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A Great Apple Orchard.
The great Wellbouse Orchard in Kan
sas, with its 140,000 apple trees, covering
more than 1.200 acres, has now for some
years been a financial success, thanks to
the practical skill of its proprieton, says
Garden and Forest.
Our readers will be glad to hear some
account of the methods employee by this
prosperous business concern, and we
therefore publish the essential parts of the
address delivered before the Horticultu
ral Congress in Chicago last month, by
Mr. F. Wellhouse, since it is a record of
actual experience:
“In the preparation of the soil we have
found it a good plan to break raw prairie
in May or J une, cross-plow in the fall and
again the next spring. If there is time it
is best to grow one or two crops before
the trees are planted. If old ground is
used it should be put in such condition as
would be considered good for any kind of
grain. We run a digger under the trees
in \the nursery, cutting off the
roots at a depth of 8 or 10 inches,
*MIO inches on either side; this is
donftsearly in the spring. As soon as the
gronnjfis in condition we lay-off the space
for ths orchard by running light furrows
east
soutgS? leet apart; running a furrow in
line With stakes, we throw toe furrow to
the east, hen turn and lot the left hand
horsAfwt use a right hand plow) walk in
the fevo r j n *t made and throw this fur
row to fbfe west, leaving a strip from 12 to
16 inches wide between the two furrows:
we now turn and go another round and
throw out this strip, running the plow 10
inches deep or about the depth the digger
is rua in the nurserv ; this should give a
farrow 10 inches deep and from 20 to 25
inches wide. We consider these furrows
much better than holes in which to plant
trees, and they are much more rapidly
mace.
transplanting the trees from the
nur-evy to the orchard we run a potato
fork into'lhe ground at the side of the
tree, lift it out just as we wouid a hill of
potatoes,and set it into tt»** wagon with all
the earth that will stick to the roots. In
the orchard there are two men to each
r jw. One man sets the tree in place where
the east ana west furrows cross the north
and south and holds It, while the other
man with a shovel throws fine earth
around it The mail holding the tree
tramps the earth firmly around the roots;
he should always stand on the north side
of the tree white tramping, as he nearly
always leans the tree from him, and we
like to have the tree inclined a little to
the south or southwest. As soon as the
trees are set out we throw the furrows
shut by going one round with the plow,
and in a week or two when the
weeds begin to start we go another
round; setting the plow so it will only
t ke a fete inches of soil and run it a little
deeper; this enables us to entirely cover
the first furrow,thrown in and all the
weeds that may Eave started; in a few
weeks we repeat, catting a few inches
more and so on, until by midsummer we
have a bed running the entire length of
t te row, elevated six or eight inches above
the surrounding land and about eight feet
wide. The space between the rows in a
commercial orchard we cultivate in corn
The second year we commence cultivation
by throwing the earth from the trees and
wind np by throwing it to them again. We
repeat ibis system four or five years until
the trees come into bearing, when we seed
down to clover. For cultivating the trees
we use the Sherwood steel harness, which
has no single-trees to bark the trees.'*
Some Possibilities of Our Horti-
culture.
James R. Reeves, writing in the Prairie
Farmer of a recent date, says:
Horticulture in America has taken rapid
steps within the past quarter of a century,
to the end that we have now vastly finer
fruits, and a wonderfully greater variety
and abundance of them than our fathers
had.
But in one line we have not made the
progress that might have been expected,
and that is in taming, cultivating and de
veloping some of our native species.
Among these, which are commonly classed
as “wild,” are some that the truant small
boy knows to be toothsome, but that are
entirely forgotten, even if they were
known to his elders.
It is true that many of the most valuable
fruita cultivated by us are of native origin
—that is, they were once the “wild” pro
ducts of uur woods and fields—so that I do
not wish to be understood as belittling
what has already been accomplished
Most of the grapes now grown success
fu.ly in our vineyards east of the Bocky
mountains are the direct descendants of
the wild species that existed In ourforsets
before horticulture became even a name
in America.
The splendid Concord itself is but one
remove from the wild Vitis labruska of
the woods of Massachusetts.
Oar native wild plums are rapidly be
coming a popular orchard fruit, and while
not so good in quality as the European
vsuieties, their hardiness and ability to
resist disease and the attacks of insect
enemies are points which make them of
great value.
Among the fruits which have not yet
been brought under cultivation, but which
are undoubtedly of some value, is the
North American Pawpaw or custard apple
There are many people to whom the flavor
of this fruit is very agreeable, hut the
drawback to it is that it is now so largely
composed of seeds that there is very little
edible pulp. That which is there is not un
like the pulp or flesh of the banana. By
selection and cultivation the fruit could
doabtles* be very much improved, as other
fruits have been by the same means. The
wild pawpaws are now to a slight extent
an article of commerce, as the writer has
seen them sold by bright barefooted boys
at th* railway stations through Kentucky
and Tennessee. The pawp»w is native
through out western New York, Penney 1-
vania, Illinois, and southward, so that it
cultivatable it would be adapted to a large
extent of our territory.
The persimmon is perhaps of even
greater importance than the pawpaw. It is
native in almost alt of our states from the
fortieth degree of latitude south, and in
some portions of this great territory it
constitutes no small portion of the food of
the very poor. One trait worth noticing
is its disposition to sport into verities,
some of which greatly excel the others in
else and quality. This is in the nature of
evidence chat it oould be improved by
selection, and when the better types be
come fixed it would be of value. The fact
that the Japanese persimmon has proven
such a valuable adjunct to the horticul
ture of the south anil of California, is an
added reason why we should endeavor to
prove the value of our own native species.
The elderberry is familiar to almost ev
ery one who has ever lived in the country.
It is one of the most universal and rankest
growers among our native shrubs Many
a thrifty housewife makes use of the ber
ries for pies and jellies, and they have a
recognised value for wine-making, be
sides possessing valuable medicinal qual
ities. Like the persimmon; the qual
ity of the fruit varies, and the bnst types
could be fixed and still further improved
by cultivation.
While the work of bringing these and
other native fruits under cultivation, and
so improving their value, must be left
mainly to our experiment stations and to
progressive commercial nurserymen,
there is no reason why any careful fruit
grower should not see what he can do
with them by applying the same methods
of cultivation that he gives to his other
crops. Treat them as civilized and not as
wild plants, and no doubt they will soon
reward you with bigger and better fruit
than you had ever thought it possible that
they could produce.
Making Celery Fits.
The consumption of celery is not gener
al, for the reason that the knowledge nec
essary for its cultivation is limited. It
passes as a luxury at the present time
rather than a necessity.
A writer in the Ohio farmer says:
We prepare our pits for keeping our
winter celery by digging a pit from six to
tan feet wide and about one foot in depth
The dirt is thrown out in about equal por
tions upon both sides of it and is thrown
back from one to two feet from the edge
of the pis in order that we may the more
readily do the necessary work, in ana
about it.
After the pit is dug we take 214 scant
ling and cut it in pieces about six feet
long, sharpen one end and then drive
them into the ground in a row, lengthwise
of the middle of the pit and about six feet
apart the entire length of the pit. Tney
need not be driven far into tiie ground,
but must be about level upon the top. A
254 scantling is now laid lengthwise of the
pit upon the top of the stakes and nailed
fast to them. The pit is now ready for the
celery.
A clear and dry day is chosen and the
plants taken up with the earth left upon
the roots, and the loose and dead leaves
stripped off,and put into boxes and hauled
on » WMgon witnout any regular body—
only a flat—to the pit. Here it is taken in
charge by the pit setters wno take it and
commence setting at one end of the pit
Tbe plants are set close together in the
pit. The planta are set close together in
the pit, and sufficient loot-e earth is drawn
about the roots to make a solid and com
pact body of earth and roots.
After three or four rows are set across
the end of the pit some water is poured
upon the roots and the earth about them
It should be in quantity sufficient to thor
oughly wet botu earth and roots; but at
the same time be careful not to wet the
tops or bodies of the plants.
As s >on as the pit is filled with plants,
or even before it is full, if it is a long one,
the roof should be placed over it or at
least enough of it to keep off the sun and
rain This is done as follows:
We lay a board about six inches wide
upon tbe ground along e *cb side of the pit
aoa then takn 2x6 joists and cut them into
lengtbs suffi dent to reach from the board
at the edge of the pit to the ridge scant
ling above mentioned. They should be
about six feet. We then lay boards upon
these joists until they meet at the ridge
pole. If the boards are very poor we scat
ter a little straw over the boards, then
throw on from two to four inches of earth,
and cut a small vent hole near the ridge
pole to the open air every thirty or forty
teet. This is practically our method of
making our celery pits, and of putting in
the plants.
As cold weather comes on, the object
being to keep the plants as cool as pos
sible without allowing them to freeze as
wo have one or more teams hauling ma
nure nearly all the year, the teamster it
told, as the weather grows cold, to throw
manure upon the sides of the pit. The
ends are so arranged that they can do
opened at any Mme, and when the celery
is fit for the market, one end is opened
and we commence taking out the plants
and putting them up and sending to our
customers both north and south. The pit,
as described, will hold about twelve' to
eighteen plants to the rqure foot, though
the celery must be very large if it does
not hold more than the first named num
ber. In the spring tbe manure is hauled
off and spread upon land that we are to
plow; and the lumber is hauled off
and piled up for still further uses,
the ground leveled off and a
season’s crops are grown upon the
land where we pitted and cured our cel
ery for the market. While I am upon the
subject of celery and of preparing it for
the market, let me say a few words about
the so-called new method of growing it,
by setting the plants close together, or
only six or seven inches apart. It is not
a new plan I was induced te try it m *ny
years ago, by that splendid horticulturist,
Peter Henderson. I tried it then and
made a failure of it. Last season we made
as careful a trial of the plan as we knew
bow to do.
We put out a few thousand of plants,
and oared for them as well as we did for
main crop. The result was splendid lot
of the main crop that is now selling at a
fair price, while the other is still standing
or rather lying upon the ground where it
grew, as it was not worth tue harvesting.
It is possible that it may do better with
others and under other circumstauoes
than It has thus far done with mo; still I
must advise It very sparingly at first,
the southern farm.
CABBAGE INSECTS.
Description of the Pesto of Thio Plant
and Remedies for Them.
The cabbage worm most common here
is the larva of the Imported Cabbage But
terfly (Pieris rapce), a greenish white but
terfly that appears in Spring and lays eggs
on various plants of the cabbage family
and early cabbages if present.
Later, mostly in August, a second brood
of butterflies lay eggs on the late cabbage
producing the numerous worms in Fall
which perforate the heads.
Hot water is one of the best remedies,
but seems to give different results with
different parties, some reporting it very
successful and others a complete failure.
It should be applied at a temperature of
about 150 degrees Fahr, in order to kill the
worms and not injure the plants.
FTRETHRUM TS EFFECTIVE
and can be blown by bellows in among
the leaves, so as to reach worms that
would escape almost any liquid applica
tion. While leaves are smooth and be
fore heads have formed, London Purple
can be used with good effect and with no
possible danger to persons eating the cab
bages. There are other worms which
work like the one above mentioned, one
of the worst being the Cabbage Plusia
(Plus! a brassiest) and it can be treated in
the same manner. The little Diamond
back Moth (Plntella cruciferarum) has
lately become quite plentiful and its small
green larva* uo much damage to tbe
plants, but the treatment adopted for the
other worms will rid the plants of these.
THE CABBAGE FLANT-LICE
are often very numerous, especially in au
tumn. They cluster in great colonies on
the under surface of the leaves, especially
in the folds and creases. These are diffi
cult to kill, as they are so well protected
in the curled leaves; but if they can be
reached with a spray of kerosene emulsion,
it will destroy all that are touched. Quite
commonly it will be found that tuese
plant-lice are parasitized by a host of lit
tle wasp-like insects, and these help great
ly to keep them from multiplying so as to
be extremely injurious.—O. T. Farmer.
The Jersey In North America.
When Jersey cattle first began to appear
to any marked extent on the farms of the
United States, they were on sufferance,
and it was customary for a farmer who
bought one to say byway of apology that
he took the weak step out of regard to the
feelings of his wife. Better peace-offer
ing to the Goddess of Liberty never was
made So strong at tbe outset was the
pr» j udice among country people against
the Jersey that, som* time after she was
an acknowledged feature <f rare beauty on
the suburban lawns of the rich of our large
cities, many farmers would not acknowl
edge that she had even this practically
unimportant merit; and as for utility,
that was regarded as wholly out of the
qu stion.
Now almost every w«*l’-organized farm
on which the head of affairs ana his fam
ily rise above common drudges has on it
some Jersey blood—the pure article with
increasing frequency, and with good
grades in plenty. The truth is that the
Jersey is now in nearly all parts of North
America the sign and accompaniment of
improved living, this in turn, in a general
way, giving rise to better thinking and
more progress, more prosperity.
It is not a word too much to say of the
Jersey that the era of good butter making
on this side of the sea began with the es
tablishment of the American Jersy Gattie
Club. Previously to that, which was done
in the year 1868, much good service was
rendered, but there was no organ* zation,
and no reliable security against, or au
thoritive means of penalizing, fraud.
Today, through the intelligence work of
that Club and its system of registration,
the absolute parity of the Jersey is better
guarded than that of any other breed of
live stock whatever; and the great little
cow has been lilted from a position in
which she was the butt of tbe coarse
stockyard and showing wits and bullies
into the place of first honors among her
kind, she being of the only breed of cattle
that in recent years has uniformly earned
enough to pay for its keep. It is to be
noted here, as an important economic
truth to be remembered, that at no time
in these years of general loss and depres
sion in the cattle industry has the Jersey,
under anything like fair care, failed to
pay a good interest on a generous, not
unfrequently even on a fancy, invest
ment.
It is still fresh in the recollection how
many urged that the Introduction and
spread of the Jersey would, beyond what
was possible to other breeds, spoil all the
good beef and do great injury to the coun
try at large.
That was a mistake, for at the present
time the beef is as good as ever it was,
and the butter, all over North America,
is incomparably better. And the end for
good on account of tbe Jersey is not yet,
and will not be until bad butter is every
where a disgrace to the maker, and the
good pure article, sweet ns a nut and col
ored by nature, as only Jersey butter gets
colored, is on every table.
In the train of the Jersey on this conti
nent have come many industries, giving
honorable and profitable employment to
large numbers of men and women; and
among the other good results accomplished
through the agency of this great little cow
is the raising of the standard of labor on
every farm on which she has established
herself.
She is the product of intelligence and
kindly care, and when these are given her
she will pay handsomely for them, rapidly
retrograding, and answering to all the
ugly things said of her in ignorance or
narrowness, whenever and wherever these
are denied.
That in the main the Jersey is perfectly
suited to her adopted home in the New
World is completely evidenced in many
ways—in her extensive distribution in this
sou n try, where »ll scats are counted and
battle between her friends and her ene
mies commenced early and has gone on
without pause to the present time, in the
w oaderf ul results to her credit under ac
tual tests the most severe and ex
acting —so that there are many
competent authorities who take the
position that tbe Jersey with us is better
and will yield more than the Jersey on
her native island, and that, therefore, it is
folly, and without a rational objective
point, to continue to import. Be tbta as
it may, the Jersey is now one of the fixed
institutions of North America, beautiful
to look upon, lending her powers in the
moat beneficial way to the man of large as
well as to the man of small means, a per
fect machine of the highest utility in a
well-defined sphere- Tue wonderful ca
pability which the Jersey shows of adapt
ing herself to the widest sort of climate
and other conditions are really to be in
ferred from her surprising productive
powers; for in both cases what is wanted
to produce these results is not mere
strength, but a high order of vitality; and
this she has, and this it is that is enabling
her to go and establish herself wherever
there is civilization.
John Duncan.
OonaumpMon Cured.
An old physician, retired from practice, bad
placed in his hands by an East India mist-ionary
the formula of a simple vegetable remedy for
the speedy and permanent cure of Consump
tion, Bronchitis, Catarrh, Asthma, and all
Throat and Lung affections, also a positive and
radical cure for Nervous Debility and all Ner
vous Complaints. Saving tested its wonderful
curative powers in thousands of cases, and de
siring to relieve human suffering, I will send
Cree of charge to all who wisn it, this recipe, in
German French or English,with full directions
for preparing and using. Sent by mail, by ad
dressing, with stamp, naming this paper W
A. Noyes, 820 Powers’ Block Rochester N. Y.
Ostrich Growing in California.
Mr. Edwin Cawßton,of Los Angeles,
Cal., has probably the largest ostrich
farm in the United States, and is the
most experienced handler of ostriches.
He has at present more than one hun
dred birds on his grounds at Norwalk,
and has sold and distributed along
the California coast an equal number.
Tbe food consists chiefly of alfalfa cut
short and moistened before feeding,
sugar beets, sorghum, corn, and In
fact almost anything that would be
fed to a cow is relished by the birds.
Through winter they are permitted
to roam over the fields, but in summer
they are corralled and fed. The
breeding birds are confined to smaller
pens and mated in pairs. Laying be
gins early in spring, and if the eggs
are removed promptly, laying will
continue until forty er fifty eggs are
produced by each female. Hatching
is done both naturally and artificial
ly, the latter method being preferred,
as sitting injures the plumage, the
most valuable part of the bird. Incu
bators are manufactured especially
for ostrich hatching. Infertile eggs
are blowu, and the shells are ready
sale at one dollar each. The ostrich
consumes about the same quantity of
food as a sheep, to-wit: three to four
pounds of hay per day. Breeding
birds are given one pound of grain
extra per day. The larger the range
the less feeding is required. The
birds are plucked at seven months old
the first crop being worth only about
four dollars per head. Thereafter
they are plucked every nine months,
tbe average returns being twenty dol
lars per bird at New York wholesale
prices.
There is ready sale for these plumes
in New York, as they are protected by
a duty of twenty-five per cent.
Cape Colony exports annually $7,-
000,090 worth of feathers, of which
more than one-half comes to the
United States. So there is little dan
ger of the business being overdone.
In a country like Western Texas
ostriches would be farmed as they are
in South Africa, on unlimited range,
allowing about the same area as for a
similar number of sheep. The breed
ing birds would be kept in corrals of
about twenty acres each, fenced with
plain wire.
Ostriches have the home instinct
largely developed, and will not stray
off from tbe farm where raised, and
will remain near their watering places
like cattle.
We have before us oftl cial quotations
from the regular bi-m inthly sales of
ostrich goods, from Lewis & Peat,
Mincing Lane, London : White primes
are quoted at £ll to £l4 10; firsts, £9
to £11; seconds, £6 10s to £9; thirds,
£4 to £6 per pound.
There is probably good money in
raising ostriches in Western Texas.
In fact it would take good money to
start with, but, with proper manage
ment a good profit could be secured,
as the climate and conditions are fa
vorable. We do not advise all our
friends to rush headlong into ostrich
raising, not because the business
might be overdone, but because some
of our friends might; and also be
cause our advice would not be taken
any way. If some person with
enough of both faith and money,
would give ostrich farming a fair
trial, we would be satisfied.—Texas
Farmer.
Controlling the Sex.
It would be quite an advantage if poul
trymen were enabled to control tbe stx,
and produce pullets or cockerels as de
sired. A correspondent of tbe California
Orchard and Farm gives nis experience in
the matter, saying:
“If the above query can be answered in
the affirmative, It marks a decided ad-
vance in poultry culture, and effects a long
sought consummation of the poultryman’s
desires. From boyhood I have noticed re
peated efforts in this direction mainly by a
careful inspection of the shell of the egg,
in tbe belief that the secret embryo was
writteta in the shape and peculiar mark
ing of its covering. All this is now gen
erally regarded as nonsense, and justly so.
Another theory, probably evolved from
the observation of a more careful seeker
after the secret of sex government, is that
the early and late eggs of a hen’s laying
will produce chicks of the opposite sex.
That is, the early part of her laying will
produce cockerels, while those laid near
the close of her season will hatch pullets.
But more careful and extended observation
will show that this rule will work both
ways, and sometimes not at all, show
ing that other and more potent influences
govern the secret we w uld discover. As
the result of some study and experi
ments, I conclude that with poultry it is
not widely different from other domestic
animals with which tbe experiments have
been made until either sex mav be pro
duced at will by the operator. The theory
upon which this rule is operated is that
the more vigorous ofjthe parents will con
trol the sex and mark it the opposite of
its own. That is, a male in full maturity
and vigor, will produce female offspring
when crossed on females of less vigor, and
vice versa. I think this rule may he ap
plied to poultry with tbe same satisfac
tory results that have marked its adopt!* n
with other animals. Ol course one must
not expect an invariable result from the
mating of a flock or even a pen of fowls,
as we may be mistaken in our estimate of
one or two individuals with a result ap
parently at variance with the rule, but
practically our end is, attained when a
targe percent of the chicks are the desired
sex My matings this season were made
with a view to tbe protection of as many
pallets as possible. My cocks are
therefore fully matured and mat
ed with my most promising
pullets. The result, thus far, has been a
success, fully seventy-five per cent of my
batch being pullets. If I should desire
cockerels, I would mate an eight or nine
months’ old cockerel with two or three
year old hens; or, if I desired an equal
distribution of the sexes I would endeavor
to have the parents as nearly equal as
possible The latter result will be ac
knowledged as the experience of those
who allow their chickens of both sexes to
run together the year round.”
We will state that we have tested the
above, as well as all other methods, and
with no satisfactory results. True, we
have been encouraged one year, but the
next trial did not confirm the first. There
is no known method by which the sex can
be controlled, and the above suggestion is
as “old as the hills.”
Beecham’s Pills are better thanminreal
watexs.
Chemical and Barnyard Manures.
It has been urged against chemical ma
nures that they render the soil poorer in
organic matter while farmyard manure
has the reverse effect, but it has been
shown by Joulie (Mercure Scientifique
Supplement du Moniteur Scientifique,
June, 1892 ) that the more abundant har
vests produced by the use of cuemical ma
nures leave a targe proportion of residues
in roots and otherwise in the soil, and'
consequently that there is no impoverish
ment, out »n increase in the quantity of
organic matter.
By tne use of chemical manures each in
gredient can be adjusted to the require
ment of the crops, which obviously is not
the case with natural manures, while
Ville has shown (Ville on Artificial Ma
nures, translated by W. Crookes, page
103) tbat more than one-third of the ni
trogen contained in the latter is lost to
the soil on account of the decomposition
which the manure must first undergo be
fore it can exercise any beneficial action.
The cost of carriage and distribution on
the land is also favorable to the employ
ment of chemical manures.
Geese on the Farm.
The Emblen, a white goose (both male
and female), is, with the Toulouse, the
largest of all breeds, says an exchange.
Tbe best cross for the market, says a
writer, is the Toulou<e gander and Emb
den goose. The Toulouse is parti-colored,
and tbe male and f* male are alike. In fact
the male and female of any pure breed are
alike in color. The large breeds do not
forave over as much ground as the common
kinds, but produce twice as much feath
ers, in weight, and fatten more readily for
market. An adult gander of the Embden
or Tonlouse breeds should not weigh leaf
than twenty-five pounds and the goos<
twenty-three pounds, though individual!
have been knewn to reach as much as fiftj
pounds. Tbe best way to grade up a- flock
is to procure a gander of the Embden
breed, mate him with large common geese
and mate the female off-spring with a
Toulouse, The males should then be pure
brfd Embdens,as they are pure and white,
which is an advantage where the feathers
are considered a valuable product.
TheTRIUMPHofLOVE!
A Happy, Fruitful
'MARRIAGE!
f ■in 2-RUTHS; the Plain
1 J Facts: the Old Secrets
and the New Discoveries of Medical Science
as applied to Married Life, should write for
our wonderful little book, called
“PERFECT MANHOOD.” To any’ eSS
man we will mail one copy Entirely i
tree, in plain sealed cover. “A refuse
from the quacks.” Address e
ERIE MEDICAL CO.,EC Niagara 51,M10,N,7,
♦This is a medical work for men who
need it, and mere onriosity seekers should
not trouble thenisclves or the company by
taking advantage of the above oirLr; th®
book will pot interest th® frivolous.-.gWftw.
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