The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 1924 
A Discussion of Freestone Pium 
Varieties 
Will you let me have the names of 
freestone plum trees? I would like to 
plant some this Spring. V. S. 
O rad ell, N. J. 
A discussion of freestone plums must 
fail to include a great many of the high¬ 
est quality plums known, as well as prac¬ 
tically all of the Japanese and American 
varieties, on the ground that they are 
clingstones. Of the Damson plums there 
are perhaps two that should be consid¬ 
ered : Arctic and French. The former 
is one of the hardier sorts, vigorous, 
productive, and with fruit of good size 
and quality. The latter is variable in its 
clinging tendency, sometimes being almost 
entirely free and at others quite adherent, 
but it has more than average size and 
good quality to recommend it| Among 
the small Mirabelle plums, noted for their 
exceptionally high quality, is Drap d’Or, 
a perfect freestone, golden yellow, firm, 
sweet, and a delicious little fruit. The 
fruits run as small as or smaller than the 
Damsons in size. 
Coming now to the standard varieties 
of European plums, the ones most com¬ 
monly grown in America. Agen or 
French. Prune is first to he considered. 
It is a dark red or violet-purple in color, 
a trifle small, sweet, rich, of high quality, 
much grown for curing into prunes, and 
desirable for both home and commercial 
plantings. The trees are regular and full 
bearers, and were it not that the fruit 
runs a little small, they would undoubted¬ 
ly be more widely planted. Next in order 
is Arch Duke, one of the leading market 
plums. It has size, dark purple color, and 
firmness to recommend it, though the 
quality is no more than average. The 
trees are thrifty and very productive. 
Bradshaw 7 is another variety that is 
widely grov T n as a commercial sort. The 
fruit is dark reddish-purple in color and 
of fair size, though subject to brown-rot 
and not of high quality. On the other 
hand the trees are very productive and 
are somew 7 hat resistant to San Jose scale. 
German Prune is characterized by a 
strong, vigorous tree that adapts itself to 
a diversity of conditions, perhaps the 
reason that the variety is so uniformly 
popular. The fruits are not large and 
are of not much more than average qual¬ 
ity, yet they are excellent for culinary 
purposes and dry into meaty, freestone 
prunes. Goliath is another dark purple 
plum of good size and appearance and 
firm flesh, w T ell suited to a market variety. 
The quality, however, is variable, and it 
is therefore not as extensively grown as 
it otherwise might be. 
The common Italian Prune or Fellen- 
berg is also a freestone plum. It is in 
some respects the opposite of the German 
Prune, the fruit being characterized by 
high quality, desirable either for curing, 
for eating out of hand, or for culinary 
purposes, but the tree is particular as to 
both soil and climate and is often a shy 
bearer. Nevertheless it is one of the most 
popular plums in America. Lombard, on 
the other hand, ow r es a good share of its 
popularity to the fact that it adapts it¬ 
self to a wide diversity of soil types and 
a wide range of temperature. Moreover, 
it is resistant to insect and disease 
troubles and is a vigorous, hardy, pro¬ 
ductive sort. The fruit is good enough 
for culinary purposes but fails completely 
for dessert use. It is purplish-red in 
color. Middleburg is a purplish-red plum, 
not overly attractive, but high in quality 
and very late in season—-extending the 
plum season until frost, and desirable 
therefore for both home and commercial 
plantings. 
A plum of great merit and relatively 
new is Pacific. It is deep purple in color, 
large in size, of good quality, and useful 
for either culinary or dessert purposes. 
The trees are vigorous, healthy, and 
productive. Yellow Egg is, as its name 
implies, a yellow egg-shaped plum of 
good size. It is very pleasing to the eye, 
but not fit for eating out of hand. The 
trees are large, hardy, vigorous, and 
productive, so that the variety is w 7 ell 
worth growing where a plum of this type 
is desired. 
Yet of all plums grow'n in America, 
perhaps those belonging to the Reine 
Claude group are the most popular. 
R'eine Claude, or Green Gage as it is 
often called, is unsurpassed in quality. 
It has richness, juiciness, fineness of tex¬ 
ture, and aroma to commend it but lacks 
somewhat in appearance. When well- 
grown, however, the fruit is a handsome 
yellow. One of its faults is its tendency 
to crack during wet weather, and per¬ 
haps since it is not a perfect freestone it 
should not be included here. The tree is 
not a strong grower, yet it produces heavy 
crops annually. In this same class are 
to be included Hulings, General Hand, 
Bavay Green Gage. Jefferson, and Wash¬ 
ington. The former is high in quality 
with a peculiar sprightliness v 7 hich is 
pleasing to some. General Hand is the 
largest of the Reine Claude group, but 
the trees are uncertain bearers. Bavay 
Orange Trees Under Glass 
There are a few orange trees in my 
charge which had some oranges last year, 
but not to any great extent. Now they 
ar elosing leaves and new growth getting 
on; evidently will bloom. Will ybu ad¬ 
vise me what temperature they need at 
night and what spraying materials to use 
in order to preserve blossoms and have 
the trees bear? I have considerable 
trouble to control scale. I use kerosene 
emulsion and water spray, but not with 
good success. a. a. 
Windsor, Conn. 
The chief trouble in growing the orange 
as a window plant or in a greenhouse is 
a tendency to have it growing the entire 
year, and to keep it too wet at the roots. 
After the fruiting season, in late Au¬ 
tumn or early Winter, the plant should 
be allowed to-rest for a time, so as ro 
harden the wood before the next blooming 
season. It may then be kept at a tem¬ 
perature of 40 to 50 degrees, and fairly 
dry at the roots. Water should, not be 
withheld entirely, as it is not desirable iO 
cause it to drop its leaves. After one or 
two months of partial rest, the plant may 
be brought into a sunny place, with a 
chard, or would it bring results by seed¬ 
ing down arid just grubbing around the 
young trees for a distance of 3, or 4 ft. 
oi\f from the trunks until July 4, and 
letting the remainder of grass grow, as 
there would be' no way of getting it 
mowed? Would plowing five or six fur¬ 
rows each side of trees with a small trac¬ 
tor do the work? My soil is a gravelly 
loam and cobbly. I am planning on 
working out until orchards start to bring 
in returns. E. D. 
Hudson Valley. 
This is one outcome of farm labor con¬ 
ditions since the, war. A surprising num¬ 
ber of men with small farms are planning 
just this thing. They will plant orchards, 
and while the trees are coming on, join 
forces "With some neighbor, either as' share 
partner or laborer. Then, when a fruit 
crop comes they can go back to their 
farm, That ,is one form of readjustment. 
One trouble is that it may overdo the 
fruit business when all these orchards 
come in-bearing. We have had fair suc¬ 
cess with the, mulch system. The grass 
is cut and left on the ground. Two or 
three furrows can be planted on each side 
of the tree-rows or a space around each 
This picture of children sampling quality of first run of maple sap is sent us by O. II. Jackson of Vermont 
Green Gage is not quite so high in quality 
as Reine Claude, but the tree is better, 
while Jefferson lacks hardiness of tree and 
is exacting in soil requirements, yet is of 
such distinct merit as a dessert fruit that 
it should not be omitted from the home 
orchard. Washington is of much the 
same type as Jefferson, with high quality 
in fruit to recommend it, but with the 
drawback of a tree that is particular of 
its environment. The fruits are large, 
shapely, and very attractive, though 
somewhat subject to attacks of brown 
rot. The tree, moreover, though vigorous 
and strong grow’ing when properly suited, 
is late in coming into bearing. 
II. B. TUKEY. 
Homemade Lime-sulphur 
The New York Experiment Station 
gives the following method for preparing 
homemade concentrated lime-sulphur. As 
the scale is “coming back” there will be 
a renewed demand for biting sprays : 
“Homemade concentrated lime-sulphur 
is prepared by mixing 40 lbs. of lime in a 
container with a little water to start the 
lime to slake. After lime is moistened in 
this way, the entire amount of water, 50 
gallons, is added. When the lime is about 
two-thirds slaked, 80 lbs. of high-grade 
sulphur are added and the mixture cooked 
for 45 minutes after the boiling point is 
reached. Water to take the place of that 
lost in the cooking is added until the mix¬ 
ture is brought back up to the 50-gallon 
mark. The mixture is stored in air-tight 
containers until needed. This concen¬ 
trated solution is then diluted at the rate 
of 1 part to 8 parts of water for use as 
a delayed dormant spray.” 
slightly higher temperature, and given 
water and liquid manure. It should 
bloom in Summer. It will do best if the 
roots are somewhat confined. When an 
orange tree becomes 5 or 6 ft. high, it 
does not need a container larger than a 
small tub or half barrel, and will not need 
repotting for several years. Some of the 
top soil may be removed from time to 
time and fresh soil added, and liquid ma¬ 
nure may be given. The temperature 
congenial to the orange is relatively low; 
that is, about the same as for carnations 
and Chrysanthemums. 
Oranges indoors are often troubled by 
scale and mealy bug. Kerosene emulsion 
is good, also whale oil soap solution ; 14/2 
oz. soap to a gallon of water. Sponging 
will probably give better results than 
spraying; go over the infested foliage 
with a bit of sponge tied to a stick, dip¬ 
ping it in the soap solution. It is slow 
and tiresome work, but is often necessary 
with palms, oranges and similar orna¬ 
mentals in a conservatory. You can dis¬ 
lodge the most obstinate old scale with 
the sponge, while the hard-shelled adult 
is impervious to most sprays. 
tree can be broken up with hoe or spade 
On strong soil this plan has given u, 
good growth and healthy trees. On lightei 
soils we try and plow every three years— 
usually in the Fall. In the Spring the 
soil is well worked up with spring-tooth 
or disk and seed to oats and Alsike 
clover. The oats are cut when in head, 
and either left on the ground or hauled 
out as fodder. Then the orchard stands 
for two years more in clover, which is 
cut and left on the ground. This plan 
saves work and has proved quite satis¬ 
factory. One of the lighter tractors could 
be used to plow alongside the trees; but 
it will be a" mistake to let the grass grow 
without cutting, at least once. Twice 
would be better. In some cases we think 
the small tractors are used as a mowing 
machine. We doubt if a large tractor 
would pay in such an orchard under the 
circumstances. 
Waiting for the Orchard 
Having given up my dairy I am con¬ 
templating setting my best land to an 
apple orchard of about 12 acres, with 
apples for fillers, and then going out to 
work for a neighbor, the trees to be given 
attention, such as they need for pruning 
and spraying. I want to dispose of my 
team, as they would cost more for feed 
and care than they would return in work. 
My present orchard has been in cultiva¬ 
tion each year up to July 1, then seeded 
to a corn crop, and would like to give the 
future planting the same care. Would 
it be practicable to purchase a tractor for 
plowing and cultivating the young or- 
Harvesting Small Fruits on Shares 
A surprising number of questions liki 
the following have been presented to u- 
this year. Farmers have grown severa! 
acres of small fruits like strawberries 
raspberries or blackberries. This wil 
be the year of fruiting, but for sorm 
reason the planter is unable to bandit 
and sell the crop. A neighbor offers tc 
pick and handle this crop on shares. The 
question is what part of the money tc 
give to the neighbor for this service 
This matter will vary with different lo¬ 
calities but generally speaking the man 
who has brought the crop up to fruiting 
is entitled to two-thirds of the income. 
The man who does the work of picking 
and selling and caring for the crop this 
season should have one-third, the cost of 
packages and picking being divided 
equally between the two parties. 
