The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1877-02-15
Letter en- Horticulture.

should not write asking for informa-
ton. But that is rather too rich an
inheritance for any one man, hence the
necessity Of asking our neighbor what
he may have learned by actual expert
ence. This is all the information that
is worth anything to the farmer, or
fruit grower. The theories written
out by men who have never held
plow-handle, or pruned tree, contain
but little beyond highly-polished i'm
agination,an are generally about as
thin as Greeley's plan for milking q
Texss cow. lam turning my attention
almost exclusively to fruit growing,
having twenty-four acres in fruit trees,
aud while have learned many things,
in my twenty years residence in Kan
sas, l find that there are many things
that must yet learn to make fruit
growing complete success. and as you
have a Horticultural Society in your
county whose monthly reports are of
vast Importance to the horticultural
interests of the State, / wish to ask that
society few questions:
First-What insect is it that rolls up
the leaves on the apple trees. They
seem to be fastened by a web, or glue,
and fastened to the limbs of the trees,
and contain a worm or larva, the worm
feeds upon the tender buds and leaves
and is the worst enemy to fruit grow
Ing in this locality. What is the name
of the little scoundrel? is he q noctur-
nal bird or has he the audacity to work
in the daytime, and is there any known
way to persuade him to turn his atten-
ton to something more honorable than
robbery.
We have rabbits here by the thous-
and and possibly millions, and they
have ruined whole orchards. But
few of us have graduated in the rabbit
school. But we took a good many les
sons first. The first lesson was lard
and sulphur, that seemed to answer,as
rabbits have no hankering after brim-
stone. But the warm weather melted
the grease and that killed the trees.
The next lesson was to sprinkle the
trees with blood, that did well until
the blood dried or was washed off.
Then they peeled every tree they got
their on. The next lesson was treat
Use on the utility of soap. But the rab-
bits concluded to deal in soap and bark |
and got up on their hind legs and made
clean job as high as they could reach.
Now, the great trouble with these the
cries is, that they were written by men
who never raised many rabbits or trees
either, and the only safe, simple and
certain remedy, that l have ever seen
tried, is to cut corn stalks eighteen |
inches long and stick them in the
ground around the trees and tie them
at the top. This is cheap and easy
thing doIe, and besides that, it is COM
mon sense, for every living man knows
that if the rabbit can't get his misera-
bic nose to tree, he will not get the
bark.
The borer is another pest. | have
lost hundreds of trees by them years
ago, but lately have not lost a tree.
rub my trees in May and June, with
soft soap, and my reason for this is that
it is the season that the larva is depos-
tied on the bark, and the soap retards
the Matching process. In fact, | have
never seen single egg Matched, after
being enveloped in soap. And another
thing that might be of interest is the
kind of soil, and locality in the differ
ent parts of the State, best adapted to
fruit growing, and as | am writing
more for information than any thing
else, will give little history of this
locality, in order to ascertain how it
will compare with other localities.
Ny orchard is on a sandstone bluff,
and running south 140 rods in the val
ley. The soil is a black sandy loan,
with a substratum Of stiff clay. plant
I'd IL acres of it in April 1861, in the
sod, with but few burrows broke to
plant on. My peach trees were planted
20 feet apart and the limbs now lap
across the space, aud the largest meas
are from Is to "a inches in circumfer-
snce, and my appel trees from II to IS
inches. pear trees, from 10 to Is inches
md cherries and apricots about the
same. And think | can show re-
growth in a grape vine. The
ire ran through corner of my vine
Yard last spring and from one to seven
zines came up. Six of them made one
lalf inch in diameter, and about IL
eet in length, the other made over an
nch in diameter, aud is feet in length.
The vine is Concord. F,
A word in reference TO grasshoppers
Ind close. As strangers, Jews, etc,
and some that are not either), seem to
lave grasshopper Oh the brain, | will
Five my experience in twenty years.
rave seen three raids in that time, they
rave cheated me out of two crops of
wheat by eating up what was sown,
md prevented the sowing of any more :
Until it was too late TO make more than
lalf crop, and have never seen them
10 much else in the fall (other may)
md they have never done me any dam !
'ge in the spring, as the tender grass
S SO abundant they have all they can
manage.
February LIST: weather warm, frost
III out, and fruit buds in the best con-
lition that have ever seen them at this