The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-01-24

With our own experience, so long as
We had any of the old varieties of APP
pies in our orchards. But for the Rus
sian apples the only spraying needed is
TO destroy the worms of the Goblin
moth. There is no scab or other fun
gous disease, on the true Russian vari-
eties and, in fact, the Goblin worm is
rather benefit, as remedy for over
bearing. -
THOSE who insist that the Wealthy
apple cannot be kept ought to see the
beautiful, firm, full-havored Wealthys
that we are now enjoying. Longfelds
being about gone, the Wealthy comes
in to occupy their place from now to
March, when Scott's Winter will step
up, with a frm stride, and take the
contract to supply fruit from then I'M
til the Yellow Transparent is ready,
the 18th of next July. And thus we
belt the year with our iron-clad apples.
As we have often repeated, the Sc
cret of keeping the Wealthy is to gather
them, as soon as the seeds are colored,
in cool day, place them at once in
good, deep, well-ventilated cellar, with
windows to keep zen nights, and close
in the day time, until there is danger
of freezing. Thus handled, the Wealthy
grown on Lake Memphremagog is good
until the air gets into and raises the
temperature of the cellar in the spring,
WE observe that our method of pro-
tecting fruit trees from mice and rab-
bits, by tying lengths of strip lath about
the trunks, has been lately taken up
and improved" by wiring the strips
together. 1t ought to be easily seen
that this is no improvement at all. On
the contrary, it is not only more expen-
sive, but also more inconvenient. In
twenty-five years. experience in snowy
northern Vermont, we have never
found it necessary to have the strips
cut more than two feet long-half the
length of lath-and these only along
fences, or other places where the snow
accumulated in drifts. In an open,
unfenced orchard, moderately level,
we find it perfectly safe to cut each
lath into three pieces. The trees pre-
vent much drifting of snow in our un-
fenced orchards. We cut long, fiat
basketful of strips; and these, with
ball of white cotton Irvine and jack
knife, constitute the whole rig. Only
one turn of the string is used, and that
is applied near the top; the lower ends
of the strips being sufficiently held in
place by pressing them slightly into the
ground. One turn of the Irvine, an
inch below the top of the strips, is bet
Ter than more. Tie it tightly, and 60
on to the next tree. Old as we are, we
have alone tied up over 300 trees in a
short October day. But it is little
handler to take boy along to hold the
tops snug while they are being tied.
Two ten-year-old boys, who are careful
and trustworthy, can do the work as
well as a man.
Now it is easily seen that, in this
way, only as many strips are used to
each tree as the size of the tree de-
mapds, and as this size increases yearly,
all there is to do is to put in another
strip as needed. But if the strips are
wired together, as is now proposed, the
larger trees may be insufficiently COW
cred, and the smaller ones covered so
loosely that mice can get between the
lath and the tree, and be all nicely shell
tered there, while stripping off the
bark. We have frequently described
our method, but have never seen the
description copied in any of our ex-
changes, which are now praising the
new plan. But it is true that we have
never paid anything to have our method
advertised which may account for the
difference.
WE are not given to captious criti-
cism, at least, we hope not; but we
notice that Meehan'S Monthly translates
the Scottish motto attached to the en-
blem of the thistle, >" memo me implme
lacesSit, by" no one treads on me
with impunity." We believe that the
Romans used lacessit " to imply
about every sort of personal abuse and
injury but " treading" on the victim.
WE note that the same excellent
publication, speaking of the quality of
fruits, says that "the famous Ribston
Pippin apple of England is nothing but
poor in any part of America" 1t is
not safe to make such broad state
ment about anything in so big
country as ours. The Ribston Pippin
is, on the Kennebec river in Maine,
and also on Lake Champlain, in Yer
mont, quite as good as in its old home.
1t was, by the way, one of the importa-
4;o,.n of Iba nr No1nhap rafarrad IN