THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
^57 
“This San Jose scale is not so big a ‘bug-a-boo’ as it has 
been painted. Give it a ‘big black eye’ this 411 , after the 
leaves are off, with whale oil soap, Leggett brand, two pounds 
dissolved in one gallon of water. Be sure you hit it in the 
eye; don t shut both eyes when you shoot, or let the hired man 
guess at it. Then, before growth begins in the spring, get in 
another good shot, ‘blacking its other eye,’ if possible. Per¬ 
haps the kerosene-water mixture, one of kerosene to five of 
water, will prove equally as effective as the whale-oil soap in 
the fall and spring. I know of one man who has 300 bearing 
apple trees in the center of a large orchard which he will treat 
for this pest with the kerosene-water mixture until he gets the 
upper hand of the chap, or finds that the mixture cannot be de¬ 
pended upon to do the business. Don’t let an infested tree 
go through this winter without a bath of soap or kerosene.’’ 
RENEWING TREED LANDS. 
Professor L. H. Bailey of Cornell University, recently made 
some experiments at Dansville, N. Y., which are of general 
interest among nurserymen as touching a subject upon which 
much study has been directed. Regarding the matter Pro¬ 
fessor Bailey, writing to the editor of the Dansville Advertiser, 
says : 
“As to our experiments at Dansville upon nursery stock, I 
will say that the results have been most gratifying. We started 
out with the purpose of discovering what value commercial 
fertilizers may have in renewing lands which have been ren-» 
dered comparatively unproductive by several crops of trees. 
The nurserymen of Dansville have taken the greatest interest 
in the work and have co-operated in the experiments in a most 
public-spirited way. The experiments were carried on upon 
the places of Messrs. Morey and Hartman, and those gentle¬ 
men have applied the fertilizers and kept the notes, and have 
done the other necessary work in the most thorough and pains¬ 
taking way. 
“The experiments have now been running three seasons. 
Upon the Morey patch it was the endeavor to determine what 
effects the various commercial plant foods might have when 
applied singly, and also in combination. The plantations have 
been watched by the nurserymen, and I have also visited them 
as often as I could; and now when the trees are ready to dig, 
we are unable to see any difference whatever between any of 
the plats. That is, the experiment seems to show that upon 
this piece of land, plant food is not needed so much as some 
other kind of treatment. 
“ What that other kind of treatment should be is a matter to 
be determined; but I think there can be little doubt amongst 
nurserymen that good cultivation, the use of stable manure, 
and the occasional use of a green crop would solve the dif¬ 
ficulty. Upon Mr. Hartman’s place the experiment'has been of 
a somewhat different nature. In the first place, he has en¬ 
deavored to determine if crimson clover can be practically 
grown amongst nursery trees and thereby supply the place of 
the more expensive stable manure. Mr. Hartman is of the opin¬ 
ion that the crimson clover is very useful in the nurseries, and 
that it is no disadvantage, so far as tillage of the plantation is 
concerned; but he is very doubtful as to whether it is going to 
be possible to get a good stand of crimson clover in the lati¬ 
tude of Dansville. In some seasons the crimson clover catches 
and grows well, and in other seasons it does not. The prob¬ 
ability is that Canada peas will prove to be a more reliable 
catch crop than crimson clover. 
“ Mr. Hartman has also made experiments upon the use of 
nitrogen upon hard land where pear stocks are growing, and 
this nitrogen fertilizing has been compared with stable manure. 
The stable manure plat has given 'the best results. Where 
nitrate of soda has been applied, the leaves are holding a little 
longer this fall ; where sulphate of ammonia was applied, the 
leaves are falling about the same time they are on the stable ma¬ 
nure plat. These experiments again emphasize those made by 
Mr. Morey—that the application of plant food itself may not 
solve the difficulty of the treed lands.’’ 
TO MAKE PEAR TREES BEAR. 
Fruit trees of any kind frequently grow with great lux¬ 
uriance. In this they are usually unfruitful. No tree com¬ 
mences to flower and fruit, until its vegetative exhurberance 
has been somewhat checked. Those who understand the art 
of fruit culture thoroughly, can bring these wayward trees 
into a straighten line of duty by root-pruning them. It is 
affected by digging a trench around the tree, and then filling 
it up again with the earth that has been thrown out. This 
cutting off the ends of the roots causes check to the extreme 
vigor, and the result is the production of flowers instead of 
branches. The distance from the trunk that the trench should 
be dug, will of course depend upon the age and size of the 
tree, as also on its ratio of luxuriance; the aim should be to 
dig so as to cut off about one-third of its roots. The pear, as 
well as other fruit trees, is particularly benefited by root- 
pruning. It can be carried out at any time during the fall or 
winter season.— Meehan's Monthly. 
^foreign Botes. 
Immense orchards of apple trees have been planted in 
Australia. It is a favorite home of the apple. Nearly a hun¬ 
dred thousand cases of apples had been sent from Australia to 
England up to June rst, most of them being sent from 
Tasmania. 
Many trees that formerly flourished in the North of France, 
are no longer found except in the extreme south, and a large 
number of species have entirely disappeared. The lemon no 
longer grows in Languedoc, and an orange tree cannot be found 
in Roussilon. The Italian poplar, so common and picturesque 
in ancient French etchings, is to-day rarely found on French 
soil. 
Portraits of the sixty distinguished horticulturists upon 
whom the council of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great 
Britain conferred the Victoria medal of honor in horticulture 
were presented as a supplement to the issue of November 
20th of the Gardener s Magazine. It is a handsome sheet 
suitable for framing. _ 
SAN JOSE SCALE ON FRUIT. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
I am more afraid of the spread of San Jose scale on the 
fruit, than on trees and plants. Some united efforts should be 
taken to bar the fruits coming from infected districts. 
Janesville, Wis. George J. Kellogg. 
