VOL. XXIX
INDIANAPOLIS. IND.  FEB. 24, 1894.
NO. 8.
_%oictituXt\xxz.
Grape vines shonld bave their winter
pruning before the warm days of March
-and April.
HETABDING THE BLOOMING 8EAS0H BY
MULCHIHG.
"We shall try mulching the treses tbis
-winter, so aa to retard, if possible the
time of blooming," so said Prof. Troop
•concerning apricots, in his report to the
Indiana Horticultural Society on Decem-
*>er 1,1892. A lengthy discussion followed
in which it was claimed that the season of
blooming could not be retarded by holding the roots of trees, by mulching, ina
mixture of frozen earth. This discussion
<to be found on page 67, Transactions of
the Society for 1891) has led to tests.* The
following concerning this subject ls going
the rounds of the horticultural press:
"Professor Bailey, of Cornell University, finds by experiment that mulching
-about fruit trees when the ground is covered with snow, does not retard their blos-
-soming, and hence is a useless attempt to
prevent early blooming when spring
-frosts are liable to fall.
not yet appeared In Fayette C9unty. Not
a single plant of the whole 35 has an economic use, as far as known; and with two
exceptions, none are used in medicine.
WEBBS OF FAYETTE COUHTY, IHD.
At recent meeting of the Indiana Academy of Science, in this city, an interesting
•paper was read by Pr. Itibert Hessler, in
-which he briefly detailed the results of ten
;y^73' observations on the ilira, or more
particularly the weeds of Fayette county,
-this State. The paper showed the striking
-angers, that are occurring among the
weeds. Weeds are useless plants that occupy cleared ground and which are injurious mainly by crowding out other and
-useful plants. There are constant changes
among the weeds in any one locality; the
aspect of a landscape may be entirely
damaged by them. New and stronger
weeds displace the weak. Foreign weeds
which have long resisted destruction, and
-which are very tenacious of life, easily take
-the place of onr native weeds. At the present time most of our weeds are foreigners
that have come to ns from all quarters of
"the globe. Weeds will spread throughout
the world, within certain limitations of
-course, until all are common. Plants like
human beings travel mainly along the
roads, railroads, canals and rivers. Many
«pecies appear for one sea->on only, and
then again disappear, owing to a lack of
-suitable conditions, as climate and soil;
others struggle along from year to year,
merely boldiog their own, while a few
take the locality by storm, and in the
course of a few years become very com
mon, so common that a person who did
not know tbe facts in tne case might believe they always grew there.
Or. Hessler's observations extended
Irom 1881 to 1890. During this period of
ten years, 35 new plants, all more or less
pronounci-d weeds, appeared within the
limits of Fayette county- In the paper,
ihe year and placn of first appearance for
-eaeh species was given, and also the ultimate fate. Of the 35, 20 first appeared
along tne railroads, 10 appeared along the
roadsides and in waste places, four in
-meadows and only one * in a cultivated
field, brought in no doubt by impure seed.
Of tbe whole number a few appeared for
one season only and then vanished, about
20 merely held their own or increased only
sligh'ly in number, while a few or more
exactly nine took the county by storm,
and in 1690 were very common. Here is
the list ot weeds now common, we give
the common names only: Thyme, White
Sweet Clover, Fetid Marigold, Oxeye
Daisy, Prickly Lettuce, Corn Qromwell or
Wheat Thief, Rib-gra9s or English Plantain, Hairy Plantain, Prairie Croton.
There is still a considerable number of
weeds which grow in adjoining counties
or in surrounding ^States, and which have
SUGGESTIONS TO SMALL FBUIT OEO WEES
The experiences and observations of the
last few seas ans, and more especially the
season of 1893, demonstrate very clearly
the necessity of adopting some means
whereby we may be able to regulate the
snpply of water furnished to our growing
fruits and vegetable, wherever it can be
done without too great expense. Many
crops of strawberries and other small
fruits which ripen in early summer were
almost completely ruined last season by
the severe drouth. These fruits require a
large amount of water during the ripening
period to enable them to dovelop properly,
and experience has shown that it is not
safe to depend entirely upon the natural
rainfall for this supply; not so much on
account of the insufficient amount as the
lack of proper distribution. For example,
the average monthly rainfall at the experiment station during the six growing
months is about three and one-half inches.
This would be sufficient for almost any of
our cultivated crops, if it were bo distributed as to enable the plants to utilize it.
During the months of May and June, 1893)
that there was no other way in which
trees should be propagated, except by the
piece root system. After I went out of
the nursery business I' thonght the only
way on earth was the whole root plan, and
a little later I advocated fully as strong,
crown grafts, snd now to save my life I
cannot tell you which I would prefer, but
am satisfied with a tree that ia weU grown."
Now here ls all there is in this vexed
question, save the advertising dodge. The
tre9e that is well grown, will by necessity
be a good tree and will -have a good ;root
notwithstanding it may have been grafted
on a whole or a piece root, or it may have
grown from a rooted cutting.
W. H. Raqan.
Early Richmond Cherry.
Editors Indiana Farheb:
Kach new fruit ls produced by a single
seed, and of course the first tree of the
Early Richmond cherry wonld reproduce
itself with as much certainty from suckers
from the roots as from grafts taken from
its top. I bave fonnd this cherry much
more durable and satisfactory on its own
Btock than on any other. In 1860 I planted
several trees ot it, budded on Mahaleb
stock, all of which died after producing
a few crops. I then tried it on the Morello,
on which it fruited satisfactorily, but pro-
Ihe tree.   Of course different authorities
differ in this regard, but we think you
will find that the most expert growers today are resorting to the above method.
Albertson <fe Hobbs.
Bridgeport.
there were 4.13 inches of rainfall at this  dried loo many  suckers.   About 20  years
station, but during the month  of June  ago I found two trees  of it on roots of the
there only 1.10 inch, and this all fell on the
1st and 3d and 20th and 21st days, leaving
a space of 17 days without any. Then
from June 23d to July 15th, 22 days, there
was no rainfall. An inch ot water supplied during each of these periods of
drouth would have been worth hundreds
of dollars to every commercial fruit or
vegetable grower in this or similar localities. Oar own experiments prove this, although confined mainly to the tomato
crop, and then on a comparatively small
scale. But the beneficial effects were so
obvious, even to the casual observer, that
we are making preparations for similar
experiments on a much larger scale during the coming season.
A good illustration of the beneficial results and cost of irrigation was that given
by Mr. Granville Cowing, of Muncie, in a
late number of the Indiana Fabmeb,
where he states that an engine, with piping
for irrigating his blackberries, cost ?90 and
saved a crop worth f 300.
THE AMOUNT OF WATBB REQUIRED.
This will depend largely upon circumstances and the kind of crops which we
wish to irrigate. In our climate the chief
value of irrigation comes from the fact
tbat tbe farmer or gardener is able to supplement the natural rainfael, thus supplying the proper amount of water at tbe
right time. The amount of water re-
qulresd is therefore small in comparison
with tbat needed at those places where the
entire crop is dependent upon an artificial
supply.
A stream of water one inch in diameter,
flowing at the rate of four miles an hour,
will cover one acre of land one inch deep
in about 30 hours.
The cost of irrigation of course depends
mainly upon the ease with which the supply of water can be obtained. It has frequently been shown that where .wells can
be had of sufficient capacity the profits of
irrigation are large in comparison with the
cost. Where the fruit garden is located in
close proximity to a lake, springs or running stream, the cost would be comparatively slight and the profits correspondingly increase**!. ^^^
same variety, on a neighboring farm and
from them I procured surkers, which I
planted for home use. They are all yet
alive, healthy and bear roots, and the
small crop of suckers which they annually
produce have never been sufficient to supply the wants of my neighbors and
friends. G. C.
Muncie.
Whole Roots, or Piece  Roots, Which?
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Mr. Chas. W. Garfield, of Michigan, than
■whom there- is no better authority,
said at the recent meeting of the Illinois
State Horticultural Society: "A number
of years ago I advocated and stuck to it,
Training and Trimming the Peach.
Editors Indiana Fab-kb:
Our most expert growers of the peach
advocate close planting of trees and heading back; in the  first  place  heading the
tree very close to the ground, and then
keeping all the branches well cut back, as
in this manner they get many more trees
to the acre, and if trees are low-headed
and stocky they will carry their loads of
fruit withont splitting or breaking.   They
are not so  easily swayed about by the
wind, the fruit not so easily blown off,
and in falling does not bruise so badly,
and one of the greatest items in its favor
is the fact that in growing the finest fruit
it can only be done by hand thinning, and
on these low-headed trees the frnlt can be
thinned  and   gathered   almost   entirely
from the ground or by the use of but very
short step-ladders.   Larger trees require
the use of long step-ladders or other ladders, the use of which consumes much
time, increasing very much the expense
of both thinning and picking.   Mr. Hale,
who ls regarded as one of the standard
authorities on peach growing, advocates
this plan exclusively, and in his orchard
of 500 acres, planted two years ago this
winter, he put out over 100,000 peach trees,
planting them about 13 feet apart, and expects to so train them that almost the entire gathering  can be done without the
use of ladders.   Of course the heavy pruning should  be done when the trees are
dormant, which is about the time the sap
begins to start or the buds swell in the
spring, but if properly attended to from
the start there will be no heavy pruning
to do, and we notice tbat Mr. Hale advocates the thinning of the tree in order to
keep it open enough for the sun and air to
gain admi«8ion,  and  the  shortening is
soon after the fruit has set, as in this way
he does a considerable portion of his thinning; then going over what is left and
leaving only about one specimen In four
or six inches.   Of course where this work
of pruning Is done yearly there are no
large limbs to cut off nor severe shock to
Summer Meeting of Indiana Horticultural Society.
Editors Indiana itar—ER:
At the recent joint meeting of the Fayette County Horticultural Society and
Farmers' Institute, a resolution was
passed inviting the Indiana Horticultural
Society to hold its summer meeting at
Connersville. The local secretary now
writes to know: (1.) "How many members from a distance usually attend these
meetings? (2.) Does the local society
usually entertain visiting members? (3.)
What expenses are the local society ex-
pectesd to meet? (4.) What is the amount
of premiums paid? (5.) How divided
and to whom open? (6 ) Who fixes the
time Of the meeting?"
Since friends in other sections of the
State may feel interested in the3e questions, replies are made through the columns of the Indiana Fabjier:
1. Thirty or forty members may be regarded as a probable average. 2. Sometimes, but not always. It is easy, however, for the local organization inviting
the State society to make very low rates at
hotels or in private families for the comfort of their guests. The social features of
these meetings are not without value. 3.
The local society usually furnishes the
hall for the meeting, and such -incidental
expenses as may suggest themselves
though no fixed rules exist. Whatever
may be done in this direction is purely
voluntary and is offeied by the locality for
the purpose of securing the meetings. 4.
The State society has appropriated J200 to
be offered as prizes. To this the local society and business citizens can add special
prizes as they may feel Inclined. 5. This
sum will be arranged into a premium list
and equitably divided between the various
horticultural products of theseason chosen
for the meeting. Members of the Indiana
Horticultural Society .are eligible to compete. 6. The executive committee of this
society, after consultation with the local
authorities. The time will be fixed to
salt the greatest local horticultural interests. R,
Potato Experience No. 2.—Varieties.
Editors Indiana Fabmeb:
In the Farmer of January 20th, I notice
some comments on my  former article, by
Mr. Cowing.   His remarks show  the necessity of  farmers  giving  to  each other
their experience upon>]l matters pertaining to the farm, but more especially their
experiments with varieties of different foreign products.   Different  eoil and climate
determine very largely the success or failure of some varieties. He notes his failure
with  the  Cbas.   Downing potato,  which
shows that  it does  not succeed upon the
clay soil of Dearborn county. This variety
seems to  be partial to  clay, ihcsavily manured.   We have raised them which have
far excelled in  size and equaled  in productiveness the FreemaD, as reported by
Mr. Terry.   In quality it  is the very best
from the time it reaches the size of a walnut until the following  June.   These  reports are valuable  if persons  having soil
conditions similar to Mr. Cowing will heed
his experience and ours with the Empire
State.   The past season is thelfirst in seven
years that the vines have  been caught by
the frost  here.   With us  also it has not
shown  the  tendency to produce  many
small  potatoes.   The only  objectionable
feature of the potato here is that some seasons it grows quite prongy.   Of twenty-
five varieties  tested by us in  the last five
years this  still  stands  at the  head, as a
main  crop  potato.   This year's  trial of