Moderate pruning, that is, 
slightly more than would be given on an 
ordinary year, has generally given best re¬ 
sults. During succeeding years it would 
seem wise to prune a little more heavily 
than a tree would ordinarily be pruned. 
In the case of apples and pears, perhaps 
the injury to the bark on the trunks and 
on the inner side of the branches will 
give the most permanent trouble. Of 
course the dead bark should be removed, 
(Continued on page 223) 
— for perfect 
planting • spraying • 
cultivating • digging 
spray fog that envelopes every part of the 
plant and penetrates every fold and crev¬ 
ice. The Engine Sprayer covers 10 rows 
at a time. The engine runs the pump, 
leaving the team to merely pull the ma¬ 
chine. Then when the spraying season is 
over, the engine is transferred to the Iron 
Age Potato Digger. 
Iron Age Riding Cultivators 
won their honors in the potato 
fields, where good work pays the 
greatest profit and bad work costs 
the greatest loss. The pivot 
wheels make close cultivation easy even 
in crooked rows and on hillsides. The pivot 
gangs are always parallel to each other 
and hold the shoveis at the correct angle 
to the row irrespective of how the gangs 
are shifted. In the corn fields the Iron Age 
Cultivators are equally satisfactory. 
Iron Age Potato Diggers roll 
the potatoes out in narrow rows, 
with vines and weeds thrown clear 
aside. The engine, transferred 
from the Iron Age Sprayer, runs 
tie elevator. Two horses pull the digger. 
The automatic throw-out releases the 
Clutch and prevents breakage should a 
stone clog the elevator 
Ask your dealer to show you the 
Iron Age Tools you need. If he 
doesn’t carry the Iron Age Line, 
we will give you the name of the dealer 
who does, or answer your wants direct 
Write for a catalog today. 
INCE 1836 
four score years 
O aqo and more —the Iron Age 
Line of farm, garden and orchard 
tools has been winning its way 
into the minds and hearts of Amer¬ 
ican farmers. Today, throughout 
America the name Iron Age 
stands for strength and depend¬ 
ability. 
Among potato growers especially, 
Iron Age Tools are believed in 
and depended upon. For planting, 
spraying, cultivating, digging, 
there’s an Iron Age machine that 
does a perfect job. 
Iron Age Potato Planters are 
generally known as the 100% 
planters, because they drop one 
seed piece and only one in every 
hill — never a miss and never a 
double. The saving in seed alone runs 
as high as $20 a day; and in addition, with 
an Iron Age there are no unplanted spaces 
— plowed, harrowed, fertilized, planted, 
sprayed, cultivated and dug— from which 
no potatoes are produced. 
Iron Age Potato Sprayers in¬ 
sure your crop—protect your in¬ 
vestment in land, seed, fertilizer 
and labor. They throw a heavy pressure 
In business 83 years 
963 Main Street Grenloch, N. J. 
Canadian Factory: 
The Bateman-Wilkinson Co., Ltd., 96 Symington Aye., Toronto. Can. 
wen 
mi iiwimiriiiuii I'liiii 
• 
—». 
INCREASE YOUR PROFITS 
by Increasing 
f 
Tho 
Best 
too 
your production 
Let us tell you about 
CHAMPION 
PUNTERS 
and their efficiency in producing a bigger potato crop 
which pays. Descriptive matter FREE. 
Address Champion Potato Machinery Co. 
1S1 Chlc.ro Avonuo HAMMOND. INDIANA 
SAVE HALF Your 
Paint Bills 
BY USING Ingersoll Paint. 
PROVED BEST by 77 years’ use. It 
will please you. The ONLY PAINT en¬ 
dorsed by the “GRANGE" for 45 years. 
Made in all colors—for all purposes. 
Get my FREE DELIVERY offer. 
From Factory Direct to You at Wholesale Pricea. 
> INGERSOLL PAINT BOOK—FREE 
Telia all about Paint and Painting for Durability. Valu¬ 
able information FREE TO YOU with Sample Cards. 
Write me. DO IT NOW. X WILL SAVE YOU MONEY. 
Oldest Ready Mixed Paint House in America— Estab. 1S42. 
0. W. Ingersoll, 246 Plymouth St., Brooklyn, N .Y 
WILSON FEED MILL 
For grinding corn in the ear and 
•mall grain. 
Has specif*! cr-usher attachment 
which first b. Iks the ears of 
corn, which can he shoveled right 
into the hopper. Also Bone and 
Shell Mills and Bone Cutters. 
Send, for Catalog 
WILSON BROS., Box, 5 , Easton, Pa. 
Quaker City Feed Mills 
Grind corn and cobs, feed, 
table meal and alfalfa. 
On the market 50 years. 
Hana and power. 23 
styles. 55.20 to 5160 FREE 
TRIAL. Write for catalog. 
THE A. W. STRAUB CO 
Dept. E-3740 Filbert St., Philadelphia,Pa. 
Dealers — Write for contract. 
PROUTY 
GUARANTEED PRICE LIST 
guarantees you more money as the market goes 
up; no less if the market goes down. 
Highest Prices for Your Furs! 
“GRANDAD SHIPPED TO PROUTY” 
SHIP TO PROUTY l Because Prouty’a is tho oldest 
fur house in New \ r ork, the greatest fur market in 
the world. Ship to Frouty! Because Prouty pays 
"spot cash” for your furs. Thousands of trappers 
all over tho United States and Canada ship to Prouty 
alone ! Join the list of money-makers. Buyers are in 
New York now. looking for all kinds of furs. Prouty 
is ready to pay highest prices to you. 
ti’o need your furs l You. need our prices ! 
New Guaranteed Price List, Freel 
J. L. PROUTY’S SONS. INC. 
Dealers in Raw Furs, Ginseng Roots. Golden Seal. Etc. 
41 2 West Broadway, N.w York City 
