Qr'^ i^ DDDD'^ETbHSl HoUingCT Corp. pH8.5 How TO Propagate/Grow Frdit. B"^ 0H:^S. J^. 3-REH33Sr. Editor of Green's Fruit Grower. EiO CHESTER, ZSr. TT. '^^rJi^S^^ Two Colored Plates. Over Fifty Illustrations. COPYRIGHT 1885. INDKX. Advice to Beginners i6 Berry Harvest 30 Budding Instructions n Boys on the Farm 13 Bones, Ashes, etc 60 Blackberry Culture 43 Blackberries 12 Cultivation and Training 5 Certainties of Fruit Culture 24 Currant Culture 43 Evaporating Fruit 61 Fall Planting 54 Fruit house. - 57 Forms of Trees 59 Grafting 12 Grape Culture - 42 Grape Talk . , 46 Gooseberry Culture 43 Grape Culture 62 How I Began Fruit Growing 16 He Knew it All 18 How to Winter Trees ■. 22 How Farmers Should Begin 23 How to Make Money 27 Hudson River Vines 34 Hints for Evaporators 58 How to Hold the Boys 58 Insects Injurious 10 Fruit 26 Irrigation 58 Location of Fruit Gardens 18 Laying Out a Fruit Farm 19 Labels rs Marketing Fruits 31 lanuring Trees 35 Mai-lboro Raspberry 32 Making PrJ3j?a£;ating Beds 30 Manures, by i^rof. Caldv^ell 48 Manures and Application 50 Propagation — General Rules.. 2 Propagating Strawberries 3 Propagating Black Rasperries 3 Propagating Red Raspberries 4 Propjigating Blackberries 5 Propagating Currants 5 Propagating Gooseberries 6 Propagating Grapes 6 Propagating the Quince 9 Propagating Peach, Apricot, etc 9 Propagating Plum and Cherry 9 Propagating the Pear 10 PAGE. Propagating the Apple lo Propagating by Cuttings 10 Profits of Fruit Growing 20 Possibilities and Conditions 25 Preservation of Fruits 63 Prices of Fruits 63 Pear Orchard 64 Plants by Mail 64 Potted Plants 33 Pears 46 & 57 Profits of Raspberries 57 Planting Waste Places jq Plum Talk 46 Pruning the Vine 52 Peach Culture 40 Pear Culture 41 Plum Culture 42 Questions Answered 36 Quince Culture 42 Rules for Berry Pickers 30 Remedies for Insects 26 Raspberry Culture 43 Raspberry Talk 47 Raspberry Farming 53 Raspberries for Market 44 Story of the Weeds 2 Season for Planting 19 Small Fruit Culture 55 Strawberry Worm 60 Strawberry Talk 47 Strawberry Culture 43 Strawberries — Advice 44 The City Garden 19 Transplanting Directions 21 Transplanting Trees 19 1 ransplanting 22 Transportation of Fruits sx Uncertainties 24 Useful Implements 62 Underdraining 49 Varieties, Selection of 23 & 42 Visit Fruit Farms 32 Varieties of Pears 48 What Poor Men Should Do 23 Walk and Talk 62 Watering Trees 56 Wood Ashes , . 60 Yard Manure 60 ABC Grape Vine set. First Summer. Winter pruned. D E F D. Second Summer. E. Winter pruned. F. Laid on wire third Spring. G. Growth the third summer ; i8 clusters; J^ full crop. H . Winter pruned , third winter. ^S^ I J I. Growth the fourth summer; 36 clusters; % full crop. J. Winter pruned, fourth winter. ONION * AOV. OO'f PRINT, HOOMESTEN. N. Y. Growth the fifth summer, in full bearing; 4JI clusters, full crop, perfect fruit. t"'.- ''L ^t> ^ % JOHN A. WARDER. JOHN J. THOMAS. CHARLES DOWNING. HON. MARSHAL P. WILDER. FSTHERS OF BMERICKN POMOLOGY. No one can enjoy our Fine Fruits, or write about tinenn, without beconning indebted to Patrick Barry, Charles Downing, John J. Thomas, Hon. Marshal P. Wilder, John A. Warder, and other Fathers of American Pomology. GENERAL RULES. Story of the Weeds. One day some seeds, that my father had plowed under fifty years gbefore, found them- selves turned up by the ploughshare where they could feel the warm sun- shine. They were ,|p^ so happy they burst ^i^ their sides with laughter, and sprouted up thick and fast. Finding them in the field which had been previously engaged by the raspberries, for their own special and undi- vided use, I started the cultivator rooting them up right and left, and burying many more. " What a shame," cried the weeds, " to fight us thus in our infancy, before we have harmed you. You should wait until "we are big enough to defend ourselves. Take somebody of your own size, can't you?" Later in the season I found the weeds crowing lustily under the shade of the ber- ries. Again I set the cultivator at work. "Ha, ha, ha !" screamed the weeds, "you can't hurt us now. Our big roots have grasped the soil firmly. If you dislodge us we will take fresh root and begin again, and if you kill a few our seeds will spring up and take revenge. Scrape away, old fel- low, we rather enjoy it. As the fall frosts began to gather, and the weeds had folded their doors for a snug winter, I again found them camped about in social communities. Now my turn had come. "Get out," says I, "or I will put you out. I have endured your intrusions long enough. You have robbed my plants of their food and water, you have made nesting places for mice, you have caught in my clothes and filled the tails of my horses. You have reigned supreme in this farm for a generation. Now your kingdom has fallen. I will have no more of you. Scatter, expire, vanish." But they only chuckled in their tents, for they had often heard such talk before, and the previous proprietor did not think it worth while to molest them at this late season, thinking they had done their worst. " Ho, you, Tom, Jack and Jerry, bring out the great winged shovel-ploughs. Hitch to each the strongest horse ; run through those rows until every w^eed is uprooted." Forthwith I heard the steel shares grinding in the soil. The battle had begun. Then came the I groans and shrieks of the dead and dying. Thousands upon thousands perished upon that bloody field. "Give us quarter," shouted a big weed that had hid himself in vain close by a plant, "would you slaughter us in cold blood after all our struggles, when the winter is at hand and we cannot work to replace your mutilations? When the frost will bite us, exposed and naked, and leave us dead as the stubble?" But the end had come, and he fell with his companions in one common tomb. HOW TO PROPAGATE. General Rules. Everybody should learn how to propagate fruits. When you buy a rare plant for your garden you may increase it to a hun- .dred in a short time by giving it a little at- tention, and if you do not desire the increase yourself you can do your friends a favor by placing such gems in their garden.' The professional fruit grower especially needs all possible information on this subject. His success depends on his having the im- proved varieties, and as he can get a large supply at an early date by rapidly multiply- ing them, he should ever be on the alert. When a new variety is introduced, we have often heard people say, ' ' When the price gets low, I will buy." But the price usual- ly keeps up for two or three years. Now supposing it is a new red raspberry, and you buy one plant for one dollar when first offered. You plant in the richest soil possible, manure and nurse it, and the next season you have fifty — you might possibly get a hundred — but say fifty plants. These you plant in the same way. and the second year you have two thousand five hundred, worth probably, at the price usual two years after it is introduced, $50 to $100 — a Note.— The author desires to give credit to the R2iral New Yorker for three cuts of grafting the grape, furnished at our expense. To the New York Tribune for the 'Boy on the Farm," "How Farmers May Begin," and about budding, said articles having been written by the author for the Tribtine. To Mr. J. Jenkins, Win- oni, Ohio, for cuts of budding and grafting, Ptc, furnished at our expense, from his valuable work, "The Art of Propaaration To Saunders' "Insects Injurious to Fruits," for cut on page 26. In the Portfolio are given some "waifs of the press " PROPAGATINa THE EASPBEREY. good investment, certainly. But farther than this, it is a great pleasure to have these new things of great promise, to watch over and care for tlaem, even though you get disappointed at times, as you assuredly will. 1. Eemember that you should plant on rich soil for propagation. A cutting has no roots to send out to a distance for food, and must have it near at hand. More than this, rich soil is more moist than poor, and more porous. 2. Make the soil deep and fine. Hard clay soil that bakes will not answer, unless sand or muck is mixed with it liberally. 3. Plant and cultivate with care, and give frequent attention. You seldom find a successful propagator with a propagating bed in the further corner of his grounds. Why ? He wants it near by, where he will be reminded of its needs. 4. When about to propagate, investigate thoroughly and learn what varieties are most worthy. Do not waste your time on worthless varieties. Get a specimen bearing fruit on your place as early as possible, and judge by its conduct there whether it will be profitable for you to largely multiply it. 5. The profits of propagation are great. From an acre you might realize $1,000 or more. In propagating some species the labor also is great. Consider that at the start, and do not expect large profits from small outlay of time and attention. 6. Plant and care for your propagating beds in the best possible manner. It does not pay to neglect anything, but least of all a propagating bed. What I have learned about propagation has been from experience. I have met with many failures before learn- ing the best methods. I know that all the books I shall sell will never cover the losses I have sustained to make me competent to give the advice I do in this little work. Propagating tlie Strawberry. from one vigorous strawberry plant in one season. When you have a valuable but scarce variety that you wish to increase rapidly plant in a bed deeply trenched, and enriched the year previously with all the manure that can be well mixed thereon. Set the plants from four to six feet apart each way. Work the soil about them fre- quently, but not deep. When the first run- ners appear remove them. As the plant gains strength permit runners to remain, and draw them out in different directions from the parent plant, laying a small stone over each where the leaves appear. Con- tinue this course,wateringintimeof drouth with diluted liquid manure. Soil so rich as this is not desirable for producing fruit, but is just the thing for increasing plants. Newly manured soil is not in condition for forcing plants. It must first become rotted and incorporated with the soil. Then it becomes plant food and not before. Fresh manure of ten prevents plants from growing when placed where the roots come in con- tact with it. Such manure should be used as a mulch, when it accomplishes a double purpose — keeping the soil cool and moist, and furnishing plant food by leaching after Propagating Black Raspberries. It is possible to grow 500 to 1000 plants | Raspberry plant wiih tips layered. Next to strawberries these are the easiest of all to propagate, yet many do not know how to proceed. I have known people to layer the canes at intervals as they would the grape, leaving the tip uncovered. These people could learn from the wild plants in the woods, which bend over and drop the tip in tlie loose soil, where it takes root and produces a new plant. Plants would take root often unaided in the planted field were it not for the w^nd, which sways them about and destroys the vitality of the tips. We have known whole plantations to be lost for propagation by a heavy wind previous to layering. If such a vs^ind comes very eariy (which seldom occurs) the tips will send out new buds and take PROPAGATINa THE RASPBERRY. root. But if the season is well advanced into late September, it is useless to spend time with them. The old rule is not to layer tips until they turn red, are swollen and look snakish. Such a condition is indeed desirable, but the propagator who would wait for such maturity would succeed in obtaining only half as many plants as he who began as soon as the canes were long enough to bend ever and reach the earth. Why? From the fact that if layered early (before the cane has grown long), the cane, instead of continuing to extend itself, often from ten to fourteen feet, which is a waste of vital- ity, will send out new branches, which can, in turn, be layered later. I begin to layer very soon after the berry harvest is over, often at once. First put the soil in fine condition by repeated cultivation (for the pickers have made foot-paths all about), then, with a garden trowel, make a hole two to three inches deep, hold in the tip as nearly perpendicular as you can (if laid flat it will invariably push out and not take root), fill up the hole, pressing it firmly, if very dry. Tips put in with light covering make the best plants, but the wind is apt to twist them out. A good man or boy will put in from 1000 to 4000 in a day in this manner, depending on the looseness of the soil and number of tips per bush. I often have thirty men and boys at this work, going over the fields three or four times, at inter- vals of about two weeks. The earlier tips are put in the larger the plants are. If the weather is excessively hot and the tips very immature, they sometimes scald or turn black and die, but we have never met with any serious loss in this respect, and would not delay an hour on this account. Of course the lower the bushes are headed the earlier they can be laid, thus we cut off the young canes when twelve to eighteen inches high, which occurs often before blossoming. By trimming closely, after digging plants,tbe canes support themselves and bear fine crops of fruit. Does this crop of young plants, often forty or fifty exhaust the vitality of the parent plant ? Yes, it has such a tendency. Prop- agating plants should have better care and more fertilizing than those that bear fruit only. By nipping the tip of canes early and often, and making the soil very rich, it is possible to get 100 plants from one the first season planted The richer the soil the larger the plants and the greater number. The young plants are usually left where they grow until the winter is over. If to be planted on your own place it is better to plant them in the spring, after they have sent up a green shoot two inches high. Raspberry and strawberry roots are quickly destroyed, if exposed to a hot sun or drying wind; ten minutes' exposure will often sap their vitality. If you propagate blackcap tips on low, wet soil, they will be heaved out by frost, unless covered with strawy litter. Hasty people plow furrows for tips, and use plow or shovel to cover them. It does not pay to follow this method. Propagating Ked Raspberries. The roots of this class continually form buds, which, pushing up through soil, form sucker plants — some varieties form few, some many. If you plant a choice variety in the spring, in good soil, its roots will probably cover a pot 3 to 4 feet across. If _ you dig the parent plant the next spring, be careful to cut the roots close to the cane so as to leave as many roots in the soil as possible, and undis- turbed. The strength of the roots remaining in the soil, instead of nourishing the parent will bud rapidly and furnish an amazing supply of strong plants — 40 to 100 in many instances. If the soil is mulched with rot- ten manure it will make it easier for the young plants to push upwards as well as give them food. You can cut off the lat- eral roots of the parent plant and permit it to remain if you wish, but it will do better elsewhere, and will have another bed of roots formed by another spring. I prefer not to disturb the plant until spring, as root growth often continues during w^inter, and the young germs are safer attached to the parent plant until spring. If you are a skilful propagator, and have a green-house, you will take up all the roots you can with the plant, cut them in one- half inch pieces and start them with bot- tom heat, in boxes of, sand. As soon as buds appear on the roots they are placed in shallow boxes filled with about three inches of good soil, mixed with leaf mould. When the plants have grown a few inches above the soil they may be potted or trans- planted at once in out-door beds or fields. Similar treatment may be given in hot-beds and cold frames, but such methods require close attention and considerable experience, and the novice will often do better not to attempt them. Gardeners succeed by sim- ply cutting the roots into two-inch pieces and planting shallow in rows in garden beds, covering with sand or mulch that will enable the young germs to push through easily. These require careful weeding and hoeing, but if they get a good start make fine plants by fall. If you have a valuable variety on your place and wish to extend your plantation you can do so by trans- planting green plants, suckers that spring up where plants were set the spring pre- vious. We have succeeded best by permit- ting these green plants to get of considera- ble size, say six to ten inches, before trans- PEOPAGATING THE BLACKBERRY. planting; then, nipping the tender tops and many of the leaves. Then the wood has hardened, the roots have multiplied, and the plant has a better chance to live than if dug when young and tender, with feeble roots. If I could have learned this by other experience than my own, I should have saved $1,000 at least. In fact, much information that I give in these pages has cost me large sums of money. I once had a few plants of a valuable new red rasp- berry that I desired to propagate as fast as possible. I dug up part of the roots and placed them under glass, thinking if they gi-ew well to do likewise with the remain- der, but if they seemed liable to fail I would permit the balance to propagate themselves where they grew. Well the plants under glass grew amazingly. I was delighted and of course dug up all and placed with them over artificial heat. But after a time all began to grow smaller, then some withered, and all looked feeble. Every method was attempted to revive them, without avail, and the whole enter- prise I regarded a failure. If I had left the roots in the soil where they grew, as first recommended here, I would have secured more and better plants. The few pot house plants that lived did not take kindly to transplanting in the open field, to fight the wind and sunshine. Tlien I have planted hot house plants when too small, earlier in the season, according to rules, desiring to avail myself of fine rains. But the season proved late and wet, frosts fell upon the tender shoots, worms gnawed into them, some rotted, some were eaten by grubs, more became discouraged by the cold weather that kept nipping their noses, thus when the warm-growing weather came, previous to which they should not have been planted, most of my pets had departed to 'that bourne from which no traveler returns. In planting red raspberries for propaga- tion remember that if set in rows seven feet apart the roots will meet in two years, and by the third cover tlie entire surface. Thus in planting the Marlboro I set them in rows seven feet apart, planting potatoes between the first year. The second year I will have barely room to run a cultivator between the rows. What would I have done if planted three feet apart ? When planting for fruit I plant four feet apart each way and cultivate with horse both ways. Remember that some kinds of red and yellow raspberries propagate only from tips. The drooping tendency of the canes indicate this peculiar propensity. Propagation of Blackberries. The blackberry is propagated much like the red raspberry, therefore I need not go into details. It takes the blackberry longer to become established than raspberries, but having once gained a foothold it endures for a long time in the same patch with profit. One season's growth of root is not sufficient for the best success in propa- gating, as it is with the raspberry. Two years' growth should be given before the parent plant is dug up for propaga- tion. But the spring after one seaso n's growth you can sever the roots one foot distant from the plant by thrusting down a sharp spade and withdrawing it with the least disturbance of the soil possible. Then there will be roots enough left undisturbed on the plant to push forward a good growth of new roots, and the severed roots will sprout up and make fine plants. But the second year you can remove the parent plant and the roots from eighteen inches about it and then there will be enough roots left in the soil to make a good stand of plants. Cut the roots into pieces two inches or more long, depending on the size. Do not cut too short. Nothing is gained, for if left long, two plants will probably be formed, and if too short, perhaps none. The smaller the root the longer it should be cut. We generally cut the roots in the fall, stor- ing in boxes of sand in the cellar, but they may be cut in the spring with nearly equal success. Scatter the roots in shallow trenches six inches wide as early in the spring as the soil will work and cover with two inches of loose soil. If a sprinkling of rotten manure is strewn over the rows after this it will avail much. Keep them well wed or failure is certain. Usually strong plants are made by fall, and in digging these you can leave detached roots in the soil to spring up and renew the row. The parent plant, after removing most of the roots, may be planted in a new bed. In green-houses very small pieces of roots make good plants, the same as with red raspberries. The more you spade among a patch of blackberries the more suckers will spring up. Therefore, if you have a field designed for fruit do not dig plants therein. There are kinds of trailing blackberries that do not propagate from the root, but from tips like black raspberries. Propagating Currants. Few cuttings take root so rapidly as the currant. I cut the wood of the present sea- son's growth as soon as the leaves begin to fall, often stripping the leaves by hand. I then cut the wood into cuttings seven to eight inches long, tie in bundles of fifty, lay them in a trench with the butt end up and cover with two inches of fine soil over CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES. the butts. This being done the last of August when the eartii is warm, the cut- tings will callus over and send out roots in from ten to twenty days. I often find the cuttings so well rooted it requires some pulling to get them apart at planting. _ I plant when I get time in the fall, often in November, in rows three feet apart. I thrust down a spade to its full depth, sway is backwards and forwards, making quite a hole, then withdraw it and a boy slips in two cuttings, one at each side of the hole. We progress in this way until the end of the row is reached. I then turn back and both tread the earth as compactly as possi- ble on each side of the cuttings, sinking our heels down hard. This treading is very important work in planting aU cuttings, as it is no easy matter to compact the earth to the depth of a foot from the surface. When the field is planted thus we rvm a shovel plow between the rows, being careful to throw the soil as near the cuttings as possi- ble and not cover them, the tip end of each being now exposed. This leaves a ridge on each side of the row of cuttings, with a hollow in the line of the cuttings. This hollow we fill at once with fresh strawy horse manure, thick enough to hide the cuttings completely. If the furrow is not deep I go through the second time with shovel plow after manuring. The ditch made by the shovel plow lets the water pass off, and the manure covering prevents heaving by frost, and stimulates growth so as to secure the best possible plant one year from planting. If currant bushes are earthed up a foot or more in June, roots will be formed about the base of the branches. New varieties are often propa- gated in this way. The rooted layers are removed, permitting the parent plant to Propagating- Gooseberries. Gooseberry cuttings do not easily make roots, therefore the bushes are usually layered in July. The young wood of the present season's growth, when immature, takes root readily, therefore as soon as growth enough has been made the layering should begin. They are usually banked up as high as possible in order to cover the new growth in part. In order to accom- l^lish this most effectually I sometimes bend the branches down fiat to the earth and cover all but the tips. By fall the whole plant will be a mass of roots, which should then be divided — every piece that has a root, no matter how small tiie root, planted as recommended for currants and covered with manure and shovel plowed. I have seen old bushes layered, not expecting the old wood to take root there, but to so soften the wood that it might more easily take root the next season when planted like cut- tings. Propagating the Grape. It must be remembered that there are varieties of fruits that are much more diffi- cult to propagate than others. This is the case with raspberries, goosebenies, etc^, and especially with the grape, on some varieties of which it is almost impossible to secure good roots. But the larger number root freely from layers or cuttings. Layer- ing is the most simple method, by which any one may succeed. This is done most readily with the young green wood by bury- ing it in June in the soil three inches deep at intervals, often thus securing many plants from each vine. Last season's canes SPROUTS GROWING UP FROM LAYERED CANE. PROPAGATING THE GRAPE. can also be layered early in the Spring. Stretch the cane in a shallow trench and fasten it there with wooden pins. Do not cover it with earth until the buds open and the young shoots get several inches high, then gradually cover until four inches deep, placing a stake where each green shoot springs forth, each of which will make a well-rooted vine. Layering is a heavy draft on the vme, thus we seldom layer the first season, knowing it would weaken the vine. It should be layered sparingly until well established, unless some sturdy kind like Concord or Champion. Layers that are poorly rooted are planted in nursery rows one season. Nurserymen always cut off a large part of the roots of vines at transplanting. This gives more fibrous roots, the vines plant easier and grow equally well. There are numerous methods for pi-eparing grapes from cuttings, the most frequent being from two or three-eyed the vineyard. Cleft grafting is usually adopted fof such vines. The cane is first Cane laid down. cuttings, each aboiit eight inches long' planted simply by thrusting in the spade (no shoveling out trenches), in carefully prepared beds, in rows twenty inches apart, three inches apart in the rows, all firmly trod with the feet, then mulched with leaves, rotten tan bark, saw dust, cut straw, etc. There are soils so well adapted it is possible to succeed without a mulch, but such soils are rare -in all cases the mulch gives the larger percentage of good rooted vines. As I look back upon my experience I find my best luck to be always with the mulched. A few propagate entirely from one-eye cuttings out doors. The wood is cut an inch above the eye and left as long as possible and yet have only one eye- simply a short peg with an eye near the top. These are simply thrust in a narrow bed closely, in rows a foot apart, and at once covered with three inches of seasoned tan bark -when first removed from the tannery it is not so safe. Few weeds came up through this heavy mulch, but the grapes push up readily. Many varieties grow well by this method, while others are scattering, only here and there a plant, but with new varieties there is a great gain in getting double the number of cuttings. Under glass nurserymen propagate from single eyes cut from two to three inches long, started in shallow boxes of sand, &nd afterwards potted or transplanted in beds. A good way to increase a valuable variety is to graft single eye cuttings on grape roots and plant in the usual way. Grafting is now practiced more largely than ever before, principally on established vines in" Whip graft on section of grape root. PROPAGATING THE GRAPE. Grafted Cane of Grape cut off three to four inches below the sur- face of the soil, then the stump is split with some thin sharp implement, extending the cleft about two inches. The cleft is held open with a narrow wedge in the mid- dle of the cleft. The scion may have one eye or several, but should not be over six inches long. Sharpen it with a keen-edged knife so as to fit the cleft standing open before you, permitting the outer edge to be thicker than the inner, that it may press more closely at the vital part, where the inner bark of both stock and scion meet. Insert it carefully and withdraw the wedge. If the stock is large another graft may be Inserted in the other side of the cleft. Bind firmly with stout twine, covering this with a few twists of wire. The string alone would rot, but it prevents the wire from cutting the vine. Then cover the graft with a mixture of four parts of stiff clay with one part of fresh cow dung. For grafting grape roots whip grafting is adopted. Take a yearling Concord vine, or any cheap vine for this purpose. If the roots spring from several eyes one vine will make several roots for grafting. This work can be done during Winter if the vines used for stocks are stored in the cellar. Pack away in sand the same as apple grafts. If you desire to cross one variety witli another to produce seed pre sutned to inherit the charac- ' teristics of each parent, cut the anthers from the stamens wnth pointed shears before the pollen is shed, when the flowers first open as shown in the cut. As the flower be- C pfsul^B^^fnl comes developed, apply the ' thers. ' ' pollen from the flower of the variety you desire to use to the pistil "C." To avoid impreg- nation by insects or winds carrying pollen, cover the flowers to be impregnated with thin oiled paper or cloth. G. W. Campbell says the grape Grap_ blossom must be opened arti- d si amenswitn flcially before its season of anthers remv'd flowering, for the removal of the anthers. The above cut shows the graft on a strong cane layered in the earth. By this method the parent vine is but little interfered with in case the graft fails to succeed. But the cleft graft is generally used where varieties Inarching-. The dotted lines below show where the new variety is cut off and removed after the union is perfected, and above where the wild vine is severed. of a vineyard are changed. It is not re- garded as difficult, but I advise experiment- ing in a small way at first. Green wood cuttings are mostly started under glass. Inarching is performed on green or ripe wood by planting the vines side by side, or by placing one in a pot or box. Green Wood Grape Cutting. The two canes are simply bound to- gether after taking a slice . of wood from each, and bringing the exposed layers of bark closely together. If connected some- thing like a whip graft it succeeds better. The wounded part should be bound with moss or clay. After the vines have grown together detach the portions not desired. THE QUINCE, PEACH, CHERRY, ETC. Propagating- the Quince. Usually the quince is cut back after it becomes well established, that it may form numerous young shoots near the base. The Stool Layering of the Quince. bush is then earthed up a foot or more in June. By fall the branches will have formed numerous roots and may be removed and planted in nursery rows where they soon make fine trees. By ma- nuring and nursing a crop of layers may be taken every other year from the same stool. Plants may be formed by bending Plant Layer. down a branch and covering a part with earth.. With rare varieties we import from France the Angers Quinces which cost $15 per 1,000, plant them and bud with the rare variety. This is the most rapid method and makes the finest trees, as the Angers possesses great vigor. We often graft cut- tings of the quince on short pieces of apple roots. The apple root sustains the cutting until it forms roots of its own. All these methods preserve the identity of the vari- ety — but if seed is sown no one can tell what kind of quince may be produced. The quince does not root readily from cut- tings, yet a few people meet with good suc- cess by this method. Make the cuttings long, and prepare them in the fall, planting very early in the spring. Propagating tlie Peach, and Nectarine, Apricot We class these together as all are worked on peach stocks by the same method. Nat- ural peach seed is used by the best nur- serymen from trees never budded, coming from Tennessee. These are less liable to yellows than seed grown North. Whatever kind you use prepare in the fall by mixing the seed with sand and exposing them to the frost and storms all winter. This loos- ens the cement that binds the pits and they open readily in the spring without crack- ing. Sow these in beds or drills very early, covering but lightly with sandy soil. When the plants become four inches high trans- plant on a cloudy day to nursery rows three and one-half feet apart, six inches apart in the rows. About the first of Sep- tember bud them. Next spring cut the tree back just above the bud that you have set, and break or rub ofi: all other buds that appear, except this one that you desire. By fall this single bud will grow from three to six feet high and form a splendid tree. Propagating the Cherry and Plum. The seeds of these are treated much like those ot the peach. Seedlings are usually bought at $6 to $8 per 1,000, as the growing of these, also pear and apple seedlings is a business of itself. The largest seedKngs are secured and planted eight inches by three and one-half feet, generally by thrusting in the spade as recommended for planting currant cuttings, but the safer method is to open a trench, but it requires more labor. The highest culture is given. As the plum drops its leaves early it is budded first — in. July. The wood of the cherry must not be too sappy, thus budding is deferred until very rapid growth is past, say the first of August here. The after-treatment is the 10 PROPAGATING THE PEAR AND APPLE. same as for the peach, except that it takes at least two years to get a well-branched cherry tree. Cherry and plum buds give us more trouble than any other. They do not always grow. Sometimes half the cherry trees must be dug up and thrown away after attempting to make buds catch by repeated budding. A small black insect often besieges the leaves of the young cherry and ruins the tree unless destroyed by dipping the branches in tobacco water diluted. A friend picks off the infested leaves and burns them. Cherries and plums are sometimes grafted on pieces of cherry or plum roots, but they seldom suc- Cded by this method. Propagating the Pear. Pear seed is expensive and the novice should be contentfcd to purchase pear seed- lings one year old, strong, and plant eight inches by three and one-half feet. All nursery ground should be well drained and fertilized, and put in the finest possible condition before planting. Pear roots are the most sensitive of iall roots, and require careful planting and every possible atten- tion. The leaves of pear trees are subject to blight, especially on American seedlings. Those imported from France are less sub- ject to leaf blight. To be safe against blight (which renders budding impossible by tightening the bark), the pear is budded early in July, as soon as mature buds can be secured. The pear may be grafted on pear roots, but budding is much safer. ■»8» — Propagating' tlie Apple. Any person can grow apple seedlings. Get pomace from the cider-mill the mo- ment it comes from the press. If it heats it is ruined. Oj^en trenches in well pre- pared soil with a shovel plow three feet apart. Scatter the poinace thickly therein. Then run the shovel plow between each row, thus covering the pomace very lightly. If you spread rotted manure along the Planting Root Graft ; pressing dirt against it with dibble. rows, or ashes, it -will avail much. Do not be afraid of getting in too much seed— you can thin the rows with a garden rake when the plants first come up, if too thick. Some say the pomace sours the soil. Do not believe this. It is even better than cleaned seed on heavy soil, as the straw mixed with it keeps the soil porous, permitting the young plants to come up easily, and you avoid the I'isk of soaking the dry seed. Dig the seedlings the first succeeding fall, sort- ing out the larger ones. These may be root grafted, cutting the roots into pieces about three inches long. The smaller ones may be planted and budded. If not large enough the fii'st year they may be budded the next. We only use the best. The after- treatment is the same as before described. Root grafting is done in the winter, the grafted roots being packed in moist sand. The budding may be done any time from August 20th to October. — ♦•> Propagation by Cutting, Mr. J. Jenkins says : Most varieties of Grape-vines, Currants, Gooseberries, Roses, and much of the shrubbery supplied by nurserymen, grow readily, and are grown from out-door cuttings. Whether of trees or vines, in-door or out-door propagation, the operation of nature in the growth of tlie cutting is the same. The bud holds within its brown envelope the principle of life, which extends through the cells that have carried the circulation, extended the growth, and established the bud. After the cutting is divided, nature's first effort is to form a callus with the descending cells that would have gone to extend and enlarge the roots on the mother vine. If instead oi abruptly dividing the cane or shoot to be used as a cutting, a system of ringing or strangulation be followed, every bud may be made to produce a plant. This strangulation or ringing is performed on soft or green wood by tying thread tightly around the point where the cutting is to be separated, and on hard wood by a ring of copper wire drawn closel3^ This will cause an enlargement and a deposition of cambium at the point of arrest and make the growth of the cutting thus prepared, when finely separated and planted, almost as certain as though they already had roots. One very successful experiment with out- door cuttings of the grape was performed by allowing the cane to remain on the mother vines until the buds had started a growth of one-half inch or more, and the leaves had begun to unfold, every eye was separated, the old wood placed entirely be- low the soil, the new growth just appearing above the ground, shaded carefully, with a result of full eighty per cent, of vine. In the usual manner of preparing cut- tings greater success follows when the cut- tings are taken off immediately on the fal of the leaf before freezing, when they ART OF BUDDING. 11 should immediately be packed away in moss or soil until time for planting in spring. Grape cuttings from outdoor planting may be made with single eyes, but all the advantages of a two-bud cutting may be retained by simply cutting across the node with a sharp knife, or with shears, com- mencing the cut opposite and one-eighth of an inch or more below the bud and finish- ing one-eighth of an inch or more above. Cutting- a Bug The Art of Budding. The object of budding is to rapidly mul- tiply with the least possible consumption of coins and time. Every leaf bud may make a tree. A slow growing or stunted stock cannot be bud- ded at all with success, there- fore the best possible culture should be given. All trim- , ming of the stock should be I deferred until the day of bud- ding, as every leaf taken from a plant or tree lessens the growth. Many labor under the delusion that by removing the shoots from the trunks of their ; young orchard trees while in leaf they are hasten- ing their growth. Bands for budding are secured by re- noving the bark of basswood n June or July and soaking JM it in water until the inner iUJi bark peels off in thin ribbons, i' ^' The pear in this section is Dudded in July, as the leaf Budding ; trans- blight usually attacks it soon Inrbud ready for after, stopping all growth, insertion. rendering budding impossi- ble. After the pear, we bud the plum, then the cherry, following with the apple, and closing with the peach from the 10th to the last of Sep- tember. Though much de- pends upon the season, I have found that early bud- ding generally succeeds the best, but more attention is required to prevent the cut- ting of the rapidly expand- ing stock by the band that holds the bud. While a cer- tain maturity of bud is desir- able, immaturity is seldom the cause of failure. Apple buds must be set before they have become very prominent, Vance's Method or the season will be passed. Xre a^ud'hi's I have budded the peach sue- been cut out of cessfully ■when the buds set the stock. could scarcely be discovered with the naked eye. Pear buds are the only ones I recall as having fully matured before setting. If the season is favored with frequent rains and the stocks are pushing ahead rap- idly, budding may be deferred with less danger than if the sea- son is dry and the sap moving slowly. A good budder se- lects his buds with great care, using none that are feeble or on soft, spongy wood, and no blossom buds. While the tying of the buds is easily learned by a bright boy, it must be thor- oughly done or the buds will dry out and fail. The illustrations tell how to bud better than words. The leaves are first removed, leaving a short stub only for a handle. The bud is removed, with an inch in length of bark and a little wood directly under the bud. This wood used to be peeled away, but now it is left attached to the bud with better suc- cess. An opening is made in the stock, the bud is inserted from the top (by some from the Bud inserted and bottom) _ and gently tied. pressed into place by the part of the leaf stem remaining. There is seldom any failure in budding when done by experienced hands, but with the novice fail- ure is not infrequent from the following pos- sible defects : 1. The cross cut in the bark may not have been sufficiently wide to prevent breaking w^hen open- ed ; or too much effort may have been made to raise the bark with Bud; 13 HOW TO GRAFT. Tying bud growth to stump of old stock. blade or handle, thus causing roughness — the knife-handle should never be used in this m anner . The upper corners of the bark of the stock should be raised with one steady pressure of the knife-blade, and the bud then made to force its own way home, where it will fit perfectly, and no exposure of the parts to drying influences occur. The novice often fails to push the bud successfully to its place by the frail stem. The pressure should be toward the stock and downward. In obstmate cases we press down by inserting the knife-point crosswise just below the bud. 3. In taking out the wood attached to the bud the vital parts are liable to be injured. 3. The bud may have been inserted when quite immature, or the shield may have been cut too short -it should measure at least an inch in length. 4. If the bark clings to the stock all efforts to bud will prove futile ; but this seldom occurs in the proper season under good cultivation. 5. The tying of the bud may I have been loosely or otherwise J imperfectly done, or the bands left on too long, causing the bud to be seriously cut by the ex- panding stock. The bands should in most cases be removed Ring budding, after fifteen days. 6. The soil should be cultivated at once after budding. I have known men to spend a day budding 50i) trees, yet over 4,000 peaches have been budded in one day by an expert, I never heard of 4,0(.>0 plums or pears being worked in one day. I would prefer to have 500 well done than to have 4,000 worked poorly. Formerly apples were mostly root grafted, but nursery- men are get- ting more in the habit of budding them. Some of the buds inserted fail to grow. These are re- budded the next season, with the excep- tion of the peach. Peaches that fail are grubbed out without apol- ogy. Cherries often get too large by the second year, but apples and pears might be rebudded the First season's growth from bud third year if necessary, but such large stocks produce crooks where the buds push out. It is more difdcult to succeed in bud- ding the plum than most other fruit trees. Experienced nurserymen buy the strongest stocks designed for budding, and would take no poor ones as a gift. They plant in rich soil and crowd them with high culture. Buds succeed in such stocks where they would fail in poor stocks, or these not so well cared for. How to Graft. (t---i Cleft Graftings. Stocks cut and split, and Scions inserted. Scions for grafting are usually cut late in the faU and stored in moist sand in the cel- lar, but hardy varieties may be cut at any time before the leaves begin to grow. Graft- ing out doors begins in the spring with the first warm days, and continues until the leaves are expanded in May. The scions being kept dormant the best time is when the leaves on the stock are just pushiag out. But with the plum and cherry grafting should be done very early. The peach is seldom grafted. With large trees a branch is sawed off, the stock split, a wedge inserted to hold it open while a scion is placed at each side as shown in the cut a b, taking pains to make a close fit where the bark should meet. The cleft and wound should then be covered with grafting wax to keep out the air, made of equal parts of resin, bees-wax and tallow, melted to- gether. Whip Grafting and saddle grafting are methods of splicing the scion to the stock, offering a larger surface of contact, and being best suited to small stocks and indoor work. Apple root grafts are usually whip grafted, THE BOY ON THE FARM. 13 and wound with a waxed string, no attempt being made to keep out the air, as they are at once packed in moist sand, the string being intend- ed to hold the stock and scion firmly in place. In budding and grafting a thin-bladed knife with a sharp edge should always be employed. If the cutting is done with a blunt dull knife there is but little hope for success. The graft has a remarkable effect on the roots of the stock. In starting apple trees in the nursery, we graft on roots of seedlings, after such roots have been af- fected by the graft for three or four years, we find that those grafted with Red Astra- chan, for instance, are very fibrous, branching out near the surface, with few tap roots, while the rows adjoin- ing, or parts of the same row, Saddle Grafting. grafted with the Duchess of Oldenburgh or the Fameuse, are destitute of fibers, possess only tlxree coarse prongs, as a ^rule, one of which is liable to be a tap root "seeking an abode far down in the subsoil. Here's a good label for fruit trees. It is made of tin, six or eight inches long, and a inch or so wide at the wide end, tapering to nearly a point at the other. Write the ^^,,-^-^ names of the tree with a -^^^^)^\^|^scratch-awl, or a saw-file — Aground to a sharp point, bearing on hard enough to cut through the coating of tin into the iron. The rain will rust the letters and make them permanent. Wrap the narrow end once, loosely, around a small side branch. Then you can always know whether you are eating an apple or a turnip. This is the Farm Journal plan. John J. Thomas' plan is to use zinc strips and mark with a lead pencil. This makes a permanent label. In planting pistillate strawberries (mark- ed " P " in catalogues) do not forget to plant them within six to ten feet of the Wilson, Sharpless, James Vick or other hermaphro- dite varieties, that the pistillate blossoms may be made to produce fruit. The Boy on the Farm. THE AtfTHOR'S EXPERIENCE. A group of farmers' boys was gathered before the old stone school-house, with its tortuous benches, cracked corner and dis- torted architecture, one bright morning a quarter of a century ago. ' 'Do you see the young man riding the bay horse yonder?" asked one. "He's leaving these parts — going to seek his fortune." We watched the traveler closely as he passed, noted his attrac- ^tive equipment, his manly form and bearing.and his in- tense and determined coun- tenance. " Were I in his place I would drive a stage- coach, " said one. ' ' I would drive an engine," said another. ' I would hunt in the forest and fight Indians," said another. "I would stand before the mast on the sea," said the fourth. Boy-like, I en- vied his freedom frora the restraints of school and home, his freedom to go wherever he wished, his freedom to choose from all the callings in the great mysterious world that opened so inviting! y before him. Following him with my eyes until he passed out of sight over the hill toward the distant city, I pictured for him in my imagination a glorious career. Whether he became dis- tinguished or sank into obscurity I know not. I never heard of him more. But the sangTiine, determined horseman, in defiance of wise counsels and admonitions of disas- ter, turning his back upon the world of his childhood, and driving out into the great unknown, is a type of young America. He is driving forth to-day from American farms in every township. It is his daunt- less and progressive spirit that has extended our railroads, developed the plains, opened mines, reared cities, and made this a coun- try of which all are so proud. This spirit, inherited, is one source of discontent in the boys on the farm, but there are others more prominent. THE BOY ON THE FARM, AGAIN. THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE. 15 I have happy recollections of the joyous days of childhood on the farm. These are rich legacies with which I could not be tempted to part. Farm life may be made a paradise for children— not a hot-house exist- ence, stifling the victim with rich odors and indolence, causing him to wilt at the first exposure, but free, industrious, out-door life, bronzed with the hot blasts of Sum- mer, buffeting Wintry winds and storms, like the isolated oak, deep-rooted and knotty armed; a life that teaches humility, self-re- liance and courage; the successful training- course for the coming distinguished men The farmers' boys who were my school- mates did not complain of farm life, but were contented and happy, yet as they ap- proached manhood many dispersed into speculation, law, medicine and the ministry as naturally as ducks take to the water. At the age of eighteen I also began to experi- ence a feeling of unrest. Enjoying unusual opportunities for success on the fai'm, I reasoned thus in the premises; "Farming is dirty work — if I put on a clean suit I am certain to encounter a dirty job; it is hard work — from sum-ise to sunset the days are not long enough; it is often a cruel occupa- tion—the mutilation and slaughter of blame- less animals make me shudder; I may asso- ciate with those possessing less refinement than myself, and thereby I lose, whereas I might gain by associating with those supe- rior to myself; farming is said to be the most independent occupation — why, then, does it not bring greater honor, dignity and wealth; farming is not free from risk — in- sects, vermin, disease, and the elements prey alike upon the provident and impro- vident; that the farmer is not crippled by these severe losses is accounted for in his rigid economy and forced industry at such seasons; the farmer markets so many items he does not keep well informed on their shifting values, and does not attempt to in- fluence the market price, thus he is preyed upon by parasites; lastly, in the professions and many lines of business, the reputation for ability or fair dealing is often worth a fortune; not so with the farmer — his grain is dumped into the same boat with liis neigh- bor's; his brand upon his produce gives it little, if any additional value, and should he retire he has no 'good will' to dispose of." Similar thoughts encourage, but are not the prime cause of discontent with boys on the farm. Our homestead farm was one of the best in New York State, located on an eminence commanding views of great beauty, sur- rounded by friendly and intelligent neigh- bors, adjacent to attractive villages, churches and schools. My father possessed liberal views of life, and we all indulged in luxuries and sports in common with those out of debt and with money in the bank. My brothers and I were given opportunities for recreation, education and private enter- prise. While yet a lad I leased the home- stead for two years, during which time, prices ruling high, I cleared over $2.(-)00 above all farm or personal expenditures. Notwithstanding such favorable circum- stances, often cited as a recipe for making boys "stick." none of my father's children continued farmers. With a fair prospect of ultimately owning the homestead, I left it, served an apprenticeship and for twelve years was a member of a firm of bankers in a city. There I learn- ed how easily for- tunes are made, and how easily lost. Learn- ed the value of good digestion, and of the refreshing sleep of him who labors under the open sky. Learned when clouds threat- ened, when the waves of the panic shook my bark, and the sea was strewn with wrecks, that the farm was a safe harbor, and I longed to cast anchor again in that quiet retreat, remembering only the pleasant chapters of my farm life. Do I then regret leaving the old homestead ? No, for there discontent would have relaxed my energies. No, for I cannot help feeling that I am a stronger man than I could have been had I remained. The principal cause of discontent in the boys on the farm is this : Many of them were designed by the Almighty for special- ties ; are endowed with qualifications for m e - chanics, navigators, in- ventors, lawyers, doctors, clergymen, etc. What a wonderful provision that all are not born for one pursuit. WTiat, confusion and sufiiering would result were 16 THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE. it otherwise. Knowing well the character- istics of my brothers and schoolmates, who did not "stick to the farm," I am confident they would have made poor farmers, where- as in their proper spheres they were success- ful. Therefore I dispute the popular theory that we may advance agriculture by iaduc- ing those boys to remain farmers whose natural inclinations would lead them into other pursuits. A man struggling for suc- \Cess in a field wholly unsuited to his tastes and natural endowments is pitiable, and often ridiculous. ft. BU>&««)i>Vbih> HOW TO GROW FRUIT. The Author's Experience and Advice. HOW I BEGAN. Deprived of good health by city life I longed to get back to the country and thought it w^ould be a fine thing to fix up a run-dow^n farm and make it valua- ble. It seemed as though it would be a pleasure to improve it here and there, and make each stroke tell on its beauty and usefulness— like touching up a painting. It was a fine theory to consider behind a counter — not so fine in practice I discovered. I had no trouble in finding a run-down f ai*m — lots of them — but this one had splen- did soil, and a perpetual spring, big enough to turn a mill, bubbled up near the house and flowed through it. But it was an aw- ful looking place, everything battered, wrecked and forlorn, with mosquitoes and rats in abundance. I pitched into it with a will, full of enthusiasm, not permitting my family to come near it until the painters and carpenters had been at work a month. I made some bold strokes in tearing away door-yard and other fence, enlarging the grounds from 16 feet square to 18 acres. I trimmed the orchards, cleared away rub- bish, laid out drives, seeded lawns, rebuilt walls, put in new foundations — w^hacked away right and left, and was so lost in the excitement of the enterprise as to virtually make a hermit of myself. How the money flew ! Why a thousand dollars spent on such a place w^ould improve it some, to be sure, but straightway another thousand would have to be added to it — there was ap- parently no end to the outlay demanded. We are not through fixing up yet — perhaps never will be. You can see by the illustra- tion, that the place is not what it was, but it does not satisfy us yet. We planted the farm to fruit— big fruit, small fruit — all kinds that grow on earth. No one about us understood fruit, and all thought I was crazy. My own father and mother looked upon me a harmless lunatic on the fruit question. I kept at it, however. The good farmers looked shy at the big strawberries and red raspberries which I offered them, for we held them at a big price. The first few crops went off slowly. This gave me the blues, still we planted more and more. Crazy as a March hare, you see. Well, by and by, the fruit sold better, no one knew why. Then the good people came to the farm and engaged them in advance of picking — could not supply them. They would stand before the fruit house waiting fcr the pickers to come in with their trays of berries. Sometimes we had to send them away without any. They often came ten miles to get berries— farmers, villagers, laborers, grocers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tinkers, bankers, merchants, ministers — all after berries. Now, who was crazy? Then people wanted plants of those big, sweet berries. Not only our neighbors, people in every state on the con- tinent wanted plants. We have no reason to complain of the returns the old farm has yielded. It has kept us heaJthy, happy and fat ; if we have not a fat pocketbook it is not the fault of the Fruit Farm. Will we sell the farm ? No ! ! Too many associations connected with it. It must go down to our children's children. Advice to a Beginner. Late one rainy night came a knocking at our office door. Our guest had traveled a hundred miles to see us. He was young, intelligent, full of enthusiasm. His object was to serve an apprenticeship at fruit growing with us. He had money, having sold his fruit farm in Maryland, where he had been growing peaches. He was now employed as stenographer, had served as amanuensis to a prominent literary man, and was accomplished in various matters. Looking him over carefully after supper I remarked that some people had poetical ideas of fruit culture, which facts would not substantiate. I told him that we had an apprentice with us last year. We paid him wages, probably all he earned. He worked as the other help worked, early and late, at whatever we had in hand, regardless whether it would teach him the art of fruit growing. He dug plants, planted them, hoed, trimmed, picked berries, sold them, and waxed fat and hearty. I often explain- ed matters to him that seemed to be of im- portance to an apprentice, but this kind of teaching did not appeal* to make any im- pression. At the end of eight months he drew his wages and went home. His father was delighted to find him grown so robust I i{li| 1 1 i'i'''i i,ii,ii,i'ii I II ii'ii'i,'' ii'i ;*.'' y-fr 18 LOCATION OF A FRUIT GARDEN. and strong, but 1 think the boy did not feel quite satisfied with what he had learned. But when he begins fruit growing for him- self, on his own soil, he will find that he has learned more here than he realized. It would be impossible for even the most stupid and disinterested person thus to be in con- tact with plants and trees for eight months without gathering much information of permanent value. I related the experience of a man w^ho left the city in embarrassed circum- stances and moved on a farm, with no knowledge of fruit growing. This man made it pay as best he could with farm crops for the first few years, planting straw- berries, raspberries, blackberries, currants and the large fruits in a very small way, intending to learn by experience. He found there was much to learn, and made some mistakes, but gradually increased his plan- tations of fruit, gradually giving up the farm crops, until he now depends entirely on his fruits, and is successful beyond his expectation. HE KNEW IT ALL, I told him of another man vs^ho consid- ered himself well posted in general fruit culture, and who, in fact, had considerable experience one way and another. He began fruit growing as a business by planting twenty acres. He was well satisfied with his methods and desired no information on the subject. He made rapid progress in planting and remarked that he could plant two acres to our one. As dry weather came on later, we enquired how his plants were doing. He rather evaded the enquiry. Later, I drove by his place and did not see that amount of verdure that should be ap- parent on a field of fruits at that season. Passing that way in tha fall I saw^ here and there a plant standing solitary, like some lone sentry after a disastrous battle, all his oompanion plants having died ignomin- iously . This man had planted on a freshly- turned timothy sod, in the most hurried manner. The plants were dropped in ad- vance of the planters and permitted to lose their vitality, as they will in a few moments when exposed to the sun and wind. They were then thrust into the soil carelessly, the earth left loose about the roots. Next spring the entire twenty acres were plowed up. All the work and cost of plants was lost. I told our guest of another young man w^ho desired to grow fruits, but felt that he knew nothing about the business. In order to gather information he visited men who bad experience, talked with them about their plantations when they were planting, pruning, picking, etc. He also read every- thing he could pick up that treated on the subject of fruit culture, discarding such notions as did not appeal to his good com- mon sense. With the fund of information thus gathered he began operations. He was active, industrious and full of enter- prise. His father owning a large grain farm set apart a jaortion of it to his boy for fruit growing. He made a business of attending to his fruits ; he succeeded, and hereafter will make money faster and easier than most people who till the soil. I imagined my guest's ardor would be dampened by these practical experiences, but not so ; his health demanded that he should give up ofiice work, and his incli- nations were all toward fruit growing. He asked if I would advise him to spend eight months as an apprentice in small fruit cul- ture. I confessed that I had some doubts as to what advice to give, but said that if I were in his place, with money in my pocket to buy a farm with, and such little experi- ence as he had gathered, I would begin at once for myself, relying on such infor- mation as I could gather by visits to practi- cal fruit growers, and by reading. Certain things must be learned by personal experi- ence anyway. But possibly time could be gained by serving an apprenticeship. Under different circumstances I would advise it. As it was I did not feel that my guest would be contented to work so long to learn so little, as it would appear to him. He de- cided to pitch into a farm of his own at once, and I bade him good speed next morning as he took the early train for home. LOCATION OP A FRUIT GARDEN. Old farm gardens are often so completely filled with seeds and roots of peisistent weeds as to render thein unsuitable for strawberries, which should have clean soil free frona sods, clods, roots or other rub- bish. I therefore sometimes recommend selecting a new site for the fruit garden, for I find the open fields much freer from weeds than old gardens. But wherever it may be located the fruit garden should con- tain an acre if possible. Now of all who will find it impossible to spare an acre for this purpose, the farmer who has the larg- est farm will be foremost — he is the man who has no place to plant fruits. He is like the miser — the more he has the firmer his grip. If you really have not an acre much less will give wonderful results. Select high ground if possible— not hill tops, but that naturally drained. If obliged to select low ground put in tile ditches every two rods. Plow and cultivate the soil frequently the season before plant- ing, so that all roots of weeds and sods are rotted and the soil made fine. We follow the common plow with a subsoil plow, using one horse sometimes, bvit more often two, on the subsoiler. This subsoiling is not absolutely necessary, but pays a big dividend in the succeeding crops. Fresh manure should not be applied just before planting, but several months previous, so as to become rotted and thoroughly mixed with the soil, or as a mulch as Winter LAYING OUT A FRUIT FARM. 1& approaches. Strawberry growers often ma- nure heavily in the Spring, plow under and plant potatoes, then plant strawberries in September or the following Spring. 1 will suppose the plat to be nearly square and that it has been fitted as above de- scribed, and Spring has come. Do not touch the soil until it crumbles after being pressed in your hand, but be ready to push the work the moment it is dry enough. It will often do to drag down the surface when too moist to plow. Drag down, cul- tivate, roll, until the surface is made fine, then plow eight to ten inches deep, let it dry a while, then fine the soil again thor- oughly. Consider how much after labor can be saved by thorough pi-eparation, and how much is lost, and what little satisfaction is attained with imperfect, hurried prepara- tion. No after culture will make amends. The mistake of imperfect preparation of the soil is plainly seen year after year, and often leads tlie proprietor to give up the enterprise in disgust, without perhaps knowing the cause of failure. Now mark out the entire garden Avith an ordinary corn marker, in rows 3J feet apart both ways, the same as though for planting corn. Omit the first row on the east side, plant grapes in the next, seven feet apart in the row. Omit five rows and plant grapes again, planting in this way from fifty to two hundred vines, according to the size of your family and the number of your fruit- eating friends. Omit five rows (those 3} feet apart) and plant a row of peaches 10| feet apart. Omit five rows again and plant quinces; then, in the same manner, plums, pears and apples, each time omitting five of the rows 8^ feet apart, which leaves all the rows planted 17^ feet apart. All the vines or trees being planted at points where the marker crosses the rows, obviating all sighting or measuring. Now plant the va- cant rows between the grapes with straw- berries, and between the rows of peaches, quinces, etc., with raspberries, currants, blackberries, etc. THE CITY GARDEN. If your operations must be confined to a smaller fruit garden or to your vegetable garden, satisfactory results can be secured here also. Plant dwarf trees as far as possible, and place all trees along the bor- ders on all sides; Their roots will feed on your neighbors' land probably, and their branches leaning over his side of the line fence, he will be legally entitled to all that falls on his soil, but he cannot legally take from the tree though growing over his land. You will do him good service by tempting him to plant likewise for his fam- ily, who are doubtless fruit hungry, year in and out. You can find places on the two sides and the back end of your garden thus for planting say six trees each of pears, plums, cherries, quinces, peaches, as they can be set in such positions eight to ten feet apart in the rows. If you desire more trees you can plant a row through the middle of your garden, leaving ample room at each end for turning witii a horse. Supposing the rows to be placed in the middle as above, now half way between this row, and say the west border plant a row of rasp- berries (red and black), and on the opposite side between the row of trees and the east border, plant a row of blackberries or grapes {don't forget them); and if hard pushed for room you will be tempted to- plant the gooseberries and currants between the trees along the fence. You can now- plow the garden as usual, except the space beside the raspberry row, where you will locate the strawberry bed, which will do more to brighten your home than many things that would cost one hundred times as much. Plant the strawberries eighteen inches apart each way if for hand culture, or three feet by eighteen inches if for horse culture. SEASON FOR PLANTING. If you are laying ouc plans for a com- plete fruit garden where there has been none of any account previously. I recom- mend Spring planting. But if you simply wish to extend or complete what has already been begun, the long Autumn fur- nishes a leisure season for such work. Strawberries, if set in the Fall, should be trar^splanted as early as possible so as to- get established before Winter, and when the earth freezes they should be lightly covered with straw litter to prevent freez- ing and thawing of the soil about them. Fall planted grapes, raspberries, blackber- ries, etc. . should be similarly covered also to prevent heaving, and Fall planted trees should Ibe banked with earth a foot high about their trunks. Such covering should be removed after the ground has settled in the Spring. Spring is the safest season for planting large fields, yet on account of the pressure of work then we plant largely in the Fall. Fall planting requires more labor in covering the plants, but we think it pays- us to do so. If the soil is low, wet and liable to heaving, we would not plant until Spring. I do not enter into all the details, as they are given complete in The Primer of Horticulture in another part of this book. This Primer is of the greatest value to be- ginners, and is eminently reliable. LAYING OUT A FRUIT FARM. I will suppose that you are just beginning, to feel that you have some experience iiL fruit culture and desire to lay out a ten-acre field for the different species, having selected it on account of its proper eleva tion, its natural or artificial drainage, its productive character when planted to corn or wheat, its nearness to villages or city, facilities for shipment or other consider- ations. We will suppose that the field has been in corn, potatoes or some other hoed crop last year, or that you have summer- fallowed it to kill weeds'and rot the sod, so 30 PROFITS OF FRUIT GROWING. it will not encumber the soil and prevent proper cultivation ; that as Spring opened you have worked the surface fine, have then replowed, subsoiled, made the earth as fine ss could be desired, and free from rock and stumps, and now wish to lay out the plat to the best advantage. You de- sire this field to be so surrounded and cut up by driveways that you can approach any part of it without interfering with any growing thing, for the purpose of gathering the fruit, for applying fertilizers, for conveying tools, etc. You also want the field divided into plats of convenient shape and size, one for each of the differ- ent fruits you desire to cultivate. We will suppose the field is square. We will first leave a driveway ten feet wide en- tirely around it. Then we will mark out the entire field both ways with an ordi- nary corn marker. Then we find the cen- ter of the lot and mark ten and one-half feet for a roadway through the field from east to west, and likewise one from north to south ; running a one-horse plow in the line of the marker on each side of the roads to mark clear- 1 ly where they are. Now your ten-acre field is divided into four parts, with a roadway complete- ly around each plat and around the en- tire field; and each plat is divided into squares and lines by the marker ready for planting. In one of these four plats you plant strawberries, in another red and black raspberries, m another blackberries, in the last currants, gooseberries, grapes, etc. Select the high- est and best drained part for strawberries, as on such land late Spring frosts are not so liable to blast the blossoms, and the frosts of Winter are not so destructive in lifting the plants out roots and all, as sometimes occurs on low ground when not covered or shaded by straw or litter. Beware of low ground for any kind of fruit, especially if wet. While hilly ground is not always desirable, let the field be above the ordinary level about it if pos- sible. We usually plant pear, cherry or apple trees along the fences on all sides of the field of small fruit. If this is your only field and vou desire more trees, plant one or two rows through the center of each plat at points marked by the corn marker. PROFITS OF FRUIT GROWING. Will it pay? This is the first question a live man will ask when about to undertake any enterprise. As they would say in Dakota, "people don't go into business ex- clusively for their health." No. they want to make money, and why shouldn't they ? I get many letters like the following. which came recently, and which I copy word for word : Mr. Green — Dear Sir : I live in a city of 7,000 people, and as there is no one here who makes small-fruit raising a businessr- I thought I would try it. I have always wanted a small farm, for I love to work among strawberiies, &c. I can buy a small farm, thirteen acres, not two miles from town. The land is sandy. Now, I would! like your advice. Can I make small fruits pay? I have a good business, but it is not just what I like. It is roofing. I long to have a farm. Please answer soon, and oblige. Yours truly, W. H. K., Defiance, Ohio. I reply to this man as follows : Yes, you can make small-fruit growing pay if you set about it properly and are willing to work. Yes, sir ; nothing is mca'e -certain than that you can make it pay. There is no crop grown that can be made to pro- duce so much profit from an acre of ground as strawberries ; next raspberries and blackberries ; next grapes, currants, etc. But do not forget that you are not at pres- ent an experienced fruit-grower, but a roofer, and that you have much to learn about fruit-growing. I would not advise you to drop roofing suddenly, and depend wholly on fruit-growing inexperiencd. Stick to one trade until you learn another. Buy or rent your thirteen acres, make it your home, set out one-third of an acre of strawberries, one-third of an acre of black and red raspberries, and one- third of an acre of blackberries, currants and grapes. I will suppose that you are a man possess- ing some money, but not independent. Your fruits will bring you in no money the first year, unless by sales of plants, there- fore I advise that you continue roofing until your income from fruits is large enough to meet your necessities. This acre of fruit is a small beginning, and I recom- mend small beginnings for those inexpe- rienced. You can learn as rapidly by cul- tivating this acre as though you had ten or twenty acres and your mistakes will not be so "serious. As you gain experience you can increase your plantation from the in- crease of your own plants. There are thousands upon thousands of just such places as Defiance, where no one produces fruit, and the supply is shipped from a distance, and where any intelligent man who likes to grow fruits can make fruit- growing pay well. A man recently came here to learn about starting fruit-growing, saying he proposed to plant nothing but black raspberries. I told him he would make a mistake by omitting strawberries and blackberries, for if he planted all of these he would have months of continuous picking for his four children, instead of only two weeks, and they might pick all ; while if confined to black raspberries, all ripening in so short a TRANSPLANTIISTQ -DIRECTIONS. 21 time, he would have to employ other pickers. Then his customers for one fruit would be customers for the others as they ripened, and they would look to him for continuous supplies, and the same expendi- ture for baskets and crates would do for all. He saw the point at once and did as advised. Directions for Transplanting. PREPARING THE SOIL. For Fruit Trees, the condition of the soil must be such as would be adapted to grow successfully farm crops. If the land on which you are to plant your trees is not in condition to support these, you can make it so by thoroughly underdraining and deep plowing. You may enrich it by turning under clover, applying barn-yard manure, or where it can be obtained, vege- table mold or muck without stint. The last is well adapted for producing a large amount o£ fibrous roots, and it is through these that the tree is fed. Muck can be used also on a mulch after planting. It keeps the soil cool and moist. Corn or po- tato ground is well suited for planting trees or plants, as the sods, which prevent good planting, are rotted. PREPARING THE TREES FOR PLANTING. Cut off the bruised ends of the I'oots, though not absolutely necessary, it is a benefit. The size of the top should corres- pond with the amount of roots. If few roots, cut back or thin out the tops accord- lingly. PLANTING. The hole must be large enough to receive the roots freely, without cramping or bend- ing them from their natural position ; the larger the better. Let the tree be the same depth it stood in the nursery, and not deeper, except in cases of Dwarf Trees. These latter should be set so that the point of union should come two or three inches below the surface of the ground. The tree being held upright, the finest and best earth I from the surface shoule be carefully worked , among the roots with the fingers, fill every I space, and bring every root in contact with t it. Set the tree as firm as a post, but leave - the surface filling light and loose. MULCHING. This is done by placing a layer of coarse manure from three to six inches deep, ex- tending one or two feet further in each di- rection than the roots. This protects the earth about the roots against drying or bak- ing with wind and sun, retains to it the requisite moisture, and obviates all occasion for the pi'actice, generally injurious of the watering of newly planted trees. PRUNING. The stem should now be put in condition for the formation of the top, by removing all the limbs to the point where it is desired to have the top ; then cut back each remain- ing limb, leaving from four to six buds of last season's growth. In the absence of any limbs suitable to form a top, cut the tree down to the requisite height, leaving the dormant buds to make the top. This business of pruning vigorously at the time of setting, is generally a very un- grateful one to the planter, as it injures, for a time, the appearance of the tree to an unpracticed eye. It should, however, be unhesitatingly performed, all the branches to the extent of at least one-half the length of the previous year's growth being re- moved. Care should also be used to give the proper form to the tree. The head may be left high or low, as the taste of the plan- ter may prefer, or as the nature of the tree, in some cases may require. No stock planted in the fall should be pruned till the hard frost has left in the spring, but before the sap starts. STAKING. If the trees are tall or in exposed situa- tions, they should be supported by stakes to prevent injury from the action of the wind. Staking is done in the best manner by driving two strong stakes firmly into the ground, one on each side ot the tree, about a foot distant from it, and fastening the tree between them with bands of straw or other soft material, so that it may be kepi; in an upright position without chafing, till the roots obtain a firm hold upon the soil. We avoid the expense of staking by making the earth very firm, and by straightening if bent over by wind. But with very tall trees, staking is beneficial. CULTIVATION AFTER PLANTING, AND TRAINING Many cultivators, after taking great trouble and expense in selecting and planting their trees, fail of success by neglecting that after care and attention which is equally essential. Caterpillars and canker worms, grubs and borers, slugs and aphis, disease and blight, must be watched for, fought against and remedies faithfully applied. The wants of the grow- ing tree must be carefully foreseen, and a faithful effort made to insure health and productiveness. The requirements of pruning vary some- what according to the kind of tree; we pre- fer, however, low training for all trees, for dwarf trees especially. The pruning should be done each year, so that no neces- sity may arise for cutting large limbs. Care must always be used to keep the head of the tree open and well balanced, cutting away the limbs which may be superfluous. Trees should be trimmed as early as pos- sible to the height it is intended the future head should be, that the cutting off of large limbs may not in future be necessary. This should be avoided when possible, as decay is liable to commence at the point of sepa- ration, and extend into the trunk. When such removal is absolutely necessary, the 23 . TRANSPLANTING DIRECTIONS. wound should be carefully pared smooth, and a covering of paint or grafting wax applied, to protect it from the action of the weather. Dwarf trees, particularly of the pear and apple, while 3 oung, requu'e more pruning than any other kind of tree, in order to bring the top to a suitable form. For the first two or three years after planting, fully one-half the growth of these of the previous year should be removed, by heading in or reducing the length of each limb. The top limbs require to be cut back more, the low- er limbs less, thus producing a more equal distribution of sap, and consequent vigor to the lower limbs with the upper. After the ti-ee has passed say to the third or fourth year from planting, the requirement of pruning is only to keep it in symmetrical shape, and prevent particular limbs from taking a disproportionate gro"wth. Limbs so inclined must be headed back suiHciently, and all superfluous wood upon the tree kept promptly removed. This- regularly attended to, will obviate the occurrence of any necessity for amputating large limbs. Those who are obliged to plant trees in fields of grass or grain, should see that all such are carefully mulched with coarse manure, and that the ground is kept loose and moist about the trees. A hoed crop is greatly preferable in such plantations for the first five years. After this time, stand- ard apples, pears and cherries will grow and produce fairly in turf. Dwarf trees, plum and peaches should be thoroughly cultivated. SUMMER PINCHING. Those who are impatient to see fruit upon their trees, as is often the case, particularly with regard to trees tardy in coming to bearing, may expedite the fulfillment of their wishes by employing the process of summer pinching. In the month of July pinch off the young shoots ; this retards for the time the flow of sap, and hastens the formation of fruit buds. GRAPE VINES. Require a dark, mellow, well-drained soil, deeply worked, and well enriched with a warm, sunny exposure. In planting give the roots plenty of room; spread them out not more than six inches under the surface, and settle the soil fiirmly around them. Soapsuds, sink water and urine are good fertilizers. Nothing better than leaves and trimmings of vines buried around the roots. Pruning. — Vines, when set, should be cut back to within three or four buds of the root. In November, or early in the spring, before the sap starts, in open culture, they should be pruned liberally. In pruning rather tender vines, leave more wood than is needed, as some may be killed, and finish pruning in spring as soon as the leaves are nearly developed, when the life of the vine may be seen. Do not pick off the foliage. The leaves, not the fruit, should be exposed to the sun. We urge this point, as thous- ands err here, and grapes are generally mismanaged. The two gi-eat errors are in neglecting to cut off useless wood in the fall or spring,- and in depriving the plant of necessary foliage by close pruning in summer. T^o obviate overbearing, reduce the vines by close pruning, so as to prevent much fruit from setting. If too much sets, thin it in season, that the juices of the vines may not be wasted on what must be removed. Should have a strong soil and be kept under constant cultivation. Mulching is of special value. Raspberries and blackber- ries should have the old wood cut out each year, and new canes pinched off when two feet high. Strawberries should be mulched late in the fall, uncover crowns early in spring, remove mulch after fruiting, and spade in light dressing of manure. If set for fruit, keep the runners off. Currants and gooseberries need heavy mulching and pruning, so that new wood will have room to grow. The implement shown in the illustration will b'^ found useful for trans- planting small fruits. SPECIAL RULES FOR FALL PLANTING. All small fruits and small shrubs should have the earth banked up aroi^nd them at least two-thirds their height the first win- ter. This prevents the frost heaving them, and sheds the water. This coating can be advantageously covered with loose manure. Large trees should be staked firmly : also have the earth banked up around them at least one foot or eighteen inches. These protections must all be removed in early spring, as soon as the frost has left the ground. HOW TO WINTER TREES PROCURED IN THE FALL. The practice of procuring supplies of trees in the fall is becoming more and more gen- eral as each season demonstrates its wisdom. It is a more favorable time than spring, because of the colder weather, and the lighter pressure of business with nursery- men, the freighting companies and the planter. Even when fall planting is not desirable by reason of the severity of the climate, the stock may be procured in tlie fall, and thus be on hand ready for the opportune moment in the spring. To insure success you have only to get the trees before freezing "weather and bury them in the following manner : Choose a dry spot where no water will stand during the winter, and with no grass near it to invite mice. Dig a trench, throw- ing out enough dirt to admit one layer of roots below the surface, and place the trees in it, inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees or more. Widen the trench, thro w- HOW FARMERS MAY BEGIN. 23 ing the soil among the I'oots in position. Place another layer in the trench, reclining the tops on the others, and so on until all are in the trench. Then finish by throwing Tip more soil. It is also well to bank up the earth around the sides to insure more thor- ough protection. Care should be taken to fill solid all the interstices among the roots. In the spring ihe roots will be found to have formed the granulations necessary to the production of new spongioles and when planted at the proper time will start to immediate growth. Use only finely pul- verized soil. If the trees are frozen when received, they should be buried immediately in the earth, tops and all, and allowed to thaw in this condition. These transplanting rules, not my own, I have amended and corrected. I do not know who should have credit. What Poor Men Should Do. I often ask myself as I pass a small farm, located near a village, "Why does not this man i-aise fruits ?" If I were in his place I could make four times the money he re- ceives." But at a second thought I see (1) that the man has no experience with fruits and that he must consume some time in learning their habits; (2) that it would cost him something for plants and trees, and that he may not be able to buy them; (3) that very likely he requires the produce of every acre for the maintenance of his family from month to month, and that if he plants fruit he might run short of money before they came into bearing. The proper thing for a person so situated would be to invest $5 or less in strawberry, raspberry and blackberry plants, get experience in cultivating them, and increase his planting with plants of his own growing. How Fanners May Begin. ' Young men adapt themselves to new oc- cupations more readily than those older, , therefore it is well to give one of the boys I an opportunity to begin fruit-growing. Set I aside a field for that purpose, and let him J manage it. You will be surprised to learn how quickly he catches ideas, and the ; rapidity with which he masters the situa- 1 tion. Fruit culture conflicts with farm work at times, but in this way each could attend I to his own affairs. Fruit-growing, indus- ■• triously and intelligently pursued, is now and ever will be a profitable and delightful occupation, I know of no means by which the soil can be made to yield so profitably, but it reqiiires closer observation and study, and more thought and attention than is ordinarily given to farming. Fi'uit-grow- ing for drying may be profitably pursued in any section where the soil is suitable. Black- cap raspberries are the most profitable of the smaU fruits for this purpose, the berries netting as much profit when dried as when sold fresh. A dry house suitable for this purpose can be made for $15 by an ingeni- ous person. My friend began fruit-growing on a farm of 100 acres without experience. He rented to a neighbor on shares for grain-grow- ing, all but ten acres. He purchased 1,200 strawberry, 1,500 raspberry (red and black) and 100 blackberry plants; 120 grape vines, a few currants and gooseberries, 200 peach, 800 apple, 100 pear and 50 quince trees, costing altogether $100, and embracing the leading varieties. The 300 apple trees occu- pied six acres. Excepting grapes, quinces and pears, all the above fruits were planted either in or between the rows of apple trees. He layered grapes and raspberries. The strawberries and some other species multiplied fast, thus the second year he had a stock of plants of his own growing for further planting. Thus he extended the enterprise gradually each season, buying only a few improved varieties, and extend- ing his pear, peach and quince plats. The first season there was no income from fruits. The second year his fiTiit sales amounted to $23, the third year to $141, the fourth $354, the fifth to $576, yet the quinces, pears and apples had not arrived at bearing age, the peaches bore one season, the grapes were just ready to give returns, the strawberry crop had been cut short two seasons by late spring frosts, and only eight acres had been occupied. The fruit .sales had been made at extremely low price-^5 to 7 cents per quart — and much work had been done in a roundabout manner. It "w ill be safe to estimate his receipts annually from the ten acres, w^hen all the trees are of bear ing age, allowing for occasional failure of some species, at $1,000, from which, at a rough estimate, $400 should be deducted for labor, gathering, marketing, etc. These figures are not startling — they simply rep- resent what the novice may reasonably ex- pect from similar venture. One experienced could do much better, for it is not impossi- ble to secure $1,000 from one acre in fruits. The Selection of Varieties of Fruits This is the question that is asked on all sides, and is one of the greatest importance. People say they look over the catalogues and are more perplexed than when they be- gan, asking what they shall do, having no experience of their own. My advice is, to get the opinion of the most reliable fruit- grower in your vicinity, if possible, for those living hundreds of miles away can- not so well take into account the conditions of the locality, and often only actual ex- perience in your localitywill decide what varieties are the best. If no neighbor is well posted you must get advice from a dis- tance, and experienced men even a thous- and miles away can help you much, by 24 UNCEETAINTIES AND CERTAINTIES. recommending varieties that do well every- where. Do not plant many varieties. Two or three varieties of each species is often enough, to begin with, at least. It would be folly for me to attempt in this book to give a list of varieties for each state. Remember that those varieties suit- able for the north aften fail in the south, and that those that succeed in the east often fail in the far west, and vice versa. If you will state clearly where you are and what you desire to do, enclosing stamp, I will gladly advise you by a personal letter. Uncertainties of Fruit Culture. The uncertainties of life are not neces- sarily calamities. To be certain of the future leads us to be watchful, diligent, prosperous. Certainties induce us to lie back complacently — uncertainties urge us to renewed effort. Uncertainties give prizes to the practical, the diligent, the pro- gressive. I mention a few : 1. The uncertainty as to which may > prove to be the best varieties now and in the future. It would seem probable that the masses will consider quality more and beauty and quantity less. 2. The remarks that may be indulged in over a new variety by those not posted. 3. The causes of the diseases of fruit trees and plants and the remedies. Pre- scribing for them is like prescribing for babies— they have no speech and cannot tell us where the trouble occurs. 4. Whether, considering the growing in- terest taken in small fruit culture of recent years, large fruits will ever again maintain their former imposing supremacy. 5. Whether there is any limit to the im- provement of varieties. 6. Regarding the different effects of frost on plants in the same field. An elevation of one or two feet often appears to save them, and plants on the same level with those destroyed are often saved, through conditions of the soil about or benea'th them. I have found the blossoms of mul- ched strawberries more seriously injured than those unmulched, where the soil was kept loose. 7. The astonishing quantity of fruit a community, whether rich or poor, can be educated to buy and eat. 8. Whether new vaxieties of fruit ap- proaching the ideal in one direction tends to weakness or defects in another. 9. Whether the fruit or the seed is the primary object of nature. 10. The cause of occasional late straw- berry blossoms being pistillate on her- maphrodite plants. 11. The cause of the entire destruction of fruit germs after blossoming, in the apple and pear. 12. Why seedlings are apt to succeed best where they originate. 1 Certainties of Fruit Culture. There are as many certainties connected with fruit-growing as with other enter- prises. I sometimes think that greater cer- tainty would bring less profit to those who- strive with heads and hands and deserve to succeed. To succeed without effort is not in the nature of things, nor for our greatest advancement. We struggle for success, and not only secure it, but greater strength to achieve other victories. I will notice a few certainties : 1. It is certain that if we attend to the wants of our orchards they will beautify our homes and make them attractive to our families and neighbors. 2. That apple growing is profitable for stock feeding if proper varieties are se- lected. 3. That our occupation is healthful not only to those who pursue it, but in its effects on those who consume our product. Fruit growers do more to bankrupt the grave-digger than doctors. 4. The change from grain growing to fruit growing is a great rest for the soil, enabling it to recuperate. Fruit growing does not so rapidly exhaust the seed produc- ing element. 5. Fruit growing does not beget laziness. Its promise of beautiful tinted specimens and rich clusters urge us to do our best, and having done this we have no time for idleness. 6. That we approach improvement in va- rieties of fruit as we approach great inven- tions. One successful invention leads to another. One valuable fruit leads to an- other more valuable. 7. That the improvement in varieties of fruit appear to come in groups. The Sou- hegan family are of the Doolittle type, 'the Gregg family of the Mammoth Cluster type. Worden, Moore's Early and other grapes are of the Concord type. Amsden, Alexan- der, Waterloo and other peaches are of Hale's Early type. 8. That there are other methods than thi-ough seedlings by which new varieties may be secured. We ignore the fact that new varieties originate from sports. It is time that we recognize this, and derive all the benefit possible. 9. It is certain that our methods of fruit- growing have not reached perfection. Con- sumers are payiag high prices for fresh fruits. Compare the price paid for our fresh fruits with those paid for raisins, figs, etc., put up and sold at much greater ex- pense. 10. It is certain that the people of this country at large are insufficiently supplied with fruit. In traveling two thousand miles across the country one's view from the car -windows ^fvould impress the opinion that this was not a fruit-growing country. While there are many who appreciate fine POSSIBILITIES AND CONDITIONS. 25 fruits, the average ruralist is ignorant, blind, Indifferent regarding them. 11. That many fruits appear to ripen faster during the night tlian during the day, yet the sunny side ripens sooner than the shady. The closer fruits are to the earth the earlier they ripen. 12. If we find bnds no larger than our thumbs struggling with destructive worms in our nurseries we need no prophet to assure us that they are friends. 13. That if we apply fertilizers to fruit indiscriminately we are in the position of the farmer who feeds his cattle without ob - serving their likes or dislikes — their wants or abhorrences. 14. That one significant evidence that the interests of fruit-growing are alive and advancing is that the veterans who went forth proclaiming a new dispensation, the men who laid foundations, whose zeal gleamed brightly, and whose enthusiasm was kindled before many of us were born, are appreciated and honored. Possibilities and Conditions. Fruit growing for market is comparatively a new industry, even here. Seventy years ago Western New York was a forest. Our pioneers became grain growers through necessity. The children of this grain-grow- ing people have followed the footsteps of their fathers, their cry being continually, " Wheat, wheat ! by wheat we live or die! " {yet many of them died through fat pork). Thus it is, that the fertile valley of the Gene- see has gardens more destitute of fruits, than many of the Western states. Our grain- growers who have gone west have been drawn out of the ruts of their fathers ; thus their gardens there are more often fragrant with strawberries on each returning June. In few branches of industry have there been greater developments than in fruit- growing. Our pioneers had no fruits except O H. " those of stump lots, marshes and broken for- ests. First a taste for fine fruit had to be acquired. Tins taste is yet crude, but far in advance of the past. Next came methods of canmng. It is but a few years since a pound of sugar was used to preserve a pound of fruit. Next came experiment in cold houses, not yet perfected. Then followed the heavy demand from our European neighbors, and with it the evaporating boom, itself a revolution. With these develop- ments, were opened new frait producing territories, not dreamed of in the earlier days, and many of the Southern and South- western states began to plant early fruits for northern markets. Western New York has long smce been shorn of her supremacy for wheat growing — we will do exceedingly well if we mamtain our present status for fruit-growing. I wonder that we do not give more attention to small fruit culture. We should have ice-houses in ■which to store berries as soon as picked, and refrige- rator cars in which to ship. The horticultural societies of the West and South-west are numerous, and doing good work. But the great mass of our fruit growers are not a^s^ake to the possibilities of their vocation. They stay at home nursing the fallacy that they have' learned all worth knowing. Here the question arises, " How can instruction best be given in fruit grow- ing and ornamental gardening":"' Not by preaching, for those will not come to listen whom we desire to benefit. Not through the press, for our papers are laid aside unread, by those not interested in the sub- ject. There is but one effectual method, ">At^ and that is by example — object-teacliing. Let any fruit grower lay out a fruit farm among grain growers, and they will soon learn through their eyes and mouths, what preaching or editorials would never have taught. One after another "will transform a wheat field by planting therein the various fruits, until the epidemic becomes general. There is one other method I will propose: Let us announce a cattle show and horse race in the rear of a fruit farm during the ripe berry season. If the visitors would not neglect the show proper in admiration of the berries, they would not be human. And after learning ho"w bountifully the earth produces these luxuries, they would become willing converts. There are many problems for progressive fruit growers. There are men in every State on the continent who are studying, experimenting, investigating, digging up advanced ideas. How shall individuals be benefited by this widely separated work, if not by communication through the press, by attendance at horticultural meetings, or i through reports of such gatherings? 26 , INJURIOUS INSECTS. Insects Injurious to Fruits — Remedies. BY CHAS. D. ZIMMERMAN. Whenever a strong poibon can be applied, Paris green is the most effectual. The ex- act amount can only be determined by ex- perience ; from a teaspoonful to a table- spoonful of the poison, to a barrel of water are recommended. To use it dry, mix one poimd to twenty- iive pounds of flour or plaster. London purple is cheaper and as effective. It is finely powdered, and more flour can be Ubed than for (Paris green, about one to fifty, or in water one pound to from 100 to 200 gal- lons of water ; it is not soluble. Noth- ing is more deadly to insects than oils. Insects do not breathe through the mouth, but have respiratory organs, generally situated on the side of the abdo- men ; these organs are obstructed by oil, which is the usual cause of death. Kero- sene is the most deadly of oils, but is injuri- ous to vegetation, and should only be used diluted. To mix oils with water, first com- bine them with milk, then dilute to the desired degree with water. Insects that Trouble Iiarge Fruits. Codling Moth. — Paper bands, applied by June 20th, and examined every ten days until August 25th, and again after all the fruit is gathered, or the Paris green applica- tion already referred to. Imported Oyster-Shell Bark Louse. — Apply pure raw Linseed Oil in June. Pear and Cherry Tree Slugs. — One or two dustings of air-slacked lime is a good remedy. There are two broods, one in June and again in August. Plant Lice.— Heavy and continued rains destroy them. Tobacco water is one of the best artificial medicines. Tent Caterpillar. —Readily destroyed by twisting the nests into a rough stick and tramping it under foot, on a cool day or early in the morning when they are at home ; and prevented by cvitting off and burning the twigs in winter that contain the mass of eggs laid in circles on them. Plum Curculio. — This breeds in nearly all store fruit, and disfigm-es but does not breed in apples and pears. No better rem- edy than the jarring process, if persisted in. Commence as soon as the fruit has set and jar three times a week for abottt three weeks ; it need not be done early in the morning, as we have been told, as all cur- culios "play possum" when jarred and are readily taken. Bud worms. — These two small moths and perhaps others, are very troublesome in the orchard and nursery by destroying the buds and smaU leaves just as they are about to expand ; they are very difficult to destroy by any poisonous hquid, as they tie the small leaflets together to protect themselves. Hand picking is all I can suggest, but 4 better remedy or preventative is wanted. i Peach tree borer.— The eggs are laid at the collar, during July, August and Sep- tember by the day-flying moth, resembling a blue and yeUow wasp. Cut them out with a knife and prevent with tarred felt as acommended for the apple tree borer. Climbing cut- worms. — These have been complained of as having destroyed fruit buds during the night on trees. Try anything that wiU prevent their climbing the trees, like the rope and tin bandage, as recom- mended for the canker worms. Flat -Headed Apple Tree Borer. —t Foim.d under the bark of apple and white oak, occasionally on other trees. As it attacks diseased trees principally the rem- edy is to have healthy trees only. Apple trees that are sunburned are very subject to its attack. Use the knife and wash with soft soap about the Inst of May. Round-headed Apple Tree Borer. — The female beetle lays its eggs at the collar of apple and quince trees, from June 15th to July 25th. Cut out the larv« with a knife,, and prevent egg-laying by placing a sheet of tarred roofing felt around the collar, slightly in the ground and about eight inch-- es high, tied at the top. Canker Worm. — The females are wing- less and crawl up the trees on warm days in winter and spring to deposit their eggs. A rope tliree-fourths of an inch thick, cut long enough to reach round the tree and fastened with a couple of nails; over this a tin band three inches wide, placed so that the rope will be in the middle of the tin will prevent their ascending. [Paris green water (a spoonful of paris green per barrel) ajaplied to the foliage by spraying with a force pump is an effectual remedy. I have tried it, in- tending to give two sprayings, but found once enough to destroy the pests. — c. a. g.] Insects Injurious to Small Fruits. The strawberry worm is the larvae of a small, jet black saw fly. The eggs are laid in the leaf -stalk about the middle of May, those of the second brood in July. Readily destroyed by hellebore or alum-water, one otmce to a gallon of warm water. Gooseberry Fruit- worm.— -The larvee of a small moth which lays its eggs on the fruit as soon as they have blossomed ; one larvEe often destroys ten to fifteen berries. Hand picking appears to be the only remedy. White Grub.— The larvae of the May beetle ; verv destructive to strawberry beds HOW TO MAKE MONEY. 37 •f planted on lands where grass was grown ess than three years previous. The eggs I'xe usually deposited on grass lands or on lid matted strawberry beds, and as the ;rubs are three years coming to maturity, uch lands may be used accordinglj^ The )eetles are sluggish during the daytime and :an easily be shaken on to sheets from trees. Imported Currant Borer. — This is the arvse of a transparent winged moth, and is iiuch more troublesome than our native pecies. Cut out and burn all infested branches. J Gooseberry Span-worm. — The larvae of H pale yellow day-flying moth, of sluggish .iiabits and easily caught in a net. Use liv^hifce hellebore on the leaves. Imported Currant Worm. — The larvae if a yellow saw-fly, easily destroyed by ivhite hellebore, and I am told that alum lissolved in warm water, an ounce to a gal- on, is very effectual. There are two iroods. Raspberry Twig Girdler. — A small bee- ;le, which deposits an egg near the end of a iwig and then girdles it. Cut and burn the fwigs. Tree crickets are sometimes trouble- iiome, they lay a row of eggs lengthwise into grapevines, also in some trees and :hrubs. Cut and burn the twigs. ■ Strawberry Leaf Roller. — The larvge >f a small moth, which rolls the leaves bout itself for protection while feeding. land picking may pay on a small patch, or iilow under as soon as picked and set anew a. a remote tplace. Grape Phylloxera.— No efficient rem- dy has, as yet, been discovered, although a »rize of three hundred thousand francs has teen offered by the French government. Mr. sidor Bush states very clearly that the *hylloxera has existed on our native vines for centuries, and does not destroy them, but may injure and weaken them. It does kill all European varieties of grape vines. American vines injured by Phylloxera would probably revive by applying fertili- zers. Grape vine plea beetle.— This steel blue beetle has a great notion for nipping the vine in the bud ; its brown shiny larvee are also great feeders on grape leaves in the early summer. The beetles are easily taken by jarring the vines early in the morning or on a cool day, over an inverted unbrella. For the larvae apply air slacked lime. How to Make Money. This is an iateresting subject. How can it be accomplished ? First you must make an effort — a big effort — exhibiting all the push and perseverance there is in you, no matter what the undertaking may be. The Almighty has planned that money cannot be made without a struggle. Even the swindler and impostor have to make a a ef- fort to entrap their victims. Having made an effort, persist in it. Push! push ! ! push ! ! ! Never give up nor leave the enterprise you have considerately selected, for others that for the moment may appear more promis- ing. A great cause of failure is the mistake people make in choosing a vocation, and in 28 HOW TO MAKE MONEY. ever afterward trying to change for the better. Such changes are dangerous and cause serious drawbacks. If every young man could select his proper vocation when he begins life and stick to it persistently until old age, the number of successes would be increased a thousand fold. Select an honest business. None other pays in the long run. Select a business whereby you can most benefit your fellow men. Do not do this simply from kindness of heart, but for the further reason that such kinds of business pay best. Money is made by sup- plying wants — the more important the want the better the chances of success. Ponder this point well. Supposing you are possess- ed with the idea that the homes of some Western settlement should be ornamented with fine paintings, and forthwith set up a studio and offer them for sale. You would soon learn that the good people could get along very comfortably without the paint- ings, and that you would not supply a " long felt want." There are communities where paintings will sell, but you have not located wisely for that pursuit. If you had offered boots and shoes, axes, hammers, plc"ghs, cultivators, etc., you would have found customers. Therefore study w^hat the peo- ple need, and how you can best supply it, always considering your natural tendencies, yielding to that which best suits your indi- vidual taste to a certain extent. Advertise — "How?" you ask. There are a thousand ways. You can advertise by selling cheap; by selling high for super- ior goods ; by driving handsome horses (I don't advise it); by keeping a tidy and in- viting place of business; by attractive signs; by unusual attention to patrons; by selling some staple down below cost; by a good pew at church; by hand bills, dodgers, news- papers, balloons, painted fences and rocks , and other devices not yet dreamed of. But whatever the method, I advise you to ad- vertise. If you have but little capital, do not spend it all for space in the newspapers. Go moderately ; you have much to learn, for advertising is a fine art, requiring long experience to attain the best success. It may be claimed that all successful men ad- vertise. Doctors often say they do not advertise, but they do. There are numerous ways they can do it without a line in the papers. Well I remember a new doctor that came into Rochester and drove a two- wheeled yellow cart, when other sucli con- veyances were never seen. Everybody wanted to know, • ' who is that man ? " He made himself known at once. Most people begin with but little money. Keep yours in your business. Do not on the start invest it in even a house to live in, for it will be much better for you to rent one and have the money to turn over and over again in trade. You will find numer- ous temptations to invest to advantage out- side your business. Do not do it until you can afford to lose what you thus invest. Ponder this point — it is a vital one. I have been through the miU and know whereof I speak. Limit your expenses to what you can af- ford. It is not necessary to live expensively in order to live well. Depend on strength- ening your credit by prompt payment of aU engagements more than by outside display in living, dressing or equipage. Figure closely on aU details, but when you see a goo(j chance to benefit trade be lavish ; don't scrimp when the investment of $1 will bring $10. Keep watch of the times, and ahead of the times — herein lies one of the secrets of success. The man who comes slouching into the dock after the fast boat has departed always gets left. Don't get left, I implore you. Keep an eye out from the mast-head at the weather. If it looks squally, take in your sails. If all is promising put out every inch of canvas. Do not fear to take some risk. If you take no risks you cannot make a great success ; but gov- ern the extent of your risks by your ability to withstand loss. The business I have selected for life is fruit and tree grow^ing. It is a healthful business —consider that point. What is life worth to a man w^ho has no storaach ? I tramp about in the fresh air and sunshine and can digest tenijenny nails, whereas when cooped up in an office, I was distress- ed continually with the most simple food. It is an honest business. My children need not blush for me, and my patrons are not injured by what I sell them. It meets that ' ' long felt want " that all are seeking for. The people are not well fed with fruits ; the face of the earth is barren of these necessi- ties where it should be laden with plenty. It is a profitable business — if not, how would the printer get paid for those car-loads of A PROPAGATING BED, 39 papers and catalogues, and the army of la- borers for all their picking, hoeing and dig- ging ? But you need not choose these pur- suits. You may have been designed for a doctor, a lawyer or an inventor. If you we'-e so designed, stick to it, my friend, though the heavens fall. Our nursery is simply an outgrowth of the fruit farm. People found that we had fine fruit and wanted the plants. From a local demand followed a trade with all parts of the United States that astonishes us. Any fruit grow- er having business ability may work up a profitable plant trade, gradually extending to trees and ornamentals. My advice has always been, begin slowly, gradually ex- tending as you gain experience, no matter what may be the business. Do as you agree; keep your pledges. Nothing weakens faith in men so much as quibbling, beating about the bush, and at- tempts at evasion of promises. I have known men to damage their reputations ir- reparably by backing out of a bargain, or breaking faith to save a few dollars. Do not sell yourself so cheaply. No; do as you agree and abide the consequences. You will thus soon learn to be exceedingly care- ful what you agree to do, and you will sel- dom be caught napping the second time when apparently profitable opportunities for ventures are offered. At the present moment a crisis has come to the farming community. So many have produced wheat and corn the markets are over-sup- plied. Look around you and see if some form of product can be grown that every new comer does not attempt. If your com- munity is buying berries and other fruits at good prices, or purchasing them from a distance, rest assured that there is an open- ing for money-making, if you have a taste for such work, by devoting yourself to fruit growing. There are many parts of the country where berries, etc., bring extrava- gant prices. Do not rely on such prices continuing long, but accept the situation and begin. This book was printed for your especial benefit. How to Lift the Burden. My son, put that log on the wagon. I cannot father. It weighs many tons, and exceeds the strength of a hundred men. You can put it on the wagon and I will teach you how. Chop and split it into lengths suitable to your strength. Now let this be a lesson to you. AU through life you will fijid heavy burdens to carry, heavy tasks to perform. Do not inspect them in bulk and become disheartened, neither grapple and attempt to master them with one efiiort. Perform what your strength will permit — a little each hour — each day. You will grad- ually become strong, and meet with success in the end. By attempting to lift a heavy log at onB effort, you might injure yourself beyond recovery. But by lifting a little at a time, you would, in a life time, move more logs than could be stored in a town- ship. Great success in life is secured by knowing your strength and lifting accord- ingly. By continuous and persistent effort rather than a momentary struggle. There is another way by which you can move heavy logs. There are many inven- tions designed for this purpose, the existence of which you do not suspect. In some instances you are only required to attach the grappling hooks, and the burden is borne wherever you desire. Remember that in all undertakings in life there is one way to proceed much better than all others. Investigate closely, assuring yourself that you are working by the best methods. Oth- erwise you will be lifting the log without appliances. Only the best methods lead to- success in this progressive and competitive age. If you cannot discover these methods you will see your rivals pushing ahead.. You will be outrun in the race. A Propagating- Bed, There are few nurseries in which the soil is naturally in the best condition for out-door propagation by cutting, etc. We remember a bed at Rochester made 40 years ago by drawing 100 loads of sand on a small plot, and continually enriching and mixing it with the sur- rounding soil. Every year the bed bore a wonderful crop of vines, the stand being something remarkable. But an examina- tion would convince any person why the cuttings succeeded so well. The conditions of moisture and porosity were present, and the most careful attention was given. Any one may prepare a bed equally desirable, smaller or larger as their wants demand. If only designed for one year the expense would be considerable, but as it can be used thus forever, the cost is too small for consideration. If you have no sand to mix with your clayey loam use muck — say about as much muck as common soil, and mix well by plowing and cultivating, or spading. Before applying the sand or muck and after plowing, it would be a great ad- vantage to burn piles of brush on the soil. The benefit derived is not only from the ashes — the burning of the soil is an ad- vantage. Apply ashes, phosphate and well rotted manure freely, and have all weU mixed with the soil before planting. <30 THE BERRY HARVEST. Berry Harvest. Wheat harvest brings in a busy season, but the berry harvest is one of greater anxiety, as small fruits are perishable, and must be sold at once as ^ ell as gathered. Begin a month in advance to get crates, boxes, picking trays, etc., on hand, and build new packing houses, vv^here necessary. These are often rude affairs. We have seen a pole borne by two crotched posts, on which boards rested, one end of the boards lying on the ground, answer in keeping off sunshine and storm. Some- times only the shade of a large tree is re- lied on. But sudden and severe storms are liable to occur, and most often the houses are sixteen feet square, with a nar- row passage way on one side through which only one row of pickers can pass at a time to deliver the berries, thus avoiding confusion. It should admit the air freely. On large fruit farms they must have many of these packing houses at convenient points. They must also have cheap cabins built in which pickers from a distance can sleep and cook. It requires some experience to manage berry pickers, especially when a large number are employed. They are easily in- fluenced to stop work at a critical moment, by some one discontented picker. Prevent this by making contracts with them for the w^hole season or no pay. It is useless to try to keep accounts with pickers, for if they ^et the notion that your accounts are not what their memory calls for your books will be vv^orthless to convince them, and one dissatisfied picker will torment you worse than an army of ordinary creditors. Work entirely on the ticket sj^stem and it will save you vexation of spirit . But you can have tickets, each one of which will cover 100 quarts picked, to pay out when liao^e to Tun short of small tickets. There are many kinds of tickets used, but mostly small ones with one, three and six quarts marked on them, or one, two and four, coiTespond- ing with the number of quarts the picking trays hold. Mr. Samuels' method is as fol- lows : "He has a card four inches in length by one and a half inches wide, on which a number of figures, are printed to represent quarts, ■with smaller figures below giving the sum of all above. The larger figures are punched out with a punch like a railroad conductor's, as the berries are brought in. A man stands at one of the packing house doors for this purpose, and punches out numbers, representing the quarts picked, attends to the berries and gives instructions about picking. This re- quires an experienced man, and one who is thoroughly honest, as it is easy to punch out figures representing more than is brought in by some favorite. " Govern the pickers with a firm hand. There is no other way. They will soon learn whether you intend " the rules " shall be obeyed, and whether you are in earnest in your commands. Rest assured that every advantage will be taken of weakness indiscipline. No less than two persons can manage a lot of pickers - often many more, according to the number employed. One person must be ready to receive the fruit as it comes into the fruit hous'e, pay out the tickets, and place the fmit in crates, or, where it is assorted, as the case may be; the other must be moving about the berry field cont inually , seeing that the pickers stick to the rows assigned them, that they pick clean, fill their baskets and put in no rubbish. Few men are suitable for this work — it requires a brigadier gen- eral. We recommend that every large berry grower have rules printed on cards, and that they be given to each picker when he is invited to begin work. We shall jise these rules on cards that represent one dol- lar due the picker, which will enable us to take up the smaller tickets. It will be worded thus on the back of card : When properly signed by us this ticket will show that one dollar is due you at the end of the picking season, providing you have worked faithfully to the end. If you lose this ticket you lose your money. Kules for Berry Pickers. 1. No person is permitted to stop work for the day without permission. 2. No children under eight years of age, no troublesome, complaining, dissatisfied, profane or improper talking persons al- lowed on the premises. 3. Those who eat most berries and talk most accomplish the least work and are not wanted. 4. Each picking tray will contain its quota of boxes, and no person will be permitted to take more quart boxes than the picking tray holds . 5. Tickets will be given for each quart picked. If you lose these ■ tickets you lose your money. Do not trust others to count your tickets. Keep your tickets in pack- ages of one dollar each, so as to have them convenient to be proved when you are paid. 6. Pickers will be paid at the end of the raspbei-ry season for picking both rasp- berries and stra'wberries, and not before. It is best for you to get your money all at once for then you know how much the season has brought you, and it is not con- sumed by piecemeal. We can not be both- ered by paying pickers as they happen to want change. 7. If you can not pick all the berries in the row, if you can not pick without bruis- ing the fruit, or trampling on it ; if you can not fill > our boxes properly, or keep the fruit free from leaves and rubbish you will be discharged. 8. You are not paid to make fun, to tramp on boxes and trays, or make a noise. MARKETING FRUITS. 31 All must be quiet and orderly or you will prevent others from working besides losing your own time. 9. Any person found creating dissatis- faction among the pickers, by word or act, will be banished and never permitted to enter the place again. 10. If found picking from other rows than that which has been given you to pick you will not be paid for picking such ber- ries. 11. It is understood and agreed that all persons employed to pick our berries shall remain with us, picking w^henever and as long as their services are needed, and that should they stop picking sooner (unless on account of sickness), they forfeit all the money they have earned. This is under- stood to be a contract between us and every picker, and vidll be enforced. It is assumed also that you agree to keep all the rules herein laid down, and abide by all require- ments above set forth. If you can not agree to abide by these rules do not begin work . All tickets must be presented for payment within ten days after the close of the picking season. Marketinar Fruits. We publish elsewhere facts regarding the loss incurred in shipment of foreign fruits. If the losses of domestic fruits were cap- able of being shown it would astonish the reader, for there is often a wof ul lack of judgment or experience in putting them up and sorting, and often inattention on the part of the persons to whom they are sent for sale. Parker Earle is one of the most successful shippers. He stations men at important points to attend to shipments and sales, not feeUng satisfied to trust every- thing to men employed by others. The selling requires as much attention and ex- perience as growing. His fruits are picked before getting fully ripe, are assorted, packed to stand rough usage, and open at the end of the journey in tempting style. He ships in refrigerator cars, and stores in cold houses as soon as picked. We often see his fruit in the Roclaester market looking as fresh as when first picked in southern Illi- nois. We find the home market is most profit- able, and would advise all to make every effort to sell as near home as possible. Many people send fruit far away to market not knowing that larger profits could be made by manipulating and encouraging home sales. Learn what your home mar- ket requires and grow fruits to meet it. Make a home market. Grow berries so large and tempting they will sell them- selves. You will find that the more you sell the more you may sell . Your custom- ers will eat berries from habit, and consume bushels where formerly they consumed quarts. For instance take a locality where many persons are growing fruit on a large scale, and you will find more berries con- sumed there than elsewhere, and more easily sold, for the people have learned their value and formed the fruit eating habit. Distant shipments entail loss at best, crates are lost or smashed, there is an unexpected glut in the market, trains are delayed, or unlocked for events transpire to cut short profits. The home market is the best, rely on it mainly. If compelled to ship make arrangements beforehand with men whom you have found (on inquiry), are reliable. Never send to a total stranger, of whom you know noth- ing. Let one man at each point handle all you send to that place. Do not disappoint him when he expects a shipment. Your fruit will soon get a reputation with his customers, and if superior will command better prices than if sent to different firms, who know less about you or your goods. If shipping a large lot telegraph the amount and the hour of shipment so that he may be making a sale for it before its arrival. There are many growers who sell entirely through commission houses, and who are well satisfied with the results. But remem- ber it requires experience to pack and ship and make it pay, and that for the novice the home market is the mainstay and safe anchor. Strawberries intended for distant shipment should be picked every day, and raspberries every other day. Ten Questions AnsTv^ered. Question 1. Is fruit-growing profitable. Answer. It is profitable if conducted with skill and perseverance. Without experi- ence we cannot be skillful. Without perse- verance we can accomulish nothing. Q. 2. If fruit growing is profitable why do not rural people more generally engage in it? A. The mass of ruralists have been born and bred farmers. Their entire attention has been given to grain growing, to stock, etc. They know no more about fruit grow- ing than about manufacturing boots and shoes or woolen goods. They have not placed themselves in position to learn about fruit growing. But where fruit farms have been successfully established among far- mers they have not been slow to learn that fruit growing pays best, and such farmers often pick up enough information to begin for themselves in growing fruit. Q. 3. Is fruit growing more generally pursued than formerly ? A. Yes, especially small fruit. Twenty years ago small fruit growing was scarcely pursued as a bus mess, the supply coming largely from wild bushes. There is ten times as much grown now as ten years ago. Each year increases the supply and demand. 33 VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. Q. 4. Does not the increase of planting depress the price of fruit ? A. It has not thus far. Since canning and evaporating began tlie prices have stif- fened, and the gluts in the markets, so fre- quent of old, are seldom experienced. The more abundant the supply of fruit the more people form the habit of eating it. Q. 5. Is there not danger of over-produc- tion ? A. There would be danger were every part of the country adapted to fruit culture. Considering the fact that but a small part of the United States is w^ell adaped to give profitable returns, there appears to be but little danger of a permanent over-supply. Not so niuch danger as there is of an over- supply of wheat, for wheat can be grown over a much larger extent of country. Q. 6. Are people going into fruit culture intelligently or blindly ? A . There was a time when men rushed into it blindly with exaggerated expecta- tions, not knowing what to plant or where to plant. They were alike ignorant of var- ieties, the habits of species, the peculiarities of soil necessary and other important ques- tions. These men failed disastrously. Another class have begun the work, who have fitted themselves by experience and observation and never in this country have we had so intelligent and competent a class of fruit growers as to day. Q. 7. Which branch of fruit culture Ib most profitable ? A. It is difficult to state. What is most profitable to-day may be the least profitable a few years from now, and what is most profitable in one locahty may be the least so in others. The wise course appears to be this : plant not all to strawberries, or to pears, or any one thing, but everything that your market calls for. The season opens with strawberries, then comes raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, apples, peaches, pears, plums, quinces. Thus you have something to market perpetually, and if one crop fails you do not feel it as you would if all your time had been spent on one specialty. Your market should be your guide as to what you should grow. Q. 8. Is fruit-growing hard work ? A. Physically it is not nearly so hard work as farming. Mentally it requii'es more effort. Q. 9. What soil is best for frtdt culture i A. A farm having both sandy loam and clay loam would be preferable, as pears, plums, apples and some other fruits would do best on clay loam, and the small fruits best on strong, sandy loam. In all cases avoid stiff clay. I would not take such land as a gift for fruit culture. Q. 10. What would be the chances for success of an inexperienced city man, or a retired clergyman, at fruit-growing as a business ? A. His chances vs^ould be small. He woujd be likely to have fanciful and exag- erated ideas of the profits, and an inade- quate conception of the amount of work required. He would in other words not be practical. But many such men have suc- ceeded, and will again. If a man has tJie right metal in him there is no such word as fail in any enterprise he undertakes. The Marlboro Kaspberry. Probably no raspberry has ever been intro- duced in this country about which so much will be said as the Marlboro. Shares of this variety were sold in the Spring of 1883, all being bound by contract not to sell be- fore the Fall of 1884. One of the best indi- cations is that most of the shares were taken near where the berry originated, and where it is best known, and by fruit grow- ers for their own planting. The Marlboro is a bright red raspberry, large size, firm and fair quality — we do not consider it equal to the best in quality — a firm ship- ping berry is seldom of the best flavor, as quality and softness or juiciness often go together. The quality is better than Brandywine or Reliance. We may think better of its quality on further acquaintance. It is claimed to be the earliest variety to ripen — we have not tested this point. It endured the past severe Winter here, the canes coming through in fine condition, to the tips, without any protections. It is one of the most vigorous growers, making strong, stocky, reddish canes, with very prominent buds. We stand ready to expose any weak point that may be mentioned against this variety, believing the public should be cor- rectly informed. We confess that we had fears that it was not hardy enough for us, and that we watched it anxiously, but from its appearance the past Winter and Spring we consider it as hardy as the Cuth- bert. Red raspberries are becoming more profitable each season for market, and a valuable early variety is just what is needed. Just w^hat position the Marlboro will take ultiinately, we cannot state, but it promises exceedingly w^ell. We advise all to endeavor to see it in fruit so as to be able to judge for themselves. ♦ •» Voyag-es of Discovery. We advise our readers to move about and see the new varieties in fruit this season. By this means you can judge of their value nearly as well as though you had been to the trouble and expense of testing them your- selves. We assure you that there is being made impro's-ements in many fruits, more particularly the small fruits. If any one within a day's drive has the James Vick strawberry in bearing it will pay you to visit it . We sent out this believing it might become one of the most popular both for market and home use, and the more we see of it the stronger our hopes become, but THE NEW flITE GRAPE ITIAGAEA. ^ This new purely native White Grape is a cross between Concord and Cassady. Hardy; as strong a g^rower as wOncord; earlier and far better in quality. Bunches large and uniform; very compact, sometimes shouldered. Enor- iiously productive; a four-year old Vine producing 140 clusters, weighing from 8 to 16 ounces each. Selling in various iiarkets at 15 to 25 cents per pound, when best California grapes brought ten cents. The most desirable white grape iVf produced. THE GRAPE FOR THE MILLION. PHELPS 243 TO 2« PEA POTTED PLANTS. 33 time alone will tell. If it is the most pro- fitable market berry you cannot learn the fact too soon. The first report from the James Vick this season comes from John T. Stark, Secretary of the West Tennessee Horticultm-al Society, Jackson, Tenn., dated May 1st, he says : " I picked my first James Vick this morning ; a late frost in- jured the berries somewhat ; this one meas- ures one and one-fourth inches in length, and three and one-eighth inches in circumfer- ence, and I think there are fully two hun- dred berries on the plant this was picked from ; color and shape beautiful. Hope to have some nice ones to exhibit at our raeet- ing. When you get anything extra good please let me know." Get sight of the Al- lantic, Mrs Garfield, Prince of Strawberries, Daniel Boone, Pipers' Seedling and other strawberries. When in fruit look up a plant of Hansell, Marlboro, Shaffer's Colossal, Montclair, Superb, Souhegan, Tyler and other raspberries, also Early Cluster, Wil- son Jr. , Stone's Hardy, Wallace, Taylor and other blackberries. It will pay you to see Fay's Currant, Lee's Prolific and the newer grapes, such as Moore's Early, Worden's, Pocklington, Prentiss, Duchess, Early Vic- tor, Niagara, etc. If a man is breeding horses, cattle or sheep, he traveis about to see what others are doing in his line. Fruit growers will fall behind if they do not do likewise. But do not visit other fruit growers in a critical mood, or with the con- ceit that your methods, your varieties, your plantations are superior. If they really are superior struggle hard not to show your host that you think so. There is no greater bore than the man who goes from one fruit farm to another without appearing to see anything worth seeing. Do not expect too much. De not look for paved walks and sodded borders in the fields of fruit. Ex- pect to discover plots apparently abandoned to weeds. Every propagator has such — they are the beds wherein his red raspber- ries and blackberries are permitted to sucker and produce young plants, and no cultiva- tor dare enter. Be interested, be pleased, learn and be happy and wise. Potted Strawberry Plants. People often defer planting Strawberries in early spring, and desire later to start a bed. For such, plants grown in small pots are valuable, for they can be transplanted with a ball of earth about their roots at any time of the year, though if the weather is very hot and dry, water must be given them at intervals on the start . If planted in hot, dry weather, fill tlie hole in which the plant is set (with the baU of earth left on undisturbed) with water, and so that the earth about the roots is thoroughly moistened . It is safer to shade the plants for a few days in such cases. But in ordi- nary moist soil, in cooHsh weather, potted plants will require no such attention. In getting started with new varieties, potted plants are valuable. The drawback in planting in quantity is the weight of earth attached to the plants which makes express charges high. Potted plants are usually shipped in light baskets holding 100 plants or more, each. We planted potted Vicks in July, August and September of last year, and these plants will bear a crop this season, raany having set 100 and more berries each, and they will be of large size. In planting potted plants you gain by having to cultivate them for a shorter peri- od, and the ground can be occupied with other crops early in the year, such as peas, or early potatoes, etc . But the extra ex- pense of obtaining such plants will pre- vent their being planted on a large scale . Whatever you do, do not plant strawberries late in the fall from ordinary unpotted plants ; they will not secure foothold by winter, and unless protected skillfully would be heaved out by frost and destroyed. Bones, Ashes, Etc. Three hundred pounds of unleached ashes mixed with 100 pounds of ground bones in a heap and kept moist would soon reduce the bone to a nearly soluble condition for a fertilizer. But as a caustic potash is a mucli more quickly active decomposing agent than the mild potash or carbonate, it would be better to add about a bushel of fresh-burned lime to the heap. When this slakes by the addition of water, it takes the carbonic acid from the potash in the ashes and makes it caustic, in which condition it will reduce the bone to a soluble condition very soon, the mixture should then be shoveled over and mixed with a fourth of its weight of plaster, which will prevent the escape of ammonia that will be produced. If the bone is raw, such a mixture wiU contain about four pounds of nitrogen, fifty pounds of phosphate of lime, and ten pounds of pot- ash, worth at market price about $4.50 per 100 pounds, not counting the lime and plaster, which will be additional. Ground bone can be bought for |25 to |30 a ton.— N. Y. Times. It is held now that pear blight is not con- tagious, but by using a knife on healthy trees that has trimmed blighted ones, dis- ease is thought to be carried. We desire to be careful what we assert regarding this business. Some people know all about pear blight and yellows, we do not. 34 HUDSON RIVER VINEYARDS. A Catskill Fruit Orower. ' ' You have probably had some experience in fruit culture," I remarked to an aged and communicative GatskiUian-on-the-Hud- son. •' Gosh, yes. When I was a boy Rochester nurserymen cum out here them- selves and sold us trees. I bought fifty ap- ple trees, dug big holes and filled em in with rich soils and sods. Beats all how they growed. Why men w^ould cum to see them ar trees loaded down with apples, and think I was lyin when I told how few years they had been growin. Gosh, yes. And then my boys didn't like farming and I sold the old place, and the man who bought it let them trees take care of themselves. Well the grubs got inter em, the moss covered em, the branches looked dead like, and not an apple grew on em. Gosh, yes. And then I ses to that man, you dig out them ar dead ti-ees and put in pear and plums, then tackle the earth with the hoe and cultivator, draw on some dung, white- wash em, lime em, train em. Well, he done it, and now he beats all of em with the biggest Bartlett pears and Lumbard plums you ever sot eyes on. > Go&h, yes ; and then I used to grow strawberries. Beats aU how them things did turn out the berries, and big uns, jou bet. You see I pulled off the runners and kept em in hills like and they did bear like mad, and I sold cm all for 12 and 15 cents a quart. Ye see the nite boat takes em right to New York fresh as a clam, without a bruise or a jolt. Gosh, yes. But the boys don't like farmin. One of em is porter in the hotel, and one is train man on the railroad, and I help a lit- tle looking after fruit and pertaters for the hotel where my boy works. Farmin pays best. Gosh, yes ! But what is an old fel- ler to do when his boys don't like farmin, says I, and so I sells the farm and cums here and totes about like nobody. If them ere boys had stuck to the farm and the ap- ples and berries, we'd had a heap of money now. Gosh, yes. For that new railroad (West Shore) has cum along, and you can't buy the old farm now for twice the money I got." A Successful Weed. If there is a more persistent weed than Mallows (cheese) I do hot want to contend with it. When -we took possession of our farm the yard w^as in a garden where the ]^Iallows had seeded for many years. When formerly an old row of peach trees stood, with currants, burdocks and pigweeds be- tween, we planted roses and other orna- mentals, after cleaning it out thoroughly. The soil was rich and everything thrived. The Mallows came up as thick as hair on a horse. We fought it with hoe and cultivator, and have been fighting it for years since, but even now if left uncultivated for a few weeks the Mal- lows reappear about as thick as ever, fresh seed being continually brought to the sur- face by cultivation. Where a plant of Mal- lows gets a good foothold in rich soil, it will cover a plot four feet across with root so strongly imbedded that the strongest man cannot pull it up. Very small plants go to seed, and all should be looked after closely in the fall. The roots are exceedingly tough, and the hoe and cultivator are often turned aside by them. A friend, on mov- ing a barn, found a bed of decayed manure which he applied to his lawn, covering the sacred spot several inches deep. Soon he saw his fatal mistake, for mallows appeared thick and fast, and despite his efforts took possession, and he was never after able to conquer them. If our readers can tell how to get them out of a grass plot, or how to get them out of door yards where they have had full sway for half a century, we will gladly give the needed space. In enlarging fields in the nursery, we have occupied old lanes, where Mallows had gained foothold, with cherries and pears in nursery rows, where the soil received the most thorough culture, yet at this season we find the Mal- lows as thick in these spots as it is probable for them to grow. We are clearing them out, but will expect to see their faces again next season and the next until doomsday. ♦ » » ■ Hudson Kiver Vineyards. I probably passed within sight of nearly one hundred vineyards. Their important features, and the ideas suggested are as follows : 1. The importance of elevation. The higher the better. Here early and late frosts seldom do injury and the grapes be- come thoroughly ripe, a condition most de- voutly to be sought. As Mr. Downing said when we called : ' ' Don't send me any im- perfectly ripened grapes to test, as they give no satisfaction." 3. Plant only on dry soil. There is much elevated land on the Hudson that slants so the water cannot run off. No vines will ever be planted here. .The grape courts dry soil, dry seasons and warm dry countries, with an abundance of sunshine. 3. Thorough cultivation. The soil is kept loose and free from weeds by frequent cultivation with horse and hoe. Grass and weeds not only steal plant food and moist- ure ; they shade the soil from the sun's rays and prevent early ripening of the fruit. The Acme is a good tool with which to work among vines. 4. Thinning the fruit. Overbearing causes the grapes to ripen very late if at all, and does permanent injury to the vines. How much each vine should bear depends on the vigor of the variety, its age and con- dition. The vines are not permitted to bear half what they would bear if undisturbed. By this thinning larger bunches are secured MANURING TEEES. 35 and better prices in market, and often as many pounds as though twice as many bimches were left on. 5. Pruning close so as to avoid too many bunches settmg, and keep the vines within bounds, and attentive tieing to the wires. I never saw a successful vineyard when the vines'were straggling away from the wires. 6. Fertility of soil. The mountain sides, after ages of washings of rains cannot be expected to be very rich. Here applica- tions of manure give immediate results, and I find grape growers making every ef- fort to increase the supply from the pig pens and stables. 7. The choice of varieties. Even on the Hudson river the old Concord is the most reliable. Though other varieties pay the best profits, many of them are expected oc- casionally to fail for one reason or another. It is safe to say that tlie Concord can be grown at half the expense of most of the other varieties, but many of the promising new varieties are not yet fully tested here. 8. Careful assorting and attractive pack- ing for market, in packages with handles so that purchasers can carry them after purchasing, and so small as not to become wearisome to the purchaser. A dealer will sell many more fruits put up in five or ten pound baskets, than if offered in larger packages from which they must be un- packed and pawed over, many berries drop- ing off, and all made much less attractive. Not only grapes, but plums, peaches and rare apples and pears can profitably be marketed in this manner. Manuring- Fruit Trees. It is singular how long some fallacies retain their hold, even after they have been disproved by facts, and of these, one of the most mischievous is the behef that fruit trees and bushes are liable to injury rather than benefit from the apphcation of manure. AH sorts of disease, such as canker and other ailments to which fruit trees are liable, are set down as the result of applying manure to the roots ; whereas, in nine cases out of ten, it arises from poverty of the soil, causing the roots to run down into the bad subsoil. I am continually heai'ing complaints from owners of fruit trees as to their unsatisfactory condition, and on ex- amination have iiwariably found scarcely any surface roots or fibres of any kind, nothing but large, thong-like roots, that run right down into the subsoil. On inquiry I have usually found that manuring or top- dressing had not been practiced for many years, their owners having come to the con- clusion that such practices were dangerous. I do not say that manure will prove to be a cure for fruit-tree ailments of all kinds, but I will briefly detail a few facts tliat have come under my observation at various times, to prove that starvation of the roots is a far more prolific source of injurv than abundant feeding of the surface roots, both with solid and liquid manures, and growers must form their own conclusions as to the best course to pursue. The fruitful or un- fruitful state of orchard trees in nine cases out of ten, is entirely dependent on the at- tention which they receive as regards ma- nuring. In the fruit growing parts of Kent, where large orchards of standard trees planted on grass land is the rule, it is a well-established fact that if the grass is cut for hay and carried away, the trees soon become un- fruitful and die out ; while, on the con- trary, if the grass is fed off, so that the nutriment is returned to the roots in the shape of manure, the trees keep fruitful and healthy. I have seen some of the most moss-grown, miserable specimens of starved orchard trees restored to fruitful condition by making the ground beneath them the winter quarters of sheep and pigs, feeding them at the same time as if they were in the farmyard with roots and corn. The finest old specimens of apple and pear trees are generally those in an orchard next to the homestead that is used as a run for calves, sheep, pigs and poultry the whole year around. In these orchards the turf is short, and being full of nutriment the trees keep healthy and prolific for an indefinite period. Ashes, garden refuse, or any kind of road scrapings, or even scaven- gers' rubbish may be utilized for increasing our supply of orchard fruits. They should be spread roughly on the surface in winter, and in spring harrowed and rolled down firmly. The result will soon be a marked improvement in the size and quality of the crop. Difference of opinion prevails as to the pruning or non-prunirg trees, some adopting one system and some another; but, be that as it may, I never knew fruit trees continue to yield good crops for any length of time unless the roots were sup- plied with manure in some form or other. — London Garden. Cultivating Strawberries. — A writer in Vick's Magazine says that in raising strawberries for market, the rows should be at least twenty-five rods long, so that horse-power may be used in destroying every weed as soon as it sprouts, and the surface of the soil kept constantly clean and mellow. No ridges or furrows are to be formed between the rows. Old Raspberry Canes.— Mr. Hale rec- ommends leaving the old canes which are past bearing, till the following Spring, to protect the new vines from wind and snow. Sometimes the snow thus accumulating has shielded the canes, and a better crop has been the result. Mr. R. Johnson, in his "Farm Notes " makes the same recommen- dation. 36 QUESTIONS ANSWERED. A Querist in a Fruit Garden. How can I best fill out vacancies in rasp-. berry and strawberry rows caused by plants dying from effects of drouth ? With strawberries permit the plants that survive to make new plants, and take up the new plants with a mass of earth about the roots in September, and plant where vacancies occur. Or, better, train the run- ners into quart baskets or small pots, and transplant from these when well rooted. With black raspberries, layer the young canes as soon as long enough, and trans- plant these young plants next Spring where vacancies occur, after the tips of young plants have grown an inch or two, leaving earth about the roots. With red raspberries fill vacancies now with green sucker plants that have sprung up about oid plants on your place. Do not order green plants as they will not often endure shipment. Re- move the leaves on planting. Is it necessary to remove blossoms from newly set strawberries ? If set early, and the weather continues moist, the plants may come through in good condition, bearing fruit the first season. But if a drouth occurs after planting, the plants might perish from the drain upon their vitality in attempting to produce fruit before becoming established. I have known plantations to be saved in such cases by re- moving every blossom and green berry. What is the best plan for carrying plants through a drouth ? I never water them. As ordinarily done, watering is detrimental. I mulch each plant with muck or sawdust, or in the field with loose fine earth. Even where the soil in the row has become hard this mulch of fine earth often saves the plants through a long drouth, if the spaces between the rows are cultivated frequently. When is the b^st time to head black rasp- berries and blackberries ? If you wish to grow without stakes (the approved method) pinch off the tips of young canes as soon as they get about two feet high. If you wait until the canes are four or five feet high and then cut off a foot or more, you check growth and lose some of the best buds. I cut back the bearing canes of red raspberries, and shortening in side branches early in the Spring, securing more and better fruit than if the entire canes were left on and giving bettor oppor- tunity for the pickers to move about with- out breaking off the ripe berries. Is Summer pruning of the grape advis- able? Grape growers thin grapes by pulling off surplus buds and shoots and shortening-in canes, allowing but three or four bunches to each cane, when the trellis is Tvell covered. If left to itself the grapevine sets twice as many clusters as it can bring to perfection. If a large part of the clusters are removed early, those remaining will be much larger, will ripen earlier and be of better quality and the vitality of the vine be perpetuated. How long is it profitable to allow straw- berries, raspberries, etc., to grow on the same soil without renewing ? Some varieties run out much sooner than others. Ordinaiily three years with straw- berries, five with blackberries and currants is the extent, though many are profitable much longer, and strawberries might con- tinue an existence for a lifetime. The bet- ter the culture, and the richer and better drained the soil, the longer the plant en- dures. Where land is very high-priced strawberries are only allowed to remain long enough to produce one crop. Where land is cheaper there is no limit to the in- genuity that may be applied to keeping the the beds renewed and productive year after year, keeping in view the fact that the young plants possess the most vigor. Are large fruits as profitable as small fruits ? As a rule they are not. Our small fruits seldom fail to give a crop, while the pears, apples, peaches and plums often have their barren years. But the trees require less attention than plants and vines, and we do not feel the loss of a crop so seriously from them. While engaged in the business one should desire to grow the large fruits as well as the small. Does fancy fruit growing pay ? No. If growing fruit as a business you must learn the cheapest method of produc- ing it. It pays to fertilize well, to give good culture, to offer in attractive style in market, and to raise the best varieties, but there is a limit to high culture, and to every- thihg connected with the business. Every man must be his own judge as to ■when he has reached this limit. Some men can grow fruit at half the cost of others. Some men can manufacture shoes for less than others. Good common sense caiTies a man a long way toward success in this country. — [Charles A. Green in N. Y. Tribune. A French method for converting cider into vinegar is as follows : Scald three bar- rels or casks with hot water, rinse thor- oughly and empty. Then scald with vin- egar, rolling the barrels and allowing them to stand on their sides two or three days. until they become thorougly saturated with vinegar. The barrels are then filled about one-third with strong pure cider vinegar and two gallons of cider acid added. Every eight days thereafter two gallons of cider are added until the barrels are two- thirds full. The whole is allowed to stand fourteen days longer, when it will be found to be good vinegar, and one-half of it mav be drawn and the process of filling up with cider began again. In summer the barrels are allowed to stand in the sun, and in cold weather kept where the temperature is 80 degrees. SLEEPY HOLLOW ROMANCE. 37 17^ A Sleepy Hollow Romance, Illus- trated. Timothy Baldwin visits the metropolis to m.ake arrangements with his commission house to sell the fruit from his great farm at Sleepy Hollow, in Western New York . He takes his pretty daughter along to show her the sights . Now Timothy is rich. The grapes from the hillsides, the berries from the valleys, the red-cheeked apples, the golden pears, the delicious peaches had year by year added to his bank account, untU he need have no fear of keeping the wolf from his door. His daughter, Betsy, had been given the best advantages, and "had recently graduated with honors. He was proud of her, yet not pleased with the admirmg glances bestowed upon her by his fellow passengers, several of whom found no favor though they attempted to enter into conversation with Timothy, appearing deeply interested in fruit culture and other rural affairs. The journey progressed as all journeys do. The newsagent dumped Bob Ingersoll's and the Bad Boy's book into their laps, the cough lozenges, and prize candies. The brakeman ertered anon to bawl out the unintelligible names of sta- tions, the conductor moved to and fro like a brigadier. By the way where are the peanuts that used to be offered so freely on the cars in days of old ? They are banished and the mild-flavored and less dyspeptic oranges, figs and banana are substituted. 38 USEFUL ITEMS. From Albany Timothy took the day-boat desiring to enjoy again the beautiful Hud- son river scenery, and to point out its at- tractions to Betsy . A band of musicians was aboard, the deck was well-filled with pleasure seekers, the grand old hills loomed up sublimely, and Timothy and Betsy were liappy. They stopped at the Astor House in JNew York, and will never forget the del- icacies for which the place is famous. Af- ter attending to business and showing Betsy Brooklyn Bridge, Prospect and Cen- tral Parks, the sights on Broadway, the art galleries, and the museums, our friends got aboard the cars at the Grand Central depot for home, Betsy taking the seat next the window, tlu-ough the frame of wjiich her sweet face beamed bewitchingly. At this point a foppishly dressed young man appears, and is at once smitten by Betsy. He attempts to attract her attention by strutting up and down the platform. Timothy meanwhile is figuring up his pro- spective profits from fruit. Last year he sold his red raspberries for $4,000, his straw- berries for $2,000, his black caps and black- berries for $3,000 more. He explains to Betsy that he figures the sum higher this year than ever before, when she exclaims : " Father do see this funny little man." Now Timothy is mild mannered generally but when he saw this foppish nincompoop smirking and flirting he was as mad as though he had recently sat down on a red hot hornets nest. He said nothing, but un- observed by the fop, watched his antics. Suddenly Timothy darts out of the rear end of the train. There lies the two wheeled truck used for moving baggage . He sees the dandy strutting in the opposite direc- tion near the window where Betsy sits, un- conscious of impending disaster. Suddenly Timothy remembers that his trunks are not yet aboard, for he dashes towards the young inan in fine attire with the speed of a fast mail train, and the catastrophe depicted in our last illustration transpires. Berries stiil flourish in Sleepy Hollow, where Tim- othy lives, and the gossips tell of Betsy's approaching wedding. She is to marry one of the foremost farmers. Probably some of her purchases on Broadway will be worn on her wedding day. Illustrations from Rural New-Yorker — romance by our editor. A plan for a cold fruit house is given elsewhere in this issue. It would seem to be unnecessary to go to such great ex- pense. Such houses are now built with silnply room between outside and inside sheathing, to admit of one foot of space for sawdust— the theory being to confine cold air. It is remarkable that any section of country where fruits are grown should be without some such building for storing fruit in its fresh state. Simply an ordinary ice house is a safe place to keep a few crates of berries or other fruits. A neighbor sowed oats among his cur- rants, and the currant worm, previously destmctive, did not appear. Where they are troublesome give them powdered helle- bore promptly, at first sight, sprinkled on when bushes are wet with dew. The Science Monthly reports the cause of the cathartic energy of pears. Ripe Bart- letts are found to contain sharp pointed crystals w^hich irritate the walls of the in- testines. The Keiffer Pear has this clear grit, which will enable it to push its way to popularity. Drake's Traveler's Magazine says that the "nursery trade of Rochester is not sur- passed by that of any other place in the world. The suburbs are highly cultivated^ having 4,000 acres of fruit trees and numer- ous nurseries, each of which comprise from 250 to 500 acres." ' ' An honest strawbeiTy box is the noblest work of man." This cruel thrust at the man who invented the box with the bottom half way to the top, will bring tears to the eyes of the sympathetic. How much bet- ter strawberries taste when there are f ew of them, and the price high. And thert Barnum says the world likes humbugs. Certainly this box looks as innocent as a new born babe, at first glance, and liberal too in proportions. But so long as imper- fection prevails in the human race, just so long will complaints be made when it is difficult to tell which end of the box holds most, the bottom or top. Stone wall fences are an abomination. They must go with the crooked rail fences, as barbed wire becomes better known. It is about impossible to climb over a stone wall without loosening the stones, thus a wall where hunters or children often pass, soon tumbles down, and what an elephant on your hands it is to repair. Nothing looks worse than a broken down stone wall. Fasten one barbed wire over your walls in place of rails and people will not at- tempt to climb it. Barbed wire makes the cheapest fence. Winds have no effect on it. UniTily cattle and horses respect it. If we had it twenty years ago there would now be no unruly or jumping stock. To Escape Lightning.— Carry as little metal as possible about your person. When the storm approaches shelter yourself in the nearest brick or stone building. If none be near you, stand still or lie down on your face, regardless of the rain, w^hich is really a protection. Avoid the shelter of trees and doorways, also out-houses, such as barns or stables, "wdiether of stone or wood, especially of the latter. I consider that open, low, dry, stony ground is safer than high, wet and grassy ground, and that leeward sites are safer than windward ones. On seeking shelter laborers should leave their tools behind, as the metal is apt to attract the electric fluid. THIS INTRODUCES OUR PORTFOLIO, 40 THE PEACH. Planting the Apple Tree. Come, let us plant the apple-tree ! Cleave the tough greensward with the spade ; Wide let it hollow bed be made, There gently lay the roots, and there Sift the dark mould with kindly care. And press it o'er them tenderly ; As, round the sleeping infant's feet. We softly fold the cradle-sheet, So plant we the apple-tree. What plant we m the appie-tree .' Buds, which the breath of summer days Shall lengthen into leafy sprays; Boughs, which the thrush with crimson breast. Shall haunt, and sing, and hide her nest. We plant upon the sunny lea A shadow for the noontide hour, A shelter from the summer shower. When we plant the apple-tree. What plant we in the apple tree ? Sweets for a hundred flowery springs. To load the May wind's restless w^ings ; When from the orchard-row, he pours Its fragrance through our open doors, A world of blossoms for the bee — Flowers for the sick girl's silent room. For the glad infant sprigs of bloom. We plant with the apple-tree. What plant we with the apple-tree ? Fruits that shall swell in sunny June. And redden in the August noon, And drop as gentle airs came by That fan the blue September sky; While children, wild with noisy glee. Shall scent their fragrance as they pass, And search for them the tufted grass At the foot of the apple-tree. — Bryant. PKIMEK OF HORTICULTURE. PREPARED BY CHARLES W. GARFIELD. The Peach. The peach is one of the most delicious fruits grown in a temperate climate, and whenever it succeeds its cultivation yields a larger net return than perhaps any other fruit — every succeeding year affords evidence that it may be successfully grown in many localities where heretofore it was supposed such an undertaking would result in failure. Being a native of a warmer climate than ours, it is often injured by the intense cold of Winter. It is therefore advisable to fortify the tree in every possible way against the rigors of our northern climate. This precaution is the first step toward success, and in many localities is imperative. Several factors will enter into the account in secur- ing this result. First — the site for the orchard should be elevated above the lands adjacent, and the surface should incline considerably in order to secure perfect drainage for excess of water and cold air. The cold air being heavier than warm air will run off, if the surface is descending, and will occupy the lowest level the same as water ; for this reason, among others peaches will not succeed on low ground, nor even on high land if the surface is a dead level for some dis- tance around. For the same reasons, all depressions having no out- let should be avoided. Neither will a peach orchard succeed on heavy clay soil when the subsoil retains an excess of water, unless very thoroughly underdrained and the subsoil broken up. If it becomes again appar- ently compact, the roots will be enabled to penetrate such soil far more readily than they could before it was broken up. It is known that the roots of the peach tree have less power to penetrate the hard earth than those of many other fruit trees, and require a loose, friable soil and subsoil. Such a condition of the soil allows the water to pass off readily and admits light and heat, both im- portant agents in vegetable growth. The best soil for the peach is a deep, strong, gravelly loam or a heavy loam with a porous subsoil. Sandy land is preferable to heavy clays, and with the use of fertilizers will produce fruit of excellent quality and in reasonable abundance. As an incentive to a thorough preparation of the earth before planting out the orchard and of the most prompt and thorough cultivation afterward, we may say that an acre of land adapted to and thoroughly prepared for growing peaches, will produce a net in- come equal to three or four acres devoted to farm crops, and on sandy land the peach orchard will show a still larger balance in its favor. Farmers too often seem satisfied with shallow culti- vation, and their crops usually correspond with the labor and skill used in conducting their farm opera- tions. Now, while the ordinary returns from farming may not warrant the expense of fertilizing, under- draining, and subsoiling, to the extent I have indicated, the case is far different in laying a sure foundation for a profitable peach orchard. The usual depth of plowing is six inches— the sub- soil below that distance is of little benefit to growing crops unless the roots can penetrate through it. If the bed of mellow earth can be made one foot deep in- stead of six inches, che productive capacity of the or- chard will be increased in the same ratio. The benefits secured by a thorough breaking up of the soil to a proper depth may be stated as follows : Air, light and heat, indispensible agents in growing fruit and all farm crops, are more freely admitted to the whole depth of soil to work out these wonderful changes which produce such abundant and beautiful crops of fruit and grain . The air brings with it ele- ments of fertility, heat from the sun's rays and is laden with moisture. It yields up a portion of its heat as it penetrates the cool earth ; this cooling process lessens its capacity to hold moisture and a portion of this is also given up to the earth. This will explain why a deep, mellow soil will carry a crop of fruit through a severe drought so much better than a shallow one. A deep, mellow bed of earth will also retain a greater amount of rain water without displacing other agen- cies required to carry on vegetable growth. During very dry weather the fruits growing on the shallow soils are pinched and shriveled and often be- come entirely worthless, while a deep soil yields up the moisture it has held in store to the multitude of roots which fill the ground. The fruit swells, and grows in size and beauty, and gladdens the heart of the owner in the prospect of an abundant harvest. While the one must offer a small measure of lean, inferior fruit, the other is blessed with an abundant yield of beauti- ful fruit which is in demand at the highest prices. It is very true that in many sections the growing of peaches has proved a very profitable business, where the orchards have been set out on land prepared as for ordinary farm crops, and the orchard has received only the most primitive cultivation ; but there is no doubt that these same orchards would have nearly doubled their yield of fruit had they received generous care and cultivation. In selecting a location for an orchard it is well to keep in mind that the nearer the soil meets these re- quirements in its natural state the less expense will be required in its preparation. The cost of drawing a large crop of peaches to mar- ket is an important item. If near a good market or shipping point, the fruit can be more expeditiously handled and disposed of at just the right time and in the best possible condition, which means your net pro- ceeds will be fifty to one hundred per cent, more than if the fruit were carted a long distance and reached its destination twenty-four hours late. Peaches, being perishable and delicate fruit, it is important that they be handled with the greatest care and reach a market in the least possible time, in order to bring the best price. It is difficult for a beginner to select suitable varie- ties from the long list of names found in the nursery- man's catalogue. Many varieties adapted for home use or for the amateur, would be unfit to grow for mar- ket purposes. Some varieties are very tender and perishable ; others ripen during the hottest part of Summer, and are liable to rot on the tree or decay in transportation. At this season a warm rain of one or more days' duration will often cause a loss of the entire crop, unless one is favored with a home market, or with facilities for drying the fruit. Peaches ripening so early in the season are not the best for drying, nor for canning. PEAES AND PLUMS. 41 Select varieties for planting an orchard that will bear abundant annual crops of fruit ; that will endure transportation ; that are of good size and of handsome appearance (a great deal depends on pleasing the eye). Varieties should be planted to ripen in succession, so as to give more time for gathering and marketing. A good proportion of the fruit should, for many reasons, ripen during the latter part of the season. Remember and plant only a few sorts, and those of the best. Set every kind by itself, for when you come to harvest the peaches it will be much more conven- ient. Trim the trees to a whip on planting. Keep the soil in some cultivated crop continually. J. D. Husted. THE RAISING OF PEARS. I am asked to tell how I raise pears. Well, it is not a difficult matter. Simply go at it with good common sense and careful watching of your trees and most any one can grow them. As to location of the orchard, if I could have just what I wanted, it should be on a gentle slope toward the south, and the soil a gravelly loam on clay sub-soil or, next best, an entirely clay ' soil. If the latter, or if the clay in the first case was near the surface, it would probably be necessary to under-drain the land. I consider a southern slope, where the trees get the full sun, better than a north- ern exposure, and I would as soon have it exposed to winds as sheltered. My preparation for planting would be to gro.v corn well manured, on the ground the previous year and in the Spring just before setting out the orchard, plow the land well. Then where I wanted the trees to stand, which I would have not more than one rod apart each way, I would dig holes three feet across and eighteen inches deep and loosen up the sub-soil for another spade's depth, scatter about one quart of salt over this loosened sub-soil in each hole and then fill in six inches of good, top earth, leav- ing the hole about one foot deep. Here I' would set the trees, carefully preserving and laying out every fibrous root and packing the earth well around the roots As to selection of the trees : They should be two years old from the graft, and both tops and roots (es- pecialy the latter) well grown and first-class in every particular. In buying trees from a dealer or agent I make them strike out that clause about furnishing other varieties equally good if they happen to be out of what I order. After setting the trees I leave the surface close around the tree a little dishing or hol- lowed the first year, so as to enable it to get all the moisture it needs. I never mulch but very little, while I hoe about the trees so as to keep the surface mellow. My after cultivation is to grow some hoed crop among the trees for five years, cultivating the ground well, but not manuring too heavily. I think the ground can be too rich for the pear. The selection of varieties for my orchard , whether for my own use or for market, would be Bartlett, for early ; Seckel and Sheldon, Autumn • and Duchess d' Angouleme, late Autumn. The last I regard as one of the best. For sake of variety I also have Ononda- ga, Lawrence, Buerre d'Anjou, Louise Bonne de Jersey, and others. My practice in ripening and marketing is to pick when matured, though still green in color and some- what hard (when they pick easily by lifting them up, is the test). Put in barrels in the dark, when they will " sweat," and the pears as well as the barrel inside will be covered with drops of water. Afterwards they will turn yellow, and are then ready to sell or can. If I shipped away, of course 1 would have to send them green Doney. Ox'cliard. Culture of Plums. There are three serious obstacles in the way of plum g''owing, viz : Premature shedding of leaf, curculio and rot. While inferior crops of apples or peaches may be grown on land seeded to grass or grain, plums are gen- erally a total failure, under such treatment. With such usage they frequently shed their leaves in midsummer, when all growth of tree and fruit ceases. Thorough cultivation until the crop is nearly matured is the best known remedy for this evil. When successful, the plum bears immense crops, for which reason annual manuring is absolutely necessary to supily the ingredients taken away -with the crops. A failure in this respect generally means a failure of crop. The attempt to raise plums without heavy manuring and thorough cultivation is useless. One or two crops may be obtained, after which the trees usually make a feeble growth, and perish during the first hard Winter. If the curculio withheld his friendly aid, this inclina- tion to overbear would sweep the larger portion of plum orchards out of existence ; and while we grate- fully acknowledge the kindness of the " Little Turk " in assisting us to prolong the lives of oui plum or- chards, we regret that he is seriously inclined to over- do the thing — "take the lion's share," and compel us to " declare war," and act upon the defensive ; that mode of warfare known as the "jarring process," which consists in jarring down the insects upon a cloth spread out for that purpose, will lead to certain victory if diligently prosecuted. The cost of such warfare need not exceed ten cents per tree. Promptness in ac- tion is essential to success ; a few days' delay and the crop might be lost. The time to commence operations is easily determined by examining the plums daily, as soon as they burst the remains of the calyx enclosing them; if the "crescent sign" is to be found on the fruit, commence operations, although some plum growers allow the insect to puncture one-half the crop before beginning, as they believe it to be a cheaper method of thinning than by hand. All fruit falling on account of being punctured by the curculio, should be picked up at least once per week, and destroyed I think the young curculio usually remains in the plutu about ten days after it falls. To jar small trees a nail may be driven in the tree, which I believe does no in- jury ; or a limb may be sawed off an inch or so from the'trunk, and struck with a hammer. When the tijees become large I have found a crotched stick, five or six feet long, about as heavy as a common handspike, with the crotch wound with a cloth to prevent bruising the most convenient to jar the trees. The tree should be approached as quietly as possible, and let the jar be sudden. Shaking the tree will not answer. Some- times in the middle of the day, especially if it be v/arm the curculio will fly off the sheet before they can be caught ; sprinkling the sheet with water will prevent that. I believe if each tree be shaken every hour in the day while they are at work, all, or nearly all will be caught, although they might come from adjacent orchards afterwards and destroy the crop. The idea that early morning is the only time they can be suc- cessfully caught is a fallacy. I have known heavy crops secured, where curculio swa. med by the thous- ands, while the jarring was only com., aued one or two days. Each tree was jarred repeatedly during the day and the jarring was continued until none could be caught. If from any cause they should be allowed to puncture the entire crop, don't conclude that the crop is lost, for if chilly weather follows immediately after they have done their work, very few if any, will hatch, and no harm is done, as the small wound they make soon heals up. I have known them deposit their eggs sev- eral times before any hatched . For rot I know of no certain remedy. Hundreds, yea thousands of bushels of plums have rotted in northern Michigan in the last few years. The idea that they rot only where they hang on the tree so as to touch each other is incorrect ; I have known them thinned so that they did not come in contact, yet they all rotted ; picking the fruit as soon as the rot appears on it does not appear to do any good. Last October I read an article in the New York JFzV- ness, I am sorry I have it not at hand, which stated that if the fruit was picked carefully as soon as it com- menced to rot and then placed in a pail of water to prevent the spores of the decayed fruit from rising and lighting on the fruit remaining upon the tree, carried away and burned or deeply buried in the ground, tree and fruit be liberally sprinkled with lime, that it would prove a certain remedy for rot. It also stated that the spores contained in the decayed fruit, if left under the tree, would cause the fruit to rot the next season. I have noticed that when the fruit rotted once on a tree it continued to rot year after year. If the above should prove to be a certain remedy for rot, then I know no reason why plum growing may not be made a success ; if not, then the rot is a serious obstacle, al- though I have never known it to appear until after several crops were raised. Plums succeed in any soil where apples or peaches would, although heavy soils are preferable. Almost all the varieties of plums succeed on the peach stock, the pnly exceptions I know of being the Lombard and 42 GRAPE AND QUINCE. tne Canada Egg ; the former grows well on the peach, but fails to unite properly, and is therefore liable to blow off, and the latter seldom grows a', all. There are thousands of plum trees in this vicinity on peach stocks which have oeen set ten or fifteen years, and have done equally as well if not better, than those on plum stocks. For light soils I certainly prefer the plum on peach, if not for all soils. Fifteen feet apart each way i s the proper distance for the trees to be set. In reference to varieties the following are excellent and perhaps as good as any : Bradshaw,Prince Engle- bert. Purple Egg, Pond's seedling, Lombard and Coe's Golden Drop. The above are named in their order of ripening. The first four are large, beautiful plums commanding the highest price in market. The Lom- bard is vigorous and exceedingly productive, but fails in some localities ; it bears very young. Coe's Golden Drop bears immense crops every other year. The F^irple Egg is the most vigorous growing tree with which I am acquainted, carrying its foliage through seasons when all others have failed ; it is exceedingly hardy. The Bradshaw is slightly tender. With my present knowledge of plums I think one would not go far astray by setting an equal number of the above varieties, although I may think very differently in the future. G- C. McCatchie. A GRAPE grower's ADVICE In abridged form for these pages and the counsel is certainly clearly defined and practical. Here it is : There is nothing subtile or mysterious in planting grape roots or young trees of any kind, any more than there is in planting potatoes or cabbage. 1. The ground should be prepared one year in ad- vance by raising on it a crop of corn or potatoes, or by Summer fallow ; but were 1 prepared to plant, I would ncit defer planting ; plant at any rate, and cultivate as you would corn or any other small crop, and you will be surprised to see the rapid growth your vines will make. 2. High rolling land, of a gravelly nature, is in my opinion best adapted to successful grape culture. The grape needs heat and sunshine, the former to ripen the fruit, and the latter to prevent mildew. 3. .Were I to plant a vineyard again I would plant the roots ei^ht feet apart each way in perfect rows. There are those who advise eight by ten, and ten by twelve, but I hold that eight by eight affords room enough for all practical purposes. Mark each way with a plow and plant at the crossing of the furrows, and but an inch or two deeper ; straighten the roots out and cover them up with a hoe, leaving the eye even with the surface, and the work is done. Corn, potatoes, beans or other vegetables may be raised on the same ground between the grape plants during the first two seasons without any injury to the vines. 4. As young vines throw up several shoots during the first two or three Summers after planting, care should be taken to remove them, also to cut off all branches but the leading one to a height of sixteen or twenty inches. The first year the vines may trail on the ground, but the second season they should by all means be tied up to a stake. I have no opinion to offer respecting the two leading systems of grape culture, stake or trellis, as both have warm advocates. The stake system appears to be the cheapest in cultivation, because the cultivator can work both ways ; while under the trellis plan the work can be performed only one way. The planter must then choose between the two. 5. Pruning may be done at any time between the fall of the leaf and the 20th of March, cutting back to two or three eyes on the young timber. 6. As to varieties, the Concord holds first place on the lake shore, and I believe also, in the general mar- ket ; and for all purposes it appears to be the most profitable grape yet introduced. We have several new kinds of a greenish white color that are highly spoken of, known as the Prentiss, Pocklington and Niagara. Joseph Lanin. The Quince. The more common mode of propagation is by layers or cuttings ; but commercial propagators frequently plant stools in very rich soil, cutting them back to very near the ground, and encouraging the growth of nu- merous shoots the first year. The next year rich earth is filled in a few inches deep among and about the clump of young shoots, which during the next Sununer become well rooted plants, and are, in Autumn or the following Spring, cut away from the parent plant, and may be at once planted in orchard, or grown a year in nursery rows to acquire a larger size. This fruit grows naturally in rather moist (not wet) soi's : often along streams of water. Although it is frequently planted with some success in light soils, it will, ^however, be found most satisfactory in a moist, strong, clay loam. In such a soil we have found it, under good cultivation, with the soil well manured, enormously productive. Under neglect and starvation the trees soon become stunted and unproductive ; when they are very liable to be attacked by the flat headed apple tree borer, generally with fatal effect. About ten feet apart each way is a sufficient distance for the largest trees we have ever seen in this State. The tree has a tendency to produce suckers from its base. These should be persistently removed and the tree grown with a single trunk, from one to one and a half feet high, with little pruning, beyond the removal of crossing branches. The borers are less likely to attack vigorous trees. For this reason it is specially important that they be not permitted to suffer a check in growth. Even this, however, in the case of the quince should not be relied on, but in May or early June, and perhaps again later in the season, the trunks should be well washed with lye or strong soap suds to repel their attacks and des- troy the eggs if already deposited. As already remarked, the soil should be kept rich ; and thorough cultivation should be kept up till about the middle of August, when it should cease for the sea- son, that the young growth may become well ripened, before the advent of severe weather. After the roots have taken possession of the soil between the rows, cultivation should be shallow, and it will be found pre- ferable to plow toward the rows, so that a considerable hillock shall be maintained about the tree, thus keeping the roots well protected against winter exposure. This must depend greatly upon the exposure and the nature of the soil. In a bleak situation, or on ground liable to standing water, at any season, we would toot plant till Spring. If sheltered from the coldest winds and with sufficient drainage, early Autumn will be pre- ferable, as the roots will be prepared for an earlier start in Spring. VARIETIES. The Apple or Orange Quince is the only variety that can yet be recommended for general market planting, and is, in fact, the only one offered in our markets. Rea's Mammoth is a comparatively new variety ,said to be much larger than the preceding and otherwise very much like it ; but its value as a market variety is yet undetermined. The plant is vigorous and healtiiy. Champion is a yet more recent sort, which is said to be of larger size than the Apple. Our experience with it indicates that it may be later in ripening and little, if any, larger. The "plant is less vigorous and a much earlier bearer. It is not the top but the root of quince trees that is tender. Of course, the top wholly or partially dies ac- cording to the amount of injury to the root, not to the top. We can see this by noting the greater degrees of injury in high, dry, cultivated soil, thaft in low, moist places, where the ground is covered by snow or where a grass turf affords protection to the roots. Under a neglectful system, where no proper means are provided for covering the roots in winter, this fruit will do bet- ter than any other to be left in grass. It is not the best management even for the quince, but grass will at least prevent that deep freezing of the soil so sure to follow where no protection is provided. All over the country the most successful quince trees are grown in clumps where the trees protect themselves, or in cor- ners of fences where annual deposits of falling leaves afford protection to the roots. Mulching quince trees in Winter and heavy manuring in Summer are the chief secrets of success with this shy fruit. The top is nearly or quite as hardy as the apple, and if the root is properly protected and the soil enriched, quinces can be grown in most localities where apples succeed. Salt has been recommended as a specific manure for the quince. It is undoubtedly helpful, but it owes its good effect more to its influence in keeping the soil moist and preventing its deep freezing, than to any in- herent manurial properties. There are undoubtedly times when salt is absolutely hurtful to quince Uees, applied in large quantities after deep cultivation, which has broken, torn, and bruised the tender roots. Of the SMALL FRUITS. 43 mineral manures, potash, in the form of wood ashes, (}. leached or unleached, we have found most beneficial. jj- T. T. Lyon. Currants and Gooseberries. We doubt if there are at the present time any small fruits more profitable for the family or market than currants or gooseberries, if the right soil and varieties are selected for planting. The old Red Dutch, White Grape, and Victoria will do fairly well on dry soils, although currants and goose- berries of all kinds give best returns planted on rich, moist soils. It is useless to plant Cherry or La Ver- saillaise on light, sandy soil. But from years of ex- perience with the above fruits I do not hesitate to say if the planter has soil that will produce a full crop of corn or wheat, and will plant the following varieties, and give good cultivation, he will be pretty sure to have a remunerative crop every year : For currants, Red Dutch, Victoria,and White Grape ; g'ooseberries. Downing and Smith's Improved. The old Houghton is too small and dark to sell well in the market. The Downing and Smith's are just as pro- lific, hardy, and free from mildew. The Victoria currant holds its foliage much better than any other variety we have ever planted, making it very valuable in seasons when other varieties drop the foliage before fully ripening the fruit, and in con- sequence the fruit becomes sun-scalded. The currant may be readily propagated by making cuttings, say ten inches long, and planting in the Fall • they should be planted down nearly the entire length,' and a mulching of coarse manure spread over them to prevent heaving, through the winter. Cuttings put in, in this manner, will nearly every one grow. Gooseberries are best propagated by layers. If the young wood is layered in July just after the fruit is picked, it will be sufficiently rooted to plant out the next Spring. Currants and gooseberries should be closely watched for the currant worm, which first ap- pears in the middle of the bush. If attended to in time it can quite easily be kept off with white helle- bore. We use a tin sprinkler made for potato vines. Open the bushes, put the sprinkler down in and thoroughly dust the middle of the bush. Currants and gooseberries like all other fruits should be kept well pruned and thinned out. J. N. Stearns. Raspberries. i A rich, deep, well-drained loam, is undoubtedly the best soil for the raspberry. It is sooner injured by ex- cessive moisture than almost any other cultivated fruit, and, in planting, an elevated location should, if possible, Always be selected. In planting black caps of strong growth like Gregg, the rows should be at least seven feet apart, with plants three feet apart in the row. Be- tween the rows Irish potatoes may be profitably plant- ed the first season. Red varieties of the Antwerp type should be planted five feet apart, with plants two feet from each other in the row . Fall planting is recom- mended by a majority of growers, but my experience causes me to believe that the tips of black caps can be most successfully transplanted in early Spring. Mellow earth should be placed on the plants to allow the young shoots to reach the surface without difficulty. If prop- erly pruned, the raspberry needs no artificial support. Plants of red or black varieties should, when two feet high, have the terminal bud nipped for the purpose of forcing a lateral growth, and thereby increasing the productiveness of the plant. Such shoots generally grow in a circle, and balance the plant when weighted with fruit. As all shoots do not begin to grow at the same time, repeated nippings, during the growing sea- son, will be found necessary. Black caps are propaga- ted from tips of the branches that should be covered with earth early in September to enable them to take root. About the end of October they should be taken up and " heeled in " on high ground, or allowed to re- main where grown until Spring, if not liable to be lifted by frost. All varieties that produce suckers may be propagated from root-cuttings, treated in precisely the same manner as root-cuttings of the blackberry. All dead wood should be removed as soon as convenient after fruiting terminates. This advice also applies to the blackberry, and is prompted by the belief that a dead branch largely taxes the vitality of living roots. Red raspberries are not as firm as black caps, and on that account are almost invariable sent to market in quart or pint boxes. The two-bushel stand, containing four drawers holding half a bushel each, is generally used in shipping black caps. Tyler and Souhegan are probably the best extra early black caps now culti- vated. Tyler, on account of its superiority to Doolit- tle, is rapidly taking the place of that variety in the great raspberry plantations of New York ; and Souhe- gan, a more recent introduction, is warmly com- mended by all who have tested it. Gregg is the best very late black cap ever cultivated, and whoever will produce a better variety may well be proud of the achievement. Of well-tested red varieties. Turner is the best extra early sort. It is very productive, of the most delicious flavor, and perfectly hardy. Cuthbert has no equal as a very late red variety. It is even later than Gregg. Very productive, hardy, and a strong grower. Fruit large, sweet, and very attractive in color. Second, Blackberries. A clay soil, naturally or artificially well drained, is most favorable to the blackberry. On such a soil its wood will often pass in good condition through frosts which would destroy the same variety in low, un- drained ground. My observations in my own patches last Spring fully satisfied me of this fact. As the soil best calculated to produce hardy, well-matured wood is often thin, it should be enriched and deeply ploughed before planting, to enable young plants to make a rapid growth, and produce a crop as soon as possible. But for the production of large and luscious fruit, and to prevent the injurious effects of drought, annual top dressings between plants in the rows, of manure, leaves, or straw, should be given in sufficient quantity to smother grass and weeds. In planting, the rows should be seven and one-half or eight feet apart, with plants two feet apart in the row. If properly cultivated and pruned such rows at the end of the third year from planting should reseimble a well-kept hedge and barely allow a horse and plough to pass between without touching. I have often substituted root cuttings for plants w^hen the latter w^ere scarce, and have found them to grow. with much certainty if kept in a cellar or buried beyond the reach of frost in well-drained ground during the Winter and planted early in Sprine. Such root cuttings should each be two and one-half or three inches long. A plantation from root cuttings would, of course, require one season more than thrifty plants to produce a fair crop. The blackberry does not produce a paying crop until it has been planted two or three years. To econorci:"^ in time and labor it has always been my practice, v.- ■''a planting blackberries, to plant strawberries in the same row with them, and a row of strawberries midway be- tween blackberry rows. My strawberries, thus grown, have in every way been equal to those grown alone in other patches, and have continued to yield good crops until finally smothered by blackberry plants. A mixed patch of this kind of an acre in extent, planted four years, this year produced a fair crop of strawberries, and more than an ordinary one of blackberries ; and both varieties now give promise of a good crop next season. Sufficient cultivation between rows should be given to repress w^eeds and grass, but the ground should not be stirred after the first of September, as it might induce a growth of immature wood unable to with- stand severe frosts. All blackberry plants should have their terminal buds nipped when three feet high, to force them to throw out lateral shoots. The more wood the more fruit, and by thus nipping the amount of wood is at least trebled ; and as all canes do not shoot at the same time, repeated nippings, generally two or three, will be found necessary during the grow- ing season. A pair of flexible sheep shears is the best implement imaginable for such work. Blackberries should be allowed to remain on the bushes until sweet and ripe, and should not be picked of tener than twice a week if intended for a home market. When picked the berries should never be exposed to a burning snn, as such exposure changes their color from black to red and gives them a bitter flavor. Blackberries are best shipped in two-bushel stands. For a home market the Hallock quart box in a sixteen or twenty-four quart crate is perfectly satisfactory. I have tested almost every prominent blackberry, and have found but three varieties hardy and profit- able in central Indiana. They are Snyder, Wallace, and Taylor's Prolific. I have cultivated them for sev- eral years, and each successive crop has increased my good opinion of them. They are all wonderfully pro- ductive, vigorous, free from disease, and of the most delicious flavor. Snyder ripens first, berry of medium 44 BLACKBERRY CULTURE. size, of a brilliant black color, and very attractive m appearance; Wallace is medium in ripenmg, berries large, plants on old roots more vigorous and stately than those of any other variety, young plants inclmed to droop • Taylor's prolific is as late as Lawton in ripening, and is probably the most delicious blackberry now cultivated, berries rather above medium size and produced in immense clusters, young plants inclined to droop, but strong and erect when fairly established. The only new sort tested in this region that gives in- dications of being as hardy and valuable as the varie- ties I have named, is Stone's Hardy, from Wisconsin. I fruited one-year-old plants of it this season and was much pleased with it, but must give it another trial before coming to a conclusion concerning its merits. I have tested Early H arvest for three seasons and have found it too tender for this latitude. G. Cowing. Kaspberries for Market. A person starting out in the culture of raspberries should select a rather high, rolling piece of land. I prefer a stifE clay loam, moderately rich, to any other soil, for the reason mainly, that in time of drought it holds moisture better than a lighter soil. If the piece selected is not well drained, I should before setting a plant, have it thoroughly drained. After selecting location the next thing is the varieties to plant. Of the red I would recommend Turner and Cuihbert. The Turner is a moderately early berry, very hardy, bright color, and of good flavor. The Cuthbert is a little later than the Turner, of larger size, hardy, and sells at the highest market price. Of the newer varieties, Hansell and Superb are promising and very early. . o u j Of the black caps I would recommend Sounegan and Tyler for very early, and Gregg for late. There is a new variety which I have thoroughly tested that is a wonder in its way, I refer to Shaffer's Colossal. The plants are propagated from the tips and their fruit is red, becoming purple when very ripe. I have found it the best canning raspberry on my place. When plants are received, if not ready to set out at once, heel them in the ground. Mark off the rows either with a one-horse plow or by running a line and digging the holes with a spade. The rows should be at least five, nor more than six feet apart, and the plants set from two and one-halt to three feet in the row. Be careful and not set the black cap varieties too deeo, especially on heavy soils. The crown of the plant two or three inches below the sur- face is about right. The red varieties can be set at the same depth as they were when taken up. Press the dirt firmly around each plant,drawing a little loose dirt around afterwards. 1 have found Spring by far the best time to set plants ; if set in the Fall, mulch with some coarse material and mound the dirt over each plant to keep from heaving. Now keep the soil well cultivated, the oftener the bet- ter, until about the first of August the first year ; after that do not cultivate after fruit begins to ripen. For working among the rows I use a common spading fork; it does not cut the roots, but pulverizes the ground well. Hold it in a perpedicular position and work it around : do not put under and raise the roots. When plants get about two feet high pinch the tips off ; this makes them grow branching and less liable to be twisted and broken by the wind. As soon as possible after the fruit is all picked re- move the old canes and a portion of the new ones leav- ing the strongest for bearing next year. For remov- ing the canes I use a piece of steel about the width of a pruning knife blade, curved into a hook and fastened into a handle about two or three feet long. This is the best instrument for the purpose. Very late in the Fall or early in the Spring cut back from one-quarter to one-third of the new growth. For this purpose I use a pair of steel shears the blades of which are about one foot long and about one to one and one-half inches wide, fitted into light wooden handles— with this tool a man can do a large amount of work. Cut the smaller canes further back in proportion to the larger ones. In marketing select the man or firm, which upon careful inquiry you find most reliable. Then if you pack your fruit honestly, which you should make a point always to do, and raise choice fruit, which you can certainly do if you give it proper care, you will reap a good harvest. Blackberry Culture. For blackberries select a high location Heavy, well-drained soil is much preferable to light soil. Use the same care in the selection of varieties, setting ot plants, thorough cultivation, and pruning as in rasp- berries. Rows should be from seven to eight feet apart and plants should be set two and one-half to three feet in the row. Do not set any tender yarieties. Snyder and Taylor's Prolific I have found the hardiest I have tested. The Snyder is quite an early variety and enormously productive. For that reason the canes must be thinned and pruned closely. Taylor's Prohfic is later and of very fine quality. The Blackberry, it kept in proper shape and well cared for, is very profitable— even more so than the raspberry. E. H. Scott The Strawberry. HINTS TO BEGINNERS. Strawberry growers are to be considered in three classes : i. Those who grow the fruit simply for the pleasure and for home use. 2. Those who grow for a very near market. 3. Those who grow berries for dis- tant shipment . Any advice given to a beginner should be based upon a knowledge of these facts, and of the soil to be used. Pretty fair crops of strawberries can be grown upon almost every kind of soil which produces common farm crops. But on some soils, the berries though looking well and tasting well, will not keep well, and can not be marketed at a distance. I will not undertake to say what soils will develop this fault. I have grown berries on a poor, sandy soil which would not endure shipment a hundred miles ; while on land looking no better, crops have been grown possessing great endurance and shipping capa- bility. The variety in both cases was the Wilson. I cannot say what element was lacking in the one case that was present in the other. My impression is that good, clay loams will generally produce better berries for eating or marketing than sandy or black prairie lands. And yet it is probably a fact that more straw- berries are grown on sandy soils in the United States for market, than on all other kinds of land. It would be well always to experiment carefully before planting largely for distant shipment. Sofar, then, as the soil and the management is con- cerned, the first two classes may be considered as one. But the grower for market must consider the taste and the whims of the market as to varieties. The grower for home use will be more particular to have varieties good to eat, than those simply big or handsome ; while the market grower will soon learn that fine appearances count for more than good eating qualities. People who buy fruit of any kind or in any market, so far as I can learn— I speak of the majority of buyers— pay more for beauty than for flavor. Hence, the Monarch of the West, a very high flavored berry, which colors very poorly, will generally be rejected, while the Wil- son or Capt. Jack, both very sour, but coloring well, will sell promptly. . . , . , It will be best for the beginner to plant those kinds known to succeed well in his neighborhood, if he can learn this fact, and known to be popular in his market, if he grows for sale. Plant two or three varieties only if for market, but experiment moderately with others. If pistillate varieties are selected they must be set in alternate rows or narrow beds, with perfect flowering kinds. But different sorts must not be al- lowed to run together ; and they should be kept en- tirely separate in the picking. , , ^ . The grower for a distant market, or where the fruit is to be kept a day or two in tne ordinary temperature of Summer, is limited by those conditions in his choice of kinds. He must have sorts which endure well, and which are comparatively firm. The list of these sorts is a short one. For this purpose the Wilson stands first and the Capt. Jack next, and I can almost say last.' I speak of kinds generally introduced. Other and larger varieties endure shipment pretty well while the weather is quite cool, but very few of them bear long transportation in hot weather. Now to begifl with the beginner at the beginning of a strawberry plantation: First, take good land if you can get it ; if not, take poor and enrich it if you can. If you are' planting for home use, be sure you plant on some kind of land ; if you can't get good, take poor. You can and should grow strawberries for your own table. If for commercial purposes, it is desirable that the conditions should be favorable. Select then the best soil you can command— such as would grow good potatoes or corn. Plow it well in the Fall; plow it well in the Spring ; good common plowing will do. STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 45 Don't fool away money in trenching or deep subsoilincf unless you like to. Plant in the Spring- ; not in the Fall ; not in the Summer. In setting plants don't fol- low any aristocratic directions. Don t dig a hole, then make a mound in the hole, then spread the roots equally all around that mound and then sift in the earth through a sieve, as some good people say ; I say don't do it that way unless you greatly enjoy the fun of the thing. That wiU do for a dozen plants, but it is too slow for large quantities, and a fast, easy way is just as good. Vour ground being well prepared, plowed, harrowed and rolled — mark oil carefully for rows. Your plants, being well trimmed, should be dipped in water and placed in a pail . An active boy should take the pail of plants and place them deftly in openings which you make with a good spade. Thrust the spade in before you at an angle of forty-five degrees ; the boy puts in the plant while you withdraw the spade and press the earth firmly over the roots of the plants witti your foot. If not clearly described this is easy to do, and a man and boy can set four or five thousand plants in a day in good shape. Vour field planted, cultivate carefully and thorough- ly, but very shallow ne.xt the plants. Do this all Sum- mer. Let no weeds grow. Let as many runners grow as will make a narrow matted row, cut the balance : keep the middles clear all the time. Mulch in the Fall heavily between the rows, lightly over the plants. Don't disturb them in the Spring. If you pick for market, pick every day ; put no poor ones in the boxes. If you eat these berries, you will be glad you planted them ; if you sell them, I hope you will get well paid for it. Parker Earle. THE A, B, C, OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE, The illustrious Beecher recently said that the world progresses more by learning wdat cannot be done than by putting in practice any brilliantly conceived idea. Therefore in giving these bits of experience I do so with the hope of enabling others to avoid ihe errors that I made myself, for I began with A at an early age, and if years of practice are to count I am now pretty well along in the alphabet. When asking information before I ever handled a strawberry plant, I was told to select poor, light, sandy soil as the best. I was told that fertilizers impaired the quality of the fruit and the plants would grow, and could be kept clean only on light land. Greater mis- takes were never made, althoueh the strawberry is such a good natured plant, it will take hold and make the best of things wherever placed (a most commend- able disposition all will admit) yet it never pays to im- pose upon good nature. It is true that plants can be more readily kept free of weeds on light soil, and this is the only bit of truth in the information I obtained. On the other hand the strawberry is an exceedingly gross feeder — a perfect gourmand so to speak — and not particular as to diet ; stable manure, ground bone, wood ashes, hen manure, night soil, hog manure. It will thrive on them all, though it prefers to everything else cow manure, from its cool nature and abundance of nitrogen and one is not likely to give it too much. The greater the amount of fertilizers given the plants the greater will be the yield and size of the fruit they will give in return. Besides being a great feeder it is a deep drinker. By this I mean there are few truit-bearing plants that require a greater supply of water, or suffer more from the lack of it. Therefore, the folly of planting on light, porous soil will readily be seen. For this reason, also, is mulching of great benefit to the strawberry, which I will speak of more fully a little later. I have said the strawberry is a gourmand, and very much disposed to drink. These are natural habits and not acquired ones, hence good, and advantage should be taked of them. Were it not for these propensities it would not seem possible for the plants to produce the enormous crops that it is possible to obtain. There- fore in preparing the soil, not only should it be well fertilized and well pulverized, but prepared deepl}' — a foot at least and as much further as you will — for the double purpose of placing in the soil a large supply of plant food and to induce the plants to thrust down long roots deep in the soil to obtain it, and thus to with- stand drought with comparatively little injury. There are so many ways and distances practiced in planting that I will attempt to describe none here, merely sug- gesting that the strawberry plant is one of the easiest to make live and to plant in a manner that will admit of easy culture. They look very pretty in narrow rows when first set out, but alas ! the weeds and grass will appear, and like bad habits, they are of a ranker growth and must be kept down or they will suppress all the good. If the patch is of much extent it should be planted in a manner that will admit of horse culti- vation by all means. Well do I remember my first strawberry bed. The w^ay I planted it I could cultivate only wi;h the hoe and my fingers. How hot the weather! How long the days ! How relentlessly did the scorching sun blaze down upon me while pulling the weeds from among these plants. It requires a good deal of moral courage to keep all of the runners cut off, but such must be done in order to have fine fruit. Although easily clipped off with a hoe there is perhaps nothing in strawberry cul- ture so often neglected, both by experienced and inex- perienced growers. The latter lack knowledge, the former too often lack courage to put their knowledge in practice. But the plants should be kept in hills or single rows at best, for an excess of plants has the same influence as weeds in a strawberry bed, diminishing both the size of the berries and the yield. In speaking of planting, I should have said the plant of the strawberry is one of the easiest to transplant if properly planted. A very common error (and one I made to perfection in setting my first bed) is to plant too deeply. The fact that plants of cabbage, tomatoes, and many garden vegetables live and thrive better if planted deeply, perhaps leads to this mistake ; at any rate, if the crowns of strawberry plants are placed be- low the surface they will decompose and die. In plant- ing, set the plants no deeper in the soil than when growing, or with the leaves even with the surface. The roots should be straightened and placed their full length in the soil, pressing it firmly on every side to prevent drying. To be successful in strawberry growing as with everything else, the cultivator must be forehanded, and especially is this the case in planting, which should be done as early in the Spring as the frost is out and the soil in a condition to "work," or as early in die Summer as the plants have become well rooted. Do not expect to excel everybody else at the outset , too many entertain such ideas and meet with such igno- minious failures as to be ever after discouraged from making another attempt. In planting my first plants, no ordinary kinds would do for me ; oh, no ! and I planted wholly of the Nicanor, then a new variety sell- ing at a high price ; the result was that the crop was extraordinary only in its diminutive size in all respects. I then planted Wilson and Agriculturist, and did " astonish the natives" in every truth, both by the size of the berries and the yield. Begin with the old, reliable sorts ; it will be quite time enough to court the acquaintance of the frivolous bellies of the season — the novelties— when you have established friendship with the worthy matrons. Let no one plant strawberries unless he will protect them in Winter. Who w^ould expect a covV to give a large yield of milk, or a horse to look and travel well if left exposed to the inclemency of the weather ? One might as well expect the best returns from his straw- berry plants without protection. Not much is needed and most anything will do, for the strawberry is not at all fastidious ; salt meadow hay, leaves, straw, chaff, or other loose light material is preferable, but shavings, pine needles, tan bark, or corn stalks, will answer. Evergreen boughs are excellent ; but the best of all is stable manure, as the soluable portions leak into the earth and supply food for the plants, while the fibrous portions remain apon the surface and afford a protec- tion. Not only does this so-called "mulch" protect the plants from the cold and blighting winds of Winter, but keeps the ground cool and moist during Spring and the fruiting season, keeping the fruit trom the ground in a clean and sound condition. It should not be an- plied until the ground has become slightly frozen in Autumn ; but under no circumstances allow it all to remain to prove a smothering blanket to the plants when growth starts in Spring. This will be the case unless a portion is removed so soon as the ground be- comes thawed and settled in Spring. After that nothing remains to be done except wait a few weeks until strawberry time, and then — I deem it unnecessary to explain what to do, even to a novice. I. T. LOVETT. 46 PEARS, PLUMS AND GRAPES. WESTEKK NEW YORK HOR- TICULTURAL SOCIETY. Reforming tlxe Nomenclature of Fruits. BY PRESIDENT BARRY. An attempt is about to be made to bring about some reformation in the names of fruits, and although the subject will be brought before the society in a proper form, a few words of reference to it here may not be out of place. The need of some reform has long been felt, but has been regarded as such a difficult, if not impossible undertaking, that no serious or persistent efforts have been made up to this time. At the last meeting of the American Pomological So- ciety, a series of rules were adopted as a basis of re- form, and President Wilder has taken up the matter with his usual earnestness. I am sure that every nur- seryman and fruit grower appreciates the necessity of this movement and will give it his support. Its success will, in a great measure, depend upon the co-operation of such societies as this. I understand that many of the leading societies throughout the country have taken action on the sub- ject already. Quite recently I had some correspondence with the editor of the French Horticultural Journal, and he has promised to have the matter brought before their socie- ties. A distinguished French author, Decaisne, in his great work, the " Jardin Frutier du Museum," at- tempted reform and made a vast number of changes to simplify and improve the nomenclature, but scarcely any, perhaps not one, of his changes have been adopted in catalogues or other publications. It is difficult to change a name of long standing and general use. Nothing but a general and w^elldirected movement will do it. Our nomenclature is really a reproach to pomo- logical science, and if this movement succeeds it will be the crowning work of the American Pomological Society. Pear Culture. • Mr. Willard— Can grow on his land what might not be best in all localities. The Rutter has proved a pro- fitable pear yn'vCa. him, although it is not of first quality. It bears well, keeps w^ell, ripens without rotting at core. Manning's Elizabeth is a great bearer, and proves pro- fitable, although small. Localities differ and we must decide upon those that do best in our own locality. Kieffer stands at the head of the list with him. Not one of the highest quality. Some consider it ahead of Clairgeau in quality. Bartlett, Anjou, Bosc, and Clair- geau are all profitable varieties. Thomas had some years found Seckel very profitable, but this year it was very poor. Bartlett and Lawrence are always successful . Had a Kieffer three years from bud that bore three pecks of fruit. It is a large, fine fruit, with but one defect. It is not fit to eat. Had seen them in Philadelphia of pretty fair quality. Mr. P. B. Crandall, Ithaca — Would name Duchess first; it pays him best. Next Anjou; third Seckel. Duchess, in quantity, would double any other variety. His is a heavy soil with eastern slope. Had thirty va- rieties ; Sheldon blighted exceptionally bad. One tree he covered with earth over the roots, three feet deep, and it remained thrifty and productive. Diel was very productive under similar circumstances. Anjou very productive on quince -also Duchess. Wm. P. Rupert, Geneva — Few pears in number, comparatively eaten out of hand ; more canned. Would claim nothing for Kieffer in eating, but in can- ning it is ahead of everything. D.E.Rogers inquired about Flemish Beauty. He has 200 trees bearing well. It is a good pear, and will sell for twice as much as Seckel . It is generally con- demned on account of blighting and the black fungus. Mr. Barry — Had specimens of the variety that were very fine. Mr. Hoag — Duchess failed with him as a standard . Mr. Arnold had some Duchess standards bearing well . Daniel Conger, Wolcott, has standard Duchess, and did not consider it fit to eat. Mr. Thomas had seen the mixture recommended by Mr. Hooker, for blight, applied to pear trees, and they still blighted. Though successful remedies were gen- erally put on just as blirjht is disappearing. Plums. N. Bogue has about 100 Lombard plum trees, planted in 1878, and have borne four seasons. Applied night- soil pretty freely before planting and had manured heavily since. Had a good crop past year. On two rows the leaves dropped considerably, and those rows received less manure than the others. Plums require heavy manuring. Sold past year's crop for two dollars and fifty cents and three dollars a bushel. Grows no other variety. Mr. Willard gave as his most profitable varieties : Bradshaw, Hudson River, Peter's Gage, Reine Claude, Gueii, French Damson and Copper. Woodward had found Richland a profitable variety. Small, but a good shipper and sells well. Almost cur- culio proof. Give all the manure you can and thin the fruit. Came from Hoopes Brothers & Thomas, of Pennsylvania, and is a seedling of the common Damson. Mr. Hoag had trees set one year ago last Spring with 500 to 600 plums on last season. Willard s plums were in bloom when the cold storm came. Those that had bloomed and petals dropped be- fore the storm, set fruit well and those that had bloomed after the storm also set well, but those that bloomed during the storm failed. He had put salt under some of the trees and thought it, by cooling the earth, had the effect of retarding the blooming. Put about six large handfuls under a tree. Dr. Sturtevant had found considerable evidence that salt delays blooming by cooling the ground. Is exper- imenting in that direction. Grapes. J. S. Woodward, Lockport, said ds far as he had ob- served, planting grapes was never as active as now, in Western New York. People are just learning to use grapes. C. L. Hoag, Lockport — There are many 'vineyards now at Brocton, and along the shore of Lake Erie, and they are intending to plant largely there next Spring. They are going to plant extensively of the Niagara ; also of the Concord. Some think of digging up their apple orchards and planting their ground to grapes. He had lost but two crops of grapes in twenty-seven years. Had Niagara that produced five tons to the acre. George E. Snow, Brockport, lives on Keuka lake^ Grapes there suffered much from early frosts, but not to the extent to destroy the crop. It succeeded better than other crops. Planting is increasing very rapidly in that section, in favorable localities. Concord, Cat- awba and Delaware are the leading varieties. Brigh- ton, Niagara, Prentiss and some others, are now being planted. Had not seen a ripe Catawba this season. M. F. Varney, North Collins, Erie county, said but few vineyards are growing in his vicinity, and they are on the hills. Can't ripen Catawba ; nothing later than the Concord. Luther M . Hair, is from the vicinity of Seneca lake — In the vineyards there, the vines best cared for did the best. The largest vineyard marketed sixty-seven tons and put 100 tons in wine. Previous to past year the numbers were reyersed. Some are planting Tallman (or Champion) for market. Ripens early and sells well in market. S. D. Willard, Geneva — Worden is much better than Concord, and ripens much earlier. Daniel Conger, Wolcott — Worden was the only grape that ripened in Oswego county. He had for market in addition. Concord and Delaware. John J. Thomas, Union Springs, had Worden, Pough- keepsie Red, Concord and several others, and in walk- ing among his grapes, he almost always puts his hands upon the Worden. He had Champion, but they hung on the vine unpicked. George G. Atwood, Geneva — Worden on the same trellis, will ripen a week earlier than Concord. Josiah Salter, city — Moore's Early will ripen two weeks earlier than Concord and at the same time as Champion, and it is much better than the latter. It is a moderate cropper, not equal to Concord. Samuel Rogers, Lockport — Fruit growers on the Hudson have concluded that Champion is earlier than Moore's Early, but neither is fit for cultivation. Champion is not good, and Moore's is inclined to drop. Concord is still the main dependance there. Catawba fails to ripen. A grape that will bring more money in STRAWBERRIE;? AND RASPBERRIES. 47 market tuan Concord is desired. Good Concord? net- ted the producer from three to six cents a pound, while some only netted one cent. Mr. Harrison had eaten Pocklington that were ex- cellent. Mr. Wheeler had seen Pocklington that shelled .badly from the stem. Mr. Snow said vineyards near him had Pocklington, and they did shell some. Mr. Willard — Pocklington sold for twenty-five cents a pound, and he saw no shelling. Mr. Van Dusen — Pocklington shelled while Niagara, Prentiss and Brighton were holding well. Mr. Salter said this was the first time he ever heard of the Pocklington dropping. It is a great bearer, and if allowed to over-t;rop may drop, as all others would under like conditions. Mr. Thomas — Duchess is of good quality, hardy, but a little defective in foliage. It grows finely with Mr. Woodward, but his family would not eat it when they can get any other. Mr. Rogers regards the quality of the Duchess as among the best — better than the Dela- ware and Catawba. Wood growth enormous, but don't bear. It does the poorest with Caywood of any- where he has seen it. Mr. Thomas thinks it is variable, as is, also, the Poughkeepsie Red, which was very poor last year. Mr. Rogers — Duchess are very apt to have a specky appearance, as if flies had been on it. Foliage liable to mildew on the ground. W. C. Barry — Amber Queen very high flavored, one of the best, but cluster poor. Its merit is its fine qual- ity ; worthy of trial by amateurs. Duchess of fine quality. President Barry never saw any ot Miner's Seed'ings that he thought much of . Mr. Lewis — Too foxy and inclined to drop as soon as ripe. Mr. Prentiss, Pultney — Prentiss did well with him the past season. Mr. Willard — Vergennes bears well and is of good quality. A week or ten days later than Concord. Don't set well, cluster defective. Mr. Woodward — A good grower, good bearer, ragged cluster, and, with him, drops. Mr. Hoag finds Vergennes one of the best, and early as Concord ; much better than Moore's Early. Gross frauds are perpetrated on the country by plates of new grapes exhibited. Dr. Beadle, St. Catherines, Ont., has fruited Vergennes, and failed to find it as early as expected. Strawberries. S. D. Redman — Spring, doubtless, is the best time, with a dibber, in rows three to four feet apart, from twelve to fourteen inches in a row. Wilson variety. Daniel Congor — Sets with dibber, to line, and exer- cises care to put the roots down firmly in the ground . Raised most of the Manchester ; thinks much of it ; about half way between Wilson and Sharpless in fla- vor. Sharpless must be picked when ripe, or is insipid. Has had some great yields of Manchester, and has had some remain on the vines a w^eek after they had turned red without rotting. Set Vick last Spring, and it made great growth of plant. Cuts ofE part of top in planting, and sets very tight, in rows three and one- half feet by fifteen inches. Lets rows fill in to one and one-half to two feet wide . N. Bogue explained a method he had seen adopted for family culture. Take a barrel and bore rows of inch holes, about five inches apart. Fill with soil to first row of holes, put a plant in every one ; fill up to the next row and set another row of plants, and so on until the barrel is filled . Can get about loo plants in a barrel. Whenever soil in barrel gets dry, water with liquid manure. In the case described, those planted in barrel had five good berries to a plant, while those planted in ground, as usual, had scarcely a good berry. H. D. Van Dusen, Newark, N. Y. — Bidwell gave best satisfaction ; Manchester, with him, was not of good flavor. Bidwell sold for two cerjts a quart more in home market than any other. Greatest defect, white tips. Would not recommend it for long ship- ping. Mr. Varney — Wilson leads all others in his locality for market. Mr. Van Dusen— For yield. Crescent leads all. A little soft for shipping, but good for canning. A pistil- late needing fertilizing. Will greatly outbear Wilson. I. C. Arnold, Benton Centre, would name President Wilder and Mt. Vernon for home use. Luthur M. Hair had been told that it is a waste of time to set runners from old plants. He set 20,000 such and lost 14,000. Members were of the opinion that the plants had been frozen while out of the ground . Mr. Van Dusen — If you have strong. Hew plants, it makes no difference whether from young or old plants. Charles Downing is good for home use and can pick from same bed for several years. A gentleman said Early Canada is several days earlier than Wilson and of better quality. J. S. Woodward— Cumberland Triumph is one of the best for home use. Mr. Harris thought we need more than one variety for home use ; want a succession through the longest possible season. Mr. Redman would name for home use : Crescent, Wilson, Cumberland, Sharpless and Mt. Vernon. S. D. Willard named Bidwell, Sharpless, Cumber- land, Crescent and New Dominion. Mr. C^gor named Crescent, Wilson, Downing, Sharpless and Manchester, for home use. W. C. Barry said the Manchester, from which so much was e.\pected, has been found deficient in an im- portant qualification, to wit, healthy foliage. We did not notice any weakness in this respect until it had ripened its first crop of fruit, which was satisfactory ; then its leaves turned brown, wilted, and in a short time after, the original plants seemed nearly dead. Notwithstanding this, the runners continued to grow, and the beds, by fall, were pretty well filled with plants. Hence this may not prove to be a serious defect after all . The James Vick excels in the opposite particular — fine, healthy foliage. There is not another sort which has such deep green colored foliage. We think, how- ever, in order to maintain the size of the berries, that it will require good cultivation. It has a tendency to over-prdduction, and needs checking or stimulating, in order to obtain fruit of proper size. Raspberries. Daniel Congor named Souhegan, Ohio, Gregg, for family or market. Mr. Van Dusen named Doolittle, Ohio, Shaffer's (for family — color would injure for market), Cuthbert, red. Mr. Varney — Doolittle, Gregg and Cuthbert. Mr. Congor — Souhegan is four or five days earlier than Doolittle. Cuthbert is best red. Robert Johnston, Shortsville — Fruited Hansel on spring set plants and the fruit was fully equal to plate. Tyler and Gregg are his favorites for market. Picked his first Tylers several days before Gregg and it con- tinued about as late, making a much longer season. Has proved, with him, the most productive of all the blackcaps. Seems to perfect every germ it forms. Thinks much of the Ohio for drying; very firm. Would give Cuthbert preference among reds. Van Dusen named following good points of Ohio : Can pick the greatest number of years ; has picked from same plantation eight years, and after the planta- tion was abandoned it yielded a good crop ; greater j'ielder than Gregg; hardier, never missing a crop. Gregg will not stand the winter on low, wet ground. A man picked $1,000 worth of Ohios from two acres. Has been afraid of overstocking the market for the last ten years, but has kept extending. There has been no depression in prices of evaporated blackcaps below twenty-eight cents a pound. In an experience of twenty years has yet to pick his first unprofitable crop of blackcaps. Samuel Rogers has seen Marlboro growing on Cay- wood's grounds since 1880, and considered it the most prolific grown and largest, finest berry of any he ever saw. Mr. Cay wood's neighbors have confidence in it. Has seen it after it had fallen off on the ground in good, firm condition. Earlier than Cuthbert, continu- ing about three weeks. W. C. Barry said the Cuthbert has done admirably. It is an acquisition and does the originator credit. Shaffer's Colossal is valuable in its way, being very hardy and productive, but the berries are of such a dull color that they will not be attractive in market. Hop- kins, one of the newer Caps, better flavored than Mam- moth Cluster, but the plant is not so proSuctive. Ken- tucky and Belmont, two varieties of recent introduc- tion, produced invariably malformed berries, hence, seem to be valueless. By far the handsomest berry I saw last season among many kinds was Knevett's Giant. The fruit is as large and handsome. In this case a truthful representation would equal the exag- gerated colored plates we are often called upon to admire. Being a European variety, it may not be suf- ficiently hardy to answer all purposes, but for the amateur it will be worthy of culture. Souhegan and 48 MANURES. Tyler are so nearly alike that it would require an expert to detect any difference, and then it is probable that they would be pronounced similar. To my taste the Tyler is preferable. They are both valuable for an eaily crop and supply a want which has existed. The Marlboro has large, handsome foliage, quite distinct in this respect from any other variety. Superb is another distinct variety, producing large, round ber- ries ; somewhat dry and of fair quality. It is said to crumble badly. Herstine has again proved itself to be one of the most useful varieties. Blackberrie . — Snyder sustains its previous repre- sentation for productiveness and hardiness. Taylor is larger, later and quite promising. So is Duncan Falls. Western Triumph produced only imperfect berries. Manures. BY PROFESSOR G. C. CALDWELL. As my first, bottom facf of all, I would give this : supposing that a man sets out with the right kind of location, soil, markets, etc.; he can keep his fruit farm in a good condition, and make all the money that the case will admit of, provided that he can get all the stable manure that he wants, of a fair quality, and at a fair price ; you will certainly admit this as a funda- mental fact ; if not, I might as well stop right here ; for I must build the rest of my foundation on top of it. Supposing this to stand, let us inquire next, what are the materials contained in the stable manure that give it such a universal value? They are, no dyubt, its nitrogen, in various forms of combination, its phos- phoric acid, in the form of phosphates, its potash and Its lime, neither of them in the forms familiar to us in the potash from ashes, and quicklime, but as entirely neutral or inactive compounds ; and its organic mat- ter, as the chemists call that part of it which may be burned off by fire, and is burning up in every hot pile of fresh manure, that is becoming fire-fanged. There are other matters in the manure — sulphuric acids in the sulphates, silicic acid in the silicates, chlorine in the chlorides, and magnesia and Iron in chemical combi- nation ; and they undoubtedly take more or less part in the useful effect of the manure as a whole ; but there is not any accumulation of evidence, either in the results of experience or of experiment to show that these substances take more than a very unimportant part in the work ; and as we are after only well-estab- lished facts, that hold good under all general condi- tions, we leave these substances out of the count. Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, lime, and organic matter to make vegetable mould— these five materials, if furnished to the crops in suitable forms and in suit- able quantities and in a suitable manner would, for many years at least, in the case of any soil that is in a fair condition to start with, produce all the effects of a dressing in like amount of stable manure ; and to pro- long the effect for a life-time, it would only be neces- sary to apply at intervals of a few years, or every year a little, salt for its chlorine, plaster for its sulphuric acid, and the German salt, kainite, for its magnesia, to make sure that these other necessary constituents of the food of plants do not entirely run out. Of the five materials above mentioned, the lime also will, under ordinary conditions, need no looking after ; partly because it is generally sufficiently abundant in the average soil to answer all the demands of the crops for many years, but more because it enters so largely into the composition of the phosphate that we should have to use more or less freely in any system of manuring without stable manure ; and we need give ourselves ' little trouble about it, also, because if needed in extra [ quantity it is so easily obtained and aoplied, as quick- lime, or as gound limestone, or in plaster. So we have, finally, only four substances that we need specially to look after — nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, and organic matter or vegetable or animal remains ; if we can only manage the supply of these four, rightly, all the rest may be left to take care of themselves, at least for a long while. It seems as if it should be easy to manage so small a business as that; we have brands of phosphates without number, all claiming to be of superior excellence, and supplied to us almost at our very doors ; most of them contain some of the nitrogen that we also need to make up our combination ; and if they do not contain enough of this, there are nitrates or ammonia salts, sold for their nitrogen only, and of which we can have all we will buy ; of potash in suitable forms for plant food there is —_ _ 4 unlimited store in the German potash salts, where unleached wood ashes cannot be had at reasonable rates ; and of organic matters — vegetable and animal remains — which make up four-fifths of that which is left after you drive all the water out of stable manure, or four-fifths of the dry substance of the manure ; where can we buy that ? Echo answers, where ? We may put a little on the soil in a dressing of superphos- phate containing dried blood, added to the superphos- phate for its nitrogen, or if we manure with bone meal ; but the quantity so added is very small indeed, compared with what is put on in an ordinary dressing of stable manure. Here we seem to meet our first difficulty, in the matter of getting supplies to take the place of stable manure ; and perhaps it is going to be no easy matter to overcome the obstacle. It may be well to ask and answer the question a\ nether we can- not overcome the difficulty by paying i t attention to it. Is this organic matter plant food ? to the best of our knowledge it is not, except in so far as it contains nitrogen, which it always does ; but the nitrogen can easily be provided for otherwise; therefore, ns far as direct plant food is concerned we can get along with- out the organic matter of the stable manure. But what farmer or fruit-grower is there that would agree with me and be willing to follow my teaching if I should say to him that his manure will do just about as much good if he should burn it up, and then to replace the nitrogen that would all be driven off in the burn- ing, add to the hundred weight of ashes that he would get from every ton of it, twenty-five pounds of sul- phate of ammonia, containing about five pounds of nitrogen, as much as there is that is really assimilable in a ton of fresh manure; perhaps he could not tell why he would much rather have the whole manure ; perhaps the agricultural chemist cannot satisfactorily tell why ; but if I should call for a show of hands in this audience of those who would exchange a ton of good stable manure for a hundred and twenty-five pounds of such a mixture, of the ashes of the very best manure and sulphate of ammonia in the proportions just given, I am quite confident that it would be a very poor show. I think I shall not be mistaken in saying that a recent correspondent of the Country Gentleman speaks the mind of almost every fruit-grower in this audience, when he says as to the manure question in his own locality, Vineland, New Jersey, after asserting that the farmers will have to resort to keeping cows, to get manure for their fruits that ''''commercial vtanures do not fill the bill .''^ Why do they not answer? I see but two reasons ; it is either because we do not hit upon the right combination or mixture of such plant foods as they contain ; or it is because of the lack of the organic matters — the humus or vegetable mould forming substance which they do not contain, but which the stable manure does contain. If the first rea- son were the reason, there would not be the slightest difficulty in getting around it .-anyone of the half-a- dozen manufacturers of fertilizers in the cities could make to order a mixture containing nitrogen, phos- phates, potash salts, and all the rest, jn so nearly the same proportions as in stable manure, and in so much the same degree of solubility, that no crop could tell the difference when this mixture should be offered to it. Some manufacturers have gone even ahead of this, and prepared dishes, supposed to be even better than stable manure, because containing these foods in just the proportions required by each crop — a princi- ple of manuring that I think has been just as success- ful in general practice as it is sensible as to its theory — which is very little of either success or sense. Are we not, then, cornered by the conclusion that if we cannot get stable manure, and wish to do what we can to substitute for it commercial fertilizers, we must in some way make good the deficiency in respect to the organic matter ; w6 must keep up the condition of the soil in respect to its vegetable mould, in other words. This can be done in but two ways, so far as I see ; by a liberal draft on beds of rich muck, wherever the fruit- - grower has such beds on his farm. If he has no muck beds, then he must resort to green manuring ; in this case he will have to manure his farm as all other farm- ers do — he must rotate his crops ; in the case of some fruits this would be no disadvantage, such as those that must be renewed every few years ; in the case of oth- ers, as the apple, pear, cherry, or grape, it would be (}uite otherwise ; there a course might be followed sim- ilar to one which is stated to have been successfully practiced now for ten years in a vineyard in Germany, UNDERDRATNING. 49 of partially replacing the stable manure by a mixture of a special vineyard manure containing soluble phos- phates, potash salts and nitrogea compounds. If you should use muck, and should have access to a variety of deposits, it is well to remember that there are very considerable differences in mucks ; as to the plant foot to be used with the muck or with the green manure ; if your substitute for stable manure is to be as nearly like the thing for which it is substituted as practicable, you should supply to the crop all three of the specially valuable ingredients of commercial fertil- izers — nitrogen, phosphate and potash salts. In a paper which I read before this society in 1879, 1 showed that, as far as we can conclude from the very limited chemical data at our command, a fruit crop removes from an acre of soil somewhat the same quantities of these three plant foods as are carried off in ordinary farm cropping. Future experience and experiment may show that for this crop or that one a more or less one-sided manuring may do better — that for one kind of fruit more than the average proportion of potash will give the best results — that for another phosphate is especially successful ; but I do not think that as yet we have had enough experience with commercial fertiliz- ers on fruits, so that we can lay down any rules at all in regard to their use in the orchard or the small fruit garden. Every fruit-grower is accustomed to the use of stable manure, and knows just about what it will do for him ; and he naturally shrinks from launching out into any new course so long as he can follow the old one with any show of success. But unless the complaint of your president is without reason, somebody has got to move in the matter; and it ought not to be a great while before reports on the use of commercial fertilizers will begin to come in at these annual meetings, and we may begin to accumulate some experience, to be of service for future guidance . I do not see what more I can do for you, in response to your appeal for more manure, than to lay down these few principles that may help in the search for and the use of materials to supplement the insufiQcient supply : First, that there is enough to be had, and at fair and reasonable prices, of everything that is contained in stable manure. Second, that, at least for the present, we need not attempt to supply all these constituents of the stable manure ; that we can obtain the same results we have been getting, if we can only learn how to maintain in a proper manner the stock of vegetable mould In the soil, by a suitable supply of fresh vegetable matter in a green manuring, or of partially decayed vegetable matter in muck, and in addition can learn how to use successfully the three useful ingredients of these com- mercial fertilizers, to which we must resort if we are going to try to get along without stable manure. TTnderdraining. BY JOSEPH HARRIS. In this section we can easily get rid of large quanti- ties of water in the spring from the surface of the land by the use of plow and hoe. On our winter wheat fields we attend to this matter at the time of sowing in the autumn. On land to be sown with spring crof)s this practice is not so common, and yet a few hour's work with a three-horse plow, followed by hand hoes, will let off more water in a day than the sun will evap- orate in a month. It will enable us to commence plow- ing a week or ten days earlier than if this work is neg- lected. There is much land, however, where surface drains do little good. We may not see the water on the sur- face, but underneath the land is wet and will stay wet till it is baked hard and dry in summer. Such land, before it can be profitably worked, must be under- drained. Land resting on a dry, porous subsoil is already underdrained. Such land, for a few years after it is first brought into cultivation, is likely to be very pro- ductive, but in a few years will need manure to main- tain its fertility. Land which is not naturally drained often contains large stores of plant food, lying in an unavailable con- dition. Underdraining, by removing the stagnant water, lets in oxygen, and, as we sometimes say, *' sweetens the soil, and renders it exceedingly, pro- ductive. I do not propose to weary you by any remarks on the general subject of underdraining. You all know its importance, and how to perform the work. I want to ask this intelligent body of practical and sci- entific men a question. What is the chief object of underdraining ? The general answer is to get rid of all the water which the soil will not hold by capillary attraction. Lawes & Gilbert found that an acre of their wheat field contained, on the unmanured plot, 1,396 tons of water ; on the plot dressed with artificial manure, 1,549 tons ; and on the plot dressed with four- teen tons of bara-yard manure every year, 1,610 tons of water. There are underdrains running up each plot eight and one-fourth yards apart. When the soil con- tains more than the above quantity of water the under- drains run; when the quantity gets down to this amount the underdrains stop running. The larger the crops, the more water will they take up from the soil . By actual experiment, Lawes & Gilbert found that a crop of manured hay that yielded a little over one and one-half tons per acre evaporated two inches more w^ater — say 200 tons — chan the unmanured crop of less than one- th'rd of a ton, and another heavily manured crop that yielded over three tons of hay per acre evaporated three and one-fourth inches — say 320 tons — more than the small unmanured crop, and a crop of barley evap- orated nine inches — say 1,800 tons per acre — more water than the land lying in bare fallow alongside. A healthy, vigorous, well-fed plant can use a large amount of water, even in the moist, cool climate of Great Britain. How much greater quantity can it use in our hot, dry climate ? Is the object of underdraining to ^et rid of water? Fresh water is not, necessarily, injurious to plants. Stagnant water, by depriving the plants of oxygen, is injurious. If we can make the surface of the soil, early in the spring, dry enough for the operations of tillage and sowing, and, at the same time, remove all stagnant water from the land to the depth of say three feet, the object of underdraining will be accomplished. Is this true ? If so, then we can introduce a new system of draining. If we fill a barrel with dry soil three feet deep and pour on it say fifty quarts of water and let it remain till it is thoroughly diffused through the soil, and then bore a hole near the bottom of the barrel, as we do in leaching ashes to make soap, no water will runout. The soil holds it by capillary attraction. If you stop up this hole and pour on twenty quarts more water this extra quantity of waiel will remain in the lower portion of the soil and, if left long enough, will become stagnant and injurious to plants. On the other hand, if the hole at the bottom remained open this extra twenty quarts of water would have drained away and we should have an ordinary well-underdrained soil. After the barrel of soil was saturated with the fifty quarts of water and the hole left open at the bot- tom, if it was then placed in a larger barrel of water eighteen inches deep, we should, in process of time, have eighteen inches of stagnant water in the barrel of soil. But if the barrel of w ater was standing in a run- ning stream eighteen inches deep, and we then poured on twenty more quarts of water, this twenty quarts of fresh water would displace twenty quarts of water from the bottom of the barrel and we should get rid of the stagnant water. We should have a water logged soil, eighteen inches deep at bottom, but it would not be stagnant water. Whenever it rained, or we poured water on top, the fresh water would not be discharged below. It would drive out the old water already in the soil. I have on my farm two cases where a series of under- drains discharge through an outlet that is from a foot to eighteen inches below the water in the open ditch. The drainage is apparently just as eflncient as if the outlet was free . The land can be plowed as early in the spring as any on the farm, and the crops are quite as good, or better. I am satisfied such a system of tile draining can fre- quently be adopted with advantage. I would dig the drains when the water in the stream or ditch below was low enough to allow the tiles to be put down three feet deep. Of course when the water rises eighteen inches in the stream or ditch we should have eighteen inches of water above the bottom of the tile, but it would not be stagnant water, and the upper eighteen inches of surface soil would be porous and moist, but not wet. . . . _. • 1 There are some precautions needed . A short, single underdrain, in such circumstances, would soon fill up with sediment, but if a series of drains were all con- ducted into one main drain, laid with large tiles, no 50 APPLICATION OF MANUEES. stoppage need be feared. There will be sufficient force to the water to keep the drains and the outlet free. NEAV JERSEY HORTICUL- TURAL, SOCIETY. Manure — Fertilizei-s, and Mode.* jf A'/pli- cation. JV THEO. F. BAKER. The, Flemish people call manure the God of Farming, and to the observing tiller of the soil of to-day it is being exemplified more each succeeding year. Espec- ially so in the older States, by the continual cropping and returning nothing to the soil to pay for what has been taken off. " Robbery is equally a crime whether it be perpetuated on the soil or on thy brother," is a Roman maxim and one which criminates the general- ity ot farmers who annually rob mother earth. Chem- istry illustrates the air as invariable in its composition, always furnishing carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydro- gen in excess of all plant needs ; while the soil is exceedingly variable. A fertile soil must therefore correspond with the air, and furnish food to the roots as does the air to the plant, tree, or vine, containing and furnishing all the ash ingredients, phosphates, sul- phates, carbonates of potash, soda, lime, magnesia, alkali, chlorides, etc., essential to promote a vigorous growth. Therefore, to obtain such fruits, flowers and plants in our worn and barren soils we must supply in some way the required elements that have been con- sumed by this repeated process of cropping and rob- bing the soil. Artificial or cultivated growth is rapid and therefore exhaustive ; to still reduce it we remove the crop for consumption, thus rebutting nature's nat- ural laws to recuperate itself, as seen in the forest and prairie. This, then, is the theory for manuring — sup- plementing for what we receive ; some plants draw more of one particular ash than others, therefore requiring more of that particular element than plants of another family. In what shape, and at least cost, can we best secure these needed elements ? Manure being the general refuse of vegetables and plants, with the droppings of animals, contain all the elements of vegetable nutrition, which, therefore, makes a com- plete manure — most farmers and cultivators say. Yet, my experience has been to the contrary — in every instance tried — as applied for garden crops. Besides manure, I am compelled to use large quantities of fer- tilizers of some kind, and, to test the merits of each, began a series of experiments in a small way, using best stable manure on one rod, fertilizers of different brands on another, and the two (manure and fertilizer combined) on a third; each plot to represent equal amounts, dollar for dollar, and noted the result care- fully for four years, and, from these observations, have settled down to a combination of manure and fertiliz- ers first, artificial fertilizers second, and manure alone last, to produce early, large and paying crops in the garden. The first item in manuring is the cost, and what will ^ive the largest returns for a given amount of dollars invested, manure or fertilizers? In apply- ing manure I use from 40 to 50 two-horse loads per acre on an average, though I have used 100 loads . The 40 or 50 loads would cost, in our city, from $70 to $90 per acre, besides the hauling and spreading. Allowing the whole expense of manure, hauling, and spreading to amount to $100, that amount would pur- chase two tons bone, or two tons Stockbridge, and nearly two tons Mapes' fertilizers, or ij^ tons Peruvian guano; now, if any gardener will apply either of these fertilizers alongside the manure, dollar for dollar, I wager the crop that the fertilizers will give the earliest, largest and therefore, best paying crops on my soil — sandy loam, clay sub-soil. As a combination, 1 use 25 loads of manure and one ton of fine bone, or one ton of reliable fertilizer, saving about $20 per acre by the combination, and have always received for such manuring good crops and handsome profits. When applying fertilizers alone I use from one to one and one-half tons per acre; for a garden crop in the Spring. One ton per acre 'is less than an ounce to the square foot. By manuring in this way and increasing the amount, and deepening my soil accordingly with subsoil plow, I have increased the receipts of my farm from $1,750 to $7,300 for one year from sales alone, besides what was consumed at home by family and stock. By high manuring and thorough tillage one can produce crops from one to two weeks ahead of others, and being of good quality, owing to quick growth, the market fresh, they find ready sale, at prices that return good profit. By the time the market is overstocked your crop will be harvested and the same ground ready for a second crop, the one manuring: being sufficient to produce both crops. I have used night soil, but not in the crude state, always mi.xing with marsh mud or muck at the rate of one to three, working over twice and use for hill or drill, for which it answers well, but find no per- manent benefits from its use broadcast. Another combination which I have made, and used for two years with good results, is 25 bushels of hen manure, dry and sifted fine, to 400 lbs. of cotton seed meal, 400 lbs. plaster, 400 lbs. fine bone meal, 400 lbs. sulphate of potash and 10 bushels marsh mud or muck, which, when completed, will make about one and one- half tons at a cost of $17 per ton. This combination has given as good returns, side by side, as bone meal, night soil and different brands of fenilizers, and is a saving of fully $20 per ton. MODE OF APPLICATION. All stable or yard manure are hauled out in the Fall and Winter and spread broadcast on a fall-plowed sur- face, that the rains and snows may wash and leach out the fertilizing elements, and deposit them in the soil ready for immediate action on the crops in the Spring ; being distributed and in a soluble condition the plants receive the benefit at once, and show vigorous growth of both rooi and //ant, while on land Iresh manured the plant develops at the expense of the tap-root, and when the time comes for the head or bulb to form it must stop and wait for renewed strength to come from new rootlets and the food from the soil — just the time for the enemies of the crop to commit their depreda- tions and destroy the crop. Another benefit is derived from fall manuring, inas- much as the soil is protected, and in the spring is mel- low and spongy, and will withstand drouth better, is easier put in condition for a crop, and the alter culture lessened. I also apply 500 lbs. sulphate of potash broadcast in the fall, per acre, that it may be dissolved and mingled through the soil by spring, insuring the safety of my seeds from its effects. All fertilizers are sown broadcast after the plow, and thoroughly mixed with the soil by an Acme harrow, and followed by the common scratch harrow. Broad- cast all you can, and as little in the hill as possible, would be my advice : else your prospects wilt be flat- tering, your crop a deception. Belonging to my farm is eight acres of river bottom land, or banked meadow, where the soil or deposit averages ten feet in depth of sediment and vegetable matter, entirsly free from grit and considered inexhaustable, only requiring lime once in five years to produce 75 bushels of corn per acre, or heavy crops of grass. I tried growing late cabbage on one acre of this land and gave it one ton of Stockbridge manure, broadcast, to the acre, and har- vested a heavy crop — big heads, and 95 per cent, head- ing. Another acre was put to cabbage and the same fertilizer applied at the same rate, in the row. I had immense leaves, covering the ground, and but few marketable heads, not over 30 percent. A few rows were omitted without fertilized, and from these rovis not two per cent, was marketable, and very little to show that plants had been set there. They were fee- ble growers, and the lice overpowered them^ — while none were to be found on the acre broadcasted. This experience proves, to me at least, that it pays to fertil- ize even our best and seemingly richest soils. Crops of the garden grow fast, and mature in a few weeks at most, when the conditions of the soil will admit and enough food in the proper condition, soluble, is at baud to furnish their immediate demands. To do this we must fertilize and manure heavy each and every year, and broadcast, has been my experience. Bridgeton, N. J., 1884. E. Roberts thought the price of the stable manure was ridiculously low. In the vicinity of Philadelphia it would cost twice as much; and yet taking this stand- point the disparity between the two would be mHch greater than Mr. Baker had put it. J. Burt thought his manure cost him $2.00 to $2.50 per load, and others had paid $3.00 to $3.50 per ton. J. M. White fully confirmed the views of Mr. Baker as to the value of commercial fertilizers, but thought SHIPPING FRUITS. 51 ■we could not dispense with stable manure altogether ; believed in supplementing it with commercial fertiliz- ers. Had useij night soil on sod ground, for cabbagt , at far less cost than any other manure he could get ; it cost him $1.25 P^r load. Inquiry was made as to the value of leached ashes. D . Baird had used them but never saw any benefit. J. S. Collins concurred. B. B. Hance had seen benefits from theif use on poor land ; on good land it was not so apparent. Z. U. Matthews had used them on sweet potatoes with decided benefits, but on strawberries he could not see any profit. Wm. Parry had not found much benefit from its use alone, but composted, found it excellent. Ashes, bone, i\iarl and salt composted in equal quantities would gen- erate heat you could not hold your hand in ; by turning it two or three times the bone would be completely decomposed, and was applied to any crop with benefit; the marl and salt supplied all moisture necessary. Dr. Hexamer stated, this one paper of Mr. Baker's alone was very valuable and had fully paid him for <:ominghere. In farming as in any applied natural science no definite rules could be laid down that all could rely on . It is a thing everyone has to decide for himself. On his soil ashes was one of the best fertil- izers. Does such heavy fertilizing pay? Mr. Baker has fully answered this question in the affirmative, in his case, when he states his receipts have increased from $1,700 to $7,000 a year; but it is hardly safe to give the fertilizers the full credit of this ; they have rendered it possible to grow the crops that his energy and management have disposed of with such profit. Mr. Roberts asked Mr. Baker if marl in his compost would not be better than muck ? Mr. Baker: Yes ; and now I would increase the potash and reduce the plaster, because the former was soluble and the latter was not. J. B. Rogers said. Prof. Clark, of Amherst, Mass., used fertilizers of quick action for strawberries ; one- half in Fall and one-half in Spring ; for peaches, one- half in Spring and one-half in midsummer. E. P. Beebe had tried muriate of potash on three acres, 500 lbs . to the acre for corn, and had about 75 bushels per acre ; was very well satisfied ; he also finds it destructive of insect life. He dissolved it and washed fruit trees beneficially, but it did not do for strawberries. . Z. U. Matthews used nitrate of soda, costing $60 per ton, and found it profitable. Mr. Meech used kainit because he thought he got potash cheaper in that form than any other. One speaker deplored the loss of manure from leach- ing, and going down beyond the reach of plants ; another thought the loss upward was as great. Dr. Hexamer said the ammonia or grasses of manure only evaporated ; the soluble portions went down and the use of marl prevented any loss in that direction ; vet marl was of no use on some soils, his own for ins- tance. There was much to learn in the application of manures. They vary much in their composition. We must use more fertilizers and frequently. By using all the resources at our command he believed farming could be made the most profitable business going. W. F. Bassett had found his light soil much benefit- ed by long and continuous manuring. Mr. Minch asserted that the chief value of marl was in the phosphoric acid it contained. The potash in the green sand marl is insoluble. The Shiloh marl con- tains none. , , , ^ , A. H. Augur, said that ashes and bone composted with stable manure and plaster was considered a valu- able manure in Conneticut, and those who used it con- tinuously always had good crops. Transportation of Fruit. BY C. W. IDELL. The transportation of fruits is an important item of interest to the growers, particularly when the fruits are compelled to pass over several connecting lines in order to reach a market, for it is subjected to delays of a greater or less extent at each connecting point, and these delays are in turn repudiated by each line, so the receiver cannot decide which is to blame, or does it make much difference, for one can get no recompense for losses from either. ■ I believe the cause of these delays lies entirely in the want of interest in the matter by those vyhose business it is to attend to the trains on their arrival ; for, as you are aware, fruit is generally transported in the night when the tracks are clear of passenger trains, and the superintendents are absent from their offices, so the management of the fruit trains are left entirely with those running them ; and it is these persons who care nothing about the delays, for they lose nothing by them, or do their employers pay for their negligence, and I believe that if the facts regarding these delays could be ascertained, that in eighteen out of twenty cases it would be found that they were owing to the indifference of these officials. The only remedy for this evil that I can think of, is for the shippers to keep an agent at these connecting points to take the time of the arrival and departure of each train, and when delays do occur, for them to report at once to the president of the road, for it will do no good to report to any other. When you make an arrangement with a company for a reduction of freight on your fruit always insist upon the early arrival of the trains, and the immediate delivery of the fruit on arrival, instead of having the cars run in a section of the yard where the car men cannot get it, as is often done ; for late arrivals create a heavy loss in the value of the fruit. There is another great evil to be met and overcome in these companies. I refer to the uniform and persis- tent stealings by these officials, or with their knowl- edge and consent, of goods placed in their care. It seems to be the prevailing idea of the employees of these lines that they have a perfect right to open fruit packages and take from them such quantities as they may select, and strange as may seem to some, that when complaints have been made to those officers whose duty it was to prevent it, that either M, when in its prime, has done better • and now, at a time when there is no other /?aj/i5^r?-;)/ before the country which will fill the void made by the loss of the A nttverp, and as it is known that a Raspberry with requisite qualities will yield a greater profit from a given quantity of land than any other fruit, and as every point we have given above can be verified by hundreds of visitors froin this berry section, and also from a.\3roa.d, Antwerp growers here are justified in their ready remarks that it is the " best variety " ihey ever knew. Send for Catalogue. GREEN'S NURSERY CO., Box 562, Rochester, N. Y. [TrarmnniT For Sale Cheap. We have some extra electrotypes of the following fruits left over. If you want any of them, send for prices. Keifer Pear, Peen-To Peach, Tyler Rrasp- berry. Picking Strawberries, Lost Ruby, James Vick Strawberry, Roses, Blackberries, Grape Arbor, Lee's Black Currant, Bidwell Strawberry, Beebe's Golden Raspberry, Shaffer's Colossal Rnspberry, Manchester Strawberry, Fay's Prolific Currant, Cuthbert Rasp- berrp, Wheatland Peach, Schuinaker Peach, Gregg Raspberry, Ohio Raspberry, Daniel Boon Strawberry, Nemaha Raspberry, Hayes Grape, and many others. GREEN'S NURSERY CO., Box 561, Rochester, N.. Y) PEIOES for TKEES, PLANTS, &c. FOR SPRING OF 1885, Apple Trees — Stark, Talm an Sweet, Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, Duchesse, Autumn Strawberry, M\in- son Sweet, Maiden's Blush, N. Spy, Pewaukee, Gold- en Russet, Wealthy, Ben. Davis, Grimes' Golden,Wag- ener, Whitney No. 20, Chenango Strawberry, Wine Sap, Famaese. First-class, 6 feet, 15c. each. First- class. 4 to 5 feet, IOC. each. Lord Nelson, 25c. For other rare varieties see catalogue. We have a rare col- ection. Pears — Kieffer, 35c. to 75c. Largest standard vari- ties 60c. ; one vear, 2 to 4 feet, 25c.; 12 to 20 inches, 15c. Dwarf Pears 25 to 50 cents each. Cherries — 30c. to 50c. Plums — 25c. Peaches— $4 to $8 per 100. Orange Quinces — 25 cents. Champion, 40 cents. Meech's Prolific Quinces— $1.50 each. Russian Mulberry — 12 to 20 incites, 50 cents per 12 ; 3 to 4 feet, 25 cents each. Downing Mulberry — Four feet, 50 cents. Larger, 75 cents. Hardy Rose Bushes — 2=; cents. PRICES FOR THE NEWER GRAPES. Pocklington, Moore's Early, Dutchess, Lady, Pren- tiss, Lady Washington, Cottage, strong, one year, 30c.; two years 50c. each. Vergennes, Early Victor, 40c. and 60c. each Hayes' Early, superior quality, white. August Giant, large, very early, good quality. Amber Queen, reddish yellow, early, very good. Centennial, reddish white, good. These last four are offered now for the first time. Price, one year, strong, 60c.; two years, $1.00 each. Niagara Grape— Two years, strong. $2 each. Delaware, Agawam, Lindley, Salem, Worden, Per- kins, Hartford, Concord, extra strong, two year, 15 cents each. For prices of other grape vines and descrip- tions, see catalogue. Strawberries — Jas. Vick, Daniel Boone, Manches- ter, Bidwell, Mt. Vernon, Lenig's White, Sucker State, Primo, Wilson, Finches' Prolific, Sharpless, Cumber- land, Crescent, Kentucky, Charles Downing, Windsor Chief, Old Iron Clad (Phelps' SeedHng), Pipers' Seed- ling, Big Bob, Nigh's Superb, 25c per 12 ; 75c per 100. Jersey Queen, Woodruff's, Atlantic, 50c per 12 ; $1 per 100. Parry, $2 per 12 ; $12 per 100. Cornelia, $2 per 12; $15 per 100. Red Raspberries— Cuthbert. Lost Rubies, Reliance, Early Prolific, 25c per 12 ; $1 per 100 ; $10 per 1000. Shaffer's Colossal (our most profitable red raspberry) GREEN'S NURSERY CO., ROCHESTER, N. Y. soc per 12 ; $2 per 100; $18 per 1000. Hansell, $1 per 12 ; $6.00. Superb, Mont Clair, soc^per 12. Crimson Beauty, 750. per 12 " 75c. per 12 per 100. ■ Brinckle's Orange, Marlboro^The most profitable of all, $1 each ; 6 for $5 ; 12 for $9; $25 per 100. Caroline (yellow) Beebe's Golden, 50c. per 12; $2.50 per 100. Black Raspberries — Tyler, Souhegan, Ohio, Gregg, 25 cents per 12 ; $1 per 100. Nemaha, $2 per 12, |io per 100, |8o per 1000. Blackberries — Stone's Hardy, 75c. per 12; $4 per 100. Agawam, Taylor's Wachu- setts. Early Harvest, 75 cents per $2 per 100. Snyder, Kittatin- nyi etc., 50 cents per 12; $1.50 MARLBORO. per 100. Early Cluster, 40 cents •each; $4 per 12. Wilson, Jr., 30 cents each; I3 per 12. Currants — Fay's Prolific (strong plants), 35 cents each. Victoria, Cherry, White (irape, Lee's New Black Currant, etc., 50 cents per 12 ; $3.50 per 100. Gooseberries — Downing, Smith's, $1.00 per 12. Houghton, 50 cents perT2. All two years, strong. For other Fruits and Ornamentals, send for Cata- logue, sent free on application, or with chrorao col- ored plate for five cents. The new book, " How to Propagate and Grow Fruits," will be sent free to all ordering plants or trees to the value of $1 or more. Plants or trees will be sent by express, with orders to collect dues on delivery, providing one-fourth of the amount of bill is paid in advance. Address, GREEN'S NURSERY CO., Box 562, Rochester, N. Y. JUST PUBLISHED. ''How to Propagate and Grow Fruit." BY CHARLES A. GREEN. It Contains over Fifty Illustrations and Two Beautiful Lithographic Colored Fruit Plates. Tips of Raspberry Layered. a sixty-four page book, price fifty cents, telling how to propagate and multiply Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, currants. Gooseberries, Grapes, Quince, Peach, Apricot, Plum, Cherry, Pear and Apple. It tells how to lay out a garden' or fruit farm, how to plant, cultivate and trim, and all about the best methods of successful fruit growing up to this date. OVER ONE HUNDRED TOPICS are discused by those who are fitted by experience to advice. Price fifty cents by mail post paid. TO AGENTS AND TREE DEALERS. We receive numerous applications from those who desire to sell our trees and plants. We would be glad to have some person in every town sell our stock, but me employ no agents. Our method is this :— Take or- ders in your locality at prices something in advance of our catalogue prices— this is necessary for you will have something to pay for freight. After yon have made some sales, send us a list of the items sold , We will attach the lowest wholesale price possible, and return it for your approval. If prices are satisfactory send on your order, always \erv earln and mark it dealer's order, and we will give it immediate atten- tion. Your outfit (colored plate book with 35 plates, order book, etc.,) we can. furnish for $4.00. Do NOT THINK that you can, without experience, go from house to house and sell rapidly right and left. Nothing is accomplished without work, and good agents often go all day and sell nothing, ;et the next day sell enough to make the week's or month's average good. Most agents fail the first few days by getting discouraged. If you begin by selling a few the first season, the business will gradually increase until your get a reputation and you will find yourself getting an extensive trade. iPeople about to order of us will do well to look about and see if they cannot mfluence some sales to their neighbors, and order all senf at once. Our re- tail prices are not half so high as agents sell at, thus you will be doing them a favor by securing good stock, true to name, at less than they could buy elsewhere. Remember that large standard Pear, Cherry and Baldwin and Careening apple trees are very .scarce and high-priced . Most agents write us for a wholesale list to begin with. This does not amount to much as all depends on the amount of your order,and the amount of stock on hand at the time your order comes. Rely on a I ail profit if you sell at an advace over our catalogue rates. GREEN'S NURSERY CO, Box, 562. Rochester, N. Y. Green's New Catalogue and Hints on Fruit Cvilture FREE I It contains more information than any other ever published. '' is a COMPI.ETE GUIDE for growing all kinds of fruits. A sample copy of that spriglitly paper, m iwer Illustrated, edited b}' CHAS. A GREEN, will also be sent free on applica- tion. We offer a fine stock of vines, plants, and trees, at 1on\- .MARLBORO. prices. Tlie great Marlboro Raspberry, Kieffer Pear and Lord Nelson Apple are specialties. ^Send your address on a postal card for our Catalogue and paper, both free. Address, dSKEEN'S NTTISEKY CO., Eox 5C2, Rochester, >'. T. larllioro Easplierry CoiiiMnalion Offers. The person ordering any one of these four combina- tions is entitled to the new book, " How to Propagate and Grow Fruit." 1 Marlboro Raspberry ] 6 Nemaha Black Cap 10 Crimson Beauty Raspberry 10 Shaffer's Colossal Raspberry... 6 Marlboro Raspberry 10 Crimson Beauty Raspberry.... 10 Shaffer's Colossal Raspberries. 6 Nemaha Black Cap I Duchess Grape, white I Pocklington Grape, white I Prentiss Grape, white I Cottage Grape, early black I Agawam Grape, early red 12 Marlboro Raspberry 12 Hansell Raspberry 12 Crimson Beauty 6 Nemaha Raspberry 50 Mrs^ Garfield Strawberry I Pocklington Grape I Duchess Grape I Fay's Prolific Currant \ $2.00 $6.00 $ U .00 green: S NURSERY CO., ROCHESTER. N. Y. 50 Marlboro Raspberry 100 Hansel! Raspberry 100 Crimson Beauty Raspberry \ $25>00 12 Nemaha Raspberry | 50 Shaffer's Colossal Raspberry J For all other Small Fruits, Trees and Vines, send for our Descriptive Catalogue. GREEN'S NUKSEBY CO., Boy 568, Rochester, N. Y. CLUBBING LIST. Two Papers and a Book for the Price of One Paper. These prices include a year's subscription to the FRUIT GROWER and to a copy of the New Book, "How to Propagate and Grow Fruit," and to the paper named. Any American publication furnished at reduced rate. American Agriculturist, $1.25; American Field. $3.25; American Poultry Yard, ^11.25; American Garden, $1.; American Rural Home (new) $1.; Bee Journal, (week- ly) $2.10; Bee Journal (monthly), $1.10; Bee Keeper's Magazine, $i.- Cultivator and Country Gentleman, $2.25; Colman's Rural World, $1.50; Century Maga- eine, $3.75; Dairy and Farm Journal, 50c; Drainage and Farm Journal, $i . ; Demorest's Magazine, $2.; Empirf State Agriculturist. 60c ; Farmer's Review, $1.25 ; Farming World, 750; Farmer's Home, 60c; Farm Im- Dlemeni, 75c; Farmer and Fruit Grower, $(.20; Farmer nd Manufacturer, 6oc; Forest, Forge and Farm, 75c ; armer's Companion, 6oc ; Florida Despatch, $1.75 ; > irm Economist, 60c; Farm and Fireside (Ohio), 75; Fe.rm and Fireside (N. C), $1 25 ; Farmer's Home Journal, $1.25; Farmer's Advocate, $1.; Farm Journal, Soc; Godey's Lady Book, $2 ; Gardener's Monthly, Si. 65; Home and Farm, 75c; Home Farm, $1.50; Hus- bandman (Elmira), $1.15; Harper's Weekly, $3.50 ; Harper's Monthly Magazine, $3.50; Household, (Brat- tleboro) $1.; Iowa Farmer, 75c; Indiana Farmer, $1.60; Journal of Agriculture, $ ..50; Kansas Beekeeper ,$1.25; Kansas Farmer, $1.40; Kansas Spirit, goc; Kansas Ag- riculturist, ^^ 1.50; Ladies' Floral Cabinet, $1.20; Live Stock Monthly, 75c ; Labor World, $2.00; Maryland Farmer, ft. ; Mirror and Farmer, $1 05 ; Nebraska Farmer, $1.20; New York Tribune, $1.25; National Poultry Monitor, $1.05; Orange County Farmer, Si. 55; Ohio Farmer, $1.25; Ontario Hornet, 5oc; Oregon Col- onist, 65c ; Purdy's Fruit Recorder, 75c ; Poultry World, $1.; Prairie Farmer, "$1.60; Poultry Nation, 75c ; Poultry Messenger, 60c; PI. nter's Journal, $1.75; Poul- try Advertiser, 60c ; Poultry Monthly, $1.05 ; Poultry Bulletin, ,$1.50: Poultry and Farm Journal, $1.; Rural Record, 75c; Roanoke Patron, 7sc; Rural Calif ornian, $1.50: Rural New Yorker, $2.25 ; Seed Time and Har- vest, 50c; South and West, 60c; Southern Planter. $.-.2.5; Southern Cultivator, $1.25; Sunny South, $1.; Tribune and Farmer, $t.; Vick's Monthly Magazine. $1.10: Western Rural (and seeds), $2.; 'Wallace's Monthly, ,$2. -'5; Western Cultivator, 75c; Western Agriculturist $1.; Western Plowman, 6oc; Western Horticulturist 6sc ; Youth's Companion (new subscribers) fi.50 Youth's Companions (renewals) $2.00; American Cul- tivator, Boston, 2.50. GREEN'S FRUIT GROWEJl. Box 562, Rochester, N. Y. TmiTEMT! $6 Per Bushel. Apple, Pear, Cherry and Plum Seedings at Low Prices. GREENS' NURSERY CO., Box 562, - - Rochester, N, Y. Meecli's Prolific Quince. There has been some doubt in the minds of a few as to this being a new variety. While visiting Newburg, I took particular pains to get Mr. Downing's -^dew regarding this, and he appeared to liave no doubt that it was a new variety. He says in a letter to the introducers : " It is certainly a promising variety." The bark of the past season's growth is of a yellowish brown color unlike that of most quinces. Mr. P. M. Augur, of the Connecticut Board of Agriculture, a well known -pomo- logist says : The Meech's Quince exhibited at the Waterbury meeting of the Board of Agricul- ture, struck my attention at once. The pho- tographs showing the growth of the trees and their prolific bearing were indeed re- markable ; and from the testimony of com- mission dealers who have sold the fruit, I am led to belive it must be a remarkable fruit. I do not hesitate to give it trial a» soon as it is placed in market. I believe it ivill he a great acquisition. Last October I had the pleasure of visiting the grounds of the Rev. W. W. Meech, of this place, where he showed me nearly 100 Quince trees loaded with very fine fruit, re- markably fair, and of uniform size, and a deep rich orange color. Mr. Meech is quite confident that he has in this fruit a new variety of quince, which he has named "Meech's Prolific." His method of trim- ming and cultivating the quince, as well as this particular variety of the fruit, is es- pecially worthy the notice of those about to grow the quince. S. P. Tomlingson, Pres. Vineland Fruit-Grower's Union. Price, ,$1. 50 ea ch. PREMIUM LIST T FOR. eo OEKTTS WE WILL MAIL YOU G REEN'S F RUIT G ROWER ONE YEAR, also the new book, " How to Propagate aiid Grow Fruits," and either of the following premiums. Please mention the one you select dj/ number only : No. I — 3 Plants of Nemaha new Black Rasp- berry. No. 2—6 Shaffer's Colossal Raspberries. No. 3—6 Mrs. Garfield and 6 Daniel Boone Strawberry Plants. No. 4 — 6 Daisy Miller and 6 Woodruff No. i Strawberry plants. No. 5 — I Pocklington white Grape and i Cot- tage early black Grape. No. 6—6 plants Lee's Prolific New Black Currant. No. 7 -6 plants of White Grape Currant. No. 8 — 6 plants of Cherry Currant. No. 9—1 Fay's Prolific New Red Currant. 1 No. 10—4 plants of Hansel Red Raspberry. I No. II — 4 Kieffer Pear Trees in dormant bud. No. 12— I Marlboro' New Red Raspberry, the greatestof all, and one sUbscrip- to Fruit Grower, also the new Book, "How to Propagate and Grow Fruit." all by mail for.$i.oo NO TICE — These offers are good only if accepted now. Plants are sent to you by mail postage paid by us. Now or later. GREEN' FRUIT GROWER, Box 562, Rochester, N. Y. Green's Fruit Grower, A PAPER DEVOTED TO GARDENiTTg AND FRUIT FARMING. PRICE 50 CENTS PER YEAR. EDITED BY CHAS. A. GREEN. MARLBORO RASPBERRY IS ONE OF THE PREMIUMS GIVEN WITH OUR PAPER. This paper is edited by a man who has devoted many yeais to practical fruit growing who lives on a 134 acre fruit farm, and knows from experience whereof he speaks. Every issue of the Fruit Grower is intended to be worth the cost for a year. But we offer Pre- miums of Plants and Books to each subscriber fully as valuable as the paper. SSMD F0B A FBll SmMPLl COPY, vitu^ information regarding these Premiums. We have sent out many valuable New fub?cribe?s. P""^^"'^^ *h^* have often been worth a hundred dollars ?o IniivTdS WE AIM TO BE IN ADVANCE OF THE TIMES. |^"Send for Sample Copy. Address, GREEN'S FRUIT GROWER, Box 563, Rocliester, W. Y. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ft I ■•Wat '« , - " w?-- T V'U^*"*'''**' I' ' LOWER FALLS, ROCHESTER, N. Y. LIBRARY OF DDDDTE Holli: p ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDDmE^bHSl HoUingCT Corp. pH8.5