r?r

Kural &titntt

EDITED BY L. H. BAILEY

THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT
GROWING

Ctural ^ctence Aeries;

THE SOIL,.

THE SPRAYING OF PLANTS.

MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS.

THE FERTILITY OF THE LAND.

THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT GROWING.

BUSH- FRUITS.

FERTILIZERS.

THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE.

RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE.

THE FARMSTEAD.

THE PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE-GARDENING.

FARM POULTRY.

THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS.

THE FARMER'S BUSINESS HANDBOOK.

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE.

THE CARE OF ANIMALS.

THE HORSE.

How TO CHOOSE A FARM.

FORAGE CROPS.

BACTERIA IN RELATION TO COUNTRY LIFE.

THE NURSERY-BOOK.

PLANT- BREEDING.

THE FORCING-BOOK.

GARDEN-MAKING.

THE PRUNING-BOOK.

THE PRACTICAL GARDEN-BOOK.

-S3
355
3)5?
^

PREFACE TO THE SECOND
EDITION.

IT is nearly a year since I left this work with
the printer. The first copy of the book which I
saw was procured in a foreign land; and now that a
second edition is called for, I find myself again in
fields and orchards of another country. These per-
sonal remarks are not of themselves worth making
here; but they shall be my excuse for writing a few
contrasts of American and European fruit-growing.

Classified in respect to the objects in view, there
are two kinds of fruit-growing,— that which desires
the product primarily for home use, and that which
desires it primarily for market. Of market or com-
mercial fruit-growing, there are again two types,—
that which aims at a special or personal market, and
that which aims at the general or open market. The
ideals in these two types of fruit-growing are very
unlike, and the methods and the varieties which suc-
ceed for the one may not succeed for the other. The
man who grows fruits for the special market, has
a definite problem. The product is desired for its
intrinsic qualities; and special products demand special
prices. The man who grows fruit for the world's
market, has no personal customer. The product is

vi Preface.

desired for its extrinsic or market qualities; and the
world's products bring the world's prices. The
special -market fruit-grower generally works on a
small base. The world's -market fruit-grower works
on a large base ; or he sells to another who, by com-
bining similar products of many persons, is able to
command the attention of the market.

Now, it is the large base upon which American
fruit-growing is established which enables it to enter
European markets. In America are thousands of acres
of one variety, and the conditions under which the
fruits are grown are so similar as to produce uni-
formity in the product. We speak one language, and,
although we are two nations, we live in practically
the same political environment. We go to Europe,
and to our own great markets, with wholesale quan-
tities.

In Europe, on the contrary, nearly every fruit-
growing center is unique. The industry is the out-
come of years, may be of centuries, of local effort
and tradition. There is no general uniformity of
methods and varieties. Community of interests on a
large base is impossible. There are insurmountable
difficulties of physiography, of races, languages and
political systems. In the staple products, the Euro-
pean grower may not be able to compete with Ameri-
cans in his own markets, so long as those markets
remain naturally open.

The American fruit-grower quickly assimilates new
methods. He is unfettered by tradition; and how
much this means only those can understand who know

Preface. vii

the European customs and ideals. He is bold and
confident. He easily buys and sells land. He con-
trols his own efforts and destinies. He has more help
from teachers and experiment stations than the Euro-
pean has. A single instance will illustrate all this.
Spraying for fungous diseases is a European develop-
ment, whereas large -area spraying for insects is an
American development. The American has assimi-
lated the spraying for plant diseases and has made
improvements in the machinery, while he has at the
same time made equal progress in fighting insects;
but the European has not assimilated the American
methods of handling insects, and spraying for plant
diseases is probably less generally understood than in
America.

In manj- parts of Europe, the farmer is a tenant,
and he therefore has little interest in planting trees.
But even if he owns land, the area is usually small,
notwithstanding the fact that there are many very
large individual plantations. There are few great geo-
graphical regions which are adapted to fruit-growing,
or which, if they are adapted, can be utilized for that
purpose. The environments of the Old World farmer
a IT relatively inflexible. The result is that his methods
tend to become stereotyped and rigid. He lacks the
inspiration which comes of conditions which are easily
recast and modified. His small areas must be so
crowded with many kinds of plants that machine-
work is impossible. There are few orchards in Europe,
as that word is understood in America, meaning an
area devoted exclusively to tree fruits set at regular

viii Preface.

distances and cultivated systematically with labor-
saving machinery.

For these and other reasons, as well as for the
fact that our fruits and their manufactured products
are attractive and of good quality, I believe that the
American fruit-grower will find an increasing market
in Europe. But the greater the quantity sent abroad,
the more discriminating will that market become; and
it must be true that the brands and the varieties of
inferior quality tend to supply the inferior markets.

But if I believe that American fruit-growing is in
advance of the European in its general commercial
aspects, I am equally convinced that the European is
in advance in growing for special and personal usas.
The narrowness of the enterprises, the competition in
restricted areas, the respect for traditional methods and
varieties, conserve the very elements which appeal
to the discriminating consumer, while, at the same
time, they develop great skill in the fruit-grower.
The care which is bestowed on individual plants, the
niceties of exposure and of training, the patient hand-
work, may almost be said to develop personal traits
in the fruits themselves. Such fruits may not find a
place in the open market, but for that very reason
they may have a higher commercial value.

At the head of a little valley, closely shut in by
the Alps, is a famous apple orchard. The trees are
trained upright on the opposite sides of a double espa-
lier or trellis, the sides of which are less than two feet
apart. In each of these rows, the trees are two to
four feet asunder. These trellises are perhaps ten feet

Preface. ix

the one from the other, and between each two is a
row of apples on cordons or single horizontal wires;
and in the spaces potatoes or other annual crops are
often planted. Even the wires that brace the end
posts of the trellises have apple trees trained on
them like strands of vines. Each' tree is trained to
a definite number of branches or arms, and even the
fruit -spurs are carefully determined. This plantation
is the property of a company whose business it is to
care for the land and the trees, and to find a mar-
ket for the fruit. It is expensive to grow apples
in this way ; but the best Calvilles often bring a
gulden (about forty -one cents) apiece.

Perhaps the most important lesson which the
American fruit-grower has yet to learn is the fact
that there are two types of effort in commercial fruit-
growing, and that there may be pecuniary reward in
fruits which are unknown in the market. Failure to
distinguish these two categories is the result of a con-
fusion of ideas. One grows fruit either for a special
and personal market, in which case he looks for his
own customer and is independent of general trade; or
he grows what the market demands, and allows the
machinery of trade to handle the product. In the
latter effort, the American fruit-grower is preeminent;
but in the former he has made little more than a
beginning.

L. H. BAILEY.

BOZKN, TYKOL, May 20, 1898.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

PAGES
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION 1-36

IXVENTORY OF FRUITS. Orchard culture or tree-fruit cul-
ture— Pomaceous fruits— Drupaceous or stone fruits — Citrous
fruits — Moraeeous fruits— Anonaceous fruits— Myrtaceous
fruits — Sapotaceous fruits— Anacardiaceous fruits — Eben-
aceous fruits— Leguminous fruits — Nut-fruits — Palmaceous
fruits — Miscellaneous tree-fruits.— Vine-fruit culture— Viti-
culture— Passifloraceous fruits. — Small-fruit culture — Ru-
baceous fruits — Ribaceous fruits — Miscellaneous bush-fruits
— Strawberry culture— Cranberry culture. — Non-woody or
herb-like fruits — Musaceous fruits — Pineapple— Cactaceous
fruits— Miscellaneous herb-like fruits 2-7

THE GEOGRAPHY OF FRUIT-GROWING. The temperature
determinant— The moisture determinant— The soil deter-
minant—The parasite determinant 7-25

THE COURSE OF EVOLUTION OF A FRUIT-REGION. . . 26-27

THE OUTLOOK FOR FRUIT-GROWING. The two factors con-
cerned—Farmers do not become rich— Always a demand for
the unlike— Choice of business is a matter of taste and cap-
ital—Farmer must master his local conditions— The fruit-
grower, therefore, must be trained— Best farmers are often
not brought up on the farm— The farmer is his own business
manager— Outlook best in those fruits which make the
greatest number of secondary products. — 7s there over pro-
duction of fruit? — Insufficient distribution — Tendency must
be for cheaper fruit— Normal failure of many plantations. . 27-36

(xi)

xii Contents.

CHAPTEE H.

PAGES
THE LOCATION AND ITS CLIMATE 37-131

THE PLACE. The geography of a fruit farm — Choice with
reference to markets and frosts. — Location with reference to
market — Importance of transportation facilities— The per-
sonal markets. — Location with reference to frosts— Frosts
and freezes — Proximity to bodies of water— Nature of the
influence of lakes — Retardation of bloom— Elevation and
frost— Climate held responsible for too much— The declining
peach areas.— Winds and air-currents in relation to fruit-
growing—High and rolling lands — High winds to be avoided
— Effects of winds in drying up land and plants — Low wind-
breaks to] lessen evaporation. — Atmospheric drainage — The
currents of air— Cold and dense air settles in low places—
The frosty belt below a wood— Very small objects intercept
movement of cold air— Temperatures of high and low sta-
tions 37-57

THE SITE FOR THE FRUIT PLANTATION. Elevated sites
usually better— The exposure. — The aspect— North and south
slopes 58-61

WIND-BBEAKS FOR FRUIT PLANTATIONS. Tabulated opin-
ion s of fruit-growers— Epitome of benefits of wind-breaks-
Experiences adverse to wind-breaks. — Statements of authors
—Wind-breaks for many kinds of fruits and in various parts
of the country. — Forests and fruit-growing — Influence upon
wind and moisture— Its relation to insects and diseases. —
Reriew of the influences of wind-breaks upon fruit planta-
tions—What winds it is desired to break— Winds from bodies
of water— The effect of a wind-break upon winds.— Position
of the wind-break with reference to the fruit plantation— The
prevailing winds — Opinions of fruit-growers.— How to make
the wind-break — Kinds of trees— Opinions of fruit-growers —
Conclusions. — <?eneraZ summary upon u-ind-breaks — Con-
densed statements of benefits and injuries .... 62-92

PROTECTING PLANTATIONS FROM FROST. Mulching to en-
able plants to escape frost— Experiments at Ithaca— Mulching
strawberries — Conclusions. — Covering plants for protection —
Methods of covering— Laying down blackberries and rasp-
berries-Protecting peach trees. — Adding vapor of water

Contents. Xni

to the aii — Irrigating and flooding— Spraying for frost— Till-
ing—Systematic evaporation of water in orchards. — The
making of smudges — Characteristics of a good smudge — Ma-
terials to use— Spraying the smudges— An account of Euro-
pean experience. — M a king currents of air— Heating the air

— Use of large fires 92-121

THE PREDICTION OF FROST. Records of frosts— Frost
charts— The psychrometer— Finding the dew-point. . . 121-131

CHAPTER III.

THE TILLAGE OF FRUIT LANDS 133-174

Evolution of tillage— Apparently contrary to nature— Com-
parison with the forest— Weeds — Neglect of apple orchards.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TILLAGE. Three main objects of till-
age.— The texture of the soil— Physical conditions more im-
portant than mere plant-food. — The moisture of the soil—
Drought and rainfall — The moisture reservoir— Fall plowing
— Tillage to save moisture — The earth -mulch. . . . 138-145

USE OF THE VARIOUS TOOLS IN RELATION TO CONSERVA-
TION OF MOISTURE. Plowing to save moisture — The test of
good plowing. — Harrowing to save moisture — The spring-
tooth harrow — The acme harrow— The disc harrows — The
smoothing harrows. — Cultivators and conservation of mois-
ture—Level culture vs. ridge culture. — The roller in its
relation to soil moisture — Difficulty of using the roller prop-
erly-Its relation to seeding- Should be followed by tillage . 145-154

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TILLING OF FRUIT LANDS. Drain-
ing—Subsoiling— Preliminary preparation of land for fruit
plantations — The plowing of the orchard— Level culture—
The tools — Harnesses — The tillage in the early and late years
of the orchard. — Specific remarks — I, Begin to till when the
orchard is planted, and till the entire surface— The deep root-
ing of trees— 2, Tillage should be begun early in the season,
in orchards — The early growth of trees— 3, Tillage should
generally be stopped in late summer or very early fall— 4, Till
in such manner that the land may be in uniform fine tilth—
5, Tillage may be overdone — Too rapid growth .... . . 154-169

xiv Contents.

PAGES

CROPPING THE ORCHARD, The open space about the tree—
The kind of crops for an orchard — Nursery stock in fruit
plantations— Sod in the orchard— Fallowing the orchard . 170-174

CHAPTER IV.

THE FERTILIZING OF FRUIT LANDS . . . . 175-223

Plants will grow without fertilizers— Profit may lie in
using additional plant-food, however— Humus — Formation
of soils— Weeds.

THE LESSON OF NURSERY LANDS. Injuries to such lands —
Source of fertility in soils— Man's treatment of the land —
The features of the nursery lands— The conclusions respect-
ing the depletion of nursery lands ...... 178-183

COVER CROPS. What they are— Objects of their use — Ex-
periments with covers at Cornell. — The kinds of cover crops
—A local question — Rye— Corn, buckwheat and cereals — Peas
and beans — Cow pea— Vetch — Crimson Clover— Analyses . 184-202

FERTILIZING THE FRUIT PLANTATION. Trees vs. annual
crops— Plant-food taken up by trees — Effects of the various
elements— New Jersey experiments in fertilizing peaches.—
Stable manure— Rotation in manures — Danger of over use
of barn manures. — Chemical fertilisers — Nitrogen — Potash-
Phosphoric acid — Recommendations by Voorhees. — Sum-
mary statement 202-223

CHAPTER V.

THE PLANTING OF FRUIT GROUNDS .... 224-276

THE CHOICE OF VARIETIES. A personal question— The
mental ideal— 1, Follow personal preferences— 2, Obtain a
specific ideal of the purpose for which the fruit is to be
grown — 3, Do not covet varieties of other geographical re-
gions—4, Choose with reference to local environment— 5,
Choose with reference to inter-pollination — The mixing of
varieties— Lists of self-fertile and self-sterile varieties— 6,
The choice should be aided by inquiry of many persons and
accessible writings .... . 234-230

Contents. xv

PAGES

THE SELECTION OF THE PLANTS. What is first-class stock?
— Age at which to buy. — Dwarfs vs. standards — The parent-
age of the stock may affect its value — Buying the trees-
Peddlers- Near-by nurseries 230-237

THE SETTING OF THE PLANTS. When to plant— Fall vs.
spring— Stripped trees. — Distance apart— The mixing of
species, or double planting — The opinions of Van Deman.—
How to plant the stock — Preparing the land— Making the
holes— Mulching— Puddling. — Tri»nnintj the trees — The two
ideals — Illustrations of methods — Trim after planting— Trim-
ming fall-set trees 237-254

THE LAYING OUT OF THE FRUIT PLANTATION. Surveying
the land — The corn marker— Tree placers. — To layout with
the plow — Laying out with a line — Another line method-
Staking methods — Orchard plans — The hexagonal or Van
Deman plan— The alternate plan— The Wellhouse plan—
The Parker Earle plan— The Olden plan— Hale and Olden
plans for peach orchards. — The family fru it plantation . . 254-276

CHAPTER VI.

THE SECONDARY AND INCIDENTAL CARE OF THE FRUIT

PLANTATION 277-343

Epitome of methods of tilling the land — May not be neces-
sary to plow when orchard is grown- Effect of breaking the
roots — The tools — Importance of saving the moisture.

THE GENERAL CARE OF THE PLANTS. .Staking young
trees — Sun-scald — Bark-bound trees — Scraping trees — Gir-
dled trees and girdling— Pruning and heading-in— Winter
preparations — Depredations of stock and birds— Top-graft-
ing bearing trees— Thinning the fruit 282-306

MAPS AND RECORDS. Record books and plans— Labels . 307-313

INJURIES BY COLD AND RAIN. Winter-killing of the wood
— Winter-killing of the fruit-buds — Injuries to the swelling
buds — Injuries to flowers and growing parts— What is an in-
jurious degree of cold? — The effect of rain upon blossoms . 313-340

RENOVATING OLD ORCHARDS. Nature of the problem — How
to begin and what to expect— Why are orchards barren 1 . 340-343

xvi Contents.

CHAPTER VII.

PAGES
DISEASES, INSECTS AND SPRAYING 344-377

Historical contrast respecting spraying— Secondary results
of the spraying idea— Calls attention to pests— Forces new
ideals— Will bring in some of the discarded varieties— Forces
a closer study of companionships of pests and crops, and of
rotations— Will take its place as one of the cardinal opera-
tions of fruit farming— Will force hotter care of the planta-
tion—Will make the grower more watchful— Will enlarge his
horizon— Classification of pests and diseases — Insects — Para-
sitic fungi— Physiological and germ diseases— Borers — Root-
galls— Injuries by hail — Bagging.

SPECIFIC REMARKS UPON SPRAYING. 1, Spraying is only
one of the requisites to success in fruit-raising— 2, Spraying
is an insurance— 3, Spraying is of some value every year
upon apples, pears, plums, quinces , grapes and various other
fruits— 4, Spray thoroughly, or not at all— 5, Prepare for
next year's work during the winter— 6, The style of pump
and nozzle to use depends almost wholly upon the particular
kind of work to be done — I, The farmer should know what he
wants to kill before he begins to spray — 8, The time to spray
must be determined for each particular case— 9, Prepare
stock solutions for the Bordeaux mixture, rather than to
make each batch in the quantities called for by the formula —
10, How can one tell if soluble arsenic is present in Parix
green ?— 11, How can on\e determine if Paris green is pure ?
— 12, What becomes of the arsenic when it falls upon the
soil ?— Summary 353-377

CHAPTER VIII.

HARVESTING AND MARKETING FRUIT , 378-479

PICKING FRUITS. When to pick- Long-keeping and ripe-
ness—Apples— Pears — Peaches and apricots — Cherries and
plums.— How to pick-Pick by the stem— Leave the stem on
-Fruit is picked in temporary receptacles— Ladders -Fruit-
pickers — Keep fruit away from the sun — Keeping records
with the pickers— Necessity of hand-picking. . . . 378-401

Contents. xvii

PAGES

THE PACKING OP FRUIT. What is first-class fruit f— Im-
portance of uniformity in size. — How to pack — The tiers or
layers of fruit— Facing fruit in barrels— Packing for export

— Packing in California— German agitation— Wrapping the
fruits — Snugness in packing — Trade-marks— Fruit must be

well grown. — Packages 401-425

PACKING HOUSES AND APPLIANCES. Two types of houses
-Packing tables— Sorting tables- Apple presses . . .425-434

STORING FRUITS. General advice — Storage is a business
by itself— Temporary storage— Risks in storing— Coopera-
tive storage.— Requisites for domestic storage— Ventilation

— Moisture— Fruit trays. — Storage Buildings — Various types

— Vermont apple house — Alwood's house— Alcoholic vapor

ax a fruit preservative 435-461

SHIPPING AND REACHING THE CONSUMER. The grower
and the consumer— How to reach the market. — Refrigerator
cars — Shipping associations — An illustration of a fruit
market. . . 461-479

APPENDIX (pages 481-500)
I. HOW DID THE VARIETIES OF FRUITS ORIGINATE T 481-482

II. REMARKS ON CLASSIFYING AND DESCRIBING FRUITS 483-487
III. AMERICAN BOOKS ON FRUIT-GROWING. . 488-501

THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT-
GROWING.

COPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION.

FRUIT-GROWING and pomology are synonymous
terms. They comprise the whole art of raising
fruits and fruit-trees, and the applications of the
various sciences thereto. It is impossible to define
what a fruit is, in the sense in which the term is
universally understood in pomological writings. It is
best delimited by giving a list of those products
which are commonly known as fruits. If a defini-
tion were attempted of the use of the word in its
pomological application, it would be approximately
correct to say that a fruit is the edible product of
a woody or a tree -like plant, — as of a tree, bush, or
vine, — and which is intimately associated in its de-
velopment with the flower. This conception of a
fruit is wholly unlike the botanical idea, for the
botanist defines the fruit to be the ripened pericarp
and attachments. It should be said, however, that
this confusion in terminology is not the fault of

2 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

the horticulturist, for the botanists have taken this
common -language word and have given it a tech-
nical meaning. The word belongs primarily to gen-
eral literature and horticulture, and if the botanist
desires to impress it into other service, he must be
prepared to accept the confusion which arises.

INVENTORY OF FRUITS.

Pomological fruits may be roughly classified under
four heads, — tree fruits, vine fruits, small fruits,
and herb -like fruits. The following is an inventory
of the staple fruits of the United States and Can-
ada, and of those lesser known species which, hav-
ing been tried in this territory, either give promise
of successful cultivation here or have been more
or less prominent subjects of discussion:

CLASS I. ORCHARD* CULTURE, OR TREE-FRUIT CULTURE.
SUB-CLASS 1. Pomaceous fruits.
Apple, Pyrus Mains.
Crab apple, Pyrus baccata.
Prairie crab, Pyrus loensix.
Atlantic crab, Pyrus coronaria.
Pear, Pyrus communis.
Sand pear, Pyrus Sinetisia.
Quince, Pyrus Cydonia.
Chinese quince, Pynis Cathay ensis.
Japan quince, Pyrus Japonica.
Maule's quince, Pyrus Maulei.
Medlar, Mespilus Germanica.
Loquat, Eriobotrya Japonica.

* Orchard (originally herb-yard, and now rarely written hortyard) . An as-
gemblage or plantation of fruit trees.

The Orchard Fruits.

SUB-CLASS 2. Drupaceous or stone fruits.
Plum, Prunus domestica.
Myrobalan plum, Prunus cerasifera.
Japan plum, Prunus tri flora.
American plum, Prunus Americana.
Wild Goose plum, Prunes Jiortiilami ,
Chickasaw plum, Prunus anyuntifolia.
Sand plum, Prunus Watsoni.
Beach plum, Prunus nun-it nun.
Pacific plum, Prunus sul/co rdutu.
Apricot plum, Prunus Xhnonii.
Sweet cherry, Pmnus Avium.
Sour cherry, Prunus Cerasus.
Sand cherry, Prunus Besseyi.
Peach and nectarine, Prunus Perxira.
Apricot, Prunus Armeniaca.
Japan apricot, Prunus Mume.
Purple apricot, Prunus daxycarpa.

SUB CLASS 3. Citrous fruits.
Orange, Citrus Aurantiutn.
Tangierine orange, Citrus nobilix.
Citron, Citrus Medico .
Lemon, Citrus Medica var. Limon.
Lime, Citrus Medica var. JAmvtlu.

Sour lime (lime of the U. S.), Citrus Medica var. acris.
Grape-fruit, Shaddock or Pomelo, Citrtm Dffumana.
Kumquat, Citrus Japan i<-<i.
Trifoliate orange, ^Egle (or Citrus) trifoliuta.
Glycosmis, Glycosmis aurantiaca.
Lime berry, Triphrasia trifoliata.
White sapota. Casimiroa edulis.

SUB-CLASS 4. Moraceous fruits.
Fig, Ficus Carica.

White (and Russian) mulberry, Morns alba.
Black mulberry, Morus nigra.
Red mulberry, Morus rubra.
Downing mulberry, Morus multicaulis.
Japan mulberry, Morus Japonicn.
Bread-fruit, Artocarpus ii«-ix,,.

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

SUB-CLASS 5. Anonaceous fruits.
Sour-sop, Anona muricata.
Sugar-apple, Anona squamosa.
Cheriruoya, Anona Cherimolia.
Pond-apple, Anona laurifolia.
And other anonas.
Northern Papaw, Asimina triloba.

SUB-CLASS G. Myrtaceous fruits.

Guava, Psldium Qua Java, and others.
Hose-apple, Eugenia Jambos.
Surinam cherry, Eugenia uuiflorn .
And other eugenias.

SUB-CLASS 7. Sapotaceous fruits.
Sapodilla, Aehras Sapota.
Marmalade tree, Lucuma mammosa.
Star-apple, Chri/nophi/lhiw Cainito.
And others.

SUB-CLASS 8. Anacardiaceous fruits.
Mango, Mangifera Indica.
Jew plum, Spondiux dnh-is.

9. Ebenaceous fruits.
Kaki (Japan persimmon), DiospyroK Kaki.
Persimmon, Diospyros Virginia int.

SOB-CLASS 10. Leguminous fruits.
Tamarind, Tamarindus Indica.
St. John's Bread, or Carob, Cera ton ia siliqua.

SUB-(;LASS 11. Nut-fruits (Nuciculture).
Walnut, Juglans regia.
Japan walnut, Juglans Sieboldiana.
Black walnut, Juglans nigra.
Butternut, Juglans cinerea.
.Pecan, fficorla Pecan.
Shell-bark hickory, Hicoria ovata and 11 . laeimtsa

The Orchard and Vine Fruits.

European chestnut, Castanea vesca.
American chestnut, Castanea Americana.
Japan chestnut, Castanea Japonica.
Chinquapin, Castanea pumila.
Filbert, Corylus Avellana.
Litchi, Nephelium Litchi.
Ginkgo, Ginkgo biloba.
Almond, Primus Amygdaliift.
Russian almond, Prumts nann.
Tropical almond, Terminalin Catuppa.
Cashew, Anacardium- occidental.
Pistacio, Pistacio vera.

SUB-CLASS 12. Palmaceous fruits.

Cocoa-nut, Cocos nucifera.
Date, Phoenix dacfylifera.
And others.

SUB-ULASS 13. Miscellaneous tree-fruits.

Olive, Olea Europaa.

Pomegranate, Punicu Gi-un<itiun.

Papaw, Carica Papaya.

Hovenia, Hovenia dulcis.

Jujube, Zizyphus Jttjuba, and others.

Myrica, Myrica Nagi (M. rubra).

Sea-grape, Coccoloba uvifera.

Otaheite gooseberry, Phyllrtnthiai disticha.

Spanish lime, Melicocca bijuyn.

Alligator pear, Persea gratigsitmi.

Strawberry tree, Arbutus Unedn.

Mammee apple, Mummea Americana.

CLASS II. VINE-KKUIT CULTURE.

SUB-CLASS 1. Viticulture; comprising
Wine grape, Vitis vinifera.
Pox grape, Vitis JLabrusca.
Summer grape, Vitis cestivalis,
Post-oak grape, Vitis cestivalis, var. Linsecomii.
Muscadine and Scuppernong grapes, Vitis rotundifoiia.

fc The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Sand grape, Vitis rupestris.
River-bank grape, Vitis vulpina.
And other native species of vitis.

SUB-CLASS 2. Passifloraceous fruits.

Granadilla, Passiflora edulis.
And others.

CLASS III. SMALL- FRUIT* CULTURE.
SUB-CLASS 1. Bush-fruits.

Group «. Rubaceous fruits (cane-fruits, or bramble-fruits).
Raspberry, Rubus Idceus.
Black-cap raspberry, Rubus occidentalis.
Red raspberry, Rubus strigosus.
Wineberry, Rubus phcenicolasius.
Blackberry, Rubus villosus.
Northern dewberry, Rubus Canadensix.
Southern dewberry, Rubus trivialis.
Pacific dewberry, Rubus vitifolius.

Group b. Ribaceous fruits.
Currant, Ribes rubrum.
Black currant, Ribes nigrum.
Buffalo currant, Ribes aureutn.
Gooseberry, Ribes Groxsularia .
American gooseberry, Ribes ofjiacanihoides.

Group c. Miscellaneous bush-fruits.
Juneberry, Amelanchier oblongifolia.
Buffalo berry, Shepherdia argentea.
Goumi, Elceagnus multiflora (E. longipes).
Caraunda, Carissa Carundas.

* Small-fruits. A term applied to all small and berry-like fruits which are
produced upon bushes or perennial herbaceous plants; as currant, blackberry,
raspberry, strawberry. In Europe the strawberry is classed with garden vege-
tables. Small-fruits is an American term.

Bush-fruits. Fruits which are borne upon bushes, or small woody plants
destitute of a central stem or axis. It is an English term, and is equivalent
to tmall-fruits, except that it does not include the strawberry.

Non- woody Fruits.

SUB-CLASS 2. Strawberry culture.

Garden strawberry, Fragaria Chiloensis.
Hautbois strawberry, Fragaria moschata.
Alpine strawberry, Fragaria vesca.
Virginian strawberry, Fragaria Virginiana.

SUB-CLASS 3. Cranberry culture.

Common cranberry, Varcinium macrocarpon.

CLASS IV. NON-WOODY OR HERB-LIKE FRUITS.
SUB-CLASS 1. Musaceous fruits.
Banana, Musa Supicntinin.
Plantain, Mnsa pnradisiaca.

SUB-CLASS 2. Pineapple.

Common pineapple, Ananas sativus.

SUB-CLASS 3. Cactaceous fruits.

Prickly pear, Opuntia Tuna, and others.
Indian fig, Opuntia Ficus-Indica.
Barbadoes gooseberry, Pereskia aculeata.

SUB-CLASS 4. Miscellaneous herb-like fruits.
Cyphomandra, Cyphomandra betacea.
Ceriman, Afonstera ddiciosa.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF FRUIT-GROWING.

Fruit-growing, in common with all agricultural
pursuits, thrives best in certain geographical areas.
That is, the business is not capable of equal develop-
ment in all parts of the country. The leading de-
terminative factor in the distribution of fruit -culture
is climate. The particular quality or factor of climate
which determines the fruit -zones differs with each

8 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

type or group of fruits ; but in general it may be
said that the relative annual temperature is the
most influential factor.

Tlie temperature determinant. — It is customary to
recognize three general climatal fruit -zones, — the
temperate (typified by the apple and the peach), the
semi-tropical (citrous tribes, fig, olive, pomegranate),
and the tropical (cocoa-nut, banana, anona, mango).
There are no positive limits of temperature which
mark off or separate these zones ; but it is enough
for our purpose to say that the temperate zone is
one which is marked by a long winter of freezing
and by the deciduous types of fruits ; the semi-
tropical zone is one in which the winter is a short
season of light frosts or only occasional freezes, and
in which the fruit trees are evergreen or very nearly
so ; and the tropical zone is f restless, and is marked
by evergreen and mostly ever-growing fruit -plants.

The limits of these climatal zones are exceedingly
devious. In eastern North America, the northern
limit of profitable fruit-growing is not far from the
forty -fifth parallel, and the limit sinks considerably
lower than this in the middle west, and rises much
above it on the Pacific slope. The northern limit
of the sub -tropical zone in the east is Northern
Florida and a narrow area skirting the Gulf of
Mexico, and upon the western side of the continent
it extends in the valley climates as high as the
fortieth parallel. The only portion of the tropical
fruit- zone which lies in the United States is in
extreme southern Florida, comprising about two

Moisture and Fruit-growing. 9

degrees of latitude (reaching northwards to about
27°). Beyond all these bounds there are special
localities in which fruits of the adjacent zone may
thrive for a series of years, and the fruits of con-
tiguous zones overpass. The strawberry is probably
the most tractable of all our fruits as respect
climates, because its stature and habit allow it to be
protected from extreme cold and its short period
of growth allows it to thrive in the cool season
of the warmest sub -tropical regions.

The annual temperature of a region is chiefly
determined by three factors, — the latitude, the
altitude, and the proximity or remoteness of large
bodies of water.

The moisture determinant. — The second chief fac-
tor of climate in determining the fruit -zones is rela-
tive humidity. Whilst the isotherms — or lines of
equal temperatures — run easterly and westerly, the
isohyetals — or lines of equal rainfall — have no in-
trinsic direction. They are determined by physio-
graphical characters. In the United States, there are
three general fruit-zones which are marked by pecu-
liarities of rainfall. These are the Atlantic zone,
a moist area which is bounded westward approxi-
mately by the Mississippi River ; the plain zone,
extending westward to the mountains ; and the
Pacific slope zone. The two latter are relatively
dry.* The interior or plains region is particularly

*We should, perhaps, make a fourth division, to comprise the arid or
Sonoran zone of New Mexico and Arizona, but this area is yet too little
known in a pomological way to demand specific treatment here.

10 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

trying to fruits because of the strong ana dry
winter winds, which evaporate the moisture from the
trees whilst the ground is often so deeply frozen
that the roots cannot supply moisture. There is
probably always evaporation from tree tops in win-
ter when the air is drier than the wood.

The fact that moisture may be lost from winter
twigs is a most important consideration in the
study of the winter injury of trees, and it throws
light upon the severe damage which often follows
the "dry freezing" of nursery trees in transit and
of fall -planted trees. A few figures will show the
extent to which evaporation may take place through
the bark of dormant twigs.*

The extent to which loss of moisture may take
place through the bark of dormant twigs may be
determined by cutting off the twigs and quickly
sealing over the ends with wax, weighing them, and
then detecting the loss in weight from time to
time. The following figures of such measure-
ments will serve to emphasize the fact that moisture
is lost from winter twigs, although they are not
designed to show the actual rate of this loss when
the twigs occupy their natural position on the tree.

April 7, a cion of apple weighing 4.425 grams
was placed on a balance, and the loss by evapora-
tion measured at intervals during three days. The
cut end of the cion was sealed with wax to con-
fine evaporation to that which may take place
through the bark. The balance or scales was placed

'Bailey, Cornell Exp. Sta., Bull. 117, pp. 385-388. Work done in Michigan.

Loss of Moisture from Winter Twigs.

11

in a living-room, where the readings could be
taken at frequent intervals. It will be noticed
that the rate of evaporation was nearly constant,
averaging about one -half a centigram per hour:

Addi-

Twig

,n
2 I'.rs

loss
in 12
hrs

a
ha

£

-•6

kn

&

£

2

&

to

&

68

hn

J7

ial

Ion

rent
|OM

weighing
4.425
grams.

1

««•

5 Cg.

9
e*

5
eg.

2

*

5
eg.

4
eg.

2
eg.

2
eg.

4

eg.

2
eg.

A

A

39
eg.

8.8

It has been said that the rate of the loss of
moisture from trees in winter determines the rela-
tive hardiness of different varieties of apples, and
of some other fruits ; and similar inferences have
been made respecting the ability of foliage to endure
summer droughts. The following table shows studies
of twigs of varieties of different degrees of hardi-
ness, but it will be seen that the per cent of loss
of moisture bears no relation to the supposed
hardiness of the varieties.

Early in April, twigs from the previous year's
growth were taken from several varieties of apples,
which vary much in their ability to endure our cli-
mate (those marked by asterisks being supposed to
be the hardiest varieties). The twigs were carefully
weighed, and the cut ends were then sealed with
wax to prevent evaporation only through the bark.
At the expiration of two days the wax was re-
moved and the twigs were again weighed. The
twigs were kept in an open shed:

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Varieties.

Original
weight.
Grains.

Weigh t at
the expira-
tion of two
days.
Grains.

Loss.

Per cent
of loss.

Seek-no-further, Twig No. 1 .
Seek-no-further, No. 2
*Fameuse, No. 1
•Pameuse, No. 2
Fall Jeiinettiiig, No. 1

1.07
1.3275
1.095
.82
1.0475

.985
1.255
1.025
.725
1.

.085
.0725
.07
.085
.0475

7.94
5.46
6.39
10.3
4.53

Fall Jennetting, No. 2
*Northern Spy, No. 1
•Northern Spv, No. 2

1.45
1.38
1.155

i .:(87:>

1.3125

1.0!I25

.0625
.0675
.0625

4.31

4.89
5.4

•Oldenburg, No. 1
•Oldenburg, No. 2
•Oldenburg, No. 3

1.595
1.8475
1.3725

1.55

1.7475
1.265

.045
.1

.1075

2.8
6,3

7.8

Baldwin No 1

2 11

9 0025

1 075

5 0'»

Baldwin, No. 2
Baldwin, No. 3
Rhode Island Greening, No. 1
Rhode Island Greening, No. 2
•Titovka
•Red Astrachan, No. 1
*Red Astrachan, No. 2

1.34
.93
1.1825
1.055
1.8075
1.45
1.4825

1.26
.87
1.11
.99
1.7075
1.3425
1.4075

.08
.06
.0725
.065
.1
.1075
075

5.9
6.4
6.1
6.1
5.5
7.4
5 1

The following table shows that there is great vari-
ation in the rate of water loss between twigs of the
same variety of apple:

Weight

Original
Varieties. weight.
Grains.

at the ex-
piration
of three

Loss.
Grains.

Per cent
of loss.

Average
per cent
of loss.

days.

Baldwin, Twig No. 1 .... 19.

16.9

2.1

11.

No. 2....

19.425

17.2

2.225

11.4

No. 3 ....

18.9

16.75

2.15

11.3

No. 4 ....

29.25

26.4

2.85

9.74

No. 5 ....

24.2

21.4

2.8

11.5

10.98

Oldenburg, No. 1 ....

31.3

29.4

1.9

6.07

No. 2 ....

34.65

31.35

3.3

9.52

No. 3 ....

15.8

14.3

1.

9.49

No. 4 ...

28.95

26.6

2.35

8.12

No. 5 ....

9.5

8.25

1.25

13.1

9.26

Evaporation from Trees in Winter. 13

This subject of moisture loss from dormant trees
seems to be a most important one, and it is strange
that the matter seems to have escaped the attention
of pomologists. In order to spread a knowledge of
the subject, further studies in the evaporation from
winter twigs have been made for me by my stu-
dent, A. L. Knisely, M.S.:

"In January, 1897, I cut twigs of various kinds
about one foot in length, and took them to the lab-
oratory. When ready to weigh the twigs, they were
cut down to about four or five inches in length, the
object of the second cutting being to leave as little
time as possible between the cutting of the twigs and
the weighing. As soon as the short twigs were cut,
they were weighed, and the freshly cut ends were
then dipped in melted paraffine, thus sealing the cut
surfaces and preventing evaporation except through
the bark and buds of the twigs. After dipping in
the paraffine, they were weighed again, and then put
in places as much exposed as were the trees from
which they came ; in fact, in some cases, the twigs
were tied on the trees and left there for 72 hours,
and then weighed. They were afterward exposed for
another 72 hours and weighed again, making a total
length of time of 144 hours, or 6 days, that the twigs
were exposed. During all this period, the thermome-
ter registered below the freezing point. That there
is loss of moisture by evaporation is shown by the
following table, which gives the data obtained from
the twigs of a number of our most common fruit
and shade trees:

The Principles of Fruit -growing.

•os -qaj
— -.*\BL[i E jayB jnD s3iMj
ui ajnjsioui jo jaaJ «d 'tl

8

OS

5

g

OS

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jo s.isp [BJaAas jays »nD S^IMJ
ui aiajsioin jo juao Jaj •$!

a

9

"

oi

3

CO

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jo y -bs jad sso| pajB[no|B3 -gt

1

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s

rr

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aoBjjns jo saqoui ajBnbg 'II

s

8

8

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ei

i

jo aDusjajuinDap'aaEaaAv' '01

^x^

^

SOX*

^^

X

>

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X

XR

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riT

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— -saq »z joj ssoi pajEjnDiEO -9

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s
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— -sanoq tti U| ssoi IBJO^ -5

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— 'SJnoq ni jajjB Jn3iaM 't

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qiiM Sjiiot[ zL jayB )q3ia^ *f

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'jna uaq* s3i«» jo )q3ia^l -g

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— -JOD uaq* s3i*j jo jq3iaA -\

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•SOIAU. JO QKI5i
•samijHB IB 3uizaajd
— -Apnop aui.» jo aapuiBtti
-aj '»ous sXBp o»j 'auiqsuns
&lp auo : saoijipuoD aaq»B3AV

i

1

1

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<y

•i6si— s3i/m 3uijjnD jo ajBQ

R

1

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=

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Stntisfics of Moisture Loss.

15

£ *s s *,

~s s s i

i. ••.-«• 3 «

3. S

i 1

S 38

8 8 S 8

!

t- co o> in

S S

S. 3 S.

s s

13 SE

53 S?

f^ ?JIo OS-H *. ?i ®M So " "

s s g its II as iil

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(S £ S

16 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

"In observing trees in continuous severe winter
weather, ray attention has often been called to the
fact that the twigs seem somewhat duller and more
somber than usual, and in some cases tend to shrivel
up and have the appearance of drying out. When
a warm spell comes, this condition changes, and the
twigs become brighter and seem to freshen up, and
sometimes I imagine that they become more plump.
The freshening -up feature is especially noticeable on
large clumps or groves of willow; the twigs usually
take on a much brighter color during warm spells
in winter than during the continued freezing weather.
During thawing weather, the equilibrium is main-
tained between the moisture or sap in the tree top
and that taken in by the roots, and as fast as mois-
ture evaporates from the tree top, sap flows up from
the roots and the equilibrium is re-established. In
freezing weather, the moisture, even though frozen,
is probably evaporating from the tree tops ; and
the sap, being frozen, does not flow up from the
roots and replace the evaporated moisture. Thus
the equilibrium between the tree tops and roots is
unbalanced, and it is at this time that the twigs
become shriveled by reason of moisture being lost
and not replaced.

"In support of these statements, I made the fol-
lowing investigation: After several days of con-
tinuous freezing weather, and at a time when I
expected a thaw, I cut twigs of a variety of trees
and estimated the percentage of moisture contained
in them. Again, just as soon as a thaw came, I cut

Amount of Moisture Lost in Winter. 17

twigs from the same trees and from the same parts
of the trees, and estimated the percentage of moisture
again, the object being to determine if the twigs
contained less moisture after several days of con-
tinued freezing than they did a short time later, dur-
ing a thaw. The last two columns of figures in the
table (pages 14 and 15) are upon this subject.
The average water content of those twigs cut dur-
ing a freeze was 47.27 per cent, while that of those
cut later, during a thaw, was 48.40 per cent, being
an increase of 1.13 per cent, even though the trees
had been constantly losing moisture by evaporation.
Therefore I conclude that during every thaw in
winter, the tree top fills with sap, and then if a
sudden severe freeze comes, we are likely to have
injured trees, due, no doubt, to the sudden freezing
of the sap, and to the loss of moisture when none
(ian be supplied.

"It will be interesting to calculate what weight
of moisture a tree may lose in winter. A certain
soft maple, standing 30 to 35 feet high, with a trunk
of 15 to 18 inches in diameter near the ground, ex-
poses from 750 to 800 square feet of surface, and
loses daily by evaporation from 170 to 180 grams
of moisture. A given elm tree, 12 to 15 inches in
diameter at the base, possesses some 300 to 400
square feet of surface, and loses daily from 70 to
100 grams of moisture. An apple tree 30 years old,
with a trunk 15 inches in diameter, with a dense,
bushy top, possesses approximately from 800 to 1,000
square feet of surface, and loses daily from 275 to

18 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

350 grams of moisture." These calculations, there-
fore, may explain some of the injuries which follow
very dry winters.

Since evaporation takes place through the bark
of winter twigs, it is reasonable to suppose that the
tenderness of some trees in dry winter climates (as
in our plains regions) may be due to such an ana-
tomical structure of the bark as does not resist evap-
oration, and that, on the other hand, hardiness may
sometimes be a matter of thickness or denseness of
bark. Studies in this direction have been made at
Cornell, and they indicate that this supposition may
be well founded in certain cases, but the investi-
gations are not yet sufficiently extended to allow
of any definite statements.

The soil determinant. — There are special adaptations
of fruits to soils. Pomologists are well aware of
this fact as a general truth, but very little close
attention has been given, in this country, to the
minor applications of it. To be explicit, it is well
understood that pears flourish best on clay soils and
peaches best on sandy soils, but there are, no doubt,
distinct preferences amongst the varieties of pears
and peaches themselves. It is possible, in fact, that
each distinct family or type of varieties of any
species has preferences of land and location, and it
will be the business of coming generations to de-
termine what these peculiarities are. With the in-
creasing refinements and competitions of the future,
the special and local problems must receive more and
more attention. If these positions are well taken, it

Adaptation to Soils. 19

must follow that the promiscuous and wholesale dis-
semination of a few varieties over the country must
eventually cease, and that local and special sorts
must constantly tend to drive out the cosmopolitan
and general varieties. In this country, it is only
in the strawberry that the peculiarities of adaptation
of varieties to soils have begun to be well under-
stood ; and this is rather because the subject is
forced upon the attention by the short generations
and constantly shifting plantations of the plant than
from any investigational motive.

Many of our fruits are very cosmopolitan as to
soils, although there are, probably, none of them
which are indifferent to even comparatively minor
variations in land. Of the temperate fruits, the apple
undoubtedly has the most generalized adaptabilities to
soils, and this is closely seconded by the domestic
plum. Amongst semi-tropical fruits, the orange
thrives upon a wide range of soils. The peach and
grape are more exacting, and the same may be said
of the pineapple amongst semi-tropical fruits.

Now and then fruits are made to grow in soils
which are uncongenial to them by working them
upon adaptive stocks. Thus the plum may thrive
in sandy regions when it is budded upon the peach,
the pear is sometimes grown upon very light lands
by working it upon the mountain ash, and the ma-
haleb cherry is thought by most persons to be a
better stock for strong soils than for light ones.
We may look for the time when certain varieties
of the same species may be selected as stocks for

20 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

given soils. But all this forced adaptation to soils
is a very special matter, and it only illustrates the
more strongly the great importance of giving par-
ticular attention to the general subject of the adap-
tabilities of species, varieties, and even of strains,
to variations in soils.

The parasite determinant. — Inasmuch as many of
the organisms which seriously interfere with fruit-
growing are more or less restricted in their range,
it would seem to follow that the zones of profit-
able fruit -culture may be determined more or less
by the parasite factor. A moment's reflection will
show, however, that the geographical distribution of
the parasite is determined primarily by climate and
by the distribution of its host -plants; so that, on
the one hand, the climatal limit of the cultivation
of the fruit may be approximately the climatal dis-
tribution of the pest, and, on the other hand, the
parasite is local or cosmopolitan according as the
fruit is either local or widely grown.

Many of the common pests are restricted in range
because they have not yet reached the full limit of
their distribution. An excellent illustration of this
fact occurs in the case of the codlin-moth. A
generation ago, Michigan was represented to be the
Eutopia of the apple -grower because of the absence
of this pest, and in our own day similar recommen-
dations have been made of Oregon and other far
western states. To the naturalist, however, it was
evident from the first that the insect was following
closely behind the apple frontier, as a storm follows

The Alarm of Insects and Fungi. 21

an area of high pressure. It is evident, too, that
no amount of legislative enactment could have stayed
the dispersion unless it should have forbidden the
planting of apple trees.

As a matter of practice, the energetic and intel-
ligent fruit-grower will think last and least of the
parasite factor when locating his plantation, for
this factor is variable and migratory, and, moreover,
there are means of keeping most fruit pests under
control. Insects and fungi are apt to be bugbears—
sometimes literal bugbears — to the fruit-grower; but,
after all, they are rarely to be counted upon as per-
manent factors, and they are the direct and perhaps
the most efficient means of keeping the farmer in a
state of mental alertness. There are a few cases, of
course, to which these remarks will not well apply,
but they are clearly exceptions. One of these is
the dreaded nematode root -knot of the southern
states, and one might seriously hesitate in planting
peaches where the ground does not freeze deep
enough to destroy the pest. The professional ex-
perimenters can determine the course of the life-
histories of the various pests, and can point out
their most vulnerable points, and may even devise
general means for their eradication; but the final
application of this knowledge is a local problem,
which each man must work out for himself. Laws
are generally of little avail for the destruction of
pests, except in those few cases in which disease is
more or less permanent or perennial, and in which
there is no practicable recourse but to destroy the

22 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

plant or the part affected. Such troubles are peach
yellows, and black -knot of the plum and cherry. A
law cannot be enforced unless public sentiment is
behind it, and when public sentiment is aroused the
law is not needed. Yet a law is often useful for a
time to awaken public sentiment and to call attention
to the evil. The final recourse is always greater
knowledge and enlightenment.

There are also insurmountable difficulties in the
enforcement of laws designed to control the spread
of noxious insects and fungi, because it is practically
impossible to detect the eggs of insects or spores
of fungi upon a large number of plants, and because
there are" so many natural and uncontrollable ways
in which the parasites may spread. The original
Maryland law, designed to prevent the introduction of
fruit-tree diseases and pests, was a case in point.
It required that "whenever any trees, plants or vines
are shipped into this state from another state, every
package thereof shall be plainly labeled on the out-
side with the name of the consignor, and a certifi-
cate showing that the contents had been inspected
by a State or Government officer, and that the trees,
plants or vines therein contained are free from all
San Jose scale, yellows, rosette and other injurious
insect or disease." It would be impossible for any
botanist to certify that a dormant tree were free of
all disease ; and even in the matter of San Jose
scale, an entomologist could not give a clean bill
of health without giving more time to the examina-
tion of a tree than it is worth, In the operating of

Laws and Pests. 23

this law, trees were allowed to pass if an officer certi-
fied that he had examined them and had found no
evidence of disease thereon, which is a very different
matter from asserting that they are free from dis-
ease, and which is a virtual acknowledgment that
such provisions of laws really cannot be enforced.
The best laws of this nature, and for the regulation
of spraying and the like, are probably those which
are not mandatory, but which provide a protection
or a legal remedy in case any person considers him-
self to be endangered or injured by the perverseness
or the negligence of another ; and it is a question
if the common law does not provide ample redress
for such grievances. There are instances, too, in
which it may be wise to make a general effort to
stamp out a pest when it first obtains a foothold in
America, but this is a very different matter from
the endeavor to control the spread of insects and
fungi between the different parts of the country.
The fact is, that most insects and diseases are beyond
the reach of legislative fiats, and it is time that the
fact were fully learned. The demand for functionary
proceedings against the bugs sometimes recalls the
laborious efforts of the Middle Ages. "At one time,"
writes Fernald,* "a thoroughgoing procedure, accord-
ing to all the rules of jurisprudence, occurred before
the spiritual judge. The accused insects were sum-
moned, and in case of non-appearance, which always
occurred, unless the insects were moving to new feed-

*C. H. Fernald, "The Evolution of Economic Entomology," Proc. Eighth
Annual Meeting Assoc. Eeon. Entomologists, 1896.

24 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

mg grounds and the court-house happened to be in
their way, a proxy was appointed to represent the
accused insects, who debated the whole subject with
the accuser, after which judgment was rendered,
invariably against the accused insects in the form
of an excommunication, which was carried into
effect only when the insects disappeared at the time
of pupation."

The suggestion which Washington is said to
have made upon the constitution whilst that in-
strument was under discussion, is not inapplicable
to the present subject. A clause having been pro-
posed that the standing army should be limited to
five thousand men, he suggested that another clause
be inserted forbidding any foreign power to in-
vade us with more than three thousand men!

It is probably advisable to provide for inspection
of plants at ports of entry, but too much should
not be expected of such examinations. The exam-
ination soon comes to be largely a perfunctory
matter, and the most serious pests may easily slip
through the hands of officers. It is probable that no
law could be devised which could have kept the
codlin-moth, Hessian -fly, gipsy -moth, and a score of
other pests, out of the country, to say nothing of the
fungous diseases, which are more difficult to detect.
Then, again, one can never tell what insects are likely
to become troublesome upon introduction into a new
country. Many insects which are comparatively innoc-
uous in their native country, and against which, there-
fore, no suspicion exists, may become scourges in an-

Natural Spread of Insects. 25

other country. A comparatively harmless insect in
France becomes the dreaded horn -fly in America.
Again, the demand for legislation usually arises be-
cause of the incursion of some new intruder, but a
pest is commonly worst when newly introduced,
for, like a prairie fire, it finds its course unimpeded.
After a time it reaches an approximate limit to its
furious spread, parasites overtake it, and other pests
oontest its feeding grounds. Nearly all insect pests
lose much of their terrors after they have once
run over the country. This is admirably illustrated
in the potato-bug.* In other words, the first ap-
pearance of a pest in formidable numbers is apt to
result in a scare, to which, it is to be hoped, the San
Jose scale, which is. now attracting so much atten-
tion in the east, is no exception. The fact is,
that insect and fungous pests are inevitable, and
the farmer can have no peace of mind until he
accepts the fact, and then resolutely prepares to
meet them, both by strategy and direct battle. Yet,
if now and then a serious pest can be kept out of
the country, even for a few years, by means of in
spectiou upon the frontiers, the effort may be emi-
nently worth the while.

* It may as well be said, once for all, that the writer uses the word bus
for any hard-shelled insect. The entomologist uses it technically for a
certain classificatory group of insects, and he generally insists that every-
one else use it in the same way; but it should be remembered that the
word was a common-language term long before the entomologist impressed
it into special use. This common usage, therefore, has prior rights; and
since it is impossible to make people use it in the entomological sense, it
is plain that the entomologist must be prepared to accept any confusion
which arises from his use of it. He can probably arrive at his purpose quicker
and better by using purely technical terms.

26 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

THE COURSE OF EVOLUTION OF A FRUIT REGION.

Fruit-growing is usually a comparatively late de-
velopment in any region. The epochs which precede
the agricultural occupation of a country are com-
monly about as follows: Discovery, exploration, hunt-
ing, speculation, lumbering or mining. The real and
permanent prosperity of a country begins when the
agriculture has evolved so far as to be self-sustain-
ing and to leave the soil in constantly better con-
dition for the growing of plants. Lumbering and
mining are simply means of utilizing a reserve which
nature has laid by, and these industries are, therefore,
self -limited, and are constantly moving on into uii-
robbed territory. Agriculture, when at its best, re-
mains forever in the same place, and gains in riches
with the years; but in this country it has so far been
mostly a species of mining for plant -food, and then
a rushing on for virgin lands.

The first effort in an agricultural region is gener-
ally the growing of the staple crops, like the grains
or bread-stuffs. This is both because the capabilities
of the country are all unknown, and because such
regions are far removed from the markets, and must,
therefore, grow such commodities as can be stored or
shipped long distances; and it may be said, also, that
the growing of these crops in a new country demands
comparatively little special skill. The second devel-
opment is very often a stock-raising or grazing in-
dustry. If the country possesses special adaptabilities
for fruits, a man here and there will be found en-

The Commercial Outlook. 27

<arging his orchards or small-fruit plantations, and
in time there is a wide -spread revolt from general
farm practices to fruit-growing. The growing of
specialties, or perishable products, or those which are
essentially luxuries, demands the finer skill, the more
enlightened ideals, and the less fluctuating employ-
ments of an old or at least of a well -settled coun-
try; and it is in such areas, too, that the best
special markets are to be found. It has been the gen-
eral experience that when any area has fully committed
itself to the raising of any particular fruit, the busi-
ness is soon carried too far, and after a time a
revulsion and contraction have come. The lesson
is that mixed industries are best for any commu-
nity, and that it is practically impossible to reduce
the agriculture of any large region to a dead level
of uniformity.

THE OUTLOOK FOR FRUIT-GROWING.

Two sets of factors chiefly control or determine
the outlook of the fruit-grower: the personality of
the grower, and the prospective conditions of the mar-
ket. Few people appreciate how personal a thing
success is : yet everyone knows that any two persons
placed in the same physical and environmental con-
ditions, and given an equal chance, will arrive at
very various results in business. The real directive
forces are matters of character and personality, of
which the most important requisites seem to be lovo
of the occupation, indomitable energy, cool judge-

28 The Principles of Fruit-gromng.

ment, and sterling honesty. The man should not
set before himself the single standard of money-
getting, when entering upon a rural life. The end
of life is happiness, and it may often be secured
just as well on a moderate income as on a large
one. It is pernicious to represent that the farmer
can become rich, as that term is commonly em-
ployed. It is one of the blessings which agriculture
bestows upon both the individual and the nation,
that it makes its devotees happy and comfortable
without making them wealthy. Of all the leading
occupations in which men engage, perhaps there is
less mere scramble for money in agriculture than
anywhere else ; and for this very reason the farmer
must forever remain a stalwart and conservative
element in our national structure. Farming upon a
modest scale is capable of yielding a competent in-
come ; but the larger part of the wealth of the
small farmer is of a wholly different kind from that
of the tradesman or manufacturer.

It is indisputable that there is always a demand
for the best. There is not enough of the best in
any commodity. A man cannot make the best unless
lie has ability for it. It is more important, there-
fore, that the first tillage and fertilizing and prun-
ing and spraying should be applied to the man and
not to the land nor the crop ; and whilst the man
is acquiring discipline for the direct prosecution of
his business, he is at the same time opening his
mind to all the sweetest pleasures of living. On
the other hand, there is always a surplus of the

Remedy is Diversification. 29

ordinary. Iii fact, it is the ordinariness of it which
makes it a surplus. Now, inasmuch as most men are
ordinary, it follows that most things which they make
will be ordinary ; and it does not matter if we raise
the standard of all men, the greater part will still be
ordinary, for we have only raised the ordinariness of
the mass. This would seem to argue that the great
majority of fruit-growers— to specialize the problem
—can never really succeed. This demands that we
define what is commonly meant by "the best." That
kind of fruit usually sells the best of which there is
the least. It may not be intrinsically the best. It is
simply that in which there is the least competition.
The key-note to the business, therefore, is diversifi-
cation or individuality. The grower should aim to
have something or to do something which his neigh-
bors do not do, although it may reallv not be any
better than what they do. We are apt M be discour-
aged by being told that "there is room at the top,"
for if we all get to the top then we are all on the
bottom. It is better to say that "there is room at
che top and on the sides." The best, as commonly
understood, is really the unlike."

If every occupation is already full, then it fol-
lows that the choice of an occupation resolves itself
into what one cares for and what he has capital
for. He need have no fear of his success if he
grows what people want, or puts it up so as to make
them believe that they want it. In its common
levels, fruit-growing, like every other business, is
undoubtedly overdone, and there is only a precarious

30 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

living in it. This is most emphatically illustrated
in apple -growing — to which the least skilful attention
has been given — for the years of crop are years of
low prices. This means that apple -growers allow
the seasons and other environmental circumstances
to absolutely dictate the bearing time of the orchard,
and when one man has a crop other men may
have one. Yet there is no fruit which comes so
near to being a staple commodity as the apple does,
and none which has a longer market season, or is
capable of manufacture into a greater number of
secondary products.

Perhaps the last thing which the farmer learns, in
respect to his own business, is to thoroughly master
his local conditions. He must feel that his problems
of soil and exposure, his limitations of capital, and his
own tastes, are all unique and personal, and he must
then begin to work out his results in his own way.
What he can learn from books and teachers are
principles and truths, he can pick up suggestions,
and he can, above all, acquire an ability to grasp his
local problems ; but he must solve his problems for
himself. This is the. secret of that close and single-
minded attention to business which makes for the
greatest success.

The most profitable stock in trade of the fruit-
grower, therefore, as already indicated, is training ;
and if a good part of this training is in pure busi-
ness methods, very much will be gained, for there
are probably ten men who can grow a given quality
of fruit where there is one who can sell it to advan-

Farming and Business. 31

tage. All this is proved by the fact that very many
of our best farmers are men who were not brought
up on the farm, or who, at least, soon left it for
other business. Good business men nearly always
make a success of farming. They come into the
business with trained minds, skilled judgment, and
especially without too much stereotyped knowledge,
and, therefore, without prejudice. They are willing
to learn, and they quickly assimilate new ideas. It
sometimes seems as if the farmers of the future are
to come largely from other occupations, where men
are free from the bonds of tradition.

In other words, there are two distinct lines of
effort in farming : one is farming proper, or the
growing of crops; and the other is business method,
which is a matter of executive management. One
difficulty with agriculture at the present time is the
fact that every farmer is his own business manager,
and it is probably true that less than one -fourth of
the men, taking them as they run, are competent to
manage a business. When the boys leave the farm
for the city, they fall under the management of the
proprietor of an industry or a business, and after a
time all those individuals who show special aptitude
for executive business rise to their opportunities, and
themselves become managers and proprietors. In the
increasing complication and complexities of the future,
those farmers who are not good executive business
men will be obliged to give their attention solely to
those enterprises to which they are best adapted; so
that there must gradually come to be a separation be-

32 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

tween the business of growing fruit and the business
of handling and marketing it.

It may be stated as a general principle that the
commercial outlook is best in those fruits which
readily yield themselves to the greatest number of
.secondary or manufactured products, such as canned
or evaporated goods, jellies and sauces, liquors, oils,
or other commodities used in the arts. In these
fruits the grower is not dependent upon a single
outlet for his crop ; and it should be said that if
there is but a single important outlet for a fruit,
that outlet is usually the sale in the fresh state,
which is the most precarious disposition which can be
made of perishable products. This truth is well
illustrated in the eastern grape business. The grape
is consumed almost wholly as a dessert fruit, the
only other emphatic outlet being in wine -making,
which is comparatively unimportant in the east.
As a consequence, the grower is largely at the
mercy of the market, and this market may be defi-
nitely and easily overstocked. In the case of apples
and peaches, the grower has the alternative of can-
ning or drying the crop, and he may, therefore,
be comparatively independent of the contemporaneous
market.

In years of heavy crops the returns from poor
fruit are the least, and it often happens that the
only good which comes from such yields is the lesson
upon the business and the morals of good grading
and packing; yet even this forceful lesson seems
either not to reach the major part of fruit -raisers.

Lesson of the Apple Crop of 1896. 33

or else it is forgotten before the next year of super-
fluous yields. The enormous apple crop of 1896 was
one of these epochs. W. C. Barry* makes the fol-
lowing remarks upon this crop, quoting at first
from an English fruit -receiver: ' 'In the first place,
quantities have been far too excessive, and a very
large proportion of the fruit has been and is of a
class that prevents rather than favors extended con-
sumption. With the knowledge of the exception ally
abundant crop, we should have thought shippers
would see the necessity for extra care in selecting
the fruit, but instead of this, indiscriminate ship-
ping seems to have been practiced largely, while
the heavy percentage of faulty conditioned barrels
indicates that the packing has also been defective.'
In this way, at home and abroad, the crop was
practically lost. The outlook is certainly discourag-
ing, but if we are willing to profit by the experience
of the year and learn a lesson, it will be of advan-
tage to us. It must be self-evident that hereafter
greater care must be exercised in packing, and choicer
fruit must be selected for both home and foreign
markets. It will probably be many years until a
similar crop will be produced. In the meantime,
growers should provide themselves with storage
houses, where the fruit can be kept till the time
arrives to market it advantageously. * * * As
the years pass and our experience increases, it be-
comes evident that a greater variety of products is
necessary to success. The fruit-grower should en-

* President's Address to Western New York Horticultural Soc., Jan. 27. 1897.
D

34 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

large his sphere of work, and cultivate fruits for the
various seasons of the year, thus giving employ-
ment to a regular force of hands, who, on account
of their proficiency, become indispensable on a fruit
farm. Crops should be anticipated, and markets
provided just as the manufacturer seeks and secures
sale for his goods."

Is there over-production of fruit f — All these re-
marks bring up the old question as to whether there
is an over-production of fruit. The probability is
that there is not an absolute over-production except
in special years ; that is, that there is not more
fruit grown than can be consumed in one way or
another. It is very likely, however, that there is
frequently a relative over-production, — that there
is more fruit grown than can be consumed in the
markets which are ordinarily at the disposal of
the grower. The difficulty is probably rather more
one of unequal or imperfect distribution than of
absolute over-production of the commodity. The
tendency of the time is to remedy this defect through
more perfect means of dissemination, but it is too
much to hope for a perfectly equal distribution of
fruits, since the fruit areas are more or less limited
in their geographical distribution, whilst the fruit
consuming population is distributed far and wide,.
When there are heavy gluts in some markets and
fruit does not pay for the freight, there are very
often other places, a few hundred miles away, in
which the commodity is scarce. The recent intro-
duction of special fruit and refrigerator cars has

The Question of Over-production. 35

lessened the difficulties of distribution. But the
reader should be reminded that these appliances are
of use only to organizations, or to those growers who
have a large quantity of product; or, at any rate, to
those localities in which so much fruit is grown that
the community of interests amounts to an organi-
zation.

There can be little doubt that fruit must tend to
become cheaper rather than higher, except for special
kinds and special markets, but the cost of producing
it will grow less at the same time. The fruit-grower
must acquire the skill to make his plantations bear in
the years of least heavy crop> and thereby escape, to
a large extent, the effects of over-production. This
c.an certainly be done. The very fact that there are
years of over-production and under-production shows
that fruit-growers have not yet mastered the con-
ditions which control their plantations. In orchards,
at least, there are more persons who discover their
crops of fruit than there are who produce them.
With the cheapening of the product, the demand
will be increased. The United States now leads
all countries in the extent, variety, excellence, and
abundance of fruits, and our people are pronounced
fruit -consumers : and this desire for fruit is very
rapidly increasing. In particular fruits, as in grapes
in the east, the price seems already to have fallen
to the very lowest point of profitable production,
and in these cases salvation seems to lie in the
hunting out of special markets, in devising more
secondary means of disposing of the product (as in

36 The Principles of Fruit-growing,

manufactured goods), and especially in improving the
quality of the product and increasing the attractive-
ness of the packing.

It is a common practice to estimate the amount
of fruit which will be produced at any given time in
the future by multiplying the number of acres of
plantation by the yield of a normal acre of that kind
of fruit. The fallacy in these calculations lies in the
fact that very many of the orchards which are
planted in hope and expectation yield only bugs and
fungi. It is probably not too much to say that fully
half of the fruit plantations which have been set in
the past fail to produce any crop for the market.
There are numbers of people who devote their entire
energies to copying their neighbors ; but having no
original grasp of the subject, they are likely to
achieve only a haphazard success.

CHAPTER II.

THE LOCATION AND ITS CLIMATE.

IT is apparent that any advice respecting the
proper place for engaging in fruit-growing must be
of the most general nature, since the species of
fruits are so numerous, and the elements which enter
into a choice of location and soil are so various and
indefinable. Yet there are certain considerations
which are approximately fundamental, and to which
the reader may profitably give heed. These may be
found to be suggestive in improving one's practice
upon his established plantation, as well as useful in
aiding him in the choice of location and land.

THE PLACE.

The choice of the place in which to grow fruit,
leaving aside the element of soil,* is determined by
the location and the site. The location is the po-
sition of the place as fixed by the map or the sur-
veyor. It is in such and such a township, and lies
along such and such a highway. It is a matter of

"The problems comprised in the selection of the proper soil must be de-
termined for each particular fruit. They are, therefore, special questions, and
must he treated in the books to be given to the different fruits, and not in a
general work upon fruit-growing.

(37)

38 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

local geography ; it may lie in any one of a thou-
sand places in the general fruit zones which were
outlined in the last chapter. The site is the partic-
ular or actual place, in the location or upon the
farm, upon which the plantation is set. It comprises
the aspect as to whether the exposure is towards the
north or the south, and the consideration of the
minor elevations and other topographical features of
the place. To proceed, then, from the general to the
speoinc, we may say that a certain fruit plantation
is located at Willow Creek, in New York, and that
it has a high site, with a sharp eastward exposure.

In the choice of a location with reference to its
geographical position, there are two chief elements
to be considered, the choice with reference to market
and that with reference to frosts ; and to these we
may now proceed.

Location with reference to market. — Time has over-
come distance. Market facilities are, therefore, de-
termined more by transportation facilities than by
nearness to the market itself. To have the choice
of two or more means of shipping — as by rail or
water, or by more than one railroad — is a most
desirable feature in the location of any fruit farm.
This is not only because competitive rates 'may be
secured, but also because more and various markets
may be reached. The choicer the fruits and the
greater the desire to reach personal markets, the
more should the grower prize any means which shall
enable him to reach a number of markets. Such a
grower will desire to locate within easy reach of a

The Market Factor. 39

number of cities or large towns. He will not care,
perhaps, to grow what may be called the staple va-
rieties, leaving that effort to those persons who are
farther removed from points of consumption. It
would seem to be unwise, therefore, for the fruit-
grower who has access to several or many unlike
markets to attempt to copy the methods of those in
the west or south, who must grow largely of one
thing and grow that in sufficient quantity to com-
mand concessions from transporters and salesmen.
Fruit-growing can never be reduced to a dead level
of ideals and practice. In one place great speciali-
zation may be most profitable, but in another place
generalization — the extensive growing of general-
purpose varieties — may be best.

Location with reference to frosts.— In the last
chapter, the general influence of cold and heat in
determining the fruit zones was discussed. At that
place, the subject was the average annual tempera-
ture. But within these various zones there are end-
less minor variations in physiographical features which
have a direct influence in determining the areas of
the incidental frosts of late spring and early fall.
The reader must clearly distinguish between frosts
and freezes. Frosts occur on still, clear nights, and
are more or less local ; freezes are usually accom-
paniments of storms, often of high winds, and are
general or even continental in range, and their
courses are not marked by the whiteness of frost.
It was a freeze, and not a frost, which swept ever
Florida in the winter of 1894-5, and over the north-

40 The Principles of Fmit -growing.

eastern states in May, 1895;* and most of the
serious disasters of untimely cold are of this kind.
These freezes are mostly beyond the reach of man.
He can only move beyond their limits. But injuri-
ous frosts may not only be avoided, in many cases,
by the selection of the location or even of the site,
but they may sometimes be prevented upon the very
'.light when they are expected.

The chief local determinant of immunity from
frost is proximity to bodies of water. These bodies
act as equalizers of temperature. The water holds
latent heat, and it does not respond quickly to the
atmospheric fluctuations. It is, therefore, cooler in
summer and warmer in winter than the adjacent
land is. The larger and deeper the body of water,
the greater is this equalizing effect upon the tem-
perature of the shores. As between the two, great
depth is more important than great expanse of sur-
face. Lakes which are only a mile or two wide may
exert a very profound influence over the adjacent

* In order to show the natural history of one of these wide-area freezes,
the following account is given (by E. T. Turner, Meteorologist of the Weather
Bureau of the Department of Agriculture of the State of New York) concern-
ing causes which led to the disastrous cold snap of May 13, 189.1, in New
York state:

" For about a week preceding the 12th, the temperature had been very high,
from 80 to 85 degrees in the daytime and from 50 to 60 degrees at night. The
temperature of the soil must, therefore, have been considerably higher than
usual at that time of the year. The conditions which produced the freeze
were very general rather than local. About the 9th, the pressure increased and
the temperature fell over the western and central parts of the continent.
Early on the llth a large low-pressure or storm area passed eastward over
Canada, southerly winds flowing into it, giving the high temperature observed
here at noon of the llth. But after the storm center passed further to the
eastward we were subject to the cold westerly winds which flowed into the
depression from the cold high-pressure area in the west, and which continued

Influence of Bodies of Water. 41

land if they are very deep. This is admirably illus-
trated in the slender lakes of central New York,
about which the fruit-growing has disposed itself.
The distance to which the ameliorating influence of
the water may extend is determined very largely by
the conformation of the shore lands. As a rule, there
are distinct slopes towards the water, and it is rare
that the effect of the water upon the temperature
extends beyond the crest of the elevation. As a
matter of fact, when the elevation is three hundred
feet or more high, the region of immunity from frost
ordinarily does not extend more than two -thirds of
the distance to the summit. Along the central New
York lakes, the area of the tender fruits, like grapes,
does not reach more than half a mile, and at the
utmost a mile, from the water. The famous Chau-
tauqua grape -belt is confined to a strip about two
to three miles wide lying upon Lake Erie, and reach-
ing an elevation at its landward margin of less than

also during the 13th, as the storm center lingered over the northeastern coast.
The fall of temperature at this Station from noon of the llth to the 12th was
40 degrees, and by the 13th, 50 degrees.

"This cold wave appears to have differed from ordinary frosts in the follow-
ing particulars : Frosts commonly occur on clear, calm nights, when the cold
air sinks to the valley bottoms ; but in this case the weather was cloudy or
partly cloudy, and strong westerly winds prevailed. The valleys, being pro-
tected from the wind, lost less of the soil warmth stored up during the pre-
ceding week than the higher and more exposed localities, which suffered most.
The temperature fell to 32 degrees or below over northern and central New
York generally on the llth, 12th and 13th, and probably we were saved from
disastrous frost in the valleys and sheltered localities only by the warmth of
the soil.

"I may add that the high-pressure area in the central states brought severe
killing frosts near Lake Michigan and the central valleys on the 9th and 10th.
With us there was the added feature of the high winds, due to the storm area
as described. "

42 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

two hundred feet.* Along the eastern shore of Lake
Michigan, the peach area extends all the way from
one or two miles to fifteen or twenty, depending
upon the conformation of the surface. Along the
lower Hudson River the area of the tender fruits
does not depart, as a rule, more than a mile from the
stream. In very gradual slopes, the ameliorating in-
fluence of the water usuallj- extends farther, but it is
apt to be less marked than upon the lower parts of
abrupt slopes. In all these cases, the limit of the
boundary of the area is determined by two factors, —
the distance from the water, and the elevation above it.
Tarr, after studying the local geography of the
Chautauqua grape country, makes the following ob-
servations upon the ameliorating influence of Lake
Erie, and the remarks will apply to most other
bodies of water: "The lake is a great modifier of
climate. In the spring, by reason of the low
temperature of its waters, it holds back the vege-
tation, and this tends to keep it behind the ordinary
frosts. Its very presence checks frosts by moderating
the temperature of the neighboring air. In the
summer, the water tends to cool the air of the day
and to keep the nocturnal temperature fairly high.
During the fall, the water has been warmed by the
summer sun, and the influence of this warm body
of water lengthens the growing season and tends to
keep off the early autumn frosts. There are many
other influences, but nothing of importance can be

*For a detailed account of the physiography of this region, see R. S. Tarr,
Pull. 109, Cornell Exp. Stn,

Retardation of Bloom. 43

stated, excepting on the basis of a careful study
extending over several years. The lake breeze of
the day must moderate the daytime temperature;
and the land breeze of the night may, in some
cases, so keep the air in motion as to prevent
frosts. That there is a marked influence upon cli-
mate as a result of the peculiar conditions of
topography and neighborhood of water, is evident at
the very first. Sketeh maps show that the mean
annual rainfall is greater on the escarpment than on
the lake plain, and that the mean annual tempera-
ture of the hills is lower than that near the lake."

The particular influence which the water exerts
over frost injury in spring is often due more to the
retardation of the period of bloom than to the actual
prevention of frost, although its influence in the
latter direction is important. The lands adjacent to
the water ordinarily warm up later in spring, and
the trees are not likely, therefore, to swell their buds
until danger of serious frosts is past. The amount
of this retardation of bloom is often as great as
ten to twenty days within a stretch of fifteen or
twenty miles from a large body of water. It is well
known that the danger from frosts is greatest in
mild climates, in which "warm spells" are likely to
occur in late winter or early spring. In the central
and southern states, this frost injury following a
period of warm weather is commoner than true
winter -killing, whilst in the northernmost states and
Canada serious injury to the trees from late spring
frosts is comparatively infrequent. In the northern

44 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

states, also, the plant goes into the winter in a
perfectly dormant and ripened condition, and is
thereby able to withstand great cold. It has been
said that injury from cold is more frequent in
the Gulf states than in New York.

The elevation of any place also stands in close
relation to the frostiness of it. Perfectly flat lands
are nearly always frosty, because there is no atmos-
pheric drainage, a subject to which we shall soon
recur. On the other hand, very high lands are also
frosty, because the air is drier and rarer, and there-
fore allows of rapid radiation of heat from the
land; and they are exposed to cold, unbroken winds.
The local altitude to which the fruit lands may be
carried can be determined only by actual experiment;
but in the north the best elevations for the ten-
der fruits are usually between 100 and 300 feet
above the local rivers or lakes.

Whilst it is extremely important that the loca-
tion for the growing of tender or early -blooming
fruit should be selected with reference to its im-
munity from disastrous winter temperatures and un-
timely frosts, it should also be said that climate is
often held responsible for failures which are charge-
able to ignorance or neglect. This is particularly
well illustrated in the perishing peach -growing of
some parts of the north. It is a common complaint
that peaches cannot be grown so easily as formerly.
The writer has investigated this matter upon the
eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, in central New York-*

*Bull. 74, Cornell Exp. St».

Decline of Peach -growing. 45

a region which may be considered to be typical of
the complaint that peaches are now particularly diffi-
cult to raise. "There are many theories to account
for this failure. Oftenest, perhaps, it is attributed to
change of climate, but we have no proof that any
considerable climatic change has occurred, while it
seems to be true that the northern peach frontier is
holding its own, or is even advancing. In New York
the failure is often attributed to yellows, that disease
which seems to exist as a vague and indefinable
alarm in the minds of the general agricultural popu-
lation. Yellows and increasingly rigorous climate are
said to have wiped out the peach growing of the
Cayuga belt. Twenty years ago a million peach
trees, it is said, could be seen upon the eastern shore
from one point upon the west side, but now there
are only a few scattered orchards. Here, then, may
be found the secret of this strange falling off of the
peach trees in all parts of the country in these recent
years.

"Slanting towards the lake and pouring into it
their drainage of water and cold air, laterally drained
by deep ravines and protected from sweeping winds
by lines of wood, these Cayuga lands seem to be ad-
mirably adapted to the peach. But the region had
never been a peach belt, in the sense in which that
term will apply to the best part of the Niagara dis-
trict, or to the Lake Michigan belt, or the areas in
more southern states. In other words, peaches had
never been a leading industry there, but the orchards
had been planted here and there near the lake as a

46 The Principles of Fruit -(/rowing.

very minor appendage to the general farming. For a
generation or two of trees the insect pests were not
common. There were no good markets, and the fruit
sold as low as twenty -five cents a bushel from the
wagon -box. In fact, it was grown more for the
home supply than with an idea of shipping it to
market. Under such conditions, it did not matter if
half the crop was wormy, or if many trees failed and
died each year. Such facts often passed almost un-
noticed. The trees bore well, to be sure, but the
crop was not measured up in baskets and accounted
for in dollars and cents, and under such conditions
only the most productive trees left their impress upon
the memory. The soils had not undergone such a
long system of robbery then as now. When the old
orchards wore out, there was no particular incentive
to plant more, for there was little money in them.
Often the young and energetic men had gone west,
there to repeat the history, perhaps, and the old
people did not care to set orchards. And upon this
contracting area, all the borers and other pests which
had been bred in the many old orchards now concen-
trated their energies, until they have left scarcely
enough trees in some localities upon which to perpet-
uate their kind. A new country or a new industry is
generally free of serious attacks of those' insects
which follow the crop in older communities. But the
foes come in unnoticed and for a time spread unmo-
lested, when finally, perhaps almost suddenly, their
number becomes so great that they threaten destruc-
tion, and the farmer looks on in amazement.

Why Pmcl Orchards Fail. 47

"The cause of the failure of these early orchards,
therefore, is the gradual dying out of the old system
of agriculture and the coming in of special indus-
tries. The methods followed with success a gene-
ration and more ago are not profitable in the
sharper competitions of the present time. At least,
there is not the smallest evidence that there is any
unusual or insurmountable difficulty in the way of
peach growing in this once famous Oayuga region.
The climate may be somewhat more bleak, but this
difficulty may be lessened by the planting of shelter-
belts; and there are enough protected places in which
winds are not unusually severe. What yellows exists
seems to have come in very recently. Good culti-
vation and attention to borers, and the other diffi-
culties to which peaches are everywhere subject, will
enable the people in that region to grow better
orchards than were grown there in former times.
This statement is proved by the partial success
which is even now attending those parts of the seven
remaining orchards which are receiving as much as
indifferent care."

Winds and air-currents in relation to fruit-grow-
ing.— It is necessary that more specific attention be
given to the subject of winds and currents of air,
an inquiry which is suggested by the preceding re-
marks. There are the most various and contra-
dictory opinions amongst fruit-growers as to the
influence of winds upon fruit plantations. It is
commonly admitted that high or rolling lands are
best suited to most fruits, and many growers sup-

48 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

pose that the reason of it is that winds there find
free course. The truth is, however, that several
features conspire to , render these lands congenial to
fruits. Some of these characteristics are the follow-
ing : Good atmospheric drainage ; the avoidance of
still air in frosty weather ; good water drainage ;
earliness or lateness, according as they are southward
or northward exposures. High or strong winds are
always to be avoided, if possible, for they blow off
the fruit and injure the plants.

As a rule, winds are beneficial to fruit planta-
tions only when they bring warmer air, or when
they keep the air in motion in frosty weather. If,
therefore, high lands could be protected from winds
without endangering atmospheric drainage or expos-
ing the plantation to frost, much should be gained.

In dry regions there is a special reason for de-
siring to abate the winds, from the fact that they
abstract so much moisture from soil and plants.
Even a slight impediment in the path of the wind
may give marked results in the conservation of
moisture. Upon this point, King* writes as follows:

"In arid or semi-arid countries, and in districts
where the soil is light and leachy, but especially
where there are large tracts of land whose inco-
herent soils suffer from the drifting action of winds,
it is important that the velocity of the winds near
the ground should be reduced to the minimum.
We have in Wisconsin extensive areas of light lands
which are now being developed for purposes of

*The Soil. 204.

Land Covers to Conserve Moisture. 49

potato culture; but while these lands are giving fair
yields of potatoes of good quality, they are in many
places suffering great injury from the destructive
effects of winds. On these lands, wherever broad,
open fields lie unprotected by wind-breaks of any
sort, the clearing west and northwest winds after
storms often sweep entirely away crops of grain after
they are 4 inches high, uncovering the roots by the
removal of from 1 to 3 inches of the surface soil.
It has been observed, however, that such slight bar-
riers as fences and even fields of grass afford a
marked protection against drifting for several hun-
dred feet to the leeward of them.

"In the case of groves, hedge -rows and fields of
grass, their protection results partly through their
tendency to render the air which passes across them
cooler and more moist, and partly by diminishing
the surface velocity of the wind. The writer has
observed that when the rate of evaporation at 20,
40 and 60 feet to the leeward of a grove of black
oak 15 to 20 feet high was 11.5 cc., 11.6 cc., and
11.9 cc., respectively, from a wet surface of 27
square inches, it was 14.5, 14.2 and 14.7 at 280,
300 and 320 feet distance, or 24 per cent greater
at the three outer stations than at the nearer ones.
So, too, a scanty hedge -row produced observed dif-
ferences in the rate of evaporation, as follows, dur-
ing an interval of one hour:

"At 20 feet from the hedgerow the evaporation was 10.3 cc.
" 150 " " " " " " " 12.5 "

" 300 " " " " " " " 13.4 "

50 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

"Here the drying effect of the wind at 300 feet
was 30 per cent greater than at 20 feet, and 7 per
cent greater than at 150 feet from the hedge.

"When the air came across a clover field 780
feet wide, the observed rates of evaporation were:

"At 20 feet from clover 9.3 cc.

"150 " " " 12.1"

"300 " " " 13. "

or 40 per cent greater at 300 feet away than at
20 feet, and 7.4 per cent greater than at 150 feet.

"The protective influence of grass lands and the
disadvantage of very broad fields of these light soils
was further shown by the increasingly poorer stand
of young clover as the eastern margin of these
fields was approached, even on fields where the
drifting had been inappreciable. Below are given
the number of clover plants per equal areas on
three different farms, as the distance to the east-
ward of grass fields increased:

"No 1, at 50 feet, 574 plants ; at 200 feet, 390 plants ; at 400 feet,
231 plants.

"No 2, at 100 feet, 249 plants ; at 200 feet, 277 plants ; at 400 feet,
193 plants ; at 600 feet, 189 plants ; at 800 feet, 138 plants ; at 1,000
feet, 48 plants.

"No. 3, at 50 feet, 1,130 plants ; at 400 feet, 600 plants; at 700
feet, 543 plants.

"In these cases the difference in stand appears
to have resulted from an increasing drying action
of the wind. On the majority of fields the de-
structive effects of the winds were very evident to

Uses of Low Wind-breaks. 51

the eye, and augmented as the distance from the
wind-breaks increased.

"It appears from these observations, and from the
protection against drifting which is afforded by grass
fields, hedge -rows and groves, that a system of ro-
tation should be followed on such lands which
avoids broad, continuous fields. The fields should
be laid out in narrow lands, and alternate ones kept
in clover and grass. Wind-breaks of suitable trees
must also have a beneficial effect when maintained
in narrow belts along line fences and railroads, and,
perhaps, wagon roads, in places."

Budd writes* as follows respecting the low wind-
breaks of Manitoba: "Professor N. E. Hansen and
others recently made a trip to Indian Head and
Brandon. He was surprised to find miles of low
wind-break not over five or six feet in height to stop
the sweep of the wind on the surface of the earth.
These low hedges are made by planting the shrubby
artemisia. This grows readily from cuttings stuck in
early spring, and soon attains its final height. It is
really proving a blessing in that land of winds,
where even the wheat is blown out of the ground
if the wind is permitted to hug the earth's surface.
We found this a common shrub on the steppes of
central Russia, and introduced it as an ornamental
plant. The thought did not occur that it would
become the most popular wind-break of the wheat
districts of Manitoba and Northwest Territory."

Atmospheric drainage. — The air is rarely, if ever,

» Rural Life, 189«.

52 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

perfectly still. This is well illustrated in the vagaries
of light frosts, which touch here and there where the
air is the stillest or the radiation most rapid. This
is particularly true in the growing months, when the
earth becomes very warm during the day and loses
the heat rapidly at nightfall, and when, also, the
sky is less overcast by clouds than it is in the win-
ter months. After studying the disastrous frosts of
May, 1895, in the Chautauqua vineyard district,
Tarr wrote* as follows : " The behavior of this frost
was altogether remarkable, leaving some districts or
vineyards almost unharmed, and nearly ruining the
crop in others, while even in the same vineyard these
extremes were sometimes noticed. This was probably
chiefly due to eddies of the air, for even though air
is almost quiet, it is still in uneven motion. One
may see this illustrated on a calm day by noticing
the movements of a column of smoke. The air, be-
ing invisible, does not reveal these movements, and
we become aware of them only when the conditions
are exceptional, as when a frost is dealing out de-
struction to vegetation. The condition of the ground
also affects the frost, and the question whether it is
dry or moist, freshly plowed or turf covered, whether
there are trees or pastures or plowed ground in the
neighborhood, all have their influence ; but this sub-
ject has never been properly studied, and it is not
possible to state just how these differences affect
frost action."

Much of this unrecognizable movement of the air

*Bull. 109, Cornell Exp. Sta.. 121.

Air Drainage on a Hillside.

53

is due to the draining off or settling away of the
cold air, which is densest, and therefore heaviest.
It pours down the valleys of hilly and mountainous
countries, and as its vapor condenses it gives rise to
the valley fogs and clouds. It lies in the low places
upon the farm, and there may cause frost. A person
riding across an undulating country upon a still sum-
mer night can scarcely fail to notice the chillier air
of the depressions. This escape of the cold air is
the secret of much of the success of fruit-growing
on rolling and sloping land; and this fact explains

Fig. 1. The frosty belt below a wood upon a hillside.

the importance of giving great attention to the selec-
tion of the site and aspect when setting a planta-
tion of the tenderer fruits.

Features of such little apparent importance as
not to appeal to the fruit-grower often exert great
influence upon the quiet movements of air. A fre-
quent case is this : A strawberry field is upon a
gentle slope, and on the upper side is a wood. In
time of frost, the only injury occurs in a belt two
or three rods wide just against the wood, in the
very place where the greatest immunity was ex-
pected. This is because the slight bodily movement
of the air down the hillside and over the forest

54 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

strikes obliquely downward from the edge of the
wood -top, and leaves a narrrow belt of dead air
against the timber (as at A in Fig. 1, page 53.)

The atmospheric drainage is marked only in still
air. Winds mix up the air, and bring it all to a
comparatively uniform condition. The slightest ob-
stacles may sufficiently retard the movement to leave
their impress in the distribution of a light frost. A
rail fence, a stone wall, a row of bushes, a slight
elevation of land, the earth thrown out of a ditch, —
all of these are obstacles to drainage of cold air
when they extend across a slope. In some cases,
there may be a difference of ten degrees in tempera-
ture in as many feet of elevation . A dense row of
trees standing diagonally across a slope may convey
away the cold air which settles down against it,
and thereby prevent injury to plants on the lower
levels. It has been suggested that in certain hilly
regions, levees a few feet high be built diagonally
across the slopes, with ditches or moats above them
to hold water, the evaporation of which would tend
to raise the dew-point.

The range of elevation through which atmos-
pheric drainage acts beneficially to the f ruit - grower
is limited. A fall of a few feet in a plantation is
often sufficient for the very best protection from
light frosts ; and a fall of one or two hundred feet
may be regarded as the general maximum through-
out which the benefit may be observed, for very
high elevations are, as we have seen, bleaker and
colder in sum -temperature than comparatively low

Temperatures on Hills.

55

§ 5'

ill
I H

§ w

II

2 ?a

to h- » lo

3 SS

tO 05 W I M I JO |»

^ - *. || I w o.

Jpp li

*> I <i co II

g§ o

^1 O5 •*

s

m\ :\*t

i 1

56 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

ones are. That is, what may be gained by atmos-
pheric drainage may be more than overcome by the
coldness of elevation. The table (page 55) from the
New York Meteorological Bureau*, compares the
monthly average temperatures of high and low sta-
tions. The high stations give, with but two slight
exceptions, a lower reading than the low stations do,
but the differences are least, as a rule, in the win-
ter months, when the effects of atmospheric drainage
are apt to be least marked.

Thermometer readings taken upon the slope of
East Hill, at Ithaca, New York, during January and
February, 1897, also show the lower average tempera-
tures of very high lands. t The top of this hill is
about 400 feet above the valley. Six thermometers
were placed along its slope, No. I. being at the
foot of the hill, and No. VI. at its top. Tempera-
tures taken at night would probably have shown
more marked differences. It is probable, however,
that if observations were made at night in still wea-
ther in spring or fall, between the valley and lands
from fifty to one hundred feet above it, the higher
lands would have given the higher figures, in con-
sequence of the settling away of the cold air. It
is well known, for example, that ravines along a fruit
plantation often carry away the cold air and save
the fruit from light frosts, and also that planta-
tions opposite the mouths of gullies are likely to
suffer. The Ithaca figures now follow:

* Fifth Ann. Rep. Meteor. Bureau, N. Y. 388.
tMade for me by my student, S. L. Sheldon.

Temperatures on a Hillside.

57

Date,

1897.

Hour.

Ther.
I.

Ther.
II.

Ther.
III.

Ther.
IV.

Ther.
V.

Ther.
VI.

Maximum
variation.

Direction of
wind.

Velocity of
wind, miles. (J

A. M.

Deg.

Deg. 1 Deg.

Deg. i Deg.

Deg.

Deg

Jan. 22..

8.40

28

27 j 27

28 j 28

25

3

SW

10

P. H.

" 23..

12.25

26

24

25

23 22

23

4

W 20

P. M.

" 25..

2.15

10

8

9

7

6

8

4

W

30

A. M.

" 27..

8.45

13

12

13

13

12

13

1

w

1

A. M.

Feb. 3..

8.20

20 j 20

21

20

20

20

1

NW 5

A. M.

J

" 4..

11.45

31 26

28

27

31

27

5

N

2

P. M.

" 4..

5.45

25 24

24

24

25 27

3

NW

2

A. M.

" 6..

9.00

35 35

35

36

35

33

1

SEi 13

A. M.

" 8..

8.00

37 33

33

33

32 1 33

4

W 4

A. M.

" 9..

8.00

31 29

29

28

28

28

3

W

5

A. M.

1

" 22..

8.00

33

3J

32

34

34

30

4

SE

2

" 23..

A. M.

9.00

38

35

35

36

34

4

SW

12

A. M.

" 24..

8.30

25

21

22

21

22

21

4

sw

8

A. M.

" 26..

8.15

19

13

17

14

14

14

5

w

10

A. M.

" 27..

8.30

17

14

16

14

15

13

4

w

4

A. H.

Mar. 1..

8.30

16

13

14

13

16

12

4

SE

12

Average temp.

25.25

22.81

23.75

23.18

22.66

22.56

2.69

58 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

THE SITE FOR THE FRUIT PLANTATION.

As a rule, especially in northern countries, the
ideal site for a fruit plantation is one which is
somewhat elevated above adjoining lands. Such a
site presents the two advantages of atmospheric and
soil drainage. Of these advantages, the atmospheric
drainage is the greater, inasmuch as soil drainage-
can be secured by artificial means. Cold air, being
heavier than warm air, in still weather settles into
the lowest areas, as we have already seen, often
causing, upon such lands, serious late spring and
early fall frosts, as well as reducing the temperature
in winter. In speaking of elevated lands, it is not
necessarily meant that they be rolling. Some entire
farms which are almost fiat may be sufficiently ele-
vated above the local streams or the general con-
tour of a flat country to answer all purposes of an
ideal fruit site.

A comparatively slight elevation is often suffi-
cient to accomplish perfect atmospheric drainage,
particularly if the adjacent lower lands slope suffi-
ciently to allow the cold air to gradually drain away.
Sometimes a sharp decline of ten or fifteen feet
along one side of a plantation is sufficient; or, a
gradual and gentle slope throughout may be equally
advautageous. More pronounced elevations usually
give more marked results, however, and for this
reason they are preferred for the tenderer fruits.

The pronounced minor elevations often present
other advantages of temperature than those incident

Advantages of High Lands. 59

to atmospheric drainage. They offer various expo-
sures, and they may be utilized as wind-breaks by
phieing the plantations on the slopes opposite the
severest winds. If they are near large bodies of
water, they are usually more profoundly influenced by
such bodies than flatter lands, because more open to
the movements of air from them; and as bodies of
water tend to equalize temperature, to lessen late
spring and early fall frosts, it follows that high lands
near lakes and great rivers are most desirable for
fruit -culture. The exact amount of exposure which
the fruit-grower may find advantageous must be de-
termined for each individual case after a thorough
study of all the local conditions; and in this inves-
tigation the discussion of wind-breaks, beginning on
page 62, may be suggestive.

Despite all these remarks, there are certain cases
in which comparatively low lands are preferable for
fruit -raising, but this is because such lands are
moister, richer, leveler, or more sheltered, rather than
because they are lower than surrounding areas; for
all these advantages may sometimes be secured on
comparatively elevated lands, and atmospheric drain-
age be secured in the bargain. Strawberries are
grown on lower lands largely because such lands are
moist and level. Quinces and blackberries demand a
moister land than is usually found upon pronounced
slopes. In any event, however, the grower should
avoid flat lands which are hemmed in on all sides
by elevations, for these " pockets " are nearly always
frosty.

60 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

The aspect. — The aspect or exposure of a fruit
plantation is determined by the direction and extent
of the slope of the land. The exposure exerts
great influence upon the temperature of the soil and
upon the force of the winds, and it therefore be-
comes an emphatic problem in the location of a
fruit plantation, especially when the tender and early-
blooming fruits are under consideration. There is
the greatest diversity of opinion respecting the
proper exposure for fruits, some growers contending
that the northward slope is always the best, and
others preferring a southward exposure. The truth
is that no one exposure is best in all cases. Much
depends upon the location and the particular en-
vironment of the plantation, and upon the kind of
fruit which it is proposed to grow. The subject
may be elucidated by discussing it under three
generalizations :

1. In locations adjoining bodies of water, the
best slope is towards the water. The very reason
for the location of fruit farms in such places is
that the ameliorating effects of the water may be
secured, and these effects are most marked when
the fruit land slopes directly towards the river or
the lake. In all these cases, therefore, the par-
ticular direction of the slope in respect to the
points of the compass is of a very secondary im-
portance. There is often great choice between the
two sides of a river or small lake, particularly
when the slopes are sharp and high. That side
which faces away from strong prevailing winds is

The Choice of the Exposure. 61

generally preferable, particularly if the elevation back
of it is sufficient to act as a wind-break.

2. In interior or frosty regions, the best slope
for the tender and early -blooming fruits, as a rule,
is one which retards the blooming period, thereby
causing the plant to remain comparatively dormant
until after the incidental spring frosts are passed.
In such places, therefore, the northward and west-
ward slopes are generally most advisable; although
if these slopes are too pronounced, they may be so
very cold and backward that what is gained by the
retardation in spring may be lost by the retardation
in fall, and the fruits may fail to ripen properly,
or be caught by early fall frosts. In wholly interior
places, a somewhat pronounced northward exposure
is usually preferable for peaches and apricots, since
these fruits are likely to swell their buds with the
first fitful warmth of spring

3. If one desires to secure particularly early re-
sults and bright colors of fruits, a warm and sunny
epxosure, to the southward or southeastward, is most
advisable. This is a matter of considerable mo-
ment with the finer dessert varieties of fruits.

It is sometimes necessary, also, to study the ex-
posure with reference to prevailing winds, when
these winds are more or less constant and strong.
The selection of the aspect may, in a large meas-
ure, obviate the necessity of establishin-g elaborate
wind-breaks. The contour of the land should always
be carefully considered when the planting of shelter
belts is under advisement.

62 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

WIND -BREAKS FOR FRUIT PLANTATIONS.*

We are now able to approach the troubled sub-
ject of wind-breaks in an analytic spirit. Although
the best writers upon horticultural topics are nearly
unanimous in recommending wind-breaks for all fruit
plantations, there is, nevertheless, wide difference in
opinion and practice among good cultivators con-
cerning them. Fruit-growers, as a rule, hold decided
opinions concerning wind-breaks. In fact, they usu-
ally hold extreme opinions, either wholly opposing
shelter belts in all cases, or positively advocating
them. All who are engaged in the growing of
fruits or who attend fruit-growers' gatherings, have
heard the most positive experiences cited in support
of both opinions. Theve must be good reasons for
these opposing views. There appear to be no well-
grounded maxims or precepts among growers them-
selves, and statements concerning the merits of
shelter belts are commonly vague. In order to arrive
at the best current opinion upon the subject, many
inquiries have been made and fruit farms have been
visited. Three hundred circulars were addressed to
leading fruit-growers in New York and Michigan,
asking for definite information in regard to wind-
breaks. Seventy -seven replies were obtained. This
is a large proportion, and the number may be as-
sumed to include all the persons of the three hun-

*TMs discussion is founded upon the author's "Study of Wind-breaks in
Their Relations to Fruit-growing," Bull. IX., Cornell Exp. Sta. (1889); also
"Wind-breaks for the Fruit-grower," Proe. Mich. Forestry Conv., held at
Grand Rapids, Jan. 26 and 27, 1888.

Benefits from Wind-breaks. 63

dred addressed who have had experience, or have
made direct observation. Forty -eight of these replies
relate definite results. It is probable that nearly the
whole range of experience with wind-breaks in
reference to fruit -culture in the northeastern states
is represented in these letters. Two general cate-
gories may be made, — those favoring the use of
wind-breaks for fruit plantations, and those op-
posing them. Each of these categories may be again
divided into replies relating definite experience, and
those detailing only general observation or opinion.

An epitome of the benefits reported in the ta-
bles on pages 64-68 may be made as follows (stated
somewhat in order of importance) :

1. A wind-break may protect from cold.

2. Reduces evaporation from the surface of the
soil, tending to mitigate drought in summer and
root injury in winter.

3. Lessens windfalls.

4. Lessens breaking of trees laden with fruit or ice.

5. Retains snow and leaves, thus tending to pre-
vent deep freezing and excessive evaporation.

6. Facilitates labor in the fruit plantation.

7. Protects blossoms from severe winds.

8. Enables trees to grow straighter.

9. Reduces injury from the drying of small
fruits on the plants.

10. Holds the sand in certain sections.

11. Sometimes causes fruits to ripen earlier.

12. Encourages birds.

13. It can be made an ornament.

64

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

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Principles of Fruit -growing.

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WIND-BREAKS.

BENEFITS OBS

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The Principles of Fruit-growing.

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Injuries from Wind-breaks. 71

Epitome of injuries from wind-breaks (pp. 69, 70) :

1. A wind-break may render a plantation colder
at certain times.

2. Fruit immediately adjoining the wind-break is
apt to be much injured by insects and diseases, and
to be small and inferior in color.

3. Trees immediately adjoining the wind-break
are often less thrifty than others.

4. There may be greater damage from late spring
frosts in sheltered plantations.

Statements of authors. — In connection with the
foregoing reports, it will be well to review the
statements of various writers respecting the use of
wind-breaks:

It [the fruit garden] should be screened on the north and the
east, either by high walls and fences, or, what is far better, either
by hills or a deep and dense border of evergreen or other forest
trees, intermixed with fruit trees and shrubs of ornament. — Ken-
rick, New American Orchardist, IX. (1832].

As our native forests become cleared away the climate is
changed and becomes more harsh ; hence it is found desirable
to construct some kind of protection from the point of most
destructive harsh winds and storms. Belts of trees, either ever-
green or deciduous, or both mixed, and surrounding or placed so
as to screen from the northeast, north and northwest, are con-
sidered highly advantageous. — Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of
America, 54.

The atmospheric changes and conditions we cannot control,
and we can modify them only in a very limited degree, by
hedges, by timber belts, and by evergreen screens, the value of
which begins to be appreciated. — Warder, American Pomology,
W7.

72 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

In localities exposed to the sweep of winter winds, belts of
evergreen or deciduous trees will be found of great service. In
all instances where the side of an orchard exposed to the pre-
vailing winds is less successful and productive than the opposite
side, proof is afforded that shelter would be beneficial ; belts,
especially if of deciduous trees, standing too near fruit trees, have,
however, rather injured than benefited them. The orchard should
be beyond the reach of their shade and roots, and be well ex-
posed to sun and air. — Thomas, Fruit Culturist, new ed., 48.

If possible, a situation should be chosen where some natural
obstacle, as a hill, or a belt of woods, would break the force
and influence of these destructive winds. Where no such ob-
stacle naturally exists, a belt or border of rapidly growing trees
* should be planted simultaneously with the planting
of the orchard. ' Instances occur every year in our

own section where sheltered orchards bear full crops, whilst
those fully exposed to the winds fail entirely. — Barry, Fruit Gar-
den, new ed., 176.

Although having an orchard closely pent up by trees, etc., is
injurious, nevertheless a screen of forest trees, at such distance
from the fruit trees as that the latter will not be shaded by
them, is of very great service in protecting the trees in spring
from severe cold winds. — Bridgeman, Gardener's Assistant, by
Todd, II., 39.

A few orchards, in specially bleak situations, need protection
from winter winds, but all orchards need wind-breaks toward
picking time. The damage done in exposed orchards by the
blowing off of fruit before it is reached by the pickers may
amount to 50 per cent of the entire value of the crop, or even
more. Belts of natural timber furnish most protection ; but they
are apt to be the breeding grounds of noxious insects. A thick
row of arbor vita?' (white cedar), like that shown in Fig. 2, is
easily grown, and furnishes ample protection. This occupies
some laud, however, and such dense belts of evergreens inter-
fere seriously with atmospheric drainage (the rapid evening flow
of cold air off the land to lower ground) . This is a most impor-

Opinions of Wind-breaks.

73

tant consideration. Very satisfactory results have been secured in
young orchards by planting between tree rows, and in encircling
belts, with tall growing, western dent corn. It is practicable in
some cases to plant Northern Spy on the more exposed sides of
the orchard. This variety makes large trees, which protect the
remainder of the planting, while the fruit holds on much better

in arbor vitas wind-break. (Adapted from Waugh, Bulletin 55,
Vermont Exp. Sta.)

than in other varieties, and is comparatively undamaged by the
wind. — F. A. Waugh, Apple Growing in Grand Isle County,
Bulletin 55, Vermont Exp. Sta.

As the young wood and fruit buds [of the peach] often suffer
from the pierc-ing blasts of winter, a spot that is sheltered from
these is much to be desired. And, as they usually corne from
the north and northwest, a site on the south or southeast of a
wood or hill is, other things being equal, greatly to be preferred.
—Fulton, Peach Culture, 68.

To shelter an orchard from tfie prevailing wind is often more
important even than the aspect; for pear trees, especially when
heavily laden with fruit and exposed to a wind storm, will suffer

74 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

more injury from being shaken than from an ordinary late frost.
* * * * The evergreens should be planted in lines parallel
with the pear rows, and they will more than pay for the ground
they occupy in protecting the fruit trees from heavy gales.. —
Quinn, Pear Culture for Profit, 19.

It is within the power of man greatly to modify the character
of a situation by the judicious planting of belts of evergreens,
by a wise addition of elements and a proper culture of the soil,
and by encouraging the shade of the vineyard itself wherever
circumstances indicates its necessity. — Strong, Culture of the
Grape, 101. •'• .

In general, it will be found necessary to secure protection on
the west, north and northeast. * * * * No defense is better
than a good belt of Norway spruce, and if they form a crescent
in which the vineyard is embowered, but little danger need be
apprehended from violent winds. — Phin, Open Air Grape Cul-
ture, 40.

If the land has no protection from the north and northwest,
see what the facilities are for supplying one either by walls or ;i
belt of trees. If trees are to be used, evergreens are best. — Ful-
ler, Grape Culturist, 89.

The location [for the vineyard] should be sheltered from the
cold winds from the north and northwest. — Husmann, Culture of
the Native Grape, 43.

An artificial wind-break of this kind ["in the shape of an L,
sometimes a perfect square," generally of cottonwoods, of the
style prevalent in the west] is an excellent thing for the build-
ings, and it should embrace several acres, but for protection to
the orchard it is worse than useless. In a quiet, warm day in
late winter these groves reflect the sun's rays, and, if continued
for some days, will either start too early a growth, which is soon
to freeze up again, or the freezing and thawing of the bark kills
it in patches, and we have the next summer the evidence in the
sloughing off of the bark on the sunny side, followed by decayed
wood and a consequent swarm of borers, which take possession,

Opinions of Wind-breaks 75

and death soon follows. It is generally conceded now by prac-
tical orchardists that these wind-breaks are detrimental to the
fruit trees, but we are frequently asked what we are to do to
prevent the fruit from blowing off. We answer by asking what
prevents this in an orchard of several hundred acres in extent?*
Adam says that the best wind-break is "another row of trees."
If it is determined to have this wind-break, why not make it of
the Haas apple? — C. W. Gurney, Northwestern Pomology (Concord,
Nebraska), 59.

A free circulation of air is very desirable in an orchard, and
full exposure is better than shutting in too closely, yet in a
full exposure is not found the best condition for a successful
orchard. It should be surrounded with wind-breaks on the ex-
posed sides, sufficient to somewhat break the force of the wind,
but not heavy enough to prevent a good circulation of air through
the orchard at any time. It is much more important to have a
wind-break on the south and west sides of an orchard than on
the north or east, for it is from the former directions that come
the most injurious winds. — Samuel B. Green, Amateur Fruit-grow-
ing (Minneapolis), 74.

Fig. 3. Protection of an orange grove from the morning sun.

Though the climate of California renders unnecessary the pro-
tection against rigorous weather which fruit-growers in some
other parts of the world have to provide, there is often advantage
in securing shelter from winds and protection from late frosts.

*The outside rows act as wind-breaks. The larger the orchard, the less
is the injury to the interior parts of it by wind. An orchard may be very
completely protected by another one standing to the windward.— L. H. B.

76 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

* It has already been remarked that on the immediate
coast the successful growth of fruit will sometimes be wholly
dependent upon proper shelter from prevailing winds, and in
regions farther from the ocean the topography may induce strong
currants of air, which will ill affect trees and vines. In all such
places the fruit-grower should plant wind-breaks, and will find
himself well repaid for the ground they occupy, by the success-
ful production on the protected area. In the interior valleys
there is also need of shelter from occasional high winds, which
may visit the orchards either in summer or winter, and prove
very destructive both to trees and fruit. — Wickson, California
Fruits, 557.

At Rivers [California] our orange groves are subject from Oc-
tober to March to so-called "northers," a wind blowing from due
north, and usually for three days and nights continuously. When
orchards are not protected from these winds, the injury some
seasons amounts to fully 75 per cent of the whole crop. Have
also found that when the shelter belt was planted on all sides,
and that on the east side was tall enough to shelter the orchard
from the first rays of the morning sun, the injury from frost was
only perceptible in the branches first exposed, while in orchards
without the shelter on the east side, the damage was quite marked
throughout the orchard. The diagram (Fig. 3, page 75) illustrates
my meaning and experience. The top of the tree at the right
was nipped by frost, whilst those at the left escaped. The Eu-
calyptus globulus (Blue gum), Schinus molle (so-called Pepper-
tree ) , and the Monterey cypress are all used for shelter belts ; the
last named is the best.*— H. J. Budisill, in American Garden,
XI., 563.

Do not locate where your orchard will be exposed to severe
winds. Quite a large proportion of fruit is lost every year by
being whipped against thorns and branches, and the trees them-
selves are sometimes half stripped of leaves. If you have reason

*The reason for the escape of the trees is, no doubt, the fact that the
high shelter shaded the grove in the morning, preventing the sun from
Striking directly upon the frosted trees.— L. H. B.

Difficulties of Fruit-growing. 77

to apprehend an occasional wind storm, plant a double row of
eucalyptus, pepper or cypress trees about the orchard for a wind-
break.— Spa Iding, The Orange: Its Culture in California, 40.

A place free from strong winds is best, but some that are
subject to them are otherwise exceedingly desirable. Some windy
places have been proved to be the best in other respects for
orange culture. If orchards be planted in places subject to wind,
wind-breaks should be planted at once. — Garey, Orange Culture
in California, IS.

The frequent discussion of the subject [advantages of partial
forest shelter] * among orange -growers, its impor-

tance to all, and especially its importance to many portions of
the state [Florida] where success must ever depend upon either
forest or some artificial protection, demands careful attention.
Many persons have heretofore considered it unnecessary, and the
idea even absurd. But years of experience and observation, and
especially the experience of the winter of 1876-7, have made
many converts. — Moore, Treatise and Hand-book of Orange Cul-
ture, 3d ed., 54.

Forests and fruit-growing. — One of the reasons
why fruit-growing is attended with increasing diffi-
culties is because the forests have been destroyed,
causing the country to become drier and hotter in
summer and bleaker in winter. Forest, then, aids
the fruit-grower in two important respects: 1. It
prevents the disastrous effects of sweeping winds.
2. It conserves and regulates atmospheric moisture.

It is very doubtful if the extremes of tempera-
ture 01 fluctuations in annual means are more in-
tense in recent years from the effects of forest re-
moval. It may not even be true that there are
more high winds now than formerly, but it is true
that winds sweep over the farm with greater force.

78 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Winds sweep the surface and bear away the mois-
ture of the soil at the same time that they come
in contact with the trees and bushes themselves,
and take away their moisture. The chief effect of
the forest is to check the force of winds in pre-
scribed areas. It has a local influence. Aside from
all this, if forests were retained about the sources
of creeks and upon springy hillsides, a more con-
tinuous supply of water might be obtained for irri-
gation, stock, spraying and domestic uses. It is
worth saying, too, that a country which is dotted
here and there with forest areas is a much more
attractive one, to every person who loves variety of
landscape and nature, than one which has been re-
duced to a dead sameness by the removal of all
timber.

Whilst there are thus many advantages to fruit-
growing of small forest preserves, there are also
disadvantages. In certain cases they may become
the harbors and rallying places of serious insect or
fungous invasions. This difficulty may be largely
avoided by cutting out those trees and bushes which
breed the fruit-grower's enemies. The wild cherries
are much loved of the tent caterpillars, the elm of
the canker-worm, and wild roses and their kin of
the rose-chafer. The cedar- apple fungus thrives
upon the red cedar, and is thence transported to
the quince or apple orchard, and a form of it
affects the wild thorn trees. The red -rust flour-
ishes upon the wild blackberries, dewberries and
black raspberries, and the strawberry diseases breed

influences of Wind-breaks. 79

upon the patches of wild berries. It is not often,
however, that the forest areas become a very serious
menace to fruit-growers.

Review of the influences of wind-breaks upon fruit
plantations. — The benefits derived from wind-breaks
are numerous, most positive in character, and appear
to possess sufficient importance to warrant the
strongest recommendations of horticultural writers.
Yet the injuries occasionally sustained in consequence
of shelter belts may be serious, for it is a well
attested fact that trees sometimes suffer from cold
in the immediate vicinity of a dense wind-break
when they escape injury in other places. This fact
is easily explained, however. The influence of a
wind-break upon the temperatures of an adjacent
plantation is governed by its position with reference
to prevailing or severe winds. Of itself, wind
probably exerts little or no influence upon tempera-
ture. It acquires the temperature of surfaces over
which it passes. If these surfaces are colder than
the given area, cold winds are the result, or if
warmer, as a large body of water, the winds are
warm. But wind often causes great injury to plants
because of its acceleration of evaporation; and winds
which are no colder than the given area, if com-
paratively dry, may consequently do great damage to
fruit plantations. This is particularly true at cer-
tain times during the winter season. Land winds,
being cold and dry, are therefore apt to be danger-
ous, while winds which traverse large bodies of
water, and are therefore comparatively warm and

80

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

moist, are usually in themselves protectors of tender
plants. The following table, giving the average
temperature of different winds at New Haven, Con-
necticut, as compared with the mean temperature of
that place, shows that those winds which blow off
the Sound are much warmer than the land winds:*

Direction of
wind.

Average above the
mean temp.

Direction of
wind.

Average under the
mean temp.

Southwest

+ 4°

Northeast

- .6°

Southwest

+ 4°

Northeast

- .6°

South

+ 3.2° ;! West

- 1.1°

Southwest

+ 1.2° : North

- 2.7°

East

+ .5°

Northwest ....

- 4.5°

The mitigating influence of bodies of water is

familiar; the following figures will serve to show

the extent to which they modify the mean tempera-
ture of the four coldest months :t

A.— IN NEW YORK.

STATIONS. ; Dec.

.

Jan.

--r

Lati-
tude.

Eleva-
tion.

Period of

observation.

Fredonia ' 30.8

28.7

27.4

35.3 30.55

42.26°

709 ft.

1830-1848

Rochester 28.5

26.

26.4

33.1

28.5

43.07°

506 "

J1830
\ 1833-1853

Auburn 29.5

24.4

24.6

33.5

28.

42.55°

650 "

1827-1849

Utica 26.8

23.3

23.4

32.3

26.45

43.06°

473 "

1826-1848

I

I

*Loomis' Meteorology, 88.

t Compiled from Blodget's Climatology of the United States, 38.

Warm and Cold Winds.

J. — IN MICHIGAN.

STATIONS.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Aver-
age.

Lati-
tude.

Eleva-
tion.

Period of
obser\-ation.

Detroit

26.9

27.

26.6

35.4

28.97

42.2 °

nsn *. i f 1836-1846
080 ft-,| 1849-1851

Fort Gratiot.

26.6

•jr..:;

25.3 ! 33.2

27.6

42.55°

598 „ If 1830-1846
1 1 1849-1852

Battle Creek.

27.

•J4.1 ±>.i; :;:!.:

26.85

42.2 ° 800 "

1849-1855

Ann Arbor. . .

25.3

23.6 21. j 32.7

25.65

42.15°

700 "

1854-1855

It will be seen that the warmest stations are
in most intimate connection with large bodies of
water: Fredonia is on Lake Erie, Rochester near
Lake Ontario, Auburn near the central New York
lake region and possibly within the influence of Lake
Ontario, while Utlca is farther inland. Similar ob-
servations might be made concerning the Michigan
stations. Temperatures of the coldest days would
show much greater differences.

It should be observed that the influence of a body
of water is not governed by its proximity, but by
elevation of the land and direction of winds. Grand
Rapids, Michigan, although about twenty -five miles
from Lake Michigan, is greatly influenced by it.

It is evident that if a wind-break stops or deflects
a warm wind, it may prove injurious. A still place
in the lee of the wind-break may, therefore, be the
coldest part of the plantation. So far as the writer
is able to learn, this sort of injury from wind-breaks
is confined to those regions which are directly influ-
enced by bodies of water. The eastern shore of Lake
Michigan has furnished many examples. Most growers
G

82

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

in that region demand a free circulation of air from
the lakeward, while desiring protection from the east.
(Cf. Mr. Cook's letter in Table IV., page 70.) This
experience, however, does not argue that wind-breaks
should be entirely abolished on the lakeward sides
of plantations, but that such breaks should be thin
enough to allow of the passage of wind, while break-
ing its force. In such places, a wind-break should
be simply a wind-break, not a wind -stop.

The diagrams (Figs. 4 and 5) admirably illustrate

Fig. 4. The deflection of winds over a lake bluff.

these remarks. Fig. 4 is a diagram of a high bank
on Lake Michigan. The strong winds from the west-
ward strike the bank and are deflected upward, and
strike the surface again at some distance from the
cliff, leaving a comparatively still space at A. Decay-
ing substances on the beach of the lake are often
more obnoxious to those living half a mile or more
from the lake than to those living near the bank.
Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a similar deflection of
wind and a comparatively still area (A) by a very
dense wind-break.

Deflection of Winds.

83

The advantages of wind-breaks in lessening wind
falls, and in preventing the breaking of trees, dc
not appear to be sufficiently understood. In sections
which are influenced by large bodies of water, or
when the fruits grown are sufficiently hardy to endure
the most trying winds, these are the chief advantages
of shelter belts, and are ample reasons for planting
them. The greater facility with which labor can be
performed in windy weather, under the protection of
a wind-break, is worth consideration.

The injuries sustained through the greater abun-

Fig. 5. Deflection of winds by a dense shelter bel

dance of insects immediately adjoining the wind-
break are easily overcome with the modern spraying
devices. There are many instances in which the
wind-break lessens the vigor of one or two adjoining
rows of fruit trees, but such injury appears to occur
only where cultivation is poor, or where the wind-
break has already obtained a good foot -hold when the
fruit is set. The writer has examined a number of
excellent plantations in which the rows next the
wind-break are as vigorous and productive as any in
the orchard. In fact, a number of good observers
declare that best fruit and greatest productiveness

84 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

occur next the wind-break. When the wind-break
has been long established, however, it is difficult to
make trees live alongside of it. The better plan is to
plant the break with or only shortly before the
orchard is planted.

The following from T. G. Yeomans & Sons, Wai-
worth, Wayne County, New York, who have had ex-
tensive and pronounced experiences with wind-breaks,
'is a judicious statement of the advantages to be de-
rived from shelter belts-. "We have been extensively
engaged in fruit -culture for over forty years, and now
have in bearing about one hundred and thirty acres
of apple orchard, ten acres of dwarf pears, ten of
orange quince, and small fruits. For many years we
have experimented with wind-breaks, and now have
many artificial shelter belts of various kinds and
ages, the oldest having been planted nearly thirty-
years. We consider wind-breaks to be of the great-
est value to fruit culture, and we are confident that
most fruit-growers do not realize their importance.
They protect the trees and plants at all seasons, and
prevent windfalls to a great extent. Orchards thus
protected in this region are more productive, more
uniform, and longer lived than others. They render
labor among the trees and plants much easier on
windy days, and enable men to work in very windy
weather, when otherwise it would be impossible. We
have always succeeded in raising good fruit close
to the wind-break. * * * We consider land
devoted to shelter belts as very profitable invest-
ment, even to ordinary farm crops. We should not

How to Make the Wind-breaTt. 8.~>

attempt to grow dwarf pears, orange quinces or
raspberries, without shelter of some sort."

Position of the wind-break with reference to the
fruit plantation. — It appears that a wind-break is
desirable wherever the fruit plantation is exposed
to strong winds. In order to prevent possible in-
jury from too little circulation of air in certain
localities, particular care should be exercised in the
construction of the wind-break (cf. next section).
The west, southwest, and north winds are the ones
which need greatest attention in general. The pre-
vailing winds are the ones which are chiefly to be
avoided. This is particularly important in regions
where these winds 'are normally strong, as on the
ocean shore. In fact, it is generally impossible to
grow successful orchards in full exposure to the
ocean.

How to make the wind-break. — From a general
study of the subject, it appears that in interior lo-
calities dense plantings are advisable, tight hedges
being often recommended. This is because the
winds, coming off the land, are likely to make the
plantation colder. In localities influenced by bodies
of water, however, it is evidently better practice to
plant a belt simply for the purpose of breaking or
checking the force of the warmer winds, still allow-
ing them to pass in their course. Such a belt
gives the desired shelter to trees when laden with
fruit and ice, and may hold the snow, while danger
from comparatively still air is averted. The damage
from still air is usually observed in the lee of

Construction of the Wind-break. 87

natural forests, and it is in such places that injury
is reported by correspondents. The writer has found
no indisputable evidence to show that such injury
ever accompanies artificial wind-breaks; places where
such injury was reported have been visited, but the
loss of trees and fruit was plainly due to age of
trees or other obvious reasons. Still, it is probable
that a hedge -like wind-break may sometimes be the
cause of mischief; and such should never be made
in any locality until the problems of local atmos-
pheric drainage have been well considered.

The coarser evergreens, planted close together,
are therefore advisable for interior places, while
deciduous trees, or evergreens somewhat scattered,
are often better for the lake regions. In these
latter cases, however, the lay of the land is im-
portant, for if atmospheric drainage is good there
is less danger of injury from tight belts. Lower
levels, upon which cold air settles, are therefore
more in need of open belts than higher lands.
For interior places, a strip of natural forest is the
ideal wind-break. In artificial belts, the kind
recommended by Messrs. Yeomans, and illustrated in
Fig. 6, is undoubtedly one of the best. The illus-
tration shows two rows of maples backing up a
row of Norway spruce. "The maples then receive
and break the force of the wind, and prevent the
spruces from becoming ragged. We never shear
the spruces." A Lombardy poplar wind-break
alongside a peach orchard is shown in Fig. 7, on the
following page.

Fig. 7. A Lombardy poplar wind-break to protect a peach orchard, in south-
western Michigan.

Trees for Wind -breaks.

89

Correspondents in New York and Michigan ad-
vise the following trees for shelter belts:

Recommended by

Norway spruce 25 persons.

Austrian pine 5 "

Scotch pine 3 "

White pine 2 "

Native deci'otis trees 2 "
Lomlwrdy poplar.... 2 "
European larch 1 "

K«-oni mended l\v

Hemlock spruce

Arbor vit»

Nut-bearing trees

Hard maple

Elm

Basswood

Willows...

The gist of the whole matter is to select those
kinds of trees which are most thrifty and healthy
in the particular locality, and which are least in-
fested by fungi and insects that are also common
to fruit plants, and then to study the local condi-
tions carefully to determine how dense or how open
the shelter should be. For California, Wiekson*
recommends species of eucalyptus, pepper or schinus,
Monterey cypress, Monterey pine, osage orange, locust
and maples. "Quite a number of the larger grow-
ing deciduous fruit trees," he continues, "are used
to some extent along the exterior lines of orchards
for the protection of the iuclosure. The fig, the
walnut, the chestnut, seedling almonds and apricots,
are especially commended for such use."

In Florida it is a common practice to leave
strips of the original forest to serve as shelter
belts. If this forest is hammock land, and there-
fore well clothed underneath, the protection of a
belt two to four rods wide will be most complete.

'California Frnits, 558.-

90 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

The cabbage palmetto is often allowed to stand
promiscuously through the orange plantation, partly
to serve as a protection from winds, partly for
shade and ornament, and partly to exert some sup-
posed influence in correcting the acidity of the land.
In exposed places, orange -groves are sometimes
protected by very tall open fences.

General summary upon wind-breaks. — 1. A wind-
break may exert great influence upon a fruit planta-
tion .

2. The benefits derived from wind-breaks are the
following : Protection from cold ; lessening of evapo-
ration from soil and plants; lessening of windfalls ;
lessening of liability to mechanical injury of trees ;
retention of snow and leaves ; facilitating of labor ;
protection of blossoms from severe winds ; enabling
trees to grow more erect ; lessening of injury from
the drying up of small fruits ; retention of sand in
certain localities ; hastening of maturity of fruits in
some cases ; encouragement of birds ; ornamentation.

3. The injuries sustained from wind-breaks are
as follows : Preventing the free circulation of warm
winds, and consequent exposure to cold ; injuries
from insects and fungous diseases ; injuries from the
encroachment of the wind-break itself ; increased lia-
bility to late spring frosts in rare cases.

a. The injury from cold, still air is usually
confined to those localities which are directly
influenced by large bodies of water, and which
are protected by forest belts. It can be avoided
by planting thin belts.

Summary upon Wind-breaks. 91

b. The injury from insects can be averted
by spraying with arsenical poisons.

c. The injury from the encroachment of the
wind-break may be averted, in part at least, by
good cultivation, and by planting the fruit si-
multaneously with the belt. So far as practicable,
the wind-break should be planted at a distance
of six rods or more from the fruit plantation.

4. Wind-breaks are advantageous wherever fruit
plantations are exposed to strong winds.

5. As a rule, in localities where atmospheric
drainage will not be seriously checked, the wind-
break should have a comparatively dense bottom,
formed by undergrowth or low -branching trees.

6. The wind-break should never be dense enough
to force the buds on fruit trees in those localities
which are subject to late spring frosts, as it may
sometimes do when it faces the south and acts like
a southern exposure for the plantation. It is evi-
dent, therefore, that spruces and other evergreens
should be planted sparingly in such localities, and
that deciduous trees which leaf out late in spring
should be chosen for the wind-break.

7. In interior places, dense or broad belts, of two
or more rows of trees, are desirable, while within the
influence of large bodies of water narrow belts,
comprising but a row or two, are usually preferable.

8. The best trees for wind-breaks in the north-
eastern states are Norway spruce, and Austrian and
Scotch pines, among the evergreens. Among decidu-
ous trees, most of the rapid -growing native species

92 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

are useful. A mixed plantation, with the hardiest
and most vigorous deciduous trees on the windward,
is probably the ideal artificial shelter belt.*

PROTECTING PLANTATIONS PROM FROST.

Having now considered the relations of location,
site and wind-breaks to cold and frost, we may ad-
dress ourselves to a discussion of the means by which
injury from local frosts may be averted, in case they
threaten to occur. These means are of two types, —
those which attempt to enable the plant to escape
injury from the frosts, and those which attempt to
prevent the frost from occurring. Altogether there
are six general means which have been proposed for
protecting plants from frost: Mulching, covering the
plants, adding the vapor of water to the atmosphere,
making artificial clouds, causing currents of air, and
heating the air.f

Middling to enable plants to escape frost. % — It is
a general opinion that a mulch or heavy cover placed
upon the soil about plants when it is frozen will re-
tard flowering and the maturing of fruit ; yet the
practice appears to be often unsatisfactory, and there
are reasons for supposing that the philosophy of the
subject is not commonly understood. The subject is
one of increasing importance, for it is essential that

*Bnll. 48, Neb. Exp. Sta., on wind-breaks, comes to hand as we go to press.
tA seventh category may be added,— whitewashing the plants. See Whittei.
Bull. 38, Mo. Exp. Sta., and Garden-Making, p. 64.
{Consult Bull. 59, Cornell Exp. Sta.

Mulching to Retard Fruits. 93

every means be used to escape late spring frosts.
Efforts must also be made to reach the market when
there is least competition from other sources, and, in
the north, at least, this competition comes
chiefly from early products produced in states
to the southward. A rehearsal of experi-
ments made to test the efficiency of mulching
for these purposes will indicate the nature
of the problem.

The tests were made at Ithaca, New
York. The ground froze deep in December,
and the frost did not leave it until the mid-
dle of March. Upon the 28th of February,
1893, the snow being well settled and a foot
and more deep in the open fields, heavy
mulches of coarse manure and litter from
horse stables were placed about apples,
almonds, buffalo berries, blackberries, rasp-
berries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, June-
berries, peaches and quinces ; and straw-
berries were mulched later. Observations
were also made upon roses which were
mulched in the fall for winter protection.

The apples and other tree -fruits com-

Fig. 8. Effect

prised trees which were set in the spring ofmuichupon
of 1889. Half of a large wagon load s'hoot*08*
of mulch was placed about each tree,
covering the snow deep for a distance of three feet
or more in all directions. The small -fruits were
mulched heavily to the middle of the rows, or three
and a half to four feet in each direction. A heavy

04 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

wagon load of mulch was sufficient to cover about
ten feet of row. On the 29th of March, these
mulches were examined, and, although the frost had
left the fields fully ten days before, the earth under
the cover was still solidly frozen and from six to
eight inches of snow persisted. Here, then, was an
excellent opportunity to study the effects of a cold
soil upon the vegetation of plants. On the 13th of
April, there was still frost and snow under the goose-
berry mulches, and yet both mulched and unmulched
plants seemed to be starting alike. It was appar-
ent that the temperature of the soil exerted no
influence upon the swelling of the buds, for the
buds which projected above the mulch were as for-
ward as those upon untreated plants, while the buds
immediately under the mulch, upon the same twig,
were wholly dormant. The illustration (Fig. 8, page
93) shows a gooseberry twig upon which this differ-
ence is apparent. The twig was covered up to the
point indicated by the mark (A). The protruding
portion is seen to have pushed its buds forward,
except the very tip, where the shoot was winter
killed. Shoots of which the tips were caught under
the mulch showed perfectly dormant buds at both
ends, while the protruding middle portion was as
forward as twigs upon unmulched plants. Moreover,
the protruding portions of the mulched plants main-
tained their forwardness, and produced leaves, flow-
ers and fruit at the same time as the contiguous
plants which were not treated. Crandall currants,
Juneberries, roses, grapes, and all the tree fruits,

The Stored Food. 95

behaved similarly throughout the season. The
mulched blackberries, raspberries and Victoria cur-
rants seemed to be a day or two behind the others
in starting, but they very soon caught 'up, and there
was no difference in season of bloom and maturity
of fruit.

With the strawberries the case was far different.
General Putnam and Oregon Everbearing were
mulched March 25, when the ground was completely
t ha wed out. The mulch covered the plants and the
entire space between the rows to the depth of three
inches. On the 15th of May, this mulch was re-
moved. At this time, the unmulched plants were in
full leaf, and were nearly ready to bloom. The
plants under the mulch were just starting into leaf,
and the growth was weak and bleached. The plants
were endeavoring to push themselves through the
cover to the light and air. The mulch was forked
off the plants, and they gradually assumed a normal
color and habit, and bloomed June 1. The bloom
was delayed from ten days to two weeks, according
to the depth of the covering. The plants did not
seem to recover entirely, however, and the fruitage
was somewhat lighter than on the normal plants ;
but it was delayed about a week.

All this is what the botanist would have ex-
pected. It is well known that plants store up
starchy matters in their bulbs or branches, to be
used in the growth of the adjacent parts in early
spring. The earliest bloom of spring is supported
by this store of nutriment, rather than by food

96 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

freshly appropriated from the soil. This is well
illustrated by placing well -matured twigs of apple
or willow (or other early -flowering plants) in vases
of water in winter, when the buds will burst and
flowers will often appear. It was admirably enforced
by a simple experiment which we made in connec-
tion with the foregoing inquiry. On the 15th of
February, a branch of a nectarine tree which stood
alongside the horticultural laboratorj- was drawn
into the office through a window. This office was
maintained at the temperature of a living room.
On the 6th of April the buds began to swell, and
the young leaves had reached a length of three-
fourths inch a week later. The leaves finally at-
tained their full size upon this branch before the
buds upon the remaining or out -door portion of the
plant had begun to swell. This experiment is by no
means a novel one, for essentially the same thing has
been often accomplished with the vine and other plants;
but it must impress upon the reader the fact that
much of the bursting vegetation of springtime is
supported by a local store of nutriment, and is more
or less independent of root action.

These various experiments and observations show
that a mulch can retard flowers and fruit only
when it covers the top of the plant as well as the
soil. If the ground could be kept frozen for a
sufficiently long period after vegetation begins, the
plant would consume its supply of stored food, and
might then be checked from inactivity of the root,
but this would evidently be at the expense of in-

Effects of Mulching. 97

jury to the plant ; but, in practice, it is fortunately
impossible to hold the frost in the soil so long.
It is evident, too, that the covering of strawberries
and other low plants for the purpose of retarding
fruit must be practiced with caution, for a mulch
of sufficient depth to measurably delay vegetation is
apt to bleach and injure the young growth, and to
lessen the crop. Yet it can sometimes be used to
good effect, and fruiting can be delayed a week,
perhaps even more. Some skilful strawberry -grow-
ers are able to delay fruiting upon small patches
as much as two weeks by means of mulches.

We may draw the following conclusions upon
the effects of mulching to retard bloom :

1. The early bloom of fruit -plants depends very
largely upon the appropriation of food stored in the
twigs, and it is more or less independent of root
action. This is proved both by direct experiment
and by study of the physiology of plants.

2. It must follow, then, that the temperature of
the twig or branch must be reduced if its vegeta-
tion is to be much retarded ; or, in other words,
the top of the plant, as well as the soil, must be
mulched, and in practice this is possible only with
strawberries and other very low plants, or those
which are laid down during winter.

3 There is danger of injuring plants by heavy
mulch which is allowed to remain late in spring.
If it is desired to retard flowers or fruit by mulch-
ing, the practice should not be violent, and the
plants should be carefully watched.

98 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

4. Many strawberry -growers are able to delay the
ripening of fruit by mulching from two days to
two weeks ; but a week's delay is usually about the
limit of profitable results.

5. Whilst mulching the ground may not retard
the period of bloom, and thus enable the plant to
escape frost, it is, nevertheless, often useful in pro-
tection from frost because it holds moisture, and,
therefore, tends to raise the dew-point, as explained
farther on.

Covering plants for protection .—The discussion of
the mulching of strawberries in order to protect
them from cold and from frost, as already described,
really belongs here. It is, of course, well known
that plants may be covered to protect them not
only from the winter's cold, but from the incidental
frosts of spring. It is not necessary to discuss the
various means of covering them, but to enter into
only sufficient detail to enable the reader to grasp
the capabilities of the operation.

Many low -growing plants can be covered with
earth for protection. Thus it is a practice in some
places to plow a furrow or two over the strawberry
rows when a frost is anticipated, Fig trees, and
other low or flexible -stemmed plants, are often
planted on sloping land, so that they may be bent
to the surface and covered when occasion requires.
In parts of Russia, and other cold countries, the
trees of orchard fruits are often pegged down in a
similar manner.

Blackberries and raspberries are extensively laid

Laying Down UK

99

down in cold climates, and it may be well to
relate the method here, for the benefit of those
who occupy bleak locations. Late in fall, the
bushes are tipped over and covered. Three men
are generally employed to perform this labor. One
man goes ahead with a long-handled, round-pointed
shovel and digs the earth away six inches deep
from under the roots. The second man has a six-

KiK. !». Pet

o<l for Inyiiig dowr

fined or four-tined fork which he thrusts against
the plant a foot or so above the ground, and by
pushing upon the fork and stamping against the
roots with the foot, the plant is laid over in the
direction from which the earth was removed. The
third man now covers the plant with earth or
marsh hay. Earth is generally used, and if the
variety is a tender one the whole bush is covered

JOO The Principles of Fruit-growing.

two or three inches deep. Hard}' varieties may be
simply held down by throwing a few shovelfulls of
earth on the tops of the canes, thus allowing the
snow to fill in amongst the tops. If the grower
lives in a locality where he does not fear late
spring frosts, the bushes should be raised early in
the spring; but if frosts are feared, they may be
left under cover until corn -plan ting time. If the
buds become large and are bleached white under
cover, they will suffer when exposed to the atmos-
phere ; and one must watch the bushes in spring,
and raise them before the buds become soft and
white. This method of laying down blackberry
plants costs less than $10 per acre, and the slight
breaking of the roots is no disadvantage. Some
growers dig the earth away on both sides of the
row, and still others bend over the canes without
any digging. Whatever method is employed, the
operator must be careful not to crack or split the
canes. The method can be varied with different
varieties, for some bear stiffer canes than others.

The laying down of orchard trees is little prac-
ticed in this country, but it must come to be better
understood as the country develops and a greater
interest arises in amateur fruit-growing. Fig. 9
(page 99) shows a method of training peach trees
for laying down.* The trunk is trained in a hori-
zontal position, and it should be ten feet or more
long to allow of its being twisted. The top is trained

*J. T. Macomber, « Peach - growing in the Cold North," Amer. Garden,
xi. 231.

Covering Peaches in Kansas. 101

fan-shaped and is supported by a stake, and the bend
of the trunk rests upon a block of wood. The
long, horizontal trunk remains comparatively small
and pliable year after year. It should be covered
with an inverted board trough at all seasons, to
prevent injury from the sun. The flat top is laid
upon the ground each winter, by twisting the trunk,
and is covered with boards; it is not lifted un-
until all danger of late spring frosts is past.

Experiments along this .line have been made in
Kansas:* "When the first attempt at their protection
was made, the trees [peaches] were three years old
from the bud. In the fall of that year, 1887, the
block was thinned out by removing some of the
trees, leaving the remainder at irregular intervals,
the alternate best trees with single, unforked trunks,
being left standing wherever they occurred in the
rows, with the result of an irregular alternate ar-
rangement, in which the trees stood perhaps from
six to ten feet apart. The tops of a number of
these trees were prepared for tying -up by the re-
moval of any wide -spreading branches, and by the
shortening- in of those remaining. After this prun-
ing, the branches were drawn toward the main
stem, held in place by ties of soft material to avoid
the barking of the branches, and the entire tree -top
thus prepared was surrounded by evergreen branches,
mostly those of pine and red cedar, which happened
to be at hand through certain changes in the ever-

*Btdl. 14, Kan. Exp. Sta., Dec., 1890.

302 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

green plantations on the college grounds. Not only
were these evergreen branches placed outside to
some thickness, where they were held by cords
wrapped around, but the spaces in the interior were
filled with them as compactly as possible. To sup-
port this heavy mass of material, two or three
stakes were driven alongside the tree in position to
be wrapped in with the branches. This attempt
was followed by results but partially favorable.
While the trees that had the advantage of protec-
tion showed more bloom than those alongside not
so protected, the difference was not sufficiently
marked to warrant the conclusion that this method
could be made of practical benefit. It was found
to be a matter of difficulty to retain the evergreen
branches closely enough in and about the head of
the peach tree to keep out the killing cold. More-
over, covering material of this kind could not be
obtained in our state, except by accident, and some
substitute must be found. As a cheaper and, it is
probable, a better material, we should have made a
repetition of the trial with corn fodder, had we not
been led by a stray suggestion to modify the method.
"The following fall, 1888, the trees were in good
condition for further trial. The shortening -in of
some branches and the thinning -out of others had
left abundant fruiting wood, favorably distributed and
well covered with fruit -buds. Our plan was now to
bend the trees downward, bringing them as near the
earth as possible, and keeping them in this position,
to be covered by a mass of hay or similar material

Laying Down Trees in Kansas. 103

thrown over the tops. To facilitate the bending -down
of the tree, the earth was removed on the opposite
sides of the trunk, preferably north and south, and
on these sides the larger roots were cut off near the
base, those on the right and left being allowed to re-
main as far as possible undisturbed, to keep the tree
in unbroken connection with the soil. Now, as the
tree -trunk was inclined toward the earth, the lateral
roots, by twisting slightly, offered no resistance to
the operation. When the tree was sufficiently inclined,
forked stakes were driven over the branches into the
earth, to keep all in position. The soil was then
heaped well over the roots and base of the trunk, to
a depth sufficient to protect them thoroughly against
drying out, and finally the entire tree was covered
with whatever of suitable material was at hand. Not
having enough of this covering material upon the
grounds, we bought of a neighboring farmer the poor
hay in the top and bottom of an old stack at a nom-
inal cost. This final covering was put in place in
the last of November. To prevent the scattering of
the hay by the wind, we soon after found it expedi-
ent to hold it in place by throwing upon the piles a
lot of brush, grape prunings, and the trimmings of
the orchard.

"Early in the following April (the 2d and 3d),
when the warm weather began to burst the buds, the
covering was removed, the trees raised to an upright
position, properly staked and tied, the blooming
shoots again shortened -in where necessary, the earth
replaced firmly about the roots, the ground leveled,

104 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

and the rubbish removed. The trees were now al-
lowed to make whatever growth the season might
afford. The trees laid down were in all varieties
found, on uncovering, to be in advance of their un-
protected neighbors, and in several cases the flower-
buds were expanded under the cover, the buds on
standing trees being yet unblown. AVhen all were
in the best condition for an estimate of the pro-
portion of bloom, a comparison of the trees that
had been laid down with others of the same varie-
ties exposed to the winter, showed for the former
proportions of full bloom varying from one -third in
Ringgold to two -thirds in most varieties, exposed
trees of the same showing only here and there
scattering blooms. Hale's Early gave on exposed
trees a third, and on protected trees three-fourths
of a full bloom. Most of the trees set a large
number of fruits, and prospects were good for a
crop ; but at the time of ripening a peculiar rot
attacked all sorts alike, and of the whole not over
a bushel of sound fruit was gathered.

"The third trial, 1889, was conducted in all re-
spects like the second. The trees had by the end
of the summer recovered from the rather severe
pruning necessary to bring them to place the pre-
vious fall, and were accordingly in good condition
for the last attempt. Moreover, the growth of the
unpruned side -roots had been such as to put the
trees fairly into shape to do well without the roots
at front and back, and when these were again un-
covered they were found to be short but fibrous,

Laying Down Trees in Kansas. 105

wherefore their amputation to facilitate laying down
was no longer needed.

"The result of the last trial, shown in the pro-
duct of the summer just past, may be summed up
briefly in these statements : The trees are now in
good, healthy condition. The bearing wood is in a
compact head, with no long branches to be broken
down by the fruit. The shoots and spurs are, at
this writing, covered with plump fruit-buds. The
lateral roots are strong, while those at front and
back are no longer an obstacle to the operation of
laying down the trees. There was this year a full
crop of fruit, and such fine Crawfords, Oldmixons,
Smocks, Stumps, Elbertas, Columbias, Bonanzas and
Ringgolds were not to be found in any orchard but
our own in this locality, though in some favored
stations outside the college farm certain seedling
trees were in fruit in a limited way. We sold most
of the product readily on the spot at the rate of
sixty cents per basket for the finest early, and fifty
cents for the later fruit, the basket being the ordi-
nary ten -pound grape package.

"The cost of putting down seventy -one trees in
the fall, including labor and hay bought, with the
expense of replacing them in the spring, amounted
to about twenty cents per tree, the labor being paid
at the rate of ten cents per hour, and the hay
costing two dollars. The average yield of the trees,
accounting for fruit gathered and sold, and allowing
by estimate for some stolen, was not far from one-
half bushel each, leaving, at the prices obtained, a

106 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

net return of not far from one and one -half dollars
per tree."

Some kinds of fruits may be advantageously pro-
tected by covering them with temporary (or even per-
manent) screens. This is extensively done in pine-
apple culture, in which the better varieties are grown
under lath or slat sheds, for the purpose of protection
from frost, sun and drought. Small or amateur
plantations of strawberries, or even of bush -fruits,
may be easily covered with lath screens when frost is
feared.

Adding vapor of water to the air. — The most
serious frosts usually occur when the air is dry.
An abundance of watery vapor in the air probably
tends to check the radiation of the earth's heat, and
the evaporation of water has a pronounced influence
in raising the dew-point. The means of adding
vapor to the atmosphere are several : Spraying,
flooding and irrigating, mulching and tilling. A
thorough spraying of plants with ordinary cold
water at nightfall, when a frost is feared, is one of
the most efficient means of protection from light
frosts. The machinery which is used in spraying
for insects and fungi may be used for this purpose.
Strawberries and other low plants may be wet at
nightfall by means of a sprinkling cart. Elaborate
stand-pipe devices, connecting with underground
pipes, have been used in California to facilitate the
spraying of orchards.* The flooding of fruit -plan-
tations to protect the plants from frost is practi

* Se« Galloway, Yearbook, U. S. Dept. Agric. 1895, J56,

Adding Moisture to the Air. 107

cable only in cranberry bogs, and in places where
vineyards are arranged to be flooded for the de-
struction of phylloxera.

The following remarks by Haramon indicate the
nature of the problem : *

"In places where irrigation can be used, it will
be found of great value in protecting against frost.
Let the water be turned on until the soil is
thoroughly moistened. The evaporation of the water
from the damp soil will tend to raise the dew-
point. Since evaporation takes place near the sur-
face this method is especially valuable in protecting
low plants and shrubs, but has also been found
very valuable in protecting citrous groves from freez-
ing weather. The irrigating should be done at as
early an hour as possible, preferably on the day
preceding the night when frost is anticipated, and
the ground kept thoroughly wet until danger from
frost is passed."

"Moist soil, or localities that can be easily
flooded for the purpose of protection, are to be
preferred to dry sections of otherwise similar loca-
tion ; for the evaporation of the moisture from the
soil, on dry, cold nights, will tend to raise the
dew-point of the air and thus diminish the proba-
bility of frost.

"The irrigation of the hillsides about a valley
in which protection is desired, and the growing

*W. H. Hammon (Forecast official United States Weather Bureau), in
"Frost, How and When to Prevent Injury Thereby;" also pub. in Oal. Prt. Gr.,
Feb. 8, 1896.

108 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

thereon of plants or trees with a large amount of
foliage will, by the evaporation from the soil and
verdure, tend to raise the dew-point of the surface
air as it flows downward into the valley."

"A modified form of ' water protection which is
valuable in orchards is to spray the trees with
water. This plan is probably even more valuable
in protecting from freezing citrous fruits and other
plants which are not injured until the temperature
has fallen several degrees below, the freezing point ;
for, in these cases, the water will tend to freeze
before the fruit is injured, and in freezing will
make sensible a large amount of heat, thus pre-
venting further cooling of the air. For this method
to be successful the spraying must be continued
until the temperature rises."

Kedzie writes as follows upon the subject : *

"The vapor of water in the air (and clouds
also) prevents the escape of heat by radiation from
the soil and consequent cooling of the ground during
the night. But for the vopor of water in the air,
we should have a frost every night, in the year."

"The old plan of a tub of water under the
fruit tree, and a rope reaching from the tub into
the branches, may serve a useful purpose. The
evaporation from the water in the tub and of the
water carried up by capillary action in the rope
may spread the protecting folds of the water blanket
over the tree. Such appliances, while of some use
for a small garden, would be futile for a farm.

*R. C. Kedzie, "Forecast of Frost." Lansing, Mich., 1892.

Spraying to Prevent Frost. 109

" If the hoed crops of the farm are cultivated
with reference to securing a constant supply of
moisture in the upper soil — to draw by capillary
action of the soil upon the reservoir of water in
the subsoil, and at the same time keep the surface
soil in such condition as to prevent the too rapid
dissipation of soil moisture — the fields may be
saved from frost by a covering as impalpable as
air but as effectual as eider-down. Here is a con-
servatism of highest importance for both farmer
and fruit-grower.

"On the night of Sept. 16, 1868, the Indian corn
in Michigan was almost entirely killed by frost,
only a few fields along the banks of rivers or the
borders of lakes being spared. In these fields the
corn - stalky the next morning • were dripping with
dew. The evaporation from river or lake during
this dry time (only one -eighth inch of rain in two
weeks) had moistened the air in their vicinity and
stayed off the frost. Away from bodies of water
the air was very dry and the dew-point low. At
the Agricultural College the temperature in the
open air at 2 P. M. Sept. 16, was 54° F., the wet
bulb marked 44°, and the temperature of dew-point
was 31° F. During the night the temperature
sank to 24° F. and a 'black frost' was the result.
If the air over the whole state had been as moist
as it was along those rivers and lakes, a heavy
dew would have fallen everywhere, and the corn
crop spared.

"This immunity from frost afforded by a moist

110 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

atmosphere is a matter of great importance. 1
once read in a newspaper of the experience of a
farmer who feared a frost on his growing corn,
and who cultivated the field, stirring up a moister
soil, and thus promoting evaporation, with this
result, a heavy dew and a rescued crop, while
neighboring fields of corn were cut by frost.

"Ten years ago some beautiful beds of coleus
were near my house. Early in October there were
threatenings of frost. Every evening the beds were
thoroughly wet down with cold water, and the
tender coleus plants escaped frost while other plants
near by were killed. At this time I found my
neighbor one evening putting blankets over his
grape vine to save the fruit from frost. T advised
him to take away his woolen blankets and put on
the water blanket by a thorough drenching with
water. This was done and the grapes were saved.

"This use of water to guard tender plants from
frost has frequently been used at the College, and
generally with good results. Strawberries and
grapes in blossom may be saved in this way and
with little trouble, if a good supply of water
and a sprinkling hose are available. The quick-
witted farmer or gardener will find many ways of
using water for this purpose. With irrigation, we
might defy frost during the growing season."

A systematic plan for evaporating water in
orange groves in California, in frosty weather, has
been proposed by Finkle.* It is estimated that

* California Fruit-grower, Feb. 8 and 29, 1896.

for Frosts. Ill

efficient appliances for evaporating water could be
secured for about $15 an acre for the first cost.
"The amount of water required to raise the temper-
ature in the space immediately surrounding a ten-
acre tract would be about 500 gallons. This I have
demonstrated by a very complete mathematical cal-
culation based on experiments, but I have concluded
that it would require about four or five attempts
during a night, in order to supply the heat radiat-
ing into space, which would make the water re-
quired to be spent for a ten -acre grove, about
2,500 gallons. * * * * The fuel required is
equally certain and capable of calculation, and would
be about one barrel of oil, costing in Los Angeles
50 cents."

TJie making of smudges. — Frosts occur on clear
nights. This is because the earth's heat radiates
quickly into space. When clouds or fogs are pres-
ent, this radiation is checked. It is possible, in
many cases, to supply a blanket of smoke to check
radiation ; and if this cover also contains much
vapor of water, its efficiency will thereby be greatly
increased.

The use of smoke or smudges to protect plants
from frost is an old practice. It is necessary, in
order to secure the greatest protection, that the
smudge be dense and uniform, and especially that
it be maintained until all danger of frost is past.
The best results are nearly always secured on level
lands, where the smoke will not drain away, and
where there are no higher lands from which the

112 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

cold air may settle. The best smudges are usually
made by burning some tar -like substance. In any
ease, a smouldering fire is much better than a
blaze. The fire should burn slowly, and attendants
should keep the smudge going all night. Wet
leaves, manure, saw-dust, brush, grass, crude oil, and
a variety of materials are in use for smudges.
Some grape -growers cut the trimmings into short
lengths and pile them in the vineyard, expecting
to use them if frost should threaten. If frost does
not occur, the piles are burned before tillage is be-
gun. Crude petroleum stored in barrel -like tanks
or receptacles is sometimes conducted through the
plantation in pipes, and kettles are filled (and
ignited) at intervals. Galloway* says that a mix-
ture of one part gas -tar and two parts saw -dust
makes an excellent material for a smudge.

Hammon writes as follows upon the use of
smudges : " One method of diminishing radiation
which is of considerable value, especially in a level
country, is the obscuring of the sky by means of
the smoke of smudge fires. This method has been
used with success in the level wheat fields of the
Dakotas and Manitoba, and should be of about
equal value in the broad interior valleys of Cali-
fornia. It is not so successful in the narrow val-
leys of a hilly country, for while it retards the
radiation of heat in the valley, the smoke bank is
asually of low elevation, and radiation proceeds un-

*Year Book, U. S. Dept. Agr., 1895, 155.

Fuel for Smudges. 113

interruptedly from the hillsides, whence the cooled
air flows down into the valley underneath the smoke
and chills the plants. Damp straw, tar, turpentine,
old hay, anything that will result in the greatest
amount of smoke, will serve as fuel for these fires.
Have the fuel on the ground in advance, and start
the fires while the temperature is several degrees
above the danger point.

"It is believed that decidedly better results will
be attained if damp fuel is used, or if the fire be
sprayed with water, for this will add vapor to the
air which, in condensing, will assist in checking
radiation by obscuring the sky with fog or cloud,
and at the same time the dew-point will be raised
to the temperature of the air. This plan should
result in absolutely preventing injury if the tem-
perature be much above the danger point, for the
condensation of the vapor will continue to distribute
heat throughout the space occupied by the mist.
In the case of smudge fires, the fire warms and
expands the air near it, causing it to rise. This
establishes an upward current of warm air from
the fire, which conducts the heat of the fire upward
and beyond the space needing protection, and cool
air flows in from the sides to take its place. Thus
the heat of the fire has but little effect in dimin-
ishing the intensity of the frost, almost the entire
protection being gained by the blanket of smoke
produced. By spraying the fire, on the other hand,
a large portion of the heat of the fire is consumed
in evaporating the water which, rising from the

114 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

fire,, is quickly condensed as it comes in contact
with the surrounding air. The heat of condensation
thus becomes manifest in the lower air. The heat
of the fire is thus in a measure trapped and dis-
tributed throughout the lower stratum of the air,
and greatly aids in protecting the plants. Every
quart of water thus evaporated and again con-
densed in the surrounding air would be sufficient
to raise the temperature ten degrees throughout a
space eighty feet square and deep."

Smudges have long been used in the vineyards
of parts of Europe. A sketch of some of the
practices may add to the interest of this discussion.*
"Protection from frost is often secured by the use
of smudges, namely, piles or bundles of such stuff
as will produce a great smoke while burning. They
are placed around the field and lighted at the ap-
proach of frost, and the smoke which arises from
trees hanging over the fields, will, after the man-
ner of clouds, tend to keep the escaping heat near
the earth. Pliny is said to have recommended the
practice, and as early as the sixteenth century it
was advised by the great French agriculturist, Olivier
de Serres, who wrote: 'Frost is repelled from the
vine if, foreseeing it, you produce in various parts
of your vineyard thick smokes by means of wet
straw or half -rotten manures. These sunder the air
and dissolve the nuisance. * * * * Prepare
them in good season by building here and there in
your fields little piles of the above mentioned matters,

* Prepared by my student, W. S. Andrews, B. A.

Smudging in Europe. 115

which shall be lighted without delay whenever nec-
essary.' The practice was obligatory in at least one
part of Germany at the end of the last century.
In Mr. He"guilus' pamphlet* is quoted a set of regu-
lations, issued in the Bailiwick of Pforzheim (Grand
Duchy of Baden) in 1796, which provides that the
inhabitants of the communes shall be divided into
companies of twelve or eighteen men, under a chief,
to operate in districts assigned them by an official
inspector, and provides for a system of night watch-
men, whose duty it was to give warning of the
necessity for lighting the fires. 'Whoever of the in-
habitants,' Article VII. of these regulations reads,
'shall refuse to obey, shall be prosecuted before the
bailiff and receive exemplary punishment.' Bous-
singault found the custom among the Indians of
Peru, who inherited it from the pre- Spanish civili-
zation.

"Various substitutes for the bundles of straw, and
such primitive smudges, have been proposed, and a
number of patented compositions are on the French
market. Mr. A. Lippens, of Ghent, in a letter,
describes several of them. He writes:

" 'Generally they' [f. e., the French vine -grow-
ers] 'use three bundles of small fagots, in which
they insert half -dried hay and wet straw. A line
of about fifty suffices for a hundred acres.' The
cost is about ten cents an acre. 'More enlightened
vine -growers use the heavy oils of coal gas from

*Procede H6|fuilus, "La Vigne et les gelees print anieres." Loddve (H6rault),

116 The Principles of Fruit -groiving.

which the pitch has been taken. About four -fifths
of a quart is placed in a flat iron -ware dish. Ten
of these will protect a vineyard of one hundred
acres; twenty, one of four hundred acres. The dishes
are to be set closer together at the two ends of
the line than in the middle, and a supply of oil
must be held ready in reserve in case that, on ac-
count of wind or of great clearness at sunrise,
another firing should be found necessary.'

"M. Lestout, of Bordeaux, has an invention, as
described in his pamphlet, as follows: 'It consists
of little cubical boxes, twenty centimeters (a little
less than eight inches) square, weighing seven kilos
(fifteen pounds four ounces), and costing about
seventy -five centimes (fifteen cents) apiece. These are
placed around the field to be protected at a distance
of ten meters (thirty -two feet ten inches) apart, and
are easily ignited from a torch. The fire emits a
black smoke, which can be rendered more dense by
pouring water upon the smudges. After awhile, the
columns of smoke fuse into a thick cloud, which
settles upon the field, and elevates the temperature by
two or three degrees. The fires can be instantly put
out by an extinguisher.' M. Lestout declares that
three hundred smudges, costing two hundred and
twenty-five francs (forty-five dollars), will protect a
vineyard three tnousand meters square — i. e., one
containing nine hundred hectares (about two thou-
sand two hundred acres) — namely, at a cost of
twenty -five centimes (five cents) per two and one-
half acres.

French Smudges. 117

"The system of Lagrolet is said to give a very
dense, heavy and persistent cloud. The composition
is delivered in barrels, the contents of which are in
a solid mass, which must be broken up into pieces.
Three of these are leaned together like a tripod, in
little hollows in the ground, about fifteen yards apart.

"In the Audibert system, the smudges are made
by a mixture of tar, creosote and sawdust — easily
made and easy to use. There is a system of Tanzin,
and others, the details of which it is not necessary
now to discuss.

"Lestout advertises that he is able to furnish a
system of devices by which warning is given of
approaching frost, or by which the smudges can be
fired automatically, when the mercury descends to
a certain degree. Heguilus has also invented a
system of signals and lighters. It is not necessary
to dwell upon either of these, further than to re-
mark in passing that a system of automatic lighting
will not fulfill its full purpose unless it is so ar-
ranged that it will light the fires on the side of the
field from which the air is moving. Otherwise one
may have the satisfaction of protecting his neigh-
bor's vineyard and not his own. To secure the
maximum protection, ^the proprietors should join in
a common effort to protect a whole district at once,
as Lestout recommends; and this, it appears from
his pamphlet, is being done in France. He gives
the statutes of a syndicate formed in 1890 by one
hundred and fifteen proprietors in the district of
Moulis, Medoc — which make pretty complete pro-

118 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

vision for joint action — and quotes a letter from
their treasurer, in which it is stated that the cost
of guaranteeing two million vines for a year was
one and a quarter francs (twenty -five cents) per
thousand vines. He gives a letter from another
syndicate of sixty proprietors at Saussac, in the
Medoc, describing a successful attempt to keep the
frost from their vines on April 27, 1888. The wires
attaching the vines were coated with ice. It was
decided to light the smudges at two o'clock in
the morning, when one hundred and thirty were
lighted, placed at a distance apart of twelve meters
(a little under forty feet), thus extending along a
line one thousand five hundred and fifty meters (not
quite a mile) long. The report states that not only
the vineyards, but everything that frost ordinarily
destroys, fields of clover, potatoes, peas, everything,
in fact, covered by the cloud, from the line of
smudges extending back to a depth of three thou-
sand meters (say two and three -fourth miles), cover-
ing a surface of five hundred and fifty hectares (one
thousand three hundred and seventy -five acres), was
saved, while the fields not covered by the cloud suf-
fered from the effects of the frost on that same day.
The one hundred and thirty smudges were only two-
thirds burnt, and the cost was estimated at thirteen
centimes (less than three cents) a hectare (two and
one-half acres). Some of Lestout's correspondents
express the hope that a law will be passed pro-
viding that when two -thirds of the proprietors of
a district elect to form a syndicate, they will be

Smoking French Vineyards.

119

able to assess their pro-rata share upon such inhabi-
tants of the districts as refuse to join, and that
these assessments may be collected by the tax-
gatherer, a provision which it. would be easier to in-
troduce and enforce in France, perhaps, than in this
Country." Fig. 10 is an illustration of the protec-
tion of a vineyard, from Lestout.*

Fig. 10. Smudge over a French vineyard.

Making currents of air. — Since frosts occur on
still nights, it is sometimes possible to prevent
them by keeping the air in motion, thereby mixing
the air and preventing any part of it from lying
on the plant until it shall have become frost -cold
by loss of radiated heat. In small areas, as in
choice gardens, it is often feasible to employ a man
at night to pass back and forth waving a large

*The Lestoiit system has b«>«n nsed at Cornell with satisfaction.

120 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

fan. A windmill may sometimes be set in motion
by water-power or other means.

Heating the air. — It is sometimes possible to di-
rectly heat the air by means of large fires, although
such practice does not seem to have generally met
with encouraging results. In the combined smoke
and vapor smudges which have been commended by
Hammon (page 112), the heat of the fire may add
something to the efficiency of the protection. The
strong currents of air which are set up by heavy
fires seldom aid in the protection of the plantation.
Yet there are cases in which hot fires have saved
trees over considerable areas from heavy frosts and
even from freezes. One of the best experiences in
this direction is reported from Florida by Da vies.*
In the freeze of February, 1895, he was able to
raise the temperature in his grove from 18 degrees
to 33 degrees by means of fires. "On the north
and west sides of your grove have what are called
conflagrations, big fires, that will send billows of
heat rolling between and over your tree tops ; and
all through your groves, at short distances, have
small fires to help on the good result." Mr. Davies
recommends that orange growers "get ready, and keep
ready all the time, for the freeze. Once it has come,
there will be no time for gathering materials for fire.
Your fuel must be on hand, and plenty of it." It
is then necessary to keep the fires burning vigor-
ously until the cold spell has passed. H. R. Ste-

*D. O. Davies, "Protecting. Orange Groves from Cold," Fla. State Hort.
Soc. 1896, 28.

Foretelling Frosts. 121

vens, 011 the same occasion, reports success in sav-
ing orange trees from cold by burning rosin, secur-
ing both heat and smoke. He makes cones six
inches high and six wide of common hardware paper
which lias received a coat of paint. These cones
are filled with cheap rosin and set near the trees.
A little of the rosin is pulverized on top, and it
is then set on fire from a bit of oiled waste which
is dropped on it. Six pounds of rosin burn about
an hour.

THE PREDICTION OF FROST.

In considering the means of predicting frost, it
is first of all important that the student should ob-
tain a clear idea of the usual or average dates of
the opening and closing of the seasons of his locality.
Records made by himself upon his own farm from
year to year are invaluable. He may derive very
much help, also, from the records of meteorological
bureaus. A general tabulation of spring and fall
seasons (see pages 123 and 124) may be suggestive
in this connection:*

"The data for the accompanying tabulation of
the killing frosts of the region east of the Rocky
Mountains was compiled from the bulletins and an-
nual reports of the United States Weather Bureau.
The table is divided into dates for spring and fall,
and these in turn into earliest, latest, and average

*Made by Alexander D. MacGillivray, Assistant in Entomology, Cornell Uni-
versity.

122 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

dates. By 'earliest' is not meant the first frost in
the spring, but the earliest date at which the season
has opened, while when applied to the fall it is the
first actual occurrence of a frost. By 'latest' is
meant the last occurrence of a killing frost in the
spring, and in the fall the latest date at which the
season has closed. The average date is in most
cases the mean of average dates given by the Weather
Bureau.

"The states have been grouped into three regions,
the states of the coast plain, the states of the Ohio
River basin and its adjuncts, arid the states of the
Missouri River and its adjuncts. The first thought
in separating the states into these regions was that
they represented distinct faunal regions, and that
they probably represented distinct climatal regions.
This has been sustained in most part. The most
marked cases are eastern New York, or the Hud-
son Valley, and western New York, the former be-
longing to the coast states and the latter to the
Ohio valley states. There is a difference of eleven
days in the spring on earliest dates, twelve days
on latest, and two days on average ; Pennsylvania,
which falls in the same category, in the spring,
fifty-four days on earliest, eleven days on latest, and
twenty days on average dates. In the other regions
the difference is not so marked, and yet there is
some difference in all cases.

"This tabulation is of interest in showing the
earliest and latest dates at which the seasons have
opened, for some of the data is based on records

Records of Frosts.

123

TABULATION OF SEASONAL CHANGES, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO KILLING FROSTS.

("OAST STATKS.

Earliest.

Latest.

Average.

Earliest.

Latest.

Average.

Maine

Mar. 24

June 19

April 30

Sept. 4

Nov. 2

Sept. 4

New Hampshire.

April 19

June 9

May 6

Aug. 7

Oct. 30

Oct. 3

Vermont

April 8

June 3

May 10

Aug. 5

Nov. 16

Sept. 20

Massachusetts. . .

Mar. 26

May 28

April 20

Aug. 8

Nov. 23

Sept. 11

Rhode Island ....

Mar. 8

May 7

Mar. 31

Oct. 3

Dec. 28

Nov. 20

Connecticut
E. New York

Mar. :<
Mar. 15

May 30
May 27

April 28
April 23

Sept. 10
Oct. 11

Nov. 16
Nov. 18

Oct. 2
Oct. 28

New Jersey

Feb. 27

May 21

April 13

Sept. 10

Nov. 21

Oct. 10

Pennsylvania. . . .
Maryland

Mar. 2
Mar. 1

May 22
May 9

April 5
April 9

Sept. 16
Sept. 10

Nov. 6
Nov. 14

Oct. 20
Oct. 4

Delaware
Virginia

Mar. 19
Feb. 5

April 12
May 17

April 8
April 11

Oct. 23
Aug. 26

Oct. 31
Dec. 10

Oct. 25
Oct. 13

North Carolina. .

Jan. 3

May 24

April 5

Sept. 9

Dec. 29

Oct. 15

South Carolina..

Jan. 4

May 8

Feb. 23

Oct. 15

Dec. 15

Oct. 25

Georgia

Feb. 2

April 16

Mar. 16

Oct. 7

Dec. 10

Nov. 8

Florida

Dec. 7

April 7

Jan. 18
Mar. 22

Oct. 31

Feb. 6

Nov. 7
Dec. 24

Alabama

Dec. 27

April 25

Mar. 6

Oct. 12

Dec. 26

Oct. 28

Mississippi

Jan. 16

April 10

Feb. 23

Oct. 8

Dec. 27

Oct. 30

Louisiana

Jan. 12

Mar. 31

Feb. 25

Sept. 21

Dec. 29

Dec. 7

Texas

Dec. 16

April 13

i'jan. 21

Sept. 12

Dec. 27

Oct. 17

Mar. 25

124

The Principles of Fruit -growing.

TABULATION OF SEASONAL CHANGES, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO KILLING FROSTS.

OHIO VALLEY

1

STATES.

Earliest.

Latest.

Average.

Earliest.

Latest.

Average.

W. New York . . .

Michigan

Mar. 26
Mar 2

June 8
June 99

April 25
May 5

Aug. 8
Aug. 2

Nov. 21
Oct. 29

Sept. 20
Sept. 18

April 7

June 12

May 1

Aug 22

Nov. 13

Sept. 25

Pennsylvania. . . .
Ohio

May 26

Feb 24

June 4
June I9

April 25
April 90

Aug. 30
Sept. 2

Nov. 14
Nov 15

Sept. 28
Sept. 30

Indiana.

Mar 23

May 98

April 12

Sept 14

Dec 24

Oct. 15

Illinois

Feb 28

June 1

April 15

Aug 2

Nov 98

Sept. 30

West Virginia...
Kentucky

April 1
Mar 10

May 17
May 30

April 20
April 7

Sept. 22
Sept °4

Nov. 22
Nov 20

Oct. 25
Oct. 15

Tennessee

MISSOURI VAL-
LEY STATES.

Jan. 25
April 6

May 15
June 8

April 1
April 9S

Sept. 14
Aug 4

Nov. 29
Oct 21

Oct. 15
Sept 29

Dakota

Mar. 15

June 30

May 15

Aug. 4

Oct. 28

Sept. 10

Iowa

Mar. 4

June 2

April 20

Aug. 8

Oct. 28

Sept. 20

Mar 28

April 90

Aug 30

Nov 9

Oct 10

Missouri .

Feb. 27

May 26

April 15

Sept. 2

Nov. 19

Oct. 9

Kansas
Colorado .
Arkansas
Indian Territory .

Mar. 16
Mar. 29
Feb. 22
Feb. 5

May 22
June 28
April 28
May 23

April 12
May 2
Mar. 27
Mar. 22

Sept. 6
Aug. 7
Oct. 6
Sept. 30

Nov. 9
Oct. 26
Dec. 4

Oct. 5
Sept. 5
Oct. 27
Oct. 20

Records of Frost. 125

of fifty years or more ; in showing the effects of
adjacent bodies of water; in the effects of topog-
raphy, and in situation.

"The effect of topography is shown well in the
cases already cited, eastern and western New York
and Pennsylvania. It is equally true of Virginia
and West Virginia, and North Carolina and Ten-
nessee. The effect of situation is shown markedly
in the case of Maine, which is north of New
Hampshire and Vermont, and yet earlier. Georgia's
season opens twenty -one days later than South Car-
olina's, and ten days later than Alabama's, while
North Carolina is ten days later."

The liability of any particular locality to injury
from late spring or early fall frosts is capable of
being expressed in charts or by other graphic
means. Very good records of the habitual frosti-
ness of any place could be made by an army of
careful growers who had neither a barometer nor a
thermometer. Let us suppose, for instance, that the
peach - growers of a certain geographical area were
to make observations for a number of years upon
the relative synchronisms of late frosts and bloom-
ing-time, a subject which is of the most vital im-
portance to every grower of the tender fruits. The
tabulation of these observations would enable us to
construct two series of curves, which would indicate
at a glance the comparative safety of an}- station
for the cultivation of the given crop. We will
suppose that observations have been taken for a
number of years by various persons at seventeen

126

The Principles of Fruit-f/rowing.

! -:

Frost and Blooming Time. 127

closely connected stations, represented by the letters
in the margin of the plate (page 126). One curve
represents the date of the last killing frost, and
the other the date of the opening of the peach
flowers. Wherever the frost line lies beyond the
bloom line, as in the first five stations, peach-grow-
ing is impossible. When it lies at the left, peach-
growing is possible, and the industry is safe in
proportion as the two lines diverge. At the stations
I, K, and O peach - growing may be considered to
be far beyond danger of late frosts. These tabula-
tions would be valuable, of course, in proportion as
they include a minute record of every farm in the
given territory ; but even a somewhat superficial
series of observations would possess great value if
accurately made, as indicating the probable influence
of local climate upon the given industry. If lines
tend to converge, or if the frost line crosses beyond
the bloom line, there is indication, at least, that
safe peach lands are few in those localities. The
information which these records ask could be well
ascertained from observations upon a few peach
trees here and there long before any general experi-
ment of cultivation had been tried.

This method of study is a part of the science
of phenology, or that science which treats of the
periodical phenomena of animals and plants, as the
migrations and nesting of birds, awakening of the
frogs, and the dates of blooming and leafing of
plants. Such records are more accurate measures of
seasonal climates than instrumental measurements

128 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

are. Some day the country will have charts of iso-
phenal lines as well as of its isotherms.

Local studies of this type must eventually come
to be an important province of meteorological
bureaus. Every state must ultimately be completely
charted not only in respect to liability to frosts, but
to other incidents of local climate and weather.

The most reliable prediction of frost is given by
readings from the wet- and dry -bulb thermometer,
which measures the moisture in the air. Kedzie
gives the following description of this thermometer : *
"The sling psychrometer is a formidable name, but
a simple instrument. It consists essentially of two
thermometers, the bulb of one being left naked and
kept dry, the bulb of the other being covered with a
thin layer of cloth which is kept wet ('wet -bulb')
during the time of an observation. By placing these
'dry -bulb' and 'wet -bulb' thermometers side by
side and comparing their readings, we may determine
the amount of cold produced by evaporation, and thus
measure the relative dryness of the air. If there is
no evaporation the two thermometers will show the
same temperature, but any evaporation will produce
cold, and the more rapid the evaporation the greater
the reduction of temperature. The drier the air the
more rapid the evaporation, and the greater the cold
caused by evaporation. The psychrometer, or the
'wet- ajid dry-bulb thermometer,' affords the means
for .determining the amount of moisture in the air,

*See also Horticulturist's Rule-Book, 4th ed., 222.

Tlte Ming Psychrowieter. 129

and the temperature of complete saturation or dew-
point, by measuring the reduction of temperature by
evaporation .

"A sling psychrometer can easily be made, as fol-
lows : For the frame, take a board eighteen inches
long, two inches wide, and one -half inch thick, with
a hole bored in one end to hang the apparatus on a
nail when not in use. Get two all -glass thermom-
eters with cylindrical bulbs, and the degrees Fahren-
heit engraved on the stem. Cover the bulb of one
thermometer with a thin piece of cotton cloth,
fastening it securely by a thread. When this cloth
covering is wet with water and exposed to evapo-
ration in the air, it constitutes the 'wet -bulb ther-
mometer ' ; the other thermometer has no covering
on its bulb, is not wet at any time, and constitutes
the 'dry -bulb thermometer'.

"Securely lash the thermometers on opposite edges
of the narrow board, leaving the graduations on
them plainly in sight, and the bulbs extending a
short distance below the end of the board. To
use the instrument, wet the cloth -covered bulb with
water, leaving the other bulb dry, and then swing
the apparatus freely through the air for three to
five minutes, or until the wet -bulb thermometer
ceases to fall in temperature, and then read the
temperature of each thermometer. Unless the air
is saturated with moisture the wet -bulb will always
show a lower temperature than the dry -bulb. Sub-
tract the degrees of wet -bulb from those of the
dry -bulb, and the remainder will show the degrees
j

130

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

of cold produced by evaporation. Suppose the dry
bulb marks 65° F., and the wet bulb 56°, then

65° - 56° = 9C

or the

cold produced by evapora-
tion. This swinging and
reading of the pyschrom-
eter are done in the shade
in the open air when the
temperature of dew-point
is sought ; it should be
done rapidly and the ther-
mometers read promptly
The dry -bulb gives the
temperature of the open
air, and dew-point is de-
termined by reference to
tabulated figures." A com-
mon form of psychrometer
is shown in Fig. 11, but
inasmuch as this has a cup
of water connected with
the wet -bulb, it is not so
handy for whirling. Such
an instrument may be
fanned instead of whirled.
Hammon gives the fol-
lowing directions and fig-
ures for determining the
dew-point : " To obtain
the dew-point from the wet -and dry -bulb hygrom-
eter or psychrometer, moisten the muslin on the

i'ig. 11. One form of wet- and dry-
bulb thermometer.

Finding the Dew-point.

131

wet -bulb and then whirl or fan the instrument,
when the temperature will fall. Continue the ven-
tilation until the wet -bulb thermometer ceases to fall,
when the two thermometers should be read. Subtract
the reading of the wet -bulb thermometer from that of
the dry. Find this difference in the column at the
left of the table. The dew-point will then be
found at the intersection of the line opposite this
difference and the column which is headed by the
number nearest the air temperature (dry -bulb
reading). Examples are given below:

" Dry -bulb thermometer 55°

Wet-bulb thermometer 44°

Difference 11°

Dew-point from table 30° "

The dew-point is the temperature at which the deposition of dew be-
gins. Frost is formed when the dew-point and freezing-point coincide
(that is, at 32°). The nearer the dew-point approaches the freezing-point
nt nightfall, the greater is the danger ot frost during the niglit. When
the dew-point is 10° above freezing-point at nightfall (42°), there is little
danger of frost; but when it is less than this, frost may be expected.

w DEW -POINT TABLE.

Difference of reading of
dry and wet bulbs

Temperature of Air — Fahrenheit.

,-,, ._,„,, .,-,-, .{(),,

35° 40°

45°

50°

55°,(iO°

05° | 70°

1
2

11
6

10

.1

•22
18
14

10

4

27
24

21
17
13

7

1

32
30

27
24
20

n;
11

5

38

35
33
30

27
24
•JO
16
11
4

43
41
39
36
39
30
27
24
20

n;
11

4

48
46

44
42
40
37
34
31
28
25
21
17
11
5

53
52
50
48
40
48
41
38
36
33
30
27
88

18
T2

58
57
55
63

51
49
47
45
48
40
38
36
:i2

28

24

63
82
60
69

57
66

53
51

49
47
45
42
40
37
34

69

(17
66
64
88

61
59
57
55
53
51
49
47
45
42"

3

4..
6

7

9

10

11
12

13 .

14

15

CHAPTER III.

THE TILLAGE OF FRUIT LANDS.

THE study of the evolution of the ideas respect-
ing the tillage of the soil opens one of the most
interesting chapters in history. The subject is all
the more suggestive because tillage is such a com-
monplace and almost universal labor that no one
thinks of it as having had a history. Yet the
practice of the simple stirring of the soil has been
slowly evolved, like all other methods and institutions,
through a long period of time, and as the result of
many forces which were unobserved or even unknown
at the time. We think of tillage as a custom ; and
if one considers the condition of farming at the
present moment, he would seem to be warranted
in such an association, for a custom is a habit
which is not suggested by reason and inquiry. Per-
haps the only reason which most persons could give
for the tillage of the land is that they are obliged
to do it. It would seem to be the simplest and dull-
est thing to till the soil. It is simply the driving of
the animal and the holding of the plow, or taking
care that the harrow scarifies the entire surface ; or
it may be only the stubborn wielding of the hoe or
rake. This view of the matter is wholly correct
(133)

134 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

when one thinks of tillage only as labor. The work
must be done because, somehow, plants thrive best
when it is done ; but the sooner it is done and the
less there is of it the easier, and what is the easier is
the better.

It was, no doubt, some such mind as this which
dominated the rude farmers in the early history of
the race Throughout all the years until now — and,
unfortunately, too often even now — tillage has been
a mere necessity forced upon the husbandman by a
most ungenerous Nature. The first tillage probably
arose from necessity of breaking the earth to get
the seed into it ; and the second step was the dig-
ging out of other plants which interfered with its
growth. In many cases, still another hardship was
imposed, for the earth must be disturbed to get the
crop out of it. These three necessities served to keep
the surface of tamed lands in a greater or less state
of agitation until it finally came to be seen that
there is something in the practice which causes plants
to thrive wholly aside from the lessening of the con-
flict with weeds. But it is only in the last century
or two that there appears to have been any serious
attempt to discover why this age -long practice of
stirring the soil is such a decided benefit to plants.

One reason why the art of tillage has made such
slow progress is because it seems to be wholly con-
trary to the operations of nature. In very recent
years it has been vehemently proclaimed that the
proper treatment of an orchard is to plant it thick
and to allow the leaves and litter to cover the

Forest and Orchard Unlike. 135

ground, wholly omitting the stirring of the soil, for
this is the method of the forest ; and forest lands
increase in fertility from year to year and the mois-
ture is held in them as in a sponge. The reason-
ing is plausible. There are two ways of testing it, —
by experience and by reflection. It needs only to
be suggested that the experiment has been tried, and
is now trying, upon an extended scale, as a large
part of the apple orchards of the country testify.
The chief .beneficiaries of the experiment are the
bugs, mice and fungi, all of which would vote the
method a success. The reasons why the forest
method is successful are because the trees stand so
thickly that the earth is protected from the drying
effect of sun and winds; the forest cover is so ex-
tensive as to produce a climate of its own, all the
product is returned to the soil, and there is no
haste. In every one of these essentials the orchard
is unlike the forest. Those writers who urge that
the orchard be planted thick enough to imitate the
forest condition, should also make it clear how the
insects and fungi are to be kept at bay, or how
acceptable fruit can be obtained upon trees which
are unpruned and unthinned. The objects to be
attained in the forest and in the orchard are wholly
unlike. In one case it is the perpetuation of the
species, and there results a severe conflict for exist-
ence, in which more plants die than reach maturity;
in the other it is the securing of an abnormal pro-
duct of the plant,— a product which can be kept up
to its abnormal or artificial development only by

136 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

abnormal conditions,— and the struggle for existence
is reduced to its lowest terms, for it is desired that
not a single plant be lost. It is simply because it
is impossible to imitate the forest conditions that
the forest methods cannot be followed in fruit
plantations.

Now that we have come to understand why and
how it is that the stirring of the soil makes plants
thrive, the old-time drudgery of tillage becomes the
most important, the most suggestive, and therefore
the most difficult to properly understand and perform,
of all purely farming operations. If we cannot have
the protection of the forest cover and the forest
mulch, we must make a mulch for the occasion ;
and if we wait impatiently for results, we must un-
lock the granaries of the soil more rapidly than
nature does. We must till for tillage's sake, and
not wait to be forced into the operation — as men
have generally been — by the weeds ; yet, whilst we
have outgrown the need of weeds, we should not
despise them, but remember them kindly for the
good which they have done the race. They have
been an inexorable priesthood, holding us to duty
whilst we did not know what duty was, and they
still stand ready to extend their paternal offices.

Coming, now, to the specific question of the till-
age of fruit lands, one is struck with the fact that
all kinds of fruits are commonly more productive
than the apple ; and a moment's reflection brings
to mind the fact that the apple alone is the fruit
which is commonly raised in sod, and which every-

Old and New Methods. 137

where receives the least attention. The presumption
is at once raised, therefore, that this sod and neg-
lect are in some vital way associated with the de-
clining productiveness of apple trees. In order to
put ourselves right upon the question, we must first
of all ascertain, if we can, why the apple is of all
fruits the most neglected.

My older readers will recall the fact that until
recent years the effort of the farmer has been di-
rected to the growing of hay, grain and stock.
Previous to this generation, the growing of fruit
has been a matter of secondary or even incidental
importance. A bit of rocky or waste land, or an
odd corner about the buildings, was generally given
over to the apple orchard, and if the trees received
any attention whatever it was after all other de-
mands of the farm had been satisfied. All this was
particularly true of the farming previous to the
second third of this century, and the apple and
standard pear orchards of the country still record
the old method. . It has required at least a genera-
tion of men in which to thoroughly establish any
new agricultural system, and the time is not yet
fully arrived for the passing out of the old orchards
and the coming in of the new. In other fruits than
apples and standard pears, the generations of trees
are comparatively short-lived, and those fruits sooner
feel the effect of new agricultural teachings. Vine-
yards, and orchards of plums, dwarf pears, apricots,
cherries and quinces, have mostly come into exist-
ence along with the transition movement from the

138 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

old to the new farming, and they have been planted
seriously, with the expectation of profit, the same as
the grain crops have. Peaches had passed out in
most parts of the east, and they are now coming
in again with the new agriculture. At the present
time, men buy farms for the sole purpose of raising
fruit, a venture which would have been a novelt3r
fifty years ago ; but the habit of imitation is so
strong that the apple planter patterns after the old
orchards which were grown under another and now
a declining system of agriculture, and many of
which are still standing on the old farms of the
northeastern states. The apple orchard, therefore,
upon the one hand, and the well -tilled vineyard upon
the other, are the object lessons which illustrate
the faults of non- tillage and the gains of tillage.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TILLAGE.*

Tillage may be defined as the stirring of the soil
for the direct purpose of making plants thrive. Its
immediate effect is to ameliorate and modify the soil
itself, but its secondary effects are those which are
desired, and which are also intimately concerned in
the welfare of the plant. For example, tillage is
capable of lessening the capillarity of the surface
soil, and from this there may result a saving of
moisture from evaporation, and it is the moisture

*The reader who desires the fullest and best exposition of tillage in its va-
rious aspects should consult "The Soil," by King, and "The Fertility of the
Land," by Roberts.

Benefits of Tillage. 139

which is sought. For practical purposes, however, it
is unnecessary to keep this distinction in mind, and
we may classify the benefits of tillage under three
general heads, arranging them approximately in their
order of importance to the fruit-grower:

1. Tillage improves the physical condition of the
land,

(«) By fining the soil, and thereby presenting
greater feeding surface to the roots;

(b) By increasing the depth of the soil, and
thereby giving a greater foraging and root-
hold area to the plant;

(c) By warming and drying the soil in
spring;

(d) By reducing the extremes of temperature
and moisture.

2. Tillage may save moisture,

(e) By increasing the water -holding capacity of
the soil;

(/) By checking evaporation.

3. Tillage may augment chemical activities,

(g) By aiding in setting free plant -food;

(h) By promoting nitrification;

(i) By hastening the decomposition of organic

matter;
0') By extending these agencies (g, h, i) to

greater depths of the soil.

The simple statements of these offices of tillage is
sufficient for the present occasion, except, perhaps,
in respect to the improving of the texture of the

140 The, Principles of Fruit-growing.

soil and the conservation of the moisture, for if the
cultivator is skilled in these latter matters, all the
other benefits will follow.

The texture of the soil. — The texture or physical
condition of the soil is nearly always more important
than its mere richness in plant-food. That is, the
productivity of land is not determined wholly, and
perhaps not even chiefly, by the amount of fertiliz-
ing elements which it contains. Thi.s is particularly
true of all lands — like the clays — which tend to be-
come and to remain hard and unpleasant if left to
themselves. Plant-food is of no consequence unless
the plant can use it. The hardest rocks may con-
tain various plant-foods in abundance, and yet plants
cannot grow on them. A stick of wood contains
potassium and phosphorus and nitrogen, and yet
nothing grows upon it until it begins to decay. A
hundred pounds of potash in a stone -hard lump is
worth less to a given plant than an ounce in a
state of fine division. Soils which the chemist may
pronounce rich in plant -foods may grow poor crops.*
In other words, the chemist can not tell what a soil
will produce; he can only tell what it contains.

All this is not surprising, when we come to think
of it. Every good farmer knows that a hard and
lumpy soil will not grow good crops, no matter how
much plant -food it may contain. A clay soil which
has been producing good crops for any number of
years may be so seriously injured by one injudi

» See, for example, Bull. 119, Cornell Exp. Sta.

Fertilizers vs. Tillage. 141

cious plowing in a wet time as to ruin it for the
growing of crops for two or three years. The in-
jury lies in the modification of its physical texture,
not in the lessening of its fertility. A sandy soil
may also be seriously impaired for the growing of
any crop if the humus, or decaying organic matter,
is allowed to burn out of it. It then becomes leachy,
it quickly loses its moisture, and it becomes ex-
cessively hot in bright, sunny weather. Similar re-
marks may be applied to all soils, although they
are not equally true of all.

If these remarks are true, then it follows that
it is useless to apply commercial fertilizers to lands
which are not in proper physical condition for the
very best growth of crops. If potash, for example,
were applied to hard lumps of clay, it could not be
expected to aid in the growth of plants, because
plants cannot grow on such a place. If the same
quantity were applied to mellow soil, however, the
greater part of it would be presented to the roots
of plants at once, and its effects would no doubt
be apparent in the season's crop. The improvement
of the texture of the soil is not only a means of
presenting the plant -foods to the roots of plants and
of uniformly distributing what fertilizer may be ap-
plied, but it is also a direct means of conserving
moisture and of hastening chemical activities.

The soil is a vast storehouse of plant -food, and
the first effort of the husbandman should be to
make this store available to plants. "Men take him
for a foole or a mad man that, having store of

142 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

wealth in his trunck, doth yet complain of want.
What though the key be rusty for want, of use?
tis easier to get that scoured, then to obtaine such
another treasure. And surely I may upon most sure
grounds say, .that our Native Countrey, hath in its
bowels an (even almost) infinite, and inexhaustible
treasure ; much of which hath long laine hid, and
is but new begun to be discovered. It may seem a
large boast or meer Hyperbole to say, we enjoy not,
know not, use not, the one tenth part of that
plenty or wealth & happinesse, that our Earth can,
and (Ingenuity and Industry well encouraged) will
(by Gods blessing) yield."*

The moisture of the soil. — Lands oftener need
moisture in the growing season than they need fer-
tilizers. The fact is that they generally need both,
if the largest and best crops are to be secured.
Drought seems to most people to be one of those
calamities in which there are no secondary or inci-
dental blessings, and it must be confessed that the
lesson of the recurring droughts has not yet been
learned by the great body of farmers. The one
remedy which occurs to most persons is irrigation,
and yet there is sufficient rainfall in most parts of
the fruit-growing regions of the country to provide
all the needs of large crops. The difficulties are
that this rainfall comes when it seems not to be
wanted, and very "much of it is allowed to escape
by evaporation. The truth is that the heavy rainfall

* Samuel Hartlib, "An Essay for Advancement of Husbandry-Learning,"
London, 1651, p. 3.

Saving the Water. 143

usually comes at the best season, for it is the period
of inactivity, when the work of the farmer aud the
growth of the plants are least interfered with. If
we, in the east and south, were perfectly certain that
we should have no rain from June until September,
we should carefully husband the rainfall of the
earlier months, and we should suffer little loss ; but
now that we expect rain all summer long, we neg-
lect the saving of the early rains, and gamble upon
the chance of having a rain when we shall need
it. It often happens that the dry countries suffer
least for water!

How shall we save the water? By holding it in
the earth. If the earth is finely divided and yet
compact, the capillary pores or interstices will hold
enormous quantities of water. If, then, we break
up these interstices next the atmosphere, we shall
prevent the water from passing off by evaporation.
The whole subject of the saving of moisture, there-
fore, falls into two means, the catching and holding
of it (or the making of a reservoir), and the pre-
vention of evaporation. It is, therefore, a question
of plowing and then of surface tilling. It will thus
be seen how futile it may be to try to save the
water by beginning tillage late in the season, when
a drought is threatened. If the land has not been
well prepared, there may be no water to save by
that time. It may either have run through the
land into the drains, or it may have evaporated
long before the farmer saw the need of saving it.

The hard-pan may be so near the surface that but

144 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

little water could get into the land; the dish -pan
was shallow, and the early rains made mud -puddles
or passed off over the surface. Upon such lands,
deep plowing is necessary, in order to break up the
hard-pan and to increase the storage capacity of
the soil. If the land is open and leachy, shallow
plowing may be necessary, else the soil may be loos-
ened too much. And the water -storage capacity of
inost soils may be increased by putting humus — or
decaying organic matter — into them. It will thus
be seen that the methods of conserving or saving
moisture must be worked out — or rather thought
out — by each farmer for his own farm.

The water of rains and snows is held upon the
surface for the time, and allowed to percolate into
the soil, if the land is rough and open from recent
plowing, if there is a cover of herbage upon the
land, or if the surface is soft and mellow. Fall
plowing may be advisable in order to catch the
water of the inactive season, and also to expose
hard soils to weathering, and it may hasten the
work of spring. But clay lands with little humus
in them may puddle or cement if fall -plowed, and
if ban-owed and fitted in the fall ; and in the
south all rolling lands are exposed to serious gully-
ing by fall plowing. As a general thing, it is not
advisable to plow fruit plantations in the fall, how-
ever, not only because it may too greatly expose the
roots to the weather, but because it prevents the
ameliorating of such lands by the use of some in-
cidental or catch crop which may be sown after the

Tools with which to Save Moisture. 145

summer tilling is done. The winter covering of
plants is quite as efficient in holding the precipi-
tated water as fall plowing is, and the other ad-
vantages of it are invaluable (as explained in Chap-
ter IV.).

Any body or substance which is interposed be-
tween the air and the moist soil will prevent the
evaporation of the moisture. The ground is moist
underneath a board. So is it underneath a layer
of sawdust or of ashes ; and so is it underneath
a layer of two or three inches of dry earth. It
is expensive and difficult to haul this dry earth
onto the land, and, moreover, it soon becomes hard
and dense, and is no longer a mulch. It is better
to make the mulch on the spot by shallow cultiva-
tion, and to repair the mulch as soon as it be-
comes hard and crusted. The orchardist will, there-
fore, till as often as the land needs it, however
frequent that may be ; but as a general statement
it may be said that fruit- lands ought to be tilled
every ten days and after every rain.

USE OF THE VARIOUS TOOLS IN RELATION TO
CONSERVATION OP MOISTURE.*

Plowing to save moisture .—The first step in the
conservation of moisture must be the preparation of
the land so that the rain will sink down, and not
be carried off by surface drainage. In many sec-

* Adapted from L. A. Clinton, Bnll. 120, Cornell Exp. Sta. For a fuller
diteussion of the subject, consult Roberts' "The Fertility of the Land."

146 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

tions of the country, especially in the southern
states, the great bane to agriculture is the surface
washing of the soil. Owing to shallow plowing
and shallow . cultivation, the water is unable to set-
tle into the hard soil with sufficient rapidity, and
is carried along the surface, producing those gullies
which are there so destructive to farm lands. *

The improvements in the plow have done much
towards remedying these defects, but there is still
much ignorance as to the proper use of this imple-
ment. As an implement to be used in the prepa-
ration of the soil for the reception of moisture, it
stands pre-eminent. Good plowing does not con-
sist— as ordinarily supposed — in merely inverting a
portion of the earth, but in pulverizing and fining
it and burying the sod or refuse which may be
on the surface. The amount of water which a
soil is capable of holding depends directly upon
the fineness of its particles. Then that plow which
will break and pulverize the soil most thoroughly
is the one best adapted to fit the soil for holding
moisture. This point is well illustrated by King in

NOTE.— Pigs. 13 and 14 (pages 147 and 148) are designed to illustrate some
of the leading types of tools which are used for tilling fruit-lands. It is not
the purpose to recommend these particular tools over any others, or, in fact, to
recommend them at all ; but simply to show the reader the range of forms
which are in common use.

Fig. 13. No. 1, An ideal plow (from Roberts' "The Fertility of the Land"):
2, Syracuse vineyard and garden plow; 3, Syracuse swivel plow; 4, Mapes sub-
soil plow ; 5, Deere subsoil plow ; 6, 8, Spike-tooth cultivators ; 7, Gang-plow:
9, Spring-tooth cultivator, with side guards ; 10, Pearce's orchard gang-
plow ; 11, Sherwood harness.

Fig. 14. No. 1, Disc harrow ; 2, Spike-tooth harrow ; 3, Acme harrow ; 4,
Spring-tooth harrow, with side frames ; 5, Sulky cultivator ; 6, Spring-tooth
harrow; 7, Springfield grape-hoe-, 8, Morgan grape-hoe (handle a is a rudder).

Pig. 13. Various tools adapted to tilling of fruit plantations.
(For titles see note, page 146.)

Fig. 14.

Tools adapted to surface tilling of fruit-lands.
(For titles see note, page 146.)

Saving Soil Moisture. 149

''The Soil." He says: "Since each independent soil
grain of a moist soil is more or less completely
surrounded by a film of water, it is evident that,
other conditions being present, the largest aggre-
gate surface area may retain the most water per
cubic foot. Now, a cubic foot of marbles one
inch in diameter possesses an aggregate surface of
27.7 square feet, while if the marbles were reduced
in diameter to one -thousandth of an inch, then the
total area per cubic foot is increased to 37,700
square feet." From this it is evident that the
total amount of water capable of being absorbed
by a soil which is cloddy and lumpy is very slight
in comparison with what it would be were it in a
finely divided state ; and not only is its absorbing
power less, but its power of holding moisture is
also greatly reduced.

A large amount of water is lost during the
winter and spring months, owing to the surface
drainage of melting snows and heavy rainfalls.
To prevent this loss, fall plowing may be prac-
ticed, and when the subsoil is very hard and com-
pact, the use of the subsoil plow may prove most
beneficial. Should the ground break up in clods,
then it may be allowed to remain during the
winter without harrowing, to more thoroughly sub-
ject it to the beneficial action of the elements.
But if the soil is in good mechanical condition,
and in fruit- land, plants should be growing on it
during the winter.

Harrowing to save moisture. — The harrow, besides

150 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

pulverizing and fining the soil for the seed-bed, is
most efficient in furnishing an earth -mulch. The
spring -tooth harrow is in reality a cultivator, and
its action is similar to that of the cultivator.
When used as an instrument to conserve moisture,
the teeth should penetrate to the depth of about
three inches, and to produce the best effect the
ridges left by it should be leveled off by a smoother,
which can now be purchased as an attachment to
the harrow. The tillage of orchards by the harrow
is now practiced extensively, and nothing short of
irrigation will so nearly meet the demands of trees
for moisture, particularly upon the heavier soils.

The Acme harrow is a most excellent implement
on soils which are comparatively free from stones
and rubbish. The plow -like action of its blades
serves to pulverize the soil, to spread the mulch
evenly, and it leaves a most excellent seed-bed.

The cutaway or disc harrows may be either bene-
ficial or of absolute injury. If the discs are so set
that they cover but a portion of the surface with
the mulch, they leave a ridge exposed to the action
of the wind and sun, and the rate of evaporation
is greatly increased. The discs should be set at
such an angle that the whole surface shall be
stirred or covered. Their chief value lies in their
cutting and pulverizing action on clay soils, but as
conservers of moisture they are inferior to the Acme
or the spring -tooth. Soils which need the disc
harrow to pulverize them should generally be gone
over again with some shallower tool.

Cultivating to Save Moisture 151

The mellower the soil, the lighter should be the
work done by the harrow. On most heavy orchard
soils, it will be found necessary to use the heavy
tools, like the spring-tooth and disc harrows, in the
spring, but if the land is properly handled it should
be in such condition as to allow the use of a
spike -tooth or smoothing harrow during summer.
This light summer harrowing should be sufficient to
keep down the weeds, and it preserves the soil-
mulch in most excellent condition. With such a
tool and on land in good tilth, a man can harrow
ten or more acres a day.

Cultivators and conservation of moisture. — The ac-
tion of cultivators is not materially different from
that of the spring -tooth harrow. The size of the
teeth should be regulated by the work to be per-
formed, an implement with many small teeth being
preferable to one with a few large teeth, when the ob-
ject is to conserve moisture. It must be borne in
mind that in a dry time the less surface exposed the
less will be the evaporation. If a large-toothed im-
plement is used to destroy grass and weeds, then it
should be followed by a smoother to reduce the ridges
and prevent loss of moisture. Ridge culture is only
allowable when the object is to relieve the soil of
moisture on bottom lands where the water comes
very near the surface, or for some special crops,
where a high degree of warmth is required early in
the season. In these cases, it rn^y be necessary to
throw up ridges to produce the proper degree of
warmth for germination, but even then the ridges

152 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

should be slight. Nothing could be better calculated
to dry out a potato field or a corn field than throw-
ing the ground up in high ridges, leaving a large
surface exposed to the action of sun and wind.
In fruit plantations which are in a proper state of
cultivation, a small -toothed or even spike -toothed
cultivator will be found sufficient to maintain the
surface mulch.

The roller, in Us relation to soil moisture, is an
implement whose value depends largely upon local
conditions. There is no tool which requires more
judgment as to its proper use. On light, loose,
sandy or gravelly soils, where every effort must be
made to solidify and pack the particles closely to-
gether, the roller must be used repeatedly. The
difficulty with such soils is that the spaces between
the grains are so large that the water is permitted
to pass through freely, and is lost by percolation.
The capillary openings are so large that there is
very feeble rise of the water to take the place of
that used by plants and lost by evaporation. The
roller lessens the size of these pores in solidifying
the soil, and the capillary force is then strong
enough to draw the water to the surface. If, now,
the soil is left in this condition, it has been put
in the best possible form for parting with its
moisture into the atmosphere, and it will take ad-
vantage of the opportunity unless prevented by
establishing a surface mulch. In seeding land in a
dry time, the soil should be rolled in order to bring
sufficient moisture to the seeds to insure germina-

Rolling and Smoothing. 153

tion. When circumstances will permit, the roller
should be followed by a smoothing harrow, that the
surface mulch may be restored and the moisture
stopped before reaching the atmosphere. On clay
lands the roller must be used with much caution.
If used immediately after grain is sown and a heavy
rain follows, there is danger of the soil becoming
so compact on the surface that the tender shoots
are unable to get through, and the most direct con-
nection is established between the soil moisture and
the air. A good method of treatment for clay is
to roll before the seed is sown, then harrow and

Fig. 15. A pluuker or float.

make a good seed bed, and then drill in the grain.
After the plants are well up the roller may be used
again, which will bring the water to the surface,
where the growing plants can make use of it before
it passes off by evaporation.

Various kinds of plankers or floats may be used
in the place of the roller to smoothen and compact
recently tilled lands. A good tool of this kind is
shown in Fig. 15. "To make this cheap and easily-
made adjunct to good cultivation, take two hard-
wood planks, 2x8 inches and 7 feet long, and

154 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

notch them as in the cut, boring a hole at the upper
end to hitch to; the notches should be 8 inches apart
and 2 inches deep ; now nail cross planks on the two
notched bed pieces, using the same sized pieces, 2x8
and 6 or 7 feet long ; let the cross planks project 1
foot at each end over the bed pieces. If more weight
is needed to fine the clay lumps, the driver can ride
the float, or weights can be placed on it. I go over
with this float when seeding to grass, and also in
fitting strawberry ground. I prefer it to a roller, as
it leaves the surface smooth and fine."*

SUGGESTIONS FOB THE TILLING OF FRUIT -LANDS.

Lands which enjoy perfect natural drainage are
particularly desirable for orchards, because they are
not only warm and give up their fertility easily,
but because they also allow of very early cultivation,
which is an important requisite in the management
of orchards. If this perfect natural drainage does
not exist, tile-drainage should be employed until the
soil is brought into the best possible condition. It
should be said that many hard and wet soils make
excellent pear and plum lands when thoroughly tile-
drained. It is a common opinion that only flat lands
need draining, but one often finds rolling lands in
which the subsoil is high and hard, and holds the
water like a dish -pan. Judicious draining not
only carries off the superfluous water, but it also

*H. L. Barton, in Fruit; quoted in Market Garden, Apr., 1897.

Subsoiling. 155

loosens the subsoil and allows it to retain its mois-
ture better in times of drought. An attempt should
be made to bring the land in the various parts of
the orchard into conditions as uniform as possible,
so that the same tillage and treatment may be ap-
plied to the entire area. All hard and "sour" spots
should receive particular care in drainage and subju-
gation, or they should be left outside the plantation.

Lands which have hard and impervious subsoils
should be plowed very deep before trees are put
upon them ; and in some cases, as for dwarf pears,
it may pay well to use the subsoil plow. It should
be borne in mind, however, that the subsoil plow is
not always a fundamental corrective of hard subsoils,
for it does not remove the cause. The subsoil may
gradually settle back into its old condition, and land
cannot be completely subsoiled after it is planted to
trees. In the case of strawberries, raspberries, and
other short -rotation fruits, the subsoil plow may be
used at frequent intervals; but in lands which are to
be planted to orchards, the tile drain is a more per-
fect ameliorator of the subsoil than the subsoil plow-
is. Yet even the one subsoiling may serve a use-
ful purpose in sending the roots downwards at the
start, and this advantage will be the greater when
the superfluous water removes itself rapidly from the
hard-pan.

The soil in which orchards are set should always
be in a thorough state of cultivation at the time the
trees are planted; that is, whether in sod or in hoed
crops, the land should be in good tilth or physical

156 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

condition, fertile, and free from hard or "sour" places
and pernicious weeds. There are exceptions to this
rule in the case of certain rocky or steep lands upon
which it is desired to set apples; but for all orchards
which are planted directly for commercial results,
this advice has few, if any, exceptions. It is gener-
ally best to put the land into hoed crops the sen son
before the trees are set, as potatoes or corn; although
sod land, if well fitted and naturally in good heart,
often gives excellent results when turned over and
set at once to orchards. But most soils need the
previous cultivation to bring them into a mellow and
uniform condition. Many of the "bad places" in or-
chards, where trees die out the first two or three
years, could have been discovered and corrected if
the land had been devoted to one or several hoed
crops, for the owner would have observed that they
were too wet or too lumpy, or had other serious de-
fects. Lands look more uniform when in sod than
when cultivated, and the farmer may be led to over-
estimate their value for orchard purposes. It may
also be said that the familiarity with a particular
piece of land, which comes of frequent cultivation,
enables the careful grower to judge accurately of its
adaptability to particular fruits or even to special
varieties.

The best tillage is that which begins early in the
season, and which keeps the surface stirred until late
summer or early fall, and the best implements are
those which secure this result with the least amount
of time and labor. For the first few years, it is gen-

Plowing Orchards. 157

erally advisable to turn the land rather deep with a
plow at the first spring cultivation. For the subse-
quent cultivation of the season, there are many styles
of clod crushers, spring- tooth harrows, cut-aways and
smoothing harrows, which adapt themselves readily to
the cultivation of the particular soil in question.
There is no single style of tool which is best for all
soils or for all years. As a general statement, it may
be said that for all heavy lands the fruit-grower
needs four types of harrows,— the cut-away, or
spading -harrow type for hard land, and the first
spring work ; the spring -tooth type, the Acme or
clod -crusher type, and the smoothing -harrow type.
The last is to be used only to make and maintain the
surface mulch after the land has been got in fine
tilth. In all friable or loose soils, shallow cultivation
is always preferable. When the land is once in good
condition, but little effort and time are required to
run through the orchard. Crust should never be al-
lowed to form upon the surface, and weeds should be
killed before they become firmly established. The
entire surface of the orchard should be thoroughly
stirred as often as once in ten days or two weeks
whilst the tillage lasts.

In general, level culture is best. This is secured
by plowing one year to the trees and the following
year away from them; one year north and south, and
the next year east and west. It is somewhat difficult
to plow away from large trees, however, and with the
cultivators or harrows now in use, it is easy to work
the soil away by subsequent cultivation, allowing the

158

The Principles of Frnit- growing.

furrow to be thrown towards the tree each spring,
particularly if the land is in good tilth; but it is al-
ways advisable, upon fairly level ground, to plow the
orchard in opposite directions in alternate years.
Land which is so wet that it needs to be thrown
permanently into ridges for drainage
is not often adapted to fruit.

The difficulty of working close to
the trees has had the effect of en-
couraging too high pruning. There
is a tendency to start tops too high
rather than too low, thereby exposing
great length of trunk to injuries of
sun and wind, and elevating the top
beyond the reach of pickers and of
sprays. For most trees the ideal
length of trunk is under five feet
rather than above it, and implements
now in the market allow of this
lower training. Trees which have
low tops, or which hang low with
fruit, can be reached by separating
the halves of any of the double
Fig. 16. Set-over harrows by means of a long dou-
beam vineyard plow, bletree, so that the halves, when ad-
justed, run from four to six feet
from each other. A cut-away harrow rigged in
this manner will work away the back -furrows from
under the trees during the season. All cultivators or
harrows with high handles, wheels or levers should
be discarded if orchards are worked when the limbs

Tillage of the young Orchard. 159

bend low with fruit. An implement of the grape -
hoe type may be used with advantage in some eases
to loosen the earth about the trees. A single -horse
plow, with a set-over beam (as in Fig. 16), is also
most excellent for plowing close to trees and bushes.
The objection to medium -low heads to trees arises
from the use of the old-fashioned implements of till-
age, and also from a misconception of what the
plowing of an old orchard should be, for if the or-
chard is properly cared for in its earlier years, heavy
plowing will not be needed in its later life.

This labor of working about trees is greatly facil-
itated by the use of harnesses which have no metal
projections. There should be no names with elevated
tops, and the turrets on the back -pads should be
simply leather loops. The back -pad itself should be
reduced to a single wide strap entirely devoid of
wadding. Harnesses of the Sherwood type, with no
traces, but drawing by a single chain between the
horses, are excellent in orchards, as they require no
whiffletrees, and they are likewise handy and efficient.

The better the plowing and other tillage of the
orchard in the first few years of its life, the easier
and more efficient the subsequent plowing will be. If
care is taken to keep the land friable and well -filled
with humus, it may not be necessary to turn furrows
at the spring plowing after four or five years. Per-
sons commonly suppose that an orchard must be
plowed the same as corn or potato ground is, by in-
verting the land and running regular furrows ; but
inasmuch as the object is simply to keep the land

160

The Principles of Fruit -growing.

mellow on top, and not to get a crop
into it, heavy plowing is not essen-
tial. Very often some of the heavier
harrows or light gang- plows may be
used to tear up the ground in spring,
if the land has been got into proper
shape when the plantation was young.
This is especially true in light lands
upon which peaches are generally
grown. If cover crops are to be
plowed under, these remarks will not
apply with equal force. In the first
few years, however, it is essential to
plow moderately deep in order to break
up the soil and to send the roots down,
as explained farther on. A world of
trouble with the orchard will be saved
if the suggestions in this paragraph
are fully understood.

Specific remarks.— 1. Begin to till
when the orchard is planted, and till
the entire surface. If trees are prop-

Root -growth in Trees. 161

erly set, and if cultivation is begun the first year,
the roots will go deep enough to escape the plow.
The roots of trees spread much farther than the tops.
I will give some examples from trees of which we
have carefully measured the tops and roots. Fig. 17
shows a standard Howell pear tree set in 1889 and
photographed in 1895. It grows on a hard clay knoll.
The full spread of the top is seven feet. Two roots
were laid bare, and they ran off in one direction to
a distance of twenty-one feet. Assuming that they
ran an equal distance in the other direction, the
spread of roots was forty-two feet, or just six times
that of the top. And yet it is commonly said that
the spread of roots and tops is about equal! Now,
these roots were long and whip -like. The soil was
so poor that they were obliged to search far and
wide for pasture. Compare Fig. 18. This is a Fall
Orange apple, also set in 1889, in rich, well tilled soil.
Here the roots are in good pasture, and they remain
at home; yet their spread is twice that of the top.
The top of this tree had a diameter of eight feet,
and we followed the roots eight feet upon the side in
which we dug. These object lessons enforce the im-
portance of tilling all the land between trees.

But these figures teach another lesson. Even
at their highest point, the roots of Fig. 17 are
eight inches below the surface. They escape the
plow. A like remark applies to Fig. 18. Now
look at Fig. 19. This tree is the same age as
the others, but has always stood in sod. The
roots ran ten feet in one direction and the total

162

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

spread of the top was six feet ; but the roots lie
just underneath the surface. This land could not
be plowed without great injury to the tree. Let
us consider the relation
of this tree to moisture:
the roots are in the dri-
est part of the soil ; the
grass is pumping out the
water and locking it up
in its own tissues and
sending it into the at-
mosphere with great ra-
pidity ; the soil is baked,
and pulls up the water
by capillary attraction and
discharges it into the air ;
there is no tillage to stop
this waste by spreading
a mulch of loose and dry
soil over the earth. If

Fig. 18. Roots of a young apple tree in rich tilled land.

one were to sink a well under this tree and were
to erect a windmill and pump, he could not so
completely deprive the tree of moisture! And the

Tillage in Young Orchards.

163

less moisture, the less food! And yet this is a com-
mon method of treating fruit -trees!

In young orchards, then,
it is commonly best to plow
rather deep — say six to eight
inches— in order to send the
roots down. Of course, the
plow should not be run deep
close to the trunk of the
tree. The careful plowman
will turn out his plow when
he comes within a couple
of feet of the tree. This
deep plowing for a few
years will ameliorate the
land, establish the root -habit
of the tree, and obviate
the necessity of laborioiis
plowing in after years.

2. Tillage should be be-
gun early in the season,
in orchards. Trees com-
plete most of their growth
by the first of July. Early
tillage saves the moisture

Fig. 19. Roots of u young apple tree in sod land.

164 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

which has accumulated during the winter and spring;
it is capable of putting the soil in fine mechanical
condition, and this condition is as important as fer-
tility ; it warms up the soil and sets the plants
quickly to work ; it turns under the herbage when
that herbage is soft and moist and when there is
moisture in the soil, so that the herbage soon breaks
down and decays. All catch crops on the orchard
should be plowed under just as soon as the ground
is dry enough in the spring, for these crops soon
pump the water from the soil and cause it to bake
and cement together, and the longer they remain the
more difficult it is to cause them to rot when turned
under. Hard and woody herbage, plowed under late
in the season, may remain as a foreign body in
the soil all summer, breaking the connection be-
tween the upper and the lower soil, and thereby
preventing the upward movement of the water and
causing the top soil to completely dry out. The
chief value of crimson clover, rye, or other catch
crop in the orchard lies in its fall growth and
its protection of the soil in winter, not in its
growth in spring.

Few people are aware that the season of growth
in most woody plants extends scarcely to midsum-
mer. It is worthy of note that most, if not all-
native trees and shrubs cease growing very early in
the season. This is no doubt one reason why they
are able to endure the winter. Plants which cease
growing early, and which mature their wood well,
are often said to be determinate in their growth,

Early Growth of Trees. 165

while those of opposite habit are said to be inde-
terminate. It is, of course, apparent that plants of
indeterminate growth are not hardy, as a rule. A
series of careful measurements of growth was made
upon various trees and shrubs at Lansing, Michigan,
in 1886, and some of the records are presented be-
low.* The last date in each case designates the ter-
mination of growth for the year. It will be
observed that very few of the plants grew until
July. This fact is illustration and proof that in
our rigorous climate cultivation should stop early,
and that it should be vigorous at the opening of
the season.

RECORDS OF GROWTH.!

Acer dasycarpum — May 12th, 1 in.; 16th, 2 in.; 25th, 4 in.;.
June 6th, 7 in.; 13th, 9 in.; 20th, 10 in.; 29th, 12 in.

*Accr Pennsylvanicum— May 12th, 2 in.; 18th, 4 in.; 20th,
5 in.; 26th, 7 in.

Acer platanoides—M.&y 12th, 3 in. ; 16th, 4 in. ; 20th, 5 in.

Acer Pseudo-Platanus—May 14th, 6 in.; 18th, 8 in.; 16th, 12
in. ; 30th, 13 in. ; June 6th, 20 in. ; 13th, 23 in. ; 20th, 24 in.

Acer rubrum—May 26th, 5 in.; 30th, 6 in.; June 6th, 9 in.;
13th, 10 in.

* Bailey, Bull. 31, Mich. Agr. College, 73.

t In making the measurements recorded above, one average shoot was
selected on each plant, and measured from time to time during the growing
season. The drought may have checked growth to some degree, although it did
not become severe until the end of June. Most of the plants stood upon the
eampus, with no cultivation. A few were younger, and stood in the rows of a
closely planted arboretum, where they received occasional cultivation, or
in a newly-pl anted group, where the soil was frequently hoed; these plants
are designated by asterisks.

166 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Acer spicatum— May 18th, 1 in.; 20th, 2 in.; 30th, 3 in. ;
June 6th, 5 in.; 13th, 6 in.; 29th, 10 in.; July 5th, 11 in.,
llth, 12 in.

Msculus glabra—May 12th, 5 in.; 14th, 10 in.; 18th, 11 in.;
20th, 12 in.; 26th, 13 in.; 30th, 14 in.

jEsculus Hippocostanum—M.ay 5th, 2 in.; 12th, 5 in.; 14th, 7
in.; 20th, 10 in.; 25th, 13 in.; 30th, 13 in.

&sculus parviflora— May 5th, 2 in.; 25th, 6 in.; June 6th, 8
in.; 10th, 9 in.; 16th, 10 in.; 29th, 12 in.

A Inus glutinosa— May 14th, >£in.; 18th, 1 in.; 30th, 2 in.;
June 6th, 3 in. ; 20th, 4 in.

*Alnus maritima—'M.&y 20th, 1 in.; 26th, 2 in.; June 1st, X in.

Alnus serrulata— May 18th, 4 in., 25th, 8 in.; 30th, 12 in.:
June 6th, 13 in.; 13th, 14 in.; 20th, 16 in.

Amelanchier Canadensis—Maj 12th, 1 in.; 14th, 2 in.; 18th,

3 in. ; 20th, 4 in. ; 26th, 7 in. ; 30th, 8 in.

Amorphn fruticosa— May 12th, 1 in.; 14th, 2 in.; 18th, 4 in.;
20th, 6 in.; 26th, 10 in.; 30th, 11 in.; June 6th, 12 in.

Ampelojms quinquefolia — May 26th, 14 in.; 30th, 16 in.; June
6th, 24 in.; 13th, 30 in.; 20th, 36 in.; 29th, 38 in.

Aralia spinosa—May 26th, 4 in.; 30th, 5 in.; June 13th, 5%
in.; 20th, 6 in.

Berberis vu1garis—M.ay 26th, 8 in ; June 1st, 12 in.; 6th, 14
in.; 13th, 17 in ; 20th, 18 in.; 29th, 20 in.

Betula alba, var.— May 12th, 1 in.; 20th, 2 in.; 25th, 4 in.;
30th, 5 in.; June 6th, 7 in.; 10th, 8 in.; 19th, 10 in.

*Betula lenta—May 26th, 1 in.; June 1st, 2 in.; 13th, 6 in.:
20th, 10 in.

Betula Zwtea— May 25th, 1 in.; 30th, 2 in.; June 6th, 3 in.;
13th, 4 in.; 29th, 5 in.

Betula papyrifera — May 18th, 1 in.; 20th, 2 in.; 26th, 3 in.;
June 1st, 3>£ in.; 6th, 4 in.; 20th, 5 in.

* Betula alba var. populifolia—'M.ay 18th, 1 in.; 20th. 1% in.;
26th, 3 in.; June 1st, 4 in.; 6th, 6 in.; 13th, 7 in.; 19th, 12 in.;
29th, 14 in.

Carpinus Caroliniana—M.ay 25th, 1 in.; 30th, 2 in.; June 6th,

4 in.; 13th, 5 in.; 20th, 6 in.

Early growth of Trees. 167

Carya alba— May 20th, 3 in.; 30th, 8 in.; June 6th, 9 in.;
13th, 9% in.

Carya amara— May 25th, 3 in.; 30th, 3% in.; June 3rd, 4 in.;
13th, 4>£ in.

*Carya sulcata—May 18th, 6 in.; 20th, 8 in.; 26th, 12 in.;
.Mine 1st, 14 in.

*Castanea pumila—May 18th, 3 in.; 20th, 4 in.; June 19th,
12 in.

Castanea resca, — May 16, 1 in.; 26tn, 2 in.; June 1st, 2% in.;
13th, 3 in.

*Catalpa Kcempferi—M.&y 16th, 5 in.; 18th, 6 in.; 26th, 12 in-.;
30th, 14 in.; June 6th, 16 in.; 13th, 20 in.; 20th, 24 in.; 29th,
28 in.

Celtis occidental— May 18th, 3 in.; June 13th, 10 in.
*Cercis Canadensis—May 18th, 2 in., June 29th, 15 in.
Cladrastis tincloria—M&y 9th, 1 in.; June 20th, 18 in.
Cornus florida—U&y 25th, 2 in. ; 30th, 1% in. ; June 6th, 3
in.; 13th, 4 in.; 20th, 5 in.; 29th, 6 in.
*Cornus Sifcmra— May 16th, 1 in.; June 29th, 12 in.
Cratcegus Crus-galli — May 9th, 1 in.; June 13th, 7 in.
Cratcegus Oxyacantha—May 12th, 3 in.; June 29th, 22 in.
*Euanymus atropurpureus — May 18th, 6 in.; June 19th, 13 in.

Fagus ferruginea— May 18th, 2 in.; 26th, 5 in.; 30th, 8 in.
*Frajrinus pubescens—May 14th, 2 in.; 18th, 4 in.; 20th, 6 in.;
26th, 8 in.

Gleditschia triacanthos—June 1st, 2 in.; 20th, 12 in.
Liriodendron Tulipifera — May 26th, 1 in.; 30th, 2 in.; June
6th, 3 in.; 29th, 5 in.; July 5th, 6 in.

*Maclura owranttaca— May 18th, 1 in.; July 10th, 37 in.
Magnolia acuminata—JAay 20th, 1 in.; June 29th, 6 in.
Philadelphus coronarius—May 12th, 3 in.: June 19th, 19 in.
Platamis occidentals— May 26th, 1 in.; July 5th, 9 in.
*Platanus orientalis—May 18th, 3 in.; 20th, 4 in.; 26th, 8 in.;
June 1st, 12 in.; 6th, 16 in.; 13th, 24 in.; 29th, 40 in.; July
llth, 44 in.; 25th, 52 in.; Aug. 3d, 56 in., still growing.

*Populus alba var. Bolleana — May 12th, 2 in. ; August 3rd,
32 in.

168 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Populus grandidentata var. pendula — May 12th, 2% in. ; June
29th, 17 in.

Populus monilifera—May 16th, 2 in.; June 19th, 6 in.

Prunus nana — May 16th, 3 in. ; 26th, 5 in. ; June 1st, 7 in.

Prunus Pissardii—M.ay 8th, 5 in. ; June 13th 10 in.

Prunus serotina—May 12th, 7 in.; 30th, 14 in.

Prunus Firginiana—May 12th, 3 in.; 26th, 6 in.

Pyrus Aucuparia — May 3d, % in.; June 6th, 12 in.
*Pyrus Mains— May 9th, 2 in. ; 26th, 8 in.

Quercus alba— May 12th, 2 in.; 18th, 6 in.; 26th, 13 in.
*Quercus tricolor— May 9th, 2 in.; July 5th, 12 in.

Quercus coccinea var. tinctoria — May 12th, 1 in. ; June 13th,
7 in.

*Quercus ilicifolia—May 14th. 3 in.; June 6th, 13 in.
*Quercus imbricaria—May 12th, 2 in.; June 6th, 20 in.

Quercus macrocarpa—May 16th, 4 in.; 20th, 6 in.; 25th,
12 in.; 30th, 13 in.; June 6th, 14 in.

Quercus nigra — May 12th, 5 in.; June 6th, 14 in.

Bibes floridum—May 12th, 2 in.; June 6th, 12 in.

Bobinia hispida—May 18th, 2 in.; June 19th, 12 in.

Bobinia Pseudacacia—M.ay 12th, 1 in.; 18th, 2 in.; 26th,
3 in.; 30th, 4 in.: June 6th, 5 in.; 13th 6 in.; 20th, 7 in.;
29th, 9 in.; Jnly fth, 10 in.

*Salix Babyloniea— May 9th, % in.; 12th, 2 in.; 16th, 3 in.;
20th, 4 in.; 26th, 6 in.; June 1st, 12 in.; 13th, 16 in.; July
llth, 27 in.; 19th, 34 in.; 25th, 40 in.; Aug. 3d, 42 in.

Syringa vulgaris—May 3d, 4 in.; 9th, 8 in.; 12th, 12 in.;
18th, 13 in. ; 26th, 14 in.

Tilia Americana— May 14th, 2 in. ; 18th, 3 in. ; 20th, 5 in.. ;
26th, 11 in.; June 1, 12 in.; 6th, 13 in.

Vitis riparia—May 14th, 1 in.; 30th, 15 in.

3. Tillage should generally be stopped in late sum-
mer or very early fall. The • tree has completed its
growth. It must now ripen and prepare for winter.
It can spare some of the moisture which comes with

Mistakes in Orchard Culture. 169

the fall rains. We may, therefore, sow some catch
or cover crop. (See Chapter IV.)

4. Till in such manner that the land shall be
in uniformly fine tilth. Every good farmer knows that
the value of his crop depends more upon the tilth
of the soil than upon the mere richness of it. Fer-
tility is largely locked up in poorly tilled lands.
Orchards which are plowed late in spring are usu-
ally in bad condition all the season, especially if the
soil is clay. Fall plowing upon stiff and bare lands
is apt to result in the puddling of the soil by the
rain and snow, as already explained; if there is sod
on the land, this injury is less likely to follow.
In general, it is best to let orchard lands pass the
winter under a catch crop.

5. Remember that tillage may be overdone. Trees
may be made to grow too much wood, and there-
fore too little fruit, and they may be sent into the
winter in soft and unripened condition. If land is
in good tilth, as it is when in best condition for
the growing of potatoes or melons, tillage beyond
that needed to conserve the moisture is useless ; and
even this conservation -tillage may well stop in late
summer in very many cases, as already indicated
It is a common practice to severely head -in trees
which are making a too vigorous growth, but this
practice usually aggravates the difficulty rather than
corrects it. The fundamental treatment for such
trees is to check the growth by some means, as by
lessening the tillage or by withholding stimulating
fertilizers.

170 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

CROPPING THE ORCHARD.

It will now be asked what crops may be grown
in the orchard. Grain and hay, never! Any hoed
crop may be used for the first few years ; but it
must be remembered that every crop competes with
the trees for food and moisture, and whatever may
befall the crop, the trees should not be allowed to
suffer. An open space should be left about the tree,
free of crops, at least several feet in extent. As
a general statement, it may be said that a space
three feet wide should be left upon all sides of the
tree the first year, and this area should be enlarged
a foot or two each year ; and this space should con-
tinue to enlarge until the trees occupy the entire sur-
face. Corn and some other luxuriant plants appro-
priate moisture more quickly than the tree can.
In general, some low -growing crop which demands
good tillage and comes off the land early is best.
The notion that young trees should be shaded by a
<-rop is probably erroneous for most regions. In
orchards set less than twenty feet apart, the land
should rarely be cropped after the third year ; but
apple orchards, if well cared for, may be cropped
lightly for seven or eight years. In no case should
the grower expect to secure as much crop upon
orchard land as upon other areas ; and the drier
the land, the less should it be cropped. When the
orchard comes to bearing age, give it the entire land.
Thereafter, the most profitable secondary crop to raise
is cultivators.

Crops for Fruit Plantations. 171

In general, it may be said that only those crops
are allowable in a fruit plantation which demand
such treatment as to improve the land for the fruit
plants. The growing of light crops is a means of
keeping the land stirred when it might otherwise be
neglected ; and if the grower is careful to see that
the physical condition of the land is improved, and
adds enough plant -food to supply the loss, the light
Cropping of orchards for the first few years may be
a decided benefit. At all events, cultivated crops
are better fhan sod. The danger is that the fruit-
grower will continue the cropping too long, and
«ixpect too much from it. In an orchard, the crops
ought to pay for taking care of the land until the
trees come into bearing. Strawberries and the bush
fruits may be advantageously set in alternate rows
with beans or potatoes, and the same tillage is re-
quired for each crop.

Only annual crops should be grown in fruit plan-
tations. The growing of nursery stock in orchards
—a frequent practice in parts of the north— should
be discouraged.* This crop makes essentially the
same demands upon the land as the orchard itself,
and it does not allow of those variations in culti-
vation and management which may be essential to
the varying seasons. It may be true that enough
fertilizer can be placed upon the land to replace the
loss of plant -food, but it is rarely done ; and, more
than this, the nursery stock drinks up the moisture

*The double-planting of fruit lands— the mixing of different kinds of fruits
-is discussed in Chapter V,

172 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

which should be used by the orchard. Nursery
stock is known to be particularly hard upon land,
so much so that nurserymen seldom grow two crops
of fruit-tree stocks in succession upon the same
area; but this injury to the land is an impairment
of phj'sical condition rather than exhaustion of plant-
food. (See Chapter IV.)

Sod may sometimes be allowed in an orchard if it
is closely pastured, but hay should never be cut. Sod
lands are not only drier than cultivated ground, but
they are favorite breeding places of insects. Borers
are particularly bad in grass land. No stone fruits
should ever be allowed to stand in sod, and the same
may be said of dwarf pears. Apples and standard
pears may now and then be seeded with safety, but
it is certainly true that, in general, fruit decreases in
proportion as sod increases. Very thrifty young
apple and pear orchards may sometimes be thrown
into bearing by seeding them down for a time, but
the sod should be broken up before the trees become
checked in vigor. The whole question as to whether
sod is hurtful or beneficial to an orchard is a local
one. The grower must determine it for himself. If
the orchard is in sod and is not doing well, the best
advice in general is to plow and till it. Certainly it
is better to make tillage the rule and sod the excep-
tion, than to start out with the intention of growing
an orchard in grass and cultivating it only when
forced to do so. It is better to pasture an orchard
than to allow the grass to grow at will, but close
pasturing can by no means take the place of tillage.

Remedy for Unprofitable Orchards. 173

If one wants to raise hay or grain, it is cheapest to
grow it where there are no trees to bother. If he
wants to grow apples or grapes, he had better choose
some other place than a meadow or grain field. The
use of clover and other temporary cover crops as a
means of fertilizing the land is another matter, and
is discussed in the next chapter.

Most apple orchards are in sod, and growers are
always asking if they shall be plowed up. If the
growers of apples are satisfied with the crops, let the
orchards alone ; but if it is thought that better crops
are desirable, do not hesitate to make an effort to
obtain them. It is surprising that the disastrous fail-
ures of recent years have not awakened farmers to
the necessity of really doing something for their
orchards. Now and then an enterprising man makes
an energetic attempt and is rewarded, but the greater
number continue to exercise the most thoroughgoing
neglect and to bewail the failure of the crop. Yes,
plow the old apple orchard ; then fertilize and spray
it. Or, if the roots are too near the surface to allow
of plowing, harrow it thoroughly when the turf is
soft in spring, and continue to work it during the
season. If this is not feasible, then pasture it closely
with sheep or hogs, feeding the stock at the same
time. If this cannot be done, and the orchard is
unprofitable, cut it down.

When orchards begin to bear well, the crops
should be discontinued. Young orchards may some-
times be summer -fallowed with the very best results
if the land is hard and intractable. This fallowing

174 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

is clean cultivation. This is often the quickest and
cheapest way of bringing such lands into fit condi-
tion for the growing of the fruit, and the longer
the process is delayed after the plants are set, the
more difficult and the less efficient the labor will
be. This summer -fallow should be begun very early
in the season and continued until midsummer, at
which time some cover crop may be sown.

CHAPTER IV.
THE FERTILIZING OF FRUIT LANDS.

ANY land which is fit for the growing of crops
will maintain a fruit plantation throughout its exist-
ence without the addition of plant -food, and enable
the trees to produce at the same time a normal quan-
tity and quality of fruit. But the profit in fruit-
growing lies in securing the extra normal or superior
quantity and quality, and this result demands fertiliz-
ing of the land and every other good care. How
much plant -food the farmer should add to his land
depends upon the amount of increase or profit which
he secures. It is a matter of business, an item of
profit and loss. If the fruit-grower applies five tons
of fertilizer to every acre and secures a profit on the
investment, the quantity is none too large ; but in
many instances it is a loss of the material to add
anything. The successful merchant is the one who is
dissatisfied with a normal and common trade, but he
forces the demand by attracting and interesting his
customers beyond the point of their actual needs.

There are many causes which contribute to the
unsatisfactory results of applying fertilizers, but the
commonest one is lack of proper tillage and prepara-
tion of the land. Poorly-tilled land, as we have
(175)

176 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

seen, not only refuses to yield up its own stores of
wealth, but it will delay and even preclude the good
results from plant -foods which may be added to it.
The first thing to do, then, is to make it possible
for the plant to grow. Make the physical and en-
vironmental conditions right, and the addition of
plant -food will be felt and appreciated. The plant
must be made comfortable before it will thrive. A
cow will not relish even the fanciest ration if she
shivers with cold.

The grower must set himself in line with nat-
ural methods. He must see that the soil has a
good supply of humus or decaying organic matter
(got from crops turned under, dressings of stable
manure, muck, and the like), and that it generally
has some cover upon it. Early in the season, this
cover is the surface mulch of cultivated soil, and
later it is the cover crop of rye or crimson clover,
or something of the kind.

Nature is a kindly and solicitous mother. She
knows that bare land becomes unproductive land.
Its elements must be unlocked and worked over
and digested by the roots of plants. The surface
must be covered to catch the rains and to hold
the snows, to retain the moisture, and to prevent
the baking and cementing of the soil. The plant
tissues add fiber and richness to the land, and
make it amenable to all the revivifying influences
of sun and rain and air and warmth. The plant
is co -partner with the weather in the building of
the primal soils. The lichen spreads its thin sub-

Evolution of Soils. 177

stance over the rock, sending its fibers into the
crevices and filling the chinks, as they enlarge, with
the decay of its own structure ; and finally the
rock is fit for the moss or fern or creeping vine, each
newcomer leaving its impress by which some later
newcomer may profit. Finally the rock is disinte-
grated and comminuted, and is ready to be still
further elaborated by corn and ragweed. Nature
intends to leave no vacant or bare surfaces. She
providently covers the railway embankment with
quack -grass or willows, and she scatters daisies in
the old meadows where the land has grown sick
and tired of grass. If one pulls up a weed, he
must quickly fill the hole with some other plant, or
nature will tuck another weed into it. Man is yet
too ignorant or too negligent to care for the land,
and nature must still stand at his back and sup-
plement the work which he so shabbily performs.
She knows no plants as weeds. They are all
equally useful to her. It is only when we come to
covet some plant that all those which attempt to
crowd it out become weeds to us. If, therefore, we
are competent to make a choice of plants in the first
place, we should also be able to maintain the
choice against intruders. It is only a question of
which plants we desire to cultivate.

We must keep the land at work, for it grows
richer and better for the exercise. A good crop on
the laud, aided by good tillage, will keep down all
weeds. The weeds do not "run out" the sod, but
the sod has grown weak through some fault of

178 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

our own, and thus the dandelions and plantains find
a chance to live. So the best treatment for a
weedy lawn is more grass. Loosen up the poor
places with an iron garden rake, scatter a little
fertilizer, and then sow heavily of grass seed. Do
not plow up the lawn, for then you undo all that
has been accomplished ; you kill all the grass and
leave all the ground open for a free fight with
every ambitious weed in the neighborhood. If the
farmer occupies only half the surface of his field
with oats, the other half is bound to be occupied
with mustard or wild carrot or pigweed ; but if his
land is all taken with oats, few other plants can
thrive. So, a weedy farm is a poorly farmed farm.
But if it does get foul and weedy, then what ?
Then use a short, quick, sharp rotation. Keep the
ground moving or keep it covered. No Russian
thistle or live -for -ever or jimson-weed can ever keep
pace with a lively and resourceful farmer.

THE LESSON OF NURSERY LANDS.

The injurious effects of leaving soils bare, and
of tilling at untimely seasons, are well illustrated
in most nursery plantations. The best nursery
lands are the "strong" lands, or those which con-
tain a basis of clay, and these are the ones which
soonest suffer under unwise treatment. The nur-
sery land is kept under clean culture, and it is,
therefore, deeply pulverized. There is practically no
herbage on the soil to protect it during the winter.

Depletion of Nursery Lands. 179

When the crop is removed, even the roots are
taken out of the soil. For four or five years, the
land receives practically no vegetation which can rot
and pass into humus ; and then, the trees are dug
in the fall, often when the soil is in unfit condition,
and this fall digging amounts to a fall plowing. The
soil, deeply broken and robbed of its humus, runs
together and cements itself before the following sum-
mer ; and it then requires three or four years of
"rest" in clover or other herbage crop to bring it
back into its rightful condition. This resting
period allows nature — if man grants her the privi-
lege—to replace the fiber in the soil, and to make it
once more so open and warm and kindly that
plants can find a congenial root -hold in it.

The following synoptical sketch of the causes of
the so-called wearing -out of nursery lands will
serve to bring the question of productivity of lands
into its proper relationships and perspectives:*

a. The fertility of the noil. — There are two analytical means
of determining the fertility of the land. One method deter-
mines the chemical constitution, and the other the mechani-
cal or physical condition.

Chemistry determines the amount and kind of plant-food
in the soil, but it cannot tell just how useful this food may
be to the plant. This depends upon the physical condition
of the land, or upon the relation of the soil to warmth,
moisture, air and mechanical constitution. The plant is not
simply a passive agent, taking in the food which is pre-
sented to it, but it is actively engaged in searching for and
appropriating food.

* L. H. Bailey, before American Association of Nurserymen, at Chicago, as
reported in Garden and Forest, June 24, 189B.

180 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

The actual fertility of the soil depends, therefore, upon
the plant as well as upon the land. The better and more
comfortable the plant, the more food it can appropriate from
a given soil ; hence that soil is practically the richer. The
chemist does not determine the physical conditions which
make the plant comfortable and active. In other words, the
amount of plant-food in the soil is only one of the ele-
ments in the fertility of the land.

In most instances as much depends upon the physical
condition of the soil as upon its chemical constitution, and
in many cases even more depends upon it.

Soil is derived from two sources — rock and organic mat-
ter. Each is essential to it. Without the rock matter it
would lose body and staying qualities. Without the organic
matter it would lose life, or "heart" and activity.

Nature adds the organic matter to the soil by growing
plants upon it and then incorporating their remains with it.
Everywhere the process of soil -building is now going on.
The longer the soil is in crops the richer it becomes, al-
though the relative amount of mineral matter which it con-
tains may be decreasing at the same time.

Nature makes the soil richer, then, both by fining and
digesting the mineral matter and by ameliorating its physical
condition through the incorporation of humus or organic
matter.

This fining process must ultimately cease, but the addi-
tion of humus never ceases. The final and complete en-
richment of the soil, therefore, must come largely as the
result of the incorporation of humus with it.

The chief value of this humus is not to directly afford
plant-food, but to improve the conditions of temperature,
moisture, aeration and the like.

b. Man's treatment of the land. — Man's chief desire is to
use the organic products of the land. He consumes the
plant product. As a consequence, cultivated soils soon tend
to become hard, dense, heavy and lifeless, and the more
clay- like the land the more pronounced is the result.

The Best Nursery Lands. 181

The best and richest farm soils are those which are
loamy — that is, those which are friable, soft and dark-colored.
This loamy condition is brought about largely by the ad-
dition of stable -manures and green crops.

Every ordinary soil tends to lose its humus sooner than
its mineral plant-food, and most so-called exhausted soils
are injured in their physical condition rather than exhausted
of their fertility.

It follows, therefore, that the addition of mere plant-food
cannot entirely restore the generality of worn-out lands.
The physical condition must always receive first attention.
The addition of concentrated fertilizers is not a fundamental
corrective of poor lands in the vast majority of cases. It
should be considered as a supplement to the treatment of the
land by means of tillage and cropping.

If man's reward from the cultivation of the laud is so
unlike nature's, it follows that one cannot copy the prac-
tices of nature in the treatment of the land. Yet, in every
generation, there are men who proclaim that because nature
neither plows nor tills, therefore man should not. The only
infallible guide to the proper treatment of the soil is experi-
ence, not mere science, nor speculation ; but science explains
the laws and directs the application of them when once ex-
perience has discovered them.

In fact, experience is law, for experience that persists is
that which gives consecutively uniform results under like con-
ditions. All experience proves that frequent tillage and the
addition of humus quickly and invariably ameliorate and im-
prove the soil. It is folly to attempt to controvert the facts
by mere speculation. On the other hand, experience proves
that the addition of chemical fertilizers does not invariably
visibly benefit the soil ; therefore, the value of such applica-
tions must depend upon local or transient conditions.

c. Tlie nursery lands. — The best nursery lands, at least in
New York state, are those which contain much clay. This
soil is the most easily injured by unwise or careless treat-
ment and by the loss of organic matter.

182 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

The nursery crop occupies the land for three to five years.
During all this time the land receives no addition of organic
matter, and finally even the roots are taken out of it. In
very many cases the trees are planted and dug when the soil
is wet or very dry, and, it is therefore, quickly and very se-
riously injured in its "grain," or its physical condition.

Nurserymen find that if the land is rested in clover or
grass for a few years it will again grow trees. This rota-
tion, like all others, is a means of ameliorating the physical
condition of the soil as well as the chemical condition of
it. A part of the rotation must aim at the incorporation of
humus. Therefore, every famous rotation has a "rest" crop in it.

An incidental advantage of any rotation is the variety of
tillage imposed by it. A rotation of tools and of methods
and seasons of working the land, is often as important ;;s
the other results of alternate cropping.

Extended figures of chemical analyses* of nursery stock
show that the amounts of potash, phosphoric acid and nitro-
gen which such stock removes from the land is really very
small, and less than that removed by similar bulk or weight
of corn or wheat. Experiments now being made show that
the addition of concentrated or chemical manures to heavy
nursery lands does not promise very important results ; but
there are greater hopes from experiments in the sowing of
crimson clover and other cover crops in the nursery rows,
and in the use of stable manures. There are instances of
excellent results following the addition of stable manure to
nursery lands between the trees in the fall. One piece of
land so treated has grown excellent plum trees for twenty
consecutive years. There is no necessary reason why nursery
stock should not follow nursery stock as well as wheat fol-
low wheat, except that the land is usually more clay-like,
the rotation or cropping is longer, and the addition of humus
or fiber to the soil is less.

d. The conclusions. — The difficulty, then, is not one of amount

•Consult 10th Rep. N. Y. State Exp. Sta. (1891), and Bull. 103, Cornell
Exp. Sta.; also Rep. Amer. Assoc. Nurserymen, 1896, 43-45.

Treatment of Nursery Lands. 183

of plant-food so much as of the availability of that food by
improving the physical conditions of the soil. The soil must
be warm, soft, mellow, and the plant must be comfortable.

The trouble is, not that nursery trees take so much from
the soil, but that the rotation is too long, the fiber is burned
out of the soil, and much of the working of the land is
untimely.

Certain lands are not readily injured by nursery cultiva-
tion, and these may grow several continuous crops of trees.

Now and then the nurseryman can augment the growth
of his stock by extra attention to tillage (it is assumed that
he always tills well), and by the addition of some quick
nitrogen compound, as nitrate of soda ; but these are gener-
ally only temporary correctives. The complete or fundamental
corrective for nursery land is rotation ; but the length of
this rotation may often be shortened, or even entirely re-
duced, by the judicious intercultural use of stable manures
and cover crops.

The conclusion was made that the physical condition of
the soil is a subject of greater or earlier importance than
its chemical constitution ; that the value of rotation of crops
lies largely in its ameliorating effect upon the physical con-
dition, and that nursery lands are no exception in demand-
ing such rotation. Instead of thinking it strange that trees
do not readily follow trees, we should rather think it strange
if they did. Because the crop is of several years' duration,
it becomes necessary that the alternating cropping should also
be extended. A system of rotations must be practiced in
blocks of years, not in single years. But this alternating
cropping can be greatly shortened by giving greater attention
to the addition of fiber to the soil while the nursery stock
is growing. There are instances in which the alternation
may be made short, and some in which there need be hardly
any. Professor Bailey said that he did not look for a gen-
eral corrective of the depletion of nursery land, therefore, by
the addition of concentrated or chemical fertilizers, but by
better management of the lands.

184 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

COVER CROPS.

A cover crop* is one which is used for the par-
ticular purpose of securing its mulching and phys-
ical effect upon the land in the intervals between
the regular crops or the normal seasons of tillage.
A sowed crop in the orchard may be valuable in
two ways: by affording a cover to the land, and by
improving the soil when it is plowed in. As a
cover, it may keep down weeds, and protect the land
from injurious effects of frost. As a green manure,
it may add fiber to the soil, and thus augment its
power of holding fertility and moisture, and it may
add directly to the fertility of the land. This late
crop catches and holds the leaching nitrates which
the tree -roots utilize earljer in the season. Taken
as a whole, the cover crop may be said to improve
the soil in eight ways:

I. It directly improves the physical condition of
the land :

Prevents hard soils from cementing or pud-
dling ;
Holds the rains and snows until they have

time to soak away into the land ;
Dries out the soil in spring, making early.

tillage possible ;
Sometimes serves as a protection from frost.

Term first used in this connection in Bull. 61, Cornell Exp. Sta. 333
(Dec. 1893).

Cover Crops and Moisture. 185

II. It improves the chemical conditions of the soil:

Catches and holds some of the leaching ni-
trates ;

Adds humus;

Renders plant -foods available;

Appropriates nitrogen, if it is leguminous.
As a rule, crops grown for cover alone should
be sown not earlier than midsummer. The most
thorough tillage can then be given early in the sea-
son, and the benefits of the cover can be secured
for the early fall and winter. It is generally advis-
able to grow a crop which answers for both a cover
and green manure, although it is easily possible to
make the soil too nitrogenous for some fruits by
the extravagant use of such fertilizers. It will also
be observed, from the above enumeration of the bene-
fits arising from- cover crops, that crops which are
killed by the winter may still be exceedingly use;
ful. The reader must also be reminded, in passing,
that much of the value of the cover crop depends
upon its being plowed under very early in spring,
as explained in the last chapter.

There is much confusion in the popular mind
concerning the relation of cover crops to moisture.
Some contend that any crop which shades the ground
will ke.ep the surface moist and conserve moisture,
whilst others, knowing that all plants exhale water,
consider that any crop tends to make the land dry.
Both these opinions are partly correct. A crop
which occupies the soil the entire season, and which
does not allow of cultivation, will make the land

186 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

dry, whilst one sowed late in the season upon land
which has been thoroughly tilled during May, June
and July, does not seriously rob the soil of mois-
ture. At all events, there need be no fear of dry-
ing out the soil by sowing a late crop, for the
serious injury of drought is usually effected before
such crops are established, and rainfall is then becom-
ing abundant ; and the tree needs to be checked,
rather than stimulated, at this season, by the trans-
fer of the nitrates and moisture to other plants.
The most marked way in which such crops conserve
moisture is by means of the fiber and humus which
they impart to the soil when plowed under ; but
even this humus cannot compete with cultivation as
a retainer of moisture.

An experiment at Cornell* illustrates the value
of cultivation over a green crop occupying the land
the entire season, in a dry year. The orchard is
a hard clay,— just the soil which is benefited by the
loosening effects of green manures. The orchard was
divided into three portions in 1890, a year after
the trees were set. One -third has received liberal
annual dressings of commercial fertilizers, and has
been well tilled ; another third has had no treat-
ment except good tillage ; and the remaining third
has had liberal applications of potash, and has then
been sown early to a nitrogenous (leguminous) green
crop. This third portion has simply been plowed

*Bull. 72, Cornell Exp. Sta. This experiment has not yet progressed far
enough for report upon methods of fertilizing, and is mentioned here only
for the purpose of contrasting methods of cultivation.

Cover Crops vs. Tillage. 187

and fitted well each spring, and then sown, having
received no subsequent tillage. The crops were all
plowed under the following spring. The following
are the crops :

1890. Mixed beans. Sowed June 16.

1891. Field peas. Sowed June 24.

1892. Vetch. Sowed June 16.

1893. Cow peas. Sowed June 19.

1894. Field peas. Sowed June 14.

Here, then, is a chance to compare the effects
of tillage with humus in a season of almost unpre-
cedented drought. Upon September 1, 1894, the green
manured strip was much the driest portion of the
orchard. The tree growth in this portion was much
less vigorous, and the leaves were perceptibly lighter
colored, than on the adjacent plots. Even the unfer-
tilized but well tilled tract showed a better foliage.
In this green manure portion, leaves on peach trees
were then beginning to yellow and fall from the effects
of drought, whilst the same rows, when they struck
the other plots, showed perfect foliage. In apricots
the effects were also marked. Pears and plums also
showed the differences. In the cultivated portions one
could easily stir up loose earth with the toe of his
boot, while in the green manured part one had to
dig from six to ten inches in a hard soil before he
could find visible moisture. Careful tests showed the
same fact. Samples of soil were taken to the depth
of one foot on September 1, by means of a soil
sampler, eight samples being lifted from representa-
tive parts of both the tilled and untilled areas.

188 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Four of these samples were combined into one, and
this mixture constituted the complete sample which
was used in a test for moisture ; that is, there were
two samples of untilled soil and two of tilled soil,
but each of these was made up of four other sam-
ples selected from various parts of the areas. These
samples were carefully weighed, and were then equally
fire -dried and weighed again. The loss in weight
represents the comparative content of free water in
the different samples. The results are as follows :

Sample I. Sample II.

Moisture in tilled soil, per cent 11.3 12.8

Moisture in untilled soil, per cent 8.7 9.6

In addition to this difference in moisture between
the two areas, it should be said that in the tilled
land it was distributed to within two inches or less
of the surface, while in the untilled land the first
few inches was exceedingly dry. In other words,
in the tilled land nearly the entire soil was in con-
dition to part with its fertility, while in the other
the uppermost and richest soil was inactive.

All this emphasizes the fact that tillage alone is
better than green manuring alone; but the best re-
sults would no doubt have been obtained if good till-
age had been given for two or three months, and if
the green crop had been sown in July or August.
In general, this combination is an excellent one for
orchards, particularly for such lands as lack nitrogen
and vegetable matter, and for those fruits which
are benefited by winter protection of the soil.

Choice of Cover Crops. 189

The kinds of cover crops. — It will now be asked
what is the best plant for cover and green manure.
It is hard to tell. Clover is a stand-by, but it
often fails to "catch" late in the season, and it
should stand on the land an entire season in order
to obtain its full value. Upon good and well-
tilled lands and in favorable seasons, considerable
herbage can be obtained for turning under in the
spring if it is sown the preceding August or Sep-
tember ; but in general it is unreliable as an annual
crop, and is not adapted to fruit lands.

It should be said at the outset that the choice
of the proper crop for the covering of an orchard
is a local matter, the same as the determination of
the method of tillage or the kind of fertilizer is.
There is also no one cover crop which is best for all
purposes and all conditions. The grower must
study the condition of his trees and his land, and
then judge as best he may what course he shall pur-
sue. Nature's cover crops, at least upon farms, are
weeds, and these may be useful if allowed to grow
in the fall after the tillage is completed. The
difficulty is that they cannot always be relied upon to
cover the land at the time when they are wanted,
most of them do not live through the winter, and
they are very likely to become a serious nuisance.
It is best, therefore, to substitute some other plant
for the weeds. In approaching the question of the
choice of cover crops, the grower must remember that
there are two great classes in respect to their
power to gather nitrogen. The one class is non-

190 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

leguminous, comprising those plants which take only
such nitrogen as has already been worked over into
available form by plants or animals; the other class is
the leguminous plants, comprising those which have
the power of appropriating and utilizing free nitrogen.
For purposes of cover and protection, the non- legu-
minous crops may be just as good as the nitrogen-
gatherers, and when the fruit plants are growing
very vigorously they may be decidedly better than the
others because, by not adding nitrogen, they do not
over -stimulate the growth. A rotation of cover crops
will nearly always be found to be important. It is
perfectly possible to put so much nitrogen into the
land that the trees or plants grow too vigorously
or too late in the season. This may be especially
apparent upon peaches, apricots, grapes, and the
like. It should also be said that some of the most
useful of these cover crops will not thrive upon hard
and intractable land, and in such cases a rougher
and coarser crop must be used.

The golden scale of cover crops for orchards be-
gins with rye and ends with crimson clover. Lands
which are very sandy and leachy, as well as those
which are hard and lumpy, are usually not adapted to
the growth of crimson clover, especially in the north.
Such lands must be gradually ameliorated by the use
of other plants, and, as a rule, the best plant to
begin with is rye. This plant thrives upon a great
variety of soils, it demands little preparation of the
land, the seeds are large and germinate at a low tem-
perature, it can be sown late in the season after

Kinds of Cover Crops 191

cultivated crops are removed, and it is exceedingly
hardy. Rye may be sown upon the very moment of
the freezing up of the land, and it will sometimes
germinate the following spring. It is ordinarily best,
however, to sow it about a month or six weeks
before the land is expected to freeze up ; and for the
purpose of securing a cover, not less than one and
one -half bushels should be sown to the a<3re when
orchards are young. When the trees have begun to
shade the ground, a less quantity will answer.

Another plant which is sometimes used to begin
the amelioration of intractable lands is Indian corn,
sown broadcast very thickly, six weeks or two months
before killing frost. Although it does not stand
the winter, it nevertheless affords an excellent cover
for the land and supplies besides a large amount
of herbage.

Buckwheat may be used for the same purpose,
sown so late in the season that it will reach its
full height but will not go to seed. There is danger,
however, of using buckwheat too much, and only
an occasional crop of it— if any at all— should be
used upon orchards which are growing upon the hard
types of lands.

Turnips and rape are also to be recommended
in certain cases. Turnips sown late in July in the
north make a complete cover of the land, and fur-
nish so much bulk and moisture as to greatly
improve the character of the soil when they are
plowed under the following spring. Turnips are
especially good to begin the process of improve-

192 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

ment upon certain hard lands which are much in-
clined to be dry.

Oats, wheat, barley, millet, and various other
quick -growing crops may be utilized as covers, but
they are less adapted to the purpose than those
which have been mentioned. In order to impress
the different qualities of cover crops upon the
mind, it may be well to say that rye and corn, and
the like, are to cover crops what pigs and mules
are to domestic animals.

Amongst the leguminous crops are the various
kinds of peas, beans, vetches, and the clovers. If
it is desired to grow a leguminous crop upon land
which is hard and dry, it will be necessary to
choose those with large and quick -germinating seeds,
like the beans and the field peas. Common field
beans may be sown broadcast late in the season,
and if they can have six weeks of uninterrupted
growth, will make a good cover before killed by
frost. Canada peas are not injured by the early
frosts of fall, and therefore may be sown later.
At the Cornell Station, peas sown as late as the
20th of September reached a height of about six
inches, and were large enough to afford a fairly good
cover, if they were sown very thick. But, in gen-
eral, in the northern states, it is advisable to sow
not later than the last of August or the first of
September.

The cow pea ( Vigna Sinensis) can often be used
to the greatest advantage, especially in the middle
and southern states, where the long seasons allow

Cow Peas for Cover. 193

it to make a most luxuriant and satisfactory growth.
In fact, it is probably destined to fill the office in
the southern states that the red clover does in the
north, and, if properly used, can, no doubt, be made
the means of filling the burned -out soils of the
south with fresh life and vigor. It is killed by the
earliest frost, and is, therefore, not advisable at the
north, unless sown early or upon land which is in
good condition, so that it may obtain a quick start.
Experiments with this plant have been made at the
Cornell Station,* with the following results: "Six-
teen varieties were grown at the Station this year
[1893] for the purpose of ascertaining which ones
will mature in this latitude ; and over half an acre
was sown to the Black pea, which Professor Massey,
of North Carolina, thought likely to prove the best
variety for our purpose. These black peas were
obtained of L. R. Wyatt, Raleigh, N. C., and were
sown June 20. The land was clay, and variable in
contour, comprising two dryish knolls, with a moist
vale lying between them. The peas were slow in
starting, owing to the hard soil, but they made a
fair growth in August and early September. In the
vale, the plants grew nearly two feet high and cov-
ered the ground well, but on the knolls the soil
was not covered. The plants had just begun to
flower when they were killed by the first frost.
The leaves fell off, and the bare, stiff stems now
afford very little protection to the soil.

*Bnll. 61. Cornell Exp. Sta., 334.

194 The Principles of Fruit-growing

"The varieties of cow peas, grown for the pur-
pose of ascertaining the earliness of the various
kinds, were sown May 31, in rich garden loam.
These peas were obtained from the Experiment
Stations of North Carolina, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The varieties ripening seeds are ten, as follows:

Black, from North Carolina.

Black Eye, North Carolina.

Blue, Louisiana.

California Bird's Eye, Arkansas \DdUchos
sesquipedalis) .

Clay, North Carolina.

Gray Prolific, North Carolina.

Large White, Louisiana.

Whippoorwill, North Carolina, Arkansas, Louis-
iana.

Yellow Prolific, North Carolina.

Yellow Sugar Chowder, Arkansas.
"The varieties which did not mature seeds are
the following:

Black, from Louisiana.

Brown Eye, Arkansas,

Clay, Louisiana.

Conch, North'Carolina.

Indian, Louisiana.

King, Louisiana.

Lady, Louisiana.

Purple Hull, Louisiana.

Stewart, North Carolina.

"The varieties which seemed best adapted to this

Vetch for Cover. 195

latitude were the Black and Whippoorwill. The lat-
ter fruited also at Lansing, Michigan, in 1887. It
will be seen that there appears to be a difference
between samples of the same variety coming from
different sources. The Black pea from North Caro-
lina seed matured well, but that from Louisiana
stock was too late. The same difference occurred
in the Clay. This is what might have been ex-
pected, and it emphasizes the importance of securing
seed from the northernmost station, when choosing
stock for growing in the north. On the whole,
the Black cow pea seems best adapted to growing
in central New York. A small patch of this was
sown on a rich, loose soil July 17, and the plants
made as heavy growth as those sown upon the clay
soil nearly a month earlier. But the cow pea af-
fords so much less winter protection to the soil
than the vetch, without any counterbalancing ad-
vantages, that it can scarcely be recommended for
an orchard cover in the north." Upon mellower
and moister lands, however, good results have fre-
quently been obtained with cow peas in the northern
states, and they are growing in favor.

The use of the vetch or tare as a cover plant
was brought forward by the Cornell Station,* and
reported upon in 1892, as follows : "Orchard lands
are nearly always benefited by some cover or mulch
during a part of the year, especially during fall
and winter. One of the values of sod lies in the
protection to the soil, but a sod cannot be obtained

*Bull. 49, Cornell Exp. Sta., 1882.

Principles of Fruit -growing'.

Fig. 20. A good stand of vetch, in November. Sown in early July.

in a single season. If orchards can be cultivated in
spring and early summer, and then protected with
some growth which will shade the soil and keep

Experiment with the Vetch. 197

it moist during the remainder of the warm weather,
and afford some protection from frost during winter,
the best results will undoubtedly be obtained, as a
rule. This cover crop should also afford fertiliz-
ing materials to the soil when turned under, and
greatly improve the mechanical character of the soil
as well.

'' The leguminous plants — those belonging to the
clover family — at once suggest themselves, because
they are rich in nitrogen, and may therefore serve
both as cover and fertilizer. We have tried mixed
beans and field peas, but there are objections to both,
although either one is probably better than weeds or
bare ground. This year we have tried the European
vetch or tare (Vicia sativa) , seed of which we ob-
tained of J. M. Thorburn & Co., New York. This
plant is grown for forage in England. A half bushel
of seed was sown June 16 upon five -eighths of an aero
of heavy clay loam. It was sown broadcast upon a
freshly prepared surface, and well dragged in. The
seed could have been sown later with equally as good
effect, no doubt, and the cultivation of the orchard
could have been continued for ten days or two weeks
longer. The young trees of pear, plum and apricot
have made an excellent growth this year among the
vetch. The vetch started somewhat slowly, and the
seeding seemed to have been too thin ; but by the
middle of September the ground was covered thickly.
Frost came October 1, but the vetch was not injured,
and it continued to grow until the middle of th«i
month, and remained green still longer. It made a

198 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

remarkable cover, growing knee-high in a dense mat,
and everywhere completely covering the ground. It
began to flower in September, but no seeds ripened
except upon a few poor spots. Upon light soils,
seeds would probably form freely, but the plant is
an annual, and is not likely to become a weed.
The roots do not extend deep. With the approach
of hard freezing weather, the stalks fell upon the
ground, where they now lie like a thin, even cover-
ing of old hay. The stems are soft, and can be
easily plowed under in spring, and will soon decom-
pose ; and they will not keep the soil wet too late
in spring, which is an important point upon clay
soils."

The following year a second report was made
upon it: "The vetch is an annual leguminous plant,
which continues its growth long after frost, and
which mats down with the snow into a perfect,
carpet -like covering. In the spring, the vines are so
well decayed that the cover can be plowed under
easily. The vetch can be sown late in June or earlj-
in July in this state, and the plants will cover the
ground with a dense tangled mulch two feet deep
when winter sets in. Last year (1892), we sowed
the vetch June 16. This year we sowed one area
June 20, and another June 28. Both made an ideal
mulch, and the plants were green and still grow-
ing late in November. They produced no seeds, and
but very few flowers. About a bushel of seed
should be sown to the acre. The seed is large
and germinates readily, and is likely to catch at

Crimson Clover for Cover. 199

almost any time during the summer. Some idea of
the dense growth of the vetch this year may be
obtained when I say that one patch overcame and
obscured a heavy growth of horse-radish which had
been in the ground two years. I am confident that
upon fairly good soil, good results can be obtained
with vetch sown as late as the middle and possibly
the last of July."

Crimson or scarlet clover was brought emphati-
cally to the fore as a cover plant for orchards by
the Delaware Experiment Station* in 1892. It has
been the occasion of much speculation and much
misunderstanding. Like other novelties, it has been
hailed by some as a plant which is bound to revo-
lutionize orchard management and to make planta-
tions productive; and others, who have failed, have
discouraged its use entirely. The fact is, as already
pointed out, that crimson clover is only one step or
round in the ladder of cover crops, and it is ordi-
narily the last and the highest. By this it is meant
that it will not thrive upon hard or poorly tilled
land. It must be sown in midsummer or a trifle
after, when the ground is likely to be dry. The
seeds are small and oily, and the grower is very
likely to fail in securing a "catch." Upon the better
tilled lands, however, crimson clover may be expected
to succeed as often as any other plant of its class
will. People have also made a mistake in expecting
too heavy a growth of herbage in the crimson clover.
It is an annual plant, normally completing its entire

*Bull. 16, Del. Exp. Sta., March, 1892.

200

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

growth in a single season. When sown at midsea-
son, therefore, it should not be expected to yield a
very heavy crop. If it should arrive at that stage
when it nearly or wholly covers the surface of the
ground with a thin, close mat, it will have reached
its most profitable condition. Neither is it necessary
that the plant should stand the winter and grow in
the spring. Turnips, maize, vetch, and other tender
plants are known to be very useful as orchard cov-

Fig. 21. A good stand of crimson clover as it looks before growth has begun
in the spring.

ers, although they pass the winter in the dead state.
If the crimson clover passes the winter and grows
in the spring, much will be gained; but if it should
not pass the winter, nothing will be lost. In respect
to the proper time for sowing crimson clover, it may
be said that if it is sown very early in the season
(that is, before the first of July), it is likely to be-
come too large and ripe, and be killed by the win-
ter; if it is sown too late (that is, after the middle

Legumes as Fertilizers. 201

of August in the north), it will ordinarily not attain
sufficient foothold to be able to withstand the heav-
ing by frost. Crimson clover may be sown amongst
Indian corn at the last cultivation, but in orchards it
is ordinarily sown from the middle of July to the
middle of August in the north, upon a well prepared
seed-bed, and is then lightly dragged in. In old or-
chards, six quarts to the acre is a sufficient amount
of seed; in open lands, about eight quarts are re-
quired.

The following analyses show the fertilizer values
of the various leguminous plants here discussed.
The vetches and peas were analyzed at the Cornell
Station. The analysis of cow peas is taken mostly
from Professor Teller's recent studies in Arkansas,
those of clovers from reliable sources for comparison:

VETCH, KEADY TO BLOOM, ROOTS AND TOl'S.

Original substance. Dry substance.

Nitrogen 65 per cent. 3. 1 per cent.

Phosphoric acid 146 '•' .7 "

Potash 475 " 2.28 "

Water 79.15

PEAS, 2 TO 3 FEET HIGH, NO FLOWERS, ROOTS AND TOPS.
Original substance. Dry substance.

Nitrogen 451 per cent. 2.33 per cent.

Phosphoric acid 113 " .58 "

Potash 361 " 1.66 "

Water 80.61

PEAS, 6 INCHES HIGH, ROOTS AND TOPS.

Original substance. Dry Substance.

Nitrogen 34 per cent. 2.43 per cent.

Phosphoric acid 086 " .62 "

Potash 179 " 1.28 "

Water 86.05

202 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

cow PEAS (WHIPPOORWILL) IN BLOSSOM, STRAW ONLY.

Original substance. Dry substance.

Nitrogen ; 618 per cent. 3.09 per cent.

Phosphoric acid 1 " .5

Potash 396 " 1.98 "

Water... .. 80.

KED CLOVER— A \KKAGE OF SEVERAL ANALYSES.

Original substance. Dry substance.

Nitrogen 41 per cent. 2.05 per cent.

Phosphoric acid 13 " .66 "

Potash .45 " 2.24 "

Water... ...80. "

CRIMSON CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM INCARNATUM).

Original substance. Dry substance.

Nitrogen 43 per cent. 2.45 per cent.

Phosphoric acid 13 " .74 «

Potash 49 i; 2.80 "

Water ...82.50 "

FERTILIZING THE FRUIT PLANTATION.

Having now discussed how, by tillage and cover
crops, the land may be made fit for the growing
of fruit plants, we come to the question of what
plant -foods may be added to the soil. It should
first be said that fruit plants use up plant -foods

NOTE. The following figures show the approximate quantities of seed which
are recommended per acre for cover crops in young orchards :

Barley 2 to 21A bus.

Beans lK to 2 "

Buckwheat J "

Clover, crimson 8 to 16 Ibs.

-red 6tol2 "

Corn 2% to 3 bus.

Cow pea 2 "

Millet Itol^bus.

Oats 2% to 3 "

Pea 2 to 3 "

Rye I%to2% "

Turnip 3 to 4 Ibs.

Vetch 1 bus.

Wheat 2to2K "

Plant- food Removed by Trees. 203

the same as other crops, and yet the common neglect
of orchards seems to show that many people think
otherwise, or else do not think at all. In fact, the
depletion of the land by fruit trees is more serious
than by annual crops, from, the fact that plant-
foods are locked up for many years in the trunks
and branches of the trees, whilst a large part of the
fertilizing constituents in common crops returns to
the soil each year. On Lthe other hand, it should be
said that the roots of trees have a larger foraging
area than the roots of small crops do. This is well
shown in Figs. 17 and 18 (pages 160 and 162). The
former shows the roots running far away in the
poorly tilled soil in search of food, and the latter
shows the home -stay ing roots in the rich soil.

Roberts has computed,* from analyses, the values
of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash taken from
an acre by apple trees (the trees thirty -five feet
apart) in twenty years, counting in ten crops of
fruit :

Value.

•' Total in fruit for twenty years $147.00

Total in leaves for twenty years 160.51

Total in wood for life of. tree 70.00

Grand total $377.51

"The value of nitrogen, etc., in any given case is
so indefinite and variable that stress should not be
laid on values as given above, but on the total
amounts of plant -food used by the orchard.

*Bull. 103, Cornell Eip. Station.

204 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

"The total amount of nitrogen, exclusive of that
used in the growth of the trees, is 1,336.8 pounds,
of phosphoric acid 310 pounds, and of potash 1,895.4
pounds. To restore the potash alone, as above, and
that used by the growth of the tree, it would re-
quire 21.69 tons of high-grade ashes containing 5
per cent of potash. To restore the nitrogen as
above, would require 16.19 tons per acre of a com-
mercial fertilizer containing 5 per cent of nitrogen.

"How much of this plant-food is usually fur-
nished to the orchard by leguminous plants and by
feeding supplementary foods to animals which graze
upon it, and how much by the fallen leaves and
apples which are not blown or carried off, cannot
be told.

"While some of the computations and conclusions
are based on estimates, yet it is believed that the
tables represent average conditions, and need only
the good judgment of the observant reader to make
them apply to his individual case with such degree
of accuracy as to give valuable aid in the care and
feeding of orchards.

"Many old orchards have not only been making
these large demands on the soil for the last twenty
years, but in many instances the land has been used
for the production of hay or grain, or more fre-
quently for the growing of lambs or pigs, with
little or no supplementary food. The grazing of
orchards, especially with growing animals without
extra food, is as certain to deplete the land as grain
raising, though the soil robbery is not so rapid.

Plant -food Consumed by Apples. 205

"These investigations, when considered in all their
hearings, lead one to wonder not why old orchards
are failing, but why they have not ceased to pro-
duce merchantable fruit long since."

Another calculation by the same investigator
shows the amount of plant -food which may be ex-
pected to be carried away in the fruit, and blown
off in the leaves (not computing the amount in the
wood), for the period between the ages of 13 and
.'53 years of apple trees :

Apples. Leaves. Value.

" Nitrogen 498.60 Ibs. 450.75 Ibs. $143.30

Phosphoric acid 38.25 " 126. " 11.50

Potash 728.55 " 441. " 52.63

Total value $207.45

" While the above results are reached by assum-
ing a given amount of apples and leaves per year
in a bearing orchard, and while the facts in any
given case at any given time may vary widely, yet
it is believed that they are valuable, as they fur-
nish a means of measuring in any given case, with
a great degree of accuracy, the amount of soil ex-
haustion."

He also "shows that an average crop of apples
removes in round numbers eleven pounds of nitro-
gen, nearly one pound of phosphoric acid and six-
teen pounds of potash, and that the leaves of a
tree large enough to produce the apples would con-
tain ten pounds of nitrogen, nearly three pounds of
phosphoric acid and ten pounds of potash, or a total

206 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

of twenty -one pounds nitrogen, three pounds phos-
phoric acid, twenty -six pounds potash."

"As a clearer comprehension is had by comparing
unfamiliar things with familiar things, a table follows
which gives in brief the soil exhaustion which is
likely to occur from a continuous twenty -year wheat
production. Here, again, an average yield has been
assumed which, while approximately correct for New
York, may be wide of the mark in some states where
the average yield of wheat falls to eight or ten bush-
els per acre.

"The following tables show the amounts and
values of the fertilizing ingredients removed by wheat
(grain and straw) in twenty years' continuous crop-
ping, assuming an average yield of fifteen bushels per
acre and seven pounds of straw to three pounds of
grain :

"COMPOSITION OF WHEAT AND STRAW.

Water, Nitrogen, Phos. acid, Potash,

per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent.

Grain 14.75 2.36 .89 .61

Straw 12.56 .559 .12 .51

"AMOUNTS AND VALUE OP PLANT-FOOD REMOVED IN ONE YEAR
AND IN TWENTY YEARS.

Nitrogen, Phos, acid, Potash, Total

Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. value.

Grain, 1 year 21.24 8.01 5.49 $3.99

Grain, 20 years 424.80 160.20 109.80 79.86

Straw, 1 year 11.74 2.52 10.71 2.42

Straw, 20 years 234.78 50.40 214.20 48.37

Total value in wheat, grain and straw for 20 jears. $128.23
Total value in apple, fruit and leaves for 20 years. . 207.45

"The above table shows that the orchard requires,

Needs of Fruit Trees. 207

if fruitful, plant -food equal in value to about eighty
dollars more than the wheat. No one would think
for a moment of trying to raise wheat, even on our
best New York land, for twenty consecutive years,
even though the soil was fitted in the best possible
manner yearly."

Respecting the need of fertilizers for orchards,
Voorhees writes as follows:* "It is argued by many,
and sometimes by those who should know better, that
fruit-growing is quite similar to growing trees; that
the question of soil exhaustion is not a matter of
very great importance, provided the soil is well culti-
vated, and that all soils contain sufficient quantities
of the food elements to insure the relatively small
available supply required from year to year.

"It is admitted that on soils of good mechanical
condition, well drained and cultivated, which are
naturally adapted for fruit as well as other crops, be-
cause well supplied with the essential constituents —
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, and lime — the
exhaustion arising from the continuous removal of
crops will not become apparent for a long time,
but it should be emphasized that it is only upon
soils which possess these characteristics that the
growth of fruit, even poor fruit, can be continued
for any considerable period without the application of
manures."

"It is obvious that such specific results as have
been obtained concerning the needs of general farm

*E. B. Voorhees, "Manuring Orchards", before Mass. Hort. Soc. Mar. 28
MM

208 The Principles of Fruif-r/ rowing.

crops, as grain and grass, for specific plant -food ele-
ments, cannot be applied with any degree of accuracy
to fruit crops, particularly the larger fruits, as pears,
apples, peaches, grapes, and plums, because these dif-
fer from the cereals, grasses, and vegetables, first, in
their habits of growth, second, in the character of
the produce, and third, in their relation to soil ex-
haustion.

"In the first place, farm crops, as a rule, require
but one year for the entire processes of vegetation
and maturation. For fruit crops, with but few ex
eeptions, the purely vegetative processes continue for
at least three years, and with many kinds much
longer, while after the fruit -bearing period begins the
vegetative processes do not cease, but are coincident
with the growth and ripening of the fruit. In the
second place, the product of the harvest, namely, the
fruit, differs very materially in its character from
that of ordinar}- farm crops, which mature their fruit
and die in one season, because a whole season is re-
quired for its growth and development; that is, it is
necessary that there shall be a constant transfer of
the nutritive juices from the tree to the fruit
throughout the entire growing season, while the
growth for each succeeding year of both tree and
fruit is dependent upon the nutrition acquired and
stored up in buds and branches, as well as upon that
which may be derived directly from the soil. In the
third place, the relation of fruit-growing to soil ex-
haustion is very different from that in general -crop
farming, because in orchards there is an annual de

Needs of Fruit Trees. 209

mand for specific kinds and proportions of soil con-
stituents; it is really a continuous cropping of the
same kind; there is no opportunity, as in the case
of ordinary farm crops, to correct the tendency to
exhaustion by a frequent change of crops, or the
frequent growth of those which require different kinds
and amounts of plant -food constituents.

"In studying methods of manuring orchards, how-
ever, it must be admitted that the general princi-
ples of manuring which apply to fruits apply quite
as well to farm crops; that is, the essential con-
stituents of manures must be the same. A fruit tree
will not make normal growth in a soil destitute of
nitrogen. That nitrogen encourages leaf-growth is a
recognized fact, and, since trees grow by means of
both leaf and root, its presence is required in the
soil in order to promote the growth and extend the
life of the tree. It is very evident, too, that pot-
ash is an essential constituent in the growth of
fruits, not only because it constitutes a large pro-
portion of the ash of the wood of the apple, pear,
cherry, and plum, and more than 50 per cent of
the ash of fruit, but because it forms the base of
the well-known fruit acids ; and in order to nourish
a tree properly, as well as to insure proper ripen-
ing, phosphoric acid is also very essential, though it is
apparent from such investigations as have been made
that this constituent is relatively of less importance
than for the cereals.

"It is also a matter of common observation that,
in the production of stone-fruits particularly, lime

210 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

is an important constituent. Its function seems to
be to strengthen the stems and woody portion of
the tree, to shorten the period of growth, and to
hasten the time of ripening. Fruit trees growing on
soils rich in lime show a stocky, steady, vigorous
growth, and the fruit ripens well, while those on
soils which contain but little lime, particularly the
clays, appear to have an extended period of growth,
the result of which is, that the wood does not
mature and the fruit does not ripen properly."

Voorhees also reports* an experiment in the fer-
tilizing of peaches, showing large gains in crop from
the separate use of stable manure and fertilizer.
"It is interesting to observe," he writes — "and it
is a point of great importance — the effect of an
abundance of food in overcoming unfavorable weather
or seasonal conditions. The year 1889 was extremely
unfavorable, and the crop throughout the state [New
Jersey] was small. In this experiment the unman ured
plot yielded at the rate of ten and nine -tenths bas-
kets per acre, while the manured and fertilized plots
both showed a yield exceeding one hundred and
fifty baskets per acre. The manure strengthened and
stimulated the trees, and enabled them successfully
to resist such conditions as were fatal to the crop
on the unmanured land. This point is one that
is seldom considered in calculating the advantages
to be derived from proper manuring, though it is of
extreme value, since the expenses of cultivation, trim-

*See, also, Repts. N. J. Exp. Sta., 1884-1894.

Stable Manures for Fruits. 211

ming, and interest on investment are quite as great
in one ease as in the other."

Stable manure. — The kinds of fertilizing applica-
tions are of two types, stable manures and concen-
trated or commercial plant -foods. The stable manures
exercise a most important effect upon the physical
features of the soil, and, in fact, this is often their
greatest value. In this respect, stable manures may
answer much the same purpose as green or cover
crops, particularly if they are applied in fall or
early winter. When manure is not sufficient to
cover the entire plantation, it should be applied to
the hardest and driest spots only, and these spots
should be observed and noted the previous season.
Lands which are so hard or dry that even rye will
not catch, may be got under way for the cover
crops by liberal applications of barn manures. Rota-
tion in the use of fertilizers may be found to be
as useful as it is in the case of cover crops. A
soil which has had a liberal application of stable
manure one year, may profit more by some chemical
fertilizer the next year.

In orchards which are thoroughly tilled, the use
of barn manures should sometimes be discouraged,
for the chief element of fertility in them — if they
are not leached— is usually nitrogen. This advice is
particularly applicable to vineyards, and all other
fruits which run very strongly to wood. In such
cases, it is better economy to apply the manures to
the annual crops of the farm. The old, neglected
u|)ple orchards of the country, however, may receive

212 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

barn manures with safety; yet, even here it is a
question if economy would not dictate tillage and
late green manures to supply the nitrogen, except,
perhaps, for a season or two when an attempt is
making to rejuvenate an orchard. Mulching a sod
orchard with manure often gives fairly good results
in cases in which the land cannot be cultivated ; but
better results in the way of fertilizing and in freedom
from weeds and insects can be obtained by pastur-
ing closely with sheep or swine.

Chemical fertilizers. — Nitrogen, potassium and
phosphorus are the elements which need to be ap-
plied to orchard lands ; and to these should some-
times be added lime, mostly for its secondary effects
upon the soil.

Nitrogen is particularly efficacious in promoting
growth. "The general tendency of nitrogenous ma-
nures is toward the excessive production of wood
and foliage," writes E. F. Smith, after having made
many explicit experiments upon peach trees.* In
fact, the amount of growth and the color of foliage
are reliable guides for the application of nitrogen.
When mature or bearing trees make a foot or
more of growth upon all shoots, and when the
leaves are of good size and dark color, the orchari'
probably has enough nitrogen. A free application
of nitrogen to such orchards might do more harm
than good, in promoting growth at the expense of
fruit, or, in the case of some stone fruits, in pro-

*Bull. 9, Section of Veg. Path., Botanical Div. U. S. Dept. Ap-.. 142.

Nitrogen for Orchards. 213

ducing a poorly matured growth, which will be likely
to suffer in winter. Orchards are grown for fruit,
not for forestry purposes. In general, it is better
to supply nitrogen by good cultivation — which assists
nitrification — and an occasional green -manure crop,
than by the application of nitrogenous fertilizers.
If the orchard is not growing, and is yellowish in
foliage, good cultivation— begun early and repeated
very frequently — in connection with the use of pot-
ash, phosphoric acid and green manures, will com-
monly correct it. It is probable that lack of
moisture is quite as much the cause of the weak-
ness as lack of nitrogen, particularly if the orchard
has been in sod. Now and then a tree will be
found which fails to respond to ordinary treatment.
If the tree is healthy — that is, not attacked by dis-
ease or borers — it may sometimes be brought into
a vigorous condition by applying to it a light
dressing of nitrate of soda ; but this treatment
need seldom be applied to an entire orchard which
has been well hnmllcd.

An experiment made by the Cornell Station (Bul-
letin No. 153) gave very decided results from the use
of nitrate of soda alone. An apple orchard about
twenty-five years old and unproductive, standing
upon a rather hard and dryish light clay loam, was
plowed in the fall of 1894, and certain trees were
given an application of ten pounds of nitrate of
soda. Contiguous rows received heavy applications
of sulfate of potash and muriate of potash. All
materials were applied August 11, 1894. The or-

214 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

chard was plowed again in the fall of 1895, and a
third time in the spring of 1896. None of the
dressings showed any effect in 1895, but in 1896
the trees which had received the nitrate of soda
were very remarkably superior to those which had
received the other treatments and to those which
had received none. They had very much heavier
and darker green foliage, so that they could be
readily distinguished many rods away, and they had
a heavier load of fruit, which was larger and finer
than that upon the other trees. This heavier crop
was probably not due to more profuse blossoming,
but to a less dropping of young apples. In 1897,
the trees still showed the effect of the nitrogen. In
1898, all effects were lost, and the trees and fruits
could not be distinguished from those which were un-
treated.

Nitrogen -fertilizing often exerts a decided influ-
ence in delaying the maturity of fruit, and it is
worth 'while to consider the application of such fertil-
izers to winter apples which tend to ripen too early.
These fertilizers also tend to the production of low
colors in fruit. Lodeman found,* as the result of
experiment, that "the apples produced upon the
plot which was, in all probability, the richest in
nitrogen, were late, and they were also poorly
colored."

Potash is generally the most important element
to be applied directly to orchards, particularly after

* Rural New-Yorker, Jan. 2, 1897, 2.

Potash for Fruits. "215

the trees have reached bearing age. The store of
available potash in the soil is much increased by
the thorough tillage which has already been recom-
mended, but in bearing orchards it should also be
supplied every year in some commercial form. One
of the best sources of potash for orchards is wood
ashes, but this material is so often weakened by
leaching that it cannot be confidently recommended.
A good sample of unleached hard wood ashes
should contain from 5 to 9 per cent of potash,
but some of the commercial article does not analyze
above 2 to 3 per cent. Potash in this form has
a trade value of 4% cents per pound. To this
value of wood ashes should also be added 2 per
cent or less of phosphoric acid, now worth 6 cents
a pound. Forty to fifty bushels to the acre is
considered to be a good dressing of wood ashes,
if it has been kept dry.

Muriate of potash is perhaps the best and most
reliable form in which to secure potash at the
present time for fruits. Commercial samples gener-
ally contain from 80 to 85 per cent of muriate of
potash, or about 50 per cent of actual potash.
Kainit is an impure muriate of potash, containing
about 12 to 15 per cent of potash. An apple or-
chard in full bearing and upon loose soil may
receive as high as one thousand pounds of muriate
of potash per acre, but a normal and economical
application is from one hundred and fifty to three
hundred pounds, if applied every year. Sulfate of
potash is also thought to be a good form in which

216 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

to buy potash. The commercial article analyzes 50
per cent or less of actual potash. Sylvinit is a
lower grade of potassium fertilizer. Its value— like
that of other materials mentioned — should be reck-
oned upon the amount of potash present.

Phosphoric acid may be obtained in the form of a
high-grade plain superphosphate (like dissolved South
Carolina rock), in bone compounds, and Thomas
slag. The plain superphosphate contains about 16
or 18 per cent of phosphoric acid, and two hun-
dred to five hundred pounds per acre is a liberal
and very useful dressing for bearing orchards. The
bone fertilizers are always valuable. Those which
are untreated give up their phosphoric acid slowly,
unless they are very finely ground. Dissolved bone
gives more immediate results. Thomas or basic slag,
which is yet less known to farmers in this country,
has given good results in many tests, but it parts
with its fertility very slowly. It is yet too early
to recommend this material for orchards with full
confidence.

In general, phosphoric acid is probably less im-
portant in fruit plantations than potash, although
this order is reversed in general farming. Potash
should undoubtedly be the leading factor in orchard
fertilizers, and nitrogen may be obtained largely, or
even wholly, in some cases, by means of tillage and
green crops. It will then be seen that the use of
combined or " complete " commercial fertilizers may
not be economical. The best results are to be ex-
pected when the fruit-grower observes closely the

Fertilizing Orchards. 217

behavior of his trees and then applies such materials
as the plants appear to need. Any of the mate-
rials mentioned in the foregoing remarks may be
mixed together, so that the phosphorus and potas-
sium can be applied at the same sowing. It should
be said, however, that if wood ashes is mixed with
a nitrogenous fertilizer, some loss of nitrogen may
ensue, unless the material is used at once.*

Voorhees givest the following "practical sugges-
tions" for the fertilizing of orchards: "A system of
manuring for cultivated orchards, based upon the
limited data at ou^ disposal, may be outlined as
follows :

"To provide vegetable matter and to improve th<>
physical quality of poor soils, apply yard manure
once in four years, in fall or winter, at the rate
of from five to ten tons per acre. To aid in the
decomposition of vegetable matter, and to insure a

* To answer inquiries concerning the prices of fertilizing materials, it may
l>e said that muriate of potash costs $40 and upwards per ton, sulfate about
$48, dissolved boneblack about $24, ground bone about $:«), kainit about $13,
and nitrate of soda 2% cents per pound. These prices vary, of course, with
the composition or mechanical condition of the materials. The average com-
position of unleached ashes in the market is about as follows : Potash, 5.2.")
per cent ; phosphoric acid, 1.70 per cent ; lime, 34 per cent ; magnesia, 3.40
per cent. The average composition of kainit is 13.54 per cent potash, 1.13
per cent lime. The composition of sylvinit (which is said to be known as
sulfate of potash in some quarters) is about 16 per cent of potash, in the
form of both muriate and sulfate, mostly the former. The fact that the
soil itself is the greatest storehouse of plant-food is shown by the follow-
ing average of thirty-five analyses of the total content of the first eight
inches of surface soils, per acre : 3,521 pounds of nitrogen, 4,400 pounds of
phosphoric acid, 19,836 pounds of potash. Much of this is unavailable, but
the good tillage and cover cropping which have been recommended tend to
unlock it.

t E. B. Voorhees, address before Mass. Hort. Soc. Mar. 28, 1896.

218 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

sufficiency of lime as plant -food, apply lime at the
rate of twenty -five bushels per acre once in five
years. To provide, in addition, an abundance of all
forms of available plant -food at the times needed
for the development of the tree and fruit, apply
annually chemical fertilizers in the following pro-
portions :

"Nitrate of soda 100 Ibs.

South Carolina rock superphosphate 100 "

Ground bone 200 "

Muriate of potash 200 "

"The amounts to be applied depend upon the
character of the soils, as previously outlined, the
kind of fruit, and the age and vigor of the tree ;
these given perhaps mark the minimum.

"In a number of best orchards the quantities
applied are very much larger than is here indicated,
and the larger application is believed by the grow-
ers to be proportionately profitable.

"By the recent introduction of crimson clover,
we have a plant admirably adapted to supply cheaply
nitrogenous vegetable matter for orchards, and its
growth is to be recommended wherever the plant
can be successfully grown, instead of the use of
barnyard manure, particularly upon the poorest soils,
until they are abundantly supplied with vegetable
matter. The clover should be plowed down early in
the season, in order not to retard the spring growth
of the trees. Where the conditions are favorable
for the growth of clover, the application of nitrate
of soda may be omitted."

What Treatment is Needed. 219

Summary statement.— The fruit-grower will no
doubt desire to ask how he is to tell just what
kind and what quantity of fertilizers to apply to
his land. This is one of those questions which no
person can answer for him. Having studied the
matter carefully, and having observed his plantation
from day to day and year to year, he should be
able to discover about the treatment which it needs.
As a general statement, it may be said that the
fruit plantation which is giving satisfactory results
is receiving the very treatment which it needs ; but
when it is giving unsatisfactory yields, some change
in the management should be made. An orchard
which is in sod and not doing well should certainly
be plowed and tilled. One which is tilled and is not
doing well may be benefited by seeding down, or
it may not. If the growth is strong and rapid, and
the trees or vines seem to be going to wood at the
expense of fruit, then some check may be necessary.
This check may be given by seeding down for a
time, by giving somewhat less thorough or prolonged
cultivation, or by the use of rather more mineral
fertilizers and less nitrogenous ones. In all cases
in which the growth is not sufficient and the leaves
are yellow and drop early, it is probable that either
more nitrogen or more moisture, or both, is needed.
As a general principle, it may be said that nitrogen
can be had in sufficient amount by thorough and
judicious tillage, by the use of leguminous cover
crops, and by stable manure. In some cases, how-
ever, quicker and cheaper results may be had by

220 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

the direct addition of nitrogenous materials, like
nitrate of soda, sulfate of ammonia, or some of the
animal compounds.

The grower should also remember that the plants
need all the elements of plant growth, and not one
of them alone. For example, a heavy application of
nitrogen upon soil which is deficient in potash and
phosphoric acid cannot be expected to give useful
results. In the same way, the application of pot-
ash to soil which is very poor in nitrogen or phos-
phoric acid would be comparatively useless. The
heavy loamy or clay lands nearly always contain
an abundance of potash and phosphoric acid in
a more or less unavailable condition, and much of
these materials can be liberated to the plant by care-
ful tillage and the incorporation of humus. How-
ever, it is nearly always advisable, in orchards
which are bearing, to add these materials in the
shape of manures or concentrated fertilizers. The
quickest results following the use of fertilizers will
be seen upon the sandier lands. Two or three
years often elapse after the application of chemical
fertilizers to heavy lands before any decided results
are observed. In other words, clay lands ordinarily
show quicker results from tillage than they do from
the application of fertilizers. The farmer should
bear in mind that he should never rely exclusively
upon chemical plant -foods, because they contain no
humus, and the soil is apt to become hard and life-
less. They should be used in judicious rotation, or
in connection with cover crops, or stable manures.

Humus Improves the Land. 221

or applications of muck or some other organic dress-
ings. It is not necessary that the chemical fertil-
izers should be mixed before application ; in fact,
upon lands of varying soil and conformation, it ift
ordinarily better to apply the different ingredients
separately, because different parts of the plantation
may need different amounts of the various materials.
The low lands will ordinarily need less of the nitro-
gen and perhaps more of the potash and phosphoric-
acid. In general, it is advisable to buy the plant-
foods separately, as advised in the preceding pages.
Farmers do not appreciate the importance of
humus as an ameliorator of land. In farm lands, it
is usually supplied in form of green crops, stubble
or sward, and barn manures. When humus is ab-
sent, sandy soils become too loose and leachy and
hot, and clay soils bake and become lumpy. The
different physical characteristics of clay lumps and
mellow soils are largely due to the greater amount
of humus in the good soil, and yet we have seen
that the chemist may pronounce the cloddy soil
richer in native plant -food. If the farmer has
much of this hard, unproductive land, what is to
be done with it ? To cover it with commercial fer-
tilizer would be of little benefit. It must first be
put in fit condition for the growing of crops. A
crop of clover plowed under would quickly improve
it, but if tne land is planted to orchard he does
not care to seed it down. The next recourse is
stable manure. Of this, perhaps enough can be
had to cover the hardest soots. For the rest,

222 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

catch or cover crops must be used. Following the
early tillage, he can sow rye, and plow it under very
early in the spring. Now and then he can use a
fall crop of sowed corn or oats, or something of
the kind. After a time, he may be able to get
the land in such condition of tilth as to secure an
occasional stand of crimson clover. This practice,
continued judiciously for a few years, ought to radi-
cally change the character of the land ; but all this
will be of little avail unless the plowing and cul-
tivation can also be done in a timely and intelli-
gent way. All this will take time and patience. He
may wish that there were some short-cut and lazy
way of improving this land by making some appli-
cation of fertilizer to it, but there is not. The
most he can do is to slowly bring it into such
condition that it will pay to put concentrated fertiliz-
ers on it. In short, the first step in the enrichment
of unproductive land is to improve its physical con-
dition by means of careful and thorough tillage, by
the addition of humus, and perhaps by underdrainage.
It must first be put in such condition that plants
can grow in it. After that, the addition of chemi-
cal fertilizers may pay by giving additional or re-
dundant growth. All this means that no amount
of penance in the way of applications to the land can
ever atone for the sins of poor tillage ; or, farm-
ing cannot be done by recipe.

The gist of the whole matter respecting the use
of fertilizers is that the grower should experiment
with his plantation, adding a little more of this

Summary Conclusions. 223

and a little more of that as he thinks the different
trees or the different types of land may need.
There is no other way of arriving at this local
knowledge except by trying for oneself. If one is
observant of the conditions, he will after a time come
to have an intuitive sense of what the land prob-
ably needs, but he may not be able to tell just
why it needs it. In most matters of handicraft in
agriculture, the skilled man develops methods and
results almost unconsciously. These methods are
really founded upon close observation and truthful
inductions, but the person can rarely ever impart
this particular information to his neighbor. The
only general statement, perhaps, which can be made,
is that liberal applications of potash and phos-
phoric acid should nearly always be made to bearing
fruit plants, if the grower desires the best results;
and he may be able to supply his nitrogen more
cheaply by cover crops and tillage than by buying
chemicals,

CHAPTER V.

THE PLANTING OF FRUIT GROUNDS.

THE subjects which one naturally considers when
starting out to begin the planting of a fruit area
fall into four categories, — the choice of the varie-
ties, the selection of the trees or plants, the actual
setting of the stock, and the laying out of the
fruit plantation. These matters may now be con-
sidered.

THE CHOICE OF VARIETIES.

The most personal matter connected with the
making of a fruit farm is the subject of choice of
varieties. This is the one subject upon which most
questions are asked, and it is also the one upon
which the least specific and dogmatic advice can be
given. The choice of varieties depends primarily
upon the personal preferences of the grower, upon
the purpose for which the fruit is to be grown,
and upon the locality. Without knowing these
three elements, it is impossible for any person to
give satisfactory advice as to varieties. The grower
who has no personal preferences for varieties is
one who has not yet mastered the first essential to

(224)

Choosing the Varieties. 225

successful fruit-growing, — the obtainment of a spe-
cific ideal. In the greater number of eases it is easy
to answer questions .as to what varieties to plant
by asking the questioner what he wants to plant.
He will commonly answer his own question fully.
The intelligent question about varieties is that which
asks for specific information ; as, for example :
What is the best red fall apple for southern Ohio ?
What is the earliest raspberry ? What is the hardi-
est apricot? What is the largest plum? What is
the best strawberry for canning ? Such questions
as these indicate that the questioner has classified
his own ideas, and that he is driving straight to
the point for information ; and they are usually
capable of rather definite answer. When a man
asks, "What variety of fruit shall I plant?" no one
should attempt to answer. The writer has long
since come to the practice of refusing to recom-
mend specific varieties to individual persons. He
prefers to name those varieties which he thinks
might please himself for the purpose or place
named, or to give lists of the kinds most likely to
meet the requirements ; but the grower must choose
for himself.

There are a few general rules or precepts which
may be stated to aid the intending fruit -planter in
the choice of varieties:*

1. So far as possible, follow your own personal
preferences,— the type of fruits which you love best

*The whole question of the running out of varieties is discussed in «Th«
Survival of the Unlike."

226 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

or take most interest in. These are the ones with
which you will most likely succeed.

2. Obtain a clear and specific ideal of the pur-
pose for which the fruit is to be grown, — whether
for dessert, for canning, for a local market, for ex-
port, for evaporating, and the like. Then choose the
varieties which are best suited to meet these ideals.

3. Do not covet a variety simply because it is
eminently successful in another region. Varieties
have distinct adaptations to geographical areas. If
a given variety is a universal success in the plains
regions, the probabilities are that it will not thrive
equally well in New England. The farmers of the
east have learned that they cannot compete with
those of the west in the growing of wheat, but
they have not yet learned that one region may not
be able to compete with another in some particular
variety _ of fruit, even though the variety thrive well
in both. It is a question if the northeastern states
can compete with the mid -western states in the
growing of the Ben Davis apple. The south and
mid -south are being planted extensively to the
Kieffer pear, largely because it thrives better over a
large area than most other varieties. It is doubt-
ful, then, if it is wise to plant it extensively in
the north, where other pears will thrive which do
not succeed in the Kieffer region. Diversification
must come to be more and more important in
fruit-growing; and any region should grow that
type of fruit most freely which other regions can-
not grow so well.

Choosing the Varieties.

227

4. Choose with reference to the local environment
One must consider t,l?e adaptation of the variety to
his particular climate, to the probable length of his
season, to his distance from market,

and to his system of husbandry.
The adaptation of varieties to soils
is an important consideration, and
one which demands closer attention
as cultivation becomes more intense
and perfect. As a rule, the finer
the variety in quality, the less able
it is to thrive equally well under
diverse methods of treatment. It-
is partly for this reason that des-
sert fruits are commonly regarded
as unreliable and difficult to grow. Fig. 22. strawberry
One can scarcely hope for success in "°e™esr moA*
the best horticulture unless he gives
particular study to the adaptations of species and
varieties to soils.

5. Choose with reference to inter- pollination. It is
known that some varieties of fruits are self -sterile, —
that is, they are not iruitful when planted alone. This
sterility may be due, as in the case of the straw-
berry, to imperfect (or unisexual) flowers, or, more
commonly, to pollen which is impotent upon the
pistils of the same flower.* This infertility or self-
sterility is largely a varietal characteristic, yet it is
no doubt greatly modified by seasonal and enviroii-

*For a discussion of the philosophy of this self -sterility, see the essay oil
"Sex in Fruits," in "Survival of the Unlike," p. 347.

228 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

mental conditions. It is probable that varieties may
sometimes be self -fertile and at other times self-
sterile. The strawoerry flowers in Fig. 22 show the
marked influence upon pollen -bearing which is ex-
erted by different conditions. The flowers are of the
same variety, and were grown under glass. The
lower one shows the small development of stamens
in a long cloudy spell, and the upper one shows
the profusion of stamens which appeared in other
flowers after two or three days of sunshine. It is
probable that pollen is more profuse and more potent
in some years than in others.

There is very little positive knowledge concerning
the inter -pollination of fruits, and no subject con-
nected with pomology is in greater need of study.
We chiefly know that the most productive orchards
are usually those of many varieties, and that some
varieties sometimes refuse to fertilize themselves. The
most positive knowledge respecting the impotency of
pollen amongst our common fruits is in connection
with the plums of the Wild Goose type. The safest
practice, therefore, is to plant no more than two
or three rows of any one variety together of fruits in
which self -sterility is a frequent characteristic (pears,
plums, apples). The chief point to be observed in se-
lecting the varieties is that they shall bloom together.
All pears and apples, and nearly or quite all plums,
seem to be inter-fertile when they bloom simultaneously.

The following lists of self -sterile and self -fertile
fruits are summaries of our present knowledge upon
the subject:

Impotent Fruits. 229

Pears — Varieties more or less self-stertile. — Angou-
leme, Anjou, Bartlett, Boussock, Clairgeau, Clapp,
Columbia, De la Chene, Doyenne Sieulle, Easter, Gan-
sel's Bergamotte, Gray Doyenne, Ho well, Idaho, Jones,
Kieffer, Lawrence, Louise Bonne, Mount Vernon,
Pound, Sheldon, Souvenir do Congres, Superfin,
Colonel Wilder, Winter Nelis.

Varieties generally self-fertile. — Bosc, Brockworth,
Buffum, Diel, Doyenne d'Alenc.on, Flemish Beauty,
Heathcote, Le Coute, Manning Elizabeth, Seckel,
Tyson, White Doyenne.

Apples— Varieties more or less self-stertile. — Bellfleur,
Chenango (Strawberry), Graveustein, King, Northern
Spy, Norton Melon, Primate, Rambo, Red Astrachan,
Roxbury Russet, Spitzenburg, Talman Sweet, Willow
Twig, Winesap.

Varieties mostly self -fertile. — Baldwin, Ben Davis,
Codlin, Fallawater, Greening, Oldenburg, Rail's Janet,
Red Astrachan, Smith Cider.

Plums — Varieties more or less self -sterile. — Coe
Golden Drop, French Prune, Italian Prune, Marianna,
Miner, Ogon, Peach, Satsuma, Wild Goose and many
other native plums.

Varieties mostly self -fertile. — Burbauk, Bradshaw,
De Soto, Green Gage, Lombard, Robinson, Damsons.

Strawberries often lack stamens altogether, whilst
others, like Crescent, have so few and so poor
stamens that they are practically self-sterile. Ordi-
narily, there should be a row of a perfect -flowered
variety for every two rows of a pistillate or infer-
tile variety.

230 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

"The quince seems to fruit nearly as well with its own pollen
as with that of another variety."— Waite.

Grapes (Beach)* — Unfruitful when planted by them-
selves.— Black Eagle, Brighton, Eumelau, Massasoit,
Wilder, Rogers' No. 5, Gaertner, Merrirnac, Requa,
A mi nia, Essex, Barry, Herbert, Salem.

Able to set fruit of themselves. — Concord, Dia-
mond, Niagara, Winchell or Green Mountain, Rogers
Nos. 13, 24, and 32, Agawani, Delaware.

Some of the self -sterile varieties mentioned have
fruited well when planted with pollenizers as follows:
Bartlett with Nelis, Flemish, Easter; Kieffer with Le
Conte, Garber ; Coe Golden Drop with French Prune,
Fellenburg ; Satsuma with Abundance, Burbank, Red
June; Miner with De Soto, Forest Rose, Wild Goose;
Wild Goose with De Soto, Newman, Miner.

6. Determine which are the best varieties for your
purpose by experimenting, and by diligent inquiry
of neighbors, pomologists, nurserymen, books, experi-
ment stations, t and of marketmen.

THE SELECTION OF THE PLANTS,

It is first of all necessary, in selecting the plants
for fruit grounds, to determine what first-class stock
is. "The nurserymen contends that he grows the

*For recent notes, see Beach, Bull. 169, N. Y. Exp. Sta.

tNotes upon the uses of variety tests by experiment stations will be found
in « Survival of the Imlike," pp. 171 and 370,

jThe Methods of propagating are fully set forth in "The Nursery- Book."

First -class Stock. 231

varieties which the planters want — those for which
there is a demand. As a matter of fact, he largely
forces the demand by magnifying the value of those
varieties which are good growers in the nursery.
The nurseryman's business ends with the growing
of the young tree, and the tree which makes the
straightest, most rapid and cleanest growth is the one
which finds the readiest sale. Now, it by no means
follows that the variety which is the cheapest and
best for the nurseryman to grow is the best for the
fruit-grower. Probably every apple -grower is now
ready to admit that the Baldwin has been too much
planted, whilst Canada Red and various other varie-
ties which are poor growers in the nursery row have
been too little planted.

"The blame for this condition of things does not
rest wholly with the nurseryman, although it is
partly his fault. The original difficulty lies in the
fact, it seems to me, that our conception, and con-
sequently our definition, of what constitutes a first-
class tree is at variance with the truth. We con-
ceive a first-class nursery tree to be one which grows
straight and smooth, tall and stocky, whilst we know
that very many — perhaps half— the varieties of apples
and pears and plums will not grow that way. In
order to make our conception true, we grow those
varieties which will satisfy the definition, and, as a
result, there is a constant tendency to eliminate
from our lists some of the best and most profitable
varieties.

"All this could be remedied if people were to be

232 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

taught that varieties of fruit trees may be just as
different and distinct in habit of growth as they are
in kind of fruit, and that a first-class tree is a well-
grown specimen which has the characteristics of the
variety. It seems to me that it is time for nursery-
men to begin to enforce this conception upon the
public. Why may not a catalogue explain that a
tree may be first-class and yet be crooked and
gnarly ? Why not place the emphasis upon health
and vigor, and not upon mere shape and comeli-
ness ? And why may not a nurseryman give a list
of those varieties which are comely growers, and
another list of those which are wayward growers?"*

It is generally best to buy first-class trees, —
those which are of medium size for their age,
shapely in body and head, stocky, with straight,
clean trunks and abundant roots, which are not
stunted, and are free of borers and other injuries,
and, in the case of budded trees, those in which
the union is very near the ground ; and the tree
should show the natural characteristics of the va-
riety. In dwarf pears, especially, it is important that
the stock, to be first-class, shall be budded very
low. It is often thought that large size is of itself
a great merit in a nursery tree, but this is an
error. Vigor, cleanness, stockiness, firm, hard
growth, are much more important than bigness.
The toughest and best trees are usually those of
medium size. The very small extra expense which

*«The Survival of the Unlike," p. 246.

Age of Plants for Setting. 233

one incurs in buying the best trees is a good in-
vestment. In an acre of apple trees, the difference
in cost of first-class over second-class trees will
not be more than a dollar or two, but the differ-
ence in results is often great.

The age at which plants should be bought must
be governed by circumstances and by variety. There
is a general tendency to buy trees too old rather
than too young. When varieties are new and
scarce, it may be economy to buy young stock.
Some of the freer -growing apples and pears are
large enough when two years old, if grown from
buds ; but these fruits are usually set at three
years from the bud or graft. Dwarf pears may be
set at two or three years, preferably at the former
age. Quinces are set at two and three years.
Peaches are set at one year from the bud. Strawber-
ries are set only from new plants (that is, those which
have not borne) ; gooseberries and currants prefera-
bly from two-year stock, and raspberries and black-
berries from stock not more than one season old.

Dwarfs vs. standards.— Fruit-growers are always
asking whether standard or. dwarf trees are the
better to plant, but the question is a personal
one, and cannot be answered for another any more
than the question can as to whether peaches are
more desirable than plums. Dwarf apples and
dwarf pears are of a different type of fruit-grow-
ing from the standards, and the intending grower
must weigh the evidence for and against as best
he can. As a general thing, the standards are the

234 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

safer and more reliable ; but persons who are will-
ing and competent to give the extra care which
the dwarfs need, and who have access to extra
good markets, may generally grow the dwarfs with
profit.*

The parentage of the cion may affect //x value. —
"It is probable that many trees fail to bear because
propagated from unproductive trees. We know that
no two trees in any orchard are alike, either in the
amount of fruit which they bear or in their vigor
and habit of growth. Some are uniformly productive,
and some are uniformly unproductive. We know,
too, that cions or buds tend to reproduce the char-
acters of the tree from which they are taken. A
gardener would never think of taking cuttings from
a rose bush, or chrysanthemum, or a carnation,
which does not bear flowers. Why should a fruit-
grower take cions from a tree which he knows to
be unprofitable ?

"The indiscriminate cutting of cious is too
clumsy and inexact a practice for these days, when
we are trying to introduce scientific methods into
our farming. I am convinced that some trees can-
not be made to bear by any amount of treatment.
They are not the bearing kind. It is not every
mare which will breed or every hen which will lay
a hatfull of eggs. In my own practice, I am buy-
ing the best nursery -grown stock of apples (mostly

'Further remarks apon dwarf trees may be fouiid in Nursery- Book, 3d
ed., and in Loderoan's "Dwarf Apples," Bull. 116, Cornell Exp. Sta.

Raising Trees from Seeds. 235

Spy), and am top -grafting them with cions from
trees which please me and which I know to have
been productive during many years. Time will dis-
cover if the effort is worth the while, but unless
all analogies fail, the outcome must be to my
profit."*

If one is to plant hardy stocks and then work
them over, he should usually plan to graft or bud
them after they have stood in the orchard one
year. Good results sometimes follow grafting in the
very year in which the stock is set, but this is the
exception. Some persons have proposed to sow
seeds in the very spot where the trees are to
stand, and thereby to raise stocks for top -working
without transplanting them, but the labor and un-
certainty of the method make it impracticable. It
is cheaper to grow trees in the nursery row— the
same as it is cheaper to buy trees of a nursery-
man than to attempt to grow them — and the trees
also receive better care. Again, seedlings vary, and
the poor and weak ones should be discarded the
same as they are by the budder in the nursery
row who finds them to be too small or too
scrawnjr to bud. Well -grown stock of a strong-
growing variety usually gives more uniform results
than a lot of home-grown seedlings can.

Buying the trees. — It is best, when it can be done,
to order trees late in summer or early in the fall, if

*L. H. Bailey, Bull. 102, Cornell Exp. Sta. See, also, "Survival of the
nHkf." pp. 249, 250.

236 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

one expects to plant an orchard. Buy where the best
trees can be obtained, and where there is good reason
to expect reliable stock and honest dealing. It is
generally advisable to buy at the nearest nursery at
which the desired stock can be secured, for the buyer
has more personal knowledge of the nurseryman, he
can visit the nursery, he saves freight, and he may
be able to secure his stock in fresher condition ; but
trees of equal excellence will generally thrive equally
well when transported from long distances, if they
arrive at their destination in good condition. While
one should endeavor to secure low prices, it should be
remembered that nursery stock should never be pur-
chased simply because it is cheap. Poor stock is
dear as a gift. Yet farmers who annually plant a
few trees, and who buy of agents, often pay exorbi-
tant prices. In a certain town, when farmers were
paying 28 cents apiece for peach trees in lots of a
dozen, any reliable nursery would have been glad to
have supplied the same varieties at $8 per hundred,
at the nursery. Plums which should have sold for 15
cents to 20 cents apiece were selling to farmers for
50 and 60 cents apiece. The man who seriously ex-
pects to plant an orchard for profit will not be led
into any wild scheme or new varieties by agents. He
will generally buy directly of the nearest nurseryman
who can supply the desired stock and varieties at the
prices which suit him. Some nurserymen employ reg-
ular and reliable agents, and such agents carry a cer-
tificate from the firm they represent. But while these
salesmen may be perfectly straightforward, and may

Substitution of Varieties. 237

be the best channels through whom small orders can
be secured by those who are uninformed in porno-
logical matters, all persons who expect to go into
fruit-growing seriously should buy directly of the
nurseries. But it must always be remembered that
the tree agent has been the means of clothing the
country with fruit trees, and of thereby adding much
to the contentment of farm life.

The buyer should make up his mind just what
varieties he wants, and then find the nursery which
has them, and order early enough to get them.
There is then no occasion to consider the vexed ques-
tion of substitution of varieties. If the varieties are
not in market, buy stocks of some strong -growing,
staple variety, and after these are established— usually
the spring or summer of the next year — bud or graft
over the tops to the desired varieties.

THE SETTING OF THE PLANTS.

When to plant. — There is much difference of
opinion as to the relative merits of fall and spring
planting. The writer's opinion is that fall planting
is generally preferable to spring planting upon thor-
oughly drained soils, particularly for the hardy tree
fruits, like apples, pears and plums ; and if the
ground is in good condition and the stock well ma-
tured, peaches can sometimes be set in October, even
in the northern states, with success. The advantages
of fall planting are several. The trees become estab-
lished during the open weather of fall, and they usu-

238 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

ally make a start in spring before the ground is hard
enough to allow of spring planting. This early start
not only means a better growth the first season, but,
what is more important, trees which get a very early
hold upon the soil endure the droughts of midsummer
much better than trees planted in spring. Planting
is nearly always better done in the settled weather
and workable soil of fall than in the capricious days
and in the hurry of springtime ; and the orehardist
is free to begin cultivation at a time when lie
would otherwise be planting his trees. Again, it is
generally better to buy trees in the fall, when the
stock of varieties is full and when the best trees
are yet unsold : these trees must be kept until
planting time, and it is about as cheap and fully
as safe to plant them directly in the field as to heel
them in until spring.

In fall planting, however, it is important to insist
that the trees shall be thoroughly well matured. In
order to move stock quickly, it is the practice of
some nurserymen to "strip" the trees before the
growth is completed; that is, the leaves are stripped
off, the growth stopped, and the trees are put upon
the market for September deliveries. This process
weakens the trees, and many failures in young plan-
tations are probably attributable to this cause. Such
trees may die outright, especially if set in the fall
and a hard winter follows ; or they may live to
make a dwindling growth for the first few years.
Like early -weaned calves, they lack vitality and push.
If one were setting an orchard in the fall, he should

Buy in the Fall. 239

place his order for trees in August or September,
if possible, with the express stipulation that thf
trees should stand in the nursery rows until the
leaves begin to die and fall. In the meantime, the
land should be fitted and the holes dug, so that
when the trees arrive they can go directly into their
places without delay or without the expense of heel-
ing them in. Trees are mature enough to dig late
in September or early in October in the northern
states, depending upon the season, soil and variety.
When the tree is fully mature, some of the leaves
will still hold upon the vigorous shoots, and these
are stripped off; but this stripping does no harm,
for the young growth is then mature and it has a
thick, strong, brown appearance which is very dif-
ferent from the slender, soft and green branches of
early -stripped trees.

It should be said that there seems to be a ten-
dency amongst nurserymen to urge fall planting in
order to push sales ; and there are man y good
planters who consider fall planting hazardous, espe-
cially in the north. It is true that unless the con-
ditions are right, spring planting is the safer course;
and farmers who have many fall crops to harvest
will also probably find more time for tree setting
in the spring.

Distance apart. — Fruit plants are oftener set too
close together than too far apart ; in fact, the latter
error scarcely exists. Trees, especially, are wide
feeders ; and the best results are obtained when
each tree stands far enough from its neighbors to

240 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

allow it to possess an individuality all its own.
An additional reason for sparse planting has lately
become important, — the necessity of spraying for in-
sect and fungous pests; and for this reason, as well
as to allow of better cultivation, the outside rows
should not be set close to fences. The distance at
which trees may be set depends much upon the
system of pruning. If heading-in is followed vigor-
ously and systematically, trees may be set a third
nearer than if allowed to take their natural form.
Heading- in should always be practiced with dwarf
pears, and many of our best growers pursue it with
peaches, plums and quinces. Thin planting is the
safer rule for the majority of cases. The following
table may be supposed to represent the outside aver-
age limit for the planting of fruits in New York, when
the plants are allowed to take their natural form:

Apples, 40 ft. each way.

- dwarf, 10 to 15 ft.

Pears, standard, 20 to 25 ft.

— dwarf, 12 ft. to 1 rod.
Quinces, 1 rod.
Peaches and Nectarines, 20 ft.

Plums, 20 ft.

Apricots, 20 ft.

Cherries, sour, 20 ft.

— sweet, 30 ft.
Figs, 20 to 25 ft.
Kaki, 20 to 25 ft.
Pecans, 40 ft.

Distance of Planting. 241

Oranges and Lemons, 25 to 30 ft.

Grapes, 6x8 to 8x10 ft.

Currants, 4x6 to 6x8 ft.

Blackberries, 4x7 to 6x9 ft.

Raspberries, 3x6 to 5x8 ft.

Strawberries, 1x3 or 4 ft. [way.

Cranberries, 1 or 2 ft. apart each

These are safe distances. In certain cases, how-
ever, where the soil is strong and the grower makes
thorough work of cultivating, pruning and fertilizing,
these distances can be reduced somewhat with profit,
except, perhaps, in the case of apples. (See, also,
remarks by Van Deman, page 273.)

The quincunx system plants in triangles rather than
in squares. The triangles may be equilateral, in which
case all distances are equal. Usually, however, s Hfth
tree is set in the center of a square; this sjsiem
therefore requires twice the number of trees needed
i'or ordinary planting, not counting the uneven ends.

The mixing of species, or .double planting. — These
remarks upon the proper distances for trees call
for some discussion of the common question as to
whether it is good policy to plant shorter- lived trees,
ns peaches, between apples and pears. It all depends
upon the man. In general,- it should be discouraged;
but if the orchardist gives the very best attention to
fertilizing and cultivating, plantations can be mixed
with good results. This mixing of species is a per-
sonal question. Now and ther a man succeeds ad-
mirably with it, but the greater number fail to

242 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

secure very good results with more than one type of
effort upon the same piece of land.

Van Deman* writes the following upon this sub-
ject: "For a number of years, the trees will neces-
sarily have much more space than they really need,
if planted the distance apart that they will require
when grown to full bearing age. Not only will there
be wide spaces between their tops, but much of the
soil will be unoccupied by their roots. Therefore,
some plan for using this space without in any way
hindering the proper growth of the trees, is permis-
sible, economical and desirable. Many plant peach
trees among their apple trees to fill the spaces until
the apple trees get old enough to need all the room.
I have done so myself, but do not like it now. The
peach trees are of quicker growth, and rob the apple
trees to a damaging degree, in many cases. Dwarf
pears are occasionally set in apple or standard pear
orchards, but this is generally a mistake, because the
trees often need very different culture, especially
when the pear trees blight badly from too rapid
growth. Moreover, if the dwarf pear trees are
planted deep, they send out pear roots above the
quince stocks, and become almost as long-lived as
the other trees. The wiser plan is, usually, to plant
apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, apricots, etc.,
by themselves, but to fill up the spaces until the
permanent trees need the whole, plant varieties of

*H. E. Van Deman, "Plans for Orchard Planting," Rural New-Yorker,
March 6, 1897.

Double Planting. 243

the same species that will come into bearing early.

''Not only do different kinds of orchards fruits re-
quire different distances between their trees, but the
same species or the same variety often needs more or
less space in different climates and soils. Despite all
the manuring or cultivation we may give them,
those planted in some localities will not attain the
same size as they would had they been planted in
others. For instance: the peach trees of Connecticut
and northern Michigan are much smaller than those
of Delaware and Missouri. No manner of treat-
ment will cause them to grow to the same size,
unless those in the more southern locality were cut
back in summer time or starved, and thereby stunted.
It is climate that does it — more warmth, more sun-
light, and, in short, more congeniality. The apple
trees of Michigan and New England are far larger
than those of Texas and the tide -water sections of
Virginia, because the apple delights in a climate
both moist and cool. The gigantic cherry trees of
the Shenandoah Valley far exceed in size those
which grow in the richer lands of Illinois.

"Where land is dear, economy of space is an
important point ; hence the plan that will put the
most trees on a given area, provided they are not
too thick, is the best. The more there are on an
acre, the less it costs per tree to cultivate them."

Some of the small -fruits may be planted in or-
chards with the very best results. Strawberries are
practically an annual plant, and are much better for
orchards than any kind of a sowed crop is.

244 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

How to plant the stock. — Plow the land and fit it
well. As all fruit grounds should be put into culti-
vated crops for the first two years, at least, it will
generally be found advisable to plow the entire area
before the place is set, rather than to plow strips
where the trees or plants are to go, for the land
can then be shaped better with reference to surface
drainage and general convenience.

Trees should be set neither in dead -furrows nor
on back -furrows. Level culture should generally be
adopted from the start, unless it is known to be
necessary to displace surface water ; and in that case
it may be questioned if the land is fit for fruit
plants. In all ordinary soils, holes must be dug
by hand for the tree fruits. Plowing out a deep
furrow in the line of the rows may lessen the dig-
ging and aid in getting the trees in line. The hole
should be dug broad and ample ; and the harder
the soil the larger ought the hole to be, for in
that case the loose dirt which is filled in must give
the tree its start. In loose and deep soils, the
hole need be no larger than the spread of the
roots. Chop up the soil in the bottom of the hole,
or throw in a few shovelfuls of loose surface earth.

Trees should be set an inch or two deeper than
they stood in the nursery, for the loose earth will
settle and wash away in the course of the season,
even if it is well packed when the trees are set.
Dwarf pears should be set from three to six inches
below the bud. The roots are trimmed, as ex-
plained further on. Every care must be exercised

Setting the Plants. 245

to get the soil thoroughly firmed in about the
roots — which are straightened out in approximately
their natural position — and especially under the crown
or fork of the roots, in order that no air-spaces
may be left to dry out. This dirt can be best placed
by fingering it in, moving the tree gently up and
down at the same time. Once or twice in the pro-
gress of filling the hole, the earth should be stamped
down. Fill the hole to a little more than level
full to carry off surface water, but be careful that
no hollows are left too close about the tree into
which water can settle, especially when planting in
the fall. Stamp or pound the earth very firmly
about the tree before leaving it, for the double pur-
pose of retaining moisture and of holding the tree
against winds. Small stuff, like nursery stock and
small-fruit plants, may often be well planted by
means of a dibber or spud. All this operation of
planting can proceed to perfection only when the
earth is dry enough to crumble. Stock cannot be
well planted in wet and sticky soil.

If trees are set according to these directions,
and the tops are cut back as explained farther on,
there will rarely be any necessity for staking and
tying the trees to keep them plumb.

Mulches of straw or manure are sometimes ad-
vised for newly set trees. For trees planted late in
spring and upon droughty soils, a light mulch about
the tree may be advised ; but in other cases it is
not. If mulches are applied to fall -planted trees,
care must be taken to tramp them down well, or

246 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

they may become a nesting -place for mice, which
may girdle the trees when there are heavy snows.
There are those who favor placing a forkful of ma-
nure in the bottom of the hole, but this is a
practice of doubtful value ; and, at all events, the
manure should be well mixed with the soil to pre-
vent drying out. There is often discussion as to
whether it is desirable to place the mulch on the
surface or to place it an inch or two below the
surface and cover it with soil. No dogmatic as-
sertion can be made for either method, although,
of the two, the former is probably more generally
advisable. But it should be remembered that a
mulch of tilled earth (as explained in Chapter III.)
is more desirable than one of straw or manure in
general fruit -planting.

Puddling the roots is a good practice when trees
are to be shipped any distance or when they are
likely to be unduly exposed, and it is a common
practice amongst nurserymen. The operation con-
sists in sousing the roots in a thin mud or paste
of clay.

Trimming the trees.* — There is much difference of
opinion as to the best method of trimming trees
when they are set. So far as the root is concerned,
it is advisable, in the north, to cut away only those
roots which are broken or badly torn. These should
be cut off just back of the injury. It is the custom

"Complete discussions of pruning and training, with a full analysis of th*
Stringfellow or stub-root method, may be found in "The Pruning-Book."

Trimming the Young Tree. 247

to cut off the ends of all roots of the size of a lead
pencil or larger, for a clean, smooth wound is sup-
posed to heal quicker than a ragged one. These cuts
are made from within outwards, so that the wound is
more or less slanting across the roots, and so that it
rests firmly upon the ground when the tree is set.
When the tree is planted, all the roots should be
straightened out to nearly or quite their normal posi-
tion. If it is found that one or two roots run off to
an inordinate length, they may be cut back to corre-
spond somewhat with the main root system.

Perhaps half the entire root system of the young
tree is left in the ground when it is dug. It is there-
fore evident that the top should be cut back to a cor-
responding amount. In fact, the top should be more
severely shortened -in than the root, because the root,
in addition to being reduced, is also dislodged from
the soil, with which it must establish a new union
before it can resume the normal activities. Trees
which are allowed to carry too much top when
planted may fail to grow outright ; or if they start,
they are very likely to be overtaken by the droughts
of summer. Even if they live, the growth is gen-
erally small and uncertain, and the tree may fall a
prey to borers or a victim to high winds. On the
other hand, trees may be trimmed too severely when
set. Except possibly in the case of peaches, it is
probably unwise to trim the trees to a mere pole ;
and with peaches, it may be better to leave spurs
with at least one bud than to trim to a whip. There
should be a number of strong, bright buds left upon

248 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

the top, for these are the points where early and
active growth begins. These buds are upon strong
branches. If they are removed, the weaker or halt'

Fig. 23. Yearling peach tree. Fig. 24. Peach tree, pruned.

dormant buds upon the main trunk or low down in
the crotches, must take up the work, and these start
slowly and often feebly.

Trimming the Young Plant. 249

There are two general methods of trimming the
tops of young trees at planting time. One method
cuts back all the branches to spurs of from one to
three buds ; or sometimes, particularly with dwarf
pears set when two years old, the side branches may
be cut entirely away, leaving only the buds on the
main stem or trunk. The tree, therefore, " feathers
out" the first season; that is, it makes many small
shoots along the main trunk. The following fall or
spring, the top is started at the desired height.
Fig. 23 shows a peach tree as received from the
nursery, and Fig. 24 the same tree, trimmed in this
manner, ready for planting. This method is the one
generally best adapted to the peach, which is always
set when a year old ; but for other fruits, unless
the trees are slender and without good, branchy tops,
it is doubtful if it is the best practice. If the
bodies are thought not to be stiff enough, this man-
ner of trimming may be used to good advantage.
The main shoot should usually be headed back in
this as in all styles of trimming, in order to make
the trunk stocky.

The second method aims to start the top at the
required height when the tree is planted. It is
adapted only to strong and well grown stocks which
have a more or less branching and forking top.
From three to five of the best branches are left,
and these are headed back to a few buds each.
Fig. 25 shows a pear tree, trimmed in Fig. 26, and
the illustration may be considered to represent a
good example of its class. Many of our best plant-

250

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

ers prefer the spur system for all trees, and there
are some who would trim all newly set trees to a

Pig. 25. Three year old pear tree.

Fig. 26. Pear tree pruned.

straight whip. There is much to be said for this lat-
ter method.

Fig. 27. Yount:

plum stock
well t

Kig. 28. Second-class

npple tree, showing

leader at A.

Fie- 2». Second-cU^s
tree, showing
leader at A.

252

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

It is, of course, evident that there
is no one method of pruning young
trees which is all wrong, nor any other
which is all right. The method must
always be modified by the age and
shape of the trees, by the climate (or
part of the country) in which the plan-
tation is set, by the species of plants,
and especially by the ideal which the
grower has set for himself. In general,
it may be said that the younger the
stock the more nearly
to a whip it may be
pruned.

Fig. 30. Grape plant, showing where it should be pruned.

Trimming the Young Stock.

253

It may be said in general, then, that peach trees
and small or slender trees should be well headed
back and spurred (Figs.
23, 24); but that strong,
well branched trees may
have the Lend started
at the desired height
at the time of setting,
all the branches being
well headed back (Figs.
25 and 26). Fig. 27
shows a small plum
tree cut to spurs, and
the roots have also been
properly dressed. Figs.
28 and 29 show second-
class apple trees. In
these the tops are not
well formed, and it
might be best to trim
to a whip, allowing
the branches A to be-
come the leaders. Such
whips may look very
crooked and scu'awnjr,
but they will straighten
as they grow. The lines
in Fig. 30 show where
a grape plant should be pruned The top should
be cut at a and 6, the upper roots trimmed off at
c and d, and the main roots cut in from c to /.

>1. Pruning a newly-sei tree.

254 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

The trees may be trimmed before they are planted,
although it is generally better to do it just after
they are set, especially if the tree is trimmed after
the method of Fig. 26, for one can then better esti-
mate the proper height, the operation is easier done,
and there is no further danger of breaking off the
limbs by the handling of the tree. One foot is
planted firmly at the base of the tree, and then with
one hand the branch to be removed is bent upwards
and with the other the knife is applied to the under
side and the cut is made neatly and easily (Fig. 31,
page 253). Never cut downwards on a limb, for a
ragged wound nearly always follows.

In fall -set trees it is generally inadvisable to
prune them before spring (unless the tops are so
heavy and the bodies so weak that they are likely
to be injured by wind), because the cut surfaces
are likely to dry out. The roots of the tree are
not yet sufficiently established in the soil to supply
the added evaporation which takes place from the
wounds. If it seems to be desirable to trim the
trees when they are set, they should be cut back
only part way. They may be cut again, to fresh
wood, in the spring.

THE LAYING -OUT OP THE FRUIT PLANTATION.

It is difficult to make the rows straight in large
areas, especially on rolling ground. Persons who
have had areas regularly surveyed with chain and
compass, and a stake set for every tree, may have

Making the Rows Straight. 255

found the orchards to be as crooked as others set
with much less care. The surveyor sets his stakes
by sighting across the field from certain fixed
points ; but it is difficult for the planter, when the
stake is removed and the hole dug, to stand the
tree in the exact place of the stake. It is better
to regard the trees as stakes and to set them by
sighting. The area can be "run out" on two or
three of the sides, a conspicuous stake being set at
the location of each tree on these outside rows. If
the field is large or rolling, it may be necessary to
set one or two lines of stakes across the center of
the field also. For areas of a few acres, a garden-
line stretched across the field will be found to be
a great help and to save much time. This line is
moved at either end to the adjoining row, as soon
as one row is set alongside it. Persons sometimes
tie conspicuous strings on the line at the given
intervals between the trees, expecting to set a tree
at every knot, but with the stretching of the line,
and other sources of error, it is nearly impossible
to get the cross rows straight in this manner, and
the trees must be kept in line by sighting.

Upon comparatively level fields, especially if the
land is in good tilth, the plantation may be laid
out with a corn -marker. If the planter keeps his
back to the row of trees and sights ahead to the
marked line or furrow, he will get his rows straighter
than he will if he sights by the trees. Two men
are better than one when setting plants, for one
usually attends to the sighting whilst the other

256 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

puts in the plants. There are various devices for
locating the position of the original stake, after the
hole has been dug. One of the best consists sim-
ply of a thin board three or four inches wide and
six or seven feet long, with a notch at its center,
and a stationary leg or pin at one end (a). The
other end (b) is provided with a hole to receive the
top of another stake or pin. The notch is set
against the stake, the legs at each end of the board
being thrust into the ground at the same time.
The end (b) is now raised off the pin or leg, and
the board is swung around out of the range of
the hole. When the hole is dug, the end (b) is
swung back and dropped upon the pin, and the tree
is set in the notch.*

The methods of laying out orchards have been
discussed in detail recently by H. E. Van Deman,
formerly pomologist of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, and copious quotations are
made from these writings. t

"To lay out with the plow. — Before doing any-
thing, one must decide which style or arrangement
of the trees is to be followed and the distance apart
to plant them. This having been decided, the first
thing to be done is to establish a base line, which
should be along a fence, road or some other perma-
nent border of the tract to be planted. Prepare

The reader will find this implement and another one illustrated on page 56 of
" Garden-Making."

tH. E. Van Deman, "Laying Out Orchards," Green's Fruit Grower, April.
1897.

Making the Rows Straight. 257

enough small split stakes, that may be easily seen,
to put at each end of every tree row; that is,
enough to go entirely around the tract. Then, set
a stake firmly at a spot which shall be the first
established corner of the outside limits of the
orchard. It must, however, be set at a spot which
shall also be the end of another line running exactly
at right angles to the base line. In the west,
where the farms are nearly all laid out in perfect
squares or rectangles, the field.-* are apt to be rec-
tangular. In the absence of a surveyor's transit,
a carpenter's square may be used to establish the
lines, by sighting along its edges when laid on the
tops of three stakes at the corner. Set a stake at
the farther end of each of these lines. From this
first corner stake measure along the base line fifteen
feet, or as far as it is thought best to have the
width of the margin between the trees and the
fence, and there set a stake. Next, measure along
the base line from this second stake the distance
that the trees will be apart, and set a stake.
Measure along the entire length of the base line,
setting a stake at every 16%, 20, 25, 33 feet, or
whatever distance may have been decided upon.
This line of stakes being only the ends of the
transverse rows and not the places for trees, they
need not be set absolutely in a straight line, but
should be nearly so. Then, go back to the original
corner stake and measure fifteen feet at right angles
to the base line and set a stake, which determines
the width of the border next the base line. Now,

258 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

measure and set stakes along this other side of the
orchard site, up to the stake at the farther end.
The two remaining sides should be measured and
staked in the same way.

"Provide several tall stakes with a white rag tied
at the top of each, to use as sight poles at each
end. If one can run a straight line with a plow
without intermediate sight poles, that is, with only
one at each end, these will be enough ; but I have
found that it pays ro have an extra line of stakes
set a few rods from each end, and a guide pole to
be set at each in turn, as the laying -out pro-

"We are now ready for the plow. Some like
one horse, but two make the plow run steadier, and
it is easier for the plowman to sight between two
horses than over the head of one. My plan is, to
first mark out crosswise to the way I intend to
plant, and to make but a single shallow furrow.
This being done, we are ready to make the fur-
rows in which to plant. If these run up and
down the slope they will act as a drain to the
trees, in some measure. By plowing two rounds
and finishing with a dead -furrow or trench on the
line, and then subsoiling in the bottom of it, there
will be very little work for the spade in preparing
to set the trees. It is by no means difficult to
set them in the checks, with a little sighting, so
straight that no one would know but that they were
set by a line. After setting the trees, hitch one
horse to a plow with a very short singletree covered

Making the Rows Straight. 259

with rags at the ends to prevent injuring the trees,
and fill up the trench at two rounds. Then plow
the space between the rows. One thing must be very
carefully figured out the very first thing, if the hex-
agonal style is used (which I prefer and use), and
that is, the distances between the rows at right
angles, and not diagonally from tree to tree, and
then accurately measured and staked on the outer
lines. The great Wellhouse orchards, in Kansas, were
laid out with the plow. J. H. Hale substituted a
60 -cent per day darkey and a mule for a six -dollar
surveyor and transit, in laying out his rows for
planting his 600 -acre peach orchard in Georgia.

"Laying out with a line. — For small orchards of an
acre or two, I have often practiced a method of
laying out in the hexagonal style, which is very
quickly and easily done. As many stakes are pro-
vided as there are trees to be set. A wire is pre-
pared of the exact length that the trees are to be
apart, and a ring or loop twisted in at each end,
by which to hold it. A base line is established by
setting stakes just where each tree will be in the first
row. One person (A) slips a finger through one
ring, and another (B) takes the other end of the
wire and runs a small stick through the ring. A
holds his end exactly at stake 1, and B steps to
where he supposes the first tree of the second row
will come, and with the point of his stick marks a
small segment of a circle on the ground. He remains
there while A goes to stake 2 and holds his end
exactly to it. B describes another arc on the

260 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

ground, and where it crosses the first one he sets a
stake, and moves to the place for the next stake.
There he makes a mark, and A then goes to stake
3 of the base line and holds the wire as before,
while B finds the crossing of the marks and sets
another stake ; and so on to the end of the row.
When the second row is complete it is used as a
base line from which to make a third, etc., etc. If
the work is done carefully the stakes will be found
to be in very straight rows every way. I have
tried it on some of the roughest hills in northern
Michigan, where, in newly cleared places the stumps
were very thick, and planted nice orchards that are
now over twenty -five years old, that look to-day as
if the trees might have been set by a compass and
chain. On level ground, free from obstructions, it
is fun to lay out an orchard so.

"Another line method. — Another cheap and handy
method is, to mark and set by a wire long enough
to reach entirely across the field. It should be
stretched tightly between two stout stakes that have
been firmly driven into the ground, and exactly on
the line of the first row to be planted. Directly
over the place for the first tree or vine, wrap a
small wire two or three times and twist the ends
tightly, so it cannot slip. Measure along the wire
to the next place and fasten another wire coil, and
so on to the end. If these little coils were soldered
fast they could not move. A little piece of bright
cloth should be tied over them, that the places may
be easily seen. Now, dig the holes and plant the

Staking Out an Orchard. 261

first row while the wire is in place. Then move
the wire and stakes to the second row and stretch
as before, being very careful to have the first mark
exactly where the first tree should be. Proceed to
dig and plant as before. Move the wire to the third
row, and so on throughout. This obviates all
necessity for marking off upon the ground, except
the distances between the rows and a starting point
on each row. Some of the most accurately planted
orchards and vineyards I have ever seen were planted
by this method at the North Carolina Experiment
Station at Southern Pines, and elsewhere in that
region, and there I got the idea. It is entirely
practical. The wire can be wound on a reel, and
thus be easily moved about the farm or stored for
further use."

Staking methods.— There are so many methods of
staking out an orchard, that it will interest the
reader if one of the best of them is described.
The Yeomans plan is as follows : * "In connection
with the accompanying diagram, is explained an
easy, simple and accurate way of marking out the
ground and planting the trees without putting any
stakes where trees are to be planted or removing
any while planting. The stakes not only show
where to dig the holes, but when the planting is
to be done the same stakes indicate the precise
place where the trees are to be placed, always sight
ing only by the stakes in setting, without any regard

*T. O. Yeomans, Walworth, N. Y., Country (ientlemau, Ixi. 288 (Apr. », 1896).

262 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

to the trees planted. Thus all the stakes will be
standing when the last tree is planted, showing the
accuracy of the work done.

"The outside line of the diagram represents the

A

ID

NORTH

F

G

SOUTH
Fig. 32. Diagram to illustrate the planting of an orchard.

ground to be planted ; the dots are stakes, by means
of which the location of ' each tree can readily be
found without any measurements ; but none of them
stand where trees are to be planted. The ground
being properly prepared for one hundred trees, pro-

Staking Out the Ground. 263

vide sixty lath as very suitable stakes— light, straight
and of proper length — lay them on the ground or
a board and whitewash on each side about a foot
or more at one end, by which they can readily be
seen at a distance and distinguished from any other
stake or object. Let two men with a tape line start
at the corner of the ground at D, and measure
25 feet along the east side to 1 and then set a
stake ; thence measure 40 feet to 2, setting a
stake, and continue to 10, putting a stake every
40 feet to C, setting all stakes as perpendicular as
possible.

"Then with ten stakes start at B and measure
the same distance toward A, sticking a stake first at
25 feet, and after that 40 feet, to correspond with
those on the east side. And on the same plan and
in the same manner, stick ten stakes 40 feet apart
along the north and south bounds of the orchard,
and entirely outside of where any trees are to be
planted, being particular that no trees shall be
planted nearer than 25 feet to the fences surround-
ing the orchard, for the reason that when the trees
become large, as much as 25 feet of space will be
necessary to allow a spraying wagon and fixtures
to pass in spraying the trees properly, and to place
ladders about the trees for gathering the fruit.

"The stakes being set around the orchard ground
at proper distances, the tape line is no longer
needed, as the cross intermediate rows of stakes are
to be set by sight. Now let one man take ten of
the white -top stakes and go about to E (at bottom

264 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

of diagram, and another man go to the first stake
north of D, and sight the man at E precisely
where to stick a stake in line with the two stakes
on opposite sides of the ground ; then move north-
ward to 2, and stick a stake between 2 and 2; and
thus continue from south to north and from east
to west, through and not far from the middle of
the field, being careful not to place either of these
intermediate rows where a row of trees is to be
planted. These rows need not be straight, but each
stake must be in line with the corresponding stakes
at the right and left.

"With the stakes thus placed, a person moving
anywhere about the ground to be planted can readily
find, by looking in the direction of two stakes in
two directions at right angles, precisely where a tree
is to be planted. Thus, a person standing at either
+ is at a point where a tree must stand, and at
either of those points will see two stakes in a line
with him in two directions at right angles ; and
so of every point where a tree is to be planted.
If men are to be employed to dig the holes who
are not capable of setting a stake in line with two
other stakes already standing (there are such men),
let some one who can do so go through the field,
and with point of stake or other thing, mark where
the holes are to be dug.

"With this arrangement no stakes are placed
where the trees are to be planted. Any number of
men can go on with the work of digging the holes
and planting in any part of the orchard without

Hexagonal or Quincunx Planting. 265

reference to any other trees in any other part.
The writer has planted about 150 acres of apple
and 100 acres of peach orchard on this plan, and
has furnished many parties brief descriptions of same
for planting ; has planted rows 30 to 40 rods long
of nice trees, so straight in line that a stake two
inches in diameter set up in the row would hide
every tree from view, looking from the end thereof."
Orchard plans. — Van Deman* writes fully upon
the methods of constructing a plan of an orchard,
as follows :

" The hexagonal, Van Deman plan. — The plan that will best
(•cononiize space is what is known as the ' hexagonal ' plan. It
is a system of equilateral triangles, and is sometimes called the
' triangular ' system. It puts all adjacent trees equally distant
from each other. This is the plan I have followed in all my
own plantings, and now think it the best I have ever seen. I
have practiced upon the additional idea of planting temporary
trees alternately with permanent ones, and leaving 'alleys be-
tween every fifth and sixth row, which I have never seen in any
other orchards of the hexagonal style ; therefore, I have called
this part of it the ' Van Deman ' plan. In the lower part of
Fig. 33 it may be seen. By this plan there may be planted
156 trees per acre one rod apart, with every sixth row left out
for an alley, which gives easy access to wagons for gathering
fruit, and for any other necessity. The permanent trees are
marked by the letter P throughout this and all the other plans.
These trees are two rods, or 33 feet, apart, which, for apple trees
in most climates and soils, is sufficient. In Michigan, Pennsyl-
vania, New York and some other localities where apple trees

*H. E. Van Deman, "Plans for Orchard Planting," Rural New-Yorker.
March 0 and 13, 1897. Revised for this occasion by Mr. Van Deman.

For tables giving the number of plants to the acre, see " The Horticultur-
ists' Rule-Book," 4th ed., pp. 115-119.

266

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

grow to very large size, 40 to 45 feet is none too far apart for
permanent trees. The places for the temporary trees or, 'fillers,'
are designated by the letter F. The fillers reduce the distance
between trees to one rod, or 16X feet, except where the alleys
occur, which are 28% feet wide. The fillers should be of early-

(NORTH)

P
P

P
P

P
P

P
P

P
P

P

P

P
P

p
p

52 permanent (

rees, 33 feet apart.

P

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

P

P

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

P

104 trees.

16%x28% feet

apart.

P

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

F

F

F F

F

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

F

9 . r

F

P

F

P

r

p

F

P

F

F

F

F F

F

F

P

F

p

F

P

F

P

F

F

F F

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

P

F

156 trees, 16% x 16% feet apart, after leaving out two

rows fo

• alleys.

(SOUTH)

Fig. 33

H

exagonal pi

an.

bearing kinds, such as Wagener, Missouri or Wealthy, which
will usually pay the cost of the entire orchard within the first
ten years. In the middle section of Fig. 33 are 104 trees per
acre, in which all the intermediate rows are left out, the fillers
only equaling the permanent trees. These are preferably in
the rows running north and south, that the trees may in some

Orchard Plans. 267

measure protect each other from the force of the prevailing
southerly winds in the prairie states, especially ; and some
think from the hot sun, also. This is one of my favorite plans.
It gives ample room to cultivate, and is just right for planting
six rows of corn, which for the first five or six years is advis-

( NORTH)

p

P P

P

P

P P

p

P P

P

P

P P

p

P P

P

P

P P

46 permanent trees, 33 \ 41 '., feet apart.

P

F

P F P F

P

F

P

F P F P

F

P

F

P F P F

P

F

P

F P F P

F

92 trees, 33 x 16% feet apart.

P

F F

F P F F P F F

P

F

F P

F F P F F F P

F

P

F F

F P F F P F F

P

143 trees, 16% x 16% feet apart, leaving out two rows for

alleys.

(SOUTH)
Fig. 34. Alternate plan.

able. The upper section of the diagram shows only the perma-
nent trees, of which there are 52 per acre. The rows are 28%
feet wide three ways, and permit cultivating the trees accord-
ingly.

"The alternate plan. — Fig. 34 shows the alternate plan, and
is in all particulars like Fig. 33, except that the rows are fully

268 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

33 feet apart, instead of 28%. The trees are to be planted alter-
nately, just as bricks are laid in a wall. In the lower section
there are 143 trees per acre; in the middle one 92, and in the
upper, fully thinned section, there are 46 permanent trees.

"The Wellhouse plan. — Almost every fruit-grower has heard

( NORTH )

P

P P P P

P P

,. ,. , ,.

F ,-

1'

P P P 1'

1' P

eet apart.

P

pern ee . , _

F F F F

F F

F

P 1' P P

P p

P

F F F F

F F

F

P P P P

P P

P

F F F F

F F

F

P P P P

P I'

P

F F F F

F F

F

P P P P

P P

P

98 trees, 32 x 16 feet apart.

(SOUTH)

Fig. 35. Wellhouse plan.

of Hon. F. Wellhouse, of Kansas, who is called 'The Apple
King of America.' Well may he be so called, for he and
his son, who is in company with him, have over 1,600 acres
of apple orchard, ranging from two to twenty-two years
planted. His trees are planted 32x16 feet apart, in rectan-
gular style, as shown in the lower section of Fig. 35, the

Plans for Orchards. 269

wide spaces running north and south ; this makes 98 trees
per acre. The upper section shows the permanent trees in
exact squares 32 feet each way, as is now the case in his
older orchards that have been thinned, 49 trees standing on
an acre. He has not mixed the varieties, as is indicated in

(NORTH.)

P

p p

P

112 trees, 42 feet apnrt.

p

P P 1' 1' P

P

p

P P P P P

P

«:! trees, H2x '.'(1 feet apart.

P K p K |- p K |- K I' p K

P K p K P p K p K P p y

P K P K P P K P K P P K

P V P K P P F P K P P K

108 trees, 16 x20 feet apart, leaving out 2 rows for alleys.

(SOUTH.)
Fig. 36. Parker Earle plan.

the illustration, so far as I know, but planted such varieties
in solid blocks as would bear reasonably early ; but it would
seem to me that, if such kinds as Missouri were planted in
rows between the others and to be removed, it would be better
than planting each by itself. But, aside from his published
statements of the results of his enterprise, I know, from a long

270 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

and intimate acquaintance with Judge Wellhouse and his or-
chards, that they have done remarkably well.

"The Parker Earle plan. — The plan originated by Parker
Earle, who is one of the leading western horticulturists, is
shown at Fig. 36. He has planted several hundred acres of
apples after this plan in the famous Pecos Valley of New
Mexico, where the trees come into bearing very early. They
are 16 feet apart east and west by 20 feet north and south,
except that every sixth row is left out for an alley, as in
the lower section of the diagram. There are 108 trees per
acre. The intention is to cut out every other north and
south row, thus leaving them as shown in the middle sec-
tion, 32x20 feet. There will then be 63 trees per acre.
One -half of these may be taken out later, if more space be
needed, leaving at the rate of 32 trees per acre, 42 feet
apart. This will give ample space when the trees get to be
very large; but in that climate, and northward to Colorado,
Utah and Idaho, the trees are so precocious, and bear so
abundantly, that it is doubtful whether they will ever attain
size to need so much space.

"The Olden plan. — Who has not heard of the famous Olden
Fruit Farm, in southern Missouri ? I made three prolonged
visits there to see it at different times of the year, and it
is well worth seeing. The oldest parts of the apple orchards
are just at good bearing age. It is planted mostly to apples
and peaches, but there are a few pears, plums and small
fruits. Each year more are added; last year 960 acres were
planted. J. C. Evans and L. A. Goodman are the leading
spirits of the company that owns and runs it. Their plan
for apples is 25x25 feet, in plain squares, and all of one
variety in a block, making 64 trees per acre, as in the lower
section of Fig. 37. The trees have not come to the age
that requires thinning by the ax, but they will do so in
time, for apple trees grow to a very large size in that rich
soil and agreeable climate. When it does come, they will
take out every other diagonal row, leaving 32 trees per acre,
37% feet apart the nearest way (diagonally), and 50 feet east

Plans of Orchards. 271

and west, as in the upper section. While it may seem pre-
sumptuous for me to suggest an improvement on a plan so
well matured, and by such eminently practical orchardists, and,
when it is true that the apple bears quite young and pro-
fusely in all that Ozark Mountain region, yet it does seem

(NOETH.)

P

P P P P
P P P

32 permanent trees. 37% feet apart.

F

P F P

F P F P

P

F P F

P F P F

F

P F P

F P F P

Modified Olden plan -.

64 trees, 25x25 feet apart.

P

P P P

P P P P

P

P P P

P P P P

P

P P P

P P P P

Olden plan proper :

64 trees, 25x25 feet apart.

(SOUTH.)

Fig. 37. Olden plan.

to me that it might be well to mix the .varieties in the
row, filling in each alternate diagonal row with the earliest-
bearing varieties to be planted, and thus preparing for their
removal and the retention of those of a less precocious and
more durable character. This modified plan I have depicted
in the central section of Pig. 37.

272 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

"Olden and Hale plans for peach orchards. — The Olden plan
for a peach orchard is, to have the trees 16%xl6% feet
apart each way, and in plain squares, making 169 trees per
acre, as in the lower section of Fig. 38. At convenient dis-
tances for the passage of wagons, roads are laid out, making

(NORTH.)

ooooooooooooooooool

I o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o i
IOOOOOGOOO ooo oooooo
ooooooooooooooooooj

ioooooooooooo ooooool

Hale plan : 289 trees per acre, i:t x lit feet apart. *

I o o o o o o o o o o o o o

O 'O O O O O O O O O O O O

I o o o o o o o o o o o o o

i o o o o o o o o o o o o o

j

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Olden plan : 169 trees per acre, ll)/^ x 1«V« feet apart.

(SOUTH.)

Pig. 38. Hale and Olden plans (or peach orchard.

a serios of large blocks. The contour of the ground and
intervening rocky hillsides or oak forests left standing,
do not always permit these blocks to be of regular size or
shape.

"Then, we have the great Hale peach orchards in Georgia
and Connecticut, and who has not heard of them and of

Plans for Peach Orchards. 278

their stirring Yankee proprietor, J. H. Hale, of Connecticut f
He plants 13 x 13 feet, which seems extremely close, even for
peach trees in Connecticut. As I walked through them with
Mr. Hale, I repeatedly expressed such an idea, but he refuted
it as often, gave favorable statements from experience, »nd
then he would say, 'There are the trees; do they not look
thrifty enough ? ' And I could not say but that they did.
But he feeds them like a lot of pigs in a pen. He prunes
them back to bearing, paying and convenient size. He is
not growing peach trees for fuel simply; although they will
go into the wood and brush piles whenever their day of
usefulness is over, and others be planted in their stead.
Streets are laid out both ways through his Georgia orchard
of 600 acres, cutting it into regular blocks 1,000x500 feet in
size. There are 289 trees per acre, as may be seen in the
upper part of Fig. 38.

"The Delaware and Maryland peach orchards are set wider
than those already mentioned. The trees grow to large size,
and utilize the 16 to 20 feet space given them. The Michi-
gan peach orchards are set somewhat closer, and those of
the northern part of the peach belt along the lake are de-
cidedly so. I have visited all of these sections and exam-
ined the orchards, finding the square or hexagonal styles the
most popular. In Texas and California I saw large, thrifty
peach trees that needed as much space as any, and planted
in the most exact manner, usually in squares or hexagons, at
from 18 to 24 feet apart.

"The pear, cherry, plum and prune (some plums are called
prunes, especially in the Pacific states), taking the country
over, are all subject to the same conditions and variations
of climates and soil as the apple and peach, and, like them,
they can properly be planted in any of these styles men-
tioned, the distances being changed to suit each. The pear,
being an upright grower, as a rule, does not need so mucn
room as the apple; 20 feet apart is a common distance to
plant standards, and 10 to 12 feet for dwarfs. The Kieffer,
Le Conte and Garber bear very early as standards, and may

274

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

be planted about 16 feet apart, and thinned out as they
crowd each other.

" The sour cherries need about 18 to 20 feet, while the
larger -grow ing sweet varieties require fully 20 feet, and in
time, if they are not pruned back severely, 40 or more- feet
when they attain their full size. Plum orchards should vary

APPLE TREE

Fig.

9 Ft. 6 Ft. 6 Ft. 9 Ft.

19. Setting small-fruits in an orchard.

somewhat in closeness with the varieties planted. The great
prune orchards of the Pacific slope are set with about 20
feet between the trees. The orchards of our native species
require about the same room; but the Japanese class is
usually more upright in growth, and may be planted a little
closer."

The Home Fruit Garden.

275

Hutt describes* the following method of planting
small -fruits in an orchard: "The bushes were ar-

i i

» *

j ,3

Pig. 40. Suggestion for a fruit garden of one acre.

ranged so that cultivation may be given both ways
with a minimum amount of hand hoeing. The ac-

*Twenty-second Ann. Rep. Ontario Agr. College, 84 (1897).

276 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

company ing plan (Fig. 39) shows the arrangement
of the trees and bushes. The trees are planted on
the hexagonal plan, the rows being 30 feet apart
and the trees 35 feet apart in the rows, the trees
in one row alternating with those in the next. By
this method of arrangement, 15 per cent more trees
can be planted to the acre than by the ordinary
method, and yet not be any more crowded. The
bushes are 6 feet apart one way by 5 feet 10 inches
the other. At present no trees are nearer than 9 feet to
the apple trees. As the trees increase in size, those
bushes within the circles, as shown on the plan, will
be the first to be removed."

The family fruit plantation. — It is impossible to
give any specific advice for the plan of a family fruit
garden, because tastes are so personal, and the
amount and character of land at the disposal of the
party are so various. One can only say that the
varieties should be chosen for best dessert and culi-
nary qualities, for succession through the season, and
that the area should be so planted that the rows run
the long way of the land and to allow of easy cul-
tivation with a horse. In general, it will not be
necessary to provide for cultivation both ways. The
accompanying diagram (Fig. 40) suggests how an
area of one acre may be laid out in a fruit garden
for the home supply. For a number of years, other
plants — as vegetables, small-fruits, or dwarf apples
or dwarf pears — may be grown, not only between
the rows, but between the trees in the row.

CHAPTER VI.

THE SECONDARY AND INCIDENTAL CARE OF THE
FRUIT PLANTATION.

THE methods of tilling the fruit plantation have
been fully considered in Chapter III., but since the
subject is so important and so commonly misunder-
stood, it may be well to repeat two or three of the
advisory suggestions at this place. There are many
persons who fully believe that clean tillage is the
proper treatment for an orchard, but who are de-
barred from putting the matter into practice because
of the great amount of labor which they conceive to
attach to it. As commonly practiced, it is certainly
true that the tilling of orchards is one of the most
laborious duties of the farm, but this is because the
accustomed methods are wrong or bungling. The
orchardist rarely has the land fully under his control.
The essence of the whole matter is to get the land
in ideal condition whilst the orchard is young, and
then to practice surface tillage (with only occasional
plowings) after the trees begin to bear. The use of
modern implements makes it easy to keep the land
clean without resorting to the high trunks of the
old-time orchards. If the roots are made to strike
deep into the land by deep plowing for the first
(277)

2?8 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

few years, it may not be necessary to turn any
furrows in the plantation in later years, except to
turn under cover crops.

• All this can be done even with hard clay land.
The writer has the management of two orchards
upon very hard clay of uneven surface, which, in six
years from the setting of the trees, is in such con-
dition that deep plowing is no longer necessary, and
the spring fitting of the land is done with spading
harrows and spring -tooth harrows, and the subse-
quent tilling is partly done with a spike -tooth har-
row. Weeds are not allowed to appear ; but if a
patch should get a start now and then, it can gen-
erally be destroyed with the cultivator. Perhaps
once or twice during the season it will be necessary
to send a man through the orchard with a hoe to
take the weeds away from the trees, but the space
which needs such hand labor will not exceed two
feet in diameter, and it is usually very much less.
This has been accomplished by exercising great care
to plow the clay when it is in such condition that
it pulverizes when it is worked, and by the incor-
poration of one or two cover crops. It will be
necessary now and then to put cover crops on the
land for the purpose of adding humus, and the land
will then be regularly plowed in spring to turn the
crop under ; but even then it may not be the de-
sire to secure a heavy growth of cover crop, and
the spring plowing need not necessarily be deep and
laborious. If, however, it seems to be necessary to
plow six or eight inches deep, there will be no

Roof -pruning. 279

hesitation in doing so, for the roots are deep enough
to escape the plow if the plowman is ordinarily
careful about the trees.

It is not necessarily a misfortune to cut the
smaller roots of plants with the plow, providing
only a few are cut in any year. In other words,
it is no doubt safer to sever a good many roots a

Fig. 41. A broken grape root sending out branches.

half inch, or sometimes even an inch, in diameter,
than not to plow the orchard at all. The severed
roots generally send out numerous branches near
their ends, and these branches increase the forag-
ing power of the root in soil which is normally laid
under small tribute. Figs. 41 and 42 are drawn
from actual specimens of roots which were broken
by the plow. It would seem as if the absorbing

280

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

area of the root had been actually increased, for the
many small roots certainly present more surface than
the main shaft of the root did. It must be remem-
bered, however, that the real surface of the original
root extended far beyond the present point, and
there is no way of telling if the adventitious roots
actually present more surface than the whole of the
original root did. But it is probable that an occa-

Fig. 42. Showing the numerous adventitious branches of a broken npple root.

sional light root -pruning may do more good than
harm in some cases.

The particular methods of caring for plantations
of small -fruits can scarcely be discussed in a gen-
eral work on fruit-growing, but in general it may
be said that a deep cultivation with a spring -tooth
cultivator (No. 9, Fig. 13, page 147) is usually suffi-
cient for breaking up the ground in spring amongst
bush -fruits, if the land is clean and in good con-

Study of Soil and Climate. 281

dition. If the land is soddy or infested with bad
weeds, however, a regular plowing may be necessary.
A handy plow for such plantations is one of the
type shown in Fig. 16, page 158, managed by a
single horse. The management of the land in
small -fruit plantations does not differ in principle
from the management of orchard lands, and the
tools are of the same general kind, except smaller
and generally adapted to a single horse. If the
rows are far enough apart, however — as they usually
are in blackberries and black raspberries — it may
be necessary in hard lands to hitch two horses to
such a tool as the spring -tooth cultivator.

It is scarcely necessary to repeat that it is essen-
tial to give the fruit plantation just as good tillage
as the corn receives, if equally good results are
desired. Wholly aside from the direct benefits of
tillage (which have already been explained), the
operation is necessary in order to supply the enor-
mous quantities of moisture which are exhaled from
the leaves of the plants. Professor Burrill, of the
University of Illinois, estimates* that a good -sized
apple tree, having 25,000 square feet of evaporating
surface, which is not a large estimate, will give off
31,200 ounces of water per day in the hot season,
or say 250 gallons.

It is generally a matter of a few years to thor-
oughly learn one's soil and climate, after moving
onto a new farm. The farmer has a local and per-

* Trans. 111. Hort. So.'.

282 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

sonal problem to apprehend and to solve. He should
not be discouraged, therefore, if he does not secure
the desired results from the treatment of his land
within the first two or three years.

THE GENERAL CARE OF THE PLANTS.

Staking young trees. — If fruit trees are stocky
and well planted, and if the land is deep and in
good condition, it will rarely be necessary to stake
them. The staking of an orchard is generally an
indication of poor trees or poor management at
some point. It occasionally happens, however, that
trees must be staked to enable them to overcome
some accident or injury, as breaking by heavy
winds, or ice, or other means. When it is neces-
sary to stake trees, it is ordinarily preferable to drive
a stout stake upon two sides and then to bind the
tree firmly to each of these stakes, in order to keep
it from whipping. The best bandage is one of
burlaps or other strong, soft cloth, cut in strips two
or three inches wide and firmly tied about the tree.
Just as soon as the tree has recovered from its
injury or weakness, the support should be removed.
Trees which have blown over, but which have not
been broken completely off, may be severely headed-
in and tied up in this manner, often with the very
best results. The wounded and broken surfaces
should be thoroughly covered with some antiseptic
wash or paint.

Sun -scald.— It is often necessary, especially in

Shading the Trunk.

283

the hot plains regions, to shade the trunks of
young trees in order to prevent sun -scald. In the
nursery rows, the bodies of the trees are ordinarily
well shaded. There are
various means of provid-
ing this shade, but the
best results may be ex-
pected to follow from
some protection which
simply breaks the force
of the sun and does not
entirely obstruct it ; for
in the latter case, the
bark does not so read-
ily become inured to
exposure to sunshine.
Finely woven wire net-
ting rolled around the
tree (in more than one
thickness, if necessary), is
said to afford very good
protection for this pur-
pose, as shown in Fig.
43 (but preferably ex-
tending higher up the
trunk). The upper part
of the trunk is likely to be shaded sufficiently
by the branches of the tree, although this is not
always the case. These rolls of wire netting also
serve a purpose in keeping away mice and other
vermin.

Fig. 43. Tree protected by a roll of
netting.

284 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

Hansen* writes as follows upon this subject for
Dakota conditions: "Sun -scald causes great loss in
northwest prairie orchards. By sun -scald is meant
the alternate thawing and freezing of the stem on
the southwest side in late winter, causing the bark
to die and decay. Oftentimes the dead, blackened
bark separates entirely from the stem. Orchardists
now generally recognize the cause of the trouble, and
prevent it by shading the stem in some way. Trees
planted and kept with stem leaning toward the
southwest until the branches shade the trunk, are
free from it. Some fruit-growers set a board, or
two boards nailed together trough -fashion, on the
southwest side ; others use corn stalks, wire netting,
or lath. Low -headed trees are best for severe lo-
cations ; in more favorable sections trees may be
headed two -and- a- half to three feet high. Tall
trunks suffer more from sun -scald and severe
winds."

Trees are apt to suffer with sun -scald after a
heavy pruning, especially if they have been allowed
to grow too thick in the first place. Cutting out
heavily from the center of the tree exposes the
oblique and horizontal limbs to the intense heat of the
sun, and the bark is likely to blister and be killed,
after which borers are very apt to finish the work
of destruction. In all interior hot regions, there-
fore, it is well to exercise caution in the pruning
of the tops of trees. It is better to keep the top

*N. E. Hansen, "Fruit Culture," Bull. 50, S. Dak. Exp. Sta., 1897.

Washing tht Trees. 285

somewhat thin and open from the start, rather than
to allow it to become overgrown and then to make
a sudden and radical correction of the difficulty.

Bark-bound trees.— When a tree has been allowed
to become stunted for two or three or more years,
it is likely to become hide -bound, so that growth is
impeded, even though the care of the plantation be
corrected. The bark becomes very thick and dense
and tight, and is likely to be dull and lifeless in color
and sometimes moss -covered. The newer and fresher
parts of the tree are likely to show a tendency to
overgrow the lower parts which are hide -bound. In
all such cases, the bark should be softened so as to
allow the trunk to expand. In general, the best
means of loosening up the bark is to scrape off the
outer hard layer, if it should become mossy or en-
tirely dead, and then to wash the tree thoroughly
with some soapy compound. This washing should be
done with a broom, or preferably with a strong scrub-
bing brush, so that the body may be vigorously
scrubbed. A wash of strong soapsuds is very good.
Tar soap, whale-oil soap or carbolic soap are also
very useful for the purpose.* These washes have the
effect of softening the bark and allowing the tree to
grow more readily. The effect of a good wash upon
orchard trees is often exceedingly marked. It is
sometimes thought by orchardists that the potash in
rlit'st- washes is absorbed through the bark, and
thereby stimulates the tree. It is probable that it

* The reader uiay tiud various recipes for washes in "The Horticulturist'*
kuleBook."

286 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

eventually becomes plant -food by being washed off
onto the soil, though the chief value of the wash is
no doubt the softening and loosening effect which it
has on the bark.

Another means of releasing the pressure upon
hide -bound trees is to slit the bark the entire length
of the trunk or hide -bound portion. This is done
by simply thrusting the point of a knife through the
bark until it strikes the wood, and then drawing the
blade down the entire length of the portion to be
treated. When the knife is withdrawn, the slit is
scarcely visible ; but after a time the slit widens,
as the tree begins to expand. This method is to be
advised only as an extreme resort, for it is better to
keep the bark fresh and elastic by good tillage and
by the use of washes ; but the slitting is of no
damage to the tree, as a rule. The washing also has
the additional advantage of killing Carious insects
and their eggs which may be in or about the bark.
Spraying with Bordeaux mixture will kill the lichen
or "moss" on the trunks.

Scraping trees. — The outer layers of bark of any
tree gradually die and peel off, as the tissue grows
upon the inside. This old, rough bark is of no
direct use to the plant, but it probably affords some
protection to the tender tissues within. It also af-
fords a lodgment for insects and fungi. Trees which
are kept in a good condition of growth and which
are watched carefully, will need very little attention
in the removing of the bark, but if the shaggy bark
accumulates to any great extent, it is well to scrape

Scraping Trees. 28?

it off. The operation should be done when the warm
weather approaches in spring, or, in fact, at almost
any time in the growing season. A good tool for
this purpose is an old and thin hoe, the handle of
which is cut down to about two feet in length.
This tool is grasped lightly in the hand and is
raked up and down the tree, and it removes the
rough bark with ease. The very best tool for the
purpose, however, is that shown in Fig. 44, which is a
steel plate with sharp,
ground edges, fas-
tened securely to a
bent shank. This
tool can be had of
hardware dealers, to Fig 44 Scraper for cleaning and

whom it is known repairing trees.

as a box -scraper.

Aside from removing the loose bark from the
trunks of trees, this tool is very useful in cutting
out and removing all diseased spots upon the bodies
or in the crotches. The wounds resulting from the
barking of trees may be trimmed down to fresh
tissue by such a tool, and all spots injured by
bark borers, spots of pear-blight, patches of canker,
and the like, may be cut away, and the wounded
surfaces are thereafter covered with Bordeaux mix-
ture or paint. In the scraping of trees, it is al-
ways advisable to take away every particle of
wounded and diseased tissue, unless it extends deep
into the wood. When the object is to simply take
away the rough and loose bark, the tree should not

Thf Principles of Fruit-growing.

Fig. 45. A young trunk girdled
by a label wire.

be scraped down to the quick •
that is, only the loose ex-
terior portion should be re
moved.

Girdled trees, and gird-
ling.— Trees which are girdled
should have the injured parts
pared down to live tissue and
the wounded surface then
covered with an antiseptic,
dressing. It is also advis-
able to bind up the girdle
with some material like
grafting -wax, which will
keep the wood moist and
thereby allow the ascent
of the sap ; for the sap
rises in the tree through
the young, soft wood, and not
between the wood and the bark.
The bark is formed over the
wound by the sap which is re-
distributed through the tree after
it has been elaborated in the
leaves ; that is, the reparative
tissue is formed by elaborated
sap which is on its downward
course. If the woody tissue
is kept soft and fresh, the tree
may continue to live for yoars,
but there will be a deposition

Repairing Girdled Trees. 289

of woody matter above the girdle, whilst the por-
tion below will not increase in diameter. This
is well known to all observing fruit-growers.
Fig. 45 shows a deposit of woody matter above a
girdle caused by a label wire. After awhile the
younger wood is apt to become hard and dry, pre-
venting the upward passage of nourishment taken in
by the roots, and the tree then starves to death ; or,
as in the case of the young tree shown in Fig. 45,
the top may become so heavy that the plant breaks
off at the point of constriction. It is, therefore,
evident that it is very necessary that the orchardist
give careful attention to his label wires, to prevent
them from doing great injury. It is always best
to take the labels from young trees when they are
set, and to depend upon a map record for the names
of the varieties. Or, if the label is left upon the
tree, it is best to hang it upon one of the minor
limbs, rather than upon the trunk. In adjusting the
label wire to the tree, it is important that only the
ends of the wire be twisted together, allowing thereby
a large loop in which the limb may expand. The
label may be held tightly to the limb by simply
pinching the wires together with the fingers.

Trees which are freshly girdled in the growing
time of spring may be expected to heal over before
the season is over, if the girdled zone is not more
than four or five inches wide, and if the surface
of the wood, as already explained, is kept perfectl.v
fresh. It is generally best, however, if no connec-
tion of bark remains, to bridge over the girdle by

290 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

cions. These cions are of the same kind as those
which are used for ordinary grafting. The edges
of the girdle are pared down to fresh wood, and
the eions are cut two or three inches longer than
the width of the girdle. They are whittled to a
wedge shape upon either end, and these ends are
inserted between the bark and the wood upon the
upper and lower sides of the girdle. They should
be so numerous as to almost touch each other en-
tirely around the tree. After they are inserted, a
strip of cloth should be bound tightly upon the
bark over their ends, and the whole girdle should
then be waxed over. It is a good plan to pour
melted wax over the work, allowing it to run in
between the cions and cover the edges of the bark
and the exposed surface of wood.

The congestion of the parts of the plant im-
mediately above the girdle shows that those parts
are overfed ; that is, they receive nutriment at the
expense of the portions below the girdle. It would
seem, therefore, that girdling might be made to in-
crease the size and hasten the maturity of fruit
which is borne beyond the girdle ; and such is
known to be the case. The girdling of grapes is
a common practice in some regions. The girdled
portions are entirely removed in the next annual
pruning, and enough of the growing portion is left
below the girdle to maintain the roots and trunk.
It will be seen, therefore, that the liability of in-
jury to the vine is all a question of how much is
left below the girdle and how much above it.

Girdling of Trees. 291

Careful vineyardists are able to continue the prac-
tice year after year without apparent injury to the
vine. The girdling is done when the grapes are
about the size of peas, and a section of bark about
an inch wide is entirely removed from the cane. A
gain in earliness of a week to ten days may be
secured by the process, but it is commonly believed
that the quality of the better grapes is injured. As
a matter of practice, only the very earliest varieties
of grapes are girdled or ringed for commercial pur-
poses ; and it is doubtful if the practice is to be
commended.

Apples and other fruit trees are sometimes ringed
to set them into bearing. "Many orchards develop
a habit of redundant wood -bearing, and these are
often thrown into fruiting by some check to the
trees, as seeding down, girdling, and the like.
Probably every orchardist has observed that the at-
tacks of borers sometimes cause trees to bear. Tt
is an old maxim that checking growth induces fruit-
fulness. This is the explanation of the fact that
driving nails into plum and peach trees sometimes
sets the trees to bearing, and also of the similar in-
fluence exerted by a label wire which has cut into the
bark, or of a partial break in a branch. Girdling or
ringing to set trees into bearing is an old and well-
known practice. It is not to be advised as a general
resort, but I should not hesitate to employ it upon
one or two of the minor branches of an unprofitable
tree for the purpose of determining if the tree needs
a check. I saw a Baldwin tree this year in which

292 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

two large limbs had been -girdled last year, and these
limbs were bending with fruit whilst the remaining
branches and the adjacent trees were barren. Gir-
dling may generally be done with safety in spring,
when the leaves are putting out. A ring of bark two
or three inches wide may be removed clear to the
wood, and entirely encircling the limb. I have heard
of excellent results following the simple ringing of
trees, which consists in severing the bark— but remov-
ing none of it — completely around the tree with a
sharp knife, in spring. These are, of course, only
incidental operations, to be employed with caution,
and then only upon branches of less importance.
Their value is wholly one of experiment, to aid the
owner in determining what fundamental treatment the
orchard probably needs."*

Pruning and heading -in.— The subject of pruning
cannot be understood until the fundamental principles
of the practice are clearly apprehended. It is, there-
fore, well -nigh useless to state any general rules or
precepts for the pruning of trees in a work like the
present. It is only necessary to say that a heavy
pruning upsets the habit of the tree, and generally
sets it into the heavy production of wood for a time.
The only proper pruning is one which is applied in
something like the same proportion every year, and
which begins the very year in which the plants are
put into the ground. Trees which are alternately
neglected and heavily pruned are kept in a condition

*Bull. 102, Cornell Exp. Sta., 519 (Oct., 1895). A fuller discussion of ring-
ing may be found in "The Pruning- Book."

Heading -in Fruit Trees. 293

of unrest which is apt to be fatal to the best produc-
tiveness.

The question of heading -in of trees is one which
is commonly misunderstood, and upon which there is
the greatest demand for information. It is impossible
to give any dogmatic statements as to whether the
operation shall be practiced or not. There are two
or three considerations which the grower should
chiefly bear in mind, which may help him to think
out the problem for himself. In the first place, it is
largely a question of the type of training which the
grower prefers : that is, every good fruit-grower will
set before himself a certain ideal type or form of
tree, and he will bend all his energies uniformly and
consecutively to the working out of this idea through-
out all the years of the plantation. If his ideal is
for trees which shall have round and dense heads,
then he will, of course, head -in the stock from year
to year ; if, however, he sets for himself the ideal
of a tree with the natural form and open head, he
will not head -in, as a rule. Whichever purpose the
grower sets in his mind should be worked out sys-
tematically and logically from first to last. The
other factor which chiefly determines the question of
heading -in is that of redundant growth whilst the
plants are young. As a rule, young trees grow
more thrifty and upright than old ones do, and the
grower should, therefore, not be misled into thinking
that his trees will keep up their present pace after
they have come into maturity and bearing. Kieffer
pears, for example, make a very tall and narrow

294 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

growth for the first two or three years, but when
the bearing time arrives, this enormous growth is
checked and the tree spreads. However, in such
cases, it may be advisable to head -in the tree for a
time, or until the period of maturity begins to ar-
rive. It should always be borne in mind, however,
that this heading -in is not the fundamental corrective
of the difficulty ; in fact, it rather augments it. It
is a question, therefore, if it is not better to pre-
vent redundant growth by withholding tillage and
fertilizers, rather than to produce it and then to
take it off.

Winter preparations. — In winter, plants are exposed
to injuries of wind, snow, water, ice, mice, rabbits,
and the like. Before the season closes, the farmer
should see that young trees stand stiff and straight,
and in order to keep them rigid and to afford good
surface drainage, it is sometimes well (especially with
newly set trees in cold climates) to bank up the
trees with earth to the height of six or eight inches.
In making the bank, the workman should be cau-
tioned not to leave holes, from which the earth is
taken, close about the tree, for the water is likely to
stand in them, and it may do harm. In small -fruits,
grapes and nursery stock, it is often advisable to
plow a furrow to the plants, upon either side, in the
fall. Care should be taken to provide for top drain-
age if the conformation of the land is such as to
hold surface water.

A word should be said respecting the protection
of trees from mice and other vermin. Mice and rab-

Injuries from Rabbits and Mice. 295

bits injure trees chiefly in cold winters, when the
amount of green food is scarce. They are apt to be
especially bad in new countries. The best preventive
of injuries from mice is to see that there is no mate-
rial, as dead grass or weeds, close to the base of the
tree, in which the rodents can nest. If the litter is
not taken away, it should at least be tramped down
tightly before winter sets in. The best preventive of
injury by rabbits is not to have the rabbits. If the
brush piles and old fence -rows, in which the animals
harbor, are cleaned away, there will commonly be
little trouble ; and, at all events, a smart boy who is
fond of hunting will ordinarily solve the question
without help.*

If mice are very serious, it may be advisable to
put cylinders of wire netting about the trees, as al-
ready recommended. Rolls of birch bark are some-
times used in regions where the paper -birch grows.
It should be borne in mind, however, that such cov-
ers for the bodies of trees interfere with clean culture
about the base of the tree, and they are apt to afford
a most excellent place for the lodgment of borers and
other insects. The common notion that wire screens,
and tarred paper, and mounds of ashes, and the like,
prevent borers from working, is unfounded, and is,
in fact, likely to be the very opposite of the truth;
for a wire screen, which soon fills with grass and
litter, is a most inviting place for the congregation
of insect life.

'Various washes and other devices for preventing the injuries by mice,
rabbits and gophers may be found in "The Horticulturist's Rule-Book."

296 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Depredations of stock and birds. — Injuries of trees
can be prevented in sheep pastures and hog pastures
by giving the animals plenty to eat and especially
plenty to drink. They are very likely to gnaw the
trees for the moisture which they secure. If, how-
ever, the animals begin to injure the -trees, the only
recourse is either to take them out or build wide
racks about the trunks ; but any sort of rack or
fence about the tree prevents the proper care of the
tree.

The incursions of birds upon cherries and small-
fruits can usually be prevented by planting in suffi-
cient quantity that the birds may get their fill with-
out ruining the plantation. Cherry orchards may
sometimes be protected by planting a number of trees
of very early sweet cherries around the outside of the
plantation. These will be sufficient to satisfy the
birds. In some cases, however, it is impossible to
save the fruit unless fire-arms are used ; but it is
usually sufficient to fire blank cartridges a few times
to scare the birds away, and thereby obviate the
necessity of killing them.

Small trees and garden plats of small fruits may
also be protected from birds by means of netting
which is now manufactured in this country for that
purpose. Troop reports* as follows upon an experi-
ment in this direction :

"The past season we had several varieties of the
Russian cherries which were fruiting for the first
time, and wishing to test the practicability of cov-

*James Troop, Bull. 53, Indiana Exp. Sta. 125 (1894).

Protection from Birds.

297

ering trees as a protection from birds, we procured
from the American Net and Twine Co., of Boston,
Mass., several hundred square yards of bird netting,
and a part of the trees were covered with this just
before the fruit began to ripen.

"Three trees of the Bessarabian variety were
standing together in the same row, all well loaded
with early fruit. Two of these were covered with the
netting and the third left exposed. When the fruit
on the covered trees was ready to pick, the exposed
tree was completely stripped of every cherry, thus
showing what the result would have been to the
others had they not been protected. The question
has often been asked : Will it pay ?

"As already stated, the trees were young, having
been set but six years. Each tree bore a half bushel
or more of fine fruit this year, which sold for eight
to ten cents per quart. The trees were of the round-
headed type, about ten feet high, so that the labor
involved in covering was comparatively slight. The
amount of netting required for each tree was about
seventy -five square yards, which cost four cents per
square yard. As soon, however, as the fruit from
these early trees was gathered, the netting was trans-
ferred to later varieties, and the same process re-
peated. So that when the experiment was completed
the account stood as follows :

To 75 yds. netting at 4 cents. .$3.00

$3.00

By 16 qts. of cherries at lOcts. .$1.60
" 18 " " " "8 " . 1.44

$3.04

298 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

"It will be seen that in this experiment the ac-
counts nearly balanced at the end or the first year.
With careful handling this netting will last ten years
or more ; so that the question — will it pay to use
it? — will depend largely upon circumstances. Judg-
ing from our own experience the past season, where,
in . testing varieties of fruits, it becomes absolutely
necessary that the fruit should remain on the tree
until fully ripe, there seems to be no question about
the expediency of covering the trees."

Top -graft ing bearing trees.* — One of the important
factors in the secondary care of an apple orchard
is the grafting over of old trees or of worthless
varieties. It is often asked if it will pay to graft
trees after they are fifteen or twenty years old.
The answer depends entirely upon how profitable the
trees are in their present condition. If they are
bringing in no return, then nothing can be lost if
they are grafted ; and if the trees are strong and
healthy, there is no reason why much should not be
gained. If the operation of top -grafting is properly
done, the trees ought to be completely changed over
to a new variety in three or four years. It should
be said, however, that the careful fruit-grower will
find out whether his trees are to be profitable or
not long before they reach the age of fifteen years.
Trees which have arrived at that age before the
owner has found out whether they are useful or
not, are those which advertise an indifference or

*For advice respecting the top-working of youug trees, see pages 2IM, 235.

The Thinning of Fruit. 299

neglect of the owner. Even with apple trees, the
orchardist should be able to tell within ten or
twelve years after they are set whether the trees are
likely to be profitable or not, and if there are
strong indications that the varieties are unsuited to
his needs the sooner they are grafted over the
better. In grafting over the top of an old apple
tree, it should be borne in mind that it is at the
best a harsh operation, and that the top should be
replaced as quickly as possible. In other words, the
effort should be made to graft only limbs of com-
paratively small size (say not more than an inch
and a half in diameter, and preferably less), and to
set very many cions, even if some of them need to
be cut out after two or three years. The setting
of so many cions is somewhat expensive, but the
orchardist should be able to do the work himself.
Finally, it should not be expected that an old tree
which is remodeled by top -grafting shall be of as
good and handy shape as one which has been grown
right from the start. (See Figs. 127, 128, 129,
"The Nursery -Book," third ed.)

Thinning the fruit. — The thinning of fruit for the
purpose of improving that which remains is a prac-
tice which is always advised, but comparatively sel-
dom followed. It has been demonstrated time and
time again that no work in connection with a fruit
plantation pays better than this thinning. It not
only results in a much finer product, but it is also
a means of destroying the insect -infested and dis-
eased specimens, and of saving the energies and vir

300 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

tality of the tree. Persons complain that the thin-
ning of fruit is expensive and laborious, and this is
true ; but it is a fair question if there is anything
worth the having of which the same may not be
said. If the operation pays, then there is no excuse
for not performing it. It should be considered, also,
that the fruit must all be picked sooner or later, and
it really does not cost very much more to pick it
early in the season than to pick it late ; in fact,
much fruit which is not worth picking in the fall
might have been eminently worth the labor if the
trees had been thinned in the early summer.

There are two general methods of thinning fruits:
One is a matter of pruning, by means of which the
superfluous branches, or even the fruit -spurs them-
selves, are removed ; the other is the direct picking
of the redundant fruits. There is no reason in the
nature of things why trees should not bear every
year; but the formation of the fruit -spur is usually
such as to preclude the production of fruit upon the
same spur every year. The philosophy of the thin-
ning of fruit, therefore, is that one spur shall bear
one year, and another spur the next. This means
that when fruit is thinned, it should be the object
to remove it wholly from some spurs in order that
they may produce fruit -buds for the following year.
In those regions where certain fruits are systemati-
cally thinned, the crop is obtained with great uni-
formity every year. This is especially true of peaches
along the Michigan lake shore, and in other places
where this important fruit is well cared for. There

Experiment in Thinning Apples. 301

is no reason why the same should not be said of
other kinds of fruits, and for every fruit region.

There have been no long -continued and system-
atic experiments upon the thinning of fruits in this
country. One of the best investigations which has
yet been undertaken was in connection with the
State Experiment Station at Geneva, New York,
under the direction of S. A. Beach in 1896. These
experiments were made upon full-grown apple trees,
and the following extract* details the methods and
the 'results :

"Trees of the same variety, as nearly alike in
all respects as could be found, were paired for com-
parison, one of each pair being thinned, the other
left unthinned. Three ways of thinning were tried :

"First.— All wormy, knotty, or otherwise inferior
fruit was removed, and all clusters thinned to one
fruit.

"Second. — Same as first, and remaining fruit
thinned so that the apples were not less than four
inches apart.

"Third. — Same as first, and the remaining fruit
thinned so that the apples were not less than six
inches apart.

"The sixteen trees which are included in the
experiment belong to three varieties, namely : Rhode
Island Greening, Baldwin, and Hubbardston. The
Baldwins were most heavily loaded last season, and
gave the most marked results in favor of thinning.

"With the first method Baldwin, thinned, gave

*Proc. W. New York Hort. Soc., 1897, p. 75.

302 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

16 per cent less fruit, but about 10 per cent more
No. 1 fruit than did the unthinned Baldwin. With
the second method Baldwin, thinned, gave 26 per
cent less fruit and about 22 per cent more No. 1
fruit than did the corresponding trees which were
not thinned.

"With the third method, Hubbardston gave 25
per cent less fruit, but about 17 per cent more
No. 1 fruit than did the unthinned Hubbardston.

"The Greenings were very heavily loaded in
1895, and in 1896 they bore a good crop, but were
not overburdened, and needed comparatively little thin-
ning. They were thinned according to the second
method, and gave 6 per cent more fruit and about
10 per cent more first -class fruit than the trees did
which were not thinned.

"In all these tests the picked fruit gave about
one bushel of culls where the fruit was thinned, to
three bushels where it was not thinned. Where the
fruit was thinned the "drops" were fewer and con-
siderably better, and in all grades the fruit was
clearly superior in size and color to fruit of the same
grade which was not thinned. The first grade in-
cluded no apples less than two and one -half inches in
diameter, and the proportion which measured two and
one -half inches was a great deal larger where the
fruit was thinned than where it was not, so that No.
2 apples from trees which were thinned were much
superior to the No. 2 fruit from trees not thinned
Mr. Wilson [in whose orchard the tests were made]
estimates that the fruit from the tree* which were

Thinning Small -fruits, 303

thinned would generally bring 10 per cent to 15
per cent more in market than the same grade from
trees which were not thinned. According to these
results, the second method of thinning is enough
superior to the first to more than pay for the extra
work involved. The second and third methods can-
uot well be compared from the data now at hand."

Maynard reports* experiments in thinning apples
and plums, from which there were marked gains.
To thin "full -sized" apple trees cost from 35 to 48
cents. In plums, "a distinct advantage gained by
thinning is the appreciable decrease in the ravages
of fungous diseases, and to a small extent, of insect
pests. This is especially noticeable in the case of
monilia, or brown fruit -rot, which often ruins the
peach or plum crop in wet seasons, while the speci-
mens of fruit attacked by the curculio were largely
removed in thinning."

Tests have been made in a small way in the
thinning of small fruits by clipping off the ends of
the clusters. Halsted reportst as follows upon such
a test: "Some experiments were made here [New
Jersey Experiment Station] last year with currants,
by removing the lower half of the flower clusters
with a pair of scissors. It is a well-known fact
that only a few of the berries of any cluster usually
mature, and the free end of the stem becomes dead
before the fruit is ripe. By the removal of this

*Bu]l. 44, Mass. Hatch Exp. Sta. (1897).

t Garden and Forest, iii. 19 (Jan. 8, 1890); also, Kept. N. J. F.xp. SU. 18«»,

304 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

portion before the flowers upon it have opened, it
was hoped that there might be a larger and better
fruit produced upon the remaining portion of the
cluster.

"In the experiment, alternate bushes in a row
were treated with the scissors, and in passing it
may be said that this method of thinning can be
done rapidly. When the fruit was ripe, the whole
product from an average bush, of the clipped and
of the undipped plants, was picked and spread out
upon tables. Judges ignorant of what had been done
were then called in to inspect the results. No one
failed to notice at once the difference, and all pro-
nounced in favor of the fruit that had been treated.
The berries were larger and of more nearly uniform
size and ripeness. Two hundred berries were next
removed from the uncut clusters, and it required
thirty-five clusters to furnish this number. They
weighed, clear of all stems, one hundred and fifty-
two grams. The same number, furnished by thirty
clipped clusters, weighed one hundred and sixty -three
grams. These results show that there were about
15 per cent more berries to the cluster upon the
cut plants than upon the ordinary ones, and that
these berries were about 7 per cent heavier. The
question of quality was only determined by tasting,
but there was no doubt in the minds of the judges
that the thinned clusters bore fruit of the finest
flavor. Like all other fruit, currants sell somewhat
upon their appearance, and there is no mistake that
from the uniform size and ripeness of the fruit and

Thinning Small -fruits. 305

the absence of dead tips on the stems, the clipped
clusters were much the more attractive."

Experiments made at the Cornell Station* with
raspberries and blackberries failed, however, to give
such specific results: " To test the feasibility of
thinning berries, rows of Cuthbert raspberry and
Early Cluster blackberry were thinned by clipping
off the tips of most of the clusters, and also by
reducing the number of clusters, especially in the
raspberry. The result was not encouraging, for the
eye could detect no increase of size in the berries
on thinned plants, and as the principal object was
to increase the size and attractiveness of the fruit,
it seems to have failed of its purpose. It should
be said, however, that the season was favorable for
berries, and the crop was very fine. In a very dry
season, or with varieties much inclined to overbear,
the result might be different. In general, however,
the thinning can be managed well enough and much
more cheaply by regulating the amount of bearing
wood at the annual spring pruning."

The thinning of tree fruits is done in essentially
the same way in which the fruits are picked; that is,
the fruits are picked off by hand, and are then
dropped onto the ground, where they may either be
allowed to lie, or, if they are infested with insects
or disease, may be raked up and burned. It is
customary to thin the fruits as soon as the dangers
of spring frosts and other early accidents are past,

*Fred W. Card, Bull. 57, Cornell Exp. Sta. (1893).
U

306 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

but before they have become of sufficient size to be
a tax upon the tree. Peaches are generally thinned
when they are about the size of a small hickory nut
(that is, about the size of the end of one's thumb),
and apples are thinned from that size until they are
twice or sometimes even thrice as large. Various
devices have been suggested for the thinning of fruit,
but they are all impracticable, because they do not
discriminate between good and poor fruit, because
they do not leave the fruit well distributed over the
branches, and because they are very likely to break
off the spurs. Some of the implements figured in
Chapter VIII. may be used in special cases. It
really requires more discrimination and judgment to
thin fruit properly than it does to pick it. In the
thinning of peaches it is a good rule to allow none
of the fruits to hang closer than four or six inches
of each other. This means that in years of very
heavy setting, fully two -thirds of all the fruits are
to be picked off in June. In many parts of the
country this thinning is systematically done, and it
has in all such cases come to be regarded as an
indispensable element in successful fruit-growing. No
reliable estimates of the cost of thinning fruit can be
given, because so much depends upon the form and
pruning of the tree and the amount of fruit to be
removed. The result is also greatly influenced by the
character of the workmen and the price paid for labor.
Full grown peach trees may be thinned for 15 to 50
cents each. Apple trees twenty -five and thirty years
old have been well thinned for 30 to 80 cents each.

Maps for Fruit -grounds. 307

MAPS AND RECORDS.

One of the most annoying parts of fruit-growing
is keeping track of the various varieties which in-
evitably accumulate in plantations to which the owner
gives much loving" thought. The best means is a
systematic plat, map or diagram of the plantation,
in which every tree or every row of small -fruits is
given a number. It is well to designate the rows
in orchards by letters, and then to number each tree
in the row, beginning with number one ; or, some
prefer to number all the trees in the plantation con-
secutively. It is an ideal plan for the grower to
devote a large blank -book or record to each plan-
tation, entering the plan of the area in the earlier
pages, and then recording the yield of each tree or
each row on consecutive pages which are devoted to
the different years. Such a book would be to the
orchard what the Babcock test is to the dairy, — a
means of determining the unprofitable individuals.
If such a record were kept, it would not be many
vt -.-Irs before the orchardist would be experimenting
with a goodly number of his trees in order to de-
termine how to make them as productive as the
In -si ones are.

Of labels there are endless devices, but it must
be remembered that no label can be expected to last
in good condition more than six or eight years. For
temporary or annual plants, where little horse work
is done, the commercial garden stakes, 12x1% in.,
are excellent. These cost, when painted and made of

308 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

soft, clear pine, $4 to $5 per thousand. For a more
permanent stake label, one cut from clear pine, 2 ft.
long, 3% hi. wide, 1% in. thick, and sawed to a
point, is one of the best. These are given two thin
coats of white lead,, care being taken not to pile
them upon their faces until thoroughly dry, to avoid
a rough surface for the pencil. The record may be
made by a large soft pencil, like a carpenter's pencil,
or by a brush and black paint ; but for all annual
crops the pencil will be found more serviceable. At
the end of the season, or when the record becomes
dim, a thin shaving is planed off the face of the
label, it is repainted, and used again. The label is
thick enough to allow of many annual dressings,
while the lower portion is not reduced, and it there-
fore lasts for many years and is strong enough to
resist the shocks of cultivator or whippletrees. For
ornamental bushes this large label is too conspicu-
ous, and for this purpose a pine label 1% in. wide,
% in. thick, and 18 or 20 in. long is excellent. The
lower half is soaked in a strong solution of sulphate
of iron (copperas), and, after drying, in lime water,
to preserve it.

A great variety of labels has been recommended
for trees, but it is doubtful if we have yet found the
ideal label, although some of those which are here
described seem to satisfy most needs. Many people
like zinc labels (No. 11, Fig. 46), cut in narrow
strips from a sheet of the metal. The record is made
upon the zinc with a soft lead pencil, and the label is
then wound about a branch. Very often the record is

Various Labels. 309

indistinct upon the zinc label, but the chief fault is
its inconspicuousness. It requires much searching to
find a ziuc label upon a large tree, and this objection
holds with almost every practicable tree label which
has been introduced, even with the three or four -inch
pine labels which are common in the market. Patent
/inc. and copper labels, which are cut from very thin
metal, so that the record can be made .by the impres-
sions of a sharp point or style, have been tried at
Cornell. "These pretty and so-called indestructible
labels are furnished with an eyelet through which the
wire passes. We were much pleased with these
labels when we put them upon our orchard trees
one fall ; but the next spring we found that the
metal had broken away from the eyelets, and nothing
remained of them but a hole hung upon a wire."*

The Cornell label is the device shown at No. 3, in
the illustration (Fig. 46). "We buy the pine 'pack-
age label,' which is used by nurserymen, and which
is 6 in. long and 1% in. wide. These labels cost,
painted, $1.30 per thousand. These are wired with
stiff, heavy, galvanized wire, much like that used for
pail bales, and not less than eighteen inches is used
upon each label. Hooks are turned in the ends of
the wires before the labels are taken to the field.
A pail of pure white lead, well thinned with oil, is
taken to the field with the labels. The record is
made with a very soft pencil, the label is dipped
into the paint, the wire is placed about a conspic-

*Bull. 61, Cornell Exp. Sta. 341.

Pig. 46. Various types of tree labels. See explanation, ou pages 308-311.

Various Labels. 311

uous limb, and the hooks are joined with a pair of
pliers. The paint at first almost completely obscures
the writing, but some of it drips off and the re-
mainder dries in, so that the record becomes bright
and the soft pencil marks are indelibly preserved,
while the label remains white. If the paint is
brushed on, the soft writing will be blurred. If in
the future the wood becomes gray, the label can be
brightened by immersing it in a pot of white lead,
without removing it from the tree. The large loop
of wire allows of the growth of the branch, and the
label hangs so low that it can be seen at a glance.
The heavy, stiff wire insures the safety of the label
against boys and workmen. It cannot be removed
without a pair of pincers. The label is large
enough to allow of a complete record of the name
of the variety, the place of purchase, age, and other
matters; and it is readily found."*

The various labels which are shown in Fig. 40.
are as follows : 1, 2, German labels, made of
glazed earthenware, with the name colored blue and
sunken. Strong copper wire, coiled, to allow of the
growth of the limb, holds the label to the tree. 3,
Cornell label, described above. 4, double wooden
label, consisting of two common wooden labels fas-
tened together. The name is written upon the outside
of the double label, as in any other label, but it is
also written on the inside to insure permanence.
When the outside writing is worn off, the label is

*Bnll 61, Cornell Exp. Sta., 341.

312

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

opened and the inside is still bright. The label is
fastened to the tree by a tack or small nail, as
shown in the cut at the right. The label is seen
opened in the cut at the left. 5,
6, zinc labels, used at the New York
State Experiment Station, Geneva.
The wire is driven into the tree,
and the name is written or printed
on the zinc with black paint. 7,
common hand -made wooden tag, ta-
ken from an old tree in the test or-
chard of the late Charles Downing,
Newburgh, N. Y. 8, thin copper
label, with the name indented into
the metal by the use of a hard-
pointed instrument. Some metal
W ^ ^/, labels are apt to tear out at the

hole when exposed to winds. 9,
common painted pine label used by
nurserymen, and costing (without
the copper wire) about 35 cents per
thousand, for the common size,
which is 3% inches long. 10,

FiS.47. Paddock's vineyard Lodeman's label> uged somewhat

at Cornell, consisting of a tag of
sheet lead securely fastened to a coiled brass wire.
The wire is secured to the body of the tree by a
staple or screw -eye, and it is expected that the wire
will become imbedded in the trunk as the tree
grows. No. 11, common zinc label or tally, de-
scribed on page 308. Fig. 47 is Paddock's vine-

Winter -killing of Trees. 313

yard label (designed by W. Paddock, State Experi-
ment Station, Geneva, N. Y.). The label is a strip
of heavy zinc secured to a stiff galvanized wire.
This wire or shank is provided with . a hook at the
lower end and a half -hitch near its middle, so that it
can be securely adjusted to the wires of the trellis,
holding the label well above the foliage.

INJURIES BY COLD AND RAIN.

There are two distinct types of injuries to fruit
plants by cold, — true winter -killing (or the injury of
the tree or buds when perfectly dormant by the low
temperature of winter time), and the killing of the
growing or swelling parts by the "cold snaps" or
frosts of late spring and early fall. Either subject
is too large for full elaboration in the present vol-
ume, and therefore only some of the most obvious
and usual aspects of the subjects are here considered.

Winter -killing of the wood.— There are three fac-
tors which chiefly appeal to the fruit-grower in th«
winter-killing of trees, — positive cold, very dry or
very wet soil, and heaving of the land by frost.
The subject of "dry freezing" has already been dis-
cussed to some extent in Chapter I. The heaving
of the land is prevented by drainage, by proper
methods of tillage, and by the judicious use of cover
crops. The degree of cold may be somewhat modi-
fied, as we have already found, by exercising judg-
ment in the selection of site and exposure, and by
the careful employment of wind-breaks. Yet, winter-

314 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

killing must always be one of the gravest risks
which the fruit-grower assumes when he undertakes
the business.

Winter -in jury to the trees or plants themselves
usually appears in the form of splits or long checks
in the trunks, or in the outright death of the ends
of the branches, or even of the entire plant. For
the splits lengthwise the trunk, the proper treatment
is to pare off the dead and loosened bark to the
"quick" just as soon as the bark begins to spread,
and to cover the surface of the wound (and the
cleft) with Bordeaux mixture or paint.*

The proper treatment for frozen -back trees must
be determined for each particular case; but it should
be borne in mind that the injured portion is no
longer of any use to the plant, whilst it may be a
positive detriment by accelerating the evaporation of
moisture. The best treatment for plants seriously
injured upon the extremities is to cut them back
very heavily. This severe heading -in — sometimes to
the extent of three or four feet— removes the driest
and weakest portions, and concentrates the energy
of the tree into a comparatively small area of top.
Heavy pruning always tends towards the production
of wood, and this wood production is probably never
more needed than in winter -injured trees, for it tends
to renew the vitality of the tree. The philosophy
of this becomes apparent upon a moment's reflec-
tion. The browned and injured wood can never re-

*The general subject of treating and repairing injured trews is fully dis-
cussed, with illustrations, in "The Pruning-Rook."

Treating Frozen Trees. 315

gain its former usefulness. New tissue must be
developed as quickly as possible, in order to carry
forward and to maintain the vegetative energies.
This new tissue is laid on over the old, and the
old thereby quickly becomes sealed in, so to speak,
and removed from the agencies of decay. Every
observant fruit-grower knows that if a tree which is
severely winter -injured in limb and trunk were to
bear even a partial crop of fruit in the coming sea-
son, it would very likely die outright. If, however,
all its energies were directed to the development of
new tissue, the injury would soon be overgrown.
The injured wood, like the heartwood of the tree, is
soon removed from active participation in the vital
processes. It therefore follows that the danger re-
sulting from the browning or blackening of the wood
by winter- injury depends very much upon the sub-
sequent treatment of the trees. Fig. 48 shows the
body of a young plum tree (in longitudinal and
cross-wise sections) which was frozen black in the
severe winter of 1895-6. It was heavily pruned in
the spring of 1896, and in the fall had made a ring
of bright new wood, which was amply sufficient to
maintain the tree in perfect health for a long life.
This appearance is common in nursery stock the
year following a very hard winter, but such trees
may not be permanently injured.

There are instances in which this heavy heading-
back seems to do more harm than good. These are
cases in which the entire tree is almost uniformly in-
jured, and the plant se^ms to need the stimulus of

The Principles of Fruit -groiving.

all its buds to bring out the feeble life
which is still left to it ; but these cases
are comparatively rare. It is probable
that the greater number of reported in-
stances of death due to heavy pruning
of winter -injured trees are of such trees
as would have died under any treatment.
Winter -killed plants often retain suffi-
cient vitality to enable them to leaf out-
or to bloom, and sometimes even to be-
gin growth, but when the stored vital-
ity of the tissues is exhausted the plant
perishes. This explains the phenomenon,
which, after a bad winter, nearly always
puzzles the inobservant fruit-grower, of
trees starting into feeble growth and
then suddenly dying when warm and dry
weather approaches.

Winter -killing of the fruit-
buds. — In severe winters, the
entire fruit -spur (in the spur-
fruits, as apples, pears, plums
and apricots) may be killed
outright, but the commoner
case is the death of the
bud only. The bud may be
entirely killed, in which case
it soon turns brown through-
out its entire diameter and the flower never opens :
or only the pistil (the central organ, which ripens into
the fruit) may be killed, in which case the flower may

Fig. 48. Showing the new tissue
formed around winter-injured wood.

Winter -killing of Buds.

317

open and appear to be perfectly normal to the un-
critical observer. The latter case is common in
peaches and apricots. Fig. 49 illustrates the point.
The flower at the right was unin-
jured by the winter, and the pistil
is seen, grown full length, at 1.
In the other flower, the pistil, at
2, is dead. We know that this
pistil was killed before the bud be-
gan to swell, because it retains the
small size which it must have
had in the dormant bud. If it
had been killed after the bud had Fig. 49. Normal apricot flower
swollen, it would have appeared j^^o? wtS. '
as a much larger and a more
or less crumpled or withered organ, as in 6, Fig.
52, page 320.

A true fruit -bud is one in which the flower, or
cluster of flowers, is present in miniature. (See

"The Pruning -Book"
for full discussion
of fruit -buds.) This
flower occupies the
very center of the
bud, and is sur-
rounded by dense lay-
ers of scales. A
healthy bud is nor-
mally green in the central part in cross -section.
When the bud has been killed by the winter, in
the usual manner, this central portion of the

a 6 c

Fig. 50. Apricot buds, a, alive : b and c,

killed by winter. Enlarged.

318

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

flower becomes prominently discolored or almost black.
Fig. 50 shows a fresh or live bud at a, and a killed
bud at 6 and c. When only the pistil is killed, un-
trained eyes may not detect the injury. The general
run of examinations made of buds by farmers, to de-
termine if there is winter -in jury, are of little conse-

Showing structure of peach buds.

quence. Except in very pronounced instances, the
only reliable examination is one which is made under
a dissecting microscope.

Halsted* makes some good observations in this
direction : " Longitudinal sections through the buds
show something of what has taken place in the pre-

* Kept. New Jersey Exp. Sta., 1890, U'JT; also Ai

Killing of Fruit -buds. 319

maturely developed buds. At a, Fig. 51, is shown
a section through a bud, as found in January of an
ordinary winter. The bud scales overlap each other
closely, and inclose all thfi more tender parts that go
to make up the blossom y^\ The pistil, that is to de-
velop into the fruit, occupies the center, and is a
somewhat flask-shaped body, while next to it are the
floral parts, to which the stamens are attached. The
stamens are small and almost colorless. Turning now
to />, which represents a section through a half -opened
bud, it will be seen that there is very little change
in the pistil. This portion is the last to be affected
by the modifying circumstances; but the scales are •
wide open at the top, the stamens have enlarged re-
markably, and it is to their development that much
of the opening out of the scales is due. It is only
necessary, at this time, to call attention to the fact
that the stamens are organs for the production of pol-
len, and this flower -dust is only used to stimulate the
receptive pistil into new life. And, while the growth
of the pistil is mostly after fertili/ntion, it is, however,
true that during the time when it is receptive to the
pollen it is most susceptible to cold and other condi-
tions, and it is the portion of a peach bud that first
manifests injury from frost or other exposure.

"The inference is natural that cold can get into
an open bud much more easily than a closed one,
but we need to look back of the visible differences
to the vital conditions. Vegetable tissues in active
condition are less able to bear extremes of heat and
cold than those in a quiescent state. A seed, for

320

Thf Principles of Fruit-growing.

example, that is dormant will bear the conditions
without injury that would kill it if germination was
taking place. The delicate structure at the center
of a flower not only needs to be kept, by the infold-
ing bud scales, from being exposed to the elements,
but, most of all, it requires that an inactive condi-
tion within itself shall prevail.'
A well -prepared bud is like a
seed, and becomes most sus-
ceptible to sudden changes
only when it is unfolding
or preparing to grow. It is
not so much the opening of
the bud scales as the grow-
ing condition within, result-
ing in the unfolding, that
permits the dangerous results.
"The pistil is the part
first to show that the flower
bud is blasted and worthless.
The green, fresh appearance
is replaced by brownness,
the former plump, upright organ becomes
shriveled and drooping. In Fig. 52, at a, is shown
a healthy pistil, as seen in a live bud. To the
right, at 6, is another pistil that has recently been
killed, and was turning brown. The stamens are the
next -to change, in the same way, from the normal
color to the brown of death. The other less vital
organs of the blossom finally die, and after a short
time become a dark and worthless substance. If the

Fig. 52. Live and killed pi

and

Killing of Fruit -buds. 321

bud is not opened, it may require a longitudinal
cut of the knife to determine the exact condition,
but last winter an ordinary pinch of the swollen bud

Fig. 5:5. Showing, respectively, swollen buds of apricot, peach, Japan plum,
and pear, all of which were uninjured by 14° of frost.

was enough to demonstrate that all was blasted and
worthless within."

Injuries to the swelling buds. — A great amount of
mischief is done by "cold snaps" after the buds have
begun to swell, and yet the disaster is not so easily
wrought,— at least not in the north,— as is commonly
supposed. Even the buds of the tenderer fruits ma3r
endure very sharp freezes after they have begun to

322 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

show color. In the spring of 1897, some observa-
tions were made upon this point at Cornell. Buds
of apricots, peaches, plums and pears (as shown in
Fig. 53) had swollen to three or four times their
normal size. The pink color of the apricot buds was
distinctly visible, and the tips of the anthers could
be seen in the Japan plums by looking down squarely
upon the buds. In this condition, the buds endured
with no injury the following temperatures, as taken
by self -registering thermometers hung in the trees
(very light snow on the ground and a wind blowing
all night):

Lowest temperature.

April 20, Apricot, peach, Japan plum, pear 18°

April 21, Apricot, peach, pear 19°

— Japan plum 18°

It will be seen that these buds endured 14 degrees
of frost without injury. Upon the coldest morning,
the buds were stiff from freezing, and in some in-
stances the backs and tips of some of the petals were
permanently discolored. The buds swelled with the
freezing, but returned to their previous size when
thawed out, but they looked as if withered for several
days, — or until active expansion began. It is very
probable that buds cannot endure this degree of cold
further south.

Injuries to flowers and growing parts. — When the
flowers have fully expanded, a comparatively light
frost will destroy them. This is shown in the fact
that a very slight elevation in a blackberry or straw-

Frost Injury to Flowers.

323

Kig. r>t. A strawberry
nnbbin, due to frost.

berry patch is often sufficient to avert injury. The
pistils seem to suffer first. A strawberry nubbin is
shown in Fig. 54. The top of the berry (or the bot-
tom, as it hangs) is flattened and
deformed. This is generally due
to the freezing of the upper pis-
tils in the flower, as it stood erect.
Nubbins are sometimes the result
of imperfect pollination, but in
such cases the deformity is more
apt to be upon the sides than upon the top, for
the top pistils are the ones which are very likely to
be fertilized by insects.

A similar case is reported upon blackberries at
Cornell.* "The only serious ac-
cident which is known to injure
the blackberry crop in this state
is frost ; and in most cases the
injury is unavoidable, even though
the grower has warning of its
approach. In the six crops which
we have grown in our patches
here, only this year have we suf
ered from frost, and even this
year, when the cold wave was
unusually late and severe, only
the lowest places suffered seri-
ously. Drawings of blackberry flowers were made
upon the spot, two or three days after the frost, and

Fig. 55. Blackberry flower:
full size.

'Bull. 99, Cornell Exp. Sta. 1895.

324 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

they are here reproduced, natural
size. A normal, uninjured flower
is shown in Fig. 55. Inside the
five white petals or leaves are seen
the numerous sprawling stamens
or so-called male organs, each one
bearing an enlargement or anther
on the end, inside which the
pollen is borne. In the center
of the flower is the head or
cluster of pistils or so-called fe-
male organs, each of which ripens into one of the
Httle grains which go to make up the blackberry.

The frost killed these
organs, so that the
center of the flower-
bore only a small
black column of dead
pistils (see Fig. 56).
Now and then, one
or more of these
pistils in the head
escaped, and developed into a
fruit-grain, so that the berry
became a nubbin. Fig. 57 shows
the dead and aborted fruits at
picking time. At the top of the
picture are some fruits (N, N,)
in which one or two grains or
drupes are full grown, whilst the

Fig. 57. Blackberry fruits

ruined by frost rest of the berry failed to develop.

Frost Injury to Floivers. 325

Upon the 8th of May, 1897, a temperature of 27°
(5 degrees of frost) was recorded by self -registering
thermometers hung in fruit trees at Cornell, but no
injury resulted. At this time, all the petals had
dropped from apricot flowers, but the calyx ring had
not yet fallen from
the young fruits ;
peach flowers were
in full bloom, but
their fertilization had
mostly taken place ;
•Japan plum flowers
were just dropping,
and pear flowers were
open, but not yet
fully fertilized.

Young fruits of
apples and pears
may sometimes re-
cover from a severe
freeze and make per-
fect specimens. It

is even insisted by Fig rg Frost injury Oll ym
some careful observ-
ers that they sometimes recover even if frozen solid
shortly after they are "set," the fruits failing to de-
velop perfect seeds thereafter.* Fruits which are

* "The freeze of May, 1895, froze the fruit solid. The center of each pear
turned black, and yet they persisted in growing. There were eighty barrels.
I doubt if there was a seed or core in the whole lot. The quality was the
best that I have ever seen."— Extract from letter from Benj. F. Hawes, Oak-
field, N. Y,

326

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

simply frost-bitten, — that is, injured by a deposit of
white frost, — are very likely to persist, but to show
blemishes or deformities even at maturity. A com-
mon effect of very late frosts is to leave a distinct
russet zone upon the fruit. This zone marks the
position of the frost upon the young fruit. Apples
and pears are usually still erect when these frosts
occur, and the dew, — which, when frozen, is frost, —
probably settles in a ring or belt near the top of the
fruit or midway down it. The exact position jind
conformation of this deposit of dew are, of course,
determined by the shape, position and exposure of tho
fruit. Figs. 58 and 59 show the frost zones on

Fig. 59. Frost injuries OH young apples.

young pears and apples. This injured, corky tissue
has the power of increasing itself by the extension
of the abnormal cells, so that the zone is likely to

Injuries to the Fruity.

327

widen with the growth of the fruit. Mature fruits,
with the rusty frost marks still conspicuous, are seen
in Figs. 60 and 61. In some cases, the growth of

Fig. 60. Frost mark on a niatu
Flemish Beauty pear.

^•^•^MWI^^^™

Fi«. 61. Rusty frost zone around a
mature apple.

tissue in the injured zone seems to be slow, resulting
in a constriction of the fruit at that point.

Amongst the most serious results of very late
frosts in the north are the injuries to vineyards. The
cold of May 13, 1895, wrought great havoc in
the Chautauqua vineyards of New York, and
forced the problem of how to manage frozen vines

328 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

upon the attention of growers. Fig. 62 shows the
shoots of a grape vine as injured by the freeze.
Acres of vineyards, which had made several inches
of growth, were seemingly killed by the disaster.

Fig. 62. Grape shoots ruined by the freeze of May, 1895.

The extent to which the vines had grown is shown
by Fig. 63 (page 330). The spray upon the left
shows the grapes of normal size (that is, from unin-
jured shoots) as they looked in midsummer. The
central spray shows grapes which were produced from
the second crop of flowers, which appeared after the

Treating Frozen Vines. 329

vines began to recuperate. The right-hand spray
shows a cluster of flowers appearing upon a belated
shoot. Of course, only the clusters of the largest
size, as shown at the left, ripened into good fruit.

In proceeding to treat frozen vines, like those de-
scribed, it must first of all be borne in mind that
the injured parts are of no further use to the plants,
and, as we have seen, they are very apt to weaken
the plant by causing it to lose much of its moisture.
The rational procedure, therefore, is to strip off all
the frozen shoots soon after the disaster, so as to
allow the energies of the plant to divert themselves
to the production of new shoots. When the injured
parts are soft and small, it is customary to remove
them by pulling them off, rather than by cutting
them off. In vineyards which are well pruned, the
cost of stripping ought not to exceed one dollar an acre.

What is an injurious degree of cold?* — To this
oft -asked question there can be no specific answer,
because so much depends upon the latitude, the
time of year and the condition of the plants.
Hammont gives the following " table of temperatures
at which the following plants are liable to receive
injury from frosts, compiled from information received
from horticulturists, orchardists and gardeners through-
out the entire Pacific coast.

"The temperatures given are as nearly as pos-
sible those in contact with the plant itself.

* A discussion of acclimatization, and other problems of climate and plants
may be found in "The Survival of the Unlike."

t W. H. Ham mi. ii. "Frost, How and When to Prevent Injury Thereby," 1896.

Injurious Degrees of Cold.

331

PUAJ.-TS OR FRUITS.

In bud.

28°

Almonds

Apples

Apricots

Asparagus

Bananas ;

Barley

Beans

Beets

Cantaloupes 32

Celery

Cucumbers 31

Cymlings, or squash 31

Flowers* - 31

Grapes 31

Grape-fruit 30

Lemons 30

Mandarins and Tangerines.. 31

Oats 31

Olives 30

Onions

Orangest 30

Peaches 29

Pears 28

Peas 29

Plums 30

Potatoes, Irish 30

" sweet, and tomatoes 31

Prunes 30

Shrubs, roses or trees 26 to 30

Strawberries 28

Spinach

Turnips

Watermelons

Wheat

Walnuts, English 30

In bios- lu setting At other

som. fruit. times.

30° 30° 28°

29 30 26

31 32 30

29 29 26
31 32 31
29

31 .. 31

25

32 .. 30 to 31
' .. .. 28

31 31 32

31 31 30

31 31 30

31 30 28

31 31 28

31 31 28

31 31 28

31 31 18 ripe, 24 green

'.. ' .. 29

31 31 26 ripe, 29 green

30 30 29

29 29 28

30 30 25

31 31 29

30 30 31

31 31 31
31 31 29

28 to 32 .. 0 to 26

28 28 30
21
26

- 28 to 31

31 31

31 31 28

* Depends on variety.

t Injured at two degrees higher if continued 4 to 6 hours.

332 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

We have already seen (page 322) that at Ithaca,
New York, apricots, peaches and other fruits were
able to endure a temperature of 18°, even when
the buds were well swollen. In respect to the
variations in the effects of winter temperatures,
McCluer* writes from the Illinois Experiment Sta-
tion as follows :

"Here, we ordinarily think of 14° or 15° below
zero as fatal to the peach crop, and as we often
have a lower temperature than that but few peaches
are planted. During the winter of 1894-5 the ther-
mometer several times ranged below 20, and once
sank to 25 below zero, and yet only half the peach
buds were killed, and the trees produced a good
crop the season following. Last winter, with a
minimum temperature of only 5° below zero, fully
one -third of the peach buds were killed. I do not
know just what conditions made the buds more
hardy one season than another ; neither do I know
why part of the buds on a tree should be more
hardy than the rest. Even in the axil of the same
leaf one bud may be killed and the other live.

"Other organic substances show the same differ-
ences. In a half-bushel basket of potatoes exposed
to the cold in a cellar, I have often found frozen
tubers scattered through the basket and the rest not
frozen. In the blossom -buds of the cherry and plum
one or more may often be found killed, while the
rest have escaped.

*G. W. McCluer, Garden and Forest, ix. 209 (May 20, 1896)

Effects of Rain at Blooming -time. 333

"When we first began to spray our peach trees
to prevent the fruit from rotting, the Bordeaux
mixture used was not properly prepared, and as a
consequence a large part of the leaves on the sprayed
trees fell off prematurely. The next spring it was
found that there was a larger proportion of live
buds on the trees from which the leaves had fallen
than on the rest of the same variety. My explana-
tion at the time was that the buds become less
hardy in proportion as they are more developed.
We know this is true in the spring. The question
at once arises, at what stage in the development of
a bud is it the most hardy, and how can we best
control that development? This seems to me a
promising field for careful study."

The effect of rain upon blossoms. — It is perfectly
well known that the weather conditions in which
plants are growing may profoundly affect the
fecundity of the flowers. In the forcing of winter
vegetables, for example, it is of the greatest impor-
tance to keep the house dry and warm when polli-
nation is to be effected, and better results — both in
the amount of pollen produced, and in the ease
with which it is discharged from the anthers — are
commonly obtained in bright sunshine. (See, also,
page 227.) It is very probable that if the flowers
of fruit plants were to be kept constantly wet, very
little pollination would take place. It is probable,
also, that dashing rains at blossoming time wash
away much of the pollen, but it is doubtful if
enough of it would be lost in such passing storms

334 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

to seriously reduce the crop of fruit. The most
disastnms storms are probably those milder ones of
long duration, and which are accompanied by a low
temperature. Not only may such weather tend to
prevent the discharge of pollen, but it prohibits the
work of insects.

It must be admitted that the above remarks are
inferences. We have almost no exact knowledge
as to the effect of rain storms upon the setting of
fruit. A few small studies have so far been made
in this country, and these are now quoted.

Beach and Fairchild* report experiments in ap-
plying continuous sprays to pears and grapes. "On
May 16 two Mount Vernon pear trees, apparently
of equal vigor, standing within one hundred feet
of each other, were selected. Into one was thrust
the Vermorel nozzle, with its broad, fine spray.
The tree was about twenty -five feet high, and the
spray from the nozzle did not entirely cover it ; in
fact, the original design, soon abandoned, was to wet
only one -half of the tree, and leave the other half
dry. At the inauguration of the experiment, only a
few blossoms had opened upon either tree, and, as
no insects had been busy about the fruit trees, owing
to the cold weather immediately preceding, no risk
from previous pollination was run. The water was
turned on at noon of May 16, and kept running
(except from 10 A. M. of the 21st, to 10 A. M. of
the 23d, during ai almost constant rain-storm, pre-

* Eleventh Ann. Rep. N. Y. State Exp Sta. for 1892, 607.

Rain at Blossoming -time. 335

uipitating .72 of an inch of water), until 3 P. M.
of the 25th. The total length of time in which the
tree was kept wet was two hundred and nineteen
hours, or nine days and three hours.

"On May 17, after the tree had been under the
spray twenty -four hours, an examination was made
of the stigmas of many of the flowers, and they
were found to be dusted with pollen, although no
insects had been seen about the tree. Pollen was
taken from fresh anthers on the 21st (the fifth day),
and placed in weak sugar solution, to test its ger-
minative power. It proved to be perfectly capable of
germination. The flowers at this time presented a
curious appearance. The anthers of the innermost
stamens were plump and of their normal pink color,
while the outermost ones were swollen and decayed,
and contained many disintegrated pollen grains, and
a few that had evidently been induced to germinate
by the excess of moisture. The power of the male
elements to withstand long -continued moisture was
apparently great, for at the close of the experiment,
after the rain had ceased, many anthers opened and
shed an abundance of pollen, while the anthers of
flowers on adjacent trees had withered and fallen sev-
eral days previously. After turning off the water , on
the 25th, an examination with a hand lens was made
of flowers on both the side nearest to and that far-
thest from the spray, with the following result :

"Of four hundred and three flowers counted on
the side receiving the most water, one hundred and
three were possessed of plump anthers and apparently

336 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

normal stigmas. Of three hundred and three flowers
upon the dryer side, only three were still fresh and
capable of fertilization. The effect of the water in
retarding the development of the flowers was strik-
ingly illustrated.

* **********

"Although, as mentioned above, after the spray
had been removed many flowers with perfect anthers
and pistils remained capable, presumably, of self-pol-
lination, only one fruit, bearing three seeds, was
borne by the tree. This was produced about midway
between that half more heavily wet down and that
more nearly dry. The unsprayed tree produced a fair
crop of normal fruit.

"Two vines situated near each other were selected
for an experiment. One was left untreated for a
check, the other was sprayed for twelve nights and
days. Since the Duchess came into blossom later
than was anticipated, the sprayed vine was under
treatment a week before the check began to bloom.
Unavoidably the spray was discontinued before either
of the vines was out of blossom. It will, therefore,
be seen that the twelve days' treatment did not cover
the entire period that the vines were in bloom.

"The first apparent effect of the spray was to re-
tard the opening of the grape blossoms four days, as
compared with the blossoming of the check vine.
This effect was noticeable during the blossoming
period, and the treated vine continued in blossom
at least four days longer than the check. Retarding
the blossoming period, however, had no perceptible

Rain at Blossoming -time. 337

influence on the ripening of the fruit, for the fruit of
both vines ripened at the same time. * * *

"A microscopic examination, made after the spray
had been running eleven days, failed to disclose any
perceptible injury to the pollen. The pollen germs
were not disintegrated, nor had they germinated, and
no difference could be detected between them and
pollen grains from the check vine. By its peculiar
structure the grape blossom is well adapted to with-
stand protracted rains without injury to the sexual
organs. As shown by one of the writers in a re-
cent paper (see page 230), many grapes pollenize
their own stigmas before the blossoms open enough
to allow the entrance of outside pollen, and the
Duchess belongs to this class. Although self-pollina-
tion is thus insured, efficient fertilization does not
always follow, and consequently in some varieties
it does not result in the production of fruit. Such
grapes are able to set fruit only when supplied with
outside pollen. It is, therefore, probable that with
grapes of this class, e. </., Salem and Brighton,
the effect of constant spraying throughout the blos-
soming period would give more marked results than
with the variety noted in this experiment.

"The most marked aud permanent influence of
the spray was seen in the character of the fruit.
The clusters from the treated vine had very many
abortive berries, either with no seeds at all or with
only mere rudiments of seeds. A few clusters were
nearly or quite perfect. These may have blossomed
after the spray had been discontinued. All other

338 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

clusters had many abortive fruits, and showed every
gradation of loss up to 80 or 90 per cent. No clus-
ter was seen in which all the berries were abortive.
With the check vine perfect clusters were numerous,
and abortive berries were comparatively few. The
whole loss of fruit on the sprayed vine cannot be
computed by comparing the amount of perfect with
abortive fruit, because some blossoms must have
failed to form even abortive fruit, and some of the
abortive fruits dropped before the grapes were gath-
ered. It should be borne in mind, therefore, that the
total loss of fruit from the spraying is not repre-
sented in the following figures. A comparison of
the fruit of the two vines shows the following re-
sults :

"1. Counting all berries, whether perfect or abor-
tive, the average weight of a berry from the sprayed
vine was 8.5 grains, and the average weight of a
berry from the check vine was 17.5 grains, showing
a difference of 106 per cent.

"2. The amount of abortive berries was compared
with the perfect berries of each vine, and 60 per cent
of the fruit from the sprayed vine was abortive,
while but 21 per cent of the fruit from the check
vine was abortive."

Halsted* has also made observations upon the
influence of weather upon pollination, and finds that
continued wet weather at blossoming time seems, in
most cases, to lessen the setting of the fruit.

•Special Bull. C, N. J. Exp. Sta. (1889), and Kept, for 1889, p. 230, and
Kept, for 1890, p. 330.

Rain at Blooming -time. 339

Card* has made experiments in the spraying (to
imitate rain) of raspberries : "It is generally sup-
posed that rainy and cloudy weather at blossoming
time is injurious to the fruit crop, and the ques-
tion occurs whether frequent spraying with water at
this period would produce any noticeable effect. On
June 15, 1892, spraying was begun on Caroline,
Cuthbert and Turner raspberries. At that time the
Caroline was well in bloom, while the others were
scarcely beginning to bloom. The spraying was con-
tinued until July first, two to four times each, day
when the weather was bright and pleasant, but
omitted when there were rains to take its place.
Showers were frequent during the period, but were
well interspersed with bright weather and sunshine.

"The results were entirely negative, showing no
effect whatever from the spraying. The fruits on
this portion of the row were just as perfect and
abundant, and the plants appeared to suffer no more
from fungous diseases than those not sprayed. It is
to be noted, however, that the conditions were not
the same as those present in continuous cloudy
weather, for during much of this time the weather
was bright, and insects were numerous, and continued
working among the blossoms regardless of their being
wet, so that opportunities for pollination were good.
The test is of interest as showing that there need be
no fear of interfering with pollination by spraying for
insects or diseases, even if necessary to do it at
blossoming time. Of course, it should not be done

Fred W. Card, Bull. 57, Cornell Exp. Sta.

340 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

at that time, ordinarily, on account of our friends,
the bees."

Coote reports that peaches under glass set less
fruit when sprayed in full bloom with either warm
or cold water than they did when pollinated by
means of a brash.*

RENOVATING OLD ORCHARDS.

It is impossible to give any specific method of
procedure when it is desired to renovate an old
and profitless orchard. It is first necessary to dis-
cover the causes of its unprofitableness — to diagnose
the difficulty — and then to go straight at the root
of the evil. It must be remembered, too, that an
old, neglected orchard cannot be expected to arrive
at the profitable condition which trees enjoy which
have received proper care from the beginning, no
matter how thorough the means of recuperating it
may be. At the best, one can only make an apol-
ogy for long years of neglect and mistakes. It is
probable, too, that the trees may sometimes become
so fixed in habit that no amount of good treatment
can make them bear satisfactorily. If the grower
once arrives at a clear conception of the agencies
which make for productiveness, he will readily per-
ceive what the trouble with his orchard may be.

In general, it may be said that the first thing
to do to revive an old orchard is to till the land.

* George Coote, Bull. 34, Oregon Exp. Sta. (1895). This bulletin also cot-
tiiius observations on the pollen production of varieties of fruits.

Renovating Old Orchards. 341

This may demand a heavy trimming up of the trees
in order to allow a team to work in it ; and in
many of the forest -like old orchards it may be
economy to cut out a third or half the trees at
the start. Perhaps the roots are so high that theN
laud cannot be plowed. In such case, the land may
often be broken up in the spring, before the earth
becomes hard, by means of spading -harrows, disc-
harrows, spring- tooth harrows, and similar vigorous
tools. Or corn and other grain may be dropped
freely in holes made with a crow-bar, and the hogs
then turned in. Let them root for it!

The earth -mulch once secured to save the mois-
ture, it may next be necessary to apply plant -food,
either in the form of stable manures, green crops
or concentrated fertilizers, or in all these forms to-
gether.

It is probable that the trees will need heavy
pruning. But this pruning is for the purpose of
correcting the results of years of neglect, not for
the purpose, directly, of making the trees bear. In
fact, the effect of heavy pruning is apt to be in
the very opposite direction from fruit -bearing; but it,
must be done in most old orchards to bring the trees
back into manageable shape, to produce new and
fresh wood for fruit -bearing, and to thin the top
sufficiently to allow the fruit to develop to something
like perfection of size and quality. Weak trees may
sometimes be re -invigorated by this heavy pruning
alone. Severe heading -in of old peach trees often
accomplishes this. When the new wood is once

342 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

formed and the tree has re-established its equilibrium,
fruit -bearing may be expected to begin, if other con-
ditions are right.

It will next be necessary to begin hunting for
borers and other squatters and campers. The trees
will very likely need to be thoroughly sprayed to
dislodge the army of hangers-on which has held
undisputed possession of the territory for a decade
or two.

If the trees are of the wrong varieties and are
still vigorous, it will probably pay to top -graft
them, as already explained (page 298), if they are
apples, pears, oranges, or cherries. Old and poor
peach, apricot, plum and quince trees had better be
pulled out.

Why are orchards barren ? — It may be suggestive
if the matter of renovating old orchards be put in
the form of this question and categorical answers
be given. It will help the grower to diagnose the
trouble, and it will impress him with the fact that
he is the man to solve his own difficulties. The
commonest reason why old orchards are barren is
because they are in sod, — that is, because they are
untilled and unfed. There are men enough in the
country — although they have been greatly in the
minority — who have boldly taught that sodded or-
chards are wrongly managed orchards. They have
been combatted by citations of orchards which are
in sod but are still productive. They have replied
that in some cases, for a combination of reasons,
orchards may do well in continuous sod, but they

Diagnosing the Trouble. 343

have still fallen back upon the fundamental prin-
ciples of land management, and have said that the
system is nevertheless wrong. Time is rapidly
demonstrating the accuracy of their prophecies. It
is a case in which a handful of philosophy is worth
more than a forkful of facts.

If one asks why orchards are barren, let him
till out the following synopsis by way of review of
some of the principles which are enunciated in this
book :

The nature of the problem: each case must be investi-
gated by itself; teaching must be along the line of general
or fundamental principles, not statements of rules. The six
general factors which determine productiveness are:

1. THE TILLAGE FACTOR.— Soil texture. Fertility as influ-
enced by (a) fineness, (M conditions of root-hold, (c)
life processes, (d] air-holding capacity, (e) water-holding
capacity.

Sod in orchards Cover crops.

2. THE FERTILITY FACTOR. — Our conceptions of the uses
of nitrogen, potash, phosphoric acid, etc., in fruit-pro-
duction.

3. THE PRUNING FACTOR.— The relation of pruning to wood-
growth and fruit -growth.

4. THE VARIETY FACTOR. — (a) Unproductive varieties, (ft)
impotent varieties.

5. THE PROPAGATION FACTOR.— The individuality of the tree,
and its power to perpetuate its characteristics.

6. THE PARASITE FACTOR.— (a) Fungi, (b) insects. Spray-
ing (Chapter VII.).

CHAPTER VII.

DISEASES, INSECTS A XI) SPEATING.

IN 1886, the present author wrote as follows :
"A remedy proposed of late is to syringe the trees
with a mixture of Paris green and water, very early
in the season, while the young apples stand erect.
The poison lodges in the 'blossom end' and de-
stroys the first brood of worms. Later, when the
apples turn downward, the poison is washed out by
the rains. This remedy was proposed, and its en-
tire success demonstrated, by Professor A. J. Cook,
of the Michigan Agricultural College. A tablespoon-
ful of poison to a gallon of water is sufficient."*
This represented very nearly the sum of knowledge
respecting the spraying of orchards at that time.
Just ten years later, the writer had a part in put-
ting before the public a manual on spraying, t which
made a closely printed book of some four hun-
dred pages. These contrasts will serve to show how
rapid has been the evolution of the spraying of
plants to combat insects and diseases. This sudden
development of the spraying of orchards has tended

*" Field Notes on Apple Culture," 88.

tLodeman, "The Spraying of Plants." This work should be consulted when
full information is desired upon the history and practice of spraying.

(844)

Effects of Spraying. 345

to magnify its importance out of all proportion to
other accustomed operations of fruit-growing. The
practice has been hailed as a positive means of mak-
ing orchards fruitful. As a matter of fact, how-
ever, it makes orchards fruitful only when the cause
of unfruitf illness is incursions of insects and fungi.
It will not correct the faults of poor tillage, nor of
insufficient plant-food, nor of unprofitable varieties,
nor of neglect in pruning. In other words, it is
only one of the various elements which enter into
successful fruit-growing. Wholly aside from its
direct and immediate importance, spraying has had
an emphatic secondary influence in waking up the
horticulturist. Any movement which sets a man
to thinking very strongly along one line is likely
to awaken his interest in cognate subjects. So ii
happens that spraying has been one of the means
of rapidly diffusing a better knowledge of horticul-
tural operations. Some of the directions in which
this secondary influence of spraying is bound to
enlarge the horticultural horizon may be stated as
f ollows :

1. The necessity of spraying calls the attention
of the grower to the reasons for the recent incur-
sions of pests. Spraying was unknown in his boy-
hood days. Why is it so imperative now? This
opens a volume of suggestion, and will lead the
questioner to consider the fact that insects and
fungi are constantly changing their habits from one
plant to another, as the native plants are destroyed
and as the area of cultivated ones is increased, and

346 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

that the continuing commerce with all parts of the
world constantly exposes us to new dangers. Pests
which have latterly broken out with fury have been
breeding in unobserved numbers in the neglected
plantations for many years. The ideals of the fruit-
grower are also higher now than they were a few
years ago. Competition has increased, and the
smallest blemish on a fruit is enough to throw it
out of a first-class article, whilst a few years since
it might have passed without comment.

2. The necessity of spraying is bound to force
new ideals upon the grower. Those persons who
grow in a large way for the general and more or
less staple markets will find themselves casting about
for those varieties which are least susceptible to
disease and insect injury and which, therefore, need
the smallest amount of attention in the way of
sprays.

3. On the other hand, the protection which spray-
ing affords will tend to bring in many of those
good old varieties which, like the Virgalieu pear,
have almost disappeared from cultivation because of
disease. Those persons who are growing special kinds
of fruit for particular or personal markets will select
the varieties of ideal qualities almost independently
of the liability to insect or fungous attacks, because
they are now assured that these attacks can be
overcome. On the one hand, therefore, spraying will
force the selection of varieties which do not demand
this extra care and treatment ; and, upon the other-
hand, it will afford the grower of fruits for dessert

Effects of Spraying. 347

and home use the protection which he has heretofore
not enjoyed.

4. Spraying is bound to force a closer study of
the companionships and inter-relations of crops,
fungi and insects. It will teach the farmer to ob-
serve that certain pests follow the round of certain
crops, and that when he breaks such a rotation he
also lessens the liability of attack. It will also force
him to the use of shorter rotations, for it is a very
nimble insect or fungus which can keep pace with
a lively and resourceful farmer. He will come to
learn that the best treatment of the anthracnose on
raspberries may be a short rotation rather than
spraying. In fact, the best treatment may be a
combination of both ; but he will find that if he
reduces the number of crops to two or at most to
three, and then has plantations coming on in other
land, he will suffer comparatively little. The same
suggestion is extremely applicable to the cultivation
of strawberries.

5. Spraying will take its place along with till-
age, fertilizing, pruning, and the other cardinal opera-
tions of the fruit plantation.

6. Spraying is bound to force better care, in order
that the crop may repay the extra cost of the treat-
ment. The advent of the potato -bug has no doubt
exercised a very pronounced influence in improving
the cultivation of the potato, and it is probably not
too much to hope that the apple -scab is bound to
revolutionize apple - growing in the northeastern
states.

348 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

1. The necessity of spraying must create a greater
watchfulness on the part of the fruit-grower for new
pests, for these pests are all the time appearing from
foreign countries, from adjacent states or geograph-
ical regions, or from the wild.

8. Inasmuch as every new subject of inquiry
awakens new thoughts and expands one's sympathies,
so it becomes a means of enlarging and educating
the man. A concentrated invasion of the army -worm
is one of the very best means of waking up any
farming community and of setting every man, woman
and child to asking questions of every passer-by, every
agricultural editor and teacher, and experiment sta-
tion. The good effects of such an invasion are likely
to last for a number of years. It is surprising, as
one thinks of it, how easily people are scared by a
bug! A strange insect, which perhaps does not
weigh a grain, will set a whole community of able-
bodied men agog, and may cause as much down-
right fear and discussion as a political revolution.

There are three general types of difficulties which
are germane to the discussion in this chapter. A
classification of these troubles might be made as fol-
lows :

1. Attacks by insects.

(a) The injuries of those insects which eat
or chew the parts of the plant, and which,
therefore, are killed by the application of poi-
sons like Paris green. Such insects are the
whole tribe of caterpillars, worms and beetles.

Classification of Diseases. 349

(b) Attacks of insects which suck their food,
and which are, therefore, destroyed by caustic
applications which injure the bodies of the
pests. All the tribes of plant -lice and scale
insects belong here, and for these the kerosene
emulsion, resin washes, and the like, are the
specifics.

2. Parasitic- fungous diseases, such as the apple-
scab, black -rot and mildew of the grape, leaf -blight
of the plum and pear, black -knot, and the like.
These diseases are characterized by definite spots,
diseolorations or excrescences, which are more or less
scattered over the surface of the leaf, fruit or branch.
As a rule, the leaves and fruits which are attacked
have a tendency to drop from the tree. The gen-
eral treatment for these diseases is to spray with
some fimgicidal mixture, like the Bordeaux mixture
or the ammoniaeal carbonate of copper. The treat-
ment is useful in proportion as it is applied early
and thoroughly. After the fungus once gets into
the tissues of the host- plant, it is difficult, if not
impossible, to kill it. If, however, the fungicide is
upon the plant before the fungus is, the parasite may
not be able to obtain a foothold. Even after it does
obtain a foothold, it is probable, however, that the
spray will check its spread by preventing the devel-
opment of its external parts.

3. The physiological and bacterial diseases, or
those which are termed constitutional troubles. In
these cases, there are rarely any definite spots, as
in the attacks of parasitic- fungi, but the entire

350 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

leaf, or even the entire plant, or a large part of
it, shows a general weakening and disease, as if
there were some cutting off of the accustomed
source of nourishment. Such diseases are very likely
to be seen in a general yellowing and death of the
leaf, in the dying of the leaf along the main veins
and around the edges, showing that the difficulty is
one which affects the entire leaf, and not any par-
ticular part of it. In general, there is a tendency
for the foliage in plants so attacked to wither up
and hang on the tree for a time. The peach yel-
lows and pear blight are diseases of this kind.
There are no specific treatments for troubles of this
sort. They must be approached by what physicians
call prophylaxis, — that is, by methods of sanitation
and prevention. The diseased plants or parts are
cut away and burned. All those conditions which
seem to favor the development of the disease are
removed. Varieties which are particularly susceptible
are discarded. Careful management in matters of
this sort is often much more important than any
attempt at specific treatment.

Before taking up a discussion of spraying, it
may be said that the best treatment for borers and
similar pests is to watch the plants carefully, and
to dig the insects out at least twice every year.
In grounds which are kept in clean tillage, such
insects are rarely as troublesome as they are in
neglected areas. This is both because the insects
find places of lodgment in neglected orchards, and
because the fruit-grower is so seldom present that

Root Troubles.

he does not discover them in
season . The various protec-
tive washes which are ad-
vised for keeping borers out
of trees are of very doubtful
efficiency.

The roots of fruit trees
and brambles are very likely
to be affected with large tuber-
like swellings or galls, which
have been the subject of a
good deal of uneasiness in
various parts of the country.
One of these is shown in
Fig. 64. So far as known,
these galls are not conta-
gious, and the amount of harm
which they do has probably
been overstated. The root-
knot of the southern states
and of greenhouses is a
wholly different trouble, and
is the work of a nematodo
worm. There is also a root
swelling or gall on raspber-
ries, due to the work of an
insect. The nematode galls
are commonly smaller and
softer swellings, and occur on
the younger or smaller roots, Fif- •*• Root KaU on '"P1*"*-

(From Bull. 100, Cornell Exp.

and appear not to occur in st» )

352

Thf Principles of Fruit -growing.

the open in regions where the ground freezes
deep. This subject of the root-galls has been
fully gone over by various writers, and a summary
of the subject is presented in Bulletin 117 of the
Cornell Experiment Station (although this subject is
by no means well understood), from which the fol-
lowing epitome is clipped: "The conclusion of the
whole matter, then, as we now
understand it, is that these root-
galls are not the work of a par-
asite, but are a mal- forma-
tion following some injury of
the root, or some uncongenial
condition in soil or treatment.
The galls may seriously interfere
xvith the nutrition of the plant,
'u mailJ' cases causing it to be-
come weak and sickly. It is
probable that the trouble is not
communicable, and that cutting
off the gall averts further trouble
from that source. As a precau-
tionary measure, however, we

much prefer to plant only trees with perfectly clean
and normal roots."

The injuries caused by hail are very often con-
founded with those wrought by borers and other
pests, and it is the delight of many persons to en-
deavor to puzzle the experimenters and teachers with
sppcimens of such work. Plum limbs injured by
hail-stones are shown natuial size in Fig. 65.

Pig. 65.

Injuries by haiJ-

stones.

Bagging Fruits. 353

When it is desired to secure extra fine fruit, it ia
a good plan to tie up the fruits in paper bags. This
keeps away the insects and fungi (although the white-
ness of the bags is likely to attract thieves at night),
and the fruit is apt to ripen earlier, and to be of
higher quality because of the warmth which the bag
gives. If it is desired to bring out the blossoms of a
tree verjr early in the spring, it may be done by
tying grocers' bags upon the spurs when the buds
first begin to swell. The bagging of grapes is a fre-
quent practice when exhibition or test specimens are
desired. It is customary to pin the bags upon the
clusters when the grapes are a third to a half grown.
Bags made of mosquito netting are very useful later
in the season, when it is desired to secure the full
color of highly -colored fruit.

SPECIFIC REMARKS UPON SPRAYING.*

1. Spraying is only one of the requisites to suc-
cess in fruit- raising. — Spraying has come into use
so quickly, and so much of the attention of teachers
and experiments has been given to it, that many
people have come to look upon it as the means of
salvation of our orchards. If spraying is to have
the effect of obscuring or depreciating the impor-
tance of good cultivation and fertilizing, then it
might better never have come into being. Trees
must grow before they can bear, and this growth
depends upon food and proper conditions of soil,

•Largely adapted from Bull. 101, Cornell Exp. Sta.
X

354 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

more than it does upon the accident of immunity
from insects and fungi. There are four fundamental
operations upon which all permanent success in most
kinds of orchard culture depend, and their importance
lies in something: like the following order; — tillage,
fertilizing, pruning, spraying. Spraying is the last to
be understood, but this fact should not obscure the
importance of the other three.

2. Spraying is an insurance. — There are always
elements of risk in the growing of fruit. The chief
of these is frost, a difficulty which can never be
completely under our control. The second great ele-
ment of risk is the injury wrought by insects and
fungi, and the greater part of this injury can be
averted by the sprays. Now, it is impossible to
foretell by any considerable length of time, if any or
all of the difficulties which are liable to harass the
fruit -raiser will actually appear. One does not know
if his buildings will burn, yet he insures them. We
know that in four years out of five, some serious
injury of insects or fungi may be confidently ex-
pected, and it is the part of wisdom to insure against
it. The year 1894 was a season of remarkable in-
vasion of apple- scab fungus in New York, and those
persons who sprayed their orchards thoroughly had
phenomenal results. These experiences, aided by
many publications upon the subject, so advertised
the value of the sprays that much more spraying
was done in the state the next year than ever before.
But it so happened, probably because of the dry
spring, that comparatively, few invasions of enemies

Spray Every Year. 355

occurred the next year ; and the sprays generally
gave small results. There arose, therefore, a consid
erable indifference or even opposition to spraying,
which may be regretted when years of serious inva-
sion arise. It is a common fault with farmers that
they draw their conclusions from the behavior or ex-
periences of each recurring season, and do not con-
sider the aggregate results of a series of years.
Every operation should rest upon some fundamental
reason or philosophy, rather than upon any single
half - understood experience .

3. Spraying is of some value every year, upon
apples, pears, plums, quinces, grapes, and various other
frit its. — Even in years of great immunity, nearly all
sprayed orchards carry a better foliage than those
which are untreated. So, wholly aside from the idea
of insuring against risk, it is advisable to spray for
those insects which are more or less abundant every
year. Some insects and diseases appear late in the
season, so that in any year the spray may be needed
at some epoch in the season. It is, perhaps, useless
to urge people to spray their orchards. Those per-
sons who will not spare the trees this much of their
attention will not be likely to do much in the way of
tilling and fertilizing. One must grasp the entire
body of principles of orchard management before he
can hope for permanent rewards.

4. Spray thoroughly, or not at all. — Fully half
the spraying which is commonly done is a waste
of time and material. Squirting a few quarts of
water at a tree as one hurries past it, is not spray-

356

Principles of Fruit -growing.

ing. A tree is thoroughly and honestly sprayed when
it is wet all over, on all the branches and on both
sides of all the leaves. An insect or a fungus is
not killed until the poison is placed where the pest
is. Bugs do not search for the poison, in order
that they may accommodate the orchardist by com-
mitting suicide. The one spot which is not sprayed
may be the very place where a bud -moth is getting

his dinner. On the other
hand, there are many
fruit-growers who spray
with the greatest thor-
oughness and accuracy,
and they are the one*
who, in the long run,
will get the fruit.

5. Prepare for next
year's work during the
ic inter. — Secure nozzles
and pumps, and fix up
the wagons. It is especially important that the
wagons be handy. In very low orchards, a low truck
may be needed, and in some cases a stone -boat is
best; but most orchards will need some kind of a
high rig, to enable the operator to reach the tops of
the trees. Fig. 66 is a rig used by T. G. Yeomans
& Sons, Walworth, N. Y. The tank holds 300 gallons.
The pump is placed on the front of the rig (in the
seat-rrck), and one man drives and pumps. The
horses are stopped at every tree. Two leads of hose
are used, and two men stand on the rear platform

Fig. 66. K'.-ick for spraying rig.

Spraying Rigs.

357

and direct the nozzle. These men have ample space,

and the railing gives them security. A boy has

been employed until recently to agitate the liquid

with a large hoe. These three men and the boy cost

$5.50 per day, and they can spray thoroughly about

five acres of full-grown apple trees in a day. An

automatic agitator has now been employed in place

of the boy, with good

results. Another

good rig is that

shown in Fig. 67,

used by A. H.

Button, Youngstown,

N. Y. Many other

efficient spraying

outfits are in use,

but these two will

serve to illustrate

the kind of work

which is needed to

be done.

The greater num-
ber of fruit-growers
use an ordinary
wagon, with box or

rack, and a single 50 -gallon barrel ; but it' one has
much spraying to do, it is generally economy to
use a larger tank, especially if water has to be
hauled some distance ; and more thorough work
can be done in old orchards if the operator is
elevated above the barrel. The use of long pieces

Kit; for sjiniyi

358

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

of half -inch gas -pipe with the nozzle attached to
the end, is advisable when one is working in the
tops of the trees, but they are apt to be a nui-

sance if one works

from the ground.
They are awkward
if more than ten
feet long. We gen-
erally prefer to use
$ a bamboo fishing-
•-; pole, and secure the
•Jf hose to it near its
upper end, letting
the lower part of
the pole remain free.
Most operators have
insufficient hose.
For work in old or-
chards, the run should be at least fifteen feet long.
For yards and ornamental plants, a cart -like rig,
like that shown in Fig. 68, is handy and efficient,
and others are shown in Fig. 72. A home-made rig
for spraying strawberries and potatoes is seen in
Fig. 69. It is simply a barrel pump mounted on
wheels, with three Vermorel nozzles rigged on the
tail-board, so as to cover as many rows of plants.
6. The style of pump and nozzle to be used de-
pends almost wholly upon the particular kind of work
to be done* — The reader will now see that the advice

Fig. 68. Handy outfit for bush
trees.

"The reader should consult Lodeman's "Spraying of Plants" for more
specific advice on this subject.

Spraying Outfits.

359

as to machinery must depend upon the specific pur-
pose for which the appliances are to be used. Appa-
ratus which was devised a few years ago for the
distribution of Paris green may be of no value for
the application of such a thick compound as the Bor-
deaux mixture. Whatever the outfit selected, the
pump should be strong and powerful, with hard brass
working parts, and capable of throwing much liquid
with great force. In respect to nozzles, it may be
said that there is no one kind which is best for all
purposes. It is desirable that the liquid should reach
the plant in the form of a very fine mist ; but it
is just as important that the nozzle should have the
power of throwing the liquid to the desired point.
In other words, there are two elements to be con-
sidered,—the nozzle must have carrying power and
delivering power. A fine mist at the orifice of the
nozzle is of no use
when the nozzle is
thirty feet short of the
bug. With many of
the modern devices, the
man who holds the hose
in spraying rigs may
stand eight or nine feet
above the ground and
he may use a pole
twelve to fifteen feet in
length, which will elevate his nozzle something like
twenty -five feet from the ground; but many of our
apple trees are fifty and sixty feet high. It will

Fig. 69. Outfit for spraying straw-
berries and potatoes.

360 The Principles of Fruit -'/rowing.

therefore be seen that the liquid must carry itself
twenty -five to thirty feet beyond the nozzle. For
such purposes, a nozzle which distributes the liquid
in a spray directly from its orifice is of small use.
A nozzle must be had which throws a more or
less solid stream, and the stream should break up
when it reaches its destination. It will therefore be
seen that it is practically impossible to secure a
single nozzle which is best for all purposes. The
grower should have at least two styles, one for
short range and one for long range. The Cyclone
types of nozzles are generally best when a very
fine spray is desired for short range (consult
Fig. 70).

Remarks similar to the above may be made for
pumps ; that is, there is no one best pump. We
might divide all pumps into two general classes, —
those which deliver the liquid by force of gravity,

NOTE. The pictures of spraying machinery (Figs. 70 to 75, pages 362 to 367)
are inserted only for the purpose of familiarizing the reader with a number of
the different types of inventions which are useful in the work. They are not
inserted for the purpose of recommending any of the devices, and there are
many other machines, which are not shown in the engravings, which are
equally as good.

Fig. 70. 1, 2, Cyclone Nozzles. 3, 4, Vermorel Nozzles. 5, Double Vermorel.
6, Longshank Vermorel. 7, Bordeaux Nozzle. 8, Undersprayer (Boeke.1). 9, Y
for two nozzles. 10, Carnation Nozzle (Gould). 12, same, with pole attachment.
11, Masson Nozzle (Gould). 13, McGowen. 14, Graduated Spray. 15, 16, Lilly
(Rumsey); 18, same, with long tube. 17, Calla (Gould). 19, Boss (Field Force
Pump Co.). 20, 21, 22, Nixon Nozzles. 23, 24, Winkle Nozzle.

Fig. 71. 1, Galloway Knapsack. 2, Garfleld (Field Force Pump Co.). 3,
Deming Kerosene Emulsion Knapsack. 4, Eclipse (Merrill & Morley). 5, Ex-
celsior (Stahl). 6, Dandy (Rumsey). 7, Douglas emulsion. 8, Knapsack at
work. 9, Obsolete type of pump on a knapsack tank. 10, 11, 12, Wonder Pumps
(Lewis).

Pumps and Nozzles. 361

as many of the potato sprayers do, and those which
deliver it by the force of the pump. We have now
come to believe that the force of gravity is not
sufficient to do the work well, especially when Bor-
deaux mixture is to be used. Of the pump machines,
there are several kinds, as those which derive their
force from the suction of a piston and valves, and
those which work from the force of compressed air.
The accompanying illustrations (Figs. 70-75, pages
362-367) will show the reader some of the forms of
pumps which are now manufactured, and will per-
haps enable him to make an intelligent choice for
his purpose. It may be said that knapsack pumps
are very efficient, not only because they are power-
ful for their size but also because they enable the
operator to stand very close to his work ; but they
are not adapted to work upon trees nor, in fact,
upon large areas in this country, because labor is
too high priced. For small areas, for experiment

Fig. 72. 1, Eureka Knapsack (Boekel). 2, Success Bucket Pump (Doming).
:{, Common Bucket Pump. 4, Dart Bucket Pump (Gould) . 5, Success Kerosene
Bucket Pump (Deming). 6, Aquanette (Douglas). 7, Double-acting Aquanette
(Douglas). 8, Handy cart rig. 9, Cart Sprayer (Field Force Pump Co.). 10.
Economy Garden Engine.

Fig. 73. 1, Barrel Pump (Field Force Pump Co.). 2, Barrel Pump (Douglas).
3, Columbian (Douglas). 4, Double-acting Pump (Gould). 5, Nixon Tripod
Pump. 6, McGowen's Automatic Poison Injector. 7, Clock Pump, and Dash
Agitator (Gould). 8, Bean Pneumatic Pump. 9, Myer's Lever Bucket Pump.
10, Barrel Agitator (Gould). 11, Maud S. Pump (Maud S. Co.).

Fig. 74. 1, Empire (Field Force Pump Co.). 2, Eclipse (Morrill & Morley).
3, Pomona (Gould). 4, Double Cylinder (Rnmsey). 5, Geiger Pump. 6, Florida
(Rumsey). 7, Columbia (Columbiaua Co.).

Fig. 75. 1, Victor Outfit (Field Force Pump Co.). 2, Caswell Sled Sprayer.
'•'>, Caswell Geared Sprayer. 4, Wagon Outfit (Morrill & Morley). 5, Mounted
Barrel Sprayer, fi, Eureka Tank Outfit (Morrill & Morley).

Fig. 71. Knapsack and syringe pumps.

prayers of various patterns.

eavy ore-hard work.

Fig. 74. Barrel outfits for heavy work.

368 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

purposes, and the like, they are exceedingly useful
and handy. The syringe and bucket purnps are
very efficient for work upon a small scale, and
especially when it is desired to be extra thorough.
The greatest difficulty with the bucket pump is that
the amount of material which can be carried is very
small. The power sprayers (those which work from
the wheel of the vehicle) are useful for vineyards,
dwarf pears and low- growing plants ; but, as a rule,
they are not adapted to large orchard trees, because
enough liquid cannot be thrown whilst the machine
is passing a tree to thoroughly spray it. For very
large areas and very tall trees (as street trees) steam-
power sprayers are coming into use.

7. The farmer should know what he icants to kill
before he begins to spray. — It is common to find a
man who is going at spraying with enthusiasm, but
who cannot explain a single definite object which
he has in view. He simply knows upon general
principles that spraying is useful. To such a man,
spraying is spraying, whether he uses Paris green,
or Bordeaux, or both, or neither one; and his results
are about equal to his knowledge. There is no
longer an excuse for such ignorance, for all the lead-
ing insects and fungi have received more or less
exact treatment in the publications of the experiment
stations. The state of knowledge is far in advance
of the state of practice. Many fruit-growers demand
such elementary instruction as this:

The arsenites (Paris green and London purple)
are used to kill all larvae or worms, and all those

When to Spray. 369

insects which chew the leaves or shoots, — such as
the codliii-rnoth, bud -moth, canker-worm, potato -
beetle, tent -caterpillar, and the like, kerosene emul-
sion* is used for scale -insects and plant -lice. Bor-
deaux mixture and ammoniacal carbonate of copper
are used to prevent the attacks of fungous parasites,
as apple -scab, leaf -blight of the pear, quince and
plum, potato -blight, and such like. Bordeaux is the
better all-round fungicide, but the copper carbonate
solution! does not discolor the fruit, and may there-
fore be used if very late sprayings are necessary.

The times and seasons of spraying depend entirely
upon the enemies which it is desired to reach, and
upon the weather.

8. The time to spray must be determined for each
jHuiicular case. — The grower himself must decide
when and how often to spray, because he should

* KEROSENE EMULSION.

Hard soap K pound

Boiling water (preferably soft water) 1 gallon

Kerosene 2 gallons

Dissolve the soap in the watsr, add the kerosene, and churn with a pump
for 5 to 10 minutes. Dilute 4 to 25 times before applying. Use strong emulsion
(diluted 4 to 9 times) in winter for scale Insects.

Some of the recent pumps emulsify kerosene and water, and make a very
efficient spraying material. One part of oil to 4 or 5 of water is safe on foliage,
particularly in sunny weather.

t AMMONIACAL COPPER CARBONATE.

Copper carbonate , 1 ounce

Ammonia, enough to dissolve the copper.

Before making the solution, the ammonia should be prepared as follows :
Use 26° ammonia, and dilute with 7 to 8 volumes of water. Then gradually
add the necessary amount to the copper carbonate until all is dissolved. It is
best treated in large bottles, and in them it will keep indefinitely. Dilute with
9 or 10 gallons of water. For same purposes as the Bordeaux mixture.

370

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

know what enemies he desires to reach. If he has
the bud -moth, he should spray with the first swell-
ing of the buds, and if he has the plum -scale he
should spray in the winter. But, leaving the special
insects aside, it is safe to say that for the two staple
enemies — the apple -scab and the codlin-moth — at
least two sprayings should be given. It is not yet

clearly proved that
spraj'ing when the
tree is dormant has
any appreciable ef-
fect in destroying the
apple- scab fungus.
As a general state-
ment one may say,
spray twice upon ap-
ples and pears, once
just as the fruit-buds
break open but be-
fore the flowers ex-
pand (Fig. 76), and again just as the last blossoms fall.
In both cases, use a combination of Bordeaux mix-
ture and Paris green. The first spraying is for the
scab fungus in particular, and for this the Bordeaux
is used ; but the Paris green will most likely be of
service in destroying various leaf -eating insects. The
second spraying is for the codlin-moth in particular,
and for this the Paris green is used ; but the Bor-
deaux mixture will still be needed for the apple -scab
and other fungi. Whether or not it is necessary to
spray again will depend largely upon the season.

Fig. 76. Showing when apple tre?s
ready for the first spraying

Stock Solutions. 371

The operator must watch matters closely, and spra.y
when he needs to do so, or when he is in doubt.
Two spraj'ings are sufficient for the codlin-moth, and
three are generally sufficient for the apple -scab.
These two sprayings constitute the insurance which
lias been mentioned ; thereafter, the grower will be
jible to see more definitely what is needed. These
remarks illustrate the nature of the questions which
the fruit-grower must consider.

At any time when the tree is in growth, Paris
green or London purple should be used with lime,
or, better, with Bordeaux mixture, to prevent injury
to the foliage. One pound of Paris green to two
hundred gallons of water is the most serviceable gen-
eral foi-mula for that material ; and to this a pound
or two of lime may be added. A pound of Paris
green (or London purple) may be added to two hun-
dred gallons of Bordeaux mixture. If the Paris green •
is made into a paste with a little water, it mixes bet-
ter in the barrel.

9. Prepare stock solutions for the Bordeaux mix-
lure* rather than f<> »i<tke each batch in the quantities

* NORMAL OK l.fi PER TENT BORDEAUX MIXTURE.

Copper sulfnte (Idne vitriol) 6 pounds

Stone Him- 4 pounds

Water 40-50 gallons

Dissolve the vitriol by putting it in a piece of coarse burlap and hanging
this in at least six gallons of water, so that the bottom of the bag just rests
in the water. Use a wooden pail or tub ; vitriol eats tin. Pour the vitriol
solution into the spraying barrel and fill the barrel about half full with water.
Slake the lime and dilute it to make 10 to 15 gallons of milk of lime. Pour
this into the barrel through a strainer and add water to make 40 to 50 gallons
of Bordeaux. The formula 4 pounds of vitriol and 4 pounds of lime to make
40 to 50 gallons of Bordeaux is apparently equally efficient. If Bordeaux is to
l>e used on peach foliage, apply it at one-half the ordinary strength.

372 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

called for by the formula.— The sulfate of copper may
be put into solution and kept in this condition in-
definitely, ready for use. A simple method is to
dissolve forty or fifty pounds of sulfate in as many
gallons of water, pulverizing the material and hang-
ing it in a coffee -sack in the top of the barrel.
A gallon of water, therefore, means a pound of
sulfate. The lime may also be slaked and kept in
readiness for use. Slake it into the creamy condi-
tion familiar to masons, cover lightly with water,
and then close the box or vessel to prevent the
water from evaporating. When making the Bordeaux
mixture, pour the requisite quantity of the stock
solution of sulfate of copper into the barrel, and
then dilute with four or five times the quantity of
water. Now add the lime, and then add enough
water to satisfy the formula. If the ferrocyanide
test is used, place a spoonful of the mixture in a
saucer or plate, and add a drop of the test solu-
tion. If a red color appears, the mixture needs
more lime. If the test solution is added directly
to a tank or barrel of the mixture, the color re-
action is apt to be lost in the mass. An excess
of lime ensures the safety of the mixture.

10. How can one tell if soluble arsenic is jtrrsatf
in Paris green "I — It is the soluble arsenic which
burns the foliage. This is present in London pur-
ple, but good Paris green should have little of it.
Farmers are always asking how they can determine
if Paris green contains soluble arsenic. This may
be determined by the use of the sulfur test. This

Testing Paris Green. 373

test consists in adding sulfuret of hydrogen to a
solution of the poison, when, if arsenic is pres-
ent, a yellow precipitate (or sediment) will be thrown
down.

In a bottle holding" five or six ounces, place a
quarter of a teaspoonful of Paris green. Add water
until the bottle is nearly full ; shake well, and then
allow the material to settle. The clear liquid which
remains on top will contain what soluble arsenic
may be present. Carefully turn off this clear liquid
into a long, slender bottle, or test-tube, add two or
three drops of muriatic or sulfuric acid, then add
a tablespoonful or more of the solution of sulfuret
of hydrogen. If any arsenic is present in the clear
liquid, a yellow discoloration will at once appear,
and if the liquid is allowed to stand for a few
minutes, patches or grains of a sand -like material
will settle to the bottom. This yellow precipitate
is sulfide of arsenic. If very little soluble arsenic
is present, the sulfuret solution should be warm
when used, for the reaction is then more delicate.
The sulfuret is easily made by anyone who has had
even an elementary instruction in chemistry, by add-
ing sulfuric acid to iron pyrites.

This sulfuretted hydrogen is not a commercial
preparation, but it is present in all sulfur mineral
water, and the water sometimes gives the test. One
can make sure of the presence of this material,
for its odor is strong and offensive. It is the odor
of spoiled eggs. If mineral water is used, it should
be strong and fresh, and about equal in quantity

374 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

to the arsenic solution ; and even then only a
faint amber discoloration may appear, because of
the small amount of sulfur in the water. The min-
eral water test, therefore, is practically out of the
question.

This test of arsenic determines only the fact
that soluble arsenic is or is not present. It does
not determine how much soluble arsenic there may
be ; although the greater or less amount of the
yellow color on precipitation will afford a compara-
tive idea of the amount present in any two or
more samples.

It has already been advised to use lime with
Paris green or London purple for the purpose of
taking up the soluble arsenic, by the formation of
arsenite of lime. If this is done, or if the Bor-
deaux mixture is used with the arsenit.es, it will
not matter if the poison contains soluble arsenic.

11. Ho ic can one determine if Pa rift green is
pure f — It sometimes happens that material which is
obtained as Paris green contains no arsenic. Chrome
green may be sold instead. If the material is pure
Paris green, it will quickly and completely dissolve
in common strong ammonia, giving a beautiful, rich,
dark blue, clear liquid, whilst any of the compounds
which would ordinarily be substituted for Paris green
on account of their color and texture, will not be-
have in this manner in ammonia. Any insoluble
residue is impurity. Chrome green will not dissolve
in ammonia.

12. What becomes of the arsenic when it ftilh upon

Arsenic in the Soil. 375

the soilf — With the action of the rains and the fall-
ing of the leaves, most of the arsenic which is
applied to trees finally reaches the soil. What then
becomes of it? If lime has been used with the
spray, the arsenic will be insoluble when it falls
upon the soil. It is possible that the organic acids
in the soil, and also carbonic acid, may dissolve some
of the arsenic, but it would be almost surely made
immediately insoluble again by combination with lime
or other soil constituents. If soluble arsenic is placed
on the soil, it probably almost immediately goes into
insoluble combinations, and remains where it was
placed unless slightly washed down by mere mechan-
ical means. Now, some plants appear to have the
power to take up very minute quantities of arsenic
and still thrive — probably so minute that the nicest
chemical test can scarcely discover it, — but any appre-
ciable quantity of soluble arsenic in the soil quickly
destroys the roots. If, therefore, the grass and other
plants under sprayed trees continue to live, there
need be no fear that the arsenic will injure the soil.
A study of the destination of arsenic which has
been applied to the soil in the form of Paris green
was made at the Cornell Station (Bulletin 101), from
which the following conclusions were drawn: "The
gist of the whole matter then, if we may generalize
from these tests, is that the arsenites do not leach
from the soil. They remain where they fall, the
same as sand does, and are carried down only when
there are crevices or other openings in the soil, and
they then go down as insoluble compounds, and to

376 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

a slight extent, by the mere mechanical action of
the water. It is really remarkable that sand was
such a perfect filter as to hold the great quantity
of arsenic above a depth of three inches for over
four months. If the soil in either experiment had
been a homogenous subsoil, where the sun could not
have cracked or checked it, it is fair to conclude
that no arsenic could have penetrated it."*

Summary. — The fruit-grower may desire to have
a very brief epitome of some of the cardinal sug-
gestions touching spraying :

1. Spraying is only one of several means or opera-
tions which the pornologist must master if he aspires
to the greatest and most uniform success. Other
fundamentally important requisites are tilling, fertil-
izing and pruning.

2. Spraying is not necessary to successful results
every year, but inasmuch as the farmer cannot fore-
tell the need of the operation, he should spray as
a matter of insurance.

3. Spraying is almost sure to be of some benefit
every year, particularly upon apple, pear, plum and
quince trees, and upon grape vines.

4. Spraying is of little consequence unless care-
fully and honestly done. The spray must actually
reach every point which it is intended to protect.

5. Prepare for the year's campaign during the
previous winter, by reading the last teachings, and

* For another discussion of this subject, and of the destination of copper
in the soil, see Lodeman, "The Spraying of Plants," 231-237.

Summary. 377

by completing pumps and appliances. Give particular
attention to a convenient wagon outfit.

6. The Bordeaux mixture need not be made up
at each using in the exact numbers of the formula.
The copper sulfate may be permanently dissolved in
water and the lime may be slaked. When the mix-
ture is prepared, the stock solution of vitriol is di-
luted, the lime added, and the tank filled to the
required amount.

7. Spraying is of small account unless the opera-
tor understands precisely what he sprays for.

8. The time to spray is when the operation is
needed to protect the plant. This will vary, there-
fore, with every season and every different pest. In
general, apples and pears need spraying twice, first
when the fruit -buds open, but before the flowers
expand, and again when the blossoms fall.

9. The presence of soluble arsenic in Paris green
may be determined by a test with sulfuret of hy-
drogen.

10. Pure Paris green dissolves in ammonia, giv-
ing a rich, deep blue liquid.

NOTE.— Home-made arsenites of lime and soda are now used in some regions
Either can be used with Bordeaux mixture. When used with water, it is safer
to add freshly slaked lime.

Arsenite of lime is made by boiling one pound of white arsenic in two to four
quarts of water until it is dissolved, then use this arsenic solution to slake two
pounds of good lime, adding water if necessary to slake it ; when slaked, add water
enough to make two gallons of this stock mixture. This may be kept in a tight
vessel and used as desired. Thoroughly stir the material before using. For most
insects one quart of the above to forty gallons of water will be sufficient.

Arsenite of goda. The arsenic (one pound) may also be boiled with lonr
pounds of sal soda crystals in two gallons of water until dissolved, and this solu-
tion used in the same manner (with lime).

CHAPTER VIII.

HARVEST I * 'G- AND MARKETIXU FRUIT.

ALTHOUGH the management of the business or
commercial side of fruit-growing — the importance of
which is urged in the first chapter — is very largely
a matter of personal temperament, nevertheless a
few general remarks by way of suggestion may be
given to the subject. The business part of fruit-
growing is chiefly concerned with the broad subject
of marketing the fruit, which may be considered
under the four heads of picking, packing, storing
and shipping. The actual selling of the product is
an enterprise which belongs rather to the merchant-
man than to the fruit-grower.

PICKING FRUITS.

When to pick. — Just when and now the fruit
should be picked for best market results depends
very largely upon the species or variety of fruit,
and greatly, also, upon the distance to which it is
to be shipped. The closer and better the market,
the riper the fruit should be when it is taken from
the plant. If one is fortunate enough to have a
special or personal market, delivering the fruit to
(378)

When Fruit is Fit to Pick. 379

the consumer direct, then he can hope to retain
this market only by sending in the products in the
very finest dessert condition. Such consumers are
generally willing to pay a sufficient extra price
for the advantage of having the fruit taken from
the plant when it is in its highest state of edible
quality. Most serious mistakes are constantly made
in the picking of blackberries, for example. It is
ordinarily considered that when the berries are
black they are ripe, but such is not the case.
They are fully ripe only when they shake from the
bushes readily, and when they are soft and free
from sharp acidity. In this condition blackberries
can be handled direct to the consumers in the
local market which is only a few miles away ; but
they could not be shipped by rail. The strawberry
is ordinarily picked for market when only a portion
of the berry is really ripe, and when the organic
acids are still too sharp and ' austere for the des-
sert. A strawberry which has a green or white tip
is not yet in fit condition to pick, if one is ex-
pecting to reach a really good market.

With the tree -fruits, it may be said that in
general the samples keep longest when they are
picked greenest, but they suffer thereby in point of
quality. There are no well-marked lines between
greenness or immaturity, ripeness or full maturity,
and over maturity and decay. The one stage passes
into the other insensibly, and it is a part of the
normal chemical history of the fruit that it should
begin an incipient breaking down and disorganize-

380 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

tion of tissue as soon as the ripening process is
thoroughly complete. It will be seen, therefore, that
the riper the fruit, the more nearly it approaches
this period of disorganization, and the sooner the
breaking down of the tissues may be expected to
begin. When the fruit is picked very green, how-
ever, this period of natural disorganization is com-
paratively remote. On the other hand, fruits which
are picked very green are not yet arrived at their
most edible stage, and unless they are kept in the
most favorable conditions, they are very likely to
shrivel and to become unmarketable.

In the case of apples, it is generally best to
pick them, if they are to be stored or exported,
just as they have arrived at their full size and
when they have attained only a part of their full
color. Overripe or fully ripe fruits must be sent
to the market at once, or else they must be kept
in artificial cold storage in order to thoroughly stop
the chemical processes within the fruit, and when
they are taken from storage they are very likely to
soon decay. Apples which are picked slightly green,
however, generally continue to keep well after being
taken from cold storage. This was demonstrated at
the World's Fair at Chicago, at which New York
apples taken from cold storage remained upon the
shelves in good condition for several weeks.*

Pears, on the other hand, nearly always lose
quality by fully ripening upon the tree. The cells
of the fruit fill up with gritty mineral matter, much

* Annals Hort. for 1893, 67.

Ripening of Pears. 381

to the detriment of texture. It is ordinarily con-
sidered that the best time to pick a pear of any
variety is just as soon as it reaches its full size
and before it has begun to color. In most varie-
ties, this stage is pretty well indicated by the facil-
ity with which the fruit stem parts from the spur.
The pear is taken in the hollow of the hand and
turned up ; if the stem snaps off from the spur
at its point of articulation, the fruit is generally
considered to be ripe enough to pick. The pears
are then ripened under cover. The best place in
which to ripen them is a rathei: cool but dry room,
like a loft or a chamber. Here they are piled upon
the floor or upon racks, and they should not lie,
for the best results, more than three or four pears
deep. If they are piled too deep, the lower ones
are likel}r to be indented by the weight of those
above them. The room should be kept fairly close.
If there is too much circulation of air, and if the
temperature is high, the pears ripen too quickly,
and often shrivel. A Bartlett pear, when properly
picked and handled, ordinarily requires a full week
in which to ripen up to its best quality, and the
ripening process may often be continued consider-
ably longer than this by picking the fruit early
and keeping it cool. Kieffers, especially if grown
in the north, seem to ripen best if they are stored
in bulk, like beans, two or three feet deep, or even
in barrels, and the ripening process is ordinarily
two to three weeks long. If they are given this
long time in which to mature, the quality may be

382 The Principles of Fruit- growing.

expected to be very much better than it is in the
general run of samples.

A peach is fit to pick when it is full grown
and has begun to develop its characteristic color.
Peaches and apricots do not ordinarily color up
well after they are picked, although plums usually
will do so, especially the Japanese plums, which may
be picked very green and yet develop a high color.
It is very difficult to describe .that period of ma-
turity at which a peach is ready for picking. An
experienced picker will take the fruit softly in his
hand and press the ball of his thumb very lightly
upon the side, and if the fruit has a somewhat
springy feeling, it is ready to take off the tree.
This pressure is never sufficient to leave any mark
upon the fruit. Pinching a peach will almost always
spoil it. If the peach is too green, it will feel
hard and stone -like. If it is too soft, it will simply
indent, and will not have the elastic feeling which
is mentioned.

In the case of cherries and plums, it is very
important that the fruits be picked just before
they have reached their condition of most edible
quality. This is largely because the fruit-rot fun-
gus is very likely to destroy the fruits at the time
of their ripening, especially upon those varieties
which are particularly subject to the disorder.
Amongst plums, the Lombard is one of the most
seriously attacked ; and amongst cherries, nearly all
the white -fleshed ones, like Governor Wood and
Napoleon, are greatly subject to injury. If the

Rot of Cherries. 383

weather at picking time gives promise of being
(dose and warm or muggy, then it is exceedingly
important that the fruit should be picked earh'. In
sweet cherries, a delay of a few hours will some-
times result in the loss of an entire crop from the
fruit -rot fungus. Cherries and plums should always
be picked, if possible, when they are perfectly dry.
This is especially true of the sweet cherries. If
they are picked when they are wet, and put into
boxes or baskets in this condition, they will be
almost certain to decay before reaching the market,
unless the weather remains very cool.

This fruit -rot fungus is very serious upon many
stone fruits. In cherries, "the losses from this dis-
ease which have come under my observation are
invariably the result of letting the fruit hang on
the trees till ripe, and then the rot is very active;
but cherries should be picked a few days before
ripe, before they soften, and then the rot does not
seriously affect them. An illustration of this point,
which is a most important one, was brought to my
notice the present season. The last week of June,
in eastern New York, was very hot and close,
with showers every day or two. The cherries were
then ripening, and the conditions were favorable for
the rot to spread. In one orchard, from which
several tons of cherries were shipped that week,
there was not more than one hundred and fifty
pounds destroyed by the rot, while in another or-
chard a few miles distant at least ten tons of the
same varieties were ruined on the trees. In the first

384 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

orchard the fruit was picked before it had ripened,
and all that was fit was taken off as soon as the
trees dried off after a shower ; in the other or-
chard it was left till nearly ripe, and one -half to
two -thirds of the crop was lost before the fruit
could be picked. So rapid is the work of this
fungus at this period, that the owner of the orchard
told me that he lost three tons of -one variety in
one night. It might be added that the orchard first
mentioned was a much stronger one, as it was in
cultivation, while the last had been in sod for years,
and the general debility and neglect of the trees
made them good subjects for the attacks of rot or
any other disease."*

How to pick. — In picking the soft fruits, like cher-
ries and plums, the operator grasps the stem and
not the fruit itself. In this way he does not remove
the delicate bloom, and does not injure the fruit
when pulling it from the spur. In the case of
grapes, it is likewise very important, especially in
those which have a heavy bloom, that the picker
should not grasp the bunch itself, but should take
the cluster by the stem and snip it off with shears
(which are made for the purpose). In the case of
peaches and apricots, this precaution, of course, need
not be taken, because the stem does not naturally
adhere to the fruit ; but the operator must be very
careful, when picking these fruits, not to grasp them
too tightly, otherwise he will bruise them and cause

*G. H. Powell, Bull. 98, Cornell Exp. Sta. 410.

Leave the Stems On. 385

them to become discolored. The picker must always
bear in mind that every evidence of fruits having
been touched by the hands detracts from their market
value. Strawberries should always be picked with
the stems on. A berry which has the hull pulled
out is not fit for the market. The picker should
grasp the stem itself and pinch it off between the
thumb and the finger.

Upon all fruits which grow on a distinct pedicel
or stem, this stem should be allowed to remain.
Pears which have the stems pulled out or broken
in two are never first-class fruits, no matter how
good and uniform the specimens otherwise may
be. This is even true of apples when they are
put up for the finest dessert trade ; but as they
are ordinarily handled, very little attention is paid
to leaving the stems on. Leaving the stems on is
vital to the handling of plums and cherries, not
only because the market demands it, but because
the fruit will be very likely to rot if the stems
are pulled out, and they will not pack so snugly,
and will not stand the transportation so well. The
stems of cherries, plums and currants, and the hulls
of strawberries, serve a most useful purpose in hold-
ing the fruits in place in the box or basket, and
in taking up the slack from settling or shrinkage.

A word may be expected in respect to the ex-
act methods of handling fruit in the field. It is
only in rare cases that fruit should be sent to the
market in the packages in which the pickers place
it ; that is, it will need to be sorted from these

386

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

packages into others, and this sorting should be
done in a cool shed or packing room. In the pick-

Fig. 77. Dundee berry st

ing of small fruits, various kinds of trays or stands
are used. In strawberries, it is important that these
stands should have legs, so that when the package
is set down it will not crush the berries, and
neither will it be so likely to tip over. Such
stands are handy for grapes,
or for any kind of berry
fruits as well. Fig. 77
shows a type of berry-
stand which is largely used
in parts of New York for
the picking of raspberries
and blackberries. This
stand holds six one -quart
boxes, and a tier is

easily stacked upon another, one tier or layer
of stands breaking joints with those above and

Fig. 78. Berry-tray made of slice
iron, with band-iron handle.

Berry - stands . 387

below. Other types of berry -stands are shown in
Figs. 78, 79 and 80.

In the picking of tree -fruits, it is ordinarily
best to use a basket and not a bag, for in spite
of all one can do, the fruit is bruised when r4, is
thrown into a bag which is slung over the shoulder.
In the picking of peaches, it is customary to pick
in something like a Climax basket, or better still,
in the old-fashioned tall, round -top peck baskets,
such as are standards in New Jersey and other
places. These baskets are held at about one'*

Fig. SO. Tniy for berry boxes.

middle by dropping them into a hoop which is
held upon the person by a strap running over the
shoulder and under one arm (Fig. 81). This allows
the picker the free use of both arms, and obviates
the necessity of his being obliged to stretch or
stoop to deposit the fruit after he has picked it.
The baskets are filled about level full, all the fruits
which are ripe enough for picking being saved in-
discriminately. The basket is then set in the shade
alongside the tree from which the fruit was taken,
and at intervals a wagon or cart collects the bas-
kets and takes them to the packing -room, where

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

the fruit is sorted, graded and packed. In the
picking of apples, the best method is ordinarily to
use a half -bushel, round -bottomed splint (not woven)
basket which has a swinging handle. If this basket

V

Fig. 81. Picking peaches.

is lined on the .inside with thick cloth or burlaps,
it will answer the purpose all the better. This
basket is provided with a strong wire hook, that
can be hung upon a limb, allowing the picker to

Baskets and Wagons. 389

have both hands free. There are various special
practices to facilitate apple -picking, which are not
proper subjects for discussion in a general fruit-
book.

There are various appliances which may be used
in the field to facilitate the picking of fruit, some
of which may be briefly mentioned. In the first
place, the fruit picker should provide himself with
an ample supply of crates or baskets, or whatever
other receptacle may be used in the field. These
receptacles should be strong and durable, so that
they may be used year after year ; this is espe-
cially true of the baskets and crates which are used
for the picking of the heavier fruits, like pears,
apples and grapes. It is generally advisable to take
the fruits to the packing house in the very baskets or
boxes in which they are placed from the tree, thereby
avoiding unnecessary handling of the fruit. In the
case of winter apples, however, it is sometimes ad-
missible to carefully pour the apples from the round-
bottomed baskets, into which they are picked, into
bushel baskets, or sometimes into crates such as are
used for potatoes. In any case it is always advis-
able, in the best quality of fruit, to have all these
baskets or crates lined with burlaps.

The best wagons for use in orchards are those
which are of the platform style, with low and very
broad -tired wheels, and the platform extending over
the wheels. Such wagons are not only capable of
carrying a very large load, but do not cut up the
ground ; they are easily drawn and managed, and

390 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

they escape the limbs in low orchards. It is desir-
able that the front wheels should turn under the
platform, in order that the wagon may be turned at
sharp angles. The practice of loading apples and
other fruits into a wagon box in bulk cannot be
too strongly deprecated. It is only admissible when
the apples are of low quality, and are fit only for
sale as second and third grades, or for manufacture
into cider, evaporated stock, or other products.

The styles of ladders to be used must depend
directly upon the height of the trees. In old apple
orchards, it is nearly always essential to have long
and light ladders, with a sharp or peaked top, which
can be run directly up into the top of the tree and
find lodgment against the branches. Extension lad-
ders are also used, but they are usually more cum-
bersome and more difficult to manage than the light
pointed -topped implement which is here mentioned.
In most other orchards, however, a step-ladder of
the ordinary pattern, but perhaps somewhat taller
(running from ten to even twelve feet high), is all
that will be required. This ladder should have a
flat top, and also a movable shelf upon its back,
where baskets may be placed. The facility of pick-
ing fruit is very much increased if the trees have
been well trained and pruned. Dwarf pears should
rarely reach a height of more than twelve or fifteen
feet ; and if pear and apple trees are planted suffi-
ciently far apart, and are kept open at the base, the
pickers can reach most of the fruit by climbing. In
the picking of apples and pears, there is nothing

fig. 8'<J. Various types of ladder arrangements.

392 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

which answers the purpose so well as a strong, nim-
ble boy who is not afraid to climb. In many or-
chards, the long and cumbersome ladders may be
almost entirely dispensed with if this requisite is at
hand. For getting into the tops of fruit trees, a
short and very light ladder with three or four rungs
is exceedingly useful. This little ladder will also aid
greatly in the gathering of fruit which hangs upon
the lower limbs just out of the reach of the picker.
The ladder is stood upright and the picker mounts
it quickly, crossing his legs over the top one or two
rungs, and holds himself erect by grasping a limb
above his head, as shown in the illustration (2,
Fig. 82, page 391). This is a type of ladder which
is much used by professional top -grafters.

The various kinds of fruit -picking devices which
are upon the market are useful only for gathering
the few outlying fruits upon the tall and far-reaching
limbs. It is never practicable to use them for the
picking of the entire crop, except in those very rare
cases in which the crop is small and all the fruits
are fit for the dessert trade. The labor of picking
with these devices is slow and onerous. One of the
best types of fruit -pickers is shown at 5 in Fig. 83,

NOTE.— A variety of ladders is shown i,n Fig. 82. No. 1 is a light ladder
with a wheel, allowing it to be wheeled like a wheelbarrow when it is
shut up, as at 4 ; 2, the short ladder, not requiring support, described in the
text above ; 3, a German device for securing a support to a ladder, allow-
ing the two supporting legs to be shut together ; 5, a pointed ladder, with
support; 6, similar ladder, without support (very useful in tall trees); 7, plat-
form ladder ; 8, wagon rigged for picking, the planks y, y (upon which the
picker stands) being swung around lengthwise the box when driving from
tree to tree.

Fig. 83. Different implements for picking fruit*.

394

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

which may be made by any handy man. The fruits
are hooked off by the V-shaped trigger at the top,

and are delivered to
the picker through
the canvas or bur-
laps bag which ex-
tends along the
handle. Of course,
only one fruit
should be allowed
to go through the
bag at a time.
Another very handy
device is the fin-
Fig. 84. Cook's apple picker. ger picker, illus-
trated at No. 13.

This may be made by any handy tinsmith, who, how-
ever, should be cautioned against making it too heavy
and cumbersome. In this instance, the apple is deliv-
ered to the picker by taking down the instrument.
The disadvantage of this tool is that the fingers are
apt to spring with use, and the apple will pull
through between them rather than be pulled off.
There are also devices in use for catching the fruit
when it is shaken from the tree or bush. These are
usually upon the principle of a soft cloth hopper

NOTE.— Key to Fig. 83 : No. 1, picker composed of two piiicer-like jaws, with
wire guards to receive the fruits, the jaws being closed by means of a cord,
which is worked below (2 and 3) by a catch ; 4, hook used for cutting off the fruits
(the curved edge being sharp); 5, V-picker with delivery sack; 6, Bag-picker,
hung on a wire frame (as shown in 7) ; 8, a wire finger-picker ; 9, cranberry
picker ; 10, 6-quart cranberry measure ; 11, 12, 13, forms of wire pickers.

Fruit -picking Machines .

395

(see Fig. 84). Sueh machines are often very use-
ful in the gathering of black currants and goose-
berries. For these purposes inverted umbrellas are
sometimes used. Cherries are sometimes gathered by
being shaken into the machines used for the catch-
ing of curculios.. It is needless to say that these

Fig. 85. Batting the berries.

means of gathering fruit are advisable only when
the fruit is to be manufactured into some commer-
cial product, or when the price of fruit is extremely
small.

To lessen the cost of harvesting, and to over-
come the difficulty of securing pickers in remote
places, a harvester for raspberries has come into use

396 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

in New York state.* This is a canvas tray, made
by stretching the cloth over a light wooden frame
about three feet wide and four or five feet long.
At the bottom, the frame projects upwards at right
angles to the body of the frame to a dis-
jjja tance of five or six inches, to catch the ber-
(gj ries as they fall upon the canvas. A wooden
IP shoe or runner is placed on the bottom of the
apparatus, to allow the operator to slide it
along from bush to bush, as shown in Fig. 85.
A long wire hook (Fig. 86) is used to pull
the bushes over the tray or to lift up the
fallen canes, whilst with the other hand the
operator deftly cuffs off the berries with a
paddle of wood or of wire covered with can-
vas and about the size of a butter ladle.

The harvester is used only for the gath-
ering of berries which are to be evaporated.
The berries are allowed to become fully ripe,
so that they fall easily, and the
patch is gone over about three
times. Much litter falls with the
berries, but this is readily re-

moved by running the dried fruit through a fanning
mill. There are few growers who use this harvester
exclusively. It is often brought into requisition for
the last picking, or in seasons of low prices, and it
also has a most stimulating effect upon a lot of dis-
affected berry pickers. The device was first perfected
by Mr. Benedict, of Dundee, New York, although

* Bulletin 100, Cornell Exp. Sta.

Keeping Fruit After Picking. 397

the idea seems to have originated with Uriah Hair,
of the same place.

After fruit is picked, it is very important that it
should be kept cool and away from the direct sun.
This is particularly important with the soft and
berry -like fruits, like grapes, strawberries, cherries
and peaches. The fruits not only ripen up rapidly
after they are picked if the sun strikes them, but
they may also become so warm that they will not
withstand shipment. It is ordinarily best to pick the
perishable fruits early in the morning, if they are
dry, and then to pack them up tight and send them
directly to the railway station ; or, if they have be-
come too warm, or if it is desired to delay the ship-
ment, then they should be put in the cellar or a
cold storage in order to reduce them to a low tem-
perature. If the soft fruits, like strawberries and
raspberries, are treated in this way, they will ordi-
narily endure shipment best if they are sent in tight,
unventilated crates. Apples ripen up very rapidly in
the pile if they are exposed directly to the rays of
the sun. It is always well, therefore, if they are
piled in the field, to place them on the shady side of
the tree, if possible; but, no doubt, the very best
results in long- keeping qualities are obtained when
the apples are taken directly from the trees to a cool
room and there kept in storage, where the ripening
process is wholly or partially checked. This is espe-
cially important if they are to be shipped long dis-
tances, and particularly if they are to be exported. If
the weather is cool and somewhat dull at the picking

C. H. Gould.

39$ The Principles of Fruit-growing.

time, this precaution is not so essential as it is in
falls which are dry, bright and warm.

Keeping records with the pickers. — There are va-
rious methods of keeping accounts with berry pickers.
Perhaps the commonest mode in large patches is a
•simple ticket, like Fig. 87, which is given to the
picker in exchange for the
berries which are delivered.
There are tickets of various

6 denominations, the figures rep-

resenting quarts, so that any
number of quarts can be rep-
resented by combinations of
tickets. These tickets are so
often lost that they may soon

though some growers prefer

them for this very reason, for all that are lost do
not have to be redeemed. Several growers, there-
fore, have designed tickets which can be tied to
the person by a string, which bear the picker's
name, and in which the numbers are cancelled by
a punch. Two good styles are shown, half-size,
in Figs. 88 and 89. In the latter are two
styles of punch marks, representing different fore-
men. Other growers abolish all ticket systems out-
right, and keep a book account with each picker ;
and, what is better, they pay by the pound. A
small, flat -topped grocers' scale may be taken to the
shed in the berry field. Each picker is numbered,
and he picks in an eight -pound or ten -pound Climax

Accounts with Pickers.

grape basket. As he comes to the shed, he slips his
number into the basket on a bit of card or splint,
and he sees the basket weighed and the credit given;
or, if the picker has no suspicions, the foreman may
gather the baskets from the field. Growers generally
pay 2 cents a qnart for raspberries, or 1.6 cents a

U HAIR A SON

Fig. 8«.

Fig. H9. Picker's tag.

pound (since a quart weighs 1% pounds), but the
price can be dropped to 1 cent a pound in some
varieties and in good picking.

In the picking of fruits, it is always essential that
each picker finish the particular job to which he is
assigned. This is especially important in the small-
fruits, for the picker must follow a certain row, and

Picking and Packing. 401

not be wandering over the plantation in search of
the best picking. Fig. 90 shows the method of
"lining off" cranberry pickers.

Necessity of hand-picking. — It would seem to be
unnecessary to say that all fruits which are to be
put into a good market should be hand-picked, and
yet it is a fact that a great quantity of the apples,
and even of the pears and plums, which go into
our common markets are shaken from the trees.
It is impracticable to grade or sort such fruits,
because the proportion of jammed or bruised fruits
is so great that the samples of first quality are
found to be very few. It is an axiom in fruit-
marketing that only the best fruit pays for careful
packing, and that the poor fruit is rarely worth the
trouble of grading. The better the fruit, therefore,
and the more carefully it is picked, the more profit-
able may be the attention which is given to sort-
ing and packing.

THE PACKING OF FRUIT.

What is first-class fruit f — The very first thing to
be considered in the packing of fruit is to deter-
mine what first-class fruit is. Even amongst those
persons who sell apples for the export trade, there
is very little exact practice in the sorting of the
apples. It seems to be ordinarily considered that
any fruit which is sound enough to reach its desti-
nation is good enough to be called first-class ;
but such standard is a serious error. The fruit

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What is First-class Fruit? 403

should not only reach its destination in approxi-
mately the same condition in which it leaves the
orchard, but it should also be attractive and uni-
form in quality, and capable of being held for some
time when it reaches the wholesaler. Mere sound-
ness or perfectness of form and freedom from all
bruises and blemishes do not constitute a first -class
apple. All the specimens should grade up to a
more or less uniform standard of size and shape,
and any fruit which is ever so perfect in itself
would not be considered to be first-class amongst
fruits which average either very much larger or
very much smaller. In other words, there is a great
difference between a perfect specimen and a first-
class parcel. Perhaps it will answer all require-
ments to define first-class fruit as a quantity of
sufficient amount to be quoted in the market (as
one box, basket or barrel), which is thoroughly well
packed and of one variety, and in which the indi-
vidual specimens are very nearly uniform in size,
shape and degree of ripeness, are possessed of full-
length stems (in stem -bearing fruits), are free from
bruises and injuries and all insect and fungous
blemishes, are fully characteristic of the variety,
and are in that stage of maturity which the market
demands at the time of their exposure for sale.

This is well illustrated in Fig. 91, which repre-
sents a tray of winter apples. It shows a variety of
apples of second and third class, and yet they were
taken from a lot which sold for first-class fruit. It
may be well to designate the particular points in

404

The Principles of Fruit -growing.

these apples which throw them out of a first -<
sample. Beginning with the front row, the specimen
upon the left is scabbed in two or three places ; the
next one has a worm -hole about the stem, but it is
otherwise perfect; the third one has a worm -hole in
the top, and is also shrivelled ; the end one on the
right was a perfect apple as it hung on the tree, but
when shaken off it struck a limb or the ground, and

Fig. 92. First-class sample.

was flattened on one side. Beginning with the left
apple upon the back row, it will be seen that there
is a bad insect blemish upon the side ; the second
one has a puncture in the side ; the third one, on
top, is perfect in itself (as a specimen), but it is of
very inferior size for apples of its class ; the last
apple upon the right has a worm -hole in the blos-
som end, and is withered. Fig. 92 shows a first-
class sample. Fig. 93 (page 408) shows a barrel of

The Number of Grades. 405

Ben Davis apples just opened, in which the different
specimens are of uniform size and quality.

Essentially these same remarks may be applied to
other kinds of fruits. It should be remembered
that the more personal and local the market, the
more exacting that market is, and therefore the
greater attention should be paid to the details of
sorting and grading. It should be especially im-
pressed upon the horticulturist that uniformity in
size is quite as important to a package of fruits as
excellence in intrinsic quality of the individual speci-
mens. The reader will also recall that the proper
grading of fruit is greatly facilitated by thinning the
fruits on the trees, a subject which has received
specific treatment in Chapter VI. It would seem to
be unnecessary to add that the mechanical sorters
now recommended in some quarters are wholly un-
adapted to use for any but the rougher and cheaper
qualities of fruits and for potatoes. High quality
apples which come through the sorter apparently
without blemish usually show discolored spots in a
few days, and softer fruits are often ruined.

It 'is evident, therefore, that if fruit is sorted, two
grades will result, — the first-class grade and the re-
mainder. In small -fruits, these two grades — known
as the firsts and the seconds — usually comprise the
entire crop, and the same may be true of tree fruits
which have been well grown and rigorously thinned.
In most cases, however, tree fruits are made into
three grades, the third grade being generally known
as culls. Persons who sort their fruit as carefully

406 The Principles of Fruit- growing.

as our definition requires will do well to designate
the first grade by some special name or mark, as
"Selected," "First Choice," and the like, in order to
distinguish it from the common type of so-called
first-class fruit. In such thorough sorting, four
grades are often necessary, in order to properly pre-
sent the fruit to the various types of consumers. It
should be remarked, however, that the better the
fruit as it hangs on the tree or vine, the fewer will
be the grades in the packing -house.

The packing of fruit, therefore, comprises two
rather distinct elements, — the sorting or grading
(which has now been considered), and the placing
of the fruits in the final receptacles, or packing
proper, to which we now proceed.

How to pack. — The method of packing must de-
pend very greatly upon the market which is to be
reached, upon the quality of the fruit, and upon the
package which is to be used. Ordinarily, women are
better fruit -packers than men, especially for the deli-
cate fruits, like peaches, the berries and grapes.
Each individual fruit or cluster should be placed in
the package separately and by hand. This is em-
phatically true of all the tender and perishable des-
sert fruits. The specimens are ordinarily laid in con-
centric rows, the first row being placed on the. out-
side of the bottom of the basket, and other cir-
cles filling in the layer until it is full. Other tiers
are then placed in the same way. The top layer
is placed with special care, the stems of the fruits
being all laid one way, and the same side of the

Facing of Fruit. 407

fruit (ordinarily the cheek) showing uppermost. The
top of the basket should present a uniform and
finished appearance, and should be slightly rounding
or oval in shape. There will ordinarily be a differ-
ence of from five to ten cents a basket between good
plums or peaches sent to the market as they are
picked from the tree, and those which are properly
packed and finished up.

When packing apples and pears in kegs or bar-
rels, it is not always necessary to place every in-
dividual; and yet, if the packages are to go abroad,
it is ordinarily best to take this pains, laying all
the fruits in tiers, for thereby there is tight packing
and little shrinkage; and when one handles his fruit
so carefully he is constantly throwing out the in-
ferior samples. As apples are ordinarily handled for
our domestic trade, however, they are simply faced
upon the two ends. They ought always to be faced
upon one end. This facing is done by selecting
apples of uniform grade and placing them in con-
centric rows on the lower head or end of the bar-
rel. About two or three tiers should be faced, the
rings of one tier breaking joints with those of an-
other. The stem end should point towards the head
of the barrel. The apples in the middle of the
barrel may be turned in from a round -bottomed,
swing- handled basket, which can be let directly into
the barrel (or from a smaller basket which will
turn in the barrel), and after every basket is emptied
the barrel should be lightly shaken to settle the
fruits. It is generally advisable to face the upper

408

The Principles of Fruit -growing.

head of the barrel before the head is placed in,
but this is not always done. The barrel is ordi-
narily headed up, then ended over, and the oppo-
site or originally -faced end is stenciled, and this is
the end which the dealer is supposed to open. It

Fig. 9i Barrel of tirst-class apples opened up in the market.

very frequently happens, however, that the dealer,
in order to test the packing, opens the wrong or
unintended end of the barrel ; and in selling large
lots of apples two or three barrels are sometimes
used as samples, and the entire contents are rolled
out upon the packing house or auction room floor.

Packing Apples for Export. 409

A barrel of winter apples properly faced and packed
is shown just as it was opened in Fig. 93.

The greatest care should be taken in the packing
of apples for export, because they are subjected to
long and trying transportation, the freight and inci-
dental rates are high, and only the very best fruits
will pay transportation and other expenses. One
reason why the foreign market has recently been so
poor for American apples is because a great amount
of poorly- sorted and poorly -packed fruit has been ex-
ported. The following suggestions for the exporting
of apples are condensed from a report made by
George T. Powell, of New York state, to the Com-
missioner of Agriculture for that state, and will be
found to be very useful :*

"Kind of fruit wanted. — Only good fruit is wanted abroad.
The fruit-grower should begin months in advance to secure
good quality, by practicing good tillage, efficient fertilizing,
and thorough spraying. Apples grown on trees which have
imperfect (insect-eaten and fungous-infested) foliage generally
fail to carry in good condition to Europe. Standard fall and
winter varieties are most in demand in the export, trade.
Duchess and Twenty Ounce generally sell well if picked while
hard. Alexander is too soft. Baldwin, Greening, Spy, King,
Spitzenburgh, Hubbardston (Nonesuch \ Newtown (Pippin), Peck's
Pleasant, and late Russets are popular varieties. Jonathan
and other medium-sized apples are especially desired. Red
apples sell better than solid green ones, .as a rule. Soft
summer varieties do not ship well.

"Picking the fruit. — Apples intended for export should be
picked earlier than for the home trade, but not when green

* Suggestions as to the Picking and Packing of Fruit for the Foreign
and Home Markets, Albany, 1KHJ

410 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

and immature. It is largely the beauty of the American
apple which sells it; therefore, the color should be well ad-
vanced before the apple is picked. Hand pick the finest
very carefully. It is advisable to barrel and ship as soon
as picked, rather than to store the fruit for some days in
piles in the orchard.

"Packing. — Sort carefully. Very fine fruit should be marked
'Fancy' or 'Selected,' with four X's (XXXX), and witli the
grower's or shipper's name or initials. The second grade
should be good, and marked with three X's. Nothing lower
than this should be exported. The English law requires that
the package be plainly marked 'American Produce.' Use only
standard size barrels. Put in a double row of facers. Apples
somewhat soft in texture, like Greenings, may be pressed dow"u
a full inch in barreling, but hard apples should not be
squeezed so much. Nail the barrels securely. If the apples
become loose in transit, they will be very much injured.

"Methods of sale. — Apples are sold in the English markets
by sample. Two barrels of a lot are selected, one opened
to show the packing, the other turned out so that every
apple can be seen. The lot is then sold at auction. The
first day of sale they are sold as 'sound.' These are de-
livered within twenty-four hours. Any loose barrels, known
as 'slacks' or 'slack packed,' and any from which the juice
is running, called 'wets,' are closed out at the succeeding sale."

Shiftless packing really accounts for more than
one -half of all the unsatisfactory returns from fruit.
This fact is commonly acknowledged to be true by
the fruit-growers themselves, and it is annually im-
pressed upon them by teachers, buyers and con-
sumers, and yet it is an astonishing fact that the
great majority of all our fruits are either not packed
and graded at all, or else the work is done in the
most careless manner. The eastern fruits are often
better in quality than the Calif ornian fruits, and

German Advire. 411

being grown near the consumer, they ought to com-
mand a superior price ; and yet it is a fact that be-
cause of the better packing and sorting of the Cali-
fornia product, it drives the home fruit from the
markets. The better packing of this California!!
product has arisen from the fact that transportation
rates are such an important item in the marketing of
the fruits, and time of transit is so long, that only
the highest -priced and soundest fruit can bring the
consignor any profit after the expenses and risks are
deducted. It is always found that the farther fruit
has to be shipped, the greater is the care exercised
in the grading and packing.

Whilst we, with the best of reasons, are con-
stantly deploring the shiftless attention given to the
packing of our fruit, the fruit-growers of Europe are
impressed with the excellent condition in which our
apples often arrive in their markets. The following
extract is from a German paper of recent date :*

"Although during the last few years repeated at-
tention has been called, by those in authority, to the
development of the German fruit industry as a pos-
sible means of enlarging the net proceeds of domestic
agriculture, it is necessary again and again to recur
to the subject, and especially at this time to call at-
tention to the fact that our fruit industry is confronted
by a crisis which, if it does not meet with immediate
and strong resistance, threatens to completely destroy
it, and thus to greatly damage our national welfare.

l>eutsche Landwirtschaftliche Presse, xxiv., No. 7, Jan. 27, 1807.

412 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

This danger has now become actual through the
flooding of the German market with fresh American
apples. It is, e. g., a fact, that during this winter
the demand for apples in Berlin is being supplied
with the American product, and others are scarcely
offered or not desired. This condition, and the
dangers to the German fruit industry arising there-
from, are set forth in a praiseworthy manner in a
small pamphlet by B. L. Kiihne-Rixdorf (Berlin,
1897). This pamphlet also points out the means 'by
which we in Germany, by following to some extent
the practical American — in relation to the growing of
a. few good marketable varieties of fruits, rigidly sort-
ing them, and packing and shipping in proper pack-
ages— can successfully meet the dangers alluded to.

"The suggestions made by the author of the
pamphlet are as follows :

"1. The fast transportation of fresh German fruit
at low rates on the part of the railroads.

"2. The cultivation of a few valuable varieties.

"3. The rigid sorting of fruit destined to be eaten
in the fresh state.

"4. The rational conversion of the less valuable
fruit into imperishable marketable products, as fruit
juices, cider, marmalade, jelly, steamed fruit, dried
fruit, and fruit wines.

"5. The general introduction of light, cheap and
strong packing cases of standard size.

"6. The proper packing of the fresh fruit.

"7. The training of scientific and practical special-
ists in fruit culture.

Wrapping in Paper. 413

"8. The planting of large, rationally conceived and
intensively cultivated fruit plantations, for the imme-
diate supply of the German market.

"The present conditions prove that past methods
for advancing the German fruit industry have not
been productive of the desired results, and it is high
time that all who have the welfare of this industry
at heart unite on the basis suggested; then and not
until then will the conditions improve through the in-
creased home production of fruit, if but sufficient
to cover home consumption; we shall be able to suc-
cessfully meet foreign competition, and this done, it
will be possible to conquer for the German product
a prominent place in the markets of the world."

Fruits which are intended for the dessert may
often be put into the consumer's hands in very excel-
lent condition by wrapping them in soft grocer's
paper, of the kind which is ordinarily called tea
paper ; or, when the product is especially choice, and
the grower has a large quantity, it may pay him to
use a grade of tissue paper. There are many middle-
men who practice this careful packing, and growers
may often imitate them with profit. It is needless
to say that all wrapped samples of fruit reach the
consumer in perfect condition, and he may depend
upon their excellence and uniformity as he could
upon a case of eggs. With pears or apples, the in-
side of the keg or barrel is lined with newspapers,
and each fruit is individually wrapped in soft ma-
nilla paper. Such fruits may be expected to carry
thousands of miles without perceptible injury. When

414 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

opened, their aroma is such that no well-bred con-
sumer can resist the temptation of a high price.
Ordinary fruits, however, are not worth this care.

It is important that all fruit should be packed
very snug, especially that which is to be shipped
any distance in barrels or other large packages.
Fruit which is slack when it reaches the market is
nearly always injured, and sells as second or third
quality product. This slacking or shaking Jn barrels
may be prevented by using fruits which are not over
ripe, by careful attention to grading, so that all the
specimens are of uniform maturity, by keeping the
product cool after it is packed, and especially by
placing the fruits in the package by hand. Barrels
of apples and pears should ordinarily be filled about
an inch above the chine and the fruit should be
pressed in with a screw or lever press until the head
comes into place. If the fruits are wrapped in paper,
or if the package is lined with several thicknesses
of paper, the spring of the paper itself will take
up the slack and will keep the fruit in place ; and
in such cases it is not necessary to apply heavy
pressure in the heading -up of the barrel.

Upon the best brands of fruit, a trade -mark is
often important. Some neat pictorial design, with
the name of the grower and a statement to the ef-
fect that the fruit is guaranteed to be as repre-
sented, attracts the eye of the purchaser and gives
him confidence in the article ; but to put a trade-
mark upon fruit of indifferent or even of ordinary
quality is little more than a joke. If a man uses

Thf Growing of the Fruit. 415

a trade -mark, he must expect, of course, to handle
his own produce, or at least to see that it reaches
the market under his own name. The fruit, buyers
who travel through the country for apples and other
produce ordinarily pay little attention to the trade-
mark of the grower, but put their own mark upon
the package. If one really grows a good quality of
fruit, it will commonly pay him to give his farm
some neat and attractive name, which can go onto
the labels. In short, every effort should be made
to put up the produce in a finished manner, as
the best grades of manufactured produce are now
packed and delivered to the consumer.

Very much .of the success of any fruit upon the
market depends upon how it is grown as well as
how it is handled. There may even be a difference
in the salableness of samples of fruit which are to
all appearances alike. It is now pretty well demon-
strated, for example, that apples from trees which
have been thoroughly sprayed and well tilled are
better keepers than those of similar size and appear-
ance which are grown upon neglected trees. When
fruits are to be shipped to any distance, it is par-
ticularly important that the tillage and general care
of the fruit plantation should have been the best.

Packages. — It is well nigh useless to make any
general remarks upon the packages which are used
for fruits, because so much depends upon the par-
ticular grade of the fruit and upon the way in
which it is shipped and handled ; very much also
depends upon the demands of the given market

416 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

It is an excellent plan for the fruit-grower to visit
markets in advance of the ripening of his crop, and
to determine just what style of package his market
will most appreciate. When fruits are pooled, or
shipped through exchanges or unions, it is imperative
that a uniform style of package should be used; but
when a man handles fruit solely upon his own ac-
count, and has a fine or superior quality, he can
often advertise his product by a unique package,
or at least by one that is unlike those in most
common use. Such a package singles him out from
his neighbors, and answers as a trade -mark for his
product. The writer has known profitable returns to
be got from fruit which was shipped in colored
baskets. A dye was made of aniline, and the bas-
kets were dipped into the kettle (being handled with
a pitchfork), and fruit which was no better than the
ordinary run brought from two to five cents a bas-
ket more than that packed in the ordinary white
package. This will not often succeed, however, but
this instance is given simply to show that a package
which is somewhat out of the usual run may be a
desirable one for a man to use upon particular oc-
casions.

In all the finest fruits the grower should use
nothing but a gift package, that is, one which is
given away with the fruit when it is sold. This in-
sures a clean and dainty package, and the pur-
chaser is not bothered with the thought of returning
it. In fruits which are to reach a good market,
a package which has been used once is a positive

Packages for Fmits. 417

detriment. In very many cases, it is the packing
and the package which sells the fruit, more than
the fruit itself. When fruits are sold by the defi-
nite quantity, as by the quart, the peck or the
bushel, the packages should be full measure. It
sometimes happens that for a time a man secures
as much for a short or snide package as for one
of full measure ; but such a person can scarcely
expect to hold a superior trade for a great length
of time.

The most popular package at the present time
for grapes, peaches and apricots is the Climax
basket, which is made in various styles and sizes.
Some of the common forms are shown in Fig. 95.
These are made in sizes holding from five to ten
or twelve pounds of fruit. They are handy, cheap,
nest well in the shipment, and are durable. A good
basket of any kind should be one which is neatly
made, with no splinters or tag ends hanging from
it, which is firm and symmetrical in shape, well
nailed, and which is perfectly clean or white in
appearance. Baskets become yellow and discol-
ored if they are left in the sun; therefore, when
they are stored, they should be placed in a clean
and dark dry loft or room. If packages which
have been left over from the last year are some-
what dingy, it is sometimes possible to bleach
them by burning a little sulfur in tne room.

The grower, then, will begin some months in
advance to look up the packages which he shall
use, for he will thereby not only suit himself and

BB

Fig. U4. Various types of fruit packages.

»5. Various types of baskets.

420 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

the market, but lie will likely be able to secure
his packages at a lower cost if he gets them
early in the season ; and he will, in any event,
be sure of his packages in case there should be a
large demand for them at marketing time. It is
well to secure the illustrated price- lists of the manu-
facturers, and to thoroughly canvas the subjects of
styles and prices some months in advance.

All packages smaller than a half peck should be
shipped in crates. It is customary to use crates
with slat sides and an abundance of openings, in
order to insure complete ventilation; but if the fruits
are firm and dry when they are picked, and are then
reduced to a lower temperature, they can be shipped
in unventilated crates, generally with better results
(page 397). The shriveling and shrinkage of the
fruits will be less in the tight crates, and decay will
ordinarily be less also. These crates should be gift
packages, and made out of light split stuff, as bas-

NOTE.— The pictures in Figs. 94-97, pages 418, 419, 422, 42,'i, are shown
for the purpose of acquainting the reader with some of the leading types
of fruit packages now in use.

Fig. 94.— No. 1, common quart berry box ; 2, the bottom, in flat ; .'!, the
sides, in flat ; 4, 5, 7, till baskets ; 6, paper basket, set up ; 8, oblong quart
boxes ; 9, 10, metal-topped baskets ; 11, bushel basket with slat cover ; 12,
common splint peach basket; 13, same, with cover.

Fig. 95.— No. 1, veneer peach basket ; 2, standard peach basket ; 3, veneer
straight-sided basket ; 4, vegetable basket ; 5, California peaches, wrapped
in paper ; 6, a frequent result in the market ; 7-11, various styles of Cli-
max baskets ; 12, 13, baskets for apple-picking (same number of apples in
each, but those in 13 from sprayed trees, those in 12 from untreated trees).

Fig. 90. -No. 1, Diamond market basket ; 2, 16-pint basket-tray ; 3-9, vari-
ous styles of crates for berry boxes.

Fig. 97.— No. 1, crate for Leslie boxes ; 2, 4-quart hand-tray ; 3, 24-quart
crate; 4, till-basket crate ; f>, 6, fruit boxes- (holding from % to 1 bus.); 7,

Packages for Fruits. 421

kets are. Crates which are designed to be returned
to the grower are usually heavy, are commonly made
of sawed stuff, aud are provided with hinges and
clasps. In shipping long distances by rail, large
crates (holding as many as sixty baskets or cups)
are generally preferable, because there is less "side
shake," because of the greater bulk; and such heavy
packages are not so carelessly handled as the small
ones are. The time is rapidly coming when all the
better grades and better qualities of fruits will be
put up in special gift packages, and the time can-
not be far distant when pasteboard boxes will be
used to some extent. One of the most marked re-
sults of the recent advancement and competition in
the manufacture of products is the packing of single
articles in tasty boxes. Boots and shoes, for ex-
ample, were shipped loose in large cases a few years
ago, whilst now, in all of the better grades, every
pair is boxed by itself. In other words, not only
is the product itself a finished article, but it is
packed in a dainty and finished way, and the same

The bushel box; 8. patent fruit barrel; 9. Highcliffe patent barrel for export
apples (arranged to be sawn in two without disturbing the fruit.

With these packages the reader should compare Fij. 98, showing crates
actually sent into the New York market with pears. The grower was evi-
dently of an economical turn of mind, for he had made the packages of
the odds and ends of the place,— old boards and old rail, a wagon-jack, and
a wagon-reach ! The New York party who sent us these packages wrote as
follows : " I found a new fruit package on the market here, and as I know
that you are deeply interested in horticulture, this will be of interest to you.
Tt was invented and manufactured by a man up the Hudson River, and was
used for shipping pears. The commission man who received this package
offered it, pears and all, for 25 cts., but could not sell. I requested him
to empty the fruit into a keg and let me have the package. He did so,
sorting out n few of the smallest fruits, and then sold th« ken for $1."

Fig. ye. Baskets ami crates.

Fit. 97 • Crates and barrels.

424

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

must come to be true of many of the better kinds
of agricultural products.

In the fanciest fruits, like the best dessert pears,
and even some of the largest and finest strawberries,
it is often profitable to .ship in cases something like

Fig. 98. Novel packages found

New York niarkt

those used for eggs, in which each individual fruit
has a compartment or receptacle of its own. If, in
addition, the fruit is carefully wrapped in these com-
partments, the very finest type of packing will result.
To one who has not followed the market closely, all
these suggestions will seem to be expensive and un-
profitable ; and this is certainly true of everything

Packing Equipments. 425

but the best quality of fruits. The common run of
goods will not bear the expense of extra care in the
handling and marketing, and this is the kind of fruit
which it does not pay to grow. If one makes a
study of the market he will soon come to feel that
the package and the packing cut a most impor-
tant figure in the sales. The package really adver-
tises the fruit more than the fruit advertises itself;
and it is a well-known business principle that an
article which is first-class will stand very heavy
advertising, but no other will.

PACKING -HOUSES AND APPLIANCES.

The subject of packing -houses is one which can-
not be treated specifically for each grower, from the
fact that every person has a different ideal, and he
may grow fruits for a market which demands par-
ticular treatment of the products. Amongst the
best types of packing-houses, which one generally
meets in the east, are those used by the grape
men ; and if one studies the question, he will find
that there are two distinct types of packing- houses
in use in the grape regions. One type is a com-
bined packing and storage house, and is used very
largely where Catawbas are grown, and where the
grapes are often stored for some time before they
are marketed. The other type of house is that
which is used in the Concord regions, and which
is simply a half-way station between the field and
the railway station, — a shelter place for the pack-

426 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

ing of the grapes, — and is not used for the storage
of the fruit.

One of the best of the storage type of packing-
houses (used for holding the fruit until winter or
later) may be described as follows:* It is built on
a side hill, and the basement or cellar is used
for the storage of grapes, the first floor is used
for packing, and the second floor or attic for the
storage of baskets, crates, and the like. This build-
ing measures 25x60 feet over all. The foundation
walls are 24 inches thick, and the cellar is pro-
vided with ample means of ventilation by outside
windows, and also by means of a chimney which
runs from near the middle of the cellar up through
the roof. The floor is of dirt. By means of care-
ful attention to ventilation, this cellar can be kept
to 50° or below during September and October, and
is frost -proof during the winter. The windows are
provided with close-fitting screens, to keep out rats
and squirrels. This cellar will hold easily fifty tons
of grapes in the picking trays. The first floor is
divided into two rooms, the front one being a pack-
ing-room 25 feet square, and the back room being
a storage and shipping department 25x35 feet.
This packing -room is provided with heat, and is
lighted by seven large windows. The floor above
the cellar is double and made of 1%-inch matched
pine, with an abundant air space between the two
layers. This, therefore, protects the cellar from

*Bull. 117, Cornell Exp. Sta.

Packing -houses.

427

sudden fluctuations of temperature. The building is
also shaded, especially from the afternoon sun, by
large trees. This building can be erected for about
$1,200. It has 18 -foot posts, a tin roof, the two

Fig. 99. A good type of packing-house.

rooms in the first floor ceiled with pine, but the
top floor not ceiled.

The other type of packing -house (used only for
purposes of packing and of storing packages) is ad-
mirably illustrated by Figs. 99 and 100, which are
pictures of the house of W. W. Pettit, Brocton,
New York. In this case there is no cellar, for the
grapes are not to remain in the house more than
a day or two at the longest, and they ordinarily

428

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

pass directly through it on their way to the rail-
way station. This is a house which can be built
for about $500. The main floor of the building is
24 x 40 feet, and aside from this there is a drive-
way, W, under the same roof, and which measures

Fig. 100. Plan of the 40 ft. packing-house.

11x30 feet. This driveway connects with the main
floor by two doors. The front room, N, which is
lighted by four windows in the front and one upon
the side, and is 12x24 feet in size, is the packing-
room. In the rear of this is a store-room, E, for
the grapes. The half -story above is used for baskets

Packing Appliances.

429

and crates, and these are delivered into the pack-
ing-room by a shute. This building will accommo-

Fig. 101. The packing and sorting of grapes.

date ten packers, and will easily handle the grapes
from fifty acres of land.

In the packing of grapes, the greatest care is
required to keep the fruit clean and fresh, to pre-
vent the bunches from being broken, and to pre-
serve the bloom upon the fruit. It is essential

430

The Principles of Fruit -(/row ing.

that the house should be kept thoroughly clean ami
sweet at all times. It is especially important that
the storage room for the baskets and crates should
be dry and airy, in order that the baskets may

Fig. 102. Revolving packing-table of the Keuka grape region, New York.

not become moldy or musty; and this room should
also be kept darkened, to prevent the baskets from
coloring.

in Fig. 101 is shown the packing room in Mr.
Pettit's house. In this case, the picking trays are set
before the packers upon an inclined table, and the

Packing - houses.

431

packer handles the grapes from this tray into a
basket which she places at her left. When the
basket is filled, it is placed upon a flat ledge in
front of her (R), and is taken off by an attendant,
who places the baskets on a truck and rolls them
into the back room, from which they are delivered
to the wagon. Empty baskets are stored upon the
nigh shelf C, and these are replenished by an atten-

i'ig. 10.'t. Packinghouse of the Hale orchards, Georgia.

dant, as necessary. When the tray is empty, it is
slid through an opening just in front of the packer
and underneath the flat ledge upon which she places
her finished baskets. Fig. 102 shows a packing-table
in the packing-room of George C. Snow, Penn Yan,
New York. This is a circular revolving table, about

432

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

which the packers sit. The packer holds the bas-
ket in her lap and takes the grapes off the table,
which is turned as fresh fruit is put upon it. This
device allows the packer to select from a large quan-
tity of fruit.

The packing-house of the great Hale orchards in
Georgia is shown in Fig. 103, and an interior view

Fig. 104. Packing peaches in Georgia.

in Fig. 104. The latter picture is a peach -packing
scene.

The suggestions in the last few pages cover most
of the points which it is necessary to consider in
the construction of a packing -house. The grower
will be able to apply them to his own conditions.
A simple temporary shed erected in the orchard is
often made to serve all the purposes of a packing-
house. A cloth tent is often used. The appliances

Sorting -tables and Presses.

433

which are needed in packing-houses, aside from
packages and crates, are trucks, sorting- tables, barrel
presses, and an abun-
dance of baskets or
barrels for the refuse
fruit.

Sorting -tables are
of various patterns,
but those which are
used for apples, cran-
berries (Fig. 105), Fig. 105. Sorting cranberries.

and other firm fruits, consist of a table or tray
about twice as long as broad, narrowed at one end,
at which it is open to allow the good fruit to roll
off into a basket or barrel. The fruits are poured
from the picking baskets on to the table, and a num-
ber of persons standing on either side remove the
litter and the inferior fruit, whilst they work the good
fruit on to the outlet.

Of barrel presses there are several styles. The
most expeditious is some kind of lever press (like
No. 3 in Fig. 106), but more pressure can be ob-
tained* with a screw press (7), and such an im-
plement holds itself in place whilst the head is
being adjusted. Fig.. 106 (on page 434) contains
illustrations of all the types of barrel presses which
are in common use. They are: 1, home-made lever
press; 2, Climax lever press; 3, improved lever press;
4, stand-up barrel header; 5, packing press (for pack-
ing and baling goods) ; 6, stirrup press ; 7, iron
screw press.

cc

Fig. 106. Barrel presses. (See page 433.)

Aflrice Abonf Morirtf} Fruits. 435

STORING FRUITS.

It is impossible to draw the line between a
packing -house and a storage -house. In fact, the
same structure may be used for both purposes, as
the grape house is which has been described in
'he preceding pages. There is more and more
necessity that the fruit-grower should provide the
means of storing fruits, when prices are low and
competition is very sharp.

General advice. — As a rule, it 'will not pay the
fruit-grower to build iced storage or chemical store-
houses for his fruit, unless he has a very large
acreage. This cold-storage of fruit is really a busi-
ness by itself, and ivqniivs a great deal of care
and skill to carry it through successfully, and a
discussion of it is foreign to the purpose of this
book. If the grower desires to keep his produce
until late winter or spring, and has no cellars or
naiural storage place, it will ordinarily pay him
Ix-st to put it into some commercial cold-storage
house, and to pay so much per package for the
storing of it.

For temporary storage, however, these remarks
will not apply. Every person who grows fruits,
especially perishable kinds, should have some kind of
a building in which he may place the fruits over
night, or for two or three days, when waiting for
the market to improve, or for the purpose of cool-
ing them down before shipment. These houses are
ordinarily cooled merely by cold air. They are often

436 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

known as "chill rooms." A room which is well
fitted for the keeping of butter in warm weather
may also be used to advantage for fruit. In some
cases, arrangements can be made for the use of ice
to reduce the temperature for the time being. If
one has a considerable quantity of fruit, and has a
large cellar which is well adapted to the keeping
of apples, he can often store his crop to advantage
when the price is low in the fall ; but the grower
must bear in mind that the risks in the storing
of fruit are very great. In the first place, markets
may not improve as he thinks they ought ; and,
again, the fruit may not keep well. Even when
the fruit does keep well, there is frequently a large
shrinkage, and the expense of re -packing and han-
dling is a large item. The fruit which is designed
to be kept for the late winter or spring trade should
be carefully sorted when it is put in storage, and
especial care should be taken that none of the fruit
is over -ripe. (See page 379.) Fruit which is in
proper condition for storing when it is picked may
be ruined for long -keeping quality by allowing it
to' lie in the sun or in a warm place for a day
or two.

Neighborhood or cooperative storage is often
practicable, without, however, attempting to establish
a true cold-storage business. C. H. Perkins* has
presented the advantages of such an enterprise to
the fruit-growers of New York, as a means of sav-

*«Cold Storage for Neighborhoods," Proc. 39th Meeting W. N. Y. Hort.
Soo., 41 (1894).

Neighborhood Storage. 437

ing the fruit crop over gluts, and especially of hold-
ing the market from western competition. This
would no doubt prove to he a very useful method
for the north for the late fall and winter fruit,
but it would probably not be practicable for the
south, or for holding the summer fruits. "If, there-
fore," he writes, "every neighborhood in western New
York had a cold-storage house for barreled apples,
that would protect against frost and hold anywhere
from ten thousand to twenty thousand barrels, run,
if need be, on the same cooperative principles and
methods as the cheese factories of this state, or the
fruit associations of California or Michigan, would
not the result be very much more satisfactory to
the grower than present methods? * * * * *
Such a building may be of moderate cost and yet
substantial and durable, and need not always be
located at the nearest railroad. How many have
ever figured or thought of the cost to the grower
of transporting his apples to the railroad or canal
station from his farm during the months of Sep-
tember or October, when there is much work to do
and time is of most value ? Say that the grower
is five or eight miles from said station. I believe
that for less cost per barrel the dealer located in
western New York will deliver the same apples in
barrels at Chicago, Milwaukee, Duluth, Philadelphia,
New York, or Boston. There are quite a number of
apple houses in western New York owned by dealers,
but there are few that were built for the express pur-
pose of safely storing apples. I have a building that

438 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

was built for the storage of nursery stock, and in which
I have had apples stored all winter. It is frost-
proof, built on a heavy stone wall twenty -four inches
thick and three feet high. On this wall were set up
two by four scantling ; these were sheathed with inch
hemlock, then covered with tarred building paper,
then furred out with strips four inches deep, and
again covered as before, until the wall has three air
spaces. The roof is constructed in the same way to
protect against frost. Light and ventilation come
from two rows of windows at the top. The roof is
gravel. The outside is covered with novelty siding.
The building has double or two sets of doors at each
end, and a driveway through the center. It is
painted inside and out, is one hundred feet long by
forty feet wide, the whole cost was $1,400, and it
would afford storage for ten thousand barrels. The
atmosphere is the same inside as out, only that the
building is frost -proof and can be run in the winter
months with a variation of not over 12°; there is no
smell of a cellar whatever, and stock always keeps
perfectly. Such a house, or a better one, in a neigh-
borhood, would pay four years out of five, at least
50 cents per barrel over all cost of labor for han-
dling, sorting, insurance, etc., and this year where
there were apples, it would have paid $1 to $1.50 per
barrel."

Requisites for domestic storage. — The home storage
establishment is generally either a cellar or a half-
cellar, although, by taking particular pains in the
construction of air spaces, a building entirely above

Features of a Storage House. 439

ground may be made to answer the purpose. A
building wholly on the surface, however, is more
likely to give variable temperatures than one which is
partially under ground. An ordinary house cellar, if
it has good ventilation and is not too dry or too
warm, may answer very well for the storage of fruit;
but it is ordinarily best, both for purposes of storage
and for health, that the fruit cellar should be a sepa-
rate structure if products are to be stored in any
quantity. The requisites of a good storage cellar for
fruit are chiefly four : protection from frost ; the
ability to secure a uniform or unvarying- temperature
of 40° or below ; facilities for ventilation ; and air
which is moist enough to prevent evaporation.

The protection from frost is secured either by
sinking the building below the surface of the soil, or
by making two to four air spaces in the walls in
that portion which stands above the earth. The ven-
tilation should include facilities for removing the warm
and impure air from somewhere near the top of the
structure. Some kind of a shaft or chimney construc-
tion, with a valve or shutter which can be opened or
closed as necessary, will answer this purpose. In
buildings which are above ground, it will be often
necessary to provide some means of taking in the
cold air near the bottom of the building, especially
before the cold weather of winter sets in and after
the warm weather of spring begins. Cold air being
heavier than warm air, it settles upon the surface of
the ground in still nights, and if the floor of the
storage structure is two or three feet below the top

440 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

of the ground, this cold air may be drained into the
building by means of flues which are. laid through
the walls, the outer ends standing just above the
earth. Six -inch sewer pipes, at intervals about the
building, answer this purpose admirably. In a build-
ing thirty feet wide and seventy feet long, three of
these valves along either side, and one upon either
end, are probably sufficient for all ordinary require-
ments. Sub -ventilation is sometimes recommended,
and may often work to good advantage. This is
secured by running a long pipe from near the bottom
of a cellar storage out to the surface of the ground
six or more rods away. This pipe has a valve at
the outer end, or at least some protecting structure
to prevent the leaves and litter from blowing into
it, and it is ordinarily best, also, to have a valve
at the inner end. Inasmuch as the earth about this
subterranean passage is not frozen during the win-
ter, cold air may be drawn in from the outside
and be warmed up above the freezing point in its
passage through the tube. This type of ventilation
has been used with success in cellars designed for
the wintering of bees. It should always be remem-
bered that cold air contains less moisture than warm
air does. When very cold air is admitted, therefore,
moisture is rapidly taken up when its temperature
rises, and the cellar may be made too dry. It is
advisable, therefore, to raise the temperature of such
air to nearly its ultimate or required degree before
it enters the storage room.

Cellars which are very dry cause the fruit to

Keeping Fruit on Trays. 441

shrivel. Those rooms in which there is a natural
sand or gravel bottom ordinarily keep fruit in the
best condition. Cement bottoms are very apt to be
too dry. Running water is very often desirable in a
fruit cellar, not only because it furnishes moisture to
the air, but also because it is an equalizer of the
temperature. One must be cautioned, however, that
a cellar which is not properly ventilated will cause
the fruit to mold and decay, if it is wet. In gen-
eral, it is best to have means for supplying fresh
air, and then keep the cellar simply moist, not wet.
One should avoid drafts in the storage cellar, for
currents of air are very likely to cause the fruit to
lose moisture and to shrivel.

Much is said about the keeping of fruit upon
trays in cellars rather than in barrels or crates, but
this must be determined by the character of the
cellar as to temperature and moisture. In cellars
which are too dry, the fruit should be left in the
closed packages; but if the air is moist and the tem-
perature very low, the fruit may be placed upon
racks or trays to the very best advantage. But in
any case, it should always be remembered that fruit
which has been placed in storage for a month or
more, should be re-sorted and re -packed before it is
put upon the market. It has been said (page 436)
that the best results in the storing of fruit are had
when the product is very thoroughly sorted before
it is put into the cellar, for even if the cellar is
very nearly perfect for the keeping of the fruit, any
over-ripe or decayed specimens will very likely break

442 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

down, and spread the contamination to the entire
sample. The fruit should be cooled down somewhat
before it is placed in cold storage, especially if there
is much of it, otherwise it raises the temperature
of the compartment.

The requisite features in a domestic iced storage
house are set forth as follows by Hexamer : * " To
preserve fruit or retard its ripening, it has to be
stored in pure, dry, cold air. These conditions can
be produced in various ways. But the simplest and
least expensive method for farm use is to build a
two -story ice house, the ground floor of which is for
the storage of fruit and the upper for ice. The most
important part of such a house is the proper con-
struction of the dividing floor upon which the ice
rests. The timbers, the size of which depends on the
quantity of ice to be supported by them, are so ar-
ranged as to have narrow openings between one
another to permit the cold air from the ice cham-
ber proper to descend to the storage room below,
and also to facilitate the dripping of the water from
the melting ice.

r'To prevent the water from falling on the fruit,
an additional floor or roof has to be constructed
under the dividing floor. The best material for this
purpose is galvanized, corrugated sheet iron, arranged
so that all the water which falls upon it flows into a
gutter connected with a leader, through which it is
carried into the main drain. Dryness in the storage

*Dr. F. M. Hexamer, "Cold Storage Fruit House," Auier. Agric., Jan. 3D.
1897, 135.

Storage for Or apes. 448

room being of prime importance, the floor should be
cemented whenever existing conditions permit. Of
course, ample provision has to be made for thorough
drainage, ventilation and circulation of air. Several
devices for the accomplishment of this have been
patented, and an excellent non- patented plan is
minutely described and illustrated in Theron L. Miles'
hook on the 'Ice Crop.' The general construction of
the walls, roof, ventilation, etc., of such a storage
house does not differ materially from that of ordinary
ice houses. If the storage house is used much during
hot weather, the greater part of the ice will probably
have melted before the fall fruit comes in. It will
therefore be necessary to have a reserve ice house
near by, from which the storage house can be re-
plenished."

The requisites for keeping grapes during the
winter are given as follows by George C. Snow:*
"Any good building in which the temperature can be
held even at about 35°, with ventilation as may be
required, this to be determined by noting how the
fruit is keeping, will be found available for grapes.
No positive rules can be laid down. A cooling room,
in which the fruit can be first cooled, is a necessity.
If placed directly in cold storage, the temperature will
be found to be raised rapidly by placing a quantity
of warm fruit in the room. As even a temperature
as possible is much the best. Grapes should not be
packed in baskets for shipping before being stored.
They should be ripe, as grapes do not mature after

*Rural New-Yorker, K.-l,. J, lx'M\ • Mull. 117, Cornell Kxp. SU.

444

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

picking. Niagara or any other variety can be held
only for a limited time, some varieties longer than
others."

The following temperatures at which a cold stor-
age company (Geuesee Fruit Company, Rochester, New
York) engages to hold certain products, will be in-
teresting to the horticulturist:

GOODS.

Temp.

GOODS.

Temp.

33°

Lemons

36°

Berries . ...

40

35

35

Nuts

35

Celery

35

36

Cherries

40

Pears

35

33

35

Dried berries

35

35

35

35

Dried corn

35

Raisins

35

Dates

35

Vegetables

35

Evaporated apples

35

Wine

40

Figs

35

35

Grapes

36

Storage buildings. — There are many fashions in
which storage houses may be built for home use.

* Apples are often carried as low as 30°.

NOTE.— The director of the Genesee Fruit Company writes under date of
May 22, 1897, as follows : "We carry apples at a temperature of 30 degrees, and
we would advocate carrying them at 29 degrees for the first month in storage.
Apples are going out of our warehouse in perfect condition ; in fact, there was
one small lot, consisting of 198 barrels of Baldwins, which went out two weeks
ago, and they were all run (or sorted), and the shrinkage occasioned by decay
was 1% barrels. One of the roost essential features in carrying apples is getting
them in storage directly after they are picked from the trees, and we do not
advocate receiving Greenings for storage after October 20."

Fruit -houses.

445

Fig. 107 shows a simple fruit -house, with tiers of
trays upon either side of a central passage-way. The
chimney and the area in the floor
allow of change of air. Fig. 108
is a fruit -house of the late Charles
Downing, of pomological
fame. Whatever the style
of the fruit -house, the
walls above the surface
of the ground should be
well provided with air-
spaces. The accompany-
ing details of the con-
struction of celery houses Fig 107 Simple fruit.house.
(Figs. 109, 110), will suf-
ficiently explain some of the problems which should be
considered.* "This structure has a brick foundation,
and the roof is well provided with air chambers and
paper linings, affording the best protection against
cold. The additional large air chamber above the
collar beams, with its separate windows, seems also
desirable. There are large double doors at each end,
and the space between each outer and inner door is
large, and the connections are well arranged for the
exclusion of cold air. It seems of sufficient interest
to give a view of such a storage house ; but full
details of construction may not be entered upon in
this connection. It will be seen that Fig. 109 shows
the construction of the peak and collar-beam (k) of
the house, and also of the ventilator (1. 1). Fig. 110

*B. M. Duggar, Bull. 132, Cornell Exp. SU.

446

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

shows the details of the roof construction. The plate
(h) is held firmly to the wall by a tongue (i) let
into the brick work. The rafter is b. On this is a
thickness of sheathing upon either side (a, c). with

an air-space at e, and outer sheathing at g, and
building paper at d and f." Buildings made upon
this plan, or one similar to it, are efficient for the
storage of either vegetables or fruits.

Waugh* gives the bill of lumber entering into the
fruit -house in Fig. Ill (page 449) as follows:

'"Apple Growing in Grand Isle County," Bull.

rruout Exp. Sta.

Fie. 109. Details of construction of

448 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

BILL OP LUMBER FOR APPLE HOUSE.

3,500 feet wall boarding.

3,000 " roof boarding.

3,500 " ceiling (inside).

7,200 " floorboards (double floors).

4,000 " clapboards.

25 bundles lath.

22 K squares slate.

OUTSIDE FINISH.

200 feet 5-in. crown mold.

190 "

3-in. bed mold.

300 "

%xlO mold for frieze and facia.

Lineal measure.

200 "

%x 7 base and

water tables.

200 "

%x!2 planers.

4 pieces
4 "

V
J

;x 5,

3X 6,

15 feet. 1 _
f Corner boards.
ID J

8 "
16 "

2
2

x 8,
x 8,

15 " i
13 "

- Sills.

56 "
26 "

2

x 9,
x 9,

15% "
30 " j

, Floor joists.

26 "

IV

zx 9,

19 "

Collar ties to rafters

100 "

3

x 4,

14 « 1

„ Wall studs.

20 "

3

x 4,

12 " J

56 "

2

x 8,

21 "

Rafters.

26 "
26 "

2
1

x 6,
x 6,

10 M ^
8 " J

> Braces.

16 "

1

x 4,

13 "

Ribbons.

4 "

2

x!2,

13 "

Ridge poles.

The owner of this house (T. L. Kinney) gives the
following information (See Fig. 112): "The fruit
house is built on high and dry ground. The cellar
was three feet, and dirt taken from this was used to
bank up around the wall. The wall is solid stone and
mortar, is five feet high, two and one -half feet wide

A Vermont Apple House.

449

at the bottom, and two feet at the top ; two -inch
plank for sills on this, bedded in mortar, doubled so
as to break joints; two by four studding above this;
outside of studding matched pine, then paper, and
then clap -boards, painted; in middle of studding, lath

Fig. 111. Apple house; from the islands of Lake Chainpliiin.

and plaster ; inside of studding, matched pine, then
paper, and then one -half -inch sheathing, painted.
This gives two hollow walls, or dead -air spaces. For
ventilating, there is one ventilator from cellar to the
observatory on top of building, which has four large-
window frames, with blinds, but no tight windows.
The ventilator opens into both storage rooms. We

DD

450

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

have three eighteen -inch windows on east and west
sides of building in the cellar, and three large win-
dows in west side, next to store room. Both floors
are double, with paper between, and the second room
is ceiled overhead with matched spruce, and painted.
The two windows on east side show in cut, with the
outside doors.

"About picking time, we begin to cool off the
building by keeping open during westerly winds or
cold waves, and closed as much as possible when it
is warm. We try not to put in any fruit when the
fruit is warm, but have it cool, if possible. In this
way the air in the building is cool all the time. I
have kept a partial daily record of the temperature in
the cellar this winter (1896-7) since December 28, the
results of which are as follows:

CELLAR.

SECOND BOOM.

DATE.

Temp.

DATE.

Temp.

Decembe
January

r 28

35°
35
36
36
36
37
37
37
36
36
36
36

December 98

32°
33
33
35
37
38
36
35
32
34
32
33

29

" 29

1

2

" 2

3

" 3

4

" 4

7
11

" 11
" 14

« 17

14

17

19

23

19

" 23

A Vermont Apple House.

451

"It will be seen by this that the temperature

ranges from 35 to 37° in the cellar, and from 32 to

38° in the room above. This difference is occasioned

by the cellar being nearly full of barrels of apples,

y

./&\

Fig. 112. Details of house shown in Fig. 111.

and the next room about half full; and we are pass-
ing in and out to the second room every day, and
some days many times. The doors are large and
high up, and only common doors. We had no snow
until the 21st of January this winter, and it has been

452 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

as cold as 18° below zero at two different times, and
as low as 10° below zero several times. I have no
fire except an oil stove, and have not used that yet.
I think that winter apples will keep as well at a
temperature of 36 as 32°; yet, I have no proof of it.
I do not like to have the apples get too cold, as we
have twelve miles to haul to the car; and if the
fruit is kept too cold, it is more likely to freeze
on its long trip to market."

A "new plan for the construction of a storage cel-
lar" is given by Alwood:*

"The winter storage of fruits and vegetables is a question
of much importance in this state [Virginia] because of the
wide range of temperature which prevails during that sea-
son. Also, temporary summer storage is a subject worthy of
careful attention, and may be to some extent solved by careful
application of the principle explained in this article. The com-
mon practice for winter storage largely in vogue over this
state, is to bury such vegetables and fruits as are required for
winter and spring use in outdoor pits. The particular method
followed varies with the different kinds of crop to be preserved,
but the essential facts are the same. This system of pitting
can hardly be considered a success so far as relates to the main
crops stored; viz., apples and potatoes. The essentials of win-
ter storage for apples and potatoes are a low, dry, even tem-
perature, and to secure this without artificial cold storage is a
problem that cannot be met by the outdoor pit methods of
burying these staple articles. These two crops are necessarily
held by growers in considerable quantity for winter and spring
use, and the problem of storing them in a convenient and suc-
cessful manner is the one had in view in the discussion which
follows. It may be well to state at the outset that we doubt
the even partial success of the plan herein explained for all of

*W. B. Alwood, Bull. 11, vol. iv., Va. Exp. Sta.

Virginia Storage House. 453

that portion of the state lying east of Piedmont. Several years
since, we concluded to construct a simple storage cellar upon a
plan which we once heard discussed, but had not seen carried
into practice. In fact, our building is the first one constructed
on this plan of which we have any knowledge.

''The essential features involved in the storage building
which we designed for this purpose are : First, a cellar exca-
vated into a gently sloping hillside, carried into the bank far
enough to place the cellar room entirely below the surface of
tho earth, and yet give opportunity to enter the cellar easily by
an inclined way from the lower side of the slope ; secondly, a
flue leading out from near the center of the floor of the cellar
room, along the bank of the hillside for a considerable distance,
with sufficient fall to make it act both as a drain pipe and a
fresh air flue ; thirdly, ventilating flues placed at each end of
the cellar room or elsewhere, as desired, and rising to the
height necessary to give a sufficient draft to carry off rapidly
the air from the cellar room whenever ventilation is desired.

"The cellar room will better serve the purpose of cold stor-
age if the excavation is carried back into the bank so as to
make the floor twelve or fifteen feet below the lowest point of
the adjacent hillside. In the case of the cellar built here, the
excavation is only ten feet deep at the deepest point, but we
are now satisfied that a greater depth would give better results.
The principle of a subterranean air flue is the essential feature
of this cellar. In its use we aim to secure a dry, even temper-
ature in the cellar by admitting air as desired through this
flue. It should be at least six inches in diameter and, we now
think, should be laid, at a depth of eight or nine feet, along
the bank of the hillside, for a distance of about five hundred
feet. It is not necessary that this flue should lie in a straight
line, but any departure from a straight line should be a gradual
curve, so as to permit an unobstructed flow of air into the
cellar. Situated at this depth, and having a length approxi-
mately as stated above, the air flowing into the cellar through
this flue will be in summer reduced, and in winter raised, to
the temperature of the soil at the depth stated, which will

454

The Principles of Fruit-growing.

approximate somewhere between 50° and 55° Fahr. during the
entire year. The above statement is based upon the observed
temperature of perennial springs in this vicinity.

"From the foregoing it follows that if the air in the cellar
becomes warmer than the air in the underground flue, it will
rise through the ventilating flues, and the colder air will flow in
from the supply fl'ie, as desired. The temperature of the cellar
room can thus be approximately controlled to at least the
neighborhood of 55° to 60° Fahr. The construction of the cellar
is shown somewhat in detail in the drawings below. These
figures are not intended as working drawings, but serve to
bring out the essential ideas and plan of the structure suffi-
ciently to enable any mechanic to carry them out on larger or
smaller scale to suit the needs of the builder. Fig. 113 is a

Fig. 113. Longitudinal section of Alwood's house.

longitudinal section through the cellar room, and shows also a
side elevation of the storeroom above. The two ventilators a a
rise through the storeroom, and are six inches in diameter by
fifteen feet long, thus insuring good draft. The air flue 6

Virginia Storage House.

455

enters under the foundation and discharges fresh air into the
cellar room near the center. This flue is six inches in diam-
eter, and theoretically should be extended far enough along the
hillside to admit of tempering the air to the temperature of the

,*

gggg} .

1

•«

i |

i * £

-

". :.

% ••

*...:•....„ ;

V *?

L ••

=33lK*

y. *~

1 11 ; I ] )

\

Fig. 114. Ground plan.

surrounding earth while passing through it. The cellar built
here has an air flue only one hundred and fifty feet long, and
we have never been able to cool the air down below 60° Fahr.
when the temperature of the outside air is above 70° Fahr.

"The dotted line h h shows the contour of the hillside, and
the line i shows the entry-way into the cellar. The entry-way
should preferably be on the north side of the structure, and
should be closed in by a vestibule, so as to protect the cellar-
way from storm, and to prevent influence of outside temperature
upon the atmosphere in the cellar.

"The roof structure of vestibule is shown at d, and one of
the side walls of the entry-way at e. The floor of the cellar
// pitches slightly to the mouth of the air flue b, which serves
as a drain pipe when one is needed. The cellar floor is made
of broken stone and cement, and successfully checks the upward
rise of ground water. The bins c c and c' on one side of the
cellar room are shown, with dimensions. They are constructed
of two by four scantling and one inch oak boards. At c the
facing on lower bin is shown in position. When we desire to
fill the bins additional facing boards are used. The letters A; k

456 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

at lower ends of ventilating flues indicate position of sliding
dampers, by means of which the flow of air from the cellar is
effectually controlled. With the short flue used in the cellar
here, we find that when the mercury remains below 20° Fahr. for
any length of time the cellar will be reduced below freezing,
unless the ventilators are closed.

"The dimensions of the ground plan of the cellar are shown
in Fig. 114. The letters so far as used always indicate the
same part of the structure in the several figures. This figure
Shows the walls to be constructed of stone, which is unquestion-
ably the proper material. In our building, which was con-
structed to test the practicability of an idea new to this class of
structures, expense was avoided so far as possible, and the walls
are built of wood. The framing of the walls is constructed of
two by four scantling framed into sills laid in broken stone and
cement. The corner posts are four by four scantling. This
frame is covered outside by a double sheathing of inch oak
plank. The first course was put on diagonal and covered with
strong builder's paper, and over this a perpendicular course of
sheathing was put on. The whole structure was then literally
soaked with crude petroleum, and the earth rammed in tight
around the cellar story and banked up, so as to carry surface
water away from the walls. Inside the walls were covered with
mch oak boards, and -the bins constructed as indicated' in the
drawings. The entry-way to the cellar is wide enough to admit
of backing a horse -cart or wagon down into the cellar, so as to
unload directly from it. This is a matter of much convenience
to the workmen. The width of the cellar floor will permit of a
row of barrels being placed in front of the bins and yet admit
the vehicle.

"A series of observations on the range of temperature in the
cellar was made during November, December, January and part
of February, and the results are summarized below. The ven-
tilator and the supply air flue were all left open from November
1 to December 10. The outside air temperature registered 28°
on the morning of the first of November, and the cellar showed
a temperature of 46° Fahr. As the month progressed, a period

Virginia Storage House. 457

of warm weather set in, without a drop to freezing from the 7th
until the 24th of the month. During this time the temperature
often registered above 60° in the shade, with maximum readings
considerably higher. The cellar temperature varied just 12° for
the entire month, reaching 58° on two occasions, but closing the
month at 46°, with outside temperature at 34°. During Decem-
ber the cellar temperature was reduced quite steadily from 45° to
.'58°, the daily variations being at most 2°. Outside temperature
varied considerably, but the range was between 15° and 46°.
Quite a number of observations was made on the working of the
supply flue and the ventilators. The tests made showed that air
passed through the one hundred and fifty feet supply flue in
thirty to forty seconds, and the ventilators could be depended
upon at all times to keep up a movement of air in the cellar so
as to draw a fresh supply. In fact, during the coldest weather we
frequently closed the ventilators to prevent the too rapid lowering
of the temperature in the cellar. The tests showed that this short
flue could not be depended upon to raise the air to a proper
temperature when the mercury outside was at 15° or lower. Our
observations showed that the air was, under these circumstances,
raised about 20°, varying, of course, with conditions. During
January further experiments showed that we could quite easily
reduce the cellar temperature to 35° when the outside air regis-
tered 15° to 20°. However, the building proves to be lacking in
two essentials to hold the cellar temperature stable; viz., it is
not deep enough in the earth, and the floor between it and the
tool-room above is not properly laid. This floor is made double,
of half -inch stuff, while we now see that the cellar-room should
also be ceiled in the best possible manner, to prevent interference
by outside changes of temperature. The total range in the cellar
during January was 35° to 42°. This result was, however, se-
cured by carefully watching the conditions, so as to admit cold
air during the night or periods of low temperature and then clos-
ing the flues when the outside temperature would act injuriously
upon the temperature of the cellar. With the temperature fluc-
tuations which prevail in this region, much attention is necessary
to properly control the conditions in the cellar."

458 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

Alcoholic vapor as a fruit -preservative. —In connec-
tion with cold storage, it may be possible to experi-
ment with the "new process for keeping fruit fresh,"
which was published in 1895 by the Department of
State (Bureau of Statistics, by Henry P. DuBellet,
Consul at Rheims, France), and distributed by the
Division of Pomology of the Department of Agricul-
ture :

"The great difficulty experienced in preserving fruits in their
natural state is such that the dealers who make the attempt of
furnishing them out of season are compelled, on account of the
heavy losses they sustain, to sell their goods at prices which ren-
der it impossible for the great majority of families to place fresh
fruits on their tables during the winter months. The high prices
which fresh fruits command on the city markets increase day by
day from the time they are gathered, and have induced orchard
and vine owners to run many risks in order to keep their fruits
as long as possible before offering them for sale. And it is not
surprising that no pains, efforts, and sacrifices are spared to
reach the coveted result, when it is known that during these last
years, first-class grapes sold from 2 to 4 francs (38.6 to 77.2
cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) from September to November,
that they were worth 8 francs ($1.53.4) and as much as 12 francs
($2.31.6) in February and March, and 14 francs ($2.70) in April
and May.

"These exorbitant prices show plainly how imperfect are yet
the means employed for keeping fruits fresh, how few must be
the successful efforts, and how many the difficulties encountered.
The solution of this question is, therefore, of great interest to
all, and the result of the experiments made in the latter part of
the year 1894 and lately reported to the Horticultural Society of
Soissons by Mr. A. Petit, chief of the laboratory of horticultural
researches at the National Horticultural School of Versailles, de-
serves the attention and consideration of fruit-growers through-
out the United States.

Alcoholic Vapor to Preserve Fruit. 459

"Impressed with the powerful action of alcoholic vapors on the
mold which generally appears on the surface of fruits in a damp
atmosphere, Mr. Petit noticed that pears and apples kept for sev-
eral months in a surrounding saturated with vapors of water and
alcohol, even were they at the beginning in a state of decay,
showed no signs of mold, while fruits in every particular identi-
cally similar to the former, stored under the same conditions, but
not exposed to the action of alcoholic vapors, were entirely cov-
ered with it.

"Taking advantage of this observation, Mr. Petit applied the
principle to the preservation of fruits in general, and most par-
ticularly to grapes, because, more than others, the latter are sub-
ject to mold. It was to be foreseen that grapes kept, from the
day they are cut off the vines, in an atmosphere saturated with
vapors of water and alcohol would, by the retarding of the sweat-
ing period, not only remain free from mold, but would even re-
tain their natural aspect. Consequently, should the temperature
be constant and low, the preservation could be maintained long
and well.

"On the 31st of October, 1894— that is, very late in the season
and at a very unfavorable time — Mr. Petit placed, with other
fruits and a bottle filled with 100 cubic centimeters (61 cubic
inches) of alcohol at 96°, some bunches of grapes known as
'Chasselas de Fontainebleau,' fresh from the vine, in a brick
recipient in the form of a parallelepiped, cemented inside and
closed as hermetically as possible by a common wooden door.
In two similar recipients contiguous to the first, one of which
was kept open "and the other closed, but without alcohol, were
stored similar fruits from the same trees and vines. The fruits
were laid on wood shavings. The recipients were built in a very
damp cellar, the temperature of which varied regularly from 10°
to 8° C. (50° to 46§° F.) during the whole time the experiment
lasted.

"On November 20, the grapes placed in the recipent left open,
and especially so those in the closed recipient without alcohol,
were mostly rotten and covered with mold, and were immediately
removed. In the recipient containing the bottle of alcohol, the

460 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

srapes were beautiful ; on one bunch, two grapes had turned
brown, but were firm, full, and free of mold; they did not taste
at all sour, thus differing essentially from moldy grapes, espe-
cially those subject to Penicillium glaucum. The hair hygrometer
in the recipient registered 98°. On December 7, the bunches of
grapes in the recipient containing the alcohol had kept their fine
aspect; on most of them, however, one or two grapes had turned
brown, and were in the same condition as those above referred to.
On December 24, same results ; on most of the bunches could
be seen one or two grapes commencing to decay. At the end
of nearly two months, each bunch had lost but from two to four
grapes each and all were in a perfect state of preservation, the
stalks being perfectly green and the grapes firm, full, and savory,
and having all the qualities of fresh -cut grapes.

"At the conclusion of the experiment, 28 cubic centimeters
(17 cubic inches) of alcohol at 60° remained in the bottle out of
the 100 cubic centimeters (61 cubic inches) at 96°, but, as Mr.
Petit remarks, the door of his recipient had not been built with
great care and did not close hermetically, hence a useless con-
sumption of alcohol.

"This process offers many advantages. It is simple, easy of
application, and cheap, and, if adopted by our fruit-growers,
would allow them not only to hold their fine fruits until they can
dispose of them at a fair price, but would also insure them hand-
some profits during the winter months."

Beckwith makes the following note* upon this
method: "For the purpose of testing the process as
described in the above circular, two fully ripened
branches of Norfolk grapes were placed, together
with two ounce bottles filled with alcohol, upon a
large pane of glass and covered with a glass bell
jar. The grapes thus prepared were placed upon a
table in my laboratory, where they remained until
December 18, perfectly sound and plump in appear-

* Eighth Ann. Rep. Del. Exp. Sta., 110.

The Grower and the Consumer. 461

ance, but had changed to a slightly darker brown
color. The flesh was sound and firm, and still re-
tained nearly its normal flavor. The grapes re-
mainded under the treatment until February 10,
when they were removed. At this date, nearly all
of the grapes were firm and plump, a few having
become somewhat shriveled. They had a peculiar
alcoholic taste, having entirely lost their normal
flavor. The flesh was very firm, and of a light
brown color. The above was, of course, a severe
test of the process for keeping fruit fresh, and
could not be considered a success. It is possible
that by placing the fruit in a cool apartment it
could be preserved for a considerable length of time
without any great expense."

SHIPPING, AND REACHING THE CONSUMER.

The grower and the consumer. — The means to be
employed in reaching the consumer are such per-
sonal matters that little specific advice can be given
upon the subject ; and the suggestions which are
here made are not meant to apply to the buyers
of fruit, nor to those growers who sell their fruit
to itinerant buyers. It should first be said that the
fruit itself is the best business card which the
grower can have, in the long run. Fruit which is
well grown and well packed is already virtually sold.
If the consumer is convinced of the honesty and
good faith of the grower and the packer, then his
suspicions are allayed, and he is willing to purchase

462 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

freely, and at a fair price. If the grower's name
is upon the package, it becomes a guaranty of the
quality of the fruit, and the consumer buys confi-
dently. If, in addition to this, there is some neat
and unique label attached to the package, the con-
sumer will be convinced that his grower is not
only willing to be responsible for the quality of the
fruit, but that he is also a man of business in-
stincts. It has recently been remarked that the
Canadian apples which are shipped into the Ameri-
can markets bring a better price than the domestic
products, and very largely for the reason that the
law demands that the fruit should be marked
"Canadian grown," and the grower ordinarily places
his name upon the parcel. The buyer in such case
knows who is to be held responsible for the prod-
uct in case it does not come up to his expecta-
tions. The time is certainly coming when an in-
ferior grade of fruit cannot be put upon the market
with profit. Competition is gradually increasing,
and it is only the better grades which can pay for
the expense of shipping and packages and selling,
and leave a margin of profit to the grower.

The gist of the successful distribution and sell-
ing of fruit lies in searching out the best markets,
and then in finding out what the consumer wants.
This can be done only by giving as much atten-
tion to the market end of the business as to the
distinctly agricultural end of it. The grower who
expects to handle his own fruit directly should
visit the markets, and should take particular pains

Finding a Market. 463

to determine the especial types and brands of fruit
which the consumers in that market require. It is
generally true that the fruit-grower raises whatever
comes handy, and sells it if he can. It would be
better business to determine what the market is
likely to demand, and then to grow the article that
is wanted. The essence of modern trade is the
specialization of business and the individualizing of
the consumer. The person who has much fruit of
good quality to sell should begin to look up his
markets some weeks in advance of the market sea-
son ; and he will ordinarily do well to sell some-
what by sample. Regulation packages, with his ac-
customed grade of fruit, may be sent here and there
to dealers and consumers, to represent the product
which he has for sale. Much of the success of
this type of" marketing depends upon the quantity
which the grower can provide. Dealers ordinarily
demand that the grower furnish them with stated
quantities of stated varieties ; and if the grower
cannot do this he may be unable to hold his cus-
tomer, and must simply meet the vagaries of an
incidental trade. The grower or shipper should
notify his dealer in advance as to the amount
and quality of fruit which will be likely to reach
him at any given time. The dealer is then able
to inform his customers and to find an outlet for
the product. It should be remarked that this
matter of finding a market is a perennial enter-
prise ; that is, it is one which must be renewed
every year, for the market of one year may not

464 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

be the best market for the following year. The
market details should be followed up with the same
thoroughness which the grower gives to the new
development in varieties, and in means of contend-
ing with fungi and insects.

The selection of the middleman, through whom
the fruits are to be sold, is one of the most im-
portant features in the whole range of fruit market-
ing. The first requisite is that this man should be
honest and capable. Then the grower should place
great confidence in his judgment, for, as he is
nearer the point of consumption, his advice should
be worth much more than the judgment of one
who is far away. Too many growers are guided
m their selection of a merchant by high quotations
and flattering letters which are sent out at the be-
ginning of the fruit season, but it is often true
that the man who at the beginning of the season
makes the most moderate and conservative quota-
tions, is the one who secures the most profit for
the grower in the end.*

If one is to reach special and personal markets,
the small package is nearly always advisable ; but
in the wholesale and impersonal methods of market-
ing, the large package will no doubt prove to be
the most economical, not only because it costs less
for a certain quantity of fruit, but because the ex-
pense of packing is less. In the early days of
commercial fruit shipping in this country, the large

*Por a sketch of the rise of the auction system of selling fruits in this
nountrj, see Annals of Horticulture for 1892, p. 43.

Sizes of Packages. 465

package for peaches and other tender fruits was
commonly used. Peaches were shipped almost wholly
in bushel baskets. With the increase and speciali-
zation of the business, however, smaller packages
were in demand, and in some of the largest peach
regions of the country, the product was finally
shipped in fifth and sixth -bushel baskets. Now that
the production has come to be enormous, however,
and the returns to the individual grower are com-
paratively light, there has again arisen a demand
for the large package. All this is well illustrated
in the Lake Michigan region, in which the bushel
basket has recently come into great use. The prob-
ability is that if the low price of grapes continues
for a few years, there will arise a great demand
for a larger package. The individual grower who
has a special market to reach, however, will still
find that the small package is as useful as ever,
and it may perhaps have an added advantage be-
cause of its contrast with the larger ones in com-
mon use. There is likely to be, therefore, a differ-
entiation in the use of fruit packages, tending upon
the one side towards a larger wholesale package,
and on the other towards a small retail and per-
sonal package.

It should be said in passing that one reason why
the small package falls into disfavor is because the
fruit is so completely packed by hand that there is
a great temptation on the part of the grower to
include fruits of poor quality, or at least not to
keep up the standard of an arbitrary grade. When

466 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

large packages are used, and the grades are not so
carefully made, there is less reason for finding fault
with a few poor fruits. It is also true that many of
the packages, especially in the handling of peaches,
have been too small to allow of thoroughly honest
packing. This is true of the fifth and sixth -bushel
baskets especially. They are either too high or too
low to allow a given number of full tiers of fruit
to be placed in them, and in order to bring the top
layer up to its required height, it is often necessary
to insert a layer of small fruits somewhere below
the top ; and this small fruit is commonly placed in
the middle, because the packer cannot always dis-
cover if he must use it until the package is par-
tially filled.

In the distribution of fruit, it should be re-
membered that the establishing of a reputation for
the fruit is quite as important as the securing of
a remunerative price for the present samples; there-
fore, the inferior fruits and culls should be kept
in the home markets, or manufactured into cider or
other secondary products ; or, if shipped, they should
be placed upon the market without guaranty and
without the grower's name. They are then sold
simply upon their merits, without the recommenda-
tion of the grower's name or any attractive label
or description.

Refrigerator cars. — Fruit which is of superior
quality will pay for considerable extra effort in
transportation. If it is of a perishable nature, and
the market is more than six or eight hours away,

Refrigerator Cars. 467

it may pay to ship in iced cars, particularly if the
weather is very warm. In shipping fruit in iced
cars, it is important to know that the car should
be iced some time in advance of its receiving the
fruit. This is for the purpose of completely cool-
ing off the car. The ice should be put in at least
six hours in advance of the loading, if possible, and
a longer time is very often advisable. The trans-
portation companies should be notified in advance of
the number and route of the cars which are ship-
ping, in order that the ice may be renewed at the
necessary intervals. It may be said, also, that the
car should not be completely filled with fruit. The
upper part of the car is apt to be very hot,
especially in summer, and if space is left above
the fruit there is better opportunity for ventilation.
About three hundred bushels of fruit in bushel
packages should be the limit of the amount in any
one car.

Earle writes* as follows upon shipping in re-
frigerated cars :

"Many difficulties and much prejudice were formerly en-
countered in shipping fruits under refrigoration. Dealers and
buyers were afraid to handle fruits that had been on ice,
claiming that they would melt down and spoil as soon as
they were removed to the warmer air. This belief was wide-
spread ar 1 deeply seated, and it has taken much time and
many practical demonstrations to fully convince the trade of
its falsity. It probably originated in attempts to save fruit
that was already over-ripe, and on the verge of spoiJing, by
placing it in the ice-box. Such fruit will be preserved for

*F. S Earle, Bull. 79, Ala. Exp. Sta.

468 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

some time, if kept cold enough, for cold arrests the growth
of the organisms of decay. The decay is only arrested, how-
ever, for these organisms are not killed by the cold, and as
soon as such fruit is again brought into a warm atmosphere
they rapidly complete its destruction. If, however, the fruit
is taken from the field at the proper stage of maturity, and
is placed at once in a refrigerator car, the cold prevents the
beginning of incipient decay; and the fruit will arrive at
its destination in a condition to keep almost as long after
taking it from the car as it would have kept in the open
air at the time it was picked. Strawberries must be in the
best possible condition, and the weather not too hot, for them
to stand thirty-six hours' transportation by express; or, in
other words, for them to reach market in good condition on
the second morning after picking. In the writer's experience,
strawberries have been repeatedly sent from southern Illinois
to Detroit, a three-days' run, by refrigerator freight, and have
been successfully reshipped by express to Canadian points that
were not reached till the second morning after leaving Detroit.
"Again, no fruit is more perishable than a fully ripened
peach; but peaches fully mellow, and ready to eat, have been
put in refrigerator cars in California, and, after a six-days'
run to Chicago, have been reshipped by express to New York,
reaching there in condition to bring good prices. Of course,
to endure such severe tests, it is necessary to have the fruit
very carefully assorted and packed. A very few specked
peaches or rotting strawberries would spoil au entire package
before reaching so distant a market. Good judgment, too, is
necessary in picking fruit at the proper stage of maturity for
refrigerator shipment. Of course, it should not be too ripe,
but the mistake is much more often made of picking it too
green. In shipping by freight in open cars, it is often nec-
essary to pick rather green, but with most fruits this is done
at great sacrifice of quality. Under refrigeration, fully ma-
tured ripe fruit will keep better than that which is grass
green. This is an important point in favor of refrigeration,
and one that many growers do not understand, for it enables

Earle on Refrigerator Cars. 469

fruit to be put on the market after its full flavor and qual-
ity has been developed. The flat, insipid quality, and lack
of flavor so often noticed in California fruits on the eastern
markets, comes very largely from the pernicious habit of green
picking. A peach that is ripe enough to be fully mellow is
hard to handle without bruising, but they should hang on the
tree till fully grown and colored. A peach that would be
mellow if left on the tree till to-morrow, is in just the right
condition to pick to-day. Pears, on the other hand, should
be picked green, at least ten days to two weeks before soft-
ening, and should be ripened in a close, dark place. For
this reason, they can be safely shipped in tight boxes or
barrels in open cars, unless it is intended to place them in
cold storage on arrival. In this case, they should be shipped
under refrigeration, to retard the ripening process as much
as possible.

"Refrigerator cars were first built for the meat trade. The
meat was hung in cold-storage houses, and was loaded into the
cars at or near the freezing point. In a tight, well built car
such a cold load would warm up very slowly, and a small
amount of ice served to carry it safely to its destination. When
it was attempted to use these cars for fruit, the hot load, fresh
from the fields, soon melted the limited ice supply, and the cars
invariably arrived heated and in bad order. To use these cars
successfully, it was found necessary to build cooling houses at
the shipping points, in which the fruit could be cooled off be-
fore loading, as in the case of the meat. This caused delay in
getting the fruit on the market, and made much additional ex-
l»ense. It, however, demonstrated the success of refrigeration
for the transportation of fruits, and soon cars were built espe-
cially for the fruit trade, with sufficient ice capacity to cool off
a load of hot fruit in transit, and to keep it cool. At the
present time there are a number of refrigerator car lines, with
specially built fruit cars, that are actively competing for the
fruit, and vegetable carrying trade; so that any point, having
sufficient business to offer, can secure efficient car service, with
competent men to look after the proper loading and icing of the

470 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

cars. Each line, of course, claims to have the best cars; and
for difficult service there would certainly be considerable choice
between them, but with the numerous re-icing stations that are
now available, any of them will give satisfactory service, if
properly loaded and handled.

"The main points to consider in selecting a refrigerator car
for transporting produce are first, its ice capacity, and second,
its insulation. The ice tanks should hold at least five tons of
ice, and six tons is even better. The position of the tanks,
whether overhead or at the ends, is a question .of minor im-
portance. The car should be tightly built, with double walls
and roof, with the space between them filled in with some non-
conducting material, or by numerous linings of building paper,
with dead air spaces between them. The doors should be built
like the walls, and be of the same thickness; and they should
fit as nearly air-tight as possible. Of course the car should be
sweet and clean.

"It is usual for the refrigerator companies to furnish their
own men for loading the cars, for proper loading is a point of
so much importance that they do not care to trust the repu-
tation of their cars to inexperienced men. The important points
to secure in loading are first, that the packages be so spaced
that the cold air has immediate access to all sides of them, and
second, that they be so secured that the load cannot shift by
the bumping of the cars while in transit. These points are
usually secured by piling the crates or other packages one
above another in tiers or ranks, from three to six inches
apart, and with lath or strips between each layer. Strips are
placed upright against the end of the car, and a row of
packages is placed on the floor, with the ends set snugly
against these strips, and carefully spaced. Light half-inch
strips, as long as the width of the car, are placed across
the ends of the packages; and the front one is nailed down
with a light nail to the head of each package, to prevent
side shifting. Another row of packages is placed on these
strips, each one directly above one in the lower row. These
are again stripped and nailed, and BO en to the top. Th<»

Associations and Pools. 471

next course is placed with the ends snugly against the ends
of the first course, so that the air spaces are continuous.
When the center of the car is reached, begin in the other
end and load in the same way. A space will usually be
left at the last, too narrow to admit another course of pack-
ages; and the car must now be braced, to prevent the
courses from shifting endwise. Pieces of one by six inch
boards are set up against the ends of each rank of packages,
and other strips are nailed across these uprights, near the
bottom and the top of the car. The distance between these
opposite cross-pieces is now carefully measured, and pieces
of board are cut for braces about an inch longer than this
space, so that they will have to be driven home with con-
siderable force. The braces are toe-nailed in place, to pre-
vent their falling, if they should chance to loosen in the
bumping of the car. When thus loaded and braced, the con-
tents are absolutely immovable, yet each package is separated
from its neighbors on all sides by a layer of cold air, which,
when it becomes warmed by the hot fruit, rises, and is car-
ried by the currents thus generated to the ice, where it is
quickly cooled again, and where it deposits the moisture that
may have been taken up from the fruit. This rapid circu-
lation of the air is very important, and the ice, instead of
making the fruit damp, as might at first be thought, really
serves to dry it very effectually."

Shipping associations. — In many parts of the
country, the grower, if he is a good business man,
can find a special market for all that he can raise ;
but, in general, it is no doubt true that a thoroughly
competent organization of fruit men is the best
means through which to distribute fruit. Such an
organization should make it a particular business to
determine just where the best markets are, and to
make out lists of those towns which are within
practicable reach of the fruit region, with the popu-

472 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

lation and the consuming capacity of each, the
transportation rates thereto, and all incidental mat-
ters which are likely to influence the market from
day to day. Having such information before it, the
association, if it has the shipping of the larger part
of the fruit of any region, can place such quantity
in each city or town as can be consumed, and
thereby prevent the glutting of the markets. All
this can be done only when the system of organi-
zation is exceedingly thorough and when the growers
are willing to cooperate; but it would likely be a
mistake for any organization to expect to enlist in
such an enterprise those fruit-growers who are able
to find special and personal markets for themselves,
as indicated in the next paragraph. Such growers
are ordinarily so few, however, that they do not
influence the general market conditions.

Much has been said during the past few years
about the shipping of fruit in pools or unions.
When the market is very far removed from the
producer, so that transportation rates are high,
an organization of interests is often necessary. In
districts which are so far from markets as the
Pacific coast, it is necessary that a man have either
a large quantity of fruit to ship or that he ship
in conjunction with his neighbors; or, that he sell
his fruit outright to buyers. In districts which are
close to market, it is rarely advantageous to the
growers of the very finest fruits to ship through
pools or unions. The difficulty is that the best fruit
is sold for about the same price that the poor fruit

Shipping in Pools. 473

is, and it is very rare that all the growers of any
locality pack their fruit in the same degree of ex-
cellence. If the union were to exercise very strin-
gent oversight over the packing, this difficulty might
be overcome. If, for example, the fruit were brought
to the union in the trays or crates directly from
the field, and were then re -packed uniformly before
shipment, and each grower paid for the exact amount
of good fruit which he delivers, the union might
prove to be very advantageous, because there should
!>•• an economy in the purchase of baskets, in the
cost of packing, in transportation rates, and also in
the finding of the best markets. The unsatisfactory
results which have arisen from fruit unions have
not come from inherent difficulties in the system
so much as from the lack of a thorough business
system of oversight to the packing and grading of
all the different samples which are submitted.

The number of persons who can and will grow
a dessert quality of fruit is very few, and such
I id-sons can really not afford to pool their interests
with the common run of fruit-growers. These per-
sons are the ones who find special markets here
and there, and they should use special and personal
means of disposing of their produce. The more
cities there are within a given distance, and the
greater the number of transportation lines, the
greater are the chances that a man will be able to
find a personal and special market for his produce.

An illustration of a fruit market. — A knowledge
of the destination of fruit after it reaches a

474 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

metropolis should aid growers and shippers in com-
prehending the needs of the market. The following
is a graphic description of fruit -selling in Chicago:*

"The distribution of the supplies furnished by
the fruit-grower, whether direct or through the
agency of others, has gradually become a complex
and complete system. Perhaps I ought not to use
the term 'complex,' as each step is well defined
and, after all, simple, but I think but few fruit-
growers have any idea of how complete it is, and
to what distances fruit is exported, — the only limit
being the cost and ability of the consumer to pay
prices commensurate with the expenses and risks.

"Practically all receipts are taken from the depots
or docks to the various places of business as early
as practicable after the arrival of the train or
steamer. To make the matter clearer, let us illus-
trate by using letters in place of names. A, a
shipper, consigns to B, his correspondent, a ship-
ment of fruit. On arrival, B has his spring wagons
in waiting, and takes it to his place of business on
South Water street. There, with other lots of fruit
of different grades, qualities and conditions, it is
examined and offered for sale. The largest, finest,
and every -way -select lots are taken by the retail
grocers whose patronage is among the 'upper ten,'
to whom money is no object, apparently. The grade
must be of the very best, quality superior and con-
dition perfect. Less than 5 per cent of the total

*Mr. Barnett, of Barnett Bros., before Mich. Hort. Soc., Dec., 1896, as re-
jiorted in the Horticultural Gazette, Allegan, Mich., for Dec. 19, 1896.

The Chicago Market. 475

receipts meets the conditions exacted, so that the
amount that can be disposed of to this class of
buyers is limited, and their requirements are also
about in the same proportion

"The next grade is of really good quality and
good condition, so that it can be handled with a
reasonable degree of safety, and good for, say,
twenty -four hours' transit to other points, or to be
handled safely by the average retail grocer who
supplies the well-to-do classes. The competition for
this class of fruit is the greatest, and often a sale
turns on the condition only, the shipper often turn-
ing from a good line of fruit and accepting some-
thing not so desirable in quality, to secure that
which will reach his customers in good condition.
It is very much better to have a medium grade of
quality in good condition than a fancy line of fruit
as to flavor, size, etc., worthless on account of de-
cay. That fruit which lacks the carrying qualities
desired by the shipper is just right for the retail
dealer, and, as a rule, will class good to choice.

"There are then left the inferior grades, both as
to quality and condition. For these, buyers are
found among the grocery keepers in the poorer sec-
tions of the city, — among the foreign populations.
They are good judges of fruit, and buy to meet the
wants of their customers. With them, also, there
are the peddlers, a numerous class and an influen-
tial one, whose trade is necessary in handling large
receipts. These latter also use the refuse, the 'off
condition' of all grades, and the poorest qualitie*

476 The Principles of Fruit-growing.

that arrive, or that become in poor condition after
arrival, as well as a respectable portion of the better
grades, for they sometimes carry a very good quality.

" Let us trace these different classes a little
further, bearing in mind carefully that there is no
arbitrary grading, the perishable qualities of fruit at
times making the 'fancy' of 5 A. M. the 'peddler's-
stock' at 5 P. M. Let us suppose C is a retail
dealer having the best patronage. He selects what
he needs (carefully paying no more than he can
help— which remark also applies to all), has it set
aside, and sends .his wagon for it as soon as he has
completed his purchases. Arriving at his store, the
fruit is temptingly displayed to catch the eye, and
from his stock he fills his orders, taken often with-
out the price being named in advance, quality being
the chief requirement, sends to his customer, and
charges it up to his account. The transaction is
completed— all but collecting the bill. Many pay;
many do not, and during the last thirty years, of
all I have known, in the strictly fancy trade, less
than a dozen have earned a competence. But little
net profit remains with them.

"The retail dealer, D, who supplies the middle
classes, with a fair proportion of the well-to-do,
loads his purchase into his wagon, and at once goes
home to be ready for dinner, placing a moderate
advance on his purchase price as his selling figure.
He sells for cash if he can, or to his 'book.' cus-
tomers at practically the same figure. He delivers
to his customer's home, if desired, but the bulk of

Description of a Mark ft 477

it is taken at the time of purchase, ami he clears
out his stock as closely as possible. The advance
charged by the retailer for his labor of selecting,
selling, delivering, and collecting his accounts may
be roughly estimated at 2 cents per box on small
fruits, and 2 cents per basket on peaches and 5 cents
per peck on apples. This must cover the loss by
decay, sampling, etc., inevitable to the retail trade.
At times, when fruit is scarce, the profit charged
will be larger, and when abundant, less. Sometimes
a 'run' is made, and a single dealer will buy one
hundred to three hundred baskets and sell at cost,
but I consider this as advertising.

"E, the peddler or huckster, buys everything left.
It may be 'fancy,' or 'good,' 'out of condition,'
'scrubs,' 'trash' — anything is grist for his mill.
With equipments, worth ten dollars for horse, wagon,
and harness of the Greek beginner, up through the
various grades to the splendid two -horse team and
$200 wagon (carrying supplies of all kinds and
manned by three active, enterprising men) of the suc-
cessful huckster, the 2,500 members of that great di-
vision of distributors are powerful factors. Taking
their purchases into their wagons, they at once start
for their routes and cry their wares. There can be
no fixed margin. They get what they can, take a
margin, or sell at cost ; live on the refuse, and prob-
ably have only a dollar per day on which to sup-
port a family. While their transactions on the whole
are enormous, their profits are very small, and with
long hours, penetrating every street and lane cf thp

478 The Principles of Fruit -growing.

city, they earn what they get. There is not a lane,
street, nor avenue of the city where their voice is
not heard, not a block but is visited by their ram-
shackled old wagon, their apology for a horse with
his harness or straps and strings. Not a house is
passed unnoticed ; they are everywhere, and sell the
fruit at a margin so close that, as I have said, their
profits are exceedingly small. I honor them, for
they are engaged in an honest calling ; I respect
them, for they bring to the very poor, in the poor-
est sections of the city, a taste, at least, of the
richest and best offering of the country to the city,
and we use them freely in our business and treat
them, rough, uncouth, ragged and ignorant though
they may be, as men.

"There remains F, the shipper, whose aid is val-
uable in the disposition of the receipts from day to
day. His selections have been made on the basis of
his orders in hand or in prospect. He has carefully
studied the country that can be reached from this
city, and by a course of correspondence or personal
interview has built up a clientage that orders from
him in such quantities as may be sold profitably.
The entire northwest has been carefully studied, and
from central Illinois to middle Missouri, western
Iowa, central 'Minnesota, and all of Wisconsin, orders
have been solicited and some have been received.
Weekly quotations are sent, some houses sending two
thousand to three thousand at a single issue. These
reach every city, town, village, or hamlet within
reasonable rail communication, and everything else is

Description of Fruit -selling. 479

out of the question. He studies the needs of each
customer, and having secured the amount needed to
fill his orders, at once commences to send by ex-
press, and to many points where through freights
run the fruit goes largely in that manner. It is
safe to say that there is no spot within two hundred
miles of Chicago that, with fair means of connection
with this market, can not have a full supply of fruit.
"Now, as to the expense or cost of these ship-
ments. The broker, dealer or shipper is well satis-
fied if he can realize 10 per cent on his purchases.
Let the shipper of fruit to this market consider what
it means. There is the careful selection of fruit, the
marking, billing, practically guaranteeing of safe de-
livery, chances of failure of his far-off customer —
and collecting his bill at the end of two weeks to
three months. Applying the test to the fruit broker
or shipper, but few get much more than a living out
of the business. The express and freight companies
charge only a fair compensation for the service per-
formed. Although fruit may come high in central
Minnesota or northern Wisconsin, the dwellers in
those regions can not reasonably expect to have fruit
brought to them without labor and expense."

APPENDIX.

/. HOW DID THE VARIETIES OF FRUITS
ORIGINATE?

There Is universal curiosity to know how the various kinds of
fruits have originated. It seems to be next to impossible to en-
lighten the public mind upon the question, for whatever detailed ex-
planation one may give seems to leave the questioner unsatisfied.
The real cause of this dissatisfaction is the fact that people assume
that there is something mysterious about the process of the origi-
nation of varieties; and so long as the mind makes a mystery of
a subject it is impossible to elucidate it. We have also been
taught that like normally produces like, and therefore that any
unlikeness between two plants — as between the parent and its off-
spring—calls for instant explanation. The fact is, that it is not
the nature of domestic productions for like to produce like, but
rather for similar to produce similar. That is, there are certain
type or family characteristics which . pass over to the offspring, but
there is normally almost endless unlikenesses in the details. Apples
give rise to apples, and sometimes- there is a closer reproduction
of the parents in tribes like the Fameuse apples and the Crawford
peaches; but there is seldom or never an exact duplication of pa-
rental features. Considering that this is the normal law of nature,
it follows that the wonder is that plants should ever reproduce the
variety with approximate exactness. In other words, rigidity of
generation may be the thing to be explained rather than the elas-
ticity of it. In kitchen-garden vegetables this rigidity has come about,
but it is the direct result of a long effort at selection and breed-
ing until the elasticity of the type has been largely bred out.*

*A fuller explanation of this class of facts will be found on pages 88,
89 and 90 of "Plant-Breeding;" and the reader is referred to that work
and to "The Survival of the Unlike" for discussions of the philosophy of
plant-breeding and of the running out of varieties.

PF (481)

482 Appendix.

Those persons who are always wondering how the varieties of
fruits have come should consult the records. History is capa-
ble of enlightening them. If the origins of varieties are traced
it will be found that in the vast majority of cases the variety
was simply discovered, and that some one began to propagate it
because he thought it to be good. A tree springs up along a
roadside, in the fence-row, back of the barn, in a thicket, and bears
acceptable fruit. It is the product of a chance seed dropped by a
bird or thrown there by an urchin. A thousand, perhaps ten thou-
sand, seeds produce trees which bear poor or indifferent products
where only one bears superior fruit. This one good tree is cherished,
and all the others are forgotten, or perhaps are never seen ; and
then we wonder why so many more good varieties originate in the
half-wild places than in the garden. It is only because more seeds
have been sown there ; and as we do not covet the ground, the
failures pass unnoticed. If we should secure the same results
in the garden by the sowing of only half the number of seeds,
we should consider the experiment to be a costly one. It is
probable that a seed will produce the same character of fruit, whether
the tree springs up in a fence-row or in the garden ; and the half-
wild areas are, therefore, most useful and prolific places in which
to allow nature to carry out her various whims in plant-breeding.
And if man has been willing to be relieved of all effort in the
matter, it is fair to assume that he will long continue of the same
mind, and that this exploration for new varieties will be a passion
of the adventurer until every copse and tangle has been razed into
cultivated fields.

There has been, to be sure, an occasional direct attempt to pro-
duce new varieties, but there has been very little definite plant-
breeding of the type which sets an ideal before the mind and then
tries to attain to it. It is not germane to the present book to dis-
cuss the fundamental reasons why plants vary and new forms arise.
These reasons are obscure at best, but the greater part of them
are probably not past finding out. It is enough for this occasion
to say that nearly all the varieties of fruits were seedlings found
in some waste place, or in a nursery row or a garden ; and they
were propagated.

Apprmlis. 483

//. REMARKS ON CLASSIFYING AND DESCRIBING
FRUITS.

We name the varieties of fruits in order that we may speak and
write about them. Since the name is a definite thing, it is commonly
assumed that the variety is also a definite thing. It is a fact, however,
that varieties are not definite or definable. This follows from two facts,
—that there is no original or necessary standard or measure of what
shall constitute a variety, and that the variety may vary or change
through the influence of climate or other agencies. There are, there-
fore, varieties representing all degrees of differences, some being so
unlike all others as to be universally accepted as distinct, and some so
like others as to cause dispute as to whether they are really varieties or
not. Again, we must not assume, because one name has been retained
for a certain stock, that the stock, therefore, remains the same. For
example, the fact that we still use the name Catawba does not prove
that the Catawba grape is the same now as it was when first named
and disseminated; the King is not the same apple in Oregon and New
York, although the name is the same in both states, and all the trees
have been propagated from one original.

These remarks are made for the purpose of pointing out the facts
that the classifying and describing of varieties involve two classes
of problems,— the questions connected with the making of the names
and the systems (as the form of the name, rules of priority, schemes
of classification), and those associated with the natural history of
varieties (as to whether given varieties are distinct, the value of
geographical names and synonyms, and the like). The practical ap-
plication of these remarks is, that we are not to expect uniform
exactness, either in the classifying of varieties or in the describ-
ing of them. We can deal only with types, expecting that numerous
exceptions will be found to the most painstaking description, and to
the most carefully made key. Varieties are not entities or things,
as machines are, a fact which, though usually not recognized, has
been the reason for the failure of the many attempts to protect the
originator of varieties by means of patent rights.

The first step in making a sketch of a variety is to distinguish
clearly between a description and a characterization. A description
gives a full account of all the attributes; a characterization gives
only those attributes which are unique to the variety. For example,
ten kinds of cherries may be large, red and heart-shaped; in descrip-
tions, these three attributes are repeated for each variety; but in

484 Appendix.

characterizations, these attributes are omitted (having previously been
given in a general sentence), and only those features are mentioned
which distinguish any variety from the other nine. It follows that
when varieties are arranged alphabetically, only descriptions are of
value; but when they are arranged in some system of classification,
only characterizations are admissible. Descriptions are easy to make:
one writes down what he sees. Characterizations are difficult to
draw: one must make comparisons of many specimens, and he must
clearly perceive an ideal type.

In making either descriptions or characterizations, the student
should consider the entire plant as well as the fruit itself. The habit
of growth, the bark and foliage, the flowers, often have characteristic
features in different varieties. Yet, since the fruit is the main con-
sideration, and since the enquirer can seldom have flowers and fruits
at the same time, and often has not even access to the plant, it must
follow that characters drawn from the fruit itself must form the
foundation of the characterization; and these should usually precede
other characters in the paragraph. Similarly, a system of classifica-
tion of the varieties of any fruit which gives great emphasis to char-
acters not drawn from the fruit itself, is fundamentally weak. It is
to be expected, therefore, for example, that the effort to classify
varieties of apples and pears by characters of the stamens and styles
will never come into popular use; but these characters are no doubt
of great value if they can be used as secondary features of descrip-
tions or characterizations. For studies of the characters of stamens
and styles in pomaceous fruits, see Beal's various writings. (Rep.
Mich. Pom. Soc. 1876, 17. Am. Pom. Soc. 1877; 1879, 27; 1881, 73.)
Of ideals of classification founded on the characters of the fruit, one
of the best discussions is to be found in Hogg's "Fruit Manual"
(English). The student should also consult Warder on "The Apple,"
and Thomas' "American Fruit Culturist."

Since each fruit demands a separate and usually distinct mode of
classification and characterization, the details of the subjects cannot
be considered here; but the following extracts will show what consti-
tutes a complete and good description in the mind of one careful stu-
dent (Real, Proc. 12th and 13th Ann. Meetings Soc. Prom. Agric. Sci.,
1892, pp. 25, 28) :

« Crescent Strawberry. — Plant rather large, not robust, soft pubes-
cent, of a light green color, very hardy and vigorous and exceedingly
productive; runners rather slender, bracts a little above the middle;
leaflets slightly involute-conduplicate, oval, coarsely serrate or rarely

Appendix. 485

doubly serrate; peduncle rather stout, raising the panicle nearly as
high as the leaves; panicle 2-4 inches long, 12-24-flowered (usually
about 15-flowered); lower bracts broad, oval; sepals lanceolate or
ovate-lanceolate, the alternating bractlets about the same length;
petals orbicular, or oval, 4-16 to 5-16 inches long, including a short
claw; stamens numerous and well developed; fruit bright crimson,
broad ovoid to round oblong, % inch long; moderately firm; quality,
medium; season medium.

"Origin, Connecticut, 1870.

"Probably not excelled by any variety for its productiveness on all
sorts of soils and with every kind of treatment. Extensively grown."

"Cuthbert Raspberry. — Pl&nt tall, stout, slightly glaucous, prickles
recurved, few, weak, seldom more than one mm. long; leaves, some-
what wrinkled, light green above, light green to glaucous green
below, under a lens more or less tomcntose; leaflets large, doubly
serrate-dentate, often recurved, those on stout shoots' mostly five,
sessile, puckered at the base, those of bearing branches three, stipules
45 mm. long, erect, terete, 7-10 of the upper leaves bearing 1-4
flowers, light red on the upper side, pedicles 1.5-2.5 cm. long (the
whole panicle 20-30 cm. long), smooth or with minute prickles,
bractlets 1-2 mm. long; calyx destitute of prickles, petals narrowly
oval or obovate, 4-5 mm. long, including the very short claw; pistils
clothed with minute reddish pubescence; fruit ovoid-conic, 6-8 mm.
long; base of calyx 3-5 mm. long; styles, when dead, brown, bent,
2.5 mm. long; torus conical, 8 mm. long, fruit red, very large and
firm, productive and vigorous, quality good, rather hardy, season
medium.

"Origin, New Jersey or New York, 1870."

A glossary of some of the leading terms used in describing fruits
may be useful to the novice. Of general terms, the following may be
mentioned: Phytography, the describing of plants; taxonomy, the
science or practice of classification; terminology, the knowledge of the
terms or technical words used in any subject; nomenclature, the
knowledge of the names used to designate any class of objects.

Leading terms used to designate the shape of fruits are as fol-
lows: Conical, length equal to or greater than the breadth and the
upper shoulders narrowed (Fig. 115); ovate, broader than the conical
(Fig. 116); obovate, inversely ovate (larger at the apex); oblong,
length equal to or greater than the breadth, and sides parallel or very
nearly so; oblate, distinctly flattened endwise (Fig. 117); lop-sided
(Fig. 118). Combinations of these terms with themselves (Fig. 119),

Fig. 118. Lop-sided.

Appendix. 487

and with such common adjectives as spherical, round, short, flat,
enable one to designate the form of the more irregular fruits.

The ends or extremities of fruits are described by technical terms.
In pome-like fruits, the depression in the apex (or blossom end) is
known as the basin (d, e, Fig. 120). The depression at the base (or
stem end) is the cavity (a, b, c, Fig. 120). The basin is broad and
deep in e, and small and shallow in d; and it is corrugated or fur-
rowed in Fig. 117. The cavity is narrow and deep in a, broad and
deep in c, and narrow and shallow in b. In the basin sits the calyx
or eye. This calyx is open in e, and closed in d. The stalk or stem
is short in a, very short in 6, and long and slender in c. In stone-
fruits, the depressions at apex and base are less marked, and the
term basin is not used; but cavity is used for the depression about
the stem. The longitudinal furrow or depression on the side of a
stone-fruit (as of a peach or plum) is known as a suture.

In describing the color of a fruit, it is customary to assume an
under-color or ground-color, which is laid on nearly or quite uni-
formly over the entire surface, and over which the markings are dis
played. This ground-color is therefore the prevailing tone of yellow
or green, or other subdued color, which shows between the spots and
streaks, underneath the solid red or purple, and on the uncolored
side of the fruit. A fruit is striped when it is marked by broad and
more or less definite longitudinal bands; streaked when the markings
are very narrow, as in Fig. 115; splashed when the stripes are broken
and irregular; mottled when marked by large confluent dots.

The quality of a fruit is determined by its texture and its flavor.
The texture is said to be hard, coarse, gritty, rough, fine-grained,
buttery, melting. The flavor is described as poor, good, very good
(largely matters of individual taste), sweet, acid or sour, subacid or
nourish (that is, only slightly sour), dry, juicy, vinous (with a lively
wine-like suggestion), aromatic, and the like.

The names of varieties should be short and modest; and a name
which has once been used should not be used again in the same class
of fruit, even though the variety to which it was first applied should
have become extinct. All titles, as General, Professor, President, and
all extravagant adjectives, as superb, magnificent, grand, should be
omitted from the name of the variety. The standard practice in this
country is that specified in the rules adopted by the American Pomo-
logical Society. Helpful suggestions may also be found in the rules
adopted by a committee of horticulturists for the naming of vege-
tables, and published in "Annals of Horticulture for 1889."

488 Appendix.

III. AMERICAN BOOKS ON FRUIT-GROWING.

The subjoined bibliography comprises all the American books in
the author's library which are devoted to the general discussion of
fruit-growing. It omits all works upon particular pomological topics,
as small-fruits, grapes, oranges, and the like. Inventories of these
special books belong properly in the works which shall be devoted
to the various classes of fruits.

BAILEY, L. H.

GARDEN-MAKING. Suggestions for the utilizing of home grounds.
Aided by L. R. Taft, F. A. Waugh, Ernest Walker. New York
and London. 1898. [c. 1898.*] The Macmillan Company, pp. vii
+ 417. 7x5t. [The Garden-Craft Series.]

— Same. Reprinted 1898. pp. vii -j- 417.

— Same, 3rd ed., revised, pp. vii -j- 417.

BAILEY, L. H.

THE NURSERY -BOOK ; a complete guide to the multiplication and

pollination of plants. Illustrated. New York. 1891. [c. 1891.]

The Rural Publishing Company, pp. 304. 7^x5%.
-Same, 3rd ed. New York and London. 1896. fc. 1896.] The

Macmillan Company, pp. xi-|-365. 7x4%. [The Garden-Craft

Series.]
-Same, 4th ed. 1900. pp. xi + 365.

BAILEY, L. H.

THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT-GROWING. Illustrated. New York and
London. 1897. [c. 1897.] The Macmillan Company, pp. xi-f 508.
7x4%. [The Rural Science Series.]
-Same, 2nd edition. 1898. pp. xvii + 514.

BAILEY, L. H.

THE PRUNING-BOOK. A monograph of the pruning and training of
plants as applied to American conditions. Illustrated. New York
and London. 1898. [c. 1898.] The Macmillan Company, pp. ix
+ 537. 7x5. [The Garden-Craft Series.]
-Same, 2nd ed. 1899. pp. ix + 545.

»Date of copyright.

t Length and width of volume, in inches.

Appendix.

BAKER, CHARLES R.

PRACTICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC FRUIT-CULTURE. Illustrated. Boston
1866. [c. 1866.] Lee & Shepard. pp. 523. 8^x5%.

BARRY, P.

THE FRUIT GARDEN; a treatise intended to explain and illustrate
the physiology of fruit trees, the theory and practice of all
operations connected with the propagation, transplanting, prun-
ing and training of orchard and garden trees, as standards,
dwarfs, pyramids, espaliers, etc., the laying out and arranging
different kinds of orchards and gardens, the selection of suit-
able varieties for different purposes and localities, gathering and
preserving fruits, treatment of diseases, destruction of insects,
descriptions and uses of implements, etc. Illustrated with up-
wards of 150 figures, representing different parts of trees, all
practical operations, forms of trees, designs for plantations, im-
plements, etc. New York. 1860. [c. 1851.] C. M. Saxton,
Barker & Co. pp. xiv + 398. 7^x5.

— Same. New edition. Revised and brought down to date, by the
author. Illustrated. New York. 1888. [c. 1883.] Orange Judd
Company, pp. xvi+516. 7%x5.

BEADLE, D. W.

CANADIAN FRUIT, FLOWER, AND KITCHEN GARDENER ; a guide in
all matters relating to the cultivation of fruits, flowers and
vegetables, and their value for cultivation in this climate. Il-
lustrated. Colored plates. Toronto. 1872. [c. 1872.] James
Campbell & Son. pp. xvi + 391. 9x6.

BEECHER, HENRY WARD.

PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK ABOUT FRUITS, FLOWERS AND FARMING.

New York. 1859. [c. 1859]. Derby & Jackson. A. O. Moore &

Co. pp. viii + 420. 7^ + 5.
— Same, new edition, with additional matter from recent writings,

published and unpublished. New York. 1874. [c. 1873.] J. B.

Ford & Co. pp. vii -f- 498. 7%x5.

BR£HAUT, REV. T. COLLINGS.

CORDON TRAINING OF FRUIT TREES ; diagonal, vertical, spiral, hori-
zontal, adapted to the orchard-house and open-air culture. With
a supplement containing remarks on cordon training, the culti-
yation and pruning of peach trees in pots, the best varieties of

490 Appendix.

fruits for pot-culture ; and general remarks on orchard-houses
adapted to the climate of the United States. By C. M. Hovey.
Illustrated. Boston. 1864. [ n. c.] Hovey & Co. pp. 112.
9x5%. [The supplement, pp. 79-112, is by Hovey.]

BRIDGEMAN, THOMAS.

THE FRUIT-CULTIVATOR'S MANUAL ; containing ample directions for
the cultivation of the most important fruits, including the cran-
berry, the fig, and grape, with descriptive lists of the most
admired varieties. And a calendar, showing the work necessary
to be done in the orchard and fruit-garden every month of the
year. The whole adapted to the climate of the United States.
Portrait. New York. 1845. [c. 1844.] A. Hanford. pp. vi +
175. 1% x 4%.
-Same. New York. 1847. [c. 1847.] pp. vi-j-189. 7^x4K.

HRINCKLE, WILLIAM D., Editor.

HOFPY'S NORTH AMERICAN POMOLOGIST; containing numerous fiuelv
colored drawings, accompanied by letter press descriptions, etc..
of fruits of American origin. Portrait. Book No. I. Philadel
phia. 1860. [c. I860.] Prepared and published by A. Hoffy.
pp. vi + 44. 10% x 8.

COLE, S. W.

THE AMERICAN FRUIT-BOOK; containing directions for raising,
propagating, and managing fruit-trees, shrubs, and plants; with
a description of the best varieties of fruit, including new and
valuable kinds; embellished and illustrated with numerous en-
gravings of fruits, trees, insects, grafting, budding, training, etc.,
etc. Eighteenth thousand. Boston. 1850. [n. c.] John P. Jewett
& Co.; New York. C. M. Saxton. pp. 288. 6x4.

COLLINGWOOD, H. W.

FERTILIZERS AND FRUIT. A trip among growers in the famous
Hudson River fruit district. Best quality in fruit. New York.
1893. [c. 1893.] The Rural Publishing Co. pp.27. 7^x5. [The
Rural Library, Vol. I., No. 25, Dec.]

COXE, WILLIAM.

A VIEW OF THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT TREES, AND THE MAN-
AGEMENT OF ORCHARDS AND CIDER; with accurate descriptions
of the most estimable varieties of native and foreign apples.

Appendix. 491

pears, peaches, plums, and cherries, cultivated in the Middle
States of America; illustrated by cuts of two hundred kinds
of fruits of the natural size; intended to explain some of the
errors which exist relative to the origin, popular names, and
character of many of our fruits; to identify them by accurate
descriptions of their properties, and correct delineations of the
full size and natural formation of each variety; and to ex-
hibit a system of practice adapted to our climate, in the suc-
cessive stages of a nursery, orchard, and cider establish-
ment. Philadelphia. 1817. [c. 1817.] Published by M. Carey
& Son. D. A II in-on. printer, pp. iv + 268. 8%x5%.

TKEIGHTON, W. .(>.

FRUIT-GROWING FOK PROFIT; comprising a complete history of
apple culture, from the time the seeds are planted until the
proceeds are pocketed. With chapters on the plum, pear, cherry,
strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, currant and gooseberry. Hali-
fax, N. S. 1891. [n. c.] Nova Scotia Printing Co. pp. 52.
$y,x5lA.

DOWNING, A. J.

THE FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES OF AMERICA ; or the culture, propa-
gation, and management, in the garden and orchard, of fruit
trees generally; with descriptions of all the finest varieties of
fruit, native and foreign, cultivated in this country. Illustrated
with many engravings. New York and London. 1845. [c. 1845. |
Wiley & Putnam, pp. xiv-|-594. 8x5.
-Same (6th ed.), 1846. [c. 1845.] pp. xiv-|-594. 8x5.
-Same (7th ed.), 1847. [c. 1845.] pp. xiv-f594. 8x5.

— Same [with wide margin and colored plates]. 1847. [c. 1845.]
pp. xiv-f 594. 10x6%.

-Same (9th ed.) 1849. [c. 1845.] John Wiley, pp. xiv + 594.
8x5.

— Same, revised and corrected by Charles Downing. 1860. [c. 1857].
John Wiley, pp. xiii-|-760. 8x5.

-Same, 1864. [c. 1857.] pp. xix + 760. 8x5.

-Same, second revision and correction, with large additions, in-
cluding the appendices of 1872 to 1881, and containing many
new varieties, by Charles Downing, with nearly 400 outline illus-
trations of fruit. 1890. [c. 1872.] John Wiley & Sons. pp.
xxiv + I,098 + ix-fl89. 9^x6.

-Same, appendices I., II., III. 1881. [c. 1881.] pp. xii+189

492 Appendix.

DOWNING, CHARLES.

SELECTED FRUITS; from Downing' s Fruits and Fruit-Trees of Amer-
ica. With some new varieties ; including their culture, propaga-
tion, and management in the garden and orchard. Illustrated with
upwards of four hundred outlines of apples, cherries, grapes,
plums, pears, etc. New York. 1871. [c. 1871.] John Wiley &
Son. pp. x-f 679. 8x5%.

-Same, fifth edition. 1845. [c. 1845.] pp. xiv -f 594. 8x5.
ELLIOTT, F. R.

FRUIT BOOK ; or, the American fruit-grower's guide in orchard
and garden. Being a compend of the history, modes of propa-
gation, culture, etc., of fruit trees and shrubs, with descriptions
of nearly all the varieties of fruits cultivated ' in this country ;
notes of their adaptation to localities and soils, and also a com-
plete list of fruits worthy of cultivation. Illustrated. New York.
1854. [c. 1854]. C. M. Saxton. pp. ix-f-503. 8x5.

— Same, THE WESTERN FRUIT-BOOK; new edition, revised, en-
larged and improved. New York. n. d. [c. 1859.] Orange
Judd Co. pp. xi-f 528. 7%x5.

ELLIOTT, F. R.

HAND-BOOK FOR FRUIT-GROWERS; containing a short history of
fruits and their value, instructions as to soils and locations, how
to grow from seeds, how to bud and graft, the making of cut-
tings, pruning, best age for transplanting, etc., etc. With a list
of varieties suited to climate. Illustrated. Made for those who
grow fruit for their own use. New edition, enlarged. Rochester,
[c. 1876.] Rochester Lithographing Co. No date. pp. 144.
7x5M.
ELLIOTT, WILLIAM R.

PRACTICAL AND COMPREHENSIVE TREATISE ON FRUIT AND FLORAI,
CULTURE, and a few hints on landscape gardening. Illustrated.
n. d. [Philadelphia advertisements interspersed.] pp. 100.
7x4%.
EMMONS, EBENEZER.

AGRICULTURE OP NEW YORK: comprising an account of the classifi-
cation, composition and distribution of the soils and rocks, and the
natural waters of the different geological formations; together with
a condensed view of the climate and the agricultural productions of
the state. Many colored plates. Vol. Ill [comprising an account
of the fruits]. Albany. 1851. pp. viii-f-340. 11x9. [In Natural
History of New York.]

Appendix. 498

PORSYTH, WILLIAM.

AN EPITOME OF MR. FORSYTH'S TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND
MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES. Also, notes on American garden-
ing and fruits; with designs for promoting the ripening of fruits
and securing them as family comforts; and further, of economi-
cal principles in building farmers' habitations. By an American
farmer. Philadelphia. 1803. [n. c.] Printed by T. L. Plowman
for John Morgan, pp. 186 + 6. 8%x5}£.

PORSYTH, WILLIAM.

A TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES;
in which a new method of pruning and training is fully de-
scribed. Together with observations on the diseases, defects,
and injuries in all kinds of fruit and forest trees; as also, an
account of a particular method of cure, made public by order
of the British government. To which are added an introduction
and notes, adapting the rules of the treatise to the climate and
seasons of the United States of America. By William Cobbett.
Plate. New York. 1802. [n. c.] Ezra Sargeant & Co. pp.
viii + 259. 8%x5M.

-Same. Albany. 1803. [n. c.] D. & S. Whiting, pp. xii-j-280.
8%x5}£. Contains at the close a commendatory letter from
Peter W. Yates, of Albany.
FULLER, ANDREW S.

THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS; giving the principles which gov-
ern the development and growth of plants, their botanical affini-
ties and peculiar properties; also, descriptions of the process
by which varieties and species are crossed or hybridized, and
the many different methods by which cultivated plants may be
propagated and multiplied. Illustrated with numerous engrav-
ings. New York. 1887. [c. 1887.] Orange Judd Co., David W.
Judd, president, pp. x-f349. 7%x5.

GOODRICH, CHAUNCEY.

THE NORTHERN FRUIT CULTURIST; or, the farmer's guide to the
orchard and fruit garden. Illustrated. Burlington. 1849. [c.
1849.] Chauncey Goodrich, pp. viii-)-108. 7Kx4%.
— Same, second edition, corrected and enlarged. Burlington. 1850.
[c. 1849.] Chauncey Goodrich, pp. <-"i-f-112. 7%x4%.

GREEN, CHARLES A.

GREEN'S FOUR BOOKS, devoted to- 1. How we made the old
farm pay. 2. Peach culture. 3. How to propagate fruit-plants,
vines and trees. 4. General fruit instructor. Illustrated.

494 Appendix.

Rochester, N. Y. 1897. [c. 1895.] Green's Nursery Co. pp. 119.
9x6. [New edition of 1897.]
'JREEN, CHARLES A.

GREEN'S Six BOOKS, devoted to apple culture, pear culture, plum
and cherry culture, raspberry and blackberry culture, grape cul-
ture, strawberry, currant, gooseberry and persimmon culture.
Illustrated. Rochester, N. Y. 1896. [c. 1894.] Green's Nursery
Co., N. Y. pp. 142. 9x<i. [New edition of 1896-1
(JREEN, CHARLES A.

How TO PROPAGATE AND GROW FRUIT; editor of Green's Fruit
Grower. Two colored plates. Over fifty illustrations. Rochester.
N. Y. n. d. [c. 1885.] pp. 80. 9Kx(i.

GREEN, SAMUEL B.

AMATEUR FRUIT GROWING; a practical guide to the growing of
fruit for home use and the market. Written with special ref-
erence to colder climates. Illustrated. Minneapolis. 1894.
[c. 1893.] Farm, Stock and Home Publishing Co. pp.132. 7%x5.

.iREGG, THOMAS.

A HAND-BOOK OP FRUIT-CULTURE ; being a guide to the cultivation
and management of fruit trees; with condensed descriptious of
many of the best and most popular varieties in the United States.
Illustrated with ninety engravings. With an appendix containing
a variety of useful memoranda on the subject, valuable household
receipts, etc. N. Y. n. d. [c. 1857.] Fowler & Wells, pp.
viii+163. 7^x4%.

GURNEY, C. W.

NORTHWESTERN POMOLOGY; a treatise on the growing and care
of trees, fruits and flowers in the northwestern states. Concord.
Nebraska. 1894. |c. 1894.] Pub. by Author, pp. W.I. 8x5^.

HARCOUBT, HELEN.

FLORIDA FRUITS, AND How TO RAISE THEM. Revised and en-
larged edition, with elaborate index of subjects. Louisville,
Ky. 1866. [c. 1866.] John P. Morton & Co. pp. 347. 8x5K-
HOOPER, E. .1.

HOOPER'S WESTERN FRUIT-BOOK: a compendious collection of facts,
from the notes and experience of successful fruit culturists.
arranged for practical use in the orchard and garden. Colored
plates. Cincinnati. 1857. [c. 1857.] Moore, Wilstach, Keys
& Co. pp. x-f-333. 8x5.

-Same, 3rd edition, completely revised. 1858. [c. 1857.] pp.
x + 355. 8x5.

Appendix. 495

HOVEY, C. M.

THE FPUITS OF AMERICA; <-,outaining richly colo.-ed figures, and
full descriptions of all the choicest varieties cultivated in the
United States. Boston. Vol. I., Hovey & Co. 1852. [c. 1851.]
pp.100. Vol. II., Hovey & Co. 1856. [c. 1851.] pp.96. 11^x8.
[In Cornell Univ. Library, Vol. II. has 24 pp. of Vol. III., but no
title. Vol. III. was never completed.]

H()\V TO GROW FRUIT, FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES ; aud the lan-
guage of flowers. New York. Norman L. Munro. No date.
Paper, pp.68. 6^x4.

IVES, JOHN M.

See Manning, Robert. The New England Fruit-Book.
.IAQUES, GEORGE.

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES;
with descriptive lists of the most valuable fruits for general
cultivation; adapted to the interior ot New England. Worcester.
1849. [c. 1849.] Erastus N. Tucker, pp. 256. 6%x4%. [Bound
as Jaques' N. E. Fruit Trees.]
.IENKINS, J.

ART OF PROPAGATION; a hand-book for nurserymen, florists, gar
deners, and everybody. Illustrated. Winoua, Columbia Co., Ohio.
1886. [c. 187fi.] Jenkins' Grape and Seedling Nursery, pp. 31.
9 x 6.

KKXKICK. WILLIAM.

THE NEW AMERICAN ORCHARIMST; or, an account of the most
valuable varieties of fruit, adapted to cultivation in the climate
of the United States, from the latitude of 25° to 54°, with their
uses, modes of culture, and management; remedies for the mala-
dies to which they are subject, from noxious insects, and other
causes, etc. Also, a brief description of the most ornamental
forest trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. Boston. 183H. [c. 1832.] Car
tcr. Kendel & Co., and Russell, Odiorne & Co. pp. xxxvi + 428.
7Kx4X.

KKXKICK, WILLIAM.

THE NEW AMERICAN ORCHARDIST; or, an account of the most
valuable varieties of fruit, of all climates, adapted to cultiva-
tion in the United States, with their history, modes of culture,
management, uses, etc. And the culture of silk. With an ap-
pendix on vegetables, ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers.
Second edition, enlarged and improved. Boston. 1835. [c. 1835. •
Kussell. Odiorne & Metcalf. pp. 418. 7%x43/i.

496 Appendix.

KENRICK, WILLIAM.

THE NEW AMERICAN ORCHARDIST; or, an account of the most
valuable varieties of fruit, of all climates, adapted to cultiva-
tion in the United States; with their history, modes of culture,
management, uses, etc. With an appendix on vegetables, orna-
mental trees, shrubs and flowers, the agricultural resources of
America, and on silk, etc. Third edition, enlarged and im-
proved. Boston. 1841. [c. 1841.] Otis, Broaders & Co. pp.
449. 7%x4%.

— Same, 5th edition, enlarged and improved. 1842. [c. 1841.] pp.
449. 7%x5.

— Same. 6th edition, enlarged and improved. With a supplement.

1843. [c. 1841.] pp. 450. 7^x5.

— Same, 7th edition, enlarged and improved. With a supplement.

1844. [c. 1841.] pp.450. 7%x5.

— Same, 8th edition, enlarged and improved. With a supplement.
1848. [c. 1841.] pp.450. 7^x5.

KITCHEN AND FRUIT GARDENER, THE; a select manual of kitchen
gardening, and culture of fruits, containing familiar directions
for the most approved practice in each department, descriptions
of many valuable fruits, and a calendar of work to be performed
each month in the year. The whole adapted to the climate of
the United States. Philadelphia. 1844. [c. 1844.] Lea & Blan-
chard. pp. xii+118. 7%x4%. [An American edition of an
English work. Bound with the Complete Florist.]

KNOWLTON, t>. H.

FBUIT CULTURE; its possibilities in Maine. A paper delivered
before the winter meeting of the Maine State Pomological So-
ciety, held in Bangor, Feb. 24 and 25, 1891. Farmington, Maine.
pp.12. 6x3. [Separately printed.]

LACY, T. JAY.

FRUIT CULTURE FOR THE GULP STATES, south of latitude 32°.
Alexandria, La. 1888. [c. 1888.] Press of Town Talk. pp. 50.
6^x4>i.

LABSEN, HENRY.

MANUAL FOR THE PRUNING AND CULTURE OF ALL KINDS OF FRUIT
TREES; and directions for the destruction of the curculio and
other insects. Philadelphia. 1860. [c. 1859.] James Challen &
Son. pp. 75. 6x4.

LAWSON, WILLIAM.

A NEW ORCHARD AND GARDEN; or, the best way for planting,

Appendix. 497

grafting, and to make any ground good, for a rich orchard.
Particularly in the north, and generally for the whole king-
dom of England, as in nature, reason, situation, and all proba-
bilitie, may and doth appeare. With the country housewife's
garden for herbs of common use, their vertues, seasons, profits,
ornaments, varietie of knots, models for trees, and plots for the
best ordering of grounds and walkes. As also the husbandry
of bees, with their several uses and annoyances, all being the
experiences of 48 years' labour, and. now the third time cor-
rected and much enlarged, by William Lawson. Whereunto is
newly added the art of propagating plants, with the true or-
dering of all manner of fruits, in their gathering, carrying home,
and preservation. Printed at London by J. H. for Francis Wil-
liams. 1626. Illustrated. Philadelphia. 1858. [n. c.] Robert
Pearsall Smith, pp. 39. 9Mx6. [Reprint.]

LINDLEY, GEORGE.

A GUIDE TO THE ORCHARD AND FRUIT GARDEN; or, an account
of the most valuable fruits cultivated in Great Britian. With
additions of all the most valuable fruits cultivated in America,
with directions for their cultivation, budding, grafting and prop-
agation, pruning and training of standard, open dwarf and
espalier fruit trees, adapted to the climate of the United States
of America. A new edition, with an appendix, describing many
American fruits not mentioned in the former edition. Illustrated.
New York. 1846. [c. 1846.] J. C. Riker. pp.xi + 420. 1V**V/*.

LODEMAN, E. G.

THE SPRAYING OF PLANTS; a succinct account of the application
of liquids and powders to plants for the purpose of destroying
insects and fungi. With a preface by B. T. Galloway. Portrait
of A. Millardet. Illustrated. New York and London. 1896. [c.
1896.] Macmillan & Co. pp. xvii-f 399. 7x5. [The Rural Science
Series, edited by L. H. Bailey.]

.MANNING, ROBERT.

BOOK OF FRUITS; being a descriptive catalogue of the most val-
uable varieties of the pear, apple, peach, plum and cherry, for
New England culture. To which is added the gooseberry, cur-
rant, raspberry, strawberry, and the grape; with modes of cul-
ture. Also, hardy ornamental trees and shrubs. With plates.
First series for 1838. Salem. 1838. [c. 1838.] Published by
Ives & Jewett. pp. 120. 7^x4%.

498 Appendix.

MANNING, EGBERT.

THE NEW ENGLAND FRUIT BOOK; being a descriptive catalogue
of the most valuable varieties of the pear, apple, peach, plum
and cherry, for New England culture. To which is added other
varieties; also the grape, quince, gooseberry, currant, and straw-
berry; with outlines of many of the finest pears, drawn from
nature; with directions for pruning, grafting, budding, and gen-
eral modes of culture. Second edition, enlarged by John M.
Ives. Salem and Boston. 1844. [c. 1844.] Pub. by W. &
S. B. Ives, Salem. B*. B. Mussey, Boston, pp. 133. 7%x4%.

MAYNARD, S. T.

THE PRACTICAL FRUIT-GROWER. Profusely illustrated. Spring-
field, Mass. 1898. [c. 1885.] The Phelps Publishing Company.
pp. 128. 1% x 5.

MCNEIL, j. w

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Hazlehurst, Miss. 1888. [n. c.] Copiah
Signal print, pp. 21. 9x5%.

NEILL, PATRICK.

THE FRUIT, FLOWER, AND KITCHEN GARDEN. Adapted to the
United States, from the fourth edition, revised and improved
by the author. Illustrated. Philadelphia. 1851. [c. 1851.] Henry
Carey Baird. pp. ix-j-427. 7%x4%.

NEILL, PATRICK.

THE PRACTICAL FRUIT, FLOWER AND VEGETABLE GARDENER'S COM-
PANION, with a calendar; adapted to the United States from
the fourth edition, revised and improved by the author. Edited
by G. Emerson. With notes and additions by R. G. Pardee.
With elegant illustrations. New York. 1858. [c. 1855.] A. O.
Moore, pp. xiv+408. 7^x5%.

NUTTING, W. R.

CALIFORNIA VIEWS IN NATURAL COLORS. The California Illus-
trated Series. Vol. I., No. 2. San Francisco. April, 1889.
[c. 1889.] California View Publishing Co. pp. 30. 7x10%.
PARKER, S. C., Editor.

PROFITS AND COSTS OF FRUIT-GROWING IN NOVA SCOTIA. 1893.

pp. 16. 8^x6.
PEEK, S. W.

THE NURSERY AND ORCHARD; a practical treatise on fruit cul-
ture. Illustrated. Atlanta, Ga. 1885. [c. 1885.] Jas. P. Harri-
son & Co. pp. 208. 7%s5.

Appendix. 499

PHILLIPS, NORMAN

HISTORY OF FRUIT-GROWING IN SOUTH HAVEN, MICH. President
Phillips' second annual address. [Read before the South Haven
Pomological Society, Dec. 30, 1872.]

POOLE, MRS. HESTER M.

FRUITS, AND How TO USE THEM; a practical manual for house-
keepers; containing nearly seven hundred recipes for whole-
some preparations of foreign and domestic fruits. New York.
1890. [c. 1889. ] Fowler & Wells, pp.242. 7%x5.

POWELL, E. C., Editor.

FRUIT PACKAGES: the current styles of baskets, boxes, crates and
barrels used in marketing fruits in all parts of the country.
Fully illustrated. New York. 1893. [c. 1893.] The Rural Pub-
lishing Co. pp.62. 7%x5. [The Rural Library, Vol. I., No.
19. June.]

PRINCE, WILLIAM ROBERT.

THE POMOLOGICAL MANUAL ; or, a treatise on fruits; containing
descriptions of a great number of the most valuable varieties
for the orchard and garden. Aided by William Prince. Parts
I. and II. New York. 1831. [c. 1831.] T. & J. Swords, G. &
C. & H. Carvill, E. Bliss, Collins & Co., G. Thorburn & Sons,
New York; Judah Dobson, Philadelphia; J. B. Russell, Boston;
Gideon B. Smith, Baltimore; James Winston, Richmond; and
Joseph Simmons, Charleston. S. C. pp. vi + 200, vi-j-216. 9x5%.
[Parts separately bound.]

-Same, parts I. and II., 2nd edition. 1832. [c. 1831.] pp.
vi-j-200, xvi-j-216. 9x5%. [Bound together.]

RIVERS, THOMAS.

THE MINIATURE FRUIT GARDEN ; or, the culture of pyramidal and
bush fruit trees. From the 13th English edition. Illustrated.
New York. n. d. Orange Judd Company, pp. x -}- 133. IVt x 5.
[Publisher's preface dated 1866.]

— Same. With instructions for root-pruning, etc. 15th edition.
Boston. 1870. J. E. Tilton & Co. pp. x-f!56. 6%x4%. [Printi-d
from the English plates.]

SAYERS, E.

THE AMERICAN FRUIT GARDEN COMPANION; being a practical trea-
tise on the propagation and culture of fruit, adapted to the
Northern and Middle States. Boston. 1839. [c. 1838. J Weeks
.Jordan & Co. pp. xv-j-174. 7x4%.

500 Appendix.

STRONG, w. c.

FRUIT CULTURE; and the laying out and management of a country
home. Illustrated. Boston. 1885. [c. 1885.] Houghton, Mifflin
& Co. pp. v + 202. 7x4%.

-Same, New York. 1892. [c. 1885.] The Rural Publishing Co.
pp. xiv + 231. 7^x5.

THACHER, JAMES.

THE AMERICAN ORCHARDIST; or, a practical treatise on the culture
and management of apple and other fruit trees, with observa-
tions on the diseases to which they are liable, and their reme-
dies. To which is added the most approved method of manu-
facturing and preserving cider, compiled from the latest and
most approved authorities, and adapted to the use of American
farmers. Boston. 1822. [c. 1822.] Printed and published by
Joseph W. Ingraham. pp. vi-j-226. 9x5%.

— Same, bound with AMERICAN ORCHARDIST and COTTAGE ECONOMY.
By William Cobbett.

^HACKER, JAMES.

THE AMERICAN ORCHARDIST; or, a practical treatise on the cul-
ture and management of apple and other fruit trees, with ob-
servations on the diseases to which, they are liable, and their
remedies. To which is added the most approved method of
manufacturing and preserving cider, and also wine from apple
juice and currants. Adapted to the use of American farmers,
and all lovers and cultivators of fine fruit. Second edition,
much improved. Plymouth, Mass. 1825. [c. 1825.] Published
by Ezra Collier, pp. iv + 234. 7x4%.

THOMAS, JOHN J.

THE AMERICAN FRUIT CULTURIST; containing directions for the
propagation and culture of fruit trees in the nursery, orchard
and garden. With descriptions of the principal American an'? '
foreign varieties cultivated in the United States. Illustrated
with three hundred accurate figures. Fourth edition. Auburn.
1850. [c. 1849.] Derby, Miller & Co. pp. xiv-(-420. 7%x5.

-Same, 1851. fc. 1849.] pp. xiv-f-410. 7%x5.

-Same, Auburn and Buffalo. 1854. [c. 1849.] Miller, Orton &
Mulligan, pp. xiv-j-421. 7%x5.

-Same, New York. 1858. [c. 1849.] C. M. Saxton. pp. xiv-f 424.
7% x 5. Same also by Miller, Orton & Mulligan.

— Same. Illustrated with four hundred and eighty accurate figures.
New York. 1867. [c. 1867.] William Wood & Co. pp. vi-f-511.
8x5%.

Appendix. 501

THOMAS, JOHN J.

THE AMERICAN FRUIT CULTURIST ; containing practical directions
for the propagation and culture of all fruits adapted to the
United States. A thoroughly revised edition [8th], illustrated
with five hundred and eight accurate figures. Colored frontis-
piece. New York. 1875. [c. 1885.] William Wood & Co. pp.
vi-f-576. 9x6M-

— Same. A thoroughly revised edition, illustrated with five hun-
dred and nineteen accurate figures. New York. 1885. [c. 1875-
1885]. William Wood & Co. pp. vi -(- 593. 7% x 5.

-Same, 20th edition, revised and enlarged by William H. S. Wood.
Illustrated with nearly eight hundred accurate figures. 1897.
[c. 1875, 1885, 1897.] pp. xv -f- 758. 8Ji x 5%.

THOMAS, JOHN J.

THE FRUIT CULTURIST ; adapted to the climate of the northern

states; containing directions for raising young trees in the

nursery, and for the management of the orchard and fruit

garden. Fourth edition. Illustrated. New York. 1847. [c.

1846.] Mark H. Newman & Co. pp. vi-f 216. 6%x4%.
\VICKSON, EDWARD J.

CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED, No. I. The Vacaville early fruit district

of California. Second edition. Colored plates. San Francisco.

1888. [c. 1888.] California View Publishing Co. pp. viii +149 +

viii. 10% x7.

WICKSON, EDWARD J.

THE CALIFORNIA FRUITS, AND How TO GROW THEM. A manual of
luethods which have yielded greatest success; with lists of va-
rieties best adapted to the different districts of the state. First,
edition. Illustrated. San Francisco. 1889. [c. 1889.] Dewey &
Co. pp. vi-f 575. 9x6.

— Same. Second edition, revised and enlarged. 1891. [c. 1889.]
pp. viii -f 599. 9x6.

-Same. 3rd ed., largely rewritten. 1900. [c. 1899.] Pacific
Rural Press, pp. viii + 477. 9x6.

INDEX.

Acers, growth of
Achras
vEsculus, growths of
Agents
Age of trees for planting
Air-currents
— currents and frost
heating

PAGE

....165
4
....166
....236
....233
.... 47
....119
120

Apple and the scab
— culture, status of
— growing, status of
— root, broken

PAG*

...347,354
136
30
280
161

soils f or ^

10

449

8

Alabama, frost
Alcohol as preservative
Alligator pear

.... 125
....458
5
.... 5
.... 89
93
.... 166

Apples, age for planting
— and cedar-apples

233
78
,,.240,273

Almond, kinds of
— for wind-breaks
— mulching
Alnus, growths of

— exporting
— fertilizers in
— grading

409
...203,205
...402, 403

401

....267
.... 55
9

Altitude and frosts

— injured by cold
_ in sod

325
172
...380, 397

Alwood, W. B., on storing

....452

— keeping

166

459

American Net & Twine Co
Ammoniacal copper carb
Ammonia test for Paris green . .
Amorpha, growth of
Ampelopsis, growth of

....296
....369
374
.... 166
166
4

P. . 8

291

-J

229

437

— temperature for keeping. .
thinning

...444.450
...300, 306

280

Analyses of cover crops

201

— with peaches

...241, 242
. . ..413

7

Andrews, W. S., quoted
Aniline dyes
Anonaceous fruits
Anona, species of
— zone
Anthracnose . . .

....114
....416
4
.... 4
.... 8
:i47

— trees, and latitude
grafting

...243,265

; 206

03

251-253

Apricot-culture, status of . . .
- flower injured —

137
...317-321

(503)

504

Index.

PAGE

Apricots, distance for 240

— for wind-breaks 89

— how to pick 384

— species of 3

Aralia, growth of 166

Arbor vitas for wind-breaks 89

Arbutus 5

Arizona 9

Arsenic, arsenites 370-377

Artocarpus 3

Ashes, mounds of 295

Asimina 4

Aspect 60

Associations, shipping 471

Atmospheric drainage 48-59

Auction sales 464

Audibert system 117

Authors on wind-breaks 71

Bacterial diseases 349

Bagging fruit '. .353

Banana 7

— zone 8

Barbadoes gooseberry 7

Bark -bound trees 285

Barley for cover 192, 202

Barnett, quoted 474

Barnyard manure 211

Barrel presses 433

Barrenness of orchards 342

Barry, quoted 72

— W. C., quoted 33

Barton, H. L., quoted 154

Baskets 417

Basswoods for wind-breaks 89

Batting berries 395

Beach, S. A., quoted. . .228, 230, 301, 334

Beans in orchard 187, 192, 202

Beckwith on preserving fruits 460

Bellet, Du, on preserving 458

Ben Davis apple, region for 226

Benedict, mentioned 396

Berberis, growth of 166

Berries, keeping 444

— packing 406

Berry stands 386

Betulas, growth of

Birds, protecting from

— migrations of

Blackberries, age for setting

— and rust. . .-

— distance for

— laying down

— mulching

— on low lands

— species of

— thinning

-tilling

PAGR
...166

. 93
. 59
. 6
.305
.281

when to pick ,

Blackberry flowers, killed

Black-knot

Blodgett, quoted

Blossoms, effect of rain on

Body-blight

Bone

Boneblack

Books for record

Bordeaux mixture, formula

for wounds

Borers in grass lands

— keeping out

Boussingault, quoted

Box-scraper

Bramble-fruits

Bread-fruit

Bread-stuffs, raising of

Bridgeman, quoted

Buckwheat for cover

Budding young stocks

Budd, quoted

Bud-moth .'

Buds, winter-killing of

Buffalo berries, nv.ilchirg

— berry

.328

. 22
. 80
.333
.287
218
.217
.307
.371
, 314
.172
.295
.115
.287

Bug, what is a

Buildings for storage 426,

Burrill, quoted

Bush-fruits, defined

Butternut

Buying trees

California, frost

, 202
.235
. 51
.369
,321
. 93
. 6
. 25
, 444
.281
. 0
. 4
.235
.112

Index.

505

PAGE

California fruits, packing 410

— shipping from 468

— spraying for frost 106, 110

— wind-breaks in 76, 77, 89

Canada, frosts 43

Cane-fruits 6

Canker-worm 78, 369

Canned goods 32

Caraunda 6

Carbolic soap 285

Carbonate copper 369

Card, F. W ..305

— on rain 339

Carica 5

Carissa 6

Carob 4

Carolinas, frost 125

Carpinus, growth of 166

Cars, refrigerator 466

Caryas, growth of 167

Cashew 5

Casimiroa 3

Castaneas, growth of 167

— species of 5

Catalpa, growth of 167

Catch crops 164,184

Cedar-apples 78

Celery, keeping 444, 445

Cellars 436, 438

Celtis, growth of 167

Ceratonia 4

Cercis, growth of 167

Ceriman 7

Chart of frost 126

Chautauqua 41, 42, 52

-freeze 327

Chemical fertilizers 212

Cherimoya 4

Cherries and birds 296

— distance for 240, 273

— how to pick 384

— keeping 397, 444

— shaking off 395

— species of 3

— when to pick 382

PAGE

Cherry-culture, status of 137

Cherry-knot 22

Cherry, Surinam 4

— trees in Virginia 243

Chestnuts for wind-breaks 89

— species of 5

Chicago, market of 474

Chill room 436

Chinquapin 5

Chrysophyllum 4

Cions, selection of 234

Citron 3

Citrous fruits 3

— groves, frosts 107

— zone 8

Citrus, species of 3

Cladrastis, growth of 167

Clinton, L. A., quoted 145

Clod-crushers 157

Clouds and frost Ill

Clover, analysis of 202

— Crimson 164, 190, 199, 202, 218

— for orchards 189, 202

Coccoloba 5

Cocoa-nut '. 5

— zone 8

Cocos 5

Codlin-moth 369, 370

— distribution of 20, 24

Cold, injuries by 313

Cold-storage 435, 438

Cold, what is injurious 329

Coloring baskets 416

Commercial fertilizers on hard

lands 141

Complete fertilizers 216

Connecticut peach orchards 272

— peach trees in 243

— temp, in 80

Constitutional diseases 349

Consumer, reaching the 461

Cook, A. J., quoted 344

Cook's apple picker 394

Coote on pollination 340

Copper carbonate formula 389

506

Index.

PAGE

191 202

Dew-point, raising
Diospyros, species of
Discovery

TACtt

54
4
26

170

265

Cornus, growth of
(Sorylus
Cosmopolitan fruits

Covering plants
Cow peas, analysis of
— in orchard
Crab-apples, species of. ...
Craig, John, quoted
Cranberries, distance for .
— flooding
— keeping
— picking
— sorting
Cranberry, inventory of . .
Cratasgus, growth of

167
5
9, 19
164, 184
98
202
187, 192, 202
2

241
107
444
400
431!
7
167
420
389
199, 202, 218
202

Diseases

344

Distance for planting
Distribution
— of products
Dolichos sesquipedalis
Double planting
Downing, quoted
— storage house
Downing's label
Drags

..•->:;9. 273

461
34
104
241
71
445
312
..149, 550
154

— atmospheric

....48,51
444

Droughts
Drupaceous fruits
Dry freezing
Du Bellet, on preserving
Duggar, B. M., on storage . . .
Dutton, A. H., spraying rig. .

142
3
10
458
445
357
23.'!

— for picking
Crimson clover 164, 190,

170

Earle, F. S., on shipping
— Parker

467
. . 269, 270
4
424
6
44, 55, 58
89
369
2

Cultivators

151

Curculio machine
Currants, age for setting. .
— distance for
— mulching
— shaking off
— species of
— thinning
Currents of air vs. frost. . .
Cyphomandra
Cypress for wind-breaks . .
Dakota, frost
Date
Dates, keeping
Davies, D. O., quoted
Deciduous zone

395
233
241
93
395
6
303
119
7
89
112
5
444
120
8
243

Ebenaceous fruits
Egg-cases
Elaaagnus
Elevation and frost 11
Elms for wind-breaks
Emulsion formula

Eucalyptus for wind-breaks..
Eugenia, species of
Euonymus, growth of
Europe, smudges in
Evans, J. C., mentioned
Evaporated fruits, keeping . .
— goods
Evaporation in winter
Evolution of fruit-region
Excommunication of bugs. . .
Exploration
Exporting apples
Exposure

89
4
167
114
270
444
32

10

25
26
409
...59.60

Determinate growth

164

Dewberries and rust
— species of
Dew-point, determining. . .

78
6
130. 131

Index.

507

PAQE

Pacing barrels 407

Fagus, growth of 167

Fairchild, quoted 229,334

Fall planting 237

- plowing 144, 169

Family fruit garden 276

Fernald, C. H., quoted 23

Ferrocyanide tests 372

Fertile varieties 227, 229

Fertility and productiveness 343

Fertilizers 202

Fertilizer summary 219

Fertilizing 175

Ficus 3

Fig 3

-Indian 7

— zone 8

Figs, distance for 240

— for wind-breaks 89

- keeping 444

— laying down 98

Filbert : 5

Finkle, quoted 110

First-class fruits 401

- tree 231

Float 153

Flooding for frost 106

Florida freeze 39

-freezes 120

— zones 8

- wind-breaks in 77, 89

Flowers, injury by cold 322

— sterile 227

Fogs and frost Ill

Forest conditions 134

Forests and fruit-growing 77

Fragaria, species of 7

France, smudging in 114

Fraxinus, growth of 167

Freezes 39

Frost, injurious degree of 329

- prediction of 121

— protection from 92

Frosts and location 39

frozen trees 314

PAGE

Fruit-buds, winter-killing 31$

Fruit, definition of 1

- market, illustration of 473

Fruit-pickers 392

Fruit-rot 383

Fruit trees, plant-food in 204

Fruit-zones 7, 8

Fuller, quoted 74

Fulton, quoted 73

Fungi and fruit-growing 21

- attacks by 349

Galloway, quoted 106, 112

Galls on roots 351

Garden and Forest, quoted 179

Garey, quoted 77

Genesee Fruit Company 444

Geographical adaptations 226

Geography of fruit-growing 7

Georgia, frost 125

- packing in 431, 432

— peach orchards 272

Germany, fruits in 411

- smudging in 115

Gift package 416

Ginkgo 5

Gipsy-moth 24

Girdled trees 288

Girdling .

288

Gleditschia, growth of 167

Gluts 34

Glycosmis 3

Goodman, L. A., mentioned 270

Gooseberries, age for setting 233

- shaking off 395

— species of 6

Gooseberry, Barbadoes 7

— effect of mulching 93

- Otaheite 5

Goumi 6

Grading fruit 401 , 403

Grafting, top 298

— young stocks 235

Grain in orchards 170

Granadilla «

Grape business, status of 32. 3£

508

Index.

Grape fruit

— houses

— root, broken

— trimming young

trapes, bagging

— distance for

— how to pick

— injury by cold

.. 3
..425
..279
..252
..353
..241
..384
..327

- keeping 397. 443, 444

— mulching , 93

- packing 406. 429

— preserving 459, 460

— rain on blossoms 336

— ringing 290

— species of 5,6

—sterile and fertile 230

Grazing 26

Green, quoted 75

- manures ' 184

Ground bone 218

Growing parts, injury to 322

Growths, records of 165

Guava, species of 4

Gurney, quoted 75

Hail injuries 352

Hair, Uriah, mentioned 396

Hale, J. H., mentioned 259, 271. 273

— orchards, packing in 432

Halstead, B. D., quoted 303

— on rain 338

- on winter-killing 318

Hammon, W. H., quoted(. .107, 112, 120.

130, 329

Hand-picking 401

Hansen, N. E., quoted 51

— on sun-scald 284

Hardiness and moisture 11, 18

Hard-pan 143, 155

Harness, Sherwood 159

Harrowing 149,157

Hartlib, Samuel, quoted 142

Hawes, B. F., quoted 3^5

Hay in orchards 170

Hexagonal plan. . .• 265

Heading-in 169, 240, 293, 315, 341

Heating the air

Heguilus, quoted

Hemlock for wind-breaks

Herb-like fruits

Hessian-fly

Hexamer, on storing

Hickories, species of

Hicoria, species of

Hide-bound trees

Highlands

Hiles, T. L., Ice book

Hogs in orchards

Holes for trees

Home plantation

Horn-fly

. 59
.443
.17:;
.244
.275

Hovenia 5

How to plant 244

Humus 141. 179, 218, 221

Hunting 26

Husmann, quoted 74

Ice storage 435

Illinois, frost in 332

Illustration of a market 473

Impotent varieties 227, 229

Inarching 289

Indeterminate growth 1C5

Indian fig 17

Insects and fruit-growing '20

— attacks by 318

Insurance, spraying is ::," 4

Irrigating for frost ; 106, 107

Isophenal lines 128

Isoproetals 9

Isotherms 9, 128

Ithaca, temperatures at 56

Jellies 32

Jew plum 4

Juglans, species of 4

Jujube 5

Juneberries, mulching 93

Juneberry 6

Kainit 215.217

Kakl 4

— distance for .240

Kansas, protecting peaches in 101

Index.

509

Kedzie ou frosts 108

— on psychrometer 128

Keeping fruit 397, 435, 444

Kenrick, quoted 71

Kerosene emulsion, formula 369

Kerr, J. W., quoted 229

Kic-ffer pear, region for 226

King, quoted 48, 146

Kinney, T. L., storage house 448

Knisely, A. L., quoted 13

Knots on roots 331

Kuhne-Rixdorf, B. L., quoted 412

Kumquat 3

Labels 307

Ladders 390

Lagrolet system 117

Lakes and frosts 42, 60

Larch for wind-breaks 89

Latitude 9

- and fruit trees 243, 265

Laws for pests 22

Laying down plants 98, 99

— out the plantation 254

Leguminous fruits 4

Lemon 3

Lemons, distance for 241

— keeping 444

Lestout, on frosts 116, 117

Lichen, office of 176

Lime 3, 21&

— arsenite of 37?

— berry 3

— Spanish 5

Line, laying-out by 259, 260

Lining packages 413

Lippens, on frost 115

Liquors 32

Liriodendron, growth of 167

Litchi 5

Location for fruit-growing 37

Locust for wind-breaks 89

Lodeman, on nitrogen 214

— quoted 234

Lodeman's label 312

London purple, formula 371

PAGE

Loomis, quoted 80

Loquat 2

Lowlands 59

Lucuma 4

.... 26
....121
....332
....167
....100
....167
....125

Lumbering

MacGillivray, A. D., quoted

McCluer, G. W., quoted
Maclnra, growth of
Macomber, J. T., quoted
Magnolia, growth of
Maine, frost ...

Mammea 5

Mammee apple 5

Mango 4

— zone 8

Manitoba, frost 112

— wind-breaks 51

Manufactured, goods 32

Manure 211

Mangifera 4

Maples for wind-breaks 87, 89

Maps for orchards 307

Market, illustration of 473

— location 38

Markets and picking 379, 385

— finding .' 461

Marking out the area 254

Marmalade tree 4

Maryland law 22

Maturity of fruits '_'7<J

Medlar 2

Melicocca . ». 5

Mespilus 2

Mice, protecting from 283, 294

Michigan 20

— fruit trees in 243, 265

— peaches in 45

-planting in 260

— temp, in 81

— wind-break in 88

— wind-breaks in 66, 70

Middleman 464

Millet for cover 192, 202

Mining 26

Missouri, fruit trees in 243

510

Index.

Mixing fruits

PAGE
241

Nitrogen for fruits
North Carolina, planting in
Nozzles

PAGE

2<n

358
323
4
178
231
315
170
4
444
.192,202
32

Moisture and cover crops
— determinant

185

9
281

— loss in winter

10
142
149
145
152
160
7

Nuciculture
Nursery lands
Nurseryman, business of
Nursery stock, injury by cold. .
in orchards
Nut-f raits, kinds of
Nuts, keeninc....

-of soil
— vs. harrowing
— plowing
rolling
- tillage
Monstera

Moore, quoted
Moraceous fruits

77 i Oats for cover
3 i Oils

Morus, species of
Mountain ash as stock . . .
Mulberry, species of
Mulching for frost
Mulch of earth

3
19
3
92
145
245
..215, 217,218

Olden plan
Old orchards, renovating
Olea
Olive
— zone

270, 272
....'.340
5
5
8

Muriate of potash

Orange groves, wind-breaks fo

• . . . . 90
19

Musa, species of

7

Oranges, distance for

241
444

Myrica

5

Myrtaceous fruits
Nectarine, kinds of
Nectarines, distance for .
Nectarine tree, exp. with.
Neighborhood storage
Nematode

4
3
240
90
436
21
351

— species of
Orchard culture
— definition of
— plans
Orchards, renovating
Oregon
Organization
Osage orange for wind- breaks.
Otaheite gooseberry

3

2
265
340

20
471
8!>

5

''83 295

for birds

•>96

New England, trees in ...
— Hampshire, frost
— Jersey, expts. in
- Mexico
-York, frost
— frosts
— fruit trees in
• — peaches in
temp, in
wind-breaks in

243
125
210
9
125
43
265
44
81
64, 69
213 217 218

Over-production
Ozark region
Pacific zones

34
271
8, 9
415

— small and large
Packing grapes
— houses
— how to
-of fruit
Paddock's label
Paint for wounds

465
429
425
406
.....401
312
.287, ^14
.. &

Nitroaen. amount of

....203

Index.

511

Palmetto for wind-l.iviiks . .
Vapaw

PAGE

90
4,5
413

P
Pears, dwarf, age for planting
— depth to set
- — good stock. .

MiK

23::
.,.,.,

— tarred

295

3<>o

21

• — status of

137

Parasites and productiveness

343
"34

— hand-picking

401

Paris green, formula
tests for

371
37° 374

— injured by cold

m

Passiflora

6

444

Passifloraceous fruits

6

— packing

407

Pasturing orchards
Peach buds, killed
— culture, status of
Peaches, age for planting. . . .

172
..319,321
138
233
"41 242

— preserving
— pruning Kieffer
— rain on blossoms
— species of

459

in

i

"40 273

3MI

— how to pick

384

"11

— mulching

93

Peas, analysis of

"01

-packing...

406
.. .388

— in orchards 187, 192,
Pecan

202
4

— thinning
Peach-growing and frost
— status of
Peach, soils for

..300, 306
r.T.
44
19

Pecans, distance for
Peddlers
Pegging down trees
Penicillium glaucum

240

•Jllii
98
480

243

— fruit trees in

MB

fertilizing

''10

BO

''12

Pereskia

236

1

100 101

431;

7 "48 "r>3

Persea

4

-yellows

22, 47, 350
g

Peru, smudging in

in;

"0

5

458

Pear-blight

''87 350

11"

4"0

19

1-7

Philadelphus, growth of

167

— roots
— trees, trimming yoxing . . . .
Pears, age for planting
— distance for

161
249
233
...240,273

Phin, quoted
Phoenix
Phosphoric acid, amount of
• — for fruits

74
5
204
21B

512

Index.

PAGE

5

PAGE

Phylloxera, flooding for
Physiological diseases
Pickers, keeping records with.
Picking, how to do

107
349
398
384

378

f>

8

Pomelo
Pomology, definition of
Pond-apple
Pools

3
. 1
. 4

168

. 204

.214

.347
900

. 25
.409
.121
258

7

— soils for
Pineapples, covering

19
106
...89,91

Poplars for wind-breaks 8i
Populus, growth of 167

5

Pistil, killing of
Place for fruit-growing
Plains region
Planker
Plans for orchards

316

9
153
265

Potato and the bug
— beetle 347
Potato-bug
Powell, G. T., quoted
Prediction of frost

944

.41T!
.236
. 7
.343
.343
.800
.273
.444
.343

.240
. 168
3 5

Planting

224

Price of stock
Prickly pear
Productiveness of orchards
Propagation and productiveness . . .
Prophylaxis
Prune, distance for
Prunes, keeping
Pruning and productiveness
— trees 292

Plants, choosing

230

Platanus, growth of
Pliny, on frosts
Plow, handy
Plowing vs. moisture
Plow, laying-out by
Plum buds, killing

167
114
281
145
256
.321, 325
137

— Jew
— knot

4
22

Prunus, growth of

19

4

Plums, age for planting
— distance for
— hand-picking
— how to pick
— impotent

233
.240, 273
401
384
.228, 229
444

Psychrometer
Puddling
Pumps
Punica
Pyrus, growth of
— species of
Quantities of seed for cover crops. .
Quercus, growth of
Quince-culture, status of
Quinces, age for planting
— and cedar-apples

.128
.246
.358
. 5
.168
. 2
.202
.168
.187
.233
. 78
.240
.444
. 59

3

382

Plum tree, injured by cold ....
— trees, price of
trimming young

315
236
251

Pollination

227

— and rain

333

— low lands for

Index.

513

PAGE

Quinces, mulching 93

— species of 2

Quincunx system 241, 265

Quinn, quoted 74

Rabbits 283, 294

Rain, effect upon blossoms 233

Raisins, keeping 444

Rape for cover 191

Raspberries, age for setting 233

— and rust 78

— distance for 241

— harvesting 395

— keeping 397

— laying down 98

- mulching 93

— rain on 339

— species of 6

— thinning 305

— tilling 281

Raspberry, authracuose 347

— galls on 351

Records of orchards 307

Red-rust -78

Refrigerator cars 466

Renovating orchards 340

Repacking 441

Ribaceous fruits 6

Ribes, growth of 168

— species of 6

Rigs for spraying 356

Ringing 290, 291

Ripeness 27!)

Rivirs and frosts 42, 60

Roberts on fertilizing orchards 203

Rollers 1.V2

Root-gall 351

Root-knot 21, 351

Root-pruning 280

Roots, broken 279, 280

— extent of 161

— trimming 246

Rose-apple 4

Rose-chafer 78

Roses, mulching 94

Rosette 22

HH

PAGE

Rosin, for freezes 121

Rotation 220

— and pests 347

Rows, making straight 254

Rubaceous fruits 6

Rubus, species o" 6

Rudisill, quoted 76

Rural Life, quoted 51

Russia, laying down trees in 98

Rye 164, 190, 202

St. John's Bread 4

Salix, growth of 168

San Jose scale ... ... 22

Sapodilla 4

Sapotaceous fruits 4

Sapota, white 3

Sauces 32

Scab, apple 347, 354, 369

Scale, San Jose ±>

Schinus for wind-breaks 89

Scraping '-'86

Screens as covers 106

Sea-grape 5

Seedlings, value as stocks 235

Selection, influence of 234

Self-sterile fruits 229

Semi-tropical zone 8

Serres, on frosts 114

Setting the plants 224

Shaddock 3

Shaking off fruits 395, 401

Sheds, for packing 432

Sheep, in orchards 173

Sheldon, S. L., quoted 56

Shelter belts 87

Shepherdia 6

Shipping 461

— associations 471

Site 68

Slitting the bark 286

Slopes 60

Small -fruit culture, inrentory of ... 6

— defined «

Small-fruits in orchards 243

Smith. E. F., on nitrogen 312

514

Index.

PAGE

Smoking for frost Ill

Smudging for frost Ill

Snow, G. C., grapes 432, 443

Snows, utilizing 149

Soap for trees 285

Soda, arsenite of ?7T

— nitrate of 213, 217, 21fe

Sod in orchards 172

Soil determinant 18

— mulch 145

Sonoran zone 9

Sorting-tables 433

Sour-sop 4

South Carolina rock 216-218

Spalding, quoted 77

Speculation 26

Spondias 4

Sprayed fruit 415

Spraying 344

— for frost 106

— on flowers 333

Spring planting 238

Sprinkling for frost 106

Spruces for wind-breaks 87, 91

Stable manure 211

Staking out orchards 261

Standards vs. dwarfs 233

Stands for picking 386

Star-apple 4

Sterile varieties 227, 229

Stevens, H. R., quoted 120

Stock, first-class 231

— protecting from 296

Stock-raising 26

Stocks vs. soils 19

Stone fruits 3

Storage houses 426, 436, 444

Storing fruits 435, 438

Strawberries, age for setting 233

— covering 98, 106

— distance for 241

— how to pick 385

— in orchards 243

-keeping 397

Strawberries, mulching

— on low lands

— species of

— sterile and fertile

— when to pick

Strawberry diseases

— field aud frost

— flowers aud weather

— is cosmopolitan

— nubbins

— rust

— tree

Stringf ellow system

Stripping trees ,

Strong, quoted

Subsoiling

Substitution

Sugar- apple

Sul fate of potash

PAOK
...95
... 59
... 7
...230
...279

Sulfur for bleaching

— test for Paris green

Summer-fallowing orchards

Sun-scald

Superphosphate

Surinam cherry

Surveying plantations

Sylvinit

Syringa, growth of

Tags for pickers

Tallies

Tamarind

Tarnarindus . . .

215,217

417

372

282

.216, 217
4

. . .168

4

! 4

Tangierine 3

Tare for cover 195

Tarred paper 295

Tarr, R. S., quoted 42, 52

Teller, analysis by 201

Temperate zone 8

Temperature determinant 8

Temperatures for fruits 444

Tennessee frost 125

Tent-caterpillar 369

Tent-caterpillars 78

Terminalia 5

Texas, fruit trees in 243

Thinning fruit
Thomas, quoted
Thorn trees and
Tickets for pickers.
Tilia, growth of.
Tillage

— and r

— philosophy of

— value of .
Tilling for frost

— suggestions for.
Time to plant .
Top-grafting .
Trade-mark. .
Transpiration
Transportation .

— facilities
Trays for picking

— keeping fruit on
Tree, first-class.
Tree-fruit culture
Trees, choosing.
Trifolium incari
Trimming trees.

— young trees.
Triphrasia . .
Troop, James,
Tropical zone. .
Turner, E. T., q
Turnips for cover
Twigs, moisture i
Tying trees.
Umbrellas as
Unions . . -
United State
Unventilated
Vaccinium .
Van Deman plan

quoted

Vapor, alcoh

— and frost.
Varieties am

— choosing .

PJ
1

Inc

LOK

140
128
299
72
78

m

ItiS

•_'77
243
138
IN
tai

1.'4

887

an

414
281
MM
38
BM
441
231
2

aae
an

arj

9M

3

•_i)t;
8
40
202
10
282
395
47-J
35

an

7
•J6f>

•_>«:>

4.".X
106

Ml

{MC.

Varieties running out . .
Vegetables, keeping. .
Vermin, protecting from. .

515

PAQK

. . . .225
444

wet- and dry-bulb .
t
sd
id cedar- apples. . . .
kers.
if
133,
iveness
of

st
for

. 283,294
... 125

.... 446

73

Vetch, analysis of
— in orchard
Vicia sativa
Vigna Sinensis
Vine-fruit culture
Vineyard label

... .201
187, 195, 202
. . 197
.... 192
. . 5
.... 312

.... 137

from leaves
n

^ing
it on

Virginia, frost
— fruit trees in
— storage house . - -
Viticulture, inventory of .
Vitis, growth of
— species of .
Voorhees, E. B., quoted
Wagons for picking. . .
Waite, M. B., quoted . . .
Walnuts for wind-breaks .
— species of.

... 12T
... .243
. . . .452
.... 5
.... 168
. . . 5, 6
207, 210, 217
. . .389
. -228, 229
. . . . »
. . . 4
71

ore
8
trnatum

BS

quoted . .

quoted
ver 191,
re in

Washington, quoted . . .
Washing trees
Water and frosts .
— in air. ... ....
Watermelons, keeping
Waugh, on storing apples.
— quoted..
Wealth of farmer. .
Weather vs. pollen-bearing
Weeds
Wellhouse orchards . . . .

24

. . . .285
. . 42,60
... 106
... 444
. . . .446
.... 73
.... 28
227
136, 177, 278
. .259, 268
125

fruit-pickers

fruit in
;rates

[an
242, 256,
ic, as preservative . .

productiveness .

128

285

206

— fields, frost in ...
— for cover
Whitten, quoted

.... 112
. .192,202
.... 92
. . 79

Willows for wind-breaks..

.... 89

516

Index.

PAGE

PAGE

Wilson, on thinning apples .

. : . . 302

Wisconsin

48

Wind-breaks

. .48,51

Women as packers

4 or,

— discussion of

. ... 62

Wrapping f ruits

41?,

Winds and fruit-growing..

. . 47 Yard manure

211

Wine, keeping

444 ! Yellows of peach ... 22, 47,

:sr>o

Wine-making

. ... 32

Yeomans, spraying rig

n:,(i

Winter-killing of fruit-buds.

. . 316

— T. G., quoted.

2fil

— of wood

. ... 313

— T. Q. & Sons, on wind-breaks. .84

,8fi

Winter preparations ....

. . . 294

Zinc labels

30F

— trimming ....

. ... 254

Zizyphus . . .

5

Wire, laying-out by

. . 260

Zones, of fruit

/ «

283.295

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