Page 6

 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
        QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 
    Question.-Would you advise spray- 
  ing raspberry canes with Bordeaux 
  this fall that are affected with An- 
  thracnose or is other treatment neces- 
  sary?                    E.M.G. 
  Answer by Dr. L. R. Jones: 
    I would not advise spraying this 
 autumn, since the disease is now 
 practically in a dormant condition. 
 Spraying should, however, begin in 
 the early spring with a first applica- 
 tion before the leaves are open, the 
 second on the young leaves when 
 they are 6 inches high, with a third 
 spraying one week later. Precaution 
 should be taken to keep the spray 
 from the leaves on the bearing canes 
 since it may injure these. 
   Qucstion.--When is the best time 
 to order and ship in cherry and apple 
 trees, in the fall or spring?  Also 
 state if shipped in the fall how should 
 they be treated over winter. I got 
 the Society  paper today and am 
 pleased with it. Every -issue carries 
 loads of inspiration.  If that con- 
 tinues we will all be fruit growers. 
 Hope your paper will be a success. 
                             H. D. 
   Answer.-We advise spring plant- 
 ing. Trees, however, should be or- 
 dered in the fall as you are apt to 
 get better stock and probably better 
 prices. If the trees must be delivered 
 in the fall they should be "heeled in." 
 I think you are familiar with this 
 process. If not it may be stated 
 briefly as follows: Dig a trench wide 
 and deep enough to accommodate roots 
 of trees, throwing soil all to one 
 side, which will make a sloping bank 
 on which the tops rest. Then cover 
 roots and trunks deeply with mellow 
 earth which should be tramped firmly 
 about the roots. Finish the top by 
 covering with coarse manure after the 
 ground is frozen. We prefer early 
 spring delivery. 
   Question.--What do you think of 
planting peas in a cherry orchard and 
cut them green, then sow buckwheat 
and turn under for fertilizer.    (I 
would not put peas close to tree so 
as to give space for cultivating with 
a horse.) 
  Answer.-Not enough cultivation. 
Better sow peas early, leaving five 
feet space from trees. Take peas off 
and cultivate for three weeks, then 
sow buckwheat for cover crop. 
    Question.-Wlhat crop would be the 
 best to put in an orchard the first 
 three years? 
   Answer.-A hoed crop. Potatoes, 
 beans, corn, garden truck. 
   Question.-What do you think of 
 dragging around the trees till about 
 the 25th of June and then sow buck- 
 wheat to cut for grain? 
   Answer.-Don't think     much    of 
 that. Better not use orchard as grain 
 fiel. 
   Question.--Iow many pickers are 
 required per acre on ten year old 
 trees? 
   Answer.-About ,twen'ly-five good 
 ones; lots more if lazy. 
       Answers by D. E. Bingham. 
   The following questions were sent 
 in by a member from Jackson county 
 who intends to plant fifty acres of 
 apples.  The answers are by     the 
 editor, who  requests the assistant 
 editors to revise and correct same. 
   Question.--. What do you     con- 
sider the four best varieties for a 
commercial orchard. 
   Answer.-Duchess, Wealthy, Mc- 
Mahan, McIntosh. 
   2. What are the.next best four? 
   Answer.-N. W. Greening, Long- 
field, Fameuse, Patten Greening. 
  3. Would you set many Longfield? 
  Answer.-No. Very hardy and im- 
mensely productive but too small un- 
less thinned. 
  4. How does the Okabena compare 
with the Duchess as to hardiness and 
production? 
  Answer.-Fully equal or superior 
in both points but too small and too 
near D1uchess season. Tested thor- 
oughly at Wausau. 
  5. How   are  Scott Winter    and 
McIntosh red ? 
  Answer.-Scott not worthy. Mc- 
Intosh 0. K., one of the very best. 
Ask James Melville, Chippewa Falls, 
about Mcintosh. 
  6. What part of a fifty-acre orch- 
ard would you set to Duchess? 
  Answer.-Ten to twelve acres. 
  7. How is the Peerless apple? 
  Answer.-Condemned by the Min- 
  nesota Horticultural Society but is 
  doing very well at Wausau at last. 
  Took ten years to get ready. Large, 
  showy apple, and bears well now. 
  Life is too short. 
    8. Would you set any plums? 
    Answer.-Not many; and in your 
 locality only the natives, such as De 
 Soto, Surprise, Rockford, etc. Not 
 to exceed two acres in all. 
    9. Any new   varieties you wouhl 
 recommend to try? 
   Answer.--)udley, the coining ap- 
 ple for Wisconsin. Trees very scarce 
 of the true Dudley. Avista for sweet. 
 Both hardy. Test Delicious for hardi- 
 ness. 
       WHY RUSSET APPLES WILT 
   Ever since russet apples have been 
 grown they have had the fault of 
 wilting in storage.  It is constitn- 
 tional with them. Their skin is rough 
 and porous, and not smooth and cov- 
 ered with a coat of wax as all other 
 kinds are. If anyone will scrape the 
 surface of an ordinary apple with 
 a knife he can easily see that a white 
 wax is gathered on the blade. In 
 some cases it is very noticeable and 
 may be gathered into a little ball. 
 This wax may be made to shine by 
 rubbing the apple skin and this is 
 often done by retail fruit dealers and 
 exhibitors at fairs, to enhance their 
 beauty. But it lessens their keeping 
 quality, because of taking off some 
 of nature's protective covering. The 
 russets have almost none of it and 
 therefore their internal moisture or 
 juices easily passes ou;. The way to 
 prevent the wilting is by storing the 
 apples in a very damp place. But it 
 must he cool as well, or the apples 
 will ripen and rot.-If. E. Van De- 
 man, in Rural New Yorker. 
 STRAWBERRIES COMING LIKE IN,:JUNE 
 The flood of second-crop strawber- 
 ries, is continuing at high tide, and 
 it is wonderful to note the size and 
 (piality of the berries, and their ex- 
 ceptionally fine flavor. Yesterday be- 
 tween twenty-five and thirty cases 
 were delivered in the city, the Fruit 
 Growers Association getting nineteen 
 of them, and the grocery dealers pick- 
 ing up the balance. They continue 
 to sell readily at four dollars a case. 
-Sparta Herald. 
6 
November 1910